Otto paced down the road to Cerenis. He was a well paid Roadwarden, traveling between Arca and Cerenis. His day's work was nearly over; it was close to dusk. As with most other days, his life was adventureless. He wanted to explore more, his dream Roadwarden job wasn't as attractive as it used to be to him. Otto got so caught up in his thoughts, he had failed to realize he had arrived in Cerenis. Finally, he thought. Otto found his way to the Inn of the Jaded Flower, ready to drink some ale after a day's work, in unusual heat for the area.
He made his way to his usual spot. The man gestured to the barkeep, who knew what it was he wanted: A Cerenis Beach Ale. He sat down, at the table nobody sat. He recieved the bartender's assistant's alcohol with good faith. He grinned at the man he knew as Trenstone, and thanked him dearly. Otto hoped his tavern trip was uneventful as his day. This Inn was notorious for evening brawls. Otto placed his crossed legs on the table, and sipped his ale.
A small figure appeared in the doorway. It wasn't enough to stop the light, entering from the street, completely, and instead it just stopped a few rays. With small steps, she entered, and walked towards the counter. Her small height wasn't enough to reach the top of it, and so, she leaped up at one of the chairs, and from it, she climbed at the wooden board of the counter.
The innkeeper chuckled at her. "Inu, you forgot to change your ears again." he noted. She blushed even more than before. "Did I?" she whispered, reaching atop her head with one hand. There they were, really, a couple of small ears of rosy-white color. She closed her eyes, and concentrating heavily, they disappeared.
The man gave her another laugh. "So what would it be today?" he asked her.
"I guess milk again. And if you have any of that cake from yesterday..." Inusaki shrugged.
"Sorry, this isn't a sweets shop..." the tavern keep gave her a disappointed look.
"Then just the milk." she grunted, moving her feet to the other side of the counter.
He never had the cake! It wasn't fair.
Leornid sat at a table at the Inn of the Jaded Flower, as usual these days. He had just finished a sellsword contract, and for the time being, he was content with relaxing and gambling in an inn. That urge to explore tugged at him lately though.
With him on the table sat three other men, two of which were merchants, who had apparently made a great deal of money recently, since they were quite eager to wager large amounts of coin. The other occupant of the table was a beast of a man, extremely muscular, with a lot of scars visible and a cudgel in his back, clearly a thug. The four of them were playing a game of cards, which Leornid was currently winning, much to the annoyance of the thug.
While playing, Leornid kept an eye at the door, out of habit, and witnessed a man he thought was called Otto, a regular of the Inn, entering. After a while, he also saw a short little girl entering. He almost choked on his drink. Were these cat ears she had?! No, that couldn't be right. He looked again, and she had normal ears. His imagination was playing tricks on him. What was a little girl doing at an inn anyways?
The two merchants next to him folded their cards, leaving him facing the thug, as had happened for the last three games. Again, he beat him, but this time, the thug couldn't take it anymore.
Slamming his fist onto the table, he shouted: "You are cheating, aren't you?"
Leornid, not wanting to get into a fight, decided to try cooling him down
"Now now, calm down my friend, relax, here, I'll get you a beer and we can forget about this", he said, smiling a disarming smile
Apparently, the smile was not that disarming, since the thug slowly got out of his chair, flexing his muscles, while the two merchants were moving as far from the table as they could.
As Leornid tried to talk to him again, the thug punched him right in the nose, almost breaking it, and sending him flying out of his chair, and his hard-earned coins on the table flying across the whole room.
Slowly, Leornid tried to get himself together and stand up. This was going to be an interesting evening, apparently.
The counter shook. It literally shook as some man threw another visitor of the inn straight onto it... And it shook so much that Inu-Inu dropped her glass, which shattered on the floor to a hundred shards and spilled milk all over the ground.
She leaped off the counter to the side of the man, and poked him with the tip of his shoe. "Hey, you there. Are you alright?" she whispered.
The thug walked closer. His shadow appeared above them, and Inusaki looked up. "You sir should calm down. You're causing way too much mess around here." she noted. "Besides, it's not nice to punch other people..." It would maybe sound comical from a small, pink-haired girl, if she wouldn't be untying the sash that held her flowered coat on.
"I don't like violence, mister, but I don't like mess, either." she frowned at the thug.
Otto was enjoying his ale, as a big man rose, catching Otto's attention. He flinched as the big man hurled another across the room, at the feet of a young girl. Surprisingly, she got up, said something to the man on the floor, then confronted the bullies. Typical behavior in the Inn. He was used to it. He sauntered over to the thug, and whispered in his eat. "Take this, burden this man no further." He sneakily handed the bully a satchel of coins, and the thug left. He looked at the man and the girl, a comical sight.
"Now," started Otto. "Aren't you quite the troublemaker?" He directed at the man he'd seen numerous times.
Leornid was still attempting to get up and confront the thug, when that little girl with the pink hair came and stood next to him, confronting the thug. Just as Leornid was about to tell her to go run, because he could more than handle this himself, that Otto man came along too and had a little talk with the thug, after which the thug left the inn. Leornid saw that he had given the man some coin, but he thought he'd keep that bit of information for later.
Leornid sat up and took a look around. At that point he realized that the little girl was not that little. She seemed more mature than she looked from afar. He was about to say something to her, when Otto looked at him and asked: "Now, aren't you quite the troublemaker?"
Leornid answered with a calm voice, so as to avoid any more misunderstandings:
"I'm just a normal, honorable adventurer, friend. That man accused me of cheating in a game of cards, which I swear on my bow I didn't do. Now come, you and the little one, have a seat on my table, I'll even treat you with some of that exquisite cake I have in my satchel as thanks for your intervention"
Inusaki's eyes widened, and they shimmered like stars when the man spoke of cake. Cake... Oh, she loved cake!
"You mean you'd really give me some?" she asked excitedly, following him to the table, and perching on its edge to avoid missing anything that would be going on. The other man no longer interested her...
All that mattered was cake!
"Besides, my name is Inusaki. But you can call me Inu. Now where's your cake?"
Otto accepted an unsaid greeting from the girl named Inusaki. He also knew she very much wanted cake. Very much. "My name's Otto, I'm the Roadwarden here. And you are... Leobold? No? Leonard? Any way. That man is gone now. And I would love some cake, thank you, but I think Inu needs more than me, she looks like she wants it more."
As they were going to the table, he could see the girl smile and hop around at the mention of cake. She said her name was Inusaki, but he could call her Inu. After he properly introduced himself to the other two, he opened his satchel, which was right under his table, got a cake out, unwrapped its linen wrapping and set it on the table. He gave more to Inu than to himself or Otto, as the two men both agreeed that Inu seemed to need it a bit more.
As they were all eating, Leornid asked:
"So, fellows, would any of you be interested in an adventure? I've recently read a history book which mentioned some ruins somewhere close to here, guarded by some golems and other such creatures. I was going to explore it sometime later, but it seems to me I have overextended my welcome in this town.We might even find some treasure in there. What say you? Are you interested?"
In the middle of taking a bite that seemed larger than her mouth, Inu-Inu looked up at the man. Adventure? Ruins? That sounded interesting at least... She was quite bored lately. It sounded like a good idea...
She swallowed her bite, and nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to. It sounds like so much fun! If you need someone to slice that golems up..." She giggled, and reached to her side, tapping the Wakizashi blade that hung there, "Then, yeah, I'm up for it!" she cheered.
"Besides, you've got a lovely cake..." she mumbled, with full mouth again.
Otto brightened a little. He was thinking to himself on the road, that he needed a short break from the rapidly growing drab occupation he spent all his daytime doing. He was a skilled fighter, and prospect of treasure arose.
"I'm in." Replied Otto, smiling. He needed to get a sword... And enchanted one. And a good bow and arrow. Then he would be set.
"How about we meet somewhere at dawn tomorrow? To get... Supplies. And a good rest. Can't be fighting rock covered enemies without rest can we?" Otto Lord, really wishing to get an enchanted weapon.
"What do you say you two?"
Having only one away may have effected his sight, but not his hearing. Cleatus had been paying particular attention to the misfit trio since their little altercation with the ruffian. He had just been about to intervene when the other man did. Things were probably better off that way anyway. Cleatus would have broken that brute's jaw. As he listened in, he heard one make an offer of adventure to the other two. Why he would want to take the small cat girl along was beyond him. She didn't look like much. What caught his attention the most, was the mention of fighting rock-covered enemies. That could only mean golems, which could only mean that an enchanted weapon would be required. No normal weapon would have an easy time cutting through stone. Seeing a business opportunity, Cleatus stood and approached the group.
"I hear you plan on fighting some rock-covered enemies," he began. "I think I can supply you with something that may help with that."
"Yes, we will meet in front of this inn tomorrow at dawn. Get extra weapons, and some food. The ruins might be larger than I think. Right as they were about to leave, a man spoke to them. Leornid turned to face the man who had approached their table. Upon turning, he saw that the man was a huge, and had only one eye. A cyclops huh? He hadn't seen one of these for quite a while. The man had offered them supplies, in exchange for gold, Leornid assumed. Well, an enchanted bow would certainly be useful to him, and a sword too. Mundane weapons were not that useful against heavy-armored foes like the golems.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say we would be glad for any help we can get to fight the golems. What do you have that we can use against them?"
"Extra weapons?" Inusaki scoffed, and covered her mouth as she laughed. "That's just silly! You won't find a better weapon than this." She tapped the sheath by her side, and grinned widely. "You can get new ones, but I don't need them!"
The swords may be little, but they were certainly not useless. Just like herself...
"You don't need new weapons, huh," Cleatus said to the little fox girl. "Then tell me, can those blades cut through stone as if it were butter?"
Cleatus then addressed the whole group.
"I am the best weaponsmith in existence. I can craft any killiing implement and craft it better than anyone. I can make any kind of weapon you can imagine from butterknives to cannons. So, you interested?"
She turned her nose up. "Pfft. Stone? They can slice iron!" she replied confidently, and crossed her arms on her chest. "And I don't believe that you are best smith ever. Anyone who says he's the best is just boasting, you know?"
Cleatus slammed his fist onto table breaking it in two.
"Boasting?! BOASTING?! Some of the greatest weapons in existence have been forged by my hands! If anyone is boasting it's you. Those butterknives wouldn't even cut through wood."
"Wanna see that?" Inu-Inu countered him, rapidly unsheathing the blades, and with a sole strike slicing a piece of the table off. "I'm not boasting. I never said I was the best, I just said I was good."
The twin blades returned to their sheaths, and there was a grin on her face even now.
"You've done no more with those blades then I've just done with my fist," Cleatus said bluntly. "I'm not impressed."
"Then won't be, what do I care?" Inu shrugged childishly, and the two swords returned to their sheaths. "You need more than a good sword to fight, anyway. It's not all about the weapon!"
Otto finally interrupted, sick of the fighting that ahd erupted around him.
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" He called, with a red face.
"I'm not trying to be mean, but can the two of you stop fighting? It's not going to get anywhere. Why fight about swords and fists, when as a team, it matters not what we use, as long as we stick to gether and Don't fight."
Quite a crowd had milled during the fight, drunken men and woman choosing sides, booing their least favorite, as if it was a game, or a fight to the death. They had looked disappointed when Otto yelled.
"Now, why don't we just leave before anyone gets hurt? I don't like the look on these binge drikers' faces," he added, in a whisper.
Otto spun around, and charged out of the tavern, into an atmosphere much cooler and serene than what he had just emerged from. Also, the outside air didn't stink of beer. Otto dearly hoped his 3 companions (in the morn) would follow him, and escape the forlorn glares of tavern-goers.
Otto would meet them here in the morning, it was up to them to do what they wished for the night, but he would rest aftern his day of sauntering up and down the dirt road to Cerenis and from Serendipity in the sweltering heat that day ahd brought. But first, his weapons. He paused for another minute to see if the girl, the cyclops, and the man would emerge, unhurt.
As Otto was leaving, Leornid turned to the other two:
"He's right, you know. If we are to be a team, we should stop fighting. Anyways. I'll be going too, I need to rest."
Turning to Cleatus, he said:
"We'll be gathering in front of this inn at dawn tomorrow. If you want to come you are free to. If you do, bring me a bow too, I can pay."
To Inu he said:
"Be careful little one. Don't get into any more fights, or no more cake for you."
Patting her head, he left. On the way to the room he was renting, he thought that this had gone well. He esxpected to be going alone, but now he had at least two companions to join him, even though Inu didn't look that mencaing. He suspected he might be wrong though. And that cyclops, Cleatus. He was probably coming too.
After sharpening his swords (you could never be sure when you'd need them), he went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
Cleatus merely grunted in response to Otto. He was not too fond of the small cat girl, but he was never one to turn down a customer. Customers meant publicity because they would tell their friends who would tell their friends, etc. Cleatus left the tavern and headed home to see what he had in stock. Perhaps if he went along he could take some of their spoils as payment for his weapons. He always enjoyed seeing his creations in action, and it wasn't like he had anything else to do.
Morning came, and Inusaki was already sitting before the inn in the form of a white cat, licking her small paws, perched on a barrel beside the door. She was getting impatient as usually, and wasn't really in the mood to wait much longer.
If those guys weren't going to turn up, she'd just disappear...
Leornid arrived at the inn right on time. For a while, he feared he might be late. He had overslept again. But he had made it, and it seemed he was the first. There was only a white cat in the street with him for now. So he leaned against the inn's wall, with his backpack in his back and waited.
Inusaki noticed the man, and crept up behind him, in a swift moment turning to her human form and launching herself at his back with a loud, high-pitched squeal. "Hey there!" she cheered, jumping onto his shoulder in an attempt to grab onto his garb and hold herself there for as long as possible (and use him as a free ride).
Otto saw the three he had met that evening were coming, hopefully the cyclops would too. He did what he needed to, enchanting a sword, and stealing enchanted arrows, tough enough to pierce Dragonhide. Even those which had no Name*.
He returned the following morning, seeing Ainu on Leornid's shoulder. This made him crack a smile. Now all to come was the cyclops. He greeted the pair, and sat next to them.
Leornid let out a yelp of surprise as Inu jumped on his back. "Where did you come from?", he asked. Then he put the pieces together. The cat ears yesterday, that cat that had been lurking around in the street just seconds ago, but was nowhere to be seen now...
"You are a shapesifter right? Or something close to that. Anyways, you can stay up there if you want, little one", he said with a smile.
Then Otto approached, and they exchanged greetings. Then they sat, waiting for the cyclpos.
Cleatus made his way back to the arranged meeting place. He had a large backpack no his back and a large warhammer in his hand. The warhammer was made for someone as big as Cleatus, making him the only one in the group that would have been able to use it effectively. He approached the group, set down the warhammer, and reach into his pack. After a couple seconds of rummaging around, he found a bow and handed it to Otto.
"There's your bow," he said simply. "You didn't really specify what you wanted, so I just brought you this one. It doubles your draw strength so the arrows will fly farther and faster."
Inusaki nodded at Leornid's question, and smiled widely. "I'm a girl, but when I want, I can be a cat! And thanks for letting me stay here... You won't regret keeping me here, ya know." She winked mischievously, and moved a little higher on his shoulder, to allow herself to study her other companion's new weapon. A pretty bow...
Not as pretty as her swords, but still pretty!
Leornid nodded at seeing Cleatus, and smiled when he saw the bow he gave to Otto. That would certainly be of help. Seeing as everyone was ready, he said:
"Alright, let's get going. According to that book I read, the ruins are some distance to the east. We'll first stay close to the coast, then we;ll get in a nearby forest where we will find the ruins. Again, be careful. Worse things than goblins might be in there. Stick together.
"You mean - stick to your coat, right?" Inu-Inu cheered, clutching Leornid's garb with her small hands with a greater strength than would be expected from someone her size. "Besides, goblins are nothing but afternoon snack stuff."
"That's the first thing you've said that I agree with," Cleatus told Inu, hefting his warhammer.
Cleatus was actually hoping that they would find something to fight. What better way to show off his weapon than by using it for the purpose for which it was intended? Hopefully it wouldn't be too long of a walk. Cleatus' occupation didn't involve a lot of aerobics, nor was he built for prolonged physical activity. He wouldn't be able to walk much longer than a couple hours. Hopefully these guys wouldn't be in any rush.
In the new sun's light, Damion paced quickly around the town. He over heard the talking of adventure in the tavern last night, and wished to meet the group before they set off. The human moved around the side of the tavern, seeing the group of adventuring souls. Damion, clad in grey and blue scale armor let out a slightly embarrassed call. He waved his hand in the air with a light blush upon his face. "Excuse me!" His voice sounded a pitch or two off, due to the morning rush and late night drinks. "I am sorry to interrupt you all, but last night I overheard your plans. To visit a ruin on an adventure, yeah? I was wounding if I could possibly join you on your quest." The pale human spoke with an optimistic smile.
Otto saw the Cyclops approaching, and then the Cyclops handed him a bow. He looked puzzled for a moment, and handed the weapon to Leornid.
"You asked for this, Leornid, not I." Otto assumed the Cyclops forgot.
He spotted a man rapidly approaching, not knowing he would stop at the queer group. When the man asked to join the group, Otto spoke first.
"I don't like that you be eavesdropping, but hey, we were very loud so who could blame you? Sure. Five adventurers couldn't hurt. You're welcome, as long as the others agree."
((OOC, I'm changing the title, due to a change in objective and numbers. The thread will now be called - An Amalgam of Odd Adventurers. Any objections, please do so in an OOC and I'll change it back.))
"I do apologize." Damion lowered his head. "But it is true...Your band was well above the tone of the other patriots."
The man looked to the other members of the group and bowed his head. "Pleased to meet you all. I am Damion Nix, an wanderer hailing from Connlaoth. Do forgive me for my intrusion, but I have been in a slump for the past while. Please allow me to join you all." His ghostly blue eyes gazed at the other's with optimism.
Leornid thanked Otto for the bow. Just as he was about to suggest that they begin their journey, a white haired, pale human arrived, and asked to accompany them. After thinking it over for a bit, Leornid said:
"Well, as Otto himself said, it would be good to have another adventurer with us. From your armor, you seem like a capable enough fellow. Alrighty then, since we are all here, shall we get going? Follow me!"
Leornid started following one of the Town's roads that would get them to the coast. Without looking back, he said:
"Are you coming, or do you want me to get all the treasure?"
Inu sighed audibly as Damion joined them. "I don't wanna split the monsters to smash with another person, Leo-Leo! And you don't mind me calling you Leo-Leo, do you?" Her widely smiling face with a perpetual rosy blush on her cheeks appeared right beside him. She shouldn't be a problem on his back - her weight was so light a loaded backpack would be heavier!
Damion started following behind the man known as Leornid. The warrior kept his expression subtle, not to seemed over eager nor under appreciative. He adjusted the bag he carried on his back, next to his weapon. Looking at the one called Inu, Damion felt some hostility coming from her words. He didn't know whether to take them seriously or not. He would just have to not hinder these people on their journey.
Otto followed Leornid, now nicknamed Leo-Leo by the girl Inu. He paused, and glanced back at the remaining three, gesturing them to follow Leornid, the leader.
Damion looked to the man waving to them and nodded. In a level tone he asked Otto, "So what is your name? The down side of inviting yourself is that you don't get people's names. I take it his name is Leo or something similar?" The human pointed to Leornid as he led the way.
"He's Leornid, I'm Otto." he replied, briefly.
Cleatus followed behind the small band's self-proclaimed leader without taking the time to introduce himself to the newcomer. He has never been one for pleasantries, they just seemed to formal. They will eventually all figure out each others' names throughout this little escapade anyway, so why waste time giving out names now? Besides, standing around and talking gets boring very quickly, unless the conversation is about weapons in which Cleatus could talk all day, but that's another story.
Damion nodded with understanding as he learn the two new names. He continued to follow in silence with a hand on his chin. In a state of thought, the man began to think to himself. His armor made a light chime as he walked. He was the kind of man to let others lead and then follow their example of behavior. Within certain situations of course, such as this one. How was he to predict the actions and reactions of people he didn't know? He figured he would just have to wait and see.
Leornid was happy to see everyone was following. Apparently, he was now the leader. That was a first. He couldn't say he didn't like it though. He also liked his new nickname, so he told Inu she could use it all she liked. The group kept moving for a couple hours, mostly silent, when, less than half a mile from where the ruins where, He saw the road was blocked. In front of them stood that thug from yesterday night and some more equally hulking men. For the sake of trying, Leornid said:
"Hello fellas. If you would be so kind as to get out of the road so we can keep going our separate ways, we'd be obliged."
As expected, the thugs didn't say anything, and they pulled out their weapons, which were mostly knives and cudgels, with the odd swords. They were about fifteen of them. Bad odds. Leornid knew he should act fast, and so he did.
"Sorry for that little one", he said to Inu. He then threw her straight up in the air, and slightly aimed at the thugs. If she was indeed a cat, she wouldn't have issues with the landing. In the same motion, he drew out his bow, nocked an arrow and shot. Without waiting to see where his shot fell -he was certain it would hit- he jumped behind a rock that was next to the road, taking cover. He nocked another arrow and prepared to shoot again. This would be fun.
Cleatus approached the thugs competely undeterred. They didn't seem too keen on dealing with a huge cyclops with a huge hammer to match. Relying on strength in numbers, five charged him at once. Surely that would be enough, and the other ten could take on his companions. Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the case. With one swing of his warhammer, three of his assailants went airborne and landed in a crumpled heap. The other two bandits immediately reconsidered their actions and bolted. Being smashed by a cyclops was not worth their payday. Cleatus laughed at their sudden change of heart and advanced on the other bandits. This was more like it.
Inu-Inu squealed with excitement as she was tossed into the air, and drew her weapons in mid-air, descending onto the thugs like a cannonball with two Wakizashi blades in her hands. Her high-pitched scream warned a few of her coming, but the one that she smote down in her fall and sliced up didn't have the time to run.
Damion threw his bag behind a rock to give him maximum range of his shoulders. The bag being a simple hindrance. As the warrior reached to drew his with the off hand great sword, a thug dashed towards him from the side. With a step back, the thug's knife glanced the metal plates with a sharp chime. Damion punched the thug in the temple of his head, stunning him for a few extra seconds. In that time he finished drawing his sword, taking hold of it with both hands and lifting it up. After a heavy step forwards, the blade sung with a white noise as it slashed the thugs arm and chest. "I would have warned you. But..." The warrior trailed off with a sigh as he backed off a few steps.
Otto scrambled up a tree, and notched an arrow, aiming at the back-most attackers. He let an arrow fly, hitting one of the barbarians deep in his skull. He then notched two arrows, jumped on top of someone's head, and kicked his face, then shot two arrows at advancing foes, felling two birds with one stone.
((OOC-Levaes about 5))
Leornid popped out of his cover and shot another arrow, killing another thug. Few were left now. His companion were scaterred all around the battlefield, and by the number of dead thugs, they were doing a pretty good job at handling their foes. Otto was up on a tree, using his bow, while the other three were down in the heat of the fighting. Leornid decided to drop his bow, and drew his sword. It was time to get a bit personal.
Drawing his sword, he advanced on one of the thugs. The thug wielded a sword too, and he looked like he knew how to use it. They fought for a while, exchanging parries, strikes and feints, until Leornid managed to gut him after a feint.
That left three.
Inusaki decided that those three were HER personal targets, and before someone else could engage them, she leaped up at one's head, slicing it straight off. In the middle of her jump, she kicked the body down, using it as an extension to jump up higher, and in a flip in the middle of her other, extremely long and extremely high jump, her blades skewed into the other one, already running away from her.
The third one attempted to land a strike on her, but she easily ducked underneath, and cut into his leg. The strike was powerful enough to bring him down onto his knees, and there, she simply stabbed him in the neck.
The most amazing thing was when she turned back at her companions. There was a wide smile on her face. "Now that was fun! Fifteen thugs less on the face of Earth! When do we fight again?"
Leornid really didn't know how to reply to Inu. Such a tiny creature, yet she had killed three men in heartbeats. And after that she smiled too. So, insted of saying anything, he just patted her head, then picked her up and put her back into his back. Turning to the others, he asked:
"Does anybody want to search the bodies for some loot or anything, or should we keep going?"
"It wouldn't be a bad idea for us to look what they have in their pockets, Leo-Leo!" Inusaki suggested, and moved upwards on Leornid's shoulder to give herself a better view. "They might have some food, even sweets."
Damion agreed with the agile Inusaki. "I think the same way as her. They may have items that could prove useful to use in the near future. And looting for the 'better good' never gave me a bad taste in my mouth." The warrior smirked as he sheathed his blade onto his back. Wiping a streak of dark blood from his white hair.
"I don't know," Cleatus said picking up one of the dead bandits by the ankle. "They don't look like they got much."
Cleatus shook the bandit a couple times causing a few coins to fall from the man's pocket.
"Nothing," Cleatus muttered tossing the body aside.
Otto searched the nearest body, in unspoken agreement to Leornid's question. He found a small piece of yellowed paper, which he put into his tunic pocket, hoping nobody saw. He would read it later. Other than that, there were a few copper coins, two silver, and an amalgam of trinkets. Most of them were useless, so he tossed them aside.
"Nothing here either," He lied.
In two bodies laying beside each other, Damion knelt down to search their pockets. One had almost nothing other then the shells of nuts. The other however had some spare copper and a waterskin. Opening the cork, Damion smelled the contents. "Ugh, more alcohol." The warrior said and shook the container, hearing faintly the little left int it.
Leornid bent to search a body himself, which was hard with Inu on his back. Still he managed it. He went through each and every pocket in the corpse's body, but he found nothing as well.
There was a backpack tossed around in the fight by a thug, which he searched too. Sadly, it also had nothing but a few coins and some really bad wine.
"Well, they seem to have nothing. Do you want to keep searching or keep going? The ruins are near."
Inu-Inu sighed. "Those were some poor thugs! They usually have at least some coins." she muttered, and gave the corpses a slight frown. "We better get going, though, so we can get as far as we can today."
Otto agreed with Inu. They needed to rest tonight, so they had energy tomorrow. It was to be a two-day walk across barren wilderness and a forest to get to where they were going.
"I just need to take a leak," exclaimed Otto. At that, he disappeared into the bushes adorning the roadside. There, he took out the note he had confiscated from a thug's body. He opened it.
It read:
Orders from Frederic Hussin, Guild Leader of the Cerenis Boozers
Last night, a group of men and a little girl created a ruckus in the Inn of the Jaded Flower. They are to trek to the Ruins of Qinte, two day's on foot north of here. They should not go by mount, as the road there is perilous, and follows through various landscapes. You and your band are to stop them, and get to the site before them. Station your men at intervals, and by all means, stop them, and loot them. There are two men, a little girl, and a Cyclops. You know what to do. Good luck, Squad Commander Fetumbnus.
Otto was stunned - Why would a Guild of drinkers want to stop them? But then, it was probably for their weapons, enchanted as such.
Otto emerged from the foliage, and set off with the group. All of a sudden he stopped. He turned around, note in hand, and bent over.
"Hey, guys, what's this?" He asked, sneakily, pretending to pick up the piece of paper. He opened it, and read what was inside, as if he had never seen it before. Then he waited for a reaction.
((OOC, they know not of Damien ;) ))
Leornid frowned.
"What does a guild of drinkers want with us? Anyways, it doesn't matter. What matters is, what do we do? I suggest moving for an hour more today, then camping up. And tomorrow, we should face the next thugs that come in our way and try to find that Fetumbnus fellow to question him. I'm guessing there will be a couple more groups ahead, but the won't be in the ruins themselves. The golems are too tough for them.You guys have any other ideas?"
Cleatus had been taking care of all of the leftover alcohol from the bandits when the letter was read. He wasn't too worried. What were a bunch of drunks going to do?
"They shouldn't be a problem," Cleatus said. "We'll just kill some bandits, break McNumbnuts in two, and then off to the ruins."
What Cleatus failed to mention, was that two of the bandits had gotten away. He had only killed three of the five that attacked him while the other two ran.
Inusaki was neither amused, nor worried by the message. Drunken merchants and thugs were just too easy to take down, therefore they were neither a sign of fun, nor danger for her. She let out an audible sigh when the letter was read out loud, and tilted her head aside.
"That means just more thugs, right? But when are we going to fight the real fun stuff? Fighting thugs is boring, they're just down too quickly." she complained, giving Leornid a sad look. "But we will get to the fun stuff soon, right?"
((OOC,
@Leornid , the guy Otto got the note from was Fetumbnus! But we can change that.))
"Don't worry, Inu, We will have Golem on our steel soon enough!"
(OOC,
@SanguineBlade , sorry, misread that :P )
"Yup, tomorrow or the day after we will be fighting golems, little one", Leornid said while patting Inu's hair. "Shall we move on?", he asked.
Damion dusted his hands of the whole ordeal and stated they should move on ahead. He did not point out that he was not mentioned on the paper, but it would have been commonsense. Seeing as how he just joined them. The warrior began walking a few feet before the path and looked to the others with a whimsical smile. "Let us gain more ground before the night fall." Damion said before rotating his stiff arm.
An hour later, they were some ways down the road. Leornid decided it was time to camp. He set his backpack and Inu down, and asked:
"Do you guys want to camp here? It's as good a place as any. I'll take the first watch if you want".
Inusaki dusted off her flowered coat, and gave him a smile. "I can take the first watch if you want, Leo-Leo! I don't feel like napping, and I still have some sweets..." She reached underneath the robe, and pulled out a large pink lollipop which has been very obviously licked a little too many times. She took a few licks, then turned at Leornid, and offered it to him.
"Do you want? It's really sweet!" she smiled.
Otto chuckled, watching the cute girl offer a lollypop to Leo-Leo, as she called him. He lay with his back against a tree, and took a sip of alcohol from his flask.
Finally. Cleatus dropped his warhammer and just plopped right down where he was at. He was exhausted. No one of his stature should would walk for such a long period of time like that. Laying down on his back, it wasn't long before Cleatus was snoring away.
Damion stretched his arms and sat down quickly. He extended his legs out and rolled his neck to the side. "I'll take the second watch after her. If that is fine with you guys." The warrior dropped his sword to the ground next to him along with his bag. "Night~" Damion pulled out a mat and rolled it open, laying down on the mat. Unlatching his armor, the human took off his boots and gauntlets, setting them inside his bag. He took in a deep breath, releasing it with exhaustion.
((OOC - There should be a movie of this))
Otto finally slept, after watching his companions rest one by one, except Inusaki. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and Otto closed his eyes, entering into dreamless sleep.
"Nah, little one, I'm not that hungry right now..." Leornid said with an awkward smile. "Have the first watch if you want, I'll take the third. If anything happens, wake us up as quick as you can!"
Leornid found a nice patch of grass, put his backpack down and laid down beside it.
"Goodnight everyone", he said. "Tomorrow we will probably make it to the temple".
Inu climbed onto an extended branch of a nearby tree, and kept on licking her huge lollipop. She watched over her sleeping companions, but didn't seem to show too much interest - her main concern was, right now, the rose-colored candy.
It was getting dark, and the lollipop was getting smaller. Hopefully she wouldn't eat it before Damion would come to take the second watch... That would be a problem.
((OOC -
@Anadwen - Damien has the second watch!!!
Quote from: Ferr Windston on May 07, 2014, 05:41:56 PM
Damion stretched his arms and sat down quickly. "I'll take the second watch after her. If that is fine with you guys."
))
Otto was still fast asleep. He hoped in the morning that they would reach the temple. He wouldn't get his hopes up.
Later, as the night began to take hold of the world, Damion's internal clock began to run out. A clam and collected dream began to become a blur. A dream of his father and his mother he never met. The young man squirmed in his sleep with small turns. He soon awoke with red and watery eyes. "Ugh, what a dream." Damion muttered before yawning and cracking his neck.
Leornid woke up. He thought he had heard someone muttering. From the corner of his eye, he saw Damion stand up. Apparently he had woken up to take his second watch. Nothing out of the ordinary. He turned a bit to get more comfortable, and in a matter of seconds he was asleep again.
Upon noticing Damion waking up, Inusaki leaped off the tree she sat on, and with a few steps walked over to the only one of her companions that seemed awake. The lollipop was still not eaten completely, and she returned it to her coat, squatting beside Damion.
"Hey! It's your turn." she smiled at him.
"Yup I guess that's right. You can head to bed now and get some sleep." Damion said as he patted her head. The large man let out the last of his yawns before shaking his head. He held the sheath of his blade in one hand as he began to peer out into the darkness. The moon slowly moving towards sky's apex.
Inusaki nodded, and took a few steps away to lay down under the tree, where she curled up just like a cat in the tall grass, and soon after, she was sleeping, with her arms folded underneath her head. Only occasionally she let out a silent sigh in her sleep, or moved a little.
Once the smaller person was asleep, Damion took out a flask and downed a sip of ale to give him a shock. Now fully awake, the warrior took care to protect the perimeter of his slumbering allies. With his greatsword with him, he began to walk slowly around while keeping an eye out for any thing in the night. He thanked goodness that the moon was out to assist him with it's much needed light.
Otto snapped awake at a sound from outside, then noticed it was just Damion. He started drifting back into slumber when he sensed something else. It wasn't just his companion, but something else was stirring away from the eyes of men.
"Damion." Otto whispered. "I think there is something in the forest."
Otto gestured to his left, where he sensed the shadow.
Leornid woke up again. It was getting annoying how easily he could wake up. He woke up just in time to hear Otto say there was something in the forest. Slowly, he reached for his bow and nocked and arrow while nodding to the other two to make sure they knew he was awake. Crawling, he approached Inu and Cleatus and nudged them to wake them up. This might be trouble.
Cleatus merely waved his hand as if shooing away a bug and mumbled in his sleep. He probably should have informed the group that he was a heavy sleeper, but that's not something that usually comes up in casual conversation. He probably should have also told them that he really did not like being disturbed.
Inusaki sprang to her feet at the slightest touch, wiping her eyes with one hand, and looking up at Leornid. "What's it, Leo-Leo? Why're you waking me up?" she asked, and the confusion mirrored in her large eyes.
Why would someone wake her in the middle of night?
"Hush, little one" Leornid said. "Otto said there's something in the forest. Keep quiet and try to wake Cleatus up. Be ready for anything." Leornid himself still kept an arrow nocked on his bow, and looked over his shoulder at the location Otto had said there was something.
Damion looked to Otto and unsheathed his blade. He pointed his greatsword at the location the man spoke of and started to inch towards it. "Please no demons. Please no demons." The warrior begged the gods. "Someone make a torch." He whispered back towards the group.
"No." Said Otto. Let us not risk it. Otto drew his own sword, just in time as thugs riding wolves surged out of the trees, weilding death deploying battle axes, polearms, hammers and swords. Otto sighed. "LOOKS LIEK ROUND TWO!" He yelled, charging. he wouldn't use his bow this time, he wished to conserve his arrows. So, instead, he emt the first wolf, and plunged a sword into it's throat, felling it's rider, who Otto stamped in the chest, crushing his lungs.
Inusaki let out an excited shriek as the bandits emerged from the forest, immediately drawing her swords, and leaping towards them. Her movement was faster than would be expected from a little girl. Once again, she didn't seem to have a slightest problem with fighting - the fact that she used the bodies that she stabbed, or sliced up, to launch herself higher.
It didn't take her long to get rid of five of the bandits.
The combination of shouting and Inusaki's screaming was enough to wake the slumbering Cleatus, and he was not at all pleased with being disturbed. Grabbing his warhammer he charged the nearest bandit and swung his hammer, sending both mount and rider flying to the sound of the sickening crunch that came from the wolf's ribs as the hammer impacted them. The rider was then squashed beneath Cleatus boot as he moved on to the next bandit. One should never wake a sleeping cyclops.
Leornid let loose one of his arrows as soon as the first thug came out of the trees. He got a thug straight into his neck, and his next shot killed his wolf too. Around him he saw his companions also killing many. But still, it looked like there were many thugs still up, without counting the wolves too. Leornid let loose another two killing shots, then scrambled back to avoid getting into melee reach. He fired two more arrows, felling two wolves. This was harder than the last battle at least.
When the thug's wolves pounced at Damion, he stabs the chest of the leading beast. While in a rapid tactical retreat, Damion used the dead wolf body to protect himself from the other incoming fangs and claws. Once at a reasonable distance, he pulled his sword back, then flung the dead wolf at a group of three thugs with polearms, blocking them and stunning them for a moment. "Leornid! Those three!" Damion cried before blocking the advances of a man with a rather powerful hammer. The large thug clashed with the warrior's blade, forcing him back with just raw power. Damn it, was all Damion muttered before stomping his armored feet and bull rushing the hammer wielder, gaining the advantage with the length of his slash.
Otto, still using his sword, felled another wolf and it's rider. All of a sudden, an arrow plunged deep into his shoulder. He screamed, and with all his strength yelled, "ARCHERS! FALL BACK BEHIND THE TREES!" He didn't mind if his companions continued, but they would get hurt too. He retreated, killing another rider on the way, slitting the throat of the wolf. His vision was fading, and it was getting hard to walk. Blood was seeping through the wound in his shoulder, which the 17 year old desperately held closed. He made a final dash out of the treeline, and blacked out.
Leornid shot three quick shots at the thug Damion told him to shoot. Damn, but this was hard. He then heard a familiar sound, and fell to the side just as an arrow flew through exactly where he was standing. Mere seconds afterwards, he heard Otto shout something about archers. Turning towards him, he saw him stumbling to the treeline, clutching his shoulder. He saw him get into the trees and fall. The battle had just gotten harder. He rushed back to the trees himself, and did his best to hide, shooting arrows all the while. Turning back to the others, he shouted: "EVERYBODY FALL BACK TO THE TREELINE! PROTECT OTTO, GET HIM TO A SAFE PLACE!" He himself stood right in front of Otto, felling thugs and wolves with his arrows. He was running low on ammunition though. It would be time to get into melee soon.
Cleatus heard Leornid shout something about protecting Otto as he sent another wolf and rider flying. Turning to see what was up, he saw the unconscious Otto laying on the ground. Cleatus bounded over and picked up the small 17-year-old with ease. Then he remembered the mention of archers as an arrow hit him in the arm. Unfortunately, Cleatus was a large and incredibly dangerous target, so he seemed popular with the archers. Cleatus carried Otto into the treeline, his sheer bulk protecting Otto from any more arrows. Those archers would have to go.
"Inusaki," Cleatus called. "Do you want to fly?"
Arrows could be a problem, that was sure. But not for someone that could leap and run faster than them! Like Inu.
She used the tree-trunks and bandits themselves to leap off and avoid the flying arrows, ignoring what orders were given to her. Like that, she managed to get behind the archers and cut down three before an arrow got caught in her hair. There was no damage to anything but her hairstyle done, but it still flamed her up, and hissing like an angry cat, she started slashing whatever got near.
Then, when Cleatus called her name, she retreated back, slowly calming down. His offer, however, surprised him. "If I wanna fly? Sure thing!" she called out, with a long leap bringing herself onto his shoulder.
"Good," Cleatus said plucking her off his shoulder. "Then you can take care of those archers."
Cleatus threw Inu like a football high and long towards the archers, and he threw much harder than Leo. She should be high enough to be out of the archers' field of view until it was too late. Cleatus picked Otto back up and took him a bit further into the woods. The fight wasn't suited for either of them anymore. Otto was wounded and Cleatus was too big of a target for those archers. He was going to have to ask someone to pull the arrows out of him that he couldn't reach.
Leornid saw Cleatus throw Inu up in the air just as he was using up the last of his arrows. He really hoped she would take care of the archers, because now both Cleatus and Otto were out of the fight. "Damion!", he shouted. "It looks like it's just us now. Let's make them bleed!" He cast aside his bow and charged the nearest thugs. At least these guys were not that good separately.
A loud yell escaped Inu's mouth as she was sent flying up like a small cannonball. The wind was wailing in her ears, and her coat was billowing like a flowered flag, till she started cascading down. With her blades aimed, she collapsed right down onto one of the remaining archers. Some others screamed as she broke through the trees and completely smashed the body of one of them underneath her quickly-moving blades.
She didn't stop, no way she would stop. Like a bullet, she threw herself at the other one of the archers. He attempted to shoot after her, but she was faster than the arrow, and got him right when the shot left the bowstring. The main rule in a melee-versus-ranged combat was to keep moving, and Inusaki got her body moving pretty well. Soon, there was just a couple of archers left.
One shot after her, but instead, the arrow burrowed into a tree-trunk. The pink-haired girl kicked the man down, and slashed him into the neck with the blade in her right hand. She used the collapsing body to launch herself higher before the bandit would hit the ground, and grab onto the branch of a nearby tree to avoid an arrow, sent flying her way. Then, she jumped back down, and slashed the last man. He managed to kick her off and toss her at a tree, but she quickly got back to her feet, and bolting forth at speed that was completely unexpected, considering her size, she stabbed him into the abdomen, repeatedly thrusting her blades in and out, till he had nothing but a bleeding hole in the middle of his self.
Damion nodded as he heard Leornid's words. "Aye Aye." The warrior said before giving a mighty swing of his blade in the direction of a polearm. The swing broke the wooden shaft of the weapon, and cut through the thug's chest as well. In an increasing rage, Damion followed through with the motion by flinging the large sword to the side, impaling a thug with a wolf in a gruesome position. Damion had reached to the ground and took the head of the polearm before rolling out the way of an ax. The warrior had moderate dexterity, but not much grace with his roll. After finishing his roll, the white haired man threw cut down a rather unlucky brute with the falx he ripped off from his enemy's polearm.
"Might be a good back up." Damion muttered to himself before glancing a hammer blow off with his forearm. He felt the bone nearly give way under the force of the blunt weapon. In return, the warrior drove the blade of his new Falx into the skull of the attacker. Once his blood began escaping, Damion threw him to the side with great force. He was now beginning to gain a look of terror from their opposition. Quickly running to the side, he placed the falx to his side. He reached the pair of dead bodies which were impaled by his blade. Drawing his scarlet tinted blade, Damion turned to the thugs and roared with a mighty battle cry for intimidation. "How many more do you see?!" He called back to the archer.
After a couple of minutes, Otto regained consciousness, in Cleatus' arms.
"What?" Otto mumbled. "What is going on? Where are the others? Fighting? I should help them."
Otto began to rise, and stood up. the blood flow from his shoulder had clotted, but as he stood up he suffered postural hypertension, and black out. He fell down, then got up again. He stumbled towards the sounds of battle, drunkenly and al over the place.
"Whoa there, spitfire," Cleatus said easily picking the boy up by the back of his shirt and setting him down in front of him. "You're not going anywhere with that shoulder. The others can handle it. I don't get along to well with archers. Big target."
Cleatus patted his belly to emphasise his point. He then pulled an arrow from his arm put it with the other two he had pulled out so far.
"Now that you're awake, could get these?"
Cleatus turned to reveal three arrows stuck in his back.
"I can't reach them."
"There's about ten more!" Leornid shouted. He cut down another one, and stuck his sword straight into the mouth of a wolf. "About five wolves too!" He roared another cry of anger and charged down towards where the bandits were. Boy, he was getting tired. He was bleeding from a dozen small wounds, and his sword was getting heavier and heavier.
Inu-Inu charged at the rest. There were several more left... Just about enough for her to have some more fun!
She leaped onto one wolf's rear, and stabbed its rider from behind. The man screamed, and fell out of the saddle as she pulled the two blades out of his back. Surprisingly enough, she refused to get off the wolf. Instead, she jumped into the saddle herself, and rode it towards another one of the bandits. When he noticed that the beast is going after him, and its rider is no man like him, it was too late. The wolves clashed, and she stabbed the one underneath herself straight into the skull with one sword, making a flip over to cut the other one, and avoid the slashing sword of the bandit. The wolf's head was cut off, and so was the bandit's right after. Right as the body of the beast collapsed, she sled off it, and started chasing another man, this time without a wolf. Two down!
Otto wearily asked the cyclops what he said, so it had to be repeated. He finally understood the ask, and pulled the five arrows out of his back. He wasn't affected as much as Otto, as Otto was a seventeen year old road guard, not too used to being fired at by shafts topped with the sharpest metal you could find. The cyclops, however, was big. Very big. Otto finished the task, and then sat down.
Cleatus rolled his shoulders and sighed with relief.
"Finally," he sighed. "You have no idea how annoying that it is. They're like giant splinters that you can't reach to pull out."
Cleatus peered over the bushes to see how the battle was going. It looked like Inusaki had taken care of the archers, so it would be safe for him again.
"Hang tight, kid. I'm going to go put an end to this nonsense. Make sure no one touches my hammer."
Cleatus emerged from the treeline without his hammer. It was fun to use, but it weighed him down. He saw a wolf charging at one of his comrades and decided to interrupt. He started off slowly at first, building momentum. Soon, he was moving at a pretty decent speed and, according to physics, it is very difficult to stop a large, heavy object that is moving fast. As it so turned out, a giant wolf was not enough. Cleatus simply plowed straight into the wolf at top speed, for him anyway. The wolf and rider were sent tumbling by the sudden impact of Cleatus' sheer bulk. The impact was soon followed by raucous laughter from Cleatus. How could that possibly have not been funny?
Damion kept his new weapon on his side, yet spun with his deadly blade as a thug and pair of others came rushing at him. "Die damn it!" The warrior roared, wishing death upon his foes. Rushing into their path, the man glared as the blood of other men fell to the ground. It gave him a sick feeling inside, but it needed to be done. When the cyclops came rushing in, the human jumped back and retreated. "Finally joining the fight, aye?" He smirked and stood behind a tree to recover from a wolf bite on his leg.
"I don't get along well with archers. I'm a big target," Cleatus replied patting his stomach. "Now that they're gone, there's nothing to stop me."
As soon as he finished talking, a bandit tried to bum rush him. For his troubles, the Cleatus slammed his big meaty fisy directly into the bandit's face. Cleatus was glad he came. He hardly ever got to pummel people like this.
Otto was still weak when a lone thug plodded out of the forest towards him. Nobody had seen the man leave, so he would have to take him on alone. Otto struggled to stand, and tried to pick up Cleatus' hammer. He failed, to the sheer amusement of the rapidly approaching thug. Otto was getting ready to hit the thug with his sword, when an arrow struck him in the head. Otto swung his head, and saw a group of about six elves, on white horses, clad in full white with bows and arrows.
The head elf jumped down, and saw Otto lieing on the ground, close to death.
"Elennen," called the elf. At this, a young elven maid dropped of her horse, and reached into a satchel, and pulled out the healing herb gliannin. She immediately set about chewing it, and applied it to Otto's shoulder, ordering him not to move. She pushed the chewed herb into the wound, and started chanting.
"Eshe wana, esmereth colo thiero, gi melin herenos, lispe ono gi feras."
All of a sudden, Otto felt better. In fact, the elven magic healed him completely, returning his strength. Then he remembered.
"My friends are fighting thugs behind the tree line, if must help them! Many thanks to you for the healing." Otto pulled out six gold coins, and tossed them to the head elf. The man bowed, and then spoke.
"I am Erespeth, Lord of Annerby, a town near to here. I sense your friends almost done. They need no help now. We will wait here, and you may tell us your story, and what you are doing behind trees with thugs." Erespeth glanced over to where Otto had gestured.
"And wolves." He added.
Leornid shot down the last pair of enemies. At last, they were done. Turning, he went towards where Otto was to check on him. What he found was easily one of the most surprising thing he had ever seen.
Elves. Six of them, to be exact. What were they doing here? Luckily, Leornid, being a half-elf, knew their tongue, so he asked them in their language"
"What are you doing here? Did we do anything to offend you? Or are you here to help?"
Damion took in a deep breath and started moving deeper into the forest. His leg was bruised from a wolf bite on his calf. He limped hastily into the trees before hearing Elves and Leornid speaking. "Leornid!" Damion cried out before spotting him and the group of Elvish people. He raced over to them, expecting the others to also converge on the scene. "We did it...Is Otto going to be okay?" He asked before bowing his head to the Elves. "Have we disturbed you?"
Cleatus made his way over to where the rest had gathered, arms full of alcohol taken off the dead bandits. It wasn't very high quality, but it was still alcohol. He was in the process of drinking when he saw the elves.
"You should have shown up a few minutes sooner," Cassius said to the elves. "It would sure have helped."
Cleatus did not treat elves the as respectfully as everyone else. He was not too found of elves and their arrogance and he didn't understand why they were so special. What amazing thing have they done to earn automatic respect?
"Your friend will be alright. His wound is not too serious, nothing we can't fix. You may be wondering why we have helped you. Let me just say this. There is an elven prophecy stating a group of a boy, men, a cyclops and a girl would look for the Lost Treasure of Qinte. This group were named as An Amalgam of Odd Adventurers. We know not why it is of importance, just that you must succeed. Whether or not you do so is undecided. We came just now, due to fate, one we could only change by making sure no harm came to this group. Know this now. You must work as a team until you reach your destination, or some of you may perish. Good luck, and may the blessing of the elves speed you on your journey."
"Thank you for helping our friend", said Leornid. Turning to the others, he said:
"I thikn we should be moving on. It wouldn't be good if they attacked again."
Inusaki only then managed to get to the elves, sucking on the large lollipop once again as she slowly threaded towards the rest of her group. At first, she gave them a blank stare. What were these people? What were they doing here?
"Who are you?" she asked, pulling the candy out of her mouth, and frowning a little. "What are you doing here? And what do you want of us?"
"They are friendly, little one.", Leornid said. "They healed Otto."
He explained to her about the prophecy the elves had spoken about. "To be honest, this makes the whole trip much more interesting.", he concluded, smiling.
"Rather glad I managed to tag along on this little venture now." Damion smiled and tapped his leg, shaking the pain off. "But that was rather cryptic, no? Think we should be on the look out for even worse things?" The warrior asked before adjusting his armor.
Cleatus huffed at all this nonsense and drank down another canteen of the cheap whiskey before tossing it aside and opening the next one.
"How bad could it be," he asked. "They're probably just overreacting."
"Alrighty then", Leornid said. "we should be moving on, because some of the thugs might have escaped, and might be coming back with more enemies. I think we should be staying off the road until we get close to the ruins, what do you think?"
Inusaki shrugged. "Not like this was that much work for me. I had more fun than before, to say the truth, though." she admitted, wiping something dark, flowing down a strand of her hair. She stuck her finger into her mouth, and made a disappointed grimace.
Blood? The bandits got a tad too close, and a tad too messy. But whatever, she had fun!
"It matters not." Damion motioned. "We got ambushed in the middle of the night by what we thought were just things. They seem more organized them mere brutes. As we have seen with the message we had found. My suggestion would be to get what rest we can salvage from this night and hurry at the break of day." The warrior fiddled with the Falx in on his belt.
Otto went to loot the man that the elves had shot down. Again, there was another parchment. It read;
The group has neared Qinte. They will be there by nightfall, if they continue. Get the wolves, and ride, ambush them in the forests. If you fail, I will not be happy. We have one last force after you, in which we have recruited wyvern, and some trolls. Burn this note after reading it, squadbcommander, do not let out enemy have it. They must not get to Qinte, and disrupt out operations. Good luck, commander.
Otto tried to say what the note said, but found he could not speak. The wound had rendered him mute, something even the elves could not cure. He didn't know how he'd tell his companions, and was relieved when the elves spoke.
"We are elves little one. It is true, we mean no harm. But your friend cannot speak. The arrow hit a vital tendon, one that helps the voice box tittilate. It has been destryed, and we cannot fix it. He may be mute for life."
Otto nodded, and handed the note to Inusaki, at random, as she was closest.
Inusaki looked down at the note, then at Otto, and back at the scrap of paper. "You want me to read this?" she asked, raising a brow, and shrugged. "The group has neared... Quinte? Does it read Quinte?" she started reading. The rest of the note followed similarly, asking questions at words she was unfamiliar with, till she managed to read all the text, and simply stared at her companion in confusion.
"So what? We kick troll ass." she shrugged, obviously not fazed by the situation.
"I'm sorry Otto." Damion went over to his comrade and patted his shoulders. "Everyone should have a voice. We must find a way to heal you." The warrior took a deep breath before looking to the small girl and raising a brow. Just what could these people be doing in a place like that?
"Good job finding that note, Otto. Does anybody know what Quinte is? I've never heard of it. Is it a village? Whatever it is, there'll probably be more thugs there."
Otto remembered seeing Qinte in the first note. That's where they were headed, as eh explained earlier. The elves had whispered to him before about where to go. Otto bent over, and in the dirt made a mark :
>
/
|
It symbolized that the company should turn right at the next junction. He roleld his fist into a ball, and punched his own hand. Silently noting they should go kick some ass.
Damion looked at the marks and nodded. "Alright, we will kill major tant when we get to this damn place." The warrior punched his hand with a smile.
((OOC- We got 126 on this! Let us continue! @Leornid @Anadwen @WickedBasket @FerrWindston))
The group set off, almost at their destination. Otto gestured for them to follow.