[Birthright] (Main) The Excursion to Xarxet

[The World is Flat]

----- Castor Findlay -----

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----- The Eye of Entropy -----

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----- Location: Path to Xarxet (Military Caravan) -----

"Well." Castor chuckled aloud to the group. He was unharmed, untouched, and looked unusually energetic. Like something had put a skip in his step. "That was interesting. And it was quite..." He licked his lips in a mildy disturbing way. The look he had in his eyes was exactly like that of a fed and satisfied tiger. "Refreshing." He was sitting atop a cart, where he had ducked to the moment the battle had started. He was willing to take westborn's gold, but he wasn't willing to pay his flesh in exchange. At least not right now.


The smell of charred gore and the acrid, metallic smell of blood was everywhere. It permeated the earth and filled nostrils. The entire road ahead was littered with corpse, freeborn and castor's own allies alike. "Well we DID manage to make quite a fool of ourselves, didn't we?" the sarcastic comment made as an aside, leaping down from the cart to join the gaggle of survivors. "And we even let them get away. And I don't suppose we have a tracker of any import, do we? No. No we don't. Well of course this is all to be expected. I'm only surprised so few of us died." And now he was almost whining. It was like a slightly depressed, whiny teenager.


His boot kicked the face of one of the dead men. It was one of the Sanguine's guards. His face was not only mauled, but it was also hacked, slashed, had a arrow in one eye, and was burnt. It smelled of over-baked bread and carrion. He could appreciate one of the smells, but he had never liked bread that wasn't perfect and fresh. The entire fantasy scene was so wild and chaotic, that even after the battle the caustic fear in the minds of others fed Castor's hunger. It was one of the better feasts he had experienced in a long time.


He inhaled sharply, letting the tang of blood fill his mouth again.


"Well, i suppose you all are going to begin to clamor for revenge or some such. I would commove to suggest that this is a simple taste of what we've in store for us. I think it will not take too long for the other half of our party to find themselves felled on the field. We really don't stand a chance, not with this small number, not with fiery sorcerers of doom on the loose." he finished, his voice patronizing.


He squatted down on the ground for a moment, checking another dead man. Another one of the freeborn. He had nothing on him of any import. Castor pressed his palm into the man's face, allowing his shuko to cut three long, deep gashes in the leathery folds of his face. Then castor stood, a little test formulating in his mind. He winked at Zahira, before turning to leave. "I'm going to go take a piss." Was the last thing he said before whirling around and disappearing behind the cart.


But Castor didn't leave, not this time. He simply hid behind a tree in the forest, and he had something prepared.... The battle, the fog, everything, it had fed him well. And now he had a plan.


Castor let a portion of the magic from the feast empty from his inner pool. It felt like slime was watering down the sides of his consciousness, a thick, turgid liquid that could drown out your own thoughts if you weren't careful. He allowed it to well at the brow of his conscious mind, expanding outward like a ball of water, invisible and ethereal.

 

[Pineapple]

-----Lilith Salem-----

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-----Sanguine-----

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----- Location: Path to Xarxet (military caravan) -----


As the fog engulfed the caravan, Lilith found herself separated from others, soon she found herself alone, the fog thick. She backed up slightly and then heard the singing of blades against blades, and the war cries of fighters. Lilith decided this would be a good opportunity to maybe escape, get away from her current… situation. She had no desire to die in some war or battle, or whatever. Quickly Lilith moved through the fog, avoiding anyone she encountered, and avoiding any shadows or men and women she could see through the fog.


However, she soon found herself on the edge of the fog, and she could see a bandit approach her with his sword drawn. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you if you just co-operate.” The man said, he words drenched in the sounds of lies and deceit. Lilith eyed the man quickly before smiling she approached the man.


“Oh, well, I would hate to fight such a strong, burly man such as you…” Lilith’s voice was seductive; it hit just the right chords and seemed to leave the man dazed. That’s when her faced turned serious and her eyes pieced his own gaze. “Now then, why don’t we get to know each other?” the bandit was overcome by her hypnotic gaze, and soon found himself enthralled by the woman.


She quickly pulled him close and dug her teeth into the man’s neck, biting at his veins and causing him to bleed profusely. “Oh, you have made such a mess! My clothes are getting all bloody!” Lilith spoke and she embraced the man in her arms, and pulled him to the ground, so she could continue. He apologized for ruining her clothing, however his voice was monotone, and his eyes stared off into nothing. “Oh, don’t apologize, no, I believe I can manage..." Lilith withdrew her dagger, and used it to cut through the man’s shoulder, and tore his arms off, leaving the man bleeding from his neck; and now her gaping wound. “Oh yes, this will be quite lovely…” Lilith bit into the limb, tearing out a chunk of flesh to chew and devour. As she was feasting, she could hear a scream of horror from her side, another bandit, based on his choice of dress had stumbled across her.


Lilith tossed the limb onto the man’s face before turning her attention to the new bandit. He drew his sword and approached Lilith, fear was shown clearly in his face. As Lilith’s attention was drawn the man who was hypnotized snapped out of her grip. Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream of pain and agony from the man, trying to push his limb back into it’s slot in vain. “Oh, are you his friend? Come, let me sing you a song…” Lilith cleared her throat and placed the dagger to her wrist, she began to sing.

“A girl found herself, alone in a fog…”

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Lilith pushed the dagger to her wrist, and moved it slightly, causing herself to bleed. And, as the wound happened for her, the man’s forehead started to bleed from his forehead, the blood covering his vision. She continued digging deeper, and creating more wounds, as she did the man started to develop more and more wounds.

“What was there? Hidden in the darkened mist?

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There was a man, as filthy as a dog.

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He thought she was weak, that she couldn’t resist,

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However, she had a hypnotic gaze.

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The woman’s sharp dagger began to tear,

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The man was motionless, caught in a daze.

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Soon thereafter, he became deaths affair.

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The man's friend came to see, what a surprise,

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He was soon to learn, that everyone dies.”

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The man, tried to escape, but as Lilith’s arms were all brutally scarred and the man was bleeding all over, he soon found himself weakened and helpless on the ground, and Lilith had cut deep into her own arm to sever the man’s Achilles tendon.


As the fog cleared there was death everywhere, however, nowhere was it clearer than where the Sanguine was. There was a man, bleeding from all over, breathing heavily and watching in horror as Lilith stood over him, his friends arm in hand, as she feasted in it to recover from her own wounds. “Oh, you will join him soon, do not worry.” The ground around her and her clothing were all dark red, stained from blood. It was astounding how much these two men could bleed.

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

----- Uriel of the Hellguard -----

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----- Justiciar -----

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----- Location: Path to Xarxet (military caravan, front) -----


After resting, Uriel returned from the forest's edge to her old position at the front of the caravan. She assumed that they would soon be on their way, despite the losses. What else could they do? Lingering was not an option, and neither was turning back. She leaned against a wagon and observed the situation, having nothing else to do. She found herself hoping that the Paradigm survived, as he proved decent company earlier.

 

[Miz]

---- Zahira Lorebayne -----

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----- Exorcist -----

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----- Location: Path to Xarxet (Military Caravan, back) -----

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Zahira was starting to hum to herself as she sat on the ground going through the various steps required to reload her crossbow efficiently. She was frustrated at first by her inability to catch the two weather casting fiends but she concluded that if she could not apprehend them, no one could, and as such, everything in the universe occurred appropriately and within balance. Even with the field of bodies decorating her, she slightly began to hum a peaceful tune. This tune inspired more by boredom then relaxation. After all, who was she to judge the inner-workings on the universe, she was only an agent of its plans. The best agent, but a modest agent. So there was nothing to complain about. The littered bodies of glinted metal and blades, gave off some stench, but the fried ones did especially.


It was then that the Eye spoke his mind. Zahira enjoyed the man, and still, enjoyed the man after his speech. He complained about the battle, the battle that went perfectly according to Zahira, for she came out with barely any scratches on her. The only regret was the she killed too effectively, and was now unable to retrieve her bolt. Placing a new one in, she smiled as the Eye man continued to speak, taunting the others.


"Quite." Zahira said agreeing with the man. "We don't stand much of a chance, but I certainly do. Perhaps you do too, if you have any skills in that callous heart." Zahira said smiling at the Eye as she got herself back onto her feet. The stench of death grew stronger, but the Eye became more preoccupied with looting to no avail than responding to Zahira's comments. So she soon started to hum again, putting the crossbow across her back and stretching her arms around it and her head. "We lost our eager shielding bodies, but not all of them. So another battle will not be your last." Zahira spoke lastly before the Eye stood with disappointment.


"I'm going to go take a piss." The Eye spoke winking at Zahira as he walked by her. Zahira turned her head, her eyes tracing the man's steps as he turned around the cart and disappeared into the surrounding forest brush along the path. It was perhaps dangerous to leave an Eye on his own, but Zahira didn't concern herself much with it. She had killed several Eyes before, and while the man was certainly charming, he didn't have much going for him besides his attractable personality. Though Zahira evidently liked the man, he was certainly more entertaining then the others. His attractable personality could be his only factor but it was also his redeeming factor.


Maybe that is why Zahira didn't speak up or raise an alarm when she detected the very aura of an illusion being conjured not to far from her position...

 

[The World is Flat]

----- Castor Findlay -----

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----- The Eye of Entropy -----

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----- Location: Path to Xarxet (Military Caravan) -----

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Castor's eyes rolled back in his head, and his consciousness expanded outward in a flume of magical energy. His thoughts dipped within the minds of everyone there, washing against the stony surfaces like a new river born of flood.

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And droplets of thought dripped into their mind's through the cracks, laced with fear, apprehension, and doubt. As the emotions first began to set in, an eerie breeze settled over the camp. A sudden gust, a flash of light. An explosion tore through the earth a few feet away from the party as a fireball, conjured out of their own mental energy.

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Another fiery lance struck down, this time closer to the party. They could ALMOST feel the heat, like they wanted too, but it wasn't actually there. Like they expected it, but the only thing they experienced was the intention of feeling it.

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One of the surviving guards screamed in panic. "The freeborn are back to finish us off! Run!" He bellowed aloud.

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The washing flow of his consciousness poured fear into their minds, and a voice spoke to them within their very minds. To all of them that is, but the Exorcist, who wasn't being effected by any of the illusory effects.

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"HEAR US, FOR WE ARE THE FREEBORN! You can't win! You are nothing but pawns in our game. Your deaths are as inevitable as the setting of the sun or the sowing of the crops! Flee back to your lord and tell him it is hopeless!" It's deep, reverberating voice was compelling, and frightening. Another guard yelped in fear. Despite the cliche nature of the message or it's dubious language.

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And then, arrows started to fall from the sky. Black, wicked things that were launched from beyond the ridge. A man, was he there before? Was struck from above by five or six of the deadly pronged rods. A fireball then proceeded to incinerate him as it literally erupted from beneath his feet.

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"Oh my..." a guard whimpered.

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The voice echoed again, from somewhere in the trees. "FLEE!" it called.

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All of this happened very quickly. nearly simultaneously. Castor was almost out of water now, his mana running dangerously low, almost as low as before the battle. The fear of the few men restored a bit, but he would need true panic to recover his lost power. He was almost out.

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He was well aware of the silliness of the phantom speech, or the ridiculous situation, but he hoped it's over the top nature would serve as a boon to his goal of instilling fear and panic. He chuckled to himself.

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