To Heir is Human II- Playground XII, the one after the eleventh... Options

[The Metal Mallet]

Flogir

As Flogir was talking with Altair he caught Flint rushing out of the bar. Obviously, something bad was happening. Flogir suspected that his assistance might be needed at the wall so he quickly downed his ale.

"Sorry to cut-off our discussion, Altair, but it seems the battle just might be getting started," he said as he began to make his way out of the bar. Just as he approached the exit, he saw Rann, Satyana, Issac, and... Dalrus arrive. He held up.

"Looks like you've been through hell, Dalrus," he said, taking in her dishevelled appearance, "Still, glad to see you managed to find us." He looked at the others, "Sorry that I can't stick around and talk, but it looks like things are finally getting under way and I expect that I'll be needed at the walls."

He was just about to leave when a voice called out.


Voltar

Voltar simply nodded as Flint prepared to leave. "Good luck," he offered to Flint just before he left.

Voltar mused on the situation for a few moments and then noticed that Flogir was about to leave. He called out to him. "Wait, I'm coming with you!" His words stopped the Nord, who studied the Altmer for a minute before nodding.

Voltar quickly went to the Nord's side. "Perhaps my abilities can be put to use on the wall," he told the Nord and turned to the others, "If any of you need us, just go to the walls," he instructed them. Hopefully, Voltar hoped to find Flint somewhere along there and continue his discussion about Green-Root. Plus, he felt like roasting a few things.

With that, he and Flogir went off as the rumblings of feet and seigecraft echoed along the streets.

[Florodine of Hlaalu]

Dalrus, Tiber Septim Hotel


Dalrus looked even paler as she tried to remember all the hardships she had gone through. When Flogir had walked by and said that she simply gave a very haunted looking smile and looked back at Rann.

"It was horrible," her voice sounded emotionless as she began to describe all the tortures performed on her to get information, or just for fun. The spells used on her and the abuse was horrible. She told them about how many times the vampire general nearly raped her, but only to have something come up, Dalrus thought it must have been sheer luck that saved her. She said all this a monotone, far off voice, as if she couldn't put too much emotion in it or she would break.

"Finally when there were only two guards, I snatched the keys and undid my bracers, the bars melted soon after I fried them and I ran towards the city, they followed but I destroyed many others before I reached the bridge and the Brumans drove them away" she stopped. She looked helpless, sad and scared.

[Dantrag]

Rann

Rann listened to Dalrus's story with a mixture of sympathy, anger, and more than a little guilt. He couldn't help but feel like he should've done something. When Satyana was taken, he took up arms and tried to rescue her, but when something happened to Dalrus, he barely noticed.

When the story was done, he was at a loss for an appropriate thing to say. He wanted to show some sympathy, but "I'm sorry" seemed to fall short.

Instead, he put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder and put a bottle of booze in her hand. He didn't know if she would appreciate it or not, but he knew that he would've if he was in a similar situation.

[The Metal Mallet]

OOC: I forget, was Amrita given one of Veric's amulets?

Amrita

Amrita stuck to the shadows as those within in the house rushed out as the sounds of the incoming army grew louder. She also noticed a separate group stood at the waterside where a ship suddenly began to sink and screams from those on board sounded out. Apparently, something or someone was attacking them underneath the water.

She watched momentarily until she figured that with the army fast approaching, the gates inside the city would be barred. Rather than looking for a tricky way back in, Amrita chose to re-enter the city now rather than face that problem.

Upon entering the city once more, Amrita decided that she had to find Veric and tell her about this "Sel" character that Rann and the others had met. She had a hunch that they wouldn't have met someone like him just for the sake of catching up.

[Lord Revan]

OCC: Since Root has practically destroyed all of the boat force, I'll have Ian retreat as well. So, is Dalrus traumatized enough to have a brief misunderstanding of Ian's transformation (he did come back from the Agent's dojo just before the Hero Hill group returned, so Dalrus shouldn't know about his vampirism)?

Ian

The bombardment was not letting up, and Ian suspected that the Silhouete wasn't fool enough to fire all his siege weapons at once, but stagger them so two or three were firing while the others were reloading. Well, I can shoot far, but it would be a miracle if I could make a shot at this distance.

Conceding that he was of no use here, the vampire turned on his heel and sprinted back to the city gates. Ian noticed the first rays of sunlight beginning to form from beyond the walls. He sighed, he had been neglecting his need to feed, but for the sake of everyone he had to be clear-headed.

If that meant feeding off the soldiers from Morrowind then that was the price he would pay. But for now he had to get himself indoors before his body grew vulnerable to the sunlight. Ian walked briskly toward the Tiber Septim, following the familiar scents of his friends.

Issac

He listened to Dalrus as she spoke about her captivity, but he couldn't look at her as she was speaking. Issac leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and stared at the floor. But every word was clear in his head, even when Dalrus finished he didn't look back up.

Only when Ian came through the door unexpectedly did he look up. "Oh, Ian. Erm, Dalrus just got back," he mumbled. Ian's presense helped Issac look back at his friend, but the Altmer was still shaken that all these atrocities had really been experienced by his friend.
If he had been able, Issac would have done nearly anything to reverse whatever had happened to Dalrus. Satyana had his heart, but Dalrus was a close friend, just as much so as Rann.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Jul 13 2007, 08:01 AM

[Florodine of Hlaalu]

Dalrus Varus, Tiber Septim Hotel


Dalrus looked at the bottle in her hand. Under happy circumstances she would have drank it and hoped for a party, however, she never drank when she was sad, that's what her father did. She knew Rann meant well, but she wanted a clear head for killing the vampire lord who had done this to her.

She put the bottle on the counter and gave a very small smile to Rann, she knew he meant well and though he had forgotten that she disappeared, she knew it wasn't because everyone thought she had been captured. Before they went to Hero Hill she said she was going to go to the Arcane University to talk to the Archmage, and this was probably why no one had looked for her.

"I'm just happy to be finally back," she looked over at Isaac, Rann and Satyana.

OOC: She's not going to be afraid of Ian, but very suspicious and untrusting.



Eurod, Talos Plaza


He looked back, the next group of his soldiers had arrive, he had only brought about seven thousand foot soldiers, two thousand archers and then the 500 knights who had arrived on foot and horse before hand. Before they locked the gate Eurod ran over to the gate keeper.

"We have to get all the horses out of the stables," he said as he cranked the gate open and some of his men ran to the stables. (the stables should be quite a bit larger than in the game) and they brought back about one hundred horses. Eurod closed the gate and looked out over the city. There were about 50,000 dark elves along with another ten thousand imperial soldiers who garrisoned the city. He would take command of these, being the ranking imperial soldier in the city. That gave him them 67,000 soldiers to defend a city that could hold a million inhabitants, this was not looking good. He would take command of the 17,000 imperials and garrison the Green Emperor way, since it seemed that the dark elves would take command of all the sections of the wagon wheel.

[Lord Revan]

OCC: Alright then, I don't think Satyana's taken notive of Ian's vampirism either.

Ian

He nodded in acknowledgment to Issac. His gaze went to Dalrus, Ian could smell the scent of another vampire on her. While still new to his vampiric senses and abilities, he could tell the vampire had not been of the Cyrodiilic Bloodline.

But of which province, he did not know. Ian narrowed his eyes slightly, some instinct dictated that he dispose of anyone, or anything claimed by another bloodline's vampire. The realization that other bloodlines were inside Cyrodiil made the vampire's blood boil.
It was an affront to the Cyrodiilic's dominance over their province, Ian vowed to hunt-down and slaughter any vampire not of his bloodline who swore loyalty to the conquering Silhouete. He snapped out of his fumings back to the present.

"Do you know which bloodline this general was part of?" Ian asked suddenly, for better or worse, bringing attention to himself.

[Florodine of Hlaalu]

Dalrus, Tiber Septim Hotel

Dalrus's eyes suddenly became angry and seemed to be enveloped in flame. She knew who this person was, he was a vampire and magic started to tickle her fingers, she wouldn't attack but she was ready.

"No," she said in a cold voice that could have frozen Lake Rumare. "I didn't ask him while he was torturing me, sorry" she said angrily. Her eyes suddenly became a little more normal, she was not usually one to judge people and she supposed vampires were not all the same. "I think he was from Morrowind, though he could have been from...further east, though I doubt it, many of them looked to be dark elves and I think they were from Morrowind. There were many other races as well, some of every, but the general was definitely a dark elf."

[jack cloudy]

Flint Ironwood.

Flint sailed across the lake and soon got a better view.
,,Those aren't catapults. That big sling-mechanism. A Trebuchet. Clever, enough range to bombard from the other side of the lake." He observed.

One Trebuchet was getting ready to fire. The Breton angled his flight accordingly. When the giant Siege Engine's arm swung around with a large boulder in its grasp, Flint came right above it. The stone was released, into the air.

Flint unsheathed his swords and utilized both their powers to the full together with his own skill at Telekinesis. A large shockwave hit the boulder in mid-air, cancelling its upward motion. Now returned to gravity's merciless grip, it crashed down, right on top of the Trebuchet it had been launched from. Wood shattered and Orcs were crushed under the wreckage.
,,That's one."

[Lord Revan]

Ian

He had to admit, Dalrus' fury was impressive to behold, but Ian was confident that the fire would burn itself out, as it were. That and the anger was not directly aimed at him. The vampire let out a breath, "So he could be any of the three bloodlines of Morrowind."

Ian nodded to himself, absently, deep in thought. Perhaps not being appropriately sympathetic for Dalrus' experience, but two-thirds majority wanted to gather as much information about these interlopers as he could.
For now, however, he saw no reason to further enrage Dalrus, so Ian walked toward the stairs to the rooms.

[ShogunSniper]

OOC: no, metal, i dont think she was.. but i have terrible memory she can just find him.. he probably sticks out a bit.

Veric

Slightly annoyed that just as he made himself comfortable people began forcing themselves out of the tavern, Altair finished his drink quietly and stepped outside. He extended his mind slightly, risking letting others know that Veric was in the city. He wanted to locate Amrita, and loosening his grip on his senses is just what he needed.

[Soulseeker3.0]

Sodsa -> Waterfront

Sodsa nodded to the slightly familiar face and left the lady to grieve over her fallen husband. After fighting his way through the doors, Sodsa found himself in the Imperial City

"Okay, so now that i'm in the city, where am i supposed to go?"

A beggar over heard him and directed him to the Tiber Septum in the Talos Plaza District, he said it was the best one around.

Sodsa looked at the sign overhead before walking in, finally pushing the door open, heading directly to the bar. After wiping his hands on his robe he lower the hood and called for the barkeep.

"Ey! Barkeep, I need A brandy." The man behind the bar grabbed one from under the counter and placed it in the place that Sodsa's money had been, "Thanks."

Sodsa sat on the stood looking down at the drink, every so often taking a small sip. "Gah, I don't like this, I can to help and i get ushered into a bloody tavern. Figures."

[The Metal Mallet]

Amrita

Amrita had only entered the Imperial City minutes ago when she suddenly felt an odd sensation in the back of her skull. The sensation felt like it was compelling her to a certain location. She was quick to deciding that this was Veric's doing so she complied with the sensation.

Not long after, she saw a robed Altmer standing by himself outside the Tiber Septim. She remembered that Veric had changed into this form before leaving his personal domain where he had taken her to test her. She approached him.

"Do you want to speak here, or somewhere more private?" she asked simply.



OOC: Hopefully you don't mind me giving some creative leeway to the defending army's tactics.
Flogir

It didn't take Flogir and Voltar long to reach the walls. Armoured soldiers all ready were aligning the walls. Most wore various bonemold armour native to Morrowind while others wore standard iron and steel. Flogir approached an officer.

"So, how are we handling things up here?" he asked.

The officer nodded to a bow. "Enemies get into firing range, use that," he said in a more than obvious tone that Flogir didn't appreciate.

Flogir pointed at the siege equipment that was being setup by the enemy. "And how are we handling that?" he asked in a heated manner.

The officer gave the siege equipment a worried look. "Well currently, we almost have some catapults of our own ready to try and fire back at them. Other than that, we might have to send out the calvary to take care of it," he said in a less than confident tone.

Suddenly, one of the trebuchets crumpled to the ground. Flogir strained his old eyes but suddenly he whooped. "Haha! Flint my man!", he turned to Voltar, "Think you could help out Flint, Voltar?"

Voltar shrugged his shoulders. "I think I can conjure up something that could help," he replied in a calm manner.

Voltar withdrew the staff that he constant had strapped to his back and the Altmer's eyes glowed with arcane power. With a quick throwing gesture, Voltar sent a blast of flame hurtling towards one of the distant trebuchets. With uncanny accuracy, the trebuchet literally burst into flames. It looked like tendrils of flame seemed to be fleeing away from the flaming piece of equipment but Flogir then figured out that in fact that the tendrils were those operating the trebuchet.

Flogir clapped the mer on the back. "Excellent work, Volty, my mer!" he said excitedly, thinking that so far, everything was going well.

[ShogunSniper]

Veric

Veric smiled as he saw how Amrita had been drawn to him. "Here's fine. Everyone seems preoccupied right now anyway," he replied, "Unless you need to speak about something very sensitive..."

This post has been edited by ShogunSniper: Jul 14 2007, 03:58 AM

[The Metal Mallet]

Amrita

Amrita shrugged her shoulders. "Here is fine then," she said before composing herself. "I've made contact with my siblings. Rann knows that I work for you in this form as a 'behind the scenes' type person while Satyana doesn't. I've kept an eye on them. They went to the Waterfront and met with a Dunmer that does by the name of Sel. I'm not sure if that's of any importance, but I thought I would mention that given the fact that they wouldn't likely visit someone in a time like this just to pay someone a visit."

She pause and flipped a strand of hair off of her face. "Other than that, seems like the battle is beginning to get underway, but I thought that would be a bit obvious," she stated indicating the surroundings.

[ShogunSniper]

Veric

Veric nodded. "I've been trying to get Rann under my--Altair's wing for some time now. Perhaps seeing that his sister is working for him will sway him further. Eventually, though, I will have to let him know I am Veric if he is to stay with us.

"Satyana, on the other hand, is much more guarded. I doubt she would follow Rann's path." Veric scratched his chin a minute. "Selenil, 'Sel,' is a bit of a hero from the reign of Arcyakt. Though his relation to Rann, or any of this for that matter, eludes me. He's nothing to worry about, though."

Veric began walking towards the southern walls of the city. "So what role will you play in this battle?"

[Lord Revan]

OCC: Yeah, mostly just inner chit-chat between Ian and Kirana. Nothing much other than that.
Cerpin is free to get suspicous, or whatever.

Kirana

The recent happenings were troubling, from Karn and Ian's scheduled final duel to the threat posed by the Altmer, Altair. Actually, Kirana had a rather intimate connection to Ian's mind, even more so, she suspected, than this other inhabitant.

She knew what he knew, and also put some credit to the Argonian's theory, no matter how crazy it was. The politician Altair felt similar to that Breton she'd met near Hero Hill, the same Breton who'd tried to aquire the staff from the cave there.
The two men both had a certain hunger for power that was part of their actions. Likewise, she also felt vividely the driving instinct to drive out the foriegn vampires. From what she'd studied, the Cyrodiilic bloodline were much more subtle, civilized in their own words, than other variants.

In fact, while most of the population would call for the extermination of their patron clan, it was better, not to mention healthier, that the Cyrodiilics had control of the province. Her understanding of Ian's position, in addition to their former friendship, made her feel a little more protective of him.

Kirana didn't trust this other at all, nor did she like the bargain it had struck with Ian. However, she held her council, her friend was set on a path which he could not be swayed from easily. There were others she wanted to protect: Issac, Satyana, Rann, and this Dalrus.
Without a physical body this would be difficult, but as long as Ian was alright, that would be enough to accomplish this final task. Kirana was not quite ready to accept the afterlife, not until this crisis was over and done.

Though she was wary of this other soul, Kirana wanted it gone more so than her host. We can't do what is needed with this free-loader tagging along. Finally, she concentrated on Ian. "Ian, we need to get this glove as soon as possible."

Ian

Suddenly, Kirana interupted his feeding on a drunk soldier. Still, he didn't stop until his thirst was properly sated. Lying down on a nearby cot, Ian externally stared at the cieling as if in thought. Internally, he was with Kirana.

"I thought you were against helping this guy." Ian said.
She replied, "Look, I don't trust him, but the sooner he is gone the better. Even better, as soon as he gets his new body we kill him, we won't have to worry about him popping up again."

"He can burn in Oblivion; all I care about is the same I have before. Issac and the others, once this is all over I can finally accept death."

The vampire furrowed his brow. "Do you want another bo-"
Kirana cut him off, "Absolutely not, I'm fine being dead."
"How do you intend to die, that will only happen if I do."
She replied, "I'll work on that later, that's not half as important."

"So, my brawn, your essense?"
Kirana said amiably, "I'll be your guardian angel, old friend."

[The Metal Mallet]

Amrita

Amrita thought on the question as she walked alongside Veric. A wry smile crossed her lips as an idea sparked in her mind.

"I think I will look after Rann. Perhaps if I am forced to save his life, he'll feel indebted to us. Plus it'll build our 'sibling relationship'," she said, "I guess if Satyana needed saving as well I would help her out too. We might be able to sway her yet," she added as an afterthought.

She continued to walk with the Altmer when a question formed in her mind. "Say... When abouts do you think you'll tap into my hidden potential, eh? I wouldn't mind a little sampling just to make sure I ain't doing all this for naught," she told Altair with a meaningful look.

[jack cloudy]

Flint Ironwood.

One of the Trebuchets to his left burst into flames.
,,Whoever did that, thanks." The Breton thought and launched his attacks on the second Trebuchet he'd set his eyes on. The spectacle repeated itself, a boulder refusing to launch towards the faraway city. By now, the crew had realized the position of the two threats. The mage was too far to be dealt with, but the flying Flint was close enough.

An arrow grazed his leg and another bounced off the cuirass.
,,Dammit! If I were a hotshot fencer, I could probably sweep those arrows clean out of the sky. Too bad I'm not." Flint grumbled. He landed in a clearing and took the short respite to both find his next angle of approach and deal with the arrows. The purple shimmer of the Dragonskin wrapped around him as he leaped up into the air again.


Green-Root.

The Shadowscales were close on his heels. Green-Root focussed his mind on the waters around him and created a vortex in his wake, forcing his pursuers to either slow down or be smashed against the rocks littering the bottom. Two made the wrong choice, and so their numbers dwindled to six.

He pulled into a steep turn and entered the sewers, using the wall to ep maintain his course. But something was wrong and he hissed in frustration.
,,Where are the guards? I don't see them!"

He had no choice but to move on. If he could find a small alcove, he could use it to make his stand.


OOC: So Green-Root didn't see anyone, but the Narza Tai are there. They'll probably jump in from behind or something. It is up to Revan if they consider Green-Root a legitimate target as well.

[ShogunSniper]

Veric

Veric looked Amrita over after her request. "Very well. A sampling," he answered as he rather forcefully placed his right hand on her forehead. He tilted her head back until their eyes met; a yellow glow, not brighter but more intense than usual, shone through his.

"Can you feel the shadows when you move about them?" he asked as he probed into her mind. Her thoughts would become clouded as his icy hand cut between them and distorted them. "Can you feel them adapt with you?" Her vision began to black out until all that was left visible were Veric's luminous eyes; two yellow slits in the darkness.

He removed his hand, and with it the world came back into focus. Dawn was approaching. "There," he said, smiling as an inventor would upon completion of his greatest creation. "I have given you some of my power in an area where you had none. It's only temporary, but experiencing it should pave the way for you to teach yourself."

Veric pointed at a dark alleyway, its shadows complimented by a flickering street lamp. "Imagine shadows as glass... What you need to do is reach out with your mind and shatter that glass. Shatter it, and take up a shard of the darkness. Hurl the shard at your opponent.

"Because the power is as abstract as shadows themselves, its limit is of your own. The shards of blackness can pierce the thickest walls and armor, but because they are not physical, you must concentrate on your target. They will not cut flesh and bone, but they will pierce minds."