Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 25, 2014 20:20:50 GMT -6
OOC: No, this is not a Jack Kerouac novel, no matter how much respect and admiration I have for the Beats.
They were on the road.
Again.
Neil and Vincent were trudging down an Ilian road, near the border. Vincent had expressed his wish to leave Ilia, and so there they were, wandering towards the border. It was awful, the shaman thought to himself. Simply awful. They'd gone nowhere with their search for the smuggler, and now they were banished from an Ilian town. Only one, but still. Banished. What an ugly word.
Thankfully, he was alive. His skin had mostly healed, and although he bore a light scar on his face, his broken ribs and lacerations had healed nicely, even in a week's time. A heal staff tended to do that to you, coupled with rest and overwhelming lack of motivation to do anything because you felt guilty not only for getting kicked out of a town, but also getting your best friend kicked out as well.
Neil was depressed. He'd been hiding it well from Vincent, but ever since he'd woken up afterward, life had seemed pretty pointless. He was still inept. Still debilitatingly weak. Heck, Vincent would probably be happy just to leave him behind. All he was was dead weight.
"Where are we going, anyway?"
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Post by Vincent on Aug 25, 2014 21:28:08 GMT -6
Vincent gave Neil's question some honest thought. "I don't know." Vincent's mind had been occupied the last week. He wanted to tell him all about the proposition put forth to him but when? Neil hadn't been in a good way for a while. Vincent had managed to bounce back in an odd way but Neil was still hurting. The two were marked for their foolish actions. But they would grow from it. Vincent was certain of it.
Vincent had intended to return home but now he didn't want to. But... Now what? "I think you should pick our next destination. After all it was my idea to stick in Ilia and to leave. It's only fair I think. Vincent drew his new sword, its light was blinding in the sun. "What should I call it?"
"Worthless," chimed in Phoenix Heart. Since Vincent had begun recovering his confidence and faith the sword had stopped trying to burn him. He was certain that in time it would cooperate with him.
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 26, 2014 9:19:32 GMT -6
"Call your sword what you will... I don't know, Vincent. It's really not my decision. Maybe Ultra-Super-Dynamic-Mega-Invincible-Death-Destroyer-Slayer-Blaster-Blade-Of-Terror?"
The pupil gave a listless laugh before returning his sunken eyes to the ground and getting down to business.
"If we want somewhere to go, the possibilities are wide open. We can narrow them down, of course.
Ilia's out for now. That's where we are, and I don't want to come back for a while. Then we have Sacae. There's honestly not much there that I've heard of. I might say we steer clear of Sacae unless we really have a good reason to wander the plains. Nabata's a desert. Then we have the contenders -- Lycia, Bern, and Etruria.
I've heard Etruria's a weird place, and I don't know how friendly they'd be to us. Last thing I want is some bureaucratic nonsense getting in the way of us. So we have Lycia or Bern.
Bern's got their Rebellion going on, and all of that banditry. It provides a wide job market, but also would alienate the Ilians if we aided Bern. So maybe we go to Lycia?
Hell, I don't know. I've heard Lycia is a nest of monsters and demons nowadays... But I guess it's as good a place to start as any."
Looking over at Vincent, Neil waited to see how his friend would react. Would he agree?
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Post by Vincent on Aug 28, 2014 19:02:01 GMT -6
Vincent silently walked contemplating their options. It was weird. They had them certainly but... They didn't. Vincent sighed. Maybe a joke to lighten the mood. "I think that name is way too long." He gave a half hearted laugh to Neil.
"But seriously speaking... I suppose Lycia is our only option left if we don't want ilia angry. Plus if you like we can stop by my farm. I'm sure my folks would like to see me and even you."
Vincent noticed Neil's newest tome. "What's that? That's not your usual book."
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 28, 2014 19:39:19 GMT -6
"Heh, maybe so... Really, though, the sky's the limit for names."
Listening to his friend review their choices, Neil nodded.
"That's exactly our situation. Well, then Lycia it is. I suppose we can find work there, maybe kill some monsters. Heck, I'd like to see those things. Seems like they've got a lot to do with dark magic."
When Vincent commented on his tome, Neil looked down, surprised, and saw that he was carrying Eclipse in his hand, open, instead of in his spellbelt like usual. Closing it and showing Vincent the cover, the pupil gave a small, knowing smile and then slid it into the spellbelt, raising his hands and focusing his energy. After about two minutes of walking in silence, Neil spoke abruptly and slashed his hand down, pointing at a small group of snow-covered trees.
"Aeternis tenebris, vestrum absolvo comprimenti furore!"
Nothing.
Then a small black rip, then a larger tear, then a great crack of darkness. The trees bent, their boughs arcing towards the earth, directly away from Vincent and Neil, until the shaman, grinning widely, cut off the magic and dove to the side as the trees snapped back up into their positions and sent huge amounts of snow flying straight at Vincent.
Watching from the side of the road, Neil was grinning as he prepped a snowball. No reason to be glum.
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Post by Vincent on Aug 28, 2014 19:53:15 GMT -6
Vincent walked in silence. Okay? Was this going to go somewhere? Did he have to show me the book? He knows I can't read. Suddenly a terrifying rip in space pulled on the trees. "Woah!" When the rip died away the trees yanked back to their standing position and what snow wasn't sucked in was flung at Vincent.
Peppered by the snow Vincent was knocked over. Trees were used as catapults. Clever or useless? "Oof! Really?" Vincent grabbed a chunk of snow and prepared his revenge. Little did he know Neil too had prepared himself.
Waiting a moment until the ball was right Vincent laid in the snow. "Now!" Vincent rose as quickly as he could and hurled an accurate snowball at Neil's face.
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 28, 2014 20:45:02 GMT -6
Neil laughed as the snow buffeted Vincent. Hah, served him right for being off guard!
That's about when the snowball smashed into his face, rendering his field of vision very white and fuzzy. And cold. Can vision be cold? It certainly was for him.
Wiping the freezing water off of his face, the shaman looked over at his friend, laughed, and whipped his snowball back, barely missing the mercenary's head as it blasted through his already-white hair uselessly.
"Hehehe, that was certainly refreshing. Well, mate, that's what the new tome is. Eclipse. It's... gravity. It really amplifies the gravitational force within the striking radius, so that everything within the field is compressed and... well, that's pretty much it. It scrunches things. But it hurts, that much I know. I tested it on some dummies, and it had a very... strong effect."
Looking at the merc's sword, Neil felt obligated to ask a question of his own.
"What even is that new sword?"
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Post by Vincent on Aug 28, 2014 22:04:03 GMT -6
Hmm, maybe he should invest in some throwing knives. His aim wasn't half bad, especially for being on the move as he was. Vincent laughed too. Neil's reaction to the snowball was priceless. His face! "That power is amazing though. I have a hard time dealing with magic as is. Now you can get me from even further."
"Impress me and you can cut through any of those weak techniques." Phoenix Heart was a smug little thing. Shut up he told the blade. It kept talking about this and that yet it never really wanted to help.
"Well, the smith called it a lancereaver. I asked him for something to offer an advantage against lance wielders and he made this. After a little time thinking about it I think I figured it out. I just have to work it into my style." Not that he truly had a 'style' to speak of. It was more of if it worked use it. But he was proud of that fact.
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 30, 2014 9:41:32 GMT -6
"Heh, but the thing is, Eclipse is really slow to cast. It takes a lot of effort, too. When you're using it from great range, it doesn't really matter, since nobody can hit you, but up close... It's dangerous. Eclipse can get people from huge distances, but it leaves you vulnerable while you cast."
Looking at the white blade, Neil nodded in interest. It was an interesting concept, actually. A blade tailored to defeating the weapon that was advantageous against it. That was smart. Too bad something similar didn't exist for magic.
"So it just... It's made to beat lances?"
Looking at the road ahead, Neil saw something strange. It looked like wisps of smoke, rising up from beyond the next hilly part of the road.
"Hey, do you see that?"
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Post by Vincent on Aug 30, 2014 10:03:47 GMT -6
The draw backs of the magic sounded excruciatingly frustrating. If a fighter figured it out he could begin rushing, getting out of range, break the shaman's concentration or perhaps the spell could even occur within range of the shaman sucking him in. "Don't use it unless I can cover you or we have the element of surprise." It was sound judgement and advice but he didn't really need to tell Neil that. He had already deduced as much.
Vincent couldn't tell if Neil was impressed, perplexed, or disinterested in his new blade. "Well, yeah. Yeah it is." Could he not see the brilliance of it? The sheer ingenuity? With a sword like this he was surely going to not be an easy opponent. he could match or be ahead of everyone. If he ever fought a lance wielder anyway. Come to think of it, it was always swords and axes.
Vincent too saw the strange wisps from over the hill. He sniffed, "Do you think it's fire?" Vincent didn't wait for a reply but rather began a headlong charge into potential danger.
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 30, 2014 10:21:23 GMT -6
"Hahaha, all right. If we're in close range, I'll stick to my Flux. But see, if we're far away, they won't see it coming. It's a fantastic siege weapon, and a good way to thin defenses from long range. Heck, I can cast this farther than an archer can shoot!"
Nodding at the blade again, Neil cocked his head.
"Huh. I wonder how that works. It's a smart concept, but I don't understand it. Then again, I don't really use melee weapons, so it might be simple."
As Vincent ran off, Neil did too, until he caught up and the two crested the hill together.
They were too late. The wisps were indeed smoke, and what lay before them was a horrific sight. Three carts, completely ravished. They were knocked on their sides, and had been lit on fire; the dryness of the wood led them to burn quickly, with little smoke, so that what was left was a bare skeleton. Men, women, and children all lay around, over three dozen dead. The snow was red, in a grotesque artwork of death -- limbs and heads lay disconnected from bodies, women lay deflowered with expressions of agony and horror frozen on their unmoving features. Men gazed with blank stares, weapons still in their hands... It was awful.
"..."
There were no words to describe the vulgarity, the repulsiveness, the vileness of the sight. It was simply inhuman, the savagery with which these people had been butchered.
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Post by Vincent on Aug 30, 2014 10:40:06 GMT -6
Vincent was speechless. It reminded him of the riders back is Sacae but this, no this was far different, this was a true atrocity. Vincent could feel his ire raise as it always would with criminals. No, this wasn't his disgust, this was the feeling he needed to feel, this was a righteous anger. He clenched his fists and jaw tightly. He didn't see Neil's face before moving into action. It was clear they were too late to garner much from this wreckage but there ought to be something in there.
Vincent rushed down into the destruction and gore. "What sick monster would do... do this!? This goes beyond crime. This is pure evil!" Using his foot Vincent overturned a cart revealing more bodies. Looked to have burned in the fire, baked alive. He turned his head to avoid the stench as well as the sight.
"Looks like they were an entire caravan. How many people do you think attacked them? I'd wager at least 20 maybe 15 if they were well trained." Deep down he had another fear. What if it was just one man? He'd seen what magic in its weakest state was capable of. No, no one man could do... that to so many women. In a sickening way it was almost a relief in logic.
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 30, 2014 12:27:20 GMT -6
The shaman stepped forward uncertainly, wobbling on his feet before collapsing in a pile,his head suddenly pounding and bile rising in his throat. What was this? Who could have done something like this? What could motivate anyone to violate the very essence of human decency so irrevocably?
Stumbling to the side of the road, Neil dry-heaved, unable to clear the sight and the smell from his mind. It was horror beyond compare, beyond any hope of redemption.
After a few excruciatingly long minutes, Neil stood up.
"This is awful beyond words. It's completely inhuman. I'll never forget this..."
Walking around the edge of the people, Neil noticed something disturbing.
"These are refugees. From Bern, it looks like. And these wounds aren't clumsy or shoddily done; no, these wounds are precise. Brutal, but precise. The tracks leading away are in rows. I'm willing to bet a lot that those were Ilian soldiers that massacred these people... And they're heading the same way we are."
Neil's eyes grew narrow, and he turned to the road, staring at the tracks. Fifteen to twenty men, to two? Those were suicidal odds.
"Let's go. We have some innocents to avenge."
Without waiting, Neil began running down the road, chasing after the attackers, whoever they were.
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Post by Vincent on Aug 30, 2014 21:13:22 GMT -6
"Ilian soldiers!?" Vincent had never been one to take sides in their conflict and honestly didn't want to, but this, this was something else entirely. This was not about sides, this was about right and wrong, good and evil.
"Refugees..." They weren't even fighters, just people. They didn't want to be in conflict, they wanted peace and safety. They were willing to go to Ilia for it but were found out. These people deserved justice. This was a sickening display of humanity and the animals deserved to be brought to their knees.
Suddenly Neil took off down the road in order to enact vengeance for these people. "Woah! No!" Vincent put everything he had into sprinting. Neil was much faster in a footrace after all. Cutting Neil off he tackled him. It was a bit harsh but it was a drastic measure. "We can't win against them now! Trust me I know!" Vincent pinned Neil as best he could. "I've fought trained soldiers before and four against three almost saw all of us dead!"
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Sonneillon
Shaman
DEAD
"You will pay for what you've done..."
Posts: 142
Profession: Student of the Elder Arts
Affinity: Dark
OoC Alias: Ryu
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Post by Sonneillon on Aug 30, 2014 21:45:20 GMT -6
The shaman raced ahead, the flames of hatred blossoming in his gut. This wasn't fair. This shouldn't happen. These people had families, had lives... They had futures. And now? They had nothing but the emptiness of death to look forward to. Nothing but blackness. Eternal blackness.
He would make sure that was the fate of their murderers.
And that was when a mighty force knocked him over, the weight of a person keeping him down. The shaman prepared to lash out with all his furious might when Vincent's voice gave him pause.
"We can't win against them now! Trust me I know! I've fought trained soldiers before and four against three almost saw all of us dead!"
"I don't care. Unhand me, Vincent! Do you hear me? Do you understand me?! I will SLAUGHTER these men like cattle, slay them like rodents and vermin and fleas! I will rend their flesh and destroy their spirits. I will make them pay for what they've done today. I will!"
Neil suddenly grew still, and then, all of a sudden, lashed out with Flux, using the dark power to break free of Vincent's hold.
"If I must die today, then I shall."
The shaman crested the next hill, black energy rippling from his palms as he gazed at the sight in front of him.
Thirty Ilian pegasus knights were stationed in six squads, with one falcon knight at the head. The shaman breathed deeply, preparing himself for battle...and death.
Then something strange.
"Second Sweep Division, return to base!"
Thirty-one pegasi rose into the air simultaneously, flying away in perfect synchronicity, leaving a shaman weeping, kneeling in the snow helplessly.
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