Fantasy A Nation In Havoc (2.0)

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose looked around at his holders. Aside from the woman demanding answers he didn't have and the man holding him, he noticed a mountain of a man, the halfling that had blown up The Den before, some random man, and the Princess herself, who had, for some reason, decided to hole herself up here instead of in the palace. Teenagers, not the brightest of people. Cramped space, this was, and unless there was some secret passage hidden somewhere, the only exit was the hatch he was thrown from. Not that he would even be able to reach it, what with the mountain himself blocking the path. When his mouth was uncovered, he spat blood from his busted lip.

"I don't know, and I don't fucking know," he answered the last two questions respectively. "I don't do the deals directly, and for all I know and care, my buyers end up fucking the corpses." Generally, he would tell people to piss off whenever they got nosy with their questions, whether it was about his job or his private life, he liked his privacy, but a knife to the throat really did wonders in making people open up. In every sense of the word.

Duke of Doge
MagicPenguin
Randomfella
TheCountryWarrior
The_Omega_Effect

 

[MagicPenguin]

"You..run a business selling corpses?"

That's a new one. How could there possibly be enough demand for dead bodies that a man could run a business selling them? Just what kind of people live in this city?

"You say you don't deal with your clients directly, but I heard you tell the goblins upstairs that you spoke to the wizard yourself. Why don't you just tell us the whole story about how exactly it is you're so well acquainted with that psychopath that, not only are you on speaking terms, but he tells his thugs to do what you say?" Raimi shrugged. "Even if it's true you don't know anything about what he's done or what he's planning, might be you know something helpful anyway. Just tell us the whole story at once and we'll decide afterward if we like what we hear."

augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge Randomfella

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia just watched the scene and handed Decius the rope. "Guys. At least let him collect himself. He's obviously too old for this." She said before sitting down in her corner again with her legs crossed. "He's no use to us if we ruin his ability to function" she paused for a moment, looking at Ambrose. "You might want to answer their questions. I don't think they are as forgiving as I am." She put her sword onto her lap, unsheathing it an inch as she stared at the polished black metal, seemingly in a trance. In reality, she was just thinking over everything that had happened today.

augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior @The_Omega_Effect Randomfella MagicPenguin

 

[Randomfella]

"No?" Jenny questioned the girl's actions internally as she walked toward the princess. She clearly had a lack of understanding about anything besides herself. The innkeeper was a simple man, Jenny estimated likely eighty percent of the population would react the same, the shock of seeing what they had just seen... Hell, the halfling would be lying to herself if she didn't feel it too. Her crossbow was still pointed toward the girl, an armed, seemingly drunk little human by the way she acted, approaching Jenny's chance at greatness. She would have pulled the trigger too, if it wasn't for the sharp pains continuously hitting her. She would have made a smart comment, if basic speech hadn't become a painful issue. Jen didn't even notice the large man's question toward her, a shame, she would have enjoyed the complement, even if he was just relaying her own words.

Jenny's crossbow rested on her lap, her body slumping over it for half a minute, before she woke up once more to attention. The princess wasn't dead, that was a good sign, but now they wanted to go and capture some human they thought worked for the mage. It was a shit idea, these three weren't the best at logical thought, Jenny was sure of that, they were human after all. Alas, they all seemed intent on the plan, and the halfling knew she could not argue in her state... and she hated it. Jenny wasn't much of a control freak, but this was her's, if it wasn't for those damned wounds... For a moment she wondered if she should have simply chucked the princess to the goblins, rather than a close ranged metal ball of explosive power. At least the halfling had been behind the princess when it went off, she was far more used to her own destructive equipment, after all.

Finally, they forced an elderly human down. Jenny kept her eyes winced in pain as she looked toward the floor, only listening in on their conversation. Best case scenario, he was a pawn with no power, or Kruzik didn't have some sort of magical tracking shit on him... Jenny had never heard of such a spell, but she didn't know much about magic, and after that display at the arena... Worst case scenario? The halfling didn't want to think about it.
Eventually Jenny managed to look up, clenching her back once more as she did so. Looking toward him... He had a familiar face... He was at The Den the night she blew half the place to hell! Jen contemplated him, and their situation, for a while, before finally words escaped her weakly. "The blade you're flashing at him won't be necessary." She coughed, looking toward the knight, before turning her gaze back to the old man. "I'm glad to see I got the estimations right for that bag, I was afraid you might have lost something in the blast." She continued, a small smile on her face, yet it was clear she was hiding pain and exhaustion behind it. "Since I'm still alive after that, I doubt he's going to blow open your skulls with a twitch of his fingers." Jenny finished lightly, attempting to reassure the others, the man didn't seem the type to respond well to threats, or anything really.

@all

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

"I do not think this will be necessary." Said Deicus, gesturing towards the rope that Nia had just handed him. He started to get a little bit mad in actuality. He was the only one amongst them to know how battles were fought, the only one with a mind that fully comprehends it. Yet they kept ignoring his simple argument. Nobody seemed to even comment on, or even acknowledge any of his suggestions and he was getting quite frustrated. "I do not think any of this is necessary. We need to find a way to get the fuck out of here. And unless this old man knows of some suuper seecret tunnel that will magically lead us outta here then we're fucked. We gotta leave right now. The more we stay cooped up in here, the more we are inviting those idiots outside to pile on the hatch." Normally he would keep his cool in tense situations. He had already done so in even tenser and more dangerous ones that he is currently in now. But the simple fact was that in those situations, he was respected and was in a position where he was listened to. Here he felt like there was nothing for him to do.

Duke of Doge
MagicPenguin
Randomfella
TheCountryWarrior
The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio looked at them with doubt, but ultimately heeded. He released the old man, but kept his dagger handy. "Alright then. Don't try anything."

Duke of Doge
MagicPenguin
Randomfella
TheCountryWarrior
The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan

 

[augmentedspartan]

Shit, the events of the day had left him more shaken than he had expected, and he had ended up talking more than he usually would. Well, the place was going through all nine levels of hell anyways, so it's not like it would affect him too much if a random group of people knew about his business, he could always deal with them later if necessary. Although the Princess might be a problem, what with her now having absolute power and all. Better keep his mouth shut.

After being released, Ambrose slid down onto the ground and sat against the wall. His frame and posture made him look frail and non-threatening, but his look and his nonchalant attitude broke that illusion. "What, you want my whole life story? There isn't much to tell. Obnoxious jackass wants corpses, I sell obnoxious jackass corpses, the fact that his goons leave me alone is a bonus. Had no clue what he was planning."

@splitupandsearchforclues

 

[MagicPenguin]

Rae considered the bear's argument against staying in the hatch. There was a chance the goblins might pile on the hatch, sure, but...

"The rocks have stopped by now, but there are still roving bands of goblins and orcs searching for innocent victims out there. They likely have all the gates in and out of the city heavily guarded; it'd be very difficult to break through by force. If we leave the hatch now, Bear, we'd just be sitting ducks waiting for one of those bands of goblins to find and fight us. It's unlikely they'd find us down here at all, but even if they did, I don't think they'd wait around for us to come out, stupid as they are. They'd likely try to open it, fail, roar at the locked door, then go search for easier victims. No, I think our safest bet is to wait safely here until late at night. By then, the goblins won't be searching the city so thoroughly for stray folks to kill. They probably won't be watching the city gates as closely then either, meaning it'll be easier to sneak out of the city by then."

Raimi briefly looked to the old man slumped against the wall, then once again addressed everyone else in the hatch. "Besides all that, we still have to decide what to do about him. What do y'all think of his story? Do we believe him when he says he only sold the wizard bodies? If so, do we just leave him here when we leave and risk him telling the wizard about us or should we take more...preventitive action before we go?"

The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan
TheCountryWarrior
Duke of Doge
Randomfella
@wouldyoidoitforascoobysnack

 

[Duke of Doge]

Time passed in a blur for the young heir. She sat silently in the corner of the room, clearly fighting off tears from the remembrance of recent events. She felt... empty, like nothing mattered. Her entire life had just done a 180. She wasn't used to this at all. Soon enough, noise found it way to her ear. Voices, various languages, and... was that music?
Nia slowly got to her feet. Looking out towards the hatch. "What do you think is going on out there?" She asked the people around her.

The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan
TheCountryWarrior
MagicPenguin
Randomfella

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Just out of the city gates, torches are lit, as the steady thrum of hundreds of feet begin their march to what they were promised: Dalania. Down the main road walked an immense display of diversity: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Orcs, and Goblins. All manner of language was heard. Quite a few wore armor and weapons, and they stuck to the outside of the moving crowd as if they were a protective barrier. Some crowd goers had instruments, and were playing and singing songs that spoke of Eternity, and the glory of the Eternal King. They marched towards the castle where a spotlight shone from the heavens on one figure.


Kruziik hovered over the castle Gate, a loving smile on his face as he surveyed the encroaching crowd.

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio stands up and walks towards the hatch. He puts an ear up to the wood and listens. “A festival?” He looks confusedly to the others. “Should I check? I am the sneakiest.”

The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan
Duke of Doge
MagicPenguin
Randomfella

 

[Randomfella]

"If you lot want to run, then fine." Jenny spoke up toward the large axe-wielding man, raising up with one eye half open to look toward him. "I'm not about to leave my work behind, do you think wars are won through strength? No, they're decided by advances in technology, and numbers, the latter of which isn't really any option." The halfling let out a short breath of air, her voice still weak. Looking around the room, she contemplated her own words, exactly what 'could' they do about this? Even her most extravagent imaginations didn't seem enough to deal with someone who could literally destroy a city. For a short moment Jenny wondered what happened to the Dwarfs whom resided within those mountains. "With time... I'll think of something." She continued, eyes wavering, she couldn't help the uncertainty escaping her attempted upbeat tone.

As the princess spoke up, Jen's ears perked toward the sound coming from above, it almost sounded like a celebration? As the young knight spoke up, Jenny could only smirk at his assumption. "A human sneakier than a halfling? That'll be the day." She mocked with a small coughing chuckle. At first the idea of spying on them seemed ridiculous, let them dance in blood if they so wished, planning a way to take out the mage was far more important. Yet as she pondered it further, rubbing her chin with the right hand upon which the slumped girl rested it, the more it became appealing. "Perhaps we could figure out what they plan next? Other than wanting to rule a ruin the maniac hasn't revealed much." She continued, her tone almost curious in nature, like the desire to find out was beginning to eat at her.

The_Omega_Effect TheCountryWarrior
@all

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

As the only person there who actually understood war and how cities were taken, Decius was annoyed at the general idea of staying cooped up in that little base. Generally, the army spends a long time looting and pillaging the city after the enemy forces fall. This did seem like a different case as the army was teleported to the centre of the city by some wizards. He really just hated not being able to move around inside there and would have enjoyed leaving. The halfling who had perviously ignored him, had made a remark that armies are won by numbers and technology. This statement was logically true but it was very contradictory to a certain battle that he had been in recently, the very battle that lead to him getting kicked out of the army. He then heard a festival upstairs on the streets. He wondered what the madman who had taken their city was planing to do. Was this coup planned with others beforehand? It really did seem like that were the case. Decius then moved to a wall and then leaned on it as a rest. "You're free to go an check it out. But be sure to attract as less attention as possible. And the old man, we keep him hostage. It might just give us some leverage against Kruziik, no matter how unlikely it may be."

Everyone

 

[MagicPenguin]

Raimi looked up at the noise outside. She couldn't tell how long they'd been in the hatch, but they'd loitered around for quite a while after interrogating the old-timer, so Rae figured it must be night by now. She'd even started to doze off a few times.

She'd been listening for the sounds of goblin footsteps upstairs constantly since they made it down here. At first, they came every fifteen minutes or so, looking for loot. A few tried to open the hatch, but gave up when they couldn't get it to budge. After a few hours, the regularity of the goblin hordes dropped to about one every hour. Now it was rare for a goblin to pass through the tavern upstairs even once every three hours. It seemed like things had calmed down. That probably meant the city gates weren't as heavily guarded now as they were earlier either. They might be able to finally sneak out of the city without risking a fight with an entire goblin army.

When Armandio suggested they go out to look around and see what was causing the noise, Raimi piped up.

"That's a good idea. I'll go with you. If there's anything you learn hunting for days at a time alone in the woods, it's how to move without making sound. We should also check the city's four main gates while we're out and see which are the least heavily guarded. If we're lucky, we might be able to find an easy way to get out of here. If we're REALLY lucky, we might even find a chunk of the city wall that's been breached by a falling boulder and isn't guarded at all."

TheCountryWarrior Randomfella The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge augmentedspartan

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose looked up as the sounds of the parade increased until it was all over them. He was pretty sure the chaos had stopped and now Kruziik and his goblins were celebrating, you generally don't hear music and singing in the middle of a massacre, but then again, you could never be sure with that guy. Whatever it was that was going on, he wanted out of the crazy basement clubhouse and out of the city. The place might get better under Kruziik, or it might not, he didn't know nor care, he'd rather just try to salvage as much as of his business as possible and set up somewhere else. Kruziik generally didn't bother him, and he kept his side of deals, but he wasn't stupid, if he needed Ambrose out of the picture for whatever reason, he would kill him without hesitation, and Ambrose wasn't the type of bow to authority, whether it be humans or crazy magic elves.

"Hostage my ass," he told the walking mountain. He may or may not kill him for resisting, verbal resistance at least, physically he couldn't do anything, but he'll be damned if some warmongering moron was going to start bossing around. "You have any beef with Kruziik, you deal with it yourself, I'm not your fucking valet."

TheCountryWarrior Randomfella The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge MagicPenguin

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

The fact that this old fucker still kept his hostile attitude despite the obvious circumstance amused Decius enough for him to chuckle a tiny bit under his breath. But it also meant this person clearly did not fear them, something that is not the best quality to have for a hostage. Decius stopped leaning on the wall and then stood up straight, he then looked at the old man in the eyes, making sure to not display a hint of emotion before looking away and starting to talk. "You, old man, have clearly displayed with your attitude that you do not wish to be our ally. You haven't told us what you are good at and I am guessing that you don't intend on contributing at all to our cause. The knowledge of our position, and solid assumptions of where we might be going and what we wish to do can all be inferred from everything that you have heard. With your ties to Kruziik, that could put us in a dangerous position." He then walked forward a bit without turning so that the man was at his side before continuing. "If you are not our ally and are not going to be our hostage, there is only one thing you will end up being." He then made eye contact with him just as he clarified. "A liability." Decius immediately turned on the man and shoved him to the wall that he was standing on, making sure to only use enough force to hurt him but not to kill him. Grabbing the old man by the neck, Decius lifted him off of his feet until they were eye to eye. Decius wished to scare the man and he did not want to actually harm him. Despite this, hid fingers started to contract around the man's neck almost by themselves.

@everyonethatisinsidethebunker.

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose's face kept his constant look of contempt as the man tried to stare him down, he didn't even bother to interrupt as he monologued at him. Waste of breath, really, and only useless showoffs wasted time trying to build up their words. If you wanted to say something, say it, anything else was asinine and pretentious. Ambrose didn't have an excuse as to why he swore, though, he just liked it. He was about to retort, which involved sass and swearing, but was stopped by the giant lifting him up by the neck, some of his joints cracking at the sudden movement. He wasn't trying to break his neck, at least he thought so, but his grip seemed to be naturally strong enough to make his breathing difficult, and he couldn't get any words out. His hands held to his assailants arms in an attempt to balance himself and clear his airway, and his legs dangled uselessly under him. His face didn't betray any sign of alarm though, and with difficulty he looked at the man straight in the eyes, daring him to do it. His previous preservation instincts had driven him to get out of a seemingly impossible situation, but this was different. He was old and had been expecting death for a while, and while he wasn't particularly willing to leave his mortal coil, he wasn't about to droop to the level of some violent meat statue. He'd rather die a stubborn ass than live like a bitch.

TheCountryWarrior Randomfella The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge MagicPenguin

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio looked over to their resident big guy, who was choking the old man against the wall. He rose his voice slightly, to signify the importance of his speech, but not to yell and attract the murderous horde he could only assume were out there somewhere. “Hey! Don’t kill the old guy, we can use him to get past Goblins.” Armandio in truth was not that worried about the old guy, but instead that his struggling gasps would attract more attention than necessary. Or maybe they wouldn’t.

Turning back to the hatch, he set to work on the half a dozen or so locks, easy to open from this side but Armandio saw that this was an excellent door. He wouldn’t have been able to pick through them, though he believed the big guy could probably eventually smash through. Eventually. He finished with the locks and firmly placed a hand on the barrier between them and the hostile outside world and ever so slowly pushed, to open it without gaining much attention. He peaked out of the crack he had made and drew his gaze over what he could see. The coast was clear, at least the immediate coast was. He carefully opened the hatch all the way and crept out. “You coming Huntress?” He whispered over his shoulder before continuing his search of the area. As previously suspected the rest of the coast was indeed clear. His silent steps took him to the window nearest the door, and he peaked out.

The inn itself was on an intersecting street that crossed the main road, a couple buildings down from the Main Street. Thus it wasn’t a Main Street inn, but just close enough to still get some overflow business.

Armandio’s careful gaze scanned the area, and he watched in astonishment as a large procession passed across the Main Street, making a steady pace, but to where Armandio was unsure. He watched and waited for his ally The Huntress to appear next to him.

Randomfella
The_Omega_Effect
Duke of Doge
MagicPenguin
augmentedspartan

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

He thought that holding him up like so would at least lead to him wising up. But no, the old man continued to be stubborn. He squinted his eyes while looking at the man as a result of him being generally surprised. The old man was seemingly challenging him. Did he think that Decius would not do it? Or did he decide to keep his pride over his like? Either way, this reaction to being held up definitely rubbed Decius the wrong way. Small things like these would not get to him that often but the circumstances here were vastly different. With him being kicked out of the army, the past week had been nothing short of disastrous for him. He was starting to get more impatient, more easily angered and much more violent. Armandio telling him to refrain himself from killing the man was noticed, but ultimately ignored. This man was absolutely useless to them and at that point Decius was almost certain of this fact. He chuckled as his mouth slowly turned into a small grin. "As you wish." His grip immediately tightened but only enough so that the old man could no longer breathe. His intention was to slowly choke the man to death and to enjoy watching the life drift away from him.

@everyonewhoisinthebunker

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia was in thought. Many things needed to be addressed: was the staff at the palace still alive. She loved the cook and her chaimbermaid, the servants were all decent people. She hoped they were okay. This line of thought led her to think about her belongings. Was there anything left? She had a few of her mothers belongings in her room. A ring, a white cloak, a hairbrush... She was snapped out of it by the commotion on the small basement. Decius was killing the old man. She quickly got up and ran over, reaching up a bit to grab the brutes arms with his hands around his throat. "Let. Go!" She commanded, pulling on the man's arms with whatever strength she could muster. "Don't kill him!" She pleaded, her overwhelmingly good sense of morals wouldn't let herself do nothing against a potential death. It was her understanding that all humans are merely a product of their past, and that they can change for the better, and therefore killing them was not necessary.
The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan

 

[MagicPenguin]

Before she walked out, Raimi silently watched the dialogue between Ambrose and Decius as the latter held the former off his feet against the wall by the throat. He wasn't strangling him so much that the man couldn't speak, evidenced by the man's smart mouth still spouting out obscenities. From what little she knew of him, Raimi didn't think the Bear would actually kill the old man since he wasn't a direct danger for now; however, the threat of death might be useful for loosening his lips, perhaps gaining them some small amount of info. Raimi's gentle interrogations hadn't gotten anything interesting out of him. Might as well see if Decius's rougher method would yield anything more interesting. She smirked before turning away and following Armandio out of the hatch.

Raimi stepped gingerly out of the bunker and into the cool night air. Gentle moonlight streamed in through the destroyed Northern wall, displaying the alleyway just outside. The tavern was much as she remembered it from hours ago when she and the others descended down below--tables and chairs destroyed and strewn in pieces throughout the room, rocks and rubble falling through the ceiling in various areas, and glass bottles pilfered and broken all about the floor. In addition, she noticed a whole new set of bootprints bouncing around the room like a child in a candy store. It must have been from one of the many hordes that had come looking to pillage in the hours since the group entered the hatch.

"Make sure you lock this thing back up, guys. When we come back, we'll knock on the door three times quickly, three more times slowly, and then another three quickly. You'll know it's us when you hear that. Don't open the hatch for anything but that pattern of knocks," she called down quietly so that only the people in the basement could hear her.

Suddenly, Raimi did not fail to note, she could no longer hear the old man's glib tongue tossing cheap insults at the bear as it had been just seconds earlier. Decius had finally found a way to shut him up, apparently. Maybe the Bear had scared the old codger into soiling his smallclothes and he clammed up in embarrassment. Rae snickered quietly at the thought before walking away from the closed hatch and leaving them to it.

She stalked over silently to where Armandio was standing--moving with a graceful yet somehow threatening efficiency, just as if she were a lioness tracking prey in the woods, every inch of her a deadly, silent predator--and stopped behind him to follow his gaze North to the intersection between the small backroad the inn was on and the Eastern portion of the city's main street. The main road they saw from here stretched from the Eastern city gate to the center of the city where the tourney grounds, castle, and market square lay. In the intersection, she saw what Armandio was gawking at: a huge group of disheveled looking travelers heading in the Western direction, toward the castle. They were of all races and, if their variety of rich and poor clothing from various cultures and countries was anything to judge by, they were from all walks of life and every nation on Okigira. They were far enough away from the crowd that she couldn't make out what most of them were saying in any detail, but one thing she did hear with crystal clarity was the name many were repeating in a low, reverent chant.

"Kruziik! Kruziik! Kruziik!"

The steady, monotone mantra accompanied by the soft glow of the torchlights carried by the guardsmen walking along the outskirts of the crowd lent the whole scene an extremely eerie sensation that sent shivers up Raimi's spine.

"Armandio," she said quietly, "these people are headed toward the castle. Toward the genocidal wizard. Not away from him. Who are they and why would they do something so crazy? Should we follow them and find out? It would be risky...it might be safer just to inspect the walls and gates and look for a way out, but...whatever they're headed toward could also provide us with important information about what's going to be coming."

She pointed over to the destroyed wall in the inn that opened up into the alleyway behind the building. "If we wanted to follow them, it would be best to take the back alleys and keep out of those guards' sight. Or..." she said tentatively, another idea coming to her suddenly, "or we might be able to slip into the crowd unnoticed and pose as a part of their entourage. There are humans as well as well as other races there; we'd blend right in as long as we could sneak in without the guards seeing us. We might even be able to talk to them up close and hear about what they're doing straight from their own mouths."

"I'm not sure which is better. Do you want to take the safer route and follow them at a distance from the back alleys or try to slip into the parade unnoticed and maybe manage to blend in with the crowd? Or do you just want to look for a way out of the city, return with the others, and make a break for it without worrying about these clowns and their evil wizard? I'll leave it up to you, fearless leader."

In the bunker: augmentedspartan The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge Randomfella

Outside: TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

A slight smirk formed on his lips as she called him their “fearless leader.” This was high praise that fed right into an ego constructed of his opinion of his amazing skills. He closed his eyes and began his process of visualizing the several routes of action they could take.

“Hmm... seeing that they are moving towards the castle, this also suggests they are moving away from the city gates. Thus it would, probably, be safer to check the gates. However I can’t go on without gaining some sort of information from these people. I need to figure out why these people are here. For all we know there could be a leader of sorts among them, or several. Cities are my element, the twists and turns, becoming one with a crowd, that’s my jam. But I don’t know about that here. An ordinary crowd I can blend into, but I feel cultists are another problem altogether. If they’re anything like stories suggest they have a way of telling: a necklace or ring or the like. Not to mention they all probably know why they’re here, asking would only arouse suspicion. Let’s take to the alleys, keep quiet and watch them. Keep your weapon ready. Let’s head out.”

Armandio crouched and snuck out the hole Raimi had pointed out, his dagger at the ready as he stealthed his way to the alley that the hole in the wall lead to, his form more akin to a ghost as he seemingly floated over the ground. He didn’t wait for The Huntress, having faith that she could keep up.

Stealth partner: MagicPenguin

 

[Randomfella]

"I think you mean if you come back." Jenny retorted at the so called huntress as she left, rolling her eyes at the notion. Weakly stumbling toward the hatch, moving her small body past the giant oaf chocking the old man half to death, and the princess trying to pry them apart. Without much notice of the scene the halfling reapplied the locks with some force, holding her side all the while. "Welp, they're dead." She concluded in a casual tone, moving to sit on the small bed at the side of the room. "Overconfident humans, even goblins can move with greater deft, chances are if you hear those knocks it'll be from the wizard's goons after the girl tells them where we are." Jen almost mumbled, looking down before facing toward the others, still in their scene of action.

Looking toward the large axe-wielding man, it seemed as if he want intent on slowly chocking the old codger, rather than simply snapping his neck, a task which seemed well within his capability. "What, is that getting you off or something?" Jenny asked with a cheeky smirk beneath her still pained expression, looking up as her body remained slumped, her tone matching her smirk, with a mix of sarcasm. "Either finish him before you finish yourself off, or do as your princess commands, considering how old he is he probably has a bit to offer with some persuasion. Hell, if he knows how to apply a bandage he'll be ten times more useful then the lot of you." She continued with a dismissing wave of her hand, half-joking all the while, it seemed even the injuries and constant threat of encroaching death were not enough to calm her antics.

Duke of Doge augmentedspartan The_Omega_Effect

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius did not feel pleasure from choking the man slowly. It was just something that he was compelled to do. Something that once done, would give him an incredibly odd feeling of satisfaction, similar to an itch. But this itch was something that took a bit more than a swipe of a hand to go away. It required a lot more effort, so to say. Convinced that he was just a rude old man who had no intention of helping and would be better off to them dead than alive, Decius continued to exact judgement until Princess Nia ran up to him, ordering him to stop. What else did he expect? She was the kind of person who believed the whole "death is immoral" and "everybody deserves a second chance" mentalities that he disliked.

Nevertheless, she still held some form of authority in his mind which lead to him to try to let go of the man. Doing so was unnaturally difficult for him. Simply opening his hand to allow the man to drop seemed to be impossible to him. Something was just preventing him from doing so. He did not know what it was, but he knew that he would be damned if he allowed it to take over. He took a deep breath and then let out a red mist that came out of his mouth. He could taste the iron it it. It was blood. This just surprised him to a degree where he slightly recoiled and dropped the guy on the floor. He then walked to the other side of the room and then sat on the floor with a white strand of hair dangling on his forehead. Decius assured himself that the lack of control he had was merely psychological and that he had to start calming himself down and lot letting his anger get the best of him. Little did he know that it was only about to get worse.

@Iunno.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Following behind Armandio as he snuck into the dark alley via the inn's destroyed wall, Rae pulled her bow off her back and kept an arrow knocked on the string so she could draw and fire quickly if the need arose. She didn't anticipate it would so long as the two were sneaky enough, but it didn't hurt to be prepared.

As they began to move through the alley, past the giant boulder that had done for the inn's wall, Raimi saw with surprise that there were dismembered goblin body parts strewn about the floor outside the inn. The severed limbs all had signs of soot and char, characteristics they shared with the nearby walls and floor. It was as if the entire alleyway had been set on fire and the goblins within blown apart in the process. The whole scene reminded Rae of the loud bang and bright flash that had opened the Eastern exit of the stadium for the group to escape earlier that day. Was there some sort of fire wizard running about, keeping the group safe from the shadows? She dearly hoped so; they could use all the help they could get.

Armandio moved quick and quiet as a shadow cat, ready to pounce on anything that crossed his path and Raimi followed quickly on his heels with her bow at the ready. The two moved West through the alleys parallel to the parade in the main road moving in the same direction. They couldn't see the procession while the main road was blocked by the buildings that surrounded the alleys, but they caught glimpses of them whenever they stealthily crossed from one alley to another. The parade was alive with the sound of chanting and song and dance and even when it was out of sight it was easy to tell which way the mass of people was headed. Under all the celebration, Rae could hear the soft buzz of people conversing, but they were too soft and the singing too loud for her to hear their words. Raimi dearly wished she could get closer to catch what they were saying, but the buildings blocked her way and, even if they hadn't, she knew getting that close would just be asking to get caught, so she kept her distance with Armandio.

Eventually, after some minutes of running through different alleyways, they came across another scene of an apparent battle, with one goblin corpse appearing to have been expertly skewered through the chest. Perhaps there were other groups like theirs hiding somewhere in Dalania, awaiting their chance to strike back at the wizard or escape as they were. If so, perhaps there was some hope for someone to rally all the survivors and mount a resistance. It seemed a slim hope, but Rae was desperate to cling to something.

The crowd continued its march and the two followed along under the cover of darkness. When they finally reached the city's Main Square in front of the castle, the parade they were following suddenly seemed one small river among many, all flooding into one massive lake. From the four city gates in all cardinal directions, the main roads led inwardly toward the square in the city's center. One branch of the parade came from each gate until all of them congregated in one large crowd in the square. Floating there above the castle's drawbridge, watching over all of the people pouring into the square from every direction, was the mad wizard himself, Kruziik.

Raimi didn't know what he was doing up there, but just floating in one spot as he was, he made a perfect target of himself for any ambitious assassin. From where Rae and Armandio concealed themselves in an alley on the market square's East side, the wizard wasn't that far away. Raimi regularly shot pheasants out of the air from farther distances. She was sorely tempted to try and put an arrow through his eye and solve all their problems with one shot.

"It would be so easy, Armandio," she whispered to her companion as she drew her bowstring and arrow to her cheek and lined up her shot. "So easy. Just one well-placed arrow is all it would take. He'd be dead before he ever knew he was in any danger. We could use the ensuing chaos and escape the crowd back the way we came before they even knew we were here."

Sighing in resignation, she let her bowstring return to its resting position and placed her arrow back in its quiver. "Too easy," she said. "Almost like he's making a target of himself on purpose to draw out assasins. I have no idea what magical nonsense he has in place to counter snipers. I don't want to take the risk and blow our cover. Unless..." she said with a smirk in his direction, "you think I should risk the shot anyway, captain?"

TheCountryWarrior