Free-Form Fantasy

Noname · **Reply #640 on:** February 01, 2010, 02:13:40 AM

The two Dracon mages were surprised to say the least. No, stunned would be a better word. Neither Ophion nor Silverfang had seen or heard of anything like this creature.

"Amazing... powerful magic must have gone into that beast." Thought Ophion, who was far more polite in his speech. "Pleased to meet you, Storm Paw." The creature spoke Sylvan. It was a language that Ophion had heard of, but did not know of personally.

Silverfang, on the other hand, knew Sylvan very well, and spoke with an impeccable accent in that very language to Storm Paw. His Sylvan was rather formal, though. "Greetings. My name is Silverfang, a powerful mage of Minbenthac. We are on a mission to root out an evil cabal of wizards who are hiding in the catacombs beneath the city streets. If you wish to join us, you may."

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #641 on:** February 03, 2010, 10:47:28 PM

Storm looked to the Dracon mages, paused, and bowed his head formally. "I knew of something was amiss when the others were not to return today," he said. "If this mission was their reason for staying, then I shall join you. No evil in any land ever passes my sight..."

Noname · **Reply #642 on:** February 03, 2010, 11:08:08 PM

"That's all and good. Welcome aboard!" Silverfang told Storm as Ophion grew uneasy.

"We really need to get going down in the catacombs. Our window of opportunity is narrow as it is." He told the rest of them.

"Quite right. Down we go!" Silverfang was correct about the entrance to the catacombs, or as he called them 'tunnels of death.' The walls of the tunnels were lined with Dracon bones, although the goal of the party was to reach the sections with human remains. Using his magic, Ophion conjured up a little ball of light to brighten up the area around the group as they descended into the darkness...

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #643 on:** February 09, 2010, 09:13:05 PM

Youri had removed his robes, revealing his full construct form of tarnished copper-colored metal, and replaced his normal hands with a pair of sharpened rapiers.

Shiana removed the straps holding her short sword in its sheath alongside her thigh. She should be ready to use it if she had to fight up close.

Halo unscrewed the center of his staff into fighting sticks, useful in close quarters.

Storm Paw held up the rear, his nocturnal eyes and sensitive nose & ears picking up any slight hint of danger...

Noname · **Reply #644 on:** February 10, 2010, 01:16:38 AM

So far, none of the party detected any evil mages, although the background magic radiating from the very walls of the catacombs was obviously dark magic.

"This place is full of darkness. Necromantic energy is in the walls and the bones of this place. It's no wonder that ghosts and skeletons emerge from here at times." Ophion's words rang true. Every now and then, the undead would emerge from the tunnels and cause havoc in the city above ground.

Serris · **Reply #645 on:** February 10, 2010, 03:22:10 AM

"He's a Strutho. Basically a talking Ostrich," Tovin replied as the cart headed out to the countryside.

Noname · **Reply #646 on:** February 10, 2010, 03:27:21 AM

Cassia took a moment to think about that. "I see. It isn't like the other beasts of burden we see around here. It's so much nicer than a camel or a giant lizard... or the horses that are pressed into service for the Dracons."

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #647 on:** February 11, 2010, 09:54:59 PM

"Then we should definitely be ready for any undead walking around here, besides the mages' traps," Halo replied...

Noname · **Reply #648 on:** February 11, 2010, 10:45:50 PM

The party advanced carefully, guided through the tunnels more by the radiation of even darker magics that the cabal of evil mages would be using, as opposed to the background magics present in the catacombs under normal circumstances.

"We should be getting near to... wait! Listen." Ophion heard them before he saw them.

Clak-clak! Clak-clak! Clak-clak!

The footfalls were of dried bones on the hard stone ground. Dracon skeletons!

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #649 on:** February 16, 2010, 10:52:23 PM

The trio readied themselves, and Storm Paw gave a low snarl as he crouched lower...

Noname · **Reply #650 on:** February 16, 2010, 11:08:58 PM

Suddenly, a dozen dragon skeletons attacked from in front and behind the party, six on each side! Every one of them had a crude sword with the markings of an ancient royal family's seal on it. Clearly, these were the-

"-reanimated bones of an ancient king's guards!" It came out from Silverfang, and was quite a mouthful to say. One would think that the military would stop burying its dead with their weapons in light of the necromantic energies which could easily bring them back as undead. No such luck.

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #651 on:** February 17, 2010, 10:30:17 PM

Storm Paw, Shiana, & Halo quickly turned to meet the undead from the rear, only their weapons seemed capable of shattering the skeletal remains apart. Despite being the largest of the others, Storm Paw was quick to dodge the skeletons' crude weapons and knock them to pieces with his wings.

Although Youri's steel form could easily handle the rusted blades of the undead, he preferred not to be touched at all. He almost gracefully dodges his attackers and cut them down to size with his sword-hands...

Noname · **Reply #652 on:** February 19, 2010, 03:27:55 AM

It took only a short time to deal with the brittle skeletons. Ophion and Silverfang were reluctant to waste magic on them, but a few magic bolts and some help from the rest of the team proved to be more than enough to make short work of them.

"Well, that was interesting." Ophion told the rest of the adventurers. "Now lets get on with things, shall we? I sense some energies coming from the north. Unless there is another group of mages down here, we have found our target."

babidikrakenguard · **Reply #653 on:** February 23, 2010, 12:15:14 PM

OOC: Okay, how long have i been away and what all did i miss?

Shal'thzar had gotten a bit too adventurous when she had found some treasure and gotten some gold from selling. Now she was lost in Minbenthac(She has been away for so long, she cant even remember where she was) and for some reason, it seemed to smell of death.. but luckily she was someplace north of Ophion and his group.

Noname · **Reply #654 on:** February 23, 2010, 04:52:26 PM

(OOC: The city in the RP is Minbenthac. Feel free to go back and edit that post when you have the time. You are still very welcome to this RP, don't worry. Shal'thzar is still a good character.)

Ophion, Silverfang, and the rest of the group were getting close to the cabal of mages. When they were close enough, it was clear that the energies that these evil dracons were working with were causing the dead to stir.

"Necromancers..." Ophion practically spat the word. "Truly the lowest of all mages. We need to take them out before they unleash something truly deadly on the city."

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #655 on:** February 23, 2010, 10:03:03 PM

"I can't tell exactly how many there are," Shiana whispered. "Some of them are pretty far from the light..."

"Just pick out the leaders," Youri replied. "I can take them out easily. No necromancer magic can work on constructs..."

Noname · **Reply #656 on:** February 24, 2010, 05:51:20 AM

Bursting onto the scene, Ophion and the rest found a circle of evil mages standing around a great black cauldron. An odd green vapor rose from the pot, wafting into the other halls of the catacombs. As far as he could tell, it wasn't poisonous, at least not yet; whatever the mages had planned on doing had probably been interrupted.

The leader of the cabal turned to Ophion. Facing the owner of the eponymous shop was a red-robed mage with reddish scales and eyes. His black horns were long and bent, and he smelled of blood and sulfur.

"Well, who have we here? It seems we have some unexpected guests for dinner. Don't you know it's not right to come to a party without being invited. Haha... no matter. We were just going to get to the main course!"

Silverfang knew that these weren't cannabals, and they weren't simply evil mages, or even necromancers. These were blood mages who mixed their knowledge of sanguine sacrifice with death magic; a devastating combination.

Serris · **Reply #657 on:** February 24, 2010, 04:04:47 PM

The wagon was on its way to Torvin's blacksmith shop. It was day time and the road was lined with trees and mile markers.

"So Torvin, I see you got a friend," the Strutho said.

"Yeah, met her at the inn," Torvin replied.

"I hope you got all the metals you need."

babidikrakenguard · **Reply #658 on:** February 24, 2010, 09:50:15 PM

Shal'thzar sniffed around, hoping to catch familier scents. Finally, she shrugged and thought to herself: "What do i have to lose?" She breathed deeply, puffed out her chest, and then..

"HELLOOOOOO!" Shal'thzar cried out, hoping to get someones attention. Even though her senses were good, blindness wasn't always to kind to her..

Noname · **Reply #659 on:** February 25, 2010, 01:21:26 AM

Aurescia heard the loud greetings from outside the shop. That was unmistakeably the voice of Shal'thzar, whom she had met a few hours earlier.

"Wait here. I'll be back soon" she told Emerald, knowing that the blind Dracon outside could be in serious trouble. Maybe she was disoriented. Minbenthac could be very hard on those who where less fortunate.

Meanwhile...

Cassia and Torvin arrived at the smithy in a little town nestled in the Palmspring oasis. This was a quiet little place, close to the city, yet far away enough to have some peace and quiet. It was such a nice change from all the noise and filth of Minbenthac.

"So, Torvin, do you live alone here? It must be very lonely in this village, so far from our kind." Cassia then remembered that his draft animal could communicate just as easily as she could with him. It was a bit embarrassing, not remembering that the beast of burden who pulled the cart was also as sentient as her.