Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2012 23:15:45 GMT -5
It had been over a year, and still not a single soul had come forth to ask her details of that one missions. Maria moved over to the board beside the bar and pulled down the aged and worn paper. Her soft eyes reading over the words written so long ago. Someone is stealing hands. The bodies of elves, gnomes, humans, and other races have turned up with their hands sliced off at the wrist -- over twelve such bodies in Mistbarrow alone. Turning back to the bar she continued to read over how she had met a crucial witness who told her everything about this grave situation. A handless half-elf with a fantastic story: that he survived an attack by a gang of rune-covered skeletons with fleshy hands. The bony gang overpowered him and knocked him unconscious, and when he awoke, both hands were taken.
"In a hall of heroes, one would think they might not be so cowardly."
Maria hissed her words as she set the paper down upon the bar and slipped herself into a seat. Extending one hand to wrap slender fingers around the glass of brandy she already had the forethought to pour herself, she thought over those in her employ. Wondering why each had refused to even look upon the board or read the postings. Did they truly only ever seek out the missions and jobs that she placed before them? Did they not have the stones to seek out their own way? Why had this new breed of adventurer only want for the things set down directly before them? Shaking her head in slight disappointment as she wondered if this company will ever expand back to where it once was with people such as the ones she now had.
The sound of the door opening to the Inn had her turning her head to see if she needed to drop the guise of leader of the company and assume the mantle of proprietor of the establishment.
Fenris needed to gather some final supplies before leaving for the north. The trip was to be a long one, and there were certain goods one could not simply conjure from nothingness. Such was the case when it came to good drink. Not but a few strides into the Inn and his hands already had begun to withdraw coin from the pouch he carried. As he neared the bar he finally cast his gaze upwards and over the red headed woman. a faint narrowing of his eyes and a rumble in the back of his throat as close to a greeting as he could give with everything that had transpired. As he set down the stacks of coin upon the counter, that hard gaze swept over the paper beside him.
Maria tilted her head in response to the northman. A slight grin falling upon her face. For some reason she liked the man. Despite his rough exterior and his crude mannerisms, she knew that there was perhaps more. She saw him stacking out the coin before him, standing up so that she could move behind the bar and get the northman what it was he had come here for. "Never mind that thing, Fenris. What do you need?"
"Bitchinbrew. Four bottles." Despite her words, his hand reached out and grabbed the paper from where it lay upon the bar counter. Most thought the Named Man a dullard. For unlike most, he spoke little, his words often short and blunt. Most would think that for one that spoke so little that reading was perhaps something beyond his means. The truth of it all was that Fenris simply applied a lesson that his father had taught to him when he was very young. One of the first things you must do, was to always appear less than you are. In doing so your enemies would never know your true worth until it was too late. The paper was set back down as he looked to Maria. "Where?"
Bitchinbrew. Four bottles. That was enough to clean all the weapons in the king's armory. Yet, Fenris had ordered them as simply and as calmly as a man would ask for a glass of water. Shaking her head as she looked behind the bar to find only one of the four bottles she would need. "Wait just a minute. I'll have to head to the cellar to get the other three. Nobody orders that drink, let alone so much. As for that thing.....the lead we had was old. ancient now. Likely nothing remains in that abandoned house outside the city. Don't fret over it, perhaps one of our competitors took the job and it will no longer curse our wall." With a smile and a wink the woman slipped through the door and down into the cellar.
When she returned back to the main floor, she found it empty. The paper was missing but the stacks of coin for the drink remained. "I'll be damned......"
The distance had not been so great as one would have thought. a simple hour or so jog outside of the city across deer paths and through frozen forest had lead him to a quiet little clearing. In the center of which sat a house long past any state of repair. The thatch roof all but fallen in, the wood plank walls twisted and bent, warped from weather and time. Through the cracks one could easily see two forms seated and unmoving. The moonlight above casting it's silvered rays down through the hole in the roof to cause the bone to glow an eerie white. Every so often the two skeletons seated beside one another would turn their heads, casting their unseeing eye sockets around the interior of the home.
A Cairn of Rage: [Roll initiative please]
A Cairn of Rage: (Taunt: Go first)
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 100-sided die: 74
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 100-sided die: 43A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 0/58 || Hand Taker 1: 0/65 || Hand Taker 2: 0/65]
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris]
A Cairn of Rage: "There is no escape from me!" The two figures in the battered house only just rising as the door was torn from the frame and sent bouncing across the ground in fragments. They had not expected anyone, in all this time, to come for
A Cairn of Rage: them. The Bloodied rushed across the open space like the stag across the meadows. His fist hard as the mountain stone came surging from behind him to crash upon the chin of the closest threat.
A Cairn of Rage: Knuckles breaking teeth and shattering jaw. (Bloodlust)
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 20-sided die: 8
A Cairn of Rage: (20)
A Cairn of Rage: [Hit]
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 4 70-sided dice: 36 67 42 56
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 31 drops of blood =->
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 2 8-sided dice: 1 1
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 0 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: (
A Cairn of Rage: (+12 strength, +5 brawler class)
A Cairn of Rage: [50]
A Cairn of Rage: [HT1]
A Cairn of Rage: The fist had all but caved in his face, even those runes carved down into his bones had served little purpose of helpng to ward of such an attack. Thrown to the ground the skeleton rose slowly, fragments of it's sundered mouth
A Cairn of Rage: falling to clatter upon warped floorboards. Fleshy hands reached up to run down the length of runes carved across it's chest and ribs. As they passed over the archaic markings carved down into him, they began to glow. Shifting from
A Cairn of Rage: faint red to finally white hot. The air about the skeleton began to shimmer and vibrate before it exploded outwards in a chaoic surge of arcane power. (Arcane Cataclysm)
A Cairn of Rage: [7 dmg to all]
A Cairn of Rage: (+13 Defense)
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 0/58 || Hand Taker 1: 57/65 || Hand Taker 2: 7/65]
A Cairn of Rage: [HT2]
A Cairn of Rage: As the massive man brought up his arms to shield his face from the blast, the second skeleton rushed forwards. It's assault aided by the fact that it too had been bombarded by the arcane blast. Curled fingers swiped at the exposed
A Cairn of Rage: ribs, seeking to plunge beneath the flesh and spill the blood of this foolish human upon the floor.
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 20-sided die: 5
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 0 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: [Miss]
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 0/58 || Hand Taker 1: 57/65 || Hand Taker 2: 7/65]
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris]
A Cairn of Rage: It was more from feeling than actual sight, that he knew the other was rushing towards him. Even before the wash of darkness and swirling colors faded from his sight, he could tell that second foe was closing in upon him. Dropping
A Cairn of Rage: into a tight ball, he felt the skeleton run into him. Thrusting himself upwards as the creature fell over his shoulders he tossed it away from him, letting it clatter like dried wood to the ground. Rushing forwards as he rose and
A Cairn of Rage: cleared the sailing form of the skeleton, his eyes locked upon the one that had caused the blast. Snarling as he reared his leg back and kicked out with a booted foot. The hard and traveled heel of his boot catching the runed thing
A Cairn of Rage: square in the chest.
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 20-sided die: 15
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 1 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: (27)
A Cairn of Rage: [Hit]
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 2 70-sided dice: 3 56
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 9 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: (+17 = 26)
A Cairn of Rage: When the boot crashed upon the skeleton it shattered it like a hammer upon fine glass. Fragments of runic bone falling away and raining down upon the ground.
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 0/58 || Hand Taker 2: 7/65]
A Cairn of Rage: [HT2]
A Cairn of Rage: A skull is incapable of showing emotion, though the posture of the skeletal body as it rose clearly displayed it's confusion as to what was happening. This human had come to their hiding place. Had burst through the door like some
A Cairn of Rage: demon released from hell, and had already destroyed it's one counterpart. Looking to the wall beside it where a small object hung. A metal bell forged in black metal and enscribed with dozens of odd runes and symbols. One fleshy
A Cairn of Rage: hand reached out and struck the bell. Even as the hammer struck the side, there was no outward sound, only a cold feeling that filled the room and crawled over the flesh. Rushing towards the massive man, both hands snaking out in
A Cairn of Rage: a slash towards the chest of the northman.
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 20-sided die: 14
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 0 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: [19]
A Cairn of Rage: [Hit]
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 2 65-sided dice: 33 62
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 14 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: [+ 5 dmg to living things]
A Cairn of Rage: [19]
A Cairn of Rage: (+13 def)
A Cairn of Rage: [6]
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 6/58 || Hand Taker 2: 7/65]
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris]
A Cairn of Rage: Walking across the open area of the room, the bones from the last skeleton crunching beneath his boots, the Named Man reached out with his left hand. Fingers coiling around the neck bones of the creature and jerking it upwards,
A Cairn of Rage: lifting it off the ground. His right fist thundered forwards; once, twice, three times before letting the thing fall to the ground. (Combat Class: 1d extra)
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 1 20-sided die: 3
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 0 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: (15)
A Cairn of Rage: [Hit]
OnlineHost: A Cairn of Rage rolled 3 70-sided dice: 32 13 52
A Cairn of Rage: <-= A Cairn of Rage spilled 12 drops of blood =->
A Cairn of Rage: (+17 = 29)
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 6/58 || Hand Taker 2: 38/65]
A Cairn of Rage: [HT2]
A Cairn of Rage: No sooner did it once again touch upon the groudn than did it reach up and set both hands to the side of it's skull. The jawbone began snappin and clicking as the runes around it gave over fully to the glow within. Unlike the last
A Cairn of Rage: skeleton, this one;s entire body trembled and vibrated. the floor benath it;s feet smoking as the bones began to burn away at the wood. In a violent explosion the skeleton blew apart in a surge of chaos magic. (Magnified Arcane
A Cairn of Rage: Cataclysm)
A Cairn of Rage: [27 dmg to all]
A Cairn of Rage: [Which was it;s remaining life]
A Cairn of Rage: (+13 def)
A Cairn of Rage: [14 dmg]
A Cairn of Rage: [Fenris: 20/58]
A Cairn of Rage: [Combat Over]
A Cairn of Rage: The explosion had sent Fenris bouncing across the ground like a stone across the waves of a lake. Slamming into the wall, his flesh and clothing still smoking from the blast, he slowly growled and rose to his feet. Staggering over to
A Cairn of Rage: the wall he ripped the small black bell free before dropping down to grab the hands of the skeletons, if only to prove a point. Snarling as he made his way out of the abandoned house and back towards the Obsidian Heart to give over
A Cairn of Rage: to Maria what he had found.
A Cairn of Rage: -Done-