Dreadlords The Beach Episode

[Kalix]

Kalix paid for the items that he and Perci had picked out, pulling out the hefty sack of coin. He then went and changed, walking out in his speedo— his very tight, red speedo— his other clothes and items draped over one strong forearm.

“Alright, let’s find a ball to play with.” He said with the upmost intense seriousness.

 

[Chasmine]

"They're expressions, Chas. 'Eye candy' means something nice to look at, and 'the goods' in this instance is, well..." He explained politely before stumbling at the finish line. On one hand, Chasmine should probably know. On the other, it was hard for Sable to be impolite.
"Male...parts..."

"Male parts?" Chasmine blinked. What muddled her expression was not confusion, but ... disagreement.

"Well, I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Surely someone will find Kalix's goods to be eye candy." She did not like to speak ill of anyone, but the generalized statement of finding male parts to be something nice to look at didn't sit quite well with her. As with every other Initiate she'd grown up alongside, they'd all seen one another naked, especially in their routines before the revolution.

Chas had never found the male genitalia to be particularly nice to look at. Mostly they reminded her of baby birds before they got their feathers.

She was in and out of the dressing room within short order, turning this way and that as she stepped out with the peach-colored sundress. With a quick gander into a looking glass, Chas turned to Noel, "I have some concerns," she stated, "I am quite prone to burning in the sun." And her face, shoulders, and lower legs were quite pale and quite bare.

 

[Oraya Urahil]

I’m here! I’ll kick anyone’s ass!”

A disapproving tug of her lower lip at the one that was like a brother to her. "You know I prefer to kick my own asses," she rumbled. Brown eyes swept to Noel next. She'd always had an appreciation for the metal bender. The other girl was gorgeous. She caught herself staring a bit too long before the tall femme fatale looked away.

A nod of appreciation to Sable.

"Perhaps a custom suit if we are made to do this again." She was quiet as Kalix paid. More grateful than he'd know. While she'd come from a minor house, that house was well on the way to financial ruin. A secret she'd been keeping since she'd been taken to the Academy. One she had to work hard to hide by fixing her clothes that got holes in them. Patching and wearing boots well past the point that any other person would keep them. She'd follow the group from the shop, keeping her eyes out for where a ball that wasn't an elf head could be found.

 

[HRavielle]

Ryan couldn't protest about him taking her crab since she had taken his first. He had done the work though and she had enjoyed the product. Her hand slowly crept back over to help some of the liberated crab from his bowl again. A sheepish smile crossed her face as she then dipped it in his butter. It was to her mouth before he continued speaking.

"Well, I have not seen you naked so I cannot comment on the scene. It could be a disappointing scene," she said with a smirk that said she didn't even believe her own words there. "I bet at least one of that group ends up nude though. Probably Kalix!"

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Sable Pembroke]

At first Sable nodded in agreement between Kalix and Noel. The lot of them really were not likely to need weapons. They were here to relax, not to fight. Even if they did wind up in a brawl, each of them possessed fairly ridiculous amounts of magic.

Then Noel used that word: 'passable.' Hmm. It wasn't like there was a tremendous number of options for men when it came to swimwear. There were maybe four styles and twenty different patterns they could pick from. Women generally always seemed to have more diversity in viable fashion than men did. It wasn't something that ever really bothered Sable, but...well, maybe 'passable' was the right choice of words.

It wasn't like Meredith was here, anyways. There wasn't exactly anyone that Sable was trying to impress.

"Well, I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Surely someone will find Kalix's goods to be eye candy."

That pulled Sable back down to Arethil.
"You're far more optimistic than I am, Chas." He replied with a chuckle. The girl's near ghostly appearance was something that Sable had, thankfully, already considered. "Here, you might want one of these."

He handed his waifish friend a parasol that looked to have all the stylings of a creamsicle.

As for the ball situation...
"I think I saw a stall selling everything we'd need for proper volleyball down towards the beach. The important question is: are we using magic while we play, or pretending we're civvies?"

 

[Kalix]

Kalix shrugged, he didn’t expect her to say anything different. “Yeah but wrong move from you and your swimsuit and then you’re letting the punk die happy.” Kalix pointed out, and then smacked his chest with a open hand. “No guy wants to see this! Well. Wait. Actually…” Kalix hummed in thought for a moment. “Okay, well, actually, maybe they do?” He said with a cheeky grin, and moved his shoulders back, puffing out his chest. “I keep growing like this and I might be surpassing you in the chest department!”and with that he released a hearty, boisterous laugh before Sable asked a very important question. Kalix turned to face the big initiate.

“Depends on how the teams are made up.” Kalix said, nodding his head. Yeah, if Chasmine was playing and using magic, the only thing that would probably happen would be the ball would phase through her. He hummed. Chasmine had said she might not be playing anyways.

And besides, they were soon to be dreadlords! Well, most of them, at least. Kalix glanced at Perci.

“Why not try out a game with magic? Be fun to see if we can use magic that doesn’t involve trying to kill someone with it!” A few of the other customers in the store turned to face Kalix with horror on their faces before placing back whatever item they were looking at and then quickly making their way far from the loudmouth.

 

[Samantha Black]

The chaos of the tavern had only continued to grow as attention split between Edric's keg chugging and Ralene refereeing the first arm wrestling match of the night. Ral cheered and jeered with the rest of them. The battle between the two orc women was a sight to behold. For a culture that prized strength, Ralene felt a certain sense of kinship with them as she watched their bulging biceps and coiled brawn in a test against compatriots.

When it was all over there was a great deal of spilled drink, a lot of overturned chairs, and the excitement of the orc's party spilled into the other patrons of the bar. They had an audience now, and Ralene couldn't help the spirit of competitiveness. She set her gaze on the winning orcess who, by human standards, was quite a beastly thing, and sized her up without any hint of concern.

"My turn..."

Chairs were swapped, table area cleared, fresh drinks served, bets were made, all the while those who had split attention on Edric were still cheering him on. The ruckus of the tavern was reaching a high decibel.

Ral pulled off her jacket and tossed it on the bench then rolled up her sleeve before taking her seat next to Eleanor again. Scarred knuckles cracked as she rolled her fingers into a fist and presented it to Ele with a smirk, "How's about some good luck, Rosie?"

 

[Edric]

Edric came clattering down from his keg as the barrel, now bereft of it's liquid weight, nearly swept out from beneath him. He staggered slightly, now comically heavy with a mind laden by liquor and ale and a body fit to burst.

Maui caught him in her arms, biceps flexing around him as she kept the near two meter tall Initiate from falling flat onto his face. He seemed to sway slightly, and then found a rather tusky kiss pressed against his cheek. A raucous cheer went up, though whether it was for him or for Ral's arm wrestling he could not have said.

Mostly because he wasn't even aware of it.

"Looks like your friends are having a little fun sweety. Tell you what...if she wins I'll let you..."​

Edric's head lulled for a moment, vision swimming as he felt Maui spin him slightly so that he could see Ral and Elleanor. His eyes bulged open as she trailed off, whispering things in his ears that would have made a Ceraky Brothel Maiden blush. "Umm...yes..."

The initiate said, taking a few steps forward.

Before Eleanor could offer up her luck Edric came half crashing down onto Ral. Hooking his arm around her shoulder as he leaned into whisper.

"Ralf. I've never -HICCUP- asssked you for much. Anything, really. Except that one time behind the shed." He stared at her. "But...I need you to...-HICCUP-...win this for me."

Then he looked at Eleanor expectantly.

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor had been staring at Ralene's fist when Edric came falling onto Ralene's back. She snickered at his very drunk stammering and then they were both staring at her.

Why were they staring at her?!

Ella reached out her hand and patted Ral's fist gently. Was that what they wanted? She raised a red brow as they both just continued to look at her like she was idiot.

"Um..." She said sheepishly and pushed Ral's fist back towards her with another pat. Nope...that wasn't right.

Ella had read many romance novels and she had never seen good luck given to a fist before. No, that was weird. So Ella did what the books seemed to point to as what granted luck.

She took a steadying breath and stood. She leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on Ralene's lips.

 

[Samantha Black]

There was a drunk Edric hanging over her shoulder. A Drunkric, if you will. Despite ongoing rivalries among the upper class of the heavy hitters at the Academy, Ral's comraderie with Edric allowed her to be completely at ease with him, his gibberish, and his demand. It only fueled her already unhealthy desire to win.

Now for that good luck...

Ele ...patted...? her fist?

Ralene blinked, briefly dumbstruck by the oddity of it. What the hell?

Then she did it again.

Raze the heathens, she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Caught in the vagueries of amusement at the current weight of Drunkric on her back and the bemusement of having to school Ele on what it meant to give someone luck - a deep breath, a roll of her eyes to the ceiling, Ralene was about to turn a pointed look of mischief on the red head when she found herself lips to lips with her instead.

Fucking finally.

Ral's fist immediately went to Ele's hair, grabbing at the back of her head to turn that little peck into a full blown good-luck snog. Not that she needed it, of course. Satisfied, Ral grinned like the cat that ate the canary at the girl, "You're a babe," and released her. Giving Edric's hair a good roughing with the same hand, "I gotchu big boy," she replied and shrugged him off her shoulders. Ral adjusted her seat to turn her sights on her quarry for the match.

Elbows set, hands clasped, she waited for the previous losing orcess to ref in.

"GO!"

 

[Eleanor]

Ella sank into Ralene's returned kiss. Ral held her in place until she was good in ready for their little make out session to finished. Ella pulled away finally and just stared at Ral with her mouth slightly opened.

Holy fucking shit!

The Initiate retook her seat and grabbed her full ale. It was gone in a single, long drink. She ordered another. She needed more. Much more. All the alcohol!

She watched Ral and the orcess arm wrestle as she downed two more ales in a matter of a minute.

 

[Edric]

Maui practically plucked Edric off of Ral's shoulder as the other Initiate shrugged him off. He mumbled something unintelligable, and then found a rather large green arm wrapped around his hip. Briefly he glanced at it, forgetting where it came from.

Then he looked up. "Ohhh."

Right. That was where it came from.

Then, seeing Maui's face, he suddenly remembered the whisper in his ears. His heart skipped a beat. Then a breath filled his lungs, and he half leaned forward as he shouted.

"GO RAL!" His voice joined a dozen others as the entire tavern turned their attention to the arm wrestling match. "GO!"

His voice boomed. "FUCKING WIN THIS!"

The words were almost drowned out as the whole place became a raucous cacophony of cheers one way or the other. More people suddenly drawn to the sounds of a party that was now threatening to sweep out into the street.

Ralene | Eleanor

 

[Samantha Black]

Ral's opponent was a respectable warrior of orcish wiles and strength - under any other circumstances, Ralene would have given her credit where it was due. Standing against sheer natural brawn and savagery, even if she wasn't beautiful by human standards, the orcess was beautiful in terms of being an absolute green unit. Ral on the other hand was, comparatively speaking, smaller and more compactly built than her.

But Ral was never going to be that delicate damsel. She'd been built like a tomboy since her youthful days before Walter Banick had handed he over to the Academy. Regardless of where she'd grown up, she'd always been destined to be more bulk and less beaut. Years spent under the knife of the Proctors, having enhanced strength and durability cut and inked into her body had left her with an ungodly amount of strength for someone her size.

Head on, it seemed the two were evenly matched for the first few long, roaring, cheering, straining minutes of the match. Jaw set, teeth grit and bared as she stared down her opponent over their clenched fists, Ral braced against her with a fair amount of effort and a larger amount of alcohol swilling about her brain. The sounds of the crowd echoed like the din of a storm in her ears. She couldn't even feel the pounding of fists on the table.

Ralene's eyes pinned as she felt the fire of a sudden flare of aggression bloom from her chest down through her limbs. Fingers curled a little more tightly, the rigid brawn of her match arm drawing even more taut under the pressure. She let her bared teeth gap open in a snarl and leaned into the tension.

The clenched hands began to move in Ral's favor. It started in small, jilted increments as the orcess began to struggle to hold against her, and then the win happened with a sudden jolt of envigored strength from Dreadlord Initiate. Cheers, yells, groans, and hollering exploded across the table and throughout the tavern as Ralene stood from her bench, snatch the nearest tankard of ale and began chugging it in victory.

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor found herself on the edge of her seat as Ralene took on the orcess. Two strong women going head to head...well...hand to hand really. This match went on longer than the last and the entire bar had gathered to watch. The yells and other noises were there but all Eleanor could see was Ralene and her determination to win.

Her own fists balled in nervousness as she watched Ralene start to inch the orcess' hand towards the table.

Boom!

It was not so loud but the collective silence of held breaths made that ending sound so much louder. Eleanor cheered and laughed as Ralene chugged the tankard of ale. As soon as she slammed the mug down, Ella threw her arms around her fellow Initiates neck.

"You did it!" She said with a large smile. "All hail Ral! Queen of Arm Wrestling!" Yep, she had drank a lot.

 

[Edric]

A raucous cheer went through the crowd. "YEAAAAAAH!"

Edric shouted as Ral slammed her opponents knuckles down onto the heavy wooden table. His arms threw up, and he found himself lost in the throes of joy that resounded through the entire tavern. Some people cursed, some lost fortunes, but their woes were utterly drowned by the overwhelming cheers.

As he cheered, Maui suddenly grabbed him.

Still not entirely sure on his feet Edric swung around, and quickly found himself with a tongue buried down his throat. He made a slight noise, and then simply embraced what was going on with a passionate kiss. Hands wrapping around Maui's waist.

Everyone around him in the crowd, though likely only noted by his fellow Initiates would feel a slight drain. Edric's magic swept through the room, a trickle of power taken from everyone around him. Then he pulled Maui off her feet.

The Orcess let out a yelp followed by a loud raucous laughter as Edric threw her over his shoulder and practically ran towards the staircase at the end of the tavern.

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

What. A. Villain. A wiley seductress! A thief! Pilfering his delectable crab was one thing, but then dipping it in his succulent lemony garlic butter was an affront to the laws of nature and no doubt broke no less than five Anirian laws.

There was an eye twtch, a quick cut off of eating crab to keep himself from saying anything and a pull from his flask. "You haven't?" He found that odd. He thought for sure everyone had seen his tattooed, scarred, and pierced body lay barren at least once. He had a habit of losing his clothes.

"Well then, I should rectify that." He said with a smirk before taking another sip from his flask. "Pffft.. like that's much of a bet. Kalix doesnt need a reason to get nekkid."

Ryan Ashford

 

[HRavielle]

Ryan gave Drast the look of touche, you are correct in regards to Kalix and his clothing. Every Initiate and most Proctors had seen that boy naked...it wasn't a bad sight though.

The Initiate continued to eat his peeled crab and ended up pushing her legs over to him as though to make amends for her devouring his.

"Perhaps I sleep perfectly fine not knowing what is under your uniform!" She smiled and took a drink from her glass.

Drastus Tal'deneshaar

 

[Drastus Tal'deneshaar]

He would smirk at her as he broke the next crab leg viciously, liberating its sweet sweet meat. "Please, you almost sounded like you meant that." he teased before taking a long pull from his tankard. "Need anything else?"

Ryan Ashford

 

[Noel]

Noel nodded as Sable handed over the parasol to Chasmine. "That should work," and a grin came over her, "besides, a nice tan might look good on you Chas." Though truthfully the poor girl was more likely to resemble a tomato than a lovely shade of bronze by the time this trip was through.

She missed Perseus' gaze but was pleasantly surprised that the taller initiate had done well in her choice of swimwear. Perhaps the rest of the class wasn't entirely hopeless when it came to a decent sense of fashion.

The raven-haired student had no intention of paying but Kalix coughing up the coin was probably a better outcome than simply walking out and threatening anyone who tried to stop her. And then the topic of a 'friendly game' of volleyball was mentioned.

"No magic," she was quick to state as soon as Kalix finished flapping his gums. "Though if the group prefers magic, we'll do magic." She tried to smile warmly but outward gestures of kindness weren't something she was adept at. Instead, she appeared smug.

Magic meant Noel was very likely to impale whatever ball they ended up using. Or worse, injuring one of her classmates if her team began to lose.

 

[Oraya Urahil]

“I keep growing like this and I might be surpassing you in the chest department!”

Her brown hand was up so swiftly and surely one might wonder if her magic was speed instead of what it truly was, right to the back of Kalix's very easily reachable head. At least if he didn't move or something else. "If you mention my bosom again I will do worse than that." With a hard-edged glare, she looked at the one that was more family to her than any of her blood-relatives.

"No magic," she rumbled an agreement with Noel. Didn't mean someone wouldn't cheat and then...all bets would be off. With a quiet huff, she turned and stalked out of the store, shoving her discarded weapons into a trendy-looking beach bag with a nice shoulder strap.

 

[Chasmine]

Chasmine received the parasol with quiet wonder, peering up at it as she held it over her head and giving it a gentle twirl in her hands, "Thank you Sable, this will be perfect."

She paid for her dress, parasol, and tucked her mission clothes into a pack before following the others outside.

Idly listening in on the conversation about magic and the game, Chas found herself wondering aloud, "Do you think there may be other people on the beach that want to play?" They couldn't be the only ones, right? "Perhaps they will join if magic is not used."

 

[Samantha Black]

Ral staggered slightly under the sudden clinging hug of her red-headed fellow initiate. One arm swiftly ensnared Ele by the hips to steady herself by while her lips ensnared the other's mouth. There was a distinct taste of revelry on Eleanor's tongue that drew her appetite for more - might've been the mixture of ale and shots with the slight tang of charcoal smoked turkey leg.

Either way, the hand at her hip boldly and strongly grabbed the shorter acolyte by the ass to draw her closer and deeper into the celebratory kiss before she broke away for air.

"WHO'S NEXT?!" Ralene bellowed to the tavern, "I'll take any of you on! COME ON!"

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor hugged Ralene and she had expected a hug back or - really - anything else besides a kiss! She wasn't mad though. Ral could give the whole two men she had a kissed a run for their money. Ella squeaked slightly into the kiss when Ral grabbed her ass. There was no denying the taller woman's strength as she held Ella close to her.

Ral finally pulled away and Ella just stared at her for a second as she challenged the bar to the next arm wrestle. The red head took her seat again and grabbed a nearby tankard that still had ale in it.

That was the moment that Eleanor realized she liked women and men. What an interesting day this had become...

 

[Sable Pembroke]

Sable offered a polite nod and a short bow to Chas and Noel. He was always happy to help however he could, especially if it happened to be Chasmine, or Dorian, or Meredith. Or Kristen, really. Those four were the initiates he'd felt like he'd gotten closest to in all his time at the Academy. Dorian never really seemed to actually want his help, but a friend in need was a friend indeed, after all. Chas and Kristen tended to wind up in helpless situations fairly often, but they always seemed gracious for any assistance Sable offered. Meredith was...different. Like the promise of something radiant on the horizon.

Sable blinked and pulled himself out of his daydreaming. Kalix had made some odd remark about Perci's...bosom, and Perci had reacted quite appropriately. He shook his head and sighed; so uncouth, honestly. Kalix had a bold, adventurous spirit, but he was also quite ill mannered. Sable never quite made up his mind on how he felt about him.
"Right, no magic then. That's probably for the best." He agreed with the others, holding back a cocky grin. It was certainly more honorable to play sans-magic, but he knew that the ball would have never touched the ground of whatever team he'd ended up on if they did decide to go all out.
"I would relish the challenge of any outsider, should they wish to join in." Sable replied to Chas. She made a fine point, and the group was lacking in players at the moment. For now, actually getting to the beach seemed prudent.

 

[Kalix]

Kalix’s head shot forward and down from Perci’s slap to the back of his head. He almost took a step forward even and most definitely would have it if it weren’t thanks to the years upon years of training that made Kalix quite steady on his feet. When he raised his hand, no signs of irritation could be found, instead, he was holding back a chuckle.

“Yeah I’d like to see you try and do your worst!” Kalix shouted and then proceeded to immediately flex. Nice thing about the speedo was that he could show off everything! His shoulders, his arms, his back, his chest, his abs! Dang, where was a mirror when you needed one?

Back on the more important stuff: no magic. Fine. Kalix was still gonna win. Which sucked, he would’ve really liked to have the ball float whenever it got over on his team’s side of the net.

“Alright, playing like the normies. Sweet.” Kalix said and as everyone shuffled out of the store, Noel was right. There was a stand with a beach activities display. He headed right on up, pulling out the coin pouch and buying two volleyballs. They needed two. Even if they weren’t using magic there was no way one ball was going to last between Kalix, Perci, and Sable.