Fantasy Realms of Nymserine: Main Thread [[CLOSED]]

[Melon Bomb]

Charlotte was ready to dig into her breakfast when a new challenger appeared, sniffing out her meal.

"Nothing," she hastily said, shoving everything into her mouth. She stared poker-faced at the curious pirate as clumps of rice and meat dropped into the bowl by the heaps. When she decided the gag was over, she chewed through what was left in a matter of seconds, letting an exhausted breath escape from her lips. "I mean, uh. Sorry. I only made enough for one person."

She reached for her bag and dropped it down in front of her, unsnapping the cover open.

"Man, didn't anybody bring their own food? I guess I can throw some more on the pan if you want. You know, if we're not leaving right away."

 

[Zazz]

Azaria looked up at Verity from where she sat. Past her, the sky to the south blocked much of the morning sun with rain clouds. Perhaps bathing was futile, just yet. Still gripping the spear as support, the half-elf answered, "You know I will follow. I will be a moment; Pyrrhus has offered to heal my leg."

The rogue glanced over at Roland and Charlotte. The bit of loaf last night had helped, but freshly cooked food did sound promising. As soon as she could walk properly, she'd go hunting. But until then, all she had was the fruit she had stolen back in Meletus. She tossed an apple Charlotte's way as a trade.

 

[Melon Bomb]

The apple hit Charlotte square in the face, who toppled off of her bucket in surprise with a loud clank. She caught the apple as it rolled away, squinting over at Azaria. She'd just been rummaging through her bag so she wasn't sure why she was suddenly being assaulted by fruit, but here she was. Was she mad because she told her she wouldn't share?

"Alright, alright, I was gonna heat some up," Charlotte grumbled, flipping the bucket upside down again and plopping down with a huff of annoyance. "No need to get physical, sheesh." She threw some pork into the pan and rekindled the fire, looking down at the apple in her hand. Well. . .

 

[SilverFlight]

Pyrrhus was surprised to see the mage still there, sleeping peacefully. He nodded as if accepting the fact before kneeling in front of Azaria and putting his hand gently on her injured leg.
The magic flowed from his hands more freely now, his own body had been healing all night and he felt much better for it.
"By the end of the day you should be able to put weight on it again." He said cheerfully.
"I have some food in my own packs, no meat, but plenty of fruits and vegetables, and I think a bit more of that bread, though, that's dependent on whether Fernwe ate one loaf or two last night."
With that he left them for the river.
Finding a spot deep enough was the trick, but the river bent not a hundred paces upstream, the water carving a natural pool where it was deep and the current was not so strong.
He drew in a sharp breath as the cold water seeped up his legs and tickled his belly.
He unfastened the harness about his body and the copper rings in his hair and set them on a rock. The bandage Roland had done up well he undid, the wound now nothing more than a dark scar. he lay down and submerged.
Water streamed over his shoulders and back as he came up, catching light in his coat and giving it a silvery sheen. Freezing, but heavenly.
After a good scrub he trotted back out, wringing his hair and shivering his equine coat so water jumped off it in a rainbow of droplets.
He was still toweling himself off with the piece of fabric when he returned to sit next to the rekindled fire. The dirt from battle was only an unpleasant memory now.
He began to braid the long pieces of his hair once more and work the copper rings back into place, listening to Verity speak to the group.
"I had a thought about that. Of course we need to go to Aredale to collect the bounty but...well, how shall we collect the bounty, when the woman wearing it we might not turn in?"
He glanced curiously at Charlotte, "it's apparent she wants the mage for something, and that something isn't likely a hanging or rotting in a cell, which is, I am afraid, what probably awaits her if we give her to the Aeredalen guard."

Zazz Purize Melon Bomb BugDozer73 Lekiel

 

[Melon Bomb]

"Hm?"

Charlotte lifted her head, picking up on the conversation.

"Oh, I'm sure Kezine's loaded on bounties," she dismissed, waving her hand down. "But the 300 gold reward was for clearing the camp, not forking her over to the authorities."

"You're still welcome to try, though." Kezine approached from behind, a jacket slung over her shoulder and a cocky grin on her face. Like always, it was hard to tell if she was making a statement of challenge or if she was just firing off more jokes - or at least, something that vaguely resembled jokes. She tousled Charlotte's hair as she walked past, leaving her hair even messier than her own.
"We're going to have a talk later."

"Sure thing," she said, patting her unruly hair back down. "There's plenty to talk about."

 

[SilverFlight]

"Hmm, well, I came for the 300 gold bounty, whatever else we could get wasn't part of the agreement, so it's not much of my concern I suppose. She would technically still be a criminal, I don't think we can just march her into the city in broad daylight at any rate. What did you have in mind?"
His hair done, Pyrrhus began to fish about in his bag to see what Fernwe hadn't eaten, removing several apples and a bag of dried apricots. He usually left the thinking to the leader of his company, only, this wasn't really a company. The centaur found himself doing rather a little more thinking than he was used to.
"I'd like to avoid jail if it's all the same to everyone here. Confinement...doesn't agree with me."

Melon Bomb

 

[Zazz]

The half-elf thanked her new friend and stretched out her leg as best she could. The pain had faded, until she tried to stand on it. Immediately she put her weight on the spear.

"There are more ways into the city," Azaria stated, "than the front gates." Not that she cared if Kezine was imprisoned. She could die along the way as far as Azaria was concerned.

 

[BugDozer73]

Roland smiled, a little drool escaping the side of his mouth when she through more food in the pan. A painful reminder that he had not been smart enough to remember to pack his own food. While he was waiting, pyrrhus returned, and began asking about Kezine. He had a few good points, but clearly they weren’t going to turn her in.
“That is, assuming she comes with us. And besides, it’s like you forget that hoods are a thing. And Azaria is right: there are 4 gates, and a slew of other, secretive ways to get into the city. Not to mention that Fugitive or not, there is no way that Kezine will command more attention than you will walking through the crowds.” Roland tried to sound commanding and authoritative as he spoke, which was rather hard to do over your shoulder while staring hungrily into a food pan.

 

[Zazz]

"How would you know? You're a pirate." The half-elf used the spear as a staff again as she went to collect some supplies, along with the knives she had thrown at the scouts. She didn't remember where she had thrown them, so it took her some time to find the blades sticking out from the ground, one in a corpse's back. Her daggers she found at the makeshift entrance Verity had blown through.

Azaria sat to clean off the blood from her blades and the charcoal from her face. She looked around the camp; bodies were everywhere. Her face hardened into a frown and she murmured a prayer to the god of the Void for their souls. Then, one by one, she dragged their bodies, searching their pockets for anything useful, off to one side of the camp. Her leg burned by the end of it.

Having laid out broken wood amongst the corpses, Azaria handed Kezine a match and hobbled past without a word.

 

[SilverFlight]

"If the guards are worth anything in Aeredale, hoods won't matter. It will have to be a less traveled entrance, and they tend to be expensive...or narrow." He looked back at his wide equine rump and wrinkled his nose.
"You are right about one thing though master Stormblade, I will draw attention, therefore I'll enter separately from you, and find you again in the city."
Pyrrhus rose once he had finished his breakfast and began packing the few things he had brought. Azaria moving off caught his attention. He watched her for a moment, comb a body and then slowly drag it. After watching the second he moved to help her. He didn't scold her for stressing her injury, or tell her to let him do it, he simply worked alongside her in silence, until the task was done. He spoke again only when the last body lay with the rest: "Do you remember your first kill?" He asked Azaria quietly, not meeting her eyes. His were fixed on the dead men.

BugDozer73 Zazz

 

[Purize]

Verity adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she shrugged. “We won’t get arrested. Kezine is technically really Charlotte’s problem,” she half-smile at Charlotte, Verity didn’t really know much about her and was still wary by her presence. “Getting into the city won’t be hard, at any rate.” She nodded to Roland and Azaria. “We will cash in the bounty and split it evenly... after that, I wish you all the best of luck in your travels.”

When Azaria walked off to do her own thing, Verity rummaged through her bag, pulling out her own half-eaten bread loaf and a handful of berries to serve as her breakfast. She sat by the fire pit as she continued to talk to the others. “If you feel that would be the best, then go ahead Pyrrhus,” She dipped her head to the Centaur. “I’m ready to go if the rest of you are.” She took one last petite bite of her bread, and a couple more cranberries, before tossing the other half loaf to Roland.

 

[Zazz]

The rogue half-elf sat again with a grimace and rubbed her thigh. Walking to Aeredale was not going to be pleasant. At least her head no longer pounded.

A deep sigh escaped her chest before she answered Pyrrhus. "I was a child." Subconsciously, she ran her thumb over her tattoo, a habit she had when she thought of her father and the events of that day. "I killed a prison guard the day my father was murdered." She didn't meet his gaze, either. She remembered raging suddenly, like a wild animal snapping, and the sound of the knife embedding in the side of the man's neck.

 

[BugDozer73]

Roland fumbled with the bread as it sailed into his hands, barely managing to grab a hold of it. He looked at it, then back to the pan Charlotte was cooking, and realized Verity wasn't going to be waiting around for him to enjoy a full breakfast. He sighed, downtrodden, and began to chew glumly on the half loaf as he headed over to Verity.

"Guess we better get going then. How long until we make it to the gates?"

 

[Melon Bomb]

"Do you remember seeing Kezine's face on the poster?" Charlotte asked calmly, biting into the apple with one hand and turning the food over with the other. "I don't. They know her name, but they don't know her face - no one's actually gotten a good enough look to sit down and mete out an artistic rendition."

She glanced over her shoulder toward the group, chewing thoughtfully. "Nobody except us."

- - -

Kezine twiddled the match between her fingers, raising a brow. It vanished in her hand, and she said, "Leave 'em for the crows. They've gotta eat too." To her, corpses were nothing but objects - what meaning was there to respect the dead, if you did not respect them in life?

 

[SilverFlight]

"It doesn't strike you until later, does it?" The centaur spoke softly, "What it actually means. How it...stays with you."
He rose and offered her a hand, a ride back to the campfire on his back.
"The first man I killed did not deserve to die."
Pyrrhus recalled the scorching sun, dust and blood and the smell of steel and sweat. Before then he had read of battles in books and played at it in the training ring at home. The reality of death made those days seem like folly.
"Death is always a stark reminder of life's frailty...and sometimes its injustice. These poor fools were likely too desperate to do anything else but rob others to stay alive."
He sighed, took a handful or dirt and whispered a prayer of his tribe into it. Then he scattered the earth on the bodies.
"We should probably get moving."
Zazz

 

[Zazz]

The halfling considered his words. She knew what he meant, but it wasn't how she felt about her first kill. She still remembered the sick feeling of satisfaction as knife went through flesh, as the man's last breath left him and his body went still. She remembered the rage, and the desire to wreck havoc upon those who had taken her father from her. It was a rage her heart still swelled with.

Perhaps, she thought, what she sought from Verity was peace.

Azaria took the centaur's hand and mounted him, tucking a hand around his harness to keep herself on. "Best set out before the rain hits."

 

[Purize]

Verity watched as Roland finished moodily munching the remnants of the bread and popped a few more cranberries into her mouth before standing. She nodded to him when he spoke and replied, "Yes, it's best to head out now while it's still early. We are still about a day or two out from the city. Depending how fast we move..." Verity glanced at Azaria, still hobbling along, trying to keep her wight off her bad leg, but she didn't say anything about the possibility of her slowing them down. When she watched the half-elf mount Pyrrhus like a horse, Verity smiled in amusement. At least now she would be able to let her injury rest and heal on the way.

Verity tapped Roland on the shoulder and called to Azaria, "We're heading out guys!" She looked to the others, to see if they were departing as well.

oO*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*Oo​

Not two and a half hours later, the sky began to darken over head. Clouds rolled in overhead and the land was cast into hues of blue and grey. Thunder grumbled in the distance as the skies crackled with static. Everything around the group was quiet and still as they walked. The woodland around them seemed empty; all of its small critters and creatures fell silent with the calm before the storm.

"That doesn't look to good," Verity said, observing the sky above them. "It's going to rain soon..." She looked a little put out. Traveling in torrential rain was not one of her favorite passtimes. Every time she got caught in the rain with no nearby towns, her and all of her belongings got soaking wet and she would have to spend the entirety of the next day hanging everything out to dry.

She was also a little worried about the wagon that trailed behind the group. If it did start raining, they would likely have to stop and wait for the storm to pass so the wheels didn't get stuck in the mud. Subconsciously, Verity started walking faster, wanting to cover as much ground as they could before the rain came.

 

[BugDozer73]

Roland followed her gaze up to the sky, and noted its darker coloration. He felt at ease, however: Storms had always brought him an uncontrollable focus. On the ship, he was in charge of running the rigging during the storms, because for some reason lightning never struck, and the wind never could blow him off. Now he knew why, he guessed. Had it been Simply verity and Roland, He could just keep them both dry, but with other people around, the option of using his powers was through the trees. He sighed, and moved forward with Verity, hoping to Thasia that the storm would slip easily overhead.

He came up beside Verity and smiled, trying to make the best of things. Az looked tired on Pyrrhus's back, and as grouchy as ever. Pyrrhus would no doubt chew his ear off if Roland would let him, and Verity seemed delightfully un-entertained. "So you ever been to Aeredale before?"

 

[Purize]

Verity glanced at Roland as he spoke to her before looking forward again, chuckling. "You could say that. There aren't many places I haven't been in Nymserine. I've visited all the major cities at least once." She squinted, crinkling her nose like she was trying to remember something. "But you know, I havn't been to Necropolis... or even the Waldorf school." She shrugged.

"How about you, sea-legs? Have you been on water your whole life?" She smiled, looking towards him again for his response.

 

[BugDozer73]

"Been to every port city on the continent." He said, a bit of pride in his voice as his words arrived. "The inner cities, well thats a stretch. I have never seen many places away from the sea. Its.. depressing, a little. Fresh water just doesn't have the same smell or flavor." He stared into the distance a little wistfully as he spoke, as if he were looking out over the sea once again.

"Greuwn took me to Aeredale one. When I was really little. I don't remember what we were doing there, but I remember the gates: they were huge, filled with the coming and going of a world of people. I remember there was a lot of blue in the city when we went- banners, streamers, pitchers of water, you name it. Parades and dancers, and all sorts of festivities. It seemed like a really lively place, I am excited to see it again."

 

[Zazz]

This was beginning to look like a bad idea.

Azaria had her eyes on the dark clouds rolling in. If the river flooded, crossing would be dangerous. Stupid, even. "...Maybe we shouldn't push our luck with the storm."

The half-elf shifted on Pyrrhus's back. After over two hours of bareback, she was starting to get uncomfortable. "No offense, Pyrrhus, but this is almost as uncomfortable as that one time with that demon in the mountains down south." She would have dismounted, but she knew she would slow down the group with her bad leg.

 

[Brendanfp]

Spit flew like arrows across a battlefield as Ali argued with one of the high ranking priests. He balled his fists and calmed himself.

"High treason? High treason! You look here Brother something or another I have done nothing wrong. It was... Him!" The magi gestured both of his hands towards his amulet, "This! The amulet here houses a powerful archdemon, and let me tell you he is as demented as they come! He must have... must have somehow been able to overpower my seals for a brief moment, but I doubt he was able to do any real damage."

Ali's heart was racing. His breath was heavy. The scarab scurried closer to his ear.

"Master Ali, you must calm down. Everything is going to be alright, you must keep a level head."

Purize

 

[SilverFlight]

Pyrrhus had been unusually quiet once the darker clouds rolled over their heads.
"Azaria is right, finding shelter would be my recommendation."
He glanced back over his shoulder at her comment with a raised eyebrow and a curious expression.
"Oh I want to hear about that one." He said in a playful manner, falling back and moving alongside the wagon so she could climb on.
"But yes, it's no better for me, feels like my spine's been sent to the flour mill."
He overheard Roland describing Aredale and added his bit with a wistfull litl to his tone.
"That city is home to some of the grandest theaters in the world! I've never seen such spectacular plays! A lot of people though...a lot. Wasn't a day went by where I nearly stepped on someone."

Zazz BugDozer73 Purize

 

[Melon Bomb]

Kezine walked in pace with the wagon before her, sword balanced laterally over her shoulders with her hands casually hanging over it. Her eyes stared blankly ahead as her mind drifted elsewhere, filled with thoughts and ideas she thought she had long since parted with. Up until now, she had been following a road - one that seemed to stretch on forever, walled in by thickets of self-doubt and isolation. Now, there was a fork in the road.

A chance to salvage an old dream. . . all she had to do was ask.

"Come on, are you paying attention? You're gonna miss the good part!"

Charlotte paused as her gaze swept between the meager listeners, her legs dangling freely from the back of the wagon. Naturally, she pulled in Kezine, Fernwe, and her weird cat to lend an ear to yet another bastardized tale of her 100% real exploits. Kezine tuned back into reality and lazily made an affirmative gesture to reassure her that she was listening.

"Right, where was I? When we finally reached the inner sanctum of Dagne's tomb, we saw something unbelievable. Those raiders I mentioned? They had a golem. There must have been at least four or five sprites hovering all around it, trying to control its movements - it is just a massive hunk of rock after all - and they used it to pry open the vault. And let me tell you, that thing folded like wet cardboard! We didn't even need a reminder to stay quiet, we forgot to breathe just from the spectacle of it all.

Keeping our distance, we trailed behind them best we could but in classic fashion, Madrik accidentally knocked over a standing brazier like a complete ninny. What happened next. . ." Charlotte held her breath and leaned forward, eyes widening as her voice dropped to a whisper. "The golem turned around. . . and it jumped.

BOOM!"

Thunder exploded in the distance as if on cue, a brilliant white light flashing through the graying skies.

"In a matter of seconds, it was right on top of us - we almost couldn't move we were shaking so hard! With no choice but to fight, our team broke off into every direction and dove for cover. Madrik and I kept the raiders at bay while Adrian handled the golem alone - that monstrosity smashed pillars, left craters in the ground just by walking - it honest to goodness felt like we were duking it out in the middle of an earthquake! I shoved my way past them and scrambled into the vault, prizing the artifact from its resting place-"

Charlotte stopped again, catching herself before she started rambling.

"Actually, I think I'll cut it off right here. It's a long story and I'm kind of running out of breath. . ."

 

[Zazz]

She gave him an amused smirk and carefully climbed onto the wagon. Her legs were starting to feel a little wobbly. Stretching them out, she said, "Thank you." As for the demon in the mountains down south, Azaria shook her head at that little adventure. "There were claws involved. But they were warm and the snow was cold, so..." She shrugged.