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

OTA, new Redsworn here

[telaari]

The sound of corrupted Eredun alone is enough to snap Vas out of her stupor. She pulls her shield to herself as she draws the weapon at her belt, the crystal short sword ringing as it slides out of its sheath. Panic takes her for a moment - the Exodar isn't under attack, is it?

She looks upward and sees the dragons as they fall from the sky, and it takes every ounce of restraint that she has to not leap into the fray with them. The Legion has found us, she thinks, and they are winning. She takes a moment to glance over her shoulder at the people behind her. Some are outfitted for a fight against demons, but too many are not prepared. The strange figure that ushered her toward the group is probably right, running off to slay the monsters would just as soon be a death sentence for them all.

No, what they need right now is a perimeter around the more vulnerable members of their party. "Hey," she says, gesturing to the nearest person, "we need to secure this place. Will you help?"

[mortalforged]

Unlike some of the others, the cloaked mage doesn't seem alarmed by the draenei's presence. "You have my thanks," he murmurs, concentrating on the spell. He is happy to have a protect or two. The reds are numerous, but he isn't counting his dragons before they hatch. "Still, I regret what must be done. Surely you are tired of such conflicts, draenei. It is the same for us."

[telaari]

"This is the least I can do, mage," she says, albeit uncertainly. The elf is not kaldorei, and he lacks the green-tinged eyes of a blood elf. She supposes that he might be one of the high elves she's heard rumors of, but she can't think of a reason for one of them to seek out her help in particular. A member of the Hand, maybe, but not a junior Vindicator.

But nevertheless, it is the least she can do. "I'll stay here until everyone else is through the portal. The Legion must not be allowed to follow."

[mortalforged]

"Krasus," he corrects gently. He knows that name has some weight, though whether it's ever reached her ears is something else entirely. Also, his eyes are black and not the arcane blue high elves generally wear. He is very strange, overall, for an elf. Strange for a dragon, too.

"They will not follow-- I would sooner die than let them set one foot near the Dragonqueen. But if you wish to be the last, that is your choice."

[telaari]

The Dragonqueen? She's heard of dragons, and of their intelligence, but how they organized themselves was still largely a mystery to her. Certainly, there were stories from Northrend about a great tower where the Blue dragons battled the other kinds for days and days on end, but the specifics had always been a bit hazy. However, if he's affiliated with the dragons, that also means that there's a decent chance that this Krasus has access to the kind of magic that a draenei magus could only dream of.

"I must go last - I am a Vindicator," she insists, but her words lack any sort of force behind them.

[pouts]

Nowi, not being able to tell the differences in who has been sworn into what flight, doesn't see a possible enemy in this person. No, she seems interesting looking? For one, she definitely isn't human like most of the people she's met in her very long lifetime.

"You want me to help?" She may have not been addressing her (and who would, the girl looks like a child), but Nowi's the type to speak up quickly. "How?"

[telaari]

Vas shakes her head as looks down at the... elven girl? "No, no, you should be preparing to leave first. I need the adults to help me."

She grimaces in spite of herself. Were this the Exodar, shes sure that she would be told the same thing. Nevertheless, she can't in good conscience send a child to aid in their defense.

[pouts]

"Um." She grimaces and somehow manages to pause before blurting anything out loud to consider her options.

If she were to admit she's hundreds of years old now and a "veteran" when it came to combat, she might be forced into a situation where she couldn't fight. Being without her weapon left her fairly useless, though she suspects she's seen enough people come at her with a sword that she can mimic them all the same.

If she went with the child route, then she might end up being treated this way for the entire duration of her stay here. While it was something she didn't mind too much with her previous companions, she's not sure what to make of her new ones.

"I'm an adult..." She feebly admits out loud with little force behind it.

[telaari]

Vas actually takes a full step backward out of shock. "You're an adult?"

She's hardly an expert on elven aging, but this gir- woman- person looks nothing like she's fully grown. Vas taps a finger nervously on the hilt of her blade as she searches for something more constructive to say.

Whoever she is, she doesn't seem to be equipped for any kind of prolonged fight with the Legion. There's the off-chance that she has some magical ability, but hinging on a probability instead of a certainty is a fast way to get someone killed.

"We need to post people around the edges of our group. If you see anyone with armor that's still in good shape, we could especially use their help."

[kingdomofsaints]

Oh hey there- ...excuse Amane's pause, she mistakes you for a demon.

Technically, Eredun unfortunately fits the bill for having a demon's body back in her world- but with this individual's words... she knows not all entities are malevolent, of course. She's kind of in a mess herself, trying to make sense of what happened before getting here and what the hell was wrong with this world, but... she's just woken up from blacking out, and...

"Of course. However, my own magic seems to be sealed in some way... I've only managed to recover an inkling of my healing magic." Not exactly sealed, rather, she's been reclassed into Priest. Holy Priest, to be precise, seeing how she was already.

[telaari]

She doesn't mind the pause, not as much as she used to. One of the hazards of being draenei in her Azeroth is the unending shock and comments about her blue-ness. She assumes that's what causes the human to hesitate, at least.

"That's... unfortunate," she begins. At least she still has something to work with. "Have you already checked everyone for injuries?"

[kingdomofsaints]

It's a start, at least.

"I have... but I'm not sure how long my reserves can last." Did she mention she already blacked out once? Yeah, she did. "Especially with how chaotic the situation is right now, our best route would be to plan an escape. However..."

That's just not possible, is it. "I could try to tap back into my Holy magic."

[telaari]

Shards of the Ata'mal, that's no good. "Krasus," she says, gesturing toward the elven(?) mage she's guarding, "is working to summon a portal. We'll retreat through that once it's done."

That at least solves the matter of how they plan to make it out of this place alive. Still, asking a nearly-exhausted healer to keep healing is not going to help them in the slightest. She needs to know more before asking anything of this woman.

"The people you've helped, what's their condition like?"

[seesbosscrotch]

She'd asked, so she had only herself to blame when the armored figured she'd addressed rose from rummaging through his backpack to reveal green glowing eyes and ears out to here.

Maridian didn't even blink when he saw who was addressing him -- especially lately, he sometimes had to wonder if the sides were less "Alliance and Horde" and more "Garrosh and everyone else..."

"I think the best we can hope for right now is 'ready for the retreat'! We should get the injured back before the Legion runs them down."

[telaari]

Vas is visibly taken aback by the blood elf, though to her credit she doesn't leap backward. And she's taken aback further still that he is talking sense, instead of looking down - or up, rather - his nose at her. For a brief moment, the feuding between elf and draenei is completely forgotten.

"Well, yes-" she starts. "But if the Legion comes to us, I don't want to be caught with our tails hanging out."

[seesbosscrotch]

What feuding? The thought had honestly never crossed his mind.

"Never fear! The Legion and I are old foes -- and I have no tail!" Because the two were totally equal. The Blood Knight hefted his shield from his back, then drew his mace with practiced ease. "Any skill with healing? I appear to be short approximately 675 bandages at the moment... though admittedly some of them were Netherweave, I really should have gotten rid of those years ago..."

[telaari]

"No, but that's not the point-"

Vas tries to form a sentence that doesn't leave her sounding completely bewildered, and settles for silence when nothing comes. Blood elves were alien to her by default, but this one manages to surpass any expectations of strangeness that she has.

"Healing? Y-yes, I know a bit about healing," she finally says, brows knitting together. "... Netherweave?"

[guerriera]

The gesture, caught out of the corner of one green eye, jerked Carolina out of the haze she'd let herself settle into once she'd joined the edge of the group, gathered closest to the red-cloaked mage. That had seemed most appropriate somehow. It still took her a moment to process the request, framed in a command that somehow rankled, before the speaker's appearance sinks in. All seven feet of her, horns and hooves and all.

Demons and dragons are one thing. Draenei are quite another.

"What the hell are you."

Rude, Carolina. (So sorry, Vas.)

[telaari]

"I'm sorry?" she asks, head tilted to the side and one brow raised. It's been a while since a human was this prickly toward her. Even knowing that humans are sometimes intimidated by her and her people, it's no less shocking when they lash out like this.

"Have you not seen a Draenei before?" The question is a sincere one, but she still raises her shield slightly in spite of it. There's just no telling what a human will do in this kind of situation.

[guerriera]

Really, it's quite a mild reaction compared to some. A SPARTAN would likely have shot first and.. Well, there's rarely anything left to ask afterwards, when it comes to SPARTANS.

Her jaw was set, the tension causing twitching in faint, fine lines along her cheek, before Carolina blinked at the question. ..Was it not obvious? "No," she replied, still wary. Her pose, a defensive stance she'd slipped into instinctively when that shield was edged up, hid her trembling well, though the shaking was more from tiredness than fear.

She wasn't about to show fear to an alien. "Are you part of the Covenant?"

[telaari]

Questions were good. Well, they were better than silence, at least. "Which covenant do you speak of?" she probes, trying to find something to work with. "There are many between my people and the Naaru. You will need to be more... what is the word, specific."

[theshadowkissed]

"Oh, sure, just let me split myself into two. It'll only take a minute," came the sarcastic reply from the dhampir that just happened to be passing by the strange blue horned creature after dropping off an unconscious Redsworn.

She then paused and tilted her head in thought. "Man, I really wish I could do that right now."

[telaari]

It takes more concentration than she'd like to admit to not crack a smile. Sarcasm has never been her forté, but Fin was well-versed in the subject. Something about this one reminds her of her good friend, though it could just be her imagination.

"I've heard of mages who could create images of themselves, but never ones who could be in two places at once," she says, the corners of her mouth twitching upward as she fails to keep a poker face.

[theshadowkissed]

"Probably for the best. Azeroth just wouldn't be able to handle two of me," Rose replied with a confident gesture at herself.

"Now you... what the hell are you?"

Okay, not the most tactful way to ask the giant blue one what kind of thing she was, but hey, at least Rose wasn't asking her if she was male or female. The voice and cut of armor thankfully gave that away, though was that a tail?

[telaari]

It's not a questions she hasn't heard before, but it's one that gets old quickly. "I am of the Draenei," she replies quickly, and to her credit, she does not sigh. "And you are human, yes?"

It's not a shining example of sarcasm, but it's all she has.