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 Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 2:57 pm
"Guaaaahhh." Axel yawned as he awoke.
He tossed back his blankets and swung his legs off of his bed. He could smell meat cooking.
"Ry, you at it already? The sun's barely up." He called through the curtain that separated his room from the main room of their apartment.
"The sun's been up for an hour already, Ax. Get your lazy a** up and come help. We've gotta be downstairs in less then a half an hour." Rylander called back.
Axel pulled on his breeches and his tattered tunic and slipped on his boots. He slipped through the curtain and into the main room of their apartment. They had a few simple chairs and a table plus a lower table with seating mats and a chess set sitting on it. There were also a deck of cards, a set of dice, and a small collection of drinking cups in various shapes and sizes. Rylander's pride was his cast-iron stove and oven, though, and his collection of pots and pans that he used for cooking all sorts of things. He had needed to borrow from Axel in order to pay for it. But it had turned out to be well worth it. A steady stream of breads, baked things that Axel didn't even know the names of, stews, roasts, and other tasty things was always emerging from that stove.
"Alright, alright. I'm here, what do you need?" Axel asked as he got to their kitchen area.
"Set the table. I'm done." Rylander said.
"Grr..." Axel growled under his breath half-heartedly. He was sure he was going to get stuck washing the stuff when they were done too. He almost always did. But it was worth it since it was all so good.
The two ate their meal and made small talk for a bit, then Axel quickly washed everything down and set it out to dry. After that the two of them headed downstairs to get to work.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 10:07 pm
Ganner darted back a step and brought his sword up to catch the incoming spear from the bottom of the haft and lift it up. The goblin on the other end of the spear was thrown off balance when the much taller Ganner lifted his blade, and the spear, almost straight up. The ugly little creature fell to its back with a shriek in his high-pitched little voice. Ganner stepped forward and whipped his sword around in one hand, aiming the blade down and stabbed down into the little beast's chest. The creature gasped and jerked, but then flopped still as Ganner twisted his blade and yanked it free.
Ganner flipped the sword back around whipped his arm down to one side, flinging the blood from the blade. He checked his surroundings and saw that most all of the goblins had either been dealt with or were presently engaged. Then he noticed one rush one of his allies from behind with a spear. Ganner flung out his left hand and willed forth his inner power. He muttered an incantation that he related to the spell and made a series of signs with his hand and fingers, then pointed at the goblin. It erupted into flames.
The creature screamed and flailed about for a moment before falling to the ground and falling silent as it burned.
The man he had just saved, Garth, smashed the goblin before him across the head with his hammer and spun around to see what the noise was about. He saw the fallen, and still flaming, goblin and looked up seeking the source of the destruction. Ganner gave him a salute and a grin before taking off across the battlefield in search of his next opponent.
"Anything good?" Ganner called over his shoulder as he went around with a dagger collecting a bagful of goblin ears.
The group's rogue had found a chest behind the goblin shaman's alter and had managed to crack the lock a minute ago.
"Not really." The half-elf rogue, Diaz, called back. "We've got a bit of gold and a couple of little weapons. The weapons are... semi... ornate. We might be able to sell them for a bit. Can't expect much from gobbies, though."
"Got that right." Garth said as he walked over with his own bagful of ears. The large man walked over behind Diaz, clanking the whole way while his twin hammers beat against his cuisses with every step. Garth peeked over his comrades shoulder and took a peek into the chest. "Ah, it ain't that bad. Together with the reward for the ears we'll each make a bit of a profit on it. Nothing extravagant, but it's still something, eh?"
"Can't argue with that. I wouldn't say no to finding a chest full of gems and enchanted weapons and armor though. A man could live easy on spoils like that for a long time." Ganner said.
"Come on, Ganner." Diaz said, "You may put up a front, but you know you're in this for the cause."
"I won't deny it feels good to put an end to creatures like these that would harm the common folk." Ganner agreed. "But at the same time fine brews and finer women don't just pay for themselves."
"Bahahaha!" Garth laughed. "Speaking of which, where's Iali at?"
"Right behind you." Said the voluptuous elven ranger. "Someone had to track down the ones you let get away."
"Oops." Garth mouthed at the other two while his back was still turned on her. He turned around to face her. "Sorry about that Iali. Didn't mean nothin' by it."
The elvish woman gave him a cool stare. "You'd best not, Garth. I wouldn't want to have to attempt to educate you in propriety." She then turned about and walked away, but Ganner caught a slight smirk on her lips in profile.
"Well guys, I think I'm done." Ganner said. "You were planning to keep heading North for a while weren't you?"
"Yeah, my hometown's a little over a weeks trek. I wanted to visit my family and we'll be keeping an eye out for any dangerous beasts and monsters along the way." Diaz said.
"Well I'd rather not leave the area right at present. Sorry, but I guess this is where we part ways. Hopefully we'll cross paths again sometime though." Ganner said.
"No problem, thanks for the help again." Diaz said.
"Of course." Ganner said back.
The four of them then pooled their collected goblin's ears and they gave the consolidated bag to Ganner, along with a quarter of the gold and one of the semi-ornate daggers.
"I'll make sure you're share for these gets deposited in your account at the banker's." Ganner told them.
"We're counting on you, Ganner. See you later." Diaz said as the three companions disappeared into the forest.
Ganner turned back the other way and began his trek back towards the city, which was only a little over a half a days march away. It'd be night by the time he arrived, but that was just fine with him. It meant that the taverns would be alive with talk and drink. Which was exactly what he was looking forward to.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:44 pm
Leon stopped on the road to catch his breath. He'd been walking for the better part of the day and the pain from his wounds was catching up with him. He'd had injuries before, but nothing like this. During his fight with the dockers he'd recieved several lacerations on his arms. Some were deep and were still bleeding quite a bit. Those would likely need stitching. The rest were more shallow and had already begun to scab over. But it was during his subsequent fight with the blood hand that he had been dealt the more grievous of his wounds. Three spear wounds had made deep impressions upon him. The first had puntured the outside of his right thigh. Every step he took the wound pulsed with sickening pain. The second had gored him just below his left shoulder. This one rang out with pain with every breath he took. The third and final spear blow had penetrated his abdomen a mere inch, but enough to cause him constant agonizing pain. The salt in the air from the nearby ocean wasn't helping matters much either.
Leon took a few quick painful gasps, then looked up to take in his surroundings. He was on a dirt road not far from the ocean, with cool shading trees on either side of it for a stretch hiding the glaring afternoon sun. He decided to lean against one of these to check himself over. The brown burlap cloak he was wearing had become soaked through and caked with blood, and similarly had his pants and shirt. Many of his wounds still hadn't closed off and were bleeding steadily.
"Nothing I can do about it now." he thought to himself. He had to get as far away from Luskan as could before word of what he'd done had gotten around. Surely by now there were prices on his head from more than a few of the Dockers' many former allies. He attempted to pick himself up off the tree he'd set himself against only to find a great wave of darkness suddenly wash over him and a ringing in his ears drowning out the sounds of the lapping ocean waves. "Maybe I've lost more blood than I thought." he pondered just before slipping into unconciousness.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 11:24 am
Ganner continued along on his way, winding through the trees and humming a little tune to himself. He wasn't setting a particularly fast pace but he didn't mind. He'd rather make it back to town a bit later than make it there exhausted from pushing himself. Just then Ganner stopped for a moment and his brow creased as he took on a confused expression, he thought he had noticed something in his peripheral vision that seemed out of place. He turned and checked and found that there was a person lying at the base of a tree a little ways off to his left. And they seemed to be covered in blood. Ganner's confusion vanished in a second and was replaced with shock.
"Crap!" Ganner exclaimed as he broke into a sprint and came sliding down onto his knee's next to the person. He did a quick examination, revealing several cuts and lacerations and few puncture wounds.
"Hey! You! Wake up!" Ganner said as he tapped the person on the cheek repeatedly. When he got no response Ganner cursed under his breath. He swung his pack down off of his shoulder and quickly rummaged through its contents shortly pulling his fist back out bearing a small glass filled with a semi-clear red liquid.
"Damnit, this had better work. This is my last one." Ganner said.
Ganner grabbed the man's nose with one hand, pinching it closed, then pulled the cork out of the vial with his teeth. The mans mouth was already part way open in his 'sleep' and Ganner jammed the opening of the vial between his lips and partway into his mouth, pouring the contents out down his throat.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 1:22 pm
The red liquid trickled down Leon's throat. For a few tense moments there was no change in the eladrin's condition. Finally a little color began to return to his ashen skin and the deepest of his wounds began to scab over and stop bleeding. His breaths became less and less shallow and the pained furrows in his black tattooed brows relaxed and eased back into the smooth skin of a young elven man.
He opened his emerald eyes but briefly. Enough to catch a glimpse of his rescuer. The blurry outline of a man kneeling over him, the sun behind him, casting a brilliant halo around his form and a quick rush of wind blowing the leaves on the trees above the two of them, light flickering as the leaves and branches danced in the wind. This image settled into Leon's mind as darkness took him again, this time to sleep rather than to die. He let out a deep sigh and drifted into the land of dreams.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:35 pm
Ganner breathed a sigh of relief when it was obvious that the potion had taken effect, and had done enough to spare the man from death and aid him down the path of healing. Ganner finally took the time to really look at the man he had just saved. For starters he was not actually a man, or at least not a human. He was an elf. Possibly a high elf by his skin tone. His clothing marked him as being on hard time, or possibly having run with shadier crowds. His most distinguishing feature, however, was the mask tattooed around his eyes.
"Well, buddy," Ganner said more to himself than to the sleeping man. "I really don't feel like carrying you all the way back to town. And you look like you could use some sleep anyways. Looks like we might be camping here tonight."
Ganner pulled his bedroll free from his pack and propped it under the man's head. He also pulled the man into more of a laying position so that he could sleep a little more comfortably. Ganner then moved about the area, rifling through the loose leaves on the forest floor and the foliage until he found and collected several medium sized rocks. He brought them all back over by the sleeping elf. He swept clean an area on the ground and then arranged the rocks there into a circle, making a firepit. Again Ganner moved about the trees in the area and this time collected a stack of sticks and small branches that had fallen to the forest floor. He did this several times until he had made a decent sized stack in their impromptu camp site. He arranged several of these sticks in the firepit into a cone shape, though he did not bother lighting it yet.
Ganner went back to his pack, which he had left lying next to the elf, and retrieved some hardtack, a rag, some oil, and a whetstone. He walked back across the site to another tree and sat down against it.
"Not much to do now but kill some time til you're feeling better I guess." He said and took a bite of the hard travel rations.
Ganner unbelted his sword and began the laborious process of cleaning both weapon and scabbard and then sharpening the blade.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 3:15 pm
Leon felt a rush of terror as a group of thugs surrounded him, his mother and his father. "give me your coins!" one of them growled." His father handed over his coin purse. He felt a sharp stab of sadness and anger as the ruffians drove their knives into his mother and his father, leaving them lifeless and bleeding in the gutter. They laughed as they all ran away. His terror continued as he saw Jeraldo and several cultists drag Margaret onto the Altar. She looked up at him and pleaded "help me!" Then another stab of sadness and anger shot through him as they drove the ceremonial dagger into her back. The pain felt real, as if it were throbbing all over him. He watched as they drained the blood from her body into a small bowl. His stomach wrenched and his face paled. Jeraldo raised the bowl to his lips and drank, his stare boring deep into Leon's eyes. Then he smiled a sick demented smile as he wiped the blood from his mouth and took in a breath of air.
Then Leon found himself running through the forests. He was being chased by dark figures. He ran. His breathing was pained. He felt a stab in his leg as an arrow hit and took him down, hands and knees grinding into the dirt and grass beneath him. He turned to see a dark fugure looming over him, smiling a sickly smile. Leon felt more sharp stabs as the man sank his blade deep into his shoulder, and then his stomach. Then another stab, and another and another. He wanted to scream but he had no air. He couldn't breath. He tried again to take a breath and let out a scream but felt only the pain of suffocation. The man stabbed him again and again and his shoulder throbbed with immense pain. He tried again in vain to force himself to breath. The pain of it grew agonizing.
Leon gasped for air and stifled a scream as he opened his eyes and shot upright. It had just been a dream. A nightmare as terrible as the events of that morning... or was it that morning? What time was it?
Leon felt disoriented as he looked around for clues as to how much time had passed. He could see past the boughs and branches of the tree across from him that the sun was setting, leaving a pale pink and orange glow upon the clouds that lined the sky. It was nearly night time. He'd only been asleep for a few hours.
He inhaled deeply a few more times until he caught his breath. He could feel the throbbing pain in his chest, as well as the pain in his leg and stomach, and a sharp feeling of pain from his lacerated arms. He shook away the feelings of horror from the dream and looked around. He saw the dirt road, the trees and a group of purple iris he'd overlooked before. Then his gaze settled on the figure of a man cleaning and polishing a blade, He instinctively put his hand on the polished wooden handle of Ember's Kiss.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 3:58 pm
Ganner started for a second when the elf bolted upright out of his sleep. He lowered his sword and looked at the wounded man with concern worn on his face.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ganner asked when he saw the man notice him. He also saw the man's hand dart down to the handle of the dagger at his hip.
Ganner suddenly realized he was still holding his sword in hand and took up his scabbard, sliding the blade home with a smooth well oiled rasp. He still held the scabbard in his left hand, though, so he could draw the blade again if needed. This man had a wild look about him.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:04 pm
Leon drew his hand away from his dagger and rested back against the tree, looking up at the leaves and the faint stars dotting the evening sky.
"I'm no one of consequence. I take it it was you who gave me that healing draught."
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:07 pm
"Yes." Ganner said. "And I asked how you're feeling, not who you are. Though now I know that that seems to be a question you don't feel like answering. "I'm Ganner. And again I ask, How do you feel?"
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:14 pm
"I must have misheard you. I'm feeling fine" He lied as he tried to stand up. One of the scabs on his arm where one of the deeper lacerations had been peeled apart and a red line of blood trickled down his arm. He gave a soft hiss of pain through his teeth as he slumped back down.
"Alright. I guess I've seen better days. Ganner eh? Nice to meet you I guess."
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:34 pm
"Good to meet you too." Ganner said with a grin. "Certainly beats digging your grave anyways." He gestured to his pack, which still sat next to the elf. "There's some bandages in there if you feel like trying to wrap yourself up a little better. And there's rations too, if you're hungry."
Ganner stood and belted his sword back on. He looked up through the gently swaying leaves of the trees. The sky was darkening. He looked back to the young elf.
"We could attempt to walk back to the nearest town, but we'd soon be walking in the dark. I suggest we camp here for the night. I can take first watch if you want to get some more rest." Ganner said.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:45 pm
Leon hesitated before accepting Ganner's offer of food and bandaging. Rummaging through the pack he found a bit of hard tack, the bandages and a strip of jerky. He took the hard tack and the bandages but left the jerky. There was more wrapped up in the pack but he didn't feel like moving any more than he had to.
"The nearest town, if I'm not mistaken, is Luskan. I just came from there and I'm not to keen to go back any time soon."
He removed his burlap cloak, his breastplate and his shirt and he began to tightly wrap his wounds in the bandages. taking small breaks to take bites out of the hard tack bisquit or a swig of water from the grey and black waterskin at his side.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 4:56 pm
"I see." Ganner said. "Well in that case we might as well go the other direction. Some acquaintances of mine just headed towards a farming village a little over a weeks travel to the North. We're probably too late to catch up with them, especially what with you wounded, but we could take our rest there for a bit. And if they're still there we could team up with them and head out again for somewhere else. Better five than two, right? But I think that's more a matter for tomorrow morning."
Ganner turned to the firepit he had set up and made a series of hand gestures at it while muttering an associated word and the pit suddenly lit up with a small flame at its heart.
"There. That should keep us warm tonight and scare off most of the beasts of the wood." Ganner said.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 5:49 pm
Leon paused, suddenly intrigued. "You're a mage?"
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