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Post by Orcleous on Oct 25, 2015 6:41:20 GMT -6
There was nothing worse for a mercenary than a bad name, and unfortunately for Orcleous he currently had one. This made getting jobs much harder and doing work tedious. Whenever he did get a job the employer would watch him like a hawk and during his employment he would have to worry about other mercenaries taking pot shots at him with insults. After a while it all became tiresome. Orcleous decided that he was going to nip this in the bottom right quick and in a hurry. In order to do this Orcleous traveled to Laus. Here he knew that the greatest warriors in all of Lycia and Bern would be gathered. Laus was the most militant territory in Lycia and as a result it would be where the toughest warriors where located. If Orcleous enacted his plan here he would have little problem finding the cannon fodder he desired.
As the Sun rose over the horizon so did Orcleous. The warrior had discarded his green armor and shifted toward a more outstanding black plate. It was a bit lighter and thinner, but Orcleous was use to fighting on the lighter side. In order to draw attention to himself Orcleous walked through the town with his mighty warhammer Xigshaw leaning off his shoulders. The very image brought gawks and murmurs as the massive hammer stood out in the streets. Orcleous was a burly man now, not like the thin farm boy that first left Bern two years ago. However even now Xigshaw was massive in comparison to him. Though he looked more fit to hold such a weapon then its predecessor.
Walking to the center of the town Orcleous slammed the massive warhammer into the ground and drew his silver longsword from his belt. Stabbing the blade into the dirt Orcleous looked out among the crowd and took a deep breath. "My name is Orcleous", he shouted grabbing the attention of all in ear shock. "This massive Warhammer behind me is called Xigshaw. If anybody has the skill and the courage they may challenge me for it. If you best me in battle the axe is yours. If you loss the battle you owe me a boon. So is there any man willing to test my blade. Come and face me if you dare", shouted the Hero as he looked out at the crowd.
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 25, 2015 18:10:16 GMT -6
News spread across the village of a man challenging any man to a fight for a massive axe. Many people was around making a make shift arena around him.
Claira was running into the same city, huffing and panting. She's been running from the slavers a few days before. Feeling somewhat safe, she preceded through following the crowd like she usually did. Soon, she will regret it later.
Making her way through exhausted and still looking around for any signs of the slavers, the hooded thief went out of the crowd and runs into a lone standing man's back. The shock of hitting the armor made her stumble back, tripping over a massive axe she never seen before. Gasps came from the crowd and she was now looking up at the massive Hero.
With hood and scarf concealing most of her face, and now feeling she made a very huge mistake. Her jade colored eyes went from him to his Silver sword.Now scared, she lost the will to even speak. Breathing heavily, she didn't know if this man would see this as a challenge or an accident.
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 25, 2015 22:15:22 GMT -6
Orcleous sat there for a moment standing in his black armor. He was starting to draw a crowd. This was good. He would need a large audience to see his skill with the blade. However at the moment he did not have a opponent. People where simply staring and gawking. Nobody seemed to have the metal to step up and challenge him. Still Orcleous did not worry too much. He was sure that some full hardy young pup would come running up to him soon. Young swordsmen where strange like that. They would throw themselves into battles that there was no way they could win. In there mind they where the all that and a baked potato.
Still there was always that chance that you could get lucky in a fight. A older swordsmen might slip up or you just might be fast enough to get in and get a good hit. If you took them down you where famous and all your dreams would come true. Orcleous remembered those days. He also remembered that it was stupid and almost got him killed on multiple ocassions.
"Humm", spoke Orcleous as he felt a slight push on his back. The armored hero turned around to see a young girl sitting on the ground. At her side was a knife. A common weapon you would see with thieves. Orcleous coin purse was inside of his armor so he was sure she did not steal any of that. From the look of her she seemed older than he was, thought he had her in muscle and size. She was also slightly shorter than he was. She could be a challenger, but he doubted it. What would a person like her do with a massive warhammer like Xigshaw. It made no sense whatsoever.
The hero extended his hand to help the maiden up. "Hey are you alright", spoke Orcleous. Chivalry was not his forte, but he did not mind extending his hand for a beautiful maiden. Not to mention it was kind of a sad state of affairs. The maiden had knocked herself over by running into him. The least he could do was help her up.
"So", spoke Orcleous as he looked at her. He really doubted it, but he had to ask. "Are you stepping up to challenge me in a dual. I doubt it, but for all I know you could be. I have done dumber things when I was a novice so I can't put it past anybody."
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 25, 2015 22:25:22 GMT -6
Shock hit her as he lowered his hand to help her up. Taking his hand. She slowly stood up but felt that her weight got much heavier for her own legs. Locking in her knees, she looked up at him and said.
"I'm sorry kind sir. But I've been running for the last few days without much as a wink of rest. Trouble seems to follow the Raven when she sleeps."
Her grip got a bit tighter as she lowered the black scarf down to her neck.
"If you were a vicious man, you wouldn't have waited for a challenger in the first place. You would have picked an opponent and fought. Yet you do the Hon...woooh. " Her mind began to feel light as she gripped the heroes hand as tight as she could from not fainting.
"Again...I'm..sorry sir." Her right sleeve rolled up a bit as she held onto his hand to reveal some of her scars that she received at a young age. Seeing it, she quickly tried to push the sleeve back down to her wrist. Once they were covered she would think for a moment to herself.
"Where are my manners? I'm...Claira. But some call me Raven for...reasons that are a bit personal mister."
Looking down at the knife, she began to remember the night she stabbed and killed the man who sliced her arm multiple times. Closing her eyes, she shook her head with a single tear sliding down. Clairas body began to shake slightly on its own. She knew what it meant. She was about to faint soon.
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 25, 2015 22:45:08 GMT -6
As Orcleous eyes began to take in information the Hero began to put things together. It was clear to him that she was in some kind of trouble. The hero had no idea of what it was, but he knew it could not be good. The marks however. Now that was a bit disturbing. Maybe she liked to cut herself? Maybe somebody else did it to her? Maybe it was all accidents, Orcleous could not really tell. However he did place it into his memory storage for later.
"Listen", spoke Orcleous as he looked at the maiden. The burly hero gave off a long sigh as he realized that his challenge was probably going to come to a end. Here was a maiden who was, well exhausted, in danger, and nearly passing out in front of him. If he sat around continued his challenge he was sure somebody would step up and he would increase his fame a bit. However he would loss out in his own personal morals. "I may not be a doctor, but I can tell that you need some serious rest", spoke Orcleous. The hero grabbed the massive warhammer by his shaft and lifted it up with one arm. For most people this was a feat of extreme strength. Unknown to them Xigshaw increased the power of the user once they lift the mighty weapon.
Placing Xigshaw back onto his back Orcleous turned toward the maiden. "Look let me pay for you a room and board at the local inn. If you keep going the way you are going then you are going to die", he spoke bluntly. "Sorry folks I am going to have to cut it short today. I will be back tomorrow with the same challenge", spoke Orcleous. The crowd erupted in a buch of boos and such, but the hero did not care at the moment.
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 25, 2015 23:04:36 GMT -6
"If..I rest...the slavers will...find..m-" Falling to her hands and knees,the world around her began to blur. As if you spun around in a circle a little to fast and a little to long. Clinching her fists, she tried to force herself to her feet. But her legs went limped and she fell back to the ground slamming hard for the top two buttons of her shirt to break off. Her eyes began to get heavy. But she still tried forcing herself up. Hands and arms went limped as well and her eyes finally closed.
Anyone that would roll her onto her side or back would surely see the head part of the Raven brand on her chest aiming up to her head.
In her dreams, she saw her home village on fire. People screaming out in pain. Then the leader of the slavers appesred. His old wrinkled face. The lack of hair on his head wearing his expensive armor of gold and silver. His heavy long silver sword was unsheathed with blood running down the full length. "Your are next little Raven! Now Die!" As he charged at her,Claira turned and ran into a dark heavy forest. His voice echoed as she tried to hold back the tears and sobbing. "I will find you my little bird. I always do!" Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it. "Please...don't kill me...." "Its to late for pleading Raven...but I do love to hear that when my victim is about to die."
In reality, she was in a tight ball crying to herself. From the fall and picking up, her sleeve ripped showing the full length of the scars. from her wrist to her shoulder. Her clothes looked very old. Has she been living in these clothes that long that they break easily on impact?
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 25, 2015 23:21:30 GMT -6
Orcleous gave off a long sigh as the maiden passed out. This was going to be a long day, thought Orcleous to himself as he picked the maiden up. A bit of the crowd had gathered to watch Orcleous carry the maiden off the the Inn. In the back of Orcleous mind he wondered what he had gotten himself into. She was branded with the sign of a raven, which was not a good sign. Orcleous did not know much about brands, but he knew there meaning very well. She must have been some kind of slave, or apart of a group that takes membership very seriously. Either way it was not looking good.
The hero had taken her back to the Inn he was staying in and laid her out on his bed. A lot of weird looks flew his way, but he did not bother himself with them. Instead Orcleous walked up to the door and closed it. He then set Xigshaw down in front of it an laid back with his head on the bed frame. The young warrior could not help but remember the time he was trapped inside of a room with people looking to kill him. If it had not been for the swordmaster.
"Funny how the world goes around", spoke Orcleous as he sat in the room. The young hero simply waited for the moment. He knew somebody would come to try and take the girl. It was in there nature. Slavers never gave up. As Orcleous waited he was treated to the sounds and image of abuse. The maiden was curled up into a ball with her scared arms exposed.
The hero gave off a long sigh as he looked toward the door of the room. "When she wakes up it is going to be a very long and awkward conversation", spoke the hero. At the very least he could now completely narrow down what she was. "Slavery is such icky business", spoke Orcleous.
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 26, 2015 7:57:25 GMT -6
Two days later.
Claira slowly opened her eyes. She didn't recognized her surroundings. It was a small room with a comfy bed with her curled up on it. No one else was inside with her. "who brought me here?" Reaching behind her, she unsheathed her curved bladed iron dagger. Sliding off the bed and lightly places her feet on the ground. Walking quietly to the door, she lowered herself down and looked through the key hole.
No one coming or standing outside the door. Trying the knob, she found that it was locked.Taking her lock picks from her pauldron. Claira began the process of undoing the lock but froze when she heard heavy foot steps heading her way.
"what do I do? where to hide? crap! I'm so weak now...how long have I been out?"
Quickly dashing for the bed, she saw that she had just enough room to hide. So, she crawled under the bed and curled herself into a tight little ball in the corner.Her mind began racing.
"How did they find me so fast? I thought I lost them at that Tavern. Did those two rat me out? Am I going to die?" Was what Claira was thinking. Holding her Iron dagger close to her, she was ready to attack if someone reached their hand blindly after her. The sound of the door unlocking was heard and the door opened.
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 26, 2015 12:54:52 GMT -6
Orcleous opened the door as if he owned the place, he practically did since he paid for the logging. The last two days had been problematic for the wondering hero. He was sure the maiden would have awaken after one night of sleep, but that was not so. That meant that Orcleous had to watch out for her longer and that meant he could not accept challengers the next day. Still people were expecting him to put on his show. So Orcleous had no other option than to lock the door and change room in the inn. Switching out inn rooms Orcleous bought one that had a window that was view able from the square where he was doing his work. That way he could keep a eye on it in case anything happened or somebody attempted to go into. Just for good measure he stuck a can out the window tied to the door. If anybody opened the door the can would lower and the bells attached to it would shake. It was a alright system ,but Orcleous knew he would need to keep a eye on it at almost all times just to be sure. This restriction added a new challenge to every dual he accepted. Not only did he had to make sure he did not loss, but he also had to keep the bells in the corner of his eye. Lucky for him he did not get into any major battles. Most people where amateurs.
"What the crap", spoke Orcleous as he saw the maiden was not on the bed. He had mixed feelings about this discovery. On one hand it could have meant that somebody snuck in, but he was 80% sure that did not happen. On the other hand it could mean that the maiden had awaken and left. Which meant that he no longer had to deal with her. Though he knew she would probably be highly weaken. At the very least he did not have to try to figure out a way to make her drink water. You can only go three days before you died and she had already skipped two.
The burly hero unleashed the straps off his back and laid his mighty war hammer on the ground. Looking at the window Orcleous saw no signs of stress from somebody climbing in and the string and can was still intact. So he was pretty sure that nobody got in. So at this point Orcleous moved to check the only place one would hind in such a room. Taking a few steps back from the bed Orcleous leaned down to look under the frame of wood and wool. He would have looked under it closer, but he feared he might get a dagger in the eye or something else. There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal and humans where not much different. It did not take Orcleous long to find who he was looking for.
"So you are still here", spoke Orcleous. He did not even bother to try and get her out. She was a grown women. She would pull herself out when she felt like it. The hero instead placed a cup of water on the floor and simply took a seat in a chair in the corner of the room. "If you want something to drink I suggest that you come out. There is some roast duck here as well", spoke Orcleous as he broke off a leg and began to chew it. It would only be a matter of time, thought Orcleous as he waited for the maiden to surface.
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 26, 2015 15:12:12 GMT -6
"You....why are you here sir? How long have I been out?" Seeing the cup, her eyes widened. Crawling slowly out, she reached for the cup. Once she gotten a grasp of it, she sat up slowly watching the hero who was eating away on a duck leg. Guzzling down the cup of water, trails of water ran down the sides of her mouth. Putting the cup down she breathed heavily. Sheathing the dagger behind her back, she slowly stood up and looked out the window.
Night time was starting to creep across the land. She was out for almost the whole day? impossible. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she watched the massive man across the room. Her stomach growled loudly that she couldn't ignore. As she would reach for her bag, she realized it wasn't with her. The only thing she had was her dagger and her coin purse. She was going for a piece of her blood root. Shaking her head, she stood up and walked over to the duck. Taking out the dagger again, she cut off the other leg and nibbled on it. Sitting back down on the floor, she crossed her legs and looked at him.
"I have a feeling your not just going to sit there quietly. My name is Claira. What's your questions sir?"
She kept eating on the duck leg. Once done, she began to fiddle with the bone with her dagger. Shaving half of it to a point making it look like a knife or dagger blade. Then using the iron daggers tip, she began carving out the handle. When she was fully done, she would examine her craftsmanship and ran her thumb down the blades edge. A line of blood went down the bone dagger.
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 26, 2015 15:29:21 GMT -6
Orcleous sat there quietly for a moment as the maiden acclimate to the situation. She had questions and he had the answers, but he needed her to calm down before he started to talk. After she grabbed a leg of duck and began to eat orcleous opened his mouth to speak. "Well to answer your first question you have been out for almost two days I think", spoke the hero. His eyes moved toward the back of his head as he began to recap on the time. He wanted to be exact after all. "Yeah two days. Anyway the reason I am here is because you passed out near me in the square. Now I am no knight nor seriously honorable person, but I can't just let a maiden sit in the middle of the street. So I brought you here and gave you my bed." Orcleous paused for a moment to let the maiden soak in everything he said. "So now that that is done introductions are in order. My name is Orcleous. I am a mercenary from Bern and a adventure on the side. From the scars on your arms and the way you where so faint one can assume one of two things. The first is that you are a slave. You escaped and have been on the run. The second was that your an assassin. At the moment you are fleeing your old organization or a target you have eliminated. Either one is possible. However my instincts tell me you are not the latter." Orcleous eyes shifted to her bone dagger. "So I hope you don't mind giving me some clarification", spoke the hero as he grabbed the plate of duck and handed it to the maiden. "I already ate earlier so you can have this", he spoke as he raised his hands up to his face. The hero had crossed his fingers across one another and raised his hands up just under his nose. Leaning over Orcleous stared into the maiden's eyes as he began to judge the truthfulness of everything she said.
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 26, 2015 16:01:00 GMT -6
"Non-honorable men would have left the person as me in my condition in the street. You may not know it, but you do have honor in you. Doesn't what your pass says. But you would be right...I'm a former slave that escaped ten years ago. They took me from my home in Sacae. The master didn't harm the parents or elderly. Came in and stole all the children. I was 12 when this happened." Taking another bite from the duck. She chewed and swallowed before continuing.
"My first night there, One of the heavy set guards came to me and said I was special. Every night, he came to my cell. Took my right arm and a knife and would cut from wrist." Ripping off what was left of the long sleeve to show all the scars.
"...to shoulder.He did that for the next six years of my life. One day when I turned 18, I grabbed him and slammed him to the cage and I took his knife. The same knife you saw fall off me. I put that blade into his head, killing him quickly. I got the keys off his corpse, unlocked my cell and the remaining slaves cells. We all escaped going in different directions....I left my country and haven't been back there since."
Sighing to herself, she pushed the plate away from her looking at him.
"We all received a brand to symbolize on which branch of the group we belonged to. I was the only one to have a Raven branded on me...both front and back. The slavers that track me down only know me as Raven. As of late...they have been keeping up with me." She now looked at the floor.
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 26, 2015 16:28:27 GMT -6
"I see", spoke Orcleous as the maiden gave her horror story. Still Orcleous was not sitting ok with him being called a man of morals. He was far from it. He did have his own sense of honor, but he was not the picture of morality.
"Twenty two years old", spoke Orcleous as the maiden finished talking. "Humph you are older than i am", he spoke as a smile crossed his face. Still that was not the only thing he heard. However the hero had to try and lighten the mood up with something. Her tale was grim. It was something that Orcleous had never experienced or ran into during his travels across the continent. He had heard of slavery, but he had never seen it. Bandits would always threaten to sell him and others into it, but he never saw the end result. So it seemed the system was true. Though now this made Orcleous wonder where and who the bandits sold too.
"So that is what the brand was for", spoke Orcleous bringing the conversation back to more serious matters. "At first I thought it might have been a mark for a assassins guild. Ravens and crows are pretty much the same thing. People have a love for associating assassin with birds, don't ask me because I could not tell you the reason. As for the reason why I say I am not piratically honorable", spoke Orcleous as he looked into the maiden's eyes. His facial expression changed and Orcleous began to give her a glare that whispered words of death and murder. "I myself use to be a assassin and I have taken up work as a mercenary with bandits before. I have raided ships at sea and killed men who guarded towns and homes. So no I am not honorable. I am a mercenary, but I can say with confidence I have never worked with anybody or any group that dealt with slaves. Not my thing, nor will it ever be." Returning his glare back to normal Orcleous readjusted himself in his chair. The young hero needed to bring the mood back to the way it was.
"Still, why are they chasing you", spoke Orcleous as he looked at the girl again. "It has been ten years right. What is the purpose of hunting you all down? They could get new slaves a lot easier than finding you all. What is there purpose behind the hunt, or you don't really know?"
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Claira
Thief
1 2 pick the lock, 3 4 search for gold, 5 6 Get out safe, 7 8 leave no trace
Posts: 138
Profession: I'm a Thief
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Raven
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Post by Claira on Oct 26, 2015 18:25:36 GMT -6
"Through all the tortures, punishments, and even death of some of the children. Do you think they would want that information out? Of how they train the children to do the masters dirty work? Being house servants, body guards, soldiers, spies, trackers, hunters, thieves, abductors and even killers. Each..."
Her body began to shake a bit from remembering the tortures and punishment she endured. Closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around herself trying not to cry. Sniffing hard, she opened her now bloodshot eyes. The jade green colored eyes looked back at the Heroes eyes and continued.
"I'm sorry...each animal brand represents to what branch of work they would be doing. Each one has its own punishment and reward system."
A single tear slid down her face as she looked at the floor.
"The other slaves that I saved...were either captured or...they were slaughtered on the spot as an example to others. This is why I'm hunted down...I'm the only slave left that killed one of the higher ups and got away. I will most likely killed at the spot...even if I don't fight back."
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Post by Orcleous on Oct 26, 2015 18:52:50 GMT -6
"So you are a mark", spoke Orcleous as he gave off a long sigh. This made things far more difficult. If they where searching just to bring her back he could have sent her off to some place and did not worry about it. Now he knew somebody was out to kill her. This changed things. Simply sending her out would be suicide to her. He would need to do something to insure her safety or drastically increase her changes of survival. However there was always option D. He could simply walk away from this, thought he doubt he would. He was always a sucker for crying ladies. Still Orcleous was not made of stone. He felt sorry for the women and he understood why she was the way she was. However he did not know how to fix her problem. If it was just a guy Orcleous could go up to the guy and bash his brains out, problem solved. However this seems like a organization and from what she is saying a big one. It would not be something that Orcleous could just charge into and kill a few people and leave. Still something had to be done.
"So what do you plan to do about your situation", spoke Orcleous as he looked at the maiden. "You can't keep doing what you are doing now. You nearly killed yourself out there in the town square. If I had not been here you probably would have died there, or worse ended up in slavery to somebody else." Orcleous pushed the plate back to her with a jester that told her to eat. "I understand that you are scared and that you have problems, but you need to take care of yourself. You can't run or fight when your half dead. Second", spoke the hero as he got out of chair and looked out the window. He wondered if there was anybody watching the room now. She was indeed a mark and the way she was talking her pursuers could not be too far away. "You need to decided what you plan to do for the rest of your life. You can keep on running from them and prey to the gods that they never find you. However that is going to grow old very quickly and your body, as you seen two days a go, can't keep up. My recommendation if you decided to keep up that route would be to go to sacae and join up with one of the roaming clans. Not the Gauls or any of the other stable location ones. I mean the migrating ones. They will fight for anybody. As for the second option you could turn the game of cat and mouse around. Instead of letting them hunt you, you could hunt them. If your really good you can turn others against them and make them a target for adventures. The last option would be to go to a place they can not reach you. Just to let you know there are only two true options for that. The southern deserts and the New World", spoke Orcleous as he thought back onto that map he saw. "However both of those places are extremely dangerious and there is no 100% guarantee they can't find you."
"So what is it that you are going to do", asked Orcleous again as he took a seat on the bed. "I can provide you with assistance with whatever you decided. However you are going to need to make a choice."
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