Scales & Spells

[Vixandra]

"I have a tea cake in one of my bags that cause one to grow, but I'm not sure which one," I said with a smile around kisses. I leaned into Marcus, enjoying the controlled strength of his arms. "But you're right, a good rampage is not on the books today. Those things aren't planned."



*ooc: sorry, just not in the mindset to write a sex scene. In an action/adventure, slay the jaberwocky mood.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

((OOC: That's fine. Actually, depending on how long the action/adventure mood lasts, I think I have an idea. One that involves the elf Verrith dim. door'd into the stables.))

"Plus, rampages are only really good for stress relief." he joked as he rubbed her back. Something twigged in his head though and he looked back at Verrith's face. "You okay? You look a little flushed; more than your exertion could count for at least." She looked a little dehydrated - probably from that fourth or fifth time they looped back around the Temple of Sune. Picking her up, he set her down on the bed before getting her a glass of water from the pitcher that had come with the room.

"Here. Drink this and try and get some rest; you'll need the energy later." he said with a wink.

 

[Vixandra]

I smiled at him, accepting the glass and draining it. It was novel for someone to take care of me, to pamper me. I yawned and tossed off my hat of disguise, leaving me lounging in the little black dress. My boots followed the hat and I snuggled into the covers.

"I can trance, but I don't need to. Resting though... I'm not that good at that. Downtime is rare for me."

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Well just lie down for a while and relax. I'm gonna duck downstairs and see if Durnan's got some ice. I could make some myself but then you'd be waiting ages while I chip it apart with my claws and I'd have to go downstairs to get us some more water. Back in a tic." he gave her a quick kiss before heading down where he saw the elf from the previous night arguing with Durnan.

"Just tell me what room she's in! It's not like I'm going to trash the place."
"What's going on?" Marcus asked as he approached. The elf looked at him and a strange expression went over his face.
"Where's the winged bitch you were with last night?"
"Indisposed." he replied coolly. He'd barely spoken with the guy but he was already rubbing Marcus the wrong way. "Can I take a message?"
"Yeah, tell her to meet me at the Court of the White Bull this afternoon; I got a score to settle with her for what she did to me last night."
"Land in a particularly large and fresh horse pat, did you?" As the elf replied, Marcus noted a shift in his body language. Subtle, easily missed if you didn't have the training to notice it. That's how Marcus knew to lean back slightly as the elf's arms burst into flame. They didn't harm him though and from the way he stood, it was clear that he was generating them.

Fiery Assault, Marcus thought, an advanced stance in the Desert Wind school. The flames would extend onto his weapon if he was holding one in order to burn the enemy as they're cut.

"Just. Pass on. The message, you scaly freak. Marcus growled slightly before replying, adding a bit of his breath weapon so that the elf could be reminded that he could be frozen where he stood.
"Fine. But get out of here before I decide to smother those flames. Possibly by tearing off your arms and shoving them up your arse."

The flames went out as the elf relaxed his stance. "Fine, just make sure she's there or you're gonna have more than those flames to worry about." Marcus was tempted to make a quip about his ogre of a mother being the only credible threat he had, but decided against it when he saw how close Durnan was standing to his old greatsword.

After the elf left, and Marcus got the ice for Verrith, he went upstairs and explained what happened to her.

((OOC: Like the other martial manoeuvres I've mentioned in the thread; that's another one from the Tome of Battle. It's a stance (a passive thing, like a paladin's aura) that adds 1d6 flame damage to any attacks the user makes. Though you don't get it til level 11 so it's not that big of a boost. Mind you; I'd allow it to give intimidate bonuses considering it sets your arms on fire with sheer willpower.))

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I listened with a deepening frown but I let Marcus finish before shaking my head and downing another glass of water. "It was stupid of him to let you know his fire trick."

I stretched and climbed from the bed. "Now that I know about it, I can make sure I've cast spells to protect me from flames. If he's dumb enough to let me know, he's dumb enough to face the consequences."

I rumaged through my bags, pulling out my breast plate, the mithral lettings from my current suite (whined about my mithral top being in the shop a bit), the bracers of dexterity, belt of ogre strength, a ring of protection from the elements, my ring of invisibility, an amulet of natural armor and a pair of fencer's boots.

"So much for peace and quiet," I grumbled as I dressed, drinking more water. "Okay, I can protect myself from the fire by spell and by the ring of PFE. If he's using magic, so will I, though I don't plan on letting him know until things have started."

I looked over at Marcus and sat down on one of the chairs in the room. "Any recommendations? I've fought those with flaming swords, its how I got mine. But never a flame touch being. Last one I knew was a demi-phoenix in humanoid form who fell sideways out of the plane of fire."

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Well it's not magic and he's not some flame-creature. He's a martial adept, like me; someone who studies the Ninefold Path. That is; nine combat styles that've almost been entirely lost. There are three kinds of adepts; warblades - like me - who know moves that don't look like magic, but complex swordsmanship, crusaders; who are kind of like paladins without the stick up their rear, and swordsages who learn supernatural manoeuvres.

"The guy challenging you is a swordsage, so he'll have a lot of manoeuvres to draw on and a lot of them will seem like magic. Wreathing his weapon in flames is only one of them, but what he did downstairs is a complex Desert Wind stance; he'll know a decent number of moves from that, but what you should really watch out for are Shadow Hand moves.

"I've never seen Shadow Hand in action, but a master of it can turn the very shadows against their opponent. A well-aimed strike can sap your strength or chill you to your bones. Those are the main ones you'll have to worry about, but he'll probably know moves that allow him to see and strike at the smallest flaw or gap in your armour or simply throw that many attacks at you that you won't be able to block them all. If he knows moves from Tiger Claw, you're going to need healing magic because the wounds that school can leave are not pretty. Here." He handed her a small bead.

"Place that somewhere where it's contacting your skin and I'll be able to telepathically communicate with you; give you some advance warning or just point out flaws in his technique. There's also this; I know it looks like a scroll, but it's not. It's called a martial script, memorise it before the fight starts and then you'll be able to use the manoeuvre on it once during the fight, whereupon you'll forget the move entirely.

"This script is for Emerald Razor; a manoeuvre that hones your concentration to the point where the smallest gap in his defence seems as obvious as a tribe of rampaging storm giants. Best save it for an emergency though since you'll only be able to use it once during the fight."

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I began to that fine edge of fear, excitement and anticipation that only a fight that sounds like a challange can bring. "I'd say its cheating, you giving me pointers, but this is not an honorable fight and I'm no paladin. I'll take every edge I can get."

I wiggled a bit and slipped the bead into the halter top I wore, tying it to the halter itself instead of the breast plate. Just in case.

"Do they have any magical strengths or weaknesses? Would he be any more immune to fire then the average elf male?"

Part of me was vexed that I'd never heard of these stances and such before meeting Marcus. A suspicious voice whispered in my head that surely it wasn't a coincidence that I'd come seeking to fight one such fighter and was now being challenged by another.

I pulled out one of my bags of holding and began pulling bits of fur, an iron hoop, and other asorted spell focus items out. I had loops on my belt to hold them in place, at hand for when I needed them. I was already setting up a "prep" list in my head. Animalistic Power, True Strike, and Toxic Weapon, the last one of my most powerful spells. A poison so potent it had dropped living foes in under two minutes. Didn't do a damn thing against the undead, but for the living, it was a treat to watch and nearly impossible for a healer to cure fast enough.


OOC: Toxic weapon, dusk blade, level 4 spell, does 1d10 con first and second round, save DC for each round, I think its a 19 for the save. Ver's 15 + spell level

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"No strengths or weaknesses beyond what he'd get from rings and such and I think there's a Desert Wind stance that'd make him more resistant to fire, but I doubt he'd use it; it's nigh-impossible to hold more than one stance at a time and there are plenty of more useful ones he could use.

"It might be best to assume it won't be a fight to the death, though; he was pissed, but most of that was towards me, I think he just wants to get you back for teleporting him into the stables. Either way, I'm going to look up a friend of mine before we go - a cleric of Oghma - to make sure you're alright. She's even strong enough to use True Resurrection if - gods forbid - we need it. I've got the diamonds for it, don't worry.

"He didn't strike me as being all that strong physically, but it's rare for a swordsage to be strong. He'll be quick, nimble and focussing on where to strike rather than just hitting. There's a Shadow Hand move that lets him teleport from one shadow to another within a short distance, so watch for that. They're normally very cunning too; don't rely on psychological warfare, I may've riled him up a bit downstairs, but he'll be a lot more focussed in a fight.

"I doubt he'll use many Desert Wind moves; we flew over the Court of the White Bull earlier and I saw a lot of flammable stuff there - old market stalls and such - setting all that on fire would just draw the Watch faster than you can say 'Do you smell something burning?'."

Marcus was worried; everything he knew about Shadow Hand made it seem... wrong. When the Temple of the Nine had been formed thousands of years ago, the Shadow Hand master had been one of the two to rebel and later attack the Temple with a monstrous army. He'd never met a swordsage before that elf, but he could never shake the idea of Shadow Hand being a style that should never be used.


OOC: I'll have to keep that spell in mind for my own duskblade character over on Myth Weavers. BTW; the fight won't be a full on D&D one, more plot-driven than dice-driven. I won't have a full list of what manoeuvres the elf knows and which ones he has readied; I'm just going to pick and choose between what's plausible. He'll have higher-level manoeuvres but he won't be spending the whole fight tossing out 9th-level manoeuvres (which are roughly the same comparable strength as 9th-level spells).

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I gave a nod as I finished getting ready, pulling my hair into a tight braid. "Got it, no setting the local real estate on fire. He should have normal weaknesses for the most part. I hope he has a healer on retainer."

I looked up at Marcus as he mentioned a true resurrection. "I doubt it will come to that. I'm pretty sturdy and have a few potions in my pouch of heal and such. I've been traveling alone for the most part for the past few years. Its fair foolish not to have some. But thank you, I appreciate it... you're worry, I mean. Not that I want you to be worried, I'll be fine."

I stopped babbling while I was ahead and returned my focus to the upcoming grudge match. "You think we could sell tickets? Don't look at me like that! If he's silly enough to call me out via my lover, we should be able to profit off it."

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Why wouldn't I worry about you? Ignoring the fact that I don't like to see women - even hyper-competent, badass adventurers like yourself - getting hurt; I enjoy spending time with you, and I mean beyond the mind-blowing sex."

He looked a bit incredulous at her mention of tickets. "Well I doubt we'd be able to get the word out enough on such short notice, not to mention the problems we'd get from the Watch. But if you want a little more incentive to fight; how's this? If you win; you decide on what we do tonight - go out for dinner, catch a play, have wild monkey sex in your choice of positions, anything. But if you lose; I call the shots for tonight. How's that for incentive?"

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I smiled, suddenly bashful. "I... thank you. I've been enjoying spending time with you. You don't make me feel different. You let me feel safe when I want to be."

The smile became a full grin at his mention of incentives. "Hmm what to take you out to do...."

We walked downstairs to a full tavern and a few of the patrons looked at the pair of us, eyes flickering between Marcus and I went up to the bar. Before I could speak the barmaid had a pair of pints before us.

"Teach that ass a lesson and these are on me," was all she said, turning away. On the belt at her waist were finger prints that looked as if they'd been burned on.

I looked at Marcus with an appraising smile. "Apparently I'm not the only person he's irritated in his stay here. Nice to have local support. How much time do we have to get over there?"

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"Long enough to enjoy these before leaving if we don't nurse them." he said as he started on his pint. Putting the mug down for a moment, he pulled out a sending stone and concentrated on it for a moment, returning it to his pocket when he was done.

"That's for the cleric I mentioned; she'll meet us there."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Marcus and Verrith landed in the Court, a small human woman stood nearby; her long dark hair left free and flowing down past her hips. She was barely over four and a half feet tall and could easily be mistaken for a halfling. There was a catlike-grin on her lips - which seemed to be her normal expression - and a small mole under one green eye, which were half-closed and made her seem somewhat dozy.

"Oh, hey Marcus." she said with a wave as she saw the two adventurers land. "I was wondering when you were going to get here."

"Sorry Kora, took longer than we thought to get here from the Portal. Anyway, Verrith; this is Korana Isalma, the cleric of Oghma I mentioned before. Kora, this is Verrithanis Mijai, she's the one who was challenged."

"Huh, you didn't butcher her name. That's a first; last time you tried to pronounce and elven name you ended up calling them-"

"Yeah yeah yeah; we can reminisce about my foot-in-mouth moments another time."

 

[ShadowFighter15]

((OOC: Bump due to edited post.))

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

"Aw but I think you'd look just adorable with your foot in your mouth," I shot a grin at Marcus over the lack of name slaughtering and smiled at the healer. "Its nice to meet you. Thank you for coming out."

I looked over the people assembled in the square, more then I thought there would be for a simple "I'm calling you out" grudge match. I looked at Marcus and Korana in askance. "Are there usually this many people out to watch a fight? I know winged elves aren't exactly normal fighters to watch, but this seems kind of excessive."

As they answered, I began to go through my warm up stretches, casting my long term buffs as I went. Animalistic Power, Bull's Strength, True Shot and Toxic Weapon were cast before I went to the center of the square, swords in their sheaths but ready for the idiot who was behind this.

"So, where's the big man who wanted my attention?"

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"I think the other guy decided to do a little marketing, this place is just a trade court most of the year." Marcus said, looking at the crowd. "Only reason it's empty now is because the last trade season just ended; all the merchants left last week."

"They've even set up a betting pool. Even odds, so the most you'll get is double your money. And the fighters aren't allowed to bet on themselves, before you think of it."

As Verrith walked out into the Court, which still had a lot of merchant stalls that had yet to be dismantled, Korana spoke up. "You know I'm kinda hoping she'll need a bit of patching up after the fight."

"I'm probably going to regret asking, but why?"

"You tellin' me you wouldn't want to get your hands on a body like that?"

Marcus merely face-palmed at Korana's reply; to call her an oversexed, bisexual munchkin would be an understatement. The only reason she hadn't tried to sleep with him while they were travelling together was because she was afraid of the claws.

When Verrith called out her opponent, a mote of shadow appeared in the air in-front of her and quickly spun out into a full cloud before dissipating and revealing her challenger.

Shadow Jaunt, Marcus said through the telepathic link. One of the more basic Shadow Hand manoeuvres; it allows the user to teleport over short distances. More complex versions are faster, allowing him to strike as he emerges.

"Right here, Feathers."

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I managed to avoid rolling my eyes over the nickname "Feathers," but just barely.

Instead, I asked, "So, just so we're clear, why are we doing this? I didn't come to to this city to spar with you. I came to drop off a bounty and relax with my friend. Not that I mind a good fight now and then, but I like to know why."

I listened to his answer and nodded. "So are we doing this fair or playing by the anything goes school?"

 

[ShadowFighter15]

"If you just wanted to relax, then you shouldn't have thrown me into the stables. I don't let people who insult me like that get off scot-free." he drew a wicked-looking curved short sword as Verrith asked about the rules.

"No killing, that's the only limit. Better have a good healer ready." With that, he disappeared in a cloud of shadow, signalling the start.

Be careful; Marcus said through the telepathic link. Shadow Hand is an assassin's style, he'll be using those left-over merchant stalls to hide behind until you're in the right place, then he'll teleport out and strike. Hit and run tactics, basically."

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

A slow smile spread across my lips as I nodded. Taking Marcus' advice, I caught a glimpse of my attacker and fired with a spell. Lightning bolts streaked from my fingers in a spell known as "Seeking Ray." The bolts wove around the building he was hiding behind to connect us. Any ray or bolt spell I used next would be much easier for me to connect with.

Not that that did me any good as he did that shadow step thing and brought his sword viciously down. I managed to side step enough to prevent serious damage, but he managed to scar the front of my breast plate.

I swung out with my left blade, the flames on the blade coming to life as it moved in an arc of fire. Sunlight glinted off the blade as it moved...

 

[ShadowFighter15]

With surprising speed, the elf parried Verrith's blow before lashing out with his weapon again, the blade covering itself in a liquid-black energy. It was a minor hit, drawing blood from her left arm, but that was all it took.

The energy flowed into Verrith's veins and she would immediately feel some of her strength leave her. No sooner had the elf made his strike before Shadow Blinking* away.

Strength-Draining Strike, I don't think I need to explain what that does. It's temporary; but it'll take a few days to heal normally if you don't get a restoration spell.

"You do have restoration prepared right?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

((OOC: *Shadow Blink is just a suped-up version of Shadow Jaunt. Jaunt takes a standard action to use, Blink is only a swift action. Also, Strength-Draining Strike only causes 4 points of strength damage, if you need an idea of how much it'd affect Verrith.))

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I growled at the hit, grateful I'd slipped on the belt of giant strength I wore with my breast plate to make up for its weight. I wasn't below my normal yet but another hit like that and I could be.

Taking advantage of the blink away, I tossed a bottle on the ground and cast light on it. We'd see how well he could Shadow Jaunt without shadows.

As I pulled a composite bow from my bag of holding along with a quiver of explosive arrows, I concentrated on my magic and the arcane connection between the shadow mover and myself and let loose another Seeking Ray.

It had the desired effect, flushing out my opponent, though my first arrow missed, blowing up a deserted stall next to him, making the bystanders dash for more solid cover. I winced inwardly, making a mental note to pay for the damages and took to the air.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

Umm... I probably should've mentioned this before; but Shadow Jaunt and it's faster versions don't require natural shadows to function, otherwise the school'd be useless on a bright day. Marcus kicked himself for forgetting to mention it. It does have a limit of about fifty feet though, but there's nothing stopping him from using two of them in sequence and then a third to avoid a painful fall. Assuming he doesn't just have a feather fall device on him or something.

Dodging away from the blast, the swordsage swept his sword through the air and a fist-sized ball of white-hot fire blazed out straight for Verrith.

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

Rather then dodge, I held my ground and fired two of the arrows at my opponent as he attacked me. Corallon was with me and both hit their mark, exploding dramatically as the fireball hit me.

My ring and spell absorbed the majority of it, though my hair and breastplate were singed. The spell was gone, the ring holding steady but I knew another hit like that would hurt.

The arrows seemed to have phased my opponent and I took advantage of it, shooting the last two at him. I shouldered the bow, redrew my swords and cast true strike on myself as I waited to see what he would do.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

The swordsage teleported away before the last two arrows hit him. There was no sign of him for several long seconds, before he appeared in the air behind Verrith, sword pointed forward in a way Marcus recognised with dread.

DODGE IT! he screamed through the link, but it was too late, the sword finding its way through a gap in her breastplate, the swordsage teleporting away as soon as he'd struck. Five-Shadow Creeping Ice Enervation Strike, the pinnacle of the Shadow Hand school.

((OOC: There's a fair bit to this move, so I'll PM you the full description and let you decide how it affects Verrith. The description's pretty easy to follow; it's more or less the same template that WotC used for spells.))

 

[Vixandra]

Verrith

I couldn't help the scream that flew from my lips as the sword struck, or ignore the blinding pain in my side. My wings went numb and while I managed not to crash into the ground, it wasn't a graceful landing.

Hissing in pain, I cast Doom Scarab, then activated my ring, knowing another hit before I got a potion into me would hurt something fierce.



OOC: Sorry for the huge delay in posting, its been a nutbar semester. I'm on a three week break now, if you'd like to continue this.

 

[ShadowFighter15]

Damnit, Verrith; you okay?! Everything I'd heard about Five-Shadow Creeping Ice Enervation Strike had pointed out how lethal it could be; if it didn't kill the target it left them severely weakened, often too weak to properly fight back. It fit the Shadow Hand school perfectly; debilitation and assassination. I could only hope that Verrith had something with her to heal herself or remove the strike's weakening effects.

Her Doom Scarabs had managed to hit blondie before he teleported back into hiding. "How'd you like that, Feathers? I could do this all day and I'm sure you're hurting more than I am!" he called out, tauntingly. I couldn't see him, but I could guess roughly where he was and I wondered if Verrith might have a better idea of where he was.

OOC: Yeah, I'd be happy to continue it. And I can understand about a hectic semester.