[IC] Book of Aeos (V1)

[Carlyle]

Alberich

Interacting With: @Wick, @dereken

---

"I figure it was a bit of both, Elyria. Murlocs tend to be territoral, and I believe we stumbled onto their lands, or well, waters." Alberich replied as the witch sat by him. The fact that Elyria was afraid of the dark reminded him of his daughter, and the thought made Alberich smile. It was nice to have some company once in awhile. "Whatever the case is, we'll have to fight them before they get a chance to swarm us from the lake." Alberich explained as he retrieved his book back from Elyria and placed it back in his pack.

Shortly after Elyria and Alberich spoke, Caractacus had charged into the lake in search of the murlocs. From his actions, Alberich knew that the necromancer had realized the dangers that lurked in the waters. "Wait, Caractacus!" Alberich exclaimed, springing from his seat by the fire. He walked over to the necromancer and his animated corpses, hoping that Caractacus would listen to him. "Listen. I want to strike a deal with you. Since we met, your zombies have put me on edge. I don't mean any offense, but I find it horrendous that good-natured people are unable to receive the peace and warmth of death." Alberich replied as he took a stride towards the water, showing his fearlessness in the tense moment.

"So, I've been thinking. To me, you don't seem like a bad person even as a necromancer, but I do have problems with how you manage things. If you hear me out, Caractacus, I want to ask you to release the zombies you've raised and only raise any soldiers of the Dark Lord we come across. Think of it as repaying for their sins, especially all the death and despair they caused." Alberich explained, hoping the necromancer was listening. Caractacus had frozen earlier when he had to rescue the women, and the necromancer appeared to be sure in his decision to rip the murlocs to shreds.

"If you can do that Caractacus, I won't have a problem with you raising the dead." Alberich looked at the zombies that prowled the waters in search of murlocs. The sight of the hunting corpses gave Alberich another idea. "Now, before you tear apart the fish men, I have an idea that might interest you. You see, murlocs are typically numerous. If you let go of the corpses you have now, I won't have a problem with you raising as many murlocs as you want into undeath." Alberich stated, glancing back at Elyria and Kathryn. This party was a handful, and Alberich certainly would have a tough time appeasing everyone.

[dereken]

Caractacus

Caractacus stared at the lake still, not moving to acknowledge Alberich. "Death has claimed them. They are no more than corpses." Caractacus spoke steadily, without the tremble that so often affected his voice. "I will not quit myself of them." He could not release the zombies. Not now that he needed them most. He needed them to serve as bulwark against the fish-men of the lake.

The zombies were prowling, watching for murlocs. None had come up, but Caractacus knew they would not suffer the presence of him and his undead for long. The woodsman continued with compromises and treatises, trying to coax him into dropping his defenses. "I will kill these murlocs. And then, perhaps, I will release the villagers." Caractacus had made no promise, but perhaps enough to assuage the woodsman somewhat. He did not want a distraction about when the murlocs showed. Still, Alberich continued, offering up the murlocs as replacements, as though they could protect him here and now. "Unless you plan on joining me in this fight, I suggest you return to shore."

As he spoke Caractacus spotted ripples in the water, far out in the lake. He smiled a cruel, hateful smile, and planted his staff in the mud of the lake. Muttering incantations, he gathered the zombies, and awaited the coming bloodshed.

[Carlyle]

Alberich

Interacting With: @Lord Orgasmo, @dereken

---

"Death is claimed them, and that is why they should rest. It is rightful, where as these creatures serve no more than pests that slaughter passing travelers, just as the Dark Lord's minions do." Alberich replied, thanking the gods that Caractacus had given his thoughts consideration, although nothing official. The lumberjack looked back to the shambler that Ysran had summoned, and noticed that he had hauled several large trees to the encampment for Alberich to work with. The beast was loyal and knew what to do, in the end.

"Chuckles, bring me my axe. I'll be needing it." Alberich shouted to the shambler, and taking his large battleaxe once Chuckles shuffled over towards the lake. Stepping deep into the water and in front of the zombies and Caractacus, Alberich stood in a combat stance as he awaited the murlocs. "I do sincerely hope that you take my offer. Otherwise, for the month or so, all we'll be eating is murloc stew and roasted fish. From a lumberjack to a necromancer, both of us know that it would be a waste to let them sit by." Alberich spoke to the necromancer, watching the ripple and water carefully for any sign of movement.

[Wick]

Elyria

Elyria practically tripped over Alberich as the giant spider-like creature Ysran called Chuckles came back and sat down nearly on top of her. She shrieked as she moved away. Alberich got up and chased after Caractacus to talk to him about letting his minions of undead go and she truly wondered what in hell she was thinking joining this band of misfits. There was a huge lumberjack, an elf with Occultist powers that also had magically induced narcolepsy when he used them. There was a female warrior who had magical powers and a young man who seemed to have disappeared into the forest and then there was the giant spider and the army of undead and their boss who despite being cute under the cloak was just a bit creepy. Then there was her, she was a basket of trouble all on her own.

Keeping her eyes on the shambler she walked towards Kathryn and sat next to her. She was almost certain that she was going to have a heart attack before they got anywhere in their fight against the dark lord. She had a thought and turned her head towards Caractacus. She stood up and went to the shoreline and stopped short of the water.

"Caractacus? I want you to know if that spider thing or something else happens and I die I do NOT want to be one of your undead. Do you hear me?"
@dereken

[Lord Orgasmo]

The man wanted his axe. That was easy. Axe. Axe. What was that? Chuckles tried remember. Axe. It was... shiny and hard. And used to attack trees. Chuckles remembered the bigger man using something to attack a tree. He ran back to the fire and grabbed a stick with a shiny part on it. He hefted it up, carrying it like Alberich would. He made his way to said man and held it up to him. The man took it, so he must have grabbed the right thing. Everybody was looking towards the body of water. They seemed angry. Was there something in there? He sloshed through the water. Bubbles and ripples began forming rapidly on the surface. Chuckles growled loudly, trying to scare off whatever was in the water. But it didn't work. They ripples only got worse. He was about to have a fight on his...Claws. He stood with his arms out trying to be as intimidating as possible.

[LordVoldemort]

Adrien Hathoway

Armored

Unarmored

---

The party would hear the sound of a galloping horse approaching them quickly. Out of the woods came a horse with a large man on it, a lance in hand. His armor had the look of wear and damage on it, along with the tabard that he wore over the metal layer. On the side of his horse, a greatsword was suspended by small pieces of clips attached to the saddle. From the looks of things, this man was a large knight. At first, it appeared that he would charge into the group with the intention of skewering one of them...that was until two fish-men surfaced from the water, only to be met with the pointy end of the riders lance. With one great heave, he picked up the monster from the ground and brought him up high, suspending him from the lance. He dropped it soon after, due to the limited space that proved too difficult to use his horse effectively, and set upon the next fish-man with his greatsword.

With great fury in his steps, he moved past the impaled fish-man, and brought his greatsword down upon the other. It was almost strange to witness such a heavy weapon being swung so easily, but perhaps not to the party that witnessed these events. With one swift strike, the monster lost it's legs, letting out a death cry as the man brought his sword down into the monsters back. He felt no remorse for striking the creature down, even as it's futile attempts to reach the water for safety could be so plainly seen; he had seen these type of creatures before and knew how menacing they could be. Taking his greatsword once more in his hands, he looked around him, wondering why fish-men would crawl out of the water with nobody around. His gaze was towards the party, but he could not see them. The protective spell helped them well.

His gaze turned back towards the ripples of the water and he brought his greatsword up once more, ready to fight the incoming horde of fish-men. He was already too close to the water to hope to escape on his horse, anyways.

[Shoe Thief]

Kathryn

Kathryn felt sick, her body weak, her clothes soaked... crap. She hated soaked clothes... they may dry eventually but she would need more sooner rather then later. She was in and out still though, slowly waking up. Did she pass out? faint? Was she hit on the head? That seemed to be the best case scenario.

Part of her was still in dream land though as she tried to wake up. She was near past lovers, old friends, trusted allies, hanging out in a tavern away from the front lines for once. She was happy. Waking up she saw the calming blue hair of her current protector. She felt safe, despite the screams and combat cries in the background. She reached up and hugged the young blue haired girl. "I've missed you so much." Kathryn said still half asleep. She felt safe, until she realized she wasn't in the tavern. And this was not the same blue haired girl she knew before.

She shook herself awake, letting go of Elyria. Then she sat there, awkwardly staring into her eyes. "....I am so sorry... I was in a really awkward state of mind... and I think... I should put my armor back on... and we should forget this happened...." She said trying to get up, still a bit dizzy from before.

[Wick]

Elyria

Elyria had been ignored by Caractacus. She had stomped back to Kathryn and sat down to brush her wet and now tangled blue hair with her brush. Suddenly hands appeared and grabbed her into a fierce hug almost pulling her backwards. Surprised to see Kathryn half asleep and groggy she chuckled and nodded at her words.

...I am so sorry... I was in a really awkward state of mind... and I think... I should put my armor back on... and we should forget this happened....

Elyria had like the hug. It had been the first time she had had any physical interaction with another person other than when she was yanked out of the water and left by the fire and that was emergency related. She sighed and when a man burst into the camp and went to stab the merlocs she knew he couldn't see or hear them so she reached out and touched his arm. He was immediately able to see the entire camp and all that the others could see.

"I'm Elyria."

[Lord Orgasmo]

Ysran rolled over. And his head promptly went into a rock. He reeled back. "Ow." He looked around. There were... logs and reeds and stuff all around the campsite. The fire was still burning. He looked up. Still dark. What woke him up anyways? Oh right. Chuckles' growl just a moment ago. And something like... a horse? He stood up and brushed himself off. He picked up his blade and walked towards the commotion. Everybody seemed to have gathered by the lake. Chuckles was there, too. And so was some guy with a horse. What happened? At least his headache was gone. Walking over to the others, he pointed to the new guy. "Who's this? And why are we all standing around here anyways? Someone drop something in the lake?" He looked over to the lake. Bubbles and rapid ripples were on the surface of the water. Chuckles was stood with his arms out, seemingly angry at something. "What's with-" as soon as Ysran began to speak, a figure leaped out of the water. Yet it was cut short when five sharpened claws tore it's chest open mid-air and was slammed to the ground. Another tearing sound could be heard as Chuckles ripped the head off of the body of this figure. "Ooooh... so that's... Got it." Ysran stepped a little closer. The body was like that of a fish and a human. Kind of. Like an aquatic Shambler almost. What were these things? Sahuagin? No, not humanoid enough. They were likely Murlocs. Either that or some seriously deformed merfolk.

[Carlyle]

Alberich

Interacting With: @Wick, @Lord Orgasmo, @Remipa Awesome, @LordVoldemort, @dereken

---

Silence. The party had heard nothing, except the sounds behind them as Kathryn stirred awake. It was an uncomfortable silence, Alberich felt, as he watched the water with his eyes. The man was a warrior, yes, but the murlocs could ambush the party with ease. The lake they had settled was their territory right now, and they would make that known if Alberich and the rest of the group weren't careful. Sensing more ripples appearing, Alberich shifted the massive battleaxe he carried to one of his hands and drew the smaller handaxe from its waist sheathe.

Time went by like an eternity as Alberich reeled back the wood-cutting axe in his hand, his eyes watching the water closely. The man was certain he saw one of the fish men show themselves near the top of the water, and Alberich wanted to catch the beast off guard before it could attack. Taking aim, Alberich threw his axe wildly in the water, and blessed his luck, he hit one of the murlocs square on the head. "That makes the sixth creature today. Five scouts, and one murloc." Alberich stated, yanking his axe free from the murloc's skull.

The dead corpse floated away in the water when Alberich had heard signs of horse galloping. There was a knight, and without having to ask Elyria, she allowed him to see the encampment through the invisibility field. On his lance, just like Chuckles' massive claw, were several corpses speared onto the weapon. Soon enough, the man took the initiative and began to carve his way through the fish men. "It's now or never!" Following his lead, Alberich went deeper into the water, drawing any of the creatures closer. Waiting for them to leap from the water in an attempted ambush, Alberich swung his battleaxe when the time was right, coating the bladed edge in the blood of several murlocs.

[LordVoldemort]

Adrien Hathoway

Armored

Unarmored

@Wick@Aquanthe@Lord Orgasmo@Remipa Awesome@dereken@Lich

---

Adrien jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of the half-elf. His eyes went a bit wide, realizing it was a lady, and stared at her for a few seconds in shock. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he spoke up. "What did...how...where did you....?" It was quite obvious that wherever this young man was from, magic was extremely rare....perhaps even non-existent! He looked around, as if trying to figure out if he was day-dreaming over the whole ordeal. He looked around at the party, trying to figure out how they suddenly appeared in the blink of an eye. His concentration was broke when he noticed an older gentleman charging into the water, dealing with a group of murlocs. He looked back at her and pulled away from her gently, charging forth to aid the man. "I'm at your side!" He called out from behind as he waded through the shallow end of the water.

The greatsword cleaved through several of the murlocs with ease as Adrien assisted Alberic fend off the horde of water beasts. Every strike against the creatures seemed to be full of wrath and anger, as if he harbored a deep rage within himself. He looked over towards Alberic, noticing a murloc sneaking up on him, and hacked down onto it, cleaving it's skull. He let out a few grunts as he battled against the creatures. The water turned red with the blood of their foes as both young and older man wiped the murlocs from the face of the planet. After battling for what seemed like a while, he looked over at the party, taking deep and heavy breaths, and stared at them silently, trying to find something to say. Awkwardly, he moved his hand up in a wave, and spoke with a smile underneath his helmet. "Nice to meet you, travelers."

[Carlyle]

Alberich

Interacting With: @LordVoldemort, @dereken

---

A swath of murloc corpses and blood was left as the two fought their way through the murky waters, aided by the rest of the party in their onslaught. Corpses floated in the water, and the lake was stained with blood as Alberich cleansed his axe free of the sticky substance. Turning to the knight that aided him, the lumberjack voiced his thanks. "Thanks for the aid, Sir Knight. It would've been a mess if you hadn't shown up." Alberich stated, reaching out a hand for a handshake. "I'm Alberich, and for better or worse, these are my companions that have joined forces with me for the time being." With a wave of his hand, Alberich pointed to the rest of the party standing nearby.

Looking back to the corpses, Alberich was reminded of the deal he had tried to strike with the necromancer before the fight had begun. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, Sir Knight." Alberich explained, his feet slipping in the mud as he walked back to shore. "Caractacus, do you remember the deal I spoke of? The murloc corpses are as good as yours as long as you release your current corpses." Truth be told, Alberich was at odds with the necromancer raising the dead at all, but the murlocs were a better substitute than men that died protecting their home from the orcish warband that prowled the woods nearby.

[dereken]

Caractacus

The zombies did their work with alacrity, grabbing whatever murlocs they could, and dragging them ashore to tear them to shreds. Caractacus watched from the lake, not moving as the woodsman, and yet another newcomer did their bloody work. At this point, Caractacus hardly cared to wonder where the horseman came from. Just another warrior to join the mob, and as bonus, he was doing Caractacus' work for him, skewering and chopping apart murlocs. Soon the lake was silent, the corpses of over a dozen murlocs near or in the water. Caractacus called his zombies to gather the lot and pull them together further upshore, away from the campsite.

Caractacus turned around and faced the shore, looking to Alberich as he approached. "Ah, yes yes, of course, the v-villagers. I suppose they've served a purpose, yes? It is fair I release them. I shall...send them into the woods, and let them lay th-there. That is acceptable?" With the murlocs gone, Caractacus had regained his nervous, awkward nature, as though by transformation. He nodded in quickly, starting toward the campfire. "I do n-not wish to be rude, but I am in sore need of some rest. It has been a rather, shall we say, long day."

Wading his way back to dry land, Caractacus crossed past the horseman. He looked up at the knight, giving a nervous smile. Hopefully he wasn't the pious type, one that'd despise his undead. Caractacus knew they must already unnerve some of the group. All it would take is someone speaking up to get the group to drive him away, he was sure. Caractacus continued past the knight, and went to join his zombies. Safe at last. He looked at the pile of murloc corpses, and shuddered. He hated the things, but if using them over his own kept the others from open hostility, they would have to do. Kneeling by the bodies, Caractacus knew he couldn't animate them all tonight. He would need a night's rest, and a full stomach, both of which he did not have. "Very well. All of you, march into the woods. Do not stop." With a sigh, Caractacus ordered his zombies away at last, loath to be without protection for so long.

Caractacus found a comfortable enough spot near the edge of the wood, wrapping into his cloak to draw whatever warmth he could from the damp cloth. No doubt he'd be unwelcome with the others by the fire. He didn't mind terribly. The cold was a necromancer's home.

[Wick]

Elyria

Elyria was tired after watching the fight with the merlocs. She had stepped back and watched as Caractacus lay down far away from the fire. He was soaked and she walked over and dropped to her knees and put a hand on his cloak. She blushed a little, "I'd hate for you to get sick from the cold." Her hand glowed a moment and she watched as he and his clothing dried out. She smiled softly and said, "Good night Caractacus."

Deciding that the safest place was still near the fire she went back to it. She lay down so that she could see Caractacus with her back to Alberich. She knew if anything happened he was the person to be close to in the dark. She didn't sleep well but she knew there was someone on watch plus with her protection spell they should be safer than her imaginations running wild would lead her to believe. Whenever she opened her eyes she would look around the camp and then go back to sleep.
@dereken

[LordVoldemort]

Adrien Hathoway

Armored

Unarmored

@Wick@Aquanthe@Lord Orgasmo@Remipa Awesome@dereken@Lich

---

Adrien tried to speak up to Alberich as he walked off. "Oh, I'm not a-...." His voice trailed off slightly as Alberich went to speak with the necromancer. It was a curious sight to Adrien, watching the undead wander off into the woods at the man's command. In a way, it alarmed him slightly at the sight of someone who could raise the dead and use it for his own gain. Still....it was rather intriguing. Magic was extremely rare where he had come from; all of these events that followed were something new. Of course, he had been exposed to magic and dark creatures ever since the Dark Lord invaded his country, but it was only now that he was grasping the full-measure of it and the widespread of it's use. Still...it was so surreal to see it being used.

He went over to his horse and put his blade away, tying it to the side of it's saddle. He gave her a few strokes to her mane and smiled, talking to it. "Easy girl, easy girl....it's over now. We're just going to rest here for a little while, okay?" After a few pats to her neck, he walked over towards the party, still clad in full armor. He looked about at the party, unsure of who to speak to. His eyes lingered on the half-elf, the 'old' man, and the necromancer. "So....this 'magic' stuff. What exactly is it?" He spoke up, desperate to figure out what this insane phenomenon was. Was it possible that they served the Dark Lord? It was the only incident that he witnessed such crazy things occurring.

[dereken]

Caractacus

Caractacus didn't even mutter his thanks to Elyria for her help before she walked off. He was unsure of what she was doing until she started casting. If he wasn't miserably tired he would have done something, but no harm came of it. He sighed, wrapping tighter in his cloak, and resolved to thank her in the morning. Eventually, Caractacus drifted off to sleep.

Caractacus slept as well as he normally did, restless and fitfully. The night was long, and the woods were filled with the sounds of creatures, moving, running, hunting. Caractacus snapped awake some indeterminate time in the night, staring down the beach. The group was generally gathered around what was left of the smoldering fire, but there was movement nearby. Blinking several times to clear his eyes, he got a look at the figure striding in from the forest. It was the wild man, who Caractacus never truly met. It was hard to tell by the dim moonlight, but he looked to be covered in blood. Caractacus didn't move, but he watched as the man sat down near the others, and started working on his knives, sharpening and moving them about in their sheathes. Caractacus watched as long as he could, but the wild man didn't change the routine. Sleep slowly overtook Caractacus once more, and despite his efforts, he passed out before long.

The morning came, light filtering through the tree line, painting the lake orange and yellow. A patch of light slowly worked its way through a gap in the trees, until almost all the camp was bathed in direct sunlight. Caractacus groaned and tried to shrink deeper into his cloak to avoid the sun. He fell over onto his side, and stretched out, trying to work the kinks and strains out of his back and legs. A sure reminder of his unpleasant night's sleep. Rolling over, Caractacus pushed up off the ground, and stood up. No one cut his throat in the night. A pleasant surprise.

[Lich]

Sakem Ba

Sakem Ba yawned and looked around as he woke up. Late last night, he had the pleasure of encountering a group of what seemed to be refugees. He could have helped them, he really could! But, their luck was quite awful that night. That night, Sakem Ba was out for blood.

He started off relatively simple, split the group up by turning into beasts from his homeland while incapacitating any who fought back. He could easily kill them, sure, but the true fun would forcing them to watch their friends and family die, one by one. He truly enjoyed hunting them! They were quite creative about hiding, almost as if they have been in this forest for a long time. They were not creative enough, however, as Sakem Ba managed to find each and everyone of them.

Of course, they tried to fight back, but various knives solved that problem. After he had gathered them all, he took to examining them. He struck gold with his first target! She had such beautiful eyes, quite similar to his own, he just had to have them all to himself! His other targets, however, were not as majestic as his first find.

But that aside, he made his way back to camp after carving out those eyes, taking extra care to not damage them. Once he arrived back, he took the time to sharpen his knives and do some neat tricks with them after sitting down. He was quite happy that the group wasn't awake to see that he was still covered in blood, that would be quite hard to explain to them. Soon after growing bored, he made his way to the lake, taking the time to cleanse any blood on him. Of course, right after that, he returned to his original spot and sat down before drifting off to sleep.

Back in the present, Sakem Ba got up and walked over to the lumberjack, taking a glance at the newest addition to the party as he walked. He absolutely hates those in armor, they always were tougher opponents for him. Putting the thought of the newcomer out of his mind, he sat close to Alberich, contemplating whether to slit his throat now and be done with it or to wait for a more ample opportunity. Of course, he was interrupted by the sound of someone awakening, thus forcing him to wait. He could most likely kill them all, of that he was sure, but he would prefer to gain their trust first, forcing them to watch as one of their so called "friends" turned on them.

With that, Sakem sighed and grabbed a stick, using it to poke the large man who he just thought of killing moments ago.

[Carlyle]

Alberich

Interacting With: @LordVoldemort, @Lich

---

The party had finally settled, and rest had begun for Alberich. It had taken him a moment to fall asleep, as the previous day was rather eventful. Alberich had met many travelers, began to build an encampment, and even had to fight murlocs. It was certainly a story to tell, yet Alberich wouldn't have been there to tell anyone if the knight hadn't come to his rescue. Like Alberich, Adrien had little knowledge in the magical arts, and because of that, he had trouble describing the wonders of magic. For all Alberich knew, he was set on his belief that it was the work of the gods, and those who used it were foolish and playing with stuff they shouldn't be messing with.

Eventually, daylight had shown itself over the the trees and onto the encampment. Something was poking Alberich repeatedly, and he rolled over in his sleep. He tried to pay no heed to the poker, yet as much as Alberich ignored the pokes, they wouldn't stop. "What do you want, Sakem?" Alberich asked in a grumpy tone, obviously distressed from the pokes as he rubbed the effects of sleep from his eyes. There was much to be done even today, and it seemed Sakem had nothing better to do but to bug Alberich from the second he woke up.

[Wick]

Elyria

Elyria awakened to hear Alberich talking to Sakem Ba. She had wondered where he had gone. Kathryn was still sleeping and she could see Caractacus waking up as well. She sat up and grabbed some water to drink then started brushing her hair and stretched. She looked around the camp.

"Wow the sun is bright in the morning when it hits the lake it's blinding." She muttered to herself. After getting the knots out of her hair she looked around and said, "I'm going to get eggs for breakfast." She said to whomever might be listening. If anyone wants to come with me that is what I'm going to do." She waited a minute before walking out of the protected barrier.

A few minutes later she saw a birds nest up in a tree. She wiggled her fingers and the nest flew into her hands. She counted 7 eggs and put them in the cloak pocket and dropped the nest on the ground. She went onwards looking for another nest or two. She repeated this process until she had two dozen eggs or so. When she returned to the camp she started humming and cooking eggs.

[Lich]

Sakem Ba

"What do I want? Hmm, that's a hard question. Well, there's a lot of things I want. To start off what I want, I want you to get up so we can start our really busy day!" Sakem chuckled as he continued poking Alberich.

"By the way, I have a really, really important question to ask." His poking stopped as his tone became serious when he asked his question. "Do you ever just sit there and think that maybe, just maybe, there might be some higher cosmic force controlling our every action? I don't mean gods, by the way. Come talk to me once you think you have your answer."

Sakem got up and walked away, walking towards the middle of the little camp the group had going on. He glanced at Elyria when he heard she was leaving to gather eggs for breakfast. He understood that they needed to eat, but why eggs? Why not gather berries and the like? He wasn't going to complain outside of his mind, however. That would just be useless.