Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Dorian's Adventures - Episode 1

It was morning still when she had reached the temple, and Dorian was looking forward to at least six or seven good hours before nightfall, when she would need to return to the village. It was not safe to wander these forests at night, and even about the temple she had heard some creepy stories from the village elders, about Fey dancing in the moonlight, high in the air, and strange laughter rising out of the old stones. She was curious, but cautious, her last adventure in the woods still very fresh in her mind. She dropped her bag at a base of a Doric column and waved her wand in intricate movements, checking for wards and for traps. Quite a lot there were, and some illusionary wards, yes … No wonder the locals had been scared to come with her to the ruins. Dorian smiled ruefully, she had quite a lot of work to do to dismantle everything and then place her own wards, and she will have to come back in the morning. At least now she would be able to Apparate back instead of cutting her way through. She started chanting.

The sound it makes fills the tomb as the monster moves around in boredom. She makes her way to the tree, surrounded by light and glowing with cold colors. Tear stains marked her cheeks and red irritation and puffiness surrounded her violet eyes. She coils around the tree, tightly and efficiently. Her bare skin touched the black scales of her snake-like tail. She hums a tune of slumber to herself, one like a nursery rhyme until it was interrupted by the sound of a woman making chants. Her face scrunches into a violent frown as her eyes open. Her tail releases it's grip upon the tree and slowly slides off. She lowered to the ground, only inches away from sliding on it as she follows the sound. Rocks moved out of the way and she climbed onto a pillar that had fallen years ago from the demolish of the tomb. She raises her back and lowers herself a little, hidden in the darkness still and not making a sound, she watches the mysterious woman chanting with hostile eyes, not making a move yet, just waiting. No sound was giving by her as she shifts her body.

Dorian felt more than she saw the foreign and seemingly hostile presence. She hurriedly finished her ward-breaking spell, not willing to run the risk of being attacked while casting, and threw a quick wandless shield around herself that had saved her life many times before. Her dragonhide suit would protect her body against most beasts, but not all, and if the presence was magical it was even more important to be on her guard. Still, she watched the cascading wards fall with a sense of pride. She was getting better at curse-breaking and maybe soon she would be good enough to approach Alaric and ask him to let her join on his travels. A Revelio spell seconds later told her the presence was human. She raised her voice. “I can sense you’re there …” and waiting a few seconds, she continued “I mean no harm, I just needed to get into the temple; there is a tomb I was looking for.”

She makes no noise, says no words as she dips her body down, steadily and agile. Her body twists and a hiss leaves her mouth, she was still hidden in the darkness of the shadow and she leaves. Slithering away with barely a noise. Was all that escaped her lips as she left, a hostile and deep voice it came with. She strides in the darkness and her bare skin crawls as the gravel glides across it. The rage fills her body, it came with no purpose. She never wished for it, but she couldn't help but be extravagantly enraged by the fact that a wanderer walked in to her midst in search of a 'tomb'.

Her scales left behind a track in the dust. Barely to be seen unless something was looking for her for some apparent reason. She hides in in a pile of debris, hoping that this woman would just leave and not bother her. Purple eyes glow in the dark as the light reflects off of them. It was as if there was a mist protruding from them, they looked as if they could hypnotize a snake. Being the monster she was, she feared that she had become such a monster, she will never be able to come out into the light again. That she would die with no remembrance of her existence. Her long, clawed nails peer through the debris like she was waiting, though she wasn't. Of course, not for food. She was waiting for this 'intruder' to leave without having to harm one another. She whispers, it echoes throughout the tomb she lies in. It was impossible to not hear it, unless you weren't trying to hear it. She closes her mouth and decides not to speak another word. She thinks to herself. In her own opinion it would, but would it?

Leave? The female voice had sounded hostile but also like moving away, further into the hidden recesses of the tomb. Dorian paused to reflect on what she knew about the ruined temple. Fairies would not warn her to leave, if anything they would try to encourage her to step forward and play their games. A guardian? Or were these ruins someone's haunt, someone that felt threatened by her presence here? Curse-breakers often did not care who they harmed on their way to treasure, but Dorian was not after treasure, but knowledge, hidden knowledge.

She advanced a few careful steps, not quite fully into the darkness. A silent Lumos had the tip of her second wand lit, and she tried to look further inside. Was that a snake trail? Since she did not speak parseltongue, and the presence was human, her intuition was telling her that a Lamia had found refuge in the ruins. Reaching the tomb and retrieving what she needed would not be an easy task, and she did not wish to hurt the creature.

She could smell the mortal as she did not leave. It made her boil inside, as much as she wanted to kill this woman, she couldn't. She didn't have it in her guts. She had already killed so many, but that many was trying to kill her in the first place. Her tail recoiled into a basket shape that caressed her human half as she lays down. Some stones fell during the movement of her tail. Why this mortal did not heed her warning, she knew not, but it was clear that she was brave. Her head cocked to the side as she watched her with a steel gaze. She still decided not to speak as it would put her out of her comfort zone. Not that she ever had one. She wears no emotion on her face as she watches her, a large majority of her wished to pounce on her while she still had the advantage, but the smaller majority fought against that urge. She sits still and taps her finger on her tail, her body gave off heat to keep her warm in this cold area. It insulated in her coil of tail.

There ... a small noise of small stones falling betrayed the hiding spot ... But did Dorian dare approach? The tomb she was looking for was located slightly to the right, and not in the same direction ... Should she investigate, or try to get the job done as quickly as possible? Before, she thought she had the time and that she could come back the next day and continue her work. Now, she wasn't so certain that it would be a good idea ... Her wards would trap the Lamia inside and she would probably be spitting mad by the time the morning came, but if she took them down then the ancient temple may crumble on its own weight now that the old wards were gone ...

Raising her voice slightly and looking in the direction where the Lamia was hidden, Dorian voiced her dilemma. "I cannot go now, you'll be trapped here inside. Let me finish my work, and I can key you into my wards when I leave, so that you may come and go as you please ... I do not wish to fight, I just need some information which is buried here. I did not know this was your refuge, I apologize." She reinforced her wandless shields just in case.

Her breath steadied, her nails burred themselves into her scales as she watched the woman with a cold glare. Cold words fill the air, colder than the winter forests in a blizzard. A body lies dead on a pillar, but falls with a loud thud. Valeria was not to quick to attack at it, normally she would, but with someone in her midst; she did not wish to reveal herself. It looked to be a few months old, still baring flesh on its bones but quite dead. Bodies lye everywhere, some impaled by their own staff's or blades. Valeria eases herself and slowly so others out of the spot she hid. No, she did not reveal herself to the woman, but if she looked closely there would be a glimpse of her human half. She climbs another pillar that crashed into a wall and moves on it. Pebbles falling from her path and a body or two falling. She says with a bite. It was louder indeed, but it was a warning. She started to feel violated by talking so much with this woman, and the fact that she had not left her yet. She moved across the pillar with agile movements, twisting and turning her tail as she glides across. Her blood boils and her long, sharp nails dig into the pillar, leaving deep marks and a loud noise like a mouse screeching at the pitch of a human.

Taking two further steps inside the temple, at the feeble light of her Lumos spell, Dorian was startled to discover many decaying bodies, rotting bones and rusted weapons. Many people had died here, maybe fighting the Lamia, or maybe themselves. Was this the Lamia's lair? The next words she heard confirmed it, and Dorian could sense her angrily moving around, coiling and uncoiling, ready to strike but somehow refraining for the time being.

She had unknowingly stepped into it this time. She could not fight what she could not see and releasing her magic blindly could bring the stones down on them both. If she retreated, the Lamia would remain inside trapped forever. For one moment, Dorian's cold logical side pointed out that, if the Lamia was indeed the one responsible for all these deaths, maybe it was for the best. But maybe there was another side to the story ... Dorian was not a cold blooded killer, although she would not hesitate to do it if attacked.

She was carefully retracing her steps back into the light, retreating, when she had another idea. Accio! Fey Scrolls. She felt them streaking through the air, more or less whole, some of them destroyed, and sidestepped the incoming parchment rolls easily, letting them piling up at her feet, then shrinking and levitating the lot into a special silk bag she had brought with her especially for this purpose. Some of them were certainly cursed.

She raised her voice to announce her departure. "I am leaving now. You may come out and I'll add you to the wards, or I may take down the wards but the temple may collapse on you. I am sorry."