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| Chronicles of Athylon; Act I: The Rose of Rotharia | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 13 2013, 11:59 PM (3,385 Views) | |
| Samus | Feb 13 2014, 02:00 PM Post #71 |
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The Guardian
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Samus stood at the very rear of the small column of men and women that snuck carefully towards the shanty town that the seareavers had created in the island cavern, edging their way towards their targets. With his staff held tight in his grasp, Samus glanced around fearfully. The silence was the worst thing, he decided. The small group had been ordered by Karia to ensure that they kept their mouths shut and their steps light as they approached the town. The others seemed to be quite good at it, but Samus swore every breath he took was like a whirlwind and his steps fell like hammer blows. Perhaps he shouldn’t have come. Karia held up a hand at the forefront of their small crouching column as they crept into a mass of supplies; hidden between the stacks of boxes and a makeshift house. Samus leant against a stack of boxes and closed his eyes. Since they’d come to the cavern, they’d had no good luck. Instead of keeping their targets on the boat, the seareavers had taken Alex and Priscilla into their makeshift town, even further from their grasp. And now this second boat? More enemies, more watchmen in the dark and more men with swords and spears and axes. Samus opened his eyes warily and realized the boxes he rested against were full to the brim of steel blades, swords for the seareavers. One inpartcular caught his attention, because of it’s finery. It looked like a lord’s sword, a sword his father would have been proud to wear. He looked from the sword back to his staff, and closed his eyes again with a sigh. Samus hadn’t held a blade since the training he’d received in order to become a Crusader. Training he'd failed. Swords were for men like his father, men with passion and rage, men with something to fight for. On the day Samus had lost his mother and sister to the Scarlet Shields, he had lost everything. He had nothing to fight for anymore, save the robes he wore and the people he helped. Without that passion, without the need and thirst for battle that his father so often spoke of, Samus was worthless in a fight. He never planned on holding a sword again. Someone touched his shoulder lightly and Samus opened his eyes to see Karia smiling softly. “Still with me Shepherd?” She whispered slyly and Samus nodded in response. “Sorry.” He said, perhaps too loudly. “Sorry…” He whispered again. Karia’s smile broadened at his embarrassment and turned to nod to the rest of their party who gathered around their small hiding place. Surrounded by boxes and supplies, the nearby seareavers had no idea they were there. “Alex and Priscilla are near. Once the distraction starts, we’ll run straight for them and get them out. Samus will check them for wounds and then we’ll move. I want each of you to take a look through the gap in those boxes beside our Shepherd here. You can see the enemy. Get prepared for them.” Samus warily turned to look out from the boxes and his eyes widened and his fists clenched. No… He thought. It can’t be… The Scarlet Shield mercenary company. The memory of their actions in Rotharia haunted Samus’ dreams day and night. The slaughter, the fire and the pain were the ghosts that had haunted his entire adult life. And here they stood. Their armour was easily recognizable, especially for a man that had been beaten within an inch of his life by them. Samus’ eyes flashed to the sword he had admired moments before. He’d found something to fight for. He thought as his face darkened. His staff fell to the floor with a clatter. Vengeance. |
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| Wanderlust | Feb 13 2014, 03:43 PM Post #72 |
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The Sleeping Soul
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Castilla pushed open the door leading to the deck, and they found themselves in darkness. Alex's gaze shot about in confusion. Where were they? Inside a cave, that much was certain - the rocky ceiling stretched a hundred feet high, and she caught a hint of sunlight far behind the ship at the cavern's entrance. Icy stalactites jutted down from the rocky walls like massive fangs at the grotto's entryway, giving the illusion of being closed in by gigantic stone prison bars... or perhaps by some colossal beast that had swallowed Reyna's ship whole. "Welcome to the Wyvern's Maw," Castilla said, and as she took a torch offered by one of the crewmembers, she directed the young girls' attention to what lay ahead of the ship. To Alex's surprise, a vast, sprawling shanty town had somehow been constructed atop what looked to be hundreds upon hundreds of wooden platforms built against the rocky walls of the cavern. Directly before them, the platforms of the town extended out across the waters in some ramshackle mockery of a harbor, and it was there that the Scarlet Shields awaited them. There were close to thirty present in all, and the years of exile had not been kind to them. They still wore the scarlet armor and dark crimson tabards that had been the trademarks of their organization, yet the armor showed the telltale signs of rust and wear, their tabards in tatters. Rough, weather-beaten faces stared them down from the pier in mute appeal, and Alex felt a shiver crawl up her spine. The lot of them looked like corpses from some age long past that had been coughed up by the sea, unwanted... but it was the man at the forefront that frightened her the most. He was a tall man, yet thin as a skeleton, with leathery skin dappled with pockmarks, wispy, graying hair, and a cruel smile stretched across thin lips. The jeweled rings that covered his fingers glittered in the torchlight as his sunken green eyes focused on Priscilla Harmon, and his smile grew. He sat astride a great horned beast with faded orange fur and gnashing fangs that barely seemed to be under his control; though vaguely feline in shape, its bulk was such that one swipe could shatter a man's ribcage. Still, it obeyed the man's unspoken command and strode towards the end of the pier on heavy footfalls, its massive claws sinking into the wood with each step. "We've brought the duchess's daughter as promised, Veskin," Castilla called out from the edge of the ship. "And as a sign of good faith we've brought you a little something extra for your men to enjoy after you've delivered Harmon to your master." She shoved Alex forward so that the men could see her. "Provided Uster doesn't break this one, too..." Alex shuddered as a portly man behind Veskin licked his wide and meaty lips and grinned at her. His watery grey eyes looked cruel beyond measure. "That would be Uster," Castilla whispered in Alex's ear. "Kill him first. Sink that dagger into his throat and don't stop stabbing until the light leaves his eyes. The world will be better for it." Before Alex could react, Castilla turned her attention back to Veskin. "Now, the crystals?" The man atop the hulking beast grunted and began to unstrap one of the saddlebags that hung from the creature's side. "You've bled us dry with this," he said, voice a low growl. "The Zarethi have been asking for six able-bodied slaves per crystal ever since the Order set their last quarry up in flames. Venoux even sold off some of our own men to secure the supply your captain Reyna asked for." Castilla shrugged her shoulders, disinterested. "Venoux knows the price of revolution is steep. I'd have thought you'd learned that well enough yourself ten years ago. As I recall, you and your men were in Valencia the day it burned." She leaned in close to Priscilla and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Six slaves per crystal... did you hear that, dove? Half a hundred men and women lost their freedom just so that Venoux could have you. Oh, don't you feel special?" She giggled with childish glee. Veskin scowled at her, but he was a man true to his word, if the violet glow that emitted from within the opened saddlebag was any indication. "Hassan," he said, "deliver these to the good captain." Another of the Scarlet Shields, this one a well-built man with the swarthy skin of a Shahari and two thick, curved blades at his waist, stepped forward. He did not seem to fear the beast as he unstrapped the bag from the saddle, carefully hefted it over his shoulder, and began to walk down the pier. It was then that Veskin seemed to spy something behind Reyna's ship, and he furrowed his brow in question. "Stop," he ordered, and Hassan fell still. Castilla blinked and sniffed the air, she, too, seemingly catching that something was off; the perpetual mischievous gleam in her eyes was utterly gone. Abandoning the two girls, she ran starboard and glanced behind the ship, and both her and Veskin spotted the spark of fire trailing across the water towards them at an alarming pace. Castilla whirled back around to face them, and for the first time Alex saw her eyes widen in panic. "Go!" she shouted to any and all that would listen, "Get Captain Reyna and the priestess off the ship before-" Fire met pitch and the explosion came like a clap of thunder, the sound deafening as a massive splash threw the stern of the ship up from the water. Castilla, Alex, Priscilla, and the rest of the Seareavers on deck were thrown off of their feet and tumbled violently towards the bow of the ship. For a moment it seemed like the ship would careen and capsize, but somehow, miraculously, it fell upright back into the water, throwing up a wave that crashed against the pier. The Scarlet Shields drew their weapons, backing up towards the shanty town, Veskin's bestial mount roaring in agony and rage as Castilla and the others on the ship quickly pushed themselves to their feet. As the ship steadied itself on the water's rippling surface, it seemed, for a fleeting moment, that everything was fine... then they saw the smoke and fire rising from ship's stern. As the Seareavers stared, dumbfounded, Castilla shouted above the panic once more. "Get Reyna and the emissary out now! That fire's going to reach the powder kegs any minute!" As hesitant as the Seareavers seemed to be to rush into the burning lower deck, it seemed they feared Castilla more. Several charged back below, while others simply threw themselves over the sides of the ship into the water and started swimming desperately towards the safety of the shanty town. Alex tried to make a run for it, but before she even made two steps Castilla grabbed her and Priscilla by their collars and roughly threw them from the ship's starboard onto the pier below. They landed hard and scrambled to their feet, but in seconds two of the Scarlet Shields were upon them, and Castilla landed gracefully upon the deck at their backs. "Th' fuck's happened?" one of the Scarlets growled, who Alex realized, with trepidation, was Uster. "One of the Ensembles trailed us here," Castilla said, somehow calm despite the impending explosion behind her. She grabbed Alex and Priscilla and began to drag them away from the ship towards the town at the end of the pier. "They can't be far - find them, slit their throats, and run this water red with their blood!" |
| A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. | |
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| Karia Morsenia | Feb 13 2014, 06:12 PM Post #73 |
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Dragoness of Spellsongs
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When Karia's eyes landed on the second ship at the dock, her expression turned grave. Damn, damn, damn! Then she spotted a thin, grim man astride his war beast talking to none other than Castilla and that's when Karia's heart skipped a beat. Long ago she heard rumors of the Scarlet Shields and their leaders. She was yet to see Reyna emerge from her ship. The sight of the second ship changed everything. If they couldn't damage that ship then it was a way to escape with the girls... a problem worse than Reyna, she imagined. Karia cursed under her breath, continuing to watch the transaction. She caught the glimpse of glowing violet from the satchel on the beast's saddle and her scowl deepened. She kept her hand steady for her group to wait before they began their advancement. Going over it all in her head, she imagined Silversteel and his team were already positioned in the town and guessed that any moment now she'd see fire cutting across the top of the water towards the ship--- And then she could see the orange flames racing towards Reyna's ship. A light side smile touched her lips as she whispered to her men. "Be at the ready and stay focused..." As soon as the fire hit the ship, the booming sounds and panic shrouded the Seareavers and Scarlets, and Karia signaled for her men to be quiet and follow her lead. There were choices to be made with this new development. Ambush them at the pier and drive them towards the town, risking to snatch Alex and Priscilla in the line of heavy fire and chancing the lives of her entire group, or wait to ambush them once they reached the town and let the distraction team separate the Scarlets and Seareavers. It yielded more risk of losing Alex and Priscilla in the chaos, but there was also a deal that had been made... The Morsenia warspear met Karia's palm as the group silently made their way towards the town along the side of the cavern parallel with Castilla and her men. The other Ensemble members followed suit with their weapons, including Samus, who abandoned the staff and wielded a sword now. While Karia was glad for seeing the battle eager, it seemed a little more than that to Samus. They dispatched four straggler Seareavers who had jumped off Reyna's ship along the way before they each took spots hiding among the empty shacks built into one another and solid boulders scattered about. Karia could just see Reyna and some of her men jumping off the dock behind Castilla and the others when there was the sound like a whip snapping back. "Get down!" Karia yelled to her crew just as a deafening crack swept through the town and the roaring of fire drowned all other sound. The powder kegs exploding blew apart the entirety of Reyna's ship, the dock leading to it splintering in destruction from the flames engulfing it from below. The blast knocked down several of the Seareavers and Scarlets, pieces of burning debris rained down on the unsteady catwalks and dainty shacks lining the cave wall. The small fire bombs landed on the roofs and in doorways of the abandoned houses closest to the dock. The rotting wood made perfect for kindling, fires began along the row and set neighboring shacks alight. Karia stood next to Felicia and pushed her forward. "Everyone move!" Many of the Seareavers and Scarlet Shields had already ran ahead further into the town straight towards the distraction group, Karia hoped. As the fires spread along the roof tops of the shacks and down into the houses, the Ensemble snuck up behind the straggling Seareavers. Rillian let loose his arrows to hinder a few while Felicia came up and staked them with her cutlass before darting to the next victim. Baragos, Damian, and Fraye cut down any in their path. Samus descended upon his foes with a heavy wrath while Karia and Navitia worked together on snagging, decapitating, and kicking Seareavers into the flames. The street was beginning to stain red from the blood spilled, all the while the fires burned alongside the fighters. Out of the corner of Karia's eye she could see Reyna dart up one of the catwalks. Veskin, Castilla, and the girls were out of sight, but the captain was a good catch as well. Karia chased after Reyna up the highest catwalk, not hesitating when it felt like it would buckle beneath her feet. Two Seareavers ran up to block her path, swiping their blades towards her face. Ducking under one, she swung her fist to punch the stomach of the nearest before roundhouse kicking his face and knocking him off the walkway. The other took another swing with his sword, this time clashing with her spear and having to parry her blows. She kicked his knee, making him falter and then cry out as she cut off his hand. Grabbing him by the shoulder, she connected the heel of her palm to his throat and threw him off the catwalk into the flames below. Wasting no time, Karia continued her hunt after Reyna after seeing her disappear around the corner catwalk. "Looking for me, darling?" Reyna jumped from the shadows, knocking Karia backwards with a punch. The red haired pirate cackled. "Oh I've missed your Valnessian savagery, Morsenia. It always set a spark in me burning for you, just as you planned here. Ha!" Karia growled and lunged at Reyna, the two women exchanging blows with steel and boots. Reyna ducked beneath Karia's spear swing and side stepped behind her to tackle her, throwing her down to the wooden planks of the catwalk. One of the boards cracked and fell away from Karia's weight landing hard. She rolled over in time to see Reyna leap on top of her, driving the heels of her two boots into Karia's stomach. The power from Reyna's jump busted the rotting boards underneath the warrioress and sent her falling down on top of the secondary catwalk. Some of the large wooden splinters sliced across Karia's skin in various places, forcing a groan from her throat. Reyna held two of the ropes from atop and flipped when she released them, landing perfectly in a crouch in front of Karia as she began to stand. "Oh I am going to enjoy killing you, Morsenia." |
| “Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow.” | |
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| Archbass | Feb 13 2014, 08:15 PM Post #74 |
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The Architect
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In the midst of the chaos, Navitia and Karia had separated -- a bugger of a problem, to say the least. It was a good thing that this was relatively brief problem because the moment she took off towards Reyna, Navitia had just a slight feeling that she'd need her help. That feeling being the same thought that the rest of the extraction team could do their job more easily if Reyna was dealt with. And what a better way to deal with Reyna than to take her on as a second opponent? Before leaving she could hear the rest of the team's banter as they fought their way in: "You're not so bad after all, Golden Boy!" Fraye said. "How can you talk so casually in the middle of a fight?!" Damian said. To which Fraye only laughed as their fight continued. It'd be a better twist than what was planned for Le Chevalier de Rouge -- and it would be a satisfying way to take revenge for them ruining her show. That cur! She followed Karia's path -- little more carefully. Between the explosion, the fire, the occasional Seareaver she had to whip aside and yank off a plank or two, it was a hazardous place to walk. In following Karia's fight with Reyna, she wondered just how long they could go on before she got there. She could still hear the grunts, the yells, the clanging of steel, and their taunts. "I'm going to enjoy killing you, Morsenia." That came from below her, from a hole made in the floor, one that she was about to step into herself. The lighting from above only illuminated the vague shape of the two of them a deck below. Reyna had the upper hand. This could not stand! "Ahh-hem!" Navitia called down into the hole. "Mademoiselle Reyna! Do me a favor and look up!" Reyna did not in fact look up. Navitia sighed. If certain risky measures had to be taken, they did need to be taken... She hopped down. She caught the rope, and used it to slow her fall -- to the two below her it must have looked like she was trying some sort of trapese routine, in slow motion. But really, the fall took little more than a few seconds, and at the end of it, Navitia dropkicked Reyna. Her feet didn't land on her face as she had hoped, but her back was enough to throw Reyna off of her feet and allow Navitia to stick the landing. Internally, she was proud of sticking the landing. She still had the moves of a dancer. She bowed as she unfurled her whip for the coming fight. "You must have forgotten that there's a reason we can be called the Twin Mask Ensemble, m'dear. There's always at least two sides to watch out for." |
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| Hades | Feb 13 2014, 08:21 PM Post #75 |
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Stagehand
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Felicia had a bad feeling about this from the get go. This wasn't going to end well, not by a long shot, and it was about to go so far south that Al-Shahar will want to claim it as their territory. The plan? Sure, the plan was fine, great even, but she didn't see how they were going to fight their way through all these Seareavers - especially now that there's more than one ship in the equation. The real problem was she couldn't think of any other way to rescue Alex and Priscilla. So she went with it, and doubted anyone else was exactly happy with this either. No one was, with one thing or another regarding this whole situation. So as the explosion temporarily deafened her and she heard an almost unintelligible mess of noise ringing in her ears from everyone springing into action, she sprung right alongside them, cutlass at the ready. In an attempt to start the fatalities as quickly as possible, Felicia rushed toward the ships while trying to duck out of sight, hiding whenever any pirates came close and leaving them with slashed legs and slit throats. The captain stopped dead in her tracks and immediately hid when she saw that quadrupedal horror running around. Shit, she thought to herself, taking small peeks at it every few seconds, if those two are being guarded by that thing, we have even less of a chance than I thought... So, instead of confronting it, she turned and headed toward the main bulk of the town, following the trail of corpses she made and taking the nearest path that diverged. |
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| Agrias | Feb 13 2014, 09:51 PM Post #76 |
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The Foreman
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The sound crushed around him as he swam through the cold murk and silt-coated posts that made the pier and shanty base above, the first flair of light, the muddled and muted screaming and crash of bodies either tossed or leaping into the drink. Agrias looked back only a moment, some distant empty ache in the pit of his stomach. Giving himself a stern shake he swam on, broad shoulders and strong arms swimming on to clear the true threat, the second clap of thunder, an explosion that shook through him and the water, nearly knocking the last desperate breath from him as he began to ascend, lungs aching for air as he clawed and paddled to break the surface of the briny murk, climbing a post as he coughed and spat, the sounds of battle calling all over the posts, watching passing footfalls through the dusty boards above. "Saint's Ashes!? A fine time to leap into the stew pot, better to die in battle than an old man." he muttered to himself, a grim grin taking his lips as he pulled himself up. "Ship be tender now, I say we find a boat, make for easy meat elsewhere. We be plenty done if we linger here!" a lanked man wearing the Seareaver's cloth barked. "An' I say we find a prize, not many, there be... I'll bet my life on that! Think a' whet Reyna would be willin' ta give for a few troublemaker's pelts a piece, aye? Even more alive, if notion be true. To flay herself! She'd likely give a chest f'r tha' kind a' entertainment, aye?" a gravelly voice replied from within the weapon's shed, most of the tools of war, long-since taken, save a few sabers. "They tossed the ship to TENDER!!! Seeking hides of that sort will end with a soon and early grave!" the other argued back. "Saint's ashes if that's not the truth and dawn of it..." a voice chimed in, muffled from below. The men had only a moment to look down before a fist emerged from shattered dry-wood plank, pulling one of the pair below with a shrill howl ending in a muted crunch and splash thereafter. "W-who goes there... Who goes~!?" the other asked as he was given his answer, a large man, soaked through crawled from the hole like some hoary beast from the hells themselves. Long black bear curls and loacked like seaweed save the three offset cord-like braids ending in folded coins. The man trembled backing away as the man looked at him with dark gray-ish green eyes, set on murder. The lanked man lunged with saber as the other stepped aside, taking hold of the Seareaver's back and holding him over the jagged hole by which he'd made entry. "Best you speak lad, a splinter's discomfort and I may let you fall. Where is your captain...? And her captives...? Now." Agrias growled in question, the hot sting of wood in his knuckles leaving his left to ache, its grip not its prime. "I-I don't know, she were at th' docks, making trade of th' meat... surely gone now!" he yelped as he watched his slipped saber tumble and thrash on the base posts to the water below. "Saint save your soul then lad, I've nothing more to want of you." was Agrias' answer in a grim tone as he let go, turning to pick the largest pieces of wood and grab a second saber for himself as he rushed to join the battle in the disheveled and narrows of the shanty's streets.Crashing and fighting his way to the nearest sounds of battle. |
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| Samus | Feb 14 2014, 07:48 AM Post #77 |
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The Guardian
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Fight only with passion. Never with pride, never with sentiment nor vehemence. Do not fight for glory nor reward. Fight for yourself, and for the fires burning in your soul. Every word his father had ever drilled into him on the cold mornings in Valencia were awoken fresh in Samus' mind as he hurled himself into the fight. From the day he could hold a wooden sword his father had sparred with him and spoken the words of wisdom that only men that had survived the true terror of battle knew. Now, for the first time since the Scarlet Shields had burnt down his house and torn his father's loyalty between family and duty, Samus found the passion his father so often spoke of. With a roar that Markus Orelian may well have heard in Valencia, Samus extinguished the first life he had ever taken with a vertical swing of the finely decorated sword that fell like a bolt of lightning. It was a passionate kill. The simple truth of battle, the real truth, is every man with a sword in his hand dances with the shadow of death. If you can trip the light fantastic and survive the dance of death, you will win. Samus danced around his next opponent, letting the fervour of battle overwhelm him. His father had told him of this feeling, the invulnerable sense of enlightenment, of pure adrenaline that came with the looming shadow of death. Any of these men could kill him. But Samus Orelian was filled with a virtuous fury that none of the Scarlet Shields could contain. He tore his way through two men, three, and soon lost his way in a sea of blood and fire. He ignored the seareavers. Though he was swept up in the hurricane of his vengeance, Samus was still a Shepherd of the Order and the seareavers were not his enemy today. The Scarlet Shields, the men that had torn his perfect childhood asunder would pay for their crimes today. A real man never kills for the sake of it. You should not enjoy death, for that path is dark and bloodsoaked. There are only three things a man should kill for. For your King, for your family, and for fallen brothers. As Samus knocked another man aside with a vicious sweep of his newly acquired sword, he began to chant his mother's name, his sister's name. Now, in this moment of blood and fire, Samus used every lesson his father and the Order had taught him to not fight for his King, but for his fallen family. Today he had the vengeance that he had sworn to wreak as a child. He beat a Scarlet Shield down and roared 'Orelian' as he dug the blade into the man's throat. Many of the men he had killed had died with shock on their faces, unexpectedly assaulted by a priest in a bloodied Shepherd's robe. "Orelian!" A voice yelled across the cavern, almost in reply to his war-cry. Samus stopped to stare across the blood-soaked and raging battlefield to see a familiar face. A face that had haunted him for years. In that moment, Samus forgot his oaths, his robe and his staff and cast off the Shepherd. It was the face of one of three men that had beaten Samus within an inch of his life and left him to die in the streets of Valencia ten years before, listening to the screams of both mother and sister as they burnt in their home. He'd spent many years dreaming of the moment that he could stand before these men and bring a sword down upon them. He'd never learnt their names, though he would never forget their faces. The man was rotund, but his eyes were full of the cruelty that Samus remembered. He stalked towards Samus, his own curved blade swinging viciously in his hand. "That's an odd battlecry for a Shepherd of the Order of Saint Alerion." His voice was raspy, exactly how Samus remembered it. In a fluid motion, Samus pulled at the waist tie of his robe and let it fall away. More often than not, Samus pulled the robe off over his head, but here, before one of the men that had caused so many of his childhood nightmares, he would take no chances. The robe fell away and Samus was left in a sleeveless linen tunic that clung to his sweat covered torso. The breeches he wore beneath his robe were brown leather leggings, a sight rarely seen. Shepherds of the Order weren't often seen without their robes. "Let's toast some Rotharians." Samus said, numbly. "What?" "The four words you spoke, ten years ago in Valencia." Samus' voice caught in his throat as he spoke across the din of battle, but it was clear the man had understood. "When you burnt my house down." His eyes widened. "Your name." Samus demanded. "I am Uster." The man said, his dull grey eyes intent on Samus. "What is yo..?" Samus ran forwards before Uster could finish his sentence, his sword held in both hands. "I am Samus Orelian!" He roared as their blades met. "Son of Markus Orelian!" They split away and Samus was taken aback by the strength of the larger man. "You murdered my mother and my sister." Instead of the impact Samus was expecting, Uster shrugged. "I've killed enough Rotharians to not take too much notice of mothers and daughters. Unless I'm tearing them a second cunt." He smiled darkly and beckoned Samus on. "I'll kill you." Samus said. "And I'll cut your cock off and send it to your father in a box." Uster shrugged. "Are you done? There are a couple of pretty hostages I wouldn't mind getting my hands on." He licked his lips greedily and Samus felt a swell of disgust in the pit of his stomach. Uster looked to the side, where many of the Ensemble were now engaged in a bloody fray with the seareavers and Scarlet Shields. Samus prayed they would reach Alex and Priscilla and would escape. As for him, Samus had already decided to kill every Scarlet Shield he could, and to go down fighting. He followed Uster's gaze and was distracted for a moment, and the larger man took his chance. Above all, remember this. You are an Orelian. No man will ever beat you if you never give up. And Orelians do not give up. Crossing the gap between them far faster than Samus had expected, Uster feigned his sword left, then stabbed right with all his might. But Samus was an Orelian. He read the move and knocked the blade aside with a flick of his wrist, then spun. Uster's sword flailed away to the right and Samus lunged with every ounce of strength in him. The blade crunched into Uster's chest and crushed the chainmail armour against him and swept the air from his lungs. The sword would have gone clean through the man were it not for his armour, but Uster hit the floor with a gasp and tried to fill his chest with air. Samus stepped over him. "Their names." He demanded, with his sword at Uster's throat. "The others that burnt down my house. Their names." "What the fuck makes you think I'll tell a Shepherd shit like you. You'll just as soon as hug me then hurt me." Samus didn't hesitate in a move that Brother Martin would have condemned him for. He dipped the blade and lunged hard and deep into Uster's crotch. "Their names, or you'll lose every other appendicular." "Fuck you." Samus twisted the sword and was sure that the sword was biting deep into whatever Uster claimed lay between his legs. That's if he hadn't already removed it. Uster crooned in pain and held his hands out in protest. "Lanset and Tewdran!" Uster gasped. "Lanset and Tewdran! They are with Venoux! Please!" Samus stared down at the man, disgusted by the pathetic, perverted excuse for a human being at his feet. He pulled his blade free and Uster gasped his thanks, grateful that Samus had let him live. Samus walked a few feet away and placed the sword on a table with an oil lamp that illuminated the blade. He admired the finery of the sword, evident despite it's blood drenched shaft. Samus picked up the lamp. "Let's toast some scum." He whispered, almost to himself. He spun and cast the lamp down on Uster. In a crash of glass, the oil spread flames over the fat Scarlet Shield and Uster was burnt alive. Samus spat in his direction and left him to die. I am an Orelian. A Shepherd no more. |
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| Agrias | Feb 14 2014, 10:40 AM Post #78 |
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The Foreman
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Agrias took slow paced breaths, his visage now mark with red, Pushing the crumpled form free of his saber as he let the pounding rhythm of his own heartbeat play in his ears, the world seeming to slow to a dance of light and steel, of blood and death as he saw the next two Seareavers rushing him in what seemed to be a slow ballet in the space of but a pair of heartbeats. -Thump- He flashed a sweeping flurry with his blood-soaked blade, a crimson mist cascading between himself and those that joined the dance. Running headlong and eyes wide and wild, like untrained beasts they did not pause, their fallen brethren's crimson life now in their eyes. They recoil. -Thump- The first raises his hand, far to late to shield, as the blood and oil now in his eyes burned and blinded. Agrias met the arching recoil of his form with a downward slash, 'The wind blows down the mountainside' the form had been called when in his youth he'd first learned it. The Seareaver recoiled, Toppled and soon to coat the steps as the second thrust his spear to the right of Agrias' chest. -Thump- Shifting his footing into a gliding fall to the side, 'the snapjaw takes the crane', the thought drifted on the surface of the calm. With a wheeling downward strike the spearman's arms clattered to the sun-bleached wood steps of the shanty street. Agrias moved on, seeking those he would die for, his crew, his family, he called out, hearing his own voice as a dulled buzz to his battle-numbed ears as the dance played on. -THUMP- A man with skin of bronze neared, a leather satchel in one hand, he froze only a second at the scene before him, of the dead and dying, of the man standing between him and the way deeper into the shanty streets and the safety of the cove for his 'Captain Reyna's treasures. With wickedly curved blade the man rushed Agrias. The first aggressive cut so near to Agrias' own wrist. 'Reeds rush in the wind' the thought skittered on the surface of his mind, alarmed as he went on the defensive, Taking up both sabers as he did his best to fend off the new opponent with glancing strikes, barely off-balancing the longer curved blade of this fellow master of the blade. -Thump- Blades flashed, the song growing as steel met steel, like the wind chimes of hell. Crimson running from the knuckles of Agrias' left hand where splinters and tender had jutted not so long ago. His breath was no longer slowed, as time seemed to catch up to him in this impassible fight. With a arching thrust of that serpent-thin wickedly curved blade the Seareaver struck him in the thigh. Agrias stumbled, sagging as he panted. "There is no shame in falling to me, I would have your name before I kill you. Not many would survive against Hassan for this long, yes?" the man spoke in the common tongue, his Shahari accent still thick. "Agrias..." was the only word given in a feral growl as he held the blade's tip, trapping it in his leg for just the moment he needed to lunge, to breech that defense and topple them both, tumbling towards the pier anew, as the satchel the Shahari had toppled open, its incandescent purple payload spilling and cascading down the steps with them. As both separated, their weapons scattered and their balance lost. Agrias' eyes widened in awe and horror at what he saw now, spilled around them, recoiling from a crystal that tumbled near his finger as if it might burn him. "Saint's Bones!? What did you do!?" he shouted in rage and dumbstruck horror. Hassan scrambled to his feet, running off with the satchel still hanging from his shoulder. Agrias tried to stand, to follow, but the sharp hot pain slowed him, and standing was the most he could manage as hot crimson ran down his leg. He paled looking back to the crystals as his body ached, looking for his blade, and any friendly voice he could hear over the den of battle. |
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| Karia Morsenia | Feb 14 2014, 05:19 PM Post #79 |
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Dragoness of Spellsongs
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Captain Reyna snarled at Navitia's arrival and rolled aside when she smoothly cracked her whip at the pirate leader. Karia quickly advanced on Reyna, taking the opportunity of distraction, and knealt down to sweep Reyna's feet from underneath her with a swipe of her legs. This made Reyna off balance and sent her swinging half way off the rope railing of the catwalk. "It seems too much for my taste. I'll catch you alone one day, darlings," Reyna hissed. She whistled once before releasing her hold on the railing and disappeared in the fray below. Karia peered down after her but saw no sign of the pirate wench. Navitia walked over to stand beside her, her whip coiled around her arm in neat rings, and held Karia's spear out for her to take. "Thanks," Karia said. "You've always been one to find trouble." "You always find it first, dear," Navitia said while looking at Karia's cuts. "We need to pursue her." "The hunt begins anew," Karia replied with a smirk before she leapt off the catwalk where Reyna fell. Navitia landed beside her with a delicate grace and pointed across the way. "I think I saw a glimpse of that fire hair go that way." "Right, if we each split down those two alleyways we might be able to trap---" The two women could feel vibrations beneath their feet and hear sounds like thunder slam the ground that were followed by heavy snarling. They turned to see the massive furred, horned beast Veskin was mounted on round a bend near them. Saliva dripped from its long fangs as its wicked claws scraped the street as it prowled, its movements and muscular build similar to a large predatory cat yet its horns and fur like a boar. It lifted its head to sniff the air, where Karia and Navitia couldn't see it had any eyes. They both remained frozen still as it drew closer before it finally whipped its head toward them, a low growl rumbling deep in its throat. "Oh dear," Navitia mumbled. Karia hefted her spear in one hand and reached past the pistols in her leg straps and down into her boot for one of her two long daggers. "Navitia..." The beast reared its head and roared, bounding across the way at the two women at a fast pace and tearing up the ground with its claws as it charged. Karia threw her dagger and flipped to the side as Navitia flicked her whip across the creature's back and spun away. The monster barreled past where they had stood, crying out furiously from the whip lash and the dagger embedding itself in its left shoulder. It was a swift monster, catching Karia off guard when it whirled around on her and bucked its head to the side at her. One of its horns caught her in the front and lifted her off her feet, sending her flying into one of the porch posts of an old shack. The creature crouched as if ready to pounce on Karia as she scrambled to get her footing, rushing to steady herself for another charge. On light feet Navitia darted past the beast, dealing another quick lash of the whip across its maw. "Ahem, beastie, come this way!" she called. The creature snarled in pain and shook its large head, fixating its focus on Navitia. Giving Karia enough time to regain her balance, she rushed in and stabbed its hind leg with her second dagger before running to the other side opposite of Navitia. "No, over here, abomination!" Howling in anger, the beast spun in Karia's direction, trying to locate her to pounce on. Back and forth Karia and Navitia ran and jumped as one distracted while the other swooped in and dealt damage in hopes of tiring out the beast and revealing a weakness. Their best advantage was it couldn't see, but it was quickly becoming not enough. Navitia barely avoided a swipe of its claws and Karia managed to duck under a tail swing just in time. The creature was beginning to lose patience, therefore focusing more energy in catching on to their tactics. Karia ran up to stand next to Navitia, both panting and sweating heavily with trembling limbs. "Still got the moves of a dancer, I see." "Of course, and gratefully so now. This creature..." A quick series of whistles pierced the air as they left Karia's lips. "We're going to need more aid, I think," she then said with a groan, both women getting ready for another round as the beast circled them in a half crouch. |
| “Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow.” | |
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| Leanansidhe | Feb 14 2014, 06:55 PM Post #80 |
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Stagehand
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Tuomas had listened to the plan in silence. No use pointing out the million ways things could get fucked. It was enough for him to focus on the task at hand. The girls had to be rescued and He would do his part paying the blood price for their return. The explosion shook him from his momentary reverie. He took in the ensuing chaos biting off a savage oath. Taking his rapier in one hand and dagger in the other he joined the fray. A pair stepped into his path both lunging at him simultaneously. He stepped to the side slapping the blade of the man on the left with his dagger sending it clanging against the other man's sword. Tuomas lunged forward the point of his rapier driving into the amatuer's throat. He recovered raising his blade in salute to the dying man then slinging the blood off with a swipe, he locked eyes with the remaining man. "You bastard!" the second man roared as he charged raising his blade swinging it downward toward Tuomas' shoulder. Tuomas lurched at the man driving his shoulder into the man's chest knocking the wind out of him sending his sword clanging to the ground. His dagger found the man's liver and he twisted it as he pulled it from him. "May whatever god you pray to have mercy on you." he said in benediction. Then his eyes darted through the melee and he caught sight of his captain. Tuomas set out after her. Leaving the dying men to make peace with their maker as life drained from their eyes. |
| I once took my knee to an arrow... | |
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3:18 PM Jul 10