Lords of Creation (Story Thread 3)

[Zaleramancer]

Dryad Knotwood wrote

Suna nods in greeting to the grandfather, "I thank you for the offer. What is the food you are having for this meal, if I may ask?"

"Nothing but the best food!"

The smells emanating from the other room are tantalizing, though slightly eye-watering. Behind the curtain is a colorfully painted room with a long and low wooden table surrounded by cushions. Delicious and exotic looking food is arranged in clay plates, bowls and platters. A rather plump and merry looking dwarf with dark eyes places the final plate down carefully.

"We have a visitor." The elderly grandfather announced, "Now.. wait, Grandson, did you introduce us? How rude of me."

"We are the Blazah family. You've met my grandson, Kir." He gestured towards the young and lean dwarf beside Suna.

"My son, Leonti. And his wife, Matrona." A rather tall and shy looking middle-aged dwarf woman peers from behind a curtain to another room. She enters and stands awkwardly near the table, obviously not sharing her father-in-law's outgoing nature.

"I am Rurik. Might I ask your name, honored guest?"

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Suna bows slightly to everyone introduced to her, "I am pleased to meet you all. I am Suna."

[Zaleramancer]

"Hello, Miss Suna. Where are you fr-" Began the plump Leonti, before his father interrupted him.

"Son. How can you keep our guest standing with questions?! We will sit and thank the gods for our meal, then you may make your questions to honored guest Suna."

Leonti blushed, slightly embarrassed and waved a hand to offer Suna a position at the table.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Dryad wrote

Miko nods, "Good."

She motions to the girl who'd entered earlier, "Hey, Ritsuko! Get over here, your forcestrike is the best one at the University. Show Aox here what a forcestrike should look like."

The girl with the bow stops firing and strolls over, "Come on, Pres. Do I really need to show another new student how to do a forcestrike?"

Miko glares at Ritsuko, "Do you want to get rid of the detention you've racked up? I can get rid of those hours for you?"

Ritsuko's face beams with joy, "You got yerself a deal, I'll show this new student how to do a forcestrike!"

Ritsuko takes up the firing stance with her bow as Miko talks to Aox, "Ok, Ritsuko here does all of her forcestrikes with a bow and arrow,most people don't, it just works better for her this way and she has better aim this way too."

A slight glimmering of a barely visible shape forms between Ritsuko's fingers and expands to the form of an arrow as she simply lets her fingers open and the forcestrike flies to the center of Ritsuko's target, "Ok, that's my forcestrike. It tends to take on the form of an arrow, but for most people it's an orb of barely visible energy. Most of the energy for a forcestrike is in pushing the thing it hits backwards and it is very difficult for most people to see a forcestrike."

Ritsuko holds out her bow to Aox, "Want to try it Miko's way or my way with a bow?"

"I'd like to try it with the Bow, if that's alright."

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Suna takes the seat offered by Leonti, "Thank you, I walked over from the University of Elements, where I teach, over on Lady Mina's lands."

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Ritsuko nods handing the bow over to Aox, "Alright, then. First thing you need to remember with combining a forcestrike with archery, is that the forcestrike will actually cause the bow itself to break if the bow has not been reinforced with magic. Second, a forcestrike weighs nothing, so it can fly farther than a normal arrow. Third, a forcestrike takes up less energy than a normal arrow, so you can fire them for hours and not run out of energy. Ok, now try it yourself. Remember to focus the mana less on light and more on blasting the target backwards."

[Zaleramancer]

Leonti nods and opens his mouth- only for Rurik to begin the prayer, asking for the various gods to bless the food they ate.

As all the family members got comfortable around the table, Leonti seizes the opportunity to speak.

"So, the lands of Mina. To the east of the wall? An exotic land I am told." He reaches for a bowl and begins piling food in.



(Relevant information. Dwarf food is ridiculously hot and spicy and their drinks could knock out an elephant. Proceed with caution.)

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Suna takes modest amounts of foods sampling them, "Yes, I am from Lady Mina's lands. Exotic it might be, yes. Actually, I came because I saw and bought a nice glass sword and was directed to your home when I asked who the maker of it was."

[Zaleramancer]

"Yes, my father Rurik is a renowned Glassmaker. He is a child of the first generation of dwarves. Three hundred and twenty years old, now. Over two centuries to hone his skills."

Rurik smiles slightly at the compliment, though he seems rather occupied with carefully chewing his food- savoring the taste.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Suna looks at Rurik carefully, "I would actually like to observe you make something out of glass. It would be most interesting as what I teach at the University is Sand magicks and Glass magicks. The food is good by the way."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Kaita returned with Fidion an hour after she dropped Brynhildr off with the good doctor.

"So...?" Fidion asked, looking to either side of the doctor's stable, "Is the, uh...'suh-cue-bus' all better now?"

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Brynhildr makes a quiet noise, sleeping in a haystack.

[Philote]

Motes Left: 1

Three more silver coffins filled Gilgamesh's Viewing booth as he prepared three more Divine Servitors to go through the transformation process of his new project (-36 motes, Create Divine Artifact x3).

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Zaleramancer wrote

Drav considers his opponent. He had the advantage of superior weapon quality, but his foe was stronger and taller. He needed to take advantage of the large club's range.

He darted forward, axe swinging in a carefully controlled pattern. If he could keep the goliath from getting a good angle..

The Dwarf was small and quick enough even in his armor to work his way between Lo-Kag's blows. The Goliath attacked back with his armor covered stony limbs, waiting for the chance when he could back away and use the strength of his club to his advantage.
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Zaleramancer wrote

Maggie was having a miserable trip. Why were these sea creatures assaulting her? Had she done something?

She'd been polite to the undines. Dropped some meat for the giant sharks.. Was one of her spells causing a ripple effect?

Bah. It didn't matter. The old hag bent over in her boat irritably and considered returning to the city... but that'd mean going back through the monster-infested water.

The crone waved her hands and muttered and her craft picked up speed. Maggie was going to try and make the return trip in record time.

The sea creatures followed behind the fast moving ship, but some of the slower ones began to dart off as they fell out of the Water Candle's range. The faster ones though shook the boat as they slammed against its sides. Throughout all this, the boat and the water around it was covered in a large shadow that was cast by the candle's effects.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Harkan leans in, shaking his head...

"It's a pity, really..." he started, "I had such high hopes for my potions. Ah, well, we'll just have to keep giving it the old scholarly try till we find a potion that'll get you back on your feet. Or...until you heal on your own. That is, if those other potions haven't prolonged--or prevented--your healing processes..."

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

(39 motes previously + 6 motes (3 motes per day for 2 days), Total: 45 motes)

Brynhildr continues sleeping, dreaming dreams of destroying all of those in Mina's lands.

[Zaleramancer]

"I'm sure we can have an.. " Rurik paused.

"Observation?" Suggested Matrona from across the table.

"Yes, yes! That. After we finish our meal, of course." The old dwarf chuckled, digging into his food.

[Zaleramancer]

Drav tried to ignore the ache of his shield arm as he ducked to avoid a stone fist flying at him.  He hacked at the goliath's knee- just as his foe's other leg came up to meet him.

The kick hit him dead on and the dwarf flew backwards to land with a wince-worthy thud.

He tried to stand up, as the world span around him. An explosion of pain in his chest confirmed that the blow had broken a rib or two. Drav brought himself unsteadily up, looking at the goliath with blurred eyes.

-------------------------

The hag shrieked as the boat rocked, spinning charms to stabilize and hold.. but there were to many of them.

Her craft floundered, tossing her into the water. The Sea Hag embraced the water and sent it steaming away from herself, clutching the candle to her chest.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Suna smiles, "Agreed."

She eats a little from a few of the dishes in front of her wincing a little at the spiciness.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Meanwhile, the return of Draias' party back to their village was slow and mournful. Not simply because those people had died; people had died in their village before. It was the way they died. None had ever died by violence caused by another living being, except for wild animals.

It was utterly tragic that sentient minds could deal such violence to one another, for nothing more than the sake of greed, wrath and pride.

Uburra-Namall looked down on the heartbroken procession, and wept softly. She and Jassi watched without a word, and even Jissei had turned his attentions from Spectropolis. Of course, Khadai and her handmaidens were not around to mourn, but the Fair Goddess was sure that they would have, too. Perhaps.

And even if they didn't, it mattered little. All that mattered was that she knew they did not deserve to be dealt such violence. They deserved the love of the goddess who had forged their race from the beauty of the earth.

They deserved it...and they would get it.

Draias and Fandas hauled Rumon; Gosso and Linessa carried Treiza, her dog at their side, ever-loyal; Rox followed behind with Vaida. Neither could think of a greater comfort than to get back home, get their comrades back to their families for proper burial, and hopefully get along with the rest of their lives. However, the Fair Goddess had another idea.

A great voice emanated sweetly from a familiar direction.

"Come to me, weary ones; valiant ones, who fought and died in the pursuit of justice in the face of wickedness. Those who endured in the pursuit of righteousness for my sake. Come to me...."

The group thought simultaneously; the temple.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Dermalk was a small coastal town on the outskirts of the land where Crav resided. It had once been a simple fishing village, but in recent years it had become a dismal place. The residents had become shy, fearful people who rarely left their homes and distrusted even their closest neighbors. The building were crumbling from neglect and food was scarce.

The cause for the fear the permeated the very air of Dermalk was due to the vivid nightmares the plagued the residents of the village. Every night each child, mother and father dreamed of their worst fears and terrors. It had gotten to the point that many refused to sleep for as long as possible. They would go days without sleep, going so far as to harm themselves to stay awake, but in the end they would all succumb to the weary dregs of sleep and enter their nightmares once more.

It was here, below this town that the fear stone, a stone created from the negative energies in the realm of crafting, was secreted away in a hidden cave. The Town had been built above, the citizens oblivious to the danger the resided below.

A danger that was about to be faced by an unwitting visitor to Dermalk......