Octo

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude let out a loud sigh as their foe faded, remaining nominally on guard until its remains rearranged themselves and blossomed with small white flowers. She supposed it was pretty, in a way, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She scowled as she trounced up to Fionn and got in the lout's face.

"You daft shite," she practically spat, "you could have gotten yourself killed. If either Fiadh or I had been slightly off, there was a good chance you would have exploded or bled to death. Natural result of your glory-hounding like the prat you are, but less than ideal for the employer you claim to care for."

Gertrude looked towards Fanilly, and then back to Fionn.

"Well, she won't tell you, so I will. If circumstances take a turn for the nasty, cancel the damn spell and keep your distance. Do not walk slowly towards the raining green orbs of pure energy. I had the shot anyways, and I was in very little danger. I had the shot because you steel-swinging buffoons got it for me. There's a time and a place for your new magic sword bullshite, and you need to learn to pick them better."

Not, of course, that Gertrude even cared about anyone here. She probably just wanted to yell at Fionn some, because he got on her nerves.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude continued chanting. Fionn obviously had an idea, but she didn't have enough faith in the lout to leave the serpent to him. Renar and Fanilly worked their way down the beast, no doubt attempting to flush out the weak point. It was a good idea, and one she probably would have vocalized if she wasn't afraid that the serpent would be intelligent enough to understand her and act against it. The knights were at least smart enough to do this much, though she supposed she'd expected as much from the scoundrel. If nothing else, he seemed a wily sort.

The serpent split open like some foul flower and began spitting magic into the air like blood. One last attack. Or, if they were unlucky, a penultimate one. Gertrude clutched her broom tight, and it ripped her backward, out of the way of the descending green orbs. Her broom was faster than she was, and reached top speed quickly. It was one of many reasons she wasn't too worried about most combats that took place outside.

That attack would be the creature's downfall. Almost everyone had cleared the area, which meant a chanted Dragonstar was in little danger of hitting her allies. Tyaethe had staked the thing to the ground, and that combined with Renar and Fanilly's swift work meant the weak point had very few places it could be. Right as she was about to fire, she noticed Fionn stumbling towards the beast, protected by the Niyar.

Dumb shite. If Fiadh hadn't been there, the stupid lout might have died. Before he even unleashed his attack! It made Gertrude mad that someone as dumb as him was still alive. It would teach him a hell of a lesson if she were to unleash her Dragonstar at full force into the melee, blow both annoyances away at once.

But Fionn might still learn a lesson. If that thing made one last lunge as he attacked, he'd be completely open and absolutely exhausted. That would teach him...

"Scheiße," Gertrude hissed, quickly making a few modifications to the spell. By decreasing the area of effect, she wouldn't be hitting the weak point, but she wouldn't be hitting Fionn either. Not that she was aiming for the rear, where the core now resided. Instead, she aimed to blast away the midsection where it had already taken some damage. By destroying that area, she could cut off control of the many-petaled head at a single point and ensure the dumb bastard didn't get eight kinds of skewered.

"Dragonstar," Gertrude called out as Fionn called his own attack.

She hated that bastard.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude let out a weird gasp as Fanilly grabbed her and dragged her out of the way of the serpent's next attack. Of course, Gertrude could have defended against it herself. Did the captain not think her capable, or was she simply given to reflexive gallantry? Well, it was unwanted and unwarranted either way.

Though the thought did invade her head, for just a moment, that assisting her actively put the captain in more danger. So either Fanilly needed her, or at least cared about her enough to take that risk. Both thoughts weren't entirely repulsive. Maybe even a little warm.

This was superseded, however, by the small panic Gertrude felt knowing that the captain would know how weirdly light she was. Was it in Fanilly's purview to determine that she was enhancing her body with magic just to work as an average woman's would? Would the captain think she was a weakling? The thought that this waif could look down on her made Gertrude sick. She grit her teeth, and stumbled away as Fanilly moved forward to strike.

Apparently Tyaethe was savvy enough to determine that the weak point was moving. Well, that confirmed Gertrude's own thoughts. Additionally, Gertrude was able to sense that it was somewhere in the upper half. Had it been her, she'd probably have kept the weak point moving along the lower end. The upper half was the most threatening part, so obviously it would receive the most attacks. If looked at that way...

It was likely that the weak point was there by necessity. Since the upper half had many more points of locomotion, and the movements were more sophisticated, it stood to reason that the governing magic might be closer to provide more immediate feedback. If one considered it like that, it was likely close enough to the mouth to be a dangerous prospect to strike, but far enough away so that it wouldn't easily be hit by a stray attack from those defending against its fangs.

"It's in the upper half," she growled. She didn't want to point out the exact spot she thought it might be, because it was moving anyways. In this situation, it was probably more useful to let everyone skewer it where they thought was reasonable rather than everyone striking at the same point. She began chanting, just in case it managed to evade the incoming strikes. A large enough spell could cover a lot of area if she could finish it.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude wasn't exactly expecting bandits as far out as they were, but she wasn't expecting a giant tree-snake either. If you'd asked her which they'd be more likely to find this close to a faerie queen, however, she probably would have picked the snake. Gertrude stood, undeterred, as the barrier that Arken had put up started shattering against the serpent's mass.

Thrinax was far more intimidating than this thing, though the terrain wasn't as much to her favor.

She could fly away, but the canopy wouldn't offer a clear shot. In fact, she might hit one of the knights by accident. Bombardment was out.

Fire was out, unless she was OK with causing some serious environmental damage that might kill everyone.

Meteor Fall was right out. Kill everyone, glass the whole area, nasty business. Would not endear a faerie queen to their plight.

Well. Since the creature was made up of a lot of different plants, but moved as one, she considered it likely that somewhere within the mass was a force that governed its movement. A central connecting point that determined shape, behavior, and locomotion. If that could be disrupted, the creature could be defeated. Otherwise, the knights would mostly be swinging at individual roots and vines. Gertrude took a deep breath, and focused. If she could sense the governing point, the sword-morons could converge on it. It might take her a moment, but she assumed Arken was competent enough to protect her. While the knights spread out, she stuck behind the court mage.

Since when did she start relying on other people to get things done for her? Curious, that.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

As far as Gertrude was concerned, she'd done her part. She'd summoned the Niyar in and gathered some information, and was happy enough with this performance that she didn't see the need to put her own name forward in the coming matters of diplomacy. In fact, she was self-aware enough to know that her inability to say nice things and grovel as would probably be expected put her at a... disadvantage in such negotiations.

In short, she knew that she was rude and unsocialized and didn't really know how to fix it. Not, of course, that it needed to be fixed for the most part. As long as she was strong, people had to treat on her level and she didn't have to learn to talk pretty to them.

When dealing with Witches (and now Faerie nobility), however, her lack of decorum was like to get her into trouble. Annoyingly, people existed who were stronger than her. She would accompany the rest into the woods, but she made a mental note to hold her tongue in the presence of any Fae who was able to contort the world around her and the people inside it to her whims. Probably a good call.

As the woods grew darker and more twisted, Gertrude felt a chill run down her spine. They had crossed, at some point, from the area of the wood for youthful dalliances to the area where creatures from faerie stories might lurk. She didn't need to be told twice to put herself on guard, but when the captain had them form up, Gertrude also conspicuously took to the center with Fiadh and Arken. If she had meat-shields, of course she was going to use them.

Gertrude's uselessness in diplomacy annoyed her, but killing, at least, was something she could do. She readied her broom to blast the hell out of whatever wanted to try them.

"You sound almost like you're having fun, little mosquito," Gertrude quipped at Tyaethe, "you're a bit mad, aren't you?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"Getting scared, mistress?" Gertrude asked Fanilly, grinning, "I don't blame you. If we go in, we may leave babbling inanity like that dotard, or we may not leave at all. Not all of us have methods to defend ourselves. What we do from here is your call, but the wellbeing of both the Duke and our order depends on your command."

Gertrude frowned at Fionn as he opened his big, stupid mouth.

"The woman is daffy, won't stop talking about patting my head like a small child or confusing convenient contracts with marriage certificates. I'll let her leave if you promise she won't touch-"

But Tyaethe was already breaking the circle, and Gertrude clicked her tongue as the Niyar flopped out of the containment area and onto her husband.

"And what exactly do you know about magic, you wee mosquito?" she growled at Tyaethe, "aside from brute-forcing your whims onto reality? Might as well be a little fairy princess yourself, the way you treat the subject."

She looked back to Fionn, then back to Tyaethe, then shrugged and grabbed a couple of tiny fruit tarts. She popped one into her mouth, and offered another to the Niyar.

"I won't say it's a terrible idea, lout, but if this Moonlit Queen sees Fiadh as competition, it may not end well. If we bring something or other as tribute, however, we may find her amenable to a noble alliance. Faeries are fond of gifts, after all," she demonstrated, offering more sweets to Fiadh.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude frowned, but her cheeks pinkened a little. This Niyar certainly knew how to get under her skin, or at least had a natural propensity to do so.

"I don't want anything from you but information. It would be a contract of convenience and nothing more, and furthermore, what part of me seems nice to you? I'm not a nice girl at all, I'll have you know," Gertrude over-explained, getting perhaps a little weirdly defensive. She pouted and crossed her arms beneath her chest, but continued after gathering herself for a few moments.

"So... powerful faeries end up being pretty unoriginal? You'd think it would be the opposite, but at least it's keeping in theme by being utterly baffling to mortals. Anyway, all we really know about her is that she's met the duke before, she's recently met him again, and around this meeting, the codger lost his lot. My own thoughts are that he made some sort of bargain with her a long time ago and recently came to collect for some reason, but I'm open to other theories."

Gertrude glanced at the door, and then to Arken.

"The lout will probably be by soon, he's married to this one and will likely have felt a pull. Any questions of your own, Arken? You've been here longer than I have, and it seems we finally have a line."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"It's fine if you're stumped, Arken," Gertrude replied bluntly to the relative silence on the court mage's end, "it's not exactly easy. I just figured as long as I had you... ah-"

The circle glowed green, and the Niyar showed herself. It was a success! Of course it was a success. A confident smirk crept up on Gertrude's lips, which quickly turned into a frown when Fiadh implied that Gertrude might be married to the lout for some reason. Do you have to be married to summon a man's fairy wife? Ugh, whatever.

"I-I'm not lonely and I don't need anyone to pat my head," Gertrude grumbled, not entirely turned off by the idea. Still, she wasn't about to be treated like a kid by yet another obscenely old and pretty woman. She was too proud, and she knew she'd catch shit from the lout when Fiadh told him besides.

"Anyways, this would be easier in the future if we had a formal contract. I could even give you some of these sweets. It would be good to be able to call you easily if that lout gets into trouble. But for now, we just need to know if you're aware of any fey that goes by the epithet 'The Moonlit Queen'. We're in Brennen on the edge of the woods, if that narrows anything down."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Gertrude gave Fanilly a short, almost certainly ironic curtsey, and smiled.

"Of course, mistress. I'll start right away," Gertrude said, beckoning to Arken, "and no need to worry, your lordship. I began learning summoning magic about two weeks ago, so naturally I am already proficient."

Gertrude began ordering the staff to clear out a medium-sized room for her, and with the backing of the court mage, she soon had everything she needed: space, quiet, materials, and lots of ridiculously unhealthy snacks. She immediately began drawing a summoning circle for fey, which she had memorized by heart, while occasionally pecking at a pastry or two.

"Summoning doesn't require a lot of mana, and I doubt you recognize what I'm drawing," she explained to Arken, licking some honey off her fingertip, "so aside from the room-clearing and snack-supplying, I don't need much help. Figured you'd like to take a peek at the technique I'm using, though. Maybe offer some insight, if you have any. My teacher made it purposely complex and opaque to keep anyone from summoning anything too harmful, but if I wanted to summon something harmful one day... well, I'd like to be able to edit it eventually. Whatever guesses you might have could help me unravel it sooner."

When Gertrude was done with the circle, she'd simply supply it with Fiadh's name, and the Niyar should show up. She hoped the pull would bother Fionn.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"I know her well enough, and I have her name," Gertrude replied to Fionn, shrugging, "I should be able to summon her. As I said, this could be a number of things, but as the oaf has pointed out..."

Gertrude nodded towards Gerard in a way that was not overtly hostile.

"Given the area, and the duke's odd behavior besides, fey isn't an awful guess. Since we have a good way of checking it... it's not a bad idea to summon her," she said, her reluctance to acknowledge Fionn's good idea tempered by her own enthusiasm to try summoning in a bit of a new context.

She turned to the court mage, unimpressed at first because she had no idea who this guy was, but softening somewhat when she learned that she was being acknowledged by someone with prestige. A smug smile crept up on her face.

"Finally, someone who can recognize my genius. Big cheese, eh? Can't say I picked up on anything 'missing', but I've never met the guy before. Curious, that. Since he's apparently also met this 'Moonlit Queen' a while back, you have to wonder... maybe he made a deal a long time ago, and she'd recently come by to collect? Thus the 'something missing'. Both fey and demonkind are fond of taking vague or conceptual things as recompense. What was the party for? Perhaps the occasion marked something inauspicious in hindsight. Either way, I'll want a room cordoned off for my summoning. And plenty of sweets."