For Old Times' Sake fantasy characterRP IC closed

[Autesia]

It was hard not to hear the werewolf's cry. Maryl sprang out of the door, whipping out her Sephyr and flicking the mechanism in one smooth movement. She swung it once to gather her balance and ran forwards, her enchanted boots turning her feet to a blur of motion. She watched as the werewolf lashed out clumsily at the knight, it's eyes contorted with rage and pain. With relative ease, she dodged around the melee and brought down the curved blade of her Sephyr towards its shoulder it a great swooping arc.

[Old Tyrannia]

The beast howled in pain, then turned to flee, knocking Maryl aside in it's haste. A group of walking skeletons emerged from the trees- footsoldiers of the Vampiric army. Lowering their spears, they charged at the group, led by the snarling werewolf, it's eyes red with fury.

[The Gank Federation]

Nogard charged straight into the group, wings starting to come through slits in the back of his armor. When he was near the undead, he dodged wildly and slashed, nocking a few undead over, and then concentrated at killing the werewolf. He kept his shield up, trying to nail the spikes on his sheild onto any foe.

[Asuaw]

Solomon saw the undead approaching. "Here's a problem I can deal with. He abandoned his mental attack on the werewolf, leaving him to more qualified fighters and ran at the skeletons. When he was within a few feet, he concentrated, attempting to dissipate the energy animating these undead minions. Except one, which he deliberately did not attack. Instead, he focused on taking control of this creatures easily malleable mind, giving it an overriding command to attack the werewolf.

[F799]

Chasing after the werewolf, Ahab ran solidly into it with his shield, stabbing around it with his sword towards the wolf's face.

[The Gank Federation]

right when Sir Ahab stabbed at the werewolf, Nogard came from the side, slashed at the werewolf's neck, and said, "eat this"

[The Romulan Republic]

(OOC: I hope this is ok. Sorry I'm a little late posting, but I've been busy.)

The ship glided slowly up the coast of the island, no more than a vague outline of land beneath the night sky. The waves splashed gently against the sides of the vessel, and broke faintly against the distant beach. Sir Garrith de Marton stood in the bow, watching the land pass by. Their was no sigh of light or life. All was dark. But despite his fears he felt glad at the sight of his homeland.

It was not the homecoming he would have desired. When Garrith had left his family's estate and traveled to the mainland, he had done so not out of any overwhelming desire for fame or adventure, but because circumstances required it. Like many young men, he had fallen in love, but he had been unable to support a family of his own. So he had bid his family and his bride-to-be farewell, and crossed the sea looking for a chance to win his fortune. But his companions were slain in battle, leaving him trapped and desperate in a strange land. For six years he had wandered and fought, often barely surviving, hailed as a hero in one land and hunted as a murderer in the next. But he had also made dear friends. The carpenter who had risked his life to shelter Garrith as he hid from his foes. Men he had fought alongside, some of whom he owed his life to. And most of all, his companions and allies for the last two years, the wandering mage Simon and the half-elven tracker A'niya Silverlight. They had joined together against a common enemy-a powerful necromancer who had lately met his end in battle with them. His thoughts drifted to their farewell on the docks the day he booked passage on the only ship left that would dare approach the vampire-infested island that his homeland had become...

He stood on the dock, as sailors bustled back and forth preparing to cast off. Simon stood facing him with a worried scowl on his face, A'niya beside him with a hood pulled low to hide her elvish appearance.

"I don't like this," Simon muttered. "We should stand with you."

Garrith shook his head.

"Its not your battle. Its not your home."

"That changes nothing. It wasn't your battle against that necromancer either."

A'niya nodded.

"Weather for duty, profit, or simply circumstances beyond our control, we have been drawn into many battles that were not ours to fight. However, circumstances compel us both to be elsewhere." That was true enough. Simon had been hired by some villagers to drive off a wearwolf stalking their sheep in the next province to the North, the day before news of the vampire's invasion had reached Garrith. And though A'niya had not said exactly where she was bound, Garrith gathered it had something to do with her elvish people and her duties as a Tracker.

"I admit I would rather face a horde of monsters with both of you at my side. But duty requires you to be elsewhere, and I cannot delay while my home and my family may be in danger."

A'niya smiled slightly.

"We will come when we can. I cannot risk the sword and scabbard falling into a vampire's hands."

Simon shrugged uneasily.

"Just take care that you survive." A'niya nodded.

"You too," Garrith replied. Hearing the captain shout that it was time to board, he turned and strode onto the ship, leaving his friends standing on the dock behind him.

It was proof of how much A'niya had come to trust him, Garrith knew, that she would permit the artifacts to be out of her reach at all, if only for a short time. But she must have recognized that she could not have parted him from the sword or this mission, short of dueling him, and her own mission was clearly not one she could turn from to accompany him. Still, he wished both of them were at his side. He was only a warrior, and this kind of work, he felt, was more suited to a mage or immortal than to a mortal knight. He glanced up from the dark shoreline and saw the ship's captain approaching, his face uneasy, his eyes darting to the shore every few seconds.

"This is as far as we take you, sir. I'm not landing on an Undead shore, and my men would mutiny if I tried." Sir Garrith rose and nodded, pulling out the last few coins he had left and handing them to the sailor.

"Then I'll have to buy your boat, captain. Will this suffice?" The captain hesitated, but after a moment he shook his head in resignation and accepted the money. Then he gestured at the boat and shouted an order, and several unkempt sailors came forward and began reluctantly hauling the boat over the side. They seemed afraid to be even in sight of the island, and Garrith realized the captain had probably been right that his men would mutiny before landing there.

The boat hit the water, and Garrith turned to the hatch leading into the hold as several men struggled to bring his nervous and reluctant horse up onto the deck. The animal would not fit in the boat, but Thundercloud was a better swimmer than Sir Garrith. Still, his steed did not wish to enter the water, and it was only after much urging from the frightened crew and some reasurences from its master that it leapt into the sea with a mighty splash. Garrith was about to follow, when the captain interrupted. He glanced up and saw that the man looked troubled, guilty.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you more sir. I... don't want you to think I'm a coward. But my crew wouldn't have landed here, and who can blame them?"

Garrith nodded.

"I understand. Thank you for your service, captain. I won't forget it." He turned and scrambled swiftly into the boat, then cast off and began to row for the shore. The ship's dim outline (the captain had feared to light any lights) soon faded into the dark of night. A few minutes later, the waves bore the little boat up onto the beach. Sir Garrith scrambled out and pulled the boat up, feeling the the soil of his homeland under his feat. He paused and listened. He could hear no sounds from the village not far inland. Their were no lights. All seemed quiet. He let Thundercloud rest while he took care to conceal the boat as well as possible. Then he mounted and set out, riding slowly up from the beach and towards the village.

[Old Tyrannia]

The werewolf dodged Sir Ahab's assault, and slashed Nogard with it's claws, throwing him to one side. It turned to Sir Ahab, ready to finish this battle, but suddenly noticed that it's warriors were disappearing, disintegrating.
Suddenly, one of them charged at it; it thrust it's sword into the werewolf's side, only to be ripped apart by the beast's claws. Then, the creature fled, howling in pain.

---

Vladimir smiled. Now he had them.

[North Avayu]

The Wanderer let go of the werewolf rather quickly when he saw the others coming. He just meant to buy some time. He faded away into the dark again without anyone really noticing. He again took his usual stance as observer. It was clear how this battle would end, there was no need to get into the act. Standing quietly in the dark, he watched. When an enemy neared him, he crushed some undead bones with his stick. The way the warriors and the lazar were dealing with the black beast was impressing. It was a passionate fight. But it was dangerous, maybe not against this opponent, but against mightier ones. They were wildly throwing themselves into the fray. The way heroes fought, but also the way heroes died. The battle didn't went on for much longer. The werewolf fled, heavily injured. It wouldn't make it much longer. But a hurt animal was often most dangerous than an healthy one. Therefore, he started to move again. The Wanderer followed the animal scent and the trace of blood to kill the wolf before something could happen. But it was too late, a mighty howl of an hurt beast was heard in the dark of night, carrying far.

[Autesia]

Maryl rose off of the floor and turned, readying her sephyr once more, but it was too late, she heard it's howl, tearing through the night, and saw it flee with a jagged blade in its side.
"Oh no..." she breathed, "Councillor!" she cried, "We need to..."
"Leave," Vandyr finished, appearing behind her wrapped in a worn travel cloak.
The few remaining inhabitants of the town were now fleeing from their homes carrying their possessions in sacks and bags, hurrying to the seaward gate of the city.
"Sir Ahab, Solomon, Nogard, Wanderer, we have to leave. Now. Vladimir's forces will be here within the hour, come, northward, there is an old ruin on the hill, we reconsolodate there!" And with that, he began to hurry for the north gate, torn open into a jagged sideways grin in wake of the undead assault.

Maryl darted forwards to find her new companions.

[The Gank Federation]

Nogard was in his full half-dragon form, and he wated to keep fighting, to hunt that werewolf, but he knew it would be a fruitless effort. He turned towerds the others and said, "time to go!" he stretched his wings flew up 5 feet, then tored Soloman, saying "hold on!" He knew that Soloman probebly couldn't flee quick enough, so he grabbed him and started flying towered the hill.

[The Romulan Republic]

Sir Garrith was nearing the edge of the town when he heard the faint but unmistakeable sounds of battle somewhere in the darkness ahead. He moved in that direction, drawing as he did the sword which had belonged to his family for generations, the powers of which he had only started to discover. The enchanted blade shone in the moonlight, and it was in that faint light that he saw it coming, racing towards him with an inhuman howl. A wearwolf. He urged his frightened horse forward, fighting its natural instincts to flee, and raised his blade, but the creature passed him by several yards to one side, not attempting to fight, fleeing something behind it in the darkness.

Garrith hesitated. He wanted to chase the creature down, but handling a beast like that alone was no sure bet, and besides, he needed to know what was going on before he risked riding into a trap. Whatever the wearwolf had fled from, chances were it was an ally. So he kept moving forwards, along the fleeing wearwolf's trail. Within seconds he saw some shapes emerging from the darkness. He did not wish to alarm them, but he kept his sword drawn and ready. A vampire could pass for a human at this distance, in the dark. As they drew closer he raised his voice and hailed them.

"I am Sir Garrith de Marton, a knight of this island. Who goes their?"

(OOC: I'll leave it up to whoever answers weather these are friends or foes.)

[F799]

Righting himself, Ahab heard the cry of the newly arrived knight, "Speak your business stranger and come closer so that we may evaluate you friend from foe. I am a knight of the kingdom of F799 here to purge the nation from evildoers and warmongering undead, if ye are for us, sheath your blade, if you fightfor the undead rulers of this isle, than come forward and dismount so that we might battle fairly on the field."

[The Romulan Republic]

Garrith saw that it was indeed a human and not a vampire or one of their creatures who addressed him, so he sheathed his blade for now.

"I am, as I said, a son of this island, who has traveled abroad these past six years and is returning to fight for the freedom of his homeland. I am a foe to the vampires and their minions, and will do battle with any who support them."

[North Avayu]

The Wanderer returned back to the group, where someone new had arrived. It was yet another man of war and adventure. He stepped out of the dark and without even looking at the new arrival he spoke:

“We should leave.”

He waited for a second, then turned on the point and started to walk slowly, but steady, in the way one does on a long tour, in the direction the councillor pointed.

[The Romulan Republic]

Garrith considered the small band before him. They were clearly a diverse group of individuals, some of them not locals of the island. Presumably other warriors who had responded to the call for help, weather out of idealism or pure mercenary greed. What disturbed him was how few their really were. This was no army. It might be able to attack or defend, but he doubted it could do both. But their were a number of things he had to determine first.

"Excuse me, sirs, but I need to speak to whoever is in command here. Preferably one of the councilors."

[Autesia]

Vandyr turned to face the newcomer, he thought he knew the name, and a Velyrian knight was welcome.
"I am afraid it is the Councillor now" he said , shrugging off the travelling cloak to reveal his scaled mantle. "I am the only one remaining, and I am organizing this attempt. But we cannot speak here, we have little time before the undead arrive, we are heading to a ruin in the hills, we should leave immediately" He said

[F799]

"Excellent," claimed Sir Ahab as he sheathed his blade, "any good noble warrior is welcome to fight by my side, you are most welcome Sir Garrith. I am Sir Ahab, Protector of the Realm under Lord Benjamin of F799, who has dispatched me to assist in the purging of this land's undead tyrants."

[The Gank Federation]

Nogard landed near the top ofthe hill, letting go of Soloman. "get to the top! the others are slower than you are!" he demanded, while he turned to fly back to the others.

Nogard landed near the group and ran towereds them yelling, "comon! We need to get going if we don't want to be killed by more undead. he noticed the newcomer, but took no care to figure out if he was friend or foe.

[The Romulan Republic]

Vandyr turned to face the newcomer, he thought he knew the name, and a Velyrian knight was welcome.
"I am afraid it is the Councillor now" he said , shrugging off the travelling cloak to reveal his scaled mantle. "I am the only one remaining, and I am organizing this attempt. But we cannot speak here, we have little time before the undead arrive, we are heading to a ruin in the hills, we should leave immediately" He said

Garrith felt a trace of well-controlled fear at the Councilor's words. If all the others were dead, how many had died with them? What of his family, the love he had left behind? Were they dead as well? And their was something suspicious about what the Councilor said. Suddenly he understood, and his fear disappeared beneath his anger. Only the well taught respect of a Velyrian knight for a Councilor kept him from shouting.

"You are retreating, then? Abandoning the town to these monsters?" He knew that if so many had died, the tactical situation might well require it, but he would not leave unless he knew that anyone left in the town was evacuated or protected.

[F799]

stopping his trek forward Ahab turned about and placed his hand firmly on the new knight's arm, "We are not abandoning them, we are leaving to protect them, to allow the dark lords of this land the knowledge that the councillor is no longer there, and hopefully, we can take the advancing soldiers by surprise and defeat them before more ravages are brought upon the town," he hissed. "And if you must know, yes, the entire town has taken to flight after the undead have wandered so close. If anything thet will hide amongst the land, if they can. I know not of your family o your love, we can only hope and pray that they are safe. But come, we must regroup at the ruins, from there we can go forth and rid this land of the evil undead and preserve the lives of many. Now come." And with that Sir Ahab was off back into the darkness of the knight.

[Asuaw]

Solomon was very vexed at being unceremoniously picked up and depsosited at the top of a hill. He began walking back down to join the group. As he did, he noticed a newcomer to the group. Another knight b the looks of it. Well, anyone was welcome.

[Autesia]

"Yes," Vandyr agreed, "the townspeople who did not flee after the initial attack on the Tower have now, many of them, I believe, had plans for flight. Yes we are retreating, but our urgent friend is right," he said, indicaing Nogard. "We must go"

[The Romulan Republic]

"Very well," Sir Garrith said. "I will obey your will, Councilor." He wanted to go down to the town and search for his family, but if they were dead, their would be no point, and if they were alive, he could help them by going with these warriors and aiding them in their efforts to win this battle.

[The Gank Federation]

Nogard was not too comfortable with this newcomer, but he did not argue, since he was doing what he was paid to do. "meet you at the top!" he yelled, jumping upword, and starting to fly to the top of the hill.