Fantasy Of Distant Legends

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Temple of Shurima

Sareth regretted many things right now, and one of them was not drinking a health potion earlier, and saving it for an emergency instead. With a half-broken ribcage, definitely some internal bleeding, and a truckload of pain, this was nothing if not an emergency. However, he couldn't afford to take off his helmet in that woman's presence, under the possibility that she knows hypnosis. His helmet could offer some protection to the mind, thanks to its enchantments, and though it wasn't a perfect talisman, it was better than exposing his cognition to a possible enchantress.

But when she called him an intruder with that nasal, presumptuous tone of his younger brother, Sareth felt something break in him.

He grit his teeth and decided not to diss or fight her for now, saying, "Because, if you don't, I will not know who I'm dealing with, and therefore invited to make very impulsive and rash decisions."

"First of all, calling King Ozirmok foolish... is fair, but though he gave his permission, it was Luthandriel's idea, and if Luthandriel has an idea, that more or less automatically makes it a good idea," the prince explained with a strange tightness in his chest. Did Luthandriel foresee all this death? Was it on his list of possibilities? Of probabilities? "And by slaves are illegal, I mean they're illegal. Forcing people to work against their will is unethical and immoral."

Then, she made an outrageous demand of being led outside, and Sareth was torn. For a moment, he was afraid of speaking out against her, in fear she might finish what the traps and mummies started, but then realized if she truly intended to have him go through all of that again, it didn't really matter. As such, Sareth laughed, a low, chittering sound.

He kept laughing and coughing in pain, most likely from lung damage, as he said, "Le-leahaha-lead yo-hohoh-out of here? Good one! We've started this expedition with twenty people; what the traps didn't manage to do, the mummies have. We are the only survivors."

Suddenly, his voice and posture both tensed, becoming straight and calm, like a violin string being lightly tugged. Sareth said, in a very matter-of-fact voice, "This place is a labyrinth full of traps and monsters that indiscriminately murder anything that goes through. The mummies don't die when you cut them, the traps are virtually undetectable in any way, I have only one health potion left, and I think Adventurer One just went insane."

Sareth left a multitude of things out of the conversation. For one, the draconic growth in his brain that constantly transmitted a desire to dominate her, take her staff from her to add to an obscure hoard of treasures, and then make her into a slave for himself, rather than to submit and let it be the other way around. He also didn't mention that his Detect Evil was marking her down with a purple-ish color, which was the Detect Evil equivalent of three question marks.

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

View attachment 553374

The knight's mocking tone left her rather speechless and removed the majority of that pity she had been holding for him, and as a result, her body language grew stiffer, and her tone of voice grew colder still. "I care not who this Luthandriel is, as of yet, and the rash decisions you're concocting against me will do nothing but to hasten your own demise, and my slaves worked willingly, none of them had to help me, but it was of their loyalty that kept them by my side." she wanted to avoid confrontation if she could help it, but this man seemed intent on forcing one.

"Fine, a change of the agreement. I will deal with the traps, you will lead the way, unless the dear prince of this 'great and wise Ozirmok' can't even walk straight or remember a path? I will answer your questions after, otherwise I will leave and find my own way out and you can enjoy suffering through those nasty little traps again, and die purely by your own volition to spite me and ignore my offer." Illyana frowned, believing her suggestion to be as reasonable and fruitful for both of them in this scenario, clearly annoyed by the wounded knight's pained laughter than seemed to show his lack of care for her authority.

"So Live or die, your choice, either way I get outside, just one takes marginally longer and starts with your death.", and with that, she walked back to the pile of sand by her sarcophagus and sat down, giving the knight a chance to think about his options, which the empress thought was quite a clear choice, given that only one benefited him.

While Sareth thought this through, she noticed a distinct bond between her and the sarcophagus, making her feel rather inclined to protect it at all costs. She remember something about the discussion of what her phylactery was to be, and expected that this was to be it.

She began erecting some golems from the pile of sand that the coffin had been resting on and told them to protect it at all costs, to which they nodded and stood by its side.

While it bothered her that the group would be able to see her abilities, it wasn't as though they weren't well known, and she doubted they would be capable of stopping this minor act given their current physical state.

Once she was done, she turned back to them and called out in a low, sultry voice to them with a smug grin, yet not one that implied aggression. "Now then, Sareth, son of Ozirmok. What is to be your decision?"
Birdsie June Verles

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Tomb of Shurima

"You either mistake loyalty for necessity, or your slaves weren't slaves, just servants," he said, sounding neither displeased nor happy.

He clicked his tongue upon hearing her words. A pang of guilt hit him, a recurring realization of the numbers that perished today. It made him drown out her creation of sand golems into a background process, not too surprised by it.

She asked him for his final call. He felt a great irritation boil and stir in his stomach, as he growled, "Whatever. Follow me, I memorized the path."

With one motion, Sareth took off his helmet and expertly pinned it to his waist, then reached into a tiny compartment on his belt and took out a vial with a candy-red liquid. He took off the cork and downed it in one go, then dropped the vial and put his helmet back on. Through this, he was careful to avoid eye-contact with the egotistical girl.

Once Sareth was done, he kneeled and took an unlit torch in his hand and focused on it. He had to reap the health potion's benefits while they were palpable. Once its curative effects dissipated, using any of his draconic powers was risky at best, and potentially lethal at worst.

Sareth's mouth emitted a trickle of heat, that passed through the slits in his visor without harming it, and yet set the tip of the torch ablaze.

He stood up, then led the way for the 'empress' and his insane comrade.

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

View attachment 553374

Nothing more was needed to be said.

Relieved that the knight had accepted her offer, she took in his face as he drank the health potion. His hair being most certainly strange to her eyes, but she said nothing, taking notice of his distinct refusal to bring his golden-brown eyes to hers, yet remaining mute as they set off on the trek through the silent hallways of what she could only assume was a temple for her.

His fire-breathing parlour trick was interesting, and she created a mental note to ask him about it later.

No traps triggered as they made their way out of the temple, it seemingly recognising the presence of the god it had been built around, yet the aftermath of battles were quite vibrantly clear as they progressed. Between corpses, scorch marks and blood, Illyana wondered how many people they had come in with. Her and those two were the only ones left, it seemed.

Altogether, it was certainly dampening the already gloomy atmosphere.

She didn't dare break the silence, it seemd quite clear, at least to her, that they were thinking about their fallen comrades.

Once the trio was basking in the shimmering light of the sun, no longer being lit solely by the torch, the empress took several paces forward outside of the small entrance that seemed to be buried underneath... Soil?

The sharp intake of breath might have been heard as her eyes scanned lands of green, grass and trees, things had been a rare occurrence in her lands, outside of the occasional decoration.

"I... Shall ask my questions after yours." she said, much more gently than it had been, with an audible tint of meekness and lacking the authority it used to have.

"I... Also apologise for your losses.." she mumbled, deflated, as she faced the duo. Nothing was right, her lands were not visible, which meant they were no longer in existence, and she wasn't met with hordes of her followers.

All she had was a staff, the two people in front of her, this temple and a heavy weight on her heart as she struggled to put everything together, just knowing that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Birdsie June Verles

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Tomb of Shurima

Upon seeing the woman suddenly lose her imperious attitude, Sareth's eyebrows climbed to his hairline under his helmet; something he didn't mirror with his body. Another pang of the regret hit him, both due to the idea he made people die, and that on some level, he failed as a leader. Truth be told, now that the initial shock of pain and adrenaline was gone, he realized he'd been leading them deeper in, not giving an order to retreat, and they followed. They followed not because the lives of their families depended on this mission, but because he was the king's son, the prince.

He didn't know any of them too much. Maybe knew three or four of them from previous meetings, maybe balls, or just casually seeing and remembering their faces.

But this wasn't a private tragedy. He'd bring news of this home, and he feared how people would react - how father would react. Something demonic gripped at his heart as the anxieties swirled in his mind.

Sareth's fists clenched, whitening around the knuckles, but not showing his anger otherwise. He breathed in and out. "Those men knew what they signed up for, I hope," Sareth said, the grief obvious, "And if not, then they are now resting in the firmament, where Hann guards their souls eternally."

It took a good minute before he asked, somewhat more loosely and soberly, "Who are you? What are you? What is this tomb? Why was it so well-guarded? What will you do now?"

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

The lich took a heavy breath at the knight's words. It felt strangely like this was her fault, despite her lack of involvement in the temple, aside from her presence within it, deciding to drop the subject than continue reminding him of it.

Then, she began moving on to the questions, once they came.

"I am.. Was, Empress Shurima, and everything you can see used to be my kingdom. I suppose now I'm just.. Illyana" the lich said, struggling to come to terms with her own words as she spoke them.

"I was a human, but I suppose now I'm a lich. I am just after waking up for the procedure, actually, which is why I'm so baffled about what exactly going on. From what I can tell, either I'm in some sort of illusion, I'm in an.. Alternate realm? Or I've quite literally slept through the death of my empire, which I had become a lich in the first place to protect until the end of time." the second question went, now answered with a little extra.

"I suppose it is a tomb, isn't it? I guess my people erected it around me, thinking I was dead, if the sleeping scenario is to be believed, which would also explain why there were so many traps and what-not." went the third and fourth, before she finally settled on the last of Sareth's questions.

"As for what I will do now... I.. Don't know. The only thing I can think to do is try and set up my kingdom once more, but how to go about that, I am unsure. You are free to leave if you want, our agreement is now complete, and I'm sure your father will be happy to see you." she finished sombrely, sitting down on the soft grass, recoiling initially at its strange sensation, but relaxing into it afterwards, and beginning to think about what exactly she would do now.

She had nowhere left to really go. She had spent her entire life surrounded by people, markets, food, warriors, or servants.

Now, she had nothing.

Never had she felt so alone, and so, she did the only thing she could think to do, and prayed to her goddess Shurima for advice.

But even she was silent, attempting to preserve what energy was left.

Birdsie June Verles

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion

"Will he, though?" Sareth sighed, sitting down not far away from her with the metallic ringing of his armor plates.

"I kept advancing and my men followed me to their deaths, I didn't tell them to retreat, and now they're dead, because of me, and I'm still here. They're with Hann, or with who they praised, but their families won't see it that way. My father might agree with me, but what of the widows, orphans that were made today? What do I do? Apologize?"

Sareth looked into the sky, clouded with white puffs, which revealed a blue flatness behind them. He sighed, He wondered where Adventurer One was, while this all was happening. Eh, the chap could find his way home.

 

[June Verles]

Adventurer 1
​

After going through a mental breakdown for a bit longer Adventurer 1 would stumble back and fall, his eyes had the darkness only someone who had their hopes and dreams broken could have. "Man I'm done, I've spent 30 years of this life for naught, were those 17 levels of glitching slimes and stealing beginner boss areas even though I was way too over-leveled for nothing?" he says as lets out a cry. For a moment he does nothing, just stare towards the roof before reaching into his bag to pull out a vial of Midnight Tears.

He was saving it to mix with the booze of his neighbor, a level 20 hill dwarf,so he could finally pay him back for that time when he dug underneath his lawn which resulted with potholes that required a exorbitant of money to the guild only for them to send some glorified apprentice who just used mold earth. But before he could drown his sorrows and feel the freedom that 9d6 poison damage gave he spotted a picture.

The picture depicted him in the process of being suplexed by a female orc into the ground. Yes that brought a tear to the man's face, it was the picture of his lovely wife. He could still remember how he met her, being found looting the body of her previous husband only to be pummeled mercilessly into the ground. The only way to escape that imminent death was to take her hand in marriage.

Yes he didn't live just for himself anymore, so with new energy he stands up and looks around to find that he was in fact alone in the throne room. Did the dumb ass prince and the exhibitionist leave him behind? Was it because he crouching and his sneak skill was activated?

Well it's not like it mattered, Adventurer 1 would just open his map and follow the path back outside, while throwing high quality revive potions at the corpses who looked like his teammates and kill the mummies he would accidentally revive. "I hope they're not like related to that girl..." he said as he finally made it out of the tomb.

Spotting the Shurima and Sareth in their own world he just congregated with the other party members, splitting the loot, organizing for other people to gather some priests and revive the remaining people and put in a notice for the archaeology guild.

After sending them on his way he would just sit down a few meters away and wait for the prince, he needed to get his signature for the report otherwise he couldn't pick up his reward.

"Why is he so roughed up? Has he run out of potions?" he wondered.

Birdsie Noble Scion

 

[Birdsie]

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Temple of Shurima

Sareth's worries and inadequacies popped like a bundle of balloons, leaving only confusion and incredulity the moment Adventurer One led a group of not-so-deceased explorers out of the tomb.

"Ah," Sareth reacted, for what else could he do? "That's why father insists I always take veterans with me, probably. Or should I say: as expected of the famous Adventurer One who always keeps a cool head? I thought we were in trouble, but you took care of it on your own. What a reliable man! Now I know why you're number one."

June Verles Noble Scion (lol)

 

[LostHaven]

Faust Windfallow & Alexiel Pendragon
The Raven's Arcana | Birdsie Inheritance Epiphany Hanarei

It took Faust too long to realize what Azhi had done, and by the time he did, it was far too late. A sick, twisted, inhumane grin twisted across Alexiel's face, consumed with overwhelming lust that would make even a succubus cower in a corner. "No, boy! What have you done?!" The floating skull screeched in pure horror, helpless as Alexiel leaned over toward the unfortunate boy, her face now unnervingly close to Azhi's. So close in fact, that he could feel the woman's breath against his neck. Alexiel placed her right hand behind Azhi's head as she whispered in a voracious tone that'd send chills down the back of any man, strong or weak-willed. "Ara ara~ You naughty boy~" Alexiel slowly stuck her tongue out toward the boy's face, and would have undoubtedly done all forms of perverse actions to the boy if it weren't for the fact that Faust somehow managed to hurl himself toward the lustful paladin before the situation could become unsalvageable.

Alexiel tumbled across the floor, alongside the skull who rolled a few more meters across the ground. "You damned virign skeleton... Couldn't you see I was in the middle of something?" Alexiel questioned annoyedly, seemingly irritated by the fact that she was interrupted from devouring her prey.

"I just fucking saved you from getting arrested!"

Alexiel sighed, still irritated, as she picked herself up from the ground and looked at Azhi again, processing his request through her head. Now that the goddamned lich had ruined the atmosphere, Alexiel suddenly felt no urge to tease the kid anymore. As she went behind the reception desk to search for an item that matched Azhi's parameters, Faust called out toward the boy. "NEVER attempt that ever again, understand?"

Soon later, Alexiel returned with a rectangular crystalline object in hand, which shone a bright azure. The object was overflowing with mana, to the point that it was a miracle the thing was even able to contain the pure energy circulating within it. Faust eyed the item suspiciously. "Uh, Alexiel, isn't that the ritual I specifically said not to use? Like, ever?"

"Yes, but there are no more conjuration rituals that match the boy's criteria."

"The fuck? Didn't I have an assload of those things just earlier this week? What about a ritual to summon an Avangion?"

"An adventuring party found a way to cheat by buying all your sealed rituals and used them to summon powerful enemies to fight, to climb up the ranks faster."

"Wait, that's cheating." Faust looked over at Azhi, then back at Alexiel, not even remotely questioning why anyone would buy a ritual to summon an Avangion to fight. "Whatever. That works. Just give it to him." His dots of soulfire eyed Azhi sheepishly, or well, as sheepishly as two dots of soulfire can get. Somehow, the atmosphere felt like whatever was in that crystal, it likely did not bode well. "Kid, just pick it up and get the fuck out of here!" Faust barked, more than eager to get the fuck away from the depraved pedophile of a paladin.

What was more frightening than the fact that whatever the ritual was summoning could not be discerned, was the fact that as Azhi left the store, if he looked back, he would see Alexiel waving with a horrifyingly diabolical smile spread across her face, and eyes gleaming with untold depravity, like a beast patiently stalking its meal...

 

[Birdsie]

LostHaven Inheritance Hanarei Epiphany

Azhi Armitage - Raven's Arcana

Azhi yelped and stepped back when the pedo--er, the woman leaned forward and almost licked his face. Fortunately, Faust-sensei saved him by launching himself at her with fearsome velocity. Azhi sighed in relief, almost sagging, but he kept a safe distance.

"I won't!" he said decisively to Faust's command, a glint collecting in his eyes. Azhi doubted he'd use Charm Person on a shopkeeper ever again - he was either getting to good at it, or the shopkeepers were becoming wicked.

Azhi considered what almost happened. He wasn't that afraid, as even if she did anything, he had Drain Touch to protect himself with. And a dagger. Nonetheless, he seemed stuck in a shellshocked reverie, and he snapped out of it only when Faust told him to grab the crystal. Azhi took it with a scything hand motion and ran out of the store, bell ringing behind him. As they left, Azhi turned to Faust and asked, "Hey, why is that person working here? You should fire her for felonious misconduct."

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

She was unsure of how to respond. Frankly, she had expected him to simple leave the instant he'd been given the option, but instead, he'd opted to take a spot next to her to share a moment of his time, despite their aggression towards each other not too long ago.

She pulled her legs up to her face, laid her arms across and dropped her head onto the self-made platform, staring at the distant kingdom with her mind on other things

The reappearance of those dead came as a surprise, and while Illyana wanted to be happy for the knight, there was something rather depressing about watching someone get it all back whilst unable to do the same.

Sure, she might be able to recreate her kingdom once more, but it wouldn't be the same. She wouldn't have Annutar, or her other advisors that had become her closest friends.

"ah... Well-done to you both." she mumbled rather sulkily, not even bothering to turn her head. Instead choosing to stare at the green fields before them with a kingdom in the distance.

Birdsie June Verles

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Temple of Shurima

After placing his signature on the report, Sareth told the adventurers to mount their steeds, bag up the treasures they found, and rest from the after-effects of having died. They'd be returning to the capital soon. Not only had he managed to save a little bit of his face, but the people weren't dead! What a joyous day.

Sareth whistled, and a creature of red scales and orange, reptilian eyes ran over the hill to him, a saddle placed on its back and black horns growing out of its head. A drake; its wings tempered and unsuited for flight.

Sareth took the beast by the reins and led it onward, then approached Illyana. In something of an inviting voice, he said, "You're welcome to come with us, if you want. You can see what has become of the world in your absence, maybe meet my father. I'm sure he'd be delighted to meet a historical figure of your magnitude."

 

[IamNotLoki]

Ichabod
Location: above Grog's cave >>> The Stream
Goal: Observe Mission/ Get the old man off my back/ Rescue aegis.
Tags: Archdemon Birdsie June Verles Kylesar1 Reinhardt
(The following scene happened a few hours ago)
Ichabod's ears perked up when he heard the Troll mention details about masked men with magical powers. "Hmmm... sounds like the syndicate..." Ichabod said in an almost whisper as he stroked his chin.
the old priest who was sitting adjacent to the vampire noticed this gesture spoke quietly, "Syndicate... what's that?" Predictably clueless.
"Hmmm... nothing..." Ichabod dismissed the old priest's interest. I wonder if big brother knows that these goons are operating under his turf... his problems aren't my problems.

The party being observed went ahead and followed the Troll towards the next phase of their mission.
"I got to get her before she hurts herself..." The foolish priest told Ichabod. Just as Nolan was about to leap down to get Aegis, Ichabod got in front of him. I hate dumbasses like these the most... thinking that they need to be everyone's white knight. I don't think he'll bow down to threats anymore. "Listen grandpa... let her do this herself, okay? Treat her like a kid and she wont survive. Listen, if anything goes wrong... I'll go down there myself, just observe for now, alright?"

Nolan reluctantly crossed his arms.

Fucken hate this geezer, just let the kid do her thing!

Part of Ichabod wants to see what the syndicate was all about. He wonders if his Father's Sanguine Syndicate are still in peaceful terms with this new band of outlaws calling themselves "The Syndicate". Two gangs with "syndicate" in their names would make the underworld of Glamis confusing indeed. The fuck do I care about father...

The two followed behind the group making sure they are not spotted.

The reached a clearing and spotted a large camp guarded by goblins. Ichabod climbed up a tree to get a better view of the party.

He spotted the fancy looking girly-boy draw some crude drawings on the floor. Aegis nodded in agreement but was surprised when the orc woman walked away. Amateurs... do they know what snipers are for?

He turned his attention towards the folks in masks. Monkey and Rat. The rat-masked one seems to be an aggravating bastard. The monkey looks to be a voice of reason with his very own reasons for annoying Ichabod.

"What do you see up there!?" The old man called from below.

"Shut up!" Ichabod growled. "Just find someplace to watch!"

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

The sudden whistle seemed to waken the empress from her sulking as her head lifted towards the appearance of a beast the likes she had never seen the before, at least not of this size.

"Is that a dragon?" she asked out of curiosity, watching the thing carefully and unleashing a small gasp of awe as the knight clambered on top of it.

The idea of joining him, however, caused her to pause.

She stood up, yet avoided his gaze as she thought about the offer with a seemingly large amount of intensity, wobbling from foot-to-foot briefly, before locking her eyes with his.

"I.. Think I might, if you don't, well, mind. Hopefully your father doesn't perceive me as a threat, as that is.. Not my intention." she said sheepishly, skittish around the rather intimidating beast. She'd been near dragons before but only children, and never very large. Frankly she was still suffering from that rooted primordial human fear of potentially dangerous creatures. Lichdom hadn't removed that quite yet.
Birdsie

 

[Birdsie]

Noble Scion June Verles

Sareth Glamis Ethengarde - Temple of Shurima

"It's a drake, actually," he corrected casually, patting the creature's head. It barely felt it through the scales but appeared to release a low purr. Sareth continued to explain, "This breed, conflagratio nalatum, in particular, is wingless, but still has the signature dragon breath. She's from the red-scaled chromatic family - usually, that genus is very aggressive, a bit vain, and prone to make snap decisions. I admit this child was a bit of a tsundere when she hatched, but she came around. I named her Meliora; meaning betterment, because of that-" Sareth realized he started rambling, and stopped.

"My powers, they help me connect with them," Sareth said, in a more sentimental tone. "Not with drakes, just with draconic creatures, in general."

She accepted the offer, and Sareth nodded. Sareth extended a hand, saying, "Hop on."

When she mentioned Ozirmok seeing her as a threat, there was an audible snort. "Father? I've yet to hear of father jumping to a conclusion because of such things. He's tried to redeem demons, liches, even serial murderers before, and somehow, he's seen staggering success in his attempts. I don't know how he does it."

 

[LostHaven]

Faust Windfallow
Raven's Arcana | Birdsie Hanarei Epiphany Inheritance

It wasn't as if Faust couldn't understand Azhi's trauma. As such, he opted to stay quiet as Azhi took a moment to recollect his thoughts before grabbing the crystal, and getting the hell out of the accursed shop. After all, not even Faust could stand that voracious, child-devouring creep of a woman, and that was saying a lot considering Liches couldn't even get uncomfortable from such things, due to a certain lack of... Organs.

Faust let out a snort to Azhi's query. If the woman were truly worthless, Faust would have fired it already. "The answer's simple, boy," Faust replied, "it is because she has a certain set of skills that can still yet benefit the business. Some troublesome people need... Alternative methods to deal with, and you witnessed it firsthand." As the two walked, Faust silently brainstormed the schematics of the Armitages' plan. As he did so, Faust began to have doubts that whatever that crystal would spit out, was probably ill-suited for the job. Nonetheless, the lich chose to keep quiet.

"By the way, where are we meant to meet with your presumptuous whore of a sister, and that archdemon of a mother you have?"

 

[Birdsie]

LostHaven Hanarei Epiphany Inheritance

Azhi Armitage

Azhi didn't seem satisfied with the answer that Faust gave him, his lips drawing together into a thin line.

"No idea," Azhi said, pretending he did not just hear Faust call his sister that. Azhi frowned; in hindsight, they may not have planned nearly enough for this to go as intended. He became neutral, offering the answer, "I just kind of assumed we'd... uh, meet them there, somehow? I'm not sure what I assumed. So, how about you contact them and I go set up the, well, ambush, as it were?"

No way this could possibly go wrong.

Archdemon IamNotLoki June Verles Kylesar1 Reinhardt

Meanwhile...

Fox and Victor had rope in their hands. Not tied, mind you, just held rope in their hands, in such a way that it was taut around their wrists. It gave the false impression they were tied, as they were led onward by a quartet of goblin guards. The goblins in the camp were already more or less in on the job, and the guards on and near the towers were surreptitiously preparing to aim and fire at one of the masked man (except Fox,) from their position, or jump over the railing and run, whichever proved more prudent.

Mizu's plan, if nothing else, would let them get the drop on the enemy. An unexpected attack isn't an ambush, for the enemy knows you're there, but it's better than a frontal assault where the enemy gets to prepare.

The moment that Fox and Victor crossed the threshold, Monkey stopped mockfully intervening in Rat's bullying of lesser creatures, as his eyes practically went out of his mask in astonishment at the sight. Rat's eyes indicated he was between disbelief and contempt. Pig calmly sipped tea, aware of the situation with the side of his gaze, but neither particularly caring nor emotive. There was an almost sadness to his behavior.

After a few seconds, Monkey clapped his hands together loudly. "Well, well, well, if it isn't our errant vulpine! Foooxy, how are you? Has this land been treating you well?"

Rat emitted a 'tch' sound.

"And who's this, a friend?" Monkey asked, looking at Victor. One could tell, from the way that Monkey's jaw was positioned under his mask, that he was grinning with his eyes wide. An almost psychotic joy and a twinge of amusement. "Can I ask what you two, fine gentlemen, are doing, meddling with the Clan's operations?"

 

[Hanarei]

Bethany Evelyn - "The Arcanist Absolute" Armitage

Evelyn stood outside with her arms crossed attempting to play up her whole 'not caring' shtick as she looked upon her old home. As much as she wouldn't like to admit it she did miss being at home in ways, even if it meant dealing with her embarrassing family. It was a sense of nostalgia that always lingered with her even if she tended to often suppress the very thought of 'home'. It wasn't as if her family was terrible after all... just extremely strange and didn't fit her style. She did care about her family even if she tried to hide it. In many ways it probably was a lot of what caused her to be more strict on the types of magic she actually used and tended to avoid dipping too much into the occult or necromancy despite the great experience she had in it.

The girl stood tapping her foot as she saw her mother venture outside. She pouted a bit renewing her expression of annoyance not wanting to show any moment of weakness on her return. She watched her approach after a brief sigh. At the very least she seemed to not have any devious intentions as she stood beside her. The girl let out a deep breath as she focused her efforts to 'lock on' to where her little brother was. The familiarity with him made it rather effortless to locate him particularly knowing the general direction he was in. She softly began to chant the spell relaxing a bit as she planned to teleport directly to her brother. It was a risk when teleporting to someone that without knowing the location you could find yourself flung from the location you attempted to appear causing you to land on tables or in the air. Evelyn had a good Master of her magic and she knew how to compensate for it being able to teleport cleanly next to someone even if they were in a location she didn't know. Outside some crazy terrain they would land soundly standing as they had first started when the spell was cast on their feet as if they had been there in the first place.

"I'm proud of you, you know."

The young arcanist's focus was thrown off as she was left embarrassed her lips parted to protest though the spell already had gone off sending the two directly to the Raven's Arcana. What should of been a smooth appearance next to her brother had all but failed. Both Shri and Evelyn crackled into existance a few feet in the air having been jarred forward giving them some moment not falling straight down. The two to crash down a few feet into the ground smacking into a few things. Evelyn growled a bit in frustration as she stood up, brushing herself off seemingly attempting to play it off despite the various things she managed to knock down in her tumble teleporting to the two. She seemed a bit red in embarrassment both from what her mother whispered to her as well as her far from graceful arrival due to the distraction it caused her midcast.

"Ah... you are still here... this place really is a mess. How is it even conceivable for a building to decay this atrociously without collapsing in upon itself? How can it conceivably get this way in a city that isn't even that ancient?" She spoke as she attempted to act rather nonchalant about their arrival as she purposely seemed to avoid glancing upon her mother in fear of being further embarrassed more then she was. "So did you get the crystal?"

Mentioned: Epiphany Birdsie LostHaven Inheritance

 

[Reinhardt]

Seraphine Reizylle

RAVEN'S ARCANA​

Somewhere within the vicinity of this shambling shop known to few as the "Raven's Arcana", the fabrics of fate and magic began to twist and turn, eventually until it tore through the laws of nature, causing a rift in space to appear, about a few meters away from the slowly gathering group. Beneath this gradually opening spatial rift, is a magic circle, covered in dust and soot, as if it had not been used for a very, very long time. Still, the force of gravity upon this rift is enough to unveil the said magic circle, eventually revealing it to be a teleportation circle of some sort - it's not like the usual one most of the world's mages would use, but it seemed familiar enough to be identified as one.

After a short while, the rift opened, and burst into a shower of spatial dust and glitter quickly fading into nothingness as the winds blew. Where it once was, there is now a blonde girl, her crimson eyes looking into the distance. She pats away some of the dust that fell unto her clothes, and sighed.

"Well...", she uttered loudly, clearly not caring if she is heard or not, and whether she has company or is alone. On one of her hands, she held what seems to be a card bearing the logo of the "Raven's Arcana". "That was terrible. It took me about five minutes to figure out exactly where this marker was."

She gazed upon the ground and sees the circle, still partially covered by the untouched ground. "And who even thought it was a good idea to keep a dormant circle out here?"

It would seem that she is a bit...disturbed with the complexity of the events that had led her arrival to this location.

Interactions: Faust & Alexiel ( LostHaven ), Azhi ( Birdsie ), Evelyn ( Hanarei )

 

[LostHaven]

Faust Windfallow & Alexiel Pendragon
Raven's Arcana | Birdsie Hanarei Epiphany Reinhardt Inheritance

Something smelled fishy. In fact, fishy, and extremely familiar. The discomfort permeated the air, and caused even Faust to feel uneasy. Then, it dawned on him. This was undoubtedly the horrible stench of a teleportation spell gone awry... And it didn't take long for him to deduce the location which Evelyn and whomever she was taking along for the ride would end up. "SHIT!" He hollered, in a tone that resembled that of a twisted amalgamation of horror and despair. Now, he could only pray the smaller fish finished them off before the even bigger fish caught up to them.

As Evelyn and Shriandriath landed into the Raven's Arcana, the decaying and withered vines that clung to the walls and furniture shifted slowly, as if sensing the disturbance. They began to creep across the ground, and... slowly approaching the duo? They writhed and twisted along the ground, as if they were tendrils of an even larger horror. They drew near, encircling the two, fanged blossoms opening from the blackened bulbs, ready to devour the unfortunate pair. Before either could react though, a blinding ray of light shone forward and engulfed the necromantic flowers, which hastily retreated from the horrible radiant magic, letting a sizzling noise as it attempted to escape the holy magic.

Unfortunately, what followed was even more horrible than the store's security systems... Alexiel lowered her hand, and slowly inspected both visitors with unsettling thoroughness. "Now now, what do we have here~" She chimed out, slowly encroaching the two, and Evelyn in particular. Her heels clicked against the marble floor as the woman drew near. Then, once Alexiel was directly in front of Evelyn, she let a wide grin twist across her pale face, leaning in forward, Alexiel's own face alarmingly close to Evelyn's. She put her right hand gently under Evelyn's chin. "And what could such an adorable little mage be doing in here of all places?" She asked, before realizing the woman was of identical race to the boy who had came earlier. Her gleaming eyes drifted from Evelyn's face toward the archdemon succubus in armor. "A heartfelt story indeed, don't you think? Yours, I mean.~" She mused, realizing the archdemon was undoubtedly the parent to those children.

Alexiel hadn't noticed the teleportation circle activate, as it was located on the second floor, and the idiot lich's room, no less. As Seraphine looked around, she would notice her surroundings seemed rather... morbid, even for the run-down mess that was The Raven's Arcana. For one, the room was barren, except for a single desk and chair in the far end facing the window, which hut with bad been sealed shadly nailed-on wooden boards. Aside from the desk, the only other feature was the timeworn circle, and stacks of antique and old tomes and grimoires. Intriguing books, no doubt, but dusty and worn. What sort of shut-in mage lived here?! More alarmingly however, was the vines that were slowly crawling through gaps on the walls, window, and under the door. And they didn't look friendly... Especially since the flowers were growing fangs and trying to take bites out of the girl.

Yep, definitely not friendly.

 

[Kylesar1]

Sheub "Shelby" Mangoza
Sniper's Nest well away from the Goblin Camp​

Shelby watched everything. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear much. She pulled out a scroll. "I'll have to learn this spell........Geez, I need to actually do it." Scrolls weren't cheap and Sheub had to buy plenty of them to compensate for her lack of hearing at a distance The scroll had some runes on them. When translated, it meant "help of ears." In normal people's speak, it was a Hearing Aid spell, which she activated by pricking her finger with an arrow-tip and smearing the tiny amount of blood on the scroll. It disappeared and suddenly she could hear everything.

(Sorry, gotta speed things along. This is stagnating hard)

Shelby decided it was time to go. Time to take them out. She changed her arrow to a ghost one. A silent flyer, one that disappeared after impact to not only keep up the stealth, but to prevent tracing back to her position. If they didn't see the arrow within 2 seconds after stopping, their hope of tracing her position was nullified. "Pierce the armor of God.........." she muttered under her breath, as if she were trying to keep herself audibly hidden even though she already secured her location for any and all traps, life, and magic that could be used to give her away pre-emptively. "Stillpiercer." The tip of the arrow slendered out to almost a needle-like point and gained a flowing aura, like one could visualize the air being displaced as it would when it flew. Shelby was gonna offer no chance for defense, no time to react. Stillpiercer was one of her favorite spells in that it was MADE to pierce any kind of protection, giving up wounding ability to prevent defense, whether by physical or magic means (Except Earth, since Earth magic beat Air/Wind magic). In other words, you would have less of a wound, but that wound was GONNA happen.

She thought for a minute on where to aim. If she aimed for the head, the power difference wouldn't matter because they were gonna die anyways. However, if they moved, it was a miss. Torso would be hit easily, but unless she hit the heart, they would survive. But that left room to debilitate them by hitting a lung, shattering a rib or two, or destroying that liver. Torso was the better choice. As in most cases

Firmly in a sniper's nest, Shelby aimed for center mass and waited for someone to speak. She got her wish as the one with the monkey's mask asked their business. She let loose, her crossbow as silent as the dead she seeked to create in that moment. The arrow flew far faster than a normal arrow. The needle-point propelling it through the wind and the Stillpiercer spell ready to rip firmly through any armor, clothes, skin and bones it came in contact with. God forbid, by her angle, that anyone was in the path of that arrow, because they would be destroyed along with her target.

Archdemon Birdsie June Verles IamNotLoki Reinhardt

 

[Epiphany]

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[/div][div class=statusText]Location: Raven's Arcana
Tags: Birdsie Hanarei Inheritance Reinhardt [/div][/div][div class=title]Shriandriath the Debased Maiden[/div][div class=text]Shri hadn't expected her daughter to be so easily distracted by simple praise during teleportation. If she'd known, she might have saved the compliment for afterwards. As it was, the Demon appeared several feet above the ground and dropped awkwardly to the ground. She landed on both feet but in that 'shock all the way up your legs' sort of way that might have hurt a lot, had she been human. Instead, the well-dressed, armored Succubus wobbled for a moment before spread arms and her tail helped her regain her balance.

Brushing her hands off on her burnished mail, Shri took in the magic shop with some distracted interest. Magic had never been a special hobby of hers, though she adored Evelyn's skill with it. Seeing her daughter dismiss the place as a mess was, well, reassuring because it looked like a mess to her too but one never knew with mages. A little more concerning were the encroaching necromantic vines. The Demon reached the point of lifting her hands to expose talons to rend the plant-life when the unmistakable stink of radiant energy annihilated it. And stink it did. She'd come to cherish the otherwise unsettling aura of her husband's holiness. This Outsider energy lacked his virtue, though, and there was a flavor of impurity that reminded her of home if not for its nature. Had someone tried to approximate the characteristics of infernal energy and transpose them onto radiant energy? She'd never encountered such an imbalance. What could possibly cau-oh.

The unmistakable look of interest in the 'holy' woman showing an interest in her daughter explained everything. "We're looking for her brother...my son," Shri said in her most pleasant, polite tone as Alexiel sized Evelyn up the way that made her feel unexpectedly nostalgic for the orgy-slick wastelands of her own plane. "Call me Shri. And you are?" The Demon's reserved look gave way to a slight frown and she glanced past Alexiel's shoulder before pointing. "Looks like these plants of yours are threatening more of your customers. Perhaps you should hire a gardener?"[/div][div class=text][/div][/div][/div][/div] [class=wrapper] background-color:#5e5560; box-sizing:border-box; color:#eeeeee; display:inline-block; position:relative; width:100%; text-align: justify; [/class] [class=title] color: #bfbfbf; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:3em; font-style:italic; padding:0; text-shadow:0 0 1em; margin-bottom: 10px; [/class] [class=box] margin:2em 1em; padding:2px 4px 0px; position:relative; [/class] [class=boxBg] box-sizing:content-box; height:100%; pointer-events:none; position:absolute; width:100%; [/class] [class=boxBgLarge] top:0; left:-5px; padding:0 4px; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.35); [/class] [class=boxBgTall] top:-8px;left:3px; padding:8px 0; width:calc(100% - 8px); height:100%; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.25); [/class] [class=boxBgMedium] top:-4px; left:-1px; padding:4px 0; border:1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.4); [/class] [class=boxInner] background-color: #5e5560; overflow:hidden; margin:0.5em; [/class] [class=statusBox] box-sizing: border-box; border-right: 3px dotted white; padding: 15px; float: left; max-width: 250px; margin: 0px 15px 15px 0px; [/class] [class=text] padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:0.8em; [/class] [class=statusText] font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75em; margin-top: 5px; [/class] [class=characterPortrait] box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; border-radius: 20px; overflow: hidden; [/class] [class name=characterPortrait state=hover] opacity: 0.5 [/class]

 

[Birdsie]

~Timeskip~
​

The plan was easy: summon an avangion, send it after the noble-girl, save her, convince her that Cesimir is a good guy, then influence the evening events to ensure they would join in matrimony.

Unfortunately, a plan is a list of things that go wrong.

In the heated atmosphere of the Raven's Arcana, no one noticed that Azhi took the wrong crystal. And because Evelyn's thoughts were stuck repeating what she heard her mother say, she didn't notice what she was channeling until it was far too late.

Baphomet, Demon Lord of the Endless Maze, Prince of Beasts, Master of the 600th Domain manifested in the summoning circle; a humanoid standing at twelve feet, with a bovine tail, a body covered in coarse black hairs, a bull's head, and multiple horns that curved upward and downward. His eyes were mad and his lips contorted into a devilish grin, from ear to ear, revealing the teeth like a bouquet of white flowers waiting to be stained with blood.

He raised his bardiche, laughing into the sky. "BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AFTER TWO-HUNDRED AND TWO YEARS, I RETURN TO THE MORTAL REALM TO CONQUER ONCE AGAIN!" After that, Baphomet started ecstatically ranting about how he longed to wrack this world's inhabitants with grief and destruction, not noticing he was in a forest and no one could hear him except his summoners.

Azhi recalled his father's tutorings on outsiders and how summoning them worked, and he was dimly aware they fucked up big time. The boy elbowed his sister and mother to his sides, and, hoping Baphomet wouldn't hear him, whispered, "Should we run and tell the king?"

Epiphany LostHaven Reinhardt Hanarei Inheritance

 

[Noble Scion]

Illyana Shurima - Temple of Shurima

Spoiler: Appearance

She strode over cautiously towards the best, which she now knew, despite its appearance, was not a dragon, and climbed upon its scaly back behind the driver of the creature. It bent down to allow for her to clamber up, and while it wasn't the most majestic way onto its back, Illyana didn't mind too much given that she was in the presence of someone that seemed rather confident that the creature wouldn't try attacking or making a meal of her, not that it mattered anymore, she supposed.

"Now then. Shall we be off, Mr. Sareth?" she hummed in a light-hearted tone, seemingly reassured by his words about Ozirmok tending to attempt to redeem notably evil beings, and while she didn't particularly feel like redemption was required in her case, at least it seemed to show that they'd most likely be friendly to her when the meet.

She gently wrapped her tanned arms around Sareth and leaned into him, holding on tightly to ensure that no one fell from the beast once it took off, and perhaps, if one were to look closely enough, a faint reddening of a certain lich's face might have been seen in the shining light of the sun's grace.

She'd never been this close to someone before, and the experience was strangely intimate, the sand empress found.
Birdsie