Return of the Dragon Tamers: The Plague of Ogual

[Soulserenity20]

[btn=modc|https://www.iwakuroleplay.com/threads/return-of-the-dragon-tamers-the-plague-of-ogual-ooc.52827/]OOC[/btn][btn=modc|http://www.soulroleplays.com/]Information Site[/btn][btn=modc|https://www.iwakuroleplay.com/threads/micro-return-of-the-dragon-tamers-courting-thread.154410/]Courting Thread[/btn]

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• 
  
  
  
  
  
  Return of the Dragon Tamers
  The time has come for the dragons and the humans to join forces once again...​
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  Hunting the Blackshire Stags
  
  Narien, Illyria, Avren, Pomona
  
  Reverie, Xylia, Alder, Saira
  
  ​
  ​
• 
  
  Terria has been rescued and returned safely to the meadow. Her retrieval came at the cost of another talented tamer: Goliath, and his dragon Hezekiah. Terria slumbers in sickness of the body and the mind even as Merrik has spent more than a week at her side, healing her thrice daily, doing everything in his power to bring her back to the Order.
  
  The party that ventured to eastern Galidus to sort out the issues in Kibran returned with a new stranger who turned out to be the bondmate of the Valor dragoness, Andraste. Alder Grey has joined the ranks of the Order and now works to find his place.
  
  Shortly after the Order's reuniting in the meadow, a council was called the a vote was ordered for the army's next tactical move. With the votes in, the Order is now set on unlocking the memories of the strange man Bren and travelling to Galidus to meet with the new king, Kylvest Brohn of Trespa while simultaneously meeting with the People of Dragons elders.
  
  Before the Order sets off once more, they are taking time to return to their training at the meadow and heal their hearts and bodies. At current, Merrik has chosen to mix things up and brought the Order out to the north-eastern woods to hunt for Obsidian Nova's favorite game: Blackshire Stags. After a great deal of drama in Kibran regarding Merrik's decisions on leadership, he hopes that the Order will begin to sort itself out within the ranks and grow to trust each other more deeply in a time when trust among comrades is a necessity.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Character Hex Colors
  [spoili]
  Aerarya is #800080
  Saira is #33cccc
  Merrik is Red
  Nova is Black with Shadow and Italic.
  Avren is Green
  Viridian is Yellow Green with Italic.
  Terria is Dark Azure
  Taega is Medium Gray with Glow and Italic.
  Requiem is Maroon
  Aleria is Dark Green.
  Agni color is #999999
  Narien is #0092b3
  
  [/spoili]​
  Soulserenity20 ---- Merrik Tetra ----- Obsidian Nova, Nightmare Dragon
  Soulserenity20 -----Terria Tetra ----- Ataegana Kuu'iah, Lunar Dragon
  Soulserenity20 -----Avren Lebram ----- Viridian, Forest Dragon
  Rainjay -----Saira Rinien ----- Aerarya, Atmosphere Dragon
  Rainjay -----Illyria Rowena Renthir ----- Mirazh, Desert Dragon
  Firejay1 -----Narien Ki'ila ----- Angi, Arcane Dragon
  White -----Rèverie Gray ----- Celeste, Celestial Dragon
  Mowkie ----- Pomona Ayelet Muldell ----- Katla, Vanity Dragon
  Mowkie ----- Alder Balthazar Grey ----- Andraste, Valor Dragon
  Crimson77 ----- Xylia Kalei Iwalani ----- Deventh, Swamp Dragon
  
• 
  Tetra Estate - Coliseum, 8:17am
  
  The morning air was cool and crisp, the last signs of Winter nipping at Spring's hold on the lands. There was a deep fog rolling in over the eastern forest, blanketing the ancient trees with an eerie, chilling veil. A pair of deep green eyes scanned the surrounding landscape from a hundred feet in the air. Their owner felt no fear, no discomfort of the altitude, being as much at home in the skies as he was on the earth. While the height and the crisp morning air did not bother him, a deep concern was festering within the corners of his mind. It was not unusual for worry and concern to waft about in his thoughts, but the intensity of today's concern was unprecedented.
  
  There was a silence that surrounded him, cocooning him in its peaceful tendrils, broken only by the steady whoosh of powerful wings. With each heavy downbeat, the man in the sky would exhale, taking in the pristine air the ancient woods provided and letting it out in a meditative manner. His dark hair swayed gently, not by breeze, but by wing-beat. The man was concentrating on the legend that was about to begin a hundred feet below him. The man was sorting out his thoughts, organizing his concerns, perfecting his plan of action. Worrying. Concerning himself. Stressing.
  
  The mind is of no use when it is tangled and knotted with stress and worry.
  
  Merrik Tetra opened his eyes as a wave of reassurance swept into his mind, settling what had been stirred up, putting his last lingering thoughts in the right place, and shouldering the mental burden that so commonly threatened to crush him.
  
  "Your wisdom could not have been more welcome. But to execute concern would be unwise. Today the stories of the world will shift mid-sentence, a new chapter forcing its way into a tale of growing darkness. Today the legends of old will be reborn, history repeating itself at the hands of peril upon these lands." Though his lips did not move and no sound rang out into the air, his words found their way into the mind that commanded the wings beating powerfully at Merrik's sides.
  
  The man in the sky was not alone.
  
  A hundred feet above the Tetra Estate, a creature of myth lingered in the air, sustained by the grip of its thick wing membranes on the cool morning air. The creature was massive, larger than any common animal of the lands, and it wore a cloak of scales as black as a night sky devoid of any stars. Blood red eyes that made every onlooker feel like prey blinked slowly as they stared at the distant fog bank. It's vast wings, cloaked in the same obsidian scales that coated the beast's muscular body, wore rings, red as the most scalding lava.
  
  The creature was a dragon. A Nightmare Dragon, to be specific; a beast of legends and fairy tales from a time long ago, long before the memories of even the oldest human. For hundreds of years the sound of heavy wing-beats parting the air could not be heard in these lands, or any other for that matter. For hundreds of years, the great draconic race was thought to have been extinct, perished by the hands of elves or man or even time itself.
  
  Few would believe their eyes. But Merrik Tetra would not so much as blink at the site of such a creature, for the dragon of nightmares and terror that claimed the skies was his dragon, and Merrik was its human. They were soulmates, best friends, companions, one.
  
  More than 2 decades ago, when Merrik was just a little boy, he was brought down into a damp, dark cellar in the depths of his family's manor. There, he received an egg. From within that egg came a voice, though not one any other person would hear, unless it so chose to be heard. Within that egg was a hatchling nightmare dragon, the same drake upon which Merrik sat at that very moment. The dragon was given to him by a strange, mysterious old man who called himself The Oracle. This man changed Merrik's life, shifted his path of fate to one of severity and ultimatum. His life for the next two years was leading up to this moment, this cool spring morning.
  
  Today, Merrik was going to form an army, a re-birthed order of old, summoned up again to bring forth a the great protectors of Illos. Today, Merrik was going to change the lives of a group of individuals, the very same individuals that stood a hundred feet below him in the center of a coliseum. Behind the doors that lined the walls of the coliseum were more dragons. More disbelief shattered by flesh and blood. Two years ago, Merrik had once again been summoned into that musky cellar where The Oracle appeared once agian. This time, Merrik didn't receive one egg; he received an entire clutch, each one a different color, texture and size.
  
  From those eggs hatched dragons, one of each of the draconic species, apart from the Nightmares. Those hatchlings had spent the last two years of their lives growing and learning from Merrik and his dragon, Obsidian Nova. They were being trained and prepared for this very day, this moment. Each of the drakes behind those heavy wooden doors lacked a piece of its soul, a part of it that could never have been filled. Not until now.
  
  The group of people standing, uncertain in the middle of the coliseum, were chosen long ago, though they could not have known it. The Oracle had selected them at birth, when their souls entered into their bodies with their first breath. Each soul chosen, was the missing half of one of the dragons below. And today, those two souls would collide and fuse together, changing the fate of Illos forever.
  
  "They know so little of what is to come." Came Merrik's soundless voice from his own mind into the dragon's.
  The less they know, the less they can fear and fight what is to be. Though we know that each of the humans below is the soulmate of one of our yearlings, the yearlings do not know for certain. They believe that these are mere potential candidates for the bond. They will test them just as a wild dragon would have tested the first of the dragonlords so long ago. The humans will pass these tests, of this we have been assured by The Oracle. Everything is set into motion.
  
  Let their oblivion be their guide, for both dragon and human. Let the bond work in its natural ways, it will give them strength in the long run. The humans MUST prove themselves to their drake, not only for tradition's sake, but to unlock the power that hides within their blood. Tamers are not made, they are born at the very moment a dragon's soul awakens. In that moment, the two become connected, separated only by distance and time. The tamers have an ancient magic within their veins, though they do not know it yet.
  
  Today, the bond with unlock that magic and change their lives forever. We should not delay it any longer.
  
  Obsidian Nova had a way about him that commanded submission and trust. There was no one else in the world that could calm and reassure Merrik in such a way as the black dragon. Nova had an ancient wisdom to him that came with being a direct descendant of one of the first bonded dragons of the Order of Old. Though merely 21 by age, the dragon's wisdom went on for centuries. Merrik agreed without a word or thought.
  
  With perfect intent-directed synchrony, the dragon descended, lowing the pair and coming to rest on a great stone perch that sat at the head of the coliseum. As the dragon's talons touched down on the stone and his great wingspan retracted to a resting position, Merrik stood up from his place at the base of Nova's neck and slipped down off the dragon's back without a sliver of difficulty, landing on the thick, stone perch below.
  
  The attention of the visitors in the centre of the round mass of earth focused on him. Some eyes shone with excitement, others with a sly intent, and others with a plain annoyance. There was too much personality within that circle for Merrik to handle all at once. He silently thanked the gods of old that he didn't have to get up close and personal with the entire group just yet. For now, the focus of attention was on dragons, and Merrik was completely at home in the realm of dragons.
  
  "You have all be told of your purpose for standing her today. I can understand if some or many of your minds linger in disbelief, this is an event of dreams and myth. But make no mistake, you are here to become heroes, legends, and leaders. You are here to become one with beasts of old, powerful creatures not seen in these lands for hundreds of years." He walked to the end of the perch, balancing casually on the round, stone hold.
  
  "The doors that surround you are the temporary dens of the dragons of Illos. The doors will open in a few moments. You must all be strong, be fast, and be brave. Today, you become dragon tamers."
  Then, Merrik's deep green eyes became twice as vibrant as any human's and he swirled his right index finger in a curious manner, concentration clear on his expression. The doors slid open, lifting up to reveals cascading plumes of steam as the temperature difference made itself apparent. The cool morning air welcomed the sound of wingbeats, too many to count, as a mass of dragons shot out of the dark spaces and soared up into the air. Flames of every color decorated the skies, scaled beasts of every shape, size and color bolted about before peeling off from the group and honing in on select individuals.
  
  One of the dragons shot a jet of colored flame down at the ground, nearing searing one of the soon-to-be tamers. The tests had begun.
  
  Merrik and Nova watched silently as the young dragons they had raised from hatchlings attacked, questioned, chased, scared, and tested the group of visitors. Each was seeking a human worthy of their soul, of their life, of their bond. Each would find a human, though they did not know it, and until then, they would test their worthiness endlessly. Merrik pitied the men and women below, for they had not been informed of what the bond was, nor were they informed of the fact that the tests the dragons subjected them to would look more like an attack than anything, despite the fact that the drakes would not actually harm them. This pity went away mere moments after it arrived as Nova's presence in his soul shifted with the drake's emotion. Any amount of terror and confusion was worth the bond of dragon and tamer.
  
• 
  
  Combat Event Guide
  +Steps+
  

  1. GM Scenario Introduction.​
  2. Player Response. Combat Begins.​
  3. GM Response to Combat. Required die roll will be presented.​
  4. Player Response. Player Roll. Player may close combat.​
  5. GM Combat Close Response (if necessary)​

  
  +Basics Behind the Rolls+
  
  Three Types of Opponents: Basic, Challenging, and Boss.
  Basic: Just classic battling. It is generally expected that your character can handle this with general ease.
  Challenging: These will require higher rolls and a bit of strength in whatever technique the character uses to attack.
  Boss: These will require the best rolls, the most creativity, and the best weaponry/spells/approaches suited to the character.
  
  Three Types of Character Approaches: Strength, Weakness, Long Shot.
  Strength: The character attacks within their class/strength/ability.
  Weakness: The player attacks in a class/ability that they are not necessarily comfortable or entirely skilled at.
  Long Shot: The player is being an idiot and doing something that would never work unless the die gods are on their sides.
  
  +How Opponent Types and Character Approaches work together+
  BASIC OPPONENT
  Strength Base Roll: 12
  Weakness Base Roll: 14
  Long Shot Base Roll: 16
  
  CHALLENGING OPPONENT
  Strength Base Roll: 14
  Weakness Base Roll: 16
  Long Shot Base Roll: 20
  
  BOSS OPPONENT
  Strength Base Roll: 18
  Weakness Base Roll: 20
  Long Shot Base Roll: 25 (requires stat bonus)
  
  NOTE: In a boss battle, there will be much more discretion for creativity and teamwork between players. Successful rolls will mean successful hits, NOT kills. Furthermore, for boss rolls, because they are much more difficult, the player will get a 'second chance' roll if their first roll is not successful.
  In Step 3, where the GM presents the required roll, it will have the relevant stats already added in and will be presented in a manner to explain the reason the roll is what it is. Stats are applied by level of skill, as portrayed:
  5% = Beginner ----> No Mod
  10% = Applicable ----> No Mod
  20% = Novice ----> +1
  30% = Adept ----> +2
  45% = Advanced ----> +3
  50% = Expert ----> +4
  65% = Sage (Mortal Mastery) ----> + 5
  
  Example:
  Shirin Vs. Challenging Opponent, Strength (Longsword)
  Base Roll: 14
  35% in long sword, +2 Bonus
  14% in valor, +1 Bonus
  14% in strength, +1 Bonus.
  
  14 - 2 - 1 - 1 = 10 Required.
  
  The player will then post a blank post with "Rolling..." posted and then roll a 20 sided dice (D20) on that post. Then the player will post a SECOND post with their response in accordance with how their roll went. They can wrap it up themselves (Step 4), or the GM can add a post in at the end to wrap it up accordingly.
  
  WARNING: If you delete ANY POSTS in these events, I will assume you're trying to cheat and get a better roll. I don't want any explanations, I won't believe a word you say, and I'll roll FOR you with a penalty of 5 added onto the battle. This means, for example, Shirin would need a 15 instead of a 10. If you make a mistake, for example, roll a D6, or roll twice. LEAVE IT. I have eyes. I can see the mistakes.​

[spoili][/spoili]

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=yellow]Merrik was thankful for Reverie's consistently clear head. He knew she would be suffering the loss of Goliath perhaps more deeply than others, after all, her emotions weren't so hidden as she likely would have preferred, and yet she maintained her composure. Her dedication was inspiring and steeled Merrik's resolve to focus until they could get out of here. "Any path is a good place to start. We need to proceed with caution, even on the route we've already traveled. I fear this place won't allow itself to be predictable." He wanted Saira's opinion on the matter but his eyes fell to Terria's limp form and he felt a renewed desperation to leave this wretched place. "Let's get moving."

And so they pressed on, following the twisting tunnels back the way they came. Several times they paused in fear at the sound of heavy footsteps echoing through the halls from above, below, none could tell where they were coming from, but no one ever came their way. As they neared the place they had entered, an unsettling fear trickled down Merrik's spine. They rounded the last corner and their hearts sank when they saw their pathway home had been sealed. In the distance where there should have been a light of day, there was only darkness. He was about to say something to Reverie but was cut short by a low, deep, and nearby growl. Immediately, he took on Obsidian Nova's right and through the darkness saw 2 massive hounds, black dogs with ghostly fur that betrayed their place in the natural world. Their eyes glowed a pale blue and the second Merrik moved, they were barreling down the hall.

Nova lunged forward and hit them with a dark jet of hot flame but it had no effect whatsoever. Merrik joined the drake as the pair unleashed a web of dark mana which seemed to halt the hounds but their powerful jaws snapped and worked at the mana and they seemed to consume the substance, forcing their way forward. "Mana hounds." Merrik said through gritted teeth. "Ogual has mana hounds!" His tone was aggressive and exhausted as he drew his sword and readied himself. "Nova, keep Terria safe."

The elder drake backed away, taking his duty as his sole and utmost honor. "Reverie! They feed off mana! It'll be hard to subdue them with it!" And then, the gap between the heroes and the hounds closed as powerful maws gnashed and gnarled at the tamers.

Challenging Opponent
Merrik, Reverie, and Saira vs. two Mana Hounds​

[/dash]

 

[Mowkie]

The mercenary followed Avren easily, her face devoid of any expression. She didn't say anything in response to his amusement over her wanting him to talk. She simply let him have the moment, looking around warily, body poised to escape if need be.

When he spoke again, she looked to him with somewhat cold eyes. But when he blushed and started to spurt out her less dainty appearance, she found herself cracking a smile before actually laughing. "Of course you like flowers. And some of them are quite beautiful. I always preferred the hardy lilies that grew just outside Otamur, myself. As for apologizing, well...how about you talk first, and if he really wants something like that out of me, I'll see about saying something."

She looked away from Avren a moment, taking in the architecture of one of the nearby buildings. She didn't know how to feel about the situation she had gotten herself into. On the one hand, she was angry that Baern would just hobble off like that without bothering to even try to help. Was he really willing to lose more people? But on the other hand, her heart knew the pain of seeing so much death in such a short time. For all she knew, he could have been the one to have aided in her own escape.

The pain of the memory seared her deeply as she remembered the flames that swirled around her and caught her dress. Just the thought of it made her shudder. How could women wear such garments? But what cut her the most was the silent sound of screaming in the back of her mind.

~Calm, my Ehtveyrn. Do not let your mind wander so.~

The soothing voice of her dragoness brought Pomona back to the present, and she took a deep breath, looking around once more before giving a slight smile to Avren. "Ready to go make nice?"

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=white]As the pair made their way down into the town's center, they stopped at a nearby shop to inquire as to where they might find the home of Ser Baern. They were pointed to an old trail that led a little ways into the woods. At the end of it, they came across a small, stone cottage nestled perfectly into the landscape. In the front there were flowerbeds and a few wandering chickens, leaving Avren to wonder how a drunk could manage to care for them. They knocked at the door but received no response and so ventured around into the back to see if perhaps he was there. He was.

As they came around the corner, they heard the grunts of movement and heard the clashing of hard objects through a padded layer. Baern had his sword in hand and was slashing at a dummy made of a pole and a stuffed old sack. For a moment, the pair simply watched, quiet impressed with the remaining skills that lingered in the old warrior's arsenal. However, when he caught his leg at the wrong angle, he cried out in pain and fell to the ground. He stumbled to his feet and began limping to a log bench where a flask of what appeared to be liquor sat waiting. He had almost reached his destination when he noticed Avren and Pomona, his expression hardening.

"What do you want, Dragonfolk? Come for a sad show of a tired old man?" He took a drink and sat down, shaking his head. "I can't imagine anyone would seek out such a thing. What have you? What more do you want from me that I can't give?"

Avren bore a look of compassion as he moved forward, sitting carefully on the other side of the long, flattened log. "Er, just came by to say hello." He wasn't making eye contact, rather staring at the dummy. He knew what eye contact did to frightened and injured animals and at this point, he ahd decided to treat Baern as the latter. "But, well I do have a question . . . in light of . . . well, this meeting and all."

Baern lowered his hand and looked at Avren with tired and borderline annoyed look. "Well on with ya then."

"Right. . . well, why practice your skills. . .? If you can't fight anymore?"

A sigh escaped the older man's lips and he leaned back, stretching out his bad leg. "I can't decide if I want to knock ya for that one or thank ya. Perhaps I'll give thanks later. . . for now, I'm more on to knock you." Avren flinched back, scooting farther away to the point that he fell off the bench. Coolly, he stood and strolled about as if falling were as normal as breathing.

"Why does it bug you so much?"

"Bringing up a painful past causes pain. Imagine that."

"But this isn't the past. It's the now. You're here now and you're fighting. Well, practicing fighting, and yet you don't fight. Do you want to fight?"

He glared over at Avren. "It is the now, but the now can't be removed from the past. I keep my blade sharp and my body as able as it can be out of . . . well, out of habit. A soldier is reared into a life of caution, of preparation. Training. . . it's most of what I know."

"But you won't put it to any use? Why?"

"A wise man knows when to lay down his sword. What I do here isn't at all like what I did in the army. This . . . well, this is just a habit. An instinct. It no longer holds any purpose."

"Why not give it a purpose?"

"Because, boy, there is no point!" He raised his voice sharply then, sending Avren into a mode of nerves. "Man isn't strong enough to fend of those beasts! We aren't strong enough. No one is. Those things. . . they feel no pain. They go and go and god, no matter which limb you hack off of them."

So that was it. Hopelessness. Avren needed to give him hope. Smiling, he raised his hand ever so slightly. "Pomona, think fast."

And with that, 3 wooden roots dove up out of the ground, moving quickly through the air and snapped at her legs, knocking her square on her ass. Avren flinched at this but he didn't stop.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Came Baern's voice, his expression riddled with shock.

"Come on, Pomona. You've got better in you than that. I caught you off guard." He laughed and summoned a ring of wildflowers to grow around her where she sat on the ground. In a moment, she was up and Avren sent another wave of the three vines at her.[/dash]

 

[White]

"We will take point," Reverie replied as she and Celeste took point ahead of the others, listening and feeling out for any kind of activity, any sign of something threatening and tainted mana. They both were the first to see the now resealed entrance, not speaking up before the others two could see for themself.
Something felt off as her eyes noticed Merriks mouth move and an angry dog's growl interrupted him. Instinctively she reached for her bow, rather than the blade that hung on her hip. Cautiously she watched as Nova and Merrik both sprung into action. Flames shot at the threat and Merrik used his own offensively as well. The black dogs chewed at it like wild, rabid dog would chew at their prey.

She positioned herself, bow and arrow in hand. Her head worked itself around the situation. She personally never had to hunt for wild dogs or wolves, they never cared much for her, never happened to be a threat. The other difference is that their prey is wild though... not manaThe image of them chewing on Merrik's mana lasted for a moment in her mind. "Mana Hounds!" Merrik shouted, giving out a command to Nova and warning her of the usage of mana.

Celeste positioned herself in an angle from which she could defend Reverie from direct harm as Reverie's odd eyes looked intentively at the nearing beasts.

"Mana... does it distract them? Make them vulnerable to attacks with this distraction?" She loudly and firmly spoke, readying an arrow to let it loose once it reached a range of certain hit.

 

[Rainjay]

The image of Terria in Merrik's arms shook Saira to her core. It reminded her of--no. She couldn't even bring herself to think of the name that went along with the memory in the forefront of her mind. This was Terria, this was now. Already they were on the move again by the time she had forced herself back into the present, and as they began to find their way to what they hoped would be their exit, she silently cursed to herself and renewed her focus on the task at hand.

What came as no surprise was the lack of an easy escape. Instead, Saira was stunned that all that arrived as foe were two hounds. While Reverie scrambled for a way to use mana in some way, any way, to their benefit, Saira raised her bow, arrow already perched against the taut string, and began to aim for the eyes. Finally, a physical foe, she thought, as she pulled another arrow into hand. "How are their hides?" she called, hoping Merrik had a more in depth knowledge of the hounds to share. "We need a weak spot!"

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=yellow]Merrik dove out of the way as one of the heavy beasts lunged at him. It's head stood almost as tall as his and any physical attack by the creature would suffer Merrik intense damage, no doubt. As it leaped past him, he spun his blade around and caught the beast in the side, slicing a large wound open but to his great dismay, the wound seemed not to penetrate the entire depth of the beast's hide. "I have no idea!" He shouted back to Saira as he circled carefully, his eyes on the creature at all times. "I've never actually fought one. I've only read of them. Their hide is thick, we'll need to kill them by spearing them or we'll never hack through their hide in time." It leaped at him again and he rolled out of the way, landing hard on his knee, a sharp pain shooting up through his leg. "Damnit." He quickly threw out a long tendril of dark mana to try and trip the beast but it was faster than he and before the tendril wrapped around its legs, the hound snapped its maw and swallowed up a portion.

Listening to Reverie's idea, he sent out a larger number of tendrils after the beast, trying to distract it. "Reverie, Saira, your bows! I'll try and keep them distracted!"

He turned to the other one who was swatting ferociously at Celeste and Reverie. Creating a large orb of fire, he pegged the beast in the side and received its snarling attention in return. The first beast was eating through his mana quite quickly and now with the attention of the other one, he was beginning to feel a bit of nerves.

"Er. . ." He took a second to calm his mind and decided the best plan of attack would be to create a grand distraction. He summoned forth his shadow army, as he had many times before in the woods at night or along the meadow pond's banks. Numerous shadowy figures stood along side him, poised, ready to move. Nova's concern entered into Merrik's mind but he quickly stifled it. He knew this would drain him, but he needed to get Terria out.

Then, as if by command, the hounds both darted towards him. When the first one closed the distance, he triggered his own shadow form and took to the ranks of his dark creations and went about forming a complex distraction, desperately hoping that he could rely on Saira and Reverie to do some damage with their weapons. His life in their hands, he danced in the shadows against the mana hounds and as they savagely attacked the various shadow figures, Merrik was careful to make sure he wasn't the next one to fall between the beasts' sharp teeth.[/dash]

 

[Mowkie]

Pomona followed along silently, not at all surprised that a man who wished to be left alone would have settled so far away from a village of any sort. What she was surprised to see, however, was the man outside, still practicing despite his injury. Surprise, however, quickly turned to anger at the realization that he hadn't lost his warrior spirit. It was dying to get out. But he had covered it up like a pile of dust beneath a rug.

She remained silent as Avren began to speak with the older man, keeping a somber look upon her face. She remained standing, a few feet away from the pair, eyeing the woods and distant shadows, her arms crossed, her body stiff.

A part of her understood the need to keep up the old routines. Practicing and honing was simply a part of being a warrior. One must be as sharp and able as possible to be ready at the slightest indication of danger - especially in the hard times before them. And yet, she still could not forgive the outright refusal to help.

When he did finally break through and speak about the hopelessness of the situation, she did look towards the old soldier, her brow furrowing. How hopeless was it when they had already regained cities?

Of course, she couldn't think much more on the situation, as Avren spoke, and she quickly found herself with her feet thrown into the air by one of his roots. Finding herself on the dirt, the mercenary let the anger fuel her, and in a split second, she was on her feet, drawing on her mana and calling forth the blade that had come from her bond with Katla. As she had come to know, it appeared directly in her hand, and she looked to Avren with angry, icy eyes. "Avren, you could have at least warned me!"

No time to say much more, as three more were coming, this time from three different directions. She gave a quick twirl, spinning her blade expertly around her person and slicing each of the three vines. Landing in a half crouch, she looked between her comrade and the older man, who looked a little stunned. Giving a roll of her eyes and a huff of exasperation, she spoke again. "Honestly, one would think these people would know the stories of dragon tamers and the power we have. We've already conquered Kuhl!" She was frustated, but at the same time, a part of her understood Avren's need to show the old soldier what having the Order backing the people of Illos in a war against monsters.

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=white]
Avren laughed, partially out of fear of what Pomona might do out of revenge for his surprise attack. He danced backward, as if the sword was cutting through the air towards him, instead of the roots, as he always did. He worked best when he could envision the plants as an extension of himself. All around him, the warm summer air filled him with life and he found enjoyment in the light spar. He regrew the roots as they were cut back and sent them ever onward, wrapping around Pomona as she danced and moved fluidly with her sword. She was thrice the swordsman he'd ever be, but he felt no jealously, only a light and appreciative pride that she was on his side.

After a while, she got used to his attacks, and so he changed them up. He called the water from a nearby water basin and used it to send rapid shots of water mana at Pomona. It wasn't his strength but it was good practice for him and the slivers of water would hit her with just enough pain to aggravate her. As she swung her sword about, deflecting most of the assault, Avren took a low blow and summoned the earth to shift immediately behind her step, leaving her on her ass for the second time. Avren laughed again and urged the roots forward. They swelled out of the earth and scooped her up, setting her gently back on her feet before a gust of wind welled up and hit Pomona square in the face.

Baern was in awe. He had never seen such a thing. Magick, alive and well before him. He had heard legends, rumors about the Tamers, but he couldn't believe his eyes. "Ku. . . y-you've take Kuhl back?" His expression was filled with disbelief. "You've taken back Kuhl?!" He staggered back and sat down then, unable to steady himself. After a moment, he broke out into light-hearted laughter.

"You've taken back Kuhl! The news never came!" He clapped his hands together, the movement of his arms knocking his flask to the ground. "And you've magicks! Magicks like the old Order, the old heroes of Balance and all this time, the news never came." The liquor poured from the open flask, draining silently onto the ground. Baern paid it no mind. Before him was the cure, before him were heroes of an Order that could change the tides in this battle.

He watched with brighter eyes then, cheering Pomona on as she sparred with Avren, amazed by the magical abilities of the man and the swordsmanship of the woman.
[/dash]

 

[Rainjay]

Woah, Saira had yet to actually see Merrik's strange new ability, and for a brief moment it wholly claimed her attention. How fitting.

Saira.

Right. They had precious time. "Reverie! Aim for their eyes and flanks--the one with the cut on it's side." Without a blade, they wouldn't be able to pierce deep enough in the hounds' hides to do true damage, but if they could blind the beasts or down at least the injured one, they stood a much better chance when Merrik's distraction inevitably wore down. She waited patiently until Merrik's shadows had the wounded hound turned at just the right angle before releasing her arrows, propelling them with short bursts of air mana to speed their flight and increase the force behind them. One arrowhead nestled itself into the space between it's eyes, though apparently not deep enough to even cause the mana hound to flinch. With greater satisfaction a following arrow struck it's hide, arrowhead fully buried into the soft, more tender flesh of the sword-cut.

The beast howled, but it wasn't enough. Saira doubted such a wound would bleed enough to be fatal to the hound. They needed a slice on it's neck, or underbelly--both dangerous places to be, places Merrik couldn't risk going. The weight of the two knives she carried--one in her bow hand, pressed between her palm and the polished wood, and one against her side--urged for her attention, but she was less practiced in throwing, and only would have two chances at success. She could attempt to use Merrik's distraction as her chance, but was she agile enough to protect herself from the whirlwind of tooth and claw?

We may be able to compose a strong enough fog to mask Merrik's movements long enough for him to get close and have room to escape, Aerarya said, projecting her voice to all members of the party. Obstruct the hound's vision, and provide this.. shadow form.. a ready place to hide. All he needs is to open the hound's skin, and then you and Reverie can do the rest. If you feel you are able, Merrik.

 

[Rainjay]

Although the church called to her with it's quiet lavishness and strange attendants, Illyria, after the others had departed rather disorderly to do what they would in the village, decided to pursue an audience with the councilman Esvier. She knew little of politics in the real world but did recognize the divide between the people here, and while it seemed not severe--yet--she wondered if they had the capability to unify in the face of disaster. The Order had only sent a third of it's members to protect the settlement and they yet had to discover how many threatened it's borders. These people didn't seem like fighters, but they may have to raise their axes to the occasion after all, and the ragtag bunch that had been sent to help didn't have the obvious leadership strength to command respect, nonetheless a small, disorganized militia. They needed a true friend, and a strong public figure to stand with them, and for the people. As religious as the place seemed, a preacher for the gods seemed hardly the part.

Their guide now gone, Illyria wandered out to where she last had seen the councilman, neglecting to ask for tips until she stopped at the tavern. There she asked a tender: "Would you happen to know where I can find councilmember Esvier? And I don't suppose I could get a drink?"

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=white]The barkeep eyed up the young woman before grunting lightly and offering her a fruity drink - something he assumed she'd enjoy. He stroked his long, dark beard, tossing a towel over his shoulder. "Oh, I reckon you'll find the old crow at the treasury, at the end of the road, towards the church. Big building with gold trim. Hard to miss." The barkeep was clearly not fond of the appearance of the treasury, perhaps not even of the presence of the building itself, but it was hard to read a stranger. "If he ain't there, you'll find him snooping around the Mayor's house, bless his passing soul."[/dash]

 

[White]

Reverie counted, guessed as the dog haunted closer and closer. Arrow flew, pouncing, Celeste threw the dog out of balance and the two of them circled, danced about trying to find a right angle, a right distance and the right position to let this dog be met with another arrow.

It was Merrik that finally distracted the beast and eased the situation them out of it, an arrow following after it, flying past by a hair's bridth. Both of the dogs slashing at Merrik to which he responded with something that woke a curious interest into this. Her mind tingled with a glow, the temptation, a curiousity, a desire to touch it with her own, change them. Shape them.
The fought between the dogs and the shadow's army ensued when her mind rambled with the desperate need to find a way to quickly dispose of them before Merrik came to harm, she already lost Goliath and she owed her life to Merrik.
It was Saira that interrupted her thoughts and consideration with the suggestion of creating a fog that would allow her to escape, allow Merrik to defeat the beasts in melee and give him control over the fight itself.
Returning the bow back to it's place, she drew that sword from the order. Nodding to Saira she stepped forth, cautiously, waiting for the fog, carefully watching and tracing every of the dog's movements.

With the fog in place, there was one last thing she would have to try. Celeste and Reverie both knew that that her abilities with the blade is rather lacking and that this fog would be far more of a danger than she would like to admit. As discretly she could, she opened that pool that she only practised with, carefully trying to change what she perceived is part of the essence, the essence of an attack to her own security and safety, to something that would make her and Merrik stronger, feel more powerful so that their blow and every pierce would do more harm.
Uncertain for weither or not it even worked, slowly, she stepped into the fog to fight at Merrik's side.

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=yellow]The fog came as a welcome distraction. As soon as it filled the room, Merrik released himself from his shadow form, exhausted from mana expenditure. For a moment, he simply hid, catching his breath and regaining his composure. Then, he drew his sword and followed the sound of a panting hound. He drew in closer, relying on his hearing to guide the way. When he drew close enough to see the foggy figure of a hound, the hound looked back at him. The beast lunged through the thick fog and as it came down, Merrik phased into his shadow form, avoiding the first strike. He spun around, became himself again, and his sword connected with the left ribs and flank of the beast, carving a long slice that cut through a portion of the thick hide. The beast reared and turned on the spot, lifting a heavy paw in a brutal strike that Merrik tried to avoid, but his ability was new and his mana stores now shallowing.

The sharp claws connected with his armor, the shrill sound of claws scraping on metal rung out and knocked Merrik to the bad. There was no blood, but the beast was still upon him. As it neared, he swung his sword again, rolling to the side. He summoned dark mana to attack the beast from behind but it was no longer distracted for it knew the source of the mana - the one being upon which it desired to feed. The beast towered over Merrik and brought its heavy jaws down across his abdomen, teeth bearing into both his sides. His armor was the only thing protecting his abdomen from crushing under the force of the beast's jaw's. Struggling with the pain, Merrik worked to enter into his shadow form, but to no avail. He couldn't concentrate.

He flipped his sword around in his hands as the beast lifted him into the air horizontally and he stabbed the blade directly into the side of the creature's head. The sword met bone and slid down towards the mouth, carving a thick slice out of the hound's face before plunging into the corner of it's mouth. The pain was enough to make the creature howl and drop Merrik. Clanging to the floor, he was overcome with concern from Obsidian Nova. Clenching his teeth, he grunted as he pulled himself to his feet and and backed away into the fog while the beast reared in pain.

"Nova I cannot handle your worrying right now! Please!"

The dragon's emotions recoiled after a brief wave of apology. "Heal yourself, Merrik. Your mana stores are of no use to you dead. Do not preserve them for the sake of a survival that may not come!"

Merrik grasped his sides, blood streaming out of the puncture wounds. He worked his best to at least stop the bleeding but his mana was depleting quickly. He kept moving backward through the thick fog and eventually he bumped into Reverie, his back colliding with her's. He started, but quickly calmed himself. "Reverie, one of them is injured, but so am I. I need some time to repair my injuries." His breathing was heavy, the bleeding had slowed but he felt the tiring of mana pools. "We need a plan, we have to get rid of at least one of them to stand a chance."

The fog began to shift then. It swirled at first, moved in an unnatural manner, and Merrik assumed Saira was manipulating it. It curled and twisted until it condensed into ice and formed a protective barrier around the pair of tamers. It was a beautiful sight, the ice looked like an ornate glass lattice that stood out sharply against the surrounding fog. "What in the name of all that's true. . .?" He looked at Reverie. "What is going on?" And then a hound lunged out of the fog and smashed into the ice. Somehow, it held. "Are you doing this?" He was shocked. How could Reverie have known the attack was coming? Where did she learn to fortify water mana in such a way?

Meanwhile, the injured hound would lunge from the fog towards Aerarya's neck, startling the dragoness into releasing a strong roar. The beast was deflected with a powerful swipe of the Silver's claws but it was very clearly looking to take down the dragoness.[/dash]

[dash=yellow][/dash]

 

[Rainjay]

The plan seemed to be working--at least, for a short while. It was harder than Saira had expected to see through the fog in the darkness of the tunnels, and where she ordinarily could see streaks of movement, Saira could see nothing at all. She dropped her arms to her side and listened, then, following the sound of movement and of effort. She could hear Merrik fighting, and the clang of metal, the pained sounds from the hound. But she was too focused on maintaining the fog to do much to help. It was all she could do to silently enjoy the small victory it seemed they had made.

Then, her fog began to shift and change beyond her control. She attempted to wrest it back to no avail--it hardened, forming an icy shield around Reverie and Merrik, who she could now see. The girl had more skill than she knew. It was something Saira would have to learn from her later.

Saira!

The call of her dragonness drew her attention and she turned to find her neglected partner being attacked mere feet away by the injured hound. The silver dragon crouched low, as a cat would, growling in warning before the hound attacked again. It latched onto Aerarya's foreleg as she moved to defend herself, digging into her scales with tooth and claw before attempting to climb to her shoulder.

All the arrows in the world seemed to do nothing to disturb the hound's tough skin, and so Saira dropped her bow and ran to her companion, who unable to reach the hound clinging to her shoulder was left writhing in an attempt to shake it off. The tamer jumped and scrabbled for a hold on Aerarya's scales, a knife in one hand and another with it's handle between her teeth as she climbed for a better angle. From here, she could see the wounds it had sustained. She pulled the knife from her mouth and scrabbled upwards, intending to drive both knives hilt-deep into the hound with all the strength she could muster.

--

Illyria surveyed the drink with an eye of contempt, though she gave it a sip anyway, thinking not to be rude. "Thank you," she said. "What can you tell me about him, if you have a moment to spare?"

 

[White]

Merrik explained to her about his wound, that he needed time to heal, to gather himself. She looked at him when her mind flooded with twisting feelings. First threatened, then as if being the stalward against all odds, then a shift and a push and then clarity. A new and different understanding for water based mana kicked into her mind when she realized what had happened, what that mana she tapped into had done.
Merrik stumbling over his own words in astonishment, looking to her for an answer. "I...," she shook her head. "I don't even know..." she concluded, realizing how little she truly knew of this mana that she had been trying to practise.

Her mind focused, unbinding herself from their shelter to step out to face the hound while Merrik could safely find the time to recover inside the shelter. With the blade in hand she cautiously made step for step sideways, keeping a good posture, waiting for it to dare an attack. Celeste positioned herself between her Tamer and Merrik. Their silent plan was to attempt to harm it dodging, then to throw it back a distance again with one of Celeste's slashes. A game of buying time and slowly weakening the enemy, trying to abuse it's attack, then to make distance again.

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=yellow]
As Saira neared the beast, she drew her blades and leaped forward with all her might, putting her body weight into driving the blades deep into the beast's flesh. The blades were long enough to pierce all the way through the hide and the blood began to pour. In a moment, the hound released Aerarya and toppled back. Unfortunately Saira was caught in the fall and the beat landed directly on her right arm, crushing it with it's heavy body. It then stood, writhing in pain as it tried to remove the blades from its shoulder and neck. As it bounced around aggressively, Saira found herself without a weapon and the stampeding beast seemed to be howling for backup.

The second, unharmed hound, had been dancing with Reverie, exchanging strikes but taking very little damage. It was about to go into for a sharp bite, but it heard the call of it's companion and took off running into the fog. From his place inside the icy fortress, Merrik saw the hound take off and immediately his heart dropped. "Saira!"

He raised his arm and swept his hand through the air, shattering the magical wall of ice and sending a sharp wave of air that cleared the fog from the area. Immediately, Reverie and Saira saw the hound running quickly down the hall to where Saira lay on the ground as Aerarya fought with the first hound which now had two blades protruding from it. Merrik ran as fast as he could and in mere moments he and Reverie reached Saira. Immediately he drew up the bricks from the ground and twisted them into a more liquid stone that curled over them like a shield and hardened. He knelt near her and carefully looked her over, seeing blood gushing from her arm.

"Saira, hold still." He brushed her hair from her face and gently held her head as he forced whatever mana he had left into healing the bone that was clearly broken. He felt his soul beginning to ache as his mana stores depleted and Nova began to fear what might come if they didn't get out of there soon. It took only moment, Aerarya, Celeste, and Reverie fighting the two beasts and keeping them away from Merrik and Saira. When he had healed it enough to prevent any life-threatening condition and when he was done, he helped her up from behind the shelter. He turned and draw his sword, ready to fight when suddenly a powerful and thick storm of razor-sharp shards of ice came showering out of the sky.

They were the size of daggers and each one fell with such force that they pierced the hides of the giant hounds and continued on right through. Eventually, the beasts were so filled with gaping and bleeding holes that they howled their painful deaths before being silenced once and for all. Merrik staggered back, shocked at the precision by which the shards were delivered. Not one had hit the dragons or Reverie who were immediately beside the beasts.

"Merrik. . . " He spun around at the sound of Nova's voice and what he saw brought tears to his eyes.

Terria stood about 20 feet down the hall, her hands still tensed, arms slightly bent, palms up and fingers curled, just as they always were when she summoned storms. She stared at the beasts until they stopped twitching in their deaths and only then did the shards of ice melt and dissipate back into the air.

She staggered lightly but held her footing, her gaze strong and unwavering. She looked at her brother from sunken eyes and with a broken, cracked voice she said "Who is saving who, brother?" And tried to smile, wincing in pain at the movement.

Merrik broke down and laughed through his tears as he made his way to his sister and tenderly held her in his arms. "Terria. . . " He said the name as if it were a sacred syllable. When he released her from his embrace, he leaned back for a moment, his hands gently on her upper arms, and he simply looked at her.

"How did you manage -- " She nodded her head towards Nova who was now approaching.

"Did you really think your mana stores were so shallow? He's been feeding me your mana since you found me." She spoke with little emotion and in a quiet tone.

Merrik smiled then, shaking his head. "Amazing. . ."

The two stood there, for a moment, not saying anything, only looking at each other. Merrik's initial joy had now become replaced with a suspicious concern. At first he had thought she was okay. Her voice was brittle and hoarse, it had obviously hurt her to smile, and her words were monotonous, but. . . she was okay . . . no. She wasn't. Something about her blue eyes told him he wasn't looking at his little sister anymore. Something in her eyes was. . . dead.

His excitement faded then and a desperate need to get her back to the meadow returned. He grabbed her hand, holding it tightly and turned to his fellow tamers. "We have to get out of here now."

The party moved quickly from there and eventually found a way out. It was the middle the day and the sun was high. They had been in there for at least two days and the exhaustion and heat seemed to hit them hardest on the flight home. Taega met them in the skies above the Bodhra and carefully retrieved her tamer, crying sparkling tears the entire way back as Terria sat silently, patting the dragoness's scales calmly and rhythmically, as if trying to find some sense of normalcy in the practice.

The meadow was a welcome site and when they landed, Merrik immediately found a place at Terria's side. He fed her a hot meal and quickly sought out Reverie and Saira with a request. "Terria is in need of a bath, but she's still weak. Will you help her, please? As a favor to me?" The other tamers weren't back and even if they were, Merrik would likely have gone to the pair. He felt connected to them after having faced what they did in the tunnels and in the heart of Ogual's lair.

While the women were in the baths, Merrik sat quietly on the floor outside of the room, waiting. The second the door opened, he stood and moved to guide Terria to her room where Taega sat anxiously in her nest, curled up as if trying to gain comfort but very clearly on edge. Merrik tried to get Terria to go up to her loft but she simply brushed his guiding grasp from her, moved to Taega's silver nest, and crawled in, nestling herself into the pillows and snuggling up close to Taega's warm scales. She slept then, and she didn't wake for a long time and all the while, Taega never moved once. She sat silently, as still as the statues which the peoples of old Illos once confused her kind as being.

Merrik entered twice a day and spent 3 hours in healing and the rest of the time, he spent meditating to replenish his stores. Each day, he would work himself until exhaustion to heal her and each day he started again. Every evening he would scan the horizons, waiting to see when the others would return. He knew little of their progress in Kibran, but expected they couldn't be out by more than five or six days, yet he checked the skies each night regardless.

That particular night, he was sitting on the grass in front of the stables, staring at the evening sky. He was tired, his mind was worn from the emotional turmoil of losing Goliath and Hezekiah while getting Terria back. His body was aching from the battle with the hounds -- he hadn't healed himself since them, focusing all of his mana on Terria. And his very soul was sore as it stretched and worked on the very limits of his abilities. Nova had made a place outside of Taega's stables. He lay quietly in the great hall, filling up a large portion of it but trying his very best to keep out of the way of Celeste, Aerarya, Merrik, Reverie, and Saira. He hadn't hunted in days out of solidarity with Taega, but the hunger bothered him very little.

Merrik was struggling with the silence. Terria had been asleep for more than two days and all he wanted to do was talk to her, hear her voice, make sure she was okay, but he knew she wasn't. His heart was broken and his conscious torn. He wasn't even upholding his responsibilities to the others, for Saira and Reverie had not been led in training in the days since they had come back. In fact, he had interacted with them very little, rarely eating meals or speaking. He spent so much time tending to Terria and meditating to keep up his mana stores that he simply hadn't the time or energy to think of them. Even now, he struggled to find the mental capacity to think of chatting. The grass felt nice and the sky was luring him into a trance and in that moment, he simply sat, his mind empty, his body without feeling.
[/dash]

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=white]The barkeep looked at the woman and smiled, always happy to chat with a pretty stranger. "Not much to tell. The man is a pious one, or so they say, but if ya ask me, he's more pious to coin than to the Four. He sees money in the church, power, or something else worth seeing. But that's just me, and what might I know?" He gave her a kind wink and bowed before stepping away to help another customer.[/dash]

 

[White]

A night passed since they arrived back in the meadow. The group that departed for Kibran still was on their mission and Merrik seemed incredibly affected and distracted by Terria's condition. She would have loved to offer help when he asked her and Saira to assist Terria with bathing but that clump in her heart just kept her lips sealed and her mind distracted and once she did her contribution she returned back to the safe walls of her room.
Her morale, motivation just felt broken. An hour passed. Another did. One more did and she started to feel bothered about it. She can't let herself be like that. With that in mind and whatever time it was, she stepped out of her room. To the field Terria once had trained all of them in the usage of water mana. She remembered how she she splashed tiny drips of water to him and for a moment, she smiled. How silly it was of her to do that. She next found herself at the spot where he used to train. She never would admit it but she used to peek and look over at times, gazing at this gorgous man. Back inside the building she remembered how she approached him and asked about healing when she herself failed in her practise. Finally her steps brought her to that place. The place she first saw him and she broke down. Finally she brokw down, crying her heart out.
She loved him. She wished, she just wished she had told him. She wished it so much but now it was too late... but her heart, yes her heart, it felt lighter and lighter.
Later she would step into what once was his room and seek something that she could take, have, to remember him.

On the next morrow she started with her own practise again. She used fire and applied her mana on it, only to be engulfed into the flames. Again and again until she could manage to manipulate and change it again until nothing that Celeste could think of could penetrate this flaming armor. Except for water, that is to which she tried to manipulate it to serve as an additional shield. Reverie also tried to reproduce the ice shield that aided back in the fight against the hounds per hand by freezing the ice in the same elabroate manner.
She also found herself to be at exacly the place Goliath once trained, vigorously practising with the sword. It was crude, remembering what she saw and may have been taught as a child was tough but she felt that she did progress.
Saira was asked to practise along if she desired, under the condition that she would not share what she saw in the mana training with the others. She showed a bit of it back in the cave as she deemed it was necessary but still prefered to keep it a secret towards the others.

Whenever she saw Merrik about, he seemed to have built an invisible wall around him. He seemed to have lost a bit of weight with his constant shedule of meditating and spending time healing Terria. She found her thoughts traveling to Narien and the others as well. Are they all fine and well? Everyday she wanted to approach Merrik and offer to head to Kibran but seeing him gaze out to the skies made her hesitate.
On that particular day, she approached and just sat down infront of him. Just looking at him, smiling without a word ever leaving her.

 

[Rainjay]

Illyria pondered the barkeep's words as she finished her drink. As far as leadership in this village went, things felt a bit hopeless. Though perhaps she was looking at things through the wrong lens? A religious leading wasn't necessarily bad, nor was a more down-to-earth approach; it just depended on the people, and on the attitude of whomever led them.

Leaving behind a bit of coin for the amicable 'keep, Ria set out to locate her man of interest. She remembered where the church was--scarily well, considering she had the opposite of a penchant for navigation and had only been there once--and then spotted the treasury by the barkeep's description. She could understand his averse reaction to it. Then, spotting the familiar face of Esvier, proceeded forward.

"Hello?" she called, attempting to capture his attention away from wherever it was currently held. "May I have a moment?"

--

The victory of Terria's rescue was less than sweet.

In fact, it felt less of a victory, and more of a crushing defeat. In her absence, Saira could almost imagine Terria at her height; smiling, bold, most certainly facing off against her captors with a glorious display of strength. But the mental facade crumbled to the ground as soon as they unearthed the younger Tetra, and came apart completely in the days following. There was no doubt that Terria was still strong, stronger perhaps now than she had ever been before, but she was also broken. Irrevocably so. It was a fear of seeing that brokenness that kept her distanced from where Terria recovered, and ultimately from Merrik, who had grown more damaged than she thought a man could become.

It was that strength Terria had shown in the caves that did send her to Merrik's side when he emerged from the stalls, hoping if not to impart some of the hope that remained in her heart, to at least provide some comfort. If anybody could recover from such trauma, it would be his little sister.

Reverie had come up with the idea, and Saira followed in suit, settling into the grass silently beside the other woman. She was worried about Reverie--she seemed to have an attachment to Goliath that was deeper than that of teammates, or friends, and his loss must have hit her hard. She realized she actually knew little to nothing of the tamer and her past, but given her erratic behavior and silence, assumed it wasn't a welcome conversation. Instead she decided the best course of action would be to try and offer a shoulder to both her and Merrik, even though the strain of the situation at hand formed a knot in her stomach.

 

[Soulserenity20]

[dash=white]

When Reverie sat down in front of him, grinning a bright smile, her mismatched eyes glinting in the evening light, he found himself. . . weirded out. She just stared at him, saying nothing, and for a time he stared back, and then averted his gaze, trying to maintain his relaxation while he could, but she didn't say anything. She just kept staring and smiling. Eventually, he spoke, trying to alleviate the discomfort. "Er, hey Rev." He summoned a small tendril of dark mana and let it dance between his fingers, something he often did to fidget.

"Is there anything you need?" As he said this, Saira came towards them and joined them. Unexpectedly, Merrik found himself in some sort of a social gathering. "Hey, Saira." He smiled as best he could and looked back to Reverie who was still looking at him.

[/dash]