fists of flame

jax // changeling // monk

[fists--of--flame]

orphea-ourobora‌:

Overall, Orphea felt pretty good about the whole, strange ordeal. She didn’t mind chaos. In fact she thrived in it and found most of the afflictions, save the roving bands of undead and the occasional death, to be amusing. Granted, when she’d first awoken to large, feathered wings the color of a dove’s sprouting from her back, she’d panicked, but having wings had proven to be phenomenally handy and fun. Her normally bone-white skin, splattered with greyish freckles, had turned the tan of a wood-elf’s. Her pearlescent hair was the gold of fresh straw and her eyes that were normally the barest, palest of blues, were the blue of the ocean’s depths. Normally she appeared as a beautiful ghost, someone wonderful but apart from everything around her, but now she looked and felt wonderfully alive. She didn’t look like she belonged in the Pallid Grove. 

Orphea skipped down the grimey Myrefall street with her wings splayed wide. As the wind blew through she liked the occasional weightlessness that her wings afforded her as they caught the breeze. She skid to a stop at the curse and turned, curious. She kept her wings spread as she stepped closer, casting the elven woman into shadow. “Rough day?” she asked with a tilt of her head and a placid smile. 

A moment after she had spoken, through her closed eyelids, she felt the sun become blocked out as someone approached and stood over her. A voice said, Rough day?, and she felt her irritation begin to rise even higher. She huffed our a sigh. “Yeah, no—“ She opened her eyes and her sentence came to a sudden stop before she could finish as she finally saw who was standing over her. The elven woman looked like she was glowing, though that was most likely because of how she was silhouetted by the sun behind her. Jax’s eyes grew wide at the sight of her, and the actual, literal wings that she was using to block the sun from hitting Jax, as if she was some sort of angel. Jax was completely stunned, which was a bit comical when considering the fact that the last time she’d felt this way was when she had seen the face she was currently wearing for the first time.

“... shit,” she finally finished after a brief moment of silence, but she almost immediately regretted letting the word come out of her mouth. She looked down and shook her head. Stupid, that was stupid. Her thoughts fumbling, Jax picked up her frozen cup of coffee off the ground and then stood, moving slightly so her head wouldn’t collide with the other woman’s wing. She blinked a couple of times before she was able to speak again. “Um… hi. Sorry.” This was going well.

[fists--of--flame]

suffocating-air‌:

The chaos was unlike anything Ventis had ever seen. Luckily they weren’t showing any signs of being affected by the wild magic running rampant. they were just now arriving, passing through on their way to somewhere else. Well, if Ventis ever even had a plan. Usually they just let the wind carry them along and stopped only to indulge in spontaneous endevours. This rift was worth stopping.

They noticed the frustrated body language of someone trying to cope. Fire and ice, how intriguing. Ventis wanted to touch the flames. “You give up too easily.” Ventis had been watching the entire scenario unfold with a smirk. A breeze drifted through the air and caught in the air genasi’s hair, swirling around them like a gentle whirlwind. How very interesting this place was becoming. All the elements seemed to have minds of their own.

“Perhaps I might help you drink from a freshly brewed cup in exchange for somewhere to rest for a moment?” Ventis walked closer to the other, looking into the frozen contents of the cup. “Hot and cold, and I thought I was the master of mixed signals….”

Jax looked up at the other figure who had approached and scowled at them, her irritation only growing. “I don’t give up on anything,” Jax shot back. “This shit has been going on for the past week since the fucking earthquake, and I think I know how to handle shit that’s happening to my body.” It was her abilities acting on their own, and her indignant tone made it clear how she felt about someone else apparently speaking with authority about them. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at the genasi from where she sat. “If you’re asking for a couch to crash on or something, the answer’s no. And I don’t need a fresh cup.” She picked you her cup and, using the dangling charm on her bracelet, carefully broke apart the frozen drink and put an ice chunk in her mouth.

[fists--of--flame]

Date: May 30th Location: Outside Jax’s home in Myrefall Status: Open

This was getting to be very irritating. It felt like Jax’s hands kept alternating between freezing and being on fire every 20 minutes and she was so done with all of it. She sighed heavily, her head in her hands as she sat on the ground outside of her home. It probably wasn’t the best idea to be outside while chaos reigned over the city, but Jax didn’t much care at the moment. They just needed the air. At first, Jax thought she hadn’t been impacted too much by the earthquake. Other than the occasional effect on the elemental power she had access to, nothing major had happened. Her dog Vera sometimes had bubbles coming out of her mouth when she barked and Elias’s scales had changed color, but Amyru was unchanged. Jax was very okay with that result. But then her mother woke up as a half-orc and that made things a little more stressful. But to Jax’s surprise, she seemed to be taking the change in stride. Or maybe she was just putting on a brave face for Jax. She couldn’t tell.

She sighed and reached down for the cup of coffee that sat on the ground next to her. But as she lifted her hand up she saw that her hand was once again wreathed in flame. “Son of a-” She put the cup down and tried futilely to put the flames out on her hand. The flames didn’t burn her skin, or anything else it touched. It was just very annoying. After a moment, the flames disappeared and she sighed again. Grabbing the coffee once more, she brought the coffee up to her lips. It took her a second to realize that the coffee had frozen the second time she had touched it. With a noise of frustration, she put the cup back down and leaned her head back against the wall she sat against. “I’m so fucking done with this,” she said, not noticing, or caring, if anyone was nearby to hear it.

[fists--of--flame]

sarkesh‌:

Time: late afternoon Place: Khaggon Date: May 1st Status: Open

Sarkesh had wandered in to the city center to look for something to eat. Lunch time had long passed but he’d been so busy sparring that he’d missed noon competely. He was fighting tonight, a big match for a spot above where he currently was. Though he’d been stopped a few times by some regulars at the fight club the third time being stopped when he just wanted something to eat was getting tiring. He wasn’t sure if they recognized him or not 

“Oh can I help you with something? I’m actually on my way to get something to eat.” 

Jax was back in Khaggon, for the Fight Club, but not to fight. She hadn’t been back in a bit, and definitely not yet with her new face. She’d fight as Amadeus eventually, but not just yet. Tonight, she just wanted to watch and enjoy herself. She’d been feeling off for a little while and just wanted to relax. Well, relax maybe wasn’t the right word to use when she intended on spending the night in the Fight Club, but as rowdy as the place got, she knew she would always enjoy herself there. She’d already swung by the establishment to see who was fighting that night. The organizer of the fights was a bit disappointed when she made it clear she wasn’t intending on fighting that night, but still gave her the information freely. She’d fought Sarkesh before, and knew he was good. It was definitely going to be an entertaining night.

But for now, food. She wove her way through the market to find a good place to eat. The food was okay at the Club, but the booze was always better and she wasn’t looking to get drunk this early. Jax just wanted a good meal right now. When she spotted a familiar figure ahead, she smirked and made her way forward towards him. “Hey,” she called out as she reached Sarkesh, smirk still present. “Well, good. So am I. We can go together.”

[fists--of--flame]

pyrope-almandine‌:

Date: May 15th Location: Runswick, Woods Status: Open

Three months ago Pyrope had purchased a set of five throwing knives that sat inside a hand-sewn leather belt which would have wrapped around her waist, had she ever used them. Until the present moment the entire item had been tossed against a wall, forgotten, and then shoved into one of several bags she had toted to Khaggon. She found them a week prior, in a furious attempt to clean, and tied them to her waist happily with no use for them other than aesthetics. But now that she was back in Runswick, bouncing between taverns and camping, she had all the trees in the world to practice on. 

She stood many feet away from a large oak, staring at the cut up bark from the times the blade had grazed the tree, letting out a frustrated sigh. Her fingers pinched the blade, she reared back, and let the knife fly through the air. It hit the right side, bounced off, and fell to the ground. God, she was rusty. “Fuck.” She groaned, pulling out another to get ready to throw, before she heard a twig snap nearby. “Better watch out!” She called, squaring up, throwing the knife towards the target tree again. It hit the side of the bark again but stuck in the wood, the first of many tries. Thankfully.

Jax walked through the forest back towards the city. He had spent most of the night pacing through the woods when it had become clear that sleep wasn’t coming. Anxiety and fear had been coursing through his veins nonstop for the past week or so since the full moon, and doing his own research over what had happened to him had only made it worse. But now that it was day, he wanted to get back to the city. He had already confirmed with members of the temple for the Morninglord that Thea was in town, but he hadn’t seen or spoken to her just yet. He needed to. Thea was one of the only people he knew would be able to help him figure things out. From what he’d read, it was already too late for this... affliction of his to be fixed. But he had no idea what he should do. Thea was the only real friend Jax had at the moment.

His attention was suddenly diverted by the sound of something metal clattering to the ground nearby and someone cursing. He thought the voice sounded familiar, but he wasn’t sure who it was. It wasn’t Thea, he knew that, but still, he felt himself walking towards the sound. Soon, the person became aware there was someone else and called out a warning. Hearing her voice a second time made Jax realize who it was, and he said his own curse under his breath. He really wasn’t in the mood or mindset to deal with Pyrope. He almost walked away but then a dagger made impact with a tree. He glanced down near the base of the tree and saw a similar looking dagger laying on the ground where she had clearly missed. “Huh,” he said out loud, without really thinking about it. “You’re not that good, are you?” Well, he wasn’t going to be able to walk away too easily now. At least he was wearing a face that Pyrope didn’t know was him. He had a few she didn’t know and he intended to keep it that way. In fact, the only two faces she knew of were human-looking, and with his newest persona being a half-orc, he was intending to keep her perpetually in the dark.

[fists--of--flame]

Date: May 15th Location: Runswick Time: Afternoon Status: Closed, @thea-wb​

Jax hadn’t felt anxiety quite like this since Llyn. But it was completely different at the same time. It had taken them a little over a month to figure out what had actually happened that night. So much of that month had consisted of not remembering, not understanding. It wasn’t until about a week earlier that they had started to get an idea. Jax was thankful they hadn’t been in the middle of a populated city when they… changed. They’d tried to stop, to fight it, but nothing worked. Their memory of that night was blurry too, and they could attest to the fact that being in the middle of the woods didn’t mean that no one had gotten hurt. What if they’d killed someone? What if they’d done this to someone else? Jax hoped not.

The last week had consisted of reading, mostly. Not usually something they did, but what other choice did they have? They had no one to go to, no one who could just give them all the answers. They needed to find out for themself and, eventually, they did. The answer was terrifying. For the first time in a long time, Jax was scared and they hated it. Their first instinct was to go back home to Myrefall, to their mother, but what would her mother be able to do? And what if Jax hurt her? But they could make that excuse for anyone they thought to go to, and that would just mean they would stay alone. They didn’t want that. But still, Jax didn’t want to go to their mother. She had been through so much, and she was still dealing with so much, Jax didn’t want to put even more on top of that. So, they went to the next person they could think of. Thea.

The inn was close to the temple, which made it much easier for Jax to find. They considered just going in and waiting in the dining room for Thea to show up. Jax had gotten there pretty early. But after asking, it seemed clear that Thea had already left for the day before Jax had gotten there, and as badly as Jax wanted to talk to her, they didn’t want to interrupt whatever work she might be doing at the temple. If Thea wasn’t at the temple, then it would take way too long to try and look for her without having some idea where she might have gone. So, they waited.

[fists--of--flame]

gallowbird‌:

Rexly had been pretty confident that he’d never met this person before but their words was now making Rexly doubt himself. “Oh good, you’re conscious!” This was going to make Rexly’s job a little easier.  “Well right now I’m trying to make sure you don’t die from blood loss, but I mean if you do want to die better tell me now before I stop the bleeding.” Rexly noticed them trying to grab their staff and brought it closer to them. Where had seen this before? It was distinctive but Rexly couldn’t place it right now he had other things to worry about.  “Can you hold the pressure for bit? Or well you don’t have to but I’d prefer it if you did.” Rexly got up and walked in to the forest a little. It was hard finding dry wood but he managed to find enough for a small fire he walked back to where Jax was and did his best to get it lit.  “You got a name?” Rexly asked reaching in to his bag and handing Jax his water skin and some dried peaches he’d brought to snack on while traveling. “Drink that you’ve lost a lot of blood.” 

Knowing someone like Thea, and even recognizing their own feelings for her, may have opened Jax up to the possibility of people being kind just because they are kind and not for any ulterior motive, but that didn’t erase years of experience to the contrary. They couldn’t help but wonder why the hell this random guy would want to help them and what his intentions were. But they weren’t able to ask why before he was up and off into the woods. They looked down at their wound. The cloth was still there, against it but no longer being pressed. They slowly put their own hand over it, not hesitantly but lethargically. They may not have trusted this tiefling supposedly helping them, but still, they didn’t want to die.

With their staff now closer, they wrapped their other hand around it, and lifted it so that one end was on the ground, standing at its full height. They tried to lift themself up to their feet, but it was difficult. They weren’t able to do it before the tiefling returned. Jax couldn’t remember his name… In fact, they couldn’t even remember if he had even told them his name. But whether or not he had or hadn’t didn’t really matter. They eyed the offered food and water but there was no way they were touching it. Sure, if they wanted Jax dead, they could just let Jax bleed out. No use going to the trouble of pretending to care about them dying just to poison them when he could’ve done nothing and achieved the same result. But that didn’t mean they were gonna touch any of it. And they aren’t just going to freely give their name up.

They sighed heavily. “Look, I don’t know why you’re doing this but… thanks, or whatever.” Trying once more, they braced themself for the wave of pain they knew was coming once they moved and they pulled themself up on their feet successfully, wincing the whole way up. “I just need to get to the city, that’s all.” They glanced back down at their wound and doing so reminded them once again that they weren’t in this form the night before as the clothes they were wearing clearly were too big for them. Not “falling off” big, but still clearly oversized. They sighed and closed their eyes as they began to change back to the persona they had been in the previous night. It wasn’t painful, but Jax still braced himself doesn’t it in case it had been.

Once the process was finished, he looked down at the still bloody wound. He could make it so there wouldn’t be a scar once it was healed, but changing forms didn’t mean the wound was closed now. Still open, still bleeding. He sighed once more, this time more out of relief as the clothes now fit him fine. He began to take a step forward, but his head swam and he swayed backwards against the tree. Still bleeding. Right. “Uh… which way is the city?” he asked, unsure of what direction to even go in this state.

[fists--of--flame]

jax (amadeus persona) - (moodboard 6/?)

[fists--of--flame]

thalrahylune‌:

Thalra would have loved to show Jax just how little she cared about what the people in this bar thought of her, but something about his tone made her pause in her tired for just a second. Lavender had never carried a staff with her, and Thalra had never seen Jax cast magic like Lavender had. It would be impossible for him to have that level of skill in magic and physical prowess. He couldn’t be Lavender. He was just another changeling who’d tricked her.

Thalra felt a slight ache in her jaw as she belatedly realized she’d been grinding her teeth together. Carefully, she let go of her vice like grip on her mug of stale beer and unclenched her jaw. Then she sat down heavily in the chair across from Jax. “What does the name Lavender mean to you?” She asked, hating the way her name felt like a sharp barb on her tongue. “And I swear to whatever god you find holy that if you lie to me or if this is some other trick you and her are pulling-“ Thalra couldn’t finish. She had meant to sound threatening, but instead felt a horrible stinging at the corners of her eyes. Gods, she was not going to cry here. “I just want to know who the fuck she really was and-“ why she chose me, why she left, why she didn’t take anything with her “-how many other changelings live in Myrefall.”  

Jax was relieved when Thalra decided to sit down instead of yelling at him more. But if he were being honest, he wouldn’t have actually cared if the rest of the people in this bar knew he was a changeling. He began turning the name she spoke over in his head, searching his mind to see if it felt familiar. It didn’t, but before he could say so, Thalra began saying something that sounded like a threat, except she was unable to finish it. Jax had never seen her like this before, and before he could even feel indignant and defiant, he felt badly for her. It wasn’t pity, nothing like that. But it was clear as she spoke that another changeling had hurt her deeply, and he was aware that some part of her must’ve been hurt when she discovered Cass wasn’t who she thought. Really, it just made him feel guilty.

He sighed. “Look… I’m sorry I didn’t trust you with the truth before,” he told her. “Trusting people is… hard. But I do trust you now. Ever since I told you the truth about who I am, I haven’t lied, and I promise I will continue to be honest with you.” He paused for a second. “I mean, within reason. I’m not just gonna spill every little detail about my life, obviously. But I won’t lie.” He leaned back in his chair, hoping she could see he was trying his best to be genuine. “That name doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve never met anyone going by that name… and I honestly didn’t even know there was another changeling in Myrefall. The only changeling I’ve ever really known was my father.” Jax thought to himself for a moment, remembering a changeling he had met several months ago. “I did meet one, a while ago. In Khaggon, though, not here. At the Fight Club. They, uh… they used a face from my past without knowing who it was, which was pretty unfortunate for them at the time. I mean, I didn’t kill them or anything, but it definitely wasn’t a pleasant meeting. I didn’t learn their name, though,” Jax told her.

[fists--of--flame]

thea-wb‌:

Thea relaxed in her seat, knowing who the man was at this stage, as she took a sip of her newly acquired drink. She’d nearly forgotten about it in the process of realizing just who she had met in this strange bar in the middle of the afternoon. She put her glass back down as she said, “Well, I think you look great as a half-orc. You’re branching out, trying some new stuff, testing the waters, all of that. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same if I had your skills. Lathander’s granted me many gifts, but shapeshifting is unfortunately not one of them.”

She become a little stiff at the moment he mentioned Arx, but she forced herself to relax once more. “You know me. I’m hardy, if nothing else!” Her smile lessened slightly, and she let out a sigh. “It was a harrowing experience for all of us, I’d say. I’m really grateful for the way you helped me back there. It was a close call, but I’d say we work well together. Wouldn’t you?” She took the question as an opportune to take another sip. “Aside from a very concerned brother, I was really happy to be back with my family after that. If we’re lucky, and I’m good at my job, Rose will get to grow up in a world where this isn’t the norm. Trying to stop it all by myself is kinda farfetched, but I can hope for better.”

Thea pondered over her next words before speaking them out loud. “So… how’s your mom?”

Jax smiled. “It can be a very useful ability, true,” he stated. “But there are drawbacks to it, like everything. Sometimes it can be hard for others to trust you if they know you could look like anyone.” The night on the docks of Arx, when he told Thalra the truth, flashed through his mind. “Keeping friends can be… hard. Though, whether that’s an issue with being changeling or an issue with me is up in the air.” He laughed softly at his own words. “I’m not the best at it,” he admitted.

Jax was glad that Thea seemed to be okay after everything that had happened in Arx. As detached as he tried to be at times, it had even been hard on Jax. Too close of a reminder of Llyn and what had happened there so many months ago. But he was happy she managed to come out of it relatively unscathed. He smiled a bit. “Yeah, we do make a good team, don’t we?” he said. “Well, whenever you need anything… you can always ask me.” He was a bit surprised when she asked about his mother, but pleasantly surprised. “She’s doing good,” he told Thea. “Really good, actually. I don’t know if she’ll ever really fully get over what happened to her and being gone for so long, but… I think she’s happy.” Now if he could only figure out where his brother was, or how to even start looking for him. Though the siblings hadn’t spoken since their father’s death, Jax knew that Karr would want to know about their mother’s return. “We have a dog now,” he told Thea with a slight smirk.

[fists--of--flame]

thalrahylune‌:

Thalra entered the bar with her hood up and her eyes cast low. She came here specifically so that she wouldn’t be recognized and so that she could drink in peace without having to disguise herself magically, but there was no guaranteeing that some destitute drunk might take this as their chance to converse with the Starlight Siren. She went to the bar and ordered, voice quiet and unassuming, and when she got the sour smelling beer from the tired looking bartender, she turned towards the rest of the bar to see if there were any open seats.

Her eyes scanned the possibilities and found no tables without at least a single person sitting at one of the tables. But a lone figure at the back of the bar caught Thalra’s attention—or at least, their staff did. The person sitting there was no one she recognized, but that staff she’d seen in action several times before. It looked like Cass’s- no, like Jax’s staff. The changeling who had been fooling her for months. A cold dread gripped her heart. How likely was it that there had been two changelings in her life in such short succession? Had Jax… Had Lavender been-

Thalra’s grip on her mug tightened and without thinking more of it she marched over to the half-orc at the back of the bar and slammed her drink down. “I would very much like to,” she said, voice a hiss of anger. “It’s you, isn’t it? Trying out a new form for tonight or was this just one I was unaware of?”

Jax jumped a bit in surprise as a tankard slammed down onto the table. “What the f—“ he began to say, but cut himself off when he looked up and saw who it was. His eyes widened. Had he accidentally taken a face that Thalra hated? No… the way she was talking, she knew it was him. But how? He glanced around the rest of the barroom. No one seemed to be paying attention to them — yet.

Jax looked back up at her. From what he remembered, the last time they had spoken, she hadn’t seemed as angry as she was now. But then again, that had been right after Dasratsel, and sometimes exhaustion wins out over anger. “Um… okay. I mean, yeah, this is new, although there is one more you haven’t seen yet. If you want to see it, we could go somewhere else and you can yell at me all you want… Or we could stay here and you can yell at me and let all these people stare at us.” He shrugged. “It’s your choice.”

[fists--of--flame]

glynwarrens‌:

“Is it that obvious?” Avi sighed, looking to the certificate once more before tucking it away in his bag. He didn’t mind Jax pointing out the state he was in. In fact, he was surprised he cared enough to notice. Of course, he hadn’t been hiding anything - he was far too exhausted now to  even try - but it was still impressive. “Usually I’m better at pretending.”

When Jax’s whiskey came, Avi scrambled for his bag, rummaging for some coin for an embarrassingly long amount of time. The certificate he’d just crammed in there came loose in the process, floating gently to the ground as if it didn’t carry so much weight. Avi kept looking for coin. Finally, he found success, and slapped the payment down on the bar. “You’re making me crave whiskey,” Avi slurred, “Maybe I should get some whiskey.”

Jax reached down for the paper that had floated to the ground. He wasn’t trying to read it, but he did notice one word. Discharge. He placed the paper face down in front of Avi. He could’ve easily kept reading, but he still didn’t want to do anything to upset the half elf. But discharge meant soldier. He hadn’t realized Avi was a soldier, didn’t know if he’d even had a chance to realize it. Guess it didn’t matter much now.

Jax looked Avi up and down, then looked between him and the second whiskey in front of himself. For half a second, he considered just giving Avi the whiskey. But looking at Avi, he thought better of it. It seemed like Avi already had more than enough. “I think what you need is some food… and maybe water,” Jax told him.

[fists--of--flame]

gallowbird‌:

Rexly had been on his way to Runswick he’d set off very early in the morning hoping to catch Jakboy before he went in to the woods to hunt game. He normally popped in to say hi (sometimes a quick flirt if Jakoby’s mother wasn’t around) when Abad sent Rexly to Runswick to collect some kind of monstrous item of fashion. 

The morning air was cool and Rexly pulled his coat around him. Although it was spring the canopy of the redwoods let in little of the heat from the morning sun. By chance someone sitting under a tree caught his eye. It was odd to see someone sitting out in the woods at this hour. It was still early and Rexly had passed a few traders on his way here but usually the path was empty at this time of day. 

Curiosity got the better of him and he walked over to the redwood where the person was sitting. The first thing he noticed was the blood on their shirt. It was drenched. “Hey are you okay?” Rexly asked trying to get a reaction. Clearly this person wasn’t okay and could do with some help. They looked barely conscious as Rexly lightly slapped wither face trying to keep their eyes open. “Hey, hey don’t fall asleep on me!” Rexly said trying his best to keep their eyes open.

“I’m going to check your wound okay? Rexly wasn’t asking, just making sure that they were aware of what he was about to do. Rexly carefully rolled up Jax’s shirt. The wound was pretty bad looked like some kind of animal bite. Rexly slipped off his coat and bag. He pulled off his fresh shirt and held it down on the wound applying pressure to the injury in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He’d done this to himself many times after getting knifed in the streets of Iteras and once in the fight club when he was on duty.  “Don’t worry you’re going to be fine. You’re going to have a really cool looking scar though.”

As Jax’s consciousness began to drift, they suddenly felt something touch their face, and it jolted Jax back. They gasped suddenly and groped for their staff, but it was just out of reach. They clenched a fist, ready to swing, when Jax looked up and noticed a purple tiefling. They recognized him. The one from the bar a few weeks ago. Though they barely knew him, exhaustion took over and they relaxed. “Oh… it’s you,” they said quietly.

They leaned forward a bit, wincing as they continued to try and reach for their staff; they didn’t want it to roll away. But it was only barely in reach of their fingertips. They sighed, and as they did, they realized the tiefling was holding cloth to their wound. They slowly looked up at him. “Uh… what are you doing?” they asked him.

[fists--of--flame]

thea-wb‌:

Thea looked the half-orc over, taking in the smile on his way and his relaxed body language. Even with the broken tusk, he was a handsome man to look at. Something about him seemed familiar to her, but she wasn’t sure if she’d seen him before or if he was just reminding her of the type of men she liked. While she had her fair share of preferences, not limited by one’s gender identity, she did like it when they seemed a little cheeky and down for a good time.

“I can’t say I’m not a fan of that bit,” she said, suppressing a giggle and taking a swig of her drink.

She then found herself closer to him than before as he had leaned over with such a good-looking smile. It was almost too much to bear. Was this alcohol stronger than she’d assumed upon purchase? She could handle herself, but sometimes they do get a jump on you.

Thea got wide-eyed. “…Jax?” Her voice was soft, quiet, a little shocked at the idea. Then she let out a hearty laugh. “I did not expect to see you here. How are you? I haven’t seen you since, well, Arx.” The name left a bit of a sour taste on her tongue, but not to the same degree as that cursed interplanar madness did. “You look good! It’s different, I gotta admit, but not bad at all.”

He did really look good like this. And to think she’d come this close to start flirting with him like there was no tomorrow. Ah, well, sometimes you just meet on people you know in public when you don’t expect them to show.

Jax smiled as Thea laughed. The noise was a pleasant one, and one he doubted he would ever get tired of hearing. And if Jax didn’t have better control over his emotions, he would’ve blushed at the compliment. But he kept the feeling down — just barely. “Well, thank you,” he said to her. “I wanted to branch out a bit, see how it felt, and it feels pretty good, I gotta admit.”

“And I’m glad you got home safe from Arx,” he continued before taking another sip of his drink. “It was dicey there… I’m glad I was able to be there and look out for you.”

[fists--of--flame]

kodazeloth‌:

Koda shrugged a shoulder. “Fair enough,” he conceded, even though he knew that if he had a broken horn or something, he’d have about twenty different stories about how it had happened to cycle through, just to be funny about it. Oh well. Wasn’t anything of his that was broken. “I feel like you’d be more pissed if it was traumatic, but I got it. Find out later, maybe.” Koda grinned easily, finding it just as easy to be friendly as ever. “Nice name, man. I’m Koda.” He shook the offered hand, not surprised by the rough feel. It would have been weird if this guy’s hands were more like his.

Jax smiled at the handshake and then took another sip of his drink. “Wow, pretty astute there,” he said. It was definitely spot-on that Jax usually tended to get angry at… well, anything negative, really. Bad coping mechanism for sure, but Jax had no intentions of changing that any time soon. It had worked out pretty okay for him so far. “Nice meeting you,” Jax responded. “What brings you to this fine city?”

[fists--of--flame]

nethrali‌:

Location: Runswick Time: 1830 Date: 04/01/20 Status: Open

          “Lay a hand on me again and it will be the last time you have hands!” She roared down to the human who dared to touch her on the streets. It could have been a mere accident, or the way men (for whatever reason) believe touching a woman is the most appropriate way to steer her out of his way. Had she not had alcohol coursing through her system she would have been more civil, giggled and excused herself – but instead the moment she felt the unwelcomed hand Nethrali was quick to swing a clenched fist to the man.            “What!” The tiefling called out, “Did no one see this? This pathetic excuse for a man touched my waist and I’m expected to say nothing?”

It was late, and it’d been kind of a long day. Another long day in a sea of long days, recently. But nothing Jax couldn’t handle. She was used to times like this. She would persevere. She always did.

This day in particular has been long because Jax has just gotten back from finishing a job. She was filthy, kind of banged up, and very, very tired. Which meant that the calm and more reasonable demeanor that usually came along with the Haven persona was all but spent. The proprietor of this job could wait until the morning. Right at that moment, she just wanted to go back to her inn, shower, get drunk, and sleep.

At least, that was the plan. But a shout in the middle of the streets broke Jax out of her own thoughts. She turned to look at the sound and noticed the commotion. Normally, in this persona, Jax would’ve approached this in a much calmer headspace. That wasn’t happening tonight. Instead, she walked right over to the man that she noticed the tiefling yelling about and tapped him on the shoulder. Then, when he turned to look at her, she immediately punched him right in the face. The man crumpled to the ground, clutching his now broken and bleeding nose. He was still conscious — barely.

A hush fell over the gathering crowd and Jax looked around at them, challenging them with her eyes. “Anyone else got a problem?” she called out to the crowd around them. None of them answered.

[fists--of--flame]

Date: April 8th Location: The woods outside of Runswick Time: Just after dawn Status: @gallowbird

When consciousness returned to Jax, their body ached and throbbed painfully and they were laying in a small, but still concerning, pool of their own blood. They pulled their breath in with difficulty, and an agonized noise came out of them as pain shot through them. Slowly, they pushed themself up so they were sitting, and they looked down at their abdomen, the source of their pain. Their clothes were intact, which wasn’t a shock to them. It just meant that the Clothes of amending were still working. Carefully, they lifted their shirt to examine the wound. It wasn’t very big, but it was deep. It was lucky they hadn’t bled out.

As Jax lowered their shirt slowly back down, they realized how loose it seemed to feel. It was only then they realized they were in their Abrams persona as they had been the night before. That was surprising. They hadn’t meant to revert back to their true form. The last time Jax had reverted when passed out was years ago, when Cass was still alive and training them. They had worked so hard to get to the point where they didn’t even need to try to make sure that never happened. Something didn’t feel right. Their head was fuzzy and they could barely remember what had happened only a few hours prior.

They knew they had gotten attacked by… something. A person? It had to have been. But the wound seemed more like it had been caused by… teeth. Like an animal bite. But that didn’t make sense. Jax sighed. Maybe they had lost more blood than they realized. They needed to get help — real help, and they weren’t going to get it out here.

They painfully pushed themself to their feet and, using their staff to assist in walking, they began to stumble through the woods towards what they hoped was the general direction of the city. It was a long and arduous journey and eventually, Jax felt their legs give out from under them. They fell to their hands and knees and their staff clattered to the ground. Jax moved so they were sitting with their back against one of the massive redwood trees that made up the forest. They could see the city walls. They were so close, but they were completely and utterly exhausted. They felt their eyes drift close. Maybe just resting for a moment wouldn’t be a bad idea…