"Alright come on out, I know ya been followin' me. Ya not bein' subtle 'bout it. Plus I can see ya tail from here." Yarris called to the mage now exasperated with what the mage was trying to do.
Edited by TheStarscream759 on Sep 12th 2020 at 4:08:58 PM
Markonville Adventurer's Guild
Haze scowls briefly at the impression being mocked for asking a reasonable question, but he puts that aside as it becomes evident that Yarris' frustration isn't directed specifically at him.
In fact, the idea that a skeleton could get frustrated was a curious sight to begin with.
"Weird. No traces of animating magic, illusion or enchantments... Unless there is some means of hiding magic on your person." He steps outside to get a better look, apparently having not paid the lizard woman any attention until she was pointed out. "And clearly that one isn't pulling your strings. Never imagined seeing a living skeleton before"
Edited by BlitzTrain on Sep 13th 2020 at 9:29:20 AM
THE SLORG!
Markonville, just outside the Adventurers' Guild
The lizardfolk woman kept staring from the building corner, even as Yarris turned to call out to her. A short pause later, she walked around the corner and approached slowly, and stopped several paces away from Yarris, eying him with that same curious but cautious look. She did look briefly at Maria and give her a little wave of acknowledgement, since they had met in passing before.
The lizardfolk woman was Ertisah, and she had registered with the guild just a few days ago. It wasn't like there was many lizardfolk women in Markonville, let alone wearing a light blue witch's outfit, so there was no chance of this being another lizardfolk woman and mistaking her for Ertisah. Ertisah hadn't ever talked much while at the guild, but had apparently been delving into the lair on her own as far down as the third floor, given the guild quests she'd picked up over the last couple of days.
Edited by FirockFinion on Sep 13th 2020 at 9:44:02 AM
You are reading this.
Bona-Fide Mastah
Markonville Adventurers’ Guild
Still not knowing how to properly conduct herself verbally, Mariayn opts to merely return the greeting to the Lizardfolk woman.
Lair 2nd Floor
“A carcass? How, pray tell, will those be of use?!” Reynial asks, quickly spinning around to fire another fireball as a small group of flying insectoids.
Thord had fought bandits, zombies, and trolls before. So killing this giant rat and his mate was no great difficulty. But Thord was also a chinchilla so lugging these giant rats all by his lonesome was decidedly less easy. His bloodlust was up and he wanted nothing more than to continue getting into this scrap but he knew if he did, he'd never be able to get out of here with his prize intact. So, as it were, he began walking back into town, dragging the rats by the scruff of their neck and heading towards the Markonville Adventurer's Guild, nodding at the guardsd as he passed by.
THE SLORG!
Ysersya's lair level two
"If those nasty vines are given dead bugs and some water to consume, they are more docile, apparently" Dhremir explained to Reynial.
"Probably our best shot at bringing one back to the surface intact" Ailuin agreed with a nod.
Finally, with the latest rounded corner in the maze-like layout of the floor, they spotted three of the vine plants grouped together next to a narrow walking space. There was also just a bit past them, a staircase down to the next floor...
Trikiz was staring intently past the vines, to the staircase. Ailuin noticed however, and shook his head. "Trikiz, no, I know that look- we absolutely should not go down there" Ailuin objected preemptively.
"But we're in good shape this time! Every floor down the things to find are a lot more valuable! We could get some really good things!" Trikiz argued.
"It also gets a lot more dangerous on each floor down, and I'd like not to die" Ailuin pointed out.
Markonville, lair entrance
One of the two guards was now looking out of the gate, waiting for something, but the other guard simply gave Thord a return nod of acknowledgement. It was also about that time that three other guards happened to be arriving, which was seemingly what the guard looking out was waiting for; one of the three arriving guards was a woman, and she had a more ornate helmet with a short crest, along with a cape hanging from her shoulders. Clearly, this was the captain.
"Captain Buckley" the guard at the gate said, giving a salute.
"Why'd you signal us down here? What's going on?" Captain Buckley asked, her voice like that of a fair maiden, seemingly in stark contrast to her rank, armor, and weaponry, though it did have a bit of a cutting edge to it.
"We had a strange encounter we knew should be reported, but there was no urgency to leave our post" the guard at the gate replied. "It may seem a bit hard to believe, but... We met a, seemingly benign, talking skeleton" he continued.
"... What? From in the dungeon?" Captain Buckley questioned, very confused.
"Actually, no" the gate guard answered.
Edited by FirockFinion on Sep 18th 2020 at 2:09:23 AM
You are reading this.
The Lizard mage had finally revealed herself but she wasn't being very talkative, Yarris turned his attention back on Haze the moment he said 'Never imagined seeing a living skeleton before'. "I can tell ya there's nothin' like me, mate. And ya lucky, there's not many livin' skeletons that would fight by ya side." Yarris said sincerely. "I'm Yarris by the way, what's ya name ?"
Markonville Adventurer's guild
Haze nods at the comment about fighting along side skeletons "Indeed" he puts out his only gloved hand to shake "Haze, the Cursebreaker, though I suppose that's more a title than name."
Regardless of whether the gesture is returned Haze continues, indicating the elf inside "Though I don't actually work here, that would be Mariayn"
He looks toward the lizardwoman to see if she is planning to come to the guild as well, but not knowing his place in that situation Haze continues his invitation to Yarris before heading inside "I assume you're here on business too?"
Presumably Thord will also be along shortly? But I can't think of how to react to that possibility at the moment
THE SLORG!
Markonville, out front of the Adventurers' Guild
Ertisah shook her head after Haze asked. "Following him" Ertisah answered simply and truthfully, pointing to Yarris. "Seeing if he's actually a good skeleton like he said, or not" she explained, and seemed content to leave it at that.
You are reading this.
Yarris just shook his head in disbelief and rather calmly went: "Why didn't ya just try and attempt to say hello to me then? Would've saved a lot of time there then hidin' in a street corner. I understand why ya did it, that part I get, but what I don't understand is why ya feel the need to do it anyway." He started pacing back and forth from he was while still looking at the mage.
"Ya wanted to be careful, ya wanted to make sure that I wasn't doin' anythin' bad, but there's more than one way to tell if someone is good or bad. And here's the biggest thing about me. I'm not a skeleton, I'm human. That's right, this is not my natural form, I was turned into a skeleton by one of my ol' colleagues who I thought was my friend. Not by a spell, not from being brought back from the dead, but by a potion he had made but in his arrogance he messed up his attempt to kill me." He stopped pacing and then approached the mage looking very sincere as he then continued: "I would never hurt anyone innocent, ever, especially not you. Sincerely, I'm treatin' ya like anyone else would."
THE SLORG!
Markonville, out front of the Adventurers' Guild
Ertisah stared blankly at Yarris as he spoke, her expression totally neutral. She leaned away slightly when he stepped closer, but still kept that neutral expression. Once he finished, she was silent for a few moments, as if not yet realizing that he was expecting a response. She blinked at him a couple times, glanced at Haze and Mariayn with the same neutral expression, then looked back at Yarris.
"... You could be lying" Ertisah said, not in an accusatory or doubtful tone, but rather just pointing out the simple truth of the matter. "If your story is true, then you already know about people who lie and then hurt you" the lizardfolk added, and seemed content with that for her entire explanation as to why she'd tail Yarris rather than just talk to him.
You are reading this.
Outside Markonville Adventurer's Guild
"Hard to imagine a villain who actually admits to being a villain when asked." Haze said, trying to add a hint of amusement to the proceedings. "Still, while I can tell there's no spells affecting you, the lack of necromancy doesn't prove that you're a good guy either..." The cloudscale rubbed his chin thoughtfully "Must have been one hell of a potion to do something like this though"
Edited by BlitzTrain on Oct 3rd 2020 at 5:16:51 AM
Markonville Adventurers Guild
It was messy, bloody, and heavy work but Thord eventually managed to lug the corpses of the rats he'd slain back to the Markonville Adventurer's Guild. He had gotten the taste for battle to whet his appetite but he'd want more pretty soon!
"Oy lass! I've got the rats and I've come to get my reward!"
Yarris could see that he wasn’t getting anywhere fast, he moved away from Ertisah, and then sighed to himself, and then turned around to Haze he knew that he was going to bring out an object that he hated so much but it was the only way that they would believe him. “I didn’t wanna bring this item up earlier.” He announced addressing Haze and Ertisah: “But I have no choice but to bring it out.” There was some bitterness in his voice, wasn’t necessarily directed towards them but more to towards the item in question and no sooner did Yarris take this item out of his bag, he was scowling at it. Finally it was in plain sight for everyone to see. Yarris held out a brown leather book, on it’s front cover it had a beautiful red gem in the middle of it, in the left top most corner of the book was some sort of crest. The crest had four squares with green and blue coloured patterns to them, the outline was that of a shield, in the centre of it was a red lion holding a sword.
“This right here, is a journal that once belonged to one of my former colleagues. These are notes that I found when I came to. It’s a journal of the person who turned me into a skeleton in the first place and why I’m here today. His name is Arkas.” Yarris showed Haze the journal and Ertisah so that they could get a better look of it, then he pointed a skeletal finger at the crest. “See the crest there? This is the crest for the guild, the guild that I was the leader of. But not anymore.” On the last part of the statement although he had been trying hard not to let his bitterness about this subject seep out there was however a hint of resentfulness in his tone. He continued: “Arkas is a scientist, supposedly a great mind, I trusted him and then he had to go and try to off me, kill me essentially. At first I was betrayed by his actions but then the more I read this thing, the more I became to realise, that his hatred for me was all there from the start, he had been plannin’ this for some time.”
He then opened the journal and started rapidly turning pages until he came across the one he wanted and read a loud: “It’s time, my moment of triumph is upon me, the potion is all ready to take to that fool, Yarris, he still thinks that I’m his friend and he doesn’t even suspect a thing. Once he drinks a drop of the potion which of course I will secretly pour into his goblet, he will no longer be in my company and I will have glory not him, that beast will be as good as dead.”
THE SLORG!
Markonville, outside the Adventurers' Guild
Haze's words got Ertisah to relax. "No necromancy? Then it is true he's not being controlled. Not through magic, at least; blackmail, maybe, but unlikely" Ertisah noted.
Thord had been ignored by the guards at the lair entrance after his initial appearance, so there was no obstacle to him reaching the guild. When he did get there, Ertisah gave him another fairly neutral look, then just stepped a bit away from the rat corpse.
Then Yarris took out the journal and showed it off, which Ertisah looked at with mild interest. When Yarris read from it though, her expression faded back to that more neutral look, staring at him blankly in that same way as when she had noted that he could just be a liar.
"... Anyone can write something down in a book; it doesn't make it true" Ertisah pointed out, much like before. "What he said is much more convincing of your claims" she added, motioning to Haze, and once again seeming content to leave it at that.
You are reading this.
Markonville, outside Adventurer's Guild
Haze held his chin thoughtfully as Yarris presented the journal, he was somewhat curious what beast the entry referred to and what else might be written in it. But objectively the lizardfolk woman had a point, for all they knew this Arkas was totally made up.
Though it seemed to him that if Yarris had some nefarious purpose it would probably be better served avoiding detection altogether rather than trying to gain people's trust with a falsified story.
"It's true, having the means to spot and recognize different branches of magic is rather important when you identify and disenchant cursed items for a living. For instance... You had some sort of hex prepared when I first saw you, right?" Haze asked Ertisah simply, not personally concerned by the idea she was ready for self defense while watching the skeleton.
To Yarris he said "That Journal entry doesn't exactly explain why you would come to Markonville though. Do you think Arkas came here for some reason?"
Edited by BlitzTrain on Oct 5th 2020 at 4:27:03 AM
THE SLORG!
Markonville, outside the Adventurers' Guild
"Yes, that's right" Ertisah answered with a nod of acknowledgement, and said nothing more yet.
You are reading this.
THE SLORG!
Markonville, outside the Adventurers' Guild
Taking over Mariayn for the time being since Skyzerk is dropping out. Also surprise post after all because I couldn't sleep yet.
Mariayn was taken aback and obviously rather nervous as Thord showed up dragging the corpse. "U-um, sir... Y-you... You only had to bring back the tails" Mariayn struggled to say, then gave a short, nervous laugh.
Then Yarris was giving his explanation and showing off the journal, which Mariayn looked at with a curious expression. "I know that crest" Mariayn said, knowing of Yarris' former guild since they were a competing organization to her own. "You say you were the leader, and your name is Yarris? Well, your reputation precedes you, though your reputation also says you're dead" the mountain elf noted, then added, "though in your present state that would make sense."
You are reading this.
"Well lass, I guess I just wanted an arm workout." Thord said, showing off his furry biceps. For a talking chinchilla, they were fairly impressive.
"That and the fact that I figure there's someone in town who can make a leather vest out of this. I tend to like wearing trophies of my conquest." Thord said truthfully, pointing out his necklace made of lizardman teeth that he'd taken from the defeated Lorgut the Barbaric. His leather bracers were made up of the skin of a cursed ram that Thord had defeated. These rats were not nearly as impressive a feat but Thord felt that a vest made out of their skins would be fitting tribute to his having finally made the journey out to Markonville at long last.
"Also about my payment?"
Thord would wait for an answer from Mariayn about the vest and the payment, keeping an idle ear on the conversation going on with Yarris.
THE SLORG!
Markonville, outside the Adventurers' Guild
Apologies for the delay in response; real life has been kind of eventful lately.
"W-well, just remember we'll need the tails as confirmation of the task completed; I'll be right back with your money" Mariayn said to Thord, then headed back into the guild house and back behind the desk for a moment.
She came back out not long after, counting out silver and copper coins from a little coin purse. "Yes, let's see, for that many rats you would get... This much" Mariayn thought aloud, scooping the counted coins into a smaller bag, then holding it out to Thord, a little shakily.
You are reading this.
Yarris then heard Mariayn say that she recognised the crest of his former guild and by definition recognise as the hero he was. “Finally, somebody here gets it! That’s what I was waitin’ for all day, for somebody to recognise me by my title.” He replied back feeling proud about what she said. Though she did point out that he was dead, but Yarris knew exactly what she meant it by that statement, it wasn’t necessarily the fact he was dead at all, but more along the lines of that Mariayn said: ‘reputation’ and ‘dead’ in the same sentence that could mean only one thing, the rumours that Arkas had spread across far and wide about him.
“Ah, ya kidding’ me! Here too?! I’m gonna flamin’ kill that bastard!” Yarris yelled at the sky once he connected the dots: “I bet Arkas right now is livin’ in some fancy shmancy mansion, downin’ goblets of wine and bein’ a smug git!” He then calmed himself down and then turned to Mariyan and added though the tone was very tired and almost sorrowful: “The rumours about my ‘supposed death’ have been blown outta of proportion about me. HE’S the reason why I’m here, I wanna find him and get everythin’ back the way it was, the people’s respect for me, my flesh and bone, actually bein’ treated as another person then a novelty ‘skeleton man’.”
It just seemed like the day was going from bad to worse, Ertisah and Haze weren’t convinced by the journal, Yarris was getting worked up over the mere mention of Arkas’ name and had a pounding headache that wouldn’t leave him alone and he was trying so hard to have everyone listen to him and his story but even then he was struggling with that. Finally Yarris’ face turned from frustration to just plain melancholy in a matter of five seconds.
“What do I have to do? What do I have to do to tell people that I’m no monster, that I’m actually here to help people? I didn’t asked to be a skeleton, I never asked for that asshole to just put some of his stupid potion into my drink. Nobody else was there but me and him, the only ones who really know what happened. He thought that he could kill me without me knowin’, he claimed that he killed a beast that he never went near. He’s no ‘great mind’, he’s just an egotistic who wants attention. And here I am, tryin’ to prove myself to you lot and so far it’s not workin’ out.”
As he was saying all this, a few tears started streaming down his skull like face, he leaned his head on a wall facing away from everyone, before he did so he put the journal away in his bag and then he start quietly sobbing into his elbow, he was too tired to continue on, the day had effectively and immediately, drowned him emotionally and physically.
THE SLORG!
Markonville, outside the Adventurers' Guild
Mariayn looked somewhat embarrassed though also sympathetic as Yarris started to cry; Ertisah continued staring with that same neutral expression.
"Um, sir? I don't think anybody here thinks you're a monster here to hurt us, and you're clearly not dead dead, so..." Mariayn pointed out, trailing off without wanting to say out loud that Yarris was misreading the situation and overreacting. "Look, how about we step back and go one step at a time here. You didn't answer what brought you here to Markonville; better yet, what brought you here to the guild?" the mountain elf asked as nicely and politely as she could.
"He wanted into the dungeon, but the town guards wouldn't let him enter. They sent him here to get proof that he isn't an undead thrall" Ertisah explained simply.
"What, that's all? We already cleared that up a minute ago thanks to mister Haze" Mariayn said, motioning to Haze, then adding to both Yarris and Ertisah, "why didn't either of you say so earlier?"
Ertisah shrugged and answered, "I was just keeping an eye on him in case he was lying to the guards. It was his own business to speak for himself."
You are reading this.
Markonville, outside adventurer's guild
Haze sheepishly adjusted his silver rimmed glasses, the only reason he could see magical auras in the first place, at Mariyan's comment. It didn't exactly feel like he'd done anything helpful now that Yarris was crying. (Definitely not a feature he could imagine being included in necromatic experiments)
"If that's what you needed I can vouch for you, no problem" Haze said in agreement with the mountain elf, leaving out the part where it would probably be easier to prove he was a good guy to the town by actually adventuring, he wasn't sure there was a good way to say so without implying Yarris had been wasting his time yet. "Come on, you look like you need a stiff drink right about now. My treat"
After he had collected his earnings, Thord idly listened by to the conversation until he could listen no longer. Thord might be a fluffy chinchilla but he was not emotionally capable to be able to deal with another man crying in his presence.
"What he needs is a swift punch in the jaw!" Thord shouted out angrily at the sight of the skeleton crying. Worst yet, it seemed everyone around him was coddling him? This simply would not stand for one such as Thord who placed value in strength and violence and little else. He had met Yarris briefly earlier that day and he'd thought he'd been a monster before. Not so now. Monsters didn't cry.
"And I'm happy to oblige the fucker! Stop sobbing like a squirrel you great bony git!" Thord said, raising his fists as a promise of what would come if Yarris didn't stop crying.
Ysersya's lair, level two
"Hah! Good show!" Dhremir yelled, bringing his shield up to block the headbutting charge of a large roach the size of a wolf, before cutting it down with his axe. Ailuin thrust his hands out to one side of the group, casting out two lines of magical energy which suspended in the air, low to the ground. Another roach scuttled forward from that side, and tried to clamber over the line only to find that it simply cut through its leg like a sharp wire; the roach was forced to back off, hissing as it did so. Trikiz caught a flying beetle about the size of her head that came at her, then swung it into the stone floor with enough force to splatter the thing on impact.
Dhremir stopped the party's forward progress for a moment, to grab up a couple of the larger pieces of the roach he'd just killed, and place them in one of his other sacks. "What's that about, Dhremir?" Trikiz asked, meeting a leaping grasshopper with a head-on punch that sent it backwards with its whole head caved in.
"We're going to want them for the vines; it was miss Stout's advice" Dhremir explained, then readied his shield and axe again and got the party moving once more.
The onslaught of various bugs lasted about another minute, before there was another lull. Now the floor was sounding quieter, with less distant chirping noises of giant bugs, though not silent completely.
You are reading this.