Fate - First Reply Weird Woodlands

[Vulpesen]

Location: Wilds of Malakath

Vulpesen let out a growl as he flailed and slashed at the fines, attempting to cut them with his claw like nails. Yet each movement seemed to loop another of the infernal plants around him. He'd long since lost the ability to kick, and his bushy black tail seemed to be going numb from lack of circulation. At the very least, he'd managed to keep the vines away from his neck and right arm. He could breathe and he could struggle. If only struggling didn't lead to his predicament. "Varos! A little help here!"

'Nothing I can do from here, kiddo.' a voice whispered back, audible only within the mind of the wrapped up zorren. 'Seems whatever fae you pissed off had a nice little trick up his sleeve. Sending power to you is like sending a child into the woods without a map. Be lucky you have my voice.'

'We're doing what we can, but it might be a while to untangle this magic. Try not to die in the meantime," Rerreno's voice was calm despite the suggestion of impending peril and Vulpesen let out another growl as he rolled in his prison. For a moment, he thought the maneuver had worked, only to find that as he completed it, a loop of greenery had appeared over his right shoulder. It wasn't immobilized yet, but that's how his left arm had started before it ended in its current state... stretched over his head and unable to do much but flex his fingers.

"Well, fat load of help they were," the warlock mumbled to himself. It certainly wasn't the worst scrape he'd been in, not by a long shot. But the wilds of Malakath were perilous, especially for those in compromised positions, and he had to admit that without any sort of help, detangling and even surviving was becoming less and less likely.

 

[Larewen Dragana]

Larewen had no business this far from the Sunken City that she intended to rip from the ground. She strayed from her path often though, using whatever means were available to reach the various portal stones strewn across the lands. She needed knowledge; the key to raising her home from the murky waters. The seat of her power, laying deep beneath a mirror she couldn't crack no matter how hard she tried.

A rumor trickled through the grapevine to the black witch, of a fae that knew the location of the heart she sought. An old memory teased at the corners of her mind, antagonizing the unholy beat of her necromanced heart. There was old magic, magic she'd forgotten, in these woods she'd once sought refuge in.

Chance brought her across Vulpesen, and were it not for the cowl of her dark hood, the necromancer's fanged smirk might be visible--amplified by the dark paint upon her lips. The warlock's predicament amused the madwoman and she stopped, watching him from the shadows.

The elf was not unaware of how creepy her presence might seem; with her came an oppressive and foreboding aura that reeked of unnatural magicks. She was cursed, caught somewhere between veils not unlike the one that she often hid her face behind in upper society.

"Do you require assistance?" the necromancer asked after a few long moments passed. A simple breath laced with necromantic energies could easily free the warlock. She'd been one, once.

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen's struggles ceased and his golden eyes moved to the cloaked woman who had appeared from the depth of the woods. In truth, there was something about her that set his senses on edge. Something unnatural that sent a chill down his spine... or perhaps that was another vine somehow slipping under his tunic. In any case, he needed help and she was offering it.

"That would be appreciated, yes." Slowly, his right arm straightened towards his hip where he kept a series of daggers. "Damned things get tighter when I move. And they seem to know where I plan to move next." Rolling in his binds, he moved himself to face the cowled elf more head on, attempting to peer beneath that dark hood. "Gotta say though, was starting to think I'd be on my own in getting out of this."

Larewen Dragana

 

[Larewen Dragana]

"That could still be arranged," Larewen remarked, though a soft lilt underpinned the chill of her undead vocal chords. Despite the bite to her words, the woman drew nearer, a gloved hand lifting briefly into the air. Her fingers twitched, just enough to be visible as a dark whisper rolled past painted lips.

Something insidious slithered through the air betwixt vampire and fae, something that seeped into the vines entrapping the warlock and blackened them. The vines withered and then crumbled, releasing the warlock suddenly. It seemed Larewen wasn't the gentle sort of creature when it came to accomplishing a task.

"Why?" She offered no further hint as to the scope of her query other than a gesture of her gloved hand toward the dead vines.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

The vines withered and finally, mercifully, Vulpesen dropped to the forest floor, heaving a sigh of relief as blood rushed back into his tail and legs. Pins and needles filled his limbs but it was ecstasy to have sensation back in them. "Cruxi curupira." He rubbed his wrists and rose back to his feet. "They're usually rather benign guardians but every now and then one of them decides that protecting the woods means denying all access to the woods." He glanced around until he finally found a set of tracks in the leaves. "Took me a bit to figure it out, but that would explain why I've been tracking him with so little to show for it." He motioned to the tracks of two humanoid feet. "They're backwards."

Thankful though he was, he kept his distance from the necromancer. His sort were trained to spot dark mages and the undead. Often such folk were the kind to stir trouble and cause grief for the mortal realm. Though Vulpesen would admit that such stereotypes weren't always true, he was still wary about the unease that her aura placed within him. "What brings you into these wilds?"

Larewen Dragana

 

[Larewen Dragana]

A thin, dark brow arched upward as Vulpesen spoke. "Nature knows when it is threatened," the necromancer stated, her voice solemn. Her lips pressed into a thoughtful line. "I come in search of something I left here, centuries ago. A key I left with an old... friend..."

Had she, though? Something flickered in her dark gaze, a brief ethereal flash of toxic green lightening the underside of her hood. It was a haunted memory, replaying in the cobwebs of her mind.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"Indeed it does. But Nature should work in harmony with civilization, not terrorize it." He dusted off his cloak and knelt by the tracks as the woman answered his question. "Well, unless your old friend has backwards feet, I doubt we're looking for the same creature. And if we aren, then perhaps you can convince him to stop making travelers get hopelessly lost. The roads serve a purpose and if the wilds pick a fight with civilization, eventually the axes will come out."

He rose back up and offered a small thankful bow. "Vulpesen Torrevaso, by the way. Thank you for getting me freed from that little predicament." When one saved you from imprisonment and perhaps impending doom, it was only polite to introduce yourself.

Larewen Dragana

 

[Larewen Dragana]

"Nature came first," Larewen remarked, her tone carefully controlled. At the mention of backwards feet, her nose wrinkled slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to do that. A strange one, but certainly in possession of a better memory than myself."

It was a strange stance to take, after just dispensing of the vines so viciously. Something akin to a smile twitched the corner of her mouth briefly. His bow acknowledged, the woman dipped her head. "Larewen. The forest is more overgrown than I recall; how far from the courts am I?"

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

For one who gave off such an unnatural aura, Larewen certainly held a respect for the wilds. Certainly, she seemed to be siding with nature more than the man who's abilities were directly linked to it. Though, Vulpesen kept such thoughts to himself as he started to trace the trail that he had found. "Curupira naturally have backwards feet. Seems like we're after different people." Larawen's question perked Vulpesen's ears and he straightened before turning to address her. "Depends on the court. Mine is a few days north of here."

Even on Malakath, those who knew of the fae were often rare and few between outside of places like Veradune where they ruled alongside mortals. "How are you familiar with them?" Forgetting his hunt for the moment, he leaned against a nearby tree, his tail swishing behind him.

Larewen Dragana

 

[Larewen Dragana]

Larewen's affinity for the wild came naturally, born of her time as something more living than she was now. A slight smirk teased the corner of her mouth, a bitter snort punctuating the expression.

"Curupira are a creature I have not yet studied," the necromancer admitted. Her brow furrowed slightly, steps slowing as her verdant gaze swept over the familiar trees around them. "I seek an elf, actually. Not a fae; though he is quite fond of them."

The venom that slipped into her tone was palpable in the air around the pair, hanging heavily betwixt the two like an invisible barrier. Her head tilted slightly. "It has been a long time since I mingled with the fae; I can't say with any surety that I'd be welcome among any of the courts. I have been blamed for many a famine and ill fortune that falls upon others."

She was also the cause of a lot of that, but the necromancer was too vain to admit as much.

Vulpesen

 

[Vulpesen]

"Tricky little fae. Masters of spacial and illusionary magic. Many of them like to aid travelers, but on occasion, they can turn against foresters and those wander the woods. This particular one has been warned by my masters to cease his aggression." He heaved a small sigh and offered a shrug. "He refused to listen, and now I'm here." Despite his situation, Vulpesen's voice held no vitriol, rather there was a resolute sadness. The duty that came with one who had been sent to hunt another for the good of his people.

"As for you, I can't say that I know what my patrons think of you. But you did just get me out of quite the scrape so I think I can give you some grace. Perhaps we can seek our targets together. You help me find my curupira. I help you find your elf."

Larewen Dragana