Alexander "I know how to people" the Great (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
towards_okeanos) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
middaeg2019-12-08 08:11 pm
towards_okeanos) wrote in middaeg2019-12-08 08:11 pm
All around December Catch-all [open]
Who: For quest: Iskandar and Judar, everything else OTA.
When: Deceuer, start to finish.
Where: Harbour, Coven, Wilde. He's a busy man.
What: Event prompts, quest and everything else.
Warnings: Will add as needed.
Snow way out [6th - 10th]
For the first two days, Iskandar is rather excited by all the snow but it gets less funny with disruptions and blackouts. He is bigger than most and taller than most. From the height of Bucephalus, he can spot those snowed under, free others trapped in their buildings, dig the entrances for those that can't get in.
Wildcard
[ooc: Throw me a bone. Maybe not literally. Prompts, ideas, plotting? PM or![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
bitweaver always works.
More prompts may appear later.]
The Woman [closed to Judar]
A tale he heard about the ghost. Some say it's a vengeful spirit of a murdered woman. She and her child brutally slain years ago and now they come back every winter to torment the living. Iskandar is not one to dismiss such stories. They ring true to him. He heard many similar at home. Unburied and unavenged dead can be especially vicious. Barred the entrance to the Underworld they roam the earth seeking justice.
The Wilders have a different version. That she's no ghost seeking retribution but a particularly persistent Shade. Unlucky soul lost to the plague long ago.
Iskandar has prepared for both outcomes. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't possible to obtain a silver obol in Aefenglom so he had to make one, actually two, and carve the image of a bee on each side himself.
For the second option, he recruited reinforcements. A young Mirrorbound faun with extensive knowledge of magic... of his own world. No magical powers here. Iskandar is getting used to that kind of story. He really believes whoever or whatever drags them here from their respective worlds is simply cruel and likes to see people suffer.
"You're sure you've got everything you need?"
He's not trying to doubt Judar's skills. If Orpheus was able to charm the Hades himself and almost get his wife out of the Underworld, why something similar shouldn't work here? On a lesser ghost. He's just checking. It's worse to go unprepared than not go at all.
When: Deceuer, start to finish.
Where: Harbour, Coven, Wilde. He's a busy man.
What: Event prompts, quest and everything else.
Warnings: Will add as needed.
Snow way out [6th - 10th]
For the first two days, Iskandar is rather excited by all the snow but it gets less funny with disruptions and blackouts. He is bigger than most and taller than most. From the height of Bucephalus, he can spot those snowed under, free others trapped in their buildings, dig the entrances for those that can't get in.
Wildcard
[ooc: Throw me a bone. Maybe not literally. Prompts, ideas, plotting? PM or
More prompts may appear later.]
The Woman [closed to Judar]
A tale he heard about the ghost. Some say it's a vengeful spirit of a murdered woman. She and her child brutally slain years ago and now they come back every winter to torment the living. Iskandar is not one to dismiss such stories. They ring true to him. He heard many similar at home. Unburied and unavenged dead can be especially vicious. Barred the entrance to the Underworld they roam the earth seeking justice.
The Wilders have a different version. That she's no ghost seeking retribution but a particularly persistent Shade. Unlucky soul lost to the plague long ago.
Iskandar has prepared for both outcomes. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't possible to obtain a silver obol in Aefenglom so he had to make one, actually two, and carve the image of a bee on each side himself.
For the second option, he recruited reinforcements. A young Mirrorbound faun with extensive knowledge of magic... of his own world. No magical powers here. Iskandar is getting used to that kind of story. He really believes whoever or whatever drags them here from their respective worlds is simply cruel and likes to see people suffer.
"You're sure you've got everything you need?"
He's not trying to doubt Judar's skills. If Orpheus was able to charm the Hades himself and almost get his wife out of the Underworld, why something similar shouldn't work here? On a lesser ghost. He's just checking. It's worse to go unprepared than not go at all.
The Woman
He's still working on all of it. Honestly, aside from a recommendation that he work with a witch, Judar instinctively was drawn to work with Iskander.
"It's all I've got, aside from anything you need ideas for casting," which, while he's been making more progress with enchantments, he can help with some conjuring ideas and formulas as well. Slow progress, as he obviously can't practice it himself, but having a bunch of knowledge in general helps. "I was told that she was married to some faun, which is why she and the kid were killed. At least it should work as a distraction long enough for you to do your thing."
At least his own distractions weren't at their highest points right now. Apparently he was really unlucky for showing up as a deer faun, with this season. Something that'd be a bigger problem a few days later. "How 'bout you, big guy? Got your spells and some kind of focus item ready?"
eh, sorry it took me so long...
They didn't spend much time together but it was enough for him to notice the young man is driven and ambitious. His magical knowledge may not help him here, belonging to another world, but once a scholar, always a scholar.
Judar may not be able to cast spells but given time he most likely will be explaining magic to others. Iskandar has started forming his long term plans. He will need people like that.
For now, he's curious if they will be able to work together. This one mission is a good testing ground for such cooperation.
He draws his sword, slashes the air in front of him and for a brief moment the weapon lights up red and gold. A single flickering flame crawls down the blade and dissolves into sparkles as it drips to the ground. It's a little disappointing he can't call his bulls in all their majestic glory with this gesture anymore but one has to work with what he's got.
"This is everything I will ever need."
's fine- I know what's going on!
So he may be a bit of a fast mover.
However, the young (young adult, but still going through those early transformation months,) faun's attention was completely on the witch as the sword's drawn. That's right, someone mentioned that there were more options for focuses, huh? It's a good look for the guy; more fitting to the warrior appearance than having to hold some staff or wand. Though he's not sure if the flame was supposed to... Drip. He'll go with it being intentional.
"Then let's do it," he said, with a pat on Iskander's arm. Something before getting the guitar on, ready for playing. What else did he have to give the other man an edge, right? With the information he shared, it was easy enough to guess where he was going with it all. "I'm not sure what kind of music would work best, but it should give you a better opening no matter how it goes."
another geological age later
The ghost has been told to be drawn simply to human presense and what is better sign of it than music. Animals don't sing, don't they? He nods as Judar swings his guitar to the front gettting it ready.
With his sword drawn Iskandar is already prepared. Ad yet their target is nowhere to be seen.
The day has already been chilly but the mist creeping out of the forest makes it even worse. The trees extend their twisted, wiry branches through the haze making an impression of some monstrous arms reaching for the empty shell of the tiny house that sits on its very edge. Inside the city it is easy to dismiss the fear of the forest and all that it harbours but here? Here the terror is alive. It's close and too ignore.
Iskandar thinks of the people who lived there. The murdered woman and her child. It's such a sad, lonely place to live. How desperate they must have been to leave protection of the Bright Wall. Too risk living in the shadow of the terror, day in and day out, and yet whatever there were flying from, got them even here. Pity how common that is.
"Maybe you should..." he starts but then stops. He hears it, a child's wail. One could mistake it for a bird's song but no bird songs ever sounds so heartbreaking.
"There she is."
A dark shadow holding a bundle, flash of white, the fabric the child is wrapped in. He didn't expect it was so small. An infant barely. What kind of evil raises their hand on a child, and one so small?
you're so harsh on yourself
Really, it was easier to focus on that, and the figure that Iskander had recognized as well, than the surroundings. It twisted at his insides, much like the limbs were twisted and reached towards various directions. If he didn't focus too much on that, then the stupid instincts that came with the faun changes, the prey response, wouldn't kick in so easily. (An instinct he'll be able to fight better, given time, but it was still new and caught him off.
"I'll draw and keep its attention, for whatever you want and need to do," he said, trusting that it'll go just that way, before splitting off at a casual pace. Not directly towards her, with those cries and the child in its own noises, but with a wide berth. That way, as he started humming and singing with wordless sounds of what could be a softer song, he could tell whether it was working.
Which... It seemed it did. With the small bundle rocked and seemingly eased, and the cries reduced in volume, she was slowly heading towards Judar. Seemingly entranced, or at least drawn in. While it was enough to convince Judar to continue, though not keep drawing her away, it wasn't entirely... Genuine. There wasn't any warmth of the true spirit being drawn back to the surface.
no subject
She was pale and tall, and slender. So shapely one can easily call her beautiful. With a mass of hair hanging over her face like a black veil, a perfect picture of a woman in mourning.
She held the infant with one arm, the other stretching in Judar's direction in a silent plea for help as she moved closer and closer to him.
"Kind lady, we came to bring you peace. You are being remembered. You can rest now."
Iskandar spoke his words with all the gravity they deserved. For what it is that the spirits of the dead yearn the most if not the memory of the living? He doubted anyone spoke them before. It's entirely possible that the farmers who feared her the most, were the ones responsible for her death. Directly or indirectly, it matters not. They had all the reasons to fear.
Yet the moment he spoke the woman's head turns sharply in the direction of the sound and Iskandar is hit by the worst possible realisation.
She is way too corporeal for a ghost.
There was another theory of what she might be. Another version of the tale where she did not die in the attack. She was mortally wounded, yes, but it was the Cwyld that finally claimed her.
And she was too close to Judar for Iskandar to feel comfortable with it. Iskandar quickly assessed the distance. He might not be able to get to him before she does but he can throw a shield between them. Barriers were the type of magic he felt most comfortable with. Though usually, he'd establish one around himself. Still, he had two silver coins. It would not their intended purpose but he can anchor a spell to them.
"Fall back, Judar!" he shouted as he threw the silver coin in the air aiming for the arc of its fall to draw a line between the young faun and the woman.
Now was the question will it be fast enough, and will it hold...
no subject
While the developing faun never mentioned it to the witch, he was new enough to have not learned the classic features of what ghosts and shades were. Not just what they looked like, or the dangers they represented, but the fact that there were any real differences. Mostly because... He never thought they were a thing, until this problem had come up. That was briefly mentioned, about how nothing energy or spirit is left behind after death, and strong and emotional events don't leave imprints on the world like that. It either went back into the world, or to someone.
So, with the pleading hand outstretched as he strummed along the guitar and hummed, he truly believed things were going well. Heck, even the stupid faun part of his brain (which was stronger in these months,) was focused on how beautifully dark the entire image was. A thought that wasn't associated with danger.
The hand, with things a little clearer, wasn't a simple pale hand with an ethereal glow to it. The shape was just a little too long, with sharp ends; easy to mistaken for regular nails and the way some people just had long fingers. It was something that could tear into a mortal being that wasn't prepared enough, both in skill and equipment.
Judar didn't have the equipment exactly, save for some enchanted light leather that was under his coat, to protect his arms. However, he did have some remaining skill; Speed. Both with movement and the ability to follow and react to events going on. At the same time Iskander shouted the warning, and the woman was ready to close the distance, the younger man leapt and darted backwards in less the time the silver coin passed along.
It seemed she realized the shield coming up, as quick to strike it as she was to go for Judar at that moment. The shade was quite a bit more, probably due to how long she'd been around and infected, along with any previous victims that may have come along. Judar might not have the natural skill or ability he used to, but there was an understanding as the pale hand struck against the shield a second time; It would not be lasting after a third hit.
"You have a meaner spell ready to use on her, big guy?" Oh, he was definitely going to fall back, after getting that initial distance. There's a way one of his legs goes in the quick movement that, with the shake and angle giving the impression of something being wrong, but the faun gets there nonetheless, knowing that every moment was needed at this point. Not just for that third hit, but he could tell just how fast that dead woman was.
no subject
Iskandar shouted his response in his usual jovial manner but that was just on the outside, more of a ruse than his actual mood. That was cool. He has already seen enough. In that short span before the coin landed dragging its shimmering wall behind it, Judar darted back and that dark, thin hand slammed the barrier. Once, twice; it was the force that could tear flesh and break bones. He was sure of it. Sho she was strong, and fast, and most importantly not a ghost at all.
The Wilders were right in the suspicion, unconfirmed as it was, the Woman was a Shade. A terribly cunning one at that if she was able to keep her nature uncertain this long. And yet not his first enemy that was like this. He had killed fast, and strong and cunning in the past. He's going to kill her too.
"Whatever happens don't let her touch you. Pay attention to any exposed skin. And Judar?"
Iskandar looked at the young faun lighting his sword on fire.
"Play something fast. She is fast, I need to be faster."
He kept drummers in his army for the same reason his father did. It's curious how human body reacts to a regular rythm. He can measure his strikes with inhuman speed and precision. He always could. He just needs something to measure them to.
no subject
"Fast, huh," he asked, while getting the guitar fixed back over his body, to be ready for play again. "I think I can build you up into something."
It's easy to say as he starts to warm up into a song with some easy lead-ins. Something that'd build, or erupt, to play around with given their situation.
Amusingly enough, Judar wasn't wholly unfamiliar with the guitar upon showing up. He's played around, messed with other music to toy with the tone and capabilities, enough to make a bit of music. Easier things, though. Since showing up, it felt natural to pick the instrument back up and do things he's never even bothered trying before. Even more, his fingers seemed stronger to handle the demand that harder and faster songs could demand, without getting protective magic to avoid blisters.
In the interim, knowing tactics well enough himself, Judar can tell that he was too close. Given his limitations, it made him a liability, so he continued to ease himself closer to the edges of the battle that was ready to start. It was slow- The faun was taking extra care to keep both legs steady, after the weird way it went before.
hover for translation ;)
"Not really fond of flames are we, eh?"
He saw Judar avert his gaze from the fiery sword. Whatever reason is behind, it will be a hindrance. Something he didn't take into account. Iskandar knows it is his fault for not asking. Not making sure he knows everything that is possible to know before the battle. It could turn out to be a costly mistake.
The woman sees the fire too and lets out a shriek so pained one could assume the flames already got to her. Yet it is all a ruse. A misdirection calculated to disorient them as she is circling, trying to get behind Iskandar, who she already marked as a threat before, even more now that he wields fire. That makes Judar her primary target.
"Change of plans! Stay where you are!"
Iskandar drops the second silver coin at the young faun's feet making it a focus of the spell he casts.
With a sound as from a myriad roaring dragons a wall of shimmering silver rises from the ground shielding Judar from every direction, last bits of silver dissolving in the air as it closes over his head. It might look like a soap bubble, its walls thin and translucent but it is in no danger of breaking.
All traces of humanity are long gone from the creature that was once the woman but the frustrated cry she makes sounds almost human.
There is another branch of the Abjuration school of magic that Iskandar was studying closely for the last months. One having a lot to do with shields. That first one, hastily thrown, that the Shade was able to tear through as if it was a flimsy paper screen? It was but a basic one. It was weak because he had to act fast and by doing so forgone the usual preparation and even verbalising the spell.
The silver wall is one he's most content with. It is also the most draining. Iskandar has to deal with her before he drops down out of sheer exhaustion. All hope now in the sword and the fire. And the song he's trying to sychronise his moves to.
no subject
He can pull himself back into a proper state, but even those few moments were few too many when in a dangerous situation.
At least he was able to keep focus and a clear head with the sudden bubble of silver- energy being used, similar to how his own borg worked- surrounded his entire being. This was familiar, and if the big guy had been practicing and was confident and practiced enough, it'll hold enough. So he could fully go into the music once more, even as the frustrated shade uselessly dragged those black-dipped claws along the shield.
As the music picked up, stronger than before, the woman was smart enough to recognize this as protected bait, to know to expect attacks from the large Witch. She'd also proven intelligent enough to attempt to deceive those around, to understand the context of what kinds of people would be more vulnerable. Enough to wear down the danger and get the more vulnerable prey all the same? She had enough speed to dodge attacks and move around the silver bubble, slashing at it, as if to increase the strain to support the spell. Perhaps trying to wear down the danger enough so that she'd have two succulent targets to prey upon?
no subject
There is not much else he can say. It's obviously his miscalculation that made this battle already longer than it should have been. All now rests on wit and endurance. On outsmarting the monster to get just close enough to deliver the killing blow. Iskandar has noticed that he would not need more than one.
The woman, cunning as she is for a mindless beast, long has relied on tricking her victims. That the prey won't have time to fight back. Much less adapt to her tactics. As sly as she is, she is far from unpredictable. He only needs a few moments more to have her movements completely deciphered. Then he can switch from simply stalling to attack.
no subject
In some ways, this woman was a lot like some animals that Judar's seen. Sure, they could be sly and use that with some amazing speed, but those things alone didn't make whatever victories the animals would have on their hunts. It reminded him, but as the rest of that equation escaped his mind, the faun continued to play at the fast pace that reflected what was going on. Stamping and moving his foot into the ground, his eyes moved away as the woman continued to try and evade while whittling down the barrier's integrity.
Something about the story... It's when his inexperience with being out in the Wildes mix with that, that there's a question that comes about. "Hey, big guy- How's these barriers do against the Cwyld itself?"
If she came about through exposure and time, which spread the stuff's influence, that'd mean it was more present than it seemed, didn't it? Do they interact in any particular way?
Did it turn out that they were in something of a spider den?