Fantasy Roleplaying

[StarfallRaptor]

Akito nodded.  
"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was Akio, one of Dememoras's servants.  He seems like the only one who'd try that."
He said

[Noname]

"Well, that is... disturbing news" Vespion considered the possibilities of Akio working against them. "When we return to Minbenthac, we should let the king know of this possibility."

Rhiga and Marcus were out of the water by now, and the party was ready to proceed, assuming the Fauxen didn't need any rest or supplies.

[Chiletrek]

"And I thought you Akito knew that guy Akio, to have enemies between the ones you have close is a dangerous thing, but if you know it's real colors, then you can use that at your advantage." - Eriol said as he crossed his arms and frowned.

Kelassa got near the Fauxen. - "Anything you need, we can help you, and we must take advantage that we are still in the town. So feel free to to ask." - she said with a bow, her voice is very soft and calm.

Heril sighed, everytime he thought he could have an idea of the powers the enemies, something new happens, making everything more difficult. He just sighed.

[Noname]

"Akio? Wasn't he the one who was with Asthia?" Adykon thought back to the short but memorable time he was in the tower, with the wicked Dracon vampiress Asthia and Gerasia, a dracon child that the evil mage had captured and made into a vampire. As he recalled, that was how they met Toby, the young red dragon.

"I seem to remember that Akio cared for Gerasia. While it is true I saw all this under the influence of the geas that Asthia used to control me, I recall that Akio was not nearly as bad as Arcantas, Asthia, or any of the generals that Dememoras has."

[Nick22]

Marcus frowned as he listened to the conversation " I think we can ponder the specifics of the story after we free Aerta.. that is priority one, after all.' He said, but stopped shortly as Margas replied. "It is never easy to tell who is an enemy or friend in wartime, especially when Dememoras is concerned..and we have to deal with a number of tricks on his part already, the false Rhiga, for example."
_ "I for one am ready to resume our journey..' Minna chimed in. "After all, time is not our ally here, so for now I suggest we take the Fauxen at their word , and head out."

[Chiletrek]

Eriol looked back at Minna and nodded. - "I agree, the sooner we can depart, the better. Maybe we can even avoid stoppping in every town so we can gain more time and arrive before to where Aerta is." - The male Gaean Panther never even took his backpack off while he was there in the town, so he sure has been ready to depart again as soon as he got there.

Herril also nodded. - "It seems that we all agree, we should continue with this travel. The fate of everybody rest in the success of this mission." - He said as he walked and got besides Kelassa. - "Are you also ready to go?" - As a Psyonic, he could have easily read her mind, in fact, he could read everybody's minds if he wanted to; But he knows that they are all fighting for one goal, so he accepts their mental privacy. He waited for his companion's reply.

"I'll be ready to go if the Fauxen here are ready, that is why I am waiting for their reply if they need something from me, be it some healing spells or something else I could offer that they could need for their health." - She replied calmly as she kept her hands in the bands of her small backpack. Her backpack having most of the healing herbs and books for all healing processes that could be needed, plus some little bit of extra clothing. While Herril's backpack contains clothing and other things that could come in handy later in the travel.

[Noname]

Meanwhile...

Minbenthac's palace was known for many things. High level decisions, court intrigue, over-the-top decorations, elaborate feasts, exotic ceremonies, and an insular culture inside the walls which only existed inside other palaces in the city and in other such urban areas, totally detached from the realities of the other 95% of the population.

Most Dracons had to work to earn their keep. This meant, for most, waking up early and getting to the field, shop, or workbench that they spent their day. For the king, however, his schedule was not nearly so strict...

"Your majesty! I'm sorry to have to wake you, but its well past midday!"

Kluthu, the court archmage, was the only one with enough courage to attempt to wake the king. Normally, no one would have bothered the monarch of a Dracon city, but these were not normal times.

"RRrrrr... go away." The king's voice was barely audible through the thick Mahogany door to his room, but it was clear that he was in no mood to talk. Listening in carefully, Kluthu could hear the very faint sounds of breathing from several other individuals. His majesty was not alone in there.

"Sire, of all people in the world, I am the last to want to be a bother, but there has been some news from the west that you really must know! It involves the... the war."

After a few moments of silence. The king could be heard getting out of bed and stretching with a small roar. A few female voices could be heard as he pulled himself from the nice, warm world that was his room.

"-going so soon?"

"-want you to stay-"

"-do you have to-?"

In a minute, the king opened the door, dressed in a red silk robe. It was obvious that he was still tired, having had little rest that night.  

"This better be important, mage, or I'll-" The king was interrupted by a sudden tug on his robes by one of his wives, who was completely oblivious to the troubles that were going on in the outside world.

"My liege... come baaacccckk. We were having a good time..." This had no effect on the monarch of Minbenthac, who pulled his robe out of her hand, ignoring her. He continued his conversation with Kluthu, despite the female cuddling against him from behind.

"What is the news, Kluthu?"

"Well, my lord, there was a battle at Warrior's Gate..."

Back at the village...

Adykon and the others had set off on the road again, leaving the village behind. Their numbers were not enhanced by the Fauxen, so that there were well over a dozen adventurers; Adykon, Rhiga, Vespion, Minna, Ilsa, Margas, Lucien, Marcus, Eriol, Kelassa, Herril, Akito, Touga, Kuja, Juri, Utena, Miki, Ruka, and Saiyonji.

[StarfallRaptor]

Akito nodded.
"I'm ready.  Everyone else good?"

Touga nodded.
"That I am, Akito."

Saiyonji snorted derisively.
"What, do you think I'm weak enough to be anything but?"

Miki smiled and undid his hood.
"Of course I am, Akito!"

Utena nodded, then grinned a little.
"Yep!  I sure am!"

Juri grinned and tossed her cloak aside.
"Let's go.  The sooner we're out of here, the sooner we can help, right?"

Ruka smiled meekly and nodded.
"I-if everyone else is ready, then I guess I am, too."

Kuja grinned, twirling his fur lightly.
"Then let us proceed!"

Akito smiled.
"Looks like we can head out!"
He said cheerfully...

[Noname]

It had been a few hours since the party had left the village. The river grew deeper, and the road became more of a dirt path, soft to walk on, but less maintained. They were indeed farther from civilization. As the villages they passed became smaller and smaller, there was a real sense that the adventuring party was in the countryside.

Eventually, they came to a fork in the road. One fork continued to hug the river, the other fork led away, but Adykon knew that it was the path leading to Vidri, thanks to a sign in the road.

After a few days of travel, they came to some ruins, right where the town of Vidri was supposed to be!



Why the bird's nest was there was anyone's guess.

[StarfallRaptor]

Akito stopped and looked around.  
"Well.  This is certainly a lovely, lovely town."
He said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the second "lovely"

Ruka looked around.
"Wh-what happened to all the people?  And the town?"
He asked, sounding nervous...

[Noname]

Adykon couldn't believe what had happened. He was lucky that he was wearing a helmet over his snout, because he slapped his face with one of his armored, clawed hands.

"Oh no, do NOT tell me that the town was destroyed. Gods..." It was obvious that someone, or something had wrecked the settlement of Vidri, and yet there were no signs of death. Not a single corpse could be found, and the scent of rotted bodies was, mercifully, nowhere to be smelled.

Rhiga searched the town with the rest, but of all of them, it was she who saw the first clue to what had happened. There were Dracon tracks leading out of the city, in huge numbers, as if a great number of them had been moving all at once, either to flee from something, or because they had been rounded up and marched.

"Vespion, come over here for a moment." Rhiga called to the cleric, while squatting down, inspecting the ground. "Do you have any spells that can track a large group?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't. What have you found here?"

"There's this group of Dracons, leaving the town, at least, that's what the footprints makes it look like. These are recent tracks, too. Had we arrived yesterday maybe, or a few days earlier, we would have seen whatever made this many people move."

By now, Vespion had also knelt over, and was looking at the ground. While there were a few traces of blood, that was not too rare among large crowds of Dracons, given that cuts and scrapes were a common occurrence. It did not look like there had been a massacre or violent struggle, or if there had been, the evidence had been thoroughly eliminated.  

Just then, a sound could be heard from the village. A brown-skinned dracon came stumbling through the town, clad in only a loincloth, and fell into the sandy streets. Adykon rushed over to the fallen one. He was no older than 30, still a young adult by Dracon standards. Before Adykon could even open his mouth to speak, the warrior let out a horrified gasp. The fallen dracon's eyes had been stabbed out of their sockets.

[StarfallRaptor]

Seemingly from the air around Adykon, a cold, high-pitched chuckle was heard.
"Oh, my...that one certainly lasted a long time... And oh, look!  He even managed to last until new toys got here!"
Another, more sadistic laugh echoed out.  
"Oh, such fun we will have...!"

Then silence, as the wind swept the area

[Chiletrek]

Eriol first looked at th Dracon. - "For Gaea..." - that was all that could say. The male Panther has seen many things in his life, maybe too many, but something like this was between the rarest and worst ones. He then heard the voices. - "I can guess the responsible ones for this just came back?"

Kelassa just could not believe it, she just knelt where she was. - "Why would someone do that to him?... I just hope there are no more victims." - It was hard for her to move at all, made it worse by the evil voices that now could be heard in the wind. She then saw how Herril went closer to the Dracon.

Herril just closest his eyes for a moment. ignoring the evil voices that could be heard, he approched the Dracon and talked directly into his mind. - "Please try to stay calm, I am not here to harm you." - he put his right hand in the Dracon's forehead. - "Let me try something, I'll connect our minds together so you can see through my eyes." - Herril focused and his aura became visible. He kept doing that for some more seconds before he said. - "It is ready, the link was successful. Now try to stay close to me, because you are watching from my eyes."

[Nick22]

Ilsa rushed to Adykon's side and turned pale when she saw that this Dracon has had his eyes ripped out.. "We cannot restore his eyes, but perhaps We can still save him" She said turning to Vespion " Do you have anything on you Vespion. that can help?'
_
""I don't think this one will be able to tell us much of anything" Margas said sadly " Whatever he saw, only the gods know now..I suspect the villagers were massacred.."
_
Minna took a seat next to a standing pillar, one of the few remaining structures that indicated a village had once been located here.

[Noname]

Adykon did not like where this was going. The town had been wiped out, and now, they were unsure of where to go if they were going to reach Aerta.

"Who are you, and what happened?" The mercenary helped the eyeless dracon to his feet and spoke to him, very much sickened by this recent turn of events.

"My name is Othar. They-they came out of nowhere and... we had no time to react. Before Vidri's people could do anything, they marched us out to join the others."

"Who's 'they'? And what others?"

"You haven't heard? Dememoras has an army, and he sent it to attack Minbenthac. He also attacked towns and villages for miles around that city, and Vidri was one of them. There was a battle not too far from here, at a mountain pass called Warrior's Gate..."

[Nick22]

" We know that... we were in Minbenthac when he attacked the city' Margas said to the sightless Dracon. " We barely managed to hold his forces off, and we took heavy losses in the process.. Ilsa, see if we have any grapes in my knapsack, and give them to this fellow, he looks like he hasn't eaten in days..."

[StarfallRaptor]

A set of elaborate throwing knives landed at Margas's and Adykon's feet.  
"Don't even think about it.  We have orders to make sure this entire town is dead, and we intend to keep to that!"
From the shadow of the pillar, a black-scaled female Dracon, wearing a black hood and purple top and pants stepped into view, grinning and twirling a pair of the knives.

"She's right.  We'll kill you, too, since you're aware of what happened."
Another Dracon, male, and clad in red armor, the color of blood, stood on top of one of the pillars, grinning down at the adventurers...

[Nick22]

"  Well, well its seems as if we've found those responsible for destroyying this village' Minna said, stepping forward , her staff glowing. " Did you do this on your own or did Dememorus give you the order? Come on down here, and fight.., you're going to pay for what you did to Vidri.."

[Noname]

"I don't think they destroyed the village." Adykon replied. "The destruction is too complete and too clean and... is that female dressed like a human on her legs?"

Other "looked" at Adykon, and quickly told his tale "Dememoras' forces wiped out the defenders of this region at a battle at the mountain pass known as Warrior's Gate. There were over 1,400 survivors of the battle. His forces rounded up the prisoners, divided them into about 14 groups of 100 survivors, and blinded 99 out of every 100, leaving a single survivor left to lead the other 99 away. His forces then did the same to the villages and towns near the battle site. As for these dracons who are attacking us, I believe they are mercenary thugs hired to aid Dememoras in his conquest of the region."

[metadude1234]

Meanwhile Back at Rex's House...

Jake, Rex, Sasha and Selturma were all sitting in Rex's room on the floor when suddenly Jake got a small jolt in his brain. It took Jake 1 second to realize that one of The Princes mages had sent him a message saying that his number one target (Adykon) had left minbenthac and was on the move. 'dammit!' thought Jake in his mind. Jake carefully got up and he said 'i got to go, i have something i need to go "take care of".'