To Find a Mind (Dragontear)

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

"Zaro, do hurry up, we haven't got all day!" Her mistress said, as she glared reproachfully at her bodyguard. Hurrying to obey her mistress, as she always had, Zaro 'Alk clutched her weapon and shield, glaring menacingly at passers-by. Her mistress was a dragon-kin, and a noble in the lands of Badaria, which might have seemed strange to one that did not know her mistress. The womans real name was unknown, but she currently went by Baroness Narissa, the wife a local lord, or so hey said.

The truth was, Narissa had been a lord since before the Lich King, and his quashing of all things magical, had taken power. So, when he'd arrived, she'd simply faked her death and taken a new identity. There was no husband, and her non-human origins were cleverly hidden by heavy ornate dresses. She'd used a mix of magical manipulation and selective breeding to produce her bodyguard, Zaro, and through another mixture of magic and indoctrination, had kept complete control of the powerful draconic creature over the last twenty years. In that time, Zaro had stopped dozens of assassination attempts on her mistress, as well as performing a number of other violent tasks for her mistress. All without question.

They'd been in the market, her mistress displaying her 'pet' to the public for her own amusement. She liked to do that now and then, if only to see the looks on the commoners faces when the armored warrior stood among them, her draconic features on full display amidst a field of armor and weapons. She hadn't had any other reason to be in the market, having everything she needed already and merely wanting to amuse herself during her free time.

So, when the abomination above them Arrived, and her mistress was completely at a loss for words, Zaro simply stood, awaiting orders, the peasants around them now looking skyward instead of at the intimidating non-human creature in their midst. Had she bothered to look up, she would have seen a trio of massive gray shapes floating in the sky, each of them covering a quarter of the Necropolis, the capitol of Badaria and the largest city in the world. They were fleshy and covered in thousands of writhing tentacles, some of which could easily have been a thousand feet long! One of the three was different from the others, being larger and have a violet streak across it. From the strange apparitions, small objects were raining down on the city, and after a few moments one of them landed near Zaro and her mistress. It was large, twelve feet tall once it had recovered form the fall, and made of gray flesh. It was humanoid, but utterly faceless, until a mouth suddenly appeared on its head, and it let out a loud, high pitched scream. That set of the peasants around them, who began running and screaming as more and more things impacted around the city. Over the chorus of cries, Zaro heard her mistress urgently shout; "Zaro deary, clear a path back home. Now!"

Her mistress mansion was in the opposite direction of the creature, who was currently busy smacking peasants around. The street was crowded with screaming commoners who ran about in every direction, blocking their way. Her mistress had ordered her to clear the way back to her mansion, and that was what she must do, but how to do it?

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

(Wheeee! Excellent intro, however could you describe the Mistress please? OwO)

"Zaro, do hurry up, we haven't got all day!"

Of course the massive golem-looking female hurried to better comply with her beautiful owner's wish, however in-formal it was, perhaps irritating after a while, gracefully trudging through the gathering crowds in one of many humble market places, where all sorts of goods were sold, from little trinkets to common food, cheap or fine clothing, the possibility of some merchandise being less than legal was none too minimal. However, the only concern of priority was the safety of her Mistress, 'Baroness Narissa', thus Zaro remained highly aware of her surroundings at all times, gazing over over the crowds that gathered for various thing, glaring at those who watched either herself or the ornately dressed female, especially her.

There was absolutely no question regarding loyalty, the utmost desire to protect and serve over-rode the non-existing wish to rebel, and though that ensured Narissa felt no betrayal, the indoctrination and loyalty was borderline obsessive, a highly possessive urge with a general lack of initiate when left alone outside of general duties meant that the process had backfired in a psychological realm. Which may have not been helped by the crude manner in which 'Narissa' decided to amuse herself, by scaring the local commoners with a fully armored Draconic Bodyguard, whom did not complain but did little to assure the Dragon-Kin that it was at all funny.

Though this time, when all around her looked up and made a varied array of noises, she slowly gazed up, just in time to see a... shape drop from the sky and impact with the ground. Immediately she brought the shield and spear to the fore, crouching from a typically tall, powerful and graceful figure to a great mass of mighty flesh and metal, and having no skin on show, looked like a metal golem with unusually fluid movement and speed. The creature was massive, at least three or more feet taller, grey skinned and featureless, it rose in a slow manner, utterly un-afraid of all the eyes staring at it...

Then it made a mouth and screamed, making Zaro flatten her already lowly held ears inside the helmet and silently hissed at the unpleasant vocalization, closely followed by pandemonium and more, sensory chaos and confusion reigned whilst the invading monster swung it's arms with practiced ease, smashing fragile meaty shells around into the air and against market stalls and walls.

"Zaro deary, clear a path back home. Now!"

There, a order of great compelling magnitude, whipping the armored creature into action. She pondered briefly, whether to merely charge through the crowd, into an alleyway with the Mistress behind her at all times, or to simply pick Narissa up and carry her, which may be rather lacking in dignity, but it should be effective. However that meant allowing the monster free reign in killing, and may come after Narissa as they retreated... yet engaging in melee meant that another invader could arrive whilst she was distracted.

Decisions, decisions.

Deciding for now that the Mistress was naturally of greater priority than the common folk, however innocent they were, she stowed the ornate spear, turned about and with little warning picked the Mistress up into a bridal carrying style, and kicked off the ground in a sprint, reminiscent of a storm - not the fastest moving but utterly un-deniable, pushing her way through the crowd to get into an alleyway or simply around the stalls furthest away from the invader, where the grey-skinned thing would not be able to see the pair so easily and the lack of space ensured that any melee fighting was on Zaro's terms.

(Nothing to roll methinks, if doing four times her speed.)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

(You are correct, no rolls to be made this post. Your mistress is about 6 feet tall, so on the tall side for a woman, and likes to wear long flowing black dresses, underneath which she hides a succubus-like tail and draconic wings. blond hair that's done up in ornate styles, and falls to her waist when she lets it down. She's a wizard, though you probably guessed that. Green-blue eyes, hourglass figure, what more could anyone ask for?)

Her mistress gasps as Zaro lifts her off of her feet, but doesn't offer any protests, and the bodyguard easily carries her down the street through the crowds of people, which move out of the way rather than being trampled underfoot. A few of the creatures try to grab for her, but Zaro, intent on protecting her mistress, avoids them all with as much ease as she avoids the peasants running about like decapitated chickens. Tireless despite all of her burdens, the dragon-like woman carries her half-dragon mistress back to her estate through the chaos enveloping the Necropolis, passing by a number of fights she would have gleefully joined had she not had a more important task. Upon reaching the gates, and finding the pair of guards that should have been there missing, and the steel gate itself torn off of its hinges, the Baroness orders her bodyguard to put her down, and Zaro reflexively obeys regardless of her misgivings.

"Prepare your weapons and follow me, Zaro. We will see to our home, I must have some things before we depart this place." She spoke with absolute authority, even as she started pulling her heavy dress apart, dropping pieces of the expensive garment onto the ground in front of her mansion, until she stood there, practically nude in nothing but a pair of silk panties and a thin black lace undershirt. Once she'd finished undressing, ignoring the chaos that raged in the streets only yards away, she said, her tone icy; "If any within are not of my house, slay them on the spot. I'll not tolerate looters. Now, lets be off." With that, she started heading for her house, expecting Zaro to follow her as she'd been ordered to.

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

(Righto, I shall try what Hafnium does with player rolls, feel free to poke me for any mistakes! And thank'ee, good description... oh and for her to be nicer to her guard. XP)

With absolute determination in protecting the female that essentially controlled her own life, thus existing sorely to keep Narissa's life-expectancy high, the nigh eight-foot tall armored Emezar rapidly trudged through the alleyways with no hesitation in barging past others should they refuse to move out of her way, though preferred to avoid throwing her weight around at innocents unless required. The fact her mistress gave no protest at being carried without permission, however logical, made the already warm sensation permanently worn upon her bosom throb a little pleasantly, pride perhaps, at being able to take liberty when necessary and showing that Narissa was not as vain as one could be in such a position of personal authority, and barely weighed enough to be considered a burden on a creature quite used to wearing heavy armor and armaments.

Cradling the curvy female close to her own fully armored body, the giantess showed that despite her semi-ponderious physical nature, that agility was not something she lacked despite the heavy specialization towards defense and sheer power; avoiding threats with ease as the sight of the mansion loomed, comforting the duty-bound and obsessed 'Golem' and hastening her sprint. Through all the chaos there were pockets of resistance, from city-folk who had not broken and fled at the mere sight of the invaders to appointed Guards, some of whom fought valiantly despite their inevitable demise at the physically superior foe. Though not a participant of the great battles, Zaro felt of herself to be a minuscule bastion of calm order in the sea of anarchy, and did possess the capacity to understand it may have been better to help them, for at least that would assist in keeping greater threats away from her own Mistress.

"Prepare your weapons and follow me, Zaro. We will see to our home, I must have some things before we depart this place."

Arriving at the gates as soon as possible, and only to encounter the lack of defenders with the actual gate torn of its solid hinges, the engineered Honor-Guard, if one could call it that, barely required an order to automatically settle the Wizardess down but enjoyed her voice nonetheless, obviously taking care to be gentle yet quick in the clear endeavor of reclaiming their home-ground. Standing closer to the gate than Narissa did, Zaro elected, with her extensive mastery of basic vocalizations, to remain utterly silent save for a little, wordless warbling noise in response to the female undressing in such a public place, and quickly sought to package the clothing in a large pouch on one outer hip, unwilling to leave her fine clothing on dirty ground, another obsessive quirk.

"If any within are not of my house, slay them on the spot. I'll not tolerate looters. Now, lets be off."

With that little thing done, she took the initiative of leading the presently indecent woman to her home, knowing that whomever entered first may become a primary target, though fully aware of threats from the sides and rear, thus she scanned the surroundings for all available hiding places, outwardly calm but working like a machine inside. With permission granted to freely kill, Zaro glanced over the tower shield securely strapped to her left arm, and with practice ease, managed to slide the spear off her back, un-fold it with but a flick and attach the brutally effective Flanged Mace to the rear-end of the spear, allowing her to spin the pole-arm about to choose the method of destruction any fool unfortunate to be her foe to witness, feel and receive lethal absolution from.

With Mistress in tow she led most cautiously, unwilling to risk the single important life due to impatience in reaching the objective, though sorely wished to save as much as possible, moving rapidly yet with consideration.

(Requesting description/layout of the Mansion grounds and such plz.)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

The courtyard of her mistresses mansion had a walkway lined with man-sized statues of various mythological creatures, including a couple of dragon sculptures, that branched in either direction thirty feet ahead, before going another thirty feet to the heavy oak doors that marked the mansions main entrance. The path to the left led to the garden, and the path to the right led to a large stone fountain surrounded by trees that blossomed with pink and white flowers in the summer. Both directions had an additional way into the mansion if they followed that path, but there were no places that an assailant could hide from here to the front door, unless they were somehow hidden behind a statue. Narissa walked confidently down the path, and then turned left, toward the garden. Turning toward Zaro, who had been scanning the area mechanically for threats, she said; "Come on then, hurry up. We haven't got all day." Then, she began walking down the path, putting Zaro once more behind her.

The garden had a number of small trees at the corners, but most of it was a three foot wall of hedge that formed the walls, and banks of rare flowers arranged in patterns along the winding stone pathway. A few more stone statues, white marble castings of satyrs and dryads, were scattered along the path as well. It was toward one of these that her mistress was now heading, going among the large garden, where any number of things could be hidden. While they were within the garden, Zaro spotted a quartet of object falling toward them, which landed around the two of them. With a loud thump, three tentacled creatures, like those that she'd seen in the town, raised themselves up around them. Two of them were directly before them on the path, standing only ten feet form Zaros mistress. The other was on the opposite side of one of the hedges, ten feet form the two of them, but unless it climbed over the hedge, it had a fifty foot walk to get around the wall to them.

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Taking in her surroundings with narrowed, scrutinizing optics, the bright yellow eyes seemed to admire the grandeur of Baroness Narissa's home, treading upon gravel and grass with little crunches due to the weight of her form, however graceful she wished to be, and made the effort to not stomp or trudge like some fool bumbling through, easier than most due to her somewhat unique raptor-like feet. With only the statues of various mythological beings such as those better known or more popular in folk tales and perhaps some of 'mere' imagination, as well as a few Dragon sculptures making their home within the Mistress' courtyard, Zaro doubted there was a suitably useful place to hide for any assailant - there simply was not enough cover, or places one could enter and exit with ease unless they truly knew where to go, the utmost knowledge of the home-ground's layout.

Something the BodyGuard herself had full access to, a comfort to the 'Baroness', and to herself for the pendant warmed her heart no matter what. She did watch the water of the stone fountain flow ever so serenely, feeling the previous urgency and worry cool to a calmer, better controlled degree, with the contrastingly bright trees of hot pink and pure white flowers, though would look fantastic in the summer compared to now.

Providing this place remained standing until then.

Zaro expected her Mistress to simply advance to the main entrance, and wondered about the more indirect path straight through the tall, thick hedge-strewn, almost maze-like garden, hastening the massive Guardian's pace once more with her commanding, pleasing tones.

"Come on then, hurry up. We haven't got all day."

Narissa no longer needed to say such encouragement, though the Draconic, physically superior female did not complain, feeling no annoyance or obvious resentment for this life of servitude, and diligently followed with the intent to pass and remain in-front of the rather less than suitably clothed Mage. Of course the idea of trying to find something for the Baroness to wear was a priority, for it did not do her any justice to wander about in mere under-clothes, however appealing her figure was, and however unsaid it was, Zaro did feel she looked more attractive in her long dresses, especially the darker ones, for it showed and hinted her figure yet retained a dignified air.

Fashion-related thoughts aside, the objective to escort her owner to safety being of utter prioity, found herself faintly distracted by the same beauty of the garden yet again, a place she found herself lurking when left alone, more well-sculpted statues to guarantee company of the silent kind. Yet now of all times, was not the right place or time to be distracted by mere ascetics, and as usual the engineered BodyGuard remained ever-vigilant, scanning the forms of the statues and vegetation for any sign of hidden invaders, yet it was not these obvious places that the attackers arrived from.

Then it happened, more creatures appeared from the sky, merely each a blurred form crashing into the ground and raising upon unnatural limbs, eyeless, formless in conventional terms, simply lumps of material with fully prehensile, tubular limbs carrying their weight around with motions that would unnerve a mere mortal, two laid bare in-front of them, the third landing nearby but out of sight, a future concern, possibly.

The grim curiosity of whom had broken down the gate when the attackers had arrived from the sky was put to the back of her mind as combative instincts took direct control, having the well-armed and armored Demoness kick off the ground with surprising agility for such a ponderous creation under Narissa's command and placed herself between the Mage and two of their common foe on the path, taking up a hunched and stalwart barrier of powerful flesh and metal after traveling with hawk-like grace and fluidity not typical for a Golem-like being.

Twirling the double-ended spear weapon over and over in the right gauntlet with ease and raising the taller tower shield, she remained silent, expending no energy to show emotion yet despite this endeavored to show that absolutely nothing with malcontent desires would pass unscathed, dense and sinewy muscles coiled and tightened yet remained loose to move and act as required.

She waited.

Combat

Spoiler

Actions:
Defensive Strike: 67 Dodge, auto-attacks enemies that miss her during their turn.
Current equipment:
Combined-Weapon: (Short-spear - Naginata: Damage 3 + 3d6 + 24 = 27, 6-foot melee range and attached Flanged Mace: Damage 2 + 2d4 + 36.
Tactics:
Defaulting to 'Defensive Strike'; Alternating between stabbing at optimal range or slamming the mace-end sideways to cripple and knock-back or bashing with shield depending on range and target action/attack type, will always try to place herself between the primary target and Narissa but will also attempt to attack and take hits from anyone/thing that attempts to attack the Mistress, will add this as fluff to her 'Honorable' flaw soon.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Attack (Narissa): Hit.
Damage: 5 + 6 = 11 x 10 = 110 damage.
Attack (T2): Miss.
Counter: Hit.
Damage: 2 + 6 + 6 + 27 = 41 damage.

Narissa looked on the advancing creatures with disdain, raising her hand toward one. A bolt of black flame appeared in her hand, and quickly shot toward one of the tentacled creatures. When it struck, the creature burst into blue and black fire, disintegrating in a matter of seconds. Then, Zaro advanced into their path, her weapon spinning, and the tentacled creature advanced toward her. Its flailing slimy appendages didn't even come close to getting past her tower shield, and she jabbed her weapon into its body. The blade of her weapon sunk into its flesh with ease, and the creature was forced back a step by the force of her blow. Then, it stumbled forward, its spindly legs wobbling, as she pulled her weapon out. Its tentacles still writhed weakly toward her, and it still stood, but it was clearly on its last legs. The third creature started heading around the bushes, and when Zaro glanced back at it, it was only ten feat from her mistress, who was watching Zaro with a bored expression on her face, and therefore didn't see it coming up behind her.

(Fight posts tend to be short, just fyi.)

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Swiftly advancing with no hesitation, the she-Guardian was quickly greeted with a display of power from Narissa, bringing a miniscule maggot of joy to metaphorically writhe and dance in her dulled brain-case, however as much as she sorely wished to savor the moment a foolish... aberration was easily exterminated, the second atrocity of nature was still alive - if that was the correct term for a asymmetrical, formless lump of flesh with oddly prehensile lengths of alien, grey meat for limbs. With great ease she stabbed forth at the right moment, the blade but a mere flash of silver, to feel, with a glint of satisfaction, the tip of her organic-styled Naginata neatly slide into it's unnatural center-mass, shoving the beast away with the force of the attack then pulling the unfortunate meat-sack towards a far more stable platform composed of Draconic flesh and thick metal armor.

Using the creature's momentary weakness as a opportunity to glance back over her rather bored-looking Mistress, Zaro first felt the need to somehow alleviate the rather ill-dressed Draconic-woman's boredom, the second, rather more pressing concern in reality was the third, previously un-accounted for Tentacle mass.

The engineered female's mind quickly brought up a twin-solution, thus she first surged forth with a spring in her step to bring the large pale-green and silver Tower-Shield down upon the weakened monster 'fore herself, then used whatever momentum from landing to spin around, kick off to the side and threw the newly weighted 'short' spear at the absent, third invader, the calculation being simple and the arc being sufficiently far away from the 'Baroness' form by at least seven feet. All in all two targets dead in one go would surely settle this confrontation and bring but the faintest smile to the beautiful Mistress' face?

Combat

Spoiler

Actions:
Shield Slam{Activated}: You can forsake your normal attack for this round to make only a Shield Bash, which, if it hits, causes your target to be knocked prone unless they win an opposed Body check against you. Your shield bash also does an additional 4 damage.
Current equipment:
Combined-Weapon: (Short-spear - Naginata: Damage 3 + 3d6 + 24 = 27, 6-foot melee range and attached Flanged Mace: Damage 2 + 2d4 + 36.
Tower Shield: DB = 15. EV = 4. Bash Damage = 3d4 + 17 +4(Skill) = 3d4 + 21 damage.
Tactics:
Combining two rounds in one post, shield-slamming the critically wounded monster then turning, moving to her right and hopefully impaling the last monster, with some flare to either impress or lighten the Mistress' mood, more likely to be the latter. With so few HP the first victim shouldn't survive and the last should be dealt with easily if hit, considering the force and weight of the ad-hoc Javelin.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Attack (Shield Bash): Hit.
Damage: 2 + 4 + 1 + 21 = 28 damage.
Attack (T3 on Narissa): Hit. Narissa has been grappled.
Aphrodisiac: Narissa has taken 3 resistance damage.
2ns round
Attack (Zaro): Hit.
Damage: 6 + 3 + 2 + 27 = 38 damage.
Grapple: Narissa wins.
Damage: Lots.

Zaros shield bash sent the injured creature flying, and when it hit the ground, it did not move again. Turning, she saw that the other creature had grabbed her mistress, hoisting her up and covering her body in its slime. Narissa gave a grunt as she was handled, and glared at her servant. Knowing that she couldn't risk throwing her weapon when the thing was holding her mistress, she instead rushed forward and jabbed her weapon into the creatures body just as she had before. The creature didn't fall, however, and her mistress sighed as she twisted in its grasp, and unleashed another bolt of black flame. The creature crumbled to the ground in a pile of dust, dropping Zaros mistress onto the ground. She stood up quickly, dusting herself off, but her face was flushed and she smiled as she said; "Well, now that that's sorted out, we must be off." And, without another word, Narissa stepped past Zaro toward one of the garden statues. The statue was of a satyr, his hands on his hips and a wide grin on his stony face, and has Zaro had a more artistic mind, she might have noticed that the statue was incredibly life-like, though as she was she couldn't differentiate it from any other piece of stone.

She touched the statue around the groin, and Zaro heard something click. A moment later, the ground beneath them started descending down, until it reached about fifteen feet below the surface. "Come along." And forward Narissa went, Zaro following behind, into what could only be called a dungeon. The walls were lined with armor and weapons, as well as less wholesome devices that were clearly meant for use here, where no screams could be heard above. Her mistress approached a rack of black leather armor, and pulled it from the wall. The suit was extremely tight, showing off all of her mistresses curves, but also covering her entire body, from her ankles to her neck. Then, she took a staff from the wall, and turned back to Zaro, who'd been waiting close by; "Come, there are a few things hidden down here that I will not lose to.... whatever it is that is happening. You will go first, but you must follow my instructions to the letter. Do you understand?"

(Gain 2 experience.)

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

(Aww shucks, hoping to do something cool... should've just focused on the flanking little sod. B1)

Obliterating one enemy with no hesitation, restraint or remorse, Zaro felt the need to purr to herself in a satisfied manner but dared not express such petty sensations, after all the situation warranted nothing but the servant Narissa had come to... perhaps like, within this rather unfortunate circumstance. She ensured the unnatural, shapeless beast did not rise before turning to throw the spear... Only to see her Mistress held aloft and glaring, perhaps annoyed at the Bodyguard for not acting quicker or prioritizing correctly. Naturally she felt rather ashamed of herself for picking an already weakened foe to kill first, but all doubt was diminished when the stupid beast began coating the beautiful blonde-haired Mage'ette in some sort of grotesque-looking slime.

That was sufficient to compell the comparatively massive female to surge forwards, just like before, to strike with the sharp end of the Double-ended weapon, harshly stabbing the Naginata into the monster's center-mass, naturally pushing it backwards from the sheer force of the graceful, wrathful attack before twisting the elegant blade and yanking it back, her whole body moving to add weight and momentum to each movement to hopefully induce more pain and knock the invader off balance. Unfortunetely it still lived, and Zaro would have continued stabbing had the Mistress not taken matters into her own hand, and blasted the tentacled monstrosity into nothing more than blackened dust with impunity.

"Well, now that that's sorted out, we must be off."

The Draconic Emezar moved to catch her owner somehow, but again was too late, and slinked back to lower her armored head submissively, expecting some form of criticizing for foolishly choosing a weakling rather than the real threat... and heard none, and then saw a little smile, however flushed, which caused the tiny metallic heat upon her ribs to tingle, a lovely sensation that almost distracted the armored demoness.

"Come along."

Blinking away such thoughts, she moved aside most respectfully and followed, stabbing the shield-crushed monster again to make absolutely sure it was dead before wiping the Naginata's bloodied blade into some of the soft grass nearby. Thus one was soon witnessing the activation of an underground realm that did not remind her of any good memories and mused about the placement of the way to access this dungeon, then naturally followed to the armory. Already possessing her most preferred tools of the trade, Zaro took nothing, but was already at standby, gazing deeply into Narissa's bright optics.

"Come, there are a few things hidden down here that I will not lose to.... whatever it is that is happening. You will go first, but you must follow my instructions to the letter. Do you understand?"

Automatically nodding in utter, un-questioning understanding, she did feel the need to articulate a verbal answer, but decided that was hardly necessary - the now oh-so fittingly covered Mistress knew her servant did as asked and understood. Thus she shifted and awaited for a route to be taken, gazing around mechanically, fluidly and seeking more targets, whether they existed or not.

A moment of peace when in the background there was naught but chaos, no matter how faint it began to grow, she could hear beasts call and humanoids falter.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

At her nod, Narissa says; "Good. Go down that hallway;" And she pointed toward one of the three exits from the dungeon, in this case the one on the far wall from where they now stood; "Go until the end of the hallway. There will be a T intersection there. Take the left path. In the next hallway, step only on the sections of floor marked with an R, or the floor will drop out into a spike pit. At the end will be a doorway. Open it as soon as you get to it, and then wait for me to go past you before proceeding. At no point are to look behind you unless you hear me say so, understood? Good. Now, let's be off." Narissa followed behind Zaro as the engineered warrior did as she was commanded, the narrow hallway making the demon mildly uncomfortable, as the close quarters would prohibit the use of her naginata, and wouldn't let her do much with her mace besides overhead swings either. Still, her path was decided for her, and so Zaro had to obey, and follow her mistresses instructions.

The hallway led maybe a hundred and fifty feet, sloping slowly downwards, until it ended in a T just as Narissa had said. Taking the left path, she came upon a slightly wider hallway, this one about eight feet across, and with a series of stone tiles with lettering making up the floor. There were over a dozen different symbols, one of which was R, and a series of such labeled tiles formed an impromptu path across the floor. This must be place which Narissa had told her about. She could feel her mistress standing close behind her, waiting for Zaro to go first.

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

"Good. Go down that hallway;" And she pointed toward one of the three exits from the dungeon, in this case the one on the far wall from where they now stood; "Go until the end of the hallway. There will be a T intersection there. Take the left path. In the next hallway, step only on the sections of floor marked with an R, or the floor will drop out into a spike pit. At the end will be a doorway. Open it as soon as you get to it, and then wait for me to go past you before proceeding. At no point are to look behind you unless you hear me say so, understood? Good. Now, let's be off."

Having given nothing more than one nod then another to show she understood as much as she was told, Zaro un-hesitantly advanced forth, finding herself traveling from the armory of this dungeon-like environment into far more clausterhobic quarters, and though tight spaces were not one of her fears, it did prevent effective use of the Naginata or the mace, the former for lack of the spear's larger size and the latter for lack of room to gain momentum with the swings, and over-head attacks were strong but easily avoided. Thus she had taken the liberty of disassembling the Duel-Weapon and holstering it, now relying upon her tower shield and fist for defense and brutal offense.

Once again ensuring that the Mistress was safely behind her, she recalled the exact directions and actions that were to be carried out, and did so with ease, the only thing making her pause was the slightly wider hallway filled with runes. Of course the Emezar could be forgiven for taking a few moments to scan and memorize the route, finding every available 'R' shaped rune then following the safe path, her weight and seeming ponderous nature a non-issue, for the female was far from clumsy and possessed carefulness most sublime for a armored giantess. It was easy, simply, with repeated glances to and fro, aware of the route and the forward-surroundings.

She held little concern for Narissa at this point - after all she obviously knew the route, and despite the sense of urgency, felt there was ample time to carefully work their way across, abielt with haste of course. As pre-usual, should the Mistress decide to be silly and fall, she'd simply be picked up before hitting the ground and carried.

Not once did she look back, explicitly trusting the Mistress, yet remaining utterly aware of her surroundings, it would not do any good to have something sneak up behind them, naturally she was curious as to why she was not allowed to look behind them... but of course, did not question such, for there had to be a good reason why.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

Picking her way across the floor, Zaro came to the opposite side, the door there as expected, which she opened as her mistress had instructed. The solid wooden portal opened with a loud creaking noise, and had she not been as inhumanly strong as she was, Zaro might have recognized that the door was incredibly heavy. Narissa walked past the engineered dragon-demon, walking three paces in as a green glow slowly intensified the further she proceeded. She stopped, and raised a hand, speaking in an a strange language for several moments, leaving Zaro standing in the doorway. Suddenly, the green glow vanishes, replaced by a white one as her mistress summons an orb of white light to hover over her head. She beckons Zaro into the room, and as the armored giant steps into the small space, the heavy wooden door slams shut behind her.

The room is cramped, and has a shelf containing several items, but the first thing Narissa bends over to grab is a small, ornate wooden box that is sitting in the middle of the room. She handles it gingerly, even though it looks completely harmless, and places it on a harness attached to her clothing, so that the box was hanging over her right breast. Then, she stepped over to the shelf, and grabbed a small sack, about the size of a bag used to contain a small amount of coin, which she pulled open. Then, she took the next object on the shelf, an ornate short sword, and pushed the object into the bag, which was barely a tenth of the weapons size. The sword disappeared into the tiny bag, followed by two books, a golden ring, and an ale mug. Her packing apparently finished, for the moment, Narissa turns around just as the ground suddenly quakes. The motion causes Narissa to stumbler slightly, while Zaro is as solid as a rock, but when it finishes Narissa says; "We must hurry." Then, she moves past Zaro once more and opens the door, only to see a trio of the strange slimy creatures from before standing at the intersection. Narissa cursed, and the creatures started toward them immediatelly, prompting the dragoness to say; "We shall be having company earlier than expected, it seems. Hold the door." Then, she backed away from the doorway, leaving a space for Zaro to fill.

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

It was as easy to cross this potentially dangerous hallway as it was to open the somewhat heavy door, possessing the strength to regard such a large, incredibly heavy portal, she still jumped a little when the dammed thing slammed right behind them, causing her hidden heart to pulse a little faster than the usual, steady thump-thump that could easily be heard should one feel inclined to place his or her ear against Zaro's covered chest. Between that, Narissa displayed another little wonder, summong a light-generating orb of green that turned white after chanting those odd words, presumably Draconic from the lyrical smoothness of the lips, of higher articulation than drawling them in a slur.

Deciding to relax slightly against one wall of this small storage room, she did manage to see the glint of various items, chief amongst them was an ornate sword vanishing into thin air, but guessed it had something to do with the humble-looking sack the Baroness procured from the shelf, another little wonder. Of course her momentairy rest was interrupted, rather rudely, by the ground quaking making her adored Mistress stumble, forcing her to move to steady the smaller female and rose to her full great height upon the door being opened again...

"We must hurry - We shall be having company earlier than expected, it seems. Hold the door."

Only to show three more of the abominations had followed them here, perhaps a over-sight on Narissa's part for leaving the natural-looking trapdoor open instead of closing it right after them... of course, she didn't wish to further annoy the 'Baroness' and decided with the same mastery of the spoken tongue, to remain silent and do as ordered, taking up position behind her decorated tower-shield and forming the defensive line in this newest spat of fighting, emitting a empathetic, comforting rumble to the female, like a softly rattling, booming 'purr'. Naturally she formed the Double Weapon once more, confident still even in the claustrophobic quarters - the monsters had only one avenue in which to attack.

Deciding to withhold her words, Zaro did glance at Narissa for direction, wondering what they should do - advancing forwards back into the trapped hallway would be dangerous, as the monsters would probably step on a non 'R' rune and collapse them all, but staying here would mean being trapped...

Combat

Spoiler

Actions:
Defensive Strike: 67 Dodge, auto-attacks enemies that miss her during their turn.
Current equipment:
Combined-Weapon: (Short-spear - Naginata: Damage 3 + 3d6 + 24 = 27, 6-foot melee range and attached Flanged Mace: Damage 2 + 2d4 + 36.
Tactics:
Defaulting to 'Defensive Strike'; Alternating between stabbing at optimal range or slamming the mace-end sideways to cripple and knock-back or bashing with shield depending on range and target action/attack type, will always try to place herself between the primary target and Narissa but will also attempt to attack and take hits from anyone/thing that attempts to attack the Mistress, will add this as fluff to her 'Honorable' flaw soon.

(Egh, sorry if it's not very good... feeling blah. @.=.@ And shall spend those XP later, saving up for stuffles. :3 And if it was a good idea to go through the hallway, feel free to move Zaro - I don't want it going bums-up because of my brainfarting.)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

(You can only spend EXP when you rest anyway, so it's all good. And no worries, your post is fine.)

Rolls

Spoiler

Attack (T1): Miss.
Counter: Hit.
Damage: 4 + 2 + 3 + 27 = 36 damage.
Attack (T2): Miss.
Counter: Hit.
Damage: 4 + 2 + 38 = 44 damage.

Zaro took her place at the door, the demon-slave watched as the creatures started toward her, only for one of the brainless monsters to step on a wrong plate, and fall to its death into the pit of poisoned spikes below. The other two continue forward, however, coming across the trapped floor without falling like their companion. Their tentacles flailed at her, nut her shield easily came up to intercept the first, to which she responded with a swift jab of her naginata directly into is slimy gray flesh. It fell back a step, and hovered for a moment before wading in again. Its compatriot fared no better, its slimy appendages rubbing pointlessly against her shield, while her mace came across and slammed it into the side of the stone passage with a thunderous crack and a loud squishing noise. It still somehow stood, however, but both of the creatures were clearly on their last legs after the grievous injuries Zaro had given them. Narissa stood behind her bodyguard a safe distance, watching the battle impassively.

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

(Hnn...hnn.)

Disgusted by the foul smelling odors of the... excretions these monsters had soiled Narissa's appearance with, she would intend to have the Mistress clean herself, but that was for later. The present time demanded an altogether less beautiful result, defending the female responsible for her existence and servitude, the massive Dragoness emitted no war-cry or taunt towards monsters that had no need for eyes or ears in the obvious sense, merely lumps of flesh held up and moved around by gully prehensile limbs, she had learned at least that they lacked any attack other than groping which was... laughable.

Pointless, insipid creatures that barely knew they even existed until Zaro's blade and mace bit into and smashed alien bodies away, defensively minded as she was, it felt so... easy, alas she was not of a haughty bloodline, or any important bloodline for arrogance led to weakness and weakness was capitalized upon one way or another. Of course pointing that out to Narissa was not a particularly positive thing to do, better to destroy the abominations, the irony known, in due order and leave.

Remaining in her stopped, defensive stance she defiantly glared at the weakened pair, a little joyous in dealing crippling damage and twirled the spear calmly yet threateningly, daring them to advance where the third had failed. Perhaps this was none too exciting to watch from the 'Baroness' point of view, but it worked, and that is what mattered.

Combat

Spoiler

Actions:
Defensive Strike: 67 Dodge, auto-attacks enemies that miss her during their turn.
Weapons:
Combined-Weapon: (Short-spear - Naginata: Damage 3 + 3d6 + 24 = 27, 6-foot melee range and attached Flanged Mace: Damage 2 + 2d4 + 36. Alternates damage, usually depending on target's weakness against either piercing or blunt damage.
2 Javelins: 30 foot range, 3d6 + 13 damage.
Armor:
Plate Armor: AV = 20, EV = 10, TP = 60, DU = 5. Weak against Heat/Blunt. Strong against Slashing.
Tower Shield: DB = 15. EV = 4. Bash Damage = 3d4 + 17 +4(Skill) = 3d4 + 21 damage.
Tactics:
Will continue with default tactics.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Attack (T2): Miss.
Counter: Hit.
Damage: 3 + 3 + 3 + 27 = 36 damage.
Attack (T1): Miss.
Counter: Hit.
Damage: 1 + 5 + 38 = 44 damage.
Gain 2 exp.

The next attack by the two badly wounded creatures went much the same, their tentacles rubbing pointlessly against her shield, trying to find a way around it or some purchase by which they could take hold of it. But, Zaro easily kept the shield between her muscular body and the two demons, while her superior strength meant that their tugs on her shield didn't even destabilize. Once more, her spear jabbed into one of the creatures, this time the one that had been flattened by her mace, and this time it collapsed at her feet, immobile. The other one got smashed by the mace end of her weapon, the heavy unwieldy thing splattering chunks of gray flesh as it hammered into the already badly wounded monster. It fell as well, joining its companion on the floor by her feet.

The combat over, Narissa walked up behind Zaro, and said; "Good work. Now, let us be off. Remember, step only on the tiles labeled with an R. all the others will drop you to your death. Proceed down the hall in the opposite direction, past the way we came. When you reach the end, do not touch the door."

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

The swirling, dark motiffs were soiled by the tentacled limbs uselessly groping at the tower shield, and though they could have attempted to hold onto the various studs, that was as pointless as their existences, thus a correction was required and implemented with such grace and ease, that Zaro inwardly felt more satisfaction than she allowed herself to outwardly express. Of course, she did decide to inflict some pattern upon the incompetent pair, or at least show that neither individual lump of flesh would be spared from liberal use of her double weapon's lethal tips, piercing the formerly crushed, and crushing the pierced. A mess was left behind, regrettably upon Narissa's property, but duty done, she emitted a rumble of vaguely feminine, quiet yet booming tones and remained forth of awareness, unwilling to allow something as pithy as pleasure of a good fight ruin situational awareness.

"Good work. Now, let us be off. Remember, step only on the tiles labeled with an R. all the others will drop you to your death. Proceed down the hall in the opposite direction, past the way we came. When you reach the end, do not touch the door."

Alas, despite the boost of pride that the Baroness-Dragon Kin's praise gifted to the demure female, she moved onwards, smashing one corpse away with the shield and kicking the other, ensuring that their broken and pierced bodies landed on tiles that sent them to the pit below, utterly ensuring that they would not return - an efficient use of brutality, that and the bodies were in fact in the way of the true path one had to use.

So she took the route, 'R' marked runes with great fluidity and shook the Naginata lightly, getting rid of some of the blood now adorning the metallic tips as she exited the room of death and approached the door... And then stopped, moving to one side to defer to Narissa, expecting yet respecting, for she was the one to open this new portal, presumably.

(Moar exp? X3)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Spoiler

HP = 63, PP = 44, EP = 41, Status = Fine

The two corpses slid onto the tiles, which clicked and fell down into the pit, hitting the floor of the spiked pit with an audible squishing noise. The tiles floated back up to return to their old position, free of any hint of the dead tentacled creatures that had been pushed upon them. Sticking to the path as before, Zaro headed down the opposite path, until she came to a massive, solid metal door. The surface of it shone brilliantly even in the dim light, and had no handle that could be detected. In fact, the only break in the otherwise sheer silvery surface was a small square, about a half a foot in diameter, and was charcoal black.

Narissa stepped past Zaro, and said; "This will take several minutes to open. Watch the corridor behind us until I signal for you." Then, Narissa pressed her hand against the black square, and closed her eyes. She remained still, leaving Zaro to her guard work, and no sooner had the engineered demon turned back toward the passageway than did she spot another trio of tentacled creatures, these somewhat larger than the ones from before. They turned toward her and started toward her immediately, loping forward on their long spindly legs with tentacles waving all over the place.

 

[Dragontear]

Re: Zaro 'Alk (Dragontear)

Satisfied by the sufficient disposal of the bodies, Zahro thrummed out a warbling rumbling as they passed the deadly pit of death and into the further corridor that was previously ignored.

"This will take several minutes to open. Watch the corridor behind us until I signal for you."

The details of the door itself, however pretty, was rather irrelevant given her task of defending the Mistress, not a metal portal to someplace she didn't feel was known too well. The fact that more monsters were... crawling or slithering around the corner did not please Zaro too much - could they not just seal the entrance to the dungeon, and open it back up when the need to escape was prevalent? She truly did feel tempted to ask, but alas, the compelling need to criticize her owner was as removed as any desire to disobey or not to please Narissa, whatever her flaws.

So she silently growled, advanced forth half a dozen feet at least, and fell into the typical stance better used for killing these monsters, great tower shield help up and aloft from a massive, armored body stopped and twirling the spear around, ready to strike, pierce or smash these... vaguely larger-looking aberrations to death - there was no reluctance, should she fall, the Mistress would be vulnerable, however laughable the idea was. To help soften the monsters up, she stood the spear against herself and carefully but rapidly plucked forth a javelin, throwing it with a quick, almost flick-like motion before resuming guard,


Combat

Spoiler

Actions:
Javelin throw + Defensive Strike: 67 Dodge, auto-attacks enemies that miss her during their turn.
Weapons:
Combined-Weapon: (Short-spear - Naginata: Damage 3 + 3d6 + 24 = 27, 6-foot melee range and attached Flanged Mace: Damage 2 + 2d4 + 36. Alternates damage, usually depending on target's weakness against either piercing or blunt damage.
2 Javelins: 30 foot range, 3d6 + 13 damage.
Armor:
Plate Armor: AV = 20, EV = 10, TP = 60, DU = 5. Weak against Heat/Blunt. Strong against Slashing.
Tower Shield: DB = 15. EV = 4. Bash Damage = 3d4 + 17 +4(Skill) = 3d4 + 21 damage.
Tactics:
Will continue with default tactics.