Age of Ruin IC: When all your friends are dead

[Moechi_Vill]

Lucidae

Feeling a bit down Lucienne follows behind Livina. Too bad a nice intellectual had to die, even if he, she concluded, he had been foolish. Midlife crisis must have brought his heart to it.

[MattKatt]

Tharok stands still for a few moments, looking back towards where the distant mountains stand on the other side of the fog and planes, and then towards the group as they begin their departure for the ruins, and finally, towards the rolling fog skirting the lands beyond, cloaking them in uncertainty.

"Well, I shall not delay you from your quest. I thank you for the brief company and hope your adventures are fruitful. I ask that your days be joyful and many."

Tharok bowed humbly, one hand fisted and clasped by the other. He straightens and turns to leave.

[Regwon]

Krashnix

Krashnix snorts at the sentiment of the rest of the group then calls out to Tharok.

Do you even know in which direction you are going? If you dont know this area of the world you are likely to get lost, which would be rather unfortunate considering this is a land full of mad, human sacrificing cultists of a god of lies, and where things suddenly disappear into thin air, which, incidently, is pink! Our quest, along with our employer, has just been abandoned so feel no guilt in leaving. I am of the opinion that there is more safety in numbers, especially considering our current situation.

[MattKatt]

Tharok nods slightly at Krashnix

"You speak truth. These lands are unfamiliar to me, and larger groups are safer to travel in"

He pauses and thinks to himself for a moment, then continues is his usual slow and purposeful fashion.

"Very well. If you so wish, I shall accompany you on your journey. However, it must be known that this shall not be permanent. There will come a day when I must leave you. Whether or not you know the reason is yet to be decided, but I request that when that time comes, you will not bar my way. This event shall not be for many moons, so until then, my sword is yours"

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
The Mokai woman shrugs.
"Yeah, whatever. Now really isn't the time to be all mysterious, and you can leave anytime you want. Um. I think the temple was to...the West a bit. Maybe. Anyone remember better?"

[Moechi_Vill]

Livina Lightfoot
The Mokai woman shrugs.
"Yeah, whatever. Now really isn't the time to be all mysterious, and you can leave anytime you want. Um. I think the temple was to...the West a bit. Maybe. Anyone remember better?"

"Twenty... thirty thousand feet to the west." Lucci answers

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina's jaw drops.
"Wha-?" She squints suddenly, and stares at the pale woman suspiciously.
"You're pulling my leg, aren't you? "

[Lycar]

Orin is somewhat dismayed to realize that, frankly, he has no idea in what direction they have to go to reach the ruins whatsoever.

Fortunately Lady Baker seems to know though.

"West it is then. Let's go already."

"... which direction IS west ?"


Lycar

[MattKatt]

Tharok, looking slightly concerned over the parties discussion, throws in his two cents:

"Do you not remember which way you are going?"

[Moechi_Vill]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina's jaw drops.
"Wha-?" She squints suddenly, and stares at the pale woman suspiciously.
"You're pulling my leg, aren't you? "

"I meant to the left." Lucci points to the way they came.
"I will teleport around if you want it, but the presence of the pink fog might kill me."

[Lycar]

"Ha, that is easy: We just walk until we leave the fog and then you can teleport around to your heart's desire."

Orin didn't remember much about how teleport spells worked, but he knew that the caster only needed to picture the place he or she wanted to go to mentally.

Certainly, Lucidae would remember the ruins pretty well...


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

Tharok works out from the way he came which way is west. It's a bit more to the left than Lucci pointed.

[MattKatt]

"If you want to go west, it is in that direction"

Tharok points a bit more to the left than Lucci pointed

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
"Er, okay then."
Livina scratches her head for a moment, and looks to what is supposedly the West.
"Well...let's get going." Livina falls back a little, and walks silently for a few moments. Suddenly, with a viper-quick darting motion, she slaps Tharok sharply on the shoulder!

[Lycar]

Orin is about to change his travel direction when he watches Livina slap the stranger.

At first he just quirks an eyebrow but then, as no illusionary disguise is dispelled, he chuckles "What, you almost seem to be disappointed that no infernal noble is hiding under the guise of the travelling stranger..."

"Also we shouldn't be too worried about not going in exactly the same direction. After all, it's only a few hours of walking. Even if we miss the ruins by a mile or two, we should easily be able to spot them from that distance. So no worries."

And so Orin sets out to march on, ever confident (or at least convinvingly pretending to be) to find thier way back to civilisation.


Lycar

[Ozzy_G]

The group starts out, leading the mule, into the fog, the way that Tharok pointed.
As you walk through the fog, things flicker at the edge of your vision, and occasionally you hear the sound of footsteps, but there's nothing there. Occasionally you walk over bits of bare earth, which to an expert outdoorsman like Tharok look like the ground caved in, like what happened to the tent.
The things in the mist slowly get more clear. After about an hour and a half, you realise that the mist occasionally, fleetingly forms a face, but it's too quickly gone to examine.

[MattKatt]

Tharok presses on with the group, but looks a little unnerved.

"The ground here seems to have been disturbed, similar to what we saw at your...um...camp. And this fog is like nothing I have ever seen. It swirls and moves as if it where alive."

He reaches out occasionally and swishes his hand around in the air.

"How far did you say the ruins lie?

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
One hand on the reins of the mule, the Mokai pats its snout reassuringly.
"Er...just a couple hours. Not too far."

[Lycar]

Orin briefly wonders if he should recite the poem again. The one he read about the mad dwarf king, his tragic obsession and the red mist.

But then he decides against it.

No need to worry the stranger with things, which they can't do anything about anyway...

Lycar

[Moechi_Vill]

"Ha, that is easy: We just walk until we leave the fog and then you can teleport around to your heart's desire."

"Let's try that later." Lucci says, smiling.

[Ozzy_G]

Tharok leads the group unerringly, working out where the sun should be by the way the grass is growing. As you walk however, it starts getting dark, and within ten minutes it's as dark as night (a night indeed with no stars or moons, due to the fog). Yet it is still morning.

[Lycar]

Orin is getting nervous. Really nervous. But then he found that telling a tale always had a soothing effect on him. Hopefully it works again this time.

"Say, did i ever tell you the story of Gundarak, the dragon slayer? No ? Maybe i should. It is such a magnificent tale ..."

So if nobody stops him, Orin will proceed and tell the long tale of Gundarak, dragon slayer and all-purpose hero of times past...

Lycar

[MattKatt]

Tharok leads the group further to the west, while also listening to Orin's stories with great interest. He had never heared stories from other lands. About other lands, yes, but never had he heared of Gundarak, this man who can slay mighty fire-breathing beasts!

He pressed on, eyes open and ears listening

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina bites her lip as the unnatural dusk descends on the group. There was no use getting worked up about this now; if she let even one crack appear in her resolve here, panic couldn't be far away. She pats the mule's muzzle, although who she was trying to comfort is anyone's guess.
Keep on going, girl; Soon you'll be out of this, and you can retire. Just a little longer...
It was a testament to the mental strain the acrobat was under that she even found Akim's prattling reassuring. Almost as if nothing could go wrong in the middle of a story; as long as he kept talking, the wolves would stay away.

[Ozzy_G]

You keep walking, and after another couple of hours it suddenly, over about ten minutes, gets light.
The fog is even thicker now, you can only see about twenty foot. You should have reached the ruins by now, but in this fog you might pass right by them and not see them.
And there are... faces... in the fog. The face seems to be male and human, but disappears too fast for you to see more details.

[MattKatt]

Tharok's stride started to slow to a walk, then a pace, and finally, he stopped alltogether. The fog had finally gotten to him. He was sure that there was something there. Something that means us peace...or harm

He raised his hand in a stopping motion to the rest of the group, then reached behind his back and drew his sword, its blade gleeming in the dim light. He sharpened his eyes and ears, searching for a sign of any possible enemy hiding in the mist

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
Livina almost whimpers.
"I just want to go home..."

[Ozzy_G]

The face appears and dissapears too fast for Tharok to see any details, but Livina recognises it.

Spoiler

Show

It's the face of Rego Vel, mouth open in a soundless scream.

[The Great Skenardo]

Livina Lightfoot
"Meep"
Livina walks a little closer to the mule and clamps her eyes shut.

[Moechi_Vill]

Lucida Lucienne

"Everything is wrong here. Do we stay?"