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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ruined" data-source="post: 753359" data-attributes="member: 113">1st of Chardot, ‘Divinities Day’ yr. 150 A.V., continued“As you all know, this is Divinities Day: one of the largest celebrations held in our fair city of Quelsk. And the watch will be out in force, trying to maintain order in our streets.”  Marus paused to allow the obligatory jokes to pass among the room. None of the Cresting Waves bore any love for the guardsmen of Quelsk. Some would say that the two were enemies.“There will be visitors from across the country, even from as far as Vesh. These are people who could become our allies, as long as we don’t make asses of ourselves.”  Once again, a pause to let the words sink in. “We seek to free our country from the Calastian Hegemony, but as I’ve said before, we must have our wits about us.”“There are other factions who think violence is the sole way to achieve this. They will look to make moves during this festival, hoping to catch the Calastian dogs unaware. If you think you will have trouble restraining such urges, I suggest you leave now and find them. If anyone has any questions, bring them to me. Otherwise, enjoy the festival.”Gerad smiled after listening to the speech. It was good to see someone who held respect amongst his men. It took Gerad back to days serving under Dmitri, the closest thing he knew to a father. Those days were long gone, and were he to meet Dmitri now, it would likely be as enemies.Two years ago, Gerad had awakened in a smoke-filed hut, tired and wracked with pain. The charduni Warstone’s blow had bit deep, but had failed to kill him. He soon learned that a few of the villagers had hid and seen his stand against the Inquisitor. Once the army had moved on, they had healed him as best they could. Considered dead and a traitor, Gerad had found his way to the country of Zathiske, where resentment boiled against the Calastian soldiers that occupied their cities. Gerad did a great amount of soul-searching before committing himself to the cause of the Cresting Waves. The men around him were good friends, but he doubted they would ever be brothers like Barrikk and Pazzi. Sighing deeply, Gerad stepped upon the walkway to talk with Marus.“So, Gerad. What are your plans for the festival?” Marus asked as he approached.“I haven’t thought of anything,” he answered truthfully. “Practice. Maybe find work as a bodyguard for someone.”  Gerad felt uncomfortable. While he had easily meshed in with the Cresting Waves, teaching the men formations and proper tactics, he had never pursued a social life.“You should get out some and enjoy yourself. They have holidays like this so that hard laborers like yourself can relax.” Marus gauged Gerad’s silence, looking for something in his eyes. After a moment, he lowered his voice and spoke again.“Should you desire a task of great import, I can arrange it.”“I will not be attending the celebrations past today. I must journey north, but the journey need not be alone. If you wish…”   Marus’ words were cut off as one of the men near the front of the warehouse cried out.“Dragons!”He did not refer to the creatures of myth; instead these were the Calastian soldiers that patrolled the Zathiskan territories. Gerad could see a number of men flooding into the building, each wearing black cloaks with the prominent dragon displayed. As they moved into the warehouse, one of the guards yelled out, “Kill all of these rebel scum!”Without hesitation, Gerad leapt from the walkway and snared a spear from a barrel where they were kept. He quickly advanced to assist a fellow who was barely holding a Dragon’s sword from his face. With the man occupied, it took little for Gerad to plunge the spear deep into his breast. The guardsman gurgled and died, but more move to take his place as Gerad wrested the spear from the fallen man’s armor.“Everyone scatter! We should not fight here and now!”  Marus’ words barely reached over the clang of sharpened steel.As Gerad parries the blows from a guardsman, he is aware of the violence in the periphery around him. The Cresting Waves are not trained for prolonged conflict as a whole. Against equal numbers of Black Dragons, Gerad knew they would not last. He was thankful to see Marus leading a small number of the Cresting Waves out via the back entrance.The guard facing Gerad scored a blow, slashing his sword along Gerad’s leg through his armored skirt. Grunting from the pain, Gerad spun the spear and cracked the blunt end against the Guardsman’s face. The guard took a step back to reconsider, but Gerad quickly followed up, driving his spear into the man’s throat.“Waves, to me! Form a wedge!”Gerad was relieved to see that some of his training went to good use as a number of his fellows moved to stand beside him in formation. He bellowed out a command to charge, and they plowed forward into the unprepared ranks of armored soldiers. One or two of the men fell to blows from the Black Dragons, but the majority of men escaped from the abattoir behind them with Gerad in the lead. There were only a few more guardsmen outside, but Gerad knew that more could be arriving within moments.“Scatter! We will fight another day, Waves!”Many of the men did as they were told, moving off into side streets and alleyways. After taking down another armored guardsman, Gerad headed down the street to the back of the warehouse. There were more bodies of fallen friends and guards alike. He quickly scanned the corpses, but none were Marus. A blood smear on a nearby wall caught his eye, and he moved to follow it. Near an intersection to a main street, he found Marus on hands and knees, blood seeping from his side. Gerad quickly knelt beside the man.“Marus, we must get you to safety.”It took Marus a few moments to realize it was Gerad come to save him. “I am wounded …need priest.”  After a fit of rough coughs, he continued. “Go to main square… find a healer.”Gerad took a few moments to lift Marus and move him to a smaller alleyway. He positioned a few abandoned crates to cover him from casual sight. As he prepared to leave, Marus called his name once more. He extended a bloodied hand to give Gerad a golden disc roughly the size of his hand. The disc bore the markings of the city and a few symbols he was unfamiliar with.“Use this, should they need convincing…”“I will return for you, Marus.”  Gerad said, saluting with his fist above his heart. And then he moved off in search of a healer.</blockquote>

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