Private Very dangerous people.

[Vaaga]

Some miles south of the Edjer Highlands a minor conflict was finishing up and another, more heated engagement was about to start along its coast.

The Township of Larrany such as it was had swapped hands between local lords so many times in the last few decades that when the rabble of military deserters who took ownership had set up themselves as town rulers the Baron's were slow to act to secure the small fishing port it sported but sometimes you simply had other things to do and no doubt the petty bandit lord who now claimed to rule it was far easier to pay than to conquer, not when land disputes between them had been so much more violent lately.

Such places were always the worst hit and the last dealt with.

So when Vaaga arrived looking for transport back around to Unicorn Bay after a time scoping Northwards and was met by demands of extortionate bribes and threats to his life he felt the unusual impulse to do a little public service to these people (and of course demand transport as payment).

The town gates were completely destroyed, shattered into splinters by the force of rapid ice and concussive wind. Vaaga called down the hailing storm and sleet over the town and as his foes scattered those who strayed too close he froze solid where they stood, dying slowly in personal blocks of ice.

A smile, slim and cruel crossed his face. The eyes of those who lived there peered out at him as he walked with exactly the kind of question behind them that they should have.

*What fresh monster is this?*

Making his way to the dock Vaaga thought his victory complete and his foes vanquished so he was ready to simply find a local grateful enough to get him wherever he needed to to go and if one got difficult then there would be more blocks of ice in the town but he did not see one of the leaders, golden haired and strong of limb who hid while others fled as they levelled a crossbow at his back, nor did he see the one that watched them both who passed for human only under dim light and was eager to join in some not so wholesome bloodshed.

@Tairent

 

[FROSTy]

Living in the shadows of a small town near the harbor usually wasn't a pleasurable experience or something akin to the kind of backhanded murderer that Tai was, however, as she sat there, the blood of yet another victim warming her fingers as she held her opponents mouth shut, Tai had to admit that the situation had been too good to let it pass just like that.

Like in many places where conflict was a daily occurrence and lawlessness ruled the streets, the people of larrany were used to loss and used to the fact that people went missing and wound up dead at one point or another. Likewise, someone to blame was quickly found and usually came in the form of the locally established deserters, who had taken it upon them to enforce their law upon the town, bidding the precious little time they had before their doings ineavidably angered someone above them by harassing the local population in a plethora of ways, ranging from their daily business, such as extortion, over to politics, namely public executions and assassinations in order to keep the peoples spirit low enough to inspire obedience.

Naturally, the entire town was a found feast for the young dragon kin as she had been able to sate her hunger for bloodshed plentily and often enough for the past few days. However, as her current victim's life neared its end rapidly, announced by sudden, heavy spasms and their eyes turning upward, Tairent didn't feel sated yet. Still, her cautious side would have prevailed over her hunger, and if it hadn't been for the stranger who seemed to lay waste to anything in its path, she would have retreated and waited until night settled in. The truth was, her current attack had already been dangerous in terms of bearing witnesses. And while Tairent certainly would have been capable of dispatching of most of the towns population with ease, she hardly was fond of being painted as a target for something which was a moment of joy at most.

Now, however, with Vaaga attacking the city and the deserters clearly occupied and their attentions drawn towards a foe they neither had been anticipating, nor preparing for, the wind had changed and a strange tension hung in the air. One of the first telltale signs of a full rebellion against the tyrants. Naturally, the chance was too good to pass upon it and with a swift motion, Tairent intercepted one of the deserters as he passed the alley, a hand reaching out and fingers, more akin to razer sharp claws then the delicate tool they were for most people grasping around his neck, cutting into the flesh with ease. Needless to say, her first target had no chance to retaliate at all, and the speed at which his life was extinguished was beyond terrifying to his comrades who had been running after him, one of them pushing his already limp body further into Tai's inviting embrace as she fully stepped out of the alley, arms covered in blood and her body ironclad.

Needless to say, she didn't wait long before going after her next target, swiping at him, her blow met with a sword being flung in her direction, eager to meet with her clawed hand, clearly intended to intercept and stop the strike. By the time her claw met the sword, Tai had to admit that her opponent was well trained, seeing how difficult it was to hit something as fast and small as her hand. However, she also had to admit that the cards had been counted before their encounter had even started and training alone wasn't going to stop her in the slightest, seeing how her claw cut clean through the metal, the sword, once a formidable weapon, now cut in three pieces before the claw went further, penetrating armor and sinking into flesh anew, tearing a piece out of the warrior.

This time, her attack had been enough to stop the deserters dead in their place, terrified gazes wandering from their dead or dying comrades, over to the ruined sword on the ground and finally onto Tai as she discarded the lump of flesh, rewarding herself with a taste of its blood. Their actionlessness was cut short, however, seeing how the local population had been waiting for something akin to that and the deserters found themselves becoming the pray to their former victims in a split second, their ferocity clearly visible in their choice of weapons. Taking a step back to watch the fight unfold between the mob armed with pitchforks, pans, cleavers and apparently a pot of boiling water, a predatory smile was written onto Tai's face, as she bid her farewell, turning to seek other enemies and no intention to help the citizens any further. After all, her goal wasn't to see one side win, it merely was to make both loose as much as possible, and loose they certainly would, seeing how every death was avenged shortly thereafter.

Eventually, after yet another short-cut encounter with the deserters and the angry mob, an engagement in which Tai had resorted to picking off the survivors, a curiosity unfolded in front of her, and the wizard, the one that had sparked this wonderful opportunity, was in sight as he continued his path of destruction. Naturally, the challenge of seeing something, someone on par to her was a well-received one and Tai chose to give chase as she crept after the mage, staying in the shadows, eager for an opportunity to come close and acquire a taste of his essence.

 

[Vaaga]

Patience was a virtue that Vaaga did not always possess in as much quantities as he hoped especially when he was feeling so drained after his exertions to subdue the occupying force of this pitiful little dungport of a place.

When he reached the water not a soul was at work but he reasoned that the riotous sounds coming from his wake was where most of the townsfolk were now.
As soon as they had sated their bloodlust and avenged themselves and felt like they actually accomplished something here today.

Wars were won in the will and Vaaga had shattered the murders will like a thin sheet of glass.

Now he would have to wait until they came to thank him and he thought to himself that perhaps he should demand more from them.
A servant would be nice, someone to carry his supplies and witness his achievements.
The thought brought him to Venla and the experiment with the constructed bird. He wondered how long it lasted without him to reinforce it's form.
She had been awed by his feats of magic and that felt right and good. He was a genius after all.

"YOU!"
The angry voice cut like a knife through his mind and drew Vaaga's face to the form of one of the bandits who stood shaking with rage as he pointed an arrow at him.

"WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Vaaga glared in open bemusement at the young man so full of misplaced righteous anger.
"I want transport to Unicorn Bay."
He confirmed unafraid to state his business.
"And your folk at the gate wouldn't let me in without trying to extort me so..."

Raising his arms he gestures about back at the center of Larrany where the ruckus still raged.
"I took matters into my own hands. Surely you can understand not cowing to those weaker than yourself."

The mans face flushed raging red and he fired the arrow which Vaaga quickly diverted with a gust of wind.
The arrow clattered on the rocky shore.
"Go home lad and forget this life."
Altruism, no nothing so gentle. The more that knew his face and the worse they feared him the easier he could get things when he needed them.

The young man fled, running wild back up towards the town centre and out.
Past the shadows and the waiting figure.

"Let him go!"
Vaaga called out to his pursuer though he almost missed them, it was the smell of blood, Vaaga rarely killed in a way that let it gather much but this one, this one smelled like a slaughterhouse for people. The breeze he brought down the arrow with told him their direction so it was there he looked.
"Show yourself. I would see my admirer."
His voice played. This was a tiring but interesting day.

@Tairent

 

[FROSTy]

Stalking after the stranger for the better part of a few minutes, an ironclad shadow jumping from shadow to shadow, cold, metallic eyes following with predatory intent, Tai found herself at the docs and in front of yet another opportunity to see the stranger sate their need for violence, even if this time it almost could have been argued to have been in self defense, seeing how for the first time since he had stepped through the gates, he was the one remaining passive.

Only that this interaction was much too civil for Tai's taste and the fact, that, what could have eclipsed into glorious murder, had been reduced to nothing more than a one-sided monologue and hasty retreat didn't sit right for her. Luckily for her, with how things went and the weaklings ran, it led the deserter directly towards her hiding spot, and just as quickly as she had dispatched her earlier targets, the fight was over before it had even started. Naturally being this close, each of them had had a shot at the other, and while Tai's claws found its target, sinking into the soft tissue and cutting through the deserter's insides, stopping only as she felt bone, her enemy's weapon scratched over her scales, desperately trying to find its way through the almost perfect defense.

Standing there, Tai's cover blown by now and her gaze fixed onto the mage, she gave out a metallic
"Tsk." and forcefully removed her hand from the deserters abdomen, tearing him open fully as she stood there, a new layer of fresh blood onto her brown-red hand, almost akin to bad paintjob.
"Poor choice of words...", she eventually commented, the deserter bleeding the last bit of his essence onto the pavement beneath her as she took a few step forward, now fully embracing the sunlight and revealing the carnage she brought with herself.

Eventually, she found herself a good twenty meters or so away from the mage, standing there, bloodied handmarks on her skinny scales, more akin to an experiment gone wrong or a walking statue than a living being, as she called out:
"Your kind interests me. What do you bring?", her voice raspy, sharp and somewhat animalistic.

 

[Vaaga]

He had questions of his own.
Who and what was she, by what origin does she claim existence and of course is she capable of manipulating the Shroud?

But he had been asked first.

"What do I bring? That depends on who is asking. To this town I bring salvation, to these bandits I bring death and hopefully a much needed bit of perspective on the nature of their careers choices."

His eye was calm as he took her in. She was unlike anything he had ever seen, at first he thought her naked though it was simply the makeup of her clothing and the stains of blood. She was humanoid, two arms and one head, no tail that he could see, no horns either so that ruled out most of the common peoples.

He knew of oddities among the sentient peoples. Shroud Fiends, Golems given life but she seemed too, natural to be of such design. Perhaps a kind of Beastkin, some melding of animal that he had not yet seen before.
Yes that seemed most likely.

"To you I bring curiosity it seems. You know me for a Weaver and one not to be trifled with. What more would you know?"

Her use of the word "bring" denoted something of authority, even now though she had hidden in the shadows she stood tall, not hunched. Perhaps she was not so feral as she would have others believe or perhaps even that was deception. Too much was unknown to him to make any guesses.
He needed time to study her.

"But where are my manners? I am Vaaga, from the lands north of here and you are?"

@Tairent

 

[FROSTy]

Tai, standing in and now fully engulfed by the sun, was seemingly calm. Beneath the outer, visible layer, however, every muscle screamed to be set in motion. Begged to be allowed to close the distance. Begged to rip and tear until there was nothing to be salvaged from the weaver in front of her. Ironically, curiosity was what held her as well, suppressing her carnal desires in favor of knowledge. After all, even the most terrifying beast found themselves wondering from time to time, whether there was more to it all.

"You bid yourself a hero then?", Tai answered, curiosity fueling her words, before it took on a more statistical tone, almost giggling as she added in her raspy voice: "How noble of you, taking brothers, sons, fathers away from their families in the name of justice and enlightenment.", clearly amused by the situation they found themselves in.

Truth was, Vaaga wasn't too far in his guess that Tai was, at least when let off her leash in such a way, little more than a feral animal skilled in deception and with a love for humor and irony. So much so, that she had to hold herself back from straight up asking Vaaga the question that had been on her tongue the moment he had asked her what else she wanted to know. Instead, she opted to remain civil, her grimace staring back at Vaaga in its usual, weirdly friendly, yet clearly insane expression, flesh and blood still hanging between her teeth like last nights dinner as she slightly bowed down, her body reacting in a melody of hundreds of metal scales hitting each other, scratching over each other, before she added:"I bid thee welcome, vaaga of the north. As for me, I am merely an aspect of this realm. A wengeful spirit, sent to reap what others sowed...", her arm extending and slowly swinging to her left, towards the towns center as she continued: "...simply said, I am balance. I am here to take what they saw as granted. As for you, Vaaga of the north, we shall see whether you give or take. For now however, I only wish to know one more thing... do you bleed?"


With that, Tai let predatorial instincts rein freely to do what had to be done, entering a full sprint on all fours as she wanted to put the stranger to the test.

 

[Vaaga]

A bit telegraphed but she was more than fast enough to make up for it so Vaaga did not entertain holding his ground and instead cast a quick spell to speed his escape from her.

"HETHEC!"
The word enchanted the wet ground underneath allowing him to speed out onto the water as if it was solid ice and he a trained skater though she got far closer than he would have liked, feeling her claws tug on the hem of his robe as he took flight away from her.

"You're more than just a Beastkin. Nothing moves like that without power."

He was not fool enough to assume that his vantage upon the water afforded him much safety. If she could move like that then she could probably reach him with a leap or lunge and while she had no way to know much about how his spells worked, the Skate spell would only carry him over water and not keep him atop it for long and he dared not think he could fight her and swim at the same time.

Still he had a moment and that was enough.

Continuing to skate across the open water in a wide arc back to the shore he summoned several ice hawks up out of the salty sea and bid them flutter about him protectively just in time for him to get his footing on the stone beach again.

"Usually I am delighted to suffer a gash or three but..."
His good eye drifted to the gutted bandit she had left on the way back to the town square.

"You play a little rough for my tastes!"

His smile returned, cold and cruel.

"HATH MINAKOTH!"

The ice hawks darted towards the mysterious woman at his command, shrieking and whistling as they dived at dangerous velocities intent on crashing into her with their sharp frozen bodies.

@Tairent