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[Steel Samurai]

Steel ran down the streets and back alleys of the Fortress, heading to an unknown destination. He stopped. Wait. What the hell? Why was he running again? It was as if some unseen hand had pushed him. Oh well. No matter. He looked around him. The red light district. And yet he hadn't been propositioned yet. Why was this?

*FLAME*

Oh. Some idiot was casting fireballs. Steel closed his eyes momentarily to get a location on this retard. His aura was pure black, as black as the night sky, as black as a black hole, as black as the teeth on some of the barmaids around here. No, wait. His bad. That was the whore in the brothel beside the alleyway. The fireball dude's aura was actually more like dirty dishwater. Well. He couldn't just go around shooting fireballs at things. Steel sauntered over the the alleyway where a large, meaty looking fellow with no hair stood. His shiny head was rather red. He must be angry. Poor dear. Well, his troubles would be over soon. A flash, and the meathead's arm dropped to the ground. He turned around to face Steel.

"Now, stop casting fireballs and go back to the home for mentally retarded pirates like a good boy."

"'Tis but a scratch."

"A scratch? Your arm's off."

"No, it isn't."

Steel motioned to the severed limb on the cobblestone street with his sword. "Well, what's that then?"

"I've had worse."

"You're a liar.

"Come on you pansy!" The meathead said. Steel shrugged, and his blade flashed again. The man's other arm fell to the ground, blood spurting from the shoulders.

"Victory is mine." Steel turned to go.

"Come on then."

"What?" The meatbag kicked him in the rear.

"You are indeed a brave idiot, but the fight is mine."

"Had enough?"

"You stupid bastard. You havn't got any arms left."

"Course I have."

"Look!"

"What! Just a flesh wound."

"Stop that."

The meatbag tried to kick him again and lost a leg, somehow managing to remain upright.

"I'll do you for that."

"You'll what ... ?"

"Come Here."

"What are you going to do. Bleed on me?"

"I'm invincible!"

"You're a looney."

"I always triumph. Have at you!"

The meatbag's last limb fell to the ground, and his body dropped to the ground, somehow remaining upright.

"All right, we'll call it a draw."

Steel smirked. A final flash and the ruffian's head came off. He half expected it to begin speaking as it lay on the ground, but fortunately it remained silent. Apparently this one was responsible for all the loud noises. Steel did so dislike loud noises when he wasn't the one making them. He closed his eyes. Oh. There was another dirty dishwater aura coming from the northwest tower. But Jordan was there too, his aura contrasting sharply with the other. He shouldn't have much of a problem with the fellow, he was just a minor filler villain after all. Steel decided to have a cup of tea while he waited for something interesting to happen. He left the red-light district and headed to the Crab's Leg, where he drank a beautiful cup of Earl Grey tea.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow just watched from a distance as Steel dismembered the man, then simply walked off. "Stealing the thunder as usual..." he grumbled under his breath, though he really shouldn't be complaining; Steel hadn't recognized him -- or maybe he didn't even notice him, same difference -- and this obstacle was elminated, both pluses.

Or... so he thought.

The moment he tried to walk past the man who was resting in peices, he immediately sensed the foul aura from before. He could actually see it rising out of his body, an almost pitch black, formless cloud that gave out a low gurgle. It only gave Shadow a brief moment to look at it, as it immediately rushed at him and engulfed him. He tried to scream, but found his throat constricted. He suddenly felt his left arm go weak, then his right... he couldn't move them of his own accord, but somehow they were moving. What the hell was happening!?

A familiar sensation coursed through his veins then, not that of the aura... but of his inexplicable "illness." He felt pure power flood through him, then suddenly felt his windpipe free. He let out a couple of coughs to clear his throat, then realized that the mist was still around him, even through his changed eyes which displayed the cloud around him as a deep purple... it was shrieking like a hundred different demons on fire. It was still being absorbed into his body, but he didn't feel it... it just kept going until it was absorbed into his body completely. The blue world around him then lit up slightly before dimming, his body having given off an extra shine of silver-purple before dimming itself.

Shadow collapsed to his knees, unable to feel the evil aura at all; he assumed that whatever power that now flowed through his body had eradicated it. Looking around, he noticed that the vision hadn't yet faded. He could see golden silhouettes of people running to the scene. He then looked at the tower... two silhouettes were present, one golden at the top and another with a dirty-diswasher appearance... the one at the top had to be Jordan.

A grave thought hit him then; what if Jordan killed the man, and the evil inside of him did to him what it attempted to do to Shadow? He reasonably doubted that Jordan had the same... well, he couldn't very well call it an "illness" now since it saved him from whatever that thing was going to do. He'd really have to burn rubber to get there in time. He needed to keep this strange power flowing. hadow only hoped that he didn't run into any familiar faces while he was like this. His body gave off a silver-purple aura, and his eyes were silver instead of blue... many people had seen him like this on the Sultan mission when his second light-inflicted wound had acted up, they would recognize him immediately. The only ones at the Fortress who hadn't seen this change were Steel and Jordan if he recalled... a good thing, since he was hiding from one person and had to save the other.

Pushing these concerns aside for now, he broke into a run... he found himself moving faster than before, the blue areas around him almost blurring from the speed. He'd never been this fast before... or this agile, considering he wasn't running into anything. He'd be at the burning tower in no time.

[nameless]

Jordan sprang up and headed towards the tower. "Whoa there! what about the pirate?" She reached down to see if there was a pulse. "Oh.... Hey wait for me!" She quickly followed after him as he ran up the stairs. "Dang he's already up there."

She heard a commotion upstairs and ran faster. when she came to the top she saw jordan on his knees and now one else.

"Umm what happened?" She noticed his legs. "Whoa your legs." She ran over and tore some strips off her coat.

"Here wrap these around the wounds after they are cauterized."

[JRPomazon]

"You, I thought I told you to go with Tseb." Jordan said, agitated that Nanashi didn't follow through with his request.

He looked as she tore her coat and handed the strips to him. He forgot his agitation and took the strips.

"Thank you." He said, smirking as he applied the make-shift bandages.

He winced in pain, the burns he gave himself throbbed. However, at least these wounds wouldn't hinder him from fighting.

"It turns out we were under attack after all. I managed to take one of them out, but there are still two of those monsters left out there. Hopefully Tseb will be able to handle himself if he encounters one of them."

He got up slowly, standing for too long would prove to be painful. As both Nanashi and Jordan headed towards the exit of the tower, the soft sound of grunting responded from outside. Jordan stopped when the dreadful sound came to his ears. He turned around to find the man he thought he killed coming back after him. If one could describe Jordan's expression, they would use the term "pissed off". Jordan took up his glaive and stepped in front of Nanashi.

"FOUND YOU." The unknown man said.

Jordan charged forward, he wasn't going to let the bastard get another lucky shot like last time.

[Tseb]

Tseb had tried to follow the unknown man but he had fallen horribly behind as the man rushed off. He now found himself helplessly entwined in the streets his best bet was to head toward the burning tower. He ran toward the burning tower, two hundred yards from its base he felt that same aura again. He stopped and slowly looked around. There it was several houses over he could feel a stream of energy flowing into the tower.

There was no one on the first floor. The second floor proved to be more interesting.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" an irate man yelled from an circle inscribed with a pentagram.

The first thing that Tseb noticed was that the person who had set up the circle was an inexperienced spell caster, they hadn't reinforced their circle or set anything other than a conduit up.

The second thing he noticed was that there was fireball flying at his head. He summoned a half dome of water intercepting the fireball and diffusing it.

The man stepped out of the circle, that chilled Tseb he should have shattered the circle when he left it. The circle kept sending energy out to the tower, also not good it should have required a power source. Maybe the mage wasn't so inexperienced.

"I'll shred you!" the man called pulling a short sword from it's sheath and charging Tseb. The man was obviously no mage he carried a blade far to well, nor did he seem to have the intelligence to manage as a mage.

Blast

[SL the Pyro]

Within little-to-no time at all, Shadow had reached the base of the tower. It was a curious sight; the man with the evil aura was not climbing the tower through conventional means. With his latent powers active -- he decided to use this to describe his unique condition -- he could clearly see a purple energy stream from where his hand should be, connecting to where his hand actually was; inside the tower.

"FOUND YOU." he suddenly shouted; no doubt he had spotted Jordan. Shadow gave him no time to attack his foe; he raised his Hookshot Sword and fired it directly at the demon-man. The sound of the sword launching from its hilt caught the man's attention, but all he could do was look down before the blade impaled his back and poked out of his stomach. Shadow gave him little time to scream nor adjust to his injury. He pulled down on the sword, making the man remember that even if he was being held up in mid-air, he was not immune to gravity's pull. It was a battle between his will and an earthly force, and eventually that earthly force won out. His floating hand was forced to let go, and when it did, Shadow retracted the chain to increase the velocity of the man's fall. His impact had cracked the ground, hitting so fast that his disembodied hand had no time to take its rightful place in the man's body; it just fell to the ground beside him.

The dirty-dishwasher like aura in his body cleaned up, revealing its true pitch-black cloud and dark purple essence to his eyes as it vacated the man's body. Unlike the last time, Shadow did not give it the chance to try and enter his body; he tried to grab the cloud with his hand, but instead a silver-purple claw formed around his hand and clutched the cloud. Jagged tendrils of energy emerged like lightning bolts from the hand, skewering the cloud. It shrieked just like the last time, but this one faded away in much faster time. It vanished, leaving Shadow to marvel at the bigger limb he had acquired. Then as instantly as it had appeared, it vanished.

Unfortunately, this was the last he'd see of his mysterious abilities for now, as he immediately felt his power draining from him once again. He let out a strained gasp as fatigue gripped him, and he fell to his knees, panting heavily. His head was swimming... he'd never actually tried to maintain his latent power before, let alone try to use it. He was dizzy and disoriented, so much so that his ever-present sixth magic sense wasn't even working. It was a miracle that he was still conscious, he thought.

Trying to get his head in order, then only thing he could think to do was get away from here. Jordan was nearby and would be wondering what just happened, and he was in no condition to talk nor fight. He got onto wobbly legs and jogged away from the scene and into the nearby alleyways, just before Tseb showed up and entered the tower.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan charged at the unknown man. The mysterious assailant raised his hand and it vanished from it's limb.

"He's using his ability again, his SLAYER." Jordan thought as he continued to charge.

Jordan leaped from the ground and attempted to strike off ground. However, the attack was stopped by a hand that appeared to be coming from the ceiling which had grabbed Jordan's throat. The hand was not floating in midair, it was connected to a make shift arm created by the ceiling's materials.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! SEE!? My hand doesn't need an arm to kill you, I can just make one for it!"

Jordan dropped his glaive and attempted to release his neck from the hand choking it. He had run into a trap, he knew this to be the cold reality he had stumbled on.

"I have to make his let go." He thought.

Jordan reached out on of his hands and recalled his fallen weapon. He thrusted the weapon at the hand that was holding him, stabbing it to make it flinch. Sure enough, the hand was called back to it's body and Jordan was released.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHH!" The assailant screamed.

"MY HAND! MY HAND! MY SLAYER WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

"Slayer . . ." Jordan started as he gasped for breath.

"That's what I'll call you."

"Slayer" stopped for just a moment. He looked almost bewildered from what Jordan said.

"Thank you, that is a wonderful name." He said.

"TOOOOO BAAAAAAD I GOT TA KILL YA!" He shouted.

Slayer's hands dissipated from his body and attempted to attack Jordan from the top and bottom of the room, each holding a dagger. Jordan sidestepped to the left to avoid the poorly executed attacks and threw his glaive through Slayer's chest. He looked down immediately following the impact, his eyes wide and bloodshot. He stumbled, stepping backward towards the open edge of the tower. Blood began to form around his mouth. He fell backwards, falling down the side of the tower silently. This time, he would not climb back up. The hands projected from the building's floor and ceiling faded away, dying along with the host it seemed. Jordan slowly lowered himself to the ground, sitting down to catch his breath.

[SL the Pyro]

(OOC: Uhh... I'm going to assume you were on the page and simply not posting, JRPomazon. *points directly above your post*

Meh, whatever. We'll just say that Shadow did his thing after "Slayer" fell. Ignore the cool sword move.)

[JRPomazon]

(OOC: Uhh... I'm going to assume you were on the page and simply not posting, JRPomazon. *points directly above your post*

Meh, whatever. We'll just say that Shadow did his thing after "Slayer" fell. Ignore the cool sword move.)

OoC: Woah, I didn't notice your post. Sorry 'bout that.

Edited by JRPomazon, 30 September 2008 - 10:29 PM.

[nameless]

"You, I thought I told you to go with Tseb." Jordan said

"Ya well I missed that." she said as she handed him the strips.

"Thank you." He said with a smile.

"No problem, where would you be without me?"


They moved towards the door when a sudden voice. "FOUND YOU." The unknown man said.

"Crap I though he died!" Nanashi said as she drew her katana, but Jordan stepped infront of her and began fighting.

The ensuing battle ended with the unknown man being piked.

"Ouch that had to hurt." She moved to where he was slumped against a wall. "Lets get out of here Jordan. We need to make sure there aren't anymore terroristish people ."

[JRPomazon]

"Agreed." Jordan said.

He shook his head, contemplating as to whether or not he had killed "Slayer". He thought he impaled him with his glaive and sent him down, but he also remembered seeing something else drag the man down. Did Jordan lose more blood than he thought. He looked down to discover his glaive without any blood. This wasn't the time to wonder what had truly happened, there where potentially two others like Slayer out there and Tseb was alone.

"Nanashi, right?" He asked the little girl.

"Let's move fast, Tseb might be in trouble."

[nameless]

"Agreed." Jordan said."


"Nanashi, right?" He asked. "Yep!!" She replied.

"Let's move fast, Tseb might be in trouble." "Ok lets go!!" Nanashi said as she moved with Jordan down the stairs.

"So what was that guy, he sure wasn't normal. I mean the whole hand thing that was weirder than weird. And where is Tseb anyway?"

[Nightshade]

Deladra fell face first into cold hard dirt.

"And stay out!!" the barmen shouted.
Deladra picked herself up, and brushed off the dirt. "Just becasue I play a drunks favorite war melody... But her train of thought was interupted by the sight of smoke. What the Heck? Smoke? From the Fortress?? She quickly ran through the back streets, and allys she took the quickest route to the fortress. at the side gate she could see more clearly the tower that was engulfed in flame. "Crap." SHe rushed up flights of stairs pushing her way through people with buckets, and some with swords. A the top of the next flight of stairs she ran into a young girl. SHe seemed to know what was going on, taking in her appearence, Deladra deduced that she was a fighter. though a very odd one. "You there!" she said in a falsely sweet and cheery voice to the girl. "Can you tell me what happened please?" her attention turned to the man who was with her. He was hurt, badly. Deladra took a moment to look them both up and down. egad! what's a little girl with a SWORD doing up here!!! It's not safe!

[JRPomazon]

"So what was that guy, he sure wasn't normal. I mean the whole hand thing that was weirder than weird. And where is Tseb anyway?"

Jordan, being helped down the stairs, smirked to himself.

"The world is filled with all types. These guys, they must have been corrupted somewhere along the line and just got worse as time when on and to top it all off they got some power to match their twisted personality. But hell, it doesn't surprise me too much. After all, I can control wind." He said as they moved down the stairs.

"We have to find Tseb. I asked him to check the smoke on the lower levels, maybe he is still around there."

As they reached the next floor, a girl wearing interesting clothes and dark hair appeared.

"You there!" she said in a falsely sweet and cheery voice to Nanashi. "Can you tell me what happened please?"

Jordan stood on his feet, moving from Nanashi to stand by himself.

"There was a dispute between myself and a very interesting fellow." Jordan interrupted.

"Care to explain what you are doing here miss?" He asked, getting ready to draw his weapon. For all he knew, she could be the enemy.

[Steel Samurai]

Steel was entirely unsure of what the hell was going on in the plot at the moment, so he continued to sip his tea, reflecting upon how easy it was to confuse people. Even Pirate commanders. Certain pirate commanders, anyway. Steel wasn't sure if there had ever been a point in time where Dark Juno had been confused, and if there had, he would really like to meet the person responsible. Steel looked at the sun. Even though he was indoors. He's pretty awesome like that. Bloody hell. What was taking them so long? It was what, like 3 villains? Filler villains at that. He sighed. He had thought that Jordan and the rest were better than this, he really had. This was taking longer than the battle with that Crowe sonuvabitch. Where was that sorceress when you needed her? No matter. He would just have to kill them himself. And this time, he wouldn't try to let them surrender.

[SL the Pyro]

(Sorry Tseb, but since you haven't posted -- which, for the record, is why I was waiting for so long -- I'll have to take slight control of your character.)

Meanwhile, in a lower level of the burning tower, Tseb and the one responsible for maintaining the harmful fires around the Fortress were clashing swords. While his speculations were true about the man not being much good as a mage, he skills with a sword were adequate enough to give the young warrior a challenge.

"Cease."

That word was heard only by the man, who stopped in mid-attack... just in time for one of Tseb's magic-conjured icicles to impale him right through the heart. His body fell over and hit the ground with a thud, stiff as a statue.

"Go into hiding."

The man's body began to convulse rapidly and violently, as if some puppet master had gotten his strings in a knot and frantically tried to undo them. Suddenly, a cloud of pitch-black energy burst out of the man, scattering in all directions of the room and making a terrifying howling noise as it did so. It was seeking an exit, and flew out of it quick as lightning when it did find one.

The man, now no longer possessed, couldn't even scream; when his body was his own again, the pain he felt from having his heart impaled was unimaginable. Within moments, he died from the fatal wound, leaving Tseb to wonder what the hell had just happened.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan stumbled to the ground, his leg's wound beginning to open again even after the burn he used to close the wound and Nanashi's bandages. The pain, although manageable, was rather annoying. He looked at the other girl again. She didn't seem to have any idea what was going on. The last person he fought knew bloody well what he was doing and the other two probably acted in a similar way.

"Nanashi, let's go." He said as he got to his feet and headed towards the exit.

He looked at his foot and winced. Steel was right, he needed to become more observant in order to avoid careless mistakes. With that in mind, Jordan and Nanashi headed off towards where Tseb was supposed to be.

[Nightshade]

"Nanashi, let's go." The man in green said as he got to his feet and headed towards the exit.

"Oh but wait..." Deladra ran to catch up to them.

"I'm sorry that was a little forward of me." She said as she fell into stride with the man and girl.

"My name is Deladra, and I am a bard." She said with a smile and a gesture to her lute. "Do you need help in any way?"

She glanced between the both of them.

[nameless]

"Oh but wait..." The girl ran to catch up to them.

"I'm sorry that was a little forward of me." She said as she fell into stride with the man and girl.

"My name is Deladra, and I am a bard." She said with a smile and a gesture to her lute. "Do you need help in any way?"

"Well you could help by getting something to heal Jordan with, like a healer, or some herbs, or meds. Also have you seen a magey guy around here fighting some flame bringer or something of the sort?" Nanashi continued to help Jordan hobble towards their destination.

"Jordan this would go faster if I carried you......"

[Tseb]

Tseb wasn't sure what had come over him, He had reacted strangely. Why had he just frozen the man and impaled him when he could have disarmed him, and extracted information about what he was doing.

Oh, well. No time to worry about that now. The circle of magic was still present though it had faded from sight. He walked over too it and threw the small ring he had acquired earlier that day into it. "I'll play with it later." The ring stopped in the middle of circle and began to spin rapidly. Within seconds the magical residue of the spell had completely evaporated.

"Meh, fillers villains"

With that he retired to the closest pub, Jordan could handle the tower with the fire being put out. As he entered he noticed that Steel had also retired to this pub. "Ahoy" he called and made his way over to him.

[Ezekiel Soulscar]

"Oi, Friar Tuck. Git a move on, I be needing to swab this part of the ship."

Ezekiel Soulscar looked up from his book. "Heh, must have gotten lost in thought, that seems to happen to me a lot." He rose to his feet and started towards the pirate. "The name's Ezekiel, and I'm not a friar," he calmly told the man. "Whatever, holy man. We're here at the Fortress like I agreed to bring you. No idea why a holy man would want to come here, but I don' ask questions when someone pays so well for transport. Anyways, off the ship, not running an inn here ye know," came the pirate's reply.

As Ezekiel came up from the ship's interior he heard a loud explosion. "What in the...Sigh, hope Shadow hasn't gotten himself into any trouble. That would be just dandy to tell the Woodies. 'Oh hey, I know you guys sent me to keep an eye on Shadow while he attended to his mission, but he kinda got himself blown up.'" Ezekiel exited the ship and began walking up the pier, drawing some strange glances as he went. It's not everyday that one sees a monk warrior dressed in a white hooded cloak carrying two blades on his back.

As Ezekiel came to the end of the pier he looked up to see several houses ablaze. "Blast, not even here for a day and I've already got potential healing to do. Great." He broke into a jog as he headed for the nearest burning building. As he turned up the nearest street he saw a strange sight. Three figures walking his way, a small girl carrying a sword, a young woman with dark hair and a lute, and a man who appeared to be in pain and limping from some sort of injury. Warrior instinct told Ezekiel to let the group be, but he had been raised as a monk for the first 30 or so years of his life so he felt compassion for those in need.

"Umm, excuse me. Sorry to intrude, but you seem to be hurt. Could I possibly help? I am an expert in herbal healing, mind if I take a look at your injury?"

[SL the Pyro]

This ordeal would be so much easier if Shadow was able to see straight. He'd managed to get well enough away from the burning tower to avoid being detected by Jordan, but his body simply refused to cooperate now. His limbs were getting heavy, and the world was twisting and turning around him. Unlike normal fatigue, this wasn't going away after a few moments; in fact, it seemed that it was getting worse. Is this what it was like to be drunk? The thought of that depressed Shadow; he'd literally gotten drunk off of his own power. Well, that's the price you pay for meddling with things that are currently beyond your understanding and contro--

His train of thought was cut short when he stumbled face-first into a stone wall, staggering backward and falling on his back. Wonderful, now he couldn't even get up; his body was simply too drained of energy and disoriented to perform basic muscle movement. It demanded sleep and rest, and Shadow was in no position to do anything about it. He just laid there in that alley, hoping that passers by would just mistake him for a young drunk as he slipped unto unconsciousness...

Edited by Shadow_Link, 15 October 2008 - 11:28 PM.

[Tseb]

(OOC: I couldn't resist.)

Tseb was very amused by the bar. In fact so amused that he stopped mid step on his way to Steel. The name appeared to be the Montied Python, and the patrons were without question the most unusual Tseb had ever encountered. He spotted two men in a corner arguing over what appeared to be the corpse of a dead parrot. At the bar the ugliest woman ever to walk the earth was calling out orders to an unseen cook. "One Spam and eggs" she called "No make that one Spam Spam Spam eggs and beans with a side of Spam." What is Spam? Tseb thought to himself. Just as he started toward the bar to inquire about Spam a lumber jack and a you lad began to sing a duet, the horrendous sound caused Tseb physical pain, because they were each singing a different song. Thankfully the cook emerged from the back of the pub and said "No, No, nun o' that." Tseb was shocked at the sillyness of the place. Tseb found a seat by Steel and sat down to watch the show. After a few minutes two men in red robes rushed in and said to Tseb "you should have expected us." Tseb had no idea who the men were and just accepted their statement thinking it not wise to argue with unstable people.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan kept moving along. He didn't want to be carried by Nanashi partly because he was too damn pround for his own good and because he felt he should endure the pain for some reason or another.

"Umm, excuse me. Sorry to intrude, but you seem to be hurt. Could I possibly help? I am an expert in herbal healing, mind if I take a look at your injury?"

Jordan looked at the man, his appearance screamed "Holy Man", which left him caught off guard. Since when has someone of outstanding morals graced the Fortress before? He looked back to see Nanashi and the bard, looking at Jordan with a look that shouted "What the Hell is wrong with you, show him the wound already". He turned his attention to the friar:

"By all means." He said as he removed his boot. He kept his eyes on the friar as he did this, attempting to be attentive to everything around him. Hopefully this man was as good as he said he was.

[Ezekiel Soulscar]

Ezekiel looked at the man's injury. "Nothing major, it appears you have only suffered a minor cut on your shin, and it appears you sealed the wound yourself by burning them. I'm lucky to have found you so soon after the injury. Had you not received medical attention this wound may have become infected. This should be easy to heal, though." Ezekiel reached for his herb pouch, pulling out some lavender, aloe vera, and marigold. He also grabbed a mortar and pestle as well as a skin filled with water from his pack. He placed all the herbs and a little water into the mortar and began grinding the ingredients into a thick paste.

Ezekiel then applied the paste to the wound and re-bandaged it. "There, that leg will be as good as new within a few hours. Until then try not to walk too much on it. My name is Ezekiel, by the way. Ezekiel Soulscar. I'm a former monk of the Domdanur monastery. Thank you for trusting me enough to help you. I know it must be strange to see someone like me wandering around here, " Ezekiel informed the man and two girls, "Is there an inn or pub nearby? If so I'll assist you in walking there so that you can get off that leg for a while."

[Steel Samurai]

Steel looked at Tseb.

"Bloody copycat."

He got up and went outside. "Oooooo, look," He thought to himself. It was a kind've blackish cloud on the ground in front of him. He closed his eyes for a moment. Yup. Same dirty dishwater aura as the retard earlier, and the others at different locations. So, that was the spirit thingy that had been possessing them. Yes. Yes, that was it. No doubt about it. Whatsoever. Steel looked up, hoping he had established sufficiently that this was the possessor thingy. He closed his eyes again to make sure there was nothing else like in on the island. Nope. Nothing even remotely similar. This was definitely the filler villain. It could split itself into several parts to possess multiple people, obviously. Well. No time like the present. Steel drew his dualist blade and forced the tiniest bit of righteous anger into it. The blade subtly changed color to a very faint blue. Steel wasn't entirely sure how the thing had gotten past the magical wards set all around the island undetected, it must have been because it was so weak. The wards were purposefully set to only go off when an unauthorized spiritual entity above a certain level of power entered, otherwise the ghosts would be setting it off all the bloody time. Steel sighed. Time to put the thing out of its misery. He barely nicked it with the light infused blade, and it simply fell apart. It was dead. Completely. Beyond all hope of recovery, even for the amazing ability to resurrect NPCs some players had. Even they couldn't do anything about this. It was, very simply, a dead filler villain. And a weak one at that. Steel really would have to talk to Jordan about the amount of time it took him to kill his man, if this was all the power it took. The boy obviously needed some training. Steel went back inside and returned to his tea.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan tried stepping on his wounded leg. It still hurt, but it felt much better. Just who in the hell was this man?

"Thank you Ezekiel. I appreciate your help." Jordan said with a tired smile.

Jordan looked around and found a pub called the "Crab's Leg". It was only a few feet away, not much of a walk. Steel was taking a seat there, along with Tseb.

"There won't be a need for you to help me walk, I'm close enough to my destination. Thank you again. Come on Nanashi and Bard."

Jordan headed towards the Crab's Leg.

"Oh and by the way Ezekiel, do try to be careful. The Fortress is a rough place to hang around."

With that said, the three of them were off. A minute or two later, Jordan and company entered the Crab's Leg and located Steel. Jordan, still walking slow, headed toward the pirate commander and took a seat.

"Well, how's your day been?" He asked.

[Ezekiel Soulscar]

"Thank you Ezekiel. I appreciate your help." Jordan said with a tired smile.

"No problem. Just be careful on that leg for the next few hours," Ezekiel replied.

"There won't be a need for you to help me walk, I'm close enough to my destination. Thank you again. Come on Nanashi and Bard."

"If you insist. I wish you luck in your future endeavors," with that said, Ezekiel turned to walk off.

"Oh and by the way Ezekiel, do try to be careful. The Fortress is a rough place to hang around."

"Duly noted. Thanks for the advice." Now that I've helped the injured, it's time to track down Shadow, Ezekiel thought to himself, although I wouldn't mind a quick bite to eat. He turned back around and headed into the Crab's Leg pub.

Upon entering he noticed the man he had helped was sitting at a table along with the two girls who had been with him, and two men. Must be colleagues of his. Ezekiel sat down at the bar and looked at the barkeep, "What do you got to eat around here?"

"Plenty, but none for ye Holy Man," came the barkeep's reply. "Hey I don't want any trouble, just wanted a bite to eat," Ezekiel replied.

"Well you're gonna git trouble if ye don't get out of me bar."

"Fine, fine, I'll leave." Jeez. The nerve of some people. Guess I'm finding Shadow on an empty stomach.

Ezekiel left the pub, Now. If I were Shadow, where would I be?

[Nightshade]

Jordan looked around and found a pub called the "Crab's Leg". It was only a few feet away, not much of a walk. Steel was taking a seat there, along with Tseb.

"There won't be a need for you to help me walk, I'm close enough to my destination. Thank you again. Come on Nanashi and Bard."


"My name is Deladra..." Deladra muttered under her breath.

Jordan entered the pub, found Steel and sat down.


Deladra was highly confused by all of the goings on recently... Oh dear...what an awful mess I've gotten into....Who are these... She studied them a moment. Pirates?

She looked around the group. Jordan and Nanashi she had met, but who were the other two...
"Anyone happen to know who they were and why they set fire to the fortress?" she asked, snatching a chair from an unused table and siting in it by Jordan.

[Tseb]

"Before anything else goes to hell" Tseb said "Steel I recognized someone from our crew that reclaimed the sultan, I believe it was the one called Shadow. He was near one of the fires, he could have something to do with them."

Tseb looked into his cup, not an ordinary bored look, or even a look reserved for final bosses that kill you with a critical hit when you have spent hour doing the math and know that they have one HP left and will die next turn. It was a seers look. After a few seconds he laughed. "The fool is laying unconscious behind this pub." The Fortresses ale was the most conducive fluid for divination he had ever found, even if he could barely stand the smell of it.

After saying that Tseb waked to the barman. "buy" he said. As if by magic, the barman stopped what he was doing and produced an itemized list of what was available from the bar, armory, and the open market down the road. "Food X2" Tseb said. The barman produced two full meals. "10 coins: OK?" the barman asked in a monotone voice. "Yes" Tseb said. taking the food and giving the money to the barman.

"Holy man." Tseb called to the monk who had just been rejected by the barman. "Here, excuse the locals" he handed one of the platters of food and added. "You just have to know how to handle these NPC's"

(OOC: Sorry for the copying Steel.)

Edited by Tseb, 17 October 2008 - 01:18 PM.