private The Fall of Andalasia ~Book 1~

[Torrent505 370]

 

Clarke rose from Tulla satisfied that she seemed to be stabilizing, maybe the assassin had counted on his shot and the magic neutralizer to kill the princess; the poison didn't seem too swift on it's own in a low dose.

 

He huffed at Dresden's response, "if you can't work your magic find something you can do, tear up cloth for bandages, throw rocks at that one damn raven left, help the former cripple drag the dragon out of the water, her and Indicus are seemed to be poisoned who knows how long they have before collapsing! No one is useless, unless they refuse to try something!" He was beginning to worry that about the odds of this group making it through the Ashcreek forest let alone Coppershine and to the capital.

 

If they were going to make it he was certain of at least one thing, they would need the princess's power and she would need to be strong. He sighed as he looked at her it didn't seem likely to happen without support, how he despised nobles. He made his way back to his cart at a jog, he'd give the princess a little jump start, a bit of warmth and caffeine would certainly help... He stopped before pulling the lever to make black coffee, the 'princess' would likely gag on something so bitter. He hated himself as he started another similar drink, powdered chocolate with a touch of java; his own personal stash of a comfort drink for when deals or projects went badly and worth as much as ground gold.

 

Tinkerer's thermos, a warmed blanket and case of emergency medical materials in hand, he returned to the princess. "Miss Whisp I must insist you drink some of this," he pushed the cup into her hands draping the heated blanket over her shoulders. He looked that the bard and threw him back his shirt "now is not the time for formalities, if she can't dress then dress her yourself."

 

Returning his gaze to the girl, "the hair looks good Miss Whisp but you need to be stronger, you're acting like a scared little princess, not the world hardened gypsy you are." He left the two of them at that to tend to the others.

 

He stopped in front of Indicus, "you better not be thinking of giving that to the beastie. If that's enough for one dragon, it's enough for two humans. Split it with Helena, damn dragon would just drowned in it anyways. If the princess isn't strong enough to save her pet she doesn't deserve it and believe me she won't save you before it."

[Shadow Dancer 111]

@@Torrent505, "(It was Tulla that was poisoned, it was how I got poisoned saving her knowing that I could last longer with it.) I shrugged "Yes your correct, might as well. The dead can't protect her very well." With that I consumed one helping of the potion, and put it away, going to Helena to give her some remembering she was skimmed by a dart.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Shadow Dancer

[Sanctified Absence 126]

"I am what I am, nothing more and nothing less..." with his target and therefore desire for vengeance mostly gone, Zaddion could begin to calm himself to a point where he was at least able to communicate in a relatively calm manner. It appeared to him as though Adrass knew very little of Magick for one who hated it so, the thought that he was wrong himself might be wrong didn't cross him mind however. "For what it's worth, I had been hoping to avoid what I am."

 

Perhaps he was being too vague, he imagined that Adrass wouldn't get much in the way of an answer from his obscure words, something more concrete would likely suffice. "It is said that all Mages are shaped by their Magick just as they shape their own spells, the more the Mage is attuned to their element the more it shapes them," the Mage calmed himself as he thought of what to say next, "I was born aligned to the Shadow, supposedly heavily so. I have been trying to replace it with Light, but doing so defies my very Magickal nature, it would almost be like you resorting to Magick itself."  

[Sekel 692]

@@Shadow Dancer

Helena turned to Indicus and once she saw he was holding some sort of potion out to her, she pushed it away and gestured to Tulla. "She needs it more than I do. he's alive, at any rate." Helena muttered and turned back to the dragon. She figure she should get him out of the water before doing anything. "But if you're going to help, then help get the dragon out of the water. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to save it without causing too much damage." Helena told him and went to his front. She gripped one of his legs and attempted to pull the dragon out of the water.

[Shadow Dancer 111]

@@Dji, I looked at Helena, "Shes fine I took the poison inside myself earlier via a spell, and just drank the cure so take it, I can take care of getting the dragon out of the water." I promptly gave Helena the potion, and took over pulling the dragon out of the water, now a bit more successfully. 

[Sekel 692]

@@Shadow Dancer

"Like I keep saying. I'm fine! I don't need a cure." Soon as she said that, she felt a burning sensation in her cheek. "Nevermind. Let's just get him out of the water." Helena muttered and held on to the cure as she watched Indicus pull the dragon out of the water. Absently, she held the cheek that she felt was burning in her hand as she watched.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

Robert did his best to comfort the princess and slowly raised her arms, pulling the shirt over her. "Don't listen to the tinkerer, princess. You're doing the best you can, and I'm sure you'll get better, besides. You're a good person, and you have a strong will. You just aren't used to all this, and that's not your fault." He wrapped his arms around her and tried not to think about the fact that he was embracing a beautiful, and mostly naked, woman. This was not a good time to be aroused. 

[Torrent505 370]

Clarke shook his head muttering to himself, Adrass and the light mage hadn't come back yet, he hope they weren't out murdering each other, Indicus and Helena were caring for the lost cause of a dragon, the groups healer was catatonic and being babied by a bard who might as well be playing dress up, Dresden and Tulla were a mess with the later still unconscious. It seemed to him like the bloody chimera was the only one in the party that he could trust to be worth a damn. He actually went as far as to pat the creature on the back and say encouragingly, "keep an eye on it Tugg and you sense anyone or anything wrong you start roaring."

 

He sat down next to Tulla opening up his carts emergency medical kit, it had some good stuff in it considering it was prepared incase he had an accident with Tinkering equipment. "Everyone is welcome to any aide they need, don't say I'm not kind to my allies." He then set to work on the small wound in Tulla's chest, he didn't shy away from working on the nude woman his was to busy trying to remember what little knowledge of first aide he had, the treated it like working on any machine: Clean the workspace, sanitary wipe and absorbent gauze; prep work, sanitizing the wound with alcohol and hydrogen peroxide good thing she was unconscious; work, in this case packing wound with gauze maybe stitches later; seal the site, he covered the packing gauze with a sticky adhesive patch. He gave a sigh organic material was so mess and uncertain, he hope he had done a proper job.

 

He turned to look at Dresden next, "well water Mage need help with your arms? I'll do the best I can."

Edited August 7, 2014 by Torrent505

[Flying Ace 142]

@,

Dresden tried to wave his arm dismissively but cringed in pain, "don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Dresden said through clenched teeth. "Make sure everyone else is okay, I'll live till i'm  treated last." Dresden said looking off to Where Adrass and Ziddion dissapeard to.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass

 

@@Sanctified Absence,

 

Adrass snorted in contempt. Fine stories, but they didn't help to ease his mind. The knife remained raised and pointed at the Mage, while his other hand slowly lifted to grasp the hilt of his bastard sword.

 

"All magic is foul and corrupt: regardless of its element. He who plays with the Destroyers toys will come by leagues to wield his sword, Witch. If you cannot control your desire to act like a rabid dog, then I shall put you down like one."

 

Taking a step forward, he shook his head.

 

"Consorting with Assassins and Witches... I should have known better in the first place. I shouldn't have trusted anyone: should have stamped out this foul witchcraft at the first sign of it. If you don't have the willpower to control yourself, how can I trust you to have enough to not harm the princess?"

[Sanctified Absence 126]

"You misunderstand, I do not devolve into some raging beast without control," in truth Zaddion wasn't too sure that this would always be true. Shadow Magick after all was one of the most malicious of the natural elements despite not actually being evil itself, too many times had he heard of Shadow Mages being hunted down on the false perception that they were using Dark Magick. "True, I may become a little more... Cold, but not enough to harm my allies with reckless abandon."

 

It was now or never, if he couldn't earn even the slightest shred of trust from Adrass now then this argument would only carry on until one of them was dead, whether in the next few minutes or next few years. "If you want to look at the greatest darkness here, then you can look at the Princess herself. There's something... Dark hidden under that radiance of hers and I intend to find out just what it is."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

"I don't trust any of you accursed demonologists, but I have my duties. Do you think we hunt for sport? To achieve the biggest prize?"

 

Adrass paused - hand still fully clenched around the hilt of his sword with a hateful scowl.

 

"We exist to keep the peace: where nobody else has the stones to do so! Do you really think that I could slay such a political figure - plunge the realm into chaos and civil war - and still claim as much? On your whim no less deceiver!" The spiteful whisper had at some stage grown louder, to the point where he was practically spitting the words at the Mage. "There isn't 'good' and 'evil' in this world - only those that cannot protect themselves from the likes of you and your bloodlust - all of you! The princess, the thief and the damned jester: magic can only destroy, and it is my duty to end it before it does so to others. I've seen what it does to beautiful souls - nothing you can say will sway me."

 

For all his bluster and bravado, for however sure of himself and his cause that he was, the hunter felt winded by the verbal blow. It was as he had felt years earlier - that his life was little more that a futile lie. Of course, he had overcome that with evidence that his cause was true, but that evidence itself was painful to remember. Could this deceiver be telling the truth? Could the 'innocent' princess be the most dangerous of them all, a wolf in lambs skin? Was his defence of her leading the realm to ruin, through defiance of his very purpose in life?

 

He had struggled off swords and arrows - needed no armour more than his faith to survive the impossible... but his faith was where he was wounded. These were questions that he couldn't answer. What was he supposed to do, protect a foul sorceress and allow her to lead the world into darkness, or slay her and plunge it into chaos?

 

The pressure inside his head built up once more as it had in days past - guilt, confusion and remorse bottled up and locked away deep inside. He denied it, but it wasn't enough. Seconds passed as he found the his hand had moved from the sword, now covering his face instead. The Mage was still in front if him - he had to make a decision.

 

"I don't like you, Witch." He seethed dizzily through the sudden head rush. "Your kind are liars, deceivers and fiends. I'm not a murderer though, not just some hateful knife for hire... but I'm watching you."

[Shadow Dancer 111]

@@Dji, I noticed that Helena dispite having it still did not take it. "Your no use to the princess dead, just drink the antidote before the poision kills you okay." I caught myself in suprise, and asked myself why I cared about who lived and died on this trip besides the princess, first saving Tulla then this, it was unusual.

[Sekel 692]

@@Shadow Dancer

"Hmph." Helena huffed and looked at the antidote before drinking. She downed the rest of the potion and gagged slightly at the taste. It tasted bitter. "There. I drank it. Happy?" Helena sounded annoyed. She didn't need it but at least the burning sensation in her cheek stopped. She took her hand away from it and put the bottle on the ground. Wordlessly, she helped Indicus pull the dragon the rest of the way out of the water.

[Shadow Dancer 111]

I did not bother to speak only analyze how much the poison has progressed, I detected a faint aura around him It seemed to be holding well enough, and would last an hour before stage two of the poison set in then he would be dead in a day or two if he were lucky. The princess would have to heal him herself I did not know how effective the potion would be with a dragon and Could not garuntee I could find the ingredients required in the forest with how many I used.

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

The raven cawed meekly; hopping back and forth on his branch watching Zaddion. The bird was trained as a familiar for shadow mages and had belonged to one before Crowley, until the assassin stole him and re-trained the bird to his own abilities. Now the master-less bird watched in confusion then glided down to rest on Zaddion's shoulder; cawing and cocking his head at Adrass.

 

Whisper stood slowly, putting the mug down, she placed her hand on Robert's shoulder lightly in thanks. Wordlessly, she walked over to Tulla and healed the wound in her chest, passed by Dresden and ran her hands along his arms. She paused as she came to Zaddion; choosing to ignore Adrass and placed her hand on his shoulder; not to heal but to say she was on his side. Leaving, she brushed a finger against Helenas cheek, healing the cut.

 

Finally, Whisper heaved Finn into her arms and walked off towards a far edge of the lake, sitting down and carefully healing him.

[Sekel 692]

After feeling Whisper brush a finger against her cheek, healing the cut and watching her lift the dragon up and take him over to the other side of the lake, Helena sat went and sat down near her pile of clothes. She brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, not caring one bit that she still didn't have any clothes on. She gazed out at the waters of the lake sadly and thought about how useless she felt. The only thing she did during that battle was hide in plain sight.

 

'I feel so useless. I also feel like a coward, hiding while everyone else fought the illusions. The only good thing I did was fend the crows away from Tulla but even then, it felt futile.' Helena thought grimly to herself and turned her gaze away from the lake to her clothes. Resting on them was her crossbow, bolts and dagger. She picked the dagger up and inspected it while resting her chin atop her legs.

 

She thought that the runes on it were only just for decoration. It was pretty, sure, but she only used it to sharpen her bolts and slicing away at things. She never really used it for combat. The only time Helena's used the dagger for combat was just then, during that fight with the flock illusionary crows. She suddenly stabbed the dagger in the ground and looked back at the lake with a grim look.

[Shadow Dancer 111]

@@Dji, I was right near Helena when I just sat down and started to wipe the blood off my swords blade with a rag I kept, I could not let it rust after all. I was left with only my thoughts and my blade to entertain me, I wandered why the princess really cared weather or not I was more of a Assassin disjointed from them then apart of the party, it made no sense why would some want or trust someone that killed almost indiscriminately for their job?

 

I understood the distrust that Adress had for me, I was an assassin that alone is enough and the fact he is a Hunter justifies his distrust even more, hell if it were not for the job we both have we would have been trying to kill each other by now, wouldn't that be fun. A Hunter against an Assassin. 

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

Tulla groaned, getting up and rubbing her sore spot. Well something had certainly happened it seemed, everyone was depressed or something. And here she was naked and unconscious. At this point she didn't care and washed the blood, poison and muck from her body then dressed.

 

"Hey hey. Lets get a small camp started. Get some food...try to relax and then we keep moving on. Nice bird, Zaddion."

 

The crow cawed in response. She went over to Whisper and sat by her, gently taking Finn from her. Tulla began using what she knew about her teade to patch him up, take out the poison and help her friend heal him.

 

"It isn't a perfect world out here, princess."

" I'm not strong like you Tulla, I wish I was. You'd be a better princess. At least youd know what to do." Whisper sighed.

 

"I'm no good at the prissy stuff. My place is with the beasts."

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Sanctified Absence, @@RunsWithSquirlz, @@Alex Kennedy, @@Dji, @, @@Shadow Dancer, @@Torrent505,

"I'll bring our pile of fish over, Tinker can you make a fire? And can someone also keep an eye on Adrass and Zaddion I don't want another fight and it looks like one is about to break out between the two." Dresden said making sure his arms still functioned; it felt weird to be in pain then to have it gone in an instant.

[Sekel 692]

@@Flying Ace

Helena finally thought to put her clothes back on. Once having done so, she yanked her dagger out of the ground and walked to Dresden. She placed the dagger back in its place and spoke to him. "I'll try and keep an eye on Zaddion and Adrass. Not like I'll be of much help doing anything else." Helena said grimly and with a scowl on her face, she walked to Adrass and Zaddion, vanishing as she did. If she kept this vanishing up, then she'll have a migraine come morning. Helena hid behind a tree trunk and watched the both of them, twirling her dagger idly as she did.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

Robert eventually took up his lute and began practicing again. What he had managed to do there... it was good. A step in the right direction. But it wasn't enough. People still got hurt, and he hadn't really been able to do anything about it. He had to keep getting better if he was ever going to be any help to their group.

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Alex Kennedy,

Dresden gave a nod when Helena said she will keep an eye in the two. He walked over to Robert and patted his back, "hey Rob I'm going to need help carrying the fish because I'm going to see if I can bring more fish in with my magic." Dresden said motioning over to the small pile.

[Sanctified Absence 126]

(OOC: Nope nope nope, this place is NOT dying on my watch.)

 

Zaddion hadn't even notice the bird has gotten so close, he knew it was nearby but never realized that it had taken rest on his shoulder. The Mage was far too focused and a little paranoid on what Adrass would do next, while it had calmed down a little he knew that the conversation was little more than a tinderbox waiting for the spark to ignite it. Only when Tulla made mention of the thing did he notice that it had taken perch upon him, why would such a thing act like this? Is it somehow attracted to a certain Magickal nature or something else? There wasn't time to let curiosity control his thoughts for now, he would have to address it later. "I wouldn't expect anything less of you."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

Spitting on the ground in disgust, Adrass turned abruptly - striding away from the mage as he returned to ensure none of the death-seeking party had managed to get themselves killed in his absence.

 

At least, that was what he told himself that he was doing.

 

Naturally, the shadow Mage had taken a liking the the assassins corrupt familiar - that would be an easy fix once his pistols were loaded though. In the meantime, he would need to refrain from sleeping. There were precious few of these that he trusted: the Bard and the Engineer... possibly the Beastmaster too - she seemed a practical, grounded sort, though he knew too little of her to truly judge. Best to suspect them all and survive than grow complacent and wake with a knife in his back.

 

Rather than socialise or make some false display of concern for these brigands which had been healed via the black arts, he retreated to sit beside the sturdy trunk of a tree - content to simply allow the sun to dry his once-again soaking clothing. In the meantime, he kept his eyes roaming over the others with a suspicious scowl on his face as he considered his situation.

 

The princess seemed to have decided to sulk, as seemed to be becoming the norm for her. That was fine in the Hunters opinion, it made life easier for him. He was here to ensure she survived - not to make friends. All that mattered was that both she and himself survived to reach their destination: a simple quest once the outside sources were ruled out. Ideally, he could simply bind and gag her in the night and carry her the rest of the way - it certainly seemed a more appealing option to being attacked, outcast and complained at for the next couple of... well, at the rate that they were going, this could take months!