RP:The Battle for Celiann

Black Pond

Eliason walks warily down the path, his eyes constantly searching for signs of impending attack. As always, he is extremely uncomfortable in this part of Hollow. On this day, however, a sense of restlessness has overcome the acolyte. He cannot explain the feeling, but he feels frustrated and out of sorts. Something is nagging at him, sending him into the area of Vailkrin, perhaps seeking conflict, or something else. He doesn't know exactly what he seeks, he just needs to get out of the training hall and find some excitement, something to drag his thoughts away from training. It is with these thoughts in his head that he comes across the oily pond. The sense of evil emanating from the depths forces him to take a step back and grasp the hilt of his sword.

Celiann had chosen to wander off into Vailkrin while Vajra sorted out her schedule for forced-feeding. It wasn't something she was really looking forward to! She wasn't too far off from the black and oily pond, speaking with who seemed to be in charge of the undead encampment. "N-No, y-you don't understand, I n-n-need to h-h-have access to the p-p-pond," she spoke with absolute frustration, seemingly met constantly with denial. "P-P-Please! I... I d-d-don't want to s-s-see V-Vailkrin be d-destroyed, do you?"

Eliason eases the grip on his sword as the sound of Celiann's voice reaches him. In spite of the presence of evil that gnaws at the edges of his consciousness, he smiles at the familiar voice. It seems that he cannot venture into these parts with out running into her. The man quickly skirts the edges of the encampment, avoiding the hollow, threatening stares of the undead. Once he catches sight of the vampiress, Eli watches the exchange between her and some dead person. Shaking his head at the irony of it all, he awaits the moment when her gaze might turn toward his direction.

Celiann fidgeted a little bit as she waited for the undead captain to give a response. "Miss Celiann, I cannot promise anything. Even if I gave you access, there's no promise you'll do better with it. You could make things worse," he muttered despondently. Obviously, the words hit her a little bit harder than they should have done! She looked him over, seemingly able to ignore the decomposing flesh, and sighed with desperation: "P-P-Please. I... I n-n-need to t-t-try anything. Um.. if I r-r-research s-some more and b-b-bring evidence, will you l-let me try?"

Eliason watches the exchange between the two with great interest. He wonders what she is trying to do and what is all of this talk about Vailkrin being destroyed. For someone that usually seems so timid, the necromancer actually appears to have an inner strength that Eli had not noticed before. He begins to look at her in a new light, as a woman and not as a timid young girl. As she talks with the man before her and moves about, he finds himself admiring her more and more. Suddenly conscious of where his thoughts were leading, Eli shakes his head and resolves to leave the area before he thinks thoughts that he might regret. Turning to leave, he steps away but his foot lands upon a large, dry stick that cracks loudly under his weight.

Celiann had been preparing for a verbal onslaught of denial, before the stick cracked loudly under the weight of a body. Both heads turned to spy who the person may be - the undead captain obviously unhappy to see a living person emanating a sort of holy aura. Paladins were usually here to cause trouble to the dead or destroy them. The captain drew his blade and hurled the old - yet every sharp - blade towards Eliason; to slay a paladin! Her wand was immediately pulled forth, the vampire zipping in front of the paladin with that inhuman speed before she cried: "disintegrarsi!" a 'hum' of energy seemed to leave the wand and vampiress, causing the blade to waver and disintegrate into mere flecks of rust and metal upon the ground; just moments from reaching her. She had good timing! She levelled the captain with a look, "I'll h-h-have my p-papers sent here in t-t-two days. R-Review it and r-reply promptly, p-please."

Eliason spins about at the sound of the blade leaving its scabbard. There was no escaping the fact that he was a paladin and these were undead, natural enemies. His gaze rounds just in time to see the blade leave the hand of the captain. With barely enough time to react, the acolyte raises his armored arm in an effort to ward off the blow with heavy metal coating his appendage. He is surprised by the woman's voice in front of him and the lack of impact upon his arm. Opening his eyes, he finds Celiann standing in the path of the captain. Looking down at her gratefully, he allows a grin to cross his features before speaking. "Uh..hi! And thank you..."

Celiann seemed to be having a bit of a stare down with the undead captain before he conceded and retreated back a little bit to the rest of the encampment. She turned to him and allowed dainty fingers to adjust her round spectacles, "It's f-f-f-fine, um... They j-j-just w-worry that you'll k-k-kill them first!"

Eliason nods in understanding. "I can understand their concern. Some of my order would attack them without any thought whatsoever." His gaze travels back and forth across the encampment before it seeks out her eyes. "I am a little different, though. I have met people that are supposed to be evil and found that we, as an order, should not be so quick to judge..." As he looks down into her eyes, he finds his mind straying once more toward dishonorable thoughts. A light blush rises in his cheeks and he quickly averts his gaze and turns to move away from the encampment.

Celiann didn't seem too bothered by the encampment that seemed to wander around the pond protectively, appearing to be the protectors of the oily waters. She looked to Eliason and offered a smile, "Y-Yes, w-w-well, um... It is g-g-good that you are d-different!" she smiled, before realizing he was attempting to leave - assuming she had done something wrong; impolite or had offended him in some way. She reached and tried to catch his arm with her hand gently, "E-Eliason! Um! D-D-Did I do something w-wrong? Are you o-okay?" Maybe he felt dishonored by her rescuing him!

Eliason stops as her hand catches his arm and slowly turns around. That same feeling that had frustrated him all day still lurks in his mind. He is edgy and restless, but her questions bring his eyes swiveling back to her's. "No, you have done nothing wrong. I am just a little...out of sorts today." He is careful to mask the emotions in his eyes, lest she see into them and know his thoughts. The acolyte is confused by the feelings stirring within him, he has never been out of control of himself like this before.

Celiann was incapable of healing folk, so she tended to worry and become panicked when people she liked or cared for had fallen ill or 'out of sorts'. She pressed her cold hand to his forehead, "Are y-y-you sick? W-We have d-d-doctors in Vailkrin," she offered a smile before retracting her hand, "although I w-w-wouldn't f-fall asleep around them. Might w-w-wake up with an o-organ missing!"

Eliason: The problem with Celiann touching Eli's forehead is that it requires her to move closer to the acolyte. The touch of her cold skin against his face and the look of concern in her eyes suddenly have his heart beating more heavily than was particularly healthy. The tightly held control of his emotions slips even further. At 22 years old, he has never even been this close to a woman. Her words pass through unhearing ears as he finds himself leaning forward, wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her closer. His lips part ever so slightly and descend in an attempt to meet her's.

Celiann was used to Vajra being a little bit colder than a human, so the temperature felt.. abnormal to her. She had assumed her was a bit feverish, and with that elevated heartbeat she felt her false-suspicion must have been true! As he seemed to lean forward and wind an arm about her waist, she assumed he must have been fainting or perhaps trying to steady himself. She pressed her hands up to his shoulders, "E-Eliason?" she asked before those paladin's lips pressed against hers. It was fair to say those slightly magnified eyes had gone as wide as possible with the shock of it; hands raised up as if to say 'I have nothing to do with this!' and cheeks flaring a very deep red. If her noble sensibilities were any higher, she may have swooned!

Vajramirne arrived. But to say she arrived is a lot like saying a rock, thrown through a window, had 'arrived' inside the building. She crashed, tumbled, and rolled through the Abyssal Forest... massive bits of spider-web still clinging to her armor as she did so. The clearing in which she arrived was rather nice, though. If you didn't mind the smell... or the Kraken lurking in the pond... but Vajra had lived in a sewer for several years of her life, and so foul smells were something she had come to be used to. No, the only thing about this lovely little clearing by the pond which she wrinkled her nose at, was the distant fuzzy shape of Lady Celiann... and that squirrelly young paladin-in-training she'd seen her with now and then. And then, as her emerald irises rotated... zooming her focus in a bit closer... she blinked. "Kissing? The Paladin-in-training guy?" The shieldmaiden slowly pushed herself back up to her feet, armored fist clenching, and snarled. She brought that bladed gauntlet of her back, and growled. "That's... just not fair..." her glare turned from the man, to Celiann, with a deadly chill. "... paladin-in-training guy? Honestly? I get the attention of some rookie swordsman... and you get squirrelly adorable paladin-in-training guy? You're a vampire! You tried to eat him!" That growl exploded, and she lunged full-force with every intent of dragging Eliason to the ground. "You!"

Eliason has his lips firmly planted against Celiann's, though his lack of experience leaves him not knowing what to do. He is blissfully unaware of the 'I have nothing to do with this!' gesture that her hands make. The vampiress is saved from further inexperienced advances by the acolyte by the crashing noise that announces Vajra's arrival. His lips quickly part with her's and he takes half a second to look into her eyes. The look of wide-eyed shock has him instantly questioning the wisdom of doing what he had done. Vajra's tirade brings his head about.. Did she just call him squirrelly? What the hell did that even mean? But he has no time to respond before the woman has ahold of him and he finds himself being drug to the ground. In the shock of the moment, he forgets to let go of Celiann as he falls.

Celiann heard Vajra's words and was ready to retort but the woman had launched herself at the man and she was dragged down with him! She was knocked to the ground with an 'oomph', cracking the side of her skull upon the ground and the side of her large, round spectacles. It was unclear if she was conscious after such a 'crack' to the noggin, but the encampment of undead had suddenly turned their attention upon the scuffling pair!

Vajramirne 's lips sneered vehemently at the paladin upon whom she perched herself. As that sickening crack of flesh and bone and metal, however, her attention as momentarily diverted. "Celiann! Celiann, are you alright?" Again, Eliason became the object of her intense stare. "You stupid novice! I... I'll... I'm going to kill. I'm going to kill you so -very- dead." And then she rolled off of him and quickly moved to check on Celiann. "Love? Please... say something... are you alright?" She was a vampire. Such an injury wouldn't kill her, certainly! That meant she had at least as long as it took for Celiann to recover... to deal with the paladin. Vajra's head was spinning, now. "You! What in the Infernal Hells do you think gives you the right to go planting your... your... -human- lips on MY woman?"

Eliason finds himself flat on his back with an enraged Shieldmaiden perched on top of him. The look of hatred upon her features has his mind reeling. It is the sound of Celiann's skull cracking against the ground that draws his attention from Vajra, however. Once the woman is no longer on top of him, Eli rolls and pushes himself to his feet, rushing over to Celiann's side to see if she is okay. In his haste, he may 'accidentally' push the shieldmaiden before he kneels at the vampiress' side. Gently, he moves to press a palm against Celiann's cheek, but the motion is halted by the hate-filled words of Vajra. Did she just say that Celiann was HER woman? "Your woman!" Indignant rage rises within the paladin. "I thought you were her protector, not her slave-master?! I will not allow my..." he struggles with what to call Celiann under the circumstances ".. my friend to be held in slavery!" Rising to his feet, the man reaches for his sword and grasps the hilt, ready to draw it in a flash should this go further.

Celiann's world was plummeted into one full of a sharp ringing noise, her vision a little obscured. Was that blood? Oh god, it was! The thin frame of her glasses had cut a piece of flesh upon her eyebrow, oozing out a dark hue and onto pale eyelids; marring dark eyelashes. The lens of her glasses had broken, rendering her with blurry vision in one eye due to her dependency upon the spectacles. She tried to say the words: 'I'm fine, I feel fine, help me up', but all that came forth was a bit like a drunken slur. There were hands upon her and words spoken; her head feeling absolutely... fuzzy.

Vajramirne's eyes widened at the accusation, her rage swelling even greater still. "Slavery! Blessed gods, man, what would the likes of -you- know of slavery?" She rose up, once more, every inch of scale and flesh trembling with the urge to hurl herself at Eliason again. "Let me -tell- you of slavery! Of my life as the plaything of marauders, who used me to keep customers and new recruits compliant... to pay off debts... as a status symbol, amongst the Warlord and his men! Slavery! Stay your tongue... for it betrays the stupidity behind that handsome face!" She rounded upon the Paladin again, finger outstretched accusingly. "She is -MY- woman. I..." and in just that moment, as her hand sunk down into her bag to bring forth the proof of it all, she came to a dark realization. The flap of the pocket in which she had placed the ring was gone. It... must've fallen out as she was escaping from the spiders. "... no! No no no! Gods dammit!" Eliason was, momentarily, forgotten. Instead her bag was thrown to the ground, and she went digging through it furiously. "Where is it... where is it... it's got to be in here somewhere. Blessed gods, if those spiders managed to steal the engagement ring I bought for Lady Celiann, I'm going to turn this godsforsaken spider death-trap of a forest into dust! DUST! DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Her voice had raised, now, to a panicked shriek. Eliason. Somehow, this was all his fault. "You!" She didn't know how, but it had to be his fault. "I... will start... with YOU!"

Eliason: The poor acolyte is completely lost in the various ramblings of the enraged woman. Celiann's words and her stirring remains unnoticed as Eli tries to make sense of Vajra's bizarre words and actions. His hand remains firmly upon the hilt of his sword, knowing that this woman must be incredibly unstable to be acting as she is. Though few things that he can understand from her is that she was a slave at some point, and she's lost something. Oh, and apparently he is to blame for all of it. He watches her scramble through her bag for awhile and then it happens. Her words finally make some semblance of sense. An engagement ring for Celiann. Wait, an engagement ring. This cannot be right, can it? He cocks his head to the side, missing her final accusation as he speaks. "Engagement? But...but you are a... and she is a... By the Gods, woman, what are you talking about?!"

Celiann felt as though she had blinked slowly and only once, when in fact she was blinking quite often and quite rapidly. Luckily for those around, she couldn't actually... vomit unless she had fed very recently, which hadn't happened. She trembled on the spot, eyes feeling so very heavy like she may well fall asleep! She babbled quietly to herself, beginning to breathe heavily as if with frustration or in a panic. Which was always interesting, seeing as this woman didn't actually -need- to breathe.

Vajramirne's knees buckled underneath her weight, furious tears forming in the corners of her eyes and wobbling before angrily pouring down perfect elven cheeks. "... oh gods... it's gone... it's really gone! I... I can't believe I lost it... to a bunch of GODSDAMNED SPIDERS! I hate spiders! I hate them almost as much as I hate that stupid, confused look on your face!" Roaring with nothing but sheer insanity, the draconian woman stormed across the short distance separating her from Eliason. With absolutely no warning, she lashed out with both arms... planted her lips to his... and promptly stormed past him back into the forest. "I'm going to marry that woman, you half-wit. Now go check on her! I have to go find that ring... the... the... ah... the spiders... took." The Shieldmaiden shuddered. "... spiders..."

Eliason releases the hilt of his sword as the tears begin to spill from the woman's eyes. He suddenly feels less angry and defensive and more uncomfortable and fidgety in the face of the tears. Words of comforting try to rise in his dry throat, but he cannot find any. The roar that escapes her sends him reeling backwards and her quick approach has him scrabbling for his sword once more. His hand betrays him, however, and he instead finds himself shrinking away from what he thinks is an impending blow to his face. Instead, she completely baffles him with her...lips? What the hell was that? Now he is so far beyond confused that he finds he can only comply with her words. He kneels down by Celiann and places a warm hand to her face. "Calm down, Celiann. It is okay. Your glasses are broken. All is well..."

Celiann seemed to do quite the opposite of calming down - she made chuffing and irritable noises through her nose, eyes closing shut firmly. As with any concussion, she was capable of falling victim to any of the symptoms: currently falling victim to that ringing in her ears, dizziness and the feeling of intense nausea. But her body twitched and began to shake horrendously; spasms taking over her form - pressing that thin frame further into that cut it had made.

Vajramirne shook her head and frowned. "Ah... on second thought... I... I really don't think I want to deal with... spiders... right now." And so she turned back and stalked over to Celiann, looking down at her miserably. "I... is she going to be okay?" the Shieldmaiden inquired, kneeling down to pluck the woman's broken glasses off her face. "I... I'm sorry, m'love... I... I don't know what came over me. I... didn't mean to get you hurt. It was... those damned spiders..."

Eliason is now completely unaware of Vajra's words. Celiann has his complete attention now as her body is racked with spasms and her eyes roll back. The acolyte knows that his order has the ability to heal, but he has never been able to make it work before. Taking a deep breath, he tries to recall his training through the panic that is setting in. Taking a deep breath, he quickly removes the gauntlets from his hands. Giving no thought to what it may look like, he spreads the front of her robes wide enough to place his bare hands upon the skin of her chest. Within his mind, the man settles in and seeks the light of the Gods. Prayers issue forth continuously from his lips as he seeks the Divine. After several seconds, his hands begin to glow with a soft white light. For the first time in his life, the young paladin has actually found the traces of power within him. As time passes, the soft glow flows from him into the vampiress. Though none would know it, the connection allows the pain and damage to flow from Celiann into the paladin.

Celiann's body continued with its spasms, the cold air instantly striking the exposed flesh of her chest. If she was aware of it well enough, she'd probably die of absolute shame and embarrassment. She was a bit of a prude! But then those hands were upon her; hands that coursed with holy magic. Her eyes opened, the vampiress screeching as her fangs became more prominent. The flesh bubbled and hissed; burning slightly at the holy touch - as Vajra saw with those holy relics. Certainly, the pain and damage of a concussion was transferred but the vampire could barely stand the holy magics!

Vajramirne silently scooped up the vampiress, kissed her cheek, and placed her hand upon the woman's burnt flesh... coursing a bit of dark, unholy magic through her fingertips to cease the burning. For the first time since the threat with the void began, she recognized a certain... drain... of her energy as she performed the spell. This tidbit of knowledge was stashed away, for later use.

Celiann was lifted in silence, pressing into the woman quietly with her eyes shut. At least now, she felt that the pressure in her skull was gone and the ringing was replaced by clear hearing! At the touch of darker magic, she sighed quietly, as if with some relief as the burning ceased and felt a bit soothed. The marks were still present and fairly tender looking, but they wouldn't worsen.