Pinball

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If he could feel fatigue, he would be. The mental tax of cutting through wave after wave of enemies was not to be underestimated, though; only once in recent memory had he been so preoccupied in such a way. In truth, Pinball wasn't sure whether he preferred cutting through the zombies or the bears more. They were both pretty miserable ways to pass the time. The quest wasn't kidding -- they were actually defending Snowfrost from an army. After cutting through the fresh ranks of undead, he exhaled softly, a puff of frosty air escaping his cold lips. He heard Morningstar call out to them somewher

In a brilliant flash of light and a few deft strokes of his sword, Morningstar dispatched three of the four remaining Revenants. The fourth was heavily injured -- it limped along towards the inert automata with a stubborness befitting a lines of code given flesh, and Pinball watched as Morningstar watched it go. It lurched after Pinball briefly, but he smoothly sidestepped and let it continue on its way. He gave Morningstar a brief look, and then took another few steps away from the fight as a whole. Maybe not finishing it off said more about him than it did about Morningstar, but Pinball wasn

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No sooner had he sunk his dagger into the beast's surprisingly soft stone flesh, the Colossus violently shuddered, jerking its body in such an extreme, contortionist fashion that Pinball's blades were practically ripped out of it, leaving him to plummet. Pinball grit his teeth hard -- he noticed Acanthus holding on as he fell, wind whipping past his ears -- and hit the ground harder. He was left momentarily dazed. For a moment, he'd felt as though he'd made some sort of grave error. Like he truly was falling to his death, and leaving important business unfinished. Not quite so. The fall had ba

Pinball eyed the last two soldiers, and then glanced between Morningstar and Acanthus. He briefly considered ignoring the kill, and letting one of them finish the job -- what with the competition, and all -- but he got the feeling that that'd somehow come off the wrong way. Pinball instead flipped a pair of daggers into his palms, unceremoniously dispatching only one of the remaining soldiers with two lazy flicks of his wrists. "Whoops. Missed." Totally not on purpose, either. He stared at the two of them, wondering which would jump at it first. Morningstar was at 10. Did that mean Acanthus ne

"Well, that's understandable too," he said. "It's hard to forget that, isn't it?" He wondered if the design of their prison was deserving of any admiration. Pinball dropped it. "So I've gone against the boss before on my own," he said, "and I think the only thing we've got to worry about is its AOEs." They've gone over this before, several times in fact, but he felt the sudden need to alter the course of their conversation and it served as an incredibly convenient substitute. "We've come prepared for that, of course. I'll take the lead with the DOTs. I'll pop the crystals after."

Somehow, Colossus' rocky form shuddered violently. Pinball grit his teeth and dug his toes into a foothold, holding tight. Acanthus must have struck a weak spot. That meant that he was slacking. Pinball slipped down a bit, risking a rather nasty fall in the process. There wasn't much time left to waste. He saw it, glowing beneath the beast's concrete exterior -- a dull red glow, like a beating heart caged in stone flesh. He wondered only briefly if every weak spot looked like that, and then fixed his attention to the task at hand. He didn't dare lower himself further. Holding on as tight as he

He kept climbing. There was no point in dawdling. The sights were nice, yes, but they weren't worth lingering for. He grabbed the next handhold and continued up the Colossus. Pinball wasn't particularly fond of this boss design, but he could acknowledge the fact that it broke the mold. That was something, at least, as it served to break up the monotony of your typical fetch and kill quests. Pinball's cloaked whipped in the wind. He swung from its torso to its arm, and found himself dangling in a way he wasn't completely comfortable with. It didn't last long, though, and he was able to di

He ignored the "Under Construction" notice and slipped inside. He didn't have much left to get identified, but Morningstar had done the work of several people for him getting his horde of equipment sorted, and Pinball didn't want to inconvenience him further. Who did that leave? Nobody that Pinball was aware of. At least not until recently. For a shop that was "Under Construction," the owner sure was doing a lot of work. He felt as though even if the owner decided not to take his order, it was at least worth it to try, even if he ended up losing all the equipment. None of it was especially val

He finished his inventory management and waved the interface away. "I guess not," he replied. He'd entered stealth reflexively upon entering the settlement, and they'd left quickly after. "I hadn't really noticed." He looked at her for a moment and immediately felt that little desire in his chest swell once more. He took it gently in both hands and crushed it. Those thoughts, no matter how pleasant they might be, were not meant for him. But believing that-- wasn't it getting a little old? Wasn't it tiring, denying himself those experiences? He thought of all the pain he'd inflicted on ot

"Uh, yeah. You too." Don't die? What? Pinball grit his teeth and started free climbing while Acanthus got her gear situated. It was the fastest way out of the conversation if not the easiest. The Colossus had fairly obvious hand and footholds, and sometimes even rocky platforms in odd, disjointed parts of its body. He made quick progress, and only stopped for a moment to admire the scenery before setting his eyes on the right hand. He figured if Acanthus was going for the left, he'd go for the right, and then they could meet in the middle and work their way up. He shook his head. How muc

It didn't matter to him if it was Morningstar's first time doing the questline or not. He hadn't expected to find the two of them doing it in the first place; if they hadn't been around, Pinball would have very likely started the quests by himself. It wouldn't have been the first time. But there certainly were a lot of soldiers marching on Snowfrost. He wasn't sure he would have been able to handle so many on his own... at least not while defending the townsfolk, anyway. There seemed to be no real end in sight. Acanthus proposed a game. "Absolutely not," Pinball replied. He'd just fallen

"Guess so," he agreed. Pinball's chilly demeanor had made its return in full force. He was thankful for the silence that followed. He stood there watching the woman as she fought the boars, woefully unimpressed with the performance. He didn't let that show, however; at least not until she asked what he planned to do now that their conversation was over. "I think I'll watch you struggle to hit a boarlet for a while." He shrugged. "After that I'll have to see." The First Few Lessons was a quest taken by beginners, but the lady didn't seem to be a true beginner. Not like he'd original

"Don't apologize," he replied. He'd figured she'd need to, and it didn't bother him at all. Time was not of the essence; he'd much rather have her with him operating at peak strength. He took a momentary breather himself as Mishiro thrust her rapier forward in graceful flashes. The elegant flourishes spelled the end for one of the two timber wolves, but the last one held on with just a sliver of health remaining. It snapped its jaws at empty air. Wildly whipping its head towards him, the last thing it would see was the pointed edge of a dagger hurtling towards its skull. And that was the