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Song of Shattered Blades
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<blockquote data-quote="Arcturion" data-source="post: 3820364" data-attributes="member: 54632"><p><strong>1.2 Hommes Optare</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">The lead sailor upon the plank stared at the old crone before him, his eyes wide with fear and a strange kind of madness. Raising his belaying pin high over his head, the man let out a shrill war cry that sounded half-crazed to Eltera’s keen ears. The Argus’s crew members were skilled seamen but not true battle-hardened warriors, she thought bitterly. The sailor charged the hag and took a wild swing, smashing the makeshift weapon against the side of her temple. Wood met blackened flesh with a dull crack, jerking the crone’s head to one side violently. If it had been any other human, the blow would have dropped the elderly woman to the boardwalk at her feet, but she merely staggered back a step and slowly turned back to face her assailant.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Nearly shouting in triumph, the mariner’s words caught in his throat with a hideous gurgle when a clawed hand exploded out his back, spraying the man behind him in a shower of gore. The belaying pin dropped from nerveless fingers to the weathered planks of the quay as the slain sailor’s body trembled in convulsive spasms. He slid off from the crone’s arm and fell lifelessly into the black waters below the pier with a loud splash, yet another soul swallowed by the Ebontine. Snarling, the crone paid no heed to the blood and bits of entrails that covered her spindly arm up to the shoulder, and began to advance purposefully up the plank and aboard the Argus.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">The last remaining mariner yelled for the mercy of all the gods above and below as he edged backward, mumbled prayers upon quivering lips. He stumbled over the body of his fallen crewmate behind him and fell to the deck, dropping his knife in the process as he helplessly watched his doom creep ever closer.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">“They bleed silver, you say?” Rentiki shouted back at Eltera’s warning. “Well, let’s see if they sh*t gold too for all the trouble they’ve caused us!” With that, the Captain’s deep baritone was raised in rousing, bawdy song.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"><em>I once knew a girl so fair, yo ho!</em></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"><em>With honeyed gold amidst her hair!</em></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"><em>Eager eyes and rosy nose, yo ho!</em></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"><em>A smile too and down she goes!</em></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">At that, the cerulean flames that trailed along the length of Orpheus flared brightly, ghostly fires licking over the undead serpent’s rib cage as they burst forth from Rentiki’s arm toward the end of the snake’s tail. The eldritch conflagration flashed at the creature’s ensnared wrist before spreading to engulf her entire body.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Eltera narrowed her eyes against the sudden brightness though she had been exposed to the light of the surface world long enough not to be dazzled by such displays. The dark aelf felt no heat from the eerie blue flames as they consumed the inhuman wretch, only an aura of numbing chill that cut to the bone like a knife.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Straining, the woman screamed neither in pain nor surprise at the icy blaze that surrounded her. Instead, a crackling sound reverberated through the air when her hand snapped off at the wrist, sending Orpheus snaking away and Rentiki stumbling backward with a curse as he was thrown off balance. The fallen hand struck the deck and shattered into a dozen pieces as if it had been made of brittle glass. Without missing a beat, the abomination swept her freed arm down in a wide diagonal arc, hurling from her broken wrist a thick trail of liquid quicksilver through the air toward Eltera.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">The dark aelf twisted her body and ducked into a crouch before diving to the planks of the maindeck. Moving nimbly, she bounded back up to her feet from the evasive roll just as the mercury sailed over her head and spattered against the wall and forecastle door behind her. Much to Eltera’s surprise, the silvery blood crystallized the instant it struck the wood, splintering the surface with an audible crack as the metallic ice expanded in a split second. Heavy footsteps echoed from behind the door, accompanied by shouts of alarm.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">“Cap’n!” came a male voice, muffled within the confines of the forecastle. “Wus goin’ on out dere?” The door rattled as the man behind it attempted to push it open. “’Ey! Wus wit da door? Dis a trick?” The unseen mariner began pounding with what sounded like his fists at first before tentatively throwing the weight behind his shoulder against the wood. The top hinge was coated in frozen mercury, the black iron held fast against the frame by hardened, crystalline silver.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Turning back around, Eltera was prepared to launch herself at their inhuman foes once more when she felt something grasp around her left ankle in an iron grip. Peering down, she saw Awino’s severed, blackened arm digging its clawed fingers into the exposed flesh. With a grunt uttered through gritted teeth, the dark aelf quickly reversed her grip on Amurisil and slashed upward with a deft flick of her wrist as Saulekanis had taught her to do countless times before, sending the dismembered arm rolling away toward the rail before it disappeared over the side of the ship. Sliced cleaning through the wrist, the icy cold fingers remained curled about her ankle and refused to let go.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Momentarily distracted by the recalcitrant hand, Eltera narrowly escaped an overhead crushing blow from Awino’s other fist. She had brought Amurisil up at the last possible second to parry the sailor’s sudden attack after he shambled toward her. Unlike the peasant wench and the old crone, Awino’s movements were stiff and awkward, his gait clumsy and wholly lacking in grace. That fact didn’t diminish his frightening strength, however. Eltera winced at the sheer brute force of the glancing blow as it rang against the blade and sent a jolt of tingling pain down her arm, and it was little wonder that Awino had snapped his friend’s neck with such ease. The mariner regarded her with dead milky-white eyes tinged with blue as he rumbled a deep groan from his throat that reminded Eltera of creaking wood.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Undead, the moon blade sang. Wasting no time to mince words with a dead man, the dark aelf sprang past Awino, swinging Amurisil while still holding the longsword in a reverse grip. The eog-forged blade sighed as its silver edge slid almost effortlessly through the sailor’s neck, parting the head from his shoulders. It sailed over the rail to join Awino’s mangled arm in the churning depths of the Ebontine while the force of the blow knocked the headless corpse over the side as well. The one-armed, decapitated mariner – still moving despite being beheaded – fell and vanished in a blink of an eye, two dull splashes marking Awino’s full entry into the water, minus his hand still latched upon Eltera’s lower leg.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">One enemy vanquished as quickly as he appeared, Eltera focused her attacks upon the once-human, Svari-like mockery that stood before her. Approaching the abomination still wreathed in azure flames, the dark aelf felt waves of intense cold emanating from her. Gasping, Eltera cried out in pain as the liquid mercury that had sprayed all over her earlier crystallized the instant she closed with the creature. A silvery rime of frost covered her skin and the front of her dress, chilling the core of her very being and numbing her senses. The dark aelf’s breath turned to freezing mist while her limbs felt slow and heavy like leaden weights. Following through with Amurisil, Eltera attempted to slash at her opponent though this time the stroke cut only air as the abomination reflexively threw up her remaining hand and knocked the sword aside, ruining the angle of descent. Reaching out with a fist, the creature once more attempted to lash out in retaliation as the dark aelf danced away but was, again, not quick enough.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Eltera realized with a start that her own movements were stiff and ungainly, her speed and mobility greatly hampered by the numbing cold. The chill only intensified with each passing moment and made every motion of her body seem strangely sluggish. She whirled and faced her ever persistent foe, having ended up where she once started and found herself standing next to Rentiki.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">By this time, the Daoshan Captain recovered from his near fall, snapping Orpheus up behind one broad shoulder as if to unleash another wicked lash with his skeletal familiar. Without warning, a figure dropped down from the raised quarterdeck behind them both and landed upon Rentiki’s back, grappling the large man and interrupting his attack. This latest enemy clawed and raked exposed flesh with the ferocity of a rabid dog, teeth worrying Rentiki’s left shoulder back and forth savagely. Taken by surprise, the Daoshan Captain roared in agony at the sheer brazenness of this new threat and reared backward in an attempt to slam his foe against the inside of his cabin’s door frame, once, twice, and then a third time for good measure.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Stumbling, Terwase fell backward inside the cabin and landed upon his rear, an expression of stunned horror dawning over his aged features. The old shaman abruptly turned and scrambled away, the folds of his roughspun robe tripping him up in his haste to flee.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">Eltera’s eyes widened when she saw rivulets of crimson mix with threads of quicksilver that ran down the front of Rentiki’s chest from his shredded left collar, staining the man’s colorful vest and sailor’s garb with his life’s blood. The Captain’s ornate steel sword dropped from his thick fingers, the curved cutlass clattering to lay forgotten on the floor while the cerulean fires, which had burned so brightly just moments earlier, were quickly doused. The bones of Orpheus cascaded from its master’s arm and scattered all over the deck as the powerful Daoshan, once proud and indomitable, staggered and then sank heavily to his knees. An odd look of serenity passed over Rentiki’s face, replacing the fury and pain that were once there.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">“Lost,” he rasped with a ghost of a wry smile, his voice barely an audible whisper. “Lost this game of bones, I did.” The large man toppled over ponderously like a tree hewn for timber, collapsing to the deck face first.</span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon"></span></p><p><span style="color: LemonChiffon">The small figure stood up on top of Rentiki’s broad back and Eltera was greeted by the sight of a young human child, the girl not much older in age and appearance to her own Ayaleska, or so she guessed. The tusseled mat of hair atop her head was the color of ivory, bleached bone white similar to that of many a dark aelf. Her skin was likewise blackened as if exposed to extreme cold though it was smooth and unbroken instead of cracked and weeping poisonous mercury. Clothed in the rags of a street urchin, the child’s eyes that stared back shone gold in the pale moonlight, while her teeth flashed with an impish grin that glistened red over silver as her tongue flicked out over the tips of pointed canine fangs. Giggling, the girl took a moment to wipe the blood and quicksilver that dribbled down her chin, regarding the slickness that covered her tiny fingers with a queer, morbid fascination.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arcturion, post: 3820364, member: 54632"] [b]1.2 Hommes Optare[/b] [COLOR=LemonChiffon]The lead sailor upon the plank stared at the old crone before him, his eyes wide with fear and a strange kind of madness. Raising his belaying pin high over his head, the man let out a shrill war cry that sounded half-crazed to Eltera’s keen ears. The Argus’s crew members were skilled seamen but not true battle-hardened warriors, she thought bitterly. The sailor charged the hag and took a wild swing, smashing the makeshift weapon against the side of her temple. Wood met blackened flesh with a dull crack, jerking the crone’s head to one side violently. If it had been any other human, the blow would have dropped the elderly woman to the boardwalk at her feet, but she merely staggered back a step and slowly turned back to face her assailant. Nearly shouting in triumph, the mariner’s words caught in his throat with a hideous gurgle when a clawed hand exploded out his back, spraying the man behind him in a shower of gore. The belaying pin dropped from nerveless fingers to the weathered planks of the quay as the slain sailor’s body trembled in convulsive spasms. He slid off from the crone’s arm and fell lifelessly into the black waters below the pier with a loud splash, yet another soul swallowed by the Ebontine. Snarling, the crone paid no heed to the blood and bits of entrails that covered her spindly arm up to the shoulder, and began to advance purposefully up the plank and aboard the Argus. The last remaining mariner yelled for the mercy of all the gods above and below as he edged backward, mumbled prayers upon quivering lips. He stumbled over the body of his fallen crewmate behind him and fell to the deck, dropping his knife in the process as he helplessly watched his doom creep ever closer. “They bleed silver, you say?” Rentiki shouted back at Eltera’s warning. “Well, let’s see if they sh*t gold too for all the trouble they’ve caused us!” With that, the Captain’s deep baritone was raised in rousing, bawdy song. [I]I once knew a girl so fair, yo ho! With honeyed gold amidst her hair! Eager eyes and rosy nose, yo ho! A smile too and down she goes![/I] At that, the cerulean flames that trailed along the length of Orpheus flared brightly, ghostly fires licking over the undead serpent’s rib cage as they burst forth from Rentiki’s arm toward the end of the snake’s tail. The eldritch conflagration flashed at the creature’s ensnared wrist before spreading to engulf her entire body. Eltera narrowed her eyes against the sudden brightness though she had been exposed to the light of the surface world long enough not to be dazzled by such displays. The dark aelf felt no heat from the eerie blue flames as they consumed the inhuman wretch, only an aura of numbing chill that cut to the bone like a knife. Straining, the woman screamed neither in pain nor surprise at the icy blaze that surrounded her. Instead, a crackling sound reverberated through the air when her hand snapped off at the wrist, sending Orpheus snaking away and Rentiki stumbling backward with a curse as he was thrown off balance. The fallen hand struck the deck and shattered into a dozen pieces as if it had been made of brittle glass. Without missing a beat, the abomination swept her freed arm down in a wide diagonal arc, hurling from her broken wrist a thick trail of liquid quicksilver through the air toward Eltera. The dark aelf twisted her body and ducked into a crouch before diving to the planks of the maindeck. Moving nimbly, she bounded back up to her feet from the evasive roll just as the mercury sailed over her head and spattered against the wall and forecastle door behind her. Much to Eltera’s surprise, the silvery blood crystallized the instant it struck the wood, splintering the surface with an audible crack as the metallic ice expanded in a split second. Heavy footsteps echoed from behind the door, accompanied by shouts of alarm. “Cap’n!” came a male voice, muffled within the confines of the forecastle. “Wus goin’ on out dere?” The door rattled as the man behind it attempted to push it open. “’Ey! Wus wit da door? Dis a trick?” The unseen mariner began pounding with what sounded like his fists at first before tentatively throwing the weight behind his shoulder against the wood. The top hinge was coated in frozen mercury, the black iron held fast against the frame by hardened, crystalline silver. Turning back around, Eltera was prepared to launch herself at their inhuman foes once more when she felt something grasp around her left ankle in an iron grip. Peering down, she saw Awino’s severed, blackened arm digging its clawed fingers into the exposed flesh. With a grunt uttered through gritted teeth, the dark aelf quickly reversed her grip on Amurisil and slashed upward with a deft flick of her wrist as Saulekanis had taught her to do countless times before, sending the dismembered arm rolling away toward the rail before it disappeared over the side of the ship. Sliced cleaning through the wrist, the icy cold fingers remained curled about her ankle and refused to let go. Momentarily distracted by the recalcitrant hand, Eltera narrowly escaped an overhead crushing blow from Awino’s other fist. She had brought Amurisil up at the last possible second to parry the sailor’s sudden attack after he shambled toward her. Unlike the peasant wench and the old crone, Awino’s movements were stiff and awkward, his gait clumsy and wholly lacking in grace. That fact didn’t diminish his frightening strength, however. Eltera winced at the sheer brute force of the glancing blow as it rang against the blade and sent a jolt of tingling pain down her arm, and it was little wonder that Awino had snapped his friend’s neck with such ease. The mariner regarded her with dead milky-white eyes tinged with blue as he rumbled a deep groan from his throat that reminded Eltera of creaking wood. Undead, the moon blade sang. Wasting no time to mince words with a dead man, the dark aelf sprang past Awino, swinging Amurisil while still holding the longsword in a reverse grip. The eog-forged blade sighed as its silver edge slid almost effortlessly through the sailor’s neck, parting the head from his shoulders. It sailed over the rail to join Awino’s mangled arm in the churning depths of the Ebontine while the force of the blow knocked the headless corpse over the side as well. The one-armed, decapitated mariner – still moving despite being beheaded – fell and vanished in a blink of an eye, two dull splashes marking Awino’s full entry into the water, minus his hand still latched upon Eltera’s lower leg. One enemy vanquished as quickly as he appeared, Eltera focused her attacks upon the once-human, Svari-like mockery that stood before her. Approaching the abomination still wreathed in azure flames, the dark aelf felt waves of intense cold emanating from her. Gasping, Eltera cried out in pain as the liquid mercury that had sprayed all over her earlier crystallized the instant she closed with the creature. A silvery rime of frost covered her skin and the front of her dress, chilling the core of her very being and numbing her senses. The dark aelf’s breath turned to freezing mist while her limbs felt slow and heavy like leaden weights. Following through with Amurisil, Eltera attempted to slash at her opponent though this time the stroke cut only air as the abomination reflexively threw up her remaining hand and knocked the sword aside, ruining the angle of descent. Reaching out with a fist, the creature once more attempted to lash out in retaliation as the dark aelf danced away but was, again, not quick enough. Eltera realized with a start that her own movements were stiff and ungainly, her speed and mobility greatly hampered by the numbing cold. The chill only intensified with each passing moment and made every motion of her body seem strangely sluggish. She whirled and faced her ever persistent foe, having ended up where she once started and found herself standing next to Rentiki. By this time, the Daoshan Captain recovered from his near fall, snapping Orpheus up behind one broad shoulder as if to unleash another wicked lash with his skeletal familiar. Without warning, a figure dropped down from the raised quarterdeck behind them both and landed upon Rentiki’s back, grappling the large man and interrupting his attack. This latest enemy clawed and raked exposed flesh with the ferocity of a rabid dog, teeth worrying Rentiki’s left shoulder back and forth savagely. Taken by surprise, the Daoshan Captain roared in agony at the sheer brazenness of this new threat and reared backward in an attempt to slam his foe against the inside of his cabin’s door frame, once, twice, and then a third time for good measure. Stumbling, Terwase fell backward inside the cabin and landed upon his rear, an expression of stunned horror dawning over his aged features. The old shaman abruptly turned and scrambled away, the folds of his roughspun robe tripping him up in his haste to flee. Eltera’s eyes widened when she saw rivulets of crimson mix with threads of quicksilver that ran down the front of Rentiki’s chest from his shredded left collar, staining the man’s colorful vest and sailor’s garb with his life’s blood. The Captain’s ornate steel sword dropped from his thick fingers, the curved cutlass clattering to lay forgotten on the floor while the cerulean fires, which had burned so brightly just moments earlier, were quickly doused. The bones of Orpheus cascaded from its master’s arm and scattered all over the deck as the powerful Daoshan, once proud and indomitable, staggered and then sank heavily to his knees. An odd look of serenity passed over Rentiki’s face, replacing the fury and pain that were once there. “Lost,” he rasped with a ghost of a wry smile, his voice barely an audible whisper. “Lost this game of bones, I did.” The large man toppled over ponderously like a tree hewn for timber, collapsing to the deck face first. The small figure stood up on top of Rentiki’s broad back and Eltera was greeted by the sight of a young human child, the girl not much older in age and appearance to her own Ayaleska, or so she guessed. The tusseled mat of hair atop her head was the color of ivory, bleached bone white similar to that of many a dark aelf. Her skin was likewise blackened as if exposed to extreme cold though it was smooth and unbroken instead of cracked and weeping poisonous mercury. Clothed in the rags of a street urchin, the child’s eyes that stared back shone gold in the pale moonlight, while her teeth flashed with an impish grin that glistened red over silver as her tongue flicked out over the tips of pointed canine fangs. Giggling, the girl took a moment to wipe the blood and quicksilver that dribbled down her chin, regarding the slickness that covered her tiny fingers with a queer, morbid fascination.[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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