Diamonds in the Rough

Jigano also noticed the rising mound of rubble, caught by surprise by the previously inanimate creature. An earth elemental? he thought briefly in awe, then shook his head as he took in its slow movements and apparent lack of intelligence. "Definitely slammy," the bard agreed, "maybe even a little smashy." He quickly shifted back to stand beside the fire mage, hand resting on his sword.

For all the good that was going to do anyone.

"Pretty sure my sword can't do more than tickle it," he admitted with a grimace. "If I still had my voice magic..." He might have been able to shatter it with a few well-chosen and ear-piercing notes, but this wasn't the time to daydream. "Light it up," he agreed, with a touch of grim humor. "Pour on the power and crack this thing in half with your heat, if you'd be so kind. I'll try and distract it to buy you some space..." And time, he tactfully didn't add. Even the mother of all demon gourds hadn't gone down in an instant under her barrage. This didn't look like a particularly healthy golem, but rock was probably more resistant to fire than gourd flesh.

Stepping forward, though careful not to stand between the firemage and her target, he waved his arms at it and shouted: "Hey, rocks-for-brains! I hear your mother was a millstone - she really got a round!" In another place and time those words might have cast a spell to stop the creature in its tracks with uncontrollable cursed laughter. In this place and this time, however, it merely roared and began shambling at the bard - though whether because it understood him or just because he was capering and making the most noise was anyone's guess.

"Who would refused a well placed tickle?" Edy chirped, rubbing her hands together as if that somehow was where the heat would actually originate.

The creature might not have understood Jigano, but Edy sure as tits did. Her smile was bright and warmly-lit as fire poured in two tendrils directed at the creature. She aimed specifically for the places where it seemed to be fused together: neck and midsection mostly. Her fire was hot and strong, but not powerful enough to smelt the thing down into what the fuck ever it was composed of. She'd give it the old college try, but even Edy knew eoughly what her limits were. The teenager would push against them all day if she thought it would do any good.

But she might have had another trick up her sleeve...

The interesting thing about disintegration vs. life drain magic was that they seemed perfectly complimentary. Things which she couldn't pull life out of (tables, hats), she could disintegrate and viceversa. Not knowing which sort of thing this golem was, Edy decided to just barrage it with magic.

Reaching out the teenager simultaneously tried to pull life out of the thing, and if that didn't work, to combust whatever inorganic mechanisms made it tick.

"I think we're about to find out who," the bard shot back dryly, focusing his attention on the stone golem, and aware that he was about to do some serious dodging. Good thing he'd limbered up that morning...

He danced to the side, drawing the golem's attention away from Edrei while she prepared her spells of heat and ruin. It swung at him with its good arm and almost overbalanced when he jumped back and it missed. Fiery snakes of power darted out to strike it - and keep striking - and for a moment the beast paused, thoughts churning slowly in a mind like a gravel-tumbler. It wasn't sure how much it should care about the annoying prickles of heat, but the fire was seeping into the cracks in its cold stone skin, making it itch. Even as the dark-skinned beauty poured even more power against it, it turned away from the noisy one and rounded on the little fleshling that was actually hurting it. It didn't seem inclined to disintegrate, but the life drain magic was felt as a slow, unpleasant sapping of its energy, and it didn't have a lot to begin with. Old and injured and out during the day, it was far from a happy stone golem.

It roared with a sound like grinding boulders, like the birth of an avalanche, as it advanced on Edy with the intent to smash her into pulp. A quiet, steady stream of inventive curses slipped from the bard's lips as he changed his own momentum and sprang after it, swinging his cloak off as he went. The cracks that Edy poured fire into were beginning to widen, stone flesh flaking off in chunks between fire and life drain magics, but it was still taking longer than was safe.

Jigano timed his jump and the swing of his cloak, launching himself off the golem's heel and wrenching his arm around to wrap the heavy fur-and-wool of the cloak around the monster's head, blinding it and causing it to stumble and roar again in confusion as it reached up to try and tear the blinding darkness free.

"Don't let up!" he panted, ducking to the golem's armless side and giving it a shove - mostly useless - to keep it off balance as it twisted to strike at him in rage and frustration.

In typical Edy fashion, as the golem rounded towards her, she did nothing but grin and should lewd and inappropriate expletives and curses over the roar of her flames. Whether her confidence was merely the artifact of being young and wild, or whether she was banking on Jigano pulling something out of those silken sleeves of his to protect her was entirely unclear. But as the golem considered the ways in which it might pulverize her, the teenager merely cackled, directing flames into its eyes and the softer joints of its neck.

Edy's flames momentarily stuttered as Jigano grappled with the creature's leg, his cloak suddenly around its eyes. Not wanting to burn the bard or his cloak, Edy tugged at its life energy again given that it hadn't responded at all to being disintegrated. Not man-made then, good to know. Maybe. Sorta...ehhh nah, Edy really didn't care.

"Normally I try to get 'em up not keep them down, but I'll see what I can do." Edy trilled back, colour high in her cheeks now. She'd trained long and hard all of her life, but it had been a while since she'd been in a proper skirmish like this (actually, the last time probably had been with Jigano as well), and despite the muscle memory in both her body and with regard to her magic, Edy could feel fatigue lapping lovingly at her joints.

Even so, the fire she poured on was hot and strong, targeting the places she'd already weakened and trying to carve away its joints.

"I thought you liked your dance partners horizontal," the bard panted. Adrenaline filled him with false heat, the chill of the air unnoticed even without his cloak as he slid around another off-balance punch from the stone golem. The creature stumbled, a rumble of confusion and pain only partially muffled by the cloak emerging as it swung wildly again, just barely missing Edy. The cracks her fire had worked into were widening more rapidly now, expanding as the inner stone heated up and pressed against its winter-chilled outer shell. Its twisting punches were further damaging itself, but the constant pressure of the wild child's attacks gave it no chance to stop and try to recover when its rage-filled mind sought only to stop the painful, hostile disturbances, with no thought of backing down.

The golem reached up to paw at the cloak over its head, and Jigano scooped up a broken length of wood to slam into the back of its knee. The ancient wood shattered without apparent damage to the stony creature, but it was distracted enough to twist around and punch back at the bard.

CRACK!

With a rumbling moan the old golem stumbled and this time fell to the snow with a crash as Edrei 's combination of fire and life drain, added to its own momentum, cracked something vital in its midsection joint. It scrabbled weakly at the ground with its one good arm, thick, blunt fingers only inches from where Jigano had fallen to evade its last attack.

The Provost of the Loreseekers cleared his throat and scooted a little further away before regaining his feet and attempting to repair his dignity by brushing the snow from his clothes. He considered his cloak - looking a little ragged - and decided that he wasn't cold enough to need it back just yet. Not while the golem was still twitching, at least. "Well," he said, taking a breath to calm himself, and releasing it slowly as he looked to Edy and Bobi with a wry smile. "My Lady of the Flames, it seems you've saved my life again. And Bobi, too," he added graciously, grinning down at the spitfire kitten. "Hopefully we don't disturb anything else on this little trip... Do you want to--" he almost said 'rest for a bit' but respect for the young mage's pride twisted his tongue to a more tactful suggestion. "--keep watch while I poke around the place?"

"I like my dance partners with meaty bits to dig my fingers into. " Edy sassed back, sweat creating a sheen across her forehead. "Is no one gonna make the rock-hard joke though?" She chimed brightly, only barely managing to dodge out of the way of one of the creature's attacks. Maybe the rock-hard thing wasn't a joke after all; the more she looked at the golem however weakened it was, the more she was sure it could probably level her with a single blow or two.

With a final blast of effort, Edy both grinned and sucked in air as she stumbled back a step or two as the golem came crashing down.

Edy's flames dried up almost instantly, and though she was a bold and wirey thing, she wasn't above letting her body pant for air. "I'll have you know I'm a baronness, not just a lady." She cackled with a wink. "Although Lady of the Flames sure has a nice ring to it. Especially when you say it." She added with a grin. Yowling at his feet, Bobi sniffed towards the stone golem, deciding there was nothing there worth playing with, and shuffled to sit at Edy's feet.

"You poke around wherever you please." Edy purred lasciviously. "Happy to watch."

"By all means," the bard panted, dancing around their opponent. "I was leaving that one for you. I'm a gentleman... like that--look out!" Luckily the Launcelyn scion dodged the incoming blow, and the battle rumbled, stumbled, and fell with a crash to its conclusion a short time later.

"Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship," Jigano corrected himself with a grin as he stood. "Though I thought ships and fire didn't get on so well. Or at least, not for long. But you'll be my 'Lady of the Flames' as long as you keep saving me like this!" He grinned back at his friend, tipping her a little bow, and giving Bobi a wink as well. He'd have to find a little treat for the kitten when they got back... which, given how tired Edy looked after that monumental effort to fell the golem, would probably be sooner rather than later.

"Well, you know a bard always appreciates a good audience," Jigano shot back with saintly innocence, stifling the laughter that threatened to shake his shoulders as he picked his way carefully back into the cleared and partially dried foundations of what had definitely been a smithy of some sort, long ago. With the snow gone the shapeless lumps resolved themselves into piles of debris, or a sturdy block with a cracked anvil on it - and, in the back corner, beneath where the stone golem had been resting, a metal ring set into the stone paver on the floor. Jigano eyed it suspiciously, then went to tug on it, expecting to find the weight too great.

Much to his surprise the trapdoor-paver opened - well, not easily, on rusted hinges, but with a counter balance that had survived the centuries largely intact, hidden away beneath the earth and stone. He grunted as it flipped open, and peered down cautiously into a protected space two feet deep, with crates of aged but solid wood still inside. Reaching down cautiously to lift the lid on one, Jigano's eyes lit up at the gleam of metal ingots reflecting dully in the clouded afternoon light. It wasn't a full crate, likely the last shipment the ancient smith had received before the barrier had cut off the hollowed grounds from the rest of the world, but it was better than Jigano had expected to find. He slipped two silver bars out, reached for another crate, this one much emptier, and selected one golden ingot. A third crate had only two ingots left, and after a moment's hesitation he took them both, eying his heavy pile of goodies. The fourth crate  he peeked into and then left alone, closing them all and then gently settling the trapdoor down again, wincing as the hinges squealed protest.

"Luckily," he murmured, satisfied as he stood and dusted his hands off, "I think we're done here." He grinned at Edy as he went to retrieve his cloak to wrap the ingots in, lifting it over his shoulder with a grunt of effort and trying not to stagger under its weight. "So, my Lady of the Flames, shall we head back to town so I can buy you and Dame Bobi a meal?" His wink was tired but game for more banter to pass the time, if Edy was up for it.

Edy tilted her head with an expression that clearly said huh???? Presumably it was something to do with her title—no, her ex title—and so whatever it was, she cared very little. Honestly, she didn't know why she even mentioned it. Here she was just Edy, and, wonder of wonders, she even let other people call her that as well. Times really were achangin'.

"Be that as it may, I'm not too tired to lend a hand." She purred back, fingers flexing dexterously.

That said, Edy was happy to lean against the wall, watching the bard work. As he neared the door in the floor, she leaned forward with equal amounts of curiosity as well as protectiveness. It wasn't that she hadn't seen Jigano pull his weight while he was with her, it was just that by the size of his scrawny arms, that weight was pretty low. Besides, he'd brought her along for muscle after all. Fire bloomed from her finger tips, but as the door opened seemingly without incident, she frowned perhaps a bit disappointed, and let the fire go out.

"Did you just grunt?" Edy cackled with a wicked smirk. "Damn next thing I know you're gonna come up covered in mud suggesting we stop at the brothel on the way back."

It was strange for Edy to be so completely without sexual attraction to someone. Not that she wouldnt jump Jigano in a heartbeat, such was merely in her nature, but the lack of sexual tension was perhaps what made their banter all the easier. She didn't have to worry about crossing lines, because there were simply no lines to cross. No way for it to get too real. It was all just shooting the shit, and something in the easiness of his was welcome.

"I mean, if you're paying. Although...I guess that means I'm serving if we're headed back to the Rathskeller." She added with a playful pout which was quickly swallowed up by a grin.

Edy preferred her wordplay heavily laced with sexual innuendo, but she was such a fun partner to banter with that Jigano sometimes slipped and let his teasing get a bit esoteric rather than erotic. She didn't seem to mind too much though, so the bard just shrugged and got back to the work of poking around the old ruin. "You did your part of the heavy lifting already!" he assured his friend with a grin. Not that he wouldn't have asked for her help if he hadn't been able to lift the trapdoor, but luckily it didn't come to that. He wanted to give her a chance to rest up in case they ran into anything on the way back, even if her pride kept her from saying she needed anything like it.

"Grunt? Edy, I would never!" He protested, putting on his most innocently affronted expression. "Though we can certainly stop at the brothel if you'd like. I'm sure those poor lads and ladies would appreciate if you could work your magic and stoke their fireplaces in this cold weather. The poor things never seem to be wearing enough layers and could probably use the extra heat," he lamented, eyes twinkling as he wrapped up his prizes. "And I hear they serve excellent tea there!" He'd heard no such thing, not even sure if there was a brothel in town, but when had reality ever gotten in the way of a good banter?

"And if you're serving, that just means we don't have to worry about anyone watering the drinks," he pointed out with a wink.

"Uh huh." Edy chimed back with a skeptical grin. "Stoke their fireplaces huh? If I didn't know better Jigano I'd say you were implying something else would get stoked." The teenager cackled merrily, as if everything he'd said before had been completely above board.

"Alright, you got me there." Edy said with an approving nod. Although half the shit that Devrum made really did need to be watered down, if only to try and eliminate some of the taste. How the bear-man could come up with—much less drink—such foul concoctions she didn't know.

"What's all the metal for? Gonna commission a bust of me?" She asked, tone innocent, but eyelashes fanning as she said the word bust.

"Imply? Me? Perish the thought!" Jigano grinned, giving his friend a wink. It wasn't without effort - the cloak full of ingots was heavy and he had to work almost as hard to try and make it look effortless as he did just to haul the weight of it. "But I don't know anyone more skilled at heating things up. Just ask that stone creature! ...Or, don't. He was a terrible conversationalist." Jigano made a moue of disapproval.

Glad that the decision about drinks - who was buying and who was pouring - had been dealt with, the bard allowed himself to shift the cloak to his other shoulder, sighing softly in relief as he was able to roll his other one and relieve some of the stress on the joint. Edy's question had him humming thoughtfully, slanting his companion a sly smile. "Alas, I couldn't carry enough metal on my own to do it justice, though your bust would certainly be the envy of the town," he lamented, teasing. "Some of it is trade for payment to the smith I'll be commissioning. The rest will be for... gifts." He slid his friend a glance, lips twitching as he put emphasis on the next word. "Surprise gifts. Speaking of... did you celebrate birthdays back in Northaven?"

Edy feigned a bow—which was actually quite skillful, but that was no real surprise given her history—and then snorted. "You didn't really give him much of a chance you know. What was it, anyways? I've never seen anything like that before, though I heard there was one guarding the guildhall when Ronin moved in."

"You say that like it isn't already." She teased back happily. Though the idea of gifts made her pause mid-stride. Bobi, who'd been ambling along behind her collided with the back of her leg and yowled unhappily. Trotting forward, deciding leading was better than following, the kitten began to prowl for bugs to practice pouncing on.

"What? I can keep quiet." A mischievous grin spread across her lips, as she shrugged to herself. "Okay, maybe I can't. But I can keep a secret." Miming locking her lips shut and throwing away the key, the teenager shook her head. "Nah...We did in Northwind, the original place we're all from. Northaven was where we were all sent too. But there was too much fighting and bureaucracy and general disorder to really focus on things like that. We kept track of age to know when you should be married off, if you were old enough to contribute, when magical powers would begin to manifest...that sort of stuff. But it was never really a celebration."

Jigano raised a brow, impressed at Edy's graceful manners, though no longer surprised by them - on the rare occasions they made an appearance. "We did rather hog the conversation, didn't we?" he grinned at his friend, unrepentant. "And I'm not completely certain. It looked like some kind of... of earth elemental, or golem, but the former seems unlikely. I'll add it to the research list when I get back to the Atheneum, or maybe one of the locals in my guild can tell us." He'd gotten lucky in having two Naturals join, with their superior knowledge of the local flora and fauna.

"All the more reason mere metal, cold and joyless, couldn't do it justice, fiery Edy," he tossed back smoothly, hitching the cloak-bag a little higher and hiding his wheeze of effort in his chuckle at Bobi's antics. He'd have to introduce him to Isuma and hope they got along...

"I trust you with my life," he said, tone light but sincere. "But some things you're just going to have to wait and see for yourself!" He shook his head at Northaven's austerity, understanding it but not necessarily liking it. "So when is your birthday? There's still some fighting here, but a lot less bureaucracy, I bet, and disorder is no reason not to arrange the occasional party." He chuckled, looking at the snow all around them as they followed their earlier footsteps back towards the Settlement. "If anything, it's even more reason to do something fun to keep our spirits up!"

Edy rolled her eyes and threw her hands up dramatically. "Damn. Everybody got a guild now huh? What's yours about?" She asked, sounding both comically annoyed but intrigued all at the same time.

"Mmmm, Spring. Or...I guess whatever they call that here. Something on the nose ... uhh...Flowerbirth." She came to finally, with a casual shrug. Edy would be twenty this year, and though her spirit would likely never match her age, something about leaving her teens behind felt wildly terrifying. Maybe that was just a hangover from Northaven though, for surely she wouldn't have gotten away with being single more than a year into her twenties. Here though, who knew? "How old are you Jigano? Sometimes you look a million, and other times not a day over a hundred." She asked with a mischievous wink.