Ripe for Ruin [Zombie] [M]

[quaggan]

 Val nodded, a small smile of relief appearing on his lips. It looked like the curse put on Perendi didn't affect wounds the way his did. Then again, she probably wouldn't work as a mercenary. He bent down and began to pick up the papers he was writing on, wincing slightly. Venta's spell dried the ink off, so at least he didn't have to worry about that.

"I'm... fine, I think. No bleeding, and I'm pretty sure I would be violating the rule against indecent exposure if I began checking for bruises. It's not that Venta's the kind of a person to hurt someone even if they are loud, it's just, well, my curse. It tends to make everything worse."

He focused on recalling what they were discussing. Ah yes, her own situation. Now that he could talk rather than write what he wanted to say, their conversation would go much faster. "You were asking about how much the scholars here charge for an examination, right? Well, that depends. Master Liet usually charges a hundred, since he would far prefer to spend time in the library. Arcanist Avalyina is interested in expanding her knowledge about curses, so if it's something she hadn't encountered before, it's free of charge. Curse-Breaker Incanus... well, he breaks curses. But he usually wants to be well-compensated."

[Zombie]

Perendi arched an eyebrow and flashed a lopsided grin at Val's comment, though she was relieved that he wasn't bleeding and didn't seem to have dislocated or broken anything. "If you wanted to start violating their codes, I could probably come up with a few others that might be fun to break," The mischievous, slow wink that followed those signs would hopefully reveal that it was all meant in jest. It was interesting though, how his curse could make even the smallest incident become twisted into something that could have potentially been dangerous. "As long as you're sure you're okay, that's what matters. I didn't think so, she looked too gentle to really be interested in hurting anyone," She finished signing.

Tilting her head in thought, an eyebrow arched as an unusual idea crossed her mind. So, Val's curse caused everything to turn to shit? She began to sign just as quickly as the idea flitted through her head; the fluidity and swiftness of her motions might have been difficult to follow along with, but hopefully the meaning behind what she was trying to convey wouldn't have been lost: "Since your curse fucks things up, have you ever thought about maybe seeing if you could intentionally mess something up, just to see what would happen? I mean, what would happen if you did something like deliberately throwing a game of cards or dice?" She didn't know if the acamdemy had a policy against its students gambling or anything of the sort, but maybe he'd understand what she was getting at.

The ash-colored woman's curse, thankfully, didn't amplify any injuries she might have sustained, or what anyone else bore. If it had, that would have certainly spelled disaster for her instantly, if such a misfortune wouldn't have forced her into early retirement. "Mine isn't half as interesting as yours. If I talk, it makes me choke and bleed. It makes me feel what everyone around me does- and it pisses people off if I'm with them for too long," She would sign as way of explanation. It would have been impossible to explain more than just the basics she laid out; the silent sigh and shrug probably revealed a bored resignment with her situation. "Yours seems a lot more interesting and dangerous, almost chaotic, to me." That probably wasn't helpful in any way.

When he explained the scholars' prices, her curiosity returned tenfold, her signing becoming quickened again, "You've got a curse breaker here? Have you tried using his services before, or is the compensation an issue?" She would have been willing to visit any of the three; she likely had the extra funds available to pay for the former pair's fees easily- and was willing to try and negotiate with the curse breaker, maybe even offer her own services in exchange for his attempts; but she was more curious at the moment to see if her companion had even tried yet.

[quaggan]

 He nodded, excitement showing on his face. "Arcanist Avalyina actually came up with an idea to check for that. My intention doesn't seem to factor into it, so I suppose I could still mess up on purpose without my curse sabotaging it. Though I don't know most games that are popular here in Serendipity, and I think my situation is well known enough that people wouldn't play with me anyway."

"I suppose what our curses have most in common is the factor of alienating people" he commented. Fortunately, it looked like it was more of a long-term, insidious, slowly-working element than the instant corruption of every relationship - at least it gave them something of a chance. Perhaps it was partly why his family and the court mage decided to send him to Wyrdwood. He didn't mind - the last thing he wanted was to waste time on self-pity. It wasn't their fault, it was what was best for him, and he was glad to be here.

He smiled at the memory of his encounter with the Curse Breaker. "Well, he needs more information to work. That's what he said - to break a curse one has to know why was it cast, how, by whom... All those things that are yet to be discovered in my case. He said to come back when I can answer those questions - I think I might have hurt his pride by presenting a case he couldn't immediately crack. But you said you know the circumstances of your curse, so I think he could be of more use to you. Although right now he's not here, I think. He left the academy last week to go and lift a curse on some noble family in the capital city. I can ask one of his apprentices who remained behind."

He just remembered something, so he went ahead and just asked. "Do you know if this... relationship corruption works only if you're around? As in, if you were to meet with someone you knew from some time ago, but had no contact in between, would the curse still have worked all this time, or would you have to be present for it to ruin their perception of you?"

[Zombie]

She grinned at his excitement, which seemed to be quite contageous; "It sounds like Avalynia might be on to somehing, then! That's a damn good thing, at least- it shouldn't be too hard to intentionally screw somehing up, should it? I'm not sure about the Serenian games, but in most taverns, games like poker, Liars' Dice and even darts are pretty popular- none of them are difficult at all, if the Arcanist wanted to go that route with you, you'd probably be able to figure them out in an hour or so. Hmm... you know, that's a good point; though if you've got coin to wager, even just a few copper, peoples' minds might be willing to change." She was, of course, signing out of experience with how people behaved in taverns- money made people forget things, including fears and grudges, when they were drunk and cocky enough. But then again, whether any of the professors would accompany Val to a tavern and play with drunken assholes or not was something she wasn't sure about at all.

"It sure as hell seems that way, doesn't it?" She signed back with a careless shrug. As far as she could tell, it was like a slow-working venom; it usually took a few hours before it sunk its fangs into her company and slowly altered their perception of her; usually it started within a few hours, but in two or three instances before, it had taken a few days to have shown any real impact on the people she'd been near; but once it started, it didn't seem to relent as long as she was around. Thankfully, it meant the pair would at least have a small opportunity before things would start going downhill yet. Perendi wasn't the sort to give it too much thought: she just accepted the circumstaces to the best of her ability and went with it. Feeling sorry for herself was useless and pointless; the time that would have been wasted moping and falling into self-doubt was better spent working, playing, or learning something.

"I'd appreciate it. For your help, maybe I could do something in turn," She suggested when he mentioned the curse breaker probably being able to help her whenever her eturned from the capital city. She wouldn't consider it to be paying back a debt or anything of the sort, just returning a favor with a favor. "Help you try to gather information, possibly deal with an enemy of yours or your family's, sneak you and your friends some of the good shit after-hours?" They probably weren't the best suggestions, but she wasn't the sort that would normally refrain from offering some sort of assistance when someone was willing to do the same.

A peculiar stillness would fall as she reached up and scratched her head; forehead furrowed at his question as she pondered the answer- it wasn't exactly the simplest inquiry to formulate a response to, all things considered. Quite eloquently, the answer began with a meaningless little gesture that would have been the equivalent of a "hmm." "I've got a couple of repeat clients that come to me every few months, but they're only near me long enough to explain the nature of the newest job," Her subordinates didn't count; even though she preferred to work alone when she could and they oftentimes were sent on their own missions, she didn't think a few days' or the occasional week's worth of separation was enough to really tell. "I don't get involved in other peoples' lives enough to know one way or another." At least she was being honest.

"I wouldn't know if I have any associates from a while back, anyway... one of the many things it does is it slowly eats my memories. Just think, it was only meant to be a precaution," If anything, she simply accepted the fact that in time, she'd end up forgetting everything she'd ever known; but with as slow-acting as the memory eradication was, it would take a considerable amount of time, years at least,  before that point was reached.

[quaggan]

 Val smiled at Perendi's comments. The Arcanist would be pleased to hear this - perhaps he should tell her. There was no such things as too much niceness, especially in the highly competitive and cutthroat environment of Wyrdwood. The position of an Arcanist wasn't exactly high, and Avalyina struggled enough by not being as useful as Incanus or as well-read as Liet - then again, it was hard to compete with an old elf who had over several hundreds of years to study.

He listened, curiosity clear in his expression, as Perendi signed to him about all the various games. He didn't even hear about most of them! He was tempted to ask her to teach him some, but he wasn't sure if it wouldn't be a breach of etiquette. That one time he was caught playing cards with the guards, the royal family tutor gave him quite a lecture about how it was unbecoming of a prince to engage in gambling. He was no longer on Astanill, but he still felt that he should uphold some standards.

He couldn't help but be surprised at her offer, and it probably showed on his face and in his body language. "I- thank you for the offer, but I fear I can't think of anything. I don't think that my family has any enemies here in Serendipity, and I'd rather not risk breaking the academy rules. But I appreciate the thought." He really did. It wasn't often that someone was willing to do something for him, with no strings attached.

It probably made the situation awkward, though, so he was glad to quickly turn his attention to the details of her situation. "So not only does your curse ruin relationships, but also affects memories? That's awful!" The way she described it, it sounded like whoever cursed her was trying to destroy any way she could find her place in the world, with making people hate her, ruining her memory and making it impossible to speak. He couldn't figure out how enhanced empathy fit into this, though.

"I was asking because I had an idea" he explained. "I don't know how long do you plan on staying in the area, and can't tell when will the Curse Breaker return. If you were going to leave, I could acquire something to contact you magically so that you'd know when he's back here." He needed to know because if her curse were to intervene and ruin everything, he might not be in a position to provide the information. He'd like to say that he wouldn't let a curse make him dislike a person who's done nothing to deserve it, but he knew better than to make light of such power.

[Zombie]

Her line of employment could oftentimes be quite competitive, especially when two different groups were assigned the same job; or because of the way that time was always changing, a former ally became an adversary and vice versa. Therefore, it was usually a better idea to offer kindness to an individual or establishment that one sought to have as a contact- and one could never have too many allies, on the off chance that circumstances shifted while in the middle of a job. She wouldn't have protested the idea of Val telling Avalyina about their discussions- as unfounded as her ideas were, if they proved to be helpful at all, that was a step in the right direction, if nothing else; or so that was her opinion.

She grinned at his clear curiosity about the games that she explained- perhaps it was for the best that she refrained from detailing that in certain circumstances, clothing could even be used as a wager, instead of money. She wasn't sure how uncouth it would have been to offer, but she did anyway: "If you want, I can teach you a few different games. Dice and poker are the easiest to learn, we'd need to go to a tavern if you wanted to play darts." It was impossible to see the harm in offering; such games could be a fun way to pass the time- and if nothing else, the idea of some noble who might enjoy getting drunk and playing with the common population was rather entertaining. Hell, even if he was just some duke's son, she figured it might make people favor him a bit more. Then again, that was simply because she and her entourage would typically spend their time off drinking and gambling, if they weren't collectively sleeping.

When he declined her offer, she simply shrugged; it was strange to meet someone that probably didn't have need for a hired blade's assistance at one point or the other. There may have been a bit of awkward silence that fell at that point, though it seemed he was a skilled enough conversationalist to keep the silence from becoming too heavy.

"It destroys memories, ruins relationships, keeps my gods-damned mouth shut- and makes it where I don't know what in fuck's sake I'm going to do at times. Being forced to feel what other people does makes it where, depending on what exactly you're feeling, I might try to bash your head in, just because you've had a bad day; or I could throw down my weapons, piss myself, scream and run away in the middle of a fight- I can't control what happens, or when. The best part is: it's only because of a job I took a long time ago: I know too much about two shitty noble families and could destroy them both." A shrug punctuated those gestures; a crooked smile offered at his exclamation, she'd come to terms with what was happening a while back- and while the predicted outcome would be unpleasant when it happened, she'd decided to live with whatever occured.

"That's not a bad idea at all," She admitted after mulling over his proposed suggestion; "We'll be in Serendipity for roughly a week- but even then, you probably won't be able to find our camp, unless you run into someone who knows of us. All I can think is we can try- and see what happens. If you contact me just to bitch, or end up not bothering at all, I'll probably know why." It wasn't likely the answer that he was looking for, but it was the best she could offer. She didn't know if her curse would intervene with someone else who was afflicted, might be amplified because of his curse or not, it was sort of surprising how long they'd managed to get along so far. Though she would have liked to think that there was the possibility that nothing might happen because of his being afflicted, she wasn't stupid enough to give that thought more than a few seconds' consideration before writing it off as being impossible.

[quaggan]

 The more he heard about her curse, the worse it seemed - even worse than his own. And for what? For the sake of petty political squabbling? She was cursed by nobles who were willing to hire her but unwilling to accept her knowing as a part of the consequences? Perhaps it was hypocritical of him to think so, considering that he was also of high birth, but he found the behaviour of those noble families reprehensible.

He remembered the silent conversation they had back in the study hall. The mercenary expressed surprise at why would a wizard go out of their way to curse someone they could easily toast with a simple spell instead. No wonder she held their actions in such contempt when she fell victim to such underhanded tactics. She looked capable enough to be able to survive a direct confrontation or even an assassination attempt, but curses were harder to fight.

He was glad to hear that she was up for at least trying his idea out. Now all that remained was to find a good communicator. Since she couldn't speak, any sort of voice conveying enchantment wouldn't work - perhaps a pair of conjoined quills? But the life of a mercenary was fraught with strife, and such magical implements were easily breakable. He worried at the hem of his shirt, lost in thought. "Hm... Do you have any experience with such magical methods of long-distance communication?"

[Zombie]

As strange as it might have been, over the years, Perendi had learned how to accept and live with her curse; she was probably living on stolen time and no one she'd encountered had been able to tell her just how long it might have been before she succumbed and became a living shadow. The best she'd ever heard in the past had been "you've got as long as you want," which had been a very cryptic and frustrating way to phrase "I don't know"- but it was a better answer than some might have been. It had been over nothing more than a long and bitter political squabble between the Tabarants and the Carnazzas that she'd been sent to solve. It had cumulated in the discovery that Asentzio Carnazza and his family had been involved in massive scandal: bribery, extortion, the Carnazzas' political opposition "mysteriously" vanishing and participation in the slave trade.

Matron Folcrada Tabarant and her family had been absolutely no better; what with the "good woman" herself dabbling in the manufacture and peddling of poisons and operating a brothel in secrecy. Though the Tabarant family had been taken down, with Matron Folcrada and her daughters rotting away in a dungeon somewhere, Carnazza had believed the knowledge the mercenary had acquired would have been too great a risk for her to escape with and be able to spread. The aftermath would have been quite ruinous for the Carnazzas.

It had certainly been reprehensible on Lord Carnazza's behalf to curse the woman he'd hired, but in his mind, he'd done exactly what he'd needed to do in order to protect his name, reputation and family. While Perendi appreciated and could not understand the basis of magic, she held very little respect for anyone who would use such sneaky and underhanded tactics. An assault, verbal confrontation, or even assassination attempts would have been a justifiable way to warn her to keep her mouth shut; a warning that she would have been able to understand on no uncertain terms. As far as she knew, she wasn't of noble birth (though she couldn't remember anything about her family, the Kestras) so she didn't think her curse would impact them in any way, if they were still alive. She didn't even know if her curse was one of the blood, one that could be genetically passed on to whatever hellspawn she (didn't) plan on ever producing. Other than it making life quite difficult at times and making sure she'd never be able to spread the information she'd accrued, Perendi had no idea what other purpose it served for that damned warlock.

Regardless, an enemy she could have potentially seen would have been one she could have fought; this adversary was one she had no idea how to handle.

She was willing to at least try anything; even if it might have been rather difficult to find a decent medium for communications. Even though she was incapable of speech, if they used a voice conveying apparatus, she could have listened- as potentially useless as that might have been. Enchanted quills could have been a possibility, if they weren't broken or lost when she was on a job. She stretched and tilted her head, cracking her knuckles as she tried to mill over what might have been a suitable means for communication- only to come up with nothing that might have been viable. "Celosia Parezi --she's a mage in my company-- just casts a communications spell of some sort when we're separated for long periods of time. I can hear what she has to say that way, but that's all," She signed at last. It might not have been the least bit helpful and with her lack of knowledge in the realm of magic, she didn't know if there was a means to create some form of mechanical or forced telepathy, or anything of that ilk.

[quaggan]

 Val carefully observed the movements of Perendi's hands. He was just a beginner student, he only started learning about magic, and wanted to make sure that he didn't misunderstand her somehow. So the mage in her mercenary group could communicate, but since the warrior couldn't speak, she couldn't talk back. The spell must have conducted sound, rather than thought. "Perhaps we should search for something that could induce telepathy" he suggested. "Or something to write with."

He hurried to explain his idea further. "Maybe we could find someone to enchant a pair of books so that whatever's written in one, would appear in other. Would that work?"

The last question was a bit more open-ended. While Val would probably stay in Wyrdwood in the future, and could easily find time every day to sit down and write in a book, the life of a mercenary was more active and didn't always lend itself well to moments of peace. Not to mention that such a book could quickly get lost or destroyed. And of course, he didn't want to assume that everyone he met could read and write.

[Zombie]

Perendi arched an eyebrow and smirked at Val's scrutiny. She wasn't accustomed to someone making sure they didn't misunderstand what she was trying to say; at least not to the extent that he was trying not to. With Parezi's spell, the mage was able to relay whatever she needed to explain, or to make sure that her leader hadn't encountered something too dangerous that she might need assistance with. The warrior was able to respond with acknowledging or negating sounds, but never words- and in a way, she sort of wondered if Parezi was even bothering to try and figure out a way to induce telepathy as she'd promised. Hell, the ashen warrior wasn't even sure if such a thing was possible- or if, on top of the other woman's duties, she just didn't have the time to try.

"I actually like the idea of finding something that could force telepathy," She signed with a grin; something of that nature would definitely make communicating far easier between herself and Val-- and if it was something that could be replicated, she'd even be willing to pay out of her funds to have the device replicated so she could communicate with her company as well. Though the idea of something to write with could be just as helpful, "A pair of books could work quite well, too. I can read and write in a few different languages, so even if we needed to communicate in secrecy, that would be great." Her expression was rather enthusiastic in regard to both prospects.

There were only a couple of issues that she could see arising from trying to write to her new companion on a regular basis, or even read what he had to say with any real frequency. That was the simple fact that she was rarely in one place for very long- which, unless she kept her book on her at all times, meant it could have been lost at any time. While she did enjoy reading and always had, she was lucky if she could indulge often enough that she didn't end up keeping Val waiting for long periods of time. Then there was always the possibility that if anything went wrong, an enemy would be able to retrieve her book and destroy it quite easily, especially on the off chance that she might have ended up captured at one point or another, or imprisoned.

"I think your first idea would probably be the best, especially if we could find something that could be worn, without attracting too much attention. You know, like maybe a dog's collar, some kind of trinket, something that wouldn't exactly be easily lost or stolen."

[quaggan]

 Looked like they had a plan. Of course, it was just half of the work - now they had to find a way to carry it out. And Val had no idea how to get to it. He was still new to Wyrdwood, and didn't know which professors or students were capable of telepathy, let alone skilled enough for what they needed. And could he even convince anyone to help them? He didn't have anything he could offer, and he didn't want to make the mercenary pay for it, considering that it was his idea to begin with.

As far as he was concerned, Wyrdwood needed some orientation for new students.

He raised a hand, but quickly caught himself and lowered it. His tutor disapproved of his habit of playing with his hair - she kept saying that having a tell is a death sentence for gamblers and nobility. She worked hard to get him to stop, and he only began appreciating it now that his curse made his entire body more brittle. He would have to be more careful with his movements and gestures.

"I suppose we should start searching in the Mind Magic Faculty" he suggested. It would be convenient if Wyrdwood had a Communication Faculty, but the fellows preferred to categorize magic by its nature, rather than its use.

[Zombie]

The best-laid plans or strategies usually required an extraordinary amount of legwork to be put into motion. A motion that Perendi wasn't sure how to begin; she was unversed in the ways of magic and other than the rather rare occasions during which Wyrmwood had need of her services, she wasn't a frequent visitor. While she hoped Val might have had some idea how to begin since the idea had been his in the first place, she didn't know if he was more knowledgable than she was in that regard or not. The ashen woman was willing to pay if need be, but knowing who to pay would have been helpful.

She thought mages needed to be less cryptic, especially when they operated a learning institution. As far as she'd seen, magic-users were evasive enough as it was- it only made things more confusing to see that not all the doors seemed to be marked with at least a department name. Then again, there was the possibility that the unmarked doors were that way to test the students' memories?

An eyebrow was arched at Val's correcting whatever gesture he'd begun; even as her own hand strayed toward the hilt of her baselard. It wasn't a threatening motion; her fingertips just brushing against the hilt while making no motion to grasp it- it was a motion that could have been likened to someone stroking a cat, or perhaps their chin; nothing more than a contemplative gesture.

"That sounds as good a place as any to start, I think- I'd probably just go into the first room that had someone in it; might get us turned into... oh, quails, or some shit like that." She signed, smiling. Though it might have seemed humorous, she would likely have done just that; hoping to find the right department, but more than likely interrupting someone's class. As long as Val didn't suggest something too strange-sounding, she'd let him be the guide. At least she didn't think he'd intentionally lead her into a practice hall with the students practicing something along the lines of transformation spells- which in the back of her mind, she had to admit, might have ended up quite humorously regardless.

[quaggan]

 Val chuckled. "I don't think going into the first room would get anyone turned into a quail - unless they moved one of the transformation classrooms to here." He quickly realised how condescending his tone must have sounded and quickly offered an apology. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to lord it over you. I'm just relatively new to this place, so I was rather happy to have just that little information."

That was getting awkward. Most of the conversations he participated in did, and he couldn't even tell if he was making stupid mistakes, or if his curse was making everything worse. Perhaps he should assume the former - it would be lazy to blame all he could on the curse and refuse any responsibility for his actions.

"This way" he began, pointing to a nearby hallway. "We can't take the main door - some pranksters turned it into a portal to... a place we don't want to visit. We can-"

The classroom door they were passing by suddenly swung open, releasing a torrent of students and hitting Val in the face. He staggered back, pain exploding in his bones. He barely managed to arrest his fall with one arm - and he should probably consider himself lucky not to break it as well. He brought the other hand up, checking for blood on his face. He must have-

"Uh, should we help him?" some voice suggested, probably one of the students.

"Not a good idea, Redshield" another countered. Val tried to raise his head to see if those were people he knew, but he felt dizzy and probably shouldn't risk sharp movements. "It's the curse kid. If you approach him, your stuff will break."

"That's not how curses work!" an annoyed voice cut through the chatter. "For Kia's sake, would it kill you all to learn the basics?"

"Why don't you curse us to die unless we learn?" Redshield challenged. "At least something interesting would happen."

The dizziness wasn't going away. He tried to get up, but his fingers were slicked with blood and he fell again.

[Zombie]

Perendi arched an eyebrow at how condescending Val sounded, snorting and shaking her head. It seemed like even he was capable of talking down to those less knowledgable in the realm of the arcane; though she couldn't exactly blame him too much- what was the harm in showing off one's knowledge every now and again, as long as it wasn't done out of blatant arrogance? "It's alright, you haven't done anything wrong. I don't exactly know shit about magic anyway- you know far more about it and this place than I do." She signed, shrugging off-handedly. He clearly hadn't intended to come across as an ass, or he wouldn't have been so quick to offer an apology that was not only unnecessary, but sounded rather sincere.

"At least you can find your way around here," She offered; things were indeed becoming just a bit on the awkward side- and it was difficult to tell what the source was; not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. "Okay. What dumb ass decided to change the main door, though?" That definitely wasn't any of her concern, but curiosity was a pain to contend with in the best of times. When the torrent of students were released from the confines of their classroom like a pack of small and very yappy dogs into the hall, the mercenary had been prepared to simply try and navigate past them- but their release was the catalyst for all hell breaking loose.

Watching those students slam into Val and send him crashing to the ground, then watching him fall again after attempting to rise once more caused a growl of irritation and concern to rise in her throat. Pivoting on her heels and forcing her way through the ebb and flow of impatient young mages, she would finally come to a stop beside Val, Shit! Was her only thought upon seeing his bloody face; if he permitted her to do so, she would try to slide an arm around his shoulders and ease him into a seated position, against the wall. "Are you okay?" She would demand, her voice a low, commanding, gravely alto growl; a quick, indrawn gasp punctuating those words.

It was impossible to stand and wait for an answer- she'd have to check back once everyone else had left the immediate vicinity.

A headache was quickly building; an irritating, pulsing throb that originated from the back of her head, causing her to clench her teeth and  breathe through flared nostrils. Her eye narrowed into a cold, hard, cruelly-glittering slit as her chin rose; waves of confusion, annoyance and contempt crashed over the soldier of misfortune; forcing her to grit her teeth, hands curling into fists of their own volition. A white-hot, roiling fury ignited in the pit of her stomach and quickly radiated outward, breath coming in harsh pants that probably sounded as close to a warning hiss that a human throat could muster, lip curling into a vicious sneer- a coiled serpent flashing its fangs.

"Bastards!" Was the only snarled warning the "demon" gave; charging headlong into the milling crowd. One of the younger students was grabbed by the front of her robe and slammed backward into the nearest wall; the back of her head colliding against the wall with a resounding thud as she slumped and collapsed like nothing more than a discarded doll. The ash-hued warrior's elbow caught an older boy in the face; busting his nose with an extremely pleasing crack, sending the poor fool to his knees, sobbing. A booted foot shot out, catching another student across the stomach and sending him careening breathlessly into one of his companions, causing the pair to stumble and trip over their own feet.

Every blow that the screaming, panicking students tried to throw as they attempted to make a hasty retreat caused the mercenary to succumb even more to the venomous fangs of true, all-consuming rage. Any last vestige of humanity was cast aside; relinquished with a savage glee- Perendi was nothing more than a vicious, rabid dog; a machine of destruction hell-bent on painting Wyrmwood's hall in brilliant scarlet. The students' pain and terror only added fuel to her insatiable malice- they were her prey. A young woman's face was driven brutally into the ground, her arm wrenched behind her back, twisted and yanked until the bones cracked and snapped. A low, gutteral sound rose from he back of the rampaging, monstrous woman's throat as she dropped yet another student with a kick to the groin, moving in to bear down on his throat with her knee; not relenting until he ceased struggling and moving beneath her.

Lurching to her feet, she drew her war-hammer in a swift, fluid motion; holding it in a tight, two-handed grip as she began to swing that weapon with a wild abandon; the end of the shaft scraping noisily along the floor and walls every time she hefted it and swung its head at one of the students who just happened to be a little too close.

[quaggan]

 Val accepted her help with a quick, probably mangled word of thanks. "I think I just broke my nose" he muttered. It was better than he expected - although, knowing his curse, there was always the delightful possibility of a sudden infection rotting off half of his face. He would probably get used to it, unless someone came up with a solution quicker than he expected.

He carefully looked up, trying to see if more students were coming out - if all classes were about to end, the hallway would be flooded with people and he should really get up and leave in order not to be trampled or be sued for obstructing the passage by some nitpicky student. His gaze fell on Perendi- oh no. She was cursed with enhanced empathy, being around so many frustrated adepts couldn't possible be good for her!

"Get out!" he called to the other students, fear spiking through his mind. It wasn't just out of concern for Perendi, but also for them - she was a seasoned warrior, and the whole incident in Arcanist Ivis' laboratory was proof enough that emotional highs could send her into a destructive rage. The last thing he wanted was to cause more bloodshed!

The elf rolled her eyes derisively. "Are you telling me what to do? Like hell I'm going to-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as the warrior grabbed her and threw away without even giving her the time to scream. A sickened crack echoed in the hallway as Val stared, horrified. The other students began to scramble away, but they weren't fast enough to escape her rampage. "Stop-" he croaked, before realizing he probably wouldn't be able to get through to her.

He scrambled to his feet, miraculously not getting knocked down by the fleeing students. It was a good thing, if they left before anyone was hurt, the emotional stimulus would disappear - he didn't know the range of the cursed empathy, but it had to have a limit - otherwise bringing her to the study hall wouldn't have worked.

He wasn't so arrogant as to think that he might avoid rampage, but he doubted that his curse would let him escape anyway. He focused on calming down - he didn't want to worsen the situation even more. He heard footsteps coming from the hallway and immediately turned there, a warning on his lips - the last thing they needed was more people to aggravate her further!

Oh no. Those weren't students.

[Zombie]

Smothered by a blanket of emotions so interwoven and complicated that they may as well have been a spider's web, she hadn't heard Val's claim that he should have been alright, for the most part. Nor did she hear his instance that the other adepts get out of the hall; soaring on the hellish wings of confusion-tinged fear, contemptuous annoyance, frustration and that all-consuming indignant fury should have been enough to sustain the rage that continued to flow through her like a cool breeze on a summer's day. Only compounding the situation even more was the simple fact that she'd been elevated to experience the euphoric, pleasure-dripping rush that drove berzerkers and hunting hounds into the same narrow-minded pursuit of bloodshed; conscious thought had all but ceased, leaving nothing but a bloodthirsty beast hell-bent on causing as much carnage and destruction as she possibly could.

Val's words and the cries of the other adepts fell on deaf ears; all she was focused on was the music of the screams, her own low, raspy laughter cutting like a knife through the profanities and wailing. One unlucky upperclassman tried to throw a punch at her jaw in an attempt to stop her; though he did manage to cause her head to snap to the side and a bruise to quickly blossom in the wake of his fist, he received a swift forehead-to-forehead headbutt, followed up with the head of her war-hammer rammed into his stomach, lifting him off his feet and tossing him a few feet to the right. That weapon was lifted above her head and brought swiftly downward to be swung in a wide arc that sent three youngsters stumbling and running down the hall; while their fourth received a blow to the hip that caused the poor young woman to collapse with a scream.

What remained of  her targets seemed to be catching on to what was happening.

As the crowd began to thin, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye; Val climbing to his feet in the wake of her rampage- as he remained quiet, he was ignored for the moment; in favor of her grabbing a tall, willowy, blue-skinned youngster by his long, violet braid and pitching him headlong into one of the doors. If the remainder of the students managed to escape quickly, once they'd made it a few hundred yards from her immediate vicinity, Perendi would have been unleashed from her fury; though at that moment, it seemed as though her rage would be unending.

Once she had determined that most of her prey had either fallen or were running to hide -and she would find them in time- she rounded on poor Val once more; hefting her war-hammer and thumping its head into the palm of her hand almost rhythmically. A tilt of her head, an arch of an eyebrow and a slight falter to that bloodthirsty smile revealed that she couldn't determine if he was friend or foe. However, unwilling to risk the chance of finding out that he was either enemy or prey, she lowered her war-hammer and reversed her grip so that she could attempt to ram the end of the shaft into his stomach, while simultaneously trying to thrust a booted foot between his ankles, a maneuver intended to quickly take him to the ground.

The sound of footsteps approaching only made her bloodthirsty grin grow wider.

One foot slid behind the other, Perendi's weight redistributed so she could lunge into motion when the new challenge arrived; a snarling, albeit poised beast preparing an ambush.

[quaggan]

 The first person to make it to the hallway was either a staff member, or someone old enough to qualify as an eternal student. She took one look at the scene and threw something small on the ground. Cracking it opened a portal for a massive creature of stone to step inside. Wyrdwood used gargoyles for security purposes - rock constructs enchanted to stop the fighting and eject offenders from the academy.

As soon as the third gargoyle made it through the portal, the woman noticed the advancing mercenary and leapt through to the other side, almost colliding with the fourth. As dire as the situation was, Val found it to be an actual improvement. Gargoyles were magical constructs, they didn't have any emotions to send her further into rage - and since the students who unwittingly started this catastrophe were evacuating, they should get out of range soon.

While the two gargoyles advanced on her, the third registered the presence of one unevacuated student in the area of danger and approached the boy, its heavy footsteps crunching against the stone floor. Val didn't know if it could even hear his voice, but that was a stupid doubt to wager against possibly worsening the situation. "Don't-" he croaked. "I don't know if it's safe to approach-"

There was his answer - the gargoyle approached without even giving a sign that it heard him. It reached out with a massive stone arm. Val rolled away, barely avoiding it as the stone suddenly crumbled and fell to the floor. They better not fine him for breaking it - he didn't even touch it!

[Zombie]

As the students quickly evacuated the hall, the vicious gleam was slowly leaving the mercenary's eye; her posture becoming less aggressive and more tired as she surveyed the carnage, still not quite comprehending what she was seeing- it would take a few minutes yet for the heavy fog to leave her mind. When the first gargoyle approached from straight ahead, she would heft her hammer and swing it at the stone construct's head; attempting to hold it at bay as she blinked as though beginning to awaken from an exceptionally pleasant dream.

All that remained of her mindless rage was a migraine and perplexed irritation; as though she had drank herself into a stupor the previous night and was reeling from one hell of a hangover.

Stepping backward, her movements a bit clumsy and sluggish as she swung her hammer a second time, trying to shatter the face of the gargoyle that she could see and expecting to meet nothing more than the stone wall at her back, she had been completely unaware of the construct she was backing into; it made no sound as it moved, didn't smell like anything in particular and radiated no emotion or intent for her to pick up on.

Perhaps if she hadn't been attempting to destroy the gargoyle in front of her, hadn't been battling with the dizziness that came on the wake of such an intense emotional assault, she would have been able to twist out of the way.

"Ah, shit!" Came the panted, disbelieving yelp as a pair of massive stone arms closed around her from behind, lifting the still-struggling snake off her feet and carrying her toward that yawning portal. "Don't you fucking do it!" She bellowed at the unlistening automaton, only managing to glance briefly in Val's direction long enough to watch his gargoyle crumble to dust, "Run!" She yelled at him, completely unaware of the gargoyles' purposes- moments before her own captor took her into that awaiting portal.

Distrustful of most magic and completely uncertain about what their destination might have been, all she could do was hope that they weren't plunging into an abyss or somewhere equally hot, foul and shitty; growing tense again and trying to steel herself (probably quite pointlessly) for yet another fight.


((Sorry for the uncharacteristically short post! I broke my damned elbow a few days ago (it's just a stupid little crack; not a major break)  and I'm still adjusting to typing with one hand mostly immobilized.))

[quaggan]

 The portal opened a few miles away from the castle, in the place randomly chosen in order to prevent anyone from predicting the arcane algorithm. The gargoyle pushed through, releasing Perendi immediately. It wasn't enchanted to kill just anyone who disturbed the peace of the academy, just to eject the offenders - it didn't register any lethal damage on the victims, and the mercenary wasn't flagged as repeat attacker and therefore available for harsher actions. The procedure of contain and remove was put into action.

Immediately after letting her go, the gargoyle turned around, propelling itself slightly with the heavy wings now that it wasn't in a hallway too narrow for it to spread them. Without any delay, it entered the portal again, returning to the academy. The arcane doorway closed almost as soon as the last piece was through.

[Zombie]

Thankfully, she found that she was not pulled apart, transformed into some horrific beast, or teleported into the underworld when the portal opened again. In fact, the mercenary was deposited once again in the verdant, rolling hills of the highlands; judging by the positioning of the sun, it was well into the afternoon. There had been no way that she could have hoped to figure out the arcane algorithm as she dropped to her knees and looked around, rubbing at her eye in confusion. Returning to the academy again would not exactly be easy-- the portal closed again as soon as the gargoyle had retreated back into it.

Son of a whore! She thought in irritation; they'd been close to figuring something out-- and she wasn't even certain about what had happened before she'd come under attack by the gargoyles-- if they had actually attacked in the first place; there were certain details that she couldn't remember at the moment, not that such information really mattered, given that she'd been ejected from the portal in the middle of nowhere. Which did not exactly put her in the best of moods to begin with.  All things considered, the situation could have been far worse, though; she could have been thrown directly into a jail cell or dungeon somewhere, after all.

Trying to find her way back to the academy wouldn't have been too difficult, she didn't think; it wouldn't have been difficult to locate a rather massive castle. However, as she hadn't visited Wyrmwood all that often, she didn't know if it would be a wise decision or not, since she wasn't aware of whether or not there were other ways in, save for through the main door-- or if there was even a reason to return, for the time being.

For now, the best course of action would be to locate one of the many little villages and hope that it was home to something that at least remotely resembled a pub. Perendi was in need of a drink or five after what had already gone on- and would not have been opposed at all to a few games of cards or dice; might even pick up a job or two in the meantime.