March of the undead

[ooc] I was about to say the same thing... but let's just leave it for the heck of it [/ooc]

 

[ooc] if I go too fast people... just ooc tell me or pm me...
and to Jarinor... you went ahead to the barrons house or did you post in a future time than I was... 'cause right now were sleeping in the story... no offence... I can write you in soon [/ooc]

{Thursday 16 March 1776 '8' in the morning}

Me and my aunt were the first ones to wake up. Downstares the Inn-keeper greeted us and offered us some free ale to start the morning with. We accepted his kind offer and sat by a table waiting for the rest to come down.

After a while Fenrir came down aswell. He sat beside us and started a new conversation.
We chatted about undead and other threats and not long later all the others came down aswell.

We ate our breakfest and I paid the Inn-keeper. We said goodbey and left the door. The barons house was in the center and Fenrir walked in that direction right away. But I told him to wait a while because I had something to do.
I asked Ternol to come with me and we left down another street.

We entered the house of the doctor I knew from a long while back...
He immediately reckognised me.
"My goodness Ando!!! It has been so long since I last seen you... you've grown up so much, but your still the same. And I suppose this is your son??? I'm sure it is, you look so much like your father when he was your age."
Ternol gave this doctor a shallow smile. The doctor had treated me a couple of times when I was young and he used to be a good friend of the familly... but than he moved to Erlin and we hardly saw each other again.

His face looked a lot older but he was as cheerfull and chattering as he had always been.

he kept on talking to Ternol but I had to interupt him.
"Lesay... I'm sorry to break your conversation apart but I came here to ask you a favour. My son here has an illness and we've tried several doctors already... but it seemes that they don't know the cause and don't know what to do about it. But I know you have ways of finding out sources of disease...
I don't have enough money to pay you but I'm sure that I'll manage to find a way..."
Lesay interupted me "ooh, my dear Ando... you don't have to pay me for anything... you know that... I'll be most glad."
I thanked him dearly for this.
"Can Ternol stay with you?" I asked.
"But ofcourse Ando... I have a spare bed... my daughter has left the house to be married anyway."
"oh, congratulations then" I said. He thanked me.

"Well Ternol... I suppose I'll see you sometime in the future again... wish me luck."
"good luck father... Ternol replied."
We hugged each other for some minutes and he waved at me untill I dissapeared around the corner.

When I got back to the group I looked at my aunt in a way to tell her it went well. And we all left for the barons mansion.

[ooc] ok Jarinor... Almost there... after that we'll first find Kitty and then Ando and Feril might have a discussion on what to do next since Ando sees things differently [/ooc]

 

I meditated through the night. In the morning we had a light breakfast and some ale. Then we went out. It seems it was snowing during the night and so we had to make our way through piles of snow. It was still early. Some workers were digging the snow. Kids were playing and making snow statues. A few adults were digging around their houses or walking to their shop or workplace. The town seemed very peaceful and I wished it would stay that way. Near the baron's mansion Ando left with his son. I had time to think...it seemed they didn't trust me at all but were desperate enough to take me with them. Well I thought I would earn the trust in the next battle. Ando came back alone but didn't want to tell me anything. He only gave a slight nod to his aunt. Then we started walking again...all silent.

 

We walked to the barons house. There was a man sitting in an alley close to the mansion. He wore ha hood over his face and appeared to be sleeping. We just passed him by and moved on.

When we arrived at the mansion the guards stopped us.
"What is your bussiness here... the baron is not expecting anyone at the moment."
My uncle Kilgen stepped forward. "Remember me fellows!?"
One of the guards reckognised Kilgen. "Hay... I know you... You're the guy who helped the baron a while ago... I'll send word to him that you're here!"

The guard left us outside in the snow and ran inside. He came back two minutes later with the word that we were expected in the living room... but the majority of the group had to wait in the welcoming hall.
I asked Kilgen, Aries and Fenrir to come with me and entered the living room.

The baron gave us a very nice welcome and immediately had food and drinks ordered. Although it would be nice we refused his offer.
"That's not what we're here for... and I think you know that. This isn't a social thing." The baron did know what we were here for judging by the looks on his face. He told the waiters to cancel the order and looked at us.
"I suppose you came here for the pay?!"
We nodded a friendly but firm yes in his direction.

"hmmmm" he mumbled. "Do you need this now, or can I have make bit of a delay on this? You see there's a party coming up and I'll need the money, really."
my uncle gave him a fierce look and said "listen here baron... we need it now, party's come second for you. You probably heard about the rumors going around town... and I'll tell ya... they're very true!"

The baron hid his fear and made a fake secured face saying... "well, I have nothing to fear for... I am secure in my mansion here."

I interupted him, "Don't make me laugh baron... I advise you pack your things and head for Tarant.. for now that's a safer place than here. I'm sure you've got 'friends' there who will be most glad to take use of your wealth."
The baron gave me a nasty look although he knew I was right.
"OK then" he said... "I'll give you the money, but you'll have to promise me never to bother me again!"
We quickly made that promise... we didn't have any difficulty's with that at all anyway.

Finally we left the living room. I smiled to Aries gesturing that things went as they were supposed to.

We all left the mansion jokingly greeting the baron with " 'till the next time then Baron!!!' " He gave a askew smile back and closed the door right after us.

 

[ooc]May I join? My char:
Durok Redstone


Skills:Smithy 2nd lvl, Eletricity 2nd lvl, Gunsmithing 1st lvl, Mechanical 2nd lvl, Melee Apprentice, Dodge, Firearms Apprentice

Demeanor: As you would except from a dwarf. A bit rough, but generally well-mannered and kindhearted.

Background: Been raised in a fairly common dwarven clan, Durok soon set out adventuring with his father Degar Redstone. Unfortunatly, one night they were croweded upon by a group of bandits. The leader killed Degar in his sleep, and Durok barely escaped with his lives. He escaped to a nearby town and started settling down on there. He has wroted a few books regarding technology, and is well-respected in his town for his technological powess.

Is that OK? BTW, I like to refer my chars in third-person.[/ooc]

Durok Redstone was wandering rather aimlessly around his master's shop when he spotted...what is this? A group of adventureres? Not common. Perharps it's about the recent events. The undead.
"Hey!" he walked up to the group. "Adventurers are ye?"
"Get back here Durok!" his master roared. Eral is generally a good guy but could be annoying at times.

[ooc]If it's not good...bad...just tell me. You can ignore it if you want.[/ooc]

 

[ooc] *edited into deletion* yes Deathmage... this 'll work out great [/ooc]

 

I had to wait in the waiting room with the rest of them , while the few visited the Baron in private . The buggers didn't trust me , but how could i blame them ? I wasn't itching to be trusted anyway , just my fair share of the loot was enough to garauntee (sp? :razz: ) my loyalty .

We left the place soon enough . Stopping at the local smithy for some equiptment , a shout from a dwarf interupted my thoughts of appealing to the leader to get me a spanking new bow . The dwarf was quickly silenced by his master thought , and i waited to see whawould happen .

 

As we walked by the smitty shop a relatively young dwarven called out for us... I looked at him but his master, the owner of the shop, called him back to his work.

I walked into the shop...

"hello there... I'm in need of some new equipment... what do you have for sale?"
The shopkeeper showed me his items. Luckilly the baron owed my uncle quite a bit of money.. so shopping here wasn't a problem. Just Fenrir and my Aunt had to wait outside... the shopkeeper didn't want any magick users in his shop... understandable and not really a problem since I just asked them what they would need.

I bought some new studded leather armour which fitted very nicely. Further more my eyes fell on a pair of chainmail gloves which I bought.

Everyone else bought stuff too. 'The-one-of-the-four-warriors-who-didn't-leave' person bought a new holder for his throwing weapon and new boots.
My three uncles bought new swords since the old ones were all rusty. Kilgen bought a large supply of new arrows and a short sword.

Leang had bought a new bow and supplied himself with arrows aswell.

My brother and sister both baught their equipment and then we were almost ready te leave but the little dwarf pulled me aside when Kilgen paid the shopkeeper. Leang assisted him because he had nice speech skills which proved usefull in lowering the costs.

But the dwarf had something to say to me.
he whispered "please sir... get me out of here... you are adventurer's right, so would you please take me with you?! I need to get out of this city!"
I looked at him firmly "Listen sir... our path is not an easy one... you are risking your life if you come with us."
"Yes I'm sure it is... but I might prove usefull to you lot... as I always say: It's good to have a dwarf in your party!"
I looked him in the eye... he seemed sincere and very motivated.
"Alright" I said... "you may come with us, but I can't secure your safety... keep that in mind at all times."
"Of course yes!" he replied.
Kilgen and Leang were ready with the payment and we're almost out the shop already. The shopkeeper noticed the dwarf packing his things and shouted at him, "Eh YOU... where do you think you're off to!!"

"Adventure you sucker!" the little dwarven replied
"What the..."
The shopkeeper was about to hit the dwarf with a stick but in a split second he had my sword against his throat.
"Don't try mister... If you upset me you will put yourself in a very very difficult position."
My aunt entered the shop and entangled the shopkeeper saying "there you go... a little magick in a tech shop won't hurt anyone... yet."

I grinned at her and we all left the shop... having gained another adventurer who would aid us in any way he could.

We moved on this time towards the magick shop.
This didn't take very long. We bought health and fatigue potions and some scrolls.
I bought a magick ring and Fenrir also spend some money. My aunt didn't need much since she had enough already.

We decided together that we had enough equipment and set off for the gates... We didn't notice that a shady man followed us.

[ooc] ok Jarinor... your turn to play. Maniac and Slagger.. you could possibly write about the stuff you bought.. and Deathmage.. you could write a bit about the scene aswell. [/ooc]

 

[OOC]Okay, looks like it's proceeding okay. Just minor quibbles please people - check your grammar and spelling. Makes reading and following the story line much easier. Also, try not to rush things, it doesn't help with the suspension of disbelief factor . Doing good people...[/OOC]

I followed the ever-increasing number of adventurers. With my quiver hanging at my hip (I know I said back earlier on, but that was because I was sitting down) and bow strung, I was ready for action, should it occur. I checked my coin pouch...only a few coins left. Well, I had enough arrows for now, and anything that I looted off the undead would supply me with my next meals after my current suppl of money ran out.

My plain brown shirt and green pants helped me blend into the surroundings, my black cloak (with hood) helped me hide in the shadow and the boots that I wore were both comfortable and suitable for long hikes, as well as helping me keep silent as I travelled. The band I was following left a trail that a blind man could follow and made enough noise for a deaf man to hear...or at least, they did from my perspective. For the average group, they did a fair job.

I hadn't seen any undead yet, and was beginning to think I wouldn't, when I got that oh-so-familiar tingling sensation on the back of my neck. They were nearby...

[OOC]If this is too forward, let me know and I'll change it. Just thought we needed some action. Notharah, it might be a good idea to lose a few of your family members, either through injury or death. Keeping track of them will probably get more difficult as the story goes along for everyone.[/OOC]

 

[ooc] yes I was plannig on doing that... probably two or three of my uncles [/ooc]

 

The others went to buy some supplies into a techy shop and came back with a new companion. Then we went into a magic shop. I bought some health/fatigue restore potions and nothing else. I had everything I needed in my backpack. Then we went on our way. I felt we were followed by someone but didn't feel any undead or other demonic powers. But then I felt it...undead.

"Everyone get ready. We have company". I pulled out my short sword and it glowed in purple light indicating dark powers nearby.

 

[ooc] ok... Jarinor, Maniac, Ferret... since you are more experienced... do you think this thread needs more people at the moment or will this fine team handle it? ps Maniac... nice to start a battle... I needed one (but don't you think it's too much like LOTR's???... just asking, don't mind it or anything)[/ooc]

Fenrir felt the undead... as if he had some sixth sense for doing this... He might be right about knowing so much after all... I followed his advice and so did everyone else... in a split-second we all had our weapins reay and spells prepared.

It was worse than I could hope for... not just a few, but 25 zombies stood across us accompanied by two gore guards, 5 skeletons and an apperently strong dark necromancer.

I saw some of us look in doubt... these odds were heavy.
The undead stormed towards us... luckily we could rely on our speed and agility. The zombies were moving very slowly but the gore guards reached us soon. My aunt entangled one of them and Kilgen stared piercing him with arrows. The other one faced two of my uncles who willingly hacked into him. But the gore guard was too strong for them alone and I asisted them quickly.

Leang, Durok my brother and my sister fought with the skeletons. After me and my uncles dealt with the gore guard I made a circling movement and evaded the zombies who nearly reached the battle-scene... The necromancer had taken some distance and used his harm spell to hurt one of my uncles who had joined Kilgen in taknig out the other gore guard who had broken free of the entanglement. It took me a while to reach him and I could feel his power growing as I got closer.
"who are you and what are you doing here!" I yelled at him
He laughed at me saying "I am Demonear the fierce... captain of the undead... I laught at your punt powers... meet your doom here and now!"
He used his harm spell to hurt me but I was full of anger which drove me... I saw from the corner of my eye that the zombies had reached my friends and the odds were agaist us gravely.
But for this I was very determened. I launched my fathers sword through the air and it hit the necromancer in the stomache. He screamed with agony and lost a lot of his fatigue which caused 10 zombies to turn to dust.
The rest however turned out not to be controled by this necromancer... because they keeped on attacking my friends.

I re-grabbed my family sword and quickly dealt the final blow before the necromancer could re-establish himself. He let out a large sream and mumbled something in a language I did not understand... I felt a strange power leaving him and swiftly moved towards the east before he colapsed and died.

The skeletons were vanguished by this, but I saw that the battle was too heavy... they all fought bravely but again tragedy happened before my eyes.

Five of the ten remaining zombies hacked into two of my uncles.. the same two uncles who recieved the heavy blows from the gore-guards.
My aunt tried to heal them but was kept busy herself by another Zombie.

First one, than the other uncle fell under the zombies blows. I saw them perish before I could reacht them.

I let out a very large scream and jumped at the zombies.
"NOO!! don't let this happen again!!!!" I screamed.
But my screaming did not bring them back to life... they ere gone....

for a split second my thoughts went back to all the horrors which occured the past days and before that.
But I shook myself back to reality just before a blow of a zombie hit me... I quickly dodged and hacked it's head off.

Fenrir and Kilgen knew their ways in combat and Leang and Durok proved to have some talent aswell.
At last we finished off the last one of the remaining zombies and stood still for a moment... not quite yet realising reality... two good friends of mine had lost their lifes... two uncles. I had known them for years, lived with them, experienced how they were. But they were gone now and I couldn't change it anymore. I felt mightless... like there was nothing I could do. For a moment I considered stopping our trouble, but then realised that if we didn't stand up, the same fate would come to us...

But suddenly a third gore guard appeared from behind me. I was too late to dodge or block... I saw my end coming very close.

But all of the sudden the Gore guard was hit by a series of arrows out of the bushes. This stunned the gore guard for a moment and left the rest of us to quickly finish it off.

The battle was over and out of the bushes stepped a man wearing a hood.
It was the person I saw in the alley earlier that day... He approached us carefully.

"My good man..." I said in a voice which sounded partly very sad.. and partly very relieved.
"... you have my utmost gratitude. Might I ask who aided us in our troubles?" I asked the man...
but he remained silent................

[ooc] There you go Jarinor... you're there.
people if you want to write the battle through the eyes of your own character do so... 'cause I didn't spend much of the battle writing about the rest of us... sorry 'bout that [/ooc]

 

Luckily others trusted me enough to take out their weapons in time. The necromancer launched a wave of dark powers at me but I raised my hand and blocked them with a force field which gave out a golden light before disapearing.I felt a zombie behind me... The zombie swinged at me but as he hit my IMAGE disapeared. He turned around and was beheaded by my sword. I concetrated my spiritual energy, painted a ring in the air with my staff and the pushed it and sent it flying. The ring materialized into a fireball and crisped three zombies. Three more zombies surrounded me so I blurred (a spell) myself and being a dodge master easily avoided their hits. Then I raised my hands (one holding a staff, the sword was sheated) and fire emanated from me flaming all three. I was getting ready to slay some more undead but saw that the battle was over. They were strong...Maybe we still had a chance? Unfortunatly the battle did not end without casualties. We lost two companions but it seemed we gained a new one.
"My condolances..." I lowered my head and was silent for a minute. "But this is just the start. I didn't want to use my teleport scrolls because I feared that Nitorh would feel the energy but since he spotted us already I think we should teleport to Tulla. Although I am not sure about the dwarf...No offense sir. Only your tech alignment might disrupt the spell and we might end up between the worlds."

[OOC]
There are three types of casting.
1. Speech - the easiest to learn and used by aprentice mages. A spell incanation is spoken also gesturing with hands.
2. Gesture - without need to speak the incanation (although sometimes they speak. An old habit I guess ). Used by most mages.
3. Mind - controling spells with your mind. Learned only by few. It hundreds of years to learn it and thousands to master it. (guess which my character learned )
[OOC]

 

I had lurked in the bushes as the adventurers had dealt with the undead. While they had lost some companions, they hadn't done too badly. I was surprised that the necromancer had been defeated so easily, but his minions had also been stronger than the regular undead.

They hadn't really needed my help at any time, until that last gore guard had popped up. Then I'd popped him with enough arrows to hold him up. As I'd approached, the apparent leader had spoken to me.

"My good man you have my utmost gratitude. Might I ask who aided us in our troubles?"

I said nothing, which wasn't that unusual really. I slowly retrieved my arrows from the body of the gore guard. No point in wasting these.

The man seemed confused as to why I wouldn't respond and seemed about to get angry. His sword point was certainly rising towards me very quickly.

"I ask again," he said, "who are you?"

I still couldn't speak.

"Speak!" he half-shouted. "Speak or I will cut out your tongue!"

Sorry old boy, I thought, someone's beaten you to it already. He was certainly rash, this man. Still, anyone who could summon up rage like that as quick as that certainly stood a better chance of surviving in a fight. Nothing like rage to keep you going.

In response I finally opened my mouth and pointed out that I already didn't have a tongue. Kind of limited what I could eat, you'd be surprised how much you need your tongue to eat most solid foods.

After doing this, the man seemed to soften. "Oh, I see. Well, then, thanks for your help."

I shrugged, and stood there as an older woman nudged him. This guy may be rash, but he was thick sometimes.

"What? Oh, yeah. Um, would you like to come with us? We could certainly use your help now that we've lost a few people."

I pretended to think about this before nodding my agreement. While I may find it easier to hunt undead on my own, hunting with these people would allow me to kill more. I considered it a fair trade-off.

"What's your name? I'm Ando Fysenlog..." He introduced the others to me.

For my part, I scratched out my name in the dirt.

"Weralin?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, okay then, welcome aboard, Weralin."

He turned to everyone else. "Okay, people, loot what you can, we've still got a long ways to go..."

 

The man's name was Werelin. Apearently someone or something had cut out his tongue. I felt kind of embarrassed for asking about his tongue before but I didn't feel the need to appoligize for my rudeness since enough had overcome us already to worry about those things.

The first thing we alltogether did was bury my two uncles.
We dug two graves next to each other in which we carefully laid the lifeless bodies. I saw tears in my sisters I and also my aunts. I could barely manage to hold myself together but I did.

I jammed both their swords in the head-end of their own graves. We didn't have tomb-stones but this would work out just as well.
I knieled in front of the graves and mumbled curses directed towards the necromancers and their undead... and silently I cursed myself for not being able to save them. I had to keep this party together... I was the one that had to be strong, tell everyone we had to go on. But it was often so hard for me. Once again I felt powerless for a moment.

Kilgen grabbed the arrows he shot and so did Leang. Arrows were not something we were wasting so easely.

The rest of the party started walking towards the forest but Fenrir stayed behind, putting a hand on my shoulder and gesturing that I had to come along as well. I stood up and mumbled my last goodbey. Together we caught up with the rest and I led the way further on.

Fenrir had proven himself... he was now completely out of my suspicion and I trusted myself in his knowledge.

It would take me a while to get used to all of the new recruits but I had to.

We marched on into the Erlin woods... eleven of us in total.....

[ooc] ok... I think the drama is working well here... now only to pick up Ferret's character Marie (Kitty) [/ooc]

 

The battle was a tough one . Not my area of expertise , i had to depend on the rest of the more experienced warriors , falling behind them and trying to fill the enemies up with arrows . The new bow had helped , and if it didn't , i would'v turned around and asked the shopkeeper for a refund , or just take it myself .

There was loot though , and i filled my quiver full of arrows . I also took a nice suit of studded armor from the dead necromancer , and luckily it wasn't cursed , but neither was it enchanted .

We picked up a new addition along the way , known as Weralin . He had saved our leader from a killer blow by a gore guard earlier , and was invited to join in . He didn't look like one to fool with .

 

[OOC]
So are we gonna ever teleport or not? I understand we need to pickup Ferret's char. but Tulla is a long way from the Wheel Clan region (we are about there right?)
[OOC]

I walked beside Ando. He seemed to take my words as a friendly advice now. I finnaly earned trust.
"Ando I understand it's hard for you but you musn't show your sadness. You are the only one who can raise the morale of your family members thus also increasing the morale of our group. And morale will be very important in our fight against the Hordes. I'll always be by your side so if you want a friendly advice or just want to unburden your heart you can trust me." I was trying to comfort Ando as much as I could.

 

[ooc] short update to the location. Erlin is located east of stillwater but on the west side below the river. So not that close to W. C.
The story started on the east side of the river and we crossed it to the west. Erlin is not very far from the river there. The forest is north-east of Erlin... We are taking a slight different route back then we came because the undead are probably waiting for us at the old crossing[/ooc]

 

[OOC]
I'm just inside the forest, near to the village, but far enough for seclusion. I would suggest that you try and put some distance between you and the undead before teleporting to Tulla, so that evil guy won't know exactly where you are heading (further away, therefore less precise divination of the destination?) and thus head north into the forest for extra cover.

Go in for a while before you find the ruins of a burned-out house. Decide to camp out in the ruins, using the house for shelter and I will find you during the night.

We can then teleport to Tulla. I've never seen magick before, so I'd imagine I'd be fascinated by Tulla and maybe pick up my first spells?!
[/OOC]

 

"Alright everyone! Listen up! We will journey for today and tommorow we will teleport to Tulla." we walked until the evening and came up to a burned out house.
"Let's camp here." Ando suggested.
"Good idea. You may all sleep. I'll guard the camp. Having lived as much as I you can rest other ways than sleeping" I smiled. Everyone started to tend their sleeping places. I suggested we don't setup a fire so we would be much harder to find. The others were chatting, some already sleeping. I sat down on the ground and started meditating but was fully aware of my surroundings.