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Post by Zaid on Jan 11, 2018 0:43:06 GMT
QUEST NAME: Shine in the dark QUEST RANK: Veteran QUEST PARTICIPANTS: dahlia haven Zaid QUEST DESCRIPTION: A village local to Corwen Forest has posted a quest for 2 veterans. Poacher and bandit activity in Corwen Forest has reached unmanageable heights. The villagers are concerned about the state of the forest's ecosystem. There is reasonable intelligence to suspect that there is an established organisation behind the Corwen Forest black-market trade. Hunt them these people down and dispose of them. 
A lithe figure lingered by the fringes of Corwen Forest, just enough to be obscured by the sparse foliage from the unsuspecting eye. He squatted upon a rocky outcrop, reptilian claws on his feet slightly curled to create parallel indented ridges in the stone. Here in Gardenia, sunbathing refused to produce the same amount of effectiveness when the surroundings remain stubbornly cold. Pupil-less eyes arched towards the sun's aerial location, absorbing the celestial luminescence with a ferocity suggestive of an attempt to vainly imbue the twin blackholes with light. His partner would be arriving soon. Reptilian claws screeched against the rock's surface as he continued to idly claw at the crumbling surface as he waited.
Despite situated as close as possible to his native homeland, whilst remaining within the boundaries of Gardenia, irritation clawed at the peripheries of his consciousness. It was not the lack of familiar golden sand racing with the wind across the dunes, nor the suffocatingly green lushness of Gardenia's temperate climate, but rather, the attitude of the kingdom's populace that exhausted the lizardkin.
The existence of 'lesser' races being an accepted notion, was the first of it all. It reeked of the ego and narrowmindedness all too common with humans. It was not the stares and glances that followed Zaid which irked him, but rather, the pity, superiority, and disgust that followed. The prophet himself was already considered more humanoid than his fellow reptilian brethren: whilst intrinsic to his race, he stood taller than humans and black scales adorned his otherwise porcelain skin, the only other notable features were the twin pair of horns that curved majestically from his temples.
Even the circumstances of this mission were disturbing. Typical it was, for humans to take advantage of nature's children and hunt them down for their own personal gain. But what's a prophet of Rabba to do but submit to the fleeting whims of Fate? |
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Post by dahlia haven on Jan 11, 2018 5:55:30 GMT
so pulls this plug let me breathe The sound of footsteps drew closer, soft but numerous. Such a cacophony of steps could not be produced by a single individual, and judging from the amount of footsteps, it could only be attributed to a small mob or militia. Bandits, perhaps? It was possible that someone could have tipped the criminals off about the endeavour posted for any prying eye in the public to see. It was suspicious—one would not think that they were so eager to abandon their stronghold with the possibility of attackers encroaching their territory. And to do so with no air of subtlety? Not even going as far as to set up an ambush point? They were even hailing from the wrong direction. Civilization. It was less fortunate than bandits. A cursory glance rearwards would reveal Dahlia Haven, Zaid's issued partner for the task. Of course, the client likely was completely unaware that Dahlia Haven, familiarly known as the Plague, Scourge, or even simply the Black Dahlia, had chosen to take up the job. Evidence that it was in fact the notorious necromancer was all around her, as she currently made no effort to conceal the walking dead that travelled alongside her. The corpses shambled lifelessly around her, some right next to her, others trudging blindly through foliage, belying the pep and spring in her own step as she neared the lizardkin. Despite the pair of meat cleavers conspicuously mounted on her back, there was no prejudice in Dahlia's eyes. Matters of political nature had no relevance to her, she merely wished to make friends with the whole, wide world. That way, she would never have to worry about being lonely! There was a warped air of innocence in her eyes, a purity diamond clear in its lack of impurities. Dahlia possessed not a single ounce of malice, no desire to hurt or wrong anyone could be detected. She looked up at the lizardkin, tilted her head to one side dramatically, and then the next side with an equal level of theatrics. There were a variety of different undead thralls around her. Some of them were missing their heads, some arms, some of them reduced to torsos forced to crawl like worms across the ground. Birds landed on branches and watched the man closely, to the point of being unnatural. Likened to November, it was as though wherever she walked, death was in close pursuit. Within moments of her entering, a great darkness was already seeping thick into the forest. "You! You must be my partner, yes? You're the one that's going to help me make more friends, right?!" Her voice was absolutely ecstatic. She grabbed her cheeks with both hands, lining her nails just under her eyes, and raked them downward until she flayed her own flesh and blood was streaking down her face in thin rivulets. The sclera of her eyes changed from white to black, and her irises to a luminescent red. "I'M sO hAp̸̀Py̕!̶̸̕ ! T̶́h͘͟An͏Ḱ͢ ̷̷͘ý̕o͠҉u̢̨ ̶́s͏o̡͢͡ ͏m͏̡u̴͞͡c̀h̷͟, ̷̛M͜i̶̡s͏̢͝t̨͜e̷͞r͏̴̵!̴̨͘ " on my own i'm finally free words: 000 - tags: Zaid - notes: you know i couldnt resist |
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Post by Zaid on Jan 11, 2018 7:27:10 GMT
He smelt them before he saw them. The stench of decomposition and rotting meat permeated through the air, infusing themselves within Zaid's senses, before their culprit emerged into view. It was theatrical. A militia of walking dead emerged, led by a cute little girl, at no less. Black eyes narrowed into slits, and his unconscious clawing against the rock ceased.
The presence of death was never experienced more strongly than at this point. The various assortment of undead thralls was only partially to blame. It was in fact, their leader herself, who positive reeked of death. And when she spoke, he was content to simply observe, letting echoes of that ecstatic voice hang in the empty air.
At length, he muttered, "You poor girl." In another time and place long forgotten, empathy would've consumed Zaid's emotions, but such a tendency had long been destroyed by the insatiable whims of time and fate. While Zaid made attempt to share the cheerful spirit, no hostile attitude was otherwise displayed, but his muscles tensed imperceptibly in preparation for assault.
It was fortunate that Zaid was to be her partner, for in his jaded heart stirred only slightly, as opposed to the outsight hysterical terror that would've otherwise consumed a saner individual. However, there was an internal wince upon bearing witness to her self-mutilation. "Stop doing that." He commanded sharply, although unoptimistic the girl's evident instability would allow obedience towards the admonishment.
Ignoring the swarm of birds that followed his every move, the lizardkin slunk from his outcrop and advanced towards the girl, closing the distance within seconds, before crouching down before her, ready to spring away at any moment, but feeling like he didn’t have to. Whichever way he considered it, the girl did not seem interested in harming him – and from her speech, she apparently desired the very opposite.
For a moment, dead black eyes fixated on luminescent red. Then, a black hand snaked out, fingers curling slightly into claws and landing on the girl's wounded face. "I reject this." He hissed, emitting an incantation that could not be replicated by the human tongue.
Brilliant blue light lashed out from his claws, curling across the girl's face and weaving into freshly made crimson rivets. Reality warped, and Fate undid this immediate horror, as flayed flesh unflayed and blood receded back into veins. Within seconds, smooth unblemished skin returned.
If the little girl desired to recreate her wounds, then Zaid would not heal her a second time.
However, he would humour her if only for the sake of less resistance. "Little girl, I will gladly help you make friends." He obliged, although his voice sorely lacked the associated enthusiasm. "However, that is not the goal of this quest, correct?" The least he could do is clarify her status as his partner. |
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Post by dahlia haven on Jan 12, 2018 5:20:30 GMT
so pulls this plug let me breathe Aside from her breathing, her eyes were the lone source of motion when she felt the lizardkin's lithe touch on her face. A concoction of bewilderment and curiosity stirred within her eccentric eyes, the bright crimson that became her irises moving inward as though focusing on the bridge of her nose. The young woman did not move, and neither did the undead thralls around her. They all seemed to come to a halt, an oppressive silence overtaking the forest, as though even the living wildlife had been hushed. Their eyes, some less existent than others, steered towards the lizardkin and seemed to blankly scrutinize every minute movement. They all remained still even as the claw gave birth to vivid cerulean. The damage she had done was not simply rectified on a scale such as an accelerated metabolism replacing the ruined tissue, but rather, it seemed as though everything returned to its correct placement. Even the blood and skin caked underneath her nails found its way back to the atrocious gashes, until her supple countenance had been fully repaired. She blinked once, and twice, and then thrice with a puerile sense of wonder, tilting her head to the side once again. "Ooh..."With that small utterance, the undead seemed to lose interest in the lizardkin and resumed their unholy seemingly aimless march. Thankfully, she did not rake her face again; she instead put her hands on top of her head. Whatever compelled her to do so was unknown and may remain unknown, like the rest of her aspirations and motivations, until the end of time. Needless to say, the excitement that quickly swelled within her when she heard the man intended on helping her make new friends make her knees weak, as though they were suddenly comprised of jelly. "You will?! Yay!" Her eyes returned to normal, the blackness and distinguishing red that overtook them resigning into the hellish depths of her soul. Again, she tilted her head to one side, which resulted in her tilting her entire body in that direction, and then the other side, a gesture that seemed to be recurring and defining for Dahlia. Immediately, she put her finger under her bottom lip and directed her gaze upwards, as though scrying the sky for the answers she sought to his question. "Well..." The brunette stuck out her hand, and then turned until she was pointing towards one of the shambling corpses. This one appeared to be entirely absent a jaw, allowing what remained of its tongue to hang indignantly from its mouth. "These are my friends! I want to make the bad guys my friends, too!"Indubitably, it would be crystal clear why her goals aligned with that of the task at hand. on my own i'm finally free words: 000 - tags: Zaid - notes: notes |
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Post by Zaid on Jan 12, 2018 8:06:14 GMT
After sinews and flesh knitted together and returned to their previous state, ebony orbs inspected their handiwork. Mirroring her head tilt, Zaid's cranium slanted in an effort to maintain uprightness in his vision. Thankfully, she had not been opposed to his altruistic deed, remaining curiously statuesque throughout the process – her horde following her example and sparing the prophet from fending off a militia of undead, something which he doubted he could maintain for long, if at all.
Her response was patiently awaited for, as the lizardkin began transfixed by the oddity that had entered his life. It really was a shame, given that if everything else was ignored (however difficult it may be), the little vocal exhalation along with the childlike wonder that shimmered in her eyes could almost be described as endearing. It was likely that she lacked the self-awareness of her own perversion. At least, that was what he hoped. Or would it have been better if she was in full mental capacity? His tongue absentmindedly flickered out before slipping back into his fanged jaws.
Resuming a full-body tilt, her eyes rolled skyward, indicative of memory retrieval. Momentarily bemused, he curiously eyed her hand as it outstretched, until it pointed towards one of the reanimated thralls. Following the vector, he witnessed the rotting meat of a body and he arched an eyebrow. "I can see the appeal. Your friend would be quite the agreeable fellow. One cannot argue with a mouth like that." He remarked drily.
Then, she confirmed her purpose, and Zaid remained on the fence about whether Fate had shined fortunate upon him or not. Either way, a toothy grin emerged from his maul. "I am sure the bad guys would be downright delighted." Call him macabre, but he was interested in seeing how this girl would respond to their unsuspecting friends.
"Let us not delay!" With that, Zaid extended a hand towards the girl, and whether or not she accepted the gesture, he would spin on his heel and pull the duo towards the forest, with his scimitar bouncing at the hip. Mind you, he possessed absolutely no idea of where he was to venture, nor did he possess any method to conduct this quest. Much like everything else in his life, he simply followed wherever Fate led him.
Even at the outskirts of the forest, the wildlife seemed to teem with life, in bitter contrast to the death that was to soon intrude. Happily buzzing insects fluttered lazily around every flower and rabbits hopped around, investigating every inch of the forest. But as the lizardkin furthered deeper into the wilderness, the faint roars of an unknown beast could be heard.
A glance was fired in the direction of Dahlia, before Zaid's pace increased to a light sprint, his clawed feet manoeuvring the foliage with practiced ease. It was not long before the trees gave way to a clearing, where the source of the roars became evident. The hulking form of an enormous bear struggled against the bonds that constrained his limbs. Rage poisoned the bear's visage and it snarled viciously at Zaid's approach.
A frown lanced across the prophet's face and his immediate instinct was to free the trapped beast, evident from the immediate exposure of his sword. However, it could provide a useful avenue into discerning the movements and location of the hunters that had no doubt laid the animal trap.
"How fortunate." By his tone, it would have been impossible to distinguish whether it was laced with sarcasm or not. "What do you want to do? Wait for the bandits to come or free the bear?"
dahlia haven |
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