Into the darkness

[MrEdwardNigma]

Hick Jones
"Now I can't have a dangerous man like that runnin' around. Besides, I need tah ask him about that turnip business"

Hick sniffed the air and then bent down to take a look at the muck, but it was too dark too see any footsteps. He got up and rummaged through the garbage a bit, only to pull out what used to be the seat of a chair. With some strands of straw and some string he quickly turned it into a torch, which he used to light his way.

Again Hick crouched down, but this time he could easily spot the footprints. They weren't that clear due to the nature of the muck, but Hick was an excellent tracker. He followed the trail, and carefully stalked his prey.

[Silence]

@Silverkiss: The woman looks at you for a moment, confused, before rushing off through the door.

@Nigma: You track the man for about an hour, and eventually come to a large dilapidated building. There is one visible door.

[Silverkiss]

Duin Bloodmoon

"Hm... That could've gone better. Oh well."

Walking slowly to the door, Duin massages his arms and shoulders. "Damn, they're still hurting." Duin aproaches the door, and starts shouting.

"Hey, miss ! Don't run, I mean no harm ! I only want to leave this place, really !"

"By a thousand wolves, when you're honest and want to cause no troubles, you only get problems."

Duin waits, at the door, for someone to come. He shouldn't go intruding on the house, it would only be worse on the long term. But that didn't stop him from taking a good look at his surroundings.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Hick Jones
Hick pushed open the door with his foot.

[Silence]

@Silverkiss: The room is about 40ftx50ft, and is comprised of a bed, bookshelves, desks, and other furniture. There's nothing really of interest.

After a couple minutes, you see three men approaching you from the hallway. They look slightly angry.

@Nigma: You enter a dark room. The only light is from the doorway, and a few strands of light coming from boarded up windows. After your eyes adjust, you find that the room must have been some sort of pub, as it had a bar, and shelves which once had been loaded with alcohol, but now or inhabited by countless small creatures and broken glass.

At the other end of the room, there are three doors; one heading off the the left, one heading off the the right, and one heading straight forward. The ones on the left and right are closed, but the center one is slightly open.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Hick Jones
Hick shone his torch in the abandoned pub. Then he crouched down again and followed the freshest footsteps in the dust to whatever door they led to.

[Silverkiss]

Duin Bloodmoon

"There we go. May the moon shine my path. What the hell I'm saying, we're in the middle of the day."

Raising his hands away from his sword, Duin aproaches the men, while loudly speaking.

"I'm sorry for intruding, folks. I just wanted to get to the street. I was hunting a dangerous criminal last night, and I fell on the balcony when I was injuried. I was unconscious, and I really have no idea how no one found me. I couldn't jump to the street because it's too high, so my only option was to go from here. I'm really sorry for the trouble, but I just want to leave."

[Falconer]

I'm bAAAAaaaaaack.

Serkan

Serkan observed the man from afar with curiousity. He was just sitting there, doing nothing whatsoever (the camel vendor next to the man, it seemed, was trying to take advantage of this by slowly inching in front of him). Unable to help himself, Serkan strolled up to the the man's stall (the camel vendor asked if he would like to see his wares. Serkan declined).

"Excuse me, sir," he asked politely, "but I couldn't help but notice you just sitting here. What is it you're...selling, exactly?"

[Silence]

@Nigma: You enter the door and are confronted with a disturbing sight.

Thousands upon thousands of names are written on the wall, etched into the stone. After each name is a small x.

It's a hallway, about a hundred feet long. There are doors, but they've all been perminently shut, as they're boarded up and otherwise stopped from opening.

At the end of the hallway you see a figure kneeling and writing a name on the wall. He turns to you, and then runs out the door at the end of the hallway.

@Silverkiss: The men grunt and stop for a second, as if thinking about what you said. Then, a smaller man comes up from behind them, pushing past then, and looks you over.

"Kill him." He says in a high pitched voice.

The men are about 10ft away, and armed with shortswords, no armor, and no sheilds. They run at you.

@Falconer: The man looks at you for a long period of time, checking every last corner of your body.

"I sell weapons. Of the magical variety." He says, quietly.

[Silverkiss]

Duin Bloodmoon

"What the hell, kill me ? I have done nothing ! I just wish to leave this place !"

"That little fellow is freaking insane ! What did I ever do to him ?"

Unsheating his silver-bladed sword, Duin gets into a defensive stance. He is ready to kill the men, if needed. "Please, reconsider your actions ! Or else, unecessary blood will be spilled today."

[Falconer]

Serkan

At the word "magic", Serkan's ears perked up, and he became noticeably interested. "Honestly, I have no great need of weapons...but I've always fascinated by magic. Any chance that I could see if there's anything interesting?"

[Silence]

@Silverkiss: The small man remains where he was, the men rushing at you.

"You die, and I won't have to risk you knowing anything you shouldn't. Quite unfortuate that you had to die." He said, and then briskly turned on his heel and walked off.

The men stopped a few feet in front of you, and began to take stance. One of the men rashly gave a huge opening by attacking you with a overhead blow. You slip in, and run his stomach through. The other two men begin circling you.

Your move.

@Falconer: "My wares aren't for the casual wanderer. It'll cost you to see them." The man said.

"Come, let's talk somewhere a bit more private." He said as he turns and walks away, towards a large tent behind his stand.

[Falconer]

Serkan

Serkan follows. He had purchased only one weapon before, his dagger, and that had been a rather simple matter. Give merchant coins, merchant gave dagger and a small leather sheat. Simple as that. As he followed the man to the tent, however, he got the feeling this would be a good deal more serious.

[Silverkiss]

Duin Bloodmoon

"Senseless slaughter, this is senseless slaughter. Stop this while you can !"

Duin shouts a last plead for peace. If it is not heard, he will fall back to the door which he crossed, forcing the two remaining men to face him head-on. When the first of them rushes in, Duin will try to avoid his attack and kill him, if possible, with one strike. He then will rush himself on the remaining guard, unless he surrenders or runs away.

After the men are finished, Duin will go cautiously towards the direction the small man went.

[Silence]

@Falconer: The man leads you into a tent, and you immediately see that he is quite rich. Beautiful art and expensive rugs adorn the place, making him seem quite impressive.

He goes over to a table, and pulls out a scroll. Sketched on the scroll are seven different weapons.

A bow, a spear, a dagger, a very large sword, a smaller sword, an axe, and a spiked chain. They're all adorned with gems and beautifully crafted.

"These are my wares. Ask me about one, and I'll tell you about it."

@Silverkiss: The men don't care what you're saying, and close in on you as you fall back to the door. They begin attacking you, and it's very difficult to defend yourself, as there are two sources of assault, but you manage to fend them off for a few moments.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Kharnak

Kharnak responds instantly Yes, it is my duty. The creation of my peoples new kingdom must be told, and this incident reported.

[Silverkiss]

Duin Bloodmoon

Retreating into the room, Duin will grab a nearby desk with his free hand and throw it at his nearest attacker, probably busying him for a few seconds at least. Then, he will use this time to concentrate on the other attacker, blocking the guard's short sword with his silver-edged longsword, and then trowing a punch to the man's face. Then he will kill the man with a clear cut on the throat or a thrust to the heart. After that, Duin will turn to the other man and follow with a similar strategy.

After both men are dealt with, Duin will run to the direction the little man went, trying to be silent and paying attention to unnatural noises or details on the house, but being quick nevertheless.

[Silence]

@Asmodeus: "Aye.... We shall avenge you friends." He says.

@Silverkiss: You pull back and keep them at bay for a few moment, but can't find an opening to punch the first man in the face. (Sound's odd, doesn't it?)

Eventually, he charges at you, trying to piledrive you as you're coming at him with another strike. This is your moment. You could slice his neck, or take the moment to slip past the two men. Your move.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Kharnak

Kharnak nodded, and rode on in silence.

[Silverkiss]

Duin Bloodmoon

"Have to get rid of them now, or they will only trouble me more later..."

Taking the change given to him, Duin slices the man's neck open, tainting the fine room's carpet with blood. After seeing the fresh blood spurting, Duin almost loses control, but he manages to maintain his human form. With only one man left, this should be a easy fight, so Duin rushes against the guard, hoping to kill the man in one mighty blow so that he could finally follow after the mysterious little man.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Hick Jones
Hick ran after the figure, glancing at the newly written name as he rushed past. Luckily Hick's long legs gave him the advantage in any race. The longer the run, the more chance Hick would catch up, easily.

Off course, should the footprints he had been following lead somewhere else, Hick would ignore the namewriter and simply go in that direction. A look at the figure with his torch should have been enough to make out whether the figure was the man he was following, so I assume he wasn't.

[Falconer]

Serkan

"Erm...", Serkan stammered, not one-hundred percent sure if he was in need of a weapon, much less one that seemed so...pricey.

"Maybe...the bow?" he asked, uncertainty in his voice.

[Silence]

@Asmodeus: By sunset, you arrive at Stoneforge.

OOC: You're a bit ahead of everyone, so it would be great it you could slow down some. Thanks.

@Silverkiss: You bring your blade back, preparing for one final stab, aimed at his heart, but as you attack, he dodges out of the way. You feel a heavy blow to the back of your head, and fall forward. You instinctively roll and spin around to find the man's blade falling rapidly towards you. In on graceful movement, you block the blade and deliver a swift kick the the groin, and then follow up by killing him via your blade.

You then run down the hallway where he went, and find yourself at a locked door. He must have gone through it.

@Nigma: Indeed it wasn't the man you were looking for.

You glance there, and see your own name written, then turn to chase the man. He slams a door just as you're about to cross it, and it locks.

You hit the door, hard, but it doesn't break. You fall back, surprised and hurt a little.

@Falconer: The man smiles.

"Yes, yes... that one. I acquired it a few years ago. Never seen the thing miss quite amazing. It'll cost you. Not in gold, no, I have enough as it is. I need a favor. Something simple for one armed with that weapon."

[MrEdwardNigma]

Hick Jones
Hick wasn't following the man, since he's not the droid thug he was looking for, so he didn't smash into the door. Instead, Hick followed the footprints of his target, the man who assaulted him earlier.

[Silence]

@Nigma: Nice reference there. +1 to awesome score.

The tracks lead to the door. It looks like you'll be getting through it.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Spoiler

Show

The same door that guy fled through? Okay

Hick Jones
Hick sighed, and kicked the door as hard as he could. Should that not help, he would find the nearest object that he could use as a battering ram and try to destroy the door with that.

[Silence]

@Nigma: The door crashes down, and your torch suddenly is extinguished.

You're in what looks like an old theater. Rows of seats lead down to a stage. The only light you see if a small orb of magical flame, suspended about five feet in the air on the stage.

There's nothing else on the stage. You see noone in the room, but they could easily hide in the seats. The only door you see is a ajar trap door on the stage.

[Falconer]

Serkan

Serkan thought through the offer. This was most definitely an interesting morning. "Okay...", he said with uncertainty, "what is the exact nature of this 'favor'?"

[Silence]

@Falconer: "I need a man dead." He said simply.

[Falconer]

Serkan

Serkan's eyes widened, and he backed away from the man a few steps. "I beg you're pardon, sir?"