GV22

GV22
Greed V2 logging continues!
Betrayal. Brazha learns of the Vaalmooran member of their party betraying the group.
As expected, she's not best pleased. Again.

02/05/2018

[16:27] Aziza finishes a busy day cleaning the trees out of the garden. Why? It must be a ~magic~ thing. Trees just seem to randomly pop up everywhere, especially in the worst possible spots, like in the middle of the carrot patch.

She almost absentmindedly skips off the roof to land on the ground nearby, dusting herself off to survey her handiwork from earlier. Not bad, but still needs more effort, it seems.
(Aziza Maru)
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[16:32] Trees are the devil, Jianghu was right all along. Clearly.
The timing of Aziza hopping down to the ground below proves to be rather fortuitous- for in the same moment, the overlarge front door to the first Vanirhallan home slams open with an audible thud.

Out from within steps Brazha, grunting softly from behind that soot-blackened helm, glancing from side to side warily given recent events.
That cross-visored helm comes to settle upon Aziza, lingering upon her without much motion from Brazha, as slow as ever.
(Brazha Earthcleaver)
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[16:37] Aziza brushes a bit of dirt off her silks, somewhat startled when the door of the lodge opens; she didn't even realize anyone was in there, apparently. The rest of the makeshift settlement seems to be pretty much deserted as evening falls.

"Oh, Brazha. Um. You should probably know that Shanka was captured or something at Ardent Cliff. Erling went there to get her back, I think."
(Aziza Maru)
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[16:39] Askiladd comes stomping, just stepping right through the tilled field rather than walking around it. There is a certain heaviness to him; His shoulders hangling low, arms dragged behind him and as if that wasn't enough, the incorporeal eel that swirls around his arm hangs everso-slightly, as if it had lost the fire that kept it alive.

"Sister. We need to speak. Now." He locks eyes with the Sarradian and shoos her away towards the shore-- something not even he would do during a usual day.

"Now."
(Askiladd Sea-Snake)
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[16:40] Aziza Maru says, "Righto."
[16:41] Aziza Maru exclaims, "Hey Etsy, you want a fish? I caught some sardines!"
[16:42] Demetrius stood wreathed in flames the color golden where once only burned the flames of orange and red. He stared out over the ocean.. There was a slight calm about him before he moved to the beach itself and pulled out a fishing pole. The talk of fishing inspired him.
(Demetrius)
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[16:42] Etsuko gave a quiet nod, as opposed to the rather loud and squishy crunching as she started to munch on the uncooked sardines like one would on chips.
(Etsuko)
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[16:44] From bad news to, well- from the look of Askiladd, undoubtedly more bad new. There is no immediate reaction from the giant. No comment, no outburst, merely the shift of their visored stare drifting towards Askiladd.
The silence isn't as contemplative as the usual pause. No, it's far more eerie, uncomfortable.

Slowly but surely, Brazha turns to stomp back inside.
(Brazha Earthcleaver)
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[16:48] Askiladd stomps inside after her, locking the door behind him after entering. He turns around and opens his mouth, but what escapes is but air; It was more akin to a him exhaling out, but without any further air to exhale.

"We--" His hand gripped tightly around the eel that slithered around his arm. It squirmed in his grasp, despite incorporeal-- an emotional reaction rather than a physical one.

"We have been betrayed, sister. We have an Oathbreaker amongst us. And it is--... I do not know how to tell this to you any different, sister, as you should be well-aware what I would already have done if it was only for me to decide, but:

Shanka has betrayed us. Her oath to Vaalmoora is broken."
(Askiladd Sea-Snake)
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[16:57] Still, visible reactions from the gigantic warrior prove so very hard to come by. To find the deepest of body language and expression behind solid plate mail is certainly an impossibility- but there are glimmers. Glimmers of physical response that aren't fully hidden behind solid adamantite.

The clenching of one hand upon the hilt of that blade. The slight rise and lack of slump in those shoulders. The subtle rise in temperature, a degree or two even from a distance.

Soon enough, speech rumbles from the warrior. Deeper, lower than usual. More grave, but restraining something seething.

"Then we are lacking. In strength we previously had.
We have a few options. We choose. We act immediately."
(Brazha Earthcleaver)
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[17:03] "Good."

A single word of not only gratitude, but hope; Hope that his kinswoman is as reasonable as he hoped for her to be. Gauntlet clenched around the spirit is released, letting the spirit loose to once more slither over his arm.

"Her motives have been questionable from the start, but I thought she was but Vaalmooran. But the magics of Elysrea, the ones that go against us, our Gods and our ways-- for her to pursue 'Order'--...

...She is no longer a sister of ours, Brazha." A heavy sigh followed, together with his eyes staring down into the planks ahead of him. He hadn't the spirit to watch her reaction head on. A hint of it-- just feeling it from afar would be enough.
(Askiladd Sea-Snake)
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[17:17] Reasonable may just prove to be jumping the gun, alas- single-minded in her purpose, perhaps it proves to simply be more about protecting and assuring that golden lifeblood that Brazha so lusts.

Given the sudden glint of gold flashing momentarily behind that visor, that much seems likely.

"She has taken from us. She has taken. From me. Lessened our power. As a group.
This is unforgivable. Askiladd. Only if she returns. With the will to repay. And abandon this path. Will I consider welcoming her back. At a great cost.

But if she comes back. Without that.
She will taste enough axe. To resemble the one. Who fed the crops."

A questionable calm, at distinct odds with Brazha's words. But given the situation following Malgannan, and Brazha choking out Anta in the weeks before. .
To consider this anything but the calm before an outburst and storm would likely be unwise.

Indeed, even as Brazha speaks in that withdrawn tone, the heat still rises.

"Two options. Come to mind.
The first. We redouble recruitment. Bring in more allies. To live with us. To replace what we have lost. To build greater value. Than the Valmooran gave. More able bodies. Slaves if we must. But preferably. Able warriors.

The second. That demon of Gaiar. Has crippled our sway with the north. However. One of those of Gaiar seeks to fix this. A serpent, irony. This one, I trust more than a Vaalmooran. Serpent.
They seem to be. Of power. Of sway. If they do well. .
The second option would be. Securing treaties. Securing greater togetherness. With Gaiar. Maybe. Including the first option."
(Brazha Earthcleaver)
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[17:24] Askiladd's serrated teeth were shown into a grin. Good. A fellow Garjlinite would have the exact same opinion as himself on the matter, which made this less of a pain that he had expected it to be. But there was still an issue, but first--

"Both. We require more people who rally behind us. I have secured a treaty with... children. It may sound as silly, but many are able to rival fully-grown men in combat. And, they are the future."

There was no longer any anger, remorse or anything of the sort dwelling in the Anguill. Everything was focused into flames that burned brightly, illuminating the path ahead rather than clouding it with smoke.

He had goals and, with this, they would be easier to accomplish. Without the Vaalmoran to make it all harder than it had to be. After all, it all had been her fault to begin with. Hm.

"Demon won't be an issue. Not for much longer. I am sure, certain, that they will give himup if we so ask. But we won't. Not yet. Focus on the serpent and her wishes. There is an issue, of us, that we have to deal with. Not the Vaalmooran, but--"

"Erling the Black."
(Askiladd Sea-Snake)
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[17:26] Anta knocks on the door again.
(Anta)
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[17:26] Anta says, "Oh."
[17:27] Aziza Maru whispers something.
[17:27] Anta whispers something.
[17:27] Osha whispers something.
[17:27] Aziza Maru whispers something.
[17:27] Askiladd Sea-Snake says, "Leave. N-o-w."
[17:27] Aziza Maru whispers something.
[17:36] Paying little to no heed to the knocking- nor indeed those who entered -Brazha merely rolls those incredibly broad shoulders. By now those embers have grown into a veritable swarm, heat and light dancing over that soot blackened mail.
Only now does the cyclopean colossus' voice begin to rise, seething anger steadily reaching its boiling point.

"They will. Require tribute. Like any other. I will not tolerate. Children scampering around. My home. Without payment."

The grip on that blade's hilt grows yet tighter still, a glimmer of blue visible from the mere inch of it that's drawn.

"Erling. The Black. With his oaths. Has he gone with her? Abandoned us too?
He was sworn. To smith me the greatest. Treasures under the sun and moon. Sworn. To be our smith.

Where is he. I will remind him."

The colossus' head tilts, a deep rumble coming from behind that plate mail.

"Give them up. Will they? Oshana has been to Gaiar. Tried to diffuse. Their upper class. Are furious. Hungry. This is. A serious mess. Once it is fixed. Once the serpent does his work.

Erling the Black. Will be brought here. To keep his oaths to us.
And if he betrays us still. I will take his value by force.
Nobody else. Is allowed to keep. The one who will build my riches with his own. Sweat and blood. If I can't keep his worth. Nobody will."
(Brazha Earthcleaver)
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[17:44] "They are valuable allies, as any other. And all who come to our lands will provide tribute, as they have."

Grunt was let out, muffled by his own lips. Shoulders rolled as plated gauntlets set themselves together, fingers interlaced as far as they could. His eyes remained focused down onto the floor for a few seconds before once more rising to meet those of his sister - the Colossus of Garjling.

"He swore an oath to her, too. Erling the Black is honorable and will uphold that oath, even if it means going against Kark himself."

His gauntlets separated and formed into fists, immediately slamming into each other. Sparks flew wildly from the impact, setting the imminent air ablaze.

"As long as she is rid of, the Oathbreaking Vaalmooran, he should return. And if he does not, then--"

He hadn't the need to explain to his sister what happened to Oathbreakers, not that it seemed like she wasn't on the same page as him.

This time, it was the Garjlinites against the rest.
(Askiladd Sea-Snake)
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[17:58] One step forwards- and where that greave once stood, the floorboards below are blackened and burned in the shape of that great metal boot. The embers grow brighter, brighter still-

"Then she takes. More from me. Than she could ever be worth. Took my craftsman. My smith. The only of our party. That I ever stood at odds with. The only of us. I ever held in open mistrust."

-only to burst into outright flames, licking and slavering at that blackened armour even as the embers still dance. That blue blade is drawn, so often silly-looking in the great grip of the titan, but now?
Now, wreathed in flame, blazing orange drooling heat over sharp blue, noteven the mismatched size can bite back the threat that the increasingly heated blade screams.

"No forgiveness!"

And there it is. The tipping point. The calm before the storm has passed, and Brazha now merely bellows like only a beast of her size can, fuelled by gold-hungry fury.

"No forgiveness for. The wretched cur who steals more from me! Than they could ever be worth themselves! No mercy! For those who can never give back to me more than they've taken!
If she comes back here. With gifts. With repayment. With efforts to make amends.

I will take every last gift. She brings. And then slit her open like a stuck pig! Offer her flesh to the farm! Her worth and soul to Garjling!
I will never forgive. That damnable snake!"
(Brazha Earthcleaver)
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[18:04] The Anguill knew better than to rise up or do anything at all, really. Instead, he opts to simply remain without any movement, watching the result now that the storm had finished brewing. There wasn't any emotion coming from his eyes, just staring at it with empty, fish-like eyes. But there was a word; A single word uttered in response to her tantrum.

"Good."

Gauntlets opened together and slowly, time after time, clapped themselves together. Due to the metal, it did not offer much in terms of a proper clapping sound, but rather the clank of metal hitting against metal.

"And if she does not return, sister, then I will deal with her. She has broken our trust, taken our gold, ore, weapons, food, lodging--

And most important of all, - our smith."

He turned around onto his heel, speaking without turning over to face the storm. "She is currently hiding in Ardent, but spoke of coming back. To explain and wish for our forgiveness. When that happens, we will teach her."

"We will teach her the ways of Vanirhalla that she seems to have forgotten."

(Askiladd Sea-Snake)