[CLASS QUEST] BarAmal | Page 1 | ◈ Archives | Guild Forums

Suhuba
Captain

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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:49 pm

This Quest is for BarAmal who is striving to become a Archer.

OOC
||. The quest prompt must be answered with a 2000 word reply (can be more).
||. Respond to the prompt given with an adventure of your own creation as long as it meets the requirements of the specific tasks.
||. NPCs may be used as long as they advance the quest in an interesting manner.
||. You cannot include any playable characters other than the quest taker.
||. Your responses will be graded with a Pass or Fail. Those who fail will have to continue with assistance from the staff.
||. Questions about quests can be asked here.

IC

BarAmal hadn't been in the forest long before he heard a distinct sound. It was the sounds of screams and the sharp pinging of a sword against something hard and solid. Following the sound, it only grew stronger and more frantic before he would find that it was an Oban woman, dressed in soldier garb pinned under the crystal legs of a massive Menzuri spider. Her sword was gripped in one white-knuckled hand as she continually slammed any part of the sword she could on the beast while her other hand held back the poisonous fangs that were coming closes and closer. Without the use of both of her hands though, she was hopelessly out of her league with the tough crystal hide of the menzuri.

She looked toward BarAmal, her eyes pleading for help before she would be killed by the menzuri spider. Would he answer her cries for help and save her?

Quest Tasks
||. This quest should result with BarAmal making a choice: does he save the woman, or does his hate for Oban soldiers get in the way.
||. BarAmal can choose to help her or to leave her there, it will not effect whether he passes or fails.
||. If BarAmal chooses to save her, she will thank him and reward him with whatever it is he would ask of her.
||. If BarAmal chooses to overlook her, she will either die and her body found by BarAmal or will somehow live and come to seek vengeance on BarAmals decision.

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:41 am

BarAmal was still feeling the loose of his own bow as he looked down at the common bow he had fought with in the battle. It was a decent enough bow but there was no way that it could ever replace his bow. While contemplating this he heard the first scream. There may have been more before but his thoughts had held all of his attention until that point. Taking off before he had time to even fully process that he was running into danger could be running into. It was only when some vines tangled his feet and he landed hard and looked up that he saw what was happening. Before him a large crystalline spider was bearing down on an oban woman. At the oban he instantly felt a coil of revulsion build in his stomach. Yes peace had been called but the damage they had done and the lives they had taken were still fresh in BarAmal’s mind. Her orange eyes locked onto his in while she flailed helplessly beating on the creature with no real effect on it. Menzuri were dangerous creatures as it was to be cornered like this was akin to being dead already. BarAmal scrambled to his feet feeling a hatred looking at the women but also a sense of pity. The muscles in his shoulders were tense and a tingle of fear ran at the base of his spine while the adrenaline overran his system. She was an oban she deserved to die. Still there was something about the way she was looking at him. It was almost like looking at his mother or that hybrid girl who had been taken by the guards at the camp. Guilt and revulsion were at war with one another inside BarAmal. A good part of him wanted to walk away but he couldn’t seem to get his feet to obey that. Instead the traitorous limbs took stance as his arms joined in the revolt. As he drew back he wasn’t certain if he should attack the spider or the woman. She was likely dead anyway and it would put an end to her suffering so those pitiful cries would stop assaulting his ears. The bow waivered as his hands shook trying to take aim. One of the spider’s sharp legs knocked the sword from the woman’s hand leaving her defenseless and making BarAmal’s choice for him. A wave of calm washed the fear and guilt aside steadying his hand and his heart.

Twsk! The arrow launched forward quickly with a clang as it struck the spider’s hide and bounced off to be followed by another as soon as possible.. The first two the spider didn’t even take heed of with it’s prey so close, The third shot must have began to get annoying though for the beast finally backed away from the woman who was shivering still clearly in a panic and after half a heart beat she was scrambling for her sword in the roots. BarAmal moved trying to avoid the vines that spell his death if the crystal spider caught him in them. So it went BarAmal would fire arrows and dance trying to evade the angry spider. In truth he hated obans and wished them all away or dead, yet he had not fallen so far that he could stand to see an unarmed defenseless woman slaughtered. In his mind’s eye the face of the oban began to overlay itself with that of the hybrid and the woman of his own home in Isd. It was due to this he had targeted the spider and now wondered if they were both going to die because he was too stupid to run. Reading himself to begin to retreat once more after firing an arrow he was surprised when his feet wouldn’t lift from the ground. Looking down he cursed himself. He had found the very edge of the spider’s webs! The damn beast had herded him. Quickly looking up at the spider he noticed it slow it’s creeping toard him. Frowning he reached to his quiver and took stock of his options while his heart picked up its already frantic pace.

He had six arrows left and doubted it would be enough to take on the spider. A shout behind him made him freeze in alarm as a whooshing noise came close to him. A hand grabbed painfully hard onto his arm nearly jerking him off balance and the wonder of his feet being able to move again was low on the list of curiosity with the grinding noise of a very irritated menzuri behind them. Following the caramel hand up it’s length he realized it was the oban woman. She had sliced the web holding him and now was fleeing along with him. A small voice in the back of his mind offered up a thought wondering how many others would have simply fled so perhaps not all obans were as bad as he had tnought? That voice he told to promptly shut up and die in a fire. Obans took slaves and they had been taking land that was not theirs. They had killed and would not have stopped had it not been for their precious little foolish nobles being taken during the battle. Even so he kept running with the woman until they were both out of breath and far far from the spider’s den. They had been lucky it was but one menzuri because had it been a whole nest they would have likely died. The woman was on her knees breathing hard her sword loosely held in her grip shivering hard. She didn’t look like the kind that could possibly kill or harm anyone right now she was just scared and half sobbing possibly from shock of the situation just as he was shaking and leaning against a tree to prevent himself from ending up on the ground as well. The spider was far behind them and he doubted it would travel so far in search of prey that was not worth the trouble it would cause for the beast.

After a time both she and he managed to compose themselves, their breathing had steadied and the supise at living had left both with something of a grin. BarAmal was trying hard to suppress his by biting down on the inside of his cheek. The woman hugged herself and giggled for a bit before calming down. Standing up she looked at him gratefully making BarAmal feel strangely guilty. He wasn’t certain why but he was. Perhaps it was because he had saved an oban, perhaps because he had been tempted to let her die, perhaps both. Either way it hardly mattered. Her voice was soft but strong when she spoke to him. “Thank you for helping me. I thought I was going to die back there. I had been tasked helping to rebuild in Neued but we ended up lost in the forest.” She looked a bit bashful then her face turned sad while she remembered and told her tale. BarAmal listened how she had started with a group of three others headed to Neued when they had gotten lost and ended up over a Wadani nest. The group ended up scattered and she had found the crystal spider who had decided that she would make a fairly good meal. While she told this story she started to shake a bit. The right thing to do would have been to pat her on the shoulder and tell her it was alright and to offer to help find the others. BarAmal however could not bring himself to make such an offer. Instead he shrugged and agreed it was a harrowing experience. She grinned at him still shaking slightly and thanked him again before asking what she could do for him in appreciation. He was tempted to tell her to turn around and head back to her homeland because she and her kin didn’t belong here. What stopped him from saying such was how haggard she still looked and how even if she went back she might well worry for those whom she was separated from. He understood only too well what kind of pain such worry would twist to pain soon enough. Opening his mouth to say she didn’t owe him anything but some arrows his words stopped as she slumped forward. Catching her he was surprised and shocked. Turning her over so he could see her face he noticed for the first time she was flushed and breathing hard. Had she been poisoned by the menzuri at some point? He didn’t know much about their venom other than it made one see things. Laying her down he moved to hack down some vines with her blade after checking they weren’t the kind to choke the life out of what came close. BarAmal bound the woman’s hand and feet so she wouldn’t hurt herself or him and checked her quickly for injuries. He found several cuts and scrapes that could have been made by the spider. He washed them out the best he could but wasn’t certain what else he could do for her some bark in certain trees held medical properties but he didn’t know which trees or how much to add. The venom would claim her life or she would fight it off and survive. He was no healer and was too to easily carry her back with so much of the dangerous forest between here and Neued. He had only six arrows left and if something attacked them here during the night he wasn’t sure he could even keep them both alive since after that he only had her blade for defense and he would likely cut off his own arm before doing any serious damage with it. The woman’s shivers turned worse and she began to mumble. Much of it was gibberish but there was a name that was said clearly and with some considerable fondness. Belviar. Perhaps it was the name of her lover, or a child. BarAmal didn’t know which nor did he really care. Darkness was falling and he had to find a way to create a shelter for them. Slicing a few more vines he wove them into a larger hammock. With the woman hallucinating he didn’t want to leave her alone in a hammock to fall and hurt herself. Thankfully so far she was just babbling and not flailing, but how long with that luck really last? Deciding not to test it he lifted the woman off the ground and then climbed in himself.

Night fell and for a while the woman’s mumbles turned to screams as whatever she was seeing turned dark. Unsettled BarAmal did his best to sooth her and it took some time for her to settle back down it was then that he removed the bindings that held her thinking she had finally tired herself out for good that night.. Once she had done that he allowed himself time to relax but still didn’t let himself sleep with every noise in the forest making him twitch and feel more than slightly paranoid. The oban’s shivers came and went while BarAmal prayed to both his father’s moon goddess and his mother’s deities of the land to keep them safe and living until dawn. What was more surprising than that was what else he found himself praying for. Against all odds he found himself actually praying for the life of an oban to continue rather than end for once. “You asked what you could do for me. Just don’t die. I’ve seen too much death fighting against your people already. Stop it right now and just don’t die.” Sitting there that night he remembered the pain and the loss that he had seen and what he had felt. For the first time he also looked at the loss those on the other side must have felt. This was a new view for him and in truth a part of it scared him having been the cause of death for some of those who had fallen. "Please don't die." Small tears fell into the woman’s hair while he thought and while he mourned silently for them all on both sides. Holding the shivering frame close to his while he kept his night vigil and the dawn greeted two heartbeats rather than one. Both had been born anew in some sense, one stronger for fighting a poison introduced from the outside while the other a poison that had been born within itself.