OOC: Glad to see some people have no respect for my character whatsoever. Did you think I had no plans for my own character during my absence? *cracks fringers before I start typing my post* Time to set a few things straight and finally reveal who/what Koger really is.
Koger
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Battling Garth through the House of Eden had been a sliding scale. Early on Koger still held advantage with his superior speed and the versatility of his arsenal. As the fight progressed, though, Garth slowly unlocked more and more of his buried power. By the time Sorcha finally re-emerged, and to Koger's dismay he now clearly knew the presence he had felt creeeping underneath her when she first threw Garth from the house to be Michael, nearly the entire surface of the House of Eden lay in ruin and most of Koger's weapons lay broken or drained of energy in battling the would-be dragon.
With a pair of flashes amidst the struggle, Sorcha appeared and tossed the Lance of Longinus at Koger. He turned it in his hand, surprised and awed that it was finally in his possession. The last piece to a puzzle he had spent millenia assembling was now in his hands and soon he would use all of it's power to achieve his ancient goal of freedom.
"Go; I'm going to Inferno. This time, the ****'s hit the fan and I'm not going to put up with it anymore," Sorcha spoke and then promptly disappeared in another flash.
Seeing the spear in his hands Garth took off after Sorcha, wherever she had gone. Koger had his suspicions but before he could attend to any of them he had one task he had been waiting to perform for nearly five millenia. With that thought in mind and with lightning speed Koger set off to the place he hid from the world. He pounced from rooftop to rooftop with such speed that not even his shadow could be seen.
After only two short minutes he stopped on the roof of an old warehouse. From the outside it looked like an abandoned dump. Everything about it looked derelict. Even those of supernatural senses couldn't penetrate the enchantment placed upon it though. To all who did not know the words, it appeared only as a rundown tin building. Koger knew the words, however.
"Dis'konischa eln ferotus DON!" Koger barked as he landed in front of it's huge doors.
With a creak and a moan of rusted metal the doors slid open. As he walked inside torches began lighting themselves, creating a small alley of light leading to a wide circle around Koger's goal. In the circle of torches he strode towards stood a unique arch unlike any other the world had seen. The two pillars were constructed of four very large perfectly square stones; the four cornerstones of the earth that Koger had collected as payment from both heaven and hell during wars past. The arch above these two massive stone pillars was a mish-mash of strange things. Bones taken from the last full grown dragon, splintered boards from the cross of the Crucifixion, crystalized ice made from the tears of God himself, and at the center of the arch the golden eye that was gifted to the first pharoah of Egypt by God masked as Ra. It was the most supernaturally concentrated archway in existance and soon it would serve as a gateway.
As Koger stepped to the edge of the archway he held the Lance of Longinus up above his head in both hands. He started chanting low and as the words came forth a dark myst started to form in the archway. As the chanting got louder the myst became thicker until it seemed like a dark but shiny purplish liquid. At the height of the chanting Koger stopped and stared at the pool of universal liquid standing before him.
"I told you we would not stay locked away in pergutory forver God. Rest assured though, this time we will not pass ourselves off as Gods. We shall simply show the world our power and they may make their own judgements!" Koger spoke with conviction, a wicked grin rolling off his face. "But first, I do believe we have some common enemies. Perhaps take my interference as payment to stay off the backs of my kin?!"
With a mighty thrust Koger stabbed the Lance of Longinus into the sideways pool of cosmic fluid. It sparked and the air around it burst into flames as Koger pushed in with all his might. It bent under the force of the spear but it did not want to break. Finally, with one final push Koger thrust the spear into the fluid at the top of the arch. As he traced the edge of the archway with it, light poured out from the cut he was making in the fluid. As he finished tracing the inside of the archway the brightest light flashed, lighting the entire warehouse in brilliant luminescence. When the light subsided Koger was staring no longer at a barren archway but at a doorway opening into an endless expanse of blank whiteness. It was the prison he had known for millenia and it was prison no longer. With the doorway opened, Koger would be unleashed as he truly was. No longer would he be the shell he had been using to walk about the living world. In short time his true power would return to him. He couldn't wait for it to fully reach him however. Sorcha would be needing assistance immediately. While Koger bared no love for God he somehow had grown to love Sorcha and he was not going to let the dragon-fool take away the woman who would be his bride.
As quickly as he had come to his hiding spot and the archway, Koger left. He still carried the Lance of Longinus in his hand but it no longer coursed with power as it had when he first touched it. Opening the gateway had drained nearly all of it's power. It was only out of quickness that he did not think to leave it behind in his former sanctuary.
All told, it only took him five minutes to perform his ritual and get back on the trail of Garth. He could sense that Garth had continued growing stronger but his powers had not yet awakened. Garth was also now accompanied by a psionic demon. A being known as Illidan if his memory served him well. It had been ages since Koger had seen one.
Garth refused to fight him and instead left the psionic to deal with him. It was adequate enough to stall him and the fight began. Early on he found the spear had no effect on the psionic demon Illidan. If he had not drained the spear it might have dispersed the demon right on the spot. It did not but Koger just smiled inwardly as he let the demon play with him. As they fought Koger could feel his strength of old returning. He would wait for the right moment to test himself, though. It had been nearly all the ages of man since he had last tasted his own power.
It was not until Illidan was certain they had won that Koger felt it was time. The demon had shrouded itself about him and was pressing in trying to crush him. The weight of it forced him down to his knees but as all seemed hopeless for him, Koger just began to laugh maniacally through the cloud that was Illidan.
"Death drives many men mad. I had been told you were stronger, though. Shame you are so pathetic!" Illidan's words spat at him.
"Do you know my name?" Koger said coyly, a smile growing as Illidan's inward pressure seemed to hault not of their own accord.
"Koger....." Illidan said forcefully, beginning to wonder why suddenly there was resistance to his pressure.
"That is only my mortal name!" Koger let out a bellowing laugh.
Suddenly he began to stand, pushing Illidan back around him. His muscles seemed to grow just slightly. His hair grew to his shoulders and turned red as blood. His eyes began to glow as sparks of lightning flickered from their corners. The backs of his hands seemed to split open revealing silver orbs that almost looked like eyes. The inside of his ears split forming two holes where there had been one in each ear. Illidan was still struggling to press in but all of his efforts were turned back as if by an unseen barrier.
"Know me by my true name demon. I am Bel-Marduk, champion of the Gods of Babylon! And while your psionic form grants you immunity to physical assault, you are not immune to the elements," Koger laughed wildly and suddenly lightning burst out form him in a wave.
The force of it blew Illidan completely clear of him and shattered the front wall to Inferno, opening the place to the street. Glass and plaster rained down everywhere from the blast. Koger then paused. He looked down at his hands and at his body. It was not quite his original form but his old being had adapted itself well to the body he had been using merely as a shell.
Illidan recovered quickly from the sudden shock and took a moment to observe Koger taking in his adjusted form. He was both what he had been and something completely alien to the demon all at once. Still feeling confident in themself, though, Illidan charge back at Koger. Koger turned to face Illidan as if he had seen him even though Illidan had been thrown behind him. Koger just smiled and pursed his lips and a jet of fire shot forward at the psionic demon.
Illidan had no time to react and the fire poured through them. Even the harshest of fire couldn't destroy them but the immense heat sapped away all of their strength. As it shot out the other side of the mysted form of Illidan it melted the very asphalt of the road. The flame seared a trench two feet wide and stretching all the way to the sidewalk across the street.
Illidan floated there almost helpless. Koger smiled again and blew a kiss at the psionic demon. An unholy wind seemed to emerge from nowhere and carried Illidan away from the scene with great speed. Since he had not focused on the Wind of Destruction, Koger imagined it only carried the psionic demon three or four miles. He didn't care, though. He had a much bigger fish to fry tonight. It was time Garth learned that he hadn't been the only one who's powers had been locked away.
Koger merely tapped his toes and it allowed him to leap high into the sky, well above the building surrounding the area. He had no care for anyone who might see him. It was not his concern whether mortals saw him or not. Tonight the veil was to be lifted from their eyes.
As he reached the pinnacle of his jump a cloud settled itself at his feet and formed up around him like a chariot. He smiled and without a word of command it responded and charged forth towards where he sensed Sorcha and Garth. He arrived to find Garth standing over Sorcha, though she scarcely still looked herself. The influence of Michael no doubt. As quickly as his chariot cloud had formed it disappeared and he dropped to the ground near them.
"GAAAAAAAARTH!!!!" Koger shouted at the top of his lungs and the ground almost seemed to tremble. "Step away from my future queen NOW!"
Garth looked up and away from Sorcha and at him. His mouth crooked sideways and his eyes sank a little bit as he tried to understand what he was seeing. He saw Koger before him but at the same time he saw something new. Something he had no knowledge or undestanding of. Something not even his master could offer explanation for. For you see, Marduk and the beings that had ruled Babylon before God locked them away, were older even than the angels.
"If you want to play, Let's play!" and Koger drew his arms back and opened his mouth wide and as he pushed his hands forward a purple lightning that had not been seen in ages shot forth from them, accompanied by a jet of deep blue flame that hit and shot Garth backwards like a cannon.
OOC: Yeah, Koger was really Marduk all along. Well, the mortal shell containing Marduk's essence that he used over the millenia during times of cosmic stryfe to assemble the pieces he needed to build and open a gateway to release his true self from the prison God had cast him and his kind into for pretending to be Gods over God's creation. So yeah, he commands the Wind of Destruction, the fury of the storms, can breathe fire, rides a chariot made of clouds, and can make things invisible (look it up if you don't believe Marduk can do all that). Let's try not to disrespect him now, shall we?