Roshek - The Great Census of 1305

[Vargo Seldon]

Algorath followed Mutig at a sprint.  Ever since he had accidentally saved that farmer, the rumors had forced him to do things like this.  Inside he was chiding himself.  His claws slashed through the dark shadow, and it turned on him.  He growled, recognizing a challenge.

[MacThorstenson]

Thorstein walked slowly through the fens, using his shepherds ax as a walking stick, flipping his coin to provide light. He heard sounds of conflict ahead, maybe this was the group. Peeking his head around the corner, he looked at the scene. As far as he could tell, there were some people attacking what looked like a giant shadow.

Hmm. These people were definitely better fighters than he was, but he had Magic, how could he help?

Shadows, naturally hated things of light, of beauty. It was in their nature ever since Melkor became Mor- wait, no he wasn't there anymore. Roshek. Thats where he was.

Still though, it was a common theme that shadows hated light. So he should try to make some light. What did he have that could light up? He had his coin, but that depended on movement for light, so it wouldn't work well. 

None of his axe's lit up. He didn't have any weapons Desolar,  so he couldn't use those. What could he use? All he had were a few toys like blocks and Marbles. Wait, Marbles. He started grinning as he reached into his bag, these Marbles lit up and stayed lit when they hit each other.

He swung the bags around then turned and opened them up, throwing them into the room as he did so. He watched as its tentacles of darkness withdrew from the lit spheres.

"Fyrir Ljoss." He said, then picked up his Ax and charged at the monster, hacking at the places that were still hanging on until everyone was safe.

 

[+Sorana]

Amara tugged at the dark ness again, and then Mutig was there. He attacked the thing, protectively placed a pawn over her, to keep her out of the fighting. Algorath and someone else joined him, and they pushed the Shadow back, until she could move again. Reliefed that they weren't alone anymore she pushed her hair back, got to her feet. That was close. Shaking she looked over to Lilia, her hand still gripping at the other woman's arm.

"How are you? Are you alright?"

@kenod

Edited April 23, 2019 by Sorana

[+Invocation]

7 hours ago, MacThorstenson said:

It was in their nature ever since Melkor became Mor-

Quote

*snort*

 

[kenod]

3 hours ago, Sorana said:

Amara tugged at the dark ness again, and then Mutig was there. He attacked the thing, protectively placed a pawn over her, to keep her out of the fighting. Algorath and someone else joined him, and they pushed the Shadow back, until she could move again. Reliefed that they weren't alone anymore she pushed her hair back, got to her feet. That was close. Shaking she looked over to Lilia, her hand still gripping at the other woman's arm.

"How are you? Are you alright?"

@kenod

Lilia nodded, still shaken from the attack. "For how long has that thing been here?" she asked.

[+ZincAboutIt]

The tendrils of shadow slowly receded, seeming almost to dissolve where they touched the deepest shadows of the tunnels. Still, a strange feeling remained in the air around them, like the darkness was merely nursing its wounds, not truly gone. Sound echoed oddly, the lapping of water at their ankles sometimes loud, sometimes soft. There was a thickness to the air, as though everyone's ears were padded with cotton.

Aldred ran up to the group, noticing Thorstein standing with a glowing bag and a long axe. "You found us then? Good," he said, panting. Aldred jerked on the wrist of Karl, who staggered after him dumbly, eyes wide in terror. "Reiner tried to make a break for it after Mutig charged off - unsurprising. He ran down that way," he pointed back the way he'd come, "and... well I'm not sure, actually."

There had been a high, keening scream, then - nothing. No splash of a body falling limp into the water. No fevered panting of a young man caught off guard. No low moans of the wounded. Silence. He and Karl had stood there in the deepening gloom, listening. Then, the thrumming of magic had reached a deafening roar, and Aldred caught sight of something moving out of the corner of his eye. It hung in the air like a fat, black spider, shuddering along in an odd, fitful gait. One moment, it was far ahead, then, behind, and then, back where it started. He could never get a firm look at it, try as he might. When he heard the commotion further off, he'd lost sight of it, only seeing its tendril-like legs or sharp protrusions fading back into the shadow.

"I think I might have caught a look at it," Aldred said, letting go of Karl's wrist. The boy stood there, staring at the wall, clearly in shock. "Did anyone hear it speak? They mentioned it speaking to them, demanding food and the like. Did it speak to any of you?"

[+Sorana]

"No. Or if it did, I didn't listen."

Amara helped Lilia back to her feet.

"It simply was there, attacking us, but it tried to trap me, not to kill immediatly."

[Chasmfiend#1]

46 minutes ago, Sorana said:

"No. Or if it did, I didn't listen."

Amara helped Lilia back to her feet.

"It simply was there, attacking us, but it tried to trap me, not to kill immediatly."

 "Whatever it wanted, it seemed either desperate enough to attack another spirit, or smart enough to try and pick us off, going for the healers first."

Mutig looked around, then felt something at his side. One glance told him enough, the thing had scored a good hit on his ribs when he had burst in. He casually moved to the side, looking towards Thorstein, while hiding his ribs. We can worry about that later, but I won't be making that mistake twice.

"Thanks for showing up when you did."

 

[+Sorana]

Quote

How grave is the injury?

@Chasmfiend#1

[Chasmfiend#1]

5 hours ago, Sorana said:

@Chasmfiend#1

Spoiler

Bruises, a few points where skin broke, and a rib or two fractured. 

@Sorana

[+Sorana]

Amara turned her head to Mutig, when he spoke again, thanked the other guy for showing up.

Even in the dim light of the alley she could see his injuries. Nothing grave, but a broken rib could lead to something worse if it puctured a lung for example.

"Mutig."

She placed a hand on his shoulder, or at least the joint the would have been the shoulder if he was a human.

"Let me take a look, please?"

@Chasmfiend#1

[Chasmfiend#1]

4 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Amara turned her head to Mutig, when he spoke again, thanked the other guy for showing up.

Even in the dim light of the alley she could see his injuries. Nothing grave, but a broken rib could lead to something worse if it puctured a lung for example.

"Mutig."

She placed a hand on his shoulder, or at least the joint the would have been the shoulder if he was a human.

"Let me take a look, please?"

@Chasmfiend#1

Mutig paused for a moment, silently cursing himself for being obvious, then he turned, allowing Amara to see the injury.He thought for a moment, then answered Aldred.

 "I didn't hear it speak, it didn't even grunt when we attacked."

 @Sorana 

@ZincAboutIt

[+Sorana]

1 minute ago, Chasmfiend#1 said:

Mutig paused for a moment, silently cursing himself for being obvious, then he turned, allowing Amara to see the injury.

Amara looked at it, placed a hand next to it and felt.

"It's nothing dangerous."

She hesitated, then only pressed some leaves on the wound to numb the pain and staunch the bleeding.

"It has time until afterwards, but then I'd like to take a closer look."

[MacThorstenson]

On 4/24/2019 at 0:59 AM, Chasmfiend#1 said:

"Thanks for showing up when you did."

 

"Your welcome, sorry I was late." Thorstein moved on, looking at the other members of the group, checking to see if they were alright, then he walked up to Aldred. "I didn't hear it talk to me by the way." He paused. "What are you going to do now? The way I see it, now that we know that this thread exists, we are the only ones who can defeat it. Everyone else has a fear of it, and as you know, fear is what gives the enemy strength."

@ZincAboutIt

[Vargo Seldon]

Algorath had stayed quite during the exchange.  He piped up, speaking to the old man, "Before you showed up and asked us for help, I was just another Apex.  Rumors are a powerful thing.  They changed me from a murderer to a savior."  He addressed the rest of the group, "If everyone could forget about it and not worry, then it would disappear.  The one world where you can make your problems go away by not facing them."  He chuckled wryly, "But since everyone is, then we have no choice but to also.  Fear is only natural, but how we use that fear is up to us."

[+Invocation]

1 hour ago, Vargo Seldon said:

"But since everyone is, then we have no choice but to also.  Fear is only natural, but how we use that fear is up to us."

"Hear hear," said Janim, who had been conspicuously absent from the fight due to internal conflict. "Well said, big guy." 

[Chasmfiend#1]

Mutig looked towards the shadows, noting that they had begun inching closer again. Than, with no warning, a voice spoke from the darkness, vibrating all around the group.

 "Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot." The voice was smooth, friendly, as if it hadn't just attacked them. A shadowed figure stepped out of the darkness,  shadows trailing it, his face and body resembling more of a pillar than of a human.

 "You've got guts to try and make us friends right after being pushed back." Mutig said with a wince, perhaps the ribs were a problem. The creature seemed to look at him, noting the wound, and extended a tendril towards him, to which he snarled. It stopped then spoke again.

 "I swear on the Goddess of this wisdom, I will not hurt you, I merely wish to quench your pain." It's disarming voice, backed by its calm demeanor, allowed Mutig to gamble, knowing the group was right there and could stop it before it did any lasting harm. The shadow drifted above the wound, then smaller threads flowed from the mass, diving in and out of the wound. Mutigs eyes widened, he could feel the shadows in him working, mending bones and patching skin, fur made from shadow grew into place, menacing the rest of his fur. "You will need to keep this in shadows, so as to keep the patch up job from falling apart, but now it will be safe until it can be properly treated." Then it looked towards the rest of the group "I had been trying to help, when you and your friends startled me, I was getting a healer for a child under my watch. He had been stabbed in the back, just under the ribs. I have done what I can to make him comfortable but I can only do so much." It seemed as if it was directing this point towards Amara, almost if... Suddenly Karl began inching away, trying to hide behind Aldred, which caught it's attention.

 "Servant Karl, why do you hide from me? Have I not tended to your own injuries, guarded you from the rest of the gangs, seeing you fed?" Karl looked at it, fear shining in his eyes.

 "What did you do to Reiner?" Karl asked. 

 "I did nothing." It responded , "he had run into an opposing gang. I had tried saving him but he was too blind with creed to listen to my warning. That means your gang now has no leader, for which I was hoping you would take."

 Karl seemed stunned now, "but I led these people here to fight you."

 " And we've fought, no harm was done, though I've never been attacked with toys before," it seemed to search Thorstein, as if wondering what else he had hidden, "and I need someone devoted to lead, someone I can speak to and know he will heed the warnings, are you in? " it said it so calmly, as if it didn't feel remotely betrayed. Karl timidly stepped forwards. "Your shirt." It said, and Karl removed it. The shadow rushed forward, ingolfing Karl. It twisted and turned, Karl yelled inside. Then the shadows receded back to the mass, revealing it's handy work. Karl now looked a few shades darker, as if shadows where just under his skin. His eyes where black save for his blue eyes. He looked at himself, than at it. The shadow almost laughed, "tell your gang they are to take this night off duty, to become reacquainted with me and my leadership." And with that Karl scampered off, disappearing through the shadows.

@Sorana @Steel Inquisitive @Vargo Seldon @Turtle373 @Invocation @ZincAboutIt @MacThorstenson

[+Invocation]

"That...didn't strike me as a good thing. Do we chase it?" Janim asked.

[kenod]

Lilia walked up to the shadow creature, studying it, walking around it. "Huh," she said, sounding curious. "For how long have you been down here?"

[Vargo Seldon]

The thing seemed friendly enough, and it had healed Mutig.  But he'd seen the results of it's handiwork.  Victims gone in the night with nary a trace.  Scents didn't lie either.  The thing smelled... foul.  Like something had died then was brought back to life by evil magic.  

Lilia started to walk towards the thing.  Algorath uttered a warning, but the thing probably wouldn't dare right now.

[Chasmfiend#1]

9 hours ago, kenod said:

Lilia walked up to the shadow creature, studying it, walking around it. "Huh," she said, sounding curious. "For how long have you been down here?"

 "I've been here for the better part of a year now." It responded , letting her walk around him, then it turned towards Algorath. And smiled.

 "Its been a long time since I've seen a hybrid." Its shadowed figure dissolved, reforming into thick shadows around Algorath, studying him. "Where is the pack?"

 @Vargo Seldon @kenod

[+Sorana]

Amara observed them, unsure what to do. Something was off, and the way it had taken care of the wound... It felt wrong.

[Chasmfiend#1]

11 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Amara observed them, unsure what to do. Something was off, and the way it had taken care of the wound... It felt wrong.

Mutig watched, thinking through what had happened. Then it clicked.

 "You sly little fox!" He bellowed , making it focus on him again. "You made it so someone will HAVE to go with you, and insured the light won't be as effective, by having me as your own meat shield!" He cursed himself, why did I let it do that!?!

The creature looked at Mutig, a smile now clear on it's face. It seemed confident that it was in control now. "Honestly, I'm surprised that you even allowed me to get close right after having a brief fight with me. Especially when I had given you that injury."

 It looked towards Amara, all pretense of friendship gone. It's voice Now took a snuck, knowing tone, as if it Now held the upper hand. "Now, where were we? Ah yes, you and the bear where about to follow me, while the rest figured out how to stop my little Karl before he can start uniting gangs to stage a brief assault against the city guard. Combine their lust to impress me, and my presence through the boy, they will kill several this time around."

 It looked almost apologetic about what it said, looking towards Aldred. "After all, we both know what a little Faith in ones master can do for his followers, wouldn't you agree?"

@Sorana @Steel Inquisitive @Vargo Seldon @Turtle373 @Invocation @kenod @ZincAboutIt

[MacThorstenson]

Thorstein glanced at Mutig, mouthed sorry, then proceeded to shake up his bag of marbles so they lit up and swung them around at pieces of the Shadow nearby, causing them to retract in pain. 

[Vargo Seldon]

Algorath growled and swung at the thing as it closed in around him.  He looked up in little surprise as Mutig revealed the true nature of the thing.  The rest didn't seem so surprised either.  No matter how hard it might try, it could never mask it's foulness.