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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:44 am
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It was a cold winters night that brough Kroft to the small cozy in he spotted in the middle of the field. Looking for nothing but a warm place to stay a pint or two and a bath(been way too long he was starting to worry hed smell permanantly like orc), but he had no clue hed gain so much more just by simply walking through that door..
He adjusted his bag on his shoulder and started walking briskly, he caught a brief scent in the air and knew he was catching up with his quarry soon it would be done.
dsay came out of the kitchen with a fresh bowl of takk for ask and sat down at the table, "I'm starting to miss the hectic things that usual go on here... i miss the action " she said resting her head in her palm as ask shoveled the takk in her face fast enough to cause a corinary.
Ask stopped long enough to say " be careful what you wish for sis " then she was back to feasting on the warm takk steaming in the large bowl infront of her.
"It's just..its been three weeks... yeah we have the odd strangler but its getting kind of lonly" she said as she tossed a couple more logs on the dwindling fire.
She had only finished that scentence when the door creaked open and a cloaked figure walked in brushing the snow off his shoulders before closing the door. "sorry if i made a mess" Kroft said looking at the snow tracked in. "how much for a night? on second thought just takes this " he turned and tosses a bag of coins into dsays hands.
Hanging his cloak he ran his fingers through his hair before lighting a smoke as he sits in front of the fire quietly.
" Well hello sir, you need anything just ask, warm food a drink anything don't hesistate ... my names dsay just hollar" she said smiling her eyes showin the faintest glint of a twinkle as she looked at the silent stranger.
"Well miss.. i could go for a nice tall pint..been two weeks since ive tasted some decente lager, was forced to enjoy that scum orgre mead.." he said chuckling looking up at her smiling softly.
At that point neither noticed the length of time that had passed, as they lookedi nto eachothers eyes. But ask had just finished her takk and was bout to ask dsay for more when she noticed them locked eye to eye in a moment. she smiles shook her head and went to grab herself a bowl of takk leaving Kroft & dsay alone.
Dsay realized finally that she was just standing staring so she giggled a bit and ran off to get the stranger his pint, he sat smoking and thought to himself "well thats something been along since ive felt a stirring for a lady, granted ive been so distracted.. but wow" he smiled to himself and flicked the rest of his cigarette in the fire and leaned back only to jump in suprise when he realized he was looking up into the other girls eyes.
"hi my names ask..whats yours stranger man " she said muffled through a mouthful of takk" Kroft had lept up in suprise already and couldnt help but laugh at the scene before him..here was a gurl up to his chin packing away more food then he could hope to..and she could still prounounce words somewhat.
"My names Kroft... just passing through was sick of sleeping in the snow.. nice to meet you ask.. well im just going to clean my sword while i sit here if you want company you can join me" he siad kind of awkwardly as he grabbed his sword and a cloth, some flax oil out of his bag then sat down on the couch again.
ask sat at the table and took a moments break haflway through her second bowl of takk.
"So kroft...wats with the bloody shirt...dont know how to wash cloths?" she said with an oddly cheerful note.
"um....id rather not talk bout that...long story.." he said going back to clean his sword carefully...truth be told he spent so much time cleaning that damn thing he never thought of much else other than the occasional bite to eat.
Dsay came out with a nice frosty pint and sat it on the table next to the couch for him.."kroft.. sorry heard you and ask talking, give me the shirt ill have the clean in a jiffy..and dont say no... someones bound to think your a serial killer these days" she said holding out her hand.
Kroft looked up and nodded and set the sword aside long enough to stand up and take his shirt off...he didnt need to see to know what look was on her face as she saw the scars all over his upper body.
"ive seen alot of odd things having this Inn..but wow ...what the hell happened to you" she said wincing as she noticed a preticularly jagged scar across his abdomen.
"well trouble seems to have spotted me for hunting season..most of my life mame" is all he said before sitting down and lighting antoehr smoke before taking a swig of his beer.
dsay headed off into the kitchen to wash the shirt and ask ran off upstairs no doubt to bed
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:04 am
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:43 am
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:18 am
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Chapter four
Dsay was tending to a customer who was the all too common quiet type... and she longed for krofts company even more... and if you think of the devil it shall read its ugly head and roar, because in the door walked Kroft a little worse for wear but alive none the less.
"Told you I'd come back alive " Kroft said smiling and stumbling over onto the couch wincing"
"what happened??" she said running over to him, she glanced down and saw the darkened blood on his shirt..."cant you ever for one day keep your shirt blood free?" she said jokingly but still with worry in her eyes.
"listen i just need to get myself cleaned up and then ill explain everything can you just grab me my bag please?"he said wincing as a sharp pain coursed through his body. Dsay brought him his bag and he pulled out a burlap sack with a strange odour emitting from it and a black dagger wrapped in a cloth." you might not want to look, its not the prettiest site" Kroft said wincing again. Kroft ripped his shirt off and tossed it in the fire, dsay peeked and her face went pale. The would which ran from above his belt to his shoulder was mostly black but the brusiing looked unnatural for some reason. Kroft took the dagger and carved along the outside of the wound gritting his teeth as much as possible but grunting in pain none the less.
he then reached into the bag and pulled out a green gooey substance and pressed it into the freshly cut circle around the large wound sighing at the cool releif.
he then rubbed more into the whole wound and dressed it with a long torn strip of a new shirt.
"ah i can feel it healing already, in 15 minutes itll be nice but itll scar bad." kroft said slouching back. Dsay looked in the satchel and her nose twitched."what is that stuff... and why are you rubbing it in your wound? she said scratching her head.
"its vesper essence, their an anti magic snake, their entrails have a strong healing essence, depending on the wound it can heal anywahere from 5 minutes to half an hour" kroft said... "oh and btw you have a bit of a problem with em, but kritter will get em no worries" he said lighting a smoke.
"wait... whos Krit-" all of a sudden a snake flew out of the shadows and snatched another that was silently lunging towards dsays neck, it slithered off into the shodows where a slight cruching was heard.
"thats kritter, the one that is eating t hat is, i found him by accident, had a vesper latched onto my arm and he came along and ate the thign right off my arm, hes been with me ever since"he said looking at the scar on his arm.
So they sat there chatting for several hours, eventually kroft was so tired he slumped down on the couch and fell asleep dsay was pooped as well and she ending up cuddling up close to him with his arms around her.
And at that very moment Kroft went from the lonly traveller to a man with more to fight for than honour.
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Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:17 pm
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Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:26 pm
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SO after a nice breakfast kroft kasa dsay and ask sat at a table. lightin a smoke and gettin comfy kroft looked around at the three ladies. "well last warning..this story isn't a happy one" is all he said for a moment.
Ok to start i come from the land of Valenia, the homeland of the elementalists. Like any land we had our share of bad apples but it was mostly a very peaceful place. Well it was the night of my 7th birthday my mother tucked me into bed as usual and i had soon nodded off. I woke up to yelling and screaming and i could smell smoke, i went to the room of my door grabbed the handle and it was burning hot. realizing i was trapped i jumped out the window, i went around the house to see it on fire. All i heard was the most blood curtling scream then my father came out covered in blood holding this odd dark sword id never seen before. he clicked me flying and i passed out. I woke up the next day in the infirmary and ran off to my house, which had burnt down, the onlt things that survived the fire were my swords so i strapped them on and searched around all the hiding places in the land for my father. Soon enough the local guard found me and i was detained and brought back to the kings throne room. In the company of all the nobelman of the land i was told that i was to leave the land and not come back until my father was dead and the evil that did this was vanquished. So taking a horse some rations and a sleeping bag i headed off. I've been following my father ever since, everytime i cuaght up with him hed have the towns people turned into devout followers in whatever sick beliefs he had. They'd turn on me so id have no choice but to kill them all, but he always ran. Until last night, he decided to face me. He got me good mind you, and ill have this scar to rmember that i must strengthen myself against my weaknesses, but i now know that the king was not talking bout my father when he said the evil that did this needed to be vanquished, my father was only a pawn in the greater scheme.
On my way back here i was confronted by a man that smelt of evil more than i ever incountered before, he knew who i was and said he was looking forward to the day we crossed blades. I went to a wiseman i had met on my travels and he informed me he knew who he was.
His name is Randall Flagg, known through history for appearing in times of great prosperity for the land, he thrives on suffering so he turns the weaker townships with his witchtalk and attempts to overthrow the land. I don't know how he comes back every thousand years but either way, i will take him down. I need to, not to avenge my father he was a fool who wasn't satisfied with his life and welcomed the power the darkness gave him. but to avenge my mother, the kindest woman ive ever known, so innocent she didnt deserve the agonizing death she recieved. so here i am, and now i just wait til i call upon my alliances with other races and sorts and build an army, one that when the time comes can stand strong against his forces and bring him down.
Krofts took the last drag of his smoke then butted it out in the ashtray. "So thats the story, told yeah it wasnt a happy fairytale"he said looking at the slightly shocked looks on their faces.
"well i will help, ill do my best because if i understand correctly this effects us too" Dsay said with a determination in her eyes that almost scared him.
So the four of them sat there chatting most of the night, and slowly kroft was feeling like for the first time in a long time he finally had somewhere to call home.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:27 am
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Kroft sat on the rooftop Seth playing with fireflys at his side giggling away while he thought deeply on the current situation. "So here i am, i now have a place to call home.. yes that brings joy to my heart, not feeling alone anymore.." he said scratching behind his ear absent mindedly. "But Seth its unsettling the guilt i feel in fear that one of these people ive grown to care about might come to harm at flaggs hand" standing up he stared at the treeline sensing a disturbance"
"krofty, me thinks that you will be victorious.. that many wil come to harm but none will perish at his hand.. you will stand in glory at knowing what needed be dones.. has been done "Seth said popping a firefly in his mouth and grinning so he looked like a jackolantern. Kroft laughed and smiled, " come seth some orcs seemed to have gotten lost and been stupid enough to come to our neck of the woods. With that the two leapt off the roof seth giggling as the firefly tickled the inside of his mouth.
Inside kasa and dsay sat at the bar talking.
"Dsay, are you sure... you've had it so long.. how do we know we can trust kroft.. i dont mean to say i dont.. but still, he seems like hes slightly on a suicide mission" Kasa said shrugging slightly. "Kasa... I don't know what it is about him, i look in his eyes.. i see so much, that makes me realize that around him yes danger will come.. yet we will be safer than if he hadnt come around" she said palming her necklace she'd just taken off. "Alright it seems like you've made up your mind already" she said shrugging slightly yet again.
The distant sounds of a battle roused the two from their conversation, dsay grabbed her swords and kasa followed more out of curiousity than anything.
They ran across the field and both dodged out of the way of a flying orc, theyre stared at the treeline as kroft and seth fought against a pack of orcs at least 50 deep in forces.
"Hey ladies come to join the fun " Kroft said ducking under the wide swing of one orc while impaling another on his sword with a smirk of effort on his face. Seth fluttered over and landed next to Kasa and climbed up onto her shoulder and smiled at her with the firefly stil glowing in his mouth. Kasa freaked and shrugged him off and he giggled as he hit the ground and the firefly escaped from his opened mouth. Dsay leapt into the air and came down on an orc that was about to attack kroft from behind and spun slashing the jaw loose off another. "Kroft you should really watch your back these are crafty lil buggers"she said perryin an attack and then advancing upon three stunned orcs.
Kroft swung his sword widly cutting clear through the armour of three orcs and kicking the last one off his sword since it had jammeditself on the tip of his blade. "Hun.. these orcs are childsplay compared to some of the nightmares ive faced... and that was without a blade to aid me" Kroft said as he crouched and jammed both his swords up through the torso of a large orc lifting him off his feet. "Never underestimate an enemy no matter how rudementary their attack style may be " Dsay said flipping over and orc and bringing her sword straight back into its spin and twisting it wincing at the sound of the spin splintering at the point of impact. "My foster father taught me that when i met him.. he made me repeat that until i could pronounce it clearly and decisivly no matter what i was doing" she said slamming the butt of her swords handle into the skull of an attacking orc.
kroft and dsay went on for a few minutes until the last three orcs when running into the words leaving their dead behind.
" Oh pray the goddess i dont want to smell like orc for the next week, i needto have a shower"dsay said running towards the tavern without a second glance at the corpses strewn all over the ground.
kroft glanced at kasa still standing there and wiped sweat off his forehead. "Well you might wanna do something bout these bodies there kroft, their gonna stink pretty bad once they start rotting " she said with a frown.
Kasa headed back towards the tavern without another word with seth hobbling along behind her unknown to her.
Kroft sheathed his swords and closed his eyes and silently chanted as flames flicked in his palms. "sure everyone leaves me to take care of the real dirty work" he said tossing fireballs at all the corpses then he headed into the tavern to bath himself.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:16 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:08 am
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So the months past, more members became regulars of the Inn and a sort of surrogate family was born. Sykes, Krofts informer regularly popped in with info on Flaggs progress as usual and Ez (kroft and Dsay's surrogate son) was doing really well in his training. It turned out he was somewhat of a druid he could communicate and manipulate nature to his own will, he just didn't like using nature for any kind of confrontation. Young Draka their surrogate daughter on the other hand had quite the ability with throwing knives (first day of training had kroft and Sykes running round like fools from her throwing knives)All was going well, until one day Kroft fell to the ground fighting back crys of pain when he spoke all he could manage was "Flagg, he's here.. somewhere" he found the strength grabbed his swords and took off out the door Dsay and zack at his heels. There standing at the edge of the woods, was Flagg grinning that evil sneer.
"Hello young Kroft, I thought I'd stop by and see how you are"Flagg chuckled looking kroft dead in the eyes. "You fool you dare come taunt me, What makes you think i won't just kill you now!!!" Kroft says through clenched teeth staring back unflinching into those cold dead eyes. "Son you wouldn't you're enjoying this waiting and tension building just as am I"Flagg said arsm wide open as if begging to be attacked,taunting kroft easily. Kroft let out a cry of anger and leapt through the air slicing his swords downwards and with a thud Flaggs arm fell to the ground severed from his body. Flagg swung his other arm and knocked kroft on his back and with a poof was gone.
Kroft in a cry of rage slammed both his swords in the ground to the hilt kneeling in front of them, crying in fear, crying in frustration, crying in mourining of the loss of lives thanks to this evil fool, but mostly crying in rage, at himself for not having ended it when he saw the change in his father, before Flagg had fully manifested . Zack and Dsay stood their hopeless watching a broken man shatter still more, there was no comforting him at this moment, foolish to try.
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:17 am
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:15 am
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The said caught in imprints of a large beast feet. Months had passed and kroft was almost there, by this time he'd even made the halfway point he'd realized the mission was folly. But having come as far as he had, and concidering what he left in shambles behind there was no turning back. The time to act was now. Standing at the crest of a sandstone ridge he glanced down into the never ending vista of a great plain. Littled around like godly refuse were all manners of creatures, unfortunate for kroft those were not allys. What would most likly only a minor if not moderate contingent of Flaggs forces were spread out, orcs, trolls giants. Darker beings that kroft couldn't recognize. All he knew was that he was probably going to die today. But he set out to try and end Flaggs reign and regardless of failure by honour bound he would at least die trying.
"Seth, once we're at the bottom of this ridge the time for salutations will have passed, so I just wish you to know your assistance and companionship will forever be cherished. I only ask you either see me to glory or at least see that they do not corrupt me and use me again all that which I've strove to fight for" Kroft bit his lip, blood trickling down as a wave of emotion hit him for the first time in weeks he thought of dsay, those peircing blue eyes, he now knew exactly what drew him to her, without having said a word he knew in his heart she saw him for what he was, all he was. and she respected it, admired it, loved it even. He could almost hear her laugh and once the wave of sadness passed a new burst of inspiration poured over him.
The pudgy lil shadowling hopped up ontop of the behemoths back gingerly and chuckled " Seems to me mr.kroft you forgots what i tolds you,I see many victories at hand for you, no loss of life. Your destined to raise that sword until your so old it would break your arm to do so" with that the shadowling slapped him across the face hard enough to know him off his mount and then began to laugh hysterically. Kroft confused and slightly angered turned with bloodlust, almost drew his blade and then clued in. "I see what it is you're doing. and i thank you now lets go see who can take more down" Kroft tucked his bedding and other belongings not required for the fight ahead in what must have been a Grizma den (oddly twelve legged lizard ) and checked his strappings, two shorts swords, four daggers. and the sword of which seth had spoke. Tapping into the arcane energies hed learned to so long ago he felt that surge of power. Taking a deep breath he bellowed out" You who side with the false prophet, the dark wanderer, throw down your arms or face thy wrath" with that Kroft along with his faithful shadowling seth and spike the behemoth pup ran full tilt down the ridge. The rumble of thousands of creatures lunging towards their quarry sounded like thunder, the impending doom would all end in a few hours of blood shed.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:22 am
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Little known to kroft his allys that had all gone seperate ways had found their paths crossing soon enough, slowly the group grew to its previous number. Sykes barely escaping flaggs clutches when he was found out as a double dealer. Dsay,Kasa Ez and draka all found they missed Kroft all too deeply, regardless of the dangers they were bound by love to be at his side and nothing would hold them back. Zack was the last to stumble upon the group. He knew the task kroft lay before him all to well and he had succeeded, the scroll of Alaenthor was where kroft had told him it would be. He'd also sent out as many of his many creature companions to search for the amour of Faelortithe, all the peices so far were found, except for one, they had figured out all of the pieces except for one, zack had his suspicions but he hoped they had not mis translated the information they stumbled upon. They followed krofts backtrail knowing they were gaining on him each day (mostly due to kroft having to deal with sentry groups meant to stall or stop him from proceeding) The tension and fear was obvious among them, some of them were hardly even come of age yet they were ready to bare arms for the greater good. The sun had just broken over a ridge and they swore they saw silhouettes that were all to familiar near the top, and then they heard it, the words charged their blood and reinforced the blood lust they had been afriad to feel for days, Krofts words rang in their ears and they ran full tilt up the steep incline hoping they werent too late, it seems the first real battle had begun.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:29 am
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Flagg sat upon his thrown chuckling, staring into a think acrid smoke rising from what had to be a hundred incense burning he stared into the cloud the image swirling before his eyes, everythign was going accoarding to plan. "this is almost tooo easy" he exclaimed with glee. "that poor boy, he's never really had a clue just how much harm hes doing himself with his foolish brevado, oh well the end is nigh and i thirst to see the fear in his eyes as i end his pathetic little life" A roar echoed throughout the ruined city that lay around the tower he sat upon. That blasted beast was almost more trouble then its worth, high maitanance, flagg was so used to killing those who couldn't swear fealty to him but this creature would do his bidding, it knew the cost all to well if it didnt.
He watched the battle through the bewitched smoke with first increasing pleasure and then bitter unease, his attention was brought to those he thought had left the picture all together, his pathetic mismatched family. His blood boiled and in a rage he sent a bolt of dark energy flying towards the nearest troll labouring along the street below, with a howl the thing began to disintegrate into a black ooze, but even that moments destruction did nothing to ease hisdispleasure, Kroft was supposed to come alone.
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