February catch-all (open log)

[emet_sulk]

🧙 WHO: Emet-Selch and anyone
⚔️️ WHAT: Ascian keeps himself busy by taking on quests and learning new magic
🕒 WHEN: February
🗺️ WHERE: Around Camelot etc.
⚠️ WARNINGS: Potential NPC death as certain prompts progress

(I will match the format of your tags!)

ONE. Libyrinth 🗡️

The tops of these library shelves are some of the most uncomfortable surfaces he has ever slept upon - and this coming from someone who had napped on the large boughs in the Rak'tika Greatwood. He surfaces from his restless dreams after closing, squinting in the dark. There is a dim bobbing light some ways away which he presumes is the librarian, patrolling after hours.

He is not one for stealth but he isn't a fool. He sets his mouth and tries to stretch out his aching limbs as quietly as possible before looking askance at whoever it is that has chosen to accompany him into the library after dark.

No words from him. Merely a slight tilt of the head to indicate they should get going.

TWO. Pure of Heart 🛡️ (cw: possible NPC death)

"You tricked me!" he says furiously, lunging for Morganna. The witch simply disappears with his golden crystal in hand, leaving him with an old man who is slowly succumbing to poison. Emet-Selch checks over their vital signs, takes their pulse and listens to their breath. Any knowledge of poisons is limited to his world's own, and the longer he waits the less likely it is they will survive.

He makes his choice. Slamming his way out of the old man's cottage, he glances about in the hope that someone happens to be passing by.

"I NEED A HEALER!" he shouts.

THREE. Save a Beast, Kill a Man 🗡️ (cw: possible NPC death)

a) Indecision

Emet-Selch doesn't consider himself a righteous man. He doesn't even consider himself a good one. As he stares at the listing though, that nagging thought that he can't simply let such an injustice go crosses his mind over and over. Turn around and walk away - that is what he would have done once. It isn't his business to save others. It isn't his business to indulge in heroics.

Surely...surely one of the Warriors will take it upon themselves to slay the man. Yes?

He continues to stare at the notice, quite heedless of the people on the street passing behind him. "'Tis none of my business," he mutters. "'Tis none of my business, yet..."

b) Hunting down the pelt

There is the man. There is the pelt, lying amongst their supplies further up the beach. And there is the kraken, watching the man approach as it waves its long arms in warning. Double the pay if he manages to halt the offender before they can kill the creature, the notice had said, but Emet-Selch doesn't particularly feel anything for the beast. It and the man have locked eyes and all he cares is that the clash will provide him the opportunity to sneak down and make off with the selkie's pelt.

Easier said than done though. He's no rogue. He has no magicks with which to conceal himself. Whatever he decides to do, he knows he will have to act soon. Once the fighting starts, he'll have limited time to snatch the pelt.

"Would that I could bend the shadows to my whim again," he mutters aloud. Perhaps you're there with him, or perhaps you're elsewhere waiting for a chance to dash in for the pelt yourself. If no-one else interferes, Emet-Selch will move once the man and kraken begin to fight.

FOUR. Sync Up

Learning new magic is a chance he will never forego. Who knows? Mayhap his magic will be enough to alter the state of larger things, improving its possible applications in combat.

At least, that was the naive way he thought of it until he found himself trapped in one of the tents with someone he doesn't know. There is a suggestion called from the local outside that they ask each other questions or partake of the liquor, but Emet-Selch makes his thoughts on that very clearly known.

"I'll not be forced into this with a stranger!" he snarls, glaring at the silhouette of their local guide. "Let me out immediately!"

FIVE. Wildcard

Got an idea? Feel free to run it by me via PM to either this account or ch1ps0h0y

Comments

[intrapid]

[ Ohh, if he does have a knife hidden on him, he sure isn't going to mention it. Free knife! Heck yeah.

Also, what a cool familiar... Karma is infinitely more impressed by the gwiber than he is at the gunblade that looks silly in concept but he banks on the fact that he'll change his mind in practice. Please please let him see it in practice. ]

Dastardly mastermind? Big bad? Yeah, there's no dignified way of saying it, huh? I guess I'll just have to go with your name.

[ What is it. ]

[emet_sulk]

[ Provoke the asshole husband into a fight and Karma may just get his wish.

Rolling his eyes, he carefully manoeuvres around his perching familiar to fasten his weapon to his back. The gwiber makes small complaints but refuses to move, instead scanning their surroundings alertly. ]

You may call me Emet-Selch. And you are...?

[intrapid]

[ Don't fasten it to your back! Keep it at the ready! At least Karma keeps his knife out, with flips and spins in the air as he tosses it with a practiced hand.

Weird name. ]

I'm Karma.

[ Not like his is any more common, though, so he doesn't pursue it. Instead, he turns his attention to the horizon— the gwiber likely spots the man first, but he's difficult to miss: the man stands knee deep in the water adorned in plated armor and holding a long sword above his head. "Foul beast!" he's yelling across the placid waters of the lake, "Show yourself! I am here to slay you!" ]

[emet_sulk]

[ Oh, gods. One of those typical glory-seeking fools, Emet-Selch thinks with a roll of his eyes. He's seen the type many times before: more ego than brains or valour combined.

There is no-one else here on the beach, so he's fairly certain this is the man they're after. But he calls out once they're closer, just in case: ]

You there! Are you the one who stole the selkie's pelt?

[ His gwiber continues to circle above them, keeping an eye on the situation for now. ]

[intrapid]

[ "Stole?" The man looks utterly offended- scowl on his face, arms crossed, chest puffed out as if to seem more intimidating as he turns to face the two of them. "I did not steal it," he sneers, "That selkie is my wife, and what's hers is mine."

There is no private property in marriage, it's joint custody—- unless, of course, they're talking about his things, then they're his and his alone. ]

So, what, are you wearing her underwear too? Gross.

[emet_sulk]

[ The ridiculous thought of the man wearing his wife's underclothes gets a quiet snort from him. He draws out his gunblade, holding it easily by his side for now as he advances on the man. ]

That pelt was not yours before your marriage, and a marriage forced upon another is no marriage at all.

[ He doesn't try to conceal his disgust. This - this is what he has come to hate about mortals. How they inflict their greed and misery upon others. ]

If you won't surrender her pelt, I will have to feed you to the kraken which lives here.

[intrapid]

[ "Who are you to preach at me? Know your place and stay out of my business," the man says, holding his own sword aloft and stepping up to the challenge. He does not wait for Emet-Selch to make the first move— he charges straight in with a bellowing battle cry, sword held out in front of him like a lance intended to drive through Emet-Selch's chest.

As fighty as Karma is, he has no desire to get in the way of a sword and a ...gunblade... so he instead moves out of the way and cups his hands to shout out over the water. ]

Hey, Kraken! It's dinner and a show! You don't want to miss this!

[ The surface of the water bubbles a little, out in the distance. ]

[emet_sulk]

[ Almost disdainfully, Emet-Selch side-steps the painfully simple manoeuvre, slapping the flat of his blade against the man's backside as they go past him.

Despite outward appearances, his movements are not careless. Karma may notice his stance is well-balanced, able to shift at a moment's notice with the flow of the fight. ]

Pathetic. Did you steal that sword? A pity you cannot borrow the skills to use it as well.

[ He keeps the lake in view of his periphery. The bubbles are a little too far for him to see right now but they seem to be drifting closer. Mayhap a show would entice the creature out. ]

[intrapid]

[ "Wh- wha-" the man splutters, but cannot outright deny that accusation or think of a witty comeback, faltering in the face of Emet-Selch's words and the surprise at being outpaced by a man holding something as silly looking as a gunblade.

Karma's impressed by what he sees too, content to sit back and watch the show— though his eyes are trained on Emet-Selch the entire time and not the other man's, for if there's anything worth learning here of sword fighting, it'll be from one man and not the other. ]

[emet_sulk]

[ And to think, he hasn't even started wielding it properly yet!

Emet-Selch watches as the man gathers himself together for another tilt, and this time he easily parries their swing, turning the man around and once again slapping the flat of his blade against their buttocks. It's meant to humiliate and enrage them and it works well for a man whose pride rests on paper-thin foundations. ]

Come now, aren't you meant to be a great hero? Slayer of foul beasts?

[ He's clearly toying with them. His jeers, their increasingly frustrated yells, and the muted ring of his blade eventually entice the kraken to peek out above the water's surface. Seeing that, Emet-Selch begins to lure the man towards the water. ]

I'm growing bored, boy. At least try and offer me some sport.

[ Yes, he sure did call that man a 'boy'. ]