The Story Of Talist
By: Tohshan
Just for reference before I start writing: Talist is a female Math, looking to be approximately 20ish in age, very small and petite in stature. She is a warrior, of the Beastmaster/Paragon/Riftblade spec and RP and storywise, is normally found to be hanging out with four female dwarfs, Niira, Naedi, Nioua and Siet. (my alts)
Talist looked around the forest, cocking her head slightly, senses alert to a danger she could not see, nor hear but was aware of. A soft yowl took her out of her musings, and she looked down at Zistan, her spirit beast. He hissed softly and paced restlessly back and forth in front of her. "Yes dear, I know, I feel it too, let me figure out where its coming from..." her hand strayed to the beasts head, soothing him even as she felt something inside her shift. She tensed. There, a slight sound but to her trained ears it sounded like a battle shout. She resettled her swords and gave a soft whistle. At the noise, the four female dwarfs sitting at the fire they had built against the clinging damp coolness of the early morn, rose silently and gathered their gear. Their mounts appeared from nearby and sauntered up. There was no speaking, they knew what had to be done and they doused the fire, gathered their things and mounted, battle ready. All looked to the small woman as she sprung upon her steed and headed east. They followed.
The male elf warrior snarled, falling down to one knee. He heard the rough dwarven spoke behind him and felt the healing course through his body. Too many, there were too many of them. The water rift had opened up on top of them, with no warning, giving them barely time to grab their weapons and ready for the minions that poured out. How he hated these sudden invasions, they were occuring more and more frequently. He raised his shield and blocked a hit from one of the creatures, and pushed himself up, flinging the small beast away. His sword swept in a wide arc, cutting down the nearest of the small minions but their Master stood back, out of his reach and merely summoned more. He hoped the rest of his clan would get here soon, in the distance he could see more rifts opening, and invasion forces pouring out. He happened to be right in their path and he did not fancy ending up dead and having to resurect. The two dwarven men behind him, both clerics by nature and trade, not to mention the fact they were twin brothers, were healing for all they were worth, and trying to get those creatures that managed to make it past him, which were more and more of them as he was tiring. A noise to the west caught his attention, and some movement, but he had to keep his focus on the creatures in front of him, lest they overwhelm him. That was when all hell broke loose. A white and purple blur shot right in front of him, bowling over all the creatures that had been trying to rip him to shreds. Small hands grabbed him, and drug him back, against his will, away from the tide of battle. He was too injured, and too weak to resist and he only relaxed when they set him down between his two dwarven companions. Blinking, he looked up into the grinning face of a female dwarf, a mage by the looks of her. She winked sassily at him and spoke. "Relax honey, we got this. Heal yourself up lad." His jaw dropped as he looked past her, to see three more female dwarfs, and more amazingly, a tiny mathosian woman, beating back the tide of creatures that had spilled from the rift. More, it was the woman who was beating them back, with the help of her spirit beast. The dwarfs stood back, making a space as the mage joined them. A mage, a cleric, a warrior and a rogue. From the looks of them, they were all sisters too. Sain let out a deep breath, trying to rise but Grogain, his best friend and companion, merely laid a hand on his shoulder. "Oh no you dunna lad, sit and let us heal you first. I think the lass's there have it in hand for the moment..." his voice trailed off as he stared appreciatively at the female spectacle in front of him. While the female dwarfs were all very pretty, his gaze kept flowing back to the small mathosian woman. She moved so quickly, her blades were a blur and the way she and her beast worked together was more like a dance. She was steadily working her way through the mass of smaller creatures to their Master behind. Her pace never slowed nor did the stride or the efficiency of her strikes break. The sound of a haunting melody caught his ear and he then noticed the rogue was also a bard, and she was playing a steady stream of music that the warrior woman was moving to. As it increased in tempo and volume, he watched the mage calling up a spell and fire shot out, engulfing the entire area where the woman was fighting. Whatever was in its path caught flame, and disappeared into that curious puddle of sludge the abbysmal creatures turned into when they died. He held up a hand in warning, as the woman and her beast lept at the Master, and would have shouted, but the mage again turned towards him, gave him a wide smile and winked, shaking her head. Sain fell silent again and merely watched...
Talist rode hard, pushing her mount faster as the rifts began forming. She weaved and dodged through the forest, her ears focused on the sounds she had heard. Someone in trouble...she must help. Zistan ran ahead, and gave a loud roar, alerting her to a nearby rift, a major one if she read it correctly. She could see a tall distorted figure, arms raised, and smaller creatures pouring forth. A quick glance showed an elven male, warrior by the look, bashing the smaller creatures who were swarming over him, with his shield. Two dwarves stood back a slight distance, doing their best to heal their companion even though creatures were attacking them as well. She held up her arm, giving a signal and Nioua and Naedi veered off, Niira following slightly behind them. They would take care of the creatures attacking the clerics and get the warrior to safety. Talist slung her leg over the saddle and hung on to the mane of her mount, keeping only one foot in the stirrup. Bast, her steed, knew the manuever. He raced up to the rift, then stopped suddenly and launched his rider from the stirrup. Zistan lept as well, following his mistress into battle as she landed right where the elven warrior had been, her blades already cutting through the flesh of the invaders. Music started behind her, and Talist let herself flow with it, feeling it guide her steps like a dance, feeling the waves of healing wash over her. She lost herself in the glory of the battle.
The huge creature fell, and Talist stood upon its shoulder and plunged her blade into the base of its neck. One final hiss, and it was dead. She strode purposefully back to her friends, giving a slight smile, and nodding at them for their excellent work. She stopped when she stood in front of the elven warrior, the two dwarven clerics ranged on each side of him. He was a bit pale, as were they but they looked to be alright now. She tilted her head, looking up thinking to herself why did elves have to be so tall? "You're alright?" she asked softly, managing to keep eye contact as he looked over her. Something she should be used to by now. Her slight stature never reflected her skills as a warrior. She looked like a child playing dress up in their parents armor. Tilting her chin up, she awaited the cutting remarks that were sure to come. Sain merely looked down at the tiny woman, noted her stance going defensive. The resigned look in her eyes had him swalling back the anger that flowed. She was used to unkindness, that he could see. He had always been noted for his calm demeanor, cool head and powers of observation. He gave her a slight smile and spoke in his lilting voice, "I am in debt to you my lady, I fear we would not have survived for long without your most impressive assistance." He gave a slight bow, including her companions as well. Grogin and Faedrin grinned beside him and chuckled. "Aye lass, ya showed up in the nick o time ye did!" Faedrin spoke heartily. Grogin nodded as well and bowed. Sain spoke again, "Please allow me to introduce myself and my two hale companions. I am known as Sain, and this is Grogin and his twin brother Faedrin." He gestured to each dwarf in turn. "Aye lassy, tis a pleasure I'm sure." Grogin said and gave a bow of his own, his eyes straying to the female dwarfs ranged behind Talist. Taken aback at this warm greeting, Talist floundered for a moment, then cleared her throat and spoke, her voice a bit raspy, "I'm Talist, and these are my sisters, Niira (she pointed to the small dwarven warrior, who had a spirit beast big enough to be her mount), Nioua (the sassy mage), Naedi (the rogue/bard, who was now accompanied by a fierce looking boar) and Siet (the cleric). I'm glad we could help you, I heard your shouts and thought someone might be in trouble." That said, Talist shifted a bit, nervously twitching her swords. She wasn't good at small talk, hell she wasn't good at talking to anyone other then the four dwarves who had taken her in and claimed her as their sister. Niira broke the awkward silence by stating "Ey girl, we need to get to Sanctum to report this, though I be sure they already know there's an invasion going on, but this be like none I've seen before, there's a greater evil workin here." Talist nodded, sheathing her weapons and whistled for her mount. "We will accompany you." It was a statement, and Talist turned back to Sain, met his eyes for a mere moment and then looked away. His gaze was very direct, not disrespectful, but she wasn't used to being looked at for so long. Rather looked over and dismissed. She wished he would stop staring at her, it was making her nervous. She managed a stammered, "As you wish my lord..." and went to turn away to mount her steed, but a soft touch on her shoulder made her look back. Sain smiled, "Please, no titles, its just Sain. You can relax, I don't bite." Talist gave a small smile and nervous laugh and nodded, putting her foot in the stirrup, she flung herself into the saddle and turned her mount in the direction of Sanctum. Nioua however, had the last word. "Aye lad, you may not bite, but I do!" she winked sassily at him and then full out grinned at Grogin, who let out a loud roaring laugh.
(please excuse all the typo's, not to mention the lack of lore. I'm not real good at rift lore yet, but love to write though its been a while. Figured I'd toss something out here while server was down for the update! Hope you enjoy!)