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[color=9B9F94][h3][b]Assani 16th[/b][/h3]
[sup][b]Location:[/b] Wánggǎng, ReTan
[b]Day of the week:[/b] Taldes
[b]Time:[/b] Evening
[b]Characters:[/b] Abdel, Maura [@Ti], Ingrid [@dragonpiece], Niallus [@McKennaJ71],
Yalen [@Pantothenic], Trypano [@A Lowly Wretch], Reekar [@Force and Fury], 
Kaureerah,  Xiulan, Wu Long, Captain Zhu, Dayanara, Qadira, Zorayas, Traveller agents, 
Grey Ghosts, Goldcloaks, Captain Zhao, the White Guard[/sup]

[hr][hr][center][h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E1dCgFPGUc]♫[/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr]

Then, suddenly, the house was full of energies: over a dozen in the attic and the cellar, and they were [i]strong[/i].

The Skuggvars took exception to this show of power from the unseen forces. Both Qadira and Dayanara began to slam their tails onto the wooden flooring, ready to strike at anything that came nearby. Anyone, even Abdel, that got close to them ran the risk of not only grazing their rough skin but also getting a taste of their notorious tails.

Abdel, on the other hand, made himself scarce as quickly as possible. He found a corner in the building and built a quick wooden shelter for himself via Binding as his beasts were showing levels of aggression he hadn't seen yet. His heart was racing, his forehead drenched in sweat and of course his extremities felt very cold. Why did he go to this house alone?

They did not stay put for more than a few seconds and they certainly did not wait to be attacked. As the students rushed towards the house, twelve people burst outwards. Four leapt from the side windows, brimming with powerful magics, and arrowed straight for the Grey Ghosts. Two moved to intercept their unwelcome foreign visitors, propelling a dozen small vials towards the skuggvars and bursting them with kinetic magic. The remaining six, including a hooded figure in black, pulled on considerable abilities with both kinetic and chemical magics to escape through the back. With dizzying speed, they bolted in pairs down the labyrinth of side streets that made up the port district of Wanggang. 

With the building aflame, Abdel had no desire to stick around. Matter behind him was drawn upon until it created an opening to the outside. From there, a little bit of kinetic and magnetic magic did the trick for an escape. They weren't after him, so there wouldn't be any real limitations.

The Skuggs, on the other hand, only grew more agitated by the flames and the audacious assault on them by the emerging rats. Their skin and blubber prevented any real damage to be dealt, although the flames and the shock left the two animals flailing about. Naturally, the moment they felt something nearby that wasn't their sibling Skuggvar, they whipped their tail towards it. Avoiding the tail was one thing, but the spines unleashed were another. They shattered like glass and caused a burst of the stuff that could hit friends and foes alike.

The skuggvars in the building were in an outright panicked rage, lashing out with their tails and limbs. One of the ambushers was caught in the midsection and thrown like a ragdoll, spine snapping as she hit the wall. She sprawled there, desperately trying to use binding magic to heal her grievous wounds. The other was caught by upwards of a half-dozen spines from the beasts' tails and cried out in agony, perfectly open for Ingrid and Niallus to act if they could overcome the pain themselves. Abdel, meanwhile, just outside, would have to regain control of his animals to take this any further and hopefully avoid any more friendly fire.

Ingrid broke into a fiery trap and that wasn't the worst of it. Abdel's Skugvars had seen her and Niallus as a threat and she fell victim to their stinging quails. The pain was intense but it wasn't enough to stop her. She took in the situation and decided it was best to absorb the fire. The fire could be burning away evidence at this very moment and with how intense it is, it could spread to other buildings. She started to freeze everything, the building, her enemies, Abdel's Skugvar's. [color=8882be]"Help me out Niallus!"[/color] Ingrid asked for assistance knowing that Niallus was a talented arcanist as well

Inside the house itself, the situation had changed quite drastically. The Goldcloaks had put most of the fire out and Ingrid had done the rest.  The problem was that she had flash frozen most everything in there, from the two wounded attackers to one of the two skuggvars, its draconic face contorted in pain and surprise. Abdel had been in the process of trying to calm the beasts, but that was now undone and the other, while rendered temporarily sluggish, was enraged by the attack and it lashed out at her. Its furious swipe was drawn away to nothing by Niallus, but now, with the enemy more or less pacified, there was an angry and panicked skuggvar on the loose and a whole new problem for the animal's tamer and its unexpected opponents to deal with.

Ingrid drew in quickly and covered the area in a thick layer of frost, skin blistering from the sudden freeze. The 2 traveler agents frozed over and were taken out of the fight while one of the Skugvars followed suit. The last was still enraged and fired at her obvious attacker. Luckily Niallus protects her. Ingrid was looking to knock it out quickly, a lot of things were happening outside and she couldn't afford to stay in here.

Rising, healed, Zhu Kai rolled his neck and cast about. Whatever monster had felled him, he knew was well beyond his ability to handle. He had not seen combat like this since... 

A burst of flame emerged from the house's wreckage and now he had a pressing matter to attend to. He hurtled forward, into the breach once more!

Abdel's quick escape spared him too much smoke inhalation and his own Skuggvars' wrath. The chaos of the situation left him disoriented and unable to calm his animals in time, leading to a few people getting hurt - especially the enemies that had stayed close to the Skuggs in order to intercept the students. The young Tethered, empowered by the enchanted Brine Whale gloves, attempted to immobilize and pacify the beasts. Qadira went into a full-stop, while Dayanara remained agitated. Still, it was from aggression to defensiveness, and with Qadira's example, he was confident Dayanara would come around.

That was until Ingrid did her thing.

[color=9e0039]“What are you doing?!”[/color] Abdel called out from afar, [color=9e0039]“Stop! They're going to lash out!”[/color] unfortunately, he was a bit too far with his voice hoarse from the smoke.

Qadira regressed to dormancy with the frost, while Dayana's rage was only fueled. Its anger first went to Ingrid who could barely keep in one piece,  let alone stop the animal. But then, as Abdel tried to calm it via the bridle it had on, it shook its head violently to free itself of the headgear before charging right at the energy signature it recognized, [color=9e0039]“Daya, stop!”[/color] he tried to jump out of the way, but he ended up taking the rough shoulder of the Skuggvar. Bruised and having trouble breathing, Abdel struggled to get back up. His vision was blurry, his limbs trembling. And the moment he regained some of his senses, he saw his beast charging at him once more. This was it, his hubris in trying to tame the cleverest of wild creatures was going to be his end.

That was until Captain Zhu intervened. A master kinetic mage, he got Abdel out of the way and deviated the animal's wild path. Then, he confused it with an advanced illusion-like ability that replicated his form sixfold. Dayanara was distracted long enough for Abdel to get a grip.

[color=9e0039]“Qadira! Wake up!”[/color] he called out as his binding magic converted the frost around her into energy, freeing the Skuggvar. Awakened and cold, the animal's frustration was immediately directed at her sister who had been causing a ruckus. Both were keeping eachother at bay, giving an opportunity for the Gold Captain to finally knock out the rampaging animal.

Abdel fell on his rear, panting in exhaustion but with a light smile on his face. His girls were alive, and as much as they caused him grief today, he was infinitely grateful. Qadira, still cold and shivering, trotted his way and began to sniff. She sort of stood there like a guard dog, while Dayanara slumbered further away.

But his work wasn't done. With the Skuggvar distraction gone, he could zone in on a nearby battle. One too far for his peers to detect minus the missing Yalen. While all seemed 'fine', one of Zhu's guard was fading quickly. With all his knowledge gathered as an Afortunado and teachings in Ersand'Enise, the young Varga used his considerable range to tend to the dying Zhou. By no means was the soldier restored, but the bare minimum was near-instantly applied to keep him alive long enough for a Trypano to get to work.

Abdel collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving as he had been unconsciously holding his breath a lot of the time. One could hope this desperate action could buy him and his animals some good will. If they could get the blood of one of those that fled, then even his girls could prove themselves.

Abdel, Ingrid, and Niallus were in for one more surprise, however. There came a fantastic pulse of magical energy, seemingly from above, and it lasted but a split second.  When their attention returned to their two frozen attackers, however, both were dead in a most grisly fashion: eyes popped out of their heads and sockets filled with mangled brain matter as blood pooled around them. The two left alive in front of the ruined building suffered similar fates, as attested to by Xiulan's screams. 

Perturbed by the screams of his guide, Abdel looked in horror as the captured foes were promptly executed from afar. It was there that he also noticed the bifurcated lady Yang and the wounded Exemplar. Things went from stressful to downright terrifying once the consequences of battle were evident to him. It was the Manfred decapitation scene all over again.

But, the situation was under control. The group reconvened. Yet, the eeaiko remained missing, and nobody else seemed to know very much. For one skilled enough, her familiar signature might've stood out among the humans. Eyes turned to the tethered until Xiulan formalized the request. [color=a2d39c]"Yaren, Abder,"[/color] Xiulan put it to voice, [color=a2d39c]"Can you find her?"[/color]

[color=FD5E53]"We can try."[/color] Yalen confirmed. He nodded to Abdel and began the search using his sixth sense. [color=FD5E53]"She's moving around... that direction."[/color] Yalen pointed towards the general direction of the port. [color=FD5E53]"She's moving kind of slowly. Something might be wrong with her."[/color]

Abdel crossed his arms, his torso still sore after a good heal, as he reached out with his range. He had more trouble than Yalen to pinpoint her location, [color=9e0039]“She's hurt.”[/color] he remarked, [color=9e0039]“Very agitated! Like the Skuggvars when they got angry.”[/color] worried, her looked toward Yalen, [color=9e0039]“Should we help her?”[/color] With Yalen's approval, Abdel attempted to heal the external wounds with some binding.

Abdel put pressure on his flank, still sore after the whole ordeal. Dayanara had a quick wave of binding to get her back to semi-consciousness, enough to have her absently follow her master. Qadira was fully obedient. He and his beasts approached Wu Long, [color=9e0039]“I know my Skuggvars caused a mess,”[/color] he admitted, apologetically with his head lowered, [color=9e0039]“but they can shine here. If we have blood from one of the escapees ...”[/color] he tapped the shoulder of his Skuggvar, [color=9e0039]“There's no hiding. Anywhere.”[/color]

Wu Long seemed little concerned with the mess that the skuggvars had made. After all, it had ended well enough. [color=ed1c24]"This is worth a try,"[/color] he allowed, [color=ed1c24]"but it is also outside of my jurisdiction. You may search the area for a blood trail and you have my blessing."[/color] The Knights were near, however: twenty of them, led by a leathery stern-looking man. [color=ed1c24]"It is [i]them[/i] you will have to report your findings to, however... [i]officially[/i]."[/color]

Abdel bowed and quickly got to work. Qadira was the more 'awake' of the two, as such she would be the one to get this scent. It didn't take long for Abdel to find the traces of blood left where Mr. Bao was 'interrogated'. The big beast approached its stout snout to the ground the moment it picked up the scent of blood. First, it aggressively sniffed about before licking the half-congealed fluids for a taste.

Qadira immediately started to sniff the air afterwards, her body vibrating in agitation as she zero'd in on a trail.

Meanwhile, the twenty riders came to a stop and their captain dismounted. Precisely half of the others - their uniforms slightly different from each other in ways that the students did not quite understand - dismounted as one. They formed up behind their captain, marched up to Wu Long, and bowed shallowly before him. He bowed back at the captain. [color=ed1c24]"赵队长，不胜荣幸。" (It is an honour, Captain Zhao.)[/color]

[color=ffffff]"典范，荣誉属于我。首都三队随时为您服务。" (Exemplar, the honor is all mine. Captial squad three is always at your service.)[/color]

Xiulan came up among the students and began translating. [color=ed1c24]"Very good, Captain. I leave this investigation in your capable hands, and I hope that you shall keep me abreast of matters as they develop."[/color] He motioned for Captain Zhao to follow. [color=ed1c24]"If you come with me, I will brief you on the situation. As you can see, our foreign friends have become involved and, to be honest, we might've been lost without them."[/color] He gestured in Abdel's direction. [color=ed1c24]"The beasts owned by this one are trackers. I have set them to look for scents. I recommend that you confer with the boy."[/color] After that, an antisonic bubble surrounded the pair, and they moved some moderate distance away to speak.

It was right about then that Qadira yanked Abdel precipitously forward and right up to the two young women who'd been standing and talking in hushed voices. Kaureerah was the first to turn, eyes widening in alarm. She appeared quite afraid of the skuggvar as it tried butting up against her, making eager whining noises and halfheartedly licking and snapping close to a spot of dried blood on her skirt. With an animal sort of fear, she began to backpedal. 

The animal began to try and nip the skirt as if trying to eat it, though the Eeiako didn't seem keen on letting the Skuggvar do her thing. Still, Qadira would keep on insisting until Abdel intervened, [color=9e0039]“Did ...”[/color] he pointed at her blooded skirt, [color=9e0039]“you have a fight with him, by any chance?”[/color] he reached out to try and stop his beast from continuing its harassment, but it kept on going, albeit without anymore forcefulness than its initial curiosity. It wasn't a whole lot of blood, after all. Low droning noise came from its vibrating body.

Kaureerah nodded frantically. [color=DEB887]"Se sauk kewool!"[/color] she cried.  [color=DEB887]"Se sauk kewooool!"[/color] She shook her head to clear it, hiding behind Marua out of some sort of instinct.  [color=DEB887]"Yes! Yes! Eye faught hem! Hee keeked my ess!"[/color] She continued to avoid the animal and anyone skilled in internal Chemical magic who could scan her would sense absurd levels of cortisol and adrenaline coursing through the poor eeaiko girl.  [color=DEB887]"Hee waus bleeden froom te beeten hee took befaur!"[/color] She let out a little yelp of terror as the eager animal pursued her around Maura, nearly knocking the Torragonese out of her wheelchair.  [color=DEB887]"Plees!! Plees get eet auweey!!"[/color]

Abdel, mortified by the reaction of the fish-girl, blurted out a suggestion, [color=9e0039]“Throw the skirt!”[/color] very smooth, [color=9e0039]“And wash up!”[/color] extra smooth. Still, he reached out to tug onto Qadira's unseen leash via bloodwarping.

Kaureerah did not need to be told twice. She tore the skirt off, revealing stockings of a strange fabric beneath, and bolted for a nearby fountain, diving cleanly into the water, where she felt a good deal safer.  [color=DEB887]"Eye em saurry! Eye cennaut!"[/color] She was hyperventilating.  [color=DEB887]"Yoo cen trauck hem! Use te cloothes!"[/color] It was at roughly that point that Captain Zhu approached them. [color=a2d39c]"You come wiss me, please. Meet Captain Zhao."[/color] He regarded them uncertainly for a moment, the look breaking through his normally authoritative bearing, as if unsure they would understand him, but not quite able to ask.

Qadira hastily scurried toward the ripped skirt and took a few, whiffs before licking it. Abdel hurried to stop her from eating the whole thing. With the Skuggvar now satisfied with its finding and the mark laced with its saliva, it could finally focus on the actual trail.

But before they could go adventuring, they had to meet the illustrious Captain Zhao![/color]