Sorry this is taking so long. I'm having a little PC trouble.

I'ts fixed.

And so, the tale begins. . . People are afraid. Their children have gone missing in the hardy country of Norsland. Mostly children who were almost in their teens, but no one knew if their other children were safe. For what nefarious reason are the children of the honest, hard working folk of Norsland disappearing, and what do we have to fear for their fate?

Sherlock, the greatest hunter and tracker of the entire land, a most peculiarly named woman known for being strong, and intelligent, gifted in magic and quite good at archery was enjoying a nice rest in her Hunting Lodge when suddenly, she heard voices. One was her Mother, Marsha, and a soldier. The soldier ran inside. "The King requires an audience with you. He says it is very urgent and there is no time to waste." Well, first Sherlock gathered a couple of herbs in her modest Hut and bid her Mother farewell. "So, Sherlock, you wrote to the King and asked to investigate the missing children. You always were the type who bit off more than she could chew. Be careful, and take care. Oh, and if you should come across a Beast Totem, remember to trade it in at a Totem Market."

Marsha always did love her Totems. She smiled as she saw her daughter run off towards the castle up yonder. Running off to the Castle, she made it to the city of Stromholm before dark. A city guard ran up to her. "Glad you could make it so fast. The King says it's urgent." Sherlock almost rolled her eyes. She petitioned the King to do this, why was it urgent? Whatever. Oh, she remembered. The King didn't want the Mercenaries back at the Barracks to be made to wait for too long. She immediately ran to the Castle. She was led by a Castle servant to the Throne Room."



This was worse than even Sherlock thought. The kidnappers didn't just take children from Kaybee and Stromholm, they were taking people's children away as far north as Helminsk? "Damn. I"m going to have to travel the entire country!" The King interjected her thoughts, which were almost audible, but not quite. "It will be dangerous for you to go alone, even though you are the Kingdom's most valued asset in this catastrophe. Three Mercenaries have been chosen above all the other volunteers as the most fitting for the job to be your Attendants. You will find them at the Barracks, perhaps eating or drinking whatever takes to their fancy. You are an hour late Sherlock. . . " The King said annoyingly.

However, the King's mentor, whispered in his right ear, and the King was blushing. . . "Ah, yes we'll get those clocks fixed." He looked to Sherlock apologetically with a sheepish expression. "Well go already"! He commanded. Since Sherlock was intelligent, and not stupid, she ran like a bat out of hell from the King's presence. She soon found the barracks after asking for directions from the city guard's. When she opened the door, it wasn't what she expected. The place was clean, with a large eating area, two clerks, one who legally changed people's names and another who signed the official papers of service to the King for their mercenary service. Drakel was the first to take notice of Sherlocks' presence.

"Well, if it isn't the greatest Huntress in the land!" Drakel exclaimed. "I am Drakel, the Wizard. Barioth, the Werewolf, and Broby Dark, the Paladin are also here." He looks to the far end of the room and brings them to her presence. Drakel looked to Barioth. "Okay, it's time to explain to her what we can do. Barioth. . . ?"
Barioth smiled. "I am a mighty warrior. . . Fearsome with my axe, and my muscles. But when I wish it, I can transform into a wolf, and heal from wounds that leave their mark on my body. Brodark steps forward. "Despite my ironic name, I fight for the light. I am the Dark's worst enemy, and I bring life to my friends. I fight well, and I can restore broken bodies." Finally Drakel nods. "I, of course, am a Wizard. Wizards are specialists in Black Magic. Black Magic does damage to the enemy, and is typically of the fire, ice, lightning, earth and magic variety." Sherlock nodded. She wasn't a specialist in magic like most warriors. She might have made an excellent Black Knight or Paladin, but people remarked that if she could take advantage of her shear versatility in battle, and combine it with her hunting skills such as he use with the bow, she could be a force to be reckoned with.

I like Barbarian-Werewolf Barioth. +1

Looks good act. Can't wait for the next part. :)

Someone has to do it in Rilla's absence.

Toilet Paper the Black Knight yo.

Someone needs to take the place of the Female Magus of Chapter 2: *Potentially the most powerful character in the game*

Nat: Harlequin Girl
Beatrix: Female Druid
TP: Dark Knight

Before we explore the area around the town, there's a hidden area in town where we can level up. We can also pick up a quest in town before we set out on the quest. It involves clearing the mines of demonic imps. If we clear out the mines we will be rewarded handsomely by a merchant.

This looks great, Act. Fun to read through. ^_^

Just a moment and we'll continue.

And so, the heroes decided to spend some of their coin on arming themselves from a merchant's shop in the center of the town of Stromhold. It didn't go as planned. All of them were nearly broke. A handful of gold coins was a little more than enough to sustain the population's citizens most of the time, even after taxes, but with the group's one hundred and twenty coins between them all, they couldn't afford to fully arm and protect even one of them. Sherlock sighed. "It isn't safe for us to even start the investigation." She lamented. Drakel agreed. "Barioth should be more than armed just with some kind of metal covering his fist for battle. I can sling fire spells, and you, my dear lady, can kill with that simple oaken club. Unfortunately, Brodark here has angered The Light somehow. He can no longer use magic, and he has nothing but the clothe's on his back. We bought this bronze sword for him, but he still has no protection. Unlike you he can't dodge an enemy's assault like they were turtles crawling towards you."

Brodark interjected. . . "Well, The Light has told me in order to acquire my healing power back, I have to go outside the village and slay some of the local beasts. They are dangerous enough that killing them will protect the townsfolk, and they are weak enough that challenging them shouldn't be fatal to professionals like us even though I'm not exactly armed to the teeth" Sherlock nodded. "We need money anyway. We can sell their pelts for gold and make enough to arm the rest of us, and you. We needed to anyway. Um. . . If I may ask, what did you do to anger The Light?" Sherlock asked curiously. Brodark shrugged, as if he didn't know, but then he spoke, "Too much pre-marital intimacy."

The group wandered around for hours. . . rabbits the size of dogs attacked the group. . . large, feral bears seemed to join the group of savage beasts on the prowl. Most odd fro them to be working together. Brodark dodged an incoming bite from one of the rabbit monsters. . . and promptly sliced off it's head. Sherlock clobbered the bear on it's thick skull hard, but she only managed to stun it. Before Drakel could cast a spell, another rabbit monster lunged onto him, and attempted to maul the Wizard. Drakel promptly gave a surprising punch to the rabbit's neck as it arched it's neck back to take a bit out of him. The blow hit with enough impact that it knocked the over sized varmant twenty feet backwards in the air, distracting the bear.

Sherlock clubbed it again, this time finally crushing it's skull, and so it died. But there were still more of those giant rabbits. Drakel promptly waved his hand, a stream of fire burned one of the offending creature's head off. Borioth, meantime, had just beaten an unseen bear to death his metallic covered hand, by pulverizing it, and then twisting it's head until the beast's neck was broken. The warriors looked at each other for a job well done, as Brodark finished the last rabbid rabbit with a sword stroke across it's lunging chest.

Mmmkay. . . in a little bit I'll keep going. We may have to level up a little bit more than usual since we only have a Paladin and no Druid.

Tomorrow, for real. I had some stuff today.

kk

ActRaiserTheReturned said
-snip-

WOOT!!! I'm bein a bad ass with me wizard ninja rabit killin skillz and fireballs O steel!!!

lol get rekt bear-nerd

gg no re bitch

"Um. . . " Brodark said behind Sherlock's back as they were eating at the Inn. "I'm surprised the King let us investigate over all the other competent warriors and magicians. We're all amnesiacs. Except me, and I've lost all of my Paladin powers. I've only managed to retrieve a simple healing spell from slaughtering the surrounding monsters in the countryside to keep the town safe. Drakel said it was a miracle that he even learned his most basic fire spell, and Barioth. . . well, he's as strong as an ox, but even he is out shined by the other mercenary's equipment and experience." Drakel interrupted as Brodark spoke.

"It's because of the War Of Terror. The King is gathering his warriors together to send the most powerful and competent to Cadan, well to the East of us. We're good for an investigative team. Sherlock is an excellent Huntress, Barioth is back up muscle, and now that Brodark has remembered his healing power, it's clear to me the King sent us out not for our physical intimidation factor, but for the mere fact that that we're ready for a variety of situations. Oh, and I just remembered. Last night at the Inn, I managed to teach Sherlock her first fire spell. It seems she has memory issues as well. Not quite amnesia, she's just very out of practice. She prefers to club animals over the head or shoot them."



"We still don't have enough equipment, and not enough medicine to travel safely through to Helminsk." Drakel stated. Finally, Sherlock walked over to the room where the four adventurers were sleeping. "I've got a request from a woman to clear her basement of rats." They raised their eyebrows. "Rats? Well, is she paying for it?" They asked.

"Yes. She says she barely escaped with her life." Moments later, the group entered her house. . . they entered the basement, pulled a switch and investigated the wealthy woman's underground storage. These rats were the size of large dogs. . . Brodark drew his bronze sword, Sherlock drew her club, Borioth readied his brass knuckle, and Drakel readied a fire spell. They must have killed around twenty giant rats in a few minutes. Unfortunately, Sherlock was bitten by one of the beasts. She had to be taken to the Church and cleaned of her poison.

The payment was good enough that the group were soon equipped with both enough bodily protection and weapons, in addition to medicine, that they could explore the mines to the South, and take the payment from the Merchant they were offered.

Anyone enjoying? :D

This should become a Webcomic. It's got amazing writing and if it was paced slower it could do a mini-chapter each quest.

But it requires art to do webcomics...

Hrmm.

Anyways, it's amazing so far.

This is amazing :D

I like this... and I agree with broby that it might make an interesting webcomic but in all honesty I'd rather this be this way. :)

Tis is good act.

You're doing good.