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Survive? No. Thrive.
Topic Started: Jul 13 2013, 07:38 PM (548 Views)
Raphael
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"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.""
The Alpha, in his humanoid form, walked along the edge of the piked wall that set the boundary between the untamed forests of Bodwen and Askival proper. Booby traps, mostly inactive but ready to be set in a matter of minutes, hung in the trees and covered the ground. Only a trained eye (otherwise known of a lycan eye) could pick them out.

This was their forest. The wolves that ran here for thousands of years, blessed by the Goddess, would not let go of it until the last of them were dead, and the humans had learned that the hard way. His father Raghnall and his mother Zara had pushed them back, and now they had passed down the mantle of leadership to Auduin and his sister. He would be damned if they'd be the ones to drop the ball...

Truthfully, Auduin was not a great warrior like his father. Sure, he was competent, but greatness was more then that. That axe... Auduin could barely lift it, but his father could level a city in a minute swinging it around like a toy. And his sister... she was so damn fast, and she knew exactly where to hit. She could look at a man and pick out his weak points, exploiting his stance, his weapons, his armor, and even his experience to her advantage.

The Goddess had not gifted Auduin as such. He was a speaker. He could raise or lower morale with word alone, whipping his people into a frenzy or convincing them to lay down their arms with uncanny gifts of persuasion. Together, the twins lead the city. Auduin handled diplomatic matters and internal civil problems, while his sister dealt with threats, foreign and domestic.

His walking the walls amounted to little; he was not qualified to conduct any sort of inspection, beyond the basics. His companion, a large wolf, walked beside him. Lupita lived long ago, and now returned to assist her Alpha. Even the death, the lycan were fiercely loyal to each other. They were the Eternal Pack, and they would always fight for each other.

Auduin loved his people. He could see greatness in them, and he was bound and determined to grow it. Someday, they would control the entire forest directly, and not just through fear. Perhaps eventually they would expand beyond it, though they would have issues to deal with, first. Most notably, the humans.

To say that the races had 'trust issues' would be the understatement of the year. Auduin would love to be known as the lycan who brokered a peace that allowed his Pack to grow, but he had a feeling his sister would quicker to draw on them then allow them to speak...

The next few decades would be incredibly interesting. Auduin knew a regular life was just not in the cards for him. The burden he carried was heavy, and that was why he was here, truly. The forest had a way of calming him down, and putting things back into perspective.

As the sun was setting; it was time to move. In the fading colored light of dusk, his white fur began to slowly cover his skin. The sounds of his bones popping and reorganizing was familiar to him, but many humans found it unsettling. His howl was slow to start, and quickly joined by a few brothers and sisters who would join him on the night's hunt. He could hear prey scurrying about... As he launched from the top of the wall, a smile crossed his hybrid face.

Nothing was more natural for a lycan then the hunt.
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Davina

Kit had her nose in the wind, the scent was up and hard tonight and she was on her own for the moment. The bodies that washed up on the shore, the occasional scents from the ocean, Kit wasn't having any of it. It was Au's job to worry about talking to people, Kit was all about the hunt and protect the pack with tooth and claw and that had her ignoring Au's call for the hunt to sit on a rise over the ocean for tonight's moon.

Leather creaked as she shifted, lifted her now fully canine nose to the wind and she called her song was well, the song the Goddess blessed. When the wind smacked her in the face with the now familiar and suddenly distressingly closer. Her stomach tried to revolt, whatever it was it smelled revolting. Her white fur made her a beacon in the night's bloom but she knew how to disappear and when she disappeared into the shadows, she didn't just scent the stink under it was... Magicks.

Even as she held in the treeline she watched her prey, skinny male, skinny female and tiny... lizard. Easy...

Easy...

They were traveling together and as her ears picked up the snippits of conversation her plan came together. The female whined

Oh come on now, you wont die if I eat him, it'll just hurt, then he'll shut up...

It was everything she needed and her approach was absolute silence, she stalked on her belly, barely ruffling the bushes that met with the beach. Narrow windows.... Helped by the fact that most breeds thought her a dog of some form if they saw her....

Deep breath, eyes narrowed and dilated with excitement, ears back for protection, tail out and flat for easy turns, muscles bunched and quivered. She held like that, a heartbeat, then two to prove her control over the animal inside of her...

She nailed the imp, put pressure to keep the thing still while she let a long nasty growl out and shoved into the males mind. Shut up, move wrong and I eat the lizard, you've landed in the Lycan territory and you now belong to us." She pushed down harder, two sharp daggers grew from what seemed to be her body and the leather creaked again when she shifted into the hybrid in preparation for the female to fight back.

Oddly the weird looking woman only smiled smugly.

Lillith grinned, unable to do anything else, this was so much more interesting than the twat.
Edited by Davina, Jul 14 2013, 09:50 PM.
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Luthe
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The boat finally made landfall, which woke him from a doze. He was dirty with sweat, tired, hungry, and bored with his company, so he was trying his best to ignore them. The first order of business was going to be to find a stream for some fresh water and get a good night's sleep.

Coelho had been collecting his meager belongings when he heard the imp yelp behind him, the succubus snicker, and the gruff voice of a she-wolf threatening to make his servant her next meal. Coelho's chartered ship did stop off for fresh game and water along the coast of Bodwen Province on its way to Azzeth. The area was notorious for being inhabited by lycanthropes. They were subhuman beasts, able to take on animal form, who roamed the forests and hunted in packs. Then, the sailors said that they spotted the wolves watching them from a cliff, but no lycans ever approached the shore where the humans worked to gather supplies.

It seemed like coming alone with just the three of them made the shy wolves brave. For good reason, Coelho was going to do as commanded. He put down his gunny sack and showed her his hands, then carefully stepped out of the boat. A lycanthrope had all of the best features of animalistic strength with none of the mindless downsides. They thought, spoke, and sometimes behaved just like regular people. Coelho was a magician and could normally handle his own, but where there was one wolf, there were many, and he wasn't about to piss off an entire den of these creatures.

"I am not armed. We mean no harm," he said, perhaps intentionally forgetting that he and the imp both hid a dagger in their clothes. She called them her property. He wasn't sure how much he was going to be able to sway her. Best to play along.

"We seek only the boundaries of your territory. We're glad to travel through and leave you in peace."
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Davina

She gripped the lizzard in her heavily clawed hand, shook it hard until the small dagger fell from it, tinkled on the ground, her feral growl said it all. Kit squeezed, until the imp screamed then gasped out a squeak. "Keep lying and you'll be dinner for the packs puppies. You've the look of a sand elf so you should be well preserved." The threat was mostly empty, she wouldn't risk the puppies health on such a stringy bit of meat, besides, they had elk just hunted today.

Two more wolves melted out of the shadows brought on by dusk. Bring them with us, I've a mind to find out what they know about the corpses. She put a heavy hand on Lilith's shoulder and shoved her forward, into the trees. Au, I am bringing captives, I am considering eating them but two are like those that wash up on the shores and they stink to high heavens

She shoved the female again when she balked, clutched the imp who had begun to squirm and try to protest as he had some air. She didn't give two shits what the two had to say, less what the elf spoke about but... Audin was strange, his mother's son and wanted to speak rather than just kill or eat those who got too close to the pack.
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Luthe
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"If you would just give me a moment to explain," he started, but the two wolves who came from the shadows startle him, and he jumped.

Life-saving instinct moved his hands together, but he quickly clasped them instead of reaching for the dagger up his sleeve. Self control was a crowning achievement of the non-animal races, and he chose vehemently to express it now. They gripped him by the shoulders and moved him along after the female, clearer the leader.

Were these creatures more magic than beast? Apparating from the darkness... He hadn't noticed a thing out of place until they appeared. How had they come so close and so silently? Invisibility? Coelho shivered, and he felt their claws through the soft cloth of his robes. He had gone to Azzeth to learn, and now back on the mainland of Valentis it seemed he was going to be taking on one lesson after another.

He would do his best to keep his journal close.

"Ma'am, I think all of this is really very unnecessary. We've done nothing wrong."

The imp continued to squeak and moan in the grasp of the she-wolf.

(OOC: Take us onward. Coelho is submitting to their directions. He might complain.)
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Raphael
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"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.""
"How interesting. I'll move towards the Shack now."

It wasn't a very pleasant collection of wood, but it worked well for what it needed to be; an interview/interrogation room, whichever seemed more appropriate at the time. He turned from the hunt, designating another as the lead wolf.



Auduin held the skull of one of the seemingly tainted creatures that had been washing up on the shores of Bodwen. He crouched down approximately 3 stories above the grown, watching the group approach. He was far from alone; the shadows, trees, and ground was teeming with the curious. They knew better then to act without the permission of either lead.

"My my... Their living resemble the dead quite a bit. I was hoping that maybe the water was disfiguring the corpses, but it seems not. How unfortunate for them."
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Davina

She ignored the grumbling elf, a trick learned long ago at her aunt's knee, tune out what you didn't care if you heard. Twit. He was about as combat ready as any other elf she had ever seen. Damn things didn't believe in armor, ruined their lack of body hair or something. This had her grumbling at him from over her shoulder, sissy men, finger wiggling.... useless. Yep, most males were useless though.. In her secret thought of thoughts, heart of hearts there had always been David. He was... Edible. Massive, black, furry and fuzzy with a way that made both swords and women's pants hit the floor with regularity. That was precisely why Kit had decided to make him chase her, make him worthy of her before she let him mount her against the nearest wall.

The lizard bit her, bringing her back around and having her absently smack him into the nearest tree. "Knock it off before I rip your head off and shove it up your ass." She kept going, pushing into deep woods then coming out in the small clearing, jerking her head at her companions who faded silently back into the trees leaving her seemingly alone with the trio. She slammed the lizard down on the ground hard enough to stun it before warping into a small woman wearing full leathers.

"You've tainted my beaches elf, with your foul smells and rotten carcasses washing onto my shores." She threw the lizard at the winged female, hard into her chest, perhaps the air bags in the top of what she called a dress would deflate. "Your stink comes in with the fog and makes the air I breathe harsh and sooty, your dead wash up inedible and fresh but rotten. Explain why I shouldn't kill you here and now to stop whatever poison you bring to my land."

She bared her teeth, let the incisors grow to the point where they started to pierce her lower lip.

Lilly was giggling until the imp hit her, then she hissed out in temper "Silly bitch, this is no mere elf, he is the tamer of demons, his word makes them obey just his voice. I'll laugh when he turns you into his lap dog." She actually stuck her tongue out then cocked a hip and looked expectantly at Coehlo, even making a hurry up and get it over with gesture with her hand.
Edited by Davina, Jul 15 2013, 09:06 PM.
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Luthe
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Coelho sighed when Chloe opened her big, fat, pouty mouth. He was so tired.

"Shut it, she-devil." Her timing was too impeccable. He felt a headache coming on.

Being the conceded elf he was, and addle-brained as he was in his sleep deprived delirium, Coelho thought that the succubus actually meant what she said. He didn't consider that she might have just been laying on the sarcasm extra thick to see how much trouble she could get them all into. Chloe had no mortal fear, it seemed. Was it because she was powerful? He'd seen no direct shows of magic from her, yet, and her body was thin and unmarred. She couldn't be a skilled combatant.

"Look. I'm not doing anything to stop you. We've been cooperative, if slightly unpleasant. I'm sure that you can understand that landing after a week of sea travel on a small boat, only to be immediately taken prisoner, can leave an elf cranky."

He folded his arms, and looked at her with dire disinterest.

"There's a reason that you didn't kill us on the shore. I assume that that same reason is still a sound one now that we're here in this gods-forsaken clearing. What do you want?"

He couldn't stop all of the abruptness in his tone, spurred on by excessive crankiness, but he tried very hard to not directly provoke the woman.

Truth be told, Coelho didn't know that he could cast a single spell. There were rituals to recite, or incantations to weave. He needed to be able to focus, and that just wasn't possible in his current state. He had only bound a few imps to his will while on the island, and conjuring them here, now, would probably incapacitate him.

Was the demoness actually quite stupid? At least the imp had the common sense to keep quiet. That was a sign that it took his advice, and decided to trust his judgement. A shallow, heavily stipulated victory, considering their current situation.
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Davina

Lilly's eyes narrowed, vicious pleasure gleaming in them along with hatred. The twat was ever useless and this silly dog woman thought she would get away with trying to be the biggest bitch on the block? Oh no, this would never do, Lilly was front and center in all things, ALL THINGS. Her eyes went red just before the black engulfed her body, slinging her through time and space to land just behind the nasty little whore.

The black bolt came from nothing, hit just where Kit had been, now where only grass crackled under the force. It was only a blink in time but Lilly found herself in the odd position of being out maneuvered, felt the slick drop of blood as the metal drew cold and hard across her throat. The blonde may have been shorter than her but she had a handful of the red hair and had the demoness tethered by it.

She snapped her teeth at Kit's face in her fury, ripping hair from her own hair as she went wild in rage. Kit was now in possession of a twister, one who fought dirty and it pissed her off, snapping the military bearing and having her shifting into fighting stance, slinging the other woman back with a short armed jab designed to break the elegant nose. It barely made a dent, the red head bounced from the ground and grinned obscenely, the diamond tail whipped out, caught Kit in the foot and wrapped there to slam her into the ground with a brutal thud.

Dirty bitch fighting Kit thought darkly as she grabbed the tail and yanked it, swung up and slammed the woman into the ground on the other side of her then yanked up hard on it and swung in the other way. The last hit had Lilly smacking her head soundly on a rock and finally the demon went still and quiet. Kit breathed heavily, growled as she rose back to height and set for the attack to face Coehlo, her muzzle was dripping blood but she bared her teeth despite the tinge of pain.
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Raphael
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"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.""
The ground literally shook as the first of them dropped. David, of course. His silver-looking armor, crafted by the first Alpha, glinted slightly in the dull moonlight start started to creep through the forest. He was followed shortly by a few others, all large. These were the show--warriors, like Raghnall had been. These were the lycans that people had nightmares about.

The lycans that people -should- have nightmares about were already with Kit, having followed her the entire way, bending the very shadows to their will.

"Secure her."

The unconscious one was bound quickly as he walked up beside Kit.

"Rolling out the welcome mat, I see?"

He had to grin.

The skull was still in his hand now, and he tossed it to the man who was left.

"Unlike your friend here, you have been wise thus far in your dealings with us. Trust me when I say that our handling of her is an accurate representation of what someone who brings force against one of the Pack can expect. What we want is simple; knowledge. The skull you hold is similar to your friend here."

He motioned to the small imp, shifting his nose a bit.

"What is he? Where does he come from?"

The last time an unknown, tainted-sort of creature washed up on the world's shore, the war with the undead happened. The burning question that he needed to get to was this...

What was coming now, and why was it coming to Askival's doorstep?

"Answer our questions and I'll make sure you get a decent meal, some good drink, and safe passage through Bodwen."
Edited by Raphael, Jul 19 2013, 03:09 PM.
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Luthe
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"Finally," he yawned, and swept back his hair. Coelho felt his eyes swelling. They were burning. Undermoisturized. Sleep sounded wonderful.

"I've been her prisoner for a week, none of which I've slept for more than an hour, consecutively. Thanks so much for all your help." The warlock snapped his fingers, and his imp scurried over to stand by his side. It almost looked presentable, upright with its hands folded like a tiny gentleman.

Coelho's intuition was proven right, as was the norm in most matters, when what looked to a sleep deprived brain to be an entire company of man-wolves landed from the thick of the forest and joined them in the clearing.

"Oh, a proper diplomat among the lycanthropes. You wouldn't know that those existed, given our reception."

They were huge, armored... He hardly believed it. They were even bigger than accounts made them out to be. Terrifying, even! Glowing eyes that shown in the night, and teeth sharp and white hanging below their jowls. He would have been afraid, just like he would have been afraid of the female, if he had the attention span to focus on the fear.

He caught the skull, rolled the thing over in his hand, inspected the brain cavity, and stuck his finger in the eye holes. They had bleached the skull. Purified it, perhaps. It no longer smelled like demon.

This? Information? This was the toll he was to pay for safe passage and shelter among one of the deadliest tribes of shifters this side of Valentis? An easy one to pay, to be sure. But did male have all the more sense than his female counterpart? This remained to be seen. In fact, the male had just given Coelho a huge amount of sway. Coelho had information. They took suspicion from his demon companions. They were afraid, and he had the ability to enlighten them. A much better position than the female had made for him.

"I'll give you what you want, but I'll need my journal. I believe your friends took a gunny sack when we were ambushed."
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Davina

Kit sent her brother a look that looked totally level as she shifted back into the wolf. You think you're funny but that twiggy fucker is not only useless but he's obnoxious as hell. Every time he opens his mouth I want to close it... WITH MY FIST.

She moved to stand right in front of the fancy dress wearing turd and purposely sneezed Understand me now, elf, I don't trust you and my brother is being far too kind and I doubt you know anything." She sent another sniff Anyone caught by such a scrawny thing can't have any power, perhaps you are her pet?

She stalked around him, sent her brother another long look before she blended into the trees. If he belongs to the woman he should be put to death with the ones he came with .
Edited by Davina, Jul 17 2013, 12:28 AM.
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Raphael
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"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.""
An insult, rather quickly at that. Hmm.

"I see what you mean, sister. If you want the pleasure of slitting the other's throat, I will not deny you. We'll milk this one, first. If he stops playing games, he might make it out alive. But alas, he's choosing to fuck around."

"You'll need nothing just yet. If your memory is so bad that you can't remember even the slightest detail off hand, then you are of no use to us. If you think me so dull that you would need to make it a picture-story for me, then you would be mistaken."

"If you or one of your friends wanted to root through that sack, feel free. Be careful, make sure no magics are attached to it."

Distractions, distractions... So what was the main act? Where didn't he want them to look?
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Luthe
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"I, an innocent traveler, agree to your demands even after being kidnapped, and you spit back threats? I misjudged. I though someone reasonable had finally arrived on the scene."

He sat down and crossed his legs, held the skull in his hand, and stopped looking at them all together. Did it matter? He was outmatched, as the situation was. He saw how easily they took down the magically-inclined demoness.

"You've disabled the only capable combatant, my prior captor, and taken all of my gear save the clothes on my back. I am at your mercy, and am cooperating to the fullest. Astounding as it may be, I can't actually do any more for you."

Back to square one. The situation now wasn't actually any worse than the one he'd just come out of, and he was still too tired to come up with any witty retort. No reasonable way out of this would be had until he got some sleep.

He shrugged.

"I'm of no use to you."

Prison camp wasn't the worst place in the world. If all of the lycans were as simple and emotionally charged, even crazy as these two, they'd be easy to trick. He'd escape, and come back with a platoon of ghinaari and human hunters to wipe them out for the greater protection of travelers everywhere.
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Raphael
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"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.""
The wolf in the silver armor exhaled with a bit of exhaustion, turning on his heels and walking in the opposite direction, back towards the city.

"Give him his sleep."

He was done with the man...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The elf was moved to a small shack, with a couple of over-sized guards posted on the outside. The old wood that made up the walls wasn't very strong, but the shadows that could faintly be seen patrolling the perimeter cut out any hope of escape.

In the center of the room was a small table, and two chairs. A dingy, slightly white bed/cot was pushed up into one corner, along with a half rotten sorry excuse for a nightstand.

Before he could really move (the room was horribly dark, anyway), there was a out of place sigh...

"Have you ever worked for a man who was so dense..."

A match struck against the side of the building, igniting and lighting up a small section of the room, including the face of a wolf who stood no taller then 5'8". He was a dingy white, dirty, and his right ear was halfway gone, and what was left looked hole-punched. His eyes were dull, and he appeared to be nearly as exhausted as the elf he stood across from.

"That if a female appeared naked in his chambers, he would call the guard because she wasn't at her post, and have an investigation into an assassination plot started?"

He light a candle that took the flame with some difficulty, illuminating a little more, mostly around the table.

"What's a shame is that's a true story. Ha. I... Have no idea where to start."
Frustration filled the dirty wolf's voice. He rubbed his nose before sitting at the table.

"I'm supposed to make your life miserable. I haven't the will to do so. Please, sit. I'll let you get to sleep as soon as possible, I promise."

His clothing was tattered, mostly old leather. The man overall looked like he had been put up wet. From his back he pulled the elf's possessions.

"I was supposed to lock this up. I just..."

Another sigh as he quickly rifled through the sack and pulled out the journal.

"Please. He's a fucking asshole, and his sister is just... Ugh."
He shivered at the unpleasantness.

"If you can just give me a quick rundown of what you've seen, I'll let you sleep and make sure you go missing in the morning. I'll pull some strings and make your exit go completely unnoticed and unhindered, probably better then that fuc-, I mean polite gentleman, could. He has less influence then he thinks. And you'll get all your stuff back. Hell, I'll even let you take all the other one's belongings with you, if you really weren't that fond of her."

He opened the journal and turned it towards the elf.

"I have family here. I've heard stories about when the undead came. Even if what the woman said was true, and you can bind these... demons, if that's what they are, then please, for the sake of everyone in the forest and beyond, let me know what you've seen. If Armageddon is coming, the idiots will be purged anyway, but don't let the decent folk go down with him."

So there it was, from one exhausted, frustrated man to another. One wolf disobeying a ignorant, thick-headed leader out of genuine concern and one elf who just wanted a nap.
Edited by Raphael, Jul 19 2013, 03:24 PM.
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