What because I am an orc I automatically must be some kind of minstrel? You humans, always assuming we are all just alike. he scowls, then takes a deep breath and composes himself No I not sing much. I am a ranger, and I have some business to take care of here, perhaps you can come back and see the sites later He says in an affable manner again, after his brief outburst.
Sora blinks at the orc's outburst. "I have to wonder how many times someone bothered you about that to get that reaction right away. She only asked if you sang. Your voice is pretty good, at least by the standards of most people, so she asked. Doesn't have to do with being an orc." She sighs, and visibly gives the device a good looking over. "What even are you...is that the thing Dirastratus made?!" Sora acts like this scared her...which to be fair, it did. "Are...are you sure you want to mess with that? I'm sure people would very much appreciate not being torn apart and driven to insanity by the voices of the dead!"
She starts to stretch out her wings nervously. She couldn't know how they'd react to this, and she wouldn't be caught unprepared.
They aren't telling him to stop, he needs to stop, that's Necromancy, the blackest arts. Step away from the device at once! It is black magic, forbidden by the Goddess. It is not safe to meddle with. she says, the forceful voice of a saint she had spent so long mastering, she steps forward, not so far as to deprive Shy of Antares' protection, but far enough to be at the front of the group.
The orc replies to Sora. Happens all the time. And who is Disastrous? Sounds made up to me. Don't know about any necromancy. Why don't you let me do my thing and you do you. Alright?
I don't know what you are talking about with all this Necromancy junk. Just let me be! Why are you stepping up to me? I don't wanna fight. Why does everyone always wanna fight He says, seemingly resigned to a fight. He places his hand on his crossbow.
As if you have any idea how it works. Look. Would you just leave me be please. Take your sight seeng tour elsewhere. he says with exasperation
Well go find em. I'm not going in there
Himnon faces the orc, ready to negotiate or take up arms as necessary.
You need to stop messing with that Right now! ys says, stepping forward again, infuriated that this heretic won't heed her warnings. her rage and fear mingling, she orders antares to asume arrow form, and sends a shot right behind the Orc's head, before adding Or Else!
Sora blinks a couple of times, leans in next to Ys, and whispers "What are you doing?! You don't just go around shooting at people, even if he isn't listening! What's gotten into you, Sis?!"
She looks around. This...this could go very badly. She wasn't feeling so confident about what would happen next. With her sister starting to go off the deep end, it was her turn to be the rational one. What was going on around here right now?
Internally, she's praying, reaching out. Auhra, protect my sister. Please. Make sure she won't be hurt, even if she did escalate this.
The orc ducks a bit and comes up with his weapon out. , suddenly 3 other forms move out of the woods.
You seem like a nice enough gal, but I don't take kindly to being shot at. And as I can tell we have the numbers on you. So why don't you all just leave so no one has to get hurt
Meanwhile Sora casts a spell, or tries to, there is a flash of magic and Sora is immediately chilled to the bone. There is a smell of lemons in the air
After the flash dissipates, she feels something cold, and looks down. Come on! I shouldn't have asked...and why lemons? Why do I smell lemons? Her wings begin to flap, but she's stuck fast. She looks up to the group brandishing weapons. "I...wish I could tell you what just happened here. But I think I'm stuck here now?" Her voice wavers a little from the stress, and she grins nervously. Of ALL the times for this to happen! "So umm...are any of you magicians of some kind? Because if you are, this isn't funny. Could you help me out here? Please?"
Seeing Sora's legs caught in ice, Himnon fires a cone of warming fire from his hand to melt it.
Biggest Threat is the others coming out all around you.
What can you see, the orc is obviously reluctant to attack
Himnon sends a gout of flame towards Sora, though it winds up being a bit more powerful than he expected, the flame roars out of his hands
The reality of what she just did hits Ys like a charging mammoth. Okay, this is bad, what do I do?. Ys desperately thinks back to her lessons.
The church and saints of Alphine must be respected, punish them for their trespass! commands the voice of mother superior Cerys
Often, you will find that sinners are simply misguided, needing someone to lead them into the light. Sister Amelina quietly tells her
You're so fragile, you wouldn't last a day in the real world sneers Orisianna
Don't risk yourself, simply apologize and leave Pleads Antares, this one not imaginary.
But I can't just leave them, Shy said these were dangerous, they might hurt somebody. Then the answer come to her in a flash, Shy, she taught Ysolde some magic, including a spell that just might get them out of this current predicament, all it needs is eye contact...
I'm sorry, that was wrong of me, I mean you no harm, I am simply concerned about that device, and It's function. Ys says, unleashing the spell the moment his eyes meet hers, and hoping the swirls of light-arrows and golden hair disguise the brief flashes of magic from his allies
Ys has Antares revert to lantern form, and go stay by Shy as she walks forward, toward the leader, extending her hand Lets start over, I'm Ysolde, a Saint of the goddess Alphine, Who are you, and what does this device do?
Seeing the flame becoming too powerful, Himnon quickly diverts the fire away from Sora so as not to burn her, leaving her unscathed but with one of her legs in the ice.
"Thanks, Himnon." Sora starts trying to pull her leg out of the ice now that it's thawed some, still wondering just what Ys was playing at. She puts the force of her wings behind it, hoping it was enough to get her out.
Come on! She was not having cold, immobile legs!
Sora hears satisfying cracks as her leg starts to wiggle. Given a little time she will be free!
My name is Guttrek. This device is going to bring me glory and fix my leg. Now you seem nice enough can you let me do m thing?
At this the others move fully out to surround the group
Look we don't know what game you are playing at here. But we have asked you nicely to go. You threatened us, and for some reason we are staying calm here. But you are wearing out your welcome quickly. We have answered your questions. Now why are you here?
Okay, leg, leg you can work with Antares says urgently as the two examine the situation Talk him away from the machine, and try to get a look at it
Oh, I'm sorry, I hadn't thought about your leg. but listen, I'm kinda a magic-expert... you don't want a necromantic limb... I can't imagine it would be pleasant. listen there's a temple, 5 days along the main row, then go east at the fortress of Drazhu, and keep going until you reach the Temple of Alphine. Ask for sister Amelina, she's an extremely skilled healer. tell them Ysolde... actually, don't mention me She ends the sentence sadly, they wouldn't want to hear about her, wouldn't approve.
While she talks to him, she looks ove the device, examining controls and sigils. the sisters had only covered the black-arts in passing, and only the methods of combatting them, but Shy's books, and the books Evmadrea (another "wayward girl") had smuggled into the temple had gone into much greater depth.
"Ysolde is right. That thing with which you were fiddling around is very unsafe. Certainly there are unwelcome spirits that could cause all kinds of..."
Himnon's voice trails off as he casts a spell under his breath to cause a dragon's roar to be heard from the very spot of the device.
"Or, in other words," he continues, "maybe you should find some other cure for your leg."
Sora's eyes light up as she hear the cracks. Yeeees! Just a little more! As she continues to pull, she listens to Ys's direction, and notes that Guttrek isn't looking particularly impressed. Idly tugging at the wind for a little assistance getting out, she smiles at the orc. "Listen I know this is-"
The roar sounds. Sora jumps. "Seriously, that thing just causes dead things to get noisy! You heard that! Gahh...as I was saying, this is all probably a little ridiculous to you. We came out of nowhere, we started bothering you about the device you think will fix your leg - I don't know where you got that idea, but some scepticism is warranted there - and now she's telling you to head off far away, to a place you won't have visited to meet people you won't know. But we want to stop something bad happening because of that thing, and she's actually trying to help you with your leg. We're being honest with you here, so will you listen?"
He pauses. OK look, you might be right, but this is something I have to do. I see what you are saying, and you might be right, but you aren't dead so if it gets noisy to them who cares?
Himnon persists with the argument. "Messing with dead things is usually unwise. Why do you need to use this to fix your leg? Amelina, from what I hear, is a skilled healer, and there's no reason to heal your leg in this dangerous way."
Listen, that device is really dangerous. I don't think it will help you... and Necromancy doesn't just effect the dead. it can drain life from the living, leaving people nothing but desiccated husks. or it can imbue corpses with a facsimile of life, and a burning hatred of the living. Ysolde gently places her hand on his, and brushes it away from the device You could kill half the city, or raise up every corpse for miles as a ravenous ghoul. Please, go to the temple Ys looks back to Sora, looking for an indication of the plan.
He looks down. Fine. If they can't help, I will be back and I will not be in a good mood.
He signals to his men, who lower their weapons as well.