Freyd

Spotting the insignia tucked under the fold of the man's coat, Freyd recognized it as the same one worn by the rat woman who'd led the assault on the barge. A brass medallion slipped to hang from his fingers over Harbourne's head. "Someone left a memento behind on your last raid. That didn't go so well, by the way. But I'll tell you what. You give me the hostage taken by the survivors and I'll spare the rest of you from the same fate as the guards. Deal?" Fresco was dead still and silent, his jaw hanging half-open as he stared at the trinket he'd given his wife all those years

"Say your peace, assassin. The longer I hold you up, the more my men will tighten the noose around your neck." To his credit, Fresco had actually managed to sound more credible than he felt. "You mean the men I left in fragments between here and your front door?" The cowled cretin tilted his head in a mocking manner that nearly broke the first mate's restraint. He knew that his captain would kill him if he failed to protect the alchemist. This wasn't looking good, either way. "So, what's worth more to you: the casque, the old man or the mouse girl?" Freyd honestly didn't care

Chaos engulfed the tight tunnel as half a dozen soldiers struggled to find their target, which seemed to shift and vanish like the wind. Whatever it was seemed to have figured out what they were trying to protect as a leather-clad foot stomped on Harbourne's hand. One of the same deadly hands grabbed the rat-man by the scruff of the neck, lifted and then smashed hard into the stone floor with bone-breaking force. The old man's glasses went flying into the darkness from the impact, which left him gasping for absent breath. "HARBOURNE!" Szareesh rushed towards him only to be blocked by

"If we are ever going to survive this, we need to be rid of the worst enemy that we stand to face. Our fellow man. The ones that choose to become one with the monsters of this place." I know what it sounds like he's saying. And I know what he's really saying. He's including himself among the monsters. Eruda... I'm so sorry. Staring at the boundlessly lethal knowledge, literally at his fingertips, Freyd found it difficult to resist its allure. His heart recoiled at its contents, but his hand refused to withdraw. The potential was... overwhelming. A flick of his eyes to the red ro

Something... no.. someone long and lanky fell upon them from above. Claws and teeth flensed flesh and shredded into the mate and his guards, tearing their health bars to pieces. He heard Szareesh scream and saw something move at the edge of his vision. A black fist punched through one of his men, grazing the girl's head while unleashing a banshee's keening the likes of which he never would have thought possible. A bright orange swatch, like a brilliant burn, flared as the mouseling's fur and flesh were ripped off and sucked into the liquid void. A burst of fractals showed a man, for an ins

Thread Summary: 25056 words / 30 = 835*5= 4175*Tier 25056 / 300 = 84 seeds Tricolor_Mina receives: Morgenstern receives: Raidou Receives: Freyd Receives: Setsuna Receives: Shiina receives:

Only about two dozen remained, for sure, and less Darvin's group that had remained behind to hold the hall. Fresco had Szareesh at his side, the casque hovering in his arms over her head while the worn cutlass in his right hand stood ready to carve them a path forward. "Damn. How did they find us? Come on Harbourne. Now is not the time to doddle." Waving his blade around, he sent another squad ahead to safeguard passage. Iron crashed into wood and stone behind them. The enemy must have entered the hall and dropped a chandelier in the process. "Double-time it. We can't sta

More sudden cries of alarm, this time coming from the far passage towards which the alchemist had been heading. His escort surrounded him, uncertain as to the source or vector of the threat. Scuffles could be heard from various directions at once, some merely calling for aid or to point out the sighting of something they couldn't describe. A barrage of light pulses from the north was followed a few moments later by the drifting of bright blue dust and digital shards spilling onto the open floor. More dead. "There are likely more than one," Fresco surmised. "Come on. We're getting th

Cries of surprise sounded from the same passage through which the marines had departed. Everyone in the room raised their weapons at the sound, but fell silent to listen for the outcome. Nothing greeted them. Not a whisper. Everyone jumped at the sound of metal scraping on stone. A sword came spinning from the corridor, stopping just shy of Szareesh's foot. The poor girl soiled herself instantly. All around her, a phalanx of swords and spears raised in alarm, aimed squarely at the tunnel mouth from which the weapon had come. "Harbourne. MOVE. NOW." Fresco spilled the table

"But... the weapon. It isn't fully ready, or easily portable. I can't leave it behind!" A swish of his feathered hat being deposited on his head spoke volumes to all those present as to Fresco's tolerance for delays. "Take what you can. Leave the rest. Go. Now." A tiny finger lifted from his paw, protest ready but dying to a whimper as he met then dodged the mate's gaze. "Yes. Yes, alright. I understand." Stuffing his hands into pockets to keep them from getting him into any more trouble, the alchemist signaled his escort to gather and follow. The skyrats kept him und

Silent orders were issued by but the lift of his gaze. A dozen grim-faced sailors left the room, grabbing weapons and glow stones alike, for those who needed them. These were veterans of a lost war, serving still out of loyalty and desperation, but determined to take rather than lose anything more. "Seal the room, and place a cordon of guards on the lab." Metal scraped against leather as he drew his own cutlass and barked the rest of his scallywags from their stupor. "Look lively, scum! We've got a rat in our maze that doesn't belong here. Flush him out!" Nothing motivated the la

It took a cup of hot something, mostly brown, a pair of blankets and the huddle of her crewmates to finally calm her down enough to speak without her teeth chattering. "What has you so spooked, little one? I've seen you stare down Ladonian Praetorians without twitching a whisker." Fresco's large, mitt-like hands wrapped themselves around Szareesh, trying to settle her nerves. It took three more sips before she could utter a word. "Shadows," she mumbled. "Death. It came from our own shadows!" Solid red eyes grew wide, bulging from their sockets as if they could draw the images h

Another mouseling tumbled into the main hall from one of the upper tunnels, spilling himself all over the floor and drawings a heart round of chuckles in the process. Small and frail, the larger pirates mocked and buffered the new arrival about while she struggled to regain her footing. Struggling to right herself, Szareesh finally gave up and tried a different tack. "Intruder!" That got everyone's attention, quieting the entire den at once. Despite their rambunctious proclivities, most of these pirates were ex-marines of Galtea, and they'd learned the hard way to take such warn

Some random scum dropped a casque on their table, spilling a few drops of the fluorescent green goo that had once been its contents in the process. Harbourne hissed against clumsy waste of the previous substance. Another batch delivered meant another neighbourhood stricken and ready to turn. If they refused, Ladonia would see them as sickened and set the lot to the flame. 'How many of their own would they burn,' he wondered. How many had they already culled to keep the fat cats upstream in the sewers from noticing plague in their undercroft? Unfortunately, it only affected those alr

Terror spread like melted cheese over the rat-man's features, his fur bristling with fear verging on panic. "I didn't mean anything by it!" Tail flickering about in random directions, the one called Harbourne furtively sought some means of escape, like he'd been set on a sinking ship. But that had already happened and was distant history to both of them. Gabrandr's final stand against Ladonia had spelled their doom, and yet they mourned their fallen king. Would that they had triumphed that day, but Razwell's fodder had beaten them to the punch and unleashed some damned secret weapon. They

They wore garments of grey-blue wool, of distinctly marine cut, but badly worn with age and the trials of loss. A few still sported Galtean crests as badges of honour or spoils of war. Though maybe half the lot were from that broken land, all had profited from its fall by pleasure or necessity, and so most of their pilfered prizes were Galtean by mark and craft. Two figures argued in the dark, beneath the cacophony of clatter made by their mates yet commonplace in this raucous place. "Out with it, Harbourne. You've been tinkering and clinkering away in that lab of yours for months.

In the heart of the complex was a single chamber concealed from the world at large. Dozens of smaller nooks and side passages lined the outer walls at various heights, giving the space a warren-like appearance. The vaulted stone walls and floor were heavily worn and notably covered in claw marks and scratches of not particular apparent or obvious origin. Sconces lines the walls, set with torches, while a trio of wrought iron chandeliers hung by chains from the ceiling, each one sporting a half-dozen lanterns hanging from their undercarriage. Dozens of figures scrambled about the place, mos

He might have flinched, but didn't. For about 4.3 seconds, Freyd was completely still, absorbing an answer far more candid than he'd been preparing himself to receive. Leaning into his left palm, the right reached for the turned book, pressing down upon the open spine to ensure that he didn't miss any details. Finding Freya, Lium, even potentially Ruri and others. Of course he would know where. A hundred names instantly appearing on the Monument of Life, snuffed out in a single struggle. So many more reports and coincidences suddenly connected in his head. It was like a spider suddenly s

"Heightened passions and changes in personality and behavior. The difficulty lays in pinning down whether the effect is harmful or benevolent." Freyd's eyes were mirror-like, indeed, but lacking the intuitive connection that he and Raidou typically shared. He might as well have been staring at Montjoy. "Eruda's gone through quite the bit of spontaneous personal growth of late. She's found her voice, and even connected with an old flame." He was genuinely glad that the two of them had managed to connect, and sincerely hoped that it was for all the right reasons, but it wasn't the Whisper'

Just another random face in a crowd, masked by the benefits of Disguise and morphed into the image of some Nobody he'd passed in the marketplaces of Ladonia. Supplies were running low again, and certain consumables were proving scarce. Hopefully it was just a sign that things were especially busy across all floors, but Freyd worried that player numbers might be dwindling to a point where not enough crafters remained. Certain PK guilds had proven especially active of late, and that posed an additional risk for those vendor crazy enough to set up shop in the wilds - this one in particular h

The trail left by the Skyrat pirates seemed to have gone cold after their assault on the transport ship upon which Freyd had been chasing and hoping to trap That Guy. It had taken too long for him to follow up. At least, that was how things seemed, until it occurred to him that some of the curs had actually escaped and in possession of a hostage - a person known to him and whom he could track. Hoshi had sacrificed himself to protect Shinsa and give her the time she needed to repair the stabilizers. he had saved all of their lives, and been taken captive for his trouble. Unfortunately

Knuckles wrapped in utter nothingness hesitated to rap on the shop's doors. The man to which they were attached had no struggle reading the obvious signs. The Frozen Tapestry was closed, and yet he found himself in need and would trust no other with his task or fortunes. "Please forgive the disruption, Setsuna, but I've had to make a change and certain accoutrements require mending to follow me along. I trust very few with such tasks, you being the first and foremost on that list. I hope you can make an exception, in exchange for a suitably memorable payment." In exchange, a shin

A twisted knob and casual footfalls announced his arrival with no more or less than the usual fanfare. Freyd was too tired for games today, and preoccupied by something gnawing at the edges of his reality. Whether for good or for ill remained very much in doubts. A list softly placed on the counter was soon filled in exchange for col. Pleasantries were minimal, but they so often were with this fellow. Not one for banter, and clearly under some sort of heavy burden. "Thank you," he whispered, softly, with a strange, foreboding sense of finality. What could trouble so to induce a bout

The die was cast. All that remained was to see just how far Nisahime's influence had spread throughout the ranks of Firm Anima, and whether enough data could be gleaned to determine whether it was benevolent or not. There was no telling whether or not her reach extended beyond the guild, but it would be naïve to assume that it was limited to them alone. Freyd waited patiently in the main guild hall with Freya, still seated in one of the heavy wooden chairs set against the massive redwood table that dominated the hall. It had rarely been used for full guild events, but he suspected th