Scheherazade: Yue became immediately aware that something wasn't quite right with the spirits of Ashport. From how long it had taken the spirit to appear to the fragile state of its materialization, it was unusual and came off as almost sick in a way. She didn't much mind if Dahlia saw her reaching out to touch the invisible orb, it wasn't like she could have shown off anyways, everything fantastic was happening before her eyes only.
Yue concentrated hard, listening to the sound of the falling rain. A pleasant sound to most people but amidst that there was a language, however basic it may have been, and she responded in kind. If the elemental allowed her to touch it Yue would guide the ball closer with her hand and allow it to anchor itself underneath the umbrella that was her aura.
"What is wrong my friend?" she said. "I need your help to find people; supposedly they're hiding within the sewers. Perhaps they are at fault for the sorry state of this place? Tell me and we can find out together." Yue certainly took more charge with the spirit than she did with people, almost like she was guiding a child about.
Cronowind: *The little orb of water would slowly float towards Yues hand. Her spiritual sense was no shaman, yet this spirit was not afraid. She could hear the desperation in its voice. Yet, this woman was a medium. The spirit had some sense of the order of things, and when it touched her she saw it slowly warp and change, the mist surrounding it growing thicker. She could make out three words it said through the mist, sounding oh so far away.*
"Past, Present, or Future~" *It bubbled. And started to glow, the spirit starting to change a little. It had been said previously that attempts at divination around ashport have failed of late. Yet, yue had this chance to use the spirit with her magic to attempt a reading---yet she had to choose.
Look into the future, and have a hint of what might come to pass. Look into the present, to see what was happening at the moment. Look into the past, seek out old clues. All she had to do was say the word and the magic would trigger.*
Scheherazade:Yue considered the question thoroughly for a few moments but eventually it came to her. Knowing of the future was pointless, she could never know if it would came to pass with or without her, and the present was certainly useful but ultimately her curiosity won out. "The past." She stated.
Cronowind:*The spirit bubbled again before Yue found herself looking into the spirit. She could see it... see through it. Her vision pierced through space and time, as it was with divination magic. Had her visions in the past looked anything like this? Or was what was occuring in ashport so dramatically different that this was new to her? In the end, the difference only mattered to Yue.
Yue would see five men--no. Four men, one woman. They were standing in a cave, and yue could see thick golden streaks inside the very stone of the cave where the people stood. They stood before a large statue, of a faceless guardian. Terribly old, who placed it there was unknown. In its stone hands it held a pile of stone skulls.
Two of the five gathered were dwarves, one of them would mutter. "This is the fourth one we've dug up. I like the gold, but this place is cursed." She could see that this dwarf was big, powerful and had on a great helmet that had its bottom cut out so a ample steel coloured beard could be freed from the confines of the metal.*
"You are superstitious, we all know. It is likely those who came here before the migrant serendipity mages arrived left these in caves to worship the spirits." A man said this time. He was an imposing sight. Holding a septer in one hand, and a large book in the other. He was dressed head to toe in black armor.
"Perhaps the dwarf is on to something." *Said the woman. She was the mans counterpart it seemed. She wore no helmet, and silver coloured hair splayed free over armor emblazoned with the same. Her eyes a fierce blue, she'd look around the rest.
*The man at the front would speak then.* "Do not fear my friends." *He had a warm voice, but he was faced away from Yue. She couldn't see his face or his features.* "There is an old magic here, yes. But so old that it has faded. We will do well."
*With that the man went to touch the statue. All five of the people present stiffened as yue heard a sound as he touched the stone. A grating sound, like deep stone moving under the earth. The other steel bearded dwarf would grumble.* "I hope you know what you've done lad. Least a curse fall upon all of Ashport, nay... The world."
At last the other dwarfs would turn to speak. His beard, much shorter and more trim, was the colour of sand. He would say...
"Yue. Yue are you alright?" *He suddenly started to sound more female as the image started to grow murkey.* "Yue, are you alright?" *She'd find herself standing zoned out in the middle of the aquaduct. The spirit she had been holding was gone.*
Scheherazade:Yue gave a quick and sudden shake of her head once she heard Dahlia, working to clear the invisible voices out of her head. It didn't work, at least not at first, and it only made the lingering images jumbled and all the more confusing for her to interpret. They were supposed to be looking for a mage weren't they?
"I saw dwarves, I thought dwarves hated water," She remembered the pride the dwarves on the docks had felt in their unified heritage and she found it unlikely that those she saw had felt different. If the dwarves were involved in her vision then it was likely the entire city was, from the top down. "Then again, something tells me that wasn't what I was looking for."
A man wearing armor carrying a book of spells, a woman of silver, whatever she had seen seemed like it included more pieces than she currently thought were in play. Without a second thought she relayed what she had heard to Dahlia, sparing the irrelevant details she wanted a second opinion and with the samurai being an outsider the same as she her opinion wouldn't be clouded. For a moment she considered leaving for another she considered trying to perform another divination but it had taken all it had for the lonely spirit to relay a message to her the first time.
"What do you think?" she finally asked.
Cronowind:"I saw you, that you were covered in a rain cloud. The rain swirled around you, but did not harm you. You've been standing there for five mintues." *The woman said simply.* "Elemental spirits are not rare, but it is rare that one would approach you without you being a druid, or shaman. If it made you see something... It must be connected. However vaugely. We cannot hope to understand an elementals mind. Or the vauge misgivings of magic... we must move on." *She said simply.*
"We were heading this way. We don't have much to go on, exept that there are not many of these passages. They all head down to the sea." *She nodded before turning.* "Warn me when you see something like that, next time. There may not be any truely evil spirits, but there are spirits that prey on flesh like a lion does. It never hurts to be careful." *She said as she went to walk down the corridor.*
They would walk for a few mintues. Dahlia looking this way and that, trying to spot any clues. But eventually she'd grow bored and turn back to yue, seeming curious.*
"I hope you do not mind, but I am curious about you. You walk with a certain balance, are you school taught or self taught in combat?"
Scheherazade: Yue shrugged her shoulders dismissively. She had grown up surrounded by spirits, one could say she felt closer to them than she did people and considering the time they would not be wrong, had the water spirit attacked her she believed she could firmly hold her own. But Dahlia was a companion and the concern was touching, at least it meant that the samurai wasn't going to turn tail and run once they got into trouble.
"They mentioned a curse. One that could affect the entire city," Yue shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat and slouched with thought. Investigating was one thing but she couldn't let the vision go, not with a greater mystery dancing on the very edge of her perception. "If they're connected than we're not dealing with a simple kidnapping here. This is serious..."
She couldn't shake the feeling that the two figures she had seen were connected to the dueling garrisons of Ashport. But that of course was silly. The Church and the Mages hated each other so for their two most prolific figures to meet in the darkness of the sewers would be absolutely silly. And that begged the question as to who the final and fifth voice was. She stroked her chin nonetheless in thought.
"A little of both. My father taught me when I was just a girl; the spirits taught me later on when he passed. Sometimes it felt like I was practicing to pass the time more than anything else." Yue mused on it for a second. "I don't think either style was really meant for humans though."
To practice that is, not to use on. It was perfectly viable to use on anyone.
Cronowind:"To most spirits are invisible. The spirits fire, water, earth and sky--even the spirits of the dead. Shaman and Necromancers can see each perspectively, and interact. I can only see and hear them, and I know not to trust spirits unless I have no other choice. Some spirits, as I said. Feast upon human life force." *She nodded as she trotted along.*
"I have spent the majority of my youth learning three things. A basic education, the way of the sword and the way of the Makni Clan. My family, extended and direct." *She nods then.* "One learns to spot the way people who know how to fight hold themselves. Which is why I ask." *They came up to a T intersection. Left or right didn't seem to make much of a difference. So Dahlia turned right. It was darker in this tunnel. Yue would have a chance to talk, but then...
Well. She'd hear something. A skuttiling noise, was it on the wall? On the roof of the tunnel? It was roughly 12 feet tall, and the light was dim at best. Dahlia would stop then instantly and shift her feet, centering her weight.*
Scheherazade:"The same could be said of people. Spirits at least don't concoct elaborate plots to steal the lives of others. They are quite clear about their intentions from the start." The turtle gave an almost unheard scoff. Yue gave the cage a swat afterwards. "Swordsmanship you say? How fascinating, I was never much for wielding weapons myself, but I always thought it sounded romantic in the stories. You never heard of the brave knight saving a princess by beating the dragon to death with his bare hands now do you?"
"It's somehow... messier." She had never really stopped to judge who was strong. Well she hadn't really had many fights with humans. She could tell when there was magic afoot, she could smell it on the air, but when it came to hand to hand combat she always figured that out by how they swung back.
Then the scuttling. Without wasting a moment she flung her hand out, casting a quick spell of light, halfway between their heads and the ceiling. At the same time she crouched, as if she were ready to spring in any one direction, not that it would help her a whole lot. She had no idea where it came from.
Cronowind: *Dahlia muttered as yue instantly cast the light spell up."Two forms passed overhead. Roughly three feet tall." It formed above her head in a small ball of light, revealing several feet to either side of the tunnel. In the direct light, there was nothing. But in the edges where the light she saw them. Bodies, outlines of bodies. Six of them infront of her from the way they came. And another six behind her where Dahlia was standing, back to back with yue as it seemed. They didn't approach the light.
But as soon as the light went up. She'd hear them. And she instantly wished she hadn't (or more than likely) as they started to sing in off tune, croaking voices that sounded more like frogs then humans.
Haha, Hehe, we sing the goblin song
The travelers turned right, they chose wrong!
We'll catch them, stab their feet.
drink their blood; the taste so sweet!
cut them up, so much fun.
We're all around you, you cant run!
So lay down, you ugly thing.
your soft neck, we will ring!
We'll grab the stones
So we can break your bones!
Fight us now, you can try
But it no matter, you'll just die!
------COMBAT------
((Fair warning to anybody reading this, from this point on until the end of the combat, thread rated M for mature.))
At which point not one, not two, but three of the creatures ran into the light infront of yue. And the sounds of more coming in from behind her. Dahlia was behind her however. The creatures she faced were roughly three feet tall. Their skin a unhealthy yellow, with piggish mouths and tiny, blood shot eyes. Wearing soiled leathers and carrying a stolen blacksmiths hammer, a short sword and a dagger. They rushed at her!
(( Reference to the Artwork: Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual: Page 305 ))
"Goblins!" *Dahlia would cry and take a battle stance. But Yue would have to leave Dahlia to her own devices. The goblins would fan out. Each goblin was, by itself. Smaller, slower, more stupid, weaker and less skilled than Yue. But the goblins had one advantage. Numbers. The one with the sword would charge right at yue as it attempted to slip its sword into her belly, an overarching power attack bound to miss.
But the others would attack from the sides if allowed. Flanking. The one with the hammer would attempt to bring down its weapon on yues foot. And the third would attempt to cut at her leg.
And worse. Something would whiz at Yue and if she didn't dodge, would thump into her chest leaving a bruise. The others in the shadow were throwing stones.*
Scheherazade: Yue found their voices disgusting. She spoke with the spirits and their voices were that of nature itself, even at their fiercest there was a natural beauty to their roar. The goblins on the other hand were disgusting, piggish, and generally terribly off key. Once she got past that though it was actually quite adorable that they had a song all set up, twelve of them chattering in a cheerful choir, if only they hadn't been so happy about killing her it might have been endearing.
Combat was now though. Yue intended to show Dahlia exactly how she fought. In a crouch with her hand up it was a smooth transition that allowed her to draw her staff from over her shoulder. She tugged it forward and let it glide out on its own momentum, sliding forth until she could grasp it firmly in both hands.
The goblin in front might have figured out by now but his flanking plan was going to encounter a little bit of a problem. Yue was not only bigger but she had an extremely long weapon and while the head may not have been bladed it was very heavy and had some nasty ridges. If not he was going to learn a lesson quickly when she snapped the staff out, aiming to catch the first goblin with a hard blow to the face before he even got close enough to swing his sword.
The other two would suffer similar fates. She would transition her staff until it was flat to her body. The goblin attempting to cut her leg would find the butt end of the staff striking out at her gut and then she would drop the heavy head of her staff on the one with the hammer. It all came in smooth flowing movements, her speed more than human and the weight of blows heavier than her bony adolescent body should have allowed. She wasn't using any magic yet, just the gifts that flowed through her veins.
If they chose to give her trouble everything might not go as planned. If not she'd raise her foot, ready to hammer a boot down on top of the hammer wielding goblins head while he was close. A curbstomp that might very well have cracked his little skull open. That is until a rock slammed into her chest. With a gasp of surprise and pain she bumped back into Dahlia.
"Okay, that didn't go as planned."
Cronowind: --Dahlia--
Dahlia didn't seem to hear her. If Yue looked behind her she'd see that Dahlia had acutally closed her eyes as her three came screaming at her. Dahlia's face the mask of calm, she had her hand on her pommel and waited. One of them, wielding a club, would attempt to run at her and jump with a downward smash into her chest. But it wouldn't get that far. Dahlia would suddenly move and her body, hand and sword moved in one fluid motion. THe motion of the sword fleeing the scabbard in an instant, so fast that even trained eyes might not see it move, would suddenly be on the end side of a slash.
The goblin fell to the floor, clutching at its head. The blade had, in an instant, knifed through the creatures lower face, and cut between its open mouth. Cracking the bones in the jaw and splitting the flesh, dahlia had taken its jaw and damn near cut it off. It lay on the ground screaming before going into shock. The others would rush Dahlia, one of them would pound a short sword up into her belly, but the basic sword would get caught on her armor--a typical sword was not able to pierce the dragons hide. The other would whip its dagger at dahlia, flying past her cheek and cutting along it.
---- Yue ----
The monk engaged in combat. Her fluid movements of the monk and her twisting motion caught the little devils off guard. The first goblin found its mouth being filled with staff, its teeth splintering. It was knocked unconscious or killed right away from the pure force. The goblin with the hammer got a heavy clunk to the head and went bug eyed for a moment, dropping its hammer and clutching its head.
The third however, was wearing armor. And the soiled leather armor absorbed some of the end of the blow. It would attempt to grab her staff and pull, it was weaker then yue. But if it managed to succeed. It'd hamper her use of the weapon for a few seconds as more stones whizzed in her direction. One of them would whiz past her. One would (if she didn't dodge) hit her chest and the third would actually catch her in the face if she hadn't moved.
Scheherazade: Yue appreciated the solidarity that Dahlia was showing, standing back to back was quite heroic. But Yue wasn't the kind of person to stand still in battle and when the little goblin decided to clutch a hold of her staff he'd find out why. She loosen her grip on her staff, fingers still forming a light cage around it, but enough so that they could slide with relative ease. Meanwhile she would lunge across that distance, her speed was so quick it was a sudden, and a moment later she was on the other side with her foot raised and her sole driving itself down in the goblin's face.
The little green hammer brother had escaped that fate but this one wouldn't. With all of her weight she would drive the little thing into the ground, the soft back of his skull would break open like an egg, and well the result wouldn't be all that pretty.
Yue only grew more eager the longer the battle went on. With an unseen flick of her wrist the light, previously forgotten, would fly into the face of the stone throwing goblins. One in particular would be the victim of handing a blinding bulb shoved into one of his eyes, the others would just have to shield their eyes from the glare, and then she was upon them.
If they allowed her Yue would appear on one side of the goblin trio. The one closest to the center would be the victim of her blinding assault. Meanwhile she would seek to eliminate one of the corners, collapsing the formation entirely. Both of her hands were tight around the butt of her staff and like a pro leaguer swinging for the fences she would bring the metal ring crashing into goblins chest. Armor would only be a hindrance here, the ridges of her staff were liable to get caught in it, creating a horrible moment where the little green marauder would find himself attached to the end of her weapon and a victim to her whims.
"Little goblin, oh so sly.
Scream for me as you fly!"
Yue wasn't a good singer but she tried her hand at it anyways.
Cronowind: ---Dahlia---
Dahlia would continue her side of the combat. The goblin that had sliced at her chest with the sword tried to pull away, its sword completely ineffective against her dragonhide armor. But it couldn't get away fast enough at it would find itself in direct combat with Dahlia. It tried to flank with its comerade but it couldn't disengage fast enough, Dahlia's sword slid in an arch under its blade and flickered across its stomach. It slid to the ground with a dull wimper. Its hands trying to keep its intestines from slipping out.
Its companion would be alone. Yet two more would rush out at Dahlia from the darkness. The rocks having been completely ineffective against her armor, they had decided to close.*
--- Yue ---
Yue would be successful in most of her endevors. Her snap-attack by moving across the staff would catch the little runt off guard again. Having expected a tug of war with yue, it fell and it was broken. Stinking little green brain matter flecked out from the back of its head as it was hit.
Yue had managed get away from the wounded creature, as it had dropped its weapon and couldn't take a swipe at her. But as she ran towards the remaining three, two of them would charge. Stupid? Yes. Without tatics? No. One of them had a sharpened stick that was long enough to be a spear, and would attempt to ward Yue back. The other would shift over a quick five feet before using its club to try and give her a painful swat on the leg. Yue would likely defeat them just fine.
Until the third one from behind would attempt to slip its dagger into her calf while her back was turned. The trecherous little monster, taking yues distraction from fighting the two in front to gather up its weapon and attempt to sneak attack. If yue was hit by this, it wouldn't be a deep cut. But it would be painful, very.
The third backpedaled. It was bigger than the others. And had a look in its eye that showed a intelligent malice that just wasn't in the others. Being four feet tall, with a shabby chain mail. It reached into it pouch, but for the moment. Did nothing else and was no threat.*
Scheherazade: Yue was nothing if not creative and changing her plan on the fly was always an option. Yue shifted her attention to the advancing pair, after all they were the most immediate threat, and directed her spell of light(still hovering in the ceiling) into the eye of Club, as she had dubbed him inside of her spear.
Spear has a surprisingly long weapon considering his size but it was still ultimately just a stick and hers had a whole on the head. She twisted her staff so that the thrust flew through the head of the sound staff and then with a twist of her wrist she either completely redirected or more likely just snapped it clean in two. Her momentum was lost but in its place Yue had more time to control her actions, jabbing the head of her staff into Spear's abdomen and letting the ridges catch within his armor.
"Behind!" the voice was gruff, the tiny turtle shouted and it almost went unheard, but Yue had been listening to his keen commands for years.
Hammer eh? I thought you'd be smart! Yue would whirl around, with a goblin now attached to the head of her staff she would bring it driving down into Hammer's body. Smashing the two little ones together and then into the ground with her prodigious strength. At the same time though she sprang back, ever wary of remaining in one place, if he still had the wherewithal to slash his dagger it would nip at the thick hide of her coat and then at the leather boots beneath, but her strike would ultimately steal any penetrating power he might have had.
As for Club? Well one could only hope that he was distracted or else Yue might not be able to respond in time for this one.
Cronowind: ---Dahlia---
Dahlia and yue certainly had different fighting styles. During the combat she had not moved an inch, until now. In which case she took one quick five foot step towards the one goblin and slashed down. Her sharp cutting splitting through the club it raised to block and dove deep into its head. She'd pull the sword out with a squelch and raised it in a defensive stance, letting the other two goblins come towards her. Rocks bounced off her armor--one finally finding one of the gaps in her plates to knock against her leg. Causing a bruise.
Dahlia would meet the other two goblins, her sword flashing back and forth. Parrying left and right as the goblins, even while working together, could not get past both her sword and her armor.
---Yue---
Well spear was screwed. He'd get hit in the chest, and thumped pretty hard at that. The kinks in the head of the staff held his armor and he found himself flying around to meet the sneaker. The two goblins would crash together and find themselves in a pile of limbs, flailing, pain and death. Being pinned against the staff on the floor, they'd likely be too sore and troubled for a time to bother her. Granted they were, at the moment, -helpless-. A strike to both of them would kill them outright.
Sadly goblins had been thrown off guard by the light before, but now they were prepared for it. As much as the stupid thing could be. The goblin known as club would swing absolutely wild, and would attempt to thump her leg enough to cause a bruise
*The sneak attack from the one known as hammer had failed, but it would cause minor damage to her boot as it stuck at her. The momentum stolen, but the blade was sharp. The other goblin who was in back pulled something out of its bag. It was a black orb. Looking at yue intently then, huffing as she fought. It pulled on a part of the orb, muttering foul goblin things. Yet, it seemed like whatever it was doing would take a bit.*
Scheherazade:Yue was struck in the back of the leg by Club and the name from which he had derived his oh-so-clever nickname in her mind. She buckled and a bruise was no doubt forming where the blow had landed but when she whirled around to face him there was on fury in her eyes. Buckling hadn't put a stop to her constant flurry of motion either and it had left him on the perfect height for what was coming next.
Yue let go of her staff and with fingers like claws she lashed out and gripped Club by his tiny green skull. Yes her tiny human digits had formed claws and they would burrow their way into whatever was available to them and hold Club in place. As Yue stood her knee pumped out, delivering a brutal blow to his nose. If that wasn't enough she'd follow it up with a few more, her strength and weight guaranteeing that Club was trapped for the duration of his punishment.
Like a cat retracting its claws Yue's fingers snapped back to normal and allowed his limp body to slump to the ground. She whirled back to her staff and looked to grab it. If the broken little goblins were going to attempt anything now would have been the time but between the broken bones they no doubt had there was no room for a struggle. If they flailed as she grabbed her staff she would use her strength to pin them down(pressing her weight on the staff) and deliver kicks to their heads to finish the job.
If not she would wrench her staff free and leave them to their business. Somewhere amidst the savagery Yue still had a sense of pity. She turned to look at the goblin leader and made her quiet advance.
Cronowind:---Dahlia---
As it turned out. Out of a test for pure swordsmanship, Dahlia verses the two goblins, was a very unfair fight. Swords clinging and ringing against each other, Dahlia would strike the final blow to that encounter by ending one of them. Opening her chest open to an attack, the goblin would attempt to stab her. Only to have its sword thwarted by her great armor once again. At which point her blade would whip around and slide under its chin and above its shoulders. It had a startled look for half a moment before its head rolled off its shoulders, its bloody stump spurting blood as it tumbled to the ground. One on one, the other goblin was stabbed and perished. She looked for the other goblin, but apparently it had fled the slaughter.*
---Yue---
Yue didn't really have much of a challenge. Had she rushed the leader, she would have had to walk over two flailing bodies and through a goblin with a club. Yet as it stood, she focused fire on all of the other goblins, which was a mistake on her part... possibly. See, wounded and tired. The other goblins were mopped up by her and her claws.
Yet the leader still remained. And in the time it took her to get that done. He had finished with his black orb. The top had a open mouth which was now on fire, giving a small hiss. As she turned around to walk towards him, she'd find a small orb had landed right in front of her. She'd have a split second, which the leader would say:
"Bye-bye."
Because then the orb would explode. A alchemical explosive, part black powder and part alchemy. Flames would lick around her and the force would be enough to knock her back, but it wouldn't kill her. What had a chance of killing her was the shards of black glass that flew out from the explosion.*
Scheherazade:"Bye-bye." Yue was far too chipper for someone who had a bomb detonating in their face, or was she.
While the goblins may have had numbers they had nothing in the way of cohesion, they charged in recklessly and chose only to take advantage of the death of their brothers rather than work together. Yue and Dahlia hadn't so much as looked at each other the entire fight but that wasn't the cohesion in question. It was between Yue and her tiny unseen comrade.
Yue had a tendency to get caught in battle but since her youth she had been trained to pay attention to one voice in particular. With another gruff command, one that would be little more than a whisper to everyone else, Yue became aware of the bomb. Of course he had been planning something, that sly little bastard, and luckily one of them had a cool head.
Yue looked as though she would finish off the enfeebled goblins and she'd even so far as to kick the top on in the head, snapping its neck. But that's because he was the most likely to do something. The bottom goblin had suffered two of her attacks so far and the damage was mounting, if he really had the guts to stab at her again he'd probably earned it.
When the goblin captain would be lobbing his bomb and proudly imagining her death she would be turning with a plan. The tip of her leather boot pitched under that bomb and sent it on a return course back to sender. With the fuse it probably wouldn't make it all the way back but it would be significantly closer to the captain than to her. Yue couldn't help but gloat though, a moment before throwing her arms up, on the periphery of the blast some of the shards would still reach her and even her coat could only stop so much penetration.
If the captain was still around Yue would be advancing on him, provided there was no funny business. But she'd proven to be quite adept at handling that so far.
Cronowind: *Yue would send the bomb flying up into the air with her boot. But she had never encountered this type of bomb. She didn't know how long it would take to detonate. Which is why as it flew, roughly half way between the goblin leader and herself. It would blow up! And while the force wasn't enough to knock either over from in-between them. But it did send shards of black glass at both of them!
In this contest of who could take the most punishment. The goblin had chain mail, which protected its chest but not its head or arms. Yue had her armor, which would catch many of the shards. But yue might possibly still find that she felt a sharp pain in her cheek as a shard of black glass ripped past it. If she had moved just in time, she would dodge however.
The goblin leader was not so lucky. He had gotten a piece of shrapnel right in the eye, and one in the throat. He was in critical health, he'd die in time but he wouldn't die yet. He'd hiss in his throaty song, one last dirge. Just for yue.*
Hear me now, before you strike!
My words I speak, you wont like!
Our gods stir, time to Awaken...
Yours lives shall be Taken!
Our gods are strong, our gods are tall
They will come, Ashport will fall
Soon you will hear the Sigil Masters sing!
The sound of your death knell shall ring!
With that, the lord would fall, heaving slowly. In time he would go into shock, and likely die.
Scheherazade:Yue would allow herself to fall back with the explosion either way. Maybe it wouldn't do much but she was fairly certain that the goblin leader was the last one left and after the explosion he would be in no condition to come after her. She'd fall back with the shards stabbing at her, one penetrated the thickness of her coat and embedded itself into her forearm and another managed to whip by her face and leave a bloody line. Both stung like hell and several more little blows peppered her abdomen with enough force to annoy but not cripple.
Yue would at least fall onto the pile of goblins, eliciting a grunt from the one she had mercifully let live, he was having a really bad day this time around. She was ready to spring to her feet once more but then the song began and this time she honed in on his croaking voice. She lay there, her breathing slowly calming and the adrenaline wearing away as she listened to his terrible little diddy.
Then it was over.
She rolled over, more painful grunts from the bottom of the pile, and wrenched her staff free. Then she glanced over at Dahlia. She was pretty efficient with that blade of hers, pretty but not quite Yue's style, exactly the kind of hero that legends sung about. No bards would play a harp to the story of Yue caving a goblins skull in with her knee. Maybe she was a bit jealous...
"So... do we keep going?"
Cronowind:"No. Not yet." *Dahlia would pause then as she went into her bag. Walking over to her. It was quite the sight, looking at Dahlia. The blood that flowed against her cheek was really contrast to how pale she was. In comparison to the blood on her cheek, her skin was nearly bleach-bone white. She'd give a faint smile then as she withdrew a small roll of clean linens from her bag.*
"You are wounded. Allow me to treat you?" *She would ask. Mainly going to work on the arm. If allowed, she would remove the shard and tightly bind the arm with Linen bandages. Holding it tightly so it would heal well. If she was allowed to. If she did allow her, there was a chance there would be no scar. But if she didn't, there was a good chance that a thin white line would be present--a momentum of the goblin ambush on her arm.
Dahlia would look around the battle field then before looking a little distant.* "We have an issue still, Yue." *She nodded then.* "...These goblins are wounded. One of them fatally. What should we do?" *She looked to the beaten ones then.* "Luckily I am not honorbound to make a choice in this situation, since I have enough cause to show mercy. Mercy by letting them go, or mercy by killing them."
Scheherazade:Yue allowed her wound to be bandaged. Her body was sturdy and wounds dealt to her all healed in time but that didn't mean that she was immortal by any means. It hurt and the linen did her good if only as a mental placebo before her next rest and the inevitability of her healing factor began to take place.
"Did they know they were here?" Yue was suspicious at this point. Her vision had her running circles, the man and the woman, they were the picture of the two leaders of Ashport's communities. Did they know this was happening? Was it appropriate to tell them? Instead she just bit her lip and grunted, "Well, we've got quite a decision to make. Maybe if we start asking a few questions it might help us out if you catch my drift?"
She turned her gaze down to the injured goblin. Fatally injured? Dahlia had a better eye than her but then again Yue had really gone to town on him and he had shown some unnatural resilience. "Do you want to do the honors?" the samurai had quite the stalwart nature. Maybe she'd be better at interrogation. In battle Yue's bloodlust was unmatched but outside of it she was a little squeamish, worried about getting caught up in her own rage.
Cronowind:*Dahlia would shake her head.* "I can question them. But I will not use further pain against them to get questions answered. I do not feel right by it." *She said simply then as she looked to the leader, who had passed out.* "I do not think we'll be getting answers out of him. And he's not the fatally wounded one... well he might be. I was thinking him." *She gestured to one of the ones she had fought. Who was slowly trying to crawl away while trying (and failing) to keep his intestines inside of his body.*
"Are those two alive? You may be able to get something out of them... Pardon me. I don't feel right letting that one suffer." *She walked away from Yue then. Yue had a moment to stop her, but if she didn't she'd just see Dahlia lift up her sword and impale the other goblin. Going to go around to the others that she fought, ensuring none of them lived with mortal wounds. (Granted she walked right by the headless one)
Yue had been treated for wounds. She had one unconcious goblin leader, two broken yet living goblins who were very sore. One of them was with it enough to try and pull himself away, if yue let him he would retreat into the darkness. He was the one who had the sharpened stick-spear*
Scheherazade:Yue immediately went to work and pulled a line of rope out of her pack. It was an important part about setting up her tent, the one she usually did her divination out of, and then she advanced on the goblin leader. Stopping the broken goblins was one thing, they weren't leaving anywhere fast, but the leader was a crafty malevolent little beast and she still remembered well how he'd tried to blow her up.
A clever plan and one that almost worked. She would roll him onto his front and tie him up like he was a hog waiting to be pitched into a roast. If he woke up during the process he would be put back to sleep with some gentle coaxing and her fist.
"Well, as long as the leader is alive we can at least get some answers out of him later."
Yue put on her best angry face, sliding her glasses low as she advanced on the more coherent injured goblins. "If you want to guarantee your life and his you better begin talking though. Who sent you here and where are the captives?" she demanded.
Cronowind:*The goblins who were alive but with broken limbs just sat there, cowed. The one who could walk had his excape attempt foiled. They would listen to Yue, and would watch her companion brutally impale their former friends. They'd yelp and start talking.*
"The boss, the boss! He dreams of ice, of gods and ashport burning! His dreams sent us here. Dreams, yes! Captives... we eat them!" *The goblin offered a brilliant smile. The other would reach over and cuff him in the head.* "One left! One left, he hangs in the cage. We can't reach him. We throw bones and poop at him for fun. He starves up there in the cage. He wont last long now. His cries make us laugh and lauuugh and laaaaaaaaugh." *The second one would giggle then. The first would clunk him in return. Goblins weren't really nice creatures it seemed.* "Toothy can walk. You take toothy and boss, toothy show you. Leave snubbs here, snubbs heal. You no kill snubbs?" *The one goblin asked. The second would say.* "No! You carry snubs! Leave toothy here to stay! Carry snubs. Snubs knows where treasure is!" "You shut your lying mouth!"
