Freyd

Pantry restocked, dust bunnies hunted to extinction, dried wood and kindling freshly chopped and stacked, Freyd was surprised by how much effort such a small house required after so long an absence. Devoting his uniquely obsessive resolve to housekeeping ensured the results were beyond meticulous. He'd even left a stash of Hollandaise and honey buns in a basket on the counter and a note under her sheltered mirror that read: 'It's here when you're ready.' Time spent with Elora had taught him to value the simpler pleasures of domestic life and how the littlest touches could hold power beyo

ph *** Start of new combat rotation. Double post permitted.

ph *** Frey'd Action: Enemy's Action

“You always show up with something warm.” A smile burdened the Whisper’s face, appreciating the lion’s observation, and accepting it as thanks. Glancing from the edge of his stormy cloud, Freyd nodded his thanks and welcome to Ariel. Neither of them were big on words, especially where few were called for. Such is the unspoken tongue of the raid veterans. “Good hunting today, Ariel. To us all.” Other heroes soon emerged from the dark morass at their backs to face off against the maelstrom in the waters before them. Baldur, Hirru, Wulfrin and Ciela, even Mari. Freyd knew the

"I know a place. Up on the thirteenth floor. It used to be... home." Freyd seemed wistful as he spoke. "It's a nice enough place, and on the edge of the safe zone, so no guards will bother us. But you should definitely get some rest before we go. I wouldn't dare travel through the void with you in this condition, which means we'll need to hoof it." Cleaning up up as best he could, Freyd swore to burn the soiled sheets afterwards as a precaution. Scooping her up in his arms he carried her delicately upstairs, assuming a bed might be waiting. The house itself was too tiny for it t

"Hrm. That's right. You haven't seen me fight in a while. I started tanking a few raids back, and really, really know how to piss off a mob. Somehow, I doubt this is a surprise." A scoundrel's grin perched itself on his lips, one arm still wrapped around her for as long as she needed, the other scouring scruff for ideas. "If closing off the void kept it at bay, I wonder if I could similarly coax it out at a time of our choosing. It.. wouldn't be pleasant, but..." He shrugged, basically making it all up as he went. Best laid plans, and all that. At this point, they were winging it w

Freyd half expected her to shatter into a thousand shimmering orange shards, like he'd once done. Wiping tears frozen to her cheeks away, he had a notion of where she was, even if their roads there had been very different. A smile, creasing youthful eyes masked behind a veneer of bearded age and sorrows. "I'm happy to hear you want to live," he whispered back, still holding her close and letting her soak up whatever heat she needed or wanted. This wasn't romance or lust, nor sordid scandal claiming purchase over the desire to merely help a friend in need. It felt... good, to know he

Holding her close, Freyd soothed her as best he could without truly knowing how. Giving comfort was still alien to him in so many ways… though.. .there had been lessons in tenderness along the way. Channeling memories of warmth and joy, he dismissed his armor and gauntlets to let her feel whatever seeming of human contact he might manage to offer. Eyes downturned, he watched one of his oldest friends suffer - for that’s what she truly was to him, though he’d never known precisely how to pin it down. Wiping her brow. Clearing the vile vomit spewing from her core, Freyd nursed her again

Holding her, as gently as he could while she convulsed atop his folded legs, Freyd ceased the skill’s flow as soon as he was able. “Did I do it wrong?” he wondered aloud, puzzled by the reaction. Was it working and the thing inside her was writhing as it withered, or was he making things worse? Does it feed on her pain too? No wonder it’s gotten so strong. It hurts…. Takeshi this hurts… “I’m trying Amari, but I don’t know what to do or how to make this better. This is different than before." Probably because they were different - both of them. So much had happe

“Don’t have daughters.” Spoken lightly, the comment slapped him harder than expected, as if the possibility of children had never even occurred to him. When? How?! Thrust aside just as quickly, Freyd felt he’d make a terrible father in any case. “Ahh…I probably fainted because I didn’t eat.” Right. Sure. It couldn’t possibly be the evil goop goblin you have guzzling up your darker impulses like a glutton at an all-you-can eat buffet? Freyd kept quiet, slathering up a wafer with some leftover Hollandaise and ramming it down his gob to keep his trap shut. “I’m like a ch

Sensing the strain building inside Elora without even having to look at her, Freyd’s hand reached out to cradle hers with surprising tenderness. Slowly scooping a mixture of granular sludge to his lips with his left, his eyes creased at the edges with wear while a calloused thumb ran reassuringly over her far fairer and daintier digits. She trembled even as her frustrations grew at the defensive gambits of a clever bit of sausage. Gentle, like the bliss of a lover’s press, the whorl of his thumb ran around and between the tension in her knuckles, easing with touch what clumsy words woul

"Hai!" A cheerful short bow given to his fellow captain's orders, it seemed only fair to show such respect after messing with her. This was their way, and he wouldn't change it for the world. "We'll find this butcher at a slaughterhouse about a mile from Glyndebourne - just far enough to keep the wind from carrying the smell. And gird your stomach's if you're at all squeamish. This place is quite the sight." Last time he visited Freyd defeated the Midnight Ripper, only to find himself what could only be described as a horde of meat golems. Creatures of all shapes and sizes, all had b

Watching and listening as Mari played show and tell like they were in arms dealer kindergarten, Freyd measured his responses by opening and closing cupboards he knew would be empty. Returning to the fire’s edge with a smattering of mismatched second hand dishes, he laid them out between them. The wasp thing just sounded unnecessarily complex. Wouldn’t a smoke bomb or modest irritant do the same trick? Why bother with the insects? Maybe it played against some subtle coding technicality that enabled it to avoid categorization as an environmental effect, and bypassed the over-relied up

“That happens sometimes.” "Sometimes? This has been happening more often?" Part of him wanted to scold her for being so dense to the threat she was incubating in her own self-inflicted blind spots. That was how it always started with her. She did because it was neat, fun or enticing, thought being relegated to later consideration. References to the absent-minded professor trope plagued his mind, with considerably enhanced lethality. "And what is that smell?!" Waving his hands before him while she removed her overgarments, he was too distracted by the stench to appreciate the wom

Eyes widening at the implausible sight playing out before him, he'd long since hoped to have put this behind him. And maybe he had, but clearly not Mari. Her baggage never seemed to leave, endlessly cycling back around like it was on some sort of infernal airport carousal that simply defied any effort to reclaim or remove it. Everyone was just along for the ride. “You can’t stop this.” "Like Hell, I can't." Freyd's voice sounded more certain than he felt, especially knowing the toll and time it had taken him to overcome what had followed. That catharsis had nearly killed him, mor

Midnight in Ilridge. Less a town than a fortified camp, its hollow ruins remained little more than the frontlines' vanguard outpost and toe hold on a floor seemingly designed to devour their sanity. Worse yet were the irreplaceable losses, compounded by constant grievous injuries. Too many players were rushing in overconfident and unprepared, returning mauled to within a sliver of total deletion. They had scouts enough. What they lacked were healers. Confronted with a need, Freyd did what he always did: he adapted. Skulking about in heavy armor was a waste of effort anyway, even if the ski

Elora’s tongue-lashing, through predicted, cut like the barbs of a devil’s nine-tailed whip. It was enough to see Freyd brace himself against the counter to endure it, palms spread out wide as if to distribute the withering scold. Eyes closed, he tried not to wince, knowing he’d earned what he was getting, regardless of best intentions. It still hurt. Breathes seething through clenched teeth, he heard her shuffling about, his own attention still solemnly focused on the sensation unjudging cabinetry upon which he had let his head rest. He’d done so many worse things deserving of scorn,

Yoink!

The rasping wretch reared back, all remaining chain whips ready to lash and bludgeon Wulfrin to pieces for his boasting, no matter how warranted. What should have been a danger had proven little challenge for the two of them, its health bar clinging to hope with the thinnest of cellophane. Ready to heave, the Pallid Mask's hood suddenly jerked back exposing a mess of rotten flesh once called its head, the worst of it concealed behind a grimacing porcelain face. Yanked roughly, it teetered, all four arms flailing and failing to find purchase as it fell backward toward the greetings of a keen

"That would be Reliq," Freyd replied, watching as the gaunt horror resumed its movements to the clink and clatter of bells and chains. "Elora and I found him in my workshop, playing in all the unidentified gear I keep laying around." He left out the bit about how Elora had freaked out, thinking their home was somehow haunted because of all his clandestine puttering around. It had taken nearly a week to clear out all the anti-voodoo tchotchkes she'd layered all over the place. "I think he's some sort of mimic, but can't get him to sit still long enough to be sure." A flash of deep blue

“Oww! Dammit, Mari!” Perpetually predictable panic visible in the tangerine, even from his current vantage. Freyd reached out with still-ensnared arms and snagged her ankle before she could get away. “We’re not doing this.” Preferring a solution to dignity, Freyd dismissed his cloth prison and solidified his grip. “You’re a guest in our house and not leaving until we’ve at least served you a decent breakfast. Not ‘buts!” Releasing his tenure on the woman’s dainty feet, before she kicked him in the face for his trouble, Freyd winced from previously delivered pain. His head h

Thread Closing: Freyd receives: 13,150 EXP (Word Count [3131/5*20] + 5% Guild Rank bonus) 974,383 col (Loot [972411] + 15% P5 Reward [1972]) 244 Materials (Loot [244]) +22 Demonic Shards +42 Gleaming Scales 1 Mon Random Dungeon Maps: 246856 | 246857 | 246858 | 246859 | 246864 | 246865 | 246866 | 246867 | 246872 | 246873 | 246874 | 246875 | 246880 | 246881 | 246882 | 246883 | 246888 | 246889 | 246890 | 246891 | 246896 | 246897 | 246898 | 246899 | 246904 | 246905 | 246906 | 246907 | 246912 | 246913 | 246914 | 246915 | 246921 | 246922 | 246923 | 246924 | 246929 | 246

"Close enough." Barely heard above the din of battle, Nemo's gaze spoke volumes. "Maybe you can learn, after all..." Roaring again unleashed successive concussive blasts the broken another wave of knights, flattening many ranks beyond. Another momentary reprieve. "Don't forget this, Freyd. Or your promises." "Wait... wut?" Before he could utter another word, a massive claw wrapped itself around him, tossing him high into the air, where the deadly tail that had nearly killed him earlier was waiting. Slapped incomprehensibly silly by the blow, everything went dark as Frey

A derisive snort lost in a tornado blast that scoured a dozen knights from the field. Freyd fought with ferocity enough to warrant the guardian's unexpected respect as wave after wave crashed against them from all sides. They couldn't win. There were simply too many foes, and for each one felled two more would take its place. Freyd kept pace, despite this energy reserves depleting. There was no other choice. "If we get through this, I'll stick strictly to finish from now on. Swear to... whatever." Nemo looked at him with confusion. "Never been the religious type. Sorry. What wou

"CORRUPTION... THIS BLIGHTED SKY... IT ALL BEGAN WHEN A MAN IN YELLOW CAME TO MY VALLEY. FIND HIM. STOP HIM." Yellow? Yellow. Liked the masked figure from the moments when all the gawkers has arrived, right after the raid. He was the one who'd summoned the fiendish fish hordes upon them and loosed the champion monstrosities. "Someone said something about a King in Yellow. You mean him?" The conversation ended, barely stillborn, as more of the wretched knights surged over the rapidly disintegrating remains of their brethren. Little more than mindless peons to whatever po