Alexa, Syn, and Gabriel enter the Lockdown with Kravor

The elvish occupation of Nexus brought change to the city-state. Districts were repurposed to suit the need of the new Xan’theril Alliance as they expanded in power of independants of the southern alliance centered in Crystallis. Those still loyal to the old alliances were treated poorly.
At first, people thought that when people were being moved to live in the Oldtown ghetto it was due to dissent. Those that entered were unable to leave unless they were soldiers or specialists cycling in to support the perimeter.
A church, several houses repurposed to living quarters, and a quartermaster’s vault. This once historically rich district resembles a disenfranchised prison more than anything else. The tall, cathedral-like building stands like a tired father over its children.
This is where those ‘able’ to access the gate are kept. It was kept hidden while dozens of lives were lost down far below the church. A table that reacts to the souls of only a select few. A gate that opens with the right combination, as if calling them to adventure. Another world to see, if only for sparse minutes. A threat. An opportunity. A mystery. The smell of rain and mud fills the nose of the tiefling girl who stands leaning against a stone wall. She tilts her head upwards looking at the gray clouds that pass overhead. Small droplets of water hit her face as she stares blankly towards the sky.
It’s as though I just go from one prison to the other, as though fate wants nothing more than to see me captive. Heh, I can’t blame fate for this one I suppose. We did walk in here on our own will. Stockholm syndrome perhaps? She sneers at the thought, tilting her back head down to watch the occasional occupant stroll down the main street before her gaze falls onto the towering cathedral. Its mossy covered stone face echoes a haunting mystery that surrounds the entirety of this ghetto.
“Creepy…” She says under her breath. Blue eyes canvas the area, steadily observing everyone in the ghetto. They land on the tiefling girl "was it really the right choice to come here with her? What if she powers up again and kills these people" she thinks to herself. Looking at each person in the room her mind flashes with images of Avernus... All the bloodshed, but it being replaced with their faces... With her own face. "No, this will be fine, she wants to help, and this place could have answers."
She straightens up and starts walking around, stopping at the gate. "I'll prove myself to the Candles," Alexa mutters, "just 3 words... I wonder where it leads..." Within the small camp where these two await their destiny within the gate, a loud cracking sound breaks the silence of the evening. Nearby guards raise crossbows to the imposing sound, ready to fire at any moment, only to find a poor man's head lovingly placed within the frame of a now splintered door. Confused, the guards approach.
The door quickly opens as the rest of the mans body is pulled with it. Out of the small shack of a building steps a large, armored creature who seems to have a preference for the color black, holding a large bottle of booze in one hand. The seemingly black dragonborn slowly steps out in his beautiful black armor, as he unsheathes the black greatsword from his back. Yup, he definitely has a thing for black.
The greatsword finds purchase within the dirt in front of the poor humans face, who's head still lies shaking in the door. The guards wearily move in closer, crossbows still at the ready, as one calls out, "Kravor, must we go through this again ?"
The dragonborn, apparently named Kravor, raises a hand to shoo them all off, before a low, gravelly voice slowly echoes out from where he stands.
"I won't kill this one. He'll still be ready for your gate."
This seems to be enough, as the guards all begin to back off and move back into their normal posts. Turning back to the man, before taking a swig from his bottle and leaning in real close, Kravor whispers in his ear,
"I won't kill you. This time. Next time, though ? No promises."
With a swift kick to the forehead, the man is ejected from his place within the doorframe, allowing him to run off into the rain.
A smile creeps across Kravor's face as he takes a second swig, sheathes his greatsword, and walks into the raining courtyard where the other two stand, looking up with his arms out, almost embracing the outside world. Alexa looks over at the sound of fighting hits her ears. She sees a large dragonborn walk through the gates, arms outstretched, a crazed grin on his face. Just what we need.... Another violence hungry powerhouse. She collects herself, fighting was never her strong point, if she was Swift and observant she could get through anything. Taking a deep breath and preparing for whatever new crazy has just entered the courtyard, she walks toward the dragonborn. Putting her hand out she looks up at his face towering above her. "Alexa Stone" she says curtly, holding her breath for what comes next. For a split second, Kravor's wicked smile is replaced by a look of slight surprise, as he ever so slightly cocks his head to the right. A moment later, the smile creeps back across his face, revealing the blackened gums and jaggedly crooked teeth that fill his bloody maw.
The stupidly brave half-elf standing in front of him is met with two sensations unlike any other. Emanating from deep within the back of Kravor's throat echoes an eerily off-putting, broken laugh, followed by a wave of indescribable stench only a dragonborn whom hasn't quite kept up with his hygiene could produce.
Looking down upon this impudent creature in front of him, Kravor's chilling laughter finally comes to an end. His already somewhat hunched form slouches even more, allowing him to meet eye to eye with her. His bright blue, draconic eyes completely ignore her outstretched hand, choosing to instead gaze directly into her similarly colored eyes for what feels like an eternity as he begins to size her up.
Their eye contact ends as another swig of booze is taken, followed by a roaring belch that causes Kravor to flinch and grab for the massive scar etched across his throat that had previously gone unnoticed.
Returning his attention back to the half-elf in front of him, he stands back up to his normal height as his broken voice speaks once again.
"Heh. Takes balls, I'll give you that." He states almost mockingly. His words come out slow, as if it pains him to speak, forcing him to pause every few words. "Now. Who exactly might Alexa Stone be and what would she want with me ?" Everything about his presence makes her uneasy, she chooses to focus on his appearance as a distraction... If she even thought about the smell she might faint.
His demeanor is one that she has encountered before, towering men who think just because they're big that they're unstoppable. When he speaks she notices his scar, her eyes trailing only for a second to assess his condition. A black dragonborn... That's something to be careful about, but rarely do they have blue eyes.
"I'm from Duodecim, came to enter the gates. I assume you're here for the same thing, and you seem like someone that would be good to know, or at least not be on the bad side of." She powers her hand realizing he won't shake it.
"Adapt and change, keep him on your side" she thinks. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a flask of fine whiskey. Unscrewing the top she appears to take a large swig, but only drinks the smallest sip. "Keep your eyes open and your mind focused" echoes in her head. She presents the flask to him, "you may like the taste of this a little better." Kravor looks down to the simple, unbranded booze in his hand, then looks at the whiskey being offered to him. He gladly grabs the whiskey and takes one big gulp, some of which ends up seeping out of the scar on his throat, slowly dripping all over his armor. With a grin, he hands back an empty flask.
"Well. You're right. Haven't had a real drink in a century," he states, seemingly somewhat refreshed. Politely continuing the conversation, Kravor grabs Alexa by the bicep and lightly shakes her more petite form.
"You're clearly not a fighter. Smart though," his gravelly voice states, nodding to the flask. "I can respect that." Alexa's body relaxes, thank goodness that worked. She takes back the flask, noting all of his nuances in her mind, trying to connect the pieces. "I had to be smart to get to where I am now. I don't think I git your name earlier, have you been to Nexus before?" Syn pushes off the stone wall and heads into the courtyard, her great club perched over her shoulder. “Oh? What’s this? I leave you for a few moments and find you drinking with a mess of a dragonborn it seems?” Syn pauses at the entrance, a grin forming across her face as she looks over the stranger gulping whiskey.
She pulls the club off her shoulder, placing the end of it into the dirt, leaning forward and laughing at them both. “Now now, don’t misjudge Alexa Stone. I am sure she’d kick your ass.” The grin across Syn’s face grows larger. Her blood red eyes glistening as she speaks. Kravor almost responds to Alexa, but after witnessing such an eccentric entrance, turns his head away from Alexa, moving on to a more entertaining conversation. His more conversational stance changes to one of amusement as he grins toward their petite interruption.
"Now then. You're a cute one, aren't you ?" he states, leaning down towards her as his grin widens.
“Well, I wish I could say the same to you.” She pulls the end of her great club off the ground, walking forward and dragging it alongside across the courtyard. Syn stops besides Alexa, eyeing the dragonborn before her. “And who the fuck are you?” She says abruptly, cocking her head to the side. “Other than obnoxious that is.” She smirks. Alexa let's out a sigh... So much for tactical information gathering. She backs away a little, this is either going to go really well... Or horribly. She starts to prepare for the worst Kravor's amusement grows as he is bombarded with what one may call "bullshit" by the hypocritically obnoxious tiefling. His eyes narrow as he looks her over.
His eyes shift ever so slightly over to Alexa as she quietly backs away from the encounter before her. At least she's smart. Turning back to the tiefling, he gladly continues their polite conversation.
"Obnoxious ? Maybe. Amused ? Without a doubt." He states plainly, meeting her bluntness with his own. Her eyes narrow. “Im so so SO glad I could amuse you.” She grins and her sharp canines roll from behind her lips. Her eyes glance to Alexa as she takes a step back from them both before they return to the dragonborn. “Though that doesn’t answer my fucking question.”
She moves forward, entering his personal space at this point. Her short figure staring upwards at the blue eyed, black scaled creature before her. “Name.” She says sharply. She glances over her shoulder towards Alexa. “Is he here for the same thing as us?” A caw is heard in the sky as a white Raven circles around the group and lands on Alexa's shoulder. "I don't know Syn, I had only just introduced myself. I didn't feel an interrogation was necessary." She looks into the eyes of her Raven "did you see anything out of the ordinary?" She says quietly to Nuru. The Raven caws, Alexa nodds as if to be understanding his words.
Looking back at Syn, "I would assume so, his energy seems to be different from the others here, seems all the conditions are there " Kravor takes half a step back from the tiefling standing half an inch from his face and gestures with open arms around the courtyard to the various individuals that have begun to watch their conversation from afar.
"I would certainly hope that I hold a 'different' energy to the others here," he states with disgust in his voice. "Weeks I have been here and all I have seen are cowards. Unworthy of entering the Gate."
His eyes move back and forth between the two women in front of him. A little abrupt, but possibly who he's been looking for. Turning to Syn, he smiles his hideous smile once more.
"Syn, is it ? Heh. Fitting." He unsheathes his massive greatsword and plunges it into the dirt in front of her. Placing his hands upon the top of the hilt and resting his head upon his hands, leaving him at eye level with the short girl. Staring at her once more, he continues to fail in his attempts to understand this unusually abrupt creature.
"Kravor." He states, still trying to get a bead on her. Syn’s eyes fall blank staring up towards the dragonborn while listening to Alexa speak. “Interrogation?” She blinks a few times trying to understand. “Is that what this is? Is this not how you ask people things?” The caw from Nuru snaps her attention back to the towering dragonborn.
“Heh, my name is fitting indeed.” Her face grows dark following her own words. She watches as he shifts and leans against his great sword, his eyes now level with her own.
“Kravor. Noted.” She grins once more. “If you enter into the gate with us, you best hold your own.” She gets closer to his face. “And if you do anything stupid, I’ll fucking coat this church with your blood.” Kravor stops leaning upon his sword, and begins to stand up straight, leaving him standing well over 6 feet tall, looking down upon Syn with a sense of arrogance. Dragging his enormous greatsword made of blackened steel to his side, he slowly digs it deep into the mud next to him, as he thinks. An ornate, design made up of a blue silver shine upon each side of the blade, depicting two massive, strange creatures. Before the design can be fully made out, he sheathes his finely crafted weapon.
Kravor's smile widens as he begins to walk past Syn, stopping before he passes her and turning his head.
"Like I said. Cute."
Kravor continues to walk past her, "accidentally" running into her shoulder as he does so. He gives a nod and another chilling smile in the direction of Alexa as he walks away, finishing his bottle and smashing it in the mud. From the left side of the Cathedral, the rat comes out of its hole.
Quickly scurrying from the Cathedral, a small figure, no larger than a six year old, hurriedly dashes towards the broken pieces of the bottle. As it makes a mad dash towards the pieces, it seems like the fastest creature alive in its own mind. To others it is going comically slow due to the mud sticking to its shoes.
After what seems to be an extreme game of balance on the mud, the figure slips and in one sliding motion through the mud bumps into Kravor’s foot, gets ricocheted into the path of Syn and Alexa, but stops just in time before impact. The brown cloak around the figure falls to reveal the mud covered and bald young man with pointed ears.
Along with the hair on his head, his eyebrows are gone which, with the paleness of his skin coming into full view, draws more attention to the mundane quality of his hazel eyes. He sits in the mud, mouth ajar, as he looks up at the terrifying woman with a very large club. Her eyes scan the great sword in Kravor’s hand before he sheathes the weapon and speaks, running into her shoulder as he walks past her. She grips her great club tightly, turning her knuckles white as if to hold back a burst of rage that would result in his probable death. “Bold.” Syn says under her breath as he continues walking past.
From out of nowhere a small figure in an awkward frenzy comes running through the mud, tripping from Kravor’s boot and sliding comically in front of her. The figures hood falls, and there in the mud sits a bald young man with hazel eyes starting up at Syn.
Her brow furrows and her black hair hits across her face from the slight breeze that travels through the courtyard. There is an awkward silence in the air as the two lock eyes. The silence is broken by a chaotic laughter. “Ha…ha…ha…HA..HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.” Syn belts out in amusement. “Alexa look! The rats are mutating!” The young man's eyes stare at the ground in embarrassment at his folly, obviously a mistake on his end to rush in, but that laugh. That chaotic laugh. It sends goosebumps down his arms, snaps his eyes up to meet Syn's once again, and he smiles. A big, full on, teeth baring smile where the corners of his mouth stretch to an almost absurd degree. Unsettling? Yes. Cute? A little bit.
"You've got a great laugh," the young man says as he giggles slightly as a memory pops into his head as he softly mumbles," Sounds just like Gig..." The draconic beast releases an audible growl of loathing anger towards whatever creature that had randomly rushed into him, causing a mass of freezing cold energy to instinctually build up in the back of his throat, casting a soft blue light upon the child in front of him.
This intimidating look of a pissed off dragonborn is quickly halted once he is given a moment to register exactly what it is that had just ran into him. As Syn releases a more than audible laughter towards the child, it is met with an uproariously painful coughing from the dragonborn, who, in his moment of confusion, had built up more and more freezing energy within the back of his throat.
The creature that has already been shown to experience great pain when speaking, releases a spray of misty, cold energy out the massive gash across his throat. What is expected to be a rush of freezing, painful energy is surprisingly found to be nothing more than a slow-moving, pleasant mist that envelopes the small gnomish boy, causing even more tiny goosebumps to form upon his arms.
As the mist finally evaporates upon reaching the base of Syn's towering club, Kravor attempts and fails to regain his composure as the searing pain jolting throughout his body forces unwanted memories to instantly shoot into his mind. He winces once more as he fully experiences his brother slowly running a blackened steel blade across the very spot where the gash would forever remain, before running it directly through his chest, leaving it there in both disgust and pity. ‏‏‎ Finally finding himself back in the present, Kravor looks around to find himself met by 3 sets of confused, and possibly judgmental, eyes looking down at him. Oddly, almost everyone was now taller than him now, which he was not used to. At some point, he must have fallen to one knee, seeing as now, he finds himself nearly 3 feet shorter with one leg embracing the the mud beneath him, with one hand grasping the hilt of the greatsword on his back, the other digging it's claws deep into his chest piece.
The massive, hunched dragonborn quickly drops the exposed demeanor and regains his composure, taking up the intimidating form that he was so used to. He quickly clears his throat and attempts to move past what had just happened.
"Don't run into strangers, boy. Especially when they look anything like me." “Oh? A little frostbite is enough to bring you down?” She sneers at Kravor and chaotically laughs once more until the child that sits in the mud speaks.
Like shattered glass, the rage inside herself explodes at the mention of ‘his’ name. Behind her kneels the coughing dragonborn attempting to gather his composure as the mist settles. The great club in her hand falls into the mud, and in one swift motion she grabs the boy by the collar of his cloak. “What did you just say!?” Her black hair that remains tied up into a ponytail tumbles down over her shoulder and her side bangs cast shadow across her face. Red eyes stare angrily back to the hazel ones before her.
Flashes of Avernus flood her mind. It’s been roughly a year since the events that had occurred there and like a thorn embedded under the skin, she can’t shake the memory. The power from before, that was his doing, that must be his doing. Why? Why? WHY?!? Her mind screams at the thought.
“HOW DO YOU KNOW GIG!?” She screams into the face of the child. Completely disregarding the others around her. Everything happened so fast, this child tripping on the dragonborn, Syn's chaotic laughter, the mist from his throat. She takes notes in her mind as she sees everything happening, understanding more what is happening with Kravor, when she is jolted out if it by Syn's screaming of Gig's name. Oh no, this is really not going to be good.
Alexa springs into action, protect the child first. She slides in front of the kid and looks directly into Syn's eyes. "Syn, breathe. Compassion and questions first." She holds her breath as she is well aware she is the direct target now for her anger. Hold your ground, protect the child, Syn will understand. "I'm not worried. I've seen rats with worse teeth than yours, and the only Dragonborn's I've ever seen are Targarius so.... yeah," responds the boy as he plays with the mist, letting it coil and writhe between his fingers. The mist, in the palms of the boy, almost looks alive and in its cold embrace he smiles unconsciously like a conductor leading a train.
That is until his collar is grabbed and he is confronted with the raging 5'4"ish height tiefling. His face of shock is the first to make itself obvious yet it fades away into something else. Intrigue.
The background mayhem of Alexa and Syn talking only leaves the boy to his own thoughts.This situation is like a hurricane. Syn is the winds that spur on the action, Alexa the stones to protect him from the crashing waves, and Kravor the mountain at his back. Water. Stillness. The storm must be weathered.
Meeting Syn's fire with his own, the boy grabs her hand as it grabs his collar and lets their emotions flow. Like a wall, Syn's rage collapses onto him, threatening to consume his every nerve, to splinter every pound of his lingering sanity, but offer a purpose in its scalding waves. Destruction of every one and every thing. Yet he is not lost. A similar rage was sparked, not as hot, but just as expansive. Syn feels this as the boy says in a calm tone," My name is Gabriel."
The emotions Syn is confronted with are depressing, like a child watching their favorite person in the entire world die in front of them, "I've been through some pretty bad stuff and I was just wandering around...terrified... but Gig was the one to show me that... I'm worthy to have a purpose... and I'm not... a nobody..."
The emotions shift to fire, blazing in mind, and as the two emotions swell and coil through the two people they collide into their own stream of hate and grim determination. "I was so angry... so motivated to just... destroy everything, but then I cooled off..."
The waters of wrath begin to dry up in Gabriel, and are replaced with the soothing mist of clarity. Calmness. Peace. Tranquility. It feels Syn like a cup running over, and all at once it stops. Gabriel lets his hands dangle to the side of him and stares at Syn curiously.
"I feel like we have a lot to talk about. Maybe not right now though" For a moment, from his position overlooking the small cluster of beings in front of him, Kravor flinches at the mention of the name Targarius. He begins to react and interject into the conversation, but quickly stops himself at the repeated mention of another name. Gig.
Realizing the time he has lost and the position that puts him in, he remains quiet, letting those in front of him squabble so he may learn more of this Gig who seems to have quite the mixed reputation. Shifting eyes narrow to his own as it reaches and touches her hand. She grips his collar tighter before a silence fills the air and her eyes grow large in shock. A rage flows through her that is not her own. Different yet familiar. “W-what…is this?” She mumbles. She’s greeted with the boy’s voice. His name.
The rage continues to boil between them both. A dense hatred for everyone, everything but the boy continues to speak, her hand gripping his collar shaking, trembling still. “A purpose…” She mumbles once more and, in her head, she hears the words spoken a year ago.
Why want for this lifestyle when you can free those blues and reds from the prisons of thick, restricting lines they are confined to? Let the ink blot the paper without boundary. Then burn the paper. Burn the library. Burn the whole town and let blue and red smoke fill the lungs of the cows choking on their own 'Order'.
She shakes him by the collar. “BURN!” She yells into his face. Teeth sneering as they then close and grind out of rage. Then like water colliding with lava, the rage sizzles to something more somber, more personal, feelings forgotten through time itself. Peace. His hands fall to his side as he stares back into her red eyes. Deafening silence follows and the tight grip to his collar releases slowly and her hand falls, dangling at her side as well.
“Syn.”
She replies to him. Acknowledging him, his words, and faintly opening up to this…stranger, all while feeling her emotion horribly exposed.
She steps back, picking up her great club and turning to Alexa. “Compassion.” She nods to her allowing her to ask questions. She brushes by her, turning her head from embarrassment. She walks out from the courtyard, placing her club down next to her and sitting alone at the stone steps that lead to the church, staring blankly out to the clouded gray sky above. Alexa has no idea what happened. An exchange of energy, a calm, and an expression in Syn's eyes that she's never seen before. Worry moves across her body, settling in her stomach, but now is not the time for this. This kid... Gabriel... Knew Gig. Knew the maniacle demon who threw so many lives in to peril for fun. Not only did he know him, he learned from him. Tread lightly, and be cautious. It now becomes apparent that while he seems small and indefensible, he is very dangerous.
A smile comes across her face. Don't show that you see him for what he is. "I've never seen anyone have that effect on her, I'm sorry she came on so strong. Gabriel was it? I'm Alexa, I hope you didn't hurt yourself with that fall" she offers her hand to him as a showing of support. Hesitant, but willing, Gabriel shakes Alexa's hand, more specifically her fingers due to the difference in size.
"I'm f-fine, thanks," he says with slight tremble as the residual hate subsides into his well of emotions. He looks suspiciously at Alexa, her words giving him a bit of unease.
"Hm... Does she usually get angry at objects rather than people then? You s-seemed very prepared when she went off like that." "Unfortunately that is very common, she's had a rough life, and it definitely didn't help her handle her rage. I seem to be one of the few people that doesn't instill that rage in her, so I do what I can to calm her." Flashes back to Avernus.. to Alexa almost being killed by Syn. She shakes her head, back to reality, Syn isn't like that anymore, Alexa is helping. "How did you do that anyway? Is she okay?" She looks towards Syn, worried at that look. "She doesn't seem okay," he comments, looking over at Syn and guilt swells in his throat," I... I just... I let her know how I was feeling and I learned how she felt. It's something I learned from a stranger."
His glances over at Alexa and then back to Syn. Curious. His eyes momentarily stop on Kravor, but a question still lingers in his head, compelling his mouth to speak. "How long have you known her, Ms. Alexa?" "Almost 2 years now" Learned from a stranger... Gig.... Ms. Alexa... feigning niceties to maintain innocence... he's good. Her eyes wander to Kravor, why hasn't his wound healed... and cold magic, with black scales, and tensing at Targarius... she scans his body briefly, assessing his scales fully, things aren't adding up. But enough of that, Syn is not okay. She straightens up, "Excuse me Gabriel, I am going to check on my friend." She walks past him, swiftly and gracefully, making sure to not touch either of them. Approaching Syn, who is facing away from her, Alexa cautiously announces her presence, surprise is not an option. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk?" She says softly She remains sitting, staring up at the sky as small water droplets hit her face. “I’m fine.” She says sharply before letting out a sigh and tilting her head to the side to look to Alexa. “Annoyed, but fine. I want to get this over with, learn the things we need to learn inside this dumb gate and move the hell on.” She stands up, folding her arms. “That kid… he…” She cuts her sentence short. “Fucking hell, just forget about it alright?” "I felt... something. I know you're not ok, but I'm not going to push it. The information we get here will be helpful, I promise. These people have been turned into their own form of slaves, something behind that gate may help us stop that." Alexa desperately tries to get Syn back on her side, showing this is not something just for her own needs. "Just know I'm here if you want to talk, I'll give you your space." She has learned over the year that they've been outside of Avernus to never push a resolution on her. Syn will come around, but it has to be on her own terms. Turning to Nuru, she instructs him to keep an eye on Kravor and Gabriel. Befriend as many as you can, the closer you get, the more you learn, and the higher the likelihood is that you'll survive.