East Meets West (for Weiss Ritter)

[Ecnalab]

Phillip looked up and smiled as he walked toward Aedan. "Oh, it's you. Decided to come into town after all, eh?" The boy and his dog came to a stop a few feet from Aedan, and he got a much clearer look at the animal that the boy guided with neither leach nor collar. The dog was big, almost as tall as the boy it stood next to, and powerfully muscled. Though, like most wolf-hounds, it regarded Aedan with silent intensity for only as long as it took its owner to regard the newcomer with a smile, before dropping its stance and waging its tail. "I'm afraid you just missed Margeritte, but I can probably help ya," he continued. "What are you looking to buy?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"After some consideration," Aedan nodded and then struggled not to wince. Like there wasn't anything suspicious about that? Or...was he just being paranoid now? Damnation, he need to stop worrying. If he looked or sounded nervous, that would just make Phillip suspicious for certain, and then-

The wolf-hound's approach mercifully gave the young mage something else to occupy his mind with. It seemed even bigger up close and the thick sinews of muscle beneath the beast's fur were definitely quite a bit more obvious now. The hungry suspicion it regarded him with was enough to make Aedan halfway raise his foot to take a step back before Phillip's smile turned his imposing guardian into a loving pet once again.

The mage's time in his own farming village made him very well aware of what good pets dogs made and how invaluable something like a properly tamed and trained wolf-hound could be, but his time with such creatures had been limited even then.

"Probably..." Aedan's gaze lingered on the wolf-hound just long enough for someone to guess he was unused to such creatures before he finally looked back to Phillip. "I expect to be traveling for awhile yet, and my packs are several days worth of food lighter. Your corn, potatoes, and turnips look sturdy enough for the road. Are any of your strawberries for sale, or are those being saved for a special occasion?"

 

[Ecnalab]

"Oh, there's plenty to go around," Phillip replied. "Wait here." He quickly ran into the house, and returned with a large burlap sack. holding it out to Aedan, he said, "One crown, and you can help yourself to whatever you can fit in the bag. I'll even throw in a pouch of strawberries at no additional charge," he said, with a smile. Aedan would hope the berries would be at no additional charge. A whole gold crown would pay for several bags of produce where he came from, and he doubted that inflation had hit the kingdom that hard in the time he'd been away from the wider world. Still, most of what grew on the farm looked more than ready for harvest, and would likely see him through the rest of his journey; assuming there were no hindrances along the way.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan stared at Phillip and the admittedly large sack the boy offered. He was fairly certain the peasant was taking advantage of him, it was just a question of whether the somewhat sheltered mage had said something to tip Philip off, or if the farmboy was astute enough know a traveler with business too urgent to waste time haggling when he saw one. Aedan's own parents had been pretty shameless hagglers themselves. He'd never managed to pick up even the basics of that skill set himself, but he knew you could probably fill a book or two with the excuses people could come up with to raise or lower prices, and in his experience, farmers tended to assume most traveling city-folk had enough extra money that fleecing them a little was only fair.

...In this case, it just happened to be true, but still.

"Fine," Aedan fought the urge to sigh as he dug about in his purse for a crown to trade Phillip for the sack. That left the mage eighteen more. It was still a very handsome sum, and really, one crown was a small price to pay to ensure he wouldn't starve until he was safely out of Antavia.

The mage briskly moved to begin filling up the sack. Again the corn, potatoes, and turnips would have been the most interesting to him on that front. The rest of his journey would hopefully not be a hard one, but tomatoes would be easily bruised or even squashed outright if the going got tough.

 

[Ecnalab]

The produce was indeed just right for picking, and make a fine stew when mixed with the remaining meat he had left. As Aedan set about filling the sack he'd been given, Phillip went over to the berry patch and busied himself with a small bag. As the two of them worked, Phillip piped up, "So, what brings you to our little burg, business or pleasure?" Despite his fleecing ways, Phillip seemed genuinely interested. His eyes traveled up and down Aedan taking stock of his gear, and while it lingered for a moment on his still-full coin purse, he seemed much more interested in his traveling apparel.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Thinking about what he was going to do with the food rather than what he paid for it did make Aedan feel a little bit better as he jammed one vegetable into the burlap sack after another. He was starting to slip into a nice little rhythm that was shattered the moment Phillip opened his mouth.

The mage paused for a moment, his body growing tense beneath his chestless robe. Nothing about Phillip's demeanor suggested he was asking for nefarious reasons, but...well...shit. Aedan needed to think of something that wouldn't sound suspicious in case more hunters came in asking questions!

"Well...these crops look good, so does that counter as pleasure?" Aedan's tone was slow, borderline methodical. He almost winced at how obvious it was that he was choosing his words with care, but thankfully even the sheltered mage had enough self-control and social grace for that.

"Mostly business, though. I needed to rest a little and resupply before I move on. I'm...studying some magical anomalies in the distant wilds"

The robe would have hidden a good bit of Aedan's clothing and appearance, but it probably would have seemed to be what Phillip would expect from a traveler. The bulging coin purse would probably have been an anamoly for someone so plainly dressed and armed with only a knife as far as the farmboy could make out, though.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Oh!? Have you come to see about that nymph that's been giving us trouble?" Phillip blurted out, eagerly. "Finally. We don't know why she started chasing people out of the woods, she never bothered nobody before, but a few weeks back she just up and started running people out with her animal friends." Aedan had heard of nymphs, capricious fey creatures that lived in forests and didn't like to be disturbed, but he had never heard of one taking up the role of protector of the forest before.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"...Nymph?" Aedan stared at Phillip in naked disbelief. One of the fey enchantresses here? Outside of that impenetrable Wood he'd been going in the opposite direction of? By Malsten, and she'd apparently been here for awhile too?!

"I'm surprised the Church has not taken action already..." Again, Aedan couldn't quite keep the methodical caution out of his tone. Given the Church's lessons regarding all that was not Human, it really was a wonder even something as potentially dangerous as a nymph had been allowed free reign in Antavia.

"I could look into it, though," The mage quickly added. It was as much a part of his tentative cover as sheer curiosity. This not-so-little diversion was definitely taking a large risk and attracting attention he could probably do without if he wanted to make it to the border as quickly and quietly as possible...but a Nymph! This would probably be his only chance in the foreseeable future to see that legendary nature-bending magic of the Fey Wood for himself! Besides, if she really was troubling these people in some way, perhaps he would be able to aid them as well.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Aside from the local pastor, the church doesn't exactly have a big presence this far out from the big city," replied Phillip. "And, like I said, it wasn't until just a few weeks ago that she started chasing people out of the woods, so we had all figured, why not let sleeping dogs lay, you know?" Phillip finished filling the bag he was holding. "Anyways, here have a few for the road," tossing the small sack to Aedan just as he finished filling his own sack.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan honestly had to stop and think about Phillip's remark about the local church for a moment. It made sense and now that Aedan thought about it, the idea of priest trying to lead farmers who were more concerned with their harvest again a dark sorceress of the woods was kind of ridiculous. Still, after spending so much of his life in the capital of Antavia, surrounded by the most powerful and zealous members of the faith and some of the greatest and most well-equipped soldiers at their command, it was...strange being reminded that some people in the theocracy maintained a quiet sort of faith.

"I see. Well, thank you," The mage's hand shot up to catch the pouch of strawberries with surprising speed and dexterity, then swiftly tied them to his belt beneath his robe. "These woods are fairly close to the village, right?"

Aedan was going to visit this Nymph no matter what, it was just a question of whether he needed to stop back at the inn for that bath and some rest first.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Right over the hill," replied Phillip. The woods were just on the outskirts of the village, with the local stream flowing out of them to pass by the handful of dwellings. Honestly, he hadn't thought much of them, they looked to be just a light forest, not the thick woodlands that most people think of when they imagine a place where fey-folk live. Exploring the reaches closest to the village would likely not take more than a day or two; though that would mean spending a bit more time than he had planned in this little farming community.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan cocked his head. He really wasn't very good at downplaying his own body-language...but then, that sort of dishonesty wasn't the sort of thing that had been encouraged either by his parents or his caretakers in Hastner. He had been bathing that close to the nymph and her beastial entourage?! Perhaps he was very lucky indeed that it was "just" Phillip and Margeritte who happened across him then.

"Thank you, I'll look into it. My...duties may require me to move on as soon as I deal with the Nymph, though. If I don't, it was good meeting you," Aedan offered Phillip one last nod and turned on his heel towards the inn. A good soak in a warm bath followed by a night on something other than a sleeproll would be just the thing the young mage would need to begin his search for the nymph and her magic. If there were more hunters closing in on his trail...well, hopefully they were more than a single evening behind.

 

[Ecnalab]

Soon enough, Aedan's horse was hitched, and her was able to relax for possibly the first time since starting his journey. Even if the bath was taken n a large tin tub behind the house, the chance to wash himself warm water was something that he had come to take for granted back in the capitol, as was the warm bed that followed.

The next morning, saw him standing before the woods outside the village, where the stream emerged from the trees. Again, the place didn't seem the type of forest that one might expect to find a fey creature, scattered as the trees were, and as close to civilization as it was. Yet, as soon as he took his first steps towards the trees, he was yanked back by the fact that his horse was not following him. A second tug at the reins and the animal still refused to move, snorting dismissively at the attempt.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan was in high spirits as he stood on the threshold of the forest. He could feel an honest-to-Malsten tingle running through his giddy frame at the thought of the adventure that awaited him within. Yes, the fears that more hunters would be right behind him still lingered in the back of his mind, and by all accounts the fey-folk were not to be taken lightly, but this was what he escaped for! The chance to discover and explore whatever once-unfathomable magics he wished on his terms, without the priesthood yanking his leash or drugging his food so he could not see the patterns running through so much of the world like a resplendent-

The firm yank his mount gave to its reigns snapped the young man back to reality. He looked back to the horse aghast for a moment and pulled again, but the equine stood firm.

"Of course..." Aedan sighed and reluctantly stepped away from the forest. This nymph had some kind of power over the animals of the wild, who was to say that even a trained horse was immune to her influence? The mage tried to guide his mount toward the stream instead, where he would have staked its lead with a smaller obsidian spike than before. There was fresh water and grass to consume here, but if something did happen to delay him and someone else did not come along, the horse could probably free itself with some determined yanks.

Assuming his mount had not objected, Aedan would have given its neck a few gentle strokes before turning back to enter the forest once more. Loathe as he was to leave the horse alone or where just anyone could see it, it was probably better this way. As much space as there was between the trees, it probably wouldn't have ended well for Aedan if he tried to ride his horse through the forest at anything faster than a trot. Not to mention whatever this nymph might have pulled if she really was as dangerous as Phillip implied.

 

[Ecnalab]

Aedan's trek through the woods was not at all unpleasant to begin with. The splendor of unspoiled nature, and the warm sun made him feel at ease, even if he had no idea what to expect from the nymph that had apparently turned hostile. As he walked, however, he began to notice something. Silence. Not just quiet, but complete silence. Not a bird chirped in the trees, nor a rodent rustled even a single leaf on the forest floor. The dead quiet, immediately turned a casual stroll through the woods into an uneasy march as Aedan was suddenly aware that he was the only thing making any sound. As he took one cautious step after another, his foot landed on a particularly brittle twig, and a sharp snap echoed all around him. Immediately, a flock of sparrows took to the air from a nearby tree, their shrill cries seeming to form words as they flew, "Away, away, away," they sang.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

For a time, Aedan actually did find himself relaxing despite the danger he was exposing himself to. It had been so long since he had really had a chance to enjoy any sights other than what the priesthood permitted him in the capital. Even when he had been a free peasant, trips like this into the truly untamed parts of the world were quite rare.

Then the silence began to hit him. The oppressive, unnatural silence that pervaded what should have been a lively wood. A frown tugged at Aedan's lips and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickling at just how...wrong it all was on some primal level. The mage's hands reached out beneath his chestless robe and bits and pieces of the earth beneath him began to black and rise. Something akin to dark scales began to form over his arms and hands, bound there by magic and made as durable as armor by the same supernatural power.

An unseen twig snapped under Aedan's weight and the young man threw his now-protected arms up in an unorthodox, but effective when coupled with magic, martial stance. His bright blue eyes rapidly scanned the woods around him as the sparrows flew, filling the once deadly silent air with their cries.

Aedan's frown deepened and a shiver threatened to run down his spine. Even so, he'd come this far, and he'd expected nature to get a little...weird around a hostile fey, hadn't he...?

His jaw tightened. Aedan didn't feel much better but advanced deeper still into the woods all the same, this time taking a bit more care to avoid any sticks that were eager to betray him.

 

[Ecnalab]

As soon as Aedan turned away from the birds, he felt the icy kiss of metal against his chest as a sword point, that he had very nearly skewered himself on, pressed against his skin. Standing before him was a woman unlike any he had seen before in his life. She was, in a word, perfect. Snow-white hair cascaded down her shoulders to her lower back, and sparkling golden eyes cut right through Aedan as she regarded him with a mixture of curiosity and ire. Her face was sharp without being hawkish, her figure trim without being skinny, her ivory ski, flawless, and the form with which she held her sword at his heart was seemed to be as natural to her as breathing. She wore a green leotard that clung to her body so tightly, that Aedan could see every curve, and muscle of her slender waist and pert breasts. A matching pair of thigh-high boots the same forest green as her suit covered her lithe legs just as tightly. Draped over her shoulders was a light cloak the color of mahogany. "Well, what do we have here? Another human come wandering where they shouldn't. I thought I told you folk to stay out of the woods for a time." her voice was golden, and the hint of flirtation that companied the smile that crept across her face, made Aedan's heart flutter... Until he felt the tip of her sword trailing ever so slowly up to his throat. "Tisn't safe." Her eyes, and smile, widened like those of a child seeing a new toy for the first time.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Mph...!" Aedan grunted and felt his eyes widen as something worryingly cold and sharp pressed against his unprotected chest. For an instant he feared that, somehow, Antavian man-hunters had managed to track him down yet again.

His jaw dropped when he beheld the swordswoman menacing him. She was...she was...well, perfect. Almost supernaturally so. Were the mage not aware of her true nature and the significance of the clothing the nymph wore, he might have honestly mistaken the woman for one of the most blessed of Malsten's followers or even a celestial attendant of the god's made flesh. For a moment, the rest of the world was lost to the young man. For a moment, all he could do was gap, stare, and feel his pulse quicken while the perfectly sculpted woman regarded him with her exotic golden eyes.

Then she began to speak again with a deceptively soft smile that Aedan almost nervously returned until the prodding of cold steel snapped him back to reality. Just one thrust of her blade, and the nymph could leave him to bleed out across the forest floor. There was something about the way she looked at him, as though he were just some...object or prey there for her amusement, that should have sent a shiver down Aedan's spine. It never came. Even now, the young man could feel the warmth he'd felt when he first beheld the fey lingering in his body and smothering such instincts.

"I am a traveler, not of that village. For a time, you say...?"

Blue tendrils of arcane power raced through the air around Aedan as he jumped back, hurled as much by physical force as magical might. His body was tilted back at an angle that would have seen anyone felt fall flat on their back as he flew away from the blade. The arcane power suspended him, cheating gravity and hopefully carrying Aedan safely away from the Nymph's blade.

(Defense Roll: 15)

 

[Ecnalab]

The woman looked up at Aedan with a smirk. "Oh, a magic man, are we? You might be useful after all." With a sudden bound, she was off, racing through the trees faster than any human could ever hope to match on foot. "Keep up with Charrla, and she'll tell you how!" she called. [Race roll: 6+2+5+speed5=18] If Aedan wanted answers from this strange woman, he would have to get a move on, or wait for her to come find him again.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Useful?" Aedan tensed. The last time someone regarded him that way, it meant years locked away in a thinly-gilded cage. Yet before he could so much as glare at the nymph, she was off! The woman sprinted through the woods with such ease and speed that the magical prodigy didn't even have time to try and sense whether it was magic she employed or...something else that allowed her to move so!

"Ngh..." Aedan grunted and glanced back over his shoulder for a fleeting moment. Neither running blindly even deeper into Charrla's domain or meekly leaving the forest with nothing to show for it were appealing options.

"As you wish..." He grumbled to himself and knelt down. The familiar blue tendrils reached out into the air around him, bending the wind itself to his will, and then the young mage lunged. The trees and foliage passed Aedan by in a blur as magic and muscled worked in perfect tandem to propel him through the forest at superhuman speeds rivaling Charrla's own.

(Using one of the 5 daily Special points for this roll. Aedan: 4 + 5 + 3 + 2 + Speed 4 = 18)

Aedan could feel his own power pulsing through his very veins in a way it never had before. Charrla was keeping ahead of him, even gaining at first! More and more magic was pumped into the spells augmenting his movements and blurring the air blue around him. Aedan's heart pounded like a drum and soon enough the sharp yet numbing sensation of adrenaline mingled with the magical high. The young man laughed breathlessly as he weaved between a series of tightly-packed trees and sprang over a fallen log.

This...was...amazing! Some part of him knew every muscle in his body would be painfully complaining about such exertion later, but for now....Malsten, they would never have allowed this in the capital!

 

[Ecnalab]

The two raced through the woods, bounding past trees and over logs, until Charrla stopped and turned so fast that Aedan had to cast another spell to slow his movements just to avoid ramming her. "Stop!" she commanded, holding up an open palm, right in front of Aedan's face. As he magically recoiled, Aedan lost his balance and ended up landing flat on his backside. Looking down at him, she pulled aside a small bush in front of them, to reveal that they were on the edge of a small ravine. The ground dropped steeply, a good thirty feet, into the rocky bed of a dried up river. "Look, down there," she urged.

Before he could protest, movement caught Aedan's eye. Making its way down the riverbed, was the strangest creature he had ever seen. In basic form, it looked like a giant tortoise, a large domed shell as high as a man was tall, supported by four scaly legs. Unlike a tortoise, however, this thing possessed no head. Rather, from under its shell, innumerable long grasping green tentacles groped and slithered out a good ten feet, to fondle everything around the creature as it slowly made its way along.

"One of the twisted one's children," Charrla answered, without being asked, her face growing grim for the first time since Aedan had seen her.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Ngh!" The high came to an abrupt end as Charrla halted, turned, and shouted. The blue-tinged wind shoved Aedan from the opposite direction hard enough to shake the trees behind him and sweep up all manner of leaves, sticks, and weakly rooted plants into a gust. The mage landed flat on his backside with enough force to compel him to grunt and wince. He glared at the nymph and his mouth opened to fire off a rebuke, but the sight of what awaited him beyond the unassuming bush stopped Aedan cold.

A drop like that...well, that was one way he wasn't in a particular rush to see how far he could push his arcane abilities. Even so, Aedan eyes Charlla warily after he stood and advanced to the edge. Even if this all was not some trap, he wasn't inclined to keep within reach of her sword or let the mistress of the forest out of the corner of his vision.

"Is that...?!" Aedan's body tensed when he saw the misshapen creature below. He even forgot to keep tabs on Charrla for a moment. A Twisted One?! Or...an offspring of one, anyway. The young man had read about the creatures during his time in Hastner. The Antavian books described them as abominations that sought only to taint the world with their corrupted offspring. Monsters whose very existence was a crime against Malsten. For a moment, Aedan wondered if the Twisted Ones had been slandered like him, but there was something...unnerving about the way the possibly blind creature's tendrils didn't so much feel out its environment as grope it.

A glance in Charrla's direction did little to assure him either.

"An offspring?" Aedan looked back down at the twisted tortoise with a grim expression of his own. "Then it's only a symptom of the problem. I'm starting to understand why you kept the villagers out..."

 

[Ecnalab]

Charrla stood next to Aedan as they looked down on the creature. "Yes, the thing's been tromping through the woods for weeks now, eating anything it happens to catch." A shill squeal cut though the air as one of the twisted tortoise's tentacles pulled out of a small burrow holding a ground squirrel. The appendage delivered the tiny creature under the main body, where a sickening slurping sound emanated from, and the tentacle retracted once more. "Poor little thing," said Charrla, as the squirrel was eaten. "But, lucky that he wasn't big enough for the thing to take pleasure with. You know, if keeps going like it is, it'll reach that little village outside the woods in a few days. I'd hate to be the 'lucky' girl who gets snagged by it; lots of man prods that want attention on this one," she finished, looking to Aedan with concern in her eyes.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan flinched at the squirrel's frightened cry and one of his hands raised in reflexive preparation to bring some sort of spell to bear down on the twisted beast, but it was over before the mana could even coalesce into something usable.

Charrla's "man prod" comment earned her a quizzical glance and tilt of Aedan's head, but his expression remained a grim one. "Then we need to slay it as quickly as possible,"

For a moment, the mage looked and sounded decisive. Then the weight of it all began to sink in. This would be the first time he'd ever killed something with his own hands. When Aedan tried to imagine plunging a magically conjured weapon into the twisted creature's heart, revolting though the beast was, it made his gut twist faintly. If the tortoise-like creature below was indeed a mere offspring of a "true" Twisted One lurking nearby, it wouldn't even be the only life he would have to take today either.

...But what choice was there?

"Alright..." Aedan took a breath to steady himself and reached out to the earth with one hand. Again all that the mana his body produced touched was blackened and strengthened beyond almost anything conventional magic could have achieved. A great chunk of the ground next to him rose up and took the shape of a solid obsidian warhammer that rested easily enough in the mage's similarly crafted armor along his arms. He gave the weapon a few light practice swings to get a feel for its weight.

"If...if you can't stab it where its soft, I should be able to crack its shell, or at least get that beast off its feet. Any advice before we begin?"

 

[Ecnalab]

"Don't let it grab you," Charrla muttered before dancing down the side of the ravine, and charging the monster. She sprinted along the rocky riverbed, and before the creature even new it was under attack, her sword was drawn, and one of its tentacles severed n one fluid motion, before she leaped into the air and planted her free hand on the monster's shell before springing off and coming down on its other side. "Come play with Charrla!" she cried.

The beast let loose reverberating groan, that Aedan felt in his teeth; the base was so deep. and at once all of its tentacles were lashing in Charrla's direction. Fortunately, she smart enough to keep a few feet ahead of the monster as it followed her slowly in a wide circle.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan grunted at Charrla's valid but not terribly helpful advice and then watched as she lunged down to meet their pray in battle. For a moment he stood back, marveling at the nymph's sheer speed and acrobatic prowess. He still wasn't entirely sure whether the strikingly beautiful swordswoman was channeling magic more subtle than his own, or it truly was possible for someone to simply train themselves to become the whirling dervish of death she had the potential to be.

Only when the twisted creature was thoroughly occupied did Aedan lunged down into the ravine as well. Bursts of ether-infused wind controlled his descent and ensured that he hit the ground running smoothly after the pair. The mage stopped only a short distance away before slamming his free fist into the earth. Black spikes shot up from beneath the charging beast, thrusting themselves up into what Aedan assumed was a thinner but still exceedingly undershell. It didn't matter whether they penetrated or not, though. He sought to flip the corrupted creature helplessly on its back.

(Aedan Attack roll: 5 + 3 + 1 + Precision 4 =13

Potential Damage roll: 5 + 5 + 3 + Intellect 6 = 19)

 

[Ecnalab]

(Evasion roll: 5+1+2+speed1=9. Resistance roll: 3+1+5+fortitude6=15. So 1 point of damage.)

The twisted spawn shrieked in pain and surprise, as jagged rocks slashed at its legs and impacted its underside, lifting it up until it toppled. The creature's mass sent it rolling several times, before it came to rest on its back. Its legs kicked futiley at the air, but its tentacle were a burr of motion as they scrambled to try and find something they could latch onto; filling the air with whizzing sounds as they whipped about all around the monster.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Aedan flinched at the twisted spawn's cries despite his so-far flawlessly executed plan. It was a monster that seemed only capable of mindlessly eating and raping anything it could get its tentacles on. It needed to die for the safety of all, but the cold logic didn't make witnessing the pain Aedan was inflicting upon it easier. This wasn't going to be like watching his mother hunt deer: one shot, one quick kill.

The mage kept his distance from the flailing tentacles and rose with his free hand extended. Bolts of crimson lightning spewed forth from his palm, targeting the boneless limbs and the patch of unarmored flesh they were connected to in equal measure. As long as he remained outside their reach and the creature trapped on its back, it was just a matter of time and determination before even this heavily armored beast was worn down.

(Attack Roll: 1 + 4 + 5 + Precision 4: 14

Damage roll: 5 + 3 + 5 + Intelligence 6: 19)

 

[Ecnalab]

(The thing is basically helpless against your attacks, so rather than finish rolling this out...)

The creature shrieked as red energy raced through its body, vaporizing skin and sizzling muscle. It continued thrashing for only a few seconds before going limp; its body thoroughly flash fried. Once the thing was dead, and Aedan ceased his assault, he was treated to a grotesque spectacle as the monster began to melt before his very eyes. Its flesh and tentacles dissolving into a reeking black muck that quickly evaporated into wispy trails of smoke, leaving behind only the large shell, and about half of a tortoise skeleton.

"Dead and gone from this world, and good riddance," said Charrla, walking around the remains to stand next to Aedan. "You're a strong one. Not seen spells like that before," she said, with a smile.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

(Fair enough. It's appreciated, and hopefully not too anti-climactic for your tastes. ^_^; )

Aedan gritted his teeth, as much from the strain of pouring as much power into his spell as to brace himself against the twisted creature's tortured cries. The crimson lightning flared brighter still and the tendrils of scorching energy grew large enough to rival a man's arm. He'd managed to hit where there was no shell to protect the soft flesh beneath. Mercifully, it was over quickly.

The young mage's lips curled up in clear disgust as the creature's flesh and muscle melted before his very eyes. It was hard to say whether it was the result his spell's power or a quality of its corrupted body.

"Indeed..." Aedan stiffened when Charrla tried to stand next to him. He twisted away almost immediately, keeping her just distant enough that if the nymph made any sudden movements with her sword he would see them coming. "Yes, well, I'm...gifted..."

The young man shifted uncomfortably. Charrla probably didn't have any use for Antavian gold, but she was a Fey-a being known for casually destroying the minds of travelers.

"That's part of why I sought you out. To learn. I've heard...interesting things about the magic of your kind, but the priesthood disapproved of that and my abilities. So...here I am..."