The First Blight: Curse of Dumat [RP/Closed]

[duckflesh]

Ragnar shrugged, impassive. He pulled his own armor over his head before taking up his sword and a heavy banded wooden shield. He banged the hilt of his weapon into the shield several times, making a terrible crashing sound; the other Alamarri hooted their adulation, meanwhile stepping away to open a clear ring for the combat to take place in.

Stepping forward, Ragnar nodded to Diocles. He seemed intent to let the other man strike first, holding his shield up in a defensive posture.

Alrik stepped next to Ghil. "I know there was no one else... but I am not sure he has much hope," he said quietly in Alamarri.

 

[Cinnonym]

Ghil shook her head, frowning at Alrik, "They wouldn't let you compete. That shows they're no better than lambs. ...Besides... Diocles is nimble as a stag. You're more like a boulder."

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles darted forward like a cobra striking, sending out a quick slice across the man's shield arm to test his reaction time.

It was found wanting. The barbarian was slow, and Diocles was a blur. He darted in beneath the shield with his other blade, scoring a quick but shallow hit before pushing off the man and falling back into his stance.

 

[duckflesh]

Ragnar grunted as he was cut, and swung his sword forward in a heavy strike; this came -extremely- close to hitting Diocles, but Ragnar was a hair too slow.

He fell back, shield up again, a more serious look on his face now.

 

[ShadowFolk]

Diocles proved that he was at the very least capable of getting in a strike or two. But it was just the beginning and giant could just be toying with him. A thought that did not sit well in her mind. The odds seemed to weigh in Ragnar's favor. The man was so large and if Ghil was an example of their resilience it would take more than a few cuts to bring him down. She only hoped that Diocles would remain swift and that his skill with his knives closely matched that of his archery.

Sulahn'nehn gasped. That sword nearly struck him.

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles shot forward once more, feinting left to make the man overextend his shield, then quickly pulling the knife back to dig in and rend the bastard's side, sneaking in one more quick slash before the human monolith could regain his balance.

 

[duckflesh]

Once again Ragnar swung a mighty blow that fell short, though the sound it made whipping through the air next to Diocles' head was quite fearsome.

Ragnar growled, bleeding freely now-- but still very able to fight.

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles smirked at his opponent, attempting to make him lose his temper. He brought back his knives in preparation for a twin stab, then unexpectedly shot a leg up, kicking his opponent's shield. With his enemy off-balance again he ran in close, driving his knives home.

 

[duckflesh]

Groaning, Ragnar swung again, and missed again. He wiped blood out of his eyes, growling.

 

[FortyThree]

Diocles stayed close after ducking under the swing, slashing two long though shallow lines across the man's chest.

"I'll bleed you dry!"

 

[duckflesh]

By all accounts, Diocles' first strike seemed sure to hit. Somehow, though, Ragnar brought up his shield at the last moment, deflecting the attack entirely. The other blade still drew blood, but Ragnar took advantage of even this small victory and cleaved his sword deeply into Diocles' shoulder, roaring, some his frustration finally relieved.

 

[ShadowFolk]

"Diocles!", Sulahn'nehn shouted, brow knit. It was a nasty looking cut. He had been doing so well and perhaps it was too much to hope that he would have remained untouched. Now there was a deep gash in his shoulder. She screamed for him not to let up. Her heart seemed to have leaped to her throat.

 

[FortyThree]

Knocked back by the force of the blow, Diocles channeled the pain into fury. He rolled with the blow, falling back into a roll before springing forward again. He started left again, then right, and finally struck from the left again, catching the slower warrior off-guard. His second blade came in almost as an after-thought, striking a stinging blow as if to taunt.

 

[duckflesh]

Covered in aching wounds now, his face a mask of misery and rage, Ragnar swung his sword with a shriek of anguish. His swings were always powerful, but this one was perhaps more so, because it hewed open Diocles' face.

As the rogue dropped to his knees, Ragnar upended his sword and thrust it down behind the man's clavicle, forcing it into the Tevinter's thoracic cavity to the hilt. He did this so automatically, so quickly, that only after the blade had disappeared did realization hit his face.

He released the sword. The body toppled.

For a moment, there was silence. Then he threw his arms into the air and roared in triumph.

 

[Cinnonym]

Ghil gave a shout of alarm; what had happened!? Diocles had been nearly impossible to hit, mincing the barbarian to death, and then suddenly there was a corpse on the ground in front of her. Tension twisted her gut in knots as the Ciraine cheered. They needed to retreat immediately. She reached out to grab the screaming Sulahn'nehn and pull her back when a flash of metal caught her eye.


"No! Don't!"


Thaedrin's knife opened the flesh of his forearm and a curtain of blood spilled out in sacrifice, freeing a blast of sorcerous energy that rippled across the ground. Ragnar the Unbreakable gave a sudden howl and clapped his hands down over his head; he tossed, as though trying to buck some beast off of his back. Then his hands lowered and he turned on his allies in a frenzy. The blood mage had the element of surprise on the Ciraine, but the hounds were not fooled and were already charging.


"Get the body, untie the horses!" He was backing away quickly as a dog prepared to lunge for his arm, "Run. RUN!"


Ghil cursed sharply as control of the matter crumbled away from them. She grabbed Sulahn'nehn and threw her bodily over the back of a horse, slicing her broadsword through the tangled reins to free them from the branch that held them. "Get Ulrin and ride!" She herself leapt onto the back of the second and rode hard past Thaedrin, whipping him up over her thighs and away from the dogs that were trying to rip his limbs from his frame. He screamed as the teeth were ripped away, shredding his tissue. She jammed her heels into the horse's flanks and rode northeast as quickly as the poor animal could manage.

 

[ShadowFolk]

Was he dead? Oh, Creators he was dead. How could he not be after a blow like that. She could hear nothing but screams and shouts, some of them her own. And then the earth was moving rapidly. Sulahn'nehn might not have been fully aware she'd been lifted away and thrown onto a horse. Mentally, she was still standing back there seeing the strike that ended the duel. Had it not been for the the horse suddenly taking off, she might have remained that way, grasping onto anything to keep herself atop the racing beast.

She wheeled the mount around and reached down to help Ulrin up, barely slowing down as she did. "Hold tight!", she commanded before putting as much distance between them and the tribesmen.

 

[duckflesh]

The moment Thaedrin's knife came out, Alrik lunged towards the corpse; he was already halfway to it when Thaedrin cried out the order.

He gave one of the Mabari a rib-cracking kick in the side to clear it out of the way, hoisting Diocles' body over his shoulders and then sprinting back toward the horses. He wasn't sure what use the corpse was, but he had learned long ago that when Tevinters were around the word "impossible" lost a lot of its weight.

He lept into the saddle. The cadaver tumbled off his shoulders, but he managed to catch it awkwardly before it was trampled by the horse.

 

[Rosen2012]

Ulrin reached out and took Sulahn'nehn's hand with one of his own and grabbed the side of the saddle with the other. Like her he was confused as to what had just happened. Was not Diocles winning? Were they all not just cheering for him, and then in the blink of an eye he was dead. It did not seem like it was true. If they weren't suddenly running for their lives he would not believe it was true. The rogue pulled himself up over the horse and looked back to ensure there was as much distance as possible between the wild humans and their dogs and the Warden's horses as the female elf pressed on through the darken woods.

 

[Cinnonym]

Ghil barely noticed that the howls of the hounds and the Ciraine had faded into the distance; inside her, she felt the she would still see them if she turned around, right on their heels. It was Thaedrin, twisting and shouting, that forced her to finally come to a halt.

?Stop! Stop, the longer the body sits, the harder it will be! Let me down--?

She did so, shoving him off and onto the ground. With a shout and a curse, Thaedrin pushed himself up to stand. She remained mounted, however. Gods knew where their enemies were now.

"Your blood magic may have done the ending of us all!"

The Constable grunted, hauling the archer?s corpse down from over the pommel of Alrik?s saddle. It hit the ground with a wet crunch, but it would not hurt him now. "They killed Komnenos, did you think they would spare the rest of us!? Venhedis, the damage?"

"It was a duel! The combat was to remain in the duel, and the grudge as well. We would have left, gone away for another tribe!"

"Left, and shown our backs for them to bury their axes! A duel... You're the one who chose this, you should have let me put them all in the ground! It's your damned fault he's dead!"

Ghil's gaze went icy.

Thaedrin could only barely wrest the blade back out of Diocles, and nearly vomited at the ruin it left behind. He placed his hands over the cavern of his chest with a string of curses spilling out his lips, shaking his head furiously back and forth. Nothing was happening. The cost of his blood to possess the warrior, and the mauling the dogs had given his arm and legs had left him with almost nothing to offer. The profanity he muttered became something different, strange words beyond any known tongue. They may have sounded familiar, at least, to Sulahn?nehn. It was a similar sort of chant the demon used to put her Master beneath his spell.

 

[Rosen2012]

Ulrin dismounted the horse he shared with Sulahn'nehn. The sight of Diocles corpse made him sick as well. He could only imagine what horrors the Tevinter was about to perform upon the body. Though the elf half wondered if he was truly capable of bringing him back. He put his palm to his head and shook it turning away. He didn't want to watch. What if it failed? he would not miss the archer, so he thought, but even still what a situation it put them in.

Instead he turned his eyes to the trees around them, with the party stopped their adversaries could catch up at any moment. Someone should watch at least, and then he wouldn't have to watch Bloodmage's work.