Pathwalker - RP

[Moosetroop11]

The ship stern shook slighly as it nudged the soft sand below. Shell winced. "Shallow beach?"
"We'll have to weigh anchor here" agreed Alziel. A nearby crewman nodded and went to relay orders.

The crewmen that were left were a strange bunch- those who didn't wish to reach the western land out of fear had all rebelled and been killed in the great fight at sea. Some of those left remained out of fear of the contestants, and obeyed their orders unquestioningly, whilst others had come for the adventure and therefore had relished the freedom granted to them by Broadsword's death. Either way, the ship was now under the contestant's command. Little influence from the king could be felt here.

"I guess you'll have to swim then?" Liara commented. "I don't think we have a rowing boat."
"The small boats were on the supply ship" Monty stuttered slightly, chilled still by his ordeal despite the unobscured rays of sunshine that illuminated the deck. "We can swim if needed but the water is cold."

[Dragonium]

As this discussion was being had, another few crewmen came up on deck, carrying a stack of paper-wrapped bundles. One was handed out to each person on the deck.

Alziel unwrapped his bundle immediately, and scanned its contents. There was a decent-sized piece of parchment, a pointed stick of charcoal for drawing with, a compass, and a number of other assorted implements which Alziel knew nothing about.

After a moment of puzzlement, he knew what this was.

"This is the equipment we need for the map-drawing", he said aloud to the group. "Now we have everything we need for the contest, it seems. Except for provisions, that is".

He looked to Anyan, who had drawn a small knife. Apparently he thought he could hunt. Alziel wondered to himself. He doubted that anyone here could match his skill in hunting, that was his department, but he could observe Anyan later. It would certainly help to have as many skilled hunters around as possible.

"We should go ashore, as soon as possible", he said to Liara, once he had wandered away from the rest of the people on deck. He rolled up his bundle in the paper and put in in his quiver, alongside his remaining arrows. Soon he would have to fletch some more, he thought solemnly.

Still, once they were on solid ground, there would be plenty of time for that.

A set of wooden stairs had been dropped down over the side of the ship, leading down to a spot of wet sand which was above sea level. Nodding to Liara, Alziel stepped over the threshold, walked down the stairs and set foot in the West for the first time.

It had begun.

[Kinslayer]

"Maybe some could swim towards the shore and make a small boat, I can see some trees over there, we could make wood of them..." said Anyan, while staring towards the land.

Anyan was a bit excited. He was about to step into an unknown land, afterall.

"Please, let us reach land ofr ther god's sake... my stomach is killing me..." said the young man, smiling a bit.

[Red XIII]

"Well, it's time to make this ol' bones work a little..."
Ragnar said, as he went below deck, to his quarters.

A crewman (The same one who talked to Ragnar the night of the battle) aproached and asked in low voice "What shall we do, Master?"

Ragnar smiled. He had been waiting for his minion to come for new instructions for a while. Ragnar answered in his low tone, so that only the sailor could listen...

"Ok. these are my orders. I know that most of the crew are under my service, and that this ship is pretty much mine. I'm going ashore to perform a scouting mission, and to find that "cure" we so desperately need. In the proper time I will let some of the other adventurers in my... story. You will not let the ship leave unless I, Alziel, Liara or Anyan have returned. you won't believe the word of any person who claims we are all dead. Did you understand?"

"Yes, Master. you can trust me, I will serve the guild well. What if they come back with proof of your death and no cure?"

Ragnar thought for a second before answering: "Then leave. If I or my companions can't do it, it means we are lost and that our efforts are in vane. The Kingdom will have to be saved in some other way. If I die, I will give my ring to someone worthy, who will carry it here to prove it. You will depart then. Oh, I almost forgot. If possible, wait for ALL of the contestants. Don't leave anyone behind".

"Everything will be done as you wish, Master. I wish you luck."

After giving his orders, Ragnar took his things and went back up to deck, where things were almost prepared to allow a succesfull disembarking.

[Kinslayer]

Anyan got down the ship, finally feeling better, thanking the gods for having reached land at last.

Standing quietly, Anyan was worried about Ragnar not getting down the ship. "What's that old man scheming now?" he thought.

He sat near a tree. Surely the adventure had begun. But his mind was drifting again...

--------flashback--------

He remembered the day when he learned about his father's death. He was walking inside the castle and located an open door, and two man talking. One was saying to the other: "... and so, the message sent from the West is clear. It was a brutal ambush, and Angol Leddwick is dead."

The other man answered: "And the sword? He had it with him, right?"

"No" said the first man. "Klerr learned that his son Anyan has it. If the King doesn't get that sword, his power won't be absolute..."

"You mean our power heh..." said the other, while they laughed.

Anyan knew that the King wanted the Viper, it's power was surely attractive for anyone.

-------flashback over----

Anyan nodded his head side to side. He wanted to forget a little bit.

"So, are we hunting?" he asked to Alziel.

[Moosetroop11]

Liara flittered above the surface of the water, coming to rest at the narrow strip of land where the contestants were gathering. There was a freshness in the atmousphere now that reeked of new beginnings. Suddenly, everyone had a job to do, and they were not prepared for that fact- there was a huge uncharted continent to explore and no-where in particular to start.

Shell dragged his heavy boots through the shallows. The sand was browner tanned here, and a few of the rockpool creatures he observed were ones he did not recognise. The frog leapt from his pocket to the salty water with a splash, indifferent to the abnormal swiming conditions, and stalked the tiny aquatic creatures. Shell strode on, his eyes scanning the horizon. There was hunting to be done, then. Not everyone would be as lucky in the bountifulness of their prey as his amphibious friend.

Somewhere, in the distance, he heard a muffled howl. Alziel immediately picked up on it as well, facing the low forest that penetrated the beach.

That'd be a good place to start.

[Dragonium]

Alziel had heard the howl, and instinctively walked forward a few paces to get to solid ground, so that he might get a better view of the horizon.

This place seemed to be one endless plain, and there was no sign of life on it. If there were any forests, or rivers, or lakes, or mountains, they were certainly off beyond the horizon.

As he took another pace, he stumbled and fell to his knees. Liara flittered over to where he was and knelt down next to him with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright?", she asked quietly. Alziel nodded vigorously and stood up, looking behind him. Liara did so too.

In the ground, where Alziel had tripped, were two fairly deep gashes in the earth, as though some mighty sword or farming tool had been swung down to make them. Both studied them for a moment, as Anyan and the others also came up.

Certainly, the cleanness and accuracy of the gashes made them seem man-made; there was no rough edge to the marks, nor was there any scattered earth around them, but all the same, there was something much more natural about them...

The howl had told him there may be animals around somewhere, but he hoped they were not predatory.

Alziel placed his hand down by the marks and measured. They were much longer than his hand, about a foot long, and there was only an inch or two between them. They were almost perfectly parallel.

He sighed as something came to him.

"When we make camp tonight", he said, "We should be careful. Though these plains are empty now, and we should be safe, when night falls we will need to take extra care. I have spent a lot of time in the woods, studying the marks of animals". He paused and looked around at the intent faces, Liara concentrating especially.

"These look like claw marks", he said.

He looked again to the foot-long gashes, and back to the crowd.

"And whatever made them is a predator".

[Emerates]

Saine walked down the plank and splashed into the knee-deep salt water.

In his hand, he carried a short spear with three short spikes forming a triangle at the end.  Across his waste, his scabbard clung tightly to his clothes, with the weight of his sword hanging off his right thigh.  On his back, his satchel hung.  Out the top stuck three blades on the right side, his true weapon of choice: the Manifest, a claw with sharp three-foot blades and a spiked gauntlet running up to the elbow.

Saine tread to the shore.  He was used to crossing rivers much colder and swifter than the swell of the sea, but he had only ridden a boat a handful of times.  His vision still rocked slowly up and down, as if he were still on the ship, and it took him a few moments to orient himself again.

A small group had clustered around something.  As Saine walked closer, he saw Alziel rise from the middle.  Some people had puzzled looks on their faces, and some even looked fearful.  Alziel made his way out of the crowd, and Liara matched his stride as he moved away.  Saine covered the distance between them and turned to walk with them.

"I'm guessing that was something important, to draw a crowd," Saine said quietly.

"Yes.  It appears this place is not as desolate as first meets the eye," Alziel said.  "Those were claw marks of a predatorial beast."

"I've seen beasts of all shapes and sizes.  If you need a second opinion, I'll take a look at it."  Saine's mind quickly went through an inventory of information collected from his years in the North.

"I'm sure it wasn't influenced by men.  It looks too... natural."  Alziel continued to look forward as he spoke.

"Hm...  I'll look at it still, and we can discuss it later.  For now, there's still a lot to do.  I'm going to scout out that way-" Saine pointed along the Northern coast, "-and our group can meet back here in, about, two hours.  Agreed?"

Alziel nodded.  Saine smiled and said, "Alright.  See you when I return."  With that, he broke off and continued down the beach, leaving tracks in the dry sand.

[Kinslayer]

"Allright, let's be careful while camping... I'll stand guard, I can't sleep too well lately..." said Anyan. Had he found his father's murderers? What lied beyond those misterious lands?

"Anyway..." he continued: "Do we have something to use as a shelter for tonight? We could search for something while we hunt, although I'll probably be in the way since Alziel and Shell seem to acknoledge that art better than me. Or does someone have something that they could use as a tent or something?"

[Dragonium]

OOC: Sorry, long post.

BIC:

Alziel cursed quietly. They had not even thought about shelters, not for a moment. The dead grass and the emptiness made it seem that this place was a harsh landscape. Might the weather be the same?

He looked up at the sky. It was almost completely covered with dark cloud, and the space which was not hidden was grey. It looked very much like rain. The sun could not be seen anywhere.

"It looks like it might rain", Alziel said, puzzled, "But the ground is hard and dry. There hasn't been any rain for a while, I expect".

Anyan nodded. "Then either it will not rain, or we can expect heavy rain soon", he said. Alziel nodded.

"Well, I am sure we can establish some form of shelter", he replied. "If only there were some trees, we could gather wood and hunt at the same time, but I see no forest anywhere". He looked around at the empty expanse of plain. In fact, he could not see any animal or bird life anywhere, let alone plant life. The whole place seemed to have died.

After a moment scanning the horizon, he pointed out something on the horizon, a tiny speck, the same dull yellow colour as the grass. "What do you suppose that is?", he said. Anyan shook his head.

After a moment, Alziel sighed. "We can investigate it tomorrow. For the moment, we need to get a fire going, and get enough food for everyone in our party". He gestured to Shell. "Shell, we'll need your help in hunting. Anyan, you can come too. I have a feeling we'll need the three of us just to find anything".

He looked out of the corner of his eye to the marks on the ground. Perhaps whatever animal had made them would not return, but maybe...

He looked to Liara. "Liara, if you are not interested in coming hunting with us, which I completely understand, could you at least organise our existing group? We need someone to get the remaining provisions off the ship and sort out a campsite with whatever we can find. I might have seen a few canvas sheets in the hold somewhere".

He nodded to her, and without waiting for a reply, turned to the others and took his bow in hand. "We can't go far today", he said, "And I don't know how quickly it goes dark here. If we can't find anything, so be it. Let's just try not to get ourselves killed just yet, eh?".

He laughed lightly. Shell and Anyan did not laugh.

Alziel turned to Liara again and lowered his voice so that the others would not hear. "If we're not back before nightfall, make sure the camp is protected before you send people out. We don't want to get separated and lost. I have a feeling we'll be coming back with nothing, but just in case...".

Shell nudged Alziel on the shoulder with his staff. "Should we go? We don't want to lose the light, however much of it we get".

Alziel nodded and gripped his bow, with one last look to Liara. She wouldn't let anything happen.

Not, Alziel hoped as he, Shell and Anyan set off south, that anything would happen...

[Moosetroop11]

Liara looked blankly after Alziel for a second, and then at the mob of contestants. The task was daunting to say the least. But she breathed in heavily and suddenly she was in her element. She flew gently onto a tall rock, and, balanced there, adressed her rowdy audience.
"Guys" She called. "Alziel's hunting with a couple of others, they're gonna get some food for us all. But it looks like it's gonna rain."
The contestants glanced up at the overcast skies and started mumbling.
"We need to get to the highest ground we can find" Liara continued. "Then I'll conjur us up a fire and we can eat something. I'm starving."
She wasn't, but this created a general wave of agreement. Good. Now to get them on her side completely.
"I'll fly and try to find some high ground, but we don't know what made those claw marks. I need the strongest of the contestants to make a protective group and keep anything dangerous off our camp."

[Emerates]

Saine threw the spear into the water again.  The butt stood up about a foot out of the water, quivered for a moment, and stay still in the water.  He waded out to it, up to his waist in cold water, and retrieved the spear.  On the end, the jerking body of a fish was dripping blood and water.

Saine waded back to the shore.  His legs were cold, as he had been in and out of water for the past ten minutes.  The lack of sustained sunlight did not help.  Occasionally, the world would light up slightly, as the sun passed through a whole in the cloud cover, but otherwise the world was a lit by a bleak gray.

It had taken Saine a half-hour to find this spot.  However, he thought it well worth the walk.  He would have food, and would be able to further obtain the trust of his companions as he came back with almost a dozen fish to share.  Also, he enjoyed the solitude: being stuck on a ship full of people he did not know for a week had worn him out.

Saine came back to the sand and made his way to the grass.  He pulled the now-still fish from the spear and dropped it with the rest of his catch.  "I think I've been cold for long enough...." he muttered.  Saine snapped his fingers, and a small black flame appeared.  He held it by his toes, then slowly worked his way up his legs.  The slow-burning flame quickly dried the water from his body.

Saine pulled his boots back on.  He stood, then redressed himself with the rest of his equipment.  He bundled the fish together, wrapped them, and slung them over his back next to his pack.  He slowly made his way back to the ship, enjoying the quiet for a change.

[Kinslayer]

Alziel, Shell and Anyan wolked south for a while, trying to hunt something for dinner. The night was about to fall down, and Anyan was starting to get annoyed by that, although Alziel and Shell looked calm. They were more skilled than him at hunting.

Alziel looked to the ground a bit, trying to search for footsteps, and Shell did the same. Anyan drew his knife and stared towards the horizon. He surely didn't have their skills, but still he'd do his best as always.

Suddenly, a close bush moved, Anyan noticed it. "Hey, something moved over there." he whispered to Alziel, who got up, as Shell.

"What could it be...? It seems awfully big..." said Anyan, holding his knife, but giving a glimpse to his Viper. "Let us hope that we are the humnters and not the pray..."

[Red XIII]

Ragnar helped to get the things out of the ship.
He went continously from the ship to the beach and from the beach to the ship carrying several things with the sailors.
After a while, Ragnar stopped and sat down.

"Where could that brat be!!! Alziel and Shell seem to be missing too..." Ragnar thought. He saw Liara, who was going around, discussing with that drunken dwarf that Ragnar hated about "a camp". The dwarf seemed to be upseting her in some way...

Ragnar called her: "Liara!! Do you know were the brat is?"
Liara turned, seeming disturbed by the question. When she saw Ragnar, she smiled: Everyone knew Ragnar had a good friendship with Anyan.

"He went hunting with Alziel and Shell. They should be back before sundown" Liara said.

"And was is that thing about a camp?"

"Alziel asked me to make a camp, to rest for tonight. I'm looking for a higuer place to place it" Liara was getting tired of the questioning, and was about to leave.

Ragnar got up and closed to her, and whispered in his special tone: "Ok. Listen, I'll help you. And a little piece of advice. We should keep what's left of liquor inside the ship. We don't want some of this guys getting drunk, ya know!" Ragnar looked at the dwarf as he said that. The dwarf was waiting impatiently, but didn't realize what Ragnar had done.

Ragnar continued, in the same tone: "First thing, I'll get this fellow of your back, please allow me".  Then, Ragnar started to talk to the dwarf, distracting him and allowing Liara to continue looking for the right place...

[Dragonium]

Alziel sighed and looked around. Walking along the plains with only an empty horizon to focus on he had glazed over, and had not noticed the bush, a few dozen paces to the right.

His eyes were tired. That was always his excuse for making a mistake. His eyes were tired.

The three of them strode over to investigate. It was a fairly large bush, roughly shoulder height on each of the three men. It was like no bush either of them had ever seen before. The foliage was a very dark grey colour, almost black. If it could be called foliage; where there should have been leaves, there were spines, tiny frail black buds, and more spines.

As they approached, the bush gave a quick twitch, and was still again. Alziel notched an arrow to his bow and took aim at the centre of the bristling thing. Anyan already had his sword ready. Shell raised his staff.

"What do you suppose?", Shell hissed sideways to Alziel.

"I have no idea", Alziel replied.

The bush moved suddenly, and Alziel let his arrow loose. It thundered into the centre of the bush, and a small grey creature tumbled out, ran a few paces, and fell to the ground. It lay there in a heap of grey fur for a few seconds, breathing hard, until it finally lay still.

Alziel approached and examined it. It was a small animal, very similar in appearance to a deer, except that it was smaller and had grey fur. Its face was decidedly more pointed, and though the teeth in its open mouth showed that it was a herbivore, there were also a pair of sharp canines in there too. Probably for fighting back, Alziel expected.

After all three of them had examined the deer-like creature for a moment, Alziel bent down, lifted it up, and slung it over his shoulder. It was heavier than he expected, and he took a moment or two to get used to the weight. Once he had recovered he smiled at Shell and Anyan.

"Well, we have some food", he beamed. "I doubt this'll go very far, but the contestants who decided not to join our group can go and fend for themselves. I'm fairly sure most of them have already left anyway".

He stopped and looked around the empty plain. There were no more bushes in sight, nor any animals. The plain was completely flat. Shell spoke what Alziel was thinking.

"Where do you suppose it came from?", he asked quietly, resting his staff on his shoulder. "I don't see any more anywhere".

"No", Alziel said flatly. "Shall we go back?"

Shell nodded. "We at least know that there are animals we can hunt here, and we have a small amount of food. Besides, it's getting darker by the minute. We ought to return to camp".

Alziel nodded. "Right", he confirmed. The three of them turned, and set off back the way they had come towards camp, Alziel with the deer creature slung over his shoulder.

The plains were empty once again.