"Oi, John, get yer ass over here! I found sum'ting!" - The thin, scrawny man cried as he struggled to pull on bits of the big pile of debris at the far end of the cavern. "Aye? For fock's sake Pim, ther ain no nut'ing o'er there but trash!" "Just shut yer yammerin' and get over here, I need a a light!" John sighed, grabbed the rusty lantern and stood up from the campfire. He was a big man in his late thirties, with a club nose and a weary, weathered face. A cheap rusted over shortsword was tucked through the old mouldy rope he wore in place of a belt. "Aye.. Billy ye watch the pot so soup don' boil out. I'mma go help tha' retarded brother a'yous." - John spat through his teeth to the burly cloaked man who was snoozing on the ground, lit the lantern with the ember from the fire and headed off towards Pim. This day was really going to the wolves. They hoped to find some good loot in the old ruins, but all they found was some scrap and a whole bunch of moulded over rock. And if that wasn't bad enough a blasted rain storm darkened the skies and trapped them in this wet hole of a cave. Tch, ah well. Better than trying to brave the Grey in the dark. "Aye aye... whad'ya find ya twat?" "Fock off! And Come come, get tha' light o'er here!" - Pim hissed and waved his hand. John sighed and raised the lantern. As dim as the light from the old thing was, it revealed what looked to be a half-collapsed archway that was further blocked by all kinds of junk blown into the cave by errant winds. A small opening could be seen past the rubble, so John Moved the lantern even closer to let the light in. The moment he did Pim screamed out in glory - inside, despite the thick layer of dust, shined a tall suit of exquisite armour. "Would ya look at tha'! With tha' ting we's gonna be the best gang on this 'ere road! Haha! I knew tha' map to tis place was worth tha' coin!" - Pim rattled out triumphantly and began ripping at the rubble with renewed vigor. "Nay, we's no trained to wer tha' kind of armour anyways. Bett'r sell th'ting ta some noble. Get some good coin an' leave tis hole fer good. B'sides, look, the's all kind o' baubles o'er there!" - John moved the lantern a bit revealing a complex menagerie of bronze levers, tubes and plates surrounding the armour. "Yer'right! Wait up, I can reach one now, methinks!" - Pim scurried up the junk heap and stuck his arm in through the opening. After a few seconds of rummaging about his hand finally found an ornate bronze lever and grabbed on to it. - "Got it!" - Pim exclaimed and yanked on the lever as hard as he could... [hr] Voices? Was that what he heard? Voices in the darkness. Guess the maintenance was over... But why? Why did something felt just so completely and terribly wrong? With a reserved click the maintenance clamp detached and fell away and suddenly he could see again. Except there wasn't much to gaze at - darkness still surrounded him completely, with the exception of a small opening through which a dim light shone. It was unstable, jumping all over the place, as if coming from a hand held lantern... Yes, that's what it was. He could see two men on the other side. They were tearing at the edges of the darkness - making the opening larger. Perhaps soon it would large enough for him to get th- [i]Him?[/i] Who's [i]He?[/i] What was his name? What was going on... The light jumped again and for a brief moment it touched [i]his[/i] arm. It was for but a fleeting instant, yet it was enough to make out four letters carved into the steel: Ares. As soon as He read that word the dim light of the lantern turned blindingly bright. So bright it engulfed the whole world in a sea of white. And out of that white, like an unrelenting mountain stream, in flooded the people, the towns and the hills. Leaf by leaf every tree took its place; brick by brick - every house took its. Note by note the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSvnxv_Mh2A]music[/url] flowed into his mind. The brass of victory and the choirs of triumph. The golden light of the sun shining high above his town - bathing all in it's warmth. the faces of children and the voice of the Precept... and with that Ares [i]remembered.[/i] With a moan of ageing metal Ares ripped himself free of the remaining restraints and struck out at the darkness that bound him. The force of Ares's kick blew the barricade of rubble away as if it were made of straw, taking the two vagabonds with it. For the first time in a thousand years, Ares stepped out of the shadow of his maintenance room, his metal skin, now free of dust, burning in the campfire's light. Three people jumped up and were circling him, their mouths opening as they talked to one another with terrified expressions. Seems his hearing was not back yet. Let's see if his voice was... "Filthy scoundrels! The Precepts chambers are off limits to your ilk! Leave at once!" - Ares's voice boomed throughout the cavern. Good, at least he still had that. The men shouted something to eachother then one of them threw down his lantern, drew his sword high and rushed at Ares "SO BE IT BANDIT SCUM!" - Ares roared and raised his arm to block the strike. The cheap, rusted metal of the sword cried out in a thin voice and snapped in half on the warforged's forearm. The man stumbled back, shocked. Ares threw a quick glance at the other men - on was entangled in trying to load a sling with some stones off the ground, while the other was fumbling with his cloak, drawing a heavy blacksmith's hammer. Without hesitating Ares stepped in, grabbing the dazed swordsman and raising him in the air high above his head. "YOU SHOULD'VE LEFT WHEN I TOLD YOU!" - Ares gave one last shout and hurled the swordsman with full strength at the thin man with teh slinghshot. The two men collided and went tumbling into the opposite wall with a meaty sound of cracking bone. By this point the last man finally got the upper hand on his cloak and drew the hammer - rushing at Ares with a twisted expression on his face. For a moment everything seemed to slow down as Ares examined the man. He was big, for a human. the way his muscles were developed and the way he held that hammer... a Blacksmith it seems. Means he's not used to wielding it in combat... good. As the third man swung down Ares sidestepped him, coming up on his side. [i]No matter how much muscle one has - a human always has a great weakness. [/i] Ares's steel fist struck out with well practised speed - hitting the blacksmith squarely in the jaw. Again there was a sound of bone shattering and the burly man went down. Ares was now the only one left standing in the cavern. Slowly he walked to its entrance and looked out on the forest that lay before him. Only an occasional rough cut stone overgrown with moss showed any signs of a city that once stood there. Even the steps he used to guard were gone. Inch by inch dread and confusion began overtaking Ares. What could have happened? Just how long was he shut down? He promised the children to continue his story today. Are they... still- [i]Wait.[/i] Ares's eyes pierced through the darkness and caught a thin clearing running through the trees - must be a road. He turned around to look at the bandits once more. [i]Little to no clothes. No provisions. Light weaponry. They wouldn't dare go far from civilization so ill prepared. Someone must be near.[/i] Setting his mind firmly, Ares relieved the balcksmith's limp body of his cloak and put it over his shoulders. Seeing no knife in sight, he then picked up the broken sword and used it to crudely slash out a long strip of fabric from the man's pants and tied it several times around his waist like a sash. [i]Gods, I hope this cloth won't smell as bad as they looked.[/i] Next - the lantern; glass was mostly broken and it was extinguished, but there was still some oil inside. Good, he might need that eventually. Ares hooked the lantern to his sash, and slid the broken sword in as well beside it. Lastly he picked up the blacksmith's heavy hammer and tucked it in at his other side. "Well. I'm as ready as I can be. Time to get some answers." - Ares spoke out softly to himself, before kicking the pot of bandits' soup over to put on the campfire and heading out into the blackness of the night.