Freyd

"Your poison has proven more useful than anticipated." Freyd's furrowed brow denoted consternation at his mouth's clumsiness. "What I mean to say is: your goods are very effective. I'd like to replenish my stock." Something seemed off about him. His edge had softened in some imperceptible way. The usually abrupt harshness of his speech carried a less grating tone. Hardly sociable at the best of times, he'd just made his own version of an attempt at a compliment. It was weird. Sorting through the bounty on offer throughout the shop's well-stocked shelves, Freyd pulled down batches

"Lead the way," Freyd chimed in, his gaze set upon a distant ridge, beyond the tree line. Some distraction kept his attention elsewhere, though enough focus remained to have followed the completion of Marius' transaction. "The quest imposes limitations on how much help you can receive. They," he pointed at the sky, or more likely at some unseen entity beyond it, "don't want us experienced types walking newbies through all the content." Grasping his staff firmly, Freyd braced it against a nearby log and used it to push himself up to the top of a nearby crop of stone. It would be easier

A hint of red cloth at the edge of her vision and the glare of light reflected on lenses. Something hazily familiar glinted at the outskirts of Eruda's vision just as another shadow closed in at her side. Freyd understood enough to know what might grant her comfort. "You're distracted," he whispered from pursed lips. "This is neither the time, nor the place. These bosses are most unforgiving. Firm up, Eruda. Distractions are for later." The words were deliberately crafted, as his so often were. Dashing forward, he tapped Sam lightly on her left shoulder as he darted past on her right.

"Tracking." He spoke as if the single word explained everything, then slowly registered that more details might be required. "Err.. the Tracking mod under the Search skill. Sorry. Force of habit. I'm never quite sure how familiar people are with the game, and tend to just assume it. After so many years, it's rare to encounter players who haven't heard it all a thousand times." Reaching up, slowly, Freyd pulled back his cowl to reveal a plain and fairly unremarkable face adorned with pale skin and steel-blue eyes. The latter played hide-and-go-seek behind loose strands of hair from an

Finding his way back to the smith's forge, the Whisper had finally gathered all components required for the latest addition to his arsenal. This wasn't a matter of power, but options. The more tools he had available, the easier it became to fulfill his appointed role. Function and flexibility governed over all, especially for Firm Anima's captain of 'weird, crafty strategic shit.' He'd thought the unofficial title up himself, but didn't like the acronym and so tossed it back onto the mental discard pile. O&I had a simple convenience to it, and a strange appeal in that most people hadn

"Yup. Totally," he responded to Sam, his cowl partially concealing his face. Turning towards her, he shook a negative for her eyes only. Mixed messages was just so much fun. "O&I isn't for the faint of heart. I need to know that you can be relied upon when things go wrong." A wailing screen rose from the back of the chamber they had just entered, an ancient altar of dry set stone blocks neatly stacked and fitted together dominated the dais in that area. Wisps of black and purple rose from the stones, which fractured and crumbled as the thing within fought its way free from its ancie

Freyd regarded Marius with casual curiosity, seeming to ponder options before making up his mind. "Oh, you mean Lady-what's-her-face? Yeah. She hops around between floors quite a bit." The shadowed cowl swiveled loosely, scanning their surroundings before coming to rest in a particular direction. "You're on the right track, actually. She's a few hundred feet that way." Pointing with death's walking stick towards the sound of the waterfall, upstream from their position, Freyd had already fathomed what the man was after. "I'll tag along, if you don't mind. It's always nice to meet

Frowning confusion marred the Whisper's face, brow furrowing as his finger jerked his thumb behind him and back in time. "The... wraiths? I mentioned, like... just... " He could have sworn he's just said what they were, but whatever. Freyd shook his head, making a forward lunge that caught one of the already battered creatures off guard. A pulse of light flashed between them as Samael's Pride flared, spearing the nearest wraith and bursting it open like an overinflated semi-tangible balloon. Appearing and disappearing across the battlefield, he emerged momentarily like the very cre

Jerking his arm up to point a thumb behind him, Freyd muttered something about a rare field boss spawn that he'd been camping on for awhile. "It took forever for that bloody thing to spawn. Good thing, too. It might have wreaked quite a bit of havoc on this floor." A pair of cold blue orbs, not unlike his diminutive pet's looked out at his companion from beneath his cowl. "You'd be a newbie, judging by your gear? Or you lost a bet?" He shrugged while turning his attention to the little inky horror. "Persi, what they heck were you thinking? You nearly hit this old man. No more t

“Nope!” Freyd said, hopping down to land upon an outcrop of the city’s ruined architecture - this one part of familiar royal barracks he’d visited once before with Fonsa and witnessed the price exacted from her for unrequited loyalty. “You’ve used that line before, Lun’Rael. It caused this tainted mess in the first place, fostered by mutual elven ambitions.” He wagged a scolding finger in time with the swaying serpentine heads rising from the rubble. “You don’t get to use it again.” Glancing around at the Vale of Ruin, Freyd had pieced together enough of this site’s history to know t

A crash of thunder erupted from the tree line to the west of Marius' position, followed an instant later by the form of a massive green dragon erupting from the woods and flying directly towards him. Except that its head was point in the wrong direction, and one of its wings looked to be mauled to the point of crippling. There was also that giant gash in its abdomen and the fact that its lower jaw was completely missing. Something dark and tiny was also sitting atop the maligned mob's mauled body, riding it like a surf board. Only a pair of brilliantly burning azure eyes could be seen as t

Freyd arched a single eyebrow, uncertain of what to make of their comments, but convinced that the dark elf in question had met a most unfortunate fate. "Not all dark elves are like that. I've met a few of the more decent sort." The man seemed pensive for a moment, his right hand fetching a small stone of highly polished obsidian from his pocket, the symbol of a red tower glowing upon its side. Though they caught but a glimpse of it, both Plini and Astreya noted a sliver of white, like a sword, plunged through the tower from top to bottom. Freyd thought of the tragedies that had befal

“I know your name because he does.” Montjoy’s smiling face turned slightly to point at Freyd with a flicker of his pale azure eyes. His voice was calm and soothing, no hint of threat or alarm carried in its tone. "You haven't answered my question. Who the hell are you -- or -- what are you? Are you a Gemini?" “I answered honestly: he calls me Montjoy, though I am as much Freyd as we are both Takeshi.” The man spoke simple truth wrapped in such a tangled, convoluted weave of context and fate that made it sound more like an unintended riddle. "Give me that! You -- I don't kn

Knees caving in, a backwards fall was timed to appear as fluid motion just ahead of the haft reaching his chest. If he timed it right, the system would interpret it as sparring or some alternate form of contact - anything but an attack. Frazzled as his heart might be, the machine-mind inside was always on, processing every input and dispatching responses to be executed with cold, calculated precision. Yet, in this moment, its only motivation was to spare her the consequence of an accidental orange marker. That dark thing at his core screamed for retribution. They had been attacked.

As Freya followed the others down into the newly found dungeon, Freyd's gaze fixated upon the black square into which all three had vanished. His façade was too practiced to shatter, or even slip, but she had been right. She knew very little about him. Perhaps it was because there was little actual 'him' left to know? Perhaps it was because the void he was staring at reminded him too strongly of the one that had been gnawing away, hollowing him from within? Red eyes drifted from secrets revealed to the equally dark weapon he wielded. When it shrieks, Montjoy, is it only the weapon's

Freyd watched the exchange, comfortable amidst a background of silence and shadows. He knew enough of the tension between these three not to stray into the middle of it. They needed closure. Whether this moment proved sufficient would be decided at a later date, but it made for good progress. O&I, indeed, all of Firm Anima, could only function if its members were in sync - nonsensical ramblings and quirks aside. The image of Shiina running screaming into the room, whacking someone in the face and somehow revitalizing their energy reserves before vanishing out a window came to mind. I

Surveying the scene through narrowed eyes, Freyd was pleased. Competence and confidence were powerful traits, and all three of these guild members had achieved them both. It shone through Eruda's bearing as she strode forward into the Witch's chamber, completely unafraid of what she might face. Her strength was known, her steel tempered along with her nerves. Freya's demons now fueled her passions instead of suppressing them. She had learned to trust in them - in the strength that Tuatha had fostered within. All the creepy aspects aside, the dead man had done her some big favours and a l

Jabbing his staff into the rubble-strewn crater beneath his feet, he felt as much as heard the screech of the void unleashed. The ground heaved a good six inches before collapsing, a small geyser of fractal motes spraying into the air when he pulled the weapon back. "Heh. It's like an Ugzeke depth-charge," Freyd said, making light of the moment. This was no time for somber brooding. It was a moment of celebration and elation. A quick impulse made him feel like he should dance. Let's not over-do it. I'm not sure that the Underdark is quite ready for that, and we've made quite

Thinking his enemy distracted, the raging troll burst forth from his entombment, ready to wage war on a personal scale. His reception was instantaneously applied. A swift and sudden counter, unimaginably delivered with even greater force than the last two blows, sent him back into the ground. The wind left the mob's lungs even as a fresh cascade of stones re-buried him deeper than before. Freyd practically giggled at the comedic contrast to his earlier confrontation, Ugzeke getting the distinctly shorter end of the stick in this particular bout. He'd come away without any injuries, bu

Cackling laughter rang out. Groundhog day indeed. Another burst of brilliant white and another moaning trolls sailing through the air, impacting nearly the same spot. He was red, though, so that seemed to make it fair to repeat, or so Freyd told Montjoy. Not waiting for him to re-emerge, this time, Freyd bore, full force into his opponent. A second concussive blast rocked the otherwise silent cavern an instant after the first, embedding the troll's battered body even deeper into the face of the wall. "I need to do more to help the Madrigal get back on its feet." The words came

Emerging from the rubble he'd just created, Ugzeke was in full mad-mad-mode, with red and steaming skin encrusted with dust and boulder shards that had embedded in his thick, mottle brown hide. He tried his column-spray maneuver again, but the Whisper had gotten wide. He and his doubles scattered, using the dust to cover their already stealthy advance. Unfortunately, their quarry was quicker on his feet now and also charged under cover of his own cloud. Both parties missed each other completely, having to turn and search for the other upon having traded places. Freyd just laughed when he

Gleeful laughter rang out in the darkness. One of Aincrad's edgiest edgelords had found himself, and finally found some strange degree of happiness and redemption while still within his torturer's chamber. The tide had turned in the most unlikely way, and he felt like celebrating. Feeding off the positive vibes generated by Freyd's mood, his weapon suddenly glowed, brilliant white. An instant later came the crashing sound of an airborne troll impacting a far cave wall, launched by the magnitude of a holy-infused smack to the guts. With a snap of his black-gloved hand, Freyd reformed the h

The taunt worked, compelling the lumbering brute to turn and face him - well, them. IN a bout of unexpected cleverness, the troll smashed his club against a nearby rock face, spraying stone in a wide, shrapnel arc. A stray boulder clipped Freyd's shoulder, and wiped out all his Montjoys, but it wasn't nearly enough to stymie his advance. Another barrage of bashes and beatings rained down on the mob, just as he'd delivered to Freyd's duplicates, but considerably more effective. Blood pulsed through Freyd's ears, but without the insistent, maddening war-drum effect of past battles. Th

Unlike their earlier rendition, the field boss fared far less well this time around. Samael's Pride crashed repeatedly against the beast's thick hide, fracturing, then shattering it into pieces, eating away at the whole in tiny morsels. Ugzeke, meanwhile, didn't have a clue what was going on. He'd missed the prelude and found the wayward player fallen in the middle of his tunnel path. Now he thought it some kind of malevolent booby trap that he'd inadvertently unleashed. Flailing miserably to swat the thing away proved fruitless. It was angry and persistent, and kept nibbling away at his

Taking the proffered coffee with a nod of thanks, Freyd paused to take in the room once more. The mirror beckoned at the edge of sight, but he refused to be baited by it. Whatever all of this meant between Simmone and Freya was for them to sort out. He lifted the cup to his lips, interrupted at the last second by a query. "Freyd, after I sleep, I will be going hunting. You care to tag along..." Freyd. Not Takeshi. Good. That's not me anymore. His eye twitched, but resisted still. Montjoy's gaze was likewise burning a frigid hole into the back of his head. Finishing th