Subject: There was a clip-clop of hooves on stone as Centorea walked across the floor.
Author:
Posted on: 2017-02-09 07:17:44 UTC
((Warning: The following is a lot of text with very little that is actually important. I shall sum it up below if you (justifiably) do not want to wade through this giant thing looking for the tiny kernels of useful information.))
She smiled a little. She wasn't a Rogue, at least, not this time, so she enjoyed the feeling of authority the sound gave her. As she surveyed the room, she noticed that one of the doors was open. "Oh?" she said. Carefully, she peered through the opening. It seemed to be empty except for a creature of some sort. She grimaced. On the other hand, perhaps there were times when being stealthy could be useful, even for a Knight. She drew her sword and shield, and walked about halfway across the floor. "Identify yourself!" The creature didn't move, nor did it speak. "I said, identify yourself!" Again, nothing happened. Centorea was a bit puzzled. She walked a bit closer. Still, nothing. She stared at the thing warily, looking for clues. Then, a tiny whiff of a familiar scent hit her nose. Ah, so that was it. A zombie. Evidently, a zombie without a master. She stepped a bit closer, and sniffed again. Whoever its master had been, he was good. Barely a hint of the scent of rot, and it seemed not to have visibly decayed at all. She paused, thought, and smiled. Well, that confirmed it. If her information was right, and it was rarely wrong, he was here, for who else would be so ridiculously fussy as to prevent a zombie from reeking of death? She carefully stepped around the zombie and into the next room. Ah, there he was, exactly as he'd been described to her. "Oh, Virro!" she called. Immediately, the Orc next to him swung around to face her, raising his mace. Virro himself also turned, but did not raise the bow he had just received from Renna. He stared at her.
"Do I know you?" he asked carefully. Mentally, she laughed. Whoops. Of course he wouldn't recognize her, she wasn't even the same species as she'd been before!
"Virro, it's Connel!" she said, stepping towards him. The Orc growled low in his throat, but Virro shook his head, then smiled at her, eyes a bit brighter for seeing someone he knew.
"Connel! It has been far too long," he said, walking towards her as she clopped over to him. They embraced when they met, and looked each other over. "I see you've changed more than your face," he said.
"Well, of course!" she replied. "Not all of us are sticks-in-the-mud like you who keep the same Race and name every time. Actually, I have changed my name this time, too. I'm Centorea, now!" He smirked a little.
"Centorea? Truly?"
"Yeah," she said, flashing a smile at him before bending down to whisper into his ear. "And, if you're good, I'll be your knight tonight, just like she's his." He shook his head and smiled.
"Not this time, I'm afraid," he said. "I take it you have taken the Knight class, then." She unbent and looked down at him.
"Yup," she replied. "Shield Wall form. I've also got the Healer and Cleric stuff from Centaur. I heard you guys could use some support. So, what about you?"
"I have taken the Beastmaster and Necromancer racial feats, and the Stealer of People class feat." It was Centorea's turn to smirk, and she looked over his head at Davug. He was standing a short distance away, and glaring at her.
"Oh, that one, huh? Is that why that guy's following you around and being so protective?" She grinned. "It's so cute when they try to do that for us! Oh, is it gonna be like the other time? The one where you-"
"Con- Centorea, please," Virro hissed, glancing nervously over his should. He saw Davug, and winced a little. "Please, Centorea, he said again, a bit less urgently. "Not here, not now, and not in front of them." She raised her eyebrows.
"Are you still that broken up over that? You fixed it in the end, didn't you? Undid what you did that year?" He grimaced, and looked away.
"It was still the most vile thing I have done in all of my existence," he said.
"Virro, that was literally lifetimes ago," she replied crossing her arms. "You've got to get over it someday."
"I am over it, but I shall not allow it to happen again. Now, may we please change the subject?"
"Alright, we can do that." She grinned again and bent down to whisper once more. "So, if you're not going to do that, how long is it gonna take before you start trying to get him to show you if he's more than just tall."
"Centorea!" he said. "I told you, I am not doing that again. Never again." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh, come on, you know what I was asking," she replied. "I'm asking when you're just gonna talk him into it."
"I am not," he huffed. "This game was clearly not built for such purposes. There is no mechanic in place that would cover such a scenario."
"It's got a mechanic that covers everything," she said. "And, hey, looking at him, who knows what he's thinking. I mean, how hard did you really have to try to get him to come along with that face?" She stroked her fingers down his cheek, and he didn't flinch. It was rather normal, for them.
"I rolled a natural twenty," he muttered.
"Oooh, nice going. Oh, maybe that's the game's-" She was interrupted by a crashing sound from the next room. Virro was very relieved for the distraction. "What was that?" she asked.
"It was likely one of our teammates doing particularly poorly on a roll," he replied. "Do you wish to find out, and meet them in the flesh?"
"That sounds great," she said. She paused. "Oh, but, before we do, you should probably do something about that guy out there. He's not actually doing anything, and I'm guessing that's not on purpose." Virro groaned, and stuck his head through the doorway.
"Why does he have to be such an idiot?" he grumbled. He was about to shout at the zombie to turn around and actually guard the door, when Centorea decided to tell him another piece of valuable information.
"Oh, by the way, there's an Elf who's gonna be showing up pretty soon," she added. Virro glared at her.
"You could not have told me this before I almost had my zombie butchered?" he asked.
"I guess I just forgot," she said. She grinned and shrugged innocently.
"I know very well you did not," he said.
"Yeah, you're right." Centorea grinned and walked towards the hallways. Once she was a suitable distance away to Davug's mind, he walked up next to Virro.
"You know her." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes."
"How?" Virro sighed.
"I... cannot tell you at this moment. It would break certain... rules. I will explain it to you later, however. I do swear." Davug grunted. He was obviously not happy about it. Virro wondered if, perhaps, Centorea was right, and this was a form of... jealousy. He quickly dismissed the thought. No, it wasn't. "I must ask, was Shaban as much of a fool as I have seen him be in death in life?"
"Yes." They walked the little remaining distance in silence, and both were a bit relieved to find themselves on the other side of corridor. Centorea was standing next to Xiv'riit, shaking her head and looking at his.
"How did you get that to happen?" she asked. "Never mind, I know. Here, let me handle this." She began channeling healing energy into the Shardmind, trying to remove his injuries.
"I see you are taking to your role quite quickly," Virro said, smiling. "You may wish to know that this is Xiv'riit. Xiv'riit, this is Centorea. She will be joining our party." In a slightly better mood, he surveyed the room, and quickly made his way towards the row of amulets. Perhaps there was something he would find useful. Meanwhile, Davug, after giving the room a quick enough glance to believe that Xiv'riit had set off the only trap in the room, moved to search the pile of weaponry for another one-handed weapon he could use.
((TL;DR Version: Blah, blah, talking, blah, blah, vague references, blah, blah, Virro knows Shaban's not watching for anybody but is leaving him like that so Mattman's character can get through, blah, blah, game mechanics, blah, blah, leaning on the fourth wall, blah, blah, Centorea's using her Cleric powers on Xiv'riit, Virro's looking through the amulets and stuff, and Davug is looking for another one-handed weapon.))