The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The recently-interrupted woman hurried off in the direction of the camp, looking worried but determined. Sarah spoke quietly once she was a short distance away, "She'll be at it again by this time tomorrow. At the latest. And she's probably not the only one, just the most obvious. Or maybe just unlucky."

A few minutes later, back at the camp, the angel saw Rex moving through the camp towards her, practically pushing anyone out of his way. He spoke as soon as he reached Nadia. "One of the scouts says he saw an orc, behind us. I intend to go take a look for myself, now."

Spoiler

Jinxed it!

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Sarah's prediction brought an annoyed look to Nadia's face, and she turned to the elf with a scowl and replied; "I don't need to know that! Dammit... We're in the middle of a crisis, everyone just left their homes, and we're under threat of attack from multiple directions at once! Why is everyone so gods damned concerned about getting laid!"

Fuming after her heated outburst at having to worry about one more seemingly needless concern, Nadia turned to storm off only to find Rex moving toward her, and sighed inwardly as she moved to meet the hunter leader. "Look... If this is about sex, I don't even want to hear it," she said as soon as the hunter was near. Once the alien had reacted however it thought appropriate to the angel's odd exclamation and actually delivered his news, Nadia pondered things for a moment. On the one hand, she wanted to deal with any such thread immediately, and she didn't quite trust the hunter yet.... But on the other, she wasn't exactly stealthy and didn't want to have to kill some poor scout just for tailing them.

"Alright... But I'm coming with. Follow the road and signal me down somehow when we're getting close, I'll be in the air, and wait along the road. I want to get the report sooner rather than later... And be careful, I'd rather not have to try and control your kin if you get yourself killed while alone with me. Wait here a moment, and we'll get going," Nadia continued with a sigh, and with that, she would go and tell Sarah what was going on, and to have people on watch in case of an attack, before going back to Rex and nodding, ready to take wing and slowly follow him to where the orc scouts had been sighted.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The hunter nodded. "It will be an hour or two before we reach them. Maybe more."

Sarah sighed at the news, and insisted on again laying an enhancing spell on Nadia's senses before they parted, then started harrying the refugees to get ready. By the time Nadia and Rex were getting out of sight, the entire group had started moving.

The hunter moved quickly and tirelessly, not as fast as the angel could fly, but enough that by the time two hours had passed the pair had made the better part of the entire previous day's journey with the whole group. Finally the Hunter stopped in the road, and gave an awkward wave at the angel overhead.

When she had landed, the hunter spoke, not at all out of breath. "If they have kept on as they were going, we should see signs soon." Suddenly his skin shimmered, and only a vaguely distorted patch of road in the place Rex had been showed that he was still there. His voice came again, almost a whisper. "I think what our scout saw was another scout. If that means the scout for an army coming down this road, or a group hunting you, or simply to see what forces lie in reach of Gods-Reach... perhaps we can learn. How do you want to do it?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Nadia would grunt a quick thanks to Sarah for her spell before taking off, glad to have her ability to track the hunter as he moved along the ground. She quickly got a good idea of how quickly Rex could travel and fell into a pace to keep up without overtaking him, the hunter setting a good pace. Eventually, however, she would be flagged down and quietly descend back to the ground, falling only to stop her momentum when she was only a few feet from the ground with a single beat of her wings. Dropping smoothly down to land while her wings folded up behind her, Nadia nodded to the alien lizard's statement.

"Follow him, very carefully. Don't let him lead you into a trap. I will wait here, on the road, and if the scout or scouts come near me keep hidden and throw a stone into the canopy. I will hear it, particularly if you can disturb some birds. Crows for danger, they'll be loudest, but anything else I'll take as a sign and prepare myself. Don't get into a fight unless you absolutely have to, even if you see me get into one," she said quickly, "I'll be paying attention regardless, but extra forewarning doesn't hurt. If you can figure out just what sort of force is following us without alerting them, that'd be best, but we might have to capture the scout and see what they know."

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The hunter nodded agreement, starting off without further discussion. Before he was more than a few yards away, the angel lost sight of him.

When Nadia was back in the air, she was able to slowly trace the progress of Rex and the Scout from a safe distance. The scout continued only a few minutes towards the refugees, then turned around, moving back at a much quicker pace than he had moved forward. He hadn't gone more than a couple miles before several crows took flight from a tree near the road, cawing loudly.

Paying careful attention and moving much more cautiously, Nadia noticed the other orcs. These ones weren't moving quite so quietly, but there was one on each side of the road, and careful observation suggested more further into the woods, forming a line such that each member would be just able to see the next through the trees, most of the time.

From a carefully chosen perch up one of the trees, Nadia watched the scout they had been following openly approach one of those by the side of the road. They spoke, briefly, and the scout started back off down the road, again towards the refugees.

The line of orcs wasn't moving quickly, but it was moving faster than the people from Petra. And the lone scout was, at least for the moment, moving considerably faster, at a light jog down the road.

A few minutes later, the scout slowed down and moved to the edge of the woods, well out of sight of the rest of his fellows. Finally Nadia spotted Rex again, for the first time since she had last spoken with him. He shimmered into visibility, behind the scout and on the opposite side of the road, hidden from view by a small depression. Or hidden to those unable to fly, at any rate.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Nadia would watch from the air after she and Rex had parted ways, waiting for the signal from the hunter. She spotted the scout easily enough, her position in the air obvious if one looked but not if one never turned their gaze up towards the skies. The scout didn't, and she tracked his progress before sighting the larger group of orcs as they traveled through the woods in a line that would prevent then from being taken out as a group. Cleverer tactics, perhaps, but they wouldn't save the orcs if she was forced into a fight. Tired, irritable, and sick to death of the greenskins hounding their every step, Nadia wanted this ended.

Watching the scout bounce between trailing the refugees, returning to his fellows, and then moving on ahead again before hiding behind a tree, Nadia scowled. It could be a trap.... But she really didn't care at that point. She could see Rex appear, hidden in a ditch but for some reason no longer invisible, some yards away, seemingly ready to strike. Still, despite her growing resentment, Nadia wouldn't spill the blood of the orcs without first going through what she suspected would be a pointless effort to try and get them to turn around and go away.

Folding her wings, Nadia landed right next to the tree that the orc was hiding behind, a scowl on her face, and began to speak even as she turned to face the one who had gone ahead, "you are wasting your time by following us, and wasting your lives if you follow us any farther. Turn around, tell your comrades that you are wasting your time, and go back to where you came from. We are leaving Crolia, have already left it according to some, and have no interest in participating in your war. I don't want to kill you - my energies are better spent on other concerns at the moment - but you aren't taking the healers under my care to be raped, abused, and then forced to patch together their abusers."

The redheaded angel calmly folded her arms, ready at any moment to use her slowly shifting wings to push her back and take right back to the air. The very moment that the orc opened his mouth, however, she would coldly add; "This is your one and only chance to live past today. You aren't any more worth my time than the last bunch that I had to kill, so do everyone involved a favor and fuck off back to Gods-Reach!"

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The orc nearly fell over when Nadia suddenly landed near him, and fumbled with an arrow for a moment before putting his weapon back away. He opened his mouth several times, trying to interrupt the angel, but when finally given a chance to speak, he paused, looking thoughtful. "Our people" he said, somewhat dryly, "Have no particular care for the boundaries of the nations of men."

He paused again, then added. "But the decision to 'follow' you is not mine. I will pass on your message, Angel, but I doubt it will change our mission."

The orc scout looked patiently at Naida, waiting for her to add something else, or else take to the air again.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

"Nadia. Go. But remember that to proceed farther is to invite certain death," the redheaded angel intoned coldly, and then watched the orc scout leave. Once he was out of earshot, she spread her wings, and to Rex would quietly say, "I'm going to start picking them off one at a time. I'll make gaps, at least if they stay in formation. Go for the ones on the edges, farthest from help. Take them silently, and then retreat. Keep out of sight, and don't confront any of them directly, orcs are very dangerous opponents and these will no doubt be elites. If they attack in a tighter group, don't get involved unless you absolutely have to."

With that, she would be off into the air, maneuvering to make herself as difficult a target as possible for any archers among them, while she waited to see what the orcs would do. Should they start forward as she all but knew they would, it would be time to start picking them off, and her tactics for such would depend on how the orcs started to advance down the road.

Spoiler

Fly up and full defense for now.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The orc looked Nadia up and down once more. "I do not fear death in the pursuit of our cause." Then he turned to go, moving at a trot back the way he had come, his back turned to Nadia.

Once he was out of earshot, Rex stepped out from behind a tree. He listened to his orders, nodded, and his skin shimmered as his camouflage went back up. The hunter shadowed Nadia as they approached the line of orcs, who - as Nadia had expected - didn't show any immediate sign of stopping.

Strangely, she couldn't see the one she had spoken to, though there were at least a dozen more in the line and she couldn't get a close-up view of all of them without engaging them. One walked on each side of the road, in clear view of each other, the others spread into the forest. There, line of sight was harder to maintain, but each orc was surely within earshot of at least two others, save perhaps the ones on the very end.

The last the angel had seen of her companion, he had been headed for what seemed to be the northern part of the line, but keeping exact track of any particular individual in the trees was difficult even without considering the skin that could render him all but invisible in the middle of the road.

Spoiler

Mechanically, it's probably safe to assume the orcs on the road have seen Nadia, as well as obviously the one she spoke to, since she wasn't making any special effort for stealth. The others may or may not have seen her, depending on if they happened to look up at the right time.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

"Your cause cannot be served here," Nadia replied, and then allowed the orc to go back to his kin. She gave her orders to Rex, took off, and then was unsurprised by the fact that the orcs continued to advance. She would wait, until they reached about two thirds of the way between where she had met the scout and where they had started from before letting out a sigh.

It always came down to violence, didn't it?

Light flared from Nadia's body, energy flowing through and from her, making her presence obvious. She would give the orcs a few moments to spot her, a few more to turn back, but if they didn't - or if they opted to attack her - she would attack. Choosing her targets to pick off one far off to the side, who would leave another orc isolated if picked off. Both blades came free of their sheaths as she folded her wings, diving like a hawk through the trees, emerging unscathed as naturally as if she were a bird, and giving two furious slashes to her target, cutting him down, before giving a quick beat of her wings that would send her right back up through the canopy, out of reach.

She expected nets and arrows, and perhaps magic of some sort, and if she spotted one capable of the latter or was joined in the air she would break off from picking the orcs off one by one to deal with it. Otherwise, she would rely on her agility and speed to keep the more mundane threats from attacking her, and remaining unpredictable in when she dove in to attack. If she didn't face any opposition, however, she would choose her targets on two aims. One, to leave a few orcs open for Rex to pick off, and two, to make the others bunch up near the road.

Spoiler

Nadia activates Battle Aura X = 9.

Using Rend to ensure she kills, if the first doesn't kill it she uses flurry as well. Pattern in fluff.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Nadia activates Battle Aura (X=9); 9 EP (7 upkeep). +27 attack, melee damage, speed, and dodge. +9 resistance. Stealth is contraindicated.

77 base attack + 27 (battle aura) - 4 (rend) = 100.
34 base damage + 27 (battle aura) = 61
72 base dodge + 27 (battle aura) = 99

Attack (Orc): (redacted) vs 99 -> Miss

Attack (Nadia): 100+8=108 vs (redacted) -> hit
Damage (Nadia): 9+61 = 70 - 4 = 66
Damage (Nadia): 4+61 = 65 - 8 = 57
Damage (rend): 9,1 = 10 (ignores armor)
-> The orc dies.

Attack (Nadia): 100+6 = 106 vs (redacted) -> hit
Damage (Nadia): 1+61 = 62 - 4 = 58
Damage (Nadia): 5+61 = 66 - 8 = 58
Damage (rend): 9,4 = 13 (ignores armor)
-> The orc dies.

The line of orcs wasn't moving as quickly as the scout had been, but it was still only a few minutes before they reached the invisible line that signaled the start of Nadia's attack. It was enough time for the angel to grow comfortable with the lines, and she picked her first target well. All the enemy seemed to carry a bow with arrow nocked, and at least a long dagger sheathed by their side, if not a more substantial weapon. This one had a pair of daggers, one long and one short, and was the second northmost in the line, passing through an especially dense patch of trees that cut off his sight of his fellows.

The redheaded angel hung in the air for a moment in plain sight in front of him, her aura flaring as her abilities were honed by her magic, both swords drawn. He raised his bow, but didn't fire. He also didn't back down. The angel fell through the air with heightened speed, and easily dodged the arrow. Her blades met as the orc's body fell into two pieces. Well before he'd managed to draw his weapons, but not before he'd screamed a curse that silenced the native wildlife.

There was a rustle to the North, and Nadia saw a second orc running towards her. Then it stopped, touched its chest in confusion, and stared for a moment at the blood before collapsing.

Another orc was running North, but the angel returned to the air, skipping over that one and giving a repeat performance on the fourth orc in the line. This one started yelling sooner, and rather than rushing to help the nearby orcs seems to be running for the road by the time three pieces of former orc hit the forest floor.

Spoiler

Charging Nadia for 3 rounds of upkeep after the initial cost, as she hits two different targets and moves substantially between them.

Nadia - 105 HP, 85 PP, 80/110 EP; Battle Aura 9
Rex - ???

Orcs - four dead, the remainder uninjured.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

While it was a bit surprising that the orc didn't try to shoot her, Nadia didn't let it show on her face as she dove, killing one orc only to take off again, and then reorient for another dive and do the same. Two orcs down, and at least one more downed by Rex's claws if she was to believe what she'd seen, Nadia opted to dive down once more, picking off a trailing orc before taking off again, great beats of her wings carrying her into the air and out of reach. The branches made her dives slightly more predictable than she'd like, but they also made up for it thanks to the cover they offered, the canopy shielding her from sight even with her golden glow. It was almost too easy, really, and after picking off a third target the angel leveled off and headed to see how many orcs had gathered on the road and what they might be doing. Maybe if she could rout them she wouldn't have to kill all of them.

Spoiler

Four dead? Did Rex get two as well?

Nadia will do the same thing one more time, picking off another orc, and then go up to look and see what's going on near ye road.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Spoiler

Well, Nadia saw one die that she didn't kill, and left a second for Rex as well. I suppose technically she doesn't know the second one's fate, but he was beyond a normal hunter before he survived a fight with Nadia.

Attack(Nadia): 100+1 = 101 -> Hit

Damage (Nadia): 6+61 = 67 - 4 = 63
Damage (Nadia): 10+61 = 71 - 8 = 63
Damage (rend): 8,6 = 14
-> The orc dies

By the time the Angel reached her third target, it was clear that while the Orcs weren't exactly routed - they were running, but not panicked - they certainly weren't intending to try fighting her individually. Her third orc barely had time to notice her glow and turn to face her before her twin blades flashed red.

Back in the air, a quick survey of the area didn't present any more immediate targets. Nothing moved in the forest behind her, an almost eerie stillness after the brief burst of activity. Rex was nowhere to be seen, but neither were the two orcs Nadia had separated from the rest by killing their neighbors in the line.

On the road, a total of eight orcs stood in a rough semicircle, watching the trees and the air almost as much as the orc in the middle, who seemed to be giving the rest orders. One noticed the angel, pointing and calling out something that Nadia couldn't quite make out. In seconds all of them had weapons out. Seven had bows with arrows nocked, most watching Nadia and the forest below her, but two facing the other side of the road. The last had a staff held in both hands, end planted in the ground, and was doing something that gave off a faint hum of power.

As Nadia got closer, the orcs drew their bows. One loosed, his shaft falling twenty yards below Nadia at the peak of its flight, drawing a curse from the one with the staff. The rest held steady for a moment, and the one who had fired was quickly back in the same position.

Spoiler

Another 3 rounds of upkeep, for the greater distance covered that post.

Nadia - 105 HP, 85 PP, 59/120 EP
Rex - ???

Orcs - 8 in a rough formation on the road.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Though she might have wished that it were otherwise, Nadia was unsurprised that the orcs maintained their judgement and rushed to regroup rather than fleeing into the woods. A warrior race, the orc clansmen were well disciplined and rarely broke under duress. That didn't protect the next one that she brought down, however, and then she was off again.

Sailing over the trees, Nadia came upon the formation that the orcs were gathering into, a loose semicircle with those around the figure in the center carrying bows while the singular figure in the middle carried a staff. Orcish magi were rare, and almost exclusively opted for the more direct but imminently potent spiritual powers, making the threat doubly dangerous. Only one of the orcs loosed a shaft at her, a shot that missed by over twenty feet, but he quickly put another arrow to string and prepared to join the volley.

The threat was obvious, but to Nadia it hardly mattered at that point. They had given her a chance to attack, to strike down the real threat, but even with that opportunity looking her in the face Nadia hesitated. She had to give them a chance, at least one more chance, now that they knew they were outmatched against her.

"Take your dead, turn around, and go!" she said, her tone at once commanding and pleading while she beat her wings to hover more or less in place a good ways away from them. It would be harder to dodge the volley in its entirety if they opted to fire like that, but she wasn't worried about being hit with her magical enhancements going and her blades in her hands. "You are outmatched, and this battle is pointless in the first place! Your deaths here would serve no purpose," she continued resolutely, still filled with anger over the fact that this was happening at all.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

"Hold!" The orc who had loosed before hesitated, but after a moment all seven had undrawn their bows; still pointed at Nadia but no longer immediately threatening. The orc with the staff continued to speak. "It is for each of us to decide if our deaths have meaning, but in this case I would agree."

"We will withdraw from here for a time, if that is what you demand. But I must make you an offer as well. Submit yourself to us, and I will see that you are treated with the respect you deserve." More than one of his fellows looked angry at his capitulation, but none voiced a protest.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Well. That was a surprise. She had expected some sort of demand for surrender in turn, and even though she got it the angel was surprised that the orc had agreed to retreat, even if it would obviously only be for the moment so that they could regroup. The offer to surrender that she was given obviously wasn't something that the redheaded angel was going to take. She had an idea of what orc "respect" meant under those circumstances, a somewhat less violent version of enslavement. Even if she might miss penetration to some degree, she wasn't about to let herself get gangbanged for it, even if she might be able to argue the orc into abandoning his chase of the group of refugees from Petra if she did.

"No," Nadia replied, beating her wings slowly in order to hover more or less in place, "now get out of here!" She would hang in the air while the orcs retreated, but once they were gone she would land and release the hold on her powers with a sigh. It had been a long week.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The orc's spokesman nodded, then addressed his fellows. "Very well, start back towards the others, we will camp with them tonight and resume our scouting tomorrow."

At his gesture, the others started back along the road slowly, rotating positions so that at least one was always facing up the road towards the angel. The one with a staff, after a moment, joined the others, taking his place near the center of the group.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

Nadia would watch the orcs departed coldly, and when she released her powers when they were out of sight it was with a heavy sigh. The last time she'd let the orcs go, they had simply come again. It didn't feel right to simply slaughter them, and they would undoubtedly come prepared to deal with her in some fashion. That, in turn, sparked the image of what would have undoubtedly happened had she actually taken the orc's offer to surrender, being gangbanged by the greenskins, and revulsion briefly filled her before she dismissed the image. Heaving another deep sigh, she let some of the tension slide out of her form and ended up feeling bone weary.

Constant threats harassed them. The orcs ahead and behind, the hunters, Lillith's spirit haunting her... It was all much more difficult than it had to be, and she couldn't afford to have any rest, any time with Sarah to deal with the itch of her libido or gain the comfort of a few hours rest with the elf by her side. This journey, as harrying as it had been at the start, was getting more irritating and complicated by the day. "Rex," Nadia called loudly, summoning the hunter to her side if he were within earshot.

 

[thetwo]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

The hunter stepped out from behind a tree, approaching the angel silently with an eye down the road where the orcs had retreated. "I think that was all of them, at least nearby. But he said 'the others'. If they send a dozen orcs to scout ahead..." He shook his head and took a step in the direction the orcs had gone, stopped, then turned back to Nadia. "What will you do?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Angel Angle (Tassadar) GMed by thetwo

"Then there are probably a lot more of them following us," Nadia replied coldly, finishing the hunter's sentence. "Thank you... For helping," the angel would continue after a brief pause, looking to the hunter as he stepped forward. "I'll go see how many are following us from the air," she would say, already spreading her wings, "look over the dead, take anything we might be able to use. Food, medicine, weapons, coins... And find me someplace to wash up. I'll be back soon."

Taking to the air, Nadia would hover for a moment, looking down at the hunter, and for a moment she couldn't help but imagine how the he might react if she were bathing in front of him. "Meet me back here in a little while.... And make sure that that washing place is off the road," she would say, and then would take off. Nadia would fly high, higher than she had to fight the orcs, out of reach of any bowshot and such that she would only be a spec in the air above. She turned North, flying in the direction that the orcs had gone, and searching for signs of a larger group, one that would be more easily sighted from the air than the small group that she had been forced to face before.