[IC] The Sands of Blood (Dead)

[Horrid]

Drizzak

---

The smaller goblin sat on the step of the wagon as his mutagen finally wore off. His nice new skull adornment had been stolen right off of his head, rather painfully and now he let out a sigh as his draconic, ogre-like physique faded, looking down as his club-handed arms shrunk down to skinny claws once more, shedding of their scales like bark falling from a tree. Pale and ashen once again, a stark remind of his goblin heritage. His low mood quickly faded as he began to mix up another batch of his vile chemicals. The familiar firelight glowed from the vials as he packed them into his costume once more, as he donned it from where it had been thrown into the wagon when the short gnoll slaughter had finished.

The small goblin scratched at his side, now his chipper draconic self again. For a while he stared at the others in the party, seemingly unfazed by the previous floating sphere that had sailed past them. Was it above his understanding, or was he just too headstrong to care? Did he honestly believe himself able to dominate such an unearthly force? Truly his thoughts were an enigma to even himself. Such a ponderous wonder he was. A beast to be admired. Revered, even.

Drizzak scratched at his behind and let out a loud belch before speaking in the same high-pitched shriek.

"Drizzak wish big ball left dogmans. Drizzak hungry. He burn them good enough for eats. What waste."

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh was a little taken back by her sudden flight. He reached out his hand, "Wa-" He interrupted himself, bringing his hand back in, "Okay." His expression looked as though he felt a little guilty that he had done something wrong. He overheard Ellis's teasing. His face suddenly felt flushed and he brought a hand up to his face, rubbing around his eyes. After hearing Vivian saying they had yet to share a bedroll, Hugh cleared his throat, feeling a little embarrassed at the whole conversation. "Okay then, too much commentary from the peanut gallery for the day." He said waving them off.

He listened to Ellis and Vivian speak of what they were after, the whole chalice and treasure stuff. Hugh thought of how much he had changed, since long ago becoming a paladin. Now he did things to provide a living for himself, with a good amount of danger and excitement. The promise of a great reward, enemies numerous, danger around every corner. You had to be a little insane to take this up as a living.

The reasons why Hugh was no longer a paladin were numerous. He had shut himself off from the rest of the world, choosing a simple life, leaving his paladin life behind when the tribe adopted him. He didn't want anything to do with being world police, anymore. All that he wanted was a simple existence, but even that was taken away, forcing him to become a wanderer, taking up questing to make a living. Mercenary alone was enough to make him an ex-paladin.

Hugh simply walked alongside the wagon, observing that Sana had run up ahead. He wasn't particularly sure if he could just walk up to her at this moment. She seemed like she wanted to be alone for on the little scouting mission. He felt kind of stupid at the moment, but simply walked to the back of the wagon and put on the rest of his gear, including strapping his warhammer to his back. Then he headed towards the front of the wagon.

"Hey Sana, I can scout with you!" He said yelling up ahead, figuring that regardless it would not really be very good if someone was scouting alone.

[Afina]

Sana kept an eye out before them, chuckling to herself slightly as what their new companion had said. At least he had a sense of humor. To what Ellis had said, it took everything in her not to turn around and snap out of pure embarrassment. Gulping she had kept moving to take a scouting position figuring that it was better than to confront the hafling. He seemed to like to tease, yelling wouldn't stop that.

When Hugh called out to her, she swallowed hard and took a deep breath before waving him over to her. She had a moment to calm down and compose herself as it were and felt she had been reading far too much into his simple action. Sana wasn't exactly young, in human years, but Hugh was definitely her senior and she thought now, having a moment to reflect, that he was probably just acting as a parent or older sibling may have to her outburst. Trying to give a little comfort to a tense situation. At least that is what she tried to convince herself of.

[Inertia]

Tagged; Everyone in the party,

Sana said another retort, and it did ring some truth and merit. Wariness is a good trait, and before he could reply she ran off. Walking behind the wagon, his thoughts were wrapped around his outburst, I wonder why I was outraged to that degree. he thought, pondering to himself. Before he knew it, Ellyn was next to him and began singing a song in an unknown language, but it was soothing to the ears. Closing his eyes, a repressed memory of his younger years triggered in his head,

Artos' parents had just died a few months ago, and he was still dealing with their untimely deaths. His uncle had sent him to do a request from a personal friend, the request detailed a retrieval of an item that was rumored to be around the area. He was paired with another young Magus, a half orc, half human. She was called 'Turael', and Artos didn't really get along with her, his distrust and prejudice of orcs had gotten in the way of that. Their friendship did gradually get better over time. Long story short, the mission was successful, but Turael was captured, tortured and eventually left to die on a road. Many people passed by, and left the half orc to her demise and some even spat on the Magus as they walked by. By the time Artos found her, she was already at death's door, and with a smile she sent him off with a 'goodbye.'

His eyes slowly opening near the end of the hymn, and a single tear escaped his eye and with a sigh, he remembered why he himself is not prejudiced and biased towards any of the races. His glare had all but left, and now he went back to his relatively normal self. "Thanks, I needed that." he said towards Ellyn with a slight smile. "You can go rest in the wagon, I'm fine now." he continued after seeing her yawn. Noticing that the male elf with the pointy ears was glaring at him for some unbeknownst reason, Looks like three might be after my life, well I guess I should apologize to Hugh. So atleast I could worry about one less. he thought to himself with a sigh. Placing his tome in his pouch, he stopped Hugh in his tracks "Apologies for the outburst." he said, swiftly bowing his head, and with that he began walking away, behind the wagon again, reaching for his tome and began reading.

[Salrynn]

Ellyn heard him as she walked off and smiled at him; 'your welcome... your such a kind person after all' in the midst of things she continued walking with the wagon and wondered why he really needed that;

'why was he crying... Did my song make him cry...?'

As she pondered on about this little question in her head she heard him apologise to Hugh and hopes he will forgive the fellow human.

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh was about to rush on over to Sana, but the magus, Artos spoke to him, issuing him an apology. "You know you are forgiven by me, Artos. I won't hold it against you." He said, speaking as a man who was tired of holding grudges. He had no time for them. He still had too much of a life to live to hold them.

He unstrapped his warhammer from his back and threw it over his shoulder. He headed over to Sana's right, being a few feet away from her as he jogged up. "You ever think you'll abandon adventuring someday?" He said, a rather different conversation topic. "Maybe hit the big reward and retire?" Hugh had always assumed that he would die from his life style, but at the time being he felt as though he could live through it all. Maybe establish a new life for himself and be happy. He had no idea why any of this was getting into his head right now, but he felt happy.

[Afina]

Sana glanced towards Hugh out of the corner of her eyes as he caught up to her; brow rising slightly at his questions. It was definitely a change of topic from earlier. She continued to walk as she pondered his inquiries, having never really considered what she would do if she did ever make the big score. She had been out and in this life for well over ten years now.

"I...I don't know," she answered slowly, in a reflective tone as she contemplated the thought of retiring. She had left home for a reason, even if she did make enough to not to have to work, why stop. "Probably not, I have no home anymore. This is what I know." Her voice was quiet and even slightly remorseful. She hadn't wanted to live the life of a gypsy and ironically running away from it just turned her into one on another level.

Shaking her head slightly she forced a smile. "And you? Would you give it up?"

[EWillden]

Ellis smirked at Hugh's response. What made him chuckle even more was that Hugh ran up to follow after Sana. "If they didn't want to give me excuses to tease them,... They sure keep failing at it." He said shaking his head. He decided to give them a break. For right now.. He kept his thoughts on their destination. This was a ancient city. There must be all kinds of valuable items inside.

Vivian watched as the group got ever close to their destination until finally they could see it's door. They got there a lot faster then normal. Perhaps the wagon helped a lot. They had a new choice,.. Enter now or rest a bit and then enter. "Okay everyone,... We can enter now, or wait tell we are all well rested and then enter?" She asked.

Gurlekk was more than just ready, but he could see that people such as Ellyn were tired. It would not be wise if they all went in while someone was not ready. "I say we wait. I don't believe all of us are ready." He answered.

[Salrynn]

'm-may we rest, please??' Ellyn asked ever so politely, she was still smiling but you could see that she was tired... really tired, as she glumly prodded towards the door, going way ahead of the wagon to examine the entrance and then suddenly felt her knees suddenly 'oh god... Lactic acid... it sucks...' she retorted as she chuckled, she may have finally got her wish... she always wanted to feel lactic acid and now that she has she wished she never wished for it in the first place... it really did suck.

'Don't any of you's have lactic acid??' Ellyn asked. Not wanting to feel a burden to the team but didn't want to drag them down either, she may be 355 but that was pretty young for a surface elf, or so she thought anyway.

[Afina]

Sana saw their destination and nudged Hugh slightly, "there in the distance," she said before heading back to the wagon and the rest. Pulling the hood of her mantle up to shield herself from the sun slightly as she reached the group. Resting sounded like a good idea, no one really had had any sleep to speak of it seemed. Thinking back to the tavern the night before she was now wishing they had gotten sleep before they had headed out.

"I vote rest," she said as she leaned against the side of the wagon and stretched her neck from side to side. "It was a long night and I don't think anyone really got rest. Maybe we could find shade too before the sun really starts scorching," she said as she looked over at Ellyn and perked a brow. "Girl, you need to sit down and rest."

[Warrior in the Shadows]

It sounded to Hugh that Sana hadn't really contemplated it before, as Hugh had only contemplated it recently. His thoughts on the thousand gold coin reward had got him thinking about the big retirement.

"You sound like you've never thought of it before. Then again, I haven't either. It just popped into my head." He said. "I dunno if I have a good enough reason yet." He paused, pondering for a moment. "I just don't have a home to settle down at." He finished. Him and his horse had been on the road together for such a long time. Probably both of them could remember what it felt like to have some place they called home, but Hugh had lost two homes. He still believed that some day he might find a permanent one to live peacefully till passing.

Just then, Sana directed Hugh's attention to the ruins in the distance. "I see." He folded in and headed back to the wagon. After hearing the voting going down, he put his vote in right after Sana, "Aye, rest." He slung his warhammer to the ground, leaning on the handle slightly, looking a little more like the paladin he once had been. "We've all been on the road for too long and some of us didn't get adequate rest." He thought of all the sleep deprivation he had been suffering from before he had signed on for this quest.

[EWillden]

Vivian took the answers and nodded. "We rest then...." Sana mentioned find shade, Vivian looked all around them. Not a single tree at all. Finding shade would be hard. Then again, the shade of the huge plateau might suffice. Seeing as the entrance to the city was a part of it. There were places in the rockface too. Buildings built into it's walls. However, their only entrance seemed to be the inside of the plateau. Seeing as there were only windows on their side. The way the windiws were built made it impossible to fit through. Even Ellis doubted he could.

"There is shade over there. We will gather over there and rest." She responded. Ellis directed the horse in the direction of the shade and began to move the wagon towards it.

Gurlekk nodded in approval thinking he needed to rest as well. They all looked like they could use some. Hopefully it wouldn't be interupted. He also had took note of Ellyn had a bit of a fuss with her dress. It did cause her to trip, the sand below their feet didn't help the situation. He moved over and looked at the dress. "You know, if you ask nicely, i could make that dress shorter. Its going to catch on a lot of things in there." He responded.

[Inertia]

Tagged; Everyone in the party,

Travelling along with the wagon, it was stopped and the apparent leader. Vivian offered to rest or to enter the ancient city of old, at first Artos wanted to enter the city immidietly. Eyeing the overall fatigue of the group, including his own as his mana was still thoroughly drained, he decided otherwise. Raising his voice, "I opt for rest." he voiced, "I'll also volunteer to be lookout, you all look more tired than me." Walking next to the wheel of the stopped wheel, and resting his back against it, placing his weapon between his legs and the left side of his neck and also placing his hood over his head.

As he said that, the leader pointed to a shadowy base, with adequate shade, and with a shrug, Artos followed.
"Ellyn, you need to rest the most." he called out, wondering what she was talking about, something about lactic acid. "Oh, and Sir Hugh, we can later talk about a few paladins who managed to live, like you." he continued as his deep scarlet eyes danced around the surroundings, looking for anything that could possibly attack the group.

[Afina]

Sana smiled in relief as the shade was pointed out and nodded. "Sounds good to me," she said as she swung into the back of the wagon and gathered her things. Picking up the bloodied bed roll she tossed it to Hugh. "That one's yours," she said before she slung her pack onto her back and gathered what she could before jumping down.

Passing Ellyn and hearing about her dress she stopped and dropped what she had; reaching into her bag and pulled out a pair of leather shorts with leather ties that enabled them to be adjusted in size. Laying them down next to Ellyn she smiled, said nothing, and picked up her things once again before walking over to the shade. Finding a spot against the wall she put everything down and layed out a bed roll before sitting down. Her feet had had it.

[Salrynn]

Ellyn smiled as she heard Artos's voice, she felt calmer within herself and that she fit in more within her little band of friends, she smiled wider once Sana dropped the leather pants and instantly picked them up off the floor. 'thankyou Sana!!!' Ellyn projected, now she just needed something to cut her dress with so she could put on her leather pants... It will make things much easier for herself so she wouldn't trip over her skirt.

She walked towards the wagon with the pants in her hand. smiling softly she eventually grabs her bedroll once she reaches the wagon, unrolling it and lying down on top of it, sleeping as fast as a winter creature would go into hibernation.

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh perked up when he heard Artos's words. He was simply stunned at the sudden revelation, but he was brought back into reality by Sana tossing a bloody bedroll at him.

Hugh almost dropped his warhammer when he caught the bloody bedroll. When she said this one was his, his thoughts wandered to when Vivian talked of them sharing a bedroll, and he shook the thought out of his head, feeling like an idiot. "Uh, too rich for my taste." He said with a smirk. He had slept in mud, dirt, even water, but he would not sleep in the fluids of another creature. That was unsanitary and most definitely unhealthy. "I'll use my bear fur." He said, walking to the back of the wagon and picking up a large bear fur from his small pile of things.

He walked over to the wall, laid the bear fur down, and took off his pauldrons. He then sprawled himself on the ground, back against the wall. "Well, this isn't bad. A pint would make it a lot better." He said, chuckling to himself, not realizing that everyone else could definitely hear him.

[Afina]

Sana smiled at Ellyns thank you and nodded slightly, Ellyn had a good heart and was kind. If she needed a bit of help to make sure she didn't trip, then so be it. Leaning back against the wall she took a deep breath and began to slowly unlace her boots, pulling them off and dumping the sand that had accumulated in them.

Glancing over at Hugh as he laid the fur out. "I think you bloodied that bed roll up on purpose so you could use the fur," she teased as she finished dumping the sand out of her other boot. Crossing her legs, she rubbed her feet some, a soft moan escaping her lips as she relieved some of the tension that had been built up over the trek to their destination.

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh just sat for a moment, "You've caught me. Just can't trust bedrolls." He chuckled. "It is a wonderful fur, though." He said, feeling the fur coat with his hand. It was still soft, even though he had it for awhile. It was certainly durable, which Hugh needed. "Ahh, screw it." He took off his chainmail shirt and sprawled out on the ground, lying flat on the sand. He was weirded out by the slight moan he heard, which caused him to panic for a few seconds before realizing it was just Sana.

"Oh." He shrugged, lying back down to relax, his armor and weapons lying right beside him. He was ready for a good relaxation and a nap. He hoped that there would be no disturbances, as he was starting to feel good and didn't really want to get up. His boots were still on his feet, and he had little intention of taking them off, as he had gone wearing boots for days straight. It was the sacrifice of the job. Comfort for good money.

He gave a loud sigh, drifting off into a day dream, not really getting to sleep at all. It was sometimes difficult for him to doze off during the day, but he could do it. "If only the sun would go down." He said, aloud.

[Afina]

Sana chuckled slightly, pulling her boots back on and lacing them up, she didn't want something to happen and have to run or fight without them. Looking over at Hugh she laughed. "It is a mighty fine fur," as said as she rose from her place and dug somethings out of her bag. Looking back over to Hugh she signed slightly, noticing he was dozing. He looked peaceful and she decided not to disturb him.

Walking over to his horse, she patted Rodger gently before holding out a skin of water. Letting the creature get a drink before she poured a little on him and began to rub Rodger down some. She was raised around horses, pulling the wagons they called home from city to city. Sanas parents had taught her at a young age how to care for them after a long trek.

"You did good," she said as she ran her fingers through his mane. "Real good," she added as she gave him a quick pat before leading him over to the shade. If they needed to make a break for it, they would need Rodger. He needed as much rest if not more than they did.

[Fatal Error 1337]

"Aye, rest would be a great idea." Bjoric grumbled as he let out a yawn. He staggered with the rest of the party to the meagre shade provided by the plateau. The heat was already beginning to rise and was on the verge of becoming uncomfortable.

"Sleeping in this is going to be like sleeping in a forge." They were going to need thier rest, especially if what he suspected was waiting for them was there. He pulled his bedroll from the wagon and placed it near the smooth stone cliff of the plateau.

He sat on the bed, standing his hammer on the sand in front of him, the head pointing sideways to him so the symbol of Moradin was facing him. Saying the words in ancient dwarven he felt the air lose its arid quality. The hot breeze that had begun turn cool. He let out a sigh, giving thanks in the ancient language once more.

"If ya think the heat will be too much for ye, let me know." He offered as the lowered his hammer to the sand beside him.