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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Jan 2, 2010 10:15:16 GMT -5
"It's not a very good seal if you only did it to one of the entrances. Besides, can't we just try blowing this place to pieces? It might even get rid of whatever it's done to the two mages, if it is at fault in the first place."
"Are you accusing us of being slackers, Owen? There are entrances that no one knows about or is inaccessible to seal and blowing up our own home isn't going to do much to help our friends if there are other entrances scattered throughout this world because they will still be under the influence of the Underdeep. I'm not going to argue with you about this. Instead, I'm going to take the voice's advice and head to the library to see if I could find those records about the largest Underdeep entrance."
With that, Lupehunter turned around and headed towards the library.
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Post by Bengal Tiger on Jan 2, 2010 11:17:25 GMT -5
((Ninja Dojo))
*growl*
*growl*
*growl*
After a long time of mourning for the body beside him, the tiger stood up and sniffed around for any possible signs of foul play. The lack of foreign scent told him that the death was natural, as there was no one around the body by the time of death.
Lunging out through the window and into the forest, the tiger suddenly caught a familiar scent up his nose. It was the smell he held on for awhile before letting go, decades ago. The source was nearby, just around the Ninja Dojo.
The tiger chased the scent, constantly opening his nostrils to search around for the direction of the scent's source. His quiet paws made way for a silent track, being careful not to disturb anything around him.
At last, he found his mark.
PFA.
Slowly, the tiger emerged from the forest, revealing himself in front of her and the others surrounding her.
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Post by Kiddo on Jan 2, 2010 12:48:19 GMT -5
Mage Manor
Kiddo blinked in mild surprise as Lupehunter stalked off. Idiot. There shouldn't be any records in the Mage Manor - right? They weren't around when the seal was put into place.
She shook her head to clear her scattered thoughts. Well, maybe there were. Maybe this mage did have the right idea. It would be reasonable to have other copies or... something.
"It's not a very good seal if you only did it to one of the entrances. Besides, can't we just try blowing this place to pieces? It might even get rid of whatever it's done to the two mages, if it is at fault in the first place."
"We sealed only the largest entrance," Kiddo said, feeling like she was repeating herself endlessly, "It was... three levels down in the underground tunnels near what was the heart of our world. And we found it and after we realized what it was we sealed it. The gate is huge, you see, tall enough for a dragon to walk through and wide enough for an army's legion. So we sealed it so that nothing could get in or out but left a way to open it, in case we needed to go into the Underdeep."
"I've been inside... once or twice... and once into the depths... I'd rather not do it ever again... but why do you say we should destroy it? It's just another form of mist. Even if we did find a way to destroy the Underdeep it would only kill us in time. Dreams are important and even nightmares have their place. Our fears are important. But what's this about two mages? Have people been in the Underdeep!?"
This time, she sounded a bit panicked. The thought that someone had deliberately entered the Underdeep - why would they! Why would anyone!? She shivered.
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Post by Huntress on Jan 2, 2010 14:09:06 GMT -5
((Beaver Hills))
The blarf had gotten through a narrow alleyway and onto another wide, rather posh-looking street with shops lining both sides when the dragon showed up again. Oh, hellcurses. What was she doing chasing after her? As far as Hunty could remember, she'd never slain any dragons and had always made a point of getting along with the mages. Couldn't she go after some knights or something? That's what dragons did, right?
And here came another shockwave, stronger than the previous. The blarf curled into a half-ball again, squishing himself against the ground and letting out another 'brgrarp'. Yeah, this was most definitely a swearword, alright. Tentacles bent down as the shockwave rippled through the blarf's fur and Hunty pressed herself deeper down against the creature's back. There had to be a way-
"Geeeetttt oooofff." This came somewhere from below, like the moans of tortured souls in some kind of a dark twisted nightmare. The blarf's head was tucked between his front paws now, which meant that he was intending to curl fully into a ball. It was the best defense mechanism he had but it meant that remaining on his back would be very unhealthy.
Hunty looked around frantically as the blarf began to keel gently sideways, clearly intending to drop his passengers off there and then. She had to find a place to hide. It was a little on the cowardly side, sure, but she hadn't survived on the high seas being heroic. Would any of these houses have a basement? Celestial was currently busy with Strife, but she didn't expect it to last long.
And then, as she jumped down onto the street, she saw it. The front sides of the houses had been damaged badly by the latest shockwave but there was one single little house, or rather a segment in a house, that'd remained completely untouched by it. It was a tiny little shop, one single window with one single door next to it, and as she stared at it, the door opened and a woman stepped out.
Hunty didn't have time to check the address, but some people you just don't confuse for anyone else.
"Move!" she hissed to Nasue and darted towards the open door of that shop, barely waiting until Bloody Mary landed on her shoulder, flew past the woman at the door and landed in a pile of... well, something. The shop in question was small, dark and stuffed full of the kind of exotic things customers usually don't want to take a closer look at.
"Ow," Bloody Mary said. The sounds of battle were still to be heard outside, but they were now rather muffled. Hunty wiggled out of the pile of merchandise and not-for-sale-but-just-for-you-I-can-give-it-to-you-for-a-special-price, and found herself face to face with a dried human head. Yep, one of those shops.
She turned to look at the woman who was still standing at the doorway, now watching her with an air of vague amusement.
The woman looked... ethnic. Very ethnic. Not specifically ethnic; rather than that, she seemed to embrace any and all ethnicities she'd ever encountered. There were colorful skirts, and amulets, and cheap jewellery, and not so cheap jewellery, and veils, and quite a lot of black eyeliner around the eyes - and brownish green eyes that seemed to say, go ahead, laugh if you want, but remember, if you're in here, chances are you need help from someone who actually can help.
"Hello, Zagora," Hunty said, getting to her feet. "There's a bit of an, um, Underdeep problem out there." She gestured at the opened door and window where the huge purple dragon and the now fully curled up spiky blarfball were clearly visible.
The woman smiled and touched something that hung on a thin wire that'd been pulled across the entire front wall of the shop.
"Ze Underdeep ken not get in here," she said. Her accent, just like her appearance, was all over the place and seemed to operate on the 'as long as it sounds foreign' logic.
The captain took a step closer to look. The wire hosted a bunch of amulets and assorted icky-looking things, all hung next to each other and probably meant to keep off different menaces. The thing Zagora was pointing at was a... simple dreamcatcher?
"Yeegh, there's dark magic all over those things," Bloody Mary mumbled, clinging to her shoulder.
No, not a simple dreamcatcher. This one had been weaved with black thread into a circle made of elder and there were small bones and black feathers hanging off it.
"And it works?" Hunty asked, cautiously reaching out her hand to touch it, then changing her mind. Zagora was a voodoo witch, among other things. It's not the kind of field where you get far without proper skills.
"Ze vindov iz not brokken, iz eet?" the woman asked back. "Iz big city." She nodded at the other things hanging on the wire. "Lots of forces. Lots of protek-zeeon needed. Zees here iz against zombees, zees here against vampires, zees against ze evil eye, zees strips demons of zehr power when zey enter... zey really do not like zat, but vhy should I care? And zees back zhere sets mafia hitmen on fire when zhey break in."
Hunty edged a little towards the back of the shop. She didn't really want the dragon to see her; not that it should've been a big problem, seeing how the blarfball had spent some time rocking back and forth to gather momentum and now rolled forward at high speed to crash blindly into Celestial. The mage would probably be busy for some time now. But all the same, being in here wasn't too much better than being out there.
"What's with the little ethno-shop in Tabloid Town anyway?" she asked, eyeing a small jar that seemed to eye her back. "There I was, visiting your little hut in the jungle a couple months back to ask for help, and what do you know, hut's all empty with this," she lifted the piece of paper with the address on it, "nailed on the door, saying 'Moved to Tabloid Town, you can find me at this address, please cancel milk order'. This is hardly your environment."
Zagora raised an eyebrow. "Tabloid Town? Ze jungle eez less dangerous. Eet's all business, anyvay. Nobody comes to ze jungle zees days any more, except pirates like you and explorers looking for ze Fountain of Youth. Eeting bugs gets repetitive after a vhile. But here, here I have rich people seeking my help every day." She smiled. "And now you. You are not here only because of ze Underdeep chasing you."
"Well, partly," Hunty said glumly. "Do you sell those anti-Underdeep dreamcatchers?"
"For zhree hundred zhousand zhinees, yes."
"Yeah," Hunty said slowly. "Okay. Maybe when I get incredibly rich. But you still help locate people for a small fee, right?"
"One zhiny per mile," Zagora said with a smile.
"One shiny per-!" Bloody Mary sat up on Hunty's shoulder. "Listen, lady, that's daylight robbery."
"Zat's fair," said the witch and ambled towards a small table near the back of the store. "Ze farzer zhey are, ze more powa it takes to find zem. You tell me vho you vant to find, I find zem and tell you ze price, you pay, I tell you vhere zey are. Deal?"
"Deal," Hunty said sulkily. Not like they had a lot of choice at this point. "I'm looking for a guy named Lord Randorph the... Third, I think he was. Called Rane, pirate lord of the thousand-year-old fleet, one of a kind, can't miss him. But you know I want the real deal, right? I'm not a rich posh customer, I don't want lots of chanting and dribbly candles and knocking on the floorboards for my money. I'm in a hurry. I just want the results."
Zagora grinned. "Ov course you do. You're a pirate. All right zen." She scooped up a handful of bones and tossed them on the table, then bent over them to have a look. Her face turned grim.
"Well?" Hunty and Bloody Mary asked in unison.
"Vell," said Zagora, looking up, "zat vill be zhree zhinees." She sighed. "Ze 'Silver Ring' tavern down ze road. Vhy do I even bother?"
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Post by Jina on Jan 3, 2010 4:59:02 GMT -5
Mage Manor But what's this about two mages? Have people been in the Underdeep!?"
Ah. This person hasn't been listening in that long, then.
"According to that mage that just left, a pair of mages were in there. My city got dragged from.. well, I don't know where it is in relation to here, maybe a different planet, maybe a different universe... but soon after we got here, a pair of mages just like the ones that went in came and started trying to tell us about how dangerous this world is. I don't think it could have ended well, no matter what happened, so right now I'm trying to figure out a way to get the Underdeep, assuming that's what it is, out of them. To be honest, I don't think sealing it up is going to do that. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I get the impression that nobody really knows, because nobody seems to know anything about this big scary place sitting right on your doorstep."
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Post by Celestial on Jan 3, 2010 15:45:33 GMT -5
((The Beaver is Hills))
The dragon ran at the Blarf, who had by now curled into a round ball bristling with spikes and tentacles. He had withstood the shockwave, which was more than she could say for most of the houses around them. But she was ready for whatever he had. Even the Blarf could be worn down but she would continue to live as long as the Underdeep possesed her.
Gods help me.
Something landed in her mouth and began sawing away on the inside of her throat, interrupting her run. Celestial shook her head from side to side, trying to dislodge it but the thing was cutting deep now, making her swallow more and more of her own blood.
This is what you are most afraid of; pain. I'm just making it come true.
Why?
Because that is my purpose and you are my messenger, one who is exposed to me all the time.
The dragon pointed her head towards the ground and released another shockwave, one strong enough to dislodge whatever it was that was hurting her so much. The man who had attacked her before was spat out, covered in blood. Celestial, angered by this attack, pressed him into the ground with her foot and looked down at him, snarling.
However, the Underdeep changed it's mind and as quickly as it made her look down, forced her to look up. It saw the house that was undamaged and the pirates going in. Satisfied that she had pressed him down sufficiently that the man wouldn't get up, the dragon moved away and turned back into a human.
Celestial snuck to the house using the rubble for cover. Yet as she approached the house, it felt like it was pushing her back.
An anti-Underdeep spell. While it posessed her, the dragon mage could not approach. But she probably could on her own.
A black mass seemed to detach itself from Celestial and pour out onto the street. Her eyes lost the static of posession and had returned to their normal blue.
Go to the window and find out as much as you can. We cannot lose them.
No.
You don't understand, I'm not asking. You're still under my control.
The dragon mage felt a small piece of the Underdeep reach in and grab her heart, almost stopping it. She had to struggle to keep herself from screaming. The Underdeep controlling her body and being in her mind was one thing, having just one tiny part reach in and physically touch her was something else.
Now go. Unlike the situation with me posessing you, you're not immortal this way. One step out of line and I shall stop your heart. I know you're too scared to defy me.
Celestial swallowed and put her ear against the wall, casting a spell which would transmit all sound from the inside as well as possible.
She didn't hear much of the discussion though, there was simply so much magic in the house. Must be another one of the obligatory exotic mystics which were so popular with pirates. However, she did hear some interesting things, in particular about a guy called Rane and a tavern down the road, three miles away from here.
It was all that was needed. As soon as she stepped away the Underdeep took control once again, crawling into her mind and prying control of the body away from her mind.
What will you do?
This Rane... it paused as it sifted through memories, something which the dragon mage did not appreciate at all.
I see, he was the pirate whose wedding you went to last year. The one from the gem. And these pirates need him for something. How interesting.
With that, Celestial leapt into the sky, turning into a dragon and flying away from the battlefield. She flew high so not to attract any attention from those on the ground who were keen to attack her.
She landed near the tavern that Rane was supposed to be in. The Underdeep drifted out of her mind and wrapped around Celestial, forming a second skin underneath her robes. Like before, it had a strong grip on her internal organs.
The dragon mage walked into the tavern, looking around for a man who matched the image in her memories. She spotted one guy who seemed to more or less match them but she needed to make sure. What was his wife's name again?
Tucking her wings underneath her cloak and folding them down as closely to her back as possible, she walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you Rane? I have a message for you, from Queen erm, Kienne," she said quite shyly.
Please let that be her name, please let that be her name...
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Post by Strife on Jan 3, 2010 16:41:27 GMT -5
((TROGDOOOOOR!!!))
Strife's demented laughter filled the inside of the dragon's mouth almost as quickly as the blood did. He felt himself jerk back and forth wildly as the beast tried to toss him out, but he pressed himself down as hard as he could, squeezing the accelerator of his motorbike and driving the front tire deeper into its throat. While his face had been almost completely painted in crimson, his wicked smile remained eerily white. Yep... he had gone completely insane with bloodlust.
After about half a minute of mindless throat-slashing, the dragon finally drove its head downwards and launched a shockwave that forced Strife out of its mouth. He flew straight downwards and landed hard on the ground, sending a cloud of dirt into the air. Before he could get up, he saw the dragon's massive foot hovering above him and immediately shielded himself with his motor bike. It the end, though, it did little to protect him.
Strife felt the immense weight of the dragon's foot come crashing down, smashing the motor bike into dozens of pieces, and finally digging slightly into his chest armor. The armor prevented his bones from breaking, but it was still an insanely heavy blow. He let out a shriek of pain that sounded anything but human.
The dragon bent its head down, the liquid of its wounds dripping from its teeth. It snarled hideously as if to inform Strife that yes, it was extremely ticked off, and yes, it would chew him up and swallow him whole if it wasn't for the fact that he just tore through the only entrance to the beast's digestive system.
For whatever reason, though, the dragon seemed more occupied with other matters. Its head rose and it looked towards a building in the distance. Then, it lifted its foot from Strife and flew off.
Based on the fact that he was now laying inside a crater, Strife couldn't get a good view of where the dragon was headed. If he had to guess though, it was once again chasing after the pirate captain. He had satisfied his hunger to tear through raw flesh, though, so he remained on the ground for a good minute or so, staring at the twinkling stars above and pondering what sort of weapon he should find to replace his ruined motor bike. Sure, he had his psionic powers, but without a true weapon, he would only be able to use his bare fists if he happened to pick a fight high above ground. Considering the nature of their current foe, aerial combat was a likely scenario.
Maybe it was time to get on good terms with Commander Fraze... Or maybe he just needed to built himself a better weapon.
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Post by Ikkin on Jan 3, 2010 16:49:16 GMT -5
(Near the Ninja Dojo)
"Since I caused this--" he paused. "--assisting you is the least I can offer. So I shall," the lizard-ninja said, walking over to his sword and placing it back on his back.
But then, he got distracted by the other mage in the group, asking "Mage! The one in robes! You possess a healing scroll, correct?"
The more familiar ninja (why couldn't Ikkin remember her name?) seemed to think this was a good idea, as well. "If you need help healing Sev, we might be able to help... but we could also help you get him to Mage Manor if you think that's what he needs."
Ikkin decided to wait for the mage's response to say anything, hoping that the extra time would give her the chance to cool down so she wouldn't blow up on them. Healing Sev right now would be suicidal - if it would have done any good, he wouldn't be holding onto his current life so much. Death was cheap for a phoenix, after all.
It seemed like days passed waiting for the mage to respond, even though she presumed it must have been a much shorter time in her own continuity. While waiting had helped her calm down a bit at first, she eventually started to get frustrated with waiting.
Well, if no one was going to offer real help, she was just going to have to take Sev back herself. Apologizing under her breath for how much it must have hurt him, she dragged him up onto her back and started to walk off in the direction of the Manor, unable to fly effectively due to Sev's extra weight.
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Post by Jina on Jan 3, 2010 17:37:08 GMT -5
Beaver Hills Jina came to a stop. Blarf. Crater. Definitely the right place. So, where is everyone? Then, she noticed Strife in the crater.
"Hey, err... whatever your name was, what happened to everyone else?"
((So, rather than let this take the award for the shortest post in the universe, here's some details on the hover car.
It comfortably seats two at the front, three at the back.
I want to say it runs on Spacefleet tech, but if Spacefleet doesn't go into the hovercar buisness, then it'll have to be magic.
It can go up and down, forward and back, and swivel left or right.
It's dark red.))
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Post by Kiddo on Jan 3, 2010 18:21:52 GMT -5
Mage ManorBut what's this about two mages? Have people been in the Underdeep!?"Ah. This person hasn't been listening in that long, then."According to that mage that just left, a pair of mages were in there. My city got dragged from.. well, I don't know where it is in relation to here, maybe a different planet, maybe a different universe... but soon after we got here, a pair of mages just like the ones that went in came and started trying to tell us about how dangerous this world is. I don't think it could have ended well, no matter what happened, so right now I'm trying to figure out a way to get the Underdeep, assuming that's what it is, out of them. To be honest, I don't think sealing it up is going to do that. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I get the impression that nobody really knows, because nobody seems to know anything about this big scary place sitting right on your doorstep." "WHAT?!" Kiddo got up from her crouch and skittered into the room, a quick blur of color until she hit the wall where the hole had been sealed up. She pressed both palms against it and for a moment there was the sight of a strange, lanky creature with purple fur and darker stripes, clawed hands actually partly inside the stone of the wall, and then it faded into invisibility again. "How could you... what were you thinking?" Kiddo whispered, "No, no. Tell me what happened. Simple terms. Who went in, who came out? And do not ask me for knowledge of what the Underdeep is. It is our subconscious fears and nightmares. It is different for each person. Now... simple terms. Who went in. Who came out."
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Post by Jason on Jan 3, 2010 19:16:02 GMT -5
Ninja Dojo
"Mage! The one in robes! You possess a healing scroll, correct?"
These words snapped Jasor ut of his thoughts. Turning towards the source, he rose an eyebrow.
"Yes. Hold on." he said before digging through his pockets. Pulling out an old scroll, the mage began to unravel it. "Let's see..." he muttered as he began to read the insturctions. Just as he began to recite the spell, the tiger showed up.
"..." he said before backing up, the scroll crutched in his hand.
It was only then that he realised that Sev and Ikkin had left.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2010 19:35:00 GMT -5
<<Mage Manor>>
Aly flattened herself against the wall as Kiddo flew past her, startled. "Whoa," she said, eyes returning to a more normal, incredulous look rather than the wide-as-dinner-plates expression they'd had just a moment before. "Rikku and Celestial. Both were...pulled in, and then they came out a while later." The fire mage frowned, thinking. "Come to think of it...Ikkin and Sev came here from that hole as well." And Sev had attacked someone, and Rikku and Celestial were, according to this newcomer, stirring up trouble. This couldn't be good. Any mage on a rampage was bad news for anyone and everyone, nevermind two of them. And a phoenix. And possibly Ikkin as well.
...Sra. "Alright, yeah, we need that hole sealed up a heckuva lot better than it is now, and fast. Hopefullly permanently." Like that was a real possibility, but she'd put cynicism aside for a little.
[Speaking of the Underdeep...What about Kiddo's advice earlier?]
The mage didn't speak aloud, but she was mulling it over anyway.
"Cannot kill it. So you push it back. You fight with such ferocity that the mind cannot give fear but a portion of your emotion. Give in to savagery, bloodlust, and the primal instinct to kill. The Underdeep has little to work with."
Yeah, I'd really like to be caught in that situation. She shuddered at the thought. She knew a Berserker, and he on the warpath scared her more than a small army ever could. Probably because he was at least equivalent to one, if not better.
Sra. Losing control was the last thing she wanted to do, and yet it was the only way to fight the Underdeep that made sense to her. Oh, the irony.
And yet...If I have a reason to hate something...loathe something... It was worth a try, the next time she had to face the Underdeep. Still, prevention was a lot better than cure.
[So...?]
That snapped her from her thoughts. "Alright. So we apparently have a problem with Sev, Rikku, Celestial, and possibly Ikkin as well. We might not be able to trust anyone who's been in the Underdeep." She looked over to Kiddo, then away. They were in Mage Manor, with all its protection, and Kiddo didn't look like she exactly liked the Underdeep more than anyone else here. "We need this sealed and we need to see what's happened with the other mages, 'cause it's already dang hard to fight a mage when you are one, nevermind when you aren't." She sighed. "I hate research. Anyone up for some traveling?"
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Post by Huntress on Jan 3, 2010 21:02:49 GMT -5
((The Silver Ring))
The tavern was one of the slightly more high-end places, which meant that it was clean and the fights got broken up by bouncers pretty quickly. It was favored by the kind of people who prefer to drink quietly and not lose an ear during the night. Tabloid Town catered to all tastes.
Most pirates prefer the places where you actually can lose an ear - they just like to make sure it belongs to someone else - so Lord Randorph, leader of an ancient pirate armada, sat there by a small table accompanied only by his closest officers who were with him all the way in his preference to maintain all the ears by the end of the night.
Rane, as he was known, was pretty easy to recognize. He was a tall, thin guy who wore pompous red buccaneer clothes, complete with lace, gold trimming and a huge white feather hanging off his hat. He was maybe thirty years old - thirty and a thousand, but still - but due to those clothes and the fact that he himself had a rather friendly, if perpetually worried-looking face, with shoulder-length brown hair and cheerful blue eyes, he looked like a teenager wearing his dad's clothes. He was a Nice Guy, and nearly always acted like one.
Right now, though, he appeared to have a headache. He squinted up at the girl who'd addressed him.
"Excuse me, are you Rane? I have a message for you, from Queen erm, Kienne."
"Kienne? You do?" He seemed to stare blankly for a moment, then brightened up. "Kienne! Yeah!"
"Sir, you should really drink less," one of his officers mumbled.
"My good man, I am very much stone sober," Rane said placidly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to talk to this young lady in private." He got up a little uneasily and nodded to Celestial. "Out we go, if you don't mind. What message would that be?"
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Post by Nasuella on Jan 3, 2010 21:09:02 GMT -5
Near the Dojo
For some unfathomable reason, it took the robed mage a long time to dig up the scroll - something which should have taken a few simple moments. When that had already become clear, roughly the same time as Ikkin grew frustrated, Kovaran's palm sharply met his own face with a loud slap.
Yes, the ninja who frequently caused facepalms had reason to facepalm himself now and then.
Watching as the fox-mage lifted up the firebi--Sev, and carried him away, the big lizard's face showed some concern. He had never seen a firebird that could revive itself; such a beast would be an even greater threat than most. They were already near-invincible as it was. I pray you can defend yourself from it, should the worst happen.
Only then did the tiger catch his attention--and it caused a double-take. He had never seen a tiger this small! Most of the ones he had seen were large enough to carry his own species on their backs...
Which world do I inhabit again?
--
The not-Battle of Beaver Hills
Captain didn't need to give the order twice. When Hunty told Nasue to move, she did - leaping off and landing roughly on her feet, gritting her teeth as she made impact. Her ribs still hurt. So did her head, for that matter.
Looking up, the coati saw the shop in front of her, as well as what was within it. Dreamcatchers, among other things. Dark magic, she thought.
W-wait a second! How did I know that?!
The answer to that question would have to come later. Noises from the battle behind her quickly drove her inside, trying to ignore the throbbing pain that had, once again, come up. She sat close to the door, listening to the conversation between the captain and some weird-looking woman with an equally odd accent. Note to self: imitate that accent when people ask me about my own. Bloody idiots.
Then the headache intensified. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she looked at the window--
And froze.
Amidst the haze of a dark colour, a strange mix of cyan, red and black was close by. Nasue could only see some of it, but it was still oddly visible. After a little while it stepped back--human shaped?--and then it became mostly black, with small amounts of the other colours. Then it changed shape and leaped into the sky.
If anyone had been looking at Nasue right at that moment, they would have noticed her eyes were faintly glowing.
Then the glow ceased, and the coati's sight returned to normal. Her eyes went wide.
The hell was that?!
"Um, Captain? I-I think we need to hurry."
--
The River Tigris
If this had been an inn as well as a tavern, the opening hours would have been longer. As it was, the owner was planning on building an inn close by once she could afford it (hey, it was cheaper than renovation in this part of town). Business would most likely improve, and there'd be more job openings.
But that's not really relevant. What is relevant is that the opening hours were drawing to a close. Only a few more hours of mopping to go, and then D-Man could return to the basement where he slept.
Small interruptions could happen, though.
This one came in the form of a cloaked figure. He came in, sat down conspicuously close to the dragon, and then, at a nicely-timed moment, threw open his cloak to reveal assassin's gear, drew a dagger and ran at D-Man.
"Hey!"
One totally awesome fight involving a weaponised mop later, the assassin was thrown out of a very shut window. He was unconscious, chances of survival uncertain. Oh yeah, and the law enforcement was already on their way.
"You do realise you'll have to pay for that window, D-Man," the bartender mumbled. D-Man sighed, but there was a small grin on his face.
"Better that than losing my life."
With that, he carried a now very bloody mop over to the bucket. Time to get back to work.
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Post by Kiddo on Jan 3, 2010 22:49:44 GMT -5
Mage Manor
Kiddo pulled her palms away from the seal. Sure. Seal it up permanently. She had... magic then. Phoenix magic. Now... she wasn't quite sure what she had. This half-existence might be able to do something but there just wasn't time to figure it out. Aly was right. They had to get their hands on the research that already existed and figure something out.
Besides, it was a whole guild of MAGES, for crying out loud. They just needed information, apparently.
She hesitated. Travel... there were two problems, in her mind. The four that had been into the Underdeep. Something had changed them. Of course, the ones in the room here had been close to it as well. She curled her lip in a snarl. They couldn't be trusted. Used, perhaps, but not trusted.
"Ninja HQ," she finally said, "We go there, I find the records. BUT! We only go to outskirts. I travel alone into the mountains the rest of the way. I will not take outsiders into what was my home."
And maybe still was her home. It was hard to tell.
"Aly, you take us two there? Rest stay here and guard this gateway? We seal it, so no more crazy mages, yes, then we go hunting. Only in daylight. I will not hunt during the night."
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