Dragon Quest: Heroes of Alfheim

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Flames enveloped the party, and this was pretty bad. Loke began to feel the literal heat as he removed his sword sheath from his back and ran straight through the flames. His endurance and durability were doing well for him, however, the flames pain still harmed him...but it was no where compared to the pain he would have when confronted with pure silver. Now...well...now was a good time as any for Loke to finally reveal who he was.

 

He stopped and leapt from the scorching flames, as he yelled...and before the opposing parties, he began to change form. From his skin, sprouted huge thick strands of dark grey fur. His clothes were ripping as his muscle mass grew with the fur, before long, he even began sporting a tail. When it was all said and done, a loud and deafening howl echoed through the room, as Loke opened his now golden feral eyes, landing on the ground away from the flames. Before them now, he stood not as a man...but as a werewolf/lycanthrope.

 

Standing on all four of his legs, he bared his fangs as he glared at the Tyrantosaurs. A slight grin appeared on his face, as he rushed towards the reptile, as he sank his fangs into the reptile's arm. Within moments he began thrashing around, trying to injure the Tyrantosaurs' tenant. Before too long, he loosened his grip from the reptile's now bleeding arm, grinning widely.

 

"My true power...one you weak pieces of filth couldn't match. The power...that comes from the curse of the werewolf!!!" Loke growled before howling again, as his golden feral eyes turned to the Dragon Priest. And then...a voice spoke forth from Loke, but it wasn't his voice who spoke it.

 

"Tell me...do dragons show signs of fear in the presence of TRUE power?"

[encapturer]

Lumine stood in awe at Loke's transformation... she never saw anything like a werewolf before. There were stories,of course, but seeing one in the flesh is something different. The man-beast was ferocious, swinging things in the party's favor, and Lumine needed to keep things going.

Using the opening Loke made, Lumine cast Bang into Flare. Now enchanted with explosive energy, she sent it flying towards the Hackasaurus' axe. As it was focused on Alessandra, it would not have the chance to stop it from reaching its hilt, hopefully rendering the weapon worthless.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alessandra, distracted as she was with getting to the Dragon Priest as quickly as possible, was hit square in the back by that axe.  Thankfully her armor was strong enough to take the brunt of it and avoid her being cleaved in two, but all the same she was thrown to the ground by it.  As her face smashed against the floor of the cavern, she felt a few teeth dislodge.  The Heir Von Blackmoore soon enough had lifted herself off the ground and spat blood and teeth down.  That Saurian was certainly going to die.

 

Of course the prospect of killing the Hacksaurus was made easier as Lumine's Flare cleaved through the haft of that axe of his, and now the beast was weaponless.  Taking advantage of the brief moment bought her by the Saurian's confusion as to the loss of his weapon, Alessandra leveled her spear against the beast and charged full speed at him.  Of course the beast noticed her, though too late as that legendary weapon of hers showed not a care in the world for the beast's armored scales and sank into its gut.  Gritting her teeth, blood pouring from her mouth where some had been knocked loose, the heiress twisted about the spear within her foe leading to roars of pain.  The creature instinctively reached down to swat her away, and succeeded in striking her only to further move that weapon of hers about inside of it.  The blade on its end was nearly as long as a grown man was tall after all.  

 

Alessandra managed to catch herself before the beast's swipe could send her slamming into a wall, and in moments sword and shielf were in her hands.  With the Hacksaurus trying desperately to get that spear out of its gut, and in all likelihood only doing more damage to it in the process, the Heiress turned her attention on the Dragon Priest and, with a battle cry to make her ancestors proud, charged the creature with all the fury she could muster while those buns her long hair was normally tied into began to come loose.

[Kyng's Old Account]

Once Wyllt had finished beating his hat, the flame had been extinguished, following which he donned it again with a huff. He took this moment to see what had happened. A Werewolf Loke had inflicted a bleeding wound onto the Tyrantosaurus, and Alessandra had taken out the Hacksaurus, thanks to Lumine's blade having destroyed it's axe. This then lead to the tank taking charge for the Dragon Priest. With a smirk, Wyllt stroked his beard before casting Magical Barrier. While the party became enveloped in a brief purple light, their resistance to magical attacks grew, which would be very effective for countering the Priest's counter-attack on the party on the whole. It would definitely aid Alessandra's charge.

 

Of course, though wounded, the Tyrantosaurus saw his master at threat, and proceeded to leap at Alessandra, in an attempt to both take the blow as well as hinder their tank. In hopes to force Alessandra to stagger and suffer the full weight of this large dragon, the dragon took no regard to it's life, showing devotion to it's master as it sacrificed itself.

 

As such, the Dragon Priest scowled. Looking over the party he locked a glare with the werewolf. "Fear is only known to those with something to fear, however..." With this, the Priest leaped into the air before forming a red sphere, a crystalline ball around himself, that soon began to fog up and become opaque. It took a while as it began to let out powerful bursts of energy throughout the room.

 

Wyllt then shouted "He's cocooning himself, and I doubt cracking it will do us any good. We'll take this opportunity to power up, if only briefly." With this, he casted Kabuff in order to power up the party with defensive enchantments. With this, he hoped they'd be able to resist whatever would be coming out of the cocoon. In the event that a party member would attempt to attack the cocoon, they would not that it did no visual damage, and the cocoon itself would then launch an energy burst capable of launching them back into the wall.

 

Eventually it would appear that the cocoon cracked, before bursting open, the shards turning to a beautiful red dust as they fell to the floor, leaving only the new form of the Dragon Priest behind. He was no Dragon, and the title of Priest was most definitely a form of blasphemy when looking upon his new visage: two new arms, all limbs with three digits, creating a very satanic motif. He also boasted a guise with large, powerful wings, beating as he kept himself in the air. The former, humanoid form it had was now gone, replaced by a much larger face, and muscular, demonic build. His skin was now littered in scales, the only flesh exposed being tough and very muscular. Even equipped with a snake's head on it's tail, the creature barked out with a ghastly shriek and a vicious chatter, before unleashing an energy sphere attack around him. While not affecting the party, the room's atmosphere changed significantly. The entirety of the room's colour darkened to a crimson red. Some of the walls cracked, revealing chambers with lava falling from them. It was as if this particular chamber was coated in a layer of magma, though the rock did well to keep the heat away.

 

With all this said and done, the creature smirked and snarked back to Loke "...a Nadirian knows no fear, for we are fear incarnate!" His taunt them followed by a peculiar attack. He created six orbs of dark energy, and proceeded to launch them at the party. Wyllt and Lumine had the privilege of having to evade only one, but with Alessandra's tanking role, and Loke's enhanced damage output, they would have to contend with two of these orbs of compressed energy. Should any of the orbs connect, they would create a powerful, but short lasting sensation of numbness to the struck part of the body, as well as the damage they dished out as well.

 

Of course this would not be all there is to it. The Demon then proceeded to follow this up with another attack, a physical one at that. Propelling itself for Alessandra, the beast attempted to rush attack her. If he succeeded in doing so, this would follow with it slashing her twice with its deadly claws. Either way, after the rush it would proceed to blink itself back to where it originally stood, grinning to the party as it forced them to come for him, enabling it a defensive response.

[encapturer]

Lumine grinned as Alessandra took advantage of her opening, and turned her attention back to the Dragon Priest.  Drawing her blades close once again, Lumine prepared to assist Loke against the Dragon Priest.  Unfortuately, the defeated Tyrantosaurus decided to block Alessandra's charge, so Lumine used the remaining energy within Flare to strike the beast, pushing off its target.

 

Yet, it was too late.  Before the knight could reach her target, the Dragon Priest floated into the air... and started doing... something.  "He's cocooning himself, and I doubt cracking it will do us any good," Wyllt explained.  Lumine felt a little uneasy, considering how Wyllt worded that phrase, but she nodded in response, taking the time to prepare, casting into her blades three times.  With Flare once again holding the explosive magic of Bang, she readied herself as the Dragon Priest emerged from his shell.

 

His new appearance was frightening.  But what was most noticible to Lumine was what the priest said upon emerging.  "That line is so lame," she said, nonplussed, only to be put on the defensive again as the flying monstrosity fired off multiple energy orbs at the party.  Lumine had no antimagic spells, and Flare wasn't enchanted with Buff, so Lumine had to rely on her cape.  She didn't take it head on, but at the angle it was coming at her, all she could do was turn to the side and have the orb slide off the cape as it struck the ground.  Looking up once more, she saw the enemy rush Alessandra, but the creature was so fast that it warped back to it's original location before Lumine's blades could strike him.  Stepping forward alongside with her weapons floating up ahead of her, Lumine outstretched her hands, swinging them in a large circle as both Shredder and Flare flanked the Dragon Priest on both sides, quickly closing in on him.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alessandra, fast though she was, was nowhere near quick enough to both make her charge to the Dragon Priest while avoiding the Tyrantosaurus' counter charge.  She had to make a decision, and the one that she made was for her own safety.  She stopped her charge, and leaped back so that instead of the Saurian striking her he had the misfortune to smash headlong into a wall and deal enough damage to himself to take him out of the fight.  Thus it was that Alessandra was free to witness their main quarry levitating into the air, and she took the old man's advice of staying back rather than striking at it.  The time she was granted by doing so was used to return her sword and shield to their places and from there retrieve her spear from the mortally wounded Hacksaurus' belly.  The beast was in shock, and liable to bleed to death before long, so she paid no attention to it after that.

 

Of course what she DID pay attention to was what emerged when that crystaline cocoon shattered and unleashed the Nadirian's true form.  In response, she smirked before...laughing.  Yes, the Heiress laughed aloud as the beast made his true appearance known.  It was a laugh of pure excitement, and as those two orbs of compressed energy came forth she spun about the Lanze so that instead of striking her they pounded against the flat of the blade.  There was a slight green flash, and the magic simply vanished without much effect at all.  Thus it was that as this beast charged her, she was fully able to retaliate.

 

As the beast came within reach and tried to strike at her, Alessandra used that spear of hers to great effect.  A single sweep of the weapon from left to right brought the blade cleaving through the Nadirian's first clawed hand, and the momentum from that was used to spin her about so that as the second slash came the weapon's tip was being driven out to drive into the demon's palm.  In both cases of the weapon contacting its scaly skin, the armor proved as nothing against the weapon's inexorable destructive power.  She suspected that as soon as the beast noticed the pain of its wounded hands it would have less reason to grin at them.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Loke grinned as he watched Nadirian reveal his true form, sending forth two orbs. As expected Alessandra stopped the attack by her blade's flat side, which was not surprising. The werewolf turned his direction back to the orb, as he quickly sped away from it, dodging it on his left, jumping from the wall and landing back in the same spot he stood in.

 

"Oh well this is nice to see." Loke growled with a laugh. "This means...NOW I won't have to hold back!!" And with this, Loke propelled himself towards Nadirian as Alessandra blocked the attack he sent, as he slashed his chest and dug his claws right into it. He grunted as he swung his arm and slammed Nadirian into the ground, as he grinned, laughing a bit maniacally.

 

"So, scale face...between you and me...how good are your odds right now...against a TRUE monster?!"

[Kyng's Old Account]

Feeling the powerful explosive power of Lumine's blades the Nadirian winced, the pain quite something; though he would be able to take much more than what he was currently contending with, as to be anticipated. As such, glaring over to Alessandra, it remained completely unphazed by her laughter as well as the party's confidence. The Nadirian was far too sure that it would win, and thus had no reason to fear the four.
 
Indeed the spear's sting into his palms brought a wince of pain to the Nadirian, and it took the tackle straight from the wolf, as well as had to take the slash he dished out to his chest; but watching the wolf gloat and laugh, the Nadirian hissed with a rush of energy - Loke had not paid attention and had thus fell prey to it's tail, the snake head of the limb biting into his flesh with great force, and injecting a powerful paralysing poison throughout the wolf. With a smirk he hissed to Loke, "You're too cocky."
 
With this, he exerted something that could not be described as anything less as a demonic force upon Loke, using ruthless force to launch him straight for Alessandra with a powerful smash. He then looked to his pierced hands and laughed, licking it up as he watched the tip of the Lanze melt; this creature's blood was nothing less than acidic.
 
Wyllt grunted as he ran over to Loke. "Hold on Wolfie, I've got yeh." He said with a chuckle as he promptly casted Squelch upon him. The effects would not be immediate, but the poison would dissolve, and it's effects in due course would were off. With this in mind Wyllt brought his attention to the Lanze with a frown. "He's enjoying spilling his blood. We need to focus on different tactics." With a turn to Lumine he called over and said "We need to change our tactics! Penetrative damage is too risky, he'll destroy our tools. We need to do traumatic damage - like smashes, and blows, rather than stabs and slash-!!"
 
Wyllt soon found himself being brutally swatted by the Nadirian's tail, propelled into the cave's wall and smacking quite harshly from it. Albeit slightly comedic, it was a harsh hit on the old sage. "You need to stop talking, or you'll get hurt." The Nadirian commented as he began to breath a vicious hell-fire. Wyllt could not take this attack head on without suffering stern damage this time. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the intense heat filling up the room.

[encapturer]

Lumine winced as she saw the creature's acidic blood splashed upon the ground.  Not wanting for her prized blades to be damaged from the acid, she pulled them closer to her.  Sure, a Buff-infused Flare could probably withstand such punishment, but Shredder would not.

 

"I have an idea, if you all can keep him..." Lumine said in response to Wyllt, only to turn to see that the old sage had disappeared from his location.  "Huh?"  Before she could respond, the Nadirian struck him, slamming the sage against the wall.

 

"Wyllt!"  Lumine called out, rushing to his location.  Before she could do anything else, she noticed Wyllt bracing for some sort of attack.  "What are you..." Lumine said, spinning around only to see the monster breathing fire upon the pair.  All she could do in those few moments was raise her cloak to help disperse the flames; she couldn't stay under the heat for long. 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

"I didn't ask for your help, short-stack..." Loke growled as he slowly got up, after his venomous strike by the Nadirian. Oh...it was definitely on now. Before he went to strike, however, Wyllt mentioned this.

 

"We need to change our tactics! Penetrative damage is too risky, he'll destroy our tools. We need to do traumatic damage - like smashes, and blows, rather than stabs and slash-!!"

 

With that, the dwarf-sized man was struck up against the wall, and the fire breathing began again. Loke had enough with this demonic piece of filth, as he growled and rushed towards the Nadirian, knowing the beast would strike him with his tail...exactly what he wanted. If the Nadirian successfully tried to strike Loke with his tail, the beast would fall into the werewolf's plan.

 

In his paws, Loke gripped the demonic beast's tail and then proceeded to swing the Nadirian around, slamming him into the walls and the ground. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Whose cocky now, you piece of filth?!" Loke grinned in a sadistic way, as he slung the Nadirian into the wall once more.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alessandra had problems to deal with very quickly, namely the lycanthrope being thrown at her.  Deciding to demonstrate her own strength, she briefly released her hold of her weapon and held her arms up to catch the beast.  Of course the impact did push her back, but there was a reason this daughter of nobility was effectively the group's tank.  The end result of this was that the paralyzed lycanthrope was in an ideal position to get back on his feet once that spell of Wyllt's had done it's job.

 

Hearing the hiss of acid on the tip of the Lanze, Alessandra scowled and drove the weapon into the ground before pulling it back out.  The stone floor did well to remove the acid from the weapon, and was now experiencing some dissolution of its own.  Powerful a weapon as it was, the Lanze had experienced little in the way of damage from the blood upon it.  All the damage that could be seen took the form of small pores where the acidic blood had sat in particularly large globules.  

 

And of course then the beast unleashed that gout of flames upon them, and they were forced to play on the defensive for the most part.  Considering that Lumine had the least amount of protection from such an attack, the heiress rushed to her side and, holding out the Lanze, used most of the blade to shield Lumine from the worst of it while a free hand grabbed that heater shield from her back and hurled it such that it would stick in the ground in front of Wyllt and grant him some more protection from the flames.  Of course this did result in her taking much more of the attack than was ideal, but again taking damage and fighting on was something she was good at.  

[encapturer]

"T-thanks..." Lumine said to Alessandra once it was safe to do so.  What she did was really dangerous, and it's only thanks to her cloak she survived as long as she did.  Looking back, Lumine should have waited for Alessandra to defend Wyllt in the first place, and yet she impulsively jumed in.

 

Looks like I still have much to learn.

 

Thanks to Loke, the flames were no longer an immediate threat, but Lumine knew there had to be something the others can do.  When Loke smashed the Nadirian into the wall, it seemed like it was ready to crumble at any moment.  The chamber wasn't a natural formation, either, which means causing a cave-in wouldn't be too difficult.  A few of the support pillars even got a bit of the acidic blood on them, which was eating through some of the material.  Using a bit of her magic reserves, Lumine cast Bang on one such pillar, causing it to fall apart.  And the chamber definitely looked less stable because of it.

 

"Alright, as I was trying to say before, can you stop that monster from moving?"  Lumine asked the group.  She didn't want to say outloud what her plan was since the Nadirian was right there, but she hoped her little 'experiment' caught the eyes of the others.

[Kyng's Old Account]

Wyllt smiled as he got up from the floor, the flames now extinguished thanks to Loke having taken on the Nadirian full force. With this Wyllt immediately casted Moreheal upon Alessandra. Healing the Tank was a tried and tested practise with almost always positive results. "Lass, you're a heck of a fighter." Wyllt thanked her, very happy they had lasted against the blazing rage of the demon.

 

Of course, with Loke smashing the Nadirian against the structured room, it began to crumble. Lumine took advantage of this and used Bang upon a Pillar, letting it fall down into rubble, the rest of the ceiling beginning to fall in on the battlefield. With a scowl Wyllt stoked his beard and listened to Lumine, before thinking for a moment. "I don't think we can slow him down, sugar." The old sage began to speak, but then he let out a chuckle as he pointed to Loke, who seemed to be having fun smashing the demon against the wall over and over. "However, it won't be long before Wolfy beats the wind out of this demon."

 

With this a lightbulb sparked over Wyllt's head. "Ah hah!" He proclaimed. With a small prospector-esque leap and cheer he went to pat Lumine's rear, partially due to not being tall enough to reach her back. If he drew her attention he'd call over for Alessandra's, as he said "You need to pull Loke away from the Nadirian at the right time. When that is done, Lumine and I will deal with demolition work." Wyllt then glanced over to the Mer as he wagged his finger. "I'll cast Kazammle to deal the last blow, hopefully it'll stop the Nadirian from making any other motion. Then use your Bang trick again, and that'll finish off the room. Afterwards, we'll have to get the heck out of here!"

[encapturer]

Lumine nodded.  "Sounds good," she said, keeping her eyes on the battle.  As she watched, she manipluated Shredder back into its sheath; it would not be needed thanks to its inability to store magic... and there was no way Lumine was going to risk leaving it behind when the place collapses.  With just moments before the plan was to be put into action, Lumine tested the link between her and the otherwise ornamental Dancer's Blades.  And Flare circled Lumine, ready to be sprung into action at any moment.  With all the pieces in play, Lumine took one step forward and reinforced her link with her Dancer's blades; using them alongside of Flare was going to be difficult for someone with two arms, but she did it before - she can do it a third time.

 

And this time, it will actually be her goal to break as much stuff as she can.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"Get wolf-boy out of the way, got it!"  Alessandra smirked at what Wyllt had suggested she do, and she rushed into action.  Charging full force, she made it appear that she was going to rush the Nadirian and drive that spear somewhere unpleasant on it.  This, of course, wasn't her plan.  Well, it wasn't the entirety of her plan anyways.  With Loke holding the Nadirian as he was, and undoubtedly winding up for another swing of that beast to send it into the wall, Alessandra had quite the idea to use.  She timed her movement such that she came alongside the werewolf in time with his preparation to slam the demon against the wall or ground again, and she made her move then.

 

"Wolf-boy, we gotta get out of here now!"  She screamed at the top of her lungs while bringing the blade of her spear around in a hard arc towards that venomous tail.  She happened to do this just as the Lycanthrope was just about to reach the end of that swing, so that instead of merely being slammed the creature was thrown against whatever their furry friend had intended it to be struck against.  Following this, she ducked down and slammed a shoulder into the Lycanthrope's gut before rising such that he wound up slung over it like a sack of potatoes, and only then did she begin running back to where Wyllt and Lumine were waiting.  "Whatever you two are gonna do, do it now!"  Her shout rang out through the cavern while the blade of her spear, held in one hand, dug a deep gash into the rocky floor.  Of course all of this was dependent upon her guess as to Loke's next action being correct.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Loke growled wildly as he laughed like a mad man, swinging the Nadirian around like it was a rag-doll. However his fun was cut short...courtesy of Alessander.

 

"Wolf-boy, we gotta get out of here now!"

 

Before Loke could do anything, the crazy woman dove her shoulder right into his gut, as he was being dragged out of the fight. It wasn't long until Loke's transformation, on the count of him beginning to relax, started reverting the beast back to his human form. With his weight now slowly reducing, he began to slide off Alessander's shoulder, as he hit the ground. He slowly stood up, after regathering his clothing items as well as his personal belongings, glaring at Alessander.

 

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you..." Loke spoke coldly as he looked back towards Wyllt. "Midget...go ahead for whatever your planning..."

[Kyng's Old Account]

Witnessing what happened, Wyllt could not hold back a laughter as he watched Alessandra sink her shoulder straight into Loke's gut, as well as Alessandra on the whole. Firstly, he enjoyed how the wolf, while thinking he was seemingly invincible and unstoppable, was rushed straight by the team's impressive tank, but on the whole Wyllt simply enjoyed the electric atmosphere Alessandra's spunk created. It sent those little jolts of youth straight back into his blood stream, and it gave him a burst of energy he very much so relished. Alessandra knew how to do her job, and exceptionally well, but she managed to do it with a smile, and this positive energy certainly radiated over the elderly sage.

 

With Loke stumbling, Wyllt chuckled in retort. "If ya go wolfy in another room, we may just 'ave too!" The sage stack his tongue at Loke teasingly before scowling with concentration. His staff aimed towards the Nadirian's form, which was stuck to the floor from it's injuries, Wyllt barked out Kazammle as a pitch black orb of stygian lightning sparked and struck the Nadirian, if not fatal damage, enough to most definitely blow the wind out of him. With this Wyllt let out a couple of "kekeke"s as he looked to Lumine. "Alright, sugar, do your stuff; everyone else, get a move on!" Wyllt said with a smirk, leaving the remainder of the task of her; with an attempt to spank her rear, Wyllt began to rush-waddle out of the cave, his short legs not giving him much bursts of speed. Even assuming Lumine took her time to blow up the room, she'd still be able to out-speed the old sage as he ran in an attempt to avoid a cave-in.

[encapturer]

Lumine flinched as Alessandra struck Loke; her shoulder slam to the gut looked so strong that Lumine felt it.  Once Alessandra had Loke safely on her shoulder, Lumine shook off her surprise and pulled out her two Dancer's Blades from under her cloak.  Adding Flare to their numbers, Lumine now maipulated three Scrae Blades simultaneously.

 

"Got it!" Lumine yelled once Wyllt gave the signal for her to go.  It was a dazzling display, with each pillar that broke apart an associated light flash went off as well, starting from the far side of the room.  Once the two Dancer's blades' magic power was expended, she drew them back into her sheath while Flare continued to wreak havoc.  The Nadirian would be frantic no doubt with what was happening to his chamber over the course of those scant few seconds.

 

The chamber was now on its last leg, figuratively and literally.  As she ran towards the entrance, Lumine used the last bit of power inside of Flare to loose a blast of explosive energy to destroy the last pillar, finishing the job.  The rumblings became even louder at this point, which was Lumine's signal to join the others and flee.  All while laughing like a maniac.

 

"AHHhahahaha!  How's that for going out with a bang!"

[Kyng's Old Account]

With a chuckle Wylt started to dance like a happy prospector, shouting "Yipee!"s and "Yahoo!"s, all the while with occasional beatings of his hat onto the floor as the gang would eventually make their way out of the cave in the rift, and back to the maw of the crevice. Naturally, the Great Dragon was waiting patiently outside for them, who would then eventually offer them a way out of the crevice. With this the party would then see themselves on the move from the crevice back to the humble town of Tourp again, except this time rather than being greeted by a town full of terrified citizens whom all feared the wrath of a vicious Dragon, but instead a large crowd, cheering them as the "Heroes of Tourp" who had freed them from the nightmarish situation that they had been put in. The Mayor of the town told them they knew they'd be successful, and watching the vast fleeing dragons from the ravine marked their victory - he did not forget to discuss a reward, of course!

 

For Alessandra, the town's blacksmith re-sharpened her weapon. His eyes grew wide as he glanced over it. "Bloody 'ell, this is nuffin' less than a mastahpiece!" The man praised the spectacular Lanze, getting to fashioning and tempering with it almost immediately, giddy and content to be blessed with an opportunity to work on a legendary weapon like the Blackmoore Lanze. His assistant was fascinated by the girl, and indeed did his best to ask her about her name and the powerful weapon she had with her. He was clearly impressed, so much so he offered her a recently crafted, beautiful shield. While unable to deflect magic, the shield itself could be used in battle - when activating it, it would heavily boost her defence and her magical defence.

 

Loke was taken to one of the jewellers, who presented him with a powerful accessory, a unique armlet. With a grin he bent on one knee and bowed before Loke, presenting the armlet in his hands overhead. "Oh great Hero of Tourp, please take this humble Mighty Armlet on your journeys! It is a family heirloom my grandfather used in a war, it bolstered his attack tremendously; and no-one could use such a piece better than you, oh great Hero!" He was clearly very eccentric with his performance, potentially to even off-put people, though the tool he offered was definitely legitimate; it would boost the damage output that he could use. Though it might break upon shifting into a Werewolf, it was clearly a powerful piece.

 

Lumine, the magical damaging expert and exotic Spellblade, was gifted two pieces to complement her dancer style. Her more approachable physique brought many children to flock her and praise her, two siblings offering her a dagger she could use, just in case, which when equipped boosted her magical power, as well as a young girl presenting her a magical circlet she could adorn herself with, which boosted magical damage and agility, quite adept for the kind of fighter she was. She was quite the fan favourite, though somewhat unsurprising, since Merfolk were by nature had an underlying animal magnetism due to their inherent beauty, however she was also one of the heroes who had saved the entirety of the town.

 

Wyllt was given a new staff by the Mayor, this being a less wooden, more stone-like sceptre that seemed to bear the powerful of a volcano of sorts. In use it would spew fire, akin to the Nadirian they had fought prior. Wyllt did question why no-one had used this to fight the dragon off earlier, to which the Mayor replied it required those in tune with magic to use. It seemed quite obvious, but it did stroke Wyllt's ego a tad. Not only this, but Wyllt was also given 4 purses of 6250 gold, to be distributed between the four; however Wyllt also bartered a free night's stay at the in, to which the Mayor arranged simply enough with gratitude.

 

After the night had passed, the goal of the Heroes would be revealed to be complete - the Echoes of the town of Tourp had ceased. However, they couldn't rest so easily. Word had gotten around about these adventurers, and a courier from the next town over, Yule, delivered them a letter attached with a chart. In the inn's pub, each Hero getting a nice plate full of chicken and bread, Wyllt decided to read it out to them.

 

"For the ears of the Heroes of Tourp only: you have completed your quest assigned to the King. We greatly appreciate your talent and aid to Alfheim, but ask of you a request - the route to the capital city of Alfheim leads through our city of Yule, and like our neighbouring town of Tourp, we too have been experiencing these Echoes. It has changed the atmosphere of our town greatly. Unlike Tourp, who outright ignored the echoes and did their best to cover it up, our city's Mayor, Noel Yule, has had many residents executed on the grounds of causing these horrid whispers. I fear for the safety of our people. Please, can you stop this madness? Please find attached a map to our city. Sincerely, Mayoral Secretary, Nicholas"

 

Handing the letter and rolling out the map Wyllt huffed a little. "Well someone seems cranky. I don't think we can leave this outright call for help unheeded, can we?"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Loke took the Mighty Armlet, as he quickly put it on. A family heirloom...giving something such as this that held great significance to them to him was something that he truly did not expect. However...the phrase: "Hero of Tourp" and "great Hero" was words he was never known by before.

 

He quickly turned around, as he mumbled a thanks to the man, walking back towards the group. Hero...? That's a new one... I've never been known as a hero of anywhere. he said, as he shuffled his feet, his mind thinking about the "Hero" talk. Loke was never the type to be called a hero...hell he never exactly worked in a group like this either...BOTH were verily new to him. What does this mean now...?

 

"I'll tell you what it means, Loke...it means your beginning to get soft~"

 

Loke paused as he sighed, shaking his head as the unwelcoming voice that was Fen was heard once again. I don't believe I asked your opinion, beast.

 

"Of course you didn't...neither did that scalie loser. I mean, how else were you supposed to kick his sorry tail?~ Oh...but how would I even know about that...unless I GAVE you my opinion~"

 

The human clenched his fists, as he took a deep breath. It began to make sense now, there was a slight moment where Loke didn't have any recollection of what occurred at that time...now with Fen's outburst...it made total sense. Loke just kept walking, not feeding into Fen's ploy, whatever it was.

 

He soon reached Wyllt, as he talked about their NEXT mission. Loke huffed as he waved his hand in the air, in an uncaring manner. "Do whatever...I don't care..."

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alessandra rode back to town in high spirits, hardly able to contain her excitement at having faced, and bested, a Nadirian in combat.  When the dragon landed, she was the first to proclaim their deeds to the populace.

 

"People of Tourp," She began, her voice loud like a crier's, "within the chasm to which we delved, a great demon resided.  We engaged this demon in battle, and slew him!  I believe that beast to have been the cause of your ills, and if it was not then we shall not rest until we have found and eliminated the true cause of them!"  Following her proclamation, the lot of them met with the mayor of the town and she was sent on her way to the Blacksmith.  She smiled proudly at the Blacksmith's praise of her weapon, and had some praise of her own to give.  "You are the first I've seen who is properly able to mend the blade, aside from myself of course.  I would be more than happy to bring the Lanze back to you for repairs if it should need them."

 

Of course she did not leave the Blacksmith's shop at all while her spear was worked on, and this of course meant she spent a good bit of time around his assistant.  She was more than happy to speak with the boy.

 

"I am Alessandra von Blackmoore, and that spear is the Lanze von Blackmoore.  It is a weapon at least as old as the conflict with the Nadirians, and depending upon the origin story one believes it could very well be older."  When the assistant asked for further details, she smiled and said that in the tavern that night she would tell a story to all who would hear it.  When she was presented with the shield, she was about to decline...only to realize that her own had been lost in the cavern.  With a noticeable blush on her face, she took the enchanted bulwark and went on her way.

 

True to her word, that night she told a story of the Lanze's origin to the tavern.  She spoke of how an ancestor of hers had engaged a great Nadirian Lord in battle and had tried to wield magic against him, only for his mysterious black spear to obliterate the spells and leave its master unharmed.  Thus, her ancestor had instead engaged the demon in melee and managed to disarm him before ramming that spear through his neck and decapitating the beast.  Thus the spear was proof of the strength mortals wielded.  She went to bed, more than a little drunk, not long after sharing that story.

 

The next morning Alessandra was nursing a splitting headache, and eating a bowl of a local cure for hangovers.  It was some sort of stew made from the organs of a sheep.  Its taste wasn't much to speak of, but if it worked she'd eat anything.  Regardless, she did reply to Wyllt's question about their next course of action.

 

"No...we can't let a call for help go unheeded.  Though I'd ask that we not leave until I've gotten rid of this headache..."

[encapturer]

Lumine was surprised at the reward she recieved, and not being one to spurn gifts, she accepted them gladly.  The money was expected, but the children's gifts were something special.  She immediately wore the circlet and placed the dagger into her bag, resolving to get a sheath for it custom made the next day.  As thanks, Lumine put on a short show for the townspeople.  Since she was worn out from the fight, she stuck to the basic routines, but everyone enjoyed her performace regardless.  It made Lumine glad that she kept with her training and did not merely slip back into her old ways when she was younger.

 

Lumine got to bed late and exhausted, and thus woke up after them; even after Alessandra, who seemed hung over that morning.  Once Lumine joined the group at the table for food, the courier arrived before Lumine even had a chance to take a bite.  The news contained within was... depressing to say the least.  Lumine herself was unsure if she could restrain herself from killing that mayor if and when they met, even though she knows that she should give him a chance to explain first.  Probably.

 

Once Alessandra agreed to go help, Lumine chimed in.  "I agree with her," she said, pointing to Alessandra.  "Well not with the headache part."  Lumine paused for a bit before realizing how insensitive she sounded.  "I mean, I don't have a headache, but we should wait until Aless feels better.  Yeah."  Lumine then began to tear through her food; she didn't want to delay getting to Yule, after all.

[Kyng's Old Account]

"Ah, Wolfie, ever the lively adventure seeker." Wyllt chuckled to Loke's comment, the initial bothering nature of the werewolf's attempt to sound uncaring and aloof now simply being part of the charm that made up the boy, in Wyllt's eyes at least. He wasn't too surprised by his reaction, though - a werewolf was probably so accustomed to death that really life didn't mean that much to him anymore. Of course, this was just Wyllt's assumption; he didn't know Loke from Adam, though the wolf's attitude would likely keep their relationship at that point and nothing really further or deeper.

 

Watching Alessandra down her sheep innards, Wyllt smiled softly and heard her word on the matter. He was to comment, though Lumine chimed in with a quick statement in agreement. Wyllt chuckled a little regarding the headache insensitivity, knowing it was accidental as hinted by the soft and light nature of his chuckle. With that he nodded in agreement, too, but on both accounts. "We should take care of our Lady's head before we go and tread down to Yule. It is a fairly straight road, from how the maps align, plus that fair has caught my eye quite the bit. Worth investigating if we get the free time."

 

With this he snickered and rubbed his hands together. "Afterwards we'll get going back to the King and get our reward for such a quest! Keekeekee, ehehehe!" Wyllt did fancy himself a nice bit of spending money; but back on track with the plan of things Wyllt ordered Alessandra a mug of water to sooth her headache. "If I had a miracle cure on me, I'd give it to you sugar." Wyllt said somewhat apologetically as he handed her the mug in an offering gesture.

[encapturer]

"A... fair?"

Lumine raised an eyebrow.  She didn't know the local customs at all, but fairs are always good.  "Too bad I didn't know of this before; I'd have prepared a routine for them.  It is a shame, though..." Lumine began, before suddenly becoming silent.  'It is a shame, that those people have to live in fear of suddenly being killed for no reason at all, even though they should be enjoying the fair...' she thought to herself, before standing up from the table.

 

"Excuse me, I need to take care of something," Lumine said before hurrying out of the inn, leaving her half-eaten meal behind.  She quickly made her way to the shops, where she began shopping for a second, non-magical dagger.  The main thing she was checking was if it had a sheath, and if it fit the magical dagger she was given before.  The shopkeeper were confused, they suggested making a sheath for her new dagger, which would be simple enough, but Lumine insisted on getting a dagger as well.  She soon found one that fit her needs and purchased it with some of her reward money.

 

Now with a second dagger in her posession, she set the sheathed dagger on her waist, leaving the magical one in her bag.  She was still working out what she would do once she reached Yule, leaving her a little distracted as she left the shop, making her way back to the inn.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alessandra was very quick to take the mug of water and down it almost all in one gulp before going back to that hearty organ stew of hers.  It certainly was rich, and had plenty of nice starchy vegetables mixed in.  She was somewhat upset that she'd not been able to convince the tavern keeper to fix up her father's hangover cure, mainly because the tavern keeper was repulsed by the idea of mixing cows blood with scalded milk and garlic.  Strange as it was, the thing would get rid of a hangover in minutes.  Still, she could already feel that local stew starting to work its magic on her.  It would likely only take a few more minutes before she was ready to go.

 

"So there's a fair at the town were going to eh?"  She said, before spooning another mouthful of organs and broth into her mouth.  Of course she swallowed it before continuing to speak.  "Maybe we ought to take advantage of that and see what we can learn about the cause of these Echoes in Yule.  Odds are there's another Nadirian in hiding there since one was the cause of them here.  There's probably people that know more than they think they do whom we could speak with."