Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine tried to twist away when Kaleeth took the woman in her claws. She only succeeded in stumbling back until she was on one knee and scrambling to her feet in time to see the Imperial woman rise.

Charging a spell to render the woman unconscious in one hand, Sabine tried to stand straight and step forward, but instead ended up yelping and clutching her own side. The mace hit had thrown a sting up her entire body that caused her to stagger once more. She was having trouble breathing now.

The delay was all the Imperial woman needed to conflagrate her entire body. Sabine took steps back in the sudden horror of what she saw. It was not the gore or the burning individually that disturbed her, it was the mix of pain, madness, and laughter as the woman fell apart before her eyes. Sabine's shallow breathing quickened and her eyes bulged. She took a step back as the woman approached.

"Sabine! Put out those fires! Retrain her!" Fendros' distant voice as he began to jog towards them was no help. Sabine couldn't save this woman if she wasn't paralysed in shock. "Sabine!" Fendros shouted louder.

Sabine took another step back and found herself up against a rock by the cliff face. She felt the stone behind her and dreaded touching the approaching woman.

She fell on her front another pace and a half away.

"Damn it!" Fendros closed the distance too late. He stood over the flickering corpse and sighed. He was not armoured -- rather he was dressed in his city clothing, but he had his bow and chitin arrows on his person all the same. Quickly moving on, he half-turned on his heel and barked out. "Right, get the survivors stable and bound! Bring them here!" He did not face Sabine. "We can use the wagon to transport them to the meeting place! Is anyone injured?"

Sabine looked at the ground in front of her, feeling ashamed. "Sorry," she said quietly.

Fendros returned his attention to her with what was outwardly a calm face. However, the way he quickly strode up to her hinted at frustration. His voice seemed calm enough, even slightly sympathetic. "What happened, Sabine? I thought you were going to stay near Kaleeth? Why didn't you follow her?"

"I could not drink my potion. The blizzard would have struck me. I needed to stay in the eye..."

"What? You brewed that potion specifically. Why didn't you take it?" Fendros craned his head down to one side.

Sabine shook her head and didn't look up. "I did not have the chance. I needed to charge my spell and..."

Fendros interrupted again. "Sabine, look, that was a dangerous risk you took. You're a skilled mage, but you're not invulnerable. You could have been trapped if there was more than one mage amongst them and...Are you alright?" Fendros narrowed his eyes at the worsening of Sabine's shallow breaths. She was nearly sobbing.

"I was struck," Sabine croaked.

"Oh...Sabine, let me see..." Fendros' voice was far softer.

Sabine turned, finding it easier to hide her tears from the shame and the previous horror with her back to Fendros. She lifted the back of her tunic to reveal the welt the mace had left. "Broken bone," Sabine added with some strain.

Fendros didn't even wince. "Don't just stand there, Sabine, get yourself fixed up. Do you need any help?"

She shook her head and began to charge healing magic in a hand to reach to her back.

"Very well. See to yourself and then go help the others heal the wounded." Fendros ruffled Sabine's hair and left her to it. When he turned around, he next addressed Malithus. "How many have we got so far?"

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

I don't know about time or logic in exact terms. But, I would say that if Vowzra wasn't able to survive in the gap, then at the very least it doesn't work in the same way as the material world.

My theory is that time is made subjective in the gap as physics is no longer present to funnel possibilities into a single present. So, different places in the gap are no longer guaranteed to be in the same point in time and no two places in the gap are guaranteed to have time progress at the same rate. So, time still exists, it just doesn't conform to material constants and understanding (like most things in the gap, really.)

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Here's a little nightmarish thought. If that Other beast could project itself through the telepathic information and onto Teknall's readouts, perhaps it has settled inside Teknall's mind through the screen and is waiting to consume him from the inside out...

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine could guess at the Imperial's intentions as she closed in. There was no time to cast a shielding spell, let alone drink from her waterskin that she had neglected in lieu of casting a spell before the fight. Her training kicked in with what she had left. Instead of trying to leap back or duck under the mace, she pushed off her back foot and closed the distance to the Imperial as she was making her swing. Sabine brought one fist up to knock the woman in the chin while reaching for her mace arm with the other. She was no weight-lifting fighter, but she was still a lycan and could leave a mark against an unwitting opponent.

The downside was that the mace was still able to strike Sabine in the back. She let out a strained gasp on impact. It was less damage than a full hit, but the wicked bound weapon still cut her and took the wind from her lungs. The pain of her rib cracking was dulled by the adrenaline of the fight.

As the small blizzard cleared, Fendros spotted Sabine and the Imperial in their grapple. The moment of indecision had him hesitate to shoot down the final fleeing warrior. After another second, he saw his allies closing in and shot the fleeing man in the back before he got too far. It was no use trying to incapacitate from the distance he had built.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

G'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

On the calm edge of the chaos, Fendros drew another chitinous arrow and released it to catch the leg of a running fighter. He was not going for killing blows just yet. By the looks of things, the ambush would be over quickly and they would have the time to chase down the frostbitten and wounded runners.

The blizzard would last for another several moments, though Sabine was not left alone. None other than the well-dressed leader of their opponents forced her to raise a ward to immediately rebuff the fire spell slung virtually at point-blank range. Sabine did not have the warning to fully develop her ward and stumbled two steps back. The momentary show of weakness did not last long, as the residual licking flames seemed to get absorbed into Sabine's hand. She was no novice either.

With her ward now fully formed in front of her, Sabine grit her teeth and threw out her other arm, sending a large icicle the Imperial's way. She would have to burst that ward before making any attempt to subdue her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was visible strain on Sabine's face as they approached the Imperial woman. It was an effort of concentration to keep her magic charging without her hands beginning to show mist and frost. She was almost tempted to dismiss her spell and follow along with the Imperial until the trap was sprung.

Sabine used the initial shock of Kaleeth's show of strength to hold her hands out in front of her and let them flood with such a cold as could be felt by anyone close to her. It did not go unnoticed; one of the men tried to pull out a sword and grab Sabine with his other hand. He was interrupted by an involuntary scream of pain as an arrow suddenly appeared between the bones of his forearm. He dropped his sword.

In that instant, there was a deafening howl, silencing the entire group. From nearby undergrowth at the edge of the clearing, the dark, blurring shapes of two werewolves burst out at a full sprint.

Fendros had given Malithus' pack basic tactics to engage with, though they were told to use their own talents to their fullest as long as they took captives.

In the meantime, Sabine had just enough space to discharge her spell from the middle of the shocked warriors. The frost on her arms climbed up to the rest of her body and forced the very air around her to become opaque with sheer cold. With a grunt of effort through grit teeth and a spin of her upper body, a sudden whirlwind of biting cold engulfed everyone nearby to her. Icicles spun into existence to cut at exposed areas and the surface skin began to freeze over. They found themselves drained of energy.

Kaleeth, thankfully, was spared the worst of this effect by the potion she had taken from her waterskin. It was not intentional, but the pain that did get through to her served to spur her beast spirit. The thick fog that had whipped up was more than enough concealment to unleash it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine was expecting the ambush to come out of nowhere, with a smell warning her, if anything. Seeing the large group ahead of them made her second-guess herself. She hesitated until Kaleeth neared her.

"Kaleeth," Sabine murmured as quietly as she could. "There is a chill on the wind."

The phrase was a signal for Kaleeth to drink from her waterskin.

As they approached, Sabine held her hands behind her back in a clawed splay, trying to gather as much magical energy as she could without getting caught. "Why are there so many people?" Sabine asked. "Are we expecting trouble?"

Out of any of their sight, a bow drew taut, ready to hit the arm of the first to pose a threat. Bigger eyes shone out from behind, ready to pounce.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It took all of Sabine's will to try not to look like she was expecting an ambush. Still, she couldn't help but noticeably check her surroundings at almost every corner. This initial leg of the journey was disconcerting in its look as an ambush sight. The plan was to intercept outside of the walls, but if they were taken here...

She tried not to worry. They would be at the river eventually. Then it should just be herself, Kaleeth, and the two escorts until they landed again.

Sabine was tempted to ask if they should be expecting trouble. Her nerves kept her quiet.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine had followed suit with Kaleeth by wearing more functional, low-key clothing to their meeting. Unlike Kaleeth, she wore no sword and had a shoulderbag with a number of potentially useful potions. By the bulk of it, it passed as her luggage. Both she and Kaleeth also wore waterskins over their shoulders that Sabine had filled with a potion that would protect them from most physical harm as well as magical cold, just as she had outlined in their plan.

The other encounters had included Sabine needing to speak to gather information. She was more confident this time, for her role was meant to be limited to following the smugglers. She approached the Orc and the Redguard and cleared her throat. "Ready," she said.

She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to try and spot the others following.