Researching the Treasures of the past(ell and moth

[Elloria]

(“Italics” = Ancient Language. If it’s not in English, it’s a spell.)

“Thrysta deloi.” As the softly spoken words passed his lips, Josk focused on the thought of an earthen shield before him. The earth rose in response to his command and he ducked slightly to be fully covered by his hasty shield. He shivered with sudden fatigue as he felt the shield vibrate slightly as the fire slammed into it. The spell had taken much more power than it should have, but it had also been hasty. He reached out for the large, warm pool of energy stored in the smaller obsidian stone of his sword’s hilt. Recovered, he considered how odd it was that there had been no corresponding heat. A magic user had to be pretty confident in their attack if they sought to strike before breaking another’s mind. Yet the elf’s brisingr hadn’t seemed to do much damage at all. He tilted his head up to see that the earth had, in fact, turned to slag near the top and was beginning to dribble down on his side. But otherwise, the shield was quite intact.

So if the elf wasn't powerful magically - which was a possibility - then he was a strong melee fighter, rather than a moderate mix. He straightened enough to peer over the edge of his shield. If the strange elf was a melee fighter, he should've struck by now. But Josk was surprised to find that not only was the elf gone - Jeralt had disappeared as well. And the two fishmen were currently working to unmoor their ship. Josk stood up completely. He sent out a tendril of thought and found Jeralt’s and the elf's life forces just inside the forest. Jeralt must have intercepted whatever attack the strange elf had been attempting whilst Josk was hidden behind his shield. He made a mental note to thank Jeralt later for that.

Of course, there'd be no later if the two combatants in the forest continued as they currently were. Jeralt and the elf might both be vampires, but Jeralt had been human once. The elf was, of course, an elf. And something else besides a vampiric elf, but Josk didn't feel like considering that at the moment. The point was that Josk was certain this vampire-elf-thing avoided magical duels for whatever reason. Which meant he was probably somewhat inexperienced in his use. Which was a first in Josk's experience, but hey. There was a first time for everything, wasn't there? He cast the fishmen from his mind and focused on Jeralt and the elf. “Malthinae.” This time, the fatigue didn't sweep over him as he was still tapped into the wealth of energy in his obsidian. But he would definitely have to immediately begin replenishing them. It was a shame - he thought as he put the barriers back up around his mind - that he hadn't been able to get at least some of Desil's life energy before Jeralt sucked the poor boy dry.

Confidant that he could now take a bit of time getting to the elf and Jeralt, Josk looked over at the fishmen. They seemed quite bent on getting as far from here as possible. He considered just letting them go on their merry way, but wondered if they might not be useful in some manner. If nothing else, he might be able to sap a bit of their energy from them and place it in the obsidian. But that would have to be a last resort sort of thing. He wasn't completely heartless, despite the impression he often gave. Perhaps conversation over dinner later? He wouldn’t mind some different company, especially now that Desil was dead. “I swear that no further harm will come to you so long as it is in my power to protect you,” he called out to them in the Ancient Language. He doubted they could speak his native tongue. But he trusted that, as all other livings did, these two could on some instinctual level understand it. And it would possibly be enough to keep them there. Because he really didn't want the remainder of his rest to be spent in the company of a ‘ravenous' vampire and demented, outraged vampire-elf.

As the last word left his lips, he ran into the forest to search for Jeralt and the elf. It wasn't to hard. He just moved to where he remembered their energy being, which was only a dozen or so feet inside the forest's edge. He leaned against a tree trunk and looked at the fruits of his labor with a grin. “What have we here?”

[ladymoth]

(apologies in advance for the goofy tone)

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The twins looked at each other and ascertained wordlessly that they ascertained the meanings of the words without knowing what was being said, and though they didn’t know why it was that they could ascertain the meaning they ascertained that the explanation was just that it was magic and that not asking Josk how they knew what he was saying would save them from having to endure a long explanation about the history of magic, and that was something that neither of them were interested in. The hoped off of the boat and followed Josk into the forest to find the two vampires bound in the shade of the trees.

Jeralt was not happy about this. He was thrashing around in an attempt to escape but his thrashing was in vane, all he managed to do was bash and hit and shake Darek and himself up enough to make them both very motion sick. “Josk I swear to god if you don’t let us go you’re not getting anything below the waist, I don’t need protecting from an stick insect like you, I can take whatever this thing is, stop treating me like a human!” Jeralt roared flailing his long disproportionate legs around like an octopus.

“If I may” Thertayn cleared his throat and stepped forward “clearly we have a miss understanding here, now Clearly this Mr…” Thertayn waited for Jeralt to give his name, but Jeralt just snorted in an uppity manner “Mr. Dark-elf” Thertayn improvised, which caused Jeralt to shout out in protest

“Oh my f***ing god.” Jeralt groaned thumping his head against the tree trunk “It’s Jeralt, f***, I’ll tell you anything if you never call me that again”


“Mr. Jeralt had to kill that elf, or else he would have died, now surely that redeems the murder to somewhat?” Thertayn implored Darek. He didn’t much care for Jeralt but he had to add in his two cents because he was a very important person in his own mind and if it were him he’d kill Ehm to keep himself alive, and he was the be all end all when it came to doing the right thing.

[dantieduurden]

Darek was a few feet from hitting Josk when his partner Jeralt tackled him from the side, Next thing Darek knew he was flying towards the woods with Jeralt in tow. " Idiot." Darek growled as he and Jeralt were frozen in place. As the other vampire flailed around Dareks fangs sank into the other vampire's shoulders.

After hearing the spokesman of the two strange creatures Darek calmed, though he did not stop trying to untie his bonds mentally, after all with the other one flailing around it would be taken a lot of energy to maintain. " Tell me why you ripped the mans head of then, then we will see if it was for survival." Darek said in the ancient language, infuriated at his jailer but willing to let this go if the man did not lie.

[Elloria]

“You’re not exactly in a position to be threatening me,” Josk stated calmly. The grin, however, widened greatly as Jeralt continued to make demands. He was rather enjoying being in a position of dominance over his freak. Jeralt was alway so demanding during their encounters. It had quickly become irksome to Josk. The freak really seemed to think he was the greatest thing in the world and a gift to all who met him. Such narcissism. “But I’d appreciate it if you’d stop flailing about. I might be more inclined to release you if you’d stay still.” Between Jeralt's physical attempts towards freedom and the mental pressure being placed on the bonds by Darek, Josk was rapidly depleting the energy in the small stone. But he wasn't going to let either one know that, especially when he still had three more stones left to go through.

He listened to Thertayn, nodding in agreement. He felt that the other vampire-freak was sitting on a rather high horse. Jeralt was somewhat animalistic and one couldn't hold an animal to the same standards as an elf, human, or dragon. And of course, no elf would ever hold a dragon to the same standards held for the elven race. Granted, dragons were a bit more intimidating and powerful than just about any other creature alive but so what? Same principle applied, in Josk's ever so humble opinion. Of course, push come to shove he could always mention that Desil was a member of the Hive. How he would do that without implicating himself was the tricky part. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. He listened to Darek speak in the Ancient Language and wondered at the switch. “Perhaps you should refrain from speaking our native tongue to these three. I highly doubt they understand what you’re saying, beyond an instinctual comprehension. And that’s hardly polite or fair, is it?” Josk winked cheekily at Darek as he spoke. It was rather hypocritical of him to chide Darek as he had. But again, who was in a position to really argue with him right now? He was enjoying this far too much, though he maintained his iron control over the magic that held both Jeralt and Darek bound.

[ladymoth]

(obligatory post is obligatory, and uninspired. )

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The image of a headless elf silenced Thertayn considerably. He was the kind of person who dabbled in the theatrical, he was known to write his name in his adversaries with the tip of his blade, but that had a point to it, he got his name out there and a reputation with the ladies. Jeralt was just cutting off heads for the sake of cutting off heads

"Look, I play with my food, so what? would you rather I didn't enjoy killing this Desmond guy, because I think it's an affront to his memory" Jeralt laughed. He had stopped struggling "come on Josk, let me go and we'll kick this guy in the ass together" he offered cheerily.

[dantieduurden]

Darek smiled kindly at the two elfs in turn. " So it will be quite enjoyable then when I tell you I have an army marching this way as we speak. And that I will torture you both nice and slowly so that I may enjoy your lives and...celebrate them as you so kindly put it." Darek said as he thought of the two tribes that were still following him around and were only about a mile or so back. " Killing is not needed to feed. Nor is torture when you kill. Mercy is a two way thing after all, and taterous shall have a special place for you well past the city of Dis, and the lake styxx." Darek smiled a toothy grin at the two as he found the weak spot of the bonds holding him and began to unraveled them.

[Elloria]

(OOC: Short post is short and uninspired.)

“His name was Desil, you thick-headed lout. Even if he’s just food to you, you could at least have the decency to learn his name,” Josk growled angrily as Darek found a weak point in his spell. He was normally much more precise than he had been, but haste had made him messy. He released the magic binding Jeralt and turned all his attention on keeping Darek in place. The elf had already undone almost a third of the spell and was rapidly working his way through the rest. He tried to divert him enough so that he could cast another spell, but the freak was proving tenacious. His brow furrowed deeply and his lips twisted into a silent snarl as he grappled once more with Darek's will.

[ladymoth]

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Thertayn looked at his brother and stuck his chin up, looking at the branches of the tree above them. Ehm grabbed a branch and climbed up the tree with amazing skill, considering that he was a water dweller. He reached the top of the canopy and looked out to spot the army

" "Dumbass, if you let them live they get all toothy and start killing people" Jeralt snapped at Darek, that was actually not what happened when they turned but it was partially true so he let it be. "Don't pretend like you're some kind of Jeralt expert, you don't know anything about how this works, shut up." Jeralt turned his head back to Josk "why the hell are you on his side?" Jeralt cracked his knuckles and strolled up to Josk then socked him in the neck, one of those special Jeralt punches that felt like a falling boulder. "That's for tying me up with the demon hell spawn freakazoid!"

[dantieduurden]

Darek let out a small smile as Jeralt went on and on trying to tell him about something he had been doing for years now. " your right I do not know you at all but I do know a lot more then you obviously about being a vampire." Darek said as he felt all of Josk's power sent his way trying to hold him back. " Have you not learned to stay out of my mind yet?" Darek shot back as he felt Josk slam into his mental barrier. He had to hand it to the elf, he was relentless. But while Josk was struggling to stop him Jeralt had waltzed right up to him from what Darek could see and as the vampire raised his arm an amused smile came onto his face.

" Better luck next Time." Darek said as he timed the mental blast perfectly in tune with Jeralt's punch to the neck. Breaking free of his binding and also getting into Josk's mind. " If you promise not to try to hold me in place again I will leave your mind, it seems your friend here has no friken idea What he is." Darek said into Josk's mind as he kept both blades at the ready for when and if either one of them attacked.

[Elloria]

Had Josk not been busy with Darek, he would have side-stepped Jeralt's punch with ease. Instead, it sent him careening into a tree and shattered both his hold on Darek's will and his control of the magic binding the elf. In an instant, he felt Darek's presence invading his mind. As the younger elf weighed down his consciousness, he felt only a boiling rage. But it was not directed at what he had considered his enemy. He had been placed in this position because Jeralt was the most idiotic bastard in all of existence. He was going to kill the freak! That rage was the only thing keeping him from blacking out at the moment - that and the cloak's absorbing so much of the damage - but he didn't seem to realize this. He pushed back against Darek's presence, all sense of rationality and civility shattered. He succeeded in wriggling out of Darek's crushing paralytic grip, though the freakish elf remained in his mind.

Pray to whatever filthy gods those humans worship that I do not turn upon you when I am finished with that forsaken piece of shit, he shot back at Darek as he rose from his prone position on the ground. He paid no more attention to the elf after that. He calmly dusted himself, tilted his head from side to side so that his neck cracked satisfyingly and rolled his shoulders. There was no indication in his stance or movements that he was infuriated. There was no warning that he was about to strike back. The only way any would have been able to tell - without being privy to his thoughts, as Darek now was - would have been to look in Josk's eyes. The hood of his cloak shadowed his face nicely, however. It was impossible to see that his silvery eyes had darkened so drastically that they might as well have been black instead of grey.However, the moment he was satisfied that his body was still fully functioning, he crossed the small gap between himself and Jeralt and struck.

Despite his effeminate features and slight build, Josk was still an elf. Preternatural strength was his by his very nature. He wasn't much with a sword, but he and Niko knew how to brawl with the best of them. And of course, he loved his magic dearly. If Jeralt wasn’t as oblivious to the ways of magic as he was, he would have been able to sense that Josk had tuned himself into all four of his obsidian stones. The wealth of energy contained within the brooch and the larger stone of the sword alone was unimaginable - the products of countless generations storing away bits and pieces whenever possible. He would need it for the spell he had in mind. “Jierda medh skulblaka kraptr.” As the last word left his lips, his fist slammed into Jeralt's gut. The energy in his ring and the smaller hilt stone vanished completely. A sizable amount was pulled from both the larger hilt stone and the brooch, but not enough to make too much of a dent in their stores. Thus his punch struck as hard, if not harder, than Jeralt’s. Perhaps a bit harder, if only because fury added more strength on top of the spell’s. “That’s for being the most mentally challenged person I’ve met in my entire life! How is it even possible for you to function on a daily basis with that much stupidity clogging your cranial cavity like sewage clogging a pipe?!? How can anyone possibly be so ignorant about how magic works when they’re the product of it?!?”

(“Jierda medh skulblaka kraptr.” = “Strike with dragon strength.”)

[ladymoth]

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"Being a what?" Jeralt gawked one moment with such a priceless stupefied look on his face that the moment seemed to go on for an eternity. It was stopped however by a sudden retaliation from Josk, who Jeralt had all but forgotten in his confusion. Jeralt was thrown back with such force that he landed outside of the tree line. disoriented and winded he failed several attempts at standing, all the while his skin sizzled, blistered, and began to smoke. He fell back into the shade and rolled over dousing a flame that had ignited on his back. As he limped back to the group of men his body began to recover, though his uncovered chest showed a sizable bruise that refused to improve, in fact it was going from purple to black.

“That’s for being the most mentally challenged person I’ve met in my entire life! How is it even possible for you to function on a daily basis with that much stupidity clogging your cranial cavity like sewage clogging a pipe?!? How can anyone possibly be so ignorant about how magic works when they’re the product of it?!?”

Josk was just finishing ranting when Jeralt made it back and looked at Josk, rolled his eyes, "Josk. Shut up." He grunted turning his back on Josk to face Darek "Okay you winged demon, you better start talking, what the hell did you call me? What do you know about the way I am, come on or I'll force it out of you"

Ehm looked over the expanse of forest and saw in the distance a caravan moving in a long thick line over the horizon, and they were aprouching with speed. He slipped back down under the tree as quick as a heart beat "Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th" he began stammering.

"Ehm, relax, the Elf said he wouldn't let us get hurt, this is just getting good" Thertayn said waving his brother away "Me thinks the pale one is favored to win the fight. The dark one is strong but he has no magic" Thertyan chatted ignoring Ehms numerous other attempts to form a word

[dantieduurden]

Darek had to laugh as the other elf threatened him again, and then went on to punching his friend. " In fighting always leads to death." Darek said to himself as he watched the one named Jeralt go flying out into the sunlight and begin to smoke up as he caught on fire. As he came back Darek was not impressed with his threats. " I'm sorry is demon boy really the best you can come up with. You must be a newborn how ignorant and stupid you are. Be happy I'm the one that found you and not another vampire, they would have putten you out of your misery and made sure you would not have come back from burning in the sun." And with that Darek jumped up into a tree opposite of the two twins and watched to see how the fight between Jeralt and Josk would play out.

In truth he thought that no one could be so nieave to not know they were a vampire, the bloodthirst, sensitivity to sunlight, and all the other fun things should have given it away along time ago. " O goody, this means I just may have a new apprentice until he learns of what he is." Darek laughed as he saw the caravan of people coming closer and closer. " And they should be arriving very soon, very soon indeed. " Now if only I could find the abandoned town this would be much easier. Tomorrow perhaps." Darek decided knowing full and well his plans would be forever changed for the day.

[Elloria]

“Bestill your insolent tongue, half-breed,” Josk said. “I have no use for your pathetic pacifistic philosophizing.” He could say no more, for Jeralt chose that moment to tell him to shut up. That was really the last straw. What had he ever seen in this idiot? Well, there was the no-strings-attached sex. That was a real plus. But he was starting to believe that it was hardly worth putting up with the terminal stupidity that was all Jeralt could apparently churn out. “Do not presume to order me around, you unnatural troglodyte.” Faster than the human eye could follow, Josk leapt at Jeralt. He began throwing a flurry of punches at the freak, aiming at every unguarded surface he could reach. From time to time, he would leap out of Jeralt’s range before moving forward to resume his attacks. Ducking and weaving, he harried at Jeralt - trying to make the freak either lash out at him or attempt to choke him. Because while he made himself a pest to Jeralt, he was formulating a spell. But it would work best if he was in serious danger. Hence why he was preparing it beforehand. He would have no time or focus to put it together when the moment came.