RP:An Interruption at Frostmaw's Gates
Part of the The Ice Plague Cometh Arc
Eastern Frostmaw Gates
Synopsis: An assorted group of adventurers, and 20 Desert Legionnaires led by Desert Legion Commander Collin Eliason leave Chartsend for Frostmaw. The legionnaires are sent as reinforcement for Frostmaw’s defenses. The adventurers tagged along for the envoy of legionnaires, each armed with their own private reason for going to Frostmaw, or lack thereof. As they cross the Eastern Frostmaw Gates, the party is ambushed by four Ice Devils and an Elder Devil. Two legionnaires fall, others are injured, and the only non-combatant of the group, a bard named Josleen, is swallowed whole by the frozen tundra. The party defeats the Ice Devils’ ambush.
Aildre is a shabby figure compared to everyone in fine armor and pretty clothes. All she wears is a shabby robe and cloak and some things that could pass for shoes. The cold wind tousles her pale hair and clothing alike, but Aildre does not seem to mind the temperature. She stops short of everyone else and surveys the scene; the gates, the area, her traveling companions---everything. She holds her staff loosely in one hand. The woman mumbles a little to herself.
Dami didn't say much during the trip. She had too much on her mind with word of the attacks and all. She had pestered Eliason for as much information as she could, but there was still so much he couldn't answer. So for the majority of the journey, she simply carried the Josleen's equipment and kept to herself. It wasn't until they were finishing their trek up the mountain that she slung the sack off her shoulder and set it down in the snow. Maybe she had been gone for too long and wasn't use to the mountain's frigid cold. Maybe the chill running down her spine was a good indication of what was to come. Whatever it was, she kept eyes and ears alert. "When was it you last talked to the Queen, Eliason?"
Eliason leads the way along the path to Frostmaw. The wastelands outside of Chartsend pass by with little trouble, the normally hostile creatures tamed by the large group. Dwarven guards escort the party through the upper halls of Craughmoyle, laughing and joking with the legionnaires the entire time. Things grow quiet as they pass through the mines and make their way to the small path leading up to the gates of Frostmaw. Eli is all business the entire time, focusing on the safety of those under his charge, and the path to the gates worries him. To his surprise, however, there is no attack and he grows relaxed as they approach the gates of Frostmaw. Perhaps this will be an uneventful trip. Dami's question brings his sapphire gaze around to meet her's. "I saw her a few days ago. We had a problem with Lady Hildegarde. Apparently some sort of corruption had infected her through her wounds and she was…not herself. Luckily, we were able to fight the evil off." His eyes flicker toward Josleen briefly as he tells the tale.
Josleen :: Like Aildre, Josleen doesn’t sport armor. But unlike Aildre, she does sport generous layers of warm clothing, ear muffs, gloves, scarf, wool this and wool that, and fur-trimmed everything; the winter works! She sticks with Skylei for most of the trip, but also favors Dami, the woman appreciated for both her aid and good cheer. If the bard had it her way, they would make a little trio. Aildre is given a wide berth and the other 20 legionnaires are afforded no more than social pleasantries. She pointedly ignores Eliason and Vehara, and in doing so actually pays them the most attention. It takes a lot of work to avoid someone, and the bard is unable to fully tame her masochistic curiosity. Each glance in the couple’s direction dampens her spirits. Not even the peppy jingle of the tambourine within her travelsack can cheer her. The tambourine accompanies their trek with relentless joy, in direct defiance of its owner’s mood and anyone else’s annoyance. Jingle. Jingle. Jingle. Jingle. Dami’s occasional proximity to the gossiping Josleen and Skylei may inform her of the love triangle between Eliason, Vehara, and Josleen; gossip always whispered and out of earshot of the couple which lead the band. The treacherous climb up the mountain is slowed by their equipment and social friction alike. The mountain necessitates cooperation, but the heart is fickle.
Skylei absolutely detests Frostmaw; and that's putting it lightly. She doesn't like the cold or the wind, she doesn't like getting wet feet from the snow, in spite of the fact that she always wears snow boots, and she -really- doesn't like that fact that every time she comes here, something bad happens. So really it made very little sense for the half-elf to be in the snowbound city at all. So, why was she here? In short, the half-elf was lonely, and it had seemed a more appealing prospect to be in a place she hated with company that she didn't despise, than to spend another day alone with her books. Even so, she had spent a fair portion of the journey sulking in silence when she wasn't chatting to Josleen. In a foul mood, the halfling completes the climb up the Xalious Mountains with relative ease and begins the short stroll towards the gates. Pulling her cloak tightly around her, the half-elf reaches into the folds of her wrap to retrieve her hip-flask. A drink, taken out of sight of the guards of course, would surely settle her nerves.
Vehara follows along not so far behind Eliason, easily keeping pace with the rest of the party as they venture into Frostmaw. The half-drow pulls a cloak from her shoulders and promptly envelopes herself when the bitter cold begins to nip at her flesh; it's certainly a warming garment, but one might notice there are pockets aplenty loaded with all sorts of different implements. It's also loose enough for Hara to move about in easily, not hindering her mobility one bit. Throughout the trip she remains relatively silent, simply casting glances about to take note of the others and their positions within the group, perhaps quietly grading their usefulness in regards to any impending fight. Once their trek takes them into Frostmaw proper, however, Vehara turns her eyes forth and remains vigilant, ever watchful for any sort of threat that might appear out of the frigid wilderness.
Josleen :: Aildre feels it first. Her relatively thin attire leaves her exposed to the supernatural elements. From her left, and the left of the party at large, she feels a preternaturally cold gust. Should she look in that direction, she’ll spy the snow-hazed silhouette of a half-man, half-goat, horned beast with serpentine tail. It stands tall, stoic, backlit by the setting sun. From a distance of no more than ten yards, it studies the line-up: Aildre, behind her Eliason, Dami, and Vehara, then a large gap, finally Skylei and Josleen, then the 20 legionnaires in loose marching formation, two abreast and ten rows deep. The line covers a lot of ground, with those in the back unable to see those in the front and vice versa. The snow storm ensures low visibility. The howl of the wind mutes sounds, so that Josleen and Skylei can’t even overhear Dami and Eliason. The goat beast stares only at Aildre, but makes no move. At the back of the line two more Ice Devils manifest from the snowy ground and soundlessly lash out razored whips towards two legionnaire’s necks. Any flesh the whips touch instantly color frostbite black, but the soldiers are spared no time to fret over frostbite, spared from pain by swiftly snapped necks. One manages to choke out a horrified shout before he is taken from the band, his yelp alerting a few rows of legionnaires before him into action. From each side of the party, roughly to Dami’s right and Skylei’s left, two more ice devils materialize from the snow gust itself. On strikes with black, sharp nails at Dami’s neck and the other head butts at Skylei, searching with its horns for purchase in her chest. The first Ice Devil towards the front of the line near Aildre lets out an ear-splitting, hair-raising screech. The screech punctuates the howl of the wind so that at least half of the band is susceptible to its ill effects, which include nausea, dizziness, disorientation, bloodlust, primal fear, and temporary deafness. The further back from the front of the line an individual stands, the less influence the screech has over their well being. Unfortunately for Aildre, her ears are closest to the Ice Devil.
Aildre doesn't feel the cold wind the way the living would. The bite that would chill someone with a beating heart to the bone does not faze her. She does notice the difference in temperature, however, and turns to face its source. Empty blue eyes study the ice devil without emotion; and for a long moment Aildre just stands there, still and silent. The woman tilts her head a little, as if listening to a voice that only she can hear. That voice is inside her head, fortunately for Aildre, because at the moment she can't hear anything OUTSIDE it. That grabs her attention quick, and she starts moving. She places her other hand upon the staff held in her left and focuses upon the ice devil. Her lips move in a soundless incantation, and a plume of blue-white fire explodes up from the ground before her. It zooms out, directed by Aildre in a single straight line to engulf the ice devil closest to her.
Dami was crippled each and every time she came here, Frostmaw. Her talent was with the earth, rock and soil- not frost and snow. Why she chose to make Frostmaw her place of residence, she sometimes didn't even know. It had something to do with a Coterie she almost never saw. So the ambush came to her as a total surprise, seeing as how she had no way of predicting the attack what so ever. All she could do was react accordingly, and right now she had claws around her neck to help her do so. With the goat creature's body towering above her own, she chose to push off the ground and back into it's torso. With questionable strength, all she did was stagger it for a brief moment while she summoned her weapon, Hallowed. The weapon hid in the guise of a dark tattoo, a serpent coiling the length of her spine, compliments of Kasyr's Gospel. Upon summoning, the tattoo literally burst to life, and shredded the back of her coat, but it didn't stop there. Bursting out in several spike-like tendrils of dark, chaotic energy, the weapon took to spearing directly through the torso of the goat-like creature, and ripped through it completely. Milliseconds later, Dami was welling the dark energy around her body and let it manifest in the weapons true shape; a black halberd. The reaction was so quick and instantaneous, she had time to pit the blade high, hopefully in an attempt to birth some distance between Skylei and the beast. Dami's neck was starting to bleed, damn thing got her. "Get down!"
Eliason senses, rather than sees the presence of the Ice Devils as two of his men are killed almost instantly. The cries make their way forward from the back of the line, almost inaudible due to the snowstorm. The legionnaire's sword appears in his hand just as the Elder Devil makes its appearance before them. A grim smile crosses his lips and any close to him would hear him utter one word… "Finally!" With a prayer on his lips, his sword flares to life with holy fire and he roars out a challenge to the nearest beast. As he rushes headlong into battle he calls out to any that can hear him. "Aim for their hearts! It's the only way to destroy them! And watch out when they die, they explode!" Just as the words leave his lips, a screech issues forth from the Elder, hitting the legionnaire like a sidelong blow. He falls to his knees and clutches at his ears for a moment. He allows his mind to sink in on itself, seeking the divine light within and locking out the madness that the screech would instill. Surging back to his feet, he rushes once more at the creature before him. At the back of the line, the legionnaires are not affected by the screech and have surrounded the two Ice Devils, feinting and trying to skewer the beasts with their swords.
Josleen :: A terrified shriek claws its way out of Josleen’s throat, creating a cacophonous chorus with the Elder Devil’s disorienting screech. All the same, her own shout does not spare her from the ill-effects of the beast’s screech. The bard loses that which is most precious to her - her hearing. She also becomes disoriented, the attack on Skylei before her happening in a blur. She kicks at the Ice Devil’s head, her form amateur and strength lacking. Needless to say, her unskilled kick doesn’t meet its mark, but the Ice Devil is forced to abandoned its attack on Skylei before its headbutt makes contact in order to avoid Josleen’s kick. It teleports out of existence, engulfed in the snowfall, only to reemerge beneath Skylei and Josleen, growing from the snow beneath their feet to lift the pair of half-elves into the air and toss them away from the group. Josleen lands on a patch of ice on her back, the wind knocked out of her, her position vulnerable. The Ice Devil appears above Josleen as soon as she lands, hooves tucked in towards its body like a frolicking kid goat mid-leap, only its hooves seek neither stone nor ice, but the grisly crack of bone, such as Josleen’s sternum and, if available within the proper distance, Skylei’s skull. This is a great time for heroics! Unfortunately, Josleen just doesn’t have a shred of combat experience under her belt. Oh dear! --- The Elder Devil which Aildre faces also employs its powers of snow-teleportation to disappear before the blue-white fire licks it dead. It reappears behind Aildre, and lunges forward hoping to catch her throat in its claws and rip apart the trachea. It’s fast, silent, lethal, and hungry for the flesh of the undead above all else. --- The Ice Devil felled by Dami explodes, tiny shards of ice sharpnel threatening to hit Dami and Vehara both. --- The Legionnaires at the back of the line quickly kill one Ice Devil, but fail to hear Eliason’s warning. Two of them fall to hypothermia. The second Ice Devil at the back of the line is better skilled with a whip, and manages to grip on legionnaire around the ankle, and drag him like a bowling ball on the icey snow to try and knock over the nearest legionnaires like bowling pins.
Skylei had barely had time to stow her flask when the air had turned an icy cold; a cold like nothing she had ever felt. The cold felt to her like hopelessness, like all of the warmth in her body and her life was seeping away into the snow. This distressing hopelessness roots her to the spot for longer than it should have; it's fortunate for her that both Josleen and Dami are paying more attention to the incoming Ice Devils than she is. It takes her by surprise as her half-elf friend prevents her from having her insides gored out by an Ice Devil. As the two half-elves are sent flying away from the vast majority of the group, Skylei is separated from Josleen by an incredibly strong gust of wind. The only blessing in this situation is that Skylei is so far back from the first of the Ice Devil's that the screech only serves to disorientate her slightly more. And hell, she's been blasted away from the rest of the travelling group, she's lying on the floor and she can't see a thing anyway. Pulling herself to her feet and readying her bow, the Halfling turns to and fro, searching the white landscape. "Joss!?" Sky bellows, attempting to raise her voice above the raging wind. Skylei has no idea where her friend has landed and her desperate shouting is her hopeless attempt to find her. Had she known that Joss was only metres away she might have been less panicked, but the snow storm whipped up the flakes into a wild flurry that had destroyed her sight. Sky's shouting had done one thing for sure though. Behind the fallen women, another Ice Devil appears seeming to have abandoned the Legionnaires in favour of an easier target, lowers it horns and begins a second charge on the half-elf.
Vehara winces heavily when that otherworldly screech erupts, threatening to rupture her eardrom with the sheer volume alone. With chaos enveloping the group quickly, the half-drow slides either hand to her side and snaps free a pair of slender, expendable daggers; they fit into her grasp with practiced ease, and just in time to face the volley of spines that scatter forth. As if on cue, Hara erupts into motion; the icy projectiles are deflected with a number of savage swipes, casting aside torn shards completely robbed of momentum and lethality. With that threat disposed, the half-drow's eyes flick hither-tither, rapidly searching for the nearest ice devil; one of them happens to be the one towering over Skylei and Josleen some several feet away. Though Hara is loathe to rush out and assist those she feels have no business being here in the first place, it would be in poor taste to allow them to fight the damn thing alone. As such, the ebon-skinned woman streaks forth, the outline of her form blurring with the celerity assumed. Coming upon the beast, Hara vaults herself into the air like some sort of pitch acrobat, her boots gaining purchase on the devil's shoulder. Reaching about, she drives those daggers into either eye of the beast, eliciting a devilish howl and some odd spray of ichor. Abandoning her post upon it's back, Vehara tumbles forth and lands before the half-elves, giving a growled order. "Get back if you can't fight!" Seeking to deliver the coup de grace to this demon, she reaches back and brandishes a crossbow, promptly taking aim and firing a bolt right toward the heart; surely it has all the speed and force necessary to splice open the chest cavity and impale the heart.
Aildre 's world is blissfully, mercifully quiet. She cannot hear the screeches of the ice devils, or the lick of the flames as they zoom towards the elder, melting the snow to water in their wake. The water quickly re-freezes, but that means little to Aildre. That also means she cannot hear Eliason's shouting, but she has forgotten Eliason. She has forgotten everyone except for herself and the target. The thumping of its' heart is nearly tangible to her, and when it disappears she starts to turn, half-expecting something like this. The staff falls from her fingers as the creature's hands close around her throat. It cannot cut off her air supply; there is none, but it starts to hurt as the creature's clawed hands start to crush at her throat. Her hand flails at her side before seizing something and thrusting it forcefully into the creature, seeking with power more than the physical blade that source of life. That dagger pierces the creature's heart and it explodes violently, sending shrapnel in all directions. Most of it is on Aildre, who blinks in something akin to astonishment. That creature gone, now she looks around. The fire behind her now continues to move, drawn towards the other ice devils.
Dami heard nothing but the perverse whispers of Hallowed's influence, rushing past her ears while it drank the essence of the creature it had just slain. It had acted on its own when it burst from Dami's back, and tore through the first devil's chest cavity. Even though she might not have heard anything, she felt the sharp splinters of shrapnel embedding into her back, or at least the parts of her body that weren't covered by an inner mithril meshing of her coat. Luckily, from where she was standing, Dami was able to stop most of the shrapnel from hitting both Skylei and Josleen. Mostly because one had been blown away, and the other tossed onto her back. A quick spin let her survey the scene and soon she found herself sprinting at full speed for the Ice Devil in mid jump. For someone so small, she delivered quite a punch. She managed to dive through the air and tackle the legs of the Ice Devil above Josleen and send the two tumbling away. Unfortunately, this left Dami pinned under the large beast.
Eliason : Several of the legionnaires go down as their fellow combatant bowls them over. The razor whip around the single legionnaire's foot rips at the skin and leaves the entire lower portion of his leg blackened with frostbite. One of the legionnaire's that remains on his feet, Kadeilin, takes charge of the situation since the troops cannot see or hear their commander. "You six," he calls out to those standing near him, "go help the others. The rest of you, to me!" With a deft flick of his sword, he severs the Devil's whip and strikes out at him. Six of the guards rush to help the others. Toward the front of the fray, two Ice Devils have materialized in front of Eli. Like a madman, he casts himself at them, sword whipping about in a frenzy of white light. The explosion of the Elder Devil is, fortunately, far enough away that the shrapnel issued forth does little but pelt his armor in an annoying cacophony of sound. With a speed belying his size, the man spins away as the two devils attempt to converge on him. His sword whips about, the white fire severing one of the beasts clean through its torso. Casting himself into the nearest pile of snow, he covers his face as the creature explodes in a frenzy of ice shards. Pushing himself to his feet, he turns to engage the remaining Devil only to find it engulfed in Aildre's blue flame. "Hey! That one was mine!" he complains, but turns about looking for another creature to fight.
Josleen can’t hear Skylei. She can’t hear anything. Only the swan song of what was once her hearing - a maddening, incessant din. Thankfully, Vehara’s reflexes match her courage, and Josleen lies witness as a swift rush of ebon collides with the beast above her. Dami meets the Ice Devil from the other slide a split second after Vehara, and finds herself pinned under its fore-hooves. Luckily for Dami, Vehara disposed of this one quickly! This means that only one Ice Devil is left, the one poor Skylei fights alone, soon to be aided thanks to Kadeilin. On the downside, Dami gets more exploding Ice Devil spray! As for Josleen, when the Ice Devil fell, it landed on its side over both Dami and Josleen. It’s hindquarters crush onto Josleen’s middle, emptying her of breath like a bagpiper squeezing his bag. The beast’s crushing weight partially fractures one of Josleen’s ribs, and buries her into deep layer of snow. The snow opens its maw and swallows Josleen whole. The blinding snowstorm and setting sun conspire to ensure no one bears witness to the frozen earth’s abduction of the bard. She’s gone. Her broken fiddle case lies cracked open, its hollow body crushed into several pieces as the only evidence that indeed a bard once lay here. A cave-in of fallen snow couples with snowdrift to conceal any tracks and refill the hole where Josleen’s body once lay prone. Now you see her, now you don’t.
Skylei doesn't hear Vehara's order, nor does she see her, save for a dark blur amongst the chaos of white. She's landed to Josleen's right, whereas Skylei has fallen to her left. This is probably fortunate, as there is absolutely no need for a cat-fight to break out when there are so many pesky Ice Devils around, and Sky isn't one to take insults lying down. Anyway, Skylei has more immediate problems that rude half-drow. The first is an exploding Ice Devil. Icy shrapnel flies out of the snow storm towards the Halfling, and try though she may she cannot avoid it all. Crouching into the smallest ball she can, arms wrapped tight around her head to protect it, the shrapnel falls around Sky. All but two fall around the half-elf. The aforementioned shards wedge themselves into her leather armour, the first at the peak of her right shoulder, the second halfway down her back on the left side. Leather provides enough protection that the shrapnel does not tear into her skin as it would if she wore no armour, but the minimal contact it does make with her skin is agony as freezing sharpened ice meets soft warm skin. Shaking off the pain as best she can, Skylei spins in the direction of noise. That brings her eyesight into direct line of the approaching beast. This time she is more prepared, loading her bow with all the quickness that would be expected from one who once patrolled Sage, the arrow is enchanted with a quick incantation. The now burning projectile is sent towards the centre of the beast's chest as it comes within inches of the half-elf.
Vehara may not have seen the snow swallow up Josleen, but she does bare witness to the beast collapsing upon Dami and Josleen's sudden disapperance. The ice devil she just shot shudders before falling under the smothering veil of death, exploding in a violent hail of sickles. Setting her lips into a grim line, the half-drow launches herself into a mechanical throw, her cloaked form tucking into a tight ball that rolls across the snow-laden ground. Unfortunately, she's not quick enough to avoid every bit of shrapnel; some of those vicious spines lace themselves into her cloak and find flesh beneath, as evidenced by a trickle of blood that paints the snow red in her wake. Wincing at the pain, Hara forces the searing sensation to the back of her mind and leaps to her feet, scurrying amongst the heavy pile of snow for any sign of the missing bard. For now, there are no ice devils assautling her and the devilish group seems to be thinning out as the party picks them off one by one; this allows Vehara precious time to search for her tempory and unfortunate comrade.
Aildre might be out of luck as the elder ice devil explodes right in front of her. The force of the blast sends her flying backward, which is the only thing saving her from being impaled by multiple ice shards. She lands in a puddle of ice that shatters into water upon the impact. Icicles fly up around her, but the spreading fire is still close enough that the ground hasn't refrozen yet now that the Elder ice devil is gone. Its blood is all over her--in her face, in her hair, on her shabby robes. Icicles of it cling to her hair. Her face and her clothes, starting to melt at her proximity to the fire. Now, finally her hearing starts to return, and the first moments of sound are disorienting to the necromancer. She looks back to the group of people, seeing one ice devil consumed in flame and the other being converged upon by pretty much everyone else. Instead of helping, she draws the life force from the burning devil, using it to heal her wounded throat.
Dami managed to cover her face with one arm, and her chest with the other before the last creature exploded. Vehara might have had a few frozen shards embedded in her flesh, but Dami had several dozen. The extreme threshold for pain tolerance granted by the black halberd made this bearable, but for how long? With the last of the creatures vanquished, all she did was put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle. Slowly she got to her feet and turned around, the group she traveled with looked a mess. Alive, but a mess. "Eliason.. get everyone to safety.. I-" So a shard was wedged in between her ribs, lovely; the things that would have killed her, if she weren't already dead. "I can't stay long. If you see Satoshi, tell her I went looking?" The roar of a wyvern sounded above them and out of the mist swopped in Dami's companion. With a skillful approach, it dipped in low and snatched up the elf in a clean grab before disappearing up into the fog. Several shards fell in a long trail.
Eliason turns at the sound of the whistle, the exhilaration of battle quickly fading and reality setting in. Calling out above the snowstorm, he attempts to gather everyone around. "Kadeilin! Report!" The legionnaire rushes up to the commander. "Four down, sir! One severely injured. We…" He pauses as Eli holds up a hand for the legionnaire to wait. Something is not right, Eli can feel it. Suddenly something wrenches in his mind and a familiar sick feeling washes over him. His face turns stark white and he turns about. "Julia! Where is Julia?!" Suddenly frantic, he spies Vehara searching through the snow for something. Long strides carry him to the half-drow's side and he grips her arm. "Where is she?" The panic etched on the legionnaire's face carries a hint of madness to it as he pushes the half-drow to the side and begins thrashing through the snow drift. "Where is she? What did you do?" Accusatory eyes turn upon Vehara. "You always hated her, what have you done?!"
Josleen :: Dig and dig all you like, Collin Eliason. Your panic means nothing here. This is Frostmaw country, and what it claims for its own, it won’t give back.
Skylei :: Exploding an Ice Devil at close range was definitely one of Sky's less good ideas. As the arrow hits it's mark and Devil explodes, the half-elf is sent flying backwards at speed, hitting the ice below with a great thump. Unfortunately for the youngling, she has landed onto her back, forcing the earlier shard of ice that had been impaled into her hind further into her flesh. If that wasn't bad enough, the whirlwind that send her backwards has brought her more gifts of icy shrapnel. Though many of them fall harmlessly to the snow around the girl, one perforates her face, just below her eye. Although Skylei, having been brought up in the house of a healer, knows full well that you should leave an object in place, she pulls it from her face, a slow trickle of blood following it. As the blood meanders down her face, her eye begins to swell, leaving her with a puffy face and the inability to see from her left eye for the time being. Her fingers too have begun to swell with frostbite. It is really a good job that the vast majority of the Ice Devils have been dispelled by this point. She can hear shouting around her; Collin is calling out for some girl named Julia, shouting at someone else and sending snow flying up through the air, but Skylei doesn't care. She doesn't even bother to get up at this point; she just lies flat on her back letting the snow seep into her clothes.
Vehara is right in the middle of sifting through the snow when Eliason grabs her by the arm and tosses her aside. The accusation lobbed her way sinks in like a knife, stinging far deeper than any of the other wounds incurred today. The fact that it's coming from Eliason makes it worse, as if that proverbial knife is being cruelly twisted now. "Wh...what?" She finally manages out, absolutely incredulous. "I went out of my way to -save- her, Eli! I lost sight of her when one of the giants fell upon another woman here, so I rushed over to search for her." She pauses long enough to give Eli a hurt, but firm look. "I didn't harm her, you know this!"
Aildre is drawn out of her reverie by the panic in Eliason's voice as he shouts at Vehara. Blinking, the woman slowly makes her way towards him. It doesn't take even Aildre's fragmented mind long to figure out what is wrong; someone is unaccounted for. The first thing she does is place one cold hand upon Eli's shoulder. The other she uses to slap him smartly across the face. "Calm down. You are hysterical. We will find her." Her voice is very detached, and before long she is reaching for her staff. It is a simple, wooden weapon but suitable for the necromancer's purpose. She slams it into the ground where Josleen last was, murmuring something that sounds eerily like prayer. It is probably the inflection in her voice. Aildre's dark magic is working beneath that slow, looking for signs of Josleen's life force that might indicate her location.
Eliason thrashes about in the snow violently. His eyes have taken on a haunted, mad quality. That is until he is suddenly pulled back and slapped smartly across the cheek. Focus comes to his eyes and he immediately meets Vehara's gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" He lifts the helm from his head a pushes a cold hand through his hair. Everyone is staring at him now and he has no explanation for his loss of control. There is still that sick feeling in the pit of stomach. The one that seems to open up whenever he is too far away from the bard and he can already feel the onset of that familiar worthless feeling. This is neither the time nor the place to try to explain these things to the half-drow. Instead, the big man turns to Kadeilin. "Get everyone to safety! I'll stay and search." The second-in-command gives a crisp salute before making his way to Skylei and offering her a hand in assistance.
Josleen fell deep, and out of range of Aildre’s magic. The necromancer’s reading is as cold as the snow.
Aildre eventually looks up slowly, speaking but a word. "Gone."
Vehara stares at Eliason. Even when he stumbles through some kind of apology, it doesn't help much; it's like that knife has been pulled free of the flesh now, leaving a gaping wound behind. "That's...what you really think, huh?" She's not being entirely rational, but the outburst completely blindsided her. The half-drow turns and trudges through the snow, ignoring anything in her path of departure. A slow, ceasing trickle of blood can be seen dripping and staining the powdery white beneath, likely from some unseen wound upon her legs.
Skylei rejects any offer of help from Kadeilin, preferring to pull herself up from the snow. She didn't even bother with pleasantries, instead pulling her frozen solid cloak from her shoulders and batting off as much of the ice as she could, before retying it around her neck. Pushing one hand against her bleeding face, in the hope that it would quell the flow, the half-elf made her way away from the gates of Frostmaw. She wanted nothing more to do with this place. And she wanted a healer; a real Kelay healer, not some crazy Ice-Druid-Healer, or whatever they had up in Frostmaw, to look at her face and her back. Skylei would rather limp down the mountains in agony than sat in the icebound city any longer. She did say she hated Frostmaw.
Satoshi had been in the midst of helping to remove tainted water supplies from Frostmaw's tavern when she'd received a message from her knight, Hildegarde. The note spoke of a fight taking place outside the city gates, and even as the magus read it she could feel the whispers through the snow. Without wasting time, Satoshi and her escort abandoned their work to make haste for the gates, two of the Eyrie's transport wyverns in tow. And so it's in said haste, that the foxkin, four armored Frost Giants, and a pair of ice wyverns arrive, on alert and at the ready for whatever might be waiting for them.
Eliason watches Vehara walk away, gritting his teeth in frustration and helpless to come up with a way to make her stop. Her retreat and the finality of the one word spoken by Aildre leaves the legionnaire with a frustrated clench to his jaw. Feeling defeated, he flops back into the snow and sits still. His eyes come to rest upon something glinting out of the snow between his legs. Reaching down, he plucks a pendant from the amidst the melted shards of Ice Devil. Holding it aloft, he peers at the symbol for a mere second before recognition comes to him... "Vakmatharas," he mutters, followed by a quick spit onto the ground with the name. "Figures..."
Vehara soon becomes a mere blip in the distance and disappears. Who knows where she's headed!
Aildre looks ready to leave too, especially when another stranger shows up. She spares a glance for Eliason first though. "What? What is that? It's pretty."
Satoshi is beginning to think Hildegarde's missive arrived too late, for she sees figured departing and no signs of further combat. The snows too are silent. Shoulders easing out of their tense lines, the magus begins a slow approach through the frost, inspecting the scene while her escort follows with weapons still drawn. Not far ahead and seated in the snow holding something aloft, is the Legionnaire. Satoshi hails him with a wave before the same arm is used in a sweeping gesture of the scene. "What happened? I received word from Hildegarde."
Eliason forces down his frustration and the overwhelming feeling of worthlessness at the loss fo Josleen and pushes himself to his feet. Kadeilin has gathered up the remaining Desert Legion forces and is headed toward the gates with the for dead and one wounded. Offering the queen a short salute, the legionnaire answers her and Aildre at the same time. "We were ambushed by Ice Devils. We lost four and have one severely wounded. One is missing, a bard named Josl.... I mean Julia." He lifts the pendant and holds it out to Satoshi. "I just found this... it looks like a symbol of Vakmatharas to me, but I hope that I'm wrong."
Aildre regards the exchange with waning interest. None of the names mean anything to her, and she has already given finding Julia her best effort. S he starts to wander off to the north.
Eliason said to Aildre, "Thank you for everything. We owe you our lives..."
Aildre said to Eliason, "Us?"
Satoshi, with a gesture, sends two of her guards to assist the Legion forces in bringing in their dead and wounded. At Eliason's words, the magus's expression becomes grave. She hadn't been far from the battle... "I'm sorry we did not arrive sooner." Why could she not feel the battlesong through the snows? Again and again, this has happened, leaving Satoshi baffled and--if she was willing to admit it to herself--frightened. She'd become to reliant on her attunement to Frostmaw, that she's let her other senses dull, causing her to be caught flat footed in her own territory. The thoughts only make the lines in Satoshi's face more pronounced, so that it appears she's scowling at the amulet Eliason holds up. "Yes. That's Vakmatharas' symbol. What it's doing here, I don't know. We do not have worshippers of the Death God in Frostmaw. If I may?" Satoshi extends a hand for the amulet. "I have some I can speak to about it, they may have more information."
Satoshi doesn't recognize the necromancer, but nods to Aildre all the same. "Thank you for any aid you brought to this situation."
Eliason sets the amulet in Satoshi's hand. "Will you excuse me a moment, your Majesty?" He turns and steps up to Aildre, offering a deep bow of respect. "Yes, we owe you a great debt. You killed the Elder. I am grateful and if I can ever repay you, you need only ask."
Aildre regards Satoshi with an equal lack of recognition. Eliason's words earn him the mildest of smiles, which looks absurd given that she is covered in blood. "You owe us nothing. We were helping." She pauses, her expression going distance as she contemplates the leaden sky above with an almost dreamy expression. "See us later. We will see if there is something in the book to find your friend."
Satoshi closes her fingers over the amulet and freezes, eyes wide as she catches Eliason's words to Aildre. Defeated an Elder? The expression Satoshi turns on the necromancer then is one of appraisal, clearly impressed. "Thank you indeed. Few can claim such an accomplishment. And undoubtedly you saved lives."
Eliason nods gratefully to Aildre. "I would appreciate any help you can give. She is nowhere to be found and I do not see any blood to indicate she is hurt or dead. I must assume that she has been taken somehow." His own words ring ominous to the legionnaire. How? Why? What purpose could they have in taking the bard... The feeling of absence from Josleen rips through Eli once more forcing the lines in his brow to deepen. A sudden hope rises within him. He turns quickly to Satoshi. "Your Majesty... Julia was right here.." he waves to indicate the spot where Josleen was swallowed by the snow. "Can you find trace of her in the snow?"
Aildre looks back to Satoshi with the vaguest hint of a smile. The conversation seems to rein in her straying lucidity. "We tried. We like helping people, mostly." Her look becomes more introspective and she turns towards Eliason. "She did not die. We would have known. Only those ice creatures and some of your men died. But that…if your friend was stolen and replaced with that, perhaps our search must be of a different nature." She studies Eliason's face for a long time. "There is something different about you. We can see it. Some affliction of spirit. Get rid of it if you can. Afflictions of mind are far worse than those of body."
Satoshi glances between Eliason and Aildre, not understanding precisely what's going on but managing to piece a few things together by their comments. That is, until her thoughts are brough to a standstill at the paladin's sudden request. With a frown of concentration, the magus kneels down to the indicated snow and closes her eyes. Archaic words are murmured by Satoshi as she lets the exchange between necromancer and legionnaire carry on unheeded, her mind focused upon traveling outwards and down. The snows have much to speak of, eager to be heard by the eidolon, but when Satoshi comes back to herself it's with an unhappy look. "She passed beneath the snow, even the ice, and permafrost. Beyond that, my senses cannot travel, for it is more stone than frost. Nothing spoke of her being dead, however. She may have fallen into one of the tunnels below. I can organize a search party?" If only Ayras were here, he knew the warren of natural caverns below Frostmaw like no one else.
Eliason breathes a sigh of relief at the combined words of the Queen and the necromancer. "At least she's alive." Turning his gaze upon the queen, he speaks quickly. "If there is to be a search party, I would like to be a part of it. I feel... responsible for her." Aildre's words ring true in the paladin's mind as well and he nods to her. "There is something, a connection that I cannot explain with the bard. I cannot be away from her for too long or bad things happen." He shifts his eyes away from the conversation toward where Vehara had retreated. "I wish I could begin to understand it..." With this, the man grows silent as he shivers with the cold.
Aildre drapes her shabby cloak around Eliason's shoulders, as if that would help. "Such connections are dangerous. We could try to break it for you, but it might be better to find her first. A mage with skill may be able to find her through you."
Satoshi lifts a hand and moves as if she intends to place it on Eliason's shoulder in a gesture of reassurance, yet something holds the magus back. She does not know the legionnaire well enough to cross such boundaries, nor does Satoshi think the touch of her frigid skin would be very welcome when the poor guy is already shivering. Instead, Satoshi retracts her hand again. "You should head back into town, gather yourself. I will ensure the search party waits for you at the tavern. Although I won't be able to join you, I hope you are able to find her. My men will do everything in their power to assist." With this, the foxkin takes a step back to be among her guards once more, making ready to depart. "By the way, do not drink any water from Lake Frysta. Hildegarde believes it has been tainted. We're making efforts now to bring in a new water supply. Avoid everything else until then. Please."
Eliason smiles at Aildre's attempt to warm him with her cloak and offers a bow at the queen's words. "I will take an hour to change out of my armor then I will meet your men at the tavern. I thank you for your words and your kindness." He turns his sapphire gaze to Aildre. "And you as well..."
Aildre bows her head to Eliason. "See us later. We will see if we can help you."
Satoshi bows to legionnaire and necromancer alike. "Best of luck. We will see you soon. Thank you, again."