Fantasy Mountain Magic Mayhem (Luc/Sazz)

[St. Clover]

"Trust me, I know a thing or two about troublesome critters," Milianor started as she pressed the switch on the syringe. An instant later the needle stabbed into Lier's arm, flooding his system with a dose of the restorative fluid held inside. While not as potent as pure healing potions, the serum used in this particular device was meant to be used in the heat of a fight, keeping the injured user on their feet until proper treatment could be acquired. "Been working with them most of my adult life. Fighting them, capturing them, or just driving them off. Make a living off it, actually. Work as a... Kind of like an exterminator, but the jobs I take usually need some magic involved. Weird stuff."

 

[Anshelical]

"Sounds like your type of stuff, Lier," Vine teased. "But for you to be in the sidelines, you have to learn a thing or two from this expert."

"Could." Liernoine winced to the injecting dash, relaxing after its initiation. "So you travel various lands to handle these creatures, or are you just staying here?"

"For the last time," Vine said. "She's not from here."

"Okay. I guess I meant to say, 'Do you stay in these places for long periods of time then leave for another task?'"

Erro dug through his satchel to review some of the folklore concerning the rumored Dragon Stones, trying to piece together their origins within the ranges.

 

[St. Clover]

"Nope! Wound up here entirely by accident!" Milianor exclaimed as she withdrew the syringe from the man's arm. She recapped it and stored it back into her satchel. "Normally I stick to the region around my city for jobs, if I can. Sometimes a client will want me to go somewhere else, like the other side of the republic, but that's not very often. Normally I'm stuck with clearing out a basement of ghouls or sword fighting an urban spirit that can't take a hint to leave. Not really glorious work, but it pays well. Plus, I don't make many enemies that way."

 

[Anshelical]

Iso approached Erro. "We really need to get going down the ranges. It's going to be dark soon."

Erro studied the ancient scribble scratched about his pages, then hearing Iso finish, faced him. "What?"

"N-Nothing."

"Thought so." He returned to his reading.

"I see," Liernoine said. "Well at least you did find something to do around here." He observed his arm at the injection site. "Feeling the effects a little already. What type of concoction is this serum?"

 

[St. Clover]

"Same stuff that's in a healing potion, just modified a bit. Unlike your normal potions which use magic to outright heal your wounds, this one kickstarts your own body's recovery process," Milianor explained. She held up her hand and, with her index finger, traced a circle in the air. Glittering blue magic followed and formed a floating circle before her. "They're cheaper to make than normal potions, cause there's less magic needed to get the job done. I like them cause they're also quicker to use. What's better in a fight, chugging down a couple ounces of stuff, or just jab and go?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Heh, the jab sounds good," Liernoine snickered. "Natural and fast."

"Handy and efficient," Vine said. "That's what it's all about. But, being efficiently careful, too."

"Hey," Erro waved Vine forth, "If we're going to be here another night, we need to compose another letter. And at that, we at least need to get something drawn."

"Oh yeah." His lips puckered to Liernoine. "We can get something down. But we got to get to the inn soon."

"You all don't have to," Liernoine said. "Just get the canvases done. No rush. I'm feeling a little better, actually."

 

[St. Clover]

"What, want to retire to civilization and neglect the wonderful outdoors?" Milianor joked, gesturing to the now calming storm clouds above them. "Man, if you think this is bad, you should visit the Plane of Storms. Been there once, and that was enough for me. Also the main reason I never travel by boat now, if I can avoid it."

 

[Anshelical]

"The Plane of Storms, 'uh?" Liernoine said.

"Oh, I knew someone who went..." Vine thought about Diger. "...There. Yeah, heard it was one's worst nightmare of storms. Can understand it being enough." He glanced to Erro scribbling onto the canvas of the view.

 

[St. Clover]

Milianor nodded. "Giant ocean as far as the eye can see, constant storming, thunder and lightning..." she listed off the hazards on her claws. "Sea serpents and krakens. Honestly it's about as worse a place as you can go for maritime stuff. I think, don't quote me on that. I'm pretty well versed with magics, but planar stuff is not my specialty. That'd have to be spell identification and finding where you can get an old manuscript or two."

 

[Anshelical]

"Oh yeah, that's for sure," Vine nodded. "Get swept up. But this place is a whole lot better. Even though you run into those beasts every now and again, it's not as bad as what I've heard about all these other places around here."

Iso peered over Erro's shoulder, watching him draw.

"Mmghn!" Liernoine stretched some dull pain in his shoulders and arms. "But still all to consider risks. The Lake of Dusk can be beautiful at first glance, but come full of haints. Only stone-minded people get outta there."

 

[St. Clover]

"Sounds like a place I'd like to avoid," Milianor snorted. "Speaking of monsters, you guys were pretty chill about letting a talking lizard come help you. I mean, yeah, it was that or let your buddy die." She shrugged and glanced sidelong at Lier. "But still."

 

[Anshelical]

Iso was still convinced. In his mind, Milianor was so charming enough to befriend her future lunch. He sighed, seeing the quietening scene about them as the ritual site's failure blended right with it.

"I've run into a few talking anomalies," Lier said. "Tall. Fuzzy. Snouted. But I've never seen anything like yours before. You..." He considered the Dragon Stones. "You must be a dragon breed or something."

Erro considered this with a swift stroke of the higher mountains on his rough canvas.

 

[St. Clover]

Milianor snapped her fingers and grinned. She knew just the thing to do, and with her magic, she intended to do it. The chime of a bell rang out above them, ding! "We've got a winner!" she laughed. "You're looking at a real life, flesh and blood, in the scales..." She raised her voice as she spoke, putting more and more bravado into it for the show. She even went as far as to put one hand on her chest, the other raised to the heavens for all the world to witness.

"...Dragonborn," she finished in a rather monotone voice. "I'm a Dragonborn. We're basically dragons, if, y'know, they walked on two legs. But we're still awesome!"

 

[Anshelical]

Iso couldn't move his eyes from Milianor's claw. Erro peered up from his canvas. Vine smiled to the dry buildup of a declaration, as Liernoine chuckled.

"A walking dragon. How about that?" He said.

"You sound pretty excited to be one," Vine said. "But it is pretty fascinating to know you're from a legendary creature." Maybe a scale would do for him.

 

[St. Clover]

Unable to help herself, Milianor offers the group a wide toothy grin. Inside her mouth are numerous dagger like teeth, polished to an almost mirror sheen. "Are you kidding me? Hell yeah I'm excited to be me!" she exclaims. "My life's been an absolute blast so far! Travelling the world, learning magic, getting into bar fights with people just cause I threw a bottle at them," she wistfully sighs. "Overcoming my limitations as far as magic goes. Moving out to the big city and getting a chance to meet an old fart who's a local legend. Being able to do this."

Her fingers snapped and a firecracker exploded in her lap.

"Yeah... I wouldn't change being me for the world. Plus being what's basically a mini dragon is cool too."

 

[Anshelical]

"Yeah, you're the special one alright," Vine chuckled. "You and all your travels... you should tell us more sometime."

Erro was finishing up with the sketch, turning his canvas in another direction to extend the panorama.

"S-So what's in for you, now?" Iso said. "If you're not from here, t-then what are you doing to do about it?"

 

[St. Clover]

Swiveling her head around, Milianor cast Iso a lazy stare. "Honestly? Hell if I know. See if I can get that ritual to work again, probably. If this site's busted, look for someplace else that has enough power to fuel it," she said simply. "Not the first time I've been stuck someplace. Far from it. Usually every world has at least a couple places of power. Just gotta find them and presto." She waved a hand, trailing the blue magic haze again. "Home free. Why? You afraid I was gonna ask for some tribute for saving you or some shit? That why you stuttering?"

 

[Anshelical]

"T-Taaha! No! Of course n-not!" Iso was indeed afraid. "You did it o-out of a willing h-heart."

"Slow down, Iso," Vine said. "Don't wanna stutter off your tongue."

"I-I'm not! I'm not."

Liernoine took a brief moment to enjoy the view ahead, wondering how far of the ranges he could explore next. "They're really scattered. This contemporary lifestyle makes it so much harder to access nowadays -- the ritual sites, I mean. But, you say 'this world' as though you're from another realm." He turned to Milianor.

 

[St. Clover]

"Cause I am," Milianor states simply, leaning back into a more relaxed sitting position. "I'm from a place that's a whole lot different from this one, I'm willing to bet. Biggest difference would be the people. See, I'm from this place called Tel'Nar. It's a big place, whole continent all to itself. We've got about everything you could want, education, technology, magic... Servants. When I said there were more people in our world than just dragons, I meant it. But see, there's a catch."

"Anything that's not of draconic blood is, by law, inferior to the true citizens of the Empire. Means people like you," she waved a hand at Iso. "Would be obligated to give me whatever I damn well please. Including your services for life, were it so requested."

Milianor couldn't help but suppress a snort at that last bit. She could only screw around so much and keep a straight face.

 

[Anshelical]

"W-Wow, I knew you h-had a lot of authority consider-ring the way you talk." Iso said. "W-We come from a nation of servants, t-too... and actually... we technically are slaves to the Huujar families."

"We're not no slaves," Vine swatted his hand. "He's exaggerating."

"N-No! A-At least I know I'm one!"

"You're not a slave, Iso."

"I-I..." He didn't finish, puckering his lip.

"But, we are some really hard workers with some cheap pay -- that's for sure."

Liernoine shook his head. "Well, you have a lot of freedom to be traveling. You own any slaves? 'Cause I don't see them here."

 

[St. Clover]

Unable to help from snickering again, Milianor nodded shakily. "Y-Yeah," she said as evenly as she could. "They're called the voice activated systems in my apartment!" she exclaimed, before bursting out into a fit of laughter. She rolled onto her side and half curled into a ball, all but forgetting the pain in her stomach, or the death defying situation they'd just been in.

"Holy shit, the look on your face! Oh my gods that's rich!" she laughed out. "No I don't own any slaves! What do I look like, a monster?" she continued to cackle. "I'm not even from that stuck up place, I'm from Citiria! Hell, my dad's even a human for crying out loud...! Hah!"

 

[Anshelical]

Iso gasped. "She's lying?"

"Just a little joke. You got us there, Scales," Vine chuckled with Liernoine joining.

"What's so funny?" Erro lowered his canvas.

"H-Haa!" Iso chopped up his emotions. "H-Haa-a!"

 

[St. Clover]

"I punk'd your friends!" Milianor exclaimed between gasps for air, laughing, and snorting. "H-Holy shit that was... Haaaaah, that was great... Oh gods. Yeah, no. That was all just a bunch of bullshit. Tel'Nar's a place, but slavery's been outlawed for a couple centuries. And I really don't give a damn what you happen to be, really. Just cause I'm a dragon doesn't mean I'm better than you. Put that in a pipe and smoke it...!"

 

[Anshelical]

Vine motioned his hand and piped the jokeworthy cigar. "Piped."

"Haha. I wasn't quite too worried about you being a slave master at all," Liernoine said. "After all, you saved my life. For what? Even if you told us you were a slave master, I wouldn't believe you."

"I still don't get it." Erro returned to his drawing.

"S-She's a-a-a little jokey!" Iso's discomfort about warming up to Milianor eased a bit, but he had to remind himself; she was still a walking dragon. Plus, she saved Liernoine, a dependent of trouble for the band.

"Yeah, when you were talking about the apartment I was even more lost," Liernoine gave leftover snickers. "Man. I'll get you someday for sure." After all, his whole life, the scars and such, were more than just an ordinary coincidence.

 

[St. Clover]

"If you find a way to my place, be my guest. Hell, I might even take you all out for a round if you manage it. Know this wicked bar downtown by the docks that had the best drinks you'll find in the city," Milianor boasted, throwing her arms behind her head as she settled back down. "Speaking of going places, I gotta ask. There any magic users around here? Might help to talk to one to figure out what the hell kind of crazy stuff I might find around here. Old trinkets, artifacts, that sorta jazz."