153 replies to this topic

[Queztatlapoca]

"Umm...I'm not quite sure...we should be at the northern most point of the forest..."
Looking to the top of the trees at their back he confirmed where they were
"Yes, yes you see the rather large and unkempt nest in the canopy. They belong to a bird local to the northern peak of the darkwood. They are eagle's nests"
"So I have done my part, and since i don't happen to know much of what goes on outside the forest someone else should lead from here on out."

[Mizukage]

"oh, great, were somewhere far away from where we started, thank you for that information. with the sun setting i think we can get another hmmm, 7 miles in before we hit dark, i think we should make the most of it"

I look at the motley crew surrounding me, they all seem worn out from the days adventure, or maybe i just don't care

"badtouch? you got lead, we have made excellent time so we shouldn't have to hide our presence anymore, the peddler can take second, boy? you stay close to the old guy and I'll follow up, maintain your intervals and stay ready, we aren't out of this yet. well? lets go!"

[Megell]

((Ah yes, and miguels saddistic side starts to finally come through. ))

?The name is Miguel, Not the peddler?. Miguel said with his typical two-faced nature. Other then to himself, he would just seem as if he was just being happy, polite and correcting, but in reality he was rather irritated. He didn?t trust this mans judgement, not in the slightest, anyone who was foolish enough to make any enemy like Talien was a little oblivious to the obvious nature of the order of the world. This trip was starting to become more and more intresting then the fish things he had seen earlier.

Miguel stretched up his arms into the sky and yawned, he felt a little off after his escapades in the woods a few days prior, he was just happy that these miscreants hadn?t found the body of the ape thing, even though the odds of them tying it too him if they did find it were one-thousand to one. He realized that he would however have to play the game like always, making the valuable business friends so he could control all the cards. Also he needed some allies, he realized that this Felixe, or so the wanted posters had labelled him, was going to be a problem, but only in the smallest sense. That was of course until he got to any safe town, then he would personally make sure to use his influence to destroy him further for being so rude. He turned his attention to the sky and smiled, other then Eli ?the wretched little thing?, no one would be able to tell how it had an almost sadistic twist to it. Yet, he would need to wait a little longer for some death dealing, he needed the protection that this group would offer. That though depressed him a bit.

?Never mind he though,? the sigh of his emotions briefly passing onto his face, He would just have to rough it for a bit. Hanging his head in depression, he crossed to the front of the group and placed his arm around the other character that had joined them in the woods like an old friend, and began to hang off him similarly to how a child would. A big, toothy grin was on his face as he spoke to this woods? thing, ?So you seem like an interesting guy?, he said in a loud tone, ?That?s cool, suppose you know your way around these parts.?

[Queztatlapoca]

As the fool put an arm around him the druid simply looked at Miguel. Their was no emotion detecable on the druid's face but his eyes spoke of an untimely death.
"If you would so kindly remove your arm from me i will not have to remove it from you"
"And you are not the boy, you fool, listen AND think before you act, now go take the second spot and ask not of what i know again or you will learn more about me than you would like"
His left hand then slowly went to his sword hilt hanging on his right hip simply to be foolish and frighten the scoundrel.
"Let us away"

[Megell]

Taking immediately the look of seriousness in the mans eyes, and whole putting his hand to the sword thing, Miguel decided it would probably be best at this point too discharge the scene from any actual violence.

Miguel let a hurt look pass onto his face; it displayed what could be viewed as a cross between ?ouch that hurt?, to ?why can?t we all just get along?? ?What? We can?t be friends?? Miguel said, he sounded much similar to a small child in tone then anything else. Giving the honest opinion out that the old mans comments had hurt him. ?Holding onto the mans arm and still grasping it like a child he began to become very teary eyed and disappointed. ?But I really wanted to be friends!?

Miguel at this point was falling of mans arm in a big comical scene, over dramatized in his usual manner. Streams of tears running down his face, he allowed himself to be dragged along as the old man continued awkwardly on.

[Queztatlapoca]

"GET OFF OF ME!!!" The man commanded as he then tried to deliver a swift kick to whining thing's ribs.
"You are not a child, and if you keep that up i WILL kill you! Understand?"
"I do not feel sympathy for irksome fools who are better of feeding the worms"

[Megell]

Miguel saw the shift in balance much before the kick was even close to being delivered. He pulled himself rapidly up and used the man?s own arm as his catapult to launch himself up and out of the way of the kick and back onto his feet. Making sure that a small sapling was in the way of the blow. When the kick actual came, it passed about three inches off and struck the little tree shattering it to bits. Most would of viewed it as a near hit, but in this situation it was actually a large margin. Miguel at the same time stepped backwards in a stumbling pattern, making it look more like a fluke then an actual dodge.

He also made sure to put a look of alarm and surprise on his face like he hadn?t seen it coming, he wanted to keep as much of his tricks and traps a secret as humanly possible. He offered up his hands in surrender and said; ?I don?t think that tree will be bothering anyone else anytime soon.? He lowered his hands and put them into his pockets casually, grabbing onto a ball of adamantine thread, as strong as a foot of steel yet as thin and as flexible as thread. He would put it too use if things got out of hand here. He let a small amount of the thread hang out of the percipient of his pocket, all he would have to do was run and attack it to a tree or something and the situation would most likely then end in everyone here dead? other then himself.

?Well?, he continued his tone still somewhat childish, ?I just figured we could all be buds here, we currently all could do with each others benefit. So I suppose that we should at least be civil to one another. Its not like you guys could actually complete this task without me, and like wise Its unlikely that I?ll make it through this area without some body guards.? Miguel left two parts unmentioned. How he could be of help to them, which he knew they would ask, and also he left the part that he would survive without them anyways, but the extra help they offered still would be beneficial.

He sat down cross-legged in his usual manner, crossing his arms across his chest again like a temperamental child. He then switched over to a more smug tone. He continued to go on, ?You are all so naive, thinking that any lord would give such a group like you, commoners an audience, its ludicrous. They won?t waste there time to listen to such an outlandish story from nobodies, you need someone with political teeth to get you into that chamber before its too late.?

((Edit; as a side note, please remember that other then mizi character, not many people would know of his high end status in the world. So keep that in mind.))

[Queztatlapoca]

"Commoner?" That put a wide smile on his face "You think i am common? Ha!" He then threw his head back and let his arms hang at a fourty-five degree angle. His eyes whited over and he began rising off the ground. The clear sky suddenly went overcast blocking out the sun. Winds started coming in at every angle. The old mans skin began to crawl and writhe and twitch. It looked as though he was turning inside out. But what came out was a massive swarm of insects. Locusts, scarabs, cicadas, every bug imaginable. It swirled up and around flying around Miguel not harming him but blocking his sight completely for a few seconds. It then returned to the original spot and condensed itself firmly into the shape of a man hovering off the ground. Skin grew over the swarm along with a robe. The druid then settled slow back to the ground, pigment returning to his eyes, the wind died as suddenly as it started and the clouds thined out.

"That, fool, is not common. I also believe it or something like it would get the attention of the nobles"

He then picked up his sword that fell away from him during the transformation and hung it from his sword belt.

[Megell]

Miguel never one flinched. He watched as the bugs swarmed around him, merely grasping onto a small hip flask that he had in his item bag. If his foe even tried to use that against him, his bugs would quickly become a little deader. Miguel rubbed his face in utter distress as the swarm cleared; the message just wasn?t getting through to these people. He would have to explain it in layman?s terms as the bugs returned to the man, he continued, ?You really don?t get out of this neck of the woods too much do you? All right let me put this simply enough, you are common, all of us here are. Sure you can do a few fancy tricks with bugs, but when it comes down right too it, the lords generally have mages, swordsmen, negotiators and a thousand other retainers that are tens of times more powerful then us.? A bead of sweat began to form on Miguel?s cheek. Explaining was actually forcing him to lose his cool. He had to continue however, ?thus you pull that kind of display in front of them and they think that you a threat and kill us all. End game. However if we don?t show our fangs then they ignore use unless?? a smile crossed onto Miguel?s face, ?unless we have a bigger bartering chip?.

[Kinewa]

Watching, calmly waiting for the opportune moment, a yellowed set of eyes lay hidden behind the ruins of a burnt down home.

"Come, come, come, by beauties. You are in my world now."

She observes, almost laughingly, as the humans argue amongst themselves. She loves chaos oh so much. She loves it almost as much as she loves the paladin among them, his very being emanating goodness. Receding into the shadows for now, she sends out a low whistle. It sounds like that of a mourning bird, lost and alone. As the rustling from the grass behind her grows louder, she slips into the shadows. Her time will come.

As Miguel and the druid held a lively if not disturbing conversation, Eli kept a safe distance. He could sense resentment for the merchant and didn't want to be caught in the middle of a fight. Wandering slightly to the side of the party, he realized that they had long since left the forest behind. They were in a grassy area now, where the ragged, sun-browned plants reached higher than his head.

As Eli studied his surroundings further, he could barely make out the top of a stone chimney over the grass, no more than twenty feet away. He was considering telling someone else, possibly Leon, when something jumped out at him.

The boy began to scream, but was cut off when the full weight of the creature hit his chest, knocking the wind out of him. It looked at first like a dog, but its muzzle was broader and had no fur. The animal had bones covering its body, as though it had been turned inside-out by some cruel demigod. Underneath the bones was leathery red skin. As Eli attempted to avoid its fearsome teeth, he could hear other creatures like it lunging towards the party.



[DM's Notes]
To avoid confusion regarding the appearance of these creatures, why don't you Pokemon fans imagine a group of Houndooms. [/DM's notes]

[Rytiko]

Silence was a subtle charm. One that could be exorcised easily in place of anger. Leon did not often practice such a thing, but as far as he could tell, there was no other way to cope with these idiots. All of them were idiots except for the child, of all people. What the hell had this world come to? Thinking he never should have left the metropolis in which he was raised, he ignored everything. It was the easiest way to avoid cutting the arrogant merchant to pieces... He hated his kind. He hated the one who had dubbed himself their leader. He even hated the old druid for one reason or another. These people meant nothing to him, acting so foolishly. Why was he trying to help them??

A scream and a snarl later, he remembered why. It was instinct, after all - to protect and serve. It was his nature. He had been raised as a knight and he would live as a knight, regardless of whether or not he belonged to any Lord. Swinging his torso around and allowing his legs to follow in the momentum, Leon internally rejoiced as he heard the sound of the blade being torn from its scabbard upon his back. He would be 'Sir Badtouch' no longer.

Not underestimating the deformed beast for an instant, he let his blade shine a blinding white as he rushed forward. Lunging with both hands upon the hilt of the shining sword, he launched his slender body from the ground and prepared to impale their assailant. The rest of the bests that he had seen when he turned around would come to them. If their leader had any intelligence about him what-so-ever, he would order the group to funnel them in towards himself or Lean, giving them no way to run but back the way they came from. A test of command ability would surely be interesting, and as Leon removed his blade from the beast and let it collapse, he awaited orders from their self-proclaimed leader.

((Meh, my posts are getting pathetic. Dunno what my problem is... I'll just blame it on writer's block for now, I guess.))

[Queztatlapoca]

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere a pack of demons appeared in their midst. Reacting as quickly as his old muscles would allow him the druid confronted the closest beast bounding at him. Claming himself and closing his eyes he focused on the ground in front of him as the thing leaped at him. The earth under the soaring dog-thing rapidly became a stone spike that shot up and through the hellhound. When he opened his eyes he saw the mut impaled by a stone pillar, its face a foot from his own. Drawing his sword then, he looked around and spotting the skinny, sword wielding fellow he jogged over to him.
"These things are not animals from this world... or else they have no mind i can communicate with, tell me quickly have you seen the boy?"

[Kinewa]

Eli screamed as the creature snapped at his cheeks, its fangs dripping with foam. Hot tears streamed down his face (or was that blood?) and he wheezed in attempts to regain his breathe. Suddenly, as his attacker lunged at the boy's ear, tearing it off with a twist of its head, he regained his ability to scream.

And scream he did. The searing agony nearly paralyzed him, and black spots grew from the edges of his eyes. Before long he was blind, and completely lost to his surroundings. He reverted, his consciousness only existent in the back of his mind. All was dark and all was silent.

[Mizukage]

A shock, these beasts were. targeting Eli as they did. I quickly throw a pair of knives at the beast attacking the boy, hitting just hard enough to divert it from destroying the boy's face. A quick look around and he saw the knight finish an alpha, the druid impale a flanker and four more creatures bounding up the road.

Assessing the situation I shout "Merchant! Attend to the boy! Druid! put up a wall around you three! Badtouch! your with me! quickly!"

With that I run forwards and up the stone spire and leap over the approaching creatures, throw a knife at all four, killing two instantly Critical hits! and injuring a third and land behind them, hoping to draw thier attention long enough for thew meatshield to do his job.

[Rytiko]

Doing as he was ordered, Leon followed his lead. With two suprisingly well placed dagger attacks, he saved the boy that Leon had been unable to immediately see, and even took down a couple of the oncoming hounds. The other two were left to him, and he was in a particularly blunt mood - Charging his blade with light once more, he threw a rather unnecessary amount of energy into slicing clean through the non-wounded hound that approached him. Smiling at his display of power, cutting straight through the beast's exoskeleton, Leon had to do naught more but slash the blade upward into the throat of the slowly approaching wounded hound after a short few steps forward.

Now was time to address the brief noise he had heard before the assault. "Bandit, I'm going to check out a noise I heard in the house - Make sure everyone is safe!" he shouted as he made a dash for the burnt rubble. He was sure he had heard something over their bickering - if he was correct, he just may find the source of this attack.

((Kinewa, I'm not sure if you meant that the woman disappeared or not. I'm assuming she did, but I'm unsure. Please clarify in your next post.))

[Mizukage]

'hmpf, bandit indeed' I survey the horizon, looking for new threats and call to the now obviously capable knight

" give a shout if you require backup!"

I return to the party and gather my weapons nonchalantly, making sure the beasts were dead as i go.

The boy had lost an ear and the wound was bleeding profusely, the peddler was nowhere near his side.

'if you want something done right you have to do it yourself I guess.'

I hurry to the boy's side and pull out a set of flasks and vials, including a skin of water.

a quick look at the teeth of the beast informed me that the wound would grow infected, but wouldn't trouble the boy, if i could stop the bleeding.

Opening some of the vials I pour a mix of medicine onto a strip of cloth, then, washing the wound in some water i pour the salt on and tie the poultice around the lost ear.

"keep strong boy, heh, you belong to me now" I whisper in his ear as I give him a shot of brandy and a mix of drugs to ease pain and increase the healing.

[Queztatlapoca]

Doing as the rouge told him he once again focused on the ground not only in front of him this time but around himself, the rouge, the boy, and the peddler. The strain this time was clear, as he was sweating profusely. Another odd thing was that as he stood there in silence you could almost hear an extra earthly "voice". Then slowly but surely a twenty foot radius ring of stone started rising up around them. The ground trembled as did the druid. Once all had stopped the druid opened his eyes and said "Earth is not my strong point, but better safe than sorry" "Now to attend to the boy, oh i see you already have, how noble of you."
"Does anyone know what these things are?"

[Mizukage]

'beautiful' "I need to examine one further, watch the boy, druid, and keep an eye on the peddler."

Removing my cloak so that the vermilion tattoo on my back flashes in the sunlight I walk over to the beast that attacked the child and set about doing a quick field dress, blood and ichor spread everywhere.

from the resulting mass an obscure tale arises.

"these are not true beasts, they are summons. the presence of dark magic has twisted these once normal beasts, they fester with darkness and hate. Druid! we need water! Lots of Water! Don't touch the mess, it could kill one who is not equipped to handle it!

I gather up a few important scraps and seal them in a small jar I have, they may prove useful later. and look at my fellow travelers, the slime drips from my arms and face.

"we need a fire, quickly! burn all the bodies!"

[Queztatlapoca]

"It might dry out the air a little but alright" He put his hands about a foot apart as if he were holding a ball. And in the middle of them a rotating sphere of water was starting to appear. It was expanding as the druid moved his hands farther apart "how much do you need?" he asked as the water continued to gather

[Mizukage]

" come on man, take a look around. My supplies are all but spent and I would like to wash this curse off, use your best judgement, fill a pool or something!" geez, the trial of leadership indeed, I missed this.