Tentanda Via ~ The Way Must Be Tried

[Visla Eraclaire]

This is a battle closed to Bandit Brother. It takes place between A Noble Calling and Taken Umbrage

Alice’s blood, blackened and rotted by sudden age, still stained the unassuming grey cloth of Visla’s traveling clothes. She looked down at it from time to time as she trod, cane in hand, back toward Radasanth. There had been no tears for the girl’s death. A mere acquaintance, if even that, was not enough to peel back Visla’s stoic mask.

Death was cheap. Mother, Aelva, Alice, Verdan, the list was too long for a girl of so few years. She suspected it would be easy to become a morose little beast of a woman, waiting for the world itself to rot away. Worse still, she might cease to feel anything at all, not even the regret that still gnawed at her for being a weak and meaningless pawn on life’s great game board.

She paused a moment and ran her fingers through the brittle strands of her deep brown hair, peeling still more remnants of once vital fluid from them. There should at least be horror, if not tears, to watch a woman butchered, and have her blood tossed upon one’s face. Reaching down into her pocket, she produced the green gem that was her treasure, burden, and madwoman’s companion.

“Would you feel sad for her?” she sighed, as she continued trudging forward.

A jolt of pain from the stone at this point would be pleasant. A sign, first, that such pity was beneath her in Aelva’s eyes, and more importantly that she was not insane to be speaking to the thing. It gave her no such satisfaction, and she slipped it back into her pocket, returning her gaze to the path before her.

It was an old trade road, mostly dirt now with only scattered paving stones. Gnarled brambles and weeds choked what was once a venerable thoroughfare down to a path barely suitable for walking. Roadworn leather boots were all that kept her legs from the waiting thorns as her clumsy gait often strayed to and fro.

As she glanced up at a sky, it grew darker by the moment with the massing of heavy grey clouds. They lumbered through the sky much as she did along the dirt path, and brought a chill wind that whipped against Visla’s cloak. She clutched the ring around her neck as it clinked against its silver chain and hoped she would make it back to the city before squall gave way to storm.

[Lady Blackwell]

Max had finally found a lead, in finding his old bandit clan. There was a member from what he could remember was low level in his days in the clan. Apparently he had grown to be somewhat of a influence and knew the new locations of the camp.

He just wanted a simple offering of proof, that Max was who he said he was. His task was to mug the very next person coming up a very old and rugged path, with thorns and thistles sticking out from the sides of the path. Max had been waiting with the man he had come to know as Paul, for what seemed like hours. Just as Max was about to give up and interrogate Paul his way, Someone started walking up the path.

Max smiled as he unsheathed his steel longsword, he was saving his new Masterwork steel longsword for emergency uses.

“You!” Max exclaimed as he took off at a full run towards the person “Give me all your money”

by the time Max had finished his sentence he was in front of the other person with his sword coming up to meet the other person's neck, who he now saw was a female. With great remorse Max stared into her eyes with as much anger and determination as he could muster. While he was fighting the urge to just stop and walk away.

[Visla Eraclaire]

Visla’s grip on her cane tightened as a man darted suddenly onto the path. She frantically searched her mind for an innocent explanation, but was met with immediate dismay as he made his intentions all too clear. A demand for her money, she was almost willing to oblige. She cared little for wealth beyond the necessities to survive, but before she could even reach the pouch of coin within her coat he seemed to lose his patience.

The bandit barreled down upon her with his blade forward and showed no sign of stopping. One sword pressed to her throat was quite enough for a single day. Visla used what few moments she had to raise her walking stick against the oncoming blow. Her sluggish reflexes left her without time to brace herself, and she tumbled backwards as the sharp steel blade gouged into the intricate scrollwork of her wooden cane. Chipped bits of oak and lacquer splintered into the air.

As Visla’s frail body came down with a thud, a cloud of dust was quickly swept up into the wind and scattered to nothing. Her shoulder slammed against an old paving stone and she let out a groan. The headache from her last encounter swiftly returned as pain coursed through her bones.

Fueled by agony and a fast-rising contempt, she extended a hand toward her attacker.

“Miserable cur! Vezsh, Rael, Hkarlm,” she muttered the words that Aelva had taught her more than a year past and reached out with her will. Her magic grasped at the bandit’s essence, attempting to draw it forth. Never before had she meddled with the life force of a human, or even an animal. As she awaited the nourishing stream of energy, she wondered if it would feel different from the harvest she reaped daily from the essence of plants.

More than anything, she hoped it would work at all…

[Lady Blackwell]

Max stopped in his tracks as the woman muttered something, within seconds he started to feel tired.

“Witch!” Max cursed as he reached for her arm with mana in his hand, and mana building up in his chest. He was hoping that either the mana would be taken and numb her body, or once he had touched her arm he would send out his Mana pulse at a third of his mana, just enough to knock her back a few feet. To give him time to think.

The clouds were getting heavier, the leaves were rustling in the distance, and he could hear Paul in the background going 'get her'

[Visla Eraclaire]

A stream of energy flowed with shimmering tendrils out from the man’s hand and into Visla’s. At first it was a deep crimson, like a translucent river of blood. It filled her body not only with energy, as the siphon always did, but with a rush of warmth and satisfaction. This, she thought, was reason enough for common arcanists to fear the addictive lure of essence magic. That harm to another being could bring such a feeling was a dangerous thing.

She tried to draw back and take no more, but her hand would not move. The confidence in her attacker’s face as he cursed her showed the reason. A rivulet of cerulean flowed within the ruby essence, some previously unseen taint that she had drawn into herself. As her power faded of its own accord, she felt naught but a void from her right arm.

Still on the ground and more hobbled than ever, she wondered if death upon this miserable little road would be her end. To have learned so much and done so little, it could not be. As she looked up at her assailant, she hoped the same terror lay somewhere within him.

“Go back to your hole, you thieving rat, lest the darkness take you!” she said proudly, imagining the undaunted champions she had only read about. She was not one of them, but she may be able to sound like one, with help.

As the dark clouds brewed, thunder rumbled in the distance. Amidst the coming storm, Visla invoked a veil of darkness upon the bandit. This sphere of utter blackness would encircle him and deaden all light and sound from without, but also conceal him within. With luck it would give time for fear to grow in his heart. More importantly, it would give time for Visla to get to her feet.

[Lady Blackwell]

Max smiled as the woman at his feet tried to sound more … bigger then she was.

“You know for a...” Max trailed off as a Darkness over came him, he didn't have time to finish his thought. All he knew was blackness all around him. For a moment Fear gripped him, this woman was more then he thought.

And with that fear gripping his heart he started to run, and after a few seconds realized he was not in darkness anymore, he was underneath the black sky, Lightning arced through the sky as Max started to laugh.

“You know for a Woman you are rather more then I thought” Max said as he sheathed his sword; revealing the hilt of his master craft sword. He pointed at her then jutted his thumb behind him. “Your free to go, you proved more then I really want to try at the moment. So luck favors you this day.”

Max walked over to her and offered his hand to help her up.

“I know this may seem odd but no hard feelings?” Max said as a boyish grin came upon his face.

[Visla Eraclaire]

Visla managed to pull herself up on one knee and grip her cane in her remaining functional arm. She kept a close eye on the black sphere, knowing that her foe would make his way out swiftly if he had any sense.

Above her, the hoary veil crackled with lightning and a steady rain began to fall. With no free hand to pull a cowl over her head, the droplets began to soak into her hair and stream down her face. It was then that the man emerged from her sphere, laughing. What a piece of work was he, sheathing his sword and approaching her with hand extended.

“Free to go, am I?” she said, eyes still fixed fiercely on him. “I have no faith in your pity and no need for your help.”

She struggled to her feet, wobbling noticeably on her cane. In all likelihood, it was a trick. The blade would soon come forth again, now that he was in close. He went from a demand to a charge without a pause, why should it not be the same this time?

“Step back, if you truly wish to leave me in peace. Otherwise, I have yet more sorcery to show you,” she warned, standing awkwardly and pointing at him with two fingers while the rest kept grip on her damaged walking stick.

Alone on a storm-addled path, it was the perfect place for one who always suspects deceit. Visla mused that her friendly sister might even have taken his hand and found a dagger between her ribs. The sadistic thought only added to her concern that this battle was making her a darker person than she would have liked. In any event, Alis would never find herself alone anywhere.

In truth, Visla was almost out of tricks, and she hoped not to be pressed further. The essence drain barely seemed to phase this would-be thief, turned dubious gentleman. She doubted a ray of shadow would fare any better against him. Still, her unsteady stance and narrow, sickly frame were signs enough of weakness without her words being feeble as well.

“Go and cower in your home. Such is the proper course for one so weak. Cross my gaze again and I shall drink your essence dry,” she scowled with fingers still pointed squarely at him, ready to unleash her final salvo. The words were perhaps more disturbing to her than to her singular audience, but they struck with a pleasant resonance that she could not deny.

[Lady Blackwell]

Max had expected as much, he had assaulted here and tried to mug her. He wasn't expecting her to believe him

“Fine so be it” Max said as he snapped his fingers, and dispersed the mana in her arm “But you may have some trouble with the bandits further up the road here. I am offering to walk you to your destination, you can even hold my swords if you want” Max said as adjusted his cloak.

It was getting heavy due to the rain, plus the rain itself was getting heavier. As Max faced the woman he had just finished assaulting he realized her hood was down, and so out of a gesture of being nice went to pull it up over her head.

“It is your choice here, I am just trying to be nice. I decided with my better judgment.”

[Visla Eraclaire]

He could talk all he wanted, Visla was not in the business of trusting people who had tried to kill her moments ago. Even as she felt the feeling rushing back into her right arm, her skepticism remained. The only thing that kept her from sending a bolt of shadow into the bandit’s hand as he reached for her hood was his claim that there were more bandits up ahead. Even at that, she simply took a step backwards and ducked his grasp, tossing her cane from one hand to the other and pulling the hood down herself.

Visla glanced over her shoulder, the way she came. The now muddy path traced off into the misty grey horizon. The case was no different ahead of her, a featureless and lengthy trek in either direction. With rain pelting down from the sky, she could only hope whatever dangers lie upon the road would be flushed out by impatience before she came upon them. Still, letting the bandit go off on his own seemed like the perfect invitation for another ambush. If his offer really was some kind of ploy, it was one more complex than she thought him capable of.

Whatever misfortune would befall her, there was little she could do but take the most prudent possible steps from here on out. She pulled her pack from her shoulder and set in down onto a paving stone.

“I don’t know you. I don’t trust you. I certainly don’t like you, but I’m stuck on this miserable little stretch of road with you and who knows what else. You’ll make a good distraction if nothing else. Surrender your swords and get out in front of me. You’ll get them back once I’m standing next to an Imperial guard in Radasanth.”

She paused for a moment and gestured toward the pack with her cane. Her left hand was still trained on him, ready for a sudden change of heart from the unstable man.

“Serve me well and that will be the end of it. I have no vaunted sense of justice that requires I turn you in. Just the same, I have no qualms about leaving your corpse along this road if you decide to side with your lurking brethren. Unless you want to fight them bare-fisted or watch me feast on their essence, you’d be well advised to convince them I am not to be trifled with.”

Visla finished her dictation of terms and watched the man carefully, awaiting his response. She was displeased with any outcome of this trip. The best she could hope for was an uneventful walk through the driving rain, and a warm cup of tea back in the city.

[Lady Blackwell]

Max smiled as he unclipped his swords from his belt, and gently laid them in her pack.

“Don't worry I can take out those 'brethren' you speak of, I have quit an abundant supply of Mana ready to take them all out.” Max said as he started walking forward and looked at Paul as he almost dared him to try.

He stared up at the sky as the rain gently landed on his face. He closed is eyes and remembered all the times he had killed someone or assaulted a town in the rain. It was perfect, it covered their tracks perfectly. Although when randomly walking somewhere, it was rather troublesome and annoying.

“Well I don't think I got your name their?” Max motioned for her to finish the sentence as he was a few feet ahead of her looking back.

[Visla Eraclaire]

Visla closed her pack and hefted it to travel onward. The added weight of the two swords was a palpable burden, forcing the strap of her bag to jab painfully into the flesh of her shoulder. Still, giving them back was not an option. The long trip was becoming more bothersome by the moment.

As they began walking, the young man bragged and stared off into the distance. Visla supposed that she had sounded just as foolish when she had tried to intimidate him. Even so, it didn’t make it any less irksome. Worse, he still seemed intent on being friendly despite his former brutality.

“Nor shall you have my name. What good would it do you, anyway? Once we reach Radasanth, I hope never to see you again. If you need to address me between now and then, you can keep calling me ‘witch’ if that is your like. ‘You’ will do just as well,” Visla answered as she carefully wove her way between the weathered paving stones and sticking mud.

She paid him no more mind for the rest of the journey. Despite the pouring rain and nagging pain in her shoulder, the trip was fairly uneventful. Whether the lurking attackers were cowards, dissuaded by the weather, or had simply never existed in the first place, Visla didn’t much care. None harried the unlikely pair of travelers until the gates of Radasanth rose out of the mist of the horizon and they at last came face to face with an armor clad member of the Imperial forces.

“Who goes there?” he said, the drops of rain striking fruitlessly against his polished helm.

“Just an unfortunate traveler and her hired guard, caught up in this sudden storm. I have a room rented in the city and wish to get back to it and dry my hair,” Visla rambled, likely more information than the guard cared for, but insisting on not stating her name.

The gatekeeper nodded and knocked on a small door that was pulled open from the other side. Visla strode through first and turned back to the madman who had been her involuntary companion. She reached into her pack and produced his weapons.

“Your payment,” she said, still in earshot of the guardsmen, and dropped them clanking onto the rainslick pavement. “Be glad for it and hope you are not ‘employed’ thusly again.”

She turned away without waiting for response and began the much shorter trip through the city to her room, taking cover as she was able beneath awnings and archways. At last she felt free to let her mind wander in thought, no longer fixated on an immediate threat. The day’s events had been harrowing, but not without lesson.

Visla had felt next to nothing watching strangers, fascinating or kind as they had been, cut down where they stood. The now obliterated manor was merely a receptacle for information with the mild inconvenience of corpses. When the life at risk was her own, however, she felt the intensity of emotion that she had only read about. Anger, pride, arrogance, and even the insidious satisfaction she felt as she drank in the essence of her enemy. It had a dangerous allure, but she knew she was no thrill-seeker. Today was an interesting diversion that came at a staggering cost of time and effort.

Still, as she made her way up the stairs to her room at last, she wondered if this was what Aelva had meant about the sorts of places that would not make her stronger. Would she really have to venture out on dreadful treks like these to realize the power she needed to live as she wished? It likely didn’t matter, she thought. She had not sought this trouble in the first place, and yet it had found her. Whatever would come, she now knew she could face more of it than she ever would have imagined.

[Lady Blackwell]

Max smiled, Ofcource she wasn't going to tell him her name. he ahd just assaulted her. why on earth would he of asked something so stupid?

The rest of the trip was un eventful and not a word came from either of the two companions as they traversed the soaked ground. the 'witch' was trying to stick to the stones, Max on the other hand had just lifted his cloak and walked straight. mud or not, as they approached the front gates to radasanth Max was worried what this woman would say when the guard asked.

Max smirked when she claimed he was a hired body guard, he was hoping he wouldnt have to fight. his Paralysis touch would bounce off the guards polished steel armor, and numb Max's arm instead.

as the guard walked over to the door max readied his belt for his swords, as she dropped his swords into the mud, he couldn't help but curse the witch. those were HIS swords, he had paid quite alot to accertain them.

so as he picked them up and placed them in their proper spots, Paul was approaching with his well known scowl upon his face.

"You let her go, then you escorted her to safety? What the hell is wrong with you?" Paul said as he got closer.

Max smirked as he spoke "Paul i aint so low and honor-less like i was anymore. i was only using you to find out the camps location so i can go and kill Antrio, that's all"

Paul's scowl became something more contorted and something alot more hideous as he rushed at Max with his fists. Max side stepped placed his hand on Paul's face and pushed him down into the mud as he pushed Mana into Paul's skull, effectivly paralysing him completely

"Guards!" Max shouted as he shook his head letting the accumulated rain fly off and join the rest of the rain drops. as the guards showed up Max finished speaking "He's a Bandit from the bandit clan Antrio, i don't know if theres a bounty on his head or not, but if there is you can have it. he will be back up and ready to fight in about ten minutes so hurry up and get him somewhere before he gets away on you"

Max spun around and walked off into the rain, in no particular direction. he had finished his task for the da and was thus walking to find his next task. The guards looked down at Paul and then up to Max watching him disappear into the fog created by the rain.

[Lord Anglekos]

Tentada Via ~ The Way Must Be Tried
I'll make this judging simple and short. Any complaints blah blah blah: You know the deal. Visla's score comes first, Bandit's is second.

Story

Continuity: 4/2
- Visla, had I not read A Noble Calling beforehand (and judged it) I would have not understood about three quarters of what you wrote in your first post. Other than that, it was mediocre; you've written far better stuff in the past. Bandit, you gave me very, very little regarding your character. All I knew was that he'd somehow found a lead to his old bandit camp, with no reasons as to why he was looking for it at first, until the very end when he mentions some name of a guy he wants to kill. Very vague, and keep in mind anyone else reading it would only go "huh"? Try to prevent that in your writing.

Setting: 7/4
- Visla, you gave me good descriptions of the setting throughout the thread and made sure to include it in your posts and interact with it from time to time, such as dropping Bandit's swords into the mud. While your descriptions weren't overly impressive, they were solid enough for the higher score. Bandit, you mentioned it from time to time in your posts, but failed to fully include the setting in your posts, and I felt you were simply working off what Visla had written instead of making it your own.

Pacing: 5.5/3
- Although there are two scores, Pacing is really dependent on both writers, whether the thread be a quest or battle. Had this been a quest, I would have given it a 4. Bandit, you cut the flow so abruptly that it was difficult getting back into the flow thread, and Visla, I congratulate you on being able to write even with that hindering you.

Character

Dialogue: 7.5/3
- Visla, as I expected your Dialogue was at times superb. Not as well done as the thread I last judge from you, but well done nonetheless. Bandit, I've come to expect such cliche' dialogue from your character, but I must give it a low score nonetheless.

Action: 7/1
- Visla, your actions were much better written this time around, and I especially liked how she bluffed; added points to your persona score as well.
Bandit Brother, your actions were roughly written as it was, but your powergaming lowered the score even more so. Below is the offending section, the part bolded for viewing.



Paul's scowl became something more contorted and something alot more hideous as he rushed at Max with his fists. Max side stepped placed his hand on Paul's face and pushed him down into the mud as he pushed Mana into Paul's skull, effectivly paralysing him completely

Below is the ability you used, taken from your profile.


Paralysis touch: This ability allows Max to charge mana into the foe’s nervous system blocking all messages being sent through only to the muscle he touched with his fingers.(( five minutes or two posts on other Characters until end of battle with NPC’s))

Bandit, to be able to paralyze a person as you did in that section you would have to be affecting the nervous system itself, but it clearly states that the ability only affects the muscle(s) touched. "Paul" probably would not have been able to move his face, and maybe not his neck, but the way you worded it made it seem as if you had froze his entire nervous system which is the same as making the character effectively dead. Without nerve impulses to send to the heart and lungs, the character would suffocate and die. This is clearly, unintentional or not, powergaming, and as such you had points docked from your Action score. Also, this is your last warning in regards to your powergaming of your paralysis touch.

Persona: 7/4
- Visla, I got a far better description of her personality this time around, especially during the post where she was bluffing her abilities, but at the same time your NPC's lacked that quality I got in A Noble Calling. Bandit, I also got a bit of a better sense of your character's personality this time around, but your NPC's needed work as well.

Writing Style

Technique: 6/4
- Visla, you have a bad habit of tending to use too many adjectives in a sentance and over explaining some things. For example: "Gnarled brambles and weeds choked what was once a venerable thoroughfare down to a path barely suitable for walking." While eloquently put, it's a bit too eloquent, and distracts the reader from the story itself. At other times this style works for you well, however, so try to keep that eloquence without making it too wordy and you should do fine. Bandit, there were barely any signs of technique from you in this, although I caught a couple when you mentioned the setting, but that was about it.

Mechanics: 7/2
- As in the last thread I read from you both, your mechanics are relatively unchanged. Visla, I did catch a couple more errors, such as "rainslick" instead of "rain-slick", as it should be, and a couple of the commas placed were not needed and broke up the flow of your Pacing a bit. Bandit Brother, I have nothing to say that I haven't said before, but reiterate this point into your head; Word helps, but does not do the work for you. Capitalization errors, spelling, lack of punctuation, I found all of those. Take your time when you write; this isn't an instant messaging chatroom.

Clarity: 5 for both.
- I won't lie; Visla, your first post hurt this quite a bit. There were alot of unanswered questions that didn't look as if they would be answered any time soon from the both of you, but I got the jist of it and, after rereading the thread again, understood it.

WILD CARD: 5/0 (The zero for the powergaming.)

Final Scores:
Visla: 61
Bandit: 27

Visla Eraclaire is the winner!

Visla Eraclaire gains 700 experience points and 220 gold pieces.
Bandit Brother gains 170 experience points and 50 gold pieces.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and Gp added.

Visla is now level 2!