your hands protect the flames

[modforged]

Who: The Dragonsworn
What: The first arrival of the Dragonsworn goes a bit...awry.
Where: Scattered around the perimeter of Suramar.
When: Dawn on March 21st
Warnings: Please PM the mods if any warnings are needed

It is almost as if you've woken from a daydream when the ground meets your feet. The stench of fire is overpowering, and though dawn is just approaching in the canopies of Kalimdor, bright flashes of green can be seen between the branches of impossibly tall trees. If that doesn't snap you out of your surprise, then the sound of nearby spitting in demonic tongue may persuade you to get a grip and notice your surroundings -- you are not alone. There are others like you, huddled just a bit too close, with a somewhat familiar face keeping you from advancing further. Looking down at your hands may briefly reveal a momentary flash of color, but nothing lasting more than a few seconds.

The mages of each flight take the helm of their charges, and they are quick to notice any movement from their groups despite channeling some sort of spell to keep you protected. Stray fire will bounce off an invisible shield that ripples when anything make contact with it. There seems to be nothing in sight but your new comrades, and your guardian -- at least not on the ground. The sky has flying demons swarming a pack of dragons -- and the dragons are very clearly losing. Look just a bit farther, and you might find more dragons, though these clearly have different colored scales than the ones above your head.

While distracted, you may hear your guardian speak to you. "There may yet be wounded nearby -- if you care to, bring them here, and we will tend to them from the Sanctum." Briefly, they gesture skyward, toward the dragons flying overhead. "Do not bring to us any that are not our own, lest you invite their demise!"

But the mage is focused on casting -- they are in no position to halt your advance, and they know it. They speak with concern -- concern for you, concern for the dire situation at hand. The demonic cackling is drawing near. The forests are rapidly becoming overrun, and there are already a few dragons slain on the forest floor.

"Take care, Dragonsworn -- I am bringing us to safety, but it will take time. To wander far is to invite your ruin, and we cannot afford the loss of your life."

[OOC: You are free to mingle on this post as you choose, despite the flight groups being scattered through the forests around Suramar -- after this log, you will be separated into your sanctums, and your interactions will be watched much more closely. Attempting to enter the city itself will result in a vicious attack from demons that will kill. The Dragon Mages will be tagging sporadically to heroes of their matching flight, and the conclusion of this log will lead Dragonsworn through portals to their Sanctums.]

Comments

[windandrain]

Saori's shuffling gait comes to a halt when she notes eyes on her, and her hand comes to rest on the hilt of her sword. Not aggressively, just tiredly. Looking up, she...actually just returns the stare for a long moment.

"I must be dreaming..." she mumbles after a moment. "That's the only way you'd be here."

[roadstotheriver]

That turns the lost-puppy stare into a confused frown. IT does, however, break Lirael's silence. "What?" It isn't an extremely informative sort of question, but then, she isn't really great with words unless it's an emergency.

... and this is kind of an emergency. She'd missed the bubble most of the others wound up under, or had been running when she'd landed and lost it, so now she's at least somewhat on her own. It's just not an emergency where swift action will do much good, nor one where she actually knows what to do. That makes things a little harder.

But she licks her lips and asks, instead, "Do you... know me?" She doesn't look like a Clayr. Or Sabriel.

[windandrain]

Saori's hand falls from her weapon to her side as she looks the rather awkward young lady up and down. It certainly looked like Lirael. And it sounded like her. The fact that it might be a nightmare does certainly dawn on her, but even in nightmares, people deserved a response.

Just...what to tell her? Clearly, the young woman didn't remember her. So even if it was real, it'd be just like what happened with some other friends all over again. And that thought stings, but...at least it's a feeling.

"I...do. Or...I did." She looks away awkwardly from Lirael, unsure how to really say You saved my life, once. "In another place. Before I woke up in this one. Does the name Luceti mean anything to you?"

[roadstotheriver]

" ... no." Lirael pauses, thinking hard over the various books she's read, then shakes her head more firmly, sure she didn't know it. At least they're far enough from the worst of the battle to not be in immediate danger if they stop and chat. "No. I have never heard of that person. Who-- who is it?"

Another pause, then a slightly nervous look and the question: "Are you Luceti?"

[windandrain]

"No," Saori replies with a faint huff of laughter, the only real emotion she's managed to display so far. "Luceti is a place. A place I met you, some time ago. And a place that you left."

Turning, she looks out at the battlefield, expression growing ever more distant as she thinks back.

"It's...not a place you leave and remember. Something about it...some magic...prevents you from remembering it. You once told me it sounded like Free Magic." And then a thought strikes her, her head twitching a bit. "And if this is real, how do I remember it...?"

[roadstotheriver]

"Charter magic can do that, too, but probably more like Free Magic, I suppose...." Belgaer could do that, easily, and it is of both. Lirael shakes her head rapidly, to try and clear it. What magic could and could not do doesn't matter. "You know of Free Magic." Which could mean she was a friend-- or could mean she was a foe. "Who are you? How do you-- know me? From that place? Is-- is this Luceti?"

When the words come out, they really fly. Too many questions all at once come tumbling out, and she shuts her mouth on the last almost before she gets out the last word, embarrassed.

[windandrain]

"I do. And...I know it's a dark force in your world," Saori replies, looking at the young woman with a faint smile now. She remembers these conversations, and how Lirael would open up and let words just fall out. Like they were backed up, a breaking damn of verbs.

"And...no, it isn't...Luceti. Luceti is different than this place. There are no dragons, and the battles are much different than," she gestures, "...this."

She pauses, sighing heavily. "And I am Saori. Saori Kimura. I do know you from that place. You were a friend. Someone who was very kind to me, and someone I've missed very much. I am sorry, I wish...I wish I could make you remember. But as I am...in this state, I cannot. What power I had feels weakened, different somehow."

[roadstotheriver]

Lirael isn't at all sure what she thinks of being known of by someone who she doesn't know... saying she'd been in some place of which she had no memory. But the thought of being someone's close friend... that's still painful, and she swallows.

And addresses the last part, instead, in a small voice. "I can't reach the Charter. It isn't there. My bells still work, but the Charter is just-- gone." If this woman is a friend, she'll know what that means.

[windandrain]

"Oh..." Saori's eyes darken, concern and sympathy evident on her face. "Oh I'm...so sorry, Lirael. I...I know how hard that must be. And I know what you mean."

She closes her eyes, expression turning bitter. Whoever, or whatever had brought her here had done something to her, taken away her very essence so completely that she wasn't even sure what she was anymore.

"I can't feel the storm any longer. None of it. It was dull before, but now...now it's just vanished. Just...just like the Charter."

[roadstotheriver]

"The storm" doesn't mean anything to Lirael, but she can at least sympathize. If it's like the Charter, then maybe it's something magical and comforting, as well, or another kind of power source. So she nods, looking a little lost, still, but at least not afraid of Saori in particular. Lirael might notu nderstand what's going on, but at least this woman doesn't seem to mean her ill, and does understand something of where she comes from. She can worry about her lack of memory later. "So we are without our... our source of strength," she guesses. "In somewhere where there are monsters and dragons battling. That is not the Kingdom, and not Luceti."

At this point, she's just listing what little they know, which probably isn't all that helpful, but it helps her order her mind a little. She straightens her back a little, trying to call back a little confidence. "We should find someone else. Maybe-- they'll know more."

[windandrain]

"No...no it isn't." Saori's posture shifts in response to the young woman's words, looking back over her shoulder towards the camp she'd wandered away from. "There weren't demons like those in Luceti...so it can't be there. It...it must be a different world."

Another one. Separated once again from her friends and loved ones, and...trapped in this strange place.

"You're right, though. Maybe...someone else will know more. One of those...magicians, perhaps?"

[roadstotheriver]

Lirael has only been in one other "world", if one can count Ancelstairre as such, but she's seen many, so she isn't quite as shaken by that as she might be. The idea that there are hundreds of thousands of worlds not her own is not a new one to her.

More important is finding out about this one. "What magicians?" Which shows just how much attention Lirael had been paying the gruop she'd accidentally fled from. She turns to look around, but they're far enough away from the group at this point that she can't see anything, just the glimmer of the shield through the tops of the trees.

[windandrain]

Saori huffed a soft laugh, glad to see that Lirael's attention to detail hadn't really improved since she'd departed Luceti. Or...before she'd arrived, or whenever. She points up at the glimmering shield, though.

"The ones creating that. Where we arrived."

[roadstotheriver]

Lirael's mouth came open in a silent "oh", but then closed again uncomfortably. "I didn't even see them... I suppose if there are mages here, then... then they might have answers." Which, she supposed, means going back the way she'd come. Towards that shimmering magic thing.

[windandrain]

"I only saw them briefly, myself. I just...don't want to be here. Or...near them. I thought I should go looking for the people I did know. And I...well..." She looks back at Lirael, "I think you're the only one, so far."

[roadstotheriver]

"I don't know anyone." Which comes out before she really thinks it through, and she winces, half-certain she's offended. "I know you, now...." Though she's still a little unsure about "friend" status. She hasn't exactly had many, and isn't really sure how one goes about it.

But she is also something and someone friendly, who seems to know her. She bites her lip, looking between Saori and the place they'd come from. "Where else would you go?"

[windandrain]

Saori isn't offended, she's been through this enough times with people coming and going from Luceti that it's somewhat old hat. She just gives the girl a knowing little smile and nods.

"In time, Lirael. We'll just have to make new memories. But...as to your question, I'm not sure. I certainly think that going anywhere near the city would be foolish, though. Perhaps into the forest, find a safe place to sort things out until the battle blows over?"