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Post by Remus on Aug 29, 2016 14:58:01 GMT -6
The first option seemed like it wasn't too bad. Exploring and wandering the ruins was fairly fun minus the overwhelming presence of the dark gloomy place, and the psycho death traps. Seriously, why would someone put lethal traps in an empty ruin? There was no gold. There was none of that. Honestly, a simple "Don't take my stuff" would've sufficed in the priests mind. Fingers combed through scruffy blue hair as he quietly listened to Nayru elaborating their potential paths. He made to move as she did, along the dark path with his twin illuminating lights permeating so that they could better plot a destination.
That was, however, until the flash of light burst out. Remus acted on instinct. Though they had the barrier spell upon them, the priest swiftly spun his staff about face and was already channeling a brighter pulsating blue light in preparation for any explosive force. That...would not be necessary though it seemed, for as the priest waited..no magic explosion came. Okay Remus..were safe...we can stop casting now.. A tiny voice reminded him of this kindly as he halted the excessive flow of magic and focused only on the light. His eyes however, needed to adjust as a more palpable and defined fire began to light the path near them. A fire that lit itself? That was...so strange. Strange indeed. By the way Nayru's words were punctuated with "uh"'s, he imagined that he wasn't alone in his disrupted thinking. That was good at-least.
Hesitant now more so though, with weary steps, the second one lit aflame and Nayru began to express her frustration. Or perhaps exasperation was a better choice. The priest chuckled, if nothing but light hearted after her outburst, with a smile spreading upon his pale visage. He gestured down the rest of the path before them.
"If I'm honest Nayru..I can't help but feel that we should see where this leads. I mean...it must be important if er..um...the way is going to light itself..right?"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 29, 2016 15:57:44 GMT -6
The rebellious little crap side of her wanted to argue, but Nayru sorta knew already that she couldn't argue with Remus's idea. She had her misgivings about this place, especially after that little episode with the magic lights, but... none of that meant she wasn't interested anymore. Quite the opposite in fact, it only heightened her curiosity. But it was also a strong reminder that they weren't screwing around with some random harmless ruins. Shaking her head at Remus's lack of caution, the dragon smiled tiredly but fondly at him, admitting her defeat. "Just stay behind me. If there are any remaining traps... they'll be here." Ah yes, much better that she get swept off the walkway into the infinite abyss below than him by an explosive wind trap or something. Wouldn't that be grand. Resigned to her fate, Nayru held her tongue and instead simply swiveled and continued along the pathway, trying to ignore the twin outbursts of light every ten feet or so as she went. She also tried VERY hard to ignore the fact that about 20 feet behind Remus, the lights were also fading out behind them. Which suggested some sort of motion-sensing magic... which in turn suggested some form of intelligence. She didn't like that idea at all. As they followed the walkway as it actually reached out over the chasm itself though, the burning scent of magic wafted up stronger than she had ever felt it before. Not dark magic, thankfully, she didn't even want to imagine what a portal to the Nether would be like... even though she knew EXTREMELY well from experience after that little adventure in Bern. No, this was Anima magic. Strong magic. Old magic. Peering over the edge, though, there was nothing particularly spectacular to see, no crazy rituals or glowing circles... just darkness tinged by occasional... bursts of colored tint, though not light, was the only way Nayru could think of to describe it. Like the pulses of a beating heart. It was a little unnerving, but she didn't sense anything particularly evil so it wasn't that frightening, just a bit intimidating. This island seemed to have strong magic in general, more obvious leylines, this was probably just a major leyline of magic on Vinland - which would actually do a lot to explain why they built a temple around it. She wasn't sure if Remus was as attuned to Anima magic as she was, though, and so said nothing for the time being. The glints of gold and pulses of pink ahead were the first hint of the walkway reaching something relevant after they had walked for some time, bolstering the dragon's flagging hopes to find something, ANYTHING interesting in this Skyforsaken pit. Picking up the pace a bit they soon reached a great platform, stone and wood extending out in what appeared to be a large semicircle attached to the furthest wall of the gigantic room, housing a... shrine of some sort? Compared to the austere stone of mottled brown and grey that had personnified most of the ancient building, this shrine was built more of wood, with what appeared to be redwood pillars of some sort decorated with countless hanging tassels, rope, and other furnishings. In fact it appeared almost vaguely Sacaen in origin, though not similar to any recent Sacaen decor she had seen. Against the far wall was a great golden altar that she could glimpse through the surroundings but not see very clearly. And before them... If not for the motion Nayru might almost have missed it in Remus's dim light, but there was a woman before them, hanging limply off of a large central pillar. It appeared that neither party had noticed the other until the priest's light illuminated them all; beneath pale skin and pinkish-white hair, one lidded crimson eye stared dimly at the interlopers, the wince on her face none too subtle in communicating her condition - as if her arms bound to the pillar above her was not obvious enough in relaying the fact that she wasn't going anywhere. It was the lower half of the picture that stole Nayru's attention the most, though, albeit with the caveat that she actually didn't know where to look first. On the one hand... the woman was pretty much naked... and sporting a figure that made the dragon feel a little self conscious. Ok, a lot self-conscious. It was hard to see anything particularly clearly through the paper ofuda covering parts of her, it but was definitely a chest that put hers to shame. Probably even her last body. Wow, that was sort of depressing. And impressive. Mostly impressive. There was also the minor problem that Stripperella's over there had a bottom half that was pretty obviously more snake/dragon tail than legs. Aaaand she wasn't just tied to the post; what Nayru had at first thought were strands of hair were actually bright pink chains, pulsing subtly with magic, over which the snake-woman's hair was in places draped carelessly, chaining her to the ground as thoroughly as the bindings above her held her to the pole. The ground beneath her was surrounded by a shimmering magic circle edged in arcane writing, very similar in style to the runes on the temple around them. Nayru had heard tales of binding magic, but it was said to have been lost long ago, and she had never gained any familiarity with it as a result. Elibe was full of tales of bound monstrosities, though, and usually something being chained up in the bottom of ancient temples wasn't good news. But it didn't seem to be an immediate threat, at least the dragon didn't think so, but maybe that WAS the trap? Still, it did help to make her feel slightly less on edge, at least for now. Almost enough to say something stupid! "...If you don't hit that, I will."------ (slightly NSFW) image in case the description wasn't clear danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1862790
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Post by Remus on Aug 29, 2016 16:56:40 GMT -6
"Just stay behind me. If there are any remaining traps... they'll be here."
Remus didn't like that idea. The notion of it made his stomach churn and skin crawl. He knew Nayru was insistent that they go ahead, but it ate away at him internally while his innards squirmed and wriggled within. The blue haired priest loathed the very notion that someone was putting themselves in such blatant harm on his account. The priest however begrudgingly fell into line behind the dragoness. The eeriness of the lively blue flames which ignited as if upon their own accord greatly frightened him. It was a truly terrifying thing, in earnest. His entire life time, magic was explained as possibly purely through the medium of a magic practitioner. As such, these braziers were an exception to all he held as law by lighting into the dancing blue illuminating tongues of fire with no sign of a catalyst other than that of their approach.
He focused on maintaining his light, before mentally diminishing the bright radiant orb off to the distant chamber of the room; relying on a combination of the self-lightning braziers and his staff which reverberated pulses of light imbued within the blue gem. It was around the same time as Nayru most likely, that Remus noticed the disjointed motions. Golden tassels drifting in the background. Flashes of pink. It wasn't as far as Nayru had been when she felt the magic, but eventually, Remus felt it too. As a human, he was far less "aware". There was a slight stir when they approached. His eyes, having constantly had a difficult time adjusting towards the shifting levels of light. There was the braziers. There was his own staff. Each one alternating for dominance as braziers lit and died down.
Until he noticed her. He had no trouble discerning the gender. It wasn't the who. It was the what, that gave him pause. Half human. Half..snake..lizard..woman. He hadn't seen a snake in person, so he had to base it off of images he'd read about and scene through various tomes. Though, in particularly "Remus" fashion, his notice drifted not to the female's body but the bindings upon her. Chains. What looked like papers upon her? He had no doubt they were in some way repressing her if they were there. His eyes darted to her neck, and he examined the chains in their entirety. Tethered down to the ground, where pulsating runes of vibrant magical energy that encircled at-least as much of her as he could see. The priest continued to maintain the light upon his staff, but crouched down while trying to examine the runes. Until he heard Nayru's voice.
"...If you don't hit that, I will."
She wanted him to hit the barrier? The priest, still somewhat confused as to her exclamation, looked from nayru back down to the barrier before taking a step back cautiously. His tone expressed his concerns at this idea as he cautiously leaned forwards with his left hand out-stretched.
"I mean..I can try but..your stronger than I am so..."
His voice faded out as his fingers moved to brush the air above the magic runes, only for a sudden flash of light to burst into existence. Suddenly his fingers found themselves meeting a solid force of resistance. As if he was trying to gently push his fingers through a stone wall. Remus withdrew his hand, only to quietly gaze onward and then attempt once more. Another burst of light and a barrier repelled him still. As the resident expert of barrier magics between the two, he huffed quietly in thought before folding his arms and looking to Nayru with a quiet and confused expression.
"Nayru, this barrier seems strong as a wall itself. I don't know that I can well..punch through it. It felt completely solid. So er..I don't think I can hit it. We have to free her though so um..any suggestions?"
The priest gazed back at the female snake, his gaze stained with concern when he'd seen the flinch before noticing the condition of her arms and only imagining the sheer discomfort availed to her from the restraints. However all things strange and magic-y seemed more like Nayru's expertise so he'd take her suggestions if she had any for him in particular, or if she had a game plan as to something she should do instead.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 29, 2016 17:52:01 GMT -6
Welp, it was official. Remus had ruined any chance of a climactic final battle or tense scene. She managed to keep her mirth (mostly) inside, and aside from a small snort and a knowing smile there was no... open... mockery of her priestly companion's naive and honest reaction as he COMPLETELY missed every aspect of the joke aside from the literal. He was just like an adorable puppy... to torture... ok that sounded really bad even in her head so she stopped thinking about that. It wasn't much worse than Remus's reaction though, or his awkwardly Remusey response. Dammit. Now she felt bad for even making the joke. Like she had befouled something so pure and wonderful it was not meant for this world.
In all seriousness though, Nayru wasn't quite as optimistic as Remus about the idea of an expedited release for the imprisoned snake-lady. Last time she checked, the combination of ancient magic, ancient temples-slash-tombs, and inhuman creatures being sealed usually didn't end well for anyone involved. Silently testing the barrier herself with a cursory touch, she stood back a pace and crossed her arms with a frown as she tried to decide how to say it... or even what to say.
Honestly, she didn't like the idea of leaving the girl here either. All possible threats aside, the idea of leaving an innocent person tied up in a hellish expanse with what had been essentially no light, sound, motion, sight, or likely even food or water for an unknown duration was beyond cruel, and not something she wanted to stand by as it happened. Even the woman was actually just a snake that would happily stab them in the back or try to eat them, a simple death would be a far greater mercy than eternal torture, as dark as it sounded. So while her brain continued to come up with ever-darker scenarios about demon gods and man-devouring snake-demons, her heart wanted to have none of it. If she had been alone, Nayru probably would have just done it without further thought; she didn't have that great of a sense of personal danger. But in Remus's company, as his unofficial guardian, it wasn't as simple.
Nayru's hesitation was evident in her delayed reaction to Remus's question, her bitten lip, and her tone alike; not quite the pillar of absolute certainty she tried to be, and quite indicative of the fact that she wasn't entirely fond of what she had to say. "...You know she could be dangerous, right, Remus?"
But there wasn't a great deal of conviction in her own words, and the dragon experimentally tested the barrier again rather than pushing the point too hard. It felt like she was being the villain here for trying to be concerned for others. The snake's eyes were defiant, both open now and not looking particularly pleased with Nayru's concern, but not aflame with hatred and malice as the dragon stared down at her. It... almost reminded her of how Erim had described her when they first met. Wild and angry. Scared. She wasn't sure if she was trying to see herself in the other girl's eyes or just looking too far into this, but it did a fantastic job of making her feel like a HORRIBLE person for even suggesting it. Ironic that in trying to do good, she still did wrong. Nayru sighed in defeat.
"I might be able to punch through it... but I'm not very good at limited force. It's pretty much on or off, and depending on how durable the barrier is, I might end up killing her in the process." Yea, there was the fear again; the dragon turned away rather than face it, feeling progressively shittier as she did. "You have much better control with your magic. If it's a physical barrier, it may be vulnerable to magic. I've never encountered a static barrier before, that magic was supposedly lost in the Scouring, so I don't have much better to suggest."
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Post by Remus on Aug 29, 2016 18:09:55 GMT -6
...You know she could be dangerous, right, Remus?
Through what light they were afforded from the flames, and his staff, Remus flashed a grin with absolute ease. The swiftness of his response, his tone, and his expression blended to reflect an absolute sincere nature and heartfelt genuine meaning. He even chuckled into the response, as if he harbored no care in the world at that brief moment."Ahah, I don't think I'm worried Nayru. If I was with someone else, maybe. But I definitely think we can handle anything this place tries to throw at us..and it even tried to blow me up! And er..cut me in half. But No, I think were safe. Besides..look at her condition.."
The priest cast his glance to the visible signs that the female snake animal woman thing wasn't in any real positive state of health. His gaze returned to the runes after asserting this point though as he pondered Nayru's words. He trusted her to know her capabilities far greater than he did, and he believed that she couldn't really easily mitigate how much force she generated or used. After all, even he'd only seen her using certain intervals of power. Never a..well toned flow of it. It was almost like it went up in bursts or chunks. Incremental bursts of higher caliber. So that was a fair enough statement. That, and well, he could relate to a degree. Barriers were fragile things once their integrity was compromised at one point. So if Nayru tried to shatter through, but only partially broke in, the force needed to break into it again would be redundant as the second strike would make it fall apart; implying that her excess force could in-fact harm the very individual they intended to save. His thoughtful tone expressed this. "Your definitely right. If the barrier were to fall apart mid strike, all resistance would crumble and you'd be going full bar against well..her. " His finger lifted and he pointed to the crimson eyed snake female staring back at them.
You have much better control with your magic.
Remus froze. His expression hidden from Nayru as he gazed to the snake blankly, he felt an almost dread like sensation clutch him. After-all. Bar fighting monstrosities of death twice, he'd never used his light magic offensively. The basic control of it and his aptitude thus far was by deriving basic principles similar from that of his stave magics. His ability to conjure bolts of light was meager at best when not against fiends specifically weak to the holy magic. Except for well...that spell. Which..could be horribly dangerous. Remus scanned over the snake once more before weighing his options. No. There was no weighing. Someone needed his help. He wouldn't hesitate because he was unsure of himself. The priest slowly rose from his crouching poise. He nodded with a warm expression to Nayru, before turning to the female snake. Could she understand them? Could she even hear them? Either way...having been in the dark this long...
"If um..you can hear me..and understand me..you should close your eyes. It's about to ah..get really bright."
The priest turned back to Nayru and clasped his staff in a cradled poise while it nestled against his shoulder.
"Nayru..I'm going to have to get a bit of distance from this to use my strongest magic. About half way across the bridge. You should probably stand there too..because I don't know how well I can maintain control of this since well..um..I'm still refining it."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 29, 2016 18:40:43 GMT -6
"Let's just get this over with." There was an element of almost grousing in Nayru's tone, a hint of petulance and frustration, but it wasn't dominant exactly. More that she recognized the value of Remus's request even if she didn't like it. Something she seemed to be feeling a lot of tonight. She sighed, again something she seemed to be doing a lot of tonight, and looked back one more time at the bound snake with an unreadable expression. The dragoness didn't like not being sure if she was doing the right thing or not, but she trusted Remus and she trusted her gut, and they both said to go ahead. If only her brain would listen, if only it could be that simple.
To be frank she wasn't entirely excited about Remus's uncertainty of his OWN control either, but he had talked himself into doing it so quickly that now suggesting something else would be going against him. Even if he was underestimating the possible threat - Nayru wasn't worried about what the place could throw at them, she was worried about what it was supposed to be keeping inside and what THAT could throw at them. Pretty fancy digs for just some random snake girl.
She did note with some amusement that the snake-woman, who had closed her eyes when Remus suggested it, now had them open again in what she suspected was curiosity. Nayru would have done the same thing and she knew it, past the immediate reaction curiosity usually won over fear. It was... maybe a weird thing to feel any sort of kinship over, but maybe because of how stupid and utterly human it was, it did make her feel a little better about all this. So without further complaints, she followed Remus back over the bridge, AGAIN, barely holding back the urge to complain about the walk. Seriously, she wasn't against a bit of old fashioned exercise, but this was ridiculous. What kind of magic did you have to be that far away to use? "Just try not to blow up her, the platform, or the bridge," Nayru remarked with just a hint of acerbic humor. "We need the last one to get home, remember?"
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Post by Remus on Aug 29, 2016 19:16:14 GMT -6
"Just try not to blow up her, the platform, or the bridge, we need the last one to get home, remember?"
This..didn't help. He knew Nayru was joking, but it was a genuine fear of his. He had a plan though. If he could steadily focus the beam down upon the circle, and perhaps not break over the circle itself then he would be able to break off the flow just as the barrier crumbled. At the very least, he could weaken it until it would be undone with a far weaker but less destructive assault of magic. That at-least..was the plan.
So it was, that after the priest had put a very solid distance between himself and this imprisoned snake, he turned promptly on his heel. The bridge would likely hold. It was stone after all. The priest tried to drown out the fact that Nayru was there. That they were on a bridge, hanging over an abyss. His eyes slowly closed, and the blue light of his staff began to diminish. If not for the flaming brazier next to them, all light would have faded and darkness enveloped them entirely. In those dancing pale blue shadows, the priest stood quiet for a brief time. Inhaling and exhaling. Cleansing his thoughts and replacing them with a singular overwhelming notion that was required to call upon the most holy of magics. After all, it was difficult to dredge up so much power on a whim. With zeal though, it became an ease.
He focused on the negative condition of the snake. Branded within his mind, the image of her expression when flinching. She was imprisoned. This circle served to isolate her. He had to eradicate it. Purge it. The priest took two steps ahead of Nayru briefly. Just for a small bit greater space, and then, began to channel.
Like a heart-beat of energy, a surge of light pulsed outwards from the priests body. Twisting, swirling, vibrant energy that lit the bridge for a greater distance than his feeble staff light. It felt like a small wind kicked up around the priest as the current of divine magic began to circulate. It built, rising in potency as he continued to pull from his innermost well of power. His expression one of absolute peace, eyes eased shut still and the echo of his soul bursting outwards in another pulse as the light grew only to burn brighter and further. It now exuded from every aspect of the priests body. Unlike the light supplied by fire though, this illumination was constant. Solid. A wall of pulsating radiance which repelled the shadow. This process continued for a few seconds longer as the young Etrurian conjured forth every ounce of power he could muster.
Not just for the raw power, but the raw control. His robes jostled and rustled as the energy pulsed a third time. Now, light permeated from his limbs as well. Hands brighter in glow and enveloped in a divine energy that cloaked his figure. Power given will by a single unyielding intent, drawn from the core of his soul. The priest's gaze snapped open entirely, and locked onto the snake's prison. Left hand clutching his staff tightly, his right inclined with outstretched palm as he held his poise while the magical energy rushed forth. As if a moderate wind, it spiraled and swirled. From a great distance above the magic prison, a thin beam of light transcended from the upper levels down upon the center of the circle. It's holy warmth descending as if his magic was simply "acquiring" a target. Then, a surge that traversed the length of the beam in an instant. It met harsh resistance from the barrier and a faint grating sound with a screech and a hiss from the clashing magics began to fill the room. A brilliant and cruel brightness spawned from the confrontation.
It's tough. I wish my barriers could hold like this. It's sustained by the nails. They seem like they form a dual barrier. Enforcing one another. This might take alot more then I can muster...
Gauging the resistance, Remus felt he would need to draw on his full strength to even splinter the barrier. As such, he inhaled sharply once more through the nostrils and reflexively extended his arms slightly further. The somewhat thin beam instantly burst into a towering pillar of daunting divine power. A fully tuned purge spell. The light was great, and the roaring sound greater yet within that dark quiet place. A colossal portion of the ruin found itself revealed by the tower of light, even into the lower depths of the bottomless abyss beneath them. The barrier and the purge spell clashed as an unrelenting pressure of light magic came crashing down in a ceaseless bombardment. The air around the priest waving wildly and his robes billowing madly while he further pressed the flow of magic upon the dome. His mind dedicated to fully shattering this barrier.
He could feel it. The resistance of his magic against the ancient arcane magic. A slight snarl of an expression briefly ghosted along the priests visage. Not out of spite, or anger, but effort. His body grew strained, and fatigue began to quickly climb as he fought to feed the constant pillar. Every moment becoming harder and harder. His lungs burning with each inhale. His heart racing faster with each passing moment. His mind weighed greatly by the strain of focus and power. Magic so powerful and destructive, was simply not meant to be maintained for a long period of time. This however, was their only option towards freeing the female, and as such, could not fail. It was not until he felt a rush of dizziness that the priest noticed the resistance starting to crumble in the barrier. The faint crack in it was all he needed to see before he halted the powerful torrent.
There! I just have to crack it and it should break apart!
The priest started running forwards again. Braziers lit up only to die back down as he moved past them. He needed not their help however, as the permeating light magic still allowed him to walk the safe path. It always did. The priest lifted his hand as he moved across the bridge fully, only to slid to a halt and lift his hand. A series of light bolts were woven into the space along his right side before he swept his hand downwards and sent the hail of bolts directly for the same spot he'd pin-pointed initially. Right at the center and above the barrier. The place that had also taken the brute of his Purge spell. All four bolts crashed into it at the same time, before an outwards explosion of magical energy threatened to knock him on his rear. The light flashed, and glimmered, before the barrier collapsed.
Oh..good hevans. I don't..think I could've maintained that...and..oh goodbyelegs.
The priest's knee's buckled from fatigue almost a moment after defeating the barrier. His staff kept him braced and partially off his left knee with his left foot planted firmly and bent knee still attempting to hold him in a standing poise. His breathing was ragged, but steadying. His face somewhat pale. His expression slightly mixed of shock, and relief, and fatigue all in one. His breathless tones internally justified while he turned to look towards Nayru. He made definitive attempts to steady his breathing after speaking, but couldn't quite find it in him just yet to fully stand.
"I sure could use some of your handy endurance right about now...ah...haa...haa...haaa"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 29, 2016 21:24:13 GMT -6
She hadn't been entirely sure what Remus was doing until the light rained from the sky, er, roof-ish area, a deluge that pieced the darkness and tore through the shadows like she had always wished she could on a more metaphorical level. It was definitely the most impressive magical display Nayru had ever seen, not that she had a great deal of experience with magic to be fair, but she was pretty sure if that kind of feat was common she would have seen something similar by now. It was amazing how fast Remus was growing; it didn't seem like all that long ago that he had only just been able to call forth smaller lances of light, like she had assumed he was going to do here.
Though... to be honest, it wasn't just him. Her growth in the last few months had been... far beyond anything she had ever experienced before. Veigue too, even if he was never satisfied. His speed, strength, and offense had risen tremendously. Nayru was a pretty good fighter at this point, but she was no born warrior, and she didn't have the experience to know if that was normal or not. But it was a glimpse into a world she had never thought much about... even derided a bit in passing, if she thought back to it. The idea of pursuing strength had seemed almost silly. Now that she had metrics, her own and others, to actually understand it... it didn't seem that silly anymore. Haha. Power like that definitely wasn't a waste of time and effort.
The dragon had no f**k**g idea what Remus was doing when he took off running like a madman with the barrier still intact, the prevailing options being that A. he had finally snapped and wanted to headbutt it, B. he hadn't realized the shield was still up, or C. he had a plan. She jogged along behind him, longer strides and much less exhausted though not as rushed, just in case there was a serious problem. While she had been leaning A or B, it turned out [C] was the correct answer when the priest did some of those smaller light bolts to actually finish breaking the barrier. Which, coincidentally, made her feel a little like a not very good friend for assuming he had just gone crazy.
In the wake of her good buddy's attack, the surprisingly-durable barrier was definitely done with that crap and vamoosed off to parts known, but as she approached Nayru could see that the chains were still perfectly intact, as was the post, even if, er, the immediate surroundings of both were not. "I hope for your sake there wasn't anything too historically valuable in that shrine, Remus." Snickering immaturely, Nayru clapped a hand to his back as she passed. "But good work. Let me get the rest."
Snake lady looked pretty much totally out of it, eyes glazed over and pretty unresponsive to the dragon's approach. Yyyyyep, wanted to see the bright and shiny lights. They both had done it, but Nayru had been far enough away that there were just faint afterimages. Sighing and grinning in rapid succession at wonderfully poor judgement on par with, nay, perhaps even more impressive than her own, she gave the chains an experimental squeeze, which accomplished little more than jerking the girl's head a bit... and pretty much killed her idea of half-shifting to break the chain. Snapping the little lady's neck would - wait why was she calling her a little lady? Tall white and busty over here was both taller and (probably) a few hundred pounds heavier than her.
An impasse.
Experimentally kicking the spikes embedded in the wood, Nayru found they didn't budge at all, not that she had expected them to. It wouldn't be a very good seal if the snake lady could just pop them out of the ground, would it now? Without much understanding of the magical principles behind the seal, though, it wasn't like Nayru really had any better ideas. So... she bent over, went up to a 30% halfshift, and casually ripped the spike - and a few inches of wood around it - out of the floor. That chain flickered out of existence almost immediately.
Feeling incredibly underwhelmed by her own accomplishments in the face of Remus's great working, the unhappy dragon methodically made her way around the circle, ripping out each spike as she reached them, privately glad that no one aside from Remus and snake would know her great shame. On the sixth chain the girl's body went limp, held up only by the rope on her hands; a flourish and a flash of steel later and she went flopping down to the ground like a fish out of water, completely motionless. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Well, motionless aside from the breathing thing, based on a quick pulse check on the girl's wrist... which was convenient. She hadn't been sure if snake people actually had normal people insides. Not entirely sure what else to do with the face-down and possibly comatose victim of Remus's horrible acts of violence, Nayru reverted to the one thing she knew beyond any other.
"So... how ya doin'?"
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Post by Remus on Aug 29, 2016 21:57:38 GMT -6
The clap on his back staggered the priest a bit more than he'd have liked. Not that it was intentional on her part, but just, he didn't have the strongest of footings at the moment with only one leg anchoring him down and the other rooted with his knee to the cold hard stone. The world was also pulsating for him, as his vision tried to adjust to the stark darkness now in place as opposed to the blinding pillar of light he'd unleashed moments prior. There was also a faint sensation of confusion to the disoriented priest as he tried to recover his breathing and fend off this fatigue. Had Nayru told him to rest? She knew he couldn't do that. Though..as she walked forward he had a feeling he hadn't understood her entirely. He shook his head, to clear his inner spinning as Nayru set to adjusting and pulling out the last set of bindings which imprisoned the female.
By the time Remus had dragged himself to a standing poise, joints protesting with weary burning that made him feel far older than he had a right to grumble about, the scruffy blue haired Etrurian Priest saw the female snake liberated. That she fell to the ground filled him with an internal worry. The priest made his wayslowly over to the snake, relieved when he saw the faint motions of breathing. That, atleast, was good news and a good sign. The priest flashed a bright grin to Nayru before chuckling. Nayru had greeted her just as Nayru would, and Remus would in his own Remus way, just as Remus would.
"We did it! But um..ah..she doesn't look too well..maybe I can..."
Remus was after all, and would always be, Remus. His first instinct upon seeing someone in an injured or a state of negative health, was to heal them. As such, it should have surprised no one that the priest knelt near her human aspected frame and moved his staff so it hovered a foot or so away from her while he began to let a soft blue hue fill the room. This was not a matter of lighting the chamber however, and as such, the light was distinctly different. A pulsating globe of healing magic emanated from the gem atop his stave, the warmth within the light flooding to the injured humanoid while he shifted himself slightly and began to focus on tending her wounds. His tone was just as it usually was. Inviting, and kind, but he chuckled and tried to compound on Nayru's greeting to at-least further convey they were not hostile. Well..if him healing her didn't say that then he was probably doomed.
"Are you alright? Are you able to speak, or move much?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 23:02:02 GMT -6
"f**k MY EYES" came the articulate response, a cacophonous call to coarseness filled with all the impotent rage of a really angry puppy, or possibly a truly livid kitten. It was hard to really fit the rage of the universe itself into your voice when all you could see was fire and know that it was 100% completely unarguably your own god damn fault. In the grand list of things that she probably shouldn't have done, this was definitely up there somewhere around the... fifth or sixth place. North of the poison berry taste test experiment in the Rakoul, but south of the tea incident. Normally at this point she'd be writhing around in pain and agony, but right now it was about all she could actually manage to lay there wishing that the earth would swallow her whole.
Unfortunately, suicide by planet didn't seem to have any takers, so she was forced to lie there face down on what was probably about... her brain slipped into 'on' mode by accident for a second to helpfully supply the number 50 before returning to a constant stream of swearing. Yeah, probably about fifty times older than her. The floor, that was. What a lovely aroma, much akin to rotting death. She couldn't really see what the outsiders were doing, but whatever the blue glow stuff was made her feel better - healing magic? human origin - rare on island - another point for Elibe theory - it was her first time experiencing it, and here she was, unable to even tell him to be gentle. Ugh, worst day of her life.
The irony of complaining about not being able to make a bad joke after finally being freed from several days of being left for dead in a lightless, soundless, motionless hellscape with her only companion living in her head was not lost on the not-especially-hale lamia.
"M'fine," she eventually muttered after a few more moments of feeling sorry for herself, trying to turn her head enough that at least she wasn't resting on her nose, it was getting sore. "There's just... some... damage to my pride." It was about the first actual sentence out of her, even if it was a bit muffled, revealing a much more feminine voice than her earlier exclamation - almost musically soft and airy. For her part, Lafiel was mostly occupied being thoroughly amused at the idea that her saviors had been decidedly unlike anything she had envisioned.
Some feeling was returning to her arms, which was both a blessing and a curse... mostly a curse. Ow. Raggle fragging - gritting her teeth and summoning what reserves of willpower had survived five days of trying very hard not to go insane, she eventually managed to get... some of her strength back and got to work on hoisting herself aloft. Surprisingly cold down here when she... thought... about it...
Ohhhhhh right.
"If... if one of you could get my clothes from the altar back there, that would be fantastic."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 29, 2016 23:24:13 GMT -6
To be honest... Nayru didn't really have a wonderful response stored up for this situation. Usually people responded to healers with a bit more enthusiasm, or if they were evil murder death creatures, with lots of killing. This was more like an overgrown Amelia wrestling with the consequences of her actions... or a normal Nayru wrestling with the consequences of her... ok they didn't need to go there thank you very much, she made fantastic and reasoned decisions that definitely did not ever go badly for any reason, and if they did - they didn't, but on the off chance they did - it was solely someone else's fault.
She couldn't NOT jump on that chance, though. "I'm not really into the ocular sex thing, but Remus might be, why don't you ask him?" As casual and how-do-you-do as could be, just normal conversation between friends. Not waiting to see Remus's response, and more or less convinced by now that the snake was a harmless retard after her own heart, Nayru made her way behind the pillar to the decidedly quite large gilded altar a dozen or two feet back, more or less unscathed by Remus's little light show, and surprisingly the same could said for the snake lady's clothes, which were quite neatly folded in a pile next to a couple swords in a crevasse - probably how they had escaped being hurled about by the motion in the air after the attack.
She wasn't so sure about the swords, though, so after a moment of thought she left them there and returned with the clothes. No sense in arming the girl before they even knew what her name was. Snake didn't look so hot there, or rather she was obnoxiously so but didn't look to be in very good shape, so the dragon refrained from tossing them at the girl's feet... err... tail and squatted down to place them carefully by the woman's hands. "Take your time, alright?" They were perhaps not the most comforting words ever spoken in the history of man- and dragon-kind, but it was about as close to genuine kindness as she got without hitting awkward territory, and REALLY awkward territory would be helping miss snake ass put her own clothes on... or having Remus do it.
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Post by Remus on Aug 30, 2016 8:06:55 GMT -6
I'm not really into the ocular sex thing, but Remus might be, why don't you ask him
The priest's visage instantly blended in a mixed shade of embarrassment at the mention of well, sex, but confusion at what "ocular" sex was. While keeping his staff raised he looked to Nayru with absolute uncertainty before speaking up quietly, coughing into closed fist once to try and clear out his embarrassment before his cheeks flushed red. He was doing his best to ignore the nudity of the female already, and luckily was somewhat desensitized by spending so much time around a fairly exposed Nayru. Nayru wore clothing, but with her clothing being so exposing most of the time he was able to ignore...er..most of it.
"Um..Nayru..what's...ah..Ocular..um...Ocular Sex. I don't get..that."
Another cough a moment later as he became grateful for once that the soft blue light tinted his face already to prevent any emphasis to just how red it was growing.
The woman's voice still sounded hoarse. Well...the female..snake. Remus wasn't sure exactly what she was beyond the obvious assessment she was a human snake creature. That wasn't exactly how you asked though, was it? You didn't exactly say 'Yo, what are you exactly, some kind of snake human monster?' Not that Remus would have ever started any statement with "yo". He wasn't a pirate. However as the female requested her clothing, the scruffy blue haired Etrurian priest turned to see Nayru moving to retrieve them. To this end, Remus decided to stay where he was with his hand and staff near the snake with the soft warm blue energy permeating further from him and imbuing within her to mend her injuries, soreness, and general wounds. It wasn't as swift when he didn't know where particularly to focus it so he was simply healing her entire body. His uncertainty of her anatomy also made it difficult because he didn't know well..how a snakes muscle structure worked. So he had to focus on the human half.
Once he'd healed what he felt was all of her known wounds or injuries, the priest backed up and stood up straight while Nayru handed the oddity her clothes. The priest looked to the clothes for a moment, noticing that they were folded. That..bothered him. Did that mean someone had stripped her, and left her bound there? How could someone do something so awful? The priest turned to examine their surroundings again before looking back at the female snake.
"If you have any further injuries..please you have but to let me know. Healing people is ah, what I do best. Besides..um..almost dying. Ahah~"
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, flashing a sheepish grin to Nayru. If anyone could vouch for the priests morbidly bad luck with near fatal encounters, it was her. Though she usually saved him from said encounters as well.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 8:48:51 GMT -6
"Oh! That's a fancy word for eyes I think," Lafiel answered as if her name was Nayru. Which it wasn't, but since when had she let little things like rationality and names and sense stop her? "Or rather it's a word for something related to eyes or vision - you don't call them oculars obviously, that would be weird." Nodding sagely as if her explanation was ballistaproof, the snake almost managed to forget about the fact she was currently topless with nothing more than one hand to keep what little remained of her dignity intact. Almost. Regardless, Remus's healing gave her plenty to be distracted by; she knew OF healing magic, but it wasn't really a Taguel thing and she'd never actually been injured in the vicinity of a healer - Raskesh took care of injuries the old fashioned way, with potions and salves and mercy killings. So the blue glow suffusing her, coursing through her body and soothing her savaged muscles and filling her with warmth, was an entirely new and rather exciting experience as far as she was concerned. Lafiel ran her free hand down her side almost as if chasing the magic, her fingers following the curves lightly, experimentally, but unable to actually touch the pulses of light across her body. It wasn't the first time she had seen magic of course, that would be silly, but her fascination with the unknown definitely got the better of her there. Still, she was rather grateful when the other violent savior came back with clothes and took them rather meekly for her, without even the slightest hint of a raunchy joke or snarkasm. Dressing was a bit of a struggle with the muscles of her arms still somewhat strained, but the priest's strange magic had done a lot to alleviate the stress that she knew would normally have suffered from, or possibly even long term damage. But a bit of soress? That she could handle. It was a bit slower of a job than usual but it wasn't like she had that much to put on for the most part compared to human clothing. Her motions overall were quick and clean, a litle delayed but still efficient. When she finished, Lafiel popped up like a snake in the box, swaying back and forth experimentally as she tried to gauge what her body was actually capable of in the wake of her ordeal. Her tail had some kinks in it but was otherwise unscathed thankfully, unsurprising given that it had just been lying there useless for a few days. A few experimental stretches and raised arms later, and she was willing to call it a day. And that meant it was time for 20 questions! "So... you guys are from Elibe, right?" Not even a hint of subtlety there, just a straight up question without any shame whatsoever. She listed off reasons with her fingers. "Your clothing styles aren't native to the island, especially those fancy baggy clothes," Lafiel inclined her head to Remus. "The jungle around here is too dangerous for most humans. The few humans that DO know about this place know to stay the hell away. You're not Taguel." And now for number five, the coup de gras, the piece de resistance, her greatest point ever. "And no one who lives here here would be dumb enough to go spelunking in Lamia territory."There was a short pause before her brain caught up to her mouth. "Uh, no offense to present company. Obviously."Obviously.--- Snek appearance with actual clothes on and without danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1377363
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Aug 30, 2016 9:08:21 GMT -6
Yanno... it was the sinuous thing that bugged her, Nayru realized after a bit of watching the snake woman move. She hadn't really thought about it much before, on account of being pretty used to having legs and all, but with such a stable base as the girl's obviously-weighty tail, the strangely consistent movements, without any concerns for typical body parts like joints, did make sense. But it was still disconcerting, even if the irony of that statement wasn't lost on Nayru the dragon lady who was not human. There was something about swaying like that that almost made it feel like the woman's torso and upper body were just... floating there in empty space. Physically untrue, for obvious reasons. But it was sort of the feeling she got nonetheless.
Nonetheless Remus's healing seemed to have been pretty effective, given that the girl seemed to be more or less recovered now. Well. Mostly. Nayru might not be the healer Remus was, but she knew bodies, and she knew all too well from personal experience what strained muscles were like, and she could see the occasionally awkward movements in the woman's activity. The dragon couldn't help but empathize a little, after some of her adventures with Veigue and Remus especially, she was all too familiar with just how unpleasant and frustrating that could be.
It seemed that the snake had recovered pretty quickly though, which either meant that she hadn't been as bad off as she had been letting on, or that Remus's healing had been very effective. Nayru decided to be charitable and assume the latter. Unfortunately, just when she was starting to think they might be able to get along, the serpentine skank opened her mouth and out poured a strange combination of drivel and insight that took the dragon a bit off guard. Without any information on who the snake woman was or what her kind was like - though this did add a pretty strong backing to her beastmen theory - she had no understanding of WHY the girl would know about Elibe, much less their presence here, even given her reasoning. And she didn't know what some of those words meant, which was always a point of contention for the admittedly-occasionally-prideful dragon, who always wanted to know more than anyone else in the room.
"Alright, alright, slow down there missy." Raising her arms in a mixture of a placating and a pushing away gesture, Nayru smiled wryly before her expression dropped precipitously back to neutral with a side of bad cop. "Good to see you're up, but define those words for me. The f**k is a Taguel?"
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Post by Remus on Aug 30, 2016 9:45:50 GMT -6
Oh! That's a fancy word for eyes I think.
This drew the priests attention, even if it wasn't Nayru's voice. His gaze idling upon the still shirtless snake female, he was able to flash a warm grin as the female answered at-least part of his question. However her nudity was still beyond him given that he was...well..Remus. As long as it wasn't forced upon him her extremely womanly aspects would likely be lost on him like every other sexual aspect. Remus was educated, and very literate, but he had never been exposed to the word "Ocular." So while this female snake excitedly and knowingly explained, the priest nodded in understanding before exclaiming with an inclined hand before smiling brightly.
"Ah! I'm glad you could tell me this! I did not know what the word ocular meant! "
His tone faltered slightly as he continued with obvious confusion.
"I um..er...don't know how Ocular Sex works then. Um..ah..*Ahem* yeah.."
He again coughed quietly before the woman clothed herself and looked to them after a few bodily motions. This distracted Remus to a degree only because he was observing how her snake portion of her body moved and worked. This was still an odd aspect to him. The priests face though flush was slowly returning to normal color as he tried to adjust his staff. It was then, that she began to bombard then with questions. It..almost reminded Remus of how he was when he found out Nayru was a Dragon.
From Elibe? Fancy baggy clothes?
The priest looked down to his blue robes with his fingers tugging at it slightly before he tilted his head and looked to the female snake with a laugh, and a chuckle afterwords into a friendly tone. Nayru had tried to calm her down, but just out of fairnesses sake, he answered her questions after Nayru asked her own.
"Ah. Um. Yes, we are from Elibe. Ah..and my clothes aren't that fancy. Just a priests robes! though ah..I would ask a question as well. What's um..a Lamia? You say we were in their territory All we saw was an abnormally large Mauthe Doog, and a few Maelduins. Unless..do you call either of those Lamia that your speaking of?"
He tilted his head while clasping his staff with either hand and cradling it against his shoulders. He leaned to the side and gazed between this snake lady, and Nayru, quietly observing either in alternating patterns.
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