The Valley of Shadows (Closed Second Gen Philsys RP)

[Blackwind Isao]

Jessie stood with a characteristic sigh and crossed to where Badesar and Ignazio sat and passed each of them what appeared to be a playing card of some sort. "You two should go and talk with Ambrogino, just to be safe. I'll contact you when things are safe again." Neither of the two said a word as they held the cards that they were given, looking intently at whatever was pictured there on. A moment later their bodies started to fade out and left only a rainbow pattern where the two of them had once stood.

"I am uncertain if what approaches us is inclined to do us some harm, but it is best to be prepared for any circumstance. In any case, I expect that eventually we'll have to defend ourselves against some sort of attack, it is inevitable aafter all."

With a thin smile he drew out his sword and prepared for what he hoped would not come.

- Blackwind.

[Kelne]

Something had been nagging at Cerene's subconscious for a while now. Things just didn't seem right somehow. And then it hit her - shouldn't the land so close to Doma City be dotted with farms? It had been a while since she'd seen any, though she couldn't recall just when that had been off the top of her head.

Her introspections were cut short by a glimpse of motion in the sky. Even as she opened her mouth to say something, others spotted it, and began preparing themselves for a fight. Cerene spent a few moments studying the shapes, trying to resolve details. In the end, she decided she wasn't just going to stand around waiting for them to get closer.

"I'm going up to take a closer look," she said, taking a few steps away from the group. Fire wrapped briefly about her body, obscuring the details of the transformation. When it died down, a chocobo-sized bird with fiery orange plumage stood in front of the group.

Cerene sprang skywards, snapping her wings into the first critical downbeat. Further flapping followed as she strove for altitude. That, above all else, was critical in an aerial battle. It would also, incidentally, give her a good view of the landscape. The question of the missing farms might have been pushed to the back of her mind, but it was still there.

[KingOfDoma]

Bulworth ceased his clomping and observed Cerene's transformation in awe. It was... beautiful to him.

"Wow... that was wonderful. It would be terrible if those flying ... things took her out."

He looked to James, a bit worried. "You can attack something from a distance, right?"

[Blackwind Isao]

Jessie watched Cerene go with a look of apprehension but neither attempted to stop her or even say anything. It was, in his opinion a damn fool thing to do, but it would be better in the long run for her to learn that sort of lesson for herself. Besides whatever the creatures may have been, if they were meant for him they'd more than likely leave her be until she decided to attack. If they weren't after him, well who knew at that point?

As the creatures continued to close the distance the wind began to shift bringing an almost overpowering stench of decay and rot. Whatever these things are they continue to close the distance.

*Initiative order*
1) Cerene
2) Bullworth
3) Jessie
4) Harpies
5) James
6) Zea

- Blackwind.

[Kelne]

Not good. Not good at all. Wherever they were, it sure as hell wasn't Doma. Plus there was a flock of harpies closing in on them. Cerene hadn't encountered harpies before, but she was pretty sure there wouldn't be any reasoning with them.

Not intending to take on the entire flock on her own, Cerene circled quickly back towards the others, letting out a short, and likely redundant, shout of "Harpies!" The rest of the bad news could wait until they'd dealt with the threat.

She still had a few seconds to act before the harpies descended on the others. Or, the more she looked at the situation, on Jessie. Screw waiting for clearer evidence of hostile intent. Friendly creatures didn't swarm in like this.

Thus far, the creatures had ignored her. The fireball she sent screaming straight into the middle of the flock would likely change that.

(Fireball, targeted to hit as many harpies as possible.)

[Blackwind Isao]

Cerene's warning comes just as the harpies are starting to become visible as more than just 'roughly humanoid things in the air'. The stench coming off the harpies is revolting, almost to the point that it would make a weak stomached person vomit.

As the harpies close they seem intent on only one person, Jessie. That is until a fireball explodes in the middle of the pack. The ball of flame sets feathers and skin ablaze only further intensifing the stench in the air. Though injured none of the harpies seems detracted from their target.

(Next in initiative: Bullworth)

- Blackwind.

[KingOfDoma]

Bulworth muttered to himself. "... just had to be blasted flying things, didn't it?"

Grumbling to himself with every clomp, he rushed over to the nearest tree.

Another grumble. "It just HAD to be evergreen..." But, without another word, he began to ascend the tree as best he could, and when he reached the top, he readied his weapon...

(If that's just a delayed action, let it be. And, though I do not want to extend my reach, if I am allowed, I would like to have a light attack against any nearing harpy. But, whatever the GM allows.)

[Blackwind Isao]

Jessie takes the time Cerene provides with her fireball to do... something. What exactly he's doing isn't readily obvious as the elven scholar simply waves his hands about for a brief moment and waits for the oncoming rush.

The harpies for their own part break into three groups. One smaller group of three diverts off from the main body to attack Cerene with razor sharp talons. While the phoenix evades the first two of her attackers the third connects, leaving an unsightly and rather large gash on her right leg. Four of the six remaining harpies rush Jessie, two missing by a wide margin while the other two draw a sound a screeching metal when they rake his clothing.

The three remaining harpies take the time to cast spells of their own. Two bolts of lightning begin to form and start to streak out towards the already embattled elf. With another odd gesture one of the bolts fades before it reaches him, the other one seem to have little effect if any.

(Cerene takes 12 points of damage)

(Next up: James)

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 9/22/05 17:45

[Archmage144]

James's wings buzzed furiously, almost involuntarily. It had been a while since he had any reason to fight, especially for his life, and he relished the opportunity to dive headfirst into a combat situation. A bit reckless, perhaps, but not stupid, James decided that his best move for the moment was not to subject himself to a barrage of claws by leaping into the air and flying around, weapons flashing--no doubt he would be swarmed by his equally mobile opponents and ripped to shreds, much like poor Cerene was about to experience. Instead, he figured he ought to do something about those lightning-pitching harpies hanging back on the fringes.

He raised his right hand, closing one eye like a gunman sighting down at a target, fingers curled as if wrapped around an invisible neck, and appeared to be gradually tightening his grip. A wicked and slightly insane grin crept across his face as he continued tightening, muttering too softly for anyone else to hear...

(Choke, targeting one of the caster harpies.)

[Blackwind Isao]

The effects of James' spell were nearly immeadiate, the thing gave a slight skawk before the air started to rush from its lungs. This also had a side effect that no one probably expected; in its desperation to regain its breathing capabilities the thing forgot to maintain its hovering and fell out of the sky like a rock. It was only a few short moments later that the body hit the ground with a sickening thud.

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 10/7/05 1:43

[Kai]

Zea snatched her axe off the wagon, but didn't expect to need it at the moment. With a grin, Zea noted James' successful attack against the now-fallen harpy. In her mind, she wasn't good for a wide array of purposes in combat. She couldn't heal, she couldn't crush things with her mind, she couldn't spray various harmful elements at her enemies. There was, however, one thing she could do that most people could not... make use of the opposing side's casualties.

She was too far away from the harpy to get to it and finish it off at the moment, but without a doubt she could make her way over and hope that the foul-smelling thing would do her a favor and die before she got there.

[Kelne]

Cerene didn't particularly like her odds at the moment. Sure, she was confident she could take any one of the harpies one-on-one, but together they'd swarm her. Thus, she set about tilting the odds.

Cerene broke off from the fight momentarily, focusing on putting a little distance between them while she prepared herself. A swift murmured chant escaped her beak as she focused her attention on making a familiar mental contact.

Keros? Could I get a hand for a minute?

Oh, alright. It's not like I'm doing anything that won't wait. What've you gotten yourself into this time?

Harpies, was Cerene's cheerful response.

Harpies? What the heck are you doing fighting harpies?

Fire winked into existence high above Cerene as the summoning spell took full hold. When it cleared, a second phoenix occupied the skies. Keros took in the situation at a glance, then folded his wings and plummeted towards one of the trailing harpies.

With the odds thus evened, Cerene turned about, facing her pursuers once more. She'd been spending a lot of energy, but with her brother's aid, those harpies didn't stand a chance. Keros might not be able to stay as long as he would if he'd come in under his own steam, but he'd be there long enough.

(One summon sibling spell to put Keros in play. Keros, for his part, will be using the time-honoured Death From Above move.)

[KingOfDoma]

One of the harpies made a mistake.

She had flown too close to the waiting minotaur, and he had taken advantage. He had gone for a strike in the monster's face, but nothing too severe, as that might send him tumbling back down to Gaera...

(Light attack.)

[Blackwind Isao]

Bullworth manages to curse, claw and otherwise scrape himself to the top of his chosen tree where he waits for anything foolish enough to come within hammer reach.

For his own part Jessie tumbles backward, toward the tree that Bullworth just acended with a catlike agility, his sword ready for the next series of attacks he is rather certain that he is about to endure.

The harpies seem to ignore the arrival of Keros as well as Zea moving towards one of their fallen members. James on the other hand is not so lucky, the lightning that had been directed at Jessie only a minute earlier was this time directed at James. It seemed to have the same effect on James that it did on Jessie (which is to say none. Sucessful MDEF roll.)

The flock attacking Jessie finds itself with an interesting prospect they can attempt to flyby but doing so makes it so they have to swerve sharply to avoid the tree about five feet behind him not to mention the fact that there seems to be a minotaur in said tree. It seems however that such things are beyond the concern of these creatures as they attack relentlessly. One misses compleatly and takes a rather nasty looking cut across the chest for its efforts. The other three rake their claws across the elf's chest only to draw another round of metalic shreeking, with no other apparent effect.

Cerene on the other hand wasn't quite as lucky as her compatriots. True the first harpy missed by rather alot but it seemed that the other two had judged the angle of attack from the first's miss. Two more nasty gashes appear on the phoenix's legs. (Cerene takes 8 and 9 points respectively and may feel a little ill at this point.)

(This makes it Bullworth's turn for a swipe at a Harpy)

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 9/23/05 0:19

[Blackwind Isao]

(Sorry folks KOD and I got our wires crossed about the order of things. Everything should be alright now.)

Bullworth eyed the incomming harpy and swung his hammer around with perfect timing catching the thing full in the face and leaving a sizable impression where he had hit. This harpy too forgot how to fly as it was more concerned with other issues at the moment, namely the caving in of part of its face. It crashed to the ground in a simalar fashion as the first one had, but, having not nearly as far to fall seemed to be still alive despite it.

(Next up: James)

- Blackwind.

[KingOfDoma]

"Ha ha!" Bulworth laughed, crying down at the harpy. "That will teach you to mess with a bull in a tree!"

He spat down at it, and got his head up, ready to strike again...

[Archmage144]

James grinned at his work, glad to have dragged one of the harpies out of the air--the creature looked like it was severely incapacitated, if not dead, and it was definitely a good idea to pick a different target for his next attack. Cerene seemed to be having a little bit of difficulty with all the harpies swarming about, so the half-incubus decided it might be in his best interests to give her a hand. Save her now, and she'll owe me later, mused the mage, raising a hand and pointing a few fingers in the direction of one of her attackers.

He closed his eyes, seeing his opponents on a somewhat less physical plane, tuning into his second sight to perfect his spell aim. Not going to fool around with this one, thought James. No fancy tricks.

With that, he began to mutter an incantation he had practiced hundreds of times under his breath, his voice low until he reached the final word, which he practically shouted...

Cold energies of the shadow plane, sap the strength of the living and burn the souls of my enemies to ash! ANTITHESIS!

(Antithesis 2, targeting one of the harpies around Cerene, total attack roll 26.)

[Blackwind Isao]

From James' hand came a bolt as black as midnight aimed straight at one of the harpies harassing Cerene. James' bolt hit the thing square in the chest but seemed to have no more effect on it than the lightning had had upon him. It did however cause the harpy to turn in his direction instead of turn to continue the attack against Cerene.

- Blackwind.

[Kai]

Zea noticed with a thrill of happiness that the harpy had managed to run out its own life before she had to finish it off. With a few words of silent thanks for the opportunity that had come much earlier in the battle than she'd expected, she fell to her knees next to the fallen harpy. She whispered to herself as she cast her spell...


"Lord of endings and transformations,
A daughter of the faith calls out in her need.
Let these harpies fall and beg for your blessing
Under the weight of your curse.
...animate."

When she felt the energy surge through her own body toward the harpy, filling the corpse in front of her, she immediately gave it its command. If she needed another command later, that was fine, but for now there was no denying that the flock of angry harpies was an important problem.

"Kill the harpies."

[Kelne]

From his altitude, Keros had an unparallelled view of the fight. It was a sprawling, chaotic affair, with the harpies spread out too much or too closely engaged for him to blast many of them. And why was that minotaur perched in a tree? In any case, his priorities were clear.

Cerene! Down! His sister followed the command swiftly, folding her wings and dropping like a stone. That left him with plenty of room to drop a fireball on her remaining assailants.

(Fireball on the two harpies, since I doubt the third is still within the blast radius)

[Blackwind Isao]

Keros' fireball brings another wave of foulness with it though this time arround the harpies drop like stones from the air. Apparently their system couldn't take that sort of punishment more than once.

Zea's undead harpy stuggles to regain the command it once had over flight and manages to drag itself into the air as well as a slight distance towards the rest of the fray.

(Top of the round, Cerene takes 8 points of poison damage)

Initiative order modified to include Keros and Undead Harpy.

1) Cerene
2) Keros
3) Bullworth
4) Jessie
5) Harpies
6) James
7) Zea
8) Undead Harpy

(Cerene and Keros are up)

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 10/7/05 1:50

[Kelne]

At the explosion above, Cerene re-opened her wings, pulling out of her headlong dive. The smoothness of her recovery was marred by a stab of nausea. Straining with the effort of not losing her lunch, she leveled out. That last harpy was hers. It had tangled with her, and it was going down.

Cerene lashed out at the back of the retreating harpy with a bolt of raw fire.

Meanwhile, her state wasn't lost on Keros. She could always be counted on to overextend herself, which was one of the main reasons he and Fiore so often wound up bailing her out of trouble. His time here was limited; he might as well make the most of it by fixing her up before he got pulled back.

As the regenerative fires which some people found so disconcerting wrapped themselves briefly around Cerene, knitting her wounds back together, it occurred to him that something wasn't right. By now, that constant tug back towards his starting point should be getting stronger, to the point where it was irresistible. Instead, it was absent entirely. He'd been summoned often enough to know how these things went, and Cerene just didn't have the necessary skill to hold him here for long.

There was also the question of just where they were. This didn't look like any part of Doma he was familiar with, and yet Cerene had said that she was going on an overland trip to somewhere near Baron. It was all rather puzzling, really.

(Cerene will be using fire 2 on harpy number 3, while Keros uses cure on Cerene.)

[Blackwind Isao]

The harpy Cerene is intent on explodes into flame though oddly there is no intensifing of the fould odor in the air. This sign of ill omen is confirmed imeadiatly by the fact that the harpy appears unphased by the phoenix's attack at all.

The healing flames Keros conjures knit some of Cerene's wounds together tough she is far from in top condition even after their curative powers fade. (Cerene is healed for 17.)

For his part Bullworth finds no harpy foolish enough to brave his tree a second time, even with what would appear to be their primary target almost directly beneath it. Instead the three that were left headed in the direction of Keros.

Jessie gives one of those odd waves of his hand and one of the three harpies moving away from him suddenly starts to spasm uncontrolably once again losing its power of flight in the process. This harpy hits the ground with all the grace of a brick and lies motionless were it falls.

The harpies continue their spilt assault on the party focusing on James and Keros. The harpy Cerene claims as hers attacks James at an odd angle only to find that James is more than ready for it as he sidesteps the dive. Too late to pull up the harpy runs straight into the ground with several sickening snaps and crunches. Unfortunately for James he sidesteps directly into an oncomming bolt of lightning compleately unprepared for it. (James takes 20 points of 'lethal' damage and 39 points of 'subdual' damage)

Keros is missed by the first harpy but the second scratches his wing with its talons as it passes. (Keros takes 6 points and gets that queezy feeling).

(Next up: James (KOed), Zea/Zombie Harpy)

- Blackwind.

[Archmage144]

James deftly leapt to the side, dodging the incoming harpy with an enthused grin, the joy of battle surging through him. "Hah!" he shouted, revelling momentarily in his triumph.

That was when the joy was replaced by the surging of electricity.

Eyes bulging, James' muscles all contracted sharply, causing his entire body to lock up and every hair on his body to immediately stand on end, resulting in a spectatularly outlandish mutation of his current hairstyle. Clenching his teeth and overwhelmed with pain, James' knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with a groan.

[Kai]

Zea headed back toward the battle and watched as her new pet harpy took flight, following its trajectory with her eyes as it pursued the first live harpy it encountered. Before the undead creature could reach it, the harpy sent off a lightning bolt. Curious for a moment as to whom it was targeting, Zea noticed with some degree of alarm that it was James. She noted with still more alarm that he didn't seem to deal well with electricity.

She quickened her pace, trying to get over by James. This was more or less because Zea wasn't about to climb up and help Bullworth and Cerene seemed to have assistance of her own.

The newly-animated zombie made its mistress proud and attacked the harpy that, at the moment, Zea happened to be the most displeased with.

The other harpies... well, someone would get them eventually. For now, Zea had done her part and she couldn't do anything more until she got in a little closer.

[Blackwind Isao]

Zea's undead harpy slashed at its one time compainon with razor sharp claws opening a cut along the spellcaster's breast that looked simalar to the ones that both Cerene and Keros had now suffered. Though this seemed to annoy the creature it still seemed far more concerend about Jessie than about either the animated thing that had once been its companion or the injuries it had just recieved.

With no threat of being harried by the remaining harpies Jessie took the time to move back to James' side. While he was relieved to see that the demon wasn't dead as he had originally thought he might be, he was a bit miffed that about using a spell that he didn't really understand the workings of. Oh sure, the theory of it wasn't the complicated part. The part that boggled the mind was reaching backwards in time and likely into an alternate timestream to do it. Still, it seemed as if no on else had the time nor, from what little he could see of the fight the ability to help James.

With one of his characteristic sighs the mages made a complicated gesture and invoked the spell. (James is 'timehealed', this replaces his current body with one from about three minutes before the fight broke out.)

(Back to the top with Cerene and Keros)

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 9/27/05 23:33

[Kelne]

Two on two was more the sort of odds that Cerene liked. If only she were in better shape for it, though. Best to take out the pair of harpies before she wound up in even worse shape.

Cerene targeted the closer harpy with a blast of fire, Keros following suit scant instants later. With a bit of luck, both of their foes would be down for the count. Though given how her last effort had fared, she couldn't count on it.

(Both phoenixes will be using fire 2 on separate harpies)

[Blackwind Isao]

(I'm assuming that Bullworth's action will be what KOD and I had disscussed over AIM)

Cerene's bolt has the same ill fated conclusion as her last one did seeming to not harm her target in the least. Keros on the other hand turns his harpy into a plile of ash.

Bullworth launches off of his tree and onto the mangled harpy he decimated with his hammer earlier. The minotaur crushes it with a combination of his weight and the momentum of his fall. He doesn't come out of such a manuever unscathed however the force of his fall and the impact of his body on what initially were rather pointed wings leave a plethora of cuts, bruises as well as something that feels much more long lasting and painful. (Bullworth takes 36 damage from falling and has a cracked rib.)

Jessie with one of his predictable hand waves gestures towards the spellcasting harpy which follows much the same proceedure as the last one he used the same manuever on, squaking briefly and hitting the ground like a dropped rock.

The last harpy seeing its band decimated by the party turns to continue to attack but before it does so it fades from view leaving behind a prismatic spray of light as it goes.

(Combat is over all party members (except Keros and Jessie) gain 1050 XP. Keros gains 500 XP. Please remember to level your characters.)

- Blackwind.



Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 10/7/05 1:57

[Kai]

Zea turned slowly away from the only harpy left... her dead one. It fell to the ground with a crash and she ignored it, choosing rather to briefly glance over to make sure James was all right. Without a word to any of the others, she approached Jessie.

"Excuse me. You seemed to know what was going on. I think the rest of us are curious by now as well. Do you know what that was all about?"

[Blackwind Isao]

"I have some idea of what is going on, yes. I can also hazard a guess at who sent those harpies after us now as well. This may turn out to be much longer and much harder than I had originally expected."

That said the elf sat down and surveyed the party. "Looks like most of you aren't in much shape to continue. Perhaps we should start setting up camp?"

- Blackwind.

[Kai]

Zea tilted her head at Jessie and regarded him carefully.

"You're not being very helpful, you know. I'm not asking to know everything, but we could all get killed if you don't tell us relevant information, such as the reason we were attacked by harpies and what else you expect to happen."

At Jessie's predictably dismissive reply that Zea ask him again later, she resolved to ignore her employer rather than get overly aggravated with him.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=kai@rpgww60462>Kai</A]&nbsp; at: 10/5/05 0:28

[KingOfDoma]

Bulworth, achingly, stood himself up and began to raise his hammer. This, of course, was met with the pain of a rib shooting through his side. The hammer dropped, and Bulworth stumbled, but did not fall.

His hand over his injured area, he said, "Guys, I have just done something colossally stupid. None of you would happen to be blessed in the healing arts, would you?"

[Kai]

Zea looked at Bulworth blandly. "I'm sorry. I... don't heal. Would be useful, admittedly. But it's not something I specialize in."

Which wasn't to say that Zea was incapable of helping. If it were of vital importance that someone be healed and no one else around would do it, she would be more inclined to offer her services. However, the costs involved with healing others were still not something she was ready to deal with for the sake of someone she barely knew.

"Anyway, camp. Sure. Bulworth, are you still taking first watch since you're injured, or do you want to switch with me? That'll put you third, which should give you some time to rest up from ...well. From gravity," she finished with a slight smirk. "Sound like a good idea to everyone else?"

[Archmage144]

James, meanwhile, was experiencing the most bizarre feeling he had ever had the misfortune of dealing with. On one hand, it was good not to be dead, which he was slightly worried about after being badly electrocuted. Not that he had had much time to consider his impending death. It was more of an "OH SHIT!" reaction the instant the current surged through his body and decided to test his resistivity factor. Unfortunately for James, humanoid bodies tend to be good conductors on account of all the electrolytes floating around in solution, and his vital systems were in no shape to handle that amount of sudden potential difference.

Being electrocuted was not the weird part of the experience. Being healed was the weird part of the experience.

James was not entirely sure what had happened to him, but he was suddenly conscious. He stood up, and noted that not only had his visible wounds and burn marks healed, but he was feeling a strange sensation of dizziness, much like he had been violently sucked through a straw. His head throbbed a little, and he noted that somehow being electrocuted had totally failed to disrupt his hair. That made very little sense. In fact, instead of feeling the typical post-combat relaxation as the adrenaline washed out of his system, James felt remarkably tense and excited, as though the battle had just begun. Glancing around curiously, he noted the dead harpies and concluded that the battle was in fact over.

What James failed to understand, not having an advanced knowledge of the humanoid endocrine system, was that his confusion and disorientation were a result of the fact that his body's complete physical state, including his hormonal concentrations, had been restored to more or less precisely what it was immediately before the battle, creating a somewhat inappropriate reponse. This, in the grand scheme of things, was relatively unimportant, but it did ultimately explain his undisturbed hair.

He smacked himself in the temple. Some very strange mental images were flickering in the back of his mind, memories surfacing that he was fairly certain were completely imaginary, despite a nagging suspicion that they must have happened at some point in his life. The completely unexpected side effect of the time magic spell was that it managed to pull a few of James' memories from a parallel, tangent time stream, unintentionally cramming them into the chemical storage system of James' brain. How this happened, exactly, would never be known--time magic is an incredibly unpredictable art, and most reputable mages generally believe that Temporal Theory is as much an arcane science as a cake-eating contest is an athletic competition. Later, James might realize where the memories came from, but for the moment, he was completely baffled at the sudden shock of "remembering" things he was completely positive had never happened.

The half-incubus blinked confusedly. "...I'm sorry, I'm a little out of it. That blast hurt. And does anyone know what flan has to do with anything?"

[Kelne]

Cerene, as she glided slowly in for a landing, looked pretty badly trashed. She'd been running on adrenaline towards the end there, and things had finally caught up with her.

Even the restorative effect as Keros fixed up her remaining wounds didn't seem to give her any energy boost. The physical wounds might be gone, but she was just wrung out. It didn't even occur to her to question the fact that Keros was still there.

Still, she did manage to muster the energy to follow suit when Keros shifted into his elven form. Seen together, the family resemblance between the pair was easy to recognise, quite aside from the identical shades of hair and eyes. Keros wasn't really dressed for the travails of the road, wearing a loose white shirt, dark pants and city shoes.

In fact, aside from a pencil tucked absently behind one ear, all he had were the clothes on his back. He'd soon be feeling the lack of certain things if he wound up sticking around. Not that this thought had yet occurred to him.

"So," he said cheerfully, addressing the question to the group as a whole, "Where are we? This doesn't look like Doma to me." It was a question asked in all innocence. It was also one rather unlikely to lighten the mood.

[Blackwind Isao]

(OOC: That took less time than I had originally thought it would. Though I'm still out of town until next Thursday I may actually be around here at my normal intervals.)

Jessie choose to ignore Zea's complaints for now, there was little reason for any of them to know more than he had already told them. As far as he could see it was all largely irrelevant information at this point in time. Perhaps when things started attacking everyone at the start of a fight he could let some of his secrets out into the open, but until then there was little need to do so. Although with where they currently were and without either Ignazio or Baldesar present they'd be stuck if he couldn't fend off whatever came his way until these mercinaries covered his back. With the speed at which he'd been found it suddenly didn't seem like such a great idea to be running through alternate planes of reality. Not that he was going to tell anyone that little tidbit either.

There did seem to be a few outs since he could still patch up both Cerene and Bullworth if they were willing to accept the possible side effects his brand of healing brought with it. "I believe that I can help you out a bit Bullworth. That is if you don't mind the possibility of... well I suppose you can ask James about side effects to my brand of healing. The clock is running though, you've got about five minutes to give me an answer before I can't do anything for you."

With that said he turned towards Keros. "I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Jesiah Black, you are?"

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 10/6/05 19:20

[Kelne]

"Keros Sonelle," Keros said, extending a hand towards Jessie to shake. "You must be the person organising the archaeological expedition?" He'd considered going along, but he had a few other committments, and couldn't just vanish for a month or two. Still, since he was here anyway, he might as well get a few of the details...

[Blackwind Isao]

Jessie briefly shook the offered hand. "Indeed, I am the so called organizer of the archaology expedition," he stated. "Though I am rather curious as to how you arrived here. As you noted we are quite far from Doma currently. Which reminds me...." The elf trails off and reaches into a pocket producing the same playing card type of object he had given his assistants upon their departure.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, sir? Bullworth, if you require my aid I suggest you speak up. I won't be able to do it if you wait much longer, and I have to bring Baldesar and Ignazio back, they are rather vital to us at this juncture."

- Blackwind.

Edited by: Blackwind Isao at: 10/7/05 1:11

[KingOfDoma]

"Oh."

Bulworth achingly walked over to Jesiah.

He looked him dead in the eye.

"... I require aid. Please, please render it, if you'd be kind. Thanks."

[Blackwind Isao]

Jessie didn't say anything, he simply layed a hand on the Minotaur and muttered something distinctly non-arcane under his breath. The effect was instantaneous. The ache went away as the cracked rib that Bullworth had aquired had never existed, at least not for this body, nor had any of the various cuts, scrapes, bruises or internal injuries he had suffered in his fall. The minotaur was for all intents and purposes perfectly fine.

Jessie had to wonder what sort of side effects his 'healing' would have this time arround. He also wondered what would happen if he kept using it, there was alway the possibility that he'd eventually destroy a person's psyche entirely and replace it with an alternate one. At least he supposed there was that sort of possibility even if he'd never heard of it happening. Time magic was extremely unpridictable when one decided to go mucking about with other time streams. He'd have to be careful with this one.

Jessie gave the minotaur a minute to make sure everything was indeed fine before he withdrew from the gathering. Perhaps a quarter hour later there was a familiar rainbow of light from which stepped the semi-familiar forms of Baldesar and Ignazio. They weren't the only ones stepping from the light however, an elf looking almost exactly the same as Jessie stepped through as well.

"Ambrogino," Jessie said. "How nice of you to come."

- Blackwind.