The Army of Light & Dark

[Azara]

... or ...

The Adventurous Tales of Nerian the Mean Skilled Killer of Undead Minions and Slayer of Necromancers & Phelonieous the Awful and Slayer of Necromancers and Spiders


**The following entries are IC posts of Neri the Pixie & Phelonie the Quarterling**

[Azara]

THEIR FIRST ADVENTURE:

Phelonie leads Neri to the stables on the grounds of Carthad's Keep, walking boldy to the building. "Everyone knows me here because I live here. Sometimes. I mean, when I'm here I live here all the time. When I'm not here, I don't live here." She tries to explain her adventurous and wandering lifestyle. "But, I think we should be sneaky once we get into the stables. That way, the pony won't know we're coming to steal him!" Chattering away to Neri, her new friend, as they carry out one of the steps they need to complete in order for them to be true warriors, "My Him is very good to me. Except when he's being mean. Then, he's not very good. So, I try to only visit when he's not being mean. I think you would like him, Neri!" They're closer to the stables and no one seems to be inclined to stop them. "I can't wait until I can get black armor. With you being a shiny warrior, I'll be the dark warrior. You have the white war pony, I'll have a black war pony. I think I'm going to get a helm, too. Something scary and black!"

Neri listens, nodding occasionally. She knows just what she means. "I live in my tree sometimes," she replies, not even trying to keep her voice down. "Sometimes I live somewhere else. But my tree misses me so I try to stay there alot. I can be sneaky," she declares. All while clanking about in full armor. "Who is him?" she inquires. "I dont have a him. Just an Infernis. Hes NEVER mean. Other people say he is but hes really not. I have a Dae too. Nobody says shes mean. Except..." and she falls silent suddenly, peering around. "You cant ever say HER name," she confides. "If you do she'll hear you and come. And she IS mean." She falls silent then as they are almost to the stables and the part where they have to be sneaky."

Carthad did not get a great deal of time at home in his keep...mostly in passing. He would come to sleep, to check in on pets, to make sure the household was stocked, and to work on his experiments in the second basement...the one that was locked against everyone and anyone. It seemed he would use his actual home more as a rest-stop than an actual residence. So suffice it to say there was a real degree of satisfaction to being in his home, in the parlor, settled in his plush chair before the fireplace that was more of a throne than it was a seat...a tome across his lap, a bit of reading he'd recently recovered in Virileth and had been unable to start on for some time. A small table beside him, mug of mulled wine steaming with pleasant heat as the snow fell outside and biting winds whistled against the hard dark stone of his keep. His hand curling about the steaming mug and bringing it to his lips, a sigh of pleasure as the heat rolled down his throat and to his belly...no plans for the evening. A bit of reading, dinner to be had...perhaps he'd see what of his pets or guests were around and awake and take his fun...a hot bath and time in his soft bed. All the comforts here that he didn't have in Virileth, and the necromancer knew quite well in that regard he had gone soft. What was the point of accumulating power and wealth if it could not be used? As he turned the page, a half smile of contentment on his lips....until a ping went off in the back of his mind. One of his dead little beasties in the stables had caught sight of something moving where it should be, and he closed his eyes, setting his teeth. his mind flowing out into that spider with too many eyes as they would focus on the movement, seeing what it would see.

Phelonie stops midstep, "Who's my Him? He's... my Him. He lives here." Truth be told, it's been so long since she's called him anything other than her Him, it's all she's got. Her steps toward the stables resume. "What's an Infernis? Is he like a Him? Hims are a lot of responsibility," she nods, emphasizing her statement. "See, my Him belongs to me. He's mine. I take care of Him whenever I'm home. You have to take care of your Him and let Him..." she blushes deeply, "... well, sometimes you have to let Him make you cry. Because it doesn't always fit!" Perhaps this isn't the type of thing to talk about right now. Right now, they must think of how to steal a war pony. "I know you said you have a day, but we all have days. And nights." The clanking and clattering of Neri's armo doesn't seem to worry her so much. "I think when we get inside the stable, we should stop talking. Or talk in whispers. But, I think your armor noise is a good thing because war ponies know what armor noise is and will probably be okay. Maybe, you should try and clank like a bigger person." Her mind pops back to another part of the conversation, "Who's mean? You said someone thinks day is mean? Do they think night is mean, too?"

Neri considers that. "An Infernis is...is...an Infernis." Its really the best explanation she can come up with. "You can't have him. He's mine." Her nose scrunches up." Why do you have to let him make you cry? That's not fun. What doesn't always fit?" She nods then, that makes perfect sense. And she begins wriggling about, making the armor clank even louder with each step towards the stables, her eyes widening. "Ssh," in a whisper no softer than her normal speaking voice. She wants Phelonie to be able to hear her after all, even if shes whispering. She looks around again, even more nervously, and leans in close to whisper directly into her ear. "Her name is Taranis. And she hates Dae. Shes around at night alot though so I think she likes nights."

Phelonie is at the stable doors now, leaning so she can peek inside, "Okay. I'm not sure which stall is a pony stall and which stall is a horse stall. I think if it's a horse, it's head will be where we can see it. Ponies are not so tall, so we should look in all the ones that look empty." Looking over her shoulder her brows furrow, "Well, telling me an Infernis is an Infernis doesn't explain much!" Nevermind that her attempt to explain her Him wasn't exactly informative either. She sighs the sigh of patience, and tries to talk over all the clanking, "You have to let him make you cry, because it doesn't always fit. And, they really want it to fit so they keep pushing and pushing which hurts sometimes, but not really hurts, but it still hurts enough to make you cry until it fits! When it finally fits, it doesn't make you cry!" Another pause, "It makes you kind of scream. Not like you're being stabbed scre.... well, you are kind of being stabbed, but not with a knife! Anyway, not the kind of scream because you're being killed! A smaller scream. But, it's a good small scream." That should clear things up, "My Him keeps me busy when I'm home, so I don't want your Infernis." Not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings, "I'm sure he's a VERY good Infernis. I'm sure that everyone should have one. But, you have the only one so you should keep him." Brows furrow again, "Taranis? I don't like that name. Sounds too much like a big spider. So, I won't say her name any more. She sounds mean, just by her name." A blink. Then another. "She likes nights?!" Her head turns as she looks frantically about, "Will she come here since it's night and I said her spider name??!"

Carthad might have been in a mood, or it might have been the wine, but the first thing the spider instinctually looked to was the figure that seemed to be clad in full plate armor, clanking hard and just outside the door to his stables, making as much noise as a drunk dwarf working a forge. THe figure seen through the eyes of the spider as they would focus was under five feet it seemed, and wrapped in full plate armor that shone almost painfully bright. There was a sword at the figure's hip, and his jaw nearly dropped that it had managed to get tihs far. His skeletal sentries should have moved to engage, something and or someone would have stopped them. It would take someone familair to the household or bearing one of his trinkets to cause the dead things to not attack them, or even alert him. Somehow this figure had managed to get all the way to his stables. She must have cut down a few of his minions...slaying them to get this close. He hadn't even felt it, such was her skill. He knew it was a she now, as the eyes focused on her face, looking about his stables furtively. He couldn't get sound from the dead spider, so the conversation they were having was lost on him, but the bright luster of her sword was not...a growl low in his throat as he moved to his feet. The tome in his lap, priceless in its own right, cast to the floor and he started to move through the keep, stalking toward the entrance to his stables. The sudden disconnection from the spider outside, frozen solid to the walls of his keep had meant that he hadn't seen Phelonie at all, hadn't gotten even a bit of explanation in that regard. His recent trip and antics in the jungle had left his sword nearby, and mithril scimitar was lifted in hand as he would move in long angry strides through his home. Whoever this invader was...he'd face them direct.

Neri understands now after the explanation which makes it crystal clear. "Oh. THAT. Sometimes they dont want it to fit just so you will cry. But thats just the really mean ones and I stay away from them." Mostly. "She is like a spider. Except she doesnt bite. She still has poisons. But not just one kind. All kinds." She stops dead for a moment, peering around, relaxing when theres no sign of the Whisper. "She might," uncertainly, a bit fearfully. "You shouldnt say her name anymore just in case." That settled, she peers inside as well. Most of the stalls seem to have a horse's head looking out. "okay," taking a step into the stables. "So we'll just check those. What if there arent any black ponies?"

Carthad could have known if he'd just paid a bit more attention that what was going on inside of his stables was not an assassination attempt, but in fact was perhaps one of the worst horse heists ever attempted in Nanthalion, or perhaps in the history of the Empire. Though in truth, could it be a heist if Phelonie believed she would just be borrowing a black pony? The Stables themselves were well enough attended...more than one of Carth's pets had a kind heart toward animals, even if the lord of the house saw them as tools at best. THe contents of the stalls would not be what they hoped...but not an entire loss. There was a pony, but it was not the black as midnight darkness of a Blackguard's horse. No, it was a soft grey, a mare with a tender disposition. Carthad's black horse was a bit more applicable, but the creature was bored and lazy, and would peek its head out eagerly at the sounds of someone coming, hoping to get oats or some attention. Carthad barely road the thing, so it was excercised only by his slaves and generally lived a lazy life within the confines of the stable when not allowed to trot along the grounds. There were oxen as well, two of them, grazing about in their pen on the hay that had been laid out for them, making deeper bovine noises. None of this registered with Carthad though as his magic was summoning guards and dead things from around the keep to converge on the outside entrance to the stables, forming a line to catch the intruders should they try and escape...as he planted himself at the entrance on the inside, dark magic on his lips, preparing to burst in and deal with this would be slayer of necromancers.

Neri peeks over at her co-commander. "You know...if you really want a mean name, how about Phelonieus the Awful?" Obviously been thinking hard on the possibilities.

Phelonie is stumped and looks at Neri with wide eyes, "But, there has to be a black pony! Because we're already here and I don't have another plan!" she wails. Completely oblivious to the danger closing in on them, she steps inito the stables, "Okay, you have to start clanking now." A few steps into the building and she whirls on her heel, "Yes! Phelonieous the Awful! or... Spider Killer!" Then she's on the move again, eyeing the few stalls there were, frowning when there seems to be no evidence of a black pony. Oh, there's a cute grey one, but not black! "Oh no! How did this happen?! We planned to steal a black pony so there should have been one here! Didn't they know what we were planning? How could one not show up?!" She catches sight of the black horse, "He's black! We should just take him instead!" She pauses for a moment, "He's taller than a pony though..." she opens the stall and the horse, lazy as it may be, does NOT appreciate the clanking Neri and starts to stomp a hoof. "He's getting angry because I'm not wearing armor!" She grabs Neri by the arm and, if allowed, shoves her just inside the open stall door, "Clank like a tall person! You can't clank like a small person!"

Neri follows along behind her, lips titlting downward as her new co-commander of the army doesnt find the black pony shes looking for. "Maybe they realized we were looking for a black pony so everyne hid all their black ones to try to stop us. Because they are afraid of what we would do." Shes not so sure about Phelonies plan but as shes shoved inside the stall has little choice but to wave her arms around and stamp her feet, making as much noise as she can until it sounds like theres a terrrible fight going on within the stables.

Carthad throws the door open so that the wood slams against the stone of the inside, rattling the hinges and making a booming noise that would make every animal in the room start, including his black horse that reared up for a moment, waiving hooves before it in a deadly arc of huge beast...particularly for anyone too close and not wearing real armor. Then his voice...he didn't hold back. He bellowed in a way he used to do when at the height of a sacrifice at the Cave of Dwindling Light, just before the knife came down. "HOW DARE YOU." He regretted it immediately...too much on the theatrics side with that one. Still, he was fuming, and that made his judgement cloudy. Leather against mithril as he would unsheathe the scimitar from his scabbard, strolling into the stable proper as he snarled, "What's the story then...did I kill someone you cared about, or just out to make a name for yourself as a shiny paladin killing some wicked necromancer hmmm....or were you just planning to brag about taking something from under his nose, killing a few skeletons and making off with..." knuckles were white on the blade as he would then really take in what was goin on....the warrior was just waving her arms around like she was trying to flag down a carriage in town...and making such a terrible noise as she did so, as much as she could in that armor that she was wearing....and she wasn't alone. Another figure beside her now as confusion started to attack the rage that flowed through the necromancer, "What the...."

Phelonie yelps and jumps when the doors are flung open and slam against the stone walls, her eyes widen at the visage before her, the booming voice drowning out Neri's clanking. Immediately, she's reaching out to grab Neri again, not caring what she curled her fingers around - armor, clothing, hair - and she started pulling. The rearing horse, the voice that keeps echoing in the stables and, finally, her blood-curdling, glass shattering, ear piercing scream slices through ALL of it at the high pitch that only small creatures such as she can acheive. Words follow, at nearly the same pitch, "IT'S A TARANIS! SHE FOUND US! RUN NERI, RUN!!!" If still clutching her friend, she's dragging her along as she heads for the doors they came in.

Neri squalls as someone grabs hold of the back of her helm and yanks, canting it sideways on her head. All she can see is gleaming metal as shes dragged along, an almost theatrically loud booming voice blasting at her ears a moment before she hears Phelonie scream that Taranis had found them. And if Taranis is hear that means the voice had to be Infernis because she hardly ever sees Taranis without him around. Because it certainly couldnt be this myserious Him whos nice. Nice people didnt associate with Taranis. Which makes her wonder sometimes just how nice Infernis really is but then he reassures her that hes perfectly nice and of course he wouldn't LIE.

Carthad winced at that ear splitting scream, almost raising a hand to cover his ears...but he recognized the pitch of it, and the voice that came afterwards. He had heard Phel scream before...in different contexts and never this high pitched...but it wasn't something he had forgotten. The flash of auburn and magenta hair fluttering from under the cowl of the cloak and along her neck would make it a full confirmation as she was dragging this other figure toward the doors of the stables, the winds outside only howling louder as the weather turned more foul and the rage that had welled up in him was quite well replaced with confusion. Standing there with a blade in hand as the two figures made a direct line for the double doors of the stable. Then of course it was Carthad's turn to panic a bit...as he could only imagine what it would do to Phelonie if she ran out into that snow to be met by the line of dead warriors, blades drawn and pointed toward that door, a phalanx that would mean certain death for most types of thieves that would come into his home...and abject terror for the poor quarterling that would run into them. His free hand came up, throwing it toward the door, a burst of telekenetic magic that would move to slam it shut, a willing of his minions to step forward from the outside adn put their weight against it...trying to keep them within rather than face the dead terror without, as his tone took a less rage filled...but firmer ring to it, "Phelonie! What are you -DOING-"

Phelonie stumbles and almost falls, nearling dragging Neri down with her, when she hears a -very- familiar voice in a -very- familiar tone. She quickly recovers, keeping her and Neri from face planting, though Neri did have a helm to protect her, and is still heading for the door. How did her Him get in here? He's in DANGER! She screeches a warning to him, "IT'S A TARANIS ATTACK! RUN! FOLLOW US!!" The doors slam shut in front of them and she knows that they're going to collide with the heavy wood. Feet try to slow them down, but they were too close to the doors and the impact is bone jarring. Poor Neri, who was being dragged, still had momentum going when Phel hit and so she was all but flung against the stable doors. Dazed, she finally lets go of her friend and starts stumbling around like a drunken dwarf with her hands on her head, "Run... it's a Taranis..." Her hood has fallen, hair is a tumbled mess around her shoulders and mossy green eyes are glazed. There's a ringing in her head and she sees two of everything.

Neri is squalling in terror, almost falling once, blinded and disoriented. Follow us? But she said she didn't KNOW Infernis. This is a plot! She IS trying to steal him. She tries to plant her feet rather unsuccessfully, to yank loose from the traitor but Phel's momentum carries her along and then she smashes into the door head first, the helm crumpling at the impact, moldingto Neri the pixie's face and head and nearly knockign her out. She sags to the ground and just sits their, trying unsuccessfully to free herself from the helm, sobbing helplessly with a wailed, "Make Taranis go away!"

Carthad winced...visibly and deeply as Phelonie hit that door, bounced off the wood with a shuddering impact and groan of wood, and toppled to the ground, only to roll over in that adrenaline burst, holding her head as she stumbles about like he'd poured half a jug of cider down her throat. Still the doors were closed, sealed with the weight of the dead against it...the only way out was through the keep and that meant they had to get past him. A frown on his lips as he would close in on the pair, reaching out to put a hand on Phel's shoulder, gripping it firmly, holding her in place as he would look sternly down at the armored figure, "What's a....there's no tyrannis here..." he would say getting the name wrong and not having the slightest idea what she was babbling about...that wasn't uncommon all the time. When she got back from her adventures she liked to describe them in a mile a minute scenario, so that he needed to parse it apart later or ask her more about what happened...as the quarterling's stream of consciosness often moved at a pace where basic language couldn't keep up. Hsi fingers were tight on her shoulder though, not letting her go once he got a hand on her..and then the sobs, the pitiful noises coming from that armored figure who was sitting, leaning against the door...and who's helmet was...caved in? Goddess below he would shake his head. He had come into the stables fully intent on comitting gleeful adn bloody murder, and was now holding a concussed quarterling and looking down at a sobbing pixie with a broken fake helmet. Dropping the scimitar to the earth as he would pull Phel against him, "What are you...I don't...calm down everything's FINE!" he would say suddenly exasperated...as everything was most certainly not fine.

Phelonie heard Neri's wail and she tried to get to her co-commander so that they can continue escaping the Taranis Attack. But, a heavy hand comes down on her shoulder and she keeps trying to stumble around without success. The grip is firm and the voice is the familiar one, the loud booming one has stopped, "It's my Him! He made the Taranis go away! I..." she really can't think with that ringing in her head and she is finally able to look where Neri is by turning her head... no, everything is spinning... "Neri! Did Taranis hit you? Your face is..." she blinks, still seeing two of everything. Suddenly, the world goes dark when she's pulled against Carthad, her face pressed into his body. She visibly flinches when he shouts the word FINE and she pushes against him, but only manages to tip her head back, "Run...." clearly, her thoughts are scrambled and she's confused. Mossy green eyes are glossy and she keeps blinking as if trying to focus.

Neri Her blink is visible beneath the thin sheet of metal molded to her features. "My face is what?" Panicking suddenly. "Whats wrong with my face?" Redoubling her efforts to get the helm off, pulling and tugging at it until finally she manages to peel it off, inside out now and a crumpled mess. "My hat is broken!" she mourns, peering around cautiously. "Are you sure shes gone? She might be hiding. Shes awfully sneaky." Tips her head back to peer up at the roof of the barn and is beset by a wave of dizziness that makes her giggle and chirp, "Thats funny." And proceed to do it again. And again. Up until she falls over, still giggling, eyes unfocussed. "Bad Taranis," she mumbles. "No fair attacking us before we even get our ponies." And goes out like a light.

Carthad did not let Phelonie slip away that easily, his hand moving from her shoulder down her back and pressing firmly there against her spine beneath her shoulder blades, so she would need to use no small amount of thieving wiggling to get close from that grip, and that would require a clear mind and clever use of her form as his tone stayed firm, but was not longer yelling, "No..no running. No one is running anymore, Running is done now. You will start talking though..and tell me what you're doing here with an armored..." no that wasn't the right word for it was it? She was wearing something but it certainly wasn't real armor, or wasnt any good. The helmet had crumpled like it was amde of paper and paste when it hit the door of the barn! He was looking back toward Phel's companion, giggling there for a moment...and then she went still as she lay there on the floor. Now he needed to get -another- healer it seemed...as he hadn't the slighest clue who this person was, what they were doing in his home...or why she and Phelonie were sneaking into his barn and talking about ponies. What did ponies have to do with anything...and why would they come here for any of that! His hands moved then, taking Phelonie by both of her shoulders and bending his knees, coming down to near eye level with her and looking into her dazed and confused face, "Phelonie...tell me what you're doing in the barn, and why you didn't come in through the front door."

Phelonie heard Neri giggle and tried to glance that way but everything was spinning even -more-. And, when she somewhat recovered, Carth's face was suddenly in front of hers, "My Him!" His request for information has her brows furrowing deeply, gathering scattered thoughts and trying to piece them together for him. "The ringing. It's so -loud-. And, there's two Hims. I only need one Him! I want just ONE. MINE. MY HIM!" Her shouting has her hands up to her ears, her body swaying within Carth's grasp, "Stop shouting!" Her eyes were scrunched shut, but slowly open, "Still TWO!" Wait. He asked a question, she peeks at him through slitted eyes, "Our army! We're warriors and she's light and I'm dark and she has shiny armor and a white war pony and I need black armor and a black war pony and we're an army and we're going to..." she tries to look at the unconscious pixie, "... what are we trying to do Neri?" Silence. She sighs, looks back to Carth, eyes shooting wide open, "Then we were attacked by a Taranis of the Night and she's a Spider! No... she has a spider name! Then there was...." her words are fading and slurring now, her blinks are slower and the mossy green of her eyes are all but gone, "My Him saved us..."

Carthad frowned, then opened his mouth...then closed it...then he was going to interject...but couldn't, then he was ready to squeeze her until she stopped and she got quiet, and then she closed it all up by praising him for saving her...and he tilted his head to the side. Take the win, figure it out in the morning...or later that night. That was the plan. "Yes...I did. Now sleep.." he would say planting his palm to her forehead lightly, and casting sweet bliss, sending all those crazy, confused, sad, and otherwise not peaceful emotions right out of her wound up little body. After that it was a simple task of lifting her in one arm, and scooping up Neri and tossing her over his shoulder, and bringing the girls inside before they all froze their asses off in this draft barn, making a note to send someone in to put blankets on the animals.

~FINI~