Welcome to Gaia! ::

Darius had been sitting. Contemplating. All the events leading up to this were things that could end up in story books. If not under a page of glory, then a page of madness. He had to reason his way through it. No pieces fell together. It was a fairytale that defied all the logic he had learned throughout his life. he had learned of ancient human structures that had defied what seemed to be human capability. He had read a few records of men doing much more than their mortal bodies could hold. But those could only be stories blown out of proportion by years of retelling and rumor. These visions. This universal madness that had taken over the entire group. He had never heard of such a thing. Sure, men lost their mind every now and again. He even knew of cults that degraded people over time. Never, had he heard of an instantaneous strike of madness. Not one that lasted this long anyway. Every knight he looked up at the moon and saw the flash of a black fetus of a dark god suckling away on the lunar light. Its violet eye peering through his soul, lancing pain through his forehead. He would look away and it would be gone. But he knew it was still there. While he was with the others. He sensed wrong around them. Animal cries, whispers that rode the wind. Emotions of lust and power. He could feel the corruption of nature, something was not natural. He meant to find the answer, and fix the problem. These normal folk should not be subjected to such. Hell, he shouldn't be subjected to it. He looked over to his blades and his shield. He didn't know how much they would help him in this endeavor. How could steel carve through that which is beyond the natural order?

It was then that the arrows flew from the darkness. Darius shot to his feet, grabbing his two hander as he rose. He was disappointed to see most of his companions pretty much scatter and separate when the arrows came. This was exactly what he was afraid of happening. Several of the people in the group who he had not met yet died in the rush of wood and steel. Darius felt that white-fire fury that he had learned to wield build up inside him. He held his blade before him.
"You lick your mother's a*****e with your coward archer tongues? Get your asses out here and fight me like men!" Darius roared.
The insult seemed to strike hard with the ugly inbred toothless men who rushed screaming out of the darkness. Stupid bastards gave up their position. Darius charged the greasy, shoddily armored men. The first was armed only with a dagger. Darius dogged him to the left and brought his large blade around in full force, The man tried to stab out at him, but Darius had a much greater reach. His blade tasted the blood and was hungry for more as it sank three-fourths of the way through the bandits chest cavity and was wrenched out, sending the broken body flying. The next man was a little tougher, Having a full sized blade, the man lunged into an attack. Darius barely brought his blade up to deflect it. Much to the luck of Darius, the man was scrawny, and underfed. With a quick twist of his blade, he wrenched the sword from the mans hands and swung his blade around his head back into the man's face. The trees were painted with his brains and bone fragments. More men charged onward. Others realized that they had not actually seen enough combat to fight a man one on one who had extensive combat training. They rushed him in a mob, others shot arrows. Darius ignored the pain that rose up from the wounds he received. The bows they were using were quick made, mostly for hunting. They did not gather enough force to penetrate his leather armor. But if one reached his face he would be gone. One found it's way into an opening and snuck into his shoulder. He growled as he met the onslaught. He did not count the men he killed. Their blades did cut through his armor. They reopened the wound he had gotten in Orsin Vear. He ignored it. This was his life he was fighting for. He could not let them kill him before he found the answer to his problems. He made is way through the men, not killing all of them but injuring most of them, he did not have time. Darius was furious. He scanned the darkness, a smile came to his blood covered face when he saw what he wanted.

The man was standing in the shadows with a smile on his face. This would be the leader of the group. Sitting back, watching. The mind who thought it all up would survive if things went wrong. To go round up more stupid men to attack the innocent. Then the man noticed the large, blood covered man roaring and charging at him. At first he was surprised. Then he shrieked and tried to wrench out his sword. Darius didn't give the b*****d a chance. He cut open the man's midsection, his organs spilled out steaming onto the forest floor. Darius brought the blade around again and cleaved off one of the man's arms at the shoulder then kicked him in his open gut, knocking him on his a**. The man shrieked in fear of death, and Darius spit at him. He spun around to meet the bandits he had failed to kill and still had the energy to try and get him. He raised his blade, but his strength was draining. He deflected the first blade and shoved the man away with a thrust of his shoulder. Another man knocked Darius's blade from his hands. Darius growled and grabbed the man's wrist and neck, using him as a shield for the onslaught of blades that came at him. The men were shocked that their blades met their friends flesh, and one of them slipped on the guts of their still shrieking leader. Then realizing who the dead man was, they began to question the intelligence behind continuing their current course of action.

The men ran away, leaving Darius holding the corpse of a bandit. He knelt down. He was too tired to keep this up, he knew he wouldn't be able to wield his two hander effectively. He took several deep breaths. Acknowledging the ache in his body, then pushed it away. He forced his blade into his hands, and dragged it behind him. Looking for his comrades.

Nox listened to the man's words without interruption and said "Well I guess I could let you live, but I'll give you this before I go." he then quickly spun the man into the air and slammed his knee into the man's abdomin, hard; the boy's glowing eyes the only visible part of him during this. After Nox dashed away disappearing into the darkness.

As Nox weaves his way through the trees he spotted a man with a longbow hiding in a tree; so the boy took some of his shurikans and tossed them at the man sitting in the tree and watched as the expertly tossed spinning blades buried themselves in the man's chest and throat. A few moments ago Nox would have just disabled the man, but bloodlust had taken over young Nox's mind and his normally merciful nature was wiped from his being leaving a beast that craved the blood of it's enemies.

As the man fell from his lofty perch Nox silently made his way to the archer's corpse, and picked up the man's bow; It had a finely crafted shaft and looked very powerful. The boy decided to keep the bow and give it to Lucrezia or someone who needed a new bow with a bit more power than the standard hunter's bow. Nox was off again after having looted the bow and quiver from the dead bandit and retrieved his bloody shurikans from the body.

Nox had made his way back to the camp many of the bandits had stained the ground with their alchohol saturated blood he saw a few straglers and flung shurikans into their skulls, then Nox came upon Darius near the camp's edge with blood seeping from wounds obviously inflicted by the bandits in an attempt to bring their strong leader down. Nox made his way to the man quickly his eyes having lost their glow and returned to their normal emerald green. "Darius, you look like Hell. Need help?" the boy asked placing a hand on the mercenary's broad shoulder.

Jacob's face reddened even further when she removed her tunic so it would be easier for him to remove the arrow. He turned his face slightly and shrugged off his cotton jacket. Using the arm's of the coat, he gingerly wrapped the cloth around her upper torso, then tied the ends in a knot. "That should be better than your tattered tunic, for now anyway."

He could hear the laughter in Talia's voice when she allowed him to treat her. This lifted his worries, but not for long. Just as Jacob was leaning in to treat her, he saw Talia's face contort. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong however he didn't even get the chance. The inertia of Talia pulling him, and it's unexpectedness, caused him to face plant into the snow. The bottle he had been holding now leaking it's contents. Pushing himself up on all fours Jacob shook his face vigorously, freeing his face from most of the snow. His face twisted into confusion, as he rescued the rest of the medicine, when she bellowed at him to run. "What are you-" He didn't finish his sentence; he could see what she was ordering him to run from. There was no way he was going to listen.

Jacob stumbled to his feet making bits of snow scatter. He reached for the sickle at his side but it caught on the seam. He grunted from the effort, but his own sound was masked by Talia's. Jacob looked up, quickly forgetting about readying his weapon. Stepping back out of the way, he watched as if the scene in front of him was in slow motion, a shadow zooming down and striking the bandit without a moments hesitation. Blood spraying high into the chilling air, even the snow soaked up the life liquid as it spread wider, framing the bandit and his killer.

His own body was frozen in shock, he had been very sheltered all of his life, even when the monsters had taken to the town, his father and him hid in their basement. He had only joined up with this group as they were leaving the village's edge. Now in little less than an hour he had witnessed more bloodshed then in his whole upbringing. He had killed a man without some much as a regret. Before today, the only time he had ever killed was for dinner, and that was just small animals, like rabbits. Watching this stranger rip into the bandits flesh made him realize just how real everything had become. Jacob felt strangeness inside of him, it churned and gurgled. Something clicked inside his head, he came to the realization that now was the time to become a man, he could no longer sit by and be the little boy that felt comfortable in his mental bubble that told him everything was alright. It sure as hell wasn't.

Jacob stiffened when the man stood, finally able to see the man's face more clearly, he recognized that is was a fellow traveler. He furrowed his eyebrows when the made gestured if they were alright. "Uh...I guess...we are fine. Thanks" He was still stunned by Tamaro's attack style, though very grateful at the same time.

Talia crossed his line of sight and he started to reach out, to tell her that she really shouldn't be walking. Then he recalled that it was her shoulder not her legs that were impaired Stupid He scolded himself.

The lines on his face hardened but he said nothing. Then she addressed him, wanting the arrow out. He gently guided her back into a sitting position against the stump.

"This is going to hurt." Stretching his fingers, he took a deep breath and grabbed the end of the broken arrow that was poking out of her skin. He started to pull and fresh red liquid bubbled over the old crusted blood that had dried when the wound was first made. Taking a deep breath to steady himself he yanked harder and pulled the wooden projectile free. Jacob quickly tossed it aside, grabbed the torn cloth and wrapped it around her shoulder, above the open sore. Crap, I should have done that first. He tied it tightly, "This should slow the bleeding." He poured the rest of the liquid medicine onto his hands and rubbed it around her whole shoulder. "This should help with the pain and help it to heal." Lastly, he tore another strip of cloth and this time wrapped it directly around the wound, to keep if from getting infected.

As he continued to apply the medicine, he turned to the other man. "I don't think we have officially met. I am Jacob, John Delencort's son." While he was speaking, a small mark started to appear on the back of his hand. It was a the same twisted symbol he glimpsed earlier. It was so faint that maybe it was the trick of the light, maybe it wasn't even there at all. At the same time a warmth spread from his fingertips to his wrist. He shifted his eyes back to his hands, unsure of the source, must be from Talia's body heat. He left the matter alone.

Jacob sat back on his knees to examine his work. He rested his hands at either side of him, his knuckles grazing the snow underneath, he was surprised that he wasn't that cold. "Do you need any help with wounds?" He lifted his face to look him up and down, searching for obvious abrasions.

Darius shook his head slowly when the young martial artist asked him if he needed help. His wounds began to let him know that that was a close fight. None of the wounds were too deep, but there were many of them. He had one on each shoulder, one in his gut, one on his forearm, several on his legs. He wanted it to be because he was sloppy as a reason to train more, but he knew that there was nothing he could have done. He was sore, that was reason enough. He had not seen enough battles lately he assumed. Ragni asked him if he was growing old, Darius just gave him the finger with a grin. Killing bandits, defending against men who would take without earning, he felt no remorse for the battered and broken bodies he had left in his wake. They had meant to kill him and his companions. While he didn’t consider himself innocent, several of these folk were. He looked around and saw the blood on their hands. There were several dead. Those who were not as lucky. It was funny how fate decided who would live and who would die. He thought about reprimanding them for scattering when the assault happened. But realized he didn’t have the energy, nor did he really care. He honestly hoped they would never have to practice combat again. That this would be the one time for chaos. He found himself a stump and laid his blade beside him. Not even exactly sure what to do. He thought now would be the perfect time to sleep. He doubted most of them would be able to considering what they had all just gone through. He ran his finger along some of his wounds. Trying to gauge their severity. It didn’t appear he would have to go through the flesh searing torment that Ragni subjected himself to. He knew he should probably clean them, but was too tired. He felt the strength drain out of him, and his vision began to fade, darkness crept in around him……….

Wormcatcher Edward sat in his big wooden rocking chair, his feet in a bucket full of earthworms. He took a long draw on his pipe, the sweet tobacco grown in the fields of Barro never seemed to taste better than when the cold clear embrace of night settled on the countryside. He ran a hand across his wrinkled stomach, and stuck a finger into his navel. He had fed well that night. A man had come to his shop looking for fish bait and paid the worm catcher copious amounts of money for it. Eddie didn’t know why he did, he simply did. Eddie was a business man, and a businessman doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. The worm catcher rewarded himself with a fat cut of beef and potatoes smothered in gravy with a side of worms. He couldn’t deny himself of the perfect source of protein. He grabbed his tankard full of cornmeal alcohol and took a big swig. Tomorrow he would get up and work extra hard. Not let today’s good luck go to his head. He assumed the man was just generous. Maybe he just really was excited to go fishing. Eddie didn’t care. He rocked back into his chair.

“Are you Edward Nevarine?” Inquired the voice of a man who stood in the dark dusty path leading from Eddie’s shop. Eddie didn’t even notice the man approaching. He was clad in the tabard of the Grand-Lord Eilgard of Barro, the crest of a mountain lion. He was armed, but if he was a man of the law that was to be expected. Eddie kept rocking in his chair.

“I am indeed sire, Most around her call me Wormcatcher Eddie.” The Wormcatcher’s wrinkly face was filled with a smile.

“Might I ask why you have your feet in a bucket Wormcatcher Eddie?” Inquired the man.

Eddie cackled and nodded, taking another drink. “Sure! Most people think it is silly, but boy oh boy you can not get a better foot massage than having your feet in a nice bucket full of worms! Especially ones from here in Barro! The soil here yields worms of great size, strong little buggers. It really does feel good! Would you like to come join me?”

The man held up a hand and grinned. “No thank you. I came to ask you a few questions. On official business.”

Eddie scratched his balding head. “Well of course sire, anything I can do to help.”

“A man came through here earlier, and bought worms from you. That man was the Lord Eilgard’s son to be truthful. Apparently your worms were worth the amount he paid because the boy caught a lot of fish!”

Eddie nodded excitedly. “I do have the best bait in town!”
The man laughed. “Well, I come because now his Lordship would like to go Fishing in the morning, and he was wondering if you would come up to his estate and discuss a deal with him.”

Eddie nodded. He couldn’t very well deny an invitation to the Grand-Lord’s estate. He was tired, mildly drunk and it was late. Nevertheless, this sounded like his luck was getting even better!

“Alright, just give me a minute and I will get more suitably attired.”

The ride to the estate was a quick one. Several miles, only took about an hour. Eddie had passed by the wall around the lands before but had never actually been into the estate itself. It was a great honor to get the attention of the man who oversaw all of Barro. The gardens that surrounded the castle were lush and vibrant even in the darkness of night. Armored men saluted them as they made their way up the cobblestone path to the gate. They entered and the man lead Eddie to what appeared to be the dining room. The Grand Lord himself sat at the head of the table, alone eating what seemed to be a feast. The man was chubby, as was to be expected from a man of his station. The man never had to do anything but politics, a position he was born into. He was always a good man. If not just a little too snobby for Eddie’s taste. Eilgard motioned for Eddie to sit across from him while he finished chewing his food. Eddie sat and waited.

“Edward! Master Wormcatcher. I thank you for coming to see me at this hour.” Eilgard said after forcing some meat down his throat.

“Please my lord, Eddie is fine.” the worm catcher said with a smile.

The lord nodded. “Open that envelope on the table before you Eddie.”

Eddie looked down and saw the envelope on the placemat in front of him. He complied with the order and his eyes widened when he saw exactly what it said. His heat beat faster and he felt little beads of sweat forming on his face.

“But sire! That’s almost enough for me to retire with!” Eddie sputtered.

The Grand-Lord nodded happily. “Your getting old Eddie. You have served Barro well, it is time you are compensated for your time. I just want you to say it is okay and my servants will go and gather the amount I want while you sit and enjoy this fine meal with me.”

Eddie felt almost speechless. He nodded while choking out “Of course I agree, but sire, not wanting to be rude, but I already had my meal for the night.”

Eilgard smiled. Then looked passed Eddie and nodded. Eddie turned to look at who Eilgard was nodding at but instead he was bashed over the head with something and his vision faded rapidly. Voices were heard, but to muffled to make out, Eddie tried to cry out but could not. What happened? What did he do?

Some time later

Eddie awoke and shrieked. His whole body was immersed in a swarming pile of worms. His face poking out from the writhing mass. Naked and standing atop the mountain of worms was Eilgard. Eddies eyes rolled around and saw the corpses of the Grand-Lord’s family. Eilgard was covered in splatters of blood, and his eyes were wide with madness. Draped over his shoulders was the biggest lizard Eddie had ever seen. He knew that Eilgard was known for his collection of rare species, and he assumed that this was the Iguana that he had heard about. Then Eddies eyes fell on the wicked curved knife in Eilgards shaking hands. The man started croaking like a frog and kneeled on the pile of wiggling flesh. He sank down and let the lizard climb onto Eddie’s face. Eddie let out a muffled scream as the thing bit his nose. Then there was suddenly a sharp pain as the long knife pierced through the flesh of the lizard and into Eddie’s open mouth. Slicing open the sides of his throat, blood gushed into his airways. The knife was yanked back, the lizard fell from Eddie’s vision. Eilgard raised his hands and a basin suspended from the ceiling spilt gallons of blood onto the pile. Eddie blinked furiously to get the blood out of his eyes. He watched in horror as Eilgard sank the knife into his own chest while laughing.

The Grand-Lord cried out in triumph. “I have done it! What you have asked! BLESS THIS WORLD WITH WHAT I HAVE WRAUGHT!”

The fat man fell dead, and as Eddie died, he felt something latch onto his ankle, sharp pain shot through his body as he was yanked under the pile. Thousands of teeth clenched onto his body. The last sound he heard was a roar the blew out his eardrums, and he was devoured by flame. Wormcatcher Eddie was no more.

…Darius awoke with a start. It seemed not only a second had passed but he had witnessed what took hours. He had felt all the emotions and thoughts of Edward Nevarine. He tried to rise but all of his wounds seemed to come back and pain him all at once and he sank back to the ground. Was it a dream? Was it a premonition? What could that possibly have been? He shook. He had felt the man die. It was horrifying. What was beneath the worms. It was more than one thing. Something devoured the man.

“What the ******** was that?” he asked to no-one in particular. He felt like he was going to pass out again. He shook his head to try to wake himself up……