Fantasy Land of Destiny

[Kylesar1]

Aantum walked into his house. Passing the front shop in the immediate front entrance, he walked to the living room. Sitting in the living room was all the travelers. "All but one is here, but hopefully he'll be here soon." He flashed white, and a door opened to the basement. "Let's head down to the basement. It's where my alchemy lab is. I've burned through a bunch of potions, and I need to make new ones. There are places to sit there too."


A bunch of crows flew in through the window, and soon the house was crowded. They all flew around the house randomly. "Settle down." Aantum called, and immediately the crows stopped flying. Without waiting for them, Aantum walked down to the basement.

Spoiler

 

[Iwana]

Marcos unfolded the letter - the second he received that day - and red through the lines, faintly aware of the sound of the crow's flapping wings as it flew away. It was a short note and a simple but well-drawn map. He quickly fed Eri with some food he took from the tavern, he pulled his hood over his head and mounted the horse. But Eri wouldn't move an inch into the crowd, he stubbornly stood there, with his head slightly turned to the right, looking at Marcos as if telling him: "Not in your dreams."





"If you didn't mean so much to my mother, I swear I would sell your meat and buy a new horse." Marcos threatened but the horse ignored him and started munching on a weird flower that had grown out of the pavement. "I hope that's poisonous." the elf said but he knew it wasn't - he knew all there was to know about wild plants.


Knowing he had no other choice, he reluctantly decided to go through the woods and luckily Eri didn't resist this time, which was a good sign, it meant there were no spirits around there. If there were, the horse would have reacted to them.


Aantum's shop was hard to find on its own and with Eri refusing to walk through some of the darker paths they found on their way, it took them twice the time to arrive than it would've taken for Marcos to arrive by foot. Aantum's shop was more of a house than a shop and it probably served as both. He walked to the threshold and once he knocked, the sound of his fist against the wood of the door was accompanied by the sound of caws and flapping wings.

 

[Andrea Logan]

Jeremy was walking down the street till all of a sudden a white weasel came out of no where and attacked his face. "Wha? What the heck? Get off!" Jeremy pushed the animal off and rubbed his face. He glared at the weasel and raised his fist. As soon as he realized who it was, his face soften and lowered his fist. "Spiffy? What are you doing here buddy? And why did you attack me!" Spiffy hissed then chittered something. Jeremy crossed his arms and said, "Why am I here? Old man Lar told me to come here and see Pops about some potions." Jeremy started heading his way to Aantum's house/store till Spiffy jumped in front of him and growled. Jeremy frowned and picked up Spiffy by the tail. As Jeremy walked to his destination, Spiffy hissed and clawed at his hand. Jeremy walked up to a Elf at Pop's front door and grinned. "Guess I'm not the only visitor he is having."

 

[Iwana]

Marcos gave the young man a cautious look. "Aantum said he would be here, but he must be somewhere in the house where he can't hear the door. Are you an acquaintance of his?"

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum walked down into his shop to meet his assistant, who was sipping tea, and was greeted by her familiars, a blue dragon, and a white weasel, who were making potions. "Oi." Aantum called. She waved to him. "Yo." she called nonchalantly. "Who's the people?"


"Travelers. There are spirits teeming in this city, so we're discussing how to get rid of them."


"Spirits? Telling by your torn clothes, you tried to fill some soul gems. Can I have some?"


"Here's one." He pulled one out and tossed it to her, which she caught and put in her pocket. "Thanks." she said and sipped her tea.


Aantum turned to the travelers. "This here is my assistant, Natalie, who is a very powerful mage, but is too lazy to cast spells. She's my apprentice in Alchemy."


Some knocking at his door grabbed his attention. He sensed some people in front of his shop. There were 2 people there: Marco and Jeremy. What the hell was Jeremy doing here? He opened the door via SIA. They should just walk in

 

[Andrea Logan]

Jeremy patted his leg motioning for Netro to follow him. Runny looked around with crazy eyes. Jeremy headed down stairs and grinned at Pops. "Hey Pops!" Jeremy nodded at Natalie. He smiled at the visitors then frowned when he noticed a young blonde. "Uh Pops... what's the king's daughter doing here?" Caterina turned red and looked at him. She then noticed Spiffy hissing in Jeremy's hand. "Spiffy!" She ran over and took him. Jeremy looked puzzled and asked, "You know Spiffy?" Caterina glared at him and answered, "Of course I do. He's my pet." Spiffy hopped onto her shoulder and hissed at Jeremy. Jeremy laughed and said, "Wow Spiffy! A pet?"

 

[Kylesar1]

"Damn it, Jeremy!"


Aantum looked to the travelers. "This idiot here is Jeremy, and the one I called my niece is actually the princess. Since you're new around here and she doesn't have her guards with her, I hope you all understand why I lied. Can't have her endangered, or the king will have my head"


The multitude of crows in the room hissed at Jeremy. Aantum sighed. "You've pissed off half the room, even my crows." Jeremy was always an idiot, but damn. "Just calm down, Jeremy, and sit down. Why are you here?"

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

Alice sighed and rubbed the back of her neck "well this has become quite the party" Anatum's shop was now chalk full of travellers and now a princess, she just hoped that no guards came storming in and started to make a stink about her being here.

 

[Andrea Logan]

Jeremy sat down and put his feet on a table near by. He patted Netro's head and grinned. "Old man Lar wanted to get 'that' potion from you." He looked at Caterina who was holding Spiffy protectively and continued, "And he knows about the spirits." Jeremy smirked and lifted his hands over his head and said, "So he sent his best, most favorite, and most good looking student to help out." Caterina placed Spiffy on her shoulder and stepped away from Jeremy. Jeremy smiled at her, "It's nice to meet you Princess Caterina. Can I call you Cat?" "No." Caterina said immediately. Jeremy shrugged and said, "It would fit you since your pet is a cat." Spiffy growled and jumped onto Jeremy's leg. "Wow your dumb..." Caterina said, "He's a weasel." Jeremy shook his head and said, "Never mind. You don't get it." Jeremy looked at Pops and asked, "So got any idea of what is causing all this ghost stuff, Pops?"

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum sighed at Alice's comment "Agreed." All these people here, and only half of them are actually useful against the spirits. "Anyways, with everyone here, let's just get started."


Jeremy started talking, and Aantum sighed again. "Oh my god, just shut the hell up, please. These are spirits, not ghosts. Difference." Good looking? He's definitely the most annoying. A potion appeared in Aantum's hand for Jeremy to take. Something told him that Jeremy wasn't leaving that night. This wasn't a good night anymore.


"Now, these spirits............." Some books appeared on the table. "..........they're not ghosts, and there is a difference. Let's start with questions from anyone but Jeremy."

 

[Iwana]

"You said spirits are summoned." Marcos said and his voice came out breathy - he was feeling uncomfortable talking in front of so many strangers "Do you have a culprit in mind?"

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"And why the hell have they been summoned exactly here?" Alice said, adding on to Marcos' question. Alice began to fidget with anticipation, she had always been an impatient girl and right now she just really wanted to know what is going on "Do you suppose that we and the town's people are in any immediate danger from these spirits?"

 

[Kylesar1]

"First of all, the cu-"


Knocking at the door. "Son of a bitch!" Aantum said, exasperated. "Oh wait, it's the middleman. Taren, whatever business you have with the middleman, go settle it now. He's not coming in." He then got serious. "Keep in mind, though, that if you're with the shady business, I can see and hear everything that's said in and near my shop, regardless of the volume you speak at." Aantum didn't distrust these travelers, but that doesn't mean h trusted them, especially with the princess here


He though to explain a few things first. "Tell the people the culprit, they won't learn a thing. You have to teach someone to arrive on it on their own. Besides I don't know the culprit. We wouldn't be having this problem if I did."


"There are many people who can use summoning magic. It's not exactly uncommon. However, I do have a few suspects in mind. Only one of them is specific though. The least likely of the suspects is Taren's dealer. I won't tell you much about him unless my suspicions are confirmed. I will tell you, though, that he's knows his way around summoning magic. He knows that I will take him down immediately, and give out all his business if he threatens the city. That's why he's not likely. He's one Magic Drain Poison from losing everything."


Aantum stroked his beard in thought. "Since there are lots of spirits here, it's perfectly logical to think that it's not a lone summoner. It could be some kind of cult. It's more likely than a lone summoner, considering the numbers and the strength of the spirits. Let's not rule out the possibility of a lone summoner though. I've seen some powerful ones in my army days. However, I'm almost certain that whoever did it is either in this city, or somewhere near. No one could control even a fourth of that number from afar, even if it's more than one person. Cults tend to have small numbers."


"On to Alice's question. Why they're here............." Aantum was deep in thought. "There are many many possibilities, so I don't know. We have basically no information other than the fact that they're summoned. As for the danger level, this is basically code black. Whoever's controlling the spirits can make them attack at will. Since the person who summoned them isn't known, there won't be any sort of indication of the spirits attacking. On top of that, almost the entire city is out partying, so if they do attacking, this city is in no condition to fight. Yea they have magic weapons and Drunken Fist Potions, but spirits move at a high speed. Power matters not if you can't hit."

 

[Iwana]

So it's either one powerful summoner or a group of them. Marcos wasn't sure about this. Helping save innocent people was good and all but he wasn't the heroic type of person and putting his life on the line for a city he had no history with wasn't something he was yet convinced to do. It's foolish to stay here. He thought, keeping his eyes on the floor and his hood covering his expression, which he knew was now clouded with doubt over his own actions.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"What are we to do then?" Alice asked "That is if we are at all able to do anything" She could defend herself against fist and blade as well as any well trained soldier, but spirits? She knew that she had no chance up against them, she had no magic or any enchanted weapons to fight them with. And the others, she knew that most of them were no warriors, but just lowly wanderers and merchants like herself.

 

[Gabauchi]

While the others conversed, you stepped outside, where the middleman stood. There wasn't much you could tell of their appearance, but they wore a brown cloak with the hood pulled low, the shadows that hid the face prevented you from finding any real details about their physique.


"You have the package?"


Surprise surprise, it was a girl.


"Yes" With that you stepped inside again, picked up the package from where you left it, and show it to the mysterious female.


"Good, come with me then." You blink twice with light confusion. But you quickly regain your wits and decide to follow her. Caith stayed inside. You know following thus lady wasn't the cleverest of ideas, but you knew you could hold your own in most fights. Plus, you did need the cash, and you were all but broke from paying Aantum. And this job payed well. Plus, there wasn't any time to negotiate, as she had already taken off

-[ • ]-

​

You had been following the lady for quite some time now, and due to your inability with directions, you had no hope whatsoever of returning on your own. The lady made no conversation, and you didn't attempt to. If you learned one thing from completing jobs like this is that you don't ever question a clients methods. Not only did you have a higher job success rate that way, but knowing the clients methods tended to tell you about the client themselves, which gave you strings to pull and chips to bargain. Bribery, threats, blackmail, everyone ticks in a different rhythm. Doing things their way helped you learn that. But from the obviously inconvenient metheds they employ, either they were careful, or they just enjoyed frustrating you. You hoped it was the latter. That would make things easy. However, these thoughts were abruptly cut off as the woman stopped. You thought this odd, as you were in the middle of the woods. Nothing in particular had changed. Suddenly a thought rang through your head. Aantum saying something along the lines of 'The middleman rarely does dealings himself' You get realize several possibilities at once. Either you had been stupid to trust Aantum, and may currently be drugged/poisoned, or that whatever was in this case was very special. Or the less likely, easier to deal with situation would be that this woman wasn't the middleman. It was also possible that she was with Aantum, and that the others were in danger. However, Faith seemed to be interested in whatever was going on back at the building and that he had no problem with you taking Aantum's mix. Most likely scenerio was that this case was very special, but that didn't nessicarily mean that you could rule out any other possibilities.

 

[Kylesar1]

"Obviously we have to take them down. If they're trying to overthrow the kingdom and they succeed, what's to keep them from doing the same thing to another kingdom? The only difference then will be that they'll have an entire army to back up those spirits. Stop them here, or stop them never. You all knew that thought was coming up sometime soon."


"I know at least some of you are doubting you can drop these things because you don't have the magic weaponry. As hard as you think it is to get magic weaponry, it's not. It's actually insanely easy. Just like how you'd go to a blacksmith to buy a weapon, you can take them to magic experts, witches, and mage crafters to get them magic bound. The coin isn't all that steep either. It does get expensive, however, if you don't have your own Soul Gems filled. Those guys who sell them don't like risking their lives, so that's reflected in the prices. "


It's crazy how these travelers have traveled so far and have never encountered a rogue spirit.


"The best way to go about eliminating the threats is to take down the source material: the lone summoner, or their cult. Whichever one it may be. Which is better, a single beast at 100% power, or 4 beasts at 25% power? A cult leader will never have someone of equal power within the ranks. Mutiny must be prevented. Fighting the spirits is a death wish, but if the summoners were to be hurt or killed, the spirits will disappear"


 
There was a woman outside his shop, talking to Taren. There was no woman middleman he knew of. Either this woman was shady, or she was another middleman of Taren's dealer. He's dealt with the dealer a bunch of times, and every time it was the same person, no matter how far the business took place. Something was off about this situation. Jugger only took messages to who he knew, and that person, that middleman was a man..........not a woman. This woman must've caught wind of the transaction


They started walking away, at a faster pace than usual business dealing were. They made it deep in a forest, and were starting to approach the end of his land. He thought of activating his Fire traps, which would blow his Toxic Bombs and paralyze them both, but then he noticed something else. His pet wasn't with him. Pets wouldn't go with their masters if it was to a dangerous situation, as a sign of warning. Taren was a dumbass.


Aantum's eyes flased red, and he activated his fire traps, and blew up his Paralysis Bombs. The moment they inhaled those fumes, they'd stop moving, both Taren and this shady-ass woman. He hated using his defensive measures just to rescue some traveler he didn't even know. "Crows, subdue the woman with Taren. I want her here alive."


The crows flew off. He turned to the other travelers sitting here with him. "Whoever this woman is, Taren's dealing with the wrong one. The dealer and his middleman are both men. The dealer only deals through his middlemen. We may just have our first lead." His gut has yet to fail him. Could they catch this woman? She came onto his property without being sensed, so she must have nice suppression magic...................just like the ones on the spirits

 

[Andrea Logan]

Caterina looked up at the ceiling then back at Aantum. Spiffy was walking around the room sniffing random objects every so often. When he was done 'investigating' Spiffy jumped onto Aantum's shoulder and sat down. Jeremy drank the potion and made a face. "It would be nice if you added some flavor, Pops." He said. Spiffy hissed at Jeremy and Jeremy rolled his eyes. "God Spiffy what's your deal today?" Spiffy jumped to Aantum's other shoulder and started chittering quietly. Jeremy stood up and stretched, "Ok, if this girl is most likely behind the spirit thing, then let's go see what's up."


(Sorry I haven't been replying. I haven't been getting notifications, so if you could tag me in your post please.)

 

[Kylesar1]

"Shut the hell up, Jeremy. Every other potion I've given to these travelers have the best flavor I can muster. I literally gave you the most bitter one I have. In fact, why are you still here? I've given you the potion you seek. I pray you're not here for another reason."


Aantum pet Spiffy, who was on his shoulder. "The woman in question is being brought back here by my crows. You're free to go to her, but I'm not letting you back in if you leave.


The crows came back with the woman, who was still partly paralyzed. She fell on the floor. Aantum smiled innocently at the woman "Hello, young lady."


@Andrea Logan

 

[Gabauchi]

Rather abruptly, a flock of crows came and swiftly picked up the mysterious woman. Evidently, Aantum had something to say about this. So apparently, this wasn't actually the middleman. You really didn't have to say about this, other than groan and run your hand through your hair though your stupidity. And also the fact that you were hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere. You would go back the way you came, but you could tell that there wasn't any way you could even get back. Not only that, but you realize you haven't been seeing any spirits. So either you were safe for now, or that Aantum's potion had already worn off. So, you realize that the only thing for you to do really is to sit down and hope Aantum would remember the fact that you were out here too.

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum waited a moment. Taren was supposed to be here by now. "Jugger, go grab Taren. He's supposed to be here by now." Jugger and the crows flew off again, leaving only a few in the room.


He spoke to the woman sitting on the floor. The poison was starting to wear off. Aantum grabbed a dagger and tossed it at her. It cut her arm, before stabbing into the floor, and suddenly she was laying down paralyzed again. The dagger was dipped in the Paralyze Poison. He spoke to the woman. "Oi. You have some explaining to do. We just have to wait for Jugger to bring back the paralyzed Taren."

 

[Andrea Logan]

Spiffy started chittering angrily and hopped from Aantum to Caterina's shoulder. Caterina looked at Spiffy and frowned. "But Spiffy.....", Caterina said, but was interrupted by Spiffy growling. Caterina sighed and told Aantum, " I have to head back before any one notices I'm gone." Spiffy nodded and looked at Aantum with his beady black eyes. Jeremy laughed. He smiled at Spiffy and Caterina and said, "Wow letting a little weasel tell the princess what to do?" Caterina frowned and ignored Jeremy. Spiffy hissed at Jeremy, showing his fangs.

 

[Kylesar1]

Aantum looked at the princess. "Agreed. I'll have the crows escort you out. I must stay here to make sure this woman doesn't escape." Jugger took the cue and flew over to the princess, waiting to fly off. "Jugger will see you off."


Aantum looked to the shady woman, who was still paralyzed. "Now, what's your name?" He wasn't expecting this woman to cooperate, but he wasn't going to do anything dramatic just yet.

 

[Fearlesslygeek]

"You know if she decides that she doesn't want to speak I'll be more than happy to give her assistance" Clara bridged her hands and cracked her knuckles to show that she meaned business. For a incredibley short and generlly quiet girl, Clara was strong and not afraid to get her hands dirty to get what she needed. She knew that the truth could be beaten out of anyone just as easily as it was kept unsaid, years on the road taught her this well.

 

[Gabauchi]

The lady was paralyzed, but quite able to speak.


"You're very confident in the prescense of a stranger. You assume that because I'm paralyzed I'm not a threat. I suppose that works in my favor though. You may refer to me as 'The Carrier', if that answers your question."