Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
18
Renown
Human
23 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Tellan Eleint on Nov 23, 2022 23:01:41 GMT -5
Quest Name: Please turn the Temperature down
Chapter: One
Description: A researcher has gone missing up on Mount Drakolt, and we are worried something bad has happened. You are to head up to the mountain, track the last known location of the scholar and attempt to discover what has happened to them, and if they are still alive, rescue them. When doing this quest you can decide the fate of the scholar, maybe they died, or got trapped on a lava island. Maybe they are fighting off a creature. The story itself is entirely up to you. To complete the quest you must met the requirements below.
Who was it that decided to send the perpetually on and off frozen from sheer anxiety and pressure young Tellan on an expedition to find some dude who was being all nosey around the volcano. Ah yes, the street waif, the urban survivor, out tramping about in the middle of a field of dirt covered in a good foot of ash at the base of an active volcano. The answer to the question that was only asked internally was the Elder of the temple. The old man seems to be quite determined to put Tellan in as many uncomfortable or even hazardous situations as possible. While standing around in an ever growing pile of ash, the black dressed and cloaked 5’ 4” form of Tellan peered around to see if there was disturbance but with the frequency of ash fall past tracks would be quickly covered. Well, she was quickly running out of ideas and that didn’t involve going closer to her potential doom by approaching the volcano, so she plopped down onto the ground crossing her arms and legs and just kind of let her ponder the situation. Of course, being 5’ 4” does have some struggles in an environment like this since now the ash would probably be around her elbows and since it continually fell would eventually cover her up completely. Could this be entirely intentional on Tellan’s part to avoid making hard choices? Absolutely. Could this also be her general response to having to actively think about a scenario? Of course. Does she know? Nope. Due to her focusing on her internal processing capabilities, her swirling color eyes resembled that of a loading screen icon, constantly in flux and of course not really taking in her surroundings. Behind her unique blank look several ideas have started to form. Researchers needed to write, writing needs storage, therefore a mount if not more than one, which meant additional supplies, which meant a camp. If a camp was formed then there would be evidence and the camp would most likely be made under something that would give shelter from the ash fall and occasional rock fall. Her thinking continued, forming strings of ideas together that could potentially reach a real conclusion if Tellan could reliably get out of her spiral thinking which is very much up for debate. In the meantime the ash was building around her, turning her full bodied black dress grey and covering her hooded head, forming a growing pyramid.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
6
Renown
Male
Ash Lands
The other half of a can of Zardines
434 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Caedes Oleander on Nov 24, 2022 21:04:20 GMT -5
Appearance Estimate: (1)(2) Ash flutters in the pale sky not unlike the snowflakes that fall in Frostgale; and beneath her boots, the fallen soot crunches, leaving footprints in her wake as she strides forwards on a pathless trajectory. At a glance, the woman making the trek towards the infamous Mount Drakolt is clearly a mercenary; dressed in sharp blacks stained with splotches of grey, and strapped with various belts of gear and equipment. Her tangled blonde hair catches flakes of ash; her strange, pale blue eyes are lowered as she pushes forth towards the mountain. A black cloak with a red-lined interior flutters against the gale; something behind her, invisible to the naked eye, leaves eight sharp footprints in the ash as it follows obediently.
Caedes— or currently: Nadia Dvasir, presumed Member of the Ashen Swarm— lifts her eyes towards Mount Drakolt. It had come to her attention, albeit briefly and by chance, that a certain researcher had wound up traveling to the Mountain on an observation. Typically, a scholar means nothing to her— but this scholar knows a few things that she wants to know— a few people of whom she intends to get the names and locations of… if only he hadn’t vanished off the face of the earth within the past few days. He had come across the murmurings on the street at first. Tiny, miniscule rumours of Mount Drakolt's volatility: something about scholars and scientists traveling into town to assist a local with the idea that Mount Drakolt was due for a dangerous eruption.
Of course, colour him surprised when he realized he knew the name of said local researcher... and of course, everyone needs him back, don't they? He has such important information, after all; and a promising young mercenary with a pretty face and an offer to help for a small fee can take one far in Darkveil, and offers a well opportunity to get the researcher alone for a... friendly chat, in the best case scenario.
Nadia lifts her arms and closes her eyes, blocking her face with her forearms as a strong gale sweeps ash into the air; it swirls into the sky, showering in dancing particles back to the earth as the breeze dies. She lowers her arms, brows furrowing when she notices… something that doesn’t quite belong in the view of the landscape. A small form sits amongst grey ash, easily mistaken for some kind of lava rock if it weren’t for the gale billowing pockets of fabric on their person as the wind passes. She narrows her eyes against the swarming flakes of ash, boots crunching in the soot as she redirects herself to the stranger. Her dagger schinks from its sheathe; a nasty looking blade with intricate silver details along its hilt; as she approaches. A setup for an ambush? A thief? A bandit? Some moron traveling through the Ash Lands like herself? Either way, she doesn’t like the way the scene looks before her— it's quiet, ominous, and bleak against the dull landscape. (3)“Hey, kid.” The voice which comes across in the monochrome landscape of ash and gray behind the figure resounds like a splash of colour; her tone is lilted and higher pitched in inflection, feminine yet still gruff at the edges. Armed, Nadia stops paces away from the small figure, ensuring the dagger remains in the stranger’s view as a warning. “You look like you’re a long way from home. What the hell are you doing all the way out here?” (1) Alter Self(2) Beads of They (3) Sound Throwing — Target: Self
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
18
Renown
Human
23 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Tellan Eleint on Nov 27, 2022 0:31:55 GMT -5
How does someone who was deep inside their own mind respond to a sudden voice just behind them? A flurry of head turns that caught the sight of another person feet away with a blade out. How does that same person react to a blade intentionally kept in front of her? Swirling eyes lost their transitional smoothness and instead turned into a camera shutter effect eventually landing on sheer white and Tellan the once future ashen snowperson instead keeled over backwards and began to drown as her short height did not allow her head to be above the sea of ash that had gathered around her during her reverie.
A part of her subconscious wondered what cruel individual would just pull out a knife on some random individual in the middle of nowhere, another part of her subconscious considered the sheer rudeness of someone throwing their voice so that it would come behind Tellan who was clearly in deep thought, such deep thought as being completely oblivious to her surroundings.A third part of that subconscious was paying very close attention to potential footsteps towards Tellan’s drowning form which was limp from the overload of fright generated by the approach of the new member of this scene.
As her body finished their collapse into a heap of black clothes, Tellan’s survival instinct kicked in during her drowning, waking her from her unconscious inflicted by terror, but warning her to maintain her drowing state to see what the next moves of the individual. Scenarios began running through her mind at a rapid pace, if one could see her eyes it would look like a rapid blending of a multitude of colors. A street urchin survivor precisely knew of what to do when being confronted by a potential hostile and that was to establish exits, potential distractions, and quickly evaluate how capable they were of catching them when they decided to skedaddle. Now was that brief moment before action was taken and exactly how that would look would depend on the next moves made by the newcomer.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
6
Renown
Male
Ash Lands
The other half of a can of Zardines
434 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Caedes Oleander on Nov 27, 2022 11:32:28 GMT -5
Pwoof!“ .........” Nadia maintains her defensive stance for a few heartbeats. The stranger has floundered into the ash and stays there in response to her question, which is understandably not the response she was expecting. She looks to the left, taking in the quiet landscape; then to the right, and there’s still no movement to be seen but the falling ash. She looks back at the stranger, lips pursed while she turns over her options: It could be some kind of elaborate trap; she could be waiting for her to get closer to strike. She could be buying time for someone else lurking nearby: this is the Ashlands, after all, and she wouldn’t put it past a couple of low lives to drag a child into the mix… or even assume the child is the mastermind behind the plot. Never underestimate the clever machinations of one of the Ashland’s many urchins and orphans— a desire to live can take someone a long way— but, as the seconds tick by, and the kid doesn’t come up for air, Nadia’s brows twitch. … There’s no way she’s seriously drowning in ash like a fish on land, right? There’s just no way. Nadia takes a strained breath; she is not heartless, not yet; and her brows furrow sharply as she slowly unwinds from her defensive posture. “Alright…. Alright. Calm down and pick yourself up, kid.” Just once… just once, could she go somewhere and have things go according to some semblance of a plan? She places her dagger back on her belt, pale eyes narrowed with a healthy skepticism as she moves towards the drowning stranger.
“I’m not going to hurt you, but you’ll catch a miner’s lung by breathing that much ash in.” Her boots crunch in the soot as she steps towards her; her steps are heavy, but long in stride; until she’s paused just behind where the dark-cloaked figure’s head disappeared beneath the ash. She stoops down, intending to grab the stranger by the back of their cloak and pull them from the piles of ash.
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
18
Renown
Human
23 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Tellan Eleint on Nov 27, 2022 23:33:38 GMT -5
Scrunch. Scrunch. Calculating distance. Scrunch. Calculating geometry. When dealing with someone bigger than yourself, it was always taught in the self-defense courses taught by the Elder of the temple that you use their momentum to generate your own momentum. Such principles were applied and learned through intense physical training sessions and Tellan was honestly pretty good at channeling her mental and emotional stresses into physical action and so when the newcomer announced their intentions and her shadow indicated her position above the black dress heap that was Tellan, she initiated her plan of action.
The outreaching hand of the woman, who had just put their knife away, was meant by a pair of gloved hands in an attempt to latch on to the wrist and then pull the woman into a pair of spring loaded feet. If the woman was to be pulled into those feet, the feet would then shift towards Tellan’s head and push out and upwards with a release of the gloved hands would theoretically launch the woman over Tellan’s head and a couple of feet away from her. That momentum would carry Tellan through a tumble and into a crouch where she would then start sprinting away from the launched woman, black clothing whipping in the wind.
Of course, this was all assuming that the status quo and the element of surprise was maintained. If either of these things were off in Tellan’s calculations, this would turn into a very awkward hand grabbing situation and a sigh of defeat over her own weakness. Tellan wasn’t exactly sure why this person was out here, perhaps they were hired by a separate entity to go find this researcher and this was a coincidence of meeting on a similar path towards the volcano. This also could be a hired mercenary to murder her to exact revenge over something in her past or the temple’s actions caused too much noise and this was to put them in their place. In any case, hopefully Tellan’s plan had succeeded and she was sprinting across the ash fields to the volcano and hopefully to find this researcher.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
6
Renown
Male
Ash Lands
The other half of a can of Zardines
434 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Caedes Oleander on Nov 28, 2022 19:32:13 GMT -5
Her eyes narrow sharply.
What are you thinking?
A shadow of blurred motion explodes from the bank of ash and Nadia starts to pull back, a curse escaping from between her lips as she steps back, opposite hand reaching for her sheathed dagger. Two hands grasp her wrist and pull her forwards; but rather than fight it, she goes with it.
Reaching out to to her like that…
Her palm clasps the hilt of her blade as she’s pulled forwards by the stranger’s intents. The world is ruthlessly upheaved, flipped from her perspective. Two feet plant against her back and push off, separating her from the stranger with a great heave that sends her forwards. She manages to tuck into herself just enough to give herself some extra momentum, reaching out with one arm to catch herself, and push off the ashen-snowed earth.
Don’t forget there’s a bounty on your head in this place.
Gravity crashes down on her at once; a sharp pain in her left shoulder snaps as Nadia catches her fall with one hand, then the other, housing an unsheathed dagger in its clutches. She uses the momentum of the stranger's kick, with her own interjection of motion, to flip herself over in a shorter range than what may have been intended— displaying a curious amount of dexterity for a woman who appears to be a sellsword by trade.
Saved from a full-bodied tumble into the ash, her iron-treaded boots slam into the ash on the other side of the stranger and send particles scattering upon impact. A heartbeat after the world has righted in her eyes, Nadia lunges backwards. She twists around, reaching out in an attempt to grab the stranger’s fluttering black clothing, whipped by the wind, before she can escape arm’s reach with a frantic sprint towards the volcano.
“ Hold it!”
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
18
Renown
Human
23 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Tellan Eleint on Dec 3, 2022 22:26:32 GMT -5
Uh oh, that was a very coordinated sound of a soft but firm thump of solid shoes into the ash, things didn’t work out exactly as intended for young Tellan. She didn’t see that it wasn’t a perfect landing nor did she see the knife lady’s hand reach out to grab her cape, but she did hear a loud voice from the knife lady insisting on her to cease her skedaddle out of this situation and did feel her feet slip as the different directions of applied force made their presence known. As her feet went out from under Tellan and her body achieved a horizontal position in the air just above the ground, the knot that kept the hooded cape on unraveled releasing her raven black hair into the wind.
The landing was announced by a large, “Oof!”, and a Tellan sized cloud of ash sent skyward which promptly fall back down on top of her, restoring her to her natural state of drowning, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Moderately conscious this time, Tellan at least was able to start flailing around in the ash, her black gloved hands occasionally breaching the layer of ash that was continuously growing from what was falling from the sky. During her current panicked state, she did wonder what exactly was the knife lady out here for, could she be looking for the researcher as well? Gasping for air for a moment, perhaps she wasn’t out here to murder her or to torture her for information about the temple. Well, perhaps money was a much better reason than murder and torture, this particular thought occurred as she finally realized that she could just sit up and save herself from her own predicament.
Upon her head finally reaching above the ocean of ash, Tellan decided to finally take a good look at the knife lady. Black leathers, nice fashion, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Definitely taller than herself which was normal, Tellan was usually the shortest person around and so she decided to do something rather out of the ordinary for her and greet the knife lady.
“He—llo?”
She didn’t really have anything to add as this whole scenario was slowly turning into an exercise of buffoonery that would make the legendary Three Stooges proud, but you know, got to start somewhere.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
6
Renown
Male
Ash Lands
The other half of a can of Zardines
434 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Caedes Oleander on Dec 9, 2022 1:33:56 GMT -5
When the girl’s black fabric hood touches her fingertips, Nadia grips and pulls back. There’s a flash of pain in her strained shoulder that makes her grit her teeth as the girl's momentum catches, and staggers; and as the stranger goes horizontal in the change of direction, Nadia releases her and lets her free. Thmp!Nadia watches ash sputter from around the impact; occasionally, a black gloved hand breaches the surface and flails wildly, scattering more ash. This time, the mercenary doesn’t make any attempt to help the girl; instead, running an ash-laden hand through her blonde hair, she steps forwards. Bracing her collarbone, she rolls her shoulder experimentally in an attempt to work out the pain of the impact from her earlier landing. Her black boots crunch against the surface of ash, plunging deeper into its depths with each step; only to stop when she’s a few feet away from the girl— — and finally, the stranger rises to the surface. Nadia looks down at the girl’s soot-stained face. Her hands move to rest against the belts draped around her hips; and though her dagger has been unsheathed, she’s not in the position to use it easily as a weapon.
Looking at this kid, anyways… She's young. Younger than herself. A killer-for-hire she may be, but she doesn’t kill kids for sport. “You toss a stranger around like a sack of grain, and all you’ve got to say to her is hello?” Nadia’s voice is gruff, but her tone suggests she’s amused by the girl’s audacity; there’s an accent to her voice in hindsight. It’s light, but present. “I suppose it was a nice throw.” Her shoulder still hurts, in fact; Nadia doesn’t grimace when she moves to cross her arms over her chest.
“But, now that I have your attention... let’s try this again: what are you doing out here, kid? Darkveil’s nearly half a day’s away if not more, and you’re here gathering dust in front of an active volcano. People have gone missing out here, you know?” The blonde woman looks somewhat exasperated; it's bad enough she's out here looking for an incompetent asshole without coming across some lost, sassy orphan.
Nadia's pale eyes flicker from the stranger for only a moment, scanning the landscape; still no movement. No ambush. Her eyes land on her again, taking in the depth of her gaze, which seems endlessly pondering: the hell is she doing out here?
"You live out here, or something?"
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
18
Renown
Human
23 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Tellan Eleint on Dec 19, 2022 0:54:34 GMT -5
Oh dear, was hello not the appropriate response to greeting someone in a non hostile manner any more? Was she supposed to be more formal? Greetings, stranger, I recognize my actions were made without knowledge and wish to express my sincere regret and hope we may continue our meeting in mutual peace. Was that more the fashion? Young Tellan had very limited concepts on how to establish communication with strangers and so chose the one that she heard the most among the citizens of Darkveil besides cursing. There were a lot of questions being thrown at Tellan by the knife lady, but her current focus was still on the dagger that was out and not so much on the vocal patterns in the form of questions being directed at her. That same breathing from when she threw the knife lady took over young Tellan. A slow almost imperceptible change till it was impossible to tell from visuals that she was still breathing.
“Ehhhhhh…..?”
Tellan’s eyes had finished swirling through colors and had settled on a perfect ashen white to the point where individual flakes of ash would seem to disappear when they fell past her eyes that seemed to be frozen in focus. The questions that essentially boiled down to what this young teenage girl was out doing in the wasteland was answered in a directly convoluted way. Why was she out here? Stuff. Did she live out here? No.
“There’s nothing to eat out here? Why are you here? Drawing out a blade is interesting.”
The voice of Tellan was smooth and quiet in the way that someone who is in a trance by a mentalist may respond to questions or suggestions, devoid of any particular inflection. Deflection was a common delay tactic for young Tellan to continue to assess potential threat levels as that blade was still out and she did have other methods to disarm, separate, and remove herself from dangerous scenarios, but that required certain movements to be made by the knife lady who was now standing in front of her. Tellan herself had not stood up and instead used the growing ash to hide her preparedness to spring into action which essentially looked at from the side as if she was a disembodied head floating above the ash and from the perspective of the knife lady only her torso up was visible.
|
|
CCS Courier
IS OFFLINE
6
Renown
Male
Ash Lands
The other half of a can of Zardines
434 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Caedes Oleander on Dec 31, 2022 14:06:02 GMT -5
Nadia’s already exasperated expression grows further exasperated when the girl just hums quizzically at her, as if she doesn’t understand what’s going on. She can’t tell if she’s actually this clueless, or if she’s pretending to be for the sake of survival; and the longer she tries to pry words or explanations from her, the less she’s starting to care altogether. “Alright.” Nadia sighs; her defensive posture begins to drop, shoulders relaxing as much as they may in the presence of an utter stranger. Although, her eyes narrow when she notices the way her eyes shift hues, until they match the ash covering her entire person; her gaze and the falling soot blend into something that is one.
Curious.
“ I really don’t have time to play fifty questions with you.” Though soft, the ill-tempered grumble is within ear-shot of the stranger; Nadia pulls back, her dagger slipping out of view from the girl’s perspective. The click of a clasp snaps through the silence of falling ash, and Nadia’s cloak falls over her arms as she tucks the weapon away— at least, as far as the stranger might be able to tell. “ Don’t worry about why I’m out here, it’s official business.” she answers. “ Drawing a blade tends to be the first line of self-defense in a land full of criminals and low-lives.” … Of which, she is one; an intricacy which will not be mentioned regardless of what category the stranger before her might fall under. Nadia crosses her arms— for the first time, visible to the stranger since she displaced her dagger— and as her cloak falls around the shape of her motions, she’s no longer wielding the blade in her hands. Maybe she could still be useful.
“While you’re soaking in soot, maybe you can help me with something: you happen to see a brown-haired human man, spectacles, about yay-high anywhere around this location? Grey button-up, black slacks, olive complexion?” Nadia raises a hand, gesturing just beneath her chin when she mentions the man’s height. “I’m looking for him.”
|
|