the Rift


Step 1: Earn a Welcome

Ausar Posts: 9
Outcast atk: 4.0 | def: 7.0 | dam: 7.0
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17hh :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Audi
#1
Ausar

Ah, it was a good day. He'd finally escaped the clutches of his past (that he'd sewn for himself, but that was beside the point) and found his way to the fabled Helovia. Rumor had it there was magic lurking in this land - magic he had every intention of harvesting for himself - among other things that sounded far too good to be true. And if anyone knew just how far expectations could fall from reality, it was Ausar. Smiling to himself, he reflected on what had transpired to get him to this point. Gods, did he know.

He'd been trotting, but as he neared what smelled to be far too potent a place to not be the point of turnover, he slowed to an eventual walk. Lion's tail curling lazily around the cannon of his left hind, eerie orbs took in the surrounding foliage. It, unlike his homeland, appeared to have taken quite a hit from whatever summer it had been forced to weather. Shaded areas still had some maybe-lush grass, but even that turned out to be tasteless compared to what he'd grown up with. He'd get used to it, though - such was the price he would pay in order to begin again. He had already failed once; he would not make the same mistakes again.

Since he was currently alone, he allowed a caustic smirk to curve the ebony of his lips, a ripple cascading across his skin in sheer anticipation. Ready or not, here I come... The whisper was shared with himself alone, but it still made him giddy like a schoolgirl. Speaking of which, he needed to find one...

A slight rustling at his side had the stallion's demeanor changing drastically: his toned posture softened into one of curious waiting, his tail pulled down and away so the spines were less obvious (though there was nothing he could do about the blades at his crest), and his head dropped to pick at the meager meal beneath his feet. The last was to give him an excuse to hood his eyes; without doing so, others generally took one look at the brute and turned the other cheek. He would accept being thought of as careless for not immediately perking at the sound of oncomers, in favor of getting a split second longer to win them over.

Satisfied he now gave off the air of any other equid in these parts, the demon waited.
Please only tag in opening posts.
Contact/Force/Magic always permitted provided you're not killing or irreparably damaging him!

Aisling the Fae Posts: 112
Absent Abyss atk: 5.5 | def: 9.0 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 13.1 :: 6 :: Birdsong HP: 63 | Buff: NOVICE
Sorcha :: Common Green Dragon :: Fire Breath Laine
#2
 
don't get lost in my lyrics
you won't find your way out


The little enchantress heard the movement in the woods ahead and altered her path to to meet it. She was always eager to meet knew faces, and god knows there were positions to be filled in the basin, but she approached with caution nonethe less. Af course, Aisling's form of caution was to stroll up to a stranger as if she didn't have a care in the world but that didn't mean she did so uncloaked. She sent a mental "Hush."  to the little green dragon that rode atop her head, between her ears and Sorcha, (now about the size of a large squirrel) hunkered down obligingly and reached to give a little pat of confirmation on her mistress's forehead.

Aisling reached for her magic, pulled an illusion out of the air using not but her voice and let it wrap around to hide both her and her dragon from view. In their place move a mare of the same color as Aisling, but far from the same size. She was size of a shire, crossed with battle scars and crowned with a spread of seven short silvery horns that jutted from her brow like a lethal-looking tiara.

”Ptolema, Ptolema
warrior queen of old!
She comes like thunder, strikes like iron
power great and ever bold.
Crowned in silver by the gods
born to walk the world at odds
with such sorry sinful sods
and dressed in scars but never gold..."
 

Though the music left her lips it reached no ears but her own. The illusion she created left only the sounds of heavy footfalls on the ground as Aisling (cloaked in the image of the fictional Ptolema) came into view in the spiked newcomer. She surveyed him curiously, a brutal figure with his crest of spines and dark coloring, but she remained undaunted. Living in the basin, Aisling had grown accustomed to the looming force that was Deimos the Reaper and so this one held no reason to make her nervous as he seemed to be abiding peacably for the time being. "These are not your lands." she said simply with no trace of accusation-they weren't anyone's lands save the Gods. "What is your purpose here?" It felt odd to hear her voice sound deeper than usual, but she pitched it to the illusion's size as she asked the question. Still hidden, little Sorcha slunk down she ridge of her neck, clinging to the braided mane of the little enchantress; she at least was a little frightened of the stranger. 

art by imi
[now come the days of the dreamer and they are filled with wonder and light ]
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Aisling in all posts ::

Ausar Posts: 9
Outcast atk: 4.0 | def: 7.0 | dam: 7.0
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17hh :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Audi
#3
Ausar
Rustling was soon overshadowed by foot falls, and Ausar kept his head down still. Curious - the lumbering beast he now heard should have been obvious from much farther away, unless the forests cleared and made way to more open pastures. Still, something of that weight should have been heard by the brute; he would think he was losing his touch if he were not absolutely certain he was sharp as a tack. His brow creased as he wondered at this.

A few steps more and the man was no longer alone. By the looks of the hooves alone, he knew his company was quite large, perhaps even taller than Ausar himself. He would curse his lineage if it had not afforded him power while allowing him to be something light on his hooves. He'd also already buried every member of his family, so even if he'd wished them ill, there wasn't much point now, was there?

He waited for the mare's (this came as a surprise to him) question before finally pulling his crown upward. Solely yellow orbs surveyed the creature beside him from hoof to poll in a single, subtle motion before he stood at his full height, taking in her many injuries. From the look of her alone, he decided he liked the woman; if nothing else, she'd probably be able to handle his volatile nature and, from the looks of it, dish it right back. He had to suppress a smirk at the thought. Her crown, not so unlike his own horns, appeared the perfect tool for impaling an enemy. For a moment he allowed his mind to wander so he could imagine the sight of blood covering those tines and, in turn, the face of such a beauty. It was a heady reverie.

"To find a herd worth fighting for," the demon answered easily, voice open with honesty. He wanted to roll his eyes at himself for how incredibly corny he sounded, but he knew these were the kinds of things others wanted to hear. The urge to immediately follow up with "Is that what you are here to offer?" was extreme, but his ability to understand manners kept him quiet.. for the most part. Behind him, his tail made a single swish side to side before settling at its original location. He excelled at carrying out mundane coversations, but that didn't mean he liked them. The hellion preferred maiming over anything that could be done with the mouth, though teeth were often helpful.

"My name is Ausar," he offered, dipping his head in greeting. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
@aisling
Please only tag in opening posts.
Contact/Force/Magic always permitted provided you're not killing or irreparably damaging him!

Aisling the Fae Posts: 112
Absent Abyss atk: 5.5 | def: 9.0 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 13.1 :: 6 :: Birdsong HP: 63 | Buff: NOVICE
Sorcha :: Common Green Dragon :: Fire Breath Laine
#4
 
don't get lost in my lyrics
you won't find your way out


He stood upright, a fearsome creature he, and on her withers little Sorcha buried her red-splashed face into Aisling’s mane. The mare sent a wash of comfort through there bond and whispered with her mind “There now, a stór, I will not let him harm you.” and trusting in the truth of that, Sorcha’s shivers quieted though she remained nestled in. Aisling, in her guise, only watched the beast take a survey of the creature he saw before him. She smirked then, and it showed on the face or Ptolema, for she though there might be something appreciative in his glance. Sorry to disappoint you, dear.

A herd worth fighting for, he said, and Aisling had already found hers. She considered him carefully, trying to evaluate the stallion before her. Like the did in her youth, images of storied and songs strange to her mind, fitting him into archetypes (possibly the villain, a wicked general exiled for horrible crimes, maybe a black knight hiding bravery and goodness under a dark and brooding exterior). Unlike her youth, Aisling did not let these fanciful ideas rule her, bit instead tried to make a careful determination of his potential for a new member of the Aurora Basin. He could be dangerous, she decided, but would it be better to have that danger on their side.

”Hmmm… ‘Who’ indeed…”  she mused cryptically when her asked her name and said no more about that. “I have a herd, and I fight for it with what talents I possess. I don’t know what your criteria for ‘worth’ might be, but the Aurora Basin is my home, and I find it worthy above all else. We live to the north of here, tucked into the mountains.” She tossed her head over her shoulder to indicate the direction she had come from. “It’s a harsh place to live at times, and the cold will soon be on us, but you don’t look much like a delicate flower. Our Lord, The Reaper, always has a use for warriors and perhaps you might fit that bill.”

She moved, the vision of her bulky figure moving in an arc toward his front as she kept a stern looking grey gaze on his eerie yellow eyes. “Ausar…” The tested the name on her lips, the mischievous smile that was all Aisling peeking into the large mare’s face. “What is it that you’re worth?”

art by imi

@Ausar Sorry should have asked, do you want to be tagged?
[now come the days of the dreamer and they are filled with wonder and light ]
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Aisling in all posts ::

Ausar Posts: 9
Outcast atk: 4.0 | def: 7.0 | dam: 7.0
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17hh :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Audi
#5
Ausar
It was tempting to respond to the quirk of her lips, but in the interest of remaining innocuous he refrained. As she scanned him, he was disappointed for the first time that his hide was so dark. In battle it served him well, because his opponents could not see the outline of his musculature and assumed him weak. Here, however, he wished he could shed just a little bit of light on his physique. The midnight that clung to him now verged on sensory deprivation, so dark was he. Except, of course, for the dusting of mahogany over his face - as if that part of him needed to draw any more attention. His eyes were bad enough.

They did provide one advantage, however: when he rolled them, as he did at the mare's cryptic response, no one could tell. Whatever, she served one very specific purpose, and after that he didn't need her. He just needed a herd. He needed to fight in these lands and know what he was really up against, and then he wouldn't need anyone. Not this mare who gave off an air of badassery (but he suspected was perhaps less so), not the herd he would hopefully soon be invited into.... no one. He'd gotten along by his own brass for as long as he could remember. If he found himself becoming attached to a particular individual, he killed them so he wouldn't be weighed down. It stirred an odd emotion in the stallion, but he chose to think of it as a purging of what weakness remained inside him.

The reverence with which she spoke of their leader was at odds with title he had, but if words were taken at face value then perhaps this "Reaper" was someone worth meeting. The topic of his delicacy, on the other hand, had him snorting in agreement. And then she moved, and his warrior's instinct had him shifting his weight ever so slightly. He could have stood straight and not altered a muscle, but bravado almost always failed in the face of onslaught. Preparedness was the better option, in his eyes. The question had his lids narrowing around yellow orbs, and internally he immediately ground, "So much more than your small brain could possibly fathom." To the outside observer, however, he remained stoic. "That depends entirely on your definition of 'worth'," he countered, finally allowed a smirk to curve one corner of his mouth.

Then, rather than remaining stationary as he awaited her appraisal, the demon started his own. Side-stepping so he could work his way around her, unforgiving eyes surveyed the woman from all angles. There was something... off about her, but he couldn't figure out what exactly that something was. When he was at the level of her shoulder, just before repositioning himself at her front, Ausar asked, "What about you? Your scars tell of many a battle, but which side did you end on?" Victim or victor? That was all that mattered to the beast. That was his decider of worth.

@aisling -- you don't need to! :)
Please only tag in opening posts.
Contact/Force/Magic always permitted provided you're not killing or irreparably damaging him!

Aisling the Fae Posts: 112
Absent Abyss atk: 5.5 | def: 9.0 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 13.1 :: 6 :: Birdsong HP: 63 | Buff: NOVICE
Sorcha :: Common Green Dragon :: Fire Breath Laine
#6
 
don't get lost in my lyrics
you won't find your way out


Aisling did not shrink under his careful scrutiny, though she did seem her eyes locked on the beast as he spoke, as be began to circle around her. She’s always been observant, and as Hotaru had claimed, highly perceptive, and those were traits she had been working to hone even more since her promotion to head Thief of the Aurora Basin (only Thief now that Rexanna had gone). This stallion and his vacant eyes presented a new challenge, their pupil-less stare not converting emotion as normal eyes did. He had a brow though, and she tried to note when his eyelid narrowed or widened to see if they would convey the intricate of thought she wished to extract from him.

“Worth is subjective, that much is true. In the Basin we value skill, power in all its firms, we’d hardly survive if we didn’t but in a herd those aren’t worth the words to describe them if they aren’t accompanied by loyalty, by dedication. Could you give those to your ‘herd worth fighting for’?” Her head followed him around as she answered his first statement. Waiting for his reaction to the those tenets—ones perhaps that she embellished on from her leader’s views—she looked mildly over her shoulder. At his question she gave slightly dramatic sigh, flicking her eyes upward as if to say “Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.”

“We value honesty too, at least between herdmates and our allies, so I suppose if you’re to be one..” She smiled, then, bright as anything, and sent him a cheeky wink before letting her illusion fall away. Like clearing mist, the immense battlemare faded to reveal Aisling’s true self in her place. The little mare was similarly colored, but her cloud colors hide was unmarred by those battle scars and her brow was unadorned save for several tiny braids falling with her forelock. The rest of her mane was tied back into a thick rope that fell down her right shoulder and a black flute that still sparkled like the sun hung at her left. on her withers lay a curled lump of green, the red crest of Sorcha’s head well hidden in Aisling’s mane. The little mare dipped her head as meeting the stallion anew, her smile so evidently pleased with herself. “Alas, I cannot boast of battle. I am Aisling, Master of Secrets and expert Larcenist for the Aurora Basin.”

art by imi
[now come the days of the dreamer and they are filled with wonder and light ]
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Aisling in all posts ::

Ausar Posts: 9
Outcast atk: 4.0 | def: 7.0 | dam: 7.0
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17hh :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Audi
#7
ausar
At the mare's question, Ausar stopped dead. His head snaked to look at her from where he was in the circle around her, and charcoal lids narrowed slightly. "I am nothing if not dedicated," the devil stated, somewhat sternly. She didn't need to know that the rest of that sentence was: to whatever cause I deem important. She didn't need to know that he was going to be his own stallion regardless of who or what he was attached to. For all intents and purposes, he would fight for the herd and protect those who depended on him. For now.

He was confused by her apparent contempt as he asked of her battles. Honesty? What did that have to do with battle scars? His head tipped to the right as he considered this, perplexion clear in his features. He was missing something, he knew-.....

Like maybe that the mare he was talking to was in all actuality a petite little thing that wouldn't win a fight on the best of days. Ausar's muzzle dropped to take in this new appearance, so visible was the difference. He now towered over her, and reflexively his poll reached toward the sky. "Well that's a neat trick," he stated mildly, schooling his voice so his disappointment wasn't palpable. The woman who had first entered this clearing would have been quite the opponent - one Ausar would gladly spar again and again, until one of them was too battered to continue. Spoiler alert: it would be her. This new, true form wouldn't stand a chance against him, which made her a boring chess piece. Shame.

It took a fair bit of self control not to shoot back "No shit," when she confirmed her absence on the battlefield, but he managed to refrain. There was something atop her shoulders, anyway, that caught his attention. Intrigued, Ausar's head snaked around to one side in an attempt to get a better look, but whatever it was was well-masked by the mare's mane. Snorting lightly, he addressed this Aisling with a nod. "A pleasure to meet the real you," he lied smoothly. "I assume that was a glimpse at the magic this land holds?"
the world is my trigger
and i'm here to fuckin' pull it

lines | coloring & coding

@aisling
Please only tag in opening posts.
Contact/Force/Magic always permitted provided you're not killing or irreparably damaging him!

Aisling the Fae Posts: 112
Absent Abyss atk: 5.5 | def: 9.0 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 13.1 :: 6 :: Birdsong HP: 63 | Buff: NOVICE
Sorcha :: Common Green Dragon :: Fire Breath Laine
#8
 
don't get lost in my lyrics
you won't find your way out


The revealing of her true form didn't have quite the effect she'd been hoping for, and that grated slightly at the little mare's pride. The tiniest shadow of temper crossed her sweet little face. Neat trick? Neat trick?! Perhaps it stung so much because it truly was only a trick, an illusion, but she would have expected a little more appreciation of her power. He couldn't know that she hadn't truly taken that form, not with out touching her. Worse than anything it made her feel more that usually plain and little. Being small, unhorned, and unwinged never usually bothered her and she wanted to damn the stallion for making her feel so now, even if only a little bit.

Even though the flicker of bad feeling was short and almost insignificant to the mare (she could have and did shrug it off almost as soon as it flared up) the little feathered dragon had never had cause to feel such things and they kindled a fierceness in her little heart that drowned out fear. Being as small as she was she only had room for one emotion at a time, and now the little wanted only to defend her mistress against what she saw as a very bad man.  The green mound uncurled from the mare's shoulder and scampered up the ridge of white neck. From between Aisling's ears Sorcha hissed at the stallion, spewing little puffs of smoke from her mouth.

"Sorcha, that's enough!" Aisling scolded gently, giving her head a small shake to distract the baby dragon. With an obiedient huff, the little monster hunkered down to pillow its head on Aisling's forelock but kept its beady forrest green eyes trained on the horned stallion. Satisfied, Aisling turned her attention back to Ausar, though her manner was not as overtly friendly as it had been and took on a slightly businesslike tone, she was polite nonetheless and answered his question kindly. "It was. Magic here is sourced from the Gods and Goddess, mine is a gift of the Sun God." Thinking that was enough for now, she got back to her purpose. "The Basin could use warriors if you'd be interested in joining us, the higher ranks recieve magic for the task fron our Patron the God of the Spark, but that is for the Lord and Lady to appoint."
art by imi
[now come the days of the dreamer and they are filled with wonder and light ]
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Aisling in all posts ::


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