The clang and thunk of weapons clattering to the floor should have been sweet music to Magdalyn. Were they not being handed what they had most desired - a victory? Then why was it that she felt so discouraged, and even a bit disgusted, by the whole display?

She pursed her lips as she watched the men cower, pressing further away from the band of adventurers. As she slid her spear back into its sling, she eyed them, her movement slow and deliberate. Was it all a ruse, meant to lull them into safety, before the attack continued? No, Mags decided, that made very little sense. Lady Snefrid had held her own against their onslaught, and Magdalyn had little doubt that she could have fought longer, and harder, had the situation permitted. What reason did she have to deceive them? Still, this was her first event, after all. Perhaps she was being naive in believing it was over. Or she was simply overthinking everything.

Much of the stress left her as she turned to watch Quinn and Comet. Both moved for a loot chest, which had been left by the fleeing Felis. If game mechanics were to be trusted, she supposed, it was all over. So she might as well enjoy her first win.

"Maybe fighty option would have been better," she told Quinn, moving up alongside him to peer into the chest. "But anything would have been better than stealthy option." She offered the tank a warm smile, before reaching for the dice herself. "Your illusion worked really well, you know. If we'd been a bit more persuasive, I do think it would have worked."

@Quinn @Comet

Thrown die:

44

 

All of the tensed muscles of her body loosened up in relief once a mercenary came to deliver bad — good for the party — news to his boss. The woman quickly disappeared out of the fortress by jumping through the window, not taking anything else along with her. Indra eyed her party members and the mercenaries that surrendered in unison, weapons thrown to the ground. Were all of them riding on the felis woman’s back? What a shame. She approached her fellow teammates and noticed there was plenty of gear left behind by the previous owner of the outpost. “Uninterested. Perhaps I could sell it…”

She then proceeded to roll the die with her eternally expressionless face. “Satisfied. This battle was a good way to improve my fighting capabilities.” the blonde gripped the mace handle tighter as recent memories returned to her mind. The way she used the mace to block her opponent’s attack was highly effective when combined with her magic. Little by little, Indra felt closer to a skill set she was comfortable with. Arcanamancy, however, was a bit too destructive. Perhaps she’d find a better suited alternative against humanoid opponents. Who knows?

She returned to reality once her ears caught notice of the party discussing their approach. “Thoughtful. We may not have managed to get to this point if we had to fight all of her mercenaries first. I would say this is a great result.” She proceeded to store the loot she received into her virtual inventory, “Grateful. Thank you for your good work, everyo-- ouch.” The reddish claw marks on her back didn't look very pleasing.

"Hopeful. I would love to receive some treatment. This hurts more than expected."

Thrown die:

25

 

Eileen eyed the fruit with interest. Whatever fruit that crazy lady valued had to be worth a pretty penny or two. Mercenaries standing down all around them, Eileen found she could focus on one final healing tune. The melody echoed in the chamber and with all of her attention on it, it managed to trickle healing magic into everybody's bodies.

Victory was victory. Eileen smirked as she stepped closer to the loot table, rolling a dice.

"Let's get our stuff and then... Well, I'd like to check out the rest of this place. See if there's anything else that's valuable left behind."

Thrown die:

61

 

As the battle raged, Elmyra can’t help but keep her attention towards the Felis woman’s every movement. Both because she doesn’t want to get hit again, and because the metabolism of the animal-blooded woman seemed rather…unnatural somehow. It might not be the most readily obvious to those not familiar with the everyday bodily function, but one should probably notice that even with the frantic, rapid movements she engaged in, she never once actually broke a sweat…

In fact, aside from bruises and cuts it seems that she never managed to wind herself that much, which in contrast to the party’s condition seems like a stark contrast. She seemed to even ready herself for her second wind, withdrawing what seems to be a trump card of hers from her own inventory. Elmyra exhaled loudly, seemingly steeling herself for a second phase of this fight that seems harder that they’ve already did…

…That is, before the sudden news broke out. It seems that their fellow expedition members managed to break through their own respective assigned defenses in a timelier manner compared to them. Which, contrary to common wisdom and expectations, turned out to be a huge boon for them. Let no one else doubt the loyalty of mercenaries, though the whims of their leader turned out to be more important than gold at this point.

And so, the Felis woman immediately withdrew from the vicinity with a somewhat whimsical reason. With her, the many defenders of the castle seemingly decided to abandon their once-duty, leaving the ‘loyal’ Falderen soldiers behind.

Elmyra, never removing her gaze from the feral woman as she turned away – both out of wariness and a sense of curiosity – had her attention pulled away from it as the remaining soldiers systematically surrendered. Oh sure, not all of them surrendered at the same time – some of them still want to fight even, but Quinn had managed to fend them off with a seemingly the greatest of ease even with his wounds – but by and large the fighting spirit of this particular stronghold had been pretty much drained off of them by the departure of their acting commander.

Looking at their current state, it seems that nobody really truly wanted to go ahead with this conflict. Would it be that the current political climate in Falderen was as much divided as the situation with the Princess implied?

Her train of thoughts, however, was interrupted by the call of healing from the other party members. Hauling her bag of medicine around, Elmyra rejoins the others, a bottle of potion already on her right hand. While her concern about loot was secondary – except for the fruit however, that one piqued her interest somewhat – she still managed to hit the random roll in her HUD while she made her way towards her companions.

“Coming! Let’s get you all patched up.”

Thrown die:

26