Min shudders as he eyes the shortsword that Dolo and Mai brought with them, that blade would be perfect, a little big but it would do just fine. He nods to the strange winged elf and proffers his unbloodied hand so he can greet this stranger properly. "I am glad you escaped your ordeal but forgive me as you will have to tell me again sometime, as you can see i'm not in the best condition to be a good listener..." Lin nudges him again and nearly topples him back into the snow, giving a low rumble she backs off some and looks down at Mai.
"Fear not, I heard your story and will tell him in full detail. As he was about to say we are Min and I am Lindórievórea. It is a pleasure to meet you" As she finishes though she brings her great head back around to look at the Tengu again, her eyes are a little less curious now only because Min's pain tugging at the bond. She nods her head respectively to this new and wonderful creature before her. "I am most curious to know who you are and from where you hail friend"
Min laughs at Lin's insatiable curiosity and then instantly regrets it as his chest screams with pain. He coughs for a moment as he sucks in a shallow breath. "My name is Min as she says and it is a pleasure to meet the both of you, I apologize for not being a little more... appropriately dressed for the occasion."
Maiathreen clasps Min's arm at the wrist in camaraderie. "Yes and you will have to tell me how the two of you met, I have seen dragons in my time but they were all blacks and were more intent on how they could use us rather than talking. So I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever talked to a dragon before. Speaking of wounds.
He says as he pulls out a thin wand and attempts to activate it. Maiathreen stands at 6'8" tall with a full wingspan of 20'8". His body is covered in scales the color of obsidian except for his face which is a pale cream. The backs of his arms, front of his legs, chest, and back are covered in wider harder scales while the fronts of his arms, backs of his legs, and sides are covered in tiny softer scales a slightly paler black than the rest (kinda looks like the white glaze over a black background). Across his body some of the scales are a white color tinged with black in shapes that would look like tattoos if they had been on skin. Beneath the scales he has tight muscles made for agility with no fat. His hair is stark white and goes halfway down his back it is always tied in ponytail but a few strands are normally lose giving him a more roguish look rather than refined. His eyes are pale gold with catlike pupils. His hands are tipped with small claws rather than finger nails.
Heals
As the wands magic flows through Min, he goes rigid for a moment as the warmth of the magic flows through him and the flesh on his chest seems to knit its self back together as if the wound was never there. As the wands magic fades Min sucks in a shallow breath and still feels a tight knot in his muscles where the wound used to be, he would need time to recover but for now the item was more important then rest. Taking a handful of snow he uses it to clean the remaining blood of himself and casts the bloodied snow aside as he starts putting his clothing and armor back on.
Min chuckles lightly as he gets dressed. "Thanks for the help comrade. I will say the scars on my body tell the story better then I ever could, but when we have time I will give you the full story in all its painful detail as you have done for us... For now though I believe we are to pursue the remaining enemy and put them down like dogs if we can. Hopefully they don't scatter in the mean time because we must recover the item at any cost."
{We must get ready Veara or else they may go to ground somewhere and we will never root them out...}
{I understand Meleth, defeat them first and ask questions later...} The disappointment in her thoughts was plain and without warning Min gave a light laugh which caused Lin to give him a glare for a moment before her features softened and she started to rumble merrily as well.
"It will be good to fight alongside more worthy comrades." Once he is dressed he mounts up and waits for Belsarious to climb aboard before taking off after Damian's retreating figure.
** spoiler omitted **
Yes.
Maiathreen's eyes widen slightly as he remembers something that may help with his description. "Actually I can show you what the metal looked like." He says as he slides his hand behind his back and pulls out a rather plain looking dagger made of the same metal that was on the ink well. "We were left two daggers like this, now that I think about it the metal is the same. These were left by the same liquid metal beings that told us about you."
He looks back at Min when he talks about hunting down the remaining enemy troops. "I agree let's show them the real meaning of death." He says as his eyes turn cold and merciless, true to his name he appears to be death incarnate.
"Indeed tha metal rings true as no other source of such a metal seems possible."
Ansrithar finally makes it over to where the commotion is going on. On his back is a very tired-looking Syl - there's no cuts or bruises, but her entire body looks weakened as she holds onto the reins. Her hair is no longer quite as kept as it usually is, more on-end as though she had been struck by lightning.
She gives a weakened smile as she moves over to them all, and is aided by her trusted companion off the saddle, where she presumes to sit in the snow, and lay back to face the sky. It's here she actually gives this look of happiness - as though she were reminded of home.
"I hope we found what we were looking for," she manages up at nobody in particular. "Because I'm in no mood to go any further - did we save everyone, too?" is the last thing she says before she closes her eyes, and leans back further.
Ansrithar seems bothered, and lays down beside her, protectively. He actually speaks out to the group nearby.
"Pardon - we could use some assistance over here. The lady is frailer than she shows, and seems too proud to admit to needing help..."
She smiles lightly at that, and moves to sit up, eagerly awaiting answers and a chance to relax.
Hearing the concern in Ansrithar's voice, Min nods to Mai and Belsarious as he climbs back into the saddle and begins strapping on his riding straps. "No rest for us it would seem, we will speak again and hopefully sooner rather then later. Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again." Min cleans the dagger off on his leggings and inspects the blade as he waits for Belsarious. Once he is satisfied with how clean the blade is he slides it back in it's sheath and repacks it in his saddle bags.
** spoiler omitted **
Also yes.
Maiathreen looks at Belsarious as he comments on the metal in the dagger. "Have we met you before you seem familiar...you said you once lived in the Great Trackless Woods as we did, but I doubt you were ever in the keep." He says with confusion in his voice.
While the gear is being looked at, Dolo cautions everyone. "These blades are cursed and bonded. You will cause devastating harm to yourself if you touch them!", referring to the assassin lifeblades.
"That sounds nice." Maiathreen mutters when told about the swords. "Should we leave them here or get rid of them in some way?"
Maiathreen looks at Belsarious as he comments on the metal in the dagger. "Have we met you before you seem familiar...you said you once lived in the Great Trackless Woods as we did, but I doubt you were ever in the keep." He says with confusion in his voice.
** spoiler omitted **
Dantoor shakes his head at Sir Damian. "Sorry, friend, but Manaus is our objective, and we can't be deterred, I'm sure you understand. We have multiple rendezvous there; with Gotrek and -- hopefully -- his army, plus with a support batallion we had split off from the main group. There's about 500 of us total right now here in this valley, most are in the trees and under cover, and there's no way we can move that many troops as quickly as a small company can move anyway; we'd just slow you down. We'll keep heading north towards the river. I'm sorry we don't have the snowglobe anymore and can't make your lives easier, but those Red Dragonflight troops can't be moving quickly enough to outrun all you fliers -- they're heading right up into the mountains. Hells, if you don't want a fight you can cause an avalanche and then wait 'em out. They'll probably just starve up there. No idea how they even caught up with us in the first place."
Pike is struggling and trying to talk through his gag. The presence of Dolo seems to have calmed him some. Calitox gives Dantoor a look, and the gorumite shrugs. The Enhathladi rogue then leans down and tugs Pike's gag free. The alchemist makes a sound, then speaks.
"*pfaH!* Yuck. Look you guys. The snowglobe, it was in my tent. I was trying to come up with a way to destroy that lightning elemental, checking my notes and recent lab write-ups. The thing was right there in my tent. I looked right at it when I walked in. Then I turn around, and it was gone. They had someone either teleport in, or it was someone invisible, or something. Whatever it was, the thing is gone now. I just wish...I just wish I could get it out of my head." The young human looks pained.
** spoiler omitted **Maiathreen looks at Belsarious as he comments on the metal in the dagger. "Have we met you before you seem familiar...you said you once lived in the Great Trackless Woods as we did, but I doubt you were ever in the keep." He says with confusion in his voice.
** spoiler omitted **
"I've never seen a ring like that what is it?" Maiathreen asks the Tengu as he notices the similarities between the one he and Dolo found.
Glor quickly recognizes the same ring that the Tengu is wearing as matching that of the soldier that had fallen. They also realize that the Tengu went invisible at the beginning of the combat and was not seen again until now.
Dolo readies a Glitterdust to spring on the Tengu in response to any hostile actions on its part.
Glor will do the talking while Dolo concentrates on the readied spell.
Not one to talk much, Glor's raspy voice asks a question of Dantoor's group.
"We saw one vanish. Also saw same ring on tough bad guy. Got globe too?" Glor raises a long arm and points at the Tengu. As he does so, his muscles tense for action.
Damian looks down from Keythan's back, then returns to the ground. "All right. Dantoor, can Luckbender and I speak to you?" As the gnome and Gorumite gather around him, he speaks in a fairly hushed tone. With a pause, he looks at Pike. "This snowglobe needs to be severed from your friend in a ritual in Izmir. We need to recover it, both to prevent its use and to save him from going mad. Professor Luckbender can explain more of the details regarding the rituals and our goals." He turns to the gnome for more detail.
@Sir Damian:
Azu, the tengu, lets out a short squawk when Glor points at him, but makes no move to run or fight. He just stands there with what you can only assume is the tengu equivalent of a "who, ME?" expression on his face. The two thin red stripes on the ring he's wearing, you notice, are pulsing with an arcane glow, at about heart rate speed.
Min gives a low grumble as Glor's speaks and Lin's curious attitude turns to confusion as Min's sudden alarm causes her to tense up as she regards the Tengu before her. "I hope you have a good excuse little one, because this will turn ugly..." She remains ense as she waits to see who moves first.
Min checks the straps on his harness in preparation for Lin's next move, he leans in the saddle as he feels her powerful muscles tense up. He mumbles to himself as he literal could feel the tension in the air. "This is definitely not what we need right now... and Syl needs care right now, not to hear us on a witch hunt... If they had taken the item would they still be here?"
@Sir Damian: Dantoor arches an eyebrow. "Mad? You mean more mad than he already is? Yeesh. That's not good. Unfortunately we have no way of getting him to Izmir, not with any speed any way. The only way to get out of Hallas is to fly, like you guys or Azu over there, and even that can be dangerous."
Lin loosens up some and gestures to the strange pulsing ring upon the Tengu's finger. "What is that ring you wear friend? She hoped that whatever the answer was it would clear the poor creature from suspicion and she could feel through the bond with Min that he was prepared to leave this silliness behind them. The enemy was also getting away... {So much to do...}
As Azu stands in awkward silence, Calitox shrugs and speaks to Glorfindel and by proxy, the whole group. "Azu was scouting ahead in a series of tunnels underneath an old observatory south of here, which is where we got the snowglobe. Priests of Desna had transmuted the thing and were using it to power their astrological and astronomical divinations. Unfortunately for them its dark energy couldn't be fully contained and certain evil...entities were drawn to it, leading to the abandonment of the observatory. Anyway. Azu had gone ahead. He disappeared for a while, then came up from an abandoned well looking beat-up and wearing that ring. Apparently a giant red dragon put it on him and now he can't take it off." Azu is nodding rapidly, eager for Glor's terrifying visage to be pointed elsewhere.
Lin rises up to her full height and nods to Calitox, satisfied with his answer. Her previous tension was forgotten as she considered the 'giant red dragon' comment, that disturbed her far more then the possibility of a spy in their midst.
"That explanation is enough for me and when you feel like speaking Azu, I would like to hear more about this red... For we had the displeasure of one escaping us at the battle of Izmer. Perhaps it is unrelated but after the look he gave us before retreating, I would expect revenge on a grand scale."
"Question since he got that ring have you had more battles with red dragonflight troops? As in a surprising amount? Because if it is given to elite troops isn't it possible that it tracks him?"
Responding to Calitox, Glor continues to speak for the pair.
"Bad guy had same ring. Bad guy hurt me bad. Flying guy has same ring. Flying guy could be under mind control. Could have globe."
Glor is tenacious and is not letting this go easily. Dolo is pushing him. Logic is logic and Dolo has learned not to back down - as a gnome, it greatly reduces life-expectancy.
Lin looks startled for a moment, as Min turns to looks at his comrade's. He tries to mask his building frustration as he speaks but his voice ends up sounding cold. "If the item was here then we would know it... Unless they have found a way to shield it from some of us, which only Dolo could ever explain how that could be. Or it may be being hastily moved away from us with the red dragon soldiers who were just here and soon..." He shakes his head, and sighs, leaving what he was going to say unfinished. But a few moment's later Lin looks suddenly alarmed and shakes her head in silent protest.
Min looks to Azu then, his voice was warmer as he addressed them. "Would you mind if our professor looked over your ring to determine what it's magic properties are?"
"Question since he got that ring have you had more battles with red dragonflight troops? As in a surprising amount? Because if it is given to elite troops isn't it possible that it tracks him?"
"I want to say yes," Calitox answers, "but we're in Hallas, and we're moving to liberate Manaus, which means every enemy soldier in the land knows about us and is tracking us, so we're fighting for our lives every hour anyway. It's worse, too, because we're fighting both the Black and the Red Dragonflights. The Black tries to destroy us, the red just harries us, though now if they've got the snowglobe maybe they'll leave us the hell alone." The Enhathladi turns to Glor. "Azu? Under mind control? Yeah, we'd have no problem believing that, the way he's been acting lately." Azu squawks again in protest at this, but doesn't deny it.
Lin eyes Azu questioningly as Min continues to shake his head before looking towards where the enemy retreated. His eyes were distant and his voice even more so as he whispered. "The worst thing we could do is give them what they want..." Lin gives a powerful sigh as she extends her wings.
She looks to Sir Damian as she speaks, her powerful voice booming as she starts to breath more deeply in preparation for flight. "We can try following the enemy and possibly scout out where they take root, once we are sure we will report back to you Sir Damian."
"So the fact is we do not know friend from foe, and friend may became foe by having their soul taken."
"Wonderful!"
As she waits for Damian's decision she looks over at Belsarious, fixing him with her large eyes. She brings her head as close to him as possible bringing her to eye level with him. Her voice is filled with confidence as she speaks quietly to him. "Right now we have an enemy and they are escaping us, they may also have the support of a red dragon of unknown size. The only one who could tell us anything..." She gestures with a nod towards Azu. "seems to be unable to do so. So we must focus on what is before us... Belsarious where do you feel it has gone? You are our guide, let not this chaos distract you or else we are lost and we will fail..."
"Belsarious...right? When we first met in the sky I saw a shade with you, or at least it was with either you Min or Lin." He says quietly as he walks up to him his wings unfurled slightly working his muscles to relieve the cramp in his shoulders from his own arrow he pulled out earlier. His strangely colored eyes staring slightly behind him wondering him wondering what happened to the shade.
"Look. I'm not about to pick a fight with the only folks in hundreds of miles that isn't likely to kill us. However, without even studying it, I sense a powerful aura of Enchantment on it. Without further research and study, I can't tell exactly what spell or spells it utilizes. However, compulsion of some sort does seem likely. I would like to help and offer my services to stop it, if you'll allow." offers the professor with as much diplomacy as he can muster.
Speaking to them all but addressing Min and Lin's concerns, Dolo offers. "There are strange things afoot. I believe the Red Dragonflight, or at least those seeking Abominations, have access to some powerful magic. Teleportation and such isn't out of the ordinary. Furthermore, an extra-dimensional space or special receptacle of like-make could mask the location.
"You could cut of the finger that is wearing the ring." Maiathreen says and at first you'd think he was kidding until you look at him and see no mirth in his expression.
"Look. I'm not about to pick a fight with the only folks in hundreds of miles that isn't likely to kill us. However, without even studying it, I sense a powerful aura of Enchantment on it. Without further research and study, I can't tell exactly what spell or spells it utilizes. However, compulsion of some sort does seem likely. I would like to help and offer my services to stop it, if you'll allow." offers the professor with as much diplomacy as he can muster.
Calitox and Dantoor shrug. They seem maddeningly indifferent as to what happens to their feathered companion. In fact, the Enhathladi almost seems to relish Azu's discomfort. Dantoor speaks up. "You can do whatever you want. It's fine with us. Calitox is gonna work with our men to trap this area against the company of Black Dragonflight troops coming from the south." Indeed, Calitox walks off and starts barking orders to various other freedom fighters. "I can stay here for a bit to help if you need. The winged elf here is right; Azu can't take the ring off, you need one of us to cut off his finger?" The brutal soldier grins wolfishly. Azu looks at him out of one eye and says "Just try it, tough guy! Remember; this ring saved us under the observatory!" his voice is a raspy and scratching sound.
It speaks how intriguing I thought I had found some one who is less talkative than you. Stryke says speaking up in Maiathreen's head for the first time since combat had started. "And to think I thought I'd gotten rid of you." Can't you'd miss me to much.
"About as much as I miss being a slave."
Dolo turns to Azu. "Do you consent to me studying the ring and seeing if I can remove it?"
It's hard to read the tengu's expression, but he seems at least somewhat apprehensive. "You can try, but I don't think you'll get anywhere." He holds out his feather-covered hand.
Mostly
@ Lin
@Maia
"Yes Belsarious is my name, I ride with them to aid in pursuit o tha abomination having previously bonded with one myself and being freed from it."
"It has gone with the forces withdrawing towards the east I felt it pulling at me and at tha alchemist as well, his torment was greater, we need to continue in hopes to retrieve the abomination, hopefully we will be able to overtake them and then wrest it from them."
Lin stares at those talking about cutting fingers off, her look is colder then the snow and ice that bites at everyones feet. "I thought we were trying to defeat the dragonflight's, not become like them? Perhaps i'm misunderstanding a crude joke of some kind but cutting his finger off could have disasterous results as well. Rings of such power can sometimes lash out at those who try and remove them..." She shakes her head wearily, longing to be in the air rather then dealing with this.
Turning back to Belsarious she nods her head in respect to his directions. [i]"So we must move hastily and pursue them before they get much farther."[i] She gives an experimental flap of her wings and stirs up some of the loose snow around everyone.
Its a good thing she can't hear the other ideas you had when you found out a red dragon gave him the ring. Sometimes you scare even me.
"Unfortunately being trained and tortured for 50 years by the black dragonflight has affected my judgment. I will never allow me or Livain to be brought back to them, and I will destroy anyone or anything that stops us." He says his voice as cold as Lin's with no malice he just seems tired.