Advertise/Affiliate Other Forum Main Page The World Before You Play

Urchins (CyclicalCycal)

Started by Whim, December 02, 2016, 11:26:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Whim

"Well, its a big gate and we're pretty little. Maybe we can squeeze-"

And just like that two statues along the path, a cherubic boy and nymph clutching a conch, stepped off their pedestals and onto the path. A glare of malevolence flickered behind their playful faces. From behind the children came Thistle's shrill voice. "Oh ho!  Did you two little insignificant shit-stinking rat-faced little mongrels think you could just ruin the mistresses library and trot out of here like nothing? After all her kindness and hospitality you just think you can go!" the imp's claws tightened with rage. Ewan and Cara both felt their clothes shift and tighten as the imp seized control of their garments.

"There will be consequences you snot-nosed, lice-ridden, ill-mannered brats. Oh you mark my word."

Through the hedges they could, perhaps, catch a glimpse Bagrush idling out of the kitchens to fetch firewood.
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

"Gah!" Cara got out, quickly trying to grab at the area. Around her, the flora flared. She reeled around, trying to get her gaze onto Thistle, glancing about, madly. She looked to Bagrush, and Thistle, and Ewan, and spluttered out. "E-ewan?! B-bagrush?! F-father?! A-anyone?!" She seemed to say, panicking. As she finally got her gaze on Ewan, she pointed at him with her free hand, her grip quickly slipping.

All the flora around her, seemed to shift into malevolence. Angry, hateful, the empty green life grew a dangerous intent as it pointed at Thistle. "Get away! GET AWAY!" She roared. No, demanded.

Whim

"I'm stuck too!" the mouse-boy yelped, struggling against his vest and tunic. The children soon found themselves frogwalked forward by the enchanted garments.

"What the sodding 'ells?" Bagrush grunted in annoyance, snatching up his hatchet. "Five years I've worked under ya, ya little shit. I'm getting bored of it!"

Thistle sneered in annoyance at the ogre, pointing madly. "G-get him!" and with that the cherub and nymph lept from their pedestal. Marching to engage the ogre. "I run this household. And you stinking rotten verminous little rats will obey!"

One advantage to being a ratboy was Ewan's clothes didn't quite fit. His tail and fat little stomach provided just enough opening to wriggle from the shirt and vest. Thistle was, luckily, preoccupied with Bagrush. The little wizard darted forward, tackling the imp! They tustled about, shrieking and clawing at one another.

Meanwhile Bagrush, already bloody, was trading blows with the states. Despite his muscle, his hatchet proved a poor choice against the stone. Cara was left snared in fabric, but the garden was her's. As was, perhaps, a choice...
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Cara was not a particularly intelligent or wise child. She was violent, spiteful, and impulsive. There was a strangeness about her, and a stupidity to her actions and words. But she was powerful, and with great power came great irresponsibility. Cara pointed, directly, at Thistle, struggling to be unbound. The garden twisted, and writhed, and aimed itself at Thistle, and then it lurched at him, going to strike and lash at him. Violent and thrashing all the flora aimed to do whatever it could. Crush or impale or just bop him on the head.

As she did so, Cara clawed at the wretched fabric. "Let...me...go!" She spat out, angry, the flora bristling and twitching in wrath.

Whim

"You nasty, filthy, scum-chewing-" Thistle spat curses between angry snarls. While though about Ewan's height he had far more muscle than the boy. He'd nearly pinned the little wizard when a rush of thorny vegetation ensnared his limbs, pulling tight and in unnatural directions. The imp screamed in pain.

Ewan clambered off him with a kick to the gut, panting. "Th-thanks Cara..." The girl was having her own struggles with the enchanted dress. Thistle had locked eyes on her and doing all he could do hurt her in turn. "I've got you!" he scampered over, working his clawed nails into the seams, tearing at her best to free at least one arm.... though his grip seemed to be weakening.

From across the courtyard came a howl of pain. One of the statues slammed had wrenched Bagrush's axe away and slammed a fist into the helpful ogre's chest, bringing him to the ground.
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Cara blinked, ripping and tearing. She looked over to the imp, then to the ogre, then to the imp, back, and so on and so forth. She was confused, and her arm seemed to come free, and she seemed to point it at Bagrush. There was a weak, chaotic lashing out of flora, all trying to help the statue. It was evident that Cara wasn't particularly refined in her approach. The warlike flora was more likely to harm both the poor ogre and the animated statues.

As Cara stumbled out of her bindings, she couldn't help but gasp, eyes darting across the area. "W-we need to go! N-now!"

Whim

"Good! Careful, eh?" the ogre bellowed as vines tugged the cherub statue backward. He hefted his axe to finish it. One of the vines, however, curled around the weapon as well. "Oy! Careful lass, I-" Bagrush never finished his sentence. The nymph landed a blow on the ogre and he fell...

"But--! We need to save him!" the mouse-boy squeaked in horror. The boy scurried forward from Cara'a side, ready to mend the ogre. No sooner had he taken a few steps than he tripped over his shortpants, which once fit nicely. Ewan was shrinking and becoming more mouse-like by the moment. Some feet away Thistlr, bloodied but not dead, was croking out some vial curse. "Gah! Cara! Get him before the spell's done!"

And that was not the worst of it. The air was now thick with smoke. On the far side of the courtyard, near the big glass doors, a red woman hovered in the air. Flames whipped from her fingertips, lashing a monstrous tree now squirming in her direction.
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Cara watched with wide, wide eyes. She stumbled forwards, going to push her hands out towards Thistle worthlessly. The flora thrashed and flailed at him, but it wasn't with the precision of a deadly attack, but more the wounded flailing of a dying and hopeless animal. All focus would fade from Bagrush, and leave the corpse to wither and rot away, Cara focusing all of her power on the more immediate threats.

But it was still weakness, and her power was withering all the same. She could not kill both Thistle and the woman, and Cara was fairly certain she was soon to die. So, she panicked, looking for any way out, escape avenue - something, anything!

Whim

The dying imp sneered, hissing with pain."Cara?" the mouse boy called out, tugging at the fur on his arms as if that might halt the curse. He was a head shorter than her now and shrinking. The girl seemed lost in her head. To their north was the manor, but also the witch and her fire. To the south was the garden gate, which was locked. He tugged at her in that direction. "I don't think I'm gonna be human very long. But we gotta go! Maybe we can squeeze through the gate?"

***

In the distance a bell was starting to ring. Drawn by the fire, a large crowd had assembled at the back gate. Some appeared to be guards; others were conscripts lugging a wagon and water-barrel. Ewan pulled Cara behind a decorative planter.

"Quit yer gawking, shit-stinkers, break it down!" came a snarl. A dwarf in black armor strode forward, and struck at the chain binding the gate. It took two blows from his hammer and the chain was off. The fire brigade poured into the courtyard. No sooner had they entered than one of the willows, now loyal to Cara in some twisted way, brought its branch down on the cart-driver. The man went flying. The rest of the aberrant plantlife joined in the ambush. "They're damned trees ya half-wits. Chop em!" the dwarf in black iron spat, heaving his axe into one of the smaller treants, mangling it.

"You gotta be quiet, okay? We'll just sneak past..." Ewan coaxed.
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

"...he's here." She whispered, like a gust of wind ebbing all around her. She stumbled towards Ewan. "My...father is here." She turned her gaze up, and to the gate, and then back to Ewan. A strangeness was about her. An aura of great fear, and terrible, awful excitement. "Ewan-!" She began, going to grab at his ill-fitting collar. "You need to stay with me!" She said, deciding not to explain why.

---

Slowly, and with great intent, did Tharron step from the shadows of the town. His greatsword dragged behind him. The being was clad in wooden-plate, horrible armour of ironbark. Six eyes burnt in the helm, power flowing to the back of his head, welling up in a seeping point of green light. The creature walked towards the fire, and fire-fighters. Behind it, a collection of wooden golems lay, waiting. They did not move. They would not move until he returned.

He saw the mansion, and he saw it not as a wonderful place of wealth, and splendour, but instead a hideous, wretched, edifice of civilisation, the corpse-that-grew. He walked, and moved towards the cart and treants. "Give me back my daughter." He demanded of the fire-fighters. As he moved towards them. The greatsword let out a shimmering sound, like glass, as it scraped across the ground, fixing his eyes on the dwarf. "Where is she, Stonepraiser? I sense her. I sense my heir." He glanced to the treants, and he did not steal the treants' power from Cara, as he could, but instead bolstered them. His daughter would have her warriors, and he would let them butcher everything that stood in her way.

After all, it was unlikely that his empowered treants could be stolen from her, he reasoned.

Whim

(So sorry for the late reply. I've been moving.)

Narlis pulled his axe from the shrieking treant with a sharp laugh, eyes locked on the elf. Was it an elf? Too many eyes, but gangly and creepy enough. Least this bastard might make a decent fight! "If we had your brat, elf, wouldn't have to hack through this mess! And stonepraiser? Hah! We ain't a bunch of mewling nancies. My kin don't praise stone. We shape it, make it so as we please, while your lot dither and cry about yer sacred trees being cut.

"Now why don't my boys help you find the exit?" the dwarf's tobacco-stained teeth split into a smile, and he made a sweeping gesture. It was best to see what this elf could do. And so a trio of desperate men, and a goblin, turned their attention to Tharron.

***

"Well isn't he going to help?" Ewan huffed. "Make him do the gate and fix me!"
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

(It's all good.)

"You may have mercy." Tharron stated, his gauntlet up. He clenched his fist, and all around the trio roots burst from the ground, going to entangle them. They seemed to grow sharp, hardening and strengthening themselves. Were he not stopped, they would proceed to bore into the trio, giving them a painful, but ultimately quick, death. Tharron approached the dwarf, dragging his sword behind him, his gauntlet trailing a fine, green mist, as the spell ebbed from him. "Cast aside your weapons...and I will take your head from your shoulders, only." He stated, blandly.

--

"Ewan..." Cara whispered, pulling him down. "F-father loves me. V-very much. But...he's not very nice. He's...going to...kill everything between him and m-me. And if you d-on't stay with me, he'll kill you too. And I don't want you to die." She begged, staring out the gate, trying to get a glimpse of her father. The treeants blocked her view, and she cursed in her violent tongue.

Whim

The hunched goblin and trio of miltiamen faltered. They had been pulled from the gutter and it was determination, not training, which made them dangerous. They had killed fellow men easily enough, but this?

Narlis just cackled, narrowing his beady eyes. "Feh! Best case ya kill him and ya make something of yourselves. Worst case he whacks ya down to the shit pile you crawled from. Go on! And with that the trio advanced on Tharron. The taller and burlier ones rushed him together with their axes, while the goblin and a wiry youth darted to his left and right for flanking.

***

"That's really your father?" Ewan narrowed his eyes at the spindly figure, glowing with foxfire. Maybe it could be an elf, or maybe Cara wasn't an ordinary elf. It sure explained a lot.

"And thanks for, um, not wanting me to die." The boy smiled at her words. "But shouldn't we help?" Ewan had to remind himself he shouldn't be afraid of thugs or even some weird elf either. One of Le'raana's greatest wizards ever should not afraid of greasy thugs or weird elves. He stepped out from behind the column and began to whisper an old spell.

First one bee began to encircle him. Then three or so. And then the swarm began to grow...
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Tharron did not give them another chance. He rose his hand into the air, and roots, all around them wrenched from the ground. They cast up, twisting and turning and writhing. He clenched his fist, and they would rush to entangle and bind the the assailants. He would move to step forwards, as axes buried into him. The ironwood splintered, a little, but it didn't seem to slow him down very much at all. It seemed the being's armour was unnaturally thick, thick enough that an axe strike at full force didn't even register as a blow to the being.

"Give me back my daughter." He demanded, as he went to hurl his arm forwards. The entangled beings - if there were any - would be flung up and down, thrashed upon the ground over and over and over and over and over. Until their corpses were beaten and broken. And as he did that, in the dark alleyway he had emerged from, wooden golems began to rise up, twitching. Three of them staggered forwards, pawing at their own faces. Whispers came from them. "Soorrrrryyyy..." "Forgi-ve-me-pl-e-a-se?" "...it hurts..." and they repeated over and over as Tharron advanced towards the dwarf. "Give me back my daughter." He repeated.

---

Cara pointed at her father as he stepped forwards, ignoring everything. "He's angry - he's angry..." She was terrified, more than she'd ever been. "Ewan, th-that short beard-sprite is dead. W-why are you summoning bees?" She asked, looking to the bees with wide eyes. "Y-you need to go..." She whispered, quietly, afraid, ignoring Ewan's happiness that she had admitted she valued his life.


Whim

"Right shame that is. Two of those rotters near bough their freedom from me, ya know. As for your daughter? I suppose we want her too. Red Witch paid us a hefty some. We could be after her now, ya know, but coin comes and goes. Ain't had a proper fight in a while. Ought to be happy she ain't here to see me break yer limbs and shit on your face, eh?

"Hierocoatlyx!" The dwarf shrugged his shoulders. The feathery cloak he wore, dulled by grit and smoke, spread itself into a pair of feathery wings and a sickening glow spread over the courtyard.  The cloak was stitched from the wings of a noble dragon, and enchanted by some hideous necromancy. With a single flap they propelled the dwarf into the air with unnatural grace. And with pollaxe in hand, grinning madly beneath his visor, Narlis swooped toward the elf! Who even was this pissant? It didn't matter. Vines, storms, toxic gas - the dwarf had faced it all, a wicked imagination planning for each and every contingency. Nothing mattered more than killing and not dying.

***

Ewan watched the dwarf and elf fight, gritting his teeth. They didn't even line up right anymore! He could, and should, eclipse magic wings and a few vines. Easy! "The dwarf's not not dead yet. And you heard him. They're looking for us. Without that tattoo I can fight us out of here. I'm okay now, so long as we can avoid that imp. Why don't you just try telling him I'm a friend?" The boy scratched at his furry arm. The swarm of conjured insects had grown thick, droning and seething with anger.

Ewan darted from behind a pillar, expecting Cara to follow. Two mercenaries we're standing at the gate, uneasily watching Tharron's fight with their boss. "Hey!" They saw Ewan, but the swarm was already on the mail clad figures, each sting delivering paralytic venom as they thrashed and flailed.
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Tharron watched. He - it did not flinch as the dwarf took to the skies. Didn't even move. He simply walked forwards. The golems, the hideous howling golems, begging for forgiveness staggered forwards. They clawed at their own faces, trying to hunt out Cara as death came to the poor mercenaries were brutalised. The golems passed by the mercenaries, as they were assailed by the insects. They stumbled straight by, approaching Cara - and Ewan.

"Sorrryyy..." They howled out as they staggered forwards. Cara stumbled out towards them, extending her hands. "Stop." She demanded. They did. Cara glanced back to Ewan. "Come out! I-it might be safe..." She said, turning her gaze to her father and the dwarf.

The dwarf's pollaxe struck true, grazing across Tharron. It was as if it had swung against a slab of iron, a few splinters of ironbark chipping away. Tharron waved his hand, and the roots let the bludgeoned corpses of the mercenaries flop to the ground. He shifted his gaze to the dwarf, raising his hand up again, clenching his fist. All around him, the roots dug themselves up, spinning and swirling around him, coiled like snakes. They twitched, hunting, active, ready to strike at any moment. Tharron pointed at the dwarf with his free hand, and they lashed out, pushing forwards and trying to get a grip on him, or his clothing, or even the weapon.

Cara frowned, seeming to hesitate. And then, she stumbled forwards, going to run towards the battle, clenching her fists, leaving the golems staring blankly at Ewan as they whispered frail apologies.

Whim

How in the hells? Blow like that should've caved his breastplate! Feh! A chink in the armor was all you needed. Just had to break a bone; pain and stiffness would follow and it would be down hill. Narlis took another heavy swing at the elf, even as the vines closed in, aiming the dull axe-head toward the chipped ironwood. Vines began to close around the dwarf. They gripped the haft of his axe, and there was no room for another blow. The dwarf took a leap backward, propelled by the rotting cloak. He managed to break away, but was left with a sprained wrist "Kia's crabby cunny!" Disarmed now, thanks to that damned nancy elf, but no matter...

Plated fingers snatched a lacquered phial from his belt and uncorked it, releasing a gout of red-and-black smoke. It was Drake'sblood. The dwarf hurled the alchemical infusion, primed to explode, toward the mass of roots.

***

Somewhere, choked beneath a mass of tree-roots, Thistle had worked up the strength to worm free. "Stupid, nasty, wretched little humans. Oh I'll- I'll-!" Suddenly the little imp's ears were ringing. He smelled smoke. There was fire all around him and it was warm. Perhaps the mistress was teaching them all a lesson with her fire spell? He had to tell her was trapped. But his body and jaw did not seem to work anymore.

***

Ewan stumbled forward, the rat fur sloughing off is skin, his receeding tail throwing the boy off balance. "Gods that was annoying! Did you do that?" The little wizard, looking more human by the second, grinned and felt his backside. No tail! "Well I guess your dad can help us forge a path, yeah?" The children found themselves standing between Narlis and Tharron. The elf had a mass of vines on his side, and the dwarf clutching some alchemical tincture.

"You're- you're outnumbered now, ya know. Just let us go and we won't fight!" Was his voice always so shrill and annoying? Ewan winced at the cho.

Narlis' eyes bugged out at the sight of Ewan and Cara, more with manic joy than fear or even relief. "Well ain't this a nice coincidence!

"Light up your arrows boys! And don't go easy on the kids. One of ya bastards bring Toad out here, too!"
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Tharron was neither numbed nor concerned by the near-instant immolation of the mass of roots. They burnt, slumping over as he released his control. He had more pressing matters, slowly twisting his sword within his hands, as if looking for something to butcher. There was no emotion on his mask, none at all, but every moment that passed cause Tharron's movements to grow more and more erratic.

Cara stared up, blinking. She heard the order, snapping her eyes around and about, hunting keenly for these new threats. "F-Father!" She called out, stepping in front of Ewan and trying to block his body with her arm, as if to say 'Do not harm this one.'. Tharron shot his gaze to her, nodding, before snapping his gaze to the dwarf.

"DO NOT HARM MY DAUGHTER."

The golems that had stopped lurched up, shuffling forwards like some form of hideous, animated dead. They were slow, wretched and vile, looking as if they were to fall over as they rushed to guard Cara and Ewan. As they gathered close, Cara placed her hands upon the beings, their wooden forms beginning to shift, twitching as they slowly grew into a great bulwark, a physical protection.

As they did this, Tharron stared at the dwarf. He rose his hand into the air, clenching the gauntlet. Slowly, carefully, flora began to spring forth, large greens of a rich, dark hue.

Whim

Narlis' eye twitched at the elf. More damnable spellcraft! The dwarf hurled the second drakesblood flask toward Tharron, not quite able to aim it, in order to avoid the root and vines. His sword, a sickly black thing that weeped poison, hacked at the foliage to reach a better position near the cobbled streets. This was a game of patience; no sense getting torn up. Dying to an elf was a shit way to go. "Wood don't do too well against fire and my warlock is on his way. We'll do this fun! No dancing flowers and no goons. I'll try and make it nicer than getting roasted alive!"

The assortment of slave-soldiers standing at the gate seemed less enthusiastic. One, a droopy-eared kulshredra, skittered back from the wood golems, only for a squat goblin to step on his tail The Grimguts had formed a phalanx around the garden.

***

A volley of burning bolts, aimed at Ewan and Cara, thunked into the tree golems. The boy winced at the sound, curling up behind one of the legs. Whatever Tharron was he did not seem too interested in Ewan's safety. "Golly! Your father doesn't get out much, hey? You aren't like normal elves at all, more like faeries, but I guess the ancient sort of elf was-!" He screamed. There was another crunch as more flaming bolts struck at the girl's tree-wall.

"You know we don't have to stay here. We can cut through the house!" he pointed down the garden path back toward the manor. The witch and her familiar were dead, probably?
Awesome avatar by Eckhart_von_Musel

Guilds:
Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science

Events:
The Midnight Harvest
Into the Mouth of Qokagax

Characters:
Ewan ap Rhys - once a great sorcerer, now a small boy
Anwen ferch Rhys - scholar of blood magic
Duke Blackthorn - Duke of Dawn and Dusk, Warden of Weal and Woe, and all-around evil faerie
"Kaliam" - magically conjoined apprentice wizards
Maergath - Magister of Soulshaping, necromancer, angry and hateful wizard
Narlis Thordane - Hero for hire, proud and unrepentant scumlord
Niamh Wayrest - trader in forbidden lore, purveyor of curiosities
OLIVER THE BARBARIAN - a very reluctant hero and monster-slayer
Sage Whitechalk - heir to the Whitechalk Family
Saoirse Nettlefield - Headmistress of Wyrdwood, conniving academic

CyclicalCycal

Cara flinched at the suggestion. She turned, slowly. There was a deep fire within her, an ancient, primal aura. It was fed by something beyond her, and it was clear that she was possessed by it. She said, in a voice darker than any child should ever hold.

"If you want to run away...okay. But I wont leave my father."

And with that, she did another foolhardy thing. She decided that the dwarf was going to be fighting a war on two fronts. She twisted her hands, placing them on the bulwark, as spines began to form upon the top of them. She waited one, two, three seconds, as they slowly formed, before flicking them. The spines launched forwards, a scattershot that would glide through the sky, deadly.

Of course, Cara did reduce the amount of shielding that she had Ewan had, and she quickly cowered behind the golems, placing her hands on them and getting them to regrow.

---

Tharron was struck with the flask. His armour lit up, burning, glorious, resplendent, mortifying. A roar? It wasn't a roar. It was a sound that was not a sound. It emerged from nowhere. It was agony, and wrath beyond measure.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to anger Tharron. The greens drifting through the air suddenly launched out tiny thorns, small enough not to kill, but containing a tiny amount of an agonising toxin, potent enough to feel a pain that was never there. The greens would simply drift to the ground, after this, their only purpose fulfilled.

Tharron himself did not flounder, did not falter. Instead, it was as if the dwarf had rendered him berserk. The creature launched itself forwards, rushing towards the gate, dragging his sword behind him. Roots burst from the ground, following after him, tearing up the city. He rose up his sword, leaping forwards at the closest hostile, living beings - the slave soldiers, going to swing the gnarled ironbark weapon.

Tags: