Tamrielic Adventures: Vol. 2

[Alarra]

Niralie sighed when Fornar challenged the Nord again. "You just told him that," she said to him. "Just answer his question and maybe he'll go away."

At Sethesi's mention of going inside, Niralie began to dig in her bag. "I'm not sure myself what's going on," she replied as she searched. "A group of us came here investigating the kagouti attack, but we found the guard dead. And then this Nord woman came with a crew of sailors, said something about her marks being in one place, and attacked. We're the the ones that got out." She found what she was looking for: a small pouch containing her enchanted rings. She pulled out a silver one set with a blue-and-white stone and put it on. Faint runes shimmered over the surface of the metal. This ring would boost her magicka, giving her enough to cast an extra spell or two.

She stood up. "I hope the fight's not still going on," she commented. "I can cast some spells yet, but even with the stamina potion, I'm too worn out for a fight, and I can't use my sword anyway until my shoulder's recovered more." She was also concerned for the Dunmer woman, who didn't seem to be a fighter. If there were injured people inside, though, an extra pair of hands would probably come in useful. Niralie turned and began to head toward the guardhouse steps.

[The-Shadow-One]

Katien's spell wore off nearby Niralie and she popped back into existance. "A-Ah!" The 'girl' yelled upon seeing her own skin. "A-Are.. you okay?"

[Wardo235]

Fornar looked a bit confused. He turned from Niralie to Per, not knowing what to do.
He faced Per and said, 'Who was this Nord girl? I missed the battle, sorry to disappoint!'

[Alarra]

Niralie gave a similar yelp of surprise when Katien materialized next to her. "I... I am now... mostly. But I wouldn't have had to heal myself if you hadn't completely ignored the man's threat," she went on pointedly. "He said he would kill us if anyone moved."

[The-Shadow-One]

Katien looked down. "S-Sorry." She mumbled quietly.

[The SheoDovah]

Psyfalia stopped crying by the time Katien reappeared due to Niralie's treatment helping to reduce the amount of pain she was in. She looked at the dunmer and said "I'll can try to help the injured but I may not be able to do that much because of my arm." in a sore tone due to her sore throat thanks to her injury causing her to cry. She hoped that she could remain outside but knew that she would end up going in there and try to help the injured for it was her duty and in her nature to do that.

[Alarra]

Niralie opened her mouth, about to say more to Katien, but then stopped herself. Katien already looked upset enough and seemed to be perpetually nervous to begin with, so Niralie decided she'd said enough to get her point across.

At that point, Psyfalia started speaking. Niralie was glad to hear that the older Altmer sounded a little stronger than she had a few minutes ago, and she was also relieved that Psyfalia was going to come along inside as well. She didn't like this whole situation one bit. Something must have gone very wrong inside, she thought, and though she wanted to see what was going on (and help her friends if possible), she was also afraid of splitting up their group and leaving both halves more vulnerable. Inside, she feared for her own safety due to her current physical weakness, and outside, the Imperial or his companion the Nord could attack her friends again. Even if not all of them were in peak condition, at least they were together and could watch out for each other.

[Per]

Outside

Per frowned at Fornar. "You were one of the people in that smoking guardhouse, weren't you? You didn't see a psycho Nord broad in there? Then why'd you even threaten me?"

[Wardo235]

'I'm sorry, I just thought you were here to hurt us 'tis all', Fornar looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet, ashamed with himself.

[Alarra]

"He still might, Fornar," Niralie warned. "Keep your guard up. He was helping that Imperial who tried to kill us."
She crossed her arms and addressed Per coldly. "She led the attack, yes. But we've not seen her or anybody else in there since she released that smoke."

:

Just letting you know I'm camping from Fri evening to Sunday afternoon.

[Per]

Per frowned and strode past Fornar to speak with Niralie, who seemed to have a better grip on the current situation. "Hmph. You really haven't seen anyone come out? Seemed pretty crowded in there to me..." He rubbed his forehead, and looked at the building with a concerned gaze.

[Alarra]

As the Nord moved forward, Niralie held out her right hand warningly, almost in a "stop" gesture, steadying herself with her left on the rail of the guardhouse steps. She would cast a spell at him if he made any move she didn't like.
"We're the only ones who made it out," she responded firmly. "What is it you want, Nord?"

[MARS]

Outside

There was no time for further conversation; a bone-chilling shriek sounded from inside the guardhouse, making it quite clear that something was not going well.

Inside

Llela gulped as she tried to make eye-contact with her former companion. It was plain to see there wasn't much of Aythu left in the vampire, but she had to try.

"H-hey, Aythu," she stammered, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Remember me?"

For a few seconds that seemed to stretch themselves into minutes, the vampire stared at Llela. Then, she let forth a blood-curdling shriek, and lowered herself into an even more menacing position. She was about to strike, and something had to be done; fast.

[JVElEven]

Inside

Alindrel panicked and threw her bound sword after the vampire.

[CBR JGWRR]

Sinyail decided there was only one possibility - paralyze the vampire and run, as it was obvious now talking wasn't going to work, and fighting was suicidal. And he didn't have the magicka left to defeat a full power vampire anyway...

"Oh gods, I hope this works..."

He cast the spell aimed at Aythu, before turning to run.

[Alarra]

Niralie, being the closest to the door, heard the shriek quite clearly. She momentarily forgot her distrust of the Nord and whirled around, moving briskly up the stairs to peer inside the door. It took her a few moments to process what she was seeing. The creature looked almost Dunmer, but there was a nonhuman, feral quality about it. Niralie couldn't think of anything that it could be, except... could it be a vampire? Niralie gasped.

Another moment passed and she quickly realized that going inside or even lingering at the door would be a very bad thing for her. Though she wasn't actively bleeding at the moment, she still had plenty of blood on her from the shoulder wound (and subsequent smears as she'd wiped the hand she had used to heal herself), and that would probably make her an appealing target. She moved backward away from the door, hoping the creature hadn't seen her, and gasped to her companions, "Gods, I think that's a vampire in there!"

[Wardo235]

'What is it?' Fornar asked Niralie.

[MARS]

"Well she just said what it is..." Sethesi pointed out.

[Wardo235]

'Well yes but WHAT is it? I have no idea how to fight vampires!'

[The-Shadow-One]

Katien frowned. "V-V-V-Vampire?" She stammered nervously. "M-M-Maybe we should r-run?"

[The SheoDovah]

"A vampire?!" Psyfalia exclaimed in a scared tone as she stood up. "W-we should get the Oblivion out of here! But the others could be in danger and..." Psyfalia said to others before letting out a deep sigh. "and vampires are weak to restoration magic.I think. I know they are weak to destruction magic, mainly fire but...but i don't want to go in there and f-fight it!" She told the others in the same scared tone.

[Alarra]

Niralie was trembling as she returned to her companions. "I- I think Katien's right. Psyfalia and I can still cast spells, but we're too weak to do any physical fighting. If the vampire reaches us... it... would be over quickly. Katien's out of magicka or close to it; she's cast a lot of spells recently." She turned to the Dunmer waitress - "No offense, but you don't look like an experienced fighter" - and then to Psyfalia. "And that's a Dunmer vampire... so... I don't think fire will help."
She stood there for a moment and buried her face in her hands, trying to think of the best option. "M-maybe those of us who can't fight could hide somewhere out here... if it comes into the sunlight it'll be weaker, and then we can hit it with spells?"

[Velvet LeChance]

Arellius Afer III

Arellius was shaken by the shrill, inhuman scream. Despite being barely audible above the various noises sounding around him - the approaching troop, for one - it hit at such a pitch that a small shiver ran up his spine. If he was already having doubts about his current situation they were only multiplied tenfold by that. However, the realisation that hit him next sent his fears into overdrive. He recognised those screams; heard them before on the ship. It was Athyu - the Vampire. He muttered an oath to himself. Waiting on a clear escape rout definitely wasn't sounding so appealing now - or viable, even.

He crept forward curiously, attempting to catch a peak at the enemy, and Per (who was also the enemy now, he suddenly remembered.) They seem panicked; arguing, or so it seemed, frenziedly; confused. Their lack of co-ordination only worried him further. He'd need some decent meatshields if he wanted to break out successfully. Weapons in hand, listening out for both the troop and the Vampire, he watched from the ledge, waiting on the survivors to make their next move. He'd decided on his own based on that.

[MARS]

Arellius

The marching batallion of armored figures was now inside the city. They took a few more steps, then stopped between the outmost row of houses. One of them barked something that sounded like order, and six of them split from the group. Each walked up to a door and kicked it in. It was all too far away from Arellius to hear, but it was pretty clear that what was going on was a mass execution. The thought that these might have been the people behind the Kagouti rampage crossed the Imperial's mind. They had sent the beasts first, and now they were finishing the job.

He would have to make a decision; fast. Go back to the adventurers and hope they wouldn't kill him (or the vampire for that matter), hide on the roof and probably be discovered, or run away.

Outside the guardhouse

"A...vampire," Sethesi said, and gulped. The whole situation seemed pretty unreal. Just a few hours ago she was working her job, feeling miserable and drained of her will to live, and now she had lived through a raid of wild Kagouti, had planned on striking a man dead or unconscious with a rock, had been hurled several feet through the air, straight into some kind of fight for life and death. Her body was battered and bruised, but she wasn't feeling it. The prospect of the vampire inside the building frightened her, but not in the way a threat like say, a stray bear, would frighten an unarmed bystander. It was more like the fear someone felt before trying to make a dangerous jump, or some other vaguely dangerous first experience.

In that moment, the young Dark Elf decided that her miserable life in Suran was over.

"Get ready!" she shouted at the others. "Get up, get away from the door and in position, and as soon as that thing gets out, hurt it."

She didn't wait for confirmation. She ran towards the door, and kicked it open. It wasn't as easy as she had imagined. The sudden force her leg was met with sent a wave of pain through her lower body and made her waver; but she stood. Inside, everything looked as if it had been frozen in time. Evidently no one had been expecting the door to open. Sethesi saw a tall Altmer who had his back to her. His hand was glowing with some sort of spell. In the far back, a skinny Dunmer woman was lying face-down on the floor, moving only slightly. It looked as if she was just coming to. Close to her, a young Nord woman was sitting on the floor, a manic grin on her face, though the grin was only visible for a split second. As soon as the Nord saw Sethesi, the grin made way to anger. Behind the Nord, a very big Orc was standing about as if he didn't know what to do. On the opposite side of the room, two Dunmer, a woman and a man were standing in a defensive position, weapons drawn. Hiding behind them was a young Altmer girl who seemed lost. And in the midst of them, the vampire. The sight of it sent fear into Sethesi, but she was determined to see it through. She picked up a rock from the ground and hurled it at the vampire's head. The rock hit, and the vampire hissssed. Sethesi didn't see the expression on its face; she was already running away from the door as fast as she could. The vampire followed soon after. It was up to the adventurers to attempt to neutralize it. Or let it run afte Sethesi.

Inside the guardhouse

Something was done, but not by any of the people inside. Raylis heard the door being kicked open for the Xth time that afternoon. In the doorway stood a young Dunmer. She didn't look like she belonged here at all. Before he was able to react, the newcomer had thrown a large rock at the vampire, and had run off, the vampire behind her. He would have been baffled, but there was no time. He simply took the situation for what it was: the vampire was gone; it was time to act against the remaining threat.

He locked eyes with Gudrun. "Kill her, now!" he shouted at everyone in the room, at the same time as Gudrun shouted "Kill them!" at Shakh.

In the corner, Llevana groaned. Her head hurt, badly. For a few seconds she couldn't remember where it was. Then it all returned to her. She slowly started getting up.

[CBR JGWRR]

Sinyail, having been pushed aside by the fleeing dunmeri, got up, realised he had no magicka left, and acquired a sword from a dead sailor. While it had been some 40 years since he had last used one in anger, he knew it would be a better bet than trying to cast any more spells.

"It's been a very long time..."