[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

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While Sylira is by far the most civilized region of Mizahar, countless surprises and encounters await the traveler in its rural wilderness. Called the Wildlands, Syliran's wilderness is comprised of gradual rolling hills in the south that become deep wilderness in the north. Ruins abound throughout the wildlands, and only the well-marked roads are safe.

[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

Postby Elias Caldera on February 17th, 2016, 9:52 pm

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33rd Day of Winter, 515 AV

The mage tugged the old cloak a little closer after another after another breath of mist wafted across his watering eyes. The paltry fabric seemed entirely too thin against the harshness of the biting wind and there was no real escaping it under mere wool and cloth, but that didn’t stop him from trying none the less.

It wasn’t as if he was unaccustomed to such things. He had endured the winters of guard duty atop the walls of fort Emberstone in his youth after all. Hubris had led him to believe himself a northerner beyond reproach from the cold because of it, but the blessings of Ravok’s year round protection from the elements had clearly softened him to the true cruelty of winter’s wrath. Now, despite his ‘northern resistance’ all he could feel were Morwen’s icy fingers wrapping themselves around him unceasingly, never letting him forget the simple fact that she ruled now, and no one else. Thankfully, it was also a constant reminder that he was out here, suffering through it all, for a reason, and one day when he was finally done, Elias Caldera would once again be welcomed back to his home upon the lake with open arms.

Until then…

The mage slid himself through the shadows, quiet as the darkness he concealed himself in. There was a sense of urgency behind each quieted step for the night was not as complete as the Ravokian would have liked. Leth peeked his pock marked face high above the tree tops and bathed the Nykan wildlands in an unwelcome light.

A voice caught his attention and he froze. Someone complaining. Cold blue eyes flickered to the dancing flames of the campfire in the clearing and the shuffling of those who milled around it. They hadn’t seen him. With a breath, Elias sought inwards and felt the energy that consisted of his soul, beckoned it to obey his will and forego their natural course. His idea of control over the flux was still but a fleeting dream even now, but today it responded far more faithfully to his manipulation. Perhaps it too wanted out of this chilled hell as much as he.

Elias slapped a hand flat against the tree and propelled himself forward in a sudden dash, power racing to his legs in abundance. Bark gnawed into his flesh even through the glove as he launched himself from his hiding place and into the orange blur of the campfire light.

He ignored the pain.

More important things to worry about.

His left hand came free of his cloak, cold steel grasped tight in its grip. He reached out with the other, cruel intention guiding pale and scarred fingers to the first throat in his path.

He found his mark… and squeezed.

There was a brief shriek, but not brief enough. The other one, the man busy taking a piss off to the side, now whipped around, startled and alert. He saw his friend dying in the clutches of a shadow and in snarling response ripped steel from leather. Elias cursed under his breath even as the struggling man whose blood now warmed the mercenary’s left hand writhed and screamed. The right hand had missed the mouth. Stupid! He had warned himself not to make a mistakes tonight, yet here he stood, red handed and in for a fight he didn’t want.

Silence them first, then dagger. Not the other way around you petching dolt.

In his own defense, the Caldera was hardly the cloak and dagger type. He was trained for pure combat between men of sword and shield, a pragmatic fighter, not a sneaking assassin, so when he had seen the opportunity to reduce the enemies arrayed against him by at least two, that pragmatism had taken hold of his cold addled brain. Now the second man was looking right at him and no doubt the scream had already attracted the others who had just departed.

Maybe he was lucky? Maybe they hadn’t heard anything. If that was so, he had to do this quick.

Ok. Use the fire and- His stream of thoughts were interrupted before he could even devise up a plan of attack. “Were under attack!” Petch. Elias drew a sharp whistle of a breath and the chill tore into his ragged throat as if Morwen herself had just kissed him.

For a brief flash of a tick, the mage’s eyes latched onto the prize of this little excursion, the reason he was out here for Thrace; a chest big and fat with treasure of a reportedly odd variety, but a treasure none the less. Mine, he thought as he twisted the dagger with renewed vigor, strength returning to his limbs as he released his control over the djed coursing hotly through his veins.

Ah, a warrior’s warmth.
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[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

Postby Elias Caldera on February 17th, 2016, 9:53 pm

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The wailing, flailing fool fell like a sack of potatoes as Elias released him, the sod’s screams tearing any sense of calm from the once serenely quiet night. Stealth was no clearly longer an option, so why even bother.

Elias’s hand found the poor bastards sheathed dagger as he crumpled to the floor and relieved him of the steel he clearly would have no more use for. Now armed with two, he figured he stood a better chance. As for the unfortunate victim however, the mage allowed him to live, even despite how obnoxiously loud he continued to be despite so much of his own blood gushing out unto the forest floor. Hopefully the screaming would unnerve the remaining sentry as well as the others who would be returning soon, perhaps even distracting a few of them while Elias executed his escape.

His glare had never faltered from the remaining enemy, but instead of fear and an inkling to save his comrade, all the Caldera witnessed from the second guard was a rush of rage contorting his face and tensing his muscles. Muscles that did not move to attack. The mage practically felt the wrath wash over him, but that was all. There was a discipline to this man that held him in place, and if luck was against Elias as it often was, that probably meant his companions shared the same. Common brigands would have attacked or run by now, but this one was waiting for his reinforcements.

Well shyke

Elias felt the ice in his stomach settle and forced his nerves to a simple simmer while he hastily went over his options here. He could not stay still, that was for certain. Could not let them join forces either, definitely not. He had to attack then, and fast. Thankfully the magic still moved within him, eager to be used. Powerful as he liked to think he was, without the magic he knew he had no hope for the brawl that was about to come barreling through that tree line any tick now. He’d counted nearly two dozen men among their ranks as he spied upon them from afar. Impossible odds, even for a reimancer of his caliber, so it was understandable then when he he’d nearly whooped with joy and given away his hiding spot after noticing most of that two dozen had run off into the woods when a fight had broken out between what appeared to be two different factions arguing over what to do with what they had stolen. Of course the battle had turned bloody once the blades were drawn, and after a while the losing party had been driven into the woods, whereupon the rest gave chase to finish them off. It had been a lucky break to say the least. He couldn’t afford to waste it.

Yet even as he thought it, already the winds were bringing the sound of men moving through the forest towards them. The silence of the night broken by the shrieks from before and the sound of twigs and branches being cracked by heavy, rushing boots. He could not stay. They would surround and eliminate him, even with their numbers sliced in half.

Blue eyes flared as the soldier weighed his options, desperately limited as they may be. Like it always did in the end, it came down to two.

Fight or fight...

Teeth flashed in a hungry grin as the mage felt the familiar sensation he recognized wasn’t just the cold breath Morwen this time, but of Dira. The temptation to give in and attack beckoned him forward, bade him to charge into the challenge in a blaze of blood and guts. Then the chest, the reason he had dared to attack the camp in the first place, abruptly began rocking back and forth violently while also shouting what might have been muffled obscenities. It was enough to draw the Ravokian back to his senses, if not leave him a bit confused.

The djed within was commanded into action once more, wielded like any other weapon in his arsenal as the mage took a determined step forward. Right heel slammed into the ground and his entire body twisted with the motion. Energy torqued unnaturally through his muscles, seeking release and demanding purpose. The right arm swung down with the full power of the accumulated energy of both the magic and the pent up momentum of his technique. The dagger rocketed out of his hand with impressive speed with the aim to kill its unprepared target.

Elias had never ever claimed to be an exceptional knife thrower in any capacity, and that lack of skill was made painfully evident when the dagger hit the guard in the face, hilt first.

Petch me, come on!

The merc collapsed with an agonized yelp, clutching at his eye where the projectile had managed to connect. The guard squirmed and bawled much like his compatriot before him, cursing up a storm even as Elias ran past him and towards the chest he guarded. The mage wasted no more timing berating himself for the terrible throw and instead focused on the prize now totally clear and open for the taking.

His slid to a halt on his knees before the thing and immediately set to work smashing open the shoddy lock keeping it closed. It was still squirming rather unnervingly, but neither he, nor the power from the flux still coursing through his arm and into his strikes with the dagger’s pommel, let that stop them.

One. Two Three! The lock popped with a satisfying snap and the treasure chest burst open with an added effort from beneath that was not any of his doing, knocking Elias unto his ass before he even knew what hit him.
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[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

Postby Elias Caldera on February 17th, 2016, 9:56 pm

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There standing before him was the ‘prize,’ a tiny konti child no older than ten or eleven summers. She stared at him in sheer bewilderment, her scales, blonde hair and raggedy dress all slick with sweat. No doubt a result of her exhaustive attempts of escaping on her own, not to mention the stifling heat such exertions would bring about within the confines of the stuffy box.

Her body heaved with tiny, desperate breaths as the two locked eyes for a very confusing tick, astonished emeralds and flabbergasted blues trapped in a silent battle with one another where the first to blink lost.

Unfortunately that was Elias.

The girl let out a gasp at the sight of the blood on his hands and next thing he knew, she was diving back down into her prison, shutting the latch right in Elias’s face. “Wha?… What! You little- How rude!” He bellowed, dumbfounded, before scrambling back to his feet and launching at the thing again. He tried to force it open once more but he could tell the little konti inside was using the entirety of her weight to keep the lid sealed shut and him out. She screamed at him to go away.

Thrace hadn’t said anything about a girl! What the hell was this? The Caldera was quickly becoming more than a little disillusioned with his current employer, and he swore this little surprise was the last the stout petcher was going to get away with. First however, he needed to get away himself, and with said surprise if he intended to get paid. Then he’d deal with Thrace.

No! Leave me alone!” The cry came from within the chest as Elias began to pry the thing open. When he realized his regular power alone wasn’t going to be enough, he called upon the invisible guiding force within him to lend its aid again. The mercenary heaved, strength surging from his unused limbs and into his arms to double the effort. The lid came flying off the hinges with a creak of twisted metal, the mechanisms holding it in place shattered against his resolve. He flung the chest’s lid aside and, much to the girl’s chagrin, reached in to grab hold of her. She kicked and screamed like a dravlak and Elias lost count of how many little feet and fists his face had to absorb before he had her out of the broken chest.

St- ow! Stop it. I’m here to -oof- here to rescue you, you little shyke!


The struggling didn’t cease. In fact it grew even more intense. The mage could hardly blame her. He wouldn’t have believed him either. The truth was, Thrace’s orders had been that if he had failed to retrieve the package, then the only other alternative was destroying it. After the umpteenth punch to his nose, Elias was beginning to consider this particularly aggravating ‘package’ more than a lost cause.

Look you, enough! If you don’t-

The kick that had found its way to his crotch had been one so filled with malicious intent and unearthly ferocity it had dropped Elias almost instantaneously. He let out something akin to gasp or a squeal and found himself panting on the snowy forest floor, face first on the ground while he desperately tried to figure out how it was his legs worked again.

The konti was already about twenty paces away when he found his footing, and another ten before he managed to blink the tears away enough to catch sight of her fleeing. She might have made it a few yards more had not his magic caught her next.

A whip of water, white and frothing from the tumultuous currents that gave it strength enough to latch, did just that as it wrapped itself around the child’s leg and began dragging her back to its master, kicking and screaming.

You little bitch!

Girls were mysterious creatures.

I’m gonna rip you to pieces-

Konti especially so.

-flay your skin from your-

Why didn’t this one understand he was just trying to help her? He was a friend!

Make you watch as I eat you petching heart and-

Honestly, it wasn’t as if he was a bad guy or anything. He struggled to comprehend just what it was about him that had her acting so damned afraid. By the time his liquid serpent had reeled his wriggling catch in, the little slave girl looked so thoroughly terrified Elias was unsure if even his shaking was getting through to her. Eventually it seemed to work and she looked at him with those little slave eyes in a way that conveyed just a hint of hopelessness that he was accustomed to in his konti back home. Holding her up off the ground by her shoulders he made his warning very clear. “It’s either me,” he said, then twisted her around to face the opposite direction. “Or them.

The others had returned, and something told Elias they were going to be less than pleased with him when they realized just what was going on.
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[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

Postby Elias Caldera on February 17th, 2016, 9:57 pm

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Neither!” The wriggling she-devil snarled, and looked as if she were readying herself to spit in his face. Elias didn’t have the time nor the patience for it and heaved her over his shoulder before the little shyke-stain had her chance.

That was when the first arrow whizzed by his head.

He growled as he sped off, rushing for a path through the forest that would bring him and the girl to safety. Angry shouts followed him into the tree line. Some even ahead of him. He noted the direction and turned sharply in the opposite, hastily trying to piece together a map in his head as he moved.

He could hear them getting closer even over the indignant insults of his unruly passenger. Their heavy boots landing on the mushy, snow ridden ground. The underbrush being trampled and destroyed as they pursued him. Slaves were a valuable commodity even here in Nyka, enough so that these men seemed prepared to die for the gold the little girl in his arms could fetch. Or were they mere kidnappers seeking a quick miza or two for the ransom from a rich parent. Elias had not bothered with such details, he hadn’t the time to waste. The only fact he cared about now was which path would see him away from the scum who wanted him dead.

He was sweating now, even in the wretched cold, and halfway deaf from the crying child in his arms. The men would have no trouble tracking him down as long as the child kept up her wailing. Elias changed direction yet again and chose a steeper route up a hill. Legs pumped under him with all the haste they could muster against the incline, but it proved a wretched endeavor. The clouds of his breath were so thick it nearly blinded him with each huff. He could not keep running, but if he turned around to fight, the child would likely try and flee again, compromising his position even further. He should have knocked her out he mused angrily, now there no bloody time.

Elias gritted his teeth as he leapt across a knocked over tree. He felt a fire in his legs as he landed, but he could not stop. Not now. He could hear them closing in already. Why was he so damned tired? What had drained him of so much so quickly?

The answer was obvious… The flux!

Grunts and more yelling as they cleared the tree line. The sound of one of them falling. A grunt of pain? Elias didn't bother looking behind to make sure. They would be there somewhere even if he could see them or not, darting between the trees like predators on the hunt.

There were too many of them chasing him.

Surrounding him.

Everywhere.

Her piercing scream startled the mage out of his frantic stupor. This one had been different; truly afraid, and not of him. He didn’t stop but instead strained his neck and twisted himself around to see what it was that had shaken her so.

Part of him almost wished he hadn’t.

A massive and agile shadow pursued them through the forest. A creature of four legs and snarling fangs so impossibly fast it was practically a blur in the night. A beast nearly as big as a horse, and wearing the blackest fur Elias had ever laid eyes upon in his life. Too enormous to be a wolf, regardless of what its familiar shape reminded him of. Where the hell had it come from? A pet the mercs they had been hiding? No, he would have noticed. A morpher then, it had to be!

It didn’t particularly matter whether those gnashing teeth were genuine or not, they would still rip him to shreds all the same. He couldn’t out run it, not by himself anyway. With desperation fueling his desire, the fluxer cried out for the power. His screams were internal and stirred the djed from its exhaustion. It came as a trickle at first, whirring into motion slowly and unsure. Muscles tensed in preparation and the magic began to flow. It was almost in his clutches when the sound of running water abruptly interrupted his thoughts.

He held unto the konti a little tighter as a stream suddenly presented itself as an obstacle. His leap came up short and his feet sunk into the miserably, slick and thawing soil. He grimaced as he stabbed the dagger into the ground for support as he pulled himself up and across the rest of the embankment.

He’d lost his momentum, even the girl had realized it as she scrambled away on her hands and knees, too transfixed with fear to take her bug eyes off the fast approaching wolf.

Petch it.” Elias sighed as he warily rose to his feet, snow and grime sloughing off his cloak in thick patches. “Petch it.

The res began to swirl.
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[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

Postby Elias Caldera on February 17th, 2016, 9:59 pm

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His fingers tensed as they twisted and turned around one another, as if gripping unto to something that clearly wasn’t there. The ancient words of nadar canoch slithered from his tongue as he worked the magic of his reimancy into the image of his creation, forcing the corrupted djed to flow forth pool in his hands. Air and fire mingled into one another, crashing and bashing against the confines of their phosphorescent prison as the Ravokian stirred both elements into a frenzy.

Elias made the mistake of looking up again and saw only the fury and murder in the red eyes of the beast coming to claim him. It nearly at the stream’s edge and would be upon him in ticks. He had turned to reimancy with the knowledge that it was his strongest discipline, but the para element he was trying to conjure up was still new to him and was taking more time than he had realized.

Come on. Come on! He hissed at himself. The two elements began to transform under his direction, their hectic colliding finally providing the spark he needed. A scream erupted from somewhere behind him, as the konti child made some vain effort to get up and run only to find her legs petrified underneath. The wolf was already on the water’s edge, its powerful hind legs hunched and readying to lunge across and snap Elias’s head off in a single bite. Even with its great gait, Elias knew it would have to jump to clear the stream just as he had, which is exactly why he had picked this place to make his stand.

The monster flung itself towards him, fangs bared and claws more than ready to begin bathing in his blood. The mage had other plans.

He fell back, releasing the pent up energy building between his fingers in one great, gargantuan blast of lightning that surged from his hands in a dozen different spears of electricity. Suddenly the forest was bathed in blue light as the storm erupted forth, catching the morphed monstrosity in midair where he had no hope of avoiding the blast. The streaks of lightning slashed into the darkness of his fur, cutting grizzly swaths of sizzling red all across its mangy hide.

The wolf flew over him as Elias landed on his back, his reimancy scouring the creature even on its underbelly in the process. It fell with a thunderous crash, sliding through the underbrush and across the snow. It lay motionless even as the mage approached, and by time it seemed to recognize its torment was not yet over, it was too late. The soldier plunged his dagger into the thing’s throat and began sawing away until there was no life left in the red eyes that looked back at him.

He found the girl a tick later, shaking miserably in the cold and hugging herself in a futile effort to keep warm, or to perhaps calm her butchered nerves. Tears trailed down her scaled cheeks and Elias felt he could relate. He was frozen, anguished, and there wasn’t a single muscle that didn’t ache. None the less, he held out his hand. The child looked at him for a moment, as if weighing her options. He green eyes drifted to the wolf, the to the countless places where the sound of men fast approaching seemed to come, then back to bloodied glove, still there, still waiting. This time she took it willingly.

They wasted no time in resuming their escape. Elias felt the air slowly seep through to his lungs as he fought onwards with each step. The wolf was dead, but that didn’t mean they could yet rest. The men would catch them, regardless of their pet, and he felt too drained to put up any kind of a proper resistance. He needed to gain some distance. Reach the camp of his employer from where the konti had been stolen from in the first place. It seemed an insurmountable challenge for some, but Elias was a mage, and the pride of that simple fact kept the burning in his muscles at bay while they worked tirelessly to see him to his destination.
He it was a risk, he understood that, but it was one he had to take. He summoned the flux into action for one last push, willing the djed in his arms to abandon their hopeless cause and join that of his leg’s. They obeyed, though grudgingly and with a petty hesitance that only served to verify how amateurish Elias’s control really was over the art. Eventually though, everything he had coalesced into his running, and so the Caldera ran. Pushing himself to speeds he didn’t think possible. He ran and ran, darting between trees and foliage with reckless abandon while his weakened arms strained to simply keep hold of the child who clung to him despite her hatred.

He ran until he heard the words that let him know he’d finally reached sanctuary.

Who goes there?

We do.” The girl answered meekly as he felt himself collapse to his knees. Elias could have almost laughed when he considered what a bittersweet this must have been for a slave. “It’s us. Were… back.

From the fire back to the frying pan.
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[Job Thread] A Little Midnight Menace

Postby Dove Brown on September 3rd, 2016, 1:04 pm

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Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding your grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM.



 
Elias Caldera
Skills
  • Endurance 2
  • Stealth 1
  • Flux 3
  • Unarmed Combat 2
  • Weapon: Dagger 3
  • Reimancy 2
  • Running 1
  • Bodybuilding 1
Lores
  • Stealth: use the shadows
  • Using Flux exhausts me faster
  • Silence first, stab later
  • Rescuing "treasure" - a spirited konti slave

Comments: Enjoy your grades
Very busy at work. May not be around much for a while.
Threads: 3/3

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