Fairies in a Blender

[Kalortah]

39th of Ymiden 721

Kal glowered down upon the apparitions that had been his companions in the Sweetwine woods. He'd extended a most generous and totally unsuspicious invitation to them, and they'd thrown it back at him. More than that, they treated him as if he was in the wrong! What gall! He was about to dive upon them, like a magnificent and terrible vulture, to tear their flesh and rip their bones out, when he heard something in the corner of his ear, as if carried by a stray breeze.

"Do not worry, my faithful servant. I have you." Delroth's voice echoed in his ear as he slipped into dream-filled sleep, and was whisked away in the wake of an eruption of red and white down.

He felt his form changing, from Kalortah's body, into Larza, his alter-ego that was imprinted upon one of the transformation gems Kalortah owned. The oddest thing of all was that he had sprouted a pair of wings of pure blue light. These wings allowed him to fly as he was capable of in his avriel form, and thus he swept through the air, carrying a sharp sword in his grip, beneath his wingspan. He saw what he thought were birds in the distance, and all around him. His Tarouz kin, thousands of them, all following him like an honor guard as he flew through the air faster than any avriel ought to expect. Was this a new gift of Delroth? Or merely a temporary conveyance to preserve the life of his faithful? Either way, Kalortah had a taste of such sublime and glorious freedom, that he almost wasn't annoyed at what had occurred only moments before.

Kalortah was resplendant in his bardic half-plate, shining in the sun as his honor guard trailed all around him. His eyes fixed on the distance. There were small points of light, all arrayed against the horizon. His knuckles whitened on the hilt of his sword, as he anticipated the coming Calamity. The hosts of Tarouz made their song known to the enemy in the distance, all cawing, calling, crying in their own bird voices. There were beautiful voices among them, scratched and scarred voices of gulls and vultures, and then the mocking laughter of crows and ravens. Finally, the wise rumbling of owls, as they asked "Who?"

Kalortah narrowed his eyes at the point of light, realizing what they were. Fairies. Kalortah summoned a powerful hurricane gale from the breath of his Immortal patron above. The winds blew the scores of tarouz along on their path through the sky. Within moments, those points of light would be all among them, plying their trickery and traps and magic that only fairies were privy to.

The tarouz may not be prepared for the conflict, but with the Voice of Calamity on their side, Kalortah, he would see them to their victory over the creatures.

[Kalortah]

The red blade of adamantite slashed through the air, its metallic glint reflecting the fairy glow of Calamity's enemies. Kalortah wasn't one for naming his possessions. After all, their glorious abilities only stood to reflect his own magnificence. But he might just treasure that blade enough to give it a name. Perhaps from the battle that was erupting around him, inspiration would arrive. The fairies buzzed and fluttered as if they were leaves getting kicked up by the incessant activity of the Tarouz familiars all around. A large vulture, flanked by several peregrine falcons, dove into the fray some distance from Kalortah. The falcons stood on the back of the vulture, like pilot birds carried upon the back of the larger predator. Then, when they entered the midst of a cluster of the fairies, fairies of every color and wing composition, the peregrine falcons burst into activity. The vulture's beak slashed through the air, tearing this and that fairy as it slowly flew into the battle. Meanwhile, the smaller falcons picked off one fairy after another, snatching them in talons and beaks that closed like steel traps.

The fairies fell, their light fluttering to darkness as they descended to the dark waters below. Their star-like forms dimmed until at last, they were carried upon the waters, and churned as the ocean claimed them for fish food.

Kalortah meanwhile, was still attacking, still fighting tooth and claw against the terrible pests. His blade elegantly moved through the air, skewering several at a time at some points, while he inflicted his battle-shout upon the others that were out of his reach. The force of air from deep in his vocal cords knocked several of the creatures out of the air, ricocheting from one of the beasts to another, bouncing between them like a force unto itself.

Yet for all the battle went well around Kalortah and the vulture's orbit, the avriel mortalborn could see the fairies gaining ground on the outskirts of their conflict. Birds too fell into the ocean from the sky, their buoyant corpses floating upon the air until the beasts of the sea rose to consume them as well. An angry glare flashed across Kalortah's dark-complected visage, his eyes searching for a way to make the battle go better for his Immortal's creatures.

He called to the winds, to bring them all into his orbit in a chaotic maelstrom. As he controlled the wind on a small scale, he also summoned the wings of steel from his shoulders to the tips of his fingers. He threw his free arm around, letting the steel-like feathers fly like darts. The wind caught upon these sharp feathers, slicing scores of fairies in half as it easily sliced through the gale winds that were growing.

Thousands of the fairies fell, but for all they kept dying, the fairies didn't seem to diminish in numbers or fury. Kalortah had his hands full soon, even in the midst of the tempest that was whipping them up, and controlling their concentration here or there. Kalortah would have to take some drastic measures if he was to accomplish a victory, let alone make it to where he was flying.

As everything coalesced, and the fairies gathered around, making their own strikes against the Tarouz familiar force, Kalortah hatched a scheme. He had a battle plan. It was desperate, and required him to pull upon a champion level ability. But it would be worth it to see those fairies get torn asunder, up close as he ripped their wings with the sheer force of the wind.

[Kalortah]

Every flutter of a wing, every feather on the wind, and every last exhalation of a dying creature whether fairy or Tarouz familiar, they all added to the growing tempest.

Kalortah invoked the words in his beauteous voice, his glorious tones invoking them in a sing-song cadence. Here or there he'd interject with a Lorien verse, but for the most completed the compact in Ancient tongue. Then, he transformed from the Voice of Calamity, to the waking calamity itself. He was the maelstrom.

Every glance of wind under a fairy's wings became an enemy as he extended his own being to the makeup of the air. He became as the wind, robbing it from those fairies who needed it, and then using the counterbalance to push other fairies along into danger which they were fleeing. It was absolute and glorious carnage as the pests fell like stars to the ocean below. Before long, there were only stragglers left, far afield of Kalortah, or whether close by. They all were finished by the Tarouz hosts.

It was then, that Kalortah could see the glory and vanity in battle. Delroth may balk at the idea of taking a hit, but he was as much a warrior as any of the Immortals. For what was more conducive to greed and vanity than the vain struggles of one's enemies as they were sent into the dark waters of an unknown fate?

Kalortah felt vindicated, as he rushed through the hosts of fairies, tearing them apart with the sheer force of the wind and the furious reprisal of Tarouz. The avriel tore through the air still in his wind-like elemental form, before returning to his glorious, blue-winged form, racing against the winds as he pushed forward to his destination. A maelstrom of light and glory opened up before him, and he awoke.



Kalortah woke in a grassy field, much of his belongings still on him. His domain bag with all his other belongings, his instruments, his armor and clothing. All of it was there. He recognized the place he was. It was the Stormwastes of Rharne. Remembering his reception as an avriel the last time he was here, he swiftly reached into his domain bag for the jeweled transformation gem, that held Larza's transformation. He utilized it, and brought about the transformation. His wings sank into his back, his bones filled with marrow. The shift was swift, and mostly painless, as it usually was with the Syroan blessed transformation gems of the Aeolian's Court.

So, he rose, his clothing fit well enough as Larza Impre. And he made his slow way, over toward the gates of Rharne. It seemed he was forced into exile from Scalvoris, for better or worse. Mostly better, he supposed, as he strolled with a smug smirk toward the Dust Quarter.

[Avalon]

Review & Rewards

Name: Kalortah

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: N/A

Knowledge: N/A


Renown: N/A

Skill Review: Non-lucid dream

Notes:
Let's start off with an important note: I love that template!

Oh Kal. I enjoy the idea that Kal doesn't name his items because their...what did he say...."glorious abilities only stood to reflect his own magnificence." It's a small detail that could have been missed, but wasn't. That, to me, reflects that the writer has thought about Kal's personality and applied it to the writing. Small detail, but huge kudos to you for realizing it.

Fairy slaughter, oh my! It was nicely done, in my opinion, because it allowed the reader a peek into Kal's personality. We don't often get to see Kal feeling different emotions and the confusion of Sweetwine melds perfectly into the non-lucid dream state. All the elements were there...which then moved us on to his new existence in Rharne. I like that Kal sees himself as something even more than he feels Delaroth does. It's a reflective state I've not seen from him previously.

I enjoyed the transition this piece served, bringing Kal from Sweetwine to Rharne.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!

Avalon