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The sound of rattling chains [M] [Open/PM to join!]

Started by Medievarad, December 24, 2016, 11:41:24 AM

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Medievarad

OOC: PM to join!
M for gore/implied torture
Character: Natah

How many days had it been? A clear, blue liquid slowly trickled from her lips, dribbling down her tattered and torn robes.

Natah had no idea how many days it had been. All she could remember, all she could think off was pure anger. Her teeth grit as she coughed up more liquid mana. The past days had shown her just what a curse immortality could be. It allowed for official guards to slam a spigot right into her heart and tap pure mana from it. She had no idea what they did with it, but it was valuable, the magus knew that at least. Shipping it around to make a profit was but one of the most obvious things they could do with it.

She would break out this place, tear the entire palace apart if it wasn't for the infernal chains wrapped around her wrists and legs. The very thought of these magic sealing binds made her grit her teeth in anger once more. She let out a soft, shaky breath again. The pain was near unbearable. And she knew her captors would be back, it was only a matter of time.

Wrathwyrm

From the very first step into this country, you had to be careful.  Why?  Well, let's just say that he Essyrnians had some funny ideas about women.  It wasn't as open a place as Serendipity, so certain things would grab their attention and make them grumble.  They might not approve if a lady had a profession that one would normally see in a man.  Now, ordinarily, Rena would not care for two reasons.  Number One, she was a foreigner, and her lifestyle was not any business of anyone from this country.  If she wanted to wear the pants in her family and swing a big sword, that was down to her.  And number two, no one in this world could force her to change, not with all the things that had happened in her life.

However, in this case, she took certain precautions because what she was in town for was incredibly important, and highly...rebellious, vis-a-vis the laws and courtesies of the Great Shah's rule and personal property.  To wit, she would be breaking in.  That alone was problematic.  Now, factor in that anybody noticing in this country that she was a woman with armor and a bigass sword would draw way too much attention.  She'd never be able to pull it off if anybody got wind of her presence early.  That was why Rena had invested in a nice obscuring desert cloak, and cloth bag with a padded bottom and a rope tie to conceal Spark, her sword.  It was in this manner that she entered the country, traveled quietly along a caravan, and came to Essyrn itself.

She waited for night, and then scaled the walls with rope and agility to get up quickly and - to a degree - quietly.  Currently, she was in armor, in desert cloak, and in sandals tied to her plate boots.  Why sandals?  Because it's alot easier to sneak around if your feet aren't going Clank, Clank, Clank!  Night patrol of the Shah's palace was regular, but not with the greatest of attention, as their strict movements were more to keep themselves awake than necessarily keep a perfect watch.  It was late, gods-dammit, and guarding a palace is hard!  Now, it was her time to shine.  Getting rid of the rope, Rena leapt quickly from the patrolled wall to the uneven stone areas that lay between this wall and a much taller one.  A normal person would have to take the stairs.  Not Rena, who hopped her way up like some sort of mountain goat on speed.

Her quickness and agility delivered her to the bottom of the next wall, at an inverted corner, where she used her momentum to hop from wall to wall, although to be fair, it wasn't 100% the elven agility doing it. We must lend credit to her training towards these things, and also he fact that the tip of her plate boots chipped into the stone walls a bit to add to her cling and movement on upwards and over.  She flipped onto the high wall and into a crouch.  Her sword umm...clinked against said wall.

"Aw crap."

Quickly running to a spot where there was cylindrical-shaped jutting part of the palace next to a different high wall, Rena jumped up and pressed against those two walls to get off the ground, and allow the inevitable guards coming have their look around, find nothing, and wander off.  That was close...  They were more attentive than she thought.  If she blew this too early, there could be a small army of guards on her, and while she could probably handle alot of guards, it wasn't the best of actions.  However, she soon found an entrance proper that led to some of the lower reaches of the palace, specifically their dungeons, where this woman she was looking for - Natah - was being held.  She had essentially been hired to free her, by someone who said she was being tapped for mana.  Of course, once she looked through the cell's door slot...

"Oh gods...  They're actually tapping it."

...she found out that it was a literal action.  This could be...difficult.

Medievarad

The enchanted chains rattled softly as she reached up to the spigot placed in her chest. Natah's hands trembling in pain. She took a ragged, shaky breath as her fingers closed around the wooden apparatus jammed in her chest.

A soft cry of pain broke from her as she tried to pull it from her chest. But, like every day she tried, it was futile. It only caused more of the blue blood to run down her chest and pool around her.

She had eternity to wait here. Lost and forgotten in a cell. She couldn't help but smirk faintly at the irony. She had all time she needed to plot her escape, yet the same time was present to suffer and have her mana tapped like that. For the first time in a lengthy life, Natah wasn't sure whether she'd make it out of this.

Wrathwyrm

It was obscene.  They had actually jammed a piece of plumbing into her body like she was a Maple Tree.  Bluish essence pooled around her, and the only reason Rena suspected she wasn't dead from bleeding out was that her state of being was unusual enough that such things simply would not.  This had to stop.  The only problem was...the door.  They didn't need anyone watching the door like a hawk...because it had a proper like, requiring a proper key to open.  That, or you could try picking it, but Rena had no means or training to do that, and the door was pretty solid, so...

"Okay...this is gonna be a bit loud."

She wasn't going to lightning blast it.  Oh, she could blow off that lock and reduce that door to cinders, easy...but it would wake everybody up through sheer noise, and eventually they would realize the lightning wasn't coming from outside.  Rena was not super strong, but she had a big and tough sword even without its power.  Pulling out Spark from its bag, the blade did sizzle for a moment, but then she silenced its energies in favor of some raw bladed talent.  Rather than having brute strength, Rena used speed, agility, leverage, counter-weighting, and other more finesse-based means for wielding her bigass sword.  So, in order to slam the twin points of her sword into the wood around the lock, she first ran at and kicked off of the opposite wall.  A second later, Natah heard-

CRACK!!

-as something impacted the door, splintering the wood by the lock.  She would then see a figure kick it the rest of the way, as it was only just hanging on by then.  The figure was in a cloak and sounded like maybe there was plate armor underneath, but funnily enough, a female voice was heard from that.

"I'm sure someone heard that, so we probably don't have much time.  I was hired to get you out of this.  I can pull that out of you now and patch up the wound, or we can wait to get to somewhere relatively safe and deal with it more carefully.  Which would you prefer?"

While she spoke, Rena noticed that the chains binding the girl were magic.  The only way to undo them would be either with the right specific means to handle them OR excessive counter-magic.  She could probably get through them with Spark, or at least blast them from the wall, but it would definiely wake half the palace in the process...and she was probably to have guards incoming soon, anyway.  She waited for a response first, though.  Natah was her responsibility.

Medievarad

Splinters rained down on the blindfolded mage. Yet she didn't seem shocked, nor did she even flinch in response. She tilted her head upwards, as if to look at her saviour with her blinded eyes. She wanted to speak, but words failed her.

The only sound produced was a jarring and pained cough as more mana trickled from her lips. It was more than obvious she was dying. However, she couldn't.

"Chains," she groaned out, lips trembling in pain. "Remove.. Chains," shz only pleaded, raising her hands, rattling the magical chains softly. Her healing could begin as soon as these chains were removed.

Her revenge could begin as soon as she had healed.

Wrathwyrm

Rena knew that she couldn't die so easily.  Not when they had something as ridiculous as a spout shoved into her to tap her energies.  The Shah would never be so callous with his prize, otherwise.  The woman weakly pulled on her chains and asked that they be removed first.  If there were any guards coming upon the room right now, they were now in for something of a surprise.  Rena raised her sword up now.

"This will sting.  I'm really sorry about that."

Bright energy surged through the bladed length of Spark now.  Natah couldn't see it, but she and anybody close enough could surely hear it.  Lightning was anything but quiet, and upon contact with the chains, there would be a jolt of electricity.  Rena cut swiftly, a quick-but-loud POW! accompanying the cut of the chains at the point between prisoner and wall.  That should render the magic side of things inert and useless, though she wouldn't know until she was finished.  If the manacles themselves were still magically charged, she'd have to find time to concentrate on doing very precision work with Spark on the things.  Regardless, she now removed the blindfold, as well as her hood and face covering.

"I'm Rena Goldswith.  You're Natah, right?  Can you walk?"

Medievarad

Natah wanted to make her reaction, regarding the spigot that was crammed directly into her beating heart, that pain was relative. But she couldn't find the energy to. After all, the pain was too great. The instant the chains were broken, a large surge of arcane influence was felt. A shift in the very veil of magic around them.

The woman seemed to completely relive. She closed her fingers around the spigot and tore it out with several strands of blue stained flesh, more liquid mana splurting out. With a soft cry of pain. Yet slowly, the flesh started to stitch itself shut.

The instant Rena went for her blindfold, she reached up to grasp her hand, shaking her head. "If you value your life, don't remove the blindfold," she stated with a faint breath. "I am Natah, yes. I can walk. And I will tear this entire palace to shreds," she said with a grit of her teeth. "Run," she adviced. "As far as you can. I will meet up with you later."

Wrathwyrm

The thing about the blindfold was NOT something that the client had explained.  Fortunately, Natah was quicker than her, and stopped whatever it was that would have happened from happening.  That much was fine, and even though the woman tore out the spigot herself, it seemed to be alright...as she could apparently mend herself.  The only problem was that she apparently seemed intent upon destroying the place, all of it.  She wanted to blow the palace up, or something like that.  And judging from the sudden shift in energy, it looked as though she might be able to do that.  This was also something the client had neglected to tell her.  That boy was going to get a stern talking to when this was over.  First thing's first, though...

"Hey, whoa.  No way.  You can't destroy the Shah's palace.  You'll kill the innocent with the guilty and topple the goverment.  There'll be a power vacuum, then a war.  I know what they did was wrong, but I can't just let you go off and kill people at random and blow everything up."

She remembered the report on the town of Claris, where her Uncle Zan lived: Everything torn apart and razed to the ground by magic, no survivors.  Elsewhere, rumors of a wandering magus who killed and destroyed at random were heard.  She was still at the beginning of her training at the time.  There was some feeling, some idea that...she could have done something, though.  Well, she wasn't going to let this happen again, even if the Shah did do such a terrible thing.  The consequences were too great.

Medievarad

"I can. And I will," she hissed her answer, adjusting her robes and dusting her cloak off rather casually. "They made me bleed, so now it is my turn." A soft chuckle left her as she stepped through the splinters of the door. "Whatever you do, do not look into my eyes," she answered, resting a hand on the blindfold, before pushing it up. A blue light visibly radiating from it.

"War happens, people die. Such is the cycle of life," she answered, taking a deep breath. There was doubt in her voice still. Yet arcane energies gathered in her hand.

Wrathwyrm

Natah would feel a firm hand on her shoulder from behind, Rena's armor-clad one.  It wasn't gripping, but it was trying to get her to hold up a minute.  Since this was from behind, the warrior girl was taking her advice about the eyes seriously, and yet...

"Wars happen, Natah, but not like this.  Not because of someone's need for revenge.  And I'm not saying you shouldn't take it, because there are alot of people I've felt that way about, but that doesn't mean I should destabilize this part of the world and subject other people undeserving of it to same.  We're strong people.  We have responsibilities."

Aaand it was about this time that Rena would have to curse because the hallway had guards on both sides coming in with their swords and other nasty implements  Rena held up her sword now.

"You guys are not helping!"

Medievarad

The firm hand on her shoulder managed to make her halt her movements. By no means was Natah a physical fighter. Rena could easily overpower her. The following speech, however, was something she felt completely indifferent to.

Weaker people did not hold her interest. She was freed, grateful to her saviour. But she completely disagreed. She had no responsibilities.

She rested her hand on Rena's massive sword and slowly eased it down. "Then I shall redirect my rage to these insolent fools.

She glanced left and right without the blindfold and-...

And that was all she needed. The guards all ceased their hostilities as they witnessed her eyes. Some dropped to the ground, dazed and drooling. Others approached with wide eyes, begging to see them again as she pulled the blindfold back in front of her eyes.

"End your lives and I might consider it," she hissed under her breath. These soldiers were more than obvious hypnotized by some means, as they took out their swords or knives and robbed their own lives.

Wrathwyrm

So, with a surprising development, Natah seemed to grow slightly more amicable...and then hit the guards with love beams.  Seriously, that's what happened.  The guards took one look at her eyes and it was like being hit by the Mother Confessor.  Sadly, this was not Goodkind's universe, so love beams it was.  Once again, the client's lack of explanation in regards to Natah's being was coming into play here, because she had no idea just what she was dealing with.  As the guards killed themselves, Rena was heard to mutter "Geez, might have to rescue the guards now..." before she spoke up.

"Just out of curiosity, how did anybody ever capture you in the first place?"

A fair question, considering what amounted to immortality and a very dangerous deterent.

Medievarad

"Stupidity, false trust and several mordecai," she answered, glancing in Rena's direction. The drooling soldiers weren't wasting their saliva due to the charm of her eyes. Theirs seemed to be glazed over. Upon closer inspection, it was more than obvious the dazzled ones were already braindead.

She clenched and released her fist, before sighing. "I know not the way out. Though, I realize you do, saviour."

Wrathwyrm

"Just Rena, please.  I don't even like using the titles I've earned."

There was a bit of sadness there in that last bit.  The titles she had - Knight of the Blood Oath of Alamar, Magistrate of the Terrin Mountain Mines - were things that may have been given to her out of rightful ownership and such, but the manner it had happened would always weigh heavily on Rena's mind.  She wished her father had been able to hold onto the title until a ripe old age like he deserved.  He was a good man.

At any rate, they had a dungeon to get out of.  With the initial guards handled, they could move on down the corridors.  Rena stepped ahead of Natah in order to carefully listen for approaching patrols.  She did this in order to wait for them to get 'round a corner so she could knock them out quickly with the pommel of her sword.

"So, what sort of person are you, Natah?  The client didn't tell me anything, and here I find you literally being tapped for energy."

Medievarad

[is that a SAO reference I see there? :P]

"Rena. Is that a first, second or last name?" She inquired, following the warrior closely. She had no issue with letting her take the lead. As mentioned before, she didn't know the way. And she feared the repercussions of using her powers.

Basically, harming the individual that managed to free her. She may not care for those lesser in power than her, but she still had her honour. And she wouldn't let this Rena go without properly expressing her gratitude.

"What sort of person I am?" She frowned underneath the blindfold. "I am but a wandering entity, I have no current goal."

Wrathwyrm

"First name.  Rena Goldswith."

She must've been too pre-occupied with things before to have heard her before.  It was understandable, really.  I mean, there was a spigot in her chest.  You just can't ignore that.  She was glad that that didn't need as much attention as she'd thought, by the by.  The thought of ripping that out and using pretty much all of her bandages had been kind of distressing.  Not yet had Rena addressed a wound so deep, mostly because anyone with such a thing usually died quickly.  Still, the two of them were - at this point - being strangely calm and conversational as Rena either snuck up on guards to knock them senseless with the flat or the pommel of her sword, ot just outright lightning-struck them to put them out.

"Well, I meant literally 'What are you?', more than anything.  What kind of entity has - I assume - mana for blood, regenerates almost instantly, and has that weird 'love gaze'?"

She didn't have a better term for it, at the moment.  Did anybody, though?

Medievarad

"And how would you prefer I called you?" She inquired, having no idea where the name Goldswith came from or what it meant. To her, it was just another name.

Then, a soft smile appeared and Natah couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. "I'm a.. Traveler of sorts. Let us keep it at that, hm?" She offered, making her way past Rena and grabbing one of the guards.

Who seemed to just instantly die at her touch, without a scream or any kind of pain. It was just over.

Wrathwyrm

"'Rena' is fine, seriously."

She never met anyone who was so fixated on names before.  It honestly bothered her, just a little, because there was a story that her mother told her once: She said to her that there were beings in this world who had the power to bring power against you with your name.  Generally, one might also need a personal item, but still some magic can find you by name alone, and that was important to mention since being a Goldswith was kind of important, so it would be hard to hide one's identity, at times.  The fact that Natah was still casually killing people, even when they were knocked out, made Rena worry that she might be just a little too callous here...

"Not quite as violent on the road, I hope.  Too many wandering killers about, as is."

She was actually referring to a person who referred to himself as 'Garlock The Destroyer', which was a weird thing, since there'd been a cat her uncle owned by that name...  Still, they were now at the stairs that she'd come down to get here, the entrance to the dungeon.  Naturally, because she'd come in a sort of side entrance to the palace, there'd been a few twists and turns there, servants' corridors.  She wanted to go out that way, and hopefully not find too many guards, but frankly...even at this time of night, with there being reports of a possible intruder, there'd be an alert lookout for someone out of the ordinary.

Medievarad

"The roads I walk reach beyond your wildest dreams," Natah assured with a soft sigh, pushing the crumpled corpse back down.

"No others dare walk them either," she said with a gentle chuckle, making her way through, right towards a wall. A dead and in the hallway.

She rested her hand against it and slowly, but surely, the stone dissipated as if it was nothing. Not showing the high up scenic view of the Moraki desert Rena may have expected. But rather a dark emptiness that was reminiscent of the night sky.

"This is taking too long. Follow me." Natah stated coldly.

Wrathwyrm

Ah, good.  A cryptic reply.  She was starting to get worried.  Somewere along the way, Natah turned from the path that Rena had memorized and approached a wall instead.  Before she could comment, the other woman had placed her hand upon it...and it started to dissolve.  Was she destroying it?  No, there was...  It was going somewhere else, somewhere that was not just on the other side of that wall, or indeed the palace.  It was blackness in there, or close to it.  Some sort of cosmic 'other place'.

"Well, one person dares tread where you do."

Rena put her sword away and followed, though she was wary of what all of her senses - especially her magic senses - were telling her.

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