This Quest is for Biroki who is striving to become a Sage.
OOC ||. You may not control any NPCs or other characters; Biroki must face his trials alone. ||. Respond to the prompts given as you would any other RP. ||. Your responses may be as long or short as you feel necessary.
IC
The moon was already large and high in the sky, though the air hung heavy in the night and obscured all semblance of its shape. It was a thick fog that cut through the forest, leaving everything smelling damp. Though there was a strange smell hanging in the air that broke through the fog seemingly at random intervals.
It was familiar... really familiar...
Through the cool glow of the moonlit fog, there was a warmer tone smothering the peace. It was orange and glowing, and seemed to be very large.
It was fire.
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:57 pm
Suhuba
Biroki sat on the roof of his house and watched the moonlight filter through the thick fog in a silver haze. Nights like this were perfect for contemplating the mystery and Majesty of the universe.
Or, alternatively, to get some air after being woken up by the girls. Biroki's sleep schedule had gotten stranger since his daughters were born - if that was even possible - and he found himself awake at odd hours of the day and night. Which was fine. He could sleep whenever, and wake whenever, and it meant he saw all sorts of beautiful things that he rarely saw when he had been on a stricter sleep-wake cycle. There was too much beauty in the world to miss.
He sniffed the night air, enjoying the cooler wetness of the fog when a harsher, more acrid scent caught his nose.
Smoke. Fire.
He stood up immediately, jumping nimbly down from the roof to the nearby intermediate branch and peered out. Past experience - and his struggles with controllng his wild and energetic magic - had made him wary of smelling smoke and fire. Usually, Jahuar put out fires quickly, but it was a very good idea to check. He squinted out into the soft, blue and silver fog, and saw exactly what he didn't want to see.
The orange glow was large, too large, for comfort. His heart raced, and he was brought back - very clearly - to the day his uncle's hut had burnt down. He started towards it, leaping from branch to branch or hustling along the ground where necessary, hoping that it was nothing but a refraction of a smaller campfire.
The fog was a strange thing in Jauhar. Not that it was uncommon; with all of the humidity flowing through the rather large areas of forest it was easy enough to have a gathering of fog on an almost regular occasion. What was strange about the fog that gathered in Jauhar was that it was almost always thick enough that distance, light, and most of the senses that were used to navigate and go on with a regular life were distorted.
The glowing of the flames in the distance were a mystery. How close was the flame? How large was it? It was hard to tell and as Biroki ran it seemed to not be approaching any closer. It was still just as large and ominous looking as it had before. But the smell was getting stronger. It was the only clue left for Biroki on which was to go. It wouldn't be long now before Biroki would come upon it.
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:22 pm
Suhuba
Biroki would have tried to cast a light spell, but there was plenty of light. It was just so hard to tell where that light was coming from. He tried to sense the fire with his magic, calling out to the element that he shared with it, but he hadn't mastered that skill and the air was too choked with the opposing element, water, for it to work. He had to track by smoke. Possibilities raced through Biroki's mind as the scent of smoke got stronger. Was it Reshel's hut again? Unlikely. They'd both been careful about fire since that day. Someone else's hut? A forest fire? None of those options were very good.
Biroki was far from home now, traveling closer to the fire and finally seemed to come into a clearing in the forest and found the source of the flames.
It was a campfire.
It looked to be in control enough, though it seemed as if it was deliberately made large. A quick look around showed that there was no one here to watch the fire, or so it seemed. There wasn't even any camping materials or any indication of someone settling in here. What was the purpose of the fire? Why had someone started it? It wasn't even tall enough to lick at the very tall trees surrounding the area, so it wasn't as if someone wanted it to cause trouble.
A figure loomed in the fog, blurry and indistinguishable, and watching Biroki.
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 8:20 pm
Suhuba
Biroki did not like how far he was going from familiar ground. His grip tightened on his staff as he wandered into the clearing and investigated the source of the flames.
It was a campfire. Sort of. It was at least contained and under control, though Biroki circled around it just to be sure.
It was far too large to be a mere campfire, and it was alone in the eerie fog - nobody to look after it or, it seemed, use it.
In fact, it was more like a bonfire, like the sort that had been at his and Zuri's wedding. A celebration fire, then? No, then there would be people around to actually celebrate around it. This was abandoned... or waiting.
Was it a signal of some sort? Maybe a beacon? A beacon for what, exactly? Biroki had no knowledge of the art of war, so 'Obanese' did not immediately pop into his head, nor did enemy, exactly. He had never heard of an enemy using fire like this.
So, perhaps... a trap? Biroki whirled around, magic ready to burst forth from his fingertips, crackling with energy to see... nothing. Nothing but a faint, looming shadow in the flickering light of the fire on the fog. He dismissed it as a tree, but a sense of unease set in. A trap... It could well be a lure. Anybody in the fog-shrouded Jahuar night would be curious about a bright light in the fog and would investigate. People were much like the insects of Jahuar - all went to the light. It was poetic, actually... But it left a question unanswered.
As Biroki searched for anything that could give him clues to what was in front of him, the blurry shape in the fog seemed to be getting clearer.
Out from the treetops, the shadowy shape turned into a figure and dropped to the floor. It was hard to see with the combination of fire and fog, but the figure's temporarily white skin shone in the air. It was a shifter, and a man, that much could be seen. He looked like at one point he could be considered very handsome, but now looked ragged and worn, and the eyes that were once sharp and cunning, were now almost vicious looking.
He looked into Biroki's eyes and gave a smile. "Good to see you could make it." The question almost begged to be asked: who was this guy, and what did he want with Biroki? He was hunched over still, like years of that posture had permanently bend his stance.
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 10:55 am
Suhuba
As the shadowy shape materialized into a humanoid form, Biroki tightened his grip on the staff.
No need to be hasty... he told himself, Just breathe... It might be another curious soul out and about and attracted to the fire. It might also be an enemy or a predator. Maybe a spirit, even. Biroki had no way to tell. He certainly did not want to preemptively attack a friend.
He waited until the man dropped from the trees. A shifter. Biroki relaxed, but only a bit. He knew that commonality of tribe did not always mean commonality of intent. There were villains and bandits among his own people as well as among others. Zuri herself had helped to capture one such miscreant.
This man looked wicked, very much so, and Biroki did not trust him. Especially at the man's words. Biroki had never seen him before in his life, as far as he knew, and the man's worn and creased face was hard to read. Was this man expecting him, or just distracting him.
"Good evening, sir." said Biroki, trying to be calm, "Is this your fire?"
There you go, Biroki... he said to himself, trying to keep his nerves from reaching his expression and trying - probably futily - to keep his stammer out of his voice. So far so good, and honestly the issue was a little better than it once had been. Biroki, though, had a feeling that the speech impediment would be with him forever. Just stay calm. Just stay reasonable.
The guy seemed to already know who Biroki was and recognized him right away. Though it looked as if Biroki had never met him before. The man tried to straighten his shoulders, looking even more sinister and twisted while he was at it. The man gestured to himself, seemingly ignoring Biroki's response. "Do you see me now? Can you see how life seems to have regurgitated me back into the world; a pathetic heap of the man I once was?" His words were like venom, spiteful and full of pain.
He glared at Biroki, obviously angry now. "It's your fault!" he yelled out. "You did this to me." The man seemed to smile and back off, bordering on insane. "I've been watching you. I know what you've been doing, how you've been living. They didn't show kindness to me" The man nearly shook with rage, and then literally shook with laughter. An angry, haggard laugh.
Whatever the man was talking about, he seemed to be talking at Biroki rather than to him. He spoke as if he were mentally unstable, torn between reality and some sort of fantasy - or nightmare - that had gone on for far too long.
Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:55 am
Suhuba
The man was scaring Biroki. A lot. "I don't know what you're talking about..." he said, his stammer returning with his fear. He tried to adopt a nonthreatening posture, "I d-don't think you, uh, have the right person..." Biroki started to back away slowly, then stopped. Clearly, the man was unstable. He couldn't just leave him here, as scary and hostile as he was, "I c-can help you." he said, trying to sound soothing. Biroki was not used to being confronted with such obvious and destructive madness - in fact, not since... a long time ago. Who was it? Some woman in the village. He couldn't remember. "I know a really good healer." he said, "He can m-make you feel better..."
The man lashed out an arm as if to cut Biroki off. "NO! You know who I am! I've watched you with her." He spit out the word like it was acid on his tongue. "There is no making me feel better now. Years of punishment was my punishment for her sniveling."
He was in a near violent rage now, though the picture was becoming clearer. Biroki knew of the 'her' this man was referring to. "You couldn't get your woman in line, and now I suffer for it!" He screamed out. As if it was too much lung power for his body to handle, he crippled inward again, hesitating for a moment to catch his breath.
The man that Zuri had chased and fought long ago for trying to hunt Belle had been tried and punished to imprisonment for those long years, locked in the stocks in some distant Jauhar village. It had been spoke of long ago when it had first happened, but was quickly forgotten. Though not by everyone it seemed. "I've had years to think on this while my body deteriorated. And now that I'm finally free, I can take back the justice I deserve." He seethed. "I've been watching you... and your family."
He cackled with laughter. "And now that I have you far away from them." He trailed off, his eyes looking distant as he listened for something long off, maybe even imaginary, before speaking again. "It's time." The man jumped up and into the trees before running off in the direction of Biroki's home. It seemed that years of imprisonment might have bent his once good looking body and made him thin and hollow, but he had kept his blinding speed up to his past self.
[Biroki's family is in danger. This mad man could reach them at any time. Please solo out Biroki's reaction and his chase, and stop at the forest just before his house when he encounters the man again. This response should be relatively long.]
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:11 am
Suhuba
Biroki didn't know who this man was, he honestly didn't know... Until the man started talking about ...her. It was becoming clear, with every searing, angry word, that the man DID know him. Worse: He knew Zuri. And not in any sort of good way.
He felt suddenly very cold. "Wait..." he started, his mouth dry, "I don't understand... W-what has my wife done to you?" he asked, trying to keep the man talking, and to keep the waver of fear out of his voice. Talking was the least harmful thing that this man could do, and Biroki was starting to wonder if he was as Mad as he had appeared. Somehow, it was more terrifying to think that there was enough sanity for recognition, that the shrieking and unknowable chaos in the man's mind could somehow be directed towards something real.
Biroki felt his heart clench as the man continued, his mind racing to find an explanation - any explanation. Why was this man so hostile to his wife? What was going on?
And then the man said family, and Biroki's blood became as Zenan Ice. Even before the man said it, Biroki realized just how bad things suddenly were. His family slept. Zuri slept. And he was over here. Lured- yes lured- by a fire. Not to trap him, but to trap... her. No. No no... This could not be happening. This could not be real. "No! Stop!" he cried out as the man flashed into the trees and darted away like a bolt of lightning towards... towards Biroki's home. The place he had built to live with Zuri. HIS home. HER home. Their sanctuary, with THEIR babies.
Biroki felt panic welling up inside him, and his brain froze. His body, though, seemed to move on its own. He sprang into the trees and raced through the fog towards his home. Biroki was fast in the trees, a shifter through and through, but this man was faster, far faster.
It's hopeless wailed his frantic brain, He will find my home first. I will arrive to... to... Biroki could feel the images forming, his imagination conjuring up horrible scenes of disaster. He didn't know what 'justice' the man wanted. Biroki still didn't know who he was.
He was leaping on autopilot, branch to branch to branch in a seemingly endless line of shadowy, softly glowing, spires of wood. Time felt sluggish, as if dipped in honey, but if his brain had been allowed to manage him, it would have stopped all together. It was too busy imagining images of failure and despair - His wife, defiled. His children, dead or worse - and the terror of these images froze his mind into a silent scream as he bounded through the branches.
And then something clicked. His mind began to move again, away from the endless screaming terror, to something darker, more focused, and definitely more serious. He came to a brief halt and switched to a different line of branches, closer to the tops of the. This route would get him there faster – it was shorter and the spring of the younger branches would aid him forward.
He was not on autopilot now, but moving with renewed and angry purpose through the trees towards his home. He had some idea who the man was now. Some people still gave Zuri odd looks because of her Ice blood, but he didn't know anybody who hated her - and thus him and his girls - enough to harm them. No, it was a man he didn't know. He had only heard of the criminal from the brief gossip of years ago, and from Zuri's own tales. The shifter criminal.
Knowing, oddly, comforted Biroki. It stilled some of the terror of the unknown into silence, making room for a firey wrath. Biroki would not let those horrible images come to pass. He refused to allow it. With a huff of exertion, spurred by the familiarity of his surroundings, he powered his way home, faster than he had ever known he could go. He was close to home now, very close. He could see, through the fog, the trees that ringed the small clearing he had claimed as his own. And, lit by the glowing fungus, he saw a bent, white, vaguely humanoid shape streaking a ways ahead towards the same destination.
He didn't think. Not about whether he should confront the man, or whether it was the man at all, or if this was even a good idea. He called up his magic, sending a bolt of lightning sizzling just past the man. "Hey you!" he shouted, his hand crackling with magical electricity as he grasped for the next branch, "Stop!"
The streaking white figure in front of Biroki skidded to a halt as the electricity hit the area in front of him, sending a small shock through his bare feet. The man whirled around, furious and slightly crazed, and yelled out to Biroki. "I'm so close now! How dare you stop me!" The man bounded through the trees to get closer to Biroki before coming to a sudden halt and whistling into the forest. "No matter. There was no way I was getting this done without friends." From the trees below them, three figures emerged from the fog and climbed higher to stand surrounding Biroki. They were crouched down, but looked large.
The man had brought prisoner thugs to aid him. "They heard my plight while we were in chains and they're feeling much like the neighborly type and offered to help. I didn't even have to ask." The man cackled out with laughter.
One of the other men threw something toward the crazed assailant and he caught it without much trouble. It was his trident, there would be a fight in the forest if these men had anything to say about it.
The other men brought out their assortment of weapons, two using gauntlets and a third with dual blades. But this wasn't an ordinary fight. There was no being civil in this fight, and definitely no declaring the start. Soon the men began to swarm on Biroki.
[Biroki is forced to face 4 men at once. A little more like common thugs than killers, these men are not coordinated but are all after one thing: Biroki. Face the four down and end the battle as you will, leaving only the original attacker - Zuri's pursuer - left conscious/in the area. Stop when the man has been restrained in some way. You may control and play the characters however you would like, including their speech.]
Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:11 pm
Not just one man... but four men... had come to hurt his family. Biroki felt his rage crystallize. He felt electricity surge along his veins, and he was comforted by it, even as it threatened to break his carefully trained controls on his magic. He wanted these men to die. He wanted them to burn. No. He just wanted them to go away.
"B-back down..." snarled Biroki, holding back his magic, some of its heat and crackle leaking out into his voice. "Back down. N-now."
"Ya hear that, boys, he wants us to 'B-b-b-ack down!'" one of the men said, mimicking Biroki's stammer to the laughter and fungus-lit smirks of the men as they stalked towards him.
"How about this" said the dual blade wielder, his wide, gap-toothed grin shining in the dim light, "N-n-no!" he mocked. As if it were a signal, they leapt towards Biroki as one.
Fine. Biroki thought, letting the walls come down. He had restrained himself. He had tried to be nice.
He didn't want to be nice anymore.
Not done yet. I thought I was gonna write the battle, but the muse left me at the wayside. It will be next post.
For Biroki, time seemed to slow as the thugs came for him. He felt odd - not nervous, but ready. It was like being with Zuri: Somehow, he felt... right.
He loosed the magic that had been building up inside him, flinging a lightning bolt right into the chest of one of the guards. He heard flesh sizzle and heard a choked scream and, soon after, a thud as the man fell to the understory below, his leap arrested by his own spasming limbs. Biroki had already switched his attention elsewhere, however.
The dual blade wielder alighted on Biroki's branch, laughing as the mage's flaming spell seemed to do nothing. "Hey, This ain't gonna be so hard!" he laughed, "That lightning was a fluke, wasn't it little mage?" he drew closer, blades glittering in the light of the Jahuar fungus. The man with the trident stepped onto a branch nearby, trident ready, as the last guard confederate looked down at the forest floor warily. "I dunno..." he said, "He hit Kamil with a lot of power..."
"Shut up!" sneered the dual blade, raising his blades to strike, "The hell do you know? Look at him cowering! He was a wimp, Kamil was a wimp, and we're going to have fun with him." his grin became nasty, "And then we're gonna have fun with those women. Thats the plan, isn't it?" The criminal that had started the whole thing laughed wildly. Biroki's eyes widened and he moved suddenly, seeing the opening he had been waiting for.
Flame, his condensed wrath, blazed forth from his hands, the leylines he had set allowing it to engulf the dual bladesman in searing, volcanic flames. The man dropped his swords from crisping hands as Biroki, with a sweep of his staff knocked him out of the tree, the light of the fire illuminating the dark Jahuar trunks as the man fell, until he screamed no more.
Biroki turned quickly to face the other two attackers as a searing pain scored his side. The trident pulled away, its tip glittering red in the guttering firelight. Biroki glared at the man with the trident, noting as the guard in the background helped his fellow into the tree. Not dead, then. A pity. He threw a fireball, blasting the guards with heat as he leapt onto the branch and attacked the trident man, only to be blocked by the trident. His staff wasn't made for melee fighting, but he had learned some tricks from Zuri, and he managed to hold the man back until, with a flourish, he sent a fire spell his way. It only grazed him, exploding into color and light on a tree meters away, but Biroki only needed a little bit to raze the skin. Quickly, he smacked the man in the burn with the crystal tip of his staff, letting the anticoagulant he had smeared there work its magic, before coming at the man's legs in a trip. The man, agile as ever, dodged, laughing. Biroki took up a mages stance, hands crackling and glowing with heat as the Guards recovered and charged.
He dodged, the blows of the guards spraying splinters from the brnach where they hit. His hands crackled, and the air became charged as he sent a lightning bolt towards one of them. At point blank range, they staggered back, hissing in pain, as he attended to the other one. With a gesture, the leylines around them exploded into electricity and, with a growl of defiance, flame joined the delicate dance of sparks, whirling around the man until he simply crumpled to the branch, not breathing, and slipped back to the forest floor.
His fellow came at Biroki with a cry of rage, knocking him in the jaw. Biroki held him off with his staff, his jaw aching as the joint stretched. He pushed away from the man, cricking his jaw back into place with a relieving pop. The mans blows were fierce and hard, and Biroki had to keep on the defensive. Finally, he had had enough of the fight. He blasted the man with a fire spell and hit him in the stomach with his staff, knocking him onto another branch. The rise and fall of the mans chest signalled unconciousness, not death, as he dangled percariously in the tree.
But Biroki didn't notice as his back and side suddenly blossomed into pain. He reached back to feel warm liquid flowing from cuts on his back, his legs weakening as he slowly turned to face the smirking man with the trident. The man approached as Biroki fell into a kneel, gasping in pain. Smirking, he raised his trident to strike.
Biroki's hands glowed and, as the healing spell repaired his muscles, nerves, and tendons, he leapt, tackling the man to the ground. The mage wasn't exactly a physically strong shifter, but he was desperate and angry. He pushed him down, and, their balance off, they fell from the tree. Biroki landed on the bottom, the man's hands around his neck. The young mage, choking, placed his hand on the ground and pushed at it with his magic.
Earth magic didn't come as easily to the fire and lightning mage, but it did come. With a surge, Biroki flipped them over, slamming the man to the ground. Their weapons had landed within arms reach and, with another earth magic surge, Biroki shoved the trident away, grabbing his own staff. He punched the man in the head, mostly luck and positioning stunning the man as he began to charge up a spell that whirled with pent up fury even before it was released. A spell that would use up Biroki's remaining mana, a final storm of fire and lightning to seal the deal and destroy the man that threatened his family...
