Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 5, 2008 5:22:56 GMT -6
The day was young; the sun was only just peeking over the horizon. Ethan, freshly graduated and ready for a journey of his own, set out on foot into the world. He kept with him nothing more than a few rations of food, his tome of fire magic, and a Vulnerary just in case. However, in terms of recreational things, he brought along an old tome that had various titbits of legends and myths that surrounded the continent. While he may have been 18, and a fairly decent mage if he did say so himself; he knew next to nothing of orienteering or travelling himself, making the previous two things mere statements of his person.
“Uh oh…That…was probably something I should have considered before I left…”
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 5, 2008 5:28:44 GMT -6
He stood at a crossroads, a fork in the road leading in two opposite directions. On the northern path lead to an old monastery over the distance, and the southern path seemed to head into Ostian territory. While he had no problems with this as his parents had supposedly taken up residence there; he had no way of actually tracking them down. He clicked his tongue as he looked at both paths, contemplating the pros and cons of each one. He left it to the toss of a coin. If it was heads, he’d go to Ostia; if tails, then the monastery. He closed his eyes and flipped the coin, opening his eyes once he heard it hit the soft dirt road. The sun shone on its polished surface, glimmering in the surface. It was tails, which meant he would head north into the monastery. However, there was something odd about the situation that made it feel that he was being watched. It was eerie, but he continued on regardless.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 5, 2008 5:41:14 GMT -6
He reached for it, firing off another shot and hitting the bandit square in the chest, sending him reeling back a few feet. Ethan took his chance to stand and get a firm grip on the ground as he prepared to attack again. The bandit came forward, this time initiating a more aggressive attack combined with a battle cry. Ethan flinched and jumped back; opening his eyes to double check he was still alive. The axe that had threatened his life had become lodged in the ground, and the highwayman was finding it hard to remove it. Ethan’s eyes sparkled as he felt his will and concentration focus on a single point: the bandit’s head. He raised his right hand, his left holding his tome open in the flat of his palm; and brought down his hand so that he pointed right at the bandit. A plume of crimson flame bellowed forth and engulfed the bandit, causing what life he once had to extinguish.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 5, 2008 5:47:50 GMT -6
Ethan’s breaths became long and deep, as if stressed from what he had just done. He had killed someone in cold blood. Well maybe not cold blood as he was defending himself, but still; he used his magic for the good of others. Besides, if he didn’t do it, one of two things would eventually happen. For one, someone else could have killed him; or, the bandit would continually keep mugging people whenever they traversed down this road. He dusted himself off, but couldn’t help but keep his eyes on the felled enemy. Was it just bad luck, or an act of providence? He sighed, and turned on his heel, looking towards the monastery. He started to walk, thinking to himself whether or not he’d kill again. It was his first taste of this world that by that experience alone told him that this was a dog-eat-dog world, and he’d have to do what he could to survive; even if that meant killing.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 5, 2008 6:09:17 GMT -6
Ethan trudged further up the road, looking at the row of trees to his left and the endless plains to his right. While they may have looked endless, Ethan knew that everything had an end, no matter how ugly they may turn out to be. Each step he took brought him closer to the monastery, and by the looks of it, no one had visited it for a while. Stones were missing from its structure, and many panes of glass were broken. However, Ethan did not mind this as he continued all the way up to the front door, admiring the craftsmanship etched onto the large oaken door that stood between inside and outside.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 6, 2008 1:37:54 GMT -6
Ethan placed a hand on the large door and gave it a little shove, seeing if the door would submit to only little force. It budged, but not by much; so, he gave it a more hefty push. It swung inwards, slamming against the wall and partially falling off its hinges. Upon a closer inspection, Ethan realised that the hinges were rusted, and termites had taken a bit chunk out of the door from the back. He stepped inside and found that the monastery was set up at the end of the hall like a chapel. He approached the statue at the far end of the hall and ran a hand along the marble surface of St Elimine’s carved face. He closed his eyes, reciting a prayer.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 6, 2008 1:54:55 GMT -6
His breathing was relaxed, and he became oblivious to the outside world. That was, unfortunately something he should not have done. Mid-prayer, someone snuck inside, keeping close to the wall to avoid detection. With a shining dagger in hand, they stalked silently towards the mage. However, as luck would have it, there was a distinct sound of rubble being moved nearby, and Ethan looked up. There, was a hooded thief who had made the big mistake of screwing up their stealth. Ethan reached for his book, but before he could make any offensive action the thief lunged at him with his blade in hand.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 6, 2008 3:29:46 GMT -6
“Ow…”
Ethan winced as the thief’s weapon came in and got him with a meagre slice to the arm before withdrawing back close to the wielder’s body. Ethan pulled up his book and fired off a spell, barely missing, but missing nonetheless. The thief lunged at him again, hitting him in the same spot again and causing him to gasp in pain. He realised that the thief’s superior speed was going to get the best of him eventually, so he decided to flee, firing off a fire spell towards his foe. The spell hit the thief, grazing the hand in which he held his knife which caused him to drop it.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 6, 2008 3:49:58 GMT -6
Ethan saw his chance and broke into a run, shoving his book back into his bag on which he carried over his shoulder. He heard the thief curse, and left the chapel-like building, huffing and puffing as he searched for his Vulnerary. He took a swig of the cooling beverage and found that the cuts on his arm rapidly healed right up. Ethan looked over his shoulder, double checking if he was ahead of the thief. Alas, his opponent was slowly but surely catching up; and Ethan couldn’t keep this pace up for much longer as he never really trained physically.
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 6, 2008 4:13:01 GMT -6
He turned around and knew that he’d need to fight and face his enemy if he was going to win. If he kept running, he’d just be more exhausted and have a harder time fighting back. He pulled out his book, taking care to aim carefully for when the thief came back. The thief charged in recklessly and dove at him, but Ethan was ready. He ducked and bumped him aside with his right hand, jumping in the opposite direction before swinging his arm out and firing the spell. The spell hit its mark, scorching the thief with a blaze of flame. Just like the highwayman from earlier that morning, the thief too also succumbed to death.
“Ok…I’ve killed again…great…”
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Ethan
The "Before" years
[M:0]
Posts: 23
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Post by Ethan on May 7, 2008 4:29:29 GMT -6
Ethan collapsed to both knees, wrapping his arms around himself. He couldn’t cope with the sight of a corpse, let alone one caused by his hands. His mind was racing; did the end justify the means? Was it really okay to slay someone down even though they had bad intentions? His mind struggled with the concept as he got back up on his feet. He sighed, and kicked looked back at the mangled corpse of his felled opponent, lying there on the ground as a crumpled mass of flesh and bone. He looked down the road he had to travel; which in many ways was a very far ways to travel alone.
With a sigh, he turned his back on the chapel and Etruria, heading towards the bountiful land of Ostia.
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