2018-07-29: Green Legacy

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<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The small ship Benedict and the mysterious benefactor chartered made a course correction at Talise's insistence on its way back from Uzda il-Jam. It stopped at a rocky beach a ways south of Azado, on the very edge of the desert. There, it made anchor in a pirate's cove - one Layna may find familiar - and disembarked passengers.

It was a short journey into the rocky hills from there to find the place Talise was looking for. A rocky area in a narrow valley where no one would think to look. She has to wrestle a number of huge boulders out of the way to get in there; it's not something most people can do, but Talise can because she's ludicrously strong even without her power gloves.

The rocks, when moved, reveal a narrow gash in the hillside. Talise drops into it.

There's no trial to adventure through. The cave is large, but it's a singular room. It's a single chamber that looks like it was once framed in masonry of some sort, but most of it has simply decayed into rubble, with rock collapsing over much of it. A few chunks of ancient brick remain, as does a single pillar, worn smooth and tilted to lean against the wall. The entire back half of the cavern has crumbled in, presumably sealing up wherever the regular entrance was.

But it's the scenery that predominates. And that has not decayed: A pedestal of a pale green crystal, almost like a faded emerald, dominates the front half of the chamber. It's long and rectangular, almost like a funeral monument, with a raised podium which looks like it was made to hold a sword.

"...This was where I found Rastaban," Talise says, her voice quiet as she gestures to the podium. "Given what we found in the flooded cave, maybe we can make some sense out of this place."

Benedict had come along with the group; he's carrying a crossbow with him. "You think there's another mural?" he asks.

"I wasn't really looking for that the first time," admits Talise. "I was looking for treasure. And the skeleton ghost kind of... had my attention. But it's worth another check, right?"

There are plenty of nooks and crannies to search - saying nothing of the crystal podium itself. The sword it once housed is no longer there, largely because Talise has it now. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy has already pulled out her journal and started sketching. 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle came. Of course she did; she wouldn't say no to Talise when she asked for something like that. Tethelle owes her too much to dismiss her out of hand, even if she wasn't interested in the answers she might find. Since she is, that makes it even easier.

Plus, it's a nice walk. She appreciates the environment, if nothing else. She even helps Talise move the rocks, because even if she can do it herself it's nice if you don't have to.

"So you were in a hurry," Tethelle says, having heard most of Talise's story about finding Rastaban, here and there. "Because of the undead, but also in search of treasure. It's a wonder you didn't try to take the pedestal with you." A slight smile suggest she's joking.

Though perhaps not, given Tethelle walks over to it and looks down at it thoughtfully. After about ten seconds, she draws her own sword and tries to slide it in where Rastaban once was, half to see if it'll fit (she prefers a heavy sword, more two-handed than hand-and-a-half) and half to see if there's a switch or button she can push with the tip of her own sword, possibly by turning it while it's wedged in there. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    It took some time for Lanval to reunite. He wanted to make sure Ida and Rosaline got out of there okay. Everyone felt overwhelmed by emotion when they got to experience the life of a loyal dog from ancient times who became a Hellion... it was probably for the best, between the nature of the island itself and their strengthened spirits, to make sure there were no additional ones made out of all of that.
     He has something he needs to tell them - but Talise's force of personality ensures a change of course in destiny, and he is along for the ride anew, following along as she clears the path towards a place she specifically wishes to check. Through the path, into the large cave... a decayed chamber. Ancient brick, a worn and smooth pillar... the pedestal.
     "Mmmm... ish that sho, Talishe?" Lanval says, stroking his beard as he comes forward... then keeps going and flops himself down on the rubble, which he sinks into while the rest scatter about in observing and searching the chamber. He has himself a quaff from the gourd.
     "Shkeleton ghosht...? A Hellion?" Lanval asks, voice trailing off as he lounges. 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

If there was something Talise wanted to look into, you could guarantee that Layna would be all for it.

"This place, aye? Been here a couple o' times, never really thought there was anythin' here." Layna comments as she steps out of the boat, looking around curiously. Of course, the reason why she never found anything of interest soon becomes apparent - their destination appears to be the sort of place few people would venture into, with several large boulders blocking the way.

If they didn't have Talise's prodigious strength, they'd probably be at a dead end here. What they find, though, is deceptively simple.

Layna lets out a whistle as she strolls into the chamber, looking around appreciatively.

"You know, it's nice to come across somethin' like this that isn't throwing challenges in our face our droppin' us inta some kinda hell-pit, aye? Relaxin', almost." She comments, then glances toward Talise as she speaks. Layna nods.

"...Aye, we're here. I'm sure we'll figure out somethin'." She says. She glances toward Lanval quietly for a moment before drawing her telescope from her said and using it to get a good look around the place, trying to get see if there's anything that becomes noticeable once they get a closer look. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"I know, right?" Talise says with a grin at Layna. "I never thought there was either! Captain Goldhand used to stow stuff in a cave around here."

Talise smiles lopsidedly back at Tethelle. "I did, actually. It's huge and rooted to the ground. But yeah, I was sixteen or seventeen and I didn't know anything about how to properly study history...." She trails off for a moment. "...Honestly I learned a lot of things from Ida about that."

As Lanval asks what's up, Talise looks up from where she's investigating a crumbled urn full of nothing. "No, I don't think it was a Hellion. At least, there wasn't any purple energy around it. It was green. And it stopped fighting after awhile and just disappeared."

Tethelle approaches the podium and attempts to insert her sword - but at the first touch of her weapon, something happens. A pulse of green light surges through the crystalline mound, and a ringing sound fills the chamber, like a huge, ethereal gong sounding from everywhere and nowhere.

Green flame suddenly ripples up from the heart of the crystal. It surges, billows... and accumulates just behind the empty sword podium in a growing orb that swells out into a shape the size of a man.

The figure that emerges seems to just barely have substance. The armour it wears is of silver with extensive and elaborate lincoln-green enameling, with a helmet boasting enormous cheekpieces and a high feather crest of shimmering green.

But it's no longer a man. The face behind it is not a face; it's an ancient-looking skull, though a few whisps of white hair peek down from the cheeks of the helmet, as if it was once long and flowing in the warrior's life. And the weapon it draws comes not from the podium, but from open air. The ghost thrusts its right hand out; green flame pours outwards, coalescing, rippling, then streaming into a cruciform shape before solidifying into a longsword wrought of the same green crystal as the podium.

Hovering a foot above the crystal monument, the green ghost points its sword straight at Talise and declares something.

"###### ###### ### ## ###### # ####### #### ## ######### ####### ## ########## ####### #### ##### # ########## #### ## ###### ####### ###### ## ######"

It's utterly incomprehensible save for the tone of challenge. Talise widens her eyes and clicks her teeth together, whipping Rastaban out of its sheath and dropping into a defensive position. "I can't understand you!" she shouts back at the ghost.

Glancing back, she hisses, "I had to fight this guy for Rastaban. I only won because I got lucky!" 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Studying history is cool! My dad knows a bunch of stuff about history...I dunno if--whoah. What? WHAT?! What did he just say? I wanna write it down for--for history! What kind of famous explorer will I be if I don't get that challenge?!" Sephy is dismayed. 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Oops.

Tethelle was not expecting the simple touch of her sword to activate the podium immediately, and when it makes a ringing noise she hops off it; she still has her sword in hand, so she sweeps it around into an angled defensive position, expecting an assault from nowhere.

She doesn't quite get one. The ghost appears, and Tethelle's eyes widen slightly - she had expected something else, even with Talise's description. Then they narrow as she watches, focusing, watching the dead man's stance and his movement. He might be some kind of ghost skeleton, but he's still a person wielding a sword, and Tethelle feels that she knows a little something about swords.

"Well, he clearly is up for a challenge," Tethelle says. She's the closest, and she feints at the ghostly knight, a sweep that turns into a fast return to guard. No injury is intended; it's a test of his speed, and whether he will fight Talise alone or everybody in his domain. "Actions speak louder than words - let us give it to him!" 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval looks up from where he lounges as the green light shines. He helps himself up out of the rubble--
     Nope, he sinks into it, and merely sits back up as the ghostly skeletal figure appears with that green crystalline longsword. Lanval's eyes close, peaceably. This is not the sort of situation to be at complete peace, is it? That's a pretty damned big entrance to make, appearing out of nowhere like that. Talise is riled up!
     "Ya can't undershtand 'em...? Shure, their accent'sh all... thick, 'n... oooh! Oooh. Ha ha ha!" Lanval bursts out in uproarious laughter. "That'sh sho shilly of me... shorrrrry~"
     Lanval gets up, ambling over towards Talise's side and a ways behind her.
     "Now hold up," he says to those who are looking alarmed. "Thish one... that ain't a Hellion, yer right... that'sh Althenian magic! Aaaanyhoo, they shpeak a language I don't think any of ya would know..."
     What?!
     "He'sh ashkin'... lemme quote... WHY HATH YE RETURNED." He catches the inflection pretty well. "YE HOLDER OF THE BLADE," a pause, as though considering what the words in between are. "'n... they're ashkin'... SHALL YE BE TRIED AGAIN."
     "Mmmm... I think they're ashkin' if yer lookin' fer another trial. They're not shure why ya came back..." 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna nods. Yeah, that explains it. Talise had probably been to this island more than she had, it only made sense that she'd start exploring it after a while.

She watches as Tethelle moves to insert her weapon into the pedestal...but then, something happens. Layna backpedals quickly as a skeleton in silver and green armor emerges from green flame.

Its words are incomprehensible, but the meaning of them is clear enough to Layna. She glances toward Sephilia...and offers her a shrug.

"No idea, lass! You're gonna have to go with 'artistic license' on this one, aye?" She replies...but it turns out, that Lanval knows. Somehow, she wasn't surprised.

At this time Tethelle moves in, testing the warrior with a swing of her blade. At this, Layna grins in Talise's direction.

"Aye! Tethelle's right. You're not seventeen anymore, Talise, and this time you've got us behind you, aye? I think it's time to show this bag o' bones just how far you've come!" Layna says. ...Assuming Talise wanted to be tried again, that was. If this thing could talk that made things convenient, but she had a feeling it also wasn't the sort to give answers easily. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"It was like this last time," Talise sighs with a glance at Sephilia. "It just kept shouting at me in this language...."

A language Lanval says he understands. Talise gasps and stares at him for a second. "How could you--"

She swallows a lump in her throat. Althenian magic....

"...Yeah!" she shouts back at the ghost. "Lanval, tell him we want to know more about the trial!"

That ethereal green aura pulses and flows around the ghost of the skeleton knight, rippling into peaks and tongues like a slow-burning fire. It holds its sword out a moment longer, tilting its head as Talise shouts back at it and the others add their own input. It doesn't really have an expression, but there's something quizzical about its body language.

Tethelle speaks to it in a language it understands. The ghost knight suddenly shifts its stature - and with a smooth, fluid movement, whips its weapon out in a short defensive stroke, batting away Tethelle's weapon, then taking a step back as if to avoid an inevitable follow-up stroke. The knight looks at her intently for a moment, then at Lanval.

"###### ### ### ######## ### ###### ######## ######## ####### ## ######## ######," the phantom says, before it brings its hands together and then apart.

It's holding a second sword in its off hand now.

Green light builds as the Knight lifts both weapons high, crossing them above its helmet - and then sweeps them down in a double arc, just as Lanval begins to speak. A roaring double arc of green energy rages out from those two swords, slamming out towards those gathered - the force of it enough to drive bodies backwards and batter armour and flesh. Layna and Sephilia will get the worst of it; Benedict gets it too, hurled backwards into the rock wall.

Then it's lunging in. It touches down between Tethelle and Talise, whirling and beginning to slash at the pair of them with a rapid series of strokes. They come from all directions, high and low and in the middle, delivered with utter finesse and grace even with the ghost knight's attention divided.

"###### ##### ## ####### ###### ### ### ######## ####### ####," the ghost shouts over the sound of blades being slung.

Talise has to fight to keep up, even with the progress she's made over the last year or two. Her breathing picks up as she darts and dips and sweeps Rastaban in a series of rapid movements, blade dancing against green crystal blade. Finally she widens her eyes as she spots an opening, attempting to slash through the ghost's guard and mark its flank, then its shoulder. "C'mon," she growls. "If it wants a trial, let's give it one!" 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

There is no immediate follow-up stroke from Tethelle because she's testing him right back. He's good, which isn't the same thing as powerful; Tethelle has fought people who are immensely strong and could probably crush her between their strength and magical powers, but swing their weapons like a random hunk of sharp metal, with no finesse or real talent.

She smiles, more to herself than anyone else, and just for an instant. Good. She could use this kind of a challenge. It helps her to have something simple to focus on. "I agree!"

"I understand him as much as I need to," Tethelle says, as the ghostly knight begins to move. She can't intercept the energy arcs, so she does not; she lets him come to her and trusts to her allies to be able to defend themselves from the opening swipe.

Tethelle, who has been taking a defensive stance, deflects a series of blows from the knight's blade without striking one of her own. It's not easy; she has to keep ahead of him and watch his body, but the fact that he is fighting two at once works against him. Even if his focus is sufficient to the task, his body only moves in so many ways, and he can't have his swords everywhere at once.

Tethelle waits for Talise to slash, and takes the same opening an instant later when he reacts to Talise; she lunges, driving the point of her sword forward with both arms at the junction between breastplate and waistguard, trying to puncture a hole and then use her entire body weight to lever an opening in the plate. Her style is well-suited to fight armoured enemies; Metal Demon or knight in full plate, some of the same tactics work. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "####### ####..." Lanval is interrupted and has to sway just away from the green energy that scythes past his bulbous belly. He clears his throat - one of the many needless gestures picked up from mortals over the years - as he stands back erect.
     "D-Don't worry 'bout the firsht one, they jusht wanna ashk who I am..." Lanval puts on that smile as he takes a few cursory stagger steps away. "Anyway, they shaid... THEN TAKE THE TRIAL OF GREEN KNIGHT FREDO." He sits down.
     The spinning blade could have beheaded him had he not just laid down. An eye opens half-lidded, asking back in an inquisitive-sounding tone, "##### #######?" 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

It would seem that the trial had begun. Layna rolls her neck and shifts into a combat stance, flexing her fingers experimentally. It was time to see just what this ancient sentinel was capable of.

One sword becomes two and it swings them, sending an arc of vibrant energy flying toward her. Layna takes it head on, bracing herself against it. The sheer force of it is enough to send her skidding back several feet.

"Aye, it's a strong one..." She says, and glances over to the fallen Benedict. "Oi, you alive, lad? It's only gonna get worse from here, so if you can hear me, I'd suggest gettin' outta here!"

And with that Layna rushes in. She shifts as she moves so that she's behind it and recites a quick incantation. She punches forward with one hand to send a shockwave of wind flying toward the phantom - Green Knight Fredo, according to Lanval - in an attempt to knock it off balance before lunging in with a solid punch. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"OOF!" Sephy cries. "Why me?! too!" 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise's sword almost snakes through - the skeletal ghost whips its weapon downwards and deflects her lower stroke away, the upper one eluding it but glancing off the phantom's shoulder armour. It impacts something solid - enough so that Rastaban's blade leaves a short rut in whatever substance the ghostly armour is made out of. "#########!" the green phantom shouts - and yet it is not a cry of pain, but almost one of pride.

Tethelle, too, makes a braven move, driving in just as the knight seems to be caught dead to right by Talise - but at the last second, the warrior brings its other blade down. Steel screeches against crystal as the green warrior diverts Tethelle's blade mostly to one side. Her sword scrapes across the warrior's armoured flank, cutting another line into its armour. "### #########!" the ghost shouts again, in that same delighted tone.

There's a heavy 'CHUNG' from the back of the room as Benedict steps up and fires his crossbow. The bolt sails over the ghost knight's shoulder, and the green warrior takes a lunge backwards, then to the side, reorienting to line itself up with Talise between itself and Tethelle - and then it lunges forward, sword across its body as if to check her backwards into Tethelle.

It continues forward. Green light swirls and builds up, winding into the shape of a dragon's head. Ablaze with that energy, the knight brings one sword up to try and strike Talise while she's down.

Talise staggers at the first blow - "Ghk! Sorry," she manages whether she hits Tethelle or not. And then the Green Knight is on her with that blazing stroke, and she gasps as she brings Rastaban up to catch that blade in a steely lock. The Knight swings its other weapon, but Talise drops her left hand and slams her palm into the Knight's forearm, holding that second blade at bay.

The Knight presses in close for a moment. It speaks again: "##### ## ########## ###### ### ######## ######## ###### ## ##### ######## ######### ##### ######### ####### ### ########## ########## ## # ########## #######"

Layna comes billowing in with a thundering gust of wind. The blast staggers the Green Knight, but it - he, perhaps? - manages to pivot away from the worst of the damage, abandoning his bladelock with Talise before again slashing towards Layna with one of those broad, arcing waves of green light, aimed to hurl her back into a wall.

Sephilia is mercilessly left alone, as is Lanval, though the ghost gives him a look. "#### ## ####### ##### ### ##### ####### #### ###### ######" 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"I...should I bring Chauncey out? This guy...he's like...testing sword...is he?" Sephy hangs back for now until she's directed. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval, one of the greater spectators of the modern age of Lunar for his ability to just sit there and watch struggles with very little overall care for the world, at least has the courtsy to scooch back and allow the trial to continue commencing.
     "They're pleashed with your shkill with the blade." Lanval comments as he has a quaff from that gourd he carries around. "Really pleashed... like, they mean it. Mmmm."
     Lanval steps it up as the Knight presses in close, speaking in real time as though understanding - maybe he's being asked? - to speak as an almost instant interpreter. He's not too bad at it.
     "BY COURAGE YOU EARNED THIS BLADE." Lanval's voice is kind of funny the way he makes it boom to capture it. "WHY DO YOU WALK WITH IT UPON THIS STAR?"
     Lanval shifts his balance where he sits as he watches how they handle Layna coming in. "Now he's shayin'... I DON'T RECOGNIZE YE, ART THOU ONE OF LOUIE's... uhhh, wait, shorry, shorry, they're ashkin' me, they're ashkin' me... ashkin' me. Ashkin' me!" There's enough going on that he feels compelled to clarify this before this misconception gets out of hand. "Ha ha ha! Shorry, the way they shtructure the shentence it'sh shometimesh hard ta follow who or what it'sh about... mmm."
     Lanval opens up his eyes half-lidded, with a peaceful (and dumb) cat-like smile as he rests the gourd on his lap. "#####, ######. ##### ###### #### ##### #######." The tone sounds less booming and more casual, conversational. 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle went all-in on that attack. It's hard to take back a lunge, especially a lunge that you commit your entire body to in the way she did. She felt it hit metal, and that's enough for an opener.

But that means she is relatively open for a counterattack, especially an unorthodox one like having Talise thrown at her. Tethelle switches to a one-handed grasp on her sword and pushes with her other toward Talise, half palm-striking her and half stopping her backwards movement.

It's not quite enough, and Tethelle staggers, knocked off-balance by the larger swordswoman. "It's fine!" she replies to Talise, turning her own propulsion into a backwards, sidewise step. With her big sword, she has a longer reach than the knight's shorter, one-handed weapons.

Layna gets the first opening while the knight has Talise's blade in a lock, but as soon as he blasts energy at her, Tethelle strikes in; this time an almost gentle-looking sweep of her blade that turns into a whirling, arcing series of slashes from multiple angles. The first hit looked soft, more pushing than cutting, but the follow-ups are solid blows as Tethelle constantly circles counterclockwise around him in an almost dance-like series of moves. Lanval may be able to talk with the man, but she prefers communicating with her blade. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Did it say anything to me, Lanval?" Sephy is jotting notes furiously, and occasionally casting some light healing spells towards her friends. 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

The Green Knight is talented, that much is certain to Layna. It was no mere ruin guardian, though that became evident the moment Lanval started translating its words.

Though distracted it still managed to break away and defend against attack before lashing out at her. Layna defends herself as best she can, but it still manages to catch her off-guard - the wave of light slams into her and sends her flying toward the nearest wall.

She reacts quickly, orienting herself to minimize the damage. This gives her some time to glance over to Lanval with a raised eyebrow as he quickly corrects himself.

While Talise keeps the second blade busy and Tethelle whirls around it in a grace sword dance Layna rushes in. It looks like she's about to go for another punch...but she then feints, ducking low into a leg sweep. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Ghh-- you don't have to, Sephilia. He's tough!" Talise calls over to the anxious girl.

All the while, Lanval is translating -

'why do you walk upon this star?'

For a second, Talise freezes, She clicks her teeth together. "...Why do I keep getting asked that," she mutters as she attempts to maneuver around to the other side of Fredo as Tethelle. When the Sword Shaman begins to unload, Talise times her maneuvers to match her friend's.

"Tell him it's because someone's got to make things right!" she shouts as she surges in, Rastaban coming up over her head, then descending not in one major stroke, but in a series of quick downward slashes, raining blows on the phantom of the Green Knight.

At the last moment, though, she plants her heel, bunching her shoulders - then snaps her left elbow out to try and slam it into the ghost's bicep.

Quickly she follows up with a familiar rising slash. "HOOOOOAHT!" she shouts as she attempts to power through Fredo's guard with a familiar Tidal Blow.

The Green Knight keeps up admirably. Even as Benedict widens his eyes and sinks back to cover Sephilia, the ghost whirls both swords, shifting and darting with incredible speed and alertness, seeming to read Tethelle and Talise's bodies and eyes more than watching their swords. The ancient warrior seems able to call their shots to some extent simply by the way they're standing; blows that would slip through anyone else's guard do not, both Rastaban and Tethelle's big blade finding parry after parry as the knight moves as the two do. Pretty soon they've created a veritable vortex of sword, a blade cyclone which throws up chattering arcs of green lightning whenever the Knight makes a successful parry.

"###### ##### ##### ######## ### ### ####### ####### ##### ### # ##### ###### #### ############# ####### ###### ###### ########### ###### ### ########### #### ########## ########## ####### ## ######## ALTHENA ######## ####### ## #######" Fredo declares as he duels the pair, the phantom's voice as steady as ever - still resonant, though.

Layna bursts in and startles Fredo with a move he wasn't expecting from a pugilist. The ghost steps back, but his right leg is caught, and he staggers, momentarily thrown off his guard by the ace pirate's feint-and-sweep!

In Layna's actions, the two swordswomen are rewarded. Talise's heavy stroke slams through Fredo's guard and slices a deep rut into his breastplate; at the same time, Tethelle dances through, scarring the heavy silver and green armour over the knight's hip. The swordsman staggers backwards. "########! #### #### # ############# ####### #### ####### ##### ##### ## ### ######### ##### ######## #########!" he exclaims in that same tone of pride, even as he whirls back and regains his footing.

Both green blades wheel as he crosses them above his head - and the green light arcing from them brightens. A vivid, fiery blaze of energy.

"###### ####### #######" the ghost shouts - and slashing both blades out in a double arc, Fredo unleashes a vast, fiery blast, shaped like the head of a dragon, surges forth to try and engulf both Talise, Tethelle and Layna! 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval shakes his head to Sephilia. That's as much time as he can give her. As the battle grows more and more intense between great warriors across eras and even worlds, it falls upon Lanval to earn his keep in a way other than finally getting around to helping wash dishes or do almost anything other than lounge around, laugh, and drink all the beer.
     "Mmm." The ghost is chatty, almost rapid-fire. "MY FRIEND LOUIE," that's the name of the first Dragonmaster. Every time Lanval tries to speak, he accidentally talks over when the ghost finds a new beat to discuss. He has to slow it down. "WE TOOK THE TRIAL." Given that Lanval seems to have a lisp in that he talks in aquamarine when projecting, it's admirable he's capturing the real character of what they're saying. "WE TOOK THE TRIAL," Lanval repeats as though this were important as context for what comes next, "HE WAS ALTHENA'S," he can't finish it, it's lost to the battle - but he's not sure he knew what that word was anyway, "I dunno what he wash to her there, shorry, uhh-- MY TRUE COMPANION. I think he meant Dragonmaster Louie... mmmph. He'sh... really pleashed with you! Uhh. That'sh not the way you ushually deshcribe it but he ish... ha ha, oooh. Really likin' how Tethelle'sh handlin' her shword. Mmm. That'sh, uh, approximate.... AND LEFT RASTABAN TO A WORTHY... I didn't catch that... left to... oh. WHEN CALAMITY RISES."
     Lanval comments on this next one a bit too late as a fiery blaze of energy brightens up and flings outwards. "GREEN DRAGON COURAGE, that'sh the name of the Arte that he jusht shtruck out at ya with. If, uh, that meant anything..."
     Lanval clears his throat again and has a quaff. "All right, uh, shoundsh like he wash besht friendsh with Louie, took the trialsh together... shtuck with 'em even when Althena choshe him to be Dragonmashter." 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"Oh wow...Dad's never going to believe this," Sephy says, eyes widening. 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

In the constant ringing of blade against blade, Tethelle feels... something. A rhythm, a sense of something more than just herself and her allies and her opponent - the feeling of interconnectedness, of understanding the battle without seeing it. Just feel the flow of battle and the people in it.

She feels that if she just went a little further, she would grasp an aspect of perfection, an instant of enlightenment. It's something she's felt before. She holds onto that feeling, though it's fleeting.

"Oh, is he," Tethelle replies to Lanval, though she can't spare more time than that because of the draconic wave of energy. Tethelle doesn't throw herself away of it, or try to dodge at all - she goes through it.

It hurts, but it's a good hurt, in a way. It's not born of cruelty or anger, but someone who feels the same way as she does. The energy tears at Tethelle, blowing her hair back, blasting against her arms as she draws her own blade back -

Where the Green Knight's energy is jade, Tethelle's is a pale blue, edging toward silver around the edges. It's not Equites' power, which is its own gradient, highly identifiable, but her own skill and technique shining down the blade as she brings her sword up in a rising slash.

An arc of energy blasts out. It's not as large as the Green Knight's, but it is intense, an almost blue-flame lash toward the ghostly knight. Even after she's launched a wave of it, the remnants cling to the blade, a steady shine along the edge proper as Tethelle sweeps it back to a guard position, leaving wispy trails in the air.

Tethelle only remembers part of the story Talise told her about the first Dragonmaster. She figures now is not the best time to ask for a refresher. "Heir? Apprentice?" she guesses, at the word Lanval missed. "Inheritor?" 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna tries to keep up with Lanva's translations, but it's difficult in the heat of battle. Any moment of distraction could give the Green Knight a dangerous opening, and she doesn't intend to give him that chance.

However, she doesn't need to give it to him when he can make one himself. Though her actions allow Talise and Tethelle to get their hits in, Fredo is not done yet.

Layna recites a quick incantation as Fredo prepares his move, and unleashes upon them a wave of great power.

"D-damn!" Layna hisses. She protects herself with a wall of wind, but it only serves to lighten the blow somewhat. She's hurled back once more and forced to her knees through the sheer power of it.

But, she's not done yet. A wide grin appears on Layna's face. This was the kind of fight she liked.

She stands up, but she does not rush in again just yet. Instead, she ignites one of her bracers and hauls an arm back. A cyclone begins to build, and then she punches forward, directing a powerful shockwave of wind and flame in the Green Knight's direction. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise's heart thumps against her chest as a flicker of shock briefly hits her mind. "So he was one of Louie's companions," she breathes.

The green flame blazes forth and threatens to consume them all. Widening her eyes, Talise drops back a few steps, then angles Rastaban across herself, throwing up one arm to shield her face and hoping like hell her coat will take care of the rest.

It doesn't quite. The thunderous power blasts across her; chunks of coat and armour burn away or buckle as the shining power pummels her. Grinding her teeth, Talise puts her shoulder into it, then steps forward, muscling through the inferno of light. "I won't... be defeated by this!" she shouts, her voice pained but defiant - and alight with a fire she hasn't truly shown in awhile. The feeling of something like this, fighting a swordsman alongside her closest friends and companions... the legend of the Dragonmaster bound through it all....

Talise does not have the ability to summon energy like Tethelle can. When her friend's bluish flame roars out, Talise rips her way out of the dregs of the Green Dragon Courage. She hurtles forward, taking a step - then darting to the side - then darting back in.

"Then here's my arte!" she shouts as she begins to swing - and while there is nothing magic about it, there's something else.

Skill - sheer, sublime skill. Talise does not so much hack or slash at Green Knight Fredo; what she unleashes on him is closer to a work of art. Rastaban's blade practically sings in the air, so quickly and gracefully does she swing it. Her body moves, but the swing of her hips and the angle of her shoulders and the dart of her eyes don't seem to match where her blade is moving - they're tells, deceptive ones, because she's so in the zone now that she calculates each blow entirely through instinct and experience.

It's the sequence that was enough to mark even Ghaleon.



Layna builds up another roaring cyclone. The magical blast slams outwards and bursts across the Green Knight - but this time, Fredo is ready for it. "########!" he praises even as he thrusts a hand towards Layna - and her wind is suddenly met by another blast of green flame. The fire spreads into the wind and redirects it until a flaming billow is spiralling back at her, like a gust of green wildfire ready to scorch her!

Tethelle's thunderous light comes through powerfully. Fredo crosses both his blades and braces himself, and the blast slams into his crossed swords. Green lightning arcs madly as the crystal blades struggle to hold back the Sword Shaman's power burst, and he's driven back several feet, straining mightily to withstand it. "########! ##### ######## ### ### ###### #####!" he shouts at her - words of high praise, it sounds like, even if they're incomprehensible.

Then Talise is upon him - and that dancing blade is met by twin blades of crystal. Sparks and green lightning sing as the one long blade is parried by the two green ones - but it's evident enough that the Green Knight is having trouble calling Talise's attacks. A slash sneaks through and hits his hip. Another slams into his shoulder. Another slices across his leg, rending ghostly armour. And yet....

The ghost laughs. A loud, hearty sound. "#### ## ###### #### #### ##### # ####### ####### #### ### ######## ###### ##### # ####### ###########!" he thunders before taking another lunge backwards.

Fredo hits the podium upon which Rastaban once stood - and from there, improbably with all that armour, he lunges into the air. The ghost flips upwards, somersaulting once, then descends to land precisely between Talise and Tethelle.

Tethelle gets Fredo's first move. The knight lashes out at her, slashing twice, twice more - and then swinging that second blade to try and slam across her upper body, aiming to slash and knock her back. And then it wheels on Talise.

The Knight's swords melt together; the resulting weapon looks a lot like a green crystal Rastaban. It surges with green light as Fredo steps in - and with a series of immense double-handed blow, attempts to thunder through Talise's guard to try and back her up against the wall.

It's a killing sequence - one that'll test her defenses to the last. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval, local interpreter of some old forgotten tongue, opens his eyes half-lidded as to keep better watch with what's going on. It is quite the sight! He starts to have a sip--
     Then he can't, because they're talking again. "Mmmmm... that'sh high praishe for yer technique, Layna! He shaid it wash EXCELLENT." She'll probably appreciate that comment more if she makes it out of the green tornado fire intact.
     He tilts his head a bit like a confused dog as one hand scratches at his beard. "Uhhh... that'sh about Tethelle... that'sh one of the vague onesh, mmm, INEDIBLE SPIRIT? Uhh. INCREDIBLE SPINACH? Shomethin' or 'notherrrrr... uhh, shoundsh shincere? Sho probably the one 'bout the shpinach." Others might disagree.
     He leans forward as the dancing blade and the twin blades of crystal lock, and he knows - intristically - that this is key that he says things EXACTLY as they come up. He says it in a long, roundabout way... given the urgency in which he must speak, Lanval elects to speak a quick summary of it instead.
     "SHOW ME YOUR WILL, Talishe!" Lanval pauses in a beat. "Them. Show them," he asides, much more quietly. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

"OK Lanval when we're done here can you teach me that language? Maybe it'll be easier with two of us if we have to understand it again..." Sephy asks, still jotting, also glowing with healing magic to send out. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "Mmmm... we'll shee, Shephy," Lanval starts hatching a terrible plan in his mind to make sure he never has to wash dishes ever again, but he is too lazy to ever act upon this Faustian bargain in the making - probably because the Green Knight's about to get chatty again. "Thish ish all really shomethin'... 'm tellin' ya, I ushed ta shee a looooooot of people fightin'. Thoshe three... Talishe, Tethelle, Layn--"
     He stops because this is probably around the point where he's interrupted by the need to translate. 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle can guess what Lanval was going for there.

She doesn't think it has to do with spinach.

This would be easier, she thinks, if they could talk to him directly. Tethelle was surprised that the Lunarians spoke the same language as her at all, but their old language is not one she recognizes in the least. It's not the same as the old Baskar phrases she learned for liturgical purposes, and that's the only old one she knows.

But she can't, and Lanval is a somewhat unreliable translator. She'll have to stick with her blade doing the talking for her. Fortunately, it seems to be doing a pretty good job.

Tethelle deflects the first slash, then the second. She's pressed by the third, her blade leaving shimmering trails of light from her chi as she moves it as fast as she can to reposition for defense - but the fourth gets through, leaving a light line down her arm, and the bigger slash impacts her solidly.

Tethelle managed to turn it, at least, so that it didn't dig as deeply as it could have. It still throws her back; she actually launches away from the Green Knight hard enough that she looks like she's going to hit a wall. And indeed she does - but with her feet, having flipped in flight to strike the cavern wall feet-first.

She springs back off and throws herself back toward the battle. Not fast enough to stop the assault from Talise from starting, but hopefully enough to get there before it ends; she brings her sword in a diagonal slash, using the momentum of her mad leap and gravity combined. Tethelle lets out a wordless battle kiai as she does, putting the force of her spirit as much as her muscle behind the blow. 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Talise's arte is impressive, to be sure - it never fails to amaze Layna when she pulls it off. But Layna has more to worry about now than that. The Green Knight manages to endure her attack and redirect it, and soon she finds an emerald wildfire hurtling toward her.

Layna grins, and punches it. She meets his spirit with her own, bringing her power to bear against the winds. It parts around her, carving a pair of great rents into the ground and the wall behind her on either side. Steam and smoke waft off of Layna, her hair wind-tossed. She definitely still took the brunt of it - she shakes her hand a little gingerly.

"'Excellent', huh? Well, I can return the gesture." Layna says. Talise and Tethelle were fighting with all their spirit. She didn't want to disappoint, either.

She holds out a hand out, and with a quick incantation, a whirling tornado appears in front of her - mid-way between herself. She doesn't send it flying toward the Green Knight - instead, she jumps into it herself, allowing herself to get caught. Eventually, it shoots her upwards, as upwards as she can get in a place like this. Her trajectory takes her up, up, up...and then down, down, down, descending toward Fredo with a double axe-handle strike from above. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

It feels like I've been here before, haven't I, Talise reflects. She thinks back, just for a second or two, to that battle in the depths of the Flooded Cavern. To Ghaleon, forcing her blade to her own throat.

Green Knight Fredo isn't quite so unflinching about it; his approach comes with greater intent. It's something Talise can fight against. But she's giving ground. Rastaban dances through the air, meeting the green crystal sword and striking it to the side again and again. But strikes are getting through. The mail and plates she wears under her coat break and give way in places. Small cuts riddle her shoulders and sides; a deeper one slashes across her hip. Her body screams with pain and exertion as she pours everything she has into keeping up, going blow for blow with the ancient ghost.

Reading his eyes is impossible; he doesn't have eyes. Reading his body language is hit-or-miss because he's clever and knows how to throw her off. Blow after blow falls upon her - and she starts to read off of something else. Something she doesn't quite understand. An ineffable something. It's enough that she can stop backing up.

The duel stalls. Swords continue to swing. The Green Knight and the woman who wields his old blade go toe to toe and neither yields an inch.

Then comes the one to break the lock. Tethelle.

So consumed is the Green Knight with the tit-fot-tat that he cannot properly defend as Tethelle comes soaring in. With a wordless exclamation, Fredo tries to pivot away - but the diagonal slash strikes home, and the blade screeches as it rips through spectral steel, a large chunk of armour falling away to reveal a flash of bone and green fire beneath. A solid hit, one that would be dreadfully deep were Fredo alive.

Layna follows it up with a hammerblow of epic proportions. Fredo's still too off-balance to properly defend against it - and the descending pirate drops down, slamming his shoulder hard with a powerful hit that nearly drives him into the earth. The phantasmal knight lurches back. With another shapeless exclamation, he sweeps his sword out to lash out at Layna -

Until his arm hits something. It's Talise's left arm - and in the space of a heartbeat, she's springing into motion, pivoting like a dancer, whirling inside Fredo's guard, and swinging Rastaban backwards with her other hand. It sweeps towards his neck.

And stops dead a millimeter from actually hitting his armour.

Things hang there for a moment. The Green Knight doesn't move. Neither does Talise. Her eyes are closed.

And then... the skeletal warrior begins to chuckle. It's a low, deep, pleased sound.

"#### ###### ## # ######### ####### ####### ######### ### ## ########## ###### ####### #### ### ###### ########" he says, his voice lower, but the note of satisfaction in it is unmistakable. "##### ####### ### ## ###### ###### ### ## ######### ########### ##### ALTHENA ######## #### #### # # ######### ######### ##### ##### ######### ### ##"

A shimmering sound echoes through the room as the light radiating from the Green Knight rises and peaks. It's so bright that it nearly blinds. Talise gasps as she tries to shield her eyes with one hand.

The ghost shrinks into a green globe - an orb which divides into two. One of them floats over to Tethelle, hovering above her... and it takes a corporeal shape that begins to descend into her hands. It's solidified into a silver armlet inlaid with jade.

    [Tethelle] received the [Jade Armlet]!
    [+1 hit/damage to all Sword Attacks]

The other orb floats over to Talise. As she stares at it in wonder, it sinks into Rastaban's blade, suffusing it for a moment - and then the green glow briefly jolts down through the weapon and into her. She gasps, twitching for a moment.

"...The hell was that," she asks.

"...Oh, that's what it was!" she suddenly gasps.

Then she looks briefly crestfallen.

     [Talise] unlocked the Sword Arte [Dragon Courage]!
    [Daily Skill: Inflicts 3d10 + WIS modifier, 4x crit chance]

    ...But [Talise] doesn't have any MP....

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy whoops in excitement. "Wow! You did it! Whoah!" 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval finds an equilibrium to start sharing words almost real time, like he might at last have a handle on the curiosities and deviances of this old soul's vernacular as the skeletal warrior chuckles. It's a good chuckle. It's kind of infectious! Lanval chuckles along with him, not to 'translate' but because laughter generally is.
     "Talishe... they find you WORTHY TO BEAR MY BLADE." He lets those words hang, not so much to let it sink in but because when they talk about Tethelle they seem to get weird with the phrasing again. "Mmmm... a GRATING WIRE? That'sh for Teth-- ooh. GREAT WARRIOR. Thish one mushta been lotsha places...."
     Lanval takes another drink as they continue speaking. "Mmm... theshe are phrashes of encouragement... actually ya tend ta shay theshe thingsh to younger folksh, like... FIGHT HARD, BELIEVE IN YOUR FRIENDS, BRING FRUIT TO THIS WORLD... fruit? I'm shayin'... oh, oh, I thought they shaid 'peaches.' Ha ha, no... BRING PEACE TO THIS WORLD."
     Lanval laughs at himself at that last bit as the ghost shrinks away into an orb that divides into two, their phat loots floating towards them.
     "Hish lasht wordsh... now heed 'em closhely, 'caushe... I can't ashk him what it meant." Lanval says. "But he'sh invited you to, uh, I gotta paraphrashe... TAKE THESHE PRIMO SWAGS."
     Beat.
     "That shorta shlang's more fer younger typesh... ha ha ha! Shure, their time'sh long pasht, but he kinda... shounded young at heart, ta me." 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle does not shade her eyes from the light, though she does end up squinting into it, nearly blinded by the expression of power. Mostly she is seeing spots, though that doesn't stop her from trying to see into it - and nor does it stop her from keeping her sword raised, as if she thou ght he might do something else.

Which he does, though not what she expected. The orb of light floats over to her, and slowly forms into something physical as it descends. Tethelle reflexively reaches out to catch it before it hits the ground, the silver armlet falling into her free hand while the other holds her blade over her shoulder.

She looks from the armlet to Talise, then to the rest of the group, then back again. "I know you probably don't understand me," she says to nothing, since the ghost has since vanished. "But I hope to be worthy of this offering, after your test. Thank you."

Tethelle does not put it on, though she does let it sit in her hands. Instead, she asks Layna and Talise, the other combatants, "How are you?" She saw that pulse of energy. And she also saw the injuries - like her, they're not exactly in pristine form. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy bustles over with healing. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "######## ######### ##########. ##### ##### ####### ####### ########## ####. ###########." Lanval says on Tethelle's behalf, pretty much exactly as she says. 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna prepares to evade as the Green Knight moves to counterattack, but Talise intercepts him. Layna takes a leap backward and prepares to offer support...

...but then pauses and straightens up. She can see that the fight is over.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Somehow it sounds less regal when it's Lanval translating. Talise deflates ever so slightly at first.

At least until he finishes his sentence. Blinking a couple of times, she holds Rastaban up in front of herself, taking a long look at it and letting her eyes follow it from the point of the blade down to the inscription at the very base. Her lips come tightly together as a hint of colour rises to her cheeks.

"Then it's true," she murmurs. "The Green Knight was one of Dragonmaster Louie's companions... and now he's given me his goodwill. Given us his goodwill."

She swallows a lump in her throat and raises her sword in a brief swordsman's salute. "...Thank you for your blessing, Green Knight. I'll do everything I can to be worthy of your blessing, and to honour what you ask of us," she murmurs, even if she's fairly sure Fredo can't hear her anymore.

And even if the literal part of that blessing is something she can't even begin to understand. To give a magical arte to the one person on Lunar who hasn't been blessed by Althena....

"Wait, did he really call them primo swags," Talise asks suddenly. "I'm not even sure what that means."

When Tethelle comes sauntering over, Talise lets her breath out of her in a long sigh, the tension flowing out of her shoulders. Flushed, she smiles at the shorter swordswoman wearily. "My a lot of things hurt," she admits. "But I feel like I've finally got some answers. Like we've got some answers. And, y'know... thank Althena for Lanval actually understanding him. I sure couldn't." 

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

"I'm well," Tethelle says.

She wasn't, but she will be in a few minutes. Sephilia is helping a lot, as it turns out.

She looks over at Lanval. "Talise is right. Thank you for speaking to him when we could not. I appreciate it." Tethelle runs her thumb over the inlay on the silver armlet, though.

What does this mean for her? She's not even Lunarian. But if he wanted to know why Talise was still on this star... 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval soaks in the praise with that quiet little smile of his.
     "###### ######### #########... ##### ###### ############ #########.... ##### ##### #########." He adds that for Talise's sake.
     "Mmmmm... haven't shpoken that to much of anyone in shome time... ha ha ha! That wash fun..."
 
     I'm not going to take this moment from them. They've earned it. The moment we step back into port for rest... Lanval takes another drink of his gourd. I'll tell them what we need to do. It's all in our hands, now. 

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

As Talise looks her sword up and down, Layna offers her a grin.

"Aye, I'd say he has." She comments, folding her arms in front of her. It wasn't every day one got to fight an ancient hero, much less receive their blessing. She had a feeling this would be a day they would remember for quite some time.

Maybe it was even a turning point, of sorts. Layna looks up, smiling to herself. It still surprised her that she ended up hanging out with this bunch of do-gooding youngsters. Maybe she had lost her edge as a pirate...

...But even if she had, she was glad to be here with them right now, in this moment.

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