Freeform Archive · Legacy archive
The Last War
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The Last War
#201Holly, Grumple, and Baldwin walked down the darkened streets of Halbad. Grumple wore a large cloak, purchased from a denizen of the shanty town outside the gates for a copper mark. It was none to clean but large enough to hide his trollish features. The large hood threw his face into impenetrable shadow and the business end of his three pointed spear kept the curious from getting too close.
“Well Holly,� Baldwin asked, “Do you think the ruler of this city will see us now or do we go to the Wyvern?� -
The Last War
#202Holly stood for a moment and then looked at the big town clock, it was quite late, "we better leave it till morning, lets go to the wyvern, get a drink maybe Rory and the other are there" she smiled at the thought of Rory, and walked quickly towards the wyvern, a small skip in her step, she saw the swinging sign of the wyvern just ahead of them, "come on you two there might be a place we can sleep for the night if were lucky." each step nearer she felt that there was something wrong, something was waiting for them she could tell, suddenly there was a scream joined by many other screams from inside the wyvern, Holly looked back at Baldwin and Grumple, spun back around and ran towards the wyvern, bursting through the door, a black cloud spreading across the floor met Holly's eye's, what the hell was going on here? across the room she saw Smeed and another man, but where was Rory, she looked around then looked around the floor there he was, lying there, she ran forward, jumping on some of the black to get over trying her hardest to get over to the table squashing endless things under her heavy boots, she jumped quickly onto a table as one of the things jumped at her, it was a spider, it missed her and went hurtling into the table which she now stood on, she kicked out as another went for a flying leap at her, "Smeed" she called, many heads turned in the wyvern, those who were still here and still alive ran straight for the nearest table jumping ontop just as Holly had done, a drunken man ran at her table, knocking it and Holly flying, Holly fell to the floor, but quickly stood up brushing of the black nasty spiders which were now crawling all over her body, spiders fell all around her snapping there pincers, she ran again to another table, jumping and landing with a smash of flying glass, one bit flew through the air and managed to cut along her cheek, she winced but continued on her way to Smeed and the others. -
The Last War
#203Odat was not having a good day. All of his drink was gone and he had gotten his coat sleeve caught on the harness that was connected to the small cart behind the horse. If that wasn't bad enough, his caught arm had been jamming a metal pin into the horses side-rear, and the horse had interpreted that as the command to run as fast as possible. Odat had quickly found himself precariously balancing himself between his caught arm and his feet which were resting several feet back on the small cart.
But that wasn't really all that bad to Odat. What was really bad was that when the horse finally died from running, it had managed to send the casks into a tree, and the cart into the casks, and Odat into the cart.
So there was Odat was nothing to drink. The only good thing about the whole situation was that he had wound up near a town or something. Towns had pubs and bars. But the other stuff really was a shame.
Odat stopped when he walked into the fifth bar that he had thought he had traveled into. Most of those places had been peoples homes, but this one was actually a genuine bar.
Normally he would have just gone and got a drink, but something was different this time. Odat just could not figure out why the floor was bleeding. It was positively the most unusual thing that Odat had ever thought to have seen. And that was a lot of stuff.
Odat stumbled across the room. He wanted to find out what was causing the floor to bleed, but the blood kept running away from him. How was he supposed to know what was going on if he couldn't get close enough to find out.
Finally, after giving up chasing the bleeding around the floor, he realized that somebody was on the ground. Maybe the man was bleeding and not the floor. Or maybe the guy was just passed out drunk and the floor really was bleeding. It was always hard to figure these things out.
Odat decided to go find out if the guy was drunk or bleeding. When he did, the blood on the floor receded around him just enough so that it wasn't touching Rory.
It was always a wonder how Odat ever managed to find what he was looking for in his drunken stupors. It was even more impressive now, as he noticed two small holes in Rory's shirt. Odat ripped the shirt to find out exactly what was underneath it. Odat wasn't exactly sure of what to make of it. It wasn't exactly bleeding, but then again, it wasn't exactly not bleeding either. It was just kind of purplish and swollen.
Odat decided to play it safe. He dragged Rory across the floor by his arm, as dozens of spiders took the opening to jump on Rory's lower half. It was very fortunate for Rory that he was wearing thick, tight garnments on his legs. Odat dragged him behind the bar and located a bottle of hard liquor.
Odat was, after having had extensive experience with drinking, well aware of the medicinal uses of alcohol, and knew that for some reason, if you poured a little alcohol on a wound, that for some reason wounds would heal faster. However, he did not quite have the same muscle control that was needed to really treat the wound on Rory's abdomen. Instead he wound up splashing the stuff pretty much everywhere but the wound. On the floor, on himself, and all over Rory as well...
OOC: Keep in mind guys, that Odat is crouched down behind the bar and generally concealed from anybody who is not foolish enough to try wading their way through the thousands of venomous spiders running about. -
The Last War
#204Smeed's jaw fell open as the black carpet of spiders burst from every cranny possible. This could not possibly be happening. Spiders just didn't do this, it wasn't in their nature... Then the first few started trying to crawl up his shoes, and he quickly forgot what was possible and what was not.
The feel of hundreds of tiny spiders on skin is one of the worst sensations known to mankind - it literally drives one to the brink of insanity. Smeed scrabbled, terrified, at the tiny crawling terrors trying to make their way onto his flesh with a frantic energy possessed only by madmen and those about to die. Yet the spiders kept coming, scuttling on without pause or reprieve. He had to get out - they all had to get out of the pub.
Smeed scrambled to his feet, hopping up and down to stop the spiders' onslaught. He cupped his hands and shouted into the confusion. "Everyone get out! Outside! Now!!" He grabbed a candle from the table, a plan slowly forming, as he stumbled blindly for the exit. Hopefully the other patrons would follow suit, or many more might share Rory's fate. -
The Last War
#205OCC: I guess I haven't been clear in describing the black spear. It is not a trident. It has a single point, made up of three blades. That is very unusual in itself. A spear usually has only two blades (one piece of metal) and no barbs so it can be inserted and removed easily, as well as easily sharpened. This one is unusual. The three blades that come to one point are jagged and barbed. This thing holds on, at least until it decides to let go. That's usually when the victim is dead.
Behind the mysterious black metal head is the usual wooden shaft. Nothing remarkable about that. This one is oak, but could be replaced by anything, even a hollow metal tube. That would be rare and expensive, in those days, but not unheard of.
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Zandar cursed and threw his dagger deep into a nearby tree with a "Thunk!". Damn that drunk! How did he have the luck to a) Stumble into the horse b) Knock that harness lopsided c) hang on while the beast ran like one possessed d) all just before the soldiers got their hands on him! Damn him! The four went back to camp, grumbling, without their revenge.
Corporal Fox had been quietly following them, and noted that the drunk had been dragged off at high speed in the direction of Halbad. Fox waited for the four men to go to their tents. Fox wasn't sleepy since he had slept until noon, and he didn't have any orders. He didn't have any pals in camp since he didn't fit in with their sort of crude brutality. Besides, if he hung around, Cookie would probably order him off with a squad to pillage and loot, and kill women and children.
So, with no battle officers in camp, he felt free to "scout ahead". After all, it was what he did best.
Realen Fox quietly gathered some supplies, mounted yet another horse from those tied up, and headed off carefully in the darkness down the road toward Halbad. -
The Last War
#206OCC: Nobody, you can be very, very funny at times! Thanks.
IC: Yes, friends, who would be foolish enough to enter? Who indeed?
Grumple walked into the Wyvern as practically everyone in the world seemed to be pouring OUT! But Grumple looked for his friends.
A huge bearded man collided with Grumple hard. He was twice as heavy as the troll, who was now only 5 feet tall and very skinny, but the troll was considerably more solid. Grumple's hood fell back and the man suddenly found himself face to face with with the most indescribably UGLY visage he could imagine. He started to flee back into the tavern but remembered the spiders... Troll? Spiders? Troll? Spi... the spiders won. The man shoved around/over Grumple and ran off into the darkness outside, screaming.
Grumple shrugged. He was used to that sort of thing.
Grumple stepped into the Wyvern. There behind the bar was Grumple's other friend -- the second brother-man -- hurt, and a tall man was helping him. At least he might have been helping, if you call liberally splashing alcohol "helping". Grumple tried to say his friend's name, "Roar-rey!" and waded in through the smashed tables, chairs, and crockery to lend a hand.
Grumple didn't notice large numbers of unusually friendly Black Widow spiders crawling up his lumpy legs. Considering all the places Grumple had had to sleep in his life, he was used to that sort of thing, too.
Besides, Grumple knew that spiders don't bother you if you don't bother them. You could bet your life on it. -
The Last War
#207Kras Minion Voramis was having trouble. The Strand was pulsing with energy all around him, and through the city. His minions, the Black Widows were up, and had found the undisciplined magic-users. The most focused of the enemy group had been bitten, and would be suffering now.
But the other spiders would not move in on him! They were repulsed by something. Voramis concentrated more and more on that place in the Wyvern without success. He had to get closer! He mounted his fast black horse and galloped into the city. The place was in a spreading uproar with screams and panic everywhere, and the gate was unguarded. Good. Voramis would web up Rory and anyone else he was with.
He did NOT mean to run into Baldwin! But that is what happened, when the horse took a turn too fast and reared up as the warrior ducked under the flailing hooves and turned to face them.
The man's sword was out. The hateful sword. The Desecrator of the Great Unholys. It was glowing like it was on fire and Voramis could feel the heat even from six feet away!
Voramis turned his horse and fled back out of the city at top speed. He had to put some distance between himself and these "heroes", fast! He meant to go back to the camp and bring down the calvary. -
The Last War
#208Something was wrong at the Wyvern. People were milling out and screaming as they ran down the street. A horse nearly ran him down, iron shot hooves pounding a staccato beat on the ground. He slid to the side to avoid the beast’s bulk. Final Judgment lit up like a beacon, blinding him. He had never seen the blade burn so brightly. A swirl of robes and a face shadowed by black is all he saw as the horse reared kicking its legs and letting forth a banshee like neigh. The horse flew away like an arrow and the magik of Baldwin’s sword burned in his stomach, spurring him forward.
Voramis spurred the mount away and the distance between them doubled. Baldwin sheathed Final Judgment and drew his bow in a smooth motion at a full run. He let a yard long shaft fly then followed with two more before the first struck home.
The three arrows sped toward Voramis’ back unerringly closing the distance with deadly intent… -
The Last War
#209Holly stood on the table watching, all the commotion, she pulled out her sword and swang at one spider which flew through the air, slicing it in half, rendering it helpless and dead, holly jumped from the table and trampled a few more of the creatures with her heavy boot's Grumple was heading over to rory and she had to get there too just to make sure he was ok, she waded quickly through the swarming mass of spiders which now covered the whole of the wyvern, she jumped again squashing more spiders as she landed "Smeed get everyone out of here quick before we are all dead," she waded faster over to the bar, to help with Rory. -
The Last War
#210OCC: POG, I assume your arrows are not magical. Just well made and aimed by an expert archer...
IC: The gut string on the longbow snapped with a resonant "twang!" as the pointed metal blades and slender wooden shaft accelerated to over 300 feet per second in less one quarter of a second. Such an acceleration would kill a man if there were any way to bring him to such a speed in so short a time.
At the other end, after losing some kinetic energy through air friction, an arrow normally decelerates in another fraction of a second when it hits its target, with the impact of a strong punch and serious tissue damage from the blade as the remaining kinetic energy is converted to heat.
This was not a normal target. Expertly aimed, the longbow's first arrow flew true and straight into the back of Voramis at a distance of only 30 feet. But there was no strong punch. No major tissue damage, if Voramis' reaction provided any clue. No, the arrow passed clean through the dark one as if he were insubstantial, and imbedded itself 3 inches deep into a door frame further down the street with a "thunk!".
The horse had accelerated up to full speed before the second arrow hit from a distance of about 100 feet... this time in the Kras-minion's shoulder. Again it penetrated too far... and he reached up and effortlessly pulled it through from the front, throwing it away.
The third arrow -- a truly miraculous shot given the distance and speed of the horse -- struck the horse in the rump. It screamed in pain and continued running, with the arrow deeply stuck into its rear end.
Baldwin noted as they disappeared out the gates, that, at least the horse appeared to be normal!
The 2 spent arrows remained behind in the darkness... with bits of broken spider parts stuck to them; still twitching feebly as their life oozed out. -
The Last War
#211Grumple felt a pinch, then another, then another. Then many more! And in the most embarrassing places, too!
Grumple pulled up the cloak and dropped the spear, spinning and jumping up and down riotously from one foot to another, and swatting the Black Widows that were biting him between his thighs.
Then, suddenly, they stopped. And dropped off. Confused, Grumple bent down and looked at a couple of the little black spiders as they squirmed and writhed on the ground. It appeared that those spiders that had bitten Grumple were now frenetically spitting and foaming at the mouth, and scrubbing their little black faces vigorously with their hairy forearms with disgust.
It would seem that even evil eight-legged vermin have some standards.
Grumple stood up, feeling a bit rejected. Well, he was used to that, too.
Grumple absent-mindedly scratched some of the bug-bites in a most un-gentlemanly manner and headed further into the bar to help evacuate his friends.
The other spiders scurried aside at top speed, giving Grumple a wide berth. -
The Last War
#212holly saw what the spiders did when grumple came towards them so she jumped over behind him, "grumple we must get over to the bar" she spoke slowly so that the troll would understand, she walked slowly close behind him, so as the spiders wouldnt get to close, but they were closing in behind her, she killed a few with a swing of her sword, each time she swung for one and others moved quickly out of her way, it didnt take them long to get over to rory and Odat the drunk was back again she tuted and knelt down by rory, letting her hair swamp over her face, and dangle limply over her cheek bones, she looked like a living angel, her eye's sparkled, "Rory, Rory can you hear me?" she looked deep into his face, "please Rory you must wake up, if you can hear my voice, you must wake up we need you, i need you" i tear rolled down her cheek, and landed gently onto Rorys cheek "please" -
The Last War
#213Voramis got to the bridge at midnight, in an inhuman rage. He had expended too much energy mobilizing The Strand within the city, only to have it fail. The magic users had not been captured. Everyone in the city was now awake and running around in a panic, killing spiders by the thousands, and fighting with the city garrison which was totally unable to quell the rioting. There were houses on fire where the citizens had tried to defend themselves with torches. The spiders now lacked his control, because he had been caught off guard by the unexpected presence of Baldwin, and Holly.
Voramis needed strength, and had no time for normal feeding. But the heavy calvary man was still under the bridge, asleep. The fool would pay for his laziness!
The dark one crept up to the sleeping figure and knelt over him, in silence. The cloak covering Voramis seemed to collapse, as simultaneously, thousands upon thousands of spiders of all sizes and types poured out upon the soldier's sleeping form, creeping and crawling to quietly cover every inch. Suddenly, they all began to feed at once.
The man jumped up from a dream into a nightmare. He opened his mouth to scream, and inhaled hundreds of hungry arachnids, choking off his breath. Into his nose, eyes, ears, they crawled. And bit. Thousands of injections of poison everywhere.
He fell, and begen to convulse. He was dead in seconds. In minutes, his entire form was shriveled and collapsed within his armour. Even the man's bones were now bent and rubbery inside his skin.
Energies replenished, the spiders crawled back into the cloak. It filled out, and stood up, once more in the guise of a man. Voramis was strengthened. He posted a few spiders as sentries on the bridge and rode back to the camp in the clearing miles away. -
The Last War
#214OCC: Dream you are correct. Masterfully crafted non-magical arrows fired from an excellent quality, non-magical bow. Thank for the insight on Voramis, nicely written scene.
IC: Mac wasn’t afraid of spiders. At least that’s what he told everyone who ever asked. He had killed many men. They were all bad men and deserved to die but that wasn’t the point, the point was that he didn’t necessarily like spiders and that wasn’t the same thing as being afraid of them, was it?
He was just reacting not from fear (that’s what he would tell himself later) just as a warrior responding to a threat. He had just seen his cousin go down. Rory was his favorite cousin. What’s a bloke to do under those circumstances?
Smashing the lantern, full of oil in the midst of the spiders was an effective tactic, the oil soaked arachnids quickly incinerated, but as the fire spread Mac realized to his chagrin that there was nothing to stop the old wooden floorboards from catching as well.
“Oops.�
The wall was catching fire as well and the room was filling up with smoke. Where was Rory?
Rory woke up groggily and looked up at Holly leaning over him. He grabbed her behind the neck and kissed her deeply. He pushed her back and threw her a wink. “I’m sorry. I was in a trance. Don’t know what came over me.�
He pushed his way up looking about the room which was quickly filling with flames and smoke. He smiled at Odat and Grumple, happy to be reunited with them. “Where’s my brother.�
On cue Baldwin appeared at the door of the tavern, “Rory! What’s with you and fire? Stop playing around.� He glanced around the quickly emptying room. “Where are the children?�… -
The Last War
#215Grumple looked at the people in the room as the flames grew higher and higher. They were talking. And they say Trolls are dumb!
Grumple dropped his spear and ran out the door. The wooden furnishings, the oil in the lamps, all that alcohol behind the bar... it was going to get really perky in there in a minute.
Grumple hoped Baldwin and the others were at least as smart as a troll in a fire, and got out, too.
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Private Fox had been riding carefully down the trail toward Halbad in the darkness. No use colliding with a tree by going too fast. He had decided that tracking was not that critical, since it was clear that most of the Blackhand's enemies were heading for Halbad, anyway.
About 10 miles out, he heard the clatter of hooves, coming from Halbad at high speed. Fox spurred his mount off the trail and watched from the woods. To his surprise, the vile wizard Voramis hurtled by, moving back toward the clearing. "How in the name of Ashtar could that, that thing see well enough to move that fast?" wondered the Corporal. "Good thing he didn't see me".
Fox continued to Halbad. He got to the bridge by 3:00 am, and heard a horse snort. It was tethered under the bridge. But nearby on the ground was a full suit of armour from one of the heavy cavalry. Fox risked making a light with his flint and steel, and fell back in shock.
The scene that met his eyes was beyond any horrific ghost story by the campfire. The man -- he was beyond dead. Beyond a corpse. He had been... emptied like a pig's intestine squeezed flat in preparation for sausage. Fox's stomach turned inside out and he gagged and vomited before he regained control.
Fox had seen the dead. Corpses of friends rotting on the battlefield. Flies crawling on the blackened bodies of slain children. He had had to bury his share.
But, this was unheard of. What indescribable new evil now stalked the world of men? -
The Last War
#216Odat was drunk, but he wasn't stupid. The place was on fire, and if it reached them, there would be no escaping. Already the supporting beams to the entrance had fallen and that part of the roof had closed off the bar from the rest of the room.
But fortunately, Odat was a Man of Action. After making sure to grab a few of his favorite vintages (generally the ones with a high alcoholic content) he interrupted Holly and Rory's tearful reunion by lifting them both off the ground with each of his hands. Holly and Rory found themselves over the drunk's shoulders with their arms held to their sides in an iron grip that seemed impossible.
Odat was well aquainted with bars and inns. The back door would have been right behind the bar. There was always a back door. Odat crashed through the heavy wooden door, giving Holly a mark on the bottom that she would feel in the morning. They were in the kitchen now, as Odat knocked over pots and pans making his screwy path to the door.
He finally emerged from the back of the inn just in time for Holly and Rory to see the compound explosion behind them. Pieces of wood and metal and glass assailed them, but none so close as to cut or injure seriously.
Odat dropped Holly, face first, on the ground, and after picking up a walking stick (recognizable to others as the Tooth) continued down the chaotic street with Rory still in hand. He was on his way to find the Doctor, but as he walked, he became more and more aware of the fact that he had no idea where to find one.
His walking stick was quite possibly the most extrordinary walking stick Odat had ever found. With a normal walking stick, he would have real trouble getting it to go into the ground at the right angle because he would always fall a little in some direction so that it would never be straight. But with this walking stick, it would always veer off so that when he stumbled, it was just right.
Odat was almost walking normal now....well, for a drunk anyway.... -
The Last War
#217“I said where are the children?� Baldwin thundered as tavern patrons flowed past him in a wave. Mac, who was smiling as he looked at quickly roasting spiders, glanced up at his cousin in alarm. “They’re upstairs!� He pounded toward the stairs with Baldwin on his heels.
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Yas threw the stool through the window. Cool air immediately rushed into the room as smoke escaped thru the opening. She yelled at the children with her to leave. They scrambled out of the window onto the roof, their fearful faces illuminated by the glow of the flames below. The room was filled with flames and smoke now and Yas fell into a fit of coughing as she pushed her brother over the sill. She struggled to climb out but fell down her lungs filling with smoke, eyes stinging she tried to reach the window sill but failed.
The door flew open with a crash. Mac and Baldwin rushed in arms covering their faces as they ran thru the smoke and flames. Baldwin snatched Yas and leapt thru the window. Mac followed. Under the stars they ran to the end of the roof. All of the children were there, milling about in confusion. Without pause or looking down Mac jumped across the space to the next roof. The distance was twenty feet. Baldwin tossed the first child, Yas thru the air after his cousin. Mac almost dropped her, slipping on the roof and nearly losing his balance. Baldwin threw the next child. Flames were already licking the eaves of the Wyvern’s roof and the heat was intense. Baldwin had thrown the third child and was reaching for the fourth when the roof he was on began to collapse.
Mac yelled, “Win! Throw faster!�… -
The Last War
#218Holly ran outside and saw above her the children Baldwin and the man who they called Mac with them, she ran towards a small ladder and jumped onto running up to get to the roof where Mac and the others where Baldwin was on the other roof and it was collapsing, "quickly children follow me make room for the others" she called the children turned around and began to filter towards her, she leant down to a young boy "Take everyone on this side of the roof down the steps, and take them to Rory and wait there ok, don't worry about the others they will be fine" she carried on running towards the edge of the roof, flames licked out of the Wyvern window as Baldwin threw more children over to Mac, "is there anything i can do to help" she asked quickly looking at him and waiting for a reply, as she ushered the children towards where the others had already gone. -
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#219Grumple looked around for his friends. Where were they? Then he saw them up on the roof. Memories of happy children braiding his greasy hair filled his mind. Baldwin wasn't going to get them all off the roof safely, that much was clear.
A portion of the building groaned, and collapsed in a roar of flame and a shower of sparks. Grumple clambered easily up the corner of the building that had not fallen; his long arms and prehensile toes gripping any irregularity in the exterior. Grumple threw up his mottled green arm to protect his face from the flames scorching up through holes in the roof. His cloak started to smoulder.
The troll's natural fear of fire was becoming hard to control. Old memories of townspeople chasing him with torches, or setting fire to a field he had hidden in now filled his mind. But thoughts of the children were stronger.
Grumple ran over, grabbing two of the last ones there. He squatted down, and then sprang, frog-like once more, over the chasm, colliding heavily with Mac. Mac was surprised to see a troll in his arms... even more surprised a troll that would save two children.
Grumple handed the children over to Holly, then started rolling around on the roof edge trying to extinguish the rear of his cloak, which was now on fire.
All things considered, it was probably not too surprising that Grumple did not yet notice Odat had walked off with Grumple's spear.
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Captain Kraggis was in a fine mood. Midnight, and his seven remaining men had not yet found enough horses to ride out! Lieutenant Millerson was not just dead, he was gone, buried alive by that demon-possessed tree! The horses had panicked and fled every which way into the forest.
Oh, yes. The spear. That was still gone, too. Kraggis swore to himself that when he caught the thief that had it, he would be buried alive, too... if he were lucky. -
The Last War
#220Baldwin clambered up to a higher section of the roof dragging Yancy behind him with one hand as his strong fingers gripped pieces of masonry. “Yancy, wrap your arms and legs around me.� The boy looked at Baldwin with a twinkle in his eye that said everything would be alright. He didn’t say anything though. In fact, come to think of it Baldwin had never heard Yancy speak. The nine year old climbed onto Baldwin’s back as the building below shifted, sending ominous vibrations thru the chimney Baldwin was scaling. The area of roof they had left was totally engulfed in flames at this point and part of the structure had fallen away. The fire had spread to three adjacent buildings and the city folk were trying in vain to combat the blaze with a hastily formed line of the able bodied men in the vicinity armed with buckets of water.
Baldwin was about forty feet off the ground and had climbed as hard and high as possible. His face was streaked with soot and his throat was raw with smoke and yelling. His sword and arrows were formidable tools that had got him out of many tough spots before but they provided him no answers here. He couldn’t even see the ground and smoke stung his eyes as he peered through the smoke.
“Gates!� He was running out of options. Yancy pointed into the smoke with a dirt smudged finger. “What?� Baldwin asked as a new series of tremors shook the narrow column of stone he was perched upon. Yancy pointed again into the impenetrable billowing cloud of smoke. What the hell can he see that I can’t?
“Jump.�
It was the first word he had heard Yancy speak and he had to wonder if the boy was daft. The structure he was perched on made further consideration of what course of action to take a moot point. The chimney started to slide sideways as the roof totally collapsed. Heart in his throat Baldwin pushed off in the direction Yancy pointed with a powerful thrust of his legs. He was totally blind as he flew thru black smoke. Was Yancy giggling? Inexplicably, Baldwin suddenly felt as if he was moving more slowly, as if he wasn’t moving thru the air as quickly. The sensation only lasted for a few seconds then suddenly; there was a feeling of acceleration and rushing through space. Suddenly the smoke cleared and a thatched roof rushed up to meet Baldwin and Yancy with frightening speed. Baldwin must have hit a crossbeam. He hit it so hard that he broke it and a few ribs as well. He grunted in pain as the two of them crashed through the roof in a shower of wood and thatch. Baldwin’s body protected Yancy from the impact. They fell through to the room below, hitting a large bed at an angle and bounced off it onto the hard wooden floor. They skidded to a halt in the corner of the room nearly upending a chamber pot. Yancy’s small hands shot out and held the tilting pot to prevent it, and its contents from spilling on them. It was Baldwin’s turn to giggle, broken ribs and all... -
The Last War
#221Grumple looked around through the fire to see if he could locate his spear. It was not there. Grumple opened and closed his hands repeatedly, as if something was missing from their grip. It bothered him; something didn't feel right, but Grumple figured the weapon was burned up.
Grumple hung from a second-story roof's edge and dropped to the ground. He went over to the group of children who were glad to see him. They laughed at him a little as he scratched his "bug bites". Good thing he was a troll. Any mammal would be dead by now.
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Voramis rode until nearly dawn before reaching the camp. The sentry called out, "Halt! Stand fast!" but the Kras-Minion rode past him into camp, as the sentry cowered back in fear as he realized who it was. Voramis rode his horse right into Cookie's large mess tent and hissed angrily, "Who is in charge here!?" Sargeant Ness was usually a brave man, but he jumped up from sleep on his mat by the kettles and stammered out, "Uh, me, your highness, I mean, your, your, uh, leadership, sir."
Voramis said in his brain-searing voice, "Get these men up and fed, you stupid fool. And where are Millerson and Kraggis!? And where is that drunk?? He had better be sober by now!" -
The Last War
#222Sargeant Ness tried to stand straight, but listening to the dark mage was like the feeling of lizards crawling under his skin. Voramis' face was not visible under the black cloth, but Ness could almost feel the burning eyes behind the mask. Inhuman. Intolerent. Abhorrent to all life.
Cookie shuddered and tried to control his trembling as he spoke, "Uh, the Lieutenant and the Captain have not, uh, returned. Uh, the, uh, prisoner has, uh... escaped."
Voramis suddenly reached down from horseback and grabbed the Sargeant by the throat. "What! How dare you allow this! You think I know not what you have done? You will suffer!"
The grip was light, but Ness jumped back in terror, expecting something to happen. He felt a pinch on his cheek. A tiny brown spider fell away from his face to the ground. He stared down in horror as the spider crawled up the horse's leg and back into Voramis' cloak. Then the pain set in.
Cookie clawed at his face, feeling the searing heat start to build. He staggered over to the medical supplies, rubbing on the boiled ox urine, the baking powder, the red wine. It wasn't helping. His vision started to turn blood red, then black. Screaming with the pain as the poison struck the optic nerve, he ran from the tent and out into the woods.
Other men woke up and ran over to the tent, swords drawn, confused. They backed away when they say the Kras-Minion.
Some winced as the voice of Voramis grated in their minds, "You. Corporal Zandar. Prepare the men. I shall find Kraggis." -
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#223Odat was not having a very easy time finding this doctor's place. He probably would have forgotten long ago had it not been for the man on his shoulder. His arm was getting tireder, and still no doctor.
It was time for a different method. Odat closed his eyes and started walking. With his eyes closed he was even more unstable than he had been before, but his new walking stick was supporting him some and he was still upright when his boots hit hard wood.
He opened his eyes.
He was in a house. The place was well lit and well furnished but also vacant. It had not occurred yet to Odat that he might have been trespassing on somebody elses property. So, in his usual way, he walked into a room. The room was pretty big, and there was a bed there and an opened cabinet. Odat decided to put Rory on the bed and then he decided to see what was inside. Maybe it was where the liquor was stored. Odat was kinda thirsty.
No such luck. At first Odat thought that there was liquor inside, what with all the glass bottles and all, but when he drank some it tasted horrible. Just barely horrible enough for him not to swallow. Tasted a lot like Iodine actually.
There were all sorts of things inside. Bottles and pills and needles and all sorts of weird funny things that made no sense. Odat didn't know about any of that, but he did know that he was thirsty. There had to be a pub around someplace.
So Odat did what he always did...went in search of a new place to spend his time.
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Arthur ran back to his house. He needed to grab some more bandages and disinfectant. Or at least that was what the book had referred to it as. As little as a year back, he had come across a book that had all sorts of heretical teachings in it. The least of those teachings involved the use of disinfectants. Arthur had been fascinated, and had even tried some of the things in the book. To his amazement, they had worked. Now, in such a short time, he had gone from being a scribe, to becoming one of the most prestigious doctors anywhere. All thanks to that book.
There was no place in the world that knew what he knew, and did what he did. The book had combined science with magical work to create a fascinating view of healing. Arthur had studied that book every day. He was now actually a cleric of some value, and what none knew, was that his greatest value was in his hybrid form of healing.
Neither part was religious. It was wilder magic that was introduced to him. Specifically, wilder magic of healing, something that had previously been thought impossible.
When Arthur went inside his house, he realized that somebody else had been here. The medical cabinet was opened, and a bottle lie on the ground. Arthur immediately went inside the room to see what else had been disturbed, and found only a man lying on the bed of his patient room.
The man had a seriously dangerous looking bite from what had appeared to be a black widow spider. Arthur cast a status spell to see if the man would be fine. Most usually were, there weren't any other bites that he could see, and as a young man in good health, he would probably be fine in a few days.
As expected, the man was in bad health, but he would survive. Arthur, got out his serum anyway. It would not exactly cure the bite, but it would help speed up recovery. He injected the serum into the man, put his things back in order, and then with some new bandages and some bottles of his. Arthur was gone. -
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#224Rory sat up in bed and looked around the room. What the hell? He laid back down thinking about Holly for a minute. A smile spread across his face as he thought about when he...
He shot up in bed again. Gates his brother Dugal was slated for execution tommorow. How the hell could he have forgotten? Baldwin probably didn't even know what was going on.
He sprung out of the bed and walked out of the house with speed. Someone had did something with some type of healing salve on his chest. He rubbed the bite with his hand. Seemed like it was okay now.
He walked into chaos. Folks were running and screaming. The Wyvern had collapsed by now and four of the surrounding buildings were ablaze as well. The collapsing Tavern had given him an idea. He had to get to his cousin Mac and find out if he still had those maps of the sewers.
He ran back towards the Wyvern... -
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#225Holly stood looking up at the blaze holding a little girls hand when a large booming voice echoed through the din "What is going on in my city" it cried out, as soon as holly heard the voice she pulled up her hood and hid her face from sight, it came again "What is going on in my city" a tall but large man came through the smoke coming closer and closer to everyone who had ran out of the wyvern, he looked around at the crowd, guards were all around him, holding long spears and long sword's, Holly turned around let go of the girls hand and walked towards the king, "My lord, an awful thing has happened widows black widows have poured out of the floor boards of the wyvern we have destroyed them all but in the battle the wyvern set alight, everyone i believe is safe" the king looked at her with a look of fury on his face "what is your name girl?" Holly gulped as the question burned through her, "My name is Holly Mayleaf" the king looked even more furious at the sound of her name, "lier" he shouted backing holly up against the wall "tell me your real name" Holly again gulped "i repeat my name is Holly Mayleaf" the king raised a leather bound hand "do not lie to me girl, tell me your name, your real name" holly stood upright this time "i repeat myself once more, my name is Holly Mayleaf" the king brought his hand down as fast as the wind itself, lifting holly of her feet and throwing her away from him, holly hit the floor with a large thump and lead there with her head against the cold hard floor, her hood had flown down and had shown her long shining hair, the king came and stood over her "what is your name i shall not ask again." -
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#226Rory edged closer to the King and Holly. He threw the hood of his cloak over his head. Baldwin and he were wanted men in Halbad but only by Malik and those curs from the NightWatch. There was more between these two than met the eye. To the causal observer he would seem to be milling about the crowd, quite aimlessly. But he was getting closer to the two, looking with his eyes. The Deshii quarrel was with Malik who was the King's nephew. The king, while guilty of letting his nephew operate in the city unchecked and letting squalid conditions of poverty flourish within and without the city walls, did not warrant killing.
But if he put his hands on Holly again...
Win would say he was being stupid. It wouldn't be the first time.
Rory hung back seeing how things would unfold... -
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#227Holly blinked water out of her eyes as it began to rain, she stood up, the flames were almost extinguished now, she stood to full height, and turned around facing the king, "My name is Holly Mayleaf, i am from Palaten, and my father is your brother" she took a deep breathe, the kings face went from red to green, he opened his mouth to call for the guards when holly pushed her hair out from infront of her face, the kings mouth stayed open as he gawped at her, she blinked and pushed her hair behind her ears, "I am Princess Holly of Palaten, and i have come here tonight to ask of a favour of you, dear uncle." Holly stopped there she knew that the others would be surprised, she should of told them sooner but she couldn't of bared being treated differently to the rest of them, she swallowed, all she could think about was if Rory would except her for who she was, the king stood still for a few moments, before reaching up to holly's face and pushing her once again against the wall, Holly flinched as a cut on her back twinged, the king looked deep into her eye's with horrible nasty green eye's of his own, searching through every bit of her soul, Holly felt as if she was being probed, a constant thought roaming her minds, what if her didn't believe her, what if he killed her there and then on the spot, would anybody try and protect her, the king suddenly blinked which brought Holly back to the present, a tall lanky man walked forward "my lord this girl is a lier i have seen her begging in the streets not long ago," the king turned to the man and answered "do not lie to me Sweev, if this is true then perhaps some of the other soldiers would of seen her too," he turned to the rest of his company and they all shook there heads, Sweev took a deep nasty look at holly and walked up to her, he whispered softly into her ear, "you will not get his army, i know why you want it you foul woman, you want the throne, they destroyed your city so you will destroy ours, i know your plan" Sweev lifted his hand and slapped her once again she fell to the floor with a splash, she was beginning to get irritated with this, she stood up once more, "i do not know what you are talking about, i have only just got here this night, you must of been seeing things" the king had walked away by now looking the now burnt buildings up and down comparing damage, Sweev turned around fury in his face "you call me a lier girl" he screamed grabbing her and thrusting her up against the wall, he pulled out his sword and held it to her throat "you would sooner die then try and struggle girl" he turned and watched as the king drifted further and further away from the crowd, people were watching with there breathe held at this tense moment, he pushed the blade against her cheek "oh what pretty blood you have" he mocked as he slit her cheek leaving a small line of blood trickle down her face.
OOC: by the way anyone is free to kill Sweev if they wish, if they don't Holly will, Sweev is evil he is playing as a soldier for the king but he is actually a spy for the other army which destroyed Palaten so feel free, the king has gone so he will not be able to intervene. -
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#228OOC: ... Sorry for taking so bleeding long to reply - I've been ...preoccupied - to say the least - with that scourge of role-playing known as real life.
IC: Jostled unfeelingly by the crowd, Smeed's poor head rang with questions. Where in the Good Lord's name had all the spiders come from? Had the patrons all escaped before the pub went up in flames? What on earth was Holly in the middle of?
After having fled the infested establishment, Smeed had been all but swept away in the time of fleeing patrons. A frail man at the best of times, he had found himself completely unable to regain his footing, and had nearly been trampled several times, finally taking refuge in a gutter - only to be spat on and sworn at by the ditch's usual residents. And to cap it all, none of his companionms had been anywhere in sight, leaving Smeed alone to contemplate what horrible fate must have befallen them...
Now at last the crowd was pushing back towards the site of the spiders' appearance - and Smeed, once again, had no choice but to follow them. He had scanned the faces desperately for one he recognized, but with little luck - until he had caught sight of Holly in the midst of a platoon of heavily-armed soldiers. At which point his self-protective nature had reared its head and he had been compelled to keep silent for a little while. It wasn't that he was cowardly, he reasoned - well, yes. It really was.
Finally, a hooded figure's sharp-nosed profile jogged a catch in Smeed's elderly brain. That wasn't Rory... was it? By the Lord, it couldn't be - Rory was unconscious - maybe even dead... He tried his utmost to jostle through the crowd, closer to the hodded man, but of course such efforts proved all but futile. If only the fellow would throw back his hood... -
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#229Sweev pushed himself closer to Holly holding the blade point on her cheek, Sweev pushed her harder against the wall, thrusting her head back "Don't you just have the cutest little face" he leant forward and licked the blood of her cheek, Holly flinched with disgust as his nasty hot breathe covered her face, his large deep grey eye's showed little remorse, he pressed the blade into Hollys cheek and then pulled it down again slicing her cheek, she flinched again, Holly stood still for a while before pushing forward Sweev flew forward but with lightning fast reactions they were back against the wall, the blade now against her throat again, she wriggled but the more she moved the more the blade cut into her throat, she couldn't die not now, not yet, where was smeed, grumple, Baldwin, Tantus, The children, but most importantly where was Rory, she had not seen him since Odat took him off, was he alright, was he dead holly didn't think she could cope if he was, all she needed to know was if he was dead or not, if he wasn't then everything would be alright, but if he was then Sweev might as well kill her now, Hollys eyes had started to water and her hair was drenched, the shine had vanished from her eye's, and her strength was ebbing away, she was cold and shaking, she tried her hardest to get her sword put it was too far down, Sweev realised what she was doing and pulled a small dagger out of his pocket, he thrusted her arm against the wall, and plunged the dagger into her arm, and into the wall, Holly screamed as she once again struggled to get free, it hurt so much, Holly looked deep into his eyes, she recognized him from somewhere but where, a scene from Palaten flashed by her eye's, in the castle, men and women screaming, children dead on the floor, Holly stood there watching all of this, her fathers voice "run my child run...." a evil tall man walking up to him, looking at Holly with his cold grey eye's, arm around her fathers throat the same sword against her's now, a scream filled her ears and her eye's snapped back to the here and now, her eyes burned red, as she remembered this to be the man, who killed her father, who killed the king of Palaten. -
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#230"I can go this far, and no further." Tantus said, looking at the low wall that surrounded Halbad. He knew that the fear and nager of men was a dangerous thing, and one more stoked within the confines of their cities. He gripped his walking staff tighter, with frustration, and impotent anger. To enter was to invite the mob. They wouldn't care if he was a holy man, they would only see the bugbear and nothing more. He wondered for a moment on Grumple, and how the doughty little troll had done. Either he had departed from the group, touting the spear as his own, or they had come up with some sort of comical plan to disguise him in a robe and play him off as an especially ugly child. How knew, it might just work.
"Take care." Tantus said, taking his journey back to the road. It was a few days travel past Halbad to Runyon, and the Troll Dales not far past that. He had gone a little out of his way, but it had been for the greater good in the end. He hoped that the band of heroes would prevale, but it seemed that his place in the story had come to an end. He knew it was time to return to his original plan, to meet the StoneBiter trolls who called the Dales their home.
*****
OOC - I'm going to bring in a new character, will have something up in a day or so. If anyone has any suggestions, PM me. -
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#231Haste spells are energy draining affairs especially when they are cast on large groups. Few Wilders are ever concerned with the theory behind their spells but the Haste or Wind Walk as some like to call it is so tiring because the spell actually entails a distortion of time. Time can be a stubborn thing; tiring to work with. Rory was stronger than most. Although he didn’t realize it, Smeed was even stronger. After casting the spell on the group in the woods Rory was drained. He had started to replenish himself, good food is good fuel, but was interrupted by a hungry spider.
Baldwin eased closer to Holly and Sweev, the glow of Final Judgment showing along the length of blade he exposed by lifting it slightly in its scabbard. Mac was slightly behind him at his right hand, lost in the shadows of his cloak, bald pate covered by a hood.
Smeed was looking at Rory one moment and then suddenly he disappeared.
Rory was weary but anger fueled his actions. He lost himself in his breath. Breathing deeply and focused his intent, he didn’t step forward but moved forward with his whole being. There was a disorienting period where the surroundings blurred and he was standing right behind Sweev. Rory’s arm shot out like a snake wrapping around Sweev’s head. He pulled the keen edged dagger in his other hand across the man’s throat from ear to ear with strength born of righteous anger. He threw Sweev aside. The man was dead before he hit the ground, his last sight being the Wilder looking him in the eye with a piercing gaze, as the life flowed out of him soaking the cold cobblestones he lay upon. Darkness.
Rory stood close to Holly, placing a hand on her arm reassuringly, but he didn’t look at her. He stood with his back to her combat ready, scanning the crowd for more threats… -
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#232OCC: Wogden, It's a coal furnace now? I didn't even find out how it's like a pair of socks. Lemme know about both of them. :D -
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#233Holly gasped as Sweev feel to the ground, she twisted herself around and pulled on the dagger, it was dug into the wall well, she yanked at it and finally pulled it free, she yelped as blood now dribbled in long lines down her arm, she felt woozy for a moment but she could not fall, she watched as other soldiers came scurrying through the crowd, pushing people out of the way here and there, "what have you done" called one as he came closer to Sweev, kneeling down behind him, Holly drew her sword and held it in her hand which wasn't injured, "he attacked me" she said softly pointing at her arm and her cheek, "my friend here helped me, tell your king, explain to him what has happened and bring me back the message," the soldier looked dazed for a moment as if she had just slapped him, before straightening up and running off towards the castle, Holly turned to Rory "Thank you" she mustered before tipping forward, and landing once again on the wet cold floor, her breathing was heavy and her arm hurt so much, but thank god rory was here, thank god, everything around her began to spin, then blackness over took her. -
The Last War
#234OOC: Well, the best I can think of concerning socks is that life is usually made of cotton, comes in boring grays and whites as well as novelty colours and patterns, is usually mashine-washable, starts to smell if you wear it for too long at a time, and usually ends its days as old and mateless and either too small or full of holes.
Coal furnaces, like life, are large and sooty, and are usually found aboard steam locomotives, old steamships, and the kind of house that people think is totally haunted. They often require the attentions of big brawly gentlemen with hairy, tattooed forearms and greasy beards, and are almost certainly a cause of lung cancer and asthma.
TANTUS! NOOOO!!!!
IC: Smeed's eyes widened as the figure suddenly degenerated into a barely-visible blur. By the Lord, that had to be Rory... He let his eyes go, searching for the expected aura, and there it was. A barely-contained sigh of relief and bewilderment escaped from his lungs. How on earth did Rory recover so fast?
Then the cloaked figure was tossing aside the limp body of the man who had tormented Holly, and Smeed knew without a doubt that his friend was alive and well. Given a new burst of wilful persistance, he elbowed his way through the crowd and stumbled out - free at last from the clutches of the multitude. He breathed in appreciatively, and tottered over to Rory and the swooning girl.
"By the Good Lord's name - what happened? The spiders - they... I thought you were... Who was that man? Where are the others?" He knew he was stuttering terribly, but he honestly didn't care. -
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#235"Oh my" came Arthur through the crowd.
There was blood everywhere. Sweev had blood flowing from his face in record amounts. His clothes were drenched in the stuff. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing that he could have done for Sweev. He would have been a very valuable client indeed.
It annoyed Arthur to no end. Why could death not be cured. Everything else could be cured but that. Poison, stabbing, blood loss, burns, old age, suffocation, drowning, lightning strikes...and everything else could be cured, but not death. Necromancers claimed that they had life eternal, that they could cure death, but what they did was not really living. It just wasn't quite dying either. What Arthur wanted was true life, and he would find it, but for now he had to deal with a stab wound in this girl's arm.
It was a good thing that Arthur was used to blood, because there was no end in sight. Holly's little trickle of blood had stopped being shy, and was now the open gash that a knife of that size would have normally given. Why it had not in the first place was very unusual.
To tell the truth though, Arthur was actually glad for the blood. A clean wound for the first time that night. So many burn victims this night, with charred, black and bloody red skin. Skin that would come off if it was so much as brushed the wrong way. Agony and pain. There was so much of it. Arthur had healed so many, but had gotten there to late for others. They had already died when he had gotten there. Another set of names in his book tonight.
Arthur did not even waste magical healing on Holly's arm. She just wasn't hurt bad enough to warrant it. Instead he wrapped one of his enchanted bandages around her arm. It never needed replacing, and it never needed to be cleaned, and most importantly, it prevented infection, although he had only seen the term infection in his book. Still, they were the best around. Then he slipped into the crowd, with Holly's very expensive sword and scabbard in hand, and he was already moving on to other people. -
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#236Mac and Baldwin exchanged looks. “Did you see that?� Baldwin asked.
“Aye.� Mac responded. “Let’s handle it.� The big man was already moving through the crowd with light footed grace that belied his large size. He moved next to Arthur smoothly. Draping an arm about his shoulder, he rested the point of a dirk against Arthur’s ribs. He smiled at the smaller man. A wolfish grin that didn’t reach cold eyes that sparkled with deadly promise. “You forgetin sometin?� He glanced down at Holly’s sword and ornate scabbard. Baldwin stood close by… -
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#237Hollys eyes slowly opened, she pushed herself up on hands and knees and felt around for her sword, she rubbed her eyes to rid them of the blurriness and looked around on the dark floor nothing where was her stuff, she still had her bow in its neat little box in her pocket, but her sword was missing, she pushed herself onto the wall, looking at her arm someone had put a bandage around it, she pushed herself up using the wall as support, she couldn't of been out for too long, cause most of the people were still around, and it was still raining and still dark, she blinked a couple of times, then grabbed hold of her hair and squeezed the water out of it, she then pulled a black ribbon out of her pocket and tied it tightly round her hair, once she had done this she pulled up her cloak hood, and smoothed off the water on the rest of her cloak, she looked down at the now quite dead Sweev, anger still burnt in her eyes for him even if he was dead, she took a hefty kick and then walked off into the crowd, she was going to find her sword, she walked staggering from side to side as if she was drunk, her head hurt and so did her arm, but she ignored it, maybe if she found her sword then the soldier will come back and say that the king wants to meet with us, she thought hopefully before bumping into a group of young boys who were laughing at a poor old man picking up his belongings, "do you find that funny?" she asked the nearest of the boys, he turned around and looked her up and down, "yes actually i do" he chuckled and looked at his friends, holly was still angry but she didn't want to hurt any of these kids no matter how pathetic they were, one of the other boys picked up a large stone and chucked it at the old mans hand catching him on the knuckle, "stop it, or i will have to stop you" the boys turned around and looked at her, "and what are you going to do about it?" the boys started to laugh and circle around her, they all pulled out long swords and stood around her, oh perfect she thought as she looked at the five long swords around her, five off them one off me and no sword this should be fun, what had she gotten herself into. -
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#238OOC: Gah!! Holly just won't stay out of trouble, will she!? :wink:
IC: Smeed trailed after Holly, stammering cautions. "Please, miss! Stay still for a while! You'll need time to heal before you -" And then he stumbled across a ring of drawn swords.
An old man nearby was scrambling for his possessions - one of Smeed and Holly's agressors turned and gave him a solid kick in the back, sending the man sprawling to the ground - and Smeed's knuckles tightened. Bastards. What in the Lord's name was wrong with these people?
Thank heaven he was outside the ring - Smeed was so furious that he would probably have ended on dead before he realized it. He pounced - and somehow the world seemed to slow down. He found himself grasping one of the boys' swords and flinging it aside before he had even noticed - a feat of strength that would have been completely impossible, had the youth noticed him in time.
In the space of two heartbeats, another lad was unarmed - and suddenly the world caught up to Smeed again, and he felt very tired indeed. He wheezed a few words to Holly and doubled up on the ground, breathing hard. "Grab... one of ...the swords..." -
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#239OCC: Now, THIS was good reading! It was so good I read too fast and had to go back and read it again!
Yes, sorry, R.L. interrupted and I was gone for the weekend. But thanks for the good stuff. Holly, your grammar and sentence structure may be imperfect, but you can really whip out a story! Wow! A+.
Scrasamax, I mourn the loss of Tantus. A wonderful character, expertly written. Please reconsider your withdrawal. We need you here.
IC: Grumple didn't trouble himself with disarming troublesome youths. Anyone who drew a sword was grown up enough (at least from a troll's point of view). Good thing Grumple's hooded cloak was covering his misshapen face, or he would have been considered a primary threat (from any human's point of view).
As it was, the 5 foot troll sprang up and forward to help his friends. Grumple wrapped long gangley arms around the first youth with a sword and instantly snapped his neck. The young man dropped. Grumple then grabbed the second's hand holding the sword and twisted. The youth screamed as his wrist was broken, and the sword dropped to the ground with a "clang". Grumple kicked him in the belly and the young man fell back on the ground holding his right wrist with his left hand. He crawled away.
With his head cocked to one side, Grumple looked at the last of the five young men. In a gruff but recognizable voice he said, "Boo."
The fifth young man stared for only a moment at the indescribably ugly face under the cloak, then turned and ran away.
Grumple looked around to see if anyone else was going to get frisky. -
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#240It was dawn. The sun was beginning to rise as the birds began to twitter and call to each other. Light and life was intertwined in the hope of a new day, with new joys.
Of course. Voramis had nothing to do with that. He separated himself from the repulsive men of the Black Hand. They drank too much and were intolerable to him. Where were their leaders?
He ignored the group of soldiers that ran off to see what was wrong with "Cookie". Contemptible fool! Voramis dismounted off to one side of the clearing.
He put forth his hands. The call went out again to The Strand. The vibrations rippled down the webs that connected them all to him; connected him to everything, everywhere. The nearer, the clearer. The further, the fainter.
There. There was Kraggis. The Strand knew. The Ancient Tree had been attacked by the Light Cavalry. The Tree had retaliated. The Light Cavalry had died, as it had to be. The spiders had seen all.
Kraggis was the only remaining officer of any rank. He had not followed orders but he still was needed. He was fortunate that the Kras-Minion was not hungry. Not right now.
Voramis mounted his extraordinary steed and galloped off into the morning light toward Captain Kraggis, a few miles away in the wood.