Tale of Heroes - Part 1: Reign of Diaz (PG:14)

[Corrosion]

((OOC: I’m going to change the course of events, as Asher wouldn’t be standing there if someone is being killed. I think that you should open up SUs again because it’s been more than a week and Krazy95 hasn’t posted his SU yet. ))
Meryl Forest
Asher Ikakois

Asher was thoroughly disturbed when Keres began demanding a map from the other patrons of the tavern without releasing them from the cage. The blond had been showing hints of being unable to restrain himself when it came to hurting people, but this was cruel. Asher knew that they had to obtain a map in order to travel to Kale, but this was not acceptable. He was about to stop the other person, but as soon as he took a step forward, the blond plunged his clawed hand into the man-with-the-map’s stomach. ’What? Does he just like killing and killing the soldier was only to please himself?’ he thought, distraught that the person who had saved him had had ulterior motives. Asher was aware that most people desired something as a reward from people that they helped, but he wished that someone besides him would help people without seeking compensation for their trouble.

As soon as the blond said something in a language that Asher had never heard before, the corpse of the man rose and the necromancer walked away with the map in hand. As the man neared Asher, he said, “Here!” Asher was unsure of whether to run away from him, turn him in to what law enforcement still existed, or tackle him here and now. He decided to wait, listening as Keres said, “Stay away from him!” from behind him. Asher had no intention of touching the corpse, but he had no way of telling Keres that. Keres, unaware that it was rather dark out and his head obscuring what little light there was from the moon, pushed the map towards Asher and told him that they were off to Kale. Asher had difficultly seeing the map, yet Keres would no move his head, except face his recent kill and say, “Massacre.”

Asher immediately heard screams as the revenant obeyed the necromancer, but the construct was at the cage before it could finish strangling on of the tavern’s patrons. He rushed around to the end of the cage where the person was being pushed up against the bars and choked, and placed his hand on the bar behind the person’s head. He concentrated and, right next to the person’s neck, the bar broke and formed into a spear. Asher had angled the spear so that it would pierce the revenant’s neck, but it would not puncture the flesh. Deciding to help the person being strangled, he used the hand that was not forming the weapon, his left hand, to make an attempt to pry the fingers off of the neck. He was partially successful at first, but then pressed harder with the spear on the revenant’s neck, and, as anything will go through anything (mostly) if pressured enough, the spear poked through the back of the revenant’s neck and pinned it to the ceiling of the cage. The man who was being strangled fell backwards onto Asher and the people in the cage began to flood out of it. Asher set down the man as soon as he could breathe again.

To ascertain that the revenant would never hurt people again, Asher thought that the surest way was tying it up and dumping it in a river, but as he had no river, he decided to settle for binding it until it could not even see. He warily walked into the cage as the corpse was flailing its limbs. Luckily, even being commanded by a necromancer who knew how to fight, the corpse had no idea that you were not supposed to extend your arms fully when punching and so opened itself up to Asher grabbing its extended right arm, pushing the elbow in a way that is was not supposed to go, and tearing off what was below the elbow. Asher threw the piece of arm away from the cage and grabbed the end of the previously-created spear. He concentrated despite being pounded on by the revenant and made the spear metal rope. As he wound the rope around the revenant, it began to struggle more furiously. At the end he had to let go of both as the rope had run out, yet it was only enough to bind the corpse’s top half.

Asher stepped back and considered possible solutions to the revenant besides corpse-on-a-string, and then his thoughts strayed to why Keres had ordered the dead man to attack his fellows. He had been attacked by assassins before, but they had at least made an attempt to hide themselves. They had been hired by people who believed that if something had not been born the “proper way”, then it, and its creator, did not deserve to live. Once they had been discovered, that group of people was kicked out, but their ideas had stayed in Aime for quite a while. The assassins were stealthy and not inclined to kill people out of the blue; killing extra people not in the contract was merely a waste of their time. It was best for them to not attract any suspicion at all. He did not know what to do with Keres at this point, because it appeared that he was dealing with a mass-murderer.

As he walked over to Keres, Asher considered his options; he could attempt to bring him down now, attempt to talk him out of killing people who were not attacking others, turn him over to the authorities when he had the chance and follow him in the meantime, or follow him regardless of his faults. Each had their flaws, but he finally decided to compromise – if Keres did not begin following the laws of society, then Asher would sic the police on him and if he developed into a person who was more-or-less-sane and not in the habit of killing those who annoyed him, then he would let Keres do what he wanted. He stood there, staring at the ground in front of Keres’ feet when he was near the necromancer, but he hoped that Keres would recognize that, yes indeed, killing a person and turning him into a slaughtering machine was a rather morally reprehensible thing to do.

 

[Schade]

Keres Adrastea
Meryl Forest, because now, the forest have a name

Keres stood a few feet away, obserbing as his newly creted revenant, and how the non-human tried to stop it. It was as Keres suspected. This one have a keen sense for justice and non-violence. "Well, that's a good thing, but you don't get anywhere without brutal force" Keres thought. This also gave Keres a chance to observe this non-human in action. It appeared to have some sort of manipulative powers towards metal. Keres held up his bloody clawed hand. "That might get troublesome.." he said to himself. Observing the happening at the cages, Keres also noticed that the non-human tried not to kill the revenant while saving the others, even though he severily disabled it. "Why do you care saving them if you're not one of them?" Keres said while looking up at the sky. It was early morning, and he could see the sun rise in a distance between the trees. Well, it's time to move on. Keres wanted to reach Kale as soon as possible. He felt a strange force inside him that told him he needed to be there.

The non-human appeared to be in deep thought after the big fight with the revenant at the cage. Keres did not know what he was thinking about, or even if he could think at all. Keres did after all, not know what the heck this creature was. "Please don't interfere with my actions like that" he then proceeded to say. He knew that dragging this non-human would be a real pain in the rear end, but he also knew that the tremendous amount of magic this creature seemed to posess would come in handy if he ever came in a grim situation. The non-human still looked a bit troubled, an keres thought what kind of mess was going on in his head. obviously, the non-human was not a killer, and valued human lives, unlike himself. But Keres knew how to use the spells now, and was certain that he could take the non-human out if necessary. Keres only had to play his cards right, and they would avoid further trouble. "Next time, I'll take 'em out myself" he then said in an irritated tone. He then turned to the non-human. "I am Keres, what is your name?"

(OCC: Because I am sick and tired of reffering to Asher as "The non-human" lol)

 

[Corrosion]

((OOC: Sorry about bunnying your character, Elysian, but it’s the only way…))

Meryl Forest
Asher Ikakois

The sky became lighter as dawn broke, and Keres was staring at Asher. Asher did not appreciate being stared at and this person had made him even more uncomfortable by letting loose a revenant on other people. Asher knew that he had been saved, yet following an immoral person to the nearest town where he would surely cause trouble was not what he owed him. It was a conundrum, but Asher had already settling on waiting until they reached town. Town was not that far away, from what he could tell from the map and its key. Still, this murky and dense forest would slow them down, and potentially expand their trip’s time to twelve hours, if they did not stray from the path.

Keres admonished Asher for ceasing the revenant’s rampage, saying, “Please don’t interfere with my actions like that,” keeping an undertone of annoyance in his voice to warn the construct that the next time that Asher did something that displeased him, there would be consequences; although, the necromancer was attempting politeness, so Asher was not immediately worried about an assault. Rather, the next sentence from Keres was of far more concern to him. He had said it when he believed that Asher was not concentrating on anything in particular, but he could be observant even when partially distracted. “Next time, I’ll take ‘em out myself,” Keres said, sure of himself. He did have two on his side, but Asher was physically stronger than Keres and had an enormous pool of Mana. If Asher’s body was destroyed, then he could rebuild himself; Keres had no such convenient ability, but he could summon allies. It was best for both of them if there was no infighting within their duo. Keres did not place much value besides what he could use on human life, as he had demonstrated previously, so Asher made a note to be weary of him in the event that he would be deemed “useless”. At least this person seemed to think that he was a person, and not a construct.

Keres turned himself around to face Asher. “I am Keres, what is your name?” he asked Asher, obviously curious and tired of calling Asher whatever he had been calling him in his mind.

Asher took this opportunity to fetch his lump of metal from his bag and hold it before him. It said now, in clearly engraved, yet elegant, letters, “My given name is Asher.” Asher had been so engrossed in considering the ethics of following Keres if he was so violent and irrational that he had forgotten that people normally introduced themselves in a different manner. He was aware of how robotic it had made him seem – in the first few years after his “birth” he had been shown off to people and instructed to write that down on the lump of metal. It had become a habit and had been one of the first tip-offs as to his state as a non-human.

“Fine,” Keres said, preferring to keep whatever he thought firmly in his head. He departed down the path that appeared to be heading to town. Asher followed the soldier-revenant, keeping a few feet between him and the…corpse. As he had to put the metal back in the bag, Asher lagged behind for a few moments while doing so, but he caught up easily. This process happened only that once as Keres did not have any other question for Asher as both had realized that reading something that was hovering while waking was perhaps not the safest thing to do.

Once they were in sight the town, Keres stopped the group and all forward motion halted. ’Did he realize that waltzing into a town wearing a claw that is flaking off particles of dried blood while tailed by a cadaver is, perhaps, would trigger some questions that would be uncomfortable to answer?’ Asher thought, and then reconsidered. ’He cannot be that inane, as he would be dead by now, and, though I may have to intervene, this is an opportune chance for me to see him handle a situation correctly.’ Asher was nearly ever-forgiving, but even his patience had a limit. They had been trekking through the forest with minimal stops, and even though Asher and the revenant were fine, Keres seemed irate and liable to disembowel another person. Though Asher thought that he could prevent any unnecessary Keres-caused deaths, he did not step forward to cease any plan that the necromancer had in mind. He would only do so if the he broke the law or seemed to near the point of murdering.

((OOC: We’re outside of the city, and nearly there. I do not know Keres’ personality well enough to bunny him that much. If you need to bunny Asher, just make him shy and law-abiding with a slight habit of being ever-so-sarcastic. He’s kinda a worry-wart.))

 

[Schade]

Keres Adrastea
Meredith's inn

The non-human somehow managed to introduce himself as Asher, by pushing a clump of metal in his face, which contained the letter in which formed his name. Facinated by the whole event, Keres was certain that Asher was indeed not human, but some sort of golem posesed by a strong magical quality. "If I were to drain his powers, I would be practically invnsible!" Keres thought to himself, releasing a low yet evil laugh. As they had finally founf the way to the town known as Kale, Keers knew that the solider-revenant would attract attention. He stopped for a moment, and put on the hood on the revenant, covering his eyes, and the big cut in the throat, which had finally stopped bleeding somehow. Asher, however, seemed a bit uneasy around the solider, and kept a few feet behind them. Keres didn't mind, as long as Asher didn't disappear, or decided not to follow anymore. Finally, the town came into sight, and Asher seemed even more troubled than usual. what was the matter, Keres did not bother to ask, as he had already spoken too much.

Standing outside of town, Keres finally understood what was worrying Asher: His clawed gauntlet was still soaked in dried blood, and that was sure to attract unwanted attention. He tried rubbing them in his cape, but it didn't work. Then, irritated, he sat down and started scratching them with his other hand, looking a lot like a child in the process. "Say anything and die!" He then said straight foreward to Asher, with really bad hidden embarassment over the whole event. But it did work, and his claws weren't bloody anymore. Besides, he would cover himself in his cape, so his arms wouldn't be visible unless someone tried to mug them. Besides, Keres was convinced that Asher was the one to attract the most attention by the two of them. He didn't exactly look like a regular townsman. That might be troublesome, but if anyone tried disposing of him before Keres, he would simply just kill them.

After a little while, they came across a small inn called 'Meredith's inn" and entered. There, they saw a strange group of people, talking about going on some sort of adventure. The two of them sat down in a corner, in order to attract as little attention as possible, and Keres brought out his Crystal Orb, and started peering into its depths, while Asher sat, a bit uncomfortably and watched, and the Solider revenant just sat in peace and quiet.
After a while, Keres snathed up a conversation over at another table. Something about woe and misery. He enjoyed listening to them until they mentioned the emperor, Diaz. Apparently, they were going on some adventure to take him down, and as Keres was practically doing the same thing, he continued listening. The group of people wasn't that impressive. Even if they were to joing them, Asher would still be his biggest enemy. But they must be under the posesion of some magical abilities themselves. If not, their energy would be more than enough. Keres stood up, and walked towards them.
"We're inn", he said emotionless

 

[AJ2000]

Meredith's Inn
Kale
Artus Callum & Co.


In the midst of finishing up his conversation with Natalia, someone shouted fomr the other side of the tavern. “Hey boy! If you’re headin’ out towards Galvez, count me in!” A man only a couple of tables away yelled at Artus. He was older than him, but looked to be in his twenties. He agreed to come along? Artus was confused for a second as to why he would be helping him. After all, the thought of going there in the first place wasn’t a pretty sight for most people.

“Don’t be ridiculous Artus. Of course I’m going with you.” Natalia agreed to come with him, although she did seem a little bit irritated, by the sound of her tone. Artus nodded in to both Natalia and the man, and smiled. As he looked back at the man, the guy with the axe was talking with him, and although Artus couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the way they were nodding at each other made it obvious he wanted to come along as well. Artus observed as two more people walked up to him. One had blonde hair, and the other one was rather dark-skinned, but there was something strange about him.

“We’re in.” The blonde one said emotionlessly. Artus smiled and nodded in agreement. To be honest, the trip wasn’t looking so bad now, considering he had a group of what seemed like to him, a bunch of rather skilled warriors. He smiled, and walked over to the table where the man with the goatee was sitting. There was a girl sitting next to him, and the guy who wielded the axe was near as well. As Artus walked over, he gave a wave of the hand to signal the others who agreed to go to Galvez to come over to the table and join him in a quick briefing.

“Alright I guess it’s settled.” Artus said, as he grabbed a chair. “We’ll go tomorrow morning, ‘cus it’s gonna get dark soon. And besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll need all the rest we can get.” Artus took a brief pause. “I’m Artus by the way. Artus Callum. ” He was a little bit shy in crowds, mainly because he was never really the leader-type, and because there weren’t many people his age in his hometown, just mostly old people. “Ummmm…so yeah, nice to meet you guys. What are your names?”

 

[Nythe]

Natalia Denar
Kale
Meredith’s Inn

It was just as Natalia expected. The owner of the huge axe decided to join the rescue party as well. The hooded girl remained quiet, but she didn’t seem much of a fighter anyway. Another man, wearing a dark cape approached Artus and Natalia. “We’re in.” He was referring to himself and two shady guys sitting in the corner. One of them had brown skin, while the other was hiding his face under a hood.

Natalia wasn’t sure about such creepy guys travelling with them, although this sort of people could prove to be strong allies. Artus, however, had no such concerns. He walked to the trio of two men and a hooded girl and invited everyone else to join them at the table. Natalia sauntered to the table, but opted not to sit down. “Alright I guess it’s settled. We’ll go tomorrow morning, ‘cus it’s gonna get dark soon. And besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll need all the rest we can get.” Artus paused for a bit before continuing awkwardly. “I’m Artus by the way. Artus Callum. Ummmm…so yeah, nice to meet you guys. What are your names?”

Natalia wasn’t sure how much about herself should she tell, especially with the creepy trio around. “My name is Natalia, although those with a death wish can call me Nat.” She pierced Artus with her eyes when saying the last part. “I’m currently on my way to my family’s home in the East, but I guess saving our Princess is more important than that.”

That about covers it. I’ll tell them more, if I decide to hire them after this is over.

 

[Deleted member 300066]

Ethan Daggett: Post 8

Ethan Daggett
Meredith's Inn
Kale

It was beginning to look like Ethan wasn’t the only one joining the younger man, within a matter of minutes several others throughout the tavern volunteered themselves to go. Ethan was quite surprised.

The man who had initially been planning to go approached Ethan, Undine and Coelnar.
“Alright I guess it’s settled.” He said as he pulled up a seat. “We’ll go tomorrow morning, ‘cause it’s gonna get dark soon. And besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll need all the rest we can get… I’m Artus by the way. Artus Callum.” He was beginning to quiet down slightly, he appeared slightly shy. “Ummmm… so yeah, nice to meet you guys, what are your names?”

The woman who had been sitting next to Artus walked over to join the group on the table, she didn’t take a seat.
“My name is Natalia, although those with death wish can me Nat” She said, her eyes then darting towards Artus. “I’m currently on my way to my family’s home in the east, but I guess saving our Princess is more important than that” Natalia seemed to have already taken a disliking to the group.

Ethan laid down his drink.
“Hello Artus… Nat…” he grinned slightly as he glanced over towards Natalia “I’m Ethan Dagget, Captain Ethan Daggett if you want.” He thought about whether or not to tell the group about his past, he decided to opt out for now. “One of Diaz’s men took something from me, a weapon” He explained vaguely “I’m hoping to find out where it is, so I’ll tag along. For now.” Ethan then took another drink of his rum.

 

[Schade]

Keres Adrastea
Meredith's Inn

“Alright I guess it’s settled.” A guy who introduced himself as Artus said as he pulled up a seat. “We’ll go tomorrow morning, ‘cause it’s gonna get dark soon. And besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll need all the rest we can get… I’m Artus by the way. Artus Callum. Ummmm… so yeah, nice to meet you guys, what are your names?” the young man went on, he seemed very nervous. The group introduced one by one, and a girl besides him said: “My name is Natalia, although those with death wish can me Nat”. This one seemed as heartless and mean like keres, and he disliked it. “I’m currently on my way to my family’s home in the east, but I guess saving our Princess is more important than that” she then said.

Keres sat down besides her and took down his hood. "My name's Keres" he then said, anticipating no response, nor the need of telling anything more. "Nice to meet you, Nat" He said to her, grinning slightly. The Revenant came over and joined them. "Oh yeah, I forgot about you.." Keres said. "But I can't kill you again here." The revenant said nothing. Keres ordered a hot drink from the very inapproperiate dressed maid while he thought about how to dispose of the Revenant. He knew he wasn't supposed to attract attention, but hey, no one would notice a dead body in one of the room.

(OCC: Short post is short, but now, I'm in the gang, y'all!))

 

[SteelKing 2012]

Coelnar Ellidyn
Kale
Meredith's Inn

After Coelnar volunteered himself, an unusual looking pair entered the inn, and said something to the man, seemingly volunteering to join them as well. There was something off about one of them, the darker skinned one. He didn't seem quite, well, human. And the other one had an air of viciousness about him, making Coelnar wonder if hanging around him might earn him a knife in the back. It wasn't the time for such doubts though, and he just told himself to be glad of the help. The woman from the other pair appeared to volunteer as well, but it was easy to tell that she was less than thrilled about it.

The man who'd announced the venture came over to their table, followed somewhat reluctantly by his companion. He looked quite nervous, and uncomfortable talking to even their small group. "Alright, I guess its settled." he said, as he sat himself down in a chair. "We'll go tomorrow morning, 'cause its gonna get dark soon. And besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll need all the rest we can get… I’m Artus by the way. Artus Callum.” He seemed more uncomfortable with every minute he spent talking to the group, and it was hard to miss the relief on his face when he finished speaking. “Ummmm… so yeah, nice to meet you guys, what are your names?”

His companion stood at the table, apparently not wanting to take a seat. She clearly thought herself to be above them, which irritated Coelnar slightly. "My name is Natalia, though those with a death wish can call me Nat." She said, with a glare at Artus at the last part. "I'm currently on my way to my family's home in the east, but I guess saving our princess is more important than that." she said, though it was clear that she wouldn't have agreed to it if Artus hadn't decided on heading to Galvez.

The dangerous looking one from the other pair came over, and introduced himself, pulling down his hood. "My name's Keres." he said. He gave no other explanation, not that it was really needed. A strange dead looking.. 'Thing', followed him, and he turned to look at it. "Oh yeah, I forgot about you.." he said, sounding slightly irritated. "But I cant kill you again here." the creature, not unexpectedly, didn't reply. The man turned and ordered a drink from the maid, seemingly brooding on something.

Coelnar supposed it was time to introduce himself. He looked at them with a slight smile. "My name's Coelnar Ellidyn, I'm a member of the Polrin, or I was... Diaz's men destroyed my village, and took the people to Galvez. I don't know if they're alive or not, but if there's a chance of saving them, I suppose I have to take it." he said, unable to keep a hint of sadness out of his voice. "Only I escaped, after all. I had to abandon them back then, and I wouldn't forgive myself if I did it again." he said. "Well met, I suppose."

 

[AJ2000]

Meredith's Inn
Kale
Artus Callum & Co.




As Artus finished introducing himself, the others began. “My name is Natalia, although those with a death wish can call me Nat.” Artus noticed she gave him a sort of death glare when she said that last part. Clearly she didn’t like being called that, but honestly, to Artus, it was easier to say than her full name. “I’m currently on my family’s home in the east, but I guess saving our princess is more important than that.”

“Hello Artus…Nat.” The man with the goatee spoke. “I’m Ethan Daggett, Captain Ethan Daggett if you want. One of Diaz’s men took something from me, a weapon. I’m hoping to find out where it is, so I’ll tag along, for now.” Ethan finished up by taking a swig of his drink. Interesting…Captain? Sounds like a guy with experience. Artus felt relieved that they had a guy like him on the team. There was a hooded girl sitting next to him, quietly. Must not be the talkative type. He then shifted his attention to the guy with the blonde hair and hood. His supposed partner, the guy with the dark brown shades of skin was standing next to him quietly as well.

“I’m Keres. Nice to meet you Nat.” He grinned a bit to Natalia, and quite frankly the way he spoke along with the small grin creeped Artus out. He wasn’t the judgmental type, but he was fairly certain this particular guy had an ‘odd’ vibe to him. Just then someone walked up behind him, however the person looked to a bit ‘off’, as there was something eerily different about the being. The way it walked and stood there sat uneasy with Artus. ….This guy is just weird…He thought. “Oh yeah, I forgot about you. But I can’t kill you again here.” Artus looked confusingly at him, at the revenant didn’t respond but rather followed Keres a few ways away where he ordered a drink.

“My name’s Coelnar Ellidyn, I’m a member of the Polrin, or I was….Diaz’s men destroyed my village and took the people to Galvez. I don’t know if they’re alive or not, but if there’s a chance of saving them, I suppose I have to take it. Only I escaped after all, I had to abandon them back then, and I wouldn’t forgive myself if I did it again. Well met I suppose.” As he finished talking there, there was a silence among the group. Artus sat looking down. He knew where Coelnar was coming from, so they were on the same page. Although Artus didn’t want to admit it, he felt slightly teary-eyed from Coelnar but tried to hide it as wanted to act ‘cool’.

“Alright, I’m gonna go to my room.” Artus said. He wasn’t expecting anyone else to have a sad story like himself, and he really wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear any more stories of people dying. He got up and pushed in his chair and faced the group. “We’ll meet here in the morning and the head out I guess.” He turned around and walked towards a hallway, and up the staircase hidden at the end.

As he got inside his room, he saw that it was fairly nice inside. It wasn’t as bad as Natalia had made it out to be, in fact, it even looked better than his own house. There was a comfy bed in the corner, a fireplace, a window, and tiny washroom. Inside the closet, there a couple of pairs of white, loose fitting clothes, which were probably for the guests to use as night clothes. There were a couple of dress looking-things which were most likely for women, as well as shirts and pants for men. Artus took off his armor and shirt, and changed his pants into the complimentary one. The pants felt slightly loose, but if it was free of charge, he didn’t care.

 

[Nythe]

Natalia Denar
Kale
Meredith’s Inn

More introductions followed. The tall blonde man introduced himself as Captain Ethan Dagget, but not before having a go at undermining Natalia’s position in the newly formed group by calling her Nat. The man in the dark cape followed suit. He sat down right next to Natalia and sent shivers down her spine in the process. He took down his hood and gave the briefest of introductions. “My name’s Keres.” He grinned and turned to Natalia before continuing. “Nice to meet you, Nat.”

Natalia glared at him and ground her teeth. This whole thing has severely backfired, now even those two will call me Nat. It’s all Artus’ fault for calling me that in the first place. Maybe I should make up nicknames for them as well. Natalia relaxed her jaw and formed her lips in a thin, barely noticeable smile at her last thought.

Her smile didn’t last long, though, as things got weird once again. The other hooded figure approached Keres whose reaction was incredibly disturbing. “Oh yeah, I forgot about you… But I can’t kill you again here.”

Just who or what is this Keres guy and what does he want. All I know is that I’ll keep away from him as much as it’s possible when travelling in the same group. Natalia was so freaked out she could hardly notice anything else going on around her. “… Colenar … Polrin … Diaz … saving them …”The axe guy was telling everyone about himself, but Natalia couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying.

When she recovered from the shock, she noticed Artus leaving the room. She wasn’t willing to spend more time near Keres so she decided to get to her room as well. “So, Colenar, Ker and Eth. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” she said teasingly before turning around and walking away.

The room was slightly better than she anticipated in such a place, though that wasn’t saying much. The bed was hardly any better than a hay pile, the wind was blowing through the cracks around the dirty window and the old closet was on the verge of falling apart. I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll have to suffer like this for quite a while, before I finally liberate Rose Manor. Natalia took off her boots, leggings and tunic and reluctantly slipped into a night dress she found in the closet. She kept the cuirass and bracers on. While sleeping with them on would be uncomfortable, she didn’t want to risk anything with Keres staying in the same inn. Natalia put her tunic and leggings on a table and her boots under it. After locking the door she lay on the bed and, after tossing and turning for a while, fell asleep.

 

[Deleted member 300066]

Ethan Daggett
Meredith’s Inn
Kale

A few others introduced themselves, including Keres, who also seemed to be starting trouble by addressing the woman as Nat.
Heh, I like this guy. Ethan thought as he observed Natalia grit her teeth in in frustration

“Oh yeah, I forgot about you… But I can’t kill you again here.” Said Keres, Ethan hadn’t noticed until now that alongside Ekeres was a half-dead looking man, the man didn’t reply. Ethan dismissed it for now, he had seen plenty strange things that day, he could question it in the morning, for now, he was too tired.

Natalia stood up and looked over the crowd
“So Coelnar, Ker and Eth. I guess I’ll be seeing you in the morning” She said as she headed upstairs towards her room. Ethan’s smile dropped at the sound of ‘Eth’.
Eth? Seriously? At least Nat sounds like a name… He thought to himself, he turned to Keres and shrugged. Ethan yawned and downed the remainder of his drink, he stood up from the table.
“Well, I’m gonna hit the hay” He said to the group as he approached the innkeeper. He paid the woman behind the counter and headed upstairs with his key.

Ethan entered the room, it wasn’t anything special, but neither were the Captain’s quarters on the Myrydian. Ethan removed his boots, jacket and shirt. He observed the night clothes on the dresser but frankly: he couldn’t be bothered. Ethan slumped onto the bed and fell asleep rather quickly.

 

[Schade]

Keres Adrastea
Merediths inn

The young woman named Natalia, who absolutly didn't want to be named Nat, answered in a little irritating tone, “So Coelnar, Ker and Eth. I guess I’ll be seeing you in the morning” and went off. It appeared she had booked a room for the night. Something Keres didn't even think of.. “Well, I’m gonna hit the hay” Ethan, the pirate-ish person who had been sitting next to Keres said. Keres knew he couldn't sit downstairs all the night, and he didn't want any more uncomfortable time spent with Asher, whi hadn't even said a word after their apperance at the inn. He then got an idea, and went over to the revenant, who had started smelling pretty bad. "You. roomkey!" Keres said as he took off the revenants cape, and sent him towards a lone woman at a table. She screamed like obsessed, left everything she owned, and ran off. Keres went over to her stuff and found what he was looking for: A key. He also found a small notebook with a weak magical feel around it. He took them both, and went back to the others.

"We'll call it a day." he said, and guided the revenant in front f him to the room of the woman from before. Inside the room, which was very, very girly, as the woman obviously had planned on staying for a while, Keres took the revenant aside, and held up his orb, taking back the magic that held the revenant alive. He fell over, dead for good this time. "Thank you for your assistance. May you find peace at last" he said slowly. He then stuffed the body into the closet, which would provide an unpleasent suprise for any houskeeping that would happen later on. The room was small and girly, with woman clothing scattered around. It appeared that the woman didn't care about keeping it clean, but she did have rather interesting stuff. Kere held up the book for a moment, then put it away again. He took off his greaves, gauntlets and hooded cape, and went to bed. He dared not entering the pajamas in the corner.

 

[SteelKing 2012]

Coelnar Ellidyn
Meredith's Inn
Kale

Unsurprisingly, Ethan immediately sought to antagonize Natalia after her statement, the vicious looking guy, Keres, followed suit. Coelnar sighed with exasperation, but had to hide an amused smile. You'd think people could talk for five minutes without stirring up trouble. Mind you, I suppose she is quite irritating. he reflected, slowly shaking his head. He didn't mind too much. It was just their manner, he supposed. A little rough, but nothing too terrible. As long as they didn't end up at each other's throats. Coelnar was used to stopping arguments, but it was never a pleasant business. He had a feeling he might need to stop a few, though, by the time their journey was out.

In any case, Natalia excused herself, and left the table, presumably to her room. "So, Coelnar, Ker, and Eth. I guess I'll see you in the morning." she said, looking absurdly pleased with herself when she referred to Ethan and Keres. Oh, great. This is going well. he thought sarcastically, noticing Ethan looking slightly irritated. Ethan was the next to head to his room, telling them he needed to 'hit the hay', and leaving Coelnar sitting in uncomfortable silence with Keres. Coelnar still got an odd vibe from him, and so was relieved when he too excused himself, and proceeded to rob a nearby lady of her room key, something which Coelnar found distasteful. He supposed he would have to put up with his companions, however irritating they might be. Coelnar sat in silence for a while, finishing off the last of his meal, before he headed up to his own room, shouldering his axe and heading along to the stairs.

The room looked quite cosy and welcoming, even if it was a little shabby. He went over, and looked at the pyjamas in the closet. They weren't in his size, and as he took a closer look, weren't particularly clean. This put him off of wearing them, so he instead sat on the bed, taking off his chainmail and boots. He lay them on the floor, next to the window. Finally, he lay his axe flat on the ground, and slid it underneath the bed, close enough to the edge for him to be able to grab it quickly if there was any need. There were bound to be a few unsavoury types in a place such as this, and he wanted to be able to defend himself at any time.

He'd not realised quite how tired he was until he hit the mattress. He'd traveled for miles today, and without a proper sleep the night before. The events of the last few days caught up with him, and he drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

 

[Corrosion]

Meredith’s Inn
Kale
Asher Ikakois

Asher stood still as Keres cleaned his weapon on his cape. The necromancer’s expression persuaded Asher to remain silent and not suggest that removing the claw would make the ordeal less of one. The revenant stayed where it was and made no comment; perhaps it could detect its master’s wishes instinctively. Then again, Asher had observed the civilian-revenant requiring commands before moving, but this one had obediently followed Keres. The necromancer had placed a cape and cowl over the soldier’s corpse, but it appearance had changed from grotesque to merely suspicious, which, while it would get them through the gate with not much trouble, might cause issues later. Keres pulled his hood over his head and hid his hands in the folds of his cloak before departing for the town.

Asher knew that, of the trio, he would be the one to attract the most attention, but if the revenant’s status as such were to be revealed, then the attention would be direction towards something more troublesome. He would try his best to remain out-of-sight, but a six-foot, mud-brown, un-shoed, and long-haired person would have quite some difficultly concealing his nature. Even though Asher had his apprehensions, the guard allowed them entry to the town without fuss.

Keres was giving Asher weird glances. The construct shied away, stepping a few feet away from him; he was not comfortable walking so close to someone who appeared to have ulterior motives to protecting him.

The inn that they came to was called Meredith’s Inn; Asher was weary of moving and Keres needed something from it, so they entered. They headed for a table in the corner where they would not be observed without it being obvious. Asher sat down nervously – he was not sure of Keres’ sanity and was not willing to take chances, seeing as what happened the last time. The revenant stood there, at peace with its lot.

A conversation had begun in another section of the inn and Asher listened intently. People were relating their stories of being deprived of their livelihoods and family members by Diaz. They resounded with him as his own story was similar, yet he would not talk as he was afraid of their reactions. Once one of them had heard of Luna’s kidnapping, they volunteered to search for her, but several other patrons of the bar jeered at him and spoke of how he would be killed; nevertheless, several people agreed with the plan to save Luna. As Asher was debating whether to respond to the request, Keres told to the recruiting man, without any apparent emotion, that he and Asher would be assisting him. Asher was unsure of where this decision would lead, but as he had no current purpose in life besides preventing the necromancer from rampaging, he stayed where he was and did not speak.

“Alright, I guess it’s settled.” Artus said. He grabbed a chair and sat down, relieved that people agreed with him. “We’ll go tomorrow morning, ‘cus it’s gonna get dark soon. And besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll need all the rest we can get.” He paused for a few moments to let the information be absorbed before introducing himself, “I’m Artus by the way. Artus Callum. ” He spoke as he had little practice speaking with others. “Ummmm…so yeah, nice to meet you guys. What are your names?”

Other people piped up afterwards, one a proud girl who was sure that rank could get her through life easily. She stood haughtily, keeping her chin up, and seemed to be looking down on people without being taller than them. ’A noble,’ Asher thought, nearly disparagingly, [/i]’I know them to hold themselves above others without an acceptable reason. I…have no problems with most as they tend to leave me alone and not engage me in talk. Even if I am a construct, they still regard me as a “commoner”, so the way they treat me is not special. Even if it were…I would voice no complaint. They have their reasons for their attitudes, yet traveling with one may prove trying to the patience.’[/i]

The person who seemed to have a disposition which disagreed with the law in general spoke next. He was searching for a weapon, which came across to Asher as something odd to risk life-and-limb for. The other, Coelnar, if Asher were to venture a guess, was one the people who lived closer to nature than others and respected it. Those were the sort of people who had chosen to harass Asher for being something unnatural, something that was not supposed to live. In that regard, Asher almost preferred the person who searched for the weapon. There was an unknown person next to Ethan, but they had not introduced themself yet.

As soon as Keres had begun to introduce himself to the group, he agitated the noble. He had called her something that she had insisted that people not use and was grinning at her. Asher moved the palm of his hand to his forehead; he was not prepared for the necromancer deliberately seeking out fights with his to-be party members, but he now considered that a lack of foresight on his part. Luckily, the noblewoman diffused the situation by departing for a room. Keres followed in her metaphorical footsteps, and not her literal ones, as she would have potentially attacked him otherwise. Asher waved down a waitress, formed a request for a room on the lump of metal and headed to his room.

The room was sparsely decorated. If they could have gotten away with patchwork blankets, then Asher supposed that they would have. The closet was supplied with a nightdress and a shirt and pants. ’Are we supposed to wear these?’ he wondered, and then grabbed the pants and nightdress. They were a plain white, but they were not uncomfortable as he discovered when he disrobed himself of his day-clothes and donned the nightdress and shirt. He folded his other clothes and put them next to where he had lain his bag down. He lay down on the bed, pulled the covers over himself and thought. He could not fall asleep easily today – the chaos of the day, instead of exhausting him completely, which, it admittedly did, invited him to contemplate on them.

’Why did Diaz attack? So many people could have lived if he did not. It is only because of his general? I do not know. I do not need to know,’ he thought, curling into a ball. He hid under the blankets like a small child; he was scared for he had begun to finally care again after days of moving around without purpose. Knowing hope that people would accept him as a non-human had been painful as very few people never asked questions of him. He knew that curiosity was normal, but the questions still hurt. ’I need to sleep.’ He attempted to console himself with the hope that this new group would not recognize his unnaturalness, but already they had stared at him. He resolved to stay at the back and remain silent. He would appear to be the person who stood strong and unflappable, a pillar of absolute certainty – nothing like his current state. As he repeated his decision to himself again and again he fell into a sleep which absolved him of all his worry.

 

[AJ2000]

Meredith's Inn
Kale
Artus Callum



Artus rubbed his crusty eyes as he rolled out of bed. He had an unusually peaceful sleep last night, and the overall comfort of the bed was much better than he had anticipated. He got washed up, and then changed into his regular clothes, and put on his armor, and attached his sword to his belt. He was a bit more chipper that morning, mostly due to upcoming trip to Galvez. He had spent a good hour last night mulling things over in his head, trying to come up with different plans and whatnot to ensure their safety. Albeit the trip wasn’t exactly safe anyways, so obviously all of his plans involved some sort of danger as well.

Time for breakfast… His stomach rumbled, as he crept out of his room. He slowly closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake up any of the other guests that may have been staying in the inn. He walked down the hallway and then proceeded down the stairs heading for the main lobby where he originally met the group he would be travelling with. Nobody’s here yet… He thought. He glanced around the lobby, and only saw one person sitting at the table drinking some sort of hot beverage. Artus walked up the back counter and talked with the lady. “Is breakfast free?” He asked. She raised one eyebrow at Artus and smiled.

“Yes it’s free.” She pointed at a sign near the entrance, which read ‘Free Breakfast Served Every Morning!’ Artus felt slightly embarrassed, but he tried to cover it up with a slight laugh. “What would you like?” She asked him.

“Uhhh…I’ll just have tea I guess. And maybe a bowl of oats or something.” The lady nodded and came back a few minutes later with a bowl of warm oatmeal and the cup of tea. “Enjoy.” Artus nodded and smiled, and took a bite out of his food.

And now I wait for the others… Although Artus was slightly excited by the trip, he was more nervous than anything. His excitement was more fuelled by his anxiety, as he knew that this trip would not be your ordinary everyday picnic. However he was glad that he had a group of people who were also venturing down there as it would make the quest easier. Artus was not the type of person that would sell out his allies, and he was hoping the people he was travelling with weren't either. That Keres guy popped into his head, and he did seem a bit unusual. Keres' friend, the dark brown guy seemed to be rather quiet as well as the blue haired girl that sitting with Ethan. Ethan himself seemed like a good person, as well as Coelnar. And Natalia of course would probably be complaining as usual. However, none of them stood out to Artus as the kind of people who would stab each other in the back. Seems like a good bunch of folks...

 

[Nythe]

Natalia Denar
Kale
Meredith’s Inn

The first sunrays that made it through the dirty window glass and danced around the room. They were enough to disturb Natalia’s sleep and wake her up. She opened her eyes slightly, just enough to see where all the light was coming from all of a sudden. Oh, for God’s sake. Has the innkeeper never heard of curtains?

Natalia knew she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep with more and more daylight entering the room. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Sleeping in this awful bed with her armour on was every bit as uncomfortable as she had imagined, but due to the exhaustion of the previous day she was still able to sleep well enough. The light wasn’t doing the room any favours, it revealed all of its faults and shortcomings, such as spider webs on the ceiling, cracks on the walls and dust piles in the corners to name a few. She could hear some footsteps from below, from which she concluded the inn was already serving breakfast.

She slowly got up and after spending some time on her personal hygiene changed back into her clothes and fixed her sheaths to her belt. She was in no hurry, Keres could already be in the inn’s main room and Natalia wasn’t really eager to see him again. She wasn’t thrilled about the upcoming trip to Galvez either, but it was her best way out of Kale. The incident from the previous day proved travelling on her own was dangerous. When she was pleased with the way she looked, she headed downstairs.

Artus was the only one of the group already eating his breakfast. Natalia smiled at him and stepped up to the counter. I need to become the leader of this group, so I can make them help me with my little problem afterwards. For now it seems Artus will be calling the shots, as he came up with this rescue mission. Let’s see if I can make him pass the decision making to me. “I’ll have a sweet roll and two apples for my breakfast. And some tea.” Natalia said to the woman at the counter. When she got her breakfast she joined Artus at the table. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Natalia tried to sound cheerful. “So, have you come up with any plans for our adventure? I could help you with that if you want. Two heads are better than one, after all.” Natalia looked at Artus with anticipation, hoping she would be able to influence his decisions and gain his complete trust at the same time.

 

[Schade]

Keres Adrastea
Meredith's inn

Pretty early in the morning, the sunrays entered Keres' room, and found their way to his face. He woke up with a grumpy groan, and stumbled out of bed. He was no big morning-person, and he knew that he probably looked like sh!t. He went towards the closet to see if there were any towels lying in there, but as soon as he opened the door, a corpse fell out, suprising and starteling him. He had forgotten that he had put the revenant in there the night before. Wow.. he appeared to be more tired than he realized after the journey to Kale.

After stuffing the corpse into the closet again, Keres put on his gauntlets and greaves, and got fully dressed before leaving the room. He had gotten an idea a little while earlier, and took out his Crystal Orb and started chanting low, feeling energy flowing from some of the other rooms. Stealing the other guests energy seemed like a good way of waking up, and by the time he got downstairs into the dining hall where he saw Artus and Natalia alreaady eating, Keres was fully awake. He could easily hear how Natalia tried to soften up Artus. What was she planning..? With new energy, he ordered some breakfast he could recognize from the meny, and sat down next to Natalia. "Mornin', Nat" He said while yawning loudly

 

[AJ2000]

Meredith's Inn
Kale
Artus Callum


“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Artus nodded to Natalia, who joined him at the table. “So, have you come up with any plans for our adventure? I could help you with that if you want. Two heads are better than one, after all.” Artus took a spoonful of his oats and looked at Natalia. She was being unusually cheery, not to mention she gave a warm smile. Artus wasn’t good at reading people anyways, so he supposed it was due to the start of a new day. Right after Natalia finished speaking, Keres took a seat next to her, yawning.

“Mornin’ Nat.” He said. Good morning to you too… Artus thought. Keres didn’t greet him, but he let it slide. Keres didn’t seem to be the talkative type anyways. And besides, he didn’t exactly want to push anyone’s buttons the wrong way. After all, they would be travelling together, so if he had any rivalries between other members It would just be hindering progress. Not to mention he Artus wasn't entirely sure if he felt comfortable with having a rivalry with someone else. I could probably take him... He thought, assuring himself.

“So anyways…I haven’t really come up with any thing good, but I did think of one thing.” Artus spoke. “I know that there’s multiple routes to get to Galvez. If we want to stay out of sight and maintain a low profile we should probably stay away from the main route.” He took a brief pause. “But I have no clue which is the next quickest route. We’re probably gonna need a map, and I’m pretty sure most of the shops in town are closed.” He stopped for a moment to take a sip of his tea. “Unless either of you guys have another idea. I’m all ears.” He said, this time speaking to Keres as well."

 

[Deleted member 300066]

Ethan Daggett
Meredith’s Inn
Kale

Ethan awoke grouchily, yawning. He rolled out of his bed and put on his clothes and attached his sheath and holster, he made sure to fully load his gun before heading out. He knew that today was the day they set out to Galvez. The day that Ethan might finally get a decent lead on Ocean’s Blade. But he wasn’t getting his hopes up, he had thought he had a lead previously but turned out to be dead wrong.

Ethan went downstairs, still quite tired, he walked in mid-conversation. Artus, Keres and Natalia were already downstairs.
“So anyways…I haven’t really come up with anything good, but I did think of one thing.” Said Artus “I know that there’s multiple routes to get to Galvez. If we want to stay out of sight and maintain a low profile we should probably stay away from the main route.” He paused briefly. “But I have no clue which is the next quickest route. We’re probably gonna need a map, and I’m pretty sure most of the shops in town are closed.” Ethan signalled with his hand to the bar-keep and ordered a glass of rum and some bread; he took his ‘meal’ and sat down.

“Artus, Keres, Nat” said Ethan, then taking a drink followed by a bite of the bread.
“If the main route is too rough for you lot, I know there’s a river nearby here that runs by Galvez, we can follow that.” He said “Not sure how fast it is, though.” He shrugged.

Ethan looked over the group again. Here he sat with a creepy hooded man who seemed to have a love affair with death, some posh woman who seems to think she's above everybody else, and some kid. Ethan had travelled with some interesting people before, but nothing this varied.