Twhirtley

Ebonfort

Dragon Bait has been completed and received its reward review! Well done Drache!

[Ebonfort] Dragon Bait

This RP is completed and has received its Reward Review! Well done!

[Ebonfort] Dragon Bait

Reward Review

Drachiathoryx

Skills
Observation: 7
Elementalism (Fire): 6
Socialization: 4
Flirting: 3
Seduction: 7
Sex: 12
Drinking: 1
Land Navigation: 1
Wilderness Survival: 1
Archaeology: 1
Cartography: 1
Stealth: 2
Tactics: 1
Writing: 5
Teaching: 1
Hunting: 1
Unarmed Combat: 1

Knowledge:
Location: Fossil Outcrop North of Pyresia
Contact: Laurel, Alufiend Firespinner
Contact: Sirik, Silent Drow
Contact: Kraven, Funny Human
Kvaren Tribe: The Crimson Vines
Firespinning: Fire Spirits might be real
Firespinning: Can't affect lava

Other
Map - Greater Pyresia Region
Satchel
Book, Blank x5

All Roads Lead to Death (Ebonfort)

Trix saw the woman in the dirt after taking the kick to the knee, momentarily distracted by the sounds of pain from her. This gave the man long enough to turn toward her, more annoyed at her intervention than concern of her being a threat. She mustered all the strength she could, and swung her stick as hard as she could, trying to hit the man in the head. He caught it easily with a single hand, smiling at her like a wolf would a fallen baby deer. He yanked the stick inward, and in Trix's inexperience she was still maintaining a death grip on it.

This pulled her off balance sending her stumbling toward him. He followed this by then punching his fist forward, stick in hand, catching the blonde in the forehead. Her head snapped back from the blow and she found herself landing hard on her back, her world exploding in blinding white pain, moaning. One look at her and the man knew she was done. He threw the stick down atop her and turned back toward the archer.

He stopped, seeing the woman had recovered and had an arrow pointed at him. He still smiled though, confident in his ability to defeat two weak women. Trix managed to open her eyes, clutching at the makeshift staff when two grew blurs rushed past. Remilia leapt up, sinking her small teeth into the man's buttock whereas Remus took his post between Trix and the man, snarling loudly. The man howled loudly, and swung the hilt of his knife backward catching Remilia hard on the shoulder, and with a pained squeal, the small pup was knocked away into the dirt, rolling. She got back up with a limp on the damaged leg, when Trix acted. She struck her staff outward, not as blow, but merely to trip the man up, by shoving it between his ankles. He tripped, stumbling toward the archer now, surprise on his face, arms now flailing.

[Ebonfort] Days of Grass and Dust

Verissa's night passed without fit, crying and the exhaustion from the event of the day had worn her out completely. Asher's movement through the pavilion wasn't what woke Verissa, nor was it the rattling cookware. It was the sharp, but pleasant scent of the spices cooking with the bacon. Her nose had wriggled at the scent, and she awoke slowly, unmoving, hoping she'd be free of the nightmare of the events from before. But she wasn't so lucky. She could tell she wasn't in her bed, staring at the hide walls of her owner's pavilion. Her ears listened at what was going on, she could tell someone was cooking, she assumed it to be Asher. She immediately felt a moment of dread, was she supposed to be awake before him, to make breakfast? Was he going to punish her for not doing that?

She heard him step close, his voice in that foreign tongue. She wasn't sure what he was saying, but it didn't seem to be directed at her. She swallowed and moved to roll over, when pain streaked through her body. Not from the wounds on her back, those were sore, but not near as painful as her hips, thighs, and back. A gasp had escaped her lips, her eyes squeezed shut in pain. When it finally subsided, she realized she was looking at Asher crouched before her, her pups staring daggers at him, daring him to try anything in the form of aggression toward her, completely ignore the bacon he offered. When she saw the meat hanging from his grasp, she knew now what it was he was trying. But she knew her pups wouldn't eat without her permission, not from a stranger. Plus they had a routine in their old life.

And that required her to get up.

She clenched her teeth, not meeting Asher's eyes as she struggled to push herself up. The pain that wracked her body was immense, her arms struggled weakly beneath her to raise her up. With one final gasp she managed to get a leg beneath her, and finally stood up. She looked at her pups, who looked up at her obediently. "Eat," accompanied by a nod. Each pup took a piece of bacon from Asher, and scooted over at Verissa's feet, to eat, eyes now locked on the man. She swallowed deeply, looking down, not wanting to meet his eyes, "I'm sorry I wasn't awake to make you food. I will get it right tomorrow. And Remus and Remilia are used to relieving themselves before they eat. They won't go on their own, they wait on me."

She tried to make herself smaller before the man, eyes ever downcast, hoping he wouldn't punish her for slacking in her slave duties and for speaking without being spoken to. She really didn't know the rules for slaves. The only slaves in Ruby Banks worked on the farms and were rarely seen in the public, and when they were, they were treated well, in accordance to village law. "What... What would you like me to do...?"

The First Strike (Ebonfort)

A silver leathered human man moved away from the main attacking groups, as he saw... what appeared to be a blanket dragging the pixie he'd put an arrow in. His bow was strapped to his back now, as he carried a heavy wooden club. His men were dealing with the Sergeant troll, but he was confident they would win. He watched as the... thing dragged her into the tree line, and reappeared at the edge. Something opened and showed some fangs. He didn't know what this creature was, but it clearly needed to die. And, it seemed to be welcoming it, challenging him like that.

He whistled a light tune, one his favorite barmaid back home would sing. He'd have more than enough coin to buy a night with her after this job. His club swung easily in his hand, as he closed the gap between him and the blanket creature. Once he was ten feet before it he stopped, "I know you can speak, I heard you. Tell me before you die, what is it you are?" He was smug in his silver leathers, a white five petaled flower tattoo on his forearm, though four of the petals appeared to be dead and withered.

After he waited what he felt was enough time for the critter to respond, he shrugged, not really caring for the answer anyways. It would just be for his story later. Then the man charged at the creature club raised, ready to swing it down and crush it.

Time Doesn't Heal Anything Quickly [Ebonfort]

A voice was heard soft in Megumi's ear, "Shouldn't make promises you can't keep." She'd feel the point of a knife gently pressing her damaged ribs. Then there was hearty laughter, and the knife point pulled away, "You still could step more silently, I heard you two floors up, but that is good enough for these brutes. At least when you're forced to think on your feet, you're not totally hopeless." He walked around her casually, strolling along the spine of the roof as if it were a park, "We won't speak again for a long time, but should you be successful at your mission, you'll find this healer you seek, as my Oath swore." With that he walked away into the night, seemingly not having paid up on his end of the bargain. If she chased after him, it would be the easiest thing in the world for him to disappear without a trace.

If she checked her new coin purse, she'd find that sometime the coppers had been replaced by the firecrackers she'd requested and bluish-silver coin with a man's smiling face on one side and a shadow version of him frowning on the other. It was not one of the Knight crafted coins, and had quite a bit of heft to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The 6th Stretch~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The convoy pulled out of a side road at the back of the Depot. At its front was four knights on horse back, followed by three covered wagons, all with a driver and another knight as a passenger, followed by four more knights on horseback. It moved slowly through the village, attracting a lot of attention from shopkeepers and others that were beginning their workdays. As it exited, it followed the main road along the river, and the four front horsemen broke away, fanning out ahead to serve as forward scouts. Of the back four, two stay back as the caravan moved, as rear scouts, while the other two stayed with the caravan as protectors.

A Heart Frozen (Ebonfort)

The entire group moved their way into the entry room at the base of the tower. There were sculptures everywhere carved from a stone that seemed similar to ice in both touch and sight, but could not be melted. There was a sculpture of a human man brandishing a sword, another of a sleeping katzheer, and another of a baby frost troll, holding its arm up defensively. The entire room was lit by candles, and a massive candelabra hanging from the ceiling. The rugs on the floor, the paintings on the wall, all of Frigmount design. Svarak voiced the concern that seemed to be on everyone's mind, "This storm is unnatural, and this tower is centered in it. I cannot believe that they are not connected somehow. Time is of the essence, so we need to find out what is causing it, be it this ice wizard Rilana heard rumors of, or something else." He'd leave the sorting the details out for Envoy Rilana.

As the group was talking, there was a pained screech from outside, one that Chartrose would recognize only as Tricia. Quick inspection would see a thin layer of ice forming all over Tricia's exposed hide, and was visibly thickening as they looked on. She was thrashing slowly, ice breaking off, but it was growing over her faster than she could stop it. Blankets would do no good, and fire would only slow it in small areas. Soon the cold caused her to collapse as her body began to drift into a frigid slumber. It became clear that she had very little time left especially if left outside. If dragged inside, the growth of the ice would slow, but never cease. Eventually she looked Chartrose in the eye, letting loose one last pained, sluggish screech before slipping into unconsciousness. Rilana and the Homunculus medic would be able to tell that she was still alive, but growing weaker and weaker.

Alya, on the other hand, would hear the ice giving off a song, it was dark, and cold, but still beautiful. The song coming off the magical ice seemed to drift through the upward stair well to the upper floors. She was starting to realize that her own magic seemed to make it possible to hear any other magic currently active. Svarak gave the creature a pitying look, before heading for the downward set of stairs. The unranked knights were more interested in staying at ground level, while Drisceya would offer to join anyone who took the upward stairs.

The next several floors upward would show many more realistic sculptures of that strange ice-stone and Frigmount adornments. Eventually there wouldn't be an obvious signs of an upward stairwell and only a door that was locked. The room was colder, for the windows were open, long icicles hanging from them. There were no statues in this room, no adornments, just snow, ice, and the door. The door was a thick, heavy metal, and clearly wouldn't be broken down. Drisceya pulled out her lock picks and went to work on the oddly wide and circular keyhole. But this was quickly realized to be futile, "There's no pins in the lock to pick." Eventually it would be seen on the wall next to the door, in the Fey language, a message that when translated said, "Flowers may die, but keys will always grow."

The downward stairs led to no floors, but rather just wound deeper and deeper into the ground before stopping at the bottom of an open cavern. Svarak could be seen peering into a dark, deep hole, several stone throws across. At the bottom of it was a brilliantly blue dragon, seemingly asleep. Any attempt to contact or wake the dragon would only trigger one thing. Several slices of the cavern walls would slide back and dozens of creatures poured out. They began moving aggressively toward Svarak and any others that had come down, already blocking the stairwell back up. Many had blades of ice as arms, other had hammers. They stood at half the height of Svarak, but seemed to be working in unison as they unleashed a volley of ice shards at them. Svarak leapt nimbly out of the way, drawing his Null Shard Greatsword, and slicing several in half in a single motion. But still, more came.

They Have Returned (Ebonfort)

Enjoy the slight timeskip. Feel free to post as much as you'd like leading up to the tavern. Once everyone has interacted with the tavern (or has died by choice, Halbera) I'll post again.

They Have Returned (Ebonfort)

Jadeyan 28th, The Kerawac Gathering

There was much muttering and rumors as the entirety of the Kvaren watched the Crimson Vines arrive, in very late fashion. Tribes never arrived later than the meeting of the Warlords. It was the quickest way to lose face and become a target from multiple tribes. Yet not a single warlord stepped up to challenge the short redhead covered in Blood Vine Marks. She smirked as they walked along, their caravan being finished off with several slaves being strung along by chains at the back of a wagon. Among them, Halbera and Raffey. As Keelie walked past Ozlo of the Thunderfangs, she left him an idle comment, that he ignored, "I hear you got more slaves than me this time, well done. I really thought I was going to take it this time." She strutted past, the mountain of a man that served as her only Swordmaster staying close by. It was well known that he was brutal in combat, surprisingly fast and sneaky for one his size. It was much less known that he was a Temper user, just as his Warlord was a druid.

Several of her Shadewalkers that had arrived before her approached her, quickly updating her with pertinent information. She nodded and the slaves were led to an open area, before she let loose her massive bloodvines. It peeled itself from her skin, growing to a mass several stories tall, wriggling menacingly but not attacking anyone. It was a show of strength on her part, that she could dominate and grow such a dangerous creature. In the swamps to the west, they grew only as big as a bush typically, and were well known to the people. But this, this was a true monstrosity. A large tendril reached out and she stepped upon it, and it lifted her up so all eyes could see her. She then shouted, loud enough so only those that were fairly close could hear, "You all disgust me. My Shadewalkers tell me that people out west killed some of the Kvaren that weren't pure, proper races. And instead of teaching these people a lesson, you sit here and talk? Celebrate? Cowards. The whole lot of you. Two of these slaves I've captured were already on their way to deal with this problem, and they are fucking squatters."

The Bloodvines bristled in their mistress' anger, swiping close at people, but never grabbing them. "I'll be heading west with my people to deal with this. Any who wish to join me are welcome, slave or Kvaren. We leave at sunset." The vine lowered her down to the chained slaves she hauled in, and she spoke to them alone, "You may join me, I cannot promise you will live, but you will be free if you survive. It is your choice." No one moved at first, before there was a loud, "Fu' ih. Ah'm in." Raffey stepped forward as far as his chains would allow, and a crimson tendril lashed out. Raffey didn't flinch, staring down Keelie as the vine snapped the chain easily. Raffey moved forward, relieved to have been freed. A handful of others stepped forward, and were subsequently freed, but the majority stayed behind. Keelie nodded at her Shadewalkers, leading the freed slaves to the area that was already being set up for Keelie's people.
Keelie sat down on a thick vine, "You may eat, love." There was a shrill sound of glee from the vines, before they began slamming down on the slaves that chose to stay behind, crushing them, pulling them toward a maw at the center of the mass. Blood flowed everywhere, there were screams of fear and pain, the stench of copper in the air, as Keelie just sat there calm as could be.

Once the vines had devoured all of the slaves, Keelie pulled them back into her skin, and simple walked away from the carnage, her silent Swordmaster accompanying her. Once she was back amongst her own people, she saw a new face, a half-dragon woman. She smiled briefly at the woman, "I understand a few of my tribe have grown rather fond of you, Drachiathoryx Firespinner. You may stay with us as long as you'd like, but we have business out west to attend to. My people tell me you were heading that way as well. Your friends are a part of my scouts, and will be leaving before the rest of the tribe." As Keelie moved past her, she stopped, looking over her shoulder for a moment, "Your coloring is quite lovely, I always fancied red."

The slaves were to accompany the scouting party, that consisted of Kraven, Laurel, Sirik, Hezel, and Shora. All accompanying them were given swift horses and were to leave immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having collectively given up on rescuing their mates, Megumi and the Aaenshi who'd finally revealed his name as Fleabit, were already heading west, Megumi atop Dibney. The beetle didn't fight the simple commands given to her, still mourning the loss of her master. At midday on the 28th, they finally found their first sign of any civilization. It was a lone tavern, at the beginning of a road. There were several humans and varying elves in grey colored gi or robes at the beginning of the road. From their hiding spot in the tree line, they could see all of them were armed, and all bore a white petaled flower tattoo on their arms. They saw no bestial races amongst them.

Fleabit suggested they watch and wait, to gather as much information as they could. After overhearing many snippets of conversation, they'd learn several key things. The first is that those in grey were known as Justicars, and only they bore the flower tattoo. They would gather that these people enjoyed killing bestial or primitive races, and even halfbreeds, believing in purity. Finally, these people seemed to worship something they learned was called Coria. Finally on the morning of the 31st, the aaenshi spoke up, "I don't think we'll be able to learn more unless you get in there. You can pass as a human if you try."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scouting party arrived at the same tavern on the morning of the 31st as well. After some quick deliberation, the more normal races would be allowed to go in and learn more of these people. The Crocodilian woman, Shora, pulled Drache aside. "I can get us in there..," and to prove her point, she glowed with her magic, and where a large crocodile had been, stood a tall, human woman. "Illusionweaving has its uses... I can even keep your hair if you'd like." Laurel had decided to stay behind to watch their mounts.

Upon entering the tavern, it would seem as normal as any other, although not near as busy. There was a stout human working behind the bar. Every time he had to serve a justicar, he looked terribly nervous, but always more relieved when anyone else approached him. In the back corner were a couple of white elf women chatting fervently, a chillborn man sitting alone staring at his mug. There was a set of stairs heading up, opposite the entryway.