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Big Girls Don't Cry

Page history last edited by Liz 15 years, 8 months ago

 

[Synopsis: The second encounter in as many weeks between random Exalted where human sacrifice may have played a key part. Necromancy seems to be on the rise. Cynis Falen Cassia battles cultists in part one of an adventure, (due to time constraints) and plans to return soon to finish the job of eliminating these darklings. Players: Cynis Cassia. Run by Sonata (2 xp).]

 

      Midday and the sun is hidden behind a sheet of moody gray clouds. The air is softly scented with the smell of rain yet to come and an unseasonably cool wind gusts through the forest, between the trees, their limbs, and the brush that surrounds their trunks. The young woman who travels through the area has little care for the weather, so enrapt is she with the prospect of discovery.

        Cynis Falen Cassia moves through the woodland terrain like a native; like some feline predator on the prowl. She steps carefully, her every footfall planned and none of her movements going to waste. When the diffused sunlight beams down to touch her form, glittering green jade reflects it light. That is the magical material that guards her body and shapes the bow at the ready in her steady hands.

        This is the way it's been for the past few hours. The huntress moves alone, as she prefers to, indulging her inner introvert and satisfying a lust for thrills. An ancient map indicated the possibility of a ruin buried somewhere in the forest and Cassia, the great-great-granddaughter of Cynis, made the decision to find it for herself and claim it for the glory of her House.

        "Something's got to turn up," Cassia mutters to herself, seeming to be at the limit of her patience and boredom threshold already. The rich features of her face are twisted into a stern expression and her violet eyes flicker wildly, taking nothing for granted.

 

 

        Stepping out of the woods and into a clearing, her bow at the ready, the beauty of her house, it is not unexpected that someone might attack her, and so as a matter of course, she expects it. The movements in the trees are the greatest distractions--birds on wing, a deer rustling deep in the brush, constantly drawing attention away from the ground.

        And something always does turn up, but what does creep up, is not up, but down, only catching her foot at the last moment, she teeters for a moment, but prevents herself from spilling on down a shaft in the ground, a ladder leading down one side. Deep below, she can make out the flicker and dancing lights of torches. The maps had indicated something quite contrary, but deeper in the forest.

        Also from that pervasive darkness below, she makes out the yelling and thunder of drums, and horrible cries. Tortured screaming and savage brutal noises.

 

 

        Never one who could resist a good mystery, Cassia finds herself on the literal edge of one as she kneels at the hole. "Well what's this?" She asks no one in a very quiet voice. Her eyes narrow as she peers into the darkness to track the torchlight and make out whatever details may be available. Ultimately, she knows there's only one way to find out the goings on for sure and is soon on the ladder and descending into the mystery of the darkness below.

 

 

        Thrum. The rotten wood of the ladder is hardly First Age in construction, but emerging onto the roughly hewn floor below she can make out the rough outline of long ago carved rock, and realizes that this was quite probably a mine shaft at some point in the past--though that is only a first guess. The tunnel leads in two directions, in one, there are the screams, a woman, at the moment. Visceral screams. From the other, there come no sounds, save the lone bass of a drum. Thrum.

        "Please!" the voice yells out.

 

 

        Cassia is immediately drawn to the sound of suffering and pleading. Her bow is ready and a trio of arrows nocked. With care to being quiet, the Wood aspect rushes down the tunnel to find the source of the crying. Dark raven hair spills behind her shoulders and her eyes are clear and sharp as she searches through the weak-lit area. Inwardly, she grins like a cat on the hunt, ready for whatever danger may lie in wait.

 

 

        In the first room, she finds a solitary man and a woman, descriptions could not render the horror of the carvings that had been performed on her person--now slack from the exhaustion and blacked out from the pain. But the line of the man's back does not twist in the slightest at the emergence of the Wood Aspect peering into the room. Wearing an elaborate head-dress and a cape made out of the skins of humans, he wields a long athame and mutters in a tongue that she does not know. The woman, stretched atop an altar, is beset on either side by ceremonial guards, or so Cassia determines at a glance.

 

 

        They say the wisest of men make no assumptions, and choose to ask questions before they fire upon an assumed enemy. Cassia has never been one described as wise and gladly proves any such notion to be in error. Essence courses through the dynast's refined physique, moving through defined lines of muscle and sharpening her already impressive reflexes, "That doesn't seem very nice, now." She gently chastises the strangers even as she strums the string of her bow and releases a volley of missiles that whisper through the dank, dark air towards her intended victims.

 

 

        The two prostrate servants are killed instantly, their weapons falling from their hands, having been prepared to help in the dissection and subsequent feast for their god. The priest, or whatever he is, takes an arrow and is spun across the top of the body, tumbling them both off the other side in a spray of blood. The man stumbles to his feet again and sees Cassia for the first time, and opens his mouth, as if about to yell bloody murder. Ironic.

 

 

        The powerbow Cassia named Arbiter of the Maiden's Fate is a beautiful work of green jade, rare wood and laminate of horn. On the curve of bow's gleaming jade is set a stone of deep red garnet that pulses like the heart of a frightened animal. "It would have been wiser for you to just die." She tells the man pegged for a priest. The grin that crests her ruby mouth is slight and her eyes narrowed with focus. Essence channels through her limbs to enhance her strike and to steady her stance. She barely turns after dispatching the two henchmen and trains her swiftly drawn arrows on the masked figure. A gentle strum sends the first arrow singing through the brief distance between the two and the remaining pair fly close behind it with preternatural fleetness.

 

 

        The first arrow catches the man through his gaping jaw, and slams his head back into the rock behind him. Wood and steel sliding through his brainstem and silencing him instantly. The other two arrows puncture other essential organs, and very well may have killed him, but he is already dead. Little more than the half-dead woman's moans and Cassia's words fill the mine. To her right, in the distance, she can still hear the thrum of the drum, the deep base continuing, though now at a higher pace.

        The woman continues to bleed, and there are still several rooms and another hallway to her left. Their contents or occupants unknown--though no sound or light comes from that direction.

 

 

Cynis Falen Cassia quickly surveys her surroundings by spinning about on a single foot in a perfect circle, making sure no others have come to investigate. Her pulse drums in her ears, but her hands are steady and feet steady on the earthen floor. Within a few moments the dynast is at the woman's side, inspecting her wounds and attempting to rouse her from the shock and horror of her current state.

        Improvising and doing so at a fast pace, she uses her sword to tear away at the dead priest's robe and attempts to use the tatters to dress the woman's wounds. Time is of the essence, Cassia knows, and the escalating beat of the drums is a warning to her ears. "They're coming!" She says in a hushed and frustrated voice. The warning is meant mainly for herself. Already Essence is at work, sharpening her wits through the power of All Encompassing Earth Sense.

 

 

        The woman rouses slightly, but has lost some blood, and is clearly in shock, her eyes wide with terror. When she awakens, she starts screaming incoherently, and the sound of the drum in the distance continues to build on its pace, matching her heart in her ears, amplifying her feeling of tension. The wounds are roughly bound, but don't seem to stem the blood flow. With Cassia's continued soothing, she starts to calm and nods slowly, dazedly, following her instructions. "Please help me," she half cries, quiet, tears in her eyes. "Please don't let them hurt me, please.."

 

 

        Cassia strokes a soothing hand across the woman's brow and onto her hair. "By the Dragons, I will not allow for anyone else to do you harm." She offers the woman a smile and can do little more besides to help her. Her voice remains remarkably calm as she explains, "You're hurt very badly and I need to get you free of this lair. Can you walk?" She asks, though the answer is an obvious one.

 

 

        The woman smiles only very softly at the soothing words, though by her pallor and the width of her eyes she is no less concerned. But perhaps much more willing to trust the woman who is her protector. "I can," the woman says resolutely and actually starts to climb from the altar, and with determination on her face, nods to Cassia. "If you help me."

 

 

        Sliding a strong arm around the bloodied woman, Cassia gives her strength as support and carefully, though quickly, walks her towards the ladder. Awkward though the ascent may be, the dynast does her very best to help with the climb out of darkness and back into the natural light of day. "I will take you to town nearby and see to it that your wounds are cared for. But I must know now," A grave look shapes the fine features of her lovely face. "Were there others besides you taken into the tunnels?"

 

 

        "My daughter, and two others from the village," the woman replies as they climb out onto the surface. "I know who is behind it too.." she speaks low, as they emerge onto the grass above.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED..

        Thrum.

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