So Strange, How You Meet People...

  • Thread starter Talramis Faelstion
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((Thats your call man. Your RP your rules. And are you talking like berserking or something? Or superhero schtick? Cause Idk how that would work. lol. But its your call. And I'm gunna wait till after you reestablish yourself in the story before I post again. just so I don't mess with things. lol))
 
The mage nodded to the pair as they went out, and looked around. "If you are still sane, flee the ones who are not and come with us. We are leaving," she yelled over the din. First she chanted quietly for a couple of seconds, and a faint, silver glow surrounded her body as magic was being pushed out of it. Then she began moving in the direction of the front door, drawing a pair of knives each thinly coated in silver. The silvery glow of her magic moved and wrapped loosely around the knives so that it was not quite touching the blades, and as she moved she occasionally cut one of the poisoned ones with a knife, causing it to cry out in pain. The wounds left behind by the knives more resembled burns than scratches. As some of them turned their attention to her, she sheathed the left knife and made a gesture to her left, causing a thin silhouette-like shape to appear next to her in her magic's light, which some of them were fooled by and tried to attack, only to jump through and ram into one another. The one or two who were not fooled, she managed to dodge, but only barely.

While she was doing this, Ilsyra's appearance underwent a gradual, somewhat disconcerting change. Her ears grew larger and longer, poking their way out of the hair on her head, and her teeth became larger and sharper, so that some of them poked out even with her lips closed. Thick fur grew on each of her hands, and the palm side of each gained thick, dark layers of skin; her nails became longer and sharper, essentially becoming claws. The fur continued to spread its way up her arms. None of this fazed her in the least, but a few of the civilians who noticed the changes were a bit put off by them, generally giving her a wide berth on their way out.

((Eh, it's fantasy. As long as you can explain the magic behind it (not necessarily doing so now though), your character can do just about anything.
I'm going to try and wait for Releaser to post before I do again.))
 
((Well, since everyones waiting for something, TALRAMIS IS BACK!))


Talramis woke up with a start, it looked like he had been struck from behind. He must've been taken to safety.
But there were still enemies about, and-


"AAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"

Talramis shouted as he got stabbed in the his left arm. It wouldn't matter in the long run, just pain for now, but that had giving him a great opportunity. The man in the hood who had cut him was grinning, and he tried again to find his mark in Tal's chest. His arm glowed in darkness, and his eyes flashed dark red. Now it was Talramis's turn to smile; he grabbed the blade as it was flying towards him. He quickly bent the dagger so it would be a threat, then pushed the attacker onto the ground.

The hooded mans' smile quickly changed into a look of utter terror, never had he seen this hellish ability. Talramis jumped into the air what must've been at least 4 feet, then dove down pulling three golden knives from his coat. Like a graceful assassin, he ran up and slit the mans throat, and threw the other two at some other men. Tal was no longer himself, and his power would only last so long. He ripped off the sleeve of his left jacket arm, revealing a black mark snaking all the way around his arm. Pulling out forks he ran up and gouged a man in his eyes.

This act went on for a short while until all of the attackers were either dead, or out of commission, then, his eyes flashed grey, and returned to it's natural color. He suddenly seemed weakened, much like the butler he was a few minutes ago, and he certainly didn't look like a skilled fighter. He looked to the man who seemed to have been fighting himself.

"Um.. Is that all of them?"
 
Talon had witnessed the horrific change in the man below him...and had been frozen by terror, and tried to draw as little attention to himself as possible. What the HELL is going on here?! There obviously was more to this unassuming man then he let on. His ease in dispatching all the enemies that had the misfortune to get in his way was astounding. And at the end of it, before talon could tear his eyes away, the man turned right to him with the red hot fire that burned in his eyes faded and asked if that was the last of the attackers.

Talon looked at the slight figure standing among the bodies and felt a wave of relief...at least I don't have to deal with that...thing.

"Despite your little show...there...more than likely not. I saw one take off into the forest, and natalie was in there...I'm going in after. Wait here...I have a couple questions to ask you...not to mention your blonde friend in the forest." And that simply he disappeared into the woods.

He was in a hurry, as he had seen her disappear. And after he entered the woods searching for any signs. He heard running back towards the edge of the forest, and the pair of footsteps behind the first. He began sprint through the woods after the pair as he was sure one had to be Natalie.

He heard the footsteps stop as he heard the sound of something striking flesh and the gurgle of blood escaping lungs followed by a swift strike that seemed to end a life...just hopefully not Natalie's...He skulked along the edge of the forest saw The butler-thing about 100 yards to his right, and thankfully Natalie alive and well in front of him.

He stepped from the forest into the field with his hands held unthreateningly at his side...and beckoned the Butler-Thing to join them...and as he did so he noticed the blood pouring from Natalie's shoulder...
 
Linus and Lloyd made their reappearance some time later, moving quietly through a small copse of trees outlaying the forest's keen edge. Violence was no stranger to the brothers, an old friend even, but there was no satisfaction in this victory.

It showed in the uneasy glint of sapphire and emerald eyes, each rising simultaneously to study the thickening crowd. The silvery moon suspended itself brightly overhead, throwing illuminating beams of light through the unmoving trees. The forest spilled around the skirts of a northern mountain; this town had earned its relative wealth by remaining one of the final outposts of humanity in the north. It was not commonly traveled, save for the errant adventurer on his way, a Templar leading some Crusade, or the blissfully lost. This was no chance meeting, an obvious realization, but something far more sinister was afoot.

Linus had cast over his broad shoulder the body of one would be assassin. With a meaningful grunt the strong warrior strode to the miniature clearing where our heroes would convene and deposited the body with a sickening thump of flesh. The man in question was clad in alternating red and black, a hood and cowl obscurring all but eyes that stared into oblivion, his body slender and bound in sheaths for weapons of all sort. There was no obvious insignia, only that he bore the same leather shoulder piece as his defeated kin.

"Regisan Knights," Lloyd announced quietly to those in earshot, his arms lacing over one another. His left sleeve suffered a distinct stain of dark crimson, and a pale bruise had begun to form on the side of his fair cheek.

"...with whom we have no quarrel. None, at least, that would urge them from their southern ramparts." Regisa remained a city-state to the south, many months away. It would not make sense that a Knight bearing their colors would be up here, nor for them to attack with such terrible, underhanded efficiency.

Linus spoke up now, tending to a dagger wound on his left hip with a coil of white bandage. "This one seemed to be callin' the shots. Rum luck Lloyd here struck him down and sent his peers to rout."

Before the others, Lloyd leaned down and pulled away the dead man's mask; the face beneath had rotted down to bare teeth and the unnerving grin of undeath. "...rum luck indeed. These were no men. Our would be assassins were long dead before we caught up with them."

Grimacing ever so slightly, Linus tightened his makeshift bandage and straightened his shoulders, fixing the sleeve of his coat that had rolled down to his wrist. Folding it back revealed a minor gash stretched over a muscular forearm. His poisonous eyes shifted from Ranger to butler, to girl, and finally upon a Lycan (of all things, he would note with a cruel grin), before settling again on the corpse.

"So. Who here pissed off a necromancer?"
 
Talramis looked towards the horrified-looking man. What was wrong with him, when he had just said that there wasn't enough assassins to be frightened of. Either way, he said that Tal should stick around, which was fine by him, so long as no other men showed up. Before he could worry about getting ambushed though, his masters returned, intact. Then the Ranger ran off into the trees, where apparently the girl, Natalie, was.

Talramis felt... faint. He kept on thinking and wondering why he was so drained. *That's it!* he thought to himself, and looked to slide up his left arms sleeve; too bad there wasn't a sleeve there... He looked and saw his mark on his arm, snaking around to under his shirt again, and panicked. What had he done?!?! Everybody seemed alright, but he couldn't be sure who saw what. The ranger certainly must've saw it, that would explain the look of shock, and the need for questioning... Thankfully it didn't seem that Lloyd OR Linus had seen the power of demons; Talramis was NOT getting fired this soon...

"U-hm... What do we do now?", asked Tal to Lloyd.

It seemed that everything had cooled down now, and he could sure use a rest, but, again, it was up to his masters.
 
Ilsyra had still not yet introduced herself to the small, ragtag group, and that was fine. Until there was a reason for them to know her name, it didn't matter whether they had it or not. She had shifted back to her most human-looking form, now that she was not being forced to use magic. She heard the bounty hunter's question, but was much more interested in Natalie's wound; it was bandaged well enough, but would take some time to heal on its own. She could still smell fresh blood coming out of it, and though some might accuse her of enjoying the scent, it was unpleasant to her.

Still looking sideways at the other woman, she responded nonchalantly, "To my experience, such people require little provocation...after all, dead bodies are their soldiers, so making more is hardly of disadvantage to them." That was not entirely true; she had met mages who used necromantic magic, specifically that which consumed their own blood, for purposes other than raising the dead, and they were generally respectable people. The evidence didn't point to a mage like that, of course, and for defilers of the dead she had little else but disdain.

((By the use of the phrase "some time later" I'm assuming there was a time-skip.))
 
Natalie satisfied that there were no more men after her, walked a little unsteadily over to stand beside the beckoning Talon. She noticed Talarmis and was partly relieved he was awake, and partly annoyed he hadn't woken sooner to help. She ripped off both her sleeves, and thereby exposing her wound. It was deep, and was soaked with blood. She gritted her teeth and tied both her sleeves around it tightly, trying to stop the bleeding.

She turned to look when Linus and Lloyd reappeared, Regisan Knights? Here? That was strange enough, not to mention they were dead. She fought hard to keep her food down, when she saw the soldier's decomposing face. She noticed the other girl who had approached them in the inn, she was a Lycan and was staring hard at her shoulder wound. She frowned at this and avoided the strange woman's eyes, she started to feel a bit dizzy. She had already lost quite a bit of blood and despite her bandage, the wound was still bleeding quite heavily.

She almost fell hoping no one noticed she sat down crossed legged on the ground, so she wouldn't fall and in the hopes that the dizzy spell would pass. She listened intently to the conversation going on and wondered, in Linus's words who pissed of a necromancer? She knew more than she should about necromancy, but she had no other enemies that she knew of outside of her ex and he knew nothing of such magic.
 
Talon had returned to his silent self, leaning against the nearest tree with his hood covering his eyes. He let out a low, soft whistle and within mere seconds a falcon perched itself on his leather spaulder. And as Talon fed it a piece of jerky he began to think.

Everyone had their secrets, Talon was sure of it. He had seen the Eyes of the butler, and he knew who Natalie was, and was sure that the brothers weren't exactly holy men, but that was neither here nor there. They had their secrets, he would not share with the group, and he was sure they would not either. But, the two secrets that he knew about intrigued him. He and Natalie so far had worked well together, and he had a respect for her and her ability. But, he knew she was wanted by the law, a fact that would possibly send the two bounty hunters in this little group scrambling to carry her off to the nearest guard post. Natalie did not know that he knew her secret, nor would he tell her he knew, as it would just complicate the matters at hand. However, he would need to sort out this butler as soon as possible. His monstrous show had not been witnessed by any others, and Talon was suspicious that this mans power might be the reason that the necromancer attacked, all the more reason to keep him away from said necromancer. Not to mention that the unassuming figure had to know that Talon had seen him, as he had done a poor job of hiding his horror when the man snapped out of his killing spree. It might be an overreaction, but Talon needed to show the man that he need have no fear that he would share his secret...yet, at least.

Talon spoke softly yet sternly without turning his head away from his friend perched upon his shoulder.

"It is neither here nor there. Whether one of us angered a Necromancer or this was just a random attack to strengthen his unholy army is irrelevant. What is important is the fact that an attack was ordered either on innocents, or to use innocents to kill. Innocent lives were lost here over nothing. That is what is important."

Talon hoped that the butler would get the unspoken message within those words...Your secret is safe with me.

He scanned the small group. Taking in their reactions while looking slowly at each of them, he began to notice the effects of the skirmish they had just survived. Everyone seemed in one piece, minus a few small cuts, bruises, and Natalie's shoulder wound. But as he noticed this his attention was grabbed by the eyes of the lycan dancing towards the blood on Natalie's shoulder. Lycans had always been surrounded by myth and legend. Unfortunately, all the myths and legends always seemed to portray lycans as the "bad guy". Of course there was little to no truth to these stories of old, but they still racked his nerves. Especially since this was the first one he had ever met.

But soon his mind drifted off again to the scene that had played out before his eyes. Glass shattering, thuds of bolt on flesh, the animalistic sounds of the Zerker infused citizens, and the terrified screams of civilians still played vividly in his mind. The people he had just spoken to could do and go as they wished, but Talon wouldn't just throw this from his head and attempt to forget this day. He would hunt this Necromancer to the ends of the world if he had to.
 
Lloyd frowned, which was an unusual thing. The elder Reed did his best to keep positive, a foil to his brother's typical dour straightforwardness. But as the implications of the attack - for this could have been nothing but - worked themselves into order the swordmaster began to feel more and more disturbed. Typically, he would confide in his brother these dismal realizations and the meanings therein, but something beyond his ken was compelling him to speak aloud. Hunters are not in the habit of doling trust out to people like a jolly fat man with candy, but this mismatched group of individuals had singularly survived the event and forced retribution on the assailants; that stood for something.

Firstly, the blonde man's voice was directed to the ranger pressed caustically against the nearest tree. "Then we are of like mind. Whomever, whatever is accountable must be brought to justice. If no other, than the justice of the blade." Even as he spat the words, folding one sore arm over the other, he squinted at the corpse at his feet. In a time of magic and sorcery, it was not so novel a sensation to go to arms against a reanimated body, but experience wasn't enough to make the act -feel- any better. A shiver coursed through him.

Linus lowered himself on a conveniently placed tree-stump, his weight supported by palms pressed against the wood. "We're goin' after him," he decided gruffly, a massive hand lofting to slick back his hair. "Some jobs we've gotta do for ourselves."

His brother nodded a quiet consent. His eyes could not stray too far from the body, no matter how he willed them.

"An instant poison that twists the mind, and a Knighthood from below the world's belt. We've got a mess here, and nothing obvious to come from it." Lloyd shook his head, tapping his trim goatee with a slender digit. "We cannot even say for a certainty what provoked the attack. Were it meant for any one of us, it would be wise to stay in tandem until this is resolved. I... do not doubt that with the deed incomplete, whatever has caused this will strike again."

Which was an unnerving notion, given the near perfect efficiency of the original onslaught. It was fortunate that he and Linus were...

The big, young man spoke up this time, in a moment of rare insight. "Next time, and mark me there will be a next time, they're gonna bring us more clues, more evidence. We will sort this out then, but I agree with Blondie over there; we've gotta stay close."

Lloyd nodded yet again, finally raising his arms overhead in a taut stretch. It had been a busy day, and he was quite tired. "We will alert the guard and see to burial. Talremis, secure some.. - You are alright, aren't you? I suppose you can handle yourself without being coddled, mm? - secure some rooms for us all, provided you folk will be accompanying us." Sapphire eyes raised and planted on each person around them, settling last upon the lycan.

"Preferably a different inn. Use our names, our tab. Conspicuous as you can. We will all sleep in the same room, but monitor the other rooms for intruders. Mayhaps some insight will come skittering along in the night and deliver an answer to us personally."
 
The werewolf nodded at the half-question from the bounty hunter, and turned toward him for a second to mutter an answer hardly any more verbose: "If you'll have me." Her kind was feeling more and more like the elephant in the room, but one of her duties was to dispel some of the prejudice that surrounded them. She would explain things more fully when there seemed to be time, perhaps when someone wasn't bleeding half to death beside her.

She knelt next to the other woman, an expression of serious concern in her eyes by now. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly. It was a somewhat rhetorical question, as the evidence made the answer obvious enough. "My magic can heal, but it is often more painful than the wound itself, so I would not without your permission...but if you feel dizzy, it may mean you are losing more blood than your body can handle."
 
((After what Releaser said))


Talramis nodded in agreement to his master, and quickly ran off to find an inn. Now he was certain that only the ranger had witnessed his fearsome show. Even then, he did a good job of concealing his shock with the others, and it seemed that it was their little secret. Tal couldn't be so sure though, and he definitely needed to keep an eye on him. He really needed to change his shirt before his demonic mark on his arm was seen, that would raise suspicions ten-fold.

Out of the clearing and back on the streets, he ran. There was only one inn in town that he knew of, but he could at least find some place to stay. Talramis wondered to himself how he seemed to his employers, earlier they had seemed satisfied, but after all the chaos...? He wasn't sure. Anyway, his performance needed to be top notch for the first while, to prevent getting fired.



As Tal ran past the Crafters Guild, he thought about the room situation, one room would most likely have one or two beds, so they would most likely go to his masters, as they were paying, he himself would stay on the ground, Natalie would probably sit on the chair, and the Ranger seemed like he would be alert and standing near a window or something.

A sign... Talramis was looking for a sign... *Which way is the other inn? I'm pretty sure they have another one this way...*
... Aaaannddd, there. There it was, a signpost with a bed on it, signifying an inn. He didn't even take the time to see the inns' name, Tal just ran in, and set things up, putting it on Lloyd and Linus Reeds' tab as they had requested. Now to hurry back and find them...
 
Natalie wasn't sure about them all staying together, she was pretty certain that she wasn't the target and she didn't like the idea of sharing a room with the bounty hunters. However she agreed that the evil person that had done this needed to pay, and she would personally make him pay for this travesty. Besides refusing would be suspicious, and if by some million to one chance she was the target she wouldn't be safe alone.

She watched as Talarmis ran off in search of another inn, and then turned her gaze to Talon who had a falcon on his shoulder. She had an odd feeling about him, like he knew something he shouldn't. Was it possible he knew who she was? If so she would have to be careful, if he reveled her secret she was in deep trouble. She have to find out if he knew, and make sure he didn't spread this knowledge.

She spoke up so Lloyd could hear her, "I'll be there." She said softly. She was to say more when the Lycan approached her, "Are you alright?" She asked, Natalie laughed quietly "oh I'm just peachy." Her expression turned serious when she spoke of healing her, Natalie had been healed before and the pain was always great. However she had to agree with her that she was still losing blood, she would soon pass out from it if nothing was done.

Natalie nodded to her and braced herself, "okay do it." She said quietly and closed her eyes, then she waited for the Lycan to work her magic.
 
The werewolf nodded and moved both her hands so that they were hovering very close to the wound. She began whispering in the language of her people's ancients, and her arms changed shape again, as usual, while the silver glow of her magic gathered in front of the padded palms and then began flowing towards the wound itself. The skin started to regenerate from the inside; without the bandage to hide it one might have seen progress like that of a week, perhaps a month in the wound's healing.

Across her years, Ilsyra had healed herself from a number of injuries when it was necessary, so she was no stranger to the pain the healing brought. It was like the dull ache of healing at normal speed was all compressed together into a searing, burning pain that made the few seconds it lasted seem like hours. In some cases someone would have a herb or another spell that would deaden the affected area while the healing occurred, but her own magic couldn't do that, and often when her magic was needed for healing it was in an emergency like this one.

When the wound stopped bleeding, Ilsyra halted the spell. The skin was still red and raw and sensitive, best kept under the bandage, but at least the risk of losing too much blood was removed. There was no sense in making the pain last any longer than it had to. She took a deep breath, returning her hands to human form, and stood up. Her body was drenched in sweat, though this was only evident where her leather outer clothing left skin exposed, and she was still panting somewhat rapidly from the effort of the spell.
 
Talon nodded a silent agreement to the bounty hunters. He would be glad to have their help in the coming hunt. It was sure to be a dangerous path, and as much as he enjoyed working alone. This time he was glad of the help.

Also he surveyed the healing of Natalie, the lycan's magic worked quickly. Talon had always been amazed by the concept of magic, and how it worked. It was a shame that the Ranger creed banned its use, although he didn't have the gift in the first place he still thought it useful. Her power would definitely be welcome on this journey. Also, with her silence that Natalie confirmed her part in growing fellowship, and he assumed that the butler worked for the bounty hunters since he had followed there orders so...enthusiastically. So he would also be joining them. Talon felt that if they were all going to be sleeping, eating, and fighting with each other for as long as this path would carry them they might as well know the basics about one another, even if it was something as simple as a first name.

"Since that is settled. We haven't caught each others names. I'm Kieran, King's Ranger First Class. You can call me Talon. And this here is Aiah" He said nodding towards his falon. Aiah spread her wings and flew a few meters to a new branch where she looked on the scene as if she were expecting the others answer as well. Sometimes Talon felt he knew exactly what she was thinking, and it was uncanny how she understood everything he said to the letter. He sometimes thought she was smarter than most humans, and that was no exaggeration.

What have you gotten us into She seemed to be thinking.

I wish I knew...
 
Natalie gritted her teeth as the healing started, the pain was intense but she was determined not to cry out. Though her face showed no sign of anything, her eyes were filled with pain. Once the lycan was done and the pain subsided, she felt better as she was no longer losing blood. Natalie turned to her, "thank you." She said sincerely and then averted her attention to Talon as he spoke. Well at least now she knew his name, though she rolled her eyes a little when he spoke of being a first class king's ranger. It sounded like boasting, though she was interested in his falcon.

She spoke up so the others could here, "Natalie" was all she said. She felt the only one who didn't already know he name was the lycan, but it felt like the "proper" thing to do. She hadn't added her last name in fear of recognition from the brothers, and she hadn't added her rank like Talon had. Why? Because her unit was classified, no one was to know about it save a select few. Besides those days were probably behind her as by now she had most likely been replaced as commander anyway due to her framing. She cleared her head of these saddening thoughts and waited for the others to speak, especially the lycan so she could learn her name.
 
The werewolf took the time to recover her breath before speaking. In a calm and reserved voice she introduced herself, name and title. "I am Ilsyra, daughter of Weyron, Wanderer of Ilune." Ilune was known as the goddess of the moon; werewolves claimed her as patron, though there were those of other races who worshiped her as well. "A kind of mage," she added, for most were not aware of the meaning of the title 'Wanderer' in this context, and it was the easiest way for them to understand her abilities.

((Ilsyra is pronounced something like "ill-sey-ra", with a very brief sort of rolled r. Sorry if this is overly short, but couldn't think of much else to narrate.))
 
Just then, Talramis came bursting back into view of the other members of their little, "group". Panting, for he had ran the length to the inn, and from the inn, he informed everyone about the plans, and stood up, propping his back up on a treee.

"Well, all of our plans are made out. Tell me when ready, and I can lead us to our site."

In all realities, Tal couldn't be more happy to finally be able to rest a bit, it wasn't a long walk to the inn, but he was exhausted from his earlier show of might.

((Talramis is pronounced very English-Like, "Tal-Ram-Iss" Quite literally of how it's spelled.))
 
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