Kelewen

Tower of the Black Pearl

The brigand, a bald man with a sharp nose and a ragged scar down his right check, tried to duck away from Charlie's elbow, but wasn't quite fast enough and the blow meant for his neck struck him in the ear. He grunted in pain, the blow making his ears ring. He stubbornly lunged forward again, dagger slashing upward toward the monk's chest. @DreadPirate

Tamra emerged from the portal next and the man to the right, a wide-nosed brute with beady eyes who appeared to have an orc somewhere in his ancestry, hesitated just the briefest moment when he realized his target was a girl. That moment of hesitation bought her enough time to bolt past him as his dagger swiped down behind her. But her lunge brought her straight into the third man, a short and stocky thug who barely seemed affected by the weight of the woman slamming into him. He brought his thick arms around the girl.

The orc-ish looking thug turned back toward the portal just as Ronan was appearing, intent on not letting this one slip past him... @AwesomeZero5

Tower of the Black Pearl

@AwesomeZero5, @DreadPirate

I honestly think we're down to just the three of us. We could maybe leave Takao & Arnold to 'guard the rear'?

(Assuming that's okay...)

If so, it would probably make sense for the mage to take the relative safety of the middle.

Tower of the Black Pearl

Either way is fine! I won't be able to get in an IC post until after I get home from work. :)

Fortune or Fate?

Agreed. Even if it requires you taking control of her character for a single post, I think that's fine. (No killing her off, of course. Just in case MayLily returns! )

Slave ship wrecked

The spider made a loud and horrible shriek of pain when Water Snake tore its fangs. Quickly, it retreated up the tree nearest the web. It's dark form well hidden by the dark leaves of the tree.

Brinley stared at it for a just a moment, both scared of and fascinated by the huge spider. If she hadn't just watched it scale the tree, she'd never know it was there. But once Willow and then Snake were around the web, she followed, carefully keeping an eye on the unmoving spider while avoiding touching the sticky strands strung across the trail.

Unfortunately, this left the spider's trap perfectly intact for Gregor and Rain...

Fortune or Fate?

"And I'm Rook," she said, a bit uncertainly. Even though he had just proven his words by running off the other goblins, she was having trouble getting over the fact that he was a goblin himself. Did she really owe her life to a goblin!? You do, stupid girl! Pushing the doubt aside, she gave him a small smile. "I'm in your debt, Stybs," she acknowledged.

When Stybs offered a hand toward her, she held up her wrists which were still bound with the leather cord. "Happen to have anything more delicate than that axe to cut these?" she asked. "If not, there's a hunting knife on Kaiden's... my friend back there... the goblins hurt him... there's a knife on his belt," she said, worried again for her companion.

Slave ship wrecked

@Nikki Moonlight@Hundsgugel

Brinley halted a few feet behind Willow, Water Snake, Oliver, and Szandor, trying to catch her breath and glancing nervously back over her shoulder, half expecting to see the hostile natives barreling down the trail after them. But it was strangely quiet. "Where... is... Gregor?" she asked, still huffing and puffing.

Had he been captured or even killed by the same men who put an arrow into Oliver? She swallowed hard as her breathing started to even out and looked toward the obstacle that had stopped Willow. She barely had a chance to recognize the web before the enormous arachnid lunged down from a tree near the small group, trying to snatch the albino girl. "Look out!" she screamed.

---

@Gentlemanvaultboy@Marcus XVI@xChrome

A private smirk swept over Ulric's face when Dinah suggested Szandor. "Could be," he said. "Guess we'll have least one replacement for one a' the drowned ones."

He considered the elder's words, finding it slightly unbelievable that the man didn't know at least which general direction they had headed. Unless of course they were still here and Matahari was covering for them. "We'll see if we can pick up their trail then," he said, glancing about at the gathered natives. If the slaves were still here, perhaps one of them would inadvertently give away their position. A few glanced to a well worn path that seemed to lead out of the village opposite the trail that they had come in.

"Forgive the intrusion," he said, pushing the refused cigar back into its place, and began heading toward that trail. It left his back exposed, but he trusted that the natives were happy enough to see them on their way.

Slave ship wrecked

Ulric kept a relaxed stance, cigar dangling loosely from his lip and his hand well away from his weapon as the old man and his guards approached. His gaze swept over the village, taking a quick survey of the number of huts and armed men, as well as places that might offer a tactical advantage should things go very wrong in the next few moments.

He cocked an eyebrow in surprise when the old man spoke in the common tongue. That was unexpected, but certainly made matters easier. Even better, the elder seemed to be anxious to cooperate. "Then no need to trouble you further," Ulric said. "Which way did you run 'em off to?" he asked, pulling another cigar from his breast pocket and offering it to Matahari, knowing that sometimes a small gift could buy him all the information he needed.

Fortune or Fate?

@Assallya, no worries. I tend to follow your rule, but when an attack is unresolved, a quicker turn around doesn't hurt anything. :)

Fortune or Fate?

While the remaining goblins took off back toward their village, Rook swallowed hard and nodded at Stybs, still leery of the goblin, but willing enough to believe that he really did intend to help and not eat her for dinner. "I'm okay," she managed to get the words out clearly even though her heart was still beating fast. She looked about to say something more, but her attention was drawn to a sudden scuffle going on not far away.

---

Garuk recovered quickly from the shock of slamming into the willowy elf, instinct taking over as he pushed himself up, then swung his clawed hands wildly at the figure that had obviously just 'attacked' him. A minion of the Liberator, no doubt. Not even waiting to see the result of his attacks, he scrambled back to his feet and hurried after the others.