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Ice Party [Complete]; [GRP] Leyanni's Horde
Topic Started: Tue Dec 6, 2011 5:18 pm (413 Views)
Rin
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The girl stood amongst the ranks of the Striberg guard, looking slightly out of place due to her demure stature and slender form. The men and women tasked with defending the City of Magic had been hesitant to allow such a young individual to join them in defense of the city, but she had proved so insistent that they had finally acquiesced. After all, they were in no position to refuse help against the White Queen's forces. Rinrae Dromigg appeared to be no older than seventeen, with fine features and golden blond-hair. She had attempted to join the fight in her usual garments, a simple cotton sundress and silvery ribbons wrapped around her limbs, but the guardsmen had flat-out refused to allow her on the icy bridges without more appropriate attire. Therefore, she had borrowed some garments from the barracks. She wore a fur-lined coat that had the symbol of the city of Striberg prominently displayed on its breast, a leather belt looped around her midsection. This was matched with thick leggings and similarly warm gloves and boots, which she had to admit were useful in the northern chill. The only aspect of the uniform she truly despised was the helm. Designed for doing combat in snowy environments, it consisted of a fur-lined copper cap with a hinged mask that protected your face from the biting cold. There were nose- and mouth-holes in the mask, as well as disks of thin quartz over the eye-holes to stop any precipitation from obscuring your vision. Rin had attempted to fight on the bridge without the mask, but the guardsmen had stated that she had to wear the entire uniform before she would be allowed to fight.

The guards of Striberg doubtlessly though she was simply eager to help defend her homeland, but Rin had originally had ulterior motives for joining the fight. As an artificial construct and Guardian of the Grand Grimoire, her sole task in Imythess was to recover the scattered pages of the powerful, sentient tome. They gave the wielder a small ability to warp reality, which usually meant they were involved in all sorts of unusual and dangerous situations. Rin suspected that the power of one of the Grimoire's pages had fueled the White Queen's assault on the iceberg city, but upon arriving at the scene she had sensed no trace of its reality-bending power. Still, she did not see the point of turning around and leaving after the arduous journey to the north, so she had still offered her services to the Striberg guard. They had been dubious at first, but a demonstration of her martial prowess had earned her permission to play a role in the battle. The construct had the ability to download the skills and techniques of mythological heroes and legends directly into her muscle memory, making her far more formidable than her appearance suggested.

A double blast on a horn indicated that it was time for her unit to press forward. Rin clapped her hands together happily at the sound, skipping forward ahead of the ranks of guardsmen. They glanced at each other uneasily as she took the lead, but none tried to stop her. These men and women had been fighting the forces of the White Queen almost non-stop for days, taking only short breaks to rest and eat before rejoining their comrades. They did not have the time to waste in trying to restrain the eager, naive teenager who was rushing forward suicidally. The girl did not mind being the sole one to press the advance. Rin simply grinned, holding one hand out in front of her. According to her briefing, the forces of the White Queen were primarily brutes and golems, as well as one incredibly testy northern dragon. With no idea of their relative offensive capabilities, the best choice for a weapon would be one that was useful in any scenario. "Crystallis." The air around the girl rippled and wavered as she altered the fabric of reality, bending it to her desires. The weapon that formed in her hand was a simple longsword, with a dark gray hilt and crossguard. Its blade itself was a single piece of a translucent blue crystal, its edges as sharp as any metal weapon. She twirled the sword as she advanced on the nearest bridge, a wide grin on her face underneath the copper mask.
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Zaki
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The White Queen's courier had come to her with an offer. The monks of the Burning Fist had more than a few advantages against the fire mages that would no doubt be deployed in force. Zaki was the only monk who moonlighted as a mercenary, but the White Queen would soon learn she was hiring someone unusual. Zaki had nothing to bind her to Striberg, but as the courier detailed the might of the Queen's army, he quickly realized the mercenary had an odd smile.

"Why are you so happy? Is it the certain victory?"
"No. My good courier, you must realize I fight for fighting's sake, and what's the fun of being certain of victory?" Zaki inquired. The man shuffled for an answer before being promptly booted from her house.




A heavy gauntlet fell upon Rin's shoulder.

"A-hah! I knew you were here." Zaki said. She looked to the slight creature. Rin was no doubt after what was probably found deep within that place.

"If you aren't wearing heavy armor, and don't have a shield, don't lead the front. Its a good way to help archers hone their craft." Zaki explained. She chuckled from within her armor and took the lead. She barked a word of Istani and a pair of shields rose from her shoulders. They spun for a moment before pointing themselves at the enemy, forming a barrier alongside the fully armored woman.

Zaki stepped onto the bridge, and almost immediately arrows began landing near her. One clinked off her helmet, another bounced harmlessly from her leg. All she had to do was reach the center of the bridge, sever it with a sigil, and then move to the next. One of her shields jolted to the side. Zaki's eyes followed the steel shield, and quickly glanced beyond it. A ballista had swiveled to the bridge.

"Get down! Now!" Zaki roared. The armored woman fell, the rudimentary ice wall protecting the side of the bridge exploded. Her shield rocketed past with a bolt half stuck in it, shards of metal and wood bouncing across the ice. A thunderous pounding feet a calls for battle in foreign tongues crashed into her senses. Zaki struggled to get herself to her knees. Their foes crashed forward with tremendous speed, wielding light weapons and armor. Zaki planted her halberd against her grounded knee and raised the weapon as they charged. They attempted to separate, but Zaki quickly adjusted the placement of the tip and caught one. For a moment it looked like it wouldn't penetrate the hardened leather armor, but Zaki rose from her feet with a sudden forward step. Blood coiled down the tip as it sunk deep into the man, lifting him off his feet and into the advancing horde. Zaki withdrew just as quickly, pulling the halberd close to her body. An ax dove in to catch her between the shoulder and neck plates of her armor, but with a quick movement she succeeded in making it bounce off.

[OOC: HOW DID ZAKI FIND RIN? [removed]DAR]
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Rin
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Rin started as the armored fingers fell on her shoulder, pivoting to glance up at the figure behind her. Even hidden by her armor, there was no mistaking the voice and demeanor of the Istani monk Zaki Kestrel. The construct’s face split into a wide grin as she flipped up the faceplate of the helmet, completely ignoring the fact that she stood on the front lines of a war. ”Zaki! I’m glad to see you!” Finally, there was someone here who would not demean her based solely on her appearance. The lean, halberd-wielding warrior had helped teach Rin the basics of fighting with polearms and knew full well how formidable the slight girl could be. She allowed the armored monk to step in front of her with a giggle, shaking her head. ”I planned on just dodging the arrows, but this works too!” The girl was not bragging; she truly believed that she was capable of such a tremendous feat. The construct followed Zaki as she began to trudge across the bridge, ducking down as arrows began to fly and rebound off of the shining steel plate. She had never seen the woman’s floating shields before, but they made for an impressive sight as they protectively hovered before her.

At the woman’s warning Rin threw herself back, wrapping one hand around her head as the world around them seemed to explode. Chunks of ice flew away from one of the walls on the bridge, a section of the floor itself crumbling away and plummeting towards the ocean below. The construct blinked several times, staggering back. She could not hear the calls to battle or the approach of footsteps. The only thing she could hear was a hollow ringing noise. It took her several long moments to realize what had happened; her proximity to the ballista’s point of impact had momentarily deafened her. Still, she managed to keep on her feet, her extraordinary reflexes helping her recover more quickly than her companion. The girl scowled in annoyance and lowered the mask on her helmet once more, turning towards the approaching forces of the White Queen. ”Ballistas aren’t fair!”

She jogged forward to meet the advancing troops, although she made sure to not press past the Istani’s position. The first opponent she faced was a hulking brute, a cuirass of hardened leather strapped across his broad chest. His arms were bare and had been decorated with ritualistic tattoos, and his features were adorned with war paint underneath an open-faced leather helmet. He held a short, heavy blade that looked more like a machete than a weapon designed for war, but combined with his brute strength it could prove to be deadly. The savage howled as he brought his blade down, expecting to cleave straight through the slight figure in front of him

Rin giggled and brought Crystallis up, holding its hilt with both hands to parry the blow. The impact of their weapons sent a shiver through her arms, but the girl managed to block the attack with little trouble. Before the barbarian could react to her unexpected strength she subtly twisted her wrist, mentally reaching out to the sword in her hands. The weapon she held was not a forged blade, but rather a ultra-hard crystalline life-form that shared a bond with its wielder. At her urging its shape shifted, transforming from a straight sword into one with a wicked hook on the end. With the added leverage of its new shape the construct yanked the heavy blade from the savage’s fingers, flinging the machete off of the side of the bridge. Before he could respond the weapon had changed once more, the blade disappear and growing into the shaft of a thin spear. She thrust the polearm straight through the barbarian’s eye, twisting it to guarantee the kill before yanking it out of his skull. As soon as Crystallis had emerged it shifted once more, taking the shape of an oversized kukri.
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Zaki
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[OOC: Ahem. GAYDAR]

Zaki pitched her halberd into the air with one hand, sending the heavy weapon arcing forward into the tightly packed mob of berserkers. Her hands burst into flames, and she crossed them across her torso. Globs of fire formed in each hand, before darting out and striking into the horde on either side of her. Fire blossomed outwards, illuminating a twirling figure. She landed with a crunch of steel on ice, pivoting forwards and round house kicking the air with a burning boot. Fire surged forwards, a wide arc that consumed the bridge's span. Berserkers screamed and pitched themselves into the water. Zaki spun once more, dealing out a second arc of flame. She glanced up and caught her halbered with a raised hand, spinning it about once. The blade exploded into sparks and then flames, catching a massive glob of fire on it. She shifted the spin down, spinning about fully once. The bolt of fire lurched off the blade, exploding on the distant ballista. She stopped for a moment, in the middle of charred corpses and standing upon a glowing runic symbol. Every step she had made had carved it into the ground, and every attack was to clear the space necessary to create it.

"Guards of Striberg, you are no longer needed at this bridge. Rin, come along! There's bigger foes within, and I want to crush them beneath my boot!" Zaki shouted, rushing off the bridge. The guards turned and left the other way, rushing to assist another bridge. The armored woman waited for Rin to cross the bridge as well. She snapped her fingers, and she was answered with the thunder of a powerful explosion. Behind them was the sound of innumerable chunks of ice falling.

"I could see the same battle lust in your eyes that I have, girl. I think we'll have plenty of fun together." Zaki cooed as an arrow deflected off her shoulder.

[OOC: Zaki is resisting maniacal laughter as she uses Burning Fist to its fullest.]
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Rin
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Rin could hear the grunts of pain that accompanied the forces of the White Queen being formally introduced to Zaki Kestrel, but she wasted no time in watching the monk fight. If the construct had learned anything in the months since her creation, it was to not mess with an Istani. She shot forward into a group of the towering berserkers, her blue eyes sparkling with a a recklessness that most people would consider suicidal. Rin slid on her knees underneath a slash with a sword, bounding to her feet as soon as it had passed her and leaping at one of the men. The Crystallis took the shape of a small trident, catching his axe before it could drop as she slammed a knee into his gut. In the instant before the joint struck the ribbons underneath her leggings transformed into steel plate, its impact accompanied by the cracking of ribs. She danced out of the way as one of his companions stabbed with with a longspear, his attack impaling his comrade instead of the lithe girl.

She twirled through the ground of men like a cyclone, the morphing blade's shape constantly in flux. One moment it was a sickle that was just long enough to edge past a man's guard and slash his forearm. The next it was a mace that crushed a savage's skull in an explosion of brains and gore. Rin cut through the men mercilessly, her sheer speed and ferocity overcoming the advantage of their numbers. She was not immune to damage; one sword clipped the helmet and left a gouge in the brass, while a spear managed to poke through the layers of the coat before she shattered its shaft. Yet when the melee died down she stood along in a ring of corpses, her clothes splattered with blood. Strangely enough, the blade of Crystallis was clean, as if the sentient sword had absorbed the viscera as nutrition.

Rin glanced up at the ranks of men arranged before the White Queen's palace, seeing a group of archers with their bows raised. She kicked one of the fallen men's swords up, catching it in her left hand. She spun once, using the added momentum to hurl the sword at the men with frightening accuracy. The archers did not even seem to notice the attack until the blade sank into one of the men's chest, throwing him back into his comrades. Rin smiled beneath her mask as she followed Zaki off of the bridge, advancing towards the looming palace of ice. The armored Istani snapped her fingers, rending the bridge in an impressive explosion.

"Oooooh, Zaki! Let me have the next bridge!" Rin giggled, a rather maniacal reaction considering that she was covered in blood. She held her left hand out, the air around it blurring. "Famed Alchemical Blade." The sword that formed in her fingers was odd, to say the least. It was much wider than a typical sword, with a single curved edge. On the opposite side of the blade were three odd protrusions. She flipped a switch on the pommel of the sword, grinning as the small fans in each nozzle opened up and began to spin, whirring gently. Rin brandished the dual blades, giggling to herself and preparing for the upcoming fight.
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Zaki
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Zaki stared at the girl for a moment, folding her arms.

"Look, maybe we should press on into the palace. I mean, we could keep blowing up bridges but that wasn't too difficult. What do you think about attacking the interior? She probably has tons of treasure! All sorts of items could be stocked up in there!" Zaki said, pressing for the greed route. If she was being honest, she probably could have taken all of the bridges out in a half hour. But attacking the castle head would be more fun and more practical when it came to experiencing more combat. The knight promptly began walking into the palace.

"You coming? We can do way more inside of the palace than outside. Tighter corridors, less arrows." Zaki said, offering one final argument as she entered into the maw of the ice palace. A dark shape thundered out towards her, she responded by immediately flipping her halberd around and preparing to catch it with the haft. A shape appeared high above her in the darkness, and she immediately lifted the haft above her head to catch it. A wooden log thundered downwards, Zaki adjusting her grip to catch it against her halberd. She took the blow, her entire form crushing downwards into the ice. She dropped one arm and pushed the other up, knocking the massive weapon aside. She bolted to the side as the small giant stepped out to its full height. Its arm blurred to the side, bringing the half log half club skimming across the ground. Zaki's armor crushed into her side as she was forcibly thrown into the air. She landed with a crash of metal, rolling across the ice.
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Rin
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Rin frowned at the monk's words, glancing across the gap in the bridge to the city of Striberg. It had been under siege for days now, the nearest roofs and walls showing gaping holes where the ballistae and catapults had struck the structures. She knew that the guards were depending on them to break the bridges to keep the invading forces from reaching the city, but she had to admit that her and Zaki's strength seemed wasted on such a mundane task. The guards had been supplied with explosive bundles from the Academy of Magic that could break the bridges, after all. Rin had decided that the woman's words made sense and turned to state her agreement when she saw the massive blugeon descend on the armored figure, dropping her to the ice with a resounding crash. The construct gasped at the new foe that appeared, her eyes going wide. The giant was easily fifteen feet talk, with thick muscles. It wore the same hardened leather armor sported by the rest of the White Queen's forces, adjusted for its great bulk. Several arrows protruded from the flesh in the gaps int he armor, but the being did not even seem to notice the projectiles. Although its club seemed to be fashioned from a roughly cut tree trunk, with the creature's unnatural size and strength it was a deadly tool.

"Zaki!" The girl cried out worriedly as a sweeping blow sent the Istani monk flying through the air like a puppet with its strings cut, the plate armor clattering as she rolled in the opposite direction. Rin soon regretted the yell, the giant turning its neck to stare at the girl with a bored expression. It was suddenly apparent why none of the Striberg guards had managed to infiltrate the frozen monarch's castle given its impressive doorman. The giant lifted its club once more, sending the log plummeting towards Rin with bone-crushing force. She threw herself to one side, dodging with a nimble cartwheel while still holding both swords. The club struck the ground instead, sending shards of ice flying from the impact. She grimaced as one of the jagged projectiles slammed into her side, cutting through the warm coat and slicing her ribs. Although she suspected that the immense power of the Famed Alchemical Blade could injure the giant, she wasn't sure she would be able to get close enough to utilize the rocket sword.

She glanced around their surroundings, mind racing as she searched for anything that would help defeat this foe. Her eyes locked onto the nearest ballista, still firing bolts towards the city under siege, and a fierce, feral grin spread across her face. Rin rolled underneath another swipe of the giant's club, bouncing to her feet as soon as the danger was past and shouting out to the Istani monk. "Zaki! Distract him!" The girl darted past the giant, sprinting towards the nearest siege equipment. The men working the giant crossbow were too focused on their task to notice the approaching danger. Only when the first of their number fell with Crystallis stabbed through his heart did the rest of the ballista team notice the blood-soaked waif in their midst.

She whirled between them, lashing out with her swords to end the fight as quickly as possible, striking the men down in less than a minute. She dispatched of them with such speed that they were unable to launch the recently loaded bolt, meaning that it was primed and prepared to fire. Rin kicked the bodies off of the siege engine, pressing her shoulders against the side of the ballista and pushing with all her might. Luckily, the weapon was placed on a rotating platform that allowed its target to be adjusted easily. The construct continued to readjust the ballista so she could fire it at the giant and hopefully save her friend.
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Zaki
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Zaki stood up as swiftly as possible, using her muscle to force bent plates to move with her. She probably had one massive bruise up and down her side, thanks to the thick padding between her and her armor. It would hurt a lot more in a day or two. The giant was already moving towards her again, and she scrawled a quick sigil in the ground. The three foot wide marking lit up like burning embers. The giant raised its club and she dove to the side as an iceberg-shattering vertical strike fell. She forced herself forwards, sprinting towards the edge of the ice palace. Giant footsteps followed behind her, before a sudden stop. The beast howled for a moment, Zaki turned to see a massive fist of fire holding its ankle. The fire did not burn, but it also did not budge. She smiled and took her shield into her hand. Zaki's head twisted to the ballista, which Zaki expected Rin to be preparing, and found her expectation to be true.

The giant stared at the figure as it dared approach him again. It menaced with a big heavy steel shield, and the giant knew it wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This strike would crush her straight into the ice, and that puny shield wouldn't save her. It raised its club and dropped it to a satisfying crunch into the ice.

Zaki dropped to her knee, allowing her shield to take the full force of the blow. It sunk deep into the ice, cracks around it. Almost instantly the ice began repairing itself, as she suspected it would. She raised her arms around the club, linking the two with a firm grip on her halberd. The giant attempted to lift the club and she looped her foot into the grip of her tower shield. The giant tugged harder and she tugged back, using the force of her entire body to twist the weapon towards his thumb. The massive finger gave way, and the club crashed to the ground. Zaki used a burning halberd to ward off its hands as she turned around the giant, forcing it to turn with her. The giant now fully faced the ballista, and realized what was in store for it. Zaki dashed forwards, jumping into the air. Her feet burst into fire, sending plumes of smoke and torrents of flame into the ice beneath her. At the apex of her rapid climb the flame disappeared and like a comet she fell downward, halberd tip first. It jammed through between the bones in the giant's foot, pinning it to the ice with Zaki's strength behind it. The giant howled and reached down, ready to crush the knight between its fingers.
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Rin
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Rin managed to push the siege engine to point towards the fight between the Istani and the giant quickly, although it took her a few moments to figure out how to adjust its vertical aim. The Grimoire whispered instructions in her ear, telling her where to find the crank near the back of the weapon and which direction to turn it to lower the massive bow. It had been pointed at an upwards angle so that the massive, steel-tipped bolts would fly across the gap between the icy palace and the city of magic, but she would need it to be in a straight horizontal position in order to target the giant. She looked up to see that Zaki had somehow managed to turn the giant so his front was exposed to the siege engine, one ankle bound to the ground by a flaming hand and his other foot impaled by the woman's halberd, leaving him completely immobile. Rin grinned widely and bent down, peering down the aim of the ballista to see if her aim was straight. Although she had never used such a weapon before, but luckily it was rather self-explanatory. "Here we go!" She hoped that Zaki would hear the exclamation and know that it indicated she was about to fire.

Rin kicked the firing pin on the ballista, freeing the tightly coiled rope. With a loud recoil the string shot forward, launching its deadly missile straight towards the giant. The construct's aim was slightly off, the massive bolt slamming into its shoulder instead of the center of its chest. The projectile pierced the leather armor easily, sinking all the way through the massive humanoid's body and protruding from its back. The force of the impact sent it falling backwards, the steel tip of the bolt sinking into the ice wall of the palace and leaving the giant impaled on the wall. The creature roared in shock and pain as blood began to gush from the wound, the red liquid steaming as it came into contact with the frigid air. Rin did not seem to be bothered by the screams of agony, staring at the ballista with a calculating expression. "Well, I guess I don't need you anymore!" The Famed Alchemical Blade and Crystallis flashed out, chopping through the siege engine and reducing it to a pile of splinters and kindling.

The girl jogged over to Zaki, staring up at the pinned giant. "He seems to be losing a lot of blood." She shrugged dispassionately and walked past the man to the entrance into the White Queen's palace. It was a massive door, easily high enough to accommodate even the giant's impressive height, and apparently was made of a thick sheet of ice. She leaned against the block of ice, but it did not seem willing to budge. "Here goes nothing." Rin mentally instructed the morphing blade to change shape, wrapping around her wrist like a bracer so that it freed both of her hands. She grabbed the hilt of the Famed Alchemical Blade, raising the heavy sword above her head before flipping the small switch on the pommel.

Almost immediately the nozzles along the back of the blade began to roar, fire sparking from the openings and turning into three steady streams of white-hot flame. The rocket sword crashed into the door, ripping through the surface and sending a massive chunk of ice flying. She twirled, using the momentum of the alchemical reaction to speed up the movement and add even more strength to her next attack. With each following attack the blade dug deeper into the door, ripping out shards of ice faster than the ice could reform itself. After a minute of frantic slashing with the sword she had cut an opening in the palace entrance that was wide enough for both herself and the armored Istani monk. "Quick! Before it refreezes!" She darted through the hole, the nozzles on the Famed Alchemical Blade closing as it ran out of fuel.
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Zaki
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Zaki wrenched her spear out of his foot when he was struck by the bolt. He wouldn't be going anywhere in a moment. She walked away from him, her steps ragged, clutching her side. Behind her came a tremendous crash, which only caused the injured fighter to wince. Her breathing wasn't hard so her ribs weren't cracked, but the bruise probably went straight to the bone. Rin drew out a sword that exploded with alchemical fire, and she rapidly beat down the door. A gap just wide enough for the six foot knight formed, and she stumbled in. The grand hall was lit by great arches of ice, a thin layer serving as a crystalline window between goliath arches. She looked around carefully as the building shuddered, the ceiling cracked and unleashing a downpour of shards of ice and ice dust.

"Ah, seems like the Striberg Guard have their trebuchets set up!" Zaki cackled. The knight stumbled down the hall until they came to a second door. She planted her shoulder into it and pressed. With surprising ease the door swung open, leaving the knight stumbling through the portal. Zaki glanced up, up past the massive staircase she was set with and at a pair of fairly large drakes staring back down. Beasts the size of a horse, snow dripping from their mouths. They shook themselves, a dozen ice plates rubbed against one another. A trickle of snow fell from their bodies as they bolted forwards, powerful legs carrying them down. Ice steps were cleaved by brutal claws, shattered by crushing weight.

Zaki charged up the stairs, ignoring the pain in her body as a good fight presented itself. The drake's jaws opened with a sharp cough, sending a flurry of cold liquid and ice shards down the stairs at Zaki. She snapped her hand up, catching the blast of ice on her bracer. It exploded, sending rivulets of cold sneaking inside her gauntlets and spatters across her fluted breastplate. The impact sent her reeling backwards, her foot automatically stomping backwards on a lower stair. She dropped to her knee and quickly lifted her halberd, catching the creature on an icy plate. It ground to a halt instantly, its front legs dangling into the air. The ironwood half of Zaki's halberd began to bend, and she quickly reacted by forcing the weapon to the side, dropping the drake on the ground. She drew back her halberd, menacing the creature with the vicious tip.

(OOC: have a drake beasty to kill! yaay)
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Rin
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The construct hummed merrily as the massive door mended itself behind them, the ice flowing together and cutting them off from any reinforcements. Rin wasn't overly worried. She knew that it would take quite a powerful force to take down both the Istani monk and herself. In fact, if any such enemy dwelt within the walls of the frozen palace all of the men and women of the Striberg Guard probably would not be able to assist them. The construct considered starting up the motor on the Famed Alchemical Blade once more, but she knew that it would take quite a while to regather the necessary chemical components to activate it once more. She tossed the curved sword into mid-air, snapping her fingers to banish it back to an pocket reality until she needed it once more. Rin dropped Crystallis back into her hand, gripping the morphing sword with both hands and instructing it to take the shape of a thick shortsword.

The entryway to the icy palace was quite elaborate, with massive arches and thin, decorative windows. Every surface within the structure seemed to be made out of frozen water, including the floor. Rin bent down, stabbing at it with the tip of her blade, but the honed edge barely managed to scratch the surface. "I wonder why this ice isn't melting in Striberg..." The city of magic had been enchanted to resist the frosty northern environment, keeping it at a balmy temperature that should have turned the entire palace into a slushy ruin. It must be some brand of magic being used by the White Queen, perhaps the same ability that formed the encroaching bridges and powered the legions of golems. Rin heard Zaki pushing open another door and dashed forward to rejoin the armored woman, smiling widely. "Good! It wasn't fair that only one side had siege engines!"

Although she had been expecting more opposition inside of the palace, she hadn't expected it to come in the form of two large drakes. The reptiles had thick scales that were mottled white and light blue in color, obviously designed to help them blend in with ice and snow. Zaki immediately charged forward towards one of the creatures, leaving the other arctic reptile for the construct. Rin rose to the challenge, sprinting forward with a small, wicked smile plastered on her features underneath the brass mask. The drake gurgled deep in its throat, obviously planning to strike with its breath weapon, but the girl did not plan on staying stationary for long enough for it to lock on. She darted back and force rapidly, bounding in a random pattern that she hoped would confuse the creature.

Her plan seemed to work, but not quite in the way she expected. The drake decided to turn their fight into a close-quarters ordeal, hopping forward and flapping its wings to carry its bulk forward. Rin brought up her blade, slamming the weapon into the drake's claws to keep it from disemboweling her in one fell swoop. She did not anticipate its secondary attack, its tail lashing out and striking her directly across the face. The girl cried out in her pain as her neck was snapped to one side, the masked helmet violently torn off her skull and sent flying across the room. Rin stabbed up blindly with Crystallis, feeling the sword cleave through the thin membrane of its wings. She felt the drake's uninjured claw slam her down to the ground, pinning her to the icy floor underneath its weight. Its talons easily pierced through her coat, digging into her flesh and drawing blood. The morphing blade flew from her fingers, spinning across the floor, leaving her defenseless and at the beast's mercy.

Rin looked up into the open maw of the creature, feeling a wave of cold air wash over her face. This would be an embarrassing way to die. The girl raised her hands, curling her fingers together and summoning a weapon as quickly as possible. "Laevateinn!" The massive sword formed almost instantly, the weapon jammed down the drake's throat. The creature blinking in surprise at the sudden obstruction, the momentary pause giving her more than enough time to recite an incantation in a sing-song voice. "World of men, crumble and break, for Surtr's footsteps make the very earth quake!" There was a dull red glow from within the drake's mouth as the runes along the length of the blade began to glow. The animal's organs had been designed to allow it to freely spew its frozen breath, but it had no internal defenses against fire...

The drake's ribcage began to expand like a balloon, its eyes widening frantically. Smoke began to pour out of its ears and nostrils as it continued to enlarge, soon reaching almost spherical dimensions. With a loud, wet squelch the creature exploded from the inside out, fierce flames bursting out of its body as charred hunks of meat were blasted in every direction. Due to her position directly underneath the reptile, Rin was completely coated in gore and viscera. She coughed and wiped a layer of blood off of her face, making a disgusted expression at the taste of the drake's blood. The girl slowly sat up, wincing at the pain in her torso from even that slight movement. The beast had managed to give her some rather significant injuries while pressing her against the ground, but the rush of adrenaline in her system helped her ignore the pain and help her gain her feet once more.
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Zaki
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Zaki grunted, the beast shifted around her quickly. Both were looking for weak points in the other's defense. It stood back and released another blast of cold, catching Zaki in the leg. Her leg armor froze near instantly, stiffening the joints and freezing the skin beneath. She attempted to step backwards, her frozen metal leg however refused. The drake lunged forwards, catching Zaki on the frozen arm with its jaw. It tugged at her and attempted to rip her down, but she pulled back. She flipped spun her halberd in one hand, raising it above her head. The deadly point lanced downward from above, taking the creature between the neck and the collarbone. It shrieked and stumbled backwards, dragging her arm with it. The straps and rivets of her armor strained before ripping and snapping. The beast dropped her gauntlet, and Zaki open and closed her bleeding hand.

Zaki held her bare hand out in front of her, careful to protect her still raised dominant arm. She stepped forwards, stabbing downwards at the snaking head. She scored glancing hits, bringing streams of blood down its face. It stepped around her, slowly gaining the high ground. Zaki stepped backwards quickly, reading the beast much like she had any other drake. The tensions in its limbs, the wildness in its eyes. Zaki tossed her halberd into the air, dropping her arm to match its arc. The drake lunged, releasing all the tension in one enormous flurry of muscle and scale. Zaki caught her halberd just beneath her shoulder, and then twisted her entire body to deliver the blow. The halberd caught the flying creature in the mouth, jamming out the back of its throat. It shrieked and began to frenzy. Zaki reacted quickly, planting her gauntleted hand on its lower jaw and her bare hand on the haft of the halberd. She separated her hands as far as possible, straining her muscle until the creature's jaw snapped. It lolled slightly, and Zaki tore the halberd out in a fountain of blood. The creature gave into the pain, twitching helplessly as Zaki brought the halberd down into its skull. The crack filled the room.

Zaki was suddenly distinctly aware she was coated in drake goo. Her eyes roved over to Rin and the exploded remains, and she decided not to ask. The girl probably snuck some dwarven blasting powder into the guardsman's uniform, considering what she could keep secreted with just a dress. She walked up the stairs, and at the apex she noted a corpse with a trail of coins and bloo behind it.

"Ah, this unfortunate must have tried a dash for the treasure room and got nailed by the drakes," Zaki guessed.
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Rin
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The construct watched as her companion stabbed the drake through the mouth and then broke its shattered jaw, killing the beast efficiently and with the minimum amount of damage. Rin grinned sheepishly at the Istani, slightly embarrassed by the wounds she had accumulated in the fight. It was almost like she had let the team down by failing to utterly destroy the creature without getting injured herself. "Good job." There was no trace of mockery in her voice; she was genuinely complimenting the monk on her neat victory. The girl followed the armored womans up the steps, nodding in agreement with her assessment about the deceased man's origins. She bent down to stare at the blooey figure, frowning slightly. The drake's claws had carved all the way through his chest, ice spreading outwards from the grievous wounds. She touched the body's hand tentatively, but s soon as she made contact her eyes went wide, sensing a familiar presence.

"There... There was a page here! He touched it!" She stood up quickly, completely ignoring the injuries across her torso. The trail of bloo led towards the corridor on their right. The girl immediately moved in that direction, her hands clenched into tight fists. Although she held no weapon, there was no mistaking the imminent violence in her intense stare. If any further obstacle surfaced she would eliminate it as quickly and brutally as possible. Luckily for the forces of the White Queen, none of them accidentally wandered across their path as the two searched for the treasury hidden within the icy palace.

There was no mistaking the room when they found it. Chests filled the room, with display cases made out of thin sheets of ice lining the walls. There were heaps of golden coins as well, rubies, sapphires, and other precious jewels scattered throughout the piles. Rin did not even pay attention to the gathered wealth, staring through the display cases. There were weapons and artifacts every description, but only one item caught her eye. A glowing piece of parchment was contained within one of the cases, the words on its surface wriggling and moving as they rearranged themselves. She quickly walked over to the page, placing one hand against the icy surface. Even though she was this close to the enchanted parchment, she still could not sense its presence, indicating that the White Queen had somehow enchanted her trophy cases to hide their magical potency.

The construct raised her right hand, the ribbons underneath her coat transforming into steel plate. She punched straight through the pane of ice, gripping the glowing sheet of parchment and drawing it out from the case. Rin smiled as she looked at the shifting piece of paper, her eyes glowing with excitement. "Great success."
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Zaki
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The blonde darted off after squeaking about a page. Zaki rolled her eyes as the girl squawked about something he had touched. She followed behind quietly, at least as quietly as one could in full armor. Like a bloohound the girl homed in on the treasure room. Stumbling into it was quiet a shock, the woman had the riches necessary to keep an army going, alongside a clear personal collection. She checked the door as Rin rushed around. The lock had been both magical and physical, composed entirely of delicate ice. The dead thief had been quite a good thief to break through the vault door.

She wandered into the room, idly collecting gemstones as she went. Each one was worth a small fortune, a small fortune that couldn't be spent on soldiers. Thankfully her armor and bags had enough space for a massive number of the gems, and even as she stepped she could feel them rolling and shifting against her skin.

"Ah, you got a page from a book. A magic book." Zaki said. She leaned over the girl's shoulder, which wasn't particularly hard. It didn't seem like it was worth the time. Zaki walked back up the stairs out of the vault, motioning for Rin to follow.

"I'll just blow holes in the wall until we walk out on their battlements. That sound good to you?" Zaki called back. She already knew what the girl's answer would be, so her fingers scrawled out a quick sigil on the ice wall. She stepped back, and snapped her fingers. The world blurred for a moment as a haze of ice dust screeched by, accompanied by a booming explosion. A gem slipped from Zaki's armor, and she responded by kicking it down the hall. Then she repeated the sigil on the next wall, and the wall after that. At this final wall she leaned up against it and giggled.

"Oh! You can hear them shouting." Zaki giggled. She took a few steps, hunting across the wall with her ear. She paused five feet from where she began, and created a large sigil than before. She giggled and repeated the sigil once every five feet. As soon as Zaki reached the end, she darted back to the middle corridor through the slowly healing ice walls. She peaked out, and snapped her fingers once more. Explosions blossomed down the hall, a cacophonous roar that put the loudest thunderstorm to shame. The screams of men and women could barely be heard over the explosions. The moment the noise ended, Zaki skipped out and into the open air, surrounded by chunks of ice and the wreckage of a group of siege weapons and archers.
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Rin
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Rin did not notice her companion stuff her breastplate full of riches, nor would she have cared if she had. The artificial construct had no need for material wealth herself given her nomadic nature. Whenever she found herself in need of something, she would either barter for it or 'acquire' it when the owner was looking in the opposite direction. Carrying around gold or precious jewels would just be an inconvenience. She did glance around the room to see if there was any other interesting artifacts that the White Queen had collected. She found her eye caught by a simple quarterstaff that was displayed on the wall, looking oddly out of place amongst the piles of treasure. Rin walked over to it haltingly, picking the wooden staff of its display hooks and swinging it experimentally. It was six feet in length and carved out of a single piece of wood. It seemed to radiate coldness, chilling her hands as soon as she picked it up, but the girl did not mind.

She continued to investigate the odd item as she followed after Zaki, barely paying attention to the Istani's destruction of the walls in front of them. Something about the staff sparked her memory, as if she had seen it before. Odd glyphs covered its entire length, and even with her Grimoire-enhanced literacy the girl could not decipher their meaning. Only when they reached the outer walls did she remember where she had seen the staff before. One of the pages she had found in the Icy North had detailed an ancient Imythessian hero who had ruled the northern regions of the realm for nearly a century. He had fought his way to power through a deal with a powerful ice elemental, an elemental that had sworn its servitude to the man. The spirit had been bound within his staff to help him face his opponents. There had been a picture and lengthy description of the staff on the page. It was the exact same as this quarterstaff.

Rin looked up at the cascading explosions, her eyebrows raising slightly at the sight of the palace wall collapsing outwards. Savages and golems were thrown in every direction from the maneuver, many of them thrown off the bridges to plummet into the sea far below. However, amongst the wreckage there were still a large number of enemies, almost too many for two people to defeat on their own. The construct skipped forward, raising the quarterstaff over her right shoulder in an unusual stance. Both her hands were near one end of the staff, leaving most of its length twitching in the air above her. She thought back to the hero's story, how he would summon his partner by shouting out its name. "Bevriezen!" As she swung the staff forward, its end seemed to explode as a huge beast burst from its end. It looked like a snake made entirely of ice and snow, its eyes glimmering like burning sapphires. The forces of the White Queen yelled out in shock as it scythed through them, bodily sweeping them off the iceberg and sending them falling to join their comrades in the ocean below. Rin laughed brightly as the elemental was sucked back into the staff, the glyphs along its length glowing with a blue light for an instant. She started to pick her way through the rubble of the palace, heading for one of the bridges back to Striberg to get her injuries treated and drink some more of the delectable concoction they called 'hot cocoa.'
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