Tales of Faerun

[mythicdawnmaster]

Xallistine nodded as Conall accepted his offer and left for his tent, releasing the anxious flame from his fingertips to consuming the wood in a mighty blaze. The twigs crackled and the flame spat, warming the air around it almost instantaneously, cutting through the cold and providing flickering respite from the chilled breezes of the night air. The Ulitharid stood to warm his protracted purple fingers, watching intently as the vibrancy of his skin returned to a regal indigo, offset by the ebony of his curling talons. With a small sigh, the Ulitharid spun upon his heel, and set about assembling his tent.

 

Aurora settled down with a gentle sigh next to Tannin, once he had finished his little fit with those vile concoctions, of course. She crossed her legs beneath her and removed her hat, setting it gently upon the floor beside her and shaking her hair free with exaggeration. Aurora delicately unclasped her choker and pulled free the ruff from her neck, containing both pieces within the satchel at her hip- so that they were not long in the night- before looking, head cocked towards Tannin. Without a word, she uncrossed her legs and lay back, facing the star painted heavens with a tiny smirk, hat beneath her head. "You know Tannin, I could lay here forever, just gazing... at the stars, the moon... maybe even you, if you loomed above me." She teased with her mischievous grin "I shouldn't feel safe with you, my exotic scoundrel, should I? But there is something about your presence... perhaps I'll let you-" Aurora bolted upright and looked around, her gloved fingers drifting to the gilded rapier at her hip.

 

"Did you hear that, Tannin?"

 

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

 

The Devil Queen stood in golden splendour.

 

Golden chain and golden scales enveloped Ravenna's body like a second skin, from neck to train, the gown's simplicity was tremendously overpowered by it's opulence. Clad in this solid gold, Ravenna afforded herself some small comfort, some small relief, as each step was a gentle clinking of the precious metal, the jewel of the earth, regurgitated forth by the fires of the hells, and crafted solely to her form, was like the chant of a blessed priest, the coo of a mothers voice. The effect of such attire was a mesmerising sight to behold in the intense, hellish light of Ravenna's throne room, and with each step she shone in coruscating glory. As she reached the pinnacle of her staircase, she gazed intently at her seat of power.

 

The Devil Queen shook with cold rage.

 

Turning from her station, she approached a blazing brazier with curious intent. Slowly moving her hands towards it-claws tipped with gold and encrusted with gemstones- she watched as the flames embraced her flesh without effect. The Devil Queen forced her palms upon the cindering ashes that still burnt, and yet as that flesh sizzled, felt no pain at all. She gazed at her palms to see not a mark, save for the ash that now dirtied her palms. Cold rage bubbled to life, and Ravenna struck the brazier with such a force, that it toppled from it's perch and bounced unceremoniously down the steps, resting at their feet a mangled cage of ash-covered iron.

 

How dare Lolth step so ungracefully upon the toes of the Queen of Hell! How dare she mock the bride of Asmodeus! And how dare she approach with such impudence as to send a... blob of slime to do her bidding! Oh she would pay dearly, yes, the Spider Queen would feel the wrath of devils... Ravenna turned her blazing stare as she heard the clicking of Quarylene's heels. The Vampiress was a walking torrent of violence, her anger palpable, mirroring that of Ravenna's own.

 

"So you grace us with your presence once again, Quarylene."

[Brutii]

Daud rose from his slumped position as he heard a noise, and cocked his head towards it. Slowly, so very slowly as to not make a noise, he reached to his back and took his crossbow, quietly loading a bolt into it and taking aim at the dark. His eyes scanned the darkness as he picked the black apart, discerning shadow from object. It took him a few moments to pick out the figure, but throughout his life he had hidden away in the shadows and he had long since become accustomed to searching through black. It helped that his eyes had long since adjusted, not knowing himself how long he had spent staring up at the diamond encrusted veil that was the night sky.

He shifted on the branch, gently moving as close to the tree trunk in hopes that he would be indiscernible from the tree in the black as he steadied his aim, ready to fire on the figure. He hoped he had not been noticed... he hadn't made sudden movements and had been still as a statue before hand, so he doubted he had but...

Some things were very adapt at finding what lay in the dark, that much he knew, if nothing else.

Daud waited now... he could take the shot from here, but from here he might miss and give away his position and advantage. Besides, he could be about to shoot an innocent farmer who'd gotten lost in the night or something, he'd rather not risk that... it didn't look like a farmer, but the dark can play tricks on the eyes. He stayed pressed against the tree trunk, keeping his aim on the figure but not firing. He'd wait for a sign before opening from here.

[josh900]

Tannin had been enjoying Aurora's attention ever since her return to the group. The very faint scraping of metal wiped the smirk off his face and put a scowl on it when Aurora shot up and turned her attention to the noise.

 

He let out a soft growl as he got to his feet and started in the direction of the noise. "Yeah, sounds like something I need to kill." He said as Blackrazor sprung into his hand, it's blade a long black chain that dragged along the ground, the cross guard began to form into a mouth and from it the metallic voice of the creature bound inside came through. "A fieeend is nearbyyy. We have not fed on such in yeeaaarsss."

 

"Yeah I'm spoiling you lately aren't I?" Tannin asked the blade and as moved closer and closer to the source of the sound. "YOU THE SAME THING THAT WAS OUTSIDE THE INN?" He called out.

"WHY DON'T YOU COME ON OUT AND WE CAN MAKE THIS QUICK!" He scanned the area around him, his Darkvision giving him an edge even with the night being as clear and bright as it was now.

[tokyobiohazard]

Arva listened to Sybille's words and gave her a little smile, "I should be affectionate with my wife, no? After all, til death do us part and whatnot." He smiled in Ianthe's direction, then leaned in toward Sybille and whispered as he saw Ianthe climb into an empty tent, "I can't bed her to save my life, don't worry."

Meanwhile, inside Conall's tent, Aera pursed her lips in nervousness and nodded at Conall. "I was wondering why you seem to feel ashamed of being what you are. You seemed genuinely upset with not only turning in front of everyone, but also that the wererats were after you and the group got dragged into it. The latter I can understand, but the former baffles me, as I'm not embarrassed by what I am, nor am I regretful of being bitten. Perhaps in my younger years, but no longer. I suppose what I wanted to ask was why?"

The words had all spilled out rather quickly, but Aera was no longer nervous as she wondered what his response would be. However, their conversation was cut short as the sound of metal scraping against something filled the air. Aera figured it was just a party member until she poked her head outside the tent and noticed her friends all in battle ready stances.

She had already transformed once tonight, so she pulled out her dagger and watched. She hoped she wouldn't be needed, but was ready just in case. "It seems we have company."

[AurianaValoria1]

Argyros heard the sound of metal scraping against stone, and he whirled, knocking a slender arrow with lightning speed and training it upon a shadowy figure that was crouched near their encampment. The pale elf appeared almost like a silvery statue in the moonlight.

 

"Who are you?" he demanded to the sneaky stranger, voice astonishingly authoritative, "Show yourself and give your name, if you are friend. And if you are foe, you would be wise to flee!"

 

Conall, who was about to respond to Aera's question, bristled as he felt that familiar evil presence again. He emerged from the tent in front of her, readying his crossbow.

 

"It's the demon. He's back."

 

Aodh squeaked and hid behind Aera's fluffy tail, his hide morphing to match her white fur and tan stripes.

 

Meanwhile, Rhaine was awakened by that sickening evil feeling and the statements of alarm from her companions, and she, too, emerged from her tent with her sword in hand.

 

"On your guard, everyone! Seems like a fiend wants a fight." The Doomguide's eyes scanned the area, and she glanced to where Argyros had his bow pointed behind a boulder.

 

"A...what?" A hesitant inquiry came from where Dagny lay. The dwarf woman was raising up, looking around with wide hazel eyes, "By Moradin...what happened?"

 

Zorica moved over to her, leaving Sir Meowsalot nestled in the roots of the hickory, asleep. She had drawn both her blades and now crouched protectively over the weak dwarf, "You passed out from blood loss, and the bug man brought you with us out here. Innkeeper kicked us out. Now we've got some demon following us...spoiling for a fight."

 

"Well, by Truesilver's blood," Dagny took her axe out of her pack, her hand trembling as she did so, "He'll get more than he bargained for!"

[GrueMaster]

Dri snapped awake when she heard her friends' calls. Not properly dressed, she got out anyway, not wanting to be caught flat on her feet inside the tent, and summoned Lonesome to her hand.

 

Tak'we was at the opposite end of the camp when he heard a metallic scraping sound and everyone began scrambling for their weapons. Immediately alert, the thri-kreen moved towards where the sound originated, spotting some Sun-cursed figure trying to sneak towards them. What in the spirits is that thing? he thought. He remembered the last time he had seen something like this thing, and it had been back during the fight with Ravenna.

 

Suddenly reminded of Mahira as well, the thri-kreen cautiously took up position in front of his clutchmates, planning on not doing something foolish like what he had done during that encounter.

 

Tenebris gave a grumbled curse as he was awakened by the commotion in the camp. "I swear, someone better be dead, or they will be soon, I swear by Jergal..." He crawled out from his bedroll in a disgruntled manner, and suddenly felt that presence from the inn again. "So you're back again, I see. " The half-vampire cast Daylight, lighting up the area as though it were suddenly midday.

 

"This will teach you to disturb my rest!" Chanting another spell, he brought his hands together and released the built-up energy, causing the very earth around the fiendish interloper to rapidly rise, ready to imprison the intruder in a cage of stone...

[AurianaValoria1]

After several moments of no response from the shadowy stranger, Rhaine decided to leave the matter to Tenebris, Tannin, and Argyros. The threat seemingly subsided with the intervention of those capable three, and the camp gradually slid back into calm.

 

The following morning, the Doomguide woke just before dawn and began breaking down her tent, having business she wanted to complete in the city before their departure at midday. As soon as she grabbed a bit of breakfast - rations from her pack - she made her way back into Iljak, gathering supplies such as healing kits, additional food rations, and flasks of water and wine. Conall followed shortly thereafter, purchasing bundles of herbs, spices, and other materials for potions and poultices.

 

Dagny, who was still feeling rather under-the-weather, remained with Zorica in the camp, watching the horses. Since the gruesome death of her donkey in Impiltur, the dwarf woman would have to hitch a ride with another member of the party. The half-drow paladin, too, would have to share a mount, as she never acquired enough money to purchase a steed of her own. As Zorica stroked the soft black muzzle of Azrael, she couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy at the wealth of this group. She wondered if any of them had been born into poverty, like her.

Edited March 25, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[spyro1201]

Adroroar, like the rest of the party, was on alert when someone mentioned a fiend. He quickly jumped up and drew his crossbow, but for some reason nothing came of this whole ordeal. After the threat was gone, he had a quick dinner and went to his tent to sleep afterwards.

 

In the morning he rose and had breakfast. Seeing Rhaine and others going into town for supplies, reminded hi to do the same. He had been running low on reagents for his spells. Whilst walking the Iljak streets, he couldn't help but feel paranoid that he might not be very accepted around here due to being a half fiend himself.

[Brutii]

Daud had remained vigilant for a while, but eventually fatigue caught up with him and he fell asleep, slumped against the tree, which provided less than a comfortable rest. Indeed, it did little good for him, and when he awoke in the morning he felt his back ache. He reached his arm around and found the source of the disturbance as his hands ran along sharp, prickly splinters, some of which had worked their way through the cloth around his armours joints and pricked his back. He gently removed the armour and his shirt, bringing them around and examining them. It looked like a spiders coat, and he shook his head slightly as he set to work tugging them out.

He didn't know how long it took him, but it felt like hours had passed by the time he was done. On the optimistic side, the morning sun upon his flesh had been a welcome feeling, even if it was not the warmest of mornings. He checked that he would not be bothered by any of the tenacious wooden pricks, a legion of wooden spikes, before donning his shirt and armour again, covering his head with his hood once more. He rose and glanced down to the camp a few meters away. He jumped down to the ground below and picked the crossbow that had fallen from his grasp in his sleep from the floor, holstering it again.

Daud glanced to the horses the group had, and sighed weakly. The horse he had used to get here was... Not exactly his. It had belonged to a young merchant who had net his bloody end by the tip of Dauds blade several years, and the assassin had used the horse ever since. He was well aware that it was getting on in its years, and knew it did not move as fast as it once could. He could only pray that the horse would still feel like moving. He turned and went down to the town, unhitching the old, greyish white horse from outside the city gate where he had left it

"Up, you old lump" He said as he tugged it slightly. The horse stood its ground and turned to him and looked at him with old eyes that seemed to say 'I'm not moving' and Daud sighed "Talking to a horse.. An old dumb horse..." He said with a long, drawn out sigh as he tugged the reins harder. The horse barely complied, forcing Daud to practically drag it with him.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Brutii

[Quintatas]

Marian had not anticipated for there to be so many of them, and so dangerous looking, so he simply froze, hoping they would ignore him. But that was unlikely, as they likely knew of his fiendish heritage. The half-fiend starting creeping away as quickly and quietly as possible, and it seemed they weren't going to follow him, so he stood up and began to sprint away, tucking his wings in to make himself faster. They weren't good for flying, and they would surely slow him down running.

 

When he was a good distance away, he stopped, cursing his ill luck. In his ever-so-arrogant mind, he would have killed them all if he could have successfully snuck up on them. A thought crossed his mind as he considered his failure - Cyric would not grant strength to a weakling. If he continued to fail to satisfy his god, then he doubted he would live much longer.