Misery

[Silence Sei]

The stench of rotten eggs was absolutely everywhere. Throughout the entire swamp land, the foul smell of the marsh warded off any would-be intruders. Yet, those who bare the nefarious odor would be rewarded with the prospect of a horde of treasure. At least, that was what the legends about the Haide Swamp were about.

It wasn't the treasure or the putrid gas that brought Sei and his 'hand picked team' here today. It actually revolved more around the creature said to guard the treasure. Normally, treasure hunting was not something that was in the Ixian Knights' neck of the woods. Yet, once the rumors of the 'disappearing monster' and the body count that was quickly rising in the demon country arrived at his doorstep, Sei could turn a blind eye no longer.

He looked back while wading through the shin deep waters. Behind him was his niece, Kyla Orlouge. The mute Mystic had decided to ask the girl to accompany him here, without Anita no less, in order to improve her investigation skills. The telepath was hoping the Daughter of the Dragon would be the first to find clues, bodies, and possibly the monster that frightened demons themselves.

Sei's second pick was William Arcus. Though the whole team of monster hunters that William lead would have been preferable, Sei knew of the collateral damage the group typically caused. They were effective, but they typically left the surrounding area worse for wear. Sei did not want such a unique ecosystem destroyed just because his soldiers had been careless in preserving it. No, William combined with Sei and Kyla's skills would be more than enough to eliminate the beast should diplomacy turn sour.

Sei shifted his eyes back to the front, freezing in his tracks almost immediately as he did so. Kyla ran into the back of her father, and William into her. Yet Sei did not budge. The Mystic took a heavy group as William ducked his head out from behind the newly formed single-file line. "What's the hold up?" the Revenant scowled.

Kyla followed William's curious instincts and then sighed. Taking a step from behind her father, the girl conjured up a shadow sword with her hand and took town the large spider web in front of Sei's face.

"Sei is afraid of spider webs," the girl explained, a slight grin forming on her face...

[Revenant]

“Spider webs, stairs, and, if Jensen’s stories are true which they’re likely not, spit,” William grunted, slogging forward through the shin deep swamp muck past Kyla and Sei. “I’m beginning to think that Sei Orlouge, unflappable Hero of Radasanth, is afraid of the letter ‘S’.” William chuckled quietly, always pleased to make it known to Sei that not everyone in his organization worshipped him.

Moving up, William examined the thick draping of webs that filled the area in front of them. It was truly an impressive sight, he had to admit, a series of webs so thick and complex that it was months in the making or had been woven by a veritable flood of spiders. Still, all it took was a momentary glance from William’s Thayne blessed eyes to see how the incredibly complex and beautiful mass of webs would rot, fade, and burn away to nothingness with only the slightest touch.

A snarling smile curled William’s lips as a plan formed in his mind. As beautiful as the curtain of webs were, they were in the way and thus they had to go. Sei had insisted that William leave his team behind because they caused too much collateral damage, but what the Mystic failed to realize was that it was often Jerrick and his crew who kept William in check. Loudmouth idiots like Andrew Octane might spout their mouths off thinking that William was bothered by the mistake that he had made in killing the Buffalax but the truth was that William was pleased to have slaughtered the innocent creature right in front of the villagers who needed it for protection. He was, after all, a living weapon and he had killed what he had been told to kill. Sei might think that he had a leash on the demonic warrior, but he was sorely mistaken if he thought he could rein William in like a docile hound.

Faster than Sei or Kyla could react, William tore his iron hunting knife from its sheath and down the length of his forearm, drawing a line of molten blood out from under his skin. All it took was a single flick of the wrist to send William’s burning blood hurtling through the air and into the delicate menagerie ahead of him. A wall of flame instantly roared to life in the heart of the swamp, the spider’s beautiful conglomeration of webs going up like kindling tossed on an inferno. The sudden cacophony that erupted around the three Ixian Knights was as if the swamp itself had come to life. A multitude of snakes, spiders, and other unsavory creatures poured from the surrounding vegetation until the water thrashed and churned.

Mission accomplished, William stood completely still while the flames of his creation swirled around him, silhouetting the Revenant against the destructive conflagration which spread throughout the Haide Swamp, consuming everything it touched.

“There you go Sei, nothing left to fear,” William muttered into the raging firestorm, savage pleasure evident in his voice. “Plus the path’s clear.”

[Amber Eyes]

"Overdoing it a bit there huh Mr. Arcus? I think you could have cleared it without the temper tantrum." Kyla raised her eyebrows at the man she secretly adored in a childish way. William had been the first of the other Generals to give the girl a bit of credit and while Kyla outwardly smarted off to the man, deep within she felt a bond of friendship she felt with very few outside of her family.

"Well, at least the webs are gone." At this a smile grew on her face before she quickly lowered her gaze from his. "This way, right Sei?" Kyla took the lead, eager to get rid of some of her excess energy. She was beginning to miss training with the soldiers each day, and walking through swamps was, well boring. The smell was horrible and while her stomach was settled at this point there had been a couple times Sei and William had been forced to wait while she emptied her stomach contents.

Now the mystic simply wanted to find this creature, let William have his fun and get the heck out of this horrible place. Everywhere the girl looked water stood to about her ankles with stench filled fog drifting inches above it. The entire sky seemed gray as though the Gods themselves were bored with this journey and had no interest in decorating the skys for the occasion.

Something shiney caught her eye, a tiny bit of brightness in the otherwise dim surroundings. Kyla stopped abruptly and this time the two men bumped into her. "Another spider web?" Kyla heard the revnant's irritation as she lost her balance and fell into the putrid water.

[Silence Sei]

William's methods were a bit overboard for Sei's taste. Regardless, the Revenant had removed the spider web from the Mystic's path. Sei glared at his general for a moment as Kyla took the lead. Recently, William had been becoming more and more volatile in his endeavors through Ixian Castle. Sei would have to have a talk with him, one that would probably involve multiple Mystic Protections and subduing of William's more demonic nature. He did not look forward to that conversation.

In his thoughts, the mute had bumped into the demonic man, his burning skin causing the mute to jump back, as if he had just touched a fire on accident. By bumping into the flame entity, Sei had inadvertently knocked Kyla into the water that made her so sick. William let out a small chuckle as the telepath stepped in front of him, reaching down and pulling his daughter out from the foul smelling water below.

drizzles of brown liquid dribbled down Kyla's chin. It had seemed that the girl had accidentally swallowed some of the swamp water. Yet, despite the wet, mossy hair now sticking to her neck, and the odor that would take days to shower out, she was grinning. Sei lifted an eyebrow at the girl, who responded by lifting her hand up. In her quick journey under the sea, Kyla had retrieved what appeared to be a single gold coin. One side pictured the head of the bull Thayne, Hromagh, in his bestial form, and the other side depicted what appeared to be an ancient drawing of Salvar.

"That must be part of the treasure that's rumored to be guarded," Sei thought aloud. He looked up towards William. "We're on the right track."

"Why? What is that?" William asked, only to find his reply in the wide eyes of Sei. Kyla shifted around to show her friend, but her look soon matched that of her relatives. The girl could only point behind William, to the figure that now easily overshadowed him.

The thing was eight feet tall, at least, with moss covering its entire frame. Two blue beads for eyes poked out through a plethora of what appeared to be cactus needles. The 'hair', if one could call it that, for the creature was made up of nothing more than pine needles. Traces of a trees bark slipped out through the moss around its torso area. One of the strangest things about this creature was its mouth; a horizontal, seemingly sewn up venus fly trap. The thing reached out towards William, its hands and arms seemingly composed of nothing more than seaweed. As it did so, Sei noticed that it was not combusting into flames due to William Arcus's naturally heated aura.

If this thing, whatever it was, had a protection from the Revenant's fire, then this trio was going to be in for quite the fight...

[Revenant]

Damn! The panic on Sei and Kyla's faces whipped William around in the thigh high muck, claws open and at the ready. The demonic warrior had faced many monstrous foes in his time as Captain of the Ixian Knights' monster hunters, but none of them had managed to get within a city block of him unseen, let alone a few feet. Molten power surged through William's veins, pushing the Revenant's demonic abilities to the limit as it readied him for instant battle. Whatever this creature was, it wouldn't find William Arcus to be easy prey.

Unless, of course, the two Mystics were playing a practical joke on William. Then he just might have to kill them.

The inhuman speed with which William moved actually caused the swamp water around him to part for a split second before rushing back in to form a slight whirlpool around the burning Captian. It would have been an impressive act if anyone had actually caught sight of it, but alas William's new found parlor trick was doomed to obscurity before it ever saw the light of day. While William was somewhat taken aback by the sight of the vegetative abomination, fighting was his specialty and, unlike his Mystic companions, no freak show reject was going to stop him in his tracks.

A firm believe in the mantra that the best defense was a good offense, William's razor-sharp claws darted forward to meet the swamp creature's seaweed-like appendage. William's bony carapace was as hard as steel and, driven by the Revenant's enhanced strength, had proven to be more than a match for even the toughest of hides on the creatures that he had slain. William moved forward as he lashed out, seeing no reason why this creature's seaweed should be any different. He would sever the plant beast's appendage first, and then he would dig his hands into the pine needle flesh and rend it asunder.

His plan simple enough, but it didn't take into account the fact that the appendage which appeared to be seaweed wasn't exactly that.

Sure enough, William's claws dug deeply into the creature's appendage, bringing a rush of syrupy green ichor oozing to the surface, but instead of parting through the seaweed, William's hand instead became entangled as the rest of the appendage wrapped around his forearm.

Already ahead of his own attack, William's momentum was violently jerked to a halt, and a loud cracking pop burst from where his own force tore his shoulder joint apart. William didn't even have time to scream, however, before the creature flicked its appendage forward, uprooting William and hurling him twenty yards back into the unburned vegetation behind the Ixian trio.

[Amber Eyes]

Shock. Kyla's eyes widened as she saw the large plantlike creature above the Revenant's head. Its features were something from a horror story and one look at Sei told her he had not seen this coming either.

Fear. When William turned Kyla's heart began to pound, all that stood between her and this creature was her uncle and William Arcus.

Confusion. The moment William made his attack the monster seemed to adapt and overpower the demon. His long apendages began to ooze what Kyla could only assume was his blood before he grabbed the Revenant and threw him a good sixty feet.

Pity. When Kyla looked back to the creature she saw the brown water dripping from its eyes as it stared down at the would William had created.

The young girl swallowed hard and took a step towards the creature. Its eyes met hers and her heart raced. "I'm not going to hurt you." Kyla whispered as she took another step. Please feel the same way. Her mind screamed as she took a third. When she was within distance to touch the creature she stopped and stared into its eyes for a moment. It raised what she thought were its eyebrows and tilted its head to the side as though trying to understand her.

"Kyla." Sei's voice distracted the girl for a moment and as she turned to see him she slipped and nearly again fell into the water. A bed of seaweed caught her and quickly wrapped around her and pulled her close. The creature smelled much better than the bog itself so the mystic breathed deeply for the first time in hours as she called out to William. "I think you hurt it you jerk!"

[Silence Sei]

William was thrown.

Kyla was caught.

The Swamp Creature was crying.

And Sei was very, very confused.

The Mystic looked at the apparently wounded monster, which had just rescued his daughter from another dip in the rank waters below. He hadn't noticed it at first, but this odd looking thing had with it the smell of fresh sunflowers, fresh cut roses, and other pleasant smelling botany. Sei blinked for a moment, standing from his previously squatted position, slowly reaching out to the beast.

The thing took a step back at first, taking Kyla with it. The girl seemed shocked from the look in her eyes, but made no indication of it with any other part of her body. Sei paused, allowing the thing to regain its bearings. Once it realized that the mute currently meant it no harm, Sei touched what he could only assume was the shoulder of the thing.

When they touched, many images flashed before the telepath’s mind. The village demons of Haide hunting for this thing with torches ablaze, the weapons of fallen warriors the thing had collected en masse deep within the bog, and the bodies of the people that had gone missing in recent weeks. He had also seen that this thing, this alleged guardian of treasure, had not made corpses out of the would be treasure hunters. It was something else entirely, something with a true blood lust.

"Misery.... that's what you want to be called... because it's all you've ever known..." Sei's thoughts wandered into that of his companions. The beast was so similar to that of William Arcus, a monster on the outside, but all too human on the end. Was that why this thing did not truly attack the Ixian General? Did it sense a kinship with the Revenant?

Suddenly, the creature, turned its head, its eyes darting across the water as ripples began to rush past the Mystics and their new companion. The true killers were now here, and, sensing that William Arcus was now separated from the protector of their would-be meals, they were now out in full force, heading towards the demon....

[Revenant]

A geyser of water erupted from the spot where William had landed, and trailing it came the Revenant himself, looking like nothing less that wrath personified. Rage burned so brightly within the demonic warrior that the orange glow emanating from the rent cracks in his charred flesh actually blazed bright enough to light the area around him. The murky swamp water which didn't pout off of him was quickly burned away by the roaring furnace that William had become, filling the air around him with a hazy, humid mist. Loosing a howl that couldn't even remotely be construed as human, William wrenched his mangled shoulder back into place and whirled to face the plant beast once again.

While William's eyes normally burned like smoldering charcoal, the sight of Kyla being swallowed up by the creature's bulk had them raging like a wildfire. She had screamed something at him at she disappeared from sight, but William found that he was too far away to make the words out. William held no particular fondness for any of the Ixian Captains, yet of all his peers Kyla was the one that he wanted to kill the least. Others might find that notion to be somewhat meaningless, but to William Arcus it meant a lot.

Seeing that Sei was doing nothing to save his niece, William focused all of his rage into his hands, channeling the energy as he had been taught. William had unsurprisingly come through the Test of the Four Elements as the volcano, the spirit of fire, and that result was never more apparent than when the liquid fire began to form into concentrated balls of energy which filled the Revenant's clawed hands. The creature might have been resistant to the aura of heat that William's molten core exuded, and it may have possessed a deceptively tough hide, but William knew that the blast and the force generated by his magma shot would be more than enough to rend the plant monster asunder.

Besides, Sei wasn't doing anything to save Kyla so the responsibility expectantly fell on William's shoulders.

Before William could finish charging his explosive attack, however, Sei stepped up to the creature and placed his hands peacefully upon the area where its shoulder would be. Trust Sei to try to talk down a beast that has killed his kin, the words snarled derisively through William's mind. Not hesitating for a moment, despite Sei's proximity to the creature, William brought his hands together and combined the energies of the liquid fire in his hands. There was a spark of recognition in the plant beast's eyes as it caught sight of William's preparations and then it, and the two Mystics, were very suddenly not there.

"What the ...?" William spat, his eyes scanning the surrounding mire for any sign of the creature and his companions. It was then that William saw the approaching ripples and the danger they foretold, something much closer and more imminent that the disappearing plant freak. "Damn," he muttered, shifting his target so that the glowing orb of his magma shot pointed at the swiftly approaching ripples, and then released it.

William's magma shot was a physical manifestation of his immense rage, and the release of the demonic energy into the swamp was nothing short of explosive. A thunderous blast and a wave of pressure burst from the contact point, tearing apart what little foliage remained and sending a wall of water running out in all directions.

Everything became clear to William in the instant before the wall of water crashed back in and re-flooded the impact site. He saw firsthand the twisted, demonic serpent-like creatures that had been the cause of the ominous rippling motions in the water, something of a cross between a crocodile and a centipede, and the tattered debris that clung to them. It was obvious that these were the creatures that were the true reasons behind the rash of disappearances which had lured the Ixian comrades to the Haide Swamp.

Frustratingly, William also saw, his magma shot had done little the the lithe, serpentine demons. Most of the concussive force of the blast had been absorbed by the swamp itself, and the little fire that had reached them had washed harmlessly over their rough, scaly bodies.

William's claws twitched slightly as the three creature's reared up from the sloshing swamp water and hissed menacingly at him. This wasn't going to be good.

[Amber Eyes]

It only took Kyla a moment to recognize the feeling. That warmth that grew from within her. It was the feeling of love, of somebody wanting to protect her. She had felt this feeling several times before; her first meeting with Sei, being reunited with her father, and even the first family dinner at Orlouge Drantrak. Now, the feeling was bubbling back within the pit of her stomach, only, it was coming from this thing people had wrongly called a monster.

The girl reached up and stroked the things mouth, careful not to prick herself on any of its cacti pins. He was soft, like a teddy bear, which truly surprised her. Her eyes shifted back to her adoptive father, who was now oddly standing somewhere completely different than where he had been just moments ago. Looking around, Kyla had recognized that now Sei, Misery, and Kyla herself were all just three feet behind William, watching as the Revenant revealed the true culprits of the now revealed murders.

She could feel Misery put her down and set her up right. The creature only had to take a step or two to be by William's side. The demonic reptiles seemed a bit hesitant at first to strike now that the larger creature was in the woodsman’s area. Seemingly deciding that they held a numbers advantage, two of the creatures jumped from the murky waters, straight at Misery. The beast responded by grabbing the upper jaw of one of the lizards and pushing what could only be described as its 'palm' forward.

The two opposing momentums caused the upper half of the attacking monsters jaw to literally be ripped from its mouth. The rest of its body fell harmlessly to the ground, black ichor covering the surface of the water. The other monster was luckier, managing to clamp its jaws down on the plant creatures arm, the same one William had previously injured. A loud moan came from the more human-like thing, Misery throwing its head up in pain.

Seeing the beast selflessly put itself before others sent Kyla into action, the girl allowing the black swirls of her shadow sword to form over her right hand. The familiar sound of the blades coming from her Zodiac Weapon filled the forest, followed quickly by the sounds of footsteps splashing through the forest. Throwing both kinds of blades straight towards the multiple legs of the crocodile-centipede hybrids, Kyla turned her head back to her relative.

"Sei, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help Fluffy?!"

[Silence Sei]

Fluffy?

Sei did not quite understand where Kyla had gotten the name from, especially when the mute had specifically learned of the monsters 'name'. None of that mattered at the moment, though. The task at hand was the creatures attacking his friends. As Kyla caused the reptiles to become paraplegics, William had begun his own combat with the third creature. This one was the largest of the group, and one that Sei was not quite sure William could handle alone.

The beast went underwater, ripples trailing through the surface at an amazing speed towards William. Without giving it much thought, Sei raised his hand towards the demon, hoping that he would make it in time. The sound of shattered glass proved that the gambit had been successful, as the very air began to crack around William. The man seemed confused that Sei had casted Mystic Protection on him, especially when these creatures seemed so easy.

Not one to risk endangering the others, Sei moved towards the group. The mute unclasped Jomil's Touch from his right shoulder, slinging the cloth around the crocopede that was latched for dear life on Misery's arm. Kyla looked to her father, and then to the Mystic Protected William with a nod. Screaming in rage and power, she dug both of her blades into the dangling creature. While the body went lip, the vines that were now encased all over the lizard’s nose prevented it from going anywhere. It only took a second for Sei to grab William by the shoulder, but that was all he needed.

He could feel his flesh melting onto his friends burning skin, but doing so protected the whole group from the mute's spell. As the glass dome shot out through the swamp, Sei peeled what was left of his hand from William. Strings of pink skin stretched and snapped, causing Sei to kneel down in pain and grip the scalded appendage.

Looking up towards William, Sei spoke with a bit more malice in his 'tone'.

"Do what you do best."

[Revenant]

Burning excitement that was flooding through William made him too eager for combat to snap at Sei for the use of Mystic Protection that the Mystic used on him. William had a general dislike for magic, but as often as it was necessary he had come to accept that it was something he was never going to truly do away with. Having magic used on him was an entirely different matter and one that usually carried vicious, bloody consequences.

William leaped back into melee with the Alpha Demon, heeding Sei's command without even realizing the absurdity of it. He had been 'doing what he did best' before Sei himself pulled William away. He would most likely remember it later when he could well and truly be annoyed by it, but right now William was nothing but cooperative.

A snapping hiss popped next to William's ear as the creature's saw-toothed jaw whipped closed in the space that William had occupied only a fraction of a second before. Unlike the lesser demons, the Alpha was strong and wily, a long lived and powerful specimen of its brood. It twisted around, scrambling its many clawed arms for purchase on its own body as the wiry line of the thing's torso contorted to lope around William while bringing its jaws back into striking distance. William grinned a savage, shark-like grin as he himself moved, twisted, and lashed out with his claws in opposition to the creature's movements.

The strike-counterstrike battle between the two demonic combatants was an utterly beautiful dance, and an utterly deadly one. It quickly became apparent that it would only take a single mistake to end the combat. Sei, Kyla, and the plant monster might have as well been on a different continent for all the recognition that William gave them. Any loss of focus, even the slightest bit he knew, would prove fatal.

As intricate as it was, the dance of death ended simplistically and in the blink of an eye. One moment the creature was darting its head forward, jaws opened wide, and the next William had his hands grasped firmly around either side. It would only have taken a minimal amount of exertion for his inhuman strength to crack the creature's maw irreparably, but William was too aroused to end the fight in such a delicate way. Heaving with all of his might, William wrenched his clawed hands apart, and act which split the creature's head (and three feet of its trailing body) in half with a bone chilling squelch. Finished, William dismissively shrugged and tossed the mutilated Alpha Demon back into the murky Haide Swamp never to surface again.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla had been too busy watching everything happen between Sei and William. The girl had been using her time instead to peel the lesser crocopede off of 'Fluffy'. Soon, she was shifting her fingers between the razor sharp teeth of the beast and prying its mouth open. The beast she was trying to help howled a little bit through its strange mouth, and Kyla gently shushed it. Within a few moments the crocopede head, as well as the rest of the body, fell to the ground, its body remaining afloat on the surface of the water, legless and armless.

Kyla looked at her fingers, blue blood seeping out of the tips and trailing down into her palms. The teeth of the vicious beast had been extremely sharp to the touch. The fact that Kyla had gently handled the mandibles, and still managed to suffer deep cuts on her fingers was a testament to just how bad Fluffy was probably hurting at the moment. She looked to her new friend, watching as vines and moss covered the curved line of holes that littered the creatures arm.

By this point, William was done with his fun, and had gotten back with Sei and Kyla.

"So, what do we do with this thing," William asked, not sure if he was going to have more entertainment today. Kyla looked to Sei with pleading eyes. They couldn't kill Fluffy, not after he had helped them find, and kill the real monsters. Sei looked to both of his generals with genuine concern on his features.

The next thing they knew, they had appeared at a different part of a forest, a blue light in each of the members quickly fading into their chests. Kyla looked about, finding that the trees of the swamp had gotten thicker. The smell had gotten better too, it seemed, and lying behind William was a stockpile of weapons, armor, and even a small, gold dagger in particular with gold coins sprinkled all around it. They had found the guardian first, and now they had found the 'treasure'.

"Sei....I think this is its home...." Kyla said, looking to her father.

[Silence Sei]

Sei looked around to the darker area of the marsh. By the fact that Misery was walking around the trees without ay prompt from his team mates did seem to indicate that this area was where the beast resided. Sei looked to William and then Kyla once more. Eventually, more people would come looking for the treasure, and if the crocopedes laid eggs, there would be more disappearances. They would come looking for the wrong killer in full force, even if the Ixian Knights vouched for the thing.

"This was his home," Sei finally spoke, walking over to the creature, which turned to await questioning, "He's got a new home at Ixian Castle." William scoffed at the idea of taking the plant beast home, but soon became too immersed with looking at the variety of stuff that was as big as the Revenant himself.

"You mean, we're keeping Fluffy?" Kyla asked, genuinely excited.

"Yes, we're keeping Misery," Sei corrected, looking back towards the beast, "If he wants to come with us..."

The beast looked to the three of them, walking over to the treasure trove and picking up the gold dagger Kyla had eyed earlier. He brought it over to the girl and offered it to her, and she hesitantly took it, nodding her appreciation. By this point, if William had wanted anything, he would have taken it, or so the creature thought, so Misery merely walked over to the Revenant and touched his shoulder.

"Ah, William made a friend," Sei spoke with a light grin, the demon looking towards the plant creature. Sei looked back to both of his generals with a smile. "I think its mind is made up, let’s go home..."

With that, a blue light grew within each member of the party, as well as the treasure itself, and within a second, the group was in Ixian Castle, right in the Generals meeting room.

"I could get used to this..."


((Spoils: The Ixian Knights request the use of a new NPC: Misery. Misery is a plant creature that can teleport anywhere, so long as a member of the group has a general idea of what the place looks like. The teleport is instantaneous. Furthermore, Misery's very touch causes large rashes and very irritated skin on people it doesn't like, and not so much on people it does like. It is also immune to William Arcus' hot aura. Any Ixian Knight who wishes to use Misery must first quest with the creature to gain its trust. The people it trusts right now are Kyla, Sei, William, and any character that has a child with them when they meet the beast.

Secondly: The Ixian Knights gain a plethora of various weapons/armor/items, from Misery's treasure. I'd like to request a 10% bonus to the funds of each character in this quest to reflect that))

[Revenant]

The shift had been so quick and subtle that William hadn't even noticed that the Ixian trio were no longer in the plant creature's forest hideout until a horrified scream caught his attention. His attention shifted from to tarnished breastplate that he had plucked from the beast's treasure hoard to examine, eager for another fight, only to find that the scream was coming from Ra-shavon, one of the Ixian janitors, and was directed at him. Confusion clouded William's mind for a moment before he realized that Misery had done his teleportation trick again and that, as Ra-shavon had never seen William's demonic form, the sudden appearance of a gore and slime covered demon had been too much for the humble janitor from Fallien.

Sighing, William let his demonic visage fall away, his flesh knitting back to his normal, human appearance. His blood was still alight with the excitement of his encounter with the demonic Alpha beast and he had been yearning for more bloodshed, but there was little chance that he would get to kill the plant creature as Sei had apparently adopted it.

"Go on," William said, gesturing dismissively at Ra-shavon, "your services are no longer required today." Ra-shavon nodded, having calmed down somewhat as he had noticed that the demonic creature was one of the Ixian Captains and was in the company of Lord Orlouge himself.

William shook his head scornfully as the janitor fled. "You always choose such brilliant help, Sei," he said, throwing as much sarcasm as he could into his words. William was plainly unhappy that Sei's adoption essentially forbade him from continuing his fight with Misery and wanted the Mystic to know it.

An unhappy Revenant, after all, was a dangerous creature.

In reply, Misery shuffled up to lay his wounded appendage upon William's shoulder in a gesture reminiscent of the one he had made when imparting the gift of the golden dagger upon Kyla. William blinked, confused, until he looked down and saw that he was still holding the tarnished breastplate. It was battered and worn, though made of Alerian titanium, and apparently it was now his.

"Great," the Revenant muttered, "I go an pick up this shoddy piece of crap to waste some time and you think I'm claiming it?" Misery's flytrap mouth twisted at the edges in what William could only assume was the creature's way of smiling.

"Bah," William spat, annoyed and exasperated, and then swatted Misery's seaweed off of his shoulder with a not-too-gentle backhand.

The creature's smile instantly vanished as it howled in pain. Even William, as callous as he was, could only stare at the creature in shocked surprise.

"I didn't hit it THAT hard," he said defensively, noting the angry looks that Sei and Kyla were shooting his way.

Spoil:
Tarnished Titanium Breastplate - This titanium breastplate is chipped, worn, and quite tarnished. It it large enough for William to wear in demon form, though would be wobbly on his human form and thus make it impractical to wear. Not only that, but its shoddy nature makes it little more useful at the moment than a regular steel breastplate. However, should time and effort be put into fixing it up by a decent blacksmith, the breastplate can be restored to full functionality.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla looked to Sei and then back down at her dagger. As she held it, the blade started forming a small pile of coins onto the ground. The girl shifted an eyebrow up as she watched the weapon create money for her. A gold dagger in battle was useless, but a gold dagger in the bazaar, one that made a steady cash flow, was the envy of every shopaholic.

Shopaholics like Anita.

"The Althanas economy just went up.....the Orlouge sisters is going on a shopping spree!" The girl squealed as she ran over to Misery, hugging the creature. The beast howled once more and nursed its arm, the same one William had struck. Kyla stopped for a moment, removing the seaweed and vines that had covered the bite marks of the crocopede. There, embedded into the arm of the plant monster, were four of the reptilian beasts’ teeth, still sharp and incredibly painful if Fluffy's reactions were any indication.

Kyla put the dagger down for a moment, shifting the plant life on Fluffy's arm around and slowly picking out the teeth. She yelped and dropped each tooth as she did so, the cutting edges of the things causing another blue pool of blood to leave the girls hands.

Soon, all of the teeth had been removed, and Misery sealed the wound once more. Kyla knelt down and looked at the teeth, picking up her dagger as she did so. She looked to her uncle and then to William. "These could be useful to Dorian," the girl plainly stated before standing up and leaving the room. She had to go buy some things, after a quick visit to Aislinn in the infirmary.

After all, Anita and her needed to play dress up with Fluffy later, and he needed clothes to fit the part. Over all, just another average day for the Orlouges, and their newly extended family known as the Ixian Knights.


((

Also, the Ixian Knights also gain 4 Crocopede Teeth: These teeth are extremely sharp, to the point that just touching them makes a deep cut on an unguarded hand. They could be used for blades, if a blacksmith would fix them up.))

[Lord Anglekos]

Story: 18/30
Despite its short length and intention to be a nice, quick little thread, the entire thing had an episodic feel that was actually quite charming. Revenant's conclusion was mildly humorous.

Character: 19/30
A couple instances of humor and interesting interaction between the creature Misery and Revenant helped this score.

Writing Style: 12/30
This would have been higher, but I had to dock a couple points for lack of capitalization at some points and punctuation. For the most part, Revenant had the fewest mistakes.

Wildcard: 6/10
A quick, short little thread with an interesting twist that entertained me somewhat. At this rate, Sei, I won't be judging too many more of your threads before you hit the level cap!

Final Score: 55/100
Silence Sei gets 1000 EXP and 120 GP, and his spoil.
Revenant gets 825 EXP, 120 GP and his spoil.
Amber Eyes gets 700 EXP, 120 GP, and her spoil.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and GP added.