Xaltwind

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

Linirea: The Lunar Capital

Southern District

@PaulHaynek

"Aah... These humans and their walls..." Vanessa sighed at the sight of the sprawling, massive city before them. Though why she was pointing out the walls in particular was anyone's guess. Perhaps it was a nod to the fact that, against spellcasters such as herself, it didn't really matter how tall you built your walls. Or, perhaps it was a reference to the abilities of flying monsters being able to just by-pass them with ease? Or perhaps she was just claustrophobic and didn't appreciate being encricled by vast, towering rectangles of solid-ass stone.

Regardless, Iskah relayed what was next and they trotted down towards the city with the blue-roofed castle...

... Untill they didn't.

A group of bro-dudes sporting amazingly dashing hats appeared before them, and stopped their advance. They asked a question which any normally intelligent individual would've just denied... Except this honest-to-a-fault-cinnamon bun of theirs blurted out the honest truth. You could almost here Vanessa facepalm internally. She could trick a salamander into running off, but against town guards she spilled the beans? Way to have the priorities backwards.

Still, the gentlemen in charge of the city's safety were convinced by that ... Really unconvincing reply of the lizardman... to let them carry on. Which was a relief. Having to freeze these guys solid in a block of ice, or trapping them in a bottomless bog wouldn't make for the best first impression. Or, at least, so the dark mage imagined.

But then, just as they were about to set off again, another stream of words spilled out. A string of verbal vomit that made a vein visibly appear on one of Vanessa's temples. She slowly turned back towards the musketeer who had uttered it, a shadow cast over her eyes and a smile on her face. It was not a good smile.

"Oh-ho... I see... Well then... We wouldn't want to break any local rules."

She didn't so much say these words as setthingly force them out between her clenched teeth. While Vanessa would've normally shrugged this off and gone about her business regardless, there were two very major factors that forced her to comply with this OUTRAGEOUS demand.

The first, of course, was that she was currently in Iskah's employ. As such, she couldn't afford to do anything to jeopardize the girl's chance at success. At least not until they were inside the walls proper and closer to Aun. Getting into a conflict when not even inside the city yet was less than productive.

The second, was the mention of The Order. While Vanessa would've gladly told this man where to shove his fabuluous hat any other time, the fact that The Order was brought up got her to still her tongue. The last thing she wanted to give those guys any sort of help or benefit. And if casting magic would cause people to go bananas, and thus make things more favorable for the jerkwards who what were the worst of the worst, then Vanessa vwould - begrdugingly - have to be on her best behavior and play nice. For now.

Thus, she slid off the side of their astral mount, waited for Iskah to do the same, and then with a snap of her fingers, caused the horse to vanish a cloud of sparkly green... Sparkles.. She then looked over at her companion, still with that same shadow over her eyes and smile on her face.

"Looks like we're walking from here on then. Good thing we aren't in a hurry to get a room at a decent inn or anyhting, right? We wouldn't want to spook the locals with our man-eating summoned horse after all." Vaessa's comment was anything but mature, and nothing less than an obvious, scathing remark about their current situation.

But, given her fondness for magic, and the fact that she seemed to use it for everything in her everyday life, one couldn't really fault her for being... Upset...

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

Pagras

@PaulHaynek

Once the salamander and tanuki were gone, Vanessa met Iskah's smirk with a big old grin of her own. She then let out a jovial laugh. Not particularly long or anything, but a genuine display of true amusement.

"Well now, I had you pegged for such a stick-in-the-mud. But look at that, I suppose even good girls can do it sometimes." The dark mage... Praised? Was it praise? Perhaps more like a back-handed compliment? Well, whatever the case, she seemed to have enjoyed the lizardman's little deception. She probably would've glomped onto and patted the other girl on the head, going: 'Good job!' if it wasn't for the latter's seemingly disapproval of being coddled and/or touched.

At the mention of moving on though, Vanessa nodded. After a bit of moving around in the crowd of people and a few bumping into's and sideways glances, sh eventually found the saddle of her phantom steed. Good thing nobody had had the audacity to pick it up and steal it. She didn't exactly carry saddles around in her magic bag and, with no money on hand, it wasn't like she could afford to buy a new one. Perhaps the tanuki wasn't the only one who needed to keep a closer watch on her things.

Regardless!

With a few words and motions, their trusted and magnificent friend was back in the world of the physical. It neighed quietly, trotted over to Iskah and nuzzled the lizard-oppel's cheek. Apparently, it had taken a liking to her. Or perhaps this was a different summoned beast entirely and it just had certain preferences? Regardless, it was good that their ride was going to be loyal, gentle and docile - would make the trip a lot smoother than if it had been wild and rambunctious.

"Awww, he liikes you~" Vanessa stated, holding her hand lightly to her lower lip, with a big goofy smile on her lips.

After the light teasing, she did begin work on getting their horse ready. Fixing the saddle, adjusting and securing the reins, making sure her focus and concentration were fine and that there were no immediate or obivous flaws or hiccups with her su mmon. Once everyhting was green-lit, she climbed ontop the mount and extended a hand to Iskah.

"Well, no time like the present. Let's get moving before your friend realizes the only thing at the orphanage is your boy's lingering stink and a gaggle of his little siblings."

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Due to the quickly increasing number of players and my own inability to come up with a character, I think I'll step back from this RP.

I wish you all the best though.

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

I saw the interest check and saw the link, so I poked my head in. But it looks like you've already got quite the number of players already, huh? Kind of had a not-too-good experience with RPs of an isekai nature that has a very large cast. Still, if you've got room to spare still, I'm always interested in this kinda setting. If you're still taking in new folks, that is.

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

Pagras

@PaulHaynek

Vanessa looked at the tanuki girl with a very deadpan expression. Which is tos ay she was expressionless. Apparently, the merchant had already forgotten that, back when they made camp before reaching this city, the dark mage had explicitly stated that she wasn't carrying around any money... ANd while she was fine trading one thing for another, she doubted that sort of thing would fly in a big capital city, with big fancy shops that needed to make big fancy profits.

Then the other lizardman, who was a salamander piped up. Then Iskah introducted Vanessa. An odd choce in the majin's eyes... Considering this person was her supposed rival for the affection of that runaway-knight. It seeemed rather counter-productive to reveal any sort of information to your opponent. But perhaps they weren't really enemies, and more just... Frenemies? It was hard to tell, and she didn't honestly care that much either. All she needed to know was that now there were further obstacles that were going to get in the way of her finishing this job quickly. Swell.

Next the salamander approached, clung to the dark mage and made some friendly banter as if they were all good buddies and life-long chims who regularly hung out at a local pub and talked about which sports-ball team they thought were gonna demolish the others' team.

"Thanks." Vanessa stated, rather non-comittedly. She didn't mind talking to or being chatty with folks, not at all. But this was, in her eyes, an opponent and a contender. As such, she really didn't feel like being all smiles and hand-shakes. After all, if this salaslut and her team succeeded in obtaining Aun, then Vanessa would fail. Which meant breaking her promise to Iskah, and also meant she wouldn't get her reward from said Iskah. That wasn't going to happen. Not an option.

Then she recalled soemthing. Something about Salamanders and Lizardmen. She smiled at whatever it was she'd remembered though. But it wasn't a good smile.

"Hunting a single man with a pack of half a dozen... I thought I'd heard somewhere that you salamander-girls were very keen on the whole honor and fighting fair-schtick. Guess those're just rumors after all, huh?" The dark mage said, lyrically and upbeat. She then turned to Iskah. "Well then, are we done scoping out the competition, or do you want to see the rest of this one's crew before we leave? She said, aiming a backwards thumb and lazily pointing with it at the masked rival.

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

Pagras

@PaulHaynek

So, the other lizard-girl was a love rival? Vaness raised an amused eyebrow, but had the good grace not to say anything. She probably felt that having made Iskah uncomfortable etih her headpats earlier was perhaps enough torment for one day. Or perhaps she just didn't care enough to make any snide comments. Whatever the case, it seemed the dopple-lizard was done peeking around the corner and marched on out to confront the salamander and their traitorous previous travelling-companion.

A brief exchange transpired between the two. Nothing too scathing or hostile, just some quips and snark, nothing to get riled up about. The salamander-girl made a jab at the pair though, asking what Iskah possibly could've offered Vanessa in return for the latter's help. The Dark Mage didn't feel any
obligation or reason to interfere in the exchange though, and felt even lss concerned about revealing her motivations and reasons to a complete stranger - even more so to someone who was apparently actively a competitor. After all, if this other lizard somehow managed to steal Aun away from Iskah, then Vanessa couldn't collect her reward. More importantly, that would break her promise, which was just not an option.

Instead of talking to the salamander, Vanessa outright ignored her and walked over to cart and the tanuki.

"I see you found it again." She started, stopping next to and gently giving the side of the wagon a tap with her dainty fingers. "Curious. I've never seen a merchant who so readily abandon her livelihood to the hands of complete strangers. Was the smell of the knight that intoxicating?" She had a wry, playful and slightly smarmy smirk on her lips, obviously poking fun at the tanuki.

... This was payback for calling her a cow yesterday...

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

Pagras

@PaulHaynek

At Iskah's words and expression, Vanessa just frowned in response, then puffed her cheeks up.

"Boo. You're no fun." Apparently she really wanted to pet the lizardgager's head...

Following her employer as they began their journey to retrace their steps to the wagon which had been abandoned, Vanessa took the time to dispel both her own and Iskah's acceleration-spell. After all, since Aun wasn't around anymore and they weren't in any immediate danger, there was no need for her to keep burning magic energy on sustaining two buffs that were going to remain unused.

When they rounded the corner and her companion jumped back a bit, the dark mage merely stopped in her tracks and tilted her head, slightly confused. Then the whole cloak'n dagger-spiel began, hiding behind the corner of a building to spy on the tanuki-girl who seemed to have made friends with a masked... lizardman? No, that one was a salamander. The tail-flame gave her away. Of course, maybe this one was a doppelganger like iskah as well? Not that it really mattered.

From her reaction, Vanessa could deduce that Iskah wasn't too fond of this new arrival. Though it seemed their Zipanguese friend had no issue chatting her up. Not a surprise, the plump-tailed girl was a merchant after all. Hopefully, she just hadn't said anything unnecessary like: I travelled ehre with a lizardman! Or; My companions are off hunting a husband! Maybe you'ce heard of him? The Incubus Knight!

... But then again, merchants tended to trade in information too, so chances of her keeping her trap shut was shaky at best. Still, they couldn't stand around, staring from around a corner all day, so Vanessa decided to bit the obvious carrot dangling infront of her.

"So, who's that? And why're we hiding from her exactly?"

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

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@PaulHaynek

Thus, the incubus knight made his retreat, after having at least had the good graces to apologize for his insolence. Vanessa had listened to his words of warning, but found them rather lacking. Unless the royal capital of Ortus was filled with monster- hunters or Order-fanatics who patrolled the streets with pitchforks and torches, there wasn't really much that would be a danger to a onster. Especially not someone of her calibre!

She was a bit curious about the little magic device Aun had used to make his escape though. Maybe she'd ask him about it after she and Iskah tied him up and made him marry the lizard-doppel-man-ganger.

Speaking of, it seemed the other monster girl had finally freed herself from the grip of touchy-feely-licky children... Or perhaps it was that their [s]strict and awful[/i] orphanage supervisor had called them back inside. Regardless, the love-struck girl had made her way over and was now asking Vanessa bout her little talk with the knight.

The dark mage couldn't help but smile warmly at the girl's sincere question. If she'd been a lamia or some other lizard-type monster, she probably would've had eyes filled with envy and distrust, saying something like: Don't you get too close to muh man, biach! Yet this one had an air of trust and curiosity. It was rather adorable really, she was like a pure and sweet cinnamon bun, too good for this world. Vanesas couldn't hlep but reach an arm out and gently give the other girl a headpat. Unlike her previously liscivious treatment of Iskah's body while riding, this was more along the lines of an older sister giving her younger sibling a loving, familial head-tussle.

"He wanted to bribe me into not helping you. I refused his offer. He gave me some warning about the royal capital being dangerous and then he went poof." She summarized, rather.... Abruptly and to-the-point. But there wasn't really any need to bring up tiny, teensy, tedious details that wouldn't serve anyone any good. "It does seem like he's run off though, I'm afraid. I can't track his essence or magic signature anymore. At the very least, he's gone beyond this city's limits, and given what he said, I'd figure he went aaaaaaaall the way to that capital he mentioned. At least, if I had to guess." She further explained.

She stopped petting Iskah's head at this point.

"So, what do you wanna do now, hm? Chase after him straight away? Do some sight-seeing? Find that Gummy Dummy who abandoned her cart?"

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

Pagras

@PaulHaynek

Aun began chatting away, but what he said wasn't really so much questions as it was just unsolicited revelations about personal information. The dark mage gave the incubus knight an unamused look after his first batch of talking.

"What she is or isn't doesn't concern me. If she wanted me to know, she would've told me. It's not very knightly to go divulging a lady's secrets." The raven-haired beauty chastised. "She's got feelings for you and contracted me to help her." She stated bluntly.

The more she listened and interacted with this man though, the less... Likeable... He became. At least, in her own eyes. But then agian, he wasn't her type. Like, at all. She was, however, curious as to why Iskah was so fond and dead-set on this particular fellow. Maybe he'd been different in the past? Maybe he had some hidden characteristic or personality quirk that made him endearing? It was impossible tot elll, and frankly Vanessa didn't care enough to bother trying to figure it out.

And then the man made the unfortunate mistake of offering his bargain. This... Had been a poor move on his part, and the dark mage made no effort this time to hide her discontent. A shadow fell over her eyes, her mouth turned into a frown, her eyes sparked with the embers of anger - not yet kindled, but not far from it.

"I thought you said you had questions, Sir Incubus Knight. Asking and then answering your own inquiry, then trying to barter isn't asking questions." She punctuated this line very clearly, one hand on her hip and the other tapping her staff against the street below, more as a method of light stress-relief than anything else. "I'm sure you meant no offense by it, but I can't hlep but feel a bit insulted that you pegged me as some sort of low-life, opportunistic parasite who'd jump at the promise of a shinier prize." Vanessa was very clearly not happy. Turning to face the knight fully, the dark mage met his gaze - head on, locking eyes with him and, in no uncertain, vague or unclear terms, spoke her next few words very deliberately. "My word is the most precious commodity I can trade. Tell me, knight, what value is there in someone who breaks their oaths, vows or promises when offered greater rewards?"

There was a brief pause, before she eventually added;

"So no, I won't be reconsidering my contract with Iskah."

In Vanessa's case though, this was more an issue or principle than loyalty. After all, she hadn't known the lizard-doppelganger for long. They had nothing really in common. They knew litteraly nothing about each other. But that wasn't why she was angry at this AUn-person. No, the dark mage was mad because he had entertained the thought that she'd so easily break her word. To switch sides and toss her previous arrangement to the curb like a dirty, used napkin. It was good luck, perhaps even divine provedence then, that these children were present. For Vanessa could not be cerain that she wouldn't have delivered some... Dsiciplinary and educational... Punishment onto the Incubus Knight for his words.

... But for now, she managed to keep a lid on things. She looked back at the doppel-lizardman, entertaining the children and trying to get them to scamper off so she could continue her quest. Her eyes softened a bit from the genuinely heart-warming scene.

Iskah And The Incubus Knight (Xaltwind and PaulHaynek)

[quote=@PaulHaynek]

Pagras

@Xaltwind

The chase was brief and not very dramatic, nor comedically accopanied by Billy Hill-music or 90's one-hit-wonder background tracks. Instead, the two monsters arrived at a building. A rather impressive one at that. Perhaps someone important lived here, and this incubus knight was waiting outside the door to solicit their aid in dealing with his pursuers? Or perhaps it was a trap, and he was luring the girls into his love nest, where he'd take advantage of and do all sorts of things that can't be mentioned in explicit detail due to PG-13 censore restrictions.

Alas, it was neither. But before that...

The lizardman unsheathed her blade, again, and called out the knight's name, again. Vanessa, standing next to Iskah, slowly turned her head towards the reptile-girl and said, in a very deadpan fashion with a very non-plussed face.

"That approach didn't work last time, what makes you think it'd be different now?"

Unfortunately, her witty quip was not given time to be responded to, for the heinous villain soon unleashed his secret weapon. Children. Oh God, the Children! They swarmed out of the house like a wave of ants, quickly surging towards Iskah as if she was made of sugar and suirrounded her, beginning to immediately do what children do best. Touch everything and everywhere they're not supposed to, and ask inane and completely vapid questions of no real consequence or actual import. There were a few random invites to go on a date as well, but Vanessa chose to pretend like she hadn't just heard pre-teens try and pick up a member of a different species.

Then, sauntering over like it was no big deal, the culprit approached. He was wearing that friendly but playful and sort of smug smile again. It might've been charming, if it wasn't so damn annoying. He struck up a conversation while Iskah fended for her life and chastity against a horde of man-goblins. So, there likely wasn't going to be any progress made for a little while.

"Such a charmer, but I'm not into the whole chivalrous-deal, so no hand for you, naughty boy." Vanessa replied and admonished. "It seems you've caught my little employer in quite a devious trap, so I suppose until she managed to free herself, I'm free to talk. Ask away, handsome."

In truth, Vanessa wasn't keen on talking at all. She would've much rather frozen the man solid here and now or have a sinkhole swallow him up and make him stuck and still so Iskah could do whatever it was she needed to do. But, unfortunately, the cavalcade of snot-nosed brats made any such plan or attempt rather impossible, unless she wanted to risk causing damage to i- albeit annoying, but ulatimately - innocent kids. And while the dark mage was confident and competent at her use of sorcery, even she wasn't arrogant or stupid enough to try and do something when there were underage innocents all around her, or at least in very close proximity.

Luckily, she had a good poker face and even greater control of her own magic and monster energy. If the incubus knight was going to pick up on her slight frustration, he would've either needed to be really good at reading emotions, or be a mindflayer in disguise.

"Oh, right. I suppose you can call me Vanessa, Incubus Knight. Or Nessa, if you prefer." She chose not to go with his nickname.