A Chance Encounter in Karem

The city of Karem. A city built on profit from the black market. It was full of shady alleyways, and even shadier characters. However, for the most part, if you kept out of the way, and never really stop, you can make it through the city relativley unscathed. Most people would hate to be in the city for more than a couple of hours. But, then again, Siegfried des Sturms was not a normal person. An Asentari, a race rarely seen outside of the floating island nation of Edia. And, unlike most people in Karem, he stood out. Quite alot. He was a good height above most normal people, and had white hair, going do his back. He wore a black tunic, and black trousers, with red highlights, and black traveling boots. He had Divinium gauntlets, which reached up to his elbows, and a black, ripped up cloak on his back, which is where the source of most of his "attention" was at. A beautifully crafted greatsword, made of Divinium, hung on his back. It was his greatsword which brought these four street thugs, along with a headache, to Siegfried's attention.  

"Ho there. Nice sword you have there, friend." The one in front, obviously the ringleader said. Siegfried pinched the bridge of his nose, as he was mildly irritated, but mostly amused that these guys thought they posed a threat to him. "Look." Siegfried said, looking at the ringleader. "We both know why you stopped me. Don't take me for an idiot. If you wanna try and take this sword...." Siegfried reached behind him, and pulled the blade from is scabbard. "Then here you go. Take it." Siegfried plunhed the blade into ground, enough to make it stand up, and motioned to the gy to take it. The ringleader looked back at his cohorts, then moved forward. slowly at first, but gaining more confidence as he got closer, and Siegfried made no move to stop him. He got to the blade, and tried to pull the sword up, to no avail. Siegfried sighed. "You need to pull harder. Like this." Before the man could let go, Sigfried grabbed the blade, with the poor man's hand also still grabbing it, and pulled it up, and over to the right. Sieg let go enough to let the man go soaring through the air, and through the wall of the tavern next to him. As the man landed, Siegfried took out the rest of the thugs with his Blitzkugel, which shot out three little bolts of lightning at the men. "What a fun little city I've found." Siegfried said to himself, sheathing his blade.

The tavern in which Vala now sat was probably the worst she'd visited outside of Kyrias. The locals were rough and roudy, there was blood on the counter, and swords had been drawn twice already. The angry looking bartender's brutes shut down anything that went that far, but the fights that started inside were probably resumed outside. If she had a choice she would leave this city, but the trail of the Dying Suns ended here, and she and Fayla had a score to settle with the large bitch who led them. However there was no rushing the hunt. The informants they had contacted were meeting tonight. So while Fayla napped with the door locked, Vala came down for a drink. Her appearance drew plenty of attention, but most recognised a heanta even if she didn't have horns, her pale skin, purple eyes and blood red hair was enough to get the message across.

However, not all humans were born with some form of intelligence, street smarts or otherwise. As she sipped the bitter ale and poked at the unknown meat on the plate before her, a man sat on the stool next to her's. "Wats a pretty little thing like you doing in a nasty place like this?" he asked, slurred. Vala gave the man a quick once over from the side of her eye, noting the sword. She ignored him, and took a bite of the meat. It was aged, more like leather than food. She pushed the plate away. "Oh, silent type are ye? Your a heanta, right? I've never seen one with no horns. Never fucked one either." She doubted he'd ever gotten consent before either. She took a swig of the bitter Ale, the devinium of her Drakna glinting slightly in the poorly lit area. "Is it because of that stench your exuding? Or are heanta women to tough to drag into an alley?" She said, baring her fangs in a snarl that could scare off a magma mauler. His face darkened as he leaned in a bit closer. "Maybe. But you look easy enough. Specially because i've a weapon and you don't." He said. He reached for his sword.

Vala's fist snapped around so fast it crushed his nose flat into his face and he was sent flying from the barstool. To her surprise he got back up, sword drawn and rushed at her with it raised. Vala knocked it aside with her drakna and drove her other fist forward into his chest, causing him to stagger back, creating enough distance for her to kick him so hard in the groin she swore his eyes bulged. "I dont need a weapon. I am one." She said as dropped to his knees, and with a lightning fast kick to the chest sent him flying straight back into the wall. No one moved, not even the bartenders brutes. They just watched quietly. She was suprised she hadn't started a barbrawl, but then again she usually held back when she kicked a laut around. However she was far angrier than usual, and probably went to far. Well, at the very least no one would try mess with her again.

Vala returned to the bar. The bartender gave her an appreciative nod. "This meat is tough as leather, give me something fresh." She said. With a rueful smile he slid did as she asked, and rustled up an actual fresh bit of steak from somewhere. She started to tuck in when the wall caved in and a man came crashing through. Vala moved just as he collided with where she had been, but he took out her plate sending the food flying to the floor. She'd barely tasted the meat, but it had smelled much nicer and it probably cost allot. Stepping into the street Vala stepped through the hole in the wall. She spotted a large man with a large sword. There were a few thugs down around him. Vala was not in a good mood at all, as she barely  managed to grind out, "You owe me dinner." instead of simply socking the big man in the jaw.

Siegfried was about to start walking back to the street, when a woman, who almost growled at him about her dinner. He looked through the hole he had made in the tavern, and saw a table with some food knocked on the floor. "Ah. Well. That's a problem." He said to himself. Sieg knew that most people took thier food seriously, and this town seemed to be strung a bit too tight. So, they would care even more. "Sorry about that. You can at least tell I wasn't technically aiming at your table, right?" Sieg said that, while also thinking, I have no money, I can't buy dinner for myself, let alone her. Sieg put his hands up, in a show of no ill will. "I don't really have any money to buy back your dinner. But, I was a scout in the army. I could go hunt something, as long as there is suitable game here. It's my first time in a town like this, so I would like to try an avoid something like what happened to these guys." He said, pointing to the knocked out people on the ground.

She expected to start a fight. By the size of him she was kind of hoping to start a fight. "Well you should have thought about that before you kicked someone through a wall." But instead he apologized and told her he had no money. It didn't change the fact that she was pissed off, unfortunately. He offered to hunt something. "Are you mentally deficient human? there's nothing to bloody hunt in the middle of a city. Unless you think i'll happily eat the rats." She said. Granted the rats probably carried less disease than most humans in this festering scum hole."Avoid what happened to those guys? Are you suggesting I am easily beaten like some sort of common street thug?"

The argument had drawn a crowd to the hole in the wall. The bartender had approached to inspect the damage. "Hey, give him a good kickin for me and the steaks on the house, girl." He called to her. Vala grinned, flashing fangs as sharp as razors at the big man. "Well, looks like your paying for my dinner after all." Vala pointed to his weapon. "Draw that big sword, your going to need it." She said quietly as she stepped towards him.

Sieg sighed. "I didn't kick, more threw him off my sword." As she continued, Sieg just folded his arms. "Well, I think you've gotten several things wrong. Most of all, I'm not human. I'll let the let the mentally deficient thing slide, mostly because I've been called alot worse by some orcs a couple of years ago. I also have no idea if you would be stronger than these guys." Sieg pointed at the bodies again. "I don't believe we have met before. I can tell, though, just from the way you hold yourself, you'd last alot longer than them." 

The bartender had come to the hole, and Sieg, once again, felt a headache. He turned his gaze to the man, and almost growled at him, "You really want this to get worse? Cause you just did." Vala started towards him, and Sieg drew Balmung. "Last chance. We don't have to do this." He looked around, and realized that this was not a good place for him to fight. Too narrow, Balmung would destroy most of this. And, judging by the fact that this woman had no weapons in immediate sight, she probably has a weapon much more suited for fighting in tight streets like this. Sieg thought to himself. "Damnit. Why does this stuff always happen to me?"

"Well you don't look like an Eldari and if you were a Heanta you would would have attacked as soon as I picked a fight with you. So what, your one of those Dragon kin?" She asked. She'd never met one, though it did explain the strange markings on his chest that she'd written off as something to do with his powers. The thought of getting to fight an Asentari made her grin widen. She enjoyed fighting, and fighting something new was always a bonus. Hopefully Fayla wouldn't be too upset about her taking this guy on without her. She raised her hands and her devinium Drakna, A fingerless gauntlet used by heanta martial artists, caught the light as she flexed her clawed fingers. He told her they didn't have to do this, which had the exact opposite effect he was going for. "No, we don't. But it's to late to stop now."

She wondered if he'd seen the situation he was in, with his large bulk, big sword, fighting an unarmed, small foe in a narrow alley. The advantage was her's unless he was half decent with his own fists too. Which would be a nice surprise, hand to hand combat was vastly underrated by most people. But the big sword was out so she wasn't holding much hope. Vala dashed towards the Asentari and closed the distance, opening up the fight with a left punch aimed for the Jaw. Her right fist came around as she stepped in with her right foot, a low blow aimed for the ribs, and then followed it up with a slash from her claws aimed to rake down his bare chest. She tried to keep as close a possible to stop him swinging that sword of his.

"We are called Asentari, but yes." Siegfried answered. He noticed her glove shining in the sunlight, and deduced that that was her weapon. Damn it, it just had to be a hand to hand fighter. He thought, grimacing for a second. He sighed as she continued forward, but braced himself for a fight. 

As she dashed towards him, Sieg couldn't really manuever his sword into a defensive stance, so he allowed the hits, and the slash from her hands didn't even cut him. He then made a fist, in the hand that wasn't holding Balmung, and punched towards the ground, activating his Sturmflut ability as he did. Mixing the punch with his own magical power, Sieg sent out a bubble of pure force, which would act as a pushback move. If it succeeded, Sieg would start to move towards a more open area, eliminating the woman's advantage of close quarters combat. He would also send out his Blitzkugel again, in order to buy him a bit more time by shooting 4 small, but fast projectiles of lightning at her.

He took her blows like they were nothing, the tough bastard. Her claws didn't even leave a mark on his skin, which was interesting. She wondered if buffing her strength would do the trick. She was interested to find out. However before she could do anything more, he slammed the ground and set off a knockback that sent her flying. She'd dealt with these kinds of things before, during her countless fights with Fayla, and had learned to regain her feet in the air. She hit the ground on her feet, sliding back. She was assailed by four small balls of enery almost instantly, and dug her right hand into the wood, stopping her. Her back hit the wall and the attacks shot past.

Rather than risk the warrior using the alley as a shooting gallery that she wouldn't be able to dodge in, she spun around, dug her other hand into the wall and pulled herself upwards. She kicked off the wall, sailed across the alley to the opposite, used her claws to gain momentary grim, then kicked off again, which brought her back over the alley and high enough to grab the roof. She rolled up and dashed across the eaves, circling the warrior who would have lost sight of her by then. Then she suddenly came dashing over the peak of the roof and sliding down. She allowed her mind to enter a state of hyper concentration, causing her body to enter magical over drive. Her magical Aura would begin to rapidly climb. Vala kicked off as she reached the edge of the roof and sailed over the Warrior, landing behind him.

Instead of closing, Vala charged even more magical power and opened up a barage of attacks, just out of his reach. As she did, she fired off a beam from each punch/kick, to a total of ten. Each had a reach of five foot and were very weak. She used this as a distraction to close past his greatsword and went for a heavy punch to his ribs, before jumping past and rolling out of his reach again. She spun around, red hair a swirl around her, and grinned at him. She was starting to have fun.

Siegfried was relieved, a little, when she was knocked back, as he started to move towards an open area, near the tavern. He got a little bit towards it, when a shadow passed over him. Instinct told him to turn around, and as he did, he saw her land. Instinct, again, took over, as Sieg breathed in, and let loose his Lightning Dragon's Breath. A blast of lightning shot at the women, and blocked her attacks that she had sent at him. He noticed her moving in, too fast for him to swing his sword at her, and she angled a punch at him. Sieg's skin darkened, almost appearing black before the hit happened, as his Schwarze Skalen activated, protecting him from the blow. The effect meant that his scales had hardened, granting a boost to his durability. He took the blow, noting that it was heavier then the last ones. She then moved back, and smiled, apparently enjoying this.

Sieg brought his blade up, in one hand, meaning to swing it at her. However, the blade also crackled with lightning. His blade, Balmung's enchantment meant that it channeled Siegfried's innate lightning element, and Sieg launched a wave of lightning at her(average speed, and power), and used this is his own chance to move forward. Aiming to limit her movement, he aimed mostly at her legs, and arms, in slashes. He figured she would probably dodge them, but if even one hit, Sieg's considerable strength would also be brought to the forefront.

Vala dashed to the side avoiding the blast of lightning the Asentari had released from his mouth. Pushing forwards towards him, She seen him swing his sword and launch a blade of lightning at her. Vala jumped and twisted her body horizontally, spinning as she passed over it. She hit the ground with one foot and gracefully spun around on her heel, regaining her footing as he moved foward towards her. He swung and she did a backwards handstand, moving out of the path of the blade.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she activated Wrath which considerably boosted her strength. (+2) She dashed forward, dodging the next attack and attempted to tackle him. If she hit, her sudden strength increase would hopefully take him off guard and knock him flat on his back. At which point, she would straddle him and aim a couple of punches to the face.

Siegfried saw her dodge his Dragon's Breath. Damn, she's got me in speed. He thought, as she came towards him. She continued to dodge his attacks, until she did a backwards handstand. She then dashed at Sieg, and attempted a tackle, which took Sieg by surprise. Falling down, she then straddled him, and started punching him in the face. as each one hit, and they hurt, Sieg got more angry. 

He grabbed her fist, holding on tightly, possibly hurting her in the process. He then heaved with all his strength, throwing her off of him. He didn't particularly aim where he threw, so he had no idea if she would crash into a building, or back onto the ground. He got up, shaking his head to ignore the pain she had inflicted. He took up a defensive stance, as he saw her. He also noticed a crowd forming around them. "Of course." Siegfried growled, looking back at the Heanta.

Things were really starting to heat up as she lay into Seigfried. On her last punch, he grabbed her fist and squeezed. Though unless he could crush divinium, and that was near impossible, he was wasting his time trying to hurt her hand that way. However, he then heaved and threw her away from him. Perhaps if she was heavier, he wouldn't have thrown her so easily. Alas she was not, and though she tried to get a hold of his wrist she wasn't quick enough and instead she found herself gracelessly sailing through the air into the side of a building. She bounced off the wall and hit the ground with a thump. There was a cheer and hooting. Someone shouted to get up, someone else tried to convince the Asentari to crush her skull.

They'd drawn a crowd of the Karemite public. Vala pushed herself to her feet and looked at the asentari, her eyes darkening. Smug bastard. "I'm going to smack that look off your face." She said and dashed at him as her body began to glow with purple energy. She closed the distance and threw a punch with her right hand straight to centre mass of the large asentari. If it connected all of the energy coursing through her would surge into the blow and explode outwards dealing average damage to the Asentari, on top of the blow from her fist. It was sure to knock him on his ass, if nothing else.

Sieg felt her hand try and grab onto his wrist, but the throw went through anyway. The idiots around them were now cheering, and saying things. Oh, this'll go over well. Sieg thought, as the girl got back up, said something which he couldn't hear, due to the crowd, and her fist started to glow purple. She than ran at sieg, who had decided to stand his ground, even though he had no idea how powerful that punch was. However. as the punch got close, some sort of shield, looking like a cherry blossom appeared in front of Sieg. The punch hit the shield, which shattered, but the punch carried through, hitting Sieg in the middle of his body. Though, he noted, That would've been alot worse, if the shield hadn't appeared. The punch still hurt, though, and it brought Sieg to his knees. He did notice a figure, walking out of the crowd, and begin speaking. 

"Now, now, Valatrix. If this continued, you might've hurt a poor bystander. And, I will not allow that type of behavior from the friend of the granddaughter of my friend." The man, who looked young, had white hair, pulled into a messy ponytail. He was wearing a skin tight, sleeveless black shirt, over which he wore a white cloak, with a frilled deep V collar of multiple colors. The colors were currently white, and red. The cloak had a clasp, made of a golden, silky material, tied in a three loop bow, with an X made of the same material over that. He then had a white hood, which also covers his shoulders, tied by a pink knot, but also having two x’s next to the knot, with blue fabric hanging behind them. The shoulders of the hood also had pink, feather like protrusions under them. He then had a pair of black, very wide trousers, with a golden six-pointed log on the front of them, and a pair of black boots, with intricate designs in a lesser shade of black on them. His eyes, which were currently gold, were locked on the Heanta. But, he had a smile on his face, and didn't seem to be hostile, in the least. He then looked at Sieg. "Oh, where are my manners? I must introduce myself. I am Merlin, an Eldari by birth, and a mage by trade." He swept into a deep bow. "Nice to meet you, my Asentari friend."

She knocked him down to his knees. Vala smiled, her face growing vicious, and her hand came back, claws exposed to rake at his throat. However, the primal instinct was suddenly overthrown by everything that kept it in check. She dropped her hand and relaxed her stance, just as somebody started to speak. Merlin, the elusive eldari mage stepped from the crowd, and began to scold her for her actions. "So I probably took things a little to far." She said quietly. "Sorry Asentari. Lets call it even." She said offering him a hand up. Then she looked at Merlin.

"What brings you to Karem, Merlin? It doesn't seem your sort of town." She said as the crowd started to disperse. She seemed more distant than when she was fighting. It was easy to get carried away fighting, but she was surprising reserved around strangers for the most part. And outright cold to most heanta. "If your looking for Fayla, she was taking a nap but she's probably awake by now." Vala explained.

Siegfried looked on, in confusion, as the man, who had said his name was Merlin, looked at Vala, who seemed to shrink into herself a bit. He took the offered hand, though, much to the delight of Merlin. "Good show, Valatrix!" Sieg merely said, "Thanks." Merlin then spoke to Vala. "Well, if I told you why I came here, it would ruin the surprise, right? And no, I'm not here for Faylandra, though, that is quite a good guess. I'm impressed. which doesn't happen to non-mages, I'll have you know." 


Sieg looked at the strange man. "How did you know...?" "You were an Asentari? I've met a couple on my own journeys, so it's easy for me now to spot them in a crowd. You all have much to serious faces." He turned his attention back to Vala. "Now, what is this I have heard, about you, and Faylandra waging a two person war against some mercenaries?" Merlin got serious, if only for a second. "I'll have you know, I do not appreciate senseless fighting." The smile came back instantly, however, as the mage awaited an answer.

Vala shrugged at Merlin. "That's always been our goal. Since you first met us, we've been persuing them. They started this when they killed my friends. And they've killed more people since, needlessly. They're bad news, as bad as the Red Fang. You might not like it, but if we don't fight them, it leaves very few willing to defend the people in the freelands." Shouting about the Red Fang in a city controlled by the Neberite Alliance was probably a bad idea, but what could the do to her? She'd be happy if someone came to try and shut her up, so she could smash their face in. Talking about this with someone who was so old he knew dalrodir shor, but didn't seem to understand why they were fighting, got on her nerves.

Vala took a deep breath, and let herself calm down. "Sorry. I'm just frustrated. I've spent a long time hunting them, because I need to find out who hired them in the first place. Because they were hired to kill me, and that wouldn't be the first time someone was hired to kill me. If I can find out who sent them, I can put a stop to them once and for all." She said. Or her mother could, depending on who it was. Probably a rival heanta, because who else would want her dead?

Siegfired stood, motionless, as the two continued to talk. Merlin cocked his head, at Vala's answer to him. "Ah. Then it is not senseless. I did not mean to make you sound bad, my young Heanta. All I required was a good reason. And no, it is not because of your heritage. I would've asked the same of Faylandra." His eyes grew sad, and distant. "I've seen so much lost over my many years, you must understand. I would hate to see the both of you lost to something pointless, is all."

Sieg spoke up, for the first time in a while. "Well, if you need help fighting some mercs, I would be happy to help. You already saw, I'm not a bad fighter. and, if it means protecting the poeple in the Freelands, it wouldn't be a problem to help out." Merlin nodded at the Asentari. "That's the spirit." He looked at Vala. "I would help, if only in a small capacity. I will look for information on who it is, if you do not mind. It would be no trouble to me, Valatrix." 

Vala listened to Seigfried who'd been quite silent since Merlin appeared. She nodded. "An extra arm is always welcome, and you're not bad at all when it comes to a fight. We're heading north soon, but if your interested in meeting us again we frequent the town Zendar quite often. It's a home of sorts in the freelands." She explained. Merlin also offered help and she gave a faint smile. "Fayla would be greatful. I need to speak to my Mother in Av'Eden. I doubt I can get home to her anytime soon, the best I can do is send letters. She might have more information, but i know she wouldn't risk sending anything vital in a letter that could be stolen. I know you might have the means to visit her, do you think you could? You'd also get to see the city..."

Sieg nodded at Vala. "If that's where you guys hole up, it's where I will meet you guys." Merlin clapped his hands. "I am quite proud of all of you. This has the means to be an important moment in alot of lives, I feel. And that's not just based on my feelings, mind you." It was true. Merlin felt that something was coming. And he couldn't tell if that certain feeling was his own senses, or his magical senses. He nodded at Vala. "That is a smart thing to ask. Out of anyone, I have the best chance. Since, I can change forms." 


He put his hand on his chin. "Very well. I will not pass this chance to see Av'eden." He also winked. "I also met your mother, back when Dalrodir, and Ren had their famous meeting." He bowed to them both, before becoming a white falcon, in a poof of multicolored smoke. Siegfired then looked at Vala. "Well, Vala. Is there a time table to when I should make way to Zendar?"