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Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, June 24, 2017, 01:49:38 PM

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Moccasin

Rosine rolled her eyes as the man walked into his house. "See here, that's no way to negotiate." The girl sighed, before putting on her gloves. "It seems we'll have to deal with him later, but it would've helped if you weren't so aggressive." Rosine, of course, meant Hoss.

The woman made her way to the gate. After leaving the yard, she faced the other adventurers, hesitating slightly before introducing herself. "I suppose since we'll be working together that I must introduce myself. I am Rosine of Highheart."

Wrathwyrm

"Aggression had no bearing on his attitude at all.  That was clearly just how he talks to people who aren't rich."

Which was funny, when you think about it.  Rena herself had a nice home in Falial Province, title, unofficial knighthood, and a lineage that went back at least as far as this ancient tree.  Still, no matter.  They had their job and now the third member of their trio introduced herself.  The illusionist was rude, and she overstepped the line of acceptable, but perhaps she'd be decent enough during the job ahead of them.

"Well, with that in mind, I guess I'm the only one that hasn't explained herself a little."

She began to walk in the south-western-y direction.

"I'm the obvious swordsman, of course, but I'm not a stranger to magic, per se.  I can see the flow of magic, and alot of my study has been into the controlling of this blade."

She tapped Spark, on her back.

"It's an artifact of lightning, very potent."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hoss's eye twitched. "H-how dare you! I'm asking hard-hitting questions!" she exclaimed to Rosine angrily. She crossed her arms. "I was right though- your name is dumb. So dumb, in fact, that I'm going to call you-"

Hoss abruptly stopped when she saw Rena's sword. "But that's so fuckin' cool!" she yelled excitedly as rushed over to take a closer look. "An artifact? So that means it's old? Where'd you get it? Does it zap people?" Hoss looked up at Rena in awe. "Oh my god she's so awesome!"

Moccasin

Rosine rolled her eyes for a third time. "Oh bother," she whispered to herself, shaking her head. "You'd think with a name like Hoss... People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Caidheach was itching to sock the girl, but it seemed Hoss was more focused on Rena's blade. Eventually, the bigass sword caught her attention as well, garnering Rena some respect from the girl.

[this next part comes after Hoss' questions are answered]

"I don't suppose it has ranged capabilities?"

Wrathwyrm

In response to the question of zappage and long-range power, Rena nodded.

"Oh yeah.  Gotcha covered there.  It basically uses a number of skills and feats intuitively."

They were still moving in the promised direction for the whole affair, but even so, Rena didn't want to be the center of attention here, even though being professional and well-equipped often DID that.  Still, if they had nothing else to do...  So, as they were moving about the wilderness, Rena made with the explanations.

"It's an old sword among seven like it.  They use to belong to the Alamar family, but they passed on their lineage to the Goldswith family when there were no more heirs.  The swords respond according to the personality one has.  My father had Flint, my uncle had Swift, my grandfather has Dusk, and this one is Spark."

And before anyone could ask about the past-tenses in that last statement, Rena turned the center of attention to Hoss.

"So, how'd you get the ability to literally keep things on you?  I've never seen that before."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hoss went red in the face. "Ohmygod, Rena wants to know about me?" She cleared her throat dramatically. "Well, you see, it's a curse! A curse of awesome! I found this fairy in the woods this one time and he was like 'Do you want powers?' and I was like 'Hell yeah I want powers!' So he gave me powers! For free!" Hoss scratched the back of her head. "I can't touch iron anymore though. It kinda sucks, but I manage."


Moccasin

Rosine eyed Hoss' tattoos oddly, before scratching her head. "Hmm... Can't touch iron? I take it you're Serenian? It's just that I had a job not too long ago in Whitesands. My escort couldn't stand the stuff." Rosine paused for a moment, before readjusting her veil. "Poor old boy caught a nasty rash."

Wrathwyrm

On the whole, Rena guessed that whatever exchange went on for her to get those powers was a little more involved than that.  Hoss might've been given the generosity of something like that, but for it to be that spontaneous?  You never know.  Rena remembered, of course, that stranger things have happened in her own life.  Also more personal ones...  She blinked when Hoss mentioned the iron weakness.  Rena, like Rosine, would've guessed that the girl was already Serenian.  However...

"Yeah, a rash, a sore, and maybe a sickness if the contact is strong.  That's what I get, though.  I think she means it's more severe on her."

'Cause if you hadn't guessed, Rena was Serenian herself, being half-elf and all.  She knew about this stuff, so if another Serenian was talking like that, it meant their mutual weakness was stronger for her.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Pfft, that's nothing!" Hoss said, puffing up her chest. "Last time I touched something made of iron, it felt like my arm was going to fall off! I couldn't use it for, like, a week!"

There was a hint of pride in Hoss's voice that perhaps shouldn't have been there. You see, when your view of the world has been shaped by fairy tales, one tends to idolize certain storytelling conventions. Hoss was no different- the drawback she took in order to receive her power meant that she was essentially being punished for following her dream of being a hero. In other words, she saw herself as a sort of martyr- and that's badass!

To her, at least.

Looking towards Rosine, Hoss wore a curious expression on her face. She tried to sound caustic, but she couldn't keep her curiosity from escaping her voice. "What about you? What do you do?"

Moccasin

Without saying a word, Rosine raised a hand to Hoss' face as a strange glassy flower emerged from her palm. "As an illusionist, I manipulate light and sound to create ghosts: images and voices detached from the physical world." The woman poked the rose gently, letting her finger sink into it like water. "Like a painter, space is my canvas." The rose bud turned to dust. Out of the ashes emerged a tiny dragon, roaring contently as it flew around Hoss' head.



Wrathwyrm

Why she was bragging about her condition, Rena didn't know.  Hoss seemed rather obsessed with being impressive and looking over impressive things.  One could not be sure if this latest statement was a part of that or not.  Still, the conversation moved on to Rosine, who was - as noted - an illusionist.  However, on this occasion, she explained a bit more about how good she really was while demonstrating herself.  Rena smirked.

"My, but aren't we all quite the crew.  Three different disciplines to work with, and unless the ogre - either of his heads - are that smart, I can see 'im falling for illusions."

It looked to her like she and Hoss were the real dedicated fighters, though.

"Say, Hoss.  Got a question for you.  Does your power allow things that are incoming dangerously to just get sucked in, or is there any limit to the size?  Anyone ever thrown stuff at you and you just absorbed it?  If so, it could be really useful for defense.  'Course, if it doesn't, you could get really hurt."

She was formulating a plan, but she needed to know just how good that power of hers worked.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hoss's initial awe at Rosine's illusions was short lived, as the girl had decided to create a tiny dragon for the apparent purpose of trying to annoy her. Hoss waved her arms in the air, trying to swat the dragon away from her- only to find that her hand passed right through it. "Arrgh! Stupid fucking thing! Get away!"

Hoss suddenly realized that she was being asked a question, and her entire face went red. She lowered her arms quickly, trying to pretend nothing had happened. "Oh, ah, I'm not sure!" Hoss said, trying her hardest to sound nonchalant. "I need to physically push the object into my body, so I suppose if I caught it as it was coming towards me..." She trailed off and shrugged.

Turning to Rosine, Hoss pointed at the illusory dragon. "Please make this go away. I hate dragons, I don't ever want to look at them."

Moccasin

Rosine sighed, before snapping her fingers. The tiny dragon screamed and burst into flames. "How about this? When we find the ogre, I'll cast an invisibility spell on us." Three small figures appeared in front of the women, each representing a different member of the group, before poofing out of sight.

"Rena and I'll be on the sidelines," Rosine explained, before walking the clones to the side. Tiny footprints marked their paths. "And Hoss will charge the beast head on." A tiny ogre would appear and immediately notice mini-Hoss, before running at her angrily.

"Out of the blue, boom." A flash of light would erupt from Rena's hiding spot. "Rena stuns him with a flash of lightning." The ogre stumbled blindly, roaring angrily. Mini-Hoss would cheer and do a little dance. "Then, Hoss goes in for the kill."

Mini-Hoss'd stand to attention, saluting big Hoss before diving at the ogre, absorbing it in her tum. "If that doesn't work, Rena and I'll offer ranged support and take him down while Hoss takes shelter." Mini-Rena and Ros would unpoof, before bombarding the beast with a myriad of ranged attacks. "At least, that's what I think."

Wrathwyrm

Hmmm.  Catching weapons seemed a bit risky.  Rena would rather put that to the test in less dangerous conditions, like poking her with a pointed stick and seeing if it raised a welt or got sucked in.  A situation that could potentially put her life at risk without having some certainty that it could work was unacceptable in Rena's book.  For now, it'd be better if they relied more on Hoss' fighting strength, rather than her carrying capacity.  She seemed tough, if overly-anxious.

Right now, Rosine was formulating plans of attack, which could work...but Rena didn't like them.  Plan A could work out fine, but she suspected it was the resentment between her two cohorts that put Hoss charging head on.  They didn't know how good this ogre was at anything.  He might see Hoss coming and smack down a tree or something at her.  That wouldn't work out too well.  The other plan might work, but Rosine might have to exhaust her arsenal to put down the guy.

"I have an idea.  Invisbility be had on all of us, an illusion of Hoss taunting the ogre, he charges and goes right through the illusion, and then Hoss and I blindside him at once from either side.  Even if he doesn't go down immediately, his concentration is split and he doesn't even know about you yet."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hoss watched intently as the smaller her fought the ogre, a goofy grin plastered onto her face. "Y'know, maybe Rosine isn't so bad." she thought. "If she's willing to let me have all the glory like that, she must recognize that I'm the better warrior!" Hoss crossed her arms and nodded in approval. "Respect."

Before Hoss could voice her agreement Rena cut her off with an alternative plan- one that didn't have Hoss front and center. Hoss's eyes widened. "What? But I want to fight the ogre head on!" she whined. "Come on! I can handle it!"

Moccasin

"No, Rena's right. It'd be too risky to have you face the ogre head-on. That said, I should mention that my illusions don't last more than a couple seconds if I'm not actively controlling them."

Rosine looked over at Rena, before returning her attention to the minis."It would make more sense if you and I were in charge of stunning the beast since I'd have to be close to Hoss' clone."  Mini-Ros and Rena would nod before strafing the ogre with flashes of light and electricity.

"And once he's out of it, Hoss can strike him from behind." Mini-Hoss roared and charged the beast frantically, slicing the monster's leg clean off before delivering the final blow. "No mess."

Wrathwyrm

Rena turned to the younger-and-quite-fiery warrior with a look of concern.

"Listen, Hoss.  If it was a load of marauding bandits, I wouldn't think twice about you handling them.  This is some kind of two-headed ogre.  Not only is he tough, but even if you were to decapitate him in one blow, that's just one head down and you open to bitter retaliation."

And since it's an ogre, humans tend to go flying when hit.  And then comes the crackling of bones and the coughing up of blood.  Armor only did so much to soak up super impacts.

"I'm a little worried.  He'll be strong, and that's a fact, but we dunno if he has magic, if he has a big warbow, if he's actually smart..."

She looks at Rosine's latest plan.

"You know what?  Let's amend that to luring him, blinding him, and then we all just take him.  They're be plenty to go around.  Sound fair?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hoss wanted to object further, to insist that she could handle it, but the expression on Rena's face kept her quiet. She crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine. We can do that."

"Damn it, why? I thought Rena was cool, too."

As the three walked, the road they were on grew smaller and smaller, and it soon was nothing more than a tight pathway through the woods. Hoss suddenly spotted something just off the trail, and rushed over to see what it was.

It was a human corpse- and a fresh one at that. The deceased man appeared to have been split down the middle by some sort of bladed weapon. "Whoah." said Hoss quietly. "That's brutal."

Moccasin

Rosine raised her eyebrows, before approaching the corpse cautiously. She was used to seeing dead bodies, but she rarely came across people with such grave injuries. Rosine kneeled beside the man, eyeing his wounds grimly before looking back at the others.

"We're close... I'm going to search him. You two keep an eye out for the ogre." Rosine saw them off. She picked expertly through the man's clothes, taking great care not to get any blood on her person.

Just as it seemed there was nothing on him to identify him, Ros noticed a couple small pieces of paper sticking from under the deceased man's. Gently plucking them from his side, she reviewed the notes before gesturing the others to her side. 

"Look." In her hands was a small letter written on fine parchment and another written in Adelan shorthand on an old notepad. "It's to Inspector Jacob Serat. From Lord Chandler." And this." Rosine shook the shorthand note before holding it closer to her face. "I think I can read it. A set of directions. He must not have followed them at all. "

Rosine glanced up at the others. "We'll have to go to the next town and ask the Guard to pick up the body. Whoever he was, someone must've been expecting him."

Wrathwyrm

Hoss' disappointment was palpable, but Rena knew she had to be responsible about this.  She'd given this girl a shot where the 'young master' had basically turned her away at the door, but that meant that if anything happened to her, it would be all her fault.  Rena never had a time where she was overconfident.  She couldn't afford bravado.  Too much serious things in her life eliminated that luxury.  Giving Hoss a taste of the combat she desired was better than nothing, but she didn't want the girl smashed into a pulp in the process.

So, they were walking along the path when...there was a body.  It was always sad to see something dead lying around, but this one had been a human split down the middle!  As Hoss said, it was brutal, though what Rena picked up on was that it was skillful.  Assuming it was the ogre, he'd gotten the man pretty much symetrical.  Ask yourself the last time you sliced anything down the middle.  It wasn't easy, was it?  Unless you tried hard, you were off, weren't you?  The attacker had been on target.  And yes, the freshness of the dead man was noted.  After Rosine found the notes...

"We'll get him retrieved later.  Let's find our guy now."

She took a leap against a tree, and then kicked off to land on a branch, perching there so that she could look around and - more importantly - listen with those semi-elven ears.

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