Ascending Legends

[BookWyrm]

Dayn reached out and laid a firm hand on Arryn's shoulder and pulled her back. He gave her a slight glare and a quiet growl, one that was low enough for her ears only, but his message got across clear. Alistair had said her temper would come back to her, and this seemed like a decent spot to intervene before she started throwing more than just words. But, Dayn wasn't done with Inder, and after the look he received he knew he found a pressure point by using the scholar's language against him. Most people wouldn't understand what was being said, but the fact that a stranger was speaking to the priest in that tongue meant that Dayn had to be of equal education to that of the priest, and that was Dayn's leverage. If he appeared to be a normal man, but was educated, then why were they listening to this blasphemous old bastard. "Nosti me, ne genesim meam sponsam. Quia non est metuendus." Dayn turned and faced the priest, locking eyes with him as he stepped forward. "Qui superiorem non recognoscunt superbia excusationem sacerdotis. Si te vellem lumina demitto." So much for keeping my status a secret.

 

[Dragongal]

Inder looked at him, hesitated, then looked to the ground before glancing back up to Arryn. "I see you've chosen from noble stock. I can tell when I'm not welcome - " "Not really, you can't. " - and so I will take my leave," he said as he turned and walked down the road. He knew what he'd done, revealing Dayn as noble. The crowd glanced at him curiously, then to Arryn, whose blood was still rushing. She wasn't the happiest about Dayn interfering, but she had to concede that it was necessary.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn watched Inder leave before turning to Arryn, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. He didn't look overjoyed or overtly angered. In truth he half expected the priest to rat him out, but he didn't care. "That was not your best moment." Dayn held up his hand to stop her from protesting. "I'm not saying you weren't right in what you said, but you gain nothing from attacking him outright." Dayn looked at Arryn, shaking his head with a slight smile. "Sometimes the best way to defeat your opponent is through subtlety. Humiliating them in public sometimes speaks volumes above driving a sword through their heart. For a man who has never been contested in his position to be spoken down to, and in the educated language nonetheless, is an attack on his pride. Think Arryn, not all battles are against steel. Some battles are fought and won through politics, you just have to play the game." For once Dayn realized his noble upbringing was coming in handy.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn cocked her head to the side, and said, "I wasn't attacking him outright - you'd know it if you saw it. I know strategy, I know manipulating people, but I lost my temper when he brought up responsibilities - like he'd know. Everyone here knew exactly what I was referencing, and they all know I was right, they just need to be reminded sometimes." The way he spoke sounded like he thought she didn't understand. She did, she just hadn't been able to keep her temper in that moment. She sighed, and said, "I'm not made at you. However, I do acknowledge where I made a mistake - you needn't try to teach me like a child. I just... I lost my temper - I'll never forgive him for what he did, and I hope nobody will."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn sighed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I'm not trying to treat you like a kid Arryn, you are honestly brilliant, when you don't lost your temper." He smiled slightly, trying to ease the mood. "What I'm trying to say is that you need to work on yourself. You can't let him set you off like that. Even if you shut him out he's still controlling you. I'm sure you know this by now love, but I...." Dayn ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "Your father asked me to help keep you in line. I keep the promises I make Arryn." He looked at her for a few moments, a tired smile on his face. "You really look good when you're angry, d'you know that?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn sighed. "I just get treated like a kid who hasn't seen battle so often - because I'm a woman and I'm young. I've killed more men than some women have met. I've made incredibly complex strategies, I've manipulated crowds, but... I just... lost it. I'm not used to my temper being back." She looked up at him with a slight smile. Dammit, Da. "You know how to weasel your way out of anything, don't you?" She heard the band begin to play inside, so she took his hand with a smile. "Would you like to dance?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn took her hand, brushing her hair back from her face before placing a finger under her chin and lifting up to look at him and his mischievous smile. "Only because I know you love." He leaned in and kissed her before smiling again. The sudden sound of the musicians tuning up brought his attention back to the party. "Only if the beautiful lady would accompany me."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and did a quick, fake little curtsy, before taking his hand. "Recall the pauper's ball? The dancing's quite similar." She led him into a quick reel that was just starting. Each couple had to start the same, but then they were free to dance as they pleased. "Ready? You lead, just follow the others, ok? I'm sure you'll pick up on it fast! Bow... then came my hands... then off we go on our own!"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn laughed before leading her into some far flung Southern jig that he might have been slightly improvising as he went. But hey it looked smooth and fluid so he simply smiled and went with it. "You seem to be keeping up just.....fine." He laughed as they danced around each other before he grabbed her hands and lead her into a more familiar dance, one that they had done several times before. "You should know this one by heart now love."

 

[Dragongal]

"Only because I had a good teacher," she said with a smile. She noted a few astonished glances at the two of them - Arryn had only ever participated in group dancing, the reels that took everyone to participate in. One on one? Never. When they finished the first song, the band struck up a slower waltz, and she smiled up at him. "Shall we impress the people watching in astonishment?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn turned and looked around, catching sight of all the unfamiliar faces watching them before turning back to Arryn. He stood up straight and proper before bowing, "Of course my lady." He stood back up and took her hand, his other arm finding it's place around her hip, before leading her into a truly beautiful and proper waltz.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn did her best to keep from laughing, but she did smile widely. She didn't have to even think about where her feet were anymore she'd gotten used to Dayn's rhythm from previous dances. As the song ended, they came to a stop, and she curtsied, as was socially expected, but then broke the rules and kissed him. She smiled and glanced at quite a few surprised face, noting many familiar ones. "I think we did well, love."

 

[BookWyrm]

"I say we stun them." Dayn grabbed Arryn, spun her around into a dip and kissed her to a chorus of gasps and maybe a cheer or two. Dayn smiled as he stood her back up, kissing her again when they were face to face. "I don't care what the rules say, that was worth it."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled widely. "Agreed." At that moment, Norim called out, announcing that the games were about to begin out back, men's hand-to-hand and women's archery would be first, at the same time - there were five minutes to sign up. Arryn raised her eyebrows to him. "We'd best go over there, then."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn had lined up with the other sword competitors, perhaps more confident in his skill than some of the others. It wasn't that they weren't good at fighting, it was just Dayn had trained his whole life in the arts of war. The first match this became rather evident. Dayn squared off with his opponent and within seconds had parried an overhead, performed a disarm, and finished by laying the flat of his sword against his opponent's neck. There were several gasps and stares from the audience at such a swift victory, but Dayn didn't think much of it.


The majority of the fights in both sword and hand to hand went like this. There were a few who proved slightly challenging, and some ended up with cuts and bruises, maybe a sprain or two but nothing serious. Dayn stood on the sidelines as another match was taking place. Next up in the sword fighting he was going to face off against Matthias. Dayn took a swig from a horn, making sure it was water and not alcohol, before turning to Arryn. "How are your matches fairing? Most of mine have been rather fast, though there are some competitors among the crowd. But I guess having spent my whole life fighting and learning to fight does give some advantage."

 

[Dragongal]

"Women's matches won't start 'til men's are done. We don't have enough rings or medics for multiple." She took a swig from her tankard, which was filled with a rather weak mead. Normally such a low alcohol content was given to younger guests, but Arryn just didn't want to risk any real impairment. "By the way, I have three gold on you with Esclair and Kalie against Matthias, so you'd best win." She leaned forward and kissed him lightly. When she wasn't watching the games, she was patching up Dayn's opponents with Theodas. "By the way, he learned bladework partially from me, he can just throw his weight more than myself," she said before drinking again, to hide her smile. Hint hint, love.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn smiled. "Don't worry love, I'll make you proud." I've got more than one trick up my sleeve. It would be something for a stranger to best one of Rorich's best fighters, and that was his plan. He took another swig from his water horn before turning to Arryn and stealing a kiss, giving her a wink and a mischievous smile, a slight glint of green flashing in his eyes before he turned away. The match that had been going finished and the contestants stepped out of the ring as Dayn made his way back into his corner. He stretched, making sure he was lose as he felt a familiar surge rush through his body, that gentle tingle running down his spine before he felt his senses kick into high gear.


It felt good, really good.


He rolled his neck side to side, cracking it all the way down into his upper back before rotating his shoulders, popping the rest of his back. He looked across the ring at Matthias and smiled. He could smell the sweat from Matthias' past bouts that had soaked into his clothing. The ref waved them forward and explained the customary rules.


"Best of luck Matthias.", Dayn said with a grin. This will be fun.

 

[Dragongal]

Kalie was standing at Arryn's side, and they were talking over their men's sword tactics and fighting style, each certain that their man would beat the other's. Esclaire walked up and said, "Atria, you know Matthias is the best swordsman in the village... do you will think your noble can win?" Arryn looked at Escalire a moment, then said, "I'll up the bet to ten gold, I'm that certain." "Deal."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn stood in his corner, waiting for the start of the match. He felt calm, his body loose and comfortable, the way he felt before every competition he'd been in. As the ref called the start of the match Dayn rushed forward, expecting Matthias to feint into a slide. Dayn raised his blade in a mock swing, smiling as Matthias dropped into a slide. Dayn pulled his swing and thrust downward, forcing Matthias to roll out of the slide. From that point on the fight played into Dayn's favor, even if Matthias proved to be a skilled opponent. Parry, block, strike, dodge, repost and repeat, the two swordsman seemed to be evenly matched. About a minute into the match Dayn shifted tactics, throwing a intricate flurry of strikes, feints, and counters at Matthias as he forced him into making a poorly aimed strike. Dayn side stepped, threw his left arm up and around Matthias two handed blow and wrapped it around before locking both arms and sticking the tip of his own sword under Matthias' chin, his trade mark mischievous smile beaming on his face.


The rest of the hand to hand matches passed in a similar fashion. Both Matthias and Theodas were skilled fighters, and each fight seemed close, but in the end Dayn pulled through. After it was all said and done Dayn walked back to Arryn, his shirt thrown over his shoulder and a victorious smile on his face. "I hope I didn't disappoint. I have to say, those two were the steepest competition I've met outside of a tourney." Dayn leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Actually they fight better than most nobles, but I don't want it to go to their heads."

 

[Dragongal]

"They were part of my team, love. But good job, we've earned twenty gold with your wins alone. I bet ten on myself already." Arryn barely got to congratulate him before it was her turn for the women’s hand-to-hand. Arryn set her flagon down on the table set out specifically for that purpose, and walked into the ring. Esclaire was the first to face her - the fight lasted seconds, with Arryn the clear winner, having caught Esclaire’s wild swing, then kicked her foot out from under her, tossing her out of the ring. The next couple of rounds went similarly, though a bit longer each, against both dwarven and human women. There was nobody to really note, though one dwarven woman nearly threw Arryn out of the ring. She was the victor, with some bruises to show for it. She was given some coins she’d bet on herself, and grabbed her drink from the table to hearty cheers and friendly smacks on her back. She moved over to Dayn, smiling to him. “Well, my shoulder’s a tad sore, I admit, but I think I did well. We’ve proved ourselves quite the formidable couple.” She gave him a quick kiss.


One young miss she’d beat was just congratulating her when Arryn distractedly took a swig of her drink, mentally pausing, but keeping her expression the same. The moment she could, she grabbed Dayn’s drink from his hand and emptied it on the ground, then emptied hers. She quietly said, “We need to discreetly and quietly get out of here, right now… I just drank a poison.” The color was already leaving her skin and her hands were already shaking, her muscles feeling weaker by the minute. It was significantly easier for her to deal with the poison in someone else than herself, because it affected her magic as well as her body.

 

[BookWyrm]

"You want to do what to me?" Dayn smiled before taking Arryn's hand and nonchalatantly walking away from the crowds and out of the festival area. Although he appeared calm outwardly, perhaps even jovial and mildly buzzed, Dayn's heart was pounding. Get her to Lenza. Dammit, what happened this time? Dayn managed to get Arryn to her home before opening the door and barging in, slightly startling Lenza. "Arryn's been poisoned. She needs help now." Dayn let her mother take her from there before walking into the privy and forcing himself to retch. What came out was unpleasant to say the least, but even after the heaving was over he still wanted Lenza to check him over to make sure he wasn't poisoned as well. He quickly rejoined the two, finally allowing himself to worry over his betrothed.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn had been slipping from consciousness by the time they were halfway to the house, but she forced herself to hold on, using every magic trick she could think of to try to keep herself moving. Her body hurt and her vision was blurred, but she'd held Dayn's hand the whole way, so by the time they got there he'd been nearly guiding her. The instant her mother rushed her to a bed, she passed out gratefully.


By the time Dayn returned, Lenza had pulled out all of her equipment and gotten to work. She looked up at Dayn as he walked back in, and said, "It was an alchemical acid, similar to what affected you - but weaker, less efficient... like it was made without the proper equipment, or off of a sheet instead of with practice. I'm sure nobody else got poisoned, otherwise you'd have heard the screams as people dropped to the floor - this wouldn't have taken long were it not for her magic. Now I'm just trying to stabilize her before actually fixing it."

 

[BookWyrm]

"When ever I find the bastard behind this I'm going to rip their damned throat out!" Dayn felt his anger getting the better of him. He closed his eyes before slowly breathing, doing his best to calm down before the inevitable happened. Not here, not like this. Dayn didn't open his eyes until he was sure he wouldn't shift in front of Lenza. "Sorry about......I'm just....." At that moment Dayn broke down. He wasn't sure what had been the cause, but all of the stress from the race to the mountain pass, Samhein, the constant nightmares that plagued Arryn, Inder, and now the poison, somewhere it all came to a head, and Dayn couldn't hold it in anymore. He had done his best not to lose it in front of Arryn, but now that she was unconscious the emotion came flooding out.

 

[Dragongal]

Lenza looked at Dayn, pausing. She grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him down on one of the free beds before returning to work. She mixed powders, ground leaves, filled vials, innumerable small but essential tasks, before propping Arryn up a bit and pouring a concoction down her throat, making sure she swallowed it all before laying her back down. "It's understandable," she said to Dayn as she got to working on the next stage, "Been a rough time for you, I can tell. She's gonna pull through alright, though. Won't have as bad of a time of it as you did. When you collect yourself, I suggest you go back to the party and find Matthias, Theodas, and Kalie - they could help you find who did this. If you're willing to leave Arryn at the moment, of course."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn took a few moments to settle down and compose himself before he wiped his face off and stood back up. "She's in good hands." Dayn wanted to ask if she would be safe, but knowing what she threatened to do to him in regards to mistreating Arryn, he figured Lenza could take care of herself. Dayn reached down and took Arryn's hand, squeezing it gently before heading out the door. He made his way back to the party, letting himself slip back into his heightened before searching for the others, managing to find them all talking together. "We've got a problem. Someone poisoned Arryn's drink with an alchemical acid. She's back at Lenza's, thankfully stable, but we may not have long to find the one who did this."