Completed Tracking Trouble (Bor, Faolan)

[Bor]

The man was struggling in Bor's grip. His hands were desperately trying to remove his fingers around his throat. His face was getting awfully red and Bor thought he might have hold the man a bit too roughly. He loosened his grip, just a little bit, to let the man breathe more easily. He didn't want to kill him, he just wanted answers.

Loosening his grip was a bad idea Bor found quickly as he felt man's throat suddenly being somehow harder than it had been before. Next his arms went limb and he pushed his legs against Bor's chest. Bor wondered what the man was doing. There was no way he could flee from his grip. But there was. The man's legs suddenly pushed Bor's chest with surprising amount of strength. Bor let out a small umph as the man propelled himself out of his hand.

The man landed on few feet away from Bor. He was couching and gasping for air as he tried to stand up. This man was no ordinary man Bor thought. He had withstand his blow, he had used the other man as a shield and he had managed to summon strength to escape Bor's grip while out of air. And now he was free again. Bor had to caught him again before the man managed to do anything else inhuman, like growing a pair of wings and flying off.

Bor thought he might had to actually commit his threat. He had just said it in the heat of the moment, it was something he had other men use when they tried to intimidate each other. But now it seemed like it was the only way to keep the man in place. Bor took a quick glance at the man's face, his eyes were filled with mixture of anger and fear, before looking at his feet and reaching to grab them.

[Inoadar]

Inoadar

This time, Inoadar managed to maintain his focus on the Flux as he popped himself free of the Jamoura's grip. But his strengthened legs did nothing to prevent the wind from being knocked out of him as he landed flat on his back. Nor did the reduction of his arm strength, as the source of the empowerment for his legs, serve his intent to roll over and hop back to his feet.

Ultimately, he'd flopped a second time on his face, for lack of arm strength, and been wheezing to try to regain his breath as managed to gain a crouch. But he did benefit from his focus as the Jamoura made a grab at his legs. He sprang up to avoid the hands, but had not considered his off-balance jump, as he propelled himself right into the ape-man's face.

He managed, half by luck and half by opportunism, to slide around to the big brute's back, hooking his arm around his throat and quickly trying to move the sense of extra strength into that arm. But he only managed to get his general physical balance restored to normal. This was not nearly enough to counter the grip and flip inflicted on him as he was thrown to the ground again.

He managed to roll into a crouch again. But this time, he got hold of a small wrapped bundle of a thick resinous toxin. As he anticipated the approach of his furry enemy, he release the catch on his boot blade and slashed the package across its edge, coating the blade with 'Bloodroot'. He tossed the remains of the package aside, not realizing that it landed very near to Faolan, whom he'd now dismissed as irrelevant.

There were a few mild but odd twinges of muscular flutters along the path he'd used to shift the djed balance of strength and structural boosts during his use of Flux. He chalked it up to strains and local nerve tweaks, not thinking of the possibility of overgiving at all. If he had, he might have realized that the strange urge to continue employing the djed shifting body magic was to be expected. Magic users called this compulsion the "Sweet Whispers", and either learned to resist it, or suffered horrible repercussions.

But, 'Sweet Whispers' or not, Inoadar found the anticipation of surprising this foe with an inhumanly strong fist to either the face or the midsection too satisfying to pass up. He readied his fist, cocked back behind the small of his back, and slid punching strength and skeletal support into the muscles and bones of this arm, hand, and shoulder as well as his spine.

He was well aware of his poisoned boot blade as well. If he couldn't get in an effective punch, he might still be able to get to get in a kick. It seemed suddenly much easier to focus his Flux than it had before. His confidence spiked along with this realization. The pain of his cuts and bruises was forgotten. He felt invincible as he beckoned the Jamoura with a sneer. "Come on then, you furry sack of flea shyke. Come and get some more."

xTo Mods and gradersWe PCs have agreed to allow a bit of god-modding as far as this fight goes, for the sake of expediency

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren Faolan watched N curiously as he flopped around on the ground like his arms weren't working properly or something. He wondered what that meant until the man seemed to recover. His recovery was swift and powerful and he moved in a way that the young Kelvic had never seen before. The only way that could be possible was if magic was involved. He had met a handful of magic users before, but he had not seen this type of magic. Making a mental note to ask about it at a later time when he wasn't poisoned or lying naked covered only by his cloak in the middle of the woods while there was a battle between a giant beast taking place he grabbed another clean scrap of clothing and tied it down over the cut to his arm. As he watched N move around with some sort of magic aiding him he noticed when the man seemed to coat a hidden blade with what could only be another poison. Staring at the package as it landed nearby he sat up, tying the cloak around his throat where it was supposed to be. Lifting the package up he sniffed at it a little and wrinkled his nose at the smell that came from it. "Yeah that's probably poison." he muttered to himself. Looking up at the scene before him he wasn't sure that he should say anything to the big animal. It could be dangerous to distract him and he didn't want to be responsible for the other animal being poisoned because he interjected. Staring down at the package in his hand the wheels in his head turned as he tried to think of what to do. Knife. Where was his knife? Looking at the shredded pile of clothes he frowned and sifted through it until he found his hunting knife. He never left home without it. While he didn't know much about how to properly wield it in a fight he carried it anyway just in case it could prove useful. Finding it under what was left of his pants he lifted it by the torn strap that held it to his pants and sighed as he saw that it was also shredded. Finding himself sad instead of angry he let out a long sigh. Another thing he would have to get repaired or buy new. Glancing over at the embattled pair in front of him he tapped his fingers on the blade; a soft clinking coming from his nails on the metal. Deciding that he probably shouldn't interfere as the other animal would probably be better off without his interference. He would probably just muck things up and make it worse than it needed to be. So the young man ended up just sitting there with a package of poison in one hand and a knife in the other, wrapped in a gray cloak and staring at the dueling pair in front of him. It appeared as though they were evenly matched despite the size difference; which was surprising.

[Bor]

The man sprung like toy from a jack in a box towards Bor. He felt the man's arm around his throat but his grip slid as soon as it had caught. Bor turned to see the man fly again to the ground. The man got up to a crouch and stayed there. Bor saw that he was doing something but couldn't quite tell. Maybe he was taking out another dagger? The man tossed something away but Bor didn't saw anything in his hands when he stood up.

''"Come on then, you furry sack of flea shyke. Come and get some more." the man said. He seemed to ready his fist for a punch. Bor grunted and said ''As you say'' He charged the man, readying his own punch. Even though Bor had much longer reach than the man, he went close up to the man and swung his fist towards man's side. He could feel his punch landing on the man, but he also felt the man's counter punch on his cheek.

Bor had fought men that were over head taller than this man in Sunberth. But none of them had ever punched him so hard. He took a staggering step backwards and tried to center his vision.

[Inoadar]

Inoadar

Inoadar might have seen the Jamoura stagger, and been proud of his punch, were he not staggering back himself from the counter punch of the big primate. He had raised his other arm to ward the blow, forgetting that he hadn't worked any Flux enhancement into that arm.

Pain shot through his arm and shoulder at the impact. Even with the flesh to buffer the blow, his head rocked in dizzy disorientation. When he lowered the arm, another spike of pain shot through his shoulder. It felt dislocated. He knew he had to finish this fight right now.

As the ape-man collected its own focus, the Fluxed poisoner stepped in, crossing his body with his good arm to swing it back and deliver a vicious backhand. Another stab of pain started from his bad shoulder and ran down his spine to undermine his balance.

He remembered the boot blade, now coated with 'Bloodroot', his default defense compound. It was a debilitating toxin, bringing both weakness and confusion. He knew logically that he should probably make his escape right now, but an urge to embrace the Flux to ever greater degrees sang in his soul. He kicked at the creature, unsure of whether he'd connected or not, as a sudden dizziness sent him back a couple of steps.

Still, he felt unstoppable. Part of him wanted to empower his lungs and vocal chords to shout in triumph at both his adversaries, let them know what fools they had been to defy him. Part of him wanted to strengthen his grip to crush the ape's throat. Part wanted to turn his legs into steam-driven battering rams and cave the big brute's head in.

But this very broken focus was his undoing, as he tried to empower all of these points simultaneously. He felt off balance for a moment, but his surge of avaricious power-mongering drove the awareness of it to his subconscious. A small part of him tried to reach a corner of reason still begging for recognition, remembering the state of Daegron, the morpher, when he'd entered the NMSS, looking for help with the effects of overgiving.

But the manic majority of Inoadar's fevered mind ignored it. He gloried in the surprise and apprehension on the face of his target. "Beg me to spare you, beast. Beg me IN VAIN!" he shrieked, dissatisfied with the lack of intimidating volume he desired. He immediately began sending strength and reinforced flexibility to his vocal chords, forgetting his previous impulse to end the fight.

But something was wrong. His effort to empower his voice seemed instead to strangle him. He lost attention on the Jamoura as he felt his body beginning to tremble. He tried to calm his over-excited nerves, but was suddenly horrified to find that he couldn't. He tried to take a step away, but the overpowering of his muscles sent him leaping back into a heap.

"NOOOOOOOoooooo...!" he roared, clutching at his throat as it closed up with uncontrollable spasms. Then the hand clutching it began to twitch, and for a moment he thought he was going to crush his own throat. The dislocated shoulder fell prey to muscle spasms that pulled it further from its socket, and the scream of agony that was strangled in his throat felt as if it would pop his skull...

x

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren Faolan watched N move in a way that was not natural of a human man as he attacked the big animal. There was no way that some strange magic was not involved somehow. As he watched the man stagger backwards he could see the pain in the lines of the man's face. He hid his pain well, but the wolf knew better. Just like wounded animals humans try to hide their pain, but unlike humans animals could pick up on that pain much easier. Tossing the packet of poison to the side as it quickly became clear that he wouldn't need it he sat transfixed by the conclusion of the battle. Tilting his head to the side he wondered what had happened to cause N to suddenly become so unsteady on his feet. He had no idea that you could push magic so far that it would do such things to your body so he chalked it up to maybe accidental self poisoning. When it appeared that the man had recovered he frowned and started to get to his feet, wanting to help the fellow animal if he could. He didn't know how he would help, but he would try. He of course remembered what had happened the last time he attempted to help and wanted to try and avoid that happening again, he would be bruised from that hit for a while and didn't really want to earn another. He had just regained his footing when N leaped backward suddenly and started yelling no. Wondering what he was yelling about the young Kelvic stood where he was as the man starting clutching at his own throat. He glanced at the big ape even though he hadn't seen him do anything to the human. He wondered if the other was using magic as well. It didn't seem like he was though so he remained confused as he watched the man struggle with some invisible force before collapsing. In the silence that followed Faolan wondered if the man was dead. Glancing at the other animal again to see what his reaction was he began to cautiously approach the prone man. His bare feet making hardly a sound on the forest floor he crept forward; watching the prone form carefully for any sign that the other was just playing dead. Stopping just out of reach he stood there staring down at the man for a few moments to try and determine if he was still alive or not. Once he decided that the man wasn't much of a threat right now he stepped up next to his body and crouched down next to him. Poking him in the side just to test once more he watched any reaction before starting to rifle through the man's pockets. He wasn't looting him out of anger, but out of recompense. He wasn't about to walk away from an opportunity to gather some compensation for his destroyed clothing. As he picked through N's clothing he came across some mizas which he gladly took, looked over the strange instrument he had used to shoot a dart at the big ape but since he had no idea what it was he decided against taking it, he knew that if he took it he would probably only invite trouble upon himself for having such a distinct looking weapon. Noticing the bracer on N's wrist however he figured he might be able to get something with it and removed it swiftly, noting that there were a few little things attached to it still. When he came across a medallion around N's throat however he stared at the design on it for a moment before getting up and hurrying back to where his destroyed clothes laid in a heap. Sifting through it he found the small amount of money he carried on him and added it to what he would have to carry back to the docks. Turning around he hurried over to the ape and looked up at him with a small smile. "Thank you." he said. "I'll share some of the money with you if you like?" he inquired. "I'm Faolan by the way." he said hastily in introduction. "We should probably go." he stated in just as hurried of a voice. He knew what the symbol on that medallion meant and a sense of fear had wormed its way into his mind. They needed to get far away from here or something bad would happen, he was sure of it.

[Bor]

Bor shook his head as he stopped seeing everything in double. The man seemed to recover faster than him as he was already stepping in for another punch. The punch itself was badly thrown, as it didn't even reach Bor and it seemed like the man lost his balance because of it. Yet the man kept on going, this time trying to kick Bor. The hidden blade almost shaved off some of Bor's chest hair, but it too didn't connect with him. The miss made the man stumble back couple steps.

The relentless attacks started to worry Bor. The man had every time summoned new strength when he had needed it and it looked like it was not going to stop. Bor kept his distance, warily looking at the man. The man staggered again, but didn't seemed to notice it as he suddenly shouted ''Beg me to spare you, beast. Beg me IN VAIN!'' He looked like he was mad of power, before suddenly collapsing down, holding his throat.

Was this some sort of trick? Bor frowned at the man in confusion. His eyes then shifted to the Kelvic he had thought to be dead. Bor was too surprised and confused to say anything as he started looting his attacker's body. He seemed to found something useful as he returned to his now torn clothes with something in hand.

The Kelvic the approached Bor with a smile, thanked him and quickly introduced him. ''I uh. I'm Bor'' he said. Bor thought about sharing the money, but he thought that Celia wouldn't like him sharing stolen money. Celia! He had completely forgotten about Celia and her stone he was supposed to deliver. And what would she say about his wound? All of these thoughts ran trough his head as Bor started walking back towards the docks.

[Inoadar]

Inoadar

For a moment, Inoadar thought he was waking up from a troubling dream. But the feel of cold hard ground and damp grass beneath him made him realize it was all too true. The very beginning of his attempt to initiate muscular response to his desire to simply roll over caused a spike of agony that did not wane when he then tried to relax the offended nerves.

And the pain did nothing but escalate as he arched his back in agony, his neck joining in the punishment as he screamed. But at least the outburst was not cut off by the previous strangulation of his vocal cords. He took a measure of hope from this, though his screaming would have led a stranger to believe he had no such thing.

It took several rounds of self-perpetuating torment to achieve a balance where he could cautiously try degrees of sight movement without increasing his pain beyond endurance. After what seemed like bells, he managed to get to his hands and knees. he had no doubt now that he had over given his Flux indulgence. He thought back to the extreme measures he'd taken to "cure" Daegron of his imbalance. His spirits sank at the thought that he would have to go to such an extent to give himself sufficient break from using the Flux to restore his own balance.

But his pride actually served him well now. He'd been a fool to use the Flux so extensively. But he knew it! And he knew that his method would work! He had this advantage over the morpher. Daegron had been required to lean entirely on trust of a complete stranger. A stranger depriving him of the only thing that had been able to give him respite from the pain that he himself was now suffering.

Even though Daegron's continued use of morphing eased his pain for the duration, it was obviously only making the ultimate suffering worse. Inoadar had simply forced him to endure it, and ignored his wails of pain and protest. He would now have to do this same thing to himself. He would have to exert willpower possibly beyond anything he'd ever been in need of before.

But he could do it, his pride told him. it whispered in his ear much like the voice had done when he was being interrogated in The Black Hole. But the poisoner could tell that this voice was not borne of madness. Not borne of desperation to avoid further torment. NO! He was a past champion of The Second Edict! That which was the only strength derived from his Nykan upbringing.

He actually made himself scream as he got to his feet, knowing he would have anyway. It gave him a bravado to tell himself that his scream was by choice. And he stayed on his feet! He swayed in self congratulations, suddenly realizing the significance of his solitude. His enemies had not killed him!

He was about to instinctively look around, but a spike of pain at the initial bunching of neck muscles reminded him that he'd regret it. No, he did not need to look around. he knew they were gone. He did not know why they'd left him alive, but he'd work that out later. For now, he needed to get back to the ferry docks. There was a good chance that his adversaries would be heading there.

But it was equally likely that his progress would be so slow that they'd be on a ferry preceding the one he'd be likely to catch. For that matter. he might just end up sleeping on the shore this night. He saw no real problem with that, he had plenty of mizas for such a-...

Fury gave him renewed stamina. They had robbed him! The bastards! His pride again surged that such weaklings needed to catch him in such a state to pull off such an offense against his dignity. He would catch them up later, he vowed, and started his slow, step-by-step way back to the docks.

After many bells, and an equal number of collapses, he found his way at the Lakeside Outpost. He'd have ridden his horse, Handy, if he could have managed to get in the saddle. His few attempts convinced him of the painful futility of this hope, and he settled for leading the loyal beast back with him. He envied its easy gait and spent the better part of the journey relaying the grisly details of how he would reward his two foes for their brazen dishonor.

A part of his mind told him he was being ridiculous for holding actions he himself had inflicted on vulnerable targets many times against the ape man and his wolfling sidekick. But it gave him needed strength to indulge in the rage and visualizing of heinous retribution.

It was fortunate now that he had been so generous with his regular past bribes to the crew at the outpost. They quickly arranged for his being put up at Sheng's Inn, a fairly new establishment on the lake shore, and one it had been needing for some time. He did not know if they paid for him outright, or if his condition had inspired the proprietor, Moraya Sheng, to be generous.

In either event, he knew he now owed her a favor. She herself had made this clear to him with a nod and a smile. "Indeed you do, mister Parnell. But we can work that out if and when it becomes necessary. For now, rest is what you need." she said before closing the door to his room so he could begin his recovery.

x

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren Foalan gave Bor another small smile as the other introduced himself in return. "Nice to meet you Bor." he said as he hurried after the other animal. "Bor, I've never seen anything like you before. What are you?" he inquired. For every step that Bor took the smaller male had to hurry a few extra steps to keep up. He didn't plan on leaving the big animal's side until they got back to the city. After all, it was good to have such an ally when trying to slip back into the city without anyone questioning him. The cloak would do well enough to hide his nakedness to keep from sparking any suspicion about his identity. He would just have to hold it closed the entire time and hope it wasn't too odd that he was walking around without shoes. As they got closer to the docks he situated his arms so that the things he was carrying were cradled against his lower chest, allowing for his right hand to hold the cloak shut. He had put the hood of the cloak up and hurried along next to Bor until they reached the ferry and boarded. The Kelvic sat next to his new acquaintance, being careful to not reveal that he wasn't wearing clothes underneath the cloak. He didn't question the large being about the rock; he had a feeling that it had to do with the other's master so he didn't bother asking as the other probably didn't know either. Of course once they were in the city he would have to part ways with Bor. The first thing on his agenda was to hide the bracer that he had stolen from N's prone form in his room. Then he would take the stolen money down to the market where he would buy some new clothes, perhaps more than one set if he could stretch it that far. That way if something like this ever happened again he wouldn't have to walk around naked. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable being naked, it was that humans seemed to have a strange aversion to it in public places. He never did understand why they were like that, but he knew that in order to keep his freedom he would have to be very careful until he obtained new clothing.

[Bor]

Bor ducked a low hanging branch, well at least it was low hanging for him. To anybody else the branch was way above their heads. ''I'm Jamoura. I was born in Spires, but I've also lived in Kenash, Endrykas, Sunberth and now I live here, until my master decides to sell me to somewhere else'' He sighed as he recalled his pass. ''I assume that you are Kelvic? But I've never seen a Kelvic change his form so quickly as you did. What happened?''

As Faolan explained as good as he could about what had happened they reached the docks. Bor wasn't surprised that he found the boulder where he had left it. It had no value to anybody else except to Celia. He lifted it without much of an effort and boarded the ferry with Faolan. People gave strange looks at the pair but Bor ignored them. People had given him queer looks ever since he had started working on Kenash's fields.