RedDusk

The Order of Cinders

@Inertia I blamed the hype train. It made people expect Skyrim in space.

The Order of Cinders

@Varromere Wow, this looks neat. Say, when I first read through this, I immediately thought of the Grey Wardens from the DA series, what's with being pragmatic and unconventional and all. I will keep an eye on this.

Edea Odyssey

Jagred was two step away from joining the fray himself. However, seeing as there was only two enemies, and the giant lizard had more than scared them into submission, the snowkin stayed his blade. He watched in quiet contemplation as the scene unfolded, pondering his options. The kobolds seemed to consider their lizard companion some sort of ‘ancient one’ and was willing to lead them toward some mighty beast in order for them to tame. There was no telling if this beast was the one they were looking for, but it was better than wandering around aimlessly. None of them seemed to have much experience in tracking beasts, after all.

“Then lead on. Your ancient one is growing impatient.”- Jagred grinned, indicating the giant lizard with a flick of his head. He then followed the kobolds, however, never once did he sheath his sword.

Edea Odyssey

@Rune_Alchemist Dang sorry about that I had some problems with my wifi. Got everything resolved now, gonna get a post up asap. Again sorry about that.

Edea Odyssey

Jagred eventually had to move on, though his gaze lingered on the primitive beasts. After, it was not like him to turn his back on a fight. Especially when his enemies were still moving. Regardless, he concurred that it would not be beneficial to lack behind the group right now, so he kept up with the rest of his companions, blade unsheathed. They didn’t have to wait too long before finding trouble. Their fourth member, the young woman, was found a few moments later, locked in combat with a duo of creatures. Jagred was not sure what they were, but from the looks of things, they were definitely not friendly. Fortunately, so was he and the lizard. The reptile charged head on, as he tended to do, rushing forward into combat before anyone could react. Jagred stayed behind, figuring he would play the role of their vanguard. With quick steps, he walked to the necromancer, standing just a few steps to her left. The creatures seemed to be attack her, after all, so instead of finding enemies, he would wait for them to come to him. He lowered himself into a defensive stance, scanning his surroundings for additional enemies.

“And here I thought lizards are cold-blooded.”- He half-smiled, glancing sideway at the necromancer.

-Jagred looked for more enemies-

Edea Odyssey

As the last of the lingering bats were chopped into bite sized pieces, Jagred lowered his blood-covered sword. After a quick glance to take in his surroundings, he noticed how the lizard’s roar had scared most of the hounds off. Some remained though, he could spot their snout through the clear water. Jagred frowned slight as he flicked his sword, sending droplets of blood onto the cavern walls. His entire apparel was also dotted with bat blood, and his white hair was marred with streaks of red.

“Damned critters…”-He mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair; the frown deepened when his hand came back red.- “Got blood in my hair.”

He would prefer to press on now, since nothing was blocking the path anymore. However, after a quick look at the members of his group, he noticed the young woman was missing. Did she got dragged off into a pond by hounds? In that case, she was good as dead, unless necromancy allowed the user to breath under water? That was certainly not the case, as far as he knew. There were corpse raisers among his people as well, rare as they were, and he was pretty sure they drown just like everyone else. Regardless, he wouldn’t want the hounds to bite their backsides as they moved further into the caverns. Quickly grabbing one of the skittering crabs on the ground, Jagred hurled the poor creature at the hounds, hoping to irritate them enough to attack him. If they didn’t, he would just move on down the path, with the occasional look behind his shoulder of course.

-Jagred used crab toss to draw agrro. If it does not work, he will move on.-

Edea Odyssey

Beasts were just beasts, it seemed. These hounds behaved like wolves, once faced with a larger enemy, they would attempt to surround said enemy and attack from all sides, leaving no room for the target to manoeuvre or escape. He had been using the same technique for years, after all, so countering it proved to be of little difficulty. The first hound tried to bait him, feigning a strike from the left before leaping in from the right. Jagred intercepted the beast’s attempt at fineness, and brought his blade up. As soon as the hound charged, he sidestepped, then struck the creature’s neck. The sharp blade went through easily, almost severing the beast’s head as its limp body dropped to the ground. With lightning reflexes, Jagred turned to engage the hounds that had circled behind him. Before either of them could charge, he went in first, striking a beast to his right. It leapt out of the way, but just barely. His sword had caught its side and left a long cut from its midsection up to its right eye. The wounded beast let out a yelp as it fell to its good side. He would finish it later.

For now, with only one opponent left, Jagred loomed over the beast, ready to deliver an overhead strike that would surely part the beast with its head. It was then the bat attacked. They took him by surprise just for a few seconds, but it was long enough for the hound to realize its chance. The creature leapt, its mouth full of razor sharp teeth was wide opened. There was no saving it now, so Jagred thrust his sword toward the beast, half-praying he catch flesh. In the end, he did. The creature’s life blood stained his gloves as he retrieved his blade from its gaping, unmoving maw.

However, there was still the threat of the bats. Some surrounded him, stubbornly clung to his exposed skin with sharp claws and teeth, drawing blood. They did not bother him that much though, aside of obscuring his vision. But in such a hostile place, he needed his vision, so he began to work on clearing out the bats, relying on his speed and superhuman stamina. His black blade was a blur as Jagred turned and slashed repeatedly at the bats around him, blood and flesh began falling like snow.

-Jagred finished off three hounds then began chopping up the bats-

Edea Odyssey

Oh dang... Damn, would ya look at that. Wonderful stuffs so far, I will get a post up asap. Had been busy lately though, what's with moving and all. I wonder though, can mindflayers eat each other brain? That would be like a tentacle battle or maybe a twisted make-out session. @Lauder

Edea Odyssey

The pebbles drifted in a most curious direction when tossed, leaving Jagred with more questions than answers. There could be a strong current there, or something else far more dangerous. Maybe it was one of those ocean beasts. His crimson eyes narrowed as he neared the pond, one hand on the hilt of his sword. However, just as when he was about to voice his concern, the hooded man spoke of Piranha Hounds ahead. Speaking of the devils, said hounds appeared mere seconds later, a chorus of growls and snarls filled the cavern. It was a miracle the bats were still asleep.

Without any hesitation, Jagred turned, his black blade leaving its sheath in one fluid motion. Sword in one hand, he advanced, any trace of playful lightness had left his eyes; all was left the cold hard gaze of a swordman. The lizard had been surrounded, but he seemed to be handling himself. Whether he survived this encounter or not was not one of Jagred’s concerns though. For now, he was slowly stepping forward, putting himself between the pack and the mages. He had yet to encounter a beast of this kind before, so Jagred maintained a defensive position. He stood with the stillness of statues, but as his foes neared, his blade was lightning as he lashed out against them.

-Jagred stood between the two mages and hounds in a defensive stance, attacking only nearby enemies-

Edea Odyssey

It seemed this cavern connected to the sea, which explained the presence of the crabs. No one had mentioned anything about crabs in the caves, so maybe some new passage opened up? That could also be where the guard-eating monster came in? Jagred could remember from the top of his head several sea monsters that were capable of tearing a grown man to shred in the matter of minutes. If such a beast had managed to wound up in this cavern, this mission might prove to be far more dangerous than he had originally thought. Well, that would serve as the perfect excuse to get a raise, though the good captain didn’t strike him as a generous man.

The deep body of water caught his eyes as they were wandering around the stone walls. He picked up a few pebbles and proceeded to toss them into the pond, testing to see if he could disturb whatever breathing out those bubbles. It could be some sort of fish down there. Prefect dinner material, when paired with aged brandy and boiled crabs.

-Jagred tossed some pebbles into the pond-