Arneth Sen's Story

Adrian felt insulted by Bliston's words. "Does he think I don't know what a thunder is? Does he think I can't even notice something that is slightly far away." He thought while clenching his fists ready to lose it, his usual smile gone stiff as he kept in mind Taethion's word and held back his anger it would be stupid if he flip out from a small insult. Gladly Sylphine knows that he noticed it as well. He heard Bliston said that he can smell blood in the air and Adrian felt a little uneasy. There are conflict everywhere in the world and people dies as he knows it, but he just want to hurry up and help whoever is in trouble near him. Still he just can't just rush ahead without the group's consent. They are a group and he has to respect that, he can't just separate himself from the group.

Guard Sergeant

"Yes sir." The Sergeant said as he led the Captain to the castle. First the Sergeant took Kamlin to the courtyard where the two corpses were.

Most of the faces had been eaten, but there were clear signs that a knife was used to dig into the flesh. There were no bite marks anywhere on their bodies. The knife wounds also showed a blade had been used. The age difference of the bodies was the only aid I'm identifying who was who. Their heads were unrecognizable, even the jaws and teeth were missing.

The guard turned to Kamlin and said, "I understand assassinating an official, but eating them too? What madness is this sir? Was it that demon?"


Lara

"I am part of the Order of the Heart. We are scattered worldwide and work to help benefit society. To become sworn into the Order I must take part in a pilgrimage. This pilgrimage just happens to be along the same route we are taking to slay the dragon. If I help kill the dragon then I might become a saint in my orde-"

Lara stopped to cough and quickly pulled a dark cloth out to cough into it. She looked and saw the dark red and quickly folded the cloth and put it away. She smiled and looked back at Iator before continuing.

"Excuse me, sorry about that. I'm hoping this quest will help me and my order. Have you ever heard of order?"

Day 1

Sylphine glanced in annoyance towards the daemon for referring to her as "bird girl," but reminded herself that she still had only introduced herself to Adrian and Taethion. Giving a quick nod in acknowledgement, she raised a hand, preparing to ascend--

You know what, I got this. Before the emerald-haired girl could move, Pirika flew from her hands and into the air, seemingly unaffected by the winds that were starting to pick up, and the rain that started to fall above them. I'll do the scouting for you. Save your magic for when things really get bad.

"Wha-Pirika?!" Sylphine reached out to stop her, but the bird was already far away in the storm...Fine, just keep yourself safe, she sighed, lowering her arm back to her side.

A few moments later, she heard Pirika's voice again in her head. Oh...my...god. What the HELL is going on here?! Right as she finished saying--er, thinking that--the mental image of the battle up ahead appeared in Sylphine's head...which absolutely stunned her.

There were several human and horse corpses littered about, along with a destroyed wagon and destroyed containers of supplies. Amongst the mess scampered numerous half-lizard, half-man creatures--she counted about 14 that were still moving in some way, while 8 lay motionless in puddles of turquoise...blood, likely. Some were running away, but most were centered around one point, weapons drawn and flashing as they battled. Their opponent was a lone beardless dwarf who wielded a gigantic battle axe, and seemed to be killing them without too much trouble. Oh, and he was very angry--his tremendously loud shouting was proof of that. It was still very audible, even though Pirika was very far away from him.

...I-I think you've done good enough. Get back quickly, Pirika. Still finding the scenery hard to believe, Sylphine described what she saw to the others. "...I would say we should go help him, but it's a complete bloodbath right now," she finished, folding her arms.

Kamlin

The Guard Captain stooped down to inspect the bodies. The blade that was used to kill them was the same used to cut pieces out. The sergeant pointed towards the bushes. "The...liquid behind there is how we know they'd been eaten. It -er seems that it didn't sit well with them."

Kam shook his head. "Bliston was with the guards or me the entire time. Plus, this doesn't really match his MO. The court mage should be able to detect something from the...leavings. At the very least we'll get a direction as to where the assassin is." He covered the bodies. "Let's get these to the morgue, get a cleric to speak with them. Maybe we'll get some answers about their killer. Then they should be laid to rest."

Iator

The gnome shook his head. "I've never heard of the Order of the Heart." He caught sight of her spitting red into a handkerchief but was distracted by the others. Seemed they had caught sight, smell, and sound of a battle nearby. He looked back at the priestess as thunder rolled loudly. "You should tell me more about yourself later." He said, and odd look in his eye.

"So," He looked at the others as the rain started coming down harder. "Shall we be joining the fray?"

"So, shall we be joining the fray?"

Bliston hummed to himself once the mage girl had finished describing the scene."I doubt we even can." He rested his club head on teh ground and leaned on it like a walking stick. "Judging by what the girl described either the dwarf will be dead or lizardfolk. if the they are smart, will cut their losses and rout. Either way I think it unlikely that we'd be able to arrive before the fighting is over."

He looked over the group once more. "That is unless you all are willing to split the group." He noted the ones who were mounted and the ones who were not. The horse riders would have to leave behind the cart driver and the ground walking ones. If they were going full speed then the gnome might not be able to keep up on his pony. In all that would leave only four riders, plus the mage girl. Further more that would be going under the assumption they knew how to control a mount when under attack, and how to fight from on top of it in combat, and that these horses were battle trained.

He relayed these concerns to the others and added, "... Personally, I think it would be a waste effort. I think we should just avoid the mess all together." He eyed over toward where the Paladin and the brats were. "however that's entirely up too you."

Guard Sergeant

"Yes sir, the servant girl was found in a closet." The guard sergeant led the Captain past the closet where the woman had already been removed from.

In the burnt study the sergeant stopped and said, "this is where it happened. The fire was started on the desk and I think it was the clothes of the victims. The fire spread all over the room. I haven't been able to find any more clues since I left to see you sir."

The room was scorched black, save the stone walls. The glass on the window was broken out and standing next to it the bodies could be seen below where they landed.

"Why Lord Dyatt sir?"



Lara

"Oh, a fight? I'll follow you there." Lara said as she held up her shield, hiding behind it.

Lara was very aware of the fight and a mixture of fear and eagerness made her anxious to have her first battle. Seemingly accidental she made her horse bolt towards the battle. She let go of the reins and screamed as the horse increased speed. One of the lizardmen scared her horse and it made a hard left, throwing Lara into the arms of the Lizardman. The two of them tumbled off the road, beyond her comrades line of sight, and into the bushes and trees.

The Lizardman threw her off him and she hit the ground hard. As her foe stood up she unlatched the mace from her belt and struggled to her feet. The monster tackled her with his blade held over his head. She slammed the mace into his chest. The Lizardman snarled in pain. He brins his blade down and hits the dirt as she twists to dodge his attack and wraps her legs around the Lizardman and pushed herself on top of him. She brought her mace down on the lizards face crushing his snout. The creature grabbed her throat and squeezed with all his fading strength. Lara slams her face into the bloody hole on the Lizardman and bit a large chunk out of his face. The creature frantically tried to claw at Lara and grabbed her hair. Her hair retracted and Lara had boyish short hair. She raised her mace once more and brought it down, exploding the lizardmans head. Her hair returned to its normal length and she collapsed on the ground. Her mace lay where it impacted the motionless lizard and she curled up to wait for help.

Taethion nearly swung his head back when the green-haired girl appear floating upside down before them. He chuckled some at her humorous display, but then laughed a bit more harder after her "old story" comment. "Yes, I suppose it is." He spoke. She then formally introduced herself, he hadn't caught her full name before. Adrian then admitted to his folly of acting irrationally angry, but Taethion only smiled. "Don't worry your still learning." He cheerfully spoke. "Anyway, I don't believe I have given my full introduction either." "To be honest I have no last name, but I do have a title, I am Taethion of Gilfried." He spoke announcing his full name or so to speak.

Then came the telltale signs of a thunderstorm brewing, dark clouds and booming thunder claps, but something else could be heard on the horizon. There was screaming and the sounds of clashing iron in the distance. Sylphine sounded worried about what we might be heading into and then Bliston suddenly entered the conversation. Despite his abruptness he did give a good tactical suggestion by having Sylphine scout ahead. If blood can be smelled on the wind then something terrible must be going on ahead, most likely they would find death if they continued further. Sylphine floated back on down to give us the details of what she apparently saw. Bodies, both human, and the creatures he knows to be lizardfolk, and trying to piece the pieces together, it seemed that the Lizardfolk assaulted a caravan. It would seem the only survivor is this beardless Dwarf warrior fighting them to the death.

The decision to decide whether to intervene or not was discussed. Iator wondered if we would enter the fight but Bliston voiced his opinion on the matter. Being the last person he expected to avoid a fight suggested the very act. Maybe Bliston wasn't such a raging ball of carnage like the legends make him out to be. Yet his concerns were made known and he was right, do any of them know mounted combat? Or even have horses that are trained for combat? Taethion looked towards Herod as the rain pounded on the Paladin and his steed. The thunder seems to be annoying him but the sounds of battle were making him restless. "While he may not look it, Herod and I have been through some pretty hairy situations before, and my grandfather has taught me mounted combat, but...," Taethion trailed off, deep into contemplation. Herod was not armored and worried that he might be run through if he charged in. Still he didn't want to abandon the lone survivor if there is a chance to save him, but his delegations would be cut short when the woman he knew nothing about charged in. She was gone before he could say a word and this made him worry. Following soon after was the last person he expected to do anything, the masked man. He quickly walked off towards the combat, maybe he seeks a fight.

"Well Bliston it appears my comrades have made up my mind for me." "I cannot abandon my teammates in their time of need, even if they chose to head into the danger themselves." Taethion spoke. "I will appreciate any assistance you fine fellows could muster, otherwise I'm heading forward." Taethion spoke looking over his shoulder. He then ushered Herod onward as Taethion rode towards the battle as well.

Day 1

While the others were contemplating if they should join the battle, the priestess abruptly rode away. "Eh?! What the-" Groaning, Sylphine put a hand to her face. Way to be a team player, idiot!

And now you're totally going to run in after her, without waiting for the others, Pirika mocked wryly.

Sylphine began to argue, but then realized that basically was what she was about to do. With a sigh of annoyance, she raised her hand, and in a shower of green light and a gust of wind, her staff materialized itself in her hand. The emerald-haired girl twirled it over her head a few times, and the air began to shimmer and glow green around each of her party members, one by one, as a veil of hardened air particles covered their bodies. "It's not quite as good as the armor some of you wear," she explained, "but it'll help protect you from attacks."

Crouching a little, she added, "I don't mean to sound insulting, but you guys wouldn't be able to keep up with me flying, so I'll go in first...or second, seeing as SOMEONE charged in." With that, she kicked off the ground and soared into the rain, ascending 10 m into the air. There was no way anyone she had seen there could attack her from this high up...or so she thought.

In a few minutes, the sight of the destroyed caravan and the lizards' all-out-brawl appeared before her eyes. Pirika was flying just ahead of her, waiting. Stopping directly above the chaos, Sylphine raised her staff, the winds swirling around it. Not hitting that dwarf is going to be a problem, she noted, watching the dwarf struggle in the center of the group. But targeting those fleeing the battle is essentially pointless. So... Her eyes narrowed as they passed over each lizard warrior.

"Hyaaaah!" she shouted, swinging her staff in an arc in front of her body. Small yet precise bursts of air crashed into three of the lizardmen, but didn't do much harm...instead, they turned towards her. At first, Sylphine smiled, knowing her trick of "drawing aggro" had worked, but then...

One of the lizardmen reached for his belt, took out a metal circle which was hollow in the center and sharp on the edges, and threw it straight at her. It was a chakram! Surprised, Sylphine threw out her left hand, and the winds around the projectile shifted, throwing it off-course into the trees to the side of the path. But two more chakram were already in that lizardman's hands...

Gripping her staff with both hands, Sylphine thrust it downwards, the emerald set in its head shining. At that moment, the air directly between the three lizardmen exploded outwards, sending them all flying. Targetting the one with the chakram next, Sylphine turned to face him directly and began to twirl her staff in front of her. The air began to twist in front of her, faster and faster, until a small cyclone blasted forwards, straight towards him. Somehow, he managed to dodge, but...

Before he could regain his balance, he let out a howl of pain as blood spurted from his body from a slash to his back. Out of thin air, another wound appeared in his neck, and with one more scream he died. From behind him, Pirika flew back up to join her master, having dealt the killing blow while the lizardman couldn't do anything. Well, not bad, I guess, she commented jokingly.

"It did take a bit longer than I wanted," Sylphine admitted, raising her staff once again to deal with the other two whose attention she had attracted.

Seeing that most already went ahead, Adrian grinned as he rode toward the battle as well. He himself doesn't know how to do a mounted battle, but he really doesn't have to know how. He can just simply get off when he get there. The problem is, the one the have to help is the drawf, but the ones clearly in danger was the lizardfolks. They are mostly categorized as a monster race and a harm to those who are not. "Is it alright to kill them?" This question echoed in his mind. He scratch his head in iritation. "Damn! Screw it!" He yelled, not coming to any conclusion. He was already closing in and saw the raging combat. He has poor vision in the rain and can't see the small child slaying lizardmen as well.

He sped toward the dwarf's direction and he slowly stood up on the back of the horse while keeping a good balance. He closed in as the horse ran past some lizardmen and Adrian jumped off and performed a flying kick aimed at a lizardman. Hitting it square on the back with mass x acceleration damage of (60mph horse speed + 10mph Adrian's jump) x 60kg Adrian's weight. The horse continued running and stopped meters away. "Good I didn't loss my steed." He thought as he momentarily looked at it as he slid on the muddy surface of the ground, using the one he kicked like a surfboard (unintentionally?).

Every lizardmen surrounding the dwarf stopped on their tracks after the sudden entrance of the young man. He dashed forward to another one of the lizardman while it's still surprised and hook kicked it in the face. Before jumping backward as they snapped back to reality. He kept his sword by his waist and taunt them by waggling his fingers toward himself with a clear message of. "Bring it on." It was the best way he thought, in order to beat them without killing them and to not let them be killed by the rampaging dwarf.

(I sincerely apologize as I bow infront of my post as I might be accused of godmodding as I stopped their fight in my post.) orz kneels

Iator

The gnome watched as first Lara and then several others rushed ahead into the battle. He looked over towards Bliston and shrugged. "If it's any consolation," he said looking at the half fiend, "I think that this is pointless too." He looked at Gale and Asha, wondering if they would join the fight or not, but dismissed the thought. It wasn't his problem, they could fend for themselves. He pushed the pony forward and began trotting towards the fight, speaking words of power as he did so.

Jor

The dwarf parried the thrusts of several weapons, roaring in rage as the battle changed around him. His smaller wounds began to close up as a blast of wind cleared up some space nearby, allowing him a second to breathe. As more and more people entered the fray, the lizardfolk were beginning to grow distracted.

Jor took advantage of one particularly long pause created by a human child flying into one of the lizardfolk. As the creatures all looked towards the child, Jor decapitated three in one swing. His anger spiked as he was struck from behind by a lizard's sword. He screamed and turned towards the the attack to see another, smaller child, joining the fight as well. His sight began to cloud a little as the rage built up in him.

Kamlin

"Why Lord Dyatt, sir?" The sergeant asked. Kamlin shook his head as he surveyed the scene. "That's what we're going to find out."

Lana wrenched out her blade from one of the corpses, splashing the slathered blood away on the ground. Looking up, she saw other people coming in from a distance, some having already joined the fight against the lizardmen. She squinted with some hint of irritation and perplexity.

What are these idiots doing? she thought sourly, watching them whittle down the numbers of the lizardmen. Do they think they're saving us? She swept low and spun around with both of her blades in full swing, severing the legs off of one that had tried to sneak up behind her before stomping its head into a messy pulp. I come out to blow off a little steam and this is what happens. Amazing.

~

Asha said nothing for a while, listening to the others discuss the obstacle in front of them.

"It doesn't matter," she shrugged. "But we may as well go around if we're not looking for any trouble."

"I'd say go for it, personally, but I like to save my energy," Gale grinned. "I'm not so great a dealing with crowds."

Lara

Lara sat staring at the dead Lizardman while she chewed on the meat she's bitten from him. It was tough to chew, but had a sweet taste. She reached for her mace and picked pieces of meat off it and are them as well. Finally she stood up and saw she was covered in the lizardman's blood from the fight. She seemed to pray over the body and finished eating while she prayed.

After, she rushed back to the road to survey the fighting. The dwarf was ferocious and Lara seemed to be frightened by him. She rushed to Iator and said, "Iator! I lost control of my horse and was thrown into those lizard people. I killed him..."

The realization set in that Lara had taken the life of a sentient creature. She grew quiet as she studied her blood soaked outfit. Her arms and her face were red as well from the fight. She felt sick and spat on the ground, trying not to throw up.




Guard Sergeant

The Sergeant waves the clerics and mage to enter the room and said to Kamlin, "The clerics and the court Mage have arrived sir. Hopefully they can figure this out and save the king..."

Day 1

A gust blasted hard into the second lizardman's face, causing him to flinch and shut his eyes. Immediately, Sylphine landed in front of him, swept her staff low, and knocked his feet out from underneath him. Before he could fall, she spun around, rammed the head of her staff into him, and fired a burst of air that threw him into the third lizardman.

While the two went sprawling, Pirika swooped down, let out a shrill cry, and speared both of them through with a blade of air from her beak. Once she pulled back a meter or so, the bird flapped her wings, sending smaller blades of wind that struck at their vitals. With that, all three of the lizardmen they took on were dead.

Dusting off her rain-soaked sleeves, Sylphine glanced over her shoulder at the fighting. Amidst all the chaos, there were only 5 lizardmen still active. Adrian had already taken out 2 and was trying to challenge the rest of them all at once, but the dwarf was still rampaging and had taken out 3 more. There was a girl whom she didn't recognize with two swords attacking another bandit, while that man in the mask was...digging. Great. That would...help...a lot. Yeah.

But when her eyes settled on the priestess, whom she spotted a little distance into the forest kneeling above the corpse of her opponent, Sylphine's eyes went uncharacteristically wide. That blood across the woman's hands and mouth, the way she was moving her jaw right now, the random pieces of unknown material she was taking off her mace and putting in her mouth...suddenly, Sylphine felt very nauseous. Her hand flew to her mouth, thinking the contents of that feast from earlier were about to spill out, and her knees buckled, causing her to collapse.

Pirika followed her gaze, and looked very confused. Humans do that? Huh, I thought they'd consider themselves more civilized then that. Looking down at Sylphine, she realized that her tamer was being negatively affected by watching it. What the...Sylphine! Get a hold of yourself! Stop watching, NOW! When the girl didn't respond, Pirika flew right in front of her face, hiding the entire sight with her feathers. Are you alright?

Slowly, Sylphine uncovered her mouth, and pulled in a few shaky breaths. ...y-yeah...s-sorry, I almost lost it there, she replied, using her staff to support herself as she stood back up. I-I don't know why, but it looks a lot more wrong when a human does it than when an animal like you does something like that...sorry if that was offensive.

Eh, I'm used to you faulting my behavior by n- Pirika suddenly stopped the thought, a new realization dawning on her. Wait. I just thought of something. Sylphine...what if that priestess isn't really human? Moreover, just whose side is she really on?!

"H-huh?!" The tamer's eyes snapped up, surprise reflected in them. Where are you getting all this from?!

You've been thinking it already, the bird reminded her. You were suspicious of her very presence, because her attitude didn't seem right. Then she suddenly rode away from your party, and now we find her...doing...you know what to the enemies she killed. And look! Her wing pointed to the left, and Sylphine glanced in that direction to see the priestess fleeing away from the battle, back the way she came. Where the others who hadn't entered the fight should be...

There wasn't really much of a solid base from Pirika's argument, but Sylphine, still shaken after what she had seen, started to get scared thinking about what might happen to the others. But at that moment, two of the remaining lizardmen broke off from his group and tried to flee, and one crashed into the emerald-haired girl as he did so. Immediately thinking his chance for escape was gone and panicking, he swung his club down, and Sylphine had to roll out of the way.

Not even having a chance to get up, Sylphine found the lizardman going after her again. She fired a burst of air and sent him smashing into the ground backfirst, giving her enough time to stand up. We'll deal with that priestess later! she insisted. We don't have enough proof right now, and we still have to stay here to help Adrian and the others!

Bliston exhaled a breath of irritation. After the useless pilgrim went bolting off on her mount what little semblance of group cohesion fell apart in a hurry. One by one, half the party raced off. Those that didn't either stayed where they were or followed at a less hurried pace.

Bliston was one of the later group. At least someone needed to stay back and guard the wagon carrying all their traveling supplies in the event that this raiding party up ahead wasn't alone. He grunted when Iator threw in his two cents on the mater as he passed. Without anything else to do at this point he simply grabbed the reigns of the lead wagon horse and began pulling forwards, much to said horses load disapproval of the daemon's proximity. All the while as he was trailing behind the others to catch up he was muttering about "useless bloody pilgrims."

Jor

Jor closed the distance with the girl quickly, raising his axe and screaming in fury. If he knew what he was doing, he might have hesitated. As it was, he had almost gone mad with rage.

Lana barely turned around in time to see the man who'd been fighting off the lizardfolk earlier, only this time he was aiming straight for her. She instinctively put both of her blades up in front of her. What is this psychopath doing? she thought, her weapons taking the full force of the axe - Her entire body shook from the impact and she could feel her bones rattle, her knees nearly buckling from the single strike. He's a lot stronger than I thought...She put some distance between them and squinted a little, trying to make out what exactly she was up against. It was rare to find a human that strong...no, a dwarf? Pretty big for one, but this really wasn't the time to differentiate. She twirled her blades in her hands, circling slowly a few seconds before charging in herself, her first strike a reckless diagonal slash as her other blade wound up for the follow up strike in the same direction.

The dwarf parried the first strike almost absorbing the entire brunt of the powerful hit. It was just enough to throw off his guard, however and the second strike caught him in the side met first by resistance from armor and then even stronger resistance from his flesh. He roared in what might have been pain and brought the heel of the axe down towards her head.

The backbone of Lana's combat style revolved around maintaining a flow to her movements, usually following her previous motions to some extent regardless of what her enemy was doing - while it was poor for adapting, it was what she knew how to do best and, if nothing else, worked excellently with the way she wielded her blades. After she'd slashed twice, she made a fast, full turn and saw the blunt end of the axe coming down - she went low and kept the rhythm, circling around until she was practically back-to-back with the enemy that she was fighting with, her arms stretched out, as were here blades - the improvised routine ended with her facing Jor about the same time he'd finished hitting the air. It didn't give her any room to counter attack, but she was a patient fighter and could bait out reckless openings as she saw them.

Jor's swing hit nothing as the girl's swift movements brought her around him and back again. Her dancing actually caused Jor to get even more frustrated. He brought the axe down to his side and quickly dragged it along the ground and up, trying to send mud into her face. Then he followed through with a swing from the other side.

Lana narrowly moved her out of the clump of mud's trajectory and barely had enough to put her blades up to defend the following attack - except this time, he was striking from the side rather than downward and given her weight, she was promptly sent tumbling to the side, the blood on her clothes mixing with the thick, wet mud. She recovered and wiped some of it from her face, figuring that this wasn't working out very well. He didn't seem to take much damage from her initial attack so she decided to step it up a notch in hopes of coming to a resolution before she's worn out. She pulled her mask over her face and the black empty sockets suddenly had an eerie red glow to them, the warm tone of her skin turning to a sickly gray as she stretched outward in size, several of her bones protruding from her flesh in a grotesque manner. Like the dwarf, in this form, her mind went partially blank and she completely dropped her dancing combat form, betting on a head-to-head confrontation. She slammed the ground with a bestial roar and the earth cratered, sprinting toward him and, right as she entered range, pulling her arms up and slamming down both blades toward him with full force.

A normal axe might have snapped at the strength of the monster's swords coming down on it with full strength. The Kuld was not a normal axe. The mud and blood had been mixing for a while and the soft ground gave in under the combined pressure of the massive blow and Jor's weight. He was past his knees in the gloop when his body began to shake. He roared a monstrous roar as his veigns bulged and he began to grow. In a matter of seconds, he had almost doubled in size, matching the monster in both strength and weight. He pushed at the blades, trying to send her off of her feet.

As Lana had grown, so had Jor, his massive strength multiplied as he shoved back. However, she'd maintained a firm hold in the ground after her strike, sliding back only an inch or two from the resistance. She twirled her blades once and brought them together from both sides.

The now massive dwarf pushed himself backwards away from the swords. His left fist found a nearby wagon wheel and he chucked it at her like a discus.

While unaware of the dwarf's abilities, Lana knew that her own transformation ran on limited time so she charged forward, making sure she stuck to him like glue for the entire duration. She smashed the wheel out of the way as she dashed toward him, this time attempting to overwhelm him with a continuous assault rather than single, powerful attacks, swinging her blades separately but closely together.

The dwarf brought his axe to a defensive position, the blades smacking into it one after another. From all his work he spent trying to block the attacks, he was unable to get in any of his own. The damage he had taken before began to lessen and though he was still raging, his mind began to clear a bit.

That was about half the duration already, she needed to think of something fast before it wore off - seeing how he was still solidified in a defensive position, Lana did something quite bold and let go of her swords, attempting to use her full strength to tackle him to the ground - if he was down, the axe would be too unwieldy and large to maneuver, if he was still holding onto it at that point.
Jor didn't expect to be tackled and was knocked to the ground and into the mud. His axe, which never left his hands, wasn't much help with the beast on top of him.

It seemed to work out in Lana's favor - the tackle was successful and Jor was still holding his axe, and that meant he couldn't exactly move her hands away when she moved in to grip his skull to crush it. Just a few more seconds...

Jor saw her moving in to grab his skull and he reached out to grab her with his free hand, his long arms giving him enough reach to grab at her throat.

Iator

As Iator sauntered up on his pony, the priestess ran up to him, bragged about a kill, and then began sobbing. He shook his head in irritation at the almost childlike impulses of the woman. He didn't have time for this. His attention was instead drawn by the sounds of powerful beasts. His jaw dropped as he watched the two giants fight. He noticed that nearly all of the lizardmen had been taken down and yet these two...creatures were still having at it. He shrugged inwardly and released the charm spell that he had been building up for the dwarf and the lizardfolk. The spell was like ethereal arrows being shot into their cores, meant to shut down all feelings of anger or rage. This shut down Jor completely, and he started shrinking immediately. His rage gone, Jor was almost confused as to why he was even there.

Lana stumbled back, having already begun the revert by the time he'd grabbed her throat. She fell onto her knees and hacked, pulling her mask up as she massaged her neck, tasting blood in her mouth and spitting it out. At this point she was incredibly disoriented and could hardly tell was going on anymore, shivers suddenly having gone down her spine. She looked up with blurry eyes and gradually pieced back the circumstances again, though she was too exhausted to really do anything else. She held her position and let out a hoarse wheeze, knowing she'd need to get that treated.

Jor began to feel all the different spots on his body where he had been cut. An especially deep slice was stinging his side and he felt a migraine begin where the girl had tried to crush his skull. He sat up slowly rubbing his face and pulling his axe close to him.
The gnome tsked at the two and shook his head. "What a waste of time and effort. The Lizards are all gone or dead, you know."

Lana tried to say, "And this nut thought it was a good idea to attack me," but it didn't exactly come out in words, but rather in the form of harsh coughing and spitting blood.

Kamlin

The guard captain bowed to the assembly before him. He had the remains of the victims brought to the room along with the blood-vomit from the courtyard. The different spell casters began to work their magic, gaining clues from their conversations with the dead and from their divination. Kam sat still and silent, working over the crime in his mind and waiting for the others to finish their work.

Behind Iator, Bliston followed a few seconds after. The daemon took stock of the dead bodies strewn around. He hummed to himself, just taking in the damage. He hadn't been their for the most of the fighting, but he did arrrive just in time to witness the final bout between the transformed bodies of the dwarf and the... Vasqueran. It was interesting to him. He had not seen one of their tribes in the region for quite some time, and found it surprising that a child of their kin would be so far out here on their own. They both had proven to be skilled. The corspes laid out around them and the bout between the two was proof of that. This could be a potential opportunity.

"Oi, choir boy." He shouted toward Taethion. "Stop standing there slack jawed. Go tend to their wounds if please would." He then turned toward the priestess. "You too pilgrim." Then he turned again, leaving the wagon next to the gnome, and headed towards the ruined remains of the caravan.

he rooted through the wreckage a bit. There were more dead here, but mostly peasants as it seemed clear that the fighting had started to move off away once the more capable combatants started getting into the thick of it. Bliston considered trying to loot something out of the smashed carts, but decided against it. Anything useful had already been taken or ruined by the fighting and the rain.

It was then that Bliston spotted what he had been looking for. There, lying on it's side and grasping the gaping wound on it's chest, was one of the lizardfolk. Bliston had briefly spotted it get up from where it had been struck, and limp its way toward the ruined carts before collapsing once again into the muck.

Kneeling down, the daemon reached out and placed a hand on the dying lizardman's sholder. The smaller reptilian creature filched at the touch. He stopped moving entirely though when he heard the daemon speak.

"Shalveil sssavi, moak iver." Hello there, swamp strider.

Slowly, and with some pain, the lizardman turned upward to see the face of the daemon staring down at him. You speak saxhaal?

Yes, I do. Bliston grinned a bit. And more importantly, I have a few questions I would like to ask of you.

Adrian was dumbfound by the monstrous combat he witnessed between the beardless dwarf and little girl as they turn into giants. He could only watch as the two had a death match. They actually scared him, not by their strength, but by their murderous intent, but more than that, it was frustrating. It was almost as if they would kill anybody that get near them, but Iator just simply break them off like children. Iator was probably the most mature one in the group. He shook his head as he saw them, seriously wounded. He saw Bliston a little distance away and commanding the healers to tend the wounds of the two.

He quickly rushed toward the two as well. The fight was over... There won't be anymore problem. Atleast that's what he believes.

Taethion kept defending himself from the Lizardfolk's attacks. They were unfocused and a bit wild, but no less dangerous. Before he could open up for a counterattack a loud, bestial roar resounded about the battlefield. The Lizardfolk suddenly stopped his assault and looked towards the sound of the roar. It quickly fumbled over itself and ran away in fear. Taethion swung around to see what scared the lizardman so badly, and he received his answer. Some creature with horns, and bones acting like spikes jutting forth. It's sickly gray skin gave it the visage of some terrible demon. Whatever it was, it was fighting the Dwarf! While Taethion was about to give aide to the warrior, the battle escalated to heights he didn't expect to see.

Quickly the Dwarf soon grew himself into a size to match the beast he was fighting with. It was all rather fantastic and incredibly dangerous, so much so Taethion halted and was unsure of how to proceed. The fight was like some crazy thing found out of a storybook. Then at the moment when the clash seemed to have reached it's climax, the two combatants suddenly stopped. Taethion was confused at this startling development, he could have sworn they were prepared to kill each other. Yet this answer would also be answered in the form of Iator. He assumed Iator did the same spell he performed to end the Foreigner's bout. He was happy they weren't prepared to rip each other apart, but surprisingly the monster was in fact the girl. Just what is this girl?

Bliston arrived and decided to insult him and order him around. Still despite his bluntness he was right, these two were injured and needed help. He looked over to see the priestess from earlier, at least she is okay though looks like she had to get dirty herself and kill some Lizardfolk. "Alright, good I could use your help with these two, come on!" He called out to the priestess as he ran for the two warriors. They both sustained pretty good injuries but he noticed the discomfort in the Dwarf's head and the Girl's throat. The Dwarf could be suffering from a concussion, but the girl is coughing up blood, she could have a bloody mouth or blood is filling up her lungs. He decided to mutter some words to himself, and for a while it seemed he was talking to himself. The muttering went on for a while actually, but he was speaking as fast as he could. When he finished he breathed and the waved his hand over the girl. She would notice bright lights beginning to envelope her entire body like an cocoon. They would never touch her but she would begin to notice her superficial wounds instantly healing, and the more grievous damage would slowly heal. Once completed, the lights will disappear and she should feel like her old self again. Albeit probably still a bit sore.

Day 1

Just as Sylphine disposed of that last lizardman, she heard the clashing of metal ringing out once more. But what she saw was a little girl fighting the dwarf from earlier--and doing ridiculously well, to boot! And, as if things couldn't get weirder, the little girl transformed into some kind of beast, while the dwarf somehow doubled in size. "What...the hell..." she muttered, not sure if what she was seeing was actually happening.

Abruptly, she sensed some sort of energy being released, and the transformations reverted, leaving the dwarf and the little girl in their original forms. Gazing in the direction from which that energy was released, she saw it was the gnome from earlier, accompanied by the rest of the party. Already, Taethion and...the priestess...were being asked to heal the dwarf and the girl, and Bliston was interrogating one of the lizardmen about something or other.

What are you waiting for? Go tell them about what you saw her do! Pirika urged.

But though Sylphine was still mistrustful of the priestess, she knew she didn't have much to go on, and the only two people whom she had had any interaction with whatsoever were standing right next to that woman. There weren't many other people who would believe her...the gnome seemed affable enough, right? No, no...this should wait for later. Seeing her hesitance caused Pirika to let out another long sigh, but this one was much more annoyed than before.

She lifted up her staff, which appeared to dissolve into fragments of emerald light and scatter away on the wind. Once it had vanished, she walked over to the others and raised a different question, not to anyone in particular, but rather to the party as a whole. "Shall we bury them now?" It was a custom in practically all parts of the land, wasn't it?

Pravus

As Pravus dug combat waged on around him. He saw lizard men getting killed left and right. The dwarf in his rage had attacked the girl and they both traded blows before growing larger. Looks like I'll need to dig a bigger grave. He started expanding the hole when Iator interfered with their fight like he had done with his and the Elven woman. He just shrugged, putting a bit of dirt back into the hole and patting it into the wall with the flat of his shovel. The pit he dug was about six feet deep and wide enough to accommodate the number of fallen he needed to bury. Gripping the ledge of his pit he pulled himself from the earthen mass grave he had made for the reptilian raiders.

He walked with purpose towards the nearest body. The ground was wet with blood, clinging to his boots in the form of reddish mud. The wind which at this point was highly excited from the use of the wind mage's magic blew against his cloak. It billowed with the shifting of the air yet thanks to the ties along the seem it did not open. He reached down and picked up the gruesome corpse, hoisting it onto his shoulder. Taethion and the other girl were tending to the two enchanted warriors who were here before them but what the half-breed was doing caught his attention more. Much like back in the wine cellar with the maid he could understand the language the lizard man and the half breed were speaking. The range of this amulet was impressive, he had to wonder if it had any linguistic limitations at all.

"Shall we bury them now?" The wind mage asked to no one in particular. He was already one step ahead of her, carrying the dead body back over to the grave he dug. He dropped the body in as gently as he could given the circumstance but the landing for it was still a bit rough. He could be more careful with the bodies but seeing as how there were quite a few more to carry over he could only spare so much care for how well he drops the body in and remain practical. He could only be so gentle with these bodies without sacrificing too much speed. He had a process for burying these bodies quickly without sacrificing his care for their state which he had honed through repetition. It's worked for him so far so he kept on track, turning from the pit and going over to retrieve another body. Whatever else could be said of him, he definitely knew how to dispose of corpses.