A High Fantasy Adventure

[Writer]

If Radek was growing restless, Cia was at least twice as restless. The half-Elf woman was so restless in fact that she actually approached her self-appointed 'minder'. A mild flicker of surprise passed through Radek's eyes as Cia approached him, but it passed quickly.

 

"What is it?" he asked.

 

"You are restless," Cia observed, "as am I. The Dwarf had his secrets; we can all agree to that, and we can agree that his secrets came very near to costing us our lives."

 

"Indeed," Radek agreed. "What is your point?"

 

"Something seems... off about this entire idea," the Thief replied. "I would have thought that you of all people would have backed out by now. You can find employment easier than this."

 

"I trust Skarra," Radek said slowly. "And Skarra seems to know and trust Eldir. As near as I can make it, Eldir was the only one singled out by the Dwarf..."

 

"I ought to have a few words with the Bard," Cia growled softly. Radek frowned.

 

"I was not intending to suggest Eldir knew the Dwarf's intentions," he countered, almost scolding. "Nor am I suggesting he is in league with the bandits. I was merely saying that if Skarra and Eldir intend to follow this through, then so do I." He sighed wearily. "It has been many years since I last took myself to the road, to the life of a wanderer, Cia. I need people I can trust to guide my steps until I regain my sense of the open road. For that purpose, I choose to travel with Skarra."

 

"Wherever his path leads?" Cia asked. Radek nodded once.

 

"Wherever his path leads," he confirmed. "And you shall come with me."

 

Cia was silent for a moment. Then, she nodded. "And I shall come with you."

 

"Was that resignation to fate," Radek chuckled, "or did I actually hear a spark of interest there, Ciannait?"

 

The corners of Cia's mouth twitched and there was a sparkle deep in her eyes. "Shut up, Man," she growled, but within the growl, Radek detected a twinge of a teasing tone. Satisfied that Cia would travel with the group, Radek again went to Skarra, this time with Cia following willingly.

 

"We cannot rest long if we are to find the bandits," he said. "Their trail will grow cold if we leave them too long."

 

"I have great skill in tracking," Cia offered. "I will do what I can to prevent our losing their trail."

 

Radek nodded to show Skarra that he approved of Cia's offer.

[Rachel_Ewok]

Arivan engaged Elidir in a nonchalant conversation for a few more minutes, then she glanced at the mercenary, Kadis was his name she gathered. He was wounded, she could feel his pain, would she offer help? He would probably turn her down, but then again, some men had learned of the elf healing techniques. Perhaps he would be grateful for her offer.

 

She strode up to him and took a seat a few feet away, she studied him for a few moments. Then pulled out her pouch of dried fruit and nuts and munched on a few more.

 

After a few minutes, Kadis seemed to be aware of her presence. "May I be so bold sir, to ask how terrible your injuries are? I could help you if you would accept my healing..." She waited for him to explode, he seemed like the fiery sort of person who would explode at anything you said, but like she reasoned. Perhpas Kadis wouldn't mind some help.

[Corinthian]

He didn't hear her approach over the gentle simmer of the stew. Suddenly, the Elf girl was standing over him, offering some aid. She seemed awfully flighty, though, but that was hardly surprising - they hadn't exactly met on the best of terms.

 

He smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate the offer." He lifted his tunic, revealing the crude bandaging he had done on the stab wound, traces of minor burns still around it. "Not exactly a brilliant patch job, I know. I'd, uh, appreciate any help you could give me." The words felt strange, like he was suddenly speaking a different language.

 

If he didn't hurt so much, he'd probably feel the need to bring down a tree bare-handed or start splitting logs.

[Rachel_Ewok]

Gently Arivan kneeled in front of him, she ran her fingertips across the wound. "Interesting way of patching it up." She said, trying to lighten the mood. "I can help you with this. It isn't too serious." She gave him a gentle smile, and pulled a few things out of her pack.

 

She layed the small green bottle next to the white cloth. It shimmered in the firelight and Arivan smiled at its quaint beauty. She poured a small amount of the liquid from the green bottle on to the cloth. "It's a special... elixer." She explained, "Made from certain plants... and other things." She smiled, "This may tingle a small amount." She said, as she placed the cloth on his still fresh wound and gently dabbed the cloth. She whispered a few words in Elvish. In a few seconds she stopped. "That should help a bit. You should start seeing the effects in a few minutes." She smiled, "Is there anything else I can do for you... Kadis?"

[Corinthian]

It was a weird sensation. Not just the tingling, but everything else about it. The pain lessened sharply, and his breathing became less like getting a knife jabbed through his side repeatedly.

 

At her words, he bit his tongue, then smiled. "No, I think what you did handled it. Thanks for the help."

 

The stew was more or less finished. He fetched the pan off the fire. "Stew? I daresay I'm a better cook than I am a healer, although that's not saying much." Kadis grinned.

[Rachel_Ewok]

"I'll take some, thank you." Arivan was grateful for the stew, it was something warm, and better than her Elven bread or dried fruits. "If you ever need my help, just tell me... My mother was a healer... I learned alot from her." She smiled gently. She sat back, as Kadis handed her some stew. She ate some daintily, "This is great... If the group ever splits up I'll make sure to stick with you." She smiled, "So, what is your story Kadis? What brings you out with this group... It's certainly... diverse." She grinned.

[Corinthian]

His grin widened. "I wouldn't say great, but it's certainly better than roast rat."

 

His smile died at her question. "That...is a long story. But I suppose we've got time."

 

"I'm a mercenary. Used to be the commander of an outfit out of Jasper, actually, the Kaliuda Seventy-Seven. About two months ago, we got hired to deal with a rather prolific bandit group that had been hitting trade near Kolirum-Massar. They were pretty big, so I gathered together the entire company, all seventy-six, and we headed out."

 

He paused, taking a draw from his wineskin and staring into the fire.

 

"Ranesbeth had tracked them from one of the sites of their deeds, a large caravan that had gotten attacked and burned. We were coming through the trees, we could see the torches in the distance...and then we were surrounded. Arrows started flying. I got lucky, when my second got hit he pulled me down. By the time I was on my feet, they were all around us and the fight was going. The Company was outnumbered two to one."

 

He sighed, paused for a long moment. Two months ago? It feels like yesterday.

 

"The fight was brutal, and I only survived because I got lucky again. One of them rushed me with a mace, caught me a clout on the head. Serves me right for not wearing a helmet, I guess."

 

He idly stroked the ragged scars concealed by his hair.

 

"I went down, stunned. But if nothing else, my men were well trained. We broke those bandits. Of maybe a hundred fifty, we killed almost all, except their leader and a handful of henchmen. I haven't heard from them or their leader, Magnus Cromgar, since.

 

When I came to, there were less than fifteen survivors of my Seventy-Seven, and they had no interest in following me anymore. The Company was broken, they said. We didn't have the gold to rebuild it, and we couldn't even collect the bounty on Cromgar's head. They looted the dead and we went our separate ways. I managed to get to Kolirum-Massar, get my head stitched back together. Since then, I've been doing odd jobs, doing what I can to keep a room at the local inn, trying to stay sane."

 

He laughed, although it didn't sound mirthful. "Enough about me. What about you? You always follow people along the Massar-Jasper trade road?"

[Rachel_Ewok]

"Enough about me. What about you? You always follow people along the Massar-Jasper trade road?" She laughed, a sound like tinkling bells. "Well, I like to find adventure... and sometimes it doesn't come my way. So I have to seek it out myself... Plus following people helps improve my scouting abilities." She paused for a moment, "And as I said before, the group is full of not just men... But elves, dwarves, and a centaur. When I saw Skarra I couldnt' pass up the oppurtunity... Unfourtunately, he wasn't as friendly as I would have hoped he would have been. It would have been interesting to put a chapter about centaurs in my records." She sighed and picked up a twig. She twirled it about in her fingers, studied it, then threw it into the fire.

 

"I guess I just need to find things... To occupy my time, ever since... Ever since he died... I just..." She shook her head, "Never mind, I don't want to bog you down with my troubles." She glanced at the ground, and ate some more of the stew before it got cold.

[Corinthian]

Kadis nodded. Curiosity nibbled at him, but it was better not to ask. Discussing the obliteration of his company was depressing enough. "I understand the desire to occupy yourself. Only too well." Generally, Kadis' favored method of 'occupying' himself was getting sloshed, but suggesting that Arivan take up alcoholism was a bad idea.

 

"I suppose it's true you don't see many groups like this. Then again, I think our little group might be a demonstration of why, it's been less than a day on the road and we've nearly come to blows."

 

Kadis spooned down a chunk of meat. "The Centaur probably just uncomfortable. Can't blame him, Centaurs are supposed to be a dying race for whatever reason, and either there are only handfuls left or they keep to themselves, because I've never seen one. I can't imagine they have much contact with the other races."

[Master_Archon]

Icarian twitched, and then giggled, a couple minutes, another twitch, another giggle, it seemed odd, but then again, he was sleeping soundly by the fire.

 

'Seth' squinted at his quirky companion, it'd only been a few minutes since he'd sat by the fire, and yet he was already snoozing like a baby. 'Ridiculous,' the reptilian creature thought, shaking his head. 'Seth' moved behind Icarian, watching him sleep he shook his head once more.

 

"Wake up," he said with his gravely voice, giving the Fey a light flick to the head with the tip of his tail.

 

"I'm up, sorry to keep you waiting, sir," Icarian barked out in military fashion as he shot up, going immediately from a sprawled-out sleeping position, to a standing position in a matter of moments, not to mention standing in military fashion, and saluting.

 

"I'm not your former master, and this is not the army, now be quiet and follow me," 'Seth' told Icarian in a surprisingly neutral tone. Icarian relaxed back into his normal state and followed the reformed Yuan-Ti, yawning as he did so.

 

Eventually 'Seth' led Icarian up to the small group of people discussing the issue of going after the bandits.

 

"We cannot rest long if we are to find the bandits," said the only human of the group. "Their trail will grow cold if we leave them too long."

 

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I too know it is not the wisest thing to stay here much longer, so I must agree with..." 'Seth' paused, looking over at the human, he searched his face as if he could read the man like most people read books. "...Radek, yes, I must agree with Radek," 'Seth' complied with Radek's idea of going after the bandits A.S.A.P.

 

"I have great skill in tracking," the half-elf offered. "I will do what I can to prevent our losing their trail."

 

"Icarian is a trained scout, he can help you," 'Seth' offered the half-elf, looking over at the Dryad - who was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes - and glaring at him when he didn't respond after some time.

 

"What? Oh, yeah, uh, me? sure, I can help you...that's if you want any help?" Icarian asked meekly. 'Seth' only rolled his eyes and shook his head, reverting his attention to the others.

 

"Again, I'm sorry for intruding, but I too was growing concerned at how long it was taking us to get moving," 'Seth', again, apologized.

 

 

((For those who have forgotten, or don't know, Yuan-Ti have natural psionic abilities, on top of that, 'Seth' is an Ardent, meaning he has very potent psionics. I hope that explains some things, I don't want anyone angry at me.))

[Corinthian]

"In case you DIDN'T notice, not everyone came out of that battle with nothing but a scratch. Sorry to, uh..."

 

His thoughts trailed off. He wasn't sure how he had missed THAT guy before, because that was easily the ugliest thing he had ever seen. That was some new KIND of ugly, made Orcish Belly Dancers sound like an attractive prospect.

 

"How the hell did you miss mentioning the...man, what the hell IS that guy?"

 

The Serpent-creature was familiar, somehow, maybe something he had heard about during a pub crawl or during his youth. Either way, it was probably rude to be giving him those revolted looks.

 

"...and it would probably be better if we headed out while some of us are still bleeding. It doesn't matter how long of a head start the bandits have unless a rainstorm churns up during the night. The bandits are tired, exhausted, and are probably drinking their own good fortune right now. We're in no better shape, and badly outnumbered. They made off with a cart jammed to the brim with mithril. And Mithril, while lighter than most metals, will still make a cart pretty heavy. See these ruts in the road? That's the cart. A child could follow this path. Lie down and get some sleep or eat something. If we move at first light tomorrow, we can take them while they're still hungover and asleep, with light and rest on our side. We're gonna need every advantage we can get."

 

He may have botched his last job, but Kadis still thought like a commander.

 

"There's, what, twelve of us? Against an entire bandit company. Those are long odds. Furthermore, these bandits just made off with a cartload of the most valuable metal I can think of. If their boss didn't set a trap for us, I'd be very much surprised. Of course, then again, his strategy for the attack was hardly anything solid. The way we were fighting, none of us should have survived that battle."

[Master_Archon]

"In case you DIDN'T notice, not everyone came out of that battle with nothing but a scratch. Sorry to, uh..." the new man stopped, his thoughts wondering to things that 'Seth' found rather offensive. On top of that, 'Seth' was curious to know how on earth the man had suddenly gone from sitting by the fire eating stew to talking to the group, which had originally consisted only of the centaur, the bard elf, the man Radek, and the half-elf, along with himself and Icarian joining in. In was rather curious how the man even heard them, they weren't that close.

 

"Excuse you sir, but at least an apology for interrupting would do, at least finish apologizing. Now tell me, what injuries are you talking about?" 'Seth' asked curiously, reading the man like he had read Radek. "From what I can tell, you're fine now, or close enough to it," 'Seth' stated.

 

"How the hell did you miss mentioning the...man, what the hell IS that guy?" the rude man said, and though 'Seth' didn't exactly hear it all, he could still tell what the man had said.

 

"I'm a Yuan-Ti, live with it," 'Seth' told the man, giving him a hard, cold stare.

 

"...and it would probably be better if we headed out while some of us are still bleeding. It doesn't matter how long of a head start the bandits have unless a rainstorm churns up during the night. The bandits are tired, exhausted, and are probably drinking their own good fortune right now. We're in no better shape, and badly outnumbered. They made off with a cart jammed to the brim with mithril. And Mithril, while lighter than most metals, will still make a cart pretty heavy. See these ruts in the road? That's the cart. A child could follow this path. Lie down and get some sleep or eat something. If we move at first light tomorrow, we can take them while they're still hungover and asleep, with light and rest on our side. We're gonna need every advantage we can get."

 

"I don't want to start an argument, but there are flaws to your logic. For one the bandits are smart, and so is their leader, they're not going to keep the cart, they're going to use it to throw us off. They're not going to get drunk either, they're going to move their base camp as soon as they get the mithril there. The idea of following at first light is a bad idea, because then we lose the only advantages we have, such as the darkness of night, stealth, their weariness, and the fact that they know the lay of the land, and all the advantages to the terrain is something we should take into account, they could easily spot us and get ready for us if we move during daylight. As for sleeping and eating, I need little of both, and Icarian needs none either. The elves are similar, and are rather robust, and need little more than to eat some small amount of food, and they're ready, and I'd guess the centaur is the same. So it seems the 'soft-skins' are the only thing holding us back...well, except for Radek, he seems to be all too willing to get moving. So if I see this correctly, you're the only person unwilling to move," 'Seth' said, cocking his eyebrow - or whatever could be considered an eyebrow for him - at the objecting man, who seemed to only want to contradict everything everyone had to say.

 

"There's, what, twelve of us? Against an entire bandit company. Those are long odds. Furthermore, these bandits just made off with a cartload of the most valuable metal I can think of. If their boss didn't set a trap for us, I'd be very much surprised. Of course, then again, his strategy for the attack was hardly anything solid. The way we were fighting, none of us should have survived that battle."

 

"I've seen less fight more and come out alive. It's not a matter of numbers, it's a matter of tactic and intelligence. Traps are no issue, if they're traps that are man-made, then Icarian can spot them long before we trigger them, and I imagine that newcomer, the elven girl, she's a scout too, she can probably do the same, and I imagine she can to," 'Seth' said, indicating the half-elf girl who had offered her tracking skills earlier. "If you're talking about traps like men lying in wait, that's not much more of an issue, our only problem is killing those men lying in wait fast enough. As for the way the bandit leader had the whole thing boil done, I'd say he accomplished his goal perfectly, so he lost some of his men, I can easily say he had some men to lose, bandit leaders are like that after all. And the issue of none of us living, that may be true for some, but most here have decades, if not a century or two of combat experience, so you can't be certain that we all should be dead," 'Seth' told the mercenary.

 

"But this isn't the time to argue, nor do I think this situation is up for debate, as I can guess, our decided "leader", or "leaders" would be the bard and the centaur, from what the dwarf seemed to indicate, so it's up to them, not me, and not you. If you're really that unwilling to go, or cooperate, or be a 'team player' then you can stay here, it's your choice," 'Seth' concluded, reverting his gaze back to the others.

 

"Well, that was fun," Icarian finally piped up, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "So, Master Crow, what should we do?" The Dryad asked, tilting his head like a curious dog.

[Nymf...]

Tale sat on a stone holding his head. He took some leaf trying to ease the head-ache from the bump into a stone from the fall. The people around him were talking and walking around, some seemed very aggresive towards each other, but not being completely straight in his head it was hard to say.

 

Tale took a deep breath before standing up. His headache lightened up a bit. He moved his arm a bit, and the shoulder was still a bit stiff after the arrowhit, but he at least didn't bleed from the wound.

 

He felt a small breeze on his face and looked up on the moon and started to sing a little bit for himself in elvish.

[Corinthian]

Kadis groaned, pulling himself fully upright. "Yuan-Ti, huh?" That was...disturbing, to say the least. He'd heard of their freakish kind, although he'd never actually seen one of the monsters before. He flexed his fingers, dropping them down to his dagger. He'd be keeping a VERY close eye on that snake.

 

"Okay, so you want to discuss this? Alright. Let me point out each and every point where you're wrong. One, I have a broken rib, and our friend over there has an arrow wound. Two, they have to keep the cart for now. Did you see how heavily loaded it was? They'd need hundreds of men or a lot more time than they have to fully unload the cart. Three, these aren't organized, trained soldiers we're talking about here, these are bandits who just made off with a king's ransom worth of Mithril. They're going to celebrate. Four, Darkness holds no advantages for us except it's easier for us to be ambushed. Five, the fact that they know the lay of the land is all the more reason for us to move during the day when we can actually see the false floor that sends us into a pit lined with stakes. Six, I don't care what you need. If you want to follow the bandits on your own, fine, I'll try my best to see you get a decent burial."

 

He grinned, idly wondering what precisely this freak was on that made him think he had any clue.

 

"Seven..."

 

His voice trailed off as he considered the rather flippant way he dismissed the idea of ambushes. He could still smell the carnage as the Seventy-Seven slowly were butchered all around him.

 

"...you can never be certain you'll spot the trap in time. Forgive me if I don't stake my life on your abilities."

 

He wagged his head, trying to clear the offending thoughts.

 

"Eight, if the man had his strategy down, it wouldn't have boiled down to a mad scramble for the cart reins. We fought like idiots, our only reason that none of us were killed is because we're all fairly able warriors. If we go charging through the forest without a plan, some of us WILL die. We might die anyway, but charging around like a berserker who just ate a bad mushroom is not going to get us anywhere but an early grave."

 

"Nine, if any of you have centuries of experience, you sure do a pitiful way of showing it. You know the how and the why of fighting, but you ignore the when and the where. We can let this bandit lead us around like a dog on a leash, or we can play the game by our rules. If you need any help, remember that playing by the first set of rules usually ends with your head on a pike."

 

He was REALLY getting tired of the superior manner of the members of this party. Ironically, the only one who thus far had made an impression on him that wasn't the desire for an axe rampage was the Elf girl, who seemed to subvert her species' stereotypical arrogance.

 

"And, finally, who cares what the coward Dwarf said? He's not here. I don't recall anyone voting the Centaur and the Bard into the position of group leader. I think I'd remember something like that, although I suppose it's definitely possible one of you drugged me. What exactly are their merits for command? Maybe the Bard will inspire us with a song of courage before we try to take the bandits by surprise? Maybe the Centaur will make a dashing figure with his pounding hooves before we all get our heads severed and turned into a macabre chalice?"

 

He rolled his eyes. It was the same everywhere. Merit, ignored. He couldn't fathom the choices of the Bard and the Centaur for lead of the party, but then again, in this group, it's not as though they're really any worse than most of the others.

 

A number of biting comments ran through his mind, but he bit his tongue and sat. He'd made his case. Hopefully, they might actually listen to what he had to say instead of becoming so fixated on their own plans that they dragged him down to hell. Ah, what a magnificent day to be trapped between a rock and a hard place.

[Rachel_Ewok]

Arivan watched the exchange between Kadis and the Yuan-Ti.... That creature was another first for her, in fact, she hadn't even really believed that they exisisted... Just a silly story, invented to frighten young elflings around the fire.

 

He was an... interesting creature to say the least, but Arivan didn't think she would make an effort to speak with the creature on her own terms anyway. She glanced at Kadis, who was still sitting a few feet away from her. He was a strong looking man, and even though she was capable of taking care of herself, she still felt incredibly safe around him. She stifled a yawn, and edged a bit closer to Kadis, and the warmth of the fire and settled down. She was getting sleepy, it wasn't good to be sleepy. Enemies could sneak up on you, catch you off guard. She yawned again.

 

"What is that anyway? I never knew Yuan-Ti's even exisited." She said directing her question toward Kadis, but she would have been content, no matter who answered. She sat back aganist a rock, the ground she sat on was cold, but she was warmed by the crackling fire.

[Black Knight of Keno]

The centaur openly laughed at Kadis' comment about merit and stepped towards him.

"And we should follow you and join the other fellows you have gotten killed with your awesome leadership, no? Let us speak of merit in leadership. How many did survive of the glorious and mighty seventy-seven?" he asked of Kadis, approaching him further before snickering at the man's attitude. Just then Eldir rushed in to the middle of the argument, spreading his arms.

 

"Whoah, whoah. Let's not start bickering over leadership here. It doesn't matter who leads here. What matters is that we get on that bandit trail and find the mythril as soon as we can. The faster we get the cargo, the faster we get paid and can get rid of each others" the Wild elf told them. This also answered quite aptly Icarian's question of what to do next.

[Rachel_Ewok]

"What we need to do is rest." Arivan said standing up, "We're going to be no help being half asleep trying to track and attack the bandits." She flipped some of her red hair over her shoulder. "I say we assign guards to keep watch all night... And have shifts." She paused for a yawn, "It's getting really late.... We really should rest up, it would do us much more good than just standing around and arguing." She folded her arms and glared at anyone who dared look over at her.

[Corinthian]

Kadis had been on the verge of relaxing.

 

Then the Centaur opened his mouth.

 

How the hell did he know that?

 

Regardless, he jerked his dagger out of his sheath, jerking to his feet fully, adrenaline and anger burning away the pain.

 

Control yourself. Ice kills just as easily as fire.

 

It was a pretty little metaphor, much like the ones Elves were so very fond of quoting, but it was more or less true. He slid the dagger back into his sheath, pushing down his anger.

 

"You're right, Centaur. I shouldn't command this group. You're quite right in that regard. But tell me, what precisely makes you or the Bard good commanders either? The fact that both of you can make a maiden swoon?"

 

He snorted and settled back down.

 

"As for the Seventy-Seven, Fifteen survived our battle with Magnus Cromgar. On the other hand, of his entire force, which outnumbered my men nearly two to one, only Cromgar and his lieutenants escaped. Now, if you ever speak of my men, or that battle, in that tone again, I will kill you."

 

He regarded the Elf.

 

"Alright, have it your way. The rest of the group seems to embrace you as the leader, and far be it from me to contradict them. I frankly think you're walking into a death trap, but then again, it's not like I'm going to be taking point, now, am I? When do you want to get going, Bard? It looks like half the party is asleep or..." The girl yawned next to him. "...most of the way there."

[Master_Archon]

"Whoah, whoah. Let's not start bickering over leadership here. It doesn't matter who leads here. What matters is that we get on that bandit trail and find the mythril as soon as we can. The faster we get the cargo, the faster we get paid and can get rid of each others," Master Crow stated, Icarian nodding in agreement, and putting a hand on 'Seth's' shoulder.

 

"Come on 'Seth' calm down, majority wins, we're most likely going to move out soon," Icarian told the Yuan-Ti, trying to calm his friend.

 

"He thinks I'm a monster and he's decided to watch me like a hawk, and he keeps holding his hand near his dagger, not that it'll do much to me, but that's not the point. On top of all that he's bickered and complained and objected to every suggestion and decision that almost everyone's made...he's trouble, and his mind's like a festering bog, he drinks too much," 'Seth' hissed to Icarian in a low tone, so no one else could hear.

 

"That may be so, but it's no reason to get angry," Icarian tried to negotiate.

 

"I'm not angry, if I were, he'd be in my stomach; I'm just agitated is all," 'Seth' told Icarian, looking back to the situation at hand. And to his disdain, the situation grew decidedly worse, as the mercenary decided to pull his dagger on the centaur 'Seth' was clutching one of his throwing spears, though it was still in the quiver, and Icarian, though decidedly neutral throughout the whole situation, had his claymore out already, and was at the centaur's side. Icarian was still on no one's side, but he wasn't one to watch others get assaulted.

 

Then the man put his dagger away, to both 'Seth' and Icarian's surprise, so they too put their weapons down.

 

"What we need to do is rest," the new elven girl said standing up, "We're going to be no help being half asleep trying to track and attack the bandits." She flipped some of her red hair over her shoulder. "I say we assign guards to keep watch all night... And have shifts." She paused for a yawn, "It's getting really late.... We really should rest up, it would do us much more good than just standing around and arguing." She folded her arms and glared at anyone who dared look over at her.

 

'Seth' looked in her direction giving her a cold, hard, long stare, then he spoke to her in a rather neutral tone, "I will not be intimidated by your little staring contest girl, so don't cross me. I have one more thing to tell you though, girl, choose who you side with wisely, because those you support can either lift you up, or drag you down, and I tell you, you're making a poor mistake right now, a very poor mistake."

 

"You're right, Centaur. I shouldn't command this group. You're quite right in that regard. But tell me, what precisely makes you or the Bard good commanders either? The fact that both of you can make a maiden swoon?" 'Seth' simply squinted his eyes at the man, but said nothing to this.

 

"As for the Seventy-Seven, Fifteen survived our battle with Magnus Cromgar. On the other hand, of his entire force, which outnumbered my men nearly two to one, only Cromgar and his lieutenants escaped. Now, if you ever speak of my men, or that battle, in that tone again, I will kill you."

 

"Then I suggest you be a little more complaisant in the future, because, if you pull a weapon on anyone again, I'll kill you. But don't worry friend, I'll be watching you too, so in the future, we can keep an eye on each other," the Yuan-Ti told the mercenary bluntly, but still in a rather neutral tone.

 

"Alright, have it your way. The rest of the group seems to embrace you as the leader, and far be it from me to contradict them. I frankly think you're walking into a death trap, but then again, it's not like I'm going to be taking point, now, am I? When do you want to get going, Bard? It looks like half the party is asleep or..." The girl yawned next to him. "...most of the way there."

 

"I see one tired person, though I honestly don't see why she is, she's an elf after all, they need far less sleep than you 'soft-skins'," he turned his gaze to Radek. "No offense intended of course," he said to the other, older man, who seemed the only sensible and capable human in the group. "As for Icarian, he may look tired, with his eye rubbing, and yawning and whatnot, but he's just playing games, he's a Dryad, the only sleep he needs is for beauty," 'Seth' pointed out, slapping Icarian across the back of the head, the Dryad simply grinning mischievously at the bop across the noggin.

 

" 'Tis true, I don't really sleep at all, usually when I do, it's just for enjoyment and fun, dreams are a beautiful thing after all," Icarian confirmed, his grin widening.

 

"So if that girl counts as half the party to you, then we're in trouble," 'Seth' finished. "Icarian," 'Seth' said to his old companion.

 

"Yes?" The Dryad asked, quickly turning around to face his friend.

 

"I'm going to follow the Bard's suggestion, which was a rather smart one, the faster we get the cargo back, the sooner we part ways with our all too sour companion over there, so, start tracking," 'Seth' told the Fey, who only saluted and smiled.

 

"Good idea, Master Crow's the nice one, he helped me after all, so it'd only be polite of me to do what he said," Icarian said to no one in particular, and then with a flourish he turned to the others, looking at each of his fellow trackers in turn. "Well, I'll be off to do my job, so if any of you other wannabe trackers think you can keep up, feel free to tag along," Icarian said with a smug look on his face while he rubbed his chin, making him look like some cocky, chauvinistic jerk, when in reality he wasn't. This image quickly disappeared as he stuck his tongue out at the other trackers, and did a backwards hand-spring away from the group, and with a turn on the ball of his foot he was off down the road, and out of sight.

[Rachel_Ewok]

She glared at the creature, "I will not be intimidated by your little staring contest girl, so don't cross me. I have one more thing to tell you though, girl, choose who you side with wisely, because those you support can either lift you up, or drag you down, and I tell you, you're making a poor mistake right now, a very poor mistake." "Are you threatening me? Because I assure you, if you ever lay a hand on me you will be lying in a pool of your own blood before you have even began to think of what has happened." She placed a hand on her sword, and sighed deeply. This was a problem, she remembered, always wanting to pick fights where it wasn't nessecary, she was an elf after all... She was supposed to be taking the high road here.

 

Even if a fight did break out, she was pretty sure Kadis at least had her back. They seemed to get along well enough, but it was impossible to tell if he was willing to protect her as she would him, at this juncture in their very short time they had known each other. Plus, she didn't want to be betrayed... again. She stood her ground, she didn't want to back down from the creature. Though she didn't seem to have the upper hand if something violent did take place.

[Master_Archon]

((Okay, some pointers Rachel_Ewok, since you are new. One, don't double post, that's first and foremost a big no-no, unless it's in a OCC, but even then it's still not something you should do. Second, you cannot control any aspect of the RP, other than your own character, unless the TM says, or indicates, or otherwise hints at the fact that someone can progress the story along, though usually this is only an indication to progress it a little bit, not in any great length. Third, please, for my sake, and all others, do not control other peoples' characters, even a little, unless they say otherwise, because, first, some might find it offensive, and second, it can just ruin the experience plain and simple. And to add to the pain of this lecture, if you noticed, I said my character, Icarian, was heading off to do some scouting, and that meant that neither he, nor my other character would have fallen asleep. I kindly suggest you either edit your post, or delete it, or if you can't delete it, ask a moderator, or administrator to do so. This little lecture was for your benefit by the way, not to cause you any discomfort, or embarrassment, but please, keep others in mind when RPing - trust me, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. ))

 

((I'll either edit this post with something RP related, or I'll post a new post, depending on who posts next, if at all.))

[Black Knight of Keno]

((Moving a thread along and skipping several IC-hours when others have just begun to do something(i.e. Icarian leaving the group and hence continuing the RP in that direction) are completely different things. A handy rule is to let the DM/TM(Whichever you wish to call the thread starter. I prefer Dungeon Master for the nostalgic reasons) handle skips that take several hours of IC time.

 

In this case, the skip was entirely uncalled for. Not only was most of this page dedicated to arguing if the group should leave or not, to which there was no clear decision as of yet, most characters that are still RPed by someone seemed to be on the side of leaving. However, in spite of this you decided to completely dismiss all that and instead said they had all rested until morning, something that only Corinthian's character seemed to support. Also, since Corinthian is banned, screw him and his likes and dislikes.

 

Ergo, please delete your last post))

 

Skarra noted Icarian's self-dismissal from the group and smiled. He nudged Eldir who looked first at the Centaur and then at Icarian.

"Go ahead" the bard said Skarra, knowing quite well what the Centaur wanted to do. After an irrelevant approval, since he would've followed anyways, Skarra swiftly made his way after the Dryad. Once he caught the critter, he slowed down and fell in line not too far behind him to make sure he didn't miss any tracks on the soil. The man knew that the Dryad was a scout, but he had the distrust of a ranger.

 

Eldir meanwhile shook his head at the infighting of the group.

"Those who want to go, let's go. Those who want to stay and make friends, go ahead and stay here. I frankly want this all done with so I don't have to look at any of your faces again for a hopefully long time" he told them before making sure he had his equipment with himself so the elf could follow behind Skarra and Icarian. Eldir placed his trsut and hope on Icarian and Skarra and that they wouldn't lose the still fresh tracks.

[Master_Archon]

((@-Tepe: Don't be so harsh on the guy/gal, she's/he's new after all, probably hasn't even read the rules thread.

 

@-Rachel_Ewok: Despite BKK's bluntness, he has a point - even though I pretty much said the same thing - I'd suggest you follow this link, and read the rules thread: LINK!

 

@-Myself: Post you moron!!!))

 

"Those who want to go, let's go. Those who want to stay and make friends, go ahead and stay here. I frankly want this all done with so I don't have to look at any of your faces again for a hopefully long time," the bard elf said.

 

"I have to agree there. I'm coming," 'Seth' said, not taking his harsh eyes off of the young elf scout for one moment. But soon he did break his long stare, for he had to turn away and begin moving down the path after his friend, and the centaur, or else they might lose them.

 

"I'm going now, Icarian has a tendency to forget there are people following him," 'Seth' told the others, moving down the path, and fading into the darkness of night.

******

Icarian stopped suddenly as he was going down the path, he didn't like the way things were looking, the cart tracks were going a bit too linear, they were, what he would call it, being predictable. The Dryad turned completely around and began walking back in the direction he'd came, passing the centaur he knew had been following him. And then, he stopped, staring down at the ground he motioned the centaur over.

 

"Tell me, what's this look like to you," Icarian said, pointing at the slight disturbances that only a scout could spot in the grass.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Skarra stopped when Icarian stopped and watched him from afar as he studied the fart tracks. When the Dryad started coming back, he braced himself slightly and placed a hand on the grip of his sword only to notice the Dryad walking past him. The Centaur followed again from afar before being gestured over. When he approached and leaned in to see the tracks, he smirked.

 

"That explains why the tracks became lighter ahead. They unloaded the Mythril" he noted and chuckled, raising his human torso back up and looked towards the darkness where the tracks led to.

"They turned from the road and headed south along the Chugack mountains. By the looks of the tracks before, the large group that headed across the road before was the rest of the bandit camp" he noted before turning to Icarian.

"I hope you don't have any troubles in Black Forest, since it seems we'll be heading there next"

[Rachel_Ewok]

((Right-o, sorry 'bout that, I'll be more wary as to what I do from now on.

 

Also, what happened to Corinthian?, I mean, he seems to be important to this RP...??))

 

Arivan scowled, annoyed at what was happening around her. She shouldn't have come here, too many people, too many lifestyles that she could clash with. Everyone but that... that... thing seemed not to mind her though, so she wouldn't mind sticking around even if it meant having to deal with it for a while.

 

Unwilling to stay, restless with the rest of the group she trailed silently behind Skarra, Icarian, and Eldir. She wanted desperately to prove herself to them, show them she wasn't some juvinile elf. She really did know what she was talking about, and was good at what she did.

 

They didn't know it yet, but she was watching their backs, they never needed to know. Not unless something attacked, they were focusing on the tracks, something she could have done but obviously not as well as they did. She had been tracking for years longer than them, but she still seemed so young in her mindset and atitude people usualy forgot she was probably about a hundred years older than they were.

 

Her thoughts kept her company as she watched the group, making sure that nothing went wrong. She climbed into a tree, she enjoyed moving about in the trees, just as long as there were enough for her to jump from one to the other she was content.

 

"That explains why the tracks became lighter ahead. They unloaded the Mythril" Arivan looked on, her curiosity burning with hunger. Now what? Would they follow the cart, or the tracks of those who had the mythril? What was more important?

 

"I hope you don't have any troubles in Black Forest, since it seems we'll be heading there next" This was her chance, she knew her way around that area like the back of her hand. She wanted to show that she could be good, and so useful to the cause. She didn't wanted to feel un-needed anymore, she wanted to belong.

 

She jumped out of the tree, with a feline-like grace, landing noiselessly behind them. "I can guide you there. I know all these parts... I don't get lost." She tried to disguise the wanting, the need in her voice to be accepted.