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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 5:13:41 GMT -5
The sudden disappearance and reappearance of the male took her off-guard, and before she could get her ward up she found the man's blade swinging uncomfortably close to her neck. The stoneskin spell would've eaten the worst of it, but she still didn't want that kind of strike finding home on her.
Even before he had summoned the darkness, he might have noticed a bright orange globe beginning to take form around her. It was an odd choice, as he had arrows, but she had already cast protection from arrows and in that split second she came up with an idea that would make this a much more efficient ability. Besides burning him with acid whenever he tried to cross the orb's barrier to attack her, it had another nice ability. Even in the darkness, she knew the limits of her abilities... and what would happen if she used her spells in certain ways. That long-awaited touch of used guano and sulphur was finally activated. At the foot of the orb, a fireball erupted outward, but seemed to completely ignore the little orange orb at its center. She didn't wait to find out what happened though, and instead cast fly on herself to get out of the darkness. Sure, she could have dispelled it, but then she wouldn't have dispel if he cast something nastier at her. And so the bright orange orb would begin following her as she rocketed skywards.
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 13:22:25 GMT -5
Nalfien waited in the pitch black globe for a few minutes unmoving, letting his ears hone in on his surroundings. Not hearing any movement of any kind he returned his weapons to their sheaths and then lowered the globe.
The girl was no longer in front of him. Instinctivly he looked up, it was common for Drow to levitate in combat to escape an agressor. Seeing her floating up in the air he kept his weapons sheathed and shouted out to her.
"A female that doesn't lash out at the insubordination of her underlings. Now isn't that different."
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 13:44:18 GMT -5
Well, this was a chatty son of a bitch. Still, it was an interesting observation, even if the male was simply taunting on her inability to attack him. Unfortunately, the delay caused by that damn darkness--which seemed to have been maximized--had caused her ward to burn out. DAMN! That part of her head was aching a little bit now. Still, he had a point, may as well try and defuse this. She didn't know what kind of magic that was that made him just disappear towards her, but she didn't want to tangle with something she didn't understand. "Seems the places are reversed then, you hypocritical fool!" With that her hands began to become coated with electricity as she mumbled the words and prepared the spell itself. "LEAVE ME BE!" she screamed as she released a vicious looking bolt of lightning at the man.
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 15:13:59 GMT -5
Nalfien had his naginata in his right hand and was now pointing it directly at the girl as the lightning bolt came crackling toward him. As the bolt made contact with the tip of his blade he held out his left arm toward the tree line and grimaced as his body temporarily locked up from the electricity.
The current traveled through his body until it reached the end of his left hand. The bolt of electricity shot out with a loud snapping noise as it slammed into a tree near Nalfien, splitting the tree from the stump and causing it to fall down to the grass.
Being a Drow, Nalfien had a natural resistance to magic, to add to it his resistance was always a little greater toward elemental magic.
He shook his head a little bit, and began to calm himself to lower his heart rate from the sudden jolt of energy.
"Or perhaps I was wrong." The words dripped like poison from his lips as he lowered the blade of his naginata to the grass and carved a line into the dirt.
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 15:30:38 GMT -5
It was irritating seeing the spell lance off the male like that, but she really didn't know what she was expecting. She knew that drow were resistant, but she'd been hoping that she would be able to overcome that. Well, that made the situation interesting. And of course the guy was still convinced that she was out to get him. Couldn't he comprehend the possibilities that she didn't care what he had planned? That she just wanted to return to her little hidey hole and return to her business?! Prepping another spell but holding it this time, she countered with equal hostility, "You're only 'wrong' because you put your damn bear in my way and attacked me!" With that she displayed that she got a little lower so that she could see the overgrown pile of fur. "I don't care what you do once that thing's out of my way. You're forcing this fight, not me!"
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 17:08:41 GMT -5
His eyes squinted slightly as he fought with the idea that she was sincere and not playing innocent to stab him in the back.
Nalfien flipped his naginata around and stuck the weapon in the soft grass, letting the blade sink deep into the earth.
"If you are truly sincere about not being a typical female, lower your hands."
This was not an easy request for him to make. In all honesty Nalfien would rather kill her and be done with it. But he wanted to see if she was one of the rare females that weren't here to enslave him.
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 17:39:40 GMT -5
Seeing the man put his weapon down it certainly made her hesitate a little, and she tilted her head over to the side. It was an odd sight, and it made her continue to hold the spell up and away. And then he went ahead and tried to call her down. That statement irritated her intensely, but she obeyed, releasing the spell in her hands with a soft fizzle before bringing herself down to the ground. She left her hands out in front of her and cracked her fingers as she glared at the man. She kept a distance though... solid forty feet. She wasn't coming closer until she knew that he wouldn't attack. "There. On the ground," she growled angrily, her icy eyes red hot with rage as she stood back from him, "What do you want to prove by this? That I can sacrifice my pride when I see a threat? Congratulations."
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 18:12:05 GMT -5
"You're a female Drow. Most would be telling stories such as yours while plotting to slap chains on my wrists. So you can see my predicament."
The snow white burrowing owl swooped down and perched itself on the butt of Nalfiens naginata, and then began turning it's head around surveying the area giving out hushed hoots.
Nalfien reached out with his fingerless leather gloves and slightly scratched the owls tiny head.
"So what are you really doing up here." His voice no longer carried a threatening tone, but a cautious one.
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 18:51:35 GMT -5
Naldyn scoffed bitterly at his statement that females, "I assume you're new to our race. ALL of us do that. Males just have a disadvantage thanks to Lolth's meddling."
Once the owl came in, her raven followed on down, not landing on her but rather finding a branch nearby, from which he let out an annoyed caw. Yeah, you tell 'em! Shaking her head, she put her hand on her hip and stared back at him. While he had calmed down a fair bit, Naldyn was still riled up, and while she wasn't being threatening she definitely was an unhappy camper with this asshole's shenanigans. However, he was becoming more civil as she'd been trying to get him to be, so she would cooperate.
Still, he asked her again what she was doing up here, which made her sigh and smack her forehead. "Gathering materials for my experiments, as I said," she stated bluntly as she looked over at her bird, "There are some things I can't get easily down there, so I like to come to the surface." With that she crossed her arms and leaned forward towards him almost acting patronizing. "The trick to lying, is only lying when you need to. Why would I bother lying about buying some simple materials and picking mushrooms?" And she meant that. People who habitually lied were easy to catch because someone could just automatically assume they were lying.
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 19:55:02 GMT -5
"Not all of us child, there are oddities. Just how your skin is an oddity, there are those who embrace your god Lolth and become entangled within the webs of chaos, and there are the few who have their eyes opened. But I will leave you to your herb gathering."
As Nalfien reached for his naginata the owl took off into the sky, and Nalah stood to walk over to her friend. She put her giant head down to his level and Nalfien set his hand on her cold nose patting it slightly. "The Underdark is no place for one of your size girl, stay out of trouble while i'm gone."
Nalah began to wander off looking for food to consume with the owl now perched on her large backside, her heavy paws thudding the ground with each step as Nalfien entered the cave entrance with his naginata still in hand.
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 20:05:52 GMT -5
Of course the man would insult her as his parting shot--calling her a child and all that. She might not have the most years behind her, but she had torn apart people far older than herself. It was odd how he spoke of Lolth too--he assumed that most drow followed her by choice. Naldyn simply considered the goddess a threat outside of her reach which she had to treat carefully around and make sure to not displease. Still, he'd calmed down, and seemed to... dismiss his animal companions. Well, that was enough for her. Naldyn's temper rapidly cooled off and she was able to consider it properly. Well, guess he was going in and leaving her path clear. Fine by her. "Good hunting, you brazen bastard," she called after him before returning to her plants.
Of course, she kept looking to the polar bear to make sure it avoided her, occasionally making eye contact the whole while. In all actuality she was killing time--she had what she needed and was just looking for spares. Really, she was going to be heading inside very soon--she just wanted to give him enough of a lead where she didn't risk following him or he following her. Eventually, she had her fill and the bear was far enough away and she whistled for her bird. With that, she began her way into the caverns, raven on her shoulder as she went.
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 20:15:57 GMT -5
His eyes immediately adjusted to the dark as he ventured further in. The sound of bats and other creatures filled this part of the mountain and he took it all in while it lasted. As he walked he let his left hand trail against the wall, feeling the cool rock against his fingers.
Hopefully this time he could leave the Underdark without losing more of himself within it, the risk of venturing deep underground by yourself aside from dying.
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By his account he was now entering the Upperdark. At this point in his trek he let his eyes shift into the infrared spectrum. It was this layer underground where a lot of trading took place, meaning a lot of people could potentially be in the area. With that thought his eyes picked up large amounts of heat signatures on the floor, footprints covering the width of the tunnel. Keeping his weapon in hand he ventured deeper with caution. One could only see footprints if they were fresh.
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 20:41:09 GMT -5
Soon enough Naldyn returned into the familiar shadows and cold stone walls of the Underdark welcomed her once more. She knew that it was a dangerous place, one in which she knew that she would do all it could to take the lives of those who entered its confines. However, it would be only natural to be guarded here, even were it home. Eventually she noticed the tell-tale sign of some manner of patrols, more through familiarity with the signs than any actual attentiveness. However, as she moved, she also heard another figure moving in the distance. She wasn't certain if it was a beast, one of the locals, or that odd exile from earlier, but she wanted to be sure. Quickly she sent Tajo ahead to see if he couldn't figure anything out. He couldn't see much, but he could listen if nothing else, give her some forewarning of what she was walking towards.
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Dizzy
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Post by Dizzy on May 4, 2015 20:54:12 GMT -5
Nalfien's footfalls became as silent as death as he began hearing voices further down tunnel. The closer he got he could recognize it as the language belonging to gnomes. Instead of continuing on, he stood there leaning against the wall for a while in order to let them get to where they were going.
He wanted to remain unseen for as long as possible. Information can be exchanged quickly between denizens, and if the wrong people caught wind that a short haired Drow with lavender eyes was making his way through the Underdark, it would make things much harder for him.
Dropping to a crouch, he let his naginata rest in his lap, while his eyes continued looking foward and his ears listening to his surroundings.
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Post by aardvarklord on May 4, 2015 21:01:27 GMT -5
Soon Naldyn too caught the distinctive sound of the gnomes moving through the caverns. Taking a deep breath, she recalled her raven and found a place of her own to take cover, choosing behind a nice rock rather than risk her own abilities failing. She actually didn't know that they were gnomes, she merely heard what seemed to be something short and suspected duergar. They weren't common around here, but occasionally scouts moved through. However, as they went, she heard them whispering something. Her Gnomish was pretty poor, but she was able to make out a few syntax words and one other that she seemed to remember hearing repeatedly. She was never able to translate it, but she had come to associate with a concept: detour.
Something had forced them to alter their course. Once they were gone she began moving slowly forward again, on guard this time and keeping her gaze flitting in all directions.
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