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Post by Ainsophaur on Jan 17, 2006 12:29:03 GMT -5
Grove once seated will watch and listen, cracking smiles now and again at the friendly banter.
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Post by KRoZ on Jan 26, 2006 22:39:04 GMT -5
(There you go, that wasn't so hard was it? At this point, John, James, Fred, Evan, you four are in this scenario. The others can join after the first mission.)
After some introductions and general hub bub, the group meet at the stables to set out. You're given wishes of safety, success, and luck. All of which would be nice.
Guts, for your stature and weighty gear, you are lent one of the organizations only war horses. A massive steed with a mighty stride.
Chip, Grove, Tully, Abrams, and David, you get ordinary horses. nyah nyah.
Stormaxe, you have the choice of a donkey or pony.
Your provisions gathered and your minds in a collective calm, you lot set out into the night streets and to the gates of the city. They have been left open unusually late tonight. The guards nod to your passing party knowingly as they shut the gates behind you.
The darkness of night is never inviting, but perhaps tonight feels different. Monsters and evil have come to be accepted facts about the night, to the point where when they aren't present men would do your best not to think about them. To pretend, all for the best. But tonight, and in every night to come, there will be no more pretending to you. You lot have joined the ranks of those who know full well what lurks in the darkness, and not only aknowlege it, but seek it out directly.
You're all given quite a long time to think while en route. Long rides with brief stops. You can only hurry so much before you kill your mounts, so you make your pace swift but sensible. As you near the plague lands, day begins to look more like night, night like begins to look more like hell. The daylight shows dimly through hazy clouds floating through a grey sky. When you finally arrive, the change is almost instant.
The dirt becomes a black and grey craggy mess that covers where there should be grass. Trees whither blackly, their leafless branches looking like twisted claws reaching out of the decayed earth, trying to tear down the sky.
At first the only thing you can hear is the familiar caw of carrion birds. Hundreds upon Hundreds of carrion birds. The trees are lined with them, the sky filled with swirling masses. It is as if they know full well: where the plague reaches, death follows. The hundreds of little beady eyes stare at you from their perches. They watch and wait... no. They won't be dying just yet.
Soon there is nothing but a ghostly howl of wind and the rustle of dead branches against each other. You've left the birds behind, not even they will trek further into this place, yet you continue with your purpose at hand and a steady resolve.
All of you but Grove.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Jan 26, 2006 22:47:27 GMT -5
I'll take the donkey.
Stormaxe looks around the shattered landscape. "I wonder what components there are to be found in this shoil."
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Post by Ainsophaur on Jan 26, 2006 23:40:03 GMT -5
Grove grabs his head and grind his teeth together hard. "No! Stop, please!....NO MORE! ARRRRGHH! STOOOOOPP!!" Grove will vomit, and promptly fall off his horse as he blacks out.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Jan 26, 2006 23:52:07 GMT -5
Stormaxe gets off his horse with a quickness. "Stop, lads! We cannae move forward without being at full shtrength!" Stormaxe goes down and checks to see if Grove is physically all right, seeing if there's any vomit in his windpipe and so on.
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Post by KRoZ on Jan 27, 2006 2:39:30 GMT -5
Grove is even more pale than usual, and though unconsious cannot seem to stop shaking and mumbling. His pulse is racing, his skin is cold to the touch, and his eyes are rolled back in his head. What's worse, is he fell rather hard on his left shoulder when he dropped off the horse. (4 hp centralized on shoulder)
Abrams and David are all quick to dismount, Tully less so simply by lack of practice. David to draw his sword and look around at the barren terrain which (while uninviting) lacks any sort of visible threat. Abrams and Tully rush to Grove, Abrams with a similar idea of Stormaxe in insuring he doesn't do any more harm to himself, and Tully begining a protective blessing chant to ease him and hopefully ward whatever is causing his state.
(Note, you are on day four of seven at this point)
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Jan 27, 2006 3:39:27 GMT -5
"I cannae put potion down his throat, lads. I may be able to thicken it and apply it topically, but I think it's time for one of you doctors to fix his shoulder."
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johndamnit
Superhuman
Why am I a penguin?
Posts: 52
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Post by johndamnit on Jan 27, 2006 14:15:15 GMT -5
Chip will dismount as well, take a look around for any visable threat, same as david, not being knowledgable in healing, I'll not go over to grove, but i'll still keep an eye out, since we're pretty much a immoble target at the moment. "Well, thats not the best omen for starting our trip, eh?"
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Post by halfhero on Jan 27, 2006 16:00:25 GMT -5
Guts will step off his massive horse and aim his crossbow into the forest, keeping one hand on his sword, while making slow circles.
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Post by KRoZ on Jan 29, 2006 15:18:44 GMT -5
The forest seems to hold nothing but wind. Grove had been quiet about his skills before, but Abrams and Tully, being the sorts to research their new recruits in fairly good detail, understand that as an Ectomancer/medium, his ailment lies in the beyond. Abrams explains as he quickly does what he can to mend Grove, that his condition is a result of either: a barrage of lesser ghosts whether intentional or no, or the purposeful assault of a greater spirit.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Jan 29, 2006 15:35:48 GMT -5
"Aye, mediums have a lonely life I dinnae envy, but he is damaged in the real world. Can either of you provide an exorcism?"
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Post by halfhero on Jan 29, 2006 22:10:10 GMT -5
exorcism is definitely in order.
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Post by KRoZ on Jan 30, 2006 5:13:28 GMT -5
Tully finishes his blessing. It was difficult, but the immediate area has been sanctified. Grove begins to shake less.
"It is not his body that ails him so greatly as his mind." Says Tully, kneeling and outstretching a hand to Grove's chest. "What has hold of him has not gone into him, but assaults his senses. No doubt being a medium, his are quite sensitive."
Abrams rubs his beard. "The poor souls are often confined to an area. Perhaps if we trek further, carrying him with us, he will regain some strength. Indeed we do not seem equipped to fully adress the situation."
David's defensive stance relaxes as much as a man who's been told he's surrounded by angry ghosts can be, but he knows that a strong swordarm will do nothing here.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Jan 30, 2006 6:28:35 GMT -5
"Aye. Then let us set his shoulder." I'll help with that and prepare an appropriate form of my healing potion.
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Post by halfhero on Jan 31, 2006 1:32:50 GMT -5
Hop back on my massive horse, not scared of some ghosts.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Jan 31, 2006 1:34:17 GMT -5
Not afraid of no ghosts!
We need proton packs and an 80s theme song.
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Post by Ainsophaur on Jan 31, 2006 3:39:18 GMT -5
Yeah thats because your character isn't being butt raped by them And if we encounter a slimmer, fred you take the first hit. *nods to himself sagely*
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Post by KRoZ on Feb 1, 2006 18:39:46 GMT -5
(Trust me. You would know if a ghost saw fit to sodomize you.)
Anyway, Grove gets hasty medical attention as his body temperature begins to drop sharply. A cold wind swirls around him, magnifying the already uncomfortable chill of the area to a miserable level. The horses, although well trained, show great unease and stamp about frightened. It's certain you have to act quickly, but how will you transport Grove?
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Feb 1, 2006 18:52:42 GMT -5
Someone will have to take the horse with them if possible. I can't help since I have a donkey.
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Post by halfhero on Feb 1, 2006 20:26:29 GMT -5
Oh, right, this is one of them tank jobs. Put Grove behind me on my horse, and have someone else lead his horse around, then head a little bit ahead of the group attempting to alleviate his horrors.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Feb 1, 2006 21:31:38 GMT -5
Bismarck will light a lantern and call out, "Back! You are not wanted here!" as he remounts and begins to ride his donkey as fast as he can.
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Post by Ainsophaur on Feb 3, 2006 1:43:57 GMT -5
Aww how sweet the big barbarian is going to take care of me.
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johndamnit
Superhuman
Why am I a penguin?
Posts: 52
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Post by johndamnit on Feb 8, 2006 14:12:45 GMT -5
Chip will mount back up too, and grab the reigns of grove's horse.
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Post by KRoZ on Feb 15, 2006 2:32:25 GMT -5
Grove fights unconsiously for his life against the giant lifting force Guts puts out. Fortunatley his piddily toothpick arms are no match for Guts giant he-man physique and he's taken away from that terrible place.
Chip, quick to grab the reins of Grove's spooked horse, and the others leaping back to their mounts make haste away from the frigid gusts behind. In time there is no more sign of unnatural winds, and after a bit the party returns to its usual travelling pace.
Near six hours later, Grove awakes slowly from his slumber. Haunted by brief recollections of what he saw and a soreness in his bones from riding draped on a man on horseback, he is otherwise fine.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Feb 15, 2006 3:28:12 GMT -5
Stormaxe says, "Ye had us worried, lad!"
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Post by halfhero on Feb 15, 2006 18:58:58 GMT -5
Check him over a bit visually then say "Sorry we didnt realize the proper course of action sooner, I can imagine how horrible that must have ben for you."
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Post by Ainsophaur on Feb 17, 2006 23:51:39 GMT -5
Grove will look about bewildered "There we so many....legions of souls....they new i can see them...and hear them....they're all lost...." grove will console himself. "Gentlemen...if any of us die here....I believe we stay here...no manner of god will sweep us into the waiting arms in this place." Grove will mount his own horse.
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Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on Feb 18, 2006 4:24:56 GMT -5
"Well, that cannae be a positive way to renew our quest. Let us just hope that we dinnae be payin' the reaper our dues now."
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johndamnit
Superhuman
Why am I a penguin?
Posts: 52
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Post by johndamnit on Feb 21, 2006 23:31:24 GMT -5
".... Shiny, well i don't really wanna die, so I think the best plan is just plain ol' not to."
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Post by KRoZ on Mar 8, 2006 18:56:03 GMT -5
((*is a douchebag*))
Aside from some uneasy rest times and eerie nights, the next day or so of travel isn't noteworthy. Grove returns to full health during that time.
The ground starts to become a sloshy, sticky mess that the horses are none too pleased to travel over, with the exeption of Guts' warhorse which hardly seems to notice. Surefire signs that you're closing ever closer to your destination in the swampy regions.
Patchy clumps of fog drift over the road, totally obscuring vision within a few feet at one moment and leaving open visible air the next cut off by another wall of vapor some number of yards away. This lends an uneasy feeling of being boxed in, surrounded, and overall on edge since your visibility is inconsistant. The roadway is scuffed and uneven, a thin blanket of rocks squished about in the underlying mud by the passings of hundreds of travellers and wagons.
David notes a man made structure in the distance, past some trees. A thick wooden post holding up loggy fencing. It looks like you've arrived.
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