Fantasy A Nation In Havoc (2.0)

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio was relieved, and disappointed, that they encountered no resistance in the alleys, though it looked like someone certainly did. The lack of people limbs was encouraging, and the mass of Goblin parts they passed made Armandio feel better. He would’ve like to show off his skills to his stealth partner, but alas, not today. He lead the way, following the crowd, which was extremely easy. The fact that they strode in like they owned the place suggested they were fully confident that nothing would impede their march. Armandio and The Huntress watched as the four groups collided into one, and Kruziik floated in front of them like an angel. An angel of death.

Armandio shook his head lightly, but smiled again as she called him captain. He felt really cool, for about a second. Then he focused back into their current mission. “No, don’t. It’s an easy shot, and he knows it. If he doesn’t have some magical shield or other means of protection then he’s dumber than someone who can organize this kind of coup. Let’s watch for a bit. If he follows the pattern set by people who do this sort of thing, he’s about to monologue.” Sure enough, Kruziik began speaking.

Kruziik holds his hand up, motioning for silence. A hush falls over the crowd as they wait to hear their god speak. When Kruziik speaks his voice booms and echoes, so much so that anyone listening is sure he can be heard from miles away.

“Greetings my children! I am so pleased you could all come today, on the first day of a new world! Thanks to your efforts from all over the continent of Okigira, the Order of Eternity is stronger than ever! As prophesied, the city of Dalania has fallen, and it falls to us, the true faith, to rebuild it into something the world can be proud of. Forever more it shall be known as: Ulkiingolt!”

The crowd went wild as they tested the new name on their lips and in their voice.

Kruziik waited on their revelry, and threw his hands up to silence them once more.

“Leaders of the many Branches of the Tree of Eternity! Step forward when I call your name!

Zaor Qiceran:

The most intelligent elf of the last 300 years, mastermind of plots, outsmarter of Dalgan the Drake, and leader of the Fenwood Branch.”

A tall, elderly male Elf stepped forward, sporting a white goatee and piercing grey eyes. He was met with polite applause.

“Abbondanzio Babadanio:

Speaker of the Lahvraan Oo Pogaan Reyliik, or Gathering of Many Races in Askary, and brightest scientific and engineering mind of the world.”

A young man, no older than Armandio, steps forward with a sly grin on his face. He has black hair, piercing green eyes, and oddly enough a loose white lab coat (of all things) with pockets galore. A young boy, no older than 10, follows behind him. Kruziik introduces him as well. “And Nico, his young assistant.” The boy’s presence is met with awws and chuckles from several of the crowd.

“Raymond the Devoted:

a former Paladin of the Maker, Raymond abandoned his surname when he joined us to prove his rejection of the lies fed to him by the accursed Church of the Maker. He rose through the trials at awe inspiring speeds and now leads the secretive members of the Calcian Branch.” A large, heavily armed and armored man stepped forward. He wears Paladin armor that was painted black and his face was hidden by his helmet. A giant sword laid in its scabbard on his back. He was met with rhythmic clanging as other similarly clad warriors smashed their weapons on the ground or on their shields or armor.

“Sakgrouhilda Flinthorn:

She can claim the honor of being the best smith under the Mountains, and a master of axes. She claims leadership of the Mountain Branch.” A female dwarf stepped up, with dark hair, twin axes on her back, and a smithing hammer at her side. She was met with the clanging of metal as the dwarves slammed their weapons together, and cries of encouragement.

“Bahgigoth:

The Chief of the Orcish Confederation, the first large cooperative group of Orcs ever, and famed for the hunting of the Gigethera, the Devourer of Tribes!”

A giant Orc stepped forward, no less than 10 feet tall, armed to the teeth with weapons, so many it was easy to wonder if he even used them all. He was met with grunts and hoots from the other Orcs.

“All leaders are to follow me to the Council Room, where we shall discuss the future of the world. This castle shall be our new base of operations. All domestic followers set up your tents and families around the castle. Warriors, set guards around the perimeter, and send out search parties for survivors throughout the rest of the city. Any survivors are to be brought to the throne room. Use the Goblins as needed. Our future begins now!”

The common people began setting up tents in the area around the castle, using the gardens as a camp ground.

Stealth partner: MagicPenguin

 

[MagicPenguin]

Three things occurred to Raimi immediately upon hearing Kruziik's speech.

The first, and perhaps most urgent for their tiny group, was that a search party of guards was going to be sent out to search for survivors. Kruziik didn't explicitly say that any survivors found by this search party would be executed once brought to the throne room, but Raimi had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't just planning to invite them over for tea. These guards would be comprised of more than just simplistic goblins this time, probably including humans and elves and all manner of other races; if they found the hatch, they wouldn't just give up and move on for easier prey as the goblins had been content to do. They would be determined to get it open and pry them out one by one, and, best engineer on the continent or not, Rae doubted there was anything the little halfling could do to stop them once they really set their minds to it. Delay them, maybe, cost them dozens of soldiers, possibly, but if the six of them were cornered down there by determined assailants, it was only a matter of time before they were all caught and trussed up like pigs set to roast at a barbecue. They needed to abandon that hatch and, if possible, this city, within the next hour or two or face their peril.

The second thing that occurred to her was that Kruziik's followers were so loyal to him. They were largely comprised of common folk, no different than the hundreds of thousands of innocent Dalanians who had perished brutally and needlessly in the mad wizard's coup earlier that day. Did they just not realize that he had done such a monstrous and genocidal thing? Could they be that blind? Or maybe they knew exactly what he had done, exactly how many innocent people had died, and they just didn't care. Maybe they were so enthralled with their Dear Leader that they thought the citizens he killed deserved their deaths simply for not believing in Kruziik as they did. On the Charlotte farm, common folk just like the ones she saw before her were her neighbors, her community, and she had been raised to believe that you were supposed to stand together in times of need, help each other when there was a bad harvest or a barn that needed repairs or lost livestock. When your neighbor was in need, you helped them, gave freely of yourself to those who had nothing, and you were happy to do it. They did the same for you in your time of need. That's just how things were with farmers out in the countryside where Rae grew up. The mere possibility that everyday people just like her own neighbors could be so cold and uncaring and hostile that they could actually wish death on her just for being born a Dalanian was a great deal more disturbing to her than Raimi could say.

The third thing that occurred to her about this speech was about the meeting he and his cronies were having about the "future of the world" in the castle's council chambers. A lot of sensitive information would be thrown around at a meeting like that. It would be awfully nice if they could get a set of ears listening in on that room...

"Armandio, you said you were a royal guard in that castle, right? Do you know any ways in that wouldn't be heavily guarded? A secret passage or something? Castles always have those in the stories. It would be real helpful if we could get close enough to that council room to hear what Kruziik and his peanut gallery are plotting. I know we have to inspect those gates and get everyone out of this city as soon as possible, but we may never have a chance at such valuable information again."

TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio stared out at the crowd as they filed into the castle’s surroundings. He glared at castle, as if trying to gaze past its walls. “No secret passages to my knowledge. I knew the layout when I worked there, but now I have no clue about their set up. The patrols could be different, guard placements changed, magic stuff. Give me a few weeks to scope the place out and they’ll never see me, but we don’t have that kind of time. Not to mention I don’t have any of my tools with me. I need to stop by my grandfather’s house and grab my stuff, I’m not at peak efficiency without it. You can head back to the others or come with, but I need to see if my grandfather’s alive.”

He began creeping away, noticeably not in the direction they came from. He looked back. “Your choice. With your skills you could sneak back to the others with no problem, or we could stick together and lower the chance of... well dieing.”

MagicPenguin

 

[MagicPenguin]

Argh. He was right. It was very dangerous to try sneaking into the castle to hear what was going on in that meeting. Just the thought of all the information they were missing out on was enough to make Rae cringe, though. Still, she supposed, it didn't seem like it could be helped.

She turned her thoughts to Armandio's proposal. They definitely needed to get the others out of that hatch ASAP, but going back now and trying to escape blindly might just lead to their untimely deaths. They needed more information about which gate they would have the best chance of breaking through. Maybe if she went down to the docks, she might even be able to find a boat for her and the others to sneak out of the city on. Unlikely, but they wouldn't know unless they checked.

"You go on. I want to get a look at all the gates, see which way is best to go to give us all the best chance of escaping. I'll meet you back at the hatch when we're both done and we can drag the others out together. Let's try to meet back at the tavern in one hour. If either of us is more than twenty minutes late, we assume the other is dead and move on so as not to follow them to their grave. How's that sound?"

TheCountryWarrior

 

[Duke of Doge]

Decius did not feel pleasure from choking the man slowly. It was just something that he was compelled to do. Something that once done, would give him an incredibly odd feeling of satisfaction, similar to an itch. But this itch was something that took a bit more than a swipe of a hand to go away. It required a lot more effort, so to say. Convinced that he was just a rude old man who had no intention of helping and would be better off to them dead than alive, Decius continued to exact judgement until Princess Nia ran up to him, ordering him to stop. What else did he expect? She was the kind of person who believed the whole "death is immoral" and "everybody deserves a second chance" mentalities that he disliked.

Nevertheless, she still held some form of authority in his mind which lead to him to try to let go of the man. Doing so was unnaturally difficult for him. Simply opening his hand to allow the man to drop seemed to be impossible to him. Something was just preventing him from doing so. He did not know what it was, but he knew that he would be damned if he allowed it to take over. He took a deep breath and then let out a red mist that came out of his mouth. He could taste the iron it it. It was blood. This just surprised him to a degree where he slightly recoiled and dropped the guy on the floor. He then walked to the other side of the room and then sat on the floor with a white strand of hair dangling on his forehead. Decius assured himself that the lack of control he had was merely psychological and that he had to start calming himself down and lot letting his anger get the best of him. Little did he know that it was only about to get worse.

@Iunno.

augmentedspartan (making sure you got this)

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose dropped like a sac of bricks and clutched his neck as he was caught in a coughing fit, although his throat was bruised enough so that the only sound he could produce was a series of pathetic wheezes. After a few seconds of this sad display, he managed to calm down enough and slowly sit himself against the wall. He looked towards Decius, his eyes maintaining his omnipresent look of contempt, but his mouth twirled up into a satisfied smirk. Oh, yeah, big man, what are you going to do now that violence isn't an option? He wanted to say that, but his throat wasn't ready for any form of movement any time soon. He looked over at the Princess, who in all honestly was the only reason he was still alive. At least now his suspicions about her were certain, as long as he didn't get on her bad side, she might stop the meat head from breaking him in half. Easier said than done, Ambrose wasn't one to suck up to nobles or royalty.

The_Omega_Effect Duke of Doge Randomfella

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio nodded his affirmation. “Sounds like a plan. Stay safe Huntress.” And with that he crept off.

He crept along for fifteen minutes at a fast but careful pace. Over the next building he could see the telltale landmark of his grandfather’s place of residence. His grandfather’s house was actually more like the entire block, previous neighbors being ousted from their homes by the forest that grew from his own. Vines had weakened and eventually destroyed the walls in between the buildings, and then made vine tunnels connecting all the houses to the old man’s house. Trees and bushes grew from these vines, until the block was an actual forest. Funny thing is: this did not happen in recent memory. It supposedly happened over 200 years ago, before Armandio’s grandfather came to live there. But curiosity faded, and it soon became just another place in the capital of Dalania.

Armandio stood up from his hunched over sneak crouch, feeling safe in sight of the magnificent forest in a city. He approached the mess of foliage and it slithered open for him. He entered, and saw his kit on a table in the corner. In front of it sat his grandfather on a hammock of vines, still in full Dalania merch, sipping tea. Armandio spoke warmly. “Grandfather! I’m glad to see you made it okay.” His grandfather chuckled. “Of course my boy! Raymond got me out of there like the professional he is!” He motioned towards the hallway, where the same gorilla from earlier lumbered in and gave Armandio a thumbs up. Armandio’s grandfather continues speaking. “I wasn’t worried. I know the city is your element! Tell me: how have you fared? I had expected you to have left as soon as you could!”

Armandio sat on a natural stool, a tree stump, and recounted his escape from the stadium with his new allies. It wasn’t much to tell, considering it had happened only a while ago, but he told as much as he could. His grandfather spoke up again. “Seems you found yourself another crew! You always were a leader of men, no matter how much of a lone wolf you tried to be. Well, I’ve held you up long enough.” A vine descended from the ceiling, grabbed Armandio’s thieves kit, and passed it to him.

Armandio set to work gearing up, all the gadgets he had had made now strapped to a utility belt, including the grappling hook from his contact in Askary, smoke bombs, and a vial of poison. His specialty boots, made from the skin of a Slitheera for soundless steps, were put on in favor over his more casual boots. His leather armor, quiet but still offering protection, was equipped in favor over normal people clothes. His throwing knives were put on bracers for ease of use, as was his hidden blade he affectionately called the “Shnank, or “Sneak Shank”. His gloves, to help with building scaling, he slid onto his hands. And lastly his cloak, which did nothing but look cool when it flapped in the wind. He flipped his hood over his head and turned to his grandfather.

“Come with me. The crew won’t turn you away, I’m sure.” His grandfather shook his head. “No my boy. You go on. I’ve got a hiding place set up in the woods. From there I can head to Fenwood where some old friends will get me to Calcia. That’s the place to go when a Wizard gets out of hand. Remember that!” Armandio nodded. “I will. Take care of him Raymond!” The gorilla nodded and gave another thumbs up.

Armandio left his grandfather’s weird house, and looked up at the rooftops. In a motion he flipped his grappling hook into his hand and shot it to a rooftop. It flew up for a second and embedded into a piece of roof. The line straightened out and Armandio used the tool to assist climbing the building.

He reached the top and stood, gazing upon the ruined city, already plotting a path along the rooftops that would get him to The Lazy Fox as quick as possible. He leaped for the next building, his confidence in his ability to do this growing with each building. He eventually reached the The Lazy Fox, and waited for The Huntress to return.

In his head: Armandio, stealer of treasure and female hearts, was back!

MagicPenguin Duke of Doge The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan
Randomfella

 

[MagicPenguin]

Raimi watched Armandio dissolve into the night and turned her attention to her own task. Which gate should she check first, she wondered.

She considered her options. East of Dalania was nothing but ocean. There wasn't really anything you could do once you left through that gate unless you had a boat at the docks. North led to the frozen, desolate tundra characteristic of Dalania's northernmost regions. They might escape that way, but they wouldn't survive long in the harsh environment up there without sufficient preparations. Neither gate made an attractive escape route, but that also meant they were likely less heavily guarded than the ones West and South.

The Western gate would lead them directly around the Mountains to Askary. The South would lead to Fenwood. Both were highly travelled roads with many places to disappear to along the way. If the group could escape through one of these gates, their probability of survival would be a lot higher. Unfortunately, this also meant that Kruziik's goons would probably be watching those gates very closely.

Raimi decided to check the Southern gate first. She doubted it would be unguarded, but in her estimation it also held the best chance of survival should they make it out that way somehow. It was worth a look, at least. Her decision wasn't influenced at all by the fact that her family's farm was in the south and she hadn't stopped worrying about them since she saw that volcano go off in the same direction.

She scurried on light feet through the alleys in the Southern direction. The parade of cult members was still coming strong up the main road, but the rest of the city was eerily empty. Of the goblin hordes raiding earlier she saw no sign. They had likely been ordered to focus on guarding the processions instead of continuing their pillaging. That emptiness wouldn't last much longer, however; it would soon be filled by Kruziik's search parties doggedly hunting down any survivors of his bloody coup. The thought of them put a little extra swiftness into Rae's step.

Eventually Raimi found her way to the city's Southern gate, the very same one she entered with an excited, happy grin all those days ago alongside her horse and carts. Keeping to the shadows of surrounding buildings and well out of anyone's sight, she observed the gate closely to assess the situation. To her dismay, though not to her surprise, it was much as she feared it would be. Throngs of people still poured through the open gate like rushing water through a broken dam. Ushering them through safely were at least twenty heavily armed and armored orcs all at least eight feet high or taller. They were accompanied by dozens of similarly outfitted goblins of varying sizes growling at each other and the men and women who came through the gates in the common language colored by the harsh, guttural accents unique to their race. They inspected every entrant to the city carefully and interrogated them thoroughly to prevent enemies from sneaking in or out.

In addition to the sea of people entering the city, the guards also set aside a portion of the gate for people leaving and inspected them just as thoroughly, if not moreso. Many--though certainly not all--of those leaving seemed to be merchants and nobles either inside lavish carriages or carrying massive carts that Rae guessed were full of rare items stolen during the looting to be sold elsewhere on Okigira. Many were carrying their carts by horse, but a few were desperately dragging their goods by hand without one. Raimi wasn't sure, but she suspected these were people who were somehow in on Kruziik's plot; that, or perhaps higher ranking members of his cult who lived in the city before its fall and were spared the fate of its other citizens now wishing to leave for whatever reason.

Either way, this gate was no good. There was no way the group could get out undetected, nor could they hope to fight their way through. Raimi cursed their ill fortune. The way out was wide open, but was so heavily guarded that it might as well have been an impassable brick wall for all the good it did them. Well, Raimi reflected bitterly, impassable unless you were a rich noble with a fancy carriage or a fat merchant with a cart of stolen goods...

...a cart of stolen goods...

An idea struck Raimi out of no where like a lightning bolt on a clear, dry night.

She had a cart. A big one. One big enough to fit five full grown humans and one tiny halfling, as a matter of fact. She had a horse too. The last time she saw them, they both were stashed safely away in the stables of the very same inn in which the group was now hiding.

She remembered Armandio's caution about trying to blend in with the Kruziik's cult members. He was worried they would be asked for a piece of jewelry or a tattoo or some saying, a signal of some sort to let others know they were members of the group. Surely the orcs interrogating the comers and goers through the gate were asking for just that. That was the only problem.

Luckily, they had a way to trick the guards into thinking they were members of the group without any need to know what that signal was. Well, if they could get that crotchety old grandpa to cooperate with them, anyway. She recalled vividly how she heard him use his status as Kruziik's personal friend, the "corpse holder" or whatever, to get a whole group of bloodthirsty goblins to leave him alone, simple as that. If he could do the same with those orcs, he might be able to get a cart through without them asking him for proof of membership or checking what was in the cart.

Even if the cart contained the royal princess and a group of survivors all trying to escape.

Rae felt a mischievous smile crawl unbidden across her face. If they could make this work somehow, the group could get out of any gate they wanted, no matter how well guarded it was. Freedom suddenly didn't seem so impossible anymore.

Raimi left the gate and made her way back to the Lazy Fox as quickly as she could manage without making too much noise. Luckily the streets this far from the plaza were still empty of trouble for now. The search parties were probably already started in the areas nearest the castle and would quickly work their way outward. She hoped she could get the group on board with her idea before they reached the tavern and found the hatch.

When she approached the Fox, she looked for some sign of Armandio. She didn't see him, though, and it hadn't quite been an hour since they parted, so he might not be there yet. She saw how stealthily he moved earlier in the night, however. Even if he was there, she wouldn't see him if he didn't want to be seen. She decided to quietly call out for him just in case. If she received no answer, she'd wait a few minutes for him before descending back down into the hatch.

"Armandio? Armandio, are you there?"

TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio stepped out of the shadows and spoke in a hushed tone. “Huntress. Good to see you haven’t been ripped apart and devoured by Goblins. They do that. Sometimes. I’m suited up and ready, what have you learned? Is the way as impassable as suspected?” It easy to notice he’s trying to make his voice more gravelly, more mysterious. It came with the gear. And Armandio thinks it’s cool.

MagicPenguin

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia watched the aggressive warrior who almost killed the old man for a time. Making sure he didn't do anything extreme. Then she came over to Ambrose and squatted down next to him, looking at him with worry on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked him, genuinely concerned.
(Short post. School :/)
augmentedspartan

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose looked at her and opened his mouth to say 'do I fucking look ok?' but all he managed to do was produce a dry and painful sounding heave from the back of his throat. Yeah, he was worse than he thought he was. He would need to write 'Corpse Holder' on his chest to make sure the goblins outside didn't stick him before he could charade an explanation of who he was. In the end he simply shrugged; bitching through body movements wasn't as easy and didn't give him nearly as much the satisfaction as cursing out loud.

Duke of Doge

 

[MagicPenguin]

Rae looked at the hooded man who slipped out of the darkness of the inn's interior and was relieved to see that he was still in one piece. He was equipped with all kinds of neat looking toys he hadn't had before like grapnels and throwing daggers and all manner of things whose purpose Raimi could only guess at. Despite his sleek appearance, though, something sounded a bit off about his voice.

"You smoke a cigar or catch a cold or something while you were out?" she asked. "You sound a bit under the weather."

She didn't give him much time to respond before she answered his question about what she saw at the gate. She gave him a detailed report, from her observations about how oddly empty the streets were of goblins compared to earlier, to the huge number of guards inspecting and interrogating visitors at the Southern gate, to the moderate flow of nobles and merchants fleeing the city with carriages and carts in tow.

"Sneaking or fighting our way out through that gate will be near impossible. It's way too heavily guarded," she finished. "I was about to give up and go inspect the gates to the North or the East, but then I had a thought."

She described for him the plan she devised, how they might hide themselves, the princess, the bear, the halfling, and George (she guessed) in the cart and cover them to avoid sight. Then the old man could use his status as the "corpse holder" to get them through the gate without having the cart inspected.

"It's an extremely risky plan, but all the city's escape routes are guarded, so no matter what we do it'll be risky. I think it might be our best shot at getting out alive and unnoticed, though. The only tricky part is getting that old man to play along. He doesn't seem like the type to help us escape just out of the goodness of his heart. We'll have to give him some compelling reason to work with us or he might just play along for a while and then tell the guards at the gate we're in the cart and screw us all over so only he gets safely out."

"Of course," Rae said, "We could also try and make our way out the North or East gates. They're bound to be less heavily guarded, but they don't lead to main roads to other cities, so they're not as helpful as escapes. We don't have a boat to take to the ocean in the East and we don't have enough supplies to survive for long in the tundra to the North, so even if we escape one of those ways, we'd have to circle around to the West or South once we're outside while we avoid all the people out there coming in through the other gates and any guards that might be watching from the top of the walls."

Rae eyed Armandio's grapnel and another idea occurred to her.

"I suppose we could also walk along the interior of the city wall until we find a place that looks empty of patrols at the top. Then we could try and climb over. If a patrol happened by and saw us climbing up or down, though, it'd leave us really vulnerable. Also, I'm not sure how well the old man can climb in his advanced years. Still, if we actually managed to make it up there, a patrol of a couple guards up there would be easier to deal with than the dozens of armed guards at the gates," Raimi said with a shrug.

"What do you think? Should we try to sneak out the South or West to the main roads by hiding in the cart? Sneak out the North or East and try to circle around the city's exterior to the main road? Or try to find an unguarded portion of the wall and climb over it? Either way, we're probably all going to die horribly, but which plan seems least likely to kill us, do you reckon?"

TheCountryWarrior

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia sat next to the old man. Knees pulled up to her chest. She looked at the floor of the underground bunker. "For what it's worth. I'm sorry. For what I'm making you go through." She sighed. "I could have prevented all of this...."
augmentedspartan The_Omega_Effect

 

[augmentedspartan]

Oh no, he didn't want any of her pity, nor did he want to hear any of her self-pity either. He tried to say something insulting, something along the lines of "fuck off", which generally got people to leave him alone, but once again the only sound he could make made him sound like he had a sock on his throat. He tried to at least move away, but the place was too small and after being slammed against a wall and dropped like a sac his body wasn't in the mood to obey. In the end, he simply sat where he was and gave a vague grunt.

Duke of Doge

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio leaned against the wall, deep in thought. He cleared his throat, because Raimi’s words caused him to rethink his cool and mysterious voice. “While your plan is actually a good idea, I don’t want to have to rely on the old man as so far he’s been rather insufferable. He doesn’t know us, and if he is in fact a “Corpse Holder”, a title the Goblins respected enough to leave him alone, than he most likely doesn’t think highly of people. Hell, when we left the big guy had him by the throat and we just suggested for him to stop, but we didn’t do anything. No, he won’t help us. The other exits are out most viable options. I could scale the walls, you probably could too, but I don’t know about the others.” He let out a long sigh. “Damnit. Maybe there’s a smugglers exit somewhere. Let’s head inside. Maybe we can convince the old man to help.” Armandio headed back to the hatch inside The Lazy Fox. He waited for The Huntress, not one to leave a stealth partner behind.

MagicPenguin

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Meanwhile... in the castle...

The castle itself had suffered minimal damage, most likely from Kruziik’s interference. The leaders of the many Branches of Eternity walked behind Kruziik as he levitated through the castle doors (opening it with his mind of course), each leader with a pair of hand chosen bodyguards. Kruziik lead them to what was the King’s Council Room, still resplendent and beautiful, just with a few extra bloodstains. Kruziik made himself comfortable in the King’s chair, and the leaders that could sit sat in others.

Raymond the Devoted could not sit due to his armor so he stood erect, a statue of power and strength, two similarly clad warriors behind him. Bahgigoth could not sit in these puny human seats, but he wouldn’t have sat anyway. In his standing position he could spring into action should anyone attack.

Kruziik spoke, formally beginning the meeting. “Again loyal children, thank you for meeting with me in person. So much better than those crystal balls, much more personal. Now, we’ll start with the weekly report. Abbondanzio, how goes the weapons?”

Abbondanzio stood up and gave his report on the new weapon he was designing. A compact weapon using the mostly unheard of black powder, a steel ball shot forward with a loud crack, with the capability to kill a man in a blink. It had been only a theory of Abbondanzio’s until now. He procured from his jacket a metal device. “I believe I have finally created a working prototype of the Abbondanzio firearm. It holds only a single steel ball, and the accuracy is atrocious, but from close range it will end ones life rather efficiently. Testing and improving will continue. As for the second weapon, the Mechanical Man is not nearly done, and will require much more work. Thanks to Brother Zaor and his logistical mind and the tireless labor of your Goblins Kruziik for the setting up of a laboratory to my specifications.” Zaor the Elf nodded his approval. “It will allow us to continue work unhindered.”

Kruziik spoke up. “And how goes the delightful game of politics?” Abbondanzio chuckled. “Askary’s leaders are fickle, and prone to backstabbing each other. In a month it shall be ours.” Kruziik chuckled, pleased with the smooth sailing so far, as Abbondanzio sat back down. “And you Zaor? How goes your work on the elven lords?” The old elf stood regally, a cane in one hand. He spoke with ancient experience. “I have seen to a gathering in the name of revelry in a weeks time. All the highest of society shall be there, ripe for retribution.” Kruziik nodded and the Old Elf sat down. “Sakgrouhilda Flinthorn. If you will?”

The Dwarf stayed seated, simply because she was taller in this fancy chair than her actual height. “My people brought everything we need to restart work on suppling our warriors with weapons and armor, and with the capture of Ulkiingolt we have access to plentiful resources.” Kruziik made a mental note to set aside a spot for the Dwarven Forges. “Bahgigoth! Tell us of your glorious exploits!” Bahgigoth the Orcish Warlord stepped forward and spoke in a loud and proud voice. “The Orc Confederation grows stronger everyday. Two more tribes fell to our might, and we continue to grow!” Kruziik smiled and looked to the last of their group. “Raymond the Devoted. You have the floor.” The statue of power stepped forward, his voice echoing in his helmet. “Another safehouse was raided in Calcia. We have five remaining, but the Paladins are cracking down on us. We will need your help.”

Kruziik glared ahead. Another safehouse. Another building containing his followers, his children, was destroyed. His children dragged through the streets and burned, hanged, decapitated, shot. The Calcians would pay. “They must hold on for but a month more. Then everything shall be different. You are all dismissed.” He snapped his fingers and glowing portals appeared behind them all. “Pick a trusted agent of the two with you. They shall represent your orders to the people. Go to your homes and prepare. You all know how to proceed.”

The leaders of the factions stepped through the portals with one of their guards, all leaving one to represent them.

“Go and affirm your status with the people.” The Chosen of the leaders left the castle, to talk to the people, set goals and gather search parties.

Kruziik sat alone in the Council Room. A portal opened behind him, the young brother of Abbondanzio stepped out. “Master? I think I’ve got portals down.” Kruziik laughed. “Yes Nico, you a mastered them quite well. The ability to near-instantly travel to anywhere is quite useful. But, with times as trying as they are, I feel you’ll need something more combative.”

A goblin wandered in, a bored look on his face. “Father? The Corpse Holder hasn’t returned to his home yet.”

“Well. Maybe he’s found our heroine? Let’s see how this plays out. I have a feeling this is going to be fun!”

To be continued....

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia just shrugged. "okay. I'll shut up now..." she said as she got up and then started to pace around the small room. "I hope Armandio and Rami got some good
information" she sounded worried. "I think I'm getting claustrophobia in here" it was an afterthought, but the more she was down here the more she wanted out.
augmentedspartan

 

[MagicPenguin]

"I think I might be able to convince him to help," Rae replied thoughtfully as she followed Armandio inside. "If what he told us is true, he's a businessman. He might be more ornery than a tomcat in a bathtub, but at the end of the day a businessman only cares about one thing above all else and that's his bottom line. Just leave talking to him to me; I'll get him to see he needs us as much as we need him if he wants to live long enough to set himself up again somewhere new."

Rae flashed the man a confident smile as she said this. Inside, though, she was wracked with worry for her family and fear for herself and her friends if she wasn't able to convince him to help before the manhunters found the inn. Displaying her anxiety helped nothing, however, so she did her very best to keep up a strong appearance.

As they approached the hatch, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Well, then, city boy, shall we get on with it?"

She knelt down and knocked three times quickly, three times slowly, and three more times quickly.

"Guys, it's us!" she called down in a hushed but urgent tone to let them know she was no imposter.

TheCountryWarrior Duke of Doge The_Omega_Effect augmentedspartan Randomfella

 

[Randomfella]

"I wouldn't think about it." Jenny piped up with a sort of sigh toward the princess, watching her pace around. "You humans naturally have heavy feet, no doubt by now they're dead, or..." Suddenly a voice came out from above them, the small human from before it was quite clear. With some discomfort, Jenny shot up to her feet, still clenching her side. "Hold up, you don't know what else is up there." The halfling stated in a hushed tone, with some urgency to her voice, though she was still too injured to do anything about it herself.
Duke of Doge MagicPenguin

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio grinned. He was starting to like this girl. Looking at her she seemed confident, though how people seem and how people actually were are very different things. But, Armandio liked her and decided not to psycho analyze her. “Indeed we shall Country Gal.” He leaned up to the hatch. “Let’s us in before we get shanked.” Which was a concern in his line of work, but even more so when Goblins were involved. Damn shanky Goblins.

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia looked over to Jenny. "I'm not doing this again, I'm just going to go open the damn hatch" went over and stopped at the base of the steps, turning around to look at Jenny. "May I? Or do we "Not know what's out there again?" she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Besides, I'm pretty sure any attempt to get in we can stop. It's a small entrance- easy to defend." she stated her mind openly, her studies at the palace included battle strategy. Fighting defensively in a bottleneck is a tried and true tactic.
Randomfella augmentedspartan MagicPenguin TheCountryWarrior

 

[Randomfella]

Jenny crunched her face slightly at the princesses words, she was confident, that was a good sign for the most part. On later thought, perhaps they did know who was up there, beside the obvious two humans. If they knew the princess was in the hatch with armed 'guards', like Jenny was sure one of them would have fessed up given enough 'persuasion', then surely the mage would have sent more than just a few sneaky goblins. All of those forces would mean louder footsteps, even if they tried to be sneaky the halfling surely would have heard such a movement. She soon snapped out of her own thoughts. "You've already made up your mind." She responded lightly, raising her palms in the air and tilting her head to the side as to act like she had no control in the matter, eyes closed, a cheeky smile spread across her face as she continued. "I am yours, to serve as you will it, after all, think of me as your royal engineer." The halfling opened her eyes, before winking toward the princess, her cheeky smile still spread wide. Her voice held a tinge of sarcasm, and yet what she stated was no lie. Jen knew she needed to stay on the brat's good side, if all went to plan she was the key to the halfling's future success and recognition... IF all went to plan, she still had no idea what to do as far as the mage was concerned, but didn't trust any of these humans to come up with a half decent solution.

Relaxing in her seated position once more, still unable to move much, the halfling's higher pitched voice rang out again, surely by now the princess was half-way through opening it up. "Just remember, you're responsible for those who would rescue, as well as those who need to be saved." She simply stated, before slumping over once more, attempting to shine a small bit of wisdom on the royal youngling. No doubt there would be plenty of opportunities for them to rush into dangerous situations in order to save a few innocents, and while the statement might have not been directly relevant, the halfling only hoped the girl would have the intelligence not to send them to their deaths in the future.
Duke of Doge

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia listened to what Jenny told her. Nodding in response with a smirk. "yeah... okay" she said simply in a soft spoken tone before opening up the hatch for Armandio and Rae. She smiled up at them "hey, you guys made it back in one peice" she commented. Nia came back down the steps and stood off to the side of the doorway leading out. Once The other two were in she would ask; "What kind of info do you have for us? Or better yet a plan?" she asked, looking down at her feet.
Randomfella TheCountryWarrior MagicPenguin augmentedspartan
(I want to type more, but I've had a really long day. I cri everytim)

 

[MagicPenguin]

Raimi removed the hood of her dark green cloak from her head as she descended into the bunker and thanked Nia for opening the door as she passed. She walked into the center of the small, clustered group and gathered her thoughts before she began to explain what they'd seen. As she did, she took in the sight of her accidental companions. Different as they all were, it was quite an odd group, if truth be told. Rae had certainly never imagined that she would one day be sitting casually in a cramped basement with a princess, her guard, a halfling, an innkeeper, a bear, and an old corpse salesman. An odd group, to be sure, but scared and tired as she was feeling, Rae was still glad for the company, however hostile they might appear.

She let none of that fear and anxiety roiling within her show now. She stood confidently with one hand on her hip, placed a serious look on her face, and put all of the strength, conviction, and resolve she could still muster into her voice as she began to recount what she and Armandio had seen.

"Alright, folks, we don't have a lot of time here, so I'll try and explain this fast. That parade out there is all part of some big cult. The head of the cult is the wizard who killed the king. We followed them all the way to the central plaza where they were all gathered to hear the wizard give a speech. He didn't say much of interest--lots of gloating and town renaming and religious cult-y mumbo jumbo--but he did introduce a few key members of his inner circle. They were from all the most important countries of Okigira. I think it's safe to say Kruziik eventually intends to do to Askary and Calcia and all the other major cities what he did to this one, and he intends to use these friends of his to help him do it.

"More importantly for us right now, though, he finished the speech by ordering search parties to hunt down any survivors of today's massacre. They're starting at the city's center and they'll work their way outward. I'd say that gives us at least twenty or thirty minutes to get the hell out of this bunker before they get this far out. If they find the hatch, they won't give up on getting it open as easily as the looting goblins did. We'll be sitting ducks and it'll only be a matter of time before they pry it open and drag us out to the executioner's block."

Rae looked at Nia sadly. "I'm sorry, but your city is lost. You might not wanna hear this, but we need to run and live to fight another day. Staying only means you're more likely to die before you can take your country back." She resumed her serious look and turned back to the others. "I had a look at the gates leading out of the city. They're heavily guarded, but they're also letting merchants and nobles who sold their souls to Kruziik leave with carts full of goods in tow. They check comers and goers pretty thoroughly and normally we wouldn't be able to sneak out that way because of it, but..."

She motioned with her eyes to the old man sitting slumped in the corner. He looked extremely tired. Perhaps that was why he was so quiet compared to when she left earlier. Well, good. Maybe he'd be too tired to disagree with her plot.

"...but it occurs to me that we have in our company the illustrious 'corpse holder,' whose authority the goblins apparently respect because of his 'friendship' with Kruziik. My horse and cart should still be in the stables upstairs where I left them this morning. I propose we hide in the cart and have the old man use his influence with the enemy to carry us out the Southern gate unhindered. We can head to Fenwood, or somewhere else, and either go our separate ways or figure out our next move as a group from there. I admit it's risky, but it's probably our best shot if we want to leave the city alive. Whatever we come up with to get us out of here, though, we'd better figure it out fast; those search parties aren't going to wait around for us to agree on a plan."

"So, does anyone have any objections?" She said this to everyone, but she looked straight at the corpse salesman as she did; he was the most important part of this plan, the one she needed to work hardest to convince. She waited for his no doubt vitriolic refusal to her proposal that he risk his life to get the group that had taken him hostage safely away from the city. She expected him to curse her out something awful just for suggesting such a thing, but she was ready to negotiate a deal with him after he got that out of his system.

Duke of Doge augmentedspartan TheCountryWarrior Randomfella The_Omega_Effect

 

[augmentedspartan]

That was pretty much his plan, although it included less freeloaders and more of his belongings. He was pretty sure they'll force him to take them with him, so there was no point in fighting that, but he could probably haggle his way into getting all his books and notes before leaving. Plus his stash in his home, can't start a business with no money. There was one problem though, and that was the fact that his one trump card here was temporarily disabled. He tried to explain this, sounding again like a ragged wind instrument, although slightly better this time, mentioning at his throat, then at Darius, and bringing home his point by flipping him off. Still wasn't the same as swearing out loud.

Duke of Doge TheCountryWarrior Randomfella The_Omega_Effect MagicPenguin