Graded [Falcrum Village] For Whom The Bell Tolls

[saxon]

Hello everyone; this RP is set in the world of Isekai Hell; you can find information about the world here.

This Rp follows a group of adventurers as they travel from Ryken to a small village on the border with the western empire. The village of Falcrum has fallen to a plague and many of its inhabitants are sick. Doctor Mord is going to assist them and deal with this plague before it spreads.
***
Setting:
Locations: Main Gate outside of Ryken
Time of Day: 10:00 AM
Weather: Clear skies, warm breeze from the south
Goal: Deliver the doctor to his destination and assist him with curing the plague infecting the village.
Interactions/Mentions: conman2163

Kellum & Chisato
​

Kellum stood by the cart the request had told them to meet at. The particular Doctor they were hired to protect and help solve the issue at the village was standing at the back of the wagon as he was taking stock of the supplies he was bringing. Doctor Mord was a elf well into his years, long blonde hair and his grey eyes only seemed to hint at the ages he had seen. Apparently, the man was renowned for working in the rural parts of Ryke. Though Kellum himself didn't really know much about the whole thing either. Kellum had only been in Ryke for a few months now, having grown up far away in a more rural village like the one they were about to go to.

The cart itself wasn't all that impressive either, it was just a normal wooden cart pulled by an ox that the doctor had no doubt bought for this journey. Letting out a sigh he glanced over to the woman at his side, the leather armor covering up most of the girls red top. Though the two had been brought together by chance, it had over the years been a rather good partnership. Though even he wasn't sure of the exact nature of his partner when it came to just how human she really was. "Chisato, what do you think about this whole thing? Plagues just don't take over a town in a matter of a week." Kellum stated as he glanced at his partner.

The girl closed her eyes angling her head down as she pondered the reasons. "Well I don't think there is a whole lot of information from what the Doctor told us. Though it could be magic I suppose." Chisato replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Just as she was about to speak again there was a loud bang coming from the wagon as the two turned to see, a heavy crate had dropped. The doctor mumbled something under his breath as he stood up and shook his head.

"Damn crate, well I doubt any of the vials I stored there will be okay to use. Though I suppose that doesn't really matter at this point. Well we will start to get underway in a few minutes. Hopefully, some others come, the more protection the better. Bandits do like to attack lightly guarded carts," Doctor Mord stated as he glanced back toward the gatehouse. They had met just outside the city to make the start of the trip easier. The plague was a concern and he didn't want it to spread any further than it had.

The look of concern sat upon his face as he let out a sigh. Chisato was the first to speak up as she walked around to the back of the cart to see the damage done. "Well the job did pay fairly well so I'm sure the others will be here at the mentioned time. But like you said, I doubt there is any concern about a few empty vials being broken. The main thing is that we get you to your destination without issues or delays." She pointed out as she climbed into the back of the cart sitting off to the side.


Kellum rolled his eyes as he followed behind his companion. "Right, well we should leave as soon as the allotted time has arrived. As Chisato said, without issues and delays," He responded checking his armor one more time before taking a seat in the back as well. The doctor had noticed that he didn't carry a weapon on him which he thought was strange. Though he didnt' care to ask about it at the moment.

Now the only thing left to do was wait.

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

It had taken several weeks to reach the Ryke from where he had been last. It had not been a fantastic visit either with little to no coin to show for their troubles. His men were still jibing him occasionally about getting suckered in by the magic reality as well. He had almost considered joining up in the horror fest that was going on between the Empire and Fae but he had decided that the idea of getting drawn into that was less then optimal. He would've wanted a full legion to mess with any of that. Instead he made his way back to the Ryke and had found what seemed to be a pretty simple job. Protect a doctor on the way to a village from the main city and help them deal with the plague there. While he doubted they would be too much use as doctor's assistants he was fairly confident five surly and underpaid romans would make for an excellent guard on the little adventure.

So it was that he, with five surly romans in tow, made his way to the wagon while chewing on a piece of hardtack biscuit they had for travel. They had made their camp shortly outside the city walls (He did much care to spend the coin on an inn) and he as a result he could hear the grumblings of "vilissimum centurio" by his men behind him. Translated in to common it would mean "The lowest centurion", but as a latin speaker he could tell they meant that he was instead "the cheapest centurion". It just didn't translate well. They were never pleased when they slept in the rough when a city was right in front of them, but Lucius was not about to waste perfectly good coin on an inn for just one night. If it had been three he might have been tempted. He stopped for a moment as they reached the wagon and examined the pair of guards plus the doctor. He felt a bit of concern that they were going to get paid. The fee he was to be paid was by no means exorbitant, but if the two at the wagon were charging the same rate then they might be a bit of a burden for the doctor. He shrugged his shoulders. If the man couldn't pay then they would seize assets equal to his debt to the small company at the end of the trip. If he could then they would have no problems. He waved a hand as he approached the cart. "Doctor? We're here for the job guarding your cart. We're ready to set off whenever you are." The five legionaries stopped a short distance away as he approached the doctor.

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Kellum heard the sound of metal clanking as he turned his head to look. He saw several legionaries accompanied by a centurion. Now he was perplexed; he hadn't seen that before. Rome had long since fallen back on earth, and the legionaries were a thing of the past. So when he saw the Roman, he rubbed his eyes. The sight was undoubtedly strange to many of the other people around them, though Kellum couldn't really judge in that sense. Especially not with how he fought.

The doctor heard the roman man speak as he stood up and looked at the group. "Well now that is what you call a party, well then, I think we should have more than enough guards to fend off a few bandits I suppose. Everyone load up into the wagon so we can be on our way," Doctor Mord ordered as he moved to the front of the wagon and sat down in the driver's seat. The wagon itself was large enough to fit everyone and then some. The doctor no doubt wasn't sure how many people were going to show up. So he opted to get a larger wagon.

Kellum climbed into the back and sat down next to Chisato as she leaned back against the wooden backrest. Her hand resting on her knees as a gust of bind blew through. "Well I suppose that it makes our trip easier with more people around. We won't have to be on alert all the time," Kellum pointed out, scratching the back of his head before waiting for the other to join them.


"Well, that might be true; however, that doesn't mean we can slack off either," Chisato replied as she folded her arms across her chest. She wasn't one to slack off and let other do all the work. That had never really been a part of her personality.

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

Lucius was not unused to the strange looks from folks. Many examined the armor and equipment that Lucius and his men used. Apparently such equipment was not exactly common among most warriors. In fact these lands had many wearing armor more akin to the Gauls of the Western Roman provinces then any that he had personally seen. Still, rubbing their eyes was a new expression to Lucius and it did not go unnoticed. At the Doctor's orders he gestured to the cart while looking at his men. "You heard the man, load up." The legionaries and centurion hoisted themselves into the cart. Once in the back Lucius pulled out a canteen of water and drank it. The leather bottle was starting to take on the container's taste, despite having only been in the bottle for a few hours. He grimaced slightly but washed down the hardtack anyways. Then he stoppered the bottle and turned to the other two. He held a hand out to Kellum in greeting. "Lucius Gallicus, Centurion."

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

As soon as the group was in the wagon, the doctor flicked the reins, and off the cart went down the road. Looking back behind them Kellum could see the dust picking up from the cart. Though he wasn't sure what would happen, he hoped for a rather quick resolution to this whole matter. Though he wasn't sure how they were going to help the people of the village, he figured the doctor would be able to do that on his own.

While he was deep in thought he felt an elbow nudge him, as he look over he saw Chisato glaring at him for a moment and motioned her eyes to the left. As he looked over he saw the Roman hold out his hand and introduced himself. Kellum cleared his throat before taking themans hand, "Kellum, and my companion over here is Chisato." Pausing for a moment he leaned back in his seat.


"Pleasure to meet you Gallicus is what he is trying to say," Chisato smiled as she spoke up now. "Though where do you and your men hail from? You look similar to the western Empire though very much different at the same time," She inquired curiously on the matter. Though not that it was really all that important at the moment. The group more or less knew the task that was going to come to them sooner or later.

"So when we get to this village, probably best that you don't interest with any of the sick. The plague seems to take effect rather quickly. Apparently a quarter of the town is already bedridden, though no one seems to know how this all started. Some of the older towns folk are saying that there is some kind of curse upon them now. But that is yet to be seen so I think there is a natural cause for all of this," Doctor Mord stated as the group continue down the road.

After a few hours of travel, they started to move through a small forested area. There was a loud creaking sound as several large logs fell onto the road causing the doctor to quickly pull on the reins. "Drop whatever you got in the cart onto the road and turn back around! We got arrows pointed on you right now!" A voice called out from inside the tree line. Though no one was visible anyone with heightened hearing would hear several footsteps on either side.

"What are you all bandits or something? You can't have what I got!" Doctor Mord shouted as he jumped into the back of the cart as several arrows planted themselves in the driver's seat. Nine bandits all appeared from both sides of the tree line with weapons drawn.

Notes: Combat has started three actions per round.
8 regular bandits, 1 bandit captain surrounded the cart with 10 ft between each of them. They are no further than 10 ft from the cart.

​

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

"Empire? No no, we're from Rome, though I doubt you've heard of it. Well met." He didn't elaborate much further. The word "Empire" did not sit with him well. Rome was a republic. Not an empire. If someone tried to rule Rome in such a fashion he was certain he'd be killed. He shook it off. He turned his attention up to the front as the doctor spoke briefly. He nodded his head. "Aye we'll keep well clear, just let us know if you need any closer help. We've no wish to touch any sort of creation of the Nosoi. No doubt your village is infested with them." As they rolled onward for several hours he and his men made conversation quietly. Then when the logs fell on the road he cursed. "Ambush! Shields up and charge boys! Pick your own targets!" He and his men would jump from the wagon. Two jumped out of the left side and three jumped out the right. Lucius jumped out with the two on the left and rushed forward with them. They each charged toward a different bandit. Lucius charged forward to a five foot range from the bandit and then threw (1x Throwing knife) aiming for the chest. Then he charged further to close distance to melee. The rest of his men each charged toward separate bandit until they were five feet away and each threw their throwing spear at the enemy aiming for the chest. Then they shifted their shields into position to block any potential retaliatory shots.

Spoiler: Lucius Equipment

Equipment:

• F Grade Gladius [7 points]: A simple gladius kept in a wooden sheath and strapped across the chest
• F Grade Heavy Armor [7 points]: Centurion’s Lorica Hamata, Galae, and Ocrea
• Throwing Knives (Gear F)

Spoiler: Minions Reference

1st Cohort Legionaries
Strength - E
Precision - E
Intelligence - F
Vitality - E
Speed - F

Skills:
Fighting Style [Roman Spatha] - F (Penetrating F) - weapon can ignore armors of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target.

Items:
Sword - Spatha - F
Heavy Armor - Lorica Hamata, Galae, and Ocrea - F
Shield - Legionary Scutum - F
Throwing Spear - F

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

As Doctor Mord hunkered down behind the cover of the wooden wagon and the legionaries rushed out to engage the bandits that were now in their way. If there was one thing anyone shouldn't do it was standing in the way of someone's paycheck and in turn meal ticket. Many wars and battles had been won over who had the greater supply lines. The legionaries were quick to jump into action as they jumped out and rushed forward to meet the leather-armoed bandits.

As they reached their position, they drew their Pilums and threw them at the bandits. On the right side, one pilum met its mark impaling the man in the chest causing him to fall backward bleeding out. Another one dodged the Pilum and charged one of the legionaries with an axe striking the legionary's shield. While the last Pilum was slightly off its mark and impaled a man in his right shoulder making his right arm useless as it hung down limply pulling it out with his left hand before charging a different legionary with a mace in his left hand weakly.

The final bandit that was on the right side had a bow as he drew an arrow and let loose an arrow toward another legionary. This side seemed to be very angry about losing a comrade in arms as they started to shout and scream much like the Gauls would. Due to the sounds, birds flew from the nearby trees from all the disturbance. The legionaries would notice the scars on these men, they looked similar to battle wounds. If they were lucky they would notice the how the bandits never got in front of their archers like they had been trained.


Kellum stood up now seeing as the legionaries had the flanks covered he focused on the bandit leader. Who had just hopped off the log he had appeared on drawing a scimitar and a small buckler. The look in the man's eye told it all, these people were more than just bandits. "Chisato if you would be so kind please," Kellum inquired as the girl nodded her head and transformed into her weapon form.

Kellum quickly grabbed his partner who was now a halberd and moved toward the bandit captain. Closing the gap he joined the melee getting the first strike as he used Dokusanin as he swung the axe head around making a small cut on the bandit captain's arms as the poison started to take effect felt a fire inside his veins. As the two were now swinging and blocking each other in a stalemate with neither side really getting an advantage.

For the legionaries on the left side, the two pilums hit their marks causing two of the bandits to drop as they were impaled. One fell forward driving the pilum through his chest, killing him. While the other fell backward and was attempting to pull the object from his chest. A bandit with a sword rushed forward and struck the legionary's shield but bounced off. A bandit with a war axe came forward and cleaved through the other legionary's shield knocking him prone from the force.

The bandit that Lucius threw his knife at greataxe bandit as his knife was slightly off target but impaled the man in the shoulder. Causing pain to the rather large bandit.

Notes: Combat has started three actions per round.
8 regular bandits, 1 bandit captain surrounded the cart with 10 ft between each of them. They are no further than 10 ft from the cart.

Spoiler: abilities/cooldowns

• Weapon Form - Transformation E, Magic E, Spell Duration F - Transforms into her halberd form. Transformation Lasts for 1 hour or until the user cancels the ability. Refer to transformation skill above to see stats and relevant skills when in weapon form. - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown
• Dokusanin - Fighting Style [Living Weapon, halbard] E (Blight F (Poison), Continuing F), - The user attacks a target dealing poison damage and applies the poisoned effect for 1 post. - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown

Spoiler: Outcomes

Right Side:
Legionary 1 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 2 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 3 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Bandit 1
Bandit 2
Bandit 3 (bleeding out)
Bandit 4

Left Side
Lucius
Legionary 1 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 2 (F grade shield broken, prone)
Bandit 1(wounded)
Bandit 2 (dead)
Bandit 3 (dead)
Bandit 4

Center:
Kellum/Chisato - trading blows
Bandit Captain - 1 point of damaged Poisoned for one round.

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

Lucius drew a second knife and threw it at the greataxe wielder after seeing the Legionary knocked prone. The screaming and the shouting stunned him for a second as he found himself back in that fateful ambush. He shrugged it off immediately as the years of drilling took hold. He advanced and attempted to stab the man in the side. Legionary 2 (hereafter legionary 4 for convenience) took the time provided by the protection from his shield to slip his arm out of the strap of the now useless weapon and then stabbed at the bandit with his gladius while he tried to gain his feet and make some room. Legionary 3 on the left side (hereafter legionary 5 for convenience) advanced on the living bandit attempting to pull the pilum from his chest. He would stab at the man's chest with his gladius, attempting to assist the man into the hereafter. The legionary facing the axe wielding man stabbed forward at the man's belly and then followed up by slamming his shield forward at his face. If the shield survived he would bring it back into position and prepare to block any follow up attacks. The legionary facing the mace wielder would wait for him to close the distance then step forward and slam the edge of his shield up and forward into the man's face as he swung at the legionary. He followed it up with a short jab from his gladius. Again if the weapon survived he would bring it up into position and attempt to block any further attacks. The final legionary now devoid of a target and seeing the bandit with a bow snapped his shield in a defensive posture to block the projectile and then moved forward. He would try to close the distance and stab the enemy in the chest. All of the legionaries used their fighting style [Roman Spatha] to penetrate the enemy's armor where possible.

Fighting Style [Roman Spatha] - F (Penetrating F) - weapon can ignore armors of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target. [Grade F, 0 post cooldown.]

Spoiler: Lucius Equipment

Equipment:

• F Grade Gladius [7 points]: A simple gladius kept in a wooden sheath and strapped across the chest
• F Grade Heavy Armor [7 points]: Centurion’s Lorica Hamata, Galae, and Ocrea
• Throwing Knives (Gear F)

Spoiler: Minions Reference

1st Cohort Legionaries
Strength - E
Precision - E
Intelligence - F
Vitality - E
Speed - F

Skills:
Fighting Style [Roman Spatha] - F (Penetrating F) - weapon can ignore armors of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target.

Items:
Sword - Spatha - F
Heavy Armor - Lorica Hamata, Galae, and Ocrea - F
Shield - Legionary Scutum - F
Throwing Spear - F

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

As the battle continued, many of the bandits were no match for the legionaries' training. While some of the legion's equipment had been damaged, they certainly were making strides. The bandit's number had drastically lowered in a matter of minutes. Bandits 3, 6, 7, and 8 had all been cut down as the remaining bandits started showing signs of panic.

Doctor Mord looked up from his hiding spot as he saw the bandits being cut down and started to cheer for the legionaries as they dispatched their targets swiftly. "I knew that I liked those guys!" He cheered as a loose arrow from the archer bandit grazed his cheek. As he let out a yelp of pain he quickly ducked back down into cover. The sounds of battle would continue as the archer bandit on the right side broke away and started to flee, though the legionary that had retrieved his pilum had an opportunity to throw it at the retreating man if he so desired.

While on the left side of the formation, Lucius dagger had hit its mark and as the large brute turned to face the direction it had come from, Lucius drove his sword through the man. The bandit with the axe dropped to the ground as the last bandit on that side started to flee, once again allow the legioanries on that side a chance to throw a pilum if they choose to retrieve one and throw it.


Kellum at the front of the wagon was still fighting, the bandit scored a hit as the mans right arm now had a gash in it. Following up with a counter-attack he used Yapparkuni as he delivered a jab to the captain into the gut before the bandit fell backwards with his sword a few inches away from him now.

Kellum kicked his sword away further as he drove the halberd into the mans chest sending him on his way. Closing his eyes he said a silent prayer before uprighting his halberd as the weapon returned to its other form Chisato.

Who now had a disgusted face as the blood and such was in her hair and on her armor. "You could have at least cleaned me up first!" Chisato argued, wiping the blood from her hair, glaring daggers at Kellum. Walking back toward the wagon she tried to get the blood out of her hair at the very least.

The doctor not hearing any more signs of battle stood up and applauded for a moment. "Well that serves those bandits right preying on the people traveling along this road. Well I suppose its time to get those logs out of the way," Doctor Mord stated as he hopped off the wagon and started to try and move the logs off the side of the road so the group could continue along their way.

Notes: Combat has ended all actions are now free.
8 regular bandits, 1 bandit captain surrounded the cart with 10 ft between each of them. They are no further than 10 ft from the cart.

Spoiler: abilities/cooldowns

• Weapon Form - Transformation E, Magic E, Spell Duration F - Transforms into her halberd form. Transformation Lasts for 1 hour or until the user cancels the ability. Refer to transformation skill above to see stats and relevant skills when in weapon form. - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown
• Dokusanin - Fighting Style [Living Weapon, halbard] E (Blight F (Poison), Continuing F), - The user attacks a target dealing poison damage and applies the poisoned effect for 1 post. - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown
• Yapparkuni - Fighting Style [Living Weapon, halbard] F (Blight F (Poison) - The user delivers an attack which deals poison damage to the target. It must be within melee distance. - Grade F - 0 Post Cooldown

Spoiler: Outcomes

Right Side:
Legionary 1 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 2 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 3 (Shield Broken,)
Bandit 1 (Injured)
Bandit 2 (injured)
Bandit 3 (Dead)
Bandit 4 (Injured Arm, Dead)

Left Side
Lucius
Legionary 4 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 5 (F grade shield broken, prone)
Bandit 5(wounded)
Bandit 6 (dead)
Bandit 7 (dead)
Bandit 8 (dead)

Center:
Kellum/Chisato - Armor took one point of damage, minor cut received
Bandit Captain - dead

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

With the battle all but ended the Legionaries would find their pilum and retrieve them letting the bandits who ran go. Breathing somewhat hard Lucius stepped past the bandit to help the man who had not gotten to his feet up. He nodded to the legionary and then kneeled before the corpse of the bandit who had the axe and whispered quietly for a moment. "Mars, Victoria, see the foe I have laid low before you. We are sons of Mars and we thank you for this victory." Afterwards he rose and wiped the blood from his Gladius before sheathing it. The rest of the legionaries did the same. Two of them went to help the doctor move the the logs, the rest jumped back up in the wagon. Lucius grinned at Chisato. "By all the gods, you must be a child of Vulcan to transform like that! It is a pleasure to fight alongside the smith's gods own children." He turned his gaze to Kellum. "And you! Quite the show. This trip has been more interesting then I thought it would be." He then moved forward to help the two legionaries trying to move the log.

Fighting Style [Roman Spatha] - F (Penetrating F) - weapon can ignore armors of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target. [Grade F, 0 post cooldown.]

Spoiler: Lucius Equipment

Equipment:

• F Grade Gladius [7 points]: A simple gladius kept in a wooden sheath and strapped across the chest
• F Grade Heavy Armor [7 points]: Centurion’s Lorica Hamata, Galae, and Ocrea
• Throwing Knives (Gear F)

Spoiler: Minions Reference

1st Cohort Legionaries
Strength - E
Precision - E
Intelligence - F
Vitality - E
Speed - F

Skills:
Fighting Style [Roman Spatha] - F (Penetrating F) - weapon can ignore armors of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target.

Items:
Sword - Spatha - F
Heavy Armor - Lorica Hamata, Galae, and Ocrea - F
Shield - Legionary Scutum - F
Throwing Spear - F

Legionary 1 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 2 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 3 (Shield Broken)
Legionary 4 (Damaged Shield next point of damage shield will break)
Legionary 5 (Shield Broken)

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Once everything had calmed down he let out a sigh as he watched Chisato get into the back of the wagon. A moment later he joined her in the back sitting back down in his original seat. The doctor they were escorting was returning to his seat pulling the arrow from the seat. "I will tend do your wounds once we get to the village, stopping out here might not be the best idea." He pointed out as he snapped the reins on the ox and it started to go down the road once again.

Chisato continued to clean the blood out of her hair as she gave an awkward smile to the centurion. "I'm afraid that I do not know what you mean. Who is Vulcan you speak of? The name seems rather foreign," Chisato replied as she was still grossed out by all the blood that was still in her hair. After a few more moments the blood was gone from her hair at least, it was a slight improvement from before. Though she was still visibly annoyed that she had blood on her.

"Oh thank you, though the legionaries did just as well. The numbers did help, it would have been a lot trickier without you all." Kellum replied with a nod as the group continued on the way. As the day went on there wasn't a lot of other events. Some people passed by. Other travels spoke rumors of the village and how it had a long dark history. Though Kellum and Chisato both looked at each other and questioned much of the rumors.


The rumors went from rumors of a dark idol being worshiped under the village and some priest had angered that diety. Another rumor was that people would go missing every twenty years from the region. Though there wasn't much substance to them at least from the naked eye.

After a few more hours the village started to come into view, smoke could be seen coming from the center of the village. Every now and then the smell of burnt flesh would assault the group's noses. Chisato instantly pinched her nose as she looked toward the doctor in front of them. Doctor Mord took a deep breath and turned back to look at the group, "Looks like they are already starting to burn bodies." He stated as the cart continued on its way until it reached the pallisade walls.

The doctor got out as there seemed to be no sounds from inside and the strangest part of all was the gates were closed. "Well that is certainly strange, what do you think si going on?" He inquired as he got out of the wagon the gate was strange as the wooden gate seemed to be barricaded from this side like something was meant to be kept in.

Notes: Feel free to look around or ask questions!

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

Lucius furrowed his brow at the mention that she didn't understand who Vulcan was but shook it off. Perhaps she didn't know Vulcan by that name here. The Smith god was known to barbarians in many tongues after all. He shrugged and turned to talking with his men until the smell of burning flesh wafted across his nose. He wrinkled it in disgust. "Aye, it's a proven method to banish the Nosoi from the dead." He said matter of factly. He was quiet for the rest of the trip to the walls. When they reached the gate he hopped out, his men following suite. The group walked up to the front gate and looked at it, then Lucius backed away and started to look around at the local area to check for things that might tell why exactly the gate was barricaded shut.

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

With the cart not at a full stop the doctor got out and covered his nose with a cloth in an attempt to filter out some of the smell of burning bodies. "Well that is strange there should at least be some guards at the gate even with an outbreak of a plague. Where could they be?" Doctor Mord inquired as he looked at the group he had hired to take him to the town. "Hello is anyone alive in there!" Doctor Mord called out as there was no response. Not even the birds were chirping their normal songs.

As the legionaries reached the gate, they would see some scorch marks on the grass around the gate here and there like fires had been placed in certain areas strategically almost. Though the smell of burnt flesh was now stronger than ever, if they looked at the gate they would see several boars were nailed to the gate to help keep it shut along with several large pieces of timber braced against the gate to keep it from moving as well.

Lucius would also notice there were some dead rats here and there. Though there didn't seem to be any wounds on the creatures. The rats look like they had just died on their own. The sun was now well over their heads as it was turning into the early afternoon there was still plenty of daylight left. That was when the doctor pushed over one of the pieces of timber keeping the gate shut as it made a thud sound hitting the ground.


"We can this far we might as well go in and see what is going on," Doctor Mord stated as he pushed the other timber out of the way making the same sound. The doctor seemed determined to see this through to the end. Though if it was a foolish action or someone eager to help was yet to be seen.

Chisato joined Kellum as this was going on tugging at his sleeves to get his attention. "I don't think those gates were sealed for no reason, should we let the doctor continue to do this?" She inquired as the doctor had now just finished ripping off the planks on the door as the gate swung open, skeletons littered the ground. The whole scene looked like a bunch of cannibals had come through and eaten everyone not leaving a single thing.

When the doctor saw this he stood still for a moment. The shock was setting in as he had never seen anything like it. Kellum moved further in with a concerned look on his face. Even he hadn't seen anything like this in his current world and the previous one. "What happened here?" He inquired trying to find a reason that there was all these skeletons laying around.

He didn't see any weapons or armor laying on the ground except on a few skeletons meaning it wasn't an attack. Not to mention only a hand full of the homes were burnt to the ground and there was more of those rats that were found outside as well.

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

The more he watched the more he thought of a horror story his father told him back when he was young to scare him. It was about a group of barbarians who came over the alps and nabbed all the women and children in a little village. Then they boarded the doors to the local temple shut with them inside and lit the building aflame and killed anyone who made it out. His face went serious as he imagined the scene. He bet it would look a little bit like this. Then he saw the rats seemingly dead of their own accord on the ground. "What would kill like this..." Lucius didn't dare touch the rats even with a sandal. He stepped forward and put a hand on the shoulder of the doctor. "I think it would be best if you waited by the cart for now. We'll poke around and see what we can find. I don't think you'll have many patients to treat." His tone was grim. He pointed at one of his legionaries without a scutum. "Wait with the old man by the cart. We'll see what we can find and call for you if we find someone who needs help." He then motioned forward with the rest of his men. "Orbem formate." While small for a group of troops, the men still went nearly shoulder to shoulder with him and formed a small circle to more easily close ranks if the need arose. With that the Romans stepped as a group into the interior. they moved and looked inside one of the unburnt homes to see what they could.

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Doctor Mord looked to Lucius for a moment and looked back toward the carnage that was the village. "Fine, if there is anything still alive in there or dangerous I suppose it would be better for me to stay here," he relented though if anyone looked in his eyes they could tell he wanted to go explore the village and see what happened. Chisato herself stuck close to Kellum as the two moved towards the village square where a well was. There were scratch marks on the stone as if something was crawling on top of the stones of the well. Though none of the marks cut into the stone itself.

The scratches could have been that of a small animal or something trying to get to higher ground. The whole village didn't make a sound occasionally a creak would be heard from a window hinge. But all the doors were open nothing seemed shut or closed. As the legionaries moved further into the village until they came to one of the unburned houses. The house itself wasn't anything remarkable from the outside. Though as soon as they stepped inside the Romans could tell that the people who lived here more than likely were carpenters.

Several large planks were leaning against a wall at the back of the three-room house. The legionaries were now in the large common area, food was still on the table that didn't look touched. Shelves were overturned and the contents spilled all over the floor. They would see scratch marks lining the floor of that from some kind of animal. If the group moved further in they would see there was the skeleton of some kind of dog by one of the doors leading to another room in the house.


The two other rooms were bedrooms as one room from glancing through the doorway had one large bed that could fit at least two people and the other room had a smaller bed that was the perfect size for a child. Inside the room, there was a candle that had fallen to the floor in the room with the larger bed. That was now just sitting on the floor extinguished. In a corner of the room there was several skeletons cowered in the corner.

The other room with the bed had several candles on the floor as they seemed to make a trail. However, these were not knocked over and were standing upright. Like there was some kind of path made by the candles for some reason or another. But there wasn't much else to see in this house except for the mess that was made from whatever happened in the village.

Kellum and Chisato had moved on from the well and started to move toward the small little church building that was at the far end of the village square. When they tried to push the door open they didn't budge at all. "Legionaries can you come give us a hand!" Kellum shouted trying to get the Roman's attention.

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, Ryken
Mentions: saxon

Walking through the village was like walking though a tomb. There was an awful smell as they stepped into the unburnt house but it didn't smell like a corpse. More like three day old stew left out to rot. Which made sense to him as he spotted the three day old stew left out. The bread they were going to eat with the meal had mold beginning to form on the top and the open pot over the fire had spots in it. He dismissed his legionaries as it became evident that there was no danger and sent one out to fetch the doctor and the other legionary. He then stepped into the child's room. Lucius got visibly pale at the sight of several human skeletons. There seemed to be no real evidence of a struggle despite the obvious death, no blood or weapons or attempts to barricade the door. Whatever happened was swift and merciless. He wondered what made them cower like this in their final moments... As he heard the call he and his men made their way outside and to the church. Grimfaced he stepped up to help break in through the door. His men followed suit. Hopefully the mystery would be unveiled soon....

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Doctor Mord heard something coming back toward them holding his breath for a moment he saw it was another legionary who told him it was safe to enter the village. He got out of the cart and walked into the village seeing the group start to gather over at the church door. Though he stopped at one of the skeletons that were littering the ground as he started to examine it.

When the group had met up at the door they pushed the heavy door open as something fell on the other side of the door. When it was open it was revealed that a barricade was erected on the otherside of the door. Like they were trying to keep something out, though what that something was is still up for debate. Kellum found it strange they hadn't seen any rats in the village with a place like this he expected rats to be running everywhere.

The inside fo the church had pews lining each side going all the way down to a large circular part of the room with several deitys in the form of statues stood watch. In the center of the room was a circle of candles and a beam of light that was coming down. In the center of this circle was a girl who seemed to be about 9 or ten years old. The girl was hugging her knees and rocking back and fourth though they couldn't tell what she was saying from this distance.


Kellum looked back over at his companion for a moment who shrugged her shoulders. Glancing over to the roman for a moment he motioned them to wait for a moment. The rest of the church had several skeletons scattered around. Though that still didn't answer any of their questions. Seeing as nothing was popping out Kellum walked into the church and towards the girl.

As the group got closer they could start to understand what the girl was repeating over and over again. "Stay in the light, the darkness can't reach." The girl repeated this over and over again as she didn't even seem to notice they had entered the church yet. The whole scene in Kellum's mind was a bit creepy. But he had already come this far so he might as well see it to the end right?

As he got to the circle the candles were all out and the wax had dried. But the light over the girl wasn't coming from the ceiling above but it looked like some kind of barrier spell or something like that. As he reached out toward the light his hand went through unharmed. The barrier seemed to only keep something out.

There were several scraps of paper that littered the floor all around the church. Many of them written prayers asking to be saved from the darkness. Though there wasn't much explanation to it other than the people seemed to think it was some kind of punishment.

Kellum then reached his hand out to the girls hand as she suddenly let out a scream of fear before seemingly snapping back to reality. The whole scene reminded him of someone being woken up suddenly. A moment later the young girl started to cry and latched onto the first face she had seen for what seemed to be awhile.

"Is the darkness gone yet? There was so much death," The young girl cried before letting go and running toward Chisato the only female of the group and then seemingly wouldn't let go. Though this still didn't answer the question of what had happened here. So many things were strange and out of place.

Mentions: conman2163

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, The burnt village
Mentions: saxon

Lucius halted at the doorway as they entered the room he held up a hand to his men. Something was wrong about all of this. The knocked over candle in the carpenter's house, the burnt out fires, the circle of candles here the villagers building a barricade to keep something inside while also barricading themselves indoors to keep whatever it was outside. Something had consumed these people and something about the fire kept it away. He pointed at his men. "Stay out in the light. Whatever that little girl is saying was a warning." He glanced around in the church and picked up one of the scraps of paper. It held the last prayers of one of the churchgoers in it. It only served to reinforce his thoughts about this. "By all the gods, this is not something we are equipped to handle. We need to get moving back to Ryken now. Perhaps someone there can come and deal with this." He took several steps back away from the shadows.

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Doctor Mord was still at the body while the group was now still focused on what was going on in the church. Though that still didn't help them figure out what was going on here. Kellum grabbed a few of the pieces of paper that were on the ground. The whole thing was vague not really telling them what it was. The only thing he could work out it is that it was something to do with a curse or some kind of creature. Though based on what he was reading a creature would be more likely.

Though there was nothing detailing the darkness that could be found. The only hope was being able to get something out of the girl though she was clinging to Chisato like her life depended upon it. Which he couldn't really blame the girl, glancing over towards Chisato giving her a look to figure out what she could. Though her response was to roll her eyes before taking the girl outside back into the square.

Turning to look at the centurion who suggested they should return to and find more people to deal with this. Kellum shook his head knowing that that would not be a good idea. They still didn't know what was going on and he had a feeling that they would have to barricade everything back up before they left. In his mind it was better to solve the issue here and now. "That would take too long, we are better off dealing with it now. For all we know it could spread to other areas," Kellum pointed out as he turned to walk out of the church.


Reaching the courtyard he looked around, everything seemed to look the same here. Every house he went to there was always alone of candles though he wasn't entirely sure why some places had them and others didn't. Plus there wasn't any mention of a creature just a plague that swept through the town suddenly.

"If you want to return then do so now but, I plan on trying to figure out what is going on here," Kellum stated as he saw Chisato over by the well and the girl seemed to not want to be anywhere near it. That caught his attention, and as he returned the girl was sitting with Chisato over at another building now away from the well.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Chisato inquired as the girl tensed up for a moment before shaking her head and pointing to the well that was at the center of the square. When she tried to get more information the girl didn't seem to want to talk about the whole thing. Though she didn't seem like she wanted to talk about the whole issue.

Mentions: conman2163

 

[Dante Verren]

Gawain
Interactions: saxon conman2163


Death, the whole place reeked of it. Gawain would have looked at home in this landscape if it wasn't for the fact that this skeleton was still moving. After his previous adventure, or more accurately misadventure he had been wandering the outskirts of Ryken. It was fitting that the one who now carried the name of the god of dead would once again find himself in a land of corpses. The depressing part was that this was an innocents village that was likely filled with innocent people. People who had tried to live their lives the best way they could and had died a most likely horrible death because of it.

He had watched the arrival of the new group from a little ways off. He had watched them disembark from the cart as men of the legions of old marched into what ever massacre awaited them. He had watched when the soldier returned and retrieved the rest of his men as well as what looked to be another Ryken citizen. It was once that they had entered the village that Gawain began to move. Tightening the hood of his cloak over his head, and wrapping the tail of the cloak around his lower face like a scarf [Basic Disguies] , the undead knight walked down to the village.

Once he had reached the village he paused for a moment. Looking over the many remaining bones that had once been people. It was always the same story, good people who had nothing to do with whatever evil was going on here was now paying the price for it. He honestly doubted that there would be any survivors. Still he held his shield firm and placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword. The only noise he made was the clinking of his heavy armor.

Gawain made his way down the street carefully until he approached the courtyard where the group had been setting up. Wanting to avoid a fight he did the only thing he thought could avoid a battle with the Romans, show them that he knew what they were. "Well met sons of Mars and friends of the eagle!" He called out as he approached. He had no desire to keep his presence concealed. After all he wasn't here to fight a legion... well maybe a legion of undead.

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, The burnt village
Mentions: saxon Dante Verren

Lucius was unhappy at the refusal of his suggestion but he didn't leave. He wanted to get paid after all and they had done some serious fighting already. He would need the doctor's coin to repair the shields already damaged. "I'll point out that the only one who knows what "it" might be is the little girl there, but I see your point. We're not going to leave you here with whatever did this." He conceded the argument quickly and walked out with Kellum. He saw the little girl point at the well and he jerked a thumb at it while looking at one of his men. The man got the intended subtext and grumbled while he marched over to peer inside the well. He was one of the two without a shield and was not a major fan of being Mr. test dummy. As the man investigated Lucius looked about and spotted the knight walking down the street. He gave a sharp whistle and all of his soldiers except the one at the well moved themselves to be in front of him. Sword hands rested on hilts in a clear warning but there was no open hostility from the group... yet. Lucius nodded his head in greeting. "Hail and well met stranger. State your name and business if you please."

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Doctor Mord finally finished examining the bodies of the skeletons that he had started to look over. When he stood up to join the group over by the church. "Ah well these bodies looks picked clean. There isn't a scrap of meat on them, though the weapons, armor, and clothing seems to be intact for the most part." He spoke as Kellum looked over at him and shook his head. The group had already made that observation earlier.

"Yes thank you for that spectacular observation Doctor Mord, so what are you going to do now that this whole town seems to be dead?" Kellum inquired as he had hoped the Doctor would go to leave the village though that would make the return trip more annoying. Though he didn't really care either way they had to figure out what was going on at this village before it spread even further than here.

"I want to examine the village more, so I will be staying whatever you guys do is well up to you all. But, since you escorted me here I should at least give you your payment. Though I will pay more if you all stay and act as guards for a while longer," Doctor Mord spoke as he glazed over the obviously sarcastic manner in which Kellum had spoken in. Right as he was about to toss the bags there was a whistle as the legionaries jumped into action.


The legionaries that were sent to the well would be able to look over the edge of the well. Though they could only see about twenty feet down before it turned pitch black. But they saw nothing but darkness, they didn't even hear the sound of water from below. Which was a little strange.

Chisato stood up and placed herself between the girl and the skeleton as the new arrival was a stranger to the group. "Seeing as you haven't attacked us yet, we can come to the assumption you are not intently hostile towards us. So speak your purpose here," Chisato called out as the girl moved behind her and peer around the side. Kellum himself joined the centurion as he figured it would be the bet move to make.

Kellum cleared his throat, "Would you happen to know what happened here? Also Doctor Mord you can count on me and Chisato to remain and act as guards so long as you keep your word to pay for our services as per our last contract. But I was going to stay here regardless and figure out what happened here." Kellum spoke as the group now awaited to see what the new arrival was going to do.

Mentions: conman2163 Dante Verren

 

[Dante Verren]

Gawain
Interaction: saxon conman2163


The skeleton knight stopped in his tracks as the group of Romans and there normal looking Ryke companions took up a defensive posture. He analyzed them for a moment to make sure that there posture was just due to caution. Satisfied that if he stood down the other party would as well, Gawain let his guard drop a bit. He took his right hand away from his sword and raised it as a sign of peace. "Wandering Knight Gawain, and unless you were the party responsible for the tragedy then my fight is not with you." he shifted his gaze as he finally caught a glimpse of the lite girl hiding behind the woman.

Looking back at the adults he gave a slight half bow. " Originally I was just wandering the country side looking for something to take my mind off of s0ome previous events. That was when I caught sight of the legionaries. My curiosity got the better of me and I approached once you entered the village. Unfortunately that light hearted curiosity has been replaced with a desire to find who did this." As he spoke the last part he gestured to the village. "Now my mission is to find the responsible party and make them pay. Hopefully it will bring some peace to those no longer with us."

 

[conman2163]

Lucius Gallicus​

Location: The Ryke, The burnt village
Mentions: saxon Dante Verren

The legionaries all relaxed around their leader as Gawain dropped his hand from his hilt. Lucius looked the knight up and down closely, focusing on the cowled face for a moment. Not really able to discern anything underneath the cloak he shrugged and turned back toward the doctor. "My men and I will stay here as long as is needed to protect you at the promised rate." There was no malice to his words as Lucius was currently just a mercenary. Time was money and if the doctor didn't pay him then he would have to move on. This was how he made his living at the moment. Though he wouldn't abandon an active contract. He turned back to Gawain and nodded. "My name is Centurion Lucius Gallicus. You are welcome to stay and search with us. It's not like we own the village after all." With that he turned back to the legionary at the well. The man shrugged. "It's awful dark down there but that's to be expected. Can't hear any water though." Lucius frowned and stepped closer. He picked a rock up off the ground nearby and dropped it into the well. If that had no visible effect he would try lowering the well's bucket down into the water.

 

[saxon]

Kellum & Chisato
​

Doctor Mord Looked at the new arrival before turning to look at the group he had hired earlier. "Yes, yes I will pay you all just the same as before. However, the terms of this contract is different. We are going to try and find out what happened here." He stated as he tossed what payment for the delivery of him and his good to the town to Kellum and then the other bag to Lucius. "You will get another payment once we deal with whatever happened here," He stated as he looked at the knight for a moment before going back to examining the bodies and getting some of his equipment out.

"No we just were hired to deliver the good doctor here to this village to treat a plague. Though it seems the plague or something has already beaten us to saving the village here. I'm Kellum and the woman with the girl is Chisato." Kellum introduced the duo as Chisato looked over, relaxing a bit, sitting the girl back down. As he glanced back over his shoulder into the church, he could see the light spell was still there. Which led to a few more questions though he wished someone from the village who knew about that was still around. Granted the girl probably knew something about it but, now probably wasn't the best time to ask about it.

When the legionary mentioned the well being dark that didn't really surprise Kellum though when he mentioned he couldn't hear any water he cocked an eyebrow. Lucius walked over and dropped a stone down the well after a moment the rock hit the ground as the sound of stone hitting stone echoed up. Indicating the well was dry but from the immediate area there didn't seem to be another well.

That was when the young girl stood up, "Careful the darkness will come! The first sign was the well drying up, the next night the darkness arrived. The people....the people..." The girl choked up as tears started to return to her eyes before burying her face into Chisato's stomach. Chisato unsure what to do started to run her hand through the young girl's hair.


"Well it looks like the next place to investigate would be to go down the well, though if this darkness only moves in the shadow we are going to need a lot of material to create light," Chisato pointed out as she looked at the group before glancing around seeing several lanterns and there was plenty of wood to make fires with around now. Though the real question is what would the group find down there should they go to look.

"Well it seems like there is only a single way forward, we will have to go investigate the well. We can keep the doctor and the girl in that magical light there. Since it seemed to keep her safe it should be fine, while the rest of us can go down and see what is going on." Kellum suggested as he looked around to the others for a moment before starting to go around and collect the lanterns that were around them in the immediate area.

"Fine, fine just make sure you solve the issue," Doctor Mord replied as he simply waved the group away with his hands as his work seemed to be more important to him at the moment.

Mentions: conman2163 Dante Verren