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Post by The Mammoth on Jun 10, 2008 10:22:23 GMT -5
Horacius was watching Naomi with a keen eye, she was acting suspicious, and if things turned sour, he would be ready for a battle. However, he watched Athon walking in front of him tense up as Naomi made her way through the fog. He caught up to Athon and spoke.
"Don't tense up. It wastes energy. Be ready. But stay calm... Collected... Focused.." He said.
He continued walking, having mentioned one of many lessons he was to teach Athon throughout this journey. Naomi was a threat, there was no question. She probably wondered why Horacius was helping. Well they always say keep your friends close, and your enemies closer....
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Post by Da Pwny on Jun 10, 2008 14:07:47 GMT -5
The air... it has to be this air... Naomi told herself, nearing the center where the slayings in this town had first occurred. Her target was most likely possessed, which made her all the more nerv- Footsteps, coming from behind her, heavy but human. The boy must be following her, because she figured the old man to be much more cautious in his footing than he, and these were the sloppy steps of a soldier moving to battle, not one used to hunting on his own... he could be a problem if he continued being so loud...
She was like a fox hunting mice in the fields, measuring every step, her muscles reacting only to her and no one force outside from her. This place had claimed the life of many wayward adventurers and possibly even a few skilled hunters, so many that the lord had seen fit to recruit a so-called 'specter witch' to deal with this problem; in other words, Naomi. This place required an expert who could fight well even when their senses were dulled, as this place had already claimed her eyesight with the fog, making any ground traps impossible to see through her body's vision... her mind, however, saw much more.
Patterns in the framework around her told her that she was nearing her target; her feet guided themselves around several would-be traps with help from her superior control, which had taken years to develop; every sense she had available was open, her mind as clear as she could get it. Even her breathing was controlled to give off as little sound as was humanly possible. Here, the only proof that she existed was her body's form, which was but another mere shadow amongst the many that played in the eerie light emanating from the core... Naomi purposefully refrained from using her magics here, for that would only attract what had surely already seen her power, if it wasn't already leading her into a trap. She most likely wouldn't know until she was already in one.
Abruptly, every motion stopped. A snake, invisible to all but the keenest of eyes in the fog, slithered perpendicular to Naomi's path, right under her barely raised right foot, an oddity at best. And then another one. And another... all were the kind that would flee from this sort of evil, she was sure. So that meant that either they were running from it... 'Or fleeing to it...' she whispered to herself, looking in a straight line to where they were moving and seeing nothing in-particular. Frowning, she looked the other way, and still nothing. Lightly placing her foot down, she relaxed her body, letting go of the self-feeding tension within her for a moment to think as another one slid over her foot. Something about all of this was truly baffling; an obnoxious puzzle, a true enigma.
So Naomi did the only logical thing; she followed the line, the pattern of snakes weaving through the grass... and quickly found that they were not moving in a line, but an orbit, a circle around the center of the town. Smiling under the mask that hid her face, she stopped following and stepped beyond, where there were no snakes. Immediately, the air grew cold, cold enough to leave a frost to her breath as her body once again began the slow progression forward, one hand upon the straight sword slung to her waist, having been moved from its resting place upon her back the moment she entered the fog, the other prepared to cast a spell upon a moment’s notice…
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Post by knightc3 on Jun 12, 2008 4:07:52 GMT -5
Athon stopped as he heard Horacius catch up behind him. He nodded at what he had to say, not saying what he had meant to say. Easy for you to say, fully armored and controlling that kind of power. Of course he was a bit on edge. There were probably traps around this place and he wasn't doing a very good job of keeping himself hidden with the amount of noise he made as he checked the ground with his foot.
He stopped, frustrated and looked back, waiting for Inta to catch up. He wondered if she could help. He whispered towards the girl, "Inta, would you be able to help us with the traps around here?" He would leave it to her to figure out how to do it. It was a request for genuine help but also it was a test of sorts.
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Post by The Mammoth on Jun 17, 2008 15:11:43 GMT -5
((Vaid, waitin on you, or you switch, you're driving the story right now.))
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Post by Da Pwny on Jun 19, 2008 19:19:19 GMT -5
*i was waiting on her to post but w/e... if she won't then guess i get stuck with it >.>*
The minor demon that had lept at her from the fog was mincemeat in an instant. The edge of her straight edge dripping with black blood, she examined the vanquished foe; the frog-like appearance of the demon was disturbing in the least, but it was no issue anymore as long as she didn't ingest any of its blood, which was highly poisonous and pretty much suicidal. Continuing on, the fog actually started clearing from the area, which wasn't the best of signs. Naomi could feel the strong presence nearby, and so took a moment to prepare herself, namely to wipe the brackish lifeblood from her sword on the withered grass at her feet. Whatever was there, it was fairly strong...
Or possibly not so much. She had to step around quite a few magical traps that had been recently placed, and Naomi knew that took some energy to do. Either this thing had plenty to spare, or it had exhausted its resources protecting itself. Either way, it was only going to get more dangerous. Exhaustion pushed its way into her mind, but she fought it back, keeping her head straight as she pushed on beyond the wall of fog in front of her.
Pretty quickly, things got hairy; her guard down for a moment as she covered a yawn, Naomi barely avoided a blinding trap she managed to set off, which tripped several others that had been around it. What had been waiting for her finally showed its face, and without her eyes Naomi was forced to rely upon pure instinct to keep her head. What she did manage to see wasn't very pretty; a towering genderless humanoid, about ten feet tall, with four arms, each holding a weapon, and a large slit right down the middle of its ripped body. With no head in sight, she figured that the edgeless gash was what it had for a mouth, which was easily big enough to swallow her in one setting.
Following her remaining senses, Naomi vaulted to the side, narrowly avoiding a downward swing from the abomination before her; unfortunately she also managed to bump another trap, which filled the air with a strange spray, probably of demonic origin, deadened her sense of touch. Great... she moaned inside, knowing that she had one less measure before her. If she set off anything else, there was a chance she wouldn't be surviving this encounter.
Keeping herself a moving target, she darted forward, beneath one of the behemoth's arms, and began chanting. Naomi planned on fighting fire with fire; she simply hoped that her 'friends' didn't have anything against contracted summoning partners of the devilish kind. Otherwise, there could be some serious friction between them...
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Post by knightc3 on Jun 20, 2008 0:30:46 GMT -5
He snapped around as he heard traps being set off, the wave approaching him from both side in a erratic circular pattern. He realized these traps were set to draw the victims in rather than keep them away from the center. The fog in front of him finally cleared up and he saw what was now about a hundred feet ahead of him. He could see Naomi chanting something but the monster she faced didn't seem interested in meeting whoever she was trying to summon.
He looked back at Horacius as if to see if he would interject. He couldn't wait longer or Naomi would not walk out of there alive. He smiled as he held his sword with both hands in front of him like a lance. It was the same kind of feeling he got whenever he jumped into a fight with really bad odds. "Four against a big one, should be that much trouble...", he said to Horacius and charged the freak from his side.
The beast had just about reached Naomi when he struck it from the side, passing the sword in his hand into its side like a spear, following up with a shoulder that just about knocked him far enough and drew its attention to the new opponent. "You better hurry up, or I would need a ressurection pretty soon...", he said to Naomi who was now behind him, all the while facing the beast.
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Post by Da Pwny on Jun 20, 2008 15:22:42 GMT -5
The freak was now very angry, having been pierced in the side as such, and opened its 'mouth' and screamed inhumanly. Turning to charge, it lowered its body and ran headless-long at the boy; however, just before it smashed every bone from his body, a pitch-black shapeless form came between it and Athon, enveloping and whisking him swiftly away to a safe space before returning to its true form: a succubus.
Nearly six feet tall with wings stretching thrice that, her purplish runic-covered skin was hairless- not to mention her scantily clad *ahem* features-, her long silky black hair nestled beneath two backwards-facing black horns, and a mouth full of sharp teeth, the two in the front being those that were most prominent. "Best watch your feet, young man" her thickly seductive voice cooed, crimson eyes turning from him to her master as the freak ran into one of his own traps, setting it off. Obviously a low-ranking demon, this thing was, and would be a pest if left alone as it was.
Teleporting back to her master, the succubus scolded “You know you should not be calling upon a summon in your condition! Are you TRYING to kill yourself?” “I’m trying to finish this up fast,” Naomi retorted, “so I can get paid already. That’s what I’m trying to… do…” Pain welled up fast, but she ignored it, knowing that time was precious. “Now get rid of this thing. Why do you think I summoned you without a spirit bind?”
Sighing, the female demon turned towards the low-ranking demon, who was charging straight at her. “Oh no you don’t” she spat under her breath, a hand rising towards the beast, which abruptly stopped dead in its tracks and was tossed backwards several yards. A wall of almost pure darkness, with only a small window in front of the hand, stood where the beast would have charged through just moments before.
Turning towards the young knight once more, the succubi commanded “Hold this filthy thing off for a moment while I put it in its place.” She tossed the sword he’d lost back to him, having pulled a fast one with the now-limping monster from Hell and stolen the sword the moment she cast the spell. Now she just needed to use one more attack and it would be taken care of for good, knowing that Naomi was already setting up a seal to keep this filth at bay, hopefully for all eternity…
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Post by The Mammoth on Jun 21, 2008 21:05:49 GMT -5
((please say something if you think something I'm doing is godmodding. Its a bit hard considering Paladin's are supposed to be superb weapons against the undead/unholy. There's thing that are going to occur in the story that will take away some of his effectiveness however.))
Horacius had been charging a powerful spell while the other fought. He had faith that not only was Athon skilled enough to survive the low-ranking demon, but that Naomi was not so much of a fool as to get herself hurt. But in the midst of his mumbled chant, he was confronted with the sight of a succubus. It was as if everyone he had surrounded himself with had some connection to the horrid abominations from hell, and their dark arts that follow. He continued his chant uninterrupted, surprised the succubus had not tried to interrupt it. She was certainly distracted, but so foolish as to allow a Paladin to cast a spell without even so much as trying to stop him was suicide.
That was not his concern.
With the final words, he belted them out loudly, so that all demonic presences nearby knew their fate that was arriving.
"Purge the darkness! Malinar Kasach!" With the final words, holy golden aura spewed from his arms. The powerful spell was a higher ranking one among paladins. It dispelled the evil aura around the corrupt or hellish demons. The time it takes to charge makes it a risky spell to cast for a Paladin, and it is exhausting. However, the power of the spell would destroy the unholy traps, and do extreme damage, if not death, to the succubus and the demon. When their unholy aura is removed, that which binds them to life is stripped from them. If the spell is not targeted to them, however, it loses much of its effect, so it may not kill them unless they are of low class. He hoped that it would not harm Inta, and figured it would not as she was just a necromancer, not a conjuration of the unholy arts. It wouldn't make sense for it to harm her, but as always, sometimes the forces of darkness had tricks up their sleeve.
Horacius watched as the spell poured over the area, and all the traps quickly melted to dust...
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Post by Da Pwny on Jun 21, 2008 23:21:09 GMT -5
The succubus screeched and flew skyward, while the lesser demon marauder was left to take the brunt of the force. Somehow, it managed to survive, but was pretty much a sitting duck now. Unconcerned for her partner, as the two had been together for many years, Naomi took this golden opportunity to begin the sealing. Chanting several lines, her hand began glowing white, forming a David's star within a circle around her blade. As the spell finished, her lips formed the final length of the seal as the sword glowed brightly: "Haij ko't haij*. Mihj ko't mihj*. Amen..."
Having gotten close enough, Naomi plunged the sword into the beast, activating the seal with its blood and closing the beast at the spot upon which it stood. Within a moment's glance, the towering monstrosity was gone, a small gem being all that was left of its once-imposing might. Strutting up to where the demon had stood, she whistled a short high note to the succubus, whom returned to her master, albeit very much flustered. The demoness picked up the gem, sealed it within a magic coating, and handed it Naomi; if the woman handled such items unprotected, the backlash could be significant and potentially fatal.
Turning to the group, Naomi sighed, knowing she would be missing this weird and funky crowd that had gathered here. "Well," she exaggeratedly exasperated, "with that little problem out of the way, I believe I must part ways here with you all. I'm sorry, but I can't have it be known that I needed help in taking down such a weak demon, so I'm afraid there's no credit in it for you people. Maybe if we find each other again, I'll treat y'all to some drinks or something. But for now, I must bid you all adieu."
Turning to leave, Naomi beckoned for her current summon to follow, barely strafing off the exhaustion the entire ordeal had brought upon her. As soon as she would be out of sight and earshot, she planned on collapsing in a nice, quiet area and sleeping off the rest of the night before continuing on in the morning...
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Post by The Mammoth on Jun 22, 2008 3:45:56 GMT -5
Horacius had expected no less. He had no hopes for this woman to actually be a help, or an assistance beyond her own personal gain. Those who had the power to command demons rarely were. He had met few that he stayed his hand from killing, and it was only when they proved they were not so selfish and self-righteous that they knew there was some err in their ways. Naomi seemed to be no such woman. Horacius shrugged, his face in a sweat from the spell that he had cast. He wasn't tired, but the spell had definitely caused him to break a sweat. He turned to Athon.
"Let's go. We've lost time. Good work with your blade." He said, as he walked toward him, slapping him on the shoulder. He was curious how the woman sealed the demon. She had the power to seal them away in gems, something few have, and he couldn't place where he had met those types before. Something about her made him think he should be remembering something. It annoyed him when his age caught up to him and he forgot things. He had a feeling that he would not have seen the last of Naomi, she had a goal for contacting this group, and this demon was not the reason. Her weak attempt to cover that was pretty obvious through her fake enthusiasm. Nonetheless, she could disappear for good, and Horacius figured all the better. In the past, as a Paladin of the Order, he would have been told to put an end to her demonic works, unquestionably, or expected to before even mentioned. However, the thought still remained, but the actions often remained a second thought. Horacius had seen far too many in his travels that changed by his example. He tried to give those with promise a chance, even if it went against his better judgment.
He looked to Inta, and now calmed slightly by his tension being released through a bit of battle, and the post battle endorphines (no idea how to spell that word) filling his brain.
"I suppose you're coming?" he said with a smile on his face, jokingly.
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Post by knightc3 on Jun 22, 2008 4:11:24 GMT -5
He relaxed his stance once the others took over. He had almost panicked when the demon creature, a kind he had never seen before, asked him to hold the beast off. But thankfully Horacius and finished channeling the spell and made his strike just at when the beast was about to charge at Athon.
He watched curiously everything Naomi and her demon did. He wondered if it was possible for him to learn the seal as he guessed it to be along with things and spells from Horacius. When Naomi turned to leave, he wasn't too surprised. He would have been if she hadn't acted this way. He wanted to ask where she was going and what she was going to do with the bead but he kept quiet.
He looked back and smiled at Horacius and was glad for the approval that he got. He murmered quietly, "I need a bath... and sleep and... well armor..." He looked down at himself. He was partly covered in blood and a few burns from the fight earlier with the hounds and then some gooey liquid from the wound of this creature. His sword and shield he would have to clean too.
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Post by Da Pwny on Jun 22, 2008 5:08:36 GMT -5
*i think you got it right...*
Of course, it was always her fault that she had a succubus for a problem. For all anyone else knew, she probably ate babies for breakfast and small toddlers for lunch. Hell, maybe she had a puppy for dinner, just for kicks!
No, of course not! She hadn't summoned Jahr because she wanted to... At the time, she had been twelve, by the gods! Not even a full-fledged summoner, and she'd been stupid, as all children are. In the end, she'd lost her fertility, and Jahr was permanently soul-fused to her. They weren't even friends, for crying out loud; in fact, Naomi fought with Jahr at every possible moment. They hated each other with a vengeance, but no summoner pair were better together than these two were; because of their unusual circumstances, both kept their free will and instead simply became a team.
Naomi looked back, some part of her wanting to go back there and join up with that nutty bunch again. Fine, but only after you get paid, stupid she told herself, turning towards the general direction of the lord's castle, where she would receive her reward...
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Post by Vaidia on Jun 25, 2008 0:34:08 GMT -5
((Eh, I have no excuse for being so lazy, though I did have a reason for not posting in the weekend. But, hopefully, now that I'm getting my schedule stabilized a little more, there won't be so many problems. Sorry for the delay and the ickness of postige again.)
Around, battle, flurry of movement, the constant dance of noised things and weighted time creating racket heard all around. Sneakings had come to pass, avoidances and crashes, following afters and just earned rewards. A steal in some, blind eye turned to that, unless vocal made and voice add to diminishing clamor. Mind easily could graze over this theft, to those who's thought were lost in maze of encounter. The fluttering swirl would soon wear away, leaving a chance at knowledge, but all too easily it could be that these were laced over in honors glaze, ignorance to what was slow leaving, sneaking away.
She didn't hesitate to act, to voice what was in mind. It was more the problem of material, physical things. Things that had sureasily prevented her from being even a greater offender and winner to the fight. A trap, simple one not even of magics creation, halted any next step she would want to make and any action in battle that felt the need to be a take. A trap, plotting so deviously, deviously plotted by some force partially extinguished, thoughtless in all essence except it existed without, had thought it a riot to trap her foot unsuspected, preventing her from being the useful one and help in the battle, which would surely end quicker if this did not happen.
But, why did she not clamor at this happening? Call out as the others walked away in thick mist, thinking her still ahead, for help to escape this nuisance assurely? Pride, it certainly was, and the notion that she could et out with any assistance, thank you very much. Which, mist clearing and battle ending with golden halo (which certainly didn't have anything to do with her escape), she managed to reappear to those sides in time to make it seem that she hadn't been held back at all, only remained passive for the battle just happening. Passive until now, now that the stick was leaving to collect a bounty rightfully meant to be shared with the foamed one who now regarded her kindly.
"Yeah, of course I am." Inta would say, a slight annoyed edge as if this were obvious fact sharpening her words. For a moment, she paused, then, mind dwandling for just a moment on whether this was entirely wise action next to be done, without further ado on the first mentions above on theft, the girl ran after the stick, hounding out that which was perfectly obvious.
"Hey! Hey, you! Stick woman! Horcous (she thought that was what his name was, at least) took part of the kill! That means he gets part of the bounty, right!"
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Post by Da Pwny on Jun 25, 2008 5:39:29 GMT -5
Ooooh... that squeaky little... At this very moment, Naomi couldn't think of anything better than wringing that little whore's neck. However, she refrained from responding harshly, as she'd performed enough acts today, and the toll of battle was waged upon her flesh and blood. "Sorry toots" she shouted back, "but this world don't quite work that way."
Besides, she didn't have the money at-hand, and there was only his word to account for her recovery of the demon's stone. Even if she'd felt like sharing the honors, the proof just wasn't there. It wasn't a habit of hers to use others- since she liked using her own body first- but there weren't many options in this case. The only other witness that was there was the necro-child, and she wasn't exactly what one could call a 'neutral third-party', given her preconceived biases towards those around her already. Naomi just wished that Horaca or whatever his name was finished the kid off before she ran into her again, because she would be tempted to do so just to shut her up and teach her a lesson...
Naomi felt a nudge against her shoulder, and looked over to Jahr. A demon, her one faithful companion, and of the same race of which she often hunted... how did she feel about- well, Naomi already knew that answer. The succubus didn't give a hoot in all of Hell about her fellow hellspawn, and was actually glad that she'd gotten out, present company excluded. On top of that, she was faithful enough without being clingy, a combination Naomi found quite fitting to her own attitude... if she were human, then maybe they wouldn't have so many issues between the two. But of course, there were always those who didn't or refused to understand suspended circumstances...
Jahr didn't speak a word at first, but soon disappeared from her full form, appearing like a little devil on her shoulder, just where she liked to be. Oddly fitting it was, and appropriate as well. "You know those shinies can just up and die in my opinion" she spoke out loud in a tiny voice that carried a little of the seductive tone she had before, her small arms folded over each other. "I didn't care for them when I wa' alive, an' I don't givad**n for 'em now. You shoulda just stuffed 'em while you could." "If you had your way, every religious being on the face of this earth would be licking the soles of your bootheels, Jahr" Naomi sarcastically retorted, and the little demon fell silent for now as they continued their journey westwards...
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Post by The Mammoth on Jun 28, 2008 16:13:20 GMT -5
Horacius chuckled.
"I like the way you think, Inta." he said, turning to Naomi, "But I doubt our resident, cocky, self-righteous, bounty hunter would care to do something so noble." Horacius mocked, a smirk on his face. He saw the effects of Inta's comment on the woman, and knew a reaction would come if he continued to prod. She took offense to challenges of character, even if she didn't want others to know. Horacius again saw potential in this. He stepped forward with the grin still on his face, removing his helm, "So I guess she'll be saving all that money for herself while she licks her wounds like a whipped dog. Even if the person paying doesn't know, she does, and it'll eat at her... Won't it?" He said, mockingly.
But it was enough, there wasn't time to chase her anymore. If Naomi was to be part of the fight, she would have to do so on her own terms. Nobody was going to guide her through the right path. Horacius turned from her, and began walking back in the direction they came.
"We've lost a lot of time on the necromancer... It's about time we went after him again, wouldn't you say, Athon?" He smirked, "We'll get you some armor along the way. I doubt we'll run into much before the next town, he knows we're far behind. With her here, he thinks he has us right where he wants us, and we'll be under his watchful eye. He's not worried right now, so he won't strike." Horacius said, relatively sure he was right. Of course, he knew Inta could hear him, and he wanted her to. He was done talking down to her, but if she heard him mentioning the fact that she was being used, she might begin to brighten up to the idea.
"And we'll find us some rabbit for some stew along the way." He smiled, turning his head toward Inta as he began walking...
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