[Red Diamond Tavern] A Taste of Pain

[Berus]

Berus lay on the ground for a few moments, the world around him spinning too much for him to care about the violence exploding about him. However, one image pushed through his mind; knives thrown by Darren thudding into the huge Akalak’s wooden chair and the murderous eyes of the big blue man that followed. Things were starting to get rather dangerous in here and serious consequences were sure to follow when the Icewatch arrived!

Berus’s eyes widened a moment as a new thought flashed through his mind. The poor, sheltered boy hadn’t ever been in a true life-or-death situation as many others had. He had always wandered around the safety of Avanthal where the closest people came to deadly duels were simple brawls. Of course he’d read about the great battles in books of legends, but nothing as worldly as this where a bar fight escalated into knives being thrown with deadly purpose. For a moment, his only fear was that the Icewatch would bust them up and deal out punishments, yet now he knew the consequences of this fight could be much more dire indeed. It has to stop, Berus thought in panic.

Berus leaned up onto his hands and knees, pushing hard to get himself unsteadily on one knee. His head swam as his eyes sought more information on the situation. The Akalak was plowing his way through the bar toward Darren, looking as if he was about to murder the upstart twerp who dared throw knives at him. Darren himself was prepared for a fight, a fierce look in his eyes. He couldn’t see Cara or Danyella immediately however, because he felt that his attention was forcibly grabbed by some strange power.

His eyes were drawn to Stitch, the blind man who had been so kind and nice in their previous encounter. Then, he had felt as if the man was very odd for he seemed to possess great power but no evil will to flaunt it. Now, however, the man’s great strength was bared as he used some sort of alien power to look at each of them. The man’s eyes were glowing blue orbs behind his bandages and he seemed oddly powerful. Berus, entranced, could not look away.

However, the witch Cara walked up behind Stitch, grabbing his shoulder with her sharp nails. She leaned in to whisper into Stitch’s ear and, no matter how he strained, Berus could not make out the words. Whatever it was, Berus knew that Stitch had bared this great strength an effort to stop this sudden madness and Cara was hampering that effort. Berus cast about for something to stop Cara and his eyes fell on his fallen lyre.

Berus climbed to his feet shakily. Oh why am I always getting hurt lately? he asked himself as pain surged through his head. His hands held his lyre in a steady grasp, however, as he limped over to Cara just as she finished saying whatever it was into the blind man’s ear. Then, with all the strength he could muster, Berus brought the hard wooden lyre swinging around with the purpose of knocking Cara out and ending her interruption. Besides, he didn’t like the witch anyway.

[Darren]

His right palm hit lower then he intended hitting the blue man's side hard instead of hitting his arm. He watched as the man retaliated with a chair?!?! He sidestepped but had put up his left guard smashing the chair in the Akalak's arm into pieces as he started a flurry of attacks starting an infight with the blue man. True he was angry for him attacking Berus but he wasn't going to be careless. He focused on making deep exchanges with the man though. Every time his opponent sent out an attack he sent out one on his own making sure he connected with him at the same time. He was slowly getting the rhythm he started to get to position faster. Flux now flowing through helping him to react, helping him to pull out a finishing blow. Well at least that is how he would have had it played out if it wasn't for Stitch. The pressure emanating from the man. Backing away from the blue man he finally shifted his eyes to Stitch who was dealing with Cara over her shoulder. His eyes bulged when he saw Berus grab his lyre looking at Cara with an intent to harm. Rolling his eyes he gathered most of the flux energies he was using against the blue man and instead grabbed a chair and threw it at Berus. The speed of the thing was faster then intended, shattering on contact. "Tck...Sorry Berus!" he shouted before looking at Stitch. "Fine Fine I'll stop... he muttered,"looking at the blue man then back at him he sent out a flick jab at the man's junk before he started away. He looked back to see the fruits before he looked at Cara. "Cara dear...throw that thing down already. IceWatch is coming soon," he chuckled. He made a goodbye nod to everyone, giving the blue man a challenging smirk as to say "Let's do this again". He then glared at the bar man, "I'm watching you Phil" he threatened gathering his knifes and moving out of the bar. He looked around checking his bearings before he ran like hell to his hold. His body burning off the adrenaline, in his system it wasn't long before the others couldn't see him. He checked himself, bruises started throbbing on his body and his left arm felt on the limp side.

[Azeran]

Koarhal watched in shock as the chair shattered on the man, but he remained unharmed. Koarhal took a step back, which for him was about two full strides for the Vantha man. He was ready to brawl, and Koarhal was about to use about a foot and a half of reach advantage to use when Stitch made a tremendous distraction. Koarhal glanced up to see Stitch, his face was still covered, yet his eyes were glowing. That was strange. Koarhal forgot about Darren about as quickly as he came to hate him. He had no impression on the Giant Blue Man. Koarhal stalked over to Stitch, a blind man, but something much more than that. Koarhal wasn't sure what he was looking at, but it made him curious. He pointed at Stitch, somewhat confident he was able to see the gesture. "I hope we meet again, and perhaps we can talk." Koarhal didn't care that he spoke in Tukant, he would have to trust that his tone wasn't offensive or threatening, even though his size often made it appear so. Koarhal then continued to the door, tossing Berus a sharp glare as he moved, and it was lucky for Berus that Koarhal had left before he struck out at Cara. Azeran assumed control over the Akalak body as they made their way to the bar, the man behind it went from almost an interested spectator to that of a bumbling coward, but the Akalak merely dropped five gold-rimmed miza on the counter. He didn't know how much damage he had cost, but he doubted it was even as much as he gave. Again the Tukant Tongue was used. "I am sorry for trouble. It'll not happen again." Azeran nodded as he stepped outside of the Red Diamond Tavern, leaving before the Icewatch ever had a chance to give him trouble.

[Stitch]

Cara was the first to react, the witch stepping forward to directly confront Stitch. She lifted a hand, and she would be able to see Stitch tense up, his muscles flexing and rippling slightly underneath his clothing. He didn't settle a bit as she locked her hand onto his shoulder, digging the nails into the shoulders that had bunched up there. Stitch was a very tense man now, both because of the current situation, and because of what she could do. Her magic was obvious. The Djed ran rampant throughout every vein in her body, and the lingering taste of Res hung in the air around her. She was a reimancy Wizard, exactly like Kamalia was. Stitch had a large amount of distrust for Kammy's magic. In this case, Stitch had both a distrust of the wielder, and the magic. His eyes flickered blue yet again, but this time, he was solely focusing on her. She was the biggest threat at the moment. Snap the hand out. Attack the throat. Crush the throat. Force her to focus her attention on her sudden lack of air, which will likely leave her inable to cast any magic for a couple of seconds, if not more. Plenty of time to disable her. Plenty of time to render her helpless. Stitch shuddered, and shook his head, forcing himself to refocus. He turned to keep her to his front as she circled him, not willing to have her behind him. The girl was a cold shell. While most Vantha had a bit of an icy Aura around them, this one was much more than that. Yes, she had the Mark of Morwen on her, just like all the rest... but there was more to her ice than that. She had built up this layer of cold around herself, protecting even her Aura from outside scrutiny. She was a shelled-up excuse for a woman, having long ago tried to bottle up whatever emotions may lay inside. Stitch was deterred little by such a shell. Even if she had constructed it herself, she was no Aurist. She could hold no secrets from him. He stepped past the ice, bypassing her emotional wall easier than anyone else could. It was a simple matter of him just focusing a little bit harder. Revenge. Anger. Fear. Hurt. She was a beaten and abused girl, with various negative emotions cobbled together that kept her whole. For a moment, Stitch wanted to do nothing more than hug her. He was about to respond to her words when he felt another presence moving toward them. Glancing over her shoulder, he focused on Berus, who was rearing his lyre back for a sneak attack on the back of Cara's head. Instantly, Stitch wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her to the side, his other hand snapping up to catch the swing, if Berus ever managed to make it to them. Darren's chair may prevent that. He would easily catch the lyre if it came, stopping it dead in it's tracks, his own minor might enough to stop the swing from a woozy Berus. He offered the bard a smile, shaking his head, his words soft. "Now, now. The situation is calming down. No need to add fuel to the fire, milord. See?" Stitch turned, and gestured. Darren and Azeran had stopped their fight, even if they had found the time to break a few more things. Darren was already slipping out the door when the three turned their attention to him. Azeran was approaching, but Stitch didn't read any negative emotions in his Aura. His rage had died down, and now, he was just curious. He pointed at Stitch and mumbled something, and the blind man just smiled and nodded, giving the Akalak a small and kind grin, and a quick wave goodbye. The man left, but not without paying the bartender back. There was still a lot of damages left, though. With that, Stitch turned back to Berus and Cara, releasing the woman from his grip, provided she already hadn't struggled free. "So who wants to cleeeeean?" Stitch asked the question in a sing-songy voice, his face breaking into a wide and warm child-like smile. For having been such an intimidating presence earlier, he seemed to have completely switched personalities.

[Cheshire]

. Character: Berus Experience: Instrument (Lyre) +1, Observation +2, Running +1, Weapon (Lyre) +1 Lore: Getting a Drink Poured Over Your Head, Getting Beat Up, Life or Death Situations Character: Cara Experience: Observation +1, Persuasion +2, Instigation +1, Reimancy +2, Intimidation +1, Interrogation +1 Lore: Getting Joy Out of Chaos, Instigating a Fight, Lighting Someone on Fire, Character: Darren Experience: Brawling +2, Throwing +1, Flux +2, Running +1, Weapon (Throwing Knives) +1 Lore: Being Completely Clueless, Trying to Stop a Fight, Running From a Fight Character: Danyella Experience: Bodybuilding +1, Brawling +1, Intimidation +1 Lore: How to Fix a Door, Calling Another Vantha Out, Following Direction Character: Stitch Experience: Auristics +4, Observation +2, Teaching +1, Running +1, Flux +1, Intimidation +1 Lore: Getting to Blend in, Standing up to an Angry Akalak, Auras of Reimancers, Dual Auras of Akalaks, Additional Note: Great thread guys! This is probably the most XP I've ever given out. Keep up the good work! PM me with concerns.