Treasure!

[Izhuark]

Hearing the complaints of crowd Gareth couldn't ignore the situation any longer. He didn't have to search for a quest when infamy was hapenning just in front of him ! Doing a quarter turn with his horse and slowly advancing toward the chariot Gareth stood proud and exclaimed :

"Didn't you have caused enough ill on these lands, helene one ! Your nation have reduced most of us to slavery and you now you want to despoil our lands ? Isn't that a barbarian comportment from the ones who call themselves civilized ? Isn't it an insult to those who work all their life to eat and survive ? You have no right here, you will never have any, and it's not a puny map who'll change it ! If those treasure belong to anyone it is to descendant of those who long ago lived and prospered on those ground who elevated monuments to the glory of the spirits not to some opportunist who think their are superior just because they read it in some deceitful book. I will no repeat myself this place is not for you to brag in, unless you are some kind of a jester duo in that case your show is the most pitiful I ever saw ! Now if you are a man get out of your hiding and confront me or will you honour the reputation of your people and flee like the coward you are ?"

The anger of Gareth was radiating in the atmosphere as he was declaiming his speech in a mix of solemnity and ire. At the same time, Chérubin was entranced by the speech of the young knight, in every of his steps the sound of his hoof was reasoning like the vibration of drum. As he arrived near the chariot, the templar stood tall on his horse using his elevation as his advantage to impress at the same time the crowd and the helene. He then gave a wrathful look to the entry wagon waiting for whoever would come out and shouted confidently : "My name is Gareth d'Orcades, Templar of Urga, defender of justice and representative of the spirits in those wicked times ! No come out of here and prove yourself !"

Edited August 29, 2015 by Izhuark

[AnonymousSpeed]

Perissa Square

Sitting within the wagon, Saban was busy filling out a business parchments in preparation for the evening, when he was suddenly met by the sound of impassioned shouting outside. He didn't pay a particularly great deal of attention to the words themselves, though it was a bit hard to not catch the general gist. After all, he was only in a wagon, with nothing blocking the screaming from reaching his ears. Getting up from the small bench under the covering, the Hellene walked to the back, and peered his head out the opening. His eyes were met by the caped fellow from earlier, having parked his horse right outside the wagon. For a few seconds, he just blinked in thought, and inhaled sharply. "Awful lot of trash talk, for a...uh..." At that moment, Saban found himself lost for the right word, knowing quite a bit less about the culture of the islands than Nasba did. "Defender of Justice," he finished, finally settling on repeating the man's words back to him.

Saban had held a smirk as he'd spoken, lethologica aside, and continued to hold it as he stepped onto the wooden platform outside the bonnet. His horse certainly gave him an advantage in height over the common man on his feet, yes, but Saban's position let him add his full height to that of the step, placing him above the templar instead. "But, if you insist, I accept your challenge!" Gareth's actions had made quite a scene, and once again a crowd began to gather around the wagon in the square, prompting Saban to put back on the ringmaster's air. He ducked back into the wagon, and after a moment of rummaging stepped out with a wooden axe in hand. It was very clearly a training axe, meant for sparring, and not capable of dealing much permanent damage without battering someone's head with it.

Edited August 30, 2015 by AnonymousSpeed

[North888]

Helena purchases a lance and her armor, as well as some simple plating for her horse. Returning the remaining gold, she leaves to check on Garen, leaving Nasba to do as he pleases.

[AnonymousSpeed]

Perissa

Surely, somewhere, there was an exchange of words, in which Nasba reminds Helena where to be and when to prove herself worthy of treasure hunting adventure.

The convoy losses 900 gold, but Helena is now ready to be useful!

[Izhuark]

After a time of facing the mand in front of him, the prideful templar made a smirk then spoke up again : "oh your are suprisingly brave, then let's have some "deals" shouldn't we merchant ?" Then with the back of his right hand slapped Saban in the face."In the name of the spirits, I declare you to duel sir ! If i win, you will promise to leave those lands alone or to give the quarter of you benefice to torinis peoples as well as evaluating each relics you found in the nearest temple. I'll make sure that you respect your oath by travelling with you, of course.

In the case I lose, I will promise to follow you on your little "journey" without any compensation, other than the necessary for me and my horse to live. I will thus lend you my spear and my staff if you need the help of a warrior or a healer but don't think I'll do anything that goes against my belief or don't react in case of obvious pilfering. In any case you will need to win against me and the volition of the islands if you value your life and your treasure hunt."

Gareth look around him after he finish speaking and saw the agitation of the crowd and rubbernecks. "I think you have done enough turmoil here, we don't need to bother the townsfolk any more than this. Let's settle our match in 2 hours, on the hill to the north side of the city near the jungle, if that's suit you. Since I'm the one who challenged you, I will let you choose the conditions of the duel. I must warn you before hand, i only use lances. Like this we will be able to settle our problems, don't we ?"

Edited September 3, 2015 by Izhuark

[AnonymousSpeed]

Perissa Square
Saban was a sharp fellow, so he was not entirely caught off guard by the templar's strike. He was, however, surprised enough for the slap to connect, causing actual shock to manifest on his face. His grip tightened around the handle of his weapon, but relaxed as the man took a deep breath, listening to the whole of Gareth's offer. He paid close attention to those words, and even managed to recover his more relaxed posture. After the horseman concluded, Saban took a deep breath before addressing him. "I'm sorry sir, but two hours is a bit late. I have a meeting to attend this evening, you see. Let us meet in one." Though he spoke with a smile and face that was technically composed, it was rather easy to tell he was more than a little frustrated. "That aside...agreed."

Meanwhile, in the crowd, a shorter Hellene looked on with a dumbfounded expression, before pushing through and bursting into the meeting. "Uh, excuse me!" he called, raising a hand into the air. "If I could, uh...object to all of this?" Stopping before the two, Nasba lowered his hand and continued. "Surely there's a better way to resolve whatever your issue is than beating each other, yes? Possibly something a bit more consistent? I doubt either of you would be happy with the result of your losing, and certainly you two can reach some sort of compromise?"

Edited September 6, 2015 by AnonymousSpeed

[Izhuark]

Gareth was a bit surprised to see the little figure of the one he recognized to be the associate of Saban coming out of the crowd rather than from the wagon. After taking a few second looking at him, Gareth responded with an oddly kind smile. "Oh it's you... Honestly, you seem more reasonable than your friend. But even if I can understand that this fight does not go according to what your planned, I made an oath in front of the spirits to fight him and decide which of us is right therefore my lose would only be the choice of the Supreme One that I must accept to grow. There is sadly no compromise to find with someone who want to exploit the land of your people for personal enrichment either we submit either we claim what is our. That make think... would you be our testimony for this duel ? We need someone to acknowledge who's the victor."

After explaining himself calmly to Nasba, Gareth directed once again his stare toward the axe wielding Helene and spoke with a cold and angry tone "That's say, I'll wait you in one our on the hill like we agreed, prepare you best weapon and don't get yourself killed, it would be a shame." He then turned back with his horse to quit the main square and head to the blacksmith, he would need a sharper lance for this fight.

[AnonymousSpeed]

Perissa Square

"Well, thank you, that's very kind, but-" Not being very assertive, Nasba rolled over and let the templar overtake the conversation. "Um...if you really can't make some kind of agreement, I suppose I can do so..." Standing around rather awkwardly, the man once again fell quiet as Gareth cemented the challenge to his friend before walking off. "W-wait, killed?! S-surely you two aren't planning on using a-actual weapons!...Right? Right?!" Having just come from a blacksmith, seeing the horseman head off in that direction was not exactly comforting, leaving him in baffled silence.

Watching Gareth head off as well, Saban seemed quite a bit more confident. "Would be a shame?" the axeman repeated, raising an eyebrow is legitimate curiosity. "I'm...actually rather surprised he said that," he continued, chuckling.

"Saban..." Nasba muttered blankly.

"Yes?"

"I hate you...so much."

"Oh, no you don't!"

"No, but I certainly feel like it sometimes."

"Come now, surely you're not afraid for me?" The taller man jumped down, still holding the wooden weapon as he walked up behind his friend. "I'm sure I'll do fine against him. You head him, didn't you? He wields lances."

"And if he has an axereaver?"

"What would the chances of that be?"

"Slim, I suppose," Nasba sighed, though despite that seemed to grow a bit more assured by his ally's logic.

"Not only that, it's quite apparent he rides a horse, so if we take the fight to the ground, he'll be out of his element!" Smirking, Saban patted his brightening companion on the back. "I have this perfectly under control."

[Izhuark]

After looking carefully to the weapons of the blacksmith Gareth decided that his trusty javelin would be more than enough to deal with the man named Saban. After all, if the spirits were looking upon him the sharpness of his weapon wouldn't matter, the clarity of his mind and resolution would be a way more meaningful in this duel. He then headed on his mount to the top of the hill, focused on the forthcoming fight.

Arrived on the tall hill near the jungle Gareth dismount of his horse and hooked his rein on a tree. "I can't fight a footman on horse, sadly you will not be able to help me in my first fight Chérubin" he thought while looking at the black mottled white horse. the young man wlaked in the middle of the little plateau looking once again at the clear blue sky to give himself confidence. He then kneeled in the direction of the sun and prayed the spirits while holding his pendant on his chest. But a disturbance shinned trough his hearth progressively while he addressed his request to the Supreme one. Somehow even with his firm resolution, anxiety was rising in him. Recovering his mind the templar decided to concentrate even more his prayers.

After 45 minutes his meditation was interrupted by the sound of feets crushing leaves with an assured gait. Without any fear Gareth stepped up and turned to face the awaited axe-man, opened his eyes and took his javelin out of his back preparing himself to square off. "May the spirits of the island be my testimony in this fight as their protector ! En Garde, hellene !".

Edited September 9, 2015 by Izhuark

[AnonymousSpeed]

Perissa Outskirts (North)

Carrying himself with a predictably confident posture, Saban stepped up to the top of the hill a minute or so before the appointed time, leaving him standing opposite of Gareth. Shortly behind him followed a far more nervous Nasba, taking deep, controlled breaths. Since Gareth had heard the Hellene's footsteps, he was already preparing himself by the time Saban arrived. He hadn't taken a great deal of time or effort to practice for the occasion. For most of the time leading up to the battle, he'd worked on signing papers, then got in a few practice swings with the weapon of wood he'd be using. He did, however, dress a bit differently, his more affluent clothing from before covered by some sort of thick fabric armor.

"...Saban," Nasba began, eyes bulging as Gareth drew his weapon. "H-he's using an...actual...weapon..."

"That he is..." his companion noted. However, he didn't seem very phased by that. Despite the sharp tip of the templar's spear, Saban continued to stride forward, keeping his eyes on his foe as he gripped his training axe in both hands.

"Saban!" Nasba muttered, grabbing his friend by the shoulder only to be shrugged off. "You realize that could kill you, right?!"

"Yes, I do...I'll count it as an advantage, I suppose."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Of course not! Think of it this way," Saban explained, glancing over his shoulder and then back at Gareth, transitioning into a fighting stance like that of a knight. "He might have to hold back, but I don't. And if he doesn't, well, I'll have the adrenaline advantage."

It was not a small amount of time Nasba had known Saban, so a hot headed scheme like this really shouldn't have surprised him. However, just as Saban was still prone to accepting these challenges, Nasba was still prone to questioning him, and a few times had talked him out of such decisions. Now was not going to be one of those times. Nasba was left to watch on, speechlessly, as his companion went forward.

"En Garde indeed! Come at me, Spirit Boy!" Shouting to Gareth, who now stood a few meters away, before the battle began.

Saban attacks first!
14 Damage / 100 Hit / 3 Crit
(5)
Gareth takes 14 Damage (8/22)

Gareth Counters!
6 Damage / 55 Hit / 1 Crit
(80, 79) (13)
Saban dodges! (25/25)

The battle continues! Saban attacks again!
14 Damage / 100 Hit / 3 Crit
(64)
Gareth is defeated!

After a dual which honestly was quite in Saban favor, the templar had been defeated by the might of the wooden axe, not unconscious or afflicted with any permanent injury, but bruised, beaten, and on the ground. Maintaining his air, the Hellene knelt down beside him as Nasba charged over with quite a bit more urgency. "Don't worry, Spirit Boy. I'll make sure you still get a cut."

[North888]

Helena returned to Garen, her trusted pegasus, in the clearly where he was tied. She untethered him to the large tree, caressing and soothing him as she brought out the plating. Garen had been trained to be a commander's horse. A dignified and stalwart horse, ready to ride his office into the face of danger. The armor was simple, rough-even, but it fit and would work for now. After applying the armor to Garen, she began working the armor she had bought on. It was heavy and a bit unorthodox, but she bore the brunt of it. It would take much getting used to.

After getting the armor secured, she took a short rest with Garen, singing a soft tune and relaying her day to the steed. She decided then to practice with the armor on for awhile until evening. She picked up her spear, measuring the weight and feel of it. It was heavier than the wooden staves she'd been brought up using, but serviceable in much the same way. After a bit of practice playing with the staff and learning its range and weight, she readied Garen.

The two took off, Helena practicing spearing at the air, learning control of Garen and her body. It came easily to her, but it was hard to account for things like her actual targets, since she had none to practice on. Returning to the ground, she dismounted and removed the armor. Resting a bit, she stared at the dull coating of her spearhead for awhile. "What are we going to do?" she said aloud. Garen turned his head to stare at her moment, as if he had an answer, before quickly looking away and scanning the flowers with his nose, oblivious to her once again.

In the span of an evening, Helena had readied herself for combat. She was by no means truly prepared, but she was no longer running into her first real battle completely blind.

[Thany]

:Valor has been packing her things from the room she was resting in to get herself ready for the journey. her Pegasus was out enjoying the view and the air round while Valor was inside. when it was time to move towards the meeting area, she picked up her bag and headed out, when she was a bit farther out of the town, she whistled for her Pegasus, and the Pegasus showed up. she climbed onto the Pegasus and proceeded to their designation.:

[Acacia Sgt]

As the appointed time came nearer, Zaragoza was making his way to the appointed place. He had pondered if to not bring everything yet, not knowing if they'd be departing that same evening or the following morning. In the end, he decided on bringing everything already, just in case.

[Izhuark]

Gareth was overwhelmed by the hellene, he couldn't even touch the man he challenged once his defeat was total and there was nothing to contest it. Why would the Supreme One put this man on his path ? Why didn't he gave Gareth the strength to defend the island ? Was because he was of Helene origin ? Many questions were traversing Gareth tough as he was falling on the ground, the weight of his armour crushing his body on the ground as his belief were destroyed by two simple wooden axe slash. On the day he thought he was finally free of his past, the future keep putting his beliefs into the dirt. Those two years of training were meaningless in face of some arrivist. Was this the world he was living in, a world were the one with the strength were those ambitious who steal from the land of others ?

Nearly broke, he was looking dumbfounded to the floor, unable to think coherently.Eventually aware of the presence of the two Helene, he pushed Nasba aside and shouted to both of them with resentment as a last shard of his pride : " I don't need your help !!! As if you ever brought something to these lands other than desolation !". Trying to get as best as he could still weakened by the shock he receded a bit from the two man while his emotion were submerging him. After peering them with incomprehension for a moment, he picked up his javelin from the dust and kneel in front of Saban in the same position he kneeled in front of the priest. "But i'm a man of my parole and will escort you in your journey. I refuse any sort of money you could gave me tough, your dirty currency is meaningless to me."

[North888]

Helena led Garen through the woods to proposed meeting spot. It was fairly close to where she'd landed, so it didn't take her long to find the area. It appeared that the other were also arriving. She looked at the faced of the warriors gathered here, all much older than she. It was hard to tell what they were thinking. Regardless of how they felt, Helena herself was quite nervous of what was to come. The silence amongst those who had gathered here early was almost unbearable for her. She was starting to have second thoughts. She quickly shook them out as she assured herself this was the right choice. All that was left now was to wait.

[secondworld]

After the initial excitement, Cedric was filled with a great sense of... boredom? Impatience? Some of both.

There's not much left to do here. How much longer must I wait?

After some time Cedric decided to head to the meeting place, hearing about some duel along the way.

Hm? Have I missed something? Ah well.

Upon reaching his destination, he found that he was not the first one there, others were standing in silence.

"Well, it's nice to see we're all in good spirits!" He exclaimed with a bit of lighthearted sarcasm. "I certainly hope my companions don't intend to keep this grim atmosphere throughout our entire adventure, do they?"

[Thany]

:having been the first one there. she patiently waited for the others to arrive. and they did, a few did anyway.

she took note of one of the companions sarcastic tone, and decided to reply sarcastically as well: "Oh don't worry. i'm sure your going to get used to it." :she said with a cheerful grin: "Tho i wonder when those guys will get here. Its not a good sign if the recruited fighters get here first, compared to those guys that recruited us."

Edited September 11, 2015 by Thany

[Blackzero]

Leon headed towards the meeting place on his horse. The knight soon arrived, and looked around seeing the others arrive. He decided to wait for the rest of the group to arrive before doing anything though.

[Acacia Sgt]

When Zaragoza made it to the appointed place, he saw he wasn't the first one. An undisclosed number of the people who had also approached the pair were already there, waiting for the latter to arrive.

Well, if there is still some more waiting to do, Zaragoza thought as he sat down against a tree. Might as well...

And so, taking out a scroll, quill, and ink, he began to write.

[gabethegreen]

Gabe walked to the designated place. his bag filled with both new books,his tome and a journal. "Well i guess its time to get started." hesaid gleefully to himself and then proceeded to chuckle. he looked around and saw he wasn't the first to arrive, but he thought he wasn't the last. "Well i guess i could start reading one of the books i brought." he then sat and pulled out a decent sized book and began reading as he waited.

[AnonymousSpeed]

Perissa Outskirts (North)

Nasba stumbled backwards when pushed, but rather quickly straightened himself, scowling ever so slightly as he straightened out his wardrobe. As he did so, Saban took over for the conversation. He took a deep breath, but kept it low, and hid any inward contempt behind a largely professional expression. Holding a hand across his chest in a formal posture, the taller Hellene looked down upon the caped Templar before addressing him. "Very well then. Since others will be accompanying us on our journey, you'd do well to introduce yourselves to them. They are scheduled to meet with us at dusk, just west of here." Saban pointed calmly, almost lazily in the aforementioned direction. "Please do act nicely to them at least, they'll be your fellow soldiers for this mission."

The Hellene nodded and turned around, pacing away and signaling for his friend to follow him. A few steps later, he relaxed notably, almost slouching for a moment before correcting himself, letting out a low sigh. "He wanted twenty five percent of that money if he won," he grumbled, shaking his head as Nasba trailed behind.

"He...did, yes, actually...I suppose we'll see how he gets along with the others. As most are Hellenes, I don't imagine well..."

"Unfortunately, I think your right. Then again, he might just dislike people like us. The rest of them didn't seem to concerned with finances, did they?"

"I still doubt this is going to go very smoothly..."

Perissa Outskirts (Other North)

A sigh escaped Saban as he walked near the edge of a cliff, looking down on the mostly full congregation of potential recruits, shortly followed by curses and mumblings. As always, Nasba was just behind him, holding some documents which his fellow had been trying to handle for the most part. For all his brasher tendencies, Nasba did have to admit that Saban made a much better businessman than he did, and especially a showman. Fittingly, after a calming breath, Saban began his show, shouting out over the field with instructions for these applicants.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Conventional promises of fortune were best left out until a certain someone was more accustomed to the group. "I am truly honored at your coming! Now, if you'd kindly step forward, I shall explain to you the purpose of this test! You see, in battle, individual skill is great. But greater than that is skill as a group! As each of you is to be working with each other for this adventure, we have set up this test to determine your ability to work efficiently together!"

"If you'll look around you, you may notice several barrels of hay. For this training exercise, they are your foes! Your mission is to pull your talents and minds together to destroy these haystacks in the quickest way possible!" While a low victory time would indeed prove the effectiveness of the group, that was not the reason Saban wanted this done quickly. The actual reason was because the field was rented, as was the hay, so the faster they were finished with it, the lower the fee.

"Good luck!" With a bow, the two Hellenes moved North of the mock battlefield, leaving the group of would be journeymen to conquer the challenge before them.

Prologue: Union of Strangers (Map)

Objective: Destroy all Hay

Spreadsheet

Players deploy in the area outlined in blue.

The faster you clear the map, the more money you receive at the end of the chapter. Take too long though, unlikely as that is, and you may end up loosing money! Planning is key here, so be sure to work together to conquer this challenge!

[Acacia Sgt]

When Saban began talking, Zaragoza stopped writing on the scroll and turned to pay attention. When it was over he rose and took a few steps north.

Test our speed and cooperation? Well, let's see, he noted as he began to look around.

Starting position: (10,12).

Edited September 20, 2015 by Acacia Sgt

[Thany]

(teamwork huh? i may as well move myself close to the one that's above the cliff. since my pegasus could reach it easily.) :she then positioned herself at ((7, 12,)) on the map, and awaited for the signal to go.:

[gabethegreen]

"Ah ha I see what there playing st" said Gabe as he readied his tome. "i guess ill go over here and see what i can do."

(10,10)

[Blackzero]

"(Hmm, I can see why one would do a test like this first. We do need to work well as a team, after all.)" Leon thinks as he gets into position at (8, 10.)