For a little second, we've got the first of two holiday themed roleplays in a row here, both by the talented Cameron Miller, Bearsmasher handler.

And although it’s a fun roleplay with Kadlin and Konall, there’s still a bit of serious plot moved forward with it.

 
Kadlin moved forward. She had tracked her prey down to this bar, in this town, at this hour. Her spies had assured her of the target’s presence, and they knew the price of a failure on a matter as important as this. The sorceress walked to the door of the pub, glaive in hand, magic readied. But she was completely unprepared for the pair of bodies that came flying out the window.

She instantly cast the levitation spell she’d prepared, trying to lift some idiot off of her target, Father Crimbo. But she realized too late that the idiot she was trying to move was Konall. Konall was large, used to gravity, and too stubborn to abandon it even with Kadlin’s magical persuasion. His 250 pounds of muscle plus a full holiday feast complete with booze, plus who knows how much armor and weapons all stayed on the ground. The muscular Viking barely noticed the spell.

What magic failed at, perhaps brute strength could accomplish. With a roar Kadlin shifted into her bear form, hearing Konall shout. "Just give me the sack of loot you drunk wimp!" Konall ripped the Crimbo sack out of the Father’s hands, and then uttered the traditional holiday words. "May this looting bring honor to Odin on this Feast of Winter’s Darkest Night." The next bit "Odin-be-damned bear!" was not part of the sacred litany. Kadlin knocked her brother into the pub’s wall and then backhanded his thick skull. The blow didn’t even temporarily damage an important part of Konall’s body, just his brain.

Konall grappled with Kadlin, the two of them nearly matched in weight and strength. Kadlin tried to tear out his throat with her teeth only to have Konall break her snout with a head butt. Kadlin backed away a step and clawed his armor. Konall responded by hitting her side with an offhand hatchet as he pulled out his sword with his other hand. "Kadlin, what are you doing?" he asked.

Kadlin backed off for a moment. "I’m need Crimbo for a blood sacrifice. You’re in my way." Her voice was deep and gravely as it came out of an ursine throat.

Konall threw the hatchet into her leg and pulled out a shield. "Well I need to loot his gifts to bring glory to Odin. Have you forgotten the ways of our people, Kadlin?"

"No need to fight," came a voice. It was a man in yellow petrified time armor, carrying away a bound Father Crimbo. He was Slit, the time battlemage. "She wants the body. He wants the sack. I want the hat. We can all split it."

"This isn’t the season for sharing," said Konall. "This is the season for stomping on the bodies of your enemies as you walk off with their stuff. How could I call myself a good person if I abandon my traditions at the holiest time of the year?"

Kadlin returned to human form. "I have to agree. I’ve mostly given up the old ways by now, but there’s something about the holidays that makes me want to find a warrior and magic the stuffing out of him. Besides, Crimbo’s magical items may be of use to me. What brings you here?"

"Want the hat," replied Slit. "Teleporting magic. Stretches time. Oh. Need a gift for my nephew."

"Why are we talking," said Konall. "Let’s get on with the holiday bloodspill."

"Fine," said Slit.

Kadlin’s only reply was a wave of stench tentacles that whipped through the place Slit had been a moment ago. Slit reappeared behind Konall, who turned and almost cut him with the sword. Slit stuck both of his swords through Konall’s cloak, but they glanced off the Vikings armor. Konall simply fell backwards, pinning Slit in place and knocking the wind out of him. The Viking shaman called out to spirits of ice to attack Slit, and they complied, sending a chill through the man’s blood.

Kadlin began opening a helgate beneath the two of them, and when Slit teleported away to the space right behind her, she was ready with a slash of her glaive, cutting straight through Slit’s armor and leaving a severe gash.

Slit jumped back, throwing a pair of shuriken that glanced of Kadlin’s magical shield while Konall moved out of the radius of Kadlin’s dormant helgate spell. He was caught by Slit’s shuriken as they were levitated hard in his direction. But not hard enough to pierce the Viking’s armor. Slit ran toward Konall, forsaw and dodged a sword thrust, and teleported the Viking’s chest plate and cloak away with a touch spell. The time mage wasn’t fast enough to dodge a shield butt from Konall, and he landed on his back into the waiting arms of stench tentacles.

Konall took the moment to chuck a stone at Kadlin’s head, but she deflected it at the last second with a magic shield. She levitated nearby trash cans back at him but her spell was interrupted by a shuriken in her non-injured leg. Slit came at her quickly from the side but was pinned to the seamstress’ guild wall with one of Konall’s arrows. Kadlin charged Konall with her glaive, but Konall deflected it with his shield and hit her in the head with the flat of his blade.

"Spirits," prayed Konall as he fought, "bless my blade that I may lay a kicking upon the asses of those who oppose your chosen representative." Kadlin chuckled at the prayer, but didn’t laugh as the sword began to glow. She sent a rain of macaroni shards at him but they bounced off his shield as he crouched down, managing to scratch up his exposed limbs a bit but deal no serious damage. Slit, who was creeping up behind Konall, took more of the damage.

Konall heard Slit yelp and instinctively backswung, cutting deep into Slit’s arm. Konall didn’t realize that Slit could only predict intent, and with almost no intent casting a shadow into the future, Slit was reduced to human reaction time. All that went through Konall’s head was Enemy, hit him. And that’s all that was needed.

Kadlin struck her glaive into Konall’s liver from behind while Slit slashed Konall twice across the chest. Konall sidestepped and threw his sword at Slit while tossing his razor shield at Kadlin. Both attacks missed, but they gave the warrior enough time to draw his haxxor. And Konall’s injuries brought him to the point of berserking now.

Konall swung wildly with his haxxor, axe end slashing at Slit who leaped out of the way while the hammer end crushed through Kadlin’s shield, the first time injuring her and the second time sending her flying. Konall turned his rage on Slit, knocking him into the air and then hitting him with a reverse blow to slam him into the ground before the mage could teleport away. Slit teleported and then leaped on top of a building, his magic allowing him to float like a feather. Konall threw his haxxor at him like a one ton javelin, but Slit disappeared in a fluff of snow, teleporting to parts unknown.

Konall turned back to Kadlin, who was staring at his feet. He looked down and saw the markings of a helgate opening at his feet. He moved, but too late, as demons swarmed out of five gates all around him. "Don’t touch me," he said, not loudly, but firmly, with authority beyond what he should have. And they obeyed. The demons flew around him and returned to the underworld.

Konall picked up his sword and ran toward Kadlin. "You think a shaman is afraid of spirits?" She was still on the ground, unable to move with crushed ribs, and he raised his sword to strike. And held it there. And still held it there. And set it aside, his berserker rage gone. "I can’t do this," he said. "Not to you."

"Fool," said Kadlin.

Konall took her glaive as she lay there and tossed it away. She recalled it magically to her hands and he stepped back out of her reach.

"Get rid of that sword," said Konall.

"No. What are you going to do?"

Konall turned and gathered his gear. "Nothing at this point. I’ll take it someday, but you can keep it now. The longer you hold onto it, though, the more it owns you. And it’s not a good master."

Konall didn’t even need to look around to know Crimbo had gotten away in the midst of the battle. Maybe next year.

Slit was one of three potential Elite 8 members put up for submission for Holiday. We’ll see the other two shortly. Next up, Konall gets a solo story to enjoy. Kadlin will get hers later in the mission.