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Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Jun 17, 2023 17:51:04 GMT -5
The spell he used was familiar-- she grimaces at the memory, but says nothing to it. It had been fair play, as far as Del was concerned.
As the Lizardman points, indicating where she should go, Del wordlessly approaches, finding it easy to work in tandem even without direct and verbal communication. Bending, she begins by looping the temporarily docile creature's tail around one forearm to prevent any surprise lashings with the tail as her other hand secures around the wider part of the pectoral fin to help haul it along. Her feet dig into the sand as she pulls back, the effort slow at first, made difficult with the rock and heavy sand in the tide pool, but each step adds momentum, her grip unrelenting[1] and her muscles taut and sure.
With the angle of exit being flattened by her own work earlier, it doesn't take long for Del to extract the Manta Glider out to the shallows, depositing it in the waves and beating her own hasty retreat from the water itself. It was bound to be coming back to consciousness sooner than later, and she really did not want to be in the way of its tail when it did.
When she turns back to the shore, she sees the Lizardman readjusting his cloak to cover the stump of his arm, touching the smaller Manta Glider to impart what Del could only assume was the same spell as before on the creature. She approaches carefully, ready to take the creature if he was ready to release the spell and his hold on the angry sea creature.
[1] Iron Grip [2] Bull's Strength Tattoo
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Post by Xalmann Dakarr on Jun 25, 2023 22:59:16 GMT -5
The manta laid limp on the sand, sluggishly lifting its tail as if it wanted to strike out with it, but had no energy to do so. All it could manage to do was lift its tail just enough for it to splash slightly as it dropped back down into the shallow water. If it looked as if it was getting its energy back, Xalmann just drained it again, one claw resting at the ready on its slick hide as he crouched down next to it up by its head where it wouldn't be able to reach him with its tail if it somehow managed to suddenly recover.
When Del returned from releasing the first Manta Glider, Xalmann was ready for her to take the second one. He glanced up at her and motioned wordlessly with his head for her to go around and grab the tail. He eyed her the whole time, not wanting to give her a chance to turn on him. He felt vulnerable, sitting there with his only hand occupied with keeping the manta docile. His axe was in its sheathe on his waist, ready to be summoned into his hand if she tried anything. He would have felt much more comfortable if he was already holding it though, but he couldn't now.
He needed to find a replacement for his lost limb, he thought to himself, but he wouldn't voice that need out loud. He doubted Del could even help him with something like that. He wasn't sure he'd want her to even if she could.
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Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Jul 3, 2023 15:04:58 GMT -5
She watches carefully, doing her best not to stare. He was a man of few words, to say the least, but there were some signs of external communication that were likely uninetntional. The dubious way he eye her, for one, standing at an angle as if, were she to attack him, he would be in a prime position to take a half step back to draw a weapon. But this was all supposition; she had no guarantee that was what he was thinking, and even if it was, how in the world would she assuage his thoughts that she was bound to cause him harm? She wouldn't even believe her, but then again, Del was a paranoid person who was used to being on the run...
...Hmm.
As the Lizardman gives her the go ahead, Del approaches once more to complete the same process, wrapping the tail around her arm so it couldn't deliver a venomous blow to either of them, and gripping the creature's pectoral fin to make it a little easier to pull the thing back out to sea. She takes care to pull it away, though there is a snag hit on one of the stones, giving the creature just enough time to thrash, powerful muscles trying to rip free of Del's grip.
"Agh, please don't, you're fine, it's fine, you're fine, I PROMISE," on the final word, Del torques her body and hauls as hard as she can the creature into the sea, nearly throwing the manta glider like the deadly sea pancake it was. It's tail thrashed wildly in the air, missing Del as she calmly slipped back and out of the way[1] to avoid the blow. With that, the two manta gliders were back at sea, ostensibly a much better place to be unreasonably angry.
Speaking of.
She turns back to the Lizardman, walking forward with a slight smile as she brushes sand off the front of her frock. "Well. That takes care of that. Thank you for your help."
[1] Float Like a Butterfly
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Post by Xalmann Dakarr on Jul 30, 2023 22:31:22 GMT -5
"Hm." Xalmann just grunted as he gave a curt nod toward Del.
With the gliders saved, his business here was done. He could finally leave and hope this Del person really kept quiet about seeing him. He didn't know what her game was, caring so much about getting a few weird fish back into the sea, but whatever. It didn't matter to him. He just needed to keep lying low and if that meant doing her a favor to keep her mouth shut, so be it.
He turned and walked over to the side of the hole, careful to keep Del visible in the corner of his eye in case she tried anything while his back was to her. Climbing out of the pit they were in was significantly harder than it should have been with only one hand. He tried to ignore how embarrassing he must have looked, struggling to clamber up the side of the tidal pool one-handed. At least the rocks offered good hand holds for him to grip, but the moments of only being supported by his feet as he had to release his hand to quickly grab somewhere higher were nerve-wracking.
He just hoped Del had already left and wouldn't offer to help him climb up or something like that. Please, just let him leave with some shred of dignity.
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Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Aug 8, 2023 2:51:51 GMT -5
No such luxury would be afforded to the Lizardman.
Not only was Del socially awkward from years on her own while on the road, but she was also terribly earnest, something that Xalmann would no doubt find extraordinarily irritating if previous interactions were any indication. The 'Hmm' for the moment, however, is all she is concerned about; an ambivalent acquiesence As she dusts herself off to make her way up and out of the side of the tide pool, she does so with ease[1], as though it came as natural to her as breathing. Once she's at the top, she looks down at the Lizardman, who's name she still did not know, as he struggles with trying to get up the side of the tide-pool with his one arm.
She presses her lips together in a thin line, momentarily wrestling with herself. The Lizardman had indicated he wanted as little to do with her as possible-- That was fair enough. And the last thing she wanted to do was accidentally extend him something that could be interpreted as pity for his condition.
But Del also wasnt going to leave the Lizardman hanging there, struggling for grip, either.
She clicks her tongue and unwinds her sash from her middle, dropping one end down towards him to give him something to hang on to, so he wouldn't have to keep adjusting his hand while he walked himself up the side of the cliff; only rolling the fabric around his wrist would be needed to keep up the tension. "You don't have to take it, but it's there if you want it." She says casually, lifting her brows as she looks down at the Lizardman. She wouldn't begrudge him either way, but Del couldn't not offer aid of some kind. She was... compelled.
[1] Surface Scaling [2] Bull's Strength Tattoo (to hold Xalmann's weight if he chooses <v<)
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Post by Xalmann Dakarr on Aug 10, 2023 7:32:28 GMT -5
Xalmann wasn't much of an actor. He had all the charisma of a sundried lizard corpse on the side of the road. But that damn well wasn't going to stop him from doing his best performance of pretending Del wasn't there. He ignored the sash completely, continuing to grab onto whatever rocky handholds he could find, pressing himself forward into the wall as much as he could to try and prevent himself from falling backward each time he released his grip for a moment to extend his legs as much as possible, raising himself up to the next handhold.
For his first time climbing with half as many arms as he was used to, he was getting the hang of it rather quickly. His natural athleticism was finally showing. He could do this. Even missing an arm, he was a strong, independent Lizardman who didn't need any help!
That was what he thought until the rock beneath his left foot suddenly crumbled while he was lifting himself up toward the next handhold. With a hiss-like gasp of surprise, he instinctively grabbed at the first thing he could to catch himself. When he was no longer in danger of falling, he found a new place for his foot to rest and then looked to see...
Damnit. He grabbed the damn sash. Maybe he should have just let himself fall. Should he let go of it and find a new handhold in the rock? No, she definitely already felt him grab it. He almost fell. The weight on the sash would have been incredibly noticeable in that moment if it wasn't still noticeable now. It was too late. There was no playing it off.
With a mix of resignation and frustration, Xalmann begrudgingly began to climb using the sash he'd tried to ignore. When he scrabbled up out of the hole, he avoided eye contact with Del.
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Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Aug 30, 2023 0:56:07 GMT -5
The length of time the lizardfolk ignores her is... impressive, frankly. He was clearly determined to get up this incline on his own volition. He was doing a pretty damn good job of it, too; even for Del, who was an expert climber, the inclines bowing in odd directions and the make-up of the stone itself didn't exactly lend itself to an easy ascent, even for someone with two arms. If it weren't for those factors, she would have withdrawn the sash altogether, since he clearly didn't need her help.
Well. Until he did.
It was a good thing she held firm against her own awkwardness and left the sash there, as when his foot goes out from under him, Del twists her end of her sash around the back of her hand, providing a stronger anchor point for the Lizardman-- who's name she STILL did not know-- from falling back down into the tide pool. He's heavy and the sudden jolt of his weight jars her arm, but she's strong, at least. Del exhales a slow breath, releasing the tension of that momentary blip of concern before it's gone again, and the lizardman completes his climb with the help of her sash. Brugrudging though it is-- understandable, all things concerned.
And now they were standing here. In silence. With him refusing to meet her eye and she feeling the mounting pressure of anxiety rising in her chest.
.....help.
"It was. Ah. Nice working with you." Nice was maybe not the correct word, exactly; it hadn't been bad at all, either. But saying "it was working with you" doesn't quite seem like a good response either. Best to just. Be polite. And try so hard (and fail) not to be awkward. "Do you, ah. Plan on going elsewhere from here?" oh, gods, what was she doing, please stop talking, Del, just stop-- "I'm familiar with the area. I might be able to direct you to a couple of people who could... um..." she trails off for a moment, not wanting to say the words give you a hand even though it was true, in both senses of the word. And did he even want a new arm? Who was she to assume! "Might help you with a, ah, prosthetic, if that's your thing?"
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Post by Xalmann Dakarr on Sept 1, 2023 9:29:30 GMT -5
Xalmann glared at Del suspiciously as she floundered to try and speak with him. He'd done what she asked of him and now she was still talking to him. Why? Was that not enough to get her to keep quiet? And now she was asking where he was going after this as if he'd actually tell her and give her the chance to report to the authorities exactly where he was going to be. Who was she hoping to direct him to, an ambush squad? No, he wasn't going to fall for some pathetic tricks like that.
Then she mentioned something that left the Lizardman puzzled. A... prost tetic? What was that? He'd never heard of that before. Why would it be his thing? He was pretty sure he didn't have one. Maybe it was just a word he hadn't learned yet, or maybe there was just no word for it in his tribe's language to translate it to. It left him bewildered on what she could possibly be trying to offer him.
"What is a... prost tetic?" He asked slowly, trying to sound the word out accurately. He hated having to ask, to expose his lack of knowledge to this weirdo, but he felt strangely sure that this was something he wanted to know.
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Post by Delaela Fenastra-Asiliari on Sept 23, 2023 10:38:35 GMT -5
Ginma have mercy, she got more than two words out of the guy. It was a miracle. A breakthrough. Maybe she COULD engage in social interaction after all!
His dubiousness does not cow her this time, and Del nods, encouraging the question. If there was one thing she was confident about, it was crafting. "A prosthetic is a replacement limb. They can be simple-- a lot of people in the Isles use peg-legs when they lose a leg at sea, for instance-- or more complicated, usually with some sort of magical enhancement to make the use of the limb more seamless-- er, that is to say, realistic. I'm a smith and carpenter by trade, so I've supplied the materials for making these things before, but I don't have the particular skill set or magical ability to make something more complex."
Realizing that was... a lot of words, comparative to the level of conversation they'd had thus far, Del clears her throat. "So, ah, if you'd be interested in that, I can make some recommendations, but you'd have a good chance finding someone who can do that by your own leave as well. There's even a few on the Crescent Isles." Her head tilts then, as though just realizing something; a commonality, of all things. "Unless... you'd prefer to not visit any high population areas." She says slowly. It's not a question, but an understanding. She herself was still on the run, technically, though her pursuers had yet to locate her in any meaningful way.
"There's probably at least one or two in the villges on this island. People that tend to not ask questions." she adds, turning her head to look at the horizon. It had been forty-ish years since she had last supplied a prosthestitist with materials here, but she was sure such traditions were alive and well, handed down to the younger generations.
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Post by Xalmann Dakarr on Apr 5, 2024 17:11:27 GMT -5
It was a lot of words, but Xalmann understood the most important parts. A replacement limb. That would help a lot. Xalmann was a trained warrior, but he had been trained his whole life to be able to fight with two hands. Losing one of his arms was a brutal blow that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to retrain himself to handle. If he could just get a new arm, that would change everything.
But, he still didn't want to take so much help from Del. He felt a hit to his pride just needing to be helped climbing out of a hole and asking her to explain what a prosthetic was. He couldn't accept any more help. And, if he was going to replace his arm, he wanted something better than his old one. A cheap replacement wouldn't be enough to let him get his revenge on Shaa for taking his old one. It sounded like Del wouldn't be able to make a better one for him.
Xalmann's face was stoically absent of emotion, but a quick glance away as Del mentioned not wanting to visit high population areas betrayed that she had hit the nail on the head. He would prefer to lay low right now, and that was hard to do in a crowd now with his appearance.
Just knowing there were skilled craftsmen able to make a prosthetic for him on this island was enough. Xalmann turned and started to walk away, not wanting to continue any more conversation or be given any more help. He pulled his cloak around him again to hide his missing arm as he treaded through the sand, back toward the tree line.
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