Quest II. The night the towers cried [open]

[Ariel]

Ariel glanced down from Riki's shoulder, towards Nilk's hand. She watched as the two healers turned the hand over, studying it, before concentrating on their goddess-given power, in an attempt to heal him. Well that doesn't seem to be working, Ariel thought as she stared at the ghastly wound. That doesn't seem to be working at all. "The wound seems too dire, you'll have to try harder. Perhaps praying to the goddess herself will help," Ariel whispered, as she swung her legs nervously back and forth. She looked up from the Akalak's hand to the giant tentacles, noticing how they seemed to wind themselves around the orb before settling on something. Not like that observation truly mattered, there was nothing she could do after all, to stop the giant creature. The ground seemed to shake again, forcing the pycon to turn from her observation to Riki, as she held onto the fabric of his shirt for dear life. "Riki! Don't mean to be the bearer of bad news here, but the floor is shaking!" Ariel shouted as she glanced down at the floor worriedly. It was still trembling, moving back and forth as though it were trying to rock them all to sleep, but was trying to do so too forcefully. "It happened before too, but now it seems to be getting worse. You may want to heal him quickly, and then... figure out some way to be sure we all aren't killed." The pycon smiled weakly up at Addy and Sira, surely they would help her and her companion not be killed. After all, they stood a greater chance of survival if they banded together, right? But then again, she knew neither of the two endal well, so perhaps, she was wrong. OOCSai took Ariel up to WR. After which time, she is supposed to be given a job helping out in her lovely apartment/house thing. So... she should know both Sira and Addy, even if it is not well at all. If that tidbit of information proves problematic to either of you I can pull it out. Just pm me. Thanks =)

[Zlakalia]

Zlakalia was feeling... less than safe. She watched the pool expand ever closer as Miro was frozen in place, showing naught more than a shocked expression to the events. Annoying. No, more than annoying. Kali was genuinely feeling worried. Miro was frozen, and Kali was starting to feel the cold. Though probably from the ice harness rather than the young man who held her aloft. Still, Zlakalia didn't like how events were turning. Beside her the two healers crouched over the green lout who began this twisted turn of events. The few people who remained calm in the face of the tragedy were grouping nearby, it seemed, as the less calm formed a sea of of trampling that would have taken her had Miro not chosen to save her from the hazardous ground. Kali made a mental note to not stab him a while longer, forgive his icy indifference to her current plight. But the threat felt idle, even to her own mind. She was going to die here, melted away by the weird goo on the ground or crushed to death by the giant tentacle. Kali wouldn't stab anyone again, wouldn't be able to kill Ionu or any of the other bastards who called themselves gods. This was the end. With wide eyes Kali just felt the escaping air, felt the trembling ground. Trembling ground... The build-up in the floor was rising, probably roar to life with the presence of the red beast. It was coming back! Kali needed to figure things out, gain control of the situation. Even in some small way. That's the only chance she had to survive! Kali let her focus drop from the shield, leaving it in place over her body. It would burn out quickly, it didn't have enough djed to sustain itself for long. "The monster is returning! We have to fight it!" Kali screamed out as loud as she could, hoping the use the echo of the room to amplify her voice as the horn had been. Get the message out over the panic and chaos. Now Zlakalia was no hero. Her actions were not guided by any force to help or bring order to the shambling chaos in hopes of group coherency. She merely wanted to survive, to gather an army to save her from the unfortunate circumstances. But perhaps her 'heroics' would help. Kali began to formulate a plan, hopefully before the beast came back to crush their shell and drain it of its sweets.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian stopped short at the woman's command, startled by it into tabling his own idea to go along with hers, at least for the moment. She was the woman of his dreams, sort of, and he was glad Kendall wasn't there to see the momentary flash of awe in his face. But all of that was secondary to survival. He would just have to keep this sorceress alive for the time being, and then perhaps she could help him reinforce the shield that was keeping them alive. A part of his mind noted the variance in gravity, and his mind flashed through calculations that he would have to work out later, but whatever star-raft upon which they stood must have some sort of gravity of its own or else they would all be falling back through the cold, empty sky toward Mizahar. While she went to one knee, he spun around, hands bleeding res that shone brighter than normal, pulsing with his agitation and his struggle toward calm. He worked better when he was calm. The res began to circle the two of them, then spread up and down into a topless cylinder. The energies began to differentiate into three different colors, braiding and weaving among themselves in a tight whirlwind that gradually filled with razor sharp chunks of ice and stone as he transmuted his energies. Gradually he poured a bit of Shield energy into the mix, not making a truly impermeable Shield, but it was moving so quickly in among the elemental, physical protections, that it had a good chance of blocking out any harmful magic. He nearly faltered when he thought he sensed the immense Presence of something more than human standing between the Konti sorceress and himself, and he whispered a prayer to Eyris for wisdom as he worked. Of course, he wouldn't have minded divine aid from most of the pantheon just then, with a few exceptions.

[Bob Barton]

Finally the weight of the beggar was too much and Bob fell on the ground heavily. Unfortunately the beggar now was lying down right on top of him and there was some ooze right in front of him too. That was close. Too close... and still even with all the chaos around him Bob can only think of one thing. One thing which could keep him thinking straight among all this chaos. Survival. He knew if he lost his head now he will make a mistake which will most likely kill him.

While trying to shake off the beggar from the top of him and escape the oncoming ooze, he heard a loud scream yelling to fight. Whoever did that was mad. Compared to that thing they were completely weak and insignificant. Just like the one time in Bob's childhood when he stomped and jumped on the ant's nest. Sure there were a lot of them and they came ferociously biting at his feet. In the end they all died and he was still alive with only a few annoying bite marks which disappeared after a while.

They didn't even know what the monster was capable of. Except that it was strong enough to crush the barrier between them and drop its ooze down on the disc. Frankly Bob could not tell if the ooze was its blood or an attack. He just thought it was bad since everyone was running away from it. In times like this information was important. If they could know what the ooze actually does then they can think up a way to survive this, forget about fighting.

Bob got up and checked on the beggar. The man was still unresponsive but was he dead? He tried one of the tricks his uncle taught him and put his finger in front of the man's nose. It he could feel some air coming out, then he was not dead yet but still useless since he was deadweight. Well Bob had to think of a way to make him useful. Especially if he is allowed to sleep blissfully through all this.

Simply put, Bob just held on to the man's arm and carried it all the way to the ooze. Positioning it right above, he quickly released the arm and let the beggar's hand fall into the ooze while he switched to hold the man up by the shoulders. If the reaction looked bad then he will give up on the beggar and put more effort into keeping away from the ooze and not fighting that thing out there. If nothing happens then he will tell everyone what he found out and let them do the all the fighting. Hey, he already helped to do his part so other people should contribute as well right? Either way there was no flaw in his plan since he will still have a longer chance of surviving.

[Talen Stirling]

Talen was terrified, no less so when he found out that not even his weight was a constant in this forsaken place. Would he fall off the disc and out into space? The excitement of weightlessness wasn't exactly foremost in his mind, but rather terror of something he had no means of understanding. Just like everything else. He had no idea that gravity was simply a pull of anything with a large mass, or that Mizahar was surrounded by an endless void with no place to rest your feet and your relative weight. A man was running desperately from the ooze, but as he came upon the weightless area he suddenly tumbled forward with his own sudden lightness and virtually flew through the air only to land several feet further. An idea formed in Talen's mind, whatever mad god had put it there he wasn't sure. Perhaps he could use the insanity of this place to his advantage, in case everything went wrong. However, he was soon torn out of his considerations as the woman was already being assaulted by one of the blackclad warriors. Ebonstryfe or something... Talen's knowledge of eastern cities was very limited. That's what you get for missing out on tuition to practice swordplay. He walked a little closer, missing most of the woman's insults in the dim of the terrified people everywhere. He wouldn't do anything unless he had to, there was no reason for them to attack her -- then their leader gave his mad request. His eyes darted from the ooze back to her and the 'Stryfe. It was obviously dangerous, but what would they do if she didn't comply? Even as he inspected them he tried to blend in with the crowd, which would have been simple in the chaos if not for his newfound purpose. A man standing focused with a shield and sword amongst a panicked mob was anything but sneaky. He still hesitated, muscles tensing in stress. If he went over there, wouldn't they attack him? They still looked fearsome, although less so than all the things he couldn't understand on this disc. Well-armed and trained, it would be foolish to anger them. They even had the mark of some god, and he was just a city guard barely out of his youth. He looked upon the woman, and realised she had a vague resemblance to Alice. She looked as terrified as he felt, but in some form of mad bravado she had decided to stop the violence that these people had been about to unleash. He started walking, not directly towards her but in a circle away from the 'Stryfe, closer to the ooze and with access to the cracks in the magical ceiling. He was going to stop her from being cursed by the creeping liquid, whatever it would do, and stay alive doing it. A hundred people in need of aid scurried around the disc, but Talen wasn't capable or in any condition to take it all in. He would do one thing, and that at least would be something.

OOCWelcome back Nil'Kayn
Oh, and sorry for being such a heroic goody-two-shoes. I feel a fool

[Cassandra Coven]

Her bluff was called and Cassandra immediately knew she had opened her mouth one time too many. Even mention of the respectable name of the Nitrozian did not seem to faze the Black Sun foursome, and the dark-haired woman realized that they must be of higher rank than the man who had taken a fancy on her. She paled visibly as the one female among the four cuffed her. Though afraid, knowing full well that she could not stand up to even just one of them, Cassandra still held her fear in check enough to keep her wits about her. "You...you can't know that," she protested in reply to the woman named Tatishka. Or at least she started to. The woman's fearsome facade had her recoiling away. Here was no delicate damsel before her, nothing like her or any of the other women she knew. The woman could likely break her with one hand tied behind her back. To her relief, the Black Sun's leader held the she-man in check. Relief that was short-lived, for the man's next words had her panicking inside again. He wanted her - no, he was ordering her - to get a sample of the red liquid left by whatever it was that had attacked and near-shattered the protective bubble around the disc they stood on. Who knew what that thing even did? But she had no choice in the matter, for even as the thought of asking how she was to obtain it without getting any of the stuff on her, Cassandra felt herself shoved by Tatishka towards the nearest puddle of the red stuff. She stumbled, falling on her knees painfully and skinning the palm of her hands against the tiled floor as she reached out to catch herself. How did I even get into this situation? she asked herself in misery, trying futily to replay the last few confusing seconds when the tentacle attacked. She did not even want to be seen by these people, let alone talk to them. Who in their right mind would want to call the attention of the Black Sun to themselves? What in Krysus' name made me want to stand out in front of them? ...Krysus? Did she just name the goddess that favored her? No, no, what she really meant Priskil. Definitely Priskil. The one she always prayed to. Yes...Priskil... The lapse in faith was promptly forgotten, for as she stood up, Cassandra found herself before a man with sword and shield in hand. A savior? She looked past the implements of war to the face of the man behind it and she felt disappointed. His frame was filled like a warrior, to be true, but his youthfulness belied any experience he might possess. Her true feelings did not seep into her features however. After all, he was better than nothing. Injecting helplessness in both her expression and her voice, Cassandra caught the boyish man's eye and pleaded to him. "Please," she said, her voice modulated just enough so that only he could hear her. "Help me." The four Black Sun were waiting behind her and she knew full well that she should not let them wait. A Ravokian did as she was told when ordered by them. She hoped the man could offer aid to her - even if just giving her a container to hold the liquid-stuff in for she had nothing on her save the clothes on her back. And the dagger ever hidden beneath the folds of her skirt.

[Riki Stormheart]

Riki looked at Aidara after the words left her mouth. "You can do it. A healer's power comes from her confidence and her heart. Rak'keli will help us but you need to believe you can heal him or you will fail." Riki had not been born with his Goddess' mark. He was gifted by her at the age of twelve and even from that young age he was told by the other healers of his clan that Rak'keli aided healers who knew they could heal. "I am marked once as well and yes, working together will help." He smiled lightly at her before speaking up again. "Our Goddess would not have marked you unless she knew you could bare her mark well. She has faith in you." Sadly, Riki did not have much in the ways of medicine on him either. Why would he have needed salves and potions when he had been simply taking Sadie out into the garden? "I must admit, I have never worked with anything this bad either. It will be a first for both of us. The worst I've dealt with is Glassbeak wounds. They are pretty bad but nothing like this." He was happy to know there was another healer working at his side. He was used to working in groups at the Sanctuary. While their efforts may not have added up to what a twice marked healer could do, they would try. Riki lightly squeezed Aidara's hand when it slipped into his own. If the fellow healer needed comfort, he would give it. In truth, he was scared as well. He wanted to hide it so Nil'kayn and Aidara would not worry but there were still small seeds of fear within him. He tried to push them away, taking his own advice to the Inarta. He needed to have faith. That was the first and most important step. "Yes we can. We will make Rak'keli proud, or try our hardest to." Riki ran over what he would have done at the Sanctuary if he was there. "Well… the best thing we could do would be to wash the wound of course. Sadly, we don't have that option. For now, we need to stop the bleeding. Elevation, pressure, and the use of a tourniquet is our best option since we don't have any clean cloth to apply pressure to the wound with. We don't want it to get infected so we'll have to disinfect it with our Gnosis." When Aidara introduced herself, Riki bowed his head slightly in return. "Nice to meet you Aidara. I have heard good things about Wind Reach." He nodded lightly with a smile when Aidara introduced her bondmate. "It is nice to meet you too Sira. You two really are a pretty pair." Riki's life had been devoted to Rak'keli and Her realm of healing. He had never been much of a flirter since he preferred to spend his time focusing on his work. He did know a beautiful girl, or a pair of them for that matter, when he saw them though. Ariel made some sense when she offered the idea to pray. "That is a good idea. Would you like to pray with me Aidara?" He smiled lightly before closing his eyes and beginning his prayer to the healing Goddess in his native tongue, Pavi. "Rak'keli, this man is hurt. More hurt than I have ever encountered. I've dealt with Glassbeak wounds and broken bones but never something this horrible. The power of Rhysol is deep within the wound and I worry this will make it that much harder to heal him. We do not have anything to heal the wound and I pray that you will aid us in stopping any infection. Thank you." When the Drykas opened his eyes he looked to Aidara. "Oh… this is Ariel. We met shortly after getting here. Wherever here is…" The introduction was short but he listened to Ariel's words as well. "That's not good. Rak'keli help us…" He had to help Nil'kayn and fast. Pulling his bandana off of his head, he wrapped it around the Akalak's arm to act as a tourniquet. "We are going to have to keep it elevated. Nil'kayn, can you keep your arm up or do you need one of us to do it for you?" When the arm situation had been worked out, Riki looked to Aidara. "Keep your confidence up. Rak'keli believes in you and I believe in you." Next he looked to Nil'kayn. He wanted to try and help him relax. It would make the healing process a lot easier. "Nil'kayn, tell Addy and me about your childhood. You are an Akalak, did you grow up in Riverfall?" Getting the man to think about something, even recount a story would get his mind away from the pain and put it somewhere else. Somewhere better. "There is not much to do but to try to stop the bleeding and heal through our marks." Riki bit his lip as he prepared to heal the Akalak. "I can do this…" The first attempt at healing the wound came up as a failure. "I seems like something is pushing me back. Do you feel it too Aidara?" He would have to keep trying. He did not want to let Rak'keli down. With a small breath, Riki tried again, pushing more energy into his efforts. "Rak'keli, please give me strength."

[Aidara]

"I do have faith in us." Her smile was small and reassuring as she swallowed against the nervous flutter in her stomach. Like most of the Inarta, Addy was hardy and able to step up when the situation called for it, especially if her expertise was needed. "A tourniquet will damage the living tissue if we leave it on for too long. We're going to have to either work fast, leave it off or take it off when the worst has past." A small hand pressed back to the Akalak's shoulder, silently asking him to sit. There was no comfortable way for Addy to do this while the giant man was standing. Falling into a cross-legged position next to him, Addy turned her attention back to Riki.. and Ariel when she appeared on his person. The appearance of the Pycon surprised the woman into a startled laugh. "Ariel, hello. It's nice to see you again." But there were no time for pleasantries, there really wasn't even time to pray as Riki wanted; But Aidara would not deny him this, as she needed the confidence boost as well. However, she was new to this praying thing. Born with the mark, Addy had for a long time taken the Goddesses choice in her for granted, hardly ever sending a prayer Rek'keli's way. Hoping to take some direction from the Drykas, a small frown of dismay creased the healers features when Riki started chanting in his strange, abrupt sounding language. Looks like she was on her own. Looking up and reaching for Sira's hand, pulling her away from her vigilant watch for just a few moments, Addy closed her eyes and tried herself, in the song-bird dialect of Nari. Her bondmate wasn't devoted to the goddess of healing, but still she could help, lend support and maybe a few words of her own. "Rek'keli, we ask you, beg you, plead you to help us here today. Everyone deserves a shot, a chance to to live a healthy life. You...chose me to help give these chances when pain or death would otherwise claim it's victims. But still, I am only human. I have my limitations. Here and now, this man needs our help. It is beyond my reach, though I will try. I thank you in advance for any help you can give us, Riki and me....Please." Floundering towards the end, and unsure how to properly end a prayer. Instead she left a moment of silence, squeezed Sira's hand and finally turned her attention back to Riki. He had already finished and was quietly watching her. Lending him a confident smile, and reaching for his hand again, having dropped it for Sira's own. "Alright, lets do this." It did take a few long moments to get situation, but soon Addy had the Akalak laying on his back, his injured hand held tightly between her knees. Since Addy was sitting, she thought it best to help the man elevate his arm; with the intense pain that a wound such as his produced, it would be a nice relief to have the bit of support she could give. Since she didn't bring any of her supplies, Addy had to compromise in the tourniquet department. The hem of her shirt was torn away, leaving her middriff exposed, though she hardly seemed to notice; she was usually scantly glad anyway. Quick deft movements had the fabric tied tightly around Nil'kayn's forearm, right below his elbow. "The clock starts now. I think we have maybe twenty chimess at most before we need to remove the tourniquet." The two healers dove in together, both in the methods most comfortable for them. Unwilling to touch the wound and cause Nil'kyan more pain, Addy instead grasped his wrist; closeness to the wound helped her, since her mark was on the inside of her elbow, she had adapted her technique so that she didn't have to touch her mark to draw her power. It was very inconvenient to try and heal with one hand. Sometimes patients flailed and stuff. Since the problem didn't have to be located, the process was made substantiously easier. Normally achieving her calm mental state was a process, but Addy found herself instantly slipping into the core of her mind without any hesitation, a first for her. Either the goddess really was laying her hands upon the pair, or such dire circumstances were working to her benefit. Carefully, Addy extended the golden glow of her power towards the black fester that was the wound. It was seeping slowly across his palm and towards his wrist. If they didn't work quickly, he would loose his entire hand ,rather than just part of it. Just as her gift was about to contact the black mass, it repelled her, pushing her out of her healing state. Startled, Addy glanced over at the other healer, only to find him looking at her with a similar look of surprise. "I seems like something is pushing me back. Do you feel it too Aidara?" "It's like it doesn't want us there. This is going to be tough, we're going to have to drive it away." Rubbing a hand across her brow, Addy tried to reason out what they were going to have to do. A cold sweat coated her forehead, and she found her hand was shaking. No, it wasn't her hand. The whole damn disc was shaking. "Oh goddess, help us." But there wasn't time to worry about what was going on around them. Nil'kayn was their only hope. Agonizing over the state of this weird place was not going to help anyone; There were plenty of other people standing around doing nothing that could worry for the two healers. "Lets focus here," Addy indicated to the Akalak's thumb, where the festering was worst. "This looks to be where it started. Maybe, with our combined energies, we can break it where it is strongest and work from there." Nodding that she was ready, giving a squeeze to Riki's hand, and Addy began to prepare herself. Now that she knew what to look for, that there was something to look for when around another marked by her goddess, Addy could clearly feel when Riki was gathering his energy. Again, the calm blanket descended so quickly that she almost felt smothered. Without any hesitation at all, Addy drove the power of her gift into the blackness that was Rysol's disease in Nil'kayn's skin. Picturing her gift as a sharp knife, Addy stabbed again and again at the blackness, putting all her force behind it. Once or twice she had to stop, coming back to the shaking disc with abruptness that left her shaken. She was definately starting to weaken. The pair had only managed to make a small dent in the infection, but even small amounts of progress was good. Checking on her patient while she let herself have a breather, Addy's hand shook when she pressed the palm to the Akalaks' sweat drenched forehead. "Are you doing okay? Tell Sira if you need anything while we're healing." A toss of her head to indicate the Kelvic woman and Addy turned back to Riki. "I think we need to give it one more push and we'll be able to stop the spread... for now." Her voice sounded tired, and it shook a little as she spoke. "It's very... persistent. I don't...think we'll be able to completely rid his hand of it, even together. What should we do? Just try and stop it temporarily?" She sighed then and shook her head. "We need to decide soon, because we can't keep the tourniquet on for much longer.."

[Talen Stirling]

Talen approached carefully, his eyes resting warily on the 'Stryfe standing nearby. The woman fell to the floor, and he stepped up next to her as she got up. She caught his eyes and he smiled in an attempt to calm her down, in spite of his own fear. A fear that was mostly replaced by empathy as she asked his aid in a helpless tone. He was raised as a soldier and a guardian, and although he still had fears and doubts he knew that someone depended on him. That had always made him stronger, steadying a wavering hand and spirit. This time, unlike the 55th, he wouldn't fail. "Don't do it, just walk away." He stepped aside to let her walk past him and into the crowd of terrified people on the ever decreasing disc, looking back at the Blackclad soldiers to watch for their reaction resting his hand on his sword-hilt. He had not thought of giving her a container for the liquid, or even made up anything clever to prevent the 'Stryfe's possible violent retaliation. If they attacked he'd divert them to the weightless area, and then he'd see to it that the bullies become the fools.

[Satu]

The girl (Cassandra) offered no fight against the Cordas strings. To Satu’s mind she was a follower, willing to be led and guided. Compared to others Satu had helped, this woman made it an easy task to assist. The Konti was pleased as Cassandra stood before the men from Ravok, and Satu’s chest lifted in pride. But it was with a melancholy air that she allowed the invisible Cordas strings to dissolve in the very air that stretched between her and the woman. How it saddened Satu to release them, but there were so many others that need her assistance. Her Heart ached for them all! Satu turned in a soft footed circle. All around her chaos and worry, fear and bravado, so many colors and shouts of despair sounded through the cracked dome to fill her ears. Emotions and emotions and emotions rocked her HeartSense. She felt no fear of her own, for Drainia had burned away her fear and Sagallius would protect her, for had He not proved himself the most compassionate of all gods already? Scanning the crowd, she turned again, her skirts flowing around her with the movement. Cassandra now faced her fears concerning Rhysol’s men. The HeartSeer was done with her. Her gaze slid next to the injured one, and though her eyes were soft and childlike with mad innocence, she held cold contempt for the Akalak. Foolish man. His pain mingled with the emotions of the others within her Heart, one more assault upon her senses to be forced down. A man and a woman were with him, to help him, to soothe him, and take away his pain. And Satu thought… to coddle him when he should be embracing the opportunity to grow. The Konti frowned, and created a small crease between her shapely brows. The young man (Riki) had a Heart full of compassion. It disgusted Satu… she was once the same… Weak and offering of the self… Her eyes fixated upon the healer as he prayed. Could not he see? Was he blind? One could heal the flesh, yes. Yet the scars within each person would remain. Forever! Were not Satu’s own terrible wounds within her still, like a badge of honor scored in black misery upon her soul? The Konti’s head twitched and her white hair shifted. The healer would take the growth away with the Akalak’s pain! Misguided man... As if an internal decision had been made, Satu nodded slowly. That one needed Sagallius guidance… and compassion. The Cordas strings would soon be upon him, so he could also grow as Cassandra had. It was time the Healer received his own healing. Satu waited, patiently. The Konti knew to only approach the Healer when the action would not draw attention to herself. Almost delicately, her hand lifted to rest upon Ash’ney’s shoulder and she confided in him with a whisper, as her fingers tightened, “Asha’ney… it is good we are here – there is so much need! It pains my Heart to see it!” she nodded to the injured man and the healers, and then to the people all around them. The Konti’s words sounded strained, as if she might cry at the torment of feeling. Her other hand clutched the fabric at her bosom as if to keep emotion from bursting forth. In that moment, she offered the man a rare glimpse of herself and the power of the HeartSense.