Chapter 3 -- Village by the Sea

[Terra Artemos]

They travel swiftly through the forest back to where Terra and Mana had seen the smashed boat. The big man seemes winded from the pace and leanes against a tree for a quick rest. Terra though the trip was a little more dificault for her than it seemed for the elf is still within her endurance and scans the area causiously incase there is an attacker lurking in the forest. The elf seem to pick up the trail quickly and heads back into the forest, Terra followed though again she had a harder time moving through the brush then the elf. It was as if the forest willfully allowed the elf to pass, where it snagged and grabbed at Terra slowing her progress. The elf slowed only slightly to allow her and the big man to keep up.

'I am grey. All but those like me see only darkness and light, they do not see the grey between them. In this greyness I dwell. I would not wish this fate on any other.'

[Paladia Entonei]

Paladia led them through the brush until they stopped finally in the thinning edge of the wooded area, not far from a small house with a hefty supply of firewood stacked at an angle along one side. A man around the back was resting on a short stool whittling at a peice of wood while a thick peice of hobbitweed was soothingly packed between his bottom lip and teeth. Smoke lightly curled up from the tiny smokestack and nothing seemed particularily out of order.

Dominic huffed up behind Paladia, now panting and the fiery red of his beard was damp with sweat. "The tracks....they lead....here?" he staggered between breaths. The sailor sighed and looked to Terra and seemed to straighten all of a sudden, though is chest still heaved with each breath. "That can't be right," he continued, "This is Stephen's house...he doesn't do nothing but cut would for us, he wouldn't go about housing---" Dominic cut himself off as the man with the snuff spit masterfully and turned to go back inside. Reaching behind him, the man heaved a large sword up and reattached the menacing weapon onto his belt and moved on inside.

"Right....a woodcutter's house no longer," Pally muttered, inspecting the area. The lumberjack's wagon for delivering wood was looking very unused on the front lawn. "When was the last time anybody ever saw him?" Dominic could only shake his head.

"I've been out of town for the past month and half that. I wouldn't know. The old boy never really did leave his house much, kept to himself, you know?"

[Shan Gutarus]

Shan let out a bit of a sigh when Paladia went off to save the day. She was good at that. The cat stretched out, digging his front claws into the dirt and raking along the soil as Shan's ebony black tail whipped out behind him. Shan let out a yawn, a long pink tongue lolling about between sets of vicious white teeth. His muscles rippled about under his flesh as Shan sat back down, looking up to Kaelan who was watching him.

Shan's intelligent, bright blue eyes stared up at the mercenary for a moment, scrutinizing him, before slipping down to his captured companions. One of the mercenaries, whom Shan recalled the woman referring to as Daryl, sneered at the cat. Shan sneered back, licking his lips for emphasis, before setting his large head down on paws the size of dinner plates.

Suddenly, a smell afronted Shan's keen nose. It was sweet and tempting with a hint of spice and a sultry, warm aroma. It lingered on the breeze for a moment, tickling at whiskers before rushing into his sinus' with each breath. Pellegra was baking.

Why the old hag would bake at this time was beyond Shanvorin, but the spiced sweet rolls, probably with a dollop of creamed icing, was too much to resist; especially considering all he had eaten for the past few months was raw rabbit. The shingar stepped slowly past the mercenaries who, by now, could also smell the scrumptious treats being created, and peaked a large, furry head through the door.

[Terra Artemos]

Despite the effort of keeping up with  Paladia, Terra was not nearly as winded as Dominic, though she was breathing heavier. Terra listened intently to Dominic and Paladia as they discussed the small house, as she also appraised the house, and watched the big man go inside. When Dominic and Paladia had finished Terra glanced to Paladia, and then back to the small house.

"Well, I am guessing we will have to fight him out. There must be at least two men in there, and with what I have seen of the happenings around this village, I doubt they are just going to turn the mage over because we asked them to."

Terra then turned to Dominic who seemed to know a lot about the area and may know some details about this small house that would be handy as well.

"Do you know anything about this house its self? Where do you think they would be keeping the mage?"

'I am grey. All but those like me see only darkness and light, they do not see the grey between them. In this greyness I dwell. I would not wish this fate on any other.'

[Darien Gulath]

ZERIGRON:

Hidden between the leaves he watched the people move… Hearing every word spoken by them. If they could only know what kind of ambush it was awaiting for them. Not 2 men. More like 15 men. Including Bolthor and Radirez. Darién had ordered them to await in a ambush guarding the woodcutters house that was now more like a small fortress… They could’ve slain 20 men before even losing the element of surprise… And then they appear with only 3 people? “This must be a damn joke” Where Zherigron’s thoughts. And he slowly continued dipping his arrows in the fierce poison to fire off any fatal shots. From his height he could also see the 4 archers still located at the roof. And he wondered where Radirez his men where hidden.  

Edited by: Darien Gulath at: 5/25/05 17:25

[Paladia Entonei]

"Do you know anything about this house its self? Where do you think they would be keeping the mage?"

Dom stood for a moment, scratching at his face through the coarse bristle of his beard. "I've lived in this town my whole life and since I was old enough to spot a pretty girl, I've been sailing. Granted, when I was a strapping young lad, I used to help rebuild Old Grammon's old house. The elder fellow watched us boys like hawks he did, as we built. Hard work for a young guy it was, out in the sun--" Dominic took a cue from Paladia who was staring at him, not looking too impressed. "Anyway, the plans he gave us were old. I mean old. Could barely read them. Same layout as most the other houses around here, really. I guess it's just what worked, so people stuck with it." Paladia was glaring now and the sailor cleared his throat. "What I'm getting at is that there's a chance, and a chance I mean, that there's a stair just by that back door there leading up to an attic or loft. It's none big for a room or nothing, but you could sit a few men up there though not so good comfortable."

Paladia nodded. "It's not much, but I guess it will have to do. And if that's all we know other than what we can see with our own eyes, then we just make do." The set up and numbers were so much different than what Pally was used to. Her training in the sense of group versus group had always been on the defensive; taking care of intruders. Never the offensive. She stared at what they could see. Four archers, on the roof. Not a big deal. The distance was nothing Pally couldn't handle. She just had to be quick and good enough so not to give them a chance to return fire or, should she get her hopes up, alert the others. And Paladia's skill with a bow was nothing to be underestimated, she thought with pride, twanging at her bow string in thought.

The numbers of the armed men was something she wasn't so sure about. She assumed there would be a good group inside the small cottage. Having seen both Terra and Dominic from the corner of her eye in battle, she figured the both of them capable of handling their fair share. But would it be enough?

They were all looking at her. Sweat beaded on her brow in thought. "If there are too many armed men, they'll get hurt. Will they listen to me? They want to listen to me. Why do they want to listen to me?" she thought, her fingernail clicking at the bow string. Paladia bit her lip and looked up at them. "But I need that mage"

"Okay...I think, if I can take the archers out quickly we might be okay with the others. I should hope I could take them out silently, but it would be hard," Pally silenced, waiting for their reaction. A little bit inside of her wanted one of the others to come up with a better idea. To tell her what to do.

[Warrior Kaelan]

OOC: Will be hard to post for an regularly for an indefinite amount of time.

Kaelan, out of sheer curiousity, watches the big cat step toward the building, and follows it, at a fair distance. Something about the smell of someone baking... something, he'd had little experience with this kind of thing first-hand, although he'd smelled this before, intrigued the creature, who seemed tame enough. Kaelan moves closer, but not within reach of the creature.

Why do you ask?

[Terra Artemos]

Terra listens intently to Dominic's story, though Paladia did not seem all that impressed. Terra knew that such details so long passed must be difficult to recall at will, and so decides to let him work through it, and search his memory aloud for the details he is trying to recall. Finally he manages to remember that there may be a set of stairs by the back door that leads to an attic or loft. It is not so much the possibility of the stairs that sticks to her mind, though that very well may be where they are keeping the mage, it is the possibility of the back door if he wasn't. Paladia seems uncertain, and so Terra decide to speak up.

"I don't like how lightly guarded it seems from here, it's just does not seem right some how. Had this house been along a more busy route I could see them trying to stay out of sight, but this woodcutter does not seem the type to have such travel near his house. I would suspect that the apparently light guard is meant to draw us into some sort of a trap. We have gotten ourselves in  Atreyk's way, he is likely trying to remove us as an obstacle to whatever agenda he has, and knows we will not allow. The mage was likely convenient bait for a trap."

Terra pauses to think for a moment, then continues.

"I think its best to come at the house from behind, and with any luck we may be able to catch any men waiting for us by surprise. Dominic, if those stairs are there, do you thing you can handle any men that may be up in that loft? I will be no good at fighting in such a tight space as you described, and that would leave us to handle anyone on the main level."

*OOC* Pally, I don't think we are supposed to know about the archers yet. But when they do come into play leave one for me. I have plans as discussed in IRC for one, and shooting him with an arrow will just add insult to insulting injury.  

'I am grey. All but those like me see only darkness and light, they do not see the grey between them. In this greyness I dwell. I would not wish this fate on any other.'

Edited by: Terra Artemos at: 5/29/05 18:42

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