DragonShadow
First Post
The primitive continent of Kurai has seen but minor scuffles when compared to the more developed lands of Elsewhere; however the up and coming civilization has begun to speed up at a phenominal rate. City states are rising into powerful nations and begining to claim borders, developing disputes over the concept of "property" rather than the basic disputes over survival. It is on Kurai that our story begins; more specifically it takes place in the gigantic Kash desert that dominates the north western quadrant of the island.
Like most primitive social structures, the concept of slavery and ownership has already developed. Building even further upon this is the Arena, near the edge of the desert...
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Awakening in a large cell inside the slave pens, three distinctly different new arrivals groggily get to their feet. Griph: the swashbuckling air Genasi, Flitter: the pixie, and Ogion Woodhaven: the human ranger. Their surroundings dark and foul smelling, none of the three seemed too keen on adapting to their newfound environment. One thought was on each of their minds: escape. Each unaware of exactly where he had ended up, and none entirely sure how they had even gotten there, confusion hung almost tangibly in the air. Having been left to their own devices by the already present slaves in the cell, Griph and Ogion tried to get their bearings. Flitter, realizing that his wings had been bound by wire, begins prancing around oddly trying to remove it.
"Get wire off Flitter!" he whimpered.
Ogion, kneeling down to the pixie out of the kindness he feels towards fey creatures, and perhaps also out of a kinship felt between another in the same situation as he, undoes the binds around Flitter's wings. Without a word of gratitude, Flitter zipped upwards towards the ceiling, and then over towards the cell bars. "Let Flitter out!" he yelled, to no avail.
Ogion, attempting to discover exactly where he had ended up, moved to the nearest slave and grabbed at him. "Tell me where we are!" he gruffly uttered. Unimpressed, the accosted slave stared blankly into Ogion's eyes.
"Please let go of my tunic."
Complying out of frustration, Ogion walked towards the cell door and waited by the bars and the two he had been tossed into the pens with. Still undecided as to their course of action, assuming they had options to choose from, they stood for a moment in contemplation. Griph, then noticing a glowing black mark upon the necks of his two companions, points out the brand to each of them, drawing it in the dust for reference. Each of them are perturbed by the discovery of the obviously magical brand. Ogion attempted to claw his out with his finger nails, while Flitter merely rubbed at his skin like a fairy possessed.
Ogion, in a team effort with Griph, came up with a plan to attempt to weaken the bars. Removing his loin cloth and pissing on it (the color of which being blue due to a genetic defect), he wrapped it around the bars of the cell door and tried pulling the bars apart...with a resounding echo of failure. Left naked by the idea, Ogion crept to a slave of roughly his size that was sleeping and proceded to steal his loincloth off of him, well enough that he remained asleep.
With no success on the mark or the bars, Griph, upset with his situation and hell bent on escaping in some way, moves over to the midden heap in the far corner of the room after taking the piss soaked loin cloth off of the bars. Kneeling down and scooping up the
in one hand, he wrapped it up in the loincloth, fashioning himself a make-shift projectile. Putting his back to the corner, he hurled the Ball of Nastiness at a random grouping of slaves, directly hitting one in the face and barely missing four others.
Obviously upset by this, the five advance on the genasi with mal-intent. "What's your problem, you blue freak?!" Not answering, Griph remained in the corner, ready for a fight. Out of the group of five, the half-orc stepped forward and swung a beefy fist for Griph's chin. Stoically taking the blow, Griph smirked arrogantly as he spun with the punch, leaping and dancing to the side and allowing the stupid orc-kin to fall face first into the dung pile. Now faced with four other attackers, Griph used his inate powers of levitation to hang in mid-air and begin his Aerial Escapade.
Noticing Griph trading blows with a group of slaves across the room, Ogion moved over to flank the nearest assailant and lend a hand. Rendering the poor man nearly unconcious with the first hit, one attacker was effectively taken off of Griph's hands. Flitter, fully aware of the combat but uncaring, remained at the bars trying to call for someone and demanding to be let out.
With Ogion dealing with attackers systematically and Griph's mind-boggling aerial antics, they're making short work of the slaves. It was then that the sound of a heavy door opening could be heard and a guard came downstairs. Griph and Ogion immediately break their combat and try to formulate a plan to ambush the guard, who shows the world that his ears do in fact work when he hears them shouting to one another what they should do. Walking up to the cell door, the guard shakes his head with a confused look on his face. "You guys suck at ambushes."
They found out then from the guard that they had been made slaves.
Maybe driven insane due to his genetic defect, or perhaps in an instance of dinvely inspired fool-heartedness, Ogion reached through the bars and grabbed the guard by the neck and pulled him forward. "Let us out of here!" The guard struggled with with his grip, and in the confusion, Flitter swiped the keyring from his belt. Breaking away from the rangers grip, the guard fumbled about himself and pulled out a whistle.
Flitter swiped that also. "Shiny!" Prancing around and tooting on the whistle, Flitter had what most would consider childish fun.
The remaining guards, finally alerted, came down the stairs, fully armed like the other, and formed in front of the door. "Stand back!" Each of them standing back, they waited as the guards opened the door. "Quiet down!"
The slaves they had been fighting, had at this point, decided to finish their earlier confrontation. Griph and Ogion immediately jumped back into the fight, and in short order the Half-Orc was knocked unconscious and pushed towards the door.
Griph, seeing the open door and not wanting to let the opportunity slide, dashed outside and managed to evade the guards with sheer speed and evasive skill. Running down the hall and up the stairs at the end, he felt that he was on his way to freedom. The guards, leaving one of their number behind, closed the cell door and chased the renegade slave down the hall.
After an extremely short encounter, Griph ends up being tossed back into the cell with the others. Shortly after that, a slave cleric was brought in to heal the seemingly suicidal genasi. Finally discovering that they were expected to be gladiators in the arena, they decided to try an escape from the arena floor.
Geared up with their own equipment, they entered the domed arena to the deafening roar of the expectant crowd. Emerging on the other side of the arena were their opponents: a gnoll and two goblins.
Closing for combat, Ogion and Griph readied themselves for the coming encounter. Preemptively however, Flitter fired an arrow towards the three monsters, though his aim was off. Thinking fast, he raised his chirping little voice in a lie, speaking in goblin. "Look out behind you! The gnoll is going to attack!"
The goblins stupidly believed him and began their counter-attack on the "backstabbing" gnoll.
Now flanked, the gnoll alternated between fighting one of the goblins and Ogion who stood before him. Griph, working the crowd with his dextrous attacks, felled one goblin, and then the gnoll in short order while Flitter attempted to pick the lock on the domes cage door.
The remaining goblin, assuming that he had defeated his enemies and emerged victorious, was defensless as Griph and Ogion each layed into him from behind. The poor goblin died at the moment of its glory.
Flitter, having opened the door in his invisible state, zipped outwards and tried getting out of the arena, only to find that the doors were locked and barred. Griph turned to Ogion with a glint in his eye. "Give me a boost!" Complying and readying himself for the action, Ogion assisted Griph in his running leap onto the wall. Flitter, flying back over to the edge of the cage, used his fey powers to make the weeds grow at an abnormal rate near the wall, giving Ogion an easier time in climbing the wall.
The three of them now out of the arena, the guards began towards them quickly, to the cheer of the crowd, who was thoroughly enjoying the crowd. Now needing a way out of the arena itself, Ogion and Griph moved into the crowd and incited a riot. The guards, sufficiently block, could do little to stem the tide of the panicked crowd, many of whom made a dash towards the exit.
Breaking through the door, the three ran with the crowd inconspicuously and leapt into a carriage about to leave. Now riding eastwards, out of the desert and to freedom, the three lied to the driver of the carriage to allow them passage.
"No, it's really a magic piece of quartz. I swear."
"Well! In that case, you're most welcome!"
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Like most primitive social structures, the concept of slavery and ownership has already developed. Building even further upon this is the Arena, near the edge of the desert...
-------
Awakening in a large cell inside the slave pens, three distinctly different new arrivals groggily get to their feet. Griph: the swashbuckling air Genasi, Flitter: the pixie, and Ogion Woodhaven: the human ranger. Their surroundings dark and foul smelling, none of the three seemed too keen on adapting to their newfound environment. One thought was on each of their minds: escape. Each unaware of exactly where he had ended up, and none entirely sure how they had even gotten there, confusion hung almost tangibly in the air. Having been left to their own devices by the already present slaves in the cell, Griph and Ogion tried to get their bearings. Flitter, realizing that his wings had been bound by wire, begins prancing around oddly trying to remove it.
"Get wire off Flitter!" he whimpered.
Ogion, kneeling down to the pixie out of the kindness he feels towards fey creatures, and perhaps also out of a kinship felt between another in the same situation as he, undoes the binds around Flitter's wings. Without a word of gratitude, Flitter zipped upwards towards the ceiling, and then over towards the cell bars. "Let Flitter out!" he yelled, to no avail.
Ogion, attempting to discover exactly where he had ended up, moved to the nearest slave and grabbed at him. "Tell me where we are!" he gruffly uttered. Unimpressed, the accosted slave stared blankly into Ogion's eyes.
"Please let go of my tunic."
Complying out of frustration, Ogion walked towards the cell door and waited by the bars and the two he had been tossed into the pens with. Still undecided as to their course of action, assuming they had options to choose from, they stood for a moment in contemplation. Griph, then noticing a glowing black mark upon the necks of his two companions, points out the brand to each of them, drawing it in the dust for reference. Each of them are perturbed by the discovery of the obviously magical brand. Ogion attempted to claw his out with his finger nails, while Flitter merely rubbed at his skin like a fairy possessed.
Ogion, in a team effort with Griph, came up with a plan to attempt to weaken the bars. Removing his loin cloth and pissing on it (the color of which being blue due to a genetic defect), he wrapped it around the bars of the cell door and tried pulling the bars apart...with a resounding echo of failure. Left naked by the idea, Ogion crept to a slave of roughly his size that was sleeping and proceded to steal his loincloth off of him, well enough that he remained asleep.
With no success on the mark or the bars, Griph, upset with his situation and hell bent on escaping in some way, moves over to the midden heap in the far corner of the room after taking the piss soaked loin cloth off of the bars. Kneeling down and scooping up the
in one hand, he wrapped it up in the loincloth, fashioning himself a make-shift projectile. Putting his back to the corner, he hurled the Ball of Nastiness at a random grouping of slaves, directly hitting one in the face and barely missing four others.Obviously upset by this, the five advance on the genasi with mal-intent. "What's your problem, you blue freak?!" Not answering, Griph remained in the corner, ready for a fight. Out of the group of five, the half-orc stepped forward and swung a beefy fist for Griph's chin. Stoically taking the blow, Griph smirked arrogantly as he spun with the punch, leaping and dancing to the side and allowing the stupid orc-kin to fall face first into the dung pile. Now faced with four other attackers, Griph used his inate powers of levitation to hang in mid-air and begin his Aerial Escapade.
Noticing Griph trading blows with a group of slaves across the room, Ogion moved over to flank the nearest assailant and lend a hand. Rendering the poor man nearly unconcious with the first hit, one attacker was effectively taken off of Griph's hands. Flitter, fully aware of the combat but uncaring, remained at the bars trying to call for someone and demanding to be let out.
With Ogion dealing with attackers systematically and Griph's mind-boggling aerial antics, they're making short work of the slaves. It was then that the sound of a heavy door opening could be heard and a guard came downstairs. Griph and Ogion immediately break their combat and try to formulate a plan to ambush the guard, who shows the world that his ears do in fact work when he hears them shouting to one another what they should do. Walking up to the cell door, the guard shakes his head with a confused look on his face. "You guys suck at ambushes."
They found out then from the guard that they had been made slaves.
Maybe driven insane due to his genetic defect, or perhaps in an instance of dinvely inspired fool-heartedness, Ogion reached through the bars and grabbed the guard by the neck and pulled him forward. "Let us out of here!" The guard struggled with with his grip, and in the confusion, Flitter swiped the keyring from his belt. Breaking away from the rangers grip, the guard fumbled about himself and pulled out a whistle.
Flitter swiped that also. "Shiny!" Prancing around and tooting on the whistle, Flitter had what most would consider childish fun.
The remaining guards, finally alerted, came down the stairs, fully armed like the other, and formed in front of the door. "Stand back!" Each of them standing back, they waited as the guards opened the door. "Quiet down!"
The slaves they had been fighting, had at this point, decided to finish their earlier confrontation. Griph and Ogion immediately jumped back into the fight, and in short order the Half-Orc was knocked unconscious and pushed towards the door.
Griph, seeing the open door and not wanting to let the opportunity slide, dashed outside and managed to evade the guards with sheer speed and evasive skill. Running down the hall and up the stairs at the end, he felt that he was on his way to freedom. The guards, leaving one of their number behind, closed the cell door and chased the renegade slave down the hall.
After an extremely short encounter, Griph ends up being tossed back into the cell with the others. Shortly after that, a slave cleric was brought in to heal the seemingly suicidal genasi. Finally discovering that they were expected to be gladiators in the arena, they decided to try an escape from the arena floor.
Geared up with their own equipment, they entered the domed arena to the deafening roar of the expectant crowd. Emerging on the other side of the arena were their opponents: a gnoll and two goblins.
Closing for combat, Ogion and Griph readied themselves for the coming encounter. Preemptively however, Flitter fired an arrow towards the three monsters, though his aim was off. Thinking fast, he raised his chirping little voice in a lie, speaking in goblin. "Look out behind you! The gnoll is going to attack!"
The goblins stupidly believed him and began their counter-attack on the "backstabbing" gnoll.
Now flanked, the gnoll alternated between fighting one of the goblins and Ogion who stood before him. Griph, working the crowd with his dextrous attacks, felled one goblin, and then the gnoll in short order while Flitter attempted to pick the lock on the domes cage door.
The remaining goblin, assuming that he had defeated his enemies and emerged victorious, was defensless as Griph and Ogion each layed into him from behind. The poor goblin died at the moment of its glory.
Flitter, having opened the door in his invisible state, zipped outwards and tried getting out of the arena, only to find that the doors were locked and barred. Griph turned to Ogion with a glint in his eye. "Give me a boost!" Complying and readying himself for the action, Ogion assisted Griph in his running leap onto the wall. Flitter, flying back over to the edge of the cage, used his fey powers to make the weeds grow at an abnormal rate near the wall, giving Ogion an easier time in climbing the wall.
The three of them now out of the arena, the guards began towards them quickly, to the cheer of the crowd, who was thoroughly enjoying the crowd. Now needing a way out of the arena itself, Ogion and Griph moved into the crowd and incited a riot. The guards, sufficiently block, could do little to stem the tide of the panicked crowd, many of whom made a dash towards the exit.
Breaking through the door, the three ran with the crowd inconspicuously and leapt into a carriage about to leave. Now riding eastwards, out of the desert and to freedom, the three lied to the driver of the carriage to allow them passage.
"No, it's really a magic piece of quartz. I swear."
"Well! In that case, you're most welcome!"
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