"%&@!#," Keiko spews in her best Tien as the arrows slice through her and the sense of searing flame overcomes her for a second. Yeah, definitely should've kept the ring.
Darkness, like that'd stop me. First off, I need to finish off the giant, then whatever pests dare interfere with my kill. He's mine.
She disappears from view once more, this time with a sense of permanence (Vanishing Move, spent a point for Greater Invis). This done, she leaps back towards where she remembers the giant being, aiming to finish it off.
HP: 144/201, Regen: Off
Despite her strength and her new invisibility, Keiko just can't quite find the giant's body in the darkness with her claws and teeth, swiping at air each time. The giant, however, hears her pattery feet on the stone floor and roars, "Stop striking at me! Get away from me! They mean to kill us because we are a threat to them!"
Keiko feels a rush of air as a huge fist swings by her head. He just must have overestimated her height.
Behind her, Keiko hears a few quick whispers and the pitter-patter of feet moving away, in two different directions.
From the observers' booth, a few developments become clear. Two of the robed figures, at the bow-wielding one's command, have begun to run down the two adjoining passages, creating more areas of darkness as they go. The bow-wielding one stays right where he is, watching keenly into the dead-end to try and locate Keiko, but draws and nocks an arrow anyway.
The dragon awoke to the sound of the giant's roar, and immediately roared and melded into the stone. The scrying sensor follows it into the stone, but is only able to project a vague image of the outline of the dragon swimming through the rock towards the other combatants.
Initiative:
Stalkers - 29
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
"Now it's a bit interesting. "
After a quick second of calculations, Keiko makes her decision. "I'll let you live for now, Giant. Try not to bleed to death," she whispers, barely audible even to the giant beside her. With that, she dashes off after the sound of running footsteps. She lets out a quiet sigh of relief as she feels her wounds begin to mend.
HP=149/201, Regen: On
Mythic Power: 7/9
Upon splitting up at the market Beaufort wanders around sizing up the local populace, searching for anyone of worth and for any valuable information.
After a while of wandering he meets back up with Tris to discuss what she's found.
Lu claps her hands and laughs in glee as the dragon wakes.
"*Soon* it is going to be even better I bet!"
When the time was up Tris returned to their pre-designated meeting-point. She had spent a little more time then she liked to admit watching a talented knife-juggler performing. She was very good - but I doubt those tricks would be useful if someone tried to shank her... She had also found a stand selling freshly backed pretzels - one of which she was currently enjoying.
"So what do you think of the city? Heard anything useful?"
Graciously, Tris decided to share what she found with the other two first. The information at least, the baked goods was hers!
"The most interesting thing I spotted was that derelict ship down the harbour. I have a hard time thinking it sank there naturally - and with the new charnel pit just outside town I would almost guess 'Plague Ship'"
She clomped down on another bite of the pretzel.
"But no-one seems overly worried. A shame, desperate men require less pay..."
Keiko backs off from the giant, who immediately begins ripping his brown shift apart (revealing a rippling and hot gray musculature) to wrap his bleeding wounds with strips of cloth. He is successful in stanching the flow of blood, and looks up at only silence and darkness. Keiko, meanwhile, stalks through the blackness, trying to locate the dark folk by ear - she's able to tell that two of them are running away in opposite directions, and she can hear their verbal declarations of spellcasting. Unfortunately, the third is being very still with his attempts to locate Keiko herself and is impossible to locate by ear.
Initiative:
Stalkers - 29
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
On his trip around the small city of Bloodcove, Beaufort hears a lot of rumours and spots quite a few people that might be worthy of crew-recruiting. Several dozen different individuals, all clad in swashbuckler's clothing and all bearing the same insignia of a golden dog's head, all appear to be fairly well-trained and well-armed, and with a good sense of camaraderie. Beaufort spots a ship moored off the pier with the same insignia flying from atop its mainmast.
There are also several other, well-trained looking individuals that are less obviously affiliated, but most of the town looks to be merchants and traders and mundane sailors, not warriors or soldiers. In fact, a pretty large percentage of the town is middle-aged or older.
Among the rumours that Beaufort overhears during his tour include the story of the ship that graces the bottom of the harbor - just a few nights ago, undead horrors rose from the shores and attacked, apparently spawning from a barely seaworthy ship drifting towards shore. The town's defenders fought them off (with several losses) and firebombed the ship, sending it to the bottom of the harbor. There have been reports of similar attacks hitting different cities all throughout the Shackles over the past few weeks, starting with a single, small raid several weeks ago and increasing in frequency. This most recent attack on Bloodcove is the farthest-afield attack to date and the source is still unknown.
This is going to take forever, isn't it? Keiko rushes off after one of the two, the one she perceives to be going further from the initial skirmish.
HP=154/201, Regen: On
Mythic Power: 7/9
Running at a reasonable pace, Keiko hops down the stone tunnel, actually coming out of the other side of the darkness right in front of a stalker in the middle of his spellcasting. She can see!
At the same time, the giant tries to weave some magic - it casts a spell...
...and the darkness around it unravels, making it possible to see in the chamber from which it is standing. Keiko still can't see it, as there's a darkness effect in between the two of them, but the stalker can see it, and it can see the stalker. The stalker lets loose with a barrage of arrows...
At the same time, the dragon slithers ever closer...Behind her, Keiko can her the twang of bowstrings and the yell of pain from Tatsocotl.
Initiative:
Stalkers - 29
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
Keiko registers the sound of the bow just as the stalker comes into view. The giant'll be dead before I get back. Regrettable - He could have been useful. Ah well. Time for the fun part. With a mad glint in her eye, Keiko lunges at the unfortunate humanoid before her, claws and teeth bared.
HP=159/201, Regen: On
Mythic Power: 7/9
Sparel continues to watch the proceedings. Increasingly impressed with the skill involved.
Keiko snatches the stalker's life away from him with a series of brutal and precise claw attacks. She leaves the stalker dead, sliced to ribbons before he can even react.
Behind her, a roar and the sound of body slamming rock show her that Tatsocotl is fighting back against the hunter...
The giant charges the archer slamming a huge fist into him and sending the man flying back into a wall. There is a crack as the hunter's bones break, but the giant doesn't stop moving with his punch, closing the distance again to loom over the prone hunter before switching to a two-handed grip on his spear.
On the other side, the other brawler stops creating darkness and starts to move back towards the room that they found the giant in. At the same time, the hunter tries to stand but gets brutally stabbed for his efforts...
The hunter drops his bow and draws a longsword...but he's probably kind of f++@ed.
The brawler turned right on time, as right behind him a massive form of rock and teeth emerges straight from the stone and roars.
Initiative:
Stalkers - 29
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
Dragon - 0
Keiko takes a second to lick the blood off her claws - Both for cleanliness and because she likes the taste. That was fun. Hmm... From the sounds of it, the Giant is faring better than I expected. And we might have a dragon in play, in the same direction. I'll need to kill the dragon eventually... Ah, why not. Dragon ho! Keiko dashes off towards the sound of the roar.
HP:164/201, Regen: On
Mythic Power: 7/9
After searching around Beaufort meets up with Tris at the meeting point to discuss findings.
"Well from what I can tell there's one group that crews a ship thats docked in the harbor and they look like they could possibly be a pretty good crew if we could 'Convince' them to join us. Theres a small scattering of other capable individuals, but the crew stuck out the most."
Beaufort listens to Tris's findings and upon her mention of the plague ship he chimes in.
"I think I may have heard something about that. Apparently they were attacked by undead that came off of a ship like that and apparently attacks like that have been happening all around the shackles with increasing frequency."
Tris laughs. "I can be very 'convincing' when I need to!"
She quickly collects herself after the short outburst and returns to her normal calm self.
"Then we have a start. Shall we seek out more information about them or will we try and secure a room somewhere and wait for the Captain to come down?"
When the undead is mentioned she sneers.
"A double shame then that we didn't bring our priest with us. No matter, they burn just as easy as anything else. But then, perhaps the chaos of an undead attack could work in our favour somehow ..."
Keiko repositions herself back into the stone cavern from which she first saw the taiga giant, and sees him looming over a very injured stalker hunter, spear in hand and a vengeant look on his face. Just as she re-enters the room, she spies him stabbing the hunter brutally, piercing vital organs and ripping great rents in the hunter's body.
Just as the hunter falls, the taiga giant hurls his spear at the remaining dark folk, but the dark folk is easily nimble enough to avoid the clumsily-thrown spear. The giant roars, "Kill that one and then let's be on our way - the exit is somewhere within the maze!"
At the same time, the dragon slithers closer to the party. Within moments it will be within charging range of anyone in the room, and it looks strong enough to rip an elephant limp from limb. Strangely, though, its flesh seems to be stone.
The brawler charges the taiga giant then, and the taiga giant easily gets the opportunity to slam the monk on his charge in.
In response to Tatsocotl's punishing blow, the monk delivers a fisticuff of his own, but it's pitifully weak compared to the giant's power.
Initiative:
Stalkers - 29
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
Dragon - 0
"There you are, you little $#!@." Keiko dashes towards the last stalker, already imagining the sensation of her claws digging through its soft flesh.
HP: 169/204, Regen: On
MP: 7/9
Keiko dashes in and finishes the final darkfolk with a flurry of claws and teeth, splattering the stone walls of the cavern with blood - even more blood than there was already. Just as she finishes it, though, her invisibility spell ends and she appears in a flicker.
Out of the dissipating clouds of darkness looms the dragon, then - a huge hulk of stone with red, menace-filled eyes and a maw slowly filling up with red heat. Behind Keiko, the taiga giant casts a spell and vanishes from sight, and Keiko hears his heavy footsteps retreating down the other hallway.
Seeing only Keiko, the dragon opens its earthen maw and lets loose a torrent of scorching sand and gravel that fills up the chamber around her...
Caught unprepared, Keiko is engulfed by the rush of heat and cutting earth, and is badly injured by it.
Initiative:
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
Dragon - 0
Keiko sees the burst of flame and stone flying towards her and instinctively calls upon her tiny spark of divinity, hoping it'll give her that last little boost to duck under the conflagration.
The burst of molten earth hits her square in the torso, easily searing through her pathetic rags and searing the skin beneath.
Keiko launches into another slew of colorful curses, this time in a mixture of Abyssal and Infernal as her mind races. That's what I get for trusting that squishy past self of mine... and it HIT me. It actually HIT me! I haven't been hit by an explosion since- For YEARS. Not cool. Yeah, time for backup. Keiko races off down the corridor after the giant, fully visible, and still smoking a bit.
HP: 106/201, Regen: PAINFULLY OFF
Mythic Power: 6/9
Keiko's flight away from the dragon is interrupted suddenly by a powerful punch planted right in the center of her chest, and a materializing taiga giant on the other end of the fist. A fierce look is in his eye, and he is apparently pivoting back around to meet her head-on. "I'm sorry," he says, his voice deep and resonant, "But I must return to my family."
Keiko flies back a significant distance, back towards the dragon, who is charging towards her right at that very moment. Between her movement and its, by the time it finishes moving towards her its less than thirty feet away. Not only that, but Keiko lands right on her back, and recovers from the taiga giant's punch only soon enough to notice him still running away. When she gets her senses back, he's just under fifty feet away.
Initiative:
Keiko - 20
Tatsocotl - 7
Dragon - 0
Sparel flags down a nearby vendor and orders popcorn.
Unless the mage manages to put up some quick and mighty wards Lu steals a handful of Spa's popcorn (and if he does, she'll go for a damming look instead).
*Nom*
"I like these tasty morsels. The effort put into crafting them gives me hope for humanity after all!"
Unless the mage manages to put up some quick and mighty wards Lu steals a handful of Spa's popcorn (and if he does, she'll go for a damming look instead).
*Nom*
"I like these tasty morsels. The effort put into crafting them gives me hope for humanity after all!"
Once again Sparel has no idea Lu is trying to rile him. When she reaches for it he tilts the bag toward her to share and make it easier for her to reach. He's totally clueless that she was trying to "steal" it.
"It's one of my indulgences. "
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From the other side of Lu an excited Praetorius is cheering his undead heart out.
"COME ON GIANT!!! RIDE THE DRAGON YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD"
Just ain't my day, is it.
Keiko is pissed. She's really pissed. This was supposed to be a FUN fight. But instead she's getting thrown around and HURT. Yeah, screw that.
Keiko does a backflip back to her feet and vanishes from sight once more. She dashes once more away from the dragon, towards the fleeing giant, pushing off from the ground about twenty feet before she reaches him. She flies through the air straight toward him like an arrow, claws aimed for his heart.
The second she collides, she reappears, now covered in a fair deal of giant blood. She pulls her claw out of his back, tearing out bits of his heart. "I'll make sure to kill your family too, once I'm out of this," she whispers in his ear. Of course she only partially intends to- It'd be a pain and probably not worth it. If she can make his dying thought one of horror though, all the better.
HP: 111/201, Regen: On
MP: 5/7
Tatsocotl screams in pain as he is mercilessly slaughtered by Keiko. She holds his heart in her hands, quite literally, but she has to discard it soon in order to run away from the dragon. She is significantly faster than it is, even with its burrow speed and so is able to keep her distance from it long enough to heal the many injuries she's sustained. She dashes around the labyrinthine maze of tunnels.
Fully healed, she's running down one of the tunnels when the dragon emerges by surprise in front of her, landing heavily on the tunnel floor after gliding out of the ceiling. It roars menacingly.
Lu's crunching of popcorn grows more and more violent as the seconds pass. With an annoyed snort she complains about the fox-persons lack of character and 'standing and dying spectacularly'. She seems most pleased when the dragon once again manages to find its mark.
"Gruesome, but effective." Sparel says in a tone of respect. *munches popcorn*
"I wonder how she'll deal with that." as the dragon reappears.
"Did it die of fright?"
Seeing her enemy before her and now prepped for a fight, Keiko quickly lunges at her quarry. [ooc](Fleet Warrior into Melee, full attack routine, Acrobatics as necessary to avoid a potential AoO due to reach which I don't know if it gets)
HP: 201/201, Regen: On
MP: 5/9
Keiko springs in to attack it, claws and teeth glittering. She attracts its attention and fails to dodge it as it bites into her as she approaches - it draws blood, but it doesn't have fire or acid so her injuries begin to heal immediately. Unfortunately, she finds its natural armor tough to get through and even when she claws what appears to be a weak point, she finds herself unable to injure it very much.
Terrifyingly, she finds herself right up against it. It looms above her before it tears into her with a flurry of natural attacks.
Yeahhhh, screw that. This will either take way too long, or have a small possibility of killing me. Not worth it.
Keiko deftly snakes backwards, attempting to evade the inevitable attempt to catch her fleeing form.
She winces at the pain from the blow but keeps moving, snaking through the corridors away from the beast, moving towards where she believes the exit may logically lie.
"Her performance is very impressive." Sparel observes. "She might make an excellent addition to our crew."
Spare calls over a nearby servant. "What is the nature of the combatants station? Volunteers, professional gladiators, slaves, what?"
"Who owns the Kitsune?"
"I have a message id like delivered to the Kistune post haste."
Spare writes and seals a note reading:
"Please meet me at *insert bar name* this evening around 8. I have an offer you're going to want to hear.
Sincerely, Archmagus Sparel Radymah"
Looking at the servant Sparel thinks a moment.
"If for some reason she can't read please ask her to meet me at *insert bar name* around 8 this evening."
"Yes I suppose ..." Lu reluctantly agrees. When she notices that Spa seems intent on obtaining said 'kitsune' she sneers. "Wouldn't it be easier to just wisk her away? Time honoured tradition in our profession yes?"
"Yes I suppose ..." Lu reluctantly agrees. When she notices that Spa seems intent on obtaining said 'kitsune' she sneers. "Wouldn't it be easier to just wisk her away? Time honoured tradition in our profession yes?"
"Given what we want her for I'd prefer she came willingly. It's bad to keep fighters who dislike you in your employ. "
Lu shoots Sparel a blink and grins. "But all ze more interesting, noh?"
Lu shoots Sparel a blink and grins. "But all ze more interesting, noh?"
"Lets consider that plan B. " Sparel smirks. He may or may not be kidding.
Sparel learns through a quick conversation, while Keiko races through the stone maze, exhausted and injured, that she is sentenced to death. She isn't owned by anyone but the government, and will continue to fight arena fights until the efreet put her against somebody that kills her.
Of course, there are other options for her. She can be sponsored, and aided in the arena (much like sponsoring people in the Hunger Games) or replaced by a sponsoring group.
Alternatively, of course, you could just wait until there's a fight and then try to bust her out.
Keiko manages to find and wrench open the exit by the time Sparel is done with his conversation, and she has thrown the exit shut again, stopping the match and stopping the pursuing earth dragon from killing her.
The pirate crew can go down to her cell (where she is brought to again) to talk to her if they wish, of course. This is even expected if they wish to sponsor her. However, they shouldn't expect to be unobserved during the conversation.
If the group still has telepathy going then I use that. If not I recast it so we can speak privately.
The group hears Sparels voice in there minds.
"I want her as a crew member. However, I also don't want to lose access to the city of brass. it's an invaluable resource. Besides, we still haven't gotten our scrolls. I say we kill two birds with one stone. Lets join the arena and dominate it. We'll agree to do this only if 1) we side with the Kitsune. 2) If we win we all go free, including the Kitsune. 3) If we win we get full access to the city to purchase whatever we need going forward. "
"Alternately, we could just break the Kitsune out, but if we get caught we lose our access and still don't have access to purchase our scrolls. Personally, I prefer the former plan. What say you? Want to wreak a little government sponsored mayhem?"
If/when the group agrees I'll send a runner to go tell the closest government official with authority to put it in writing and we're in.