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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Jul 16, 2023 19:14:07 GMT -5
Theobo tried not to show how heavy his hands trembled. He was only 16, he had seen plenty of tough fights and had been able to hold his own. Until this point though, Leandros had always been within halberd's reach of him. The Lion called the shots, the cub was just happy enough to be working under a knight who didn't treat him like a glorified pack mule. Coordinating something like this on his own was nerve-wracking.
"Come on everyone, let's form lines!" There was no hiding the youthfulness of his voice either, a shallow attempt at harnessing the command and confidence Leandros does.
The people respond though, gathering around him to listen to his instructions. He may be a child, but he had more weapons training than any of them combined. The villagers take kneeling positions behind the rocks or piles of wheelbarrels, pitchforks facing forward. Hands grip onto the shafts of these weapons until their knuckles turn white.
Silence is an unsettling thing when you know to be expecting something. It weighs heavy on the ears as the mind starts to wonder what is coming and fear fills in the gaps. Theobo's heart pounds in his chest as he waits at the front.
The noiseless night shatters as the yips and howls of the gnolls break through the air. Their large padded feet thump heavily into the hard packed dirt road as they start to head towards the village. The calls only grow larger when they see the village is not empty.
"HOLD!" Theobo cries out as the wave of gnolls hit, a few crashing into their pitchforks. Deep wounds are gouged into them, but the soft and rotted wood on some break and snap off. Other gnolls pour past and into the other lines.
Leandros snaps the reins faster to get Byrr moving as he hears the first clashes and screams of conflict. He rushes in to try and get to those in need, hoping he's not too late to render aid to those who need it.
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Jul 18, 2023 16:35:53 GMT -5
Despite the pair's best efforts to scatter the raiding party and keep them far from the town, it seemed the gnolls' determination outweighed any self preservation. The gnolls seem to ignore the fear of Leandros or the lowered visibility from Zarius' smokescreen and charge towards the town, quickly closing in on the poor villagers.
Shit.
Now they were playing catch up with the raiders. Leandros is at least on a horse, so his chances of catching up before too much damage is done is fairly high. Zarius on the otherhand is stuck running after them on foot.
The fellblood sprints over the hill, through the grass and then the muddy field as fast as he can to catch up to Leandros and the gnolls.[1]
Gods. This is about as badly as this whole situation could have gone.
Catching up to a few of the slower gnolls that try to pick off the villagers at a distance by using their short bows, the fellblood full on collides with one of them and knocks them forwards into the soft ground.[2] The gnoll howls in surprise while its companions jump to its defense.
Zarius regains his footing just in time to catch an incoming arrow, stopping it from striking his chest.[3] He throws the arrow back into the leg of the nearest gnoll.
That gnoll was now pretty injured, but the two others were more than ready for a fight as their pack mates swarm the town.
[1] Adrenaline Rush [2] Dashing [3] Deflecting Palm (1/topic)
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Jul 18, 2023 21:52:48 GMT -5
Gilder did his best to try and keep up with the horde coming through, but a bow can only fire so fast. It didn't help these gnolls seemed driven by bloodthirst instead of reason. He sees Zarius in the distance and pulls the bowstring back. Gilder inhales slowly to aim before firing, the arrow burned with holy fire as it zipped past and sunk into the throat of the injured gnoll. Their friend dying seems to spur them to pounce at the fellblood.
Back at the front, Theobo is holding his own against a gnoll but holding the position is the only thing he can do. The gnolls thrash and swipe at them from over the barricades. Wicked claws cut through one farmer's arm causing him to fall back and what the halfling fears most happens.
With one person down, the weight of the gnolls pushes through the barricade and start to overwhelm them. He stabs out from behind his shield to kill the one on him, but that is quickly replaced by another one immediately on him.
Leandros finally manages to catch up, swinging his halberd at the legs of one to take it off its feet. Byrr then rears back to drop his hoof on the gnoll's chest. The knight hops down from the horse to pick up the farmer, placing a hand to his wound stitching it up.[1]
"Get back to the fall back house with my wife. Let us take it from here." He stands and turns to look at the gnolls still streaming in. This would be a long night, but at least they pushed the attack to where they had somewhat of a standing. The barricades seemed to be slowing them down some and breaking the camp before they were prepared has turned the attack sloppy and uncoordinated. Limiting casualties was the plan now.
1. Minor Healing
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Jul 25, 2023 19:21:16 GMT -5
Gilder's arrow successfully takes out one of the gnolls Zarius was facing down.
Great. That one wasn't a problem now.
Then the group turned on him.
Not so great.
The gnolls swap their bows for clubs and run towards him. They team up and take a pair of swings at him, one going for his head while the other goes for his legs. Clearly they were trying to knock him down, but the attacks are wide and easy to see coming.
Zarius blocks the attack going for his head with his bare hand, the wrappings around his arm springs to life and lashes around the gnoll's weapon as their arm.[1,2] He then jumps over the swing towards his legs, purposefully letting it connect with the soles of his shoes which sends the much lighter fellblood off to the side. Much to the surprise of the gnoll that went for his head, the gnoll finds their arm jerked to the side, pulling themself off balance as Zarius uses the momentum to swing around and then throw the gnoll he had grappled into the other.[3]
The maneuver takes them both out, at least temporarily, but gnolls were hardy when it came to physical hits that weren't piercing or slashing, so Zarius quickly dons his knuckle knives to give his hits a literally edge.
However, a much more problematic player was just entering the fray. The large armored gnoll that appeared to be the leader of the raiding troupe stomps into the edge of town and looks around for its first target, it's eyes land on those who were fleeing back further into the city and it lets out a cackle like war cry.
[1] Hands are Weapons [2] Constrictor Wraps [3] Reverse of Momentum
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Jul 25, 2023 19:56:35 GMT -5
At the moment, Gilder does his best to provide support to Zarius. His arrows may not always land a killing blow, but it slows them enough to keep him from getting overwhelmed. Plus the cuts add up to slow them enough for the fellblood.
The front of the blockade was much more chaotic as more gnolls began to surge forward. A gnoll climbs over and launches over the barricade to try and assault Lee from above, but it finds itself skewered on the spear point of the halberd. Another comes from below and stabs a spear into Leandros' leg, but it glances off his armor.[1]
Theobo takes a swipe at that one's side and cuts into it. The gnoll yelps and turns to face the halfling. Leandros quickly drops his dead friend onto the gnoll and lets the halfling finish them off.
As he readies for the next few he notices the armored gnoll. Hells that would be a problem. "Theobo stay here and defend the position."
The halfling swallows hard and nods as the knight takes off. He charges the field to meet the gnoll head on. "YOU! If you want anyone else in this village, come face me. I'll allow no more death this night!"[2]
This gnoll gives a wicked grin and seems all too happy to accept the challenge. It takes a flail from its hip and starts to warm up, spinning the thick and ugly spiked head.
1. Faulds HP used 2. Challenging Mark
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Aug 10, 2023 10:13:03 GMT -5
Gilder's continued support from afar starts paying off as the gnolls go down one by one. A shot to the eye takes one out immediately, while another goes down to a follow-up strike from Zarius after the archer pierces their leg. The fellblood appreciates having someone at range to support him and Gilder's skills are on par with Snow's which makes it easy to leverage the cover fire.
They're making progress, slowly but surely. But the problem is this is a race against time. Every second counts as the gnolls push further into the village and get closer to the defenseless civilians. They needed to either wipe the raiders out or make them consider retreat.
The easiest way to do that is to cripple their leadership, which seems to be what Leandros was in a perfect position to do.
The large gnoll stomps its way up to Leandros. The damn thing looms over the tall knight and rivals him in sheer bulk. Unlike the other gnolls, this one could take a beating, and its armor only bolstered its natural-born defense.
Zarius keeps one eye on the fight between the knight and the pack leader. Any opening he would take, but he wasn't about to make himself a target or get caught in any crossfire between the two armed combatants. Deciding his efforts are best focused on supporting Theobo and Gilder, Zarius turns invisible and works his way to the barriers to help pick off the gnolls one by one.[1]
It works well enough. With the gnolls in their blood rage, they do not notice the fellblood sneaking up behind them until it's too late. He delivers precise blows to the base of their spines and the back of their legs to cripple their mobility.[2,3]
With openings made, Theobo and Gilder are able to finish off the injured gnolls before they have a chance to retaliate against Zarius, though not for lack of trying. Each time his invisibility breaks, he's forced to dodge back away from flailing claws and snapping jaws. One manages to clip his arm, their nails tearing through the fabric of his coat and leaving gashes in his flesh.
He winces and retreats back into the shadows once more as that gnoll goes down to an arrow to the back of the head. They were whittling down the pack's numbers, but their own endurance was being drained just as quickly. This needed to come to an end, and fast.
[1] Invisibility [2] Backstab [3] Stunning Blows
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Aug 13, 2023 10:00:40 GMT -5
Helping Zarius was a much easier task for Gilder than the usual work of supporting his lord. The fellblood had a much smaller frame to start, but he also had a preternatural battle sense that seemed to put him in the right place to let an arrow slip by. Leandros on the other hand fought as an impenetrable wall of steel which was good for keeping enemies in front of him, but made Gilder have to work harder to support.
The knight steels himself to face off against the gnoll, his shimmering armor returning to surround him.[1] This large one could obviously pack a punch, he was going to need as much protection as he could muster.
As Leandros readies himself the pack leader draws his weapon, a sickly looking flail of rusted and twisted metal. The head of it thuds into the ground, nearly the size of Theobo. With surprising speed and strength, the gnoll flicks it forward sending chunks of earth towards the knight.
The halberd quickly spins to block the dirt[2] but the gnoll has already used the chance to close the distance. It crashes the head of the flail into his halberd, unable to get past the spinning defense. The sound of the collision rings across the battlefield, any normal person would have been sent flying but thankfully Leandros was blessed with an incredible amount of strength.[3]
"A decent blow, but you will need to find more strength than that to knock me off balance." Leandros grits his teeth as he pushes back and moves to slash at the gnoll, the blade of his halberd cutting through some of the patchwork armor but unable to actually hit flesh.
Amidst the rest of the pack, Theobo was gassed and Gilder running out of arrows. They were up against the wall to be certain. While Leandros is wrapped up, without a word Theobo looks to Zarius for direction. What do they do from here?
1. Devoted Spirits 2. Shifting Block 3. Immovable Bastion, Lion's Strength tattoo, Baloth Muscles
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Aug 20, 2023 12:36:43 GMT -5
Zarius glances around at the village now turned battlefield. Apogee managed to get the civilians unable of taking up arms to safety, and for the most part, the group of adventurers have done well to keep the rest from winding up gnoll chow. But gnolls are hearty, resilient creatures. The farmers with their pitchforks and torches are just flailing about. Good as distractions, bad at actually taking down the problem. It won't be long before someone who isn't part of the raiders is grievously injured or outright killed.
The fellblood catches sight of Theobo looking to him for guidance while Leandros is preoccupied with the gnoll leader.
Gods.
What a mess he willingly stepped into. Keeping up this act of altruism and do-gooder-y for the sake of his allies is exhausting. He could have just kept to himself and let things play out, but that would have put the knight at a higher chance of not walking away from this conflict alive. Would have been a waste of all the effort to get on his good side up until this point. The lengths he goes to for assets he doesn't even have plans for yet. No wonder he's exhausted.
He gets over those feelings of burden and shouts to Theobo. "Retreat back to the civilians, reserve the last of your strength and arrows to take care of any that make it past me."
While he's not keen on putting a giant target on his back for these random villagers, Leandros surely would disapprove if Zarius allowed his allies to take unnecessary risks or encouraged them to save their own skins. It was a no-win situation without resorting to more desperate measures.
As the two do as told, Zarius cuts off the advancing gnolls in the street.
The gnolls notice their numbers have dwindled, but there's still enough to take down a single target, and their leader - as far as they know - is still at their backs. A hyena-like cackle is exchanged between the remaining gnolls. One fellblood could hardly stop them.
Zarius takes a breath, the taste of smoke settles on his tongue as he focuses. As much as he doesn't want to rely on this, he's left with a few better options. Smoke lifts off his skin in a black miasma that rises into the air. An eerie, uneasy energy radiates from the fellbloood; the gnolls hesitate in their approach, unsure of what to make of what is happening.[1] Zarius then focuses on the one in the lead, his eyes flicking with blue light.
"Heel."
The gnoll's eyes glaze over and its stance shifts to being less aggressive. Zarius looks down his nose at the gnoll.
"Attack."
Without protest or hesitation, the gnoll turns to face its allies, raises its weapon, and attacks.[2] All hell breaks loose as the remaining gnolls are caught between being confused by their ally attacking them, or fearful of the sketchy fellblood.
[1] Invoke Fear (1/2 per topic) [2] Profane Command
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Aug 23, 2023 18:32:46 GMT -5
The alpha gnoll lets out a sickening howl that pierces the air, the pitch causing Leandros and the others to wince for a moment. The battle cry rings out across the field and seems to give the other gnolls a renewed spirit as they join in on the cacophonus chorus. Muscles begin to bulge and twitch on the alpha as it lets out a heated breath before swing again.
Once more Leandros blocks the hit, but the force pushes his heels back into the dirt a bit. How is this thing getting more powerful? That was not something he could concern him with. He would just have to meet force with force.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE FLED WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE!" His call across the battlefield gives his own allies a similar second wind as he swung for the flail using his strength to knock the flail back and send the alpha off balance.
Leandros moves in and cuts it deep across the chest, blood pooling on the ground. As he closes the distance, the knight realizes the gnoll's eyes have already rolled back. This thing is operating on nothing but pure rage and hate. It seemed smart enough to realize it won't win, but it was going to take out whoever it could.
Back in the village Gilder drops from the roof, crunching his fighting sticks into a gnolls head. He's low on arrows, but relatively fresh. Fresh enough to fight at least. Whatever Zarius was doing was only caught from the corner of his eyes and the scout knew enough to not question an ally.
He regroups with Theobo who stands in the midst of a few gnoll corpses. The halfling is barely standing, covered in his own wounds, but still standing. Impressive for a young man his age, but the therapy afterwards would cost his weight in gold. They look over to the fellblood and the sounds of fighting in the field.
"Should we help? I don't know if even Leandros can handle that?" Theobo tries to make his voice heard over the clashes of steel being traded between the gnols in the village and the boss fight in the middle distance.
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Aug 27, 2023 10:37:33 GMT -5
Zarius clicks his tongue. This fight was going on too long. The gnoll he took control of is still a problem for the rest of the gnoll raiders, but the fellblood's influence over them would only last so long. They needed to take out the leader. Now.
"Buy us a little more time. I will help your knight," he says to Gilder and Theobo before turning invisible once more and racing off towards the field.[1]
He didn't want to. He'd hoped Leandros could have handled the pack leader on his own, but clearly, they had underestimated the tenacity of these gnolls. At least if the leader was down then the knight could focus back on cleaning up the remaining riff-raff and directing his wards.
As he approaches the duel, it's obvious that the gnoll is in a frenzied state, ignoring the pain of the wounds inflicted by the knight and powering through in a desperate attempt to at least take the knight with it.
Getting close while the gnoll was flailing wildly with its weapon would be risky. If he missed hitting a vital or crippling it, there was a good chance he would get nailed for his attempt to down it quickly. The armored knight could take a few good hits, but the fellblood with no armor to speak of would not fare as well.
The taste of smoke and the burning sensation intensify in the back of his throat.
Gods. Not now.
Whispers, dozens of voices layered one over the other, crawl out of the back of his mind and fill his ears with incoherent murmurs.
NOT. NOW.
He tries to push forward and close the gap between himself and the back of the gnoll as it strikes out at Leandros. Spotting a small opening, he takes a chance and strikes at the gnoll from behind, aiming for the spine with the intent of crippling it for good.[2]
The blow lands, but the gnoll's erratic movement makes the hit miss its mark. Zarius curses under his breath as his invisibility is broken. The gnoll snarls and draws its weapon back quickly and the fellblood just barely manages to avoid getting bashed in the face on the backswing by ducking down low.
[1] Invisbility [2] Backstab
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Aug 27, 2023 10:54:00 GMT -5
Gilder gives the fellblood a nod before looking to Theobo, "Fall back kid, let them handle it. At this point we'd only be in the way. We need to check in on Apogee anyways." As he speaks, he ducks a claw to crack a gnoll in the jaw with his fighting sticks as he starts to retreat.
Theobo hesitates a moment, seeing the clash of steel and fur off in the distance, but eventually relents. The scout and the squire pull back and start to head to where the refugees gathered. The door looks splintered and broken sending a fear up their spines, but the pile of dead gnolls in the living space is a good sign in some respects.
"Worried about me?" Apogee says through pants, clearly having taken a few hits. She smiles faintly though, she can't act the damsel in distress knowing what everyone else has been going through outside. It was hard to watch the fight from a distance.
At the battlefield, Leandros is holding his own taking only glancing blows at worst but this is a battle of attrition. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object so to speak. The strength and feral motions of the pack leader's movements are surprisingly hard to gain the upper hand on. This gnoll is clearly leagues above the rest of its pack, even when parried it can follow up with its offhand to block uncaring of whether or not flesh meets blade.
The entrance of the fellblood into the fight is the shift of balance that Leandros needed. Pain racks its body as it roars out and swings back towards Zarius. The brief moment of exposing its back and taking its eyes from Leandros is all the knight needs.
"You should know better than to take your eyes from me!" He swings the halberd down from overhead with incredible force. The gnoll tries to get the flail in front to block, but Leandros shatters through the shaft and cleaves into the beasts shoulder carving midway down its chest. "The Lion remains the King of Beasts, you would do better to know your place."
Leandros shoves the gnoll off his blade as it hits the ground with a thud. It certainly is a different picture of Leandros than Zarius is used to seeing, bloodied and dirtied with a bit more of a biting edge to his words than the gentle kindness it usually carries.
The rest of the gnolls pause, looking to Zarius and Leandros in a mix of fear and panic. The moment either of the men step forward a chorus of yips and squeaks echo out with every gnoll fleeing and scrambling over themselves to leave as quickly as possible. What few remain seem to be those with enough brains to know a battle is lost.
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Aug 27, 2023 21:01:37 GMT -5
Zarius may have been impressed with Leandros' might as he manages to land the finishing blow on the gnoll, but as he pants and catches his breath, the air catches and sends him into a fit of coughing. He doubles over and covers his mouth as a stream of smoke escapes between his fingers.
SHIT.
The fight is over. The gnoll is dead and its allies are retreating. There's no longer a threat. There's no need for this!
He steps away from Leandros and the gnoll's corpse, stumbling over to the wall of the nearest building and bracing himself against it as he continues to choke and cough on smoke welling up from inside of himself. A wave of heat washes over him and his vision blurs for a moment, the chorus of whispers nearly drowning out all sound.
Get it together! Don't lose control now!
His nails dig into the wooden wall, but slowly he regains his senses and manages to quiet the voices. The smoke eases, but it leaves a horrible acrid taste in his mouth. He wipes his mouth on his sleeve and straightens up, glancing around at the damage caused by the raiders. It was pretty bad, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with enough time and able hands.
He looks back at Leandros and clears his throat. "That was too close. Well done."
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Aug 28, 2023 18:05:47 GMT -5
Leandros puts a gentle hand to Zarius back lets the pulse of healing suffuse into the fellblood a moment before pulling his hand away. If he saw the smoke or Zarius' face, he doesn't make mention of it. Zarius is just met with the wide smile of the knight, the usually clean and proper expression now covered in the grime of battle. Small cuts and spatters of blood mark him, not nearly enough to greviously wound the man but enough that it will likely cause his wife to worry.
It is almost on cue that as soon as the thought crosses his mind, his entourage would exit the home as the sound of battle fades. Apogee is a flurry of worried words as she throws herself at her knight, she isn't crying or holding back tears, but the concern is palpable. Gilder and Theobo give Zarius tired nods as people start to come out as well, curious to see the aftermath.
Probably most confusing for the fellblood is the slow approach of one of the villagers who looks a tad injured from escaping the gnolls. He takes Zarius hand without thinking, "Thank you young man, both of you." He pats his hand over Zarius for a moment before going to thank the others.
When the crowd starts to meander away a bit and recover what they can for tonight, Leandros smiles across the way to his friend, "You never do it for the thanks...but it's nice to hear once in awhile isn't it?" A little laugh shakes his broad chest. "This town wouldn't have survived without your help. I am sure they won't forget that."
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Aug 29, 2023 12:36:37 GMT -5
Leandros approaching him and touching him was not expected and certainly unwanted. His body tenses at the contact and he has to resist taking a swing at the man. The healing does ease some of the strain on his body, but it does little against the smoke in his lungs.
Once he has recovered enough, he steps away from the looming man smiling down at him like nothing is wrong. Part of him appreciates Leandros not asking any questions, but the other part of him wishes the man had just kept his distance. Had something gone wrong, he would have been in danger and the knight had already proven once he is more than capable of killing a fellow adventurer under dire circumstances.
He looks at Leandros' entourage as they return from protecting the townsfolk. Theobo looks like shit, so Zarius pulls a necklace with a vial dangling off the chain from around his neck and tosses it to the boy.[1]
"Drink that."
He gives no additional context or instructions, but if Theobo took it, their wounds would close.
His attention then is drawn to the villager approaching him. He almost steps to the side, assuming that they were intending to speak to Leandros when they clasp his hand in theirs.
The fellblood stares for a moment as the man thanks him before giving a curt nod in response. He moves a bit further back as others approach and thank Leandros, but eventually the crowd thins and turns its attention to assessing damages and planning for repairs.
He glances at Leandros, but does not say anything about the thanks or gratitude. He's certain the knight would think poorly of him if he admitted that he hardly ever does anything for the sake of altruism or out of the goodness of his heart. He's only here because his travel plans were delayed. It's sheer coincidence that he's in the area at all.
Crossing his arms, he leans back on one leg. "I do not care either way. These people will need to seriously consider if it is safe for them to remain out here if the Capitol is unable to protect them properly. They got lucky we were in the area. That is all."
[1] Essence of the North (1/topic)
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Aug 30, 2023 18:24:31 GMT -5
The squire does not even think for more than a second before downing the potion. There is a half second afterwards where he wonders if he is going to die from poison, but that fades along with his wounds and he breathes easier.
Leandros can't help but give a small laugh at Zarius' declaration that he doesn't care. He knows the fellblood has a several-inch thick hide and likely has more than enough reason to be distrustful of even thanks. Plus, the knight is never one to hold things against someone, every adventurer has their own reasons for doing this and not all of them good.
"Luck or divine providence?" He smiles as he rests against his halberd. "I suppose that is a better question for folk of the cloth than either of us, but still...whatever we choose to call it, you still made a difference here today. These folk have another day to consider whether or not they can move...a day you've helped give them. Whether or not you care, people will you can't prevent that."
Another gentle laugh comes from the man, a subconcious interruption to stop his rambling. Leandros truly cannot help himself when it comes to trying to make people see the good in themselves or at least recognize the moments of doing good.
For the moment though he will let it go, this certainly isn't going to be the last time they see each other after all. Perhaps one day the pure and shining knight can help Zarius see at least the faintest glimmer that he's not entirely a bad person. At least that's what Leandros hopes.
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