Cult of the Black Scales [IC]

Morician followed the charge of the others, solidly bringing up the rear. He'd always been rather lead-footed in life, and undeath was certainly no exception, especially given the swampy terrain and his heavy armor. However, it seemed Sylstyx was coming to the rescue in her prayers to the elements, given he felt a little lighter on his feet.

A quick survey of the battlefield revealed that the others seemed to have things well in-hand. Richard, however, seemed to have gotten himself in a bit of a pickle. Growling under his breath, he charged over to the mage's side, planting his runeblade into the earth and channeling his power into a small anti-magic shield. Only once the shield was established did he bother actually looking towards the mage. "How bad is it?"
Kora’s flurry of weaponry found itself clanking against the shield of one of the dragonspawn while the platewearing dragonspawn charged for her for a body slam.

Kora nimbly sidesteps the much larger dragonspawn, "You know the problem with that form my dear?" Kora nimbly sidesteps as the creature charges her again, "You are so much slower." Kora's weapons came flying in at the dragonspawn's achilles tendons hoping to take the creature out of commission for a bit. She was playing things a little slower than usual so as to save her energy for the real fight to come.
The shadowpriest writhed in agony as Richard’s fires had did a number on her. Areas of her robes had melted to her skin and she was covered in very severe burns. Slowly, the world around her began to darken, but not before she would have her vengeance. While Richard was incapacitated with her mind magic, she lashed out with a bolt of shadow energy. As the world faded to black, she failed to see that the shadowbolt would be blocked by the deathknight’s anti magic shield.

The dragonspawn engaged with Kora soon found agony in his legs as his tendons were severed. He cried out in agony as he fell into the mash waters. His head hit a solid rock as he landed, knocking him out. His face, submerged in what was barely ankle deep water. Unable to walk, unable to move, unconscious. This dragonspawn was doomed to unknown suffocation.

Sylstyx tossed a wave of healing spirit water towards Richard, who seemed to be impacted by some spell of the priest’s. The she hesitated before making her way towards the cavern mouth. A part of her heart wanted to make sure the dragonspawn did not suffocate. It was a bit crueler of a fate than she wanted to leave, and she already had watched a foe burn to death. Still, he was an enemy and they needed to keep going. Sylstyx said a small prayer that his passing would be swift as she ran.

As the final foe met its fate, Kersia began to make for the cave. Vynianyx, Torin, and Draco were already ahead of her within it, and Sylstyx was ahead of her outside.

Vynianyx came upon the patrolling dragonspawn as she rounded a bend. Having heard their approach, she caught them off guard as her feline form melded into the shadows. She lunged at the one with the twin swords, betting on the great axe wielder to be slower at the weapon draw. Vynianyx’s jaws couldn’t quite make it all the way to the dragonspawn’s trachea as the gap between his helm and breast plate was too narrow, but she did leave a good gash.

However, Vynianyx misjudged the speed of the great axe. She yelped as she went flying when the great axe blade cut into her flank.

((Stopping here to give Torin and Draco, and anyone else coming into the cave a chance to catch up and/or post))
Richard glanced up as the Death Knight put up some sort of magical barrier around them. "I'll be fine." He grunted. "If worse comes to wear I always have Synthara here." He gestured to the panther standing beside him.

As he spoke another wave of shadowy energy hit the barrier but dissipated around them, the barrier twisting itself and absorbing the blow. Soon the strange dragon came by, Sys something, he couldn't remember her name. "Ah...thanks." He said as the healing spell washed over him, soothing his mind. "Go on ahead. They'll need you." He said to the Death Knight.
Kora looked at the unconcious dragonspawn with a sigh, "I can't leave you to die like this." Kora kicked the dragonspawn over so that he was no longer drowning, "Better a quick death than a slow one." She finds a seam in the creature's armor near its heart and inserts one of her blades into the creature's flesh, piercing its heart. Kora sighed as she straightened, "Such a waste, why do we continue to fight amonst ourselves when there are much greater dangers out there."

The dragoness said a small prayer for the dragonspawn before running to catch up to the others.
Vinarion hadn’t visited Mortre in some time, and much of the activity with the cult seemed to be elsewhere from the main chambers. Mortre allowed herself time to relax in her cell. From what she had overheard earlier, Vanexia had been relocated to Onyxia’s old lair. Apparently, Vanzerion had seen Kersia’s group head into Dustwallow.

Mortre felt a sense of confliction. She wanted to have her children back, not these warped people. Deep down, she hoped she could sway them back. But Mortre didn’t want Kersia and the others to get harmed because of her. She cursed herself. Had she been more careful, perhaps this all could have been avoided.

“Hmmm, seems they are preparing for something.”

Mortre jumped, having forgotten that Tolbyas was still within the tunnels. She composed herself and regarded him with a cold expression. She couldn’t be certain what information he had gleaned since he last made himself known. “Perhaps.”

Tolbyas twirled his lock picks between his fingers. “Is someone coming for you?”

“I… I believe so.” Mortre hid her concern, her doubts, behind her cold features.

“Interesting.” Tolbyas grinned. “Ya know… something has been bothering me. Maybe you can clear it up.”

Mortre cocked her head at the elf, but remained silent. She had a feeling he didn’t spend that time just twiddling his thumbs in the shadows.

“This… Vinarion, the cult leader, seems rather keen on someone he refers to as mother.” Tolbyas absently tapped a lock pick against his chin. “Yet, when angered, he refers to this same person as a mutt, a traitor.” Tolbyas looked over to Mortre. “Interestingly enough, he also seems to be a black dragon.”

“Your point?” Mortre scowled.

Tolbyas cackled softly. “I just find it rather interesting. A lot of his anger seems to point at his mother, but the things he says seems to point at you.”

Footsteps echoed in the corridors. Tolbyas smirked for a moment before vanishing in the shadows. Mortre’s scowl deepened. Tolbyas was her hope of getting out and preventing Kersia from getting involved… but he might end up being the one to kill her.

She sighed. What a mess.
Vynianyx’s feline form rolled and came to a crunching halt as she slammed into the opposite cavern wall, leaving a decent pool of blood. She gasped for breath as the air was knocked right out of her lungs and she trembled as she slowly returned to her paws. A large jolt of pain coursed through her body, with several points of origination. Vynianyx nearly fell back to her stomach but held her ground.

The dragonspawn she attacked was pressing his hands to his throat as he worked to stem the bleeding, while the other slowly advanced. The tunnel wreaked with the scent of burning flesh as the injured dragonspawn worked to cauterize his own neck wound.

Vynianyx starred the approaching dragonspawn down as she slowly backpedaled down the cavern. She had expected allies by now, and again she seemed to have misjudged her situation. Now she felt as if she was looking death in the eyes.

That was when the warm, wet, slightly stinging sensation washed over her. Sylstyx was a few paces behind her, having seemed to have passed Torin and Draco to reach Vynianyx. Healing spiritual water flowed from the shaman to the druid, mending her flank wound and numbing the pain from her fractured ribs.

Kersia was fast approaching as well, having blinked to close the distance. With quick spell casting, the mage managed to freeze the two dragonspawn’s feet to the stone, but the spell wouldn’t last long.
With Kersia’s ice and Sylstyx’s healing, Vynianyx was able to rebound. Just in time, too, as she rolled to the side. The dragonspawn’s axe came heavily down on the space Vynianyx’s neck had occupied moments prior.

The druidess snarled and got to her paws. This was proving more difficult than she anticipated, but with her allies now present, Vynianyx felt renewed. She moved to the shadows of the wall, fading from sight.

The sword brandishing dragonspawn recovered, though blood still seeped from the gash on his neck. He grumbled and charged forward at Sylstyx, catching the shaman off guard. Sylstyx barely avoided the full force of the dragonspawn’s attack, gaining a decent slice to her left thigh.

The draenei’s cry in pain sparked Vynianyx’s assault. The hidden feline darted from the shadows and latched onto the dragonspawn’s throat once more. This time she was able to finish what she had started and managed to bite deeply into the dragonspawn’s neck. Blood poured from the wound as Vyn jumped away. The dragonspawn cried out, but only gurgled noises escaped his jaws as he feel to his knees. In a matter of seconds, his lifeless body fell back with a soft thud.

While they fought, Kersia found herself occupied with the axe wielding dragonspawn. He moved from Vyn to her in one swift action, and Kersia had to blink to open a gap between them. As soon as Kersia reappeared in reality, she flung a ball of arcane energy at the dragonspawn.

The dragonspawn avoided Kersia’s arcane ball with a step to the side, then charged towards the mage once more. Kersia did not want to expend much more energy on this peon, and focused more on avoiding him. She froze the earth at the dragonspawn’s feet, sending him sliding into the tunnel’s wall. As he reoriented himself, Vynianyx was upon him, thrashing at his legs. The dragonspawn turned to swing at the cat, leaving himself open to Kersia once more. The mage formed a spear of crystalized arcane energy and launched it at the dragonspawn. He turned from Vynianyx too late, and the spear went through his side.

With the last foe of the tunnel vanquished, Sylstyx summoned a small rainstorm over them. It mended the cuts and bruises, as the group continued to move forward deeper into the cavern.
Richard had begun to recollect himself after the attack. "Holy light that hurt." He pat Synthara on her side and got up, balancing himself using her backside a bit. "Good thing nothing came or you would've been doing all the fighting."

He got up in the empty cavern. Empty aside from the bodies that were still there and beginning to smell rather unpleasant. He listened for the cacophony of noise, the sound of battle deeper ahead into the place. His companions were already knee deep in battle.

He came across another group of dragonspawn and wet ground, no doubt that strange dragon who healed him was at work here. Whatever it was they were definitely up ahead. He trudged along, panther at his side, hoping to catch up to them soon enough.
By the time Kora caught up to the others the fighting had already finished. Sylstyx was working on healing everyone's wounds, Guess I shouldn't have stopped to finish that guy off... no it was the right thing to do, no one deserves to drown whil unconcious. Kora moved to join the others waiting for Kersia to inform them of their next move.
Kersia took some pleasure when others had arrived. She continued to lead the group forward through the tunnels. So far, she had forgotten about her want for information, mostly due to the fight or flight aspect of their encounters so far. Kersia hoped some level of a leader would be up ahead, one she could interrogate in some way.

The tunnel grew warmer at a rapid rate as she lead the way. Her body could feel that the ground was at a slight slope, leading them deeper and deeper into the earth. The passage curved and took a sharp decline before turning once more and suddenly opening into a large cavern.

The cavern was large enough to fit most of the Stormwind cathedral, minus some of the higher spires. Its perimeter had a stream of lava that encircled the room, except for the five foot wide entry way. Its ceiling was dome shaped, and rather devoid of natural stalagmites, which betrayed the manufactured nature of the space.

In the center of the room stood a tall, half elf looking woman, with bronzed skin and black hair pulled into a hair wrap. On her person, she wore a black leather top that came to her mid forearm and just above her navel. Her pants were the same, though there were thick pieces of leather over her hips and knees. The pants were loose enough at the bottoms to conceal the boots on the woman’s feet.

She seemed almost lost in thought as Kersia lead the others into the room.
After giving Richard a hand with the shadowmage, Morician turned his attention towards catching up with the rest of the group. The enemies guarding the cave's entrance didn't pose too much trouble, or at least nothing Sylstyx couldn't fix, it would seem. A couple of the cultists off to the side drew his ire by attempting to use him for target practice, slowing his progress somewhat as he took the time to show them the error of their ways.

The rogue mages dispatched, he fell in behind Kersia as she lead them deeper into the cave. And here I was thinkin' it would be cooler underground...he thought bitterly to himself, resisting the urge to tap his runic magic for relief from the heat. Given the appearance of the dragonspawn earlier, he certainly didn't want to be expending his own strength on trivial comfort, especially if there might be real dragons further in.

11/11/2017 07:48 PMPosted by Kersia
The cavern was large enough to fit most of the Stormwind cathedral, minus some of the higher spires. Its perimeter had a stream of lava that encircled the room, except for the five foot wide entry way. Its ceiling was dome shaped, and rather devoid of natural stalagmites, which betrayed the manufactured nature of the space.

In the center of the room stood a tall, half elf looking woman, with bronzed skin and black hair pulled into a hair wrap. On her person, she wore a black leather top that came to her mid forearm and just above her navel. Her pants were the same, though there were thick pieces of leather over her hips and knees. The pants were loose enough at the bottoms to conceal the boots on the woman’s feet.

She seemed almost lost in thought as Kersia lead the others into the room.


His scowl deepened as he caught sight of the strange woman, prompting him to tighten his grip on his runeblade. The fact that he was in a large, semi-dark underground room was bad enough, let alone strange females standing all by themselves in the middle of one. Something just felt wrong; a tightening sensation forming in his gut. He cast a glance towards Kersia and the others, attempting to discern their feelings on the matter.
- Draconyxion -

A shadow moved along the cave walls As the dwarf traveled through the earth. While it would have been a good idea to help the others in their conflicts with the Dragonspawn and cultists Draco's mind was elsewhere. He moved silently within the cave walls until he came to the main chamber where a woman was standing alone. He could see the others as the arrived but it may have been too late. His mind was tittered on the edge as he got deeper and deeper into Azeroth and the whispers grew ever more present within his mind.

"It is about time you guys got here. was beginning to think you'd gotten lost."

- Brave Baine Bloodhoof -

Baine and his pets had remained outside to make sure that they were not going to be ambushed from behind. He knew from scouting reports that there was still a group of Black Dragons that inhabited the swamps and it was unlikely they would all be inside at the same time. Yes it was true they had several Dragons on their side, but there was a savagery that Blacks could have few members of the other flights could match. If they encountered another like the one from the divide, it would be problematic if they were also kept from their retreat by any returning drakes.
The ground along the tunnels was littered with the occasional corpse, an indication his companions were working their way deeper into the cavern. The heat grew as they went deeper underground.

It sent worrisome thoughts into his mind. He wondered what may lie ahead. Hopefully nothing too drastic. He stopped to take a break and began to dig through his pack. He wanted to be prepared for what lay ahead. Pulling out his few freezing potions, he clutched them tightly, hoping to catch whatever threat faces him deeper off-guard.

He worked his way towards where the others were, staring down a foreign woman in a rather sizeable part of the cave.
Kersia tightened her fists as she saw the woman in the center of the room. Immediately, she recognized the woman as the one from the pirate ship, but something seemed different. The woman appeared less confident than her appearance over the ship. Kersia couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sort of falling out amongst the kidnappers. Based on before, and the woman’s position here, she was clearly a member of the higher ranks. Perhaps she could be swayed to talk?

Vynianyx crouched low, concern in her mind as she squared herself against the female centerpiece. Based on scent, location, and prior events, this one was most likely a true dragon. She took a few steps forward, silently putting herself between the woman and the group, prepared for battle. Vynianyx had her doubts this would go down peacefully.

Sylstyx stayed in the back as they entered the room. She tried communing with the fire elementals to lower the heat, but fire was her weakest area. Instead, she turned to wind, generating a light breeze in the group. Something to help with air flow.

Morician, Kora, and Richard had arrived as well, something Kersia took comfort in. She was worried something in their plan had gone awry, or that others had left for their own endeavors. Not that she could blame them if they did. With the others arriving, Kersia returned her focus to the woman. The woman still hadn’t moved from her spot. Clearly it was obvious they had arrived. Should they act now and hope for a surprise? Or was this a bait? A trap? Kersia chewed on her lip with uncertainty.

"It is about time you guys got here. was beginning to think you'd gotten lost."

A familiar voice, but still sudden enough for Kersia to jump. How did she not see Draco there as well? More importantly, where had he been? Kersia wracked her memory, but couldn’t recall the exact moment she lost track of him. Did he defect? A multitude of worries and possibilities darted between Kersia’s ears. However, a low growl from Vynianyx snapped Kersia back to reality.

The woman was gone.
Mortre sat in her cell and watched as Vinarion seemed to address a small collective. There were people that appeared of all races, though Mortre could sense the draconic auras that dotted the group. She had thought more of her line had survived, but they clearly lost many in the years since Draenor.

“They come for this prize!” Vinarion cried out, slamming his left hand against Mortre’s cage. “A traitor! Traitor! My own mother who has betrayed her bloodline! Betrayed AZEROTH!” Vinarion roared.

“Death to traitors!” chanted the gathering.

“No,” Vinarion moved away from the cage and rolled his neck. His eyes had a wild glint to them as he peered over his masses. “I want her to break. To see the hellspawn she considers a child crumple before her, the friends who come for her perish under our force.”

Mortre remained emotionless as she sat, ragged in her box. Vinarion glanced over to her, a slight expression of dismay crossed his features. He wanted a response from his captive. A plea. But all she gave him was silence.

Vinarion snarled and turned his attention back to his congregation. “Tch, make sure you capture the fools when they arrive. She will witness their fall.”

With that, he left into the back caverns, his gathering dispersing into various caverns as well.

Mortre sighed, releasing her steeled expression into one of worry. She hoped Sterixia was safe, far away from all of this. Though, she wondered how safe Sterixia would be if she was alone. She took some comfort that the cult hadn’t realized what Sterixia was when they ambushed them. Mortre knew in her heart they would have killed the child on the spot.

To ensure Sterixia’s safety, Mortre needed to get out of there. Vinarion seemed insistent that she remain alive to see her allies suffer, but Mortre wanted to resist. To help them when they came. It was clear, Vinarion could not be changed.

With a heavy heart, Mortre resolved herself. She would have to kill him.
11/19/2017 12:35 AMPosted by Tinkahra
"It is about time you guys got here. was beginning to think you'd gotten lost."


Richard swiveled his head looking around and spotting the dwarf. In the flurry of motions that led them to this moment he had all but forgotten his boisterous companion was even with them. He hadn't seen him earlier, but clearly he was still around.

11/20/2017 09:15 PMPosted by Kersia
The woman was gone.

[/quote]

It happened in an instant it seemed. No sooner had he glanced away the foreign entity had disappeared. Where to? He didn't know. He was on his guard in-case it was a trick to attack them.
Kersia cursed under her breath for losing focus. Where had the woman vanished to? She immediately began to pull in her mana, ready to cast a spell as a moment’s notice. They were in this woman’s territory, and they were at a disadvantage. She only hoped the others were ready as well.

Vynianyx crouched low to the earth, her form shifting from a white saber to her fire saber. Her goal was to be able to withstand any fire based surprise attack this woman would throw. What confused the druidess was that the woman seemed to vanish, without a sound, without a scent. Vynianyx really tried to tease the woman’s scent out of the air. Perhaps it was an invisibility spell? Vyn scowled, hating herself for turning her eyes towards Draco when he spoke. Low to the ground, Vynianyx began to prowl her way forward, towards where the woman once stood.

Sylstyx wasn’t watching at all. She was blissfully unaware of what had occurred and was rather confused by the sudden tense feeling she was getting from her comrades. By that alone, the shaman pulled a healing totem from her totem pouch, and was ready to activate it.

To the left of the group, if one listened closely, they would hear a shift in the bubbly ambience of the lava there. It was a little duller, as if something was lurking within. Or someone.

In a flurry of motion, the front of the left lava trench erupted. The woman sprang out, from the pillar of lava, black dragon wings and tail visible on her back. Using the wings, she darted forward, fast, hoping to still be riding on the surprise of the lava burst. She moved to land in front of Kersia, and then jumped to the side. As she made her way, she threw what appeared to be long needles right into the group and an arc, hoping to pierce through any cloth or leather armor.

Behind her followed a rain of lava, a threat in and of itself.

As soon as the lava erupted, Kersia pooled her mana and blinked across the room, narrowly avoiding the needles aimed at herself, but anyone behind her would be at risk for them. She tried to counter attack with a blast of arcane energy but specks of lava hitting her feet altered her footing and the arcane blast hit a hole in the wall. The rain of stone from the missed arcane blast landed in the lava, causing more disruption and flare ups.

Vynianyx sprung into action, running to catch the woman. She jumped up and managed to sink her claws into the woman’s left thigh, halting the woman’s flight and bringing the pair of them to the cavern ground with a crash.

Sylstyx threw down her healing totem to help with the damages from the needles and lava, then immediately began trying to stop the lava from overflowing at the trenches. The stones from the walls and the woman’s attack made the lava volatile, and Sylstyx was struggling to contain it.
Kora had arrived after the woman had vanished, but she could see by the look on Kersia's face that something was amiss which put her guard up. She formed her kunai and chain weapon and began to slowly spin it in circles. The lava held no real threat to her and so when it erupted she was able to focus on deflecting the various needles thrown at her. Is this it? Kora whipped her weapon forward to wrap around the grounded woman, the weapon was a manifestation of her draconic tail and wouldn't be easily broken. This attack was lazy, as if the woman hadn't intended to harm any of them, or did Mortre's captors want them alive?
In a blur the cavern lit with activity as lava began to pour forth as the woman resurfaced from underneath the ground. She quickly lunged towards them needles flowing from the ground.

He threw his freezing potion at her, hoping it would explode onto her, but it missed landing on the ground sinking into the lava, fizzling out. He was struck by a few of the needles in his arm, penetrating it.

He clinched his arm in pain, keeping his eyes open towards the woman as she was brought down by another of their party to the ground. He pulled out the needles, discarding their bloody ends on the ground, blood oozing forth from where the wound was. He grimaced, but felt a slight twinge of relief as the strange drakes magic started to work towards ebbing the flow.