Quest A Gift From Ashes[Open]

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Istra followed after Talus, mimicking his movements once out in the open and crouch-walking. A handy spell, that fog, perfect for concealment of movement and a quick escape. There were a number of spells with such utility for her occupation; shame that she did not have the aptitude for some of them. Others were simply born with the potential to become an Archmage, a Maester. People like her father--with the latent gift of being able to grasp any magical discipline that put their mind to. This peculiar and disparate dispensation of talent seemed a universal rule, and not one that solely applied to magic.

She was not the perfect agent for the Order of Speculatores. But she sought to adapt and overcome with what toolset she was afforded and had acquired.

Like now.

They made it to the cliff face, the Stone Giant still occupied with the remnants of Hardin's treasure seekers. At Talus's prompting, Istra worked her magic and shoved her hands into the once fully solid rock, scooping out two staggered handholds. She pulled herself up and placed her foot in one and reached up with her hand and began the methodical process of carving out that makeshift "ladder" of holes in the cliff. One hand and then the other, moving up carefully, left leg right arm, right leg left arm, a pattern established. She tried to be careful with her removal of the altered mud-like stone, giving each handful a hearty toss behind her such that it wouldn't fall directly down on Al or Talus and splatter on their faces.

She didn't look up. Nor did she look down. Either would have been...possibly disastrous for her nerves. So she kept her eyes mostly forward, only tilting her head upward as much as she needed to see the craggy character of the cliff and its shape. A few times the cliff bowed out in a terrifying manner; even if the convex protrusion was as shallow as could be, the sensation of falling backward was inescapable. Her breastplate scraped against the rock when she pressed herself close as could be to it.

Up. Up and up she climbed. Sweat darkening the red of her headband.

At last her hand reached stone that she did not need to Alter, the edge of the cliff where it leveled off. She pulled herself up and over that edge and rolled over onto her back on that ascended ground, staring up at the sky for a moment, quite glad that she was no longer needed to hold onto anything for dear life. Yes, her magic could have saved her if she had slipped--giving the dirt below a bouncy, spongy texture to cushion her impact into insignificance--but the utter sensation of falling was terribly unpleasant.

After some relieved breaths, she rolled over onto her hands and knees and pushed herself up into a kneel. The switchbacking road to her right, going further up, and not much else. The dense forest was far below them.

The closest thing to her to hide behind was a spiny shrub. And so Istra took cover behind it. Waited for Al and Talus to finish their climbs. Took that small moment to let her arms and her legs rest after such an exertion.

Talus Alakir

 

[Alakir]

He climbed like it was his duty, and if the thinly veiled glare from Talus were any indication, it was.

Not only had they all managed to find themselves in a fine mess, Alakir came close to death within the first half hour after they made landfall. He had to hope that was not an indicator for how the entire excursion was going to follow.

A small break from work turned into a full scale adventure- was this the sort of life Dreadlords always lived? Ah- but for today, at least, his commanding officer was not a Dreadlord. At least, not in front of present audiences.

When he reached the top and looked around, he absently rubbed his forearms. If the woman looked, she might glean hints of military strength training from his muscle tone. That wasn't uncommon among mercenaries.

The Anirian sigil tattooed on his bicep, however, was fairly telltale. Thankfully, he kept that part of his body from exposure, the flowing black of his sleeves never rising above elbow length.

"That's a mighty handy trick," Alakir praised between breaths. "If I had any talent for magic at all, I'd ask for lessons."

 

[Talus]

Talus was the last one to scramble up the cliff, his sword clattering slightly as he pulled himself up onto the face of the cliff. he spotted Istra behind one of the small pieces of brush, Alakir just a second later behind one of the smaller bushes.

A small smile touched his face for a brief moment as he spoke of magical talent.

He wondered if the lad would be interested in learning the Runes. He and Zana had been teaching some of the Guardsmen the ancient practice of Rune Magic. It was dangerous for a regular human to learn them in Vel Anir. The law was staunchly against such a practice, but...well it would be needed in the coming months.

"Maybe after we get through that." Talus said with a jerk of his head towards what lay just ahead of them.

More of the volcano ascended into the sky, but between them and the further slope lay what appeared to be dozens of giant mounds of earth. They climbed higher than any building Talus had ever seen, though the huge doors and windows told a story of what this place was; Stone Giant Village.

One could see the huge humanoids move among the buildings, all of them lumbering with massive gaits as they went about their day.

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Istra watched from her spot behind the spiny shrub as the men likewise crested the edge of the cliff. The noticing of Al rubbing his forearms--the size of them--could not be escaped. Certainly neither he nor Talus could be as exhausted as she was. It struck her as a touch unfair. Unlike a good number of her fellow mages she enjoyed physical training, and while the time she did spend likely paled in comparison to living the hard life of a mercenary, even if she lived the selfsame life as Al she'd not reach the peaks of physicality available to him. Such was her lot in life, and there was perhaps some gratitude due to the dispensation of fortune allowed to her to be imbued with arcane aptitude to compensate.

Still. Despite those thoughts she rather enjoyed the sight. Perhaps her father and mother would be slighted should they know she cast eyes however casually on a man who was not prescribed to her (and rejected along with the others).

To Al's comment, she replied cordially, "It would have been my pleasure. Shall I be bold enough to hope that the talents you do possess will see us through?"

Talus gave a mention of the Stone Giant Village up along the mountainous path; they'd bypassed some but not all of the dreaded creatures it would seem. Escape--should something go perilously wrong--was also a prospect made far more precarious now that they were so high up and with Stone Giants both before them and below them. Now, also, they lacked the convenient distraction of Hardin's rabble. Worse, from what Istra could see there was no good cover for much of this rocky shelf, save the shrubs and the earthen mounds of the Stone Giants' homes themselves.

She glanced between Al and Talus in their hiding spot. Said, "Perhaps...it is time to pool our talents together to conceive of a workable plan, yes?"

Talus Alakir

 

[Alakir]

"It would be an honor and a privilege to live up to the expectation, m'lady," Alakir replied evenly, going so far as to offer a smile as he made his way over to Talus, and he took in the sights. If ever the boss had given him something depressing to consider, this certainly took the crown.

He quirked a brow and folded his arms. "Okay," he pointed to the Dreadlord and emphatically decreed, "this time, you're going in first."

Though, Alakir honestly hoped none of them were slated to go into the village of stone giants at all. A single one of them had carved through a literal boatload of travelers in mere minutes. He could hardly imagine they would do any better with just the three of them.

"I don't imagine there's another path?" he asked, "or that they speak the common tongue, and are open to a more diplomatic method?"

 

[Talus]

"They don't seem too diplomatic." Granted the mercenary bunch had attacked first, but...well he somewhat doubted that the Giant's were really much ones for talking. The idea of walking up to any of them and speaking was terrifying.

There was no doubt the bastards could squash any of them in a second.

Talus might have stood a chance with his own magic, but even he doubted he could kill one of the damned things. Much less a village full. Lips thinned for a few seconds, and he looked between the two of his companions before sighing.

"Stealth?" He asked. "I can make more fog, and we can try to sneak through."

Another path would take them too long. He only had three days.

 

[Rizzo Bouchard]

Istra gave a nod to Al. She did not know if know he, too, was like Talus--a spellsword. But one did not need to be magically inclined to be clever, resourceful, strong. A keen wit and a sharp eye could often accomplish feats that raw magical potential could not. There was a fellow Speculatore she was acquainted with--alias "Wild Rose"--who'd no magical talent at all. He simply used his honed senses and charm and means of reading a person to achieve his ends and complete his missions, outwitting foes and situations where he should be all reckoning be victim to an unbalanced matching of circumstance by some wily whim of fate. Perhaps Al was a man of similar caliber.

Okay, this time, you're going in first.

A laugh. Curt and stifled, the side of her hand brought to her mouth and the sound made without her lips parting, but nevertheless a small laugh. Often she was chided at the College for lacking a sense of humor, but it was not so. Not entirely. She'd a certain regal austerity from her wealthy and noble upbringing, yet the stalwart dam her father had so painstakingly erected had a few welcome cracks.

Diplomatic. Istra was forced to agree with Talus on that. The Stone Giants seemed to her to retain enough intelligence only to cobble together ramshackle huts and weapons and rudimentary tools--base creatures. Speaking with them (should they even possess such a lofty capability) she assumed would do little more than endanger their own wits with the peril that the Giants' astounding denseness might well be contagious. This, to say nothing of being outright attacked by the simple brutes.

Stealth. A far better option.

"I concur. Stealth," Istra said. She took another glance past the spiny shrub she crouched behind and then looked back to the two men. "Should it become required, I could forge for us convenient avenues of escape with my magic. Weaken small portions of those primitive mounds. We break through it as if it were glass, lose our hypothetical Giant pursuer, break out on the opposite side of the mound in question, continue on through the fog."

That. Perhaps other inventive uses of Alteration.

"Should it become required," she reiterated.

And, hopefully, it would not. Istra would much rather reach the Phoenixes and her target unassailed.

Talus Alakir

 

[Alakir]

"Stealth," Alakir agreed. His normal method of approach was that of the frontline. A halberdier carried a weapon meant for sweeping quickly through enemies. That slowed them in the long run, and they made little effort to be discreet. That placed him in the most precarious position of the group.

"Well, if we fail, we die. I suppose we just can't fail."

Easier said than done, of course. Istra seemed to have a working knowledge of magicks that could see them through, so they would just have to rely on her. "For now, I'll follow your lead," he said to the other two. "You ready?"