Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Itarian Chronicles; Atrana (open)

Unholy goblin screeching erupted from the base of the tree as a few were clawed by Niya, and the rest reacted in horror at her arrival.
"Bort! Bort! Bugbort! Br'og!"
("A bear! A bear! A big bear! Run away!") yelled Boss Very Sharp Stick, and turned and fled. Drez saw Urir take the shot, and a cruel streak caused him to take one last shot at him before he did the same. His grip was unsteady, though, and he took no time to aim properly, so the bolt whizzed past Urir and landed harmlessly somewhere in the forest.
A handful of goblins managed to scramble to their (four-toed) feet and scatter waywardly into the forest, but plenty of them were still wrapped in chaos around the base of the tree, as both Urir and Dulirn descended towards them, and a pacing bear watched on.
Click stared at the human woman, at first in terror, and glanced around at the ever-more-chaotic scene. However, she didn't attack immediately, in fact, she started talking to him.
Click's grasp on the Common tongue was stronger than most of the rest of the clan, and though it didn't come easily to him, he could understand what she said. He thought perhaps he'd mistranslated, though- was she really asking about his wellbeing? Taking the goblins' side, even?

"Er..." he said uncertainly, glancing over at the wizard shimmying down the tree. "We bothering him." he explained, and took a cautious step back from her in case she attacked.

((Edited post-roll to reflect result))

Elunaria had sensed what was going on and came over. This was a strange sight....goblins talking to the girl from a minute ago. Plus 2 new people. She watched what was going on. But then realized she needed to leave. She had to go find Thoses objects so she could do the ritual. So Sh3 ran off.

Renna's face became perplexed at the little creature's words. She supposed if there were enough of them, they might cause trouble for a full grown human, but she was skeptical, especially since by the look of things he must have been a shaman. Did that mean his companion was a spirit? She'd certainly never seen a creature like the one floating down from the tree.

She looked back down at the creature with the crystals on its eyes. "Oh, I see...why are you bothering him then?" she asked, lowering her spear and leaning on it as though it were a walking stick. Clearly she did not judge him to be a threat. "Does he have something of yours? Oh!"

The woman's expression brightened. "Do you need food? I have a boar roasting back at my camp. There would be plenty for you and your...ah...friends?" Renna wasn't sure what kind of friends would abandon one of their own to flee into the woods, but then again Niya was eying them all rather hungrily. Still, the bear remained near her partner, and did not chase the retreating figures further into the forest, though she was now eyeing the human man and his companion with more than a little suspicion.

"Err... Dulirn! It huuuurts..." Urir moaned and groaned as the yellow aura drifted him lightly toward the ground, one hand clutched around the crossbow bolt in his midsection. He was going to beat Dulirn to the ground by a good few seconds, the wizard's efforts to hurry hindered by his robes.

"Hang on!" Dulirn called, glancing down quickly to count goblins and perhaps do some quick calculations... 6 of the little monsters were still there, he and Urir were both wounded, and the bear woman seemed to be enjoying the spectacle of the goblins trying to murder him so they could take his stuff. "Mmmppp...." he jumped the last few feet down and landed amidst the goblins, but staggered back a few steps, wounds protesting in pain at the jarring movement.

"Stay... away ... from him!" Dulirn warned the goblins, bringing his hands up before him. Sparks of magical energies crackled around his bloody fingers, but whether he could effectively bring those energies to bear should the goblins not heed his warnings remained to be seen...

Click struggled for a moment to answer Renna's question- why were they bothering the volk (humans)? For their stuff? For the thrill of the kill? Because they were in their territory? To eat them? Because... they were goblins, and that's what they did?
Then again, he didn't want to answer in a way that would set her against him, as she seemed to be currently friendly towards him, even offering him food.
"I not know." he explained eventually with a shrug. "I... Like meat of boar, yes." He wasn't about to turn down some good me (meat), and he was fully prepared to abandon the others for a bit... or forever.
Meanwhile, three of the goblins around the tree had managed to get up and flee, while the others apparently still liked their odds, and stood firm as Dulirn jumped down and into range, preparing his next act of yagh (magic). They all three slashed and poked at him with their blades, Two-Knife giggling in glee as he did.

((follow-up to roll , potential gore warning))

Two goblins missed wildly with their strikes, not wanting to get too close to the glowing yagh. But Two-Knife held no such rational concerns, and stabbed frenziedly at Dulirn's legs. The first blade made contact, slashing at his right shin, but the second drove viciously right through his left kneecap, the bloodied point emerging from the other side, nearly severing the calf in the process, and no doubt causing the man to fall. Two-Knife was coated in blood and laughing maniacally, though he struggled to remove the blade from the booyagh's knee.

Elunaria cast a spell freezing the goblins attacking where frozen in a ball of ice that was held up by plants. Any wounds that where caused healed. She then collapsed only for a white tiger to lay down and let her rest her head on it. The white tiger kept a eye on everybody. It was clear it was no normal animal. If you looked deep into it eyes you could see it was magical.

( let’s just say she did not get far andcame back to help. Due to her backstory which I’m working on.

Renna watched the fray between the man and the little creatures with discernible confusion on her face. Her first instinct was to jump into the fight as well, but without knowing who was in the right she was hesitant. On the one hand, it was shameful for one to attack an enemy smaller than oneself, but on the other it was equally unfair for the many to gang up on the one.

She looked back down to the green one by her side. "Why do you not help your frie-" the woman paused, noticing the disinterested look on his face. It seemed a bit unlikely this creature was on friendly terms with the others. "Your people? It is a very dangerous thing to fight a shaman like that." Her dark blue eyes turned back towards the man as the little sparks of light began to crackle around his fingers.

Disguising her fear as concern, she lowered her spear in front of the little green one and took a step backwards, gently urging him to do the same. "If you anger a shaman, you risk angering the spirits," Renna glanced down warningly at him. "It is very bad luck to anger the spirits. They will help your prey escape, and cause you to trip and fall on your spear." Not that the creature had a spear, but that didn't seem important to the warning.

Although the woman didn't notice the tiger arriving on the scene, Niya did. Lowering her head, she growled towards the white beast but did not make a move towards it. Instead, the giant blue bear moved between the tiger and Renna and began pacing back and forth slowly as a guard.

"I not help it... erm... clan, because we lose now. Booyagh - 'shaman', you say, more strong. I not want death. It yap. Clan stupid." He gestured to the remaining goblins, then corrected himself.
"Others less stupid, run away. This," he gestured to the three of them again, "more stupid. I not stupid, smart. I see woman and bear, strong, and not attack goblins. I think, but unsure, safe with woman and bear? Not death from yagh, magic?" he explained, and as he ended on his question, glanced over at Niya- who was blocking the path of a tiger. He yelped at the sudden arrival.
"Not death from... bug-ho'kwoff..."
He struggled with the translation, and muttered under his breath for a bit.
"Bug-ho'kwoff... Bug hob k'kwoff. Big smart little wolf. K'kwoff, kirk woff, little wolf is... dog. Hob dog, smart dog, smart-dog is... big smart-dog..."
Eventually, he simply pointed at the tiger.
"Not death from this?" he asked hopefully.

Renna couldn't help but smile at the little creature. If nothing else, he at least had the good sense to keep himself out of trouble. Since he didn't really look to be the fighting type, it seemed like a wise move on his part. He was using a lot of words she didn't understand, and she had a slight feeling they were not even the common tongue, but after a few moments it occurred to her that he might need help.

"Yes, I will help you if you like. You are a village...person, are you not?" The woman suspected masculinity about the creature, but wasn't entirely sure. She was more confident though that he was not a warrior, and therefore deserved her protection. But at the same time, she had no interest in getting in a fight with a shaman, and watched the battle continue between the man and the remaining creatures while trying to formulate a plan. "I think we ought to leave this place though. I do not think he will follow us, he seems rather busy right--Upalua!"

In a flash, she swung her spear around and fell into a defensive stance, the black head of the weapon pointed straight at the tiger. "What is that thing? I have never seen a bobcat so big...with a striped pelt...and a long tail...Niya, kavou!" she called.

The bear leapt to her side with only a passing glance at the green one. Both hunters were instead focused on the giant feline, but hesitant to move, realizing it already had a victim at its mercy: the woman from before.

Renna glanced back towards the creature. "I will do my best to protect you, little one, but you should run. I think it may be about to eat her, but I am not sure..."

Elunaria “ she my gaurdian you harm heryou anger the gods. She means no harm. Just like your bear friends with you she with me. She a white tiger not a bobcat.”the tiger helped elunaria on it back.

“Her spell was successful, My Lord,” Artok sneered, “but was it to your benefit, or to her own?”

“Her power seeks liberation,” the Darke One replied, “whether or not she goes with it shall be what determines the outcome.”

The infernal gaze shifted back to each traveler, wizard, and goblin. He despised the little things, save for those under his command; shrieking and howling in their blasphemous tongue, dwelling in caves beneath the land they should be taking. The thought of them siding with humans or elves was a turn for the worst, as he was concerned.

“Light the towers,” he commanded, “the beginning of the end shall soon commence.”

The structures flashed to life, a flaming sphere above each. Netharan could see all things, as he did in ancient years before the time of men, elves or dwarves; the time of the gods was truly to return, and this time, he would be the one upon the throne.

Dulirn screamed and shook in agony as the knife tore into and then through his knee, reaching out in reaction to grasp the goblin's arm as the creature twisted the knife painfully. The wizard's fingers dug hard into the goblin's arm, vision momentarily reducing to a pinpoint as the pain threatened to drag him down into blackness. But it was just as the goblin managed to free his knife that the pain suddenly lessened, not only in his knee, but in his rib as well, and the wizard's vision cleared, mind suddenly freed to work his own magic once more.

He was so focused on Two-Knife that he didn't even notice the other two goblins freeze in place. His eyes locked onto Two-Knife as he dug in his nails and intoned the ancient words of the spell.

Dulirn's hands seemed to turn into roiling, smoking flame, then burst into flames, searing the unfortunate goblin in his grasp, burning into the creature's arm.

---

((Edited to reflect roll result))

A great many things then happened at once. The woman and her bear leapt to his defence against the tiger (and as she called it bobcat, he remembered that cat was the word he was searching for), and a second woman stepped forward, cast a spell, spoke to the bear woman, and mounted the big cat.
The spell she cast imprisoned two of the remaining goblins in ice, and healed the wounds of their two targets. Immediately before that, the booyagh cried out in agony, and immediately after, Two-Knife was fried on the spot.
Most significantly, however, was the bright orange glow that suddenly blinked to life from somewhere in the forest, like the birth of a star.
Click, the booyagh, the booyagh's companion, the big blue bort and the woman it seemed to belong to, the bug-ho'kwoff (big cat) and the woman that seemed to belong to, were the only living things left in the clearing. A quiet fell for just a moment as the new sun flared, its origin hidden by the forest, but obviously not far away.
Click looked around at everyone present, wondering if someone had a clue what that was.

Elunaria slowly started to vanish soon she was gone. So was her tiger. But her frail body was taken into a hidden shrine of the moon where nobody but the moon chosen dared entered others who tryed died or faced a living nightmare. She sensed the dark gods. Her fear was coming true.....sadly...slowly this world would die unless something changed soon.

Renna relaxed momentarily at the reassurance that the cat--a tiger, had the woman called it?--was well under control and would not attack. The glowing lady had every opportunity to attack her earlier and she did not, therefore the traveler assumed she could be trusted, at least for the moment. Besides, it appeared she was busy freezing two of the other little green creatures. The huntress was a little unclear on exactly why the glowing lady had attacked them and assisted the shaman, but her suspicion that the former was indeed a spirit was growing.

Sensing there was no further danger in the direction of the lady and the tiger, Renna turned back towards the shaman, spear still lowered cautiously. Her eyes widened at the flames emitting from his hands, ending the life of the remaining green thing, and she let out a string of curses in her own language. She wasn't sure, but she thought the flames had spread upward into the sky, bathing the entire area in a weird orange glow. At first she thought the fire was spreading to the trees, but the smell of smoke was minimal, and the heat from the shaman's hand barely noticeable.

With his enemy vanquished, the huntress stepped towards the shaman, motioning for Niya to follow her. Swallowing hard, she pointed her spear at him and tried to radiate an air of authority and command, but the orange light was brining out the uncertainty in her eyes.

"You, shaman," she demanded. "What have you done to the sky? Do you mean to have the spirits kill us all?" She took a quick inventory of the survivors. Besides the man and his ugly companion, the little green fellow from earlier appeared to still be standing as well, but the lady and her tiger had vanished. Renna's heart beat a little faster. Had the spirit retreated to prepare for an attack?

"I do not know what your quarrel with the green ones was, but there are others in this forest who have done you no harm. If you use your magic to injure them, the spirits will curse you," she tried to snarl, her voice shaking only slightly as she held her spear as steady as she could.

Dulirn's hands still smoldered as he finally dropped the goblin's lifeless form to the ground, intending to rush to Urir's aid. But lo and behold, the short man was standing up unassisted and touching the location where the grievous wound had just been in amazement. "It's... it's gone!" Dulirn, he knew, had no healing spells among his repertoire. Which meant someone else's magic was in play here.

"You, shaman. What have you done to the sky? Do you mean to have the spirits kill us all?"

The wizard turned his gaze toward the huntress, quickly surveying her spear that was pointed at him and the bear that followed her. Sky? What was she on about? But the confusion that may have crossed his faced lasted but a moment, for it was difficult to miss the orange light. Is that what had healed him? And why? He felt uneasy about being in the debt of some unknown magic user. Who or what did he now owe a favor to?

"Peace! Fair Lady of Varanon!" he tried, not anxious to enter another battle if he could avoid it. He was lucky enough to have survived the encounter with the goblins. "There is another's magic at work here. That...," he squinted his eyes toward the light, trying to determine what it might be, "is not mine."

"Goblins?" he called out hesitantly, wondering if any of his clanmates remained in the area. When no reply came, he understood that they were not.
He glanced again at the others in the clearing. Ka va mong, strength in numbers, was something all goblins understood. Alone, they were weak, and would not survive. That's why they lived in a clan.
His clan was gone, at least for now, so he would have to join a new one, and it seemed like this was what he had to work with. The woman had made herself his protector, he trusted her the most, and he hoped she would stop her bort from attacking him. The other two... he couldn't be sure.