[IC] Godless Ichor (Dark Fantasy/Action)

[CadenGallic]

"I take it this means you are travelling to the river's source." the knight seemed to glare at him, slightly. "My advice, do not be tempted into the strength of the ichor, my friend. It is power we should not dabble in." His hands clenched on his knees. "That is my quest, I am on my way to the river source to destroy whatever is spilling ichor into the river." he explained.

[Eklispe]

Eldarin nodded, not reacting to the unseen glare. He should be careful, if this knight misunderstood him, Eldarin might found himself facing a powerful enemy. At the very least he knew he didn't have to fear a blade in the back. "Well, I've already seen its ill effects certainly." Eldarin said thoughtfully, briefly recalling what had happened in the forest and at the abandoned building. Certainly he wished to avoid a fight such as that. "Your quest seems like it is well warranted, if the ability to get this ichor became widespread I can certainly see much conflict rising over it. As it is nearly everything that its influenced seems to want to kill me, up to and including the wildlife." Eldarin continued, with a short, one syllable, laugh that was more indicative of surprise than humor.

[CadenGallic]

"It has already caused many problems... the spread of Godless, the rise in bandits in this area, it all links back to the Ichor polluting the river. I have ended it's spread once... and I shall do so again, for Galothiel." The knight spoke valiantly before turning back to Eldarin. "If you wish to continue on this path, Bellmoral is where you should go next. It is at the end of this valley."

[Eklispe]

Eldarin turned a curious head. He'd ended it once already? Perhaps his emblem was some sort of reward for his previous valor then. Eldarin imagined a feat such as that would be most difficult. Either way he nodded, "Bellmoral, thank you for the advice." Eldarin said quietly and finished his meal.

[CadenGallic]

"If you wish, we may travel together. This valley is increasingly unfamiliar to me and I fear worse awaits us." Bronwick looked beyond the camp further up the canyon, his fingers resting at his chin in concern. "Knights must work together, no?"

[Eklispe]

Well Eldarin wasn't exactly a knight but now wasn't the time to point that out. He nodded in agreement, "I concur that that would be most beneficial to the both of us. As you just proved not too long ago, having a partner can be rather helpful." Much like Bronwick, Eldarin expected nothing to improve the further they got.

[CadenGallic]

"Quite so." He rose up and retrieved his blade, looking onward deeper into the canyon. "Keep your wits up, demons abound." He advised, preparing to continue their trek into the valley. The path ahead looked steep, a crack splitting the path in half and showing the running water of the river Eleteele below, the shields hanging above and shining in the setting sunlight.

[Eklispe]

Eldarin nodded, looking around the camp one last time before following Bronwick. Usually that phrase was just a phrase, but Eldarin wouldn't doubt its literal translation. They had best be going, night time wasn't fun no matter where you were. He was just glad he'd gotten a chance to rest for a while and get some food in him.

[CadenGallic]

Bronwick stepped up to the crack in the ground, casting his gaze up. "Look sharp, we have company." and they did indeed. Three chattering imps hung above them, perching on the shields and wielding their catalysts once again. The three quickly prepared an assault, flinging fireballs at the pale blue knight, which he easily defended against by raising his shield.
"I will draw their fire. You use that bow of yours to take them down." Bronwick advised him as the imps shifted position and prepared another volley.

[Eklispe]

Eldarin nodded, quickly unslinging his bow once more. He would use the same strategy he'd used last time, wait until they stopped to fire, then firing. Presumably he would only be able to get one or two before they thought of something different but he would deal with that when it came to it. "Got it."

[CadenGallic]

The three imps fired off a second round of fireballs as Bronwick continued to stand firm against their assault, though he was starting to show signs of weakening, as any would from repeated magical attacks. The imps flickered around them and now seemed to make an intelligent move, surrounding them, two off to their left and one to their right, intent to try to break Bronwick's defences as they rounded up another burst of fireballs.

[Eklispe]

Quickly analyzing the situation Eldarin decided it would be most logical to go for the one to the right, reducing the attacks to coming from a single side. With this in mind he fired off a shot as soon as the imp landed. Their focus on Bronwick would be their undoing as Eldarin as for every attack they lauched at Bronwick, Eldarin would send one at them.

[CadenGallic]

His plan was a success and the imp on the right found an arrow lodged in its stomach, killing it quickly. The fireballs flew in as Bronwick's shield continued to protect them. Now the two imps seemed to repeat their tactic, but choosing new spots, in front of and behind them, and on the ground no less as they prepared another lob of fireballs.

[Eklispe]

Using the same strategy Eldarin waited until the Imp closest to him committed to his shot before firing again. If the Imp managed to get it if, entirely possible given Eldarin had made sure his own shot would hit, Eldarin would knock it aside with his buckler that was still on his wrist.

[CadenGallic]

This time, the arrow did impale the imp, but it got its fireball off as it shot it toward him. The second imp, however, employed a new spell, this time wreathing his silver prong in fire and flying at Bronwick, who quickly began batting at the little blighter with his sword.

[Eklispe]

As expected. Eldarin simply knocked it aside with his shield, expending a small bit of mana to ensure it didn't burn anything, and turned to view the last one. It seemed to be engaging Bronwick in melee combat, something that seemed overwhelmingly foolish. Still, on the off-hand chance the knight needed his help, Eldarin slung his bow back over his shoulder, drew his sword and circled around the imp, striking it down from the back given the chance.

[CadenGallic]

The imp perished quickly as it bled out on the ground below.
"Thank you. Pesky blighter..." Bronwick grumbled, pointing to the way ahead of them, further into the canyon. As they progressed, the sound of running water could be heard up ahead. A large outcropping of rocks formed something of a fence ahead of them, with a crack inbetween the rocks for them to move through. There was a large travel casket left up against the fence and the corpse of a bandit slumped next to it, burn marks on his armour showing imps had done him in.

[Eklispe]

Well no harm in seeing if there was anything useful around. "Hold on a moment." Eldarin said and began checking the corpse, as well as the casket for anything of use.

[CadenGallic]

The dead bandit didn't have anything too useful on him, but the casket meanwhile held something more potent. Bandit armour, hard leather and flexible, decent enough to fend off most standard blows and sturdy to boot. There was also a large hatchet underneath it, typical bandit work, rough iron and a wooden handle.

[Eklispe]

Eldarin examined the leather carefully. It seemed to be of slightly higher quality than his own. It did look a little shifty, but that was a small price to pay for better protection. He decided that he would replace everything save his chain mail. "Hm, it seems this bandits was guarding something of value, to me at least. Please keep an eye out for a moment while I re-equip myself." Eldarin asked Bronwick and proceeded to do just that. When he was finished he looked at the hatchet analytically. It could be handy for throwing, or perhaps tasks that required the brute force his sword found difficult to muster, but it would also be somewhat unwieldy to carry. When it came down to it, he trusted his sword more and believed it to have more overall use. Eldarin decided it would be best to not worry about the hatchet. "Alright then, shall we carry on?"