RP:Frost vs Frostmaw

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc

Summary: Balgruuf's cronies begin trying to throw non-giants out of Frostmaw. Xzavior stands up to them, starting a brawl in the middle of the street. He emerges victorious, but ends up effectively banished from the city. (Giants played by Pilar)

City of Frostmaw

Giants lined the street leading up to the city gates, watching, shouting, jeering. The road was packed with people, mostly sylvan elves, all being shepherded out of the city. Balgruuf had decided that non-giants were to leave the city immediately, or else. Not that he had yet officially taken the throne, but as a wealthy, popular, and powerful community leader, few were going to refuse him. Entire families had been forced from their homes, with barely a moment's notice to pack their things. Mothers carried crying children in their arms as they were pushed out of the city that had once been their refuge. One elf tearfully begged a guard to put a stop to the mob, only to be shoved roughly to the ground. A nearby giant made sure to kick the elf in the stomach before a human helped him up and they continued on their way.

Xzavior had made camp in the wilds of Frostmaw the night before, having stayed late into the evening. He was making his way out of the city as quietly as he could now aware of the going ons between the giants and anyone who wasn't. He was doing relatively well at remaining out of sight but as he went further and further in he slowly came to realize that there wasn't any point. The town was quiet in all areas but one, the gates. He made it there just in time to see one of the giants kick the downed elf after they had begged for mercy and hissed in anger. It was bad enough that they were denying entry into the city, but now they were completely evacuating the city without a seconds thought?! Xzavior slithered up the center of the road behind the wall of giants and shouted, "Excuse me! These people worked very hard to make a living up here and you're going to destroy that all because you bigots only care about being a 'pure blooded city'. Take it from me, it's not worth it." Damn, and right after he promised Pilar he wouldn't do anything stupid.

The naga was only heard by those closest to him, his voice drowned out mostly by the roar of the crowd. But, those who'd heard him were none too pleased. Several pairs of eyes turned to him, some expressing shock, others anger. How dare this outsider speak to them that way? One of the giants cracked his knuckles. "If you know what's good for you, snake, you'll get in line with the rest of them." "Here, let me help you," another one said, stepping toward Xzavior and reaching out with a meaty hand to grab the naga by the throat.

Xzavior , for as much as a pacifist as he was, couldn't help but smirk as the giants advanced on him, "Don't you know it's rude to stick your hand in someone's face?" With a quick whip he conjured a staff made of ice and smacked the giants hand away, "It's especially dangerous when that someone has fangs." He flashed them a fanged grin before backing up and shifting into a humanized Xzavior, complete with an all white suit. Lifting his staff back to a defencive stance he glared at the giants in front of him, "Now, I suggest that you let these good people go back to their homes and warm themselves by a fire. They're starting to look cold."

"Yow!" The giant shook the sting out of his hand as his comrades advanced on the naga. They weren't scared of any squishy little mage, no sirree. "Frostmaw ain't home to no one but giants," one of them snarled. The disturbance was catching more attention, though no one else stepped up to challenge Xzavior. It seemed these half-dozen giants were the ringleaders of this whole thing, everyone else was just going along with it. The crowd, with no one at their backs to shove them forward, slowed to a stop. All eyes were on Xzavior and his six opponents. The giants moved to encircle the cryomancer, one of them bending down to pick up a large rock. Another had come armed, and pulled his short sword from its sheath. Once Xzavior was surrounded, the giant with the rock hefted it above his head and leaped forward with the intent to bash in the naga's skull.

Xzavior chuckled as they came forward, "I'm more certain that the snow has a better claim on this place then you." Though he wore a cocky grin, he was more then happy that he only had to deal with six of the many giants in the area. He was also glad he shifted when he did, being a smaller target with a larger range of motion. As the rock wielding giant made the first move Xzavior leaped out of the way bringing his staff down across the giants wrists as he went. Rolling out away from them he was quick to his feet, "Do you know what's great about being surrounded by snow? An unlimited supply of pre-made traps." He thrusted a clenched fist into the air and a pillar of ice roughly the size of a giant's fist shot up to hit the giant with a sword in the gut before waving a hand causing snow to wash over their legs, though it didn't look like it did anything, the longer the snow made contact the more and more ice would gather until their legs were frozen together and to the ground.

The rock rolled across the ground and the giant rubbed his wrists. Twice, twice his hands had been assaulted, now! There was an "oof!" as the giant with the sword was struck in the stomach, though he quickly recuperated and walked around the pillar. The snow froze the giants to the ground and offered a brief moment's respite before, one by one, they yanked their legs free, ice crackling and shattering like porcelain. It seemed the naga had underestimated the giants' strength. The giants bum-rushed the naga from all sides, fists flying, and unless he could jump over them, he had few options for escape. The sword slashed through the air, aiming to slice clean through his stomach.

Xzavior gave a dry look as they pulled their legs free and mumbled, "Oh that's not fair." He wasn't done yet, but if that did so little he might have to start rethinking his plans on being nice fast. As the giants rushed him down he sighed and launched himself into the sky on another pillar of ice hoping that one of them would run headlong into it. As soon as he was above the giants he leapt up and shifted back into his naga form to drop all 200 kilograms onto the closest giant's head. Added ice for impact.

There was a clang as the sword embedded itself in the pillar. The giant struggled to free it while his buddies looked up and saw Xzavior change. They all backed up, leaving their comrade to get crushed under Xzavior's weight. The giant was knocked out cold, leaving only five left to fight. The remaining giants charged in again, one of them jumping onto Xzavior's tail while the others grabbed for his arms. If they managed to restrain him, one of the giants would let go and start pummeling Xzavior, slamming his fist into his abdomen and face.

Xzavior should have guessed that they would have went for his tail the first moment they could. Managing to grab his arms and tail he struggled for a moment before a flash of blinding pain registered. He had been punched in the face and his nose was broken it seemed. Again. Before the giant could land another punch though he quickly shifted back into a human swung his legs and shifted back into a naga, putting a lot of stress on his body as he did. With the swing he whipped his tail out to catch his assailant in the face and used the momentum to rip his arms from their grasp and with a downward swing, conjured another staff and brought it down on the face of the giant he had just whipped. Only one person was allowed to punch him in the face and get away with it!

CRACK went the staff as it collided with the brute's face. Xzavior wasn't the only one with a broken nose, now, and it seemed he'd taken out a few teeth as well. The giant clutched his face, backing away and yowling in agony, before he tripped over a hole in the road and fell flat on his back, head slamming into the cobblestone walk. Two down, four to go. But it seemed that as their numbers dwindled, so too did Xzavior's strength. The giants dogpiled on the naga in an attempt to wrestle him to the ground, where their combined weight would be enough to hold him down.

Xzavior shouted in pain as a giant all but crushed his tail. Wrenching it away before any others could get on he reverted back to a human giving a grunt as he did. Clearly his tail would only be a weakness in this fight. He stood there panting for a moment and wiped away the blood that flowed freely from his face, where was that second wind when you need it... thrusting out his hands he tried again to freeze them to the ground as they laid cluttered together with all of his effort. A grimace crossing his face the longer he maintained the spell.

Magical snow settled over the giants who, tangled as they were, could not get leverage to free themselves and thus ended up a single frozen mass. It would seem Xzavior had won the day, a victory for tolerance. The giants who had watched this all mumbled amongst themselves uncertainly. Should they just, like, leave, or...? The remainder of those who had been ousted from their homes but not yet ejected from the city stayed were also unsure what to do. They were still surrounded by hostile giants, after all. Suddenly, a voice cut through the murmuring. "WHAT the BLOODY HELL is going on?" The bellow came from a giant who had just made the scene, a guard, as denoted by her uniform. She took one look at the six defeated giants and the bloodied naga, then shifted her eyes over the crowd. "You there!" she called to one of the guards stationed at the gates. "Get yer arse over here!" With a gulp, the guard did as he was told. He offered a salute. "Yes, lieutenant?" "Do I need to repeat my question, you daft bastard?!" she roared. "WHAT. HAPPENED."

Xzavior gave a sigh of relief as his plan worked out this time, he wasn't sure just how long he could keep that up. Gods he was out of practice. He looked back at the crowd with a stern look and was about to say something before the newest arrival made herself known. He didn't know if she was friendly or not but the fact that she took a look at the scene and didn't attack him right away gave him some hope. Though she might just be evaluating the situation or waiting for backup for all he knew. "If you don't mind me answering," He straighten up and took a few steps towards the guard, "These lovely bunch had thought to send all of those families away from their homes without a moment's notice, so I came to let them know just how rude they were being. As you can see, they didn't take kindly to my words."

"I DO, in fact, mind you answering," the lieutenant snapped, her withering gaze falling on Xzavior before turning back to the guard. There was a pause, then, "Well, is what the snake said true or not, grunt?" The guard seemed to shrink before his superior. "N-not at all, ma'am, he viciously attacked these fine gentlemen as they were doing their civic duty." "Oh? And you just decided to enjoy the show, eh?" the lieutenant sneered. The guard gulped again. "I-I had to help control this crowd, ma'am." The lieutenant glared. "Get back to your post, I don't have time to deal with you right now." The guard skittered back to his spot while the lieutenant addressed the crowd. "Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, get back to your homes, and STAY THERE." Slowly, the throng of people dispersed. The lieutenant stood there, arms crossed, and watched them go before turning her attention back to Xzavior. "Listen, snake, I don't care who started this, you just assaulted six citizens of Frostmaw. Balgruuf won't be taking kindly to this. I suggest that, while I'm cleaning up your mess, you get gone and STAY gone."

Xzavior lifted a hand, "I claim self defence." He didn't care if she cared or not what he had to say, he wanted to throw that bit in anyways. He was more than glad to see the people returning to their homes and visibly relaxed because of it. He wiped away more blood and flicked it to the snow, "Balgruuf's going to be the downfall of this place you know? Someone suitable needs to take the throne and it doesn't even have to be Hildegarde, just someone who knows what the hell they are doing and what's good for everyone within their kingdom and not just the race they belong too." He made his way to the gate slowly. He wasn't about to argue against being kicked out, he was too tired and weak from the first fight that she could easily just walk up and push him over. Though the fact that he would have to break yet another promise to Pilar didn't make him too happy. Perhaps he'd have to do something stupid again to get back in.

The lieutenant didn't say anything to Xzavior, simply rolling her eyes. There'd be hell to pay when Balgruuf heard about this debacle. But she didn't take her orders from HIM. Not yet, anyway. Once the naga was gone, she checked on the two unconscious giants (yes, just unconscious, not dead. Phew) and began the task of chipping the other four giants out of the ice, yelling to one of the guards at the gate to fetch backup. As she worked, she wondered how long she and others like her could hold out against Balgruuf's increasing power. It wouldn't be long before those under his sway outnumbered those with backbones, and then what would happen? Would there be another attempt at a mass exodus, or would they jump straight to lynch mobs? She scowled. The snake was right. At this rate, Frostmaw was going to crumble.