Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:36 am**

Stefan was a close enough friend that Eitan didn't flinch when his hand came up as if to touch his face, though under Stefan's gloved hand, his ears felt different. He didn't notice the change without the active touch, but he immediately tucked his firearm under his arm to bring his hand up to his other ear, eyes widening as he realized they had returned to the shape that had been until Dr. Stechpalme had expertly reshaped them with her surgical skill and healed without much in the way of scarring with judicious use of state-sanctioned divine magic. His ears hadn't been whole since puberty began, and suddenly he felt all those adolescent insecurities flooding into his psyche as if they had never gone.

But he was just as confused as Stefan, and when his winged doppelgänger began to move of its own volition rather than mirroring Stefan himself, Eitan stared as well. The figure was strange and beatific, so familiar and yet so alien. He found himself distracted even from that apparition by how the air that whorled from its wings seemed shimmeringly alive, and how he could hear it singing. He shook his head, but nothing changed.

Eitan holstered his gun; it wasn't the appropriate weapon for this. He tried to get a sense for everything around him through his aura glass, ready to play fast and loose with his Negation if that proved necessary to get both Stefan and himself to safety. Of course, there was always his subtle knife. But even as he calculated exit strategies, Stefan and his copy began to merge. And then everything started getting well and truly strange...

"Stef..."

The Watcher didn't know whether he could trust his eyes as even the aura glass corroborated what he was seeing. Perhaps this entity or phenomenon was playing directly upon their minds.

Posted: **Wed Jan 05, 2022 2:40 am**

The feeling of being filled, fulfilled, that had encompassed him since he had been embraced by the creature that looked so like him was still there, warm inside him, like an ember wrapped in layers of insulation. The insulation, however, felt like it was beginning to burn. The pain was not generalized, but rather concentrated on his shoulder blades, which felt, quite distinctly and rather unmistakably, as though two separate somethings were trying to claw their way out of the muscle and bone of his upper back.

Instinct reacted faster than he did. While startlement and confusion were still making their way across his face his hands were throwing off the shoulder strap of his rifle then fumbling their way out of his long coat so quickly one of his gloves remained in the sleeve.

There followed his jacket, protective vest, and, last, as the pain grew to the point that, even with his teeth gritted, sound was forcing its way between them, his shirt. The last article was removed so violently that the collar and cuffs ripped, sending tiny buttons scattering onto the stone and into the little pools that surrounded them.

Turning his back to Eitan he tried to get his hands back around to feel what was happening to him. As soon as his companion could see it would be obvious that something was imminently wrong; the skin that covered each shoulder blade blunged and writhed, pressing out to the size of a fist, and then quickly larger as Stefan's growl of pain became a helpless scream.

In a moment the skin was splitting and out sprouted what, for a moment, looked like long vines. The illusion of flora lasted only a moment as what became obviously wings spread from the new holes. They stretched and grew until they were the same size as those that the Other had born on his back. The holes hardly bled, only a trickle escaping each to slide down Stefan's now sweat-covered back, before they closed up tightly around the base of the wings, looking as though they had always been there.

The wings were wet, but obviously feathered and would be a tawny brown with bits of white, once they were dried. Stefan had stopped screaming and was hunched down, curled around his own knees, though still on his feet, panting and shaking. He recovered from what was obviously shock just enough to turn his head and meet his companion's eyes.

"Eitan..?" He whispered, voice hoarse, eyes wide and wild. No more words came but everything about the single one he'd spoken said he was desperately hoping that this man, under whose protection and command he was, would know what to do.

Posted: **Thu Jan 06, 2022 8:48 pm**

"Stef..." he said again because it was all that would come out. He said it again although it wasn't enough for what was happening.

Eitan looked on in fear as Stefan began to flail and scrabble at himself. He drew closer, of course, but was afraid to interrupt what the man was trying to do. Perhaps the apparition was clawing its way out of his perfectly human body. Perhaps it was all illusion, but the man's pain seemed all too real. And then, faster than one might imagine although his brother-in-law's suffering was a sort of suffering for him too and lasted longer than he could have wished, Stefan had wings. He looked like one of Kalzasi's despots. Only now did he make that connection. This wasn't Stefan with wings. It seemed this thing was intent on making him an Avialae.

Was that how they had come to be? From his studies of things arcane, he knew only the guesses of experts who claimed an ancient necromancer had meddled.

His hand came up to Stefan's shoulder, steadying him even as they crouched together. The man who looked back at him was Stefan, not some magical monstrosity. His jaw set. He decided.

"Fuck this," he said. "I'm getting you out of here."

He sprang to his feet, activating the abjinurium-edged blade, and began to slash through whatever held them, trying to make a path from where they were to the nearest edge of the thing. Parts of it seemed to shred, then it seemed to move out of his way of its own volition. It moved. It released them.

His hand came up to his ear as he spun around. It felt normal and human. He looked to see what the entity had done, whether it had moved enough. He looked to see if he had managed to save Stefan from its illusory transformations.

Posted: **Mon Jan 10, 2022 10:41 pm**

Stefan was too much in shock to recognize properly what was going on, or, perhaps his confusion was due to the way that his thoughts seemed not entirely his own. It didn't feel like something was attempting to take his mind over, but rather it felt like his own voice in his thoughts was doubled; as though twice the normal number of strains of thought were passing through his ability to process. The disorientation did not pass when Eitan began... Was he fighting?

Stefan hoped it wasn't a fight, as he was currently worse than useless. Whatever was being done, the shimmering bubble of rainbow light began to move again. It was jarring and deeply uncomfortable, more so than it had been the first time. As it sank back, the closest edge sliding towards and then over Stefan there was a new feeling. It felt like something that existed just inside his skin was clinging to the whole underside surface of him, holding on with each molecule like a tiny hand grasping in desperation. Then the shimmering was passing over him, like being lifted from a warm bath into freezing air and realizing you're naked and so, so alone.

He shivered, violently, as the last of the magic field passed away from him and there was an odd, sucking sensation that lasted until the last shimmer pulled away from his booted foot. Some time passed, not long, Stefan didn't think, but he couldn't be sure. Then Eitan was close again, looking him over, asking him something. Blinking hard and trying to force his now scattered thoughts into something productive he swallowed and found his throat hurt.

Concentrating on the face in front of his he realize all the little oddities that had changed his friend's face were gone. Too afraid to reach back and check the changes to himself he simply asked,

"Am I... Are they gone?"

Posted: **Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:02 am**

When sense came back to Stefan's eyes, Eitan felt immeasurably better, even if the echoes of eldritch songs still hummed in his ears and some of the visions remained like blots of color after looking into the sun. His ears were nice and normal and human again, and Stefan didn't have wings or a ghostly double. He exhaled, glanced over his shoulder to see that the way forward was clear, as was the way back to where they had parted with Brenner and Albrecht.

Dark eyes softened at the question. His hand rested on Stefan's shoulder and gave him an encouraging squeeze.

"No illusory wings, and my ears are as they should be. Take a breath. Get on your feet. We have to get back to report, and you have some samples to collect if I remember correctly." He flashed a confident smile. His confidence would bolster Stefan's, and the collection of specimens would be the sort of normal, practiced action that would help bring Stefan back to himself. Eitan hadn't made it to Commander without learning how to help people through the trauma of battle.

"Then we'll have Beeman and Stechpalme look us over to make sure nothing's amiss." Between the magical theorist and the physician, they would figure things out.

"Can you do that for me, Stef? Take a breath. Get on your feet. Walk with me back to the group."

He offered his hand. It was gloved, but it was steady and strong and Stefan could rely upon it. His knife and his firearm were sheathed and slung around to his back so they could beat an expeditious retreat. It wouldn't take them too long to get back as they had made sure the path this far was safe, and even brief pitstops for specimen collection wouldn't take them too long, and there was no telling whether the other party had made it back yet, either. They wouldn't know until they returned themselves.

Posted: **Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:13 pm**

Looking up at the offered hand Stefan let himself hear the words being spoken. Opening his sense to the world around him he made himself feel the air shifting subtly around them, the ground under his boots. Drawing in a deep breath he made himself smell the cavern, the scents of growing things, of old, stagnant water, and fresh flowing. Eitan's voice and his touch were grounding points as well, and he leaned into them until he could take the offered help and stand. Glancing around he found his coat, jacket, vest, and rifle, but was confused that his shirt wasn't there in the scatter of garments around his feet until he realize it was still hanging off one of his arms. He dressed slowly, the muscles surrounding his shoulderblades were sore, but he imagined that was from how intensely he had been flexing and bunching them up. When he was properly dressed again, minus a few buttons (explaining that to Dienerin would require some thought), he slung his rifle back where it belonged and then looked to Eitan, as though for approval.

He knew how to dress himself, of course, the approval-seeking felt more like asking for confirmation that Stefan looked normal. When nothing in Eitan's eyes implied that there were things wrong, and indeed the man was projecting every reassurance, they set off back the way they had come.

The thought of being examined by the good doctors brought back a milder version of the anxiety but it was baseless. Whatever had happened in the magical field had been an illusion, however real it had felt. He wasn't tainted or damaged, and if he was either, it wasn't his fault. He felt a little guilty for having seen Eitan's ears as nature would have them, like walking in on someone doing something embarrassing but necessary. His friend's birth was no more his fault than whatever had happened in the illusions was Stefan's.

When they came abreast of the bodies again he did stop to take samples of the magical plant that grew on them. He wasn't sure if he would ever do any study of them, but he could donate them if not, and the familiar motions steadied him. Appearing before Brenner and Albrecht shakey was not appealing. When he finished he straightened up and said,

"Finished, Commander." He meant the extraction, but he also meant that he was ready to be seen by others.

Posted: **Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:29 am**

Eitan nodded his approval once Stefan was up and put back together. He was used to subordinates sometimes needing validation from him in situations like this, when hierarchies were charged by primal urges.

"Good man," he said, and "Time to move out."

They did. Watching over Stefan as he collected some samples gave him the focus he needed to keep his cool as well. It all might have been more difficult without Stefan there, both because he knew he could depend on his brother-in-law, and because it was easier to be strong for someone else than for himself.

"Move out," he said again, soft but sure. It wasn't far to the fork where they had parted ways with Brenner and Albrecht, and when they got there, he carved a quick sign into the wall to alert his military colleagues that he and had been successful, were seeking medical attention (nothing dire), and had returned to the larger group.

"We'll tell Stechpalme and Beeman that the entity spun illusions, but we needn't go into great detail. I think we can discuss it between the two of us later when we have had time to think about it. My ears... well, it might have been akin to a fear wraith, showing us things to confuse and rile us. But try not to read too much into what we saw. We don't have the luxury of remaining rattled. We just have to see the mission through and we will have time to process things after we get out of here."

He slowed his steady clip in case Stefan wanted to say anything in particular before they were no longer alone. Perhaps it was in Eitan's nature to be secretive given his time within the Order, but otherwise, he was open enough with their compatriots.

Posted: **Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:00 am**

R E V I E W

Lore:

Eitan:
Gunslinging:
Shoulder Strap
Belt Holster

Magical Theory:
Use of Aura Glass
Aetheric Signatures
Observing the Warrens
Observing Nature Sprites

Tactics:
Two-Man Formation
Scouting Ahead
Hand-Signals
Taking Point

Survival:
Keeping Time Underground
The Value of Silence
Wearing Armor
Finding Water by Smell

Stefan:
Engineering:
Rigging Solutions on the Fly

Firearms:
Shoulder Strap
Belt Holster

Magical Theory:
Use of Aura Glass
Aetheric Signatures

Survival:
Keeping Time Underground
The Value of Silence
Wearing Armor
Finding Water by Smell

Botany:
How to Locate Ghostbloom
How to Harvest Ghostbloom
Recognizing Aquatic Plantlife
Sample Collection

Points: 8 each, Eitan may use for Negation

Injuries/Ailments: Psychological Trauma and lots of Uncomfortable Questions

Loot: None

Notes: Surely this won't lead to anything important...

Legend of Ransera

Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]

Re: Secrets in the Dark. [Stefan]