Fantasy A Nation In Havoc (2.0)

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio leaned against the wall, cradled his forehead in his right hand, and sighed. “The big guy silenced our escape. Damnit. Well we have several other escape routes, though they are still risky. We can escape through the North or East gates, but they come with their own pitfalls. To the East is the ocean, but without a boat that route will take longer on foot. Also the wizard commands Goblins, and Goblins are known for their Corsairs and their surprising ability to sail. To the North is the tundra, but we don’t have the supplies to survive out there. We could scrounge some things up but every minute we spend in the city is another house the search parties search. I do have another option in mind.”

He looks over to the halfling. “If we can set off an explosion in sight distance from the main gates, it’ll draw some of them away. I’ll scale the walls and start taking killing the guys on the wall, Soldier boy over there can take on a large amount of enemies, the Huntress can pick off...well anyone and Nia and the old man rush through. A less explosive and less terrible but awesome plan is I go out alone and acquire whatever the cultists use to get past the guards. I bring enough back for all of us and we walk out like we own the place.” He points to the princess. “You’ll have to hide your hair. No doubt in my mind that they’ll be looking for you by the color of your hair.”

He looks over the crew that’s gathered around the noble cause of trying not to die horribly. “Ideas are quite welcome of course, but keep in mind that any second we could be facing a squad of wizard worshipers.”

The_Omega_Effect
Duke of Doge Randomfella MagicPenguin
augmentedspartan

 

[MagicPenguin]

When the old man didn't answer her in words, Rae finally realized something was actually wrong with him. She previously just assumed he wasn't speaking because he was tired, but apparently there was something wrong with his throat.

"Hey, Bear, what'd you do to the guy while we were gone? Rip out his vocal cords or something?" she asked with a slight pinch of annoyance. Normally the old man's silence would be a welcome change from how cranky and obnoxious he was before, but now that they actually needed him to speak it was a pretty big pain.

Raimi took on a thoughtful look as she stared at the bitter old man nursing his injured throat and it caused her to remember when she was just a little girl on the farm and she had a nasty cold that caused a wicked sore, scratchy throat and, consequently, a hoarse voice that lasted some days. Back then, her Ma had given her honey and ginger several times a day for a few days straight and it fixed her voice right up. The thought caused her to briefly remember how warm and safe her Ma had made her feel back then. For just a moment, she was able to forget that, for all she knew, Ma and Pa and all her siblings may well be dead from the volcanic eruption. When she came back to the present and recalled the fact that she didn't know if they were safe, she nearly started to cry right then and there. It took all she had to repress her fears and keep a strong face for the others.

The group didn't really have a few days to wait for him to feel better, but the same remedy her Ma gave her might at least get the old man's throat well enough in a short period to speak loud enough to be heard. It was worth a try at least.

Having decided that, Rae turned back toward the hatch. "I'll be right back. Two minutes. Don't even bother locking it, I won't be gone that long." She quickly scurried up the stairs and out the hatch, back into the main common room, still in shambles from the events of the day. Raimi looked around until she found the door that led to the kitchen. It was ransacked by goblins like all the rest of the common room, but since there were no valuables in here, it wasn't nearly as destroyed as the rest of the building had been by the looting. Rae quickly poked around the drawers and cupboards until she found what she was looking for: a pot of honey and a few cloves of ginger. For best results, she remembered, this would be used with apple cider, but they didn't have that so this would have to do for now. She found a spoon in another drawer and, with all the components of her home remedy in hand, she retreated back to the hatch in the common room.

Before she descended again, she took a moment to listen for the sound of shouting or footsteps outside. She didn't hear anything besides the parade still going on. That might be a good sign. They might still have some time before the search parties found their way here.

She once more opened the still-unlocked hatch and climbed back down into the hatch. She put her items down so she could turn to re-lock the basement door before she picked them up again and headed over to the old man. As she moved, she heard Armandio explaining some alternate plans to escape the city. They involved miraculous explosions to distract the guards or fighting off scores of armed and armored guards between herself, him, and the Bear so the others could get out safely. Tough as they all were, neither of those plans gave her much confidence, but if the old man's voice wasn't working, what choice would they have? Hopefully this remedy would get his throat back in working order and they wouldn't have to resort to such drastic, desperate plans.

As she knelt down next to the corpse salesman to hand him the items, she explained to him what they were. "This here's honey and ginger cloves. When I was a kid, my Ma always used to give me these for a sore throat or a hoarse voice. I dunno why it works, though a sciency fella like you might know the reason. All's I know is it always had my voice right as rain again whenever she gave it to me." She shrugged. "Might work here or might not. Worth a try anyhow."

She extended the items to him and waited to see if he'd accept them.

augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior Duke of Doge The_Omega_Effect Randomfella

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia listened to what they had to report. He was right, she would have to hide her hair. She then began to think of any alternate ideas to add to the pile. So far she hasn't done much to aid the group, at least to Nia it seemed that way. She hated doing nothing, so that's why she would always try. As she thought up ideas she smiled, at least Raimi seemed to care. Nia looked at the other girl and offered a "thank you" to Raimi.

Nia decided to voice what she thought up. "Well they can't lock down the entire city can they? Can't we just join up with a group of people who are also leaving the city. At the very least we can blend in with them up to the tower. A bit less pressure than just making a run for it don't you think? Additionally, there are a few... other ways out of the city. The pipe system that brought heat to homes are accesable and safe. Maintenance reasons and the like. That would lead..." She racked her brain for the answer. "All the way to red mountain or at the very least a maintenance building in between here and there. Also also. The royal palace has an emergency exit. But there are obvious problems with that option..."

augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Randomfella
(I AM SO SORRY FOR MY SUPER DELAYED POST, I HAD MEANT TO POST BUT FORGOT BECAUSE I AM A DUMB BOI)

 

[Randomfella]

Jenny looked toward the ceiling as Raimi returned to give another long speech. "Humans..." The halfling thought to herself with an audible huff as she took apart each part of the young woman's plan in her mind, there were simply too many obvious flaws to her. The other human was quick to provide more ideas after the clear realisation that the giant of a man had taken his desires a little too far; All involving leaving the bunker Jen had spent so long working in, and on, none inspired her in the slightest. That was until he mentioned explosions.

The halfling's eyes moved downward, meeting Armandio's gaze, a large smile creeping up uncontrollably from her previously bored expression. She had slightly mentioned her capabilities when the man had a knife to the old cook's throat, but for him to trust her in this capacity must have been brought on by something far more convincing...
"So you saw my little art show out the back?" Her smile only seemed to enlarge, her tone proud and happy, despite the dire scenario they had been placed in, and the short cough following. While she wasn't a massive fan of violence, those were goblins, and she was quite proud of her own inventions, though she greatly doubted the human knew the truth behind the destruction.

While she did enjoy the idea of blowing something up, his plan wasn't close to perfect either, especially for her. "You're definitely hitting the right notes human, but I'm not sure if you've noticed." She stated, still upbeat, yet her expression dropped slightly more sombre, lifting her right arm which held her wounded side, red patches lightly sputtered over her coat. "I'm not exactly in a state to get away after such a distraction, I can't work my 'magic' quite so well like this, and despite being close to the size of one, I'm not about to be your sacrificial lamb." Despite the joking nature in her words, Jen was still serious, in her own way, moving her arm back down to reapply the pressure.

Looking back toward Raimi, Jenny rolled her eyes at the girls attempt to mend the old man. "The girl's plan would work, would be able to get some of my stuff in the cart too, things we're going to need if we hope to stand a chance here..." The halfling started up once more, looking away as she did so, but her tone was clearly dropping, those flaws barking louder in her mind. "But even if he agreed to help us, what makes you lot think we can trust someone working for a maniac? And have you even checked the stables? After all, the whole city is falling a-" The hafling was beginning to raise her left arm up to indicate the chaos above, before a loud *CRASH* from not too far away interrupted her train of thought.

Jenny brought her left hand back to her face, burying it into there. "Think... Think..." She told herself, as much as she hated to admit it, if what they said was true, they were doomed by staying down there. "You humans won't last long outside of the cozy city walls..." She concluded mid-thought, with no real emotion to the statement, it was almost as if she were talking to herself. Standing up, the halfing began to pace with a limp around, checking different mechanisms and tools, mumbling as she did so. During her thought, she almost didn't notice the princess had spoken up, Jenny's eyes opening wide with a sharp beam as she realised exactly what the girl was thinking of. "The pipes! That's it!" The halfling turned toward the princess, tugging on her lower right arm with both hands in excitement as she looked up at her, covering the royal's arm in her own brand of red paint.

Jenny soon released her grip as the pain shot back, holding her side once more, wincing before returning to a more thoughtful expression, moving back to sit on her bed. Again her left hand moved toward her chin, rubbing it eagerly. "It's not impossible to crawl through the closest connection out of the walls, but we won't make it much further without the heat making it our tomb... I 'could' blow a hole just out of the city, humans never bother to bury them deep, but I'd still need to make a distraction, and as for the equipment..." It was still as if the young halfling was talking to herself, and it almost sounded like the whole planning process was somehow pleasing to her.. She soon paused, another thought entering her head, before looking up toward the large axe-wielder. "How much do you think you could drag through a few hundred meters of pipework?" She casually questioned the large human.
augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius stood up as the two came back from the little scouting mission, listening in on every detail they had to say and to everyone else. He did feel regret as his actions would most likely lead to him getting on the princess' bad side. But there was something else that troubled him a lot more than the wrath of the powerless royalty that he potentially pissed off. In that moment, it really felt like Decius had little control over his actions. It was almost as if some sort of force, compelled him to kill the old man on the spot. This "force" coming so close to overtaking his mind and leading him to unnecessarily murder someone worried him greatly.

He listened to the entirety of the planning process. As soon as Armandio mentioned explosives, Decius watched as the halfling got all happy and hyper, despite her damaged state. He was certainly amused by her ramblings as well. She then asked him about how much of a certain, presumably explosive substance that he could carry. "It depends on how much you have." He said with a small smile. "Don't you think you need medical attention first?"

augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin Randomfella Duke of Doge

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia considered what was said by the halfling. It was true, Nia was pampered for most of her life, she wouldn't last a day in the tundra. However Jenny soon got a shot of energy after Nia mentioned the pipes. The red head stifled a giggle at the enthusiasm portrayed by the smaller girl. She even looked kinda cute for a moment there.

Jenny soon returned to her bed after pulling on her wound in the wrong way. Nia winced as she saw this, and then looked down at the blood Jenny left on her arm. She blinked a few times before it hit her.
Nia sat down next to Jenny and put an arm around her. "You should probably lay down... I don't want you making it worse by moving" she stood back up and looked around, holding up her hands to put a pause on the conversation. "Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Jenny needs to heal. We also need supplies- food, water, and the explosive components for Jenny." The heir looked down at herself. Only now realizing she was covered in blood. "I also need new clothes... with a hood." She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Turning her back to the group she placed her hand on the stone wall and leaned against it. Placing her forehead against the stone. Even though none of this blood was hers, Nia found her wounds were deeper than any blade could cut, and left scars that would last a lifetime. She just has to be strong enough to not succumb to the pain.
The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior @MagicPenguin Randomfella

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose looked at Raime before accepting the honey and the ginger. Generally he would scoff at the so called home "remedies" which were generally based off tradition more than actual medicine, but it was true that both honey and ginger had some anti-inflammatory properties, even if almost getting chocked to death wasn't the same as a cold, it was still better than nothing. Opening the pot he tried to mince the ginger clove with his fingers, his teeth weren't really up to the task of chewing ginger cloves, but found the task too taxing for his old fingers. Instead he used the spoon to scrape some on top of the honey itself before taking a spoonful. Letting the mix flow down his throat, he let it simmer for a bit before taking another spoonful. He kept doing this as the others talked and found his throat hurt less.

"No," he managed to say, although it sounded very forced and slow. "Ec...splo...sions. Ma...niac." He managed to blurt out before going into a coughing fit. He eventually managed to control himself, and after another spoonful, tried again. "Hide...in cart...play dead." He would rather prefer a plan that didn't involve light displays and loud sounds since that would put every single gaze on them, and there was no way they could explain blowing up a chunk of the city wall. No, he very much preferred being able to use his words to get out; he was used to lying to get his way. They could use the big man to carry the cart and just hide the Princess under the others, the guards probably wouldn't bother to do much more than give the cart a look, if even that. Now the problem right now was saying all of that without taking the entire day.

Duke of Doge MagicPenguin Randomfella The_Omega_Effect TheCountryWarrior

 

[MagicPenguin]

Did Raimi's ears decieve her? Was the old man actually agreeing with her plan? She smiled. That was easier than she could've imagined.

As she was listening to the others chatter, she was surprised when Jenny took credit for what happened out back. Raimi could only assume she was referring to the charred body parts and seemingly burnt alleyway.

"Huh?" she said to Jenny with a quizzical look, "That was you? Were you also the one who caused that bang and flash in the arena today?" She re-examined the hunched over, bloody little halfling with a new sense of respect. "Well, I'll be! How'd you do it? Are you a fire wizard or something? That's so cool!" she practically gushed. The girl might be arrogant and obnoxious and waaaay too paranoid, but if what she was saying was true, she was also pretty damn amazing.

Raimi put aside her newfound admiration for Jenny the Halfling for the moment as she considered some of the other plans that had been presented so far. The one with the most promise, it seemed to her, was the use of the heating pipes to get out of the city without being noticed. In fact, she was kind of annoyed with Nia after hearing about it; if the princess had known about these tunnels out of the city all this time they were trying to think of ways out, why did she only mention them just now, hours after they came down here into the hatch?

It seemed to her, however, that even this plan was not without its flaws. Raimi was only a simple farmer's daughter, and she knew very little of science and engineering; however, she also knew that the Red Mountains were many long miles to the West of the city. In her ignorance, she could not imagine how hot steam or hot water could be piped over all that distance and still remain hot enough to provide warmth to the people of Dalania living in their homes. She did not need to be an engineer to know that the stuff in the pipes must be nothing short of lava or something to remain so hot over such a far distance, and the material out of which the pipes are made must be something extremely durable to both withstand the heat of the stuff inside and provide enough insulation to keep it from cooling too much during the journey from the mountain to the city.

If they were just going to use the tunnels to go from the inside of the city to a building outside of it, that wouldn't be as much of an issue. They would be extremely hot, almost fatally so, but if they could survive long enough to get to a maintenance building as the princess suggested, they'd be fine. A little overcooked, maybe, but fine. Mostly. She hoped. What Jenny suggested, though, using her fire magic (Rae guessed) to burrow their way out before the interior of the tunnels got too hot, sent shivers up Raimi's spine. Explosive fire magic and pipes filled with hot materials--possibly lava straight from a volcano's crater--both in a small, confined underground tunnel did not seem like a recipe for success to her. In fact, it seemed like a very elaborate way to commit suicide. Raimi wasn't ready to die via lava flowing out of exploded pipes. She liked living.

"Um. I'm going to have to agree with the old man on this one. I think we should stick to the cart plan. As awesome as your fire magic is, little'un, using it on pipes with really hot stuff inside to get out of the tunnels seems like a really bad idea. Besides that, if Nia knows about these tunnels, we have to assume that Kruziik knows about them as well. What's to stop him from placing guards down there to stop anyone from escaping that way? No, I think the cart plan has fewer risks than an explosion in a possibly guarded, lava filled tunnel.

"I see your point about not being able to trust the old guy, but I don't think he'll betray us. Think about it from his perspective. Once we're in the cart and he's pulling it behind him, he really has no reason to betray us. He also has every reason in the world to need our help once we're all outside the city. He could get out without us, but he'd be one old man all alone in the wilderness with many long leagues to travel before seeing another sign of civilization. He needs us to get him there safely. He might try and betray us while we're still in the cart to get the wizard to give him an escort to another city, but we'd still be in the cart. We could kill him easily before the Wizard heard anything about it. We'd die too, but it wouldn't benefit him in any way because he'd already be dead. I think we can count on this guy to do what is in his own best interests, and in this case, that would be helping us with this plan so that he can get to another city and restart his business."

augmentedspartan Randomfella Duke of Doge The_Omega_Effect TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio chuckled as the farmer showed her new found admiration for the halfling with words of adoration, knowing her praise was misplaced, but he didn’t want to dampen her mood so he stayed quiet.

He nodded at her words after she shook away her awe at the halfling, his mind racing through a visual of what this operation would entail. It was the most secure plan, with the others being incredibly risky, though very awe inspiring.

“Then our plan is settled? We hide in the cart and he gets us through. It’s our best shot.”

Randomfella MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan
Duke of Doge

 

[Duke of Doge]

Raimi's display of admiration for Jenny cheered Nia up a bit, and she turned to once again face her group. "Okaaaay... that plan works too. It's just.... well." She swallowed uncomfortably. "Look at me. For starters. I'm wearing a dress." She lifted up some of the fabric to emphasise. "It's not warm in the slightest. Also, unless you plan of scavenging off the land. We don't have alot of supplies." The girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm just worried about what we are going to do once we get out of the city." Hey eyes gave away her thoughts clear as day. Nia was scared. Completely and totally afraid of leaving her city. Sure she'd done it before, but never like this. Her heart began to race anxiously as she thought about what was to happen.

Randomfella
MagicPenguin
The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan
TheCountryWarrior

 

[Randomfella]

"I've had worse." Jenny responded to the large human with a small, yet noticeably uncomfortable chuckle, before looking back up toward the now nurturing princess, beginning to lay down. Perhaps she could rest her eyes... For just a short moment... Suddenly the elderly man's voice filled her head, causing Jen to jump to an upright position, pointing a finger toward him. "Hey! Who are you calling a maniac!?" She questioned in high pitched fury, before crossing her arms in a huff. "You're the one that worked for that wizard..." She began to mumble, looking toward the ceiling in a short rage.

It seemed her previous statement had gotten the attention of the smaller human, however. Her response caused a large grin to form on the halfling's face. "Well, I'm not one to brag." She lied. "But yeah, that awesome display was all Steamwhistle, a... Secret technique of my own." She half-giggled, relaxing slightly back onto the bed. For the first time all day, she rested and listened, her expression turning more stale, mulling over the girl's statements about the plan. Steam wasn't exactly going to combust like she assumed the human was thinking, but their chances of survival in the pipes still weren't guaranteed, far from it in fact.

Jenny remained on her back, looking over toward the others, perhaps it was true that the old cook had reason to help them, but who knew what his intentions were. Surely no sane being wanted to be in a city full of filthy goblins, but who said he was sane? "Well, I'd give us about a 70 percent chance to survive the crawl, and about 90 percent that I can blow a hole through the other side, that's almost two thirds in our favour." She concluded, her tone making it sound promising, yet the odds were still clearly not great. "Assuming we can trust him, and assuming there are orcs and goblins watching the gates, I'd say there's about 80 percent chance they don't figure it out, and if they do, we still might have a good chance, already being near the gate. Plus the important tools can come with us. If he hands us in, well, I hope you lot can cover the princess and I." Jenny finished, looking toward the wall as she calculated the estimations in her head, before staring back toward the others, her gaze ending on the princess herself.

"You can borrow some of mine, if you like." She giggled, looking the girl up and down. "This is an inn, I might be able to work something out." She noted, her tone still rather upbeat, perhaps this plan could work after all. "Unlike you humans, we halflings are raised on the land, I should be able carry a few of you for a while... Figuratively." Jen gave a smug smile, before reaching toward her side, groaning slightly from the pain. From her waist, she drew a short knife, moving the butt of it toward the princess. "You'll need this." She spoke up once more, this time much more serious, her expression showing it too, before relaxing back on her bed. "And no, it's not to defend yourself, that fancy sword of yours'll do that." Jen stated, before motioning her hand toward the girls head. "Don't think I've seen another human with a do' like that, plus... They'll be looking for a princess right? Not a prince." A small grin began to form once more, clearly the halfling enjoyed the idea beyond simple survival. "Covering it only adds more risk." She finished, before starting to rest her eyes.
augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge

 

[MagicPenguin]

It seemed like they had a majority voting for the cart plan. It was decided, then. Raimi turned to Nia to address her concerns.

"Don't worry about clothes. I have something for you upstairs. Let's worry about getting out of the city first. We SHOULD do something about your hair, but we can just dye it so it isn't the red of the royal family. Your head will be covered in the cart, though, so we don't need to do it right now. There are plenty of herbs in the wild we can use to do that once we leave. Of course, it you WANT to cut it right now, that's up to you. As for supplies and survival in the wild, as long as I have my bow, we'll be fine. The forests of Dalania are like my second home. Just follow my lead and you'll have nothing to worry about," Rae said with a reassuring smirk.

The only thing left to do now was to get the horse and cart ready. By her estimation, they should still have fifteen or twenty minutes at least before any search parties reached this far out into the city, so she had best hurry. Raimi looked at each of her new companions in turn.

"Since we've all decided, I'm going to head up to the stables and get the horse and cart ready. Meet me outside in 5 minutes and maybe we can finally get out of this wretched city." Raimi shrugged nonchalantly, hiding the fear she so keenly felt. "Or we'll all die trying. One way or the other, our stay in this mad wizard's bloodbath is about to be over."

With that, she undid the locks of the hatch and climbed back up to the top. After closing it back up from outside, she scurried as quickly and as quietly as she could over to the door on the far side of the common room that led to the stables next door and entered.

It was extremely dark in the stable, but there was moonlight streaming through the hole in the ceiling toward the back caused by a falling rock earlier that day and Rae could make out the empty stalls that lined two sides of the long room. As she made her way further back, her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she was eventually able to make out the shape of her cart situated against the back wall, right where she'd left it last. It was still covered by a big white tarp and, as far as she could tell, hadn't been touched. She peeked under the tarp to see that her unsold clothes from yesterday were still there, as expected. There wasn't too much left over compared to when she first entered the city, but surely Nia would be able to find something more travel-friendly than that elegant dress of hers in here somewhere. There was plenty of room in the cart to hide six bodies under the tarp convincingly. If no one looked too closely, they shouldn't have any problems passing themselves off as the old man's inventory.

Her cart's safety established, she made her way to the stall in which she'd left her horse. She felt a growing pit in her stomach as she moved closer to the stall and failed to hear any horse-like sounds. When the scent of blood entered her nostrils, that growing pit became a bottomless chasm. Finally, she got close enough to the stall to see the cause of the scent.

There, directly underneath the single hole in the stable's ceiling through which a rock had fallen, was her horse's collapsed body, head crushed by the very same rock, dried blood pooled around its neck.

Raimi couldn't help but fall to her knees and cover her mouth in shock. She'd known that horse since she was a small child. Her father had taught her to ride on that horse when she was only 5 years old. The horse had accompanied her father on his own trips to this city to sell wares before Raimi was old enough to do it in his place. The old girl was almost as much a part of her family as her own siblings. All the fear and anxiety she'd been hiding under her confident facade for the others came rushing to the surface and she couldn't help it when she suddenly let out a low, pitiful sob. Tears began to run down her cheeks unbidden and her body trembled with anguish as she failed once more to pull herself together in the face of such a gruesome sight. Finally, she accepted that she could hide her emotions no longer, so she gave up trying and simply sat there on her knees with her hand covering her mouth and cried like a little girl.

She cried for her horse, of course, her only familiar companion in a city full of strangers, but that wasn't all. Way back when this huge mess started in the arena, the first thing that occurred was a volcano erupting south of the city. In that moment, as she stood motionless in the center of the arena trying to process the chaos unfolding around her, there was only one thought running nonstop through her head. The Charlotte farm, her family's home for generations, was three days south of the city. The same direction as the erupting volcano. Ever since then, no matter what she was doing, whether it be facing down ten goblins with nothing but a hunting knife, covering the princess with her bow as she made a mad dash up to her dying father, threatening to burn innocents alive to secure her own survival, or going on information gathering expeditions in the stealth of night, she always had one burning question in the back of her mind that it took all her willpower not to dwell upon.

Was her family dead? Was she all alone in the world?

Now, seeing the horse she had known for well over half of her life lying motionless and headless in the dusty stall before her, she felt as if the universe was cruelly providing an answer to the question she had been trying so hard to avoid. Her father and mother and brothers and sisters had probably all died, just like the poor horse had. She really couldn't know for sure, she thought desperately as she cried. They might have survived somehow. Gotten away before the lava and rocks from the Red Mountain could reach them, or hidden in a safe place underground somewhere, or...something. She wouldn't know for sure they were gone until she saw the bodies. She had to have hope.

It was difficult to keep that hope alive, however, with the horse's corpse bathed in pale moonlight laying right before her eyes.

After a few minutes, she finally managed to pull herself together again. She wiped her eyes so the others wouldn't see she'd been crying and moved back over to her cart. It was so unfair, she thought, that a stupid cart made of wood and the clothes made of fabric within it should survive a volcanic eruption when the poor horse and, in all likelihood, her entire family, had died horrible deaths.

She tried to think about something else, anything to take her mind off of her family's fate. Without a horse to pull the cart, the plan might need some reworking. Raimi tried to pull the cart herself to test how heavy it was. It took some doing, but she was able to pull it by herself. Of course, it was mostly empty right now. Filled with six people plus whatever goods the others wanted to pile into it along with them, it would be considerably heavier. There's no way the old man would be able to pull it himself. They probably couldn't find another horse on short notice hiding somewhere in the city. The Bear was almost certainly strong enough to pull it comfortably, however, even when it was full. They would probably have to have Decius act as the old man's subordinate and pull the cart with the rest of them in it. They'd have to hide his face. Decius made quite an impression at the arena earlier that day, killing as many enemies as he had on his own. It was likely some of the guards would recognize him on sight unless they disguised him. Raimi spied a cloth bag full of tools in the corner of the stable and emptied it of its contents. She hastily used her knife to cut out holes for eyes. He probably wouldn't like it, but Decius was going to have to use this as a mask so the guards wouldn't recognize him.

Raimi had already taken more than five minutes, so the others were likely already outside wondering where she'd gone. She threw the bag-mask onto the cart's tarp and, without delaying any further, pulled the cart outside of the inn where the others were likely waiting.

Duke of Doge TheCountryWarrior Randomfella augmentedspartan The_Omega_Effect

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio paced the room his new crew was hiding in. The kid said she’d be gone five minutes. It had been ten, and Armandio was starting to worry. Had there been an ambush? Five minutes alone was long enough for a Goblin to overpower her and eat her. Without their Huntress they had no guide through the wilderness surrounding Dalania, and while the princess may have some knowledge of the animals they’d have to maneuver around, Raimi would be the best. Yes, she would be needed.

After informing the crew of his intentions, the safe return of their guide, he left their hidey hole and set off on his search. Which should be easy because he knew where she was going: the stables to fetch the means of their escape. Which was next door. He took three steps into the stables when he heard crying, picking up his pace he came upon the sad scene. The poor girl kneeling in front of her slain steed, sobbing at the loss. Seeing she herself was unhurt, physically anyway, he backed up and left her alone, keeping watch outside.

She eventually cane out, dragging the cart behind. She had composed herself to appear all was alright, and the untrained eye wouldn’t notice anything wrong. He smiled at her, acting like he hadn’t seen her mourning the loss of a family member. That member was a horse but it hurt just the same.

“Alright Country Girl, good work. We’ll get the big guy to pull it, the old guy to weasel our way out, and the rest of us will cower inside it.”

MagicPenguin Duke of Doge The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan Randomfella

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

It seemed that the explosive plan was abandoned in favour of the plan involving more stealth. It was the smarter choice. Although Decius was sure he could escape the city in a chaotic situation an explosion would most likely create, he was not too sure the same could be applicable to the people around him. They had to escort the princess after all. Trying out a method like the one that was just devised would give them a chance to make it out with none of them getting harmed. He watched as Raimi made it out of the bunker to get the horse and the cart ready. The idea of a horse pulling them gave relief to him as it meant that he would not be forced to carry everyone, despite the fact that he very much enjoyed exercising his strength. The one thing on his mind the whole time was how reliable the old man truly was. Them going with this plan could be purely attributable to him. This would indicate that the man himself wants to get out to an extent. But with what happened earlier, Decius still did not like the old man and he looked forward to the moment where he could kill him.

Some Time Later

It was only a few minutes and Armandio had already left the bunker to search for the girl. Decius walked to the ladders in order to climb up, but stopped. Facing the halfling, he started to speak. "If there is anything you want to take with you from this base of yours, I suggest you start packing." Before listening to her response, he left the bunker. The inn was empty. If he had ignored that there was a bunker under him, it would appear that there was no other living thing around him, other than himself that is. Standing up, he felt a second of peace before feeling a sort of force under his skin. It was the area around his shoulder, right under the massive shoulder-guard he was wearing to be exact. The axe behind him started to feel slightly heavier. This sort of trance quickly ended as he felt normal again in mere seconds. He held his shoulder that he felt the force in and was shocked. He remembered that inside the arena, a goblin managed to sneak up on him and stab his entire blade into his shoulder. Even though it was smaller than a dagger relative to Decius himself, it was still a deep wound that would take quite a long time to heal. Upon further inspection, he found no sign of any sort of damage. If anything, it felt better than it ever was. He enjoyed it but also took it with a grain of salt.

He was almost certain that it had nothing to do with the magic of the wizard, but instead, the source of all these supernatural things happening to him was his axe. It made sense. Why would he ever talk to a fucking weapon? Why would this weapon shake? Most important of all, why did he only start questioning the axe at this point, and not in the countless instances before? Did the weapon use its power to heal Decius, leaving it none to steer his mind away from the underlying mystery to do with it? The questions appeared one by one, making Decius feel fear. It was something he enjoyed instilling his enemies, but not something he'd ever imagine to feel himself. The strength of the grasp the axe had on his mind was a mystery, only to be revealed by time. Or, just as soon as... They came back.

Raimi and Armandio had returned to the inn with the cart and not the horse. Seeing this, Decius knocked on the bunker hatch a few times. "Its time. They're here." He then walked up to the cart and wondered whether 6 people would actually fit into it. He then quickly put together that he would have to be the one to carry them all. "So much for a horse..." he said before he waited for everyone to get ready, with his mind already miles away from his little axe problem.
Duke of Doge augmentedspartan Randomfella MagicPenguin TheCountryWarrior

 

[MagicPenguin]

"Don't call it 'cowering,' City Boy," said Raimi. "Makes us sound weak. More like...strategic hiding. Yeah, that's it..." She adopted a weak smile as she tried joking around with him, but honestly, her heart wasn't really in it at the moment, so her attempt at levity fell a little flat.

"Sorry, Bear..." said Raimi with weary resignation to Decius. She avoided looking either of the two men in the eyes. She was afraid if she did, she'd break down in tears all over again. "My horse's head got crushed by a rock. Can't say I expected that..." She pulled the cloth bag with hastily cut holes for eyes from the top of the tarp on the cart and threw it in Decius's direction. "I'm afraid we're going to need you to pull us. You're the only one strong enough to pull all of us plus whatever else we put in here. You'll have to play along with being the old timer's servant. Try not to kill him, okay?"

Raimi sighed, tired and sad. "Now we're just waiting for the others to come up. Then we can get this party started."

She walked inside the inn and over to the hatch and knocked on it with her foot. "C'mon, you guys. We have to hurry. Those search parties are going to be here any minute. I have some clothes for you, Princess, so let's hurry up and get out of this city so you can pick something out."

The_Omega_Effect TheCountryWarrior Duke of Doge Randomfella augmentedspartan

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia stared at the knife she was given, then down at her chest. "The one time having small boobs in nesecary..." she said to herself with a slight whine in her voice. She took a deep breath and bundled up her hair before cutting it off at the shoulder. Dropping the excess red locks she headed out and waited for the cart. Which she got into as soon as it pulled up. "Lets just get outta here."

Randomfella
MagicPenguin
The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan
TheCountryWarrior
(I'd post more but I can't be bothered...)

 

[Randomfella]

Jenny simply nodded in Nia's direction, her eyes still closed, though the sound was noticeable enough. Some time later, her eyes opened once more, the voice of the human giant waking her short slumber. "Oh!" The halfling quickly shot up, scurrying around the room, collecting all sorts of tools and devices, placing them into crates as the others left the bunker. Jen was about ready, but there was one more thing she needed to do before they could leave, she didn't want to leave any sign they had been here after all, but one human was still in the way. Moving toward the corner of the room, Jenny bent down slightly to meet the half-asleep, half-terrorised shivering man, waving a hand before him. "Come on, George, we can get out of here now." She smiled, trying to put on a reassuring voice, though she was far better at acting like a child than someone who knew they weren't about to meet their end. The innkeepers eyes slowly moved up to meet her gaze, his pupils shivering. "All... Going... To die..." He simply whispered, before hiding his face back into his folded arms.

No matter how much she pleaded, he would not budge. If she was a colder woman, she would have simply left him down here with the resulting blast. She could have gotten one of the men to force him up, but he would only be a liability. He had been the only human to take her in with no promise of payment, a trait rarely since in their kind. It was clear that doing so would only put them in more danger, but Jen could not allow him to burn along with the rest of the basement. Begrudgingly, the halfling grabbed the recently packed crate, lifting it up the steps with some difficulty from the weight of it.

As Jenny emerged from the hatch, after Raimi had started banging away, the halfling drew a long smile across her face, before placing the crate down. "Stick this in the cart, shorty." She giggled up at the girl, before running back down to grab another... And another... And another... Just how much crap did she have down there? As she emerged once more, she looked out toward the others. "A little help?" She spoke up toward the men, before noticing the holed cloth bag that had been given to the larger one. Jenny attempted to keep a cool face, he was going to have to carry them all that way after all, but the cracks were already starting to show in her expression, small noises of held in enthusiasm became noticeable, before finally her mouth broke open, laughter erupting as the halfling bent over to hold herself up. "Hahaha, at least it's an improvement!" Jen noted, hands on her knees before slowly rising, wiping a tear from her eye as she calmed herself.
augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose had climbed out of the hole as soon as Raimi came back with the cart, and was now examining it closely. Yes, if the big beast carried the cart there would be enough space for everyone to fit in, and, more importantly, for his books and research notes as well. His two most valuable employees were both death and the rest were either sharing the same fate or had already fled the city, which meant that he would have to start pretty much from zero. The least he could do is make sure his research didn't stay behind too, he didn't have nearly enough time to start that from scratch, nor the memory. "Before we leave I need to pick some things from my house. Surviving off the land is all good and such, but we won't be able to do shit in a city without some coin." Thankfully, he had recovered enough to talk, even if his voice sounded like he was a one hundred year old smoker. He knew that the group wouldn't agree to take a longer route just to help him pick his things, but it was true he had a hidden cache in his house in case he had to make a hasty exit, just like now.

TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge Randomfella

 

[MagicPenguin]

Raimi wrinkled her nose a bit in distaste at Jenny's somewhat rude insistence that she help carry all these heavy boxes and crates. She wasn't exactly happy about being treated like the halfling's personal servant--really, not even a please and thank you?--but they were too pressed for time for her to argue. They had to leave, like, now, so she carried the boxes without complaint. In the end, though, she was glad she did help, because the manual labor managed to distract her a little bit from her earlier sadness. She was still afraid for her family, but somehow the hard work seemed to perk her up a bit, a development for which she was duly grateful.

By the time they were finished loading the tiny inventor's things into the cart, everyone was present and accounted for. They could finally get out of here. Not a moment too soon, either. Raimi wasn't sure, but she thought she could hear the sound of marching boots on the cobblestones down the street. Sounds of the ongoing parade, or the manhunt finally come to look for survivors?

"Okay, guys," she said, hopping into the back of the cart, "let's do this thing." She found a comfortable place to lay among the halfling's boxes and nestled in as carefully as she could. "Once we're all in, Bear, use the white tarp to cover us and we can be on our way."

She turned to Ambrose, who seemed to be able to talk again. "I don't mind if we make a quick detour, but if I, or any of us, catch the faintest whiff that you're planning to betray us, or deliver us to the wizard or his flunkies..." she slowly, yet meaningfully, removed her bow from her back and placed it beside where she lay so she could pick it up and fire at a moment's notice. "I don't think I need to tell you what I'd be forced to do if you tried something like that," she said flatly, letting the unspoken threat hang in the air between them. Raimi didn't think the old timer would betray them, but she thought it prudent to let him know the consequences if he did.

"Well, folks...I'm ready when y'all are," she said, squirming to try and get as comfortable as possible in her cramped little spot among Jenny's boxes.

Randomfella augmentedspartan The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio glanced around the surrounding area after assisting with loading the crates, checking for any unwanted visitors who’d foil their plans before they even had a chance to attempt them. Nothing seemed out of place, save the rubble of the ruined city around them. But that was normal now. A sobering thought indeed. He clambered into the cart, weaving around the numerous crates. He settled in next to the Huntress and pulled out a dagger, holding it close to his chest in case anyone needed a shanking. “Alright folks lets load up, grab the old man’s stuff and get the fuck out. If we can find room for it that is. What’s in these?”

MagicPenguin Duke of Doge The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan Randomfella

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius was not too bothered by the fact that they had to do a detour in order to get the things of the old man. If he gave them free passage out of the city, it was only right for them to repay him with getting his things for him. What did unsettle him was the fact that it really sounded like this old man intended to stick with them for the time being. He really did not like him from the get go and really wanted any sort of excuse to just ditch him and move on. The more Decius thought of the type of person he was, the more he wondered whether he could be trusted at all. If this guy was to just lead them to a goblin trap, they would really have no way to get to him if he played his cards right. He could think of a thousand ways in which the old man could betray them. With the sly type that he was, Decius was sure that he had some sort of plan like that in mind. But with him carrying the group, he could easily murder the old man in an instant should there be a sign of such betrayal. He looked down at the mask that Raimi handed to him and was told that he had to pretend that he was the old man's servant. He needed to find a way to make sure to not be spotted. Him killing those goblins back at the arena sure did gather some attention. Perhaps too much attention.

Decius took off his shoulder guard and then rested them inside of the cart. "The padding should provide a somewhat comfortable seat." he said in a monotone. Then, Decius took off his cape and wore the mask. Hunching his back a lot, Decius wore his red cape like a robe, inside out so that the symbols would be unnoticeable. He shambled towards the cart and then picked it up, waiting for everyone to get ready. In a very low and gravelly voice, he promptly asked Ambrose, "Wheres your house?"

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose rolled his eyes at Raimi's accusation. He wanted out of this place as much as them. The goblins might give him some leeway for now, but he didn't want to test how much he could stretch his Corpse Holder title. "Just follow me," he told Decius, "and leave the talking to me."

His house wasn't far from the inn, and thankfully it seemed that the mass of people flowing into the city had already accumulated near the arena, for they only came across a few loose individuals who, after seeing the dirty looks Ambrose gave them, didn't bother them. Goblins hadn't skipped his house when looting, and it was now in a considerably worse state than before, with more furniture broken and objects thrown all over the floor. Preparing for the worst, he headed to his room, where he found it more or less how it was before. Goblins weren't interested in books, it seemed, and aside from a few of them torn out of carelessness rather than malice, they were mostly intact. "Beastly things befitting a foolish leader," he murmured to himself as he picked his more important volumes. He left the pile on the desk and went to his closet, his clothes sprawled on the floor, and lifted the wooden beam hiding his stash; plenty of silver and gold coins to help them along the way. It wouldn't rebuild his business, but it was better than nothing. Grabbing a blanket, he wrapped the box and the books and went back to the group.

"Here, hold this," he said, lifting the tarp and dropping the make-shift sac on the corner of the cart. "Alright, the gate shouldn't be too far from here, we just need to backtrack some." He started to walk the way they came from, expecting Decius to follow him.

Very much like on their way to his house, most people left them alone, including a pack of goblins who seemed to still be looting. By the look they have them, Ambrose assumed they either had crossed paths before or word about the Corpse Holder had spread among the green little bastards. Either way they didn't bother them. Problem rose its big ugly head once they reached the gate though, which was guarded by human and orkish soldiers, who seemed to be checking everyone who came in.

"As far as they are concerned, you're a mute. So shut up and don't do anything stupid." Ambrose marched forward, putting an expression of annoyance, which wasn't too difficult for him.

"Hold up! Where do you think you are going?" One of the guards, a human, stopped them short of the gate.

"Out, obviously."

"That I know, smart guy, I meant *why*, and what are you carrying there?" The guard gave the cart a look.

"I'm *carrying* the why. Kruziik-" Ambrose noticed the guard's expression chance, "yes, that Kruziik, wanted me to deliver some things."

"And what would those things be? And who are you taking them to?"

"About ten kilos of none of your business destined to Mr. Kiss My Ass."

"Hrgn, think you're a funny gu-"

"Look, if you really want to bust my balls this much go ahead and mess with the cart. I'll just tell Kruziik that the 1.75m tall, blond, green eyed guard with the three scars on his cheek and the slight limp was giving me trouble. I'm sure he'll be pleased to have a chat with you about the delay in his operations." Ambrose gave him a look that said 'up to you'.

The guard looked at him, as if trying to judge his words, before relenting. "Fine, you're free to pass." He moved his attention to Decius. "Why is he covered?"

"I don't like his face." With that they were out of the city, and he didn't stop walking until they were a fair bit out of sight. "Alright, that should be enough distance between us and crazy town."

TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge Randomfella

 

[Randomfella]

Jenny looked over to the more knightly-looking human. "Bits and bobs." She smiled widely with slanted eyes, slightly tilting her head to the side as she did so. To be honest if she shared what half of the things in those boxes were there was no way they would have let her store them, but without these mechanisms she would have to spend another year or so simply getting back to where she was on many of her gadgets.

Moving toward the cart, the halfling patted one last smaller crate held beneath her left arm, filled with strange packets. "Plan B." She noted with a smile to the few that had not already jumped in, still slightly limping as she continued to move. Before she got in, however, as the elderly man moved to man the cart, she approached the large human. Stretching her arm out toward his face, her fingers, which barely reached above his waist, pointed toward his eyes, before she pointed them toward the older man, and back to him once more. She still hardly trusted him, and the idea of a 'quick stop' did not sound promising.

"Alright! Scoot over! And watch the goods!" She called out, before jumping into the back, letting out a small wince of pain as she did so, her focus still upon the crate in her hands. Even as the cart moved along through the streets filled with howling hooligans, the halfling smiled at the all too close comrades she was now with, the thrill of it all was far too exciting.


As they escaped the city walls, Jenny leapt from the cart, dust and grit seeming to escape into the air as she landed, an all too familiar tome open in her hands. "Guess we owe you an apology." She commented, looking toward the city walls, and then back toward the old man. "Interested one you got here." Jenny noted with some cheek to her voice, pointing toward the opened tome. "Not enough pict... Diagrams for my liking though." She continued, closing it and looking back at the others in the cart.
augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge

 

[MagicPenguin]

It wasn't so bad when the cart first started moving. Rae felt cramped and crushed and congested, but she could handle it, she told herself. She was alive, for now, and that was the important thing. As the minutes went by, the cart kept turning and stopping suddenly and starting again just as quickly. The boxes around her shifted positions and the bodies of the others on all sides of her felt like they were trying to suffocate her just by resting so close. Every time the cart hit a bump in the road, Raimi felt a jolt of pain shoot up her back where she had somehow found herself laying on top of something small and jagged. How had that gotten there? She was sure it hadn't been when she first laid down. Geez, this was enough to make Rae feel bad for all the turnips she had transported in this cart over the years. How had they handled the pains of travel? She wasn't normally claustrophobic, but she might be before this night was through.

Eventually the cart stopped for a longer time than usual. After several minutes of quiet waiting, the tarp lifted and Ambrose's skinny hand snaked underneath with a sac full of what were presumably his personal effects. The sudden light momentarily blinded the girl, just one more tiny discomfort to add to the ever-growing pile.

After some more walking, stopping, starting, and jostling, the cart came to another prolonged stop and she heard Ambrose giving some poor guard the what-for. She had to expend more effort than she thought she would have to keep herself from snickering. The old guy's barbs were pretty funny, she had to admit, when he wasn't directing them at her or the others. When the talking stopped and the cart began moving again, Raimi could hardly believe it. They were moving through the gate. It was actually working! They were going to get out of the city! She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of joyous relief. She was going to live. Just as she thought that, however, there was a particularly large bump over what she assumed must be the inside of the gate. When they went over the bump, not only did the jagged little piece of whatever was under her make its wrath known by plunging her back into another spasm of pain, someone's booted foot suddenly inserted itself into her soft, unsuspecting stomach. She had no idea whose foot it was, but between that and the cursed pain in her back, her momentary feeling of happiness was drowned out by her discomfort and it was all Raimi could do not to let out a scream of frustration.

Luckily, that was the last stop they had to make. The rest of the voyage out of the city was quiet and uneventful, no more horrible bumps or booted feet to the stomach. The cart moved along for about 30 minutes in silence. The sounds of the city--parade goers chanting in the streets, soldiers checking cargo, orcs growling indiscriminately--faded gradually as the moved farther and farther from the town that wanted nothing more than to kill them all. Finally, there was nothing but silence in every direction. The cart came to a halt.

"Alright, that should be enough distance between us and crazy town," she heard Ambrose say.

Raimi tentatively poked her head out from under the tarp to get a look at their surroundings, every inch of her ready for some sort of trap. She detected none, fortunately--no sign of soldiers hiding nearby ready to grab them the moment they emerged. There was nothing but silence in every single direction. She stepped gingerly out of the cart, not quite believing that they'd made it this far. The plan had worked. They were out of the city and alive!

Her face split into a huge smile and she couldn't help but let a hearty laugh escape from her lips. Not even the residual pain in her back and stomach could dampen the sudden sense of jubilation she felt at escaping with her life.

"Heh. Ha ha ha! We did it! We made it out alive! That was amazing! You guys were perfect!" She realized she probably sounded like a crazy person, laughing as she was, but she was so happy to be alive she couldn't bring herself to care. She rushed up to the old timer and wrapped him in a big bear hug. "I knew we were right to get you to help! That couldn't have gone any bettter!" Her poor back screamed in protest at her sudden movement, as if disagreeing with her assessment of the plan's success, but she ignored it as best she could.

Before the old man could respond angrily or otherwise to Raimi's sudden shameless violation of his personal space, she left him and turned to the Bear.

"Nice job, Bear! You play the henchman pretty well. Why, I almost want to hire you to keep carrying my goods for real instead of buying a new horse!" she said playfully as she jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

Still riding the euphoria of surviving her recent near-death experience, Raimi took a walk around where they'd stopped with a smile on her face and got a good feel for their surroundings, smoothing out her mussed up hair and clothing as she went. There was a dirt road underneath them and a healthy number of snow-covered trees to either side of the road. The place felt pretty familiar. If she recalled correctly, this was about a mile down the road from the Southern gate. She'd traveled this way on her journey to the city a few days ago.

She finished fixing up her braid and turned back to the others. "I recognize this place. If you go a ways off the main road just ahead to the left, about a mile more up, I'd say, you'll find a big clearing in the trees. It's far enough off the road that people passing by won't notice us. That'd make a pretty good place to camp for the night, wouldn't you guys agree? Why don't you guys head that way and start a fire? Princess, when you get there, feel free to dig through those clothes and find yourself something more comfortable than that dress. I'll go out and scout a bit and then meet you over there. I'm going to rustle us up some dinner and we can have a nice meal before we all rest for the night. I don't know what we're going to do tomorrow, but I say we just enjoy the fact that we survived for tonight!"

With that, she pulled the hood of her cloak up and ran off the road to begin her hunt, her earlier depression forgotten and a huge smile on her face as she ducked into the trees that were so comfortably familiar to her.

augmentedspartan The_Omega_Effect Randomfella Duke of Doge TheCountryWarrior

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia was dead silent during the uncomfortable ride in the cart. She closed her eyes the entire time and stayed completely motionless, as if the act of even breathing would lead to their detection. Minutes felt like hours and her mind was racing with what she would do if the got caught. Fortunately, they managed to stay undetected. The plan actually worked!

The heir briskly got out of the cart and took in a deep breath of cold air. Letting it out with a sigh as she glanced around at their surroundings. Nia listened to what everyone had to say. Setting up camp off the road was a good idea, however. "What do we do with the cart? We can't just leave it here." Nia brought up the small problem while glancing into a few of the boxes.


Randomfella
MagicPenguin
The_Omega_Effect
augmentedspartan
TheCountryWarrior