116 replies to this topic

[Sir Deimos]

Synile was getting excited. He could hardly contain the enthusiasm for the situation. A large grin sat happily on his face. He didn't hesitate to start following the strange men into the great unknown. A glance at Selena showed that she also had no real signs of worry. Rhiannon didn't seem to be rattled either. Everyone else was pretty much freaking out.

"Well, Lena, this is a lot like the old days, isn't it? Jumping head first into terrain unexplored, with people who probably mean us great bodily harm, all the while, people warning us to go where they want us to go, lest we... 'disappear forever'. This should be a nice change of pace from that dwarf jumping down my throat."

Synile began to laugh. Half the fun of dangerous situations was getting in over your head, and with so many components, this was already becoming very complicated. To make things even better, paranoia seemed to really be taking it's tole on Leo. I can probably poke a little fun at him without having him shoot me...

"What's wrong, General. Trust issues?" Giggling, Synile was eagerly waiting this mission. It was a blast already.

[Crimson Lego]

“Yeah, you're probably right, Jordan,” replied Leo, lowering his gun and releasing his grip. “Sorry about that, Tsume. I didn't think at all before asking you.” Turning and following after the other Calatians, merely shrugging in reply to Synile's question, he couldn't help but double check the chamber to make sure it was loaded. Jordan's right, he told himself. If there is a disturbance of some sort, there's more than enough people to handle it. The general was certain that Chikara wouldn't waste any of her better soldiers with the Alliance right under her nose; a lieutenant would probably be the highest rank they would encounter. I doubt anyone could hide in there with a large army; I'd bet anything they're scattered throughout the forest, he thought as they walked towards the trees.

Slinging his rifle across his back and using his battleaxe to slice through the numerous branches in their way, Leo suddenly felt more relaxed in the environment, all of his . Why does it feel so much better in here? Then he realized it: the trees. The leaves, the hanging branches, and the humid air made his surroundings feel like the Lost Woods had regrown on this new, unexplored continent. It doesn't have the same feeling, but it's good nevertheless. Unable to not smile, the dwarf lowered his weapon as he pushed past the branches. Perhaps, when the war was over, he would move to Korento, build a home out of the trees, and live there until disease or death killed him.

Soon, the Calatians and Korentoans had reached a small clearing, which was in the shape of a small circle. From the strange stone strucutres around, it seemed it was a rather religious and sacred area. Putting away his battleaxe and readying his gun, Leo turned to the guides. “Mr Bob, I'd like to ask you a few questions before we go any further,” he began. “When the witch sent you to meet us, did she give any other details, like where we were to rendezvous with her?”

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

The wolf continued to watch, sometimes moving ahead of the group to see what was happening, sometimes lagging behind. Either way, he kept the distance he felt comfortable with.

He had watched the happenings around the Calatians, and in particular around Jordan. He had watched as Tsume introduced himself, and was ready to strike out if need be, but the island native seemed trustworthy, at least for now. When the guides showed themselves, the wolf's tension returned. He remained unnoticed, ready to do anything just in case these fellows did anything. The guides, it seemed, had not noticed him yet so there was that advantage to work with just in case.

In the meantime he maintained his distance, waiting...

[Crimson Lego]

“Nawt moch, suh,” replied Bob, his accent sticking out distinctively. “Thah witch said ta me to bring all of you to da southern tip o’ Korento or sometink’ like that.” Scratching his head as he tried to recall some of the finer details, the man finished it off with a shrug. ‘Thah’s all I can tink’ of, General.”

“Hmm,” was all Leo said in reply as he began pacing around the clearing; now that he was calming down, the colder and more tactical side of him was beginning to take over, putting together details for a better plan. Of course, the final decision on what to do was up to Selena, but it didn’t hurt to have other opinions. The general had already taken some parchment from one of the Snakeheads and began drawing a crude map of their surroundings and recent journey. Beaches, trees, and cliffs shouldn’t be too complicated to navigate. Stroking his beard as he examined the map, he glanced back up at the guides. “What does the witch look like to you? Can you give a physical description of some kind?”

One of the other guys spoke up; oddly, he did not have much of an accent. “Old, looks like a hag. She’s got this wooden staff that she carries everywhere; it might be oak or willow. Other than that, there’s a massive bandage on the right side of her face.”

Nodding in response, Leo was convinced that these men were nowhere near true imposters or fresh Koridaians from Komitaa or Norrendir. Chikara still could have given them the description, he told himself. When you have god-like powers, it’s pretty simple to just keep an eye on just about anybody you want. Nevertheless, the dwarf was determined to take the advice Jordan had given, keep his cool, and follow Bob and his 9 other friends to wherever they would lead them. We’ve got more than enough people, he assured himself. Including Jordan and Selena; they won’t mess with us. The most uncomfortable thing about the group were the other 7 men; sure they had moved, but something about the emotionless expressions on their faces made Leo feel more uneasy than he had before. It’s like their just stiff men there waiting to help. Like the tyke bombs that the Empire uses.

Turning to the other Calatians, Leo shrugged at them. “What do you guys think?” he asked quietly. “Just keep following them for a while or until we reach the witch?”

[JRPomazon]

"Hmm . . . I guess. I mean, what else are we going to do?"

The scenery was changing as they headed towards the implied location to where the group was to meet this witch, the plants were growing darker. Not dark that would come with a sense of withering or decay, but darker in color. As if the green pigment in the plants was so plentiful it was close to black. Was it some indication for an abundance of life or perhaps the opposite?

"Anyone know any traveling games?"

[Sir Deimos]

The march was rather uneventful so far. The local vegetation seemed to be darker in color around the area they were headed towards. It gave the trek a nice creepy feel to it. Very little words were being exchanged. Leo tried to make small talk concerning some weird circle thing that appeared along the journey. The trek took the group deeper into the mainland. Leo seemed to still be rather on edge.

Just as the mood amongst the group seemed the quietest, Jordan spouts out, "Anyone know any traveling games?" Synile pauses for a bit, and looks around the group.

"I've got an oldie... I spy... With my little eye... Something... Green." I Spy was indeed a classic. The entertaining part was that ninety percent of everything visible was green in one way or another. Not too many minutes after Synile's game of I Spy began, it was interrupted by an unearthly roar that sounded to be a great many miles in the distance. And not just in the distance, but the direction in which the group was traveling. The group stopped dead.

"... Well, I wonder what the hell made that. I do hope we'll get to meet him!"

[Crimson Lego]

Taking over the duties of recording the map while his Snakeheads circled the group and protected it from dangers, Leo scratched several pictures and symbols onto the parchment to show new locations that the Calatians had discovered. As he finished drawing in the circular clearing and continued with the forests, the dwarf also wondered if the Korentoans living in the area followed a religion or deity of any kind. Verden had Diel, Lazu, and now Koridai has Chikara; maybe they follow an older one. The witch, considering she had magic powers, could have been a figurehead of some sort, but he seriously doubted that. Most deities stay in the heaven or use avatars; she’s probably just an old woman trying to bring down the Goddess who destroyed her home. Just like the rest of us. Rolling up the scroll and sticking it in his belt, Leo took back his rifle and watched in amusement as Synile began playing I Spy with Jordan. I should probably join in; after all, this trip needs some fun in it.

That was when he heard the roar.

Instinctively tightening the grip on his rifle, the general glanced at the 10 guides; he was mildly surprised to see Bob’s face go pale, and the first flicker of emotion go across the faces of the other 7 men. Then there’s something wrong. After Synile responded to the bellow with, “Well, I wonder what the hell made that. I do hope we'll get to meet him!”

“Yes,” said Leo quietly, already kneeling down behind a rock and raising his weapon to a combat position. “Let’s hope that we do.” Unfortunately for the group, that seemed to be the truth, as the rumbling and heavy footsteps could be heard getting nearer and nearer. Pulling the bolt back and pushing it forward, he looked through the scope’s crosshairs, moving the rifle upwards. The Snakeheads all had their own weapons drawn, each of them moving into their own combative stance. “Weapons up and eyes open,” reminded the dwarf. “Don’t make eye contact with the enemy, or they’ll focus on you. Go for the legs, arms, chest, head, etc. Work as a team.”

5 seconds later, a massive creature burst out of the forestry, saliva flying from its mouth at the sign of flesh and food. Resembling a boar of some sort, its skin was a dark green and had a large red main of hair. Two massive curved tusks extended from its mouth, able to push aside opponents at ease. Its most dominant feature was the fact that it was at least 3 times larger than a normal animal. Stopped in its tracks by 2 large pikes, the beast snarled as it was poked by the Snakehead’s weapon. Almost immediately, it lifted up on its hind legs and sent the man flying out of the area and into a tree; fortunately, he was largely unhurt.

Firing his rifle and landing a direct hit to the creature’s forehead, Leo quickly made ready his weapon; glancing up, he was shocked to see the boar was already on top of him. “Oof!” he grunted as its tusk knocked the rifle out of his hands and into a nearby bush. The dwarf himself was knocked against the rock, bruising him on the back. Quickly getting to his feet and pulling out his battleaxe, Leo stared into the eyes of the beast, which had also locked onto him. “Now!” he shouted, leaping up at the boar. Hooking the blade of his axe around a tusk, he used the momentum to swing up and landed on top of the beast’s head. I hope this will do something, grimaced the general as he held on for dear life and waited for the right moment to strike.

[Selena]

Selena, at the back of the pack, kept on walking as if nothing was wrong at the sound of the earsplitting roar. Some big monster - no concern of hers. Let the others worry about it. They were on a mission to go see a creepy old hag, not go monster hunting in the woods of a foreign land. That could be a Calatia field trip as a reward for winning the war. Of course, as her luck would have it, they ran into a delay when a giant demon boar broke through the trees and proceeded to fling about a random Snakehead that Selena had no attachment to. Everyone scrambled into battle positions. Selena remained still and watched the ensuing chaos.

Then, a thought. Perhaps it was a demon boar sent by the old witch as the first of many trials? It was a long walk, and a god-killing ability wasn't something you granted to just anyone. This was where the 'trap' came in. Nothing ever came easily in an adventurer's world. Selena was confident that nothing would be much trouble to her, but she was horribly arrogant by nature. It would be interesting to see how Leo and the other warriors fared in such potential trials. If she was going to take them up against Chikara, then they had damn well better be capable of fighting off giant beasties and other such dangers.

Selena quickly climbed up into a tree and straddle a large branch so that she could watch the fight from a good vantage point. Then, another (better) thought.

Giant, juicy pork ribs.

She raised her fist into the air triumphantly. "Kill it, Leo!"

[JRPomazon]

Jordan stood by and watched as Leo fended off the monstrous boar, the guide of the viking party smiled as he watched the events unfold.

"Something amusing friend?" Jordan asked, petrubed to see a smile on his face. Really now, he's making himself seem rather suspicious by smiling as one of the people he is supposed to be guiding is fighting for his life.

"The lil' mon fites big, ya kno? He tink hes as big as a giant. And da weapon just screams it."

"Not sure I follow."

"The weapon a mon carries say [img]http://forums.legendsalliance.com/public/ALOT.png[/img] ya know? Hes gotta axe, choppin weapon. That says ta meh, hes the kinda mon who be blunt to get the fixin don. But it aint huge, so it aint just about cleavin for him, its small and smart. Heel swing it like a rock but he wont tink like one."

Jordan turned back to Leo, watching him struggle against a beast large enough to give a human massive amounts of trouble. He went to reach for his spear, but stopped short. He didn't want to intervene, not unless Leo really needed. He turned back to the guide.

"You've got an interesting way of seeing things."

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

The wolf had nervously stopped and laid himself flat, ears turned and perked to the direction of the boar as the beast came charging into the Calatian party. It watched, almost with fascination, as the Snakehead was launched through the air into a tree which was, coincidentally, right next the wolf. He then looked up to watch the flung soldier as he flopped over the branch and fell into the grass next to the wolf. The sword-wielding lupine looked over the soldier--definitely in pain, but he was still breathing.

The wolf turned back to see the dwarf attempting to get a hit in on the demon boar, though the beast was showing plenty signs of protest, trying to the remove the offending dwarf from its head.

The wolf quickly skirted around the combat, looking at the others. That woman who seemed to be in charge had found a tree to command from, and everyone else just seemed to watching, with their weapons at the ready. What were they waiting for? The wolf had finally moved into a position to face the beast's right flank, and after awhile of watching everyone do nothing while the dwarf tried to get a hit at the beast, he had lost his patience.

The wolf burst out out from the brush, and leaped at the beast, his two swords swinging away at the demon boar.

[Crimson Lego]

When Selena had ordered him to kill the beast, all Leo could do to respond was to give her a quick thumbs-up and return his left hand to the mane of hair. This thing doesn’t give up easily. Even though the remaining Snakeheads were trying to bring it down, the boar would just leap out of their way and continue whirling around. Realistically, the only thing that kept the dwarf from flying off was his grip on the hair; unfortunately, pulling hair caused pain, so the boar would always know whether it was being attacked or not. I need to find something else to hold onto or I’m going to get rammed into a tree, he grimaced. Oddly enough, Leo saw that there was a large metal chain swinging around in the air, which was connected to a collar of some sort around the boar’s neck. Was this someone’s pet? Without wasting another moment, he grabbed the collar and stopped all contact with the actual beast itself.

It seemed to work. For a moment or two, the boar stopped jumping around and spun around in a full circle, trying to locate the dwarf. When the Snakeheads took the opportunity to drive their pikes into its flesh, it went mad again. This time, it began charging around the area, knocking Calatians aside and trying to find the missing dwarf. Unfortunately for Leo, he knew that if the boar didn’t stop soon, it would probably keep rampaging on for a while. That would be a terrible ending for me; what’s the point of getting crushed to death against a tree? Gripping his axe tightly, the general attempted to deal a crushing blow but knew the boar was moving too fast for him to get a good aim. Can someone please provide a distraction so this plan can work?

As if to answer his silent wish, the wolf with the strange face markings and swords attacked the right side of the boar, its weapons swinging directly at the beast. “Thank you,” murmured Leo as the creature stopped jumping and began swinging its long tusks at the wolf. Taking the chance, he stood up, gripping his battleaxe with 2 hands, and brought it down. Hearing the scream of pain, the dwarf continued swinging his weapon, anchoring himself to the hair by keeping his feet stuck firm in the mane. Eventually, after about 10 strokes, the boar finally fell to the ground, defeated.

Leaping off the corpse, Leo continued to breathe heavily, leaning on his battleaxe. “You guys think that it attacked us on purpose?” he said, still panting from the furious battle. “It didn’t seem very random to me; there’s probably other villages nearby that have more people.”

Edited by Leo Crimson, 25 April 2010 - 04:21 PM.

[Sir Turtlelot]

After Leo had slain the beast, Turtlelot approached the corpse and began examining it. He has seen many different creatures throughout his travels, but not this particular one.

“You guys think that it attacked us on purpose? It didn’t seem very random to me; there’s probably other villages nearby that have more people.” Leo panted to the group. Leo's question got Turtlelot thinking. Perhaps this was some kind of trap. Then again, it could very well been a creature that lives on the island.

Turtlelot looked back at the beast and noticed a green vapor coming from it. Gradually it became more and more visible and abundant. Once a large amount of the green vapor left it's body, the creature began shrinking. Once the vapor cleared the area around the corpse, all that was left of the beast was a normal sized boar with a large metal collar and chain that was far too large for the animal.

Turtlelot rose and turned towards the group. "It appears as though someone mutated the animal into what we had just saw. Either it was released out onto the island or it escaped." he said pointing at the collar.

[Selena]

When the creature was slain, Selena hopped down from the tree and drew her reclaimed dagger. Pork ribs, pork ribs, pork ribs...! And then, that was when the demon boar began to release a green cloud of vapor. Well, that was... unsettling. That didn't meant the meat was unfit for consumption, did it? Maybe the boar just had gas, and that was the reason for its fury. She would have been upset too. The others began to chatter about why the boar had attacked, but that was no matter to her. All Selena cared about was...

Oh, no.

It was shrinking! She fell to her knees at near the edge of the shrinking corpse, her dagger still poised to be slammed into thick flesh. When the beast finally did return to its 'normal' size, all Selena had to look at was a rather scrawny farm pig. It couldn't even be shared amongst all the warriors - at least not with the appetites they usually had.

"But... but," Selena stammered. She pouted. "That's not fair."

Behind her, she heard the guides stir, coming out of their hiding places amongst the trees. She felt one of them come stand behind her, but there was no threat there. He spoke, and she recognized the voice as Bob's. And here it was.

"Dat be de first test," he said quietly. "I dun't know what all lies ahead for ya', just dat it ain't gon' be pretty. An'one lookin' for the witch's skills isn't gonna get 'em handed over without a price. The wee man done good 'gainst da boar, I admit. Let's see what de witch's got in store for you, Ladeh Selena."

"So, we're basically going to be interrupted all the time to do trials on our way to her place, yes?"

"Yah, mon."

Selena sighed. "Great. Do I get to have slow-roasted pork ribs?"

"No, mon."

With a pitiful grunt, Selena stood back up and returned her dagger to its fancy sheath. No sense in waiting around. "Good job, Leo. Let's keep moving. It doesn't matter if there are any other boars around. Not our concerns, and we can obviously take them out if we run into them."

She looked at the white wolf near the back of her 'pack.' She knelt down and whistled. That was a good sword-dog. Her voice became childish, losing all sense of maturity in the presence of a cute fuzzy creature.

"Who's a good dog?! Who's a good puppy?! Come 'ere! Belly rub!"

[JRPomazon]

Jordan walked over to Ken, who was being praised by Selena?

"Hey Ken, good to see you came along. C'mon, stay away from the fossil or you might get her rabies."

Of course there were going be trials, nothing has EVER been easy to just ASK someone for help. Oh no, you have to jump through hoops and dodge arrows just to even get the chance to ask for help and sometimes that's all you got out of it. Ugh, it was just so infuriating. As he thought about how annoying it was getting the runaround, a new question came to Jordan's mind:

What would be his specific challenge?

[Rhiannon]

Rhiannon stood in the back. She didn't want to be part of all the commotion. She stifled a giggle when all their guide jumped into the trees to hide. The beast was big yes, but nothing Leo couldn't handle. She wrinkled her nose at the site of the green vapour emitting from the beast's slowly shrinking body. "Well that's gross," she spoke to the man in the bushes beside her. He just nodded, eyes still wide.

As she moved closer to the slain animal, Rhia heard Selena pouting about not having ribs. That girl and her meat, Rhia smiled knowing some things never change. When she got to the front Rhia burst out laughing. It turned out to be a wee little pig. This witch certainly had a sense of humour it seemed.

"She's not going to have a test for all of us is she? We'll never get out of here!"

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

The wolf's head cocked to the side in curiosity, with a growl in his throat that went from low to high almost as if to say "huh?", at the woman who had started speaking to him. Her words seemed uncharacteristically high pitched, and were running together almost incomprehensively.

What a strange person. Was she really the leader, as he previously percieved?

"Hey Ken, good to see you came along. C'mon, stay away from the fossil or you might get her rabies."

The wolf looked up at Jordan with the slight feeling being insulted, but otherwise did not really think much it. He otherwise remained in his spot, looking quizzically at the mighty Calatian leader as she tried to baby-talk him into coming over to her.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan did a head count of the current number of people in the group, if there were going to be tests for everyone, they might as well find out how many are left:

Leo had this one, that left

Himself
The Fossil (Selena)
The Boneyard Princess (Rhiannon)
The Drunk Pyschopath (Snyile)
Wolf Ken
Iron Man (Turtlelot)
and possibly the big guy (Tsume)

He didn't count the Snakeheads that came along for the trip. They didn't come off as the kind of people that would be taking center stage, so to speak. Either way, that left room for some more cameos from big scary monsters. Great. But at least it was just monsters, he'd prefer monsters over anything in Verden these days (mainly, the cursed).

"If she does, then at least we'll have something to do. Look at this from a more positive angle princess! Anyway, we better get to the next one. I wonder what they'll throw at us next?"

Edited by JRPomazon, 26 April 2010 - 01:59 AM.

[tsume]

Tsume had been following the Calatians for some time now. He still did not fully trust the guides but everyone seemed confident that even if they were trouble, it wouldnt be that big of a deal. Tsume stayed rather quite during the journey but inside he was screaming with excitement. He was finally having some fun with good company. Everyone was seemingly different in both physique and personality but all had the same goal of fighting their own. He constantly thought about asking if he could join them on their journey and wars beyond this point. His only problem was he didnt know who to talk to it about and he didnt know how any of it worked. Was he good enough for them? Did they accept others?

While walking, they came upon a giant beast. He hasnt seen them before and noticed he really didnt know much about the island other than the town and his homestead. The short one, he recalled was named Leo as Selena called for him to attack, killed the beast. After the kill there was chatter of everyone proving themselves to the witch. Tsume thought that this would be his chance to find out if they would accept them among their ranks. He thought maybe he should talk to someone first though.

Now who to ask?, Tsume thought to himself.

[Crimson Lego]

Gazing down at the lifeless pig that had been a crazy fighting boar only 10 minutes ago, Leo fanned the bad odour that came with the green vapour away from him and sighed in relief after he heard Bob’s words. I guess I’m good for the rest of this trip; maybe the others will get something like that. Putting his axe away, nodding in response to Selena’s compliment, and examining the scene of the battle, the dwarf had to admit that the witch had done a good job making up the challenge. It’s not every day you walk into demon creatures; it must have taken a lot of magic to transform it into something like that. Even though he was not experienced in the arts, Leo knew that it required a lot of concentration to make sure spells and attacks didn’t backfire on the caster. He had witnessed that once; a Calatian healer tried to pry some shrapnel from a man’s leg and ended up cutting his own hand off. The witch doesn’t seem to be joking around with this whole anti-Chik thing; I just hope the others can past the challenges so we do end up with it before the war starts, he thought.

A moment later, an old, gnarly voice began speaking in his head. “Congratulations, Master Dwarf. I see that you have beaten my first challenge.” Pause. “Do not be frightened; you are the only one who can hear me. Do not show any outward reaction; think.”

Doing his best to do so (though it was quite hard, as he had nearly jumped 3 feet in the air when the voice started), the dwarf thought in return. “You’re the witch, right? How come you didn’t get your guides to tell us about these things earlier?”

“Let’s just say I wanted to make everything more interesting. It would have spoiled the whole trip from the beach to here. Anyways, time to get back on track. You see the collar on the pig? Pick it up.”

Glancing down, Leo knelt down, unstrapped the collar, and retrieved it with his left hand. “It looks like an ordinary collar to me; what’s so important about it?”

“It is important to me. I need you to bring it back to me as soon as possible. If you do so, you will be rewarded.” With that, the witch’s voice faded away, leaving the dwarf’s mind under his full control.

Shrugging, Leo pocketed the collar and gazed around at the undergrowth, searching to see if the witch was nearby, watching the group as they progressed towards their destination. No sign; she’s probably communicating through one of the guides in their heads, just like with me. Watching them through his peripheral vision, the general shrugged as he walked over to the bush and retrieved his rifle. Checking the chamber of the weapon, looking through the scope, and flipping the trigger on the safe gun a few times, Leo was glad to see that it still functioned properly. Surprising that boar didn’t try to chew it up. Then again, it wasn’t a boar was it, he thought, looking down at the small pig. Gripping it tightly with both of his hands, the dwarf gathered the Snakeheads around in a circle. “I have a feeling the witch didn’t include you guys in the challenges,” he said softly. “But keep an eye on our surroundings. We still have no idea if there are any Koridaians on this island.”

“You think there are, sir?” whispered a Snakehead. “I’ve been checking our trail for the past 10 minutes, and there isn’t anyone following us except for that Tsume guy.”

“Good to hear that, Corporal. Report to me later if you find anything of interest.” As they walked off to their various positions, Leo couldn’t help but smile as he realized his trial was over. Walking in the opposite of which the beast had come, he gestured forward. “What are we waiting for? Let’s going and see what else the witch has planned for us.” With that, the dwarf pushed his way past the bushes, wondering which of his companions would be getting the next fight.

[Sir Deimos]

Well, Leo certainly managed to kill that thing... "Well done. He looked like he was going to smash you against a tree at any moment." The group seemed to be moving again. Although Lena was still morning the loss of gigantic pork ribs.

"Don't be too upset. Maybe one of our trials will be an eating contest?" Hopefully that brightened up her spirits. I hope our trial will be fun...

The march continued, and Synile had realized there was some unfinished business to attend to.

"I spy, with my little eye... Something red."

[JRPomazon]

They continued on their merry way, Jordan was finding himself looking around more often than before. After the giant boar, he and just about everyone else were on edge. Varying degrees of edge, but on edge none the less. The forest and vegetation were beginning to clear out a little more than before, a lot more grass and mud underneath their feet. He shaded his eyes from the sun as he looked up briefly, the sun was reaching about noon time. How much more would they be at this?

A faint rustling was heard from the foliage echoed in Jordan's ears. He stopped in place, those following behind him followed suit.

[Selena]

ooc: *shrug* o.o




As everyone seemed so anxious to get moving, Selena gave up on petting the wolf and went to the front of the group. It was better up front. She'd be the first to discover things and she wouldn't have to look at the backsides of a crowd in front of her. Had there been more pretty girls in the group, she might have done things differently. She periodically looked back. That Tsume kid was shadowing them. It wasn't a concern, as any additional meatshields were better for her survival rate and he wasn't distracting Rhiannon with flirting. She kept quiet for most of the next leg of the journey, trying her best to ignore that infernal Spy game that the others were playing.

When it got to a point where Selena was ready to stab her companions, they arrived at a pale white altar overlooking the ocean, a coastal cliffside not far off to Selena's right. To her left was the edge of the forest, and, just as Jordan's ears began to pick up on the noise, Selena was already getting her staff in hand.

Bob stopped walking.

The earth began to shake - nothing as powerful as a real quake, but still strong enough to be considered an anomaly. It was from the woods. While the guides hid behind the altar, Selena remained stationary and watched as the land itself appeared to shift, a hulking mass of rock and dirt rising up from the ground. She made out a large, solid 'arm.' Another. A body. It began to lurch toward the group, slow and steady, crawling up onto its massive legs until it stood three times as tall as the biggest men. A familiar creature of darkness - a golem.

Whirlwind Spear.

Oh, thank evil. It was Jordan's problem. Not hers. Made sense - too heavy to be blown away with average wind-based manipulation. Even Tsume the muscle man should have had trouble if facing a giant made out of solid rock.

A massive fist of rock sailed toward her face, leaving Selena with a split second to jump out of harm's way. The resorting impact with the earth below cause a massive rumble that threatened to send the other warriors tumbling over. Okay... maybe it was her problem too. The trials were team activities, just focused on one of them at a time? Selena made a face. This didn't have anything to do with the power of friendship and teamwork, did it? She hated those sort of things!

[JRPomazon]

Jordan quickly drew both his spears and posed himself for battle.

"You all might want to take a few steps back."

The party all followed suit, walking behind Jordan as the fight began. He released his spears from his hands and began spinning like fans them by his sides while they floated in mid air. The quickly gained momentum, becoming blurred by the speed of their acceleration and were promptly slammed flat into the earth. Two massive twisters exploded from the ground and began forming into a massive wind tunnel carrying all the unearthed dirt and stone towards the golem at extreme speed. The golem stood as rock and earth were flung at its body along with the razor wind that raked against it's body. The winds died down and golem remained standing, although scratched and scuffed from the debris that was blasted into him. The golem then retaliated with a massive fist that he threw into the ground to smash Jordan into tiny pieces. The green-clad warrior nimbly dodged the slow attack, looking at the overall impact of the golem's attack. It was a crater at least two feet deep.

Jordan steadied himself as he recalled his spears with the wind, grabbing them as they flew back. He smiled. He'd fought Golems before several years ago, monsters in service to a rather maniacal wraith but they didn't stand to this assault nearly as well as this one did. Bravo stone man.

"Crowe should have made a pact with guys like you."

The stone giant did not reply as he tried to punch him yet again, completely decimating a tree in the process.

[Crimson Lego]

While the other Calatians were acting tense and the guides were looking curiously in every hiding spot for the next challenge, Leo continued to check the area for any traces of Koridaians, occasionally jotting down a few markings for the map. Having moved a bit far ahead, he was surprised to see that there was a coastline near the group’s location. Looks like we moved pretty fast. The dwarf was also interested to find an altar, which was also a religious object. Perhaps other deities like Diel have already arrived here and began gathering followers. Walking a bit further towards the coast, he glanced down and watched the waves splash against the shores at the bottom of the cliff. To Leo, they were the reminders of the old Verden, where he spent his childhood days sitting on beaches on the outskirts of the Lost Woods. All up in ashes. In his heart, he knew that the pain would never stop until the continent was restored or Chikara was dead. Otherwise, the whole thing would never end.

As he was lost in his own thoughts, the general began feeling vibrations in the ground beneath him. An earthquake? Is this the next challenge, he wondered. A few seconds later it stopped, and then what seemed like an aftershock occurred. Attempting to maintain his balance and not fall off the edge of the cliff, Leo glanced back at the direction the group had come from. Are they alright? Rushing back, he was startled to see a creature that appeared to be a rock golem swing its arm at Selena. Glancing at the guide uncertainly, he got a nod of confirmation in reply.

Soon afterward, Jordan gave the others a warning and began using his wind abilities to combat the golem. Rocks from the ground were hurled into the golem, leaving minor injuries. Its fist narrowly missed Jordan, creating an extremely wide crater. Gripping his rifle, Leo watched the fight and hoped that it would be a quick one.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

This had happened before. Or at least, something like this.

The wolf was keeping his safe distance, watching the beginnings of Jordan's battle with the golem, when he realized the familiarity of the situation. Not content with staying with the rest of the group, the wolf broke off from the Calatians to begin his familiar circling tactic. He sustained a long, low growl before barking at the golem, but otherwise did not interfere as he tried to wrap his mind around the situation.

It was from the memory of before, he began to realize that. Nothing so nebulous as a person over time like the bare recognition of Jordan as a friend, this was a specific event.

The wolf continued to pace aroudn the fight, ready to go if necessary.

[JRPomazon]

Simple spear strikes and plunges would shatter his blades, or at least he assumed so after seeing that his first attack (so endearingly named "Earth Dragon's Fang") had only scuffed the surface of the monster. He backed away from the golem, who was content trying to smash him into oblivion with it's massive arms. He swung his spear, sending a razor wind that cut through everything it blew across save for the golem. Of course that wouldn't work. The golem took a few steps forward, shaking the ground with each step. It wasn't too surprising, a massive body of stone was . . . heavy.

Jordan noticed the others grabbing their weapons.

"You all stay out of this, this is my fight. If I want help I'll ask-"

The golem through the downed tree from before at Jordan. The whole tree! He swung his second spear, the gust created slicing through the trunk and sending the remnants neatly to the left and right of his personal space.

"-for it."

Jordan put back one of his spears, he wasn't going to need it after all. He knelt down slightly, bending his knees at a comfortable left and took off into the air. Jumping was one of his many talents, some might even say it was almost like flight. 10 feet . . .

20 feet . . .

30 . . .

40 . . .

as he reached 50 feet from the ground and the golem (which was a towering 10 feet to begin with), he grabbed his spear and began his descent. Increasing speed rapidly as he plummeted to the earth, his spear ready for the plunge. The wind he commanded was converging at the point of the spear's tip, swirling together as he fell like an eagle diving for the kill. The golem realized what was going on and lifted it's hands for the defense, not nearly as slow in the head as it appeared. Then, the moment of truth. The golem's stone defense was not enough as Jordan's spear broke it's hands into rubble and plunged the spear through the head and down the body, Jordan holding onto his weapon till it reached the ground below. A massive burst of wind fell on all sides of the impact point, blowing the trees furiously as some of the guides for the group fell over from the force. The golem stood with a massive slice missing from it's head down to it's lower torso. A couple of rocks from its body fell to the ground as Jordan lifted his spear from the earth slowly and took a few steps back. All the lesser vegetation in the surrounding area of the battle was blown away, leaving nothing but bare dirt and stone. The entire stone body of golem fell to rubble as Jordan walked away.

Edited by JRPomazon, 30 April 2010 - 03:35 PM.

[Steel Samurai]

The witch's voice whispered in Jordan's ear:

"Fetch to me the gem that was its heart, and I'll see you are rewarded."

[Crimson Lego]

Breathing a sigh of relief as he gazed at the motionless body of the golem, Leo helped the shaken guides back to their feet, and then turned to Jordan. “Nice job,” he said, giving him a thumbs-up of congratulations. I’ve got to admit, he’s got a lot of skill, thought the dwarf. There was definitely nobody else in the world that could use the wind as well as Jordan; then again, everybody had their own talents. Synile, for example, was probably one of Calatia’s best swordsmen, even though he had a rather psychotic personality. Rhiannon was also good in battle, Selena was a natural leader, Tsume probably played soccer with boulders, etc, etc. And me? I’m good at chopping trees, thought Leo, chuckling to himself. Sure, he was an expert with a 4 foot long battleaxe, but that was just about it. There were no special to using an axe; you just had to have a strong arm. Maybe the witch will give me something good once this is all over, he thought hopefully. Something to make the Woods come back would be nice.

“Dat be duh second challenge,” murmured Bob, gazing over the body of the golem. “Goooood jab, vindman.”

“How many are left?” asked the dwarf. “How much longer will it be until we reach the witch?”

Bob merely shrugged in return. “Wee wait, wee man. Dere tis no tue numbers we con follow.”

Nodding in response, Leo turned back and did a quick head count of the Calatians and others in the area. At least six more challenges, he thought. That could be a lot of interruptions. Leaning against a tree trunk, the dwarf gestured back in the direction they were going. “Let’s keep moving; we should probably find some kind of shelter before night falls,” he suggested.

[JRPomazon]

Jordan placed his spear on the harness that was strapped on his back when a voice popped into his head.

"Well done Whirlwind Spear, your command over the element of wind has vastly improved."

He stopped in his tracks, uncertain of just what was going on.

"Don't say anything, just think. I'm talking-"

"Sure, mindspeak. I get it. From the sound of your lovely voice I guess that means I'm speaking to the witch."

"Oh, quite a clever child you are. But flattery will get you nowhere with me."

"If you don't mind, might I ask what exactly you have that can help us fight Lazu?"

"Uh-uh, no spilling the beans just yet! That'll ruin the chili I'm cooking!"

And then she started laughing. . . in Jordan's head . . . oh boy, this lady was a real piece of work.

"But before you go, would you mind retrieving that Golem's heart?"

"Heart?"

"Yes, the stone that has no earthly business in the remains of the Golem's body. It should be a little more red. When you meet with me, do return it to me."

With that being said, Jordan dug through the rubble that was the Golem and soon discovered an odd reddish stone. He quickly placed it in a storage bag that he kept by his side and returned to the group.

Edited by JRPomazon, 01 May 2010 - 12:00 AM.

[Crimson Lego]

Leaving the scene of the recent battle between Jordan and the golem, the group of Verdeniens continued to follow their 10 guides, many of which were now less cheerful and more wary of their surroundings after having encountered the second challenge sent out by the witch. Traveling farther south into the mainland of Korento, Bob tried to entertain everyone by telling them his life history, but gave up after he realized his accent made the whole story seem rather boring. After another hour of traveling, the group finally set up camp in another small clearing. The Snakeheads that had traveled with the Calatian VIP’s finally put their skills to use, as they quickly adapted to the environment and created a livable habitat. Leaves were spread out across the dirt land to use as ‘beds’, while fallen branches were used to create barricades and booby traps in case any unwelcome people came along. After the camp was set up, three of the Snakeheads climbed up trees to take their stag, while the others would take a nap and then alternate shifts every two hours. The 7 emotionless guides also helped keep watch, seeing as they had just about nothing else to do during the night.

Using his combat knife to create shanks out of the leftover twigs, Leo tossed the newly made makeshift weapon onto an already large pile and reached for another piece of wood. Though using just the battleaxe would have been good enough for any journey, he preferred to have something else as a backup. These are a lot easier to hide from your enemy in the dark. From his experience as an officer during the era of the Lost Woods, the dwarf knew much about guerilla warfare and how to survive in wild environments for long periods of time without additional aid. This time, there was more than enough help for the group, so there was nothing to worry about realistically. However, one thing kept nagging at Leo as he gathered up the shanks. If Chikara is so powerful, how come the Empire hasn’t found out about this place yet? For now, he would keep that in mind as a potential question he could ask the witch.

Feeling approaching footsteps, Leo glanced up and saw one of the guides; he recognized him as the one without an accent. “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey,” replied the man, taking a seat on a patch of grass across from the dwarf. “So, where are you from?” he asked.

Shrugging, the dwarf sheathed his knife and put his arms behind his head. “Sornaiid, technically,” he replied. “I was born in Alsvard, and then joined up with the Woods during the Third Dorm War. Afterwards, I went up with the rest of the Domain Coalition up to Olimandias. When all went kaboom, I joined up with Calatia…and here I am.” Taking out his pouch of water and taking a long sip, Leo spoke to the man. “You don’t seem like a native of this island, according to your speech.”

Chuckling, the man shook his head. “No, sir, I don’t. I was born on Korento, but when I was 2, my parents captured this man that claimed to be some guy from ‘the Guild’. For awhile, they made him work for us in the fields. During that time, he taught some of his own language…and that’s how I ended up.”

“Did he go back to his home?” asked Leo in curiosity. “How long was he here?”

“Yeah, I think he did,” said the man. “After about 10 years, he took a ship of ours and sailed off. We never saw him again.”

Nodding, the dwarf gazed up at the orange sky. “If you had a choice, would you join us in Calatia to fight Koridai? We could use people like you.”

Sighing, the man found himself staring at the ground. “I’ll think about it,” was all he said.

Smiling in acknowledgment, Leo got to his feet and retrieved his gun. “Nice talking to you,” he said. Walking around the clearing, he heard a twig crack behind him and whirled around. Sifting through the bush, he was unable to find anything suspicious or dangerous. Am I hallucinating again? Moving back to the center of the clearing, the dwarf turned slowly around and watched his surroundings, his rifle at the ready.