World of Arcecia

[Genesis]

Earlier that night....



“This had better have been worth it,” Fisk grumbled sullenly, his nose still throbbing. He’d had to constantly replace bloody wadding that he had stuffed up his nose to quell the bleeding, and it was just now beginning to let up. Earlier in the day, he was forced to close shop, seeing as he wasn’t able to run it with blood dripping down his chin. At least he didn’t have to go to the harbor to get seawater; he kept a large jar of it in a back room for cleaning wounds and for the occasional hedge-mage that came by every few months.

He was tempted to keep the little trinket that some bitter horseman had left him, but he’d found himself unsure on whether or not Orin would find out, so he decided to go on with it.

Fisk unwrapped the lead-coated skull and took a long last look at it before dropping it into the water. Lets see, he said I needed some… Fisk knew Orin had said something about coal and ashes, but he couldn’t remember which one he needed to put in with it. Thoughts muddled, he wandered off to his fireplace in the corner and picked up a cold black hunk of burnt wood. Coal. Yes… yes he said to put coal in with in with it. Whatever this thing is. Orin had also told him to submerge it at twilight, but he figured that a few hours into the night wouldn’t be disastrous. He was wrong.

Fisk submerged the skull in the salt-water, and waited. An iridescent teal glow emanated from the eye sockets, as if something was watching him. Rather malevolently in Fisk’s opinion. With a squeak Fisk fumbled the piece of coal and it plopped right on in. the glow warped into crimson and Fisk found himself soaring across the room in a burst of shrapnel and rubble. He never knew what hit him.

A ghostly form slowly took shape, but it never successfully maintained a solid image. It swooped down on Fisk’s dying body which twitched and writhed for a moment, before finally falling still. The image abandoned the corpse and went in search of it’s quarry that it was supposed to follow. And hunt it did.

[oracle]

(OoC: Hey Genesis, you should send one of those PM things to me, and tell me a little of what you got going on here, I bet we could work in some pretty good twists using this.)

BiC:

"If by accord you mean deal, then yes." Rynak responded, giving Dred a firm handshake, then he added to the lady, "I'm sure we can work something out with the king to assist you in reaching your home, though it may be tricky. I've studdied the geography in every direction from Naost for leagues upon leagues and I've never heard of a Brighton. Could be that it is pronounced differently than it appears on the maps I suppose."

Rynak turned back to the horses, and climbed aboard his horse. He hadn't managed to appraise the girl, but Rynak had worked with men like Dred before. He had the look of a criminal about him, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Rynak had used contacts within gangs several times before to make big busts. If you're going to beat them, you had to have a mind that could understand the criminal workings.

Rynak turned to the pair as soon as he was on his horse and held a hand out for one of them to take to get on. Another guard pulled up behind Rynak and also held out a hand. "We're riding southeast, about another day's ride. One of the army trackers spotted them at a hideout there."

[Axle]

The chap I rode with was nice enough. He asked too many questions though. He was a bit of a looker. He whistled a perky tune and would turn his head slightly to look at me every so often.

I asked, "What's your name lad?"

He smiled, getting a bit red around the ears as he answered, "Liam."

I asked, "How old are ya Liam?"

He answered, "Twenty one."

I asked, "You got a girl Liam?"

He chuckled, turning even more red in the face, "No."

I sighed, "That's a shame."

I looked over at Dred again as he turned in the saddle and looked back at me.

I asked, "Do you know anything about my friend over there?"

He shook his head, "Not much, other than I don't trust him."

I asked, "Mind if I walk for a while? This isn't exactly the most comfortable set up."

He nodded, "We'll be to the first camp shortly. Do not worry m'lady."

[Genesis]

They got going in due time, with Dred riding with Rynak. He kept his hood up and chatter to a minimum, asking Rynak about what they knew about their quarry from time to time. What they were, what they were equipped with, and when they had breeched the palace and ‘seized’ the crown (Dred still had his suspicions that someone on the inside orchestrated the burglary).

Every now and then, he would eavesdrop on the few conversations that would spring up between the soldiers. He didn’t glean much other than that they didn’t trust him… and that meant things could get out of hand in a bad situation.

Skye started a brief conversation with Liam. “…I don’t trust him…” Liam had said. At least the feeling is mutual. Dred had the feeling that Liam, though young, had a relatively cool head and wouldn’t pull anything stupid. But that was just a feeling, and feelings could not be trusted. By the sounds of things, they were going to stop soon and set up camp… idiots, their quarry likely would travel at night, so they would have to as well if they were going to catch them.

“Sir, if I may say something,” Dred decided to keep it polite for now, lull the captain into either security or suspicion, just in case. Rynak turned his head. “We’ll have to travel some extra hours into the night so we can catch up. If they make it to the sea, you’ll never catch them, as you know.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’m asking permission to go on ahead with one of your more experienced men, and get a little closer, learn more of their whereabouts. If we get good information, our little group could intercept them before they get to their destination.” Dred was planning on doing this with or without the captain’s permission, there was a grizzled fellow in the back of the train that looked like he’d go along with this plan. He didn’t necessarily want to leave Skye alone, but he figured that Rynak and his men would be more than a match for anything living that came along.

[oracle]

Dred got right to the point, and hunted out the facts. This was going to work, Dred could be an investigator like Rynak if he put his mind to something was becoming the Captain's apraisal. Rynak was fully aware of the distrust of Dred, but he knew that was typical mercenary versus guard rivalry. He also knew enough to know his chosen four weren't stupid enough to work against an ally.

As they traveled Rynak informed Dred of a few details they knew. The guards were killed likely with bladed or blunt weapons. Only the guards guarding the crown room had been killed, none of the guards around the king, prince or other dignitaries had heard a thing all night. It happened at night, and tracks outside the capitol led Rynak to believe the theft was carried out largely by non-humans. He had spotted some goblin prints (small green humanoids with a nasty temperament), some possible orc prints too, but outside of that the ground was too dry to detect any others. After explaining this to Dred, he also mentioned that he believed there was something bigger afoot than Synra had claimed.

Then Dred asked about trying to catch the bandits before they got away, after thinking for a second or two Rynak responded, "Well we will reach their camp by nightfall, I had intended to stake it out and see what we're up against, possibly launch a night attack. I don't know though. They have already had too much time to make a run for it. That being said they're still two days from the coast, there are some negatives to building your camp in the middle of the island. If you are worried about them packing up in the next few hours then I suppose it wouldn't hurt to send a small scouting group ahead. Jaek you up for it?"

"Sounds like a plan Captain." The rear guard responded and rode forward to await Dred's decision.

****

After Skye had gotten down Liam was quickly approached by Tsean, a rather skinny man for a guard, but one who always seemed to have a smirk on his face. "Flirting with the new girl are we Liam?"

"Whadya mean?" Liam looked at Tsean confused.

"Ha! As nice as you are to the women Liam I sometimes wonder whether it is kindness or naivaty. You know someday you could, just maybe, take a chance. Maybe the gal you take a chance on will be the right one." Tsean gave Liam a slap on the back, but Liam continued to give him a confused look until Tsean added, "Naost knows I've taken plenty of chances, haven't found a good one yet, but that aint gonna stop me from tryin'."

With that Tsean slipped away from Liam and back into formation leaving the youngest member of the guard very confused.

[Genesis]

Dred grinned at Jaek when they reached the camp and dismounted, “Keep up.” With that, Dred sprinted ahead at an incredible speed. Jaek spurred his horse on after him and they made good ground, even though the furious pace faded quickly. Dred just needed to run a bit.

They slowed after about thirty-seconds, but maintained a brisk pace for several hours. They traveled in silence then Dred motioned for Jaek to dismount and walk softly. Dred heard a fire up ahead, and saw a faint wisp of smoke in the swiftly fading light. Twilight, his favorite hour to work… and to play. Dred was hoping to get a decent meal, but he wasn’t sure that would be advisable at the moment.

Dred went off the road and crept through the scant number of trees off to the side. The thieves were smart enough to stay off the road, but no bright enough to cover their tracks. The damp upturned leaves led straight to his quarry’s encampment, and Jaek seemed to be going ahead of Dred. “Keep goin’,” Dred whispered, “I’m going up.” Dred scrambled up the nearest tree and hopped to the next. Seeing as they were almost branchless, it wasn’t extremely difficult, and Dred had worked hard to stay in practice in his free time. Which unfortunately, was most of his days.

Jaek crouched low behind a slight rise in the terrain and peeked over. Dred grinned, despite himself. The murmurs didn’t have to speak to his more primal desires, he was already feeling at ease with them. He hoped he could snag an orc on a late-night trip to relieve himself, but Jaek would have to leave soon. As long as Dred didn’t get caught by himself… Dred debated with himself on whether or not he would wait here overnight or if he should head back with Jaek when he left.

After assessing the situation, and realizing that there would probably be someone on patrol, he decided he should head back with Jaek. Still he could get to work on one of those sentries. Dred slid down from his perch and went over to Jaek, “I’m going to poke around and see if I can catch one. When the moon reaches its zenith, you head back if you want. I’ll probably head back with you. If not… well, then I’ll be doing what I do best.”

[oracle]

Jaek continued to move forward as Dred moved into the trees. In between the trees he could see a fire ahead, right where the reports said it would be. Jaek got as close as he could without being seen and took cover behind a bush. While laying prone he reached into his belt and removed some ink, a pen and a little bit of parchment. Basic stakeout proceedures in Rynak's way of running the system.

He began diagraming the camp, making estimates on distances. Notes about locations of the guards. He noticed the campfire was just outside a lone hut. He also noted that there was a fairly large number fo them and they were all pretty tight around the fire, they didn't look like tonight they would get caught off guard. There must have been a dozen or so of them. Jaek was most impressed by their discipline though. Not a single one of the ones guarding the outside perimeter moved. Constant vigilance. Now if only they could teach the daytime guard to do that.

When Dred brought his own request to Jaek, he responded, "All right. Don't do anything foolish, I'm going to report back to Rynak." Then Jaek slipped back into the night the way they'd came. When he met the rest of the group they were only a few minutes away from the camp, but the moon was high in the sky.

******

Squinch tossed another rat onto the fire. He was going to eat well tonight. The decoys were all in place, that Rhin sure knew how to operate. In just over three days Squinch knew the gang would be back, they'd divy up the loot they got from selling the crown, and the rest of the stash, and they'd all be rich. Squinch could return to his tribe a king with only his tiny slice of the pie.

It was dark now and the little goblin was tired, it was Slim's turn for guard duty anyways. Squinch did the rounds, checking all the "sentries" to see if they needed more straw. Those ducks, who in the world could ever guess the little bird people could be so meniacle and clever. Even up close the guards looked real. None of them appeared to be leaking straw so Squinch headed back into the hut, with his fried rat. Inside he signaled that it was Slim's turn via a swift kick in the side. Slim slipped out of the hut, and Squinch took his place, sleeping on their pile of loot.

[Axle]

Well, I knew this wasn't some nightmare. I was in the middle of nowhere with no idea where I was. I was in deep and I knew it.

Liam walked over to the fireside and handed me a plate of something. I smelled it and it smelled a little of old shoe leather.

He took a bite of his own plate and said, "Sorry it's not much, commanders don't usually keep really good food around. Took me ages to rustle this up."

I nodded, "Thank you, Liam."

He smiled in an attempt to be charming, "You know my name, but you've yet to tell me yours."

I answered, "Skye."

He added, "That is a beautiful name."

There was a bit of an awkward silence before he cleared his throat and asked, "So you an' that bloke..."

I shook my head, "You got it all wrong. He's taking me home is all."

He asked, "How did you get so far from your home anyhow?"

I answered, "I don't know. One second I was on the bus home, then I woke up in the forest. I work in London you see, its a good half hour back to Brighton..."

The young man answered, "I never heard of London either."

I laughed, "You must be kidding me. It's only the largest city in all of England. The capital, Big Ben, 10 Downing Street...really, you've never heard of London?"

He shook his head and I sighed, "Blimey...I must really be in the sticks."

He answered, "But I have heard of a great city called Englin. Could that be your home?"

I scoffed, "Possible, who knows. I've got nothing better to do than to check it out."

He nodded, "Then I will take you to Englin when our mission is over."

I answered, "Thanks Liam, I'm sure your mum and dad will want you home though."

He nodded, "They would want me to aid a lady in distress."

I said, "I've got Dred..."

He added, "Do not trust him Skye. He has killed many men, so I am told."

I answered, "I don't believe that. He's a bit weird, yeah, but a killer...I don't think so."

He started to say something when a dark figure melted from the forest.

[oracle]

It was late in the night when Jaek returned with the report, and took it immediately to Rynak, and told him the remainder of Dred's plan to slowly take out one here or there to make the job easier. Rynak took one look at the map, and immediately his face grew serious.

"They're dug in pretty good, and they've got us significantly outnumbered." He surveyed the sheet again, and finally announced, "I guess we'll just have to wait for Dred's status."

[Axle]

Jaek had nearly scared me to death. He'd been so quiet that when he came out of the dark....

I just let my heart stop racing as I tried to eat more of Liam's nasty food. I wondered when Dred would get back and how long I would be away from home.

Eventually I turned in, at least these chaps had a tent for me. It was really nice, as it rained that night, hard.

I just kinda laid there listening to the rain pour. I wanted to be home. I took my cell phone from my pocket. No signal, no great shock. Mum would be worried.

[Genesis]

Sorry it took so long. It isn't as detailed as I want it to be (I was going to get you into his head, and learn more of his lunacy but...) but seeing as I took so long, I'll throw it out here.



After Jaek left, Dred scrambled back up into the trees. There were more guards than he expected, and he was doubtful that such a large group could have gotten around anywhere unnoticed. One of the goblins strode up to one of the sentries and inspected it, but there was no exchange of conversation or anything of the sort. The sentry didn’t even so much as twitch or turn its head. That stuck a bad note in Dred’s mind and he grew a little suspicious. He decided to wait and see what happened, because they really could be heavily disciplined troops. But even the most devoted soldier dozes off while on duty. Unless it was dead… or worse, a golem. A minute later, the goblin went inside the crude hut and another stumbled out, and swiftly fell asleep.

After an hour and not even a twitch from the originals, Dred decided to get them moving… he hoped they weren’t golems, or things could get messy real quick. So he snapped the end of a branch off of the tree and did a quick sharpening job on it’s tip. Dred knew he wasn’t that great of a thrower, but he hoped to get them moving at the very least.

After taking a deep breath, he chucked it at the closest sentry, striking its foot. Dred drew his blade in anticipation, but nothing happened. Not even a twitch. Dred hissed despite himself. They most certainly weren’t living. But was that good or bad news?

Dred pulled the same routine, this time aiming for the snoozing one. The first stick missed but the second one slapped its face. The goblin started and lurched to its feet, spear in hand. There was a sword strapped to his hip, but Dred doubted that it would be that skilled with it.

It jittered more that a skewered beetle, and it glanced frantically back and forth, obviously confused. Dred decided to help it along but pulling out the polished stone he had obtained at Fisk’s and dropped it to the ground. The stone was smooth enough to reflect the flames, and to the goblin, it looked very much like some shiny piece of treasure that it had lost.

The creature still looked cautious as it crept forward. As soon as it reached the tree line Dred dropped down and slammed the but of the dirk into its skull… hopefully he didn’t kill it, cause he would like to know whether or not those sentries were decoys or golems. It dropped without a sound, and Dred slung it over his shoulder after retrieving his stone. Dred darted off as soon as the flames were out of sight, hoping that the sucker would stay unconscious for but a minute longer. If he could, he’d want to spread the flames, and smoke out the others that were in the hut. He paused, debating his next course of action. Logic told him to return to camp with the captive, but there was a powerful urge to try and burn that hut down, and recover what was inside.

After a moment’s indecision, he continued on his present course, sprinting now back to camp. He did his best to not simply shred the creature then and there. A serenade was building in his head, telling him to give in.

He never made it back. Actually, he didn’t even get that far at all. Dred played his favorite card; fear. The creature was dismembered in seconds, and Dred feasted on the stringy flesh. It wasn’t very good, but it was alive. The limbs got placed systematically around the site, while the head got chucked to the hut’s door; without the eyes.

[oracle]

The guards took shifts the entire night between sleeping on the ground and sitting around the fire watching for baddies, and more importantly Dred. Rynak didn't get very much sleep at all, even when it wasn't his shift. He had a contact out there, and that was always the most dangerous and tricky part of an operation. Hoping the guy off the streets could be counted on, and wouldn't get caught. Not that he didn't think Dred could pull it off, but it was tense waiting for him.

****************

Squinch was having a good dream. He returned to his village with his spear and some of the gold from the job. Then he challenged that stupid insect of chieftan they had to a duel, and gave him a good thwomping. Then the people showered him with rabits, and he flew over the oceans and saw the world below him. Long story short he was happily occupied when Slim's empty skull hit the doorway.


(OoC: Lousy post, but figured I'd move us along)

[Axle]

I woke in the middle of the night to a crash of thunder. I looked around. I could see Liam dozing beside the flap of my tent. He was a sweetheart, but a little young for my tastes. I lifted the back of the tent, making sure that young Liam was unaware I had gone. I wanted to go home, and I was going to go, no matter what. I took off in the direction Dred and Jaek had gone earlier that night. There had to be a town in that direction otherwise Dred would have come back already. I knew my logic was shaky at best, but I really didn't care at the moment. I walked through the dark forest for only about fifteen minutes before I decided it was a bad idea. I looked around, but I was totally lost. Bloody, I was in a tight spot.

[Genesis]

Dred scampered back to camp, far from exhausted, but growing a little drowsy nonetheless. He’d check up on the goblins in the wee hours of the morning. On his way back to check in with Rynak, he knew he was being watched by something. But when wasn’t something watching him? He ignored whatever it was, but mixed up his route a bit to avoid being tracked by a goblin or orc hunter. Dred could always escape in the unlikely event that they would be set upon, but then his next payment would be long in coming.

As he walked into the soldier’s camp, he wiped his chin with a handkerchief to remove any leftover blood. It wasn’t his best meal by any means but it was enough.

Rynak was lounging by the fire, probably waiting for him to return. Tsean was on watch and all but glared at Dred as he entered the firelight. Dred winked at him and sat next to the captain who jolted upward as if lying awake for his return. Was it mistrust or just eagerness? Dred decided at that moment to be watching his back. Rynak may seem honest, but Synra probably wasn’t. Dred knew the standard general type; polish off those that take away from your pocket book and ego.

“Sir,” Dred stated, getting right to the point. “I think that we should attack at first light. They’re undermanned and I believe that we can take them if we do it quickly and silently.”

[oracle]

Rynak suppressed a yawn, as he fought off drowsyness to listen to the long awaited report of Dred. He didn't like where this was going the reports contradicted. He supposed the best course of action would be to figure out why they didn't match though.

"Undermanned? According to Jaek's report they outnumbered us severely. Here," Rynak pulled Jaek's diagram from beside himself and showed it to Dred, "Now tell me how this is undermanned."

Rynak kept things calm and quiet, Liam, Jaek, and Fil were all unconcious and Tsean wasn't paying attention, and Rynak saw no reason to invoke a dispute in the party.

(OoC: Figured I'd name that last guard)