A Tale of Equine Proportions

by **Ainyi** on May 23rd, 2012, 7:31 pm

"Yes, I suppose the constant shifting might make someone angry if they had never experienced anything like it before. But I've lived here my entire life, and I'm quite used to it. Not to mention, I revere Ionu. It is a basic doctrine of Ionu's followers that joy is found in variety and the unexpected. We are blessed to live in a city that gives us both every day.

Doctrine? What did that word mean? That word sounded strange. But no, she wouldn't ask. That would admit defeat. She would learn it later. Either way, he just seemed to be discussing the god of this city. "variety" and "unexpected" she understood. This god...loves it. She is a young woman; she should want that, should she not? Is it not old crotchety women that desire the same thing every day? But still, this is a bit..excessive, even for youth.

As far as sense goes, I wouldn't put to much stock in it. Too much of it will only make you miserable, especially here! Though, I must say, I find it strange that the rich people you've had contact with are so miserable. Though I'd say I might be at an advantage, after all, I'm not really all that rich."

Ainyi snorted at that. "You lie. Rich people worry about everything. Even things they do not need to worry about. And they don't like being calling rich. You talk too fancy for anybody but you to understand. You dress in better clothes than any around us. That is what rich people are, is it not?"

Ainyi took the lead with a slight saunter. She wanted to make this much clear; just because she was foreign did not mean she was stupid, or unworthy of respect. She was smart enough to figure out that much about him.

"No, no. I suppose I might be the only one to offer foreign women my home without knowing their name. I know of a few who might offer their bed, but not their home. And as for my height, I prefer to think of myself as fun-sized.

That made Ainyi laugh. "And what is the difference? You give your home, your bed is also inside your home. And your are not short in Wind Reach. You would be among the taller men there. So...not this "fun sized", as you say. "Inartan sized" would be better."

I do apologize for not asking your name. I forget basic manners sometimes. Although, now that I think about it, I never shared my name now did I? My name is Alric Wilmot. What is yours?"

She thought a moment about giving him her true name. But as they entered the wasteland, her animals became tense. She felt the spirits in the air, and didn't like the idea of saying her true Inartan name in front of him. In plus, he probably couldn't pronounce it anyway.

"Ainsley," She said quietly, obviously now more alert and tense to the area, standing closer to her guide and leading Halik much closer to herself as well. She placed her hand on a bow, sleek and long, and strung on her pack for instant use.

by **Alric Wilmot** on May 24th, 2012, 2:31 am

"Inartan sized! Hah! Yes, yes. I suppose that is quite a bit more accurate." said Alric jovially.

This person was quite entertaining. He was glad that Alvadas had brought them together. He could tell that this friendship was going to be worth it. If not for her skills, then her company.

As Alric continued down a desolate road, devoid of crowds, he grew ever more anxious. Why was Alvadas grouping so many destroyed buildings together? It was highly suspect.

He was brought out of his thoughts by his Inartan friend, who said that her name was Ainsley. It was an odd name. At least to Alric. But then again, she was from a different city, and they weren't strange there. As such, when they came to the strangeness of Alvadas, they seemed strange by comparison. However, despite these differences in culture, it seemed that she too was becoming wary of Alvadas's sudden shift.

It was quite impressive that she was becoming attuned to the city so soon after arriving. Though, he might be giving her too much credit. After all, broken down houses, dried up grass, cracked roads, and decaying trees were universally bad signs.

"I... do not care for our present location. Perhaps we should turn around?"

Alric turned then, to go back the way they came. Unfortunately, It seemed Alvadas was playing a prank. A rather poor one, in Alric's opinion. For over a hundred yards was desolation and abandoned buildings, blocking the way to the rest of Alvadas. But that wasn't all that blocked the way.

Standing in the middle of the road was a creature unlike anything Alric had ever seen before. Yet he knew what it was. he had been told stories about the creatures. It was undoubtedly a Yukman. Rocks and soil were embedded within it's body, and it was hunched over some sort of decaying...thing on the side of the road. It was human shaped, but seemed to have multiple skin colors grafted onto it. It was more like looking at a twisted reflection of humanity, rather than any single variation of it.

Alric made a move to step backward, to turn and ignore the thing. But as he did so, The Yukman bolted upright. It gave off a piercing high-pitched shriek and glanced madly in all directions. It spotted the two quickly and dashed after them, much too fast for Alric to respond to.

by **Ainyi** on May 24th, 2012, 11:26 am

Ainyi never liked places of the dead. There was this unnerving, gut wrenching feeling when you know that lives were lost without proper burial or offering to the souls. It was always as if you could feel what they felt before they died; The fear, the anger, the sadness. It stuck to the place of death, like a blood stain on an old chopping block. It's impossible to get out. But most importantly, it keeps every living thing that passes through on edge. At least, the smart ones. Only a fool wouldn't take heed in a place such as this.

"I... do not care for our present location. Perhaps we should turn around?"

"Turn around where?" The expanse of destruction went on for hundreds of feet at least. Even if she didn't understand most of what he said in common, she could read what he meant. How about we get out before it gets ugly? How about we get away from this? There was a controlled fear inside of him. And if her perpetually happy guide was scared...what did that mean for her?

Halik stopped moving. She tried to guide him farther, but he just whinnied a rejection, and pawed at the ground stubbornly. Braghna was ruffling his wings nervously, and nipped at her ear lobe, with alert coos.

And then it screamed.

She had never seen it, never heard it before. It was a man, but not a man. It was small, but hulking. Rocks clung to it, and it looked foul and wrong and everything she was hoping wouldn't happen on this ground. And it rushed at her.

She forgot about her friend. She forgot about everything except survival, grabbing the horn of the saddle, she holstered up onto Halik before she could think and had the bow drawn. It had been a while since she shot arrows from horse back, so this may not work. But before that happened, she called to Braghna in Inartan, three sharp commands. The bird left her back and began flying high, as Ainyi drew laterally to the creature. She aimed an arrow to it's side and hit it in the hip. She started shouting at it, trying to get it's attention. She could outrun it on a horse, and hopefully even kill it. They would have to see. She kept an eye out, looking for Alric and hoping he was doing alright. Rich men always cowered at times like these.

((OOC note: I hope this is legible, it was written around 4:30 am >>))

by **Alric Wilmot** on May 24th, 2012, 6:44 pm

Although Alric was too slow to properly respond, Ainsley was thankfully not. As soon as the thing gave off it's yell, she jumped into action. In a flash, she mounted her horse and had her bow drawn. Alric hadn't even noticed that she had a bow before now. Though he was glad she had one, regardless. She galloped to the side of the yukman, firing off an arrow into it's hip. It gave off a yelp of pain, as though it were a wounded dog.Ainsley let out a cry to get its attention, which seemed to work well enough. The monster dashed after her, intent on outrunning a horse.

Alric immediately looked in all directions, surveying their surroundings. From the stories, it seemed as though the Yukman traveled in groups. Yet Alric couldn't see any more of them. Perhaps the stories were exaggerated? Regardless, he didn't want to take the chance. He immediately swirled his cape around him in an overblown gesture, and vanished from sight. His Gnosis mark, was invaluable in a situation like this. He was limited in his abilities, but even so, he was gifted with great ability. Unseen, he dashed to the top of a nearby shattered well, casting yet another illusion that removed his footprints from the dirt.

Ainsley was still riding about on her horse, the Yukman still making a mad dash for her. Alric worked quickly, and tapped into the power of his Gnosis once more, making two copies of Ainsley appear from behind her. The Yukman was predictably stunned at this turn of events, and as the two Ainsley's made a U turn, and began to circle the thing. It stayed in place at first, too stuned by what at happened. But its curiosity eventually took hold and it tried to jump onto the back of one of the horses.

Needless to say, it fell through, and landed hard on its back. With a frustrated yell, it leapt back onto its feet and let out a warbled cry that Made Alric flinch. He quickly made the two false Ainsleys leave the thing, and gather on both sides of the real one. Hopefully, Ainsley would realize that they weren't enemies.

As soon as the creature stopped its cry, Alric found his suspicions confirmed. Four more similar disfigured creatures appeared from above, jumping down from the roofs of broken buildings. In their hands, were rudimentary bows, and on their backs were old quivers and arrows.

by **Ainyi** on May 24th, 2012, 9:37 pm

As Ainyi looked around, her new friend was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't help but snort in a knowing way. Of course he ran and hid. He didn't look like he could do much anyways. She shored up Halik and aimed right through the eye of the creature that was chasing her. Once he was close enough that she didn't fear missing, the arrow would loose and she could go find the rich man.

But before she was able to loose the arrow, all the sudden there were...two more of her. And two more of Halik. And they began circling the creature. She felt her body go cold, and a lump form in her throat. Magic wasn't something she had been exposed to; as someone on the path to a life in the Chiet caste, magic wasn't something seen often, nor had she met someone with a Gnosis. All she knew of it was people whispering rumors here and there.

Was it...Ionu? That god that her new friend appeared to worship? Was this god...helping her?

As that thought crossed her mind, the creature had leapt at one of them, and just phased through them, like a hand passing through light in a dark room. As soon as that happened, the two..false images of her rode up next to her. This was all so surreal and frightening, she didn't know what to make of it. But as long as they weren't going to attack her, she didn't have the time to worry about them. She rode her horse directly towards the creature, drew an arrow, and caught it in the eye as they were about fifteen feet away. It had made to leap at her, but fell mid-air, twitching. It had been releasing this loud frustrated cry, which didn't quite stop after her arrow killed him, but kept going a second or two longer before it gave out.

She reared up Halik, patting his side. The horse was like it's owner, twitchy, knowing the danger around them, but somehow staying calm enough to heed his master. He whinnied at her, and snorted at some of the air. She patted him, and whistled to Braghna, who was circling above waiting for an attack command. She wanted him to know which of her was real.

Just as she made to call out and find the most likely cowering stranger that abandoned her to do all of this herself, four more of the things popped out of nowhere. They seemed to be some sort of copy-cat creatures, because they now had old, poorly made bows, and old arrows.

This was tiresome. She wanted to kill them, but if they had bows she couldn't just keep at a distance and stay safe. She called to Braghda in Nari, knowing it was time the hawk show how useful he was. There was only a half second of a screech in response before he dropped from the sky and zeroed in on a creature about to loose an arrow. He landed claws first on the thing's neck, pecking and biting at his head, before flying back up high. Only, he decided to take it's throat with him. Ainyi wasn't sure if that would kill the thing, but she was just thankful that Braghna got out of their firing range.

Now all she could hope is that these illusion copies of herself would help with the other three standing. She was in the middle of debating if she should reholster her bow where she got it on her horse's pack and draw her sword, when an arrow flew a foot to the right of her. No; she should keep her bow. These things have no sense of aim; she could win that battle. Using her heels, she guided Halik to the left-most target, and prepared her aim. Her plan is to kill one, then weave back out far away, then come back in for a kill, then weave a way, then come back to get the last one. Hopefully, the last one. They better not multiply after that. Braghna could also be useful here, but she didn't want to risk him if they had arrows. He had to be unexpected.

by **Alric Wilmot** on May 24th, 2012, 10:17 pm

Alric stayed where he was, as he felt it the safest place to be. The Yukman wouldn't bump into him, and they couldn't see him. So, for the time being, he should be safe. He was never trained in combat, and so tried to stay away from skirmishes and the like. In these rare instances where he had a friend or acquaintance, he stayed out of sight giving advantages. This particular situation felt a lot like the one he had found himself in during the Winter Crisis. Only not quite as serious. After all, nothing seems quite as serious after facing down a thirty foot golem.

Ainsley, however, proved perfectly suited to battle. The one she had shot in the hip lay dead, and with the help of her hawk, another one soon followed. He briefly saw her consider using her sword, but gave up on that when one of the creatures shot an arrow too close. Alric smirked at the level of skill, he really should learn some sort of actual combat. Eventually, he would, but for now he had to keep focused on helping Ainsley. With a wave of his hand he had the two Ainsley clones gallop around the group. One circling them firing off poorly aimed arrows, and another staying closer to the real one, doing the same. However, the Yukman seemed to have figured his little trick out. Each one fired a single shoddy arrow at a separate Ainsley. While the real one was savvy enough to dodge, the other two were slower.

As a result, the arrows passed through them as if they were smoke, and with a howl, the group began focusing on the real Ainsley in earnest. Alric panicked a bit then, but calmed quickly. He'd have to coordinate with Ainsley like he did with Antar so many weeks ago. With a wave of his hand, he sent out a cord of djed to connect to the woman's mind. He knew many distrusted hypnotists, but he also knew that they were willing to overlook it if said hypnotist helped save their life. Due to the way hypnosis worked, she would hear the message in her own voice. He sent out a hypnotic message.

Wait for the cover of smoke, then ride in and slay them with your blade.

Without hesitation, he made a violently swirling black cloud of smoke cover the three remaining monsters. They immediately attempted to blow it away, but soon found the smoke unable to be touched or influenced in any way. Alric sent out another message.

Now!

by **Ainyi** on May 25th, 2012, 4:37 am

Ainyi didn't like her clones. Their lack of skill not only made hers look bad, but it pointed her out to all of them. Braghna came back down and tore at one's arm before escaping, but they knew that he was less of a threat than Ainyi. Soon all three of the creatures were attacking her, and she bucked back, staying out of their range. She didn't like this. She only has six or seven arrows left, and she was now arrow fodder. And while they were pretty poorly aimed, they all had punch enough to either kill her, or her horse if luck was against her. And that, she did not want.

It was getting to be too much. She called commands to Braghna to keep him in the sky, out of danger. At this point she began weaving with her fake counterparts in order to lose them, or at the very least confuse them. And then it came to her. It was her own voice in her head, but she knew that she didn't think it:

Wait for the cover of smoke, then ride in and slay them with your blade.

As soon as those words were done, black smoke billowed around them. She heard their cries. Without thinking, without really a question, she holstered her bow and drew her sword and swooped in, moving from right most to left most.

Now!

The first one she chopped the head off of; It didn't even see her before it was too late. The second leapt at her and she let it impale itself on her sword through the heart. She hated being in the smoke. She couldn't see anything, hear anything, but the remaining thing's growls. Then as she approached the edge, she heard Halik neigh and run out of the smoke. Then she felt something grabbing her shoulder, hard and trying to tear at her. She shrieked at Braghna in Nari, and found a way to stand a little long enough to kick it in the face off of her horse's haunch and off of her. It left some marks on her back that would surely bruise, and it sliced her arm with an arrowhead, which began to pour a shallow level of blood on her right bicep. Before it could get back up, A hawk had dug it's claws in it's throat and began pecking out it's eyes. It almost fought back, before the body went limp from a beak going into it's brain.

Ainyi looked around. Nothing. It was over. Thank the gods. All of them.

"Rich man!" She yelled, hoping he was just cowering somewhere and he didn't genuinely abandon her. "You can stop hiding in fear. At least your God wanted to help me."

As she waited for him to appear, she started sifting in her pack for some bandage. The last thing she needed was a festering bleeding wound. It was already starting to paint most of upper arm and forearm red. Braghna chirped at it worriedly, nudging her arm gingerly. Halik took the rest to just breathe and paw at the dust.

Well. This was an interesting welcome to Alvadas.

by **Alric Wilmot** on May 26th, 2012, 4:55 pm

Alric shook his fist in triumph as he saw Ainsley draw her sword and ride into the smoke. He heard the welcome sound of steel cutting into flesh, and nearly broke his silence in his fit of celebration. It was cut short, however, when she emerged from the smoke with another foul monster grabbing at her shoulder. It scratched her arm badly with an arrow before Ainsley could kick it off. Just as Alric was releasing the smoke, and trying to think of another way to help, she said something in an odd tongue, and her hawk slew the final yukman.

Alric gave a sigh of relief, and hopped off the well. However, just before he dropped his illusion of invisibility, Ainsley gave out a very obviously irritated shout.

"Rich man! You can stop hiding in fear. At least your god wanted to help me."

Alric paused. At first, he thought of immediately removing the illusion and revealing that he was the one who had cast the illusions that had come to her aid. But then he thought of something else. Would it not be wiser to allow her to see Ionu as her benefactor? Alric had yet to convert a single disciple to his god’s cause. Though in truth, he had never seen a good oppurtunity to do so. Until now. So the question became, should he encourage this mistake, or correct it?

Although the temptation was there, Alric decided to correct it. He had became an adept at distorting truth, but he would still never tell an outright lie. It went against his beliefs. He was never going to impede another’s understanding. And while devious wordplay or an odd metaphor might be worked out, a lie could not. It was not a puzzle, but a wall. And Alric would not bring such a thing about. He would enamor her to Ionu in some other way.

At once Alric revealed himself, dispersing the illusion in a showy way as to gain her attention. His Invisibility was removed as though it were water flowing off of his body, pooling at his feet and being evaporated speedily.

“My dear Inartan friend, Although Ionu might have helped us if he had been present, he was not. I’m afraid I, the ‘rich man’ am your invisible helper.”

Alric brought up the sleeve of his right arm, where on his bicep was a tattoo of a blue inverted triangle.

“Though, I suppose Ionu does deserve a little credit. After all, she was the one to give me the means with which I helped you.”

by **Ainyi** on May 28th, 2012, 5:22 pm

Ainyi cursed. She didn't have a bandage in her pack. This is bad. She ripped off a piece of her thick blanket and began wrapping her arm as tight as she could. It stung, which wasn't good. She would need to wash it and get a real bandage on it sooner than later. All she could do was reduce arm movement to prevent excessive blood loss.

Just before she could go into a bout of home sickness, She looked up and saw a face. Well, a mask really, then hair. Then shoulders, hair and chest. It was Alric, who seemed to be stepping out of nothing and walking towards her. It was...impossible. Was Alric an embodiment of the god? Was the god a man? It was hard to tell. She'd never seen a man step out of nothing.

“My dear Inartan friend, Although Ionu might have helped us if he had been present, he was not. I’m afraid I, the ‘rich man’ am your invisible helper. Though, I suppose Ionu does deserve a little credit. After all, she was the one to give me the means with which I helped you.”

He? She? What gender -was- this God? Did it even have a purpose? Just as her expression asked all these questions, he opened his sleeve and displayed a tattoo of an upside down blue triangle.

Did he have...a gnosis? She had only heard people gossip about it on the road from Wind Reach. Tattoos or marks that gods place on you, and grant you their powers. This god of illusions...had he blessed this man? Why?

"I...," she stammered out. "I think I understand. You have what they call a...Gnosis?" She was tired. She hadn't killed in quite a while, and her ability to hunt wasn't as good at the moment. She was getting light headed from the blood loss, and her scrap of blanket already was dyed a brown-red. She was saved by a rich man with powers. There was too much to take in here. Too much to think about. She started to hear her stomach roil, she couldn't think from the blood loss, and that wave of home sickness she had been staving off was starting to hit her.

"I do not feel good," she said, using her head to gesture to her arm. "I need to rest, eat food, clean my arm. Can we discuss this later?" She looked around. Halik could take them through the city proper much quicker than on foot. She whistled Braghna on his spot on her saddle, and trotted over to Alric, offering her good arm.

"Get on," She said, though without command in her tone. "Halik will take us somewhere faster than we will go on foot. Just hang on, hm?"

by **Alric Wilmot** on May 30th, 2012, 12:59 am

Alric frowned as he noticed her wounds. For some reason, he hadn't quite thought them that serious.

"I do not feel good. I need to rest, eat food, clean my arm. Can we discuss this later?" She trotted over to Alric, offering her good arm. Alric took it.

"Get on," She said, though without command in her tone. "Halik will take us somewhere faster than we will go on foot. Just hang on, hm?"

Alric nodded, "Of course."

He got on, and tried to stay on without gripping her too hard for fear of aggravating her wounds.

"if you need healing, I suggest we seek Ionu's Mercy. It is a building open to the weak and injured and should help you recover quickly. Unlike other buildings, it is rather easy to find. Just keep going forward, and it should appear."

Alric noticed her weakness, and could see her losing focus in her eyes every so often. He needed to help her, if she was to stay on her horse. He sent forth a tendril of djed into her mind, to connect her to him. He sent a small feeling of clarity and alertness to counteract the dizziness she was most likely feeling. He did not push too hard, in case it might draw attention. He wanted her clam and thinking straight. Suspicion usually produced very counter results to that.