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Southern Free Agents

Ch 3 - "The Wayward Force Mage, Pt 1"

Durnok Darklight was far more comfortable with the northern most islands of the archipelago than anywhere else in the dozens of expansive, sprawling islands of Elnoria but he didn't always have a choice in where business took the Sufa Union. While all vote were equal within the group, Durnok always thought better of speaking up when his opinion was not backed by knowledge and when it came to the best places to find profitable work, the saurian was hardly an expert. Still, he often found himself wishing that the group was back north whenever they spent any amount of time elsewhere. At least up there his clan name was well-respected.

Durnok's magical talent was by no means complex, but, to those unfamiliar with shaping spells they could just as easily be trying to figure out how to fly without wings. Despite the common nature of shapers in his home city, the lizard was surprised to find out that few beyond its walls had any talent with molding and modifying physical matter and, those who could rarely had the talent that even a hatchling back at his home could muster. Durnok himself was far from a hatchling and, aside from the true artisans, was probably one of the most skilled from his home; in fact, his entire clan was well-known.

Named after the soft, non-illuminating glow that accompanied their artistic touches, the Darklights had the magic in their lineage and none of his family for as far back as was recounted in history had anything less than a skilled knack for shaping. He, of course, was one of the few members of his family that elected to put it to use for anything other than mundane activities and his ability had proven worthwhile time and time again in the field where damaged equipment or dulled weapons could mean the end for an unwary party of adventurers.

Durnok's knowledge of just how critical a bloodline of expert casters could be to a city was one of the reasons he couldn't bring himself to complain when Archie found some work in the central islands. Marsyn, thankfully, was a pleasant enough space with heated homes which, despite it not being the cold season, were still a welcome relief to the lizard who greatly disliked the temperate nature of the central island weather; even if Maura told tales of spending the night

camping outside in two-bar weather, Durnok didn't like thinking about being exposed to anything under five, let alone spending any time in it.

As one of the northernmost central city states of Elnoria, Marsyn was a middle-ground between the widely reptilian islands of the north and the much less scaled, much more furred nations found along the more southern climates. The colder weather of the central islands were considered comfortable to those with fur or thick skin but it was less hospitable to his kind so it was one more reason that Durnok preferred to be closer to his native homelands. Still, work was work, and Durnok was not one to object. That, and the purpose of their time in the central islands hearkened back to magic that could be traced through bloodlines, and that had always interested the big lizard.

The Sufa Union had been hired by a city service provider, a magistrate in charge of the community's massive mobility system. Marsyn was well known in the surrounding islands for its impressive infrastructure of mobile rails, grand roadways, expedient mail delivery and extensive milling industry. While many of its most prominent accolades would seem to have little to do with one another, they had one major trait in common: "Movement Mages".

It wasn't the correct term, of course, but Durnok was never particularly interested in terminology so it worked just fine for him. Then again, Djona, who WAS the kind of Fennec who DID have a head for titles and technicality made it a point to correct him every time he spoke on the matter, reminding him time and time again "They're called 'Force Mages'."

It made sense to him why it was such a big deal to her; although Marsyn wasn't her home town it was heavily populated by Foxes which, despite her being a Fennec, was still a close proximity in Vulpine heritage. That, and she was thoroughly obsessed with Movement Mages-- Force Mages, rather. After Archie obtained the job for the Union Djona spent the rest of their time in town going over everything she knew about the magic and pointed out the numerous conveniences within the city that were managed, controlled and overseen by the mages who were skilled in the ways of manipulating force.

They were making their way through the main thoroughfare, heading toward one of the client's contacts who would provide them information about a missing Force Mage when Durnok made the mistake of referring to him as a Movement Mage. It was the third time she'd corrected him in a little over an hour and it obviously started to grate on her based on the impassioned woman's overreaction. "They're FORCE Mages, you dumb scaly buffoon! How many times do I have to tell you?!?"

Durnok wasn't purposefully calling them by the wrong name to antagonize her (well... it was MOSTLY an accident, anyway) so he willingly apologized. "Sorry... I know it bothers you, but... I mean... is there really THAT much of a difference?"

The question set off the Fennec further, but at least her exuberance was more excitement at getting to explain than it was anger. "There's a BIG difference, Durnok! Movement is an act of changing physical location or position-- Force deals with the combination of factors that create action or serve as the motivating factor of movement. When we're talking about Force we are talking about advanced concepts-- vector, momentum, velocity... there are entire schools of thought dedicated to force!"

He was more than willing to put the lesson behind him at that point. "Oh."

She continued extolling the virtues of Force Magic all the way up to the mage hall which was in charge of providing Force Mages for the entire western side of Marsyn. At that point the Fennec woman was so enthralled by the men and women working at counters and manipulating small objects without touching them that her attention was completely lost to the group. Malik led her along wordlessly with an eye roll but no further objection. Esfir, however, chose to continue the discussion.

The feathery Kobold skipped just ahead of Durnok, glancing back at him with a smirk. "They can also use their magic like a reserve lever."

The concept was completely lost to the saurian. "What's a reverse lever supposed to be, exactly?"

The Kobold happily skipped along as she spoke. "Well.. when you use a lever it helps apply more strength to move a heavy or stuck object with less difficulty... Force Mages can counteract strength the same way, make things harder to move, or slow down things that are already in motion... it's kinda neat, really."

Maura had to quiet down the Kobold as they arrived at their contact's office, a matronly-looking Red Fox, who also happened to be the mother of the missing mage. The Sufa Union left the discussion to Archie, who did a fine job of getting all the information they needed; after almost an hour, the details were sufficient enough for them to plan out their action. More than that, however, by the time the meeting was at an end, Durnok could only sigh in exasperation: they were apparently dealing with a runaway. The lizard did not much care for runaway retrieval jobs.

The premier magus (and main technician who was in charge of operating the city's mills) was a young Fox who, according to his mother-manager had recently been suffering from boredom. He'd been seen at one of the local taverns talking with an adventuring group. The young mage's friends had indicated that they'd bought him a few drinks and regaled him with stories and, the following morning the Fox was gone with a simple note left on his bed indicating that he was going to go on an adventure.

Two thoughts had crossed Durnok's mind by that point. First: the Fox had left of his own volition and was in the process of doing something exceedingly stupid or two: the adventuring party had kidnapped him or coerced him in to joining them so they could make use of his magic. He earnestly hoped that the actual situation was the former since it meant they were not having to address a kidnapping, and because any adventuring group that was stupid enough to try and influence a mage to do ANYTHING was so stupid that they would be a danger to themselves and the Fox... not to mention that labor mages rarely had any of the real-world knowledge of how to use magic as a weapon. Of course, that had been two days passed, and plenty had happened in the time since.

The Sufa Union had tracked the adventurers through town and then out of it; it hadn't been complicated since they apparently stood out. The group that recruited the young vulpine mage had come up from the south, meaning their accents were obvious and their clothing was not common in the central isles. More than that, they were also loud and boisterous, apparently having completed a variety of (what seemed to Durnok to be) rather unimpressive feats. His impression of the group were not positive, which meant that his concerns were raised because they encountered the broker that hired them to do a job-- a dangerous job.

The adventuring group had taken on a monstrous task... literally. Few knowledgeable parties would ever willingly accept the task of clearing out a monster nest unless they had at least a dozen members; the party the Sufa Union was tracking had six, and one of them was a Movement Mage who had no actual adventuring experience-- when Durnok pointed that out everyone agreed with him (after Djona corrected him AGAIN that the Fox was a Force Mage). That increased the severity and urgency of their task, and not just because they were over a day behind the other group; monsters were never a good thing.

Most common townsfolk knew just enough about monsters to avoid them, but only adventurers and some city officials really knew what trouble they could be. As far as anyone not in-the-know was concerned, monsters were some out-of-the-way, wild-lands-only threat that would never bother anyone who didn't travel outside the protection of the city walls. What they didn't know was that the taskmasters and adventuring contract makers went to great lengths to get adventurers to risk their lives to eliminate monster colonies, which were far more dangerous than the simple moniker of 'nest' would imply. Monsters weren't everyday beasts or mundane, run of the mill creatures; they were manifestations of magic which took the form of pure danger.

Every step that had taken the Sufa Union up to the entrance to the Monster Nest played back through Durnok's mind and he drew his metal staff, thinking for what was probably the tenth time that day alone that he wished he was back up north, but he didn't let that get in the way of the job; his companions were counting on him, and so too was that stupid, ignorant Movement Mage... presuming he was still alive. "We're sure this is the right nest? I don't want to have to do this more than once..."

Esfir elbowed him. "Shush... this is a Nest. And yes, it's the right one."

She was right, of course, and Durnok knew it. The Sufa Union didn't often take extermination contracts; that was usually left for the less experienced adventurers who didn't know better. Having been 'in the business' for nearly a decade, Durnok had probably contributed to the destruction of perhaps a dozen nests, and the vast majority of them had been in his first two or three years of activity; he lived longer since giving up such a fool's errand. It was, after all, the fools who expected it to be as simple as stepping on some eggs. The term 'nest' was partially responsible for such an outlook, but monster nests were vastly different from the more traditional kind.

Monsters, such as they were, did not reproduce in any manner that could be considered 'normal'. There was no joy of copulation or miracle of birth when it came to monsters and even those who appeared to have distinct sexes were no more 'male' or 'female' than a pole arm or piece of armor. Some monsters appeared to be animal-like or even resembled known creatures but the simple fact of the matter was that they were forces of nature or, more specifically, forces of destruction. Create by wild surges of magic or the coming together of natural phenomenon in unnatural ways, monsters were either spontaneously created or else 'mass produced' by the presence of a large number of other monsters.

Being a shaper, Durnok had a greater insight into monsters than most, but that was generally due to how knowledge of how substance could come together seemingly out of nowhere or how one form could shift into that of another-- both were applicable schools of thought when it came to monsters... especially ones in their nests. Any site that drew monsters to it or a location where large numbers of monsters congregated became a conduit to the magical energies responsible for their kind. To make matters worse, the more effect monsters had on their environment the more monsters would come into being.

Monsters could form simultaneously in areas of extreme magical build up or strong supernatural fluctuations-- both of which were self fulfilling prophecies when monsters gathered. To make matters worse, monsters did not grow or age or eat or excrete like normal creatures. Monsters had an insatiable hunger but would not die without food; instead, the more a monster ate the larger they would become until, at some point they would be so large that they would divide into two entirely new monsters. It was impossible to tell what happened to the original one, but each new monster had its own identifying characteristics and, if 'personalities' were to exist in such beings, neither seemed to carry on that of the 'parent'.

It was the thought of monster reproduction through gorging that was most on Durnok's mind once Malik had the opportunity to explore the entryway to the large cavern system they'd identified as the nest. "Four monsters were put down here... no casualties among the adventurers but several were wounded."

Malik was one of the best scouts Durnok had ever known so the Gecko's assessment of the situation was not going to be refused, especially when the large saurian could tell right away what it was his small companion had been able to identify: the splotches of blood were obvious signs that some of the party had been wounded, and the area where all of the vegetation had withered and died pointed out to the spots where monsters had fallen-- rather than their bodies remaining, the creatures dissolved in less than a minute and the goo, which evaporated in just as quickly a time was as destructive as the monsters themselves, rapidly dissolving organic matter before disappearing completely.

Aside from the signs of past combat, the entryway was otherwise clear and there were no overt signs of immediate danger. In order to be certain of that, Esfir and Archie worked together to create a divination attached to a life-sensing fog which they sent a few dozen meters into the opening. Once the group got an all-clear they ormed up, preparing for the unpleasant prospect of clearing out a nest. Archie, ever-eager to complete a contract with minimal effort was quick to add "Remember-- we just want the mage. Keep the combat to a minimum and avoid the monsters if we can."

Maura was quick to respond. "Monster nests mean trouble for nearby cities, Archibald. If we can find a quick fix to this place we should do what we can to disburse the monsters, or kill them all."

Djona reached out and pat the Mink on his head. "Besides... if the other group failed we can finish their contract and stack jobs. I mean... double the pay for a little extra work while we're already here? Seems like a no brainer."

Durnok let out a sigh. "Fighting monsters is not 'a little extra work."

Esfir tittered. "it is if almost all of em are already dead."

Glancing to the feathery kobold, Durnok saw that she was pointing down one of the tunnels toward a larger cavern. Esfir's eyesight in near darkness was superior to perhaps all of them except Archie, but, as the group drew closer to the chamber, Durnok was able to see exactly what she meant: the chamber had a small pool of water at one end and the humidity caused a large carpet of lichens and moss to grow all over the floor, yet there were numerous splotches of empty rock. While there could be any number of reasons for such a seemingly unnatural swath of empty ground within an otherwise colonized area, what really gave away the truth of the battle site was identified by Malik.

Having moved ahead toward the other side of the large chamber, the Gecko knelt, peering down at a corpse. "Got two adventurers... one here, and the other there."

Following Malik's gesture, Durnok saw that, indeed, there were two corpses in the room. He didn't miss the fact that they hadn't been eaten, and neither did Djona, who spoke up before he could. "They haven't been eaten yet, which means that more of the group retreated further into the nest and the monsters followed... that way."

The moment she pointed Esfir slipped ahead to peer down a tunnel. Glancing back toward the party, the Kobold switched over to wordless gesture. --one body in hall. monsters in room beyond. one more body.--

Maura stepped up to the edge of the tunnel, lowering her goggles before twisting one of the cogs on the side. The Bear peered into the passage for just a moment and then pulled back behind cover. She too offered several gestures in their tactical sign. --five monsters. mage is up high.--

While wordless tactical communication through the use of talons, hands and paws could convey a lot of useful information it was imperfect, such as the assessment provided by Maura. Durnok was able to understand the information about the monsters and, based on what Esfir had indicated, there were four adventurers accounted for, which meant that their group of five was down to one. Considering the Bear said that the mage was something other than dead, he presumed that the target of their hunt was out of the monsters' reach and he left it at that.

Archie offered up a gesture of his own in the time it took Durnok to reason through the situation. The Mink's inquiry was not precisely unexpected. --snatch and grab?--

Maura's scowl was likewise anticipated and she responded simply --kill monsters. rescue mage.--

Sighing, Malik, the party's alchemist began rooting around in his squirming hip pouch, gesturing with his free talon as he did so. --Earth-bound monsters?--

Each monster type was affiliated to a specific kind of magic; the vast majority were connected to elemental magics but the truly dangerous ones could often be connected to different sorcerous affinities such as sorcery, transmutation or even necromancy. The final form of monsters were known as 'undead' and, thank the gods, had only ever been found on the mainlands north of the northern isles. When Esfir didn't respond to Archie's inquiry Durnok took a step forward, readying his iron pole and shifting it into a trident in preparation for combat. Holding it in one talon, he used his other to gesture his question to Maura. --Are they earth-bound monsters or no?--

The Bear woman offered a single gesture to the affirmative, confirming that they were indeed elemental in nature and, in Durnok's opinion, the easiest of monsters to combat. Fire-bound monsters were usually hot themselves, and often expelled flames; water-bound monsters were most often oozes or jellies or, at the very least had mutable forms that were very inconvenient to combat; air-bound monsters usually flew and were almost universally adroit and represented a very frustrating moving target; earth-bound monsters were almost always hardy and massively strong but Durnok didn't mind pitting his strength against a foe which usually had the common courtesy of standing still.

His moments of contemplation was interrupted as Malik immediately began explaining his plan using a combination of signing and gesturing to various potions he retrieved from his hip pouch. The Gecko presented a green potion; the only green potions the Gecko ever carried were caustic. It was a good plan considering most earth-bound monsters had naturally tough skin, shells, scales, or chitin. Malik followed that up by motioning toward Durnok with the gesture for 'wall'; it was a position he knew well, and one at which he exceeded. The saurian nodded, realizing it was his job to keep the monsters away from the party.

From there, Maura offered up some paw signs of her own, using sign to identify where everyone would be located. The monsters themselves were massive, which meant an increased amount of danger due to their incredible strength but, at the same time, the underground tunnels in which they found themselves meant that movement was restricte and so the Bear elected to have the party hold their ground within one of the tunnels; there may have been five monsters but they would only have to face one at a time... presuming there were no tunnels where the monsters could circle around behind them.

Durnok brought up that exact concern. --monsters surround us?--

Maura was quick to provide clarification. --monster room no exit.--

That changed everything; the mage was trapped in a room with no exit other than the one from which the party was entering. Durnok found himself smiling at the prospect; he was very good at what he did and, with full confidence in his group, he realized so long as the monsters didn't get past him they'd fall to the combined might of the Sufa Union. Considering the adventurers which came before them, any monsters in the nest were either dead, or trying to get at the mage; it was nice being able to benefit from a plan involving bait without having to provide it themselves. Durnok tightened his grip on his pole arm, gesturing with his off-talon. --I ready. all ready?--

As if in answer to his question, Malik stepped up, standing right behind him as he pulled five flasks out of his squirming pouch and setting four of them down on the ground. He pet the pouch lovingly and then loaded the bottle into his sling staff before gesturing with his talon to Durnok. --left, right, left, right, left--

The saurian knew the meaning since they'd used the technique multiple times; Malik would fire off his first shot from the left, and change up the angle with each new flask. Moving to the right of the tunnel, Durnok waited for the first attack to be launched. He didn't have to wait long and, after a few seconds a container of caustic liquid whistled past his head and flew a good distance away across the long cavernous room. The bottle burst upon striking its target and, in that moment, released a faint flash of green energy, lighting up the area around it just enough for Durnok to make out a stony, chitinous carapace covering a six-legged beetle-like lizard beast.

Widening his stance, the warrior stepped to the left side of the tunnel even as Malik loaded another flask into his staff sling. Positioned to give his companion maximum access at his targets, Durnok waited as another flask joined the first on the other side of the chamber but, much to his surprise, two targets were struck, each by its own flask. Esfir explained the situation, speaking up in surprise. "That... that second one... it jumped up off the ground and threw itself!"

Djona spoke up calmly. "It wasn't by itself... watch the far side of the room up high when Malik throws another."

In preparation for the Gecko's next attack, Durnok moved back to the right side and, at Djona's suggestion, watched the shadowy blackness on the far side of the cavern. Just as he heard the sound of another potion bottle rocketing by him, the saurian watched a soft golden glow illuminate a ledge high up on the opposite wall; it created a vulpine outline and then, as the magic disbursed, a second flask flew after the first. The end result was yet another pair of hits, leaving all of the earth-bound Monsters coated in caustic goo.

With their mana-granted fortitude compromised by Malik's motions, Durnok felt much more confident when it came to fighting the creatures. Moving again to the middle of the tunnel entrance he called back over his shoulder. "Ten steps back."

Maura got the idea immediately, leading the sound of the rest of the Union giving up ground. "Choke point. Make it so they can only come at us one at a time."

By the time the monsters had crossed the cavern the Sufa Union had formed up in a defensible position. Despite the creatures being significantly larger than Durnok his pike provided him enough reach to keep them at bay while the rest of his team disabled them one at a time. Archie and Esfir worked together to keep the caustic potion in place, burning the front monster further and creating clear openings in its hide; Durnok was quick to exploit those. Maura and Djona started weakening the second in line with crossbow bolts and bladed rings. The chakram were doing little until Esfir shouted out into the cavern. "A little help here!!! You could be boosting the thrown blades you know!"

Durnok didn't quite understand what the kobold was getting at until a flash from the ledge high above went off in time with Djona hurling one of her chakram again. The saurian would have missed the result if not for the fact that the monster in front of him had pulled away after being impaled on his pike, giving him a clear view of the charam glowing fiercely; it sped up in the flash of a light and slammed into the second monster's front leg with such power that it cut clean through it completely, severing the limb before returning to the magical call of the Fennec woman's bracer.

Maura loosed another crossbow quarrel, hitting home in one of the holes created by Esfir and Archie's focused magic. The bolt, which also glowed at the last moment, punched a cannon-sized hole in the creature, finishing it off as its innards sprayed out into the air behind it; the remains of the body wavered for a few moments then dissolved into a greenish puddle. The Saurian chuckled at the display. "Well... looks like Movement Mages aren't useless after all."

Although there wasn't much time for talk, Djona still managed to find just enough to correct him. "Force Mage."

Between the clean tactics and group effort, the Sufa Union managed to fell the remaining monsters with only minimal effort. Durnok took a single blow but it was glancing and bounced off his right pauldron; nobody else in the group was harmed and the saurian doubted his injury would amount to more than a bruise. Knowing better than to just presume it was safe, he remained on guard, glancing to Maura for input.

The Bear woman kept her goggles down, peering around the room and then back the direction from which they'd come. "All clear... for now."

Djona wasted no time stepping to the front of the group, calling out. "Come on down, Force Mage... it's safe!"

Wiping off the tip of his pike, Durnok made sure that it was clean before restoring it to its much easier-to-carry metal bar form. He watched the other side of the room as a soft, pale white glow surrounded the Fox on the ledge high up on the opposite wall and then, to the lizard's surprise, the mage stepped off of the edge and, instead of falling to the floor, he slowly descended, landing with no more impact than if he'd been descending a staircase.

Behind himself, Durnok heard Esfir say something quietly that sounded as if it might have been particularly lewd to Djona. His suspicions were apparently confirmed when the Fennc responded with a lurid counter. "I don't think his hip strength matters that much if he's enhancing his performance with magic."