Closed Party Magic Doesn't Belong On The Battle-Field.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

44th of Summer, 514

They were at it again. Arch swung his entire body around a half-turn to avoid the sharpened end of the spear slamming into his side.. instead, it merely brushed it, and sliced through the dirt of the arena. Before it could be drawn back for another swipe, Arch gripped it tightly with both of his paws so that it dragged him up with it. As soon as it stopped, his legs got the same idea and he found himself hanging, upside-down, from the bottom of the raised spear. From behind the heavy shield, Ser Iros was glaring hard at him.. but the squirrel was merely being intuitive in his close-range combat. It was his new 'style'.. something that he'd learned many notorious fighters described as their fighting technique. Each of them had something different.. something that made them unique, and became a signature to their battles. The squirrel believed that he had found his - extreme close combat. Since his fights with Fist, learning of the various pressure points on humans, he'd begun to use them a lot more frequently.. especially the ones within easy grasp. There were many more, he knew, but those could come later.

The Akalak shook the spear up and down, but the squirrel had a firm grasp on the pole and wasn't going to let go anytime soon. When he tried to slam the edge down against the floor and squish the squirrel, Arch twisted his grip and flipped himself onto the topside, before sprinting up the narrow beam as fast as his diminutive legs would carry him. No matter what Ser Iros did, he couldn't stop the squirrel from making his way up.. and just before the man threw down his spear and reached for the Lakan strapped to his thigh, the squirrel leaped from the weapon to the shield and clung tightly to it. The Akalak didn't find it very funny that the squirrel was using the mans shield to shield himself from damage instead of the knight using it, but the squirrel found it absolutely hilarious, and had to use every bit of willpower to stop himself bursting into laughter, because soon enough the Akalak was raking the edge of the Lakan down the shield in an attempt to knock the squirrel off. He was forced to abandon the post and drop to the ground - where he immediately scurried between Ser Iros' legs while he was still occupied trying to move the shield out of the way to get a look at the spot where the squirrel had been moments ago, and clung to his ankle before beginning to climb up.

Like many knights, he wore a full service of plate-mail. Which made him slower, and also easier to poke a few holes into. All he needed to do was crawl up the leg, while the Akalak tried to, and repeatedly failed to, stab holes into his own leg in a futile attempt to stop the squirrel maneuvering all the way up his thigh and over to the insides. It was always a dangerous place to be, near the crotch.. because the squirrel had already found out what happened if he got a solid kick there on a human. He could only wonder what would happen if he tried the same trick with an Akalak... "Alright, that's enough!" All at once, the shield and Lakan joined the spear on the floor as the knight reached between his legs and dragged the squirrel out by the tail. "That's enough training for the day, Archailist." He didn't know why, but he could see a lot of annoyance on his brow that didn't look like it was due to the squirrel once again trying to incapacitate the knight. "We've got patrols today. I want you to head down to the Windmount Stables, quickly, and saddle up Xarex. Meet me at the Gates. We'll be partnered up while we scout the area for a group of slavers from Ravok that have been roaming the Wildlands for a while and are trimming dangerously close to the edges of the city." Finally, a chance for a little adventure.

Leaving Ser Iros to pick up his weapons again, the squirrel immediately dashed down through the entrance of the Training Grounds and towards the Windmount Stables, and from there, the entrance to the city itself. The last few times he'd been set to patrol with another squire, had proved to be a very interesting experience. Not all of the knights that went on patrols had squires with them, but it was thought of as a good piece of mentoring in dire conditions. Something about preparation work. He didn't know; it wasn't important enough for him to be fully informed on. The journey itself didn't give him much opportunity to think on it, either. There wasn't too much of a run for a squirrel but the knights were less lenient on the squirrels usual running along the rooftops. Plus, unlike in many other cities, he knew that he wasn't a normal squirrel. Every time he tried to get away with it, they'd call him down and tell him that it wasn't very good knightly conduct. Apparently knightly conduct was dying with pride if there should ever be an errant footfall, because he either had to ride his dog or simply run along the floor.

Not many people paid attention to where they were going in a city of peace and civilization. He was constantly ducking and weaving through the crowds and their many large feet; struggling to even see where he was going, because each leg was another tree blocking his vision of the path ahead. Many of them pushed together in cramped streets and it became physically impossible to catch his bearings, and neither could he stop and ask for directions. He was forced to traverse the roads by pure luck and half-skill, until he found the Windmount Stables and easily slipped through the wooden rungs of the entrance gates. The stall that Xarex was kept, was the only one that didn't have a horse-head poking out of the top, so it was much easier finding the dog and saddling him, before hopping onto his back and slowly guiding him out of the maze of the district. Though when he eventually did arrive at the gates, after a few more close calls thanks to the few travelers and explorers pushing mindlessly through the gates, the squirrel couldn't see Ser Iros anywhere. Damn it all.

[Nivel]

Drifting within her own mind through the foliage of a bright and colourful forest, Nivel felt at peace. It wasn't the forest that most people see but the true forest that can be seen when the veil is lifted. The one Nivel sees with the help of Auristics, allowing the invisible auras to be seen. The vibrant glow of the Aura's each possessed its own unique quality that spoke of its hidden nature. Some had pulsed softly with a faint glow, some writhed chaotically with bold saturated colours and others remained stationary with almost no colour at all. The Pycon gently fell through the ground as if it were made of water, watching the forest through ripples as it slowly drifted farther away. She descended deeper into a clear and calm mind free of distraction. “Okay that's enough Nivel” spoke a recognizable voice that broke the pycons concentration “We have been doing this for just over a bell and your fidgeting is incredibly distracting” Sera Grey Baxter was not about to wait for how ever long it would take for her tiny squire to clear her ever active mind. Nivel wasn't the least bit disappointed but let her head droop in false disappointment anyway, just so Sera Grey would think she was far more committed than she really was. Underneath her mask, the patrons face formed an unimpressed glare “Oh don't fret little one, Meditation is a critical skill for Mages so we'll be doing plenty of it.” Grey teased “We can do it all day tomorrow if you would like” The Pycons body tensed in dread “really?” “No..not really” The Mage knight sighed “Meditation is important but only a small part of your training” Nivels body relaxed, she was starting to enjoy Meditation but only for small increments and the thought of having to sit still all day sounded like a fate worse than death. “I've assembled an obstacle course for you to run through before we deal with today's order of business.” pointing to the miscellaneous group of items laid out on the floor of Grey's dimly lit room. Nivel had been wondering why the Mage Knight's usual mess seemed so bizarrely organized today, normally it was just in a heaping mess from her furious crafting the night before. “I want you to start here” pointing to the line of small jewelry boxes “and end here” pointing to what appeared to be a coat rack covered in old netting. “this looks like fun!” The Pycon shouted happily while clapping her clawed tentacles together enthusiastically. “Good gracious! keep your voice down dear” The knight warned not wanting to annoy her neighbours. “But yes I'm sure it will be fun for you but I will need you to finish this as quickly as possible without making very much noise...do you think you can manage that? Nivel nodded her head vigorously “well then what are you waiting for?” The pycon ran at the wooden jewelry boxes and easily leaped over them as if they weren't even there, landing with reasonable gracefulness each time. After clearing about 3 they got bigger but still weren't much of a challenge, that was until she got to the mushroom like hat stands which stood more than twice her size. She stretched her arms long and grabbed hold of the edge of the platform and hoisted herself up. The battered fabric that was pinned over the wooden knob allowed her to gain the proper leverage but the Hat stand was still a very shaky making the climb a difficult one. She clumsily pulled herself up and stabilized herself, getting ready for the next jump. The distance between the next hat stand was substantial but the pycon was sure she would make it. She leaped with all her might but the unstable ground threw her off and she just barely made it to the next platform by yet again grabbing on to the fabric covering. She pulled herself up and leapt to the next platform, a wooden hat box which thankfully was much more stable. Nivel was able to able to land with little complications and jumped to the next hat box which was covered in many towers of small thread spindles stacked on top of each other. The pycon swiftly but carefully weaved through the towers. She grazed one just as she was near the end and it wobbled but didn't fall. Although as she jumped to the next obstacle, the power behind her lift off caused it to fall anyway, hitting the other towers like dominoes. “Well that's a strike against you” Grey announced as Nivel landed on the netting of the coat rack. The pycon felt a touch of discouragement but pressed on, pulling herself up the net. Nivel had climbed in her life but she always took her time and took the easiest route possible, this time things were much harder. She thought with all the foot holds the net would be easy to climb but it was just as difficult if not more so than anything else. Grabbing higher with one of her clay arms and then lifting herself up and repeating with the next arm until she reached the top. She was already breathing deeply from her air pocket in fatigue and was glad she was almost done. She was about to climb down but decided against doing something so predictable and boring. She wanted to show off a bit so she readied herself to jump down with a midair somersault. She launched herself with all her might off the wooden peg she found herself on and once in the air she thrust her arms down like mighty hammers. The momentum caused her to spin in the air before plummeting towards the ground. While the flip was executed fairly well Nivel hadn't though of the landing, and ended up smashing into the ground and becoming a partially mashed mound of clay. “Oh gods! Are you alright?” Grey shouted in concern. “yes..how did I do?” Nivel asked slowly reforming her body. “not bad...but further practice will be needed” As Grey said this Nivel hung her head in disappointment “Do not worry little one, these things take practice.” Grey encouraged before clearing her throat and taking a more serious tone. “Well we should be going now, I'll need you to get your gear together and retrieve Putcha as well, we are on patrol today.” She paused "I'll explain the details as we get prepared" Wearing her Copper Teapot helmet, her leather dress and her key shaped Pypole named “Grick”, Nivel rode her dark Corgi mount Patcha alongside Grey who rode on her mighty stallion Smoke. Grey wasn't wearing her usual flamboyant dresses or masks but was in her full armour. Although it still held certain style elements that payed homage to her usual bizarre style. The visor of her helmet resembled a mask more than a visor but the eye holes were larger and had the usual holes that was typical of most visors. The rest of the armour had the fine details of Tree limbs and vines covering it, She also donned a purple cape with a large tree embroidered on the back. Her horse was wearing matching cloth and armour pieces and they looked beautiful and strange as they trotted down towards the main gates with the pycon trailing behind. As Nivel got closer, she spotted the familiar sight of the squirrel shaped pycon Archailist. “hey there friend!” called Nivel joyfully through the crowds of people as they made their approach. “what are you doing here?” “Oh so you've been acquainted” Grey stated casually “This little fellow and his ....patron.. will be joining us on our patrol” A sudden bit of tenseness could be heard in the women's voice but Nivel couldn't understand why. “Where is your Patron little Squirrel?” Grey asked Arch softly while trying to gain her composure.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The squirrel didn't really know what to expect.. so he was in for a happy surprise when he met Nivel again. Almost immediately, his muzzle pushed out into a warm smile and a nod tilted his head. After all, it was always good to see the few other Pycons that were quickly developing throughout the city. Although the immediate thing that caught his eye was not the Pycon herself, but the person that was traveling close at hand.. with extremely strange and somewhat-ridiculous helmet styles. Of course, the squirrel wore absolutely nothing.. armours and whatnot only ever ended up inhibiting his movement and he could never find anything that really suited him anyway. Or fit his size. There weren't many squirrels made of clay wandering around the city so an insignia or something of the sort would be as useful as it was at the moment. "Good morning. I'm waiting for another group that we're going to join to, in order to do our patrols." Unfortunately he ended up blurting out the explanation at the same time as the woman, for which he bowed apologetically.. although the question had been pointed at the squirrel, and not the patron. A little rude. But he swept it under the metaphorical table and straightened his back.

Suddenly there was a snort behind him, and the Akalak appeared as if he'd been waiting in the shadows quietly for the last few chimes. With the mans attitude and the immediate wrinkling of the nose at the sight of the other patron knight, one wouldn't really need much of an active imagination to think such a thing. "He's sitting right here, although you probably couldn't tell that through your... helmet." There was an equal tenseness in the mans voice, although the squirrel didn't really know why. Certainly there was some minor unease about the knights attire and looks but they had to put it behind them for the sake of politeness. He'd heard a little about her, but that too, would have to be put behind him in order to keep things running smoothly. Or as smoothly as possible, really.

"Arch! Come here." And there went all cordial hospitality through the damn ceiling. The squirrel regardless nodded as he carefully removed himself from the dog, and then hopped straight up onto one of the stirrups hanging over the edge of the horse. He had to grip the bottom very tightly, and swing his entire body around so that he could wrap his legs around the mans toe and work his way around until he could sit comfortably on it. And then, it was just a matter of a quick and skittish climb up the mans shin to his thigh, and up onto the waiting hand. All in all, barely a chime out of routine. "I want you to keep your wits about her, alright. And her squire. They ain't all right in the head.. even if they are fellow knights to be respected as much as any other." There was a very obvious, guarded tone to the mans voice. He didn't want to outright insult the fellow knight.. but he made it pretty damn obvious that he had bad feelings about her. "Some say she's hideously disfigured under those damn masks.. and she wears them because of the guilt of doing nothing to save her family in a murder." His whispering became dark, but concealed.. at least until he moved his hand away and let the squirrel move back to his mount.

"Trust you've done your homework. You should know which section of the forest we'll be patrolling." Just like that, the Akalak moved off and brought his horse into a gallop. The squirrel was left behind to think on his whispered words. He knew that he shouldn't taint his mind with such rumours of his fellow squires, and even his superiors.. but the more he kept glancing back to her, the more anxious he became. They were rumours.. but were they true.

[Nivel]

Nivel was confused at the two responses she was getting that it was hard to really know what they were saying. Grey seemed to only like explaining things to Nivel when they weren't necessary but loved with holding information that the pycon wanted. The mage squire planned to just ignore her patron but she rudely asked another question before Nivel could even get a word out. Although it wasn't Arch that responded but an especially giant tall folk with very dark red skin who spoke very coldly. Grey shook in anger at the mans words, but seemed unable to respond. Nivel seemed unable to speak as well since atmosphere suddenly shitted into a tense one. Nivel's pycon was called away form his living tower of a Patron for some kind of private talk. Grey took a deep sigh from inside her helmet and turned to Nivel. “Nivel...” she paused as she tried to organize her words. “Some people do not think very fond of those that preform magic, Sadly your friends Patron happens to be one of them” Grey did her best to tread lightly as if she was talking to a very small child which wasn't to far off from Nivel's mentality. “oh” was all Nivel could muster, while she hadn't personally experienced any back lash from being a magic user her father had told her all about the public opinion on magic. The Pycon learned to keep it quiet at least around tall folk, Knowing that this intimidating tall knew she was a magic user made her very uncomfortable. The rude man left to start the mission and it was clear he had said something to Arch because the other pycon was acting very strangely. Grey sighed and simply made a hand gesture indicating for the two pycons follow her before taking the reins of her horse and setting of on the patrol as well. As Nivel rode along behind her patron she wanted to talk to her friend arch but found it hard to speak with him now, like there was a barrier in the way. The whole trek to the bronze woods Nivel kept glancing at Arch but no matter how hard she tried the words just couldn't come out. “we should be arriving at the location the bandits were spotted in” Grey whispered back as they rode along the crude dirt trail. “ keep your wits a-” her sentence was cut short by an arrow wizzing past her vision. It wasn't to close to actually hitting any one but a second arrow shot through the air landing just above the mounted squirrel. Grey was quick to respond by dismounting her horse, opening her fan with a quick flick of her wrist and running into the direction of the arrows. As she did nivel could see glimmer of Grey's dark purple coloured res mist. Nivel was flustered at the sudden turn of events but quickly forced herself into action. She dismounted patcha and told her kelvic mount to find a place to hide. Nivel looked back at the other pycon and gave a quick nod before running into danger assuming the squirrel would follow. She quickly ran along the ground jumping over protruding tree roots and fallen limbs until she spotted one of the bandits. The bandit saw her as well and greeted her with an arrow, which thankfully lodged itself into a tree behind her. As the Archer retrieved another arrow Nivel ran for cover, she swiftly moved between the tree trucks. The bandit shot another arrow which missed yet again and while he was retrieving another arrow Nivel took the opportunity to make her attack. The pycon shifted her arm into a sword and delivered a blunt slash to the bandits unsuspecting foot. The cursed and thrust his foot at Nivel sending her flying into a tree.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

He didn't know what to do. Part of him just wanted to ignore it - the larger part did, actually. So what if someone was a little bit disfigured.. that didn't matter. If everyone listened to judgement on their appearances then Pycons would never become knights.. and they all knew that it just wouldn't be so. But there was another part.. a small, but persuasive and insistent little thought that kept floating through his head. Curiosity, and a little bit of wariness that somehow managed to spread over Nivel too. After all.. she was the squire underneath this new knight. Like Ser Iros and him, they would have to spend much time together.. and what if Nivel had been told strange things too. He didn't really know why, but it sent a shiver through his clay.. that was immediately sent into the deepest pit of his mind that he could muster. He needed to focus. They had a real job to do.

The ride did little to settle the awkwardness, however. Near-utter silence prevailed, with Ser Iros giving occasional glances to the mage-knight, before looking away and scoffing silently. He never did do a good job in hiding his opinions of others.. although today he was being especially outright. Perhaps it was a combination of the morning exercises they'd gone through, and the rather uncomfortable patrolling duty.. but he had his spear always close at hand. Which was saying something, since the thing was still strapped to his back, just like the heavy tower shield.

And then, all at once, the silence was broken. First by an arrow flying off to the far corner of the woods, that couldn't have been a simple hunter.. and then a second, suddenly slamming into wood just behind his head. He could see the blur of streamlined wood as it passed overhead, skimming his clay ears and skull.. he could feel the wind. Petch. That's too close for comfort. Immediately he bent low, with his reins tightening near Xarex's head to stop the dog from getting spooked and running off towards the archer in question. Of course, that didn't stop others from doing just that.. even though those in question evidently had bows and arrows, and were attacking from a distance.. which immediately put them at a disadvantage.

At least Ser Iros was prepared. Rather than dismount, he kicked his war-horse into a full gallop and pulled back the huge shield and spear from their positions on his back. As he rode, one of the archers loosed an arrow; all it did was strike home in the corner of the shield, and grab the Akalak's attention. The first swipe over his head with the spear unfortunately missed - apparently the man was just about nimble enough. However, he wasn't enough to avoid the huge horse that reared itself, and then embedded a hoof in his skull. When the horse came crashing down, there was one less archer to worry about.

Meanwhile, Arch struggled to see where he was supposed to be going. He couldn't count how many archers there were, or even exactly where they were, until he saw the arrows. And he'd rather not see them at all... because likely as not, those arrows would be aimed squarely at him. However, what he could see, was Nivel being thrown backwards and slamming into the trunk of a nearby tree. Oh petch. Oh petch, oh petch. First thing first - deal with.. whatever the heck these people were. The archer in question looked about ready to launch a second arrow for Nivel while he was down.. but the squirrel was still on the back of his mount, and immediately nudged him into a full-force sprint straight for his legs.

The dog wasn't big.. not by any stretch of the imagination. But he had sharp enough teeth.. that immediately embedded themselves in the man's shin. When the cry of pain sounded, the squirrel knew this was his one chance, and he pulled his feet from the stirrups on the dog, before using the saddle to launch himself up directly at the man's groin. He didn't use a fist.. but rather his entire body, and it had the desired effect, as usual. His yells became an octave higher and he crumpled over in a heap, with the dog still ripping at his shin, drawing pinpricks of blood. "Nivel, are you okay?!"

[Nivel]

“..I'm fine” Nivel was small but durable so being slammed into a tree only startled Nivel more than anything,. She did have a bit of wind knocked out of her which made her response a bit strained but only be a little. The pycon was on her feet in moments, and only had finding Grey in her mind. The Mage Knight wasn't known for being reckless that was Nivel's job, so why did she abandon her horse and run into danger all of a sudden. “I need to find my patron..” Nivel stated with urgency. “It's not like her to just run off” After hearing the struggle, Patcha returned against Nivels wishes. The corgi kelvic seemed in a panic but relaxed once she that Nivel was okay, trotting over to the group. “what are you doing here? Nivel whispered harshly as she made exaggerated motions with her clay hands “I thought I told you to hide” Patcha shook her head in protest and slammed her tiny paw down in protest. “if you must come along then try to be quiet” Patcha shook her head this time in affirmation. She then gave a quick glace at the other mount before letting out a timid bark of recognition. Probably to tell the other animal the same instructions. “Patcha what did I just..” Nivel stopped abruptly in mid sentence as she spotted something strange in the not to far distance, it looked like fire. The trees were dense so the Pycon only saw a brief flicker of flame, with a quick glance at the auras in that direction she could tell that there was definitely a high concentration of Djed. The mage pycons skill was very pretty limited so she couldn't deduce much but where there was a lot of strange Djed there was sure to be Grey, or at least Nivel hoped. “I think I see something” Nivel stated bluntly “ follow me” She moved as fast as she felt she could while still being relatively silent. she still didn't know if she was heading towards her patron or a magic toting bandit and though her chances would be better if she saw them first. As she approached the anomaly she started the process of systemically moving her hands in rhythmic gestures to focus her djed. She wanted to attempt Flux magic in case she did find herself in trouble, even if her history with the practice wasn't a good one. The rookie mage didn't even really like Flux magic and the effect ether fizzled out too quickly or just generally didn't work right, but in her mind it seemed like her only option. Nivel's plan was to shift her energy to her legs since strengthening her arms never seemed to work. The process was difficult as she was used to sitting still and meditating during her flux training. The pycon could feel energy streams in her body begin to flow in the desired route but they would quickly bounce back to normal as she lost concentration. The sounds of violence and even malicious chuckles got louder as they approached. It was becoming clear that if they were heading towards Grey that she wasn't alone. Nivel could now see a very menacing looking man through the trees about a yard away. He didn't seem to be carrying any visible weapons, but the way he motioned his arms told Nivel he was still a danger. The pycon smelled something strong and unpleasant in the air and when she looked left she could see smoke wafting to the sky. What she also saw was a floating Fire ball that flew into view. For a second the squire thought it might be Grey but then remembered the Grey only had control over Water and rock. The fire ball suddenly flew at something on the ground, and when Nivel snuck even closer to get a better view it was revealed to be Grey. Nivel felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness as the fire ball collided with her patron, but to the pycon's surprise the fire ball bounced off of her. “Your shield can't hold up for much longer lady” Taunted the Bandit “just accept your fate and die already. I've got places to be” “..so sorry..for...causing you inconvenience” replied Grey with disdain “But I'm... not going to give up... on my life so easily.” Her voice sounded haggard and she was clearly on the losing side of this fight, even if she seemed to some how be resisting a fireball. Nivel was very close, hidden by the low growing greenery and trying her best to quickly think of a plan to deal with a man wielding fire as a weapon. Nivel tried flux again, forcing herself to stay focused. Her previous attempts and the adrenaline from the situation luckily made the energy flow much easier, and in moments her legs were filled with unnatural power. With her legs at their strongest she shot out for her hiding spot like a tiny rocket aimed at the bandit. When she got close enough she jumped, She aimed for his leg but ended up launching herself way higher than she intended. Nivel's sudden altitude startled her energy flow back to normal and she collided into the renegade mage like a living cannon ball. Her clay body felt exhausted from all the stain and she fell to the ground like a lifeless heap. The bandits fire ball dissipated and for the moment he was in pain but it would only be a matter of moments before he was ready to retaliate.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

He blinked several times in confusion as he watched Nivel righting herself - although his attention was pretty split at that point. Under attack from random vagabonds in unknown amounts, likely hiding away somewhere so that they could shoot arrows at them - and the first thoughts that came to the squires mind was to check on her patron? "Shyke, your patron's a mage knight! She'll be able to take care of herself." Ser Iros certainly seemed to be doing just that - riding into the fray with his tower shield thumping from several arrows embedding into its side. Better than into the Akalak's side at least. During their moment of distraction, he'd managed to swing his spear around in a wide arc and smash the handle just below the metal tip against the side of one of the bandit's skull, knocking him to the ground in agony. Gods, how the squirrel wished he could go out and join him.

However.. he knew he couldn't leave Nivel alone. Not while she was in the middle of a nervous breakdown, talking to her dog and hallucinating strange things. Before running straight towards them. "Harameus save us.." he mumbled under his breath as he re-mounted Xarex with a squeeze around his midsection, quickly bringing him into run directly behind Nivel. Arrows were still flying, regardless of whether they were quiet or not. Regardless whether or not Ser Iros and Sera Gray could handle themselves around a simple group of bandits - or whatever the heck these people were - he didn't feel right simply abandoning them to the group on a whim of something strange Nivel saw. No matter what, though, he couldn't abandon a friend to whatever danger they steered themselves heedlessly towards.

Through his glances around the area, though, he saw a sight he certainly wasn't prepared for. A bandit - completely unarmed at that - standing there and waving his arms around like a damn lunatic. It didn't even seem to be an art form of any sort. But then he saw the fire.. and the balls being thrown around at Gray. Okay.. so he's a mage as well. He couldn't tell what kind of mage, because he'd never really seen Reimancy before. Magic didn't seem like something that would ever match the simplicity of hand-to-hand combat.. the punch and kick method. It certainly would have been useful at this moment - if all this guy had fireballs to throw around then why the petch not just punch him right in the ankle and have the whole fight over with.

Yet Gray.. a knight, fully-fledged, sworn to the Order and protection of Syliras, was failing in her efforts to beat him. Ser Iros would have pounded him into the ground without a second thought. Sure, from afar in the undergrowth that they stood in, it all looked very flashy - throwing fireballs and somehow brushing them off one's body like they weren't much of an issue. But Gray wasn't actually doing anything. He couldn't tell due to the fight, but... it sounded like she was losing. Losing! To a random vagabond that strayed a little too close to the mighty citadel of the Syliran Knights, at that.

Before he could jump out and give the man a good whacking while he was busy elsewhere, Nivel did it himself. He had to admit, he didn't think the girl had it in her. She'd never seemed the kind of person to launch herself head-first into combat.. yet I suppose seeing friends in potentially mortal danger pushed some hidden buttons inside all of them. Just a shame that she didn't really time her attack accurately, and didn't end up doing any significant damage.. with a sigh, he nudged Xarex once again into a sprint straight for the man, right behind Nivel's first attack. Hopefully with the man momentarily startled, he could attempt to balance himself on Xarex with one hand wrapped tightly around the reins while he threw a good punch for the side of his ankle. Then he'd be able to ready himself for a serious offensive. Look at me, saving knights...

[Nivel]

Nivel legs wouldn't stop twitching and she could feel tiny pins and needles all along them. It would be a while before she attempted flux in a combat situation again. As she pulled herself off from the ground she noticed the bandit take a deep breath and then aggressively blow out the air. It seemed like a strange thing to do in general let alone at a time like this with the squirrel charging toward him ready to retaliate. Even more strange was how ineffective the squirrels attacks were when they did made contact, It was as if the other pycon hitting an immovable statue. “He's using shielding Djed” The injured Knight Grey quickly spoke up “look for a week spot squire” Nivel knew what to do and quickly looked at the Bandits Aura. It was harder than it usually was to see the unseen forces, like she was a nearsighted person trying to read faraway text but without all the squinting. When the Aura was in focus she saw that the bandit mage had a few layers of translucent membrane that covered him. The layers were fairly full of holes like Swiss cheese but Nivel couldn't see very many openings that ware completely devoid of shielding. Meanwhile the Man was kicking at Arch with his large bandit feet. The Mage bandit didn't seem to want to conjure any more flames, judging by all the burnt trees in the area it would seem that he had done plenty already and was probably suffering from over-giving. The slight clumsyness of his movement and his haggard face made this apparent. While looking for a weak spot Nivel did notice that the bandit seemed to avoid hittingArch's mount, perhaps he had a soft spot for dogs? Nivel finally pinpointed a good weak spot in the bandits shield, it was just under his right arm pit. “Arch strike there!” she instructed “just below his arm pit” Of course upon hearing this the bandit did his best the shield the weak spot with his arm, holding it close to his body in an awkward position. “He also has weak spots on the right side of his neck and his left knee” Piped up Grey shortly after. Nivel checked those area's and they seemed to only be holes in the outer shield layer, maybe the inner layers were weaker..Nivel didn't really know very much about this shielding magic thing. In all this chaos two archers entered the scene, one was a typical looking rugged man but the other one was clearly a young tall folk boy. Nivel noticed something about them right away that was very familiar, they both had vacant looking expressions on their face. They were clearly under someones spell but Nivel suspected it wasn't the man in front of them but a nearby accomplice. They aimed their bows at Nivel, with the child clearly having difficulty in doing so. Patcha managed to bite the grown man in the leg breaking him from his bewitchment but the child was still fumbling with his bow like a mindless drone.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

As he neared and slammed his fist right into one ankle, he had to admit, he expected the guy to fall. Nivel hadn't managed to cause any damage.. but hey, she had never seemed one to be particularly.. heavy. They'd never really gotten into combat but.. she just seemed to struggle with considerably everyday situations. It wasn't difficult to make a rough guess based on those observations, that she wouldn't be very good on the battlefield either. He knew he was good, though.. he'd slammed many people onto their arses. This man, however.. he didn't even budge. Perhaps it was the fact that he was on the back of his dog.. he couldn't build up the same momentum as before, when riding. He didn't really want to dismount, though.. eventually he ended up winding himself between the mans legs, on the back of his dog, sending more punches for his ankles with essentially the same result - nothing at all. It felt like he really was punching little more than a wall.

Then, he heard it. Shields. He'd never seen shields before.. and he really wasn't seeing that much now either. He could definitely feel it.. the man just wasn't taking any damage from his attacks. Not fair, man. Now he was entirely reliant on Nivel to give him some kind of information.. some kind of advice. His reins tugged this way and that to avoid the mans feet all the while, winding underneath the soles of his feet and darting back once again whenever they came down. "Weak spot, got it." That was something.. if he could grasp the knee and raise himself up for the armpit, or the neck, he could give a good strike and get it over with. Only.. from the back of Xarex, as he tried to get a good grip on his legs, he found nothing. His paws harmlessly slid off the edge of the shield and he found no possible grasp. Definitely not fair. It looked like the side of the knee was the only place he could really go for.. although he had no clue if it would really provide any strength. Only one way to find out.

He nudged Xarex into a turn and rounded out, away from the man, in order to gain some distance. The man didn't seem to have any complaints - it left more room for him to kick, rather than short distance. However, the next kick that came, Archailist was ready for - he bucked Xarex forwards, and then jabbed against the dogs side with one knee to draw him to the side as the kick came. It was incredibly risky and he could have sworn that there was a little shudder beneath him as Xarex jerked and stalled for a moment, wanting to turn and leave.. but Arch kept his grip tight, and they rounded to the side of the kick, where the other leg supported him. Perfect. He wasn't very fast at dismounting from his dog just yet, but he just about managed to lift both legs from the stirrups and slide off the dogs side as the leg came back down again.

As the man turned for another kick, he nimbly hopped to the side, took a few steps forwards, braced with one leg and then launched himself forwards and up with both feet, and both paws braced for a hard slam against the right side of his left knee. He didn't just jump at it, he launched for it with all of his strength in the hope of breaking through the weakened portion of the barrier. Little did he know that he would be about to discover a brand new pressure point.. likely one that he wouldn't be using again, unless in absolutely dire situations.. because as the hole was broken through for just a moment and the side of the knee was hit with the full impact of the 23 pounds of clay, the knee joint shattered and the entire leg bent at an unnatural angle. Bone poked through the side, splintering and drawing blood as the squirrel landed back on the ground and quickly turned his attention elsewhere than the man currently lying on the floor - if just for his own comfort. "Oh.. Sylir be good.." Even he couldn't believe it.

[Nivel]

OocSorry for keeping you waiting so long, we should probably try to rap this up Nivel could hear the breaking of the mage's bones and the screams of agony that followed. it was not something the pycon was accustomed to and confused and disturbed her but she shook it off and forced herself back into the situation at hand, the Tall folk child was still struggling to aim his bow that he was clearly unsuited for. It was unlikely this child would be able to shoot the arrow let alone hit anyone but Nivel still needed to free them from the spell. The squire ran forward on her shaky legs to close the gap and thrust her leg forward, using the momentum to hurl her whip arm at her targets leg. The whip hit the target on the leg with a light snap and their glazed over look was replaced with a confused and frightened one. The man that was only moments before awoken by the vicious bite of Patcha quickly consoled the child and based on their interactions with each other it was very likely they were father and son. The man didn't seem to take notice of the pycons but rushed over to the injured mage knight to offer assistance, nearly trampling Nivel in the process. While the man was began to treat grey with his son doing his best to help, Nivel scanned through the trees to see if there was any mages still on the prowl. It was clear that the incapacitated one in their midst was not the one doing the hypnotizing, she hoped there wasn't to much more mages or if there was that Grey had taken care of them. The pycon suddenly saw movement from beyond a tree not that far in the distance that required immediate attention.. “I think I see another bandit” was all Nivel said before she made a quick gesture with her tail to summon her mount, and did her best to quickly mount the kelvic with her shaky and tired legs. Nivel pointed to were she wanted Patcha to go and the kelvic moved as fast as her tiny corgi legs could take her. As the two of them bounded through the trees they could see the culprit making his escape. He was older than the other mage indicated by his greying hair and wasn't quite as adept at running as a bandit should be. He still had a considerable head start and the protruding tree roots and other obstacles still made it hard for the squire to catch up. Lucky the cocky grey haired mage looked back and must have found something humorous because he stooped to chuckle at his pursuer. Nivel finally caught up to him and the bandit tried to punt her but Patch narrowly jumped out of the way and Nivel retaliated with a whip lash from her clay tentacle arms. It made a light snap as it hit the mans leg and made him wince in pain, but the man seemed ready to attack only moments later. He raised a foot and was ready to slam it down on the two