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Vallor stands before a line of troops ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vallor: *Vallor stands before a line of troops, surveying them, frowning at the shoddy armor, poor posture, and inexperienced look to the soldiers. He picks one out, the only one who seems to know anything about fighting, and points to him* You, get your ass up here and try to put me on the ground. Willow: Willow stands a few feet away, and watches with mounting interest as Vallor challenges one of the troop members. {That guy has no chance to get Vallor... hell, even I'd have extreme difficulty falling him.} Vallor: *Vallor tosses his piwafwi aside, along with his chainmail, swords, and boots. He cracks his neck and back, then sets himself in a defensive stance, hands raised to guard his chest and neck, legs apart, one in front one behind for balance and ease of motion* Ready. Willlow(as cut and dry soldier): *Pulls his slightly rusted hand-me-down sword from it's scabbard at his side, and assumes a offensive position, before quickly thinking of his options* {He has something up his sleeves...} *He thought to himself, before putting his weapon in front of himself, and leaping forward with a great cry. His sword moves quickly to strike Vallor in his right side* Vallor: *twists his body around the sword, grabs the man's hand, flips around throwing his back into the man's chest, and hurls the man to the cobblestones* Slow, sloppy, predictable, and easy to avoid. I could have just stepped aside and broken your back if I wanted to. *Vallor turns to face the soldiers* Now, anyone else want a go? I'll take all challenges! You bunch are pitiful, if anyone can bring me down, I'll personally hand you a thousand gold pieces. Willow: (Cut and dry soldier) Oww... *raises quickly and strikes at Vallor's seemingly unprotected back* (Back to Willow) *puts her head in her hands* He just couldn't stay down... Vallor's going to be pretty maadd... *she mumbled* Vallor: *takes a step to the side, watches the sword pass right beside him, spins around, and kicks the man hard in the jaw. He crumples to the ground* I suppose that means no one else has the guts to challenge me then? Willow: *Willow stifles laughter, and gives the soldier an almost sympathetic look. Almost* Vallor, I think you've frightened them now. *the laughter finally wins out, but she regains her composure rather quickly* Vallor: Frightened? You mean just knowing what's going on around me frightens them? *walks up and gets in one of the men's faces* You! How many people have you killed today? None? How many have you fought? None? How long has it been since you trained? Never? That's what I thought! You're a pitiful piece of rubbish! *Vallor raises his voice* You all are! I'd be amazed if you didn't shit your pants at the sight of a drakee! Get out of my sight before I decide to get angry! Willow: *Willow chuckles and walks forward a bit, giving a quick nod to Lykins who is by her side, as always* That was a quick session, Vallor. One of your fastest yet, I'd imagine. *she sighs* Some of them are so young... a few of them look as if they've never even grown their first beard. Vallor: Most of those would be elves, Willow. Besides, age matters not, they don't have a chance of surviving even one fight. That one I put out might survive three, if he's lucky. He did manage to cut my shirt, after all...*shrugs, then turns to face her* Please tell me your mages are in better shape than the warriors... Willow: Oh, don't worry Vallor. My mages are in top condition. Then again, I have them on a very tight training routine. They're in Arakay woods right now, actually. I have them split into two teams, one playing as the Balewind warriors, and the other hunting them down. They hit eachother with the color changing powder to mark those they've attacked. The powder is on the ends of their weapons. It's quite effective, and I think simulation of battle is a bit more productive than learning drills and formations. *She chuckles* Your warriors should fight against my mages some time. A little friendly compitition would be quite amusing. *She twirls her staff a bit, and smiles* Vallor: You sure you want to submit your mages to a horrible defeat? *snickers* They'd -never- see -my- warriors coming. Those warriors, however, would be massacred...let's do it. The idiots versus the mages in a bit of...friendly...competition. *grins slyly* Yes, I like the idea. Willow: When do you want to have this friendly match? Perhaps tomorrow? That way everyone has time to prepare... and in the warrior's case, make good peace with the Gods. *laughs* So, what's on your agenda now that you're done intimidating those warriors? Vallor: Nothing on mine. My Order takes care of themselves for the most part. That's the lovely part about heading an elite clan, it's not a bunch of whiny babies you command. *picks up his stuff and puts it back on* Why, you got something in mind? Willow: *She shrugs* Not really. I don't have much to do today, either. I thought I'd go do some hunting today, seeing as the other day a few of our hunters were wounded by that herd of Magidrakee. *She sighs* I wish I would have been there... I could have defeated it... but anyway, I wanted to do some hunting today to kind of make up for it. Plus, we're running out of fresh meat here. If you want you can come with me. I assume you're good at hunting... Vallor: I'd need to get a bow first, but yes, I am. I prefer hunting big game though...drakes, small dragons, you know. *shrugs*. I'll meet you in the forest in a few minutes, ok? *turns and heads off toward his HQ* Willow: *Nods, and goes to her base to fetch her own long bow and quiver of arrows. Once she has them, she jogs to the entrance of the Hunting Grounds, and leans against a tree, waiting for Vallor to meet her there. While she waits, she polishes her sais with a soft cloth kept in her side pack* At the hunt (at the Hunting Grounds) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vallor: *Vallor is standing in the shadow of a tree, watching Willow, his Piwafwi's hood pulled up over his head. He tosses the dead drakee he just killed at her and watches her reaction* Willow: *Willow just looks at the drakee, and then at where she's sure Vallor is, and then at the Drakee again, before raising her eyebrow and giving him a most interesting look* Cocky bastard... *She walks over to Vallor, and nudges him* Lets go... we'll need other things, besides monsters. Some people here are quite picky eaters. *she motions to the drakee* You kill it, you carry it. Vallor: *makes a quick gesture with his hand and the drakee disappears* No need to carry them when I can send them to the castle's kitchen, is there? *lowers the hood on his piwafwi and fades back into view. His bow is intricately carved, the handle made to resemble a dragon's maw, the rest to look like tiny skulls. The arrow knocked is a straight black shaft the average fletching and a wicked head with one long spike extending down an inch from where it connects to the shaft* Willow: Very impressive... *she says, motioning to the bow* Makes mine look dull. Heh... *she adjusts her grip on the large long bow, wich is only slightly smaller than she is* Ready? *She begins to walk into the woods, her footsteps light, and her eyes constantly scanning both the ground and the tree tops for a good prey.* I'm hoping to take down something big today *she whispers to Vallor, turning her head slightly to look at him as she speaks* So that the hunters wont have to head out for a while, and they'll have more time to heal. Some of them are still paralyzed. Vallor: *forces his eyes to infravision* I'll see anything...there! *fires an arrow, and a second later, a soft thud is heard* Deer, buck I think. Large one...there! *whips out another arrow, knocks it, and fires* No idea what that one was...heh, this is almost cheating. Willow: *Willow laughs, and then a concerned look comes over her face* You said that Drow's have been known to go blind from forcing their eyes to go to infravision. Is it worth the risk? *She hears a sound to her left, and fires an arrow, felling a small rabbit.* For the love of the gods... *she rolls her eyes, and picks up the rabbit with a heavy sigh* Vallor: That's from too much light. There's not enough for that here...*knocks an arrow and fires* magidrakee, and more coming, though far off. Willow: Great. *She takes a few deep breaths, and knocks another arrow* We're going to have to fight close combat, aren't we? *She sets her bow down quickly, pulls her staff from her pack, and quickly puts it together, before laying it at her feet, then she picks her bow back up, and knocks the arrow again. She draws back, and shoots at an advancing Magidrakee* Damn... there are so many of them! Vallor: Hm...I wonder if I still can...we'll see won't we. *Vallor pulls out an arrow, knocks, and fires, then faster than humanly possible follows it with another, and another, and another, pulling down a magidrakee with every shot. However, after only a dozen shots, he fumbles, sending his bow to the dirt and the arrow duzzing off to the right* Gods! I guess not! *Vallor unsheathes his shortswords and awaits the remaining foes* Willow: *Willow drops her bow to the ground, and quickly picks up her staff, shifting it in her hands until the weight is balanced. She takes a moment to close her eyes and calm her mind and body, before she assumes a fighting position, and watches calmly as the Magidrakees get closer and closer* Vallor, if I get paralyzed I have an herb in my pouch that will take the edge off. Wait until the end of the battle to give it to me, of course. *She smiles grimly, and looks to Vallor quickly, before focusing back on the enemy* Vallor: Won't need to worry about that...just distract them for a second so I can calculate their numbers, strength, and how best to kill them all in one minute...*Vallors stares straight ahead at the oncoming magidrakee, thinking* Willow: *Willow nods, and then the first wave of magidrakees hits. She quickly delivers a poweful jab to the first one she could reach, before turning and hitting another in the side, sending it spiriling into a tree, where it fell, motionless.* You done calculating yet? *She called as she hit another one out of the air, and brought her staff down on it, killing it instantly* Vallor: Yep. *Vallor takes a handful of things out of one of his belt pounches, makes a few hand gestures, and bolts of lightning fly from his finger tips, bouncing from magidrakee to magidrakee, frying them all* Simple mage spell, chain lightning, very useful I must say. Willow: *Willow smiles* Almost like cheating, Vallor. But not quite. I like it, actually. *She sits down on the dirt path for a moment, and puts her staff back into her bag, then goes about, touching the fried remains of the Magidrakees and sending them to the kitchen, as Vallor had done earlier* That went a bit quicker than I thought it would have. *She feels a tickling sensation on her upper arm, and looks to see a cut, there, blood dripping down her limb* Well then, I didn't even notice this... Vallor: *takes a single herb from one of his belt pouches and places his hand over it on her wound. When he moves his hand, the cut is gone* Living for three hundred years has its benefits...you learn a lot. Especially in a militaristic empire like Balewind was. Sometimes I wish I was just your average warrior though...being so skilled presents little challenge...it's boring. Willow: *Willow smiles up at Vallor, and slowly stands* Thanks... I thought for sure that one would scar. Want to head back, or walk around a bit? *She swings her pack over her shoulder, and tucks a whisp of her auburn hair that had fallen from her braid behind her ear.* Vallor: Right now I want to charge head first at a great wyrm...*picks up his swords and sheathes them, then picks up his bow and slings it over his back* I kind of hope Dest leads Balewind in an all-out attack, I need the excitement before I go insane... Willow: *Willow smirks, and nudges Vallor* There are a lot of ways to get excitement, Vallor... everything doesn't have to pertain to fighting. Don't you have any hobbies outside of battle? Vallor: Er...does smithing count? I...really haven't done anything but fight or study magiks since I was born...it's all I know. *scratches his head* But, what could be more exciting than battle anyway? Willow: Well... I'm not sure exactly. I guess it's all what you're interested in. *She smiles* Like for me, I like fighting well enough, but there are other things that I'm interested in. Like... well... singing. Yes, see, it's a hobby. And well...dancing. And...many other things. Heh... *she chuckles in a rather embarrassed fashion when she realizes that she doesn't have too many hobbies either.* I suppose smithing counts... if you like doing it that is. *She leans against a nearby tree, and watches Vallor* Willow: *She laughs* I've been told my dancing is quite...well... exciting. *She's quiet a moment or two, before she looks at Vallor again, an unreadable expression on her face. When she spoke, her voice was quite, revered.* Vallor... what ever happened to your family, anyway? When you left Balewind... what happened to them? Why didn't they come here with you? Vallor: Well, Trezz is probably still training new soldiers for their army, and Dest...well, I've already told you about her. *shrugs* They didn't agree with me, so now, we're at war as much as these two nations are. Willow: *Willow sighs* Wish I could at least have the battle with my parents. Misonian soldiers killed my mother and father before I left. That was 280 years ago... I don't even know what happened to my sister. She disappeared soon after mum and dad died, and I left after she was gone... *she shakes her head a bit, and looks at Vallor. The tears that may have been in her eyes before are gone now* Didn't you have any siblings? Vallor: With Drow society, I wouldn't be amazed. You never really do know who's kid it really is though, so I don't think of any of the kids I grew up with as siblings. All thirty of them most likely had different fathers anyway. *Vallor raises an eyebrow, suddenly interested* Why do you ask, anyway? Willow: Just wondering. *She blushes slightly* I had just realized that I don't know much about you... And... well, I was curious, that's all. *She looks away, and watches a crow fly into a tall tree* Vallor: *nods* Well, I don't mind, just don't delve too deep into Drow culture, you won't like it. *Vallor snickers* Well, what are we going to do? Hm... Willow: *Willow appears to think for a minute, before she nods to herself* Well, I think the market place just got some new leather products in, and I'd like to take a bit of a look. If you want to join me...? Vallor: Heh, I don't usually shop either. Nothing better to do, though. *she sighs, and sets off, Vallor at her side toward the market place* I could really use a new scabbard for my short sword... hopefully they'll have a good one for not too much gold. I don't have a lot these days. *She laughs a bit* Willow and Vallor are shopping... (At the market place) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Willow: *Willow walks to the leather worker's stand, and begins to sift through some pointless items, until she found what she was looking for; a heavy-set leather scabbard for her short sword.* What do you think, Vallor? Does it look like it's worth the 40 gold pieces? Vallor: *shrugs* I'd say a piece of tattered cloth is worth 40 gold pieces...but I could make better. *Vallor scans all the wares, and frowns* Not a quality item among them... Willow: *Willow nods* Ever since the war started, the quality of items here in the market place have gone way down... Do you think if I bought some leather, you could help me make my own scabbard? Vallor: I work with metal, not leather, sorry hon. I can't do anything with a needle, except use it as a deadly weapon. *grins* That's actually quite fun. Willow: Drat. *she sighs* All right then, I suppose I'll buy this one, then. *she hands the man 40 gold pieces, and then straps the scabbard on her belt* Anything you want to look at? Or do you want to go to the bar for a while? Vallor: Nothing here for me at all...and, which bar? *adopts a slightly nervous smile* That one we went to last time...it was hard to keep my concentration... Willow: *Willow found herself laughing quite hard at the look on Vallor's face* No no, we can go to the Sword and Shield Tavern instead. You up for it? Vallor: Always up for a drink...even if it is weak human ale. Let's go then. Willow: *She nods and takes Vallor's arm, before smiling up at him* And we're off. *Begins walking toward the Sword and Shield Tavern and Inn* Vallor and Willow enter (at the Sword and Shield Inn and Tavern) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vallor: *Vallor sits at the nearest table and is relieved to see the barmaids wearing more appropriate attire* This will be much less embarassing, I think. Bartender, get me a glass of bloody ambrossia......it's half alchohol, half cherry juice, and lemon juice to tang it up. *sighs* humans... Willow: Heh, I hear you there, Vallor. I've always thought them to be a more... useless race myself. They're nice and all, but they don't really have many extroverted skills. *she smiles, and orders an ale for herself* Vallor: Humans are good for one thing...labor. That's it. *sighs* Amazing how the gods would create such a pitiful race... Willow: Yes yes. Well, they must have had their reasons. Ahh, here's my ale. *She takes a large gulp, and smiles* This is good. I greatly prefer this bar to the other one. Vallor: My drinks always take so long to make...*grumbles* Slow service... Willow: Well, you do ask for a drink that is probably complicated for a human to make. *She laughs* I'd love to see a human try to drink one, though. *she grinned at the thought, and pulled out her sais to polish a bit more* Vallor: I've seen it...he was unconscious for a week. Nearly died. It was rather humurous. *grins* That's what that bastard got for trusting a yuan-ti... Willow: *laughs* Wish I could have saw that one! Sounds like quite a show! *Waits until the barkeep walks by* Excuse me, I'd like another ale please. Vallor: And hurry mine up! *grumbles about humans* You know, I've noticed, these past days have been almost too quiet... Willow: You've noticed it too? I think Balewind is planning something big, myself. What do you think? *She puts her sais away quickly* Vallor: I'd say we're about to see the fight of our lives, personally. The dragon patrols are even gone...*frowns* It isn't a good sign...not at all... Willow: Dragons are gone? That's quite odd in itself. *She thinks for a moment* We're not at all prepared for this. We'll all be killed. What can we possibly do? Vallor: Fight the best we can, and get tons of spell components...that's about it...*sighs* This could really be bad... Willow: I think we need to train harder too. Those warriors this morning were pathetic at best. We can't allow people like that to fight. It'll just make things harder for us in the end. And I agree about the spells. Maybe those outside of the magik clan should also be required to know a few? Just to get them out of tight situations. |