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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Forged Fury" data-source="post: 6818725" data-attributes="member: 95059">On the second morning following the party's return to Red Larch, Tolan broke camp early. Looking to the south, he could just make out the smoke from the chimneys of the town's taverns and bakery as they were fired in preparation for the days cooking. The elf didn't like cities much; when the party had returned, he had taken a quick second to restock the few supplies he needed and headed back out into the wilderness to wait for the scheduled rendezvous.With the distractions of the town being far away, Tolan was able to focus on his bladework. The past several days had certainly allowed him opportunities to put his practice to use, but a darkness hung heavy on his spirit. The reason I came here was to try to find alternative answers to the sword, but the group I am with seem fine with solving every problem with blade or spell. Other than Aridha and Damien, at least, but the human's duplicity is just as bad... The elf didn't necessarily have many moral qualms with the party's approach. After all, it seemed that nearly everyone they had crossed swords with was engaged in some type of criminal enterprise. But still, he had hoped to find a different way.Running through his morning practice routine, the elf cut and thrust vigorously, parrying the clubs and axes of imagined foes. Rapidly moving his feet, the swordsman wove his blades through an elliptical pattern as he ducked and wove around the clearing. Twirling his sword in two-hands over his head, he brought the blade down in a heavy slash, completing the routine."See something you like?" Tolan asked, his keen elven ears having picked up a soft muttering during his practice. Whirling around with blade at the ready, the elf sighed as three humans wearing dirt-stained leathers charged out of the brush, rusty swords held high with one of them wearing a straw coolie hat. He took the first of the three in the side. Stabbing deeply from near the waist, the blade ran through the thug's rib cage and out his armpit. A gout of blood burst from the man's mouth as he fell.As Tolan counterattacked, the other two thugs closed in, swinging their blades. The swordsman twisted the falling body and parried the second attack with the dead man's corpse. Kicking out, the elf knocked that attacker off balance. Lowering his sword, Tolan allowed the first thug's body to finally slide off the end of it as he bent backwards at the waist to dodge the third attack. As his foe's blade whistled a hair's breadth over his head, the swordsman raised his now free sword and spitted the third attacker through her heart.Freeing his blade, Tolan turned to square up to his final adversary, his subconscious noting that it was the man wearing the hat. Observing the man favoring his leg, Tolan lashed out low, cutting at the his opponent's ankle. As his blade sheared into the leg, time seemed to slow down and the elf saw that he had sheared through the stalk of a tall weed growing next to the man, as well. Snatching the sheared weed out of the air, he stuck it between two of his teeth. Spinning around, the elf sliced through the man's neck as he fell, separating his head from his body. In an odd twist of fate, the coolie hat remained secured underneath the man's chin. As a result, instead of dropping as was normal, Tolan observed the head float to the ground, the Coolie hat achieving enough lift to allow the severed head to defy gravity itself, albeit briefly. "You don't see that everyday..."[HR][/HR]As the party gathered their gear and prepared to depart, a blast of warm air filled the room as the double swinging doors were pushed open. Stepping into the gap was a cloaked figure wearing a broad straw coolie hat. Within the shadows of the hat, the party made out familiar elven features. Tolan, the stalk of a weed wedged between his teeth, looked around the room and nodded as he took in the carnage, "I guess I missed the farewell party?"</blockquote>

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