After hearing rest, the high elf collapsed on the ground. Creating so many shields for everyone drained him, even if he was a high elf, facing against a archangel's attacks is nothing if almost impossible to block against. "I'm sorry, milady, but I'm drained of energy, I can't even stand anymore..."

Everyone else was tired, but nothing they couldn't handle, the orc and the gnoll went hunting briefly, finding a large elk roaming the areas while the rest made a fire and rested around it. The high elf had fallen asleep minutes after he had spoken. Even if they were the best the Human Kingdom had to offer, it doesn't mean they weren't affected by exhaustion, hunger or anything like that.

Maryvale began organizing sleep schedules for everyone but the elf and Anna... if that was her name, which was already making a number of things confusing. Maryvale herself wasn't all that affected by exhaustion. Although it didn't heal her stamina, the fact that she didn't need to waste energy on healing her physical state was certainly a plus for her. As a result, she also got less tired, and as such put her own night shift down for the longest time, during the middle of the night.

Feeling inquisitive, she calls the rookie over for some information. Once there, she tells him to take a seat with her, not accepting him to stand, short of a broken tail bone. Then, she tells him what she wants.

"I'd like you to get to know Anna -- the child, whatever her name is -- a little better. She seems to trust you the most and I feel if I questioned her I'd scare her half to death. Also, I don't want..." She mutters something under her breath, in a voice so quiet it's barely audible save for the word "cry", but she immediately shakes her head. "Never mind. Just get to know her more, and give her a sense of security. Something tells me she may be more useful than she looks. When it's lights out for everyone, give me a report on what you've learned. Any questions?"

@Claw2k11
Connor nods, grabbing one of the blades in the room that looked powerful. "We'll stay here until those farkers are gone, or at least until we think they're gone."

<Snipped quote by iotas>

And he meets both of them and they both had a smile on their faces. When they saw Colmaz, Garas came to him and said.

"Lord Morias is sending an entire army to take down the dragon since it woke up before we arrived. He however assured us that the troops will give us Soulstealer should they find the sword on Sssalivan... you seem a bit nervous, what happened?"

Colmaz filled them in on Sssvalian's deal. "So... What do you think? I'd obviously not prefer to be a servant to a terrifying elder dragon, but I'd like to get your opinions first."

<Snipped quote by Claw2k11>
Colmaz filled them in on Sssvalian's deal. "So... What do you think? I'd obviously not prefer to be a servant to a terrifying elder dragon, but I'd like to get your opinions first."

Garas and the water priestess seemed to think it over. "Well, I can't deny that Sssalivan is powerful beyond measure, the human army that Lord Morias will send will probably be killed without our or the garrison's help..." he says considering it. "I think... we should join the winning side(Sssalivan)." Garas says, slightly afraid.

The Water Priestess simply sighed and said. "I'll do whatever you guys want to do..."

@Claw2k11
Connor nods, grabbing one of the blades in the room that looked powerful. "We'll stay here until those farkers are gone, or at least until we think they're gone."

He grabbed a blood red sword, brimming with some sort of energy. "That sword seems... familliar." the high elf says lightly touching the sword. "I swear I've seen it before."

"Boss, don't want to interrupt your bonding, but after we get out of here, what do we do then?"

@Claw2k11
"We head out to find the most powerful blade... Then we raise all hell." Connor replies, swinging his new sword around to get used to it, careful not to hit anyone. He would still keep his old sword, but the red one would serve as a nice backup weapon. He then puts it in an extra sheath (that he magically has) on his back.

@Claw2k11
"We head out to find the most powerful blade... Then we raise all hell." Connor replies, swinging his new sword around to get used to it, careful not to hit anyone. He would still keep his old sword, but the red one would serve as a nice backup weapon. He then puts it in an extra sheath (that he magically has) on his back.

"That would be... Darkstalker, I think?" The girl ponders to herself, though everyone seems cautious of the red energy his sword left as he swung. "But don't expect it to be easy... That blade is guarded by Death's best friend. There's no way we could take that on!"

@Claw2k11

Iosef raises a brow.

"Hello? In need of a portal to get back to the town?"

Once she does make one, he jumps through it.

The girl sighs, conjuring the portal. "Fine." She replies simply, and as they jump through, they find themselves back in town - more specifically a back alley so they aren't spotted, just in case.

"And now we're baaaaaack~!" Sings the jester with a maniacal chuckle, though settles himself quickly. "And with this little trinket in tow! Ooh, today is my lucky day!"

@Delta44

"To the temple we go then."

Iosef places Earthrent in the scabbard of where the night elf blade would have been, and starts walking.

@Delta44
"More people." Connor says, not really clarifying what he means at first before exclaiming: "We need more people! We'll gather up an army of mercenaries, travelers, adventurers, vagabonds, warriors and just anyone else, and we go get that sword! Now, we need to fight our way out of the shite storm of bandits out there and go find more people." With that, Connor turned towards the door that led into the main room (which has a shitload of bandits that Connor hired to go in, only for them to start a riot) and swinging the red sword at the largest group.

@Delta44

"To the temple we go then."

Iosef places Earthrent in the scabbard of where the night elf blade would have been, and starts walking.

The trip to the temple is rather uneventful, and pretty soon they find themselves at the front entrance, the temple walls towering above just as it always has. "And back at the temple we are~!" Grins the jester with a rather exaggerated yet stupid little dance, as though arriving in itself were some kind of victory.

@Delta44
"More people." Connor says, not really clarifying what he means at first before exclaiming: "We need more people! We'll gather up an army of mercenaries, travelers, adventurers, vagabonds, warriors and just anyone else, and we go get that sword! Now, we need to fight our way out of the shite storm of bandits out there and go find more people." With that, Connor turned towards the door that led into the main room (which has a shitload of bandits that Connor hired to go in, only for them to start a riot) and swinging the red sword at the largest group.

Their small company looks about ready to question how exactly he was going to follow through with this plan of his, but before any of them could speak up, he was gone. With sighs all around, they follow closely behind, though are once again taken aback as Connor swung his sword...

It seems the more force used to swing the sword, the more intense the red air-slashes become, for as soon as he takes that first swing, there is a line of dead enemies laying at his feet, sprawled from one end of the room to the other. The group he swung at was decimated in three precise slashes, and it seems the immense destructive power of the sword brought the whole fiasco to a grinding halt.

@Delta44

Iosef then started to look for the horse, a bit eager to try and evade his supposedly predicted fate about desert gnolls, or meet said fate.

Their small company looks about ready to question how exactly he was going to follow through with this plan of his, but before any of them could speak up, he was gone. With sighs all around, they follow closely behind, though are once again taken aback as Connor swung his sword...

It seems the more force used to swing the sword, the more intense the red air-slashes become, for as soon as he takes that first swing, there is a line of dead enemies laying at his feet, sprawled from one end of the room to the other. The group he swung at was decimated in three precise slashes, and it seems the immense destructive power of the sword brought the whole fiasco to a grinding halt.

Connor takes a second to look back at his group, before saying: "I like this sword." Then, he turns back around and attacks any remaining bandits.

@Delta44

Iosef then started to look for the horse, a bit eager to try and evade his supposedly predicted fate about desert gnolls, or meet said fate.

His horse was, thankfully, OK, being in same place he left it. However, the poor beast seems to be rather distressed, as though sensing some unseen presence.

"The gnolls... It can sense them..." The girl remarks with a slight gulp. "They're close... I can almost feel them..."

(Btw does this girl and the jester have names yet? XD also do they have any notable equipment/abilities?)

<Snipped quote by Delta44>

Connor takes a second to look back at his group, before saying: "I like this sword." Then, he turns back around and attacks any remaining bandits.

His swings slice through the bandits like a knife through hot butter, cutting in arcs of red light that cut through almost everything in his path, save for stone (thankfully). The bandits begin a retreat, though with so many trying to escape from the same exit, it's basically like shooting fish in a very narrow barrel. Some of the bandits try to turn around and fight, but pretty soon they find themselves cut in half too...

(The Jester is supposed to be some powerful spirit or something of the like, and the girl has no name, since she's just a side character. Add to them as you will.)

Iosef walks over to horse, and whispers in its ear a few comforting words, not that it would understand. Still, he hoped the gesture of a good neck rub would calm it down somewhat.

@Delta44
Amidst the blood, guts and chaos, one sound is audible: the sound of Connor's childish laugh as he cuts through the bandits, leaving not a trace that they ever existed... Unless you count their blood and entrails as traces that they existed.

@BytheSpleen

The neck rub calms the horse down considerably, and, with the addition of the girl tending to his horse too, it becomes stable once more.

However, it seems there wasn't much time to get all mushy with their horses, as just over a desert sand dune they could make out what looks to be a massive shadow, though the sounds that were coming from said shadow and the speed in which it was moving made it clear: this was an army. An army of Gnolls.

@Simple Unicycle

Pretty soon, there is nothing but the blood and gore left over from the massacre caused by Connor, the whole floor being a mushy red of blood and human body parts, both inside and out. Not a bandit is left to roam, unless they somehow managed to hide - though with all the slashing it was extremely unlikely.

He could hear the girl from his party vomit, and one of the twins looked rather disgusted at the sight, though the orc merely grunted and the other twin comforted his brother.

"I suppose we're getting out of here now?" Says the orc, arms folded. "You could've at least let me have one..."

(Btw does anyone in your party have any significant equipment/abilities? And do they have names?)

@Delta44
(You know how Claw is, doesn't do names... I'm guessing the twins might act as the comic relief while the orc is just a dude who uses brute force [you could try to work in that he's much wiser than regular orcs, considering that, when the fighting broke out, one of the humans in Connor's original party tried to kill him and the orc stayed loyal... Or something] and the elf chick is a mage/healer. Give 'em any names you want. Also, was the word 'stable' in your reply to BytheSpleen's post a pun? It seems like a pun)

Connor grins at the orc. "Sorry pal, got a little... Carried away with myself, I suppose. If something like this can deal this much damage, I can only wonder how awesome the power of Darkstalker is..." His grin turns into a wicked smile, before Connor stops smiling altogether. "Come along now." With that, he walks out and holsters his sword, whistling a happy tune.

@Delta44
(You know how Claw is, doesn't do names... I'm guessing the twins might act as the comic relief while the orc is just a dude who uses brute force [you could try to work in that he's much wiser than regular orcs, considering that, when the fighting broke out, one of the humans in Connor's original party tried to kill him and the orc stayed loyal... Or something] and the elf chick is a mage/healer. Give 'em any names you want. Also, was the word 'stable' in your reply to BytheSpleen's post a pun? It seems like a pun)

Connor grins at the orc. "Sorry pal, got a little... Carried away with myself, I suppose. If something like this can deal this much damage, I can only wonder how awesome the power of Darkstalker is..." His grin turns into a wicked smile, before Connor stops smiling altogether. "Come along now." With that, he walks out and holsters his sword, whistling a happy tune.

(Alright, I'll try to work in more character to these peeps when the time comes :P At least he made it easy for me to do things like this. Then again, I bet they were intended as side characters)

"This dude's nuts..." He can hear one of the twins mutter quietly.

"Pipe down, he can probably hear you!" The other twin exclaims in a harsh whisper.

"Wait, what? A dead guy can hear me?" His brother asks, looking confused and amused. He points to the lower half of a dead soldier whose testicles had been... decimated by a hammer, it seems. "Bro, I was talkin' about this guys nuts! Look! They've been squished!"

"Ugh..." The other brother sighs and starts dragging his twin along. "I hate you."

The orc follows quietly behind he and the others, and the elf moves to his side, seemingly a little nervous. "That sword... I don't like the feeling it gives off..."

@Delta44
"What? It's a sword, and a sword's a sword... And it's one powerful sword..." Connor stared lustfully at the blood red blade as he said this, twirling it around in his hand and giggling to himself. Yeah... Maybe that sword's not a good influence on our boy Connor here.

"A sword isn't just a sword. That goes especially for the legendary weapons!" The elf girl replies with a hint of anger in her voice. "A sword is like a partner - a weapon meant to protect you and those you love! It shouldn't be disregarded so callously as just some other inanimate object!" She looks to be pretty upset about the whole sword thing, for whatever reason. "The Universal Weapon Darkstalker is said to have a soul inside it which communicates with whoever wields it, often times so it can drag them into it's world. You must remain aware of yourself with these types of things!"

"A sword's a sword - if it can be used to kill people, then I'll use it. If not, I'll get something else." The orc replies, disregarding her words. "Come on, boss, lets go."