Fantasy Realms of Nymserine: Main Thread [[CLOSED]]

[Purize]

I shook my head while giving him a disbelieving, incredulous look. "Wa- Wait a second... did you just say you fell asleep underwater...? Again?" I blinked at him for a moment, not sure whether to laugh or advise him to seek medical attention.

 

[BugDozer73]

I sighed, knowing full well that she wasn't about to let me speed past that. "I like to sleep on the beach, but the tide comes in, so sometimes I wake up under 10-15 feet of water. Its only happened a few times..." I rubbed my neck and looked away. She probably though I was the most ridiculous pirate ever to sail Thasia's (Or should I call her mom now?) green surf.

 

[Purize]

I nodded slowly, trying to accept and process this information. "So... you can manipulate water...and breath underwater?" A smile started to spread across my face. "You're like a fish!!!" I grabbed my middle as I burst out in laughter.

 

[BugDozer73]

I felt my face flush red. "I AM NOT!" I crossed my arms in indignation. "Look, are we going to go on a quest or what?"

 

[Purize]

I bit back another snicker and tried to calm down enough to speak like a normal person. "Yeah I actually wanted to talk to you about that." I pulled out the piece of parchment that I'd torn off the bulletin board in the guild and handed it to Roland. "This one pays pretty well, but the job's a bit tough. Are you up to it?" I rose an eyebrow at him, waiting for his reaction.

 

[BugDozer73]

I snatched the parchment from her hands and looked it over. My annoyance melted away with the more I read. "A live troll? What the hell do they want with a live troll?" I scoffed at the paper, but my question was tinged with genuine curiosity. She was right though, the pay was excellent. I thought back to the days of my magic training, and remembered a certain spell that might be perfect for this.


"Believe it or not, I might actually have a plan for this"

 

[Purize]

"I'm guessing they want to observe it and experiment with it." I took back the parchment and returned it to my pocket while looking at him with a raised eyebrow.


"You've dealt with trolls before?" I smiled, picturing Mr.sea-legs wrestling a troll.

 

[BugDozer73]

"Actually no, never trolls. But I spent years mastering water style magic. I learned a particular spell that was meant to trap things for food, like rabbits and what not. If the I was given enough time to set it up right, theoretically I could set a trap strong enough to hold a troll.. In theory." Subconsciously I let my soul open up to the vast expanses of Blue mana that resided where we stood. The closer to the sea I was, the more powerful both me and my magic became. The fact that I had slept in water had strengthened my abilities as well. "I would need to be close to a source of water though, cause a troll would require a lot of magic to restrain." 

 

[Purize]

I narrowed my eyes in thought and was silent for a moment. "Well trolls live together in haphazard camps... but they settle permanent, so they would have to be close to some source of water like a pond or a creek." I shrugged and looked at Roland. "When we look for the troll encampment, we'll have to scout for their water source and try to lure one of the trolls out to it... or simply wait for one to stray to it."

I shivered involuntarily as I thought about the task ahead. Why the hell did I put myself through jobs like this? 


At least I'd have help...

 

[BugDozer73]

I nodded. "Sounds like a plan. So I don't suppose you happen to know of any troll camps near by, do you?" 

 

[Purize]

I grinned mischievously. "Well, I'm new to this area... I am a traveler, you know... but I believe it mentioned in the job description that there's a cave near a waterfall near here were a few of them have been spotted, so we might as well start there." I did a slow 360 in place, giving the town a quick look over. "Thing is... I don't know where the waterfall would be. We might have to ask some locals."

 

[BugDozer73]

I looked around the docks and scanned over the locals. She was right. Some of these old fishermen sitting on their barrels knew every nook and cranny within a 20 mile radius of the town. "Well lets ask one." I smiled and with confidence, headed over to one particularly old and grumpy looking man.


He sat on his barrel, leaning against the wall of his shack with a reed in his mouth as he glared at passerbys.  I got within 10 feet of him before his angry eyes locked on me. 


"What'da ye want, pretty boy?" He said irritated. Great. Now too people are teasing me with the same name. Maybe one of the crew had snuck a sign on me that read "CALL ME PRETTY BOY". 


"Don't mean to bother you, but you wouldn't happen to know where we could find some trolls, do you?" 


He leaned in closer and stroked his beard, eyeing me over. "Whats a boy like yeeself doing looking for trolls?" 


"I wanna make one my pet." I said with a voice that didn't hide my irritation. This man was harping on my nerves like a practiced musician. 


"Oh, of course. Want me to make you a leash too, Kelp legs?" 


He began laughing at his own joke, so hard he began to cough violently. I stood back and eyed the bugger. What a sack of shit. For some reason I was excited this wasn't easy. 


I stepped to the side, examining a harpoon hanging on his wall. Next to it was a sharpened ax with nordic carvings etched into the steel.


"Your a weapons enthusiast?" 


He smiled proudly. "Your damn right, diapers. I have an eye for the best craftsmanship. Its my specialty." His tone was filled with pride.


"Oh really?" I said with mock surprise. I stepped back over to the scrawny old fisherman, and put my leg up onto the seat next to him and got all up in his face. 


I drew one of my new blades and leveled it over his shoulder, with the sharp edge inches from the skin on his neck. His eyes grew wide and he became very still. 


"This is my sword. Beautiful, ain't it? Its one of a kind, made from the rarest of minerals, and DEADLY sharp." I emphasized the deadly by scrapping the edge on his neck lightly, shaving off a part of his beard.

 

[Purize]

At that point I stepped in, placing a warning hand on Roland's shoulders. "I said we should ask the locals, not interrogate them." I pushed him to the side a little and shot the stranger a sweet, sympathetic smile.


"I apologize for my friend here, sir. He's still sea sick from his last voyage. We're on a quest and trying to find the nearest sighting of trolls..." I stuck out a pouty lip, "Unfortunately, we're new here and have no idea where to look... Do you happen to know where the troll cave around here may be?" I bat my eyelashes for extra effect and waited for his response.

 

[BugDozer73]

His color seemed to return to his face, and his eyes seemed to glaze over a bit as he began examining his new friend. "Why certainly my young lady. You should keep that boy of yours on a leash." He said and shot me a look. Over Verities shoulder I pointed my finger at him, and with my other hand i drew a line across my neck with my thumb. 


He stuck out his tongue at me.


"Well now, about 15miles south of here, there is a waterfall. A mile east is a small troll camp. You can follow the river right out of town, will lead you right to it." He said helpfully. fishermen are obnoxious.


"So, sweetie, whats say you and I ditch the little creep and head off to the tavern. I can tell you all about my sailing days" He said with a wink.


For some reason I drew my other sword and took a step closer.

 

[Purize]

I dipped my head to him respectively, despite the feeling of repulsion and smiled. "Thank you for the information, sir, but we should really be on our way. Fishy here can be rude, but he's still useful." I flashed Roland a wink and started to walk away in search for the waterfall.


"Come on pretty boy, we have work to do."

 

[BugDozer73]

I shot old man terapin a look of loathing before turning to Verity. "FISHY?! Cool it with the nick names, silverado." I Liked verity, and she made my heart flutter from time to time, but she knew how to push my buttons.

 

[Purize]

I couldn't hold back the giggle that escaped my lips. "What? It suits you. Besides, you'll have to come up with something better than 'silverado' to get me to stop nicknaming you." I stuck my tongue out at him in jest and started to skip along the road heading south. "Come on, if we keep a steady pace we'll be there before midday." 

 

[BugDozer73]

I grumbled to myself, sheathed my blades and walked behind her, pouting the whole way. 


It took us only 2 hours until we made it to the falls. The rain forrest around the town was beautiful, but hot and humid, and left me feeling drained. When I saw the cascading waters, I walked over and slid in, letting the refreshing liquid rejuvenate me. 


"We must be getting close" I said in between gulps. "So whats our plan of attack?"

 

[Purize]

I had long since taken off my cloak during our walk here, it was much too hot to keep it on. I sat on a nearby boulder and rested as I began to think. "Well, Trolls are attracted by noise and blood... so we can either lead them here that way or just wait for one to show up. Chances are, though, that if their camp is a mile away from here then they will come in groups to collect water, they don't go too far by themselves."


I watched a leaf float along the stream and swirl around Roland. "Once we get one here, it's all up to you to work your magic... but we can't attract more than one and we have to figure out a way to transport it back to the village to collect our reward. I could knock it out and drag it there..." I bit my lip and furrowed my eyebrows.

This mission was increasingly seeming more and more risky. 

 

[BugDozer73]

I thought about what she said. It was true about the trolls traveling in packs, and one troll would be trouble enough to capture live. If a pack were to come, we would be lucky to be alive. I thought about my magic, and how much faith Ver had put in me. She seemed to think my magic was amazing, and that hers was just a light show....


Thats it!


"Verity, I have an idea. Can you make that little ball of yours move around?" I dragged myself out of the water in excitement, shaking the reaming droplets that clung to my skin free.

 

[Purize]

I raised an eyebrow and opened my palm, allowing the cool heat of my life-force energy turn into crystallized mana that hovered in the air, it swayed from side to side like it had a mind of its own.


"I don't control it completely" I said. "It is a part of me, so it obeys my will, but I think it is sentient." I stared at the little orb dancing on my palm, it was like a familiar friend. I looked up at Roland. "But I get what you're asking. I think I can do it."


I turn to a tree and blast my mana towards it as if I were attacking a foe, but then I attempt to slow it down and control its direction, it curved a little before careening into a different tree and disappearing into a blue mist, and reappearing in my palm again. 


"I guess I'll have to work on that," I said sheepishly.

 

[BugDozer73]

I watched her ball of mana shoot out and dissipate into a tree. "You're going to have to be a bit more precise. This is not going to be easy." 


I looked over the clearing where the old coot said we would find the trolls. "If were going to draw one to the water, that might be a good choke point."


I pointed to two trees that were far enough apart to fit through, but close enough to make it hard to turn. 


"Ill set my glyph there, and you will distract a single troll with your orb and lead it to stand on the runes. Once it touches the rune, we got ourselves a troll."


I felt more confident saying the plan out loud. This could actually work. "So Ill get started setting this up, you go and sneak over to the Troll camp, make sure everything is ready. In ten minutes, I should be ready"

 

[Purize]

I stared at him for a moment, watching his enthusiasm for the job and how he carried himself. He would make a good travel partner. Quickly shaking myself from that thought, I nodded to him. "Alright, I'm counting on you." 


And with that, I crouched low and began to make my way carefully into troll territory.

 

[BugDozer73]

Damn right your counting on me. I though with a smile. I went over to the trees and focused my mana on the ground between them.


In ritual glyphs, unlike most combat magic, Words of power are chanted, or murmured, and intense concentration is required to achieve a functioning rune. For about 8 minutes I stood their with my eyes closed, speaking ancient words in low tones over and over again. The mana naturally flowing off the water behind me was sucked in and driven, forced into purpose through ancient direction and will, until I finished my spell. The ground glowed brightly with etherial lines forming 2 circles and lines of magic runes that shone with a brilliant blue light, but quickly faded, leaving the lines a very subtle charred black, nearly impossible to make out.


The trap was set, now all there was to do was sit back and wait for Verity to lure a troll over here. I wondered how her end of the mission was going.

 

[Purize]

The thing about trolls is that even though they aren't the smartest creatures, they are still incredibly strong...and brutal. Generally they kept to themselves and didn't bother people intentionally, but if you managed to stumble across their territory alone, let's just say that you'd better be a fast runner or an excellent tree climber. My last run-in with trolls had resulted similarly to the latter... so I tend to be particularly unfond of them. 


Silently, I crept through the brush, getting more and more tense the closer I got to the encampment. I was a few meters away from the cave opening when I heard them. The thing grunted and shuffled slowly about. If you didn't know better, you'd think the hulking things were slow and sluggish... but they could cover a lot of ground when enraged. 


It paced in front of the mouth of the cave, a crude looking stick in the shape of a club in it's gnarled and massive hands. Chills ran over my skin as I ducked behind the thick shrubbery and opened my palm. The wisp of light appeared, dancing back and forth as if caught in a constant push and pull of energy. I narrowed my eyes at the target and silently prayed that this would work. Then I released it.

Instead of using a burst of force and mana like I would in a fight, I eased the ball of mana off my palm and let it soar freely, but gently, into the air. I was amazed by the amount of control I had over it's direction, and felt like I'd learned a new key skill in my abilities. The wisp danced and swirled closer to the troll and when it finally noticed the wisp, it gave a startled snort. I let the wisp bob away and hover for a moment, and sure enough, the creature lumbered after it, captured in mesmerization. It's club dragged against the grass and I started to work up a sweat as I concentrated on luring the thing away towards Roland. 

But the further it got, the less control I had on my mana and I felt it getting faint and shaky. I willed it to go just a little farther, but the light of the wisp was already starting to die out. Come on, come one come onnnn.....Just a little further. 

I was afraid of moving and giving away my position, or losing my concentration on the orb, but I could just make out the two trees where Roland had set up his trap. I began to feel light-headed at the amount of effort and energy I was putting out, but it was just a little further... NOW!!!