Everyone Has a Dark Side

by **Sayana** on February 14th, 2016, 1:16 am

Winter 82, 515 – Eastern Advance

Frantic shouts awoke her from her slumber. It was already evening and it had been difficult enough to get any sleep due to her injuries and chaos of the battlefield. Despite her aches she was on her feet within ticks and with a dagger in hand.

“Everybody to arms! We need more help! They’re trying to cut us off!”

Hardly a couple bells ago, the tide of undead had seemed to stall and the streets at the Eastern Advance were routed of the terrible creatures. Yet now, big hulking creatures swarmed into the temporary camp from all sides as if it had been a trap all along.

“Shadow Warriors take flight! Ready any weapons! And most importantly, stick together so we can take them down.” Sayana called out to the zith colony. Malice was already at her side with his wings half open and a club in one hand. “Who said you could give orders to my colony?” He chided. Sayana smirked in response and cupped his cheek as she leaned in for a kiss. “Would it be too forward to suggest it might turn into our colony?” He laughed and retorted, “Only when the queen herself takes flight.”

In the next tick Malice was in the air along with a couple dozen zith. Sayana had several daggers drawn, though the illusion made it seem like she held multiple ones in a single hand. For a moment she caught sight of a dark shape to her right, but she gave a quick shake of her head when she realized it was her illusioned wing. It was strange seeing glimmers of her false shape but her focus turned swiftly to the battle at hand.

There were large lumbering bear-like creatures. Easy prey, or at least easier, since they didn’t seem as smart as the others. There were many skirmishes already fiercely engaged forming a rough circle around the temporary camp. She saw several Alvads get knocked down with a vicious blow of a hulking arm from one of the undead monsters. “To me, to me! This way!” Sayana shouted to some zith while gesturing to the skirmish that desperately needed help. She ran towards the fray and as the creature raised its arms for another attack, she whipped a small throwing dagger straight for its heart. Her aim was good, but not quite good enough and the dagger sunk into the undead stomach causing a growl and a charge from the creature.

Sayana dove into a roll to get out of the way. She landed upon the cobblestones of an alleyway just before the beast charged past in a frenzy, knocking anything it could out of the way. Down came a rain of black shadows as Malice led an attack from above. Claws tore into the undead flesh and chunks were ripped off as the monster was assaulted by the zith.

Sayana speaking Zithanese

by **Sayana** on February 14th, 2016, 1:17 am

A fearsome wind eagle shrieked from above and when Sayana looked up, it fixed its blood shot eyes at her before diving. “Scatter! Eagle!” Chaos erupted around them as a zith cried out in pain and others fled to get out of the way. Sayana managed to get in another strike at the undead bear-creature before having to duck out of the way herself. The shouts were deafening and it was almost impossible to tell what was going on other than the fact that her daggers whipped this way and that as she tried to slice into the undead flesh with all her hands.

The bird was brought down, but more foul creatures had sprung up, cutting her small group in half. In fact, they seemed to be swarming in faster than they could kill the monsters. What if she couldn’t make it out this time? Even as her arms moved faster striking this way and that and spinning with the momentum she gave her blades, time seemed to slow. They needed to get out. It was a trap. They were going to get overwhelmed.

Not everyone was going to make it. She knew that. Alvads screamed out with war cries as they battled the monsters, but the undead was closing in on the mish-mash of an army that remained. And half her zith group was already cut off near the middle of the fray. And then there were the wounded. Quick plans assembled in her head.

“You three! Get to the Alvads who are cut off and fight viciously like your life depended on it!” Sayana beckoned to three zith. Even as she spoke the words she was lacing them with djed and harnessing it with merciless bloodlust. Passion, fury, rage, a desire to kill. She poured her thoughts into her magic and sent the djed shooting into their minds, one after the next. The exhaustion that swept over her made her stagger but she needed them strong and passionate. She knew they weren’t going to make it back alive. “Hold them off so I can get the wounded back to the South Camp. Then take flight once I give the signal.”

With newly found bloodlust the three zith took off for the middle of the fray. Hopefully they would enrage the other zith who were cut off and keep the monsters at bay just long enough. Yet her heart still clenched knowing she would never give the signal of retreat.

“Malice! We need to get the wounded to the South Camp!” The other half of the zith group still had a chance. She beckoned to many of them, urging them back to the temporary camp where the wounded were so that they might retreat with their lives and the lives of the wounded. But when a charging undead panther bounded into the chaos, Sayana’s mind snapped. So focused she had been on stirring bloodlust her fellow zith that she herself was not immune to the effects.

Lunging forwards with her daggers drawn she made a slash towards the panther’s shoulder. A deadly claw made a counter strike and she only barely dodged it while meeting it with her small dagger. Her breathing was laboured but all her focus was on the death and destruction of the beast at hand. She made another swipe with her left high hand this time and the feline snapped at her face with its vicious jaws. Sayana wasn’t even aware that Malice had joined her until the panther yowled at an injury from his claws.

Sayana speaking Zithanese

by **Sayana** on February 14th, 2016, 6:41 pm

The panther was vicious, but the pair of them fought in deadly sync. Chaos still raged about the battlefield but Sayana’s only focus was the death, murder and blood of the monstrous undead. She took chances despite her injuries and was given a deep scratch to her mid forearm. Blood dripped from her arm even as she made the final thrust into the creature’s neck.

“We need to go. They are coming in from all around. We need to…” Malice suddenly stopped when he saw the murderous look in her eyes. She wasn’t done. She wanted blood staining her blades and there was no undead creature immediately nearby. The world went fuzzy for a tick and the sounds of battle dimmed to the background. Her entirety was focused on the zith leader and the compelling urge she had to feel his life drain away within her hands.

Sayana made a slow swipe with her blade towards him and she watched him jump back in surprise. Was this her? Did she really want him dead? She made another slash with another hand. The bloodlust consumed her and all she sought was another kill, not matter who it was. But as she raised her dagger for a final blow, she hesitated. There was but a moment’s clarity. She had succumbed to the thoughts and feelings of her hypnotism before. This was not entirely new. This was the result of her magic she had used not long prior.

But with a sudden wave of purpose and intent, she lunged forwards and thrust her dagger deep into the zith. She could feel it slide into his gut and up towards his chest. With a twist she relished in the draining of his life, that sweet revenge. He hadn’t seen it coming and that was what made it so satisfying. She saw blood gush out of him in an almost exaggerated fashion as she relished in the feeling and the reward. Softly, with words that were remarkably clear, Malice spoke with his dying breath. “You could have reached the stars…”

Hardly a moment after his last words and her own euphoria, Sayana found herself plunged into darkness as she was knocked to the ground.

Sayana speaking Zithanese

by **Sayana** on February 14th, 2016, 6:42 pm

After what seemed like many chimes but was probably only a dozen ticks, Sayana awoke to find herself on the bloodied cobblestone. Malice lay several feet away from her, trampled and mangled on the ground. Already the cursed crabs were gathering at his remains and she made a slash at another giant crab that was coming her way. She had killed him… and the betrayal had felt so sweet. Yet when she got to her feet, his body looked more like it had been trampled instead of a clean thrust with a blade into chest. It didn’t matter. He was dead.

“Malice is down! Retreat!” Sayana called out to what zith remained. She gathered up his dead body in her arms. “There were too many of them, he fell and…” She left it at that as she began the retreat. The others could fill in the details. Fill it in with what they thought had happened.

Her whole body ached and it was a struggle to flee while carrying the dead body of the former zith leader. At times she had to make slashes at undead who were still trailing them but most of the undead still surrounded the group of Alvads in the center. The ones who would die to allow them to retreat. Not to mention the zith she sent to prolong the distraction.

She was wounded, exhausted but still she pushed on leading the way towards the South Bastion. Now and then she called to her fellow zith to keep them together and lead them in the right direction. Fellow zith? No. She had led them to their deaths. She had felt that vicious final twist as Malice’s life had left him. And yet she had saved how many? “I killed him…” Sayana whispered under her breath as she tried to keep a grip on reality. Her feet pounded upon the ground as she dodged copses of Alvad and undead alike. “I killed him…”

Sayana speaking Zithanese

by **Sayana** on February 14th, 2016, 6:44 pm

Somehow their reduced numbers made it back to the South Bastion. Sayana had brought back Malice’s body while others had helped get the wounded back. All she wanted to do was sleep and sleep and dream of a place that wasn’t haunted by illusions. Memories of the battle still plagued her thoughts and that sweet delicious feeling of betrayal.

But she knew that if Alvadas managed to return back to ‘normal’ she wasn’t going to stay much longer. She couldn’t stay with what remained of the zith colony. And she needed something important to do so. In the relative safety of the Southern Bastion, the illusioned zith spotted a familiar symenestra. Even upon seeing the Seamstress, it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“I want my voice back.”

In the aftermath of the battle, the irony didn’t hit her until several ticks after she had spoken. The Seamstress wasn’t a zith. Of course she couldn’t hear her. Sayana glanced around until she spotted a zith who might help her. With a clawed finger pointing to the Seamstress, Sayana made her request, “Tell her that I’ve come to get my voice back. And to return to how I was, without the illusion. I did what I promised. I united the zith, brought hope, and led them in battle. I fought for Alvadas and I saved many who might have otherwise been lost.”

Sayana waited as the message was relayed. At last the symenestra turned and Sayana caught her gaze with a look of fierce determination. She had done what had been asked. It was time to see if the Seamstress would hold up her end of the deal.

Note to GraderFor clarity’s sake, Malice was actually trampled by an undead monster. Sayana has been abusing her hypnotism skills all season and this was the last straw in which she hallucinated much of that final combat scene. Please don’t award any skill points for her attacks against Malice since it was all in her head. Sayana still believes that she was the one who killed Malice, although she’ll deny it to anyone who asks.

Sayana speaking Zithanese

by **Kaleidoscope** on March 7th, 2016, 2:44 pm

The Symnestran woman regarded Sayana with an unreadable gaze, piercing and uncomfortable. In the noise and commotion of the surrounding battle, the silence that surrounded the two cut to the core. If Sayana wasn't painfully aware of the bloodshed and destruction, she would be now.

The Speaker's slow gaze swept over her, from head to toe. A slow, wide-curling smile split her features, both cruel and dangerously pleasant.
"It seems this suits you." Her voice carried, and she walked forwards, gracefully picking over debris.

As she neared the woman, she spoke again. "You want to be free. In as little or as much words that is what you mean." With an almost curious tilt of her head, she stared at Sayana. "Free from obligation, free from the illusion of constraint. I suppose you never stopped to realise I was freeing you from the constraint of your pitiful existence."

Whatever Sayana could do or say against the other woman would be ineffective. If not for the fact that the exhaustion was plain on her face, but because of the sheer mental presence of the Speaker, dominating the space.

The Zith nearby shifted nervously. When predator meets predator, there is almost always a fight for leadership. Here, it wasn't necessary. The Symnestra was clearly the leader here. With a small but kind gesture however, she gestured to the unknown Zith.

"We won't need you now. Go back to your colony. What I have to say to this creature is for her alone." The Zith moved away, casting a glance back at the two women, so proud, fierce and defiant.

The Speaker moved forwards, leaning in close to Sayana. She smiled again, smile bright yet sharp. "I know what you have done. I know what it is you hide. I know you, and I will remember you." She shared a knowing glance, before reaching delicately to her pocket.

She pulled something out, something that Sayana couldn't see, obscured as her hands were. But in the next blink, the Speaker's hands were clad in fine, scarlet red gloves, covering her fingers up to her wrist-bone. Curiously patterned, it seemed difficult to tell if the colour was that of dye or in fact of blood.

"Not much has changed my opinion of you, creature. But, however begrudgingly, you have played the game set before you. Know this however. This is in no way forgiveness. You are a despicable thing. But you have lead."

The woman's hand lightly caressed across her cheek, and sharp points of pain spread across her where the crimson fingers touched. "You will never be free of the burden of your actions, but this beautiful new visage of yours..." The Speaker let out a soft, dangerous laugh. "I'm almost tempted to keep it, as much as it suits you so terribly well."

"But one such as you is not worthy to carry this skin." And with that, the woman reached forwards with an easy lunge, and pressed her fingers to the place where the needle resided. The touch was subtle, but resonated with pain. It was as if the needle was no longer a needle, but a ragged sword, cutting through the woman's soul and physical body in one.

The Speaker sighed, a disappointed sound. Whether Sayana cried out or not, the other woman would turn away, walking towards the many others who needed her help more than Sayana. Cries of bafflement from the remaining Zith, and backward glances from some Alvads as they passed would show her that she once again was back to 'normal', if one could ever call themselves that.

OOC :

by **Sayana** on March 21st, 2016, 10:48 pm

Sayana held her ground and also her tongue even as the spider spoke cutting words against her. Yes she wanted to be free and in many ways she felt she had earned it after fighting for the Alvads against the undead terrors. A couple times throughout the symenestra’s monologue, Sayana was opened her mouth to speak but she promptly closed it, knowing that what she said would not make a difference and more importantly it would not be heard. Not to the deaf ears of the spider race.

If nothing else, the Speaker craved an audience and a place to perform. In many ways she was like Sayana in that sense. Yet throughout this whole ordeal, Sayana had learned two rather important things. Patience, and being able to hold one’s tongue. Even with the eyes of the other zith on her, she kept her posture firm and her gaze determined. At last the other zith were sent away by the Seamstress and she leaned in to speak words for the Eypharian alone.

“I know what you have done. I know what it is you hide. I know you, and I will remember you.”

For a tick Sayana felt her heart stop, but she fought with all her ability to keep her expression unchanging and blank. No, the symenestra did not have the means to know she had killed Malice. It had been in the thick of the battle, anything could have happened. And the spider was simply here all the way in the South Bastion and away from the intense combat. Least of all would she know of the pure elation Sayana had felt in that moment.

The Seamstress’s next words did not seem to reveal that she knew what had actually happened on the field. Otherwise she would have surely phrased them differently. No, the Seamstress was only mortal. She was not Ionu, nor any other god or goddess.

As the scarlet gloved fingers caressed her cheek, Sayana felt a prickle of pain where the delicate fingers landed. An itch, a distraction, something to make her show weakness. The illusioned zith met the Seamstress’s gaze and bored into her eyes. How she would love to tweak a few of her emotions by unleasing her magic, yet she couldn’t be certain that the spider would not detect it.

At long last, the symenestra was finished her game of intimidation. It had been convincing, yet all along Sayana trusted the Seamstress on one thing. That she would stick to the rules of the game that had been set out. If nothing else, that promise was still met and as the Seamstress reached for the needle there was a sudden razor sharp pain buried deep into Sayana’s chest. She couldn’t hold back the sudden gasp upon her lips, but her eyes blinked fiercely as she fought against the intense pain.

It was soon going to be over. It was going to be over. The pain would subside… She clenched her fists tightly and gritted her teeth trying not to scream out from the fire in her chest. She barely heard the collective gasp as Alvads and zith suddenly saw her original form. But through her blurry vision, she managed to see all six of her hands gripped tightly against the pain. With one hand she wiped away at her eyes and saw the Symenestra turn away to tend to the wounded upon the battlefield.

This was her reward for risking her life on the battlefield for the sake of the city. This was what patriotism offered even when she was a mere visitor to Alvadas. But for now it was enough.

“Thank you,” she uttered softly beneath the din of the battlefield.

Sayana speaking Zithanese

by **Kaleidoscope** on April 18th, 2016, 12:51 pm

Sayana

Skills

Acrobatics: +1
Endurance: +4
Flirting: +1
Hypnotism: +1
Leadership: +2
Planning: +1
Tactics: +3
Weapon: Dagger: +3

Lores

Tactics: Sacrificing some for the benefit of all
The sweet thrill of ending a life
The burden of leadership

Comments
Notes: In the future, please be aware that you have a lot of skill points in Weapon: Dagger, but not in Weapon: Throwing dagger. These are two different skills, which I wasn’t sure if you were aware of or not.

EDIT: Transferred 'Weapon: Throwing dagger' skill point to 'Weapon: Dagger', due to incompetence on my part!

Comments:

Sayana will feel a throbbing pain in her chest for ten days. She will have bruises and various scrapes and scratches from combat that should fade in roughly ten days or longer.
As a result of overgiving, she may experience dreams of killing Malice and enjoying it.
Results: The needle is now no longer inserted in Sayana’s chest. She no longer has possession of it. Her form is returned to normal, and she can speak and interact normally again. For the next two days, she may catch a glimpse of a wing, but it is just a memory of the illusion, and is not actually visible.

Enjoy your grade, and please don't forget to delete/edit out your grade request, and keep your ledger up to date! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a PM.

Solo Everyone Has a Dark Side