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 Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:16 pm
As Braddock turned a corner, or, alternatively, a building was suddenly not in his line of sight, he ran into the end of an alley overshadowing two other men. The alley might end there, but the high garden wall it ended at was also what the two firebirds were just cresting. They seemed, at first, to be headed for Braddock, but the one closest did a flip and dove to the two men, who were nearer the wall.
Alexander was a long thin shadow dropping to his knees. The man who had been standing so close to him crouched back against a wall of the alley and was gone through a door he had the key to (or the right lock pick for) before it was sure that the bird would hit Alex. They both seemed like shady figures, pun intended.
Alexander didn't have time to see Braddock coming, just as he hadn't had time to see the birds coming. They made a loud enough hiss, roar, and screech that one didn't need a special sense to notice them. He had a throwing knife out as the bird came into view, and the knife flew nearly straight up as the bird dropped. It was a half-wild shot, likely to hit the bird but not particularly likely to kill it. Straight up shots weren't the best use for a knife like that, but Alexander didn't have any time.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:37 pm
Two shadows met the troubled gray eyes of the archer Braddock Muathus.
Each, in their own seperate universes, pressed against the walls, postures eloquent of suspicion, malice, and defeat.
The shifty-eyed strangers, however, were more than adequately eclipsed by the huge vermillion-toned and beastial birds, preceded by gouts of flame, that crested the alley's terminating wall.
The larger of the two wheeled with a screech, pinions stretching as its maw snapped shut in anticipation of making a meal of the stranger...there was only one now, Braddock noted.
Beltazmafias chose that moment to rear, even as braddock pulled two arrows from the quiver on his left hip and nocked them to the black string. Sighting, fortuitously, along the line of the creature's scaly toes, Braddock smiled.
Just like plugging the ace.
The swift-flying bolts streaked the short distance in a sundered eyeblink, and buried themselves in the great bird's legs. Somewhat belatedly, he noticed that the arrows also ruffled the dark-complected stranger's hair.
"Duck!"
He cried, fully aware that this, too, was belated. The salamander's feet dropped back to the street with an almighty thud, just as the screaming firebird, too, dropped out of the sky with a scree of feral wrath. Its legs hung, useless, beneath it, and its wing, twisted in the fall, sprouted bloody-white spears of bone.
"Finish it off!"
He screamed to the stranger, leaping from salamander-back and digging in his heels to send the dull-witted lizard galloping out of harm's way. His grin slid off his face.
He'd forgotten the second firebird, and now it was feet from his deep-eyed face.
With eyes widening, he dropped to one knee and pulled a single arrow, its shaft bright silver, fletched with raven-quills, from the quiver on his right hip.
He managed the pull and loosed the arrow at point-blank range.
The enchanted bolt flared as it impacted the firebird just before his squeezed-shut eyes, a thunderclap booming outward, hydrostatic shock forcing tissues to ripple and wave. The monstrous bird gasped out a torrent of final flame, its eyes, if that were possible, wide and horrified as the silver arrow burst out its back, leaving behind a tunnel of cauterized flesh as wide as a fist.
The bird dropped before him, one wing across his shoulder, heavy and thick with splattered ichor.
It appears today is going to be full of regrets.
That was my only silverfire arrow.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:44 pm
Alexander was able to finish it off but not, it seemed, without getting hurt. When Braddock's last kill hit the ground, he heard the stranger groan as he stepped back from the twitching bird. He'd stabbed a knife just behind its lower beak, up through the brain. His hands sunk back into his cloak, but Braddock had seen that they were gloved. Maybe Alex came from further south, since he didn't seem to be sweating in his head-to-toe ********' pheonix," he said with an accent, giving the bird a different name than the locals had for it. "Still have all my fingers..." he said to himself.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:51 pm
Nervous chap...
Braddock mused, whistle-clicking for his salamander.
Heavy reptilian footfalls served as soundtrack to the dark stranger's mutterings.
He stared at the immense bird...the thing the stranger had called a Phoenix.
The thing that was now twitching, fountaining where the knife had transfixed its brainpan.
Not half-bad with a knife, though.
Braddock stepped warily forward, one hand on the heavy wood of his longbow, the other extended with a friendly air, glittering with rings. He bowed, flourishing his cap.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, stranger, and my thanks for your help with the, ah... phoenixes."
He wondered if the stranger would take his grasp, really. The sort of man who wore gloves in hot weather tended to be a bit odd about touch.
But somehow...he glanced down at the firebird where it lay, dead or dying.
Somehow he thought he might almost like this man, dark though his portent might be.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:00 pm
"No thanks," Alex grumbled at the outstretched hand, still gathering his wits about him. Well that he be shaken, for this was obviously his second language they were speaking, near mastery of it though he had, and a giant bird had just tried to kill him.
He drew the hood to his cloak off his head. It had fallen forward when he was dealing the final blow, and there was no need to appear like the shifty-eyed shadow dweller that he was. Seeing a human face might put Braddock at ease, though Alex was grimacing at the dead bird. He kicked a wing and said. "Wonder what blasted fool of a hero snatched its egg. Wasn't you, was it?"
He straightened up suddenly, and gestured towards a door further down the alley. "In!" he barked. There were more, which Braddock could not see at the moment but which could be heard faintly after Alex had reacted.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 5:11 pm
Elliot was just about to comment on what a lovely day it was if you looked past all the terror, destruction and slaughter of rare, beautiful and very angry birds was when a young man ran/floated past him shouting something about a head. A tad bit bewildered Elliot halted his power walk looking upwards and to the right as if trying to peek up into his brain and watch as his thoughts were being processed. After deciding that the words had made no sense whatsoever Elliot turned around to inquire as to what it meant, but he was gone leaving only a bloody trail. Being a curious fellow he normally would have followed the bloody-brick road until he could have his question answered. The familiar shriek split the air like a chainsaw through warm butter and Elliot was beginning to think that this sound was more annoying than a phlegm cough. The kind that belongs to your bearded Aunt Gertrican who raises miniature Trogs and comes down every year for the Lighting of the Torch.
Oh, the miniature Trog. Trogs are beasts who appear to be a mix between a camel, a goat and a dog. The Trog can usually be found in dark, wet and muddy places. They are large creatures usually somewhere between five and six feet at the shoulder. The miniature Trog is only five or six inches at the shoulder, but though they lack in size they make up for in odorreally. This explains why Aunt Gertrican doesn't have many fingers. Other than this they are exact copies of the full-size Trog. Sleek brown fur, black bumpy horns that usually curl into a cork screw shape, large feet usually found upon camels and a black, bushy tail. Their eyes are ridiculously large and completely black which makes the Trog look sort of creepy. Once upon a time people tried to train Trogs so that they could be ridden. They stopped immediately after discovering that the Trog is a carnivore with a large appetite and rather enjoys human flesh. Any sort of flesh, really. Thus explaining why Aunt Gertrican doesn't have very many fingers.
Elliot turned back around and slowly lifted his face upward. Unlike the other two he had faced this bird was on fire. A big flamey ball of birdness that desired to turn him or the Large Fellow With A Soiled Handkerchief into a smoking pile of cinder. In the few seconds he had to stand and admire it he could think only of one thing.
I think I left my hair brush on that log.
And with another shriek it hacked up a surprisingly large ball of fire at Ulrich and then another at Elliot who was now hovering a few feet above the ground. Thud. "MOTHER OF EGG AND A BOT FLY." Half of his left wings had, unfortunately, disappeared. This was the reason why he had landed painfully upon his tush. Today now officially qualified as a bad day.
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:23 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:18 pm
Gathering his cloak about him as if preparing to leap a few puddles, Braddock followed his mysterious new partner through the alley door.
Hide
He'd whistled, simply, to Beltazmafias; the lizard was smart enough to figure it out, given a smart swat on its impervious, scaled rump.
As it lumbered off, however, he couldn't help wishing he could take it with him...how many friends can one hide behind?
And it was starting to sound like hiding behind something would be a good idea. The screeching, mewling cries of the fire-cloaked avians were still close, far too close for the refined survival-oriented tastes of Braddock Muathus. Even the stranger, the dark one, was looking nervous, a strange accent coming out in his speech.
Something told Braddock that nothing that made this man nervous could be good.
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Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:16 pm
Alexander led them into the building by breaking a lock on a door around the corner. It wasn't that impressive of a feat, to break that particular lock, and a convenient bar of metal in his things helped do the trick. It was pinched at one end, like some one had bent it off a small drainage pipe, and looked sharp enough to cut into Alex's leather gloves on the other end. Figures. He looked like a lock pick and a thief, covered head to toe in dark cloth.
Alex crowded them into the small house, finding an apartment where one room served for bedroom, kitchen, and all else. At his direction, they sat against the wall under a windowsill. He did look nervous, and even took the trouble to pull his cowl over his head, draping his pale lined face in shadow. "You have to be quiet now," he whispered. "Do you understand?" Foriengers were always asking that, as if they were unsure of your command of your own language.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 6:44 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:56 am
Meanwhile, back at the Shelter, things were a veritable mess. Of course the citizens were behaving fairly well; less savorable denizens of the city usually had better places to hide anyway. But for Andrea, the day just kept getting worse.
"SEVEN!? How can there be SEVEN of those reckless, irresponsible, sword swinging, magic using adventurers out there fighting those birds? There were only five of the blasted birds left!" Andrea was at her wits' end. She had known the dangers of the Signal, but this was too much! The blasted adventurers were probably killing all of the birds, too. Not that Andrea minded personally; but the adventurers' slaughter of that many endangered animals could cause her political death, which is only slightly less painful than the actual death they would have suffered if they had killed the birds with government resources.
There was a knock on the door. Andrea sighed and opened the large oak monstrousity. "Ah, Sasha. How is the crowd?"
"Good. Matthias is using a lot of his energy, but it's working like a charm. The citizens are all peaceful, and we've been without fights for the past hour." Sasha smiled and gave a quick nod to the poor nervous looking informant in the room, then closed the door. "How is the situation outside?"
Andrea groaned and sat down in one of the large swivel chairs. "Just awful. Our kameries report SEVEN blasted adventurers going around killing the birds and in some cases destroying the town."
Sasha smiled a little apprehensively. "I see. Andrea, you look really stressed out. You should take a rest.. or at least look on the bright side. It's only been a couple of hours and we are well organized. Even if there is a problem, we are now well equipped to handle it, compared to when we first saw the adventurers. Also, we have one of them at our shelter. He killed one or two of the Firebirds; he is doing a great job raising the general morale." Sasha decided not to mention that the man had liberally used the free healing they had offered earlier.
At this point the informant nervously interjected. "Also, we may actually only have six adventurers on our hands; one of the kameries was a little singed by a passing flame, so it may have reported one of the men incorrectly."
Andrea and Sasha nodded toward the informant silmutaneously. "Anything else, Jude?" Sasha finally took the time to sit down in front of the man.
Jude nodded timidly. "Well... er, yes, see, we may have miscounted earlier. The adventurers have, uhm, taken care of eight of the Firebirds, but there are, er, perhaps, five left."
Andrea gawked. "FIVE?! How could we have been off by five? That's nearly impossible! One or two, I can imagine, but five is just too much!" Numbers just weren't treating Andrea well today.
But Sasha didn't gawk or stare; she only looked concerned. She turned to the other judge. "Andrea, I think there may be something more going on here than just a few Firebirds. I talked to Matthias, and all of this behavior is highly unusual; even when Firebirds attack, they usually only attack their abusers or even people who look like them. Not total strangers like this! They don't travel, they don't hang around water, and the two species don't hang out with each other. This just doesn't add up!"
Andrea looked at Sasha, shocked. She had never considered that something else may be at work here, but Sasha was right in every way. If they didn't find out what was really going on, and soon, the whole city could be destroyed. She slowly nodded in agreement.
Sasha looked down at the ground. "I.. I am a shamanist, you know. I could send out spies, even to find out what is going on." She looked up at the other judge. "It would be difficult, but if it saves the city, I'll do it." She stood up and looked at the other judge expectantly.
Andrea stood up, still a little numb. "...Y..yes. Be careful. And.. let me know if you need anything, okay? I don't want any more people to die from this."
Sasha only nodded and left the room.
Andrea looked over to Jude. "You're free to go. Please keep an eye on things for me. I'm going to go make sure Matthias and our stray adventurer is doing okay." She then turned and walked out of the room.
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Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:52 pm
Dyna walked through out the Shelter looking for a place to be alone. She was tired of being around these people. Mainly the drunk who pointed out to the rest of the crowd in the area she was in that she was a warrior and wasn't outside protecting them. The crowd had begun to yell and shout at her when she lost her tempter and drew her great axe and yelled, "Shut up before I make you wish you were outside right now!" She wasn't proud of threatening them but she couldn't think of anything else to do.
She had made her way to a long hallway that seemed to have a welcoming glow about it. There were several doors that decorated the walls. It was quiet, just the place Dyna had been looking for. She moved to one of the walls opposite of a large oak door. She took a much needed deep breath and let her body relax. Peace at last...
Suddenly a one of the doors down the hallway opened and a woman walked out. The noise startled Dyna. She watched the woman begin to make her way down the hallway away form her. The woman's clothes were much nicer than those of a peasant and she seemed much cleaner. Dyna assumed she was someone of power. If I can't help outside maybe I can be of some use here. She pushed herself up with the help of the wall and began to walk after her. She was just about to pass the door that the woman had come out of when it opened again. Dyna stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head to the second figure.
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:03 am
The figure, a raven haired slender woman with dark skin, stately clothes and an unusually ornate, electric yellow hairpiece looked back at the woman warrior and blinked. Andrea wondered, was this the adventurer Sasha had referred to? No.. she had referred to him as male. So this was just... a warrior hanging out at the shelter? It may have just been Andrea's tired, haggard brain, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense. It was at this moment that Andrea realized she had been staring at the woman for about thirty seconds without saying anything. She opened her mouth and forced it to work. "C..can I help you with something, m'lady?" Since the woman could have been an eccentric soldier from the Capital, it was best to address her politely. Besides, she had a great ax in her hand.
Meanwhile, Matthias was having quite a time of it. He had just gotten to the place where Dyna had caused a scene, and he was stressing his conduit and his own strength to keep everyone from breaking out in a riot about the "crazy ax carrying woman" who "went ballistic." He muttered under his breath wishing a pox unto whoever riled up the crowd as he tried to verbally and magically calm everyone down. It was at this point that he felt a hand on his shoulder; it seemed Sasha was back. He enjoyed her company if for no other reason than the fact that he very much enjoyed keeping his sanity intact. He gave her a quick nod, letting her know he was all right -- for now, at least. He barely noticed her leaving in the direction of the kitchen.
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:46 pm
Dyna's eyes study with fascination the woman's appearance. It was one she did not see often. She then noticed the woman's confused facial expression which didn't surprise Dyna; she had seen it many times before. She wondered why though the woman's voice quivered when she spoke. More than likely the troubles of the city were on her mind and Dyna appeared to be just another problem. It was not often that people used formalities with Dyna and a large smile grew on her face. Her grip loosened on her axe and then quickly noticed that she had forgotten to put her axe away. Oh, this explains why she might be so nervous. She lowered her axe and bowed her head as a polite gesture of greeting.
"Dyna Stemme. I am sorry if I startled you, I meant no harm. Madam. I was searching for the persons in charge of this shelter to see if I could try and offer them my services in anyway", she stated. Dyna ran a hand through her copper waves of hair, trying to think of something else to say.
"I assume that you might know who I need to speak with. If I am not correct then I am sorry for bothering you."
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