Group Alpha: Druid's Quest (Hybrid, Solora, Reina, Cresco)

[vernes]

Cresco enjoyed the sensation of his body slightly resettling itself as the heat was allowed to strike his metal frame. 
Reina told him that this path was chosen because it allowed them to travel with the least chance of encountering other people. 
Cresco decided this would allow him to make use of the situation to expose more of his frame. 
The warmth felt good somehow. Joints moved more fluidly, less internal noise from movement, and for some reason it felt like he had more energy. 
The wind cooled off part of his frame which allowed him to enjoy the sensation of his frame reheating again. 
Cresco felt this would have been a correct situation to 'smile' if he could. 
 
Only glancing at Reina and Solora, Cresco's attention was drawn by the Harpy's collecting beach items. 
She seemed to analyse almost everything. 
The chirping was new to him, and he wondered if she was actually forming words or if it was just humming. 
The abrupt ending of her chirping made him quickly look back at Reina who was crouching down, nodding at the others. 
 
Cresco suddenly felt exposed and quickly draped his clothes back over his frame and raised his hood as he crouched down, seeking the nearest cover he could find. 
His enjoyment was cut short, and felt he deserved an annoyed sigh, and did so. 

[Deleted]

When Reina signaled the group to stop, Solora almost immediately regretted her decision to sleep with her illusions. If they were to fight, truly fight, she was going to need all her energy. Having reduced mana always tired the elf, and knowing she wouldn't have her full magical abilities as a backup made Solora nervous. Reina nodded once again, causing Soloa to draw an arrow from her quiver and knock it into her bowstring. Steadying her breath, Solora readied herself to fight. If there was to be a battle, She would be ready.

[DukeWolfRein]

Reina heard the soft growl hanging in the air. It could be anything on the other side of the big rock they had chosen as cover. It could be an Orc, a Dragon...even Goblins. She steadied her breath and took a step forward, shifting the hard, rocky ground underneath her. She rested her staff against the big boulder and walked around it. She took a deep breath and held it. She looked back at her companions and nodded once before releasing her breath. It had turned a nean green color that flowed down to the staff and collided with the boulder with a giant crash.

The Boulder moved once, twice, and finally released a wave of green energy that cleared the mist. The boulder cracked entirely revealing a humanoid being made of pure stone that stood at a fighting stance. Reina dashed forward to the now revealed Wolf Beastfolk and stood ready to strike him with her staff "Who are you? And why do you follow us?" Her words were calm and measured. She had cast her spell to act as a surprise, and it seemed it had done its job, though of course the Wolf did not seem as surprised or as movefd as she hoped. He was probably a soldier, especially from the uniform he wore.

[scottishgal]

Every muscle in his body was tense, ready to launch himself forward if the strangers attacked them. His body was low to the ground and he prowled closer. One moved, their footsteps crunching against the sand. His ears twitched gently, following the noises using them to see in the mist. Neara would have been grumbling had fear not been coursing through her. She always feared battles, she was not a fighter. She could not protect herself, she could only run and hope she had a chance to hide.

Though she trusted the wolf entirely. Neara kept herself hidden behind him, her footsteps light against the sand. She knew to keep her mouth shut, not to ask questions. He needed complete silence and she was more than willing to comply. But the sudden flash of colour and the crashing noise that filled their ears brought a gasp from both of them. Neara shook gently, her hands gripping the fur of Tehron. Tehron moved back slightly, shielding the Halfling with his body as his eyes snapped over the boulder cracking.

Tehron shook his head gently and growled at this new stone person, something didn’t seem right. The creature that dashed forward towards him only brought another deep growl passing his lips. His lips pulling back over his teeth as he spoke, his voice harsh towards the Elf. “Not another step closer Elf.” He noted her questions and that they were only directed at him. He shifted his body weight, properly hiding Neara from the elf. Tehron did not want her presence known just yet.

Neara knew what was happening, she could hear voices and sense movement before her. She kept her small hands gripping onto Tehrons fur and kept her breathing calm. She heard the questions and noted the feet of a female before Tehron. She shied further away, preferring to let the wolf speak for them.

He let his dark eyes slide over to the group behind her and raised a bushy eyebrow. He refused to move out of his attack pose, his body low ready to pounce at any second. Tehron raised his head an inch to stare at the elf before him. “I am no one. I do not follow you.” He said matter of fact. “I come from the forest, my…..group are planning on passing the beach. I am merely a scout.” He said glancing back to the group behind her and smirking “Interesting choice of companions there Elf. Where are you heading?”

[DukeWolfRein]

"Where we are going is our business, and none of yours. Why does your company need to scout the Shore anyhow? Are you bandits? Scared that a squad of soldiers will come by and arrest you? There are no Orcs around here, and the few Drows that inhabit these Shores don't bother with outsiders." Reina watched the Wolf very closely, her brow furrowing as she took a step back and looked back at the rest of her group, she moved her hand down, signaling them that everything was safe, for now.

Whoever the Wolf was, he wasn't to be trusted if he was creeping around the Shore like that. Reina knew of bandits and Goblin warbands, but both of those were rare in these parts of Strophya. Perhaps he was an adventurer, but only a brave few would wonder through the Shore alone. She certainly wouldn't, not unless her life depended on it. The Stone Golem moved to a less threatening stance and stood, its golden eyes made from precious stones stared directly at the Wolf, almost as if telling him that any move would be met with an attack.

Reina could feel the mental connection she had with her Creation and knew that she could only keep him alive for an hour at most before her energy became too low to sustain it. She hoped the Wolf would just let them on their way without any trouble. The least she needed now was to kill someone, especially someone who could potentially just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[vernes]

Distracted by Reina's construct, Cresco couldn't help but let his mind wonder about its nature. 
He would have to ask her about it one day. 
For now, the golem reminded him he had ways to see anything hiding if it had sufficient magical properties. 
Shifting flows of magic inside his shell, the mechanomicon felt a sensation rise up to his head and watched as his vision changed and slowly the mundane world came alive as the air seemed to pulse with the energies of... the Golem. 
The Golem was a torrent of magical flows that cascaded up, in, through and over the golem, fighting against the entropic forces trying to return the Golem back to its lifeless state. 
And the source of the torrent was Reina. 

Cresco was surprised, he did not expect the Golem to represent such a powerful magical source that he could see it. 
He tried to focus on sensing instead of seeing in the hopes any other sources of magic would make itself appear. 
From his crouched position he slowly moved his head to the left and right and allow his hands to slowly orientate in different directions.

[darkpigeon]

She did not like this, this... thing!! that suddenly arose from the ground. This large stone creature that stood between them and their enemy was not something she was particularly liking to see. She did not know what she found to be worse, the angry looking beastkin or the Golem standing before her. She let out a cry and opened her wings to look bigger and meaner than she really was. She feared magic, all kinds of magic and even feared her magic that she could be wielding her own if she would not panic when she did. She had her reasons for it.

Her reaction on magic this time was not so very different as it normally would be. She was in full blown defensive mode her wings were fully spread and she showed her large talons, telling the Golem that it had to be gone or she would scred it to pieces.

[scottishgal]

The smirk stayed upon his lips as the Elf replied. He raised one bushy eyebrow and lifted his chin further up to her. He knew exactly why they had been sent ahead, but there was no way he was telling this one. “Oh yes. That’s it.” He chuckled gently, the sound coming from deep within his chest. “I am a bandit on the run from the Empire, ready to slit the throat of anyone who comes in my way.” He tilted his head and kept his red tinted eyes on her as she moved back slightly. “Is that what you wish to hear Elf?”


He snapped his eyes to the stone man when it seemed to relax it’s stance. Tehron kept grinning, something about them was amusing. It was not everyday you saw such a mix mash of creatures. Neara dug her fingernails into the skin of his leg, she knew it would not hurt him merely remind him of her presence. That his taunting words could get them into hot water. Tehron had not forgotten the Halfling, he kept his posture low hiding the small one from view.
He was not going to move first, he knew who they would encounter if they continued into the forest by the shore. Tehron had the upper hand here if it had not been for the Halfing gripping onto him. 

The movement of the Harpy caught Tehrons attention, when she cried out he took a step backwards. Fighting against anything with wings was never pleasant, he would rather skip that battle. Unfortunately for Neara, when Tehron moved backwards she fell flat on her backside. Thumping softly in the sand, a flash of orange material could be seen behind his hind legs. Tehron heard the movement and flexed his claws against the sand. He had hoped that she would have remained hidden for this “interaction”, Neara scrambled to her feet. She returned to her hiding position, squeezing her eyes shut and clinging onto his fur.

[DukeWolfRein]

Reina once more squinted as the Wolf spoke. She was about to respond to him when Hybrid let out a cry and she looked back and noticed the terrified look on her face as she stared at her Golem. It was clear that the Harpy was not fond of magic, or magical creatures. The Golem, however, was a necessity for now and she would have to learn to deal with him. The Elf turned around and noticed a flash of orange run by Tehron's legs and looked at him. A child? Perhaps they had stumbled upon a father and cub escaping from the Empire. It didn't matter to her, they needed to go on.

"I do not wish to hear anything other than the truth. But if it's all the same to you then, we'll be on our way." Reina started walking forward and past the Wolf, her Golem following after her. "If you know what's good for you, I wouldn't follow." Reina stopped and looked once more at his feet from her new vantage point. That wasn't a child. Based on the height, this Wolf was traveling with a Halfling. Reina looked at the Wolf and smiled "Ah, I see you're someone's protector Wolf." Reina looked at her group and nodded "We keep going. He won't do anything, not with someone else's life in his hands."

Reina began to walk once more and heard a whistling before feeling the air rush by the side of her face. She turned in an instant and looked at Solora who had been standing right behind her. The arrow had missed her but gone straight through the Human, and as she died Reina noticed her hair turn red and her ears change into Elvish ones. She was an Elf all along. She thought for a second that perhaps the Elves had sent her to spy on Reina, but she didn't think they'd know how to find her to begin with. The Elf ran back and turned her head back around to be faced with a group of Orcs, one of whom was pointing a crossbow at her "I don't miss twice Elf. I suggest you leave before I release another bolt."

Reina looked at Solora as the Elf let her last gasp of air out, the arrow had gone straight through her chest and into her lungs. The force of the arrow alone would have broken a few ribs, but definitely perforated, if not completely tear apart, her lung. The Golem raised its jewel eyes at the Orcs and dashed forward, hitting the crossbow away from the first Orc and driving a stone fist straight into his stomach. Reina took her staff and pointed it at the remaining Orcs, her eyes taking a bright green glow. "I suggest you leave first."

[scottishgal]

Tehron noted the elf’s gaze snapping to behind him, it was obvious that she had registered Neara’s presence. He silently cursed the halfing, for someone so small and light footed she could definitely make a presence. He stood his ground, feeling Neara’s hands in his fur. He raised his chin and nodded gently. If they encountered the rest of his group by the forest edge, there was nothing he could do to save such a diverse group and he didn’t know if he even wanted to. He tilted his head and shook his head softly. Tehron did not need to follow them, he had the rest of the beach to scout.

He caught her smile and it made him feel uneasy. He knew he was Neara’s protector but for another to highlight it, well…it made him truly realise his tie to Neara. He wanted to snap at her, tell her that he was fully able to protect Neara and tear apart their small group but a small tug at his fur told him to bite his tongue.

Neara turned her eyes to the elf as she passed by Tehron, she saw her smile but the Halfing kept her close position to the wolf. Something about this entire situation felt off. She watched the group trundle past and then the sharp whistling as the arrow pierced through a young human girl’s chest. She felt her whole body freeze, the blood drained from her face as she watched this girls blood hit the sand. Tehron was now on high alert, his eyes scanning through the small remains of mist that was left.

Orcs. How he hated them. A band of them, their leader had his eyes trained on the elf. He counted them out, his hands splaying out against the sand. His claws digging into the sand gently. He never had to fight with Neara in such close quarters. Tehron knew, from many annoying experiences, that she had quite a few tricks up her sleeves and that she could probably hide in some way. It did not stop his mind from whizzing through the new potential threats to her. Neara heard the gravely voice of the Orc and kept trembling, she had never been in battle. She always watched from afar, she was always able to run and hide if needed. She had nothing, nowhere to hide, nowhere to feel safe. Other than gripping tightly onto the fur of the growling wolf she hid behind.

[vernes]

Sensing nothing beside the golem, Cresco let go of his magic senses to watch Reina move.
Her body language seemed to show a gesture of trust, a disarming gesture.
She must've judged the other group no a threat.
He wasn't sure about these things, they were hard to figure out.
But, this meant he would soon enjoy the sun on his...
What was that?

Cresco looked at Solora to see what she do to make that odd thud sound.
She was hit! And it caused her appearance to change! That was odd, Cresco never heard of something like that.
The mechanomicon noticed Reina was being talked at from... Orcs! 
The creature requested her to leave, that... didn't make sense.
First rule, stay alive. Cresco called the incantation of protection and felt how his metal skin slightly vibrates as the spell settled with his own magical nature.
He already moved towards where Solora fell to the ground while keeping an eye on the Orcs.
Cresco considered the possibility that the other group still formed a threat near zero.
Any attempt by any of the orcs to rush him would be met with an immediate magic beam to the face.

The mechanomicon wasn't sure what options would still be available.
Lacking obvious healing spells, Cresco wasn't sure howmuch his protection spell would do.
Perhaps he should content to just dragging her to safety.

For now, he moved to Solora without drawing unneeded attention.
That would be an option when needed.

[darkpigeon]

It was the sudden explosion of orange that distracted Hybrids attention from the Golem towards the wolf. She was curious about what it was but as soon as she noticed the Golem again she was in full defensive mode. Her wings were still fully spread as she followed the large thing with her eyes, and kept her defensive demeanor as she followed Reina passed Theron. She did not fully trust the elf for now, she had magic and magic was a very .. very bad thing. Even if Reina had shown nothing but kindness towards Hybrid, she still found it difficult to let her fear go for this whole magic business. But for now, with the beast-wolf-thing and the small orange exploding halfling behind him it was better to choose her battle wisely, and go with Reina instead.

She carefully folded her wings back against her body. She did not want Theron to get the wrong impression here. The wolf seemed not particularly willing to fight and that was a good sign in Hybrids mind for she was not to fond of fighting herself. She just wanted this all to go over quickly and go back to her sea-shell hunting, and the adventure that laid ahead.

Little did she knew that adventure was behind them as well, and as the well know sound of a flying arrow flew passed her and into the human she Jumped up in surprise, almost bumping up against the large wolf that stood behind her now. As the human changed into an elf after it died she let out a panicking scream. Magic... magic was all over the place!!!! and that she did not like.

With the roaring orcs, the magic here, there and everywhere, with her back pressed against the beastkin who properly was not liking her being so very close. Hybrid felt like she could only do one thing, well three but she was not to fly away and leave the rest to fend for themselves. She did not fully know if she knew these orcs. She was not to find out, and as an orc wanted to fight there was so little that was to stop them. 

[DukeWolfRein]

The Orcs roared as their leader went down, one of them shooting a bolt at Reina. The Elf moved her hand towards the bolt and the Golem followed, taking the hit before disintegrating back into the ground as dust. Reina took her staff and ran towards the Orcs. They were a group of about 8, and to her those were dangerous odds if her companions didn't know how to handle Orcs, but she didn't think that was the case. Three of the Orcs ran towards Cresco, while the other three surrounded Tehron, Hybrid, and Neara. The two that remained, including the now conscious leader, growled at her.

She ran at them, her staff at he side as she focused all of her Magic into her free hand and raised it, several rocks rising as a flow of green energy left her hand and raised them from the ground. The Orcs sent two more Bolts at her that she blocked with a few rocks before engaging the first, her staff hitting the side of his face and then the back of his knees, making him kneel in front of her as she launched the rocks straight at him, leaving him sprawled on his back. The Leader ran at Reina, his sword raised as he reached her, as it came down she touched the ground and a slab of rock came up, blocking the blow. The Elf rolled back and left her staff on the ground, her eyes turning green as she let out a soft growl.

The Green energy that had been flowing around Reina now started to take a shape around her body. On her hands claws were forming, and around her face a snout and ears that floated right above her head. A long green tail formed by her lower back and Reina let out a howl before opening her mouth, the inside revealed long green fangs. The Orc let out a loud roar as he charged at her, his sword ready to meet with her flesh. Reina ran at the Orc in all fours, her animalistic side taking over as she jumped at the Orc before he could strike at her and digging her fangs deep into his neck. The Orc let out a loud yell as Reina began to tear into his chest with her claws, blood and muscle tissue flying around her as she shook his neck with her jaw. Blood dripped from her mouth as she released his neck and stood on his now exposed ribcage. She looked up and howled before licking her hands from the blood on them. Slowly, the green energy began to disappear, her eyes went back to normal, and Reina let Beast sleep for now.

[darkpigeon]

Dear lord! Hybrid was not all to happy that she had to fight an orc right about now.  The wolf and halfling she did not know, nor did she really trust their ability to work together with her now they were being attacked. She already was feeling rather light headed with all the magic going on around her, making it hard to focus on what was going on before her. This really was just a very messy situation for her.  

She let out a high pitched sound and growled softly. Telling the orcs that surrounded her, Tehron, and Neara that she was to fight if he did not back down right now! The orc, not the brightest pickle in the jar and the youngest at that that stood before her roared back. Telling the Harpy that he was not of something so small. He seemed rather entertained that the small fragile Harpy was trying to impress him. As if she was a small bird that he could kill by just stepping on her. He let out a loud roar again, thinking that it would impress the Harpy when he suddenly found himself between her wings.

The orc let out a panicking scream as he felt her talons dig into his body. Like a cat that uses his nails to climb a tree Hybrid was fast and furiously climbing on the chest of the orc. He screamed for his mates to 'take it off' when he fell down on the ground. Grabbing and pulling on her wings as he plucked out several of her feathers. It only seemed to make matters worse. Hybrid got angry from the pain that he was causing her, she digged her talons in deep and was lucky that this orc was bare chested and hardly wore any armor.

Hybrid was to take this one and only this one because he had been yelling at her. Hurting her as he pulled out some more feathers and roared in anger as he was being taken down by a single small harpy. Her wings were hitting him hard, sending some of his teeth flying over the sandy beach. She did not like yelling, it was loud and it scared her. And for that this Orc was getting the Hybrid special. The hybrid special was a fight that included both wings, the hitting of fists and the shredding of body's with her long strong talons. No matter how strong she would ever get, a dagger in her hands would never come as close as being so deadly as her talons. Each talon was the size of a dagger that quickly went in and out the body of the dying orc. She got hyper ever single time she did this, a side of her emerged that made her grave for death, for blood and gore. She almost chirped happily as if she was playing with a toy as she digged into the orc.. really enjoying her playtime.

[vernes]

Cresco noticed the three orcs heading in his direction. 
This frustrated him, he was sure his behaviour would mark him as a low priority target.
Perhaps they recognized him being a mechanomicon?
He had to stop and deal with them while there still was distance between him and the rushing brutes.
He knew he could shoot holes in the wooden targets back home, but he had no idea what the effects were on living things.
All he knew for sure was that he needed to try.

With a rather short spell, Cresco pushed his magic outwards and allowed the spell to effortlessly change it into pure energy.
His right hand held up with his left supporting it, he made sure his palm faced his target as precise as he could manage.
He had to hit on the first shot to make sure the orcs wouldn't catch on too fast.
Focussing on the orcs, he could see their expressions.
They were raging, too caught up in the expectations of combat, except that one.
He was thinking about what it saw... RELEASE!

For a short moment the spell greedily consumed a large amount of magic from Cresco as it emitted a perfectly bright white beam from his hand and managed to hit the right side of one of the orcs.
It howled in pain and rage as violently turned left in a reflex to avoid something that already had hit.
The turn was made complete as his left hand raised to his face, dropping his weapon in the act and finally his entire body followed the turn as he fell to the ground left shoulder first.

One of the orcs didn't even noticed, too caught up in the run, but the other took a quick glance at the orc as it fell.
It quickly turned its attention back to Cresco, it probably knew now what to expect.
Nevertheless, his had made his first shot and had a good aim now that he knew at what angle his beam would go now, he couldn't let that go to waste so he aimed at the orc's face first, and he saw the orc raise his hand to his face as he ran.
"Of course he knew", thought Cresco.
And quickly shot him in the knee instead.

It hit straight on the shins instead but the effect was sufficient.
The beam managed to pierce the leather cover and still inflict enough damage to make the orc trip and stumble while uttering a number of orish words Cresco assumed must be cursing.

The last orc must've been some berserker, so single mindedly focussed on the charge it didn't flinch or anything.
Cresco felt secure enough to switch to another spell and simple told it what to attack and released it.
A small wisp of energy escaped from his hand and with a small arc it hit the orc on his person.
The leather was burnt, and skin was severely damaged. The orc kept on running like nothing happened!

With some effort Cresco released two wisps of energy.
One hit it square in the chest and one actually managed to hit it left in its face.
This only caused it to make his head turn with a snap, only to turn back at him.

Cresco started to worry, he had to move Solora before that thing caught him.
He grabbed her arm and slowly lifted her over his shoulder.
His frame was for medium lifting, which should include the lifting of humans, but it was the max his frame was build for.
With the weight well in place, Cresco remembered one more spell he had available.

With his eyes fixed on the ever closing orc he send his magic into the mind of the warrior. And wedged it into the singleminded thoughts to derail it.
Pushing it against the orc's thoughts was hard, it was so focused that it pushed back.
But every so now and then it distracted itself ever so shortly. Cresco gambled when the next thought would distract it and pushed harder.
It caught! He could feel his magic unravelling it's resolve. The brute stopped running and was just walking, blinking with his eyes looking at nothing in particular.
With a last push Cresco gave it some more confusion and let go of the spell.
He now had to run as hard as his frame could hold to safety....
... for a certain value of safety as he moved towards the Wolf-creature and the elf carrying Solora's limp body.