inquisitor_lavellan: you haters ain’t shit to me (misc - breastplate)
🛡️ Inquisitor Alleyana Tabris of Clan Lavellan ([personal profile] inquisitor_lavellan) wrote in [community profile] genessia2016-09-20 10:05 am

[ action | closed ] One, two, three and four -- the devil’s knocking at your door.

Who: Team Dragon Age: Merrill, Cole, and Alleyana.
When: Slightly backdated to just after the latest issue of the newspaper.
What: Bounty log, and Cole's entrance to the game!
Fayren

Cursed Blade – A man has come into contact with a cursed sword. The sword apparently housed a demon, and picking it up allowed the man to be possessed. He has extreme strength and magic at his disposal. Defeating the man and breaking the blade is the only way to free him. A level 3 payment is being offered to anyone that can accomplish this.

- - - - -

It was a small keep. Stone walls, wooden doors, thick mud. There was a final check of equipment, and Alleyana rolled her shoulders with a crunching pop before bracing herself and kicking in the wooden door. It hit the wall beside it with a thunderous crack! and the Inquisitor stepped inside.

"Hey, ass-demon!" she taunted, voice echoing loud and deliberate. Focus on her, not on the mage behind her. Focus on her. "Let's fucking dance!"

There was movement on the stairs going up; the crackle of fire as a ball of it launched at her head. Alley ducked behind her shield and charged forward and up the stairs to close the gap. She was very good at grabbing and keeping an enemy's attention -- at keeping it off her companions, to give them space.

Now to see what Merrill did with it.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
'Why do demons always seem to find keeps like this?' Merrill wondered as she waited for Alleyana to kick in the door. She certainly liked a more direct approach that she was unused to in any leader who wasn't Aveline. But she wouldn't let herself get distracted. Not now.

She had to prove her worth to Alleyana after all.

She took note of the muddy floors (if they could really be called floors at that point) and as Alley taunted the demon, she pulled forth the mana she knew she needed for her first two spells.

The first caused rocks to encase her in armor. While she didn't doubt Alley's ability to keep an enemy's attention, she knew it was better safe than sorry when it came to demons.

But she scrapped her second spell the second she saw the fight moving up the stairs. She ran after them until she reached the bottom of the stairs, but she could see up well enough. Instead, she gathered her mana and focused it into the dirt behind her.

With a yell, she lifted a giant stone up out of the floor and hurled it up the stairs, over Alley's head, and straight toward the demon. While she knew it was going to be a hit, she didn't know one thing. "Hopefully, this one can be stunned," she murmured.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 06:29 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill didn't react to Alley's pushback, trusting in her enough to not get knocked into her. Not so soon into a fight, at least. Despite the fact that there was only one enemy before them, she pulled forth the mana for her best spell to hopefully break the demon's barrier.

She swiped her staff forward, unleashing the power of her Chain Lightning spell, sending a concentrated bolt of electricity straight down on the demon.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
She watched Alley strike the demon with her mace and held back on her attack for the moment. This was their first time fighting together and she didn't entirely have down the older elf's movements and fighting style.

Playing it safe was her best bet, rather than run the risk of accidentally hitting Alleyana.

For the moment, she gathered her mana and put her hand out like she did earlier, lifting another large stone out of the floor. This time she held onto it, waiting for a pause in Alley's attack before hurling it toward the demon while it suffered the affects of the recoil.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill had a spell ready to fly off her staff, one she rarely used most days, but one of the most basic spells any mage is ever taught: mind blast. But she let that mana seep back into her upon seeing Alley pull him back to her.

She couldn't help her own laugh at bubbled up in her at seeing Alley kick him. Only hers wasn't a taunting one; more like she had just heard a good joke.

Now with that mana resettled in her, she pulls it forth into her staff once again. This time, she hits the ground with her staff, releasing her mana into the floor, heading up the stairs and to the edge of where the demon is at and turning the very ground against him. So long as she kept sending her mana into the ground and the demon stayed in range, the ground would come up at times, damaging his legs and lower torso.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 08:02 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill held off on attacks for the moment, with both her Rock Armor and Wrath of the Elvhen active, she needed to conserve her mana for the moment. Without access to lyrium potions here, she had to do that the long way: waiting for it come back naturally.

As it was, she took two steps back away from Alley though the range on her Wrath of the Elvhen stayed the same. Having a little extra breathing room never hurt as she watched and waited as the demon regained his footing and ran toward Alley again.
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-23 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
There!

Cole dropped out of thin air, crashing into the enraged man on the way down and latching on. The spirit wasn't especially heavy, but that was a lot to be hit with all at once. The demon grunt and lurched forward, bent double from the sudden weight and nearly went face first into the ground. He jerked back in time, Cole still clinging to him like some strange, demented monkey.

"There's a demon in the sword..." he said like he'd just commented on the weather. "It's angry but the man is scared. It hurts."

That didn't keep him from having his dagger at the man's neck. The best he could while the demon struggled to throw him off!
Edited 2016-09-23 08:11 (UTC)
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 08:25 am (UTC)(link)
With the newest addition added to the party, and the demon's back, Merrill held her staff closer to her. She didn't want to use any of her lightning attacks on the off chance it hurt their new...ally? Friend? He seemed like Alleyana's friend. Nor did she think she should hurl another giant rock at him, for the same reason.

"A rogue would be lovely to have right now," she breathed out. "If you want him to live, that is."
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-23 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
Cole would've happily disarmed the man right then, but the waving blade nearly took off the top of his skull on the last attack so he leapt away in a blur of black powder and green glow. The demon kept swinging where Cole had just been, confused and unstable.

Barely visible by the hint of green when he moved, Cole retreated to behind Alley and peered around her at their target. It was Alley's enemy so it was his. He didn't know the other person. She seemed nice.

To Alley he muttered, "I can make him sleep, if you want. He might fall and be hurt, with the ground like that."
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 08:57 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill glanced between Alleyana and Cole, lowering her staff and pulling back her magic from not only the ground, but her own body as well. Alley letting the new arrival be behind her said all that needed to be said: he was, at least, an ally. And going to end this quickly. If he was going to hit the ground, the last thing they needed was for her Wrath of the Elvhen to make the killing blow when he did.
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-23 09:03 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, good! Cole didn't waste any time, darting out to the side of Alley, out of Merrill's line of sight, and threw a small red vail at the demon. It hit him on the shoulder and burst, the glass of the vail terribly fine. Red powder bloomed in front of the crazed man, inhaled before he had time to consider holding his breath.

It acting fast, his sword arm falling, fingers still gripping the hilt, but he wasn't in any state to fight. He swayed and stumbled, attempting to fight off the sleeping powder, but to no avail. The demon fell forward towards Alley.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-23 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill took another step back from the stairs as the sword fell down them. She glanced at the sword for only a few seconds, weighing Alley's question. "Possibly. I've never used them to break a sword, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to try."

This time, she had her full reservoir of mana available to her. So she focused more of her mana into the ground and pulled up a heavier stone than the other two times and threw it right into the sword. If that didn't work, then she was pretty sure it might take something more potent and demon cleansing than her normal magic.
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-23 09:35 am (UTC)(link)
Cole was completely visible now, the green glow his stealth carried now faded. He watched the rock with fascination, it reminded him of the magic Solas did. There was many a time a huge rock had soared over his head. Carefully aimed, of course. His hat had only fallen off once.

The sword cracked under the force with a blast of magic from the demon inside. It was not shattered, but badly damaged. Damaged enough, hopefully.

"It's angry, very angry. We took its fun away." He looked at the man slumped against Alley. He was so tired. Tired was better than possessed.

"It's angry it's weak. Too weak to hurt us. It wants to hurt us. It has many ideas, what it wants to do."
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-24 08:01 am (UTC)(link)
"All right, but only if you're really sure," Merrill said, a hint of disbelief in her voice. It had been a while since anyone really trusted her that much, not since before--

No, she shook her head and pulled forth her mana once again. This time when she ripped up a stone from the floor, it was a bit smaller than her other ones as she didn't want to do any lasting damage to Alleyana. She took her time in aiming, more so than any time before as she really didn't want to be the one to injure her.

When she lined it up as best as she could, she threw the stone toward the sword in Alley's hand with her aim actually on point. But even with that, the size of it was another matter.
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-24 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
And the blade shattered with one last flare of red light and a sizzle as the demon faded away. It was a nice change to not have the thing pop out as a massive rage demon.

Cole could relax a bit now the hatred of the demon wasn't bearing down on him. The human was alive and well. Asleep and probably traumatized... but that was good enough for their usual track record of apprehending unimportant threats.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-24 08:32 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill hung back, watching the display. It was...odd, in a way. That had to be the happiest she had seen Alleyana since she met her. And not a bad odd either.

She tilted her head when her eyes shifted over to the strange...boy? Mage? No... Something seemed off about him, even for her. She was almost positive he hadn't been there before, when they first started fighting. Otherwise she would have been a bit more careful with the spells she was using.

"If you don't mind me asking," she began, "who are you? I'm pretty sure I didn't see you hiding behind the demon. Unless you were crouched down very low, then I wouldn't have noticed."
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-24 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
As far as Cole knew, it had been a few hours at most since he'd last seen the Inquisitor. He wasn't going to turn down a hug from her, not when she was feeling all of that. It was pretty awkward to try to loop an arm around her in return, but he managed the best he could. The sleeping man was only jostled a little bit.

"I'm glad I got here in time to help," he said before his stream of consciousness chatter overwhelmed what he wanted to say. "The hammer comes down and everything is pain. How many hours has it been? Has it been hours? It has to be done."

It couldn't be stopped completely it seemed, but the Inquisitor... Would not want to talk about that now and he had been asked a question. He had to tilt his head to look over at her without hitting Alley with the brim of his hat. The sleeping man wasn't so lucky but he stayed asleep.

"I wasn't visible until I needed to be. He didn't need to see me and you needed time to recover. It was a good time to be there." It was all perfectly simple to him. "I am Cole. You are?"

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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-25 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, yes," Merrill agreed. "It was a good time for you to be there. I've only known really good rogues to be able to do that."

She attached her staff to her back holder as it seemed like all the danger had passed for the moment.

"But thank you for that. It was perfect timing, really. Cole, was it? I'm Merrill."
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-25 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
"Merrill... It is good to meet you." No longer supporting their target, Cole was as fidgety as always. He looked at Merrill from under the brim of his hat, curious.

"I'm not just a rogue. That's what you were wondering? I am a spirit but not completely." Again he spoke like this was completely normal. "I'm not a threat."

He glanced to Alley. "I should get the sword?"
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-25 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
"Compassion," she said, testing it out as if saying it would make it any less weird. "Spirit or demon, he had to possess something in order to cross over. Unless it also happened when the Fade opened, like you told me a little while ago."

She crossed her arms as she tried to work it out. "But there are worse spirits to be aside from Compassion. And yes, that's a good thing. Blood magic in the hands of wrong people is a very bad thing. Especially for spirits and demons. And the people around them, too I suppose."

She hoped that didn't sound as awkward as she thought it did. Mainly because this probably wasn't the best time to bring up her own involvement in demons and blood magic.
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-25 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
"It doesn't always work like that," Cole said, sounding glum. He didn't posses anyone! Honest! But now wasn't the time to defend his odd existence, the Inquisitor had given him an order. He'd completely forgotten the box.

"That other spirit was very rude, she didn't let me talk at all..." He said to Alley before he ran off, not waiting for a reply from either of them.
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-27 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Curious," Merrill said. "If even Fen'Harel couldn't figure it out... But maybe, the facet of Compassion--"

No, she stopped that line of thinking for the moment. This was hardly the time or place to muse about it or have a debate. That was for after they took care of everything else and made it back home. Possibly. Even more so that he mentioned another spirit, and she had a feeling that was more about her than anything else.

Her laugh was nervous as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"--Anyway, we only need to bring the sword back, right? Even though it feels strange to just leave him here to sleep off the possession. Though there are worse ways to wake up, I suppose."
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[personal profile] hugs_for_nugs 2016-09-27 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Cole is away fetching the box.]
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
Merrill nodded. "Right, right. You're right. And I agree! Your friend had great timing. It really would've been too bad had he not shown up. I'm not too sure we would have completed it without killing him. Which would have been unfortunate."

She paused for a second before looking away from the man to focus on the sword.

"Unless he knowingly found and awaken the demon. Then it should've been a consequence he thought of."
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[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-09-27 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
"No, but you shouldn't rush in to magical artifacts without considering the consequences," she said, then sighed. "Just think of if someone else had taken this on, what would have happened.

"And it probably did take him over the moment he found it. But it likely would've done so no matter how strong the demon inside was." She shook her head. "Most don't know the true danger they're putting themselves in, or the amount of strength they'll need to resist. And continue resisting."

Belatedly, she hoped it was understood that that was a roundabout compliment toward Alley, about the strength she had to resist the demon.
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so sorry for the lateness!!

[personal profile] followthetwine 2016-10-19 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, but," Merrill continued even as she followed after Alley, "no one should just randomly pick up random things. Especially if they're not theirs. It never leads anywhere good." She nodded in agreement with her own words after saying that.