The Rosengale Estate
Everything was in chaos, as Lady Annetta Rosengale (though for how much longer she may remain a lady was questionable) and her daughters had mustered the whole of the estate to search for... well, he was no longer technically part of the family. But how was anyone to know that a single male would have been one to decide the fate of their family, to upset and throw their careful calculations into chaos? But in truth, that was not why there was bile in her throat, the faintest feeling that she may be close bursting blood vessels. Or screaming herself mute from frustration.
They could have tried scrying for him... except that there was nothing that they could use as a link. No possessions, no keepsakes or trinkets. Nothing that he had touched in years, that they had not placed in storage in anticipation that he would finally learn his lesson and could have them returned. Nothing that had not been taken and given away to family or the needy. His rooms were a bare cell, and there was nothing in them save for a burlap sack stuffed with straw for a mattress and a chamber pot in the corner.
Which, as he would have been by them constantly, should have been drowning in his signature! Except he had a leakage problem for years. One that had seeped into the very stone and ground of the estate, to the point where most of the estate also registered as him. And the fact he was exiled, the wards set to reject him? Random earthquakes and warping of objects as the magic shifted, as it was slowly either ground down and absorbed or expelled. And each time, there was a spike of pain randomly in her mind and organs, because she was linked to the damn wards.
The wards that seemed to be doing fuck all to actually keep track of people or keep out uninvited guests. But then, what exactly would she be expected to do against a firestorm made flesh, a hurricane granted a spark of awareness and went 'fire is pretty, so if I was fire I would be even more pretty!' Besides of course try and deflect and evacuate as it slammed into the estate, claws tearing apart the stonework, the temperature rising each moment. "Rosengale! You can't hide from me! Stop hiding!"
It was pleading, it was pouting, it would be, in most other circumstances (such as not happening at her estate) she may even get a chuckle, or mayhap even a giggle out of the whole affair. A part of her wondered where her daughter Elizabeth's drake was. Not that the dear would actually be able to help, given how she was less then a tenth the invading dragonesses size. Time to woman up. "Excuse me." Yes, she was being polite and deferential. The dragon was the size of the manor! "If you would tell me which of my children you are looking for, I may be able to help you find them without destroying their home."
Granted, as that head moved towards her, violet eyes sparkling like falling stars, she was already sure which one of her children this natural disaster was looking for. The scrying spells that felt like the dragon in front of her had always been brazen in that they were making moon eyes at her son. Who seemed to be the source of all her greatest headaches. And she likely could not reap any benefits from it, as the dragon started to talk. "Well, I'm after Matthew, you know the one that radiates power that you just want to cuddle around and use as the central piece for a hoard?"
Of course it was. Still, even as the dragoness goes on about her former sons virtues as a combination treasure and cuddle pillow, well, she had to frame it in such a way that would not get her eaten. "Ah. About a month ago he hurt his sister by accident, and we had an argument. We have in fact, been looking for him since, as it seems he took a little..."
The good side? The dragoness was not eating her or pinning her with a claw? The bad side? That was a very smooth and sudden humanoid transformation and a foot that was heated like a brand was on her throat. "Repeat that. Without the lies."
As the proud matron of a noble house, she could only scream internally.
The Spiked Boar Tavern
It was a dark and stormy night. Seriously, given how much the tavern paid the mages guild it had better be! After all, while the weather could shift, there was a certain kind of ambience that was expected in sone kinds of taverns. Not exactly seedy, or at least it only gave the impression of being seedy and on the dark and edgy side while being more or less safe for the tourists, who would come to gawk and show off how brave they were for daring to venture inside. Because the Spiked Boar was one of the taverns known to be an adventurer haven. One of the few places were they were welcome, and that they could find work.
Which of course, is why several women were looking at a young man, whose appearance was... bland and non-descript to the point of the eye almost just sliding off him, mistaking him for the background. One that had been smart enough to pay for their round, even as they were going to engage in the time honored tradition of noob crushing. A little hazing ritual to beat down the newcomer, to get them to understand that this life? It was one of freedom, but only if you had the strength, the guts for it. And boys? They weren't cut out for this life. In a way, they were doing him a favor, as they nodded at the barkeep, as a wide wing was made around their table.
"Its starting then?" The male was... well, the women frowned, as he seemed to not only be aware of it, but to not be bothered in the least. A sense of calm that actually unnerved the leader of the Band of the Bloody Thorn. It was too calm to really be bravado, too confident, as if he knew exactly were he stood. "A little spar to help me get used to things." The male rolled his shoulders, and there was the feeling of something shifting, of cracking. "I do hope however, you ladies are not too fragile compared to some of my previous partners."
Okay. She had been planning on going easy in him because he was only wearing robes, and so was likely a mage. Which, as he had no staff, wand or dagger on hand? No real way to shape his magic and thus it was more about testing his limits. And if he impressed them, they would have taken him upstairs for a ride instead of on the table in full view of everyone, to give them a show. Now? "Anny, break this shits legs." Because yeah, the little fucker didn't need his limbs to be in working order to be a dildo.
With a wide grin on her face, her leg-breaker moved, stomping forward and towering over him, a sapling for a club in one hand as she reached down. And the next moment she had to look up to see Anny's boots squiring and wiggling in the ceiling, the crash of floorboards, the male's fist in the air. "Now, I am going to stick to physical enhancement only." His tone was calm, as if he did not just do something absurd, did not just say something insane. "Mostly to limit collateral damage. I am NOT paying those kinds of fines."
Nicky hit the male with a chair on the head. Most girls would at least be staggered. The chair broke. There was a clapping sound, and then a scream and the distinct noise of shattering bone and pulped flesh, her sneak going down with a mangled arm, one of her legs missing at the knee. Which of course made Kelly panic, as she yelped out a spell, and the room went silent. Because that non-descript appearance? Sure, his cloak vanished, but that had to be enchanted to hide all those details.
He was a brute of a man, but one with a reputation. Because he had won every illusionary game he attended since he was five years old, for a ten year win streak. To be sure, his clothes had before had hid the muscles and she was sure the glowing runes of shifting flames burning up through his flesh was new, but... "Ah, Rosengale?" Yeah, those eyes, that seemed like the depths of the abyss and containing secrets to tear you apart? How the hell did he hide those. "Just physical enhancement spells you said?"
Her mouth was dry, as she did not want to be on the receiving end of those illusions. Still, he shrugged. "I was disowned recently, so I am not longer a Rosengale." That was... not actually all that helpful. "But yes. Its mostly that I'm fairly sure that my control is good enough not to kill anyone by accident, but I wanted to test it before I head back over to Doom Peak to test my offensive magic again. Still, I think its time I went of the offensive."
And then the liar teleported, reappearing with his leg raised, Veronica's legs joining Anny wiggling from the ceiling as he punted her cunt, his words sending a trickle of memory through her mind, as there was something about Doom Peak exploding a few years ago? "Before you say I'm cheating?" Vanishing again, Kelly dropped bonelessly to the ground, and there was a hand on her shoulder. "Enhanced speed bursts to allow for extremely high speed movement." And then darkness, as the newb crushed her and her girls.