Session 01 Team CARP

[20:00] <@ArgentGM> You did it! You got accepted into the Pendragon Institute, Camlann's premiere Adventurer's Academy - and arguably the best in all the world. Located on an otherwise deserted island some half a dozen miles off Port Camelot, the Institute employs the Longsword Class Ferryship HMS Windrunner to shuttle students to and from the mainland.
[20:03] <@ArgentGM> You find yourself aboard one of the ship's final runs for the day, one of a handful of students who've taken to the open upper decks. The air's a bit thin at this altitude, but with the sun just a short ways above the horizon, the view just can't be matched. The sky's been painted a patchwork of orange fading to blue, with the clouds slowly shifting from puffy white wisps to deep grey streaks.
[20:05] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven nods quietly at the sunset, thinking a quiet prayer to the Red Dream out of long-ingrained habit, before resuming his cleaning of his weapon.
[20:05] <Caldia> "Well, it could be worse." The blonde with the black Cambion eyes muttered, glancing around. "This is just, SO boring. But the view's nice. I wonder how long the trip is?" She continued, not leaving it clear if she was thinking out loud, or legitimately asking.
[20:06] * Cirrus` | A thin, smartly dressed student leans against the railing, the wind blowing through his silver hair. Matching small fans of feathers each with a single black arrowstripe in them are arranged above his pointed, elven ears, and in his hand he holds a lowered book, as he stares out into the distance, even the setting sunlight not masking the blue glow in his eyes.
[20:07] <@ArgentGM> Night has yet to fall, but she'll be coming soon. Your fellow students and student hopefuls mill about the deck - one girl leaning dangerously off the bow, her bright eyes searching for Pendragon tower. A boy sits on the port side, up against the helmroom, sketching out a girl looking wistfully at the sunset, framed in the light of the lighting that binds the great ring of nightmare crystal to the ship, keeping it aloft.
[20:07] * Cirrus` quickly found out he can't actually read on this boat without getting slight motion sickness, but he had his book out which made him look intellectual and focused, so there was no need to put it away.
[20:09] * Allandria treads by Caldia's side, hanging off as a pawn as the servant should be, rather than seeming imposing or overbearing like some nanny. She dressed as she ever did, in a simple maid's dress that was impeccably clean. "It shant be much longer, Miss Caldia. The others seem so ansty on deck, they must know we're close to the school." The youkai made no attempt to
[20:09] * Allandria hide her nature as the segmentedly armored stinger stuck up from a bundle of cloth between where skirt became top, to afford herself decency.
[20:10] <@ArgentGM> One girl seems to have cornered another, a squeaking redhead who can't get a word in. Up by the bow, a young woman wielding a tremendously large weapon just finished batting around a spearwoman, whose quick frame couldn't keep up with her brute strength.
[20:11] * Caldia took on a small frown, looking down to her bag. "I wonder if I'm gonna be able to find my stuff there... I mean, I packed a few, but I didn't bring enough to go and- Hold up..." She said, glancing up at what appeared to be a spar wrapping up. Or some kind of actual fight, if not a very intense one. "Antsy is right, this got interesting." She said, a small
[20:11] * Caldia smile returning as she started to walk towards the pair.
[20:12] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven raises an eyebrow at the sight in the bow. Was this an informal spar, or some interpersonal spat? Regardless, one used a weapon quite similar to his own, so he settled his gaze upon the pair.
[20:12] <Rareven_Lirodni> Oh? Someone else was coming in. Interesting.
[20:12] <@ArgentGM> A young man with platinum hair and eyes that speak his nephilim heritage looks up at Caldia when she asks her question: "Well, ships like this travel what, maybe 12 knots? 15 if we've got the wind, ten if it's against us? School's maybe 30 miles off the coast, so if I were to wager, we've probably got maybe half an hour."
[20:13] <Caldia> Oooh, fantastic. Not too long, but plenty of time to have a looksee....
[20:15] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven frowned slightly, trying to check the man's math in his head.
[20:15] <Rareven_Lirodni> However, Dwarves were not known for nautical pursuits, so knots weren't a term he knew offhand.
[20:16] * Cirrus` has a clear view of the redhead from where he stands, and while it does look concerning, he decides to wait until the situation cleared up before he stepped in. After all, it wouldn't reflect well on him to jump to inclusions and interrupt something he had no business in, like an overeager entrant drunk off the idea of chivalry.
[20:16] <@ArgentGM> "Oho, good bout, good bout!" the blonde young cambion offers the spearwoman a hand up, who graciously accepts it. "Any other challengers? If we just leave sparring to class, we'll never hit our full potential!"
[20:18] * Allandria blinks her grey slitted eyes about where Caldia looked, then back to the focus of the spar. A broom was tucked away upon her back, like how one would keep a overbearing sword tucked off. Bristles were thrown askew at the base, it saw a good deal of work, yet for some reason it was entirely made of metal. Seems a bit counter productive to be used on floor.
[20:18] * Caldia shakes her head, but approaches nonetheless. "That was super impressive! Like, I'm kinda stunned." She said, indicating the woman's weapon. "I don't think I'm up for a go, though. Too excited to focus!" She lied, offering a smile to the woman. "I'm Caldia, by the way."
[20:19] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven frowns slightly before taking a look at the quasi-daemonic woman. Was she not worried about a badly timed roll or dodge, or even simple impact sending someone to their death below?
[20:20] <@ArgentGM> Near the back of the ship, the girl who has the other one cornered stops staring at the smaller one and finally says something. "My, my, what's a cute little strawberry like you doing at a school for adventurers, hmm?"
[20:20] <Rareven_Lirodni> He knew all here were the best that could be gathered, from nobility to street rats, but they were students all, even him. Mistakes were not something to be considered exceptional.
[20:21] <Cirrus`> Well. That development could also be taken in quite a few ways. Cirrus casts his eyes away - but still eavesdrops on the pair.
[20:23] <Rareven_Lirodni> Still, the feather-fall runes on these ships should mean that absent a being of pure anti-magic showing, it should be acceptably safe.
[20:23] <Rareven_Lirodni> And in that occasion there would be greater issues.
[20:24] <Rareven_Lirodni> Like the fact the whole airship would fall out of the sky.
[20:24] <@ArgentGM> The cambion grins at Caldia, offering one of her hands, which could have been the size of spades, to the young noblewoman. "Pleased ta meetcha! Name's Renee Valentine - you sure you're not up for a round or two? Nothing kills the nerves like getting the blood pumping."
[20:24] * Allandria gives Caldia's shoulder a weak squeeze and murmurs to her,"Showboating isn't how to properly train, you know."
[20:25] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven's helmet conceals a raised eyebrow. A maid instructing her... mistress? Hm. He was unsure of the proper terms for humans. Still, servant instructing master was interesting.
[20:26] <Rareven_Lirodni> But nothing here was going to interfere with his goal.
[20:26] <Rareven_Lirodni> Still, he kept an eye on the threesome of cambion, human, and youkai. If they sparred, he may learn something of it.
[20:26] * Caldia gives a nod to Allandria even as she takes the offered spadehand. "Maybe, but I kinda wanna be fresh for whatever we see. Like, maybe you could look me up sometime later, maybe?" She offered, before nodding to her friend. "I'm not here to make a sceeene. Besides, you know what'd happen." She muttered, her tone finally turning a little dark as she recalled
[20:26] * Caldia her little 'problem.' One on one duels were not kind to her, considering.
[20:27] <Rareven_Lirodni> Knowledge was power. Teach it well.
[20:27] <@ArgentGM> The smaller girl that the larger human called 'strawberry' shudders to get something out. "W-well... m'dad was an adventure... and his dad too, all the way back to before the accords formalized things..."
[20:27] <Rareven_Lirodni> Oh, no duel? Hm. Hopefully he would not be challenged. He wasn't especially skilled in single combat. He was a guardian, not a sentinel.
[20:28] * Cirrus` also casts his eyes to the conversation, especially to the first one who spoke - her tone was focused and stern. Someone who wasn't treating this like a game. Seeing it was that youkai in the maid costume, his eyebrows shift - she'll be an easy one to remember, it seems.
[20:29] * Allandria apparently had a much louder murmur than she previously thought.
[20:30] <@ArgentGM> "Hey, if you can't have fun while you work, you might need a new career," Renee addresses Allandria perhaps a bit too snippily, before letting her shoulders slump and acquiescing. "Well, if you're not up for it, you ain't up for it."
[20:31] * Cirrus` was the same distance from Allandria's whispered conversation as he was from the one he was actively keeping tabs on. He was good at noticing things.
[20:31] <Caldia> "Hey, like, I appreciate it." She said, offering another smile. "But I'll have to make it up to you, yeah? Just not good for it right now, I don't even know what I'm getting into here." She offers, waving at their... admittedly empty surroundings, before noticing some more of the students. "Oh, hey." She mumbled, looking over her surroundings like this was
[20:31] <Caldia> new to her.
[20:32] <Rareven_Lirodni> Hm. The knight woman with her unusual escort was apparently unfamiliar with the airship.
[20:32] <Rareven_Lirodni> Hopefully the escort was in the assistant sense and not the sense he had heard used in the bawdier groups of his house.
[20:33] <Rareven_Lirodni> Those had gotten strange at times.
[20:33] <Rareven_Lirodni> Still, very little of this was his business. Nobody was interfering with learning or the acquisition of learning in some form, nor were they dealing with him or his house.
[20:33] * Allandria rolls them eyes. "I'll get my resume up in as soon as possible then."
[20:36] * Cirrus` , too, thought himself above all this. These were all upcoming students. Reputation, connections, procedure - all of them had already begun the moment they all gathered here, and those treating this like a warm-up were bound to fall behind. Cirrus was observing, and collecting information.
[20:36] <@ArgentGM> "Family tradition, then?" the taller, darker woman tells the cornered redhead more than she asks. "Well, my family has a tradition of our own~" Leaning in far too close for the redhead's comfort, she whispers something into the smaller student's ear that all put painted her face red.
[20:37] * Cirrus` | That was how he decided the best way to get ahead was to stand smugly on the sidelines, looking detached.
[20:41] * Caldia sighs, turning back to her friend. "You know, we can always have a -little- fun." She said, pouting a bit. "But I just didn't wanna go and make an idiot outta myself before I knew what I was doing, you know?" She asked, her eyes wandering over all of the interesting looking people. "Heeeey, which one do you think I should bother?" She added, leaning in a
[20:41] * Caldia little closer to Allandria, despite not bothering to whisper.
[20:42] <Rareven_Lirodni> Oh dear.
[20:42] <Rareven_Lirodni> An extrovert.
[20:42] * Cirrus` coughs heavily into his hand as he catches the content of the whisper, almost dropping his book but catching it quickly. Well. Looks like he indeed had no business with their dealings. Yep.
[20:43] <@ArgentGM> "Uh - um - well, I..." the redhead tries to stammer something out, but the larger girl puts a finger on her lips and winks, cutting her off: "We'll meet up tomorrow by the sky docks, okay? It's a date~"
[20:43] * Cirrus` wonders whether he should listen a bit more just in case though.
[20:44] * Cirrus` watches the larger girl walk away, and turns to the redhead to see if he can read her expression, curious about what she thought of the whole exchange when she couldn't get much of a word in.
[20:47] * Allandria rises and falls with a sigh. Hmpf. She too gave the group a few looks before falling upon the lonesome Cirrus,"Not to sound rude but, he looks quiet and meek enough to look like he's hiding something away. Or, he's just gentle. Both maybe. I think he'd be good to talk to."
[20:48] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven lets out a faint sigh of relief.
[20:48] * Cirrus` has quite a sharp gaze, and had been looking around the boat as if he was mildly dissatisfied with a bit of everything. If he'd heard that conclusion, he would have been very curious how Allandria had come to it.
[20:49] * Cirrus` was a bit too busy paying attention to the redhead, though - for a completely different reason than the youkai maid's stern advice earlier, he somehow had the feeling that girl would stay in his memory for a while.
[20:49] <@ArgentGM> The redhead sort of slumps down, beet red and... confused, as the black-haired girl walks off with a smug smile on her face. That's punctuated by the screech of the loudspeakers turning turning on, followed by the smooth voice of a well-spoken thirty-something "Good evening, upper deck, this is Knight-Leftenant Jace Corso, your pilot for this evening."
[20:50] <Caldia> "Ooooh, that does sound fun." She said, grinning toothily for a moment before schooling her face again, walking in the direction of the 'quiet and meek' looking fellow. "Hi!" She says, almost as soon as she started walking. "What brings you here?" She asked, making to close the distance between them. "I'm Caldia," She added, holding out her hand, only to
[20:50] <Caldia> give a small jump at the loudspeaker going off.
[20:50] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven stops his cleaning and rapidly repacks his weapon
[20:50] <Rareven_Lirodni> Knowledge was being given.
[20:52] <@ArgentGM> "We're about twenty minutes out now, and the weather map looks like we'll be clear of turbulence for the ride." He pauses for the moment. "Now, I'd direct all of you to take a look off the starboard side - it looks like we've got some Class 1 Dreaded heading our way. Nothing out of the ordinary for this stretch, but..."
[20:53] * Cirrus` jumps at the approach, thrown completely off-beat and looking like he was caught doing something he shouldn't have been, but the loudspeaker gave him time to recover, fixing his posture and giving Caldia a concerned look, tilting his head towards the speakers to gesture it wasn't the time for talking.
[20:53] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven immediatly begins loading his weapon's barrels, both of them.
[20:53] <@ArgentGM> "Well, we're gonna give you two options here. You can head below decks and let the crew take care of things, or you can stay up here and test yourself against the things you'll be learning to fight at the institute."
[20:54] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Can anyone up here tell how many of the Dreaded there are?" the dwarf asks, eying the flock.
[20:54] * Caldia had been planning to just wait for the voice to end to continue ehr introduction to the cutie, but at the rather odd ending of the statement, she glanced at Allandria. She was here to learn, but the last thing she wanted to do was drag Allandria into a fight she didn't want...
[20:56] <@ArgentGM> "Looks like we've got a small flock heading our way. Based on the Nightmare Signature we're reading in here, that should be between 6 and 20 of them coming through - class ones, though, so perfect target practice for you initiates."
[20:57] * Allandria looks to the direction of the speaker, looking away from Caldia for once. Her hand moves to start taking out her metal broom while the scorpion tail starts twitching, stretching and limbering up. It was as good of an answer as she was going to get on that front.
[20:57] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven nods as he finishes loading. "Thank you, Knight-Lefenant. Is anyone else with me to engage these abominations?"
[20:58] * Cirrus` looks out towards the oncoming swarm, the blue glow in his eye growing brighter for a moment. Well, no doubt that those eager to spar earlier would see this as another chance to show off, but if this was something the boat staff endorsed, that was another thing entirely...
[20:58] <@ArgentGM> Renee, just smiles, pulling her massive blade off her back, armed and ready. "Hells yeah, man! Let's kick their ass!"
[20:59] <Caldia> "Awww, I didn't wanna deeeal with thiiis." She whines, but slowly draws her sword from it's sheath, revealing the 'longsword' to be nothing more than an elaborate scabbard, her slimmer blade glowing with runes as she makes ready. Not that it would do her much good...
[20:59] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Good. Unless something unusual appears amongst them, we should be able to fell them. Do you have any ranged functions, or are you a close-quarters fighter? I believe putting a few holes in them before engaging is a wise choice."
[21:00] * Cirrus` takes note of where the exit to the lower decks was - always good to ascertain a fallback - but otherwise reaches for the long sheathed blade on his belt, the hilt enhanced with sleek chrome and a series of switches and triggers.
[21:01] <@ArgentGM> With a screech you can see the flock now, over a dozen man-sized birds of prey with tails lashing about like a snake, hellish black and crimson with dozen fiery eyes a piece. ((Roll Initiative))
[21:02] * Cirrus` draws a sleek, curved blade, clearly of elven design and in a way, almost resembling the top half of a longbow.
[21:03] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven braces his spear on the deck, butt grinding into the wood as the two barrels fold out from the sides.
[21:03] * Caldia winced as the sight behind her eyes flashed, seeing disjointed nonsensical visions of the combat ahead of her, the bizarre sensory input leaving her only half-present, for the moment.
[21:05] * Allandria readies a broom with her grip situated like one would a hammer; lower down the handle for wild, hard striking hits.
[21:05] <Rareven_Lirodni> It seems an elf wished to join in, alongside the greatsword carrier, the knightess, and her escort.
[21:05] <Rareven_Lirodni> That made five, which means four-to-one odds at the worst for the team.
[21:05] <Rareven_Lirodni> An acceptable level of danger.
[21:09] <Allandria> "Stick close, Caldia. We don't want these things to get between us and make both of our flanks weak at the same time."
[21:11] <@ArgentGM> Cirrus is able to spot a clean 18 of the nightmare creatures flocking towards the ship. He's also able to see them move in three distinct patterns, each nearly as unified as a swarm of bugs.
[21:11] <Rareven_Lirodni> Hm. The Knightess was named as Caldia.
[21:12] * Caldia gave a half hearted nod, distracted by the presence of her otherworldly warnings, to those that knew Cambion eyes, she was clearly unfocused on anything around her.
[21:12] <Cirrus`> "Eighteen creatures. Split into three swarms." Cirrus says in a clear voice, without turning around - the first time any of them would have heard him speak.
[21:13] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Understood, elf. Could I have the courtesy of your name? Mine is Rareven, of house Lirodni." Rareven doesn't take his eyes off the swarms, even as he nudges his barrel slightly to compensate for distance.
[21:14] <@ArgentGM> [[LORE: These are the Valravn, the doom-ravens. Among the weaker dreaded of the world, the Valravn possess no means to attack at range, and have a tendency to attack in large flocks and murders. As class one dreaded, they only risk damaging the soul of their victim upon a coup-de-grace, or if they confirm a natural 20 critical hit with a natural 20.]]
[21:16] <Cirrus`> "Cirrus Pascal. Half elf." He replies, calling out Rareven's mistake without missing a beat. "I'd recommend nobody stand at the front lines unless they have ways of dealing with crowds - Valravn tend to attack as a flock."
[21:18] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Understood, Cirrus. I am trained for enduring the hordes, so any who wish to be under my aegis, please group around me." Rareven announces to all.
[21:18] <Caldia> "Caldia." She muttered, still a bit distracted sounding, shaking her head. "Only good for one at a time, or helping someone else." She muttered, her blade still shimmering.
[21:20] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Understood, Caldia. I should be able to keep anything from distracting you." His eyes narrow on the second flock. The first that had advanced were too far away for an effective attack, but the second were approaching firing range.
[21:21] <Allandria> "..Allandria. If it weren't apparent, I'm Caldia's aide and servant." She didn't have to state her race off, would be redundant to point that out as her stinger kept twitching.
[21:22] * Cirrus` said half-elf, but in a similar way the feathers above his ears cut out the need to explain what the other half was.
[21:22] * Cirrus` had only mentioned his race in the first place because Rareven got it wrong, though.
[21:23] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Understood, Allandria. Your outfit told me that much. If any of you have a ranged assault method, I would suggest you use it. I am not in range of the first flock, Cirrus will need to engage it with those alongside him."
[21:23] <Rareven_Lirodni> "I can however open fire on the second flock."
[21:23] <Allandria> "I might have just the thing."
[21:24] <Caldia> "I have something too." She muttered, taking an unusual stance, as if she was going to cut at the creature, despite it being nowhere near her.
[21:25] <Cirrus`> "As do I, but I'd rather fortify my own defenses first, before firing wildly." Cirrus' sword was clearly meant to be wielded in two hands, but he raises one of them into the air, looking ready to cast.
[21:25] <@ArgentGM> As the first swarm of Valravn's approach the ship, the students begin to take action. A young man catches the eye of the dark, tall girl from before, and with a wave of his hand's, she's suddenly much taller. However, this does little for her accuracy, her shots going wild as the guns so cleverly embedded in her gauntlets miss their mark.
[21:25] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Understood. Do you believe you can take out these foes in a single shot, or should I assist your assaults?"
[21:26] <@ArgentGM> The young man with pale hair who answered Caldia's question before springs up from admiring the engines when he hears the screech of the dreaded, chucking a bolt of lightning at one, hitting his mark without stopping.
[21:27] * Cirrus` frowns, and anyone watching him might see a trace of irritation cross his face -
[21:27] <Cirrus`> "I should be fine, thank you."
[21:27] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Understood. I shall wait for them to enter my range, then."
[21:27] <@ArgentGM> Renee embedds her greatsword in the railing, twisting the hilt and setting off the gears and springs within it that shift it from a greatsword to some manner of light machine gun.
[21:32] <Cirrus`> "Stand back." Cirrus watches the enemies carefully as his hand moves intricately and silently and his whole body starts to glow with bright light.
[21:32] <Cirrus`> "Photon Soul Projection."
[21:33] * Cirrus` | The glow outlining Cirrus' body shimmers as it sweeps outward to twice his size, forming a giant halo of light around his whole body that vaguely resembles an enlarged version of his form, made of pure light.
[21:35] * Cirrus` returns his hand to his blade, which had been surrounded by its own aura of small flames, as he watches the enemies.
[21:38] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven puts his eye on the closest of the flock. "Opening fire!" he roars, and his weapon roars with him, taking the beast from the sky.
[21:40] <@ArgentGM> "Nice shot!" Renee cheers at Rareven over the screeches of the dying valravn and its companions.
[21:42] <Rareven_Lirodni> "Thank you. Keeping your weaponry in good condition is quite important." He subtly shifts himself into a position where the woman can be defended from any unexpected assaults. Valravens may normally have no ranged attacks, but the Dreaded have their own beastly trickery at times.
[21:44] * Caldia sighs, the last vestiges of the visions beginning to fade. But as usual, she was late to the fun. Frowning, the runes began to glow in a milky blue light and separate, forming a myriad of sharp, blade like symbols. She took a slash, at what was apparently empty air, though as she did, the runes left the blade, leaving an image of a cutting strike that soared
[21:44] * Caldia through the air, swooping directly towards one of the things, the runes making contact just like a physical blade, cutting deep into the creature.
[21:51] * Cirrus` has a complicated nervous smirk on his face as he watches the people around him pull out trick after trick. Yes, this was certainly quite different from the range of abilities he was used to handling - but that was a given.
[21:55] <@ArgentGM> The girl previously leaning off the bow gives a hearty laugh as she lets herself fall off of it, pulling her sword from her back as she goes. The next thing anyone sees, she appears to be surfing on the blade, which has become a propelled floatation system in and of itself, charging at one of the birds. "GET SOME!" she screams, but she misjudges the distance and punches too early.
[21:56] <@ArgentGM> The redhead pinned by the large woman draws a simple gunblade from her hip, resting the barrel atop her shield as she moves into position. With a focus of her soul, she empowers a single shot, hitting one of the birds and knocking it back a ways.
[21:57] <@ArgentGM> The spearwoman jumps into action, sprinting up to the waist-high barricade and throwing her spear like a javelin. It misses, and she pulls it back, a thin string barely perceptible in the light of the setting sun pulling it back in.
[21:59] <@ArgentGM> Lastly, the woman - an elf, nwo apparent from her glowing blue eyes - marches up with an infuriated look on her face, finger an elegant ceremonial knife drawn from the belt of her dress, but not taking aim to shoot just yet.
[21:59] <Rareven_Lirodni> Rareven looks at the spear throw with some interest. An interesting technique, to put a string upon your weapon. One that could result in tangles, but also would assist with retrieval.
[22:00] * Caldia groans a little, seeing her cut didn't do much to the creature. "Well, that's a waste then." She mutters, turning to glance at Allandria. "Get ready then , I'll do you next." She muttered, still unaware of how that must sound.
[22:02] == Rareven_Lirodni_ [~qwebirc@Rizon-1F147617.dyn.centurytel.net] has joined #PendragonRP
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[22:07] * Allandria steps up to the side of the deck as a mechanism gives down the shaft of the broom, revealing two barrels inside the shaft and two long, long shotgun shells. Compensating lack of width with excessive length. Muttering words low to herself, one of the shells gains a orange glow which is immediately snuffed out by the broom-stick snapping back together. With
[22:07] * Allandria the squeeze of a subtle trigger, the shotgun nearly knocks the strong woman on her ass with a thunder CLAP of a blast. Lead shot goes flying in a hail storm of black, like flak had been shot at the swarm!
[22:08] <Allandria> "Rrgh.. bruised my shoulder I think."
[22:09] * Caldia resists the urge to give out a huff. Everyone had a cool gimmick here but her! She tried to stay focused though, giving a worried look at her friend. "You okay? If we get through this, we can take a look at it."
[22:09] <Rareven_Lirodni_> The thunder of another gun grabs Rareven's attention, and he sees the aftermath of the maid's blast.
[22:09] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Apparently humans considered their servants as living artillery pieces.
[22:10] <Rareven_Lirodni_> And impressive ones at that.
[22:11] <Cirrus`> "..." Cirrus looks at Allandria, on the ground and potentially wounded. Not necessarily the best opening move - so, she'd been caught up in the atmosphere, too. Either that, or she was counting on everyone else on deck to finish the enemies off before they could swarm her.
[22:12] <Allandria> "No, no, I'm fine. I have another shot, just not another overloaded one for a while."
[22:15] <@ArgentGM> Two of the birds dive at the young woman who's been enlarged by the caster's magic. She clocks one neatly as it tries to get in close, but the other circles back around her and jams its beak into her side. "Dammit... Don't suppose you have any healing magic, spellboy?"
[22:17] <@ArgentGM> Two of the other birds swoop in on Alandria, their beaks pecking at the woman who just shot them.
[22:18] * Allandria grits her teeth as a few sploches of blood run down her body, luckily that dress is shockingly tough against pecks.
[22:18] <@ArgentGM> "My name's nick, not 'spellboy'," Nick complains, a refined accent speaking of Camlann's upper class heavy in his voice. "And yes. I have heals for days."
[22:20] <Cirrus`> "...Not quite the best idea to step beyond the reach of enemies I could have reliably fended off." Cirrus frowns as the aura of light around him magnifies his slice at the charging birds, who easily dodge the wide attempt.
[22:20] <Cirrus`> *to step beyond the area where I could have reliably fended off approaching enemies
[22:22] <@ArgentGM> He raises his hand and seems to pull energy down and into himself, a bolts of greenish prana jumping from his fist like lightning, striking both Allandria and the tall woman, revitalizing them.
[22:22] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven growls slightly. One of his fellow warriors had been wounded. And he had been unable to assist.
[22:23] <Rareven_Lirodni_> He should have been there. He was a guardian, his duty was to guard. Not to let others be hurt without an attempt to stop them.
[22:23] * Cirrus` was convinced that was Allandria's own fault, but he did wince at the injuries she took.
[22:24] <@ArgentGM> "Thanks!" the tall woman calls out, her fists rearing back for a powerful blow. "Now, lets see how you makhsheyfes like it when the bird pecks back, eh?"
[22:24] * Allandria nods her head to Nick,"Thank you, sir. I'll try not to make your job any more harder by getting myself hurt again." See, she can be nice, you just gotta be nice to her.
[22:26] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven makes a mental note to figure out what a makhsheyfes is. And how to spell it.
[22:28] <@ArgentGM> The large woman does a quick one-two, smashing the one before her with a jab and using a shot from her gauntlet to propel her elbow back into the beak which pecked her.
[22:30] <@ArgentGM> Renee snarls, annoyed that the birds haven't lined themselves up for a devastating blast of bullets. Instead of unleashing a few dozen rounds with an automatic burst, she sets her gun to three rounds and takes a carefully aimed shot.
[22:32] <@ArgentGM> Her shot aims true, hitting one of the birds off the floatation ring, dropping it instantly.
[22:35] <@ArgentGM> The young man in white continues moving across the deck, throwing out another bolt of lightning, not caring that his aim was off and more hoping to fill the air enough to keep the birds funneled into one place.
[22:39] <Cirrus`> "What part of 'I recommend not standing at the front lines' --" Cirrus mumbles as he lunges hastily, the aura around him mimicking the shape of his blade and cleaving in half the bird about to charge Caldia with a slice of flame - "--Do some people not understand?"
[22:40] <@ArgentGM> The valravn's begin to flock around the student body, an infernal flare in their eyes revealing a cleverness greater than any mere bird. They try to flank, seek to maneuver, and take shots at target that might be seen by some as "high value"...
[22:41] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven grunts slightly as a beak smacks into his shield. "Cursed beasts!" Still, dwarven steel is fell enough to ignore the blow.
[22:46] <Cirrus`> "These birds can't take a strong hit... instead of trying to hinder them with magic, I should just go for raw speed and force!" Cirrus' form blurs for an instant as he strikes out with a sweep of his sword twice as fast as a normal one, which narrowly misses the ravn in front of him, leaving a trail of fire to his side - but he's quick to recover, and as part of the same movement, he spins on his heel, driving the edge of his sword right into the neck
[22:46] <Cirrus`> of its neighbour and decapitating it clean!
[22:48] * Caldia was not a happy Cambion. First her attempt to showboat her magic fails horribly, all while everyone else seemed to be having a grand old time of it- Well actually some people were getting seriously hurt, maybe she shouldn't complain. She was about to open her mouth, only to be interrupted by one of the creatures striking at her, only to have the assault
[22:48] * Caldia buffeted away by her armor. She needed to send Daddy a thank you letter for recommending that smith...
[22:50] <@ArgentGM> "Son of a bitch!" the sword surfer, not particularly heavily armored, swears at the bird whose beak pecked at her side. "Gonna scratch the paint, ya jerk!"
[23:01] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven takes a step to the side, covering his nearby allies under his aegis. One of the beasts strikes at his shield, and his spear whips out and leaves a long, deep gash in the side of the skull.
[23:01] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "Well, monster, I hurt you. Come on and try to do the same to me!"
[23:07] * Caldia feeling that things were not going well, she took a careful, sliding step back from the beast, reaching out to tag Allandria on the shoulder. "Aaand you're up." She muttered, more runes appearing, briefly coating the woman before flickering out. Though outwardly, she seemed no different, there was a brief, almost bestial quality to her, for the moment at
[23:07] * Caldia least, as her magic made several subtle alterations...
[23:13] <@ArgentGM> Seeing her tactical disadvantage, the sword-surfer drops from her position on her blade, catching the handle and bringing it about for a massive, upwards blow against the valravn next to her. With it split in twain, she seems to fade away, only to shortly reappear back onto the ship.
[23:14] <@ArgentGM> "Keep at it everyone!" she cries triumphantly. "We've got these bastards on the ropes!"
[23:15] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "Given we have twelve to their eight, I would agree. Victory is within our grasp, and with minimal wounds as well."
[23:17] <@ArgentGM> The woman in the red jacket turns her eyes towards the Valravn next to her, her grip on the knife in hand tightening. With a single stroke, she nicks it at some vital place, finishing it off.
[23:18] <@ArgentGM> The small redhead turns her gun towards the flocking birds on the right, taking careful aim before putting a bullet between one of their eyes.
[23:19] <@ArgentGM> The spearwoman shifts her spear into a hunting rifle with a smooth, fluid motion, but her shot goes wide of the Valravn flock to the west, and the grimaces in annoyance.
[23:22] * Allandria bounces her eyes around, going from Cirrus to Caldia. "Thank you, Caldia, I assume that's the spell we talked about before?" The birdmen are bouncing off of her well armored ward but the.. boy beside her was a bit thin. Agile. Sure. But a good hit on him could leave him stumbling around. So, the scorpion does what's natural to her and sends the venom
[23:22] * Allandria spilling stinger into the side of the bird beside the two of them. With a sickening /THUMP/ with carapace hitting hollow bone, there.. isn't much life left.
[23:26] <Allandria> "Caldia, I'm heading to the front of the ship to assist the others. Will you be fine here?"
[23:27] * Caldia just nodded, taking deep breath. "Things seem... pretty well in hand here, good luck!" She said, though she was still focusing on maintaining the magic, she should be able to keep it up...
[23:31] <@ArgentGM> The boy in white casts another lightning bolt which misses, meaning to group up with the others on the eastern side. The dark skinned woman punches the lights out of the last that far west, while Renee's sword quickly shifts back to its melee form, and with a cleaving slash cuts one valravn down, and grievously wounds another.
[23:33] <@ArgentGM> Nick passes Cirrus by, seeing his wounds and casting his hand towards him, a bolt of greenish energy leaping at him. "Here, this should help with your wounds, you got this last one?"
[23:34] * Cirrus` glances at the wounded bird in front of him, barely alive - he suspects he could finish it off with a hard poke.
[23:35] <Cirrus`> "Sure, sure." Still no reason to slack off, and with another quick slice, he sends the now one-winged bird hurtling down through the sky.
[23:36] * Cirrus` idly runs a hand over his shoulder, checking to make sure the injury healed properly.
[23:37] * Cirrus` actually feels far better than before - even the remnants of the motion sickness were gone. He'd been healed for much more than he needed to be, it seemed.
[23:38] <@ArgentGM> Two of the Valravns attempt to move to flank Rareven and Renee with their comrades. One of them ends up being crushed beneath an attack by the blonde woman with the surf-board sword, while the other gets stabbed by the spearwoman for its efforts.
[23:40] <@ArgentGM> Neither land a hit on their intended targets, but the second one manages to bring forth an opening in Renee's defense which the last of them takes advantage of. It pecks at her with fury and hate, drawing blood and her ire.
[23:45] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "No." Rareven declares firmly, ramming his spear through the Valravn that made the opening.
[23:51] * Caldia took a strong stance, preparing to focus her blade again, only for the spell to fizzle out even as she through it, the runes flying wide. This was, not a good day for her....
[23:52] <@ArgentGM> The spearwoman, once again, misses an attack when she leaps at the nearest Valravn.
[23:52] <@ArgentGM> "Today is just not my day," she growls, pulling her spear back into place.
[23:54] <@ArgentGM> The ill-armored blonde woman presses a latch on her greatsword, splitting the weapon into a matched pair of longswords. With a wild grin, she spins about, attempting to cut the bird with both of her blades. One strikes true, but shallow, while the other goes wide...
[23:57] <@ArgentGM> The elven woman in the red jacket slices and misses that last Valravn, her eyes blazing in fury.
[23:59] * Allandria moves over and surveys the damage. She looks to Cirrus and.. nods her head in approval to his actions before moving along to make it harder for the last bird to run away.
[23:59] <@ArgentGM> The small redhead comes up to the group forming in the center. "E-everyone alright up here? Sorry, this is my first time fighting dreaded... with... so many people, yeah. A lot more here than you get when you're taking a combat course, am I right?"
[00:01] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "I would expect so. Four-man groups are the usual force for anti-Dreaded combat. Still, we're a full twelve, so it could be argued that this will be a multi-group training exercise."
[00:04] <@ArgentGM> "Alright," the platinum blonde turns to the redhead, the large - but now smaller than she was - woman, and Caldia. "Good show, I think the others are finishing off the rest. Once that's done, we should probably do an after action, see where we goofed, see where we could do better."
[00:05] <@ArgentGM> Renee manages to miss the valravn next to her. But while she swings, Nick comes over to the area, and once again spreads his healing magic, buzzing everyone around him with that greenish energy.
[00:05] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "A wise decision. Knowledge is power, and there is no such thing as too much power against the Dreaded."
[00:05] * Caldia nods, taking a deep breath. "Not exactly my finest work, could definitely aim to improve..." She muttered, looking up in the direction of her friend.
[00:08] <@ArgentGM> One of the last remaining Valvravns strikes true on the blonde woman with the paired longswords... but its beak seems to bounce off her skin. "Hate take you, you're scratching the paint!" she growls, furious at the creature.
[00:09] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven blinks. It hit her skin. So... paint?
[00:11] * Cirrus` was focused, weaving around the people on deck and striking another Dreaded down with a flash of burning light. Raw damage wasn't even his particular specialty, but... it seemed that against small fry like these, it was all he needed.
[00:17] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "And one is left." the dwarf stated firmly, as he opened the already-weeping gash to encompass the whole head.
[00:23] <@ArgentGM> Clearly fed up with her spear's apparent insistence on missing the valravn's before her, the spearwoman steps back for a moment and traces a rune of power in the air. The old elfen symbol for fire, flames like a dragon's breath spring forth from her hand.
[00:23] <@ArgentGM> The last valravn is quick, but not enough to keep it from being burnt. "That... took considerably more effort than it should have."
[00:25] * Allandria cracks open her broom-stick again only to make a soft "Hmn.." sound to herself. She pats out a small pair of pliers from a pouch on the inside of her dress and tries to free a wedged shell from the barrel. Misfires.
[00:25] <Allandria> "Apologizes if my shot spooked anyone. I tend to enjoy overloading these shells."
[00:25] <Rareven_Lirodni_> "Nevertheless, they are dead, and we are alive. As it should be."
[00:26] * Cirrus` | The encompassing light around Cirrus' form fades, and after that so do the flames around his sword as he sheathes it. Hmmm, interesting. He'd learnt a lot not only about the Dreaded, but the other people he'd potentially be interacting with at the institute...
[00:26] <@ArgentGM> With the battle finally over, the dreaded begin to evaporate, leaving unrefined nightmare crystals in their wake. Twelve of them in total, from what were on the deck and what the girl with the skyboard could collect before they fell too far - one for each of the students who participated in the battle.
[00:27] <@ArgentGM> [[Inventory! Each PC receives 1x Rank 1 Nightmare Shard!]]
[00:29] <Cirrus`> (...The dwarf... he talks big, but does his job well. Same goes for the scorpion youkai, though she started off quite recklessly. The noble - Caldia, was it? She works well in a team with her servant, but she herself may be a weak point in their formation if they run into enemies that don't care for armor.)
[00:29] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven nods in appreciation as the crimson-clad woman hands him a gem. "Thank you, ma'am."
[00:30] * Allandria frees the snagged rim from the barrel with a ~thoomp~ of air. The crimped plastic end of the shell is melted half way down. "..I'll need to clean that up." The youkai finally brings her attention to the other students,"Well. I'm not surprised what I saw. A good deal of competent fighters." Nodnod.
[00:30] <Cirrus`> (The girl riding her sword, her mobility at this level is formidable. The healer is clearly talented. The girl with the lance... well... perhaps she has other talents.)
[00:30] <@ArgentGM> As the students come together after the battle, the intercom screeches to life once more. "Good job, kids - Old Oliver might be able to make adventurers out of you yet."
[00:31] * Cirrus` fixes his glasses back in place as he walks along the deck and picks up one of the crystals.
[00:31] * Allandria scoops up a crystal for herself and Caldia. Making sure to put it in Caldia's pack before they forget.
[00:33] <Rareven_Lirodni_> Rareven nods at the youkai's words. "You were capable as well. That initial blast carved a good number from the air, before they could even touch us."
[00:35] <Allandria> "I'm not skilled with the gun, but, I've been forced to make due as Miss Caldia's family wanted me to have a means to protect her from afar."
[00:35] <Allandria> "The only boon is.. well, I got to pick how it was integrated."
[00:33] <@ArgentGM> You can see it now looming in the distance, a great tower of glass and steel sitting at the base of a long dead volcano. It rises up even higher than the Windrunner flies, casting a long shadow in the dark of the night, like the hand of a clock, ticking onwards over the sea.
[00:34] <@ArgentGM> There's still a ways to go to the skydocks, but... you'll be there soon enough.