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Character: Raemos
Stage: Oblivionite Adept Mage
Level: 39
Luck: 54 (including Luk from long running apprentice hunts)
Creature:
1 x Mage Mara (35 exp each)
2 x Rock Mara (25 Exp)
7 x Metal Mara (30 exp each)

Success Rate:
Rock: 11-100
Mage: 21-100
Metal: 21-100

Won:
Mage Mara x1
Rock Mara x 1
Metal Mara x 4

Lost:
Rock Mara x 1
Metal Mara x 3


Total:

Mara Tokens x 6

238 exp

Iron Bar x 15
Plain Cloth x 2
Shattered Granite x 15
Copper Bar x 30
Bronze Bar x 30

In the aftermath of the Mara encounter, Raemos loaded the heads he could salvage and the scrap he could find onto the Kargoth. Scrap was always good, and the heads - he had heard - could be turned in for a bounty. He knew that money was something his family needed, now more than ever with the man of the house out of commission (and that was all, he hoped) - perhaps these mara heads would earn them enough to break free from their debt. Wouldn't that be marvellous! That debt had been hanging over them for over two decades now – longer than he'd been alive. He knew it was what Vona would have wanted him to do, though his sister sat silently on top of the Kargoth. Occasionally, she would pull on the reigns to keep the nervous kargoth still as he loaded it, so he knew she was all right. Her silence now didn't worry him - it was what she'd say afterwards that he was concerned about.

After loading up Betty and encouraging her to continue on ahead, they walked in silence. Raemos wanted to go home... he wanted to go home now. The mara had been a lot for him to handle and, alone, without his mother's kargoth, he knew he would be dead. Worse: he and Vona would have both fallen, and have been no more. He bit his lip, worrying at the thought darkly.

What if he lost Vona? What if he lost his mother and father? What if he himself died? It had been too close back there, and if there were even half as many wandering the desert as he'd heard in rumor and speculation, then he could run into more. Far more. Too many more.

How many he wondered, could I take? Yes. How many of those creatures - those weapons of war - could he take on without dying to their metal and stone?

"Raemos!" Vona's exclamation drew his gaze upward, "Raemos, You're injured...!" he looked absently down at his side. So he was.He had been too preoccupied to feel the numbing, dully throbbing, warm pain, or rather, he felt it and did not notice it. He shrugged. "Raemos, we have to stop... Betty, stop! Stop!" she commanded, pulling at the reins, "Lets rest here, Rae..." she pleaded, "Have lunch, some water..."

In the midst of the fighting, he had forgotten about lunch and its absence from their day. It had been replaced with a desire to get home as fast as possible, and to hell with his body's needs... But his body did have needs, and as he assessed himself, he realized he was hungry, and tired, and weakened. "All right." he said. He stopped walking. "All right."

They stopped to rest, Vona gliding down from her perch with their packed lunch and some of their water supplies. She didn't set out their food, though - first she went over and inspected her brother's wound. "Seren's light, Rae, this is really bad..." she said, her hands glowing faintly with her slight healing magic, "How are you still walking?!"

Raemos shrugged and smiled at her, tired. "I... don't know." he croaked.

Vona handed him some water. "Drink it, Rae." she said, looking back at the injury, "Just... drink it." she touched it again with her magic, and Raemos felt his flesh grow bit by bit, stretching over the wound and sealing it. He watched as she did so, wishing he could do the same, but alas his magic could not. "Raemos?"

"Mmm?" he asked, glancing up at her face. She was worried, he could tell. He could see it in her eyes and in the creases in her young face. She was in her 20s now, a real woman in her own right. "What is it, Vona?"

"Raemos, is this your life? Fighting things? Getting hurt?" he could see her bite her lip.

"Yes." he said, frowning at her, puzzled "Of course it is. I'm a Mercenary..."

"Raemos... How do you..." he heard her choke back tears. Tears? "How do you do it? I don't understand." he felt the sting before he saw the tear flow into his wound from her eyes. He put a hand on her soft, vulnerable shoulder, puzzled.

"How do I do what, Vona." he asked, soothingly. Why was she crying?

"The fighting, Rae. The fighting, the hurting, the people getting hurt..." Her hands shook as she finished disinfecting and advancing the healing of the wound - the best of her abilities as a healer. She looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes, "How do you deal with it, Rae? I don't understand..."

He shrugged. "I don't know." he said, "I just... do." And it was true. He had been through enough fights now that it did not register on the same level anymore. He was aware of the hectic nature of battle, and the harm it posed to himself and his comrades, and the very real possibility of a friend not coming out unscathed, or at all.

"Thats... I'm worried about you, Raemos." said Vona, wiping her eyes again and reaching for the bandages she'd packed, "I just... I really am."

"Why?" he asked, as she began to bandage his side, "I mean, I'm flattered, but..."

"Why?!" she looked at him with a look of affront. "You're my baby brother! That's why!" She sat back, crying, "You're my baby brother, and I want you to be safe!" she sobbed, covering her eyes, "But your fighting and fighting and fighting and... and..." she hugged him, "I don't want to lose you, Rae! I don't want to lose you, or Dad, or Ma..."

He patted her gently, wincing as she squeezed his injured side. "Vona..." he managed. He didnt know why he was surprised she cared. She was his sister after all, and family cared about each other. Even if their brother was a wretched, adopted embarrassment that your friends would never meet. Even if they had no soul to join you in the afterlife. "Vona, I'm fine." he said, gently moving her away from his hurt side, "And I'm going to be fine. So is Father." he wasn't completely sure about either of those statements, but he knew that she had to be. He drew back, and wiped a tear off of her face, "We'll all be fine, okay?" He gave her some water, "Drink up." he said, smiling, a mimicry of her command from before. He hoped she had been comforted, because he was not comforted himself. The smile was, thus false, but he wanted her to stop crying. He wanted her to feel better. He needed her to feel better. "I can handle myself, and I can protect you. We killed seven of them out there - seven. We did a good job."

She smiled, drinking the offered water gratefully. "Yeah." she said, taking out the fruit sandwiches she had so thoughtfully - and, he thought, cleverly – packed. He'd forgotten to pack food himself. But that was why he had let her buy supplies as well. "We... we did." her smile was short lived, "But you got injured, Rae, and... and thats not so good..." he saw her eyes drift to the bandages on his torso again, and he shook his head.

"Injuries are a part of fighting, Vona. I got careless, I got injured, and I survived. Thats all." he said, trying to be soothing, "It'll heal, thanks to your help, and I'll be just fine." he took a bite of the fruit sandwich, "I've gotten injured before - mmm, this is good - and I'll probably get injured again. But... - this is really good!-" he looked at the sandwich appreciatively, "But you know, I get less injured each time I fight. That means I'm getting better." he polished off the sandwich and licked his fingers, "Oh wow!" he said, drying his hands against his pants "What was in that?"

"Well, bread, cheese, honey, couple of different kinds of fresh fruit, I forget what..." Vona are her sandwich, "It.. it is good though! I'm glad I packed a bunch... One more?" she smiled at him, sharing the moment of finishing good food, before she handed him another, taking one for herself. Her expression darkened as she regarded the sandwich. "But... Raemos... One day... won't you get... unlucky?"

He had been about to take a bite. "Meaning what?" he asked warily.

"Well, you could be in a fight, and then the bad guys get really lucky and hurt you..." she swallowed, "And.. and hurt you badly..."

"You mean..." he said seriously, "What if a monster" or a bandit "Gets a lucky shot and strikes me down?" It was clear that he couldn't avoid the conversation any longer, and that a subject change wouldn't last. Which was a shame - he didn't want to talk about the possibility, to his sister or to anybody else. He didn't even want to think about it. But he was, and it was becoming unavoidable altogether. "I've thought about it, don't think I haven't. I've decided I'm not going to let it happen - I won't go down so easily." Never again he thought, remembering his early fights, "I keep my guard up, Vona, with magic wits and everything else. Why do you think that wound wasn't as bad as it could have been? Seren's light, Vona, a strike like that might have killed me! Do you think I don't know that?" he took a deep breath to calm himself down and stop the little thread of anxiety that he heard in his voice from infecting him before it could start. "...I have defensive spells, you see, on my armor and person, that deflect the damage from any lucky shots I might receive. So..." he took a bite of the deliciously sweet and savory sandwich, "I'm going to be fine, Vona. Really. I am." He wished he could be as confident as he sounded, but the words helped. And that was the point. As long as he was slightly uncertain, his guard would stay up. And he would, in turn, stay safe and make those words truth.

Vona looked down at her sandwich, "I believe you, Raerae..." she said, using his old nickname. He hadn't heard it in so long, and it struck him how far away he was from his family these days. It would, he realized, be good to be home, even with these events surrounding it. "Its just... Raemos, you realize... I've been in Ashen City for nearly nine years now... I'm a tailor, Rae, we don't get into that many fights. The last time I actually tried to fight something was... Oh gosh..." she hesitated "I think I was eight... or something. I had to be, because you were barely talking and I had to leave you with ma..." She ate her sandwich, her eyes distant and reminiscent. Raemos intrigued. His sister had fought? In all the time he had known her - his whole life - he'd thought that she simply wasn't a warrior. He had never seen her fight, or even go near a weapon.

"You fought?" he said, surprised, "Really?"

"It was a long time ago." she said quickly, finishing her sandwich and stuffing the rest of the picnic supplies back in their containers, "Really long. Anyway, we have to get going... My point was that I don't know anything about fighting and... well.." she swallowed, "I didn't realize how much I didn't know until... then."

He raised an eyebrow at her haste, but followed suit, helping her clean up their picnic and put it back on the kargoth. "I understand." he said, though he reminded himself to wheedle the information out of her. His sister- the warrior - now there was a thought. "Lets be off."

She insisted that he rest and ride on the Kargoth for at least a little more of the way, and he obliged her. He was tired, and besides, he'd rather be up on top than down below if they ran into more mara.

They rode in full, thoughtful silence for a while across the sands, until Raemos couldn't take it anymore. His sister was there, her warm presence familiar and friendly at his back, and he couldn't not talk to her, not when the alternative was waiting for home and imagining what awaited them there. "So.... you fighting... what did you..."

"Raemos!" she interrupted, and he looked back at her, amused - she was trying to misdirect him - it must be an interesting story. Or so he thought. And then he saw her face.

"What is it Vona?" he asked, noting how serious and wary she looked. She pointed and his gaze followed her finger.

"Raemos, are those... more?" she whispered. He felt her tremble against his back, and squinted at the shapes glinting in the afternoon sun. His mood sank.

"Yes." he said, loosening his wand at his hip and easing himself from the holding straps of the saddle. They were coming towards them, and he knew, with an inevitability as certain as the stone the monsters were made from, that they would attack. "I'll have to fight them off."

He felt her grab him, her grip surprisingly strong. "Don't go down there, Raemos..." she said, and he heard fear in her voice. He turned to look at her, gently removing her hand.

"Don't worry." he said, "I won't. I'll take them from up here." It was, also, preferable. He hoped they couldn't fly, because - as his side helpfully reminded him, taking them on the ground, face to face, had not been fun.

"But Rae..." she protested,"What if you fall? You don't have wings and..."

"Move back a little." he interrupted and he felt her presence leave him. "Open..." he commanded, nudging the switch. The enchanted, mechanical wings on his back unfolded, in all their ratty, patchwork glory. "...Close." he flipped the switch again, folding them back neatly onto his back.

"Oh." he heard her exclaim, "I forgot about those..."

"Mmm." so had he, for a while. They'd broken down, delicate shoddy things they were, and he'd had to repair and upgrade them. He'd unpacked them and put them on reflexively that morning, and then had forgotten about it until now. He hoped their levitation capabilities were still functional. "So you see, you don't have to worry..."

Except he did. He shifted in his seat and gripped his wand grimly, calling his magic to him as the constructs approached.

He saw the ground swell, and he recognized it - another wave of earth. "No." he murmured, giving the kargoth a kick, "We will not let them overrun us." He pointed his wand forward. "Charge!" he cried.

That Betty did charge had less to do with what Raemos had said than her own personal dislike of the constructs. She was not trained for battle, and so charging was not one of the commands that she knew. But she did not like these creatures: they smelled unnatural and they had hurt one of her own. With a trumpet of rage, she charged forward, and Rae brandished his wand.

A battering ram of magical power formed at his command, pushed by the kargoth. They barreled onward, a kargoth and two adepts, wreathed in semisolid shadow as they broke through the wave of earth and sand with a clatter and a rumble. Shards of fallen constructs scattering behind them. Rae cried out, feeling a ferocious feeling build inside him as he found the mage and engaged it in a magical duel, magic twisting in the air as Betty slowed to stomp on the constructs.

How easy a weapon can be turned against its master he thought, his magic twisting into it and snuffing out its life, How easily it can strike down the one that created it...

"Raemos!" shrieked Vona, and he turned, the dark, insidious thoughts banished for another time. "Raemos! Look!"

Apparently, they could fly: a metal mara hovered right next to him, its blade poised to strike. Raemos parried with his magic, drawing his sword as quickly as he could, nearly dropping it from fumbling. "Get to the side Vona!" he said, standing up, struggling to hold his balance as he grabbed a strap with his wand hand, "Get to the side and stay away from them!"

"Raemos! They're all around!" she cried, and he realized that they were. He parried the metal one that was duelling him and slammed a stone one to the ground with a heavy, shadowy, magic hand, crushing it.

"Damn it!" he shouted, shoving the metal one aside with a blast of magic, "We need to get out of here!" he sent out another bolt at one of the other mara menacing the kargoth's side. He felt Betty shake beneath him, roaring, and she realized that there were some at her feet as well. Had she been hurt? "Now!"

He grabbed hold of the strap and, with a whispered promise that he was sorry and would give her all the apples she could ever want if she would just get them through this, he pushed her in the behind with a magical shove. The kargoth ran, guided in the right direction by another magical shove, trampling over any Mara still on the ground as she ran towards home.

Once the kargoth started moving, it was difficult to stop her, and she built up speed as she went. Though that was what they needed, it made balancing difficult. Raemos tried to sit down and make himself more stable, but was stopped as he parried a sword strike - one of the Mara was still with them and, - he glanced back - the rest were still behind - too close behind.

He didn't have much chance to assess beyond this-is-bad, though - the fight was on. He parried its sword strike with his sword, feeling the strap begin to slip from his grasp. He glanced at it - he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. "Vona!" he shouted, as his fingers slipped. He parried another blow. "Don't worry about me!"

"Rae?!" she shouted, hanging onto her straps. She stared at him, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Don't worry about me, Vona!" he sent a blast of magic at the metal mara, pushing it away. He felt his grip slip away. "I'll catch up later!"

“Rae!” Vona screamed, as he was thrown off of Betty's back and into the open air.