@Bluetommy@Avali

"Fugget dis, dat looks way mo' fun! Bye booty lady!"

Zande took off at a sprint towards the hillock where Kenan and Grace were playing, leaving the dwarf and the booty lady behind.

His tongue lolled out from between sharpened teeth like a joywrought dog, legs scissoring across the ground as he bounded across the distance with startling speed, throwing up dust. He didn't want to miss a close up of the conflict.

@LokiLeo789

Lorne watched as the strange man approached him, apparently ready to give him his final rites. He couldn't say it wasn't kind in a way. It wasn't wrong to assume such things, especially with the whole "I can fit my whole fist into my torso" issue, but the man apologized anyway... very strangely. It wasn't hard to assume from his strange dialect that he wasn't exactly from around here, yet another foreigner, alongside himself, the weird half-naked guy, and the guy outside waving the Runesword around, it was weird to have so many outsiders gathered in one place, but he supposed he was a sort of magnet for these types of things. He wasn't rotting away, so his amulet was okay, but he still grabbed for it just in case.

Grabbing for the closest table, he pulled himself to his feet nimbly and quickly, the whole hole in the chest thing not exactly posing an issue in that regard. He looked at the strange man's costume, it was... sort of practical, a sort of camouflage in a way, but he had no clue what benefit the giant antlers on his head could pose, unless he got on all fours and hung around a few bucks. Lorne wore a mostly brown-green outfit for that same reason, not that he was one to discuss camouflage what with the piercing white mask and all.

Lorne leaned on the table as he pulled a few burnt chunks of flesh out of his intestines and tried to figure out how exactly he was going to close himself up, giving the strange man a smile that was hidden behind his mask.

"Even if I am still alive, I have to thank you for being so willing to give a complete stranger his last rites. Now, I don't know if you saw it, but there is a man with The Runeblade...Runesword? Sword with letters on it out there, so perhaps staying around isn't the best option, just a hunch of mine," he informed the man as he drew the blade on his hip. Just in case.

"You dare lecture me on honor? You march in to MY city, demand control, send a ball of magical nonsense through one of the buildings, and you DARE question my honor? Why don't you hop off your high and mighty horse messiah. Come show me your honor."

Grace was beyond furious is at this point. On the outside she remained a mask of quiet, but on the inside she was absolutely livid. Who did this man think he was? To think someone could be so opinionated... The irony of that thought wasn't lost on Grace, but in her mind she could put her money where her mouth was so to speak. This man struck her as a coward. The way he swung his weapon around was unnatural, in all the wrong ways. It wasn't the movement of a practiced warrior. Nonetheless, she remained wary. She had met many opponents who have lied about their lack of ability, and she payed dearly for trusting them.

@Bluetommy

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Whisper rose along side the corpse, studying him all the while. He felt no life within the man's body, only the icy breath of death that often crept down it's victims spine like a careful spider leaving a trail of silk. It was somewhat unsettling to him. Necromancy-the only likely catalyst for such a result-was anathema to the imperative of nature. Yet, his existence was his own, not Whisper's, and nothing would not change that unless nature herself called for his soul's return.

The fury of the duel's combatants raged on outside. The Runeblade... Whisper mused. He hadn't heard of the artifact fact before, likely because it proved to be construct of man instead of nature. Yet another weapon of destruction bequeathed to the devices of a callous being. A callous being who had to stopped.

Whisper lowered his head and removed his helmet, revealing his youthful, earth-toned features. "This one would readily agree with you, but this dance of death endangers others as well. We must intervene. What say you?"

@Bluetommy@LokiLeo789

Izabel turned to step down the stairs, the husk was in a midembrace with some sort of other masked man. "Flogging Hell!" she yelled "First a husk, than the runeblade, and now a sacking lich!? What in Bourung's name is wrong with this city!"

The man removed his mask as she came down the stairs. She sighed with relief, one less issue, he appeared to in fact be human. He looked at the husk and said,

"This one would readily agree with you, but this dance of death endangers others as well. We must intervene. What say you?"

"I wouldn't recommend it horns!," she said to the man, just now noticing the large hole in the husks chest, "Oh gods that's disgusting, can't you close it or something!?"

@LokiLeo789@Fury Panda

Lorne nodded as the masked man suggested they intervene in the conflict. He wasn't exactly one to face the Runeblade head on, but alongside the wielder's current opponent, they outnumbered him three to one, and he didn't seem to have mastery over it. Whatever the case, the glaring hole in his chest issue demonstrated that he couldn't just let the man have his way.

He sighed and looked at the formerly masked man, ignoring the screams of the dwarf that had just run back over. He had no clue how they were supposed to stop him, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to try, what did he have to lose?

Well the amulet for one, but he'd be fine if he was careful... maybe. Well hey, if he managed to somehow get that Runeblade, how much could that sell for? He could imagine himself now, he could just hire people to look for his daughter!

Alright, he'd convinced himself well enough, this was stupid, but it was worth a try. He fumbled through his belt attempting to find something that could prove useful during the fight.

"I say yes. It's an awful idea but perhaps we can manage it. That's my hope anyway," he said, pulling out a ring and slipping it onto his finger. Immediately he felt faster and more dexterous, hopefully this was enough. He spun his sword with his wrist and pulled a bow off of his back with his other hand. He had no arrows, but if someone did, it would be a great help, especially with the accuracy of a ranger on their side. "Maybe he gets his sword stuck cutting me to ribbons and you stab him in the neck or something."

He sucked back a potion of regeneration while he could, watching as the hole in his chest slowly knitted itself back together. He turned to the dwarf.

"Better now?"

@Avali

Kenan smiled as he knew his blade was ready again, ignoring the girl's roars about her insulted honor, he would show her true honor.

"Watch me."

Kenan flashed the Algis rune and was covered in a glowing gold suit of armor, covering every area on his body outside his thighs and upper arms. With a roar he leapt into the air, sword hefted over his head, gliding across the short distance, prepared to drive the blade deep into her flesh.

Had Grace jumped to the side a moment later, she would have been impaled by the blade. Even with all of her training, she was taken aback by the sudden show of force.

"You almost had me there. Aaaaaaalmost."

Now Grace had an idea. Should she continue toying with the Messiah, or should she actually fight? A frustrated opponent was far easier to defeat, and in this particular case, humiliate. Grace didn't wish to only defeat him, she wanted to humiliate him. Demoralize him. Make him regret ever stepping foot in Adarla. She believed putting him in his place was in order, especially in front of all his followers.

"And by almost, I mean not at all."

@Bluetommy

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Thunder's Whisper turned to face the owner of the voice who addressed him. A rather daring dwarven woman started back at him. He gave the her a quick, decisive appraisal before gifting her a knowing smile. The power so easily tossed around by the two duelist was no doubt intimidating to many, but not to Whisper. He would not stand idly by while others callously endangered the lives those involved not.

"Gratitude is owed to you stranger. We value your insight, but the danger to innocents too high stands. We recommend you make haste and flee if you endeavor not to join us." he advised.

Once more the duel caught his eye. It was sight to see... in addition to being a sword, this Runeblade was also a logistical nightmare for enemies. In Whisper's long life, he had come across few spell-blades of this caliber. Whisper watched in muted awe as ethereal golden armor was called forth from the blade's rune and cast onto the Messiah's body, all in an effortless nature. Whisper being a practitioner of the arcane arts knew this to not be a simple feat. He found it difficult to create mere flames and still required focusing aids such as incantations. Whereas this man was able to summon defenses simply from a rune-- truly the weapon was magnificently crafted, a statement Whisper's hubris and inbred hypocrisy wouldn't allow him to admit aloud. Just a moment ago he chastised the weapon of destruction.

But Thunder's Whisper wouldn't let his guard down; he would stay on his toes and keep a vigilant watch.

"That is the spirit, companion." he jibbed, ignoring the man's reconstruction of his appendages as he took on a different persona in preparation for the fight to come.

Like the coming of night, light was consumed by darkness as it invaded Whisper's persona. His hair and eyes abandoned their nature inspired shades of earthen brown for more somber tones. And an unnerving aura of intense intimidation manifested around Thunder's Whisper. These were the effects The Aspect of the Destroyer forced upon Whisper as his features were swallowed in an enveloping darkness: deep, lusterless, coal-black eyes watched every move. In-taking this aspect lent to his ability to conquer foes by bolstering attributes; a benefit that would surely be useful in the coming assault. But what move would be made? Only fools rush in, and Whisper would not be so reckless.

In one swift motion he returned his helmet to his head and flicked his wrist, shaking the Sacred Root to live. She was ready; tentative, alert, and ready to strike in a blink of an eye. He withdrew two arrows and loaded them in his bow-string, one for each of the duelists.

"These arrows of growth bind those they hit. Whether they miss or not, we succeed in halting this furious duel. Make your move as you see fit, companion."

In quick succession and with deadly precision the two arrows where released and ripped through the air towards their marks.

As Max approached the pub, he bent over slightly, trying to appear older than he was. It helped his hood was up. From his experience, the older someone thought he was, the more they respected or feared him. He walked calmly through a crowd as everything began going silent. It seemed the crowd didn't want to anger a mage. He walked between the fighters, pulling a patch off his cloak and a rope. He aimed as best as he could to allow the patch to turn into a ladder, each end quickly reaching for the two who began the fight. He whispered a word to the rope before stretching his arm towards the archer. He had assumed the 30 foot rope to wrap around the wrists and the bow, effectively enabling him from the fight, but he didn't always get his aim right, especially when he had no line of sight to his target. "Battling in the streets is foolish. Is there no fighter's guild to join? Are the walls of the city too far to travel?" Having revealed that he sounded like no old man, he stood straight and threw back his hood. His long, brunette hair almost glowed in the sunlight. With a smirk, he looked at the three he had attempted, whether or not he had been successful, to subdue. "Shall I call your parents?"

@Bluetommy@LokiLeo789@Avali

"Better now?"

"Actually yes, yes it is" the dwarf spoke as most of the bar proceeded to rush out the back following the husk being hit by incoming fire. "Thanks Love."

The battle continued to rage outside, as the once naked man magically became covered in golden armor. It was clear that these two men were going to join the battle, on which side she didn't know, but their bravery was like a splash of cold water to her face.

"Gratitude is owed to you stranger. We value your insight, but the danger to innocents too high stands. We recommend you make haste and flee if you endeavor not to join us." he advised.

"Shit," she thought to herself "if it gets out that I ran from this, no dwarf will ever respect me, like it or not this is the best chance to return the blade."

"Fuck it" she said to the husk and human in front of her "I'm not gunna let this legend be about a couple damn men saving the day."

She pulled her axe from her back, waiting for the lich to fire his strange arrows. Her heart skipped a beat, hell probably a few beats as she pushed the nerves down into her stomach. As the lich loosed his arrow she started sprinting toward the gold armored hunk, intent on being the first to grasp the runeblade.

"LETS FUCK UM UP!!!"

"Wait," she thought sprinting through the door of the inn, "was that a gods damn floating rope?"

@BrightSteel @Fury Panda

Nephish's grin remained unwavering, but internally, he was kind of relieved that someone had actually asked what phase two was.

"See, the elves are a monarchy, and a damn tightly controlled one at that. Their loyalty belongs..."

Nephish removed a vial of odd, blue sand from his satchel and smashed it on the ground. The sand swirled and spun before settling in a formation that appeared to be the likeness of an elven man, proud and noble.

"Is this spoiled little rodent, Arathion Tassarion. The elves hold him in very high esteem."

A sudden breeze blew the impromptu portrait away, leaving nothing, not even broken glass, where it once lay.

"My finest polymorphists will take advantage of the disarray caused by our attacks and infiltrate the local governance of the crown's holdings. From there, we can arrange a meeting between one of my embedded agents and this arrogant fop, and ambush him."

Nephish gestured grandly, arms flung out to both sides.

"Here, we deliver an ultimatum: cut all ties with the crown of Adarla and tear their forces to shreds or your beloved prince gets the axe."

Nephish lowered his arms and showed three of his claws, a sinister smile once again crawling up the sides of his face.

"This can lead to three possible outcomes:" Nephish said, gesturing to his index finger "One, the elves cannot come to a consensus and their disagreement escalates to a civil war, tearing both them and their allies to shreds."

Nephish gestured to his middle finger. "Two: the elves turn on the crown and our combined forces crush them utterly."

Finally, Nephish gestured to his ring finger, his tone positively giddy. "Or, three: The elves refuse to comply and we off the brat, leaving them confused, leaderless and cut off in a foreign land, and the crown without its trump card."

@Rockin Strings@Fury Panda@LokiLeo789@Avali

Lorne smiled invisibly at his new colleagues, apparently that was what they were now. The masked man had a bow of his own, so Lorne simply tossed his to the side. Looking once more at the ring, he nodded to both the dwarf and masked archer alike, and took off at a speedy sprint. He quickly closed with the massive brute of a man, leaping into the air and performing a flashy momentum-gathering spin, accidentally slashing a rope in his way as he did. He spun twice and slammed his blade into the man's head.

And watched as it didn't even penetrate the magical helmet. He barely had time to gasp before the massive man wrapped a hand around his throat and planted him into the dirt. Driving a boot into Lorne's chest and smashing his ribs easily.

Kenan noticed the arrow coming his way far too late, only being able to watch as it lodged in his unprotected upper arm and rooted him to the ground.

Lorne pushed himself to his feet in another acrobatic display, he was okay, not like he felt much pain anymore. He smiled under his mask and approached the now bound man.

"And that's what we call tactics ladies and lords!"

"Free me this instant!" Kenan yelled, deactivating the rune and struggling against the arrow's magic.

"Maybe, only if you're a good boy."

Lorne spun his blade in his hand and brought the flat across the large man's face with a thunk.

"Now, let's stop this madness, why don't we?"

Kenan stressed visibly as he attempted to activate his runes early, it was impossible he knew, but it was his only chance.

Lorne flipped his blade around his wrist and turned to look at the other combatant, she seemed quite well trained, he'd rather not have to fight her, but he would if he had to.

@Bluetommy

Izabel watched as the husk acted with unnatural speed, being a distraction to hold the man in place. "This is too easy," she thought to herself as the husks ribs cracked under the mans foot "I don't even have to bloody him up!"

"Now, let's stop this madness, why don't we?" the husk said to the restrained brute. Izabel dropped her axe and yelled "Yeah Hunky! We run this shit! NOW GIVE UP THAT SWORD!"

She planted her foot and thrust herself into the air reaching for the runesword, the tip of her finger touching the handle as she attempted to grasp it.

So the sword is what they're fighting over. Max thought to himself as he eyed the weapon. He reached in an attempt to grab the dwarf's wrist as he moved to be able to look her in the eyes. "Tell me, ma'am, what seems to be so special about that blade? It seems a normal magical weapon to me." he turned his view back to the weapon, using a spell called Magesight to see what kind of magic and how strong the magic was in the sword. With a flick of his wrist and a single word, his floating rope moved to attempt to pry the weapon from the hands of whoever held it.