Day Four

Jim and Rini led the refugees south long after the sun had gone down. They had stopped for two hours in the late evening and continued under the cover of night. Jacen commandeered a pack horse which had been stripped down and used it to help guard and scout the rear flank with most of the remaining guards.

As Avelia's Beacon shone its first light back into the lands of Kenshuria, there had been no signs of pursuit. As the complaints and pleas of the villagers increased, the group finally stopped to rest. Most people fell asleep immediately even in the brightening morning light. Jim and Rini shrugged off the need for sleep, there were more important issues at hand. Jacen found some time to doze off; as much as his body wanted to keep going, his mind was still greatly fatigued from its strain in the brief battle at Wistria.

After overseeing preparation of the breakfast that would occur when the villagers woke up, Jim and Rini joined the guards at the back of the makeshift camp. It was far too calm, the Venurians would try something soon. Still, it was hard to move an army as fast as a group this size, they would have a lead on them already. After some deliberation, the guards, Jim, Rini, and a yawning Jacen agreed that five hours rest would be the limit. That would be followed by half an hour for breakfast, and then they would continue south.

By noontime, the partly revitalized group of refugees were making decent progress. There was still no sign of any kind of pursuit, or any event at all for that matter. The plains of northern and central Stradia were often lonely and uneventful.

In the late evening, one of the more keen-eyed scouts caught sight of a something in the far west. It was gone before the other guards could get a look, but the young man swore he saw a gray wolf sprinting across the plains.

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Gorn and the company didn't bother to stop for lunch. Amelia performed a rejuvenation spell on everyone in mid-morning. They all felt as if they had slept for hours and eaten a full meal once the effects set in. This left Amelia drained, however, and after heavy deliberation and minor argument Raenor lent a shoulder for her to lean on as they continued south. Darren travelled in the back of the group after that, moping and sulking far too often for a grown man.

The only stop they made was when Gorn performed some kind of druidic spell, seemingly to no positive effect. Most expected an explanation, but he said nothing, and the trek continued.

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OOC:

Now is a good time to mention some things. Firstly, the posts will go pretty fast during the 'travelling' phases (and I should say this now, there will be quite a bit of travelling in Stradia). Some character development posts would get some MAJOR kudos from all (me, your fellow posters, maybe even passing readers). Things about your past, your family, your friends, your reflection of their possible fates and battles. You know, the gooey stuff.

Secondly, minor characters. I've spoken lightly about the subject so far, but it's all been directed towards Nathano and Death_Dealer since they were the only posters with minor characters. Here is a little bit on how I'd like them to work so as to keep balance in the roleplay:

a) Every poster can have up to two minor characters related to their main character (family, friend, whatever) with mentionable statistics.
b) The cap for statistics on each minor character is II. (II Melee, or II Ranged, or I Ranged I Elementalism, whatever)
c) After those two, you may have as many minor characters as you want (more family, more friends, more whatever), but they will be counted as 'commoners' with no skills worth mentioning. If they have skills, I'll be the judge of them.
d) You can control these minor characters however you'd like to, just as you would your main character. They shouldn't be your focus, though.
e) Minor characters are fully expendable. I reserve the right to kill them off or make them go away whenever I want. I won't do so maliciously, only to drive the plot.

Any questions, you can post them in the OOC side of your post, or send me a PM. If you have an interesting idea for a minor character that cannot be so easily transferred to Stradia's makeshift skill system, contact me and we can work something out.

Edit - Ah, and I forgot to mention one last thing. The point of the guidelines up above is so the other roleplayers know what Jim and Rini, for instance, are capable of. If you have relevant minor characters right now, a quick OOC tag and their name, appearance, BRIEF relation to main character, and skills would be good. Nathano, you've probably done that already, but a refresher would be good.

Despite Amelia’s best efforts, Durin’s axe weighed heavily in its back holster. However, this was not a matter of physical fatigue. It was the dreary thoughts swarming about the dwarf’s mind which caused his feet to drag.

Until recently Durin had been too busy to give any real thought to the loss of his village. He could not be certain that his parents had been among the survivors who left Gole. Even if they had made it to Wistria, there were no signs the town had even had time to evacuate.

Gorn continued to lead the party south towards Midgaard. Durin continued along, a few feet to the right of the elf. The dwarf was thankful to be walking well ahead of his companions as his worries were etched across his face.

---

“What are we going to do!? Run forever!? I’ve already lost my family, my house, and my livelihood to those damn Venurians! Why don’t we stand and fight!?”
“It’s hopeless you fool! Did you see their numbers!?”
“Fool, am I!?” the angered villager cried as he swung a garden hoe he had been using as a walking stick at the other speaker. Just barely avoiding the blow, the unarmed man leapt and tackled the other villager to the ground.

“Break it up ye filthy maggots. If ye have the energy to fight each other, then ye have the energy to walk. Now get up and move, yer blockin’ the sensible people,” an old dwarf spoke as he peeled the two combatants apart.

“Shuddap you bearded midget!” the man bearing the hoe called out, thrusting his weapon to strike the dwarf. Calmly the dwarf sidestepped the strike and gripped the wood of the hoe. When the man had completed extension of the weapon, the dwarf forced the butt end back into the villager’s chest with a solid thud.

“Ye plan to fight off the Venurians like that? Before ye swing a weapon, ye should have an idea of how to do it.” The dwarf helped the man to his feet. It was clear he had been cowed in this little quarrel.

Not surprisingly, this commotion had drawn quite the crowd. As the man made it to his feet, Jim and Rini had forced their way to the front.

“Excuse me, old dwarf, but perhaps you could explain who you are and perhaps why I did not see your face when we were holding against the Venurians in Wistria?” they questioned with a pang of anger behind each word.

“I am Tonrel, one of the two blacksmiths hailing from Gole. Now I’ll ask ye a question: Did ye not feel the change in the air before the Venurians arrived?” Tonrel responded, returning the anger they had offered him. “I assure ye that I did, and began the preparations to evacuate the town long before the enemy made their presence known.”
“Ye – You knew they were coming?” Rini questioned.

“Aye, I’ve seen more battles then ye’re likely to before age claims ye.” Tonrel replied. “After all those years, it’s kind of become like a sixth sense to me.”

“But I saw how you dealt with the villager who struck at you. You can still fight. It is clear that you could have been a great help to us at the front lines.” Jim accused the dwarf.

Tonrel smiled, “I’m glad ye have such confidence in these agin’ bones lad, but me best fightin’ days are long gone. That’s why I traded in me blood-stained axe fer a blacksmiths hammer. I guarantee things would have ended differently had it not been a simple farmer and his hoe. If it comes down to it, I won’t be goin’ down without a fight… but fer now me experience and ability to command will serve ye best.”

“Tonrel ye oaf!! He was a simple farmer!!” an old female dwarf called as she parted the crowd and approached Tonrel.

“He started it ye brilliant hag!” Tonrel replied facing the female dwarf. Turning to Jim and Rini he explained, “Ah this is me wife, Daelina.” To which Daelina simply tipped her head.

Rini paused for a moment, “… don’t you think you were a little too rough with that farmer?” he questioned, after seeing the other villagers supporting the farmer as he walked.

“It was self defense… he calmed down after that didn’t he?” Tonrel answered before mumbling beneath his breath, “Bearded midget me arse”.

---

OOC: +1 melee for Durin, putting him at Melee: V
Also, I would like to apologize for my extended absence from the world of Stradia.

Now for the NPCs:
Name: Tonrel
Connection to Durin: Tonrel is Durin’s father. He is the man who taught Durin how to fight. Durin is mostly unaware of Tonrel’s battle experience as he was born long after Tonrel settled down and began blacksmithing.
Appearance: Rough, pockmarked face with visible scaring. A bulbous nose, much like Durin’s. Black frizzled hair down ¾ of the dwarf’s back with a beard measuring to the same point in front.
Skills: Physical - Melee: II
Special: Battle Experience (cleared with Azi for when it’s used and what it can do)

Name: Daelina
Connection to Durin: Daelina is Durin’s mother. She was a simple housewife to Tonrel, cooking, cleaning, and looking after Durin.
Appearance: Red hair matching the length of Tonrel’s. However, it is much better maintained, and as such it is almost without frizzing. Chubby faced and a well endowed chest, she is stunning by dwarven standards. She is exactly 50 years younger than her husband Tonrel.
Skills: none

Riding up, Jacen let out another yawn. "If your all finished having your nice little chat, we should keep moving." Returning to the rear, he stifled another yawn. Even after the rest he has gotten, he was still exausted. Slumped over in his saddle, he saw Alanda move beside him.

"You are not looking well. Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked with a worried look on her face. "I'm fine. It will just take some time, but I will be OK. I used a lot of magic back there and I'm just really tired." he said with another yawn.

---

Minor character:

Name:Alanda
Relationship: Alanda and Jacen are in love
Appearance:slender young elf(around Jacen's age); long, golden, hair; green eyes; extremely beautiful by both human and elven standards.
Skills:magic-healing:II

Jim and Rini were leading the refugees at full speed again. On the seventh day, a rear scout had spotted gargoyles to the northwest. On the ninth, several spotted gargoyles to the north and northwest. That, plus a rather edgy Tonrel muttering words of caution was enough to push everything to the limit. Unfortunately, everyone was suffering because of it. The stronger men and women were already carrying and supporting the children and elderly who couldn't keep up. Soon even those would be dragged down into fatigue, and all of the wagons and horses were being used to carry the weakest.

In the evening of the eleventh day, the scouts spotted dozens of gargoyles moving parallel with the refugees to the east and west. They knew what was happening. They were being hunted, taunted, and they would confront their hunters soon.

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Gorn and the party were moving quite fast, but some of their days were hampered by lack of food and water. They spent a good part of an entire day foraging and hunting, and due to the skills of the party, managed to collect enough berries, meat, and fresh water for the rest of the journey if they rationed properly.

Nothing eventful occurred until the night of the tenth day, when Durin reported that he could smell some foul in the air. After some investigation, it turns out there was a foul smell in the air, somewhere west of their direction. Weapons drawn, they took a small detour and came upon six freshly slain gargoyles. Aside from the lethal injuries, which appeared to be bites, the corpses were untouched. The weapons and hunting equipment of the deceased was still nearby what looked like a small battlefield.

Raenor and Gorn agreed that the gargoyles were not killed by weapons, nor by any kind of magic they had heard of. One of their last options were wild animals, but that seemed too far-fetched. What wild animals attack, kill, and do not eat a fully armed group of 8 foot tall, flight-capable beasts? The injuries said otherwise, but after over an hour of searching not a single track could be found.

They gave up on figuring out a cause, and instead continued towards Midgaard with their weapons loosened in their sheathes. They didn't know who killed the gargoyles, but they did know gargoyles were lurking around. On the eleventh day, an elegant-looking falcon swooped down out of the clear, blue sky and perched itself on Gorn's arm rather abruptly. Even more strange, Gorn seemed to converse with the bird for sometime. The two came to an 'agreement' and the falcon took off into the sky and flew westward.

"What the bloody...?"
"I need to get me one of those!"
"Elder, could ye explain what...?"
"Your bird? I didn't know you had..."

"Calm down, friends. The falcon is a friend of mine, he has been acting as a scout for me since the battle at Gole. I'm afraid there is good and bad news...The Venurian horde is on the move, and the one that attacked Wistria is but a sizeable chunk of it. This is an invasion of epic proportions, friends. Armies of trolls of gargoyles have seized all of the northern towns and villages, most of them have been completely razed." He paused, his face cold as stone. "There is some fortunate news for us. Midgaard has been warned, and Kenshuria's armies in the south are mobilised at Moresse, Silverport, and Midgaard. We must make haste to Midgaard now, I must speak with the Lord and we must prepare ourselves for the coming darkness." He lightened up a bit as he spoke, then turned and continued walking south at increased speed. Everyone followed. Amelia cast another mass-rejuvenation spell so they could move through the night.

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The hall was carved from smooth marble and stone with statues and monuments of unknown figures decorated to fit a king of kings. At the south end of the hall was a roaring fireplace large enough for several grown men to walk into. It made the flame within look more like a bonfire. A long, intricately decorated oak table and matching chairs stretched through three-quarters of the hall. At the north end twelve foot high double-arched doors permitted entrance and exit in and out of the hall.

The southernmost end of the table had the only differing chair, one which was cast in shadow from the gigantic fire not far behind it. A figure sat in the chair, apparently male, wearing robes to match the shadows. The face was mostly concealed, but it was obvious how thin, sickly, and pale he would be in better light.

There were other figures sitting in the other chairs along the table, equally bathed in shadows, but not from the light cast by the fireplace. The entire room was being suffocated in darkness, even the fire was struggling to survive. There were voices as well, voices of the figures at the table.

"...enough Natalina...Go...fleet must set...Silverport...Midgaard." One of them said; the voice was deep and slightly chilling. Almost...magical.

"Aye...Natalina...pay." A gruff male voice responded to the broken sentence with an equally broken reply.

"Enough!" The deep voice said, and the room collapsed into complete darkness.

Day Twelve

Gorn, Durin, Elmric, Raenor, Darren, Aieris, and Amelia all shuddered into consciousness in the early dawn light. The cold sweat was the first thing they noticed, before total confusion hit them all. They all stared at each other in complete silence, and looking into their eyes they knew. They knew they all experienced the same vision.

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Less than twenty miles away, Jim, Rini, Jacen, Alanda, Tonrel, Daelina, and nearly a hundred other random refugees woke up to the same bewilderment. Minor chaos ensued, which quickly died down as Rini and some guards forced control back into the camp.

"You all witnessed it?" Raenor asked as the party gazed wide-eyed at each other. It was impossible to say how they had all instinctively known the experience of the others, but Raenor felt the answer lurking somewhere in the corner of his mind.

"If ye're speakin' of that strange dream of tha large hall and cloaked figures, then aye. Aye I saw it," Durin shuddered almost involuntarily. "I'd nay want this repeated, but tha whole thing's left me a wee bit on edge."

"On edge is probably an understatement master dwarf," Gorn said in his soft, grave voice. "There was incredibly powerful magic at work last night, and I find myself wondering if we were accidental parties to the conversation. Whatever was being discussed was likely not for us to know."

"Well what the bloody hell are we going to do about it?" Aieris demanded. "Last time I looked, you can't shoot or stab a dream. We're awake now; it's over. We should move on. We must be getting close to Midgaard."

"I would not counsel putting aside these things quite so quickly," Elmric said. "My experiences at the temple have...disturbed me a great deal, but I continue to trust in Avelia and her wisdom. I think we were meant to see these things. The purpose a vision like this would serve is far beyond my comprehension, but perhaps over time all this will begin to make more sense. Can any of you recall anything specific about the dream?"

"Only that I felt suffocated by darkness," Darren said. "The words nearly escaped me, so intent was I on holding the shadows away from my spirit."

"I felt the darkness too," Amelia said. "It was...it was like the chill touch of death." she shivered and stepped a little closer to Elder Altreas, as if to reassure herself by his strong life force that she was indeed free of the nightmare.

"Places and a name," Raenor said after pondering what he had experienced. "I felt the darkness, but it did not seem overly concerned with me. Those two places though: Midgaard and Silverport. They are two of the sites where the elder said the Kenshurian armies are gathering in preparation for the war with the Venurians. The name spoken also stayed with me: Natalina. I do not know who Natalina is, but the name seems seared into my mind. I do not think I will forget it."

"Ships," Durin said as the group began walking. "There were ships mentioned...a fleet of some kind...'twas all passin' strange." he fell into a heavy silence.

"I felt the weight of time," Elmric murmured. "The place was heavy with history, though it was hidden. Whoever was speaking is part of an ancient and powerful cabal. I only hope that Avelia shows us these things so we may accomplish some good end."

"Time, ships, places, names, death and darkness" Aieris shook her head. "It will serve us no useful purpose to stand here and natter on like old women when we don't know what we are talking about. We must focus on reaching Midgaard."

"While the speculation is interesting and helpful, I find myself in agreement with Aieris," Gorn said. "We must make haste. I fear that what we are facing is far stronger than we first realized."

The party's trek from dawn until mid-morning was strangely silent. Since the discovery of the slain gargoyles, their vigilance had been doubled, but this morning, for the first time in nearly a fortnight, Raenor and the others walked with naked steel in their hands, as if they anticipated an attack to come on the heels of the disturbing vision. The most peculiar thing which they had discovered after their brief rest and rejuvenation, had been that they had not all been asleep when taken into the vision.

"I was standin' watch with Elmric when I felt like I was pulled t'a different place altogether," Durin said. "I was watchin' the plains wit' me own two eyes, and then suddenly I was watchin' a bunch o' strange men cloaked in shadows talkin' about ships and things."

"It was the same for me," Elmric said. "I was no more than ten feet from Durin when the same thing happened to me. There wasn't even the slightest hint of a change. One moment I was standing on the plains, watching for gargoyles, and the next thing I knew, I was in an ancient hall."

Something in the conversation jogged Raenor's memory of the vision. "Did you sense the presence of others while you watched the conversation?"

"Now that ye mention it," Durin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I did feel tha presence of other...watchers, I guess ye could call 'em. 'Twas like I was seein' them almost from the corner of me eye, but I could never quite catch a full glimpse of them. It did feel like I was close by me companions though."

"The same is true for me," Raenor said. "I was wondering why I realized you had all shared the same vision."

"We have tarried long enough," Elmric said. "Hopefully we will be nearing the outlying areas surrounding Midgaard soon."

"I would not be particularly surprised if we were challenged by one of the mounted companies," Raenor said. "They would undoubtedly be hunting for enemy raiding parties and war bands. Their circuit generally takes them back and forth along the outskirts of Midgaard's sphere of influence, if for no other reason than to keep in practice. However, since this is a time of war, and the threat is from the north, they will be concentrating their sweeps on the northern plains."

"You seem to know a fair bit about the habits of the Kenshurian armies," Darren said, looking at Raenor strangely. "You are more than you seem, ranger."

"I am more than a simple woodsman and ranger," Raenor agreed. "However, that story can wait. Once we reach the city, though, I will need to stop by my family's home to pick up my most faithful friends in Midgaard."

"Who would they be?" Amelia asked, her eyes wide with curiosity. From the corner of his eye, Raenor saw Darren pout and Aieris cough back a laugh.

"My hawk and hound," Raenor answered with a smile. "I wouldn't be much of a ranger without them."

"Why didn't you have them at Gole and the temple?" Amelia asked.

"I was returning to Midgaard to retrieve them when the call for volunteers came...I didn't have time to ride back and pick them up. I hope they haven't proved to be too much trouble for my father and his...aides."

"Are they that dangerous?"

"Just...spirited..."

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OOC: The post was definitely longer than I expected it to be. It seems that once I start writing dialogue, I tend to get a little carried away. I tried not to step on any toes in the discussion of the night's vision, but I thought it would be interesting to have certain things stick out more in the mind of one character than in the mind of another. There are certainly many more things to be mentioned, and I didn't go into much detail about some of the other events which have occurred on the journey.

The hawk and hound have yet to be named or created, since I need to coordinate with Azisien on their specific skill sets. They will likely be defined once we reach Midgaard and Raenor is given an opportunity to return to his home (which I suspect will likely be at the beginning of Chapter 3).

OOC: Of course the Paladin is going to remember the history though....we had to study enough of it!

IC: Elmric and the others began trekking again shortly after their morning meal. The night's dream still shook all of them, but they stayed reserved and quiet, pondering in their mind why they saw it. The trees were beginning to be less seen, though Elmric wasn't sure if this was because of lumbering or naturally occuring. To make the trek a little easier, Elmric began slowly whistling a sad, whistful tune.

"Would you stop that Elmric? This is no time to be whistling! Especially not something so...sad sounding!" Durin said, but to him Elmric merely replied, "Wait and see, Durin, wait and see."

Elmric carried on with his tune for five more minutes after the conversation, each person in the group wondering what exactly Elmric was thinking. At the end of the song, each person discovered that they felt much less tired, and the walking seemed a little easier. Then they grew slightly bewildered as they found out they were floating! Really floating!

"I do not like this. That was no ordinary dream." Looking at the others, Jacen let out a sigh. "I fear that what we have seen so far is naught compared to what is to come. There is a shadow ready to spread across this land and a tide of blood will ride before it. We must make haste, more then ever now to reach Midgaard."

Looking at Jim and Rini with great sorrow in her eyes, Alanda spoke up, "I agree with Jacen. My heart still feels shadowed. Something is coming and it will bring about an end. We need to get these villagers to somewhere safe."

"As much as I hate to try and push these villagers any harder, I have to agree. We need the relative safety of those walls." Jim said solemnly.

"But we will personally carry some of the children to make the burden easier on them..they do not deserve to be pushed past their limits." Rini mentioned with a misty look to his eye.

Jim and Rini looked at each other and nodded, still hoping and praying that Elmric was still safe and hopefully approaching Midgaard as well.

The following six hours didn't just lift their bodies, it seemed to lift their spirits too. Even in a group of adults, a sort of childish glee filled their hearts as they floated two, three, and sometimes even four feet off the ground. "Walking" required little to no effort, the spell had made it so that they could "grip" the air and push along on it. As they would on the ground, the party would lose balance if they tried to fly off entirely or swim, but a normal walking motion seemed to work just fine.

The only hero without a grin on his face was Elmric. Most shrugged it off as discipline, but several could tell he was concealing the strain from casting such a remarkable protective spell on half a dozen people. Sometime during the floating trek, Gorn came up beside the paladin and whispered, "Are you all right, friend?"

Elmric replied with normal volume, "I am fine, Elder. Healing magic is a difficult trade, but I have been trained to separate mental fatigue and physical fatigue. It is a required skill for all paladins. I will be fine again when we rest, but first we must reach Midgaard." Gorn nodded comprehension and moved back to the front of the marching order.

As the spell weakened over time, they found it became harder to keep a "grip" and they could no longer float as high off the ground. In the last hour, they were already walking on the ground again for the most part, kicking off lightly with each step and floating for a moment. The spell was completely gone as evening arrived, and with it left the morale boost. Thanks to the spell, they covered a lot of extra ground, but as time dragged on afterwards dark thoughts re-emerged in their minds.

"Gargoyles!" Aieris half-shouted; everyone immediately snapped out of their trances. A dozen of them, lightly armoured for fast movement and wielding long hunting spears, suddenly charging up on the party's flank. They reached a peak on one of the light slopes and took off high into the air. It was then most of them noticed the slightly larger wings compared to the gargoyles they had fought in Gole and at the temple.

Whatever it meant, the wings helped them a great deal. If the gargoyles that performed the aerial charge in Gole were sub-ordinate, then these would be experts. They closed the hundreds of feet in seconds, angling their mighty polearms for the skewering kills to come.

Gorn pointed his open hands at the lead flyer and shouted a one-word evocation, totally incomprehensible to those around him. Almost instantaneously, the gargoyle was hit by an unseen force. It lost all control and spiralled downwards for thirty feet and smashed into the ground, motionless.

The others didn't even break their formation, they came up overhead and swooped down.

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The refugees were all running as fast as they could south. Three dozen gargoyles sprang up from the north, east, and west, intent on pinching off part of the group and stranding them. Thanks to Jim, Rini, Jacen, fifty-two guards, and this time even Tonrel, the gargoyles weren't able to touch any of the villagers. They had found some prey nonetheless, even if it was armed.


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OOC:

Two-pronged fight to conclude Chapter 2. Those with minor characters in group two, controlling them is optional (but fun?:)).

Group One - Gorn and Company

(11) Gargoyle Hunters: Melee III/Ranged II (Throwing Spears)

Group Two - Jim, Rini, Jacen,etc (Don't forget, all of you have horses)

(36) Gargoyle Hunters: Melee III/Ranged II

Good luck, don't drag the fight on for too many posts, it should be over before the 100th post. Therefore, it would be better to take your time and make lengthy sequences instead of one paragraph posts.

Elmric whipped out his spear, eager to get this fight over with quickly because his weariness was beginning to catch up with him a bit more. One of the Gargoyle hunters swooped down at Elmric, but he quickly sidestepped and returned the blow with a spear thrust into the neck. "This won't be so bad, just keep your guard up and...." Elmric was cut off by two spears zooming towards him. He jumped back and narrowed avoided both, but he still had a dent in his arm plate where the shaft of one of the spears struck him. "Nevermind. Just keep your guard up!"

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Meanwhile, and such.
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Jim and Rini let out a collective "Damn" at the sight of all of these..hunters. Rini pulled out his bow, and started his horse into a circling gallop. Rini had done a little bit of horseback archery during his hunts, so he was used to the rise and fall of the horse. Rini fired off an arrow at a diving Gargoyle and caught him in the eye. The gargoyle fell to the ground and Jim stabbed him in the throat, ending his foul life.

"Men! Defend yourselves!"