sacaeblade

[sacaeblade]

january activity check

x

status: passed

skill points gained: 2 (34)

january activity check: any +1 | bow c+ > bow c+ 1/2 AO Zaying 2024 Knowledge Gem: any +1 | bow c+ 1/2 > bow b

claims:

tbd

#toaactivity #⚔️ ooc #//collapses on the ground

[sacaeblade]

With the healing of Lyn's injuries calm returns to the city street once more. Although she cannot deny the twinge of guilt that the medicine might have been put to better use at the infirmary, it is something of a relief to feel the pain begin to ebb. Kent, too, looks far more relaxed (as relaxed as he can get in this situation) to see her in good health, enough to release her hand from his vice grip.

She nods at his offering, "I do have a spare sword I can rely on, but Mulagir is in no condition to be used if anyone tries to attack me at range."

Pulling against the bowstring to test it's tautness, the bow isn't in the best of shape, but a functional bow is better than no bow at all. It's no legendary bow, just a mere mass produced weapon, but she isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Her promise (threat, really) to protect him doesn't mean a thing if she doesn't have a weapon.

roll: d6: 3; lead found!

And so to work they return as Lyn tries to ignore the blood on her hand that has just begun to dry. It's easier, safer, if they put some distance between them, but she stands shoulder to shoulder with Kent.

Digging into one of the crates that had toppled from the pile, Lyn says, "The last few times the quake, no, the mob appeared, it happened out of nowhere with no warning. Now that I know what it is, I can be prepared. The next time it happens, will you point me in the right direction? At the very least I can fire off a few arrows even if I can't tell where they are."

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound #//shoujo situation (neg) avoided

[sacaeblade]

"You and I were the only people here during the quake," Lyn reaffirms as Kent helps her to her feet. "I didn't hear or see anything besides you."

In any other situation, those might have been the playful words exchanged between two lovers, but here they represent only dread and the chill that runs down Lyn's spine. Their hands are not clasped together at the simple joy of unity, but rather a desperate ploy for comfort.

Lyn squeezes his hand back, but she isn't sure if he can even feel it anymore.

"I believe you. I may not be able to see them, but I can tell that something attacked you and it isn't like the enemies I fought outside of the city."

Enemies that are invisible to the naked eye and unable to be heard. If they were to come for Lyn instead, she would have no idea they were coming until they had already struck. After all, how can one fight that which does not exist to them? Is it even possible to fight what had felt to her like a force of nature?

But even in the face of this, he tells her to treat herself first. Lyn's own injuries are mostly stable now, unlike Kent's actively bleeding wounds. If it is a question of which of them looks worse, both of them look terrible. Bruised, battered, and covered in a coating of dust and ash, the two of them look three or four steps away from death at most.

"They have not come for me yet, but..."

Lyn unscrews the cap on the medicine that she had opened only minutes prior to inspect. There is no later for the dead.

roll: d10: 6; Lyn 9.5/10HP

"In exchange, you have to use the next bottle of medicine we find. Promise me this. If you don't, then you accept that I will be the one protecting you."

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound

[sacaeblade]

"I'm not sure about th-"

She does not get to finish her thought.

For the second time that day, the edges of her vision begin to dim and the world shakes. It's another quake; nothing that Lyn has not experienced before. The suddenness with which it happens manages to knock her off her feet (and make an iron lance come tumbling out of the debris) and she stays on the ground until the world stops shaking.

roll: d6: 4; cumulative 11 roll: d10: 2; obtained iron lance x1

It should be clear cut: wait out the quake until it stops and then continue doing whatever they had been doing before.

It would be, were it not for the bloodcurdling scream that Kent lets out. He screams as if he is dying, the sound filling Lyn's veins with ice. She should keep her head down, out of the way of any falling debris, but the sheer terror in his voice makes her snap her head up to check on him.

But there is nothing there but the man himself, screaming at phantoms only he can see.

Green eyes watch in horror as she watches him scream and thrash, thin lines of crimson appearing on his skin even though he stands untouched. The world shakes violently (or is Kent the one shaking?), scattering drops of blood here and there on the rubble.

It ends just as quickly as it began. The world stills and falls silent as if nothing had happened. Whoever else had been out scavenging with them is gone now, vanished into the wind, leaving only two pounding hearts as the only sound in this ruined city.

"I am uninjured, but..." She accepts his outstretched hand tentatively. "...Who is 'they', Kent? We're the only people here."

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #aozayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound

[sacaeblade]

Kent is the one to withdraw first. He gently rebukes both her tacit offer for protection and her hand. Once again, he has ruled her safety as more important than his own life.

Lyn's now empty hand clenches.

She listens to his explanation quietly, taking in every word. She had not physically gone near the monument, but she and Felix had been tasked with gathering parts for it. She will not pretend to understand the how and why of the way the blocks work, having never seen them herself, but if she likens them to the kindling of a fire, then things don't add up. Without suitable kindling, a fire will never start no matter how many times you strike the flint.

"If none of the energy blocks were reacting, then how could have such a large scale explosion have gone off without the necessary power? I would understand if it had been a small explosion, but leveling the whole city..."

As they speak, Lyn had gotten up to take down another crate, but her grip abruptly loosen and the box comes crashing to the ground.

roll: d6: 2, avalanche triggered! roll: d10: 9, dodge

"...You don't think that was the Upright Man's intention all along, do you?"

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #aozayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound #//fried chicken moment

[sacaeblade]

As much as she would like to, she cannot argue against his words. A broken bow, a near broken sword, and a sword looted from an enemy are all she has to defend herself with at the moment. Even if she were to selfishly take the medicine they had found for herself, a single usable blade could only carry her so far against a mob.

"You're right," Lyn confirms. "I don't want to fight these people if I don't have to. I've seen how much they've suffered. How could I add to their strife when they're already so afraid? How could I turn my sword against people who can't defend themselves?"

Women, children, and now men, too. Just like anyone else, they were desperate to survive. They had put their faith in a miracle and that miracle had failed them. The city, now in ruins, is proof of that. She cannot blame them for lashing out in their grief. In the wake of tragedy, emotions run white hot and wild.

"But even still, I can't abandon you. You know that already, don't you? It's a terrible feeling, to feel as though you're alone in the world."

She is hesitant to touch him, afraid that what she feels will not be him, but nevertheless she reaches out to place her hand over his hand as they both dig in the crate together.

It feels warm. Alive.

roll: d6: 5; cumulative 9

"Your fault? What happened?" The gaze that had been deliberately avoiding him searches his face for answers. "You didn't cause that big flash of light, did you?"

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound

[sacaeblade]

"Your voice is easier for me to recognize than your face." A pause, as she thinks. "I think it's less your voice and more the way you speak to me. No bandit would ever speak to me as you do. It's not unpleasant, just... an odd feeling, I suppose."

On the topic of rumors, Lyn's brow furrows. It's hard to ignore them, not when the few remaining people left in the block whisper among themselves and then move away whenever one of them wanders too close. Resentment in their eyes, they all whisper the same phrase.

Death to ██████.

"I am aware of the rumors, but—"

A crate comes tumbling down from the top of the precariously pile, interrupting her thoughts. Lyn steps back quickly, barely managing to avoid the wooden crate before it smashes on the ground, sending its contents everywhere. Whatever might have been of use is gone now, broken beyond repair.

roll: d6: 2, avalanche triggered! roll: d10: 6, dodge

Lyn sighs and sweeps the worst of the broken glass and wooden splinters out of the way with her boot to make room for the next crate. No time to be crying over spilled vulneraries and whatnot.

"Destroying the city? I don't believe you can or would do such a thing." At the sheer scale that things had gone downhill, it's hard to believe only two people were the cause. "Besides, do you really think I would leave you to fend for yourself just because of a few rumors? You stood with me when the world was against me and I will do the same for you, Kent."

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound #//yknow i named this thread thinking we'd find weapons but um #//kent: this date sucks am i a failure lyn: (drops box)(drops b

[sacaeblade]

One spell buys just enough time for Lyn to prepare. Wisps of dark magic have yet to dissipate when Lyn releases the tension she had been holding back and five arrows sail through the air.

"You will fall by my hand!"

Lyn 3.5/10HP heals +1HP from Prayer Ring. Lyn 4.5/10HP  Lyn 4.5/10HP hits, hits, hits, hits, and barely hits ??? C 4/10HP with Mulagir. Astra Storm activates! (3>0) [Roll: 4 + 4 = 8, 10 + 4 = 14, 3 + 4 = 7, 2 + 4 = 6, 1 + 4 = 5; -1 , -1 , -1, -1, -0.5 = -4.5HP] ??? C 0/10HP

Four arrows pierce the cleric one after the other, stabbing through cloth to the flesh underneath, the fifth just barely managing to graze their the hand peeking out from under their robes. By all means, it's another messy attack, but the lingering magic slows the enemy's movement. They stumble back one step, then two, before falling to the ground.

But this result is not without its cost.

SNAP.

The legendary bow's string snaps under the strain of shooting five arrows at once, frayed sinew hanging limp and ineffective. Hanon's bow, once used to slay dragons, is now spent from the task of taking down a single cleric. Without a bowstring, Mulagir is little more than a gilded decoration in her hands; beautiful, but useless.

Lyn begins to limp back towards the other two, but with a violent gasp of air, the cleric convulses. Even embedded with four arrows, they still cling ferociously to life. Although they wince and gasp with even the smallest of movements, they still struggle to their feet, fists raised defensively. They do not make an effort to speak, not when the action would flood their punctured lungs, but it is abundantly clear by now what they would say if they could speak.

The blood that they choke on and the blood that had already been spilled; hadn't that been what they sought this whole time?

Miracle activates! ??? C 0.5/10HP

There is no string left to notch one final arrow and the sword at her waist must be on its last legs as well. She had exhausted almost all of her options and still it hadn't been enough to end this battle. Her entire body aches, rebels against her for continuing to push past what it can reasonably heal back.

The iron taste in her mouth has become so overwhelming that it is almost nauseating now.

Not all is over, though. Even after Lyn and the small mage had made their final stands, there is still one more person here. One more person with the power to finally, truly end this.

She shouts to him: "Diamant, it's up to you now!"

@heriteur

but the call of home is loud

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #aozayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: but the call of home is loud #laruarva #heriteur #//my apologies once again to all roys for locking you out of the good end #//we should not be alive: a thread

[sacaeblade]

It truly is Kent. His voice reaches her ears as though muffled through a layer of cotton, but still recognizable underneath it all. Worse yet is that the hint of hurt in his words manages to bleed through. How could he not feel hurt after she had so outwardly distrusted him?

"I'm sorry, it's not your fault, Kent." She rubs her eyes, but it does nothing to reconcile the dissonance and what she knows to be real. "I think being here has done something to my head. I know who you are, but when if I look at you, it's hard to connect who you are to what I'm seeing."

She had been so sure before that this place existed in the realm of dreams, so how had she let herself be so easily tricked?

But even still, Kent does not outwardly blame her for nearly turning on him. Previously, he had told her to her face that he wished to be prepared in case such a situation were to arise again. He told her that he did not intend to fight back and he held true to his word.

Relief colors Kent's smile, but regret colors Lyn's.

"...I see. I'm glad, then."

She falls silent and busies her hands digging for supplies. The spoil of this crate is a bottle of medicine. The outside of the bottle is dusty and caked in grime, but a quick examination reveals the internal contents to be a bit jostled, but otherwise salvageable. She tucks the bottle away for when they regroup with everyone else.

roll d6: 5; cumulative 13 roll d10: 5; obtained medicine x1

"Keep talking to me. It doesn't matter about what, I just want to make sure you're still there."

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound #//honks my clown nose. did not keep it short

[sacaeblade]

There are very few people that remain that speak to Lyn in such a way. Fewer still that call her by her full name.

"...Kent?"

If she squints, his face comes into focus, but just as quickly it slips away again. His appearance slips in and out of focus, overlapping and intertwining with the faces that haunt her nightmares. The longer she stares, the more she feels her blood boil, resentment creeping back up from the deepest depths of her heart unbidden.

His face falls and so too does her heart drop.

"...Forgive me, you don't look like yourself right now." She finds it much easier to speak to him if she fixes her gaze elsewhere. Anywhere. Just as long as his face isn't superimposed over that appearance. "You appear like a bandit right now in my eyes, so I..."

Sheathing her sword with shaky hands, Lyn walks over to Kent's side. Fighting off the instinct to put distance between them, she begins to dig in the same crate as him. Rather than the scraps of metal she had turned up before, her hand comes away with a whetstone instead.

roll d6: 5; cumulative 12 roll d10: 10; obtained whetstone x1

"I have no interest in testing your faith, but can you answer one question for me, Kent?" Lyn chances a glance back at him. "Back then, when you saw my double, did she talk back to you?"

If she hadn't, it would be much easier to accept.

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound

[sacaeblade]

A bright flash of light followed by excruciating pain; Lyn awakens once more in the explosion-torn streets. Her body is sore all over and the wounds that had started to close open once more, seeping through the fabric of her clothes. Still, there is work to be done even in the face of great tragedy.

Lyn limps her way back to the building she and Felix had been in before the explosion. Although the building is in ruins now, there is still the chance that supplies lie within, packed under the rubble. Before everything had exploded, there had been a lance in there; more weapons were likely hidden within.

roll d6: 3; lead found!

Crunch.

At the sound of glass being crunched under foot, Lyn spins on her heel.

"Felix?"

But it is not the dark-haired boy standing behind her. Instead, it is a bandit, ready to loot the city. The face is one she recognizes, but cannot quite place. The name is on the tip of her tongue, but whenever she attempts to speak it aloud, the familiarity washes away like rain.

She should kill this bandit. She doesn't want to hurt this person. Conflicting feelings clash within her until ultimately she elects to draw her sword. Injured and alone, a mere hunch that she knows this person is not enough to quiet her wildly pounding heart.

"Come to steal from us?" Lyn points her sword at the 'bandit' warily. "I will give you one chance to tuck your tail and flee if you do not wish to die here. Even injured I am more than capable of taking you down."

@liegebound

wretched weaponry

week three: supply search

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #aozayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: wretched weaponry #liegebound #//can n and limit keep this short? lets find out

[sacaeblade]

Another dud. The box joins the others in the pile of useless junk and Lyn drags over the next box. It opens easily; a promising sign or an ill omen that anything useful within had already been picked through? A substantial pile of metal scraps had begun to grow next to them, but none of it was anything they could feasibly use.

If they didn't have to surrender their findings for the Upright Man, maybe they at least could toss the metal scraps at the enemy as a distraction.

roll: d6: 6 lead found! progress: 6/10

Lyn nods at Felix's words, although it is not relief that crosses her face, "You think so, too? After seeing the state the city had been, I would feel bad if something had happened to their only means of defending themselves, but what if something happens to it anyway? Even ballistae can only shoot so many times before they wear down." She tosses aside a book that has begun to disintegrate. "All of the metal we're finding could've be used to make weapons to arm these people instead of banking on a miracle."

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: we're going to eat the whetstones #aegisshielded #//please. please. whetstone. pl #//felix. we have to unionize.

[sacaeblade]

Unfortunately for Kent, his ears turning as crimson as his moniker do not go unnoticed in the waning light of day. A smile rises to her weary face seeing his flustered panic.

"Hehe" — Lyn sucks in a pained breath, laughing might've been a mistake — "Hoow ow ow... Is that why you aren't calling me by my name even though it's just us right now, Kent?"

She hadn't realized before, but it seemed he had a habit of calling her by her title when he was nervous. As expected of a former knight, trained habits run deep. Here she is with her underclothes half rolled up to expose her nasty bruise and he still insists on calling her "Milady".

That's Kent for you, she supposes.

She winces as Kent's feather light touch brushes against her bruised skin. The ointment feels as cold as Ilia's winds against the inflamed area and she grits her teeth against the sensation, but does not complain. Earlier, the pain had her ready to collapse at any moment, but now the slight sting keeps her alert and rooted in the present moment. The antiseptic scent of the ointment hangs heavy in the air, making even outside of the medical tent smell like an infirmary.

Quieter, more seriously, Lyn murmurs, "I wouldn't be asking if it weren't you."

Purely and simply, it is trust that allows her to bare her wounds to him. If it were anyone else, she would have been hesitant to be caught so vulnerable. She could have asked one of the medics with their strange gloves or someone who had brought a healing stave along with them through the tear, but she would not have shown them the full extent of the injuries those strange clerics had dealt.

Raising her arms at his request, Lyn shakes her head, "It stings a bit, but it doesn't feel like anything is broken."

bittersweet dreams

           ⤷   week one : paralogue.

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: bittersweet dreams #liegebound #//sorry about tonal whiplash as well

[sacaeblade]

Lyn sighs, "No wonder there are so many boxes here if they're just shoving anything in here. What a waste dedicating so much space to things no one is using."

The next box slides across the floor and Lyn catches it with her hand. Whoever had packed this box had stuffed it to near bursting with all manner of useless junk with no regard to organization of any sort. If they had in the time in the world, she would have liked to at least clean this place up a little bit for the next person to come through.

roll: d6: 1 no progress

"I'm not sure I trust it," Lyn replies after a moment, pushing some of the junk within off to the side. "It all just seems too easy, doesn't it? As much as I don't want these people to suffer any further, the idea of a singular invention ending this war..."

Reprieve, in whatever form we can give it.

An innocuous statement by itself and yet it made Lyn's hair stand on end.

"I worry that the cost will be greater than whatever it is they're imagining. What about you?"

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: we're going to eat the whetstones #//beginning to think we're not gonna find whetstones in here #aegisshielded

[sacaeblade]

Compared to moving rubble off of bodies while fearfully awaiting the next explosion, digging through boxes is a welcome change. Lyn rifles through the box that Felix opens, pushing aside the useless junk within to search for anything salvageable.

roll: d6: 6 (cumulative total: 10/10) roll: d10: 4 - spare parts x1

She isn't exactly sure what it is she expected, but these assorted metal bits and baubles aren't it. Perhaps she should have tempered her expectations of what they would find hidden in the back of a warehouse

"I'm... not really sure what this is," she admits truthfully. "But we can take it back with us anyway. I'm sure someone else can make use of it. For that Upright Man or whatever they had called it."

The Upright Man. A mechanical contraption, the hope of this city.

Something about the way the man had delivered his speech set a pit of unease in Lyn's stomach. Just yesterday the city had been under siege and now this man had appeared to claim his invention could single-handedly turn the tides of war. No singular weapon Lyn had ever encountered in her life was capable of such a feat and yet this man claimed the impossible. These people were desperate for something, anything, to come save them, but was this truly their salvation?

Lyn stands up, dusting herself off, "This is probably everything useful we're getting from this box. I would have preferred to find something to repair my weapons with, if I'm honest. Let's hope the next one is more fruitful."

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: we're going to eat the whetstones #aegisshielded #//SO NO WHETSTONE? (smashes sword)

[sacaeblade]

It's Lyn's turn to furrow her brow this time.

She sighs, "Injuries are injuries, but I don't particularly want you to watch me take my top off, you know? I am still a woman, Kent."

Undoing the clasps one after the other, Lyn allows the top half of her tunic to slip off her shoulders and fall to her waist. She rolls up her undershirt, showing off the ghastly bruise underneath. The sickly bluish-purple patch spreads from her waist up to her rib cage. Earlier in the day, before she had the chance to look at the injury herself, it had probably been bright red. Time has allowed the color to settle slightly, although the area is still tender.

"...Alright, you can turn around now. If you have any injuries I can wrap them up for you once we're done. You were around for the explosions too, right?"

At first glance, he looks to be fine, but it's possible that he's just hiding his injuries under his clothes like she had been.

bittersweet dreams

           ⤷   week one : paralogue.

#TOAApollyonOuranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: bittersweet dreams #liegebound #//for the folks at home lyn's faith rank is e+ her ass is NOT healing him back this is an empty promise

[sacaeblade]

"Your brow is creased more than usual," Lyn says, although she lacks the energy to truly rib on him. "You don't need to look so severe. I'm not injured because I want to be. Everyone made it out alive and that's all I can ask for."

It should have been an easy fight. There were three enemies and three of them and yet they had come out of the fight significantly worse off. Still alive, but hanging on by mere threads. The three of them had limped into camp to lick their wounds with gauntlets, staves, and sword in tow.

"Don't be like that. Even if you're not a healer, I trust in your abilities. First aid is perfectly serviceable."

After unwrapping the sash around her waist to give him better access to the injured area, Lyn pauses abruptly. She looks up at Kent, back down at her waist, and then back up at Kent.

"A-actually," she clears her throat awkwardly. "Kent, you're going to have to turn around for a second. The worst of it is on my ribs, so I need to undo the clasps on my tunic and hike up my undershirt."

bittersweet dreams

           ⤷   week one : paralogue.

#toaapollyonouranos2024 #AOzayin2024 #⚔️ ic #⚔️ thread: bittersweet dreams #liegebound #//i already said this to n in dms but i did not actually set out to torment kent i realized i put most of her injuries on lyns ribs and wen #//:marge: um. so. #//found out btw that what lyn wears is a modified deel. the more you know