That which lurks in the shadows glows the brightest?

(As to keep the flow of the RP moving I’m going to put the clearing on a little tiny time freeze until Kia posts something. That way I can keep this moving.)
John made his way into the forest his senses were on high alert not letting even the slightest sound go unchecked. After about an hour of traveling John stopped and set Mort’s body on the ground. “This should be far enough” he thought to himself. John spread some seeds in a circle around Mort and himself. After taking in the magic from the forest around him and focusing it into the seeds they grew to from a large thorny bush around both mort and himself. Now that that is taken care of time to find a dryad. John sat in the middle of the circle his legs crossed and his eyes closed. His arms rested on his thighs. Letting his mind go blank he focuses on all the nature magic in the area.

John knew that it would be difficult to locate a dryad this way but it was his only chance. John wanted some answers, and of all the creatures around a dryad was his best bet at finding them. John knew that dryads were both long lived and possessed a link with others of their kind. Even if the one he found didn’t know the answers to his questions it was likely that another did.

(We are gonna have to keep going without Kai if we don't want this to die Im afraid. Go ahead and post again Buddha. Mort will wake up very soon.)

(OK If Kia doesn’t respond soon then I’m just going to ignore him and move on with the clearing.)

John could feel the magic around himself, and every plant seemed to give off a slightly different energy. He needed to focus he thought. His mind was traveling through the world around him looking for signs of a dryad. His breathing slowed and began to match up with the way the forest seemed to breathe and the mark on the back of his right hand was glowing.

His mind stood in the forest filtering through the energy being given off by the plants.
“Why did there have to be so many” he thought, “at this rate it’s going to take hours to go through all this.”

Several minutes passed before John stopped filtering through the different energies cleared his mind of them, allowing him to focus solely on the one. The straining himself he could start to feel the pull of the magic to the north.

“Well then I guess I’ll take my leave of this place” he looked around admiring the calmness of the world around him. Not a sound was could be heard accept for the rustlings of leaves. No creatures inhabited this world accept himself and he found himself reluctant to leave. “Why couldn’t the world outside this place be so calm” he thought as the world around him began to fade away to be replaced by the forest he was in. The rustlings of leaves were replaced by the sounds of animals growling. Screams of terror from unfortunate adventurers once again filled John’s ears.

“Well then I guess it’s time to go” John said while opening his eyes. He looked over to the spot where he had set Mort’s body.

Mort slowly opened his eyes and groaned. He sat up and looked around him. He was in the middle of the forest somewhere and there was John sitting right next to him. John just sat there and didn't even notice when Mort said his name. But then, he remembered what happened before. "Better if he didn't notice me I guess" He thought to himself. He got to his feet and quickly sprinted off into the woods. Mort didn't have a clue where he was going, but anywhere was better than back there with a potentially dangerous captor.

Well, almost anywhere....

When John had finished focusing and looked down, Mort was long gone.

buddha66667 wrote:

John spread some seeds in a circle around Mort and himself. After taking in the magic from the forest around him and focusing it into the seeds they grew to from a large thorny bush around both mort and himself... John sat in the middle of the circle his legs crossed and his eyes closed. His arms rested on his thighs. Letting his mind go blank he focuses on all the nature magic in the area.

(Mort simply isn't going to be able to walk out of the bush it's thorned and has leaves that a liquid drips off of every once and a while. Also John was sitting. )

(Just recently joined)

As John contemplated Mort's disappearance, further to the south a crowd was growing. Scientists, adventures, and a wide range treasure seekers representing all the humanoid races (and some of the other smaller ones as well) gathered along the edges of a small clearing in the middle of the woods. Awestruck and unsure of what to make of the scene before them, they continued to grow in number with each passing moment. Several bodies lay about within the clearing, dead for some time, but were not the source of the crowd stares.

A mighty naga, scales and hair as green as the forest around her, lay near the dead center of the clearing, face-down in the dirt. Her silky skin was marred by a vicious-looking wound in the middle of her back, one that appeared to have been seared right into her flesh by some powerful spell. The rhymic rise of her body as she breathed stood as the only testament, save for the occasional twitch of her tail, to the fact that she was merely unconscious and not, as of yet, dead.

She was not alone.

Across from her stood a smaller figure, skin as pale as the moon and hair as white as snow. She was no mere woman though; the presence of dragonfly-like wings identified her as one of fairy kin. The presence of her and the naga, both great predators, kept the crowd at bay, though it was not enough to counteract the interest piqued by signs of some epic battle that had occurred in the clearing a short time before.

Arofin stepped forward, nearing the edge of the crowd which dissipated before him. It was not his presence, for few of them likely knew of the noble, but the sight of monstrous man beside him. Both wore matching cloaks that were as black as night and trimmed with crimson, though while the bigger of the two's features were hidden by his hood, Arofins was down, revealing his pasty skin and long silvery hair. By the look on his face he was clearly displeased by the crowd before him.

"What sort of rabble is this now?" he said, barely hiding the contempt he had for the crowd around him. His sneer vanished as he finally saw what was in the clearing. He had rarely heard of nagas and fairies fighting one another, and certainly not in a manner such as this. Despite this disturbing thought, it did not deter the potential gain the situation offered. If she was indeed strong enough to take down the naga on her own, then she would certainly be a useful ally in acquiring the artifact that he sought. If she refused, however, and attempted to devour him, he was also equally certain that his "compatriot" would be able to protect him.

Turning to said compatriot, he said "Goran... shall we make our acquaintance now?" The giant merely nodded, understanding the rhetorical nature of the question, and marched forward into the clearing.

(Oh I'm really sorry Buddha! I really didn't realise the things you pointed out. Still, its too late for me to edit my post seing as Jasconius has joined, so... we are just gonna have to go with it. Sorry again.)

Mort crashed through the brush in the general direction of what he thought was the cave. He looked behind him periodically to see if John was following. He wasn't, which meant he must still be meditating or whatever. He could hear lots of voices up ahead. This MUST be the cave entrance, he thought to himself.

He was nearly blinded by the sun as he dashed out of the woods and into a clearing. And so, he didn't notice the huge crowd of people until it was too late. A giant naga was lying unconcious in the dirt and a large amount of people had gathered to stare at her in awe. THIS WAS THE SAME CLEARING HE WAS IN EARLIER! Mort quickly merged with the crowd so as not to draw attention. And then, he noticed that Rhoswen was there as well. He hoped she didn't notice him. Who knows what she thought of that little "display" that Urael gave them all earlier.

He noticed that the crowds attention was focused mainly on the Naga and on the... the... wait. He remembered. Rhoswen was a fairy! He shuddered in fear. Now not only had John tried to kidnap him for whatever reason, Rhoswen was John's friend. A predator friend. A most likely very angry predator friend. He also noticed two cloaked figures, one considerably bigger than the other, heading in her direction.

John looked to the spot where Mort had been ‘Why couldn’t anything just be easy for once’ John thought
“Oh well maybe something will eat him and he won’t be our problem” a voice said in Johns head.
“I knew that it was too peaceful around here. So what do you want?” John thought back.
“Oh nothing just though I’d remind you that your hungry”
With all that happended John had failed to notice his own hunger, “Well thank you for reminding me but I won’t be in need of your services.” John’s hand reached down to one of his pouches only to find that it was empty, “Thanks”
“My services are always open”
“Thanks but no thanks” John pushed the voice out of his mind John looked around the bush seeing a hole in it he recognized it as the direction that he had taken to get here. “If he lays a hand on his friend he’ll be fertilizing the plants” he thought and started to make his way back to the clearing.

Meanwhile
Rhoswen had been sitting there not sure what to do. After hearing a muffled voice coming from the naga’s stomach she stood up and walked over to the naga. “I’m really sorry for taking your lunch away from you but…” Rhoswen’s voice faded off and she laid one of her hands on the naga and the naga started to cough. A bulge traveled up her throat and several men where reintroduced into the world. Rhoswen sat down next to the naga’s head she had a saddened look on her face looking at the ground she saw a two pairs of feet approaching her. She started to look up, “What do you want?” Her tone of voice indicated that she didn’t want to talk at the moment. As she looked up though she noticed that one of the two was much larger than the other, “Oh wow you’re tall” she said with a slight amount of interest. Taking a breath her dress reformed around her and her wings’ were no longer visible.

Arofin barely contained his disgust as he noticed the slime covered men by the fairies side, fresh from the naga's digestive tract. It wasn't their fate that brought on this emotion, for they were just lowly commoners to him, but the fact that he'd never thought that they could look any more repulsive than they typically did in life. "At least," he thought to himself, "there are less of them now". The idea comforted him.

He snapped out of the thought as he heard the fairy speak, remembering why he entered the clearing in the first place. Knowing the gravity of the situation, he quickly refocused his attention on the fairy herself. Immediately he noticed that her appearance had changed, or more accurately, that she was now wearing a dress and had hidden her wings.

She almost passed for a human... almost. This disgusted Arofin even more than the sight of the naga's prey before, to think that a lesser race would dare to imitate a higher one. He nearly reached for his staff then and there, but steadied his hand. No need to lose his cool at a time like this. She was still a potential ally, and was at least now more tolerable to look upon.

Straightening his robes and trying to look as formal, he turned to Goran, expecting him to play his role in intimidating the fairy and give him the upper hand in their upcoming discussion. His hulking companion, however, seemed to have something else in mind. Staring off into the crowd, he seemed to have noticed something else of interest. That would not do, not at all.

"Goran," Arofin said sternly, catching his compatriots attention. "The fair maiden here requires our full attention. Let us not be rude." Goran snapped to attention, facing the fairy that was now enshrouded in his shadow.

Turning to the fairy as well, Arofin went on. "I am so sorry, but Goran here can be... oh what's the word... uh... ah yes, easily distracted. Now that aside, I am truly impressed with your work. It's rare to see one with such skill nowadays, especially amongst the les- fairykind. I am Arofin Gliox, my dear, and who, might I ask, are you?"

Mort, along with most of the crowd, let out a cry of horror when they saw the slime covered men come out of the naga's mouth. However no one made an attempt to see if they were alright because the threat of the naga, fairy and cloaked men were too much. He watched as the cloaked men approached Rhoswen and spoke to her. But then, the larger of the two looked directly at him! Mort couldn't see his face too well because of his hood, but he knew he was looking straight at him. He continued to stare until the smaller man directed the larger one's attention to Rhoswen. Clearly, they had some kind of plan for her.

He didn't break his cover though. He kept with the crowd and simply watched. Those men could be friends of hers for all he knew.

When Arofin started to talk about skill she got a confused look on her face. She was indeed good with illusions but there was no way for this man to know this she thought. After the man introduced himself she responded, “Well hello, my names Rhoswen. What may I ask is your friend there?” She gestured toward Goran, “He’s too tall to be a human like you.” Still sitting there she waited for an answer.
One of the men on the ground started to move. His cloths were partially dissolved and some of his skin looked as though it had been burned. Lifting his head up he slowly opened his eyes letting them adjust from the total darkness he had been in only minutes earlier.

As she hadn't immediately attempted to shrink and/or devour him, Arofin concluded that the meeting had gone off to a good start. Rhoswen, as the fairy had so named herself, seemed more interested in his companion (and apparently confused by the look on her face) Goran than eating at the moment; a trait, he thought, that momentarily set her apart from her animalistic nature of her beastly fairy kin.

Her questions on Goran's nature, however, could not be ignored. "He is my bodyguard. As for his great size, you'd be surprised by how big they grow them in the north," Arofin said, a slight tone of superiority flavoring his words. "Now that aside, let us get straight to the point. Your after the artifact, aren't you? You need not deny it. That is why we are all here, are we not, to find it? And while you are indeed powerful, even you would not be one to deny the potential benefits of an alliance, especially since I have many means and resources at my disposal," he continued, motioning to Goran as he did. "Now what do say, fair Rhoswhen, to this? It would indeed be in our best interests."

Mort watched the conversation and sighed. More people to contend with. He started to wonder whether the artifact was worth all this effort, but he quickly struck doubt from his mind. He needed it. As he continued to watch the conversation between the the smaller cloaked man and Rhoswen, he overheard the man congratulate her on her skill. At first, he was just as confused as Rhoswen. But then, the obviousness of the situation struck him. There stood a fairy next to an unconcious giant naga, of course anyone would assume that it was the fairy who had knocked her out! It was so obvious now. However, Mort felt a strange anger come over him. Urael was not happy that someone else was getting the credit for his achievement.

He felt the rage build up inside him. Urael was trying to take control. This wasn't the first time he had tried, but despite his awesome power, he nearly always failed in his attempt. Usually, the only way that he could take control was if Mort let him do it, like the battle vs. the naga. This was a hard decision to make however, because once Urael had taken over it was VERY difficult for Mort to regain control. He has to let his gaurd down, or be in a weakened state in order for him to succeed. Even then, regaining control could sometimes cause his body to temporarily shut down, just as it had done earlier.

He cringed and held his head in his hands. It was like having a major migraine. "No you don't" he said to himself inside his head "You have caused enough pain for one day, give it a rest why don't you!?"

The pressure slowly subsided. He took lots of deep breaths and tried to act normal again. Hopefully he hadn't drawn too much attention to himself.

There he went again Rhoswen thought talking about how powerful she was. It was true that she was very well versed in illusion magic but she knew that this man had no way of knowing this. It wouldn’t be lying though to say she was powerful and they could make getting the artifact easier. “Well I don’t see why not,” she reached her hand out as if to shake Arofin’s, but remained seated. “But you’re going to have to wait for John to get back first.”

One of the men by Mort started to speak to one of the other men by him, “We’ve wasted enough time here; it doesn’t look like that naga’s going to get up anytime soon. Let’s hurry up and go before the others start to leave.” The men started to sneak off and continue on their way trying not to draw attention from the others.

Still about 10 minutes away John was making his way through the forest back to the clearing. He was taking slow deep breaths to help calm himself down. His eyes looked from side to side looking for something that he could eat from the trees and other flora around him.

"Then we are in agreement," Arofin said, shaking Rhoswen's outstretched hand. The mention of a companion of hers known as John did not worry him at all, even if he was a fairy like her. He would deal with it in his usual manner, or more accurately, Goran would deal with it should things get out of hand.
"We shall await your companion. He shouldn't be long, will he? The artifact awaits, and their are many others who seek it as well."

As the conversation went on, Goran went back to staring at the crowd, sensing something once more. Whatever it had been had to wait, as Goran's focus shifted to the giant naga lying beside him. He stared at it for several minutes from within the enshrouding shadows of his hood, silent as always.

He thought he'd seen it move...

As the crowd began to disperse, Mort once again noticed the huge cloaked person looking directly at him. But then he shifted his gaze to the naga. She moved a little and groaned. He cursed under his breath." Damn that naga's impressive agility!" He thought to himself. If Urael's earlier attack had hit her dead on, it would have punched a gigantic hole right through her chest, resulting in pretty much instant death. And now it was clear that she was starting to wake up.

Mort followed the crowd to the edge of the clearing and then stopped in the trees. He then followed the edge around until he ws kneeling behind a thick bush not 30 yards from where Rhoswen and the men were standing. It was risky to stay, but he had no idea where the cave was exactly and the crowd probably didn't either. His best bet would be to follow the smaller cloaked man who seemed to know what he was doing.

That is... unless they were devoured by a very hungry, very sore and now probably very angry naga.

(Sorry for not posting for a while I have a lot of stuff going on this week. So the thread can keep moving I gave Jasconius permission to post for me. I should have more time open next week and will take over again then.)

The naga let out a groan and her eyes slowly opened. A dazed look on her face she lied on the ground staring at the group in front of her. It took her several moments for her brain to process the images as food. She licked her lips, and started to lift up one of her arms to grab at one of them but quickly stopped as a sharp pain shot through her back. “Dam it,” she thought as she remembered what happened, “Stupid humans why can’t they just accept their place as food.”

The crowd of people began to make a run for it. The last place they wanted to be was in a clearing with an angry hungry naga.

Rhoswen on the other hand looked up at the naga’s head and smiled, “It’s about time you got up”

(And so now the naga and crowd is in your (hopefully) capable hands Jasconius. If you have any questions about anything just pm me and I’ll try to get back with you as quickly as possible.)

Meanwhile

John was simply walking toward the clearing until he heard the yells of the crowd in the distance. Still about 3 minutes away he broke into a run, and readied himself for whatever was happening by pulling out some seeds from one of the pouches. Letting his magic pour into them the seeds grew around his hand forming a gauntlet of what appeared to be bark, several large thorns protruded from it.

Dozens of humanoids burst through the bushes - wild-eyed and screaming in terror - their overwhelming sense of fear blocking out the pain of the thorns that now pierced them. All they knew now was that they had to get away from the now conscious naga that lay behind them.

They barreled past John, bumping and shoving as they went, each one trying to get ahead of the rest of the crowd. Their fear had overtaken them, fear that at any moment the naga would come crashing through the woods and devour them all.

Escape was all that mattered.



------------------------------

(Just occurred to me, but does this naga have a name?)

She grimaced as a wave of pain that tore through her back. The naga, despite having felt the stinging burns of a kensha's poisoned claws and the sharp, crushing bite of tonorion, was only barely able to stifle the tears that began to well up beneath her eyes. The pain was agonizing, and was only getting worse with every passing moment.

The wound would likely never fully heal, even with the healing effect of the soil of Felarya. The burned skin would yield a terrible scar, one that would last for the rest of her life, a constant reminder to what he had done.

He would pay. He would pay for the agony he had caused her. When she got her hands on him, when her fingers were squeezing around his little form, he would pay for what he'd done to her when she was only trying to eat. When that time came, she wouldn't eat him. Not right away, of course. When she was through with him, she'd make sure that he'd wish she had.

Pushing the pain to the back of her mind, she focused on the task, or better yet meal, at hand. She once again licked her lips and prepared to reach out for the closest one.

Mort watched, helpless as the naga reached out towards the panicking crowd. He was conflicting in his options. He could intervene and draw her attention from the crowd, but he was not strong enough to beat her. Not on his own. Mort felt the pressure build once again but quickly suppressed it. There was no way he was going to let Urael take over again. Last time, it was only luck that allowed him to regain control. Urael could be in control for hours, days even. And in that time he would bring death and destruction to all who stood in his way. No, it was not an option.

But just then, the naga's hand grew closer to a young man who was clutching his girlfriend tightly. They knew their time had come and they held each other close as the shadow of the hand loomed over them. But just as it was a few feet away, and the couple kissed each other goodbye, a ball of firey black shadow shot out from the woods and collided with her hand. The naga snatched her hand away and hissed in frustration. The ball had not hurt her much but it stung a little. And then, a figure emerged from the woods and dashed towards her.

"RUN!" He shouted to the couple, who were already on their feet and moving. The figure had one blue and one red eye, which was not glowing, but still burned with unholy fire. Mort was no fool, he knew what he had gotten himself into but he had to try to reason with the naga. An almost impossible feat, but if accomplished, could end this conflict without any need for "extreme measures".

"Listen to me! I know you must be angry and I understand that. But please, let those people go. Is it neccessary to eat humans? Can you not survive on other things?"

The giant naga hissed in anger. "Who dares!" she said, caressing her still stinging hand. Someone had dared to attack her! Her! A great predator! She would not let such a transgression go unpunished, not after being caught off-guard once already this day, and certainly not when it involved her and her lunch. Growling, she turned to face the one who had dared to strike at her. As she noticed her assailant, however, her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and distress.

It was him, The wound on her back seemed to flare up, becoming as agonizing as it once was when he inflicted it.

"You!" she snarled, her eyes narrowing in anger. In a blind rage she rushed forward, deaf to whatever he said, her hands outstretched. He was hers now.

-------------------------------------------

Arofin had barely taken cover behind a fallen tree when the naga had awoken and slithered into the crowd. Heart racing and now out of breath, he still still attempted to assess the situation. He quickly realized that the naga had ignored him and had instead gone after some commoners instead. "That should distract her for now," he thought as he reached for staff off his back. He had no plans of being caught off-guard should the naga come after him next.

As he had taken cover, Goran had followed suite, momentarily stopping only in an attempt to carry off the fairy into safety. His master's brief, distressed orders, however, bade him to come immediately to his side as quickly as possible.

Now with his bodyguard beside him, Arofin took notice as a figure rushed out of the forest after hitting the naga with some strange orb of black fire. Another potential powerful ally? The fact that its attack seemed to have hurt the naga furthered this idea. If he could expand his alliance to include this stranger, collecting the artifact would be little trouble. A smirk formed on his face from ear to ear.

"Goran? I believe this newcomer could use your assistance. You know what to do," he said, and instantly the towering figure bounded forward, arm pumping and ground shaking beneath his mighty footsteps. This would certainly be interesting. Arofin would truly enjoy that.

Mort barely saw the gigantic hands fly towards him and snatch him up in the blink of an eye. It was clear that the naga could not be reasoned with. The expression on her face said it all. Revenge was the only thing on her mind. She squeezed him so tight it felt like his ribs would crack at any...*CRACK* He let out a deep howl of pain as his ribs snapped one by one under the titanic strength of the naga. Tears welled up in his eyes. It hurt so much.

But then, the taller cloaked man from earlier emerged from the trees and stomped towards the naga. Maybe he could defeat the naga? He was very large in size but other than that it seemed like... *CRACK!* As yet another rib cracked, Mort was suprised to find that he felt no pain. He felt nothing at all. White orbs of light began to appear and sparkle all around him. He couldn't hear a sound, no noise whatsoever. The orbs glowed brighter and brighter untill all that could be seen was light. He heard a deep voice speak to him in a soft, yet harsh whisper.

"You are pathetic Mort. Why did you risk your life to save the lives of others? After all that you've been through will you let it end here? You NEED me Mortis, you know what you have to do..."

(To answer your question no I haven’t given a name to the naga yet…Hmmm I should probably fix that…. *google.com search: name generator*……. How about Seda)

“Dam it,” John said to himself as the people rushed past him. Seeing the wave of people rushing from the clearing only made him want to get there more, but trying to push his way through the mob was like a fish trying to swim up a waterfall. Finally after pushing his way through out of the mob of people he could finally continue on his way but they had cost him a lot of time he had barely been able to make it 15 feet from where he ran into them.
______________________________

“Stop it you stupid snake,” Roswen blurted. Hearing the crack coming from Mort’s body she took off moving over to Mort as quickly as her wings would take her. After reaching the giant had she grabbed on to Mort trying to pull him from the grip of the naga to no avail. “Maybe if I just,” she started to say to herself before she shrank Mort down to 3 inches in height. The tiny sized Mort now dangled from between her thumb and index finger. “Now why don’t you just take a breath and calm down.”

(Jas? We be waitin' on you buddy. )

(oh I thought you would go next as the scene directly involved your character shrinking. I also assumed that buddha has taken control of the naga again, since he's back)

Arofin aimed his staff at the naga, a stream of icy mist rising from its crystalline tip. His grin vanished, replaced by a look of confusion as he heard the fairy actually attempting to calm the beast down. "What is she doing?" was all he could think of, not sure of whether he should continue his attack or not. The sight of the grim determination on the naga's face, apparently to enraged at the now shrunken figure in her grasp to hear reason, however, told him everything he needed to know. Concentrating, he unleashed a stream of frost towards the horrid wound on the naga's back.

Goran continued his attack as well, too close to the naga to hear Rhoswens pleas. Grabbing onto a nearby stone that jutted from the ground, his fingers dug deep into it. With a single tug he wrenched it from the ground, the stone nearly the same size as himself. Seemingly unfazed by its great weight, he spun it around, gaining momentum before finally launching it. It soared through the air, its target the naga's wrist.

He intended to free the figure she held.

(Don't wait on me, Mort is in shock at the moment and he isn't really in a position to be doing or saying anything. I'll post when I think its time.)