[Beta]
Both the Servitor and the bard were taken by surprise, or the closest approximation of such. As Daethwin flailed about in an undoubtedly heroic manner that mostly kept the pointy end of the blade towards the Servitor, it swirled back and attempted to approach again, shifting its form to a vaguely spherical grey-black orb that rushed to engulf his head. Drawn back into his composure, Daethwin slid back on his dominant leg as he smoothly rolled his head to the side, then powered a lunge half in the air straight through the thickest-looking knob on the beast, landing back on the ground without using his hands to catch himself.
Showmanship, even if nobody was watching.
A few practiced movements to clean his garments without rubbing the ash in, and he got back to his feet, looking determined and also having shifted firmly from "flight" into "fight". The weapon was obvious - it was particularly noisy given the acoustics and the chaos of battle. Seconds passed as the bard began to weave his spell.
Below, the Servitor's "head" split open to accommodate Rurail's spear, only a few tendrils of darkness burned by the passage of the weapon. Its attention roused as Rurail withdrew the spear, it swirled briefly before darting forward. This time, however, its charge was impeded by Rurail's thrust, scoring along the "right flank" of the thing - not a serious wound, but an obvious blow from the fading of the creature slightly and the streak of light burning the dust away.
Redirected away from its course, the undead would try to course to the other side, only to take a long but shallow cut down three quarter-lengths of its "body". It would continue past and proceed towards Jewel, who had taken the delay presented as an opportunity to resist the damage. As Jewel rolled his shoulder and thought the prayer that came to him half by intuition and half by memory, the joint would start to burn in a vaguely unpleasant manner, streaking through. Where it passed left the blessed sensation of life. Had anyone been watching the stoneman, they would see his aura shifting and glowing yellow around the blackness, forcing lines through and steadily widening them to crumble the Death damage to nothing.
A warning.
Silence, followed by the almost total absence of sound.
It was nearly impossible to describe what happened next - how often would one simultaneously hear colors and see waves of focused sound? The destructive waves bounced and tore at the walls, shredding the dust from the Servitors. Tendrils lashed and flayed the undead as the combatants below had the waves bounce and merge. Jewel's charge of energy would almost be visible in his aura - it was a brute-force effort to imagine the orbs of energy forming and concentrating in your hand and through the weapon, growing denser and "hotter" as you funneled more of yourself and your purpose into the orbs... A thrust, and a dozen red orbs flew unerringly and accurately towards the least shredded Servitor, blowing holes through it and splattering ash every which way. Crude or not, it worked.
By this time, Thales had taken wing and Sylvari had (mostly) cleansed the substance off, and the desperate advance of the final Servitor was checked by a shiny blur of magical hatred, whipping down a hair's breadth away from being crushed to dust in the Angelborn's grasp. Seeing his opportunity, Sylvari whipped his arm out, grabbed the thing by the scruff as he would an errant puppy, and jerked it back towards Thales's hand.
The two looked at each other, and in that single glance, came to an understanding, one hunter to another. The two pivoted, drew back, and thrust their blades through the struggling Servitor. When the searing heat from Sylvari's flame met the unforgiving white glow of the Holy blade, the two crossed and doubled, rapidly threading through the body of the shaking Servitor. The two twisted their blades and pulled back, and the glowing Servitor flew around the room like a leaking balloon, letting off sparks before crashing on the ground and exploding into thousands of points of light. A warm breeze would buffet the party and swirl the final anti-notes of Daethwin's discord back into the chamber. It was, of course, inevitable that he was positioned to make his hair do the thing.
"So you truly *are* adventurers. Well done."
After climbing back up through the hole and securing it, Blue himself would open up the Blue Vault to reveal a thick, ancient roll inside a silvered case. Upon taking it out, and unrolling the first few inches, there was a definite rumble in the ground as sand and dust fell from overhead. Out of all of the Party, Daethwin and Thales would recognize the artifact immediately. One of the Shaman Seals - Earth, to be exact. Aside from the value of the power inside, deciphering even the first few feet of of it to read the histories and tales of its use would be a scholastic achievement. Thales would know of the Seal as an embodiment of the True History and the remnant of some dread Divine tool of Arnum just from religion and studies; it was his dedication that let him be aware that not even Arnum and the pretenders fully understood what he had wrought from What Was Found. Daethwin would immediately sense the Divine connections Thales willingly blinded himself to, and simultaneously notice and very strictly not notice that there was Something and to immediately push aside the little lunatic voice in his head encouraging him to discover more.
As far as Jewel and Rurail, however? They wouldn't need to know to Know. Body and will of stone. The two would reach out towards the Seal and unroll it further, not just looking at the symbols, scripts, and weaves, but Seeing the subtle flows of earth around and through them, words lifting off the page in such a vivid manner that they could almost feel the texture of the carved and weathered letters and symbols Blue would notice, but not comment. Daethwin would keep not-noticing cheerfully, and Thales would feel a sense of contentment coming from his Divine connection, as well as a faint brush of wind.
"As promised, friends, I offer you my blessings, if you will have them."
This was said with a questioning look at Thales, as though Blue were aware that Thales might not be willing to have someone else's power touch them.
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Topic: Adventuring Party, Act 1: A Tale Of Two Hamlets (Read 36209 times)