Liveria, battling with words. Collab between Selvi & Brovo - Ceann & Princess Helénë.
Ceann was not happy with how her mistress had been taken out of her sight in the way that it happened, she was considering climbing up the rock face or shadow-walk up there but then again it was not certain how these orcs would see that course of action. So she stayed below, for the moment, turning to regard the princess when it seemed she was addressing her. Merely shrugging at the words, truth be told she had done it mostly because it seemed surfacers did that to the recently deceased from hero bservations. As for her question about her homeland she rose a eyebrow in surprise,
"For me it is home... I do not know how to explain it to someone from the surface, though I believe the best description would be... the undrdark is a realm of constant survival." She shrugged again.
"Oh..." The Liverian princess says as she looks down at Ceann's feet shyly.
"Must not have very many friends then, I can relate to that..."
She kept her eyebrow raised, 'friends' the concept was foreign to the drow, allies, that term they understood and only allies when goals were aligned, betrayal was quick if goals began to differ or allies were turning into a liability. She decided not to mention that however,
"Depends, I have been over a century on the surface and I have made.. associates in my travels. My apologies if I seem forward or out of order, you seem to have lvied a rather cloistered life, have you not? Is that why you insisted on coming along?"
"Yes. It is." The princess avoids looking at the corpse of her adviser for the time being, intentionally looking everywhere else. The rain soaked through her hair and made her clothes cling to her rather frail looking form.
"... Royalty must rule from experience. My father has tried to protect me my whole life, and that, has... Slowed me down." She takes a deep breath and looks back to Mila's covered corpse, her face going pale at the sight of it.
"... Too much..."
"All die at the end of the road they have taken." She said as she turned her attention to the princess her eyes boring into hers if she were to look up at the drow.
"Take solac that she died doing what she wanted, protecting you, remember that and remember her. Grief if you must, feel sad if you must but be ready to face another day... you asked what it was like in the Underdark, as I said it is a life of constant survival, death is around every corner so enjoy your life as long as it lasts and make the most of it. I do not know anything about what it means to rule a nation like you are meant to be but it probably means making tough decisions and to live with them, something I beleive you are understanding now?" She finished saying bluntly.
"Yeah." Helénē says, adding nothing more as she continued to avoid eye contact with the Drow.
"... I think your friend needs you at her side."
"Perhaps, perhaps not, I actually think you should be up there. She, we, are officially representatives of Renalta, would a Liverian ruler, or its representative stand by while a outside force starts negotiations with a group that neighbours your own nation?"
"I... Hm..." Her gaze lingers to the wet cloak that covered her friend's body, taking a deep breath to try and steady herself.
"... I suppose not." Finally, she looks at Ceann, though there wasn't any sign of the previously curious young girl from before. Just a dull stare.
"Lead the way."
She took the princess in and let out a snort, showing a smile but not from amusement,
"Growing up and leaving the child behind is hard, isn't it. Justdon't forget the child." She did not make it clear if she was saying that to herself or to the princess and looked at Gabriel to see what he was up to while keeping the princess in view too.
Gabriel remained near Rayvon, still wounded, but stable. Helénē added nothing more.
She turned back to the princess,
"You up for this?"
"It isn't relevant whether I am or am not. I simply am... A quote from one of my favourite authors. It seems to fit here." She manages to a small smile, but nothing more.
"Good enough for me." She looked at the cliff side and then back at the princess,
"Are you a good climber? Otherwise we should ask the angel for assistance, might be best he heads back up there, seeing as a certain priestess with healing abilities is up there as well."
"Ahh..." She looks at the wet cliff, and frowns.
"... I will ask Gabriel for help, and meet you up there then."
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Collab 2, Andrea & Brovo - Andrea & Orc Shaman Molkar
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One thing that Andrea figured out as the Orc shaman used his magic to bring her up to the cliffs was the type of magic he was using to do it, a quite advanced type of magic, so either he was very powerful or someone educated him.... or both. The words exchanged made her smirk a little bit, clearly women were not held in high regard, had this been weeks earlier she would have been shocked and outraged and eager to put this mongrel in his place, now it just amused her. She smiles and inclined her head,
"I feel the need to acknowledge you and your peoples cunning and strength first, that exploding boulder trap and this ambush were well executed, forcing us to react to a situation we were not prepared for..." Complimenting the Orcs while at the same time indicating that the casualties they inflicted upon his people were done by sheer strength and rapid reflexes.
"We acknowledge to intruding upon your border but our mission required us to travel through your territory, figuring also that a feat of strength might be needed to draw your people out." She glanced back down at the corpse of the orc champion and at the orc archer with the blown open ribcage.
"I assume those qualify, since we are talking now after all."
The Orc Shaman grunts as his eyes follow her gaze towards his dead warriors.
"My name is Molkar, Shaman of the Rocksplitter clan." He motions down towards the boulders.
"Our clan name is self explanitory." Grinning savagely, he then stands straight and tall, once again towering over the 'little' woman.
"What do you want in our lands, dark skin?"
She gestured to the group,
"We are, for the most part, affiliated with the kingdom of Renalta, the Blades, special envoys as such, escorting the princess of Liveria and the angel Gabriel, seeking out a enclave of angels so that Gabriel can reconnect with his people... and can potentially ask them to join our cause." She tilts her head,
"Speaking of that cause... I wish to ask a question... has there been a... darkness... stalking these mountains?"
The orc archer looked apprehensive for a moment before turning away to his own affairs, the shaman looks up towards the mountains which the party were about to enter and narrows his eyes.
"We came to this pass because of such a strange feeling. The angels have, strangely, remained silent. Normally they strike out at such..." He seemed to hesitate for a moment before grinning.
"Darkness... And... Do not worry, I can understand big words and thick concepts, dark skin."
"Oh I have no doubt you can, such a physique and your knowledge of the magic arts, quite impressive. I merely have a certain like for a flair of drama at times. But yes... we are in the service of Renalta... to stop demons, which some of us sensed there was one in these mountains... at least one." She frowned,
"The angels are normally more... outgoing? Making their presence known, that is disturbing." She glanced at Gabriel seeing if he had any input on this revelation.
"We wish to hunt down and exterminate the demon, as well as still seeking out the angels."
As Andrea looks for Gabriel, she finds him dropping off Princess Helénē by her side before landing himself and cradling his wound once more. The bleeding had slowed, but it wasn't likely to end anytime soon.
"Angels ordinarily excerpt influence over areas they hold direct presence." He looks up towards the mountains, confused.
"At least, the ones of my time." It was important to note that Gabriel had, until a few days ago, been trapped for at least a thousand years. Helénē merely watches the exchange silently as the Shaman snorts.
"Royalty of pig bloods." The princess had no response to the insult and remained quiet.
"You should have paid the toll. We would have welcomed a hunt with your... Renaltan peoples." He seemed perplexed by the idea of a Drow being a Renaltan as Helénē interjects.
"Women are not currency you can just exchange in a deal." The orc laughs, and looks her over.
"Not ones that turn into pig blooded ghosts, no."
"Little bit sidetracked, are we not? We were not aware there was a toll and how to pay it, but here we are now, do you still welcome the hunt?" She asked, her voice serious and stern, recalling her priestess training. While saying that she gestured for Gabriel to approach, she was not about to walk away from the orc shaman, since he wished to talk face to face but still, the angel required healing.
Gabriel approaches and slowly lets his hand slip away from his wound. The shaman stares in surprise.
"You're letting this dark skin heal you?" Gabriel looks at the shaman and, somehow, manages a small smile.
"Now more than ever, we must work together to purge the demon threat." The Shaman smirks.
"Why not ask your Gods?" Gabriel's look turns somewhat pained.
"You know why." Molkar rolls his large fingers over his staff, specifically, over a skull that adorned it, and looked at Andrea.
"If we kill you, more will come after. If we work with you, you will leave us to our business." The princess seemed rather perturbed by that remark.
"Won't... You at least, consider, leaving my people alone?" She asks softly, trying to empathize with the desire to be left alone. The orc however, at least on the surface, had no place for sympathy as he replied coldly.
"Our business sometimes collides with yours, as your business now collides with mine." He looks to the priestess.
"Now I expect you are hunting... The demon?"
She reached for some cloth to dab the blood away, securing the blood soaked pieces safely away before placing her hands on Gabriels wound and chanted to her goddess, as she was instructed to so long ago, letting the healing magics flow into the angel, the Orcs question made her turn attention back to him.
"Since we sensed it we are determined to hunt it now, yes... you speaking of the Angels acting out of the ordinary is worrisome, perhaps that is also due to the demon." She shuddered as a great deal of her power flowed into the angel, healing his wounds and she took a deep breath, feeling dizzy for a moment before she collected herself once more.
"Do we hunt alone... or together is the question however? Would you really want to see a female dark skin taking all the glory in hunting a demon down in your territory?" She smirked, eyes mischievous and challenging.
Intrigued, Molkar smirks back as he kneels down to face her eye to eye.
"For a female, you speak well." He looks her over, his smirk not fading.
"And look well. We will hunt with you, and crush your enemies, in exchange for later favours." The Liverian Princess glares at him, but he pays her no mind as Gabriel looks to his wound and finds it completely healed, save for a mild ache that would fade soon enough. Nodding in appreciation, he looks back down into the valley to see the blind woman and Rayvon, and takes off to attend to them if needbe.
She raises a brow and chuckles,
"Later favours have no meaning or require to be met if it is not said in advance what you plan... we wouldn't want to get a... unfair deal... now would we?"
The shaman shrugs.
"Deals are the filth pig bloods write on paper which has no meaning." Helénē seemed visible perturbed, but once more kept her mouth shut, which seemed to amuse the orc as he sneered at her.
"We help you find a way to the angels, and help you in your hunt, in exchange for favours. We have no idea how hard this hunt will be, so we cannot give a defined... Price. Besides, we cannot ask great demands of you. You have already proven competent fighters, right?" He glances towards Gabriel momentarily before continuing.
"If you have the company of an angel, you must be honourable. I can trust your word. Now, will you trust mine?"
She glances at the others nearby before turning back to the orc.
"We have, Andrea, priestess of Lollth, trusts your word." She inclines her head, before adding.
"On behalf of the Renalta Blades." There was after not a deal made with Liveria or the angels, Gabriel.
The orc looks to Helénē, who looks away, still angry and upset.
"One voice is good enough to carry your group." He then stands up slowly.
"We will move out shortly, we know a shortcut."
She nods,
"Allow us to recover a little still, it was a fierce battle we waged with your kind after all." She bowed again and looked at Helénë, approaching her, glancing at Ceann, she had a sneaking suspicion her bodyguard had made it so that the princess was up here.
"You disapprove?" She said bluntly.
Looking up into the rain, Helénē shudders and rubs her forearms.
"Why would I approve of working with a cretin who killed my only friend, and who likely murders Liverians?" She looks down at the dirt and sighs.
"Well you are already working with at least two representatives of a people who are known to raid the surface and take slaves, desperate times, desperate measures... not to mention the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Look at it like this, you will spend time with these orcs, study them, observe them... perhaps if you understand their culture you can come to a agreement that will save your people." She left unsaid that the princess could also use this to study the orcs and perhaps learn how to beat them, but that was up to her to figure out, Andrea was not here to hold hands and explain matters.
"You didn't murder my friend." She states flatly, looking out towards the mountains.
"...The meeting is concluded. I'd prefer to be alone."
"As you wish princess." She bowed and nodded to Ceann, her eyes still narrowedi n accusation but her facial expression turning to neutral as she reached the side of the cliff.
"There's a truce between us and the orcs." She stated out loud for those still below.
"We'll hunt together for the demon and see what happens after."