[IC] Elementals: The Scarred World (Semi-Open)

[Mictlan93]

Joey couldn't help but look amazed as he watched the Master Illuminate work. He knew the man could heal, but seeing Silvana's gashes mend right before his eyes was something he couldn't exactly express with words. Out of all of the rogue's past experiences, this particular one would most likely be one of the more unique ones. As he sent her on her way, Master Alexander turned his attention to Joey. The situation turned urgent, and the Master needed to move quickly.

"...I can't promise this won't hurt, but time seems to be our enemy." Joey shrugged to the best of his ability. "That's fine, doc, Just do what you can, mate." He half thought his arm wouldn't even be fully functional after all this. He began to mumble a bit as Alex's glowing hands began to approach the injuries. "So, what, you just touch me with the light and it works-GGHHCK!" He wasn't exactly prepared for the pain that came with the repair. Much, MUCH, sharper than he was expecting. He couldn't even really scream or shout out in pain, but rather writhe in agony and let squealing noises squeeze out of the back of his throat.

Moments later, his arm and ribs were working again. He slowly rose to his feet, carefully testing out the arm. "Saying it's sore would be a fuckin' understatement..." He weakly commented with a cough, giving the Master a seemingly agitated look. "I'm forever grateful, Master, consider me indefinitely in your debt." He began towards the Commander. "Alright, s'ere anywhere you need me in particular? I don't think i'm ready to go back to the cannon bay right now..."

[UnusualStranger]

The soldier that Alexander addressed laughed. "Airship? This here is a warship, not just some silly airship. We have a reasonable amount of supplies. Some of the troop preferred going there...no offense to your abilities, o'course. Just that they prefer the cuts and wounds to heal on their own rather than something less...natural happen."

Raven nodded to the soldier, turning to address Joey who was back in action surprisingly quickly. Regarding the mage for a moment, he grinned at the mention of the cannon bay.

"You won't need to head back there any time soon. We're racing ahead of the storm to go where I suspect our unwanted storm makers are near. We'll be stopping at a bar I am rather familiar with. Hopefully we'll meet a guest, and be on our way from there. I do hope you mages know how to not draw attention to yourselves, right?" Raven shook his head, obviously not expecting much from such a question. "By the way, I ran into an....interesting fellow who has made his way onto my ship. Mage fellow with some metal helpers who decided he would come along. Perhaps you can make sense of him, for I could not."

[MrOmega]

He had seen Metalics work before, but never up close like this. It was something interesting to behold. He nearly jumped when she recognized him Uh oh. Is this someone I met and forgot...? but then she mentioned his sister and he nodded. "Fei is a very curious girl. She's obsessed with trying to find out how all the elementals work. If she put some of that effort into practicing her own techniques, she'd be a weaver by now." He said jokingly. He then bowed a little to show some respect since she was the one who fixed things up for the most part. "Excellent work, Miss Pike. It's looks like it's brand new. The name's Drew, by the way." he said, putting his own name on as an afterthought.

It was then Raven gave his little report. "Underground travel? Fanatics and more monsters? Just when we were done with the beasts here..." he grumbled. Still, they had fought off a bunch of ferocious beasts and made quick repairs. What was the worst some unofficial mages were going to do? After enduring the storm, Drew figured everything else was going to be... well, not easy, but at least easier. "We can handle this, right?" he said to Vanahara, not even waiting for an answer before he stepped off to go meet with the others.

It took some time, but he managed to get to Raven, Alexander, Silvana, Horatio and the others. "So... care to go into a little detail about our path? I can get the underground thing, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around invisible terrain. Maybe it's because I'm literally outside my element, but I can't see how even the storm could cause something like that."

[NeoAJ]

Nataly felt comforted that at least one other person on the ship thought the Commander was absolutely insane. I knew it! I knew it couldn't just be me! At least there's someone on this ship I can trust to be sane... She was about to confirm Ling's thoughts when a crew member came bursting in, demanding that Ling take a look at something elsewhere on the ship. Sounded shadowy.

Shadowy meant it had no interest to Nataly. As Ling went off with the crew member, a yawn escaped the Hydromancer's lips. The fight had taken more out of her than she thought. She decided her room was too far away so the common room would have to do. It wasn't unusual for people to crash in public areas at the academy. Surely the tradition would carry over here. Nataly curled up on the little bench that Ling abdicated and pulled her singed robes over her head as she attempted to get a nap in before the Commander did something else crazy.

[Blaze96]

"Don't worry about offending me. You wouldn't be the first community to mistrust magic users. In fact if I had to list them all you'd be one of the more tolerant societies I've seen. Though that's only based on your diplomats and military, plenty of time to be pelted with stones and have threats of tarring and feathering hurled at me." He replied with a cheerful grin and a chuckle. He had long learned to let such things go.

"In any case, I can always render more traditional aid. If you have a more dedicated medical area on the ship, I'd prefer to be there. Either to let the others see what I can do first hand, or at least to sew up their cuts and ice their bruises."

[UnusualStranger]

A few hours later....

The Airship was settling down into a field, and the ramp was lowered so a few passengers could get off. The commander Raven stepped off, having donned a rather heavy cloak, doing a good job of covering the impressive armor that he wore. He kept the sword wear somewhat public, and adjusted the robe. He didn't much care for sneaking around, but in the bar that they would be attending it was better to not appear that he would be killing everyone in the bar. Might scare off the prey and the guest, which he did not need this day after the adventure.

His instructions to the mages as they had started to get to the locale was clear. Do NOT look like mages, do not ACT like mages, and do not do things to make them SUSPICIOUS of being mages unless they didn't have a choice. That meant no metal guards walking along with them, no picking up stones and juggling them, no magical healing of the sick. Only if it was necessary

The town itself was remarkably plain. People going about their lives, a few merchants wandering the streets with their wares. It was more of a trading post than a town, but it was used often enough that some larger bars were in the area. This particular bar, with a sign displaying the name of simply Well Endowed, was a bigger and popular one with a large group of people already wandering in as the day was winding down for the town.

Inside the bar, it lived up to its name rather well, at least the several waitresses near the entrance lived up to the name. All tending to wear a little less than some of the other ladies that were in the bar as well. Raven found a sizable table to tend to the mages that had come along and sat. He thought he remembered more mages from before, then again he figured that some might have wanted to stay with the ship.

The arrival and simple joys of the bar were short lived, as the door was blasted open by a boulder. The bar went quiet as in stepped four individuals, three of which were obviously mages. One having a fireball dance around their fist, with firelike red hair and a set of black robes. The other the one responsible for the boulder with the stony armor around himself, encompassing his entire body making identifying who he was difficult. The last obvious mage wore a full suit of ice, with a trident seeming to be made of ice, but was also a woman with long brown hair. The fourth did not actually show any magical talents, but came with the group with a pair of knives at their side wearing a long black cloak. With a laugh, the fourth began to speak.

"Good evening! We'll be making this quick. Any gems, crystals, or anything else you have that is remotely close to that please. If we even think there is going to be trouble, we have a few ways of making sure the death is unpleasant." One man, already particularly drunk, staggered forward with a mug, intent on giving a piece of his mind. That piece went to flames rather quickly as the woman lit him on fire before he could even speak.

Raven, who had sat down with the mages just minutes before the calamity, didn't flinch at the sudden death or mess the mages made as a few of the locals stepped forward to drop what few stones they had towards the rogue mages and their impromptu stone bag. He only glanced at the mages and seemed intent on waiting...until the mage of ice began stepping about, seeming to be looking for trouble after slamming a fist into one of the patrons without much provocation. She was still a small distance away, but from the way she treated each table it was unlikely someone wasn't going to take a hit.

[WriterRaven]

Over the next few hours, Ling used the downtime to prepare more vials of potion. Another batch of Restoratives, plus a set of Acidic Disablers. Corrosive and painful on contact with bare skin, the Disabler was a recipe designed for combative Alchemists, to take an enemy out of the fight for a while or stop them from rushing towards the potioneer.

Commander Hayes' rules were simple enough, and there was no sense in not following them - especially since he was in charge right now. Unfamiliar territory meant it was better to avoid drawing attention to oneself, Ling had thought as she made her preparations. Kei was secure in its holster, of course, but in the interest of wishing to appear more or less normal she had had to leave most of her potions in her room on the ship. There were only a couple on her belt, plus her knife. One green Disabler and one standard red Restorative. But they would have to suffice, lest she draw attention with her brightly coloured vials. And there was always the crossbow to do the heavy lifting.

As the group entered the bar and found a table, Ling cast an eye about the place... and quickly found herself rather uncomfortable, for several reasons, with what appeared to be the theme. She averted her eyes from the waitresses and leering crowds, pulling the edge of her hat down a few inches to visibly block some things - and people - from her sight. So she cast her eyes downward, studying the tree-ring patterns in the wooden table.

This was an odd place to be, she thought. More so if the reason for being here was to meet a particular someone. Wasn't a private parlour a better place for something like this? Or better yet, the ship they'd flown in on? Hayes presumably had a room to himself, what with being a Commander and all.

Ling's musing was interrupted with the explosive introduction of the... mages. At least three. Using their power to intimidate, steal and kill for no reason other than because they could. She didn't see a way to draw Kei and ready it in the subdued bar without attracting attention. So she took the vial of acid from her belt, holding it in one hand under the table and looking to Hayes to see if he showed any signs of strategic thinking.

[Mictlan93]

Joey could only frown at the mention against juggling rocks. It was a fun pastime, and he always had a habit of keeping his hands busy. "Well, there's always an alternative." He thought, before producing his sole gold coin. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about looking like a mage. "I'm positive me "dirty street rat" look won't gain any attention." Soon, the traveling party proceeded towards their destination. And upon entering the not-so-modest abode, the dusty rogue's eyes lit like a child on christmas morn. Alluring, sauntering, voluptuous females, all waiting tables and jiggling about in revealing attire. Joey would've got on all fours and started howling if he were any more of a horndog. Eventually they were guided to a table, and Joey managed to survey his surroundings, rather than just surveying waitress butts.

He kept his hands preoccupied as usual, having his gold coin tumble about between his fingers. He was kind of lost in the scene, until the interesting trio of mages showed up. He didn't really pay attention to the trio, until a drunk went up in flames. Even then, he only made mention of the fourth individual. "Corr, lookit the shanks on that bloke! I'd like ta get me mitts on those twin beauties!" He whispered in excitement. In all honesty, the four looked like his kind of people. But, he had no intentions on pairing up with the strangers of the strange land. If anything, he hoped they would instigate something with the others. Would give him a good excuse to nick those weapons. He made his coin twirling a little more obvious in the meantime, wondering if one of them were petty enough to ask for it.

[hoppiholla391]

The hours until the ship touched down were...uneventful. Pained as she was to admit it, even to herself, Vanahara was...not so great at small talk. At least at the Academy among her fellow Metallics, things had settled into a kind of pattern—people didn't talk to her, and she didn't talk to people. Now that she was thrown into a group of strangers, however, she was out of her element (literally). After parting ways with Drew with a stilted smile, she wandered the ship, at a loss for what to do. She almost paused in the common room, but spotted one of the hydromancers—Nataly; she really needed to remember names—sleeping in a corner, and crept past.

When she found a suitably dark corner, Vana paused, checking that no one was watching her too closely. She pulled one of the pouches from her belt and tipped its contents into her other hand. With a sound like sloshing water, a scrap of the Storm-steel from earlier that she'd managed to hold onto dripped into her palm, gleaming slightly even in the dark. Eyes lighting up with interest, she cupped both hands around it, tilting it back and forth to study the way it moved. She'd never seen metal like this before—it was almost like molten silver, but it was cool to the touch and the battle on the deck had been proof of its strength, not to mention she could sense it was very fine quality. Its only fault was its unwillingness to hold one shape—while it was easy enough to form a sphere or a cube standing alone in a hallway, it still took focus she might not have in the midst of battle. After a while, she sighed, letting it drip back into her belt pouch before setting off again on her rounds of the ship. For now, she'd keep it to herself, but later she'd see if their new arrival knew anything about Storm metals.

Inevitably, she found herself back in the engine room. This time, at least, the engineers didn't seem to object to her presence and simply ignored her. That suited her just fine as she made sure to stay out of their way and merely sat, palms pressed to the metal pipe behind her, gaining a little more understanding of the ship's workings with every passing minute. When the call came that they'd landed and the Commander was going into town, Vanahara joined the small party. At the order to not give themselves away as mages, she blinked, both confused and concerned as to why it would be necessary. It was simple enough, though—her clothes were rough as they were. The only strange thing about her attire was her bracers, and she merely tucked them into a larger pouch at her side. Her arms felt strangely bare without them, but they'd be at hand if she really needed them.

Stepping into the tavern, she realized she probably would. This was a rough joint, that much was obvious before they even entered, and once Vana was inside, her nose wrinkled of its own accord.

"Scantily clad women, an undercurrent of violence, and utterly drunk men," she muttered as she sat with the other mages on one of the outer seats. "What a dazzling combination." For a moment, she thought that the atmosphere could only get better, not worse—and then a boulder crashed through the door, a man was set on fire, and Vanahara could feel a headache coming on. She couldn't keep the scowl off her face, either—this was exactly why mages were feared throughout the known world. Bad examples, the lot of them.

And one of those bad examples was coming their way now. The ice mage was making a circuit of the room, slamming her fist into people or tables with impunity. Vana's fists clenched under the table, knuckles going whiter and whiter with every crash of cutlery and tankards as the mage hit each table hard enough to send them bouncing. She ground her teeth, but stayed where she was, remembering clearly Hayes' instructions to stay incognito and trying to block out the jeers from the other mages.

The ice mage, of course, made the mistake of coming around to their table. With a sneer, the woman raised her fist to slam it into the table—

And found it stopped, inches above the wood. Vanahara's hand was clenched around the bottom of the mage's fist, forearm straining as she kept it from making contact with the table. Once she was sure the other mage wouldn't be making the same deafening racket as at the other tables, she released her hand easily enough, settling her own back in her lap and meeting the ice mage's eyes calmly.

"That's enough of that, thank you," she said quietly.

[MrOmega]

His question went unanswered and he just found himself getting quickly patched up and sent to a quiet corner. He drifted around, occasionally lifting himself off the ground and hovering for a few steps before landing again. He would pass a few of the other elementals, but not during any of their private moments. He was like a ghost, just wandering the halls of the ship without actually interacting with anyone. It reminded him a bit too much of the academy, honestly...

Later

They went through the town without incident. He blended in well enough, breaking apart from the every now and then to take in some of the sights, but reconverging with them when they went into the tavern. He wasn't impressed. He had a natural hatred of crowded spaces in general bordering on agoraphobia. He had even less fondness for places where interactions with strangers was expected, and unwanted interaction was likely to happen. And he held an extra level of disdain for institutions like this where people take advantage of others. So a loud, crowded, noisy bar with unruly drunken patrons staffed by women in skimpy outfits, both trying to get him to ogle them for tips and having to deal with said unruly drunken patrons taking things too far. He wanted to reach out and cover his ears and grumble, mirroring Ling's actions.

Then the mages came in. "And to top it all off, we're probably not even getting any food..." he sighed. Of course they were here to rob the drunks and customers. Easy targets, after all. But did they have to do this now? He was wondering just what to do next. He took a moment and glanced at Joey. "THAT'S the thing that interests you?" he shrugged, just letting them move. He could always try something, but it might be better to wait.

The choice was no longer worth considering once Vana stopped the ice mage. He wouldn't attack right away. Getting into a figurative tug-of-war with a fellow water mage would be hell in this sort of space, even if he was skilled enough to pull it off. Plenty of material, but unwanted competition. Too much risk of collateral damage, which put him at a disadvantage. So instead he'd get to work on a more tactical approach. "No need for unneeded violence. We're a group of humble travelers. Not a single penny to our name. We were plotting a dine-and-dash, that's how desperate we are." he said, nudging everyone with his feet under the table. He knew violence was inevitable. So they might as well start in their favor, and that meant catching them unaware. By all means, please interrupt me, guys...

[Mictlan93]

"I'm a man with simple needs, mate." Joey quietly replied to Drew, struggling to keep a straight face after witnessing Vanahara's metaphorical balls of steel. Were this any other tense bar scenario, his mouth would've hung agape, and out it would've spewed excited jeers and over-exaggerated cheering to really instigate the situation.

Instead, he kept his expressions and mannerisms calm and stoic. He didn't want to be the one blamed by the group for "starting the elementally-assisted bar brawl". Drew nudged at him as he tried defusing the situation. It was clear the situation was only growing tenser. Joey was sure to keep his hands on the table. No need to make an obvious scene of sliding his hands towards his weapons. So, he continued to play with his coin. He realized the glint of the metal could've contradicted Drew's bluff, and this only made him more anxious.

"Yeah, there ain't nothing on us, mate. Jog on." Joey piped up, his legs growing restless. By this point, he was just raring to go.

[UnusualStranger]

As the ice mage had been making rounds and intimidation with impunity, coming upon the table where another simply grabbed her fist caused things to go deathly silent in the bar. The look alone on the woman's face was priceless as she fixed Vana with a gaze that at first was nothing but surprise, but when it slowly dawned on her that she had now been shown up by a quietly speaking "merchant" if the other fellows who spoke up were any indicator.

"It sounds like you are holding out, especially when you toy with the money you have...merchant." She couldn't put much more sneer into that final word if she had tried. Reaching to another table, she pulled the water free to make a long icy spear. "I don't think you understand the situation. I am going to be taking any gems you have, either with your hand giving them over, or pulling them from your crispy or cold hands."

The fire mage, now also taking note of a potential chance to burn more things without problems, came over to the table too, having a flame dance along their right arm. "Problems, sister? We do not have the time for this. Perhaps we should just light them all and be done with it?" Making good on the phrase, the area around the fire mage noticeably heated, as flames began to circle both arms with a glint now entering the fire mages eyes.

Raven only shot a glance at Joey and Drew, keeping silent with the enemy mages now wanting to pay more attention to the 'rebel table'. The other two kept to the door, still gathering a few other gems and items into a waiting bag while the ice and fire mage confronted the table which began getting more attention than the gemstones going to the bag itself.

Noting the very tense silence that had now drifted over the entire bar, and that they now had to make an example of the rebellious group who seemed to defy them simply through existence, the icy mage pulled her spear back, and swung it at Vana. The intent was obvious: to slice any part of her to get the point across that they were in charge.

[Blaze96]

Alexander had continued his work right up until the ship landed and it was time to leave. Throwing on a simple brown cloak he had followed the others to the bar. Taking in the full scenery before him. It was downright comforting to see that the town and its people didn't lead vastly different lives. Points of commonality were always important in these situations.

Inside the bar he had swiftly ordered drinks for himself and the commander. Before they arrived however a group of mages decided to give everyone else a bad name. He had been content to sit back and mostly let this play out due to the commander's orders. That lasted right up until one of his charges was threatened.

"I think I understand the situation just fine. Allow me to apologize for the actions of my comrades." As he spoke he made a small motion to hopefully signal the students to look away.

Right after he stood up in an apparent motion to find something of value, he instead created a blinding flash of light meant to disorient but not harm. Using a laser to cut the head off the spear.

[MrOmega]

Drew wasn't quick enough to stop the slash, but he would at least make sure it wouldn't cause too much trouble. He lifted a hand to start altering the spear, having it go from solid ice to tightly packed snow, just enough to still remain solid so the mage wouldn't quite realize what went wrong right away. He then turned away at the master's signal. "Nice." he muttered, turning back to face them. He made the motion mimicking catching something and the partially-melted spearhead was caught, turning back to ice "Yoink!" he said, getting into the moment after Alexander's move.

He chucked the solid chunk of ice at the fire mage, hoping to catch him between the eyes, though he'd settle for the face in general to keep him from lashing about randomly. Give him a fly to try and swat. As soon as it left his command, he started trying to do to the ice mage's suit what he did to her spear. He figured it was best to reduce the number of threats while they had the element of surprise, and this gave them an easier target. With the ice mage taken care of, he could work without worrying about someone else interfering like he did just now. He looked to Joey, Nataly, Vana and Ling, hoping they had something up their sleeves now that the chance had presented itself.

[WriterRaven]

Ling raised her eyebrows at the exchange between the ice mage, Vanahara, and Alexander. Then the Illuminate Master gave an indication that simply said "cover your eyes". She looked away as he produced the blinding flare. With that, the time for civil discussion was practically over. Willing to try one last attempt, Ling got to her feet and drew Kei, quickly priming it.

She then fitted the Disabler vial into its slot and brought the crossbow to bear, aiming for each of the hostile mages in turn. "I'm about to shoot one of you with a potent acidic mixture. The vial's contents will splash everywhere on contact. If it gets into your system, you will undoubtedly die." The last one was a bluff, but there was no reason to let them know that. She'd had practice at this sort of thing.

"If you have any sense, drop the valuables and leave. Or you can all watch one of your friends vomit blood and try to claw their own eyeballs out."

The mages just laughed and raised their hands, preparing more spells. Ling sighed, disappointed. "Fine, suit yourselves." She snapped Kei around to aim at the rogue Earthshaper and pulled the trigger, sending the Disabler vial straight at him. As the glass shattered and the acid splashed across his rocky armour, she pulled an autoquiver from its holster, slammed it into place, and yanked on the reload lever to properly engage in combat.

[hoppiholla391]

Vanahara's eyes narrowed as the ice mage swung her staff behind her ear, readying for a blow. Unfortunately for her, she raised her forearm in an automatic defense, forgetting for the moment she wore no bracer—fortunately for her, Master Alexander knew his craft. As the flare went off, she shifted from her ill-advised defensive move into covering her eyes with her arm, and afterimages still bled through. Ling raised her crossbow, and Vana winced; they'd have to do some quick talking after this was over to maintain their cover. The bright light could have been a gunpowder flash grenade...right?

Somehow, over the sudden cries of those caught unawares and momentarily blinded, Vana heard a splash, and her eyes were drawn to the ice mage. The woman's eyes were wide, her attention on her armor, sweeping her hands up and down in an attempt to refreeze the rapidly thawing ice—her spear had already been reduced to little more than snowdrifts on the ground. Every distraction was an opening.

As soon as Ling fired her vial, Vanahara lunged. She grabbed the ice mage by the hair and arm, yanking her forward and slamming her face-first into the table. She followed it up with a sharp kick to the kneecap that should, with luck, send her to the ground. She could feel the icy plate that had been so solid-looking splinter around her heel—Drew worked quickly.

A flash out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and Vana dropped into a crouch behind the table, wincing as a jet of flame burst over her head. Karina's mercy, we're literally stuck in a corner.

[Mictlan93]

"Whoo. They work fast." Between Alexander's flashbang, and Vanahara's efficient manhandling, Joey quickly realized his mage buddies were surprisingly ready to brawl. After taking on hordes of elementally-manifested beasts in a dangerous storm, he'd guess dispatching some roguish mages was next to nothing. Either way, he felt he wanted to get involved before they'd run out of bad guys. He blasted from his seat as Drew attacked, bounding over the table, vaulting off the fire mage, and flying towards the rogue Earthshaper.

Leave it to Joey to make a target out of the biggest mook in the room. He made mental mention of the armor, and how he couldn't exactly do something like that. But, Ling's acid worked its way through the thick rock, weakening the mineral. The impact of that shot, mixed with its eroding acid, could easily provide Joey with rocky shards that he could work into an offense.

With an outstretched fist, Joey crashed into the man, sending him to the ground, and leaving a small, but growing, crumbling crater in his chest armor. With a thrust and a swing, Joey extracted the shards and pebbles created from the combined efforts, and rolled away, with a series of sharp, acid-coated projectiles floating by a hand. That armor was tough, he had to admit. He knew he wouldn't be able to tear it down with his premature abilities. So instead, he cocked his head towards the seemingly element-less rogue. "So uh...you sellin' them knives, mate? I'll gladly take 'em off your hands." He quipped.

[Coga19000]

Jonathan took a step towards the bar.
He hadn't yet showed himself to the other mages; he had instead took the chance to sleep in what was a much better bunk that he was used at. However, after the ship landed in a speed that easily thumped him awake, he was to curious to just continue his slumber; he hadn't been in a city for months, and even though he was never a social person, he was unexpectedly overwhelmed by a need to survey the area, to interact again.
The other mages had already left, but a guard onboard informed him of the other's heading, as well as of the Commander's oders- something he was not too content to hear, as it meant that he would have to leave his companions behind. something he had never done before. In fact, this ertain part tempted him to just stay on the ship, or maybe even disobey him and take at least one with him. He had ways of disguising them... In the end though, he decided to just agree with Hayes' orders. He was part of a team now, and if anything was to be accomplished, he would have to prove he was capable of being a team member. He would obviously prefer some more respect from those puny blood-hungry rats who simply got their hands on some covinient pieces of technology, but he could understand that his years in isolation had made him... unstable at best.

Jonathan took another step towards the bar.

The sign read "Well Endowed" on it- and the picture accompanying it was a similarly vulgar image, as if to inform those unable to get the point right away. Was this distasteful semblance of a chapeau really the place his companions decided to spend their time on the ground? He could expect this from Hayes and his men, but not fom fellow mages. On the other hand, the chances of inding something better in this rathole were most likely minuscule anyways.

Jonathan took yet another step towards the bar.

He could now hear commotion in the inside of the bar. Apparently, there were some people fighting in there. He then gasped as he heard a man... dieing?! From getting lit up on fire? What were those ignorami doing in there?! He then heard a hand slamming down on something, ang then the sound of ice breaking, and a person falling on the floor violently. He felt rage build up in him for the man's death. He could not just let things die out.

Jonathan took a last step towards the bar, and opened the doors with the greatest thump his arms could provide. He then stared tersely at the site of the brawl, admitedly not knowing which mage was his and which was not, even though he did manage to recognise Master Alexander of all people -a wise and capable man he was always happy to be communing with-, Commander Hayes, and a girl he deifnetely knew from somewhere; the last one also seemed to be the one who threw another woman on the floor.
"Excuse me" he said in a loud, and yet calm and stern voice, "could someone explain to me the cause of this distubance in this bar?" His eyes were now shining in tempered fury, in a cold mettalic glow similar to the devices atached to his necklase and belt. He pulled two of them out of his clothes, also revealing the rest of them. "And judging from the charred body on the corner, I advise you to pray to the Gods you hold dear that I find your excuse satisfying."

[NeoAJ]

Sleep was good. Sleep was very good. After all the excitement of battle, Nataly didn't realize just how tired she was from the whole affair and only as she was roused from her slumber did she feel the extent of the fatigue. Yawning at the sight of one of the crew members in her face, telling her to brace for a landing. She was worried, but it was infinitely smoother than the previous landing the airship made. No crashes or anything! It was a welcome change.

Looking around for any signs of anyone else, she didn't find anything until the same crew member who gave her the heads up regarding the landing ran into her instead. I should probably learn his name at some point... He informed Nataly that the Commander had requested the presence of all mages on an excursion. The Hydromancer didn't perk up until the word "bar" was uttered. After that terrible flight, I could definitely use a drink. Probably taste better than Tristam's stuff too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the bar was slightly disappointing. Sure, an atmosphere akin to that of the academy hallway with revelers everywhere slopping rainbow juice all over the stone floor was not a logical expectation, but this place was like the basement where less than reputable members of the academy went to "experiment" with other potions. Vana summed things up pretty well with her entry remarks. Nothing that started well here was going to end well.

The group got a table that managed to fit the party, but there wasn't even time to order up a drink before the bar got a new door installed. Figured it would be one of those filthy earthies bashing things up, but there were more mages appearing who gave no qualms about informing people who they were, what powers they had and that they were going to get flames and ice to the skull. The ice mage was being a particularly indiscriminate bitch with her powers, bashing people so hard it was hard to tell if those shards on the floor were made of water or bone.

Tactics were...mixed, to say the least. Vana chose direct confrontation once the frosty harlot got to their table, while Drew decided to employ at strategy that would have worked better had Vana not grabbed a hold of the icy mitt threatening them first and Joey stayed in the middle, telling her to leave. This resulted in a predictable outcome. Firefly came over and Icebox took a swing at Vana. God damn it!

Nataly ducked as the other mages went to work on the attack. Once the ice mage had exposed herself, both Vana and Drew went to work on her, disabling her spear and knocking her to the ground. Vana was in particular was brutal, smashing Frosty's face into the table before sending her crumbling. Sensing an opportunity with her on the ground, and the fire and earth mages still engage, Nataly tried to motion to Drew to go after the other mages. He was better with direct magic attacks anyway. Nataly laid her hands on the remnants of the ice armor and started to draw the crystals up her arms. No sense in letting a suit of armor's worth of ice go to waste. Given the opponent was much bigger than her, there should have been plenty of ice to cover all her squishy vulnerable parts under the robe. I just hope she's out cold long enough for me to get all of it on.

[UnusualStranger]

As the ice mage was slammed into the table, the fire mage turned their head away from the light, only to be struck by a quickly falling piece of ice that shattered against them. While it would sting, it only encouraged the firey mage to get back into the fight with a passion and while the ice companion was a small concern, the one who was working to compromise her armor was bigger, and a jet of flame lanced out and Vana ducked behind the table. The jet stream of flame was then turned towards the other mages, quickly scorching the table to start aflame itself. "BURRRRNNN!!"

With the sudden impact to the table, the ice mage stumbled back when she was released, doing her best to reseal her armor that had been so quickly compromised in the surprise assault. She was in little condition to mount an assault against the mages again, but did quickly work to reseal the armor itself, bringing it back to its stone solid shine as she backed away from the table now on fire. One hand to her head and the other resealing the armor, she was working to get back to killing those who had humiliated her.

The stone mage rose back up, obviously displeased with how everything had transpired, and now sought to correct the problem. First, he had to take care of the other rock hovering problem that seemed intent on tampering with their efforts. He also did not appreciate being completely ignored after part of his armor was ripped away. "Maybe you should learn to not tamper with what isn't yours. Don't worry, I'll teach both you and your vial throwing friend! FUCKIN' CATCH!" A stone the size of a fist was thrown at Joey, and then the earth man turned and launched a second at Ling. He was displeased with the armor that he now was reshaping, but slightly less thick overall.

The man with knives was going to take the distraction Joey now had...only to have a problem with the freshly revealed Jonathan stepping into the bar. With an agitated sigh, he grabbed the bag of gems and gave a small chuckle at the metal mage who seemed to plan on establishing authority. "Shut up." Neatly unnoticed, a shadow of the man with knives stepped forward and slammed a fist into Jonathan. With the problem now distracted by the shadow now drawing the knives it had on itself, the nightshade made hastily for the door.

Raven had gotten from his seat, and had quickly decided that attempting to run at the now flamethrower mage would be better handled with a bit of tact. Grabbing the chair he had been sitting on, he flung it at the pyromancer who now had to pause to at least do their best to deflect the chair. The distraction alone gave Raven the time to bring out his sword, and get away from the burning table. He might not be a mage, but that didn't mean a sword in hand made him useless.

As all this happened, the rest of the bar decided to get as far away as possible from the mages now burning the bar, or throwing explosive vials, or flashing dazzling light, and now commanding shadows to fight for them. Taking to jumping out windows, going to the back of the bar, or running for the entrance now that the man of stone was no longer there, and the man with the knives seemed to show no intention of stopping them.