Fantasy Sorcery!!! (Completed)

[Yokai]

>> Cast a spell <<​

Aquila wasn't going to stand still and passively await her own death, there was too much at stake for that. Instead she settled on casting a spell in the hope that she would be able to escape from this death trap. There wasn't much time to decide on which particular spell she should use and Aquila instinctively activated the pearl ring. Her plan was simple in its design; to become invisible and then run for it.

 

[ArcticFox]

The spell worked flawlessly. The Ring was genuine. The Elves gasped in alarm around her, shouting to each other, drawing their weapons. A couple of shafts were loosened at random, almost hitting other Elves.

"Order! Calm down!" The Elder tried to command, but the Elves were too alarmed to be of any use. They were disorganised and did not stop to listen for the sound of Aquila's footsteps on the gravel, otherwise they would have caught her without a trouble.

Thanks to that she was able to slip out of the camp, through the fences on the back and into the desert. She ran and ran until the spell faded off, but at that point she was already too far away from the Elves to be seen. She was once again the wasteland, tired and baking in the heat of the sun. The road passed by her on the right, leading toward the mountains. On the north she could see dunes, or barren hills, it was difficult to say from the distance, while further down south was the empty canyon of the river.

- Cotninue east.
- Go north.
- Go south.

 

[Yokai]

>> Continue east <<
​

That had been an uncomfortably close call for a moment there, and Aquila took a second to regain her breath after sprinting for so long. The red head keeled over, hands set on her knees as she pulled in lung-fulls of air until her heart stopped pounding so violently against her ribcage. More than anything Aquila was upset that she'd even ended up in that situation -- that the Elves had been so ready to sell her out to the Archmage. It was distressing that they'd become so desperate as to turn the the Serpents. She wanted to do more to help them but understood that the best she could do was prove them wrong.

Seconds passed and once her breath was caught Aquila straightened up, re-orientated herself, and turned east to the mountains. She had originally run across the Elves while looking for the Moon Serpent and she would not be swayed from that path. Aquila steadied herself and continued east, she could only hope that what laid ahead was not so deceitful as Elves.

 

[ArcticFox]

The road wound upwards from there and into the mountains. Heat beat down from an empty sky. From the mid distance, a screech reached Aquila's ears. The mountainside was barren and there was nothing apparent that would cause that sound. Suddenly, behind a boulder, a fearful shape emerged. A Wraith, quit similar to the one she encountered in Shinva's tomb. It beckoned at her with a single bony finger.

- Run.
- Attack.
- Cast a spell.

 

[Yokai]

>> Run <<
​

There wasn't much Aquila could do against such a creature as she lacked the necessary silver and resources. Her best chance was to turn and flee, not dissimilarly from her first encounter with a wraith. Though then she had Panther to momentarily paralyze the wraith to buy her some time.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Wait! I mean you no harm!" An unusual squeak came from the Wraith.

An old man emerged from behind the rocks to the right, holding his arms up in the air.

"It's just for fun, I promise!" He said, presumably talking about his Wraith. Suddenly the terrifying apparition flickered and contorted, until eventually it fully disappeared. It was only an illusion.

- Be angry.
- Be friendly.
- Ask about the illusion.

 

[Yokai]

>> Ask about the illusion <<
​

Aquila shuddered to a stop as the strange voice rang out from behind the rocks, the image of the wraith -- once terrifying and highly realistic -- flickered from view. An old man, presumably the culprit of such a prank, ventured forward with an explanation tumbling from his lips. She couldn't figure out why he bothered: she'd been about to run, wasn't that the aim of his so called 'fun'? Still, Aquila turned back to regard the man with a frown and a furrowed brow.

"We clearly have different ideas of fun," Aquila muttered but didn't look too angry, instead she appeared curious. "What was that illusion?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"Neat, right!" The man fiddled with the hem of his ragged tunic, chuckling. "Learned it from a traveller. She traded me a bracelet of bone for some food. She was starving to death. Trying to get to Mampang she said, but I don't think she was going to make it, she was so hungry. She showed me how it was done." He explained.

- Ask about the woman.
- Ask about himself.

 

[Yokai]

>> Ask about the woman <<
​

Aquila blinked rapidly at this man's explanation of another traveler, she had never heard of another woman crossing these parts. Why were they going to Mampang, what was their purpose? Aquila's brows furrowed together even deeper and she looked extremely concerned by the news. "I see," She murmured before pursuing that line of thought once more. "Did this traveler say why she was going to Mampang? Can you teach me this illusion?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"She was a warrior like you." The old man said. "And a wizard too. Full of scars." He added, then fumbled through his pockets producing something with a shaky hand. "I can teach you, but you would have to stand back. You see my contraption is in the ground here." He pointed vaguely around.

- Step back.
- Stay put.

 

[Yokai]

>> Step back <<
​

Aquila hummed thoughtfully at that description but didn't pursue it further. Perhaps if this woman had survived then she would encounter her later on in journey, then she could ask her in person. Hopefully she had survived. Aquila was surprised by the old man's willingness to share his knowledge and hurriedly stepped back. She didn't want him to change his mind after all, the idea that he would actually teach her the wraith illusion was too good to pass up.

 

[ArcticFox]

The old man was deep in thought, watching as she stepped back. "I guess that is far enough." He said after a moment.

Then he moved to one side, putting a boulder between him and Aquila. And then he bolted downhill as fast as his legs would carry him.

- Chase him.
- Let him go.

 

[Yokai]

>> Chase him <<​

"H-Hey!" Aquila stuttered in genuine surprise, out of all the things she had expected to happen the red head hadn't accounted for him to bolt. Instantly she gave chase and vaulted after the wily old man -- she couldn't believe he had just turned tail and ran after trying to prank her with that wraith illusion. Aquila pushed herself in order to catch up to him, there was no way she could let him get away with that.

 

[ArcticFox]

She chased after him, feet flying downhill. But clearly the odd old man knew every step of the way, as he had chosen a path over loose stones and rocking rocks. After a few steps Aquila lost her footing, falling down painfully. The old man disappeared out of sight.

- Curse after him.
- Continue the climb up the mountain.
- Turn back.

 

[Yokai]

>> Curse after him <<
​

It became apparent pretty quickly that she wasn't going to catch this man and the frustration caused the red head to curse. Aquila came to a halt after wandering after him without having the old man in sight for several minutes. "Come back here!" She yelled, voice bouncing off the mountain before her anger deflated to be replaced with frustration. "I just wanted to know the spell, you dishonest geezer." Aquila grumbled.

 

[ArcticFox]

She only heard a distant yelp in reply. The mountain pass continued up from her spot and the dusty plains stretched below.

- Go up.
- Go down.

 

[Yokai]

>> Go up <<
​

Still frustrated by the entire experience with the old man Aquila silently cursed herself for letting him slip from her grasp. That spell could have been really useful and ultimately she had gained nothing from the experience. She sighed and turned back to the mountain; it seemed that the Baklands kept wanting to distract her from her purpose. Aquila grumbled under her breath as she continued up the steep incline.

 

[ArcticFox]

She went up the winding path into the pass at the top of the mountain. The wind picked up as the day drew on. It was dusk now and the light was getting dimmer.

Suddenly, the sun was snuffed out like a candle. It could not have set so fast. A hissing sound begun to echo around the rocks and overhead, a larger moon than usual seemed to rise over the horizon.

- Stop to look.
- Read your sword.
- Ignore it.

 

[Yokai]

>> Ready your sword <<
​

Aquila's hairs stood on end at the hiss that rose over the mountain side and she instinctively drew Rhain's dagger for defense. She had ventured into the mountains to find the Moon Serpent, it appeared that she had found it. The weakness of this particular Serpent was fire, Aquila only had one fire spell in her arsenal and she was going to make good use of it today.

 

[ArcticFox]

The new, larger moon rose higher. Then the round shape uncoiled itself. The shimmering body of the Moon Serpent was revealed, hovering in the air above Aquila! Its wide fangs were open and it was coming for her.

- Attack.
- Run for it.
- Cast a spell.

 

[Yokai]

>> Cast a spell <<
​

Panic rose up in Aquila's throat at the intimidating sight of the Moon Serpent coming straight toward her. She had no time to think but luckily she had already prepared her battle strategy -- which was essentially use as much fire magic as possible when facing the creature. With that in mind Aquila focused her magic, looked up at the Serpent, and performed the fire ball spell.

 

[ArcticFox]

She whispered the spell, winding the fireball in her hand. The Serpent did not seem frightened.

Then Aquila hurled the fireball at the creature. The flames flew through the air, guttering as it was hurled toward the Serpent - but she scored a direct hit and the fire quickly spread across the creature's skin. One by one the scales popped off the creature's hide, peeling back and falling like leaves to the rocks below. The Serpent was screaming now, in pain and in terror.

But, it was still alive, albeit weakened. It would take one good hit for it to die.

- Roll to attack (Bonus: 4, Difficulty: 11).
- Cast a spell.
- Run.

 

[Yokai]

>> Rolled 20 <<
​

Aquila's heart thundered in her chest at the horrific sight before her; the Moon Serpent's shriek raised the hairs on her arms and caused a shudder to pass down her spine. For a moment she felt a wave of pity for the creature and drew her bow and arrow -- the dagger was no use when the Serpent was airborne. She took a deep breath, drew back the bow string, and released the arrow; aiming straight between the creature's eyes. Hopefully it would be a quick death.

 

[ArcticFox]

The arrow hit the Serpent's head. Its eyes closed to narrow crescents, then fell dark. Its body crumbled before Aquila's eyes. She had defeated first of the Seven Serpents of Mampang!

The darkness in the sky disappeared and the sun returned with the death of the Serpent. However, Aquila did have about an hour of daylight left only. The marks of her battle with the Serpent were visible in the clearing around her. There was nothing else there, except a bit of stonework at the edge to the right. It looked like the remains of a large bridge or an aqueduct. Whatever it was, it was large and beautiful once. Somewhere beyond to the east was the Forest of Snatta. To the west, Aquila could see a small cloud of smoke rising over the plains on the same spot where the Elven camp was. They haven't moved, or were still going in circles.

- Go down the mountain.
- Go to the bridge.

 

[Yokai]

>> Go to the bridge <<​

Relief shuddered out of Aquila, her knees trembled and for a moment she fell to the ground. She had killed one of the Seven and she wasn't dead or seriously injured. Distantly Aquila knew that this was due to the help of the other beings of the plain and not from her own intelligence and prowess. Yet still, it was a massive accomplishment.

Aquila took a deep breath and stood up on shaky legs, readjusted her gear and turned toward the bridge. She would need to find somewhere to rest for the night -- Lorag had said the Baklands were the most dangerous during that time and Aquila didn't want to hang around and find out if this was correct. Plus, it looked like this place was once gorgeous.