The man regarded Gerald with curiosity.
"You're marked, and yet you don't seem to be from Unterosten. Strange. Perhaps the curse has changed your brain somehow." He spoke. The group couldn't see his face behind the mask, but he was definitively surprised. Saaria walked up to Gerald, standing in front of him.
"Any friend of a marked is a friend of ours." The man hurriedly assured them. "But you will definitely have to come with me," he demanded. "The Taken will rise once the sun sets, and your friend will be a primary target." The man explained hurriedly, casting a glance at the dimming horizon. "You just met a weak one. The others will tear you limb from limb, especially in the darkness of night. These woods.... They seem to move at night." He finished. Saaria turned to Gerald, a determined look on her face.
"You will come." She commanded. "You not get hurt." She tried to explain. She didn't want to lose the first friend she ever had.
@SepticGentleman

---

Gerald eyed (for lack of a better word) Saaria as she did the same to him. She looked somehow confident that the robed figure was being sincere. That this was the best course of action to take.

"AHH..." Gerald said, shrugging, "'OW CAN OI SAY NO TO THE FACE A SOMEONE WHO REMOINDS SAH MUCH OF ME OLD MATE RICHARD?"

Gerald turned his head towards the robed figure and called out, "ALROIGHT, HOIGHWAYMAN, GAH 'HEAD AND LEAD US TEH THIS PLACE SAH MYSTERIOUS. MAYBE OI CAN LEARN A BIT MORE ABOUT THIS, EHHH... UNSOIGHTLY BLEMISH ON ME NOGGIN."

@luclovers

---

---

"You're not seeing this?"

"Seeing what Theresa?"

"The people!" Theresa replied, shouting over the chatter of the festivities taking place. "The mole-people, drinking, fighting, playing music! They're everywhere!"

"Theresa-"

"Ben, I SWEAR I'm not making this up!"

Theresa turned her head and grabbed a gourd full of the strange brew from a nearby counter. "See this?" She said aloud. Ben merely replied, "Yeah, and it's empty."

"No it's not!" Theresa retorted, shaking the gourd a bit, and the brew inside. "Hear the sloshing?"

"Emp. Ty." Ben replied.

Theresa set the gourd back down, growing somewhat frustrated. She looked around the bustling room again, seeing now that it wasn't just filled with mole-people. There was... quite the colorful bunch sitting over in the further side of the cavern, enjoying themselves.

"There!" Theresa called out, "There's a man, and an elf, and a fucking- a blue dragon, just curled up, over there!" She pointed at the trio and said aloud, "Tell me you see them, please!"

"Dust and rocks, that's literally all I see over there Theresa!" Ben said, "What the hell is going on?"

"No, just-" She looked around again, spotting another figure standing up on a ledge overlooking the partygoers. Theresa pointed at it and called out, "How about that? The tall blue thing with the- seashell head?"

"Th-..." Ben said, looking a little surprised. "That I see. And it's coming for us."

"What?"

Theresa turned her head. The Vigil had jumped down, and the celebrating crowd parted away from it as it menacingly approached the duo.

"Shit!" Theresa called out, drawing her crossbow, and fire rising up in Ben's gullet.

At least there was something they could both see here, however hostile it was.

The man introduced himself as Adam Silveri, a ranger from the town of Unterosten. The town used to be a port city, but they fled into the forest after a strange force wiped out most of the village. Barely one hundred of them were left. The pair could see Cia flying in front of them, but Saaria did not note the potion bottle that flew down.
When the group reached the fortress, it became clear that this was not meant to be a town. It was an old stone temple, covered in vines and moss. It had clearly been abandoned for years, lost to history. It seemed to stand still, as if frozen in its own ancient time.
And yet, signs of modern living were everywhere. A wooden spiked fence was erected around the perimeter of the temple, and clothes lines blew in the warm twilight wind. When they arrived, guards stood at the ready, and they all breathed sighs of relief when they saw Adam approach.
"We thought you had been taken. It's almost dark, get inside!" One of them yelled.
"I found new people. And a port survivor." He explained, motioning towards Gerald. They eyed him curiously.
"He's already changed." They stated, clearly confused, staring at the sliver of sun left.
"The Dark Mark seems to have changed him more than the others. He cannot speak clearly." Adam said as the guards closed a large wooden gate and led the group inside one of the stone buildings. They walked down long, winding tunnels, led only by torchlight, until they saw a light at the end of one of them. The guards led them to an open stone door. Behind it layed what seemed to be a refuge of some sort. Dozens of people laid on makeshift beds, their own little stations set up. The guards closed the heavy stone door, and lowered a lock.
Adam turned towards them, removing his mask. He was a dark elf, with deep burgundy eyes and shoulder length curly black hair, which fell from his hood as he removed the mask.
"Welcome to Unterosten, refuge room 4." He said.

@SepticGentleman @Cuccoruler

Cia

Cia looked around the area they had come to with a look of awe. "It's so pretty!" Cia said with a smile as she floated around a bit. Finally she stopped and landed again. This time yellow dust surrounded her before expanding again. Cia was suddenly human size now. Since they weren't traveling she had no need to be in her smile size. Cia giggled when she heard someone comment on the way that Gerald spoke. He had been speaking like that before he even got the mark.

"Feels nice to be normal size again." Cia said not paying attention to any strange glances she may had gotten from her display of magic. "So do you guys protect the marked? What's your reason for protecting them?" Cia asked getting curious again as she started asking questions. "Do you expect something from us? Do you come from all over the continent?" Cia asked. She saw no one here from Sweetmeat County but still not everyone seemed to be from the same place.

@Luclovers
@SepticGentleman

Looking around, Cia saw that there were about 15 people in this room. They were mostly human, with a few dark elf faces standing out. One in particular caught her eye, a girl with white hair and violet eyes that reflected firelight as she warned her hands over a small campfire nearby. The room was wide, and the ceiling was high. Tall columns rose periodically around the room. Vegetation still snuck in at the corners of the roof, and there was a smell of fire and mold in the air. Adam regarded her transformation with a strange look.
"We're all from Unterosten City. We assumed you knew that." He said simply. @Cuccoruler

---

"AH, FAIRY-RICHARD." Gerald called out after Cia, "YEH CANNY GAH 'ROUND ASKIN' FOLKS SAH MANY RAPID QUESTIONS. IT'S BLOODY RUDE, IT IS."

Gerald continued as he began taking off his circlet and makeshift bandana. "MUCH AS OI WOULD LOIKE TEH LEARN THE SINISTAH TRUTH BEHOIND THIS BLEMISH, OI KNOW WHEN'S THE TOIME AN' WHEN'S NOT."

He set his headgear down, revealing the Vigil's mark. He began running his hand over it, pushing down on the writhing mass within, making some soft squishing noises. "EHHHH..." Gerald commented, "ROIGHT NASTY, THIS BLEMISH BE."

@luclovers
@Cuccoruler

Adam recoiled with confusion.
"That's... That's strange." He simply said, and then called out to someone.
"Nerissa!" He shouted. The girl warming her hands by the fire looked up slowly. She had a simple grace to her. She wore a blue cloak which accented her purple-black skin, which she pulled the hood down from as she rose and walked to meet Adam.



"What is it?" She said, her violet eyes glimmering.
"Take a look at this." He simply asked, pointing to Gerald. She looked at him, her eyes widening with surprise for a moment.
"A new marked? Who?" She began.
"We don't know who, he's new, but his mark is...."
"Different." Nerissa finished, gliding over to Gerald and gently holding his skull, examining the mass. "If only my brother were here..." She whispered softly under her breath, and spoke to Adam without looking at him.
"This one is different. I've seen it before, but Vagner would know more about it. Perhaps the mark is...changing." She worried, and looked into Gerald's eye sockets. "He doesn't have any light in his eyes." She noted almost fearfully.

@SepticGentleman @Cuccoruler

---

Theresa fired a bolt at the Vigil. It merely darted out of the way with a fluid left dodge. From within its winding shell-head, a waving tentacle stretched outward. As Theresa reared back, the tentacle reached forward and swiped it from her hand, its end making contact with her forearm, uncovered by her glove.

Theresa grunted, clutching her arm as the accursed mark slowly appeared.

Ben wasted no time. He charged forth the moment Theresa was attacked, connecting with the Vigil and pinning it to the ground with his massive hand wrapped around its scrawny neck. He raised his fist to bring it down on its shell-head, not bothering to react as the Vigil's tentacle crept up under his coat, placing the mark upon his chest.

Ben slammed the whole of his arm on the Vigil's shell-head, cracking it wide open. Inside, a slimy mess of tentacles suddenly began scrambling, and screeching. It leapt out of the shell head, and attempted to slither away from Ben, surprisingly fast for its size.

Ben stood back up and opened his mouth. A stream of fire chased the weakened Vigil, enveloping it. Its screeching filled the cavern atrium, and it thrashed about madly.

Soon, it stopped moving entirely, and the flames continued to burn it into ashes.

Ben paused, then turned back towards the humanoid body the tentacled creature was latched onto. He peered inside the shell-head, to see what appeared to be the face of a man, melted away to show nothing but the skull underneath. Suction marks littered the surface, and the interior was nothing but slimy, organic material.

Theresa wandered over, holding her now-broken crossbow. She looked over at the still-burning tentacled creature, and then down at the Vigil's body, and its true face.

"What the fuck was..." She muttered.

"I don't know." Ben replied, turning towards Theresa and asking, "You alright?"

"I'm fine." She said, holding up her crossbow, almost snapped in two and ready to come apart at any moment. "Fucker broke my crossbow. Got my arm, too." She held out her arm, revealing the festering mark on her skin.

Ben reached his hand underneath his fur coat, feeling the writhing mass that'd sprung up on his chest. "Got me too." He said, "Doesn't hurt, though."

"Yeah, at least there's that." Theresa replied, a bit distressed.

"This the mark that old man told you about?"

"Must be."

There was a pause between them.

"Now we can't leave..." Theresa said, a little quieter.

"We knew it was gonna happen." Ben replied, "We knew, and we still went. Because we both know we don't care. If we ever want to get off the Continent, some... squishy bruise isn't gonna stop us."

Theresa didn't reply. She looked away.

"Theresa. Trust me. It's fine."

Theresa glanced back up at Ben, then at the surrounding celebrators. They'd stopped. There was no drinking, no fighting, no music... no happiness.

One of the mole-people looked right at her, and said the strangest thing.

"We're sorry."

Theresa didn't reply. She simply paused for a moment, looked back up at Ben, and said to him...

"Let's go. I don't want to be here anymore."

Ben nodded. And the duo left silently, with the crowd watching them.

All still. None happy.

As the moon shone through the trees, the Taken arrived. They moved slowly, emerging from the fog like ghosts of the villager's pasts. They were all cloaked in black, moving silently, save for the whispering noise that echoed throughout their empty skulls. They came from every side of the base, and leaped over the fence effortlessly, gliding inhumanly through the air. They then climbed over the ruins like insects trying to get inside, using their bony claws to scratch at every barred entrance. They paid no attention to the strange creature outside, and they gave off no body heat for him to detect. They simply scratched at the doors, their hypnotic whispers echoing through the temple, pleading for someone to open up. The weak minded would listen. The weak minded would obey.

Down below, Nerissa let out a soft gasp as her irises disappeared, leaving her eyes a pure white.
"They are here." She whispered, and stared forward, her hands automatically grappling onto Gerald's skull in front of her tightly.
"They are here," she repeated, her voice raising frantically. "And they have risen an evil I cannot see. A shadow stalks Unterosten. Something unknown. Something....." She paused.
"Something pure evil." She finished, her face going slack. Her eyes came back, but quickly rolled into the back of her head as she collapsed from her fit at Gerald's feet. Adam yelled.
"It's different this time! Guard the doors!", and ran to Nerissa's side, holding her tightly, as the guards stood watch. In the silence, the whispers came. The wordless hiss filled the room, a chant of nonsensical chilling whispers, a chorus of hypnotic snakes, or whatever creepy thing a person feared. Those with weak wills began to go into trances, and one old lady shrieked her saviour's name as the chorus began.
"PLEASE GODS BRING VAGNER BACK!"

@SepticGentleman @Cuccoruler @Doc Doctor

---

Gerald looked around at all the people collectively losing their shit.

"WOT IN BLAZES..." He said.

He watched as Adam took Nerissa away and called out, "YOU PEOPLE 'AVE ALL UP AN' GONE ROIGHT BAHMY. THIS IS NOT WHAT OI HAD IN MOIND WHEN WE WERE PROMISED SAFE 'AVEN FROM THE TERRAHS OF THE NOIGHT."

Gerald turned to Saaria and Cia, saying to them, "WHAT YEH RECKON, RICHARDS? STAY AN' WATCH THIS SUDDEN FIT A MADNESS, OR BUGGAH ON OVAH TO SOMEWHEH ELSE?"

@luclovers
@Cuccoruler

Cia the Sweetmeat County Weapon

Cia started to shake a bit as the whispers started. She started to fidget in her bag for the vial she had before, but she couldn't find it. "Oh no no no no no." Cia said in a scared tone. "This is the worst possible time for me to lose my medicine. Noooooooo." Cia said in a panic this time. "Whatever is coming, you need to let me out of here and go after it, Or else I'm gonna go after you instead." Cia pleaded to the others this time going towards the door that had been closed.

Her skin was flashing dark, and her hair turning even darker with each flash. Every now and then her face would flash to that of a creature with fangs, no eyes though it seemed yet she could see anyways. Her mouth grew larger in these flashes, covering her entire face, quite a sight to behold. She was still in her larger size as well, so it was hard to miss such a transformation. "LET ME OUT!" Cia screamed as another flash made her voice sound much more raspy.

@Luclovers
@SepticGentleman

Saaria felt a conscience fill her mind. For a brief moment, she began to be pulled into a trance. She dropped to her knees, intelligence filling her brain. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, and she looked to Cia.
"Oh fuck no." She said, and ran over, pushing the guards over, I latching the door, and shoving Cia out all very quickly. She then slammed the door shut, and barre it just as she had before. Her mind was so full. For a brief moment she had seen something. A dark figure, with white symbols on it. And her brain had been filled with knowledge. Just a snippet of what she could have learned had she seen into the minds of the Taken. But Saaria now had a sudden skill in the English language. Her accent was still there on some words, but it was softer than before, and her pronunciation was clear.
The old lady rose and walked calmly to the door, trying to open it. The guards pushed her out of the way, and Adam was suddenly there, restraining her.
"NOBODY LEAVES!" he screamed, and everyone in a trance broke free. The whispers stopped.

Somewhere else in the ruins, some weak mind had opened a door. And anything could come through.
@SepticGentleman @Cuccoruler @Doc Doctor

---

"FEH PITTY'S SAKE FAIRY-RICHARD, IF YA 'AVE TO USE THE LAVATORY, YA DUN 'AVE TAH MAKE SUCH A FUSS ABOUT IT." Gerald said, watching Cia continue to suddenly transform, not paying as much mind to the issue as he really should be.

He turned to Saaria and said, "EHHH, YA SEE THAT, JUNGLE-RICHARD? MOST UNLADYLOIKE. AN' OI THOUGHT FAIRY-RICHARD KNEW BETTAH. SAME GOES FEH ALL THESE BLOKES." He waved his arm, gesturing to all the nonsense going on. "JUS' LOOK AT THIS CRAZYNESS. NOT A DROP A LIQUAH AN' PEOPLE AH LOSIN' AH THEH MAHBLES ALL OVAH THE FLOOR."

At that moment, Cia was shoved out, and Adam had declared everyone stay put. Smart words, but they probably fell on deaf ears.

Gerald looked around for a bit, eyeing the corners of the room. His mouth hung open as he spotted something of interest. "AH-HA!" He said, pointing. "SEE THERE, JUNGLE-RICHARD?"

There was a spot in one of the higher corners of the stone room. A large clump of ivy flowing in, with a bit of light sneaking through.

"OI SAY YOU AN' ME CLOIMB UP AN' OUT THROUGH THERE." Gerald said, "WE'LL FOIND SOMEWHERE NOICE AN' QUOIET LOIKE TO WAIT FEH THIS SILLINESS TEH BLOW OVAH, THEN COME BACK IN THE MORNIN'. 'OW'S THAT SOUND, THEN?"

@luclovers
@Cuccoruler

Saaria regarded the light.
"We could do that." She decided, flying up to the top of the ceiling, and making her way over to the hole. It might fit Gerald, but Saaria's wings wouldn't fit through. She quickly yelled this information over to Gerald, and Adam came over, staring at the hole with an appalled look that he hadn't noticed it before.
"That's so strange." He said, and readied his bow to fire at anything that came through.
@SepticGentleman @Doc Doctor

---

"ROIGHT DEN." Gerald said, making his over to the wall of ivy. "OI SHALL VACATE THIS DISPLAY A IMPROPAH GUEST-PLEASIN' AN SURVEY WOT DOTH OCCUR BEYON' THESE WALLS A STONE."

He began climbing his way up the ivy, surprisingly fast actually. Probably had to do with his incredibly light weight compared to the rest of the people here. And none of the ivy got caught between his bones, luckily. Once he reached the top, he turned to Saaria and said, "YOU TAKE CARE FEH THE NOIGHT, JUNGLE-RICHARD. IF ANY A THESE WHACK-JOBS DISPLEASE YEH IN ANY WAY, LEMME' KNOW AN' OI'LL GIVE 'EM A ROIGHT EAR BLASTIN' IN THE MORNIN'."

He positioned himself to leap through the ivy and out of the hole. "GERALD AWAY!" He called out, and leapt.

"HUGGANAAAAA_AAAAAHHHHH-"

@luclovers

Gerald found himself in a dark and mysterious world. The moon was large, too large, in the sky. It was almost full, and it illuminated the ruins. The Taken were everywhere, their inhuman figures crawling and gliding over to one particular spot on the other side of the temple. They snarled and whispered to each other, seemingly moving as one. Some of them had low glowing, burgundy orbs in their eyes, most had a medium indigo glow, they seemed to be the normal of the group. And then there was the strange looking ones. They stood taller than the rest, and stood still, not scrambling along the ground like insects. They all had their backs to Gerald, imposing figures silhouetted against the moonlight.

@SepticGentleman @Doc Doctor

Cia the Sweetmeat County Weapon

After Cia was pushed outside she fully transformed. Her skin dark, her mouth large enough to eat a mans head hole. She was currently on the ground not moving much. As a few taken approached her they could hear a low laugh. Black dust surrounded Cia's hand's and feet dissappearing to reveal claws made of sharp and very strong sugar.

"You filthy creatures think you can harm the weapon of Sweetmeat County?" Cia said standing up and letting out a manical laughter. Her hair was much longer now, but also pitch black, her skin being a lighter tone of black. She stood up again letting out an ear piercing screech into the night sky. One of the taken tried to attack her but found himself impaled by a spike of black sugar from the ground. "That's not going to work." Cia said with laughter in her voice as she looked towards another Taken.

Cia raised her hand and a small group of Taken were impaled through the chest as well, the spokes receded after that and then moved to their next weapon.

As the strange figure approached from near by Cia turned her head to face them while a few more spikes came up and impaled more of the Taken. "Your not sneaking up on me today." Cia said raising her hand as multiple smaller spikes came up to attack the creature. This was the terror of the Weapon of Sweetmeat County

@Luclovers
@SepticGentleman
@Doc Doctor

---

When Ben was a young one, he was raised on three morals that you were supposed to uphold around those who you were supposed to care about.

Respect, honor, and generosity.

When Ben got into that boat, whether he was willing to admit it to himself or not, he planned on dying out at sea. He was planning on an unorthodox for of suicide. He didn't expect to survive that storm. He definitely didn't expect to was ashore and meet Theresa. He didn't expect to not only survive, but to live.

So when Theresa told him about the curse, he wasn't worried. When he got the mark, he wasn't worried. If anything he was kinda proud of himself for making such short work of the so called guardians of the island. Ben would admit to himself he could get cocky, and right now he felt like he could escape this continent if he so desired. Because if the vigils couldn't, what would? But he also knew that was arrogant to think, even if it was in the back of his mind. But he didn't want to leave this island. He had met the first friend he had in years here. He had nothing but slave masters before he went off to sea, and those that had raised him had also sold him into said slave master's possession. Theresa was probably the only thing he had worth fighting for right now.

And as tough as he was on the outside and as cold as he could be on the inside, he didn't like seeing her this way. It just didn't sit right with him. He wasn't a big talker, and yet here he was just wishing Theresa would... say something. She was upset and he could tell she was upset and it was making HIM upset that SHE was upset. He wasn't use to this, and he didn't like this. Not one bit. Benedict stopped there in the middle of the woods were they were hiking and cleared his throat in an attempt to get Theresa's attention. Theresa, being attentive despite her inner thoughts, very quickly noticed.

"Ben?" She questioned, her brows furrowing together in confusion. "What's the holdup?"

Ben shook his head and set his bags down. "I think we should set up camp for a while." Ben stated. He looked to the left, and then to the right before his face lit up and he walked away. Theresa watched him, very much confused as the behemoth reptile dragged what looked to be a two or three hundred pound fallen log over to where he had set his inventory. Theresa was perplexed by Ben's sudden and rather mechanical change in mood. From what she had see of him this was... very out of character for him.

"Ben, what's the meaning of this?" She said, stepping closer to where Ben had placed his items and setting down her own, being especially careful to position her broken crossbow away from the other, smaller log Ben was moving next to the large one.

Ben suddenly froze and he slumped some. He set the log down and turned to face her, a frown set into his normally stoney, scaly features.

"I dont like... I dont like seeing you this way." Ben admitted, finding it hard to really talk about how he was feeling about the whole situation. "I dont really know what to do but... going out there and doing more.. might make things worse. Resting some could... help." Ben stated, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side, seemingly crossed about his whole thought process. He took a few steps closer to her and reached into his pack, taking out a coconut and what looked to be similar to a rolled up bear-skin and tossed them to her. Theresa, being much smaller than Ben, caught the coconut and was promptly draped by the massive skin as it unraveled in the air.

"Sorry." Ben said, trying to hold in a laugh as Theresa indignantly yelled, throwing the skin off of her as if it were some beast attacking her. "Swiped it before we left the cave. Thought you might want something like a sleeping bag." He explained, finally cracking up as Theresa glared hard at him, her face red from a combination of embarrassment and anger. She stalked over and knocked Ben in the bead with her hand as the reptilian man hunched over laughing.

The draconic humanoid shot up fairly quickly, his right hand flying up to shield his head and rub the place where it had been assaulted. He winched as he rubbed the injured spot. This is what he gets for being nice.

"Help me gather some rocks and wood for a campfire, you big baby. Not everyone's a living fire." Theresa said, crossing her arms across he breast and leaning back on one leg. Ben blew a small puff of smoke in her face in retaliation.

---

"So your crossbow broke, huh?" Ben questioned, reaching down and picking up the very much ruined weapon. Theresa sighed in frustration and poked the logs she had set up for the fire, and turned the duck she had set up on a spin-roast.

"Yeah, that thing must've, crushed it under it's weight when it grabbed me. Glad it was the crossbow and not a rib." She stated, pulling the duck on the stick off of the fire to inspect it, before deciding that it needed to roast longer and placing it back on the makeshift stand. She and Ben had spent far too long trying to actually catch the stupid bird than she was willing to admit. Ben for all of his size, wasn't fast enough to snatch a bird from the air and Theresa couldn't catch a meal worth keeping with her sword and without her crossbow. So the two of them ended up taking rocks they found at a stream and throwing them at birds as they flew over hoping to hit one hard enough to knock it out of the air (instead of diving for fish like any smart person). Surprisingly, of the two of them Theresa was the one to deliver the killing blow- er, rock, and Ben was the one carrying the stones back to their campsite. It would've more than likely ended up that way regardless, but at least the winner of the unspoken challenge had rightfully won their meal and lack of labor.

"Next good town we hit, let me at it for a day or so." Ben said, looking the contraption over one more time. It seemed simple enough similar in theory to the tension weapons his tribe had once employed before he started experimenting with steam technology. "I'll get it back to you, better than new." he stated confidently, grabbing another coconut from his bag and stuffing it into his mouth.

"That a promise?" Theresa challenged, finally pulling the bird off of the fire and taking a bite of it. Something about having caught it, gutted it, and de-feathering it herself made it taste all that much better. "What's the reason behind all the coconuts?"

"Fire is based on some... metal I think my village healer called it. Coconuts and whatnot have a lot of that metal in them."

"Coconuts have metal in them?"

"I dont really believe it either, but it works." Ben stated, crunching down on another coconut.

A comfortable silence befell the two of them once more, but it was broken when Theresa suddenly decided to question him some. "So what's your homeland like, Ben?" Theresa asked, resting her elbow on her knee and turning from the fire to her partner in crime.

Ben stopped chewing, and seemed to think for a minute before answering.

"Very warm during the summers, cold during the winters." he stated. "Lived on a grassland, herded large four legged beasts. My ancestors used to run them down, and used to follow the herds from place to place before my species began agriculture." Ben stated. He spread his arms very wide. "Very few bodies of water, but the ones we did have were as large a seas. Used to catch fish as big as you." he said, his lips curling back into a smile, flashing his teeth.

"Humans would come now and again, used guns and bullets. I was the blacksmith of the village. Learned to invent. Started making weapons to fight back. We started winning some. Made for an unsteady agreement. Humans couldn't do the labor we could. One of us could match twenty of them, but they outnumbered us a hundred to one. Requested some of us for slavery at their homeland." Ben's face suddenly fell.

"The chieftain told me that my name was drawn. Hated to see me go. But I understood. Was my duty." Ben explained, making a few motions with his hands. "Shoveled shit and did hard labor for them for about a decade. Eventually made enough money to buy my own freedom... Stole a ship trying to get home and... you know the story from there." Ben finished, looking over to his friend with a smirk.

"What about you? Seemed like you got caught on your own name when I met you. What's your story?"

---

_{@SepticGentleman, @Empour}