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Cassael's Lament - An Eberron Story (Updated 5/1)
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<blockquote data-quote="Anti-Sean" data-source="post: 2518279" data-attributes="member: 11797"><p>"Alright Niv, there's no need to panic, we just need to think through this. How do we control this thing?"</p><p></p><p> "I don't know, do I look like a 'marked Orien to you?"</p><p></p><p> "Not at the moment, no..."</p><p></p><p> "You two are in a restricted area! Only Orien personnel are authorized in the lead coach!" Five members of House Orien's security detail strode forward through the cart behind Autumn and Niv, passengers streaming out behind them, anxious to get out of the way. The tall, willowy guard eyed them coolly, puncutating his speech by rapping his truncheon against his hand. "We have a few questions we'd like you to answer before we escort you from the lightning rail, if you would be so kind."</p><p></p><p> Niv rolled her almond-shaped eyes audibly. "Look, we <em>really</em> don't have time for this. Why don't you boys just take a nap?" She muttered a few words in the tongue of dragons and waved her left hand vaguely in the direction of the guards. The four guards in the rear slumped to the ground, snoring loudly.</p><p></p><p> "You'll have to do better than that, young lady!" The guard smiled broadly. "Your little enchantment worked on the humans, but I am Khoravar like you, that spell has no effect on-"</p><p></p><p> <em>*thunk*</em></p><p></p><p> The guard fell backwards, clutching at the bolt protruding from his neck as Niv lowered her right arm. "Hmmph! Looks like you're not immune to crossbows, <em>Khoravar</em>.", she mimed a curtsy as she spat the last word out contemptuously. "Honestly, is there anything more tiresome than a half-elf putting on airs about his heritage?"</p><p></p><p> Autumn waited for her to finish her tirade. "Hold on... Where were you hiding that crossbow this whole time?"</p><p></p><p> "This is a frilly, poofy dress, Autumn, there are plenty of places to hide it."</p><p></p><p> "Where? I don't see any."</p><p></p><p> "Umm, that's the whole point, isn't it? Besides, how many evening gowns have you worn?"</p><p></p><p> "Fair enough. Maybe I should wear one so I know what can be hidden in them."</p><p></p><p> Niv chuckled. "Oh there's a lovely image! I tell you what, if we make it out of this alive, I'll escort you to one of the finest parties in Sharn in whatever dress you'd like."</p><p></p><p> "Sounds like a plan. Not that dress, though, you've got blood all over it."</p><p></p><p> "Don't worry", Niv smiled coyly, "it's not mine."</p><p></p><p> "Hey, that's my line!"</p><p> </p><p> Niv tossed her hair over her shoulder exaggeratedly. "Well, seeing as how your sense of humor is mostly a side effect of basking in my radiant presence, we'll call it even. Besides, we have more pressing matters to deal with, this lightning rail isn't getting any slower!"</p><p></p><p> "Right. We should probably separate the coach from the carts attached to it. I think they should come to a halt safely."</p><p></p><p> "Are you sure?"</p><p> </p><p> Autumn explained himself in a rather nonchalant manner. "No. If I'm right, everyone will be safe, but they'll have no idea we saved them. If I'm wrong, they'll all most likely die a horribly painful death, but won't know that we're responsible. If we do nothing, the same thing will happen. Either way, we don't have to worry about any restless ghosts haunting us for the rest of our days."</p><p></p><p> "For some bizarre reason, that makes sense to me. I know that should worry me, but I don't really have that luxury at the moment. So how do we separate the carts?"</p><p></p><p> "Well, I've always been a fan of the direct approach." With that, Autumn raised a fist above his head and slammed it into the connection joint between the coach and the first passenger cart. A stroke of lightning arced up through the joint in response, coursing over his body. "Aaaarrrgh! Perhaps a slightly <em>less</em> direct approach is in order!" Autumn kneeled and gazed into the storm raging above them, chanting softly until a nimbus of pale blue light surrounded him. The light faded away as he rose to a crouching position, feet splayed widely, raising a fist once more. "Alright, let's try that again!" Once more his fist hammered down, the connection joint buckling from the force of the blow. Once more, lightning shot over and through his body in retaliation. This time, however, he began to laugh. "Heh! That kind of tickles!"</p><p></p><p> Niv cocked her head, regarding him quizzically. "That's odd... I didn't know warforged were ticklish."</p><p></p><p> "Neither did I!" A few more strikes from Autumn's mighty fists and the connection snapped. The trailing carts receded swiftly into the distance, slowly coming to a stop as the coach hurtled forward along the path of conductor stones laid out before it. "Well, it looks like they'll be alright." He looked down at the line of conductor stones passing by below them, deep in thought. "Hmm..."</p><p></p><p> "What is it, Autumn? I'm not sure I liked the sound of that 'Hmm'."</p><p></p><p> The warforged looked around the coach intently, studiously avoiding all eye contact. "Well... nothing really. It's just that, now that I think about it, maybe we should have been in one of those carts instead of the coach!"</p><p></p><p> Niv's jaw worked up and down wordlessly for a a few moments. "And you... you didn't think of that until just now?!?! Auugh, I don't believe this! What in Dolurrh did Cannith <em>do</em> when they made you, did they <em>literally</em> fill your head with rocks? Here, take my dagger! Just give it one quick plunge into the back of my neck, it'll be nice and painless!"</p><p></p><p> "Well, I didn't hear you chiming in to correct me! In fact, I don't remember you mentioning any ideas at all!"</p><p></p><p> Instead of firing back with a scathing retort, Niv's face scrunched up in a perplexed expression. "What? I can't hear you!"</p><p></p><p> "I <em>said</em>...wait, did the wind just get a <em>lot</em> louder?"</p><p></p><p> Wreckage and detritus from the damage inflicted to the coach and its door swirled around the arguing pair before flying out the rear of the coach. Autumn and Niv turned in unison to view the gale force wind whirling in a malevolent frenzy behind them. The elemental was free.</p><p> </p><p> "Niv, grab hold of something!" Autumn struggled against the vortex pulling him towards the gaping hole where the door used to be. He grabbed hold of the mangled door frame as Niv wedged herself into a secure spot in the front of the coach. "Hold on Niv, just, <em>oof!</em>", the corpse of the Emerald Claw soldier smacked wetly against Autumn as it was sucked outside. "Just hold on and we'll be alright!" Just then, a terrible groan followed by a loud crack rang out as the frame he had clung to so tenaciously pulled apart from the rest of the coach, tumbling backwards and upwards into the center of the whirlwind along with him. "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiv!!!"</p><p></p><p> Niv screamed. "NOOO!!! Autumn!!"</p><p></p><p> Autumn bellowed loudly over the winds stirred up by the enraged elemental. "Niv, do something, please!"</p><p></p><p> "Autumn, you've got to fight it!"</p><p></p><p> "Fight it? And how do you propose I do that? Do you know a technique for fighting <em>air</em> that I'm not aware of?" </p><p></p><p> "Well, what do you expect me to do?"</p><p></p><p> "I don't know, <em>urgh!</em> you're a very resourceful <em>ow!</em> person! Perhaps you know a spell or two that might come in handy?"</p><p></p><p> "I don't know any that would help in this case!" Niv fidgeted nervously, wringing her hands as she watched her companion being pummeled over and over again as he circled around within the whirlwind above the coach. "Well...I mean, maybe there is one..."</p><p></p><p> "Great! Fine! Excellent! What are you waiting for?"</p><p></p><p> "I <em>hate</em> casting that spell!"</p><p></p><p> "What?!"</p><p></p><p> "I hate it! I can't explain it, you wouldn't understand. Besides, you'll laugh at me!"</p><p> </p><p> "Niv, I can assure you that laughter is the furthest thing from my mind right now!"</p><p> </p><p> "It...it makes me itch all over for hours every time I cast it."</p><p></p><p> "Leg me get this straight, Niv, you don't want to cast the spell because it makes you <em>itchy</em>?!?! Oh, that will be a lovely story for you to tell as the years pass by! 'My friend is dead now, but at least I didn't have to briefly suffer from an uncomfortable skin condition!'"</p><p></p><p> "Well if you're going to be so rude about it -"</p><p></p><p> "Niv, please! I'm being torn to pieces out here!"</p><p></p><p> "Alright, fine! Honestly, you're so self-centered sometimes!" Niv concentrated, her fingers tracing intricate patterns through the air as she spoke ancient words of power. She grimaced as twin bolts of fire blazed forth from her outstretched hand, burning through the winds buffeting the warforged about. An unearthly hissing scream issued forth from the center of the whirlwind as it quickly began to dissipate. Autumn fell back towards the earth as soon as the winds were gone, barely managing to grab hold of the speeding coach. Niv scrambled forward to help pull him inside. "Autumn? Autumn, are you alright?"</p><p></p><p> "I've been better. Thank you, that was... unpleasant. We don't seem to be slowing down, though. Why is that?"</p><p> </p><p>Niv shrugged. "Maybe there were two elementals?"</p><p></p><p> "Oh, please don't say that. I'd rather not go through that a second time!"</p><p></p><p> Niv stared through the window at the front of the coach. "Autumn? Do those mountains look a lot closer to you than they did a few minutes ago?"</p><p></p><p> "Yes. That means we're coming up on that sharp curve you mentioned earlier, doesn't it? We're going to have to make a jump for it soon."</p><p></p><p> Niv nodded, sighing heavily. "It gets better. Look behind us. Jagged outcroppings of rock to the left, and a deep ravine to the right."</p><p></p><p> "Hmm. No doubt filled with more jagged rocks at the bottom."</p><p></p><p> "Right, unless that's Soft Fluffy Pillow Gorge, and I don't remember seeing that on the map. We don't have much time, Autumn." The coach began to rumble and shudder ominously, underscoring her point. "I think we might as well go for the ravine. At least we'll have a little more time before the end. And we have the lovely surprise of finding out what's at the bottom, rather than what we can already see up here. There's just no mystery jumping off to the left."</p><p></p><p> Autumn stared at her for several long moments, finally adressing her in a distant, almost rehearsed tone. "Niv, If we don't make it through this... There's something I need to say -"</p><p></p><p> Niv stood up, turning away quickly. "Stop right there, Autumn."</p><p></p><p> "Niv, this is important!"</p><p></p><p> She spun back towards him, her voice rising in anger. "No! There's nothing *to* say!"</p><p></p><p> "Niv, I've been trying to tell -"</p><p></p><p> "Autumn, we are <em>not</em> having this conversation! Every time someone starts off with 'There's something I need to say' in a situation like this, it always ends badly! We don't stand much of a chance at all, but if you say what you are about to say, you'll doom us both. Besides,", she added quietly, eyes downcast, "you don't need to say anything." Regaining her composure, Niv took a deep breath. "I'm jumping now! Are you coming with me, or are you going to sit there and watch me jump alone?"</p><p></p><p> The warforged rose to his feet with a sigh. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Autumn took her hand in his. "No matter what, Niv, I go with you."</p><p> </p><p> The lightning rail coach threw itself forward, unable to follow the sharp curve of the conductor stones at its accelerated speed. Horrible screeching and rending noises filled the night as it crashed and splintered along the rockbed. The resulting cacaphony drowned out all other sound, including that made by the wind whistling past two small figures plummeting through the darkness of the storm into the unknown depths below.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anti-Sean, post: 2518279, member: 11797"] "Alright Niv, there's no need to panic, we just need to think through this. How do we control this thing?" "I don't know, do I look like a 'marked Orien to you?" "Not at the moment, no..." "You two are in a restricted area! Only Orien personnel are authorized in the lead coach!" Five members of House Orien's security detail strode forward through the cart behind Autumn and Niv, passengers streaming out behind them, anxious to get out of the way. The tall, willowy guard eyed them coolly, puncutating his speech by rapping his truncheon against his hand. "We have a few questions we'd like you to answer before we escort you from the lightning rail, if you would be so kind." Niv rolled her almond-shaped eyes audibly. "Look, we [I]really[/I] don't have time for this. Why don't you boys just take a nap?" She muttered a few words in the tongue of dragons and waved her left hand vaguely in the direction of the guards. The four guards in the rear slumped to the ground, snoring loudly. "You'll have to do better than that, young lady!" The guard smiled broadly. "Your little enchantment worked on the humans, but I am Khoravar like you, that spell has no effect on-" [I]*thunk*[/I] The guard fell backwards, clutching at the bolt protruding from his neck as Niv lowered her right arm. "Hmmph! Looks like you're not immune to crossbows, [I]Khoravar[/I].", she mimed a curtsy as she spat the last word out contemptuously. "Honestly, is there anything more tiresome than a half-elf putting on airs about his heritage?" Autumn waited for her to finish her tirade. "Hold on... Where were you hiding that crossbow this whole time?" "This is a frilly, poofy dress, Autumn, there are plenty of places to hide it." "Where? I don't see any." "Umm, that's the whole point, isn't it? Besides, how many evening gowns have you worn?" "Fair enough. Maybe I should wear one so I know what can be hidden in them." Niv chuckled. "Oh there's a lovely image! I tell you what, if we make it out of this alive, I'll escort you to one of the finest parties in Sharn in whatever dress you'd like." "Sounds like a plan. Not that dress, though, you've got blood all over it." "Don't worry", Niv smiled coyly, "it's not mine." "Hey, that's my line!" Niv tossed her hair over her shoulder exaggeratedly. "Well, seeing as how your sense of humor is mostly a side effect of basking in my radiant presence, we'll call it even. Besides, we have more pressing matters to deal with, this lightning rail isn't getting any slower!" "Right. We should probably separate the coach from the carts attached to it. I think they should come to a halt safely." "Are you sure?" Autumn explained himself in a rather nonchalant manner. "No. If I'm right, everyone will be safe, but they'll have no idea we saved them. If I'm wrong, they'll all most likely die a horribly painful death, but won't know that we're responsible. If we do nothing, the same thing will happen. Either way, we don't have to worry about any restless ghosts haunting us for the rest of our days." "For some bizarre reason, that makes sense to me. I know that should worry me, but I don't really have that luxury at the moment. So how do we separate the carts?" "Well, I've always been a fan of the direct approach." With that, Autumn raised a fist above his head and slammed it into the connection joint between the coach and the first passenger cart. A stroke of lightning arced up through the joint in response, coursing over his body. "Aaaarrrgh! Perhaps a slightly [I]less[/I] direct approach is in order!" Autumn kneeled and gazed into the storm raging above them, chanting softly until a nimbus of pale blue light surrounded him. The light faded away as he rose to a crouching position, feet splayed widely, raising a fist once more. "Alright, let's try that again!" Once more his fist hammered down, the connection joint buckling from the force of the blow. Once more, lightning shot over and through his body in retaliation. This time, however, he began to laugh. "Heh! That kind of tickles!" Niv cocked her head, regarding him quizzically. "That's odd... I didn't know warforged were ticklish." "Neither did I!" A few more strikes from Autumn's mighty fists and the connection snapped. The trailing carts receded swiftly into the distance, slowly coming to a stop as the coach hurtled forward along the path of conductor stones laid out before it. "Well, it looks like they'll be alright." He looked down at the line of conductor stones passing by below them, deep in thought. "Hmm..." "What is it, Autumn? I'm not sure I liked the sound of that 'Hmm'." The warforged looked around the coach intently, studiously avoiding all eye contact. "Well... nothing really. It's just that, now that I think about it, maybe we should have been in one of those carts instead of the coach!" Niv's jaw worked up and down wordlessly for a a few moments. "And you... you didn't think of that until just now?!?! Auugh, I don't believe this! What in Dolurrh did Cannith [I]do[/I] when they made you, did they [I]literally[/I] fill your head with rocks? Here, take my dagger! Just give it one quick plunge into the back of my neck, it'll be nice and painless!" "Well, I didn't hear you chiming in to correct me! In fact, I don't remember you mentioning any ideas at all!" Instead of firing back with a scathing retort, Niv's face scrunched up in a perplexed expression. "What? I can't hear you!" "I [I]said[/I]...wait, did the wind just get a [I]lot[/I] louder?" Wreckage and detritus from the damage inflicted to the coach and its door swirled around the arguing pair before flying out the rear of the coach. Autumn and Niv turned in unison to view the gale force wind whirling in a malevolent frenzy behind them. The elemental was free. "Niv, grab hold of something!" Autumn struggled against the vortex pulling him towards the gaping hole where the door used to be. He grabbed hold of the mangled door frame as Niv wedged herself into a secure spot in the front of the coach. "Hold on Niv, just, [I]oof![/I]", the corpse of the Emerald Claw soldier smacked wetly against Autumn as it was sucked outside. "Just hold on and we'll be alright!" Just then, a terrible groan followed by a loud crack rang out as the frame he had clung to so tenaciously pulled apart from the rest of the coach, tumbling backwards and upwards into the center of the whirlwind along with him. "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiv!!!" Niv screamed. "NOOO!!! Autumn!!" Autumn bellowed loudly over the winds stirred up by the enraged elemental. "Niv, do something, please!" "Autumn, you've got to fight it!" "Fight it? And how do you propose I do that? Do you know a technique for fighting [I]air[/I] that I'm not aware of?" "Well, what do you expect me to do?" "I don't know, [I]urgh![/I] you're a very resourceful [I]ow![/I] person! Perhaps you know a spell or two that might come in handy?" "I don't know any that would help in this case!" Niv fidgeted nervously, wringing her hands as she watched her companion being pummeled over and over again as he circled around within the whirlwind above the coach. "Well...I mean, maybe there is one..." "Great! Fine! Excellent! What are you waiting for?" "I [I]hate[/I] casting that spell!" "What?!" "I hate it! I can't explain it, you wouldn't understand. Besides, you'll laugh at me!" "Niv, I can assure you that laughter is the furthest thing from my mind right now!" "It...it makes me itch all over for hours every time I cast it." "Leg me get this straight, Niv, you don't want to cast the spell because it makes you [I]itchy[/I]?!?! Oh, that will be a lovely story for you to tell as the years pass by! 'My friend is dead now, but at least I didn't have to briefly suffer from an uncomfortable skin condition!'" "Well if you're going to be so rude about it -" "Niv, please! I'm being torn to pieces out here!" "Alright, fine! Honestly, you're so self-centered sometimes!" Niv concentrated, her fingers tracing intricate patterns through the air as she spoke ancient words of power. She grimaced as twin bolts of fire blazed forth from her outstretched hand, burning through the winds buffeting the warforged about. An unearthly hissing scream issued forth from the center of the whirlwind as it quickly began to dissipate. Autumn fell back towards the earth as soon as the winds were gone, barely managing to grab hold of the speeding coach. Niv scrambled forward to help pull him inside. "Autumn? Autumn, are you alright?" "I've been better. Thank you, that was... unpleasant. We don't seem to be slowing down, though. Why is that?" Niv shrugged. "Maybe there were two elementals?" "Oh, please don't say that. I'd rather not go through that a second time!" Niv stared through the window at the front of the coach. "Autumn? Do those mountains look a lot closer to you than they did a few minutes ago?" "Yes. That means we're coming up on that sharp curve you mentioned earlier, doesn't it? We're going to have to make a jump for it soon." Niv nodded, sighing heavily. "It gets better. Look behind us. Jagged outcroppings of rock to the left, and a deep ravine to the right." "Hmm. No doubt filled with more jagged rocks at the bottom." "Right, unless that's Soft Fluffy Pillow Gorge, and I don't remember seeing that on the map. We don't have much time, Autumn." The coach began to rumble and shudder ominously, underscoring her point. "I think we might as well go for the ravine. At least we'll have a little more time before the end. And we have the lovely surprise of finding out what's at the bottom, rather than what we can already see up here. There's just no mystery jumping off to the left." Autumn stared at her for several long moments, finally adressing her in a distant, almost rehearsed tone. "Niv, If we don't make it through this... There's something I need to say -" Niv stood up, turning away quickly. "Stop right there, Autumn." "Niv, this is important!" She spun back towards him, her voice rising in anger. "No! There's nothing *to* say!" "Niv, I've been trying to tell -" "Autumn, we are [I]not[/I] having this conversation! Every time someone starts off with 'There's something I need to say' in a situation like this, it always ends badly! We don't stand much of a chance at all, but if you say what you are about to say, you'll doom us both. Besides,", she added quietly, eyes downcast, "you don't need to say anything." Regaining her composure, Niv took a deep breath. "I'm jumping now! Are you coming with me, or are you going to sit there and watch me jump alone?" The warforged rose to his feet with a sigh. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Autumn took her hand in his. "No matter what, Niv, I go with you." The lightning rail coach threw itself forward, unable to follow the sharp curve of the conductor stones at its accelerated speed. Horrible screeching and rending noises filled the night as it crashed and splintered along the rockbed. The resulting cacaphony drowned out all other sound, including that made by the wind whistling past two small figures plummeting through the darkness of the storm into the unknown depths below. [/QUOTE]
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Cassael's Lament - An Eberron Story (Updated 5/1)
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