andres ♔ are we wrapped in black paranoia

[koraith]

♬ wood - second person

WHO || Koraith, Tia Ellison, Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore, Gold, Belle, Grimrot, Dovan Ironsides, Miles Cuivre, Jaina Solo, Penelope Sariel, David Levin, Davin, Derek Hale, Richard Riddick
WHAT || A team of Knights is tasked to contact the residents of the Shadow Village on Andres Isle, recruit those who are willing to aid them, and protect the others from harm
WHERE || Andres Isle
WHEN || September 19th, 2014
HOW || Actionspam

[ The two groups tasked to deal with the denizens of the Shadow Village arrive on the bank of the river that bisects the capitol city of Andres in half.  The river slopes down from the woods and city around it, meaning that they're afforded a bit of concealment here, unless anyone stood at the top and looked down.  At this hour of the night, however, there's no one around.   Dovan grumbles a bit about 'blasted magic' as they shake off the disorienting sense of vertigo, while Koraith waits for Belle to confirm they've arrived in the right place.  She pats Gold on the arm as she pulls out her phone, and moments later, she nods to the others in confirmation.

The water laps gently nearby against the rocks, and in the distance, a bridge is visible that links the segregated Shadow village with its thatched roof houses, to the city proper, which seems lined with wealthy manor homes.  ]

Comments

koraith ♔ stiles, lydia

[koraith]

[ koraith moves forward to address the massed, and tell those who require sanctuary that they're to follow them, stay close, and hurry along to the boats. they cut out the side of the village, and koraith speaks low to stiles and lydia as they move. ] Keep a sharp eye out, yes?

[immuno]

[ Lydia moves alongside Koraith, keeping one hand on Stiles' arm to keep him close as she looks around searchingly (spot 24). ]

I don't think any of us are at risk of napping on the job now.

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles is only paying half as much attention. No literally half (spot 12).]

What exactly are we even looking for? I mean there were some scary looking guys back at the temple but they were on our side so...

[koraith]

If there've been monsters loosed on the Isle, we may run afoul of some. It's our job to get these people safely to freedom-- [ as he explains, koraith fails to take his own advice, i guess and misses what only lydia sees: a corpse, half-buried in the trees beside the road, that looks like a shriveled husk, barely recognizable as a body anymore. ]

[immuno]

[ The small yelped shriek that she lets out is not to be confused with the caterwauling that she's generally prone to. This isn't some preternatural sense of death—this is staring it right in the face.

She draws closer to Stiles impulsively, shoulders hunching uneasily. There's no reason to assume it's more than an old body, left behind by some horror inflicted by Sarandis though, so she just shakes her head and flinches bodily away from it, turning her face so she isn't looking at it. ]

You mean more than the monster running it? [ He seems like monster enough for this Isle tbh. ]

[koraith]

[ koraith turns his head to look at the source of her yelping, and slows a bit, just as several of the villagers do the same. one young woman screams, and is grabbed by another, who pulls her back.

the noise seems to rouse something in the brush above the body, and the tree limbs are pushed aside by a hovering, bloated blob, a discolored starfish with blubbery skin, that sports an eye-studded hump from its dorsal side. a disgusting tubular tentacle-mouth hangs from the bottom, long and trailing, lashing about and bloodied on the end that sports teeth. ] My gods...

[killingtodeath]

[With one arm around Lydia and the other hand holding onto his trust bat, Stiles' mouth drops at the sight of the creature.]

I'd like to return this mission for store credit.

[No. Knightly things. He straightens and shifts to put Lydia slightly behind him.]

I'm guessing he didn't come by to help the poor dead guy out, huh?

[immuno]

Don't get close to it!

[ From squarely behind Stiles' shoulder, Lydia's quick to warn them. ]

It's a zeikune. It'll stun you, and use poison to liquefy your insides so that it can feed.

[koraith]

[ some of the villagers hear as much, and panic is quick to spread. shouts of 'we're all going to die!' and 'run for it!' mix with screams, and koraith raises his eyebrows in worry, lowering his voice to say: ] All this noise is likely to attract more of them. I'll try to fell the creature, if you can find a way to calm them and move them along.

[immuno]

[ Lydia glances between Stiles and Koraith, searching for whether Stiles plans to assist Koraith or join her in wrangling the civilians. Her hand squeezes against his arm for a moment before she nods to Koraith. ]

I'll do what I can. But don't let that thing touch you. It'll try to stun you mentally first.

[ She breaks away, stepping back and further from it to raise her hands to the crowd. ]

Please, everyone calm down! We have it under control. We know how to handle it; just keep a safe distance and keep moving. To my right here. [ She keeps at least ten feet between herself and the creature, squeezing to the edge of the path and waving them around on her other side (diplomacy 29). ]

[killingtodeath]

[Stiles glances between Koraith and Lydia, trying to decide where he's the most helpful. Looking at his choice of weapon? He steps over towards Lydia and gestures for the others to hurry along to follow her instruction.]

This way, folks. We're going to get you guys out of here. Just a little pit stop. [He gives a small nod and does his best to help Lydia out (diplomacy 28).]

[koraith]

[ koraith moves forward, drawing a sword, as the people are easily corralled aside. there are several that attempt to peer over stiles and lydia, however, and what they see horrifies them, as the zeikune lashes out with its tentacle mouth and gets hold of koraith's neck, biting into him and pumping fluids straight into his body. he grunts, but manages to break away from it, and starts slashing at the creature. ]

[immuno]

Koraith!

[ Even if she hardly knows him, Lydia lets out a soft cry when it gets hold of him. Her fingers curl against Stiles' wrist, holding tighter, pressing into him. Worry furrows her brow, but she uses the tether on Stiles' arm to keep from rushing uselessly forward. Instead, she raises her other hand to wave the townspeople forward. ]

Go! Just keep moving!

[killingtodeath]

Shit. [Stiles mutters under his breath as he watches Koraith battling with the creature. He turns to Lydia, not breaking out of her grasp on his wrist, but looking down at her, imploring silently.

He can't just leave his mentor out there on his own. Even if the usefulness that Stiles may offer is... very little.]

[immuno]

[ She levels her gaze on his, worry apparent. Even more than worry is the way that worry makes her not want to let him go. In fact, she wants to pull him closer, shove him along with the others, keep him from getting hurt.

But her gaze flickers over to Koraith and something flinches in her expression. She thinks of Scott. He'd go in a heartbeat. Or he'd need Stiles' help, like Koraith does, and—

Pressing her eyes closed, she drops her chin, tipping her head down. Her eyes open to watch her hand where it holds his wrist, and she loosens her grip. Slowly, she looks up at him as she lets go. After a moment of searching his eyes, she turns to continue hurrying the civilians along, touching many of them on the shoulder to keep them moving, and keep them far away from the zeikune. ]

[koraith]

[ the zeikune tries to mentally blast koraith, but he growls and resists, and then opens his jaws, a strange gas leaking out towards the thing. that seems to weaken it a bit as it fails its fort save, some of the strength going out of the whipping tentacle. ]

[killingtodeath]

[Taking a deep breath as Lydia's grip slackens on his wrist, Stiles adjusts his grip on his trusty bat and turns towards his mentor just in time to see him... let out a nasty belch.

Or something.

Half dragon stuff, probably.

Stiles doesn't really want to get in the way of that, so he'll just step up next to Koraith and glance over before making his first ever attempt at real life combat in this world (attack 16, damage... 1) Well, he tried.]

[immuno]

[ Still being white-girl Harriet Tubman, ftr. Except she won't shoot anyone who falls behind or looks like they're running off to tell. ]

[koraith]

[ the zeikune's response to this further interruption is to telepathically stab stiles' mind, causing horrible agony. (-4 to attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checs). he can make a will save to shake it off dc 13+, reducing the penalty to a -2.

in a terrible turn of events, however, koraith moves to follow up his breath attack with a swipe of his sword and-- doesn't see stiles approach, nor expect it. so his swing cuts all the way around -- and strikes stiles for 5 damage. it takes a few seconds for him to register what just happened in horror. ] No!

[killingtodeath]

[USING HIS SUPERIOR MENTAL PROWESS.... No, jk. Using bullheaded teenage stubbornness, Stiles hits the will and shakes off some of the effects. Take that, monster. Showed you.

Too bad his mentor follows that up by sliCING HIM WITH A SWORD WTF. Stiles turns and looks at Koraith like this pretty much before attempting to hit the creature.

...and gets a nat 20. Well, that was strangely bad ass. 9 damage.]

[koraith]

[ stiles swings the bat around with a mighty crack - or squish, i guess, that thing is like a giant organ floating around. either way, he hits it and it goes whizzing through the air, spinning around and around, hits a tree, and explodes onto it, leaving a messy rain of blood down this side of the oak.

/init

koraith lays one clawed hand on stiles' shoulder, casting a healing spell to replenish the damage he did. ] Are you alright? I'm so sorry, lad... I didn't think you would --

[ he stops himself ] That was a very brave thing you did. You have my thanks.

[immuno]

[ From down the way where she's leading people along, Lydia's head whips around to watch them and catches sight of koraITH TRYING TO KILL STILES. Wow. Luckily, Stiles is quick on the recovery and fucking decimates the monster. Lydia sucks in a surprised breath, abandoning the underground railroad and running back.

She pushes past Koraith's healing touch to throw her arms around Stiles. By Teen Wolf S1-2 standards that was very dramatic, ok. One hand cradles the back of his head, and she buries her face against his neck, peering just past his shoulder. After a moment of worrying at her lip, she spits out, ] Don't ever do that again.

[killingtodeath]

[Did he just-?

Is that-?

But wasn't he-?

Stiles is dumbfounded for a whole split second before his arms are thrust into the air like he won a lacrosse game instead of killing a really disturbing creature. Thankfully, the celebration is stopped by Koraith giving him back the hit points he stole. Lowering his arms, he's about to say something when-

Oh, hey Lydia. He hesitates just from the shock of it, but as relief sets in, his arms wrap around her, glancing up at Koraith as he finally speaks.]

It's alright. Or it will be. [Slowly, he pulls back and turns his gaze to where they were ushering the people they were here to protect.] Everyone's okay? We should keep them moving.

[koraith]

Yes, certainly. Let's not dawdle any longer with this... unpleasantness. [ and back to the hike they go~ ]

[immuno]

[ Lydia draws out of the embrace as Koraith speaks up, turning to look at him and offering a nod. She glances at Stiles, then pulls him by the hand to rejoin the group of Shadowkind, milling alongside them and urging them along with support and stuff. ]