(note- the news exclaiming Gawge Merle as Reformer has not yet happened)
This is set in present day
The wrath of Satin, or some over demonic beast, crashed down in heaps of accumulated water onto the village. This was Kartwhale, a poor enough settlement originally without the added sense of downpour. As said in tales, this type of rain struck before at the first days of Phraxitrania's founding but had never since been witnessed. It entails the singular drops of rain collecting into one larger capsule before striking ground causing much more damage and likely injury to the human form, or Halph man, and was commonly known as Phrax hail.
Several of the wooden huts and inhabitants once standing were gone crushed by the hail and swept away by the long traveled mountain wind. The structures remaining were used as shelter- for there was no other unless one was daring enough to sprint to the forest. Residing within the folk of Kartwhale- Halph men/women and Humans, awaiting the desired time were they should be released from their tense imprisonment. The closest hut to the forest, yet still 30 meters, housed a group of 7 men and 3 Halph men, one of which was Gawge Merle (see character sheet).
"How long are we able to wait like this?" Gawge questioned despairingly, breaking the ancient silence. He sat near the center of the room, slumped on an empty crate like a fish on open dirt, gulping every time a Phrax stream landed close. "Do you propose an alternative?" said a man shrouded in the black of his wide brimmed hat, the back half of which rested upon the rounded wall. As bashful as a brazen log, the silence crept back in, coating the walls in a thick layer of anxiety and turning the minds of the living, filling Gawge's mouth with tar.
"I have a proposal," Gawge conveyed, raising the eyes of the tiresome spectators," a way to get to the women and children and meander them to the forest."
"Lets 'ear it then!" a Halph Man called out, clearly spiking with excitement- or at least a form of relief. The man with the hat leaned forward, revealing his dark, flowing hair and dotted beard, only identifiable by the pale complexion of his skin. "We may fall at the first stage..." Gawge realised ,"But anyway, it's least a try- if this blasted hail is to go on as long as the legends tell- we'll die of dehydration before we see the back of it."
"But it's only ever been recorded once in known history- how are we to know it wasn't just a one off?" asked one of the younger men in the village, Martyn Uylle. "I believe we should wait a while longer, just to confirm the legends."
Obviously confused by the suggestion, a Halph Man and personality in the village, Tulfode Jenkyns (Toad by his friends) stabbed out ,"What? And get bludgeoned by this stinking rain, I for one am not staying here for as long as I can help it- which I'm hoping will be a brief time."
The man in the black spoke,"Although favorable to Martyn's attitude, I agree with Tulfode. We cannot prolong our time here for the storm and it's irritating fanatics could break through our walls at any one second." As the comment was roughly accepted, Toad turned sides,"Irritating... Irritating is not the word to describe our situation. Fatal, suffocating, inescapable. This is what our plight is- not irritating."
"I merely misspoke," the man returned ,"I apologize if any offence was taken."
Completely ignoring the apology, Toad continued," And to think, you only arrived here not too long than a month ago, almost as if you brought the storm with you."
"I admit, my timing was unfortunate," the man replied but then struck like a dagger that ,"If you are implying me a wizard, you've got some serious trouble on your hands. 'Cause I am not gonna take that lightly, no matter how many cherries on top!"
"Woah!" Martyn intervened," Let's just all calm down. If we wanna get outa here, we're gonna need to act soon otherwise we'll have this building on top of us. And we don't want that, do we?"
"I bet he does!" Toad snapped, clear to who he was indicating," What even is your name anyway? We're gonna need it for the announces at the gallows!"
"What are you ailed with Tulfode?" the man questioned," For you seem to be getting onto my case for what seems like no reason. And for anyone else who wants to know, it's Bayshed, I am called Bayshed." A sigh of relief echoed around the dark cylinder as the onlookers saw Toad withdraw from the argument... but he came back, "And how would you..."
"Shut up!"
Hidden from the view of the people, a burly man by the name of Jymes Frye interrupted the accusation for the benefit of all but Toad. "Lets get this over and done with," Jymes suggested, clenching his fist angrily.
"Thank you Jymes, Now we may proceed with getting the hell out of here- with the women and children too." Gawge represented and continued with his plan,"If we're gonna cross the village to the women and children then back to the forest we're gonna need mobile shelter, and I have a solution. This wood on the walls 'bout as sturdy as it gets and its likely to hold off a few of those bloody rain things." He said this knocking on a clear wall he'd gradually walked to, but held off after the second knock as if he thought it falling. "So we all carry a few each, shielding the rain, enough spare for the others in the village to use- everyone got that?" Gawge checked.
"Just one thing..." Martyn muddled over," How are we to collect these panels without ending up with a roof on top of us?" This was something Gawge clearly hadn't thought about and kicked himself for doing so for he appeared clueless. "Simple," Bayshed smirked, taking away his hat to show the true extent of his blending hair, and placing it by his side," We don't take all of them, just leave the main supports in- and even if that's not enough then, there's enough of us to carry the whole roof as a shield anyway."
"Thank you for completing my plan, Bayshed," Gawge complimented, and believing there were more than just 10 of them, he shouted at the height of his voice," Let's get this thing moving!"
Everyone leaped to their feet at once, as if they were humble dogs at the will of their master, and began pulling away at the planks at the walls and gawping at the sight before them. The dark droplets crashed down everywhere- one particular hut was taking quite a beating. 1 ft of water leveled on the completely saturated dirt, growing by the second. Taking away one of the lower panels, Gawge pulled away as a flood of water fell in, striving for the other side of the room. "Come on, get these panels off!" he encouraged and got back to work. In no time at all, they had removed all the planks- likely because there were few of them and hardly enough for everyone in the village. "How many do we have?" Gawge questioned, clearly taking charge of things. After a quick count, they resulted they had 30 odd and," How many huts excluding ours do we have left," Gawge questioned again. "Three!" Bayshed called out.
"Where's the 3rd one?" Gawge questioned, staring into the very same mist Bayshed was.
"There," Bayshed portrayed, pointing forward," Just behind that veil of mist."
"Good eye man," Jymes congratulated, spying the hut Bayshed spoke of.
"Martyn, give me, Jymes and Hayd a board," Gawge commanded," Jymes you go to the the far off hut, I'll go to the one our right and Hayd, you go for the nearest. When you get there tell them to do exactly what we have done and lift their roofs over to us, Go!" Accepting his wooden plank, Gawge abandoned the safety of the roof without a room, followed by Jymes, and then Hayd- a bearded man with dark eyes and a prudent nose. As they became more and more distant, Bayshed saw as they took their separate paths and disappeared into the blinding mist of vapor.
Bayshed took off where Gawge left off," Come on, let's get this roof off the ground shall we?" gripping a corner of the supports and tearing it away from its home. The four supports they'd left were quickly broken as the roof came onto their backs, nearly crushing them. Martyn realised what life would have been like as a turtle. Although pressured, the 4 men and 3 Halph men were able to withstand the force, an impressive feet considering 3 of them were half of a normal man. "Get this over to the forest, we can't stand like this forever." At this command, the people trapped below got to work crouching ahead further and further towards the woods. Looking up, Bayshed caught a quick glimpse of a pair of devilish blue eyes staring into him, Tulfode. "Hey, Tulfode- stay concentrated, we've still got a while to go!" Bayshed shouted over the coursing wind and racket of Phrax Hail.
"Oh sorry," Toad mocked," Was I disturbing you from your incarnations- your little spells you weave around us?!"
"I am not a Wizard, you filthy..." Bayshed shot, then stopped, lowering his head as if a way of calming.
Martyn tapped him on the shoulder lightly and suggested that," Mr Bayshed, you should look at this!" He didn't.
"Oh, go on- finish your sentence!" Toad called over, waving his hand," Filthy what, hey? Filthy what?!"
"Mr, you really should look at this" Martyn said more urgently, practically hitting him on the shoulder.
"Oh, you gonna cry? Who's gonna look after you now Gawgie and Jymesie are gone, hey?" mocked Toad, completely abandoning his post to the annoyance of the Halph man next to him," Hey, get back over here you skiver!"
"Bayshed!!" Martyn screamed.
"What?" questioned Bayshed, finally looking up. There a giant stream of Phrax Hail fell, targeted straight for the roof, it's blue sides shining evilly in the dark morning. "Get DOWN!" It struck.
The force from the blast sent the roof bashfully splintering into the ground, crushing Tulfode under the weight of it's wooden beams. Only the people on the outside were able to escape on time, but they were on the outside... Acting as fast as he could, Bayshed kicked in the roof with the hard sole of his boot and leapt within, Martyn after him. "Get a board each and run for the forests!" Bayshed called and proceeded with handing out the panels to every man still fighting. Bypassing the plank Bayshed offered him, Martyn crawled in further to the darkness and removing a piece of mangled debris met with the pale face of Tulfode, or as he knew him, Toad. It dripped mournfully with blood as the last light faded from his unhealthy eyes. "Martyn, there's nothing more we can do for him," Bayshed said turning to him and pulling his shoulder.
"I'll be safe under here for a while, may I stay and say my goodbyes?" Martyn pleaded, tears slowly dropping from his cheeks. "Very well, but don't be more than a minute!" Bayshed ordered, departing with the others into the deadly open. As Bayshed left he spied Martyn leaning to the dead Halph man's ear and thought nothing of it, but he did not hear Martyn mutter unknown words from a strange language, and did not see the ocher light spread from his palm and drain into Tulfode's soul, for if he had- he would have witnessed wizardcraft.
Sprinting as fast as a young Brynnith, Bayshed held the apparent sturdy plank above his head as he went and occasionally turned to check if Martyn or the other huts had moved yet. As he turned for the 3rd time he saw that the nearest hut had began to gradually crawl towards him and the others were following, following mother turtle. If watching from another angle, many may have found this scenario quite amusing- and what the tale it will make, but for Bayshed- that tale will only be told if everyone excluding Tulfode made it out. And luckily enough there he saw Martyn climbing away from the wreckage of the hut, but something followed. Reaching the safety of the forest undergrowth, he ignored his congratulating comrades and mentally triple back flipped as he saw a live and running Tulfode sprinting behind him- using his own legs. "How in our vengeful God's name is that possible!?" Bayshed muttered to himself, but the others heard and witnessed what he swore at.
Interrupting his confused mind, hundreds of thudding thumps came to ears as he spied a chasing stream of Phrax hail behind the fleeing man and Halph man. This was NOT nature. It targeted precisely the path Martyn took, when he turned left- it turned left, when he strove forward- it didn't stray. In Bayshed's untested calculations Martyn could probably outrun the coming storm- but not the zombie Tulfode- and following this piece of information, he ran. Not away, but at the storm- sprinting like the wind on a stallion, faster than any other man known in Mesidayn and reached the escapees by 7 seconds. When there, without hesitation or authorization, lifted Tulfode onto his shoulders, and turned the other way. From his brief vision of the forest, Bayshed could see Martyn had survived and from his brief vision of the death column chasing him, it was no more than two meters behind him- he could feel the chilling white water upon his back. Tulfode struggled as he ran- slowing his pace massively and disabling him from outrunning his possible demise- only keeping pace with it. The shrill voices of the villagers could be heard from the forest- one of the huts had arrived and were cheering him on. He wouldn't be able to make it- the column would catch him not 5 meters from his destination, but Bayshed could still save Tulfode. Reaching the 5 meter mark, the voices of his month long friends in his ears, he tossed Tulfode as hard as he could and breathed as what he thought to be Jymes catch him. This was the end. Bayshed stopped- tense as a tree in a lightning storm and waited- nothing happened.
To his greatest surprise he felt the warmth of the sun on his back, and opening his eyes he saw all his friends still there waiting in anxiety, but as soon as they saw him alive cheered- louder than rifles. He had survived, but how? Turning, Bayshed saw the column had vanished and a new day had dawned , the bright blue sky blinding his eyes, showing light upon the dead village. He had survived. Falling to his knees like a broken building, Bayshed spied as the swarms of people filed around him shouting," Bayshed! Bayshed!" or ,"We're alive!" He had survived. The shock was more great than the people had expected for Bayshed blacked out quite instantly and rested his head upon the wet grass. He had survived.
This is set in present day
The wrath of Satin, or some over demonic beast, crashed down in heaps of accumulated water onto the village. This was Kartwhale, a poor enough settlement originally without the added sense of downpour. As said in tales, this type of rain struck before at the first days of Phraxitrania's founding but had never since been witnessed. It entails the singular drops of rain collecting into one larger capsule before striking ground causing much more damage and likely injury to the human form, or Halph man, and was commonly known as Phrax hail.
Several of the wooden huts and inhabitants once standing were gone crushed by the hail and swept away by the long traveled mountain wind. The structures remaining were used as shelter- for there was no other unless one was daring enough to sprint to the forest. Residing within the folk of Kartwhale- Halph men/women and Humans, awaiting the desired time were they should be released from their tense imprisonment. The closest hut to the forest, yet still 30 meters, housed a group of 7 men and 3 Halph men, one of which was Gawge Merle (see character sheet).
"How long are we able to wait like this?" Gawge questioned despairingly, breaking the ancient silence. He sat near the center of the room, slumped on an empty crate like a fish on open dirt, gulping every time a Phrax stream landed close. "Do you propose an alternative?" said a man shrouded in the black of his wide brimmed hat, the back half of which rested upon the rounded wall. As bashful as a brazen log, the silence crept back in, coating the walls in a thick layer of anxiety and turning the minds of the living, filling Gawge's mouth with tar.
"I have a proposal," Gawge conveyed, raising the eyes of the tiresome spectators," a way to get to the women and children and meander them to the forest."
"Lets 'ear it then!" a Halph Man called out, clearly spiking with excitement- or at least a form of relief. The man with the hat leaned forward, revealing his dark, flowing hair and dotted beard, only identifiable by the pale complexion of his skin. "We may fall at the first stage..." Gawge realised ,"But anyway, it's least a try- if this blasted hail is to go on as long as the legends tell- we'll die of dehydration before we see the back of it."
"But it's only ever been recorded once in known history- how are we to know it wasn't just a one off?" asked one of the younger men in the village, Martyn Uylle. "I believe we should wait a while longer, just to confirm the legends."
Obviously confused by the suggestion, a Halph Man and personality in the village, Tulfode Jenkyns (Toad by his friends) stabbed out ,"What? And get bludgeoned by this stinking rain, I for one am not staying here for as long as I can help it- which I'm hoping will be a brief time."
The man in the black spoke,"Although favorable to Martyn's attitude, I agree with Tulfode. We cannot prolong our time here for the storm and it's irritating fanatics could break through our walls at any one second." As the comment was roughly accepted, Toad turned sides,"Irritating... Irritating is not the word to describe our situation. Fatal, suffocating, inescapable. This is what our plight is- not irritating."
"I merely misspoke," the man returned ,"I apologize if any offence was taken."
Completely ignoring the apology, Toad continued," And to think, you only arrived here not too long than a month ago, almost as if you brought the storm with you."
"I admit, my timing was unfortunate," the man replied but then struck like a dagger that ,"If you are implying me a wizard, you've got some serious trouble on your hands. 'Cause I am not gonna take that lightly, no matter how many cherries on top!"
"Woah!" Martyn intervened," Let's just all calm down. If we wanna get outa here, we're gonna need to act soon otherwise we'll have this building on top of us. And we don't want that, do we?"
"I bet he does!" Toad snapped, clear to who he was indicating," What even is your name anyway? We're gonna need it for the announces at the gallows!"
"What are you ailed with Tulfode?" the man questioned," For you seem to be getting onto my case for what seems like no reason. And for anyone else who wants to know, it's Bayshed, I am called Bayshed." A sigh of relief echoed around the dark cylinder as the onlookers saw Toad withdraw from the argument... but he came back, "And how would you..."
"Shut up!"
Hidden from the view of the people, a burly man by the name of Jymes Frye interrupted the accusation for the benefit of all but Toad. "Lets get this over and done with," Jymes suggested, clenching his fist angrily.
"Thank you Jymes, Now we may proceed with getting the hell out of here- with the women and children too." Gawge represented and continued with his plan,"If we're gonna cross the village to the women and children then back to the forest we're gonna need mobile shelter, and I have a solution. This wood on the walls 'bout as sturdy as it gets and its likely to hold off a few of those bloody rain things." He said this knocking on a clear wall he'd gradually walked to, but held off after the second knock as if he thought it falling. "So we all carry a few each, shielding the rain, enough spare for the others in the village to use- everyone got that?" Gawge checked.
"Just one thing..." Martyn muddled over," How are we to collect these panels without ending up with a roof on top of us?" This was something Gawge clearly hadn't thought about and kicked himself for doing so for he appeared clueless. "Simple," Bayshed smirked, taking away his hat to show the true extent of his blending hair, and placing it by his side," We don't take all of them, just leave the main supports in- and even if that's not enough then, there's enough of us to carry the whole roof as a shield anyway."
"Thank you for completing my plan, Bayshed," Gawge complimented, and believing there were more than just 10 of them, he shouted at the height of his voice," Let's get this thing moving!"
Everyone leaped to their feet at once, as if they were humble dogs at the will of their master, and began pulling away at the planks at the walls and gawping at the sight before them. The dark droplets crashed down everywhere- one particular hut was taking quite a beating. 1 ft of water leveled on the completely saturated dirt, growing by the second. Taking away one of the lower panels, Gawge pulled away as a flood of water fell in, striving for the other side of the room. "Come on, get these panels off!" he encouraged and got back to work. In no time at all, they had removed all the planks- likely because there were few of them and hardly enough for everyone in the village. "How many do we have?" Gawge questioned, clearly taking charge of things. After a quick count, they resulted they had 30 odd and," How many huts excluding ours do we have left," Gawge questioned again. "Three!" Bayshed called out.
"Where's the 3rd one?" Gawge questioned, staring into the very same mist Bayshed was.
"There," Bayshed portrayed, pointing forward," Just behind that veil of mist."
"Good eye man," Jymes congratulated, spying the hut Bayshed spoke of.
"Martyn, give me, Jymes and Hayd a board," Gawge commanded," Jymes you go to the the far off hut, I'll go to the one our right and Hayd, you go for the nearest. When you get there tell them to do exactly what we have done and lift their roofs over to us, Go!" Accepting his wooden plank, Gawge abandoned the safety of the roof without a room, followed by Jymes, and then Hayd- a bearded man with dark eyes and a prudent nose. As they became more and more distant, Bayshed saw as they took their separate paths and disappeared into the blinding mist of vapor.
Bayshed took off where Gawge left off," Come on, let's get this roof off the ground shall we?" gripping a corner of the supports and tearing it away from its home. The four supports they'd left were quickly broken as the roof came onto their backs, nearly crushing them. Martyn realised what life would have been like as a turtle. Although pressured, the 4 men and 3 Halph men were able to withstand the force, an impressive feet considering 3 of them were half of a normal man. "Get this over to the forest, we can't stand like this forever." At this command, the people trapped below got to work crouching ahead further and further towards the woods. Looking up, Bayshed caught a quick glimpse of a pair of devilish blue eyes staring into him, Tulfode. "Hey, Tulfode- stay concentrated, we've still got a while to go!" Bayshed shouted over the coursing wind and racket of Phrax Hail.
"Oh sorry," Toad mocked," Was I disturbing you from your incarnations- your little spells you weave around us?!"
"I am not a Wizard, you filthy..." Bayshed shot, then stopped, lowering his head as if a way of calming.
Martyn tapped him on the shoulder lightly and suggested that," Mr Bayshed, you should look at this!" He didn't.
"Oh, go on- finish your sentence!" Toad called over, waving his hand," Filthy what, hey? Filthy what?!"
"Mr, you really should look at this" Martyn said more urgently, practically hitting him on the shoulder.
"Oh, you gonna cry? Who's gonna look after you now Gawgie and Jymesie are gone, hey?" mocked Toad, completely abandoning his post to the annoyance of the Halph man next to him," Hey, get back over here you skiver!"
"Bayshed!!" Martyn screamed.
"What?" questioned Bayshed, finally looking up. There a giant stream of Phrax Hail fell, targeted straight for the roof, it's blue sides shining evilly in the dark morning. "Get DOWN!" It struck.
The force from the blast sent the roof bashfully splintering into the ground, crushing Tulfode under the weight of it's wooden beams. Only the people on the outside were able to escape on time, but they were on the outside... Acting as fast as he could, Bayshed kicked in the roof with the hard sole of his boot and leapt within, Martyn after him. "Get a board each and run for the forests!" Bayshed called and proceeded with handing out the panels to every man still fighting. Bypassing the plank Bayshed offered him, Martyn crawled in further to the darkness and removing a piece of mangled debris met with the pale face of Tulfode, or as he knew him, Toad. It dripped mournfully with blood as the last light faded from his unhealthy eyes. "Martyn, there's nothing more we can do for him," Bayshed said turning to him and pulling his shoulder.
"I'll be safe under here for a while, may I stay and say my goodbyes?" Martyn pleaded, tears slowly dropping from his cheeks. "Very well, but don't be more than a minute!" Bayshed ordered, departing with the others into the deadly open. As Bayshed left he spied Martyn leaning to the dead Halph man's ear and thought nothing of it, but he did not hear Martyn mutter unknown words from a strange language, and did not see the ocher light spread from his palm and drain into Tulfode's soul, for if he had- he would have witnessed wizardcraft.
Sprinting as fast as a young Brynnith, Bayshed held the apparent sturdy plank above his head as he went and occasionally turned to check if Martyn or the other huts had moved yet. As he turned for the 3rd time he saw that the nearest hut had began to gradually crawl towards him and the others were following, following mother turtle. If watching from another angle, many may have found this scenario quite amusing- and what the tale it will make, but for Bayshed- that tale will only be told if everyone excluding Tulfode made it out. And luckily enough there he saw Martyn climbing away from the wreckage of the hut, but something followed. Reaching the safety of the forest undergrowth, he ignored his congratulating comrades and mentally triple back flipped as he saw a live and running Tulfode sprinting behind him- using his own legs. "How in our vengeful God's name is that possible!?" Bayshed muttered to himself, but the others heard and witnessed what he swore at.
Interrupting his confused mind, hundreds of thudding thumps came to ears as he spied a chasing stream of Phrax hail behind the fleeing man and Halph man. This was NOT nature. It targeted precisely the path Martyn took, when he turned left- it turned left, when he strove forward- it didn't stray. In Bayshed's untested calculations Martyn could probably outrun the coming storm- but not the zombie Tulfode- and following this piece of information, he ran. Not away, but at the storm- sprinting like the wind on a stallion, faster than any other man known in Mesidayn and reached the escapees by 7 seconds. When there, without hesitation or authorization, lifted Tulfode onto his shoulders, and turned the other way. From his brief vision of the forest, Bayshed could see Martyn had survived and from his brief vision of the death column chasing him, it was no more than two meters behind him- he could feel the chilling white water upon his back. Tulfode struggled as he ran- slowing his pace massively and disabling him from outrunning his possible demise- only keeping pace with it. The shrill voices of the villagers could be heard from the forest- one of the huts had arrived and were cheering him on. He wouldn't be able to make it- the column would catch him not 5 meters from his destination, but Bayshed could still save Tulfode. Reaching the 5 meter mark, the voices of his month long friends in his ears, he tossed Tulfode as hard as he could and breathed as what he thought to be Jymes catch him. This was the end. Bayshed stopped- tense as a tree in a lightning storm and waited- nothing happened.
To his greatest surprise he felt the warmth of the sun on his back, and opening his eyes he saw all his friends still there waiting in anxiety, but as soon as they saw him alive cheered- louder than rifles. He had survived, but how? Turning, Bayshed saw the column had vanished and a new day had dawned , the bright blue sky blinding his eyes, showing light upon the dead village. He had survived. Falling to his knees like a broken building, Bayshed spied as the swarms of people filed around him shouting," Bayshed! Bayshed!" or ,"We're alive!" He had survived. The shock was more great than the people had expected for Bayshed blacked out quite instantly and rested his head upon the wet grass. He had survived.
Not owned by me
Not owned by me
Not owned by me
Not owned by me
Not owned by me