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<blockquote data-quote="DustinGebhardt" data-source="post: 5393094" data-attributes="member: 82905"><p><strong>Session 33</strong></p><p></p><p><strong> Session 33<img src="http://static.wetpaint.com/img/bg/1.png?v=20110120041852" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </strong></p><p></p><p> <em>Is the past something that is really ever behind us? I know I am not the same man as I was even a few months ago. Circumstance has seen to that! But does this mean that I am free from the influence of my past? By no means. If anything, I press on to discover more of who I will become because of the person I have been. My past is filled with joy and sorrow, loss and gain, good and evil. I have come to rely on my past support and guidance, as I am sure my friends have done the same. Everyone must carry their own past with them, and a precious few will help you burden your own. Such it has become with Karyan and I. If only I had discovered her sooner, perhaps I could have prevented some of the pain she now shoulders. But, I cannot trap myself into this thinking. Regret, whether of past action or inaction is a downward spiral that will ultimately destroy the soul. Karyan bears her past with grace and accomplishment, I cannot wish to change that. And me? I am glad for the events of my past as well, all of them, for they have made me who I am.</em></p><p><em>E.G.</em></p><p></p><p>The jungle seemed no less thick than ever as the travelers approached the most massive set of double doors they had ever witnessed. The doors were as thick as ancient tree trunks and easily sixty feet high. The walls were even more imposing; almost doubling the height of the entryway. The stone work was similar to other structures they had all seen, but none had ever been this gargantuan. Eriks let out a whistle. “Those have to be ten feet thick!” indicating the doors, “How do they even open?” Hoppup smiled at the awe the party showed his home village, “It takes more than muscle if that is your question. But something does not feel right, we should have run across a sentry by now, and I see no guards atop the wall; only…” The lizard wizard’s words trailed off as the group all turned their eyes to what had so transfixed the Nythyian.</p><p></p><p>“Dark and empty.” Hekuba swore, “I’m guessin’ that plume of smoke ain’t supposed to be there?”</p><p> </p><p>The half-orc’s question fell on inattentive ears as the group all began to hustle behind Hoppup; who had turned a brisk pace into a near sprint for the towering doors.</p><p></p><p>“Do you… have another… entrance?” Mythyria puffed out between breaths as she struggled with the heavy pack she bore; filled to bursting with spell components and other various magical accoutrement, the elf belied her small frame by carting such a load. </p><p></p><p>“I can jump it.” Mort suggested, easily keeping the pace with no lack of breath. Despite the height and difficulty, the party did not argue the boast.</p><p></p><p>“No need. Look.” Kamal, also burdened with a heavy pack filled with what could only be called a mobile library, pointed ahead of the running group to indicate that the doors were opening of their own accord.</p><p></p><p>“So the village knows its own?” Karyan asked. Hoppup either did not hear her or was too out of breath already to answer.</p><p></p><p>“Well, time for some <em>acting</em> then.” Eriks, also easily keeping the fast pace, activated the spell on his magical ring and instantly took on the form of a lean and tall Nythyian.</p><p> </p><p>The sprint became a wary stroll as the group passed through the open doors. There were signs of a struggle everywhere. Scorch marks dotted the land, and buildings-well built mostly one story affairs that did not seem to be placed in any discernible pattern-stood cracked and beaten. No one, Nythyian or otherwise could be seen. The plume of smoke, rising from beyond a huge burial mound, was beyond their vision.</p><p></p><p>“Serpent’s scales” Hoppup whispered, “We should have been greeted, or…or anything. Where are the guards?” The lizard man made his way for the gate house that was adjoined on the inside to the huge wall, which remained relatively undamaged.</p><p> </p><p>As they approached, the sound of rustling armor and weapons could be heard beyond the door.</p><p></p><p>“Let’s see what the hold up is.” Mort said, as the monk reached for the door of the station. Before he could touch the handle, the door burst open and a group of six human guards cried out an alarm that would surely be heard halfway across the village.</p><p></p><p>Taken by surprise, the agile monk was no match for the sheer number of pole-arms being thrust in his direction. </p><p></p><p>Lightly armored with metal studded leather, and each boasting a long pikes and strange ropes tied together with sizable rounded stones at each end, the humans looked more shocked than the incoming companions at the disturbance.</p><p>The sound of heavy footfalls echoed from several corners of the open area as Hoppup at last reaches the gate house door. Barely has the Nythyian taken the scene in before three more guards rush up to block his path back to the group who was caught completely off guard and was left standing in the main thoroughfare.</p><p></p><p>"Why do we always end up separated!?" Mythyria exacerbated. Her words fell on unlistenting ears as the group began to form up a defense against the approaching humans. The odd roped weapons whirled above the enemies heads, promising broken bones and tangled feet.</p><p></p><p>"By the Burning Sun!" Kamal exclaimed as a jet of white hot flame shot from the priest's hands and into the foes that had surrounded Mort and Hoppup. "I should remain toward the center, but they need support, Hekuba?" Kamal was beginning to come into his own as a strategist, and the group was well adapted to using each others strengths.</p><p></p><p>Karyan sounded a Darine war cry and made it clear that the guards approaching from the opposite side of the gatehouse would not join their comrades. Her bow twanged and took root in the leg of one of the humans, making him drop his bolas, and cry in agony.</p><p></p><p>"What's that thing?!" Eriks pointed skyward toward the pillar of smoke that the companions had spied before entering the city. </p><p></p><p>Instead of a building or some other pyre set to blaze, the smoke emanated from a huge fiendish man riding atop a horse made of coal and fire. Karyan froze at the sight of it, and it was Mythyria who tackled the ranger to the ground as an arrow that would have pierced her heart came streaking from the mounted beast.</p><p></p><p>"What now girl? Do you want to die?" Mythyria's tone was more sisterly than scornful; but carried enough of both to let Karyan know she meant reproach.</p><p>"That's...Jakub..." Was all the ranger could reply, and an understanding lit the elf and Eriks' faces. </p><p></p><p>The rogue's eyes narrowed, "Jakub? Right then." With a thought, Eriks was in the air and speeding toward Kamal. Mythyria and Karyan could barely make a whispered prayer on the rogue's lips even as his elven thinblade began to glow a faint blue.</p><p></p><p>Kamal's eyes fleet from Eriks, to Karyan, to Jakub and he understands immediately. "To me Eriks! Not that I think you should, but if you are to fight him, you will need help." </p><p></p><p>"Lizard, monk, orcling! Be quick, a new foe is come and we best face him as one!" Mythyria had lost all sarcasm, and a timbre that might even be fear sounded in her warning.</p><p></p><p>The other companions took little time picking up on the urgency and went to work. Hoppup began summoning the elements to his aide; lightning flashed almost as fast as Mort's fists and feet. Hekuba abandoned his crossbow and charged in with his heavy shield leading. The humans were quickly over matched, but more had heard the call and were coming even as the battle looked to be in the companion's favor.</p><p></p><p>"You're alright." Mythyria told Karyan, though whether it was to reassure or ask the ranger, she would never know. More enemies were getting close, and Jakub had already proven his accuracy with the bow from a great distance. The wizard held nothing back and small orange bead shot from her fingers into a line of eleven advancing men. The shout of alarm came just too late as the bead exploded in a fiery flash that was over in a heartbeat and left all but four of the would-be attackers charred and unmoving.</p><p></p><p>Her eyes still fixed toward the sky, Karyan hardly notices as two arrows streak from on high. One grazes her shoulder, but the other sinks deep into her side. The shocked cry is felt by Eriks as he reaches Kamal.</p><p></p><p>"Quickly now, and help her!" The rogue is flustered but cannot afford to rush without some precaution. Kamal's hand's glow with the rosy red of the dawn as he places them on Eriks, the glow surrounds the rogue then fades from view. Without waiting for any thanks from his friend, Kamal begins another prayer, this one to help the whole group. And none too soon, the priest believes, as he hears Mort cry out in pain.</p><p></p><p>The monk has held his own against six foes, but even his guard cannot stop every attack. Hoppup creates another loop of electricity, and Mort takes advantage of the stunned guard's prone stances. Still crackling with the lizard wizard's spell energy, Mort turns extends his fists to resemble spear points and strikes a nerve cluster in the guard's neck; the human falls like a lump. Behind Hoppup, Hekuba has three foes of his own to face. He comes across with a wide sweeping blow, that the guard easily dodges. Just as the half-orc wanted him to. With the guard's defenses and attention low, he never sees the spiked shield that raps across his skull with bone crunching power.</p><p></p><p>Mythyria lets loose a bolt of lighting that singes three more guards, and as they smolder, Kamal finishes a prayer that bolsters the resolve of each companion that can hear it. </p><p></p><p>Eriks shoots skyward, his eyes fixed on Jakub. The hero of Cayden Cailean pulls a bottle out and takes a drink; another warm glow passes over his body. </p><p>Rousing from her trance by the pain in her side, Karyan knocks her bow and fires, wounding another approaching guard. She does not know how from such a distance, but she can hear Jakub release two more arrows from his nightmarish mount. She flinches thinking that the missiles are inbound for herself, but is instead startled to hear Eriks cry out from above. In the din of battle she had nearly forgotten that her brother charged into the sky. The ranger turned toward Mythyria. "We have to help him!"</p><p></p><p>"Not until we can without getting ourselves killed, young one!" The elf replied as she let loose another bolt of lightning. In answer to her own spell, Hoppup's loop of electricity erupted once more. Inside the gatehouse, Mort was faring better than his opponents but was still outnumbered. Hoppup's spells were helping, but Hekuba was tied up with more guards outside. Kamal ran to aide the half-orc and hope to end the ground assault so that their focus could turn to Jakub.</p><p>Pain ripped through the rogue's leg as an arrow slams hard into the muscle, before Eriks even has a chance to pull it free, another goes through his left arm. Screaming in pain, and using his good arm, the rogue curses the half-fiend, pulls out a vial, breaks the wax seal with his teeth and gulps the concoction down. As the last drop pours down his throat, the rogue shimmers out of sight. Through the pain rearing in his extremities, Eriks manages a smile and says, "That will be the last time you draw my blood." </p><p></p><p>On the ground, the companions continued to assail the intruders of the Nythyian village. Spells, arrows, and fists flew from both sides, but it was clear that the invaders were outmatched. Then, arrows from the fiendish rider flew once more. Karyan cried out in pain as an arrow pierces through her armor, shoulder and back out again. Her next scream is muffled as another of the arrows thuds into the ranger's side. She dropped to one knee as her vision began splotching with streaks of gray, but with a determined grunt, the resilient ranger kept her wits and even knocks and lets an arrow fly that drops another of the human attackers. Even with the aerial support, the remaining ground force begins a hasty withdraw. Half of those fortunate enough to be in the open suffer a quick death as Mythyria hurls a mighty lightning bolt at the fleeing humans. </p><p></p><p>Those left in the gate house, however, were not so lucky. Hoppup spells rip through the remaining guards, leaving three standing. Hekuba slashes his blade and spins with his movement to follow the move wish a bash of his spiked shield. The move drops one of the three left standing. Mort throws fist and foot in a flurry of blows and half of this force drops never to rise again. The final foe flees, but is no match for the monk's preternatural speed. Mort wrestles the invader to the ground and ends his life in one quick thrust. </p><p></p><p>To Be Continued...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DustinGebhardt, post: 5393094, member: 82905"] [b]Session 33[/b] [B] Session 33[IMG]http://static.wetpaint.com/img/bg/1.png?v=20110120041852[/IMG] [/B] [I]Is the past something that is really ever behind us? I know I am not the same man as I was even a few months ago. Circumstance has seen to that! But does this mean that I am free from the influence of my past? By no means. If anything, I press on to discover more of who I will become because of the person I have been. My past is filled with joy and sorrow, loss and gain, good and evil. I have come to rely on my past support and guidance, as I am sure my friends have done the same. Everyone must carry their own past with them, and a precious few will help you burden your own. Such it has become with Karyan and I. If only I had discovered her sooner, perhaps I could have prevented some of the pain she now shoulders. But, I cannot trap myself into this thinking. Regret, whether of past action or inaction is a downward spiral that will ultimately destroy the soul. Karyan bears her past with grace and accomplishment, I cannot wish to change that. And me? I am glad for the events of my past as well, all of them, for they have made me who I am.[/I] [I]E.G.[/I] The jungle seemed no less thick than ever as the travelers approached the most massive set of double doors they had ever witnessed. The doors were as thick as ancient tree trunks and easily sixty feet high. The walls were even more imposing; almost doubling the height of the entryway. The stone work was similar to other structures they had all seen, but none had ever been this gargantuan. Eriks let out a whistle. “Those have to be ten feet thick!” indicating the doors, “How do they even open?” Hoppup smiled at the awe the party showed his home village, “It takes more than muscle if that is your question. But something does not feel right, we should have run across a sentry by now, and I see no guards atop the wall; only…” The lizard wizard’s words trailed off as the group all turned their eyes to what had so transfixed the Nythyian. “Dark and empty.” Hekuba swore, “I’m guessin’ that plume of smoke ain’t supposed to be there?” The half-orc’s question fell on inattentive ears as the group all began to hustle behind Hoppup; who had turned a brisk pace into a near sprint for the towering doors. “Do you… have another… entrance?” Mythyria puffed out between breaths as she struggled with the heavy pack she bore; filled to bursting with spell components and other various magical accoutrement, the elf belied her small frame by carting such a load. “I can jump it.” Mort suggested, easily keeping the pace with no lack of breath. Despite the height and difficulty, the party did not argue the boast. “No need. Look.” Kamal, also burdened with a heavy pack filled with what could only be called a mobile library, pointed ahead of the running group to indicate that the doors were opening of their own accord. “So the village knows its own?” Karyan asked. Hoppup either did not hear her or was too out of breath already to answer. “Well, time for some [I]acting[/I] then.” Eriks, also easily keeping the fast pace, activated the spell on his magical ring and instantly took on the form of a lean and tall Nythyian. The sprint became a wary stroll as the group passed through the open doors. There were signs of a struggle everywhere. Scorch marks dotted the land, and buildings-well built mostly one story affairs that did not seem to be placed in any discernible pattern-stood cracked and beaten. No one, Nythyian or otherwise could be seen. The plume of smoke, rising from beyond a huge burial mound, was beyond their vision. “Serpent’s scales” Hoppup whispered, “We should have been greeted, or…or anything. Where are the guards?” The lizard man made his way for the gate house that was adjoined on the inside to the huge wall, which remained relatively undamaged. As they approached, the sound of rustling armor and weapons could be heard beyond the door. “Let’s see what the hold up is.” Mort said, as the monk reached for the door of the station. Before he could touch the handle, the door burst open and a group of six human guards cried out an alarm that would surely be heard halfway across the village. Taken by surprise, the agile monk was no match for the sheer number of pole-arms being thrust in his direction. Lightly armored with metal studded leather, and each boasting a long pikes and strange ropes tied together with sizable rounded stones at each end, the humans looked more shocked than the incoming companions at the disturbance. The sound of heavy footfalls echoed from several corners of the open area as Hoppup at last reaches the gate house door. Barely has the Nythyian taken the scene in before three more guards rush up to block his path back to the group who was caught completely off guard and was left standing in the main thoroughfare. "Why do we always end up separated!?" Mythyria exacerbated. Her words fell on unlistenting ears as the group began to form up a defense against the approaching humans. The odd roped weapons whirled above the enemies heads, promising broken bones and tangled feet. "By the Burning Sun!" Kamal exclaimed as a jet of white hot flame shot from the priest's hands and into the foes that had surrounded Mort and Hoppup. "I should remain toward the center, but they need support, Hekuba?" Kamal was beginning to come into his own as a strategist, and the group was well adapted to using each others strengths. Karyan sounded a Darine war cry and made it clear that the guards approaching from the opposite side of the gatehouse would not join their comrades. Her bow twanged and took root in the leg of one of the humans, making him drop his bolas, and cry in agony. "What's that thing?!" Eriks pointed skyward toward the pillar of smoke that the companions had spied before entering the city. Instead of a building or some other pyre set to blaze, the smoke emanated from a huge fiendish man riding atop a horse made of coal and fire. Karyan froze at the sight of it, and it was Mythyria who tackled the ranger to the ground as an arrow that would have pierced her heart came streaking from the mounted beast. "What now girl? Do you want to die?" Mythyria's tone was more sisterly than scornful; but carried enough of both to let Karyan know she meant reproach. "That's...Jakub..." Was all the ranger could reply, and an understanding lit the elf and Eriks' faces. The rogue's eyes narrowed, "Jakub? Right then." With a thought, Eriks was in the air and speeding toward Kamal. Mythyria and Karyan could barely make a whispered prayer on the rogue's lips even as his elven thinblade began to glow a faint blue. Kamal's eyes fleet from Eriks, to Karyan, to Jakub and he understands immediately. "To me Eriks! Not that I think you should, but if you are to fight him, you will need help." "Lizard, monk, orcling! Be quick, a new foe is come and we best face him as one!" Mythyria had lost all sarcasm, and a timbre that might even be fear sounded in her warning. The other companions took little time picking up on the urgency and went to work. Hoppup began summoning the elements to his aide; lightning flashed almost as fast as Mort's fists and feet. Hekuba abandoned his crossbow and charged in with his heavy shield leading. The humans were quickly over matched, but more had heard the call and were coming even as the battle looked to be in the companion's favor. "You're alright." Mythyria told Karyan, though whether it was to reassure or ask the ranger, she would never know. More enemies were getting close, and Jakub had already proven his accuracy with the bow from a great distance. The wizard held nothing back and small orange bead shot from her fingers into a line of eleven advancing men. The shout of alarm came just too late as the bead exploded in a fiery flash that was over in a heartbeat and left all but four of the would-be attackers charred and unmoving. Her eyes still fixed toward the sky, Karyan hardly notices as two arrows streak from on high. One grazes her shoulder, but the other sinks deep into her side. The shocked cry is felt by Eriks as he reaches Kamal. "Quickly now, and help her!" The rogue is flustered but cannot afford to rush without some precaution. Kamal's hand's glow with the rosy red of the dawn as he places them on Eriks, the glow surrounds the rogue then fades from view. Without waiting for any thanks from his friend, Kamal begins another prayer, this one to help the whole group. And none too soon, the priest believes, as he hears Mort cry out in pain. The monk has held his own against six foes, but even his guard cannot stop every attack. Hoppup creates another loop of electricity, and Mort takes advantage of the stunned guard's prone stances. Still crackling with the lizard wizard's spell energy, Mort turns extends his fists to resemble spear points and strikes a nerve cluster in the guard's neck; the human falls like a lump. Behind Hoppup, Hekuba has three foes of his own to face. He comes across with a wide sweeping blow, that the guard easily dodges. Just as the half-orc wanted him to. With the guard's defenses and attention low, he never sees the spiked shield that raps across his skull with bone crunching power. Mythyria lets loose a bolt of lighting that singes three more guards, and as they smolder, Kamal finishes a prayer that bolsters the resolve of each companion that can hear it. Eriks shoots skyward, his eyes fixed on Jakub. The hero of Cayden Cailean pulls a bottle out and takes a drink; another warm glow passes over his body. Rousing from her trance by the pain in her side, Karyan knocks her bow and fires, wounding another approaching guard. She does not know how from such a distance, but she can hear Jakub release two more arrows from his nightmarish mount. She flinches thinking that the missiles are inbound for herself, but is instead startled to hear Eriks cry out from above. In the din of battle she had nearly forgotten that her brother charged into the sky. The ranger turned toward Mythyria. "We have to help him!" "Not until we can without getting ourselves killed, young one!" The elf replied as she let loose another bolt of lightning. In answer to her own spell, Hoppup's loop of electricity erupted once more. Inside the gatehouse, Mort was faring better than his opponents but was still outnumbered. Hoppup's spells were helping, but Hekuba was tied up with more guards outside. Kamal ran to aide the half-orc and hope to end the ground assault so that their focus could turn to Jakub. Pain ripped through the rogue's leg as an arrow slams hard into the muscle, before Eriks even has a chance to pull it free, another goes through his left arm. Screaming in pain, and using his good arm, the rogue curses the half-fiend, pulls out a vial, breaks the wax seal with his teeth and gulps the concoction down. As the last drop pours down his throat, the rogue shimmers out of sight. Through the pain rearing in his extremities, Eriks manages a smile and says, "That will be the last time you draw my blood." On the ground, the companions continued to assail the intruders of the Nythyian village. Spells, arrows, and fists flew from both sides, but it was clear that the invaders were outmatched. Then, arrows from the fiendish rider flew once more. Karyan cried out in pain as an arrow pierces through her armor, shoulder and back out again. Her next scream is muffled as another of the arrows thuds into the ranger's side. She dropped to one knee as her vision began splotching with streaks of gray, but with a determined grunt, the resilient ranger kept her wits and even knocks and lets an arrow fly that drops another of the human attackers. Even with the aerial support, the remaining ground force begins a hasty withdraw. Half of those fortunate enough to be in the open suffer a quick death as Mythyria hurls a mighty lightning bolt at the fleeing humans. Those left in the gate house, however, were not so lucky. Hoppup spells rip through the remaining guards, leaving three standing. Hekuba slashes his blade and spins with his movement to follow the move wish a bash of his spiked shield. The move drops one of the three left standing. Mort throws fist and foot in a flurry of blows and half of this force drops never to rise again. The final foe flees, but is no match for the monk's preternatural speed. Mort wrestles the invader to the ground and ends his life in one quick thrust. To Be Continued... [/QUOTE]
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