The velvet tapestry falls in a heap. A lithe, hooded figure in dark, segmented leather plate leaps over the temple debris, daggers held in a lethal cross. The City Guard Captain lunges to intercept, her blade clashing against the assassin’s steel in a shower of sparks that illuminates the floating marble shards of the altar.
Sivani
The sword belongs to the shadows, not to a puppet of bone and bile.
Arion Touvengard
The arrogance of a mortal child. She serves a master who does not even know the depth of the grave he digs.
Teal energy pulses rhythmically from the sword, bleeding into the host’s muscles and forcing his limbs into an inhuman, fluid motion. Arion steps forward, ignoring the combatants as the air begins to warp around his blade. The assassin’s eyes widen beneath her cowl as she senses the ancient, suffocating weight of the entity standing before her.
Sivani
You are supposed to be bound, sword-bound thing. My contract ends with your erasure.
Arion Touvengard
You have mistaken a cage for a weakness.
“Arion tired from the many difficult trials parrys the assassins blade. "Do you believe your skill a match for my own?" While the hosts body continues ti strain under the constant stress placed on it.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Melee Combat, rolled +0)
Arion’s blade moves with a terrifying, unnatural economy. As the assassin’s daggers descend, the ancient sword flicks upward, catching the steel in the parry’s sweet spot. The resonance of the impact rings through the temple, a dissonant hum that causes the floating marble shards to tremble.
Arion Touvengard
The boy’s heart hammers against his ribs. He is fraying. If I push harder, this vessel will shatter before I ever see the stars again.
Arion Touvengard
Do you believe your skill a match for my own?
The host’s arm jerks, the muscles spasming as teal energy surges through his veins. Arion pivots, his blade shoving the assassin’s daggers aside with a force that leaves her stumbling back across the debris-strewn floor. She recovers instantly, her eyes narrow and assessing, darting between the sword and the erratic, twitching movements of her prey.
Sivani
You are merely a ghost piloting a corpse. A ghost that bleeds when the puppet breaks.
+ Scene Quest Added
Intimidate Sivani into fleeing the temple grounds
“"If that is so, then see if you are able to make this puppet bleed" Arion continues his defensive measures while he gathers information on the fighting style tge assassin is using.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Melee Combat, rolled -2)
Arion Touvengard
If that is so, then see if you are able to make this puppet bleed.
Arion holds his stance, the host’s body moving with a fluid, unnatural grace that betrays the ancient soul within. As Sivani lunges, he does not strike back. Instead, he tracks her rhythm, his teal-rimmed eyes narrowing as he catalogs the shifting weight of her hips and the specific flick of her wrists. He parries her follow-up strike with a flick of his blade, his movements echoing the precise, deadly geometry of a long-forgotten dueling school.
Arion Touvengard
Her reliance on circular footwork is flawed. She exposes her flank every third step, hoping to draw a desperate swing. I shall let her dance until she is exhausted.
The assassin skids backward, her face contorting in frustration as she realizes her flurry has yielded nothing but empty air. Arion stands center-stage, his blade humming with a low, vibrating light, waiting for her next move.
“Arion begins correcting her fighting style while continueing ti ward her off, assuming a intructors voice.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Melee Combat, rolled -2)
Arion Touvengard
You drop your shoulder too low when you pivot. It leaves your ribs exposed to anyone with half a wit. Like this.
Arion glides forward, his steps eerily silent on the cracked marble. He doesn't strike to kill, but rather uses the flat of his blade to tap Sivani’s hip, forcing her to stumble and correct her own poor stance. His voice is calm, detached, and devoid of the host’s natural rhythm, sounding like a master schooling a clumsy student.
Sivani
Stop mocking me, you freak!
Arion Touvengard
I am not mocking you. I am lamenting the quality of your training. Keep your guard tucked, or you will find yourself disemboweled before you even realize you have engaged a superior.
Sivani spits, her eyes darting between the sword and the cold, teal-lit gaze of the man before her. She shifts her grip, her knuckles white, her frustration boiling over as she realizes her lethal intent is being treated as a mere practice drill.
Sivani
He is not even trying. He treats my killing blow like a child’s tantrum. I need a distraction, something to break his focus.
“As he continues, instructing the assassin arion goes to sweep her leg out from under her then stands back to allow her ti stand back on her feet, leaving himself purposefully open.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Melee Combat, rolled -1)
Arion pivots on his heel, his movements fluid and unnervingly precise. With a sudden, whip-like flick of his wrist, he sends his boot sweeping through the air. The strike catches Sivani’s lead leg with clinical force, buckling her knee and sending her sprawling onto the cold stone. Arion immediately retracts, sheathing his blade in a single, smooth motion and standing perfectly still, his hands held wide and open at his sides.
Arion Touvengard
The physical shell is fragile, but the intent is clear. I have stripped her of her balance. Now, let us see if she possesses the instinct to rise, or if she truly is as incompetent as she appears.
Sivani
You... you dare show me your back?
Arion Touvengard
Get up. Your pride is bleeding, but you are not yet broken.
Sivani scrambles, her fingers scrabbling against the debris-strewn floor as she attempts to regain her footing. She looks up, her face a mask of rage and confusion, her dagger wavering in her hand as she stares at his exposed spine.
Quest Complete
Intimidate Sivani into fleeing the temple grounds
New Gift: Aura of Dread