IC for the land of L'anDanora!

Nyme

Nyme can sense the stirrings within the keep. " I must be ready to follow them when they leave" Nyme thought to herself.
 
"... I'm certain I am not alone in feeling that some greater force or urging has drawn us together." Adrienne said, straightening up by the fire and revealing more than Naden recalled from the night before.

He opened his mouth to answer when Arisu shifted in his lap, pulling close to his chest, murmuring "bad kitty". He had to fight not to roar with laughter. Naden wasn't sure if the feline heard, but he didn't plan on repeating it if someone asked what was so funny.

Stifling his chuckles, he caught Namannarg's attention with a wave and indicated his enthusiasm for the offered prospect of breakfast.

He looked up at Vushlo, barely an arm's reach away. "Normally I wouldn't bother with a horse" Naden said, indicating Arisu in his arms "but if this keeps up I'll have to accept".
 
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"Well, I would recommend that we all take horses that need them. I prefer to stick with my own steed, though." Namennarg said. "I don't suppose any of the rest of you have any kind of food on you. Well, thankfully I have some supplies. I'm afraid it will only be oatmeal, though." Going back over to his horse, Namennarg pulled a pot, some crushed oats, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and some dried apple bits, as well as a small wooden spoon, some metal bowls, and some metal spoons. Walking back over to the fire with the ingredients, he set them down next to the fire pit. He pointed at the fire pit, and said "Acelerar erde". This caused some points of earth to sprout from the sides of the bowl, and form a sort of cradle above the fire for the pot. Pointing at the pot, Namennarg said "Acelerar vasser". This caused the moisture from the air to condense inside the pot. He then set the full pot on the cradle, and threw in the ingredients. He waited for it to boil, stirring it with the wooden spoon. Once it had been boiling long enough to cook, he started filling up the bowls, and passed two to Naden, one to Adrienne, and keeping one for himself. He wasn't sure if the Knight or the man in the cloak wanted any, so he asked "Do either of you want some?".
 
Nyme

Nyme sniffs the air. Strange array of odors coming from the keep, oats, blood and an overwhelming smell of DEATH!
 
Arisu continued to snuggle close to the solider, basking in the unmagical warmth. While she did sit near the fire, the girl didn't get much warmth. She bit her lip, and muttered more words in her sleep. "Stupid...pudding...no...chocolate..." one of her legs twitched, as though it wasn't a pleasant memory. "Stupid...Mm, Warmth." Her body relaxed once more, refusing to let go of the nice living pillow. "Smell... puppy...." Her sense of smell would sometimes be excellent and other times... well, she couldn't deal with a lot of scents as she got used to them. Food and horses were two things she had long gotten used to. Whether it was good or not, she didn't know.

"Kitty... puppy... snake... food."
 
Naden gratefully accepted the bowls from Namennarg one after the other, setting the first on the ground. He was forced to eat one handed and raised the bowl to "drink" his breakfast.

He ate without too much trouble. It was a bit hot but as long as he took his time....

Arisu snuggled closer, pulling down on his neck slightly with her hands and murmuring something about animals again in her doze.

Naden choked and sputtered. Whether it was due to his laughing again or the pain caused by a sudden gout of molten oatmeal suddenly forced down his throat, even he wasn't sure.
 
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Vushlo

Vushlo walked out of the stable as soon as some of the company started to eat, he walked to where he could draw a sigil in the ground with a circle big enough to hold three horses. He crossed his arms over his chest and started chanting an incantation, black mist started to pour out of the sigil on the ground and rushed outwards until it met the circle, then it started to grow in volume. As Vushlo kept up the chanting a slight chill started to come from the surrounding area, a chill that seemed to draw even the warmth from the sun. Vushlo uncrossed his arms and started to move his hands and arms in slow, deliberate gestures, the cold spread outwards until the group in the stables could feel it as well, then with a sound much like a thunderclap, the mist and coldness disappeared leaving three horses standing in the circle, one dark brown, one white and a light brown, each one saddled and bridled. Vushlo stepped closer to them, the eyes seemed normal and when he touched them they felt like real horses, he was quite sure that they would smell like real horses as well.

"Good, now go wait for your masters at the stable"

The horses trotted off towards the stable and Vushlo walked towards the ruined gate, there was power gathering itself, yet he was sure that they would be able to leave long before it has gathered enough of itself to become a threat. There was also something else out there, but what it was Vushlo didn't know, but it would be dealt with if it becomes a threat. He started walking along the ruined wall, walking a perimeter watch, making sure that they did not get caught in a surprise attack of any kind.
 
Nyme

Nyme sees someone walking along the top of one of the walls. "must stay well hidden" Nyme thinks to herself.
 
Leo

Leo watches Vushlo summoning the undead horses. He felt the stirrings in the shadow realm as they moved to obey his summons. He glanced back in at the group. All in all, a very interesting group. They only have a problem with staying on task. He had noticed the childlike tendencies Arisu and the attraction between Namennarg and Adrienne. He also wasn't sure if Naden's past would become a problem in the future. Odd how someone's past affects the future, no? He decided he would avoid them for the most part. No need to form pointless bonds with them.

He moved out of the stable silently and without a word. He moved along the area, keeping an eye on the road and the treeline. He stopped when he reached his outcropping. He waved Vushlo over to him.

"You sense it as well, don't you? Something is out there." he gestured to the treeline. He conjured up the strings. There were still two strings he couldn't account for floating in front of him. The elf and the half elf. They would be joining them eventually, that much he could feel.
 
Seeing that the Knight had walked out of the area, Namennarg decided that he must not have wanted anything to eat. Scooping what was left in the pot into his own bowl, he quickly ate it all, and then got to work cleaning his bowl, the pot, and the utensils. Placing them all back in the saddle bag when they were clean, he went back and sat by the fire next to Adrienne. He picked up his bedroll and started packing it back up. In the midst of this, he noticed that Dragar had slithered over to Naden and the young girl. He seemed to be smelling the girl, sticking his tongue in and out. Namennarg guessed that Dragar was surprised to see another snake here, even if she did look human. Finishing packing up his bedroll, Namennarg reached over and picked up the one he had given to Adrienne last night. He began packing it up too, and when he was done, he went over and put them both back in the saddlebag. Going back over to sit next to Adrienne, Namennarg was waiting for Naden to finish his breakfast. While he waited, he began idly messing with the dirt, using little bits of magic to shape it to his will. Without realizing it, he began creating a to-scale model of his old hometown, before the Dragon had burned it to the ground. Sticking out far above the rest of the model was his old school, the Grand Tower of the Arcane. It's three spired shape would have been impossible without magic. He looked down at what he had built, and decided to keep going with it. He added in the tournament grounds that had been temporarily erected outside the south gate of the city. He even went so far as to blacken out and burn a triangular section of ground. As he was doing this, his mind wandered back in time to that day.

It had been him and the Necromancer, locked in a Wizard's Duel at the tournament. Nobody else had noticed who the other man was, but he was smug enough to rub it in Namennarg's face. Namennarg remembered them throwing the spell back and forth at each other, neither one willing to give up, and finally the spell became too much for either of them to handle. The spell had exploded, luckily out to the side, away from the crowd. Namennarg never did find out how much area had been burnt and destroyed (the actual size was approximately 50 square miles), but it had been enough to get the attention of Vash, one of the old gods. He had pulled both Namennarg and the Necromancer into a sort of side dimension so that he could speak to them. The setting was a set of scales, with Namennarg and the Necromancer on opposite sides. In front of Namennarg there had been one small, smooth black stone. The Necromancer had been sitting on a pile of hundreds of the same exact stone, and in front of him on the pile of stones had been a small figure. At first, the figure seemed to be made of some dark wood, but then it moved around, and climbed up onto the Necromancer's shoulder. The scale, though, was perfectly balanced. In front of them appeared a man in a brown robe, with a bald head. Instead of eyes, he had had blue flames. The man said "Welcome, Namennarg. I brought you here to explain some things to you. I am Vash, and I am a god. This man, this Necromancer, has perpetrated numerous crimes against me, each one personified by one of the stones on which he sits. You have committed but one crime against me. Unfortunately, this crime was very grievous. That is why the scales are balanced. I have been unable to bring this man to justice for his crimes. He is protected from my wrath by that being you see on his shoulder. It is a demon of some type. I sent someone to kill him, but you and your friends stopped her and her army. That is the crime of which you are guilty. I must ask you, then, to stop him in her stead. If you refuse, you will die. If you take this task and perform it, then I will reward you. You do not have to do this alone, though. I'm sure you will find others on your way. Will you accept this task?". Through all of this, the Necromancer had merely sat on his stone pile, looking bored.

"I will accept this task." Namennarg said, bowing to the god.

Vash replied "Then I will send you back to the place that I took you from. I at least have the power to send the Necromancer to a different location.". With that, he waved his hand, and the entire scene disappeared.

Namennarg found himself back on the tournament grounds, people all around him gasping at his sudden appearance. Everyone was staring either at him or at the destroyed area out to the East.

With a start, Namennarg came back to the present. He looked around at the others, and then back down at what he had been building in the dirt. The entire scene burned with an eerie blue light, the exact same shade of blue that the flames of the gods eyes had been.
 
Arisu rolled off of her Warmth and opened her eyes to only see… well, parts of a ceiling. She let out a yawn and looked at the fire next to her, before looking around. She sniffed the hair, with slightly parted lips, before stretching her arms out. “Mm, that source of warminess was nice. Still, horses are better,” she muttered, slowly standing up. For being part snake, her diet consisted of rats, mice, the occasional rabbit and greens. Oh yes, she mostly ate fruit and veggies. It was easier on her poor small tummy. She dusted herself off and looked around again.

“Something tells me I missed something important?” she said, before laying eyes on the man she had insulted earlier. “Don’t state the obvious. I do not have energy to deal with stupidity.” The young snake fingered the tools of her trade. She would need to sell her things, if she wasn’t able to get her hands on metal. She didn’t want to give up any weapons. Well, there was the sword she’d never give away. But that was something else. She shivered, remembering how blood thirsty it was.

She pulled her short dress down and yawned again. She could feel some venom drip down her chin. Hm, she’d have to milk herself soon. Perhaps, later today, when alone she would.
 
Adrienne eyed the bowl offered her, accepting it politely, but eating very little. What remained of her human physiology required such simple sustenance, but her jaguar self had other ideas. She watched Namennarg toying with magic for a few moments, but the feeling of strong magic made her shiver, and she stood.

"I will return shortly." She spoke rather abruptly, setting the bowl down near the fire. "See that you refrain from leaving without me." She smiled sweetly at the assemblage, and loped off towards the treeline.

A few brief moments saw her essential functions attended to, and then she went sprinting off into the deeper woods, seeking the inevitable trails left behind by those creatures which called the woodlands home. Her human brain and bestial senses worked in conjunction to pick out the nigh imperceptible signs of passage, filtering the newer ones from the old.

After pursuing a single track for a good hundred yards, she stopped dead, the scent of rabbit and other scurrying creatures hung heavy in the air to her keen senses, and she rolled the aroma over her tongue like fine wine. Her ears perked towards a sound a few yards distant, something small rooting through the underbrush, utterly oblivious to her position downwind. Stalking forward on silent padded feet, her claws digging into the soft earth and the layers of detritus, her claws extended from her fingers to their full length.

One step...two...and she could hear the rabbit's heart beating faster than a humans, but still calm, unaware. A slight shift of her weight... the ball of one foot came down over a leaf, the lightest crackling, and the rabbit froze, it's ears twitching. It's head swivelled, it could see her. It's pulse quickened, a stacatto beat against it's tiny ribcage. She stood still as the ancient oaks that surrounded them, the rabbit equally so, the pair of them locked in a dance as old as time, hunter and prey, each awaiting the other's move.

She pounced, and the rabbit dove for cover in the same fraction of an instance. Her claws dug into soft fur and tender flesh. She ducked into a roll, clutching the beast to her chest as it fought for its life, kicking and biting, but another split second saw it's neck broken, the life gone from it swiftly and as painlessly as she was able. What remained of her humanity rebelled at her actions, it was barbaric for her to hunt in this manner, but her warped nature would brook no argument.

Delicate flesh and thick sinew parted beneath teeth and claws, hearty blood and tender meat ripped free to dissappear down her gullet. She may not have been born to the wild, but Adrienne lived in it now. Not all her former Master's experiments had worked perfectly. He had tried to separate away the feral nature of the jaguar he had bonded into her very soul, but had never fully succeeded. That very wildness was a great portion of what had helped her to escape.

She fed quickly, retracing her steps as swiftly as she was able. She cleaned as much of the blood and viscera from her hands and face as she was able, but without water or mirror it was not possible to eradicate all evidence of her feeding. She could have detoured and found a stream, no wildlife lived too far from natural water sources, but it would have consumed more precious time, time the rest of her party would spent awaiting her return, time she simply did not care to waste.

She found her way back to the ruined keep, rejoining her compatriots without word. Gathering her few belongings, she made ready to depart.
 
Naden swallowed the rest of his breakfast and handed the bowl back to Namennarg, offering the other to the small woman Arisu.

The dark knight returned with horses in tow. They looked and moved normally in most ways, but they didn't seem to be acting like horses. There was no flick of the tail or snorting, they just stood in place quietly, hardly moving.

Naden picked himself up off the ground. "Well I guess it's just better not to ask" he told himself, wiping the damp dirt off of his trousers as he stepped toward the beasts.

Grabbing the reigns of a dark brown steed he looked around. "Where'd that other girl get to?" His question was answered by Adrienne's sudden appearance from the treeline. As she walked past to get her things he could smell the blood on her. Turning back to his horse, he mounted up. 'Not my place to ask' he thought.
 
Vushlo

Vushlo nodded at Leo

"Yes there is something out there, also something gathering here"

He glanced over his shoulder

"It seems like our companions are getting ready to leave, let us join them and be rid of this place"

Vushlo turned and walked down the broken stairs and strode off towards the stables, joining Adrienne just before she reached the building. She had the smell of death on her and Vushlo was quite surprised by this, there should be a reason for that, but now was not the time for questions

"If we are all ready to go we can get on our way, Namennarg you take the lead as you are the one with a lead on the necromancer"
 
Kana Assarie

opps sorry thought everyone had mounted and moved out my bad
 
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Arisu eyed the horses with great distrust. Poking one of them with her small finger, she raised an eyebrow. "Cold," she stated, not caring if it was the obvious. Oh, she would just follow them at a snake's pace. There was NO way they WOULD ever get her on a horse. First off, she only rode ponies. Height issues. Adjusting the hammer on her back, she shook her head. The ivory 'child' tilted her head to the side, before she pulled out one of her sais and began to play around with it. Clearly, the snake was nervous. Then again, most undead animals freaked her out. For her they were unnatural. Now, living books, they were okay. As long as they didn't attack her.

She started to walk out, her eyes scanning th area around her, taking in the scents around her. Some were familiar, others weren't. The scents of an elf and half elf wasn't all that pleasing. She didn't like elves. Too damn pretty, would be her exact words. Arisu shook her head, deciding not the mention it to anyone else. Besides, they didn't cause any harm. And as long nothing bad happened, she could care less if they followed. If everyone got mad at her... well, she'd bite them and leave them with a horrible and painful death. Whether they died of infection or not, she didn't mind.

Less people in the world. Stupid ones. Well, just the one.
 
Seeing Arisu get up from her seat, Namennarg says to Naden "Well, it would appear that the girl doesn't want any food, so I suggest you eat it. Just clean out the bowl when you're done. I also assume we're done with the fire. Just as a precaution, I'll get rid of it. I think the Necromancer will have gotten someone to follow us by now, and I don't think we want to leave them an easy trail.". With that, he turned to the fire pit, pointed at it, and said "Accelerar erde". The bowl slowly closed over the top, and sank into the ground, leaving just a smooth patch and no signs of an actual fire. He then turned away and walked over to his horse. Picking up her saddle, he placed it on her back and tightened down the billet strap around her. He then walked over to her head and started scratching her nose as he waited for the others to get ready to leave.
 
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Leo followed Vushlo down put of the ruined tower. The others were just getting ready to leave. He glanced over at the horses. They looked real. But he could sense the dead inside of them. Interesting creatures, as were all the undead. He walked over to one. It snickered when he approached. He knew this horse. From where, he did not know. He patted it on the neck before turning his eyes to the road. Arisu was there. Evidently she didn't like the undead. They would have to move slower if she were on foot. He walked up next to her.

"In order to keep us moving fast, there is something I could try to keep us moving at the same pace as them. Only if you wish." he did not look at her, but rather spoke looking across the road.
 
Arisu jumped before raising an eyebrow. "Oh no, don't worry about me. I can fina ya'll with my mouth," she said, looking at him and back at the horses. "You smell dead." It wasn't said to be mean, but it was true. For her, the dead smelled... not to good. Even cooked dead things. Then again, anything would be riding a dead or undead horse. The only ponies she liked, were alive, well and warm. "But on the other hand, sure. It might be the best offer." She didn't have to use her mouth for tracking in quite a while. Then again, when working in the anvil... it was best to keep your mouth shut. She looked up to him.

"Just don't kill me, ya hear?" she gave him a small smile. "Or dead ol' mum and dad... eh..." She shrugged, not finishing. Clearly, they didn't have a good relationship together. She looked over her shoulder, at everyone else. She would have to find some time to milk herself.

Really, it was bad to posion oneself. Not that she had ever done it... on purpose.
 
"Speaking of which" Naden leant down to speak with Namennarg face-to-face, "you haven't exactly told us much about this clod of manure we're supposedly going after". He looked around at the group. None of them had broached the matter but he hoped that they too would want to be prepared.
 
"Yes, I suppose you all would like to know more about him. His name is Rothen Tortor. I don't know much about his background, and I don't suppose it's very important. He's a wanted man, and I've seen a lot of posters with his face on them, but not so many around here. I know that when he's travelling, he wears a large, baggy wool cloak to hide his clothes and his features. I don't know what he's wearing under the cloak now, but the last time I saw him he was wearing very expensive things. He enjoys flaunting his wealth. He carries only one readily visible weapon, and that's a dagger on his belt. It's not really a fighting dagger, though. It's more of a sacrificial dagger, to help with some of his spells. He also carries a book in his left hand at all times. The book has a chain coming out of the top of the spine, that goes under his sleeve and wraps around his arm. This book is incredibly dangerous. I don't know how or why, but the book is intelligent. It knows the world around it, and acts on it's own. The chain is the books weapon. It's about 50 feet long, and I've seen it take off limbs. On his right hand, he wears a glove somewhat like mine. This is because, from his elbow down, there is no flesh on his arm. His looks are very normal. He has brown eyes, he's about 5'8", and he has sandy brown hair that is about down to his ears. He can control the dead, and quite a few at once. That's all the knowledge I have of him." Namennarg finished his small speech.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rothen was confident in the abilities of the half-elf he had hired, but he didn't like leaving things up to other people. Instead, he decided that he was going to travel and get ahead of the group, and set up some traps for them along the way. Couldn't make things too easy for them, could he? To that end, he went and bought a brand new horse. She was a very leggy mare, built for sprinting. He planned to work her until she died, and then walk to the next town and buy another. In this way, he hoped to out distance the group he was after. He wasn't surprised that Namennarg had found help so quickly. Necromancy wasn't very popular in this land. Rothen had, however, read some ancient texts about ages and times long since forgotten, and he had gathered that Necromancy had been accepted, at least somewhat. Mounting up and riding quickly away from the town, Rothen began his trip on the long and lonesome highway, east of Witborough.
 
Leo

OOC: Just to make my point before someone starts swearing at me: I'm getting a tad ticked off that we're still standing around talking. I'm posting that we are going to move on. It's your fault that you didn't have us move on in your post.

IC: Leo nodded. He had no intentions of killing her. On purpose, anyway. The necromancer that Namennarg had described sounded vaguely familiar. He shook off the feeling, metahorically speaking. He didn't really shake himself. On contrare, he didn't move much for emotion anymore. He watched the group as they rode down the road, moving quickly. The Reaper turned to Arisu.

"This will be...intimate, to say the least. You must promise me one thing before we go. While we are there, do not by any means talk to anyone besides myself, and do not leave my side. Look only at me, and for the Lady's sake, don't follow the lights!"

He stepped closer to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Close your eyes. Take a deep breath."

He began the transition. He had never attempted taking another being with him, but it was good that she was so small. Something was off about it, though. There was a violent burst of the dark end of the color spectrum. They made it, though, and found themselves kneeling with eachother on a shadowy road, the scenery around them a dark mimickry of the mortal realm. Leo stood, pulling Arisu off the ground with him. He kept an arm around her waist as they walked, keeping pace with the other members of their party. This was always a convenient way to travel.

"This is the shadow realm. Don't worry, the beings here will not harm you as long as you are with me."

A slight rememberance that she hated dead things. He muttered a short incantation that gave his body a warmth that it hadn't had in centuries and pulled the women closer to him, keeping an eye on the road and the shadows flickering around them.
 
"Intimate?" she raised an eyebrow. Clearly, intimate meant two completely different things to each other. She was probably thinking of sharing food. Hugs were not intimate for her, as long as the other was warm. Hell, they could be ugly and she'd hug them if they were warm. And not drunk. "Wait, why can't I talk to anyone-"

Before she could say anything else, especially about the lights, she was embraced and taken to a strange world. She slowly stood up, her eyes wide and filled with curiousity. But remembering his warning, she quickly looked down at her feet. She shivered at how cold things were around her. Arisu looked up at his... well, where she supposed his face would be, frowning. Then she looked back down at her feet. "I hope they don't, 'cause if they do, I'm gonna come back as a hundred foot tall blob and eat'em."

Whether she meant it or not, was unknown. Perhaps it's was something she said to make sure self feel less vulnerable. She leaned in further against the Reaper as he heated up his body for her. Her eyes closed once more, relaxing alittle. "Sorry for causing so much trouble."
 
Leo

"No trouble at all." Leo replied.

He glanced down at her. She seemed relaxed, at least. There was movement behind her. Those small lights in the distance, like little candles. Damn them. They were soul stealers. The lights were a lure for anything that would fall for them. They were mostly in the mortal realm, but they were less dangerous and noticable there. Why they chose to reside in the shadow realm, he would never know. He noticed the dribble of venom on Arisu's chin. He wiped it off with his glove.

"You might want to take care of that. We can stop here. Don't worry, we'll have enough time to catch up. It is very hard to outdistance someone in this realm." He glanced around, making sure the area was safe. What he had said earlier was true, mostly. Beings in this area wouldn't attack him. But elsewhere...not even he was protected from all the beasts that reside here. He shuddered internally as he recalled the pit demon's torture.
 
Nyme

Nyme has been following them. She don't think that she has been detected yet, or at least if they have they don't seem concerned. One of them is stopping. "It is one of the undead one ones that I have smelling. I wonder why he is stopping? Maybe he has sensed me and is going to investigate." Nyme thought to herself. Nyme moves in closer to see what he is doing. The area is overgrown enough to get close.
 
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