Fantasy Land of Destiny

[Kylesar1]

Aantum looked around for the guy he was taking to the middleman. Ashka started shuffling impatiently. He must have gotten lost in the crowd. They'd end up catching each other at some time. He decided to go back into the tavern. He needed to feed Ashka anyways.


He walked into the tavern to the bar. "Oi." he called, and ordered bread and cheese. "For Ashka." he said "Ole girl needs food in her belly."


A few seconds later his food came. Aantum bit into the bread. It wasn't the best in the world, but it was still plenty good. Nodding in satisfaction, he looked around again. Seeing his client nowhere in sight, he decided to grab another drink. The tavern's best ale. If his client wanted to go to the middleman, then he needed to be a little faster, as night wasn't really a good time to be traveling, especially for him. His bow wasn't that effective if he couldn't see.


He noticed the woman from before scoffing that food down like the Last Supper. He let out a big laugh, and started over to her, and stumbled, as he was once again drunk. This is why he couldn't come to taverns. Always getting drunk. He was lucky to still have a brain left. Reaching the table, he laughed again. "Slow down there lassie. I know you were hungry but the food's not going anywhere."


Another Sobering Potion appeared in his hand, that he chugged down. Dealing with travelers while drunk wasn't the smartest thing to do, and not really the safest either. Dealing with these travelers, he had to be sober...........at least somewhat. This time with the woman was with an elf. There was no way she knew this person. He sat down at the table. "I know the both of you's a traveler, but what brings ya here? One can't help but get the feeling that something's amiss with all these travelers here."


Another Sobering Potion appeared in his hand as he chugged his ale down and ordered another. Since there was an elf here, he was supposed to be on his guard as elves were a crafty people, but forget being sober. His blood had to be 90% alcohol at that point. Those Sobering Potions were a life saver. He hoped these travelers weren't wondering about all these potions appearing out of nowhere.

 

[Iwana]

Marcos gave the old man a weary look. He reeked of alcohol and the sobering potions he conjured didn't seem to help the situation one bit. He faintly recalled the first time he'd gotten drunk when he was still sixteen years old. It had gotten so ugly the event had practically taken the form of a trauma in his memory, that's why he avoided drinking more than one or two glasses of ale a time.


"I'm here on business with the owner." Marcos said although his business was practically over now "I was hoping to find a place to spend the night, but I don't know this area very well."

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"It's you again" she said startled to see the old man who had given her the money from earlier. Suddenly remembering her manners she said to him "thank you for the gold, I was able to buy a meal with it"


Alice looked at the elf, surprised that he was talking to her. She swallowed the mouthful of food and then answered him " to answer your earlier question, this tavern has board for both man and horse, it's not very expensive either" Alice told him. Alice looked over him, he seemed like he had been traveling for a while like herself "The name is Alice by the way" Alice placed another and full of bread in her mouth followed by.

 

[Gabauchi]

As you were following the man, he approached his horse, but something else caught your eye. You knew you shouldn’t stray away from him, but you had already lost him in that moment you paused. You already decided there was no point in turning back, mostly because your sense of direction is impossibly terrible, you decide to follow what you saw. It was wraithlike, wearing many cloaks that seemed to float around it. On that note, it didn’t seem to touch the ground. Its head was shrouded and face covered with a mask one would find at a masquerade. As you were about to make an approach, Caith jumped out in front of you.


“I would think twice if I were you.” Said Caith


“Why? Is there anything in particularly dangerous about it?” That was a rather stupid thing to ask, it practically reeked of danger


“Not that I’ve seen, but they’re popping up all over the place. They just ignore people, and it seems that most people don’t notice them”


You find this a bit odd, but you trust Caith, he doesn’t tend to lie about things that can come to harm.


“While you’re here, would you mind directing me to the tavern? As you can see, I’m a bit lost.”


Caith only nods, and begins to stride towards the tavern. You follow him, only to take one last look at the entity that was slowly floating away.

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum drank his strongest Sobering Potion. He bothered not to order another ale, as he was talking to travelers. As such, he was completely sober in a couple of seconds. He looked at the woman who thanked him. "Don't mention it. I'm actually filthy rich. A couple of coins won't dent the ole wallet. A lot of people wouldn't advise giving money to strangers, but if you do, you probably won't be getting robbed." He let out a big laugh. "I see you're just not the partying type, at least not with alcohol. I simply assumed it was due to the empty stomach." He sighed. "I've been dealing with a lot of people over the years. Anyways..........."


He looked to the elf. "...............There are plenty of inns here, including this place. This place is the cheapest, but look around you. Obviously you get what you pay for here. There are quieter places, but for a little more coin."

 

[Iwana]

"Thanks for the info." Marcos said to both Alice and the old man, cutting a piece of his bread and throwing it in his mouth "I'm not planning to stay here for long. I thought this town was safe but my horse saw something that freaked him out when we arrived. At first I thought it was a wild animal but I didn't see any wild animals while hunting and even the owner of this place said there aren't many animals in general around here. I don't know what might have caused them to move so close to the town."

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"there have been many strange happenings in these parts" Alice didn't look up from her plate, she had been traveling for quite some time in the region. The land was always teeming with bandits and highway robbers, but that was beside the fact. the land gave her an unsettling feeling that she couldn't quite explain, the fact that so many travellers were all meeting up in one tiny tavern at once made her feel all the more anxious "I'm not so sure myself what has been going on, It just feels so strange"

 

[Kylesar1]

The news got Aantum thinking. "First of all. Introductions." He stood up and bowed. "The name's Aantum. known as Pops around these parts." a couple of potions appeared in his hand. "Master Alchemist. I got potions and poisons for any situation imaginable." He sighed. "Now with these Sobering Potions, it seems as if they weren't working. However, that's just because I was still drinking while I was taking them. I'm not even the least bit drunk now." He sat back down. "Toxic Bombs and Mist Potions are a new product I'm unveiling. If you want a demonstration, I'll show you..........." Oops. He got caught in the introductions, and he threw in some self-promotion by mistake. "heh. Sorry about that. I get excited. This info though..........."


He though for a long moment. ".............They must be spirits. Ashka isn't frightened by them, so shes useless in determining their presence, and any wild animal that comes in this city ends up on a plate." He stroked his beard, a sign of deep thought. "If what you say is true, then these spirits are either summoned or roamers. Either way, I've been wanting to catch a few, so as to unveil new spirit potions and poisons. Spirits do pose a threat on this city, and these the first we've seen here in a very long time. It's enough to believe that they've been summoned."


"Honestly, though, we should go somewhere a little quieter. I can barely hear myself think."

 

[Gabauchi]

As you rounded the corner, you realize you weren’t really that far away from the tavern. Your face quickly flushes red with embarrassment. As you compose yourself, you step into the tavern, Caith curling around your legs as you walk. You see the man who was going to direct you to the middleman, but decide to deal with that later. You walk over to the barmaid, ordering a thick stew, and a salmon for Caith. Speaking of which, you noticed that he had wandered over to the trio a little ways down. He climbed into the elves lap and began napping. You decide to not bother him until his fish come. You produce a couple gold coins and hand them over to the barmaid, paying attention to the conversation, in case anything important came up.

 

[Iwana]

Marcos quickly finished eating his bread and he downed his ale in one go. "I'm Marcos." he said "Is there any quiet place we can go t-" he stopped talking when something furry climbed on top of his lap. He honestly didn't know what to expect and he nearly pulled his bow from under his cloak, when he realized it was a cat. One with two tails of all things. Among all the strange creatures he had come across while hunting, this was one of the most bizarre.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"It looks like you've made a friend" A rare and elusive chuckle escaped Alice's throat when she saw the cat climb onto Marcos' lap, she found his look of surprise quite entertaining. She pushed the empty plate of food to the edge of the table and leaned back. The meal had certainly improved her mood, she was a lot less grumpy then she was before and this surprised her more than anyone. "I wish you could see the look on your face right now, it's quite priceless to say the least"

 

[Iwana]

"Give me a break. Do you know how rare this kind of animal is? I wonder where it came from." Marcos hesitantly scratched the cat's ear "Anyway, I would like to know a bit more about those spirits." he hurried to change the subject as he felt his face getting red with embarrassment. His initial opinion of Alice was that of a quiet individual, so it came as a surprise that she could make fun of strangers like this.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

She folded her fingers and rested them beneath her chin in thought "I really don't know much about them myself" Alice became serious once again "My knowledge of them is just from fables and fairy tales really, all I know is that it would have taken very strong magic to summon them here" She became quiet and searched her buzzing mind for an answer, but of course she found none. Not having an answer frustrated Alice more than anything.

 

[Kylesar1]

"Quite a rare animal there." Aantum looked at the cat with the split tail, and noticed the owner. His client. "Oi, there you are. You take forever to do anything." he said to him. "Good thing the middleman isn't out waiting somewhere. He'd be pissed."


He stroked his beard again, getting back to the subject at hand. "The best place to go is to my shop. With all these travelers here, most other inns may be quieter, but that's not saying much. Besides, if the townsfolk hears about these spirits, they'll go crazy. I'll tell you more about these spirits at the shop. We'll have to meet the middleman on the way too."





He studied the animal for along moment. This animal wasn't safe at this tavern. "I wasn't lying when I said any animal that comes here ends up on a plate. With these drunken dumbasses here, I don't think that animal's safe. We should leave before someone notices it and tries to eat it."

 

[Andrea Logan]

Caterina's maids just left after helping her get ready for bed. Caterina sat by the window and scratched Spiffy's soft little head. She noticed a lot of people heading to the closest tavern. Caterina turned Spiffy around and said to him, "I wish we could go. I heard that at taverns they party all the time." Spiffy narrowed his eyes and hissed, which meant he thought it was a bad idea. Caterina placed Spiffy on the ground and went to her closet. She pulled out a plain brown dress and changed into it. Spiffy kept growling and hissing. Caterina finished tiring her dress and said to Spiffy, "Oh come on, I'll be back before midnight." Spiffy hopped onto her bed and jumped up and down. Caterina put her cloak on and raised the hood. "You can't stop me. So why not go with me?" Caterina asked. Spiffy let out a sad sigh and jumped onto Caterina's shoulder. Caterina quietly left her room and down the steps. She was glad her father and mother went to bed early, as did the maids. Once Caterina reached the kitchen, she slipped out the servant's entrance and down the street to the tavern.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"We better get going then" Alice stood up and shoved the chair that she was once sitting in back into the table "I'd like to learn a little bit about these spirits, and besides I have nothing better to do at the moment" With a smirk she opened her small leather coin purse and dropped the remaining eight gold coins into it and pulled the cord to close it. She looked at the old man and the elf, both were very different from the other and the fact that so many different travellers were all meeting up at this one tavern made her feel slightly uneasy.


Alice scratched the back of her head "On a different note, I should probably go and check on my horse first" She had paid for board at the stable but she wasn't all together comfortable with leaving her horse there all night "He has been in his stall for a while and I should probably make sure he is well looked after"

 

[Gabauchi]

You finish your soup, toss the fish to Caith, nod and stand up.


“My apologies for before, I had been distracted by a rather peculiar entity”


You say nothing to Caith, feigning unfamiliarity. Caith generally had his own agenda, and as you weren’t always sure you knew what he had planned, you had learned that he finds it easiest to work when he had things under his control. Since he helps you out quite often, you find the need to do the same.

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum stood up also, grabbing the bread and cheese he ordered. "I have to feed Ashka. I'm sure you have your businesses to attend to. When we're all ready to go, let's meet up by my horse. I'll be right outside the door, so I'll be in plain sight." Aantum got up and left the tavern, and went over to Ashka. He used fire to soften the bread a little, then gave it to Ashka, who showed obvious appreciation.


"Caw!" A crow landed on his shoulder. "Ah..... Jugger, my boy, you're back." Jugger was a magical crow of his. With Jugger, Aantum had complete control over crows, but disliked using them, as he disliked using animals as weapons. He did, however, use Jugger and crows as messengers. He took the scroll off Jugger's foot and read it. It was a client on business someplace far away. He accessed SIA and a scroll appeared in his hand. He wrote his response and tied it to Jugger's foot, then Jugger flew back the direction he came


Something caught his eye. "Shit." he said aloud. The princess? What the hell was she doing out here with no guards?! Aantum dealt with her father, the king, so he knew them quite well? She was stunningly beautiful, but that's exactly why she shouldn't be going to that tavern. This tavern wasn't the best place to be, especially with all these travelers and drunks here too. She wasn't far from Ashka, so he didn't worry about being out of sight once the travelers came out. He walked up to her. "Oi, Your Highness." He did a quick bow. "I'm sure Spiffy doesn't approve of you going to that tavern." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I got a bad feeling here. I'm hearing reports of spirits, and there's far more travelers here than normal. Without your guard brigade here, it's not safe."

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

A large bay stallion shoved his head over the door of his stall and whickered at Alice as she walked into the stable "Utem my lad" she said walking over to the big horse to stroke his face "How is my dearest boy?" Utem just blew through his nostrils in response and shoved her bag knowing better than anyone that she had an apple stolen from a fruit vendor in there for him. Alice removed the apple from her bag and fed it to the stallion as she stroked his white blaze.

 

[Andrea Logan]

Caterina looked at the old man and grabbed his arm. "Aantum, please do not say Your Highness. I dont want people to know about you know...." Caterina sighed and looked at Spiffy as Spiffy nodded at the man's remark. Caterina looked back at him and answered, "I wasnt very tired so I came here. Besides I dont do much in that castle." Caterina held out her hand and Spiffy crawled down to her hand. Caterina smiled a little and said, "Also I do have Spiffy here to protect me." She then remembered him saying something about spirits. She placed Spiffy back on her shoulder and looked at the man's face. "Also, what do you mean by 'spirits'?"

 

[Kylesar1]

The princess had no affinity for magic, so she couldn't sense these spirits. Spiffy though, was a magic beast. He had an invaluable 6th sense. The princess just wouldn't listen to him. She couldn't sense his magic either, but he was sure Spiffy showed her a thing or 2. Aantum couldn't see the spirits but he could sense them. Their presence was thick. He whispered to her. "Spirits. You know, spirits of the dead, or malevolent spirits. They haven't shown up in this town in a very long time. All of a sudden they're here...............wait. Isn't this information all in those books you should be reading?" She didn't know what he was talking about, so he thought to show her.


He accessed SIA and a vial with purple liquid appeared in his hand. "Spirit Sight. It allows you to sense magic better. You should be able to see these spirits." He held it out for her to take. Another one appeared in his other hand, that he drank. Immediately, in a quick flash of light, spectral forms became clear to him, and magic trails became thicker. A bunch of spirits. They were just floating slowly, not acting. Whoever summoned these spirits didn't feel like attacking with them just yet, so he could easily catch a couple. "These spirits are definitely summoned. Roaming spirits would've attacked something."

 

[Andrea Logan]

Caterina looked at the potion and then looked at Spiffy. Spiffy narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Ok?" she said to him. Caterina raised the vile up and put it to her lips. She leaned it up and drank. When she opened her eyes and lowered the vile, she almost dropped it. She looked at Spiffy then at Aantum. She couldnt believe what she was seeing. "I have read books about spirits but I always thought they were stories." She said to him. "And if they were summoned. Then who summoned them?"

 

[Gabauchi]

You step outside, and see Aantum having a conversation with a female. You cross your arms, readjust the case and speak up.


“Who’s the girl?”

 

[Kylesar1]

"Spirits have separate magic trails. In other words, a magic trail from a spirit will never lead to the caster." He took the bottle from the princess and it disappeared back into his shop. "Look, you're not exactly in a good place here. You're outside in a town full of malevolent spirits you can't defend yourself again, headed to a tavern full of drunks and shady travelers." He sighed. "You don't even have your weapon with you. Survival 101, young one: Never assume you're completely safe. I'm waiting on some travelers to discuss these spirits, and taking them to my shop. While I wait though.........." Another potion appeared in his hand, and a dagger in the other. "........I need some of these spirits. This potion here, Godspeed, does exactly what you expect."


He drank the potion, the bottle disappeared, and a couple of gems appeared in his hand. "Soul Gems. I catch the spirits in these, and I can make spirit potions and poisons. Time to show you how an old man fights" He practically vanished as he ran towards the spirits at a blinding speed. He stabbed one of the spirits, and the shriek was ear-splitting. Anyone who couldn't sense them couldn't hear it. Good thing most the town was drunk. The spirits started to fight back, and moved very fast. Faster than usual. Their spells were also stronger than usual. Aantum took quite a few hits and they hurt immensely, but managed to dispatch enough, and fill all the gems in his pocket. "Now. Time to disperse." A Bottle appeared in his hand. This one was filled halfway with a light blue liquid. "Calm Mist." He heated it with his fire magic, and threw it on the ground. It made a small explosion, and the gas started to spread. Soon, the spirits stopped attacking, and went back to their inactive slow floating states. He probably should've put armor on before fighting.


He walked back to the princess, clothes torn and bleeding, as well as burned and frost bitten in a couple of places, and let out a big laugh. He stumbled upon making it back to the princess. He spoke seriously. "Even if you had your dagger with you, it's ineffective against those spirits. It should be enchanted with magic. If you still want to go into the tavern, you're free to. As you can see though, I can't guarantee your safety." He accessed SIA and a potion appeared in his hand. A healing potion, which he drank, and the pain went away after a couple of seconds.


 
One of the travelers appeared and spoke to him. Who was the girl? "This girl here? She's my niece. She wanted to go to the tavern, but it's not exactly safe here." This traveler couldn't know about the princess just yet. There were too many other travelers around. Aantum hoped the princess took the hint

 

[Gabauchi]

As soon as you spoke, you began to notice his wounds.


“That looks rather serious” You gesture to his wounds “While I understand that that tavern is no place for a young lady, you seem to be in no condition to go escort her anywhere else. Unless you’ve got something to heal those wounds, I’d wait until tomorrow to be up and about. If you want, I’m offering to watch over her and make sure none of the drunkards try anything.”