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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 2, 2023 0:12:05 GMT -5
Dropping Gwen was the best thing Astrid could come up with in the split second she had to react to the incoming lightning bolt. Hopefully, the spell holds and carries Gwen all the way to the ground in a safe way. Bits of electricity arc out from the bolt as it strikes the cloud, and would shock Astrid if not for the grounding magic of her greaves, a remnant of Blue Raspberry's electric ooze.
But there's a bigger problem: Astrid's wings have given out. Well, this is certainly a predicament to be in. And Gwen's hammer will still fall a long way. If only she could grab it? She can! Astrid gathers magic around her feet, and the very air seems to solidify, stopping her descent. But this won't last long! And the maul is still charged! She dashes across the air as if stepping on stones until she reaches Enlightened Redolence. The lightning bites at her as she grips the hammer and releases the spell holding it aloft.
The cloud above rumbles, threatening to spew forth its new charged energy. Beneath her feet, the solid air gives way, and Astrid plummets, much faster than Gwen.
Astrid's never been much afraid of heights. She long got over that when she first practiced using her wings. However, without a way to safely stop herself from falling... There's a pit in her stomach. No, don't give up! She musters up a bit more magic, and as she falls past Gwen, she gets another cast of her slowing spell off, just to be safe! It doesn't usually last long.
Last ditch effort! Astrid fights against her flapping cape to touch her pauldrons. The icicles start to creep across her form before rapidly encasing her and the maul in a protective layer of impenetrable ice. Icebergstrid falls faster like a meteor, and slams into the ground a short distance away from Millicent. Dirt and rubble fly into the air in all directions from the force, and at the center of the crater is a big block of frozen child.
Greaves - Lightning Grounded Bat Wings - 1/2 post cooldown Step of the Wind Slow Icicle Pauldrons
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Post by Gwendolyn on Feb 2, 2023 2:25:43 GMT -5
Millicent stood in awe at the lightning strike that had hit nearby. It's crash was deafening, and had she not averted her eyes it would have certainly been blinding as well. Tapping her ears for a moment until the ringing goes away, she hears the loud THUD of an impact from the heavens nearby as well. Avasha...if one of those two got fried up there it would be another can of worms...
Looking about she managed to find the impact site relatively nearby. A small crater centered around a hunk of ice in the volcanic stone...and yep...there was the kid. She squatted next to it, taking a long drag off of her cigarette, before pressing it into the chunk of frozen child. Unsure of how long it would take to thaw, this was probably her best bet until Gwendolyn got back with her hammer. Speaking of which, hadn't the kid been carrying her master?
Gwendolyn tumbled slowly through the air down to the ground. The ringing in her ears had yet to stop after a couple of minutes, and she found herself cursing that if she had come out of this deaf as well as blind she would just go home. Luckily, the slowing effect that Astrid had placed on her came to a more gradual end than an immediate one, for even after her eventual arrival back on Charra Firma she had managed to pick up a non-insignificant amount of speed. The impact of Gwendolyn behind her ruffled the frills on Millicent's apron, alerting her to her Masters own arrival. The stars and flowers that swirled around Gwen's head were plentiful, but she had survived.
Cuirass hit reduction (1/1)
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 2, 2023 15:43:11 GMT -5
Falling from the height she did would have killed just about anyone, but luckily, the magic of the pauldrons absorbed the entire force of the impact, protecting Astrid in a little ice case. Whether Millicent putting out her cigarette is well-timed or the cause, the ice around Astrid starts to crack until it all falls away, revealing the girl tightly clutching Enlightened Redolence tight in her hands. Swaths of icy mist fall away from the icicle pod, and Astrid takes a deep, shaken breath.
"HOO BOY!" Her voice shatters the silence, and she sits up, nary a scratch or bruise on her. "That was scary. Real scary. Never doin' that again." Finally, she spots Millicent looking between her and Gwen with some mix of concern and confusion. "Oh, hey, Miss Millicent."
Astrid pulls herself out of the icicle coffin as if she didn't just fall a thousand feet to what should have been any normal mortal's death. It doesn't take long for her to spot Gwen wheezing on the ground, feeling the impact. Her stomach drops. Did the spell not hold long enough to help her? Well, she's not a big meaty pancake, so there's that. Regardless, Astrid rushes over.
"Gwen! Oi, are ya alright??" The girl sets the maul down and fishes a small vial on a silver chain out from beneath her armor, holding it over Gwen's mouth. "This'll help! I was hopin' ya'd be alright. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't know what else ta do!" With that, Astrid cracks the vial, and a shimmering blue liquid drips out into Gwen's mouth. A cool wave washes over the warrior woman, curing any injuries she may have suffered from the fall.
With a sigh, Astrid sits back on her knees. "That was spooky."
Essence of the North
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Post by Gwendolyn on Feb 3, 2023 2:43:05 GMT -5
The ice-cold liquid coats her mouth and gives Gwendolyn a quick chill, clearing her mind. A deep inhale found her fully conscious once again as she sat up with a jolt. Her eyes darted towards her legs as her hands quickly patted down the rest of her body to ensure it was intact. Aside from her armour, everything seemed ship-shape! Her eyes met back with the two lady's sitting nearby before locking on to Astrid. She reached out and grabbed the young warrior by the shoulders with great fervor before saying... "Astrid...That...Was....AMAZING. Avasha's Grace I've never witnessed such power before! My EARS are still ringing! How did you get out of the cloud?! Did you see me falling through the air! Also, where is my Maul?" Her excitement temporarily stayed by looking upwards to catch a glint of the maul still hovering in the air, before noticing it lying next to a slowly melting icy sarcophagus. Her heart was beating a million times a minute and her breath was quickly meeting it. Ginma's Shit that was one of the most incredible things that have happened in her life. Millicent squatted nearby with a look of incredulity on her face marked only by a raised eyebrow and a roll left unashed. This was probably the first time she had seen her master so...flustered? Gwendolyn quickly sat back, bringing herself up to her feet while brushing off all the dust from the impact. Gather yourself... what was next... oh yeah.
"Well then..." she said, before clearing her throat a bit "Right, well. Did it work?"
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 4, 2023 3:08:55 GMT -5
It's a huge relief to see Gwen sit up and rattle Astrid by the shoulders. The kid can't help laughing along as she's shaken, not stirred. "I-I-I got out by fallin'!" she says. "I managed ta grab yer maul before I totally fell. Didn't want it getting smashed on impact."
When Gwen lets her go, Astrid recollects herself and finds the strength to get to her feet too. In all honesty, her own legs are shaking from a bit of fear and excitement. It was pretty cool. Most people would just find a Static Root. Few could say that they possibly made one. She notices Gwen's armor though, and her face looks pained. Luckily, she has a means to fix it quickly! So while Gwen looks around for her maul, Astrid digs through her pouches until she finds a small, magical bone.
"Here, Gwen," she says, walking over to Gwen and snapping the bone. A wave of magic washes over Gwen's damaged cuirass, and the metal stitches itself back together. "Much better," Astrid says, rapping a knuckle against Gwen's breastplate. Then she looks around for the place the lightning struck and spots a particularly fried spot on the ground. "Must be over there!"
Astrid rushes over to the charred spot with blackened grass and shrubs. Small strings of electricity arc along the ground. "Aye, I think it worked!" she calls. "We just gotta dig up the roots of the plants!" Dropping to her knees, Astrid starts digging with her hands and pulls up sparking grass roots to collect.
When they're finished with their collecting, she dusts the dirt off her hands and grins at Gwen and Millicent. "I don't think anyone's gonna believe us if we tell 'em about how we got these."
Blacksmith's Wishbone
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Post by Gwendolyn on Feb 9, 2023 3:09:52 GMT -5
Her fancy breastplate melded back together before her very eyes as Astrid snapped the bone and inspected the magical handiwork. Sliding her hands over the fresh metal, it seemed as though it were as good as the day she recieved it.
"Wow, thanks! It would have cost me hundreds of solars for a repair like that." Astrid leapt over to the freshly discovered root and began digging manually. Gwendolyns immediate reaction was of disgust, such actions were terrible for ones skin and nails. But, alas, It wasn't in the spirit of forming friendships to stand by and watch someone do all the work. She retrieved a pair of cotton gloves from her waistbag and slipped them on, only to look up and realize that Astrid had already retrieved the root from the ground in the time that it had took her.
"Oh...Nice! Good work, here. Lets wrap these up and get going." She said, as the small apothecary commented on the incredulity of their newfound story. "Hmmm, well I suppose if anyone doesnt believe us, we'll just have to prove society wrong by making our own in front of their very eyes! Easy!" Right? The fact that she had almost died like twice in the last two hours was like a secret she had forgotten. Such confidence to be speaking casually of weather manipulation may indeed seem a bit mad, but looking at Millicent who wore the same nonchalant expression as always said that she hadn't gone too far over the deep end. Ah, well. Mission Accomplished either way.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 10, 2023 0:18:35 GMT -5
Astrid makes quick work of digging up the root with her hands. Of all the things she has in her collection, a set of digging implements is not included. Considering the number of times she's been stuck in a cave or underground, one might think she would have this. Alas, she does not.
With the root packed up neatly by Gwen in her prim cotton gloves (which Astrid tilts her head at with some level of confusion), the half-dwarf sits back on her knees. After her first encounter with Gwen, she really did not expect to be on great terms with her. Honestly, she half expected the warrior woman to blame her for some misfortune that befell her after turning against her employers in Frost Gale. And after nearly dying to a lightning bolt and a fall from a thousand or more feet today, Astrid really expected Gwen to get up and shout at her for putting her in such a frightening situation.
But...that hasn't happened. Despite Gwen's presentation of herself, she's actually kind of fun to be around. This big hammer-wielding woman could have turned her nose up at Astrid and shooed her away to find the root on her own. Instead of panicking about the near-death situation, she's been excited about it! And excited about the wild way they found the root.
"Hey, um, Miss Gwen?" Astrid says in a small voice fitting her stature but not her usual demeanor. "Sorry about how crazy all this stuff was today, but I'm glad we're alright. Seems like ya had fun, at least." She looks up at the adult woman beside her. "I'm lookin' forward ta doin' more jobs with ya." Then she fumbles her words. "I-If this wasn't too much fer ya, anyway."
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Post by Gwendolyn on Feb 10, 2023 17:24:07 GMT -5
Wow. Was Astrid being vulnerable with her? This was not a situation where Gwendolyn had a lot of experience inter-personally. Her other siblings had all had a better relationship amongst themselves than they had with her, so sharing stuff like appreciation didn't come easy. She put her gloved hand up to her head to awkwardly rub the back of it. Proper to return the gesture? How vulnerable could she be without Millicent thinking less of her... The thoughts quickly rushed through her heads as she gave a half-hearted and calculated "Dont worry about it" A small moment of silence passed before the maid standing behind Astrid gave a short intentional cough. Their eye's met and Millicent looked at the young girl and gave a slight head tilt. Okay, slightly too soft. Big girl pants time.
"I mean, It wasn't too much at all. As much of a little demon you are, It's quite enjoyable to experience the twists and turns of spontaneity that occur when you're around." She places her gloved hand atop Astrid's head, offering a weird pat. Different than the more dismissive pat that she had given this same girl at the docks, but still weird. At least to her. "I await when we meet again, Astrid. Thanks for today, It was a blast, literally." Retracting, she called Millicent over to begin their journey back to civilization. Gwendolyn's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as the woman walking behind her wore the smuggest smile behind the cigarette.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 10, 2023 20:37:15 GMT -5
"Devil child." "Demon child." Astrid's heard these terms thrown at her multiple times throughout her life, mostly by superstitious dwarves, all because of her horns. In all honesty, she doesn't know where her horns come from. She doesn't know what her other half is.
With the tone in Gwen's voice, she decides the woman doesn't mean it as a jeer so much as a jest. After all, Astrid is a weird kid with a penchant for dangerous things. Plus, Gwen had fun, so Astrid smiles.
"I'm glad ya had fun," she says softly. Things could have turned out a lot differently, but they turned out well. She's happy about that.
"Well, with these roots, it's the last thin' I need ta impress the Consortium," she says cheerfully, getting to her feet and helping Gwen up. "So if yer lookin' ta get in too, we'll definitely be seein' each other again. Maybe we can do more work fer the guild together!"
As Gwen walks away, Astrid unfurls her wings. "Good ta meet ya too, Miss Millicent. See ya both around!" Then the girl launches herself into the air and off to head home.
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