Zapdos
Damycles
Izurich
Teyao
Dark Cloud
Lucid Dreaming
Noctis
xenon
CharybdisTo clarify this, I figured this will help the team be prepared in case the information turns out to be a trap.
Yep, that's a good call Zapdos xD
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Yep, that's a good call Zapdos xD
Hello!
I have faith in Barracker and James' interrogation technique, let's go with option 2 and the secret passage xD
I have faith in Barracker and James' interrogation technique, let's go with option 2 and the secret passage xD
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
And to you too Xenon! xD
She couldn't find him, which was strange.
It was the dwarf that had caused MacKensie to believe George's story in the first place. Hardul looked terrified and was visibly shaking when he'd come out from behind that rock. Was he really that good of an actor, or was she just too trusting?
She continued to search the area east of the temple, each footfall light and silent, her head swivelling to scan left and then right. And then she caught movement in her peripheral and looked to see the dwarf hightailing it as fast as his little legs could carry him. She burst into a sprint, hurdled the rock he'd been hiding behind and gave chase. "Wait!"
He didn't listen. She closed the distance a little, then stopped and fired her grapplehook his way. It attached to his leg and she had to brace herself, her feet skidding forward a little from the man's bodyweight before she managed to halt him. He tripped and fell to the floor, shrieking more in fear than in pain, she reckoned. It was clear to see and hear that he was definitely still scared out of his mind.
She walked instead of running to catch up with him, her blue beam/wire reeling itself in as she approached him, grapplehook still attached to his leg. The reason she wasn't in hurry to get to the dwarf was because she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do or say when she was in front of him. She was on her own, at the moment, without the other party members who usually did most of the talking, and she felt neither smart nor confident at this time. So while Hardul might be feeling helpless and scared right now, lay there on his belly as she approached, she wasn't really feeling in control of the situation either.
Hardul scrambled to his feet and tried to run again, but MacKensie stopped and brace herself once more, yanking the blue beam/wire as he tried to run so that he tripped over again. Then she continued to close the distance. Finally she was in front him and her grapplehook disappeared back into her gauntlet. The magical device on her left forearm was truly amazing, it just worked so smoothly, as if it was connected to her very nervous-system.
"Hardul?" she started. She could hear in his breathing that he was shaking. It took him a second to look up at her. "My name is MacKensie. MacKensie Trydant. Are you hurt?"
He clearly didn't expect that, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. After a delayed reaction, he shook his head. She knelt to one knee and he adjusted from his prone position to sitting up on the floor. "I'm... I'm not one of them. Please believe me."
"I do," she nodded slowly, assuring herself just as much as she was assuring him.
It didn't take long for MacKensie to get Hardul's story. She gave the dwarf a comforting rub on the back as he got up and then they walked back to the rest of the party. When they arrived, MacKensie explained that Hardul wasn't a cult member and that he didn't have any inside information about the cult or the temple that could help them - only that he was being threatened and coerced into running errands for the secret agent inside Cherrad, his home village, which mostly consisted of passing messages from one cult member to another.
"The secret agent in Cherrad is a man called Feanor Moss," MacKensie told everyone. "Did any of you meet him?" She also vouched for Hardul, which was difficult seeing as she didn't want to look naive to her friends, but she said it confidently with her chin slightly raised and shoulders slightly squared. Difficult as it would be to be seen as naive, it would be far more difficult to be seen as weak-willed. She was her father's daughter, after all. "I believe him. His honest face and palpable fear is the reason why I was thrown off by George in the first place. I'm not sure what we should do with him, though. Feanor is down there in the village and is bound to press the poor man the moment Hardul gets back to the village. That could compromise our mission. But I wouldn't suggest taking him in the temple with us either."
Hopefully James would calculate the best decision or Fenna would have some wisdom to share, or perhaps one of the others would have a good idea, as they were all fully capable of coming up with one. Either way, she would leave the decision to another, and be ready to enter the temple as soon as everyone else was.
MacKensie chuckled at Zell's protest, slowly strutting with a cocky air as she met him halfway along the rooftop. She always enjoyed getting the upperhand on their bantering rivalry. A sigh of relief left her as they looked at the results of the battle below. The adrenaline subsided along with Undaya's blessing, her shoulders relaxing and heartbeat returning to resting rate.
"I didn't even get to kill anyone."
Her eyes widened with shock and MacKensie smacked Zell's arm, a disgusted expression on her face. "Do not say things like that, Zell. It would have been much better if we all could have gotten through that fight without having to kill anybody." She shook her head and looked away. "You would do well to remember that these people have been brainwashed. They are as much victims of this situation as the people down there," she nodded pointedly to the village that could be seen in the distance, then turned back to the swordsman, her eyebrows tilting from offended to almost-pleading. "Please... try to be more considerate of these things. We must be responsible with the power we wield."
She hoped he would heed the lecture, but did not hold her breath. She hooked her arm around him to prepare for their descent, firing her grapplehook at the rooftop's edge. When she felt his arm wrap around her waist, she faltered a moment, the heat of battle no longer masking her easily-flustered nature. And in her mind came visions from the dream she'd had last night. Her cheeks flushed red and she looked away, composing herself before, "Let's go," they stepped off the edge of the roof in tandem and descended safely to the ground.
It was back on the ground that she suddenly remembered the frightened face of the dwarf who'd first showed himself with George - Hardul was his name, she recalled. She did not see him take part in the battle and wondered if he was among the defeated. She walked right past the archers who'd broken their legs in the fall off the roof, searching for the dwarf. As she did so, she caught a look at the busted face of the man who was unlucky enough to get smashed by Barracker's shield. Her face creased in second-hand pain for the man. Unlucky, for sure, but at least he was alive.
Seeing that Adam was clamping down the survivors with tree roots and vines, and Barracker and James were dealing with George, the frenchwoman took a look around to make sure they hadn't missed Hardul the dwarf.
<Snipped quote by Zool>
Shit! For a moment I read that as 'Deadly Furries' and was very concerned
That would be an awesome summon spell lol xD
A nice and easy warm-up battle. Didn't even have to waste one of MacKensie's two daily Deadly Flurries. Good work everyone xD
<Snipped quote by Zool>
I'm not sure removing the guy closest to the main enemy is the smartest strategy, but it's a cool-looking scene so I'll allow it :P
Barracker was closest, judging by his last action. James wanted the archers down. I think we'll be fine but thanks for your permission :P
@SaiyanZell has been drafted to anti-archer duty. Deal with it xD
How did he...?
It didn't matter how he figured it out. He was right. And as Zell exposed George's lack of a Source crystal - causing the wizard to yell for his friends - MacKensie was released from her shock, eyes darting about to mark the enemies all around and above. Once more she drew her one-handed crossbow, bolt pre-loaded and cocked, hand-speed beyond human. Her first bolt hit one of the men who got tangled up in the vines of Adam, and she reloaded while strafing to her right, circling a little to get a better look at where the arrows starting raining down from. Her second bolt was aimed at one of the archers, not two seconds after her first. It hit a cultist in his arm just before the man could fire his arrow, causing his aim to wildly deviate and his arrow to fly off harmlessly.
Barracker's speed and ferocity was unreal. He wielded the claymore as if it was a shortsword, and the massive tower shield looked as light as a feather in his hands. The vampire had dove in first like the wind, taking the pressure off them - proving that his terrifying visage wasn't just for show. Adam's magic was also unbelievably immense. Clearly more comfortable with his powers, the druid was quick to react and took out four enemies before they could even cross the distance.
"I call to you Lord Undaya, Ruler of the seas and King of the ocean, bestow upon us your blessing, to be as cold and unwavering as you are in the deep below"
And there it was; that familiar feeling of a magical boost coursing through her body. MacKensie had never thought to ask James exactly what Undaya's blessing did to the party, but it felt like strength. She couldn't detect the physical endurance boost that it gave, but she could certainly feel the other side - the mental endurance.
Confidence. Courage. The readiness to face any situation. The ability to endure whatever this world could throw at her. And that's exactly how she felt right now.
James' orders were clear and concise. By this point the Ranger had fired three more bolts and rapidly reloaded, but now she clipped her crossbow back into the holster at the small of her back, dashed a step over to Barracker, who was taking care of George. "The wizard is all yours," she spoke into his ear with a hand on his shoulder after approaching him from behind, then she went to Zell who was next to the paladin. "We need to get up there and stop them," she told him urgently, then waved him closer with one hand while the other fired her magical grapplehook up to the lip of the temple roof. Wrapping her free arm around his waist, she gave him half a second to do the same to her. "Hold on tight." Then they ascended at speed, going from 0-60mph almost instantly.
The archers fired down at the upcoming pair, panicked looks on their faces, their aim failing them. Just before they hit the roof, MacKensie let go Zell and the grapplehook released and disappeared, the speed and momentum having both the ranger and the swordsman fly up and above the archers who almost fell on their rears as they reeled backwards. MacKensie drew both crossbow and dagger before she landed, blocking an attack from the first archer to meet her - a wiry individual who decided he'd try to strike the frenchwoman with his bow like it was a stick. All it did was strike her dagger, leaving him open for a point-blank bolt under the chin.
The second archer she faced had used his extra time to draw a sword, but his swing missed as MacKensie ducked then hopped backwards nimbly, bouncing on her toes like a boxer as her opponent let out a war cry and charged her for a second attack. She side-stepped the downwards strike, slashing his hand to disarm him and smacking him around the the back of his head with her crossbow to send him stumbling towards Zell.
Her instant reload had her follow up with an arrogant shot selection; choosing to ignore the stumbling and disarmed archer, and firing a bolt right by Zell's ear to hit one of the men he was fighting.
"Three drinks," she proclaimed with closed eyes and big smile, putting up three fingers on her dagger-hand.
With Undaya's blessing, she was invincible, and boy! did she act like it.
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