The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The scorpion on the left, unhindered, managed to land an attack on the overwhelmed Ryia. She caught a claw to the side and was lifted off of the ground a full foot. After this it started to squeeze, trying to cut through the girl's armor. On her right the other scorpion pulled its stinger back again and thrust forward, the tip aiming for Ryia's face.

 

Keres noticed this and cursed. She turned with the crossbow aimed and realized that she wouldn't be able to hit. It'd be hard enough if she were a good aim but as she was she'd likely just hit the girl instead.

Then she saw something rush past her as the stranger leapt up and brought his sword in an arc, cutting the stinger off the creature on the right and, much like earlier, landing on its back. This time he didn't have time or space to position himself so he simply brought his blade down across the scorpion's back. It moved backwards as it tried to shake him off and he crouched low to keep balanced.

 

Keres, hoping someone would be able to help Ryia better than her, reluctantly turned. The southern scorpion was headed straight for Anis and, though Gilly, claiming a desire to show off her "Hero power" got between them, Keres didn't want to leave it at that. She fired another bolt at the scorpion, injuring it and, with the arrow in it already, slowing its advance considerably.

 

The water mage groaned, her shoulder becoming sore from the recoil on the crossbow. It was slight but, for the untrained, it was starting to wear on her.

 

The monster before Reinaan took some time to get over the sudden flames but it still seemed intent on killing the group. Food was hard to come by and it was getting harder every day. The scorpions couldn't resist a potential meal.

 

The scorpion swung both its claws at Reinaan in an attempt to grab him but it failed. The small Draken managed to get up close and personal to the scorpion. And, as he made his attack, the scorpion lashed out with its tail...

 

With one claw lost and both its tail and legs injured, the scorpion was a bit wobbly as it turned around to face Lindow. It seemed a bit lopsided, favoring its right side, as its claw came across at Lindow, snapping towards the human.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Map

 

mkay so...Ryia was grabbed, but mystery man injured the one who was going to stab her.

Southern scorp is hurting but still on its way (also Nai try and specify where you're shooting)

The scorp both Reinaan and Lindow are fighting are still going but very much injured

And the others are closing in again.

 

 

[Andx]

As the Draken moved in to attack the scorpion attempted to intercept him with both its claws. However the boy was fast and small enough to slip through the attempt without injury. However it wasn't out of the fight yet and it moved its tail to stab the Fire Chosen with its stinger. While he saw it begin to move, Reinaan's sprint was still going strong and his claws and spear were both positioned to attack. He wouldn't have the time to attempt to deflect the blow and so he stayed committed to the original plan of attack. He leaned into the run and both weapons found their mark as they ran through the scorpion's face. However he hadn't been fast enough to avoid the incoming tail and so was stung squarely in the back. His muscles contracted painfully as the stinger entered. The sensation was similar to when his neck had been stabbed though thankfully this wasn't affecting his breathing.The scorpion fell lifeless and the boy's flame claws quickly retreated as streams of fire gathered back to his core. With a small roar the boy quickly turned about and ripped the stinger out of his back.

 

"Dammit..." he swore as he felt about the wound. More than anything he was initially upset at the hole in his prized jacket. As he brought his hand back it was a deep red as the blood reflected dimly off the liquid over his black scales. But there was hardly time to stop and consider the effects of the sting. As he looked around he saw more scorpions approaching and most importantly Ryia floating in the air. She was being held in in one of the scorpion's claws as it attempted to crush her. Her armor had delayed the effort but it wouldn't hold forever.

 

The boy steadied himself as he held his spear now with both hands. Another charge ensued as he moved to the Earth Chosen's aid, his spear tip leading the way. He passed by the stranger fighting another scorpion toward his actual target. Using his momentum initially, then his weight and strength after, the spear connected with the side of the beast and pierced through it's external armor.

[Hälō]

With his foe still seeming determined to make a meal out of him, Lindow could do nothing to but oblige the scorpion as it came for him with it's single remaining claw. Dodging the strike with a quick pivot and forward step, he hastily removed the claw used to attack with a downwards stroke with the cleaver. 

 

His intention was to end the battle there. Though before he could draw his dagger and bring it down on the creature's face, it's tail lashed out at just before he could complete the strike...

 

The blazing heat from the sun and the strain from wielding the Bandit's Cleaver were beginning to take their toll on the man now. His breathing growing rugged, the witch hunter hastily dodge to the side, before swinging the Bandit's upwards into the monster's face, watching as it's life with an insectile screech. 

 

Panting Lindow rolled his shoulder and attempted to regain his composure. His mind drifted to Bandit Chief and marveled at how easily he had been wielding the Bandit's Cleaver against the chosen. The man's stamina most have been even more monstrous than they thought...

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Tch!"

 

Anis' arrow missed the advancing scorpion (10), and she became closer and closer to reach Gilly. Thankfully, a crossbow bolt from Keres managed to hit it. While it was not fatal, it considerably slowed down its advance. Anis wasted no time, and fired another arrow towards it as Gilly seemed to be winding up, seemingly finally getting into the battle situation, although Anis was unsure yet. In the meantime, Shirin continuously gave Anis update regarding the stranger, who didn't notice Anis calling out to him earlier, and said that he was now helping Ryia who was being grabbed by one of the scorpions. It seemed that it was imperative that she also needed to take note of the situation on the other sides.

 

"Gilly! Can you hear me? Please, now's your chance to attack that thing with your ice spears!"

 

---

[Alaina]

While the scorpion's claw had loosened up, she was still suspended in mid-air. Trying to take advantage of this opportunity the girl struck at the claw with her mace, only to find it too difficult to break apart. Trying to figure the way out of this grip, there was only one other thing that the girl could be able to do, and that was pry herself out. Moving her arms back, with great strength, she started to push the claws apart, freeing herself from its grasp. Pushing away, the girl rolled across the sand, getting some in her armor, before standing back up and going to strike back at the creature.  

 

Not wanting to get grappled again, the girl had decided to go and strike it at the side opposite the one Reinaan was occupying. Striking at the creature's far leg, after many swings, the girl had managed to break the leg off, causing the creature to become a bit more lopsided. While the girl was about to strike another leg,the creature's stinger came down to try and skewer her. Managing to block it, Ryia then decided to strike and take care of the stinger itself, striking at it with her mace and causing the carapace around it to become battered.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The scorpion between Reinaan and Ryia seemed to be struggling. Its life was fading away and it was damaged in several areas. However it couldn't escape so it tried to flail around in a last ditch effort for survival.

It turned its body around, trying to bowl over Ryia with its tail while trying to hit Reinaan with a claw. However if the Draken kept his grip on the spear he would simple be dragged to the side.

 

However it was then that the effects of the scorpion's sting appeared. It started with a painful sensation at the point where he was stung. However soon after a numbness began to spread across his upper back, into his shoulders, causing it to be harder to lift his arms. As it turned out the poison in the Scorpion's stingers was some sort of paralysis that was now spreading in the area of injection.

 

Anis once more shot an arrow at the approaching scorpion. It struck the creature as it pressed forward. Its body now a pincushion of bolts and arrows, the beast seemed to not be entirely stable as it reached Gilly, lunging at the small girl atop of Hob.

 

Standing on top of the scorpion to the north, the stranger was having difficulty staying up as the scorpion rocked back and forth. Noticing another approaching from the north, he decided to leap off of the beast. As he did he brought his sword in an arc, severing two of the creature's legs.

It tilted to the side, and he hurried towards its right claw, cleaving through it as well on his path to the head. He was about to slash across its head when the scorpion's tail came down and he barely moved to the right to avoid it.

 

The other scorpion was approaching from his right now, as well as several others.

 

Keres fired off a hasty bolt at the nearest of those to the east, missing the creature entirely. She dropped the weapon, knowing she wouldn't be able to load it again before the scorpions reached her. However before she began to cast her magic she noticed something...the wind was picking up. "The sandstorm." Keres called out. It would be here soon, they didn't have much time left to finish this before it was upon them...

[spoiler=OOC]Sandstorm will be here in a few rounds. Reinaan is poisoned and some scorpions fell. However more are approaching once more.

Map

 

[Alaina]

Though the scorpion was taking a continued beating, Ryia wasn't able to finish it off before it attempted to go into one last hurrah. Bringing its tail down and towards her, sweeping and trying to strike her with it, the girl stepped back a bit, holding up her shield to absorb the blow. Though she was able to defend against it, the creature kept moving, trying to continue to push her off her feet. Knowing that she couldn't just stand still and hope to stop the full weight of the attack, the girl began to back pedal, following the momentum of tail rather than pushing against it. When all was said and done, the girl had managed to have gone a complete one hundred eighty degrees from her original position. While she could've struck at the scorpion, she was confident that her draken ally would be able to finish it off. 

 

Her attention was more shifted towards her right, where the newcomer seemed to be. Though he seemed to have one of the scorpions under control, she wasn't sure if he could continue to manage that while being flanked. So, with Ackrin splitting off from her, using his ability to make the ground more even terrain, the girl charged at the newest of the scorpions. Rushing at it, the creature swung his claw at her. Seeing this coming, Ryia stopped and backstepped, causing the the attack to swing against nothing but air. Resuming her charge, as she got closer to the scorpion's head, the stinger came down towards her. Without stopping her forward movement, the girl parried the stinger with her shield, deflecting the attack away and giving her a clear shot towards the scorpion. Though her arms were arms were starting to feel on fire and her breath was running ragged, the girl wasn't about to stop. Bringing up her mace, she swung it down onto the scorpion's face. 

[Andx]

The scorpion continued to struggle despite the spear lodged in its side. Reinaan continued exerting himself to drive it in deeper if possible but the creature's movement's made that difficult. It started turning about to attack Ryia with it's tail and the boy with a claw. However the Draken held onto his weapon and was dragged across the sand with the turning of the beast. The Earth Chosen began attacking again and the Fire Chosen thought he was ready to join her until a fresh surge of pain shot out of the boy's wound from the stinger. But then it quickly subsided into nothing. Simply nothing. There was no feeling there. It felt like it was spreading as different parts of his back twinged in pain then just nothing after. It had reached his shoulders and with it his ability to use his arms faltered. He released his grip on the spear, the weapon still lodged in the scorpion's flesh, as he began to stagger backwards.

 

"What is this..." he muttered to himself as he tried to raise his arms and found it much harder to do so than it should have been. Kloqah had come to his side as if feeling something was wrong and defensively positioned herself between her little lizard and the remaining scorpions as best she could. Flames began escaping from the boy's core as Ziiyol materialized in the air nearby. The spirit seemed to be in a giggling fit as sensation of self returned to her. But it was quickly interrupted at the sight of her wounded partner who seemed to be lifting invisible weights.

 

"Reiny!" she cried out, concerned for her partner who seemed slightly fatigued from the separation with the spirit. "The battle's not over? What happened!?" she began questioning as she caught sight of scorpions still fighting with the other Chosen. "Sting... poison... I think..." the Draken responded through heavy breaths. He felt like he could just take a moment and get a hang of himself before getting back into the fight but he knew this was only going to get worse.

 

"Ziiyol, you have to help them... burn the scorpions..." he said still not entirely sure of how much the spirit could do on her own. The spirit nodded, a serious expression on her face for once as she drifted toward the newcomer and the scorpions he was fighting. She readied her fans and began to dance about, conjuring red flames at the ends of the accessories. Bits of flame would fly off in a circle about her position. They would sit on whatever they landed on for a moment before either fizzling out on things like the sand or attempt to continue burning should it be something flammable. The hope was to hit the scorpions but there was no real accuracy with this ability. The best she could do was dance her hardest and continue trying to create flames.

 

Kloqah meanwhile began slowly moving herself and her little lizard back a bit towards Keres and the others. There were less scorpions that direction so best to be over there. Reinaan could do little but curse and try to make his arms move as he wished to no avail.

[Hälō]

Lindow's eyed narrowed at the water mage's words. Moving over to the fallen enemy that his scimitar had be resting in, he quickly yanked his blade free from the oversized vermin before moving over to his fallen crossbow and scooping it off the ground. 

 

"We wont be able to defeat them all in time..." Lindow called over the sounds battle whilst watching the incoming enemies. His voice was fighting through the rapidly intensifying gusts of wind that had now begun to sweep across the desert, making the imminent danger of the storm even more apparent.

 

Dying in glorious battle was always quite acceptable, but the man would be damned before he let himself be a causality of the environment...

 

"Break off, and begin to fall back towards the building! I'm going to open the entrance up..." As Lindow spoke, his feet began to sink down into his shadow. His glowing gaze shifted to the entrance of the ruins as he plucked one of the bolts from the quiver on his back and began loading it into the crossbow.

 

He managed to just complete the process before his arms and chest sunk into the darkness. Paranoid whispers began to crawl their way up his spine, sinking into the back of his neck and bouncing off the edge of hearing.

 

Visibly agitated for a moment, Lindow grit his teeth whilst the last of his form slipped into the shadows.

 

"We'll just have to drive them back from within until the storm hits..." The Thunder Chosen's voice floated through the air upon his departure.

 

Unhindered by the sand whilst traveling from the dimension of darkness, Lindow quickly reappeared again moments later. Having sudden stepped out from the shadows inside the ruins like a ghost, Lindow knelt down and began channeled Lily's power.

 

The crackling azure aura of Thunder magic appeared almost instantly, filing the ruins with it's mystic light. Though Lindow didn't bother to study the inside...

 

Folding his hand into a chopping motion, the witch hunter focused on channeling the third blade into a denser form using his newly acquired Bandit Cleaver as inspiration. The blade of magic lighting that sparked into existence was one that was better suited for cutting and carving rather than shooting forth and impaling his foes, and it would quickly prove it's effectiveness as Lindow swung his hand into the stone entrance of the building to begin widening enough for the mounts to enter. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The scorpion who had intended to attack the mysterious swordsman was interrupted in the most abrupt of ways. A mace smashing against its face. The beast wasn't used to resistance like that so, for a few precious moments, it wasn't sure what to do. The creature carefully backed away from Ryia. But only far enough to get out of reach and right after it tried to lash out with its claw.

 

Before the claw reached her, it was severed by the stranger's sword. "You know." He said. "I'm getting really tired of maiming these things, how about we find a nice spot to kick back?" He nodded over at Lindow. "Looks like your dark friend there is good at breaking things, why don't we take advantage of that?"

 

He then began to run towards the opening, past the scorpion he had finished off before helping Ryia, while sheathing his blade. His eye went to the right, where two more healthy scorpions were approaching, and headed towards the north-east. Still on the way towards the building but heading out to get the scorpions to divert their course. "You better get moving, you kinda broken my shelter for this you know."

 

The other scorpion, with Reinaan's spear in its side, slowly tried to make its way towards Reinaan. It wanted to finish off its prey but there was a problem. Flames were sprouting from thin air and dancing around. The scorpion instinctively knew to stay away but its hunger was growing. The beast remained where it was, too frightened of the flames to advance.

 

Keres knew it was time to go. The sandstorm would be here soon and it would take too long for them to kill the remaining scorpions before it reached them. And if even one remained while the sandstorm hit...it was likely some of them would die.

 

The problem, however, was Gilly. Who looked to be gearing up to fight the farthest scorpion. Keres turned towards her, crossbow still on the ground. She gathered up her magic and concentrated. Directing it from the container at her side she launched out a torrent of water at the scorpion trying to attack Gilly. It struck it head on and pushed the creature back. "Gilly...Hob, it's time to get inside now." Keres said, speaking as loudly as she was able.

 

She wasn't sure Gilly would listen. But maybe...Hob would.

[spoiler=OOC]Okay so if you want to head to the opening you can. However you'll have to make it past the scorpions without being held up for too long otherwise you won't make it before next round. Usually it'd take a couple rounds to reach it but if you play your cards right you can get extra time to reach it.

Map

 

[Alaina]

As the girl had struck the scorpion dead on, it seemed to begin its retaliation, only for the new person to dash in and sever its claw. The girl was a bit in awe in both the speed and power the mysterious man had, though, she knew that time was still of the essence and continued her own onslaught. With one final bash to the scorpion's face with her mace, she managed to fell the creature. Looking towards where Lindow was, with the prompting that they all needed to make a break for it, the girl knew that staying still any longer would only result in herself and everyone else likely being in more danger than necessary. As she began to run, with Ackrin's assist on the sandy terrain, the scorpion that had been nearest to her before had begun chase. Running in a left curve to the entrance, the girl had attempted to lead the scorpion away from everyone else, while also not trying to make it a roadblock for everyone else. Though she had to put great effort into her run, she had eventually made it over to where Lindow was, though the scorpion was still in hot pursuit. 

[Andx]

The Fire Spirit's dance halted the advance of the nearest scorpion as the others moved about him. The boy was still struggling to move his arms as he wished. In frustration he got up onto Kloqah's back as she was likely to be his only hope of reaching the entrance to the building in time. This particularly scorpion still had the weapon Reinaan had attacked it with stuck in its side. And while he would have liked to retrieve it, he wasn't certain he could muster the strength to do it. Further more he didn't want to waste more time fighting seeing as this poison from the sting was only likely to get worse as time went on. With Ryia taking the left with a creature in pursuit, the Draken urged his mount onward to sprint around the scorpion's right side, straight on to the building.

 

The lizard had to run through Ziiyol's scattering flames but was quick enough that she avoided most of them. Except for one that scorched the tip of her tail and which would have her in a bit of a sour mood for the rest of the day. Regardless she carried on and brought her small injured lizard to the humans gathering at the building as best she could. Ziiyol meanwhile would prolong her dance as long as she could to keep this scorpion from moving in on the others as they made their escape but at most she could create flames another minute or so. At which point the dance would end, the fires all go out at once, and the scorpion give chase to the lizards that had escaped it.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres waited for Gilly to get a move on. Though it seemed the girl wouldn't do so. Thankfully Hob knew that when the going got tough the tough got going. And so, despite his rider's protests, he took off towards the entrance.

 

Anis seemed to be struggling with the heat and the pressure of the scorpions closing in. So she, too, made her way after the others.

 

The trio of mounted Chosen headed behind the others, moving up the middle which was clear of scorpions after their allies actions. However by the time they reached the entrance there were a pair of scorpions in the way, with more closing in behind them.

 

To add to their troubles the group would be able to see the sandstorm coming from the east. It was a distance away still but it was closing in and it wouldn't be long before it reached them.

 

Keres could see one of the scorpions in particular was right in front of her, though with its back to her, and she wasn't in a good position to attack. Not to mention now that they were fleeing she shouldn't waste water like that...she hoped her companions could do something about it so they could get inside before the sand hit.

[spoiler=OOC]Okay not much happened especially since only a couple people posted. Decided to be somewhat lenient. But yeah here we go, sandstorm will hit by my next post, likely at the end of said post.

Map

 

[Sethera]

Gilly groaned. She was brave, undefeatable, and amazing! But it looked like there was one thing that the great Gilly had problems with.

 

Heat. Also sand. It was hard to get a good position when her feet kept sinking with every step.

 

"I don't like sand," she decided from atop Hob, who had rudely carried her off when she was going to continue fighting. "It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

 

As they headed inside, she saw a scorpion right in front of Mute Girl. Hob noticed it too, and ran at it, horns lowered. The halfling stuck an ice spear out as if she were a jousting knight, ready to stick it like a pig. "Hyaaah!" Nothing would stop her from saving the day.

[Alaina]

While Ryia had managed to make it to the door, she was relieved to see that Reinaan had been able to as well. Though, this relief turned to worry for two reasons. One, something seemed a bit wrong with how the draken boy was moving. Two, there was now a scorpion in the way of the others and the door. With the storm fast approaching and their goal in sight, Ryia was knew that she had to do something to help the others out here. Taking a few deep breaths to collect her energy, the girl made a sprint towards the scorpion. As it was stabbed in the back by an ice spear, no longer advancing and instead just trying to dislodge the weapon from its body, it didn't seem to totally notice the girl at first. Still, it managed to get a good claw swing at her, which she used her previous tactic of back stepping to avoid it.

 

As she did, her legs were starting to feel the burn of all the running she had done, and she could truly start to feel the sweat accumulate over her brow. Nevertheless, she pressed onward, reaching the scorpion's face. Lifting up her mace the girl mustered what strength she could into her fatigued arms, and swung downward with it. Smashing into the scorpion's face, she had managed to deal a heavy blow, though the scorpion was still very much alive. In the short period of time, the girl wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep swinging at this thing to aid the others but would try all the same, but were the others to help her in killing this arachnid, she would retreat back into the refuge they had found. 

[Andx]

The shelter was so close now, but the fight was far from over as two scorpions stood in the way of part of the group with others following from behind. They had to quickly dispatch the two nearby and get everyone inside but Reinaan found himself unsure how helpful he would be in the effort. Gilly made an effort to attack one, an effort that Ryia quickly followed up on. Despite both spear and mace, the creature seemed ready to continue. Ziiyol returned to her partner's side, her dance having concluded moments before. The boy's arms still refused to cooperate with him fully and only seemed to get more stiff as the numbing sensation slowly spread across his back and shoulders. The fire spirit and chosen both seemed out of of the fight but there was one who could perhaps still help.

 

With a clumsy dismount, Reinaan turned Kloqah around to face the scorpions instead of the building. "Go help 'em girl. Just run back once they're safe." he said, setting her sights on nearby scorpion not yet engaged. He didn't intend the mount to kill the scorpion, merely stop it in it's tracks. A brief joust of teeth and claw. Just so long as it gave the others time to get through. The lizard seemed hesitant but understood her rider's intent and slowly moved into the creature's path, snarling all the while. Reinaan meanwhile meandered backward slowly toward the shelter, not wanting to a burden to the others but also not wanting to take his eyes off the battle and approaching storm. He cursed his own carelessness that had taken him from another fight.

[Hälō]

"Come on..." Lindow growled whilst stepping forward and lining up his shot. The storm was nearly upon them, and these scorpions seemed intent on fighting this conflict to the bitter end. "Tsk," The man's shoulder jerked violently as he pulled the trigger to send a bolt flying into the scorpion that Ryia and Gilly had been engaging.

 

Watching the beast shudder from his projectile, Lindow quickly reached over his shoulder and grabbed another bolt whilst slowly backing towards the entrance again. The workings of the crossbow had now begun to grow familiar to his combat worn hands. Allowing Lindow to load this particular bolt far quicker than those that came before it, and have his weapon trained on the scorpion again in only moments.  

 

He pulled the trigger without a word. Though a satisfied sneer flashed across his lips as the scorpion finally succumbed to it's wounds and fell face first into the sand. With the threat neutralized, Lindow backed into the shelter before grabbing the last bolt from his quiver and starting the process of feeding it into the bow.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Anis, Anis!"

"A-ah...the heat is getting into me."

 

Shirin's well-timed bite allowed Anis to regain enough consciousness to steer away from the scorpions as the rest had started to make their escape. Gilly had managed to move away before her, and to her relief, the halfling was mostly unscathed, although she unsurprisingly ended up picking a fight with another scorpion, just when they're all so close to the tower now.

 

"Just one shot..."

 

Anis prepared her bow again, but her grip weakened. The heat was really getting into her now. Shirin bit her again to let her stay conscious, showing its disagreement on Anis trying to help Gilly right now. Anis could see from the corner of her eye that Ryia ended up helping Gilly and that Reinaan separated with his lizard. And did Lindow kill a scorpion?

It was harder and harder to focus. Anis hoped that Ileca would understand that they should go to the shelter as fast as possible.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres watched as, before her eyes, Gilly, Ryia, and Lindow combined their forces to bring down the scorpion in front of them. Which gave them all a clear path to the entrance. Keres made her way there, trying to help Anis make her way inside, and they'd manage to get into the building before the sandstorm swept up.

 

Unfortunately not all of them were quite as lucky. Kloqah, having had to carefully disengage from the scorpion, got caught up in the sandstorm as it started.

They were near the entrance so the sand wouldn't be able to buffet them for long. However the scorpions were still approaching. One had almost caught her before getting inside but, with a swift slash, the mysterious swordsman cut off a piece of the scorpions claw and halted it long enough to let the lizard slip inside.

 

The entrance wasn't quite big enough for the scorpions but also they didn't seem much affected by the sandstorm. So they would seemingly gather together in an attempt to figure out how to get in.

 

Meanwhile the mysterious swordsman was glaring at Reinaan. "What do you call that? I thought it was humans who treated their animal companions like weapons." He shuddered and waved his hand dismissively. "Never mind that, just had a moment, don't mind me." And with that he moved towards a corner of the room.

 

Though "corner" was hard to define.

 

The building they found themselves in was in disrepair. The floor was covered in sand and shattered stone. There had been several collapses in the roof and even the walls over time and large chunks of the room was completely covered in ancient stone. It resembled a rock slide with how the rubble was piled up and the room, which had presumably been rectangular, now was somewhat shapeless in form.

 

Still, it was out of the sand and sun, and there seemed to be enough room for all of them to rest, so Keres was relieved.

 

However she knew everyone were injured in some way. So she spoke up. "If anyone's...in pain, I can help."

[spoiler=OOC]Moved everyone into the building, if you want to stay in the sand uh...go ahead. No map, gasp! There are five scorpions outside the building, unable to do anything at the moment. And now's the time to rest up and recover and such. Try and post a bit faster this round, since it's not combat anymore and we can rest and interact now.

 

[Sethera]

Gilly grinned, cheered to see that her attack had caused the others to fight it too. Guess she wasn't the only hero today, though she was the main one, of course. Eventually everybody managed to get inside, though the strange swordsman seemed strangely...grumpy about something to Reiny boy. The halfling wasn't sure what exactly he was so mad about except that it had something to do with the boy's mount, but then again, people could get mad about the strangest things. And then he decided to sit in a corner.

 

Gilly decided it was best to leave Mr. McGrumpyPants alone and look around the building they found themselves in. It was sandy, but there was stone mixed in with the sand, and she did her best to step on the stony parts rather than the sandy parts. Stone she was used to. Sand, she wasn't.

 

She looked outside to where the scorpions were gathered and stuck her tongue out at them. "Nyah nyah stupid bugs!" she mocked. Hob baa'ed reproachfully, causing the halfling to whip her head around to look at him. "What? They're a buncha meanies. They totally deserved that."

 

"If anyone's...in pain, I can help."

 

"I'm good," the girl shrugged, then winced. She had gotten attacked a couple times from those stupid bugs, but she was also a hero, and heroes always put up a brave face.

[Andx]

With help from their new ally of sorts, Kloqah had made it safely into the building with the rest of the group. She hadn't been hurt and Reinaan was glad to see it, though she had a light dusting of sand about her and the equipment she was hauling due to the sandstorm having begun outside. However the man seemed to be staring him down and spoke words that seemed filled with a deep running anger. The Fire Chosen was going to angrily object that the mount was his friend not some tool but the man seemed to try and dismiss it as just a moment, whatever that meant. He wasn't ready for the aggression and made it a point to remain on guard with regards to him. Keres then made the public offer to aid those in pain from the encounter which helped remind the boy he needed to address the scorpion sting.

 

His arms still weren't entirely cooperative so Reinaan fumbled about trying to take his jacket off far longer than it normally would take him. But eventually it came off, fully exposing the Draken's body and injury in particular. The blood from the wound was still slowly trickling down across his scales and the boy sighed as he put his coat away, still upset about the hole in it. Kloqah sniffed at the wound a bit until the boy turned around to put his back to the healers of the group. "I got hit by one..." he started, "I can't feel my back or move my arms super well, must have been poison or something in those things." he said while straining his neck to try and get a clearer look at his back.

[Alaina]

After Ryia had managed to strike the scorpion, two bolts, not quite in succession had flown at the beast. With the damage dealt, the beast was felled and the Earth Chosen let out a sigh of relief. Rushing into the shelter behind, the group had managed to all make it in in time. Slumping down against the wall, the girl started to breathe heavily as the fatigue of the whole ordeal had finally set in. Setting her mace and shield to the ground, she was suddenly startled as the stranger let out an outburst at Reinaan. She wasn't quite sure what happened, but apparently Reinann had done something dangerous with his lizard mount. Looking to the draken, his expression was angered, though he didn't add anything on the note. 

 

As Keres asked if anyone was in trouble, Ryia weakly put up her hand as to assure the girl. "I- I wasn't hurt. Just- just tired." As the girl tried to catch her breath, trying to wipe the sweat off her brow with her cloak, she looked over to the boy who had aided them. Looking at him now, the girl wasn't sure what to make of him. He had a look like he was from here, though his odd sword certainly didn't seem to be. Though she wasn't quite sure where he had appeared from during their fight, the fact remained that he had still helped them. "U-um," the girl started, breaths still a bit ragged. "Th-thank you. For, um, aiding us, uh, out there." The girl nodded gratefully towards the stranger. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"If anyone's...in pain, I can help."

 

"I'm alright...the heat was just getting to me, that's all."

 

Anis was resting on Ileca's side, using her soft feathers as her pillows when Keres offered her help. For the most part, it seemed that the group minus Reinaan's mount managed to survive unscathed. Well, except Gilly, but she stubbornly refused help apparently. Oh well. Sooner or later if the wound was serious, it would be apparent. Just a few more moment, and maybe Anis could help Keres to check whether anyone was suffering from poisoning or the likes. The stranger didn't seem to be suspicious so far, even with his small outburst on Reinaan earlier.

 

"I can't feel my back or move my arms super well, must have been poison or something in those things."

 

"If it's poison, let me check about it first."

 

Oh, that was just in time. Just as Anis thought about him, Reinaan spoke out about his wound. Still being dizzy from her heatstroke, Anis nevertheless dragged herself to reach him to be able to check his wound.

 

"Alright. I will take some of your blood first. It'd be somewhat painful, so bear with it."

 

Using her arrowhead, she opened Reinaan's wound further so she was able to draw in more blood and examine it more closely. Using her ability using Reinaan's blood as a basis to recreate his clean blood, it seemed that it perhaps was poison from the scorpions, although not a type that she was familiar with. After taking some of his blood into a vial that she hid from others, Anis started to use her magic to pump out the defiled blood out of Reinaan's system, while supplying him back with fresh blood she created off her magic.

 

"Just bear with me, it might take a while. While the wound itself can be healed with ease by Keres, let's not take any risks when we're dealing with an unknown poison."

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The scorpions reacted to Gilly's taunting with great offense and hurt feelings...At least that's likely what Gilly would assume from their expressionless faces and their futile attempts to force their way into the building.

 

Keres noticed how Gilly winced and it was clear that she wasn't actually feeling totally okay. However Reinaan's injury was much more severe. She glanced over at Lindow and, reluctantly, asked him quietly, "Check on Gilly," before moving to Reinaan's side.

 

It would take some time for Anis to finish her task. Though Reinaan would be able to feel the paralysis fading away while the unusual process went underway.

 

She wasn't a dedicated healer, for sure, however she felt a bit more confident in her control over water magic. As she spread some over the wound, Reinaan would feel the pain, which had surged up as the paralysis weakened, fading away. She carefully cleaned out the wound, not very easy with all the sand around this place, and tried to patch it up as best as she could.

"It's not...perfect." She muttered. "At least it's not bleeding." She finished.

 

She looked away with a bit of guilt. Though her expression remained as unchanged as ever. This was the extent of her ability. They deserved better than this but...perhaps she'll just have to get stronger.

 

"Th-thank you. For, um, aiding us, uh, out there."

 

The man waved absently back, eyeing up the girl. "I was in the neighborhood anyway, figured I shouldn't let you all be eaten. Though it is a shame those things have to attack travelers for food. What even are you all doing here anyway?"

[Sethera]

Seems the great Gilly wasn't the only one injured--of course, if somebody of her awesomeness got hurt, then it just makes sense for the rest to be even worse off! Nothing against them, they were great allies, but she was in a league all her own. Her mouth puckered when she noticed a few that weren't hurt at all. Well, I just got unlucky, she thought. Wasn't fighting at my top form. All the sand's messing with my amazingness.

 

The others were busy checking on Reiny boy to make sure he wasn't going to die of poison or something like that. The halfling wasn't paying too much attention, making a couple more faces at the scorpions.

 

Meanwhile, Pinky was talking to Mr. McGrumpyPants. "Th-thank you. For, um, aiding us, uh, out there."

 

The man waved absently back, eyeing up the girl. "I was in the neighborhood anyway, figured I shouldn't let you all be eaten. Though it is a shame those things have to attack travelers for food. What even are you all doing here anyway?"

 

"We're on a noble quest!" Gilly puffed her chest out, unable to resist tooting her--their horn. "To fight bullies and strike down evil! Something about doors too...or were they exits? Fences?" she trailed off into nonsensical muttering.