Tour de Rouge, Fields
Ashley sighed, adjusting his parasol ever so slightly that the tip managed to catch Tirnea’s staff and stop it mid-swing. He deflected the weapon as twirled to face her, a foot raised with grace more akin to a figure skater atop a frozen lake than someone wearing heels on a somewhat damp dirt path. A finger slid across his parasol’s handle, and he slid the accessory apart ever so slightly, revealing a hint of shining steel that caught Jaime’s weapon. Ashley’s eyes looked over the man. His face, his hair, the way his body tensed against the clash… He licked his lips, revealing white fangs for but a moment.
“It really is a shame we have to be meeting this way,” Ashley teased. “Otherwise I’d be asking if I could see more of those pert muscles of yours.” Veronica renewed her charge, lifting the hammer and sending it sailing down towards him. Ashley shifted his stance once more to avoid the blow, the hammer embedding itself in the ground next to him as his hands shook ever so slightly as he tried to uphold his guard in a more awkward stance.
“You come at me with the all gracefulness of an ox,” Ashley taunted. “
Ma petite fraise...” Veronica clenched her fist as magic coursed through her body, her armor, and most importantly, her weapon.
“And you sit there afraid to make a single move,” Veronica responded, “With all the courage of an overly-dressed roach.” Ashley laughed in response. Serena tensed, hoping that her student wasn’t falling into his trap again.
“Perhaps you have a point considering how difficult stomping me out seems to be for you,” He chided, turning his attention back to Tirnea. “You seem awfully out of place here, child of the sands. Tell me, what brings you here with the rest of these Choir cutthroats?” He looked at her with intrigue, and Serena hid a smirk under her mask when she noticed that the earth had begun to protrude ever so slightly next to his feet, a path having travelled there around his blind spot from the head of the warrior’s hammer. She looked to Tirnea, hoping that she could keep the man’s attention.
Falke, Fields
Rebecca tried to piece together the details of what every individual involved had to say about all of these developments. It didn’t appear that they would all be getting along too well, but hopefully that would change once they had to make their way around the forest. She decided that things wouldn’t get too violent for the moment, and put her weapon back in its case before she stuck to walking next to her friend, abstaining the urge to stay just a small distance behind her. The lady in gold seemed awfully eager to stay near the front and question her. She wished to know more about The Order, which once again confused Rebecca as to where she truly hailed from.
“First off, she answered. “Call me Rebecca; that mercenary is the only person here who wouldn’t answer to “girl.” As for The Order, what you need to know is that they’re in charge of administrating worship of the twin goddesses Calieo and Selinae, as well as Norox, in the Twilight Fields. Their magic destroys demons far better than mortal weapons or more contemporary magic for reasons I’m still trying to figure out, and they were falling out of favor until around half a century ago when one of their mages and her golem managed to defeat an army of demons on Nethergate, back before it had that name. Now they pretty much run the show around there, even with The Choir ruling over them. Life is pretty nice over there, as long as you don’t get on their bad sides. Is that all you wanted to know?” She tilted her head slightly as she looked at the woman and waited for her response.