thetwo Test Thread

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

(I'll wait until the time skip to spend exp, methinks.)

Nadia awoke to find both Sarah and herself unharmed, and she smiled down at the sleeping elf for a moment before climbing delicately our of bed and gazing out the window. She smiled idly at the grazing deer for a moment before looking up at Gods-Reach, damaged but whole and still intact. The angel knew it in heart without having to see the lights on, but the solid assurance was nice all the same. Glancing back at Sarah, Nadia thought for a moment and tried to determine how far along her pregnancy was before deciding to wake her, gently shaking her and planting a soft kiss on the back of her neck. "Time to wake up! We've got to go and check on the people we left in the infirmary."

 

[thetwo]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Most of the victims still slept, perhaps understandable after what they must have suffered during their captivity. The bodies were also all still there, a grim reminder of their fate had they been captive but a little longer. They were already starting to attract flies, and by the end of the day it would be a serious problem for any living still in the place.

Half a dozen of the captives, those that had been the least far gone, were awake. Four women and two men, all of them elves, sat together, studiously not looking at each other and in various states of mild to moderate arousal. They looked confused an ashamed, but at least they were awake and rational enough that they weren't having sex or even pleasuring themselves as the invaders' aphrodisiac started to wear off. Three of the women were in the late stages of pregnancy, as were many of the ones still asleep.

And suddenly Nadia noticed one other thing that had changed. Lilith's body was gone, only a small unburned patch on the floor to mark where it had lain.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Nadia's gaze swept across the room quickly, her body ready to spring to violence at the slightest provocation. Many of the victims were still unconscious. That was probably a good thing, after all that had happened to them, they would need their rest. Some were awake, all elves as far as Nadia could tell, which wasn't particularly surprising. The corpses she passed over without much interest, acknowledging their presence and reminding herself that they needed to be dealt with eventually was the only distinction that Nadia made for them. The sight where Lillith's body had fallen, however, was the place that gave the angel the most present. It was gone.

Rounding immediately upon the conscious elves, Nadia demanded, "Where is Lillith's body?" As far as she could remember, the bodies of her kind rotted like anything else once their souls had departed.

 

[thetwo]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

The elf woman seemed sad, then pointed over towards the spot where the body had been and suddenly looked confused. "That was really her? Well, her body is... huh. It was right there when I feel asleep." She looked around, suddenly nervous. "You think someone took her? Could they still be here?"

Nadia didn't see anyone, even with the enhanced senses that suddenly dropped over her at a whisper from Sarah. "We were... asleep... for a while. And I think everyone in here must have been pretty exhausted. If someone or something came and took the body, who would have seen it?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

'She was dead... She had to have been dead...' Nadia thought silently, her expression trouble. "Yes, it was her.... I don't know what might have come in to take her body, but I know for sure that Lillith was dead," she replied quickly to the elves that had replied to her, though her gaze lingered on the place where Lillith's body had fallen. Not for the first time did she wish that she might summon some of her more experienced kin, that they might shed some light on this particular mystery.

"It doesn't matter," Nadia said finally as she turned to examine the victims of the invaders. "Do any of you feel up to moving much yet? Sarah, see what you can do for them, I'm going to check over the rest of these people and start carrying the bodies out." Unless some other concerns were laid at Nadia's feet, she would start doing just that.

Her first priority lay with the living, checking those still unconscious and making sure that they would recover from their ordeal at the hands of the invaders. After that was done, she started carrying the dead from the former hall of healing, placing the former inhabitants of Petra in a line and folding their arms over their chests while she simply piled the dead invaders. They could be seen to properly later, for now they had to take care of the living. Once the corpses had been taken out, Nadia removed the bedding of the dead as well and tossed it into the pile to be burned.

 

[thetwo]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Sarah didn't seem entirely reassured by Nadia's insistence that Lilith was dead, but then given how powerful the angel had been that was hardly surprising. Nevertheless, Sarah went and spoke with the group of survivors who were already awake while the young angel started checking on the rest.

The results were somewhat encouraging. While none of the still-sleeping people were exactly whole, all seemed to have improved at least a little over the previous night. Another day or two of rest and they would be back on their feet, though there was no way to predict when or even if they would fully recover. And by the time Nadia had checked each person, the group Sarah had been speaking to was ready to help see to the dead. They weren't moving fast, and one woman had to lie down after she brushed too hard against another and became uncomfortably aroused, but the fact that they were up and taking positive action was a good sign.

A few minutes later only the living remained inside the infirmary. Sarah stood next to Nadia, frowning at the pile of dead invaders and bedding. "You want me to, ah...?" a small ball of fire was suddenly floating above one hand. She looked almost surprised.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

After the tireless and thankless task of carrying out the dead, Nadia smiled gratefully at Sarah when she offered to cremate the bodies. Smiling at her elven lover, Nadia said; "If you've got the strength to spare for it... It would save me the trouble of finding the wood for it or blasting them all myself."

 

[thetwo]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

"I've rested enough, I think. Fire's always come easily to me." With a two-handed pushing gesture, the elf started the little ball of fire moving towards the pile, letting it grow as it moved. A few seconds later the pile was burning almost cheerfully.

Sarah stepped a little closer to it, little drops of sweat forming on her naked body before she turned to face Nadia again. "So what now? Do we bring the others back and try to rebuild, or go up the mountain, or... what?"

"And what do we tell the others about Lilith?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Nadia couldn't help but admire her lover's form in the firelight, a slight flutter and the memory of their session last night flitting through Nadia's mind briefly, but then she was brought back to reality by Sarah's words. "I'm not sure... The people in there will need time to recover, but I don't know how safe this place will be... Or how safe any place will be really. I know that cabin won't hold everyone though, so bringing what food we can and coming back to Petra with everybody might be our only option, unless we want to try and build a new settlement up there. I don't think we've got the time for that though, not with the snows already falling.

"As for Lillith... We tell them the truth, of course. We found her, fallen, and fought her. It seemed like we had killed her, but in the morning her body had vanished, we know not where. It's not what people want to hear.... But hopefully they'll be glad enough just to be back home that it won't cause too much distress. I know that she was loved here, but... Everybody seems to have lost someone." Nadia paused and sighed, her head heavy as a dark weariness set in, but then she lifted her gaze and smiled reassuringly. "For now, I'll go fly up to the cabin once I've ensured that none of the invader's spawn survive to hurt anyone else. You'll have to stay here to keep these people safe, but I shouldn't be gone long."

 

[thetwo]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

The cabin, when Nadia arrived, was quiet. Nothing moved outside it. Opening the door revealed... the pointy end of an arrow. Mary lowered the bow. "Oh, you're back. So, um...?"

The refugees took the news reasonably well. Some seemed sad, some lost. One or two angry that Lilith had turned. Mary seemed angry for a different reason. "She was willing to give her life to save us. The invaders weren't satisfied with just killing her. It's them we should be angry with, not Lilith, whatever her flaws."

Returning to Petra was slower, with only Nadia able to fly. But with a goal and the promise of a warm place to sleep, it was finished before sundown. Along the way, Nadia learned what had happened while she was gone to warrant a bow in her face. The slaves had fortunately not returned, but there had been several disjoint attacks by one or two of the grey Grabbers at a time, and one woman claimed to have seen a Hunter passing in the distance, in a hurry to get somewhere. And somehow in all the confusion Jack - the human man who had escaped with the rest - had managed to sleep with a total of four human and elf women without any of the others realizing that they weren't the only one. Two black eyes and the fact that none of the involved women would so much as look at him seemed to have more or less solved that situation, but he nevertheless seemed devoted to the idea of heading to see what had become of Celesis as soon as possible.

At Petra, Sarah was waiting. "Thank the gods you're back. It's spooky here. Not that I've seen anything bigger then a bird, but still."

Later, she spoke privately to Nadia. "I had another look around the infirmary. There were Hunter footprints leading out the back, deeper then any of the other ones. I'm not exactly a great tracker, but... it could have been carrying something." The young elf looked unsure how she should react. Glad that the mystery was solved, or unsettled that the invaders might have Lilith's body. Or aroused by the presence of her new lover, in private and neither of them wearing a stitch.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Nadia pulled the door open, a brief look of surprise at the arrow suddenly pointed at her face followed by a sigh of relief as Mary lowered the bow. Glad that they hadn't been attacked again, Nadia quickly swapped stories with the survivors of Petra. She nodded in agreement with Mary, though her own expression was a sad one, "Mary is correct... Lillith is not the one to blame. Whatever these creatures are, and whatever their motivations are, it is they who have laid waste to your homes."

The angel elected to walk back with the rest, wishing to ensure their safety in case more of the creatures elected to attack the battered group. Along the way, she listened to the story of Jack with an amused smile, though she opted not to comment on it. She'd have to talk to him about going to Celesis, as they quite desperately needed the help, but that could wait a while. Hearing of the hunter was somewhat troubling, but the angel paid it little immediate thought beyond a second or two of curiosity.

Arriving back at Petra, Nadia smiled as she caught sight of Sarah, "Yes... It's good to hear that nothing attacked while I was away." Later, in their private moment, Nadia frowned worriedly at Sarah's revelation, but she couldn't help but wonder what the hunter might have wanted the angel's corpse for. "That does not bode well... I can't even fathom what these creatures might want with Lillith's corpse, but I can't imagine it being good." The news knocked what little arousal Nadia had had from her, despite her nude lover's proximity. Though it hadn't been nearly as violent as the day before, Nadia felt just as tired by the time night fell, and she opted not to sleep that night, maintaining watch from the roof instead. She left the talk with Jack off to the next day, though she did attempt to alleviate the tensions caused by his promiscuity as she checked up on their group. The other survivors, those they had saved from the aliens, were her next concern, and after they had been seen to however Nadia could, the angel elected to ascend to her solitary post.

 

[thetwo]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Time passed, and wounds healed. The few Nadia had managed to evacuate during the panic of the invasion were the best off, and were as well as they could be within a few days. Those she had returned to save from the Fallen Angel and the rest of the invaders took longer. Fortunately, Petra itself had endured along with Nadia and her group. The red-headed angel took up the position held until recently by Lilith and with the help of the other survivors nurtured the broken back to health.

As people healed, the original residents slowly filtered out. Some had families that they wished to find, others no longer felt safe within the little retreat's repaired walls, and still others needed a change as the final step to recovery. Other refugees filtered in, in the same way they always had, for the promise of a safe place to stay. They brought with them news of the scale of the invasion, and the lasting effects. After more than a year, while many of those who had been at Petra during the attack visited regularly - particularly those Nadia had helped escape before the retreat had fallen - only Sarah remained living in the compound. It didn't seem likely that the elf would leave as long as Nadia herself stayed, whatever her original intentions at the retreat.

Of Lilith's remains - or the Fallen herself - there was no further sign. There were always rumors of invaders left in the deep woods around Gods-Reach. They remained elusive, the only definitive proof being the very occasional woman who showed up heavily pregnant with unnatural spawn. But it always turned out to be the slimy and difficult-to-eradicate grabbers, never the more organized hunters, the ones who might have stolen the angel's body. It seemed less and less likely that Nadia's mind could ever fully put to rest that issue.

But the matter was put out of the Angel's mind - at least for a little while - when a man came down from Gods-Reach, out of breath and with several obvious wounds, bringing the most important news to Petra since Nadia had purged it of the last invader.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: thetwo Test Thread

Spoiler

Over the break, Nadia's going to gain the following:
8 exp on +8 Body
4 exp on +4 Mind

Those are subject to change depending on whether or not Nadia gets any more exp between DG2 and DG3. Regardless, she'll be trying to learn magic from Sarah to help with the healing over the two year gap, regardless of whether or not it offers any actual mechanical benefit.

Nadia sells the 4 Darkhearts for a total of 100 denarii, and the Chameleon Skins for 30 denarii, gaining a total of 130 denarii on top of her existing 100. She then uses them and the angel's feather to give Khazidea the AV ignore Enhancement. That consumes 200 denarii and her angel's feather, and also makes the sword sentient!

She would also attempt to remove the corruption she's received, if that's an option.

That should be everything, as I have no disagreements with your previous post.