Fall of Arden Fell
Rayni continues to work her way backwards through the crowd, but it is quickly thinning, giving both her and her enemies freedom to move. She extends her hand, and silvery energy streaks from her fingers to strike the man that had been coming for her. Shenystari can see their two attackers are coming for them, but it will still take them a few seconds to get there. On the steps, Mel and her attacker face off, the buxom redhead with a dagger, and the elegant brunette half-elf wearing silk and bearing no visible weapons. Mel doesn't have a chance to get her question answered, as the man jumps for her. He is unbelieveably quick and he grabs her by the wrist in a firm grip. Mel: [sblock]You no longer see the garden of Ocean View, and no longer see your enemy. Instead you find yourself in your changling form, dressed in a gray silk dress, standing on the purple sands of a desert, two orange moons shedding light high above. Across no more than a dozen passes stands a
creature both snake-and-insect-like, with purple flesh and far too many limbs and eyes. "
Child of change, dispense with this vulgar physical contest and meet me mind to mind. Here we shall see if your soul is truly worthy of returning to your body!" the creature calls, its voice like slime and spouting water. It's mind lashes out at Mel's visible here in this strange world as a whip of violet energy, and crashes against a faint silvery wall Mel seems to erect on instinct. She can
feel the whip as loss and despair, even as the sparks fly off the shield of determination.
A rumbling brazen chuckle seems to fill the air of this strange desert, and Mel has a heart-stopping moment of realization; the orange moons are not moons at all, but the eyes of a creature like the one before her, this one as large as a mountain. The eyes... they're Arden Fair's! The smaller creature rears back and prepares to lash his whip again...
OOC: Do you choose to attack or defend? If so, with what? Defend yourself with determination, love, will, fear? Attack with anger, righteousness, or something else? Anything you can imagine, you can use.[/sblock] The others see Mel and her attacker suddenly freeze, staring into each other's eyes. The noblewoman next to Shenystari starts to run to the side, either heading for the side gate or getting a better angle for something... Bail shoves his way through the crowd, the other two attackers behind him and out of his sight. He gets a hand on Opal's wrist and hoists the girl on his shoulder's easily.
~~~
Something Fishy at the Drunk Duck!
Tondrek stands and drools a bit, ending up taking a header to the floor, while the stunned Querzana slides back into a corner near the door. Harolk spins both of his blades into action, the slippery floor and pitching deck causing his left-hand blade to chop into the table. But Orange Crush makes another deep cut in the rugelt's soft belly, and more blood slicks the floor. Hxaptos tries to keep his footing to bash the creature, but the moving ship and blood-slick floor finally combine to defeat his footing, and he crashes to his knees. His question goes unanswered in the chaos, but the Lump has something to say:
Heh, that's the best dinner I've seen all week, bloody and fighting back!