PlaneShift
Fan Area => Roleplaying (Communitive Storywriting) => Collaborative Stories => Topic started by: Trefalgr on March 13, 2003, 08:25:32 am
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(OCC: I am writing this to start the story off. My hope is for others to pick up at the Inn.)
IC: Trefalgr rasies up from the ground where his fallen travelling companion now laid, dead. Blood drained from the wounds upon his neck. Trefalgr scoops his dropped sword from the ground as he comes off his knees. His blade catches the moonlight coming thru the light fog that hung low in the air. In the corner of his eye, Trefalgr notices the reflected light glince of the face of their attacker, a dark figure, one that Trefalgr now knows to be a vampire.
Spinning around, Trefalgr faces the monster. He watches as it comes out of a blood trance, obviously brought on from the draining of Trefalgr\'s friend.
As the devil regains focus, he finds a new target in Trefalgr. The vampire lunges at Trefalgr, but Trefalgr won\'t be taken by suprise a second time. He raises his sword, blade shimmering in the moonlight, and drops it directly into the devil\'s shoulder. A hellish wail ensues. The vampire drops to the ground, still howling at the pain of the fresh wound. Trefalgr picks up a nearby branch that has fallen off a tree alongside the road and sharpens the end, forming a stake. The vampire, immobilized by the wound, can do nothing but howl as Trefalgr drives the stake into its sliced heart.
Trefalgr stops for a moment to mourn his loss. Realizing that other horrors lurk in the Ageless Forest, he picks up his belongings and loads the remaining horse with the body of his friend. After loading is complete, Trefalgr heads for the Frothing Boar Inn, he and his companion\'s original destination. As he begins to walk, he drops his hand to a pouch tied to his belt and sighs a sigh of releif.
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Upon reaching the inn, a very old, yet still strong and dangerous-lookng man rushes out to meet Trefalgr.
\"Come in shunny!\" he says, \"It\'s dangrus out \'ere at night. Ther\'s thinksh movin\'. Thinks movin\' \'bout thit niver we seened afore. The wizher shez shumtins goin on! Sumtin shpeshal,\" he pauses for a moment. \"an bad.\"
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\"Well spoken, old man,\" Trefalgr says as he passes thru the door. \"I have met one of the ferocity that lurk in the dark shadows of the night woods. A vampire attack me and my travelling companion on our way to this place, but only I survived the beast\'s ambush and only after I ran a stake thru it\'s black heart. Now my companinion lays slung on the back of a horse awaiting his grave. Now that I am here I do wish to relax a the bar a spell and retire for the evening.\"
Trefalgr removes his black hooded cloak to reveal a dark leather shirt dirty and travel worn. His hair is pale yellow but bordering on white and hanging slightly past his shoulders. Removing his sword and sheath from his belt, he reaches around back and secures his dagger. He then take his cloak and lays them near a rack where the weary travellers rest their heavy travel packs.
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Suddenly, another adventurer stumbles into the inn. He looks badly injured, slowly stareing up at the old man and Trefalgr he mutters a few words \"Help me... the... map...\" just before he collapses to the ground into unconsciousness...
*Sorry if I\'m not very good at punctuation*
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Trefalgr rushes to the side of the man who has fallen unconscious. Dropping to his knees, he grabs the man and flips him on his front. A quick scan of the man reveals to him no major wounds, only a minor cut here and there.
\"This man must have been running for a long time,\" Trefalgr says direted at the old man, \"and I would guess something is chasing him. We should prepare ourselves for it\'s possible arrivale. Give me a hand with him.\"
Two strong looking men who have been watching the event get up from the bar and hurry over to where Trefalgr is kneeling. Trefalgr begins to pick up the man and the two others quickly take the load from him.
\"Set him up with a room, I will pay for it,\" Trefalgr says as he crawls of his dropped knees. In a full stand now, Trefalgr puffs heavily, \"Now how about that drink, old man.\"
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The two sit down at a table and talk. The old man\'s name turns out to be Gonnle Skyshroud, a once mighty warrior now a humble innkeep warn with age. Gonnle orders two stiff drinks and places one in front of Tefalgr.
\"Shorry \'bout yer friend, shunny, like I shed, the whizer\' shezh ther\'z bad thinksh movin\' \'bout.\" When he says \"wizard\", he waves his hand at an empty corner of the room; he then looks over and says, \"Oh, mushta gon ta bed erly.\"
At that moment a faint ghostly noise is heard and most of the people in the room shudder. A chill passes down both Gonnle and Tefalgr\'s spines. Suddenly an eary crowing is heard and the flapping of numerous wings. A strong wind is heard from outside and suddenly the door flies open, sillhouetting a dark robed figure. The figure steps into the room; many men have already taken up arms and most have a terrified look in their eyes. The figure, even in the light, is completely black. Three ravens are pirched on his body: one on his right shoulder, one on top of his head, and one on the head of the staff he holds in his left hand. A twisted black sword hilt protrudes from the folds of his robeson his left side. The only part of his skin visible is his left hand, which is dark grey and cracked, like it has been dead for hundreds of years. Four more ravens fly into the room and land on the tables or chairs. Everyone strands completely still.
From inside the dark hood of the robe, a cold scratchy voice is heard:
\"They\'re coming... The migration has begun. Soon, the distribution of death will be much adjusted.\"
A strong wind rushes in through the door. Tables, chairs, and people are knocked over and thrown against the back wall. The figure stands dead still, his robes flapping rapidly. Gonnle jumps over the counter where the terrified barkeep is crouched over crying and grabs his warhammer. He charges at the robed figure, but right before he reaches him, he is thrown to the floor by the ever-increasing wind. The figure turns around and walks out the door, unaffected by the wind.
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could someone please add something to this, I don\'t want to have to sections of the story in a row...
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Trefalgr rushes to the aid of Gonnle.
Kneeling, Trefalgr helps the old man to his feet and escourts him back to his seat.
\"What were you thinking challanging a creature of such power? One of your age shouldn\'t be fighting the creatures of the darkness.\" Trefalgr rounds the table a sits back in his own chair. \"What was he and what was this migration that he spoke of?\" A silence ensued, and Trefalgr could wait no longer for a reply. \"Out with it man,\" Trefalgr demanded, \"What was the event that has just transpired!\"
Trefalgr sat staring at Gonnle, waiting for some answers.
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(OOC: Sorry it took me so long to reply to this.)
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Gonnle looks quite shaken. He stares blankly back at Trefalgr for a moment then says \"I don know. The wizher, the wizher, he knowsh, he told ush about it.\" He rushes up the stairs to check the wizard\'s room. Meanwhile, several men start rearranging the furniture. There is still a strong wind coming through the open doorway and screaches and howls can be heard coming from outside. Many people look around horrified and grab whatever armaments they can find, including some decorative swords hanging on the walls. One brave young warrior gives a short speach in an attempt to boost morale and charges out the door into the night, overcoming the wind. None follow him and a single voice in the room yells out to him, \"It\'s your own death, Salo!\" Gonnle runs hastily down the stairs, tripping near the bottom. A large already festering wound shows on his shoulder. With a gasp he says, \"They\'re dead. All of em. I found their corpshesh. No shign of da whizhard. There was shometin up there. It attacked me. I hit it with the hammer and ran.\" Before he can stand up, a small dark creature with enormous claws jumps from the upper floor onto him. The claws on one hand drive into his eyes and face and the others into his back. A gurgled scream emmits from his lips and he collapses in a pool of blood. A man nearby lobs the little demon\'s head of with one powerful blow from a longsword. New terror is in the room. There is no clear leader and everyone appears to be on the verge of insanity.
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(OOC: does this mean im dead too?... awww!!)
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(OOC: Um, well yeah. Maybe you hid in the corner or something and no one found you. If you wanted to keep that character alive you could say you escaped or hid. Also, there are quite a few people in the inn, so you could just take over one of them. Sorry. By the way, does OOC mean Out of Context? I figured it was out of something.)
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out of character
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(OOC: Ok, gracias. Now, let\'s get on with the story. Tefalgr, you must have something to do, a little demon just killed your new pal Gonnle and a dark robed figure came in a told you bad things are happening)
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(OOC: Thanks for killing off everyone, with nowhere to go. j/k. So, does that mean you are out Ravenmaster, or are you still gunna write. I hope you stay, I love the way you write. :) )
Trefalgr stops to think for a second. \"This is too strange, too strange to be coincodence.\" Grabbing his things, he runs up the stairs. Seeing nothing there, Trefalgr sighs in relief. He darts into the closest room and slams the heavy wooden door behind him. He then crosses the room and draws the curtians. With the room now sealed from prying eyes, Trefalgr loosens the bindings on his belt pouch. Opening it, he draws out a small amulet. The amulet is a strange red crystal with a steel dragon incircling it.
\"Dang this thing, why was I chosen to destroy this wreched thing. It as to be the the cause of all this evil. All things vile must be drawn to its evil energies. And to think this was the symbol of the greatest empire our time has seen.\" Trefalgr replaces the amulet into his deep pouch. As soon as he secured te bindings, Trefalgr feels the cold blowing of the winds, the same evil feeling winds as before. Trefalgr would not be caught off-guard like the other taverndwellers. He readied his hand on the hilt of his sword.
As his hand draws his sword, the dark form of a demon creature leaps thru the window. This demon is larger than the last, about the same size as Trefalgr. As the demon turns his head, his red eye scanned the room. Noticing Trefalgr, the demon rages and lunges. Trefalgr takes an evasive step in reverse, but this didn\'t cause the demon to miss, only lessening the blow. Trefalgr grunts from the pain, but he cannot be fallen so easily. He swings is blade in front of him unaimed. The edge of the sword hits the demon hard, slashing what Trefalgr guessed was the creatures arm. The demon jumped back, and paused. He looked at Trefalgr, seemingly impressed at Trefalgr\'s surviving even one blow. Trefalgr realizes the demon\'s pause, and hurls is sword directly in between the demon\'s blazing red eyes. The creature screams and drops to the floor. Trefalgr watches as the glowing in its eyes subsides.
Trefalgr pulles his sword from the head of the slain creature. Resheathing it, Trefalgr moans in pain. He looks down at the wound on his chest, until then he had almost forgot about it. The wound wasn\'t deep, but the creature had slashed straight thru the hard leather of Trefalgr\'s tunic and had left ligt scraches in his chest. A little soaking of blood stained the leather.
\"I have to find that wizard he may be able to help me. Much more of these fights and I may need more than a new tunic. Either way it is not safe for me here, now that the they know where I am.\" Trefalgr, opens the door and eads back down to the tavern.
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(OOC: Previously before the attack)
The wanderer, who was highly exhausted, now rested in a somewhat large cotton bed. As he rested there he had nightmares of what was chasing him in the dark, and of his mission that lay so desperatly in his hands. At one point this wanderer awoke, and sprung from his lying position. Then in exasperation quickly laid back down into the bed. While he laid there he began to fade away again into his slumber, but the dreams of monsters long forgotten kept him from doing so. Then as he was just about to fall back into his tormenting dreams he heard a high pitched screech just outside his nearby window. He then sat up a little bit to see what it was. The only thing he saw were the cold blood red eyes of some strange beast scratching on the window. The wanderer then quickly rolled out of his bed and underneath it. The glass of the window then shattered, he could hear the faint steps of the beast as the claws of his feet touched the ground. The wanderer could then see that the beast was comming straight for his bed! Slowly, the beast stopped right in front of the bed. Then a hand appeared on the floor! The knee of the beast also appeared next! It was apparent that the beast was lowering himself to find what was under the bed, but the wanderer could do nothing. Confined in his small space beneath the bed, the wanderer said his last dying words \"forgive me, I wasn\'t brave enough...\". Then just as the beast was about to look beneath the bed, a loud noise was heard from outside the room. Also a roar of which the wanderer had never heard before. Quickly the beast rose from his crouching position and went out the door into the hall of the inn like the wind. Releived and even more tired than before, the wanderer finally passed into sleep.
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Originally posted by Trefalgr
Trefalgr replaces the amulet into his deep pouch. As soon as he secured te bindings, Trefalgr feels the cold blowing of the winds, the same evil feeling winds as before. Trefalgr would not be caught off-guard like the other taverndwellers. He readied his hand on the hilt of his sword.
As his hand draws his sword, the dark form of a demon creature leaps thru the window. This demon is larger than the last, about the same size as Trefalgr. As the demon turns his head, his red eye scanned the room. Noticing Trefalgr, the demon rages and lunges. Trefalgr takes an evasive step in reverse, but this didn\'t cause the demon to miss, only lessening the blow. Trefalgr grunts from the pain, but he cannot be fallen so easily. He swings is blade in front of him unaimed. The edge of the sword hits the demon hard, slashing what Trefalgr guessed was the creatures arm. The demon jumped back, and paused. He looked at Trefalgr, seemingly impressed at Trefalgr\'s surviving even one blow.
(OOC: Uh, Trefalgr, it would be nice if you could keep your tense constant. You kept switching between present and past. I suggest you stick with present since that\'s what the first post was in. Kinoss: yours is ok in past because you stated that it was before the attack. Trefalgr, I am still going to write here, but not right now cuz I need to go eat and this takes time.)
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Strange things indeed, and all i wanted was some ale in a nice tavern. This is no nice tavern! Shaded wondered why noone seemed to care for these ravens, she hates spies so allright i gonna do it. Out of that dark corner of the tavern from where she watched the scene and the first demon slained she now risses from from her stony seat grabs her bow and shot the first, the others somehow didn\'t realize so the second also become a full hit too but then they turned out their real faces some started to fly into her direction two others transformed into those beasts she never wanted to see again. the bow sings and the third falls to floor hit in the air, 3 of 7, good time / kill ratio but to keep it she was definitly in the wrong corner she thought and jumped over the table in front of her rolling into a position on her knees and shot the next which just missed her by flying by. \"Could someone care about the others please!\" she shouted into the room while jumping on the next table to hang on one of the ceiling bars and lifting her light body onto it, bringing herself into good shooting position while the last of these vampires started his transformation below her...
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(OOC: Rrg, Shaded, the ravens aren\'t evil. They\'re just birds. They\'re my friends. Why did you have to go and kill them?)
The remaining ravens scattered, flying out the windows. Meanwhile, Salo, the adventurer who had left the inn was outside in a rage of evil wind. He saw countless ghostly shapes hovering around and demons. One demon leapt at his face, but a mid-air collison with a sharp blade stopped it. In front of him, Salo saw the dark figure of the Ravenmaster. He raised his sword and ran at the figure, in full fury. When Salo was nearly upon him, the figure turned, as if warned by some invisible spirit and knocked Salo\'s sword from his hand with a sweep of his staff. He then grabbed Salo by the neck and lifted him up to his face. Salo felt icy cold breath on his face and a smell like a very old library. He could see nothing within the cloak\'s hood save to penetrating eyes. A voice like ice sliding off a steel roof said, \"I am not the enemy, you fool.\" Ravenmaster then pointed his hand at the dark, where the demons lurked, \"Fight them if you want to help!\" Then next thing Salo knew, he was thrown through the air into the mob af waiting demons. From the light of the inn he could see the sillhouette of the figure cleaving demons in half and the ravens attacking the demons in mobs. Freezing claws ripped into his soft flesh and he felt the burning pain. He reached backwards and grabbed the demon who had scarred him. With a twist of its neck it collapsed on him.
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ooc: i love stories where the creatures and characters described are not assigned to any side... sorry raven but it was not obvious to me...
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(OOC: Actually, you were supposed to assume the figure and his ravens were evil (and maybe they are), but after you killed one, the others would have just scattered, not attacked you or transformed into monsters.)
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As Trefalgr desends the wooden stairs of the tavern, he sees a slender woman jump down from the rafters. He notices a bow in one of her hands as she stands back up. A quick scan of the room reveils a dead raven with an arrow sticking firmly into it\'s neck. Trefalgr decides that the woman can be trusted.
\"What is going on,\" Trefalgr askes. \"Have the demons left this place yet?\"
She proceeds to tell him that she is not sure. She also tells him that the cloaked figure is still outside and another adventurer has went to face him.
Trefalgr winces in pain, partly because of his wound and partly because he fears the adventurer by himself would have no chance against someone of such great power.
\"I must go to his aid,\" Trefalgr finally declares. \"You seem to have a fine skill with a bow and arrow, I would kindly ask for your assistance, ma\'dam.\"
Trefalgr rushes to the door and stops. Looking back over his shoulder he says, \"If you do wish to help, you must not delay.\" And with that, Trefalgr runs out the door.
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As Trefalgr rushes out the door, Gonnle shudders and starts moving. He begins to stand up, blood and puss streaming from his eye socket. His skin has turned a faint greyish purple. He lets out a muffled groan and gets onto his feet, staggering. He then picks up his hammer and splatters the closest man\'s brains all over the wall. Another adventurer attacks Gonnle, slicing his head off with one fell swoop. Gonnle, headless attempts to fight back, but is quickly diced to pieces. Now only fiveliving adventurers remain in the inn, not including the man hiding upstairs. The strong wind has died slightly, but is still strong, although not unnaturally so. The wind can be heard howling outside and the darkness seems to be increasing. Zahtek Kraken, the man who killed Gonnle the second time grabbed a torch in his left hand and ran out the door, following Trefalgr. A barbarian by nature, he held a broadsword tightly in his right hand.
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Trefalgr stops suddenly to survey the area. The dark cloaked figure stood at a distance from where Trefalgr had stopped. As Trefalgr stared, he felt the same icy chill he had before when the cloaked figure had first appeared.
From behind him, Trefalgr hears approaching footsteps. He glances behind him to see what it is. A well-built man wielding a rather large broadsword in one hand and a torch in the other came up to him. Trefalgr recognized him as one of the people from the tavern.
\"Who are you, stranger,\" Trefalgr inquires to the newcomer.
\"I am Zahtek, a barbarian and a warrior.\"
\"I do not see Salo anywhere,\" Trefalgr tells Zahtek. Just then, a loud cry comes from the dense forest. Trefalgr guesses that the cry is Salo. Thinking to himself, Trefalgr wonders why Salo was there and not here where the cloaked figure is. Nor had the cloaked figure attacked the two of them.
As if the cloaked one had read his thoughts, he mutters in an icy tone, \"I am not the enemy, the enemy dwells in the dark where your friend is.\"
Trefalgr, surprised by what the cloaked figure had said, glances at Zahtek. Zahtek returns the glance and they both agree silently that they must help Salo.
The warriors tightly gripping their swords begin to head towards where they had heard the cry.
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As the two march into the darkness, a demon leeps at Trefalgr. Had it not hissed as it jumped through the air, it would still be in one piece. Unfortunately for it, it hissed. Before the two can get far into the darkness, they see a figure of a man, torn and bloodied before them. He forces his body forward and Trefalgr recognizes him as Salo. He has numerous purplish scars on his body and a look of pain and horror on his face. He is unarmed and wearing only the barest thread of clothing. He gasps as he sees his friends, \"The pain--\" he cuts off and begins breathing heavily, \"Unnatural pain! It\'s taking control of me! Please aaaaahhhhh!!!!!\" Zahtek notices the purple-grey tint of Salo\'s skin and whispers to Trefalgr, \"He\'s a zombie, watch out.\" Salo hears the whisper and says faintly, \"I am not yet. I still have my sanity. You must--\" his face contorts and he screams in pain. He then charges at Trefalgr, death in his eyes.
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Trefalgr response quickly to Salo\'s charge, diving off to distance himself from the zombie. Trefalgr lands and quickly rolls to face Salo. Salo, stunned from missing his target. Salo turns and faces Trefalgr. Salo lets out an angry, low-pitched yell. Salo takes off again, but this time at Zahtek. The barbarian, not expecting the charge, steps backwards and looses his balance. Zahtek topples over hitting the ground. As Salo is upon him, Zahtek lunges his broadsword into the stomach of the creature. Being a zombie, the sword only haults Salo\'s forward movement. He slowly keeps moving towards Zahtek mauled hands nearly to his face. Just then, Trefalgr\'s sword slices Salo\'s head clean off. The headless corpse falls dead off to one side of Zahtek. Trefalgr helps him to his feet.
\"We shouldn\'t stay out here much longer,\" Trefalgr stays. \"This zombie is the worst of our troubles.\"
In the distance a group of dark figures begin to take form, silhouetted in the moonlight.
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While Trefalgr is looking at the figures in the distance, Zahtek pokes him in the side and whispers, \"We\'re surrounded, look.\" Looking around, Trefalgr realizes it\'s true. A ghastly, cold, grating screem is heard, startling Trefalrg. He turns to look and sees Ravenmaster has been overtaken by a larger breed of demons. He throws off two of them and decapitates one, but seven more attack him and hold him down. Out of the night, a fire of black is seen. A large figure weilding a huge flaming sword strides toward Ravenmaster. He brings his sword down quickly at Ravenmaster\'s chest and hits dirt. A flock of ravens protrudes from where the Ravenmaster just was and fly away into the night. Trefalgr and Zahtek feel much less secure without their mysterious companion.
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\"Close your eyes,\" Trefalgr says as he reaches into a small pouch, half hidden by his cloak.
Zahtek, sure why, does as he is told. Now in darkness, Zahtek can hear what he believes is Trefalgr lighting something. The smell of sulpher permeating the night air.
\"Are your eyes closed,\" Trefalgr asks.
\"Yes, but what for,\" Zahtek answers and asks.
\"This is flash-powder, it may confuse the demons long enough to cover our retreat. When you hear it explode, run for the inn. Ready? Now!\" A loud bang fills the air. A bright flash illuminates the dark woods. Screams follow the expolsion as the demons shutted as they are blinded by the flash. Trefalgr takes of in a dead sprint, closely followed by Zahtek.
As they approach the inn\'s front door a large demon charges at Trefalgr. The demon slams into him with his full force and knocks him to the ground. Trefalgr grunts as he slams against the ground. The creature quickly regains his stance over Trefalgr. Trefalgr turns over to face the demon. As he stands up, Trefalgr reaches for his sword. Nothing. He glances down at the ground and notices the sliver sword next to the demons foot. The demon pulls back his arm to deliver a letal blow. When just then an arrow sails over head and stops squarely into the demon\'s chest. From the inn door, the archer, Shaded, lets loose a second arrow, this time into the demons head.
\"Trefalgr, catch,\" yells Zahtek, tossing his sword to the defensless Trefalgr.
Trefalgr catches the broadsword, and quickly swings the blade, cutting off the legs of the demon. The large creature falls hard on the ground, heaves and goes limp. Picking up his own sword, Trefalgr hands Zahtek his sword. The two men run thru the heavy wooden door of the inn, slamming it behind them.
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When they get inside, Zahtek suddenly has a brilliant plan. He grabs a keg of beer and instructs Trefalgr to grab a torch. He wrips off his shredded shirt and shoves it into the hole in the beer keg. He then opens the door and yells at Trefalgr to light the shirt. As soon as it catches fire, he heaves it out the door with all his might. The mob of blinded demons don\'t even see it coming...
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(OCC: Sorry if it takes me too long to respond. The story needs elaborating on and I need time to think about where I want to go with it. Ravenmaster feel free to do two postes in a row here, it may help me decide where it should go from here. Thanks for your patience! :D )
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(OOC: Ok, Trefalgr, I really don\'t like doing two posts in a row, though, unless it adds to the effect (ie. two different viewpoints). I\'ll write something in a wee bit if you haven\'t thought of anything. Or maybe Shaded, you could jump in again, or that dude who came in bleeding at the beginning, or even a new character? There are still some inanimate people in the inn.)
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Still beneath his bed the weary traveler is awakend by a large explosion. The traveler is not quite so tired now and cautiously crawls out from underneath the bed. Slowly peaking out he hears and sees nothing. The traveler then slowly rises to his feet, still cautious of what might still be lurking around. Quietly walking towards his room door he hears faint voices from outside his room somewhere. Slowly opening the door it makes an easing creak, the traveler then peaks through the crack he has opened in the door. He sees nothing and continues his quiet trek to find out whats happening. The traveler now walking down a small poorly lit hallway crowded with doors on either side. Finally making it to some stairs he hears the voices more clearly. Feeling that it is safe now, he casually walks down the old wooden steps and finds everyone watching the door that he had previously collapsed in front of. \"Excuse me, Umm, what is everyone doing? I hope I\'m not intruding on anything...\" Said the traveler.
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The bartender notices the traveler and chucks a bottle at him, thinking he\'s a demon in the dim light. The bottle shatters harmlessly due to a poor throw. The bartender notices that the traveler is human and apologizes.
Ever since the explosion it seemed rather silent outside. Suddenly the door explodes in a fireball and when the smoke clears, a single demon, monstrous in stature, weilding a sword of dark fire stands in the ashes. Behind him, a horde of demons, some missing various parts from the blast appear to be rallying into a formation.
Suddenly the demon horde is shaken by another explosion; the source of this one, however, is completely unknown. In the light of the explosion, a figure of a Pterosaur with a passenger is seen. The large demon, taken by surprise turns around. Zahtek charges at him with his sword pointed forward, but the demon turns around and slashes at Zahtek\'s broadsword. The amazing force of the blow throws Zahtek across the room and shatters his sword. With his own inertia he smashes into the wall headfirst and collapses, unconscious.
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Amidst all the chaos the traveler runs back up to the top of the stairs. He then lies down on the ground so he can still see the action. The traveler then reaches into his backpack and pulls out an empty sheet of parchment, a writing tool, and another odd tool and begins to sketch the hideous creature. While the traveler is still sketching more important things are taking place. An inn bystander quickly rushes to Zahtek\'s side and tries to shake him from his unconsciousness. The bystander then drags Zahtek to a secluded corner of the inn, the bystander then takes a small bottle of liquid out of his pouch and pops its cork free from it. The bottle is then brought up to Zahteks nose, obviously this bottle contains some sort of powerful smell. Zahtek jerks suddenly from this act and then groans Zahtek is now awakend but slightly disoriented, and very much injured.
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Zahtek grabs the bottle from under his nose, coughs and throws it across the room, with a disgusted look on his face. He stands up, then falls down again and stands up a bit more slowly. He holds his head and looks around, confused, not even noticicing the man who revived him. Outside another explosion erupts. The large demon ignores it and rushes at Trefalgr. With one blow he disarms Trefalgr and grabs his belt pouch. When he touches the pouch he appears to be revitalized. The black fire encircling his body grows in one large burst. He yanks the pouch from the belt and raises his sword at Trefalgr. As the sword comes down Zahtek tackles the demon onto the floor. The belt and sword go flying to opposite corners of the room. The demon, taken quite by surprise in his fit of glory falls to the floor with Zahtek on top of him, pummeling him continuously.
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At this moment the traveler decides that he should be helping instead of drawing pictures. He then rises from his position, reaches into his backpack, and pulls out a small sack. The traveler then jumps down the first flight of stairs and quickly throws the small sack down to the ground furiously. Mysteriously a thick fog envelopes the room almost instantaneously. The traveler then jumps down to where the monster was, pulls out a large pin from his backpack, and jabs the monster in the throat with it. The monster then lets out an unearthly scream that cuases the rest of the demons to step back a ways and some even retreat.
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(OOC: Two things, Kinoss: 1)how could your traveler jump onto the demon when Zahtek is already on him? Also, how would you know where his neck is in the smoke. You could have just stabbed Sahtek in the neck. 2)you should give your traveler a name.
I am going to wait for Trefalgr to post something before responding again. I think he plays a vital role in this.)
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(OOC: I didnt jump onto the demon, I jumped to where the demon was, that is what i said in the story. I knew where the demons neck was because it was only a thick fog not a wall of dence fog. I will give my name when someone asks me for it :] so far no one has asked me yet, mainly because ive either been asleep or Its just too busy to ask such things just now.)
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Trefalgr asses the situation and the smoke in the room starts to disipate.
\"First things first, my pouch,\" Trefalgr spoke aloud to himself.
Trefalgr spots the brown leather pouch in the far corner of the room. He guesses that he can make it to it with little problem from the demon seeing how Zahtek and the traveller from earlier were keeping him more than busy. Trefalgr races across the tavern, with now lie in ruin. Jumping over a table, Trefalgr lands directly behind where Zahtek is standing.
\"Zahtek, keep his distracted a minute longer. I need to secure my pouch,\" Trefalgr yells.
Zahtek replys with an afirmming nod. A turns back to the demon, this time fighting twice as hard.
Terfalgr takes off again towards the pouch. As he does the demon knocks Zahtek over and give chase to Trefalgr. Zahtek regains himself and notices Trefalgr\'s sword lying next to where he landed. He quickly grabs it up and hurls it at the demon\'s back. The sword sails thru the air and comes to rest in the shoulder of the demon. It howls but doesn\'t fall and only stops for a moment. A moment long enough, however, for Trefalgr to reach the pouch and stuff it securely under his tunic.
The demon now runs headlong at Trefalgr, fist drawn back ready to crush his target. Trefalgr makes a quick roll in the direction of the demons large sword. The demon lunges at where Trefalgr once stood and pushes forward his dark fist straight thru the tavern wall. The demon snarls and turns to Trefalgr.
Trefalgr looks down at the sword lying at his feet and picks it up. The sword, once burning with an evil flame, lies extinguished without its master\'s hand. With the mammoth sword in hand, Trefalgr\'s muscles strain from the weight. The demon charges at Trefalgr. Raising the sword above his head, Trefalgr swings it at the demon. The evil sword cuts clean thru the middle of the demon. The halves of its body drop dead on the floor.
Trefalgr drops the sword next to the demon\'s dead body and reclaims his own, pulling it from the its hole in the right half of the demon.
The others in the tavern quickly pile table tops against the doorway replacing the broken door. Trefalgr hurries to help, picking up a table and adding it to the pile.
\"That should hold them off for a while. I can\'t stay here much longer, the demons will only keep coming. I think it is time you all know the reason for our troubles here tonight. Here, let us sit.\"
Trefalgr stands in front of the other taverndwellers and begins to explain his situation.
\"The demons that attack us here tonight are drawn here because of an amulet that I carry.\" Trefalgr pulls the pouch out from under his tunic and proceeds to open it. From the pouch he pulls the red crystal amulet. \"This is the Haziknon, the treasure of my kingdom. Many ages ago, my people were waging a great war and we were losing. The kings advisor, a man by the name of Fulicron, suggested to the king of the time that they use a ritual to get the \'blessing\' of the demon prince, De\'oke. The king\'s most trusted general, Xigel, tryed to talk the king out of his desision. The king took Xigel\'s untrust in his desision as tresion. The king the offered Xigel to De\'oke as a sacrifice. This pleased the demon and he rewarded the king with the power of the Haziknon. For an age the Haziknon poluted the monarchy and eventually drove them into madness. A week ago our council decided that the Haziknon must be destoryed.\"
Zahtek spoke up, \"Why were you chosen to destory the Haziknon?\"
Trefalgr relpys, \"Xigel was my great, great, great grandfather. My bloodline is said to be the only one that hasn\'t fell to the evil of the Haziknon. My resistance to it was really the only factor invovled in the council\'s chosing me. I must bring it to the Kandali Temple and smash it with Mora, a hammer forged from blessed iron. It is the relic of the Kandali Paladins. This is the only way to destroy it.\"
The room falls silent for a moment. Trefalgr continues, \"The demon horde is to strong for me to travel alone. And with my companion slain, I will need the help of others. I will take whatever help I can get. If you want to remain here, I believe you will be safe, for I believe the demons will follow me and the Haziknon.\"
The room exchanges glances each waiting for the next to be the brave one to step forward.
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Zahtek steps forward, saying, \"I am with you, friend. I cannot allow evil like this to remain.\" A large unnatural burn mark covers Zahtek\'s chest, shoulders and fists. The skin is blackened and slightly bubbly. We whinces in pain. He bends over and picks up the demon\'s sword, saying quietly, \"And you will aid me in avenging your master\'s evil.\" Outside another explosion is heard. The dim light of dawn creeps through the windows. With another blast the pile of furniture blocking the door explodes into the room. In the doorway stands an old man. His robes are tattered. In one hand he wields a staff with a crystal embedded in the end. Behind him is a Pterosaur.
He smiles a friendly smile and says, \"The day has finally arrived. The demons are gone for now. Many have died, but do not be fooled, for them death is temporary.\" He pauses for a moment and then sees Zahtek\'s burnt flesh. \"Oh my, you have been burnt by an unholy flame. Let me see what I can do.\"
The bartender jumps up from his hiding place behind the bar and runs over to the old man, crying, \"Thank the gods you have returned, Dandor. Gonnle is dead! The demons, they got \'im!\"
Dandor lies Zahtek down and starts muttering some spells. Within a couple minutes only the mark of new-grown skin remains.
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Astonished and awwed by what has just happend, the traveler then rises to his feet and says \"I will help you with all my sould, friend. I am the greatest map-maker in all the lands, I know this world like my home.\" The traveler says as he removes his pin from the demons neck. \"I know my quest is not nearly as important as yours, but I need help as well, I... my...\" the traveler stumbles in his speech as he tries to continue on, \"I\'m... sorry... I haven\'t told you my name I\'m Kinoss...\" says Kinoss seeming to come to an abrupt stop. Kinoss looks around quickly, grabs his backpack, swiftly placing it over his shoulders. \"If there be any more who wish to join do so now. For I believe our journey will begins soon, and we will need all the help we can. Am I right Trefalgr?\"
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Dandor stands and says, \"I\'m afraid you will not be leaving soon, my eager young friends. Although your quest may be important, sleep is also very important. Your barbarian friend here will be very weak from the spell I have cast on him. I think you should rest here for a couple hours. You will be safe as long as Tlemoth and I are around.\" At the sound of its name, the Pterosaur that had been waiting outside squeezes through the hole were the door once was.
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\"Your words comfort me, Dandor, and sleep is most welcome. I will not stay for free though.\" Trefalgr reaches into a deep money pouch and and pulls out enough for him and his two new companions plus alittle extra. The bartender smiles at the donation and quickly leads the trio upstairs.
Trefalgr helps Zahtek to his room. He lays the already sleeping Zahtek into the bed. Trefalgr leaves Zahtek\'s room and goes to his on room. As he lays down he closes his eyes and thinks about the odds against him. As he lays and thinks about the journey ahead, Trefalgr drfts into sleep.
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Trefalgr awakens to the sound of Dandor\'s voice.
\"It\'s nearly mid-day, my young adventurous friend. You\'ll be wanting to reach Letranech by nightfall. That\'s a half-day journey, but if you have haste, you should be able to make it in time. Wouldn\'t want to get caught in the dark with those demons around, would you?\"
Dandor leaves the room and wakes up Kinoss and Zahtek. In a few minutes, the four are downstairs. A table is set up with three bowls of hot porridge and three cups of milk. Zahtek sits down immediatley and begins eating.
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Kinoss sits down, pulls open his back pack, and pulls out map. Kinoss studies it for a bit and then puts it back into his backpack. \"It looks like a hard journey... I\'m sure we will be able to make it though. What a beautiful day today! And to think last night I would have mistaken this world for Hell! Things sure can change.\" As Kinoss says while staring at a group of Ravens eating on a fleshy bone. No one responds to Kinoss, as they are all too busy eating. Kinoss then watches Zahtek\'s Ravenous eating for a bit and chuckles a little bit. \"Hungry Zahtek? Ha ha ha!\"
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OOC:*Jumps in thread* Okay, if I have everything straight, Trefalgr is trying to get rid of the Hazikon. My character does not know this yet (obviously).
IC: A lone hooded traveler walked by the inn. By the look and smell, there had been a recent battle here. The gaping hole in the wall and bodies lying around only confirmed that. The travler took off his hood, and his face revealed him to be a Lemur, one middle-aged. He was carrying a staff, and a quiver of arrows was strapped to his back, along with a longbow. His staff had numerous symbols and runes, along with inscriptions. The traveler also had a large bag that appeared to be full, hanging from his side. He was tall and lean. This Lemur called into the hole, \" Is anyone in here?\", wondering why there was a stecnch of blood, look of battle, blasted door, but most of all, recent evil. He was cautious, and notched an arrow to the string of his longbow. He pointed it at the ground, so he would not shoot a friendly person. He stood to the side, wondering if anyone was inside.
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(OOC: umm... I dont think there is a door anymore, we\'ll just pretend you knocked on a piece of wood of the building near the door.)
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(OOC: Yeah, Trefalgr is trying to get rid of the Haziknon, and there is a horde of demons following him. Also, this thread is written in present tense, and, like Kinoss said, there is no door. You could knock on the wall, but since you can see into the building, that kinda changes your story a bit, so you may want to edit it. Also, you would probably notice the many bodies and burn marks outside the tavern, and if you had been in town last night, chances are you would have heard the news already. I\'m waiting for Trefalgr to post before I post again. Unless he hasn\'t by late tommorrow.)
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(OCC: Sorry I haven\'t written in a couple days, been busy. I\'ll write more later today. But for now, it is a quarter after midnight and I am too tired to write. Glad to have you Wormtail_ and the rest of you as well. :D )
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(OCC: By the way. I haven\'t gotten Planeshift to work yet on any computer I own, so bear with me if I just make things up like locations and creatures. Thanks! :D )
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(OOC: I think you\'ll be fine, Trefalgr. There are no locations or creatures. Everyone has to make them up. The only town is Hydlaa, and the only creatures are other players. I\'ll be waiting for your response.)
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(OOC: Thanks I feel better now. :D )
Trefalgr quickly gets out of his bed and gathers his things. He takes the majority of his things, including tools and provisions for a few days and wraps them in one of the inn\'s extra blankets. Tearing another into long straps, Treflagr wraps them around the pack making a tubular pack that he can sling around his shoulder and body. Trefalgr then picks up his belt and swords and places it around his waist. With everything in place he double checks his pouch. As he reaches into it, he feels the rough texture of the Haziknon\'s red crystal. Trefalgr remembers those that were killed last night.
\"I cannot fail,\" Trefalgr mutters to himself as he pulls his hand from the pouch and fastens it.
(OOC: I\'ll finish this in a couple hours. I gotta go to class.)
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Trefalgr goes down to the tavern and meets up with his new companions. He sees them checking over their packs and eating an early lunch.
Trefalgr remembers his now decesed companion and decideds that he needs taken care of. He appoarches the barkeeper and asked him if he would be able to see to it that his friend gets a decent burial. The barkeeper nods and agrees. Trefalgr gives him enough coins to more than cover the burial. They both smile as Trefalgr joins Zahtek and Kinoss at the lunch table.
\"Good Morning, gentlemen,\" Trefalgr says warmly. \"What is for lunch?\"
\"A fresh lamb stew the barkeepers wife prepared for us this morning,\" Zahtek says.
Kinoss adds, \" She says it will help us keep up our strength for our journey. Here have a roll.\" Kinoss passes one of the warm rolls to Trefalgr.
Dandor appears before the them. \"Eat quickly, you should be on your way within the hour.\"
As the three contiue to eat the barkeeper\'s wife\'s cooking, Trefalgr glances over at a lemur crawling thru the giant hole in the wall. Arrow nocted, he enters carefully.
\"Who is that,\" Trefalgr motions to the newcomer. \"He must be wondering what has happend. Plus he looks like he can fight maybe he can help us.\"
Trefalgr hops up and apporches the lemur. \"Hello there. I am Trefalgr. May I have the pleasure of your name?\"
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Zahtek, also seeing the lemur picks up his new demonsword, places it on his shoulder, and follows Trefalgr. He looks at the stranger and says, \"No need to notch your bow, friend. There\'s no more danger here. Besides, we\'ve taken much worse than you in the past few hours. Your arrows would only be a slight annoyance to us. Now put that down. There\'s a bit more stew if you want some.\"
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(OOC: I wonder if we should wait for him to introduce himself or should we induce a conversation....hmmm. I guess I\'ll wait for him to do it. Wormtail_ feel free to run both ends.)
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The Lemur jumped in surprise when someone popped out of nowhere and introduced himself as Trefalgr. Another man followed with a sword and told him to put his bow and arrow away. The Lemur put his bow and arrow down on the ground, and said, \"I apologize, friends, for the appearence of seeming to be ready to attack you. I was just being cautious, and now that I see that you are friends, I lay down my arms, or the ones I was wielding, as a gesture of peace. You can call me Rantal. What is your esteemed name, my friend?\" The last question was directed towards the man with a large sword. \"I also have my own food, but I thank you for the offer of food.\"
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Zahtek looks at Rantal and says, \"I am Zahtek the barbarian. This is Trefalgr, and that over there, is Kinoss\" he says pointing at Trefalgr and Kinoss in turn. \"Somewhere around here is an old wizard named Dandor. We\'re all about ready to leave on a very perilous journey. Seeing as you deign to wander into any innocent person\'s house or inn with your arrow drawn, perhaps you would like to come with us, perhaps put that bow and arrow to good use. Trust me, you will need it.\"
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\"I might as well join you three, seeing as there\'s nothing else for me to do. Perilous quests should always be exciting, even if someone ends up with a sword next to their neck. Even so, I would like to see what your quest is about. You see, I have a habit of barging into broken down buildings and seeing if anyone is fit for me to kill, either with an arrow or magic. What else are staves used for, anyway?\" Rantal said this while picking up his longbow and arrow, putting the arrow in his quiver and setting the longbow to his side. He then took out his staff and used it to support himself. He then said, \"We\'ll need provisions, money, and extra equipment, depending on how long we think the journey will be. By the way, what are the area\'s weather and inhabitants like, if you know? We can plan further with that information. The problem is getting the money for the provisions, unless one of us happens to be rich.\"
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\"Money shouldn\'t be a problem,\" Trefalgr says with reassurance. \"When you work for an entire kingdom, expences are good.\"
Trefalgr and Zahtek return to the table to finish up their meal. Rantal follows close behind but does not sit. He only stands and watches the other eat. Soon the meal is finished and all help with the clean up.
Dandor gathers them back at the table to discuss the journey.
\"Let us get right to it,\" Dandor says. \"The Kandali Temple lies far to the south. Now, it is obvious there is get power seeking the Haziknon. Someone that has control over vast demonic powers. And these demons don\'t seem to be able to handle the light. That is why you must seek shelter durning the night.\"
\"But don\'t you think that someone with that much power would have other agents beside demons,\" Trefalgr asks.
\"I am sure of that,\" Dandor replies, \" but I would rather face bandits than face a legion of demons. That is why you cannot move at night. If you were to fall prey to the demons, the Haziknon would be lost. And if it is as powerful as you say it is, I forsee that to be a dark situation.\"
\"I understand your point. We shall travel during the day and take shelter at night.\" Trefalgr turns to the others. \"We will head for the town of Letranech. I think a small village lies between here and there, we can get extra supplies there.\"
All agreed and the five adventures got on there horses and took to the road.
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While the group was riding their mounts along the road, Rantal said to the person he assumed to be Dandor, as there was no other possibility that the others were named Dandor, \"Please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is this... Haziknon you speak of? I hear you say the word of the object as everybody should know it, but I am afraid that I do not know what it is. From what I hear, the object is being sought by demons and their master, and we must destroy it. Please enlighten me on how we are to destroy it.\"
Rantal heard the speech about what they had to do clearly, and decided that if he were to spot an enemy, he would strike first rather than strike last. So he hung his magical staff (which had the ability to cast spells, but Rantal did not wish to waste energy on that unless absolutely necessary) at his side and attached it to his belt. He then took out his longbow and held it while hollding the reins, and wondered if he was an expert horseman and archer enough to shoot an arrow while riding a horse in motion.
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Dandor replies to Rantal, \"The Haziknon is an amulet within which abides one of many demonstones. Now, although these demonstones are plentiful, they are very rare within our world. They can be described as the essence of a greater demon. Like the creature\'s heart. If the stone is destroyed, the demon will vanish from existence. Now, you may wonder why a demon would risk its stone to someone else\'s possession. Although this is a very dangerous act for the demon, it can imbue him with immense power. I have not examined the properties of the Haziknon itself, but I suspect the amulet surrounding the stone acts as a medium for broadcasting the demon\'s power over a large area. The demon De\'oke had the potential to build a large army and gain vast amounts of power and wealth from this deal, at the risk of his own existence. Now that his existence is threatened, he is using his army. I suspect many of these demons are the polluted souls of those who lived in its reign. \" Dandor pauses for a moment and looks up. The sillhouette of his Pterosaur hangs in the air above. He pulls a small medalion from his tunic and blows into it. The pterosaur begins to lower itself. \"If you\'ll excuse me, I must check something. I\'ll return by nightfall, at the latest. If anything happens and you need me, blow this.\" He takes the medallion from his neck and hands it to Rantal. \"Now it\'s not magical, so don\'t expect an instant reply, but Tlemoth will hear it.\" When the Pterosaur is a few feet from Dandor, he grabs ahold of the creature\'s head and heaves himself up. He soars upward into the air and out of view. The horse he had been riding continues at the same pace, happy about its now lack of burden.
Zahtek looks up and says, \"Great. Now we\'re going to be attacked. Those demons were just waiting for him to--\" He loses his balance and falls off his horse onto his back. A moment later he stands up, screams a couple explitives, and runs after his horse. The others get a hearty laugh and he climbs back on his horse. The four adventurers and five horses continue on their way to Letranech.
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After a long while of riding their horses Kinoss pulls out a map and scans it for a brief while. \"There seems to be a small village just up ahead by the name of Nemorea, Im getting a little hungry maybe we could find a tavern in this village to eat in.\" Said Kinoss. \"I think you all are trustworthy with what my journey is, considering that you have told me of the great one we partake in currently. I have journeyed far and have mapped out many lands but the one thing I search for is the herb called lamaia. The reason for my desperate searches is to help my poor daughter who is fallen ill to a rare sickness. This herb is the only cure for her disease. There remains only one land that I have not yet visited and I have heard rumors of a plant that lies therein that is said to have amazing curative powers. I believe this plant I have heard rumors of is the same one I seek,\" Kinoss then let out a heavy sigh, \"I must get there as soon as I can, so I will leave your party soon and head that direction when the time comes that our paths separate. Until then I will help you to the best of my abilities. Oh, look! There it is, the town of Nemorea.\"
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As they approach the town, Zahtek says, \"We must not waste time here. Nemorea is much too small to protect us from a demon invasion. As long as we are here we endanger the lives of all the civilians. They are gaurded by nothing more than a loose militia. If we eat here, we still must make it to Letranech by nightfall.\" They ride into town and stop at the local inn, the Broken Mug. They tie up thier horses and three enter the inn. Zahtek walks away in another direction, unnoticed.
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On the inside of the tavern, Trefalgr approaches the bar. He motions to the barkeeper and orders an ale. Trefalgr proceeds to ask if and where a general store would be.
\"Yeah we got that. Head to the corner and you\'ll be in the square. It\'ll be along the north edge of it. The blacksmith will be along the eastern side,\" the barkeeper says with obvious country flare.
\"Thank you.\" Trefalgr tips up his mug of ale and lays it back on the bar. He drops a coin on the bar next to his mug and gets up. He walks over to Kinoss, who is studying a group in the corner playing a game of Truak. Trefalgr stops and takes up watching the strange game.
The game consisted of three players all being dealt nine tally chips with values ranging from -2 to 12. Out of these chips four are taken out of each players hand, two chosen by the player, two chosen by the player\'s neighbors. The discarded chips are then placed into a pile, shuffled and placed in the middle. The three players then are able to take two chips and discard one. The players try to get as close to 48 as possible without going over. Also getting an sequence is accepted. A sequence containing -1 is the best possible hand.
Trefalgr recognizes the game, but doesn\'t take as much interest in it as his friend.
Trefalgr taps Kinoss on the shoulder. \"I am going to run to the general store and blacksmith. I\'ll meet the two of you back at the horses once I am done.\" Trefalgr haults in realization. \"Speaking of the \'two\' of you, where has Zahtek gone?\"
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Rantal recieved the medallion and hung it around his neck while Dandor left the group. He then turned and joined the main party, which had just decided to enter a nearby village to get refreshments.
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Once he entered the town and tethered his horse next to the other three, he decided to head to the tavern to get some food, and even more food to package just in case. He ordered a drink and some salad, and decided to package some loaves of bread.
Once Rantal left the tavern, he heard Trefalgr say where he was going to Kinoss and himself. Rantal then heard the sudden exclamation of where Zahtek had gone. He said, \"I would think he would be back soon enough. As long as he doesn\'t get himself into any kind of trouble, we would be fine. We might need to either have someone look for him or just hope he turns up. What do you think?\" This last question was directed at all of the group members present.
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Seated nearby, a tall dermorian angled his head slightly at hearing Trefalgr\'s questioning voice: \"Where has Zahtek gone?\" The elf waited a while for a good time to slip into the conversation. He wore a dark green hooded cloak over his other garments, with the exception of a quiver which was filled to the brim with many kinds of arrows until it slightly resembled a pincushion. His clothes were weatherstained and greyed from long use, but the short sword tucked under his belt was still bright and clean. He set his longbow against the table as he listened to the Lemur reassure the rest of the group and then ask, \"What do you think?\" After a murmur of consent from the group, the dermorian rose from his seat. \"Forgive me for eaves dropping, but I must ask what exactly your missing friend spoke of on the path.\" The group recognized him as a passerby they had seen as they approached Nemorea. \"I heard him mention something about a horde of demons,\" the elf said in a low tone. \"It seems to me that you may have some interesting tales to tell.\"
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Kinoss finally comes to his sences and replies with a question as if he wasn\'t paying attention to anything else. \"What? Sorry, I was in deep thought. Hey, where did Zahtek go to? And who are you?\" Kinoss replies with and embarresed look as if everyone is about to laugh.
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Rantal looked around in surprise as the hooded figure suddenly joined the conversation. His surprise diminished to hopeless amusement as Kinoss suddenly seemed to pop out of some daydream he appeared to be having. He decided to answer both sets of questions by the hooded figure and Kinoss. \"... Well then, Kinoss, we were just discussing Zahtek\'s dissapearence, so you\'re not alone in wondering where he is. As for who this person here, we would like to know that as well. Now, who are you, sir? You seem like someone we may be able to trust as you told us openly you were eavesdropping as any ordinary spy would just walk away casually. Anyhow, I\'m not the one whose had any dangerous encounters with demons. We would, however, like to know about you first. It seems that you might have some interesting tales as well.\" Rantal, who currently had his longbow strapped to his back, fingered his staff nervously.
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\"Well, I guess I have time to tell you the story seeings how Zahtek may not be back for a while.\"
Trefalgr pulls up a chair across from Aruneko and proceeds to give him an overveiw about the events of last night. Aruneko listened with great intrest as Trefaglr described the battle with the demons.
\"Why were those demons attacking a tavern in the middle of nowhere,\" Aruneko interupted. I would think they were after something or someone.\"
Trefalgr lowers his vocie to little more than a wisper. \"You are correct. They were seeking something. I carry a powerful artifact of the kingdom of Luura. It is the demon amulet, Haziknon. I have been charged with it\'s destruction. And last night the one that seeks it sent his demon warriors to retrive it.\"
As Trefalgr told Aruneko about the situation, another group sitting at a near by table got up and approached them. There were four of them, three of them looked dirty, the fourth looked big and dirty.
\"Hey, you!\" One of the group yelled in Trefalgr\'s direction. \"We overheard you sayin\' you are carryin\' some sort of artifact. Well, we\'re gunna take that from ya.\"
\"What makes you think it will be that simple,\" Trefalgr says with a note of confidence.
\"Well, because Booga always makes situations like this simple,\" says the bandit as he motions towards the much larger one. Booga steps forward and pulls a large ax off of his back and lifts it high above his head. Trefalgr was quick to react. He unsheaths his longsword and swings it at the bandit\'s ax cutting the handle in half. The ax head falls to the floor as the bandit hualt in awe at the skill of the attack.
\"Maybe you should keep it. We don\'t need it that much anyway.\" And with that the four bandits bolted out the door.
Trefalgr resheaths his sword and sits back down at the table.
\"What was saying? Oh yes, about the Haziknon. My travellers and I would appeaciate any assistance you can give.\"
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Some shouts are heard outside and a minute later Zahtek runs into the inn.
\"Some men just rode off with four of our horses! One of them was a big fatso, and he\'s on my horse! Poor thing. I tried to stop em, but it\'s hard to outrun four terrified horses. Now what are we going to do? In any event, we\'d best be leaving. We must make it to Letranech tonight.\"
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\"Thank you for your trust,\" says Aruneko, \"...and forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Aruneko, an experienced hunter.\" He silently listens to Trefalgr\'s story and suddenly interrupts, questioning the purpose of the attack. \"I would think they were after something or someone.\" After a short explanation and a brief interruption from a couple of thugs, Trefalgr\'s story comes to an end. \"My travellers and I would appreciate any assistance you can give.\" Aruneko begins to reply but is cut short by Zahtek\'s yell. Aruneko stands and announces, \"Then I will come with you to Letranech, if you will allow it. Demons always make good foes.\" He turns to Zahtek, \"I assume you are Zahtek. My name is Aruneko. After a short discussion with your companions, I think I will join you on your quest. I am sure you have no objections?\"
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\"I don\'t have any objections to you joining us, sir. The more the merrier, as they say, although I\'m not sure who \'they\' are. Now, as our horses have been stolen from those thugs, which I presume are the ones that threatened us here, we must either follow them, which is nearly impossible, them being on mounts and us on foot, or we send someone of whom is swift in the air to follow them. Or we leave our horses at the mercy of the thugs and continue our quest immediatley. By the way, Dandor has given me something to summon him whenever trouble arose and we needed him. Should we summon him?\" Rantal was jumpy with nervousness, and he secretly preferred that the conversation have taken place in a private area, but that was in the past, and now was now. Rantal waited nervously for the other\'s responses.
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\"Zahtek is right, we must be on our way. I hope you have all you need with you, Aruneko, because we cannot wait for anymore preperation, what with our loss of horses. Hopefully we will find our horses but that is the least of our concerns. We leave now.\" With that Trefalgr heads towards the door where Zahtek stands. Trefalgr stops as he passes Zahtek and lowers his voice. \"Zahtek I appeatiate all your help, but if your intentions to aid me are true, do not leave me wondering where you have gone. Next time, I will presume you are gone. If you need to go somewhere, tell me. I cannot be left waiting, time is running out for me.\" Trefalgr regains his pace and walks out the door.
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Kinoss then rises to from his chair, swings his pack around his back, and says to Rantal, \"I think we shouldn\'t bother Dandor with a simple problem such as this, friend. I\'m sure you will get the chance to use Dandor\'s gift soon though.\" Once Kinoss gets outside the tavern he removes his pack and throws it to the side. He opens up his wings and fly to the top of the tavern to see where the thugs have gone. \"They head the the south! It seems that they have also stopped to bask in their illusions of success. It would take little time at all to reclaim our horses and teach these villans the art of true battle! heh heh!\" Kinoss shouted from the roof top.
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Aruneko grabs his longbow from the table and his backpack from the floor before following everyone else out of the tavern. \"I am ready,\" he says to Trefalgr, \"I\'ll catch up with you as soon as I retrieve my horse from the stables.\" With that Aruneko walked deeper into town and out of sight.
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Rantal followed the others out into the open. He was wondering what to do next when he heard Kinoss shout something about thugs basking in glory. He suddenly came up with an idea, and said, \"Maybe we should create an ambush with Aruneko as the bait, if he doesn\'t mind. Aruneko, as he has the only horse, will race out to get the thugs to chase him, by taunting, and will ride back to the city. There should be an ambush with the rest of us hidden away, and when the thugs reach the area we are to attack the thugs, we attaack them. If they attack us on horseback, then we must trip the horses and slaughter the thugs or shoot them on horseback. We should hide in those bushes along hte road over there,\" Rantal indicated to a clump of bushes near the southern road, \"and spring our ambush in between those. Or we can continue on without the horses, thereby not dealing the villains any justice. What do you say?\" Rantal took out his longbow and with his hand, hung them limply at his side, though ready to shoot if a command was shouted or given.
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Zahtek thinks for a moment and says, \"You know, it is getting late. Whether we attack the bandits and reclaim our horses, thus wasting a good deal of time, or continue on foot, I don\'t think we will make it to Letranech by nightfall. Also, I do not feel it would be right to submit the humble inhabitants of this small town to the wrath of a horde of demons. We must leave the vicinity of this town and get some rest while there is still a bit of daylight left. Tonight we will do battle, whatever we do, but I think it a bit of sleep first would be nice.\" He pauses for a moment, \"Oh, we do still have one of our horses. Look.\" He points to a horse standing a little ways out of town. \"Remember, we had five horses. They only took four. That one must have gotten away.\"
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Rantal considered the options carefully. If
they did attack the thugs and regain their
horses, it would help them gradually regain
their lost time than if they were on foot, and
it would aid them in the long run. The problem
was that the time for a battle was
unpredictable, and the fact that they were
cowards made mattesr worse if they simply ran
away. Unless they were drawn to them, like he
already suggested, by insulting them in some
way with a rider on either the fifth horse or
Arunekos horse. However, the time for a battle
might force them to rest in the town and
therefore cause destruction to it because the
demons were waiting for their chance to seize
the Haziknon.
After pndering for a while, Rantal then said,
\"I really think that we should eliminate the
thugs with an ambush as our horses will help us
in terms of speed and defense overall, and deal
justice to those lawless thieves. We can travel
in the night, with short intervals of sleep or
rest with a person on guard, different every
interval, and thus make our way to the next
city. The only problem is that of being
overwhelmed by the horde of demons, but we
might be able to outride them if our horses
aren\'t too tired. If we continue to the next
city now, we might not make it anyway, so we
can probably be able to forsake some time that
will be regained anyway. What do you think?\"
Rantal began fingering the medallion from
Dandor nervously after making his comment, but
not using the medallion in such a way as to
call him. Remembering Dandor, he added, \"Dandor
will probably be expecting us there, at the
city, by nightfall. Any ideas as to what to do
now?\"
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\"With those two horses I think we can pull this off.\" Trefalgr turns to the group. \"Rantal the ambush was your idea, you can help Aruneko be bait. You and Aruneko will ride by the bandits and since you have bows you can attack and run at the same time. Try not the kill anyone we only want to take our hourses back. We don\'t need to spill unnessicery blood. Kinoss, Zahtek and I will be waiting by that group of rocks and bushes there.\" Trefalgr points to a spot up the road a ways. \"When they get to us, they will be out numbered. Let us hope they don\'t want to fight after that. We don\'t have time for a full blown fight. Now, all we need is Aruneko to get back here.\"
-
The group waited silently for any sign of Aruneko\'s return. Within a few minutes to sound of hooves grew louder and soon Aruneko came up to them, riding a tall brown horse with a bright yellow mane. He came to a stop and jumped down from his mount. \"So, what\'s the plan?\" Aruneko asked, wondering why they had not already departed. Rantal came up to him and told him of his role in the upcoming battle. \"Any of them got bows?\" asked Aruneko.
-
\"As far as I could tell they are just a group of barbarous theives. And I could see no bows among them, just swords, axes, and maybe a few other small hand weapons.\" Kinoss stated.
-
Rantal said to Trefalgr, \"I will only be too glad to play an important part in my plan.\" He then mounted the horse, readied his longbow, and waited for Aruneko to join him and for the group to get into their positions. He began to think of suitable insults against a thug while the others got into position.
-
Swiftly moving into position behind the large group of rocks Kinoss sees a large leafy tree only a few feet away. Kinoss decides it would be a great advantage for him to be able to swoop down onto the enemy from the treetops than from behind a boulder. So Kinoss quickly runs to the tree and climbs it, while readying his halberd.
-
Zahtek stands for a moment and says, \"Well, if we\'re going to do this, we\'d better do it now. They won\'t be waiting there forever, and our time is limited as it is. Aruneko, Rantal, go!\" With that, he conceals himself in a hiding place and peers waits.
-
Rantal, already on his horse with longbow and arrow ready, says to Aruneko, \"Maybe we should focus on the huge thug over there, as he is probably the leader. We can also try to insult all of them at once. We could also ensure they pursuit us all the way by shouting a few insults over our backs at them.\" Rantal rode foward in front of the ambush with Aruneko, and prepared himself to ride to the \'outskirts\' of the \'territory\' where the thugs were currently at
-
Aruneko climbs back up onto his horse and prepares himself for the raid on the thugs. \"Will do,\" he replies to Rantal\'s advice. Aruneko puts his bow at his side. \"I\'m ready.\" Aruneko rides forward a little bit then looks back to check if everyone else is ready.
-
Rantal said nervously to Aruneko, \"I believe that everyone is ready. Perhaps we can lure them into the trap now.\" Putting his arrow back in his quiver, Rantal held the horse\'s reins and had his horse trot foward a few feet. His right hand held the reings, his left, the longbow. He looked back to check if Aruneko was ready to perform his part in the plan, as well as everybody else. Rantal felt that he himself certainly was ready; Aruneko, Kinoss, and Zahtek seemed to be ready. Trefalgr, however, still had to place himself in a hidden area within the ambush area.
-
Zahtek sees Trefalgr standing out in the open, apparently confused. He grabs him by the neck and pulls him into hiding. Looking at his face, he says, \"Aaah, he musta dozed off, the poor buggers asleep. I don\'t blame him , with all this stress and all.\" He lies Trefalgr down behind him, hidden from view to the outside and prepares to ambush.
-
Rantal snorted with laughter as Zahtek dragged Trefalgr, of whom was apparently asleep, into a hiding place. He then turned to Aruneko and said, \"Well, we might as well get going then.\" Rantal dug his heels into the spurs of the horse the horse galloped foward, into the unwary and jubilant thugs. Or so they seemed, celebrating over the capture of the horses.
Rantal kept riding foward, alone, and had his horse halt in the plain view of the thugs. He yelled in a drunken tone to get their attention, \"Oi, bad men! Gimme dose horsies and me will not eat you.\' The thugs stopped whatever they were doing to stare at Rantal. Rantal looked around nervously to see if Aruneko was nearby and ready to be bait.
-
Aruneko rode up near Rantal with a confused and worried look on his face. He stopped his horse next to Rantal\'s and said in a voice low enough to seem discreet yet loud enough for the bandits to hear it, \"Come on, no more beer for you. We must hurry if we want to get the jewels to the merchant\'s guild on time.\" The bandits exchanged glances for a moment, then turned back to Rantal and Aruneko with grinning faces.
-
Rantal said to Aruneko in the same drunken and boisterous voice, \"No mor ber for I? Neber! Dets go to de lltle shopkeeping peeps zo oi can have me ber.\" Turning his horse and feeling really stupid, he began riding towards the ambush area, singing in a drunken tone. The song was too, ahem, pathetic to describe. Rantal did not look back to see if the banits were following, seeing that he was playing the part of an idiot. To be polite.
-
Rantal walked his horse past Aruneko, saying something in a drunken tone which Aruneko couldn\'t decipher. Aruneko looked back and forth between the bandits and Rantal nervously, and began going towards Rantal. The bandits were untying their horses in a failed attempt to be silent and secretive, trying not to startle their \"victims\" into thinking they would attack. Aruneko and Rantal were fairly far away when the bandits leapt on their horses and charged after them as the leader followed with a loud war cry. Aruneko spurred his horse on towards the ambush area, eager to get it over with.
-
Rantal raced after Aruneko on his horse, yelling in the same drunken tone, \"Masta, masta, waitsa up, me wanna fulluw yu wethout habing to go fasly!\" Pretending to be oblivious of the thugs, he looked around stupidly when the bandit leader yelled out a warcry. Rantal then took out his staff, though at the expense of slowing down his horse, The thugs were chasing the two, and they neared the ambush area... Closer and closer they came... Rantal wondered whether the ambushers would not have to have any signal to spring the ambush.
-
Aruneko at last came to the ambush area with the bandits a good deal behind, but still in plain view. He turned and stopped, knowing he could not go any farther or the ambush would fail. He called to Rantal to make it seem as if he was waiting for his drunken companion. \"Come on, come on...\" he muttered, directing it toward both Rantal and the ambush party nearby. The bandits were right at Rantal\'s heels as they both approached the ambush area.
-
Rantal continued riding on, not knowing how close the bandits were behind him. A quick look behind nearly made him jump a few feet into the air. They were right behind him, with murderous looks in their eyes. In fact, he could even see what color the leading bandits eyes were. They were red. Rantal was more interested in the waving axes, daggers, and swords waving in the air. Rantal continued riding foward, atempting to make his horse go faster, and he saw Aruneko halt, apparently waiting for him. Rantal continued riding foward, and after a minute of being chased after, he was next to Aruneko and tried to halt his horse, but the momentum of the horse forced him to keep going on. The thugs followed, intent only on the drunken Lemur, and the jewelry. They were, after all, chasing the same target in close quarters for a few minutes.
-
As the bandits rode by Zahtek took aim and chucked his demon broadsword at the last one, slicing his head clean off. The rest of the bandits chased Rantal, not even noticing their fallen comrad. Rantal and the bandits rode past the ambush area. Rantal appeared to be genuinely afraid. And genuinely drunk. Zahtek watched as Rantal rode away and sat, baffled. He went out to get his broadsword and saw Rantal raiding back with the bandits at his back. He grabbed his broadword and dived into the bushes. \"Rantal better stop this time,\" he thought.
-
While riding back, Rantal noticed a severed head lying on the road. He had no time to wonder about it with several thugs aat his back. Or so it seemed. This time, Rantal thought, I will have to jump off my horse. Oh boy Rantal did as he planned. Or close to it. While heading back to Aruneko, he said in a genuinely drunken tone, \"Masta, me sorry me rode da horsie away. Me coming back now.\" While doing so, he had his horse stop next to Aruneko. He then jumped off and fell over in a drunken manner, due to his dizziness of riding a horse at high speeds. The horse, meanwhile, looked dizzy as well. The thugs were now within the ambush area. Rantal said, \"Owie.\" He tried to be oblivious to the thugs. It was not easy.
-
Aruneko backed up his horse a little and jumped down. He went over to Rantal and acted as if he was trying to coax Rantal to get up. He murmured to Rantal, \"Get ready.\" The thugs were only a couple hundred feet away. Aruneko prayed silently that the ambush party would be prepared...
-
Rantal sat up dizzily and nodded in a drunken manner as if Aruneko was succeeding somewhat in coaxing him. He noticed that the ambush party was not doing anything... yet... And the thugs were within the circle. Rantal muttered to Aruneko, \"Should we attack the thugs or get ready to run?\" Rantal pulled over his horse and lay next to the horse, still using his disguise as a drunken idiot, although he kept his ears open for Aruneko\'s reply. The thugs were meanwhile coming closer... Rantal wondered again if the ambush would succeed.
-
The thugs rode up to them as Aruneko muttered to Rantal, \"Attack.\" Aruneko helped Rantal to his feet and braced himself for the oncoming bandits. He did not have to wait long. They charged up at them, concentrating only on their next kill, oblivious to the ambush party. Aruneko pulled out his bow and put an arrow to the bowstring, and the bandits began to show some caution. They began to surround Aruneko and Rantal, unaware that they were also surrounded...
-
As Rantal got to his feet, he heard Aruneko mutter, \"Attack.\" The next thing he noticed was that they were surrounded by the thugs, and they, in turn, were surrounded by the ambush party. He also noticed Aruneko with an arrow fitted in his bow. Rantal thought, Methinks I will cast spells this time.... Rantal took out his staff, and pointing the head towards who he assumed to be the bandit leader (in his drunken tone), \"Come eeny beet cleser and me will blest ye in ta itsy bitsy pieceys.\" He began running through every spell in his head he knew, and settled on blasting itsy bitsy ice shards (only around 5 centimeters long and with a sharp point, and about 3-5 at that) at the thug leader. Rantal wondered what the thug would do. The thugs laughed at what seemed to be a threat. Especially from what seemed like a genuinely drunken idiot carrying a staff... with runes carved on.
-
Trefalgr watches as the thugs surround his companions. He glances over to Zahtek and gives him a look that spoke, \"Now!\"
The two warrior jump from behind the bushes and charge for the group of thugs. As Rantal and Aruneko stand between the imposing men, they here the charge of their companions. Trefalgr jumps at one of the thugs and places the point of his longsword directly into the the thug\'s spine. Rantal jumps as the tips of Trefalgr\'s sword punches thru the other side of the thug\'s chest. Trefalgr quickly withdraws his sword to parry another thugs hand ax. Trefalgr hooks the curve of the ax and yanks it clean from the thugs hand. With a quick kick, the thug drops to the ground. Zahtek was keeping up with Trefalgr, as he had killed and tripped two thugs as well. Zahtek delivers a killing blow to the thug he had fallen. Trefalgr stops and picks up the hand ax he had knock out of the thugs hand. With his longsword in one hand and the ax in the other, he says, \"We now out number you, you stand no chance against us. Withdraw and we will kill you no more.\"
With that, the remaining thugs fled into the nearby forest.
\"Let us be off, night will be upon us soon and our destination isn\'t getting any closer.\" With that Trefalgr gives out a wistle. One of the horses perks it\'s ears at the call. The horse trots over to it\'s master.
\"You can\'t go running off with strange men like that, Maria.\" With that, Trefalgr mounts his horse and trots on ahead a couple hundred feet.
-
Rantal was wondering what the ambush party was doing when a couple seconds later, they popped out of various places. He was startled at their sudden appearence, and when Trefalgr, who was apparently not asleep, stabbed a thug and the sword point poked through, Rantal jumped and accidently dropped his staff. Zahtek took care of another, and Trefalgr said something that made the thugs flee. Still trembling slightly out of nervousness, he picked up his staff and headed over to his horse as he heard Trefalgr scold his horse. Rantal mounted his horse after picking it out from the tiny horde, and then had his horse gallop foward to catch up with Trefalgr. He asked, \"So, what should we do now? We can\'t stay in the town or risk endangering it, and camping out will place us in danger of being attacked by demons in the night. Without a sentry and hordes of anti-demon armies. I think we should ride foward towards the next well defended city through the night with occasional breaks and post sentries each rest, different each time. What do you think?\"
-
Aruneko, still a little shocked and very relieved at the battle\'s easy and quick resolution, slowly went to his horse and mounted. He rode up between Rantal and Trefalgr and listened to Rantal\'s suggestion. \"Sounds good to me,\" Aruneko said. He looked back and saw the rest of the group following behind on horseback, then turned to face Trefalgr. \"Do you by any chance know the numbers or strength of the demon horde that plagues us?\"
-
Who ever is the main dude for this $hit. Get me into this crap, i need something to do during 4th hour :P
-
(OOC: To tasadar: You should post that sort of question in the Trefalgr\'s Secret OOC thread. However, since you did post here, I will answer you here. NO. You can\'t join. For reasons, ask at the OOC thread.)
Zahtek wipes his blade clean on the shirt of a bandit corpse and walks over to the others. \"We can\'t make it to Letranech today,\" he says, \"Look at the sun; we have only two hours, tops. My suggestion is that we leave the vicinity of Nemorea, so as to not cause these civilians any grief. Once we are safely out of range, we should find a sheltered area such as a cave or a cliffside so we can have our backs to a wall and not be surrounded. Then we should set up a defense and post two or three sentries at a time.\" He pauses for a moment and then says, \"As for your question, Rantal, the demons seem to be unlimited. They just keep coming. There surely is an end to them, but we would have to fight for weeks to see it.\" Zahtek shieths his sword and walks up to his stout horse, whose late rider had been decapitated in the first run and hops on. \"Let\'s go. Time is one thing we haven\'t too much of.\"
-
Rantal shrugged. \"Well, you happen to know more about things than Aruneko and I do. But perhaps once we are out of the vicinity of Nemorea, we might have trouble looking for a sheltered area. So perhaps we can use your idea first, but if we find no nearby sheltered areas, then perhaps we can then use my suggestion. However, a good night of rest is always good to have. Anyway, how are we to inform Dandor of our trouble? He\'ll probably be at the next city by nightfall, so we might want to summon him sooner or later. But we can discuss things while riding, though perhaps not as efficiently. And I do have the medallion that Dandor gave me, by the way.\" Rantal attached his staff to his belt, and rode foward a couple of feet.
-
\"Too many perhapses,\" Aruneko muttered under his breath. \"Do they even have a destination or are they simply running away?\" Aruneko paused a while in thought, then he remembered what Rantal had been saying. \"Who is Dandor, and what\'s so important about his medallion?\" he asked.
-
Rantal said, \"Actually, I\'m not too sure of who he is, either. However, he is a wizard with many abilities, and seems to be very wise. Trefalgr must know more about him than I do, as well as Kinoss. The medallion is to summon him to our aid, if we get into any kind of trouble. He rides a pteasaur, by the way, so don\'t shoot any flying people coming towards us unless there it is not a pteasaur.\" Rantal fiddled with the medallion of Dandor.
-
\"I know as much about Dandor as you do,\" Trefalgr spoke back over his shoulder as he rode along. \"I met him at the inn the morning after I met Zahtek and Kinoss. All I know about him is that he fights for my cause. Speaking of such things, I think we shall need Dandor\'s help before the next dawn\'s break. When the sun touches the horizon, we shall search for a shealter. Kinoss, you seem to be the map maker, do you have any of this region? If so, it they might give us more of an idea where to make for.\"
-
Kinoss then pulls his pack over his shoulders to look through its contents. After a while of searching he pulls out a map that seems to have some information of the area that they are in. \"This is quite interesting!\" Said Kinoss with a excited voice, \"Amazingly there is an abandon fort nearby that is walled with stone. This would be an ideal place to rest for the night.\" Kinoss said as he began rolling up the map and putting it back into is pack. \"It lies only a few miles Southeast of here.\"
-
After a little less than half an hour the party spot the fort in the distance. As they approach the fort a powerful wind begins to blow and a flock of black birds gathers over head. The flock lowers to the ground and forms into the body of a man, cloaked in a dark robe. Only his glowing eyes are visible beneath the robe and he clutches a gnarled staff in his left hand. Aruneko draws his bow and shoots at the figure, but the wind tosses the arrow aside, useless. Zahtek holds up his arm and says, \"Don\'t shoot. He\'s a friend.. or something..\"
\"There is powerful magic working against you,\" the figure speaks in a sinister, raspy voice, \"These walls already house the enemy from which you wish to flee. There is no escape now. You will fight, and all the good creatures of the night shall fight along side you.\" As he speaks, the sun sinks below the horizon, only a slight light remains. As the darkness envelopes the world, the figure seems to grow in power and size. The wind increases and the figure raises his hand slowly into the air. As he does, all sorts of nocturnal creatures leap from where they had been hiding and surround the party, eyes glowing with an unnatural power.
\"These are your guardians. They will fight with you to their death... or yours, but I will see to it that the numbers of demons slain far surpasses your own casualties, whatever the end be.\" With that, the Ravenmaster crouches down and leaps a good thirty meters over the fort\'s walls. The unnatural wind ceases with the Ravenmasters departure. The screech of a dying demon is heard, immediately followed by the sounds of a feroucious brawl behind the walls. The second battle has begun.
-
Rantal jumped in surprise as a mysterious figure popped out of nowhere, gave them a message, and vanished. He said, \"Well, that was odd... Say, how many creatures do we have here? I\'m thinking of another strategy, but I can\'t think properly unless I know our strength and theirs. I don\'t want to rush into their traps; I want them to rush into ours. Okay, maybe this is another ambush, but why not? Still, lets each command a certain number of animals so we can lure, trap, ambush, harass, and so on to the demons. What do you say?\" Rantal took out his longbow and notched an arrow to the string. He preferred fighting at as much of a distance as possible, and the longbow had the longest range out of all his weapons, which were namely spells. He dismounted as well.
-
\"I don\'t know anything about these...\" Aruneko glanced at the variety of creatures, their bodies illuminated by their glowing eyes, \"...things... But I do know we\'d best hurry. Whoever is fighting over there will need as much help as they can get.\" Aruneko grimly drew another arrow from his quiver and fit it to his bowstring. \"We will have no way of knowing the enemy\'s strength, but no matter how strong they are we\'ll have to fight them. Lets just get this battle over with, and hope for the best.\"
-
As various members of the party situated themselves and looked about nervously, Zahtek jumped off his horse, grabbed his sword in his right hand and his horse\'s reigns in his left and ran towards the wall of the fort, yelling, \"We may as well get as defended as possible!\" He turned around to see what the others were doing and screamed, \"Kinoss, get down.\" He threw his demonsword through the torso of the first attacking demon. The corpse fell on top of Kinoss, knocking him off his horse. A second demon screeched as a pack of raccoons pounced on it where it hid in the grass. \"Where are they coming from?!\" Zahtek yelled, running to retrieve his sword from the fallen demon. Before he could make it a third demon leaped from below him. He punched it in the face, but immediately two more tackled him. A moment later, about thirty demons popped up from the grass surrounding the party. The fight was on.
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(OOC: This doesn\'t mean that this was all that had happened during that time. Aruneko was not the only one who acted, but I\'m only including his actions in my post.)
Aruneko instantly fired an arrow into the back of one of the demons attacking Zahtek and drew another from his quiver. Their gaurdians met the charging demons head on, though they were more annoying to them than they were deadly. Aruneko fired another into the same demon and it stopped moving, but a moment after he was knocked to the ground by a demonic claw. Aruneko slashed his blade out at the demon\'s feet and rolled to the side. He rose and dodged a punch from his attacker, and swiftly thrust his knife deep into the demon. It raised its hand to strike again, but was stopped by the fierce attack of a rather large owl. Aruneko swiftly tore his knife away and cleanly slashed the demon\'s head off, and the corpse fell. It was soon replaced by another demon, and the large group surrounding everyone was now closing in. Aruneko felt unsure that they would survive.
-
Rantal, seeing a demon for the first time, felt unsure of what to do. As his strength was in magic, and not in hand-to-hand fighting, he decided to use his strengths to cover his weakness. He concentrated on using his Magical powers to their extent. So Rantal concentrated on something, and out of his staff came a sudden blast of white light, affecting those within a few feet and facing the source.
Rantal, thinking that was not the best of ideas, threw one of his hands to protect his eyes. Several nearby demons were thrown back a few paces, as well as a nearby cat and other such creatures. Two demons were not happy with that. They charged at Rantal. Rantal cursed siilently as he threw his magical bag to the ground and prepared to cast another spell. He then realized painfully that his first spell was battlefield wide, although those closest to him and facing him were affected the most. Rantal sighed as he also realized that about a third of his energy that was free was sapped. It was so sudden, that he felt weak. He prepared to cast a spell to deter the advance of the two charging demons, or to at least damage them. The nocturnal guards, though, were to be helpful, as several bats flew past his head...
-
Zahtek, seeing Rantal\'s immidiate danger, kicked the demon he was fighting in the chest and rushed to help his newist comrade. He easily mowed down to demons during his charge. As he rushed up behind one of the two demons approaching Rantal, he felt a searing pain in his left shoulder and fell forcefully to the ground. He looked up in time to see the demonlord whose sword he had stolen, weilding a two-pronged spear. The demon grabbed Zahtek by the neck and lifted him into the air. Zahtek swung his sword at the demon\'s throat, but the it was deflected by the two-pronged spear. The demon threw Zahtek into the air and caught him through the stomach with the spear on the way down.
One of the demons approaching Rantal was deterred by a pack of raccoons, and as the second one neared, he was knocked unconcious by mad swing of Rantal\'s club. However, the demons only seemed to be increasing. Suddenly, from above a high-pitched screech was heard. There was a blinding flash of light, and an explosion. A mob of demons flew into the air in pieces. A giant winged reptile and its rider landed on the ground. Some demons actually fled, but all were noticably afraid.
-
The winged monster and its rider settled to the ground. It stared at the adventurers, and drew a sword that pulsed bloodred. It urged its mount forward, chanted in an unidentifiable tongue, and rode its mount forward toward the adventurures. The remaining demons followed it, unearthly battle cries ripping the air. A battlecry just as unearthly as the demons\' answered it, and the kran eating some of the stones lining the walls heaved rocks at the twenty or so demons. The rocks crushed three of them and sent the rest diving for cover.
The rocks ceased, and the demons stood back up, only to see an enraged kran shaking the earth as it charged at them. It held a mace that could not have weighed less than seventy pounds. The demons stood their ground. The kran pounded into their midst and spun around, mace out. Demons flew through the air, and the swords slashing at the kran only appeared to make him angrier. A magical storm of crystals spun about it, plinking off of its skin. Eight demons fell before the rest began to run. Three more fell before they managed to make it away.
The kran turned toward the lizard and its rider, and pounded after it.