Billy12510

Syndra noticed Nyxied run by to handle some of the enemies at the rear. She called out to her girlfriend; "Nyxied! If that was the last of them can you double back this way? There's something over here that requires your expertise." Syndra didn't have much time to wait for a response however, more foes had come from up north. The archers were being handled by Alvira, so Syndra turned towards the cavaliers that had arrived, bearing pure weapons. Syndra took out the "special" tome in her bag and took aim at the closest one to her. Syndra moves to 9-30 and uses Breeze Lightning on Cav 10

After their group had cleared out the reinforcements that arrived, they had begun funneling through the corridor to the right. Syndra noticed there was a chest off behind them, but she didn't notice anyone mention they'd picked up a key from any of the guards, and since she didn't know how to pick a lock herself, it'd have to wait for later. If I meet up with Nyxied later I'll tell her about it. There were a group of armors doubling as archers north of where Syndra had exited the hallway, but Alvira and Alriana seemed to have them under control. Good for her, because she wouldn't be able to handle a shot from either of them in her state, which was then helped out by the healing light she felt envelop her. She turned around quickly to thank who it was. "Oh, thank you Roxanne. I'd meant to ask you or Renais earlier about this, but we were all busy dealing with the scum of the earth." Syndra moves to 9-26 and waits

Syndra moves to 5-25 and waits

Reinforcements had come through an entrance on the left to try and slow the group down, but Syndra made use of an opening Roxanne had made to reach the swordsman that was hiding in the back. "You should've stayed back in whatever hole you crawled out of, because scum like you have no chance at stopping us!" Syndra moves to 2-21 and attacks Myrm 8 with Blizzard

Syndra fell in line quickly and took aim at the swordsman Versaris ran past, confident her compatriots could finish off the other fighter left behind. Syndra moves to 4-20 and casts Blizzard at Merc 7

Versaris declared his intent to charge, and Alvira seemed to follow suit. Syndra had followed up, getting in a position to help pick off any of the fools that would be unfortunate enough to survive fighting the two of them, when she heard the conversation Roxanne was having with someone who exited the room Nyxied had opened. "Roxanne, is that the captain you were talking about?" She could see someone who looked like some manner of insect woman, and they were hurt badly. Kazran's idea of 'fun' probably. "They should probably stick with us for now, the Commander isn't likely going to slow her advance to give her a chance to catch-up, and we can't just let her roam a battlefield unarmed. If what she had on her was valuable, Kazran might have it locked up nearby." That and I don't think you could stand worrying about her getting hurt and not being able to do anything about it again, especially after you saw the state of the boat she rode in on... Syndra moves to 7-18

One of the swordsman went past a wall, but there was another one coming towards the group Syndra was in. What she was about to do was risky, but she believed in her allies to follow-through with her. "Alriana, I'll soften this one up, cover me please!" Syndra moves to 8-14 and casts Blizzard at Myrm 5

It had happened again, Syndra had unleashed a blizzard, far beyond what she thought she was capable of doing, or necessary to finish off her foe, and its gales also had a slightly darker tinge to it just like the last time she'd felt this sensation. Annoyed as she was that she couldn't seem to do this when she needed to, she was still satisfied that the soldier she'd used it on didn't have a chance of coming back. Cautiously, Syndra moved through the corridor the soldier was blocking off. The only person she saw in that area now were Aegean and Renais, but that didn't mean there weren't enemies waiting to strike at them from somewhere Syndra couldn't see, so she peaked around the corner from where the wall ended, and spotted a few more guards, but they weren't in any spot to do anything to the group on the left. Syndra emerged from the corridor after taking out a vulnerary from her bag to slightly dress her wound and called out to her friends. "Hey there you two, room for one more?" Syndra moves to 8, 9 and uses a vulnerary

Syndra had blocked off the corridor like she planned, and took a spear to the side for her trouble, she just didn't finish off her attacker in response. Well, she was still there and fully intent on burying her foe in ice. "Don't they teach you to aim for the heart or the head when drilling you people? Or does Kazran just hand out sharpened sticks to anyone with a pulse and a hateful soul? Oh well... that's not your problem anymore..." Syndra casts Blizzard at Soldier 2 from where she's standing

The siege had begun, but based on Roxanne's reaction, it had started before the Tiger/Gaffney coalition had made it there. There wasn't a way to go back in time to stop that though, the only through now was forward. Still, Syndra tried to give Roxanne some kind of encouragement. "I know this is hard for you Roxanne, but don't despair just yet. There's a chance that Kazran kept the... 'valuable' members of your crew alive still. There's always the chance we can find them here, so don't write them all off as dead until you know for certain that they are." Syndra herself had to go forward and make sure the rest of their group was safe. She wasn't robust at all by any means, but it was better for her to take the sting of their army's pure weapons then most of her companions. Syndra moves to 13-9 and equips Blizzard

The day had finally dawned, hopefully it would be Kazran's final day. Syndra was all smiles as the boat sailed into Kazran's stronghold. Syndra was confident, perhaps overly so, but there wasn't a doubt in Syndra's mind that the Iron Tigers would succeed, even if it took time and effort to do so. Still, after what the Tigers had had to put up with getting this far, its not as if they were going to slow down at this point. The other thing giving Syndra the confidence boost was the ever-charming rogue draped around her right now, bringing up the end of the last boat trip the Tigers were on. "Oh yes that little incident, if I think about it, I probably got us into more trouble there then you did. I still couldn't imagine us winding up as item after that though, but since you brought it up..." Syndra took Nyxied's chin in her hand and looked straight at her. "I don't think I ever paid you back for that... it's a shame we won't get the time for that for a while. Hey, at least it gives us something to look forward to doesn't it?"

"Ah well I promise not to take- oh, Nyxied?! You... I'll allow this, I guess I did promise you some 'physical activity' following the training session after all." Syndra said as she failed to hide the blush on her face and exasperation in her voice. It's not like she hated having her arms around her anyway, and she wasn't really disturbing anything. Syndra cleared her throat and looked back at Owen and said: "Anyway Lord Owen you had mentioned something about Kazran's forces the other day, most importantly that my father wasn't assisting him currently. It would be beneficial to all of us if that's the case, so I was wondering if you knew anything pertaining as to why my father pulled his forces out from Kazran's domain." Even if Owen didn't have all the answers, any knowledge was useful, especially since getting through Islexia would be a lot easier for the Tigers if Syndra's father was pre-occupied with something else.

From how Jeremiah had described her late grandfather, it seemed that Syndra was right to think of her grandfather was as much of bastard as her father was. It was essentially a first hand account of the things Elliot Belrose had been up to back during the collapse, and while Jeremiah could have been lying about all of it, seeing how both sides were fundamentally opposites of each other, the fact he brought up Rosaria by name, one of the people her father hated the most by how he had talked about her in those stories back then, and the way he visibly reacted to bringing up what her grandfather had done, it seemed too real to be anything but the truth. "Quite the story, the way one person tells it it's a nursery rhyme, and a horror story by another. The truth of it isn't something I could know for certain unless I was there, but... I'm more then inclined to believe your version Jeremiah." Versaris had approached carrying Alriana in his arms, and boldly declaring the two of them were going to take Jeremiah down. Syndra turned and bowed to Jeremiah and said; "I'll get out of your way while you handle them, thank you for the lessons. You've given me a lot to think about." Syndra scanned the rest of the grounds, looking for somewhere she wouldn't get in the way of the rest of Jeremiah's training of the group, and she noticed a group around the training dummies... or what was left of the training dummies, that included Lord Owen, among others. Remembering what Owen had said a few days before, Syndra walked over there. As she approached, she called out to the young lord. "Ah Lord Owen, would you mind if I asked you a quick question? It's just something that's been bothering me a little."

"Yes, quite the ally indeed. We're uh.. lucky to have her on our side." Syndra had never seen either side of the kitsune in action before, it was honestly frightening to see just how wide the gap was between her and the rest of the Tigers. Jeremiah's assessment of her came afterwards, and it was soundly correct. "You're right about my dark magic proficiency, I was predominately taught anima magic by my mother, Bianca, a member of the Westermark family, and I learned dark magic when I... 'moved to Glacies to continue my studies'. I hadn't had enough practical practice with it though due to thinking my friends would need the more proficient side of me to help them do our jobs. and maybe if I had used that I'd have come out on top in our spar, but winning was never the point of this, improving was, that's why I used dark magic today. There's some other... odditites about my casting, but like you suggested, a mage would probably be a better person to ask then yourself." Syndra then paused for a bit. Jeremiah knew Syndra wasn't fully here for the rundown, not after what she had just seen anyway. "As for the real question, I wasn't planning on asking but after that, I'm more then a little curious. Nicolas would tell me and my siblings war stories about the Collapse, and the grandfather I never met. Those were just that though, stories and rumors. I wanted to know; since you were also in the Collapse, if you knew anything about my grandfather. I didn't know him at all personally, but if he was anything like my father, then I can't imagine him being the most honorable of people."

After the fight ended, Syndra had gotten healed by Roxanne, but before she could thank her, Syndra immediately felt a surge of magic coming back from where Kise would have been. Oh I need to leave NOW. Jeremiah had already walked off to meet Kise's approaching challenge, and while Syndra wanted to hear what he had to say, she could do that from a safer place then here. So Syndra scrambled from the ground she was laying on and ran off to the side, trying not to get caught up in this scuffle. Once she was safe, she watched on. It didn't look like it was a practice fight from how either of the combatants treated it, with Kise immediately surrounding Jeremiah with her spell, but Jeremiah still seemed composed throughout most of it, taking away the tome and ending the fight after some manner of sword strike Syndra couldn't really follow after Kise had continued going in with her claws. In the end though it seemed as if both were going to be fine. As Lucretia came over to tend to Jeremiah, Syndra re-approached the man. "Well, that certainly happened, my word... so that's the level the two of you are on..." Even in her amazement, Syndra still wanted to know what it was Jeremiah was going to say, and something else had also crept into her mind. "There is something I wanted to ask you now that I've truly seen you in action, that is if you don't mind."

"Oh? I assure you I'm not just a Belrose Sir Jeremiah, and I certainly didn't get my magic from him either, but you can find that out yourself, now come on!" Syndra invited the swordsman to strike first, which Jeremiah obliged with by using his Wind Edge. The blast from the sword disrupted Syndra's balance, but it was what she wanted. On her chance to counter, Syndra cast her Flux spell, and the way it came off, she could feel it was heavier then normal. A wild shift like that would have caught anyone by surprise... if Syndra didn't completely whiff her target. "Damnit." The gambit hadn't paid off like Syndra had hoped, but the battle wasn't finished yet, and Syndra immediately prepared to cast again, this one not as powerful, but it at least connected this time. Jeremiah wasted no time with his next set of strikes, these ones almost taking Syndra completely off her feet. "T-this is you holding back?! Good lord..." Syndra couldn't re-find her center of balance on her next cast, and it went wide again. Panting and on the end of her tether, Syndra used the last of her focus on one last cast, and while it had hit, it still didn't have the same weight behind like her first cast had, and she knew it wouldn't be enough to come out on top. Jeremiah's next strike sent the exhausted runaway to the dirt, and Syndra couldn't muster the will or energy to try and get up again. "Heh heh... I guess... pant I guess I'm destined to be second-rate to the Noire family today... I yield." Syndra said before lying down on her back, arms outstretched and panting.

"Well done Iris, you really socked it to him." Syndra cheered on Iris' successful bout against Jeremiah. "Perhaps later on after this Kazran business is settled I'll take you up on your offer, but you don't have to worry about it, honestly." As she started digging into her bag to get ready for her own bout, Kise had approached Syndra, 'offering a demonstration' of her talent against Jeremiah. "Well, I suppose it would be rude to turn down such an offer, although I don't know if you could take him if he's going all out." Syndra dug out the Flux tome from her bag, it was a little ironic that she'd be using the thing she just had a discussion with Iris not being that overly important just a few minutes ago, but the whole point of this exercise was to improve, and Syndra wanted to improve more in her Dark Magic usage. It was the best opportunity she was going to get. "Alright then." Syndra said facing Jeremiah. "I'm ready to go when you are Sir Jeremiah."

"A problem made worse by the tome?" Syndra had to think about what it was that Iris was saying. While it was just a standard Flux tome she'd given to Iris, Iris herself wasn't a standard dark mage, most normal people weren't capable of doing things like she could with her eyes, so whatever this issue was had something to do with that more then likely. Well, there wasn't anything to be done about the book Syndra gave Iris now, but there was something Syndra could still do to help. So Syndra knelt down before the little lizard and said. "It's fine Iris, I'm not mad and you don't have to apologize to me. You remember what I told you when I gave you that tome right? That I wanted you to use it to protect your sister? If you felt holding onto it would have endangered her in some way then I can't fault you for what you did. It was just a book, I already have another copy of it in my bag, it's replaceable. Your sister and your love for her aren't. As long as you're still fighting to keep her safe, you don't need some silly book to keep your promise to me, so don't feel bad about it okay?"

The scuffle between Aegean and Jeremiah had ended, with Aegean coming out on top. She had walked off in triumph to go be with Kise, Syndra wanted to go next, but Iris had come onto the scene asking to scrap with Jeremiah. "I guess I missed my chance to get into the queue. Well then, I don't mind waiting a little longer, best of luck Iris." Even though Syndra gave Iris a tome what felt like an eternity ago, she hadn't actually seen how Iris was getting along with it, so maybe this would show her something in that regard. "After you're done Iris, I plan on going next, if Jeremiah's ready."

Syndra was engrossed in watching Miria's session with Jeremiah. It was clear the little hero had more then a few tricks up her sleeve, as her final attack demonstrated, turning the blade Jeremiah was using into a puddle of metal. Afterwards, Miria seemed to have exhausted herself as she normally did when wearing the armor, but her spirits didn't seem to be dampened, speaking with Roxanne about her magic. Syndra herself didn't see what the sheep had done due to being in the middle of sparring Aegean, but from how Miria and Cassandra were talking it seemed impressive in its own right. "You should take some pride in your accomplishments and yourself Miss Roxanne." Syndra interjected. "Even if you don't think what you're capable of is anything special, that doesn't mean that it isn't, and besides, even if he was holding back, holding your own against someone like Jeremiah has to count for something no?" Syndra then turned back towards the area Aegean was sparring Jeremiah in. When she was finished, hopefully her turn would come. So she was watching intently, hoping her friend would do well, although judging from her first swing, it was likely to be an uphill fight.

"A protective ward? Whoever gave it to you must care about you a great deal-" Syndra's comment was interrupted by her girlfriend yelling about the two of them; while she was in the middle of fighting Ullr no less. "Sigh I'm in love with a complete dumbass aren't I? Wonder what that makes me... Wait a minute." Syndra paused and caught the other half of what Nyxied was yelling about. "What did she mean by mama-in-law?! I'm not, I mean we aren't, I mean. Grrrrr... stupid sexy Nyxied..." Syndra tried composing herself and get back to what she was asking Aegean about. "Well, anyway... wanting to grow to the point where you don't need something like that necklace is admirable, but I think it's also a good reminder of the fact you aren't going to be out there by yourself, someone's always going to be watching over you." Just as she said that, Renais had made her way over to tend to the two of them. "Thanks Renais, the words mean a lot. It's also good knowing we have someone as reliable as you in our ranks. Isn't that right Dame Aegean?" Syndra stretched a little bit. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do against Jeremiah as well, and what I'm capable of too, although I doubt I'll last terribly long, even if he's holding back..."

While Syndra's ice had connected with her target, it had caused an... odd reaction in her opponent. Aegean's necklace began to glow, clearly doing something to spell she had cast, but Syndra wasn't sure what that was. She also didn't have time to think about it since the mermaid quickly came back at her with the handle of her axe, too quickly for Syndra to get away from. It staggered her briefly, but Syndra got right back up and- aw crap! Aegean's next swing sent Syndra down to the dirt. The clash ended, Aegean the one standing tall. Well, it wasn't all a waste, the purpose of the exercise was to help Aegean handle mages. "Well done Aegean." Syndra said to the victor from down where she was. "The oddest thing though, when I casted my spell your necklace lit up. Do you have any idea why that is?"

Syndra headed over to the spot Aegean had pointed out and got into a stance to match hers. "Alright then, give it your best Aegean! I know I'll certainly try to do the same." And with that, she began channeling her ice and fired it right at her partner in this training bout.

The training session had begun, with Alvira volunteering herself to go up first against their guest instructor. She was doing a good job of holding her own as well, even if Jeremiah was clearly pulling his punches. Syndra wondered how she'd fare against him herself, but such a thought would have to wait. Someone else from the family tree had approached her for a session, all while an ethereal branch of that same tree was draped across her arm. "Hehe, you're being rather affectionate this morning aren't you? I'm afraid this cuddle session will have to wait a little Nyxied, although if you wish, there's another physical activity we could do while we're here. Although, Aegean did ask to spar with me first so..." Syndra turned towards the mermaid and said. "Well if practicing against mages is what you want Aegean I'll take you up on your offer; where shall we go for this?"

Another day had come out to greet the Tigers, and with it a rather... interesting bit of information. Coinciding with the arrival of the corsair Roxanne was a detail Owen had brought up, that her father wasn't aiding Kazran at current. Why though? Father wouldn't just leave him twisting in the wind completely as long as still had use, so has Kazran outlived his usefulness to him, or is something else going on? Pondering this wasn't going to fix Syndra's unease towards the news. Moreover she had to focus for what Jeremiah was setting up as a training exercise for the Tigers. Combat training from someone of Jeremiah's caliber was hard to come by, and Syndra wanted to take full advantage of it. So she made her way to the area Jeremiah had reserved for them, where Alvira and the sheep pirate were already waiting. "Hmm... I see I wasn't the only one who wanted to get here as soon as they could. Good morning to all of you."