Back in the Day (Chapter I)

1. Re: An Age of Heroes (Back In The Day)

   #81

   Although the gully Aethelstan had spotted allowed them to draw nearer to the hillock without being obvious, the falling rain had filled it with nearly a foot of running water.  It was still the obvious choice for a stealthy approach, as the streamlet’s noise would mask any sounds the party made, so Aethelstan scrambled down the bank and into the storm’s runoff.  As he carefully picked his footing among the slick stones, he reflected that his sandals were largely ruined already, anyway.

2. Re: An Age of Heroes (Back In The Day)

   #82

   In Nimz, it was dry. In places there was mud that some of the scholars said had been dry so long that it had turned to stone. He shook his hat again, trying to get some of the rain out of the fibres. It seemed futile, but after a few shakes, the shapeless louch hat did provide some better protection. It would have been better if he could wrap the piece of oilcloth he had around his head, but he saved that to keep his crossbow dry. Wet strings don't sing, or so the saying went.
   
   *****
   Being rather surefooted and stealthy, Vee found himself near the front of the line of people moving up the gulley. The footing would have been fine, but the foot of water running in the gulley made it all the more fun. He could feel the weight of his daggers, confortable against his side and his forearm, and the weight of the crossbow, the string pulled tight, all the more so. THe sound of the water made it impossible to tell if they were moving in on someone, but he strained his ears to listen for anything he could, and kept his eyes open for the faint flicker of fire's reflection in on the water.
   
   (OOC - Mr. DM, Vee requests spot and listen checks)

3. Re: An Age of Heroes (Back In The Day)

   #83

   Rain On Me...
   
   OK,*some rolling involved* (some you requested, some you didn’t.)
   
   --The rain came down in a merciless wall. Staying dry was no longer an option. The companions were all properly drenched, as they made their way cautiously, along the slowly filling gully. The mudwash cascaded down from both banks, and soon the footing became treacherous. Though they came at different angles, eventually all the companions reached a similar vantage point. The hillock itself proved a bit more daunting than it seemed from a distance, but the scene which greeted them on the other side of the hill, made them temporarily forget the difficult trek and pouring rain.
   
   --Listening intently and taking in the scene around him, with his highly trained senses, Vee found it almost impossible to hear anything over the steady drone of the rain and splash of the gully. Suddenly, as Aethelstan stepped in and out of a watery patch ahead of him, Vee briefly spied something protruding from the gully floor. Extending his hand into the muck as he passed, he extracted what appeared to be a finger-thin, ten-inch long, ivory scroll-tube, sealed with wax at both ends. Though no mage, Vee had seen his share of scroll tubes in his profession. Scholars and Wizards were quite fond of them. Dujek noticed as well, and quickly made his way closer to Vee, as they sloshed on.
   
   --Aethelstan was the first to gaze upon the scene, but within a few seconds everyone witnessed the same. Four naked human bodies, bloodless from the pouring rain, sprawled out within a dozen or so feet from one another, in the wet muck. It had looked like they were slain no longer than a few hours earlier, from the looks of their corpses. Two men, and two women, their bodies gashed and slashed by indeterminable weapons. A stench was in the air, not just one of death, but almost as if a smell of wet, dirty fur, permeated despite the cleansing downpour.
   
   --Moruz did not yet look upon the dead bodies. Instead he focused on the lone standing figure, quite alive, among the corpses! A man, his back to the approaching companions, the rain cascading down his hood, was standing and staring at one of the corpses in silence. He was clad in drab, indistinguishable brown garb. A mace clung to his waist, and what appeared to be a crimson cape or robe was folded into a neat square and slung on his back. He slowly turned at the groups approach. The man was as surprised at the group, as they were at seeing him, and at first his expression was unreadable.
   
   --As Talia looked on, the significance of the earlier crows murder did not escape her. The crows had not merely escaped the impending rain….they had been feeding. The telltale signs were there. All four corpses were missing their eyeballs and their plump lips were as well, torn off.
   
   --Aerex cast an investigators eye upon the scene. He first confirmed to himself that the heinous murders must have been committed a mere hour ago at most. Secondly, the slaughter was complete. He could tell by the wounds, that the force used was needlessly excessive.
   
   --Somewhat hidden, at the opposite end of a steep, rocky hillside was a dark hollow, an opening a dozen feet wide tapering to an equal height. Only thirty feet from the scene of the slaughter and the standing stranger, the granite walls of the cave mouth glistened in the rain. Gravel seemingly littered the entrance, and despite the downpour, additional dripping water could be heard within, as well as the sound of insects buzzing in the cave’s haven. A rough, tunnel descended from the surface into the darkness.

4. Re: An Age of Heroes (Back In The Day)

   #84

   Aerex gave a low, grim sigh.  Murder was not uncommon in the capitol, but the stench of fresh blood and the sight of mutilated bodies rarely got any easier.  He looked up at the cloaked figure, either the perpatrator or the only survivor.  Something about him leaned toward the latter, but he kept his grip on the bow and arrow anyway.  "What happened?" he asked simply.

5. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

   #85

   “Holy Andur’s Teeth!” gasped the mud-encrusted cleric as he gaped in horror at the hellish scene before him.  His gorge rose as he witnessed the cruelly slain bodies, but he was able to force his stomach to calm by focusing on the ominous figure in their midst.  The man didn’t appear to be their killer, as he appeared to be carrying only a mace.  Aethelstan wanted to question him, but… the bodies, left for crows to pick at their eyes… 
   
   He could tell that he was on the ragged edge of hysteria again, so, grasping his holy symbol, he began to softly chant the Requiescat Prayer he had learned as a boy, the familiar words of petition for the souls of the deceased, quietly reciting the familiar words of the archaic prayer until he was calm again.

6. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

   #86

   Glancing at the bodies with an almost clinical eye Dujek decided that they're weren't the only thing causing the smells around here.  They weren't dead but three hours at the most, yet the air still stunk as if they'd been there for a while longer.  Cussing lightly under his breath Dujek started searching aound with his mind for any spells, recent or otherwise, that might have been cast by either this lot or their attackers.
   
   Detect Magic boss-man

7. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

   #87

   Moruz remained unfazed by the sight of the corpses - he had seen complete fields of death, the aftermath of war - and four corpses had little effect.
   He did not like this situation, however: The man before them had already seen the group, and if he were to run for reinforcements, he wasn't sure if any of the party could gain on him. Still, Moruz snatched the glass dagger from his side and tensed to charge forward.
   
   "What happened?" Moruz heard the voice of Aerex through the rain - the glass warrior had not considered the newcomer's innocence: standing over freshly slain corpses. But now he relaxed his muscles and awaited the answer to the investigators question.
   Now that he was more rational, he took in the scene in a new light. The excessive nature of the corpses wounds... The fact that one man armed with a mace should not be able to mutilate four people like this without wounds of his own... And that smell! It reminded him awfully of the fierce, predatory desert cats which prowled his homelands at night... Hmm.
   Moruz slipped his dagger back to his side and instead unslung the Ouzala from his back. He was tense one again, but his focus was not on the man before them, anymore. His gaze peered around the scenery intensly, trying to study for any danger behind the rain. Finally, his eyes rested on that semi-hidden cave.
   "Keep a sharp eye..." He uttered softly to the rest of the party - he had a nagging feeling that this scene was going to get uglier.

8. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

   #88

   Talia closed her eyes briefly.  It was possible that someone else was to blame, but the carnage reminded her too much of what had happened to her caravan.  She dismissed the stranger as the killer after a glance; it was unlikely he could have done all of this.  In fact, it was unlikely that he'd had anything to do with this group; probably he'd seen the same crows she had and reached a similar conclusion.  But something had to have done this, and maybe the rain hadn't washed away all the traces just yet.  She estimated it would have taken a fair number of men to do this, and that smell...
   
   She started looking around, hoping that the muddy ground would still hold traces. 
   
   (OOC: Tracking check, please, Mr. DM.  And does Talia recognize the smell as perhaps wet gnoll?)

9. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

   #89

   A sigh broke the aura of silence hanging about Tristan, and his nose twitched at the memory of the rancid smell that came from the cave he had found after searching the area for signs of the perpetrators of this massacre. Quite obviously he had found what Brother Michael had asked him to find. Now all he had to do was handle it, not the easiest of tasks. Perhaps a group of others would be useful. A cry of shock and horror from an overlooking hillock snapped Tristan out of his contemplation, and he looked up to see who, or what, it was.
   
   Responding to the first non-horrified words, an inquiry into what had happened, the Crimson Priest gave a simple answer. "Gnolls. I've been hunting them for ten days now." Thank Trigu! Perhaps now I can complete this task and find some shelter. This weather is getting worse and worse...

10. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #90

    Deftly sliding the scroll case into his vest, Vee held the crossbow on the stranger until he spoke, mentioning wet gnolls. "So that is what that aweful smell is," he said in an attempt to cover his discomfort. Killing alien looking xaren was one thing, but finding the bodies of dead people was something else. He refused to look down at the bodies, as he was sure that at least one of the women had been fairly nice to look at before her insides were hacked open.
    
    There was another bit of loot in his pocket, he was soaked to the bone, and the sight of the dead bodies would likely haunt him for a very long time. "How about we all take a bit of shelter in the cave. I've got a bottle of something red, maybe we could coax out a fire and try to get dry."

11. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #91

    --gnolls...Talia knew before the stranger said the word, but now that the priest had announced it, the group took more notice of the awful stench. The rain was not abating, and worse, it was now getting dark. In a few more minutes, night would fall.
    
    --Aethelstan's prayer seemed surreal, as he chanted over the dead bodies. Let them have the salvation in death, they did not have in life, he thought. The others stood around listening to the melancholy requiem in relative silence.
    
    --Vee seemed disinterested in the dead, and was eyeing the cave entrance.
    
    --Few heard Dujek's archaic whispers, as they listened to Aethelstan's sermon. The self-styled necromancer, muttered some words, in a language no one understood under his breath, and waved his bony fingers around casually. What transpired no one knew, but suddenly, Dujek was staring and approaching Vee, seemingly drawn to him for some reason. Keykold gave Dujek a strange look.
    
    

12. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #92

    One of the things that a rogue learns to survive is when someone is giving him the eye, and though Vee was still considered a neophyte adventurer-upon-return it wasnt hard for him to notice Dujek giving him a steady look. Vee was conscious of the newfound items he carried and was suddenly struck by a quite rational fear. sometimes there were magic items found in K'tonian caches, and many of them were unstable, weapons and such that defied K'tonian logic. They were cursed and every apprentice archeologist and artificer knew the stories about some master or luckless apprentice being hideously slain by some magic item, or disembowled by a K'tonian scythe device.
    
    Vee looked back towards the cave, anxious to be away from the bodies. Tending the dead was something that the clerics and priests did, and something he avoided. Vee gestured for Dujek to follow him towards the mouth of the cave. It would be nice to get out of the downpour but he wasnt keen on galloping off into a black hole in the earth. There were plenty of stories about those as well back in Nimz. He took the blueish opal and the scroll case out of his vest and showed them to Dujek. "What do you think of these? The stone came off of a Xaran's corpse and I just found this scroll in the muck...I guess it belonged to one of them..."

13. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #93

    The only actions Moruz performed on the bodies was ritualistically placing a pair of small, mirrored coins upon each of the corpses now-empty eye sockets. One of the cadavers' face was completely caved in, so he deigned from placing his coins on that one. The Dremorix was steely calm in the face of the corpses, but at the sound of the yelping, growling conversation in the cave, Moruz stood quickly. Strangely the man with the crossbow was walking towards the cave and motioning the strange, arcane-whispering man with him. "You! Can you not hear that?" he voiced in a forceful whisper and listened for another second or two before smiling grimly and indicating to the entire group, "Like the chameleon... Unseen!" With that he made his way for the nearest place of cover - a rather large Laurel tree - and hoped that the others would follow suit and find a place to disappear. The fact that the foul smell was getting stronger suggested to Moruz that they were upwind - besides, the rain should cover some of the scent. Moruz considered the group lucky that they could smell the unwashed creatures at all!

14. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #94

    Looking over the scroll Dujek didn't notice the sounds coming from the cave, but the whishpers from the glass-man, from Moruz, drew him back to reality with a start.  Handing the scroll back to Vee he muttered, "I think what I think can wait for now."
    
    Dujek looked around for cover, and finally decided that putting Moruz between himself and the cave would have to do.  Hiding himself in a crevise he waited, watching the entrence of the cave with with bated breathe.
    
    Hide check bossman, and that is one of my skillz.

15. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #95

    His prayers for the dead interrupted, Aethelstan looked up at the ominous mouth of the cave.  The guttural growling and yelping from within suggested that the murderous beasts responsible for the carnage before him might emerge at any moment. 
    
    Acting quickly, Aethelstan grabbed his scarlet prayer beads and hung them on one of the thorny scrub plants, where they danced in the winds of the storm, impossible to overlook.  “With a little luck, that’ll distract them from our hiding place until we can ambush them,” he thought as he retreated nearer his companions.
    
    A large plant presented itself fortuitously as a hiding place, so he ducked among the vibrant growth’s branches; only to discover the shrub’s formidable thorns poking him anywhere he wasn’t armored.  Recalling the herbal lore that had been pounded into his skull while he was at the monastery, he identified it as Kortan’s Thorn, used as a stimulant.  “Well, it’s certainly stimulating ME!” he thought, as the thorns savaged his unprotected limbs.

16. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #96

    Talia scanned the area.  There were ample hiding places, but she would actually prefer not to be on the ground.  The mud was sticky and would slow her down.  Finally, she decided on a low tree near where Moruz was hiding.  She swung up into the branches and climbed a bit farther up, making sure she was more or less hidden by the leaves.  One fan she tucked into her belt, the other she kept closed in her hand.  The element of surprise was always desirable, and it had been her experience that potential targets seldom looked up.

17. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #97

    The fierce growls eminating from the cave distracted Aerex's attention from the priest.  He glanced around quickly, then jerked his head in the direction of a moderately-sized boulder.  He moved quickly behind it, keeping a close grip on the bow and the notched arrow.  The constable peered through the darkness and rain toward the cave.  Investigating the murders seemed no longer necessary: the brutes were apparently on their way.
    
    [ooc: Hide check, if you will.]

18. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #98

    Having been in the area for a longer period of time, Tristan had had more than enough time to consider what his actions would be in relation to the bararious acts of the gnolls that were inhabiting the cave just yards away. Night had fallen, and those he hunted were preparing to emerge; the newcomers hadn't had time to consider anything more than the here and now, and thus had decided to hide at the threat of the approaching gnolls. Ambush was well and good against the unnatural servants of darkness, but gnolls, though barbarious and wicked by nature, still deserved the chance to know who was going to slaughter them. Only the undead and demons truly deserved nothing but death.
    
    Tristan walked over to a small hollow in the laurel tree that the Glass Fighter was hiding behind and placed his pack inside it. Looking the warrior over, he nodded to himself. Though he used strange weapons and armor, the desert man would be very useful against a band of furry monstrosities. All of the desert fighters were dangerous in combat, that much he had picked up from his studies in the Monestary, though for the life of him, he couldn't remember what in the world the people were called. O-something D-something. Once we're through here I'll need to ask him. A strange religion theirs is. Nodding to himself, he turned and walked back to the bodies, drawing the Star of Trigu in the air above each of them, two triangles, one pointing up, one pointing down. After four 6-pointed stars had been traced in midair, the brown-clad priest drew his mace and closed his eyes, preparing himself to fight those who would not hesitate to tear him and the others apart.
    
    Oh Father, please give me the strength to do your will; not to seek revenge for these henious acts, but to protect those with me and those who will otherwise become their victims if I do nothing. His prayer finished, Tristan opened his eyes and steeled himself for what was to come.

19. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #99

    What emerged from the cave mouth was perhaps not what was expected by the 'Hidden' and by the bracing, vigilant Tristan. Nor did Vee, seeking to escape the rain, notice or hear before it was too late. He was positioned closest to the cave entrance now a mere twenty feet away.
    
    "You were told not to slay travelers so close to the town." came the drum-like, monotonous voice of the first figure.
    
    A dwarf, stout as a barrel, imposing though lacking in height, with a night-black beard, bare-chested, with twin, crossed hatchets tatooed in dark red across his torso, was addressing the creature behind him. As the dwarf emerged, two more identical hand-axes could be spotted etched on his back. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in each meaty hand he held steel throwing axes, and two more slightly larger hatchets could be seen slung on his waist. Even in the coming darkness his bearing was unmistakable. He looked like a merciless killer.
    
    In responce to the dwarf's statement came a guttural, obscene sound, followed by a mewling, lamentable yelp, and the second and third figures emerged from the cave. The first was a monstrous, gangly gnoll, almost seven feet tall, despite its abnormal humpback. Covered in red fur, it clutched a bound smaller gnoll, in one muscular arm, and a wicked sickle in the other. The yelps came from this second gnoll, bound with rope like a mummy, and helpless, as the red gnoll dragged him out.
    
    "Slay one of your own, and we shall return again as brothers." The dwarven baritone came again.
    
    Without delay, the huge red gnoll disembowled the other, now screaming and still bound, gnoll in its grasp, with a cruelly curved sickle. The dying creature thrashed, spasming as it died, its dark blood mixing with the pouring rain. The gutted runt's awful shrieks suddenly began to subside, his maw filling with rainwater, gurgling his painful laments.
    
    At this the taciturn, fearsome dwarf said. "It is done, Jervoe will--" He silenced himself and peered into the gloom. It was then he spotted the adventurer-upon-return and the justice-seeking Tristan, standing there in silent vigil.
    
    The dwarf's face twisted into a cruel visage. He raised both axes, wordlessly, ready to throw. He was not one for 'parlay'.
    
    The huge red-furred gnoll growled menacingly and extracted a bizarre weapon from its back. A tripartite rod, six feet long, seperated into three equal pieces, linked together by thin chain. Six feet of pliable iron and oak.
    
    It was then Tristan realized it was no gnoll, but a rarer Flind, which now faced him down, its muzzle quivering and beginning to slaver, wielding its strange weapon of choice, the Flind Bar. Tristan had known a brother back in the abbey, who had taught the skill involved in wielding these rare weapon prizes.
    
    Tristan also realized ruefully, that neither the fearsome dwarf nor the dangerous flind was bothered by the dark...and certainly not the rain. The stench grew greater in Tristan's nostrils. He hoped the smell of his own fear was not mingled with unmistakable odor of the flind and gnoll. He in fact had little time to 'fear', as the Flind bore down upon him.
    
    --Axes flew from the dwarf's grasp and the Flind charged in rage. Vee was screwed and Tristan was next in line.
    
    --waiting on Vee and the "Hidden".
    
    

20. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #100

    Grasping a branch from the ground, Aethelstan quickly called forth light to illuminate the scene.  Throwing it at the dwarf, he called out in a stentorian tone, “Drop your weapons, brigand, ere my archers cut you down!”

21. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #101

    Talia hissed in irritation at the blatant stupidity of these people.  Set a flag, why don't you!  It's not like we were trying to ambush them or anything!  Still, now that the harm was done, she had to work with it.  At least one of the fools had leveled the playing field.  She carefully opened her fan, trying to keep it from reflecting the light.  That huge... well, it looked like a gnoll seemed like it was going to be a threat.  She judged that she could hit it from here.  She tensed up, working out where the best place to aim would be.  If she could hit it in the face, she might outright kill it, and if she didn't, then there was a chance she'd blind it.  Of course, she'd probably also give away her position, but that really couldn't be helped.
    
    (OOC: Spend a round (or equivalent) aiming, then called shot to the flind's face, hopefully aiming to kill.)

22. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #102

    Shooting fast, Vee jabbed the crossbow towards the dour dwarf and let the bolt fly, and prayed that as the axe spun towards him that he might make it back to Nimz alive. In the back of his mind he half-heartedly knew that the crossbow bolt would glance off of the dwarf like he was made entirely of iron. But, he didn't plan on staying that close to find out if he hit or not.
    
    (standing orders - evade close combat with the dwarf and flind. attack of opportunity with thrown dagger if possible, then run like hell)

23. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #103

    Dwarves sometimes came into the deserts - seeking trade and ores, so Moruz knew of them, but he had never seen the likes of the other creature before. Still, he was not worried when the newest member of the group failed to hide - The best laid plans last until the first arrow is drawn, so the saying goes.
    Instead of moving for the attack, Moruz decided to stay where he was, hidden by the tree for the moment - not out of fear, but so the pair did not have the advantage of knowing the exact numbers of the party. If the group could just stay alive for a short while, Moruz could wait for the opportune moment to leap out of the covers and attack from behind. Besides - he would like to wait until that dwarf with his nasty throwing axes was closer before he showed himself to them. Moruz, with gritted teeth and Ouzala held firm, waited.
    
    (Standing orders: Wait, hidden behind the tree until either the Flind or the dwarf is close enough to attack or are focussed in combat, then attempt to charge out to perform a called shot to the hamstring of either one with his Ouzala.)

24. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #104

    Their cover already blown, Aerex spun around the boulder, took aim, and launched an arrow at the gnoll's face.  He quickly reached for another arrow and loaded it, preparing for another attack.
    
    ooc: does this count as a backstab attack?

25. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #105

    The smell of gnoll blood was thick in the air, almost overpowering the stench of wet fur coming from the massive Flind. Tristan twisted his head to avoid the splatter of blood getting into his eyes as the smaller, bound gnoll was gutted like a fish, and a low growl rumbled forth from the priest's throat as he turned back to the pair of murderous 'brothers'. Only the darkness of night hid the sheer unadulterated anger suffusing the man. Righteous anger was much different in motive than revenge, but in this case, the end result would be the same.
    
    As Andurian light flooded the clearing and a tripartite staff was drawn in opposition, Tristan flung himself forward, mace held high for a blow of divine justice, all thought of defense blanking from his mind.
    
    OOC: Using Smite on the Flind Mr. DM Let's break out those dice.

26. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #106

    *Lotsa rolling involved. Sorry Aerex, 'backstab' applies to melee attacks only. However, you all rolled great!*
    
    --Aethelstan's light spell surprised even the dwarf and Flind, as they grimaced, their foul visages visible for the first time. A shower of light, in the darkness leveled the playing field for the companions. *St. Senren's Glorious Light be Praised* Aethelstan's words however were not heeded nor acknowledged by the mad pair. The entire morbid scene was now illuminated.
    
    --Vee's bolt sped toward its target. He would never know if had hit home, as two thick bladed throwing axes, dug deep into his flesh. One in his upper chest, thankfully missing the heart, was now buried deep in his shoulder. The second axe hit his thigh, lacerating some flesh, but speeding by. Not a direct hit. Vee's head spun. Pain shot through his body, blood spurted, mixing with the rain. He did not even realize at first that he had fallen back several feet, and now lay nearly buried in the ever-wetter muck. His consciousness teetered between the here and now and the sweet everafter. His bolt had likewise missed, adding to his indignity and pain.
    
    --The Flind bore down on Tristan, smashing first one rod of its Flindbar, then spinning with animal celerity and striking again, with another linked club. It spat and shrieked as it did. The brave priest stood his ground, and if he was hurt, which he surely must have been, he wasn’t showing it, though Aethelstan spied a trickle of blood coming down from one of Tristan’s ears, and a gimp in his suddenly weakened leg. One of the hits smashed his hip. The priest swung his mace in a slow deliberate manner compared with his adversary’s beastly agility. By faith or by chance, it struck home. The Flind let out an ignoble whelp, as the mace crashed down on its humped back, crushing bone. The creature recoiled and poised itself to finish off the priest of Trigu, hobbled but anxious. Tristan buckled, and nearly fell himself, but continued standing, shouting Trigu’s Psalm of Battle as he did. The side of his face was now red in the divine light of St. Senren.
    
    --Moruz watched with the grim practiced calm of a warrior. He quickly realized however that unless the dwarf or the flind were somehow drawn to him, there would be no oppurtune strike afforded him, not before others died. The dwarf was closest and Moruz sprung to action, for a moment racing toward the dwarf’s exposed back. Red Hatchet was nearing Vee’s languishing body. Having thrown his twin axes, the dwarf withdrew his hand-to-hand axes, which had until now hung at his side. It was a moment or two before Moruz would bear down on Red Hatchet, or Red Hatchet would simply turn and see the Glass Warrior. No one could guess which would happen first.
    
    --As the Flind leapt at Tristan once more, fury in its eyes, a steel-winged bird came swishing in his direction. Missing the Flind’s temple by mere inches, it instead, sliced bits of meat and fur from the creature’s flank, and whizzed by, eventually diving into the mud. A second later, an arrow shot through the flind’s side, burrowing itself deep in its ribcage. The creature howled, a sound not unlike that of a tortured hyena, and lunged at Tristan, pummeling him with both its weapon and its own mass. Both flind and priest fell in among the existing corpses. For a second, neither moved. Then the flind suddenly straddled Tristan, grunted and bit into his face, tearing at his cheek, as the priest still valiantly struggled to raise his mace with his one free hand, while prone on his back, mud water and blood washing over him. To his credit, he did not scream.
    
    For a second all was still.
    
    --Then Red Hatchet finally whirled and met Moruz head on, twin hatchets crashing  against the barbed Ouzala.
    

27. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #107

    No sound issued forth from the glass warrior as he charged and swung his weapon with great force. Moruz felt glass and steel collide, and the result was Two shattered spikes - fragments of glass exploding everywhere, chips deflecting off his armor. There was a half-a-second of silence after the near-musical sound of shattered glass as both warriors' weapons recoiled off one another. Using the force of the contradiction of their weapons to his advantage, Moruz moved with it, spinning and slashing his Ouzala in an upward motion from bottom-right to top-left in an effort to open up the dwarfs shirtless midsection. He felt oddly calm, feeling the rain pour down and the touch of his familiar weapon in his hand. For the first time in several days, he was not overly worried about his lost prize - it was just him and the battle.

28. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #108

    “What does that fool think he’s doing?” thought Aethelstan in frustration as he watched the valiant, if grossly optimistic, cleric charge briefly into battle with the two brigands.  As he had called forth the Light of Andur earlier, the shock that he had felt earlier had faded from his mind.  Instead of horror, he now felt a sense of… quiet determination.  He could almost hear Saint Senren’s voice, “Get the job done, son.”
    
    He watched the combat as he disentangled himself from the shrub’s thorny embrace.  As he strode forth, drawing his mace from its ring on his cord belt, the vicious dwarf’s axes tore into Vee, laying him low.  The stranger was likewise having a difficult time of it; that hairy dog-thing had already knocked him on the ground and was apparently using him as a chew toy.
    
    First things first, he thought as he pulled St. Senren’s symbol, the White Flower, from its cord around his neck and laid it against his fallen comrade’s chest.  With a brief prayer, he touched Vee with the healing power of Andur, the Lord of Law. 
    
    As his ally was healed, his eyes cautiously watched the murderous dwarven berserk duel with Moruz, mere feet away.  Moruz, too, seemed calmer, more detached.  Clearly, the blessing of St. Senren had been granted them. 
    

29. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #109

    --The second arrow pierced the flind's skull with a sickening thud. The beast moaned then slumped, still atop Tristan, who was not yet visible beneath the flinds corpse, in a half foot of brown water.
    Talia leapt like a panther from her perch landing not far from the bodies of Tristan and the flind. She surveyed the scene, fishing her steel fan out of the mud. She now had both weapons poised once more.
    
    --Aethelstan knelt by Vee and healed his wounds. He briefly looked up to see the charging, berserk dwarf nearing quickly, two more axes taking the place of his thrown ones. For a moment Aethelstan thought he was doomed to perish beside Keykold, but at that moment, the dwarf turned to his side, and barely avioded a direct hit by Moruz, their weapons clanging with great force. Aethelstan turned back to Vee.
    
    --For a moment, Vee knew he was dead. All those K'tonian mysteries left unexplored he thought, as his lifeforce ebbed away. Then just as suddenly, heralded by the now familiar blessings of St. Senren, Vee felt, well..perfect. His wounds no longer shrieked with pain. He looked up at Aethelstan and involuntarily spat up bloody, muddy water into his saviour's face. Aethelstan briefly grinned, and Vee managed a smile as well. The pair quickly rose, as a thunderous roar from the nearby dwarf, shocked them back to the moment at hand.
    
    --Moruz and Red Hatchet were studies in contrast. The Ouzquin Dremorix moved lithely, spinning, and turning out of the way of an oncoming hatchet, and stabbing savagely with his great spear, the jagged barbs now mostly broken. Red Hatchet began to bellow as he stood nearly still, and swung his deadly axes with uncanny force. Once Moruz struck, burrowing the shaft of his weapon into the belly of the crazed dwarf. He quickly ripped it free, then went high-low, and once again drove the Ouzala into his opponent's belly. The dwarf now had two rivulets of blood washing down his torso and mixing with the mud and rain. The dwarf was relentless. He bellowed once more, and began to dance around like a madman, slashing with his axes...always slashing. Finally he struck home. As Moruz raised his spear, one of the dwarf's axes came down against the warrior's hand-grip. Blood spurted from Moruz' hand, and just then, the second axe bit, striking him in the shoulder, tasting a good amount of flesh. Both warriors backed off momentarily, but not before Moruz nicked the dwarf's face, with a 'strike-in-withdrawal' maneuver. The two titans faced each other again. Eye to eye, axe to Ouzala. The dwarf charged in once more, oblivious to any one but Moruz.
    
    --Aerex, Talia, Vee and Aethelstan all noticed the tragedy before Moruz did. The warrior was still deadly focused on Red Hatchet, and had not yet realized, Aethelstan noted sadly, that two of the Glass Warrior's fingers, had slid from his left hand like falling worms, when the dwarfs first axe connected.
    
    --Dujek hid.

30. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #110

    “Moruz, Fall back!” Aethelstan called as he moved to flank the vicious dwarf.  Red Axe would be a fool to ignore a fresh opponent moving in behind him.  Aethelstan dropped into a defensive stance; if only he could draw the murderous wretch away from the desert warrior, the rest of the party could pepper him with missile attacks. 
    
    He just had to draw the dwarf’s attention without letting him strike with those axes of his.  “Fie, sirrah! Thou churlish, beef-witted hedge-pig!  Try MY mettle, and I shall smite thee proper!” he taunted.
    
    If he can be goaded into attacking me, thought Aethelstan, I’ll defend myself and lead him a merry chase.  If he’s as stupid as he looks (which WOULD be hard), perhaps I can introduce him to Kortan’s Thorn!  The cleric couldn’t help but laugh, as the image of the bare-chested brigand caught in the thorny shrub popped into his head.
    
    (Full defense if he attacks, using shrubs as cover.  Of course, if he ignores me, I’ll bust his head open with my mace)
    

31. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #111

    She shouldn't do it.  She knew she should regroup and observe the dwarf; he was clearly a foe to be reckoned with.  But it seemed mightily to her like Moruz was losing ground, and the dwarf's unarmored back was completely exposed.  Plus, it looked like Aethelstan was attempting to attract it's attention.  More fool him, more luck to her, if it held.  She snapped one fan shut and ran as silently and swiftly as she could towards the pair of them, briefly hoping that the fight didn't turn the dwarf to face her.  It mattered little.  
    
    Blood sang in her ears, seeming, in a moment of madness, to approximate whispers of the dead demanding that they be avenged.  Her caravan, her kin, their lives had been stolen away, and it was left to her to collect the debt.  She would extract a heavy price from the murdering bandits.  The gnoll-thing was dead, but there were others.  She pulled her arm back, aiming to drive the closed fan into the dwarf's back like a daggar.  The other swung low, slashing at the backs of her enemy's legs.  Blood for blood, death for death.  I'll end you all.  

32. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #112

    Vee felt most peculiar, though most of that was from nearly dying. He was still cold and covered from head to toe in soupy gulley water and mud, and raw adrenaline still lingered from his near death wound. But there was something else, an exultation that had come when he had been touched by the cleric's holy symbol. His crossbow now lodged somewhere in the mud, Vee watched as Talia attacked the dwarf, slashing and stabbing at him with her fans. Fear was overcome with anger...the ruddy dwarf had almost killed him and in K'tonian fashion, eye for an eye, he was going to see that the favor was returned.
    
    (OOC - provide support to Aethelstan with drawn daggers, if opportunity presents itself, attempt to backstab on Red Hatchet. Frickin awesome combat Muro!)

33. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #113

    The back of his mind registered violently sharp pain. But, devoted to the cause of battle, he refused to allow it to come to his conscious thoughts. For some reason, his left hand did not seem to grip onto his weapon very well at all - as a matter of fact, his entire left arm felt numb!  Moruz found this confusing, however his focus never wavered from his foe.
    Aethelstan's voice registered in background of his mind, and Moruz found that he understood the man's words and intentions. The warrior skipped back, always keeping his eyes and deadly focus on the dwarf, but not before he swung his Ouzala once more, attempting to strike Red Hatchet in the chin with the butt of his spear - the only place on his Ouzala which still had a decent amount of un-chipped spikes.
    
    Moruz didn't dare release his hold of the heat of combat in his mind - he knew the moment he did, all that pain would come rushing in... He was sure the dwarf was thinking the same of him, but hell... these Damned dwarves just don't go down, do they!?

34. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #114

    Aerex swung back around the boulder, feeling grim satisfaction for the two arrow strikes.  He shoved the bow into his pack and reached for his rapier, preparing to ambush the fierce axe-wielding dwarf.  Focus, Matare, he thought to himself.  This combat was too dangerous to try and bring the brigands in alive: he would have to go for a kill.
    
    (ooc: attempting to "hide in shadows" then "backstab" Red Hatchet.  That's two separate rounds, right?)

35. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #115

    Pain, furious pain in his leg, and a ringing sound in his ear like the lingering sound of the flash of light he had just seen cross his vision, momentarily blinding him. Vaguely in the back of his mind, Tristan knew he had been hit in the head, but the pain and any disability thereof was nonexistant. Only justice against the murderous flind mattered. However, that justice would not be administered by he, for Tristan was bore to the ground too fast for his strike to do any real good.
    
    Another searing pain flooded through his head as the monstrous flind took a nasty chunk out of his cheek. No time to scream, only defend. He tried desperately to bring up his mace in an attack, but the weapon was unwieldy when it's force was moving up instead of down. Combined with his injuries, attack was impossible, but that wouldn't keep him from trying. Suddenly, the flind stopped biting and clawing, instead falling on top of him. He couldn't get up, and he finally stopped trying, the blood from his face sliding down and mingling with the mud on the drenched ground.
    
    Master, I've failed you...As the priest relaxed, darkness closed in and enfolded him in it's cold embrace.

36. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #116

    Dujek watched the fight rage, and realized that if he got in there he'd be torn to shreds in an instant.  But finally the fighting started to slow, and the gnoll went down, and as soon as the dwarf was suffeciently distracted he ran down to the brown-clad priest.  Shoving the body of the monster off of him Dujek tried to at least stablize him so that the other priest could work his magics on him.
    
    First Aid check boss.

37. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #117

    Glassbeard
    
    *LOTS of rolling*
    
    --Tristan wasnt dead. Though he was not quite sure if he was alive either, truth to be told. Everything ached. His face, and in fact half of his head was numb. His thigh wound was awful. Slowly, he rose, with the help of the weird fellow with the green cape. The slight, robed man, struggled to push, pull, and prod the flind off of the priest, and then, supporting Tristan as best he could, helped him rise. He proceeded to patch his head wound as best he could as well, and managed to stop the bleeding.
    
    --Vee noticed the pair get up of the muck, as he himself danced in and out of the berserker dwarf’s range, plunging his daggers into empty air. I should learn to fight he thought, suddenly. Truly learn to fight. Vee was always properly impressed with his own crossbow and whip skills. He could give carnival lion-tamers a run for their money, with that whip. But now, he realized that the “road” was not a stuffy, empty tomb, and that the opponent, this wretched badger of a dwarf, was no competing, bespectacled, scholar-explorer.
    
    --How that stubborn priest was alive, where as he, Vee Keykold, adveturer-upon-return, almost perished immediately, Vee could not be sure. He was sure of one thing however. That priest should not be attending any wedding ceremonies anytime soon. As he rose, and lifted his head, wincing the whole time, Tristan showed his face. The “meat” from his entire right cheek, raw and bloody, was dangling down from the side of his face like a floppy patch, giving his exposed jaw the appearance of a malevolent leering grin.
    
    --Vee poked and skulked, keeping himself properly positioned, Aethelstan yelled and swung his mace in circles, attempting to get Red Hatchet’s attention and Moruz persevered, blood spraying off him, both his blood and that of the dwarf. No barb of the Ouzala was left unbroken, though Red Hatchet’s filthy body was now studded with many tiny glass shards. His beard as well, shone in the magical light, from the countless glass specks, which were now imbedded within.
    
    ----Aerex bided his time. He knew one strike was key for him. It wasn’t difficult to circumnavigate the bloody dwarf quietly, as Moruz and Aethelstan faced him from two sides. He stalked…mere feet from the fenzy, if one could use the word “stalk” from so close a distance. But stalk he did, then finally lunged, leading with his sabre. The unexpected occurred. Aerex had sliced the dwarf’s beard clear off, he even managed to tear a bit of the dwarf’s chin, though no great damage was done. Red Hatchet whooped and hollered. His eyes were enraged, and he swung wildly at anything that moved. His black beard fell into the muck.
    
    
    --The dwarf eyed Aethelstan as the priest sought his attention, with one demonic, coal-black eye. Want some laddie? ’ave som then! He flicked his wrist and an axe cut across Aethelstan’s stout leather jerkin. A line ripped across his chest, and quickly reddened. Luckily a minor wound, thought Aethelstan, compared with Moruz, who had just avoided a downward chop of the second axe, but not before losing a single little toe in the process…it was still in the boot, as it sank from site. One more hit Aethesltan knew, and Moruz would fall...again.
    
    --Talia advanced like a storm. As she neared her target she ran faster and faster, sidestepping the lurking Aerex and the hollering, gesturing Aethelstan. She plunged her closed fan into Red Hatchet’s back with such force, that for the first time, since the battle began, the crazed dwarf buckled, and lunged forward. Talia flicked the fan. She had plunged the fan directly into the center of the dwarf’s back, right where two of his axe tattoos intersected. A disgusting sound followed by a burst of flesh and blood drenched Talia and Aethelstan in equal measures. The dwarf bellowed with unimaginable pain and rage. If possible, this sound was worse than the flind’s deathscream. His back was one giant open red wound, pulsating, and showing bits of exposed spine.
    
    --Aethelstan took this moment to bash the dwarf square on the skull, having given up trying to get Red Hatchet to chase him earlier. He heard a jaw crack. Just then, Moruz plunged his Ouzala upwards and sideways, spearing the dwarf from cheek to cheek. Moruz pulled back, and the dwarf’s face collapsed, shredded flesh still stuck to the weapon. For a fleeting second, fear showed in the dwarf’s blood-filled eyes. Finally, Vee stabbed the now suddenly motionless dwarf and grunted with pleasure. Ta-Da!
    
    --For a moment no one moved. Red Hatchet stood there…face ripped open, back shredded, beardless, and still grasping both his axes in his meaty hands, a great barrel of leaking red ale. He still stood!,The bloody bastard still stood, Vee thought.
    
    Red Hatchet slowly sank to one knee in the mud, his eyes now closed, and only deep, pathetic attempts at drawing breath could be heard from him.
    
    --Moruz’s spear came crashing straight down through the top of the dwarf’s skull. Finally, Red Hatchet collapsed into the muck.
    
    --Silence again.
    
    --The rain stopped. Mist rose from the gulch. The companions stood silently, cocooned in their sphere of light…surrounded by the darkness.
    

38. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #118

    Talia stood still for a moment, breathing harshly.  Then she removed the fan from the dwarf's back.  There were matters to deal with, like getting everyone patched up and gathering up any valuables, and investigating that cave, but that could all wait.  She had to do something first.  Reaching into a small pocket on the inside of her blouse, she pulled out two thin strips of white paper.  Miraculously, they were still clean and dry.  She knelt down next to the dwarf's corpse, and soaked one strip in his blood.  Then she twisted the now scarlet paper into a tight roll.  She stood up, moved over to the gnoll-thing, and repeated the process with the other strip.  Then she wiped the blood off of her hand, reached up and pulled a strand of hair out of her scalp.  She carefully tied it around the red twists of paper.  Once she was done, she put the two small objects back into her pocket.  Briefly, she wondered what the others would make of it, then decided she really didn't care.  Her duty for the moment done, she turned to the group.  "Is everyone still more or less alive?"

39. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #119

    “Moruz's digits were lost hereabouts,” muttered Aethelstan as, still winded from the battle, he searched determinedly for Moruz’s fallen fingers.  The ring finger was easy, but the toe, that was quite a different matter!  If only he could find them and place them back onto the wound while they were yet vital, the healing power of Andur might restore them.  True, Moruz might not regain the feeling he once had in his hand, but Aethelstan would do what he could to restore the valiant desert warrior.

40. Re: Back in the Day (Chapter I)

    #120

    Seeing the not-half dead priest digging around the mud, muttering about lost digits.  Looking at the hands of the glass warrior and then the feet, Dujek understood what'd happened and started muttering one of the easier spells, a spell of calling and summoning.  Picturing in the fingers and toes in his mind, Dujek tried to call them up from amist the bloody muck.
    
    Prestidigitation my good man.

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