Of Beasts and Knights

Zyleena: "The girl." *she looks at her claws, inspecting the way the crimson blood on them shines in the candlelight* "Is mine." 

*they follow* 

Vorstan: "His plans are so complex, so far reaching that he will change one tiny thing, a hundred years in advance, to accomplish his goals in the future."

Gor: she special...*coughs*

before long they reach a river in the middle of the forest. there's no sign of any bridge or anything and it's too wide to jump.

Rosa:... sounds a tad insane

Vorstan: "When you can see all of time, i wouldn't be surprised if he was insane."

Thorgar: "Ford it?"

Zyleena: "Of course. Why would i want a normal southerner?" *she hovers her claws above its throat* "Tell me something more interesting."

Rosa: worship a madman eh?

Morkar nods

Gor: *cough* Magic... she magic....

Zyleena: "I had suspected, but didn't know. thankyou beast. For her benefit, i won't torture you." *She rakes her claws across his throat* 

*He takes the priestess off his shoulder. And summoning the winds of magic, carries her across, dropping her on the opposite bank*

Vorstan: "Aren't we all slightly mad?"

Girl:....

Morkar watches. He politely gestures for Thorgar to go first.

Rosa: I don't think I've been sane in a long time.

Zyleena: *she stands up. And licks one of her claws clean*

*Thorgar walks into the water. around his head, the water parts, leaving a sphere of air around him, as the water closes over him, he seems to walk with no extra effort, despite the raging torrent.*

Vorstan: "I cannot blame you. I think i lost it a little on the trip from lustria."

Girl:...

The floor beneath thorgar's feet....moved

Rosa: I dont really remember sanity

Vorstan: "A dim and distant memory hm?"

Zyleena: "What is is petit fleur?" 

*He continues on undaunted.*

Rosa: kind of.

Girl: nothing.

The floor rises. Fast. Throwing him off.

Vorstan: "You're sane enough to function." 

Zyleena: "Come on cheri. You can tell me." 

Thorgar: *He draws his sword*

Heigen charges into the water, axes bared

Rosa: apparently

Girl: youre strangely inquisitive

Heigen takes a backhand that sends him flying. Thirgar's trodden on, and woken up a river troll. A moment later, another emerges next to it.

https://skaystore.ru/images/detailed/61/99120209022d.jpg

Vorstan: "Well, your only friend is a sorcerer. you might be insane." 

Zyleena: "I have to watch you for gods only know how long. I may as well learn a little about you no?"

*Thorgar rolls his shield off his back, facing the trolls waist deep in water* 

*Heigen comes up spluttering, river water draining from his helmet*

Rosa:...*smiles* there you go again.

Girl: ...guess so?

the first one vomits directly at thorgar, while the other one starts thundering towards heigen and goes to smash him into the floor with it's club

*Thorgar ducks under the water, coming up having closed the distance, thrusting to make a push cut on the troll's hamstring.* 

Vorstan: "What?" 

Zyleena: "So come on Cheri. Lets talk." 

*heigen charges right back at it, swinging an axe at it*

the troll steps away from thorgar's swing, going to backhand him aside
the other troll brings its club down on heigen before he swings. hard.

Rosa: 'friend' 

Girl:... spose....ask away?

*Thorgar strikes the swinging hand with the rim of his shield* 

Vorstan: "....Hmn, so i did."

*Heigen is flattened into the river* 

Zyleena: "Did you know you were a mage?"

the troll bellows at thorgar, doing its acidic vomit at him again.

The River troll goes to smash the flattened heigen down into the floor again. 
Morkar: ASHRUD VHAR! *he casts amber spear at the troll beating on heigen. It peirces the beast's chest, goes out the other side, taking the creature's entire heart with it. the beast falls over backwards, dead.

Girl:...You're sure I am? cause... first I've heard of it

*Heigen rises from the water, battered, but alive, and charges the other troll*
 *Thorgar dives under the water again*

Zyleena: "I can see no other reason thogar would take an interest."

Rosa's smiling

The troll, having not noticed heigen or seen where thorgar went, just looks confused

Girl:...right.

Vorstan: *He looks at her for a moment.* "Stop that."

*Thorgar bursts from the water, and rams a sword up its ass, while heigen runs into it headfirst, slamming both of his axes into the beast, one in each leg*

Zyleena: "If you were not... of interest. He would not have put you under my wing."

Rosa: what?

The troll, roaring angrily, vomits acid vomit onto Heigen

Girl: right...

Vorstan: "Looking at me like that... what... what are you doing?"

*Heigen roars, tearing his left axe from its leg, and slamming it into his chest.*

*Thorgar plants his sword against the troll's back, upon its spine, above its pelvis, and hammers the blade home.*

Zyleena: *she wanders over, and retrives her helmet from where it fell. at this point rae realises he forgot to describe her face. her face appears delicate, with high, almost elven features. Her eyes are a piercing purple hue, sharply contrasting with her mane of crimson hair, reaching the small of her back in length.*

Rosa:...smiling?

The troll tries to backhand heigen away

The girl watches this quietly

Vorstan: "Its weird...."

Zyleena: *She turns the elaborate helm over in her hands. It seems to be cast of one peice of metal, with no joins or seams. The screaming face that is its visage seems to have been modelled on her own, albeit in a moment of pure anger and battle fury. The back of the helmet is closed, leaving the girl to wonder how her magnificent mane of hair protrudes from it when she wears it.*

*Heigen hammers is second axes into the troll's chest, taking his blows as they come, but never seeming to register the damage done to him, while thorgar hammer the blade in deeper.*

Rosa:...it's what people do when they're happy...

the girl is still just watching

the troll, getting annoyed, deliberately falls backwards so as to crush thorgar underneath under the water

Vorstan: *the thought occurs, vorstan is genuinely confused. He spent what must have been multiple years alone, then spent time only within the warband, a viscous environment that does not allow signs of weakness.* "You're doing it in a different way."

Zyleena: "So, ma Cheri. Lets talk about you."

*thorgar grips the swords hilt in both hands, and braces his shoulder against the falling beast, locking his boots against submerged rocks, he holds the beast up, at a 45 degree angle, mid fall. a grunt of effort escapes his lips, but he holds it.*

*Now on top of the beast, heigen tears out both of his axes, takes a single step across the troll's chest, then slams them down into its head*

Rosa:...I am? *the thought occurs to Vorstan... she's also been alone for a rediculously long time, with the exception of her captors.*

Girl: alright.... 

the troll roars in pain, vomiting acid at heigen now at point blank

*Heigen's armour begins to dissolve, his helmet beginning to flake, and the horrific smell of roasting flesh permeates the area. He screams bloody murder, and around him, an aura of blood red light appears, beating brighter at a two step rhythm.* "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" *he swings his axe again, slamming it into the troll's skull, then the other, then tears the first out, raising it to swing again.* "DIE! DIE DIE DIE!!!!!"

*Thorgar simply holds the beast up, twisting the blade in its back a little.*

*He closes the book, and puts it to one side.* "I don't often see people who are just happy. Triumphant, prideful... drunk as hell, yes, but not usually just happy."

Zyleena: "Where did you learn to kill?"

*guessing he ends up removing or destroying the head/brain?*

Rosa: you say that like I'm used to it.

Girl: had to up north.

*Heigen bludgeons it into a fine paste, the skull cracks, eyes burst, and the brain is hammered beyond all recognition.*

Vorstan: "Good point...."

Zyleena: "Then lets do something interesting..." *She smiles, exposing brilliant white teeth. her canines are viciously sharp* "How would you kill me?"

Troll ded

Rosa shrugs

Girl: what?

*Heigen removes his axes from its pulverised flesh, and jumps down into the water, where he proceeds to dunk his head under the flowing river, and shake it vigorously. The moment his head touches the water, a slick of crimson flows out into the rive, and as he begins to shake, entire chunks of flesh come free.*

*Thorgar rolls the troll off his shoulder, and drops it into the river, puts a foot on its back and yanks his sword free*

Zyleena: "If i attacked you, what would you do?"

Morkar just watches

Girl: well.. if I had my sword I'd try to keep you at a distance, go for the throat

*Heigen tears his helmet off, revealing the grizzly state of his face. The acid has eaten deep into his flesh, the muscle of his jaw is completely exposed, along with patches of bone.* "GODS DAMN IT THIS HURTS."

Vorstan: "Hmn... Keep it quiet... this thing."

Zyleena: "You saw how little i like to be at a distance cheri."

Morkar: Troll vomit acid. Very dangerous. Can heal if you so wish.

Rosa: embaressed? *chuckle*

Girl: I did...

Vorstan: *He chuckles* "You've got a lot to learn... No someone would kill you to spite me."

*As he watches, heigen's wounds begin to knit, ever so slowly back together. He steps over to the troll's limp corpse, and slams his axe into it, a new welling of blood trickles out, and his wounds begin to heal faster.*

Zyleena: "So... come on cheri, adapt."

Rosa: they'd struggle.

Morkar grins

Girl: attempt to disarm? Again, would need my sword.

Zyleena: *She licks her index claw*

Vorstan: "Remember what i said about a shallow lead lined box?"

Heigen: *his face has almost entirely healed now* "Grrr, that adds acid to my list of things i fucking hate."

Girl: which would involve dismemberment

Rosa: who hates you that much?

Morkar: watch out near water. It covers smell.

Zyleena: "Good thinking cheri."

Vorstan: "Plenty of people. I am the right hand of the chosen of chaos Rosa. If i didn't have enemies, i would be suspicious."

Heigen: "Coulda mentioned that 'bout three minutes ago."

Girl: right...

Rosa: alright...

Morkar: *chuckles* thought you knew more.

Heigen: "'Bout trolls? Why'd i know about trolls!?"

Zyleena: "Cheri, you seem stressed."

Heigen: "Fuckin cow."

Morkar: Common beasts. Chaotic in nature. *starts walking ahead* Basic survival knowledge down here.

Girl: ever so slightly.

Rosa: anyway....back to my 'education'?

Zyleena: "Cheri... Why don't you talk to me about it?"

Vorstan: "Is there anything in particular you would like to hear?"

Heigen: "Yeah well i ain't a beast am i?"

Girl: *eyebrow raise* what?

Rosa: I don't know enough to say.

Morkar: *chuckles as he walks on* That is why so few of you so far south. Find it hard to cope without the warp's protection.

Zyleena: "Tell me what is worrying you."

Vorstan: *Shrugs* "How about you tell me about yourself instead?"

Heigen: "I killed it."

Girl: oh I dunno, being forced to work with the people who I'm used to raiding and killing my people?

Rosa: ....like what?

Morkar: It melt your face.

Zyleena: "Think of it as a new and interesting chapter to your life."

Vorstan: "Anything really."

Heigen: "It grew back."

Girl: right...

Rosa:... I may need specifics.... due to how hazy some of it is.

Morkar: I kill one. Didn't lose face. If you stay south, you learn how to not die in south.