The Soldiers of Fortune- Part One!

[Wizard]

"I need to grab something from my room... I'll be back in a few minutes..." Silas dashed into the building.

A few minutes later, Silas returned with a bag over his shoulder. "Just a loot bag... You didn't think I wouldn't be searching this tower afterwards, did you?"

[Harkas]

"Hmm, I wonder what sort of loot he means to put in that bag..." Arton thought to himself as he eyed Silas's bag. For once he wasn't considering 'borrowing' it later to find out what was inside and was generally curious. After all, wasn't he present to search the tower for treasures and traps or whatnot? "What could that priest hope to gain by searching a Necromancer's tower? I could see our Necromancer wanting to do something like that but not the priest."

Deciding that it wasn't really his place to pry Arton shifted his attention elsewhere; the Swordsman Klaine to be precise. He'd seen an uneasy look pass over the guy's face so something was probably up. Besides he seemed friendly enough compared to either of the Paladins. "Something wrong?" Arton asked Klaine. "You seem troubled or are you simply nervous?"

Edited August 6, 2013 by Harkas

[Dandragon]

"Me? Nah, I'm fine. I just have to get myself mentally prepared for what we may see. Thanks for the concern, though." Still, he thought to himself, a loot bag for a priest? That troubled him greatly. He took another glance at the bag. It looked like a simple sack, not something in which he could seal away any artifacts the necromancer they were after had corrupted. Something wasn't right...

After getting an odd look from the thief, Arton, he stopped staring at the bag and decided it was best to leave it alone. Trying to, albeit awkwardly, make conversation, he asked "So, when this is over, what are you gonna do with the money you get?"

[Wizard]

"I'm going to fix the church... Then I'll find another job to do here, probably with a group of mercenaries like you. I'll try and save up for a ring, so I can one day get married... Priests of Dreknar are allowed to get married, before you ask. She wants to see love blossom amongst her followers." When asked who he would marry, he laughed. "I don't necesairily plan to get married, I just want a ring for when-well, if- I do. If I don't father a child at some point, I'll never be forgiven for the sins I have committed..." He returned to reading his prayer book. Edited August 6, 2013 by TheWarpedWizard

[secondworld]

Gaile was more worried about Silas now. Not because of his 'loot bag', but rather because of his knowledge of Necromancy. "How much does he know?" Gaile thought to himself.

"As I said before, I don't care for riches. Seeing this necromancer's corpse before my eyes is reward enough."

[Wizard]

"Hm." Silas nodded slightly, absorbed in his prayer book.

Anyways, I'd just like to ask you guys: Should we make a Chat thread?

[Dandragon]

Anyways, I'd just like to ask you guys: Should we make a Chat thread?

Probably

[Wizard]

Right... I made one: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=42105

[Toogee]

It seemed Silas would be the leader of this mission, as he had everything seemingly organized. In fact, with his blessing powers, he seemed to be the most vital member of their party. If he fell, there would be no way to damage the foe. She was one of the two members tasked with defending the priest, a decision she didn't necessarily agree with. One would think the task of defending would lie with those who were built to take hits (like the paladins). Still, Lucretia would adapt and nodded to Silas' request.

What irked her the most was his behavior. One moment, he was urging them to hurry and begin the journey. The next, he was standing around reading a prayer book. Such erratic changes in priority may make defending him much more difficult. Perhaps she bit off more than she could chew with this role.

"You were saying we were in a hurry," she said to Silas, somewhat irritated that he was taking a reading break before they even got on the road.

[Wizard]

"Just brushing up on the prayer needed to re-empower myself..." He read for a couple more seconds then snapped the book shut. "Done." He opened his loot bag and tossed it in, whilst a few of the others attempted to see what was inside. They saw only darkness. "Let us go, then. Onwards to... Glory? Which ever one of the paladins is leading, take this map." He tossed a map on the ground. "Now, lets go."

[secondworld]

"Well then," Gaile picked up the map. "I suppose I'm leading."

[Wizard]

Sorry, deleted the post. I think we should discuss this fighting system before we actually do any fighting. Please go over to the chat topic for discussion.

Edited August 7, 2013 by TheWarpedWizard

[Dandragon]

EDIT:Now you tell me

Edited August 7, 2013 by Dandragon

[Wizard]

Right, here it is:

Their journey was quite uneventful for about an hour, until they were stopped in the middle of the road by a lanky man carrying a rusty sword. "Yes?" Silas said politely as the man stumbled towards them. He appeared to be drunk.

"Gimme all ya gold," he slurred, "or I'll kill you all!" He sword hand shook as he spoke.

What do you do?

A) Knock him out. (Requires 4 strength)

B) Kill him with a weapon. (Requires 2 speed to be quick enough to drive a sharp weapon into his neck)

C) Cast some kind of spell on him. (Flin only. Attack spells will kill, if any other kind of spell, please specify)

D) Walk past him.

Knocking him out or killing him will allow you to take his gear, which consists of a battered shield, his rusty sword, and a piece of parchment covered in what looks like unreadable nonsense.

Note: Lucretia can use one of her arrows as a sharp weapon if she doesn't have a dagger.

[I like Pi]

Flin looked up from his tome when his companions suddenly stopped in the middle of the rode. He had almost finished reading the segment on the Disrupt Undead spell so he was semi-annoyed with the sudden stop. Looking up, he saw a drunk man and inwardly sighed as he snapped his tome shut while the drunk man waved his sword at him and his companions. "It would be so easy to kill him," Flin thought to himself. "However, I see no point in ending this man's life simply because he got drunk. Besides, striking him down, at least by my own hands, would probably leave a bad impression on the others."

With a sigh Flin reached into his hidden bag and pulled out his actual book of Dread Spells. He flipped through the pages rapidly until he came to page that had the spell he was looking for on it. Flin started the incantation quickly, hoping to finish before any of his companions could kill the poor man. Holding his master's staff in front of him, a way of directing the spell, he began to mentally recite the incantation in the spellbook. "Darkness heed my call, block out the light of Sol for a time, Haze!"

With the incantation complete a dark mist began to spew from his master's staff before settling over the drunk man. "If any of you wish to pass, now is the time. The mist will last for a good five minutes at least," Flin said as he put his spellbook away and lowered his master's staff. "He won't be able to see us through that mist and considering that he's drunk it's unlikely he'd be able to find us by the noise we make. Or for the more... rambunctious of you now would be the perfect time to knock him out and steal his things."

With that said, Flin reopened his tome and continued reading; however,he kept one eye on his companions to see what they would do with the opportunity he'd given them.

(I did that right didn't I? Or was I supposed to say something like "Flin casts an effect spell"?)

Edited August 8, 2013 by I Like Pi

[Wizard]

(Yes, you did it right. Remember that you have that spell in your repertoire for later use)

"Are you gonna take his things, Arton? It's immoral to steal, but its extremely dangerous for a drunk man to go around carrying a sword... If you can, could you take his sword and shield away and hide them in a tree or something? Then search his pockets. He might have a pass of some kind to let us past the Fell Bandit's bridge."

[Harkas]

"Yeah, I suppose I could take his stuff," Arton said with smirk. "I wouldn't dream of actually taking it for keeps though it's practically junk. Although I'll have to knock him out first. After all, he may be drunk but if he got lucky he could still stab me. You guys okay with that?" he asked. Arton paused as looked at the mist waiting for a reply. Surprisingly he could actually see the man inside quite well considering he was surrounded by, well, darkness.

He mock sighed when he didn't receive a yes or no. It's not like he wouldn't have knocked the guy out anyway. "Well if that's all you have to say..." he said in a joking tone before he ran at the cloud of darkness. He made sure he was behind the man when he entered the cloud and delivered a swift blow to the back of the man's head which caused the drunk man to collapse. "Ouch," Arton said as he shook the hand he'd punched the drunk with before he went for the man's belongings. "Finder's keepers," Arton said in a sing song voice as he disarmed the man, effectively sliding the items out of the cloud as he did so for the others to hide or steal for themselves; he didn't really care.

When he searched the man's pocket he came across a piece of paper and stowed it in his own pocket. It wasn't like he'd be able to see it in the cloud of darkness anyway. With his small (and rather disappointing) act of thievery done he walked out of the cloud with relative ease and located Silas. "This was all he had other than his weapons," Arton said as he pulled out the piece of paper and gave it to the priest.

"Man," he mentally sighed as he walked away from Silas. "He didn't even have one coin on him or anything. Talk about disappointing."

Edited August 8, 2013 by Harkas

[Wizard]

Silas carefully examined the piece of parchment, bringing it close to his face as he did so.

"It just seems to be a drunk's scribblings... If it's in any language, I don't know it." He folded it twice and put it in his pocket. "Let's keep on going then. If we don't either get a pass to go through the Fell Bandits' bridge or give them gold, we'll have to cut our way through. If you get my meaning." He sighed and returned to his thoughts as they carried on.

[Dandragon]

"Fell Bandits..." They are just bandits, Klaine thought to himself, just simple bandits who steal money from innocent people. Still, Klaine had hoped that they would not face any live human beings during their journey. What's worse is that he hated bandits like those with a burning passion. He was worried that he might lash out if they tried to go the peaceful route and pay them. Although, considering the groups status, this wasn't likely. As they kept walking, he felt an odd sensation...One that was familiar to him all too well.

[Wizard]

They carried on walking for a few hours until it was nearing dusk. Silas predicted they were around an hours walk away from the bridge when they decided to make a camp. It didn't take long for them to make a small fire.

"I have food with me, but I don't plan to cook. You lot can do it; I don't plan to eat it." He rummaged in his sack and pulled out a small parcel containing some dried meat, which he began to eat. "I think there's a small pot for cooking in one of the bags attached to the mule, and some bread and meat..." He didn't move and sat by the fire chewing his jerky, not really caring what the others did.

[IceBrand]

Armstrong appears, unaware of the situation.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Majestic Paladin

[Toogee]

It seemed like they had just started traveling before they were making camp. The others had easily dispatched a drunkard in the road; Lucretia assumed they needed no help in dealing with him. It was probably a bad idea to approach the bridge at night, so Lucretia settled down with the others, eager to discuss their plans for the morning.

"Has anyone seen this bridge?" she asked the others. "Are the bandits occupying both sides of the bridge or more concentrated at one side?"

[Wizard]

Silas swallowed a mouthful of jerky and spoke: "If I remember correctly, they have a sort of wooden tower structure at each end of the bridge. There's around fifteen of sixteen guarding the bridge at once to make sure no-one gets across without paying. I heard that the bandits to the bridge from a village on the opposite side of the bridge from where we are. I imagine that if we defeat the bandits, we'll get well rewarded by the townsfolk." Edited August 10, 2013 by TheWarpedWizard

[Dandragon]

"I imagine so..." Klaine was anxious. So we will be fighting humans. This guaranteed it. Stay calm. Keep your composure. You might not even have to fight them yourself...No that's a stupid thought, of course you will. Just keep it inside. Inside.

He stood up. "It looks like the fire is going out. I'm gonna go get some more firewood." Before anyone could object, he went off to a nearby forest.

When he was sure he was far enough away that no one could here him, he released a large amount of air from his lungs that he was holding in. "Dammit, dammit dammit! You knew you would fight people, why did you sign up for this?! 'It would just be undead. Skeletons, zombies, nothing more.' How stupid could you get, Klaine?!" His hand curled up tightly into a fist. "That damned necromancer is one thing. Six on one, I could just fight the undead he would summon while the rest deal with him. But bandits? I'm most likely gonna have to fight them. And if I can't keep these feelings in...dammit!" He thrust his fist into the side of a tree, shaking it slighty. He was sweating, severely. Calm down, you might attract some unwanted attention. Just wait here until you calm yourself, collect some firewood and go back. Then, you can go to sleep. Who knows, maybe the bandits will cower at our own necromancer and run off after some empty threats.

[Wizard]

Silas sat by the fire, his prayer book in his lap muttering his prayers. "Lady Dreknar, thank you for thy guiding light today... We shall need it for the days to come, milady..." He closed the book and examined his sword. "This needs sharpening... I'll go and see if Klaine can help with it." He got up and began to wander towards Klaine's direction.

He found Klaine standing motionless, breathing heavily.

"Need a hand collecting firewood?" Silas asked.

Edited August 12, 2013 by TheWarpedWizard