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Character: Raemos
Stage: Oblivionite Adept Mage
Luck: 30
Creature:
Yvhazi
Impling x 3 (lvl 12)
Trickster x 5 (lvl 17)
Conjurer x 2 (Lvl 25)
Success Rate:
6-100
Win x 9 Loss x 1 (Impling)
Total:
19 x Plain Cloth
Etched Coin x 2
Ornate Pendant x 1
171 exp



3000 words needed

It was a glorious morning, and for once Raemos wasn't the only one enjoying it.

Though it was barely sunrise, many of the people in the camp were awake and active. It might have been by chance but, he realized, it might also have been by design. Perhaps he had been put him in a group of early birds to fully take advantage of his unusual sleep-wake cycle. That, he thought, would make sense.

Oddly enough, his rough count of the group as he washed his face and brushed his teeth did not include the Oblivionites - who he would expect to be awake early. Maybe early rising was not an Oblivionite trait - in which case, he was pleased. Or - and he really only thought this idly - maybe they had stayed up late performing some dark ritual to their goddess. He decided that it was unlikely. They did not, he had to admit, seem the sort to do such things. With that dark goddess, any ritual she would want would be twisted and depraved and probably involving sacrifices of some sort. He was grateful for being a proper Serenite, and having his thrice daily prayers: nothing depraved about prayer at sunrise, noon, and sunset! He didn't think that the Guardians would allow anything particularly depraved, though, nor would anybody willing to do the darker rites want to join. That was the wonderful thing about the Guardians – even the worst of them were good people.

He began his morning devotions, doing his sunrise prayer. He kneeled East, facing the sun graced the cooled sand and brilliant ocean. He was supposed to do it with his eyelids shut, but he always left them slightly open. Sunrises were always a sight worth seeing, even though he could not enjoy their colors, and each one was a unique display of Seren's beauty and grace in starting the day, and he did not want to miss even a single one. Sometimes he did miss one, and that was not a tragedy. He was blessed, he felt, to witness any sunrises or sunsets that he could in the short time he had on this world and in this life.

He had just finished his prayer when a voice from behind him interrupted his meditation on the sun's ascendance.

"Well well..." the voice was snide, somewhat bitter, and Raemos turned, schooling his face into one of neutrality, "I'd heard rumors and didn't believe them."

The male Oblivionite corporal stood behind him. Raemos couldn't tell if he was staring, but even without eyes, he could feel the man looking at him. he bristled. "Rumors, sir?"

"I hear rumors all the time. About myself, about my sister, about everybody and most of them are unbelievable, only half true." He said, as if Raemos had said nothing, "But this one was the most ridiculous of them all." he shook his head, "And it was actually true. An Oblivionite Serenite." he turned to walk away, "Disgusting."

Raemos stood up, clenching his hands into fists, taking out his sudden rage on the soft palms of his hands as he struggled to keep his face neutral. He opened his mouth for a response he would probably regret, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned, mouth still opened to retort.

"Don't mind him." It was the other Oblivionite, Selza. "My brother is an a*****e, and he doesn't mean anything he says in the morning." she said, smiling, "He's kind of a Baowi in the morning."

"... He's also a higher ranking officer." said Raemos, somewhat mollified.

"... He's also an a*****e." she asserted, laughing. Raemos relaxed slightly - it was a disarming and honest laugh, and she had a friendly - if eyeless - face. "Anyway, good morning. I'm Selza, in case you forgot. Selza Sterben. Private. Call me Selza."

"...All right." he said, gently moving her hand from his shoulder and stepping back - personal space and all. "Good morning Selza."

"Morning!" she laughed cheerily, "Are you ready to go out and smash some icky yvazhi skulls?"

"Uhhh... yes." he said. Even he was not that enthusiastic in the mornings - mornings were a tranquil time of meditation, not energy. Energy came later. After breakfast. Which he needed. "I hope I do the group credit - I'm not very experienced with fighting."

"Oh sure you will!" she said, laughing, "Its my first time out properly in the field, too. I'm sure we'll do fine! Not that these tricksters are difficult to smash anyway!"

"We?" he asked. Did she mean she and him, the whole group, or what? The way she said it made it somewhat ambiguous.

"Ohhh, didn't you know?" she said, then shook her head, clearly amused with herself, "Oh, right, I did it last night! Silly me. I reassigned myself - I'm with your unit... thats Corp. Verhaan's group. Uh, lets see..." she started counting on her fingers, "Thats you, Cearlan, That other rookie, Rec. Sogrof..." she pointed to a young... it was hard to tell their gender actually... but they were an obvious Hybrid, with a twinned, spiny, horned crest along his/her brow ridges and along the back of his/her head, with exposed, feathery wings tucked against their back. A bow was at their side, though their quiver was strangely sparse of arrows. Interesting. Raemos thought, his eyes drawn to the awkward elegance of the hybrid's wings. "and Prvt. Kelom - he's a real hoot, by the way..." she pointed at a dovaa with wide, chubby horns tranquilly stuffing his face with some kind of porridge, occasionally sharing some with a Lyru who sat nearby, watching him expectantly. "And then there's Private Sola... She's kind of a jerk, but my bother says she's a decent mage..." she pointed to a slim - almost too thin - orderite girl with a delicate looking wand by her side. A mage? A mage of light! realized Raemos, intrigued, I must talk to her
"which is a lot coming from him," continued Selza, "Since he's a mage and is a huge elitist about magic. And finally, theres... me." she said, gesturing to herself, "I think its a good group."

Raemos looked over his comrades - giving Cearlan an extra look as the Oderite walked, half naked, out of his tent and stretched. "Yes." He said, " a balanced team..." he looked at her, "But why with Corporal Verhaan? Why not with Corporal Storben..." he loved using rank names. It made everything he said so official. "He is your brother..." And your kind

"Well I was teamed up with him, because we're siblings and all, and I've always wanted to be teamed up with him, and I love him but... well..." she shrugged, "He's insufferable to work with, a perfectionist about everything, and a huge snob, so..." she winked, "I'd rather work with Cearlan."

Raemos felt a surge of indignant jealousy which he quickly quashed as Corporal Cearlan Verhaan came over in all his exposed, gorgeous glory. "So, you two. Are we excited?" he asked. His melodic voice sent shivers down Raemos's spine and blood rushing to his face and hand. He knew he was blushing and he hoped it wouldn't show. A glance at Selza revealed that her face, too, darkened slightly. He felt that sense of jealousy rush at him again, but found that among it was sympathy. They were, oddly enough, on the same wavelength. He felt her gaze meet his and they both understood - Cearlan was gorgeous. He decided he didn't mind her too much.

"Sure am!" she said, "After getting tackled yesterday, I'm ready to smash some skulls!"

Cearlan laughed, a gorgeous sound that rang like a clear bell through the camp and the empty morning. Raemos could listen to it all day. "Now thats enthusiasm! I love enthusiasm! Yeah! Lets kill some yvazhi!" he said, grinning, as he turned to Raemos. "What about you? Breaking any skulls?"

"Er..." Raemos was still reeling from the pure notes of the man's laugh, "I'll be... helping her... smash skulls?" he said nervously.

He melted before Cearlan's merry peals of laughter. "Thats the spirit!" said the Orderite, giving them both a pat on the shoulder, "See you both in a bit!" he said, moving off to talk to the androgynous hybrid with equal cheer.

Raemos heard Selza sigh, and turned to see a look of admiration mirroring exactly how he felt. She saw him looking and smiled meekly. "Don't tell my brother... but damn." she looked back at Cearlan. "Damn."

Raemos nodded inwardly. "Lets get some breakfast." he said.

"Yeah." she nodded outwardly, and dragged her gaze away from Cearlan, "Before he drags us off on a merry adventure of skull-bashing."

Raemos chuckled, and they wandered off to the food.

The Dovaa with the Lyru - Private Kelom - smiled and waved as they each got themselves biscuits, bowls of porridge, and some assorted meats and fruits to go in it - a nice, filling, nourishing breakfast, if lacking in gastronomy.

"Hello there." he said, his voice absentminded and mellow as he fed his Lyru another piece of fruit.

"Hello Kelom!" said Selza, Raemos nodding as they sat down and began to eat.

"Call me Rasha. Everybody does." said the Dovaa, sitting back lazily, "What about you two? How are you doing?"

"I'm Private Selza Sterben. We haven't met." she held out her hand, "And this is Raemos Medrol. A Private too."

Raemos extended his hand politely. "I'm still a recruit, actually." he said, taking in the haphazard and lazy garb of the dovaa disapprovingly. Both had their hand shaked, and Raemos couldn't help but feel that the Dovaa just didn't care about anything. "And we're doing fine... If I may ask, what is your clan?"

"Ysali." he said, smiling serenely down at his Lyru, "All those plants and stuff, man."

Raemos exchanged a look with Selza. Wow she mouthed, before turning back to the dovaa with a genuine smile, "Are you ready to kill some yvazhi?"

He pet his Lyru affecitonately. "Sure. Why not. Killing things, growing things, its all the same in the end, isn't it?"

Raemos focused on eating his porridge, hoping to conceal any unease he felt at having this clearly not-all-there Ysali at his side.

"Well..." said Selza, clearly somehow not at a loss for words, "Lets do our best, right?"

"Sure." said the Dovaa, eating a spoonful of his porridge thoughtfully, savoring every bite.

They had barely finished what they had when Cearlan's voice rang out. "All right!" he shouted, "My team, time to go!"

Raemo and Selza stood up hurriedly, leaving their bowls behind as they went to join him. Rasha followed lazily behind, his Lyru nesting happily in the emptied bowl. Raemos wondered, briefly, if the Dovaa's better half was staying behind.

The Orderite mage and the twitchy Hybrid archer joined them and, with a few steps from stone to soft beach sand, they were off.

~~~

It wasn't long before they found yvazhi. The disgusting creatures infested the beach, though they hid in the bluffs and cliffsides as the sun began to heat the sand. They were disgusting and filthy and smelly, and Raemos could see why people would want them killed. They were simply vile, with their deformed bodies and claws and stingers and tails. Simply vile.

They didn't even protect their young - the little creatures joined their parents in laughing, gawking, and throwing dark fireballs at the invaders.

Just disgusting.

Raemos hurled a ball of magic at a particularly annoying one, knocking it off its perch, where it had been casting poorly made illusions and mocking them. It quickly scrambled back up and taunted him again, summoning a mirror image of himself as an old, ugly, twisted man. He slashed it away with his sword.

"I hate these things." he said, his voice reflecting every iota of his repulsion.

"They're not so bad." said Selza, crushing one against the wall of the cliff, "the ones over by my grandma's are nasty little buggers. These are fairly tame..." a fireball splashed her arm and she hissed in pain, "I said fairly!" she snarled, holding her arm, "I'll get you, you little bastards!"

Raemos cut a particularly brave one in half and turned to her, concerned. "Are you all right?"

Apparently not. Selza's mouth frothed, and she growled ferally, charging into a group of the little imps, swinging her mace like a madwoman. They scattered before her, their putrescent blood staining the wall and her dark skin. Finally, she straightened, wiping the saliva from her mouth. "Yep." she said, walking over, "Fine."

Raemos looked for the others. Cearlan was nowhere to be found, nor was the archer, but Raemos could see what appeared to be lightning arrows felling yvazhi a ways off. He could also see flashes of light as the Orderite mage made quick work of the horrible things. The Dovaa was also taking care of things, somehow remaining serene even as he smacked the little imps with a staff.

"Hey you two!" shouted Cearlan's voice from a hollow in the cliffs above, "Help me out in here!"

"Yes sir!" shouted Raemos, scrambling over the rocks, sword ready. Selza followed after. "Sir? Really?" She shook her head, "Really?"

Raemos would have shrugged and smiled bashfully, but as he crested the ledge, any mood that would have supported such flippancy was gone - Cearlan was being dragged into a dark cave by his hair by one of the filthy things, and this was no time for jokes!
"Hey!" he shouted, sending a bolt of dark magic at the yvazhi, who made a gesture and sent it back at him, laughing. Raemos blocked, but they were soon out of sight. Raemos and Selza wasted no time in following, cutting down any yvazhi who dared to get in their way.

Soon they were inside the cave - really more a large, elongated den - and a howl of hideous, multi-voiced, whooping laughter echoed around them. "You know..." started Selza uneasily.

"Another time!" said Raemos, casting a candlelight spell to light the path, even though it was unnecessary - he could see just fine. The yvazhi did not like it, and hissed at him, srriking forth with their tails and grubby glaws. "Like that, huh?" he snarled, striking with his blade, "Have some more more!" The yvazhi backed away, and he realized as the shadows shifted and teemed that there were more than he had thought. more than he'd thought.

"Gaaah! No! Help!" Cearlan's voice, upset, galvanized Raemos into action. He ran faster than he ever had, cleaving a particularly distended yvazhi that tried to block him as he reached the furthest extent of the passage. "Not the hair!"

The whole place, he realized, stunk of unspeakably atrocious things, but this room was the worst. A mass of black, semisolid ooze pooled in the center of the room. A yvazhi holding a staff leapt in behind him and, with a pinch of its pudgy fingers, his candlelight spell went out. The foul beasts cackled, and the walls teemed, now, with yvazhi eyes that glittered with a mischevious malevolence and their own unholy light. He poured magic into his sword and his sword took that energy to power its enchantment, blazing with light as he lay into the hoardes. Selza soon joined him, and his nose became blocked with the smell of yvazhi. As adrenaline numbed the feelings of pain and exhaustion in his muscles, he wondered if he would ever get it out of his nose.

Soon there were far fewer of the little dark creatures, and Raemos saw one of the smaller ones run away, almost comical in how it's arms and legs flopped and staggered, as if it was not put together properly. He ignored it, turning to the rear of the cavern, a wall blocked from his view by the stagnant, sloshing ooze pile. He didn't want to know more about the ooze pile than he had to so, ignoring the screams of the yvazhi coming from Salza's fight behind him, he cautiously stepped around it.

There was Cearlan, his beautiful face and hair mussed by horrible, unspeakable filth, two yvazhi sitting on his chest tormenting him with their grimy hands. They were the largest yvazhi he had ever seen, bearing morbid staffs decorated with the head, bones, and feathers of some unfortunate animal, fanged for one and beaked for the other. They looked up at him, their sharpened tails wiggling, seemingly unconcerned by his presence. He attacked with the sword, but they disappeared, giggling.
“He has to look good...” he heard one say in its mockery of a voice, “For his funeral, doesn't he?” It's laughter echoed around him, and he suddenly felt weights on his shoulders as they picked at his ears. He swung, and they jumped off with squeaks of glee. One did not reappear. The other, though, leered at him from a stone nearby, brandishing it's staff and cackling. He could feel it gathering magic around itself, more than any of the yvazhi before it. This was a strong one, a mage of some sort.

He didn't like it.

As it let loose with whatever horrible monstrousity of a spell it was casting, he let loose with a coutnerspell of his own, his magic entangling with theirs and collapsing in a writhing bundle of dark energies on the ground. The magic disspiated into the stagnant air as he ran it through. The small body stiffened with shock, then went limp and lifeless.

His head rang with impact even as he pulled his sword free, and he staggered away to see the other Yvazhi, clearly angry. Raemos didn't want to touch the back of his head and check for blood, not with his hands covered in Seren-only-knew-what, but he could see the fiend's staff dripped with new liquid and was not hopeful. It dissappeared again before he could challenge it, and, warily, he looked around, only to feel a sudden pain in his shin as it struck him there.It did this over and over, dissappearing and striking again and again until he was on his knees, protecting his head. It hit too fast and hard for Raemos to do much else - he couldn't move for fear of leaving himself open, and he couldn't focus enough for a magical attack.

It's going to wear me down he thought with a sort of disgusted respect, And then... and then he had no idea what the horrible thing would do to him. He could feel the scraping of its fingernails and the cutting pain from its claw feet. He could feel the bite of its staff and teeth and the sudden, sharp pains of its barbed tail. They were dangerous creatures, and he was afraid.

Something sizzling and searing arced over his shoulder and he heard the yvazhi scream. He looked up to see it stumble back, clutching a burn hole in the lumpy mass that passed for its shoulder. He punched it and it went down, flailing out with flaming energy as he grabbed his beltknife and stabbed it until it stopped moving.

Gasping, and holding a particularly painful wound, he retrieved his sword and inspected Cearlan. He was alive, thankfully, if not entirely conscious.

Raemos looked up to see Selza come in with the Hybrid archer. "Lets get him out of here." he said, and the archer obliged. Raemos felt nearly jealous about not being the one to carry Caerlan, but he was starting to feel the muscles in his arms, and it was not a good thing. "Lets get back to the camp... how many more do you think there are?"

"Thousands." said Selza, grumbling slightly.

"Wonderful." said Raemos. He was sick of them already. They picked up the Ysali and the Orderite, all sporting burns, wounds, and nasty, thick, greasy bloodstains.

After grabbing whatever proof of kill they could find among the crud and yvazhi bodies and gore, they rushed out of there, the mage and archer covering their retreat as yvazhi continued to swarm out of seemingly every rock and crevice.

"Where do they keep coming from?!" asked the Mage, throwing up a light shield to block the swarming advance.

"No idea. Don't want to know." said Selza, echoing the sentiments of the whole group as they retreated.