Song of Heroes IC

[The Rebel Alliances]

Scitha-Half Orc-Red Cloak-Crystal Mission

Getting through the first village was nothing challenging. After all the most hostile thing I had to endure there were the looks and well, I have seen all of them before. I kept my sword and shield strapped to me and out of my hands while I was in the village. I did so to avoid spooking the locales at all. After all, there was nothing I could do about being big and green. But I could stop them from seeing me as big, green and armed. As Dido continued her best impression at being a fearless leader I simply rolled my eyes and followed. After all, it seemed that this crystal condition was just a ways ahead and that is what I was here to observe.

However when we came into view of the village we have been seeking, well, I'll just say that I was somewhere in between amazed by what I saw or shocked. On the one hand the crystal formations were almost beautiful. I have never seen anything like it back on the islands. But as we drew closer it became clear that this beauty only hid tragedy. As it appeared as if the villagers as well had been infected by these strange crystals. I saw Dido immediately move in to an attack as I shouted from behind her.

"Wait! There could still be a way to-" My own voice was cut off my a infected villager who lunged at me with a pitch fork. I side stepped fairly easily as the movements of this being were very...jagged and random. And just as I met eyes with this creature. The unfortunate truth sank in.

There was no curing this place. I was looking into the gaping eyes of a empty husk. I had taken this contract in order to investigate a possible cure for the condition. But this seemed to be a situation where the 'cure' was to stop the spread of this curse further.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to the souless void as I armed myself finally with steel and shield. Before slamming the shield into the husk so hard that it fell apart almost on contact. Scanning the battle ahead I could see Dido atop the crystaline horse, seeminly having the time of her life.

"Well, seems someone is enjoying themselves..." I told myself as I stepped over the broken minion and closer to the battle ahead.

[Absolon-7]

Sylanna

Simion Valerin, the marksman from Nur!

Roxana Ma'gonid
Roxana glared at the strange beast as most of her arrows hadn't done much to harm it. Her arm had actually began to feel the begun to strain from the nonstop onslaught. Her throat felt like it had fallen to a pit as she could only watch as Sylanna tried her best to fight the poisoned beast and it actually seemed to be working in somewhat injuring it but Sylanna would come out unscathed. Dammit! If I only had enough energy for another ballista shot! Nevertheless, the most she could was continue shooting arrows at the beast's vitals. Something, was strange however as so far the beast was fairly mundane. Tough yes but similar animals existed elsewhere that wouldn't be capable of the feats ascribed to this one. Wait..is it possible they got the wrong animal?

Meanwhile, the pale grey beast reared back in pain as the snow elve's sword manged to pierce its hide but it seemed to have gotten stuck in the stiff hide and bones. A small spurt of blood sprayed out before it weakened to a trickle but the beast would have no respite as Simion threw a grenade at the beast's chest. The ensuing blast cloaked the monster in a cloud of fire and smoke not at all helping its already sensitive face from the earlier poisoning. It roared and stumbled back on its feet before it shook its body hoping to dislodge the elf woman. Large patches of fur were burnt away from the beast's chest revealing intricate runes on the beasts hide although one would have to pay close attention to distinguish them from the rest of the burnt skin. The beast staggered about with blood dripping off its shoulder and all manner of drool and mucus running off its wheezing face. It flicked its head and suddenly its irises flashed a deep purple light. The entire field the Legionnaires stood in became a flat sheet of glass and with the span of a single heartbeat they fell through it along with the beast like stones to an unmoving puddle.

The party fell through some the air for a few seconds before colliding on some floating platform that looked like a long strip of steel mirror that went as far as the eye could see in each direction. On the sides of the path were several floating mirrors larger then any door arranged like portraits in a hall. Each one portrayed a crystal clear view of some random location on the continent. Some were views to pristine forests, others were in the middle of alleyways of some cities, and then some to a myriad other countless locations. beyond the mirrors was a thick shroud of purple smog obscuring all vision after them. The gray beast, still maimed, looked back at the party and began running off into the path to their left leaving plenty of liquids to track it by.

Where in Oblivion where they? In all her years had she heard of a beast that could open portals to this...this mirror world? What had they gotten into? The green haired elf lifted herself from the ground if you could call it that and once again aimed her bow at the fleeing beast.

"After it! It has to lead us out somewhere!" yelled Roxana at her group.

She began running after the beast but she failed to foresee a sharp turn that turned to an incredibly steep slide downwards that seemed to go on farther down then any building. She hit the surprise ramp with her butt and only managed at the last second to bring out a knife to strike the ground with to catch herself. The knife empowered with her Wind Fury boon struck the floor and went in much easier then expected but it was only a manner of time until she lost her grip dangling .

"Someone help!," squealed Roxana as she scrunched her face in fear.

As for the rest of the area by the time the rest of the party arrived they would see one mirror to their left open up to some molten cavern with strange crustacean like rock monsters swimming in the molten ground. To their right they'd see a mirror opening up to an alley with a good view of some elaborate building that a keen eyed person would recognize as the Temple of the Rock from the city of An'Zarok. To their back they'd see the purple smog slowly closing in on the shabby group which who knows could do to someone.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

This battle was utter chaos. One second, she had managed to stab the beast in the back, her burning blade cutting deep into the flesh and drawing blood before getting caught inside the creature's hardened innards. The next, she was thrown to the side amidst a wave of fire and smoke, her grip on her blade faltering and sending her to the ground violently. With a groan, the Snow Elf woman picked herself off the ground, her endurance not benefiting from her boon like her speed and strength did. Blood trickled down the side of her face from a nasty scrape on her forehead, but she paid it no attention and began running towards the beast once more in order to recover her weapon and keep on fighting.

Only she never had the chance to do so. Before she reached it, the ground seemed to give way, and in an instant, the beast and the party of legionnaires was falling through the air to an otherworldly dimension full of mirrors. Picking herself off the ground for the third time that fight with a growing sense of irritation, Sylanna smashed her fist against her unflattering reflection, but failed to cause any harm to the polished ground. Growling, she stood up in full and looked around. The party was all here, sans for Roxana, who had already gone off to try and chase down the beast, and Simion, who quickly trailed after her.

The beast...? Sylanna thought, suddenly confused and then very upset as she couldn't recall any details about the creature's appearance sans for the black cross on its forehead. She had been warned about it already, but experiencing the effects of the beast's foul magics first hand was very frustrating. At least we wounded it... didn't we? She mused as she looked down at the ground, a mix of blood, saliva and burned off fur creating an easy to follow trail. She couldn't remember exactly how much they had hurt it, but the trail belonged to it, she knew that much.

Suddenly, a cry for help took her attention off the trail. Roxana's distressed voice reached her ears, and the elven knight immediately rushed to her aid, following the trail left by the beast - her boon had subsided, no doubt thanks to being in a strange dimension, but she was still remarkably quick on her feet and came upon the High Elf, though by now, the Nurian marksman was already by her side, helping her up. Letting out a sigh of relief, she approached the pair.

"Don't run off like that, Roxana." She chided the High Elf, before smiling at her. "I'd hate it if something happened to you while we're on the same party."

With that said, the Snow Elf looked back, noticing that the purple smog was approaching, and then at where the trail led - it seemed to end not too far away, though she could not discern what was on the other side of the portals from where she stood, and the beast was nowhere to be seen. "Did you two forget what it looks like, too?" She asked idly, before noticing the dagger stuck on the ground. She swiftly bent down and picked it up. "Also, you don't mind if I keep this, do you?" She spoke. It stung her pride to find herself unarmed after a battle, and a knife was far from the ideal weapon for her, but it didn't matter - if they ran into the beast again, she wanted to at least be able to stab it in the eye.

[Finland SSR]

Roxana Ma'gonid

Sylanna

Simion Valerin, the marksman from Nur!

---

Thank god that thing was not immune to explosions. The grenade struck its target directly and ripped apart much of the monster's hide, revealing its flesh, covered in intricate runes, further hinting that it was supposed to be a some sort of magical contraption. Either way, with the hide uncovered, the monster's flesh showing, and Sylanna keeping the monster busy from behind, Simion figured that it was about time to pop open a shot and, if not put an end to this fight, then at least deal severe enough damage to inch them closer to the final victory. Unfortunately, the monstrosity suddenly activated a some sort of spell, forcing it as well as the Legionnaires to fall through the ground into a mysterious mirror dimension.

Simion fell to the floor on all fours, but did not even think of giving in yet. They've cornered the monster in its dimension, most likely - if they don't slay it here, then only the Gods know what will happen. The marksman ran forward alongside Roxana, keeping his eyes on the fleeing creature while steadying his firearm - however, his shot never came to be, as the monster vanished in the patchwork of the dimension, while his ally, after a sharp turn, suddenly found herself sliding down a slippery ledge.

"Roxana!" Simion yelled out, stopping right before the ledge, setting his firearm aside and carefully starting to walk down the ledge while Roxana held onto her dagger with all of her strength. Thankfully, his boots did not give in and kept him upright until he approached the High Elf, at which point the marksman pulled out his sword and stabbed it to the floor, serving as an anchor while he reached out to Roxana with his hand. "Here!" As soon as Roxana's hand reached his, Simion tightly clenched onto it and yanked the elven archer forward, pulling her into his grasp and starting to walk back to safety.

By the time the rescue was complete, Sylanna had already caught up to the duo, asking if they also forgot the appearance of the beast, while taking Roxana's dagger for herself. Simion closed his eyes and pressed onto his forehead, shifting through his memory, but, much like he had expected, all he received was blank. Nothing but a black cross on the forehead.

"Son of an Orcish whore..." the marksman gushed out through clenched teeth. "We all knew that it erases your memories of its appearance, and yet we still didn't prepare for it... If someone like, I don't know, Vul made a sketch of it instead of running away, this would have been so much easier..."

Simion punctuated his rant with a sigh. There was really no point in getting frustrated over what could have been, was there? What was in the past was in the past. The marksman instead pulled his sword out of the floor and offered it towards Sylanna, saying:

"You'll need more than a dagger next time. Want to trade?"

[Auropa]

Annabelle

Frey

Arden Rooke

Corven Roche
Secret Delivery Mission

As the battle wound down to a close, Corven sighed a breath of relief as he pulled his blade free from the chest of a fallen foe and took one last careful look around his surroundings. ‘Never doubt the power of a reckless charge’ he smirked to himself as he watched the others clean up the last of the attackers.
“Any of us dead yet?” he called out as moved to grab a rag off one of the many corpses and set to cleaning to his blade.
“No? Really? Well gods be damned, we’re not half bad under pressure aren’t we?” After taking a minute to check his gear for damage and satisfy any doubts about their enemy staying dead, he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at Rook’s concerned reaction to Frey's discovery and the admittedly impressive wordplay to come out of him as a result “haha… ‘Living dead’. Hope you don’t mind but I might just use that one myself!” he joked as he patted warrior’s shoulder and went off to look for his mount “We’re still counting them as kills though!” He called out as he wandered off back through path “And full ones at that! None of that half score piss!”.

~~Several hours later~~

“That unloyal, cowardly piece of crap.” He muttered to no one in particular. After giving up on his search and re-joining the party, Corven’s mood had seemingly soured at the prospect of having to walk for himself. “I mean what kind of self-respecting mount just abandons its master? Battle or not I’d expect at least a sliver of concern from the damned thing, especially considering how much I bloody feed it!” Jumping in an out of conversations at will and filling the time in between with his own unnecessary commentary, Corven happily passed the time with his party as they steadily made their way through the forest path and closer towards their goal. Despite displaying a mostly indifferent attitude to the surprise ambush, he couldn’t help but feel some level of respect towards the legion. Twice now he had seem them in battle and twice now he had seen them come out on top without so much as a single casualty of their own ‘guess there really was something to those rumors then…’ he decided with a muted twinge of concern.

As the hours ticked on and sun reached towards the horizon, the group eventually came to a stop for the night. As nice as it would be to keep moving and reach their goal that much sooner, Corven, the party and their mule all needed rest from the day's hardships. Doing so safely on the open road though, was always a concern, doing it on the same day as a failed ambush though, that was close to begging for trouble.
“As much as I enjoy taking the easy option, we’re lacking on the numbers and ranged side of things to just bed down here.” He said with a slow shrug before leaning back against the cart and listening to the others as they voiced their thoughts. When it came to swiping keys, chasing rumours or underground deals, he didn’t doubt himself or his ability to make the right call. But hunting down naturally defensible positions and navigating the woods weren't his strong suit, more than a few times he had found himself easily swayed by aesthetics over tactics and had undergone the displeasure of waking up to unpleasant and unwlecomed figures more than once as a result. Figuring to trust those more accustomed to the woodlands on the topic he only chimed in as the group began to reach a conclusion “Rocks it is.” He said as he straightened up and brushed a stray leaf from his shoulder “Who’s cooking?”

[Praeceps]

Tride stood up from over the corpse of the bandit she had just finished killing, Well, that went better than expected. She glanced around at the rest of her comrades who were all standing up with corpses of the bandits who had just attacked them strewn around them. She idly wiped her knife against her tunic to clean it, froze, and glanced down frowning. I really should have thought better of how to clean it... Oh well. Too late now. Straightening, she turned to her comrades: "If anyone isn't going to loot their kill, let me know. I can always use more supplies." She then started to look at the corpses clustered around her for anything valuable.

~~Later in the evening~~

AS the sun was setting, it was time for the group to make camp. The band chatted about where to choose to stay for the night. Listening to the three options, Tride spoke up, "I would really prefer to not go into the woods, since it's so far away. Other than that I don't really care."

Once the group decided where to make camp and headed off the road towards the cluster of rocks in the middle of the plain, Corven asked who was cooking. "I'd be willing to cook, I used to work as a waitress at an inn. Does everyone here like stew?"

[Tomia]

“Who’s cooking?”

When Tride offered to cook, Tira spoke up as well. "I can make the fire then." She said before walking outside, to find wood and sticks for kindling. She walked cautiously towards the edge of nearby woodlands where she grabbed what she could before walking back. Once she returned Annabelle dropped the wood down and started to build a fire put outside the cave with nearby rocks. Once she had the wood in place she shot a small fire ball into the kindling and watched it take light. Soon she had a healthy fire going, and sat down on the ground nearby. "It's ready when you are Tride." She said before turning to the group in general.

"So what do we do now exactly? Someone is clearly onto us, and they'll be ready if we just go the direction we had planned." She said to the ground as she sat by the fire.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

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---

---

---

Frey patiently waited for the rest of the party to offer their input, and the first to bite was Tira, who was clearly unhappy with being in agreement about their camping options. The rogue smirked upon noticing this, though he did his best to hide it and nodded. "I can take the next turn, then. I'm a light sleeper." He offered.

Rookee was next, being the voice of dissent, albeit not for the sake of it; rather, he was concerned with the safety of the group in case they were surrounded and found themselves without an escape route. A sensible criticism, all things considered, although one that didn't make either the woods or the roadside more desirable, at least in his mind.

"Well Rooke, if we get penned in then we've failed as legionnaires, haven't we?" He joked. "More seriously though, if we're ambushed and escape them whoever's after the package is going to get what they want, and we can't have that." He added, before offering the rookie a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, if they keep sending walking corpses after us then this quest will be a breeze."

After he'd addressed Rooke, both Tride and Corven offered their own input - the latter preferred not to just set up shop in the middle of the road, while the former wasn't fond of heading all the way into the woods to pass the night. It was plain to see that, directly or indirectly, camping by the rocky outcrop was the most popular choice. "Well, looks like we're all more or less in agreement, then."

The party began heading towards the outcrop, and the topic of conversation soon shifted to food, one of the main concerns of the races of Requiem ever since they made the absurd mistake of existing. Tride quickly offered to cook for the whole group, which put a smile on the former pirate's face. "Stew sounds wonderful. Make sure there's enough for everyone - Corven over there looks like he hasn't had a decent meal in weeks." He said with a chuckle, jabbing a thumb in the gladiator's direction.

As the group reached the outcrop and Tira headed off to gather kindling for the fire, Frey looked up at the sky and let out a loud whistle, immediately receiving a pair of screeches in response. Gust and Gale swooped down from the sky, one perching on the rogue's arm and the other on the rocks above. "Where were you two when I had to fight off the dead, huh?" He questioned them, before producing a pair of large strips of dried meat and offering them to the birds of prey, who greedily devoured them. "Let me know if you see anything odd, alright?"

Before long, the party had a hearth burning just outside the cave, and Frey leaned against the rock with his arms crossed, listening to Tira express her concerns about whoever had sent the dead to attack them earlier.

"Well, it's true that just continuing on to Antheia as planned is bound to lead us into whatever traps our friends have prepared for us." The rogue admitted with a nod, his expression thoughtful. "But... if we take a detour, we'll only be giving them more time to prepare for our arrival, which means it might be even more dangerous than just continuing on our way." He pointed out. "Not to mention, the clerk told me this is a time-sensitive contract - if we don't get to Antheia in time, we'll be in trouble regardless."

[Absolon-7]

Sylanna

Simion Valerin, the marksman from Nur!

Roxana Ma'gonid
Roxana hung her head in a deep set shame at her brash actions and how much of a Redcloak she was acting. What in Oblivion possessed her to just run along like that into the unknown especially in some forsaken plane she knew nothing about. She clasped her face with both hands and silently screamed into them frustrated at the entire time since the Byron mission. So absorbed into her self fulfilling thoughts she almost missed Sylanna chastising her and also doing her best to comfort her. The sentiment was calming really and she returned a small smile to the taller woman. She let her arms hang loose at her side as the rest of the party showed up but seeing Simion talk reminded her how he had held her hand just a bit earlier when he helped her up. She touched it in an almost caressing manner and could feel an almost jittery sensation from it. Wait no this isnt time to be thinking of such silly feelings. I have a job! She peered at the mirrors floating alongside their group as if trying to see any sign of the beast in them.

"Not a thing Syl. Its just like a big black hole in a painting. Oh the knife? Sure. I wouldn't want you to get hurt either," contemplatively said Roxana before she brought a hand to her chin, "Vul's cowardice was untimely. If he stumbles back to our guide he might blubber it up to us being gonners. We'll just be another dead group if we don't get back in a timely manner."

Roxana looked around at the mirror world and her eyes stopped at the floor. The trail of blood from the beast didn't go down the slope she almost plunged into but instead seemed to go into two directions. One led to a mirror that opened up to some underground lava cavern but that trail seemed more chaotic and thin like it was an intentional splatter. The other led to a mirror to some city she didn't recognize but the blood trail to it was thicker and more consistent.

"The beast went this way I believe. The other looks more like a splatter from its blood soaked tail then from an area close to the main wounds," noted Roxana. Dammit I've almost ran out of arrows. And it looks like we'll have no supplies wherever we go. "I hope we brought enough spare change because that city with the huge temple is our only way out of here between that incoming fog that and that slope to nothingness."

Roxana would be the first to cross into the mirror and it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. How strange. Its as if that mirror world was much denser then the real one. The area that stood before her was an alleyway that was quite thin and a few feet from her was a large splatter of the beast's blood and drool evident by a tall weed in the middle of the large pool that was slowly dying. A disgusted grimace formed on her face from the blood's stench as she pinched her nose. She turned to the rest of her party with a worried expression.

"Anyone know where we are? Looks like the beast's blood runs cold here."

Secret Package Delivery
The night remained pitch black around the camp sans for the illuminating cooking fire made by the party. Some beasts would yearn for the fire but the area was close enough to civilization where most animals recognized the existence of fire as a sign of the two legged folk. Some moths would be drawn to it and make themselves pests but much larger, more enigmatic entities had much more grandiose plans the burning up in its flame. Unbeknownst to the party a large black orb floating midair was hidden behind a large patch of grass some distance away from the rocky outcropping's entrance. A shadowy cloaked figure painted several runes on its side before he slinked away deeper into the night to let the contraption run its course. Its unnatural existence looked like several hard cloths wrapped around each other until a large sphere was formed. Once the Legionnaires were settled in something seemed to go off and a small opening revealed itself from the sphere's cloths unwinding themselves ever so slightly. A oval shaped hole was left no thicker then a human's finger and the hole began making an eerie two part whistling noise every ten seconds. The whistle seemed to bounce around the area just before the rocky making seem like they were surrounded, The noise was soft yet sharp in the silent night acting like an invitation to danger but a keen ear would be able to tell the strongest whistle came from their left in the tall patch of grass or was it the right?

Crystal Village Investigation
As the firebrand of a dark elf led her party on top of the crystal steed, the primitive creature's trajectory brought what was left of the Legionnaire party down the crystalline pathway and on to the village proper. The settlement itself looked to be right out of some crazed delirium as crystals erupted from every tree and ever house and anything that once organic and alive. Black almost petrified wood of houses would be supported by the shimmering columns of blue crystals acting as beams. Trees and shrubbery once alive had jutting clumps of the substance in their wooden frames and the leaves were completely replaced. A translucent haze filled the air as if some filter was obscuring mortal vision. At the center of the village was a large crater at least a oxen or three across with raised walls of earth as tall as a man. Right before the crater was a rickety wooden platform with a stone podium. At the top stood a unnaturally tall man wielding a scythe preaching at large crowd of disheveled villagers hanging on every nonsense word. His slobbering bearded face ended up looking right at the legionnaires and raising his hand the crystal horse crumbled to dust leaving the preserved torn hide in a pile of fine dust along with any would be passengers. The crowd turned in unison at the trio as their mouths all started to rattle and their arms and weapons were raised into the air and the mob charged at them. If the Legionnaires would look to their right they would see the rubble of several houses that could possibly serve as a barrier for a temporary getaway and to their left would be a grand barn with its doors wide open.

Haunted Manor Rescue
Siegfried hummed to himself as Thall and Betty offered their input. Having a steel man stuck halfway through old floorboards would be hilarious but a nuisance so him going through the courtyard would be a problem. Betty on the other hand was trying to coax her griffon to go inside.

"Good show, Thall. Your stalwart mass should do plenty to trounce any foe on your own and I don't think it'll be long for us to reunite. But making our own path as appealing as it sounds would just bring the entire mansion's attention to our fair party. Better to be surgical and precise. Tally ho Betty!" shouted Siegfried as he waved the girl to follow him inside along with her griffon.

As they step into the foyer, the main hallway on the first floor is directly in front of the group. There is a closed door to their left and a stairwell to right right leading to the second floor. Their attention is immediately drawn to the doorway beneath the stairs. From the second they stepped foot into the house something began knocking on the other side of the door to their left. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The steady banging shows no sign of stopping.

"This is quite odd...already inside and we're already being treated like unwanted guests. The nerve of these ghosties," grumbled the onion knight. Siegfried grasped the door knob of the door to pull it open and swing his sword inside but the door was stuck like glue with even his own immense strength for a human couldn't budge it, "Maybe your griffon can try prying that door open?"

Meanwhile in the inner courtyard, it would be found out by walking along the building side until a black rusted gate split the middle of the building. The degraded metal was overrun with purple vines and ivy. If one were to break inside they would see that the inner courtyard was an a square area surrounded on all sides by the manor itself and the area could be described as overgrown mass of plants of all varieties. If one were to pay attention they could anguished human facial impressions in the flower buds and skeletal growth in the trunks of trees. But the most spectacular point of interest was a gargantuan closed flower bulb in the middle of the courtyard that had what seemed to be a human hand pressing out from the inside. Second by second it pushed the fleshy petal outwards like a balloon like glove. And suddenly the bulb exploded in a green splatter of goo and running screaming towards Thall was a twelve foot tall ghoul like creature made of vines.

[Radea]

Arden Rooke
The road to Antheia– Secret Package delivery contract
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One by one everyone else in the contract group spoke in favor of using the natural defenses of the rock mound. Frey allowed himself to speak for their communal thought process. If they failed to fight well, they wouldn’t be very good elite mercenaries. The rocks offered protection to their vulnerable backs. It was a comforting thought until the possibility of getting boxed in crept into his mind. Backing a mule and cart into it was another concern.

Still, many others present had quite a bit more battle experience. Who was he to question their wisdom? While they were killing beasts and men, he was scything wheat or haggling goods. As the group began moving towards the boulders in the distance, Rooke shrugged and replied with a few bobs of his peasant head. Giving the reins an obligatory snap, the mule began moving towards the rocks and ever forward.

The thought of defenses and combat was suppressed immediately by the mention of something much more enjoyable - vittles. Tride, seemingly the most upbeat party member, was eager to begin cooking a stew for the evening. Arden’s stomach growled deep in his stomach at the thought of a good stew. So often on his treks, outside the Legion and part of it, he often ate dried meat and nuts. Field rations kept one alive but they did not enjoy the meal.

When they finally reached the rocks, the others began willing a fire to life as Rooke carefully steered the mule and cart into the stony bosom of the boulder formation. It took some coaxing and a multiple tries, but soon the cart was backed into an alcove. Not only did this protect their cargo, but prevented the mule was panicking if it felt cornered. Climbing down from the driver’s seat, Rooke patted the mule and took the metal bit out of its mouth. “There you go. You did a good job today.” He patted the nose and cheek of the animal to which it nudged back, communicating the desire for a treat or at least to be fed. “Alright, alright, one moment.”

Before setting off to gather grass and hay nearby for the mule, Rooke began stretching and cracking his joints. He had been a cart driver for much of his life and driving meant stiff arms and legs, if nothing else. He’d be damned if he wasn’t limber during a contract. Squatting down and leaning from one leg to the other, the Heartlander saw Frey whistle sharply and seemingly out of the moonlight, two majestic birds of prey swooped down near their handler. “Seems I’m not the only one good with animals.” Arden jested, to no one in particular. Was this some sort of magical bond, he pondered, or was it just good training and trust?

Pulling his arms above his head and spreading them wide, the novice legionnaire listened to Tira and Frey, possibly the most experienced two in the group, discuss possibilities of the plan ahead. Was it all a trap and could it be avoided? Frey didn’t seem to think so. With Tride working on the stew and others preparing the camp, Arden walked away from the cave and began pulling grass, weeds, and a couple wild plants. He used the blade near the handle of his short-sword to hack a small bundle of what would satisfy the mule. Away from the fire, the night sky was wondrous. The stars glinted peacefully and the world seemed quiet, besides the noise from the nearby Legionaries.

“It reminds me so much of…well, everything before.” Rooke said to himself. He had spent countless nights under these stars. Bringing in crops or travelling to towns or cities to ply his trade. Of course, he wasn’t willingly in danger then. The young man waited for a bit longer on one knee, taking in the calmness of the night and his nostalgia for a simple merchant’s life, before rising to his feet and returning to the camp. The mule greeted him with unsatisfied sighs after it had eaten its meal. “Fine. But only because you didn’t buck too hard during the ambush.” Pulling from his rucksack, Rooke displayed a slightly browned red apple. He held it with three fingers as the mule took confident chomps out of it.

Later into the night, Arden sat near the fire with a camp tin on his knee. It had been practically scraped clean of whatever stew was in it. “You said you were a barmaid, Tride? I’m more likely to belief you were the tavern chef.” The hearty lad patted his stomach. He opened his mouth to begin a story but a quick whistle echoed off the rocks. Arden quickly glared at Frey expectantly. Then another whistle, louder and from all around them. He realized it wasn’t Frey. “Uh… does anyone know what that is?”

Getting up slowly from his seat, Rooke swung his eyes from one side of the camp to the other. Every few seconds the whistling came back, with consistency. However, it didn’t seem immediately dangerous. Nonetheless, his hand began resting on the handle of his forester axe. “Where is that coming from?”

[Tomia]

Arden Rooke

Tira sat quietly for most of the night. The training from her past life taught her not to get distracted during times of rest, as that was always the perfect opportunity for the enemy to strike. She ate, but not so much that she was groggy. When the whistling started, her hand went immediately to her blade. Her first thought was this was a signal for an ambush. As such she jumped to her feet, her mind going through the sensation of fight or flight. After waiting a few tense moments she realized it was likely not an attack, but that didn't mean it was innocent. Are they trying to draw us out?, she asked to herself. She had never heard a whistling like that. It almost sounded... unnatural.

"I say we go find whatever is making that noise. Whoever it is clearly knows we're here. So we're sitting ducks to whatever they are planning."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

As the others related their failed attempts at remembering the beast they had just fought, Sylanna frowned. It seemed they had been played by the beast's magic, just the same as all those who had faced off against it before. Sure, they had managed to wound it, and they hadn't ended up as another snack for their troubles, but they were still no better prepared than they had been at the beginning - they were worse off, in fact, what with her having lost both of her weapons and Simion having used up his grenade. The mention of the deserter only made her scowl deepen, but she opted to say nothing about it and simply let out a frustrated sigh, echoing the marksman's. She had hoped for better results, but...

She glanced at Roxana as the shorter woman agreed to let her keep the knife and offered a faint smile at her next few words, before turning her attention back to Simion, the marksman offering his sword in exchange for the knife as a courtesy to the elven knight. With a smirk, she reached out and grabbed the sword by the pommel while nearing the knife to Simion, but she never handed it over.

"I'll take both. You have that cannon of yours anyway, and a girl has to stay well-protected." She said with a wink - a charming gesture perhaps, were it not for the blood running down the side of her head. Either way, she quickly turned around to catch up with Roxana, who was already following the trail of blood left by the monster. She walked all the way to the end of that strange mirror hall, where two large windows stood: one led to a place full of magma and strange creatures, while the other led to what appeared to be a prosperous city with a large temple.

"Well, it's not like we can try the other path anyway..." The Snow Elf mumbled while following Roxana through the mirror, opting to stay quiet on the topic of money - she'd brought some of her own along with assorted supplies, of course, but she hadn't expected to get sucked into another dimension, so those were left behind, still in Lietuva. Either way, as soon as she crossed through the portal, she felt her shoulders relax and took a deep breath. She hadn't noticed it before, but the atmosphere in the mirror world had been nearly suffocating.

Hearing Roxana's question, she glanced at the High Elf. "Oh, I recognize this place. We're in-"

"You're esteemed guests in the sacred city of An'Zarok, dearest ladies." Explained a soft-spoken, feminine voice coming from somewhere behind Sylanna. The Snow Elf turned around and noticed that there was a smiling young woman - she was not quite as small as Roxana, though Sylanna still towered over her - with waist-length white hair and striking purple eyes standing behind the party, where the mirror used to be, though by now it was obviously gone. The girl wore an ornate robe with gold and silver trimming, white fur lining around the neck, and parted down the front from mid-thigh to hem. Emerald earrings and an emerald necklace adorned her, indicating her wealthy status. Black boots covered her legs, ending slightly below her knees, and in her hands she carried a wooden staff almost as tall as her, finely crafted and with the head in the shape of a wolf; it seemed to be laughing, and its eyes, made of rubies, glowed like embers under the midday sun.

A Zarokin priestess...

"Though it surprises me that you didn't know this, seeing how close you are to the temple. Where did you-" The human continued, though she cut herself short as she looked at the Snow Elf and noticed the blood that ran down her face, dripping from a nasty scratch on her forehead. "Oh my, that doesn't look good at all." She said, though her smile quickly returned. "A beautiful face like yours should not be marred by blood. Allow me to fix it." She offered, and immediately began chanting a spell, a strange dark aura manifesting around her. Sylanna grimaced.

"No no no, I'm fine, really. You don't need to fix anything, I'm- you're not listening to me at all, are you?" She spoke to the priestess, ending with a sigh. The young woman finished the spell and pressed the head of her staff against the wound. It began closing up, and the blood around the gash started to drain away - those observing closely would likely get the impression that the wolf head was drinking it.

"How do you feel?" The priestess asked.

"Like you're shoving burning needles into my eyes." The seasoned knight spat back, trying her hardest not to whimper. The priestess smiled wide.

"That means it's working!"

---

---

---

---

"Rooke's right, Tride. Keep it up and you'll end up getting better payment working on Bacchus' Dirty Lamb than as a fellow legionnaire." Frey joked, once more butchering the name of the tavern in the Paean Legion's headquarters. He'd eaten his fair share of the stew that the young red-cloak had prepared, though not enough that he would be too sleepy or full to fight if the occasion arose. This turned out to be quite a wise decision, as before the party - with the exception of Tira - retired for the night, a loud two-part whistle could be heard, echoing all around the rocky outcrop. Frey tensed, immediately unsheathing his butterfly swords in anticipation.

"Somewhere nearby. Just out of sight." The rogue stated in reply to Arden's latter question. "And no, I have no idea what it is, but I don't like it."

Tira was the next to speak. Frey could tell that she was just as alarmed as the others, though rather than showing confusion, she seemed ready to lunge at anything that moved. She wanted to head out and hunt whatever was making that noise, but the former pirate raised his hand in a clear gesture to stay put. "Easy there, pretty face. We don't know what's causing it, so it pays to be careful. More importantly, if this is another trick to steal the package, we'll just play right into their hand if we leave the mule unprotected. Someone needs to stay behind and keep an eye on it."

Frey waited a few moments for some of his fellow legionnaires to volunteer for either hanging back and protecting the package, or heading out alongside himself and Tira to search for the source of the noise. Once the party was properly divided, the young man spoke again.

"Alright, let's get going then." He nodded at the others before stalking off in the direction opposite of the rocky outcrop. "Sounds like it's in the tall grass over there." He spoke. As they moved away from the light of the hearth, the rogue glanced back. "Anabelle, think you can use your fancy fire trick to give us some light?"

[Auropa]

Corven Roche
Secret Package

After doing his part to help set the camp, Corven wrapped himself in his cloak and placed himself down by the familiar warmth of the fire. Despite everything, the softly crackling wood and dancing flames still brought him a sense of comfort as it pushed away the chill of the night. “Personally, I’ve always been a fan of improvising. How can the enemy predict our moves when we don’t even know what were doing?” He half joked as he listened to Frey and Tira’s discussion “Course, we do have a paladin with us, you lot are fond of leaving things to the gods right? How about we just throw out a prayer or two and buy ourselves a safe trip?” he added with a small chuckle. “That aside, my vote is to stay the course. If we knew who planned the attack or why, then maybe we could do something to throw them off us but acting blind would probably just get us in more danger.”

As the group talked amongst themselves and started to settle, Corven began to place his own thoughts and opinions on the day's events. The fact the legion took the contract would be pretty easy for any third party to uncover, their chosen route would've been admittedly more difficult but still not beyond a few brides and well asked questions, so the chances of a full blown traitor in the party or legion was thankfully low but still not impossible. As for the future of their job, he didn't doubt that there wouldn’t be more attempts on the package. Whether it was to test or wound them, the undead ambush wasn't designed to defeat them, meaning the worst was likely yet to come. Looking around, Corven decided to take some time and focus on the faults of the people he travelled with. It wasn’t exactly a friendly habit of his, but after years of jumping from team to team with little to no introduction before a fight, he had learned the importance of judging one’s own comrades. While everyone had shown themselves to be competent fighters, each still had more than a fair share of potentially dangerous unknowns or concerns about them.

Frey acted a little too comfortable about everything that had happened and from what little Corven knew about sailors and sailing, he couldn’t deny that he seemed far too experienced with a blade for someone whose job would’ve been avoiding confrontation.

He still hadn’t had much chances to speak with Tride but from what he saw she seemed worryingly naïve. At first he thought it had to be an act of some sorts but after seeing her in action and having time to piece together events, he didn’t doubt her nature and couldn't help but worry about whether she could handle what the world could throw.

Tira was a complete mystery with a less than noble skill set. He had worked with criminals, murderers and the sorts before but something about her still left him feeling uneasy.

Yvonne was a paladin, which as far as Corven was concerned, was enough of a reason to be wary of her.

Arden meanwhile lacked experience and confidence but in terms of worrying traits, his kindness concerned Corven more than anything else. He performed well in a fight for sure, but heroes tended to be the first to break formation in battle and if something like that were to happen during an ambush, the man would be putting more than just himself in harm’s way.

Breathing out a tired sigh and sending a gentle gust of wind to brighten the flames, Corven put aside his worries and chose to relax. Overall, it was a good team. The dangers were there, but it beat fighting with half starved street urchins and 'hell, maybe they’d all last long enough to make a few new stories' he figured. As he started to dig into his own meal he couldn’t help but smile at the perfectly out-of-place compliments being flung at their camp's designated cook “Frey’s right about the pay” he added to the conversation “Anyone else stuck here after getting applications mixed up?” He joked before hearing a distant whistle.
“Well that’s not annoying in the slightest…” he mumbled as he tossed a rock at where he guessed the noise was coming from.

“Tell you what.” He said as a few members of the party rose to their feet and started preparing “you guys go investigate, I’ll protect the camp and make sure the fire stays nice and cosy.” He added as tucked himself deeper into his cloak and shuffled back to comfortably rest against the stone walls. Beneath his ‘blanket’ though, he slowly worked to unsheathe his blade and rest it against his side. In truth he didn’t think the whistling was anything to be worried about, most likely it was just the wind or some persistent birds but on the off chance it wasn’t, he wouldn't be caught off guard.

[Finland SSR]

Roxana Ma'gonid

Sylanna and Worst Girl

Simion Valerin, the marksman from Nur!

---

Sylanna accepted Simion's offer to have his sword, but also chose to not hand away her dagger, stating that she'll need both of those weapons in the impending battle. Ah, that's perfectly fine, isn't it? It's not like Simion would be able to put that dagger to use, anyway - he's no expert at melee combat, and a dagger would not give him enough reach to be any use regardless. Unless it was fixed onto something long, like a spear. And...

He held something long and with enough reach to strike an opponent if needed, in his hands, right? Fixing a steel knife to the tip of his hand cannon should not cost any loss in accuracy, and perhaps even improve it while firing on a rest, because of the larger weight at the front stabilizing the barrel... Take note. Come back to this later. We'll figure it out more thoroughly. What Sylanna said afterwards broke Simion's train of thought completely, too. The marksman turned his eyes to the side at the sight of the Elven warrior's wink, hoping to maintain at least the appearance of composure.

"Well, yeah... Since you're our frontline fighter and everything, you'll need all the weapons you can get..." the marksman muttered out to back Sylanna's point, then finally sighed to shut his mouth for the rest of the conversation. After checking for the trail of the beast's blood - Simion carefully avoiding stepping in it with the memory of Edward pulling away his hand still fresh in his memory - the team stepped into one of the portals dotting the dimension. What they arrived to was the streets of a familiar Northern city, which, for some reason, Roxana did not recognize - but before either Sylanna or anyone else could correct her on it, a person behind their backs explained that they landed in An'Zarok.

It was an attractive white-haired Zarokin priestess, carrying a staff with her and clearly looking like a big deal around these parts, judging from the ornate gilded clothing. She instantly moved to start healing Sylanna despite the Elven knight's protests, in an affair which would be comical were it not for the situation which the Legionnaires were currently at.

"So, this might sound weird, miss, but..." Simion suddenly started speaking, gripping more tightly onto the belt running across his torso and holding his hand cannon on his back. "You don't look like someone who should have witnessed a giant monster enter this alleyway a minute ago."

---

Crystal Village Investigation

Dido Ricine, the Elven swordsmaster!

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"Woohoo!"

Sure, this mission so far has not been going very well. Hell, it might even be going terrible if you want to look at it in a critical light. They have so far found no way of eliminating the crystal scourge besides possibly bashing the giant sky rock until it breaks, and they lost more than half of their original team in the process. Who knows where they've gone? Maybe they've been turned to crystal, maybe their bodies are rotting in the fields behind her back, or maybe they just went home.

Dido didn't care. Dido was enjoying herself. Riding straight into the crystallized village atop her new steed, with the Redcloak cannon fodder trailing behind her back, watching the landscape surrounding her turn more and more intimidating with each passing second. "Damn... This looks crappier than I imagined."

Until finally, her eyes were faced with a giant crowd of crystallized villagers in the distance, in front of a large crater, with a mysterious unnaturally tall man preaching nonsense to them. No biggie. A smirk formed on Dido's face. This is just the game which Dark Elf youths play on their spare time. Place ten bottles in a triangle shape on a road and try to roll a ball to smash them all - except she is the ball and there are hundreds of bottles. Dido's hands clenched more tightly onto the rope she used as a makeshift harness, getting ready to-

"W-wha-" the Dark Elf suddenly yelled as the horse underneath her vanished, faceplanting into a pile of dust left of her ride. Shocked for a few seconds, she realized what happened as soon as she witnessed the man on the podium holding his hand towards her. The confusion instantly rolled into anger. "You... son of an Orcish whore!"

Dido did not get a chance to manifest that rage just yet, however. While she stood back up and pulled out her weapons, cloaking them in a magic blade and infusing them with electricity, she soon found herself faced with a whole army of crystallized villagers charging their way. Even with the two Redcloaks, as useless as they likely would be, she couldn't take them on. So her eyes quickly shifted to the sides in search of something to even the odds. The left had a grand barn, which would just be begging to get surrounded by the villagers from all sides and become history. On the right, they had...

"To the right!" Dido suddenly yelled out to her team. "Move to the houses! It's a horde, we gotta fight those in cramped spaces!"

[Bentus]

Yvonne the Paladin
Delivery Mission

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As the rest of the party gradually relaxed into their meal, Yvonne remained distant from the idle conversation. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the shared camaraderie that occasions like this offered, or that she disagreed with any of the friendly compliments directed towards their volunteer chef, in fact under other circumstances she would have been more than eager to talk and laugh with her allies. But the appearance of the undead had cast a shadow of worry over her features, her usually smiling expression darkened by a concerned furrow in her brow. Eating her food in silence apart from a polite thank you to the cook, Yvonne couldn’t deny the implications of their last encounter.

She was no stranger to facing against undead opponents, with Paladins often being dispatched to purge any signs of the heretical abominations wherever they could be found. But here, in the middle of a peaceful section of countryside? The presence of those cursed warriors didn’t add up unless some greater intelligence had been guiding them, which bode ill for Yvonne and the legionnaires. Pausing in her meal, the Paladin glanced over towards the cart and the cryptic package which was still being stored within it.

What could we be carrying that would draw the attention of a necromancer?

Even the thought of one of the foul practitioners tied a knot in Yvonne’s stomach. Who knew what harm such a creature could do to the innocent inhabitants of the nearby towns if left to its own devices, and they seemed to have inadvertently lured it right here. Not for the first time, she felt a gnawing unease at the secrecy that had surrounded their mission right from the start. She had truly meant it when she had spoken to the others of performing a good deed with this delivery, but Yvonne knew better than to trust the Tyranny’s intentions with a blind naiveite. The elves had long been at odds with the smaller human kingdoms to their south, the independence principalities all united in a common sense of purpose by the banner of the Church. Refusing to see the light of the Divines, the Tyranny’s agents often had no qualms with working in the shadows to further their own ends – but could they be doing something that would have attracted a necromancer into their midst? Or worse, could they have fallen to the temptations of necromancy themselves?

“Course, we do have a Paladin with us, you lot are fond of leaving things to the gods right? How about we just throw out a prayer or two and buy ourselves a safe trip?”

Rolling her eyes at Corven’s remark, Yvonne didn’t flinch at the gladiator’s snark. She was about to offer a rebuke when a dull whistle tore away the party’s attention. Narrowing her gaze towards the echoing sound, Yvonne scanned the tall grass around their camp. With the sound ricocheting off the rockfaces around them, it was impossible to figure out exactly where it was coming from. Immediately moving onto her feet and lifting her axe in preparation for a fight, Yvonne listened as Frey took charge and the party began to spread out to search for the source of the strange noise.

“I’ll help with the search, if this turns into a fight, I’d be most useful in front.” She said. If nothing else, their choice of campsite meant that there was only really one main route for attackers to approach from. If Yvonne could position herself in that direction, she’d be able to help hold the line if need be. “Arden, it might be best for you to stick close to the mule. If this is an ambush, you’re the only one of us who could keep it calm and safe.”

[New Finnish Republic]

Edward Brunwulf

---

Edward shook his head as he stood with the others, still trying to get a grip on what had all just occurred. We fought the beast, that's for sure, he thought as he glanced over to a large scratch that ran across the length of his shield, a sign of their recent battle. Now just what was it? And how did we get here? Edward let out a small frustrated sigh as he tried to remember, but his mind seemed to stuck in a fog.

When the priestess appeared, he nearly jumped at the unexpected introduction. "How in- nevermind..." he muttered softly to himself, instead just keeping a suspicious eye on the priestess. The fact that the beast had somehow lead them here was something that drew concern in him, one that he hoped the others felt as well.

"I'd also be curious how such a monster lead us here," he asked after Simion, his grip on his sword tightening ever so slightly as his eyes glared warrily at the stranger.

[Radea]

Arden Rooke
The road to Antheia– Secret Package delivery contract
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As the whistling continued, the battle-born Annabelle was the first to rise; hand gripping the pommel of her blade. She stated that there was only one option: attack. Say what one will, her instincts were consistent. Clearly if she had lived this long in dangerous work, that spoke to its success.

"Easy there, pretty face. We don't know what's causing it, so it pays to be careful. More importantly, if this is another trick to steal the package, we'll just play right into their hand if we leave the mule unprotected. Someone needs to stay behind and keep an eye on it."

Frey was the first to urge caution, though out of necessity than out of fear. The sailor was right; the package couldn’t be left alone just because of some whistling. It could be a trap or merely a distraction.

The contract leader was right. They had a large enough - and skilled enough - group to divide and conquer. Almost without a care, Corven was the first to volunteer to stay behind and protect the camp. As the cunning mercenary leaned against a nearby boulder, the large cloak draped around his shoulders made him look more brooding than prepared, at least to Arden. Still, he liked Croven. They had met each other while in a duel with some well-armored ruffians and he was leagues ahead of Rooke in fighting skill. He thought they worked well together and this would no different.

In his chest, the heartlander felt like he should volunteer to go out with the scouting party. It was the same burning in his heart that drove him to sign his name when enlisting for the Legion. But… Corven, for all his talents, was not a commoner in the same vein as Arden. The mule would need to be tended to if anything beyond the expected happened. That’s how animals were.

As if reading his mind, Yvonne said, “Arden, it might be best for you to stick close to the mule. If this is an ambush, you’re the only one of us who could keep it calm and safe.”

He hesitated for a second, almost not sure what to say back to the girl who might understand him better than anyone else in the Legion. He settled on, “I’ll take care of it.” With a curt nod. His eyes, however, said to the Paladin “Good luck.”

With a swift flick of his wrist, his axe came free from the harness and swung freely in his hand. Marching back to the wagon, he pulled his worn short sword from his pack and strapped it on his person. Patting the mule on the neck, he whispered, “It’ll be alright, girl.” Whatever happened, he was ready.

[Idiot People]

Lucan Aburns
Paean Legion Headquarters/Haunted Manor

Once finished dropping the letters and parcels at their respective location(s), Lucan weighed the currency in his hands. He estimated enough to maybe cover a month’s rent and evening meals, but he was already eager to be on the road again with another job in tow.

At the mention of a job, Lucan’s blue eyes wandered down to the red cloak he had tied around the strap of his satchel. He had been accepted into the Paean Legion, though a god only knew why, and he had finally made it to the city he would be calling home for however long this was destined to last. The Singing Stone itself was something to behold, not too dissimilar to the grandeur of the Fire of the Tejis Desert.

He approached the building of the Legion and took a breath before ascending the stairs and into the building. Inside, at a central desk, sat a young girl with red hair. He ignored her for the moment and took a look around, opting to take a look for himself. After locating the tavern, job board, and other locations, meeting a few faces along the way, he finally came around to the desk again.

“Hullo. I’m, uh, new here?” He motions down toward the red cloak around his satchel, “I was just wondering how to get started and go about business here.”

She looked him up and down as if wary of him before responding, “Generally, you’ll want to find a contract from the bulletin board and sign off on it. From there, you complete the job, get a bank note, and come back here to record a complete contract.”

“Ah, I see. And, what over that contract there?” He motioned towards a contract sitting beside her, prominent words at the top saying ‘Haunted Manor Rescue’.

“Taken. You just missed them.”

“What? And how many people are in this party?”

“I don’t know if-”

He smiled. “No matter. What’s adding one more person to that contract?”

“I already-”

“You said they just left? I can catch up to them easily.” She looked at him. “Aw, c’mon,” He took a risk and placed two Ducat on the counter, “It’ll be only but a second and I’ll be out of your hair-”

“Fine.” She put the paper in front of him with a quill, “Just make it fast.”

He smiled. “Thanks, love. I’ll owe you one.” He did a quick review of the sheet’s contents before signing his name at the bottom among the others and handing it back.

As he turned away, her voice caught him. “The name’s Louise, ‘love’, and you can keep your dirty Ducat.”

He simply smiled back at her. “Right, then. I’ll see ya round, Louise.”

-+*+-

He smiled to himself as he looked upon the shrine to Hopcantus. “So, it appears I’m in need of your assistance again, Hopcantus.”

He laid out both of his daggers and sword in front of him before kneeling before the shrine, thinking of his prayer.

I pray unto thee,
Help me lead and fight,
With thy guidance and light,
Oh great Hopcantus.

He waited a moment before opening his eyes and looking at his weapons. He carefully picked them up and sheathed them properly before getting and bowing. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Now that he had finished with that, he made his way towards his current goal, the Manor, while following a trail of footprints. He follows it until he comes to the opening where the manor stood, very much overgrown. There appeared to be a small skirmish in front of the great doors, but there was no blood to be seen. He let out a breath.

He approached the grand doors of the manor before gently placing a hand on the old oak. He took hold of the handle and attempted to open it, but the doors did not move. He looked around again before deciding to follow along the side of the building until he could find another entrance.

[Absolon-7]

Sylanna & Mir

Simion Valerin, the marksman from Nur!

Edward Brunwulf

Roxana Ma'gonid
Roxana joined Sylanna in to look at the owner of a the new soft feminine voice which turned out to be a young woman with white hair and purple eyes. What a strange combination for a human but it did suit her strangely. So they're in An'Zarok? She'd heard of the city before but had never been there nor seen any portraits of it by chance. Her choice of dress was quite well made at least it was in better condition then her Legionnaire party's garments as the hunt so far had not been kind to them but at least her purple cloak was a good cover. Her staff was a curious thing as well as the carved wolf head seemed to have been molded to look like its laughing. The new person then began to heal Sylanna's head wound-Wait what's she calling her beautiful for? They just met! Simion spoke up about the monster and Edward seemed to be on edge about the newcomer which prompted Roxana to walk up to him and give him a light pat on the back.

"Relax Eddie, I don't think someone who'd heal a stranger is worth pulling your sword out. Anyway, Miss, I'm not sure if you're heard of it or not but we're Legionnaires in charge of hunting down the Beast of Soisson? Have you heard of the recent massacre per chance?" and Roxana paused for a second to rub her elbow in slight embarrassment, "Due to some unforeseen powers the Beast had we ended up stranded here with no money or supplies. It's a long story."

Roxana rummaged through her satchel and it looked she had enough coin for a few meals but a familiar sized paper made her grin. She grasped it and out came a bank note from a previous contract. This would should be exactly enough for oh wait...it was just a flier from some shop. Well here they were without a lead, guide, or way to catch the beast. Exactly back to square one.

"Hey Simion, you wouldn't happen to have any contacts here that could relay to Lietuva that we're not dead? I know your home city is relatively near so there could some connections," said Roxana dissatisfied before she turned back to the mystery woman, "Mind telling us your name? Mine would be Roxana Ma'gonid. Paean Legionnaire of the Purple Cloak variety and this gentleman is Simion." Roxana's demeanor then converted to a much more curious mood, "He uses this thing called an arqubusy or something. You should see it in action! Its sorta like an explosion spell on a stick!"


Secret Package Delivery
As the Legionnaire's colluded amongst themselves in how to proceed the magic orb noticed none had yet fallen to its trap and it expanded in size by unwinding some of its textile bands and its movement ever so slightly brushing against the high patch of grass it was hidden behind. The vertical slit on top of it expanded a hand's worth and with the change the whistling changed to a rising series of wardrum beats and just like the whistles the sounds bounced around in front of the rocky outcropping never truly staying in one location. After a few more seconds the orb began casting the sounds of war chants that were spoken in unison making it seem like the rocky outcropping was surrounded by an entire battalion. Two tendrils drop from the orb and snaked their way to the right side of the rocky outcropping using low brush as cover with their movement faintly disturbing the plants. Once the tendrils organized themselves to a trap the orb casted an illusionary sound of hundreds of swords being banged against shields but all the new sounds sounded too in unison. Almost too perfect. But if the Legionnaires happened to go to the right then they would step onto the trap and be whiplashed and suspended in the air. If they went to the left they would eventually discover that's where the orb was although this was compensated by the largest amount of chanting and drumming coming from that direction as a screen.

[Gudmund]

-Haunted Manor Rescue-

Thall Lium | Haunted Gabriel Manor, Inner Courtyard

Having just recently come across the inner courtyard by bending the rusted gate inwards, revealing the overgrown plantlife behind, Thall now faced an ironically large foe. A large flowery bulb in the center of the courtyard burst open, a twelve foot tall monster emerging from within and charging towards him immediately.

Hefting his axe into a ready stance, Thall chuckled, recalling Siegfried's claim that his stalwart mass should be able to trounce any foe alone. As the humans' would often say, it seemed the onion knight had jinxed it. Not one to sit back and be tackled by the enemy, Thall charged in kind, hoping his metallic body would still outweigh the larger vine creature before him. Moments from impact, Thall jolted to the side swinging his blessed axe with all his momentum and power. Like so he evaded the charge of the beast, no doubt saving himself from being tangled amongst the vines. However, such a move wasn't without cost, and only to be used against larger opponents than himself as it could risk snapping or bending his axe handle, which creaked precariously with the strike.

Thall couldn't quite see the damage he'd done, but he was certain his axe had cut quite deep, of that he was sure. Even if the creature couldn't bleed he now knew how sturdy it was, while quite large the moving bundle of weeds wasn't exactly the most sturdy choice in defence. Were his axe to break he might have to resort to ramming it with his horns, regardless of how stupid it might look, or rip it apart his own hands. And so, the battle waged on, Thall spinning to remove his embedded axe it's serrated edge tore at the innards of the creature.

[Tomia]

Secret Package Delivery

Suddenly Tira heard the pounding of shields and the sounds of marching soldiers and she immediately sprung into action. Gone were her thoughts of who should protect the cart, nor did she stop to wonder how an army would have sneaked up on them without alerting them. She was tired of waiting around for an invisible enemy to attack. She was going on the offensive, consequences be damned. She happened to run to the right of the unseen orb, and suddenly the tendrils sprung and grabbed her. She went flying into the air as her sword dropped to ground.

Damn it! She thought to herself. She felt like a fool, she hadn't considered the possibility that they were being drawn out. She flailed around but was unable to see anything in the dark. She stopped and concentrated for a moment before sparking a fire in her hand. She reached her hand out to see in front of her and saw a strange orb, that seemed to be the source of the fictional marching army. What the hell is going on?

"Everyone stay back! I'm caught in some trap, there's no army here! Just a strange orb!"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

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---

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The priestess smiled with amusement as she listened to the High Elf recounting the experience of seeing a firearm in action. "Oh, you mean an arquebus, correct? Yes, I'm familiar. I've seen the Royal Firearms Regiment practice on occasion, it's quite intriguing - though the noise is awful! I wonder how they avoid going deaf?" The young woman looked up with a thoughtful expression on her face, before looking back at the legionnaires. "But nevermind that. It's a great pleasure to meet you, Roxana and Simion. I am Mircella Mellowmoon, priestess of the Laughing Wolf."

The white-haired woman's last words seemed to catch Sylanna's attention in particular. "Wait, Mellowmoon you said?" She asked, discreetly reaching for Edward's hand and taking it off the hilt of his sword. The priestess pretended not to notice and simply nodded at the question.

"Yes, indeed. And who might you be? I can see you're legionnaires as well, but what are your names?" She asked softly, earning a smile from the Snow Elf.

"I am Sylanna Sundancer, former Knight of Issgard, now a legionnaire." She stated proudly, bringing attention to the purple cloak that - miraculously - still hung from her shoulders. She stood at attention and everything, too. "Oh, and this fellow is Edward. He's a man of few words."

"Oh! The heroine of Fellhollow? What a lucky coincidence to meet you here!" The priestess spoke excitedly, eyes wide at the revelation. "I heard your story from my mother when I was still in training. Do you still have the weapons of the Wardens?"

As soon as Mircella asked that, Sylanna's face went red and she looked off to the side in embarrassment. "I- no, actually... I lost it in a Lietuvan forest just today. The beast we're looking for is crafty, and disarmed me before sending us here." She admitted, crestfallen.

"Oh, of course. The Beast of Soisson you said? I've heard the stories about it, but I'm afraid I haven't seen it, no. I don't know how it brought you here either. But, now that you're here in An'Zarok, I do believe I can help. Why don't you come with me? I should be able to get you supplies and weapons if you need them." The priestess offered with a confient smile. "I can be of assistance in your battles as well, if you would accept me."

---

---

---

---

Accompanied by Yvonne and Annabelle - he would've probably counted himself quite lucky if the circumstances were any different - Frey advanced towards the tall grass surrounding their nocturnal encampment, peeved by the fact that the latter opted not to heed his suggestion of providing some light with her fire, but focused on his task nonetheless. Needless to say, he was quite confused when the whistling changed to beating drums, then to belligerent chanting and shield-bashing.

What in Drummer's Black? The young man questioned, before he noticed something odd. In all the time he spent in the Eastern Archipelago, on either side of the law, he had seen plenty of mobs, mercenary companies and pirate crews, and they all had something in common - they were chaotic. Save for perhaps the most disciplined of the lot, those who engaged in this type of behavior to demoralize the enemy weren't exactly harmonious. By contrast, the noise surrounding the group sounded too disciplined, too rehearsed, and even if they were transporting a package for Thapsus of all people, he doubted someone would send an army to the middle of the Lesser Atrium for it - and if this was the case, he was sure they'd already be under attack.

On the whole, though, he didn't have a lot of time to think about it. Too quick for him to react, he saw Annabelle shoot off towards the noise, only to suddenly get grabbed by a black tendril and suspended in the air. Damn it, pretty face, think before you act.

Still, there was something good in all of this - at least she'd found out the source of the noise, and it wasn't an army ready to mount their heads on pikes, but a magical orb of some sort. "Great. I'm starting to hate magic." Frey muttered to himself before sheathing his butterfly swords and instead drawing his enchanted estoc, the irony not lost on him.

"Stand back, Yvonne, this may be my dumbest idea yet." He told the paladin as he pointed his estoc towards the orb. "Oh, and help Annabelle down if you can." He added as an afterthought. Then, without further delay, he activated the enchantment on the sword, the crack of lightning echoing through the area as a powerful discharge fired off from the tip of the sword, shooting towards the orb.

[Idiot People]

Thall Lium | Haunted Gabriel Manor, Inner Courtyard

Lucan Aburns
Haunted Manor

Lucan walked carefully along the manor, vines snaking up along the sides of it. As the grass parted under his feet, he couldn’t help but shiver at the manor looming over his shoulder. Despite the grandness of it, the decrepit state it was in wasn’t exactly an inviting view.

He took a moment to toss a look at his weapons as he walked. His previous encounters with Hopcantus had been blessing water or amulets and charms, be it whatever reasons behind it. However, fighting? He hadn’t really thought it through when joining the legion, but he had no real combat skill or experience except for minor scuffs in which he would need to defend himself or make a quick exit.

When coming to a corner barred off with metal, he was quick to discard his thoughts. Upon looking into what appeared to be a courtyard, he saw two hulking beasts charging one another. Instead of hastily joining into the battle, he himself sat back to analyze the situation first.

A distinctively taller vine ghoul and a shorter, but still quite large, metallic beast with large horns ran at each other until the horned figure diverted to the side and brought its heavy axe into the mid-section of the ghoul. It did surprising damage to the ghoul, and he quickly looked over each before noticing the horned beast carrying a red cloak.

It was friendly, then, which would mean his enemy would be the vined ghoul creature and would hopefully be easier to fight than the other, judging from the horned beast’s skill. Taking a look at his daggers, he judged that they would hardly do good damage compared to his sword, so he was quick to unsheath it. When looking back to the battle, Lucan saw that the two had shifted so that the vined creature had it’s back turned to where the gate had been bent.

Deciding he had waited long enough, he kept his grip firm and quickly moved through the gate and rushed the creature from behind. He just hoped the horned beast wouldn’t mistake him for an enemy as well, his red cloak tied to his satchel by his side and his normal cloak on top.

[Finland SSR]

Haunted Manor Rescue

Thall Lium | Haunted Gabriel Manor, Inner Courtyard

Lucan Aburns
Haunted Manor

Bettine Lambert, master of the Griffon!

---

Betty watched her squad enter the mansion through the gaps between her Griffon's wings - always protective of her, Matthias remained stern when the team stepped into the first floor as well. It started looking around with worry, too, its ears picking up the sounds of battle coming from the inner courtyard. Immediately, everything started turning worse - heavy banging started echoing across the hall from the door to the left of the main entrance, indicating that something was on the other side. After Siegfried tried prying it open, but to no avail, he turned to Betty for help.

A faint smile formed on the girl's face. "Matthias, smash."

Matthias executed the command without hesitation - the winged magical creature backed off for a few meters to give itself some space to accelerate, then suddenly lunged forward, going from zero to top speed in a second and ramming into the door.

---

Roxana Ma'gonid

second best girl and first worst girl

Simion Valerin, the marksman from Nur!

---

After explaining to Mircella what they were going after - and receiving a negative response from the Zarokin priestess afterwards - Roxana turned to Simion, first asking on whether he has any contacts which could relay to Lietuva that they're safe and sound, and then commenting on the marksman's hand cannon, which she called an arquebusy.

"Arquebus is the High Elvish name, I just call it a hand cannon, to be fair - because that's really what it is." Simion spoke, mostly to himself. While Roxana was quite enthusiastic about his weapon, Mircella raised a question on how their wielders avoid going deaf. Okay, this one was actually something he could answer. "They don't. That is, if you're using older model handguns, which are basically just tubes full of gunpowder. Newer models with serpentine locks have longer barrels for this exact reason - they're not as loud as you might imagine."

While Mircella was talking with Sylanna, Simion placed his hands to his pockets and turned towards Roxana. "Doesn't An'Zarok have a Legion base? If they are a part of the portal network, we can send someone to the base in Lietuva to inform our allies there that we're safe. That'd be option number one - but if it's not possible, I've got other ideas."

[Absolon-7]

The Mellow Moon and the Dancing Sun

Roxana Ma'gonid
"Pleasure to meet you as well," said Roxana to her new acquaintance, "I'll have to agree with you there. As cool as they are, its kind of a big pain in the eardrum."

Roxana watched with crossed arms as Mircella and Sylanna conversed with the former apparently knowing about her heroic exploits in her Knights of Issgard days. Roxana wished she'd someday be that famous where a random stranger you meet knows about you. Sure she was a particularly young purple-cloak and back in Velathri but it was another thing for your name to be recognized half a world away. Then again, Sylanna was a native to this quarter of the world so maybe Roxana was just fussing over nothing.

"That's quite kind of you and thank you very much for the offer. I mostly need a full quiver of arrows," said Roxana taking a step forward as she considered Mercella's offer, "As co-leader of our party I'd be glad to have you, if Syl doesn't object. Frankly we'll need all the help we can get right now."

Simion was quick to offer help in an idea to get their presence known back in Lietuva with their party exploiting the portal network.That was certainly an option and would be the best if they wanted to get the money for the completed quest and not some other party. They just had to find where it was in An'Zarok or well be lead to it. Pulling a few strings with two purplecloaks should be a cinch.

"Sounds feasible to me, Simion. Although I'm not sure if one of us should go or if I can just ask a local purplecloak for a favor. Its a critical time and I'm not too keen and losing bodies. But whatever, we can decide when we get there." sighed the elf with her ears drooping slightly downward.

The ragged and tired group of Legionnaires were given a tour around the city or rather a completing a set of errands to get at least the bare minimum of supplies. Roxana got herself a quiverfull of arrows but they were less then desirable in quality compared to her usual ones but whatever. With the groups meager pooled funds they had to make compromises. With the first order of business done they had to go to the local Legionnaire base to get the message across they weren't monster chow yet. The location itself wasn't hard to find as the compound was quite developed. It wasn't quite as splendid as the one back in Velathri but for some reason it seemed less packed then the busy days in Velathri and in fact was quite sparsely populated that seemed to be happening more often then usual aaand there she was making assumptions. She really needed to get her head back in the game. As they entered the compound's main building Roxana's first instinct was to go to the front desk but she stopped in the middle of the lobby to address the party.

"I trust you all heard Simion's idea? Any taker's I can go myself if no one else does?" asked Roxana casually flipping a braid of her green hair.

The hustle and bustle of the base would provide an ambient background noise for a while as the group members made their thoughts known to Roxana but a certain key series of events would bring the peace to a grinding halt. A bloodcurdling scream of some animal could be heard all the way from outside which made the handful of redcloaks in the lobby jump back in fear. Roxana herself ran outside with her bow drawn furious that she couldn't get one moment of respite. At the bottom of the slight hill where the base was they would be able to see the same beast tearing into an unfortunate ox of an unlucky traveler. The crowd outside seemed to scatter in fright at the monstrous creature still burnt, bloody, and drooling from the poison. After biting off the ox's head with a single bite it took a few unstable steps towards the gate and flicked it at the metal gate bordering the compound. It peered up at the Legionnaires as if challenging them to a fight.

"That bastard! It must've used its mirrors or whatever to get here," snarled Roxana as she drew and arrow and let it loose at the beast's nostril, "Everyone ready for round two?" As she drew her bow once again Roxana swiftly asked, "Is there some sort of city guard or militia? Or a sheriff or protector?"

Secret Package Delivery
And with an outstanding crackle of lightning the bizarre orb was slain letting the dark haired woman in had ensnared go free to fall to the ground. Gone was the chanting and war beats as the enchanted fabric crumpled up to a crispy pile of soot to never again be used. Several steps back to the road a cloaked figure raised his arms in sheer anger and a spitfire round of swears at how quickly his trap had failed but upon realizing at his brain dead faux pas that left the dark figure with a pointed hood completely in view of the Legionnaires. In a puff of spoke he then disappeared leaving the group to contemplate the night. The next several days would be quite peaceful for them and whether a miracle or sheer luck they arrived in the busy port city of Antheia uninterrupted. By the city gates stood a quite regal and fresh looking elf in a fancy attire with several military medals. He was the usual tall and gracile build for elves and he had slicked back brown hair revealing a sharp widow's peak. A thick pointed beard adorned his sharp slender face as he studied the Legionnaires.

"Greetings. My name is Eumenes and I am a representative of Thapsus that would meet you all. Thankfully the package looks safe and so do all of you." gratefully stated Eumenes, "This would be the part where I asked all of you to hand over the package and let my men deal with it but you see somehow the ship they were supposed to arrive on was mysteriously delayed. I was told there'd be outside forces wanting this but I wouldn't think they'd be so bold as to have a giant crab attack a Thapsian ship. Anyways, I'm here to ask an extension on your contract to come part way on the a ship with me as guards. Only to the offshore Islands though there it'll be safe to wait then here on the mainland. So is there a yes, I'll make sure to throw in a bonus? Or questions for that matter? I may older then some of your grandparents but do feel free to act casual."

Crystal Village Investigation
The shambling mob of crystal infested villagers pounding the dead dirt beneath their feet like a mad herd of infested cattle at the remaining Legionnaires but they wisely chose to go to the path of rubble houses. A large wooden column, perhaps an old support beam, suspended at least a meter off the ground kept the mob out of the Legionnaires. However it would only be a manner of time until the mob found some alley way to circle around the Legionnaires. Now they would find themselves in a vertical clearing with each side being piles of broken and slanted to their sides as if they were giant dominoes. Quite a disastrous scene. If the remaining Legionnaires were to care to their auditory senses they would hear to their back a repeated psst sound coming from the doorway of one of the better looking houses. If they turned they would see the small frame of a teenage girl in a large cloak motioning for them to go inside. They would then have another choice as the giant scytheman leaped all the way from the courtyard to the top of one of the buildings grasping onto a jutting beam that stood right up against the sky. His head jerked towards to them as he let go of the beam and lunged at them. His rusted black scythe sheared at the air in front of them like stalk of wheat as he spun in a free fall at them.