Pathwalker - RP

[Red XIII]

Ragnar looked back at Monty. Thoguh he looked amusing, wet and cold, Ragnar knew that he could not take him lightly. It was time to confess, and try to fix the matter.
"Yes. I was responsible for those "beasts" (Though they were bombs, not beasts)." Seeing that Monty's expression was far from pacific, Ragnar pulled out one of his swords quickly.
"I do not wish to fight you, and I feel sorry about your horse. those damned things blew up to early!! I had planned to take out as many supplies and things as possible from that ship. I had a good reason to do it!!!!"

"And what might that be?" Monty said, as he pointed a knive against Ragnar's neck.
"This" Ragnar answered. With his free hand, he took out of his clothes the report that his spy had given him before leaving port.
"Broadsword had planned to have us killed the second we got to the West. He knew that many people on this ship know more than necessary, and he never intended us to live. The other two nobles were his allies, there was not a way we were going to get out of that. I thought we needed to take care of them, as soon as possible, and I chose to help Alziel and the guys to do it. I made mistakes, but I'm willing to repair them."
Ragnar gave the document to Monty, took two steps back and pulled out his other sword. "As I said, I don't wish to fight. I offer you my services, and to help you get the reward at any price since I do not care about that, I have other reasons for going to the West. If you still want to fight, I won't run. Here I am!!!!"
Ragnar took a defensive stance, and waited for Monty to reply.

[Ben]

"very well old man. I'll take what youve given me, for the sake of the benifit of the doubt, but dont think for a minute that I dont have my eyes one you...

Beasts, Bombs. Its all sorcery to me.The only "natural" Magic is that of the pureblood elves, and spites. All else is parlour sorcery and alchemy.

We arent enemies, Old man.

Not yet."

Monty sheathed his daggers, and ran his hand through a mass of tangled, salt water hair wich limply splattered down around his cheecks anyhow.

Monty was generally irritated.

It could have very well been the cloak induced Keale Haul, or simply that Monty was frustrated at seeing land before the others whilst being unable to notify the crew. It could be the loss of provisons, or all of these.

Monty, suddenly remembered the documents rolled into his bracer, and funbled to remove the armor housing them, and carefully removed and unpacked his map of the "Lost ruins" of the west.

The Parchment was wet. But still slightly legible. The backup copies had gone under with His horse. As with most of Monty's backup provisions.

All monty had on him now was his crossbow, some bolts that managed to have not been lost at sea, his throwing daggers, and a shortblade.


"What then is our marching order when we embark on the shores?"
Monty asked, looking up from his parchment, wet-plastered onto the ships deck.

[Dragonium]

Alziel stood up from the bench, and decided that this was a good time to speak.

"Those of you coming with me", he began, "We will go west as soon as we arrive. I have a feeling most people will go east". He remembered Leyland's letter, and attempted to think of a story quickly. "Because they will have daylight on their side if they go that way. They will be able to cover more ground in the first day".

Monty looked at him suspiciously.

"However, I do not recommend that we rush to cover ground, at least not for the first day or two. We ought to focus on survival, making a camp and gathering food and supplies, while we examine our environment. It should serve us well in the long run".

"And what about the contest", Monty said idly, "Why would we want to allow the other contestants a head-start on us?"

Alziel had no answer, and decided he was beaten. After a brief pause he spoke the immortal words; "Trust me".

Monty sighed and fell silent.

"That's just what I think", he sighed, and sat down again to watch what would happen as Liara smiled encouragement his way.

[Moosetroop11]

Shell sat apart from the others now, deep in thought. He took an old coin from his coat.
"Let's allow her to decide, shall we?" he mumbled to the frog. Then he threw the coin into the air and allowed it to hit the deck. The heavy coin bounced only twice before coming to rest against the rail. The side up was an ingraved image of an owl.
"So be it. My fate lies to the west."

[Red XIII]

(Dragonium, maybe I missed something, but weren't we coming FROM the East? to go to the East, the others would have to go back into the sea!!! Sorry if I misunderstood)

"Ok, I'm glad." Ragnar put his swords back to their places.. Hidden on his clothes.
Looking at Monty, he knew that he was probably still mad at him... But it didn't seem like Monty was going to make a move against Ragnar anytime soon. "Well... I hope he doesn't try anything. He has guts, i like the kid..." Ragnar thought.
He was so concentrated in his thoughts, that he almost missed Alziel's speech.
Being an old spy, Ragnar had a lot of experience with lies. Alziel's "daylight" story wasn't a very good one (At least for Ragnar). However, Ragnar agreed in the idea of going west, and to go slow in the beggining to gather supplies and terrain knowledge.

The last words gave Ragnar a hint... "Trust me"... Alziel knew something. "Well... It's his problem. It's probably a good idea to let him be. there's probably some kind of danger out there that he wants to avoid. As long as I can avoid it with them, there's no need of sticking my old nose...." Ragnar thought.
He looked at Anyan and said "Well, brat... how do you feel? How about a meal before landing?"

[Kinslayer]

Anyan's face was completely bleak, and he was about to throw up his last food. As he stared at Ragnar he said: "Shut up old man... I don't want to know anything about food..."

Anyan had heard Alziel's speech, and he would follow him, it was already decided. But he still was troubled. The group would stare to each other's backs, since they all wanted the reward. Even Anyan needed to get the chance of winning, it was his plan from the very beginning, in order to have the chance of getting the King.

Alziel, Liara,  Monty (who would remain peaceful for now, but Anyan knew that he was angry at Ragnar, and any mistake from the old man would cause them to fight), Shell...

But two people troubled Anyan: his old friend, Ragnar, and the misterious Saine. Ragnar hedn't told Anyan (and wouldn't tell) what was his true reason for traveling. And Saine was a man of skills unknown.

Anyan wasn't in the mood for a joke right at the moment, so he approached the group and said: "Very well, I'll go west with you people... but I believe that danger awaits us. We will need to be careful."

[Dragonium]

OOC: I'm sorry, my directions are screwed. Geography never was my strong subject.

To everyone: When referring to the directions of travel, when I say west I mean south, and when I say east I mean north. As Red XIII rightly showed. Thanks man, you saved us a lot of confusion later.

BIC:

Alziel sighed. His excuse had not been entirely convincing. And the unrest within the group troubled him.

Still, Shell was on his side. Shell seemed to have skill, talent for surviving. Though how well he'd hold up out there was anyone's guess.

That could be said for all of them.

He stood and looked out to the Western Lands, and noticed something. On the coast, the grass was lush and green. But roughly ten feet it the green began to change to yellow, and as they grew closer it was plain to see that away from the coast, the grass which stretched away into the plains of the Western Lands was dead and yellowed.

"That's odd", he said aloud. Liara nodded.

Soon everyone on the deck was looking out to the dead plain and the emptiness beyond it.

Alziel thought he saw the dark speck again out of the corner of his eye, stood on the coast, but again it was too small to make out detail and nobody else seemed to have seen it. And again, as he turned to look at it it was gone.

[Emerates]

"Strange, isn't it?" Saine muttered sideways to Alziel.  "Thousands of unexplored acres and it seems like there's nothing to map here anymore."

Alziel said nothing for a long time.  For a moment, he seemed distracted from the coast itself, trying to focus on a specific feature.  However, there were no features to speak of on the coast.  It seemed like there was only grass and dead grass, and the sky beyond.

Saine lowered his voice.  "I feel I can trust you, Alziel, so I am going to tell you this in confidence."  Saine paused for a moment, trying to make sure he had Alziel's attention again.  "That bland coast is not all there is to this country.  Trust me, some of the stories you've heard are in fact true.  I know.  I spent years in the Northern Wastes collecting artifacts and knowledge, things I could use for survival here," he motioned towards the horizon rushing towards them.  "I probably have a more intimate understanding of this place than the rest of the contestants."

Alziel seemed to consider the information for a moment.  "You know a lot of stories and myths, but that does not mean you have any real knowledge of this place."  Alziel turned his gaze towards Saine.  "You cannot base this endeavour around a bunch of myths.  That'll be dangerous for everyone, if you're still coming with us."

Saine nodded and sighed.  "I see your point.  However, I have faith.  I have met people who have returned from the West, old and young, and have heard their stories.  Some stories I trust, others, I don't.  After that, I spent a decade sorting the facts from the myths by recovering many things from the North."  Saine turned so Alziel could see his entire profile.  Saine said with a stern look, "Running on stories won't be as dangerous as what we find there."

Alziel nodded.  "For now, I am going to go prepare for our landing.  Goodday, Alziel."  Saine peeled away from the railing and went below deck to his quarters.

[Ben]

"My horse is gone, the idiot old man sank our supplies, and all I see is wasteland...surely this will be taxing"

Monty looked studiously away from the group over the aft of the ship as it creeped towards the coastline. Monty looked to the Northeast, and then to the southwest, and surveyed the countless arcres of waste.

"I would follow alziel if its permissable," Monty asked, giving an inquisitive nod "But at times I shall scout to the flanks, and in our rear and fore-path. When we dock that is..."

Monty turned a half step around to see the Last of the ships deck hands, the few that were not killed in the last evenings battle, untieing the lifeboats, and getting ready to transport the crew to shore.

Monty looked to the bow of the ship....A horizon of sea, now rocking less, revealed to Montys eyes a small watercraft of some kind..Too far away to discren, even with sharp eyes...

"Look Behind us....in the water.....is that....."

Monty trailed off and back in..."No no.....it IS.....its another boat to our aft"

[Moosetroop11]

The group whirled and faced the direction of Monty's gaze. Shell rested his staff on the deck with a wooden thud and looked quietly interested.
"Your eyes may be sharper than mine;" Shell said. "What do you see?"
Liara instinctively moved towards Alziel, who looked troubled. Had something followed the contestants out to sea?

[Red XIII]

Ragnar closed the side of the ship, to have a better look at the object.
"Nay, it is indeed a ship, Shell. It is very clear."
Ragnar pulled out a small telescope from one of his pockets, and looked at the strange ship with it.
"Where did you get that thing?" Anyan asked.
"I always have a couple of this with me. My job requires me to be able to see my enemies closer." Ragnar answered while looking at the ship.
"Do you see anything?" Liara said.
Before answering, Ragnar looked for a while at the ship's deck.
Then, he tried to look at the mainmast to see if it had any flag.
"Well, I have a good new: the ship's flag doesn't belong to the Kingdom. But the bad new is that it doesn't belong to any other country I know." Ragnar knew there was something odd about the ship... He looked once again... the ragged sails, the deck....
the deck was completely deserted...... and the ship's hull was slightly damaged and it had a few seaweeds attached, as if the ship had come from the bottom of the ocean...
"I see no sailors, nor soldiers. It looks almost as a ghost ship..."
After saying that, Ragnar passed the telescope to Alziel.
"Here, my old eyes are far from perfect. you see, maybe you will be able to see something more. Who knows!!! Maybe I'm just seeing illusions..."

[Kinslayer]

"What the hell...?" thought Anyan. Things had gone stranger now, a ship had come out of nowhere, as if it was a ghost.

"I guess we have to make it faster to the shore..." said Anyan. The others stared at him as he continued.

"That ship, as we know from what Ragnar said, seems deserted, but it is an old trick to ambush someone, mostly used by pìrates... I learned that while I was training at the Knight Academy at the Kingdom of Inas..." after taking a short breath (he still was sick) he continued: "But still, the way it appeared is quite misterious... and they could have supplies... if they're human..."

Ragnar laughed a bit and said: "Don't tell me ya believe that's a ghost ship, brat! That's a tale for ol' people like myself!"

Anyan answered: "No, I didn't say that..." still he didn't really know what was on that ship. "Maybe we should try to get to the shore and see if they chase us..." he said, and awaited for the others to answer.

[Dragonium]

OOC: Sorry for the delay guys. Coursework officially sucks.

BIC:

Alziel took the telescope from Ragnar and looked out to where the strange ship was.

It was deserted, at least by appearance. There were no signs that anyone had been up on deck in the past few days, for the wood was dry and had no footprints on it. There were a number of holes in the hull, where water flowed in, and yet it did not sink. And there, on the mast which seemed to be crooked as though half-broken, was a flag which Alziel did not recognise.

He thought back to his childhood. He had once been given a book about ships by an uncle, and it had fascinated him for weeks before he grew bored of the same illustrations. Yet there was something about this vessel which did not match any of those pictures.

A gust of wind blew across the sea, and the ragged sails did not fill. After a moment the ship rolled and veered away to the right slightly.

"It's drifting", he said finally. "No pirates would allow themselves to drift so widely off course. I doubt it's following us".

He took another look at the ship, as one of the holes filled with water and it rolled over onto its side slightly, so that half of the hull was exposed in the air like a leaping whale. That too, was full of holes.

"Maybe", the thought aloud, piecing the clues together slowly, "Maybe it was a pirate ship at one point. But... Well, it looks to me, that that ship is completely deserted. Nobody could make a journey in a vessel that badly damaged".

"Then why would it appear to come out of nowhere and follow us?", Anyan asked. He was determined for his point to be correct.

Alziel sighed. "I cannot pretend to know. But at the moment, we have other things to think about. For example, how we will survive once we get there, and--".

He was intererrupted, as a crack of old, rotten wood erupted through the air, and the hull of the strange ship broke open. It collapsed onto the sea and sank under the surface.

As it became nothing but an array of splintered planks which slowly capsized and sank, it was obvious that the ship was completely empty.

Alziel cursed. This was becoming too strange for his liking.

[Kinslayer]

Anyan was a bit surprised when the ship sunk. "I was wrong... luckily..." he thought. "One less thing to worry about, right?" he said, "Maybe we should think about the shore, we are getting closer."

As he said that, Anyan got a little knife out of his pocket, and said: "I can hunt a little bit too, I have lived on my own for a while. Of course I won't use this (pointing at the Viper), since I don't want to poison the food. That's why I always keep this little knife with me."

Staring towards the shore, Anyan couldn't help to ask in a low voice, for himself... "What sunk that ship...?"

[Red XIII]

Ragnar heard only a bit of Anyan's whisper, but he understood the question.
"Don't worry. that ship sanked because it was badly damaged in a combat or a storm, and had no crew to repair it or guide it" Ragnar said. "It's strange to see a ship with the whole crew gone, but I've heard it happened before. anyways, there is nothing we can do about that ship and the poor souls who were on it. We should get going, we need to get down to bussines!!!"
Ragnar said, as he looked to the Western lands, which were getting closer by the minute.