NationStates Jolt Archive

Lance Crusade sat waiting impatiently atop the small hill for the others to come, watching the tranquil landscape around him. As he waited, Lance’s thoughts turned back to the fateful day that he was killed… Some fifty odd years earlier, Lance and his wife, Amelia, carrying their infant son, Amistad, had been attacked by a massive army, widely known as the Army of the Damned, as the entire army was either killed in combat or were executed by the spiteful Qin Shi Huang. Lance in desperation had stayed behind, sacrificing himself to save his wife and his newborn son.

Although the physical part of Lance had died and disappeared on the battlefield, his spiritual essence was drawn into heaven and Lance became another fallen hero, “destined” to live out the rest of eternity as an amorphous entity lacking any physical form, but forever entertained by the Gods as a hero of the ages, living the great battles of his life, an existence similar to those of the legends living in the Norse heaven of Valhalla. But, something, possibly the overarching entity known as Fate, intervened and fifty years after his death, Lance was reborn was more upon the battlefield on which he died, in which his spiritual essence rejoined his physical form.

Lance was not an undead warrior, instead, he had become like the heavenly beings known as the Gods, a near-immortal being with extreme longevity… Lance also was not the only hero reborn upon the battlefield of his death. Several other heroes were also reborn. Lance knew with growing apprehension that something terrible was about to occur, something that required the combined power of the Heroes of the Ages…

For the umpteenth time, Lance glanced up at the sky, checking the position of the sun as the hours passed by. Frustrated at the lateness of his acquaintances, Lance stood and with great inner tranquility began to practice his inherited familial fighting techniques. Unsheathing a newly created, but still beautifully and intricately carved sword, Lance, twirled his blade expertly through the air. As he did so, Lance’s thoughts turned to his ancestral sword, the Sword of Cala, the sword in the hands of his wandering son. Blinking back tears, Lance continued his sword practice, skillfully twirling the blade as he fought a multitude of imagined enemies.

Satisfied that his sword skill had not deteriorated, Lance resheathed the new sword back into its sheathe. Quietly, Lance began to think of a name suitable for his new sword. As Lance thought, his contemplation turned towards the reason that he was alive today, the intervention of heaven and fate. Lance suddenly discovered that he had a name for the sword, Heaven’s Will. Sitting down once more upon the hill, Lance discovered that he was now more patient than before. And then, he saw his acquaintances coming up the hill towards him. The Heroes of the Ages were gathering, while the darkness drew ever closer…

TAG!

Shrouded in robes of black, which seemed to have stars within it, Varadin Sindred slowly approached his destination. In his hands a staff was held, the top holding a slightly larger than fist sized orb of smokey quartz. The staff held a color of oak, and was delicately carved with symbols of the moon and sun. Varadin, as only thoes close to him knew him, was the 'keeper of time' to the rest, if they even heard of him. He had been beyond the veil of death, but returned, the reason and everything else of his journey there and back unknown. He approached, still several minutes from his arrival.

OOc if there is anything i need to know, please send me a telegram. Time to have some fun. :lol:

Rashel had been many places, but was growing very bored, once more. She needed to keep herself busy for boredom lead to very bad things. She was walking, as she always did and she was approaching a hill. On the top she spotted two men. One appeared to be a warrior of some years and the other dressed in black robes. What an odd couple to be around. Maybe she should check this out.

She was quite aware of their eyes on her, she was probably something they have not seen before or not encountered a lot. She was an angel, she bore two giant white wings. If the wings didn't attrack attention, well, her looks were. She was compared numerous time to be as beuatiful as Helen of Troy. She had long dark wavy hair that cascaded down to her lower back. Her dress was oval white and smooth. and revealed a lot of her tone muscles and curves of a woman. Her dress was slit on the sides revealing much of her thighs. Her neck line was low and she has plentiful amount of bosoms. She has leather gloves on and it connects to a corset, they also match her knee high black leather boots. She carries a katana. Her skin tone is pale and her ears are warm brown, she has a slight Mona Lisa smile drawn on her face.

"Well, boys, is this a party or what?"

(OOC: They all should know each other... Considering they've all spent time in something like "Valhalla")

A brown-robed old man slowly worked his way up the slope of the hill, helped by a long oak staff. He looked more like a travelling monk than a mythical warrior, but looks can be decieving. Reaching the top of the hill he greeted Lance and Varadin with a simple nod and a smile, "If I'd known they were going to bring me back I would've died sooner." he complained, several loud cracks were heard as he stretched his back, "At least I could've spent eternity with the body of a younger man."

He bowed low to Rashel, "Good day, miss. I don't believe we've met. My name is Garithos, warrior of some repute in my younger days."

Stoping around the three, Varadin gave a silent bow. Then he quickly spoke, his voice seemed to be booming harsh and echo in the ears, "Hello, once again." After he said that, he bowed again, his voice changed to a soft and melodic tone, "I am sorry about that, I have been using that tone for far too long. Once again, hello." He stood in silence after that, observing his companions.

Arleni Greenwood watched the others assemble upon the hill, where she was expected to show up. She still remained in the forest, expertly hidden. She had always been a cautious one, always surveying her surroundings before placing herself in them.

She had returned from Valinor, a place that could be resembled to 'heaven' as some put it. It was where her race went after death, or simply went when it was time. She had lived thousands of years, and had grown powerful in her use of Elven magic, and had proven herself to be loyal to Elrond. A powerful warrior she had been, an expert in the use of a bow, and deadly as well with a sword. In time, she was called to leave for Valinor, her time on Middle Earth finished. No longer would she be required to stay. And so, she had left peacefully, to live eternally in Valinor. Then a strange twist of the threads of time, of life happened. Something even the most powerful of the future forseers could not have predicted.

And now, she was back on Earth again, for a mission she wasn't all too sure about...

Arleni stepped out of the forest and silently made her way to the top of the hill to greet her friends she had met in a parallel 'partition' of Valinor...

"Gentlemen, we are not gathered here for a social reunion. However, tis a pleasure to meet once again upon the human plane..."

Lance stood and bowed to each and every member of his party.

"To have the opportunity fight alongside such fighters as Rashel, Garithos, and Arleni gives me great pleasure... Shall we be off or are there more coming?"

Garithos grinned, pulled a falsk from his robes and took a quick swig, "Ah, it's good to be corporeal again. If anyone else wants to tag along they can catch up easily enough. I say we get going."

Arleni remained silent, only speaking when Lance asked the question:

"Detholalle...Uuma ma' ten' rashwe, ta tuluva a' lle."

The others' faces all stared at her in confusion. Suddenly she realized why. She was an Elf of Lothlorien Forest, member of the most powerful elves of all time. On a normal basis, she used Sindarin (Elvish) as communication, and when she had lived with her clan, they had often had contact with non-elves...

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WgDfAtQcZEE7ExR7viPtFN0X!nUU8drtlv49yOZkdH*MLcha5z8f46lbT0Rn7PP0l0mfI7v0MdrswtMiaAbhs5TxQtQks4bSAiS D9MLYp!9KIA0UquTLC2DUNMpMwVKLlipVfX8G3Rk/Arleni%20Greenwood2.jpg

"Forgive me, I'm used to speaking my native language, especially after being out of Middle Earth for so long. What I said was: Your choice, don't look for trouble for it shall find you."

tag

Laughing, "It is always a party when we all gather." An elf, this shall be interesting, she understood the elfish language, but looked confused as to why she would be using it on Earth.

"Garithos, it is very nice to meet you." She looked over in the distant and up to the sky, her home, which she missed frequently.

"You are correct it seems that trouble seems to find its way to us. Yet, this is not such a bad situtation. It is all written in fate and thrown across the sky with the stars." She closed her eyes and mouthed silent words.

"I have come here for a specific reason and we shall leave when it is meant for us to leave. Besides I am sure people can always join in with us later. We kind of stick out ya know."

Kragoth emerged from the forest, late as usual. Seeing that everyone had started to move, he traveled at double time. Finally, he was able to catch up to the rest of the group.

Kragoth ran up to the group wearing a white robe, and holding a small staff, symbolizing his white magic powers.

I apologize for being late. I didn't realize that it would take this long to get here, and there were a few things that I needed to take care of before I left. said Kragoth.

Arleni heard the being coming up behind the group long before he actually got there. She didn't turn though, for she knew who it was. She had learned the breathing patterns, the footsteps, the voices of all her friends and could identify them without ever seeing sight of them.

Finally, she turned her head to look at Kragoth and spoke with a melodic tone:

"We all are never late. We arrive precisely when we want to."

Arleni continued walking, her eyes gazing carefully over the lands about them, seeking hidden dangers. She was getting a tingly feeling up her spine, a feeling she had learned to trust over the years. It never lied to her, it always told her of impending danger...

Garithos rolled his eyes, "Well Arleni hasn't changed. Good to see you Kragoth, glad you made it." His staff thunked along the ground as he walked, "And now I suspect that something nasty is about to happen. Could someone tell me why we are all gathered? I've not been keeping up with current events."

"Thanks for the welcome Garithos, it's good to see you too." as he smiled, and nodded in a good nature to him.


"I'm afraid that I'm not sure exactly why we gathered here either, can someone refresh my memory?" spoke Kragoth.

Lance stood up and stretched his limbs. Glancing at Kragoth, he said, "We have all been resurrected, brought back to the mortal plane. For one thing, this is very unusual. The dead do not come back... Not even such heroes that have gathered here... Therefore, something out of the ordinary has happened upon the mortal plane that warrants our presence here... Before my physical and ethereal forms were reunited, I had an interesting conversation with a being known only as Fate... It said that we have all been brought back for one purpose. To stop the source of corruption that has begun to wreck havoc once more upon this plane..."

Glancing at each of the members, Lance continued, "We have in our respective lifetimes battled through countless challenges and we are counted amongst the heroes of the ages. Therefore, we have been chosen to challenge the evil that dares to threaten what was once our home..."

Arleni spoke up when Lance ceased talking. A look of concern had crossed her face at his revelation of the current situation.

"What exactly is this evil? Has this 'Fate' told you?"

Arleni returned her observations to the surroundings once more, more alert than before...

Lance’s head jerked up at the comment from his careful thought. Thinking carefully, he said, “Fate has revealed nothing of importance, besides the fact that we should gather together and fight as a group against the terror that arises..."

"New evil?" Garithos frowned, "Well the best thing we can do is find out about this new evil as soon as possible. I believe there is a town a few short miles North of here, perhaps we can question the locals and catch up on current events. Not to metion get something real to eat."

"Hungry already Garithos!?! Food up in heaven not good enough?" Lance said in jest, "You're a bottomless pit..."

Lance shook his head and glanced quickly at the others.

"Well are we going?"

Arleni smiled at this. She herself wouldn't be hungry for quite a while, and when she did become hungry, she had her own ways of feeding herself.

"Been waiting on you all to start moving." she replied with a smirk.

Kragoth laughed after Lance spoke. He was hungry too, but normally, he'll wait until someone else is because he's too afraid to make a wrong impression on everyone. He can go many days without eating though; he's been very disciplined.

"Alright. Let's get goin to the next town. I wonder what kind of food they have there...." said Kragoth.

Rashel kept her silence. She was surrounded by those who were dead and brought back. How did she fit into the story. Maybe Lance would know seeming his already has an idea of this evil. She had sensed in the the environment and in the air, but did not want to frighten the others.

"Lance, you say you are back from the dead and so are the others. Then, please, explain why I am here. I am an angel and we do not die, it terms of mortals do."

[happy 5cn?]

(OOC: Hey ESF, its a closed RP, so can you be so kind as delete your post, since its completely irrelevant. Besides, you're not even following the storyline...)

Lance glanced briefly at his companions before he turned and began to descend from the top of the hill, eager to face what Fate had and had not foretold. But there was something very important that Lance did not tell his companions. When the thing that had identified itself as Fate talked with Lance, much of the conversation was irrelevant and completely trivial But there was one interesting fact that Fate did declare, and that was that amongst the heroes of the ages, one was not who he/she seemed…

Apprehensive, Lance walked north towards the town, followed closely by the other heroes of the ages…

By dusk, the group of unlikely companions had found themselves at the entrance to the town of Rarek. At first to Lance, Rarek seemed to be nothing more than a picturesque town located at a depression in the land, surrounded by farmland. But upon closer inspection, Lance realized that he could see no one, not a single soul, not a single light could be seen… This was very unusual and so eerie that the hairs upon the back of Lance’s neck rose. The village was ominously still, with not a single sound being emitted from within.

Then, suddenly, in the middle of the village, a scream was heard. Instinctively, Lance drew his sword, the Heaven’s Will and quickly entered the town, shouting to his companions to stay put, while he investigated. As Lance ran into town, the only sound being heard was the sound of his feet hitting the ground.

Within seconds, the group of heroes could no longer hear or see Lance as a dark mist began to creep into the village, blocking out the light from the moon and the stars and shrouding the town completely in darkness…

Meanwhile, Lance had reached the town square and his eyes growing wide, saw what seemed to be a pyramid of what seemed to be human skulls and the bloody bodies of numerous dead townspeople. Shocked and deeply troubled, Lance glanced about in his surroundings, but the mist diminished his field of view. Cautious, Lance swiftly turned around and proceeded to climb to the roof of the nearest building. Crouched atop of what was an inn, Lance began to yell to his companions, “Garithos! Kragoth! Rashel! Over here!!!” But the sound of his voice did not carry and a frustrated Lance sat quietly atop the building, waiting impatiently for something to occur…

"Lance! Where are you?" shouted Kragoth as he frantically searched, but it was to no avail. He was lost....but he needed to find him.

I'm not going to lose anyone again! he thought. Not like before. I won't allow it!

Kragoth told the others that he was going to go look for Lance, and if they wanted to come, they can.

"It's probably best if we did stick together, because we don't know what is out there."

At the same moment, he began to run towards the town, and lost sight of the rest of the group.

He then entered an the nearest house. Kragoth looked all over the main floor. He searched the dining room, family room, and a few of the closets, and found nothing. At once, he noticed an odd smell....the smell of burning flesh....and it was coming from the kitchen. He slowly moved into the kitchen, staying aware of his surroundings, and he opened the oven to find something shocking. He found a small child butchered to death. His limbs and organs were all separated. Just as he closed the oven, he heard a loud bang upstairs, and was a little hesitant about going up, but decided that he needed to know what it was, whether it was the murderer, whatever it could be, or if it were a surviving villager, or even Lance...

OOC: Can we make up enemies or what?

IC:

Garithos agreed grudginly when Lance decided to explore on his own, and was halfway though a disgustingly frugal dinner of bread and cheese when Kragoth sprinted off into the town in a strange state of panic. Sighing, he got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Well that settles it." he announced, "If everyone else is running off then I'm not going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs. If we go in now we may get there before Kragoth and Lance empty the bars. Or get eaten by hellbeasts." He took another swig from his hipflask, "Either of those would be better than this damn cheese."

(OOC: Be my guest... FYI, the entire town has been invaded by a group of cannibalistic creatures, called Dyphon(s)... They are amphibious, lizard-like creatures armed with spears, javelins, harpoons, axes, daggers, crossbows, swords, and sabers...)

OOC: Good, i was hopin you'd say that. Also, just to let you know, Kragoth isn't just 100% white mage. That would be quite pointless if he didnt know any black magic. So I guess we can call him a red mage from now on, hehe. Sorry on the confusion, I didnt think of it earlier.


At the sound of another crash, Kragoth spun around. He didn't want to go up there. For all we know, it could be a either be an extremely intelligent cat, or a pack of ravenous drakees. He slowly walked up the stairs...sweat was dropping down his forehead as if it were 120 degrees. When he reached the halfway point of the stairs, he hit a creak in that stair. The noise suddenly stopped, as if it were some sort of intelligent being, recognizing that it was no longer alone.

Kragoth decided to make a mad dash towards the 2nd floor, and when he got up there, nothing was in sight. He used a basic "Scan" spell to figure out what and where this mysterious creature or creatures were, but somehow, it didn't work.

Damn it...he thought. I knew I should have worked on that one more. Whatever you do, don't turn your back to the shadows.

He crept up to each place that he might find something, and used a small fire spell to light that area. He reached the opposite corner of the room. As he relit the fire spell in his hand, he seen something moving in the other end of the corner. Kragoth quickly turned to look over there, not realizing that he didn't even check the area right behind him.


Out of that exact area, something jumped up and knocked Kragoth to the floor. His fire spell ended up falling with him to the ground, and lighting the floor on fire. Kragoth quickly used a 'cure' spell on him, and before you knew it, he sent a lightning spell flying at the creature standing above him. The spell sent the creature flying through the wall, and out of the house. Unfortunately, there was one more of the creatures on the same floor as Kragoth. As the floor continued to burn, out of the shadows walked a mysterious, lizard-like creature. He was carrying a dagger with him, and looked like he was about to get a meal.

A Dyphon. I should have known...something as horrendous as this always leads to one of them... Oh God! .....He immediately thought of that poor little boy in the oven, whose limbs were torn to pieces. He glanced over at the bed near the staircase, and seen the bodies of a woman and a man....mutilated. It must have been his parents...

"You sick bastard!"

He launched a much more powerful lightning spell towards the unfortunate dyphon, literally blowing his head off, and knocking the rest of his body to the floor.

I must calm down. I can't let anger get to me like that, or else...I'll be as worthless as them...

Kragoth got up, and ran through the fire that was now raging. He cast a protective shield around him to get him out of the burning building safely. Gasping for air, he ran outside of the house, just as the 2nd floor fell, and tripped on a piece of wood. He slowly looked upwards to see a group of Dyphons standing there, ready to have their dinner....

OOC: Swordmasters....you forgot to call for Arleni lol, thanks buddy!...it's all good, besides, we didn't hear ya lol...

IC: Arleni's eyes quickly noted the mist coming in from the far side of the town. Instantly she drew her bow and began running. She moved silently, yet quickly as she quickly analyzed the buildings around her, looking into the windows, seeking anything out of place.

She caught the smell of the bodies long before she saw them. She turned her eyes, so horrible was the sight. So much death...

Suddenly movement came out of the side of her periphreal vision. The sound of a body hitting the ground reached her ears, and she heard the labored breathing of Kragoth. As she turned to look toward her friend she saw the pack of lizardlike creatures surrounding him. Instantly she drew an arrow and let it loose, striking one in the head. It fell over dead, the point of the arrowhead protruding out its eye. Several more arrows were released in rapid time, striking each of the lizard creatures with deadly accuracy and precision...

Within moments all members of the group had fallen dead around Kragoth. She saw his eyes look for her, to which she nodded briefly.

"Get up, there's more coming..."

"Thank you.." as Kragoth gasped for air.

He quickly turned around to see more Dyphons sprinting towards them at a high speed, approximately 7 of them. Kragoth called an ice spell and threw it towards the enemies, knocking 4 of them to the ground...never to walk the earth again. The remaining 3 dashed towards Kragoth and Arleni with an even greater speed...

OOC: sorry guys, i'll get off this forum

Arleni simply eyed the Dyphons charging. In a blur of movement, she ran forward slinging her bow onto her backside as she drew the elven sword with her other hand.

She sprinted forward as the Dyphons charged straight at her with their weapons aimed at her. One jabbed forward with its spear, to which she simply spun sideways while maintaining her forward charge. Her blade swung in harmony with her movements, cleanly decapitating the spearman. A follow-through with the blade found the sword buried into the chest of the second. The third's saber swung dangerously close to Arleni, but her hearing heard the grunt coming from the beginning of the exertion to swing the weapon. Turning quickly toward the third Dyphon, her eyes blazed terrifically as she called out with a determined voice, her hand outstretched toward the Dyphon:

"gorgamin!"

The Dyphon halted suddenly, stared at her, then turned and ran, screaming in its ugly reptilian tongue away. Scooping up the blade of the Dyphon at her feet, she turned quickly and hurled it toward the fleeing Dyphon. It spun quickly and soon plunged into the creature's neck and severed its spine as it protruded from its throat, spewing blood everywhere.

Turning back to Kragoth, she was alive with the thrill of battle, her senses extremely acute as her eyes darted about. She could smell more of them coming.

"We're still not done! Here! Take this!" she called out to Kragoth as she tossed the dropped sword of the third Dyphon toward him. Her other hand held her own sword, bloodied with a dark red crimson color, which was soon wiped clean on the dead creature's body.

"We better find Lance..." she said as she took off into a side alley, listening, trying to sense Lance wherever he might be...

OOC: Starkadh, I don't know if you're aware of this but this was a closed thread, meaning no more new rp'ers...however, if you change your post with your dealings of the Dryphons, to say, some others you noticed that we hadn't noticed, I'd appreciate it. And I'll talk to Swordmasters about letting you join. I liked your post, pretty good...

Filled with a sense of power, once again, Kragoth caught the sword that Arleni tossed to him. He was prepared for anything that may advance towards them.

"You're a pretty strong fighter Arleni. I'm glad to have you on our side." as Kragoth's eyes continued to keep watch over anything that may try to suprise them. Kragoth wasn't very good at complimenting people...he's usually very quiet.

Hearing a noise behind him, he turned around swiftly to find a Dyphon within 5 feet of him and Arleni. Kragoth quickly charged at the Dyphon and thrusted the sword right into its heart. The Dyphon made a desperate cry, and fell. Kragoth withdrew the sword from its dead body, and turned around to see absolutely nothing in the distance.

"Maybe this is a good time to go looking for Lance..."

Arleni took off once again into the alleyway, soon emerging into another street. Here, she paused at the edge of the alley, turning her head about, as she scouted the area.

In a low tone she whispered to Kragoth who stood behind her, "There's more, a good number of them. And I can tell that the next step I take is going to trigger something..."

Arleni looked back at Kragoth with a grin upon her face.

"Better get your magic charging, my gut instincts are never wrong..."

"I'll take your word on that Arleni."

Kragoth calmed himself down and began to meditate. This was to gather his powers and concentrate them towards what he wanted to. He stretched his arms out towards the heavens and said a prayer in Latin, then he nodded to Arleni. He was now glowing with energy, surrounded by a white aura, his eyes burned with a light blue color.

"I'm ready for the next step."

Garithos ambled through the town, there was some kind of battle going on but the others could handle themselves. He managed to locate an empty pub where he refilled his hipflask, stocked up on supplies and salvaged an old but sturdy crossbow from beneath the counter. He turned to leave but was disturbed to discover that the door was blocked by three burly Dyphons. Garithos lowered the crossbow warily, aware that he had left his staff leaning beside the hatstand at the doorway and the crossbow only held one quarrel.

The creatures advanced grinning, fingering their weapons and running their tongues along rows of needle-sharp teeth. One gray-haired man didn't worry them, crossbow or no. Garithos backed up further, swinging the crossbow between the three targets. "Lance! Kragoth! Anyone!" He pulled the trigger.

The bolt whistled through the air. The lead Dyphon darted it's head sideways with typical lizard reflexes. The quarrel smacked into the wooden doorframe with a solid thud. Harsh gurgling laughter erupted from the throats of the creatures. Garithos tossed the crossbow away. Three strong, fast enemies. Leading lizard holding single headed axe in two claws, both friends favouring sabers. The leader came closer, the backup moved out to flank him.

The leader darted frowards, raised his axe high above his head and brought it down with a sickening thunk into Garithos' forehead. The creatures giggled at the spray of blood and pounced on the corpse to devour it.

(OOC: :shock: Slutbum, did you just kill your character? And Tarl, I'll let him in just this once... *sighs at people who do read the title of the threads...)

Lance heard somebody calling his name. Instinctively, tracing the call, Lance ran atop the rooftops. He saw something that stunned him, paralyzing him. Dyphons!?! Where did they come from!?!

Then, he heard a sickening crunch as one of the lizards hit Garithos smack on the head with his axe.

Lance stood stock still for a second, while the Dyphons began to devour Garithos.

Finally, bringing up the courage to act, Lance unsheathed the Heaven's Will and with a bloodcurdling scream, dived off of the rooftop. With tears flowing down his cheeks and angered beyond belief, Lance dived off of the rooftop, roaring a battlecry that was thousands of years old. He yelled, "CALA!!! CALA!!! CALA!!!," as he boweled into the leading Dyphon.

Before the lizard could recover, Lance's sword had already decapitated him. Wiping the blood off of his sword and glaring at the remaining Dyphons, Lance grinned maliciously...

Bump...

...awaiting Arleni's return..

hidden bump

Arleni looked about carefully again, listening...

I can hear them...breathing...waiting...four to our left, in building right here...two, across the street...and six more, next alley over...

"They're here for sure..." she whispered to Kragoth.

After a few more moments of searching, she drew her bow once again, took a deep breath, then spied a ladder lying along the ground next to them...

Sniper...

In the same low voice she whispered once more,

"I've got an idea, I'm going up on the rooftop here. You move into the middle of the street, get their attention...And make good use of that sword in your hand when I strike them from above."

Without another moment of waiting, she lifted the ladder silently, gently laid it against the wall and scaled it quickly to the rooftop. Once upon the rooftop, she crouched low and drew an arrow, notching it. Her sharp eyes peered over the edge, to the windows across the street. There were two in there, but she wouldn't be able to get a clear shot, not enough to ensure they would die...

So, she remained completely still, and low to the rooftop, waiting for Kragoth to cause the distraction that would lure them out...

BUMP!!!

Taking Arleni's advice, Kragoth ran out into the middle of the street.

"Come and get me you wimps! You think you can beat me? I'd like to see you try!"

Immediately 4 Dyphon's shot out at Kragoth from the left, two came out from the building close by, and six more came charging from the other alley. Kragoth immediately used his charged up lightning upon the 4 Dyphons that were closest to him, and fried them. He didn't have any time to charge up again, so he grabbed the sword that Arleni gave him, and put it to good use. 1 Dyphon from the building came charging at him, not realizing Kragoth had a sword, and Kragoth thrusted it right into his stomach. He twisted it inside his body just to make sure that he would die. While doing this, the other dyphon charged at him from his other side, and Kragoth kicked him in the neck, literally snapping it. The noise could be heard a mile away. Kragoth quickly pulled the sword out and awaited the rest of the remaining 6 Dyphons.

Arleni grinned as Kragoth went out and decisively ended the lives of six of the Dyphons. It was almost too easy killing these creatures off themselves. Suspicions were beginning to rise in her mind over this point. Nevertheless, she noted a Dyphon on the rooftop across the street. It hadn't noticed her yet.

And now it would never notice her...

The Dyphon's body plummeted over the edge of the rooftop and crashed and speared itself upon a small wooden sign. In it's mouth, and jutting awkwardly out of the back of its head rested an arrow. The arrow had failed to be fatal, but it sure would hurt. The sign completed the creature's definite death, spilling its blood and guts onto the ground below it.

Suddenly, Arleni noticed noticed three Dyphons approaching rapidly by foot upon Kragoth. Quickly drawing three arrows, she notched them, and released them, watching as they flew side by side, and each hitting their intended target. One died instantly, keeling over, never to move again. The other two had taken mortal wounds but were still charging upon Kragoth. Several more arrows released and buried themselves, killing one of them as well.

Drawing another arrow in rapid succession, she was about to fire it when she suddenly noticed movement to her side, and turned, but not quickly enough as a Dyphon launched itself unto her. The impact threw the two over the rooftop, landing with a painful thud upon the hard packed earth below. Arleni gasped in pain, as she felt some ribs break upon the impact. Her hand however, pulled out her sword and swung quickly to the side, where the Dyphon was also upon the ground. It stopped, dead, as it felt the blade bury itself into it's forehead.

She looked up, and her eyes widened as another Dyphon peered over the edge, spied her, and grinned evilly as it launched itself downward, straight for her! Arleni brought the sword upwards, planted it against the earth, and watched as the creature unwillingly skewered itself, and lay upon her, still moving, but in much agony now. Arleni was pinned underneath, grunting painfully as the creature crunched her ribs.

"Kra...Kra..Kr...a..goth!"

I'll tag this, although you seem to have my slot already ocupied =)

(OOC: You can join in Aelosia if you want...)

Lance smirked as a trio of Dyphons moved closer, their weapons dull. With a battle cry, Lance surged forth, his Heaven's Will Sword snaking out and like a kiss slit the jugular of the nearest Dyphon. Gurgling, the Dyphon collapsed to the ground, attempting futilely to staunch the flow of blood.

Lance rolled away, easy avoiding the attacks of the two other Dyphons, his sword slicing through the flesh of the legs of one of the lizard-like creatures. Surprised and with a roar of pain, the Dyphon fell to the ground. Lance finished him off with a stab into the Dyphon's head.

The last Dyphon warily and wearily retreated away from the swordsman. Cautiously, the creature circled around attempting to find an opening in Lance's stance.

Lance smiled as he rose from his position into a free stance, standing straight in the middle of the street. Perplexed, but bloodthirsty, the Dyphon moved forth with surprising agility, his battleaxe lacing out attempting to kill Lance. But the axe hit nothing, cleaving through air. Surprised, the Dyphon felt a sudden pain in his bowels. Glancing down, the creature recognize with horror a massive cut. Howling in pain, the Dyphon dropped to the ground, dying.

Lance stood and sheathed his sword. Moving swiftly to the body of Garithos, Lance clutched the body as he wept.

"Why Garithos, why!?! Is wine, beer, liquor so important as to lose your life!?! Why!?!"

Garithos blinked once or twice, reached up and felt his forehead. There was still a great bloody gash and there was a serious depression in his skull but, miraculously, he was still moving. "Two hundred years without a decent drink, that's why. Fetch me a tournique, we need to hold my brains in till I can find a healer."

He stood up woozily, "And I'd like to find one quickly if you don't mind. I've a temporary agreement with the Goddess of Death but she's not a patient woman."

Lance blinked in surprise, nearly dropping Garithos back onto the ground.

"What the hell!?! You're still alive!!!" exclaimed Lance in shock.

Quickly, Lance tore off a strip of cloth from his tunic and began to carefully wrap it around the head of his friend.

"Garithos, next time, drink after we fight," Lance chastised, "We can't have your brains being splayed over the ground ya know..."

Garithos weaved his wav across the room and retrieved his wayward staff. "Oh, that's not likely to happen. Well.." he conceded, "As long as the God of Chance keeps his end of the bargain. Which I'm not too sure of. He can be a really vindictive bastard sometimes." He took a few experimental swings with the staff and moved to the door "Lets try to catch up with the others." He cracked the door open, checked the coast was clear and walked outside.

The following event needs some explanation. It seems that when Arleni was knocked off the roof the shock caused her to release the arrow she had readied. This arrow, sped by the power of the bow and the elevation was able to reach a significant hieght. It was then blown by a freak gust of wind into a precise trajectory which carried it at an acceleration of approximately 9.8 ms(-2) directly into Garithos' chest. "Ah. A very vindictive bastard." he announced, keeled over and entered into another spirited debate with the Goddess of Death.

Lance swore when he saw Garithos topple. Quickly, Lance dropped to his knees and began to apply what he knew of first aid. First, tearing off another strip from his tunic, Lance attempted to staunch the flow of the blood. Swearing, Lance began to slowly pull the embedded arrow out, as he continuously looked around, checking for Dyphons...

Bump...

Arleni continued to struggle underneath the fallen beast under who, which still thrashed about as it lay there helplessly impaled upon her blade, yet still very much alive.

C-rra--ackk

She groaned in pain as she called out once again.

"Krag-oth! Help..me!"

OOC: I'm gonna pull out of this thread, I've gotta leave college soon in RL, end of the semester and all. Going home for the summer, which means very limited time on NS. Sorry!

IC:
Arleni finally managed to shove the beast off herself, and stood up. She withdrew the blood soaked sword from the beast, wiped it on its fur and sheathed it once again.

"Arleni...your assistance is needed at home...come quickly..."

Elrond...I'm on my way.

She drew and arrow, scribbled a quick note upon a sheet of cloth and fasted it to an arrow. She turned and shot the arrow into a nearby building where she knew Lance would find it. It was magically calling to him with a soft whisper, only heard by him in his mind. When he found it, he would learn of her situation...

"Good luck my friends...however, I am called for my peoples..." she whispered to the note, as a final word to be said to Lance upon reading the note.

She turned once again, slinging her bow over her shoulder, and muttered quietly in Sindarin, forming the spell that would transport her to Lorien Forest in a matter of moments...

She stepped through the portal, gone from this mysterious land...But she wasn't gone for good. In time, she would find her friends again, she knew...