Luminosity

Into the Shadow

Iseldis hmmed as she inspected the cut on Roland's face, the white light of her staff illuminating one side of them. It didn't look too serious, but admittedly the interior of this dingy house wasn't the best for doing healing work. "Come on, let's get outside."

With a snap her staff retracted into the handle, casting the room in darkness again, and she attached the handle to her belt, leading the way back out into the fresh forest air. Even a few moments with the draugr had been enough to fill her nostrils with the scent of undead. Their presence was not something she was used to yet, but she supposed she'd have to get there someday. So long as she kept winning her battles like this.

"The draugr are finished," she announced to the gathered group of villagers, who had no doubt been listening to the entire struggle. A collective sigh of relief went through them, followed by a series of thanks sent their way. Iseldis couldn't help but smile. "Let me take care of my partner here, and then I'll see to your wounded." More thank-yous followed, and then the villagers began to disperse, no doubt to spread the news to any that hadn't heard.

"Sit here," Iseldis instructed, gesturing to one of the chairs they'd used to bar the front door. She grabbed another and turned it around so that she could sit in front of him. "Turn your head a little, and hold still. This won't hurt much."

The tip of her index finger lit with a soft, white, magical light, and she lifted it to the cut. Her magic was always more difficult to summon in the daytime, but fixing simple cuts wouldn't be taxing enough to affect her come nightfall. She set to work cleaning the wound first, making sure there was no risk of infection. A draugr's hands were bound to be filthy.

"That was my first fight against a draugr," she admitted, starting to mend the wound back together. "I knew they'd be tough, but I knocked the jaw clean off one and it didn't seem to care. Suppose I underestimated it." She still felt a little uneasy, like more were watching them, but draugr weren't exactly stealthy. Probably just the aftereffects of the fight. "I'm sure we'll run into more at their source, but if we go at night, my magic should deal with them much easier. It'll be quite the light show." Of that much she was certain. The gifts of Lunaia that she'd trained in were specifically meant for burning away creatures like draugr. She was rather looking forward to it now, a chance to really hone her skills.

"What about you?" she asked. "Fought draugr before, or anything like it?"

Into the Shadow

Iseldis struggled up until the hilt of a blade passed in front of her face, and suddenly the rest of the draugr behind it had been severed from its arm, and its attention turned on Roland. The priestess thought to help him and strike the draugr from behind, but she realized she still couldn't breathe. Even without the rest of its arm the draugr's hand was still choking her.

Her grip on it grew weaker as the room began to darken, but just in time Roland defeated the creature, and the hand suddenly relaxed around her neck. Iseldis gasped in a breath, sagging a little on the wall as she pulled the hand away and tossed it aside. She paused to take in a few breaths, checking herself to make sure she hadn't been wounded anywhere in the chaos. She found nothing.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm okay. That was--look out!"

She'd spotted the other draugr creeping with silent determination towards Roland, somehow still alive despite how much it had been damaged. Staff in hand, Iseldis covered the distance between them quickly, cutting off the draugr and landing a fierce kick to its head. With a screech it flipped over onto its back, and before it could so much as move she drove one end of her glowing white staff into its open mouth, piercing the roof and punching through its skull. That was enough to end it, the eerie light finally fading from its eyes.

Panting slightly, Iseldis withdrew her weapon and moved to the nearest piece of furniture, a tipped-over wooden table. She lowered her weight to rest on the edge of it, noting the slight shake in her hands from the adrenaline. Not the cleanest victory, but they were both in one piece, and the draugr very much were not.

"That was easy enough," she said, unable to help the grin that appeared. "Thanks for the save. You want me to take care of that cut?"

Into the Shadow

Any nervousness in Iseldis fled as soon as the time to act came. It was always in the waiting, and now that she could fight she felt a clear focus that not even the horrifying appearance of the draugr could shake. Her staff flared to life, extending to its full length and glowing white, filling the interior of the otherwise dark house with a soft light.

She interrupted the draugr lunging for Roland, deflecting its sword up and out of harm's way with one end of her staff before she brought the other end around for a swift strike to its gut. It stumbled back, and Iseldis pressed her advantage, aiming to drive it away and give herself more room to work. Her staff was difficult to use in confined spaces, and she couldn't afford a misstep here.

She pelted the draugr with a swift series of strikes, faster than it could hope to block, and when she saw the opening to make a heavier swing, she took it, spinning in a circle and landing a clean horizontal strike to the draugr's face. It was intended to knock a human opponent unconscious, and without thinking she applied the same strategy to the draugr.

Her staff took the draugr's jaw clean off, sending it and several sharp teeth flying across the room, but the creature did not seem to care, and counterattacked while Iseldis was still recovering from her swing. A shoulder bash caught her in the chest, driving her back a step, and though she managed to turn aside a thrust that would've impaled her, the draugr seized her by the throat, pushing her until her back collided with a wall. Her wind left her in a rush, and a brief moment of panic crept in. The draugr's hand was dry and scratchy against her neck, and a guttural growl bubbled up from its throat, malevolent sapphire eyes locked on her.

Their weapons were locked in a stalemate. Iseldis tried to pry the hand from her throat, tried to knee and kick the draugr away, but it was no use.

Into the Shadow

Iseldis lowered her hood and ignored the rain so as to let the villagers see her better. They were unusual visitors no doubt; this place likely rarely saw shirts of mail or fine white robes. She was tempted to correct them on exactly what their stations were, but there was a job to be done. They could speak more when the village was no longer terrorized.

"We're here to help," she assured them. "Where are the draugr?"

"Trapped in old Jerras's house on the edge of the village," an older woman explained. "He's gone to town, can't imagine he'll be pleased when he returns. They came in the night, the two of them, swinging in a fury. They've gone silent now, dormant, so you'd best keep your voices down as you approach. They'll be none too pleased to see you."

"Please, my lady," the younger man that met them on the road cut in, "a few were wounded before we could trap the draugr. Can you do anything for them?"

"How badly?" Iseldis wanted and would be able to help, provided they weren't on the brink of death, but again, it would be best to make safe the village to ensure no one else got hurt.

"Nothing life-threatening," he assured her. "But you do know healing magic?"

"I'm no expert, but I'll help them, of course. After the draugr are dealt with."

With that they were guided to the edge of the village, on the side venturing deeper into the forest. The house is question was somewhat large by their village standards and fairly well built. The doors and few windows had been barred and blocked, and Iseldis heard nothing from within. The few villagers that ventured out with them fell completely silent, and a tension settled over the air.

A nervousness swelled up in her belly, and her heartbeat quickened. This would be no sparring match; if she lost, the draugr would kill her, and run rampant in the village again. But draugr, while fierce, were said to lack much of the skill they had in life, and relied on ferocity and resistance to pain to overcome it. As long as Iseldis fought smart, and as a team with her new partner, she could do this.

The furniture and other barriers to the front door were carefully and quietly removed, until all that was left to do was go inside, at which point the villagers all cleared out to a safe distance, leaving Iseldis and Roland to their work. Iseldis pulled her staff handle from her belt and took up a position to one side of the door, nodding to Roland that she was ready. As he was the one with the shield, she figured he'd be better off going in first. And she'd be right behind him.

Into the Shadow

Iseldis laughed genuinely at his question, the sound echoing a little through the relative quiet of the forest. "That would be quite the revelation to me."

She supposed she looked a little like one, dressed as she was. Lunaia's servants were meant to be looked to, a new concept for Iseldis to come to terms with, but one she'd tried to embrace, and several elements of her outfit were purely decorative. There were silver ribbons fastened around her upper arms, securing her arm sleeves, a shimmering sash belt tied around her hips underneath the thinner black leather one, and she'd even woven another silver ribbon into her braided hair. Between those and the slitted sections of her long skirt, there was no small amount of cloth fluttering in the air behind her when she walked, especially when the wind picked up, as was the case now.

But she wore no crown of any kind, and most definitely was no princess. "I was one of the many orphans around the streets of Dal'Mahra, and the temple raised me. Not the easiest experience, but I wouldn't be trying to become a priestess if I'd hated it."

She hadn't known about his Order's state, and saw no reason to bring it up again. Roland didn't seem inclined to linger on it or want to discuss it, and she was more than willing to respect that. Plenty of things weren't easy to discuss with new acquaintances, as they still were.

They made good time on their journey, and though it was difficult to locate the sun through the trees and the overcast sky, Iseldis suspected it was around midday when she first started to feel... something. Something in the way the wind brushed the leaves and branches all around them, something about the shadows in the darker corners. It felt enough like being watched that Iseldis spun in a slow circle as she walked, peering cautiously into the woods all around her.

"Does it feel to you like we're being-"

Her words were cut off by a young man's cry, some mix of surprise, urgency, and relief. "Over here!" he shouted, and Iseldis spotted him running towards them from a trail splitting off from the main road. He couldn't have been more than twenty, dressed in peasant's garb with sandy blonde hair. He skidded to a halt before the two of them.

"What's wrong?" Iseldis asked, concerned at his state.

"We were told someone would be coming out this way today," he explained, breathless, "to deal with the monsters. It's good you're here. Draugr wandered into our village in the night."

Draugr. Undead warriors risen by dark magic. Sometimes it occurred naturally, other times not. Either way, they were a real danger. "How many?" she asked.

"Just two, but we have no soldiers, no one trained enough to defeat them. We managed to trap them in a house and barred the doors, but..." It didn't need saying. They had no one skilled in fighting to finish them, at least not without great risk. "If you could defeat them, I'm sure we can pay you something."

"There's no need for that," Iseldis answered quickly, waving him off. She glanced to Roland. "We can handle a few draugr, right?" She'd never fought one before, but if her studies and training had been worth anything, she'd be able to manage it.

Into the Shadow

"From time to time," she answered. The road they followed was wide and well traveled for the moment, but they'd eventually need to split off onto less serviceable paths leading them deeper into the forest and finally to the base of the mountains. Iseldis had a map tucked away in her pack, but she'd studied it so much she really didn't need it anymore.

"I've never been out of the region, but I've accompanied some of the more experienced brothers and sisters to other towns as part of my training." Not everything could be learned from texts and practice in the temple. She'd needed to observe her elders handling real situations to know what was really expected of her.

She didn't mind the rain, even if her robe was mostly damp by this point. The trees offered occasional cover from above, and though there was a slight chill settling in, it wasn't quite autumn yet, and the rain lacked the bite she knew it would have later in the year.

"What about you?" she asked, tilting her head towards him so she could see more than just the edge of her white hood. "Is this a usual job for the Order of the Forged, escorting priestesses about?" She guessed it wasn't, if she was reading him properly. He'd seemed surprised to see her, a little awkward even, so whatever she was, it wasn't what he'd expected.

Into the Shadow

Iseldis had almost never cared how she looked, so this was a new feeling for her. Growing up her clothes had been ragged, scavenged, ill-fitting, but perfectly fine considering she didn't really care so long as she was warm and comfortable and fit to train. She'd never had anything that could be considered finery, and while her priestess robes were no ballroom gown, they were going to take some getting used to.

The rain tapped softly against her window, but it concerned Iseldis little. She was too busy trying to recognize the woman in the mirror, garbed in well-fitted and tailored robes of bright white trimmed in silver. She felt... nervous, which was unlike her, but today was an unusual day. Her brothers and sisters had already wished her well. The rest was up to her. She fastened her belt around her waist, attached her currently miniaturized bo staff to it, pulled on a small pack of supplies, and made her way out of the temple of Lunaia.

Iseldis pulled her hood up over her thick black hair as she stepped out into the rain. Not the best weather to start her journey with, but there was no sense trying to keep her boots and robes pristine, given all the traveling she'd be doing. She made her way down familiar streets, passing shops and neighborhoods where the people failed to recognize her at first. It was another feeling she'd need to get used to, being watched. Iseldis had always been able to pass unnoticed before, something that was very useful for a young thief, but the priests and priestesses of Lunaia were meant to draw eyes, to be looked to.

It took a half an hour's walk to reach the edge of Dal'Mahra, the gate, and the warrior she was due to meet and travel with. More experienced Lunaian fighters could take on these tasks alone, but it was typical for initiates attempting their first Cleansing to do so with help. It wasn't expected to be anything she couldn't handle, but they were headed for danger, and the last thing the priesthood wanted was promising initiates dying before they could come into their own.

Her partner was easy to identify as the loitering man armed with sword and shield. He didn't look to be too grizzled either. "You must be the lucky sod stuck with me," she said, striding up to him and extending a hand. "Hope you haven't been waiting too long. I'm Iseldis, an initiate of Lunaia. Priestess, if all this goes well."

Into the Shadow

Iseldis

Race: Human
Age: 22
Class: Initiate Priestess of Lunaia

Physical Description: Iseldis is a lean, toned young woman of average height with long charcoal black hair typically kept in a single loose braid, and deep blue eyes. Her skin is fair, with only a few small marks of her difficult upbringing in the form of old scars covering her, including one on her face, near the end of her left eyebrow. It contrasts with her otherwise youthful, almost soft appearance. In her priestess robe she can look like the very picture of elegance, but this is typically undone by her actions and demeanor.

Outfit: Every servant of Lunaia has their robe tailored to their preferences. Iseldis's is snug-fitting above the waist, where it's fastened by a thin black leather belt. The skirt flows near to the ground but is slit up to her upper thighs both in front and in back so as not to restrict her movement. The robe is hooded and sleeveless, but she wears arm sleeves that cover her from nearly her shoulders down past her wrists. The outfit is for the most part a clean white, with trimming in a glossy silver-grey, the colors serving to identify her organization. She wears the robe over her smallclothes, full leggings, and an undershirt, and she dons knee-high, low-heeled traveling boots of black leather.

Weapons: Her primary weapon is a magically-infused bo staff, which is capable of shrinking itself down to about a foot in length, to be easily transported on her belt. At full length it surpasses her in height. She's also capable of conjuring other forms of weapons in moonlight, as well as directly attacking with magic.

Armor: Iseldis has no armor to speak of, her robe offering her protection only from the elements.

Combat Overview: Iseldis is a well-trained fighters that relies on aggression and swiftness in her strategy, versatile and dangerous from most ranges on the offensive. She fights nonlethally when she can with her bo staff or in hand-to-hand. Her weapon gives her good range and allows her to nimbly dance around opponents before making strong attacks and kicks. She has to be careful with her use of magic. Though the weapons and direct spells she can conjure are very powerful especially against creatures of darkness, she is still only an initiate of the craft, and will be drained of energy very swiftly if she uses too much.

Her weakness is in defense. Iseldis has no armor to soften hits she takes, and her physical build isn't overly durable to begin with. Prolonged fights can leave her vulnerable as well, especially when magic is involved, as her effectiveness is significantly reduced once she's exhausted or wounded without the ability to heal.

Personality: Fun, fierce, fiery, and a troublemaker at heart, Iseldis doesn't have the conventional temperament one might expect of a priestess of Lunaia, someone expected to be centered, calm, collected enough to resolve disputes, act as a healer, and in general serve the good of the people. But she came from a rough background, and she has always combated it by lightening the load.

Not to say she can't be a serious person, and indeed she takes her responsibilities and her role very seriously. She knows she has an important position, and her strong set of morals guides her to do what is right even at personal cost.

History: Iseldis comes from a background of poverty and misfortune, but through hard work and dedication, she has lifted herself out of it. The only child born to peasant farmers, her mother died while she was very young of sickness, and a few years later her father was conscripted into the king's army. He would die in a faraway battle of little importance, in a place Iseldis had never even heard of.

Iseldis was passed into the care of the state, and grew up in a temple of Lunaia, the moon goddess. Care of the children was left to the less combat-inclined of the brothers and sisters, and Iseldis came to be none too fond of them. In reality she grew up on the streets of the capital more than anything, thieving and getting into trouble and only returning to the temple when she needed a place of safe haven.

It couldn't last, and before long she was delivered a warning: the temple could not protect her if she continued her ways as she grew older. Fortunately, this was when her magical talent emerged. Iseldis had always harbored a secret admiration for the traveling warriors of the priesthood, brothers and sisters that wandered the land, driving out darkness at its roots and forging a good life for themselves through service to the people. It was a path she could dedicate herself to.

So she trained hard, for years, learning to fight and honing her body and mind, finding a sort of inner peace in the pursuit that she'd lacked on the streets. Always competitive, Iseldis strove to be the best among the students, and by her early twenties she'd become proficient in all of her studies, albeit entirely untested.

Now twenty-two, Iseldis is prepared for a final rite of passage. She has been gifted the fine robes that identify her as a priestess of Lunaia, and must expel the darkness encroaching nearby to complete her training. The challenge has been deemed adequate for an initiate, and if it proves to be greater, it will be up to Iseldis to adapt and prevail.

[ MORTAL KOMBAT ] The End Game

I'd be interested, if this gets going.

XCOM: The Black Winter

"We're gonna clear the troops on three, then sprint for that ramp. Clear?"

Fiona nodded coolly, letting her finger rest lightly on the trigger of her rifle. As far as the combat situations went, so far she and Sara had the easy job of the three pairs, with a distracted enemy completely unprepared for their attack. It was over swiftly, Sara's MP7 and Fiona's ACR cutting down the ADVENT troopers before they could return fire. Fiona's weapon wasn't nearly as silent as Sara's, but in all the chaos that had already broken out, it wasn't likely to draw any more attention to them.

She vaulted smoothly over the windowsill behind Sara and crossed the distance to the ramp with speed, taking up a crouched position behind cover at the entrance.

"It's your call if you want to go in there. If not, go and assist the other two at the power station. I'm going in."

Want wasn't something Fiona gave herself the luxury of considering very often, because what she wanted was so very often impossible. She didn't consider it here, either. The choice was simple, really: no one had reported getting hit over their comms yet, and everyone else already had a partner to back them up. She wasn't about to let Sara go down there alone, regardless of how nervous this made her.

It was one way to get out of the cold, at least.

She clambered over the forklift behind Sara, mostly moving backwards to keep an eye on their rear. The smell was horrible, but nothing worse than what Fiona had dealt with many times before. The heat was intense, plasma fires mixed in with the regular, not unlike walking into an oven. The spray from the fire suppression system was a relief, all things considered.

Fiona stopped cold at Sara's halt signal, and then darted into her own cover at the call of an enemy sectoid. Sara sent a shotgun blast down the hall, while Fiona held off, peeking over the top of her cover and taking careful aim. Only so much ammunition to go through, after all. She ended up not needing to use any, as the alien wasn't concerned with fighting them, to the point where it was helpless to stop Sara from blowing it open point-blank with her shotgun.

Fiona moved up cautiously, again checking to their rear, and eyeing the sectoid corpse as she passed. Too damaged to be of interest, and she'd examined more than a few of its type before anyway. Her attention was then drawn where Sara's was, to the room with the bodies on the tables. Half horrified, half intrigued, Fiona lowered her weapon slightly and went to get a better look.

By Sara's report, they'd come to the same quick conclusion. Hybridization of humans and these sectoids. The thought made her skin crawl. It occurred to her to try bagging one of them, bring it out so she could study it... but the risk was too great. Most of these bodies were heavily damaged, either by the blast or the sectoid, and with the building burning and the way out partially blocked, it simply wasn't worth it.

And Sara was moving on. Fiona wasn't sure what drove her, but there was no place to question it now. She lifted her rifle again and kept close.

There was more rattling, the location of the sound difficult to pinpoint. "You hear that?" she asked. She didn't know if it was just the building falling apart from the blaze, or one of these hybrid aliens lurking out of sight. Both possibilities were bad.