sometimes you can't make it

[modforged]

Who: Alexstrasza, Krasus/Korialstrasz, and the Redsworn
What: Successful retreat into the Ruby Sanctum
Where: Ruby Sanctum
When: After a long, grueling battle near the borders of Suramar
Warnings: Please PM the mods if any warnings are needed

[The Ruby Sanctum is a flurry of activity. This becomes clear within two seconds of stepping through the portal. The wounded are guided over to a grassy clearing surrounded by saplings and adolescent trees, bade to lay down and receive healing from other dragonkin. Some of the trees are years old, while a few look to have shot up recently. If you watch, vines engulf one fallen warrior; the body sinks into the ground, and a tiny sapling appears in its place.

Despite the war going on outside, the sanctum is less of a cavern and more like a self-contained dimension. Ample sunlight drifts down through scarlet leaves, which are occasionally home to the crimson scales of a whelpling. There is life everywhere: insects on twigs, birds chirping overhead, flowers at your feet. Dragon eggs lay nestled in the nooks and crannies offered by the tranquil forest. There is a decently-sized spring filled with fresh, pure water, as well as some small rocky outcroppings to sleep in. It's warm and comfortable enough to rest out in the open, too.

The cloaked and ever-mysterious Krasus stands watching the dispersing redsworn, his back against the massive oak in the center of the sanctum.

Occasionally, one may glimpse a beautiful red-haired woman with copper skin winding through the copse.]

[ooc: Mingle log for redsworn!]

Comments

[telaari]

"I expect that if they require our help against the Legion, they will not be too quick to anger at us," she says with a shrug, taking another bite of the charred meat.

"So... you are human, but not from Azeroth. Are you from that 'Earth' planet?"

[wilder]

"I dunno. I got a knack for pissing people off." Seriously, it was practically a special ability some days.

"Tethe'alla." He corrected. He thought about mentioning he's been to Earth but..eh, he was too tired to explain all that again.

[telaari]

"Tethe'alla," she repeats, lowering the bear ribs again. With a name like that, it could have been a Draenei world, but...

"I've never heard of it." But how curious that the human dragonsworn she's met so far are not native to Azeroth. Most curious, indeed.

[wilder]

Nope. It's just a world with crazy Norse and Greek names. And a random Japanese ninja village because why not.

"Not many have." It wasn't a huge world like Earth. The only people he's heard knowing about is people he personally already knew. "But it's got dragons and magic - so it's got some similarities to this place."

[telaari]

Well, that's a bit of a relief. With the way that Maridian talked about the other Dragonsworn, she expects them to be less accustomed to Azeroth and her ways.

"I am sorry to be so forward - you know how to use magic?" she asks him, setting the meat down completely. This one might be easier to prepare against the Legion. She could at least stand to look a little professional.

[wilder]

He gauges her reaction. Sure, he knew nothing about...whatever she was supposed to be. But he could still pick up on what seems to be relief on her. Which is a good sign, it'd suck if it turned out she was part of a people who fed magic users to monsters in the coliseum.

You know, like his people sometimes did.

"Yeah I d-" He stopped mid-sentence and corrected himself. "Well, I used to know how. Right now the only magic I can seem to get working is fire magic, ant it doesn't even feel like my magic."

[telaari]

Fire magic. She involuntarily tucks her tail between her legs - her poor tail, the subject of too many of her brother's childhood "prank" spells, most of which involved fire magic. At least she has firsthand knowledge of what it can do, even in a seven-year-old's hands.

"I think... maybe it has something to do with the ley lines? I am sorry, I am not skilled in the ways of the Arcane," she retracts, holding up a hand. "But if you still have control over your Fire spells, perhaps the rest will come in time."

[wilder]

"It's fine. Magic's a confusing topic even for the experts." There was a lot he didn't understand about Tethe'allan magic, frankly. But, that was probably partly because he didn't have a lot of peers in Meltokio who could also use magic- Cruxis and the Renegades were never that forthcoming with information either.

"Thanks, but I'm gonna try not to worry about it." Sure, it was a nuisance being weak, but did he really want his own powers back all that much? "Even if I don't get 'em back, I still got my sword. So...I'll make do!"

[telaari]

An arcane swordsman! Vas makes a sound that, in Draenei culture, might convey that she is impressed; outside of Draenei culture, however, it just sounds like she's clucking her tongue at him. This is exactly the sort of person that she's looking for, someone competent enough to be brought up to speed quickly.

"How long have you studied swordsmanship?"

[wilder]

He looks a bit perplexed at the tongue clucking. Was it something he said? Was the sword just not good enough? He knew it was kind of a stretch considering those demons out there, but it wasn't like he had much else. And if one thing Zelos was terrible at, it was being the damsel and counting on others to protect him.

"How long? Uh, since I was a kid, really...ten or so years." Sometime after he started realizing assassins might be a regular occurrence in the his life. Like it was said, he wasn't good at counting on others to protect him.

[telaari]

She folds one arm over another, touching a hand to one of her tendrils in thought. Ten years - that's very little to one like her, but this human cannot be more than twenty or thirty years old, if that. Quite impressive, for a mortal. She makes the sound again as she rolls a tendril tip between her fingers.

"And - I assume you are also not familiar with the Legion, yes?"

[wilder]

THIRTY?

THIRTY YEARS OLD?

Vas would not believe how much offense the redhead would take if he knew she was thinking that could be his age! How rude spacegoat, how rude.

Fortunately he has no idea that's her estimate on his age. He's too busy trying not to stare at the fact she has tendrils. He hadn't noticed them until she starting to play with them, but now- wow that's weird.

Oh right, the question.

"Nope. Can't say I've heard of them before."

[telaari]

And, unfortunately for Zelos, Vas has very little sense of time and how it affects the mortal races. Thirty years, that's close enough to twenty, isn't it?

Sh stops rolling her tendril between her fingers at his answer. This is exactly the sort of person she mentioned to the elf, the kind of person who has skill but no knowledge of the threat they all face. The kind of person who they could use to assist others. "The Burning Legion is the collective force of the demons invading Azeroth. They are the reason we have been summoned here."

[wilder]

Not close at all! Nevermind the fact he's immortal when he's not completely devoid of his powers- thirty is old and therefore he won't have it!!

"Demons?" He frowns. His own interactions with demons were limited. Most demons in his world had been sealed long before he was born. That was Emil- Ratatosk's job. "Just where are they invading from?"

[telaari]

"From the size of the forces on the ground... probably one of their stronghold worlds. Maybe even Argus, if there's anything still left on Argus," she says, playing with a tendril again. "They can travel between worlds by the Twisting Nether, but it usually requires some kind of big magic source or portal for them to manifest in numbers like this."

[wilder]

Okay that...made very little sense to him. But let's see- there were demon worlds named Argus and they had some way to travel worlds?

"Right so...maybe there's some magical thingy making them all come out."

Wait. That didn't make sense to what Emil taught him about demons.

"But why'd they do that? I dunno about this place, but where I'm from magic and mana's toxic to demons. If there's a big source here, wouldn't that make them wanna steer clear?"

[telaari]

"What?" she asks, squinting at him. "No, no, what you call demons must be something else." She raises a hand as if to wave away the notion of the two being the same.

"The Burning Legion operates entirely on Fel magic. If they could be killed by magic so easily, the Dark Titan himself would have been put down the moment he came to Argus."

[wilder]

He looks a bit affronted by the claim that they weren't possibly demons. Since seriously, he knew what a demon was! How did she know this Burning whatever weren't demons? Seriously!

But he won't bother to argue on semantics. Because frankly, affronted or not- he had a hard time caring. Might as well just go with this situation.

"Uh...huh, okay. So what's Fel magic then?"

[telaari]

"Fel magic is..." she starts, looking away from him. Even she's not entirely sure. That kind of knowledge is usually restricted to those who use it, and she would walk across a field of caltrops than touch a fel tome.

"Fel magic is the opposite of the Light. The Light grants strength to life and creation," she explains, still averting her eyes. "Fel magic draws strength from death and chaos. It is evil in its purest form. And the Legion mastered it long ago."

[wilder]

Even if she has an alien face, Zelos recognizes that look. Pastors would give it to him during lessons when he'd ask questions they didn't know. He idly wonders how much of this information she's learned herself, or is simply reciting from elders.

"The Light, huh..." The way she phrased it, it sounded to be much more than simple light element. In fact, he could take a guess what sort of power she means.

But, he was supposed to be a simple mercenary right? Better to err on the side of stupid.

"Do you mean like...sunlight light or something else?"

[telaari]

She looks back to him, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"No, I mean... The Light." Well, this isn't the first person she's had to explain this to today, but it is starting to get a bit tedious. "The Holy Light of Creation. The Light of the Naaru. It gives shape to all things where Fel magic undoes them. You truly have not heard of it?"

[wilder]

He seems to consider, then shakes his head with a shrug. He'll be nice and leave out the stories of angels with their own brand of holy light- light that would be used to wipe out towns.

"Sorry. Never heard of that. Mana's thought to be what created everything where I'm from. Light's just one of the eight elements of mana."