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Post by Luna on Dec 7, 2004 14:49:59 GMT -5
Azuriel watched as the city crier came to stand beside her on the scaffold.
"Azuriel Talien, for your acts of treason against this city and your refusal to coperate with an investigation you are sentenced to be hung from the neck until death. As such, your body will be left in the gutters for the vile scavengers to defile as further punishment." The man paused to examine the expression on the accused face and seeing none, returned to his parchment. "Let your fate be a warning to all those who would betray the city of Minris. Do you have any last words?"
The black haired woman merely turned her accusing eyes to the crowd.
"I have nothing to say, save that it is impossible to betray a city to which I never belonged or gave my alliegence to."
The crowd hissed and jeered at the woman and called for her to be silenced. Nodding, the crier slipped a noose around Azuriel's slender neck and read the final lines.
"May your death be painful and your soul tormented in the afterlife." With that, he pulled a lever and the platform beneath his victim gave way.
As the rope twanged taught, Azuriel's eyes snapped open.
"I'm afraid that I can't allow myself to die today." Suddenly the wood of the scaffold rippled as if alive and a razor sharp spike jutted from the wood and split the rope as a blur of dark colors rushed beneath Azuriel.
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Post by kittygirl on Dec 7, 2004 16:51:44 GMT -5
OOC: We need something to bring them all together. I'm going to try to do this so bring your charecters along.
Myara flew quicky off the woman's sholder. The woman could take care of her self. She rose high in the sky looking for some other evil to obliberate. As she looked around she saw something outside the city gates. It was huge. The biggest monster she had ever seen. It was almost as tall as the wall surrounding the city, and it was lumbering right twoards them. Myara quicky flew down into a shadow and changed into her human form. She pulled a string out of her skirt poket and tied it around her long black hair, then ran out into the street.
"Quickly, quickly! Spread the alarm and rise to arms! A monster of the likes you had never seen before is comeing twoards us! Take cover! Rise to arms! Spread the alarm!" Her words trampled each other in their rush to get out, and some of what she said didn't make sense. But she had to keep going. She had to tell every one in the city or they would all die. They all had to come together. Merchets and theives. Magic-doers and humans. Nobles and street peoples. They all had to work together.
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Post by Crystal on Dec 7, 2004 23:20:10 GMT -5
Krys eyed the man out of the corner of her eye. There was a long, dirty-looking dirk in his boot, but it seemed to be the only weapon he had.
She ignored him.
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Post by Kiddo on Dec 7, 2004 23:21:54 GMT -5
OOC: If you just have patience I'll bring everyone together... instead of using a deus ex machina why don't you use what I've already given you? For instance - a very rare foreigner rides into town and the first thing she does is create a scene. The city is very suspicious of foreigners and generally doesn't like them. Put two and two together.
IC: Lii fluidly stood, weaving her way over to the window. Her senses were not yet used to the city noise and so it seemed that the everyday street commotion was a signal for something major. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to reconcile the fact that the city was much, much noisier than the plains.
There was a girl near her horse. Blond hair. She started towards the door, angry, but then stopped herself. Perhaps there was no need to chase the girl away. Lii returned to the window and watched.
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Post by Stal on Dec 8, 2004 12:26:47 GMT -5
Krrour had entered the house and was just sitting in a corner, silently. Things had died down, and the twines were still in the volatile creation stage so readings were difficult. He thought, though, that there was a certain amount of distrust from both parties to him.
The foreign girl, however, would require more information. For some reason unknown to himself, Krrour had actually taken a liking to her.
"So....I don't believe I caught either of your name's. And where exactly is it you hail from?"
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Post by Kiddo on Dec 8, 2004 12:31:28 GMT -5
Lii glanced back at Krrour.
"I am Lii. I come from the tribes."
She paused a moment to consider her next words.
"I - I am on my spirit quest. It has brought me here and."
With an embaressed look she turned her back to Krrour and faced the window again.
"Herb woman - are you the only one with magic in this city? Or are there more?"
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Post by Orginalcliche on Dec 8, 2004 15:11:56 GMT -5
"My name is Artania, and yes as far as I know. Tea?" She bustled quitely over to a small kettel, simmering on the fire.
"You look slightly worn out yourself. May I ask yours?"
Artania pressed sending a slight glance at the stange man, that had somehow found it's way into her household. She sniffed the air, and then pulled up a ladder that was lounging against the east wall.
"Pardon moi si vous plait. Eastern langauge, isn't it beutiful I only know that and you stole my donkey."
She looked down at the man a moment, contemplating if he was up to the task she was about to assign them, but instead turned to the Lii.
"Could you hold the ladder please."
Now that Artania was in her own home she felt much more at ease.
((Wow kiddo, reading extreme amounts of fanfiction do come in handy, Hah dues ex machina. I auctually know that phrase. *dances* Sorry I just rejoice in my little knowledge...))
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Post by The Wanderer on Dec 8, 2004 17:27:36 GMT -5
To his relief, the cloaked man spies a rain-barrel full of fresh water outside a small home. He dipped his hands in the cool water, and proceeded to drink.
Stopping for a moment, he could hear voices inside. His sensitive ears picked up the words "spirit quest."
Unusually curious, he leans closer to the wall so he can hear the conversation-in-progress better.
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Post by Kiddo on Dec 9, 2004 22:32:24 GMT -5
Lii silently obliged and braced the ladder. It was easy to tell that the woman was very strong and used to an active life, probably a warrior judging by her choices of weaponry.
"No others," she said, "Have any magic users passed through this city recently? In the past week?"
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Post by Spot on Dec 10, 2004 20:21:25 GMT -5
((I think I have the wrong time frame if it's still midday ... anyways, account my section to when night comes.))
***
Dust drifted up into the air as the form stirred in the darkness, hidden amongst ripped wood ply and rusting pipes. The vestiges of sunlight slowly swung through the broken form of the abandoned building, revealing a large cat-like form. It appeared to be a leopard of some sort, but it was difficult to make out entirely; it was covered in scorch marks and icicles, concealing much of the creature's actual figure.
It stirred again, uneasy at rest, and then woke up screaming, a contorted noise between a human cry and a cat-like hiss. Its eyes blazed open, and its gaze swept back and forth across the ruins until it confirmed that there were no other signs of life in the room.
'Wha ... where am I?' she thought, still panting heavily from her nightmare. 'What ... am I?' She closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing mind, but only summoned the nightmare once more.
"You idiot! You screwed up the formula!" a male voice rang out amongst the brightly lit room. "The gene ratio is wrong! Get security up here fast, we're going to have to kill the experiment before it progresses too far!"
Restrains held her to a flat surface, and many shapes swarmed around her, frantically. Brief flashes of her past - school, her parents, her friends - and flashes of a past unknown to her - the snow capped mountains, a wintry den - flew through her head. Every cell in her body stung, tormented with the changes, and felt frozen at the same time. The smell of humans triggered a subconscious terror, and adrenaline sped through her veins. The restraints snapped free, and bullets ricocheted off of the operation table, as the half-human, half-snow leopard broke loose. The rest was a blur. Fires blazing forth, ice casting, a sharp pain in her leg, the taste of fresh air ...
She snapped her eyes open again, still panting heavily, and forced her breathing to slow. Her front leg ached through the numbing cold she felt, and she licked at the bullet wound subconsciously while trying to understand what had happened. 'I ... was I ... human?' she questioned, staring at her leopard body. 'I can't recall ... I can't remember anything ... just glimpses of a life ... I had...'
The leopard got to her feet, despite the numerous injuries that wracked her body. Instinct told her to move on, for the humans would be back to hunt her. She had stayed too long in one spot.
She cautiously took to the back alleyways and streets of the inner city, concealing herself in the shadows and the advancing darkness of night. She ran, sprinted, and crawled, unaware of where she was going, only running from fear. New smells came to her nose as she advanced on the outskirts of the city. The smell of grasses from beyond the industrial filth, and closer, the smell of ... horse.
Having not eaten for a few days, the leopard instinct took over, and she hunched down, slinking amongst the tattered shacks in search of the horse...
***
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Post by Crystal on Dec 11, 2004 3:41:04 GMT -5
She idly wondered how much this horse would cost if she sold it. Sure, she'd have to take out the stones and such first. She doubted it would be very hard.
The animal stirred, and Krys urged it to get up softly in that halting other language. It seemed suspicious enough, but obeyed. SHe was surprised. Usually horses were more attuned to their owners than to words.
Stroking it by the mane, she led the animal away.
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Post by Orginalcliche on Dec 12, 2004 0:26:37 GMT -5
"Thank you deary. Magic users, well of corse there are always the rouges. They pass through and there really isn't anything we can do about it. Though personally I say it provides for entertainment."
She mumbled browsing the various dried herbs, finally then she picked one out. It smelled strong of memories, of the quite days of summer, picking dandlions, and playing princesses. This particular herb was Hallow's Holly. Quite weak if put into any kind of mixture, but incredibly potent on it's own. Artania moved her way down the ladder, the herbs grasped in one hand. Taking it over to the tea pot she poured three glasses, sprinkling it into the tea. She took a sip first herself.
"Tea?"
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Post by The Wanderer on Dec 12, 2004 16:52:57 GMT -5
"Thank you deary. Magic users, well of corse there are always the rouges. They pass through and there really isn't anything we can do about it. Though personally I say it provides for entertainment." She mumbled browsing the various dried herbs, finally then she picked one out. It smelled strong of memories, of the quite days of summer, picking dandlions, and playing princesses. This particular herb was Hallow's Holly. Quite weak if put into any kind of mixture, but incredibly potent on it's own. Artania moved her way down the ladder, the herbs grasped in one hand. Taking it over to the tea pot she poured three glasses, sprinkling it into the tea. She took a sip first herself. "Tea?" His thoughts confirmed, the man decides to go in for a closer look. He climbs to the roof of this Artania's house, and try to see who these people are. |
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Post by Luna on Dec 12, 2004 17:09:40 GMT -5
Azuriel grabbed onto the leather saddle strapped to her clawfoot. She swung her leg over and properly seated herself as her mount sped through the stunned crowd. They came to rest in front of an old shack and spun around to meet the crowd.
"Dragon!" They cried. "She rides a dragon!" The mass paused for a minute giving Azuiriel all the time she needed.
In a series of clicks and slight pressures with her legs she had her mount inflate his chest and thrust his head foreward while opening his maw. Mumbling a brief incantation a medium sized ball of fire appeared in front of the raptor's open mouth and shot out at the crowd.
"It breathes fire!" One peasant screamed as they turned to run in a panic.
Azuriel narrowed her eyes at the crowd as they fled. 'Ignorance, Mezkai isn't a dragon. If any of them had any knowledge they'd know he's a small cousin of the t-rex. At least my fireball spell helped confirm their fears of a dragon.' The woman muttered a strange language to her mount who let out a happy grumbling and shifted on his feet.
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Post by Spot on Dec 12, 2004 20:32:15 GMT -5
***
The leopard continued to follow the scent of horse, noting other smells drifting through the air. The one smell that repeated itself was the smell of humans, and it permeated the air. She also caught a whiff of smoke on the breeze, and a hint of herbs. Recalling the fires of her struggle, she subconsciously snarled, tightening her muscles. Despite her fading consciousness, she kept her cautious ways, holding to the darkness. Pain should have been coursing through her muscles, but the icicles still froze her wounds shut, and the ice kept the blood from pouring from her shot leg.
Eventually, the fatigued will of the leopard gave way, and she lay down in a dim alleyway. Struggling to stay awake, she forced herself to think about her past again. It didn't take very long- she had no memory of anything before the lab. She cast a glance at her legs again, which still remained encased in ice. There were fires I ran through. The air is warm here. How is it, then, that I retain these icicles? she pondered. But no answers came to mind, and she swatted at a nearby puddle in frustration, only for it to ... freeze over. She stared for a moment, and then placed her paw on the now frozen puddle. She extended her claws and closed her eyes in concentration. Peeking open one eye, she confirmed her thought: She had magical powers over ice and snow. Staring at the towering icicle before her, she considered if she had any other powers.
Recalling the feeling of being human, she decided to try one more thing. Responding to the mental command, her cells began to shift. Her appearance went from that of a feline to a redheaded girl, retaining the snow leopard ears, tail, and a few faded spots on her skin. She couldn't transform back fully, but she was mostly human. The gene ratio is wrong ... I guess that's what he meant... she thought.
The ice that encased her before fell loose, sparkling as it shattered off. Suddenly, the pain could be felt, and her injuries cracked open. Stunned by the pain, she tried to transform back into the leopard. She only succeded in transforming partway before blacking out, falling to the edge of light which graced the dim alley from the street.
***
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Thanks, Leoness! ^__^