Flashback Trickery on the other side of the Maw (Crypt Insatem)

[Adnaj]

Feeling confident that he could strike his enemy before the dagger made contact, Adnaj charged the thug. Unfortunately, Adnaj hadn't expected the swiftness of his assailant. Adnaj's advance was all too predictable for a practiced killer. The man dodged to the left and buried the blade of his dagger in Adnaj's right flank.

The pain was unbearable and, in that moment, Adnaj couldn't help but to howl out in sheer agony. Suddenly, all of the makeup on his face and the efforts to keep himself freshly embalmed were in vain. His wide and blackened eyes bore the suffering of a dead man screaming out in agony. His decaying flesh accentuated every pained wrinkle on his face. The blood that his assailant had been waiting for was absent. Instead, ichor oozed from Adnaj's painful wound.

The man wasn't terrified but it caused him to pause. The sight was unexpected enough as to take him by surprise. The tiny window was enough. Through his pain, Adnaj whipped his shillelagh across the man's face. It wasn't enough to knock him unconscious but it did stun him and send him off of his feet. Adnaj dropped on top of the man and whacked him two or three times before he was convinced that the man was unconscious. He looked over at Crypt.

He wanted to help. He wanted to stand and shift the balance in Crypt's favor. He couldn't even lift himself, however. In fact, he couldn't even press his upper body off of the ground without inducing an almost paralyzing amount of pain. He knew better than to try and remove the knife but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to run anywhere. For now, the only thing that he would do was to begin the work of bandaging around the wound and trying to create a makeshift brace to avoid placing any weight over that side of his hips while eliminating the need to contract any of the injured muscles.

[Crypt]

The swordsmen circled each other, following some intricate choreography dictated by instinct. Slowly they stalked each other; slowly they retreated from each other as though they were in a dance most macabre in nature. Even as they eyed each other, one glaring at the other, Crypt took the opportunity to channel Djed to his left arm. The Djed steadily trickled into the muscles of his arm, taking its time to enhance them. Slowly shifting it about to ensure that the Djed he drew from other less combat-essential body parts would be used, Crypt closed his eyes in order to complete the enhancing of his muscles with the Flux. The scimitar-wielding bandit broke the silence first, shouting a battle-cry faintly resembling that of a Myrian Crypt had heard and seen in battle with another of his kind in the Kalea region. Unfortunately, he was not as skilled as the Myrian. Charging at me head-on just like that - what the hell is he doing? Unless he has the power to do something like that. But a bandit shouldn't have that kind of strength. He's telegraphing his moves - that's a diagonal slash aimed towards my left arm. Crypt blocked the scimitar with the flat of his longsword, raising it to his chest such that it would deflect the scimitar away from his body; if the bandit moved with his weapon, as he should due to his running start, Crypt would be given an opening with which to strike a blow. But that plan failed as the Drykas staggered back, surprised and appalled by the sheer strength behind that blow. And I just had to think of that, didn't I? Petch. I'll have to work harder. He's much stronger than me. I can't use the Flux for much longer if I continue to block. I'll have to dodge most of the time then. His opponent grinned widely as he observed the effect his one blow had on Crypt, viewing the shocked expression with much pleasure. Again he swung his scimitar at Crypt. Crypt dodged the slash as he dropped to the ground, crouching even as he raised his longsword. His longsword darted towards the bandit, and Crypt was rewarded with a small wound on the bandit's right arm, which appeared to be almost as neat as a physician's first incision on his patient would be. This wound, though small, would be debilitating to his foe, for when the bandit swung his scimitar, he would feel a tinge of pain, and would be distracted by it for a moment or two. The man brought the scimitar down on Crypt, but a hasty roll to the left allowed him to escape a possibly fatal blow. A slight smirk found itself on Crypt's visage as he observed the bandit flailing about wildly with his own weapon, attempting to hit Crypt but failing rather miserably. He may have enormous strength, but he isn't as fast as I am. The constant avoiding of his attacks was beginning to frustrate and anger the bandit, who was starting to swear with every missed blow. Crypt was slowly chipping away at him, landing several small wounds on his arms and chest. The blood loss was minimal, but the distraction the pain provided was adding to Crypt's advantage. "Goddamnit, you petching bastard! Stay still and let me - GAH! That hurt!" Abandoning his offensive stance, Crypt started running away from the discomfited bandit as he gathered even more Djed within his left arm. It was difficult concentrating on building up the Djed as he ran, but after several close calls where the Djed nearly rushed back into where he had forcibly taken it from, Crypt turned around and stuck out his foot. The portly bandit stumbled over it, and fell to the ground face-first. Crypt slammed his longsword directly into the middle of his back, using up the Djed in one blow. As the blade sank into the soon-to-be-dead bandit's body, Crypt experienced two things. The first was an expected, though rather sudden, weariness in his left arm. Crypt groaned as the muscles in his arm seized up, his hand jerking away from the grip of his blade. As soon as it came, it went, and was replaced with a throbbing soreness that remained within despite his best attempts at massage. But there was something else that superseded the soreness. He was euphoric. Releasing the Djed in that one blow which went straight through the leather armor of the bandit was cathartic. It made him feel almost invincible. It numbed what pain he was currently feeling, and he desired more. But pure logic tore that thought away from the front of his mind. If I continue, I will over-give. But Gods... It was wonderful. Shuddering as he contemplated the brief glimpse of a paradise, Crypt removed the sword from the corpse and cleaned its blade with his right hand. His left hand was now limp, unable to make any but the smallest movements. It would recover for a few days, but in the meantime, he would have to refrain from using it. Glancing over to Adnaj, Crypt grinned as he found that the Nuit had defeated his opponent. But the sight of the ichor removed any thought he was having of complimenting his companion on attaining victory. "What... is that?"

[Adnaj]

Surrounding the wound was an array of wooden supports which looked like a few pegs with some tongue depressors. It was held together with a series of adhesive bandages wrapped around the sticks. Although looking rather silly and strange, the makeshift brace ran from the bottom of the 10th rib to the top of the iliac crest. The design would take some pressure off of the bandaged wound while they made their way back to Alvadas.

Despite the fact that the wound was stabilized, it's presence was particularly disturbing. The gaping whole in his abdomen was going to make the rest of this venture excruciating and joyless. On a less dangerous and more irritating note, Adnaj's latest shell was now destroyed! He was going to have to wait for a patient to pass on into the reincarnation cycle from an otherwise usable body. And frankly, if he was doing his job perfectly, that situation would never arise!

"Hey, grab those hanging bandages and stick them across my back, toward my spine, there, would ya? Adnaj groaned. This extra support (which Adnaj, in his pain, wasn't flexible enough to put in place) would help the apparatus remain stable while walking.

"That club you gave me was like a foot long..." Adnaj groaned. "His blade was just a few inches...I didn't think there was any way that he could have reached me. I guess I got a bit sloppy."

With some struggled breathing and great effort, Adnaj was able to come up to a standing position.

"The walk home is going to be brutal..." He mused noting the sharp pain with each step. The pain was actually somehow worse when moving his right leg forward. "But I think I can make it without aid.

Adnaj then noticed Crypt's arm. "Looks like you didn't exactly make it out, unscathed either...I guess that makes me feel... a little better, I suppose. He chuckled grimly, apparently at the humor of having been stabbed near the kidney, by a thug who had meant to murder him.

"Let's hope that nothing disturbs us on the way home. I think we might be in too pathetic a shape to really fight anyone else off."

Adnaj's comment was self effacing and comical but there was some worry in his mind. The sun was just starting its descent behind the horizon. They would need to get started back to the city proper. They didn't stand much of a chance out here in the darkness. At least Adnaj didn't think so, anyway. And even if Crypt did, he knew that he had fought all of the battles that he was going to be able to fight this day. He would be lucky if his wound wasn't blindingly painful by the time he was done tearing at it on his walk home.

"Shall we be off?"

[Crypt]

Crypt knelt partially to grasp the said bandages, and did as Adnaj told him to. Adnaj had not answered his question about the strange liquid flowing from his wounds, but it could wait. The most important thing was to bring him back to Alvadas safely along with the small chest that they had risked their lives for. "Let's go. We'd best get you back to Alvadas before you bleed to death." Some hours later. Alvadas. Crypt was pissed. Very pissed. Having to pass through the carnage that was the scene of the deaths and torture of innocents again was an extremely painful experience. More so for the young Drykas, who was currently contemplating the benefits and disadvantages of attacking the bandits that had done such a thing. They had reached the room by then, when Crypt hit upon an idea. "Avone. Those who died in the attack have families in Alvadas, do they not? Perhaps we should take only part of the mizas and gold that are inside this box, and pass the rest to their families. 'Tis only right to do so."

[Adnaj]

Although not genuinely compassionate for the victims of the thugs' brutality, Adnaj eyed up the pile of gold. He had been payed for the labor of the delivery. He was compensated on all the costs of traveling across the Suvan and in a caravan (the benefit, of course, of sending a Nuit was the lack of any need for food and shelter.) On top of all of the other payments, he had retrieved the first, payment which was stolen by the thugs. Deep down, Adnaj just knew that he didn't need to benefit this much from violence and thievery. He wanted to create some capital for his clinic and he had done that. He didn't need to scrounge every last bit of gold that they had come across.

You are correct, Crypt. Those families will need some extra resources to make it through the next few months. We certainly need to funnel some of this money back to them.

"I know a thief's word is not worth much but I owe you two my life. I'lll make sure that this money reaches those who need it. Avonne assured them. "Ah got a way of...dispersin money... if ya know what'ah mean..." He spread his arms and flexed from the hip, angling his upper body in a sort of bow that brought his gaze down toward the floor. "However, I can't say that ah'd be unduly hurt if ya didn't trust me. If its your desire, I'll invite ya to stick around and look over mah shoulder to make sure the money goes where it needs'ta."

Adnaj took a second look at the gold. After accounting for the cost of a caravan back home and the inevitably ridiculous price of safe passage across the Suvan Sea...Adnaj estimated that he could possibly make it to Zeltiva with about 70 mizas in his pocket.

"This..." Adnaj began, his voice sounding just as exasperated as eve.r "Is the last time I take a 'boring job' that takes me out of Zeltiva..." Adnaj didn't need anymore adventure. He was ready to stick to doing menial labor in Zeltiva for the next 10 seasons if that was what it was going to take to safely fund a medical clinic.

[Elysium]

Adnaj

XP:
Weapon: Broom +1
Observation +2
Medicine +3
Weapon: Club +2
Tracking +1

Lore:
The Fate of the First Courier
Alvadas, City of Illusion
Crypt Insatem, the Mad Drykas
Avone, the Petty Thief

★

Crypt Insatem

XP:
Tracking +2
Weapon: Longsword +2
Flux +2
Observation +1
Teaching +2

Lore:
Adnaj, the Undead Doctor
How to Differentiate Tracks
Avone, the Petty Thief
Flux: A Concentrated Blow

Notes: This was a very interesting thread, you two. I felt at times that you were playing above your skill level Crypt, specifically with tracking bit. Just make note of that for the future. I loved Adnaj's little training montage with the broom! If you have any concerns, please PM me!

and so, the journey continues...