"Here the Kasei Misuto sits disconnected from the primitive reach of man and mutant" -- Sozen Yin
The Mountain of The Eye
Founded by the fanatical Beast of the East, Sozen Yin, following his rebellion against the Silent King, Yahzuun, and his exile from the Nihonto Khan, the Eye of The Mist is a monastery that sits in isolation atop the Ellsworth Mountains in the far reaches of Antarctica. The home of the Beasts of the Mist and the heart of a radical and racist belief system that worships the Kasei Misuto as the harbinger of human and mutant extinction, the Eye of The Mist is where Sozen asserts the Era of the Hyper-Sapien will commence.
The Monastery - Location & Architecture
In the frozen continent of Antarctica, the monastery sits upon it's second tallest mountain; Mount Tyree. The mountain's dimensions are intimidating, and climbing it is no easy task, even for the modern metahuman. The cold is cruel, growing no warmer than -30 degrees Celsius, and it's walls are steep and unforgiving. The mountain's combination of fatal freezing temperatures and the frustrating difficulty in scaling it's walls act as the Eye of The Mist's primary defenses should it's highly remote location somehow be uncovered.
Other than the extreme elusiveness of the monastery's location, the Eye of The Mist is an architectural wonder. Though it's stone exterior is being stripped of it's color by harsh winds and storms of snow, it's design is something to behold. Complex and expansive, it's fortification is worthy of praise. Built from massive grey stones with intricate carvings and moldings depicting the Kasei Misuto as an undying flame burning man and mutant-kind to ash, the Eye of The Mist appears to possess some sort of immaterial enhancement, enabling it to remain firm and strong despite the harsh conditions of it's location.
Furthermore, the front of the monastery features two stairway paths leading to large ornately decorated doors along with a single watchtower at the center.
-The Courtyard-
Accessed from within the monastery, the Eye of The Mist's courtyard rests on the rear side of the complex. An archway from it's upper left area exposes itself to a path that leads up to the very top of Mount Tyree, where the Beasts of the Mist are fond of meditating in absolute solitude. The monastery's supports and archways are deeply entrenched into the mountain's rocky walls and are supernaturally sturdy. Though the courtyard is sparse, featuring only a few stone pillars, a large double gate off to one side leads to where Sozen and the Beasts of the Mist train and spar near the edge of the mountain.
A large tower dominates the opposite end, where Sozen and the Beasts of the Mist often practice their ability to harness psycho-spiritual energies.
-Interior-
Inside, the Eye of The Mist is illuminated only by flame-lit torches hanging from it's walls. Dim with walls lined with dark stone, the monastery's interior features banners hanging from the ceiling covered in illustrations of the Kasei Misuto. The monastery's interior is also home to side hallways linking different rooms and corridors, with intricate carvings in the wall, depicting the fall of man and mutant-kind, and the rise of Hyper-Sapiens and their supposed destiny of inheriting the world. In one of the side hallways is a large staircase that stretches down and deep into the heart of the mountain where a chamber exists.
The chamber is home to Sozen's 'War Room' where he and his followers plan for his prophesied war against all non-Hyper Sapiens.
Rules
This is meant to be a very difficult place to locate (it's on a mountain in Antarctica), so if you show up, sell the difficulty in finding it and however you found it should make sense. Other than that, anyone can stop by.
If you want to attack this place for whatever reason, you can. But just remember, the Beasts of the Mistare not NPCS, they're powerful and incredibly skilled so they will go HAM, LOL.
This Hyper-Sapien stuff makes me want to make Silver a Hyper-Sapien some time in the future. Also, scaling wouldn't be too hard. Just wall crawl up there with my warm, winter apparel and I'm good. ;P
@grandmaster_yin: I would... but I legit have no idea what this is about... >_> I haven't followed anything about the hyper-sapiens and what not so I'm completely lost as to what all of this is about...
Cade forced himself to keep pushing up the mountain, it was a fairly long journey, and a hard one. He was lucky he had plenty of money to buy the best equipment for climbing in the frigid temperatures, and of course hiding that he was well armed and wearing light but tough armor.
However it wasn't so much the climb itself that had been so difficult, it was finding out where and what this was. Took him about ten years off of a rumor of a rumor, he first had to run into a mutant who claimed the ability to sense his "very being" who told him some leads on where to go but was incredibly vague on the matter. Cade wasn't a detective, he hated trying this dang hard to figure out what was up with the alien blood inside of him. It was incredibly strenuous and what's more these people hadn't made it any easier with their secretive ways.
Heck he was practically coming here off of a guess. If this turned out to be for nothing he wasted a good half a million on what turned out to really just be a rumor. He really hoped that was not the case.
So when he finally saw it, he raised his arms above his head from a wonderful sensation of success, "Freaking finally! Ok, time to get to the bottom of things. These people better have the answers I'm looking for or I'm really gonna want to hurt somebody." He walked more calmly the rest of the way there trying to regain at least a portion of the strength he had before this ridiculously long climb.
As he closed in he hesitated, I don't know if they'll accept outsiders or not. If they turn out to go on the offensive distance should be my advantage, I hope.
"Greetings! My name is Cade Remington! I've come here for some answers!" He yelled out, then repeated in a few other languages. Thus far, Cade Remington wasn't a name he used as an assassin, which meant there should be no affiliation or suspicion about it. He just hoped this would bring up answers, even if he had to fight for them.
His bare feet planted firmly on the ground, his fists closed and his eyes glowing white, Layvin breathed, his large chest heaving, his hulking frame swelling and his long hair and beard, as white as snow, flowed with each gust of cold air. Slowly, the gusts of air ceased, and the atmosphere seemed frozen in time, Layvin's hair and beard no longer whipping about, his single-sleeved gi glowing blue, and a low hum echoing from his body. Gravitons poured out his pores, again and again, till the ground beneath his feet cracked under their weight. Again the gravitons poured out, and Layvin commanded the gravitational fields about him, neutralizing the external forces acting upon him as the monastery's courtyard shook and trembled from the weight of his power.
He stopped. An echo, a stranger's voice reaching him. An arrival. And on this day, it would be he, not Sozen, not the Eye of the Mist's legendary Grandmaster, who would have words with the unknown. Purpose followed his every stride, and a regal intensity hung about his massive frame. Arms folded behind his back, his bare feet silent as he walked through the monastery's hallways, his eyes taking in the carvings and designs on walls that stretched longer than most, he unfolded his arms. Once more his eyes glowed white, and the gravitons that poured from them, swung open both doors to the monastery. Outside, the snow clung to his beard and hair, to his garments and to his flesh. But he, Layvin Boltian, was the Great Wall, an immovable object and unstoppable force made flesh. Calm and with grace, he strode down the snow-capped steps, his cool gaze resting on the man who'd made the climb to what he and the Beasts of the Mist hailed as the heart of Hyper-Sapien faith.
Quietly, Layvin stroked his long beard, the falling snow mounting his great shoulders as his eyes met the stranger's, the climber. "I'm afraid that depending on who and what you are, your answers will either be death or diplomacy", Layvin paused, soft-spoken but direct. "So tell me, who are you? Because what you are, to us.. at least, is not for me or you to decide. It is the Grandmaster's".
Cade looked at the man as he came forwards. He didn't bother reaching for his weapons, with that kind of body and completely ignoring the cold most likely this being was gifted with powers. His first guesses would have been strength or durability, he had no idea it was gravity that this monstrosity of a man could manipulate. In the case it was a fight, he'd commit to it, but he sincerely hoped it was not. He was too tired to efficiently fight this thing.
"Well I would hope it's diplomacy. My name is Cade Remington, as far as I know. Never can tell these days what your name might actually be." He responded calmly, he had faced dire situations before so it wasn't exactly frightening since nothing had tipped him off to danger yet, so he knew to keep his cool in this situation, "As I said, I'm here for answers. I spent ten years finding this place from a rumor, a mutant who claimed he could sense my essence, and a ton of investigation. I supposedly have blood that is not human or mutant, and this is where that fact lead me."
Cade knew about his mutant powers, though not that he was for certain a hyper sapien. His ability to absorb the equivalent of how much kinetic power was behind him moving at terminal velocity had come in handy on many occasions. And in fact it would come in handy if he had to make a daring escape here, as all he'd have to do is take a leap off the mountain and absorb the fall. Or he hoped anyway.
Her kind weren't carried, they were specifically engineered to be murderers; and assassins. To achieve such a perfect killer, the corporation made deprieved them of trival things such as love and affection.
Their mothers carried them, but were soon disregarded after birth. Their fathers were often members of the occult organization; lending their seeds in hope of crafting the perfect killer. She was that perfect killer, instead of learning the art of combat like many of them did; those specific teachings were already embedded in her--from birth. Instead she looked for new ways to accomplish the mission--for new ways to kill people. She could talk--she usually didn't, her job was not to ask questions, it was to execute. Her normal way of communicating was through a series of nods.
Her orders were simple aid the Grandmaster in his journey to expand Hyper-Sapien society, at first she thought she was simply a pawn to be used--until she realized she had to become one. The process augmented her already fabricated genetics, but did nothing in regards to her personality.
As the gas slowly begin to forumlate inside the container, a small smirk stretch the length of her quaint lips. What she'd created was a biological weapon, the next phase in Sozen's war against Non-Hyper Sapiens.
It was not designed to stop humans from getting pregnant, rather reduce the survival rate of the child. What made it different from most other biochemical weapons; was that it would effect every cell, which would prevent any of the brilliant minds from killing it in one fell swoop.
This weapon was not something to be used lightly, this weapon was lethal--and it just willingly created a biological weapon.
Stroking his long beard, his large fingers running through their silky white hairs, Layvin felt his eyes squint at the man's words, his countenance wearing his intrigue at the possibility of a new Hyper-Sapien. "Hrm... perhaps you do", he paused, skeptical but hopeful. The genetic potential to ascend into a Hyper-Sapien was rare among mutants, and almost unheard of in humans. "However, that is not for me to say. That is for the Grandmaster. Follow me". Turning round, the Great Wall strode up the steps, parting open the monastery doors with the power of gravitation before stepping inside it's gloomy torch-lit hallways, glancing over his shoulder every so often, ensuring that Cade did not lose himself.
An archway leading to the monastery's courtyard came into view, and cold gusts of air blew all about. Stepping on the snow, his arms held at his sides, Layvin stopped and cast his gaze upon Sozen, the Grandmaster of the Mist. Emerging from the distance, Sozen stood taller than Layvin, the ruby glow of his eyes fixed only on Cade as his harsh features were held in earnest. The prayer beads round his neck hummed, and the rope tied around his waist and covering his hands seemed to sizzle, an unseen power emanating from them as the Beast from the East spoke, "Kore wa daredesu ka? (Who is this?)". Folding his arms behind his back, Layvin answered, "Cade. He believes he has the genetic potential to be a Hyper-Sapien?". Sozen scowled, they would have to take this new arrival to Aogashima to be bathed in the Kasei Misuto, only then would they know.
"Do you know what this entails? What our purpose is here?", he asked, his eyes meeting Cade's.
Atop the summit of Mount Tyree where the cold was so cruel it froze the blood in one's veins, where the air was too thin for the lungs to pull in, sat the Beast of the East, the Grandmaster of the Mist; Sozen. His legs crossed underneath him, his posture meditative, and his hands gripping his knees as the frigid winds whipped at his back and fluttered his gi. His eyes shut, the frost clinging to his garments, to his hair and to his face, Sozen did not move. Meditating, allowing the will of the Kasei Misuto to work through him, allowing It's voice to guide him, he felt his chakra nodes hum, and his pores open. Psycho-spiritual energies spilled from them, seizing the atmosphere and suspending every flake of snow in the air.
Time seemed to slow, and the thin air began to thicken and grow soupy, overflowed with his commanding presence as the psycho-spiritual energies coursing through his veins poured from his body. Beneath him, the ground rumbled and a ring of frost encircled him, spinning faster and faster, kicking the snow all about till his body ignited and engulfed the summit in a storm of psycho-spiritual energies. Hot air clashed with the cold, spiraling violently all about him as chunks of ice and rock were flung into the air. The energies flailed outwards from his body, and his eyes opened, their ruby glow wearing his prejudice towards all races non-Hyper-Sapien. Calmly breathing out, the Dim Mak Dragon withdrew his psycho-spiritual energies, pulling them back into the confines of his chakra nodes. The ground ceased it's rumbling, snowflakes fell once more, and all was normal.
Soon. Soon he would master the third tier of Dim Mak, that which allowed his fists to touch the rarest of weak points; mobile and temporary quantum events that pop in and out of space-time. It was the power that allowed him to break even adamantium. But it was costly, it sapped him of his energy, of his stamina. But soon that drawback would be no more. Allowing his mind to reach out to another's, to the Lethal Weapon of the Mist, the Grandmaster asked that she come to him, to the summit. The biochemical weapon she had managed was unlike any other, and now Sozen would give her their targets; Maverick Inc., S.T.R.I.K.E., and Venezuela, the beacons of human and mutant power.
Cade looked around carefully memorizing and analyzing what he saw as he entered and took note of the fact the doors moved as if by the giants will. As they approached Sozin he raised his eyebrows. I feel like some sort of...midget. These people are huge, I fear that even with what skill I have I would most certainly lose against them in these conditions.
As Sozin asked him a question he wondered what the proper response would be. In all honesty he had little knowledge of hyper sapiens. What he had gathered was more in relation to their physical capabilities then their culture, "Not entirely. But I assume hyper sapiens are superior in at least some ways to most other enhanced "races", so to speak, such as mutants and metahumans." he responded. As far as he could tell what he said was generally true, the hyper sapiens seemed to be essentially a step up from mutants who were a step up from humans. And although hyper sapien seemed like sort of a dead end, it was certainly a dead end that one would want to reach.
He wanted so much to reach for his weapons but kept his hands placed by his sides without fidgeting them. He felt very much ill at ease around these people. They were huge, harsh, and powerful. The sort of people who you'd expect in some Scandinavian mythos not people to meet in person asking about beings called hyper sapiens.
Turning round, Layvin too met Cade's gaze. There was a quiet intensity hanging in the air, both their eyes resting on this stranger who'd left his home and come to the faraway frozen continent inhabited by none but them. Did he possess the fortitude for the coming war? Was his faith willing to give itself to the Kasei Misuto? Would he join them or stand against them? "We are more", Sozen began, his deep voice echoing with unwavering certainty, "Superior, yes. But we are also the chosen, the destined. The ones evolution intends to see inherit this world and wipe out the inferior". There was no limiting sense of concern, no sympathy or remorse in his voice nor his eyes.
They glowed red, burning with a messiah complex unlike any other. And by his side, Layvin stood a like-minded ally, a follower. "That is our purpose", the Beast of the East scowled, "Will it be yours?", Layvin asked, folding both arms before his chest as Sozen waited for acceptance or refusal.
Evolutionists, survival of the fittest perhaps? he thought as he noted the third gaze and Zosen's words. As his eyes began to glow and he spoke again Cade took a careful breath in eying each of them. Let's see, power, abilities beyond what I could obtain through mere skill, and the plausibility of allies who can move things with their mind. I think I'll give it a go. Afterall, I am Black Heart, if it turns out to go down a dangerous path I'll carry the machete to cut my way through it.
This particular idea of power awakened the cruel side of Cade, not so much someone else entirely, but still him with an altered personality. A desire for power, riches, respect, and even fear were things that were core's of Black Heart. His face remained the same, he had kept it neutral essentially the whole time, and so it would remain until he saw fit to change it otherwise.
"If it can be made mine, then let's make it so." He responded the change in voice there. He did not drop his guard but he didn't feel a since of ill ease either anymore. Cade right now what the anarchists wanted him to be, a threat to the order of society that existed today. Perhaps not in the way they thought, but one none the less.
Arms folded before his large chest, his wrinkled features held in earnest, the Great Wall stood silent. Sozen, the Grandmaster of the Mist turned round, the ruby glow of his eyes cast over the snowy path that led to Mount Tyree's summit as he departed. It was then that the Great Wall's arms unfolded, and his fists clenched. A low hum echoed from his body, it's pitch was constant, as was the blue glow that radiated from the silver-maned juggernaut who stood before Cade. He was once Layvin Boltian, but that was a man forgotten, "My name is Tsuyoki", he paused, his deep voice rumbling, his soft-spoken air and regality giving way to an expression of harsh reality, "I will be your guide to Aogashima".
"It is there where you will be judged by the Kasei Misuto and be made one of us", Tsuyoki said, "A Hyper-Sapien". The aura of psycho-spiritual energies radiated wilder around him, their blue glow darkening as Tsuyoki readied them both for imminent teleportation, "But first you must pass a trial. Come with me", he insisted, glancing at his outstretched wrist for Cade to grab.
Black Heart watched him with a neutral but intuitive gaze as the mass spoke, an ever so slight disturbed grin at the edge of his mouth. He shrugged his shoulders as eh grabbed on expecting some sort of teleportation power, or for the giant to crush his wrist and beat the crap out of him. He was really torn between what he expected in this situation, it was like walking a line between godliness and Hell.
"Alright then, best to get this done with quickly I think. I'd like to know what fate I have sooner then later." he said awaiting whatever may come.
Shutting his eyes as he felt Cade's grip over his wrist, the Great Wall exercised his crude control over psycho-spiritual energies, commanding them to engulf them both in a flame that'd die as quickly as it burned. No longer in the frozen courtyard of the Eye of The Mist, Tsuyoki and Cade emerged elsewhere, atop the rumbling summit of Mount Erebus, an active volcano in the cold reaches of Antarctica. There the air was thin and poisoned by volcanic gas, and Tsuyoki smiled, paying no mind to the soot and frost that clung to his beard and hair. "This is where your mettle will be tested", the Great Wall began, striding forward, breathing in what he believed was the purest baptism, the greatest form of rebirth.
"Walk towards the crater and allow the gases to embrace you", he paused, calm in the face of a possible eruption. "If you are not worthy, the poison gases will fill your lungs with soot and you will die desperate for air... however", again he paused, "Should you survive, then it will be the Voice of the Kasei Misuto speaking to me, telling me that you are among the chosen few worthy of becoming one of us".
Cade held his breath and pushed a small oxygen mask in his coat over his mouth. He wasn't expecting a vulcano but the thin air of heights was something he'd prepared for. He walked forwards looking into the crater and taking one more breath of clean air before removing it. Black Heart clenched his fists, This better not kill me because I'll be coming back to haunt you if it does. He thought somewhat worried.
"Best take these off for now then." He said dropping his main large coat off along with a second revealing that both had weapons in them, as well as that he was wearing some. He walked forwards taking careful breaths as he did so refusing to cough or choke on it no matter how much irritation there might be. But as he continued it seemed not poisonous, and, less like a fume and more like the air around him from before. He looked back as he got closer to the center, "Either it's working or I'm just hallucinating and I'm about to die." He said waiting either to black out, choke to death, or something really interesting to happen.
OOC: If you have a particular transformation thing in mind I'm gonna let you do that here, if not I can just deal with it by editing or in my next post depending on what you decide.
@cade_remington: (We can off-panel the rest because the actual transformation into a Hyper-Sapien will be an interaction when we visit the Nihonto Khan).
Unorthodox and unplanned, probably the only one who was fully aware of what Ace was planning was a girl in japan. That was intentional, she was pretty confident if other Hyper Sapiens were told they would want to come. Specifically Cassidy and Cadence, neither of those girl's should be the one to do this however. This wasn't for the clan and it wasn't something the family should be weighed down by. No this was just the final moment of a brother and sister. Layvin once someone the woman loved has changed into a person she couldn't recognize. Lost his way to be the slave to someone who'd go renegade against his own family. This clan so devoted to the mist was a perversion of ethics and honor. Family a bond that should be invincible an easy cord to cut for souls like them. "Oh please god help me" the death's hand remarked more in quote of a cherished song then devotion to faith. God wasn't here, just the reaper.
"Tell the others I love them should I not make it back" a text had read sent toward Cassidy as Aceline reached a point where cell service was about to cut out. She couldn't be bothered to pack something as trivial as communications for the climb that was coming. Somewhere deep and lost in the mountains of Antarctica food water ammo a heater these were the kinds of things she needed to pack. It would be a two day hike through a rather unforgiving cold. At an average of negative forty nine celsius or negative fifty six fahrenheit the temperature was unforgiving. The chilled winds and constant snow challenging anyone who thought they could take such cold alone. Ace's healing made her a perfect bill of health who could make the climb with minimal challenge. She was still thick with layers of clothing however on the climb. She'd never been good at taking pain and that included the sting of cold. Using a Hypersapien who could track their kind she in private had asked to find Tsuyoki the one who'd dared to abandon the Boltian name.
Reaching the cliff face she undid the weapons and a bouquet she'd chosen for the moment. The flowers though know dead, not having survived the climb. A fitting thought, seeing as she wasn't sure she'd survive this night or if she'd be the same after it. Flowers chosen "Asphodel for regret, red dahlias for betrayal, marigolds for grief, calla lilies for death, bundled with chestnut boughs for justice and cypress for despair." A lovely assortment, not a nice grouping in the meaning behind it. Ace had originally planned to remove the asphodel but had ended up keeping them in, she was in fact going to regret this but it needed to be done. She originally planned to remove the chestnut boughs not finding this action to be just. She'd concluded that it was indeed the right action however and so she'd kept that in as well. "I wanted these hands to be for healing" the doctor told the cold winds of death like she'd told a gardener a week before.
Ammunition was sprawled out four magazines for each handgun two for the rifle, she placed the rounds where they ought to go as she'd been taught. Easy to reach and slide into position with any luck her porcelain silhouette would vanish into the cold white and black setting around her. She expected a fight though, that was just the nature of how these things went. Pistol of choice a pair of SIG Sauer P226 fifteen round magazine ammunition .357 SIG Doubletap FMG these bullets weighing eight grams, velocity of one thousand four hundred fifty feet per second, and an energy of 790 joules. She'd cleaned them the night before careful to make sure nothing would jam or freeze up in the weather. The same kind of care that went into the primary weapon, the AS50 ten round magazine .50 BMG Anti-materiel sniper rifle. Gas operated semi automatic and a muzzle break allowed lowered recoil and the ability of managing target acquisition much smoother. light, transportable and ergonomic she felt it a good selection. The rifle wa effective a thousand eight hundred meters away. Ammunition selection, 800gram Barnes velocity two thousand eight hundred ninety five feet per second. Impacting with twenty thousand one hundred ninety five joules of energy. Holster the pistols and ready the rifle.
She laid down prone pulling a white blanket over her figure so that she'd go as close to unseen as possible. A thin line of a barrel from nine hundred meters out was all that was naturally visible though likelihood of that wasn't particularly strong. As the blanket got covered in snow in waiting her heat signature would likely be nonexistent. It wasn't perfect but then there was also the advantage of timing. She was a doctor, nobody would think she would come out here. The Eye of the Mist had been docile and planing falling out of immediate attention. They should be free to practice their martial arts and doctrine just fine one would assume. So it was that Ace waited, waited until they'd train sights set on the courtyard, the scope able to move to night vision if need be the Boltian medic was more then willing to wait. She calibrated for distance and wind, trajectory and so on her breath measured and calm. When eyes found her brother, she'd aim for the temple. Quick and through the skull, augmentation to the bullet however that was fired did exist. The fifty cal round that escaped the chamber however was also laced with her metahuman ability.
Forcefields, if the bullet could land just a hit of some kind then the field could be manipulated for additional effect. Looking to transition that small forcefield into the heart moving it from bullet head to vital organ with a thought, and then she'd expand it. Intending to make the heart implode and finish her brother off. One to head that could function like one to the heart. If the reaper was kind, the deed would be done then and there.
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