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Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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The creature’s surprise turned to sorrow as it shook its dreadlocked head. “I’m sorry if I seem ignorant about your kind,” it said. “I was raised under the impression that only two sorts of beings ever came here: those who were stupid enough to crave more power and control of the magiks from seeking the patronage of a demon lord, and those who would make a name for themselves by hunting the demons of this world.”

“I imagine the first one would make sense if the people on my world knew about this world,” Azura said. “But what do you mean by “hunting”? Hunting as in tracking the prey and killing it, or what?”

“Yes,” the creature answered. “Hunting for trophies. Hunting for honor. The demons of this world are among my kind’s most feared and respected prey. So a tribesman powerful enough to kill one and bring back its head would be revered as a god among mortals in any warrior tribe, even those of our enemies.”

“Just what is “your kind” then?” Azura asked innocently. Something about the creature’s words stirred something in her mind, but she couldn’t remember what it was.

The creature fell silent for a few moments before answering. “I cannot reveal the true name,” it said. “I’m sorry, but to do so would be dishonorable. You simply haven’t earned the right to hear it yet.”

“So…what, I have to kill something to know what you are?” Azura asked. “Because if that’s the case, forget it. But I know two people you’d probably like to meet sometime.”

“If you must have a word,” the creature sighed. “Then you may hear part of it. Gizjari Yautja. That is all you shall get out of me this day.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:27:32 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:49:39 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Azura tried repeating what the creature’s name, but found that it was hard to pronounce in the human tongue. The creature watched in amusement as she struggled with the words, and eventually she gave up out of frustration.

“Alright,” she said after what seemed like hours. “So I can’t take not knowing anymore. Just where the hell are we and why did I just end up here randomly?”

The Yautja tried shrugging. “My best guess would be you just slipped through some kind of dimensional portal by accident while sleeping. I’m no mystic, so that’s just a guess. As for where we are, I only have a faint idea.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense here,” she cried.

“Look around you,” the Yautja said. “Look at how nearly every sort of demon, angel, elemental, and who knows how many other races are rounded up here.”

Azura followed the creature’s instructions and saw he was right. There seemed to be a lot of different races than she first thought, and on top of that she also saw that the ground below them was some sort of intricately carved marble that seemed to belong in a temple more than anything.

“It’s a sacrifice prison of sorts isn’t it?” she asked in despair.

“Close,” the creature chuckled. “But not quite. It’s a prison, yes, but not for sacrifices in the traditional sense. You see, I've learned that the demon lords and matrons of this world have a sadistic streak that goes above the usual sacrifices. They want to watch the sacrifice fight, and to its fullest potential!”

“You almost sound happy about that,” Azura remarked.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:28:15 - Last edited on 02-Apr-2011 15:28:45 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“In a way, this is a dream come true for me,” the Yautja said. “My people are warriors at heart. From birth we are trained to fight. To stalk. To survive. Our race is ancient, yet spread thin. We cannot afford to lose many more of our kind to death for fear of extinction, but yet we do not feel the need to lie down and wait for the end to come to us.”

“So you go to the end?” Azura asked.

The creature’s eyes lit up. “Yes!” it cried. “We seek our end in combat in hopes of surviving it. To survive in combat is to gain a deeper understanding of death, and we hope to eventually uncover enough secrets of our race to transcend it to take our rightful place in the planes as mighty warriors once more!”

“So in other words we’re all gladiators waiting for a massive duel,” Azura remarked. “Great, why couldn’t Aiden or Caden come here instead of me?”

Azura’s vision suddenly filled with a bright light as a series of creaks and cracks echoed throughout the room, and many of the chamber’s inhabitants groaned at the sudden blindness. “Alright ya useless lumps,” a demonic voice squawked. “Which one of you sorry lot is gonna be up for the chopping block t’day, eh?”

Azura’s vision cleared as her eyes adjusted to the light, and she saw a vulture-like demon standing in the room. The demon was featherless, and purple skin clung to its bony frame to give it a weak look. Even the dull orange eyes and cracked beak seemed to give it a frail appearance, but she knew all too well that Vriks were deceiving in appearances by all accounts. Or at least that’s what her uncle Zaff had always told her when she had managed to get into his books on demon classification when she was younger.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:29:26 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:51:30 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The Yautja regarded the Vrik and the two stone golems flanking it with a sneer. “You already know my answer to that, bird boy,” it spat.

The vulture demon walked over to the raging warrior and regarded it with disinterest. “I wasn’t asking you,” it said. “But maybe you will be a fine candidate for this round, eh?”

“Bring it on!” the creature roared.

“So be it." The Vrik waved one of its wings at the Yautja, and one of the golems started unchaining it from the pillar. “Be careful,” the demon warned. “He still has his hunting gauntlets on, so make sure his hands are bound tightly. We don’t want him to stab another guard now, do we not?"

The golems did their work on the chains in complete silence, which seemed unsettling to just about every non-demon in the room at that moment. The Vrik seemed to sense the tension, and its eyes seemed to light up with sadistic glee as it slowly circled the somewhat massive circular room, eyeing each and every captive it walked by with no small amount of disgust and hatred.

The vulture-demon came to a halt at the hanging form of some kind of serpent hanging by its tail. Azura couldn’t make out most of the creature’s body from her position in the room, but she saw gleaming purple scales that seemed a little too vibrant for the current lighting conditions.

The Vrik clicked its beak and shook its head. “Why now, this will be perfect,” it purred. “A Yautja warrior being forced to fight alongside a Serpentfolk. He will hate it so much but yet he won’t have a choice. Guards, we have another contestant!”

A golem stalked towards the snake-creature, and pulled it free with a violent yank that shattered the chains holding it up. The creature let out a hiss as it struggled futilely in the stone construct's grasp, but the golem showed no sign of flinching.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:29:59 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:52:41 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The golem walked over to the entrance of the room, and Azura let out a startled gasp as she saw the Serpent in its full glory. She was right in assuming it was a snake of sort, but where a reptilian head should have been was instead replaced by an all too human head that was reminiscent of the hairless old hags which were rumored to live in remote swamps. Furthermore, the creature’s head was attached to the serpentine body by some kind of skeletal nails which stretched the skin at the cheeks, and the rest of its body was covered gleaming purple scales dotted with the occasional shard of bone.

The creature’s milky white eyes turned to meet Azura’s gaze, and it let out a shrill screech. “If I go then so does the mageling!” it cried.

The Vrik turned to regard the Serpent with amusement. “I wasn’t aware that you were in charge of this duty,” it said sarcastically. “Besides, I’m not stupid. I know that Nagas like to implant their young in magically inclined beings. I won’t risk an infestation of your type, so forget about it!”

Azura sighed in relief as the Naga was dragged out of the room shrieking. However, the Vrik was soon standing in front of her, and it had the sadistic gleam in its eyes as it studied her. “You know,” it muttered. “Something seems…off…about you, mageling. You have the Taint, but yet it appears as if it was almost…sequestered. Hidden, even.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Azura shot back, realizing much to her dismay that maybe it was better if she hadn’t opened her mouth at all.

The Vrik clicked its beak and bobbed its head as it studied her more closely. “Maybe the Naga was onto something, albeit for the wrong reasons,” it said. “Guards…take special care of this one. The Queen may wish to see the death of a rival demon this day.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:31:06

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Rival demon?” a panic stricken Azura asked. “I’m not a demon though!” Her cries were cut short as she found herself falling into the arms of a waiting golem that did*’t seem all too eager to deal with a struggling prisoner.

~^+^~

Sometime later, Azura found herself in what the Yautja described as an Armory. Although it didn't look like any armory she had seen before, mostly because such places were usually kept nice and orderly so someone knew just what it was they were looking at.

Instead, she watched as the strange dreadlocked warrior shifted through a huge pile of weapons and armor stashed into a random corner of an unused cavern with childlike glee, and her stomach dropped as she saw him pull out various swords and axes from the pile and toss them around like they were little more than broken toys. She truly wondered how long it would take for the warrior to end up killing her by accident, and having to constantly watch out for a flying piece of weaponry was beginning to take its toll on her.

What’s more, the Yautja was also yammering on about past gladiatorial conquests, describing in visceral detail about some of the torments and challenges he had to endure to last as long as he did.

“…and then I punched my way out of the Jabberwocky’s stomach! Trust me girly, you don’t want to know how hard that was without my wrist knives!” The Yautja exclaimed. He grimaced as he picked up a small disc of sorts, but he set it to the side and muttered something in what had to have been his native tongue.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:32:11 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:54:16 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Uh huh,” Azura replied half heartedly. “Sorry to interrupt your interesting stories, but just how long do we have to stay here anyway?”

The warrior kept his gaze on the pile as he replied, “Just for two hours. I counted one so far, but I may be a bit off.” His eyes lit up as he spotted something. His clawed hands dove into the trove of ancient and unused battle equipment, and after a brief moment he held in his hands a pair of gauntlets that were not too dissimilar from his own.

“What are those anyway?” she asked curiously.

The Yautja’s mandibles clicked as he turned the gauntlets around and inspected them. “Why I’ll be…an ancestor has walked this world before me. But...how? Nobody should be able to remove a warrior’s gauntlets. That is…unless…”

“Well if they’re here then he must’ve died,” Azura said.

“Of course he died, youngblood!” the warrior screamed. “Death is the only way to remove the safeguards preventing our equipment from being taken from our bodies. This…this…is a disgrace! Nobody deserves to have their sacred possessions violated like this!”

Azura blinked as the creature raged on. She knew that the being was a creature of honor (or so it claimed), but to see it angry over a pair of fighting gauntlets was rather puzzling. “So just what’s the big deal about them anyway?” she asked.

The Yautja stopped in midsentence and turned to glare at her menacingly. “The ‘big deal’? The ‘big deal’ is the fact that a dead body has been violated and dishonored! It’s a fate worse than death itself to my people!”

“But do those things do anything special?” Azura asked.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:33:29 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:55:23 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“It…depends,” the warrior admitted, his rage seeming to abate for the time being. “Our warriors design their own gauntlets. Some add blades to them. Others add compartments that can store vials of potions and brews to aid them in a fight. Others…add other things. Some designs are mostly universal to a degree, but every set of hunting gauntlets is unique in its own way. But all have a unique failsafe.”

“To do what? Prevent them from being found?”

“In a way, yes. You see, our tribal mystics weave a spell into the gauntlets that activates on death. Should a warrior be defeated in battle but not killed…well…my kind demands that honor be maintained. If they are not killed, then they are to take their own lives and deny the foe a victory while still hurting it.”

Azura gasped at that. “That…sounds so odd,” she said.

The warrior shrugged. “It may seem odd to outsiders,” it admitted. “But it is the Hunter’s Oath that we all take. ‘Gorkajza deh mihj sici ej kuzka’. ‘Honor through death. Death through the hunt’ is the translation.”

“So what happens if they don’t kill themselves?” she asked.

The warrior shook its head. “Such an occurrence is rare,” it said. “But if it does happen, then the tribes may punish the offender in a way. Assuming that they live, that is. Others simply die before they can activate the failsafe, in which case a signal would be sent to a tribe mystic who would then arrange the retrieval of the warrior’s possessions.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:34:33

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Azura was at a loss for words as she mulled over the creature’s words. She knew that some other races would have had to exist outside of her own world. Hell, the Mahjarrat and demons that had spawned the countless legends of her childhood were proof of that very fact. But she had always assumed that they had all operated on a level of thinking that was similar to the humanoid races, or at least in the sense of right and wrong when it came to suicide and killing in general.

But yet before her stood a being who had admitted that its culture was all too ready to slaughter something they considered a worthy challenge, and on top of that they held warriors who committed suicide in the heat of battle in high regard! To say she was unsettled at the thought would be an understatement, but she couldn’t deny the prospect wasn’t boring by any means either.

“So, if I may ask you a question,” the warrior said, stealing Azura from her thoughts.

“Go ahead, I guess,” she replied, blushing from the embarrassment of being caught off guard by the intimidating warrior.

“I have been looking for a weapon to arm you with. But yet, I cannot find anything that seems fitting for you. What sort of weaponry are you accustomed to?”

“I’m…not sure,” she admitted. “I’ve always used magic, personally. But I’m not sure if it would be effective on this world…plane…thing.”

The creature nodded knowingly. “I see." It looked at the pair of gauntlets in its hands, and tossed them to her. Azura managed to barely catch the odd items, and was surprised to feel that they were somewhat warm to the touch and were thrumming with an odd magical energy.

“I thought you were mad that the last guy to use these things was dishonored,” she said. “Wouldn’t it make sense to restore his honor and destroy them?”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:35:05 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:57:53 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“In a way, yes,” the Yautja admitted. “But I will not lie: these gauntlets are ancient. Older than my forefathers, even. If I were to destroy them, I may erase the stain on his honor…but there may be more of his equipment out there somewhere, so I may not accomplish much with destruction.”

“So what do I do with them?” she asked.

The warrior pointed to his own arms, which were clad with gauntlets which seemed almost organic in appearance. A red shell-like substance encased most of his arms, and the palm of his hands were covered with a silken glove of sorts that was cut off at the fingers, leaving them exposed to the world.

Azura looked at the pair the warrior had thrown her, and saw that they seemed to have been made from metal instead. Intricate designs of arcane and divine origin flowed around them, and they too had some kind of silken glove that only covered the palm of the user’s hands. The gloves had some sort of circular symbol in the center of them, and Azura noted that the openings seemed just big enough to fit the pair of gauntlets on her own slender arms.

“Put them on,” the warrior said. “I wish to see something.”

Azura did as the warrior instructed, and struggled to fit the alien equipment onto her arms. At first they seemed too small for her frame somehow, but she felt a pinch followed by stabbing pain as she saw her fingers poke out of the holes in the glove. She swore under her breath, and the warrior only chuckled. She ignored the creature as she struggled with the remaining gauntlet, and she felt the same sensations she did with the first one, but she managed to fight through the pain anyway.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

02-Apr-2011 15:35:45 - Last edited on 25-Nov-2011 02:58:41 by A Mad Hatter

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