camillethegnome

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

I'll start typing something up too, but I'll wait for Hamster to go first so mine isn't wonky haha

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

It's times like these where I regret not having my original healing type person. Such missed opportunities! I realize now that I'm not good at the whole fighty fighty thing
>.<.

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

Character Summary

Location: Eblistan Citadel Dungeon
Health: Afflictions Masked by Adrenaline Rush
Inventory: Crossbow and Light Armor
Actions: Listened to suggestions for courses of action, followed prince out of barracks, now in corridor waiting for someone else to make the first move, will shoot when opening presents itself

---

“Not up for a little action, Ms? Being alive's no fun if you don't feel it. A good long fight and some cat-and-mouse is good for the soul. Either way, I'm not leaving 'til I got a dozen after me and a fainted lady. Don't know after that.” An elf nearby said.

“Ha,” she scoffed, “Not all of us are so eager for attention,” She didn’t mean it as in insult, almost admiring his ability to make light of their dire situation. Taking this brief time of respite to load a bolt into her crossbow, she frowned at the amount left in her quiver. Damn guards sold most of them. She rummaged around the barracks some more, but couldn’t find anything besides standard long bow arrows. Of all the times to have compounding hindrances, this would have to be one of the worst. Nessa briefly contemplated searching for a long bow to use in the mean time, but her thoughts were interrupted.

Someone else offered a proposal for a new plan of action, but his drunken slur discredited his idea. Rolling her eyes at his enthusiastic sales pitch, Nessa sighed. They really didn’t have time for this. The Minotaur spoke next, suggesting they go to the forest. It wasn’t a terrible idea, but the alluring nymph pointed out it’s flaws. There was no way the pursuit would end once they made it into the forest. Even so, they had no where else to run.

Their discussion was cut short as there seemed to be other complications at hand. As he saw the monsters slaughter more of his men, the prince lost his tolerance and wanted to leave them to their own devices. The rest of them lacked the background knowledge to navigate the dungeons, and they couldn’t even dream of getting to the forest unless they made it out of here first. They had no choice but to follow him. “There’s no way in hell he’s abandoning us. If his men had a shred of loyalty left for him, he wouldn’t even be here in the first place. Some prince he is.”

Nessa trailed behind him, but kept her distance. As he staggered down a long corridor, a new adversary appeared. The prince tried to dissuade the warrior, but his effort was futile. Nessa dropped back toward the barracks, drawing her weapon as the disarmed prince retreated past her.

“Well this is lovely,” she spat through gritted teeth. Enveloping her body in a sea of shadows once more, she stepped towards a wall. Not wanting to make herself a direct target, she didn’t shoot until the others began the attack first. After her first shot, she’d have to reload again. She could then try to sprint forward and slip past him to shoot from behind, where there would probably be more openings. Seeing how he had destroyed the prince’s weapon, Nessa assumed their foe had enchanted armor as well as weapons. That or he was incredibly strong. Or both. Either way, it would be hard to pierce through his armor and do any damage.

If the others distracted him enough, Nessa could probably even make it past him without ever having to join the fray.

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

A high pitched shriek caused a shudder to run through Nessa's body, shaking her to the core. Looking toward the source, she couldn't help but stare in awe at the magnificent creature who, by the looks of it, must have been tragically ruined by unexplainably harsh torture. Stepping aside, she let the nymph brush past her, unintentionally holding her breath as she did so. It seemed unbelievable that such diverse people were housed in one location, and the amount strength and talent of these prisoners combined was an incredible stroke of luck that only added to the miracle. 

Finally, after they all disappeared out of sight, she cautiously stepped out of the cell, alert for any stray guards. It seemed that none of the corpses had any of her preferred weapons, so her best chance was to avoid getting caught but still be able to follow the horde of audacious prisoners. The torches along the walls provided light, but her shadow cloak would still keep her out of sight. It was a passive skill of hers, and one that she liked to have at all times, though with varying intensities. 

She moved through the halls silently and swiftly, but she didn't want to catch up to them until the broke through the more heavily manned areas. Hearing the prince's yell, Nessa realized that he probably knew what he was doing, regardless of his pitiable state. Following them would prove to be more fruitful than she initially expected.

A few guards obstructed her path every now and then, but they seemed to have been retreating away from the main group and, since they had suffered injuries of their own, were relatively easy for her to bypass. Soon, she caught up to everyone once they reached the barracks. By the time she arrived, many of them had already retrieved their possessions and were equipping their armor and weapons. With a bit of rummaging Nessa was able to find her own midnight gear and crossbow. Finally reunited with her belongings, her confidence was restored. Without wasting another moment, she adorned her armor.

The elf that had initially opened the gate spoke up, suggesting that they should not kill the guards that would no doubt continue to pursue them. She had heard the prince’s words earlier on, but Nessa wondered why he would even bother. How could he worry about his enemies’ lives when he was so close to death himself? The others too, seemed to have no qualms about slaughtering the guards, specifically the big guys. If they were dead, they wouldn’t be able to get back up to try again; however, she wasn’t in any position to question them at this point. She wasn’t the strongest person in the room.

Once she was properly dressed, she removed her conjured veil in order to address the others in the room. “Assuming we do make it there alive, and assuming the palace isn’t heavily guarded, where are you all planning to go? It’s not like there are safe havens for fugitives waiting for our arrival,” She wasn’t exactly a team player, but she would use the benefit in their strength in numbers for as long as was necessary. It would no doubt be advantageous to stick to them for a while.

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

Character Summary

Location: Eblistan Citadel Dungeon
Health: Recovering from Concussion, Starving, Dehydrated
Inventory: Burlap Prisoner Garb

It was supposed to be an easy mission. They always were. Find the target and kill him. Her employer told her that this target had a routine, and would no doubt be by the docks precisely at sunset. An inconvenient time frame for her as she would not have the darkness on her side, but she was confident that she could complete the job without it. As she took her position atop a nearby roof, Nessa noticed how still the air seemed to be that evening. It was quiet, but she took it as a sign of good fortune; she hadn’t encountered a single guard yet, and was hoping for her luck to continue.

She should have known better. It should have been so obvious that it was a trap, but Nessa had trusted this particular employer too much. He had been a long term client, a regular of hers, but anybody with that many enemies to kill had to be bad news. She didn’t even have a moment to curse herself as several guards ambushed her a split second after she realized her mistake.

Even though the sun had just set, just enough light lingered to render her shadow tricks useless. Several guards attacked her at once, and taking advantage of the chaos, one managed to land a heavy blow from behind while she was distracted by the men in front of her, knocking her unconscious.

---

Since the lack of hospitable environment slowed her recovery, Nessa did not wake up for a several nights. When she finally did regain consciousness, she was starved and close to dying of thirst. Her vision was blurred when she initially came to, but she could make out several figures in the cell she was contained in. She didn’t have much energy, but she preserved most of it for a more opportune moment, spending most of her time lying down and moving unnecessarily.

The clock was ticking though, and she didn’t know if her chance would ever present itself. Nessa was destined to be executed–she knew that since the day she was born–but she didn’t want to let a stupid mistake cut off the rest of her life.

Her injury had been reduced a dull ache when she was lying down, but now, as she sat up, her head throbbed with pain. Again, her vision faltered, blurring objects in her sight beyond recognition, but she could make sense of the sounds she heard. Her pointed ears tuning to noises outside of her cell, Nessa could hear a guard approaching. Perhaps to fetch them and lead them all to their untimely deaths. She must have missed something, since soon after, she heard a gate slam open and loud blast, more specifically, the destruction of a wall. Somewhat adjusted now to being upright, she could now see a minotaur standing in front of a gaping hole in the wall.

“Idiots!” she thought, “Using brute force to break out of here. There’s no way they’ll be able to make it if they keep attracting so much attention,”

She watched some of them leave through the gate, presumably following the person who initially opened it. Deciding to use her remaining energy now, she cloaked herself in a veil of shadows and stood up. Nessa moved toward her exit, close enough to be able to slip out easily, but stayed within the safety of the bars. As she approached the front of the cell, she noticed the nearby body of a not-quite-dead prince. She almost laughed. More than familiar with the trade, Nessa could tell he was suffering from a failed assassination attempt. She had heard rumors about the job through the grapevine, but to see him here, clinging to life was ironic to say the least.

However, this was no time to be noting trivial details; she had to stay focused and figure out an escape since she knew she would not dive headfirst into combat. Her fellow inmates were rash, but they’d be able to clear out a path and hopefully draw most of the guards toward them. If they were intelligent, they might want to search for their possessions, but relying on them was a gamble. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much of a choice. Planning to follow their trail from safe distance, Nessa remained in the cell, waiting until the clamor outside the cell subsided a bit and grew distant. It seemed like it would take a while since she heard the destruction of more metal bars. Were they planning on releasing everybody?

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

Ah!! I also will get a post up but I haven't found the time this morning yet. I will soon though, hopefully. I've only been able to skim so far so, just to clarify, they are all in the same cell basically. Just one large cell. And there are multiple guards. And it's probably underground or at least down some stairs? I'm just going to assume there's no windows where they are at. I don't know, I'm rambling.

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

Nessa Anarae

Name: Nessa Anarae

Species: Shadow (Dark Elf)

Species Description: A recent and small branch off of Dark Elves, Shadows share many of the same talents as their ancestors. Their dark gray skin, night vision, magical inclination, and stealth comes from their predecessors. Shadow Elves are highly adapted to the night and are usually never seen during the day since it is too bright to see anything. They specialize in manipulating shadows in their favor and creating their own smoke-like shadows. By focusing so thoroughly on illusionary magic, they have lost their strength in almost all forms of other magic, unlike the Dark Elves who are adept at many disciplines of magic.

Gender: Female

Abilities and Limitations:

Illusionary Shadows: As an assassin, her ability to shroud herself in darkness dramatically increases her success rate. Only effective at night, this cloaking device makes her virtually undetectable; however, because of the smokey nature of self-created shadows, her cloaking illusions are distinguishable to those with keen eyes, or those who are looking. If she does happen to get into close-range combat, she will try to escape as quickly as possible. Nessa is weaker than most, but her speed has saved her life on multiple occasions. Typically, before she makes a run for it, she will temporarily blind her enemy by sending a flurry of smokey shadows that stains their vision. She can only blind one person at a time, but so far this hasn't caused her much trouble. If all else fails, she does have one last trick up her sleeve: Smoke Bomb. Self explanatory, it doesn’t do any damage, but can help her escape from a small crowd.

Terror: More for the scare factor than anything else, Nessa can manipulate preexisting shadows. A personal favorite of hers, she can distort people's own shadows on the floor, expanding them and making them look like a monster's. She's gotten quite good at breaking her targets mentally before finally killing them. Preexisting shadows will not have the smokey effect of her conjured ones.

Flight (not really): By creating wings, she can enhance the height of her jumps, and slow her descent when falling from high places to prevent injury. This helps compensate for her surprising inability to climb.

Poison and Weapons: Never bothering to learn anything fancy, Nessa picked up the fundamentals of how to make various poisons. She uses both crossbows and, on rare occasion, long bows. By adding a bit of poison into her bolts and arrows, she increases the amount of damage done with a single shot. Combining this with expert precision, Nessa is quite a threat. Shooting poisonous darts or arrows is her preferred method of assassination, but sometimes simply lacing her target's ale can be just as effective. She also has a set of daggers that she can throw from a decent distance. Her talents are lethal, but she doesn't have any substantial training with other weaponry and when it comes to close combat, she is fairly inept. Nessa can evade attacks well enough, her speed enabling her avoid serious damage and injury, but her main objective would still be to escape since she would not be able to inflict major damage from a close proximity.

Background: Born from and raised by Shadow Elves, she grew up knowing exactly what she would become. Her entire clan was comprised of renowned assassins, and by the time she entered the profession herself, Nessa too grew infamous. Her distinctive style set her apart from her peers, and as she grew older, she became one of best her clan had to offer. Her kills were accurate, and efficient. Though they knew of her, authorities could never find her. Until now, of course.

Although the majority of her clan is located in a small trading center along the coast, she had left for the Citadel in hopes of more lucrative targets. Nessa attained success quickly, and avoided capture for years. Her targets were relatively insignificant, she eliminated her employers’ competition, silenced those who knew too much, anyone really. Her luck wore thin, and one of her employers decided to earn some money for himself, and fabricated a new job for her. It was a trap of course, and authorities were stationed throughout the location, too many for her to fight off. She tried every thing she could, but none of her tricks could overpower their brute force. Nessa had grown too confident over the years and let her guard down. A costly mistake.

Appearance:

Note: She predominately uses a crossbow.

Reason for Detainment: Multiple Accounts of Murder

Where Angels Fear to Tread (Community Revived Edition)

Still interested, even with the changes. No anime teens? You wound me ಥ_ಥ. Should I come up with a new character?

The Dark Half

Unperturbed by the man's threatening gaze, Jason shrugged, "No ambush here, just a curious bystander. I mean no offense," His words were distorted by his half-sarcastic tone and mischievous, challenging smirk.

“Excuse me for being blunt but it is not wise to approach me that way, freshmen," the apparently older male responded. Jason was about to retort when a new face entered the scene, cutting him off.

"Ace, would you like to go and get some food? I've not eaten all day. Oh, hello. If you'll excuse us, I have to steal away my roommate. We're positively starved."

Jason briefly glanced at the newcomer, quickly assessing a first impression before returning his attention to the emerald-clad man. She appeared to want to save the Damsel, or Ace as it would seem, but she could have just been hungry. It was always difficult to distinguish the difference between hunger and every other motivation. He let out a short sigh, "I wouldn't bother with that now, this gentlemen was just about to leave," his grin returned, "Weren't you?"

Jason was sure he'd lose if a fight broke out, but he wasn't about to back down now, not when things were finally getting exciting. Unfortunately, an authority figure arrived, effectively killing the conflict before it started. She must have had a decent amount of influence at this school if she could deter him with a few words. As the Green Man left, Jason couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret, like something was stolen from him.

“I apologize. There are many upperclassmen who continue to crash this gathering in hopes of evading capture. This happens every year and their manners continue to dwindle,” the woman informed them. She clearly had prior experience and had attended several of these sorts of events, but Jason couldn't pinpoint her actual status at the school even after she explained that she wrote the invitations.

"Lumen?" Jason tested the name out after she introduced herself, deciding if he liked it or not. He tapped his chin lightly before adding, "It's a pretty name," He didn't bother attempting to seem grateful for her intervention, but his comment was genuine for what it was worth.

The Not-So-Damsel-In-Distress seemed relatively aggravated by something as she excused herself, not even accepting her roommate's offer. Was it something he said? Nope. Probably not. He squeezed in a small goodbye to her before she was out of hearing distance, but whether or not she actually heard him didn't matter. As his company diminished, Jason now turned to the angelic-looking brunette and wondered if she too would escape from him.

“Excluding the mishap I do hope you are all enjoying your time here so far…Dinner will be served shortly," Lumen mentioned, though she seemed somewhat distracted.

"It's been nice, you guys sure know how to party," he laughed, "The upperclassmen keep it interesting, I imagine," Jason yawned a bit at the end, unintentionally sprinkling his point with irony. With nothing to occupy his attention, Jason could feel his body aching, longing for a bed. It was getting late, at least by his standards, and he needed to get some sleep. Perhaps more distraction would suffice. "Before dinner arrives, would you like to dance?" He casually extended his hand toward the abandoned roommate, "It'll build up your appetite."

The Dark Half

I'm also curious as to what will happen. The anticipation always kills me