Pulling it Together (Jygust 30th ET 4th mark)

[Mikail]

Mikail sat comfortably, kneeling with one leg with his other foot on the ground. He was sitting in his brother's backyard next to Jezera, looking at all of the herbs he had laid out on his blanket. They were all in seperate bags with labels on them, and he had forty empty vials in crate, along with ten vials with fluid inside. There were two of each colored liquid, containing red, brown, green, blue, and white. There was also a larger vial with an oily yellow paste inside. He glanced across the blanket and took a deep breath. The smell of lager still wafted in his nose from all of his associates at the tavern. He grabbed a few dried leaves from one bag and ground them with his pestle and mortar, pouring the resulting powder into the yellow paste, giving it a greenish tint. "There's my astringent. That should be enough at least for now." He looked at the red vials and narrowed his eyes. I still haven't tried this out.

He picked up his quiver that lay beside him and drew and arrow, and then he laid out a small square of cloth. He had twenty such squares in a pocket on his quiver. He took a white powder out of another sac and drizzled it on the cloth. He took a vial of the red fluid and let a few drops absorb into the white powder, spreading through it like a lava on a tiny volcano island. This is the first potion I learned how to make. I've reinvented it several times to reduce side effects, and removed almost 75% of the cinnabar, yet I've still only tested it with an oral route of administration. He took a small knife and patted it down, and then scraped it along until it was a homogeneous paste that eventually became a film, barely changing the color of the cloth from a light gray to a light pink. He then wrapped the cloth around an arrowhead and tied it off. That should work well. He repeated the process until he had dressed twenty arrows in this fashion, and he laid them by his side to dry.

He stood up again and scratched Jezera's head at the base of the mane like he always did. "This time you'll be coming with us. Think you can handle that?" He looked deep into the horse's eyes, almost expecting an answer. He loved this horse, even though it was ugly. He imagined the proud Dominicans and their soldiers would never let such an ugly being fight with them, and that made her more endearing. Mikail was so diametrically opposed to the worshipers of the evil Dominicus that he almost got joy out of imagining them being upset. He'd like the horse anyway, but he used this embrace of what he assumed they'd reject as a way of reaffirming the thought to himself that he is the good one in the existential struggle between the Dominican faction and his that no longer remained. Even though he couldn't even dream of speaking out against them, he got joy out of imagining eventual triumph over the oppressive people. He justified his dreams of that triumph by always valuing what is truly valuable and NEVER judging anything without careful consideration. He sometimes felt hypocritical for not listening to the Dominicans, but he knew they'd have no such audience anyway, so he hardly lost sleep over it.

[Ashari]

Time past alarmingly quickly for the novice alchemist, and though his processes were effective and simple, they were not yet overly practiced and so by the time he sought Jezara's company, almost a mark had passed him by leaving him teetering on the edge of the Gravesmark.

The pony's mane was flopped this way and that, but Mik's affection was quite welcome, even at this depth of night. She remained stalwart and standing and his deep voice was responded to with a returned and enthusiastic whinny. What she thought she could handle was some millet, hay or perhaps a nice fresh apple. Any of them would've been suitable in her large inky eyes.

Their solitary moment was alarmingly, and suddenly, interrupted by an inhuman noise that he was likely to recognize on a primal level via the rising of the hair on the back of neck and a shiver that ran down his spine to settle in his stomach like a hunk of iron that froze him to his spot. Jezara, on the other hand, reacted by bucking - kicking Mikail backward onto the hard packed dirt of the yard while the yips, yelps and yowls of hunting hounds resounded echoingly through the streets.

They sounded close - Wolves of the Downs - and they were hunting something, though that thing made no noise that could overpower theirs. Jezara stamped and huffed with fear at their predatory warning sounds, while neighboring dogs joined into the canine chorus.

[Mikail]

Mikail didn't utter a sound but fell completely silent when he heard the ghastly sound, horrified yet still reserved. However, upon receiving a jolting kick to the sternum he let out a loud yelp, absorbing the shock of hitting the ground with a louder grunt. What in the nether!? What could that be? He was lucky none of his arrows had scraped him, lest he pass out for the night. He ripped one of the cloths off of an arrow and tied it around his dagger, then put it in a sheath Haikan gave him that they'd stitched into his sleeve.

"Jezera, please calm yourself!" Mikail had gotten a decent amount of practice riding her with a saddle, and had even formed a bond with her from tending to her, but he wasn't sure how to settle her down. He looked in her eyes and attempted to use the same unspoken persuasion he used on people. "Jezera, you have to calm down, things might get dangerous." He looked at Haikan's decrepit fence. That's not keeping anything out... Why are they in town!? "I need you to help me." He didn't know where Haikan was, though he was supposed to be home soon. However, he wasn't about to rely on his rescue. He pulled out the millet that he bought earlier and fed some of it to her and shushed her, stroking her snout and trying to listen for whatever was coming.

While his heart was still pounding out of his chest, he pulled all of his arrows together and put them in a quiver, and then grabbed one of the green vials. Haikan always told him not to let his idle bow lay strung, but for now he was very glad that he had. He looked at the vial in his hand. It was a potion he had made with coca leaves, lemon juice and a spicy pepper. The potion's function was to increase clarity of thought and almost seemed to slow down time, but he wasn't sure how well it would work in a jam like this. He closed his eyes and gripped the vial. Fear won't save me, he told himself. He forced his heart-rate to go down and focused on the situation at hand, letting all other things float away. He opened his eyes, looked around, and threw back half the potion.

[Ashari]

Mikail's usage of calm was not practiced, nor did he have the strongest bond with his ugly pony, but what he did have was soothingly good intentions, and though the noises raged onward, Jezara atleast quit her rearing, if not the snorting and stamping which continued unslowed. She was wildly afraid, as were all the other animals in the area that heard the unsettling noises. Yowls carried from Northward yipping and terrifying their prey.

The young man was quick to gathering his weaponry, and ensuring that he was prepared, but it wasn't long after that the canine noises stopped with such a severity that the echo of the last one's call bounced around the courtyards and filled Mikail's ears.

Jezara's fur covered hooves stamped, and her ears twitched, but she finally gave over to a concerned sigh which flared her nostrils and burst a warm gust of air over Mikail's face. It tussled his hair a bit before settling again. However, the increased heart-rate and course of adrenaline were far from subsiding in the achadhiel. His potion brought the world into a sort of super-alert dream state. Jezara watched him with alert - perhaps even judgemental eyes. Though, it begged the question: What sort of mindset would think of a horse as such? A mild state of paranoia and attention to detail had over-taken the young man, leaving him alert to all sorts of sounds and sensations.

A dog down the street howled in recognition to the successful hunt.

[Mikail]

Mikail tried desperately to calm himself, but despite his breath control his adrenaline kept his heart rate from returning to normal. He took solace in the fact that the horse had listened. "Thank you, Jezera... Can you follow me?" As the noises stopped, Mikail's fears only increased, and he wanted both options of fight or flight open to him; since he wasn't as fast a runner as Haikan, Jezera was an important factor in that equation. His immense fear was perhaps due to the off-guard intensity of the situation. He felt the potion subsuming his mind, and as his dopamine re-uptake slowed and his receptors roared (not that any of this neuro-activity was known by him) he became more alert, and his sensitive ears and eyes began soaking whatever they could. His chest ached, but he couldn't worry about that now. He heard a dog howl and his blood froze. Could that have been Haikan? No... It couldn't be! "Come." He gave two tugs to Jezera's saddle and began slowly walking ahead of her outside the fence, peering around the corner. As the scene appeared before him, he slowly knocked an arrow, pulling the feather up until it was adjacent to his lip, and he used his thumb as a cross-hair to line up his target. Brother... Please tell me it's not you!

[Ashari]

Jezera wouldn't budge. Mikail could go as far as the lead would allow him, but that was just up to the fence. Beyond it, he saw only the darkness of the streets with a sliver of moon overhead to light his path.

Inside his mind something was taking over, and as he stared into the depth of black he could see movement. It was a low, skuttling sort of thing, perhaps the height of a dog, perhaps smaller, and it shifted constantly out of his view as he tried to focus into the road.

In buildings around Haikan's there were candles being illuminated. Mikail wasn't the only one disturbed by the sounds. Each window that lit up was like a beacon of hope and life in the desolate loneliness of the recesses of Gravetide. The wolves rarely hunted so close to the city. Man had done a good job of scaring them off with his fire sticks, arrows and steel. He'd also hunted most the things that the wolves were known for eating, making it all the more of a rarity to hear their gut-wrenching howls.

[Mikail]

Forget this stubborn horse, I'll have to depend on this if things get ugly Mikail grabbed one of the brown vials. The cork was tight on this one, because the potion turned into a gas very fast. This was a potion that he hadn't perfected. It was supposed to be a potion that increased strength and reduced fatigue. He got the strength increase down, but in it's current state, the potion doubled fatigue. That wasn't even why he needed it now though. Because it evaporated so fast, it creates a thick mist that is almost impossible to breathe. Whether or not it would have the consumed effect when inhaled was not important. Because of the jalepeno in the potion, it burned the eyes horribly. He was prepared for this effect, and they wouldn't be.

He looked back into the alley. The movement creeped him out, but if that was his brother, he'd want to get to him before he died. He gripped the vial tightly and ran along the wall, attempting to hide in the shadows from the dogs. Using his acute achadhiel sense of hearing, he made sure his footsteps were as inaudible as possible. He made sure none of his body poked out of the light, and he looked before every step so that he wouldn't trip or kick anything either. He wasn't experienced at lurking, but in moving slowly he could minimize his presence as much as he know how to. He wasn't sure how angry these dogs were, or how vicious, but he'd decided to be brave for once.

[Ashari]

Jezera stomped and pulled her head away from him, retreating closer to the house as a means of security. Mikail might've felt brave thanks to his drugs, but she didn't. He cleanly moved over the fence, and then beyond, into the shadows of the back street. There was movement up ahead.

Was it a block beyond? Further? Closer? Depth was difficult to guage down the dark corridor. What there was was sound. A low growl, only five paces beyond him, from a thing that was using the shadow as camoflage just as Mikail did.

The young man's senses became a fire of activity. Voice carried through the alleyway - that of a young woman's laughter, and perhaps a returned man, and then the thing that was before him - a pounce distance away - gave it's unearthly yowl. It was a braying that cut into Mikail's mind while evoking images of snarling teeth and slitted eyes. Whether it was his potion or primal fear, the world around him slowed. It was decision making time, and Mikail's fingers itched to launch the arrow, though he still had control.

[Mikail]

Jezera, thanks for nothing.... He looked ahead and began crawling along. He decided to slip over Haikan's fence instead of crawling through one of the decrepit holes. He couldn't afford to trip with those terrifying noises about. As he quietly lowered himself, he put his brown potion back in his jacket with his other small vials ready to grab, with his dagger in the other sleeve, within just as easy of a reach. He put his scarf over his mouth and nose and tightened it. Now I can breathe the fumes. He knocked his arrow again and pointed it into the darkness where he heard the movement. He started thinking about the consequences of missing a wolf as it lunged. All I have to do was scratch it...

He heard a woman's laughter and he winced. Great, more lives are in danger than I thought, I can't fuck up. Suddenly the wolf gave a horrid scream, and he realized it was closer than he thought. Normally Mikail would let his arrow fly, but thankfully his drug had calmed him, along with his dire intent of thinking clearly. He'd also normally have run long before it came to this, but for the sake of his brother he had to fight his fear. He saw how close it was and put his right foot against the fence, readying an action. His arrow was still pointed at the animal, but he was more focused on aiming it again after a sudden move. Please pounce... He prepared himself for a lunge into the street, which would hopefully give himself enough time to act according to the wolf's behavior. He put his weight on the fence, so that he could choose between two actions. His weight was still grounded so if it approached slowly he could plant an arrow in the animal, letting the poison take its effect, and if it ran at him or pounced he could jump out of the way. He was tempted to drop his bow and grab the potion and throw it down, but that's something he could do with a gash in his chest. He had to take his chance to poison it now. A helpless man in a cloud of smoke has only bought himself a slower death.

[Ashari]

Mikail's body steadied itself in it's precarious position. As he held the arrow ready and notched he could feel his muscles scream in anticipation. It was no easy task to leave himself prepared for the attack like that, and his bow arm wobbled slightly. The wolf stopped it's yowling, atleast for the moment, but Mik's alert ears could sense something else.

Footsteps! Running ones, at that, atleast two pair, if not more, and a metallic clang and jingle from the general direction of the previous woman's laughter. The sound was approaching Mikail, though the dark alley didn't allow for him to see anything except for mild movement cut against the dark cobble stones.

That was, until a most curious thing happened. It was an elipses, one that turned and wobbled as if it were an egg hurtling through the air, though it was made of pure fire. For a flicker he could see beyond it (if he dared turn away from the wolf's direction) to a small running animal, on four paws, that shimmered red over mirror-like scales. A person ran beside the animal, and a woman behind them. The egg whipped toward Mikail and the animal he was set to attack, and by fifteen paces away it began to dissolve and fly with increased irregularity. By ten paces it had all but melted, but it had also illuminated Mikail and his prey - prey which turned out to be a snarling neighbor dog of the hunting variety - a multi colored beagle inspired by the howling wolves. Once again, they were left to darkness, with Mikail holding his arrow and his heart beating like it might explode if he didn't do something. The world around him whirred, but beyond it he could see a gentle glowing again - perhaps another light show was to begin.

[Haikan]

"Mikail don't!" Haikan shouted as he approached. He stopped, halfway between Mikail and Mary, although because of his sprinting, it took him a few yards to actually stop, so he was much closer to Mikail. His legs kicked the bottom of the chest a few times as he slowed, and he really wanted to just set the darn thing down.

"I can grab a lamp from my house so we can at least see what we're shooting!" He noticed Mary was no longer right behind him, and Fang appeared to be ready for another blast. "Don't burn this man, king! This is my brother, he's on our side! And Mikail, these two are with me!" After hastily introducing them, his eyes raced to find Mary until he found her, still behind him. Why did she stop? She could get hurt! Oh man, I can't see the wolves anywhere! All I found was my neighbors dog!

His mind raced to think of a strategy to protect them from the attacking wolves, but he didn't come up with much, since he couldn't even see any of them. He decided that the first step was getting Mary to safety, and enabling them to see. He ushered for her to go into his house.

"Mary, run inside my house! You'll be safe there!" If she crossed in front of him and went towards the house, he would hand her the chest of goodies that the king was so worried about. "You can set this anywhere inside. If you're uncomfortable being alone at a time like this, then you can come right back out, but bring the lamp that's right inside the door if you do!" He felt in his pocket to ensure that he had the tindersticks required to light it.

That's right, we have to illuminate the area first. Wait! No that would be a bad idea, then every wolf within a mile would be able to see us! We'll just have to focus our vision as hard as we can...

[Mikail]

Mikail watched carefully as the dog he was prepared to kill was illuminated, revealing a helpless looking beagle. What the FUCK? Where are the wolves? With the light that suddenly shone illuminating the road, he looked up and he saw Haikan carrying a gigantic chest, not in any position to be hurling flames or helping him. What was that? Mikail didn't have time to give a damn about the dragon. He raced his eyes around frantically to try to find the wolves- and possibly their kill- in the light provided. He stepped toward the source of the howling, his foot ready to repeat the only prepared action he could think of in this state of terror. Girl, if you bring a light out here... I'M going to rip your head off. May as well throw us in the middle of the pack and throw seasoning on us.

Mikail was happy that his brother was alive, but his potion would only last a half mark. If he was going to do anything to save their lives, it had to be soon. His eyes narrowed as he pulled his arrow up to his lip again. Show yourselves.

[Ashari]

Mary shoved as much of her skirt into her left hand as she could manage - atleast so she could move her feet freely, and swiftly caught up with Haikan as he demanded she did. He gifted her with the weighty trunk, but she didn't lose control of it, and went wisking off toward the house.

Mikail could see the lighted windows of other houses on the block, and upon watching, could see figures in them - silouhetted in their rectangular space. They opened their shutters and called out to the streets below. "Hey!" and "QUIET DOWN OUT THERE!" and "Go away!" and even some curses in languages none of those present understood, but could be recognized as angered dwarf or irritable hafling.

As Mary ran past a doorway on her adventure toward the brothers' house it opened to give way to a middle aged man carrying a lantern which illuminated him and a good radius around him. No peering or feral animal eyes winked in it's light, and he wore only his sleeping gown and a funny floppy hat. "What.. what're you all doing out here shouting?" He asked with genuine concern. "Have you never heard the wolves hunt, kids? It is a might bit scary, but we've walls to protect us." He moved forward and adjusted his hat, scratching his balding head in the process. "Go ahead and lower that weapon, son.." He said toward Mikail with a reassuring hand sympathetically going through the motion of lowering itself as if in encouragement. The beagle looked up at Mikail with large brown eyes and floppy ears on either side of it's small head.

Fangwyrd, tucked himself next to Mary, using her full dress as camoflague against the new-comer. Mary, herself, paused and put down the heavy trunk, as it seemed rather silly to be running all around with it for no reason. She looked toward Haikan, and then down to Fangwyrd, a small smirk appearing on her face. Idiots.. we're all big pansies running around and yelling like we're about to be eaten alive! She shook her head, laughing slightly, until it began to build toward an infectious level of absurdity, the older man joining in the giddy fun.

"It's alright, no need to be embarassed... are you all new to the city?" He asked to all of them through his joyful laughter at their somewhat embarassing situation. Mikail, under the influence of his potion, could still feel his heart beating quickly, his muscles tense though his head was starting to clear toward it's normal function.

[Haikan]

Haikan looked around, to see if there were any of the wolves nearby, still ready to defend if there were. He was relieved that Mikail was alright, and he raised his hand to scratch his head with a nervous laugh. "Oh, sorry neighbor, it's just me. That over there is my brother, Mikail, and he's new in town. I'm not sure if either of these two live this close to the city walls or not, but regardless, we're just making sure everyone gets inside safe."

There was plenty of danger in being outside when the wolves got this close to the inner city, and Mikail's reaction was not ludicrous by any means. "You know what, as long as nobody's in danger out here, we can probably go inside, although I'd rather know there weren't any children getting mauled in the streets." He looked around to see if there were actually any wolves nearby, or if the howling was just that of the contagious barking cry spreading through the neighborhood dogs. He'd almost forgotten, his original reason for rushing over. Jezara.


"Hey Mikail... Where is Jezara right now? My first thought was that she got attacked, and you were probably in trouble too. I heard her whinny all the way down the street." His blood was still pumping from his radical and encumbered sprint, but he maintained a casual tone best he could.

[Mikail]

Mikail's anger almost caused him to have a heart attack. "She's being a coward. Apparently she's never heard the wolves hunt either. To be honest, her response is what sent me running out here." He pulled out a few bags and settled on the one labeled:

Coca

He pulled out two leaves and started chewing on them, letting their effects slowly bring him down from the panic. At least Haikan isn't dead... He started walking away, angrily ignoring everyone.
He jumped the fence again and picked up all his stuff, gave Jezera and angry look, and rinsed with his mouthwash potion. "Now I'll never get to sleep," Mikail grumbled as he sat down on his bed. He looked at his arrow. "Unless... I might get a chance to test this after all." He took off all of his gear, down to his cloak, trousers, and jerkin, and he pricked his finger with the arrow, then throwing it on the ground across the room.


Good night

[Ashari]

The neighbor laughed heartily. "Well, you boys sleep well then! I better get inside before me wife is wishing me to the nether, hahaha," he winked and gave a small wave before turning around and heading back into his house.

Mikail, too, it seemed, was more than ready to go to sleep, and so he parted company from the trio without any form of introduction to them - and without noticing Fangwyrd at all.

Inside the house the effects of the coca couldn't be felt. Ingesting the leaves wasn't the best route of consumption of the drug, and could take upwards of a half a mark, if not longer, to take effect. This made it basically unecessary once he pricked his finger with the poisoned arrow. A fast warmth spread over his body, radiating from the minute wound and rapidly overtaking his hand, arm, shoulder and upon reaching his heart he felt nothing but a sudden dizzying in the depth of his mind that forced his eyes shut. His head hit the pillow of the bed in the smaller room almost as soon as he'd tossed the arrow. He didn't manage to get his clothes off nor get beneath the covers before passing out.

OOC: Fin!
Haikan: there is a new thread for you here which will be up & running tomorrow!

Mikail: due to the effects of your poisoning your character will sleep soundly through the night and be well rested for the Terra West Trading Co - Prologue - Jy 31st MT thread the next day.

[Ashari]

SKILLS:

Mikail
Alchemy: +**
NEW SKILL! Animal Handling: basic
NEW SKILL!Knowledge [King's Court]basic

Haikan
Running: +*
NEW SKILL! Knowledge [King's Court]: basic