"I am a member of the Shadow Feather tribe," Sarin said and looks at Gwaethir, and then said quietly, "Do not tell me yet. Allow me to 'save the world' first, as it is, and then tell me. My revenge has waited a number of years, it can wait longer, and if you tell me, Windlord, I will probably find and kill them now," he said with a bitter edge to his voice and continued, "orc threat or no orc threat. I will take your words to heart, Windlord." Sarin frowned at what he just said. He just sacrificed his own personal need to fight in a war. Revenge doesn't mean a thing if you have nothing to revenge, Sarin, his conscience reminded him.

"I did. I knew your mother all her life. Not that Tanthalas and I cared about her back then. We were just boys, but we were initiates in the Combat Academy, and our training left little time for anything else. Once we became her escorts on her pilgrimage, we'd both planned to kill her as we did our own mother. But I was arrested for theft and Tamona tried to spare myself and Tanthalas from the tentacle rods." Talos lifted up the back of his shirt, revealing half-healed burn marks that must have been an inch deep when inflicted. "The pain of the tentacle rods is unbearable, but I've learned to withstand it. I decided to spare her life and stopped Tanthalas from killing her. I then met Delmenon, Jericho, and that kid. I attacked them and nearly killed them, and we then formed an alliance and rescued Tamona, and you know the rest."

"Metrius, I can't really put what happened to me all those years ago into words. You and I are not all that different. But allow me to show you."
Laine hands began weaving a pattern in the air, and a scene appeared shimmering before Metrius' eyes.
A dark-robed wizard threw a young Laine catapulting through the air. He landed on his back. He struggled up to one knee, leaning heavily on the Ultima Weapon for support. All around him, the bodies of his friends lay. Sifer Novia, his long-lost brother, Idolea, his brother's sweetheart, Dom Lionelle, an army captain, Dierdre, Dom's lost lover, Markoniate Partolian, the giant, and Tarma Spator, the female dragon knight. They were all dead, strewn about the battlefield. "You killed my parents, you sickened my sister, and you destroyed everything that was dear to me, including my friends. YOU WILL PAY!!!!!!" Laine got to his feet and stared at Wizordio, his eyes deep pools of fury and hatred. He drew Heaven's Prophet, which was glowing profusely with white light. "Megamagic!!!!!" Laine screamed. For the first and only time, Laine successfully channeled a light spell like no other. In a violent explosion of light energy, Wizordio was encompassed in certain death. However, at the last moment, Wizordio imprisoned Laine in a nothingness never experienced by any man. "I defeated him," Laine thought. "But it has cost my life. Myria...I'm sorry...but wait..." Laine was losing conciousness. "That...spell. It might...have side effects...but I have...to see...Myria..." With the last of his strength, Laine uttered the incantation for a spell of pure evil. Normally, Laine would not attempt a spell of evil, but he had no choice. In an instant, the nothingness gave way to substance. "I felt something, when I did that," the real Laine said out loud. "I felt like something had changed inside of me. I didn't know what, though."
The image faded.
"Wait, there's more." Laine said.
Another image took its place.
Laine and a girl, obviously Myria, were in a forest, surrounded by orcs. Myria was pressed up against a tree in fear, and Laine was futiley trying to defend her. Suddenly, one of the orcs' heads began to take on a likeness of Wizordio. "What the..." the Laine in the image said. "Why am I...wait...what's happening to me?!" A hint of alarm had crept into Laine's voice. "What's...what...nooooooo!!!" In a sudden explosion of Shadow energy, Laine was transformed. Instead of resembling an angel, he resembled more of an demon. The explosion killed the group of orcs, but Myria, possessing a small scrap of protective magic, survived. Dark Laine wheeled on Myria. "Goodbye Myria..." He drew Dragonsbite, now black. Metrius could see the terror in Myria's eyes. Laine raised Dragonsbite, and...
"Myriaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Laine wailed. Laine had broken down into racking sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks. His wings were folded around him protectively. "Myria..."

OOC: Flashbacks! Much awesomeness, Warmage!:D

IC: Hakar raised an eyebrow, "'Nearly killed'? The rest of the story is believable....but my question was more about what they were like, back then."

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Gwaethir nodded, "So be it, Sarin of the Shadow Feather tribe. Once the orcs have been dealt with, then I will find out who did this, and make sure you get the information."

(OOC: Ya know, unless it happened in the apparently important long posts, there hasn't been a whole lot of Betrayal going on this chapter.)

Gug shot straight up in the new bed. He had been struck by an immense feeling, like a gigantic presence had uttered one final cry before sinking into nothingness.

It turned out to just be Alec's horrendous snoring, but the goblin was sufficiently awakened any way. He gathered up his bags and began to wander around the grounds, trying to avoid the looks and stares of the Avariel around him.

OOC: quite possibly, yes.

still....since you said that you judge posts by their reference to Gug, I should make a long (fake) entry about how Gug is the goblin "teen idol", and all the little goblin girls have pictures of him on their walls, surrounded by big hearts!

IC: Jaral knew that whoever struck first would relinquish the advantage...so he held his ground, preparing various countermeasures for Ashtar's attack.

Ooc: Most of the betrayal happened in the begining. I have plans for later in the chapter as well, though I wasn't counting on the depth of character development taking place now. The further betrayals will take place either at the end of this chapter, or in the middle of the next one. but meh, things never work out exactly as planned.

Ic: Ashtar raised his rapier to eye level, and twisted to the side to offer less of a target. Begining with a lunge, he cancled his strike and used his momentum to spin to Jarals side, taking a horizontal swipe at the Half-drow. Anticipating his dodge, the General then pressed forward with a dizzying array of quick and short swipes and thrusts, hoping to press his opponent closer to the wall.

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Gabriel mumbled slightly, half-awake. He belatedly leaned onto Jerick's shoulder as he was carried back to his room. As the two approached the city, the Avariel guards averted their gaze as they opened the grand doors. They would not allow themselves to witness their captain in such a state.

Gabriel hit the matress with a loud thud, falling asleep almost instantly.

His dreams were not pleasant. A virtual bombartment of past images battered his brain, his subconsious reaching into his darkest memories and displaying them for his horror. Images he had never seen flashed through is mind, of his father lying burned on an obsidian floor. And then of a pale man in a dark mask, his long brimmed hat shadowing all but those piercing red eyes. A he heard a small voice, like a whisper within the wind, sounding so familiar.

Beware...

Jaral dodged or blocked Ashtar's attacks. Seeing the general's intent, he leapt into the air, spinning as he flew (figuratively speaking) over Ashtar's head, slicing down with his weapon, knowing that Ashtar would block even as he landed, now with the Southern General between himself and the wall, now launching a fast-paced attack of stabs and slashes.

OOC: Actually, the best post for this RP I can think of would be a novel based around Gug's wild (mis)adeventures (the New York Post would describe it as action packed and terse). SIDE NOTE: Is it night yet, or is Gabriel just passing out from the bender?

IC:

Gug saw a man being carried away, and could smell the alcohol from where he was. He shrugged, then continued on, figuring that something would probably happen to him no matter what he did.

Ashtar backpeddled quickly as he parried Jarals strikes, as the half-drow made little thrust, Ashtar diverted it's momentum and slid his rapier into a vertical strike, forcing his opponent to step backward. Using this split second, he kicked off the wall and leveled a hard toe kick at the assassin's head.