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Topic: Carrion Crown Adventure Path - Free Form
Subject: Transcribed from chat
Without needing Lavender's response, Meryl answered, "My lady Lavender has very plain tea; she does not need any sugar to enhance her natural sweetness," earning a side glance and face palm from Lavender, but Meryl continues anyway, "I am Meryl," She added, just slightly rolling the 'r', "and for me, just water, please."
Also, now that they're inside rather than outside, Lavender's light flowery aroma is probably a lot more noticeable.
"Now, you simply must tell me all about yourselves"
"Not much to say about me really. I don't socialize much I tend to have my head buried in a book or sometimes a ruin or some other place away from people. I'm a bit scatter brained at times, always have some project or something on the go, like Bethany here." He says pointing to his crossbow.
"Oh Bethany here? She's my pride and joy, my pet project so to speak." As he is saying this he is looking his weapon over, while giving Kendra eye contact as he can. "I've spent years trying to perfect her, took a long time to get the firing mechanism just right. I'm nowhere near done, but when she is I'll be sure to show you." He then sets Bethany aside and fishes around his backback for a tool belt. Which he produces. It contains a few visible items such as: A hammer, tweezers, a file, a screw driver, scissors, thread and a needle. That's the visible bits.
Meryl looked towards Lavender as the question was posed, who at the time was sipping from the teacup. Placing it down, she began to move her hands in swift gestures animatedly, Meryl nodding before replying, "Similar to you, my lady is not very familiar with life outside of the place where she was raised. We hail from a forest a fair distance from here. Your messenger had their work cut out for them in finding us, a small, humble cottage in the woods," Meryl chuckled, "Ah, but I digress, my lady says that she is a young apothecary there, occasionally we get travellers from the village nearby looking for simple salves or tonics. However, as you heard earlier, she has gift with the magics she is blessed with. I am both her guardian, and voice."
"Is that so?" Kendra took a sip of her tea, glancing between Meryl and Lavender. "That's a bit of an unusual relationship, isn't it? But what would I know--we don't see many familiars around these parts. Most folk tend to see a talking animal and they're like to mistake you for a witch of some sort." She touched the eye-shaped brass amulet around her neck absent-mindedly.
"A familiar? Those are only known to respond to users of magic....witches, wizards mostly....are you one? I'll guess....." He mutters something about 'forest' 'salves' 'cottage.' "A witch?" He never once looks up from his work except now. "Lavander is it? Meryl speaks for you, did an accident take away your speech or is that just how you are? I dabble in potions to though, nothing to major. Mostly explosives. Oh speaking of!" He'll check his bag to make sure nothing is broken, melting or otherwise about to blow the house to high hell. "Anyways sorry sorry, please continue. I just get excited. One of the reasons I studied under the Professor was his knowledge on the occult and such. History, his travels. He was a brilliant man and provided so much." He'll point to Bethany again. "Helped me get my hands on her before I made a few improvements."
At this point he'll silence himself with pursed lips before he rambles because he has a tendency to.
Lavender began to sign excitedly, but Meryl simply laughed, "Quite, and isn't she just the cutest witch you've ever seen?" At which point Lavender reached up, placed both hands on either side of her hat, and tilted it down to hide her face, "But really, there was a grain of truth in that particular rumour. 'The witch of the forest.' That was originally in reference to my lady's mother. Although some might not like being called such, my lady is actually fond of the title, and is quite happy to have inherited a similar gift as her mother. As for vocal speech, that is something my lady is unable to do. That is, as you say, how she is."
As Lavender hid, Kendra attempted stifled a giggle with her hand, trying to be polite.
Carlyle then nods rapidly, fascinated. His body tense as if he is about to pounce but he doesn't. "Forgive me. I'm just fascinated by the arcane and such. If I had even a fraction of that kind of power I could accomplish so many things. But alas, I've just got my curiosity and determination." He then sheepishly chuckles at this before clearing his throat. "Anyways, I'd like to speak at length with you later, maybe you could show me how to make a healing potion or something." He rolls his right sleeve up past the elbow, and shows a rather nasty scar before rolling it back down. "My uh, work, tends to backfire....sometimes....often...."
and then he goes zip
Even though she was still hiding under her hat, Lavender's hands signed a quick response, which Meryl caught at the corner of her eye, "My lady suggests that because the process involves infusion of magical energy, a tonic capable of rapid regeneration of injury might be a bit out of reach. But she has learned of a few salves from her mother for easing pain and rashes."
Kendra grins, "You two sound like you'd probably get along fairly well with Jominda--you saw her at the funeral today. She runs the town apothecary. Most healing comes from the acolytes at the temple, though Jominda stocks a variety of magic potions of her own. She's a bit taciturn, but she's friendly enough if you get to know her."
"That's quite all right. Heavens know this house could use some animation in it after the last few weeks. I can see why my father took an interest in you. In some ways, you remind me of him."
Carlyle nods and smiles wide at this. "Perfect! Something more then explosives would be nice to know." He laughs and then looks at Kendra. "Sorry, got carried away."
There is a knock at the door. Kendra jumps up, then looks at the three empty teacups on the table. "Oh dear, is it that time already? Oh, how it flies when you're in good company."
Posted on 2017-01-27 at 22:28:29.
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Topic: Carrion Crown Adventure Path - Free Form
Subject: Words of kindness
As the pallbearers made their way to the prepared plot, Lavender lifted her twin flute to her lips and played a gentle, solemn tune as they went.
(BGM: A full moon in Garoh)
After the sermon, perhaps it was strange for Meryl to take place of the speaker, but then, the fox was clearly the speaker for Lavender, who so far had not spoken at all. This time, however, should it be noticed, Meryl spoke without Lavender's gesturing.
"Our first meeting with this human was very strange," Meryl spoke, "My dear lady had come to know strangers to either be lost in our woods, or ignorant rumour seekers. Yet, this man was neither, very curious, seeking to know truth behind the rumours of the witch in the woods, and no stranger to the arts she wielded. It was still early for our young lady, so perhaps she might not remember, but I do. My dear lady was suspicious, as she had much to be wary of from anyone calling themselves a professor. When she told him her tale, he surprised her with sympathy and understanding. Although she is unable to say so, I know that my dear lady would say that he was a good man, a seeker of knowledge that didn't allow the acquisition of knowledge to close his mind."
Posted on 2017-01-22 at 23:19:48.
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Topic: Carrion Crown Adventure Path - Free Form
Subject: AVARVA
As Lavender watched the humans interrupt their passage, she clapped her hands once in signal. When she felt the fox Meryl's gaze, her hands were a blur as she made quick gestures. Once done, she skipped forward, probably unnoticed by the others, their attention understandably on the opposite group. Yet, just when tensions boiled over, she brought the twin pipes to her lips and began to play.
Balancing on the balls of her feet, as she played a gentle, but deep and reflective melody, she moved with the music, tilting from one side to the other, especially during the longer held notes.
Provided the spell took effect, Merl stood by Lavender, silent before suddenly speaking, a bemused but gentle voice, "My lady suggests you all calm down, perhaps return to your houses, relax and enjoy a nice meal. Seems more pleasant than staying here, wouldn't you say?"
A bit of creative licensing on Meryl's part, but Lavender was used to that. At the very least, half of it was what she told Meryl to say for her.
Posted on 2017-01-15 at 02:53:41.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: Here we are, that took me a while
For all that Kara was, quick tempered, and trying to prove her strength at every opportunity, the fact remained that she was the first born of her litter. As her feline eyes narrowed, darting between each of the gen-pack and the Deviljho, she once again began to bring her wing-arm around Izzy protectively. But as her ears flicked and she listened, her expression changed from focus to shock. She couldn't believe this gen-pack were that stupid as well. Then she heard the roar.
In an instant, she brought Izzy into her arms and knelt down, her powerful legs poised to leap out of the way, and her tail balancing her as she waited. She recognized the look in the Deviljho's eyes. A predator searching for prey. Although she stood out as black against the ground, and she knew that the Deviljho had seen her already, she was counting on the panicking and provocation of the gen-pack to keep the Deviljho's attention. By staying still, she could keep her and Izzy out of immediate notice, but she remained ready in case she had to move in an instant.
Perhaps she needn't have worried. Once the gen-pack were scattered, the Deviljho had calmed down, but now approached them. No, not them, the body of the Barioth. Kara's sharp eyes could see the Deviljho beginning to salivate.
"...you gunna eat that?"
Kara shook her head, standing upright and carrying Izzy back a few paces, clearly leaving the body for the Deviljho, "No," she confirmed, in case the Deviljho were waiting to hear a response, "But if you are, we did use a few different poisons in our battle against him."
It was a fair warning, but somehow Kara felt that the Deviljho's powerful stomach and hunger wouldn't care too much as long as it was meat...
( For the record, phials used include: poison, blast and paralysis. Poison was one of the first ones, and probably purged from the Barioth's system; you can't make blast meat in game so there's probably no trace of blast left; but paralysis was used last, so using game terms the meat might still be slightly tinged, not as much as if it were raw meat with the poison directly applied to it )
Posted on 2016-12-31 at 13:19:40.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Same here, unfortunately
So many (hopeful from the marketing/planning offices) Q4 deadlines...
Posted on 2016-12-17 at 16:21:31.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Month of the nanowrimo
So that means I'm going to be more sparse than I usually am, as this is actually the first time I'm going to make an honest attempt at it. 
Just to let people know.
Posted on 2016-11-01 at 23:19:55.
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Topic: Jade Regent Adventure Path
Subject: Foxy fox, ki ki ki
If Fox were in her other form, her fur would have been standing on end. Scent of fire, and a decently loud bang. Thankfully, she kept her wits about her, sliding up to the goblin wielding the improvised weapon and downing them with a well placed stab. Hunter's instincts, she supposed.
"Well, fireworks confirmed," She muttered between gritted teeth, "One thinks that perhaps we should see if there's more of them stashed in that hut," She indicated the one that they were standing in front of.
With her free hand, she drew another dart hidden in the folds of her clothing. Better to be prepared, and hidden weapons weren't so useful when combat had already begun.
", If there are more, One wonders how useful they would be to use against them," She contemplated, eying the singe marks on Nona's outfit from the one flare she endured.
Posted on 2016-10-22 at 15:43:41.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Re: Kenneth (the npc I introduced)
That peep is a bit too intuitive for his own good, so I imagine he'll end up being a problem for certain factions eventually...
Granted, on the flipside he has a bit of a reputation for being somewhat eccentric, given that he chooses to work the night shift
Posted on 2016-10-18 at 21:06:48.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Hmm
The exact time frame wasn't something I had in mind, truly. So, as with most entries in a cooperatively written story, feel free to go with whichever is more fun to write 
Posted on 2016-10-18 at 08:26:30.
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Mood whiplash? Perhaps yes.
Janelle stirred from her nap, for a moment forgetting where she was. She blinked a few times at the ceiling, tilting her head to the side as she idly hallucinated patterns on it. Yet, as she tilted her head, she felt droplets slide down her cheek.
"Huh?" She reached up with a hand to check, and they were tears, "Why am I crying?"
As she thought, she remembered her dream. She remembered a voice in her dream. Smoke? She grimaced.
"I don't think I need my dreams getting any stranger by bringing real people into them," She muttered, remembering where she was. She began to stretch as she woke up more. She might not be on a major team, but being a gymnast certainly had a good impact on her flexibility.
"And now the most important part, check the time," She took a deep breath before checking her digital watch. There was a danger time approaching, but she was indoors, and her 'wards' were placed; she knew she was safe for now.
With a sigh of relief, she fell off of the bed. In the process though, she held her hands forward, using her forearms to soften the fall into a forward roll, completing the motion and uncurling her body to stand up on her feet.
"I'm up!" She giggled. She didn't actually yell, but it had that hint of triumph in her voice.
Posted on 2016-10-14 at 01:02:17.
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: It's standard procedure
Kenneth rubbed his forehead, feeling the creases above his eyebrows. His case just got a whole lot weirder. Either that or some higher up decided to toss this new thing in his inbox for the laughs. He wasn't laughing. In fact, it was the one thing he had hoped he would be wrong about.
On the table in the morgue was the body of a child. Normally he was unaffected by the presence of a dead body, but this one... this one was just creepy. None of the morticians wanted to approach the body, and he couldn't blame them.
Based on the report when the call was received, some teenagers were hoping to get a shortcut through the alley and avoid rush hour. They wouldn't have noticed the body if not for the crows. A flock of crows, just sitting on the fire escapes of the adjacent buildings, not making a sound. On the ground, several dead vermin and one dead crow forming a rough outline around the body, about a foot away, as though they couldn't get closer to do what it is scavengers do.
No one wanted to touch the body, let alone move it, but it was procedure, and now it was here, and would remain here until the morticians finally figured out who would bite the bullet and analyze the body properly. Kenneth wouldn't be surprised if they all called in sick tomorrow. Hell, he felt sick too, looking at those... wings... or whatever they were. Still moving, twitching, despite the girl being quite apparently dead.
Yet that bothered him too. There was no sign of any visible wound. Nothing to indicate how she died.
Feeling an involuntary shiver, Kenneth left the morgue, quick to put that place behind him.
"Going on break," He told the secretary in the front office.
"Isn't it a bit early for you?"
"Yeah," He muttered, "Still going on break. Need to pick up some beer."
She blinked, "You, drink on the job? Is it that rough?"
Kenneth nodded as he exited the front door, stepping into the evening, "Yeah, yeah it is. Might want to let people know not to go to the morgue, room A4."
Posted on 2016-10-03 at 23:50:27.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: All things considered that was a very long battle. The next one will be really short though I imagin
With a growl, the Bariorth staggered underneath Izzy, unbalanced by both the toxin still affecting himl and her weight shifting towards one side as he moved to get off of his injured shoulder. Perhaps it was the sound of him shifting his weight as well as Izzy's distraction that prevented her from noticing her assailant.
Thankfully, said assailant was just a round ball of chitin, but it was still enough to knock into Izzy's side, and send her off of the Barioth.
As the Barioth struggled onto his feet, he gave a snort, "Ha, you-you should be the ones surrendering."
He couldn't do much now, but he started to chuckle, before he let out a groan. Kara didn't give him time to get up, landing with a downward slice with her good wing blade. With that, he succumbed to his many injuries and fell still. Kara breathed heavily, even as her eyes lost their red glow. Her hands shook as she stood upright, in spite of the cold leaving the area with the Barioth no longer sustaining it.
"Izzy?" She asked. Normally, Felynes would dig to get away and recover in a relatively hidden spot. She didn't see Izzy do that, and for that fancy shield that Izzy had shown her, she was a little bit worried, her voice betraying her emotion.
Moving over to where she had seen Izzy land, she saw that the Konchu was no longer there. She guessed Izzy gave it a good kick, as opposed to swatting them with a tail given Izzy's lack of a tail. Kneeling, Kara used her good arm to help prop Izzy up. She wouldn't be able to carry Izzy, but she could at least help her up.
"You're trembling," She observed.
If Izzy was going to offer sharp wit in response though, it was cut off by Kara suddenly growling, shifting her grip on Izzy to leave her good wing blade free, plucking another spike from her tail. The small humanoid shapes that were approaching were very similar to the Velociprey they had dealt with the other day, but had more muted colours of yellow and grey. Genprey and two Gendrome. They were not what Kara was looking at, however, her gaze directed towards the shaking trees as she felt the ground tremble.
Kara inhaled sharply as she saw the massive deviljho push through the foliage. Although Kara was used to being small, the deviljho would have towered several feet over any Nargacuga.
"Not good," Kara muttered, hand poised to throw the spike in her hand as her tail struck the ground in frustration. She was nearly at her limit, and she was sure Izzy was not doing so good either.
"See, we told you it was this way!" One of the gendrome barked at the deviljho.
Another piped up, "Too slow, Kevin looks like he got mauled."
"By those? He got killed by a runt? And some weird thing? What is that anyway?"
Kara's eyes narrowed, and she growled, her eyes beginning to flicker with a red aura again. She couldn't deny the damage her body had taken though, and she winced, the pain keeping her temper in check for now. She had to get Izzy somewhere safer first, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she gave in to her temper. She shifted her stance a bit, getting ready to move...
Posted on 2016-10-01 at 00:33:09.
Edited on 2016-10-01 at 01:22:43 by Reralae
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: I just noticed something
One of Alice's Tainted characteristics is that, like a vampire in this setting, she has to spend essence in order to be perceived as alive.
If she's sleeping and didn't spend the essence... she'd be easily mistaken as dead.
There's a lot of things that work in her favour to give her the necessary time to recover. But now, what I really want to see happen at some point... Alice walking up unnoticed and reaches up to hold on to Xana's hand. A small hand that is cold, with no pulse, but still moving...
Posted on 2016-09-29 at 08:33:47.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Hehe, I did the same thing
That emote is kitty, as opposed to meow
Really good to see you again Meri, it's been quite a long time. We haven't gotten too much ahead from where we left it, but rereading the thread is something I'm going to do too.
After all, I'll need to remember if you left Janelle with access to the closet where Alex is keeping all the books 
Posted on 2016-09-28 at 22:42:29.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Hmm
There's a song that comes to mind that would match whenever Alice shows up. Just thought I'd share
To answer your question, yes, I am of course picking up Janelle too. Wouldn't be right to play one without the other.
Oh, and when the in-game day is over, I think I have another Alice post for that point in time... it won't be from her POV but you can't just leave a body laying around in a city, even if it is in an alley.
Psst, I am also liking our first glance of Cyrene...
Posted on 2016-09-28 at 19:54:39.
Edited on 2016-09-28 at 19:55:48 by Reralae
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Here we are...
Very convincing, isn't it?
But Xana was not privy to what Smoke knew, what she saw in Roseanne's memory. Alice has survived death twice already... and everyone turned their back on the body
Posted on 2016-09-28 at 08:36:40.
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: How do you kill an angel of death?
Rewind... for the other side.
Alice stared up at Penelope with wide eyes. Penelope had to be firm with her power, but Alice's innocence gave the girl a strange manner of resistance. It was not the same as using a compulsion on an adult human - an adult's mind could comprehend certain things better than a child's. Yet, even as Alice looked up sadly, Penelope knew she had succeeded.
"Mother..."
Alice closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She could do this. She could see her parents again. And then maybe they'd all find Jen together too.
As her vile power was turned on herself, she felt cold in her chest. Then she felt hot, a searing sensation at the back of her head.
Then it went dark.
* * *
The universe loves to prove me wrong, doesn't it, He had inwardly groaned as he saw the woman continue to escort the girl. It was too risky to take a shot like that.
And then, the scenario changed.
It was a gamble, he knew that. It was also the darn best scenario a marksman could hope for. The girl looked... well, rather strange in person, and oddly sickening to his eyes. But, if you looked past those things that indicated something other than human, she looked forlorn. The woman had said something to her, something that gave her pause, and the girl had closed her eyes. The woman then turned to leave - she wouldn't see his shot.
Yet, in the process, he hesitated. This was too damn convenient.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
He grit his teeth and fired. The suppressor took care of the main source of noise, and he had enough time to ensure his aim was as good as it was going to get. It struck the girl in the back of the head.
She landed on the pavement with a very audible thud.
Yet, despite that, the woman never looked back. He had expected her to investigate, but... it looked as though he would be undetected. A perfect takedown.
Too damn convenient.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Gritting his teeth for the second time in as few minutes, he made his departure.
Waving a hand, he gave a sigh of relief, Thank you, the universe.
Now to collect his payment.
Posted on 2016-09-28 at 08:27:56.
Edited on 2016-09-28 at 08:31:41 by Reralae
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Hmms
If Boo Boo's villain ever needs another hired gun, they may be able to use the guy in my previous post that was given Alice as a mark
I'm overdue for a post in Wheel of Fate but I was on vacation so that's part of why I was quite visibly absent
Going to get an Alice post in when I can, getting a strong idea in my head of what exactly Xana did, and not only would it work, but it would give her good reason to feel guilty about it, keep the consistency.
Posted on 2016-09-28 at 07:58:33.
Edited on 2016-09-28 at 07:58:54 by Reralae
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Meow?
 I heard my name spoken, and so here I am
(If explanation is needed, I do have email notifications still from this thread, and I'm quite prepared to continue where we left off )
As to what happened, I have a good idea of what it was that happened. Don't worry, nothing needs to be changed. At the time of writing, back then, I was hoping to bring together the plot lines with Katul and Alice a little bit, but as mentioned, without Meri, it'll feel a bit peculiar to continue that plotline right now.
That being said,
• Alice will remember that,
(Psst, think I should add an Alice post or think that suspense should be kept for now?)
Posted on 2016-09-28 at 00:45:30.
Edited on 2016-09-28 at 00:57:45 by Reralae
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: That is one effective boomerang
Kara's breath came in quick, rapid bursts, in time with every leap she made. Much of it was connected to her training. Don't stay in one place. Don't make give him a target. Strike when unexpected.
The problem was that the barioth was entirely expecting her now.
"Kara!"
Kara's ears twitched at the call, and she landed. She didn't need to see Izzy to know where the human was, and she leapt away before the next impact could strike.
"I'm making us some cover. Watch out!"
Kara nodded even though Izzy could not see her. The barioth, however, had a different impression of the type of cover that Izzy was going for.
"Cover isn't going to stop these!" he boasted as he inhaled deeply. Yet, rather than launch another log, he blew an icy tornado through the trees. He needed to flush Kara out in order to get a clear shot at her.
However, the rising mist made that impossible. Knowing that she was now hidden, Kara closed her eyes and went still, focusing on her breathing, taking deeper, quieter breaths. She knew how to remain hidden and knew to take the time to recover.
"What is this?" The barioth asked, before hearing the impending projectile part the air. He swerved to one side, feeling a sting as it clipped him, "Really? Really? Are you just throwing sticks at me now?"
He began to laugh at how absurd he found that idea, and was still laughing when the boomerang made its return trip right square at the back of his head with a solid thunk. A quick swat sent the boomerang flying away, but he heard its impending return and growled, "What sort of trick is this?"
Yet, as he went to swat it this time, there was another growl as Kara took the opportunity to strike the outstretched limb with her uninjured wing blade in a quick strike and leap away. The Barioth's growl of frustration turned into a howl of pain as a solid crack sounded through the area, and his outstretched limb was scarred. Unhindered, the boomerang landed square against his head yet again, and he fell to the ground with an almost comical thud on his knees.
Stretching his wing arms, he took a deep breath and leapt into the air once more, breathing a wider but vastly weaker whirlwind downward to clear the mist.
Kara's eyes shone red as she roared, leaping into the air before he had the opportunity to react. She slammed her uninjured wing blade into his already injured back, and with her other claw smashed a phial into the same spot, before flipping to knock him out of the air and leap off of his back. She landed not far from Izzy, leaning hard on her hand to skid on the ground to turn and face the barioth once more. She faltered briefly, both of her wing blades now visibly scarred and chipped now from intensive use.
For his part, the barioth tried to get up, but couldn't. He made gutteral sounds as he got on to all fours, his body not responding to his efforts, and the yellow liquid seemed to visibly spark along the point of impact on his back.
Posted on 2016-06-23 at 03:12:32.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: You know it's a boss when it is particularly resilient
The barioth stood up, "Lucky hit," He spat, face returning to normal hue. The poison apparently wore off. Leaping up, the barioth maintained air for a moment, before diving directly towards Kara and Izzy in what would be a full body slam if it hit.
Kara, using her advantage of being on all fours, put her full strength into leaping airborne. Incidentally, she cleared herself out of the way of the Barioth's charge. Unfortunately she couldn't grab Izzy with her, or perhaps that was fortunate, as she also didn't know if Izzy could land safely.
Izzy didn't freeze up when the big cat leapt into the air. She glanced behind her, backing subtly as the barioth hung in the air, aiming his dive. Kara took off with finely honed cat-like reflexes diving free, but Izzy had a crazier idea.
"You keep saying 'lucky' as if that's gonna change that you got you ass whupped by a pair of little girls!"
Izzy's panicked squeak was lost in the rush of wind from the barioths' pseudo-wings. The strike came even faster than she could have expected, but she didn't need to outrun the attack--she only needed to outrun a tree.
As soon as the barioth folded his wings to go for the dive, Izzy about-faced into the trees as quickly as she could. She swung herself around the thickest tree she could reach in the split-second rush and waited for impact.
The barioth did dive directly at Izzy, knowing that it'd be a lot harder to hit Kara in mid-air, but what happened was a bit different than what Izzy expected. Landing on the ground about a foot from the tree, the barioth's momentum kept it moving forward, and he clawed the trunk, twisting around it and slamming into Izzy. It was not quite full force, but it was still a decent body slam.
"Eep!" Izzy squeaked a second time when a claw that seemed like it must be almost the size of her head slammed into the trunk next to her. She had no time to react--though the barioth had lost much of his momentum, his strength and ferocity were not abated. He slammed into her, knocking her off her feet backward. Despite her armour the impact rattled through her body, throwing her several feet away. Her sword fell somewhere nearby.
When her eyes refocused, she saw the barioth winding a follow-up. She forgot about her sword. Escape was the essence of the moment. She rolled over and saw she had landed near one of the larger pieces of log that had been scattered and destroyed by Kara's explosion. Without hesitation she crawled into the narrow gap formed where the log was propped on one side by a rock.
A moment later the barioth ploughed through where she had just been squeezing. In his haste to get to her he leapt over the log, knocking it loose of the position it had fallen, erasing the natural gap that had formed.
There was no Izzy on the other side.
Behind Izzy the portal she had opened crashed shut behind her as the gateway was destroyed. She ran a quick count of limbs. Everything was there. There was no time to rest, though. With no anchoring gate, the layer of reality around her was terribly fragile.
"Hey! Over here!"
In an instant, Kara was on top of the Barioth, stabbing spikes into his back with both her hands, before leaping off of him, hardly being careful about unnecessary force with her footclaws. Landing a few good feet away, she smirked at him as the spikes exploded and he roared in pain.
Izzy emerged, coughing and covered in mud and dirt, from a foxhole over a dozen metres from where she vanished, much to the distress of the felyne who had taken refuge there from the rain.
She took a moment to gather her bearings, then noticed she had ended up not so far from where she'd left her backpack earlier. Keenly aware of her lack of a weapon, Izzy ran to the pack to find something she could use to help Kara out.
Kara didn't wait for long after the boom before she was right up in the barioth's face again. Slashing left and right with her wing blades, and drawing blood from where his natural armour was getting worn out. A good swat from the barioth in retaliation wasn't enough to hurt her, but it did stagger her long enough for him to give her a strong kick and knock her into a tree. Withdrawing breath, he blew another ice whirlwind, but it was at one of the logs, hurling it into the air and through the tree Kara had been knocked against. Thankfully she had dived out of the way in time. Certainly showed what he intended to use the logs for.
Posted on 2016-05-20 at 03:06:44.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: Battle Joined
She pushed herself back, but it wasn't quite fast enough, and he knocked her back and into the air. After a flip, she clawed the ground with her hands to regain balance, landing on all fours. Her eyes flashed red as she took a deep breath, letting out a feral roar that seemed louder than her small frame should be able to do. There was a rattling sound and she flipped forward, her tail spikes sticking on end as she slammed her tail into the barioth and the ground. He was caught very much off guard by the ferocity behind the attack, the spikes drawing blood.
In an immediate follow up since the tail slam hit, she spun around to knock him away, this time further than her original hit. On the ground, and probably unnoticed, the plates that fell off of the barioth managed to flip back over. One of the konchu managed to notice Izzy, and naturally did what a konchu does best, curling up into a ball and rolling at her.
Izzy got to one knee. She wrapped one gloved hand around the hilt of her sword, keeping low so the barioth would forget about her. With the other hand she plucked up the insect.
She looked up to check Kara's progress, but found more pressing matters coming her way. One of the scraps of armour was rolling directly toward her. With no time to react, or bring her sword up, she thrust her fist out, backed with the force of her aura.
Izzy winced. There was a faint crunch from her hand at the moment of impact--the small insect in her hand had perished. The konchu bounced away, once again on its back.
Izzy was certainly not on the barioth's mind as he shook his head, recovering from the impact from Kara's tail, "Certainly a quick little thing. Quick to move, and quick to anger," he smirked, "What? I said nothing that wasn't true," while he talked, he was lowering his centre of gravity, clearly preparing for another leap.
"Hey, you, with the bad dentistry!" Izzy called, appearing from the bush at a run. The barioth turned. He'd almost forgotten he'd seen two girls hiding in the bush, much less count the 'felyne' as a serious threat.
"Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! Are you mad I broke your stupid armour?" It didn't matter what she actually said, she just wanted his eyes on her.
Izzy made a straight line for the ice cat. It would have been pathetically simple to dodge out of the way if he actually thought he was in any real danger. Where a moment before he'd been prepared to pounce on Kara, he adjusted course and pounced at the human girl.
Holding her fire until there was no chance to escape, Izzy raised her empty hand, clenched in a tight fist since she punched the konchu. She shut her eyes and opened her hand. From her palm there was a brilliant flash of light--the peculiarly explosive reaction of a flashbug's bodily fluids mixing with the oxygen in the air.
The barioth didn't have a moment to guess where he'd gone wrong. He unintentionally checked his own momentum, flailing out with his wing-arms and dropping to the ground in front of Izzy. Not his best moment.
Kara growled as the barioth had turned, but there was something wrong in Izzy's stance to Kara, the lack of a readiness to dodge. That told her that Izzy was prepared to do something. Taking the opportunity to prepare something of her own, she reached behind her, looking back to grab a violet vial from her pack. It was quite lucky she did so, looking as she poured the flask over her tail spikes at the moment the flash happened. Without hesitation, she leapt into the air, landing with a satisfying thud on top of the barioth with another flip, slamming the poisoned tail spikes into his back.
The barioth's face took a slightly purple hue as the poison entered his system. Dazed or not, he wasn't going to take this laying down. Taking a breath, he let out his own roar of defiance, before whipping around with his tail. Kara was knocked back by the force of the blow, wincing as she felt the blow and the chill from it jarring her arms which soaked the main impact.
Izzy stumbled back, covering her ears. The roar was positively deafening from this close. She fell to one knee just in time to avoid being clipped by the same swipe that knocked Kara back.
"All right, all right, we hear you, you dumb brute." Izzy came up from the barioth's blind spot, swinging her sword two-handed. The blow landed on the back of the big cat's neck. The sword failed to penetrate the thick plating, but it got his attention.
Unlike with her initial charge, Izzy knew enough to keep her feet moving in a fight. She jumped to the side as the barioth turned to swipe at her with a wing blade, then attacked again, this time connecting with his other wing blade, momentarily matching muscle for muscle. Right where she did not want to be.
The barioth, registering the hit, suddenly drew breath, rearing back before blowing another ice blast towards where he detected Izzy's blade. The blast itself was not angled right to hit her, but the whirlwind that resulted when the blast hit the ground certainly was.
Kara pressed forward, wing blade sharply impacting the barioth's side, but not powerful enough to pierce the natural plating.
"You just don't know when to give it up, you are not strong you little runt," He growled, back handing Kara to stagger her, before twisting his body around, smashing his own spiked wing arm into hers. There was a loud crack sound, and Kara's howl. Her left wing blade was broken.
"Want some more?" He brought his claw in an uppercut, but even though she was hit, Kara went with the motion, backflipping and slamming her tail into the barioth again, knocking both of them apart.
Izzy was blown away by the icy surge of wind. She landed in a pile of partially frozen slush, shivering. Her bare arms and legs had started to numb with the constant cold.
All this vanished from her mind when she heard Kara's howl. Izzy forced herself up, clumsy with stiffness. Fighting her chattering teeth, she noticed the rain had left long shallow pools all over the ground--including below the barioth's feet, his weight making him sink just a little bit into the soft mud. Perhaps just enough.
Izzy traced another seal on the surface of the water. Though not affixed to a firm surface, it glowed faintly beneath her hand. With a surge of will, the water suddenly flash froze beneath the barioth's feet.
This was a non-issue for him, being a creature of ice, but just for the moment his feet were immobilized.
"You. Leave. Her. Alone!"
The barioth had to strain his neck to see Izzy coming. A billow of steam seemed to be forming off her sword. Izzy charged at him, leaping into the air. She brought her sword down. She might have struck him in the back of his head if he didn't twist. Instead the blow fell on his back, next to the shoulder. He was well armoured there, but the blade was hot from the transference. It would have stung at least a little.
The barioth wrenched his feet free of the thin ice...
The barioth growled at the hit, wincing under the elemental fire-like effect. Shaking his head he muttered, "Got to give credit to your felyne. She's stronger than you. Tricky too," As he pulled his feet from the frozen ground.
The barioth growled at the hit, wincing under the elemental fire-like effect. Shaking his head he muttered, "Got to give credit to your felyne. She's stronger than you. Tricky too," As he pulled his feet from the frozen ground.
Kara, however, wasn't listening. She was already in mid air, taking advantage of this new opening that Izzy gave her. Despite a broken wing blade, her aim was still good, and she slammed her tail down on top of him, sending him into the ground head first. There was no reprieve as he pushed himself back up, with Kara twirling around to slam her tail into his face. There was a satisfying crack as he recoiled, tusks broken cleanly off of his face.
Kara snarled at him, "I. Am. Not. Weak."
Posted on 2016-05-20 at 03:01:27.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: Barioth Encountered
At the area, the sound of the waterfall was probably quite useful to overlay the sound of Kara and Izzy approaching. A fairly well toned, white figure appeared to be streamlining the tree trunks that he had collected with his claws, slashing away errant branches, and making the tips pointier. His white body had bronze-like plating at his shoulders and hips, perhaps some kind of armour.
"Barioth. Since when did they come this far south? Explains the temperature. Stupid ice cats." Kara muttered. Reaching into her acorn, she withdrew a single vial of green liquid, dipping a tail spike into it, and hurling it at the offending pile of tree trunks.
Izzy's eyes swept up and down the muscular sabre-toothed man. "Daaang," she breathed with admiration. "He's big." She kept her head down, noting the bronze plates he was wearing and looking for any obvious weaknesses. She didn't want to get pinned down by this opponent--she had her strength in terms of her array of magic, but if she got caught in a physical contest of brawn she would be nothing. Best to strike hard and fast and keep the upper hand.
The explosion from the slime-coated tail spike did not include the Barioth in the radius, but it was strong enough to scatter the pile of tree trunks that he might have otherwise used as cover.
In the instant after the explosion, Izzy leapt up from hiding. While the saboteur's senses were still recovering from the effects of the explosion, she traced a circle in the air, pouring her energy out into a small diagram.
"Gah! Who's there? Ruined a perfectly good pile of tree spears, I hope you know," He growled, recovering from the surprise and stepping towards Kara and Izzy.
The barioth took a step in the girls' direction, ready to bring the fight to them the moment he saw them. Perhaps a step just too hasty on his part, not seeing anything amiss until the last moment. The magic circle Izzy made in the air locked onto him. A shimmering bolt of energy erupted from the circle, flying directly toward him, followed by another, then another. The white rune pulsed faintly with each kinetic bolt fired, letting out just over a dozen in less than half that time.
"Bwuh?!" The first few blasts staggered the Barioth, but he dropped to one knee, bracing for impact of the continued assault, knocking both shoulder plates off and flying to the sides. Despite being under fire, he pushed off the ground hard to leap into the air, evading several of Izzy's bursts unless they were redirected mid flight.
Spreading his arms, he actually kept aloft, taking a deep breath and a white blast appeared from his mouth, landing just in front of Izzy and Kara, erupting into a brief tornado of slush.
Kara wasted no time, leaping out of the way, and rebounding off of the side of the path to land on all fours beside the Barioth with a growl, twisting around to smack him with her tail, knocking him back a few paces and knocking the plates on his hips off as well.
Izzy watched the first few shots of her spell land, then remembered to move before she was caught flat-footed. She ducked right, hoping to get around the white cat while he focused on Kara.
She didn't make it far before the barioth's leap into the air caught her attention. The last few kinetic bolts sailed off into the air, unable to keep up with the sudden movement. Izzy stopped moving, crouching in the grass to watch as he hung in the air for a couple wingbeats, waiting to see what he would do. This was a mistake.
The buff cat spat a cold, white burst at the girls. Kara leapt clear immediately, but Izzy's reflexes weren't prepared. She threw herself away from the impact, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid being glazed by the icy wind. Her armour blunted the shards of ice from slicing open her skin, but it couldn't stop the cold.
Izzy landed heavily and rolled a few paces. The trees and undergrowth conveniently sheltered her from the barioth's immediate line of sight as she recovered.
There was movement on the tree next to her.
"Wait a minute, I recognize that bug..." she said.
"You've got some nerve attacking me like that," The barioth growled, "Are you even worth my time? Look at yourself, you're just a runt!" To accentuate the point, he twisted his body and rammed himself forward, shoulder angled to try and catch Kara with the full force behind it.
Posted on 2016-05-20 at 02:53:38.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: Gobul eat a snickers
"Hold up there. Signs of life, y'say? Just gimme a minute here." Moving strangely fast for a rotund critter, he managed to shuffle past Izzy and was down the cave lip before either of them could react, bowling Kara back into the water in his haste. Who knew they could shuffle so fast? Kara quickly reappeared, growling at the unexpected plunge, and there was the sound of something like a very rapid wind storm echo into the cave, before it suddenly stopped.
Taking a breath, Kara rubbed the back of her head, walking closer to Izzy, "I guess he really was hungry," She tilted her head at Izzy, "Your voice seemed to change though when you were-"
"Ahhhhh~! That hits the spot!" The gobul waddled back into the cave, stomach visibly gorged with what must have been the recent meal, "You two are alright. Bloke yer probably after, sounded like 'e was headed north east, perhaps headed towards the falls."
Kara almost had the complete 'why couldn't you have just said that earlier' look to her face, but didn't voice it.
Izzy lent Kara a hand crawling back out of the water. Before the nargacuga could finish half her sentence, the gobul was back, now approaching a fully spherical shape with his latest meal. If before he came close to filling the entrance to his hut, now it was a fact.
"Just one, then? Headed northeast? That's... actually very helpful." Izzy rubbed her arm, the bravado from a moment ago gone. If she'd known the fastest way to his heart would have been through his stomach, she'd have packed a lot more food. "I guess we should go check it out right away. Thank-you, sir."
There was some manoeuvring to get past the engorged fishman before the girls could leave, and both Izzy and Kara found themselves standing flat against the walls while gobul came out of the hut's entrance. Izzy looked down at the water--she was almost beginning to feel dry already. Oh well, there was no point drying off down here. She pulled her goggles down again over her eyes and turned to Kara. "You ready?"
Kara nodded to Izzy, diving back into the water. Perhaps it was a good thing that gobul tended to swallow its prey whole - that meant there was no cadaver remnants awaiting either Kara or Izzy as they left and returned to the surface. Once they reached there, the surface of the water was busy being broken by the droplets the clouds decided they finally were ready to part with.
Izzy surfaced and moaned at the sky. "Oh good, it's not like I was looking forward to putting on dry clothes, anyway."
"Blegh, well, if I wasn't wet already this would be more annoying than it is," Kara muttered, her breath misting in front of her from the faint chill of the air. She paused, tilting her head upward to sniff at the air, "You'd better put your armour back on either way."
Izzy shivered, noticing the drop in temperature more now that she was out of the water. "Good idea. If it was just one guy who's been knocking down trees in this area, I'd better be in full gear."
The air seemed a bit colder, but that was probably just due to the rain. Stepping to one side, Kara took the opportunity to try and shake much of the water off of her fur, even though it was a futile gesture in the long term, seeing as the weather, even if it was currently a soft rain, would do its part in keeping her from being dry. Izzy likewise took the opportunity to get dressed again without Kara's observation. Which totally was a completely rational justification. Okay it wasn't but when you're from a culture that has a nudity taboo, it's a bit hard to shake off.
Kara leapt onto a tree stump just before the path upward towards the waterfall area. She stayed crouched on all fours, head raised to the air. "Damn rain, even this mist is masking scents. Guess we'll have to be ready in case they're there."
Posted on 2016-05-20 at 02:45:34.
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Topic: Auguries of Destruction - Wheel of Fate
Subject: One Awkward Moment
Izzy scanned her surroundings. Mainly plants. Plants and bugs. She could try asking one of the insects, but even if she did get one that didn't fly off immediately, chances were very low it would have bothered to remember seeing anything much larger than itself that was neither prey nor predator. The plants, on the other hand, had excellent peripheral awareness--only problem, ironically, was getting one to notice the question, then waiting for it to decide on the answer. Most likely it wouldn't be much faster than just walking around the lake hoping to bump into somebody.
"Welp." Izzy looked out over the lake. "I guess there's really nothing else for it. We'll have to go under."
"So, we go change, then meet back here in fi--" the human girl turned Kara. Very suddenly she became aware of the full ramifications of a society in which fur and scale had invalidated most of the need for clothing.
Izzy's tannish face flushed with pinkish red. "Uh, er. Right." She coughed unconvincingly, staring at her toes. "No sense wasting time, then."
Izzy quickly stripped out of her armour and down to her undergarments and stuffed her clothing into her bag.
After she closed the bag she drew a seal in the air over the opening. "There. I've locked it off so nothing gets wet." The seal glowed for a moment around the mouth of her backpack, then faded.
Finally, Izzy covered her mouth with one hand and focused.
"And that should be everything." She threw her backpack over her shoulder and picked up her sword. "All set."
Kara looked very confused at Izzy's reddish coloration, "Your cheeks are red," She pointed out, "Is that supposed to mean something?" She'd ask, in case it was something that Izzy needed to be aware of. She wouldn't know really.
"Nothing! Nothing! Not a thing!" Izzy squeaked, suddenly shy, at Kara's inquiry. She turned partly away from her companion, failing to conceal that the peculiar colour was deepening further.
With a nod, Kara leapt into the water. Despite reservations about swimming, she actually didn't cause much of a disturbance along the lake's surface.
It didn't take too long to find a house that looked very out of place on the floor of the lake, with most of the silt actually hovering near the surface of the water rather than in the middle of it. It was strange looking, but didn't have a door on it. Instead, it was more like an underwater cave system, with enough of a lip that you had to swim up to enter, preventing most of the water from entering.
"Ey! Anybeast home?" Kara called inside.
"Aint my mess, I tell you! Razafrazzin outsiders making a mess out there! Not me!" Came the reply, the lantern providing enough light to give Izzy a full on look at the Gobul, and just how many teeth and hinting at how wide his mouth actually could open.
Whatever had been wrong with Izzy's face returned to normal by the time they made it into the water. Aided by her goggles, Izzy could see better than she expected, though still not very well all considered. Pointedly she noticed a rather large shape swimming docily away--though she didn't know what it was called, the epioth did not look particularly dangerous.
The gobul man swayed with a peculiar gait as he walked through the cave, causing the lantern dangling over his head to flail about haphazardly. It was only when he stopped moving to size the two girls up that Izzy's eyes had adjusted. It was like his whole body plan had been designed around his massive mouth, which he now kept closed in a tight frown. Even though he wasn't very much taller than them, he was almost as wide as he was tall, so he dwarfed the girls by comparison.
"Uh, what ain't your mess?" Izzy asked.
The fish man's small eyes turned to her. Suddenly she felt naked without her armour--more out of realization that her soaked undershirt would prove very poor comparison than out of any lingering misplaced sense of modesty.
"Oh no, you don't. Don't play me for a fool, you weird looking felyne! I did nothing. Get outta here," The grump huffed as he continued advancing towards Kara and Izzy.
Kara gave a growl in response, a low tone, but still distinctively a growl, "Calm down. I'm not here for you. What's with the outsiders you're talking about? Where are they?"
"Right in front of me I bet. What, knocking trees down willy nilly, scaring the food away wasn't enough for you? Got to get into my home too? What's your deal? Aren't you just a kid?" The Gobul stared intently at Kara.
Kara bared and grit her teeth, her eyes flickering red even with the low light of the lantern. If there was one thing that could press her buttons, it was comments about her height or apparent age.
Oh dear. Izzy stepped in, placing a hand on Kara's shoulder. "Let's see how talking goes, first. There'll be plenty of time to see who kicks who's ass later."
"And you," Izzy's tone took a decidedly more dangerous cadence. "You weird-looking fish! You call this grotto your home, do you? Why y'ain't even invited your guests in yet!" The small girl marched on the gobul, leaving behind dripping footprints. She came face-to-face with the rotund fish monster, standing on tip-toe to come close to the level of his beady eyes. "O'course I'd like be a might cranky if all my food had gone run away, too. Suppose that's why it took us so long to find any sign of life in these waters, that right? Something or someone's been scaring all the fi--err, food out of the water."
"So now that we're all on the same page, I'd thank you not to let your irritation overcome your better judgement such that y'd be threatening a couple of girls you mistook for children. Now how about y'be tellin' us all about what's been happening 'round here and let two Agents of the crown see if they don't just figure out your problems for ya?"
That last bit was probably the riskiest thing. Folks like this gobul were just as likely to spit in the face of any perceived meddling from the central authority, but Izzy was riding on the hope that he'd see the advantages of letting somebody else make his problems their problem and do the dirty work for him.
Posted on 2016-05-20 at 02:41:58.
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