Closed [Bronze Woods] What Dangerous Webs We Weave [Crypt]

[Ayanna]

Timestamp: 34th of Winter 512
Time of Day: Dusk

Ayanna was getting antsy in her room, she had recently woken from her sleep, she cat napped through the day to avoid just sitting in her room in boredom because the sun's light was harsh on her eyes, and now she was energized and ready to go out into the woods to climb and get herself some food. She began the painstaking process of wrapping her body in her silk body wraps her kind favored before slipping her exoskeleton shirt on, and her wool stockings she belted her shirt to her and tied her felt cloak. She pulled her fur trimmed hood up to hide her face as she placed her sandals in between her belt and her shirt to keep them secure. After a brief deliberation she looped her Lash to the belt as well, forgoing her bow in favor of something easier to maneuver with.

Anticipation clogging her throat she flung her window open and gracefully climbed to the sill, without a thought she crouched on it, her body balanced perfectly. She turned her body around and leaned out, reaching a long arm out to grasp the stonework above her window, her other arm followed, claws biting into stone and tiny skin hook holding. She pulled her body up until her feet could grasp the stone work as well then she was off, scaling the wall like it was no trouble to her at all.

She continued this odd way of traversing the city for a little until she spotted and empty alley near to the gate. She pushed herself off the wall, performing a necessary flip to get her feet under her, and she crouched for a few moments, checking for danger before she relaxed her stance and slipped on her sandals. She made her way swiftly and silently through the white blanketed streets. Her dark winter cloak hid her body and the way she ghosted through the walkways made it hard to see her if you didn't know what you were looking for exactly. Even in the white of snow, the dark clothes hid her because the darkness of night ate up the pure color of the sky fall.

She left the gate with no trouble and she was swiftly immersed in woods after a short jaunt down the road. She ignored the burs and branches that scraped across her clothes, she was used to them now. Her feet had long ago become near frozen in the snow as her light sandals were no covering to protect them with. She'd have to go back sooner than usual but she would deal with the pain and cold for the sake of freedom.

She didn't know that in the woods a small group of hunters had foul luck catching anything larger than a sickly rabbit. They had passed around the alcohol more than a few times to stave off the cold. It made their bad mood worse and stroked the flames of violence in their hearts. As Ayanna climbed her normal tree she didn't know they were closing in on her, that they would see her tracks and the claw marks in the tree and try to shoot her down.

But they had yet to meet the delicate woman's tracks, for the moment as she scaled the tree she was safe. She couldn't climb as high for her feet were nearly numb and not trustworthy for such a task. So she sat on a sturdier, lower branch and looked out at the night world, a world that was as easy to see through as broad daylight was for a human.

[Crypt]

Even as the female Symenestra stalked through the darkness of the woods, another more human figure walked calmly towards a small forest clearing which he had been using for over a season, accompanied by a large, black Strider he called his friend and brother. Beautiful and cold as always, Winter. What more do you have for us, other than ice and snow and harsh winds frigid and algid? "Lady Morwen walks among these woods this night, Maras. She drapes the trees in shades of white; but as always, this is a damn cold night. I'm glad Kevith could spare us a nice and warm fur cloak - we'll have to return it undamaged to the Rearing Stallion when we get back there." Crypt chuckled for a few seconds, reminiscing about the warm ale back at the tavern. "A beautiful night it is, old friend. And what better way to enjoy it than to walk amongst this wintry wonderland, this other-worldy world that has replaced our dear Bronze Woods with - what do you call it now? - The Woods of Winter! Yes, a perfect name. Simple and accurate." A sudden light caught Crypt's attention, and he turned to face it. "We're not the only ones in the Woods tonight, Maras," the Drykas whispered, "A fire is there. Shall we take a quick look before we go back?"

[Ayanna]

The men Crypt was about to come upon were grumbling to each other, a group of four men with only three around the meager fire. Jerky was passed around for they had no fresh meat to cook on the fire, their luck had dried up on them out in the wild woods around the city.

Their friend, the one missing from the fire, was scouting the area around them looking for any traces of animal tracks that he might be able to follow, tonight was their last night out and tomorrow they'd have to go back to the city with empty hands and depleted food stores. If they didn't catch anything out here this whole trip would be a waste of money.

The man came across tracks eventually, tracks that were far too light to be a normal humans. He had come across other races before and knew that not all races made the same kinds of tracks as humans did. Few had tracks that were lighter. Curious and for a lack of a better thing to follow he followed the tracks to Ayanna's tree where the woman sat unaware of the danger brewing beneath her. The man saw the claw marks in the tree and as he looked up her saw high above him the woman's slender shape. he had seen Symenstrans before, he hated the breed. One of them had taken his daughter from him in one of their harvests.

The man snuck back to camp to tell his fellows of his find, the men, curious and desperate for a kill were easily swayed to come with him. The alcohol in their veins made it simple for them to overlook the fact that killing a Sym could get them in trouble in the city, especially if this one hadn't done anything to harm them. But the tacker made a convincing argument that all Symenestra were evil and they'd be doing the city a favor by doing away with the one in the tree.

So the men gathered under her tree and their noise alerted Ayanna. She looked down at the men and curious descended a few few, she was still too high for them to get at with their hands but they were hunters and they had bows and the experience to wield them, although in their intoxication their aim would undoubtedly be off.

The men yelled up at her, their common slurred and almost unintelligible.

"Get down from there you filthy spider!" one shouted at her thinking himself smart for coming up with the insult.

"We'll not let you take another of our women back to your filthy cave!"

"The world would be better without you on it to dirty it!"

Ayanna could tell these men were drunk and ignorant but their words still hit her hard. She tried to push the feelings of hurt aside as she saw one pull out a bow and draw back to shoot. Before she could do anything the arrow was loosened, it missed her by a foot. But the next arrow might not.

Ayanna had to act quick, her hypnotism was very weak if used by voice only but she doubted she would be able to get their eyes without putting herself in deaths hands. They were drunk though and that made them easier to convince.

She would only be able to direct her will at one of them at a time, so she went after the one with the bow, him being the biggest threat.
"You don't want to kill me." her voice was directed at the man with the bow. All four men were shocked that she was a woman, they had thought her male. This changed things some, a female wouldn't be here to take another woman. It didn't make sense.

The man she had directed her magic at lowered his bow but it was still in his hand. He was confused, his mind foggy and struggling. She was a Symenestra, but she was female. And at the back of her mind he felt that he didn't want to hurt her.

"Why would you kill me? It gets you nothing." she continued to try and persuade him, coming a few branches closer. Her voice, louder now had more of an affect as she poured almost all she had into the persuasion. The man stood there confused, another reached for his bow and Aya turned her attention to him while the first was confused.
"I'm no threat to you. Why would you want to hurt me?" her voice was all golden honey and smooth velvet as it caressed their minds, tempting them to think as she told them to. It pulled lightly at them and their addled minds easily followed it. But she wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, she was pouring a lot of energy into convincing them to not hurt her, she would overgive soon if she had to keep this up. She could do this for another half a bell maybe a full bell before the physical signs started up, but that wasn't counting if one of them figured out she was hypnotizing them. She hoped, she prayed someone would come to her aid. Anyone.

[Crypt]

The hunters had tracked down something they called a 'spider'. Obviously, if it was a normal spider, they wouldn't have bothered to track it down and insult it, as drunk as they were. This piqued Crypt's interest, and he stealthily followed the hunters, taking a few moments to warm his hands over the campfire. A spider taking a female back to a cave? For what purpose? And why are these men so vehement upon encountering such a - Ah. That's some sort of being up there - is that what they call a Symenestra? No wonder they called it a spider - it looks similar to one, what with those long, thin limbs. Creeping closer to the scene, Crypt continued to observe the unusual conflict. Finding it both curious and familiar (not to mention highly suspicious; drunken men were famous - or was it infamous? - for not being able to listen to reason) that the female perched in the tree was able to convince the men to cease attacking (though not to move away from her), Crypt racked his brain, attempting to find what she reminded him of. A winged creature, feared and hated by most that were inside that tavern... A Zith that tried to persuade Hisoka with... Ah. Magic. "Open, eyes, and see the truth." Crypt whispered, using his incantation as a focus for gathering Djed to his eyes, which was the primary means for his Auristics. Moving... Moving... Moving... There. Damn, I really need to learn some way of focusing on other people's auras quickly so that I don't waste time and Djed trying to find theirs. And... There. No, not her aura. I don't want to know more about her now, I'm looking for those particular Djed strands... Squinting his eyes, Crypt made out several almost impossibly thin strands of Djed flowing from Ayana's eyes and mouth to the foreheads of the hunters. Every now and then, a strand would break, accompanied by a instant, though small, increase in the intensity of the violent behaviour of the hunters. However, as she continued to speak, new strands were formed. She wasn't doing it very well. Even though their minds would be weaker, being under the influence of liquor, Ayanna was not very experienced with Hypnotism, and occasionally a misplaced word, a slip of the tongue would start to agitate the hunters again. It was only a matter of time before she failed to maintain a sufficient level of control over the men, and then they would try to harm her. "What have we here, gentlemen? Nay, you are not gentlemen. Fie on thee, you males, for accosting a damsel in distress." Crypt moved out of the wall of shrubs behind which he had hidden himself, a hand on the hilt of his longsword, speaking in a dignified manner. The fur cloak only added to his assumed prestige, and one of the hunters began to bow to Crypt before deciding not to.

[Ayanna]

Ayanna was about to give up and try to flee when her knight in shining armor showed up to save her. Good thing too, she was starting to overgive, she had been at it for more time then she should've been with more people than she was used to. She tasted the copper tang of blood in her mouth, the first sign, bleeding from one's mouth and eyes. Luckily she didn't feel any warmth trailing down her face, if the men had seen blood tears coursing down her face they would shoot her for sure.

While the men were distracted Ayanna took the chance to spit out the blood in her mouth and she retreated higher into the tree, the men noticed of course and one shouted a protest to her retreat, but he didn't pull his bow, the fact that there was a witness made him slightly more cautious of performing and act that the city they were close to would not look upon favorably. Sylira did not favor murder.

From her higher vantage point Ayanna could still hear the things the men said and could see the man who had stepped in on her behalf, she couldn't make out individual details well from her height but she could tell he was well dressed and had a rather intimidating longsword resting against his hip. She smiled at his words, liking that someone sought to call her a 'damsel' damsels were supposed to be pretty. The man would never suspect that his simple sentence would have a strong effect on her, and the fact that someone was willing to try and protect her was astonishing.

She needed to know why.

.

[Crypt]

"Begging your pardon, sire," the drunk hunter that had almost paid obeisance to Crypt mumbled, "But there's a Symenestra up there, a female one methinks, and we're deciding whether to rid Syliras of her or not." The respect the drunks were showing to Crypt was rather startling, but understandable; even though the fur cloak was not made of high-quality fur, and was torn and ragged in quite a few places, even though Crypt was but a young man and not very suited to the position of a high-placed individual, the light of their campfire was not present to enlighten them. Crypt was taken aback by the humble tone the hunter had used, and it was a few seconds before he could regain his composure and assume a posture and tone of voice suitable to his noble facade. "A Symenestra? Has she done something then, that affronts you so such that you have to murder her?" "Er..." another of the men began to speak up, his clouded mind only having just registered the presence of the Drykas, "The Symenestra's taken our daughters in the fields for their wives, m'lord, and we're just preventing her from taking anymore." Shaking his head, Crypt muttered a few indistinct vulgarities before turning his attention to the man that spoke. "But has she done anything like that?" The simple question puzzled the hunters, and they remained silent for roughly a chime before one responded with much stronger language. "One of her kind - piles of steaming shyke, the lot of them - took my precious daughter in one of their raids, and me and the wife's been mourning her since then. Everytime we go out, we always remember her and curse that petching Symenestra." Crypt held out a hand to forestall the hunter before he could blurt out any more insults. "But did she do the same?" The men shook their heads. "Then you have no need to do anything to her. She hasn't done anything wrong, and you don't have any proof. Let her go, and go back to your campfire. If you catch her red-handed, let the Syliran Knights deal with her. Don't sully your hands with anything to do with her, if you find the Symenestra so detestable." OOC NoteI'll let you decide their response.

[Ayanna]

Ayanna was surprised at how the man continued to talk to the men, trying to convince them that killing her wasn't a good idea. All of the men's attention was on him as they talked, their bows were lowered and they weren't looking at her.

Ayanna looked down at the man, wishing she could continue to listen to him but in case he failed she needed to get herself to safety.She walked along an outstretched branch and jumped lithely to the branch not a foot away from it that connected to another tree. She retreated deep into this tree and hopped to another tree easily with how densely packed the trees were she was several trees over and hidden deep in the branches of a tree, her dark cloak wrapped around her so she wouldn't be seen, before the men even thought to look up again.

One of them looked up and cursed. The focus of their anger had disappeared while the man had been talking to them.

"Well it doesn't matter now! The petching whore is gone!" One cursed as his face colored with anger. His companions noticed a swell and let out their own curses, groaning and griping at the loss of such a rare quarry. They glared at the man as if this was his fault, which it was, but didn't move to attack him. He was obviously important, someone who would be missed. Someone people would look for.

They grumbled as they walked back to their camp fire, from her vantage point several trees over Ayanna had been watching for their retreating figures. Once they were far enough out of site she descended from her tree and walked back to the man, hiding behind a tree until she was absolutely certain the men weren't around, none of them had the sense to wait and see if she came back to thank the man who had saved her life.

Satisfied she was safe, Ayanna walked out, her hood pulled low so as to hide her hideous face from the view of her savior, she made her way towards him, stopping when there was a yard or so of space between them. He had saved her life, but still she did not trust him.

"Thank you." She spoke, her voice as light as a moonbeam and as delicate as a butterfly wing. "For saving me." She elaborated. She looked up at him, she was used to this most humans were taller than her.

She looked down, should she ask? Her hand moved towards where her mirror was hidden, whenever she was nervous or scared she reached for it like a child would reach for a favorite doll or blanket for comfort.

"Why?" She finally blurted out.

[Crypt]

Crypt bowed to the departing hunters, hiding a smile behind the folds of his cloak. As they left the vicinity of the tree Ayanna was hiding in, a piercing whistle emerged from between his lips. Maras answered the call by approaching the Drykas, having just finished a heavy supper. The Symenestra approached him, and he turned to face her, waiting patiently as she thanked him and questioned him. A delicate little thing, a Symenestra is. If her kind appear similar to her, I would assume that they would not fare well in direct hand-to-hand combat. But who knows? Like the black spider that dangles from a web, they may have venom in abundance. But this one... Charming, charming. Similar to a porcelain doll, yet much more life-like. Thin fingers. Should be easy to break her grasp, if it ever comes to that. But those claws could mean trouble. White hair like that of the Konti. Her body... Not much I can see, what with this accursed darkness, but she's slim. " 'Tis only my duty to serve womenkind, m'lady," the words flowed out of his mouth, his voice smooth and deep, "I was taught to help all in need, and help I have rendered unto you. Besides..." "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? Strange too. Like a spider, yet not like a spider. You're certainly not one of those Kelvics. Your voice is mellifluous - a pleasure it is to hear you speak. Come closer, and show me your face."

[Perplexity]

Riddled With Rewards Crypt Experience Skill XP Earned Observation + 1 EXP Rhetoric + 1 EXP Auristics +1 EXP Persuasion +1 EXP Lores • Lore Earned • Cloak of Winter, Morwen’s Delight • Auristic Technique: Tracking the Living • An Odd Occurrence: Aiding a Symenestra Notes : I gave what I could Mr. Crypt. Ms. Ayanna, please update your ledger reflecting seasonal expenses. PM me for your grade once that has been accomplished.