warforged | your hands protect the flames

Entry tags:

your hands protect the flames

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.]

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     If the surroundings hadn't been so vivid in more ways than simply visual, then Jacques could have dismissed it as a strange dream. The possibility doesn't even enter his mind as he snaps to attention, his hands already reaching to unsling the over-sized weapon from his back, more so by reflex than anything else at this point. Even as he does so, his mind is leaping hurdles and darting through hoops to try and get him to speed.

     They're on a battleground, that much is more than obvious. A battle of beasts, and not going well at that. He finally looks towards the one who first addressed him, and although Jacques says nothing in response, he's listening. It's a dangerous situation, but it would be even more dangerous to allow oneself to panic.

     It's the low keening and the subtle crunch of bark that startles him, accompanied with the rustle of feathers. For a brief moment the Hunter stares almost uncomprehendingly at the large eagle that's landed nearby, but as though some sort of understanding has passed between them, Jacques nods at it before he turns his attention back to the surrounding battlefield.

     Wounded. The dark-skinned elf had made mention of bringing them here. He supposes he should move, then. Now isn't much the time for questions, but it isn't the time to slack off, either. Sliding a large arrow into place, Jacques preps his bow gun quickly as he moves, scanning the area before finding an ideal place that he can keep an eye on things, and if necessary, provide cover fire as he gains a better idea of the situation.

Lirael had not yet run into her own mage... she'd come less from a daydream and more from a battle of her own, and had come running. To her own surprise, her feet hit the ground and she found herself facing entirely the wrong way-- away from any sound of battle. It took her several heartbeats to skid to a stop, nearly lose her balance, and then try to reorient herself. She shifted her grip on the bell in her hand, wishing to the Charter she had two hands still and could be weilding her sword in the other. Instead, she was left with one Kibeth, held by the clapper so she couldn't sound unwanted.

The battle sounded as if it was... above her? Looking up, she was transfixed. Dragons were new to her, except out of stories in the Great Library, and demons were entirely unfamiliar. She didn't even see Jacques and his new friend, too busy staring upwards with her mouth open in shock.

     Things were still pretty baffling, but that didn't change the obvious. There were people here, and so much as Jacques could gather, in a very similar situation as his own. The differing clothing, the surprised looks; were they all brought here at the same time..?

     And yet not all from the same place. What did it mean? It didn't seem like the black-haired girl had any better ideas either, as she looked just as lost as anyone could.

     Jacques leveled his bow gun, angling it upward as he scanned the skies, having seen the girl not an arrow-shot away do so. The green-scaled beasts, those were the ones the mage had indicated as allies, right? Tracking one of the demons as it dove after one of the wounded greens, the hunter pulled the trigger, the arrow, aiming to hit the dragon's pursuer if not cause it to break from its maneuver.

The sound of the shot was lost in the sound of the battle, but Lirael saw the arrow streak past her and up. She spun around, certain the shot had been meant for her and just missed, holding the bell in her hand up like it was a weapon. Her other arm came up, though there was no weapon at the end-- and no hand, either. But it still worked for sketching out Charter marks.

Except she couldn't reach the Charter. She couldn't feel it. She didn't panic-- not quite-- but she did look stricken as she demanded, "Who is there?"

     If the shot had been intended for her, Lirael would have been too easy a target to miss. Jacques was busy watching to see if his intervention had paid off, so when he looked back in Lirael's direction, he was a little confused to see her take up what appeared to be an attack-ready position.

     ...was that a bell?

     Nothing happened, and although Jacques was on his guard, he regarded the young woman calmly as he got a better look at her. She obviously didn't seem to let the fact that she was without one hand deter her from fighting back, although from her expression, something must have been wrong. Bearing no magic abilities himself, Jacques didn't have that realization. He just found himself with a new bird-friend.

     Slowly, he eased out from his vantage point, not wanting to startle the other more than she already was. He'd shouldered his bow gun, just in case she might get it into her head that he meant to attack her with it.

Despite her nerves and confusion, Lirael could at least tell that if he'd wanted to shoot her, he could have. She lowered the bell a trifle, but that didn't mean she trusted whoever this was. In fact, she was still pretty wary. That wariness was all that kept her able to speak-- that, and the distraction of a battle above that made her think it was probably more important to ask questions than to stammer.

"Who are you?" she asked, a little less forcefully, but not a lot. "What are you doing here? Did you bring me to this... this place?" He was the first person she'd really seen, after all, since she'd landed facing away from the group that's now well back in the trees, and just kept running.

     While it could have been easy to take offense, Jacques wasn't the sort to do so. Misunderstandings could happen easily enough, and already were happening without doing a thing. While he usually wasn't the one that was expected to answer questions, he didn't really have a choice here, so he waited and listened as the girl shot them off.

     "...Jacques," he said, because he saw no reason not to give his name since she'd asked. He glanced over his shoulder briefly as another dragon fell, even though it was some good distance away from them. It was dangerous to be standing around and speaking like this, but he looked back at Lirael, shaking his head.

     "They brought us..." It would have helped to be able to see any of the dragon mages from where they were, but there were none visible to point out, even though he looked for them. "...to help in their battle. But it looks like something went wrong..."

     At least, that was the impression he'd gotten when he'd found himself there. He recalled the mage's words, and the chaos around them.

And Lirael hadn't even heard the mage's words. As he answered her questions, though, she lowered the bell a little more. "Lirael," she said after a pause. "I'm Lirael. And-- this battle? With those strange things in the sky?" She gestured with her wrist stump towards the sky and the dragons and demons, glancing up briefly.

And then hurrying towards Jacques and the shelter of a slightly thicker tree canopy, as more ash came raining down on her.

He stepped aside to allow her room while he kept an eye on the clash above, but for the time being, it seemed like they hadn't drawn any attention. Jacques nodded, a belated response to the question Lirael had asked.

"...five dragon colors... They seem to prefer keeping apart, but the demons attack all..."

"Then the-- the demons are the ones to stop," Lirael decided easily enough. Anything that attacked everything needed to be stopped. "I don't know if my bells will work... they smell like Free Magic, but...."

She reached instinctively for the Charter again, and flinched to not find it again.

     That seemed to make the most sense to him as well, and for the time being, at least it didn't look like anyone was going to object in helping each other, at least to some degree. He knew it wouldn't be so easy as that, however. Obvious as a common enemy might be, differences between groups would always cause some friction. He'd seen and experienced it before.

     Jacques watched as Lirael made another attempt with her bell; so she did seem to make use of it with whatever magic she mentioned, not that he was an expert. He tilted his head.

     "...maybe this world's magic is different..?" That was the best reason he could think of, although if that were the case, then it was silly to bring someone who couldn't make use of their powers from home. Unless...

     He looked over at the eagle that sat alert in its perch.

     "Maybe you were changed, too..."

If it wasn't the green scales that adorned her armor (if the scraps that barely cover her can be called that) that gave her away, maybe it was the bright green parts of her hair that might. She's a Green Dragonsworn and is quite loud for one.

"Hey there!" Waving a free hand to try to get his attention, she continues shouting. "Have you seen a big shiny rock nearby? I've lost mine!"

If he'd been surprised by the girl's call, he doesn't show it as he seems to calmly glance in her direction. One of their's? She wears green, and somehow, that feels... right?

"...rock?" Jacques can't help but echo as he arches a brow at her, although it's only the subtlest change of expression.

"Yes, my shiniest rock." The girl pouts as if it was an obvious request. "I had it with me before I came through and now it's missing. That means it must have fallen somewhere in this wooded area."

Her logic is almost child-like and how she approaches it doubly so. "How hard is it to overlook a rock? You've either seen it or you haven't seen it. Which is it?"

Somehow it seems he's disappointed the girl, even though he's not quite sure how that works. And for all that they're in the middle of a battleground, Jacques still takes the time for a quick glance around. Admittedly, he hadn't been paying attention to the ground very closely, but if it is so shiny as the girl describes (which really isn't very descriptive at all, now that he thinks about it), he probably would have at least noticed something.

"...sorry," he says as he looks back at the kid.

"Sorry? What for?"

It doesn't occur to her that he may be apologizing due to not being able to see her stone. She asked a yes or no question, so anything that's a reply from either of those will leave her more confused than she cares to be with battle raging on around them.

"Okay so maybe you haven't seen my stone." Nowi recovers quick enough to continue, "But maybe you've seen my comrades? I'm looking for members of Chrom's army that might have come with me when I wasn't paying attention."

A little girl looking for military forces. Something's strange about that.

     ...or maybe not so strange if you're used to being associated with a ragtag army that includes a number of children.

     Jacques just looks at her in his quiet way before shaking his head. Not that he knows who this Chrom-person is, in any case. If this little one is involved with an army, then it's a sad thing to think that perhaps wherever she's from, there is also a battle that would even pull in kids like that.

     ...which...wouldn't be too different from their current situation, he realizes. Huh.

Then she may feel right at home with him even if she was just one of a couple "children" in Chrom's Army. Still, she doesn't speak much on her past anymore now that he's confirmed he's not heard of anyone like that.

"No one from Ylisse huh... do you think Nowi is the only one that was strong enough to come help?"

     "I've not familiar with Ylisse..." he mentions, even as his attention begins to drift back to the sounds of battle above them. It's probably not safe, standing around talking like this. The concerned cry from his eagle-friend confirms this.

     Yet, even so, Jacques can't blame this girl for asking such questions. He's sure he'd probably ask the same things, but he hasn't allowed himself to think that much into the matter yet.

     "...maybe you'll find someone around. It's a mess out here, and everyone's scattered..."

"Are you alone too?" An abrupt question, but she's much like a child in the way she handles things if it weren't evident by how she continues the conversation despite the battle taking place. "You must be sad, but you got a pet bird already."

Nowi looks towards the eagle with a smile while clasping her hands together in excitement.

"Nowi once had a bird friend too. Janaff and I were supposed to be best friends forever..."

     Her words surprise him, but then again, children say such things rather easily. Alone? Sad? He hasn't allowed himself to sort these things out, but while he couldn't say he wasn't used to being alone, separation of this manner meant that he probably wouldn't see those he was used to for a very long time.

     The eagle cocks its head at the eager Manakete, probably thinking her strange for how she's acting presently. When giving a glance at Jacques again, the hunter offers a faint shrug.

     "...we're alone here, but not completely. For now, you can make new friends," he suggests to Nowi, deciding to avoid asking what happened to Janaff.

Excellent call--children are, as they say it, incapable of grasping the full situation so who knows what farfetched story she may have gone on about her birdy friend if the subject was unearthed any further.

"That's right. I think I've already made my first one." Whether or not the feeling is mutual, it appears she does trust too easily.

"So how can I help my new friend out?"

     It seems he's made a new friend already. That doesn't bother him in the least, and for the moment he doesn't seem to be thinking about how worrisome that might be in the case of this girl meeting others.

     "...."

     Jacques looks back towards where their mage continues to protect the fallen aside from the newly confused arrivals. "...we need to find the wounded from our side..."

"It's unfair that you ask that!" Nowi huffs up as she stomps her foot into the ground a bit, digging the heel in. "Nowi can't do heavy lifting so well and these dragons are much bigger than Nowi's used to seeing!"

So how can they help? It isn't as if they can drag a dragon's body together.

Blink. Okay, he hadn't expected that sort of a response, but he can't say that the kid doesn't have a point there.

"I didn't say to bring them..." He just feels he should clarify. "...but we can help protect them until someone else comes to help move them." ...right?

your hands protect the flames

OTA - He be sportin' green yo

have a confused blue flight girl :3

Heehee~

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