RP:Scout and Rescue
Part of the Saurian Onslaught Arc
Summary: Zahrani embarks on some solo scouting to try and search for any openings made by the Razurath's seismic activity. She gets followed by Joan, and the two end up rescuing Khitti's scout Andei during a close encounter with one of the reptilian warriors.
Main Road, Craughmoyle
Zahrani silently walks amongst the dwarves, the panther wearing her more elf-like face. She's outfitted for long journeys, a large pack on her back along with her usual crossbow. There is a scent of uneasiness in the air, in light of the blockade to the West. The paladin takes a seat just out of the way, resting her legs after the long journey into the mountains.
Joan was more casual as she walked behind the group, hands grasp lightly behind her back, one cup over the other’s wrist tucked close to her vested back as those voided eyes lightly glowed, mild interest showed as those orbs took in the blockade. With a tilt of her head the vampire inquired to ‘Rani “What happened here? Sorry...How is this going to effect Vampires and our town in any way?!”
Zahrani turns her cyan eyes towards Joan, offering her a grin and standing up again, "Well, I wasn't expecting to see ~you~ here. Did you follow me all the way from Kelay?" Turning back towards the west, she could see the wall that had been erected. It was made of a previously-unseen material, and magic appears to be greatly reduced, if not nullified, when in proximity to it. To answer Joan's question, the paladin responds, "Well, we recently started hearing rumbling underneath Xalious, and so far, we can't tie it to the dwarves or the drow. These...Razurath, as they're called, have made a target of magic users. If they're not stopped, it's only a matter of time before they spread to other towns. I'm asking around and surveying the wall, to see if anyone's found a way past it."
Joan offers a grin if the panther catches it before she turns back towards the wall, blinking, Joan rocks back on the heels of her shoes as she ‘hm’s’ to herself. Her mouth pressing into a frown before she answers. “Yeah, I, did actually, I was gonna talk to you about something, then I got curious...I don’t travel out of my town much these days.” A shrug here before she goes on. “We vampires have our own conflicts in our town right now...outside issues might not...” Joan waves her hand towards the blockade...How was she to explain that there was issues with the royalty and noble houses at war?!
Zahrani looks from the blockade to the vampire that had followed her, sighing quietly before taking a couple steps over to face Joan head on. With a soft smile, the panther idly places her hands at her hips before saying, "Okay then. Let's take this one step at a time, dear. What did you want to talk to me about?" Hopefully it would take less time than figuring out how to infiltrate an invasion force's barrier without even knowing much about them. All she had was her prior experience with a single member of their species, but it had been months before the blockade had even come up.
Joan wrinkles up her cute pert nose as she now crosses her gloved arms under her small vested bosom. “It ain’t nothing pressing, just thought we could gather a couple of people together and make a evening of it at a cafe for tea. I need girl friends...and guy friends that aren’t all doom and gloom.”
Zahrani tilts her head to the side, raising a brow at the vampire's words. "Are...you asking me out on a date?" Not that she'd be opposed to it, but her mind is currently in several places at the moment. Dezmara had disappeared, Karasu's graduation as a fully-fledged spellblade was coming up, and there's a lot of very aggressive dino people on the other side of that alien wall. "I mean...Sure, when I'm not busy, I'd love to spend more time with you."
Joan gives a roll of her shoulders, “A group date, yeah. I need friends, decent friends, not all shadowy questionable friends.” She shifts her stance then as she shoots a glance over the panther’s shoulder towards the blockade since it seems to be the source of the other female’s issue enough to bring her and the dwarfs out here.
Zahrani moves off to the side, so as not to get in the way of the city's other pedestrians. The dwarves she had been walking amongst were just denizens who were going home for the day. The panther takes in Joan's words, before reaching up to offer the vampire her hand. "Sure. Let's hang out when things are quieter."
Joan slips her hand into one of her tailored pants pockets and pulls out a small silver hair comb, This she presses into Zahrani’s open offered hand. “Sure, here, have this as my symbol of friendship.”
Zahrani has a slightly confused look on her face. She had never been given a comb by anyone, let along as a symbol of friendship. "I...thanks. I...don't really know what to say." The feline graciously accepts the token, placing it in a pocket sewn into her breastplate before saying, "Wanna take a closer look at that wall with me?"
Joan said to you, "Eh...it won’t hurt."
Zahrani prepares to get a closer look at the wall, "Well, it might hurt to get closer, if there's an ambush nearby. But they're probably ordered to just keep people out." The panther gathers her belongings, covers her head with her traveling hood, and moves a bit closer to the wall.
Dark Tunnel, Craughmoyle-Venturil Border
Joan follows behind with ease, not making much of sound for normal hearing as her footfalls were supernaturally quite. She only drew to a stop when the panther did, looking all around once more.
Zahrani is stopped at the city gate by a squad of armored dwarves. The bulk of them have positions facing the Cathabraka Door. Their commander approaches the paladin and the vampire, "I'm sorry ladies, but this exit is sealed by the damned lizards, and we can't let anyone through." The paladin places her arms at her hips before asking, "So we can't even get close and inspect their gate?" The bearded dwarf says impatiently, "You're not the first to have tried. The blasted thing ignores magic, and it only opens for its masters." Sighing, Zahrani surveys the area, thinking to herself ~what could we check without getting in their way?~
Joan offers an opinion, “Why not set gnomes here the entrance? They are small enough to not be noticed and can dig in close enough to spy.”
Zahrani finds such an idea intriguing, to be sure. The dwarf commander raises a bushy brow at the vampire and responds, "Well, if you can find me some cooperative gnomes, I'll consider it." The panther looks off to the side of the massive cavern, spying the various nooks and crannies in the natural rock. She brushes her thumb against her chin for a moment as she thinks, before asking the dwarf, "If we stay out of your main firing lane between here and the Razurath, can we check the sides of the tunnel for any openings in the rock?" The man glances back up at the cat, sighing and shrugging his shoulders, "Be my guest. Gods know we've had plenty of rumbling with these beasts. Just stay out of their line o' sight." The panther nods, before taking the road less traveled along the wall, darting between stalagmites and checking for any side passages that might have opened up.
Joan frowns down at the drawf, crossing her slender arms, “Since these lizard things are giving folks such a hard time I’m more then sure there will be cooperative gnomes, I’ll even ask myself.” That said Joan moves off towards where Zahrani took off for, no longer caring to deal with the dwarf commander or the issue at hand.
Zahrani scans the surface of the cave tunnel, searching for any weaknesses or openings that might have been formed by the Razurath's subterranean activities. Her hands hover over the rocky surface, her fingertips exposed. Occasionally she glances towards the strange door for any signs of activity. A faint draft catches her attention, and she tracks it to a hairline-crack in the cave. "There's fresh air coming out of this wall."
Joan wanders close, hands on knees as she stoops abit, looking a bit over the bent panther, voided gaze tracking the same path ‘Rani’s gaze had followed, “Mhmm, could widen it...normal tools since magic is a bust.”
Zahrani reaches into her satchel and removes what appears to be a long stake or chisel made of iron. Unsheathing her mace to use as a hammer, she glances back at the vampire, "Watch my back; I'm not sure how loud it will be in here-" As if on cue, the sound of clanking swords and shields echoed through the tunnel. The dwarfs were practicing a coordinated drill in preparation for any Razurath aggression. The sound was slightly rhythmic, like marching. The paladin finds the rhythm, and begins chipping away at the hairline crack in the wall. Moments later, a small hole opens, and out tumbles...a very weary and unconscious dwarven woman.
Joan makes a grab at the female dwarf as she tumbled out, “Whoa there! You alright?!” Joan inquires in a polite tone, moving to shift to a kneeling position across from the dwarf and near ‘Rani to show she meant no harm.
Zahrani helps Joan catch the dwarf before she hits her head. She has dark skin and hair, and her eyes would be hazel colored, if they were opened at the moment. She's covered in dirt, scratches, and congealed blood. A chainmail shirt with a symbol of Loda protects the small woman. "Andei..." the feline mentions the name to Joan. "She's a battlepriestess of Loda. We need to get her to a healer. Who knows how long she's been here." The paladin carefully lifts her up out of the hole in the wall. A deep rumbling reptilian growl emanates from the opening, followed by the sound of metal against stone. If the opening isn't sealed soon, the three of them would be facing a very hungry Razurath attempting to crawl through it.
Joan nods her agreement to ‘Rani, turning towards the hole they just helped the dwarf from as that rumbling is heard. Shooting a ‘Get going NOW!’ Glance towards the panther and the hurt dwarf the vampire firmly plants one hand against the newly open hole as her other hand pulls back, her hand curling into a fist. Both heeled feet firmly planted while she narrows her voided sight to the widen crack that Zahrani’s mace made above the hole, craggy, jagged rocks jutting out just above and Joan knew that with enough strength she could start a downfall, punching forward with her vampiric strength she hit the stone crack with her bare fist, her lip curled up at one corner in a snarl to answer back toward the Razurath’s.
Zahrani swiftly backs away from the hole as Joan lets loose against the stone. With a satisfying CRACK, the small opening collapses, and from the other side of the wall, the feline and vampire would hear rapid footfalls as the Razurath scrambles to get free of the rocks. The sound of movement ceases, either because the creature managed to get away, or perhaps it had been completely buried in a cave-in. Either way, Andei had been successfully rescued. "Let's go," Rani says to Joan, before turning and jogging back to the dwarven gate. Upon seeing the wounded battlepriestess in the paladin's arms, the dwarf commander shouts for a healer to meet them. They would attend to Andei's wounds and make sure she is taken care of. Hopefully she'd be in a condition to share intel.
Joan has had enough! The vampire makes sure ‘Rani is okay before she heads back towards her own town and her Taco Shop. “Yeah...catch you later, I’m out.” Joan strolls towards away from the blockade.