[OPEN] A Lamb in Wolf's Clothing

[Malcolm Rhodes]

Malcolm Rhodes was terribly lost despite his best efforts. He rode through dense jungle, settled atop his spirit charger Typhoon, with the wide eyes of a bewildered villager. He’d been riding like this for at least two days now. He knew from his memories, hazy thought they were, that the great jungle settlement of Ajteire lay to the east. So he’d ridden eastward, following what he thought was a road until it turned into a ditch and then a gully. Typhoon, ever the pragmatic one, had trudged up the far side with a whinney of amusement and simply trundled onward.

Despite being… awakened, undead, resurrected - Malcolm was unclear on just what he was besides very devoted - for a very long time - Malcolm was also unclear on how much time had actually passed - he found his control of his new form was still in the early stages. He could remain solid for most a day now, even having his armor function and using his greatsword like a massive club, but he was still wrapping his head around objects occasionally passing through him.

This proved particularly troublesome because it was unintentional and sometimes the objects decided to stop cooperating halfway. The sensation of a broad leafed plant popping back into existence inside your chest, before being snapped away with frightening force, quickly wore on the nerves. The entire affair was made all the more annoying because Typhoon seemed to have mastered the skill long before Malcolm had known to try. The mount simply phased small sections of his body to ignore obstructions it was too lazy to go around.

The sun was just cresting into the upper reaches of the jungle, lighting the tree tops with brilliant color. Despite having been to the area several times in life, Malcolm marvelled at the size of some of the trees. They formed large natural barriers, likely making the area terribly defensible with only a little preparation. Typhoon moved around the trunks without Malcolms guidance. The horse was well past the need for input from his rider outside of direct combat, and even then his instincts served well. And so the pair continued onward, unknowingly approaching the outskirts of the city at the midpoint rather than any of the normally recognized entries.

[Janos Killington]

Where in the seven hells had Janos landed himself now? His adventures outside the abode of his own city were becoming very annoying if anything else. Almost every adventured ended up just like this current event besides his first to the Preamble selling his wares. Sticking low in the brush the shapeshifter had adapted to his environment with haste and prior experience. Keeping himself in wolf form he was as big as a dire wolf with his own personal adaptions to his study. Thick black fur matted down acting as a natural body armor rating close to the strength of iron. It would take him more time to improve his thick coat to be as defensible as steel. Padding along within the thick parts of the brush, Janos had scouted out an interesting figure wandering the woods like himself. A ghost who resembled a paladin who once lived; thanks to his understanding of magic sensing and seeing the ghost was the easiest part.

One thing Janos lacked was experience with dealing with ghosts who could probably become wraiths if they were able to. Then again there had to be a process and that explanation of how magic might work captivated the youth. He was not just a black market worker but a scientist and spiritualist at heart from his mother. This was how he found out more about her through his studies and so he would study. Wriggling his nose the being decided to follow the ghost against his better judgment and abandon the main path to the proper routes. Yes, he could be helpful but observations at this point were best made at a distance of safety. So they traveled for a day and a half before soon stumbling upon the midsection of the city itself. When the location was evidently not the location to be. Taking a moment more to observe the ghost's reaction to this new discovery.

Moving closer to the edge he laid down to wait. 'Let's see what this fellow does, I hope he doesn't walk through the walls. I would lose track of him.' Strolling out of the brush Janos strolled up right next to the mount, the warhorse still stood above him but he did not go unnoticed. "This place is pretty far out honestly. What brings you out this way Ghost?" The shapeshifter spoke to Malcolm Rhodes directly, sure his appearance was surprising no less he sat down wrapping his tail around the hind legs. "Do you think anyone else will see you?" Golden eyes gazed up from his large dire wolf head with ears perked up."Anyways besides that, you look pretty tough how did you die? Curiosity was bubbling up from within, joy wriggled through his tail rapidly as more questions formed in his brain. "Hey, what's your name? My name is Janos Killington it's a pleasure!" Turning to face the pair he raised a large paw and smirked. "I've always wanted to meet a cool ghost!! What's it like in combat?! You know what, I got a better idea!! Do you wanna tussle?!" Jumping up he playfully bounced around back and forth like a giant puppy.

@Malcolm Rhodes

[Malcolm Rhodes]

Malcolm felt a presence ahead of him, like some sort of looming wall of power that pulsed and vibrated. He didn’t know what it was, as far as he could tell there was only jungle to his front, and yet the sensation was undeniable. It called to him, urged him to come closer, while at the same time trying to force him away. As he lingered looking towards the unknown, he got the sense he wasn’t actually seeing what was ahead of him. The feeling that his eyes were sliding away whenever he tried to concentrate joined a faint ringing in his ear. Then Typhoon snorted and tensed and Malcolm’s eyes shot down to spot a large black wolf calmly walking around him.

Malcolm was suddenly very confused. He’d seen many animals on his slow trek eastward, but not a one of them had strayed close to him even before he could manifest fully. Yet here was a wolf, clearly interested in him given the sniffing and swiveling ears. The beast started to whimper, bark, yip, and chuff at him in what the paladin could only assume was speech. When there was a moment of silence he half-heartedly waved at the wolf.

“Hello beast of the jungle. I don’t speak wolf very well. Do you know where the city is?” he asked the animal, feeling very silly about the entire ordeal but also pleased to finally be talking to anything besides Typhoon. The wolf had started bouncing around excitedly by this point and he decided it was either a very lost companion to some sort of ranger, or had some terrible brain parasite. He’d heard of those once, they lived in the water. It’s why you always boiled it. He didn’t remember the parasite being contagious, and then he remembered he was dead, or something like it, and felt very silly again.

Sufficiently unimpressed with his own errant thoughts, and having nothing better to do, Malcolm dismounted and allowed Typhoon to go spectral. “I am Malcolm Rhodes, Knight Protector of the Galewatcher family. Do you know where we are?” he asked the wolf, figuring it had shown some signs of understanding.

[Janos Killington]

Mistake one, the language barrier that now existed between both beings. The wolf brow raised as he perfectly understood the ghost but not the other way around. Pretty onesided if anyone asked the pup but not many would actually care to do so. Thus doing a small circle he began to draw this his paw. "Hi! Hold on." Trotting over to the work he stamped his paw as if to say to wait here. Moving into the bushes there was silence before a howl rang out like bloody murder. Bones snapped as flesh tore away the dire wolf shudder and cried out before the screams became more human. The transformation was not a pleasurable time as a shapeshifter; the results, however, were very satisfying.

Coughing a little bit, man dusted off his robes before sauntering out of the brush. Standing at 6'7" the ebony man smirked at the ghost with golden hues and a rumbling voice. "I am Janos Killington, it's an honor to meet such a noble ghost! Secondly, I can totally lead you in the right direction!! Yet... Tsk." Janos was now conflicted on how to present his idea to the ghost. Would such a nobleman consent to such subjugation?

"I gotta few questions for you!! The first is how long have you been around? You seem to be struggling on controlling your abilities. I'm a summoner and I got this weird idea! What do you think about making a pact? A short term one at that fact, just to help you acclimate to the environment. Nextly I wanted to know if you wanted to spar!! What do you say to all of that?!" Janos pointed at Malcolm with a perked up eyebrow, he hoped the other would agree! This way he could also satisfy his curiosity about fighting a paladin.

@Malcolm Rhodes

[Malcolm Rhodes]

Malcolm watched in fascination as the wolf seemed to be drawing. Several moments letter he grumped slightly as a poorly written message sat in the dirt. The wolf them moved and indicated a place. Figuring things couldn’t get much stranger than they already had Malcolm moved to the position and watched the beast tromp off into the jungle. Several moments of silence passed followed by a familiar series of screeches and whimpers. ‘A shifter, wolf form, explains the intelligence and the writing,’ the knight thought to himself as a giant of a man came ambling back out of the brush.

Malcolm stood quietly as the man moved toward him with confidence. ‘Certainly seems eager to meet and excited to talk,’ Malcolm thought as he listened to the man’s introduction. “I guess I am a ghost then, I’d wondered what to call myself for some time now. I’m uncertain how… old I am. Do you know the year and day?” he asked Janos with a nod to the offer of guidance. “As for your offer of making a pact, I’d know a bit more about the limits and even still you must understand that I do not know you. Perhaps we can spar as you say, test ourselves in the eyes of Esyrax and know one another first.”

Malcolm offered his unarmored hand out to the man to clasp. “I would accept your offer of fair combat but know I cannot promise the full extent of my abilities. To the yield, without injury?” he asked the man, raising a brow with the question. As he spoke he seemed to solidify, and there had been a distinct increase in his presence when he invoked the name of Esyrax.

[Janos Killington]

There was joy in the slit of his eyes as the pupil narrowed and flexed with energy. Janos had to contain himself from jumping high into the air; instead, he clasped the ghost's hand and gave it a firm shake. His stance remained solid as not to be taken by surprise with a throw or jab of sorts. "I accept the terms!! You must tell me about this Esyrax when the time has come!!" Janos grinned broadly sliding back he removed his own hand before slamming both fists together. Bowing low he paid his respect to the knight, exhaling just a bit Janos adjusted his breathing and gathered himself into position.

Taking stance the right foot forward left foot back in an L pattern his weight was balanced out upon the balls of his feet. Both arms up his right-hand slide forward the left hand remained closer to his face. His muscles relaxed and remained at ease ready to strike fluidly. "I Janos Killington am excited to clash fists with one such as yourself! There is no better way to know a person than to exchange blows! Thron Kha!!" Janos rolled both shoulders and slid forward a little bit just to bring the latter within the end of his striking range.

@Malcolm Rhodes

[Malcolm Rhodes]

Malcolm grinned as the wolf-man shook, stepped back, and brought his fists together. It seemed this wouldn’t be a simple striking of fists, but a legitimate bout. He unstrapped his great sword and tossed it to the side, not needing the weight or odd balance on his back. Then he curled and uncurled his fists, before finally rolling his neck and taking a loose stance with his hands both down and his feet spread front to back to make him a smaller target.

None of the physical preparations actually did anything to change his body, he simply felt wrong if he didn’t do them. He was dead and slowly coming to accept that, but that didn’t mean he should simply discard all that made him.

“In Esyrax’s name,” Malcolm said as he stepped forward, knowingly putting himself into the other man’s range. If Janos was skilled he’d try and keep Malcolm in a preferred range, limiting his attacks to those that worked best. If not, he’d likely overreach quickly.

With this in mind, Malcolm shuffle-stepped in hard making sure his balance was on his foot away from his opponent as he brought his fist in a quick upper cut across his body. If he missed, he’d have his hands ready to defend and protect his head or side, if he hit it’d be a powerful blow to the stomach.

[Janos Killington]

A keen fighter the ghost was, as expected of the paladin! Making himself smaller made Janos consider various other ways to advance upon the man. The posture was loose and fluid as well, shifting his own body he slid to the outside of the upper cup returning the favor with a swift jab keeping his weight light and ready to adjust once more.

@Malcolm Rhodes

[Malcolm Rhodes]

Malcolm’s strike had missed, and so he brought his arm around to deflect the return jab. He mostly succeeded, but the strike still glanced off his form. Janos was quick and watched him closely. 'Esyrax blesses us with challenges,’ the paladin thought as he stepped into the other man’s guard. He tossed out two quick jabs, aiming to hit the stomach or lower the guard.

[Janos Killington]

The blow glanced off and his body vibrated with immense energy. To be honest he was shaking with excitement as Malcolm stepped in further into the guard. There was no fear was his hand returned it quickly worked to grasp the wrist of the other, if not it would deflect both shots with ease. With a quarter step forward the front leg came up in a solid knee. The knee was aimed for the one who now stood well into the range of his limbs, should he successfully grab the arm he would be aiming for the ribs. If not the knee would be aimed at the solar plexus. His arms remained on guard, he was ready to grapple the instant the other began the grappling match.

@Malcolm Rhodes