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Post by Midori on Jun 12, 2019 18:16:39 GMT -6
"He sounds like a model knight. Risking his life and limb to protect the weaker guard." Midori spoke. It was not so different then the Chaklai. Risking their life limb to help others, though those of the spiritual arts, use their magic to heal. The Chaklai mercenaries protect the healers. And together they work to keep the peace for their tribes. That thought, sort of perked her up, if only slightly. She tried her best to keep a more neutral face.
"You charged through the thorns yourself. Kinda foolish. You never know what sort of creature might be lurking within the brush. Snakes, wolves, other people." Lady Lucy spoke and listed off the things with her fingers. The pair of them watched as the young lad jab at the brush with a lance. It appeared to be ineffective at dispelling the thorny enemy.
"Here boy, Let me." Lady Lucy tapped the lad on the shoulder for a moment. Motioned to have him stand back. She pulled out her Light Tome and quietly went to work. The older woman concentrated for a moment, a shiny orb of light magic hovered over her palm. She raised the orb of light gently and then chucked it towards the briar patch. The light magic tore a hole through the plants. The older woman repeated the action two more times until their was a gap large enough for the trio to pass through the thorns with out damage.
"There we go." Lady Lucy closed her book and put it away.
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jun 13, 2019 12:34:51 GMT -6
Eqwin didn't need to think about what Midori said at all. "He is, except for a few things, and he's just as good of a mentor. Though, I've never seen him in action." Eqwin said. "I.. Didn't think of that." He said in response to Lady Lucy. It was the only water hole he found around here, and would be perfect for bandits to ambush travelers such as the ladies and their friends. "Thank the gods nothing happened to me besides those cuts and scrapes." Eqwin said, still jabbing at the brush. He wished his lance had one of those sorta fancy spearheads instead of just looking like a glorified pool cue. That way maybe he could use the sides as a knife instead of denting the branches until they broke. An axe would be perfect for this, or at least a sword.
When Lady Lucy got him to stand back and she pulled out a book, Eqwin didn't know what to expect. Yes, he knew about magic, and that what she had was probably a tome, but he had never seen it before. A dirty mixture of awe, terror, and entertainment clouded over him as the woman lobbed a ball of light straight into the brush, effectively erasing what it touched. He knew that wasn't the case, but it may as well have been, as somewhat clean hole was now in the wall of leaves and plant life. With only two more balls Lady Lucy had successfully made a human sized gap in it. He looked through it and saw a smaller gap on the other side. Was it due to Lucy's magic or was this an already made path into the "room" that none of them had seen earlier. He couldn't tell which was better. What if a person was there instead of just plants and leaves? Would anything have changed in what had happened? He prayed that he'd never be up against magic such as this without some kind of protection.
Despite the light show, Eqwin hadn't forgotten that they were here for the water. He drank the rest of his own canteen, and then was about to head to the water when he remembered that neither of the two women he was with had armor on. Even with the gap there was still the possibility of a branch snagging someone or something of the sort. "Would you like me to fill the canteens?" he asked them.
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Post by Midori on Jun 15, 2019 16:48:06 GMT -6
"The hole's too small for the horses to go through. I'll blast it again for them in a bit. Need to catch my breath." Lady Lucy wasn't too winded. She'd been casting Magic ever since she was Eqwin's age. But, Midori could see the subtle changes in her mentor's face. She was breathing a bit quicker and the old woman had tightened the grips on her horse's reigns.
"How kind of you Eqwin. Midori if you would." Lady Lucy spoke and Midori sprung into action. She quietly pulled herself off of Ashes saddle and handed Eqwin half of the canteens. She wasn't going to let him do the job alone though. Midori needed to see for herself the status of the water. If it was clean enough to be drunk straight out from the river or if it should be sifted and boiled first. Last thing she wanted to do was bring the other's poisoned water.
"I'll be joining you." She spoke to Eqwin.
"And I will keep guard. Any thing bad happens, yell."
Midori waited for a moment for Eqwin to get settled with the canteens. She was to go behind him as it was customary for a woman to do so. She hesitated for a moment. Eqwin was still young. And now that she was at eye level, he was huge! Certainly taller than she was. And, he could still grow more. And perhaps as the adult in the situation she should go first. Make sure it was safe for him. But, then again, he was with armor, and she was not. And if there was something lurking in the brush and she was injured what good was she to help others?
"Eqwin, can you please lead the way? I will be behind you." She spoke calmly.
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jun 16, 2019 2:30:54 GMT -6
Eqwin felt a little guilty. He had entirely forgotten that Thoron needed water in the imaginary heat of things minutes ago. Thank the gods Lady Lucy reminded him. He didn't understand why she needed a break though. He knew magic was tiring like physical combat, but that much? He looked at her. She definitely didn't look tired at all. He'd seen Sir Argol get subtly tired before. He would actually move a bit faster, and get impatient. Maybe she had something like it? He didn't know. Plus Sir Argol must be quite a bit older than her. She can't be that old, right?
He accepted the canteens from "Doreen", but then realized he had no way to hold them and use his lance at the same time. He thought for a... "few" seconds. 15 to be exact. They were pretty large, which is an overall good thing but came with the disadvantage of this. He kept his canteen on Thoron, and didn't exactly have some way to carry it or these easily without her. They had straps, which was probably to fit on someone's belt, or for his, a somewhat large notch on Thoron's breastplate. He remembered his belt was under his armor. He finally decided that the best way for him to carry them and still use his lance somewhat well was to hang them on it by the straps. He set them down, gripped his lance with his left arm and slide them onto the shaft, then when they were all on it he grabbed his lance again.
He thought for a bit. Was he overreacting again? Probably. He had noisily charged through by himself before, unarmed, and nearly fell into the pool earlier, and nothing happened. Maybe they'd see an animal of some kind, maybe not. He thought to himself for a bit. It'd be pretty cool if they saw a deer or something, but since they or more specifically Lady Lucy had to blast holes into the wall of branches and the like to get in without damaging the canteens, so they'd probably only see something small. He walked through the path after "Doreen" told him to lead. Since he fights on horseback, he wasn't taught to march, but he probably would if he knew how.
When he almost got out of the path, he paused, and looked around in the pool as much as he could. Something seemed off. Maybe it was just some atmospheric feeling he had, maybe it was something with the weather, maybe it was the rustling on the other side of the pool. He coul- No, he could definitely tell it was the last, he isn't that stupid. He readied his lance, but since he didn't know much about fighting on foot, it was an awkward stance. He realized how ill prepared he was when the "creature" shambled out into the "room". It was a foul creature, one that even he could tell meant nothing good. It looked rotten, both figuratively and literally. It seemed to be a decaying corpse, but the fact that it was walking and had started groaning made him shake a bit. It had small lacerations from thorns, but no blood came out from them. What did ooze from it's wounds was some viscous fluid that seemed to be black, but with the sun attempting to shine on it it took on a purple hue. It definitely deserved the title of it's "species" as a Revenant, and he was scared.
'Gods, why is this here?' He thought in shock. Had he or the two women with him done something to deserve coming face to face with this? He knew it wasn't him, but doubted heavily that they sinned either. Either way it was still there and seemed not to have noticed them. As the person with the highest ratio of defensive capabilities to distance between the fiend, it was his duty to make sure to at least get "Doreen" away from it safely or else he'd deserve to see another one. "L-lady Doreen, pl.. please back up. S-slowly." He very quietly stammered out. "It h-ha.. hasn't noticed us yet, so p-please don't yell for Lady Lucy.. yet. Just back up slowly so we can get back to our horses." He began backing up incredibly slowly, attempting to do so as quietly as possible. It definitely was not the most efficient way of moving, but he was so scared that he was frozen solid, and moving any faster would cause him to shatter. He'd probably thaw out the instant the thing looked his way, whenever that happens.
(OOC: I hope I didn't need to ask you if I could put a Revenant in this first. You seemed to be getting a little bored so I thought a small monster would help make things more entertaining. If doing so messes things up just tell me in the cbox, it'll be quicker and I can edit this. Also just in case I need to clarify, it's a mostly unimportant enemy so you can control it too.)
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Post by Midori on Jun 16, 2019 17:07:28 GMT -6
(OOC- I'm okay with that. But next time ask. Another RPer might not like that.) --
Midori hoped the canteens wouldn't be too much trouble for Eqwin. They each had straps on them, meant to be hung on the shoulders of their owners. Or tied to the saddle bags of their horses. Which ever was more comfortable for everyone. Lady Lucy's mention of the hole not being big enough for the horses tugged at her a bit. She forgotten that Ashes and Chestnut needed water as well. And so did the other horse that stayed with the wagon. Oh, they would probably need to make another trip back and lead that poor beast to water. Unless, there was some way for them to magically transport a large amount of water over towards it. But, given their current circumstances, that was impossible.
Midori stayed behind Eqwin as he made his way through the narrow passage of thorns. Midori did her best to keep her limbs still so they did not get scratched up by the plants. But, when Eqwin stopped she stopped. She couldn't see past Eqwin's massive body. So she didn't know what he was staring at. But, she could hear something. A soft rustle of leaves, then a strange sopping sound, perhaps foot prints in the mud. Then there was a strange smell that lingered in the air. A corpse? Midori knew the scent of one. Then there was a strange chill that seemed to perk the little hairs on the back of her neck and on her arms upwards.
Child.. something sinister is here. Kiseki spoke in her mind.
Then Eqwin gave her the order to back away slowly. His voice was full of hesitation and fear. Midori crouched a bit and tried to peer out as to what Eqwin was so afraid of. And she could barely make out the shape of something that used to be human. An undead monster like the ones she saw with Mana back in the ruins. But, this one was different, this one still had meat on it's bones.
Now is not the time for fear child. Gently guide the other child away.
Midori quietly raised her hand onto Eqwin's shoulder. She tugged at him softly so as not to draw any noise.
"Walk backwards.. slowly." She spoke softly, then slowly did that.
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jun 16, 2019 19:34:40 GMT -6
(OOC: I will next time.)
When "Doreen" put her hand on his shoulder, his head whipped back to look behind him in horror. He didn't expect anything besides her to be there, but he was jumpy and couldn't help it. "I-I am.." He barely uttered. He was indeed slowly backing up, just at a snail pace. He looked back forward and it looked like the Revenant was looking at something. He thought a little bit and realized that there was yet another small parting in the bushes. Was there something there? Did something enter this "room" between this moment and the last time he was here? No, that was the spot that he entered from. He watched the revenant fumble towards his path and watched in horror as it grabbed a branch with little spots of red on it's thorns. He had probably been pricked by it or something, but he didn't know how the branch snapped and got into the "room". It didn't matter to him, what mattered was that the revenant was smelling the branch. He froze and began shivering more as the wretched fiend began running it's tongue on the branch, groaning whenever a thorn dug into it.
It had gotten a taste of him. Would it want more? Yes. Would that taste help it find more? He prayed it didn't. Apparantly, St. Elimine wasn't smiling upon him at that moment, as the thing turned towards him. He froze solid for a moment while all the momentum from his shaking went to his brain. Had it really found him through tasting a bit of his blood? No, it was due to him sweating and the slight clinking of his armor from the nervous shaking he couldn't stop until now. It felt like an eternity that he looked into the things eyes. He resumed shaking as it began hurriedly shambling towards him and growling. He didn't know whether to tell Doreen to run away from it and him or to yell for Lady Lucy, but he hoped that Lady Lucy would understand what was happening. "Run!" He yelled to Doreen as he shooed her away. She may be older than him, but he was the one with a lance and armor.
He wished he had a helmet as the monster, which had closed the distance while he wasn't looking, swung it's claws at his head. He ducked, and the monster groaned as it's arm met and hit thorns and branches. Assuming that Doreen had backed up, he popped back up and backed up in the small corridor of bushes, his lance held at chest level, he assumed a pretty basic defensive stance. It was mostly ineffective because he didn't know how to effectively dodge and retaliate when it swung again. He'd probably do much better when he got on Thoron, but he wanted to make sure Doreen had got on her horse before he runs and lets the thing out of it's thorny green prison. It swung again, with the same but now tore up arm. Eqwin hopped back a little, but misjudged the distance. If it were aiming for the face he'd have a nasty scar to show Sir Argol, but since it was the chest everyone in the vicinity was greeted with the loud scraping of metal as the claws met the chest area of his armor. He backed up more and looked at his armor. He gasped when he saw that it had scraped a lot of his chest-piece off. He knew training armor wasn't that amazing, but was it just weak or was it that the monster was strong? He didn't know, but assumed a stance, ready to dodge almost anything the monster could throw at him.
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Post by Midori on Jun 19, 2019 16:42:28 GMT -6
Midori walked slowly. Backwards. She stepped lightly so as not to disturb the branches under her feet. She wanted Eqwin to follow her. To follow her back out towards the safety of Lady Lucy's magic. Midori could use her own magic, but Kiseki's barriers were best reserved for a true calamity. Like a volley of arrows being rained from above. Kiseki's power cost Midori a considerable amount of energy to use, and if she miscalculated, then she would be a sitting duck. Either forced to watch while whatever monster Eqwin could see in front of him tore them all to ribbons. Or have them watch her suffer that fate.
She watched Eqwin. The poor boy was shaking in his armor. Father Sky and Mother Earth.. Eqwin.. please.. move. Whatever creature he saw, be it the boney version of the undead or the fleshy one, Midori wished for it to be gone. The creature closed whatever gap was between Eqwin and itself. When Eqwin told her to run she caught a glimpse of the foul creature. She had seen rotten corpses before. Rotting.. was the will of Mother Earth to return life back to it's source.. that's was the way she was taught to interpret it. But, that thing, it was a horrible, twisted version of what mother nature intended. Brought back to life by a magic that was beyond her.
"LUCY!" She screamed. Midori never called Lady Lucy... Lucy. Never in all the year's they've been together.
"MONSTER!" She shouted again. Midori looked over at Eqwin, the boy was actually trying to fight the thing. Midori could hear the hoof-beats of Lady Lucy's giant horse. Almost immediately Lady Lucy was behind Midori. The horse braved the wall of thorns at the beck and call of it's owner. Midori grabbed Eqwin by the arm and pulled with all her might. The boy needed to move back! Lady Lucy released a powerful blast of light magic at the head of the monster.
"Both of you behind me now! GET TO YOUR HORSES!"
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jun 20, 2019 13:53:03 GMT -6
Doreen was running away, thankfully. The plate on his chest piece had a chunk scraped off of it and had shown that it wasn't a match for the monster, but it was definitely better than Doreen's.. Clothes. He would have to think about why troubadours don't have armor later, for now the monster was charging again. He heard Doreen scream for Lady Lucy, which helped put him at ease quite a bit, which let him think better about dodging the next attack. The monster threw an overhead swing at him, as if trying to cut him like sushi. He dodged to the side, feeling his head and right half hit the thicket. A thorn or two pricked his head, maybe one hit his ear, he couldn't tell. The monster's arm hit the ground, so he put his all into a pretty foolish stab as if to drive a stake into it's arm. He backed up, hoping the lance in it's arm and the ground would stop the monster from moving. He remembered the canteens were still on it, his own included. He went to retrieve it, but realized that the monster had another arm when it swung that one at him.
He didn't realize he was being swung at until it was too late to dodge cleanly, he'd at least get his shoulder cut open, then Doreen grabbed his arm and pulled him back. She pulled him out of the way, and he fell on his ass. He got up and realized Lady Lucy was in the path, which probably wasn't the best for her horse. "Y-yes ma'am!" He said when Lady Lucy gave him and Doreen the commands to get to their horses. He started running, but then hesitated when he remembered his lance was still holding the thing in place. He looked back to see if it had gotten free or broke it, but he could only see the blast. Lady Lucy's blast of light magic hit the monster square in the head, since it couldn't move with the rail-spike-like lance. It was a weak and even weakened monster and Lady Lucy was a pretty strong Valkyrie, so it was an instant kill, and left a huge gap in it's torso. Eqwin got on Thoron and rode to the entrance of the path. On horseback, he could barely see that the revenant had been blasted. He tried to see his lance, and stood up on Thoron to see the end. It seemed that it was intact, and thankfully it was.
Now that that monster was dead, he had time to process what had happened. He was a mere squire and did what a knight should, that was great and instilled him with a healthy amount of confidence. He.. well, his armor, had the scars to show it. That brought him to the next thought. He could've died if Doreen hadn't pulled him back and if he noticed the monster swinging even half a second later. He had come so close to that that saying Doreen saved his life was barely a stretch. He needed to collect himself quickly and thank them. He was panicking a bit because of the aforementioned closeness to death, but then shook his head. He'd have to remember to do this more if doing so didn't make him somewhat forget about it. He trotted a little closer to the Ladies.
"Th-thank you two, L-Ladies Doreen and Lucy.. If it weren't for you two... I-I... I.. I could've died. Thank you." He said, backing Thoron up and getting off of her, then kneeling to them in respect. After that, he walked to his lance and took a look at the monster and his lance. It was disturbing to see the revenant, but even worse to see it torn open and what had been it's guts.. Not spewing out? It was melting since Lady Lucy had hit it with light, as if it were on fire. It was pretty gross and Eqwin had to stop himself from gagging. He stepped back on the monster's arm and pulled his lance out of it. It was grazed by the blast and was splintering a bit, along with the tip-area being covered in the thing's blood or essence, one of those.
He got the canteens off and placed them near the pond. It was the only thing completely fine after the encounter, besides Lady Doreen maybe, he knew Lady Lucy must be a bit tired. He looked again at his lance, and went to rub it off on the ground, but then thought for a second. Was this stuff filled with darkness? Would it cause another to grow? "Um... Lady Lucy.. How should I clean this off?" He asked her, pointing to the gunk all over his lance. He wondered what would happen if someone ingested it. Was this revenant a reanimated corpse? Was this someone's friend before that? He wished it was just a monster.
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Post by Midori on Jun 23, 2019 14:25:23 GMT -6
Midori made a break for her horse. She had to assume Eqwin was behind her. She hand her arms raised to in a small attempt to keep the stray thorns from hitting her face. She made it to Ashes who was mildly spooked by her sudden arrival. Ashes's has been with Midori for a long time. She knew when something was wrong, Midori let out a whistle. Ashes quickly walked over to her owner's side. Midori got up on her horse and prepared herself for battle. Well, she prepared herself as best as a 'civilian' could at this point.
The first blast of light magic was enough to kill the creature. Lucy thanked her stars that she was experienced enough in the art of battle to make the most use of her hits. She was about to blast it again a second time, but Eqwin re-arrived to reclaim his lance.
"Don't look at it boy. You might be cursed in doing so." Lady Lucy cautioned. She wasn't sure if that was true. She did not have much experience in fighting the undead as say someone who lived near the Ostian borders. The Chaklai's main village was fairly remote. Tucked away within the Southern hillsides, close to the mountains and surrounded by trees. The most they've seen of monsters were bandits who liked to terrorize the mountain sides. But, the Chaklai were used to them, and they had a formidable army to deal with them. And they, were human. If they were killed they stayed dead. Whatever magic that turned the dead into the living dead had not yet graced their village. And Lady Lucy thanked the gods for that.
"It's oozing dark bile.. So close to the water. I don't.. know what to do here."
"We may need to forgo this pond and seek another source of water. Eqwin, take some of the pond water with the canteen and rinse your lance clean. Do it away from the edge of the water. I will try to purify this corpse so that hopefully doesn't contaminate the waters for other passerby's."
"Attend to his wounds.. Doreen. If you see any changes that do not appear ordinary report back to me. If all is well we will take him with us to the others. Perhaps, treat his lance with some salt and one of those oil vials you have tucked away."
"Yes Ma'm."
Lady Lucy waited a moment. She waited for the her two charges to do what she had asked. Once, the duo returned to the area past the thicket of thorns. Away from the water, away from earshot. Only then did Lady Lucy do her duty. She grabbed from her saddlebag a pouch of salt. She rained down a hail of salt onto the corpse. The body seemed to bubble and ooze in response to the sudden downpour of white crystals. The old woman uttered a prayer and chant in a language that different then what they had been speaking. Once, the prayer was over, the old woman blasted the remains of the corpse with a stronger variant of her light spell. The body of the recently re-deceased erupted in a burst of holy flame. Or just regular flames with color changing properties thanks to the salt mix.
Doreen on the other hand waited for Eqwin to calm down a bit before getting to work. She could see the marks in his training armor. She didn't want to give the poor boy more of a panic attack, by suddenly lunging at him with her hands in an attempt to remove his armor.
"Are you hurt? Do you feel numbness anywhere?"
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jun 24, 2019 15:37:45 GMT -6
Eqwin luckily hadn't heard Lady Lucy's warning about being cursed for looking at the corpse, since she said it when he was trying to stop himself from vomiting. When she told him how to clean it off, he took the canteen she told him to, filled it with water, moved away from the water, and began rinsing his lance off. After the initial pour, there were some specs of gunk stuck on his lance, and he instinctively went to scrape it off with his free hand. He froze up before he touched that part of the lance, and then retrieved more water and rinsed it some more. This was fruitless, however. He got a decent idea to tear some leaves from the bushes and use them for this. He layered some leaves in a towel-like pattern, and then began scrubbing fiercely. He managed to get it off, but despite his best efforts he got a few of the specs on his hand. He sighed, scraped it off with a leaf, carefully crumpled the leaves up around what they had scraped off, and then tried to figure out what to do with them. He decided to just put them on the corpse. He walked back out of the "room" and back to Thoron.
When "Doreen" asked him if he felt numb, he thought for a moment. What was she checking for? He remembered overhearing Lady Lucy tell her to check for changes of some sort. Judging by how serious Lady Lucy was treating this, it had to be something bad. He ran through multiple unsettling thoughts before getting to one that stuck out. "I feel fine, nothing is numb." He said to "Doreen", not bothering to check under the assumption he'd notice if he was numb. He hurried to Thoron's side and got Sir Argol's notebook from the saddlebag. He opened it to the table of contents and looked for the monster section. He found it numbered to the pages before Sacaens, and flipped to it. He skimmed through the info Sir Argol had about Revenants, and much to his relief, nothing included him ever seeing someone turn into one... While still alive. It was stated in the notebook that sometimes people who fall in battle could be transformed into one of the things rather quickly. Did Sir Argol write from experience, knowledge from others, or both? He would be able to ask him, judging by the clanging of armor and trotting of hooves that was slowly and steadily increasing in volume. He got a bit excited as he heard this, and got on Thoron to look around. He saw the knight and his horse, their golden armor glimmering in the sun, and a ray reflecting off of him and hitting Eqwin in the eye.
After recoiling a tiny bit from the sudden ray in his eye, Eqwin waved to the knight who, upon seeing Eqwin, sped up a bit.
"Sir Argol?" He loudly asked the man.
"Eqwin! What are you still doing here? You should've been at the checkpoint a quarter of an hour ago!" Sir Argol shouted in a somewhat scalding tone.
"I found these holy troubadours on a road, and their wagon's wheel broke down, and they needed water so I found this pond an- and we-" Eqwin hurriedly tried to explain.
"Calm down boy!" Argol commanded. He looked around and saw "Doreen", and his face changed from sort of neutral to a bit threatening. "You must be one of the 'holy troubadours' Eqwin mentioned." He said.
"That's Doreen! She's Lady Lucy's apprentice. She saved my life..." Eqwin explained. He would've gone further to explain that she almost did, but Sir Argol cut him off.
"What?!" Argol asked him angrily as he turned to Eqwin. "Why was your life in danger in the first place?!"
"W-we were getting some water from that pond..." He said, pointing into the bush circle before realizing that he wouldn't see it. "There's a pond in there. And uh.. We encountered a uh.. Revenant, an-" Eqwin tried explaining before Sir Argol cut him off.
"Why were you fighting a revenant off of your horse?!" Argol asked, seeing the gashes in Eqwin's armor and speaking more angrily than before.
"Well I.. Didn't want to make Thoron go through the bushes. They uh.. have thorns."
"And why didn't you run back to Thoron?" He figured that he must be scaring Eqwin by accident and said this calmer than before. He had just fought a revenant and, as he said, got into a situation where his life needed saving.
"I needed to pr-protect Lady Doreen." This shocked Argol a bit.
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I thought you did something foolish. Well, you did, but you had a passable reason." He calmed down and looked at Doreen once again, but with a look of judgement. He didn't even try to hide the fact that he didn't think too highly of her for some reason, and it was written on his face. "Now, Eqwin, start from the beginning. I want to know why you're here." Eqwin began telling Sir Argol everything that happened, calming down throughout.
"You've had quite a day, haven't you?" He said, in a happy way. He turned to "Doreen", but this time his gaze wasn't as negative as the last two times. "She's the one who saved you, right?"
"Yes sir. She pulled me back before the monster could cut me with it's claws."
Sir Argol half-smiled at "Doreen". "Thank you for saving my squire. If not for your brave actions I would probably be carrying him to the next checkpoint instead of riding with him."
"Huh? Now? But I told them I'd help them get some water."
"That can wait, Eqwin. Revenants usually don't shamble alone. There's bound to be a nest of some kind somewhere near here. We'll need to get a squad and some holy men for it. But for now, I suggest they return to their wagon." He turned to Lady Doreen. "Eqwin said you have a mentor? Can you get her? Eqwin and I will help repair your wagon so that you and your.. 'Guardians', can leave this area."
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Post by Midori on Jul 1, 2019 18:15:06 GMT -6
Midori was grateful to both mother earth and father sky and every other deity in between them. Eqwin wasn't feeling numbness, that was a good sign. And the fact that he appeared to be walking, talking, and reading. Midori can tell he was obviously freaked out over the whole thing. And he had good reason. She was mildly freaked out too but, being the adult that she was she did her best to make herself appear calm. She needed to be calm. Healing spells did not work nearly as well if the healer was an emotional or mental wreck. And while Eqwin did not appear to be seriously injured. Midori decided to heal him all the same.
"Eqwin, please can you focus on your breathing.. I need you to take a deep breath in then let it out slowly." She didn't really need him to do that. But, she found that giving her patients something else to focus on like breathing, helped to distract them from what ever trauma they just saw. She focused her magic onto her heal staff. The glass orb stop the regular heal staff let out a warm pale light that helped to alleviate whatever pain that may have been present.
"How do y.." Her question was cut off by the shout of another person. Midori froze up slightly. She gripped her heal staff and was ready to whack at the stranger if need be. But, this stranger, wasn't a stranger at all. It appeared that the man in brightly colored armor was Sir Argol. Eqwin's mentor. And like a good mentor he was checking up on his young squire, and oh right! Eqwin was supposed to be somewhere before the duo appeared in his life. Midori was intimidated by Sir Argol. She is supposed to show respect to men who are higher in the social ladder. That usually meant she had to be more reserved and subservient to them. But, it was hard for her to do that when it came from a knight who was on the opposing side of the war. At any moment he could put them to the sword if he felt like it. That's how knights worked right? They simply justify the person as a heretic or traitor or something and just murder. That's how it goes in war.. right? The man uttered a command for Midori to fetch Lady Lucy.
"Y-yes sir!" Fortunately, for Midori, Lady Lucy showed up out of the thorns on her horse.
"No need to come find me, I am joining you myself." She had apparently heard the last bit of exchange.
"You must be Sir Argol. It seems your squire was not exaggerating about the golden armor. I am Lucy. Mentor to Doreen. And I both apologize and take full responsibility for your squire's lateness. Please, do not reprimand him for his kind heart." She then turned a bit to look back at the thorns.
"I purified the creatures remains with salt, hymns, and another blast of holy magic for good measure. I am not sure if the reverent we killed was a scout or a rouge. And I do not want to find out. What I find disturbing is that there was one looming so close to civilization. The village we are heading to is not far from here.. and I now fear for their lives. "
"We should head back to the others. If that was a scout.. then.."
"They might be in danger."
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jul 2, 2019 19:13:04 GMT -6
Eqwin felt worried about Sir Argol's last comment. He was spacing out a bit, which was probably understandable due to how much of an effect seeing a creature of darkness for the first time must have on a teenager like himself, but he heard the part about suggesting that they return to their wagon. That must mean there's something about the revenant's presence, right?
"It's a bit too late for the advice, I already reprimanded him for what I needed to. Despite his courage, he was unnecessarily risking his life." Sir Argol explained in response to Lady Lucy's request not to fuss Eqwin.
Eqwin felt a little embarrassed about it. Nobody got hurt so he knew he did something right, but hearing her praise his actions and stick up for him helped him feel it... For around however many seconds it took for her to get to talking about the village they were heading to. He wasn't daft enough to miss the implications of what she said, but he kinda wished he was. An entire village could've been razed by.. those things... It wasn't the prettiest thought that was in Eqwin's head today, nor even close. And for that, he shook his head again, just a little too hard, until he stopped focusing on it. Sir Argol noticed this, much to his dismay.
"Eqwin, stop that! You'll give yourself a headache and then have to deal with that instead of whatever you were thinking of."
"Yes, sorry, sir." Eqwin said after fumbling with the order of the words for a second or two.
"For the time being, we should head back to your wagon. If there is a nest, they may have encountered a monster as well. If they didn't, then all is well for you two." Sir Argol said to the ladies and half to Eqwin. "Go ahead, Eqwin. I'd like to have a chat with your.. friends. You can calm down as needed." Eqwin did as Sir Argol said, and once he was out of ear shot, the Gold-clad knight got back on his horse and turned himself and his steed to them.
"I know you two are Sacaen. I do not wish to have to drive you from Etruria... Not yet, at least. Eqwin has taken a liking to you two, and I don't think he's mature enough to handle the horror that is having to fight friends in a serious manner. However, after we part ways, I would like to never see you two again. I do not think I'll have the chance to be this merciful next time." Sir Argol stated. It was quite a mouthful, but he needed to say it. "Anyways, I think we should get back to Eqwin and the wagon." He turned his horse back to where Eqwin went, and began riding. Only now could the ladies realize that Eqwin went the wrong way, since Sir Argol was following where Eqwin went.
Eqwin rode on, confused by the lack of familiar scenery. Had he taken the wrong way? He thought about it for a second. The trip between the wagon and thorns wasn't that long, and he would probably be halfway there. He saw a line of bushes and mistook them for the line he hid behind when he thought the ladies were enemies. He should probably wait near them, the men that they were traveling with probably wouldn't like that he had arrived before them and would become suspicious. He got off of Thoron and sat down to rest with her. He reached into his saddle bag for something, and pulled out some jerky. He got it from a vendor at the village he lived in. It was like normal cooked meat except it wouldn't go bad and he could eat it whenever, not to mention it tasted pretty nice. He began chewing and enjoying the scenery. He began wondering about something. Why did Sir Argol need to talk to the ladies and why couldn't he hear it? Was it about him? What was that noise that he had just started hearing? He sat straight up and looked around. Whatever it was, it sounded like someone near him was eating something. He got onto his feet and looked around. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Thoron seemed fixed on one direction in particular. He followed her gaze and looked hard at what she was fixated on. He could faintly make out what seemed to be four figures around something near the bush line. What they were eating he'd have to find out later once a weirdly large and sinister black dog with a... orange mane walked out of the bushes. He thought for a second and figured out that it was probably a wolf from what he had heard. He went to get Thoron to stand up but saw that she already was. He got on her and was going to motion for her to turn around and head back to the three others, but she did it on her own. Eqwin started getting a little scared. Not only was her doing things without being commanded pretty unusual, but so was her trotting at somewhat high speed. He looked back and didn't see the wolf, but could still see the figures. Although he didn't know it, he had wandered upon a mauthe doog and some revenants who were all eating something... or someone. Probably for the best he didn't know that last part.
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Post by Midori on Jul 6, 2019 17:07:51 GMT -6
The duo of ladies went on their horses. On their way back towards their wagon. They didn't want to sprint off into a full run lest it draw Sir Argol's suspicions. Lady Lucy did her best to keep herself calm in the presence of the knight, she knew she needed to choose her words carefully. A good knight could sense that there were strange accents with some of their words. Lucy's especially, since she originated from Ilia. And while she lived in Sacae now with the Chaklai, there were some old habits she just couldn't shake. Midori on the other hand kept a tight grip on Ashes reins. Still not comfortable with Sir Argol's presence. Once, Eqwin was out of earshot though, Sir Argol voiced his concerns. He knew they were Sacean. Although, Midori wasn't sure what exactly gave that away. She was certain that they practiced hard with dialect and customs. Lady Lucy was not surprised by this action though.
"We will take our leave of here as soon as we are able Sir Knight. And we shall take your words to heart. Allow us.. to return your mercy with some information of our own. On the way here, we passed through four border towns. All of them ravaged by either the war or monsters. Two of which still smoking.. Keep your scouts vigilant for any survivors either living or dead. We know the monsters that roam the land to be more of a Lycian problem.. but we cannot dismiss the evidence that.. their droves are pushing further inwards." Lady Lucy responded to Sir Argol.
"When.. the moment is right. Please apologize to Eqwin for us. We did not mean to deceive him.. but it is the only course of action we have if we are to survive traveling through these lands. So much blood has been spilled by both sides... we.. we don't want to see any more of it." Midori spoke up. Which was unlike her, but she figured this was the only opportunity she was going to have to say something to Sir Argol, with out Eqwin finding out. Lady Lucy sighed at Midori's display.
"And it seems you are not the only tutor who has to deal with their student's soft heart." Lady Lucy quietly tugged her horses reins and rejoined Midori's side. Midori looked around, they were on the path to the wagon. But, Eqwin was not.
"He went a different way Lady Lucy." Midori pointed towards the direction Sir Argol was riding off too.
"I think Eqwin went that way. We should utilize the time we have to get out of here before the Sir Argol changes his mind. Come."
Lady Lucy gave the order. She and her horse ran up ahead towards the wagon and their people. Midori glanced back at the direction Sir Argol went. She sighed softly and decided to follow Lady Lucy instead. Fortunately, the monsters did not strike at them. And it seems that in their absence the wagon wheel was replaced.
"No water this time boys. We ran into some trouble. And we need to go before that trouble catches up to us. If a knight in golden armor and a light haired squire come up to us. Do not attack them. They know we are here, they know who we are. And they are to see to it that we leave, peacefully. Next time we may not be so lucky. Now lets go!" Lady Lucy barked the orders. And within moments the group was scrambling about packing what little they had taken out. The horses were round up and re-hitched to the wagon. Midori quietly got off Ashes and made her way towards the inner chambers of the wagon. She found an empty glass vial and stuffed it with some medical herbs. Specifically, those to help aid with fevers as well as a mild pain reviler. She kept it in her pocket and returned to Ashes. If she saw either Sir Argol or Eqwin before they left, she would give it to them. A small parting gift to aid the one knight who was sick.
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Eqwin
Squire
Posts: 33
Profession: Squire/Errand Boy
Affinity: Ice
Profile: http://fewotw.proboards.com/thread/7093/eqwin
OoC Alias: zacharychi
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Post by Eqwin on Jul 7, 2019 1:48:52 GMT -6
"That's what makes them students, isn't it?" Sir Argol responded to Lady Lucy's kindhearted jab at Doreen and Eqwin, then looked back to see they weren't following him. He was confused for a bit before they started riding off in a different direction. This puzzled him more, but he pretty quickly put two and two together and realized Eqwin went the wrong way. Sir Argol thought for a second, and then looked at the scenery. He compared the angle of the watering hole entrance he saw riding in to the direction Eqwin was going, and figured out that his squire had accidentally rode directly into enemy territory. This was one of the few things he disliked about his massive amount of armor. Eqwin could be fighting monsters, or gods forbid some hotshot swordsman with a barely guided vengeance towards Etruria. He could charge there, but then his horse would be tired by the time it counted. He just had to hope that Eqwin would have enough sense to run back to him if a threat appeared. He resumed the ride back to Eqwin, praying that nothing had happened.
Nothing had happened to Eqwin in this span of time, thankfully. Thoron had successfully rode them away from the "wolf" and was now slowing down. Eqwin was taking in the scenery. It looked pretty different from Etruria, but he didn't think it was Sacae. Plains wouldn't have so many trees, would they? Eventually, he met up with Sir Argol again.
"Hey, Sir Argol!" He said, greeting his mentor again. "Um... Where'd Lady Lucy and Lady Doreen go?"
"The right way." Sir Argol said. He was relieved that nothing had happened but still remained stern to passively punish Eqwin.
"Huh?"
"You went the wrong way while I was talking to them." Argol grumbled.
"Oh.. I'm sorry, sir."
"I forgive you, but you should apologize to them for making them wait. Especially now, since we're all on edge about monsters."
"I-I will, sir." Eqwin promised.
"Alright." Sir Argol said as they began riding back to the watering hole. They remained silent for a little bit, until Argol thought of an issue he needed to bring up. "How do you feel about your new friends?"
"They're pretty kind. I'm glad people like them exist, and when I get older I'd love to join some wandering clerics like them." He answered. Sir Argol frowned. Maybe he should let Eqwin down early so that he doesn't get too close to them.
"Well, they're not wandering clerics." Sir Argol stated.
"Huh?"
"They don't wander, they move to villages and other broken lands." Sir Argol said, back-pedaling on his vague sentence. He'd let Eqwin be OK with them for a while longer. He never heard from him about any friends, so he felt Eqwin needed it.
"Ah, alright." Eqwin said.
Before the duo could get back to the watering hole, the knight could sense that something was wrong. He saw some thorn branches swaying without wind and could feel something in the air, that definitely was not wind. He craned his head and leaned a lot to try to peer into the path in it. He saw what looked to be the fallen revenant. He didn't feel at ease at all, for some reason.
"Hey, Eqwin. Remember how you told me you and your friends felled a monster in that path?" He asked. "How deep in was it?"
"What? Well it was... Um... Pretty deep in the path, and near the pond." Eqwin said, to a questionable degree of accuracy. "I remember it was.. melting, because of Lady Lucy." He said, further reinforcing Sir Argol's suspicions.
"Uh-huh. And how long was the path?" He asked his squire, who was starting to get scared.
"Well uh... Lady Lucy rode her horse in and, uh.. still had some distance between herself and... it."
"Mhmm..." Eqwin's descriptions reaffirmed that he was indeed correct, along with the fact he could no longer see what he saw. "There's more of them already. I saw at least one near the entrance of the path, but it's safe to assume there's more. Let's hope that they didn't get to your Sacaen friends first."
"My... my what? I don't know anybody in Sacae." Eqwin said in confusion before Sir Argol realized what he said.
"Uh.. Nevermind, it was a slip of my tongue." He said, saving the secret from Eqwin, who would've probed more into what Sir Argol said if he didn't see the monster Argol had seen.
"You're right sir... There's more of them!" Eqwin loudly whispered in shock.
"Well... Yeah, there's definitely more of them, Eqwin. Take a look." Argol stated, his stern facade being replaced with a less stoic tone and face. Eqwin did just that, and saw a few more monsters. Today seemed to just get more eventful for the young squire. They looked as if they were looking for something, but he thought more and figured they were probably looking for someone, be it Sir Argol, Lady Doreen, Lady Lucy, or him. "A lance wielding bonewalker and a mauthe doog." Sir Argol said, sizing the threat up. He focused on the calm before the small storm and gave Eqwin instructions. Seconds after he was done, and once he had been given the command to "get moving already!", Eqwin and Thoron had begun running again, thankfully in the direction that the wagon actually was, and the mauthe doog began to chase them down. Sir Argol had planned for this, and threw a Javelin at the large dog-like monster. Age had barely touched Argol's throwing arm, and he managed to hit the doog directly in the neck. Now, with Eqwin gone, the remaining monster would focus on him. The bonewalker ran at him with it's lance held firmly forward. Sir Argol grabbed his iron lance, and plunged it straight into it's skull with the help of some movements from his horse, and then grabbed his axe with his off hand, hacking it's weapon into two pieces. After this, he took his lance out of the monster and rode his horse around it, then chopped it's head off with his axe. When it stopped moving, he realized he hadn't seen a revenant, so there must be one with the corpse. He rode his horse to the path to the watering hole and looked in. He saw the revenant's corpse, but it was mangled beyond recognition. He came to the conclusion that the doog was probably dragging and eating it.
Eqwin and Thoron hastily rode towards the ladies' wagon. He thought back on what he was doing. He was ordered to get to and protect them if the need arose. He spent the ride looking around and behind him. He kept riding at a tremendous speed, apologizing to Thoron occasionally, when he got to the wagon. "Lady Doreen, Lady Lucy!" He shouted as he charged near the wagon, he tried to get Thoron to fully stop, but thankfully she had enough sense to slow down first. When she stopped, he hopped off of her back and began hastily explaining the situation in a frenzy once he saw either of the ladies. "There were more monsters near the watering hole a-and since I'm faster than him Sir Argol ordered me to come find you and see if there were some here as well since we can't be too careful.." Eqwin inhaled deeply after that long run-on sentence. "But you two seem to be fine! Thank the gods.." Eqwin said, sighing the rest of the air out of him so he could start breathing normally. He looked at Thoron, who was panting heavily, and then went back to her side. "I'm so sorry Thoron, but Sir Argol ordered me to ride here quickly. I'll give you a treat later, I promise." He said, much more calm than before, as if a chance to pamper his horse was a valid excuse to relax. He gave Thoron the motion to sit down so she could rest more comfortably, then walked around her and double checked his saddlebag. He had a treat saved, thankfully. He retrieved it and then gave it to Thoron, who ate it from his hand. "Or now, I forgot we had this." He started petting Thoron, and seemed like he would continue for a while. He surmised he could listen and pet her at the same time.
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Post by Midori on Jul 10, 2019 19:00:00 GMT -6
They were just about ready to leave the area when Eqwin came back. Lady Lucy alerted the others that this was the squire she had mentioned earlier. As she knew at least one of their troop was already ready with a bow just in case. That man quickly put it down, but kept it nearby just in case. The whole troop knew that a boy running with his horse at high speeds like that only meant one thing, trouble. And they were right! Both Midori and Lucy waited in silence as Eqwin went ahead and explained what had happened.
Lady Lucy almost had to stop herself from picking Eqwin off his horse and shaking him. That was not the best way to deliver information and then suddenly stop in the middle of that explanation to tend to your horse. She wanted details! She needed details so she could better order her tiny troupe around and help out in this sort of situation. She took a deep breath in and let it out in a rather annoyed huff.
"There are more monsters and Sir Argol is fighting them all by himself? Lead us to him. We will give him our aid." Lady Lucy spoke in a stern manner. Cinnamon, Lucy's horse was already re-hitched to the wagon. So she looked at Midori. Midori noddded. She let Lucy take Ashes. Ashes was trained to ride with Lucy, and she trusted her all the same. Midori quietly patted Ashes on the snout.
"It's just for a little while ok. Be good." The pink haired healer spoke to her mount.
"Everyone gear up! We have monsters to fight!" She shouted back towards the others in the wagon. Two of them came out, armed with their own specialty weapon. A bowman with a silver bow, and a swordsman with a curved blade. Lady Lucy provided the Light magic and Midori was the healer. The only other person in the group was the driver of the wagon who remained unarmed, but was ready to act as a battering ram with the horses if need be. Midori got up into the wagon and took a seat with the driver.
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