krim

Secluded bop Dark Initiate

"So much for holding their position, huh?" Ebon said under his breath. It wasn't exactly a problem, though, seeing as one of their slower cohorts was easily still in range of Blackwing's talons. "Turning your back on me is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, you know." he muttered as he drove his lance into the shaman. K10, Attack Shaman, Canto K9

J7, Hold

After choosing to be cautious in the presence of the snipers, Ebon watched from above as the halberdier in front of the groups commander fell. Seeing what he was waiting for, he lifted Blackwing's and accelerated towards the shaman in a divebomb. Blackwing let out a fierce "CAW!!!" as he rocketed towards her, with his rider smiling slightly beneath his helmet. While he wouldn't say he enjoyed the resulting combat, the flight was exhilarating after having been forced into passiveism. H10, Divebomb Gloom

D9, Hold

Ebon to B8 and hold

"You were going to PAY to be conscripted?" Ebon laughed in a booming voice, dropping all pretense of the gravelly intimidator. Blackwing, for his part, cawed in amusement as well. Though Ebon still couldn't quite tell if the bird actually understood what he was saying, or if he was just mimmicking the mannerisms of his rider. "Well, I certainly wouldn't complain about that. We'll talk more business when this is over. For now uh...give me a second." he looked about until he spotted Brilliant Deduction on the battlefield below and eased the crow in her direction. Returning to his normal guise, he motioned from above towards Flies Freely. "That one is with me now. We can talk about it later." he said matter-of-factly, and not waiting for a response, glided into position and dive bombed the mage that he had been ignoring up until that point. C6, kill Initiate A

"I suppose I can sympathize with that. I was never the biggest fan of how things were run, but I put up with it until..." he looked pained for a second but shook himself out of it after a few moments. "Well, that's not important. If it's money you want, I'm sure we can work something out. My company and I are getting paid quite handsomely for this job, and payment is individual." he purposefully failed to mention that this "company" only included himself and Lotus. Looking down at the battlefield again, he added. "Your current employers aren't going to be alive to pay you by the end of this anyway, and I'm not one to leave behind discarded gold."

Ebon sat upon Blackwing silently as the other mantis approached him, and listened to what he had to say. To tell the truth, he did remember the old name, but not the face. Either way, this Freely didn't seem more than Lotus's age. "Inspiration....?" he asked, a bit off guard. Now THAT was something he had never heard before. "Listen kid,..I'm only doing this because I have to. There's nothing to be inspired by or proud about in taking lives. If I had to guess, the people here have their own problems, too." he grimaced and shook his head. "I'm not going to tell you to go back home, but make sure this is really what you want before potentially digging your own grave." glancing down towards the snipers running for their lives, he added "Especially if you're planning on switching sides."

Ebon grimaced seeing Pinecone go down, as besides Lotus he was by far the most effective one here. Though the distraction didn't last long once he spotted the bug in dark robes that approached him. He wheeled Blackwing that way, delivered his strikes, then glided idly past where he once stood. Then he watched, looking for anything that would tip him off as to who Flies Freely really was. Stab Dark Initiate, Canto A7

Ebon cocked his head for a moment as the battle began. The ambush didn't surprise him, but something seemed off about the opposing bugs. The other bird rider especially. He wracked his brains trying to make sense of it, but ultimately turned to Lotus. "Ready?" he asked aloud but added "Does the guy on the bird look familiar?" more quietly. Deciding not to dwell on it for too long, he took Blackwing's reigns and guided him to the closest bug, promptly thrusting his lance into the spearmans chest. C7, Stab Lancer A, Get Guarded By Pinecone

At the end of the battle, Ebon largely kept to himself as he strode through the remains of the fallen, looking for anything he could use or sell. The marauders wouldn't need it where they ended up, after all. Afterwards he loaded it all onto Blackwing and kept a watchful eye on the party from the back as they grew ever closer to the University. Upon their arrival, he pondered at the bugs scurrying to and fro. He had seen many different kinds in his travels, of course, but something about this place and them unnerved him a bit. He couldn't tell exactly what, but it was probably something to do with their apparent lack of preparedness. A battle breaking out here would leave a lot of innocent casualties, and they didn't seem concerned about the possibility at all. There was barely a weapon in sight! He shook his head and after musing over it a little more he decided that it was probably mantis instincts more than thoughtful wariness. They probably had mages at least, and who would want to attack a bunch of dusty scholars in their own camp anyway? Breaking out of his thoughts, he listened intently to their new commander as roll was called. He let out a gruff "Ebon Knight....and Blackwing" in the same mildly threatening tone he had used in the redoubt before, but was intrigued when she started speaking of the human writing. He actually had seen stuff like that before on his journeys with Lotus, but never thought much of it. Relics from before his time - and not really good for selling -was all he ever got from them. But...as she talked he realized that this was an oppurtunity. If they really did discover a new type of magic from this, he and Lotus would likely be paid even more handsomely than their current offer....And that was good enough for him.

Ebon nodded silently as Lotus said her piece. Neither of them liked it when targets got away (not that it ever really happened) and the intimidation factor was good for business. Though before being able to see the fruits of that labor he had to take care of the rest of this job, he thought, taking Blackwing's reigns once again and diving towards one of the few bugs still standing. E6 Poke "Elite" Soldier, Canto D9