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A Little Help Over Here! [Closed]
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 6:23 pm
by Alyssum Crow
Frost 10th, Year 119, Age of Steel
It started out as a normal day, but the same could be said of a lot of things in Alyssum's life. It almost started as a normal day, but something almost always felt off. A strangeness to the air that left her lungs working overtime to bring in the heaviness and try to contain it. An odd sensation of not quite rightness that primed her muscles to flee. Usually, she paid attention to that feeling. Ever rathari she'd ever met told her that their kind has instincts for a reason. You should listen to them. But she didn't.
She didn't because it was in the middle of a city. What terrible thing could occur that she'd need to lock herself away in a safe space? No, in a city there was so much action she could miss out on if she played nice with every assorted whim her mind felt confident of. That's why the day started off normal. That's why she ignored the subtle ache that came from being tensed up like a spring that was wound too tight as the world seemed to teem and whisper secrets that she didn't know. Maybe it was better that way, she'd reassured herself. Some secrets weren't for her to know no matter how badly she wished. This was one of those secrets that she kind of wished she could go back after learning. The secret that no one ever told travelers about in great detail.
The simple fact that Kalzasi is never actually safe. Not from outside threats. Not from inside threats. Not from its own underbelly.
With the sun setting, one typically expects silence and peace to finally take over. Not Alyssum, but she'd lived with criminals before. That being said, even for someone like her, sirens weren't something she quite expected come nightfall. No, even as a denizen of the world who'd walked every inch she had access to, she'd never lived somewhere where sirens suddenly went off seemingly at random. Because of that, she didn't fully understand what it meant. Why those few people who were around her so late at night on the streets suddenly seemed to scatter. Why doors slammed and she was left alone in a world that was too quiet except for sirens.
In the distance, she could hear yelling. The sounds of a clash. Even over the cry of sirens, it was a readily accessible noise. She glanced around, trying to catch sight of anyone who would explain what was going on. She didn't see a person. At least, not a person that was right.
What she meant by that, was that creature appeared at the end of the street. Tall and with a jaw that drooped far below where a normal human was supposed to be. At least, she thought the terrible arrangement of bodyparts was supposed to be human. Was supposed to look human. Maybe at one point it even was a human. But it absolutely wasn't one anymore. She'd never even see necromantic beasts with such terrible appearances. Its eyes were pure white, one of which was scratched and oozing a terrible yellow puss like secretion. One of its arms dangled a bit lower than the other, almost seeming limp as though it'd been broken. The other arm seemed to work, the hand at the end was large and covered with sharp claws that glistened red.
The creature looked at her for a moment. Both she and it froze, watching one another. Before she'd fully processed exactly what it was it gave a blood-curdling screech and started charging at her, using its working arm to help propel it forward faster while the other arm danged and smacked against the ground. It didn't care.
Her first instinct was to turn on her heels and flee, so she did. She spread her wings to try and get herself off the ground, but she wasn't good at sudden take-offs so the most she could do was propel herself a foot or two before coming back to earth. Her panic wasn't doing her any favors either. It made her wing beats uneven and sloppy, making the take-off even harder.
So, she did the one thing that she'd always fallen back on in life when there was no other escape to turn to. She raised her voice as loud as she physically could and yelled out a single word. "Help!"
Re: A Little Help Over Here! [Closed]
Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 7:50 am
by Taelian
It wasn’t the cry for help that spurred him to action. He did hear it, but he also heard a lot of other things. No—it was the fact that Taelian was actively engaged, already, that led him to taking the fight Alyssum’s way. He was battling monsters, whatever they were, not far from where the beast lingered and crept up on the Rathari woman.
A creature loomed before him. Long arms, scaled with dark colors akin to a charred green, with tumors stretching across its leathery flesh, black in color. It was almost like one of the beasts in Sil-Elaine, but ironically, not nearly so mutated. This, to him, was not a worrisome foe.
Taelian swiped forward with his blade, the molten-touched metal cleaving through the beast’s flesh with a searing afterburn that left it screaming. He leaped back, gracefully dancing on the back of his heels, as the creature struck down with its raked claws and slammed against the concrete, breaking cracks into the stone.
Taelian grit his teeth and brandished his blade at his side, the metal lighting with an ember-like orange shade for a moment before it receded into its typical cindered appearance. It was Emblem, activated. Taelian prepared to swing the now heavier and more cumbersome metal, though half-way into his swing the creature lunges forward to swipe at him. He quickly deactivated Ember and pulled his blade back towards his chest to defend, parrying the creature’s attempted disparaging blow.
Taelian continued to parry the enemy, blow after blow, as he focused. The mage was attempting to harness an old ability he hadn’t used but once, or rather half of once, in the summery savannah of Daravin’s hinterlands. He’d gotten the wings to form. He remembered that.
Fiery wings shaped like that of a dragon, forming upon his back… he could feel their cindering touch now, expanding in a shivering undulation from his skin. He felt the shape form around him, and then, the bolstering flame forming like a claw around his feet, granting him traction. Taelian sprung forward, charging blade and body alike hard into the monster’s leathery carapace.
The force was intense. In that fiery bull rush, Infernal roughly collided with the beast, consuming much of its body in an expanding burst of flame. Taelian dug his blade into the floor to keep himself from flinging too far forward and into a wall. Regardless, the beast was dead. Only one more to go, judging by the adjacent scream.
Taelian opened the palm of his off-hand and engaged Searing, allowing him to peer into the Dead Realm and commune with ghostly waifs. There were plenty of them, now — scores of dead screaming and pouring from their houses, some of which were ablaze.
“Where is the creature?!” he screamed, compelling the nearby specters for answers.
“There!” one of them cried. He was pointed down an alleyway leading into something of an open residential common area, not far from which he could visibly see the blood-clawed beast antagonizing the woman who had earlier yelled for aide. Taelian engaged Infernal again, clutching his Enkindled weapon closely as the fiery wings began to writhe upon his back. He leaped forward, and used the momentum to move directly to the side of the creature before it swung down on Alyssum, swiping sideways at the monster with a slow and deliberate swing. Emblem was active, and fire expanded out from his blade in a cleansing arc, following immediately after the swing.
Taelian followed it up with another. Covered in Shrivenflame that melted through its flesh, the beast was shortly thereafter dead.
He got a good look at the woman, then, his face cool but covered in soot-like black blotches. One look was all it took.
“You,” he called out, somewhat coldly. Given the woman was just about to die without his aide, he supposed that ruled out her being a Dranoch. “What are you doing here? Don’t you Rathari… I don’t know, live in trees or something? Go find one and build a nest or whatever it is that you do — get out of here. It’s not safe.”
Re: A Little Help Over Here! [Closed]
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 12:33 pm
by Alyssum Crow
There was fire and screaming and steel and then suddenly there was a tension-ridden calm that pulled Alyssum along in the flurry of changes. She forced herself back away from the corpse of the monster that had priorly been trying to kill her, silently dreading that something stronger and more intent on killing her had killed it. She didn't know if these creatures were prone to working together or if they would just as readily kill one another as they would their prey. Excuse Alyssum for never really getting around to asking Talon. Now that the question was actually a pressing one, she kind of wished she'd taken the time to further query him on the nature of this damn city.
No worse than Atinaw she supposed...
Monster wandering into town and causing havoc on an off day was just as common even in the major cities of Atinaw as it seemed to be here. At least this was the first time such a thing had happened this season. So again, nothing she hadn't dealt with growing up. It was, in a twisted sense of the world, her normal. Even then these beasts were probably just as terrifying as the ones in Atinaw. Less terrifying than the mutated monstrosities she'd discovered while toeing the border to Turoth. That was a region long since twisted by hells that were pathetic in comparison to this.
But Turoth could be avoided with enough care, and Atinaw had emergency shelter in place in case something like this happened, at least in the major cities. Not to mention she'd had a house back then. Here in Kalzasi, Alyssum was left with no true home save for the Skyforge and a distinct inability to protect herself since she had no weapons and certainly no weapon skills.
So once she'd scrambled to her feet she looked up hesitantly, cautious and terrified she might discover a beast far more terrifying.
One look was all it took.
She wasn't sure if she was relieved or more terrified when it was the funny elf who was standing in front of her. Looking at her like she was an idiot (he was probably right) he started to coldly quiz her on what she was doing out here right now (obviously, being an idiot was the answer). She had to remind herself not to take offense to his Rathari comment as he gripped the sword in his hand, her eyes flicking between him and the monster that was dead on the ground.
Ah.
She could work with this.
"Unfortunately, I was caught out doing errands when all of this started. I've been living in a shop I've been working at so far this season, but it's too far to really get there safely. My lack of ability to defend myself should be preeeetty obvious by now." Just like she'd said the first time they met. "Any chance you'd be willing to help me carve my way through? I can't really offer much martial backup, but at the very least I can make sure we don't get snuck up on."
This was probably her only hope so here was hoping he agreed.
Re: A Little Help Over Here! [Closed]
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:47 am
by Taelian
She wanted him to escort her, essentially. Taelian looked to the woman with a furrowed brow and a stare of what appeared to be minor irritation -- but he thought on it. She... worked in a shop; she wanted to get there, for whatever reason. He supposed she either thought it was safer than a random home or that she was daft enough to prioritize work punctuality at a time like this. She did say it was her home, as well, but Taelian did not see the value of going particularly towards her home versus any other.
The Siltori was uncertain, but Taelian knew that saving her just a moment ago would end up being pointless if he left her now. She would definitely die en route; one could only get lucky so many times, have so many 'rescuers' as he was.
"Fine," he responded. "But nothing deceptive, Rathari. Maybe you're not a Dranoch, but I'm not incredibly keen on trusting you. I'm content for it to stay that way."
It was unsurprising, in truth. Taelian never had very many friends, and it was largely because he did not want to. Involvement with people like Alyssum was a volatile thing, and he did not feel that he resonated towards her in any particular way. From what he learned in Daravin and Sil-Elaine, she would pass away fairly quickly, regardless. This would perhaps be the day; a beast from the Warrens would swoop forward and mangle her, and Taelian would watch, express his dissatisfaction in a brief sigh and move on.
The Ebon Knight gripped the hilt of his blade and stepped forward. His eyes scanned his surroundings; there was still mayhem occurring all around him, and the woman hadn't really given him explicit directions. He turned to glance at her and asked: "Where is this shop-home of yours?" with a cold stare. The flame of Searing lit again within his palm, and Taelian's eyes came aware of the Dead Realm; there were specters fleeing all across the city. He could see the rot of death growing upon the buildings, the streets; a black mold that morphed into webs of impenetrable formation.
"There!" one of the wraiths screamed. "A monster!"
"Alyssum -- let's avoid going forward. We'll take the left," he said. Taelian faced towards the left-most corridor, towards the center of the city, and stepped towards it. As he did, he noted that there was a monstrosity not far in front of them, limping towards the two from that same left. It had a face similar to that of a dog, but with anter-like horns covered in black pus ascending from its skull. It was covered in black bulbs, almost like bubbles, some of which popped and appeared to splurge outward into a corrosive, acidic substance. The Ebon Knight frowned. He did not want to get close to it, if it could fling or detonate its acidic pustules at will.
Taelian gripped a Flamelance in his offhand, and flung it towards the beast, the fiery javelin piercing its upper torso just shy of its collarbone. The beast yelped, but continued to creep forward.
The Ebon Knight drew another one and flung it once more, landing a direct shot near the center of the fiend's skull. It dropped to the floor, though rapidly its pustules began to trigger and melt much of the concrete flooring around its corpse. "You lead the way, Alyssum. It seems like no matter where we go, these beasts will follow."
He needed to be mindful, though; even as a Siltori and an Ebon Knight, with Sigilic Pyromancy a fairly cost-effective magic, he would inevitably wade upon overstepping before long and would need to rely on Emblem alone.
Re: A Little Help Over Here! [Closed]
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 11:13 pm
by Mystic
Taelian
Lores
Sigilic Pyromancy: Using Searing for reconnaissance
Sigilic Pyromancy: Infernal
Sigilic Pyromancy: Using Infernal for collision
Acrobatics: Acrobatically dancing on your heels
Blades: Consecutive counter ripostes
Blades: Successive parries
Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Points 8; considering circumstances, they can be used in Sigilic Pyromancy
Alyssum
Lores
N/A
Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Points 8
Comments: I get the circumstances that have lead this thread to be abandoned, and I'm giving full marks! But next time please consider it before creating something like this? It was very entertaining though; I love how they're very bold characters in such different ways.