Hack & Slash Em IC

[Izaka Sazaka]

Izaka wasted no time, quickly situating himself in the rear of one of the wagons, his back propped up against the wooded siding, sheathed blade resting between his legs, arms hanging off the pummel and the bottom of the hand-guard. He was no stranger to the long hours and even days of waiting the often preceded the mere minutes and possibly even seconds it took to dispatch a group of enemies. Such was the life of a hunter; the reward was always worth the cost. Flipping out one of his various knives, the halfling set it to his whet stone, working diligently to sharpen the by now rather dulled instrument. In a few minutes the caravan would move out and they'd be that much closer to tracking their prey.

[Lucius Cypher]

It was time to move, it seemed. The unofficially leader of the group, Cael, announced that they would be traveling with the caravan. They would be moving quickly to make sure they catch up with the hobgoblins. But as they left, Cael went off to speak to the to the woman who had commented on Twinblades appearance. Veritas said nothing about it, knowing fully well it would have happened. Doing one last inventory check, Vertias walked a bit ahead of the caravan; being one of the larger and sturdy members of the group (or so he thinks), if there was an ambush ahead, he would be the first to know. And hopefully survive it too. Either way, he at least knew, generally, where he was heading; back to the rock formation he calls Dragon Claw. If there was any place for them to start looking for the hobgoblins, it would be there. Veritas may not be the beast of trackers, but living in the Darkwood Forest has taught him how to hunt down prey, even ones that he hasn't yet fought.

As the lumbering beast took point, his mind occasionally delved into more visions. Different visions, but some kept flashing in his mind's eye. One image depicted two female humans; one with red hair in a green dress, and another a smaller one, with strange wings. the vision was one of the more occurring images in his mind, but unlike the other visions, he heard voices as well. He could not comprehend what was happening, but something in his mind made him remember the words...

"Young mistress, a good girl shouldn't cry!!" This one came from the girl in the green dress. She was wounded everywhere, cuts along her body. "Young mistress, don't do it, you will get blood on yourself if you touch me... That's right, go ask... To make something!" Veritas could not hear the names. All he saw was images, so he wasn't sure if they were saying anything; these memories were getting confusing for him. "Something delicious... Yes, I wonder what is good enough?... There are too much choices I cannot think of one;" It was odd seeing these pictures and listening to this voice. The woman in the pictures was in pain, as the smaller one continued to cling onto the woman in green. Then he realized that the smaller girl was hurting the woman in green. "Ah! If you keep crying, you will be laughed by Mistress, you know!?... So it is useless, eh?" The images began to change. Slowly, painfully, he saw the women in green push the girl away, gently, but firmly. The woman in green continued to bleed, and seemed to bleed more the girl was pushed away. "Ehem... Y- Young mistress!? If you keep on crying, I will hate you, you know!?" something about these words seem false. The woman in green obviously didn't mean them, and neither he nor the little girl believed in them. "... I beg of you, please don't cry so much to the point of breathless, I don't want to see such face... Young mistress, I am right here. Right now, I am holding you, so will you please stop crying? Can you wipe away those tears and smile as always?... Young mistress, Meiling is right here." None of this made sense. Who were these two? Who is Meiling? What was going on? And then something hit Veritas in the face.

[Cerius]

"Oh!"

Lyra's head rose smoothly at the nearby exclamation, and she turned to investigate the source. A rather pretty woman, in a dusky red cloak. Lyra looked over the woman with something close to disdain; which wasn't any fault on the woman's part, but more as per Lyra's character, and resumed observing the merchant caravans that had been waiting around for the past few minutes. The other party members had emerged from the tavern gradually, and it was about time. Lyra tossed a fringe of hair out of her eye to get a better view. Izaka, it seemed, was eager to leave as he had already taken his place amongst a caravan, while everyone else was gathered here and there.

Little to no notice was taken as the woman in the red cloak took a seat on the porch, not far from Lyra, who continued to crack her knuckles and flex her fingers in sheer anticipation of the upcoming, and inevitable, bloodshed. It was only when the remark, "Nice suit," was made, that Lyra smirked. She knew remarks like that were bound to show up, as even she understood that in the current setting, her attire was a little... revealing, lacking. She did it on purpose. It was why she chose the thinnest, breeziest cloak she could find to clasp around her neck, as it would offer practically no extra coverage. 'Perfection is an exhibit to be put on display.' Was Lyra's thought, before she turned her head to face the woman in the red cloak. "Save it. I would enquire after your name, but it would probably bore me as so many others do. So I won't bother. I do suppose you're tagging along?" Discretion and first impressions had much more different meanings to her than they did to other people. Lyra waited but a second for an answer, and then she stood, and after a quick brush-off of the back of her flowing blue cloak, headed over to the merchant caravans to prepare for departure.

[DangerClose]

The elven woman noted the other human girl talking to Cael. It appeared to be the same person who had commented on the thief's clothing just a few minutes ago. As Sera walked to one of the wagons, she noticed that the Grey Creature had made it's way to the front of the convoy. Perhaps to act as guard, perhaps to just clear any ambushes, or maybe just to enjoy the sights (though she highly doubted that). The ranger approached the owner of the wagon, a small dwarven man, and put on her most friendly face despite her rather annoyed attitude. Sera did a small curtsy and politely asked if she could ride in the back of the dwarf's wagon. She explained that she was going to hunt down the goblins that had been infesting the nearby lands. After she had finished, the dwarf nodded in understanding and agreed. And with that, Sera crawled into the back of the wagon, slipped her bow off of her shoulder and propped it up next to her.

[jimi]

Cael surveys the group to make sure everyone is there. Then, he hops into the first wagon - at the head of the caravan - and takes a seat. He glances around and spots the gnome (whom he'd conversed with earlier in the morning) watching from a distance. The short little man gestures to his eyes, reminding Cael to retrieve the spectacles. The elf cracks a half-smile and nods before one of the merchants quietly confronts him, "Sir? We must be going very soon." Cael motions with his hand, "Please, let's get this convoy moving." The merchant returns to the front of the wagon and takes the reins. A group of horses gradually begin to move forward, pulling the first wagon behind them. Two other groups of horses follow behind, with the rest of the caravan. Thus, their adventure into the hills begins.

[Nyxella]

[Morning One: Vallenwood - Area #11]

If those two words were interpreted as a judgemental jeer, it was unintentional. Karista hummed an amused chuckle as the woman excused herself. Her reply was refreshing, but it left Karista curious about the opening endeavour that rushed her off the porch. Brows pinched, her lips puckered slightly to withhold tentative questions about the remark. Like an inquisitive cat, her half-lidded stare followed the woman until she was beyond her border of sight, revealing others in the growing congregation.

One in particular stuck out like an iron blade amongst the grass, 'it' had garnered interest from other citizens, too, but not the kind of wonderment she had been struck with. Thankfully, they seemed to ease away once the creature neared the caravans, perhaps comforted by the knowledge that it would be leaving their town or ripening up to reason the ill fate that would become of them should they pounce. She almost shook her head at their small-mindedness, the creature was peculiar but its mannerisms were placid, content to sit and await the launch of whatever quest the other woman had alluded to. The wagon tipped under its weight, bolstering her suspicion of a metal or mineral based bio-structure. Never had she seen such a marvel. Immediately, she felt drawn to it, wanting to explore its origins; were they magical or a miracle of nature?

Twice, a heavy thud rattled across the wooden planks supporting her weight, bouncing it with unnatural buoyancy. The shock pulled her focus back to investigate the porch, she looked down instinctively and, once assured it wasn't going to collapse, her gaze turned over a shoulder to find not one but two inn patrons making an exit. The obvious rules of physics ruled out the dwarf, although he did appear heavy-footed in his own right, and directed her attentions to the hulking man-mountain. An admiring glint gave her green eyes a lighter shade than normal. She watched the two engage in conversation and learned of his aversion for magic; coupling that fact with his armour and the bladed monument holstered onto his back, she deduced his function easily. The exchange also yielded some insight into the ginger-beard's ability; his offering suggested a form of magic attained through, and perhaps in cooperation with, mechanical devices if his attire was anything to venture a guess on. The concept was far too over-complicated and relied on the combination and careful crafting of artificial components, rather than innate, primal instinct.

A voice addressed the side of her face, prompting her to look forward. At first, she thought of hedges and moving trees, then she saw the wooden contrast of a bow and studied the face hidden beneath the verdant façade. A forest ranger - an elven one at that - spoke unto the gathering and Karista noted the attentive silence that immediately fell upon them. They were on a mission, she surmised; the pursuit of a band of hobgoblins deemed urgent enough to demand haste. For what reason, she was not curious enough to care. Karista had encountered hobgoblins before, they were disgusting muck-dwellers who balanced their beliefs on carnage and animalistic wants. The Verdant One moved towards her and asked after her intentions, impressing the young woman with his polished etiquette and speech. A delighted smile parted her features, but she was reluctant to answer right away and watched him board the front cart.

Frivolous chatter hung in the air as the drivers assessed their caravans and positioned themselves behind their steeds, casually passing around the general details of their travel path through the Dragonspine Hills. The wagons were well fortified and exuded comfort and class, compared to the Ox-drawn slop-box she came in. Still hinged between whether to join or not, it took the reappearance of her original travelling party to seal away any lingering doubts. She approached a straggling driver still bolting his cart and rapped two knuckles on his shoulder, "Be a dear?" She gave a fluid nod at the interior and thanked him once he'd hoisted her onto the lip, "You're a real gentleman, you know that? Strong too, we're in good hands." A look to the side for reinforcement revealed another hooded individual. "Don't you agree?" Karista raised her brows in jest. The drooping cowl did little to hide the long tresses of strung copper laid over the woman's shoulders. She was certainly easy on the eye, but her downcast gaze pervaded her demeanour with a repressed, maybe even shy, aura. It would be an interesting ride through the hills, and Karista was eternally grateful to be free from the foul odours of unwashed men and oxen; but especially since she was along for the journey more so than the reason for it.

[Lucius Cypher]

Damn trees. Sedentary things, but with the annoying tendency to be in the way. Veritas continued on the path set before them, though he would sometimes go off the road to make sure they were heading in the general direction of the Dragon Claw rock formation. They were making good time, but he was a bit worried that they would find trouble before they make it to the Dragon Claw rock. From his vantage point, he could see foot prints on the ground heading towards the forest area, man sized prints. It could have just been a previous traveler taking his business into the woods, but Veritas thinks it's bandits. Hope for the best, prepare for the worse. He looked around for some big rocks; being that he didn't use weapons often and there for carried nothing for range combat, he relied mostly on throwing things. He's actually gotten better at throwing things, and would say he's the best at throwing things amongst the other Homunculus. But he's also the only one who's the closest to anything sentient, so he had an unfair advantage. Eventually he found himself a couple armfuls of rather large size rocks, as big as his head, which would be more then enough to crack skulls at volatile speeds.

But as Veritas collected rocks, he also found the corpse of a moose. This was strange. The moose was obviously butcher, if haphazardly. So this was no mere beast that killed the moose, but someone with the ability to carve meat. But why not all of it? There was still plenty left... He smelled the corpse. It was a few days old. Strange indeed; something would have eaten this creature by now. Wild animals or birds or even bugs. But the body was not only a few days old, but still mostly in good condition. What sort of anomaly would allow this? Veritas didn't know, nor cared too much. Free moose was free moose.

Karnage filled his crate with bits of moose, it's bones, and rocks. He had crudely skinned the creature (Veritas has no idea how to properly skin an animal, and resulted in simply tearing the skin off it's flesh) to construct a leather cord. Another anomaly he picked up since his creator had sent him off was his tendency to fiddle with things. Usually things he's killed. He once made a man's mouth move after he stuck his hand through the man's severed neck, and made ti emulate speaking. He also tried to wear human hair, but this endeavor proved to be awkward with his body; the hair kept falling out of the skull, making it difficult for Veritas to keep a full mane. Anyways, point is, as they crew was traveling closer to Dragon's rock, Veritas was making crude constructions of things with rocks, bone, and a bit of rope.