Bren
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YES!
One of Eglantine's hands goes to the hilt of Flax's greatsword as the blade drives home and she pulls herself upright enough to look him in the eyes one last time, her bloody finger tracing his lips. "I claim blood debt my Lord. Know that this will never truly end." As her body sinks out of Yomi's reach, she is smiling.
"My Lady?" Eglantine sounds astonished and slightly amused, well aware of her own fragility, but she responds in elven. Her tone grows stern. "My Lord has injured my friends in an affair concerning only he and I. Before I claim blood debt, tell me how, in honour, we may end this duel. I will not smirch my Lord or myself in this matter." She shakes her wet hair out of her face and swims further away from Flax. -
Eglantine: ** spoiler omitted ** Pat Spoiler:
Eglantine steps quietly away from Flax and throws her dagger at him once more, her face unreadable. As calmly as if she were on a summer walk, she runs a pace along the bank and slides herself into the millpond, swimming towards the centre. She makes no attempt to dive.
Cyrus Spoiler:
Cyrus - EDITED Spoiler:
Everyone else Spoiler:
Spoiler: Eglantine smiles exultantly. "Truly so, my Lord. You are always honourable. Trust that there will be blood. And love." Her eyes never leave Flax's face, but she nods at Cyrus and Yomi. "Go friends. This is no longer your place. Tell them that the storm will surely come and that our defense will be honourable." She leans in to Flax and kisses him, one hand in his hair, pulling him towards her. "You are mine my Lord. I mark you." Quicker than thought, the blade glints in her hand, sending blood coursing down Flax's face and into his eyes, blinding him. The dagger drops lower and plunges once more into his shoulder. Still smiling, she traces a finger over his lips and spins away, feeling the poison drain away from her wounds as she goes. -
- -
Eglantine feels her luck leaking away as she stabs uselessly at Flax as he looms over her. "Enjoy your victory, my lord," and steps aside, ghostlike. She shakes her head slightly to rid herself of the festering wound and the glamour of Flax's personality.
Spoiler:
"Not so my lord. Surely you are not blind to the folly of mortals? When you win, my lord, and my body lies where it longs to be, at your feet, your stakes will turn to dust and ashes. Interference is a small thing. What can be greater than dying for love? Do you think I would challenge you for anything less? When you win, there will be no interference. There will be blood shed for love." -
-
Yomi's healing power pours through Eglantine, closing the worst of her wounds. "We are feeble mortals and must take what we can, as scraps from your table. Interference is many things, my lord. My name is Eglantine Prakseda. It means the lithe wild rose."
Eglantine dances lightly past Flax, switching places with him and ending on the riverbank. Flax's blow makes her head spin, but she grabs every advantage that she can. "My lord, your word is your bond. We agreed not to interfere should you win. We never agreed not to fight."
Eglantine laughs. "Truly, my lord is mighty." Bright blood drips into the millpond, spiraling away.
Stepping lightly across the bridge, Eglantine's dagger flashes as it tumbles through the air, pushing Flax off balance and away from the river's edge. "Back my Lord. Your destiny does not lie in Riverbend, any more than mine." The dagger glints again as it returns to her hand.
Eglantine's smile matches Flax's as she salutes him. "It is as you say my lord, we will fight to the death." A fierce joy takes hold of her and her eyes brighten. She knows that this is the moment she was born for, wherever it leads her.
Eglantine breathes deeply and feels time slow down as she contemplates her next words. When she speaks it doesn't even sound like her own voice. "I will meet you at the dam on foot my Lord, you as well as I. Poor mortal that I am, there can be no honour to you in this duel if you are riding and I am not. We must abide by the laws of your realm and bargain, must we not? This much I learned from your brethren. By what terms shall we determine the winner?"
Spoiler:
Eglatine meets Bren's eyes and she smiles gently. It's a very private moment. Then she nods quickly and looks at Yomi and Cat. "My Lord will surely grant you honourable passage if you stay as witness to my folly." Spoiler:
Eglantine laughs as she lands lightly on her feet. If she doesn't laugh, she'll panic and now is not the time for that. "Bren, this is for Riverbend and Froderick."
Nature check to steer horsie (1d20+1=11) Grasping the reins and winding her arms around Flax to do so, Eglantine can't quite manage to steer the horse. "Sweet killing Lord, you must guide me in this as everything else." She lets the reins fall free and kicks hard.
Half terrified and half exultant, Eglantine leans forward and kisses Flax's neck. "I will be yours, in life or death. We fight on the ground, away from the millhouse, my Lord. I will meet you on level terms or none."
Bren and others Spoiler:
"Hold fire. I have challenged your lord. Don't smirch his honour." Eglantine's voice is high and clear as she drives her dagger down into Flax's shoulderblade. "Fight me beloved. Let me prove my worth to you." The attack is almost a caress. Sly Flourish (AC) (1d20+10=23, 1d4+6=7, 2d8=6)
Charge, in SA damage and CA (1d20+10=29, 1d4+2=5, 2d8=7) Impelled by something beyond her control, Eglantine leaps and strikes in one fluid movement, drawing her dagger gently across Flax's golden skin. "Fight me, beloved."
Eglantine's muscles move of their own accord. Years of training seem to have lead her only to this moment. DM Spoiler:
"I live but to learn, my lord and your world is one of wonder to my eyes." Eglantine's eyes are limpid with adoration and to her slight concern she realises that most of what she is saying is quite sincere. If Riverbend wasn't in the equation and a man's life wasn't at stake, she would find both Flax and the feywild exactly as entrancing as she's pretending.
"Shall you sweep through Riverbend like the refreshing river or will you duel a worthy champion, my lord? I have heard that such is the way of the mightiest fey." Eglantine ventures a look upwards at the fey lord.
Spoiler:
Eglantine's face falls a little in a disappointed pout. "But ... then they'll miss seeing how magnificent you are ... that's not right. They should watch and learn from you." A naughty smile crosses her lips. "Let them watch and then send them into the world to tell of your prowess and beauty. That's fitting, isn't it?"
Eglantine sways gracefully towards Flax working her way through the black fey with an exression combining worship of their beauty and awe at their fey supremacy. "Your son is a wonder Ellesandra," she says, low and respectful.
"Once the Fey have gone through we've got to come after them," whispers Bren to the party. "I don't know what Eggers got planned, but she's going to need our help."
"Thank you," she breathes adoringly. "You've just fulfilled my heart's desire."
Eglantine notices nothing amiss with Flax, but as she watches and listens a kind of mad plan forms. Her fingers move unobtrusively around the hilt of her dagger, as she palms it so the blade lies against her arm, well out of sight. Taking a tiny breath, she walks towards Flax smiling adoringly at him. "Let me come. They're small-minded bigots and if you're teaching them manners, I want to see it. I've spent years being looked down on and sneered at for being a circus girl. Time for payback." A mixture of bitterness and adulation thrums through her words. Behind her back, her friends can just see the tips of her fingers crossing.
Spoiler: The plan, such as it is, is essentially to bluff Flax into letting her go with him, stand behind him and stab him firmly in the back once he arrives in Riverbend.
"No, no. We're not. If that what he's doing, we have to stop them. But we have to get there first and without Ellesandra, we probably can't."
"Bren, those fool satyrs and the bear nearly killed us. I'd really rather that didn't happen any time soon." Eglantine struggles to keep panic out of her voice.
Eglantine nudges Elias gently. "I think Bren's right," she says softly, "but he doesn't seem to want to attack us."
Eglantine watches, content to feel the comforting warmth of Scathach behind her.
"I don't think upsetting Ellesandra when she's talking to her son is a good idea," says Eglantine nervously. She glares at Bren. "Don't you dare do anything stupid. I'm not losing you."
Eglantine exchanges a helpless glance with Elias and waits, hoping that Yomi will heed the elf's gesture.
Judging by the number of hp Egger's gained, I must have built her very wrong in the first place. She's not hitting any harder, but she's got more flexible powers and both her daily's focus on forcing CA on lots of foes at once. She's also picked up a few more shifty bits and bobs. As always with a rogue, they only deal decent damage if they can get CA, but she now has Distant Advantage so that should be easier to come by. We'll see.
"She's going to talk to her son, Bren. She's coming back." |