Quest War

[Iskessah]

Iskessah could smell the rival predator approaching her lair, and she hissed. She just wanted to be left in peace until it was safe to come out. Why must she constantly be hunted? Her venom was gone, long-since used up on those strange earth-smelling monsters, so her defenses were limited. Her best hope was that this predator had the sense to not mess with a rattlesnake. As the creature came closer, Iskessah rattled her tail in warning. Any sane animal would avoid her, but...oh no. Now that she was closer, Iskessah could make out a dim outline. The thing that smelled like a predator was human-shaped. Now Iskessah recognized the scent; it was the other scout from the Ravok party. Iskessah's mind raced. How would she escape discovery? She had obviously been seen, but it was possible that Kyra did not know her identity. Though if Kyra stayed watching her the whole time, that would make it trickier to shift to human and return to the camp later... Ultimately, she decided her best bet was to follow her instincts. If she behaved exactly as one would expect of a Talderean Rattlesnake, the hunter would have no reason to suspect she had any association with the Ravok group. Her two identities would remain separate, and she could continue on as before, in relative peace. Still, if the girl were foolish enough to get too close to a snake den, Iskessah would hardly refrain from lashing out, venom or no.

[Kyra]

Kyra moved a bit further inside the cave and glancing over her shoulder to make sure that nothing was creeping up behind her. For all she knew there could be more of the giant snakes about, and getting pinned between them would surely mean her death. The kelvic was cautious as she moved, lightly stepping on the ground to muffle the soft thumping from her boots. Her ears perked up and she could still hear the faint cries of war from somewhere outside of the cave.

She hadn't yet decided if the beast was friend or foe, and hadn't planned on outright attacking it unless it gave her a reason. And so it did..The young kelvic stopped in her tracks and peeked into the short distance. There it was, the giant snake coiled up, it's beady eyes watching her as it hissed and rattled it's tail. It seemed that the girl hadn't been quiet enough and the snake was waiting for her. Possibly waiting til she was close enough so that it could strike her down as it had the creatures in the forest.

But Kyra had other plans, she still wanted to know what it was, and anything else that she could learn about the strange thing. But it was too dangerous to push on, and being locked in a small cave with a huge snake wasn't smart in the least. It was better to coax it out into the opening, where she could get a better look at it, while giving herself more room to move about. Either that or kill it where it sat. With her arrow aimed at the creature's body, she steadied it and raised her bow to eye level to target the beast and fired.

The kelvic scout didn't wait to see how the beast would react, and backed away towards the opening of the cave. She reached into her quiver again and pulled around arrow free and notched it to her bow. It took her moments to get it right as her hands had began to shake with excitement, and it wasn't until she had cleared the mouth of the cave that she had it ready to fire. In the distance she could still hear the fight raging on, though she now found herself in a different battle.

Again she raised her bow, and aimed it towards the entrance of the cave and waited to see if, and when the beast would come for her.

[Iskessah]

In the dim light from the small cave opening, Iskessah could not make out what the other girl was doing. She could only see the rough outline of Kyra's body heat, but that could not have given her warning that Kyra was readying her bow. She was merely watching, trying to warn the hunter off with the universal signs of "leave me alone". Sadly, the hunter heeded none of these warning signs, and thought it clever to loose an arrow in the giant snake's flesh. Iskessah's head whipped up in pain and surprise, and before she could silence her forked tongue, a single word escaped, "Serxesnas!" Of course, the word was in the snake's tongue, and would likely be indistinguishable from any hissing to one not familiar with the language. She spent the next few moments just breathing in an out as she tried to assess the damage. She had been coiled up, so the arrow had pierced the thick muscle somewhere in the lower half of her body. Part of her, a very small part, wanted to bash the hunter's face in for causing her such pain, but she'd been a survivor for a long time. She could guess easily enough that going toward the attacker would only cause more pain, and possibly death. But in her thrashing around, she found something she hadn't noticed when she first came in. There was a small hole on the corner of the cave wall. She wasn't sure how far it went, but it was her only choice at this point. She poked her nose into the hole, and slithered her way along it, her scales brushing the narrow tunnel on all sides. It was actually squeezing her rather tightly... the tunnel couldn't have been more than a foot across. She was more than half-way into the tunnel, but her relief at escape was short-lived. A sharp pain shot through her tail when the arrow sticking out of her side caught on the tunnel entrance. She sat for a moment in panic, unable to go forward, and unwilling or unable to go back. Finally, she steeled her will, and forced her body forward with all her strength. The arrow broke off with a loud SNAP! It was agony, but it allowed movement. Trying and failing to ignore the pain, she pushed on through the tunnel. She had no idea where it would lead, but she was so far past caring. She lost track of time, and she had no idea how much later she emerged, but finally, she felt the warmth of sunlight on her face. She was almost delirious with the pain of having an arrowhead lodged in her tail, but with relief, she recognized her own familiar scent; she was not far from where she had stashed her clothes! The bad news was, this meant she was closer to the insane battle of earthy creatures. She tasted the air and watched the heat patterns, unwilling to risk any danger. And she did not want to run into that hunter again. She was no fan of arrows, but worse, if the hunter was a member of the Ravok party, Iskessah was in danger of being discovered. Would Iskessah have time to get to her clothes and shift to human in time to disguise herself? She had to risk it. She did not sense any of the various dangers she feared in the immediate vicinity, but every moment she waited was a moment that could change. She slithered the rest of the way out of the tunnel and began shifting almost before her tail was entirely clear. By the time she'd reached her clothing bundle, she was lying naked in the leaves and dirt. When she'd shifted, the broken shaft of the arrow had ended up in her right thigh. Since her legs were thinner than her tail, some of the broken arrow shaft had been revealed. After putting on her vest, she moved to pull the shaft out, but even touching it sent waves of pain through her whole body. She found a nearby stick and placed it between her teeth. Then, she grabbed the arrow shaft and yanked it out with all her might. The pain was greater than she could have imagined, and she bit down so hard she broke the stick. Blood ran freely from the wound, but she did not have time to worry about that. The arrow head was gone from her body, and with it, all evidence that she was the snake that hunter had shot. She dug a shallow hole to bury the arrowhead so someone would not stumble across the evidence, and then finished getting dressed, keeping an ear on the sounds of battle which were uncomfortably close by. Her leg was soaked in blood, and the blood soon soaked the leg of her trousers as well. But at least her secret was safe. Anyone could assume she had been attacked by the Yukmen. At this thought, her adrenaline finally gave out. In the relief coupled with the blood loss, she abruptly lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground.

OOCApologies for the delay. And I'm hoping I did not just get Kess killed there... ^^;

[Kyra]

The hissing and thrashing around from within the cave rung in her ears and caused the young kelvic to jump backwards and move further from the entrance of the cave. She stood back now several paces, bow raised and the arrow aimed at the entrance. The sounds dissipated soon after and she could hear nothing else from within the cave. Kyra slowly moved towards the entrance again, making light deliberate steps on the ground to muffle the sound of her boots. Cautiously she entered the cave and slowly peaked around the corner to look for the snake.

She was surprised to find an empty wall and floor where the large creature had been only moments ago. The girl moved further inside to investigate the area as she tried to figure out how something so big had vanished without a trace. Then she saw it, a gaping hole in the side of the cave's wall. Kyra moved closer to it and looked it over, and even stuck her face in it. The tunnel was dark and it was hard to tell just how much room was inside or what was on the other side. Kyra knew that it was a bad idea to try and follow the snake's path and although she was curious, she wasn't willing to attempt to force herself into a hole.

Kyra puffed in disappointment, and she had to realize the truth, the beast had gotten away from her and was long gone by now. On this day, the predator had lost her prey or whatever it was and the mystery would go unsolved. She looked over the hole in the wall once more, embers of gold burning with the desire to learn what was on the other side, but this time she would have to ignore it.

The young kelvic retreated from the cave then and hurried back the way she had came. The battle was still being fought and she could hear the cries of war along with the clashing of blades. With her arrow still between her bow and string, Kyra raised her arms and fired upon the first mountain creature that she saw and struck it in it's head. She moved along the hill side, looking to find a better perch to stand on that didn't leave her so close to the creatures and continued to fire upon them.

[Clyde Sullins]

Now that he had soaked the ground, Clyde cut off the flow of res, letting it gather and flow into a better shape under his feet... Focusing on what he already had out, instead of making more. He could feel himself in the ground, part of the ground, joining with the ground, not just were his feet rested on it, but inside of it, as his res called out and reshaped the very earth itself into a shape he chose. Once more Clyde was enjoying himself, and began to get caught up in the joys of magic, as he began to spend his res he had created, in spells of earthen spikes and manipulation. A joy no physical pleasure could ever give, something a non-mage would never understand... And even some mages of the more careful variety. His first two thrown spikes hit the mark, one hitting a yukmen in the head and killing it instantly, another hitting it in the chest and knocking it down, were it lay bleeding trying to get back on its feet, only to be stepped on by the ones behind it. Swirling his hands, chunks of earth and res would swirl and pull, yanking chunks of earth from the ground, which would be shaped into spikes like the earlier ones. These ones done a bit more hastily. Soon enough they were launched, by another twin palm thrust, hitting there various marks, two different yukmen, felled. But it was not enough. Not fast enough. He had felled a few, but there were so many left. Making a series of quick motions like he was plucking something from before him and pulling it up to head level, he motioned for the dirt, and a bunch of smaller chunks of dirt rose, 10 in all. He twisted his hand to shape them, watching as they turned into miniature spikes, and with a series of thrusts they shot off in two's, till they were all gone, these smaller ones less lethal unless a headshot, but still doing damage. Then he was grabbing at the earth with his physical hands, slamming his palms down on it. As he pulled back up, a great chunk of the earth before him rose with the res, infused with a good bit of the remainder, leaving a hole in its place, and a ball floating before Clyde that was as big as him, and certainly heavier. He clapped his hands together, and said "Daeq", over and over, a word meaning shape in the ancient tongue, which seemed oddly fitting to help him focus on his task of shaping the earth. He shaped the chunk of earth into a rocky sphere, and then thrust his palms forward again. This time the ball was sent rocketing forward, similar to some ammo launched from a catapult. He pushed it forward, using up all of the remaining res in the ball to speed it onward, the weight of it alone knocking over yukmen as it went by, breaking some apart, breaking bones, appendages, legs. Injuring as many as it killed of the monsters. Soon it did not have enough res in it to fly, and instead it rolled across the ground, Clyde kept pushing it until all of the res in it was spent, taking out as many legs as he could as it rolled further away through the ranks of yukmen. It was only then that he realized how close they were, and how long he had been at it. Sweat on his brow, and drenching the back of his shirt, he had been so concentrated he had not been paying enough attention to his surroundings. Now Yukmen were almost upon him. Using the last of the res he had soaked into the ground, he shaped one last spike, and sent it upward out of the ground skerering a yukmen right before him. It entered the small of its back, and went up its throat and out its mouth, killing it, leaving it propped up there. Turning about, he grabbed his staff, and ran, concentrating on his legs and surviving. He needed to get back to the group, whatever was left of it. He would gather a small ball of res before him, and float it at chest level two feet ahead as he moved. Any yukmen that came at him would be met by him lighting its outside aflame, and throwing a part off in its face and mouth and eyes, a small fireball. Hopefully this would be enough, at such close range, to hold them off. He would try to keep adding to it whenever he spent some like this, to keep it at a constant amount. Already from the combined efforts of magic, and running, he was in a good sweat and feeling tired, and had a stitch of pain in his side, and a throbbing in his head.

[Verilian]

The battle raged on for some time, there were just too many of the yukmen for it to end quickly, even with the valiant efforts of everyone there. Clyde's magic did considerable damage, but by itself it would not have been enough. It was the combined effort of everyone present that finally drove the last of the yukmen off, and when the battle finally ended, it was time to count the losses. Iskessah managed to sleep through the remainder of the battle, and woke up to find herself in the infirmary tent with a bandage wrapped around her body covering the arrow wound. If whatever healer tended to her noticed the difference between her wound and anybody else, nothing was ever said. It seemed that Iskessah's secret would be safe. Unless of course Kyra managed to recognize her scent. Clyde was something of a small hero after the battle. While not everyone had seen him in action, those who had were in awe. Even Samara could not deny his prowess. His apprentice Gallo, however was lost. The young mage to be had been pommeled to death under yukman fists and trampled by yukman feet. He was barely recognizable, and though no one saw him fall, the bodies of yukman surrounding him showed that he put up a valiant fight to the very end. The force as a whole had suffered considerable losses, nearly two thirds of their numbers were either dead or seriously injured. The yukmen horde had come as a surprise, and were too large in numbers to suffer anything less. Samara commented at one point that they were lucky to be alive at all. She herself had suffered one nasty wound, though she would live, and a number of small cuts and bruises covered her body. Still, she was the commander, and fought through the pain to lead her troops through the aftermath of the battle. The dead were gathered and burned, prayers spoken in Rhysol's honor. Each of the remaining chaon used their gnosis on the ground around the funeral pyre, cursing the very land, so that any who disturbed it would suffer the wrath of Rhysol. It was well into the third day after the battle that Samara made the announcement. Their forces were decimated, and they had too many injured. A group would be sent back to Ravok to report the news, while the rest would press on to their destination. An even smaller group would remain behind to tend to the wounded and await reinforcements. The mission itself was declared a failure. They had nowhere near the numbers to complete their mission, and would await new orders when they arrived at the basecamp. On the fourth day they marched. Some went back to Ravok. Some went with Samara to the basecamp, some remained behind, and others deserted entirely. The rest of the march was uneventful. When they arrived at the basecamp they were greeted by Aello and the other assassins, but it was not a joyous meeting. The force was licking it's wounds. Samara had failed her first big mission and would surely be punished. And everyone esle would just have to find something to do until they received word from home. OOCOkay, as I said, I'm wrapping this up. Feel free to make a final post, and then I'll award xp and stuff. Basically, everyone arrives at the basecamp. A few people do some missions, but eventually word comes that they are free to abandon the mission and return home, or wherever they want to go. Sorry this quest didn't work out as planned, but I hope it was still fun.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah awoke slowly, not sure at first where she was or what had happened. The first thing she noticed was that, somehow, she was still in her human form. She tried to bring her mind up out of the haze of sleep enough to get her bearings, but it wasn't until she shifted her leg and felt a stabbing pain that she began to remember. That's right, something, a hunter, had shot her with an arrow. Now that she was relatively safe (the wound has been dressed, so she was probably in good hands), she had time to feel the proper indignation. What kind of maniac shoots a snake who is just minding her own business? In any case, at least there were no signs that anyone had discovered her secret. She would have to avoid the hunter just in case, but for now it looked like she had been lucky. She relaxed, and drifted back into sleep until Samara made her annoucement. Iskessah limped out of the tent housing the injured, greatful that there were so many wounded to hide amongst. Really, even if the hunter suspected shape-shifting, which she had no reason to, there were dozens of possible suspects. When Samara told them the mission was a failure, she could sense the profound disappointment of the Ravokians around her, but she herself felt relatively little. Nom to be honest, she was a little relieved. This battle had shown her that she was massively unprepared for combat of this scale, if not any serious combat altogether. When the choice of going back or continuing on was presented, Iskessah relaized she was not ready to go back to Ravok. This was the first time she had been out of the city since being captured. It was a bit disconcerting, but more freeing than she had been able to imagine. She knew she couldn't run away forever, but maybe just for a little longer, she could see what life was like out from under Rhysol's watchful gaze. After her decision was made, she realized that Shannon would be annoyed with her, and also that Joshry might worry when she did not return. She decided to use the homing pigeon she had purchased to send home a summary of what the return-party was meant to tell. That way Shannon could feel happy that he'd gotten the news first, and that might buy her a bit of forgiveness for staying away from him for a while. She also included a letter to Joshry, not saying much, but just warning him that she might not be back for a while. He would just have to live with that.

[Kyra]

Kyra returned to the camp along with the rest of the solders and mercenaries once the fight was over. Whether by luck, skill, or some divine hand, Kyra had made it through the fight without being injured. A trained soldier, she was not, but her survival instincts had gotten her through another day. The camp was a mess, and the human's all sounded a lot different than they had when they first raced off to face the rock men.

There was blood every where and the stench of death and something else wafted into her nose, and almost completely drowning out any other senses. She felt indifferent for the most part, she knew none of the others save for Clyde, and while a war seemed like it would be fun, she wasn't that sadden about the mission failure. The snake that she had chased was another thing that she had lost interest in. It had disappeared quickly and it wasn't anywhere in sight that she knew of and was soon forgotten.

When Samara made the announcement, the young kelvic decided that she would head on to Syliras alone if need be. There was still the matter of the letter to investigate, and after coming all the way from Ravok, she intended to see it through to the end. Kyra would do whatever else was asked of her, and once the move was on, she would tear herself away and head towards the city of Syliras.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde felt like he wanted to just lie down on the ground and quit. He was exhausted from his magics, almost enough to literally keel over and sleep were he fell. He was hungry as a ravenous pack of... Well... Either way, his stomach grumbled quite fiercely... All he could think of doing was to get back to camp, and scrounge up something to eat. He had not quite overgiven, he was fairly certain, which surprised him a bit considering how he had let loose and used his magic quite a bit. Many a yukman could mark him as their killer, on this day. If nothing else, the fact that he had not overgiven, showed how much he had progressed in his magic. His limits clearly were growing and expanding, till what was within was a ever greater amount. Why but a year ago, having done the same amount of magics, he likely would have killed himself or gone into serious overgiving. He had done neither today. But he still needed to replenish the spent djed, and to rest. As one of the people who had seen him in action clapped him on the back, he felt no great joy for it. Sure, his name was becoming ever more well known in Ravok as being a mage. And a powerful one at that... But he was just to tired to care. Perhaps later once he had time to eat and sleep, he would be more receptive to it. He did not even think of Gallo, or what had happened to him. He had slipped from his mind, during the time of his great focus and spellweaving. Perhaps if he had paid attention to his apprentice, and made sure he was kept alive, he himself might not be, not to mention the entire encampment. For without his help and magics, a great number more would have been faced against the rest. Perhaps they would not have been wiped out, but a great many more would have perished. It did mean though, that later he would need to seek out a new apprentice. Perhaps one a bit less bothersome, and who actually listened to him a bit better. After making his way back to camp, Clyde scrounged up a small bit to eat, and collapsed on the first bit of soft ground he found, Rye sitting on the ground next to him watching over as he passed out, growling at anyone that tried to bother him. He missed much of the preparation for the funeral and things, so tired was he. When he awoke he ate another small meal, and watched as the bodies were burned. --- By the time Samara made the announcement, that the mission was a failure, Clyde was more or less back to normal. He had slept several more times, eaten a good bit of whatever he could find, and had restored more or less all of the djed he had spent. He still felt a bit sleepy, but if the need arose, he could use magic. He just hoped it would not, at least for awhile more. Not if they expected him to do anything so strenuous as marching. As Clyde set off for the rest of the march to the basecamp outside of Syliras, all that he could think of, was how unlucky they were. First, he had been on the Suvan Expedition, when they had first been attacked by Zith, and then struck by the Djed Storm. It was only through great fortune, and a bit of odd events involving him and the prophecy of a konti, that they had managed to survive. Now, on his way to do what he had long since wanted to do, do great damage to Syliras, they had been attacked by a great horde of Yukman, and had over half of their people wiped out. It almost seemed that they were cursed with bad luck. He would not give up though, and would do his part to assault Syliras. Perhaps he would be allowed to come back again, and truly damage them. Perhaps on that occasion, he would even be in charge of the expedition. If so, he knew many a thing he would do differently, to prepare. Not going off ill prepared like this one was, in his eyes.

[Verilian]

. . Thread Award . . Aello +3 Leadership +3 Tactics +1 Running Lores: Praying for Time, Temple Tamed, Loot: 600 Gold Mizas Iskessah Kosun +1 Hunting +3 Unarmed Combat +1 Land Navigation (Mountains) +1 Wilderness Survival +1 Climbing +1 Stealth +1 Acting Lores: Hunting in your sleep, Scouting Ahead, Acting Like a Normal Snake, How it feels to be shot with an arrow, Loot: 600 Gold Mizas Kyra +2 Observation +2 Hunting +4 Shortbow +1 Land Navigation (Mountains) +1 Wilderness Survival +2 Climbing +1 Running +1 Tactics +1 Stealth Lores: Scouting Ahead, Hunting a Snake Loot: 600 Gold Mizas Clyde Sullins +2 Tactics +1 Glyphing +3 Reimancy Lores: Making Glyph Traps, Suffering Samara, Fighting Yukmen, Discovering new limits, Loot: 600 Gold Mizas Gallo Duplais +1 Cryptography +1 Tactics +1 Unarmed Combat +1 Flux Lores: Assisting Mages, Enjoying the Favor of Samara, Lore of Being Dead You Question My Logic? : If anyone has any questions about their xp, or maybe there was a lore you wanted that I forgot, let me know via PM and we'll work it out. Notes: Okay, so for each of you, on your eventual return to Ravok, or if you didn't return maybe it got mailed to you somehow, you each were paid 600gm. Even though the mission was declared a failure, Ravok still pays it's mercenaries. Except for Gallo, who is dead. Sorry this thread didn't play out like it was supposed to, but with Chev stepping down and everything else that went on, there really was no way I could push it through without completely rehashing all the plans. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I know I did. Great job guys, and keep writing! Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.