2019-09-10: To Seek To Kill A Maester
- Log: To Seek To Kill A Maester
- Cast: Seymour Guado, Pearl
- Where: Guadosalam
- Date: September 10, 2019
- Summary: In the seat of Seymour Guado's power, an assassin strikes at the Maester of Yevon.
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour Guado has been in Guadosalam for the last few days.
He is a markedly difficult individual to corner alone; the Maester almost always has guards, particularly his two veteran bodyguards, Biggs and Wedge. However, a little study of his habits finds a time: mid-morning, he often goes to the balcony of his manor, overlooking the depths of Guadosalam, and reads.
He is there now. Seymour sits in a chair, a small table next to him -- which has a cup of tea on it, which he sips from.
DC: You switch forms to Shadow Dragon Assassin Pearl! DC: Pearl switches forms to Shadow Dragon Assassin Pearl!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
The target's location was not exactly ideal. It was semi-public, and it would not take long for reinforcements to arrive if the attack went awry. Not to mention the fact that Seymour Guado was a serious threat in and of himself.
Unfortunately for the assassin, this was the only opportunity. And the window felt as though it was rapidly closing. So it was that this was the day she would kill Seymour Guado. Or so she hoped.
Pearl moved quietly across the roof, getting into position. The guards were gone, then. Just the target. Wordlessly, she drops down behind Seymour, the slightest 'thump' on landing that was all to give her away. Purple ki surrounds her hand, sharp and vile. It is designed to cut. She drives that open hand towards the back of Seymour's neck, aiming to kill him in one vicious strike.
But against an enemy like this, even with the element of surprise, that may be too much to hope for.
GS: Pearl has attacked Seymour Guado with Murderous Shadow! GS: Pearl has completed her action. GS: Seymour Guado guards a hit from Pearl's Murderous Shadow for 72 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Pearl's hand slams into Seymour's neck -- and it is with only a split second that the Maester twists, her shadowed claw slashing along his shoulder and collarbone. Blood sprays out from the wound, as he turns. His eyes are wide with shock -- shock and a furious, cold rage.
"YOU!"
His snarl is cruel and furious; it exceeds whatever one might have expected of a man being attacked. He stands, kicking the chair aside. "Attackers! Assailants!" he yells, and holds a hand out. Magic swirls, light flashing around his hand with spinning violet orbs, before a gout of flame blossoms off his hand, and billows out towards Pearl.
"Sneaky, aren't you?" he spits at Pearl.
GS: Seymour Guado has attacked Pearl with Fira! GS: Seymour Guado has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seymour Guado has completed his action. GS: Pearl takes a glancing hit from Seymour Guado's Fira for 82 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Damn. Faster than she had hoped. And far more furious. Pearl curses silently as she draws her attacking hand back before she can be grabbed. Flame bears toward her, and a third flaw of attacking the balcony becomes evident- a lack of room to maneuver. She launches herself upwards and towards the wall, but not fast enough to escape the Maester's masterful magic. Fire scorches her legs, in a manner that should have hurt. She does not cry out.
"You say that as though it were an insult." She responds to Seymour, her voice distorted by the mask. She makes eye contact with Seymour, cold grey eyes matching his. She launches off the wall, with a claw hand slash, that same purple ki slashing at his chest this time, before coming to a halt at the edge of the balcony.
"One minute." She says, assessing the response to Seymour's call. Perhaps how long she estimates for the guardians to arrive. "I can finish this by then."
GS: Pearl has attacked Seymour Guado with Inverse Claw! GS: Pearl has gained 2 Combo! GS: Pearl has completed her action. GS: Seymour Guado guards a hit from Pearl's Inverse Claw for 84 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
"Time for them to clean your corpse up, when they come," Seymour snaps at her.
The purple-edged slash rakes along his chest, but he backs up -- and ends up slamming a robed arm into hers. Then, the mage steps to the side, and holds a hand into the air. Lightning swirls, then drops down in a rush of ozone and electricity. When it strikes, arcs and sparks of electricity linger, crackling about Pearl and some of the balcony.
"Who sent you?" he asks. "Tell me--the otherworlders? One of their factions? Did another Maester decide to make some foolish play?"
He barks out a laugh. "Meaningless! How utterly meaningless!"
GS: Seymour Guado has spent 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Seymour Guado has attacked Pearl with Thundara! GS: Seymour Guado has completed his action. GS: Pearl takes a solid hit from Seymour Guado's Thundara for 160 hit points! GS: Pearl suffers an additional 23 from Poison's Combo effect! GS: Poison! applied to Pearl!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
With her attack intercepted by Seymour's arm, she lets out a low growl, but says nothing further. She doesn't have time to, as lightning descends from the skies. Unlike the flame, this spell expertly finds it's mark. The bolt shoots through her and her whole body tightens in response. This time, there is a yelp of pain. Lightning courses around her body, and doesn't release. She loses her footing, and falls from the balcony and heads straight for the ground.
And then something flies past Seymour's head, and latches on to the balcony. A rope retracts, and Pearl is headed straight back up towards her target. As she releases the grapnel, she falls towards Seymour and turns her recovery into a flying axe kick. That purple ki, this time draining and crushing, surrounds her foot, and she aims to brutally slam it into Seymour's shoulder.
"Consider this vendetta a personal one." She responds, without actually answering the question. She's helpful like that.
GS: Pearl has attacked Seymour Guado with Inverse Crush! GS: Pearl takes 21 damage from Poison! GS: Pearl has completed her action. GS: Seymour Guado critically Guards a hit from Pearl's Inverse Crush for 13 hit points! GS: Seymour Guado enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour isn't so cocky as to believe that Pearl has been bested, when she is sent flying from the balcony. He, instead, waits for her -- stays put -- and then ducks to the side as the grapnel slams into the wall. Pearl flies at him in an axe kick, and he grabs the chair off the ground, and raises it up.
He lacks strength to make it hurt, but Pearl smashes into it and shatters it into wooden splinters. He steps backward, head tilted.
"Ah, some poor soul I've wronged? I can't imagine how, or why," Seymour says. "But I know this: you find your vengeance, for whatever wrong I have done you. I've no intention of submitting to your vendetta."
He throws his hand out -- and then the spells begin coming rapidly. A bolt of lightning smashes down from the left at Pearl. At the same time, to the right, a jagged blade of ice smashes up from the ground. Seymour snarls, throwing a hand out.
Flame blasts off it, the fireball traveling -- and then a ball of water forms, and explodes behind her.
GS: Seymour Guado has attacked Pearl with Quad-Elemental Burst! GS: Seymour Guado has completed his action. GS: Pearl takes a glancing hit from Seymour Guado's Quad-Elemental Burst for 97 hit points! GS: Disrupt! applied to Pearl! GS: Cover! applied to Seymour Guado! GS: Seymour Guado assumes the Avenger stance!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
The chair comes up, and it's too late to abort her attack. As it shatters under her, she can already tell that it's not going to hit her mark. Most of the attack is expended on harmless wood. She hits the ground hard, with a curse. A part of her is furious. She's supposed to be better than this. She's a trained assassin, she has been so almost her entire life. How is she being made fool of by this... this clergyman?
She doesn't voice these thoughts. "A pity. That would make things easier for both of us." Instead, she tries to move. Lightning comes from the left, and it arcs into her leg, even as the rest of her body gets away. Jagged ice scores her legs as she rolls backwards and comes to her feet, her backagainst the railing of the balcony. She hauls herself up with her hands, even as fire slams into her side, burning her severely. The ball of water is the last straw, exploding behind her and forcing back to the ground. That... hurt.
Pearl does not let the damage go unanswered. She charges in, with a series of increasingly rapid elbows, knees and close kicks. Her goal is to force Seymour towards one edge of the balcony with an overwhelming series of blows. Whether or not she is succesful, the followup comes- Pearl vaults upward, flipping mid air, as a pair of open hands glowing with corrosive purple ki slam for Seymour's collarbone, and is followed up by a second flip off the nearest surface to drive her knees into one side.
It's an elaborate and risky maneuver, but under the circumstances, perhaps necessary.
GS: Pearl has spent 1 Combo on Link, including 1 on Gatling! GS: Pearl has attacked Seymour Guado with Fury Rush! GS: Pearl has launched an attack Link! GS: Pearl has spent 1 Combo on Headshot! GS: Pearl has attacked Seymour Guado with Shadow Dragon Fangs! GS: Pearl has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seymour Guado guards a hit from Pearl's Fury Rush for 61 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Seymour Guado guards a hit from Pearl's Shadow Dragon Fangs for 177 hit points! GS: Seymour Guado enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour is, this time, surprised. He thought the rapid series of spells would put an end to her -- drive her away, perhaps, even if it didn't kill her.
But she charges in. With no staff, he can only do so much to keep her at bay. Seymour tries to block with his arms, but elbows and kicks prove too fast and strong to overcome. She vaults up -- and then slams a blast of ki down into him. It slams him back across the balcony, smashing into the wall of his home.
Dust and chips of broken stone explode from where he hits, and then her knee drives into him. He snarls, wordlessly, and thrusts a hand at her torso. A bead of white light appears.
It flashes back.
Then, it explodes out into a dome of white and black light, that sends an enormous amount of sorcerous power directly for her.
GS: Seymour Guado has activated a Force Action! GS: Seymour Guado has attacked Pearl with Requiem! GS: Seymour Guado has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seymour Guado has completed his action. GS: Pearl takes a glancing hit from Seymour Guado's Requiem for 110 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
There is a certain sense of familiarity to this. Last time, she was not expecting it and hampered by another being there. This time, Pearl is perhaps more ready. She is too close to run, and this spell is at point blank range. She takes the only option available to her-
Even as the spell detonates, she pushes off the wall and and off the balcony. The spell catches her, and blasts her away. She feels it down to her bones, brutal magic brought to bear. Perhaps she is only still standing now thanks to that last second decision to disengage.
Unfortunately, it still sends her flying, wounds opening under her assassin's garb. Perhaps, she could finish him with one more attack. But getting that attack would leave her too open to guards, even if she did kill Seymour. The sensible option is to abort. She still has most of a year, after all.
The grappling hook fires off again, away from Seymour's balcony. She glares at him one last time, before disappearing from sight.
Unfortunately, the alarm has been raised. It might be harder to get out of Guadosalam than it was to get in.
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour watches the spell seem to envelope her... and as it fades, he sees her fly. His eyes narrow, before he stalks forward, towards the ruined edge of the balcony -- as close as he dare get.
A moment later, the doors burst open. Biggs and Wedge rush out, stopping behind him -- then lower their weapons. Seymour scowls, for a moment. Who was that woman?
And why had she done this?
He turns to Biggs and Wedge. "Lock down the city," the Maester commands. "Find her."
"M'lord."