faderift | that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

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that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

WHO: Dragon-slayers
WHAT: The three Inquisition teams face their dragony foes
WHEN: Guardian 28
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: Violence, gore, etc. This log contains closed threads for the 12 characters who were assigned slots on the dragon-fighting quest. Each team has an info pack-type starter about its dragon below. From here it is up to you to coordinate OOCly and decide how you want things to go down, and to NPC the dragon as needed. It also has an open thread for post-dragon-slaying tavern boasting.

By the end of Guardian Judicael's Crossing is repaired, at least enough to send Inquisition agents across on foot. But there is another obstacle preventing them from reestablishing a link between Sahrnia and the outside world: three high dragons have taken up residence across the bridge in an area called the Pools of the Sun. Here, the only road out through the mountains winds between rocky hills, ruins, and statuary. The remains of three structures dominate the landscape, arenas commissioned by Orlesian nobility in ages past.

Each of the teams has been assigned a dragon, and given as much information about it as the Inquisition has been able to gather from a few cautious scouting missions. This consists of where it sleeps and its primary method of attack. Though Inquisition resources are not great, they have had mages working overtime preparing at least basic protections against the dragons' elemental magic. While not enough to prevent injury altogether, they do significantly increase chances of escaping without dire casualties. They have also been provided with a small stock of healing and lyrium potions.

The three teams have been chosen from among the most-suited of the volunteers, and are dispatched across the river together. They split off on arrival, each making their way to the dragon's location and, at a roughly simultaneous moment, beginning the attack.

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Normal, was the first word that sprang to mind, but she held it on her tongue, knowing that wasn't fair.

"Different," she said instead with a little bob of her head. "Very different. There's no such things as dragons, for one." She gestured with the piece of skin, rough and pebbled and strangely beautiful, the blue catching the firelight. "Or magic. And no one flies - not without a great deal of help."

She brought the dragon skin back into her lap, thumbs rubbing over it.

"It's all so different."

"No magic at all? How strange that would be..."

To someone like Kain, who's met a lot of offworlders in both the gods' war and now here, he can hardly imagine such a world. How do they heal people without white mages? How do they battle monsters without black magic or superpowered warriors? Though, no magic, no dragons... he can imagine that's a no for the monsters too.

"Ah, it's not flying, though, it's more... jumping. It's not magic, but a specialized ability. Still, it's effective against enemies like dragons."

"Falling with style," she replied in a murmur, mouth twitching with the joke, unable to help herself. "Even so, it's still not something you'd see where I'm from."

The twitch turned into a small smile.

"But I'm glad you can here. That was hard enough as it was."

"I like the sound of that." Kain even manages a little smirk to the idea, a little more relaxed than usual just after a battle of this magnitude. He nods agreement. "I'm gathering it's not typical on more worlds than I'd assumed..."

He shrugs a little, he's learned over time the value of fighting as a team. Thanks to all of Team Cosmos, pretty much. "I may have the dragon experience and the jumping, but we did this together. Your bow was impressive."

Her eyes light, a small touch of pleasure. Proud of the ability, if not for how it had been honed most recently.

"Thank you." Holding the skin in one hand, she reached with the other, leaning slightly to lift the bow into her lap. "It's a compound - an advancement in my world that allows for more power and precision."

She may have received a few questions about it's shape and style already.

What matters most to Kain is that people hold their own in battle, prove their worth, show themselves capable. As far as he's concerned, she'd done that.

"It's very unlike the bows in my world... I know of one archer from there who'd be very fascinated by the structure of this one..." Though Rosa is a White Mage primarily, her main power, she's also quite skilled at the bow as well. Kain finds himself missing her deeply for a moment. "It's a good weapon in a dragon fight especially. You need that range when battling them..."

"So I gathered," she nodded with a soft sound like a chuckle, winding the bowstring idly through her fingers. "As it was there were still a few moments where I think I'd have liked to be even further away."

She looked over at Kain.

"Do you do this often, where you're from? Hunting dragons?"

Kain can appreciate that sentiment. By their nature, his skills force him to attack dragons pretty head-on, but it's also helpful for getting quickly out of harm's way after making a strike. All in all a wild, angry dragon isn't something anyone wants to be around much though. Even him.

"Not as often as I'd like... though I've gotten to fight quite a few in my time." Enough that he felt he knew what he was doing in the battle. "Still, we dragoons are trained to be able to fight them especially..."

"Dragoons," Lara echoed, curious. As with templar, it was a term she recognized, but she somehow suspected it didn't quite mean the same between worlds. "Is that a - military unit?"

"It is," Kain agrees, used to explaining it to everyone by now. It's not a problem, though, since it means talking about what he is, something that connects him back to home. "We're knights with a long and proud history where I'm from. We dragoons emulate the dragon in battle with our jumping and wind-element attacks... we favor the lance, usually, and wear this armor... truly, we're a force to be reckoned with in the air."

And because he's curious when it comes to battle... "What of your training? Was it military or otherwise?"

Another soft laugh.

"No. No, not exactly. A friend of mine, who trained me, served in the Marines, but I never did." She had smiled, for a moment, but as she pictured Roth (lost him again, in that echoing loop), it faded again. "He thought I should know how to take care of myself."

That's still quite impressive in a way, having the discipline to train in a combat skill without being part of some military or the like. It's also in Kain's mind something essential. "He thought right. Everyone should know how to defend themselves... especially in a world like this. But all worlds have their dangers, even the ones without dragons."

She nodded, a silent agreement.

"It's served me well." Perhaps too well, even. "Both at home, and since I've arrived here. I'm sure I wouldn't be here without him."

Not just the training, but the man.

She still missed him, deeply.

That’s a sentiment that Kain understands entirely, her words getting that idea across. He has people who he’d say he owes everything to, himself. The feeling of being separated from someone so important is a difficult one.

“That’s someone worth keeping around. Perhaps you’ll meet again someday…” Whether here or in their own world, who knows? It’s hard to tell what may happen, if they’ll ever be able to return or not.

She made a small noise, something between a laugh and a snort, both happy and sad at once.

"Someday, maybe." A smile twitched at her mouth. "But not for a long time, if he trained me well enough. I think he'd appreciate that more than seeing me again sooner."

The way she says it definitely hints at what probably happened. It's something Kain can understand. He's been through that before, the one person who taught him all he knows is long gone now.

"Ah... I'm sorry, if he's no longer among the living. I understand all too well what that's like. At least you can carry on his legacy by using the skills he's taught you."

Her expression gentled, appreciating the sentiment even if was never really enough.

"Thank you," she said softly. "And my condolences to you, as well."

Then she took a breath, and willed the heaviness in her chest away. It had been a good day, all things considered - too good to allow herself to sink into that particular mire again.

"But dragoons - where I'm from it's a cavalry unit. Mounted horsemen." She offered him a wry smile. "Not nearly as exciting dragon fighting I'm afraid."

"My thanks," he says simply. It's been a long time since he lost his father, but the man taught him everything he knows about fighting, and even now he seeks to be as good as he was, to surpass him one day if he can.

He makes a bit of a face. "Horses." He's not really ridden them a whole lot, but he's still not quite adjusted to them. "Where I'm from, we have no horses... it's far more common for most people to ride chocobos. Giant birds." He adds the latter part on realizing she likely won't know what in the world he's talking about. "Still, it seems we dragoons have the mounted part in common. I'd much prefer dragons. Though the dragons of this world seem even more hostile than my own."

"Not a fan, I take it?" She couldn't help a little smile, watching his reaction. "We have giant birds, ostriches, emus... but they're not for riding."

The Swiss Family Robinson was not to be taken literally, however much her childhood self might have enjoyed the thought of zebras and ostriches for pets.

"They'd enjoy it, and tolerate it, just about as much as the dragons here would, I imagine."

Edited 2016-03-10 12:11 (UTC)

Yep, his people literally ride around giant yellow ostriches, essentially.

"Not entirely. I"m still getting a handle on it... riding these horses isn't completely different, but it's just different enough to notice..." Maybe because it's only a little bit off, that makes it even weirder to deal with. Old habits are seemingly hard to break. At least it seems like most of the horses he's had to ride know what they're doing, despite his bad form and technique.

"Perhaps they would. I'm definitely curious to learn more about this world's dragons..." Though nothing beats actual experience, now that he's faced one he's all for going after more, eventually.

Her smile widened, honest and warm, a glimpse of the young woman she actually was (that she had once been).

"If you manage it, let me know? As amazing as it was to simply see one, I can only imagine what it would be like to be up with one in the air..."

"It's been too long since I have," not since he was a small boy, riding upon his father's dragon, "but it's not an experience you ever forget. The way the wind feels on your hair, and the land races by far below you... it puts the world into a new perspective, too." He even gets a more wistful tone and expression than usual as he describes it. This is clearly something that means a great deal to him.

"Tell me about it?" she asked, honestly curious. "Where I'm from, the only dragons we have are in stories. To have them be a part of your every day, and not just as the wild, destructive force they seem to be here, but--"

She hesitated to say 'pets.'

"I'd love to know more."

"Keeping dragons has fallen out of practice in my time, I'm afraid... but if I ever return, I'd like to restore. That would mean a return to the dragoons' former glory." Kain believes a great deal in all of that, upholding a heritage, upholding honor. But he's long separated from his world.

"But I grew up with them as the dragoons' companions... I learned how to handle them from an early age. They must be raised from hatching among people or they'll never adapt. There's considerable training as well, and a close bond usually forms between the two of you... I think that's why my father's dragon only responded to me, after he died. I was the most like him..."

She was quiet, giving him a moment, before speaking again.

"They sound like amazing creatures." She smiled slightly. "And I'm not ashamed to say I'm a little jealous."

that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

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