Guardians of the Citadel — Legacy Forums

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#81

"Lucky!" She called after him, pausing as she noticed for the first time how strange her voice sounded to her ears, quickly running after him as he barked the word Echo. She could sense the flood of emotional relief from him as he neared the armored elf, the flood of fear and adrenaline as a crossbow quarrel hammered next to him making her stumble in brief surprise.

She turned to look as he bolted towards a badly injured bandit, she dropped to one knee as she rose her bow and loosed an arrow for the mans head, hoping to bury it in the soft cartilage behind his nose.

Silveressa rolls 1d20 and gets 15. +bonuses =19
Damage Silveressa rolls 1d6 and gets 6. + bonus = 7

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#82

Absently, Valadaar figured he probably should move, though the raging fire would silhouette him badly from anyone behind. It was also destroying his night sight, he noted irritably.

The world has gone mad Val, said his mind. Can't dwell on the insanity. He really needed to find the others, if only to help find some way back to the real world.

He moved towards the Inn, taking advantage of what shadows existed, to get closer. He kept his ears peeled as well.
(20:46:20) Minion: valadaar rolls 1d100 and gets 4.
(20:46:28) valadaar: Well goodness. Success!
04 against 10% Hear Noise. I probably here something interesting...

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#83

"Oh man, there's a wolf over there!" Dozus half-shouted, half-whispered to Mystic. He peered through the dark, but found he didn't need to peer that much: he saw clearly despite the darkness. He reached to adjust his glasses to find he had none.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#84

An arrow is faster than a wolf but not when the wolf gets a few seconds head start and has much less ground to cover to the target.

Lucky had already torn the wounded merc's throat when Sil's arrow added insult to injury piercing his man's forehead.

Carrot-haired Echo, scanned one hundred eighty degrees pointing her notched bow, but no other adversaries seemed present.

Echo then spotted Dozus and MysticMoon heading away from the burning inn. That is to say, he spotted the tattooed fighter and the raven-haired wizard of brief tabletop lore, as role-played by his friends, in the flesh.

The gang was nearly all together.

Valadaar skulked, his ears pricked, heading toward the inn. A horse's snort stopped him in his tracks and he proceeded to overhear a quick exchange between two of the earlier members of the assault team, atop their mounts.

"I can't find her. She must have escaped."

"Lord Webber will wish us gone before the Reeve's men arrive."

"Aye, let's ride, and keep riding, at that. Lord Webber will not take kindly to our failure either.

"How many men left?"

"Does it matter now? Did you know any of them well?"

"No."

"Right. Let's ride."

The two me rode...

Moments later, Valadaar reached the others. The others being his fellow make-believe fantasy role-playing characters.

Only Scrasamax their paladin was missing.

The inn, guesthouse, and stables continued to burn, now one giant orange inferno. Torrents of thick black smoke stained the dark gray pre-dawn sky.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#85

Lucky ducked slightly as the arrow impacted over his head hot blood bathing his muzzle, instincts confident his alpha's aim would be true, the human part of him more than a little irritated the arrow was scarce inches from impaling his skull. As an afterthought he reached up and pulled the arrow free with his mouth, carrying it back to Silveressa at a trot, head held high as he scanned the area for any further signs of danger.

With a pant he dropped it at her feet and looked up expectantly, uncertain what to do next, eyeing both elves and quietly speaking. "No more bandits I can sense." Carly mentally winced at the deep almost purring sound of her voice, it would certainly take some getting used to along with the rest of the oddities that came with animal body.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#86

"Hello gang! I think we mastered this encounter well" Echo smiled. "I can't wait to jump to level 2, so the XP will come in handy."
"On a different note, who slipped me the drugs? I'm so pissed I could hate you to death, but if you admit it now, I will not hold it against you."
"For frag's sake, I've never done a single joint or anything else."
He sighed, and then chuckled at how the voice sounded. "But, it's good stuff, I'd never have believed it could be so real."

The redhead shook her head, amusement spreading across the pale features.
"You know what, I'll roll with this. Professor? Scras?"

The elf listened, her long ears twitching and pivoting to various directions to detect a reply.
"Doesn't matter. I'll loot the bodies, and then give them the last rites. Off to my lady with them, to have their sins weighted, and judgment passed."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#87

Val didn't think it was drugs - not that he really knew anything about them, nor did he know what the hell it could be. Some distant thoughts from his childhood dropped their hints - Xanth, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, others... Can't be true.

But the fire was real - he could feel its intensity even far away from it.

"Unless we want to try explaining this to the local guard or whatever passes for one, we had best move on. I hope the dead are at peace with themselves, but this rogue here says we should cut and run. I overheard our attackers mention a certain Reeve's men likely arriving soon. Does anyone know anything about the locale?" Do I

"And has anyone seen Scras?"

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#88

"Scras?" Dozus said incredulously. "Have you seen us? What is happening?!" His voice was near panic.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#89

Mystic shook his head, trying to clear it of the smoke and, whatever was making him feel so weird. He took a look at the engulfed apartment, the bodies laying around, the strange surroundings...

"Didn't I hear sirens earlier? What happened to the fire department? You know, val, you really should warn your neighbors. This blaze could really destroy the neighborhood if it isn't put out.

"And why does my head hurt so much? Must be all the smoke."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#90

"This isn't my fucking neighborhood, we're somewhere else. Through the fucking looking glass or something, but I think being right here is a bad idea. Two of the attackers mentioned a Lord Webber as ordered the attack. They think she's escaped. She didn't. They knew we were going to be here and so they know who to come looking for, and who to blame for this whole mess.

You remember medieval justice right? You'll get a cleaner death jumping into that inn. We need to move."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#91

Silveressa shook hear head, her own theories on what had happened would have to wait until a different place and time. She nodded to Echo at his decision to loot the bodies and give them last rites,, "Make it quick, I got an idea what happened to us, but we need to move, like Val said, the fire will draw attention and fantasy settings aren't big on trials by jury and innocent until proven guilty." She knelt down and retrieved the arrow, absentmindedly wiping it on the grass before sliding it back into her quiver.

"A river or stream is our best bet, I believe from the game earlier one is located that a ways," She gestured to the south with a gloved hand. "Crossing will help disguise our scent and our trail, I'll bring up the rear and hide our tracks, Val take point, give us a whistle if you notice any ambushes before they notice us, let's move out people." She paused at the realization she wan't giving orders to a squad in the National Guard, and no one had appointed her party leader, but until their Paladin returned someone had to keep the group organized and focused, deliberation here could prove deadly. "We can work out who, if anyone, is in charge later, for now we go, quick and quiet."

She give Lucky a slight nod and knelt down to adjust the pack on his back, readying the quick release pull strap should he need to be free of his burden in a hurry.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#92

Since they were settled on searching the dead, Val played his part in the search, going so far as to try and peak in the stable from a safe distance.

When they were ready to go.

"All things being equal, I'd rather hang back. We've no horses, so we'll be a lot harder to track then the guys with the horses. Rangers have that nice surprise resistance skill remember? You'd be best at point. I'm as likely as any to trip up, especially seeing as its night, and you can see."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#93

Silveressa nodded at Valadaar's suggestion, "You're right good thinking, as rogue I figure you know how to cover any obvious tracks we might leave behind if you want rear guard. Lucky, take point, I'll be a little ways behind you." She paused as another thought occurred to her, "Before we move out any injuries that need binding? The scent of blood will draw predators, if not let's go."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#94

"What are you guys talking about...? And what are you doing? We need to wait for the fire department! The police! Shouldn't they know about all these dead people? Should you be touching those bodies, umm, Echo? And, uh, what are you talking about, medieval justice? Did we...? Did I...?"

Mystic walked over, grabbed a couple bodies and started hauling them toward the fire. When they were close enough, he hefted first one, then the other, into the open flames.

"I... I wouldn't hurt anyone. There's no one... No bodies..."

He walked over and started hauling on the next two.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#95

Lucky nodded at Silveressa's command, tilting his head and watching Mystic load the bodies into the fire. "Be nice and stand upwind of that fire, the stench of burning bodies will get into your clothes and I'll be smelling it all week, along with any other animals that care to track us." He growled, turning to stare into the woods, padding off ahead of Silveressa by thirty or so paces, his ears alert for the sounds of danger as the night sounds of the forest surrounded them.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#96

The stables were no more, Valadaar quickly noticed. Whether or not the equines within had escaped or burned, he had no way of knowing.

From burnt corpse to burnt corpse, EchoMirage made her way, inspecting the bodies. There were quite a few, yet quite a few missing as well, based on earlier observations. For every man she searched, she added a mumbled prayer to Morena, goddess of Death, among her other domains. One man managed to moan, "help me", as she approached. He lay prone on his back, three quarters of his body near-melted, his flesh black and smoking.

(Results of looting in ooc tomorrow)

Meanwhile, still not quite himself and nowhere close, the giant warrior Mystic, began feeding bodies to the flames. The sickly sweet stench was almost instantaneously unbearable.

Lucky sensed it first naturally. Horses. Many horses, ridden by many men. She could smell them. She could feel their coming by the vibrations in the earth. Two, maybe three, minutes from arrival.

Dozus was a million miles away. The stoat in his lap tried its best to keep the wizard focused. "We should go...again" it insisted.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#97

"Okay, now we can leave. Did they drop any hints on where to go next? Who was drawing a map anyway?"
At the glances of the others regarding the loot, the elf added calmly: "Those who die without next of kin or other inheritor in attendance have their belongings kept by the priests for no less than seven days, to be claimed by rightful heirs, and then used by the church, or returned to the default owner such as a sovereign, if the law demands."

With swift but measured paces, the slender priestess headed towards the mists, to where the dire wolf seem to urge them on.
Regarding the dying mercenary, she turned to the rest of the band: "Choose whether you want this wretch to live. I can stave of my mistress' hand but once today, so choose whether this will be it. I am indifferent."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#98

No one said a thing, so off they went, the burnt wretch's fate his own. Perhaps the coming riders would help him...

They travelled south because, why not. As they moved the realization began to dawn on them that the professor spent exactly zero minutes explaining the world to them before they began playing. Silveressa could have sworn she over-heard the professor mention a river or stream to the south though, so off they went.

They moved quickly across the terrain (craggy grassland), once Lucky warned them of the coming riders. Soon, the conflagration was just a flickering speck behind them on the horizon.

Unbeknownst to the players however, a fist-sized spark burst forth from the burning inn at that moment, and a small ball of flame began to…follow them.

The night sky made way to the dawn some time later, and the companions were by now exhausted, from their quick pace.

Up ahead they could now make out a stream, stretching east to west, and approximately thirty feet wide. The flow of the water was sluggish yet steady. A man aboard a skiff was making his way down the stream, as they came upon the water. He spotted them (well the wolf mainly), and began to quant faster.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#99

Silveressa paused and gazed at the map a third time, "Assuming this is a map of the local area that trickle of water before us is the The Sluggard, and assuming the forest we trekked through was this," She pointed to a small patch of trees next to the Arms & Antler inn marked on the map, "our current location places us roughly here." She stabbed a gloved finger at the map, keeping a wary eye on the river boater. "We should work out a solid story concerning our whereabouts last night in regards to the inn fire and loss of lady Kefka."

She reached down and unfastened her water skin, making a mental note to refill it from a potable water source before much longer. "What exactly happened in the inn with her anyway? I was occupied with the brigands outside to pay much attention, but I'm guessing she came to a bad end?"

She gestured to Lucky and the rest almost casually, "Now might also be a good time to work out what else happened to place us here, I have two theories, my second guess is that candle was toxic, and we're probably corpses back in the real world and this is some kind of purgatory or afterlife coalesced into existence in from astral or psychic energy by our converged thoughts about the game and world?" She sighed and shrugged off her pack, wondering if the hard tack and salted pork she listed on her character sheet was more palatable than it sounded.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#100

"Sil, you're even more stoned than me. But this is hilarious - collective hallucinations? We might even have a latent telepath in the midst of our group, linking our drug-addled dreams. Unless you're a figment." The priestess poked the ranger in the chest. "No, I shall credit you with being real."
It was not obvious whether Echo was being serious or not. But then, that was common.

"Whether purgatory or psychotropic substances, let's make the most of this. Did anyone pick up a quest? And where's Karkayla, anyway? Did she make it?"
"If we don't have a lead, then this is a sandbox, and we better head to the city."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#101

"The only quest I know of was the one we had escorting lady K, and now keeping alive from whoever is hunting Lady K." He shrugged as best a Dire Wolf could at Silveressa's questions, "If anyone asks, we could claim to have turned Lady K over to a second group of guardians at the inn and continued on our way, the in lacking vacancies for all of us." He set on his haunches and eyed the rations in Silveressa's pack hungrily, the scent of cured meat stirring deeper instincts within him.

"As to her second question none of this makes sense, but it's no acid trip, trust me I should know." He turned away slightly in a blush, before realizing no one would recognize a Dire Wolf show of embarrassment. "I had a roomie in college that liked to mess around with Peyote, LSD and stuff, she talked me into taking a couple trips..." She gave up on her explanation as she noticed no one seemed to particularly care.

"I'm just glad we were playing D&D, and not Bunnies and Burrows or Call of Cthulhu."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#102

"Well, here's another piece of info. Lady K. didn't make it. Took a really bad crossbow shot to the eye. She was carrying this key.
For all I know it was what they were after. This Lord Webber has us at a disadvantage - he knows our names and descriptions, and we know nothing about him. Apart from he can mobilize 30 men, and command fear in them. Also, the local ruler is called the Reeve - title or name no idea.

I suspect Lord Webber will make sure to poison our contacts - so we can't assume our employer is on our side anymore. Especially since he seemed to have really good intel about us."

and after a moments' reflection

"Oh, right, she was carrying this as well." and Valadaar produced a pouch of coins.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#103

Silveressa nodded to Valadaar, "How much is in there? It's likely to be all we have until our fortunes turn plus whatever advanced payment we revived for the escort." With a yawn she pulled a blanket from her pack and began to lay out a simple breakfast for herself and Lucky, trusting the rest had their own rations to rely on. "If anyone forgot to buy food for themselves speak up for a share of mine or go hungry in silence." She softened the almost harsh sounding comment with a smile, sitting her bow at her side and breaking off a sizable portion of salted pork and biscuit for Lucky, pouring half the contents of her water skin into a wooden bowl for him and eyeing the river thoughtfully.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#104

"I could use a little breakfast. Was expecting to buy it as we went. What can I say, 8 wisdom." Val smiled.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#105

They broke fast along the river bank as the man in the boat glided past, a more relaxed look on his face now that he sensed that the group (and its giant wolf) were not going to pester him. The salted pork was good...salty, fatty, savory. The hardtack however tasted like hard cement.

"You looking for a way across?" He yelled suddenly, "There is a ford and a bridge a few miles downstream. If you're heading north toward Six Towns, I can't help you, not with that *thing*..." he motioned toward Lucky. "If you're continuing South, toward the keeps and castles of the Petty Lords, know ye that elven raiders have come up from the Soulmarsh recently. We live in dangerous times." He concluded as he glided past. If he noticed that the group had several elves, it was difficult to tell.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#106

"There's elves to the south - but then, the humans' relationship with them is sullied by whatever conflict lies between them. And to the north, they seem to be less accepting of well-groomed and well-behaved wolves."
After having stated the obvious, the priestess raised her pale hand cautiously. "As Scras didn't seem to have made it and we're without a party lead, I suggest we vote. Count me as one for the south - not a strong preference, but the Professor is a great GM, and I'd love to see some well-portrayed Elves, not just pointy-eared fetish fuel."

"Also, less chance of animal cruelty. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Yes, you are."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#107

Dozus ate silently. Sermulis - the stoat familiar had introduced himself quite politely - sat silently at his feet, finishing off a chipmunk he'd caught. The little creature had stopped trying to talk to Dozus, apparently realizing his companion had little to say at the moment.

He scratched at his head again, fingers running over his pointed ears. They still didn't feel like his. Nothing felt right. But this wasn't a dream: you couldn't dream entire languages, or knowledge you didn't have before. It didn't make sense. But it had to somehow. The universe operates on rational principles. Right?

The half-elf cleared his throat. "Look." He paused pointedly, hand gesturing vaguely. "This isn't right. None of this is right. We don't belong here. This isn't a game and we're not on a quest. We need get out of here. Not here," he gestured at the ground, "but here," waving widely at the sky.

"We need..." He sighed and muttered, "Can't believe I'm saying this. We need to find someone who knows what's going on with us. How we got here. Since this place seems to operate by fantasy mechanics, I think we should find a wizard. Or some other magic guy. So maybe we should go towards the towns."

Dozus looked down at Sermulis. "Do you know where we can find a magic guy? I mean, you're from here, right?"

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#108

As they idled, and the half-elven wizard began to opine, Lucky picked up a new scent...

Horse again, and something far, far more disturbing. The scent of the grave. Of dead things and maggots, and putrid flesh.

MysticMoon almost choked on a piece of hardtack as he spotted a lone rider, some distance away, from the direction they had come. The rider merely sat in the saddle, close enough to make out, too far away to identify in any way.

After a few moments of staring in their general direction, the rider turned, and trotted off into the distance.

In response to Dozus, Sermulis paused in eviscerating the chipmunk, and telepathically said, "From here? Magic...guy? I only know that you have found me, and that now I serve you. Why are you so agitated, master?"

It seemed there was no wisdom to be had from the stoat.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#109

Mystic had followed along in silence, barely aware of his surroundings, so lost in his own dark, turbulent thoughts. The world had gone wrong somehow that he couldn't quite figure out. Every so often he would raise an arm and look at it, open-jawed and wide-eyed, then shut his eyes tight and smack himself in the forehead.

When it came time to eat, he did so mechanically, not truly tasting the food.

The sight of the rider perked him up a bit. His brow furrowed as he tried his best to make out the details. His hand groped for the comforting heft of his halberd. When the rider vanished, he stayed tense for a few minutes, then relaxed and returned to his food.

"Was that...? Was that someone.... umm, that we should be worried about? I mean, it's not a survivor from the fire? Or... whoever would be mad at us for killing those people?"

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#110

A new enemy began to rear its head as well. The cold. It was cold. The fire in the night and the consequent adrenaline shock had kept them warm. Now in the early morning by the river, they began to shiver, steam escaping their throats as they spoke.

Except Lucky of course. He was warm.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#111

Silveressa passed Val a generous partion of salted pork and biscuit, making a further mental note to scratch hard tack from her list of supplies as soon as practically possible after noticing its consistency. "How adventurers live off this stuff is beyond me." She muttered, wondering silently if hard tack would make suitable sling shot material for hunting rabbits.

She angrily flipped the boatman the middle finger as he referred to her companion Lucky as a thing, before realizing the absurdity of the gesture in a fantasy world and letting out a short almost musical laugh and dropping her hand to his head to gently scratch between his ears.

She tilted her head at Dozu's observation and expressed desire to get home, thoughts of Rosella coming to mind, before other, more selfish thoughts intruded, thoughts of the health and future life expectancy of her new Elven body, and the somewhat bleak prospects of her former human ones longevity. "Earth, I'm honestly not sure I wish to go back there, here I can walk without a cane, or be in constant pain, there's a certain appeal to that." She gave Lucky a glance as he suddenly growled, at first mistaking it for Carly's opinion of remaining here, before noticing the figure on the horizon.

"Possibly in bow range, but no telling if he has friends out of sight." She sighed and shivered at the colds biting insistence, envious of Lucky's thick fur. "At the very least south would be warmer than north, and I'd feel better with this river between us and any whom coming looking for us, going back to places we've previously visited recently could put us on the enemies radar so to speak." She stood and pulled her gloves back on and tightened her cloak, slowly pacing for warmth.

"Sure I'll vote south, with a further vote to make camp on the far side of the river, start a fire and get warm, with a few hours sleep, right now I'm more concerned with our immediate survival, finding a way back to earth, for those that wish to return, will have to wait until we have the coin and time to devote to it." She paused in her pacing briefly as another thought struck her, "We all arrived here in our characters bodies, so what about the GM? The Professor has to be here to in some fashion right? Finding him might help clue us in on who killed Lady Karkalya and what not." She shrugged and kept a wary eye on the horizon, suddenly feeling exposed in the scrub grass and longing for the concealment of trees from prying eyes.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#112

"The Professor?" Dozus wondered aloud. "Maybe he had a heart attack when he got here. Didn't make it. Body lying in an alley somewhere..." He shuddered.

Dozus sat and wrapped his linen robe around himself. Should have used more gold to get blankets, he thought ruefully. The bizarre idea struck him again: points spent in a game, on pen and paper, were now leaving him actually shivering. Insane.

"Master?" Sermulis squeaked, popping up from seemingly nowhere.

"Hm?" Dozus muttered. The novelty of a talking weasel had worn off, and now he wanted only to sulk.

"Perhaps you should prepare a spell for tomorrow?" He scurried into Dozus' backpack and struggled to pull something out.

"Spell?" Dozus reached into his bag and pulled out a thick, leather-bound book that Sermulis clung to. He put the tome in his lap and ran his fingers across it: a sturdy leather cover, filigreed with copper strands and shut with a bronze clasp. Curious, he opened the clasp and flipped through the vellum pages. Most were blank, but a few in the front contained carefully written words in a script he didn't recognize but still knew.

"May I suggest one?" Dozus looked over to see his stoat companion looking curiously at him. He must have been staring blankly at the page for a while.

"Oh, uh, sure," Dozus shrugged.

The familiar scurried across the book, flipping a page by scrambling his back legs across it, running over each page to read over it. "Here," he said triumphantly. "A spell of charming. For when you find your magic man."

He looked at the text. It was still somewhat alien, but he understood it. "Yeah, that might come in handy... Thanks."

The half-elf stared memorizing the spell until he finally drifted off to uncertain sleep.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#113

Lucky idly listened to the conversation, the sensation of eating consuming his full attention as he discovered the amazing delights to be had from the increased senses of a dire wolf, the salted pork a explosion of taste and texture, even the hard tack biscuit had a delightful resistance to his teeth as he gnawed on it, the cool air scarcely noticeable to his thick fur.

The smell of death intruded upon his feast suddenly, an unwelcome visitation that soured his appetite to the point of nearly retching. With a growl he looked up at the visitor on horse back, speaking in a deep but soft voice. "Undead, the rider reeks of corpses." He rose to his paws and placed himself between Silveressa and the rider as if daring it to approach within leaping distance,the remainder of his meal forgotten.

With a flick of the tail he looked over his shoulder at his friends, feeling a vote was superfluous in his case given how closely his life was tied to Silveressa's. "South is fine with me." He yawned and lapped at the bowl of water, the clear cold taste heightening his alertness the mention of home a complicated thought that lost itself in the tangle of Dire Wolf instinct, Carly, and the consciousness that was her German Shepherd Lucky intermingled somewhere within. "Home is wherever Silveressa is, simple as that." He leaned against her affectionately, nearly bowling her over with his weight.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#114

Tusserk

Well this figures, he thought in his go-to comedic mode, in between bouts of actual mental panic. He was half-sitting, half-floating beneath some river stream, in lotus position, like some aquatic yoga instructor in deep meditation.

A fish swam by and Tusserk stared at it, sending frothing bubbles from his nostrils. He was running out of air, yet he was lasting way longer than he thought he was capable, as he held his breath.

Finally, his lungs a'flame, he surged upward, flapping his arms and legs, and surfaced, drawing in a mighty gasp of oxygen.

Breathing in again, he looked around while treading in the water. He was in some river or stream, luckily one not too deep or too wide...hopefully the current cooperated.

Suddenly he saw a pole swing through the air, narrowly missing his face, and a skiff gliding by, inches away, nearly decapitating him.

"What the--"

"Are ye alright? Yea, looks like ye can swim. But only a madman would swim this stretch of the Sluggard. Are ye daft? The eels, man!"

The boatman continued chastising Tusserk, as his canoe proceeded downstream and past the---monk??? Oh boy, Tusserk thought.

He reached the river-bank gasping, but none the worse for wear. He was dressed in a robe with a long-spear sheathed across his back. Not much else. What was happening??

"Careful a ways back upstream as well, young man. Strange folk along the bank. Dire-Wolf too!" The boatman waved and continued on his way.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#115

Rummaging quickly through his pack, Tusserk took stock of his meager inventory. Rations, tinder and flint, and not much else besides a small handful of coin. The spear seemed to be of decent make, more advanced than he could have done with the training he had at a forge. Squeezing the last of the water out of the cloak he turned his attention to his surroundings.

The river to his back and forests and plains to the front gave no recognizable landmarks. Tusserk shoved the end of the spear into the ground and placed the first rock at the shadows tip as he sat to wait for the sun to shift. Slowly munching on a portion of the rather nasty rations he placed a rock at the tip of the shadow, nearly an hour later, and marked out east and west as they passed through the rocks.

“Well there is east and west.” Tusserk made a second mark. “And there is north and south… now if only I knew where I was.”

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#116

Silveressa stumbled slightly as Lucky pressed against her, giving him a brief squeeze and smile at his eager loyalty, inwardly worried that the Carly she knew was disappearing inside the Dire Wolf she became. Casually she let her pacing take her closer to Mystic, eyeing his heavily muscled body with appreciation, such strength was reassuring to have on their side, and likely quite a comfort to him as well is the strange land.

"You bring up a good point Mystic, whoever was on the horse seemed foreboding, he may be a scout." She paused and gazed into the distance, shielding her eyes with her hand from the overcast sun, deeply wishing for a pair of field binoculars. "How are you holding up by the way? I know it must be quite a shock to go from your usual self to..." The words a man-sandwich spring to mind and she mentally kicked herself for hanging around too many immature cheer leader types in her youth. "Someone with a strength that would make Hercules jealous, I'm glad you're with us." She finished with a smile, reaching out to give him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Whatever comes, as long as we have each others backs, we'll pull through." She raised her voice for everyone to hear, making sure to meet everyone's gaze with her own, hoping to rouse Dozus form his light slumber, "We should move though, and camp on the other side of the river in the trees, here is too open, without any wood for a fire."

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#117

Kneeling down to give a final breath to the fire, Tusserk started to remove his boots, tunic and cloak for them to dry. The fire crackled merrily as the smoke rose through the tree branches, dispersing before it was very visible.

“Dry feet are your life… and no one likes a wet blanket.” The articles of clothes were laid out around the small fire to begin drying. Tusserk watched the sun as it rose higher into the sky while he relaxed.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#118

Echo proceeded along with the others, heading towards the bridge in the pale light.
The adrenaline gone, the heat of the moment past, he began to ponder.
"The irony, the brain's only tool to examine its function is itself."
Then, he thought: If this is real, I better act like it is; if it's just a game, the experience and immersion and quality of roleplay will benefit if I *act* as if it was real anyway.
"But I believe you, it's... uh, way too real to be a dream - including meaningful distances, clear chronology of events and the tactile sensation."
Liantirie shuddered at the cold wind and spray rain in her face; the cloak luckily kept the armor's padding dry, and as long as your padding wasn't wet, the last of your problems was being *cold*. Sweating like a donkey in a suitcase on any warm day was more realistic.

"Thanks for warning me, Sil. I might have ended up doing something gamer-ish." Briefly, Echo paused at the possible implications, shuddering, then laughing.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#119

Valadaar shivered, it reminded him of his survival course. He had never been colder in his life then that chilly late summer day when the damp rain had gotten the chill down to his core.
When matchheads, damp, had crumbled into powder and all other sources of flame gone.

"Should have taken the furs," Valadaar said aloud, pulling back from the memory. He was grateful for his leather armor, it could hold a lot of heat in. He cast about looking for any straw or dry moss nearby - adding a bit more padding wouldn't hurt.

Unlike the others, Valadaar differed little physically from valadaar - thin, quick of foot and deft of hand, so the illusion of reality was stronger for him - it seemed he had simply stepped into this world. Funny, he would have never expected his apartment to have turned out to be The Magic Treehouse.

Re: Guardians of the Citadel

#120

Dozus roused himself after memorizing his spells and the group reached the bridge after traveling along the river bank for less than an hour, teeth chattering as they went.

Here, the Sluggard yawned a bit wider, stretching about sixty feet across. The moss and lichen-draped stone bridge looked ancient.

After a quick check for bridge trolls hiding underneath, they began to make their way to the southern side of the river.

Half-way across, Sil looked back to notice two things...

One: there was a young blonde-bearded man holding a spear aloft, staring at their progress from the bank.

Two: unbeknownst to that same man at the moment, Sil could make out a half dozen riders behind him, cresting a ridge, about two hundred yards from the river. After a few seconds they silently urged their mounts toward the bridge at a quickened pace.

Lucky smelled the unmistakable scent of the grave once more.

-------

Somewhere nearby, an unseen, tiny ball of fire, was making its way toward the bridge as well, moving quickly to avoid burning the grass around it.