[DMZ]Faerun RP "The Path of Gold"

[Callthecops]

Charon understood that most people felt concern for their safety, and that was why the girl had wanted to warn him of the danger of following their path. Charon however, was unconcerned with life and death, for in totality of existence, it is difficult to see the difference between the two. And the totality of existence is what the wilder concerned himself with. All Charon wished was to exist while he still lived, how he existed and what he did while alive mattered little to him, especially the pursuit of longevity.

When Glith responded to his story, Charon listened respectfully, “My clan has kept the secret of it’s location hidden since the before days. However, it is not I that has been banished. Though we follow no religion, we hold to discipline and order in the pursuit of psionic enlightenment. Some choose not to live this way, and this is a fact that our tribe accepts. They have chosen to live in exile, to live in peace and serenity, far from the temptation of emotion. To feel is the greatest fear of my kind. But I was not afraid. And so the elders allowed me to leave. All I wish to do now, is to live freely. My powers are a means of protection, nothing more.”

After the small battle between the bandits and demons, Charon returned his focus to the group as Kostvel handed him a biscuit of hardtack, “I do not require sustenance at this time, though I thank you for your kindness.” Charon said, handing the biscuit back to Kostvel. Sensing suspicion and distrust from various members of the party, Charon decided not to contribute to the conversation any further. As they discussed what to do next he simply stood quietly to the side unless somebody decided to address him.

[Kostvel]

Kostvel took the food the mercenary offered with a smile “Not really the feast you quite promised us for a fight isn't it?” he said jovially, before slipping the naked falchion blade into his belt and downing half the bottle of berry wine in a quick swig. He took a welcome bite out of the chunk of cheese, not really caring what kind of cheese it was or where it was from. He never really was interested in the details of most food, as long as it tasted good. Maika approached, and he knew what she wanted before she even asked, but ti didn't bother him to split what he had. As far as he was concerned she was a better party member than the other two newcomers, and he would rather she have enough strength to contribute to the group and keep herself alive. That said, he didn't find the mercenary fellow too bad, but the mask thing creeper him out. It was as if he was one of those executioners from his homeland who constantly wore a mask on all their travels, although this was almost instantly discarded as he didn't bear the ceremonial beheading sword used by such.

Unwrapping the roasted duck, he tore it in half, and handed the rest of the cheese, and wine over along with half the duck over to Maika. “Don't worry about it.” he said in response to her. Quietly Kostvel listened to the talk between Glith and the newest of the group, Charon. Kostvel had the deepest mistrust of Charon, as his abilities were the most unsettling of the ones he had come across. Kostvel had no real problem with magic, both dark and light, but the ability to mess with someones head and mind was another matter entirely. He wished he still had his helm, although he doubted that would do all that much. He found the Charon's comment that his powers were for 'protection only' even more suspicious. He had heard time and time again, those with power who only wished to exercise it 'for good' or 'for people/their own protection' before doing the exact opposite.

Brooding on such, Kostvel was a little slow on the uptake as the man handed him back his hardtack biscuit back, and he kept silent. He doesn't even speak like normal people. He doesn't 'require sustenance at this time'? What kind of language is that? He could have just said “I'm not hungry” Kostvel thought as he tucked away the biscuit back in it's pouch.

“Well, we might as well leave now, it's not like we've had much luck doing anything else in this area, so I don't really feel like settling here for any amount of time.” Kostvel said in reply to Glith. As it stood, he was sure things would be winding down and most of the demon patrols would have stopped hunting stragglers and returned to wherever they came from or the destroyed city.

[Mortis Rex]

Amaranth took the time to take stock of his personal items as well as some he managed to take from the caravan. While he was loading and unloading the carts, Amaranth managed to snatch a small satchel of an alchemist's corpse. So far the only truly useful items he found included some food, a small bag of metallic rocks, a metal wand, and what appeared to be a journal. The mercenary tried to open the leather bound book, but found that his fingers began going numb as they touched the cover. He realized then that he couldn't command them to do anything until he pulled them from the cover. Instantly he had full use of his fingers. Amaranth used the magical properties of his gauntlet to disarm the minor enchantment. He then opened the book to find that it was blank. Shaking his head he handed the book to the skeleton. "Maybe you can make sense of it," he said turning away towards the rest of the group.

"We'll need to move with the utmost stealth. Meaning we'll not only have to conceal our movements, but we'll have to conceal any magical aura or presence we give off. Demons are innately adept magic weavers and they can pick up on powerful magic easily." He looked at his own gauntlet and then back at the skeleton. Chances were that there were other demons outside of the city relaying information to those inside via telepathy. Even if they were no where near the city, the chances of their presence being known to the demons in the city were high.

"It's obvious the demons have patrols farther outside of the city, that would explain why they weren't surprised by the bandits' attack. I vote that we find a way to divert their attention so we can escape."

[PlatinumSkink]

The girl accepted the wine, cheese and half a duck with withheld eagerness. It had been a while since she had eaten, after all. Quite a long while, in fact. She couldn’t remember it.

‘Thank you.’ She chimed with a smile despite Kostvel’s words. The words of thanks were both to Kostvel and to the Masked Mercenary who had come with the food. With that, she took a few steps away, sat down, and with the lack of culinary equipment started eating silently using her hands. It tasted… very good. The duck was delicious. The wine was positively wondrous. The cheese was next to heavenly. And Maika had no idea if this was normal or even below standard, and for the moment it didn’t matter to her at all. This was good. She almost missed that they were speaking of leaving over there.

She silently finished up, wondering slightly if she should have saved some of it for later, and stood up again. Geesh, that was good. Alright, then. Now what was it they were talking about? Oh, yes. There was a chance of them being found if they stayed here. They truly had randomly walked into a demon-cage. Just great. In that case, she would have to inform them of the skills available to her. Even though the effect of using that spell wasn’t gone by any means, she should now be able to act again relatively unimpaired.

‘If there is a chance of being discovered, I agree we should leave as soon as we have a chance to, even if we have to wait a bit for the chance to arise. … I have abilities and training which assist me in stealth. Should it be needed, I can scout or do other things with greater chance of getting away safely than you guys, I’d wager.’ … Though, she’d still rather not act like a diversion. Oh, well. With a quest like this, a few mortal perils here and there should be within the range of expectance. She looked around the surroundings one more time, checking where any remaining or approaching demons might be. After a moments gazing, she looked back at Glith with a small smile. ‘So, if we’re going somewhere, where to? Our ultimate destination or somewhere else? As in what immediate direction?’

[DMZ]

Glith took the journal the mercenary handed to him and carefully studied the cover for a few minutes before opening it. Looking at the empty pages, all he could feel were the remains of some magic, probably the one the masked merc had just removed. The undead couldn't do anything with it.
"Where'd you find this? Seems rather odd for a journal to be empty," pondered the undead before facing Charon: "Hey Charon. You're a mental magician, right? Can you make anything of this odd journal? All empty, but some magic still clinging to the pages. Mayhap your magical prowess can reveal something I can't." As he handed the book to Charon, Glith silently cast a spell that sort of measured the magical flows around him. The intent was to measure and gauge how much potential was exactly in that mysterious head. Whether he'd be a threat to the ritual or not would depends on that. After all, the man declined food, and by his looks he wasn't one to go long without it.

Kostvel had made clear he wanted to leave and the mask suggested they'd find some way to divert the attention from them.
"Why don't you and Kostvel think up of a way to distract them then? Kostvel's a soldier, knows battle tactics. You're a mercenary with undoubtedly some demon fighting experience. Maika here seems to want to leave us rather soon, so she might be of use, too. We have magic to use if needed, now just a plan," said Glith.

"Meanwhile, anyone has any suggestions on how to get north? On foot this is going to take a few weeks by my guess. My planning didn't exactly include avoiding demons infesting a city. Neither did it involve us landing in Delhumide, of course, " chuckled the undead. The encounter in the castle obviously wasn't incidental and losing two members there couldn't have meant anything but bad news. Glith tried to hide the fact that he knew all too well why they landed in the castle. He looked at Maika, who was smiling with one of the creepiest smiles a girl of her age could have. If the knight could shiver, he would've.

"Well, the goal is to reach Soulblood up north, where you can feast upon the riches and I can do what I need to do. I'll wait for some input on transportation ideas, but otherwise we're going on foot, which is going to take quite some time. And while we're here, mayhap you'd like to tell me who you really are, Maika?" grinned the undead with the most devious of smiles.

"You didn't think I believed when you made up that story back at the castle, did you?"