Pathwalker - RP

[Kinslayer]

OOC: Yeah... besides that's got nothing to do with what is going on with the story... :S

[Dragonium]

OOC: Agreed. J_master, please delete your post.

Also...

Gromland Gatekeeper
brikabrack!

Lol, made me laugh xD. Anyway...

BIC:

"I don't like this", Alziel said quietly so that the gnomes would not hear (Not that it mattered, they wouldn't understand him anyway). He gripped his bow more tightly and looked across to Liara, who was similarly walking with extreme caution. The cavern floor was anything but level, and there were some places where the ceiling would drop down suddenly, and everyone but the gnomes would have to duck.

After a moment the group came to a halt. One of the guards had apparently signalled for them to stop, and had disappeared into an adjoining cavern. The group was strangely silent.

Saine broke the silence. "Maybe it takes time", he said quietly. No-one replied.

Alziel was aware, in the silence, of the sound of talking from a long way away, and though it was quiet, he could hear the sound of furtive speech, by the sound of it from a large group.

"Sounds busy", he commented quietly. "Abell said there was a marketplace here, didn't she?". Liara nodded. "Maybe that ought to be our first destination. After all, we've all but run out of food and water, we'll need some medical supplies if we're going to go any further, we need weapons and ammunition, and we ought to look at the existing maps. Maybe these gnomes already have complete maps. That'd be an easy contest for us all".

Saine interjected. "Abell didn't say that the gnomes had maps of the entire continent. For all we know the maps may only be of this small area. Abell probably hasn't seen the whole continent yet". He finished and signalled that he had said his piece.

"Well", Liara said cheerily, "We should be able to rest and stock up all the same. It'll be fun to get back to comfort".

Alziel had to agree. At that moment, the guard returned around the corner with his face set determinedly and a hastily folded scrap of dusty parchment in his hand.

[Ben]

MEANWHILE:

Abell, mounted on her riding beast, covered a large expanse of moonlit terrain in a very short time. Downhill from the Entrance to gromland, Abell could have made this trek with her eyes closed. For the amount of trading Abell had conducted with Gromland, and the lucrative profits she gained, it would likely sting gromland to know that their wares they payed generously for were simply supplied a twenty minute walk from the entrance of their town. Not that it mattered, the gnomes rarely left the towship anyhow, the security of their underdark trading town was the hub of their culture.

The hollowed out oak tree drew ever nearer, at the base of the hill.

The moon lit the expanse of the valley and the wispy clouds that hung in the skies hung pale lit and low.

A cold chill hung in the air, and abell halted. Something was wrong.



At first, it seemed like just bats. But they were bigger. Soon it was apperant that the Kh'ala-ad. At first abell tried to convince herself that all was ordinary. The Easterners were safe in the Gnomes grotto.

But then, in the meadows she could see the Flitting Kh'ala-ad in the distance were travelling in packs. Entire Murders of Kh'ala-ad Flew in formation. And seemed to be doing battle. And then in the light of the nearly full moon, Abell saw it. Her jaw dropped, and she realized that the entire scenario was playing out  in her home meadow. A spire of smoke rose, and flittering of orange. Her House was ablaze, she could tell, and instinctually she grabbed the reigns tighter, to embark home and try to ward off the Attacking Kh'ala-ad.

A gutteral growl pierced the night sky. Not a Call of the Kh'ala-ad. Loud, like a battle horn. And then another from another direction. And another. Soon it was apperant that in every direction, there was a murder of Kh'ala-ad, and a matching battlecry. The Call of the
Illithyd.

There sounded to be at least 6 of them. And  about 40 Kh'ala-ad battling each one. Wormwood smoke spires rose in the skies, but they were possibly in vain, if the Kh'ala-ad were in controll. Their minds would belong to the Illithyd, and quick-fixes like wormwood would not suffice.

Abell choked back emotion, and turned, forsaking her treasures, and her home to return to gromland to seek shelter. Not many local beasts could strike fear into Abell. Not even the Kh'ala-ad. But this many Illithyd was unheard of. Something was happening.



BACK IN GROMLAND:

Suddenly, from through the underdarks narrow tunnels, a loud knocking reverberated and echoed through the halls. It was slightly Unnerving to the group, but from the sounds of it it was all taken care of. Gnome business.


The guard returned to the group and in horribly broken english, struggled with the words..."Chief Busy. You visit Market. Drink. Food there. For you. Gromland call you when ready."

[Red XIII]

OOC: I posted just after Gemini, as a result, it had little to do with the history. Fixed.

BIC:
Ragnar nodded to the guard's words, and felt relieved. They were finally getting some supplies.

Then, Ragnar started to remember he knew about the gnomes.
Since the gnomes lived underground, they probably didn't have much knowledge of the surface.
In his travels and missions, Ragnar had rarely met gnomes. However, he knew that gnomes where in many ways like dwarfs (though they were really different once you got to know them well).

"They probably don't know much about the surface.... But I bet my hat they know every small cave in this continent!" Ragnar thought. "I'll ask them for cave maps.... and surface locations of caves, as well as the tunnel networks. It's better to know the dark than the light."

The group advanced through the tunnel and got to a wide cave, that seemed to be the main market.

"Well well.... What do we have here?" Ragnar asked.

[Dragonium]

OOC: You know Gem, as I read your last post, I was listening to Eraser by Hypocrisy, and I really don't think there could ever have been a more fitting song. xD

BIC:

Alziel let a grin come to his face. They had come into a wide and long cavern, which was packed with gnomes bustling about, and had canvas stalls set up on either side of it. It led down a good two-hundred feet or so, before there was another large doorway which probably led away to a civilian area. There were thick wooden rafters holding the ceiling up, and these had torches attached to them, so that the marketplace was completely lit.

There was the noise of many people talking, though Alziel understood none of the words. Evidently there were hardly any gnomes who spoke the humans' tongue. Alziel turned and surveyed the group.

They needed to decide who would be doing what, so they knew where to find each other. Ragnar was already intent on finding maps, and Alziel expected that Saine would very much like to survey the stalls to see what was on offer. He personally would like to find some food for Liara to help her get her strength back, and he needed provisions for himself to boot.

He thought of two problems.

Firstly, that they only had their own equipment, and the few things that Abell had given them from Monty to sell. They had no hard currency. Supposing the gnomes were not interested in Monty's meager possessions, they'd be stranded without supplies.

Secondly, Alziel thought with a quiet curse, that gnomes would have no need for ranged weapons when they spent all their time underground. He'd have to be incredibly fortunate to find a stall stocking arrows.

He caught sight of one stall towards the middle of the marketplace which was a doorway set into the stone wall of the cavern, covered by a cloth curtain. An attendant nearby drew back the curtain to go inside, and Alziel saw from the arrangement inside that it was some kind of Inn.

He pointed it out to the group. "We'll split up and survey the marketplace. Buy whatever you need, though you may well need to trade something of your own for it. I doubt that we'll be needed by the Chief any time soon, so we can take some time to shop and rest. In an hour's time we'll meet at that Inn, regroup, and discuss what to do next. Agreed?"

There was quiet agreement. Everyone seemed more eager to explore the marketplace than to discuss strategy.

[Moosetroop11]

Liara hugged Alziel warmly, surprising him a little.
"That's the first time I've seen you smile for ages" she enthused. "What are we buying?"
"Supplies, I suppose. Food, and arrows if I can find any."

At that moment a gnome tugged at Liara's coat. She span around, but it was clearly only trying to catch her attention. It pointed to the ornate knife at her belt, and began producing battered coins from a leather pouch at it's waist.
"I'm not sure I want to sell this" she said to Alziel, "if I can help it. But I don't really use it, so I will part with it if I have to."
Alziel nodded. He was astonished at how eagerly the gnome had offered it's coins. He didn't know the currency, but it looked like a fair amount.

Alziel mused for a few seconds, and then revealed one of Monty's knives. The gnome's enthusiasm increased, and it began shaking the coins in from of him.
"Of course- Abell is a trader. She knew what she was talking about when she told us to sell things. These people are obviously very eager to buy."
Liara nodded and started wishing that she'd brought more on the journey. Then she caught the attention of the gnome and created a fist with her delicate hand, biting her bottom lip as she concentrated for a moment, and then opened it slowly to reveal a small pearl like orb, which radiated a gentle white light.

By now a small group of gnomes had closed in on the couple, assesing the various items they were holding out. The gathering viewed the magic with suspicion, but one stocky individual nodded, smiling and handing over some coins. The amount wasn't as much as had been offered for the daggers, but it had taken little energy to create, so Liara took the coins and handed over the little shine ball.
"I don't want to sell them short" Liara muttered to Alziel. "The thing won't stay shining forever, but I don't know how to tell them."
"I wouldn't worry" Alziel replied, running his hand through his bag for un-needed items. "It looks like they value our weapons more, anyway."

[Kinslayer]

Anyan saw Alziel and Liara, and remembered happy times of him and Delliah. He was happy for them...

He soon became focused in business, as he found a market, full of maps and weaponry. A business for adventurers of course...

Anyan enterded tha place, quietly, and stood by the ocunter, where an old looking gnome was sharping a little axe.

The gnome would ask Anyan something that he would not understand, but it had to be something like "what do you want?"

Anyan got his knife out of his black belt and put it on the counter... Then he pointed at it with his finger and moved his fingers, showing that he wanetd something in return of it.

Alziel and Liara stared at Anyan. Of course, Liara was worried, because of that she had known Anyan as someone who prefered the way of the sword.

The Gnome was about to give Anyan a little bag... of course, Anyan was going to ask for a map...

But suddenly, the gnome stared to Anyan's eyes, and noticed the red colour...

"Re... Recipikilapkt!!" it screamed. Anyan opened his eyes wide, surprised by the sudden scream, as the gnome started to walk franticly around the shop. It gave Anyan a map, some herbs, which looked to be medicinal, and showed Anyan that the maps were only for subterrains and only the part of the West that the group had already explored...

The gnome took the hunting dagger, and hung it right in front of the shop, as if he was proud of it, and kept talking to other gnomes. Anyan caught the word "recipikilapkt" a few times...

The gnome gave Anyan a weird smile and then shook hands with him.

What could that word mean...? The gnome had reacted so kindly only after watching Anyan's red eyes. Then, he understood.

"They know what a Resurrector is..." he whispered for himself. He then realized that he had spoken loud. He hoped no one heard...

[Ben]

After a bit of rushed frantic Conversation, Abell was let back into the town. She didnt bother Explaining anything to the doorkeep, but instead bloted through the maze of apssages, and pushed her way past any obstructions.

Within a few moments, She was interrupting Cheif Gromland, and adressed him in Abells Mother tounge, the common language of the western lands.

She explained the March of the Illithyds, and her home burning, and that only a few miles away, a war had broken out fought between great demons in the valley.

The two came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the Humans that landed on the continent, but nothing could be said for sure until the motivations of their voyage was known.

Abell was frantic. Her home burning, and herself helpless. The overworld here was too dangerous. Her meadow was gone. She would have to seek out another life. And was temporarily at best, resigned to taking refuge in the underdark.


***************************************************

Amidst the din of the marketplace and buffet, a light commotion broke out among a crowd of gnomes.

A tall slender lizard's head, with a neck like a horses and a beak like a turtle. Abells Riding beast Walked non-chalantly among the crowd, sampling foodstuffs from the tables, as stressed merchants tried to scold it away, no matter how vain it may be.

However, past the marketplace's bustle, another frenzy was brewing, allthough hard to detect. Gnome messengers darted back and forth, strategizing, and organizing, relaying messages. Something was occuring outside of the Towns Hull....

All would be apperant soon enough. Most of the group was too busy renourishing and bartering to pay much heed to the far away commotion.

[Emerates]

Saine looked down at a burly old gnome.  He mused for a moment, realizing he was over twice the gnome's height.  After a moment, the gnome looked up, mildly surprised by Saine's new face and above-average height.

The gnome said something rapidly, along the lines of 'can I get you something?', Saine assumed.  Saine knew the people would not understand the values of coins from the East, but he produced several silver coins nonetheless.  He showed five of the coins to the gnome and the gnome stared at them for a moment, before saying something else.

"I wish we could understand each other, my friend.  Alas, I do not speak your language."  Saine said genially.

"You... East?"  the partisan managed.  Saine nodded, a little surprised the proprieter could speak his language.  The gnome nodded again.  "Is silvra?"

"Yes, silver."  Saine offered the coins to the gnome.  "Weigh them?  Scale?"  Saine made a motion like a balance scale with his hands, hoping the gnome would understand.  Then he noticed the large brass scale on the counter a few feet away and pointed to it.  "Silvra in scale, weigh for worth, value."  Saine tested words slowly, allowing the gnome to grasp them.  Then he placed the coins in the scale and motioned for him to come over.

He weighed the rest of his silver coins in, about half a 'stone', as the gnome called it (stonkta in his language), proving that their weighing system was different from the East.  After the silver, Saine weighed his gold coins, and traded the precious-metal coins for the Western currency.  His comment about adapting he had made to Alziel earlier came back to him.

"Thank you," Saine said slowly, and bowed at the waist to the gnome to show his appreciation.  "Now, I need some supplies.  Goods," he said as he pointed around the gnome's stand.  "Food, water, buskin."

The gnome nodded again as Saine made motions with his hand toward his mouth.  In a primitive way, they had managed to break down the language barrier.  Ten minutes later, Saine walked away with a pound of food, two buskins of water, and nice sum of Western currency in his satchel.

His immediate errands complete, Saine walked about the market looking at other wares, before noticing that things were starting to become hectic farther down the cavern.  He watched as more of the gnomish soldiers began to walk briskly towards a large building, presumably the town center.  Something was happening.

[Kinslayer]

Anyan saw as some gnomes were franticly running around, armed.

He felt uneasy about this, but that made the other gnomes stop giving him that odd attention he had gained from his reddish eyes.

"So... the gnomes seem to be unseasy for something..." said Anyan to Alziel and Liara. "Shall we meet up with the others...?" he kept saying this, as organizing the little map inside a little bag where he had the medicines and food that the gnome had given to him...

Something told Anyan that everything was being too odd...

Abell had told him that the gnomes were tricky mercants, but he ahd gotten away easily with his dagger... because of him being a resurrector...? Who really knew...

[Red XIII]

Ragnar went back and forth around the market, looking at the supplies.

He had not taken much of Monty's gear, but he knew he had some interesting thing to trade.

Ragnar stared at a food store, and chose a couple of things.
Some gnomes seemed to know some of the Dwarven dialect, language that was familiar to Ragnar.

When the gnome asked Ragnar for pay, ragnar took a few broken cristals out of his backpack. They were replacement lens for his telescope, that had broken by accident in one of the fights.

The gnome almost jumped to the ceiling when he saw the cristals.

Glass was almost impossible to find in caverns, since its prime matter (That is, sand) could not be found in mountains. Those broken glasses that meant nothing to Ragnar must've looked like gold to the gnome.
The gnome gave Ragnar the food and doubled the water ration that the old man had asked for.
then Ragnar asked in the dwarf's tongue "Grunta-Arsek-Bushautruluk?" ("Do you have any strange items?")

The gnome looked at Ragnar (Smiling while hearing Ragnar's bad pronunciation) and took him to the back of the store.

There, the gnome offered to Ragnar two kind of items: Ten strange black balls, that blew up on impact damaging an enemy group, and an old map, that had all the undergroun laberinths in the continent as well as the surrounding surface territory.
Ragnar bought both items, for half of his remaining glass.

Then, he gave a good look on the map.
It would be easy for a good mapper to draw on the blank spots and complete the map.

"well well... Let's see what Alziel has to say about this" Ragnar said. Then, he went out to look for his friends.

[Moosetroop11]

"Looks like you'll have to make your own arrows" Liara sighed, after a fruitless search. "They sold some metals you could use. They won't be perfect."
"They'll have to do" agreed Alziel. Battles would become more difficult without long range support from Monty and himself. The group would have to be more careful. Nevertheless, they had found plenty of food and water. Gnomes ate a lot of tubers; unsurprising for an underground culture.

Anyan walked up to the two.
"So... the gnomes seem to be unseasy for something... Shall we meet up with the others...?"
Liara looked around. Indeed, the gnomes seemed agitated, particularly the military. "We don't know them. Are you sure they're not always like this?" she reasoned.
"I'd rather not take the chance" Anyan breathed. "If it's nothing we can shop again later."
Alziel nodded. "You could be right. Let's find the others."

[Red XIII]

"Hey, people!" Ragnar hailed.

Alziel and Liara turned around.
"It's good to find you, something's going on, don't you think?"

"Yes, the gnomes seem to be uneasy for some reason" Liara answered.

"I'm not sure what's happening, but I'm sure we don't have nothing to do with it." Ragnar said.

"How are you so sure?" Alziel asked.

"Simple. If it was us, they could've just caught us separately while we were picking up stuff. However, they seem to be letting us be." Ragnar stopped to look at a group of guards run towards the tunnel they had come form.
"Besides, they have let us practically alone with the traders. We are unknown to them, they should be more careful. Think about it, would you let a bunch of strangers run around your town without at least watching them?"

Alziel nodded. it was strange, why would the gnomes leave them like that?

A sudden thought hit Ragnar's mind. A reason for the gnomes to do things like that.

"Alziel, we should look for the others inmediatly. If the gnomes are so nervous, it must be that something or someone is threatening them. And, since we are at their town, it's probably threatening us." Ragnar said quickly, while he opened his pack to look for bolts.

Ragnar found only one case with 10 bolts. "Psh... Lucky I have the tools and the materials to make more.... But I'm going to need time!!!" Ragnar thought. "Damn! I should've made some bolts before!!"

[Kinslayer]

"Allright old man... where could Saine be?" said Anyan. He looked around, but Saine wasn't there.

"I'll search for him quickly. Hold on here..." he said, as he wandered off to look for Saine.

But he did not find Saine... he saw Abell, rushing towards a big building. "Possibly Gromland's house..." he thought.

Anyan saw a window, so he walked smoothly and took a peek inside... as he saw Abell talking to an odd looking gnome (possibly Gromland).

She seemed shocked, and nervous.

"What could have happened...?" thought Anyan again, as he walked away from the window.

Suddenly, two gnome guards appeared behind Anyan. They pointed at him with their spears and started to say things that he could not understand.

Anyan understood that he was under arrest, so he rose his hands- he didn't kill for sport, and knew he shouldn't have taken a peek through that window.

The guards saw Anyan's eyes...

Anyan remembered a word...

"Eeeeh... Recipikilapkt! I... am..." he said as he pointed his eyes with his fingers.

The guards were surprised, as they walked away from Anyan... but still they did not hesitate...

They pointed with their spears to him and spoke between them in the almost unspeakable language that they had...

They walked towards Anyan, with a bit of respect in theyr look, and pointed the front door to him.

Anyan walked towards it... and the guards escorted him inside, as they entered the room where Abell and Gromland were...

"So... we meet again..." said Anyan, quietly, as he entered the room escorted by the guards, as Abell gave him a surprised gaze.

[Ben]

Gromland, looked abells way, and in their native tounge asked her if she knew this man...and in the same tounges, foreign to Anyan, She confirmed that he was one of the party she brought into the walls.

"Outlander..." Said Gromland "I can see by your eyes that you have latent magics...But know this. It may impress the merchants here...but I am not amused."

Abell gave a scrutinizing eye and the realization came to her

"You....are awakener?Or some close to it? I tell now by your eyes."


"White magics are no use to us now" Gromland added "The Illithyds destroy the mind before the pysical body dies. And to ressurect one against A Kh'ala-ad, just gives it more prey to devour and take away to god knows where. Im not sure what your magic is, but your eyes are rank with it.I Dont especially like the color red, when used in fabric patterns. Makes me angry.And all the tradition that...well..nevermind this.. Listen traveller....It would be appreciated if your party joined us now. It seems your landing had disturbed something. Or perhaps its the climate.
And to keep this village safe I need to know all the information Possible. And while you are out there, it is ABSOLUTLEY imperative that you not step on a Crack in the floor. And Return Bearing A roasted Tuber..."

Anyan looked bewildered at Gromland for a moment, wondering what sort of sentiment resided in Gromlands last two points.


"GO NOW MAN. TIME IS WASTING!" Gromland barked.  slightly shoked and bewildered, Anyan Proceeded to find the others as he faintly recalled Abells Warning about the eccentricities of The gnomes.....Gromland surely would take the cake.