Sutoratosu Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 The spider looks at the woman hesitantly, but soon enough nods her head in agreement. She knew from her years with the Squid, and her encounters here with the Star Dragon and the White One that Telepathy was one of the few avenues that actually worked... well, truth be told, she'd done more listening with the squid than actually sending her own messages; it was thanks to the Dragon she'd finally figured out a way to get around the mental block. Aurora took a weary step toward the mage, making what seemed to be an obvious effort to avoid the sunlight, but in truth was more because the shade cut the searing heat of this realm, perhaps not by terribly much, but still enough to make it better than being out in the open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Henderics Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Mar nods and decides to pay a visit to this Wycoon after all. Along the way, he tries to manifest a Crude Mitten Gauntlet of Magic around his hand, made of interlocking force plates, Iron mana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 The Wycoon leans forward, greeting Mar with a friendly voice. "Well, hello there, Hunter. What brings you to my stall today? Looking to trade monster parts, or buy materials in bulk?" Andre might note that, in the guild hall, there's a table that hunters not currently occupied with a quest enjoy arm wrestling on. And for "table," the meaning is more "iron-reinforced log wider than a man." Marisa stepped further into the shadows with the spider - she had an aversion to light, despite not being visibly drow-kin? Interesting. Or did she just not want to be seen? - and reached one arm out. She started to intone a chant, and her other hand began to make motions as if she were weaving something, or perhaps trying a knot. After about ten seconds of this, she lightly placed her fingers on Aurora's arm. "Sorry this took so long, this kind of spell isn't exactly my specialty. Can you hear me properly?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Andre shrugs and walks up to the table to check out the current competition. He'd probably get in on it unless there was someone twice his size and abusing steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 The spider stared at her blankly for a moment, silver eyes still shinning. It had been hard to see at a distance, but so close, the Mage could've easily seen their lack of focus, the thousand yard gaze that that not see her, but instead seemed to see through her, through the crowds, through the very sands of the world, yet devoid of any true spark, just... blank. Before long however, the spider had an answer, retreating back into the shadows now that the ritual was said and done. Just as with eon, her words were not her own, but instead a patch work of the countless echoes of time she'd heard before, each voice seemingly picked apart from whatever context it had once been part of. "Who are you? Who brought us here...? To this... place of fire and wind... this place where the light burns hot, and cats walk like men...?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 "Oh, that's new. . . Sorry, just getting used to the spell." Telepathy was such a pain; you quite literally couldn't keep your thoughts to yourself sometimes. . . Still, there was something far more intriguing before her: this drider, with her muteness. And the way she "spoke" over the telepathic link; there was something animalistic about, like a parrot stringing together the sounds it heard, but it was done with far too much deliberateness, and, well, her grammar was fine. If it was a basal conveyance of ideas it would have been disconnected, it would have been sensory impressions, images, sounds, not a coherent sentence. . . "Alright. I'm Marisa; you'd call me a mage or an arcanist. Or a warlock, but that's technically incorrect. I brought us here using that bizarre castle; there was a hunt that needed to be done here and those two lumps of protein seemed to be the type to get it taken care of." Andre notes a fair number of hunters dressed in a colorful array of hunting clothing and armor. Some of the outfits seemed to be made entirely from one monster, and some seemed to be elegant combinations of a few. Others. . . well, they came from multiple monsters, but one might have surmised that the combinations of colors were intended to assist hunts by causing nausea in a monster viewing the wearer. Currently, a hunter wearing a brilliant blue-and-yellow suit of scaly plate armor with a pair of matching blades on his hips was contending hotly with another one wearing a dark green set festooned with teeth; this one had a shield strapped to their right arm and a medium-length sword on the same hip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Ah yes, the fashion sense of adventurers truely doesn't change no matter where you are. Andre takes a seat at the table to watch the spectacle of the current wrestlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 "Mage..." unlike the previous statement though, this one came across with a mix of emotions, more of them negative than good. "Mage... you remind me...of them, sure enough. Mages... always...caused problems, headaches, made things... harder. Always... made sure to take them first... by surprise, before... they conjured fire and ice." with that said though, the spider's attention seemed to trail off, before she looked back towards the castle in the distance. "More, though... there were... many more in the... fortress... where... did they go? I cannot... smell them here, like you, and the other two..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 19, 2017 Author Share Posted March 19, 2017 "I hope you're not, um, taking me." Fire and ice, good to keep in mind if she turned hostile. Not that she was a great elementalist, but a balor would probably do the trick here. . . But that was later, and hopefully never; she found this drider intriguring and sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to a fight. "I'm pretty sure the others on your vessel stopped on other worlds. Off to go on adventures and such, get some treasure, bop some baddies, that kind of thing." After a few intense moments, the one with the dual blades gets the upper hand - literally. A wobble, and then a slam later, and the one with the shield is picking himself up from the floor and laughing; his opponent takes a moment to flex and pose, and then helps him up. They thank one another for the good contest, and then the one with the dual blades calls out a challenge. Before Andre could act, another Hunter in a regal-looking set of armor, complete with a scarlet cape -though oddly topped with a headband - steps up to the table. His weapon is a veritable slab of bone and metal, easily as tall as he is. The two set their arms on the table, and the loser of the last match counts down from three. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Henderics Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) "Yes, I am looking for a large Piece of Deep Blue Spinel Gemstone, and I have both Zenni and Tigrex Parts to pay for it. It needs to be about so." Mar balls up his fist, showing the general size needed. "And does not need to be cut." Edited March 19, 2017 by Hal Henderics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Andre continues waiting like a polite person. In his head he's thinking of finding a gauntlet and adding a chainsaw to it. All the other guys have some form of chainsaw weapon, he might as well get one as well. Well, he used to have one, but then he had to give it back. And the materials with it too. Stealing isn't a behavior of a hero and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Aurora stared at the woman blankly "Mage... if you'd given me a reason, I... wouldn't be this... civil. The human mages before you... always did. Got in our way... or hunted... us down... made things... harder for us, spited us at every possible turn. They always...made themselves targets first... I'm just the one who hit them, when they... least expected it. And besides... the White One, she forbade it... said... I couldn't... hunt... the other fleshbags... the other.... Out...worlders. Have to subsist only... on lesser prey around them, what can be... scavenged or taken. Said nothing... about locals though... but taking locals... means more effort, more energy... have to fight them first, poison them, kill them... can get dangerous. Not the one's I'm used to, don't know what type of fire or ice... they might have. Or worse. No, no... easier to just... stick to nabbing their food... when they aren't looking. Less effort, less risk... guaranteed reward...saves energy... for when it's needed..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 20, 2017 Author Share Posted March 20, 2017 The Wycoon thinks for a moment. "A specialty item like that. . . I don't know of anyone who would keep such a quantity of gemstone on hand like that uncut, but I can likely put in a request for it - given the proper amount of coin, of course. Hmm. . ." The Wycoon thinks for a moment. "Given that it wouldn't require any working, I believe I can get it to you for a fee of 1200 zenny. It would take a few days, however, but I can hold it indefinitely." Andre doesn't have to wait long; the Hunter with the massive blade has the dual wielder on the floor in moments, already doing his victory flex. Much like his predecessor, he completes the ritual of helping the other hunter up and turning that into a handshake. He looks about, and his eyes settle on Andre. "You there, I haven't seen you around Val Habar before. Care to join me for a moment?" He sets his elbow on the table, hand up expectantly. The drider seemed very. . . casual about devouring humans. There was something missing from the conversation, something odd about how she "spoke" to her over the bond beyond the hodgepodge of voices she used to communicate. "I was wondering. . . Well, first, you never told me your name. Second, the way you speak to me telepathically is, to be blunt, extremely strange. May I ask why you communicate the way you do?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 Andre stands with a smile. "Sure thing mate. I'm Andre, just got here today actually." Andre goes and takes up position across from the other man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 "My name...Aurora... my name is lost... to me. Other's knew it, others told me it... but it did not... feel as though... it was mine... anymore. Felt... like Aurora... was someone... better... stronger. Someone... who's voice was not silenced, like... a belligerent dog, sealed by the black flame... within the mind, and without. Burns... Strangles...like... a collar. Like food... it is... safer to scavenge those of others... keeps the...flame at... bay. Keeps it... oblivious... to our talking...can't hurt me... if it does not know...can't sense me, if... the tongues I speak with... are not mine. Squidman tried... many times... to break it... always failed, said it was... too great for mere mortals... to undo. Wolf Girl tried too... in a way...dragged me everywhere... searching for help, but never... quite finding it as... she hoped. Human soldiers and mages though... trying to kill us...at every turn... did not make her search... any easier." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Marisa questioned her own wisdom at times; this was one of them. This drider had actually admitted to hunting and killing humans and demihumans; by blood and by action, Aurora should be her mortal enemy. But. . . "A binding curse? I wouldn't say curses are my specialty by a long shot, but bindings are something I'm familiar with. Granted, they're not usually on driders - or anything mortal for that matter, but that's a different story - but I might be able to help with yours. I don't know how good this Squidman you speak of was, but it's worth an attempt." The greatsword wielder took Andre's hand in a firm grip; his hands were callused from years of swinging his weapon of choice about. The dual blader counted down in a clear voice: "Three. Two. One. Go!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Having watched the last wrestle, Andre gathered that the broadsword user was most likely used to just powering through his opponent with out any regard for after the initial rush. Andre braces himself for the sudden burst of resistance most likely coming to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 "Squidman... he surpassed the likes of... even the best human scholars... just as... any Illithid would. Yet even then... he could only ever manage... to dull the fires for a while... made their heat... bearable enough... to ignore. Pushed it back for a time, but... it always... came back in the end." The hodgepodge of voices halted however, as a sense of curiosity overcame the spider at what the woman had said earlier, stealing her attention away from the current line of thought. Seeming to have grown comfortable enough in the shade, the hood pulled back to finally reveal her face as she cocked her head, studying the woman. With it's high cheeks, nigh-elven points to her ears, and Ivory Skin and hair like polished platinum with just the slightest trace of gold to it, all set around those twin pricks of silver burning away in the darkness, her's looked about as close to the opposite of a dark elf as a face could really get. "What is a... 'Drider'? A type of animal? Can... it be eaten?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 The greatsword wielder does, indeed, open up with a great deal of pressure; Andre would likely have been toppled had he not prepared. The pressure backs off after a moment, though he's still generating quite a large amount of force. "Oh. A drider is a being much like yourself, though of dark elven or drow kin. Driders are created using rituals dedicated to Lolth or other similar gods; I assume from your confusion that you aren't one. I suppose you could eat one, but I'd imagine it would prove to be difficult prey for you. Anyway, this ritual. . . Let me take a look, here." It was a good thing she had plenty of practice concentrating on spells; maintaining the bond and doing the next step was probably impossible for many mages, and Marisa herself probably couldn't manage it in a more stressful situation. She reached out, mentally, feeling at Aurora with her preternatural senses, trying to feel out the curse, its borders, what it covered and what it left alone. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Alright then, time for the counter attack. Andre suddenly starts his push against the other man. Gotta take advantage and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Henderics Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) "I'll pay you 1500 for good buisness, and I would also like to requisition several other small gemstones, any size that can be seen with the naked eye, since it is not needed for any jewlery, it can be any size or cut that one would be capable of not misplacing. What are some of the more popular gems that might be had in these parts at a speedier rate?" Mar hands over 1500 Zenni, as he asks his question. Whatever answer he receives, he seeks out Marissa next, hoping for Counsel in a magic project he has in mind. On the way, a Goldenstone Tablet reinforced with a Synthetic Titanite Frame is filled with Mar's current Magical Formulae, to be given to the Magic user when he converses with her. Edited March 21, 2017 by Hal Henderics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 The air grew even hotter and oppressive than it was already wont to do in any desert climate, the moment the witch began her probing. There was a sense of malice, a unbridled, nigh overwhelming wave of aggression as the energy attempted to lash out and destroy the interloper but found itself neutered and fangless, instead retreating even further into the Spider. There it was, in her throat, a mass of blackened flame and primordial energy, like a cancer that could not be cut out. But there was yet more energy there as well, energy that was clearly not part of the curse's construction... energy like that of water, flowing, cool, tranquil... bound about the cursed mass of flame like chains of pure liquid, chaining it in place much like a rabid dog left to rave and foam at victims just out of reach. Every chain, it seemed, carried it's own unique energy signature, it's packet of thought accompanying the raw the intent of whatever sealing spell it was... Footnotes, Marisa likely would've realized. Most likely from the "Squidman" the Spider spoke of, he'd been the last one to ever truly poke into the magic as she had... and he'd doubtlessly been met with the same violent trap that had been laid for anyone seeking to tamper with it. Except when he had, it'd been fully active, and even further, the raw power of the attempted assault his spell had halted was far beyond anything Marisa would've likely felt before... unless the witch had a habit of pissing off Elder Gods and having them blast her with their full force. Easily capable of killing an unaware magus, and probably even one who suspected there might be a trap, just not one of this magnitude. Yet still... it seemed somehow... Squidman had mustered the power to restrain the attack measure. Examining the chains and their notes carefully though, Marisa might've been able to peice together a little of how he'd done it; force had not been met with raw force here. He had instead tampered with the very programming of that portion of the energy itself, tricked it into falling back upon itself, upon the mass of flame where it would simply regather harmlessly, before it ever actually manifested outward to strike a would be Samaritan trying to aid the spider. But the power of the curse was still nothing to be trifled with, even with as clever yet seemingly... simple as his solution to the out lash problem had been, the Illithid couldn't stress this enough. He had gone to trouble of including that warning in each and every Interruption chain he'd used to redirect it, obviously encase someone else ever took a crack at it and decided to undo his safeguard... and he had also added that anyone foolish enough to undo his safeguard, without properly setting up and testing one of their own first, deserved the fiery, ungodly death they would most likely suffer when the curse inevitably attempted to lash out again. Which, almost as if to prove his point, it did. Another wave of aggression and malice similar to what she had felt pressing on her mind before came, and was again redirected by it's tampered programming, looping backwards and instead targeting the mass of flames itself, where it was soon reabsorbed like a glass being poured into a lake. The notes went even further though. His findings.... from what he'd uncovered, the Curse was at once a binding ritual, and a form of tracking, both spells noted to be extremely likely from Divine Origin, so much so that the Illithid had been certain. The Binding Ritual was centered around the throat, the larynx and vocal cords, as well as the parts of the mind governing speech. When the cords would try to move, or that portion of brain flare up, the Flames immediately would assault it, burn it with thier fury, but yet for all the malice behind it, it seemed this Curse wasn't meant to actually kill, only deter. The damage it would've logically caused each time it did this, was non-existant. On paper, her vocal cords and speech centers were fully functional, it was just that whenever she tried to use them, the Flame would administer a dosage of pain so great that it would immediately prompt even the most resilient of beings to stop, out of a sheer desire for mercy from the suffering. Rather than dish out a set amount though, it seemed the fires analyzed the pain thresholds of their individual victim, and would simply push it's own output a bit above that threshold, keeping it at that steady, unbearable level until the transgressive action was ceased. The squidman closes his footnotes with little more than a final assessment of the spell- Parts of it could be disabled, as he'd proven, with varying degrees of permanence depending on the methods used to do so, his own sealing being an example of one of the more successful ones- it had lasted a full three years. Trying to disable the curse as whole however, completely get rid of it, seemed impossible, at least with the power available to a mere mortal, it had a nasty habit of swallowing itself up, making the caster think it was gone, and then when they least expected it, lashed out and attempted to kill them, he'd found the programming for that energy sub-routine while erecting the chains and taken the initiative to also seal it up... the lashing out part at least. Doing all this had taken it's toll in both energy and fatigue, and he'd felt it best to prioritize the things that would actively try to kill someone helping the spider. It seemed to him, the only possible methods to eliminate it truly, was to get the one who had invoked the divine curse upon her to beseech for it to be removed, or to find another Deity who might have the strength and knowledge to forcefully undo everything that had been woven... he lists a few names of potential Deities to seek out, all of them are completely foreign to Marisa, but one of them, "Wodan" has a note next to his: Power faded and divided enough as it is. Could barely spare enough to help me further analyze the structure beyond what I could sense alone back at Dour. Perhaps if he'd been in his prime, it would've been a different story. As he is now however, he advised seeking out another, for he was not willing to take the power he'd granted his knights, and with it their ability to defend themselves and their cause, away just to solve one person's curse. Understandable. But still slightly frustrating...for I fear he may well be the only one who of the Damned Gods who would offer up what aid he could give in the first place so readily as he did. This may well be a very long journey... most of them pulled their presences out of the Underdark after the war... or retreated so far into it's depths that pursuing them would be suicide. Except for Dour, there was nothing left and no worship to reap anymore. Finding any of them now will likely require... a trip to the surface world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 Andre finds a fair amount of resistance to his counterpush; it seemed that the man had more in stock than he may have initially believed. The pressure back starts gradually increasing, and doesn't seem liable to stop doing so any time soon. The muscles in the other man's forearm, what could be seen of them anyway, strained, and his expression was some midpoint between a smile and gritted teeth. "More common gems? Well, there are Aquaglow and Sunspire jewels; your problem is less the variety of jewel and more the size, however. I could get you plenty of those relatively quickly, though any bulk order will take time." Mar would probably find Marisa fairly quickly, though she appears to be busy at the moment. "That's. . . Wow. I'll see what I can do." She tugged at the spell hesitantly; she had an idea, but wasn't sure if it would actually work. Trying to simply pry it off, as it were, would likely result in something terribly unpleasant for both of them; she'd need to use a finer approach. Shift it, but without actually straining the binding, make it so it didn't sit quite right, didn't restrict quite like it should. Essentially, trying to intentionally make it resemble a shoddy binding job - something she'd had her own fair amount of experience with. She started to magically grab the spell, lightly, and shift it so it would, for lack of a better analogy, sit crookedly. Once she tried this, regardless of success or failure, she'd try to set down an enchantment that would make Aurora a fuzzier target; the spell might target a wider area with the same amount of force - which would make it painful, but possibly bearably so, to speak - or even shift focus onto the environment. This was essentially setting a binding atop the binding, and something she was a tad more confident in doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kj1225 Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Anyone watching closes might notice that Andre seems to be getting a little hairier as he strains against the other man, but would probably dismiss it as a trick of the light. It's not actually, it's Andre losing focus over his self-control as he attempts to keep up with the other man. He's going to be terribly embaressed when he realizes this later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutoratosu Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 The... shifting, as it were, was met with precisely the outcome the Squidman had warned off; the moment she tried to grab it, it had begun the retreat at her every touch, gather itself up at her command and then seemingly vanish, it's signature going cold within Aurora's body... almost as if the job had been an overwhelming success. It wasn't even two minutes later though, before the ruse fell apart completely, and the spell, almost like a wild animal, burst into existence again, it's energy flaring like a dying star but again restrained by the hyrdromancer's chains, the arcane constructs seeming to almost tighten around the mass as they strained to keep it in check. Eventually, again realizing it's teeth had been stolen, the spell ceased it's flaring might, going back to it's lurking state... The enchantment though... was another story. The Binding was powerful, yes, had fail safes against total failure, but as Squidman himself had proven, it was not without its vulnerabilities. The programming present in the Enchantment was just such a thing capable of cracking open and exploiting them... just as Ajax had done when he altered the parameters of the outlash effect, with this conflicting set of new orders trying to integrate themselves into the spell's structure, it was like a chaotic storm as it rebelled. Marisa would've doubtlessly found her concentration taxed, as she pressed on with the work. Likely would've felt like trying to wrestle a Dire Wolf who was snapping at one's throat, just using only their mind instead of their hands. Eventually however, they again retreated... against the sheer persistence of the second reprogramming they'd received since they'd been born within the spider, the flames conceded defeat. Aurora retreated from the woman, afterwards, backing up deeper into the alley way as a new feeling overtook her... like fire in her veins, the burning she'd once known in throat and mind... it was as if it had chosen the circulatory system instead, before it slowly faded and whatever the Witch had done seemed to take root. She growled a little, unsure of what to make of the situation, but opening her mouth regardless of her doubts. Just as always, the burn was there. But with it's target redirected to a far more extensive part of her, the pain felt far more like a mild annoyance now, compared to the unbridled torture it had once been. "Y.....y...you..." she said. The sound of her was... small...quiet... an upper mezzo. A complete juxtaposition from the beastial sounds and roars she was fully capable of producing. her tone rang with a strange type of cautious innocence, almost... like that of a child, as if matching the curiosity her eyes now glowed with "How... how....did you...?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts