Lightstar Family/Xarnelf/Roleplay 70
Dazzle Dazzle, Moonlit Blade
(Roleplay from Irdys Galeheart)
The battles in Nahad had been going well. Irdys had had the fortune of coupling up with another young prospective adventurer, she'd declared herself named Yashia and although it was clear she had much to learn still, and her blade needed some sharpening, she'd done well enough in the combined efforts. The monsters and undead in Nahad had been driven back and a sizeable part of the offered bounties there had been gathered as well.
Irdys still couldn't help but smile about how it had gone. The gold she'd received from the Duke of Idapur had been well spent still. Most of it spent on a truly fine castle forged blade. No fancy gemstones but solid steel, folded back infintely, free of rust and uncanny in its sharpness. The balance was near perfect and she was glad enough of how she wielded it. She'd even heard a remark or two from a trainer that she would outmatch most knights in pure skill, and a blade like this was going a long way to letting that skill show through. Whether she should believe such nonsense she wasn't quite sure, but she was sure that the blade served her well and she was getting in some good practice with it. At the same time her armor had been turned to a fine supple leather, well fitting chainmail, solid ropes and even good maps. Yes, the sale of the blade had certainly been a welcome change in fortune.
At the same time as things were flourishing she wondered how the blade was serving the duke. She'd heard rumours of it being wielded in a battle in Ahael against a large organized band of monsters and she couldn't help but be curious as to how well it had served. And would the blade actually be carried to war? It was one of those difficult things. A curiousity for an artifact she had still found, and yet in a world that she obviously had no place in. At the same time she wondered about that final strange look the duke had given her. Had he seen more then she'd hoped or merely been frustrated with her strange manner? She wasn't quite sure, then again she supposed it didn't matter much. It wasn't likely she'd ever meet the noble of such stature again. For now she supposed she had more important things to worry about.
Rest for now, clean the fine blade, and perhaps hunt more monsters later. And of course the pondering knowledge of what she could do to help spread the Aenil faith, other then keep monsters in its lands at bay.
(The night before...)
Contrary to what his captain had assumed he would do, given a similar past circumstance, Xarnelf decided to delay his journey that night so that they could eliminate the small band of beasts sighted in Ahael. Perhaps the duke wished to try out his new toy, or perhaps he was not entirely consumed by thoughts of vengeance as Mathias had feared; either way, the captain could not say for certain, but it was a welcome change nonetheless.
And so it was that Mathias found himself in a position to which he had long since grown accustomed, yet it still flustered him to no end: chasing after that damnably fast and reckless man. Cursing under his breath, the captain watched from a few yards behind as Xarnelf charged ahead of everyone else, his old blade, adorned with a simple sapphire in the hilt, held high in his right hand, while his left hand carried the usual kite shield. As they closed within range of the monsters, the noble bent forwards slightly, bringing his shield to the front.
Then, much to the captain's surprise and fear, his liege rammed straight into the burliest one with a sickening crack! The beast still stood upright, though it was clearly stunned, while the duke had bounced off to land on his backside, shaken but seemingly unhurt. Shaking his head in disbelief, Mathias picked up the pace to lend a shield to the silly hero in the event that he could not rise in time to meet the other foes' attack.
However, Xarnelf pushed himself back to his feet and then did something that he had never done before; he threw his shield at the closest approaching brute! Eyes suddenly gaping at his leader's foolish decision, Mathias almost halted dead in his tracks, so shocked was he. As was soon evident, though, the duke had freed his left hand to leave himself seemingly vulnerable on purpose, for in the next moment, he grasped the hilt of the Nightblade, which was strapped to his right side, and unsheathed the blade just in time to block a descending clawed appendage from his left side.
The sudden appearance of the unique weapon brought a dazzling burst of light upon the immediate area, as the bountiful moonlight shining down upon the clearing met the sword and proceeded to momentarily blind the approaching monsters caught in its path. Squinting a bit, Mathias finally arrived at the duke's right side to fend off the initial brute, who had mostly recovered by then. Quickly panicking at the sight of the Nightblade, the handful of foes struck out wildly every which way, but all of those deadly claws landed harmlessly upon the shields of the first line.
Marveling for a moment at the radiance of his new sword, Xarnelf soon noticed that the one he had bashed was currently distracted by his captain, who had yet to find an opening for a killing blow. So, the duke took the opportunity to launch a dual-strike from the side: right hand stabbing his old sword forwards to impale the beast in the abdomen, and left hand bringing the Nightblade down in a swift arc meant to intercept its right appendage, which was in the midst of striking at Mathias again.
With hardly any effort, the impressive sword, twinkling merrily in the night, cleaved through the beast's entire appendage, as his customary blade sank deep into its intended target. Emitting a bone-chilling wail, the creature dropped into its death throes, and the skirmish was soon over.
A Dazzling Nightblade indeed...
