And A Game They Had Called It (Sama'el, Closed)

[Smudge]

OOCProvide the timestamp yourself. 35th of Spring It was a temperate windy day; the kind spring was usually filled with. The Sun was half asleep, tired after the drawn out fight it waged with the clouds for the better part of morning. It couldn’t have been more than three bells past noon as six blue warriors rode out of the city, stopping about a hundred yards away from the entrance gate. They were waiting for one other to join them, a young Drykas whom they known only by name to be Sama’el. Among the restless Akalak men, there was one that stood out as the leader of the pack; Morikal Kansvak. The great Nevar Chivan himself promised one hundred golden mizas to anyone who made it back from the mission. The promise of a ripe reward was enough to muster up the group that was waiting outside the city gates, however, what gave the young boy in command his position; was his well thought of lineage. Morikal’s grandfather, Morgatir, was watching over the group like a hawk; keeping his distance. It was a well known fact that the youngling wasn’t the most competent fighter or even rider he could be, still his self assured appearance covered it well. The goodbyes were long and silent as each of them looked in the opposite direction. One might have thought that they were looking at each other, but that would have been a false claim. Morikal was looking at the gates, remembering what he was fighting for, and Morgatir was looking out into the grass, remembering what he was praying for. When the Drykas finally came, he was just given a short nod as all of the riders casted off at an even pace. It wasn’t even a full chime of riding when another horse appeared on the horizon, quickly closing the distance with the rest of the riders. All of the Akalak drew out their weapons cautiously except Morikal. He was the grandson of the great warrior Morgatir Kansvak after all, close friend of the head of the council, it was unheard of for someone so influential to be trifled with easily. Maybe he was too confident for his own good when he ordered the other Akalak to sheathe their weapons, but the foreign rider still came in peace. Nodding his head to the newcomer, Morikal ordered in poorly spoken common: “Why you here?” The reply came quickly, and on the admiration of all the gathered blue men; it was in Tukant: “I am here under orders from my Ankal to assist you in your endeavor. My tasks are to help the young human with you to fix the web, as that is what we are all here for in the first place; and for better or for worse, I can act as a middle man between you as your knowledge of Common is quite flawed”. “Did you just dare mock me, human?!” Morikal shouted as he reached for his lakan. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you; you don’t want to disappoint grandpa after all, do you?” Just as the young Akalak reached for his lakan, an envelope was thrown in his face. Opening it crudely, the man read slowly, but after a couple of chimes he sheathed his sword back and hissed: “Fine, you can come with us!” And then just as everything seemed to settle, another sentence came from the stranger, this time in common: “Pardon me my lords, but it would be prudent if you would follow me. Wouldn’t want us to move in the wrong direction, now would you?” the rest of the group stared at the man questioningly, but when Morikal nodded silently, all cast their opinions aside and followed the man. After a couple of chimes spent riding in silence, the man would gesture Sama’el to come closer. Should the boy obey, he would hear an introduction quickly followed by questions. “Eh, my dear boy, you should call me Rheinval; unlike the blue skinned beasts around here, I actually like these little mannerisms. You are Sama’el I presume?” the man paused for a moment, but then just continued as if he already knew everything: “It is quite weird I know, but I was sent off after you in a hurry, so could you tell me who are you anyway? What is your clan?” the man acted friendly, not really caring much for the speed of his voice, as the words he mumbled could barely be recognized. Meanwhile in Riverfall “Are you absolutely sure?” Morgatir frowned as he pleaded with the shadow that was speaking to him in a lyrical voice. “On the holy life of mother Akajia I swear, Should I lie, turn me into a mare!” the shadow continued to weave pointless rhymes. “Fine I will trust you on this one, Lylek; thank you for your help” the man kept talking to the thing. “Hurry now and be forever told; Should a liar I be called… erhm… The end?” the shadow struggled with its poem. “I don’t have time for this right now!” Morgatir shouted as he quickly went for the door, attaching two lakans to his waist as he walked. Not even five chimes later he could have already be seen from the city gate as he was disappearing into the horizon, pushing his steed to the limits of the animal’s power.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el knew he was there on time or even a few minutes early, but they were all waiting on him. He quietly greeted them and they were off without further ado. Dohaina was faster than all of their horses, and he made a point of reining her in, keeping her from putting any of them to shame. The Akalak were pricklier about their honor than the Drykas were, and that was saying something. Not so far away from Riverfall, they came across another solo Drykas rider. But when they faced off, he spoke Tukant, of which Sama'el only knew a few words. Ankal however, was a Pavi word that he understood even mixed in with all that blue jibber jabber. When he spoke in Common, however, Sama'el caught his drift. So too did the Akalak regiment, and since they followed, he had no choice but to do so. He had attempted a quick what is happening? in grassland sign, but the man turned away too quickly for that. All the same, Sama'el was watching and caught the silent gesture. As nonchalantly as possible, he caught up with the man. "I am Sama'el," he said quietly in Pavi, though the question about his clan seemed an odd one. If he were sent by the Watch, he would know enough about his quarry that such questions were unnecessary. But all the same, he answered: "The Sapphire Clan. What is going on, Rheinval? Why were you sent and by whom?"

[Smudge]

OOCI'm sorry this was delayed again. Rheinval gazed back at Sama’el as he heard his integrity being questioned. His eyebrow twitched for a bit before he calmed down completely and shot Sam down with a casual tone. “Whom I was sent by is none of your business, just like it was none of my concern when it came to the letter you brought to the council. Yet I know boy, yet I know! It is my job, you see, to know things” he diverted his eyes off the boy and looked back into the distance. “It shouldn’t be long now!” he shouted back at the Akalak regiment carelessly. Should Sama’el ask him any more questions, he would get no answers. Rheinval kept talking, but more to himself than anyone else. “Yes, it shouldn’t be long now. We were agile, master will be pleased. No one is to interfere with my task; NO!” the tone was whisper like, wicked and disturbed. Finally after what seemed like a reality check by one of the curious Akalak stares, the older Drykas seemed to get back in touch with sanity. He spoke no more, but he gestured Sam in Grassland sign quickly. Almost as if he was the only one that needed to see. “There is a traitor among us!” Maybe twenty chimes later, Rheinval came to a rough halt. As the Akalak men rode past slowly, he touched the ground and caressed it slowly. “This piece of the web is craving for some attention, did you know that boy? They are like women, these things; you disregard them for too long and they turn on you” he paused as he seemed to reach out into the barely visible streams of fragile web that dwindled on the ground. “Yes, just like ladies, carefully and with respect!” he sounded mildly amused for whatever reason. “X marks the spot boy, do remember that!” he spoke to Sam obviously, as he gestured towards two pieces of lumber thrown over each other to shape that character. It was supposed to be the boy’s station, but did he know what the X truly marked; did anyone? “This shouldn’t take more than five chimes with or without your help boy; still it’s not respectful to let an old man do all the work” he grabbed his chin curiously as if he had said something wrong, but he let go off it quickly – seemingly content. Behind them Morgatir was riding for quite some time before his horse just tripped. Out of the blue he was thrown face first into the grass, as the hilts of his lakans plunged into his ribcage. Getting up quickly, he kept following them on foot as his mind kept questioning him if he could ever be there in time. Maybe ten chimes after the group had stopped to repair the damage; Morgatir too came to a pause. It was not by his will though, as two fully mature glassbeaks eyed him greedily. They kept striking at him as he deflected or dodged them continuously. Because of the gift of Evantia he could predict their movements, but how long could his body keep up with them? Should Sama’el see the man fall, he will need approximately three chimes to reach the stranded Akalak. But would anyone see?

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el frowned, not having meant to question the man's integrity at all, but thinking he was entitled to some information to help him put this all in the proper context. But he held his peace, trying to be observant and canny the way an Ankal ought. His grandfather had often told him it was better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and dispel all doubt. This must be one such time. But even as he settled in to watch, Rheinval's fingers flickered with dire warning. His back went up for a moment before he attempted to relax, glancing at a few of the Akalaks. He didn't know any of them well. All the same, they came to the place and X marked a spot. He concentrated on the ground until the djed manifested in his vision. His training was accelerated, but he was still new to this mystery. But he was able to diagnose problems, but some of the more dangerous ones were beyond his skill to mend. Perhaps that was why Rheinval was there. But who could be a traitor and against what? He didn't like this, no, not at all. It was, perhaps, the sudden hypervigilance or some hint of peril in the weave that made him look over his shoulder in time to see a blue rider fall, pick himself back up, remount, and continue toward them, harried by a pair of glassbeaks. Swearing in Pavi, he turned Dohaina's head with more force than was normally necessary, but then this was a crisis. She shot off toward the Akalak and Sama'el loosened his scimitar in its scabbard before drawing it and holding it carefully to the side to prevent hurting himself or his horse. The Web was of paramount importance, of course, but glassbeaks were more urgent. He screamed a battlecry as his Strider carried him faster than almost anything else on those prairie plains, hoping to at least distract the beasts until the blue men came to finish them off. Were he a better shot, he might have loosed his bow first, but he didn't want to kill the rider and be killed in turn.

[Smudge]

OOCThe rider kept going on foot as the horse was incapacitated or otherwise unable to charge further, also you have my humblest apologies for being so late. Wrote this up at lunch break, hope it’s good enough. Sama’el and Dohaina charged so furiously that they even made the earthworms run deeper. Rheinval saw what the younger Drykas was charging for, so he got up quickly. Just as he was about to mount, he was stopped by Morikal. “Stay, human! I’m still in charge of this group!” And just like that Rheinval stopped and started sweating nervously. Even though the Drykas could not do much to defy the Akalak’s words, he still saw it as fitting to spit in his direction. Morikal seemed extremely content as he gestured one of his warriors to ride after Sam. *** Morgatir was beginning to lose his mind to rage and fatigue as they both raced after him. Still, he ran and fought as fiercely as it was possible with his current predicament. The old Akalak had already wounded one of the beasts just above the leg, but that act alone bore more malice than merit. Oozing of the blood from the newborn wound was so intoxicating that the only thing still keeping more predators at bay was the fear of getting matched up against glassbeaks. When Sam finally arrived, he could see Morgatir standing firm and fighting. There was no longer any stamina in the man and running was now an impossible feat. Glassbeaks were not stupid creatures, so the wounded animal charged towards the newcomer as soon as he came into sight. Second bird seemed to share the interest of its kin, but as soon as it turned away from Morgatir; it’s head came off in one clean slice. Even with all the battle prowess and endurance the old man had, it was still beyond him to try and race after the second bird; Sam was on his own for now. It was the boy’s turn to prove his worth as the glassbeak was charging for him with last of its power. The beast was aiming for Dohaina’s rear right leg, and unless Sam maneuvered or deflected the blow, more undeserving blood would be shed.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Even racing the wind as Dohaina did when running full tilt toward something, Sama'el had enough time to observe the fight, see the glassbeak injured. At least the elder Akalak had injured and enraged the thing for him, the first being an advantage for Sama'el when it became clear the glassbeak had changed its menu to include Drykas and Strider, the second making it more dangerous, but less focused, too. Counting down to impact, he nudged Dohaina slightly to the side and she did her best to alter her course just enough so the swinging, singing arc of Sama'el's scimitar was the first part of them with which the glassbeak came into contact. As soon as their momentum could be mastered, grass and clods of dirt thrown up from her hooves, they wheeled about and Dohaina reared, sharp hooves lashing out even as he leaned around her to attack with all the strength of his sword arm. They gave the glassbeak lots of danger to juggle, hooves, scimitar, and Dohaina was not too much a lady that she wouldn't take a chunk out of it with her teeth. The Akalak was safe, at least, having beheaded a distracted glassbeak, and hopefully Sama'el and Dohaina could handle this other one. Otherwise, they could at least hold it off until help arrived.

[Stranger]

Thread Award Sama'el XP: Riding: +3 Observation: +2 Webbing: +I Scimitar: +3 Lores: Being Punctual Taking the Courageous Lead Overpowering the Glassbeak Notes: I couldn't find any notes on this. Sorry! Let me know if I missed anything.

[Stranger]

Thread Award Sama'el XP: Riding: +3 Observation: +2 Webbing: +I Scimitar: +3 Lores: Being Punctual Taking the Courageous Lead Overpowering the Glassbeak Notes: I couldn't find any notes on this. Sorry! Let me know if I missed anything.