Tales of Faerun

[nethgros]

Othos was very glad to hear Rhaine's reply, and hastily and happily returned his own, "Indeed, we will follow you." He then called Kowolj over, "Kowolj, come over and meet your new pride-members!"

 

Kowolj stood up slowly on his front two legs first, stretching his back, then lifted his back two legs and stretched again. He slowly walked over, yawning and half examining his new comrades.

 

"I am Kowolj," he managed to let out before exuding another large yawn.

 

"We will be joining Rhaine and her pride on a hunt for the Cult of the Dragon," said Othos, looking to Kowolj.

 

"Ahhh, finally, the thrill of the hunt shall return. I've been waiting so long for a chance to throttle some throats!" Kowolj replied, while imitating choking someone.

[Flipout6]

"Well, hey, he's not going to try and kill us." Weyland muttered incoherently to himself. "Well, we don't have anything better to do, how about we join the sparring outside the gates? I'm looking forward to humiliating Arland." He shot a mischievous grin at his brother.

 

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Arland responded. "I'll make you eat those big words."

"Sure." Amendale said simply.

 

With that, the three of them stood up and followed Rhaine outside the gates. Weyland and Arland drew their weapons and started sparring, their skill levels equal enough to keep them at it for a decent amount of time. Amendale, on the other hand, didn't have anybody to spar with and was looking forward to practicing spellcraft over sword mastery, although he knew he'd need to master both if he was to be of any use against this cult. Looking around quickly, and imagining that Rhaine would be quickly occupied, Amendale instead approached Maydiira.

"Would you mind sparring? I imagine we both need the practice." He asked kindly.

[josh900]

With a decent chain shirt under his outerwear, And some quality knives in his belt, Tannin left the blacksmith and made his way to the city gates. Seeing as how he wasn't in an absolute rush he decided that he would stop and watch the others of the group spar against each other, if no other reason than to spend some more time with them before he left on his own.

Opting out of joining in the sparring he sat down in the shade to watch.

---------------------

 

Azuris smirked at the thought of sparring. "I'm kept in top form fighting the zombies thanks. But I'll watch, Get a feel for who'll have my back." He said as he got up to follow the rest outside.

[GrueMaster]

Kalin just made it back to the tavern in time to catch Maydiira and Rhaine getting ready to leave. "Ahh, it seems I've returned in perfect time." he spoke with a grin, holding a parcel in his arms. "I have a present for you, Maydiira." He handed the wrapped armor to the priestess. "It should be just your size, too." He turned to Rhaine. "So, shall we head out then? Tak'we's probably been waiting for us for a long while now."

 

 

Tak'we returned just as the others began to trickle outside to practice their techniques. He strode over to them and set down the large bundle of fresh meat he'd taken from his kill earlier. "Tak'we went hunting while clutchmatess were busy." The thri'kreen took off his cloak, which was now in a sorry state for he had taken strips from it to wrap the meat and to craft his new bone armor. "Doesss anyone wish to practice with me?"

[AurianaValoria1]

Maydiira's silver eyes widened when she saw the armor in Kalin's hands, "You made this for me? I certainly did not expect...I...thank you!" She took the armor gingerly, as if it might break in her hands. Rhaine grinned, "All right then, now you've got no excuse not to protect yourself properly."

 

The drow smirked, "Indeed. How convenient, yes?"

 

She then jogged upstairs to put on the armor. It took only a few moments to exchange her lighter wear for the breastplate - and as luck would have it, it was a perfect fit. She was able to couple her old pauldrons, boots, and gauntlets with the chain sleeves and leggings; there wasn't too much of a mismatch. Perhaps her old friend would be satisfied now that most of her flesh was covered.

 

Returning back downstairs, Maydiira joined the company on their departure to the gates. When Amendale requested to spar with her, she smiled widely, "It would be my pleasure, friend elf. And indeed, I am in sore need of practice. I'll try to be easy on you, considering what happened yesterday."

 

As they gathered on the other side of the town gates, Rhaine glanced up at the walls to see the guardsmen gesturing to each other and pointing to the group, seemingly gathering to watch the show. The Doomguide smiled and waved to reassure them that what was happening was entirely for practice, then drew her blade. She tossed Touch of Death from hand to hand, the weapon glinting in the midday sun. Seeing that Tak'we was ready, she nodded to the thri-kreen, "I'll practice with you, Tak'we. On your guard."

 

She let her knees relax into a ready position, her blade poised. Her eyes fastened on the thri-kreen's six limbs, trying to anticipate his first move.

[Flipout6]

Amendale stepped a few paces from Maydiira and adopted a ready position. "Don't hold back. We need to be at our strongest so we can most effectively judge our power, and where to improve. Besides, I am back at full power. As long as we don't do any damage we can't fix, we should be fine."

"Yeah I was dead yesterday, so Amendale should be fine!" Weyland chimed in.

 

"On three... One, two, three!" He uttered the syllable for three and immediately afterwards a fire arrow, followed by a gust of wind and a pair of magic missiles.

 

Weyland, in his engagement with Arland, was slowly gaining the upper hand. Arland's strategy was strenuous, and while it was most certainly incredibly difficult to defend against, an individual that could would wear him out rather quickly and leave him opening to a counter-attack. Arland had also found weaknesses in Weyland's strategy. His lack of maneuverability compared to a more agile fighter meant that he could dart around Weyland and attack from multiple angles very quickly, leaving him barely time to defend himself-which, on the other hand, was something he most certainly could do.

 

Just as Arland came up for a second attack, Weyland feigned being stricken off balance, and when Arland moved in for what would be a killing strike against an actual foe, he felt a shield connect with the back of his helmeted head and then a sword pressed against the back of his neck when he landed face-first into the ground.

"Ha! Tricks of the trade, little brother. Nobility wars and going up against other mercs, you need to learn things like that." He helped Arland to his feet, and the two began again.

 

Amendale continued a relentless arcane assault that rapidly alternated between elements and the occasional sword strike. Unfortunately his knowledge of sorcery was limited and he couldn't perform most of the very powerful spells...but that didn't stop him from throwing a Hold Person spell at Maydiira and casting a Mestill's Acid Breath spell, being extremely careful to limit the amount of acid that actually sprayed, as he didn't wish to do any lasting harm to Maydiira. (Sparring inevitably incurred injuries for both sides, but a full blast of Mestill's Acid Breath against an unprotected target had the potential to kill, and Amendale wasn't going to do that.)

[GrueMaster]

Tak'we readied his weapon and fell into a fighting stance as Rhaine went into her own, studying the winged pointy-ear's body. Noticing how she seemed to focus on his limbs, the thri'kreen began to sway so very lightly, as to put nearly his entire body into motion and confuse his movements.

 

He kept this up for a bit more, his gythka readying for a strike, then, in one fluid motion, he spat at his clutchmate instead. Hoping that would catch her off guard, Tak'we then went into a spin and launched a crushing sweep with his staff at her off-hand side.

 

 

Kalin watched as the others sparred with one another, analyzing their methods and techniques with a warrior's eye. He looked at Weyland and Arland with a slight frown on his face. Arland is the faster of the two, but he over-extends himself. Weyland has experience on him as well. The elder needs to speed up a bit, though.

 

The elan looked at Amendale's casting of spells, impressed with the rate he managed to do so. The lack of any defensive spells yet worried Kalin a little, though. The armor he gave Maydiira looked like it fit perfectly. He'd gained a small sense of pleasure when she had thanked him for it. I am glad you like it, Maydiira. Here's to hoping that it serves you well.

 

He continued studying the others, watching Rhaine and Tak'we now. No, Rhaine, concentrate on him, not his limbs! he yelled mentally to himself, then winced when the thri'kreen spat some viscous substance, then swept out with a large blow. He didn't envy anyone trying to fight Tak'we one-on-one.

 

Noticing that Azuris wasn't sparring, Kalin went over to the man. "A few of them need a bit of work in their technique, don't they?" he commented quietly as he watched the training. "But they're learning quickly." Turning to face the seasoned warrior, the soulknife spoke up. "Azuris, was it? Kalin." he introduced himself with a nod of the head. "Would you object to sparring with me? I could use a little freshening up on my skills."

[nethgros]

Othos and Kowolj followed the others to the gates for sparring, and when they all arrived it seemed best to simply pit their strength against each other.

 

Othos tightened the armoring covering his arms, making sure it would withstand the harsh blows that Kowolj would be able dish out. After that he pulled Amun, his large falchion, from its scabbard on his back and entered his combat stance while subtly making use of his powers over air to further prepare for his match.

 

Kowolj took his position rather slowly, taking his time to absorb his surroundings and check out how his new pride-members were faring. Once he reached his position, he simply stood there staring at Othos for a few moments before saying, "Othos! Good friend! Let's see if you have the speed to get anywhere near me before I pounce... its all over then! I won't even bother taking out my weapons for you!"

 

With that he allowed his retractable claws to appear from his hands and paws; at the same moment Othos let loose the energies he had built up in his body to make an amazingly fast charge toward Kowolj with his sword raised. Othos realized just what Kowolj intended moments before he actually did it, and with about 5ft between them Kowolj pounced for him, which he countered the second Kowolj moved by making a (baseball) slide directly under Kowolj as he moved through the air. While he was directly underneath, Othos called up a rather strong blast of wind to blow Kowolj directly up into the air, and jumping after him into the wind burst.

 

With no way to defend himself against what was essentially an air elemental in his element, Kowolj was forced to draw his two shortswords from his back. Just as he managed to equip them, Othos had set upon him, swinging his large sword with an ease that seemed almost impossible had it not been infused with the air magics that Othos had control over. Kowolj did his best to parry the blows, but even with his great strength his blades were not as powerful as Othos'.

 

The whole clash only took several moments in the air before Kowolj landed on the ground, his feline nature allowing him to land on all four feet. On Kowolj's back stood Othos, who had his blade against the back of his friends neck, signaling the end of the duel.

 

"Once again, I have underestimated you my friend. One of these days you shall fall prey to my great strength, and on that day we shall have a great feast to my achievements! Ale and meat for everyone!" Kowolj made a mock applause, caught up in his own created fantasy before Othos slapped the back of his head, having already got back to the ground and sheathed his blade.

 

"You still have a great way to go cub, strength is not the answer to everything. But I agree, a great feast shall be held that day," Othos said with a smile.

[AurianaValoria1]

Maydiira dodged the fire arrow with ease, but was knocked backwards by the gust of wind. Amendale's two magic missiles hit her squarely in the chest, and her skin tingled with energy as her body naturally fought off the effects. She drew Velve'drathir, the adamantine bastard sword ringing out of its sheath and meeting the moon elf's blade with a clang and several sparks. Amendale's low chanting was audible at this close range, and she was able to bring up a Spell Mantle just as the paralyzing spell and the acid spray hit her. Both incantations fizzled as they encountered the bubble of protection around her, and she met Amendale's blade again.

 

"All offense and no defense, my friend?" she asked between blows, "That will cost you."

 

With that, she summoned her Celestial Bear from the Upper Planes. He appeared in a small flash of white light - a smallish, honey-colored beast with a bright golden gaze. Since Amendale was an ally in Maydiira's eyes, the bear simply saw the elf as an annoyance, and it swiped a paw at him in an attempt to simply push him out of the way.

 

Meanwhile, Rhaine had her hands full with Tak'we. Having never fought a thri-kreen before, his spit of venom surprised her. Luckily, her first reaction was to jump backwards, and the spittle landed just in front of her feet. It was followed quickly by a powerful blow from Tak'we's gythka...a strike that the Doomguide barely managed to stop by bringing up Touch of Death in an offhanded parry. The two weapons met with a staggering force, the bastard sword screaming through the air to meet the gythka. It was at that moment that Rhaine was thankful for her blade's versatility in combat - and her own training in using the blade with each hand and both at the same time.

 

While Tak'we was recovering from the impact, the Doomguide countered by whirling in the opposite direction, using the force of her body to swipe the blade horizontally across the thri-kreen's torso, and spinning back around with the blade whirring in the same place a second time.

[GrueMaster]

She is good! Tak'we thought to himself, respectful of how Rhaine had managed to defend herself despite his feint. Most softskins would never have withstood that.

 

He hissed when Rhaine's blade left a narrow scratch in his chitin, not enough to puncture it, but enough to let him know he'd been hit. He spun the gythka and used its momentum to stop his clutchmate's next blow with a jarring stop. Using his height and strength, he pushed the blade upwards and stepped inside its arc, then slashed at Rhaine's chest with his free hands, claws scraping across her armor. The thri'kreen gave a violent shove, pushing the winged pointy-ear away out of range, then began to circle her, spinning the gythka once again and switching it from hand to hand at an uncanny speed.

 

"Rhaine isss sskilled with a blade in either hand," Tak'we chattered with respect in his voice, a wistful look on his face. "Few softskinss know such sskill. Winged pointy-ear would be truly formidible if she was thri'kreen." Done speaking, he stopped circling and immediately charged, screeching as he rushed forwards with his gythka whirring in a literal wall of blades...

Edited March 27, 2013 by GrueMaster