Elemental Champions: The Necro War

[Angel_Slayer_Alcatraz]

Nyx nods with a quaint smile upon her face
"yes victor, watching their blood spill upon the stone floor felt wonderful!!!"
She said in a small sadistic rant
The original Nyx has indeed returned

[Sortaix]

Booze, Beds, and Booty: (Sure Zan, Vic was just off screen slicing open stomachs)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The resistance fighters that came in the room tried at first to discourage the group leaving, they apparently were worried about the group getting caught by something. Silent of course answered their worries in his usual way.
"We just sliced our way through several pale-ass blind goblin things, after I saw a mother****ing spider as big as a damn carriage. I damn near pissed myself when I saw that thing. You an your friends can stay here underground with them big ol' spiders all you want. As for myself, I am never setting foot in that room again. And if you don't get your hand off of my shoulder, I'm going to cut it off and wave it at you."
The fighter spent a few moments considering Sorts words before pulling his hand back. He then gave the group directions to get to a nearby tavern, but asked them to be careful. Sort quickly grabbed the Necromancer staff and headed out.

The tavern the group arrived at, was a typical three story wooden tavern building. The sign out front named it the "Hamons' Playhouse". Once the group made their way inside, Sort walked up to the bar and ordered a few drinks, while the group went to go find a table. Sort arrived in just a few moments carrying several mugs of ale. The barkeep came to the table just as the group was getting into their drinks and looked at both Nyx and Lilia in an unusual manner. He then turned to Sort, who already had one flagon already turned up, and asked him a question.
"You do know that any 'pets' walking around without collars are considered fair game. You don't get your two women their collared, you're going to get fined, not to mention some of the lads in town might think they are unclaimed. If that's they case, your pets might end up getting forced in an alley when you aren't looking, Pal"
Sort carefully and slowly put down his flagon and gave the man a "screw you" look, before he made his reply.
"First off, my 'pets' as you call them are well trained enough they don't need collars. Second anyone tries to force them, they'll get their balls cut off. Third, I didn't even want to come to this damn city, so your rules can kiss my hairy white ass. Fourth, my father who gave me this staff, after I finished my training made me come here."
As Sort finished his statement he pulled up the necromancer staff and lay it down on the table. The barkeep, upon seeing it, turned a few shades pale before apologizing. Sort waved off his apology, as he picked up another flagon.
"We have all had a shit day, chasing blind goblins through this cities sewers. And to top it all off, we found a spider the size of a damn carriage. I hate spiders with a passion, my friend. All I want to do is get drunk, and pretend that I did not see an eight legged monster straight from the nightmares of hell. If anyone comes in and has a problem with these two women, you tell them to come talk to me, the guy with a Necromancer staff, got it?
The barkeep uttered a few more apologies and backed off, realizing Sorts apparent mood and returned to his duties, fearful of the wrath of a Necromancer.
Sort looked back to the group and simply said.
"This entire city apparently is both prejudice and scared. We can use their fear of the Necromancers to dodge their prejudice against women. So, I apologize for what I said, Nyx, Lilia, but it was a simple lie that was able to avoid an unwanted confrontation, just look at it as camouflage."

[Angel_Slayer_Alcatraz]

Nyx nodded understandably as she took the tankard and smiled
"I understand Taisho, I understand completely"
She looked at it and drank a little, her ears shot up at the taste
"Damn hell's bells this is strong!!!"
She turned to every one at the table
"How do you people drink this?"

[MiscChaos]

"When the hell are we getting out of here?" Lilia groans, her head in her hands. Just how fucked up can the necromancers MAKE things if she and Nyx can't even walk into a damn BAR without setting off alarms!? "No, no. The better question is when do I get to get some payback for that shit. Yeah, I'd much rather settle for payback than getting outta here." Annoyed as she is, she makes sure to keep her voice down when she's saying this last part. She understands that talking about that kind of thing out loud will only make their lives harder and life is hard enough as is without stupidity making it any worse.

She gives Nyx a small smile before saying, "I don't. It'd be a bad idea for me to get into that. Especially with the city the way it is."

[Zender_Solarheart]

The bartender's reference to Lilia and Nyx as "pets" has Victor about ready to tell him off in his own fashion, but Sort gets the job done without the unnecessary mess his methods would've likely caused. For that, he is thankful, and instead sits down, taking a quick swig from his ale to wash the thought out of his head. In response to Nyx's question, he answers: "You get used to it as you drink more. Try starting with small sips, and work your way up; that's how I built up my tolerance."

Having said that, Victor downs another swig of his ale, looks over at Sort, and quietly comments: "You're not the only one who'd roll some heads over 'forcing,' Captain. They so much as grope Nyx, and I'll have them choking on their own severed arms." Victor doesn't quite realize that he didn't mention Lilia in there, but that's probably just a mild lapse from the alcohol...which seems to be taking an earlier effect on him, as only 1/3rd of the mug gets a slight hiccup from him. Also - and no offense to Lilia - Nyx has more of a personal connection for him, so she was obviously the one he'd think of first.

"So Captain, how long you think we can *hic* keep up the whole 'Necro-in-training' thing?" Victor asks quietly, not going any louder than what the table alone can hear. How he does so when the ale's already having slight effects on him is a mystery; perhaps it isn't quite as influential over his mind as his hiccup reflex?

[Sortaix]

Happy Hour!:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Sort downed another mug rather quickly, as Victor asked him another question. Sort sat back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling for a bit before answering him.
"The whole 'young Necromancer' trick can work as long as they don't ask me to raise any corpses. You see, the Necromancers aren't as powerful as they make themselves out to be. Their true power is fear. That is why they spend so much time trying to build a scary reputation, and why they monologue before or during a battle, to make people afraid. Their entire strategy relies on people being too scared to oppose them. Look at the undead, they're slow, weak, and stupid any good fighter could take them out. The weakest form of undead, you can walk right past 'em, they move so slow. The entire idea is that, if an army rises to fight a Necromancer and they see his undead soldiers coming, half the army is so scared their armor is rattling from them shaking, while the other half is already running home. I'll admit we have faced some powerful enemies, but these guys have had time to build up an empire, and become more powerful than any Necromancic order has ever been before. But, behind it all, once you aren't afraid of them anymore, they loose half their power. And Lilia, we'll hit these Necromancers back, as soon as those two rebels get back and give us some good information."
Sort then paused for a moment as he reached back and grabbed his tail, then he began groom the fur for a few minutes.
"By the way guys, I think Simon is going to try to betray us at some point. He'll either try to betray us, or whoever we put in charge of this city when we leave. I don't like the way he looks at me and Dax. I think he still has some of the old ideology that the races aren't allowed to breed together. You know, create half breeds like Dax and I, the whole 'racial purity' thing, again."
Sort then took another mug and raised it up, drinking it down. That gave him three mugs, and he didn't look drunk. He just leaned back in his chair an covered his face with his hands for a few moments before looking up at the ceiling. As he drew his hands back his wolfish ears twitched a little bit, as his tail lay still behind him.
That's what sucks about this job. It feels like it never ends, but anyway..."
Sort looked back up at the ceiling and rather rudely told someone to go have intercourse with them-self before turning back to the group.
"Sorry about that, they tried to talk to me again. Anyway what I was going to say was that, I found out the other reason why you guys were chosen for this lovely life of fighting injustice and un-dead. I am supposed to tell you later, but I don't really care about 'their' rules right now."

[MiscChaos]

Lilia sighs and leans her chair back to look to the roof. "Well, go ahead and lay it on it, Sortaix. Information is power and I'd rather keep as much power out of the hands of those gods as I can. The only way right now I can do that is to be on even footing as them."She says, still looking at the roof. She's seriously considering taking that drink and damning the consequences, but her annoyance hasn't hit THAT much of a peak yet. It's mostly been tempered by the Necromancer's MO since THAT is excellent information to have. It means she can more effectively blend into their ranks if she has to, sneak up to a high ranked target a little easier if need be.There's also the information on Simon. She kept her mind open to the bird's earlier warning and now that she has something specific to watch out for, it's even easier to watch her and her companion's backs. Cause really, despite how much she complains about them in her head, they're all she's got and she'd rather keep them relatively happy and unscathed if she can help it.

[Angel_Slayer_Alcatraz]

Nyx mutters something about sake being much more smooth before taking another sip of the ale
"that bartender from a few towns back had a bottle of sake...I should of bought it"
She groaned as she took a sip again, her ears twitched slightly as she got used to it

[CryptidChimera]

Blue sighed in boredom as he laid on the bed. He had be practicing by launching small ice balls at a brick in the wall opposite him for quiet some time. The small tap of ice hitting stone the only thing breaking the ambient sounds of the sewer. Occasionally casting a glance at the boulder that blocks the hole in the wall. Half expecting to hear skittering from the other side or see it shift slightly as he looked. Blue sighed again as he launched the last ice ball he made at the wall but this time it wasn't a sigh of boredom. He was regretting his decision to stay in the sewer while the others went to a tavern to drink and unwind. Funny how quick one can adjust to being around others after years of solitude. shifted and drew himself to the edge of the bed, grabbing his cloak as he rose from the bed and putting it on as he walked to the door. Hope I can remember the directions that rebel gave to Sort or this might turn into one long night.

[daxtinator396]

Dax nods,"Simon makes me upset. They have good people there and that man wants to call us lies and cheats..." He knocks back a drink his first of the evening and looks around the bar as Sort puts his face in his hands. In a moment he starts talking to the gods again and he looks worried,"Yes tell us. I want to know. What makes us so special?" He asks with a twitch if his ears.

[Sortaix]

Tavern Time!

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Sortaix takes another drink of ale and flips off the ceiling without even looking at it. Blue just so happens to wander in to the tavern just as Sort was doing this. He eventually found the place after getting turned around a bit, but arrived at his destination none the less. Sort waved him over to the table, while the barman walked over as well carrying more ale. He noticed the collar Blue was wearing and gave an ever so slight smile. Sort then continued on, after he handed the barman some gold and the man walked off.
"Good timing Blue, I was just getting ready to explain to everyone why we were chosen by the gods for this wonderful job of killing Necromancers and other bad people."
Sort said the last part with a bit of sarcasm to it.
"First off, we were chosen for our hearts. You know, the fact that you guys wouldn't give in to all the corruption and you'd fight to help people. That is the first reason you were chosen. Next, you were chosen for your elemental affinity, easier to empower you if you already have some elemental affinity. Those were the things the gods were looking for for their warriors.
Sort then takes another drink, as he finishes.
"The last reason isn't what you'd expect, but they considered it important anyway. You have to understand, they were trying to be merciful. But, we would have all ended up dead without their interference."
Sort then pauses for a moment before continuing on.
"I would have died as a child, in Kelenmabre. Dax, you are a neko like me, and some of the Furon nobility has been trying to get rid of you, without me to keep them in line, they would have poisoned you shortly after you joined the guard. Victor, you would have taken a contract to help a village fight off some monsters. It would have turned out to be a Necro's pets raiding the village. You would have led the village and killed the Necro and his fiends, but the battle would have cost you your life. Lilia, you would have been hired to slip into the castle of a Furon nobleman believed to be working for the Saloran Necromancers. He would have turned out to be practicing the dark arts himself, and you would have never left his castle. You wouldn't have died at first, but been kept as a toy.Though, you would have died during your third escape attempt.
Nyx, you and your 'friend' would have been asked by the Necromancers to join them. After your polite refusal, a fight would have broken out. the Necromancers would have killed you Nyx, but Yukari would have suffered worse. She would have been trapped by magic and given to Sheldon for his enjoyment. She would have spent the next century as his pet, before he cast her out of his realm, to be a reward for his Necromancers. That's right Yukari you would have ended up eventually getting dominated by humans. Blue, were it not for our interference, you never would have lived past your date with the gallows today
So yeah, that was the tie-breaker criteria. They wanted me to tell you later as an attempt to show you how merciful they are, that they saved your lives etc..."
Sort then leans back as he waits for everyones' response.

[CryptidChimera]

Blue cursed under his breath as he walked into the tavern. After getting lost for a bit in the cities nightscape his mood wasn't at it highest but carried a slightly relieved look to have finally found the place. He surveyed the room in an attempt to find his new traveling companions. Noticing Sorts gesture to the rafters as he walked over caused Blue to smile a little. Well atleast on not the only one feeling "friendly" tonight. Taking his drink and attempting to ignore the smile on the barmans face. It wasn't the first time he saw a smile like that and Blue knew it would be the last either. He ran his finger around the inside edge of his tankard, leaving a heavy ring of frost and takes a large swig of ale. Good timing is right I guess because I'd love to know why I mixed into all this. He listens intently between drinks as Sort shares his information. Setting down his drink when Sort finishes. Okay let me see if I have this straight. The gods in their supposed infinite wisdom picked us to save the world for our ability with magic and a helpful demeanor? Even if being helpful means killing every corrupt noble and demon loving basket case from here to the end of the earth and I'm not even going to touch the fact that it looks like they're going to pull the you owe us move for saving us from our demises. While I'm thankful they saved me from being crow food I really don't see how this is all going to work. Blue then picks up his drink and finishes it in one large chug. Heavily setting down the tankard and touches his throat with a small pained look on his face. Cursing himself for forgetting how restrictive his collar was

[MiscChaos]

Lilia digests what Sortaix is saying and, really, can only give a dismissive hmpf in response. She didn't go into the assassin business planning to live forever. You know any one botched job is gonna lead to your death and you plan for it, usually leaving something behind so when you're buried in your nameless grave, if you even get that, you're not totally forgotten by the world. Lilia's memento is a rather large bomb, set to detonate if she goes a year without shutting it down, that will leave a wondrous crater that surely no one will ever forget. She set it before she left home, so it's still got over 10 months on it. Still, there's one thing she severely disagrees with in Sortaix's statement: She would never allow herself to be taken as someone's toy. There are at minimum 4 different options she could pull, all simultaneously, to kill herself the instant she knew she couldn't avoid capture. Well, 5 really, but that one's REALLY gruesome and she'd rather avoid going through it if at all possible.

"I call bullshit. It's not mercy if you save someone with the expectation of using it as a bargaining chip later. That's strategy and forward thinking. Hell, I do it all the time in my line of work. You get your most loyal connections when you 'save' their lives. That makes me a damn Saint of Mercy by their definition. All they've done by having you tell me this is cement my dislike of the mass majority of them." she says, flagging down a flagon of ale for herself. This shit's just too much without a little to take the edge off. She's been trained to have a high tolerance since it wouldn't do to be taken advantage of by a mark while she's loaded, so just this little bit should be good.

[Angel_Slayer_Alcatraz]

Nyx sat silently for a few moments before taking what was left in her tankard and drinking it all in one shot. She then proceeded to walk out of the bar dejectedly, growling to herself as she went and found the most secluded spot she could find and began to play her flute again, it's solemn tones drifting through the streets like wisps, she kept playing while silently beginning to cry again
"if I hadn't went into those damn catacombs I would have never been caught up in this gods business!"
She slammed her face into a wall before beginning to play again

[daxtinator396]

Dax was silent as he listened. His tail swished angrily through the air as he sipped his drink not even tasting it past his anger... he would die for his country and they were trying to kill him. He was here because he saved his princess. He felt the least manipulated... After all the gods did nothing. Sort did.. Sort saved his life from them. How could they do that... His eyes shone with green murder flashing with an unseen fire burning inside him,"Those bastards... my father was right... I never should have joined. How could they hate me for my race after all I have done..."

[Zender_Solarheart]

Victor hiccups again from another swig of his ale, listening to Captain Sort's story. So, the gods basically kept him from making a last stand defense at a village? Well, there are worse ways to go...but still, he's thankful. "As much as I'd like to go out fighting, I fancy myself a bit too young for that right now. Besides, had the gods not intervened, I never would've met Nyx, and so I thank them." He then looks around, realizing Nyx has left somewhere...

"Speaking of Nyx...where did she go? Err...I'll be right back..."

Heading outside the tavern for a bit, Victor starts looking for Nyx. It's not safe for her to be outside right now, especially with how drunk she must be after chugging down that tankard...and knowing the locals' treatment of women with Neko features, it's only a matter of time before someone tries to "claim" her. Not that he doubts her ability to defend herself, obviously...but if the numbers stack up too fast, even she will eventually fall. On all the good in his name, Victor swears he will not let that happen.

Wait...what's that sound?

Hearing a solemn flute tune echoing throughout the street, Victor starts following his ears. He knows that melody: the sound of Nyx's flute is one he could never mistake. He swiftly, carefully follows those somber notes across town, steadily zeroing in on Nyx's location. With any luck, he'll find her before anything terrible happens...

[Sortaix]

Tavern Time: Ending

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Sort chugged another flagon before looking over to Lilia.
"You got caught in a paralysis trap, much like the ones you guys were imprisoned in by Sierra. That's how the bad guy got you. But hey, at least you guys don't hear creepy ass voices in your heads that demand you obey them , cause they think they're special. Anyway, I'm going to drink a few more then head upstairs. I got us each a room, though that puts our gold as fairly slim. I am sure as hell not going back to that spider hole underground. Those bastards freak me out."
Sort then noticed Victor get up to leave, and notices Nyx's disappearance. He tosses Victor two keys as he leaves.
"Your room and Nyx's room."
Is all Sort says before he sits back in his chair and stares at the ceiling, as a tear begins to form in his right eye.
"You know, Sierra and I were going to run away from all this. We were going to just get on the first ship we came to and set out for some small island, or maybe see if their was another country beyond the see and away from all this. The gods let her get corrupted by our enemies, before we could leave. You may not like the gods, but you cannot imagine how much I HATE them, yet I do this shitty job, because I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through, when Sheldon raped Sierra in front of me, and turned her into his personal puppet. I got no problem with you guys talking shit about the gods after they let that happen, but the important thing is that anyone and everyone you care about is at stake, for a fate worse than death. So, we still gotta do this crappy job, like it or not. You may not like it now, but it will be worth it in the end. When you see the look on a persons face when their son, daughter, sister, brother, father, or mother, is finally returned to them, when you see the look in the eyes of a family finally reunited, then it will be worth it. Seeing people getting to love each other again, will fill your heart with a warm glow, a happy joy, that for a few moments will make all the pain, and annoyance go away. At least, that makes this job bearable for me."
With that said, Sort waited a few more minutes before heading upstairs to his room.

[MiscChaos]

She remembers that she could still shout at the Necromancers while she was in the Paralysis trap, so she could've bitten her tongue off and drowned in her own blood or bled out, whichever came first, if she felt it necessary so she still doesn't agree with Sortaix's analysis. She also notices he completely didn't address what she said aloud, further dropping her respect for both the man and the gods behind him.

"I'll be around." she says coldly before leaving the tavern. Once she makes sure no one's watching, she jumps to the roof of the place, lies down on it, and stares up at the stars, trying to let go of the build-up of annoyance she has. Yes, she refuses to kill good people, but she isn't a good person herself. She doesn't care overly much about reuniting families or saving the world or shit like that. She was raised that way from the time she suckled on her mother's nipple in order to do her job better. Assassins don't need an abundance of empathy or morals or good feelings to do their job and are in fact better without them. They only need enough of those things to create a stable personality and limits to how far they can go since without those, they're little more than mass murderers. So really, she's not in this for that moral high ground shit Sortaix spouted off earlier. She's here to save her own skin and return to her parents. And to get payback for that Necromancer lackey touching her now that she thinks about it. She doesn't have any stronger reasons than those for fighting what was previously an unknown entity she really had no reason to care about. Thinking like this is only increasing her annoyance. Annoyance that can and probably will cause her to spite her allies, her only lifelines in all this shit, so she really needs to let go of it. So she tries to lose herself in memories of her parents, the one thing that causes those rare good feelings within her.

[CryptidChimera]

Blue sat silently at the at the table, his head slightly bowed as he stared in the bottom of his empty tankard as if it would supply all of life's answers. Nodding at the appropriate times as Sort spoke to show he was listening. He remain at the table for quiet sometime after everyone else had departed. Then retrieving his key from the table and making his way up to his room. Once there he locked the door behind him and walked to the edge of the bed. Blue stood there in the dark, still as a stone. Looking at the sheets as if they were poisonous but eventually allowed himself to sit on the corner of the bed. His mind churning with too many thoughts to allow him to sleep. No matter how far I run it seems I'll always be a slave to something. Blue then dragged hisself completely onto the bed and stared blankly up at the dark ceiling as the first words from his old master rolled through his head like distant thunder. To you I am lord, master, and only god. To me you are an asset to be used as I please until I tire of your existence. At which point I will toss you aside like the trash you are. A hatred soaked hiss escaped Blues throat as the words faded from his mind. To me there no gods...just beings with more power then they deserve

[Angel_Slayer_Alcatraz]

Nyx sees victor and smiles through her sadness
"Hey victor"
She plays for a few more minutes before looking at him
"The story I told you before the sword fodder attack..."
She must be referring to the goblins
"reminded me that I need to get myself a bow once more, can you accompany me to go and get one?"