"Some people like the lull..."

TristanKnight · Aug 25, 2003

Tristan passed serveral people, the one armed warrior was one of them. He led Misa to the abbey, where a guard said that animals were not allowed inside.

"This animal belongs with a patient of mine inside, it must come in."

The guard didn't put up too much of an arguement, and Tristan led Misa in the door.

Quiby · Aug 26, 2003

Hikaru watched as the minutes-old llama fought a mostly losing battle to stand on her own four legs, as her mother looked on and made noises, which could only have been encouragement. It took Hikaru a few moments to realise that she was receiving an almost taunting reminder of her youth, courtesy of her own subconscious.
“Misa,” she whispered to herself, remembering the day of her companion’s birth as if it were yesterday, although with all the events of the day, even yesterday seemed distant.
Somehow, as she watched the newborn llama wobble its first steps, the troubles of Yew seemed too far distant to trouble her.
“What was that?” asked a voice; belonging to someone she hadn’t noticed standing there, although she instantly knew who it was.
“Nothing, father,” she said, smiling.
He reached out his hand to rest it on her shoulder, and then he was gone.

She reluctantly opened her eyes, knowing that she the dream had passed, but still holding out hope that she could return to her father’s side. A long, protracted sigh escaped her mouth as her eyes began adjusting to the light, and focusing beyond her eyelids.
A smile curled her lips, and a tear ran from her left eye, once she had realised what it was she was focusing on.
She tried to sit up to make greeting the llama a little easier, but the pain in her stomach gave her a rather blunt reminder of why she was lying down in the first place, instead she reached up and massaged the llama’s ear.
“I was so worried,” she admitted, as more tears flowed from both eyes, “I’m so glad you’re alright”
Her expression hardened a little, and she shifted her attention to Tristan, while still petting Misa, “How goes the fight?”

TristanKnight · Aug 27, 2003

Tristan smiled and looked down to Hikaru.

"The fighting has stopped. You should both be safe here until you are a little better."

Tristan patted Hikaru's knee.

"I'll be back in a minute, there are others here who still need attention."

With that, Tristan moved to another table, then to another...

Lord Kishkuman · Aug 27, 2003

Gad Stopped for a moment and looked at the undead monster and gave her a crooked smile as he said, "What? Would you like me to make nice with the boy and be friends?"

Gad glanced at the stub where his right arm used to be and putting on a more serious face added, "I'm afriead there is a bit too much blood between us for that. On both sides."

Quiby · Aug 27, 2003

“What are you doing here?” she asked, staring into the cold blue eyes of Xylon. Strangely, she no longer had to look down at the creature; making her seem that much more intimidating.
“How would I know that?” answered Xylon, reflecting the sort of smile typical to the girl at the inn, “this is your dream”
Hikaru looked down at herself, finding herself wearing loose-fitting coveralls that reminded her of her childhood, explaining why her voice was so annoyingly high, and how it was that she stood eye to eye with the creature. She was a child again.
“You look so sweet as a child,” said Xylon, breaking the silence, “whatever happened”
“You know I’d never tell you”
“Ah yes, this is true,” agreed Xylon, “but truth be told; I already know”
Hikaru let out a sigh that sounded almost like a growl, “then why did you ask?”
“Common courtesy,” explained the creature, “you’d no doubt have started crying again, had I just brought the subject up, I’m a part of you, remember?”
“Enough!” spat Hikaru, finding that she held a bow in her left hand, and an arrow in her right, invoking memories of her father’s training.
Without so much as a pause for thought, she notched the arrow, drew it back and let it fly with the sort of accuracy only possible in a dream.
Xylon scarcely blinked as she plucked the arrow out of the air, moments before it pierced her eye.
“This is the part where I’m supposed to attack you,” smiled Xylon, “as I deliver my killing blow, you wake up in a cold sweat, and Tristan comes over to comfort you.”
She turned away, dropping the arrow to the ground, “forget it,” she said as she walked off, “when it comes to good deeds, I draw the line a long way before it gets to matchmaking”
She waved her hand dismissively, and Hikaru found herself back in the barn of her previous dream, watching a familiar newborn llama taking its first struggling steps.

Xylon’s expression grew cold, “Then we will meet again,” she said threateningly, leaving no question as to whether she would avenge the boy’s death.
She turned and walked away, deciding that she should stop delaying the assassin, before she felt compelled to break the truce she had invoked. Should that happen, she would be honour-bound to turn herself in to the guards; “to enjoy their hospitality”, as she had put it earlier. Such a turn of events would no doubt anger her master beyond reason, and as such was probably best avoided.
It seemed to her as if the retreat was now successful, and so it would be acceptable for her to depart at any time; although she had one last bit of business to attend to before she could leave.
“I must speak with whoever is caring for the elven boy,” she stated, addressing the guards at the door to the abbey. She had no desire to break, or provoke someone into breaking the truce, and so she tried to remain as unthreatening as possible as the guard considered her demand.

Quiby collected some clean cutlery from the relevant draw and picked up the stew. It wasn’t the finest meal she had ever prepared, but resurrection was a good way to describe the preparations that had been necessary for the stew; she just hoped he wasn’t some kind of stew connoisseur.
She backed out of the door with the plate that held the stew and a pair of rolls in one hand, and the cutlery in the other, and brought it swiftly to the man’s table.
“I am sorry it took so long, sir,” she apologized with a small bow.

Lord Kishkuman · Aug 28, 2003

Zeazrom thanked the girl and ate quickly. After paying he left the Inn. After thinking about it he decided to not go to Buc's Den. He decided to go visit Mistas. If the elf boy was from the lost elfish city in Ilshinar then he could get more information from the Juka City.

As he was leaving the Inn he noticed another human walking toward the Inn. The man was wearing spined leather armor with the symbol of compassion over his heart. The man also carried a sheathed sword with the symbol of compassion on the hilt.

As soon as the man entered the Inn Zeazrom quickly mounted his Swamp Dragon and rode into the forest. Not far from the Inn he was met by his juka body guards.

"Change of plans," Zeazrom said as he put on his chaos dragoon armor. I need a couple of you to intercept some of the archers on their way back to the dungeon. Tell the archers they are ordered to watch this inn from the trees. If they have good shot at any warriors arriving or leaving the inn without putting themselves at risk they are to take the shot. Lastly if you see my undead slave I want her to go to the dungeon and wait for me. The rest of you will come with me to Mistas."

____________________________________________________________________

Gad stepped out of the shadows back at the Inn. He walked over to the table that the Knight of Compassion had sat at, "Well, well the Knight of Compassion. Don't tell me your city is in trouble again and you need the brat to save you again?"

The young man turned to the one armed assassin and froze, "wha... what are you doing here?"

" Don't worry I'm not here to kill you, I was only keeping tabs on that Chaos Dragoon Elite that just walked out of the Inn as you entered."

The man gave a fearful look at the door then turned back to Gad, "Where is Kysh? So help me if you have harmed him I-"

"You'll do what? I know the Sword of Compassion forbids you from harming people. Besides I have decided to allow that boy to live for now. You'll find him in Yew. Now if you excuse me I have a Chaos Dragoon to stalk."

Saying that Gad walked into a shadowy corner of the Inn and seemed to just fade into nothing.

Quiby · Aug 29, 2003

Quiby knew that eavesdropping was nothing short of extremely rude, but with ears as sensitive as hers were, it was often impossible to avoid overhearing conversations. This was especially true something bad was mentioned, or something was said that triggered her memory.
She froze at the kitchen door, her left hand resting on the sturdy wood, ready to push it open. The mere mention of Chaos Dragoons brought the identity of the smell that had set her hair bristling to the forefront of her mind.
“Swamp Dragon,” she whispered to herself.
Her efforts to prevent her right hand from shaking with the shock she felt were admirable, but it didn’t change the fact that even her better hand wasn’t strong enough to do what she was asking of it indefinitely. She didn’t notice the tilting of the plate until the weight of the bowl and cutlery had removed themselves from the plate.
Quiby let out an admirably restrained yelp of pain as the bowl hit her foot, which was woefully unprotected by any manner of footwear, and subsequently broke into a number of smaller pieces, liberally coating the fur of her foot with leftover stew.
Her memory chose that moment to remind her that there had been unfamiliar voices behind her, which probably meant that someone had entered while she had not been looking. She put as little weight as possible onto her left foot as she turned to the bar, noticing the man in the spined leather armour, and put the now-empty plate on the bar-top.
“Good day, sir,” she said, with a smile that she hoped covered up how much her foot was hurting at that moment; after all she couldn’t run the inn if people were insisting she sit down and take the weight off her foot.

Lord Kishkuman · Aug 31, 2003

"Yes... umm. I was actully looking for a young elf named Kysh. I heard that he might have been involved in a recent battle. Would youknow if that is correct?"

ooc-Sorry I would have written more but I have to plan a 2 lessons for sunday school tomarrow one of them somewhat large and my parents are coming back from vaction tomarrow so it's a busy night.

Quiby · Sep 2, 2003

“I do not know where he is for certain,” she explained, “he left earlier today, but I do not know where he was going.”
She shuffled forward a little so that she could rest on the back of the bar, regretting the act of putting weight on her bad foot about as much as she’d regretted anything else in her past.
“I hear that there has been a battle in Yew, and he has not returned, so I think perhaps he is there”
Her attempts to hide the concern for her friends, who had probably been caught up in the battle, were admirable, but ultimately unsuccessful. Part of this was the reaction of the feline parts of her anatomy, and partly because she was just bad at hiding when she was worried.

Xylon waited impatiently for a moment as the guards exchanged glances. It was pretty obvious she be more likely to last a day on Dagger Isle without her body freezing completely solid than she was to get the guards to escort her, one of the enemy, into their field hospital.
“Do not think that I will break the truce that I formed myself,” she said coldly, without looking up, “especially when I am so outnumbered”
She took a step forward and reached up to the handle on the heavy door, putting what little weight she had into opening the door, which was quite superior to her by a number of times when it came to weight.
Nevertheless, the door yielded to her persistence eventually, and opened wide enough for her and her wings to fit through.
As her left wing brushed against the door, she reflected on how easy it had been to get past the guards; she’d been harbouring visions of having to be escorted by at least four guards, but instead she’d been able to literally walk through the door.
Then it hit her.
She couldn’t tell exactly what it was, only that it was large, heavy and blunt.
The force of the blow did untold damage to her previous head injury, as well as throwing her balance to the abyss.
She hit the floor moments later, fighting the urge to carry out the retaliation her instincts screamed at her to do. Whatever had happened, and was about to happen, she would do everything within her power to keep up the truce on her end.

Elowan · Sep 7, 2003

Elowan and Aravel rode through the trees to the battle. As the forest thickened, they realized that they may need to abandon their horses and continue on foot. They considered for a second, weighing speed against manuverability, but a Jukan arrow that hit Elowan's horse in the neck answered it for them. Soon arrows were coming out of the trees. Elowan caught sight of one of them. It looked like an orc, but it shot too well. Their movements in the trees and their shots were ordered, disciplined.
"Jukans!" Aravel shouted.
So that's what they were, Elowan thought. He scarcly remembered them, but now he had to think. Aravel had his shield up, and arrow after arrow shattered or ricocheted off of the hard steel. Elowan had his sword and his bow, but no shield. It did not matter, the forest was his shield. He climbed a tree with the ease and speed as if he ran up some stairs, and moved around, seeking individual targets. When he saw a Juka, he picked it off with his bow. Soon Aravel, still on the ground, saw Jukas with arrows sticking out of them falling out of the trees. But then a Juka fell out of a tree and landed on its feet. A big one.

This one was quite over 300 pounds, without armor. Hard muscle was evident everywhere on the lizardlike, ugly creature. It wore strange armor, designed to be effective and to show authority. But the look in its eyes was enough, that and the huge sword strapped to its back and the large composite bow in his hand. It slowly drew and arrow and fitted it into its bow, drawing back fully. Aravel redied his shield. All he had to do was block the shots and close in on him.
CLANG!
The sound filled Aravel's ears. The arrow had hit his shield, gone through it and pinned it into the tree next to him, pinning Aravel's arm to the tree and rendering him immobile. The Jukan Lord calmly took another arrow out and drew back, but one of his minions falling out of the tree five feet from him distracted him for an instant. In this instant Aravel took his hand out of the shield straps, and left the shield on the tree. He ran toward the Juka with his sword, and the Juka threw down his bow and took out a huge greatsword, with half of the blade on one side serrated. The first swing Aravel blocked, but the strike shook his arms and rattled his bones. Aravel's strength was not to be underestimated, though. He slashed and stabbed at the large seven foot creature, who was taken aback by the man's abilities. Aravel just needed one good stab, and he could freeze the Juka by the inside out and make his heart shatter. He saw how large the great blade was and thought that if he could get inside its range, too close, then he could make the weapon unusable and get his shot in. He slashed overhand, feinted to make the beasts sword get out of the way, spun and stabbed. He got it in! It was only one or two inches deep due to the hard armor and hard abdominal muscles of the juka, but that was all he needed, now he had to concentrate on freezing its blood. This was not to be so.
The now enraged juka slammed the butt of his sword on Aravel's head, dazzling him. He picked up the man by the neck and pinned him to a tree, choking him. Aravel was dazed, but his senses came back and made him realize he wasn't getting any more air. His sword was still in the juka, but barely. If he could just reach it...
The juka roared out in pain and surprise as a hot line of pain coursed over his back, following where Elowan's blade had slashed him in the back. He let go of the dazed Frost ranger and turned on the weak elf, who was now 15 feet away and readying his bow. The shot hit him in the chest, but it only made the juka madder. A second shot hit him, with the same effect. The juka lord kept coming. Elowan took out his ******* scimitar again, and steadied it as if to use it as a pike against the charging beast, who did impale itself on the sword, but still didn't die. Elowan's back was against a tree, and to his front was a dying, but still alive (if only for a bit) juka. Its clenched fist was raised in the air, ready to crush the ranger's skull. But this was not to be so.
Aravel slid under the juka, gripped his own glacial sword, and concentrated with all his might. The power of the sword turned the juka's blood to ice, freezing it in place and delivering the final blow that sent the juka's spirit to the halls of its ancestors. Elowan and Aravel slid out from the juka, who was still frozen in place, the same look of defiant fury in its lifeless eyes. The remaining juka needed to regroup and get a new commander.
"I think we're even. I saved your life and you saved mine," Elowan said.
"True. T'was quite the fight! Alas! The brute has destroyed my shield!" Sure enough, Aravel's shield with the snowflake emblem was still pinned up to the tree, held by the arrow.
"And one of them took my horse. No matter, I pity the beast's death, but I seem to go through horses quickly. How long have you had yours?"
"Blizzard? He's been my companion for half a decade."
As they collected their gear, some of which was thrown on the ground, Elowan noticed the juka's bow.
"Something good may come out of this fight after all," Elowan said. "Hark, a bow from a juka lord had extraordinary powers. If I can find a skilled bowyer, he can modify it so that it can target a certain brand of creature. I can have a bow that slays orcs with half the arrows!"
"You don't need it. You're enough of an orc slayer by yourself!"
Elowan laughed lightly, and they both set out to Yew again. The wounded needed help, and the jukas needed death!

(OOC

My posts may not be short, but they sure as hell are sweet and to the point. My point is that there should be more action! C'mon, lets stir things up some more! Got any ideas, Kysh?

Lord Kishkuman · Sep 7, 2003

When Zeazrom entered Mistas he at once went to the prison. He was looking for the head guard. Mantias was born amongst the gypsies of Ilshinar and new the land better then any human in Mistas.

As Zeazrom walked up to the aging guard Mantias looked the Dragoon up and down and said, "Well, well Zeazrom. Still alive eh? Still waging your war aganist that land you dragoons came from?"

Ignoring the old man's questions Zeazrom went straight to the point, "What do you know about the elf boy that killed the Necromancer of Ankh?"

"Ahh yes that boy and his friends made quite a stir here. I here the boy has a talent for fighting and more then that is an animalist."

"Animalist?" Zeazrom had never heard of that term before.

"Yes an animalist. He has a very old and rare magical connection with animals. It's very similar to the power the Meers have to summon animals but is a bit different. There are three parts to this magic and I have heard this boy has learned to use all three. The first level is to simply speak with animals mind to mind. The second and a bit rarer is the ability to summon and willing animal to him althrough in doing so he leaves himself open to attack on himself. The third level that has only been reported a few times in the history of this land is the ability to change his own body to any creture he wants. From what I hear the only creture this boy has turned himself into is a taller, stronger, uninjured version of himself. Yet legend has it that if he was to change himself into the form of a magical creture that he has phisically touched then while in that form he would be able to use the same magical powers of the form he is imatating.

"I've also heard that his wepon and robes work the same way. So-" Mantias was suddenly interupted a juka warrior came into the prison being followed by a group of Meer and Elvish prisoners."

"Ahh right on time," Mantias started, "I heard they were bringing prisoners from a raid on the Meer. It would seem they got some elves from one of the hidden cities. If you want information you may want to talk to some of them."

Zeazrom looked at the Meer and Elves as then came in. His eyes settled on one young female elf for a moment then turned to Mantias, "How much would it cost to purchase these these prisoners and take them back with me to the Dungeon Wrong?"

"Well, I'm sure we could work out some type of arrrangement," Mantias replied with a toothless smile.

____________________________________________________________________

Neph thanked the the young lady for the information then left for Yew. Arriving in the Abby Neph saw dead, dying and injured people. Walking up to a man with many arrow wounds Neph drew his sword the symbol of compassion gleaming a moment. Suddenly a guard called out, "You there! With the Sword! What are you doing!?"

"I am helping the wounded. Don't worry if I attempted to harm anything with this sword it would forsake me, "and without saying more placed the hilt of the sword on the man's body and as the sword began to glow the mans wounds vanished. The man didn't move and Neph continued, "The Sword of Compassion can heal any wound but it cannot restore blood, energy, or life. It is up to the man now if he will live. I will begin seeing to the rest but I have a question. Would you know where I could find a young elf named Kysh?"

ooc- ya we need to get this going. As far as action don't think Zeazrom is even close to giving up. September is a hectic month for me as a Boy Scout leader and other church responsibiltes not to mention I'm still job hunting but I'll really try to keep up. I do cheack once a day so if you guys kep posting I'll keep up no matter how short the posts are.

Quiby · Sep 7, 2003

Quiby smiled and bid the man safe travels, taking care not to reveal her slight annoyance at having people coming in, asking questions, and leaving without ordering anything. Although it was fortunate for her that she had at least a little time to clean the floor, and her foot; she didn’t like mess.
She lowered herself down to a half-crouch, taking the weight off her left foot in the process, and began picking up the larger pieces of broken bowl

Xylon mentally kicked herself as she stared at the heavy bars that made up the door to her cell, everything seemed to have been going well, at least until her confidence had gotten the better of her common sense. As if it wasn’t enough for her to be distracted by the thoughts on her mind, and the recent reacquisition of her sight, she’d had to compound it with foolish behaviour.
She had no doubts that word of her capture was spreading like wildfire through the ranks of the guards, and before long she would have scores of guards coming to stare through the bars of her cell.
It was such an undignified reward for her efforts against her master, and like so many times before in her unlife, the cloud that kept her life in shadow had no silver lining.
Above all else, she just wanted to be able to move, but instead she was stuck in a sitting position against the wall; her arms manacled above her head, and her ankles bound together with a lot of rope. She reasoned that escaping from the aging restraints was well within her power, but she doubted that it would avail her anything.

Quiby · Sep 13, 2003

Quiby cast a quick eye around the inn and decided that it was unlikely that anyone would need her immediate attention too soon, so she removed herself to the kitchen.
The fur on her foot was still damp from where she’d washed the remains of the stew off, but in her haste to return to her duties running the inn, she had done little more than to wash the fur, and so the extent of her injury was still largely a mystery.
After a little probing she was none-the-wiser, but then she had never been much of a healer of anything besides hunger and thirst, but she suspected that maybe she had broken something, which would explain the large amounts of pain she was in quite well.
“When it rains,” she sighed, “it pours”
It was a small consolation that she wasn’t bleeding all over her fur, but that didn’t make the pain seem any less.
With an initial wince of pain, she limped back to the door and returned her attention to her job, maybe serendipity would direct a healer towards the front door, but she had no doubts that she would be in pain for a while longer.

Xylon was quite disturbed at how bored she was with her confinement; after all, she had previously remained motionless for days while waiting for her master’s command. But now, after an indeterminate length of time, playing the good prisoner, she was tempted to try and escape just to break the monotony.
Her boredom wasn’t helped at all by her desire to see her sister again, especially since this time around she would actually be seeing her, rather than just sampling her presence with her other senses. Every minute that ticked by was another minute in which something could happen to her; after all, she wasn’t that far away from where the army had travelled to reach Yew.
“Don’t you even plan to interrogate me?” she asked the guards at the door impatiently, “or are you waiting for my master to return when he discovers that I haven’t returned to him?”

Hikaru smiled as she opened her eyes, noticing that Misa was still standing beside her bed, no doubt standing guard as they had for each other during the past.
She reached up and massaged under the llama’s chin, finding the effort less tiring than when she had last done so.
“I suppose today wasn’t such a good day to die, after all,” she said, more to herself than anyone else.
She raised herself a little on her elbows, noting that her stomach didn’t seem to be quite so much of a never-ending source of pain as it had been, and looked around at the other patients and healers, which included a man in spined leather armour, who seemed to be moving between the patients.

Lord Kishkuman · Sep 13, 2003

Neph moved between patients. Some awoke soon after he healed them some continued to sleep. his powers couldn't restore strangth or blood, that took rest and care. After healing the wounds of a young lady with a llama waiting near by he asked to anyone anyone that was listening, "Could someone direct me to the prison or where ever the enemy prisoners are. There may be wounded there also I should tend to while I wait for the boy to awake."

____________________________________________________________________

[/i]Zeazrom stood at the Moongate near Yew. near the gate were the bodies of a fw people who had been unfortanet to be around when Zeazrom and his guards arrived with his new prisoners purchased in Mistas.

"Take the prisoners back to the dungeon immediatly. I have some buisness here to cunduct first, "Then turning to a Juda mage standing by him Zeazrom said, "You will come with me. I have another ring that I'd like you to make me. There is a girl that works at the White Stag Inn who seems to be related soemhow to my dear undead slave. I'd like her to accompany us so I can see how Xylon reacts. You will make me a ring so I can control this girl as I do Xylon,"[/i]

Quiby · Sep 17, 2003

Hikaru waited for a moment to see if anyone was going to offer guidance, but it seemed that everyone was too busy.
“I’d offer to show you,” she said, rolling her head to the side to look up at him, “but you’d probably have to carry me after a few steps”
She shifted uncomfortably on the table, “if you go out of the main door and turn right, past the vineyard and follow the coast around, and you won’t be able to miss it”
“Also, if you should happen to find out what became of the undead creature who accompanied the army, would you let me know?”

OOC: (By the way, what's the deal with the thing with only Kysh and myself replying? No problems, I hope)

Lord Kishkuman · Sep 17, 2003

"Thank you very much young lady. I pray you recover your strength quickly," and with a bow Neph left the Abby.

Following the instructions of the lady he soon came across the prison. Walking up to the guard he asked, "Would it be ok if I tended to any injured among the prisoner?"

The guard glaring goweled, "Why would you want to do that?"

"Umm, well,"Neph started taken aback a little, "Well I'm a healer of sorts and I--"

"By what authority do you wish to see the prisoners. I'd don't recognize your uniform where do you come from?"

" I'm from Ilshinar and..." Neph felling a little panicked by the unexpected interragation began glancing around for help."

Quiby · Sep 18, 2003

Quiby sat on a tall stool behind the bar with her elbows resting on the bar-top, and her chin in her hands. The day was slowly drawing to a close, and already some of the inn’s inhabitants were drifting off in the direction of their beds.
Unfortunately for her, she still had to clean the tables and tidy the kitchen in preparation for the morning, since she never had time to do it in the morning. Come morning, there would no doubt be many hungry travellers, their journeys prompted by the news of the attack on Yew. Regardless of their motivation, empty stomachs and parched throats would be common among them; proof positive that war can be good for business.
It went without saying that she wouldn’t be sleeping in her bed tonight; someone needed to be present in case some of the aforementioned travellers arrived before she usually awoke.

She removed her chin from its resting position and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back backwards as she did so. She reasoned that the sooner she started tidying, the sooner she could get some much-needed sleep, and maybe her efforts would inspire the rest of her customers that it was time to make a move.

“Why don’t you stop posturing and let the man finish a sentence?” challenged a voice from behind the guard.
The voice belonged to another guard; a woman wearing a suit of bloodstained chain mail, carrying a repeating crossbow under her right arm and a short sword sheathed at her left hip.
She cast a scathing glance at the guard, “surely healing the wounds of our prisoners would be the honourable thing to. Besides, there are only five of them, including,” she paused, “whatever that creature’s supposed to be.”
She stepped past her now-silent comrade, switching the crossbow to her left arm and extending her right hand in greeting, “Lilka, marksman of the Yew guard”

TristanKnight · Sep 18, 2003

Tristan tended to the wounded - it had seemed the world around him moved on, he still had work to do...

OoC:
Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been very busy lately, but keep checking in and reading - if you need Tristan for something just post it, I'll try to pop in and give a reply.

Lord Kishkuman · Sep 22, 2003

Neph thanked Lilka and entered the prison. He quickly tended the wounded juka and soon found himself looking at the undead creture, "Hello there. From your appearence you could only be Xylon. Would I be correct in my way of thinking?" 

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom entered the Inn for a second time. This time he wore a second ring, this one with a form that reembled Quiby on it. Looking around he saw her doing some cleaning. Walking up to her Zeazrom spoke, "Excuse me young lady but I need you to come with me."

The ring gave a faint glow was he spoke.

OOC-sry again for being slow to post but all the Boy Scout stuff is over now. I'm also glad to announce that as of 12:11AM PST I offically became an Uncle. My brother and his wife had a 9lb 3oz baby boy this morning right after midnight.

Quiby · Sep 22, 2003

“You are correct,” she acknowledged, without looking up at him, “I am Xylon; honoured guest of the Yew Guard”
She looked up after a brief pause, her expression a far cry from the usual threatening array of frowns and scowl that usually too up residence on her face; in fact she looked somewhat resigned.
“You’ll forgive my not standing to greet you,” she said dryly, “but to do so might be considered an attempt to escape, and I’ve had quite enough head injuries for one day”

Quiby spun around at looked up at the man from earlier; the one whom someone had suggested was an elite Chaos Dragoon. Her expression quickly changed from one of shock, to one of confusion as it occurred to her that something wasn’t right.
Under normal circumstances she would have considered whether what she was being asked, or ordered to do was right, and unless it was something bad, she would do it.
For some reason, she seemed to know that obeying this man was the right thing for her to do, without a second thought. Indeed, it didn’t even require her to think once about it, she just knew.
“Of course, sir,” she answered obediently, “might I ask where it is that we are going?”

OOC: (No problem about the delay, and I guess congratulations are in order. Quiby would probably propose a toast, but she's busy being kidnapped at the moment
Also, I had to edit because I forgot to add any colours)

Lord Kishkuman · Sep 23, 2003

Neph listened to Xylon response and then continued, "Kysh once told me how you saved his life once. For that I and the kingdom I represent are in your debt. I wonder, how is it you have gotten mixed up with this Juka army? From they way Kysh described you, you don't seem the type to take sides like this."

____________________________________________________________________

The Battle!! Kysh bolted up to a sitting position as he woke up. What Happened to the battle. The last thing Kysh remembered was trying to continue to fight after taking an arrow to the chest.

His eyes began to glow green as he opened his mind to any animals nearby. He found Hoppy and Metal quickly. Both were nearby. The battle seemed to have ended.

Looking around him he saw he was in the Abby with the rest of the poeple that had been wounded. Only... looking at his chest there was no sign of a wound. Either he had been out for a very long time or some one with strong healing magic had healed him.

He began looking around to see if anyone he knew was around, maybe Tristan. Tristan was normally found where there were wounded but at this point Kysh didn't care who he found that could answer his questions.

Quiby · Sep 24, 2003

“I wouldn’t believe everything you hear,” commented Xylon, “I won’t deny my part in saving the boy’s life. But I urge you not to forget that no matter how different I might be from my undead kin, I am still one of them.” She shook her head slowly, “only very rarely do we do perform good deeds, and it’s even rarer for us to do them out of the goodness of our own hearts.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” she said apologetically, “but the intention to protect the boy was not my own; there come times when I am little more than a tool”

OOC: (I have to go see the psychiatrist tomorrow, and it's safe to say that he's not local, so I'm going to be out of the loop for a few days (ain't no way I'm taking a three-hour train journey and not making the most of my destination). See you all in a few days (I might actually be able to reply before I leave))

Quiby · Sep 28, 2003

Hikaru slid both of her legs of the side of the table facing the boy, and used their weight to help lift her into a weary sitting position, in response to this Misa moved in closer behind her and nuzzled the left side of her head.
“It seems like we both missed the end of the battle,” she explained, “it seems as though they just decided that today wasn’t a good day to invade”
She sighed and brushed a few stray braids out of her face.
“Oh, and there was a man looking for you,” she added, redirecting her hand to fuss over Misa, “he is at the prison for the moment, but he will doubtlessly return”

“A friend of yours?” asked Lilka casually as she walked up behind Neph, casting a suspicious glance at Xylon past her shoulder

Lord Kishkuman · Sep 29, 2003

Neph turned to Lilka, "I have heard of her. I seem to have heard right. She seems to enjoy trying to convince herself that she is evil when time and time again she displays compassion. I wouldn't be surprised if she is the reason that Yew wasn't burned from the face of Britannia."

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom lead Quiby outside upon entering the Treeline a small group of Juka appeared from their hiding places. A juka mage quickly created a Magical gate. Zeazrom turned to Quiby. Step through the Moongate you will be coming with us to the dungeon Wrong."

Stepping throught the gate they appeared at the entrance of the dungeon.

____________________________________________________________________

"A man looking for me?" Kysh asked, "What did he look like. Also you were going to try to stop Xylon. Do you know what happened to her?"

Quiby · Sep 29, 2003

Xylon smiled and rested her head against her right arm.
“But which of us is truly right?” she challenged, “to you I may seem to enjoy convincing myself that I am evil, but to me it seems that you enjoy convincing yourself that I am not”

“Yes, sir,” assented Quiby, with a nod.
She stepped through the gate without hesitation, regardless of the possibility that she was to come to harm on the other side of the gate.
When she reached the other side, her bad foot came down on a patch of uneven ground, causing her to stumble and let out a small yelp of pain. She quickly recovered and blinked the tears that had begun forming in her eyes away, before turning back to face Zeazrom.

Hikaru gave Kysh a brief description of Neph, including a mention of the healing effects of his sword before taking a pause to look at the bandages at her waist.
“The last I saw of her, she was immobilised,” explained Hikaru with a hint of bitterness, “but I’d like to bet that I came out of the fight worse than she did. It pains me to say it, but I don’t think she had her heart into winning the fight, which I suppose is why I’m still alive.”

Lord Kishkuman · Oct 2, 2003

Neph smiled, "Let's just say I know compassion when I see it. I'm a bit of an expert on it, "he answered resting his hand on the hilt of the Sword of Compassion.

He then continued, "If you would excuse me now I'll go talk to the person in charge here and see if I can convince them to make you a little more comfortable."
____________________________________________________________________

Kysh listened to the description of the man looking for him.

"That has to be Neph. Why would he come looking for me unless there was a problem in Ilshinar? I'd better go find him.

It took Kysh a bit of time walking around the swamp seperating the Abby from the prison. After Inquiring the guards about Neph he was directed to the office of the Head Guard. As Kysh came up to the the door opened and Neph came out.

"Kysh?," A smile spread across Neph's face, "Kysh it's good to see you again. With out any holes in you."

Kysh felt his cheeks burn alittle, "Thanks for healing me, Neph what are you doing here?"

"Well at them moment I was trying to see if I could help out your friend Xylon. But the guards here seem to like her where she is."

"Xylon is here?" Kysh frowned. He still owed Xylon alot, he didn't like the idea of her in prison yet she was also being controled by the person who ordered Yew attacked. After a moment of thought Kysh looked back at Neph, "I wouldn't worry about her. Why did you come looking for me here. Is something wrong back in Ilshinar?"

Suddenly Neph looked very uncomfortable like he was facing something he really didn't want to do, "Actully there is a problem. A few days ago Juka from Mistas raided the Meer. Then took a group of students of magic captive to Mistas.

Neph hesitated a momentthen continued, "Many of our own students of magic from the Hidden City were with them.... one of them was your sister."

Kysh stared, "Si.. Sister? What are you talking about?"

"You have a sister a few years younger then you. When your parents brought you here she remained with you uncle the King in the Hidden City."

"Why didn't anyone tell me this?! Was she in the city when I was there?"

"You must remember that you both are of royle birth and at the time people of royle blood were being hunted down and Killed. We couldn't risk losing both of you so you were kept apart. When we brought you to the Hidden City we were going to tell you but you sister insisted that we didn't."

Kysh felt furious. He was tired of knowing so little about himself and his family, "Where is she now."

"Last I heard she was being held in Mistas."

"Then that is where I'm going," Kysh Growled as he turned to go back to the abby to get his things. He also decided he would tend to Xylon before leaving.

Metal flowed into the prison cell without any guards seeing him. He made no noise as he flowed along the ground up to Xylon. The slime then proceeded to begin to eat through the chains that held Xylon. It didn't take long for the slime's acid to eat right through the chains and in a fw moments sat with broken chains dangling from her arms and legs.

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom lead Quiby into the furthest reaches of the dungeon. Stopping outside a door Zeazrom turned to Quiby, "You will stay in the prison with some prisoners we aquired in Mistas. You will not tell them you are being controled by them. You will tell them you are also a prisoner. You will take this dagger and hide it and tell no one about it and let no one see it. If anyone comes and tries to rescue these prisoners you will put that right through the back of their neck and kill them as soon as they have their back to you. Remember tell no one of this."

Zeazrom opened the door and pushed her into a dark room with about five meer and 4 elves. Who all turned to look at the new arrivil with intreast.

Quiby · Oct 2, 2003

Xylon watched the slime enter her cell with an expression of suspicion and intrigue; after all, it wasn’t every day that slimes made social visits to prisoners.
Her expression quickly changed to one of almost disgust as the creature made its way up her body to the chains at her wrists, having already freed her legs.
“The great Xylon,” she muttered to herself, “broken out of jail by a slime. I think that’s taken my self-esteem to an all-time low”
She slowly brought her arms down and deposited the slime on the ground, before bringing herself up to a crouch. The guards were still talking outside her cell, not actually paying attention to what she was up to in there.
She looked down to the slime and gestured, all the while wondering whether it could actually see it.
“By all means,” she said softly, “after you”
She had no doubt that in the anticipated chaos of her escape; the little slime would either be trampled underfoot, or would convenient target for any of the guards once she had made her departure.

Without thinking, Quiby had slipped the dagger out of sight beneath her apron, among the wastefully large number of folds in her dress.
She stumbled genuinely as Zeazrom pushed her into the dark room, every step still making her painfully aware of the injury to her foot, although somehow she managed to stay on her feet.
Her orders had left her genuinely shaken, since she knew that they were wrong, but she also knew that she had to carry them out, should the circumstances arise.
Almost as soon as she had managed to bring herself to a stop, she backed away from the other prisoners until she found herself pressed into a corner by her own fear. The fact that she would have to betray these people made the situation even worse for her, and she quickly found herself remembering similar circumstances from far in her past; times that she had felt as trapped and scared as she did now.
She managed to slide down the wall to the floor before the panic reached her knees, and they stopped working completely. From her lower vantage point, she stared at her fellow prisoners over her knees, her feline eyes as wide as saucers.

Quiby · Oct 6, 2003

Xylon nudged the slime in an attempt to get it to do something, preferably leave the cell, but it seemed to have other ideas. The slime wrapped itself around her hand and began climbing up her arm until it reached her shoulder, at which point it stopped climbing and collected itself into a single gelatinous lump encasing most of her shoulder.
“I guess if you really want to come with me, I can’t stop you,” she sighed, “but you’re not coming back to Wrong with me”
She stood and tested her shoulder, finding that the slime hardly hindered her movement at all; if anything the warmth from the creature’s body made her muscles seem a little more flexible.
She angled her body so that the shoulder with the slime on was furthest from the door, and concentrated on turning her other shoulder, and much of the surrounding flesh into stone.
The door, which had only been designed to contain human prisoners and the like, had little chance of standing up to her unnatural strength and her hardened shoulder, and landed in the corridor outside the cell with a crash that would probably alert half of Yew.
The guards outside her cell, to their credit, wasted no time in drawing their weapons in an attempt to subdue her. However, they were greatly outmatched by Xylon, especially since she had an objective to focus on.
She caught hold of the sword-hand of one of the guards and turned so that the back of her head was almost touching the guard’s breastplate, and managed to parry a number of the other guard’s attacks until she found an opportunity to force the guard backwards into a nearby wall with the sort of force she had used on the door. She heard the sound of breaking ribs, and wondered for a moment if she’d used a little too much force, but quickly found that she couldn’t dwell on the matter.
The second guard came at her relentlessly, although his movements were greatly slowed by his armour, leaving Xylon a large enough window of opportunity to athletically land a kick on the side of the guard’s head.
She knelt and checked the pulses of both guards, noting that she had managed not to kill either of them.
“So far, so good,” she muttered.

“Halt!” challenged Lilka, diverting Xylon’s attention for the guard she had just felled.
To Lilka, it had looked as though the creature was about the slash the throat of the fallen guard, ending his life in a single cold-blooded move.
“Stand aside and no harm will come to you,” warned Xylon, the light reflecting in her eyes causing her pupils to shine an eerie red.
Lilka levelled her repeating crossbow at the advancing creature, “I will not allow you to leave.”
“Very noble,” said Xylon in a mocking tone, still continuing to approach the guard, “I’m sure they’ll put a medal in your casket.”
Lilka corrected her aim slightly and fired, almost praying that all her years of training and practice would pay off. The resulting scream echoed through the passages of the prison, seeming to last long after the air in the creature’s lungs had run out, reducing her to a pathetic whimper.

Xylon didn’t bother looking up, instead she found herself watching the half-congealed blood pooling on the ground beneath her, dripping from the silver bolt that rested in her left eye

OOC: (I know my previous post wasn’t the easiest to reply to… I only really left an opening for a response involving Metal, or the prisoners.
Hopefully this one’s a bit better)

Lord Kishkuman · Oct 7, 2003

OOC-First off Sorry I've been trying to get a new computer up and running and it's taken longer then I thought it would. There always seems to be somthing to take up all my time. Anyways...

Metal sat quietly on Xylon's shoulder. It's urge was to fight but Kysh had made it clear not to hurt anyone so it remained on Xylon's shoulder. The Slime could tell that Xylon was hurt but again what could a slime do?

____________________________________________________________________

When Kysh and Neph entered the Abby they found a surprise waiting for them. Another Knight dressed the same as Neph except he wore the symbol of Honesty over his heart and on the hilt of his sword. He was also different in the fact that he was an elf.

"Teanas? What are you doing here, "Neph asked upon seeing him.

"I bring news. The prisoners are no longer in Ilshinar. A Chaos Dragoon brought them to this world. To a dungeon to the NorthWest of here."

"Well then," Kysh said, " Let's get going."

Neph turned to Kysh, "Just like that the three of us alone charging into a dungeon?"

"Wouldn't be my first time. I'm going weather you guys are coming or not."

Neph and Teanas looked at eash other then Neph turned to Kysh, "Well we can't let you go alone."

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom went to his room. Now his only thoughts were to Xylon. He knew that she had ended the battle by calling a cease fire but she didn't return with the rest of his warriors. Could she have been captured or could she be up to no good?

Zeazrom fingered the ring with the likeness of Xylon on it, "Well she had better get back here soon," he whispered.

Quiby · Oct 7, 2003

Xylon reached up and pulled the bolt from her eye with a hiss of pain; it would have been painful enough if the accursed human had been using normal bolts, but the silver shafts seemed to multiply the pain tenfold.
She pressed the palm of her right hand to her face, stemming the increased flow of blood as she used her left to drag herself to her feet.
“My master calls to me,” she growled, mostly due to the pain, “stand aside, or I will see to it that you never stand again”

Lilka watched as the creature, still using its palm to stop the bleeding, made to walk past her down the corridor. The threat had seemed genuine, and in such close quarters she had doubts that her crossbow would be of any use, or that she’d be able to draw her sword quickly enough to be of any use.
The creature had almost walked past her when she realise the potential mistake of letting it get on her blindside.
She had almost managed to turn far enough to point her weapon at the creature when she felt the claw-like fingernails pressing against her throat.
“If you’d like,” snarled the creature, “we can see who’s faster”

Xylon waited patiently until she heard the sound of the guard lowering her weapon.
“Go tend to your wounded,” she said, as she lowered her hand and continued down the passageway.

Hikaru listened to the noises around her, without showing any sign that she was awake; a habit she’d picked up from her days of camping outdoors. To her left, there seemed to be a healer and a patient engaged in a discussion about the battle.
To her right, however, it seemed that the boy she had seen at the inn, the man who had healed her wounds and a third man were discussing travelling to a dungeon. As far as she could tell, they were talking about Wrong, which was apparently the source of the Jukan invasion.
“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” she asked, without opening her eyes.

OOC: ( Delays happen, and there’s often nothing anyone can do about it. The only reason I respond so regularly is because I enjoy doing so, and I check the forum very regularly. *polishes shield*
At some point I might actually start rewriting Quiby’s history, since I’ve lost the original pieces that I wrote, and they were just badly written anyway. Same old stuff, just with a twist. )

Lord Kishkuman · Oct 9, 2003

Kysh stopped in mid sentance and turned to the new voice, "Oh, uh, hi Hikaru, How are you feeling, adn what do you mean forgetting someone?"

OOC- while I love making stories I often find it hard to sit for more the 10 minutes at a time writing. I think it goes back to my first 7 years of school where I looked at writing much like eating stinky veggies. And lately I've been in the mood to work on some of the satire articles I've been tinkering with since I graduated high school. Nothing like making fun of Amarican High School culture of the late 90's. Esspecially writing about a High School like the one I went to where fires and riots were thought of as monthly activites.

Quiby · Oct 10, 2003

“I feel like I’m recovering from almost being sent to the afterlife by your winged friend,” answered Hikaru without opening her eyes, “but at least I’m still alive, which means that I can still repay you for saving my life”
She opened her eyes and looked at Kysh, “I’m coming with you,” her tone and expression indicating that she wasn’t planning to take no for an answer.

Xylon circled the city a few times before departing on her journey to the Dungeon of Wrong.
In part, she wanted to rub it in to the guards that she had escaped, even if she had been forced to leave the four Jukans whom had been captured earlier in the battle. It also made her wonder why it was that her master had wanted the town so badly; it wasn’t exactly the grandest settlement in the land, and in her eyes the swamp had made it even less desirable than even Cove.
It wasn’t her place to question her master, however, it was her place to obey him, and he had expressed a desire for her to be back at his side.
She took one last look at the town before turning herself away from the setting sun and making her way back to her master’s side.

Quiby’s anxiety slowly subsided as she watched the prisoners, it was quite clear that they were about as unsettled as she was, even if it was for different reasons.
This was the first time Quiby had ever seen a Meer before, and despite the circumstances, the fact that she was now in the same room as five of them was cause for a certain amount of excitement. The thought had crossed her mind before after hearing of the Meer that she might be half-Meer, or they might hold at least some clue to her existence.
It seemed that the Meer, and the elves to a degree, were as curious about her as she was about them, and indeed herself. She had been around people of all types of race and creed long enough to recognise when someone was watching, but trying not to stare.
Unfortunately, despite her practiced skill at working around strangers, she was still very self-conscious about herself, especially since she was so different from everyone she had ever met, except for her sister of course.
She brought her right hand up to her mouth and began licking at the fur on the back of it; a true sign that she was nervous, and allowing her feline instincts a little more freedom because of it.

OOC: (It seemed a lot like fires and riots were commonplace in my secondary school (I think that’s the English equivalent to a high school).
Anyway, there’s a pretty good chance that in the near future, my activity here will be quite significantly reduced. Things are getting a little rocky here in my life, in fact things have always been pretty rocky, but now they’re about as rocky as the coastline of Portland (the original, English, Portland))

Lord Kishkuman · Oct 14, 2003

"Coming with us? Ok thanks, " Kysh responded to Hikaru.

"Anything else we need before we leave?" Kysh then asked.

____________________________________________________________________

One of the younger elves studied Quiby for a moment. When her gaze drifted to Quiby's foot she broke out, "That foot of yours looks horrible. One of the Meer here is a healer let me get him for you."

Quiby · Oct 16, 2003

“Aside from an abundance of luck, you mean?” commented Hikaru as she lifted herself to a sitting position, and then to her feet. “I’ve really been lying down for far too long,” she added.
She stretched her arms above her head as her gaze went to each of her new travelling companions, wondering if they had anything to add. Her conclusion being that either they didn’t want to add anything, or that they didn’t want to add anything with her present.
“Well, I’m going to need to acquire a new weapon,” she pointed out, gesturing to emphasise her empty hands. “I will see what I can find and return here, then you can explain to me why we’re risking our necks to rescue a handful of prisoners”
She walked off, tapping Misa on the flank as she did so, to which the animal obediently followed her lead.

Xylon had made the choice to fly high above the treetops on her return to Wrong, hoping that the excessive height between her and the ground below would serve to hide her identity, as well making an excellent defence against attacks.
She had flown as swiftly as her wings were able, which had proven to be faster than anything she had witness on the ground or in the air, knowing that her master would already be annoyed at her absence, and being unable to find a valid reason to warrant making the situation any worse.

By the time she arrived within sight of the dungeon of Wrong the sun had already slipped mostly below the horizon, and if it wasn’t for her superior low-light vision, she might well have flown straight past without noticing.

“My master has summoned me,” she announced to the pair of Jukan warriors at the dungeon’s entrance, noting from their expression that they probably hadn’t approved of her calling a truce in order to effect a retreat; probably not as honourable as losing countless warriors in the course of an undefended retreat, “where am I to find him?”

Quiby looked up from her grooming, distracted enough not to think of withdrawing her tongue back into her mouth. The elven girl seemed to be showing genuine concern for her well-being, which was definitely a heartening sentiment, especially when locked in a prison cell.
Under any other circumstances, she would have insisted that her foot wasn’t as bad as it looked, and that it wasn’t a problem large enough for anyone to trouble themselves over. But something about the girl seemed to bring comfort to her, and comfort was one thing she figured that she needed, what with the situation she’s found herself in.
“Thank you, milady,” she said politely, after recovering her tongue. She affected a small bow of her head, although it was clear from the position of her shoulders that she was still far from being at ease.

Lord Kishkuman · Oct 25, 2003

OOC-hope you don't mind if I fast forward Kish's group up near the entrance. I want to move the stoy along a bit.

IC- ...It was the dream again. The young boy was bent over studying ants. They were truly amazing how well they worked together and how fast they could retunnel the entrance to their home every time he caved it in with his finger. After a few minutes the boy lost intreast in the tiny insects and wondered over to a man sitting nearby sharpening daggers.

"Uncle Gad, where did my parents go?"

"I told you they had buisness in the city."

The boy gave a thoughtful look and the man thinking the boy had finished, but then the boy continued, "Are they a... a... a-sa-sins?"

The man stopped sharpening the daggers and looked at the boy for a moment, "Who told you that."

"Gid and Tean said they were. Are assassins good or bad?

"Listen to me Gad, "the man spoke to the boy, "There are many ways to fight to make the world a better place. Some methods are thought of as bad by some people. Your parents want to give you the best world they can. They do things that they don't really like doing but they belive it is needed to give you a better world to live in. A safer world. Your parents are good people and my best friends."

The boy and the man faded as the dream turned to the nightmare it always turned into. The air was heavy with smoke and screaming. It was dark and the boy was hiding behind some barrels of water. Some men on horses wearing uniforms of a guild that no longer existed rode by, "I want every assassin here dead. Live no one alive."

The young boy stayed hidden, too terrified from the screaming and sounds of fighting to move. He stayed there motionless until the sound of something moving nearby made the boy look up. Standing above him was a man in one of the uniforms sneering at him, "Well, well, if it isn't a terrefied little boy. now we can't leave ya scared now can we. I'll just have to take all the fear out of you."

The man lifted up his sword over the boys head but before he could bring it down the man got a strange look on his face and collapsed with a dagger sticking out of his back. Then suddenly a familer voice speak, "Gad, get up boy! We have to get out of here now!"

"Un...Uncle Gad? Where's my mom and dad."

"I don't know, but come on," the man said as he pulled the boy to his feet. The moon was nearly full so they stayed in the shadows when possible.

After turning a corner the man had to hold the boy back as he tried to run forward, "Mom! Dad!"

The boy's parents were pinned up against the wall of a house surrounded by atleast twenty of the men in the uniforms. His father was fighting with a pair a daggers and his mother was laying nearby not moving.

The boy continue to cry out as the man with him tried to hush him but it was too late. Both the boy's father and the men fighting him looked in the direction of the boy's voice, and a man on horse called out, "Get them!"

About half of the men started towards them then the boy's father yelled as he began cutting through the men, "Gad!! Get him to safety now!"

The boy's father put up such a fight that most of the men had to turn back to deal with him. The man holding back the screaming child looked on in horror and then decided to honor what he knew was his best friends last request, and fled....

Gad bolted up as he awoke. The stump that marked where his arm had been cut off throbbed. Why was he having these dreams. Ever since he lost his arm they had been tormenting his sleep. Deep down he knew why. He had done the samething to that elf boy that had been done to him so many years ago. But where he had made sure that the guild responsible was wiped from existance all the elf boy had done was take his arm.

Gad got out of bed and got dressed. Strapping his sword on he walked into the dark corner of his small house and just faded.

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom watched as Xylon entered the room, "Welcome back. I understand you were successful in pulling our troops out of battle safely. Good job. Now just wondering...what took you so long to get back?

____________________________________________________________________

Kysh sat near the campfire with his eyes closed, mean while he opened his mind to the animals near by. They would arrive at the dungeon the next morning. Animal outside the dungeon revealed that the entrance was always guarded. He couldn't get a clear picture of the inside of the dungeon for the few animals he could sense in the dungeon didn't seem too intreasted in helping him. He opened his senses deeper hoping to maybe find something that could give him some information on the dungeon. As he searched he felt something strange.. strange and familier. He got the feeling he could sense another mind it felt strange as if he could only touch part of it's mind. He tried to focus on the mind to see if he could communicate with it but he just couldn't seem to get his own mind to get a hold of it.

"Well," Kish said to those that had come with him, "The entrance seems well guarded. Any ideas on how we are going to get in?"

Quiby · Oct 25, 2003

Xylon lowered herself to one knee and bowed her head until her master has finished speaking. His acknowledgement of her achievement in pulling the warriors out seemed insincere, and he had followed it immediately with the question of why she had been delayed.
A moment later, after she had reminded herself that his mistrust in her wasn’t entirely misplaced, she looked up. She wondered briefly whether he had noticed that her sight was at least partially restored.
She brushed aside the hair that she had purposefully misplaced to hide the injury to her right eye, revealing the abundance of dried blood that had resulted.
“I remained behind for long enough to insure that the warriors could withdraw without concerning themselves with the possibility of an attack from the guards.” she narrowed her eye, “I threatened to slay all of their wounded if they did so.”
Her voice had taken on a distinctly aggressive tone that came partly from the scrutiny in her master’s eyes as he looked at her. It seemed to show that he didn’t trust her, or that there was something else going on, but most likely the former.
“When it came time for me to retreat, I had no such assurances,” she bowed her head again. “I was captured by the guards, and it did not seem prudent to attempt escape immediately” 

OOC: (No problem with jumping ahead of time, the journey would have bene pretty dull, anyway.
I'll have a response for Hikaru made soon, I just need to figure out a few details.)

Quiby · Oct 27, 2003

Hikaru paused part way through the succession of movements and forms she had been practicing at every opportunity on their journey. In answer to her comrades questioning looks, she had said something about discipline being more important than skill.
“They are not human,” she pointed out, “which gives us a lot less options.”
She walked over to stand behind Kysh, her face bathed in the flickering light of the fire.
“Perhaps you have given this enough thought to realise that a frontal attack would be suicide,” she said coldly, “They would see us coming and before we knew it, and then we would have to fight an entire army to get in.”
She clasped her hands behind her back and continued.
“If the guards of Yew had organised a counter-attack, they would still be a day or two back,” she explained. “It would make sense for the general of the Jukan army to want to prevent the counter-attack, and the best way to do that is to go out and hit it before it hits them.”
Her voice carried the assured confidence of someone with experience in scheming and plotting.
“I will present myself to them as a deserting ally of the Yew guards,” she suggested, making iot sounds as though her mind was already made up, “I will deliver the news to their general. If the army moves out then it will be safer for you to enter, otherwise it will be down to the three of you”
She smiled wryly, “do you trust me?”

Zenroth · Oct 28, 2003

OOC: Pokes his head in looks around to see only the beatiful Quiby and the boy wonder posting /php-bin/shared/images/icons/wink.gif Ahh well good to see an old home someday maybe i can return here just thought id say hi.

Yuki · Nov 4, 2003

The door opened a crack to the traveller's curious nudge, prompting a mildly surprised syllable to escape her lips. Somehow she expected the door of the inn to be yet another obstacle to hold her back.
She inhaled deeply, allowing the fading scents of the inn's open hours to make up for the lack of sounds from within.
One particular scent caught in her nose, despite being almost too weak to recognise. Its bouquet was far more intoxicating to her than any of the spirits that added their aromas to the ambience of the room could be.
A gentle push opened the door a little wider, enough for her to step through sideways, and peered around the side of the door.
"If you're coming in, do it quickly," ordered a deep voice that seemed to carry a hint of joviality, although it seemed to be fading along with that day's scents. "Just close the door, whatever you're doing," a chair scraped, seemingly as the owner of the voice stood, "winter's just around the corner and you're letting all the heat out."
She stilled her tongue before it reacted in a way she would live to regret, and stepped inside. The door closed behind her with a little nudge from her heel.
She looked down at the man who faced her, keeping her features hidden in the shadows of the travelling cloak she wore. It seemed to her that he had only woken up recently; it was possible that he was a light sleeper, and that it was her entrance that had woken him.
"Are you the owner of this establishment?" she asked, her words deliberate, as if she wasn't entirely familiar with the common language. The man nodded in acknowledgment.
"Then you must be Garth," concluded the traveller, "I have heard much about you, people call me Yuki."
She bowed gracefully to accompany her introduction. The movement caused the grey velvety fibres of her cloak to sparkle in the firelight, like the sea under the light of the moons.

She looked up at the moons without stopping; Trammel had been a full moon two days ago, and Felucca was three days from being a new moon. There would be ample light to travel in until a few hours before dawn, before Trammel sank too low in the sky to penetrate the tree cover.
"Yew," she muttered to herself, "why can't she just stay put when there's war on the horizon?"
Yuki had left the inn of the White Stag with a promise to the innkeeper on her lips. She had travelled to the inn seeking the girl who served there, and she would continue her search, for both her own and the innkeeper's sake.
Apparently the girl had disappeared without a trace the night after the attempted invasion of Yew, half way through wiping one of the many tables, and hadn't been seen for days. The only clue she had to follow was the invasion of Yew that had occurred before her disappearance; Garth had been resting at the time of her disappearance, at her insistence, and therefore hadn't noticed anything strange.

Out of Character:
It was suggested to me (rather strongly) that this forum was in need of fresh blood.
Well, my blood's split 20/80 between prescription drugs and blood, but apparently my liver's in good enough condition to sell on the black market.
I've read here for quite a while, but I'm shy, so it took me a while to pluck up the courage to register. But now it's too late to turn back; I'm here with my dubiously endowed bloodstream now, so I guess I'll get comfy

Zenroth · Nov 5, 2003

OOC: well as the official ghost of this forum I welcome you, perhaps someday ill be able to get back over here myself. Seeing any new blood is nice though, keep it up /php-bin/shared/images/icons/smile.gif

TristanKnight · Nov 5, 2003

OoC:
Yes! Welcome Yuki! It is great to see a newcomer. Hopefully we'll all get to know you a lot better in time.
I am Tristan Knight, long time adventurer, though not as old as some. From time to time you can see the names of the old ones (Xyon, Torr, Zenroth {yep Zen, you are one of the old timers now}), but don't think that for a minute any poster is 'better' or has more precedense than you. We are all equal here too, there is no need to be shy or intimidated. From what I've read so far, you're going to do great! So again, welcome to the White Stag Inn!

Lord Kishkuman · Nov 7, 2003

ooc-Yes welcome Yuki. Always nice to have someone join us. I would've said Hi sooner but I bought a new book the other day and when ever that happens my computer tends to not get turned on till I finish it. I look forward to writing with you.

IC-Kysh listened to Hikaru's idea, "I guess that is the best idea we have. Just be careful. I'll try to have one of my little friends keepan eye on you incase you run into trouble. Hope you don't mind if a little spy hitches a ride in with you."

At Kysh's words his flashed green and looked over to Hikaru's pack where a small mouse had appeared.

Quiby · Nov 7, 2003

“Only if he promises to behave,” she said dryly.
She crouched down beside her pack and retrieved the mouse, placing it gently on the ground.
“Look after him for a moment,” she nodded to Kysh, “There is something I must do before I depart.” She hauled the pack onto her shoulder and walked a short way into the cover of the forest, leaving her comrades exchanging quizzical glances.

Around ten or fifteen minutes later she emerged from the forest, limping slightly.
She had wrapped a bloodstained bandage around her left shoulder, although by the way her arm hung beside her, the bandage probably covered a genuine wound. A similarly bloodied bandage covered most of her right hip, more than likely the wound that was causing her to limp.
“They’re not likely to believe that I managed to recover my mount,” she hissed in pain as she wiped away a little of the blood that had run into her eyebrow from the gash above her right eye, “and desert an attacking army if I arrived without a scratch”
She limped up and recovered the mouse from Kysh. “Come on then, Mishkin,” she addressed the creature as she deposited it on the bandage, on her left shoulder.
“You too, Misa,” she called, summoning her larger companion over to her, “I’ll try not to bleed on you.” She smiled, petting the llama’s pure white wool for a moment before correcting herself, “I suppose I’ll have to, on second thoughts”
With a grunt of pain, she pulled herself up on the llama. The movement had set back the initial healing of all of her wounds, and she could feel every one of them. She had inflicted the wounds on herself to look convincing, otherwise it would be obvious that she was faking her injuries. Regrettably, they were also convincingly painful.
“Leave the army be if it moves out,” she warned, saluting her comrades with her kryss before riding off, without looking back.

Yuki · Nov 8, 2003

She continued walking for a few minutes, leaving the inn far behind her. She had felt like she was being watched when she was close to the inn. Once she was satisfied that she had found herself a little privacy, she picked a small rune out of a pouch on her belt, and a pinch of various spell components from another.
Yew was one of the places she had visited regularly during her studies. Empath Abby held an impressive selection of books, and the monks had always been accommodating. And so she had kept a rune to allow her to visit, without having to waste time that could be spent studying in travel.
She held the rune in the palm of her left hand, and the components that would allow her to travel instantaneously in her right.
"Kal Ort Por," she intoned, clapping her hands together as the last word of power escaped her lips.

She appeared discreetly in one of the upper rooms of the Abby, in a corner bathed in shadow. Instantly, the comforting scents of old manuscripts found her nose. She inhaled deeply, wondering whether she could spare a moment of time from her search to thumb through one of the aging volumes.
The temptation was almost too much to resist. But she had far more important things to do.
From somewhere outside the room came the sounds of activity, which meant that there were likely to be more than a couple of monks in the Abby. The realisation elicited a groan from her; she really didn't like having to deal with people.
She took a few steps towards the door and paused. Wondering whether she'd be less conspicuous concealed within her cloak, or by lowering the hood. Neither idea held any real merit with her, so she opted if favour of the former, for the time being.
Her hand found the door handle instinctively. As it had on all her previous visits to the same room, and it turned with familiar ease.
She opened the door cautiously, glancing both ways before stepping out to look off the balcony. Below her were a number of makeshift beds for the wounded. Only a few were occupied, and none of the people occupying them seemed particularly injured.
A couple of healers milled around between their patients, although there wasn't much for them to do, with the patients sleeping.

Lord Kishkuman · Nov 8, 2003

"Captured?" Zeazrom mused.

"Well Xylon, I'm so glad you were able to escape from them. If you don't mind me asking I wonder ho-"

A Juka soldier entered and walking up to Zeazrom whispered something in the Dragoon's ears. Zeazrom listaned then speaking to the soldier commanded, "Well then bring her in."

Turning back to Xylon, Zeazrom spoke again, "Well it seems someone in my army was followed back. They just captured a girl at the entrance claiming to be defecting."

The Juka soldiers entered the room with a their prisoner. Zeazromgave her a faint smile and spoke, "Ah, hello, Welcome to my dungeon. My slodiers tell me you would like to speak with me."

Lord Kishkuman · Nov 8, 2003

Behind Yuki from the room she had just left came a voice, "You look like a person that is looking for something. Perhaps you could tell me what... or who, you are looking for and maybe I will help you."

The voice came from the room that Yuki had just came out of from a man standing in the middle of the room looking out the door. The man was dressed in black cloths and the man wore a sword at his left side that bore the symbol of Chaos on the hilt. His Left hand was resting on the hilt of his sword and his right arm was missing completly. The man appeared to be in his early or mid twentys.

Yuki · Nov 9, 2003

Yuki jumped as the man started talking. No one had managed to sneak up on her in as long as she could remember. Her hand crept towards her pouch of spell components as she turned to face him, slowly. If the human proved to be a problem to her, she would be ready to deal with him accordingly.
Being careful to keep her features hidden in the shadows of the hood, she gave a vague description of Quiby. Forced to concede that she didn't really know what the girl looked like, just that she was unmistakably crossed with a cat.

Quiby · Nov 9, 2003

Xylon turned her head to watch the guards enter, escorting their somewhat injured captive between them. She recognised the prisoner immediately from Yew; the girl she had fought, and lost to.
A deep growl emerged from somewhere deep inside her as she spread her wings, choosing to raise them above her rather than outwards, considering the lack of space around her.
Despite her obvious aggression towards the girl, she kept her position, knelt in front of her master.

Hikaru cast an angry glance at the guard on her left, who had done nothing but aggravate her shoulder wound for the entire time she’d been under escort. It was fortunate that the mouse, Mishkin, had chosen to hide before he’d been noticed. Right now, she could feel the rodent making itself comfortable in the relatively safe tangle of her braids.
“It occurs to me that Yew would have fallen if they had not received warning of your armies,” she addressed him without ceremony, “it doesn’t take a scholar to see which way the tide will turn”
She took a breath to say more, but found her words cut off by a small fit of coughing. Once it had abated, she continued.
“The people of Yew see this also,” she explained, “but they are not as flexible with their political alignments as I am. I was accompanying a force of guards and mercenaries, sent to prevent you from launching another attack.”
She realised that she was playing with fire, and the idea that she would fail was always apparent. A sidelong glance at the rather angered creature who remained kneeling where she had been reminded her that she still held something of a winning hand. If all else failed, she could at least remove one of the pieces from the board.

Lord Kishkuman · Nov 13, 2003

The man smile at Yuki, "Ah yes. Young furry girl that I must say is a tad too fond of the milk bottle. Last I saw of her she was being taken captive by a Chaos Dragoon from the dungeon wrong. Yes I do fear her, her fellow captives, and some people trying to rescue those other captives are all in a good bit of trouble. I hope this information helps," he finished.

____________________________________________________________________

Zeazrom looked at the young lady for a moment then turned to a Juka near him, "Send out the scouts. Find this army."

Then turning back towards the young lady he continued, "You wouldn't by chance also know where this army is. It would save me the trouble of having to track them down."

Yuki · Nov 13, 2003

"Mal'ai!" she growled, turning away and walking purposefully out to the balcony.
Once she had reached the edge of the balcony, she turned and took at step back towards the man.
"Ussta dalharil zhah noamuth!" she continued, making no effort to hide the anger that fuelled her outburst. "Xun naut morfeth ssussun…" Her words trailed off as realisation dawned, bringing her emotions off the boil.
She took a step backwards, putting a little distance between the one-armed man and herself. Knowing that there might well be trouble if the human had recognised that the language she had been speaking as that of the Ilythiiri, the dark elves.

"Some people like the lull..."

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