Open Chronicles Notice Board: Missing Child

[Garrod Arlette]

"Wishful thinking," the monster thought aloud as Kiros shared his hopes.

A fool's hope. Belephus added. But then again, you seem to surround yourself with not but a fool's company. The demon in the jewel laughed, full of cruelty.

Never the less, he wanted to believe what the other man had said. The better story. That the boy was alive, and in good hands, versus the dark reality that loomed in the ink of his mind, so tainted with the palid green of his demon guest.

The cat, blessing that he was, tracked forward, searched diligently, and came back with news to report. It was as he had suspected.

"No use in us waiting around," he said to the cat and to Kiros alike. But, the cat hurried off, and Garrod's brow furrowed in response. "Well, let's not wait for the report, huh? Don't want to lose the boy and our new magical cat companion now, do we?" He smirked grimly, and hurried after the psychic feline.

---

blain the cat Kiros Rahnel

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

With Blain’s departure to scout the hill, Kiros remained back with the others and wondered what the tracks might lead to, if anything. If someone had beaten the group to the boy and rescued him first, all the better. It would forfeit the monetary reward, but that was hardly a concern. Still, the thinking seemed naively wishful. He’d hoped Liam’s absence wouldn’t be due to the actions of those who would kidnap a small child.

Blain would return shortly, and affirm the very worry Kiros had hoped was not so.

"A couple humming birds report of sketchy figures taking the child against his will, for what nefarious purposes the humming birds did not know" Blain reported to all.

“That discounts any notion against capture.” Kiros remarked, quarterstaff clenched tighter in his grasp. It was enough to know for the moment. A tragedy that such a situation fell upon the child, yet at least they now knew what they were dealing with.

"I will follow the tracks as far as I can and report back. the scent is faint now so losing the trail will be easier the longer we wait" Added Blain.

“Truly, as do I fear what might become of Liam if we are not swift enough.” Kiros responded with a nod. But there was some hope, for the news meant that the boy had been alive and well merely moments prior. With haste of action, they might return him to his mother in that very state.

"Well, let's not wait for the report, huh? Don't want to lose the boy and our new magical cat companion now, do we?" Spoke Garrod, in seeming agreement with his own sentiment. Especially so, now that they were aware of what they were dealing with.

“Agreed. We know the boy is there, and in likely danger. His precise location is best left to Blain's discovery.” Affirmed Kiros. If the scent was faint, then it had likely been some time. Along with Garrod, he followed Blain by a fair distance, while the feline remained on the trail and lead the way ahead.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

I pick up a scent with the other normal human scents it smells awful but is so faint it wouldn't be smelle by just anyone.

my eyes widen at my realization, I dash back to the group. slowing ounce in sight as if nothings wrong. I sit in front of them and stare

" I don't claim to know what humans should smell like but these whatever they smell like death, usually death is never good in my experience, I'm just gonna stick around you all for now, I can confuse a target and conceal myself but once detected its harder to fool the brain and don't get me wrong my claws are fearce but I feel safer with you between me and whatever we are tracking. ill tell ya if we fall off track."

I prance over to the back of the group putting them between me incase somethings ahead

 

[Garrod Arlette]

They smell like death. "No," Garrod agreed. "Those that walk should not smell of death," and he wondered why, by all the grace of all the gods that governed their world, was it always necromancers.

They are drawn to you, Oh Bearer Mine, Belephus cooed, like a cat pleased to be bathing in the sun. They can smell the mark that lingers inside your soul. Garrod's features pinched further at the demon's words, had trouble hearing the cat's words, even as they echoed through his own mind, so full of the trapped entity's hiss was his matter of thought that all he heard was the last of Blain's words.

Fueled by the thoughts of failures past, Garrod growled and ran forward, and he would keep his pace quick, bullish, until he stumbled across those that smelled of death, his hand, ever ready to draw the side sword that sat sheathed at his side.

blain the cat
Kiros Rahnel

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

The discovery had been both harrowing and frightening. It implied that Liam was alive, but also in potential danger at the mercy of his captors. Their purpose for doing so remained an uncomfortable unknown, and Kiros anxiously pondered potential motivations while he travelled onward with Garrod.

Off in the distance, he could see Blain returning to them once again. By his rapid pace, Kiros could tell that he had news, and there was no doubt it must be dire. The feline stopped and sat directly in front of the two of them, causing Kiros to come to a halt and look down at Blain in wait for the report he appeared ready to deliver.

"I don't claim to know what humans should smell like" Blain said, "but these whatever they smell like death, usually death is never good in my experience"

“That is surely not a good sign.” Kiros remarked with concern at the news. poor Liam could be in far worse trouble than he'd fretted. His description implied that undead were involved, and what they might want with a living boy was too terrible to imagine. The revelation spurred the need to hurry. Were they not quick, he feared, they might find the boy dead, or worse.

Blain clearly did not regard them well, given his frantic pace of return and his announced use of both Garrod and Kiros for cover. Fair for the cat to do so. While Kiros loathed the undead, he hadn't as much fear of them, given his magic was bane to their essence. He was a priest after all, and Itra was a holy goddess – in nature, at least. Certainly not by Her attitude.

“Keep behind me then, Blain. By my light shall I defend you, and destroy what dead dare walk.” Kiros announced, confidence carried clear in his voice. Protection, he could provide. He had slain a great many undead already, and would slay however more he'd need to in their valiant efforts to rescue the boy.

Garrod ran at full pace, which Kiros kept up beside him. Together with Blain guiding their direction, the three rushed onward to meet what lay ahead.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

I walked on thinking on the smell there was a faint feline scent but it was not coming from the kidnappers rather from who ever they seem to deal with.

"I don't wanna alarm anyone further but as far as I can tell the kidnappers are human but seem to find themselves in the presence of large felines im unsure what this means though."

I squint my eyes looking around

"unfortunately other cats aren't as. easy for me to trick, maybe these kidnappers just have a lot of cats but I doubt that's what I smell"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Hmmph. Belephus sounded unimpressed. Do you not find it funny, oh bearer mine? That such a treacherous creature leads you toward the smell of doom, yet you trust it. Follow it. The demon in the jewel whispered to the monster hunter.

Garrod grimaced, his pace slowed some. "More cats?" he said as he came to a halt. "Mayhaps we should slow our approach," he looked down at Blain with some suspicion there in the green of his eye, then he looked to Kiros. "Spring a trap?" He looked at the wilderness ahead. Thought of what could await them. "Don't know if we are going to run into dagger teeth, or more... psychic house cats," he smiled at Blain. "No offense,"

Yet, before he could suggest any more, an arrow came through the brush, whistling as it sliced through the air. Experience had the part-time mercenary twist and crouch, legs stanced wide as dirt skirt beneath his armored boots.

"Hark!" a voice called out from cover. "What business have ye this far in the woods?!" The stench of cat grew thicker in the air. The musk so potent even Garrod could smell it with his own human nose. Sensitive as it was to animal products. The brush rustled, as if something big lurked in the cover of branch and leaf. "Answer quick," wood knocked soft against wood. "Less you wish my next shot be loosed true,"

Garrod rose up, eye tracked onto the arrow that had missed them. Its shaft still wobbled and its head was burred into the tree bark.

blain the cat Kiros Rahnel

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

Well, the man needed an answer, and he clearly wouldn’t wait for one. Given the report Blain had returned with, Kiros doubted there was anything less than malicious intent. He could not see the one who was accosting them, but he could hear his uttered demands and threats towards Garrod. The ambusher's position appeared chosen to provide cover from ranged attack, not that Kiros held any such option. But cover worked both ways, and also concealed Kiros' movements from view. It was something he could use to his advantage, but he still had to take care not to startle the bandit, lest he loose his arrow upon Garrod.

“I can answer.” Kiros began to speak, moving his staff as if hailing his attention, but continuing on in ritualistic movement that would call his Luminant Curtain forth.

“Well, let's hear it then!” Shouted the man, peering around the safety of his cover just as Kiros was concluding the casting of his spell. Once the two could see one another the shimmering curtain descended in a line of light off to the side, before erupting outwards on both sides. It was off centre by a wide margin, with one end only a couple of yards off to the archer's side. It would be easy to move around the obstacle it posed, but it was enough to prevent the passage of his arrow. Once loosed, it harmlessly bounced and tumbled off the protective curtain.

Their ambusher wasted no breath in further reply and rushed towards the near end of the curtain. The three now had their opportunity to advance while protected from arrow fire. Kiros seized it, rushing forth with Heirahit brandished to bludgeon him.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

The human smelled so bad my fur stood on end, he spent a lot of time dealing with large cat folk that was for sure. I backed away just as an arrow flys into a tree near us. I skitter quickly into a bush. I attempt to assess the humans mind but what I see ruins my stomach and I puke all over the bush.
"Great danger lies ahead. We must capture this human and retreat or I fear we will parish very soon. Given time I can extract the knowledge we will need to save the child"

I put these words into the minds of my companions as best I can without showing them what Ive already seen in the sin filled mind of this human

 

[Garrod Arlette]

"Capture?!" Garrod growled out.

You wish for greater violence, now, is that it, oh bearer mine? Belephus laughed and smiled within the swordsman's mind.

Kiros' barrier shimmered with the sun, its surface rippling some as the shock of the first arrow repelled still worked through it.

There had been little to see of the ambusher, but as he fled, the rustle and shake of branches gave Garrod hints as to where he was. And the hunter of monsters followed after. Capture him. He reminded himself, and as the wilds rushed about him, he could see where the cretin had slipped under Kiros' wall.

Garrod planted his lead heal in the dirt, and swept his blade forward in a rising slash that stirred up the winds in a whipping gale that lashed out and sought to knock the hunter down off of his feet as Garrod rose up into the air some feet with the force of the gust he had summoned.

Kiros Rahnel blain the cat

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

Kiros knew not why capture was necessary, but he wouldn't question that it was. Their feline companion had provided fine guidance thus far, and clearly held abilities and wisdom beyond his own. If he could deduce further knowledge from their ambusher, all the better that he might serve a useful purpose to them. But Blain could not aid them in battle. It would be up to Kiros and Garrod to subdue the foe that had attacked them.

While Kiros abstained, Garrod did question Blain's suggestion, speaking his opinion of it aloud.

"Capture?!" Garrod growled out, making his disdain clear. Kiros was tempted to assuage the notion, but again opted to hold his tongue. The requirement was not truly so constraining – Kiros held talent as a healer and could treat wounds that would be otherwise lethal. So long as he drew breath and his heart continued to beat, Kiros could undo the damage they were about to inflict upon him.

Garrod dealt the first blow, stirring up winds to accompany his blade as it swung upward, flinging the resulting gust towards their foe just as he turned the corner of the curtain. Caught off guard, the burst of wind knocked him clear off his feet to send him stumbling onto the ground. Kiros moved forth to follow up with further aggression.

Kiros may not have had any offensive magic to employ, but he had a heavy staff with which to bludgeon him. Heirahit was held upward as Kiros bound after the fallen ambusher. Blain's request for capture was a factor that limited where Kiros might strike. The head or body might kill him out, but striking his limbs would leave him incapacitated and alive. With a mighty swing, Kiros brought Heriahit down squarely upon his downed opponent's legs, striking his shin and causing him to spasm in pain.

“Alright, I-” The man gasped out, only to be interrupted by another strike from Heirahit as Kiros swung the staff down upon him again. Having let go of his crossbow, his forearm extended to protect himself and block the blow. It broke beneath the force of the staff strike.

“Stop! I yield, I yield!!” He shouted in panic, causing Kiros to pause with his staff already raised for a third strike.

“...Good.” Kiros said, content with the surrender despite his desire to simply continue the beating. His grasp on Heirahit relaxed enough to allow it to slide down between his hands, the steel-capped bottom thumping against the ground. Kiros awaited Blain's approach, standing ready to strike their downed foe again should he resume his aggression.

Though, in the state he was in, he did not appear to be capable of doing so.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

I walked from my bush and approached the human. I jumped up on his chest so I could look the man in the eye. he attempted to get me off for a moment but I inject his mind withe dread that forces him to freeze in place. he pants became soiled both bile and piss filled the air.

"what in gods name are you" he says fear cracking his voice into a stutter.

his state of fear allowed me to worm myself into his mind, I stared into his should stealing the information I would need. he begins to convulse and his head falls back to the ground his eyes no longer trained on me but rather the back off his brain, the convulsions begin to intensify then suddenly stop. I puke onto his chest and shake my head a bit as I was dizzy.

"he's dead now, unfortunately he couldn't handle me stripping him of his memories, most people don't soil them selfs though," I scrunch my nose and hop off the man "we will need a plan, just a few hundred yards that way there is a group of man eating lionmen a total of 6, 4 adults and 2 children that wait in the trees with bows and arrows. they have a camp in some ruins, they have a lot of slaves with them some are battle slaves and have been brain washed to protect the lionmen, charging in there to kill innocents wasn't on the job description but it is up to the warriors what you want to do"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod blinked at the mess that pooled beneath the man they had captured, and the filth that leaked down the side of their face. "Gods," the mercenary said, but his mouth was turned up instead of down.

Truth be told. He had never seen a cat do anything quite so horrifying.

You enjoy the sight of such a thing, oh bearer mine? His demon teased. How joyous, that you've become so twisted.

Garrod frowned, and huffed as he scrunched his nose and turned away from the site. Nervousness took the shape of many forms. He knew that. But, had he truly thought the site... humorous?

It was horrifying. He knew that.

Still.

"I didn't sign up to slaughter wildkin," Garrod confesed, and looked to Kiros as he covered his nose from the smell of the filth. "Surely there is some more... diplomatic solution?" he asked the lone priest.

Kiros Rahnel blain the cat

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

Kiros stepped back, remaining within striking reach while Blain hopped into the chest of their downed foe. He was mostly incapacitated, but not entirely and still tried to swat the cat off him. Kiros lowered his staff and choked up his grip on it, prepared to ply further obedience through a carefully placed strike. But before he could, the man straightened up as if taken by another force. That he soiled himself supported the notion. No doubt it was involuntary.

"What in gods name are you?" were his last words, before the convulsions overtook him. His passage into the next life appeared quite painful, to say the least. Though Kiros was a touch repulsed, he could spare little sympathy for the kidnapper of a child so young. It was little more than the removal of vermin by a feline, if he did have involvement with whatever had taken young Liam. Kiros supposed he would find out soon enough, and looked down to Blain to hear his words.

Kiros took another look at the soiled and deceased man at his feet. Perhaps he too was merely a brainwashed slave, and unwilling in his actions.

"I didn't sign up to slaughter wildkin, surely there is some more... diplomatic solution?" Garrod expressed further displeasure at the notion of fighting those Blain had identified. He only wished to rescue Liam, and had little inclination for mercy should the beastkin guard their assumed captive with their lives. Yet Blain did not state that the wildkin were involved, merely that they lay a short distance ahead.

“I hold doubt of that, though I do wish to avoid the slaughter of slaves.” Kiros confessed. Simply requesting Liam was unlikely to go well, but neither did aggression without awareness sit well with him. He knew they were dangerous and little else – numbers alone made them to fearsome to fight directly. Negotiation was unlikely, but violence could not benefit them.

“Are there any injured among the wildkin?” He asked. It would be convenient were it so, but it could not be counted upon. Healing was all Kiros could think of to offer, but it only held value when it was needed. Perhaps it was, but more likely not. Regardless, he felt it necessary to ensure the option did not go neglected, were it even possible.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

"diplomacy is for those on equal footing" i look up into the trees catching gleam of eyes.

"there scouts are in the trees" as i say this rustling can be heard as the scout retreats away. i small juvenile lionman can be seen jumping great distances from tree to tree

"they use there young, as nimble scouts to report information faster then a ground scout could. they might be on us soon or they wont bother with us at all and move camp either way now is the time to act"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Equal footing. Garrod clicked his teeth at the notion. After so many hunts and so many battles, he had seen how much equal footing there was in this world.

Many thought beasts mindless beings. Nevermind that there was a telekinetic cat there before him. Beastkin, well, many were treated as mindless monsters. It made things easier. To think your foe acted with base instinct and little more.

His lip twitched with displeasure.

It was the snap of twig and the rustle of branch that pulled the hunter of monsters out of his deep minded state. There was a boy's life on the line. An innocent.

Garrod looked to Kiros and gave the priest a nod. He cast his eye forward, watched where the scout hopped and ran. "Well, let's go kill the fuckers then," he said with a strange grin upon his face, and gave chase anew, the heavy blade of his sword bobbing with each longstrided step he took.

blain the cat Kiros Rahnel

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

“And waging battle a poor option against those holding advantage. We've not many options though. We're certainly short on time.” Kiros remarked. From Blain's report, they were well outnumbered, and his point was true. The lionmen would have little inclination to bargain when they held superior numbers and were prepared for combat. Fighting those greater in number than they was neither wise. They'd been fortunate to have come across merely one, but it appeared more laid in wait.

Blain spoke further truth, time was of the essence. If they had been spotted, the lionmen would prepare against them, and the opportunity for Liam's rescue might slip their grasp. Direct confrontation remained unfavourable, but Kiros held a spell that might aid them in the event of such an ambush as Blain warned of. His incantation of Luminant Flash could be used only once, but it would blind their ambushers and enable either a counterattack, should they need to.

“I have a spell that might aid against ambush. I ask of you two to avert your gaze from the symbol upon my staff when I raise it, so that my incantation blinds you not.” Kiros spoke, returning Garrod's nod and addressing both as they continued. Kiros continued behind Garrod, to ensure he'd be facing away from the staff should the spell need to be suddenly cast. His glance turned up to the trees on regular occasion, scanning the branches for signs of wildkin they'd been forewarned of.

Garrod Arlette blain the cat

 

[blain the cat]

i looked at the group and back towards the trees, i could leave now and no one would bat an eye. i thought to myself fear creeping in. i can use great mental ability but other cats are harder to trick then dumb humans

"then lets quietly approach these ruins they are camped at, i will enter the camp basically un noticed" i say with very little confidence.

i dash into the bushes without another word, only a few hundred yards and the trees break to a feald with stone pillars most broken or crumbling as we what looks like a cave entrance carved into pillars looking older than time also crumbling but not to the extent of the rest of the crumbling structure.

in the middle of this rubble stood the largest beasts ive ever seen, that mans memory did not do them justice.

i crept behind a rock. a dosen or so slaves were in a woodedn cage to the right of the camp. a huge lionman stood beside the cage rather bored looking. i could hear the gravly voices of the creatures even from were i hid. i could also see the others in the tree line, the terrain was fairly flat.

"i cant believe we didnt meet our quota" i hear one say rather angry. no doubt the others could hear his roar.

the scout i spotted ealier was whispering in the other lions ear who up till now was quietly eating a leg of meat.

he stood at alert and began to swivel his head the others seemed to be watching him closely

"lets begin to pack up men, we have gotten what we came for"

he growled to the others hoisting a large pot over the fire pit to snuff it out. from the cave walks out a rather different lion. his fur was as white as snow but he seemed to be as old as dirt as was evident from his walking cane and hunched over demeanor. the other lions were big and tall and had matted grey or black and brown fur. this old man barely reached 7 feet the others towered over him yet respectfully seemed to care for him as the old man climbed onto the back of one of the lionmen.

"i told you to save those heads, if your going to eat the men that bring us useful slaves then at the very least save the heads!, my grandson wants to see a human i told him when we were done at the slavers guild i would bring him a human head to add to his collection" the old man gripes at the leader who rolls his eyes and holds up a bloody back.


"quit your belly aching old man there right here"

the other two lionmen begin to pack the slaves onto a cart. i dash back to the trees unseen and approach the group.

"im not sure if they have the boy but we should confront them soon because news of our aproach made them rather want to pack up and get going" i say to the group looking around at the trees for prying eyes

 

[Garrod Arlette]

They approached, but Garrod made sure to hang back as the cat broke forward. Useful little bugger, the cat.

Detestable creature, more like. Belephus whined.

Then came the waiting. Garrod lay low and quiet behind the cover of a tree's trunk, ears hungry for any strange sound they might hear. His great-sword, ever drawn, had its blade hidden by his person, and he was careful in letting its metal stay close to the tree. Nothing gave away your position easier than a twinkle of the sun come bounce off the metal. A twift of rustled leaves and the cat was back, urging them on with action.

Garrod turned his eye onto Kiros. "Well," he said grimly, "Now or never, I suppose," he gave the priest a nod. "I'll see if I can't draw their attention," he said before he skulked into the foliage.

Some moments later, the smell of fire wafted through the woods. Shouts of a burning supply train rang out and vengeful roars ripped through the quiet forest air.

blain the cat Kiros Rahnel

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

The report Blain had returned with implied pressing need to act immediately, and his plan was as sound as any. Their chance to save the child was here and now, there could be no time for further planning. Informing his companions of his incantation's quirks was about all he could do before the three took action.

Kiros opted to move between the thick trees that might provide cover from sight, advancing carefully towards the encampment Blain indicated would be shortly ahead. Slow steps took him though the shade that the obscuring branches provided, taking care to avoid steeping on any felled branches or leaves that might give his presence away. Soon, he could hear he wildkin, but he could not yet see them. Staying where he was, he continued to eavesdrop on the conversation as best he could, though it was barely audible at the distance he was at.

There was little he could clearly hear, but one loudly mentioned that war trophies and slaves had been their objective, and lamented he did not keep the heads from the slavers they'd obtained them from. At best, it seemed Liam was among those taken captive, and at worst he had already been slaughtered with the slavers. Blain returned soon after, sharing the news of what he'd heard in greater detail. The feline had made it closer to the camp than he or Garrod, but he had little additional information to offer.

"im not sure if they have the boy but we should confront them soon because news of our aproach made them rather want to pack up and get going" he said, eliciting a nod from Kiros before Garrod addressed him with his plan.

"I'll see if I can't draw their attention." He said, taking off and disappearing into the dense foliage of the forest while Kiros remained in wait for sign of the distraction he spoke of. It took only a moment for smoke to rise up into the air a short distance away. When the wildkin turned their attention towards the distraction Garrod created, Kiros seized the moment and sprang forth with Heirahit brandished.

The attention of the beastkin turned to him soon after he began his sprint, and once Kiros had all eyes upon him he invoked his magic and cast Luminant Flash before them. With his eyes to the ground and Heirahit held ahead of him, the brass symbol that capped it erupted with a brief burst of blinding light and the snapping of air from the accompanying concussive blast. Those wildkin looking his way found themselves blinded by the incantation. No longer able to see him, they still continued in the direction they had heard Kiros last, with their weapons held forward to help them find the priest. It seemed likely that their other senses were strong, through their stumbling footsteps and blank gazes told Kiros that the spell had taken its effect.

He began to backpedal while the wildkin pressed forth, speaking brief words to prepare another spell to aid him. The wildkin heard him and turned towards his position in an instant, but they could not reach the priest before he laid another Luminant Curtain between himself and them. The wildkin, unable to see the glowing barrier, all crashed directly into it. The largest among them was able to slowly push his way through the barrier, but the others found it completely impassible, and would for as long as the first was within it.

Kiros readied his quarterstaff while the wildkin sluggishly pushed onward, and once his head was clear of the barrier, Kiros swung with all his might to swing the staff against the side of his head. His opponent could not see the attack coming. Even if he could, there would have been little he could have done. Heirahit's holy symbol smashed into the side of its skull with the bite of bronze embedded in flesh and bone. Its head snapped sideways from the violent strike, robbing him of consciousness and odds of survival.

Though he was outnumbered, the wildkin remained blinded and Kiros held his ground. They split ways towards each end of the curtain, and Kiros too rushed towards one corner of it too in hopes to head one of them off. Garrod was bound to return shortly, and so long as Kiros could keep his assailants at bay until then, the battle could be surely won.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

the old lionman remained behind as his brethren advanced to counter the groups attacks. with the others blinded the old lion removed his robes revealing the fact that he was completely blind and therefore not affected by the spell. he raised his hands and roared out at all the attacking lionmen. they froze in place those blinded stopped flailing about.

"if you can hear my voice i call to you attackers by the command of our lord we are here to collect the merchandise attacking us will only anger our lord the result of which could be the enslavement of all those in your towns, i call a parlay so that we do not have to escalate any further"


the old man looked directly at me the whole time it felt as though he were only speaking to me.

"perhaps i can help you, there is a demon within your party and he deceives you even now, cease your attack and i will reveal it, then we can talk. this demon has the ability to convince you of things untrue "

the elder looked across the feild.


the hair on my back stands on end and everything inside me tells me to flee.

one of the lionmen growls.

"forget site ill tear them limb from limb"

he begins to move but the old man snaps his fingers, without casting a spell the advancing lion falls asleep instantly.

"we mean you no harm come sit by our fire let us talk as men not beasts there are children present both ours and yours"

 

[Garrod Arlette]

From the brush rushed Garrod, he bound from cover, trailed by vesper winds that did lift him high into the air, reached the zenith of his arc and fell like a stone launched by catapult, his sword's long point come down on a lionman who flanked the priest's curtain. Half blind, the slaver raised a spear that caught along the angled blade's strong side, sure arms behind the greatsword held it sturdy, the spear deflected and scraped off the rounded side of pauldron, the jab of strength behind it felt beneath demonic chitin as little more than dull thud.

The lionman was not so lucky, the monster-killer's sword run point through the collar bone, down across ribs. He growled, agonized, enraged, at the brink off his own death. The lionman's claws let go of his spear, raked out to grasp and claw at the swordsman who had dealt him his doom. Claws like hooks raked at armor plate. Found purchase in the rings of mail between the gaps, pricked at flesh. They sunk in. They hurt as Garrod crashed in. His sword clean through but those dying breaths of the lionman, that last act of a heart that pulsed its last beats.

Gods how it hurt.

Gods how it burned.

Gods how Garrod grinned wide as he stared at the beastman's eyes. To know he would live on. To know that despite the wound, his flesh would heal. The Lionman tried to twist him. Tried to rip him. But Garrod twist his blade. Run his magick through it. Runes run gold and hot. Flesh sizzled. Fire licked and sprout and burned in flash across the long blade of his monster-killing blade.

The lionman roared. A sound of agony. His claws dug in deeper. Only for a moment before the fires claimed him. Still, his claws hung on as he fell, swathed in golden tongues as flesh and skin boiled and burst. Garrod kicked the dead foe off, and the hooked keratin ripped loose from his flesh.

A breath, long and hot left the swordsman's lungs, and his sword came free from the nameless foe. Garrod's own blood dripped and pooled on the floor. "Fucking mess," he said, and his eye looked up to find more fight.

A voice called out across the air. It promised peace. Spoke of a demon. Garrod laughed. What did these people know of demons?

They've never met you, have they, Oh Bearer mine? Belephus laughed.

"Piss off you slaving fuck!" Garrod called out.

It was too late for civility. Blood had spilled, fire had been lit, and Garrod's arms ached for action.

Kiros Rahnel blain the cat

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

Of battle and diplomacy, only one could serve solution to the conflict. In his haste spurred by the great odds against him, it initially seemed that violence had been settled on by the opposing party. The others in pursuit behind the curtain stumbled from their blindness, tripping over their companion before they could reach the opposing corner of it. Garrod made his entry with a leaping attack against the beastkin rounding the far end of the curtain. Sword clashed against spear, with Garrod the clear victor of the clash. Flesh burned and life faded from his foes eyes, breath ceasing with it.

Another voice would call out, hoarse and old, with an offer to broker peace.

"if you can hear my voice i call to you attackers by the command of our lord we are here to collect the merchandise attacking us will only anger our lord the result of which could be the enslavement of all those in your towns, i call a parlay so that we do not have to escalate any further" Spoke the beastkin. "perhaps i can help you, there is a demon within your party and he deceives you even now, cease your attack and i will reveal it, then we can talk. this demon has the ability to convince you of things untrue " He added.

It was an apt description of Her, for he once believed Itra could aid him. Such a fool he was then. But the old man spoke of he, not Her. Though the situation the old beastkin spoke of seemed plausibly true, it could also be little more than deceit. What they wanted remained to be seen, and it was hardly lost on Kiros that these were slavers who sowed violence and cruelty where they tread.

"Piss off you slaving fuck!" Garrod too, was well aware.

Violence, fitting as it was, did nothing towards the goal of their present mission. Kiros suspected the beastkin had taken Liam, but he had no confirmation of where the boy might be. To slay the beastmen would forego a potential source of it.

“Of greater importance is knowledge of Liam's location, of which we've yet to acquire. We have followed but a guess.” Kiros spoke, hoping his words might find purchase. The adrenaline he felt himself bid him to fight, but concern and reasoning obstructed it.

“I doubt a demon might escape my presence.” Kiros added, still entirely unaware of the demon dwelling within Garrod's sword. “Nor that we ought trust slavers, but you offer peace and we seek solution to another matter. We search for a young boy who went missing within the week. It is of importance that we find him swiftly returned.” Kiros added. He hardly trusted the old beastkin, despite the gesture. He wasn't sure what he'd make of the response, but an answer, even if dishonest, would yield some information in its interpretation.

Any further clue would be beneficial.

blain the cat Garrod Arlette

 

[blain the cat]

the old man nodded. listening to the rational one.

"i accept a parley if only to clear the air of things" he waved his hand over the burnt out fire it sparked back to flame in an instant.
"i can assure you that the children's we have taken are only todays catch perhaps we can end the blood shed for now and speak on the matter you are truely here for"

the old man waved his hands at the waring lionmen those left were only 2 but as soon as the old man waved his hand at them they became almost docile growling as they dragged the two that had died back to the camp.

"i trust that the gods guide you but i do not trust the demons they lay with" said one of the lionmen as he laid the dead one down and begin praying in a uncompressible language.

the old blind man sat on a log as if offering the others to join him, he even pulled out a pipe and began smocking some sort of pipe smoke as if the battle was done and all he invited was peace.

as far as i was concerned he seemed okay to me, being a cat maybe im biase but all i could sense from him was good energy despite his clans treatment of humans. i smelled the air for spells or tricks and only breathed in smoke from their fire.

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod grumbled in frustration. The old codger spoke of a day's peace, but made no offer at taking his vile craft away from this land they used as hunting ground.

Pressed against the tree as he was, the monster-hunter listened to the priest, and he smirked. Would their bond of comradery last should the truth come to light? He bore a demon. Trapped in a relic, but so too in him, after their pact had been made. Only one way to find out, he guessed.

"Suppose we have no choice," Garrod said, no hint of their cat companion who had so eagerly pushed them to violence earlier in the day. Funny, how things changed when the actual blood began to spill.

Don't worry, sweet Garrod. Belephus whispered. I will keep you safe, as always.

Kiros Rahnel blain the cat