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The Chosen [IC / Not Accepting / PG-16]

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The lion breathed out flames towards Damien. The young man had been knocked backwards after being coated in frost and seemed to be struggling to keep even his reflexes sharp. So even with Ryia shouting his name and the fire coming towards him he wasn't able to dodge as the flames struck him. He was covered in the fire and all they could see where the bottom of his legs and feet.

Keres had reacted faster to Ryia's cry and soon a trail of water entered the flames. At first it seemed the water wasn't strong enough to pierce it but then Damien was ripped from his position, body wrapped by the watery tendril, and tugged unceremoniously over towards Keres and Madelyn.

"sorry to keep you waiting, ladies."

"I'm glad you're so carefree about all this." Madelyn snapped. Then she noticed Keres bringing Damien over and sighed. "I guess I have to do something about this." She muttered. As the boy lay there she knelt on one knee and put one hand behind her. Forming a small barrier in front of her and Keres. "Strange...he should be worse off..." she muttered as she leaned towards his burn covered body. With her other hand she started to pour magic into the swordsman's body. She noticed he somehow still had a grip on his sword and frowned at it for a moment before returning to her work.

Meanwhile the lion let out yet another roar and, off by where the demon gate were, two more of the imps crawled out of rips in the sky to drop down onto the ground and look around. Getting their bearings.

And the other demon that Ryia had been fighting took her calling to Damien as distraction and leaped towards her. Moving slower than intended due to the ice coating its body but still moving with tenacity.

Spoiler

I think this one is clearer, though I feel I missed something. Either way

Map (arrow is what direction lion's heads are facing)

 

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Ryia's eyes were fixated on the flames, her expression aghast, trying to make out if she could see anything of Damien beneath the flames. Her legs were rooted firmly in place, too shocked to move and too unsure of herself to even be able to make a difference even if she did. She simply waited for something, some sign of him to still be alive or able to make it out of the flames. As she stared, though, her attention was suddenly taken by the sound of her foe. The demon had seen fit to start moving and leap towards her. As she realized it was attacking, the girl turned to face it; her expression blank but a clear fury in her eyes and she locked them with the demon. Slowed down by the ice the demon's advance was not quite as fast as it had hoped, and the moment she noticed it coming there wasn't a shred of hesitation in Ryia's movements. Taking a single stomp forward, Ryia brought up her shield and shoved it into the demon. 

The armament slammed against the creature, interrupting its leap and causing it to fall back. Taking another step forward, the girl pushed with her shield bringing it back to her side and pushing the demon further back. Raising her mace up, the girl's expression broke way into one more of frustration and rage as she gritted her teeth. She was angry. Angry at the demons for putting them in this position, for striking at her friends, for keeping her from being able to help them. She was angry at the lion for protecting the demon gate, for calling these demons, for harming her friends. And she was frustrated with herself, her own helplessness and inability to stop what had happened so far. Letting out an enraged shout, the girl brought her mace down, striking with as much strength as she could muster into the demon's head. 

The demons body bent downward, letting out a gasp of pain and seemed to be struggling upright. Its head was partially caved in, blood oozing out of it and its body was twitching, still barely holding onto life. And with what life it had, it continued to fight. Bringing up its mangled arm to strike at Ryia's exposed side, the head injury and frost had made its movements sluggish. And so, Ryia was able to swing her mace upward, uppercutting the demon's face with her weapon. Being forced in the opposite direction it was moving, the demon was knocked off its feet and onto the ground. Looking at the downed demon, it still struggling to move, Ryia brought her mace down one last time into the creature's face, ending it. 

With the creature dead, the girl looked back to where Damien had been. Panic had briefly set in as she saw nothing there, her eyes starting to dart around only to finally settle on his body underneath Madelyn's dome of light. Letting out a sigh of relief, seeing that he was being tended to - though still worried if he would make it all the same - the girl started to steady her hasty breathing. Even though Damien was safe, her frustration did not cease. She hadn't felt particularly useful so far and she knew she had to do something to keep the pressure off of the others, but also was aware of how it was impossible for her to go toe to toe with the lion. Reluctantly, she had to leave it to the other two, hoping that they would be able to pull through against the beast just as they  had the archwizard. And so, Ryia looked to the demons that had just appeared, biting down on her lip as she walked towards them. 

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Lindow smirked at the woman's comment about his carefree attitude. Was she so blinded by fear that she couldn't appreciate the glory of this battle?! He didn't completely blame her. It wasn't too long ago that he himself would have assumed this situation were insurmountable, but after the many foes the Chosen had slain they had become strong. With each seemingly impossible situation group had thrusted before them, they had found new power at the end of their struggles. This guardian and it's fiends were no different. No matter how formidable, they were necessary steps on the path to becoming the strongest. The way he saw it, if the group couldn't make through this, then all their plans for the future were doomed to fail regardless.

Watching as the mages barely managed to save Damien, Lindow reached back into his pouch and grabbed one of the potions he kept hidden there. Quickly downing the bottle just before Ryia begun her exchange with the frost bitten imp. He admired the rare glimpse at the the earth Chosen's ferocity for a long moment, before shifting his focus back to lion, now sure that Ryia would be able to hold her own against the demons that had appeared on the outside of the battle. After tossing empty container over his shoulder, Lindow cupped his hand above his mouth and whistle over to Reinaan who quickly turned to meet his gaze.

Having fought alongside the boy quite a few times now, the Thunder Chosen knew that words were unnecessary. A slight nod was enough to convey his intentions, and his smirk turned into a grin as he watched the young Draken look between him and the beast before confidently flaring his nostrils and returning the nod right back. Lovely. This was why the boy was his favorite. With their plan settled, Lindow dashed forward with renewed vigor. Slashing at the lion's hind legs with his Cleaver, he felt his whole body tighten up as the creature roared before suddenly spinning around to blast its attacker with a torrent of flame. After rolling backwards to avoid being cooked, the Thunder Chosen noticed a shadow indicating movement from above. His instincts took hold before he could even think of dodging again.

Feeling his free hand grip one of the swords on his hip, Lindow glanced up and gave into his impulse, swing the short blade up into the lion's paw just as it came slamming down and sent him tumbling away. As he struggled to catch himself, the witch hunter caught a glimpse of Reinaan finally making his move and climbing atop the creature's back once more. Determined to keep the beast's attention, Lindow brought himself to halt before quickly dropping the Bandit Cleaver so that he could send a throwing blade flying towards the flame spitting head. Unsurprisingly, the lion took this provocation as in indicator the more flames were necessary, forcing Lindow to leave his Cleaver behind or risk being ashes around the hilt. Diving to the side once again before breaking off into full sprint, Lindow tossed another blade towards the creature's gaping mouth to very little effect...

The man bore smile regardless, however. Seeing that Reinaan had managed to get into position at last, Lindow flexed his palm and began gathering the remainder of the Thunder Spirit's power. 

Edited by Hollow

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Reinaan had to control himself from stabbing the lion all along the way as he scaled it for the second time. The frustration of having been thrown at all was sitting nicely in the forefront of his mind. But Lindow was putting in a lot of effort to keep the thing's attention so he could get a decisive strike. It would be a waste to anger the thing now and ruin the plan. And so the boy continued climbing until he was higher up on the fire head's back and neck than he'd even managed to be before with the ice head. By this point the beast had launched another breath attack at the Thunder Chosen and even behind the source of it the Draken could feel the immense heat given off. It would have been reminiscent of home if it wasn't coming from a giant monster that was summoning demons. The urgency of the issue that was killing the thing was made apparent when Lindow's latest thrown blade wasn't able to pierce through the flame stream. The Fire Chosen readied himself, trying to be careful not to overuse it, and summoned the flame claws again which he plunged deeply into the top of the fire head of the lion.

Except nothing happened. Reinaan wasn't sure he believed it as it happened but the flame claws did nothing to the beast's skull. It was like they weren't even there. Reinaan's own physical claws were able to pierce the skin of the head but there was little chance of making it through the skull and into the brain. And so he looked to Lindow with a face expressing his disbelief and simply shook his head instead of shouting. The flame breath had stopped but this was far from the lethal blow they needed. If the beast manipulated fire it made sense fire couldn't hurt it. But the boy was furious with himself for only thinking about that after scaling the beast again and making an ineffective strike. At this time the ice head, injured though it was, began rearing up to look at the draken. Lindow seemed to grasp the situation quickly and began charging in with the power he had been building. It was time for Reinaan to get out of the way of another strike ally's strike and so he leapt.

The draken knew he could kill the ice head. So long as Lindow had the means to kill the fire head this would work out fine. The Thunder Chosen closed the gap quickly as he readied his Third Blade which took on a long cutting edge shape which the man swung for the fire head's neck, looking to sever it. The efforts weren't entirely fruitless, but the head readied another breath attack, that should Lindow avoid he would find himself unable to finish. The ice head too unleashed its breath at Reinaan as he leapt through the air from neck to neck. But with the protections he had in place he felt there was no choice but to take it. As long as he could kill it. Lindow shared the sentiment for he made no effort to avoid the fire breath. Instead he raised his buckler iin some effort to shield himself but was otherwise committed to his attack.

Both Fire and Thunder were determined to land the killing blows.

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Ryia's advance towards the demons was cautious. She didn't make sudden movements and simply took a slow path in their direction. The demons seemed to not have any patience for this.

As soon as they became aware of their surroundings, and saw the young woman advancing, they let out gleeful shrieks and ran right for her. Both of them charging with single-minded determination. Seemingly without even any awareness of the other they ran for her. Slinking down low with their arms dragging behind them they ran to the girl from the left and right side.

--

The joint attack by Lindow and Reinaan had caused much confusion and difficulty for the lion. In the end the two heads let loose an attack on both of them in an attempt to finish them before they finished it.

Lindow would feel the flames surround him much like they had Damien. He would immediately realize that something had been wrong with how Damien reacted. Which is to say even one as stoic as Lindow was able to keep himself from screaming as the fire burned at his flesh. His face was covered by his shield but the metal grew incredibly hot and he would have to drop it soon. However as the extreme agony grew unbearable he felt a strange, soothing, sensation.

Keres's water wrapped around him and, similarly to Damien, pulled him out. Thankfully faster than it had Damien. Though the burns on Lindow's body and arms seemed more severe than those on Damien.

He could barely hear Madelyn's voice "Another one? I can barely keep this one stable...Well at least that thing is...Uh."

As for Reinaan his flames were strong but couldn't quite keep out the stinging pain of the cold that washed over him. He felt his body starting to become unresponsive as the ice coated his body. But he had been able to reach the lion's head nonetheless. He wouldn't be able to think much of his plan of attack and simply lashed out as best he could.

When he fell back, coated in a layer of frost, and hit the ground he would notice the head, its neck already partially cleaved through, fell alongside him.

The other head as well looked mangled and, as the lion took an instinctive step back, it too fell to the ground.

They had beheaded both of the beasts heads.

For a moment they felt victorious. But then the body continued to move. The blood that came from the neck wounds dropped in thick globs of dark liquid. Oozing and looking nearly coagulated.

The body seemed to be unable to perceive them as well as before yet it still looked to know where they were. And it started to warily move forward.

Keres stared at it, at the two burned comrades, and at Reinaan, who would at best be hindered in his movements.

With a deep breath she moved out in front of where Madelyn was shielding the two.

If the others were in this state, and if Ryia was facing the demons along, she would have to do everything she could. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she examined the area. Coming up with a plan.

Without the heads the thing was less perceptive than before. And unable to counter with breath weapons. Its roaring, which had seemed to be what created the portals, also was nullified. Yet the beast's body was large. Its claws sharp. This was not yet over.

Spoiler

Map

 

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As the two demons had ran towards Ryia, the Earth Chosen was aware that actually trying to fight both of the imps at once would prove to be incredibly troublesome. And so, contacting her spirit, the two split from each other with Ackrin look towards the demon on her left. Creating a series of rocks, the earth spirit pelted the demon, causing a momentary distraction to the imp and forcing it to slow down its pursuit. Moving towards the imp on her right, Ryia went to clash blows with it, the creature swinging its claw at her and her in turn swinging her mace to strike its hand. As the two attacks collided, Ryia winced as her arm jerked back from the force of the creature's attack, the demon as well simply shaking its clawed hand. Following up, the imp then went to strike at Ryia with its other hand, clawed fingers made into a spear like point as they were brought together. 

Off balanced already, Ryia could do little, but step back and try to parry the creature's attack with her shield. Trying to push the hand to the side, the girl struggled a bit but still stumbled back as the hand forcefully pushed back against her. Not stomping its pressure, the creature raised its other arm up, bringing it down to smash against Ryia. Hastily the girl swung her mace it, but the arm was faster than her own attack and hand ended up smashing against her arm. Wincing in pain once more, Ryia's arm was forced down though her problems were greater than just that. With its hand now near her arm, the imp grabbed onto it and pushed down on her, causing her already off balanced position to be fully exploited and forced onto the ground.

Letting out a small gasp as her back struck against the ground, the Earth Chosen then felt the weight increase on her arm. The demon using it as a mean to both continue pinning her and push itself back up, once fully up righted it went to use its other hand to strike. Bringing its claw towards her face, Ryia thought fast and put her shield in the way of the attack. Though she managed to prevent any damage to her face, she was now locked in a power struggle over her shield, one that she was in a much less advantageous position to win as the creature still had both of its arms. On the ground and with little elsewhere to strike, once her arm was no longer pinned the girl quickly swung the mace at the creature's torso. The metal caused an audible cracking noise to be heard, and the creature as well seemed slightly off balance from the attack, yet still it struggled against her shield.

Edited by Skaia

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There was only the sensation of cold. Reinaan hated the cold. He was a fire Draken, he lived in volcanic caves, bathed in volcanic hot springs. Why then the cold? The boy hardly processed his movements until he was already on the ground, half covered in ice. His eyes flickered to labored attention as he tried to push himself up to see what had happened. The process of moving only reinforced the cold consuming him which only seemed to grow worse. A fire was leaving him, he couldn't have died her could he? Sure enough it was just his spirit partner exiting his body after his brief flirting with unconsciousness. Still, he could have done with holding onto her warmth a little while yet. As he struggled to move he saw that his and Lindow's efforts had won the day. Both heads lay at the ground. It had to be over. Yet the beast's body continued moving. With no heads to guide its movements or launch the breath or roar attacks it couldn't be that dangerous but the fact it hadn't fallen was deflating the boy's pride. He tried standing all too quickly, and a frost covered foot slipping along the stone floor reacquainted the boy's face with the floor. He spat and cursed as Ziiyol finally registered the scenery around her.

"Reiny! This is horrible..." the spirit started as she looked over her partner. "This earth magic removes the wondrous luster of your scales" Ziiyol pouted.

"The ice!" Reinaan managed to shout, clearly irritated and gasping a bit. His spirit turned her attention to the ice also covering parts of her partner and held a hand close.

"Yes, you're right, this will not do at all." In the spirit's hands appeared her fans which flickered alight with flames. She had to resist the urge to dance as she instead summoned more bits of fire all along the arc of the fans which she began holding close to Reinaan's body. The ice began receding but the process was not going to be swift, nor painless. Heat returning to the affected parts of his body was a unique sensation.

"That stings!" He protested loud enough for the whole room to hear. Even in this position the fire chosen and spirit managed to find something to bicker about as the spirit explained she couldn't simply set him on fire and call that good either. The boy's impatience dominated as he saw Lindow and Damien had taken worse than he had and Ryia was busy with the demons. This left only the mages to finish the twice-headless lion. He had to get moving sooner than later. But Ziiyol insisted, there was to be no rushing this.

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As Ryia's mace cracked the bone in the demon's hip it should have gone down. Or at least hesitated from the pain of the impact. Yet, while it stood more unsteadily, it didn't seem to care that part of its body had been broken. It scrambled back off of Ryia. Only to reach down with its long, gangly, arms and grab onto her ankles. The creature then attempted to pick the girl up to swing her to the side and slam her back onto the ground.

While this happened the other demon, constantly being barraged by stones, continued to approach the girl. The rocks slowed it and clearly was battering and damaging its body yet it continued in a single-minded pursuit of the girl.

---

Keres stared at the beast as it seemed to finally, somehow, locate her general position. She didn't understand how it could tell but, then again, she wasn't sure how it continued to move at all in its state.

Madelyn was healing both Damien and Lindow and neither of them could fight and Reinaan was still in the process of recovering from his own problems.

A pair of watery globes, one at each side, appeared by Keres as she readied herself for attack.

The lion swiped down with one massive paw. Its claws extended to rip her to shreds. Moving one arm the first globe of water moved into a defensive position. Covering the lion's paw Keres could feel the weight, and strength, of the beast and nearly buckled. She tried to push back but the beast continued forward. Ducking ahead Keres avoided the claws but was hit by the paw on her upper back. She stumbled forward and fell towards the side to avoid falling under the creature.

Trying to steady herself she wrapped some of the water around her own arm and the rest clung onto the lion's paw. Thus she was able to stay standing. However she had to release her grip soon as the lion shoved its paw back onto the ground. Lest she be pitched forward by the same watery lifeline that had kept her standing.

As the lion turned and bounded for her she used the other globe of water. Pushing it forward and into the lion's chest. Slowing its advance enough for her to gather some more water. With that she tried something somewhat reckless and pushed herself up on a geyser of her own creation. Moving over the lion as it charged her.

When she fell forward she moved the water to act as a cushion. Landing in a large bubble of water she turned while inside to examine the situation again. The lion seemed confused, though it was hard to tell with no heads, but she thought it would realize where she had gone quickly.

"Whater you waiting for" she heard a voice. Flux appeared next to her. Its expressionless form shaking in what seemed indignation. "You don't have enough strength on your own to move it. But I can help! I thought you'd remember that so I was just looking at all those really neat pointy rocks but I guess even you forget things sometimes!"

Keres's eyes turned towards the stalagmites as Flux said that. She stood back on her feet and nodded at the spirit. With a trilling, excited, noise the spirit merged with Keres and she could feel the magical energy, literally, flowing through her.

BGM

Just as the lion started to turn she realized what she had to do. Gathering all the magic she could she formed water as fast as possible. Creating a pool of water in front of her. Spread out over a dozen feet across. The water was flat on the ground, at the moment, but as the lion began moving in her direction and she spread her arms and raised them it started to rise up slowly.

Pushing her arms forward the water moved towards the lion as it moved towards her. And just before the two met Keres let out a sharp gasp and lifted her arms violently. The water rose up as well and met the lion straight on.

Body trembling Keres manipulated the water into a wave. With which she swept the lion up, up, and over the top of the stalagmites by the wall. Shaking violently, perspiring, Keres carried the lion's body over a group of them...and then released it.

The lion landed. Stalagmites piercing its body in several locations. It thrashed and they could feel a strange trembling. As though the ghost of a roar was let out in the lion's last moments. And then it stopped moving.

Dark blood oozed out and the beast's body lay still across the rocks.

Keres fell to her knees as Flux was forcibly expelled from her body.

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As the demon continued to struggle against Ryia it had gotten tired of the tug of war between them and opted for a different approach. Letting go of her shield, the demon start to back and move to grab at her legs. Knowing that there was no escape from this, the girl took one of the only offensive options she thought she had. Letting go of her mace, the girl unclasped her shield, and with a mighty swing of her arm hurled it at the demon. Grabbing onto her legs and threatening to lift her, the demon was hardly expecting to be brained by the square of metal, stumbling back and grabbing at the shield, throwing it to the side. As it recovered, Ryia took the time to grab at her mace and slowly bring herself back to her feet. As the demon seemed ready to resume its attacks against the girl, a cracking noise could be heard as it suddenly felt its sense of balance go from wobbly to completely lost. 

As Ryia got back to her feet, she had swung her mace into the creature's hip yet again, cracking the hip she hadn't previously causing the creature to lose all balance and fall to the ground. Writhing on the ground for a moment, the creature continued to snarl and stretch its arms forward, clawing towards her with its single-minded determination to kill her. The girl looked down at the demon, her stern expression not leaving as she saw the pitiable sight. Looking to the side, the girl saw that the other demon had gotten much closer to her, ready to strike her as well. She didn't quite mind this, and instead walked over to the downed demon stepping past its arms. Reeling her mace back, the chosen of earth swung once. The head bounced down and a crack could be heard along with the thunk of the metal. However, the snarling persisted and the demon reached up and started to grab at her hips. 

As it tried to claw up her, the other demon was finally behind her, reeling its arms back ready to dive and sink its claws into her. Letting out a frustrated grunt, the girl brought her mace up again. Swinging down, stomping on the ground at the same time the girl's mace struck into the barely living demon, ending its life. Simultaneously, a wall of earth was erected behind her intercepting the demon that had tried to strike her. Its claws pierced into the rock and its face slammed against it as well. Disgruntled by this, the demon pulled its claws out, snarling as it began to skulk around the wall. Clutching onto her mace tightly, Ryia used her free hand to push the demon corpse off of her, getting ready for the last of them to get near her. 

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"You have to be done by now!" Reinaan hissed back at his spirit partner who was still carefully warming his body. Keres was going to have to stand alone to the headless beast at this rate.

"You still haven't moved your foot." Ziiyol returned as she carried on. The Draken was made to look on as Keres took on the still moving remnants of the monster. He was impressed to see her attempt to restrain it with her water but it didn't seem like she had enough power to do it by herself. That was until the Water Spirit offered its aid. Together chosen and spirit were able to summon an amount of power that impressed the boy as he saw the beast impaled along the wall of spikes. Keres was clearly spent as she took to her knees and despite his own condition the boy wanted to go to her to check on her, but this wasn't to be. The Earth Chosen had taken to fighting the two demons that still stood. Ziiyol seemed confident enough she had done her job and not a moment later Reinaan was on his feet, raggedly running at the remaining demon that was currently trying to fight its way around a wall of stone to get at Ryia.

Reinaan arrived, tired as he was, and plowed into the demon, forcing it up against the wall. He attempted to grab hold of each arm to pin it down but despite being nearly half his height the thing had remarkable strength in the long twig like arms. Both combatants had the same idea, that of biting the other. The demon bit into the boy's side, bypassing all defenses both magical and natural. Reinaan meanwhile bit into the top of the thing's head, a disgusting taste of ash coming to his tongue that was only surpassed by the taste of its blood. Despite wanting to gag on it, the draken bit down as hard as he could and a large chunk of the things head came clean off which he spat out ot the ground. The demon had left its mark and Reinaan was feeling sick to his stomach from the affair but it wasn't over. Rather than vomit he exhaled as much flame breath as he had left to his name directly at the thing's head. The demon was moving slower but it still managed to push Reinaan off it and swipe at him through the flames.

The Fire Chosen managed to catch the hands as they were swung, taking a great deal of exertion to keep them from touching his scales lest they pierce him again. It took everything he had not to wretch as he thus labored. But for now he kicked at the thing's legs, knocking it off its feet. That made holding the arms only somewhat easier as he now held the beast off the ground by its arms. Feet were flailing wildly looking for any scratch they could get, a few indeed did land. Reinaan for his part attempted to pull the arms of the demon out wide to pull them off but the flesh didn't give under the strength of his arms quite like the chunk of head had under the sharpness of his incisors. So a change of plans was in order as he brough hte demon's hands together, grasped the wrists with both hands, and with all his might slammed the dying creature into the stone wall. One wasn't enough and he was still getting scratched here and there. So he repeated the effort, slamming the demon into the stone a good few more times than was necessary, even after it had stopped moving and resisting him. He dropped it, now lifeless, and kicked its head one more time for good measure before falling to his hands and knees to catch his breath.

"Is everything actually dead this time?" He muttered, not wanting a repeat of the headless lion's last stand. The demon had nothing more to show for itself, leading the boy to think the fight was truly over. The moment the idea of relaxing his guard entered his mind, his control of his stomach flew into the ether and the boy raised up onto his knees before spewing the contents of his stomach and an uncomfortable amount of bile onto the floor below him. Somehow the aftertaste was still preferable to the demon blood. The sick feeling abated some, though it still lingered. At the least he didn't think another purging of his insides was in order. Of course things weren't done here he thought as he looked to the gate still standing. Without going around the wall to check Reinaan spoke to Ryia.

"Keres and Madelyn might need a hand." He said through heavy breathing. "Ziiyol and I will handle the gate." He stated. Even if Ryia was less injured than him he only felt it right to send her instead. He doubted Keres much wanted him close anyway and there was only so much he could do to help anyone here. Ziiyol hovered behind her partner as he forced himself to his feet to waddle over to his fallen weapon closer to the gate. The draken walked up to it, the swirl of evil emotions getting stronger the closer he got.

"Your turn Ziiyol. Go do whatever Flux did to the last one." Reinaan commanded while motioning to the inactive gate.

"Even if the outcome is the same, I could never do anything the way water does." she teased back before disappearing into the gate. Reinaan didn't have the energy to do anything but agree with that one. With what strength he could still offer, Reinaan swung his halberd down on the orb at the center of the gate structure after Ziiyol's part partially activated it. The structure shattered, putting the gate down for good. The boy took a moment to be sure he'd done it right before plopping down squarely onto his back side on the ground with a sigh to wait for Ziiyol to reemerge.

Edited by Doggo

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Almost the moment the orb was shattered there was a change in the very air. Everything felt fresher than before. Less oppressive. It wasn't as though the evil energy from the gate was gone entirely but it had diminished and was vanishing more every moment.

Keres, watching the lion's body, was startled to see it dissolving into nothingness atop of the spikes. In its place was a faintly glowing orb. Which Keres remembered Flux referring to as a boss soul. The orb floated down to eye-level in front of the stalagmites and seemed to await their responses.

The energy she got from the thing made it possible for her to get to her feet. Looking around and letting out a breath Keres spoke up, "It's done. We should...get out of here. As soon as we can. It being dead means other creatures can make this their home."

She looked over at Madelyn questioningly but the girl didn't notice. So Flux made an apperance right next to the girl. "Hiya! How are they doing?"

Madelyn gave a start as the spirit appeared out of nowhere but gave it a glare once she realized what had happened. Then looking to the two she said. "They're stable but...well, maybe they'll be able to walk soon. But if they have to fight again I doubt they'd last long." She frowned at Lindow. "You're an absolute mess. And I don't just mean physically."

Damien let out a groan and his eyes fluttered open. "Damn I'd rather take a hangover any day." he muttered and winced.

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Being far too stubborn to let himself rest on a battlefield, Lindow struggled in vain against his body's protests whilst the last of the their foes were exterminated. Nonetheless, it was only after the gate was destroyed and he was able to take in the power from the boss soul, did the Thunder Chosen find the strength force his vessel into submission. 

 "They're stable but...well, maybe they'll be able to walk soon. But if they have to fight again I doubt they'd last long." Madelyn's words were the final push he needed to slowly lean up with groan. "Don't... be so sure." Lindow's voice shook with effort as shouldered the burden of supporting himself on his good arm so that he could look up at the girl. Her frown brought back memories from a past he no longer identified with. In this wounded state the man felt closer Joseph than he preferred, and with that came a creeping sense of weakness that damn near a pathogen to the Lindow persona. In this moment his desire for strength flared enormously, subconscious prompting his body to begin metabolizing the boss soul's power to that end.

"You're an absolute mess. And I don't just mean physically." Lindow wasn't sure how to respond at first. His gaze narrowed slightly has he toyed with he idea that maybe this girl had seen something within him whilst they were connected via her magic. Was such a thing possible? He thought back to the hazy image of the women from his dreams, and how he was able to reach out to her with his mind if he tried hard enough. I suppose I'll have to keep an open mind The witch hunter thought to himself as he shifted with noticeable wince. Though it wasn't as if he had much of a say, with so many guests and visitors... 

"Care to explain?" He replied with a pained half smile. 

 

 

 

Edited by Hollow

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Having defeated the demon, Ryia was ready to take on the final one only to suddenly hear a crash against the wall that she had conjured up. After hearing the sound of something slamming against the earthen barrier a few more times, the girl then heard the familiar voice of the fire chosen from beyond it. Walking past the wall, she saw that the demon had been defeated by Reinaan, and let out a sigh of relief as she noticed the double decapitated lion's body was lifeless as well. It had appeared to be their victory against the guardians of the second gate and on confirmation of this, the girls muscles started to relax and her relief gave way to fatigue as her adrenaline started to lessen up. Nodding at Reinaan's next comment, the girl started to slowly make her way towards the others, feeling her pace pick up as the soul of the lion had been absorbed into her body. 

Seeing that her companions under Madelyn's barrier were stirring, still very clearly alive, the girl smiled looking to Madelyn and nodding her head. "Thank you, um, thanks. For everything, Madelyn." Looking to the others, she simply said, "if um, if either of you need any help then well. Uh, yeah." The relief was very evident on her expression to both Lindow and Damien, though given that they were still healing the girl was slightly cautious to actually get any closer to them. 

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"Care to explain?"

Madelyn fixed Lindow with a look that said "No I don't think I will." but then sighed and waved her hand. "I suppose it's just to be expected when someone so untrained plays around with magic too much. Take care you don't tear yourself apart with it in the future."

"if um, if either of you need any help then well. Uh, yeah."

"Maybe...they might need help. Getting out of here." Keres seemed keen on leaving the area soon. "Lingering here...would just attract predators." Though she was uncertain what kind of predators would be down here she felt like the right course of action was getting out of there. And so, worn and weary, injured and mentally exhausted, the group made their way back to the surface. Following the path they had taken to get down there in the first place.

It was a relief to discover nothing waiting on the surface for them. Though, still, they had to press on or risk encountering something. Madelyn reminded them that there may be more minotaurs that would be rather unhappy that their treasure was snatched from them.

While they didn't encounter any of them on the way back they did cross paths with a large creature. A Dire Weasel, like the one Lindow had fought a while back, stopped in front of the path as it crossed from one grassy patch to another.

It stopped, looked at them, then scurried off. Unlike the previous that had actively hunted them it seemed this one had decided not to bother the group. Perhaps due to the lack of influence from the Demon Gate.

Not to say the wildlife were peaceful now but, perhaps, their attacks would slow down now.

When they returned from destroying the gate in the desert there was much fanfare. However when they arrived back into town this time there was nothing. As none of the people there even knew they had been on such a quest. Though they did notice that the people in general seemed to be in a more upbeat mood than before.

"I don't know what you all are planning on doing but I'm going to go rest. After a long, hot, bath." Madelyn said. "And I won't let either of you off easily if you wander in again." She said with a glare at Lindow and Reinaan.

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The energy from the soul that the two-headed lion had left behind gave Reinaan the energy he needed to do anything other than sit and breathe. Ziiyol wasn't long for reappearing after the gate was destroyed and the removal of the haze of negative emotions was an additional boon. The draken carried himself fairly quietly on the way back, first making sure the more severely injured Lindow and Damien were alright before looking to administer even first aid to the wounds the demon had given him. The fatigue and slowly abating sick feeling left the boy a less sharp watch on the return trip than he would have liked to have been. It would lead to him cursing his negligence when the dire weasel appeared but the beast wanted no part of them and left peacefully. Reinaan never fully relaxed again until they reached the walls of the city and was curious as an aching sensation set into his legs.

No that he would have been able to partake in any such festivities, but the Fire Chosen was still somewhat disappointed at the relative normalcy of the town after the gate's destruction. It was just another day for these people and maybe that was all for the better. Reinaan could almost be happy with that vague sense of accomplishment until Madelyn spoke her intentions which only elicited unintelligible grumbles from the boy. He didn't remember much of this incident she was still holding over him but it wasn't like he could do anything with the memories if he had them. With a long sigh rather than engaging the woman the boy dismounted Kloqah and led her to the mule's side to take the two mounts in to their lodgings before deciding what he wanted to do. His body said sleep but heart of the dauntless dragon inside of him wouldn't let Reinaan keep the night completely uneventful.

"Anything cool happen in human cities or is it just more buying stuff?" he asked of Lindow, Ryia, and essentially anyone who wasn't Madelyn.

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Unless stopped for some reason or another Madelyn would leave the group without so much as a farewell. Though she gave off an air that made Keres think they hadn't seen the last of her...Though now Keres wondered if the invitation to stay with her was just for the one day or if it was still going.

She missed her chance to ask though and it wasn't as though Keres was comfortable with just showing up.

Standing around awkwardly she wasn't quite sure what to do. Which was when Reinaan asked a question. "Anything cool happen in human cities or is it just more buying stuff?"

She imagined it wasn't to her but still she decided to give it a try. "Well..." After speaking up she realized her mistake. She didn't really know what happened in any sort of city. Thus far she had lived only in the swamp and the mage tower. Neither of which could truly be called a city.

Still she had interjected so she had to say something, right? She thought about the magic school and what she had seen people do there when bored. "I think...it has something to do with blowing things up?" she answered uncertainly.

This seemed to get a laugh out of Damien. "Well that fits honestly. Destruction eh? Heh." There was a slight bitterness in his words and Damien seemed to realize this himself. "Well! I don't know about all that but I'll probably grab a drink before finding a place to rest." He adjusted the sword on his side, taking care to make sure it was in place, then he, too, began to leave the group.

If the group waited around they would notice that they weren't the only ones who had been out on an adventure. Riding on his buffalo, which was carrying a sleigh behind it that seemed to be filled with a variety of items, jewelry, wood carvings, stuffed animals, and the like, Geoff made his way triumphantly into the city from where they had previously came. "Brave people I have traveled across the lands gathering up your lost possessions! Come, I have made a list and checked it twice to be sure what belongs to who! You do not even have to repay me just please do not try to deceive me! My mighty buffalo can smell lies!"

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A shadow hung over Lindow as he trudged slowly near the rear of the party. He had somehow managed to stay on his feet the whole way back thanks to Ryia’s help, leaving him visibly embarrassed by the prospect needing a shoulder to lean on the entire time.

Even though Madeyln’s magic had mended his burns, the Thunder Chosen’s body seemed to be still very much aware of the punishment it had been through. The battle for the second gate... though he had gained more strength in the end, the fatigue left him a very glum and sooty looking scarecrow that slumped near the Earth Chosen for support. Feeling Madelyn’s glare, he simply pretended not hear the girl whilst peering up at the roof of a nearby building- much to the displeasure of the family of pigeons roosting in the gutter. He felt himself silently scoff at the her concerns.

As if he could ever take an interest in someone so weak…

"I do believe that her bedside manner may need some work..."  He sighed to Ryia the moment Madelyn was out of earshot. "but nobody can say she wasn’t useful.” They certainly wouldn't have found their target without her, and her warning provided some food for thought in regards to the powers of the Chosen and the effects on the body. 

After listening intently to the exchange between Keres and Rienann, Lindow said nothing at first in favor of watching Damien fiddle with his blade before taking his leave. The weapon's magical qualities hadn't flown under the witch hunter's radar in the last fight, but for now he would just have to be patient in regard to the elven blade's secrets. "Never thought I'd say this, but I think I've had my fill thrills the day!" He cooed over to Keres before turning to Reinaan and giving the boy a tired look. "Anyone care to join me in buying more stuff? My gear could use some repairs, and I've gotten a few new ideas I'd like to explore after that last fight. I'm sure I'm not the only one..."

 

Edited by Hollow

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A dour expression crossed her face as she once again took stock of both of her companion's injuries. She probably would've been able to help Damien if she had been stronger and faster to dispatch the demon in her path. Similarly, she would've been more able to assist the chosen in fighting the lion proper, as opposed to simply acting as an effective distraction at best to the demons. As a result, things had ended up like this now, with girl only being incredibly grateful for Madelyn's magic stabilizing the both of them. Yet still, there was a concern aside from herself that nagged at the back  of her head. The girl looked over to Damien, worried about what was going on with the boy during the fight with the demon gate, She didn't say anything on the matter to the boy, not wanting to dig too deep into such a thing after they had just come out of such a scrape.

Once the group had resurfaced from the cavern, Ryia could tell that a general malaise that was in the air - one she hadn't even realized was there until just now - was gone. She couldn't really put her finger on it, but it was almost as if the world around them was brighter and calmer. This persisted into the city as well and the girl couldn't help but feel yet more relief come over her as there didn't seem to be anything pressing waiting for them on arrival. The lack of fanfare was almost welcome to the girl at this point, both not expecting it the first time it had happened as well as just enjoying the calm everyday life of the city people around them. 

As Reinaan had asked about things to do in the city the girl thought about it for a moment, not really sure how to answer the question herself. She hadn't done much back in her hometown outside of work, shop and more work. Her train of thought was interrupted as Keres answered first, the girl looking at her with a confused expression. "I um...don't think people blow things up...well, I guess I could be wrong but..." The girl couldn't recall any time she had seen explosions going off willy nilly in Haven. As the non-chosen departed, Ryia looked over to Lindow as he made his own comment about going to shop. She had definitely agreed with the sentiment that he brought forth, and knew there were things that she wanted to take care of before they even thought of heading towards their next destination. 

It was then that the girl recognized the voice of the self proclaimed Chosen of Buffalo, seeing that he had returned from his own adventure. Curious about what he had been up to, as well as if there was anything noticeably different both in and out of the city now that there was no more demon gate, the girl looked towards the others. "Ah, I'll join you later. First I uh, I'll go check up on..." The girl nodded towards Geoff, before slowly making her way over to him. One there, she gave the man a friendly wave saying, "hello there, um, Geoff. Nice to see you again."

"Hello!" He looked a bit uncertain as Ryia walked up but then seemed to recognize her. "Ah, it's you! Did...you have a task for me? If so I'm afraid I must have forgotten it."

"Ah, no, no." She waved her hands as if to dismiss the thought. "I uh, well, I'm coming back from my own sort of uh, task..." The girl pondered it for a moment before saying, "I just thought I'd well, um, stop by. Say hello. You know."

"Oh? You did a task you say? Well that's grand, following in my footsteps! The more the merrier! But be careful it's dangerous out there." He paused then then nodded. "You did indeed say hello!"

The girl couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at his comments before pausing herself, letting an awkward silence hang for a moment. Clearing her throat the girl then asked, "um well, speaking of it being dangerous outside, and all. I know you just back and all, but have you uh, noticed anything different...either in the city or out?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Different how?" He looked around "Is there a festival that I'm missing?"

Waving her hands to dismiss it again the girl said, "ah well, nothing like that. Just like, with the townspeople or monsters or something...In general."

His eyes lit up. "Are you saying the townspeople are becoming monsters? This is much more serious than I thought." He then began to eye some of the people approaching warily.

Letting out another laugh, this time more confused the girl said, "ah, nothing uh, nothing like that. Well, it's nothing really. Just, glad to see you're alright, an all."

"Well that's very kind of you! But you don't have to worry, I AM the Chosen after all! Worry more about yourself!"

"That's uh...true?" The girl paused for a moment before saying, "well, that's all really, good seeing you again."

"And you, too! You might want to get that armor checked by the way, it looks rather dented! Must have had a bit of trouble."

Looking down, suddenly realizing the sorry state her armor had been in from all the abuse it had been through, the girl said, "oh, huh. It is. Uh, thanks yeah. I'll go get that check out." Nodding to herself and Geoff the girl then waved saying, "well um, until we meet again, I suppose," before beginning to walk back. 

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That Keres of all people would put forward the idea of blowing things up to pass the time was perhaps unexpected but Reinaan wasn't one to focus on the unlikely source. The information is what interested him. Blowing stuff up sounded like fun and in a non-combat context almost stress relieving even. He wouldn't have to worry about Ziiyol's magic blowing up in his face. The fire spirit would probably enjoy it a lot too. It seemed like a good idea all around. That said, for the time being the boy was content to go with Lindow as he was somewhat concerned about the damage he'd taken in the last moments of the battle at the gate. Even if it had been some time one could never be sure. And another trip to a weapon shop could potentially have something cool catch his eye. After the scratches from the demon his mind lingered on the idea of some form of armor but he still had principles to maintain. If it didn't look good on him it wasn't to be.

The two chosen went on their way. The blacksmiths in the area were nothing to write home about but were by no means amateur. Most any of them would prove capable of meeting Lindow's needs and offered plenty of wares to browse. The halberd had performed wonderfully in the battles here thus far so the draken was all but ignoring weapons at this point. His eye was on forms of protection. The shopkeep they ultimately settled on sized the two up immediately and Reinaan still wasn't used to being taller than his companion, let alone the humans he interacted with in these cities.

"Sure you aren't looking for a tailor my friend? I know a guy who could get you set up nice down the way." the blacksmith teased Reinaan.

"No thanks." Reinaan managed to respond with a weak laugh to try and keep the situation friendly. "More here for him." the draken said as he motioned to Lindow and gave the thunder chosen time to do his business with the man. The boy took to looking at the things on display but as yet nothing in the armor was catching his eye. The heavier pieces reminded him too much of the Templar Draken who so readily served the still-less-than-trustworthy-in-Reinaan's-eyes-Council. So those were off the table. There also wasn't much in any extravagent colors but that was to be expected by anyone who knew the business unlike Reinaan. Eventually when Lindow's business was sorted the draken wandered back to the shopkeep.

"A friend was talking about stuff blowing up, you know anything about that?" the boy asked clumsily.

"Dear lord did something blow up again? I swear those people need to be more careful with their wares!" the man responded in alarm.

"Those people?" Was all Reinaan could ask back.

"Merchants that deal in explosive goods, I don't make it my business to ask questions of what the others do so I can't say for sure." the man replied. Reinaan's interest was piqued so he knew where he wanted to go.

Edited by Doggo

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Lindow stepped forward promptly after Reinaan addressed the smith. The damage to his black leather armor was quite obvious, but it was the far more subtle wear and strain on his blades that was the primary concern of the thunder chosen. Fatigue from the day made peeling off his scorched gear far more of a chore than it should been, but nonetheless Lindow let out a sigh of sweet relief when he was finally free the clutches of his equipment. 

Now in a noticeable better mood, Lindow rolled his shoulders, finding a new appreciation for the comfort of his street clothes as he listened in on the exchange between Reinaan and the smith about a merchant that dealt in explosives. "Oh, sounds right up little Keres's alley." Lindow smirked. The Fire Chosen's interests weren't only ones who were peaked... It certainly wouldn't hurt to add something that packed an extra punch to their arsenal- seeing as they were up against demons and the sort. 

Turning to Reinaan with the look of mischievous child Lindow nudged the lad with an elbow as he spoke. "Luckily, we do make it our business to ask question, right?" From there on Lindow begun to inquire about the location this merchant, and as he chatted with smith, the man's eye was caught by a bow amongst the many wears. Having already been handling the gold to pay for his repairs, the witch hunter figured two hundred more wouldn't hurt if it were in the spirit further expanding their armory 

With the transaction complete, Lindow nodded thankfully to the smith. Happily slinging freshly bought ranged weapon over his shoulder, he turned on his heel towards the direction of explosive merchant, only to spot Ryia approaching from where that had first arrived. Waving over to the Earth Chosen to get her attention, the man let at out a small sigh when he realized that it would probably make sense to wait for the girl since she also had business with the blacksmith. 

"That was quick." He greeted Ryia with slight smile.

Spoiler

OCC: Lindow dropped 300G on repairs and 200G on a Bow + Arrows x20

 

Edited by Hollow

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And so Keres watched as the others went off. From what she could gather they were heading to find a blacksmith which she didn't have particular reason to go along with. And as none of them came to her to join she simply stood back as they all set off on their shopping adventure.

Keres stood there a moment then moved over to the mule. Petting the mule's face she spoke with it "So...I suppose it is just us, then." she hesitated. "How are you?" she asked awkwardly. Not expecting the mule to answer she was a bit surprised when the animal snorted in response.

"Maybe you're hungry...let's get some food." She thought a moment. "I can wash you after." It must have gotten quite dirty in all the traveling after all and she remembered the nice feeling she had after bathing the other day.

Together the mage and mule wandered off to find food for the both of them.


Looking for the people with the explosives that the blacksmith mentioned proved to be rather easy. They asked around at the market and everyone immediately pointed them in the right direction. Further into the market they went until they found an area with no one around for a long ways. They noticed stakes with signs planted here and there with symbols of some sort of round object with something sticking out of the top that was on fire.

As they moved along they noticed that there were parts of the ground that were pockmarked with singed looking holes. Eventually they found their way towards a huge tent the size of a house. As they approached there was a shout and they heard and explosion and a pillar of fire burst out from the top of the tent. As they watched a male halfling came running out of the tent and to a trough of water nearby. His head was on fire and he dunked it into the water to put it out. When he pulled out they saw that he now had a missing patch at the top of his head and no eyebrows. Blinking a few times he looked over at them and then gave them a surprisingly casual wave.

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Reinaan let out a hearty laugh at the sight of the extinguished halfling. Another case against gross, disgusting hair as the boy thought of how his scales would have never caught fire like that. But with how unfazed the man seemed by the whole ordeal but the draken couldn't help but feel some sense of respect for this total stranger. Now the fire chosen didn't know much of anything about shops, having been to the majority of the ones he'd visited in his life here in this city. But something about these explosive salesmen, if that was indeed who they had found, seemed different.

"Hope you still got some stock left after all that." he teased. The halfling looked at Reinaan for a moment before letting out a giddy giggle while jumping from one foot to the other.

"Most everyone stays far far away! Especially when we're testing. But you came up close. That must mean you're....CUSTOMERS!" As he said this another halfing came out of the tent. This one had a full head of hair and a soot covered face.

"Customers? Did I hear you right? Did customers come?" the newcomer asked. Reinaan couldn't help but appreciate the energy the two were displaying about all this. Granted he assumed his human companions would be a fair bit less unaffected by burning most of their hair off than the first halfling had been.

"Long as it only blows up when we want it to, yeah we're customers." the boy said.

"Well I don't know if..." the one with less hair started only for the second to interrupt.

"Of course of course! Only the best exploders for our customers!" he then headed towards the tent and shouted inside "SIS! CUSTOMERS!"

Unsure entirely what to make of the situation they'd gotten themselves into, Reinaan led the group of chosen up to and into the tent of the explosive salesmen. The immediate impression was overwhelming for the boy more than anything. The contraptions that dominated the space made next to no sense to him and it was difficult to tell where one stopped and another began. Tubes and gears where everywhere, connecting to large metal vats of unknown contents. A bit simpler to process were the several tables atop which lay flasks and other containers. One might naturally expect this to be the things actually for sale. But with the open fires dotting the space too this felt like anything but a normal shop. A female halfling, much more well kept than the other two and likely the sis yelled about earlier, was standing on some sort of miniature tower holding a pair of binoculars, looking up at a large hole in the tent. Reinaan settled near one of the fires, appreciating the warmth on his backside, as he tried to work through the awe to get back to business.

"So what's actually making the booms here?" The draken asked vaguely of the halflings. A look in his eyes betrayed a desire to start tapping and poking at things but given the boom that had greeted them he was able to show some restraint to avoid a repeat incident.

"Anything we want really!" The first halfling said. "Well. Anything we put our secret recipes into." 

"All those things on the tables are completed devices; fully ready and full of potential."

"We can't test them because if we do they'll be gone but they probably work!"

"They DEFINITELY work."

While not the most confidence inspiring interaction, Reinaan was still captivated with the fact this business even existed. So at this point he turned back to his companions who knew the ways of business a sight better than himself. Perhaps they could make better sense of the stock on display.

"What do you guys think? We need some booms?"

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After having checked in with Geoff, on his suggestion the girl went to the blacksmith to fix her armor up. Walking through the market place, the girl eventually ran into the other two chosen, who as well seemed to be at the blacksmith currently. As Lindow greeted her, the girl felt a bit awkward as their business seemed to be done here yet she was just about to start her own. "Ah, yeah. Geoff seems to be, um fine, and uh, yeah..." Just standing there for a moment after returning the greeting, and then walked in assessing what she needed from this trip. She definitely needed her armor to function as she had been all this time, yet after the previous surge of strength that flowed through them, Ryia started to feel like her suit was starting to actually impede her movements. As a result, she figured it might be for the best to get something that would allow more freedom to her to avoid attacks and move how she wanted to, but at the same time didn't want to sacrifice what protection her current suit already offered her. Then there was the next matter that she wanted to explore. 

It had become increasingly apparent to her that the only thing she had to offer to a fight was simply being a body in front of an enemy. As such, she had always opted to be the first into the fight to draw whatever foes she could to her. But against the gnolls such a thing would've been suicide. Against the roc she was powerless to do much of anything as it could simply soar over and around her. And against the lion she hadn't been much help in distracting it to begin with. Though she could simply sit back and protect the people who were also supposed to fight behind her, that had dwindled down to just one person - two counting Madelyn, who herself was adept at protecting - and she knew she would feel restless just sitting back and doing nothing as both the others threw themselves at the enemy. So, she needed to become more versatile herself. 

When all was said and done, Ryia had purchased a new set of armor, selling her older one as well a longbow and a small quiver of 20 arrows. The girl also figured that she could use a change of swords, but knew that there was one with the mule she could use when they reconvened...She also thought the mule as well deserved some kind of reward. As she thought on all of this, the girl then looked to the others, who had been waiting for her and seemed ready to go check something else out. 

Following along with them on their quest to find explosives, Ryia was stunned as they stopped by what was presumably the shop to said store. She looked at the man who greeted them, incredibly concerned for his well being though unable to ask as both he and Reinaan started to talk with each other. The girl figured he was fine, though, as none of the others they met seemed to be concerned with his current state and he seemed to be carrying out conversations just fine. Walking into the workshop itself, the girl marveled at the sight, having never before seen such a place and never being so in awe yet so terrified of everything around her at the prospect of everything being explosive. As they were gestured to the products on sale, Ryia was hesitant to answer Reinaan. On the one hand, she felt like having them around was pretty hazardous and was very wary of what accidents could happen. At the same time,  it wasn't as though they had never used such things before and she as well couldn't really say no in the face of such enthusiastic and passionate looking people for a product that was certainly not the most popular. So, looking to the others she said, "um, yeah. I uh, I suppose we could use them." 

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"um, yeah. I uh, I suppose we could use them." 

As Ryia said that the two halflings in front of them jumped up and high-fived each other. "Got some customers!" One cheered.

"We've been building up stock for just this moment!" the other proclaimed. "We have sooo much for you!"

The female halfling, from her perch, cleared her throat loudly and the other two looked towards her. She was previously examining the hole in the tent but now turned her attention to the group. They couldn't see her face clearly as she held the binoculars to her face as if they were a mere extension of herself. After looking for a few moments she said "Can't you tell they're probably loaded? Come on you two you have to think big! This is our chance to really get a big score!" It was unclear if she didn't intend for them to overhear, didn't realize how what she said sounded, or didn't care, but either way the two males seemed surprised.

"You don't mean..."

"Get out Big Mama!" She declared. The two gasped and the burnt-hair one scrambled about and moved somewhere out of sight behind various contraptions.

There was some bangs and clatters and a "Whew that was close." and then the halfling came back. Pulling behind him a wheeled platform on which was a large object. It was roughly oval-shaped, with a tapered tip, and had some sort of fins propping it up near the bottom.

"Meet Big Mama." The woman declared with pride. "With enough power to explode a fortress wall! It can be yours today if you want it, and I know you want it, and have the gold. Usually we'd sell this for ten-thousand gold but for you I can part with it for 9,990!"

The two other halflings gasped again at the generosity and gave the woman a round of applause.

-------

Meanwhile in a much less explosive part of the city Keres was trying to purchase something. She had realized something as she had taken all the equipment off the mule to wash them and afterwards put everything back.

So she was trying to buy a cart. Unfortunately she didn't know much about haggling and, somehow, instead of paying the original 25 gold price ended up paying 32. Nonetheless she seemed to be happy with her purchase as she showed the cart to the mule and proclaimed "This will make it easier for you."

She wasn't sure if the mule understood but she had a feeling that he was appreciative of it as she slowly began unloading the mule once more to put their equipment into the cart.

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"Meet Big Mama." The woman beamed. "With enough power to explode a fortress wall! It can be yours today if you want it, and I know you want it, and have the gold. Usually we'd sell this for ten-thousand gold but for you I can part with it for 9,990!" This prompted a round of applause from the other two, causing the Thunder Chosen to crack a smile.

Having been quietly observing the halfling trio since the beginning of the interaction, Lindow finally chimed in when their antics seemed to reach the crescendo. "Huh." He studied the device for a long moment, doing his best to picture how one would even go about throwing it at a fortress wall without getting caught in the blast. They'ed need a catapult... 

"That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid we're in the market for smaller booms today." Lindow gave an apologetic wave to the two that had gone through the trouble of wheeling Big Mama over to greet the Chosen. "My draken friend may not be too concerned, but I think we would prefer something light and throwable for our eyebrow's sake... if you've got anything that can be shot with a bow, all the better."

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