Open Chronicles Run! Su! Run!

[Su Jun Seo]

"Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."
-Oprah Winfrey
Dungeons are often said to be the foundations of many adventurer's experience, as traditionally such a place was seen as a test of one's skill and cunning, at the promise of great adventure. This story begins at the end of one of these adventures, within one of the forests of the greater continent, upon an entrance of a tunnel that may have be hidden upon first glance.

It from this tunnel that the loud rumbling occurred, which would quake the nearby vicinity. Moments later, a dark blur zoomed out of the tunnel, stopping for a split secound as his eyes bolted left and right, before instinctively hurling himself against the rock wall next to the dungeon. Upon landing onto the wall, the man quickly scurried up the edges of the small cliff face, leaving the ground just as a tidal wave of water came flooding out of the tunnel and engulfing the nearby area.

The bald man had narrowly escaped with is life, as he glanced back at the entrance. Up until a few moments ago, there was quite a real fear that the man may have drowned within the underground, a fact that seem cause the man to chuckle. To think, the water that had been a threat a few moments ago was now forming a beautiful pond, even wildlife was slowly approaching.

The duality of life was quite amusing indeed.

After a few moments of respite, the man turned his attention back towards the wall and began ascending. Once he had reached the top, he pulled himself onto his feet and began to climb the small hill that the tunnel was embedded in. It was only when the man was a bit away from the dungeon did he take a moment to catch his breath, laughing a little as he did, before reaching for somthing on his makeshift belt. What he had reached for was a small bag, and reaching within, he withdrew somthing rather...shiny.

A ruby, to be exact, glistening in the light, maintain a shade of red that was suspiciously close to the shade of blood.

Now at all ominous.

Of course anything that had been embedded within a dungeon filled with death traps had to to carry some consequence, a fact not lost on the bald man, as he tossed the ruby into the air and then consecutively caught it. Now what to do with it...

The ruby itself had been a result of the man's grand adventure into a local legend. Those whom told the story have detailed the dangers of the dungeon and those whom had ventured in but never return. A man such as the bald man hardly had a good reason to wander himself into such a dangerous place, yet the lure of adventure and challenge seemed to be reason enough to throw down the dice of fate.

So far, the bald man had been quite fortunate...a fact that was quite liable to change.
RustySpork​

 

[Méchanteau]

In the world of Arelith magic could be found even in the most obvious of places. Carved into the marrow of a lich lord, imbued into weapons of already great power, bled into gemstones that were the kept away from the common populace for a reason… On his travels Méchanteau had caught wind of one such gem, a ruby red like blood, of unknown magical properties but most certainly precious as many an adventurer had attempted to claim it only to never be heard of again. Years later now, Méchanteau was once again around the area and had the time and bodies to spare, so he decided to take the much coveted ruby and add it to his treasure hoard! But while he meandered the local village, his head and hands wrapped whole ‘for fear of infecting his fellow man with the rash’, he heard that another explorer was attempting the same feat, at that very same moment! The Captain immediately excused himself from the game of backgammon, taking the set and betting money with him with masterful sleight of hand unnoticed and unappreciated by his fellow player, a blind beggar.

He left the village behind and marched in direction of the tunneled hill, resolute as a small gathering of undead walked beside and behind him. Two maggoty bandits with broken bows and a chipped dagger, a bloated lawman with one arm and one shield, and an eyesore of a poacher that sorely lacked a jaw. The ghastly motley crew soon found their man in minutes... An eastener, bald and rugged, unimpressive in the The Captain’s eyes. Which he removed without much pomp, two glass spheres different in size, color, and even shape… They were stolen, of course.

“Congratulations!” began the fiend “On finding the ruby.” he shook off the bandages from his hands, revealing long, terrible ivory fingers gifted with great arcane power “The trials you much have faced for such a measly thing, you must be light on your pouch... Aye boys?” he ripped his veil, revealing with a grandiose gesture his shimmering white skull while his puppet corpses were forced to laugh at his joke - as far as their throats and mouths allowed, of course. It was a chilling noise. “Lucky you, I came for the ruby only, and for it I am willing to pay, say… Five leaves of tobacco, the purest you’ve seen! Or, or… are you perhaps a drinking man? A stout drink for a stout man! Nothing beats that Belgrath wine says I, it’s brewed from mushrooms!”

 

[Su Jun Seo]

Someone from behind him spoke, causing the baldman to whirl around, the gem in his hands glistened. It didn't take long for the man in black to realize that somthing was run, given that there were figures approaching him, with bits of themselves dangling off their body.

Of course, if he thought the dungeon was going to be the hardest part of this adventure, the bald man had another thing coming.

A sudden voice spoke, which caught the bald man's attention, as he leaned forward squinting. This...person? Or rather, was a person? Eitherway, it was a walking skeleton that was now approaching him, talking to him as if he had a tongue. Maybe it was the mystical energy flowing in and out of him that was making all that noise.

In truth, he hadn't been really listening to what the skeleton had said, as it took a moment for the baldman's brain to register the noise were actually comprehensible words, and not just some ghoulish moaning as he had first presumed. Though that did little to change the bald man's attitude...or his next plan of action.

So, the man in black decided to do somthing else. As the skeleton thing talked, the bald man quietly looked to his left and then look to his right. When he realized no one had been guarding his rear, he slowly placed the ruby back into it's pouch...and slowly backed away.

If the bald man was good at anything, it was running away from danger.

Ran he did, as he descended from the hill and into the forest, moving almost in a blur as he began sprinting forward. The bald man didn't really have much time to get his bearings when he had exited the dungeon, the fog that had suddenly surrounded the area did little to help. Baldy was sure of one thing though: He was moving fast.

Under normal circumstances, the bald man probably would have been happy to trade the ruby for a pint. Jewels like the were headaches at best, attracting the likes such as the one in front of him whom thought it probably thought he was easy pickings. In all honesty, the bald man had suddenly been in this for the experience of adventure(odd I know), not much for the treasures. Yet somthing besides his ghastly look made the bald man's gut grumble. Baldy figured that whatever this...skeleton...thing, wanted to do with the ruby, it probably wouldn't be too good for a lot of people in the long run, if his "companions" were any indication.​

 

[Méchanteau]

The Captain could see that his words were not reaching the bald man - perhaps because he did not speak common? Unlikely. Anyhow, Méchanteau would have his ruby, even if he had to slap each individual coin on the easterner's hands, whose fidgeting gaze did not escape the lich's annoyed notice "Please... I scarcely have the time or patience." He sighed, sending a 'breath' of green ethereal vapors that left a scorch mark where the stranger had squatted but an instant ago. The black blur put a respectable distance between himself and the undead in seconds, the Dread Captain was impressed... and terribly unamused. The corpses fell limp at once as the pirate snatched the dagger stupidly imbibed in one of the fool's cranium and threw it - rotten brains and all - at the runaway. The skeleton missed his mark and instead hit a now stumbling and crying elk, the man had slipped through his fingers and ran at a speed he could not match! Worse still, the elk's ruckus was very distracting!

Hm...

Su Jun Seo would run and jump and evade the skeleton for some time until he the sound of trotting reached his ears, it was Captain Méchanteau riding an exsanguinated elk, brandishing an antler and commanding the fog to thicken in a strange, ancient tongue! "A reproach most stern awaits you, my boy! I will beat you until your hairs turn white, ha-HA!" Mosquitoes and vermin of that ilk spewed forth from Méchanteau's mantle, pursuing the man as a rabid mass of parasitic undeath.

 

[Su Jun Seo]

It was a good thing the baldman did have both time and patience, because this most likely would take a while.

The bladman kept his course, ducking a little as the dagger flew past his head, which only increased the speed to which he ran. This wasen't the first or last time that this butcher had ran from danger, and most of the time he could even out run it. But the sound of hooves didn't go mute to his ears. When the galloping approached, the baldman quickly glanced back. observing the skeleton riding a rotting elk, and they were gaining!

Of course this wouldn't be easy, it never was.

The baldman would turn around and continue to sprint forward, even if his purser was gaining. Yet in the next instance, using his current momentum forward, the baldman threw himself against a tree and then began...running up the tree? It was a rather defying feat, had people been watching, as the baldman was running upright up a tree. However, despite the spectacle, the man had made it into the tree tops and had began to continue to pick up momentum as he leaped from branch to branch. The man was moving so fast that it appeared as if he had been running on air, as the branches past so quickly.

Still, running in the trees only temporarily deterred his on foot pursers. There was now the matter of the undead swarm chasing him. Most of the vermin couldn't keep up with him in the tree line, but the mosquito certainly can. A few these buggers were able to gain on him, attempting to sting at him from ever angle. Luckly, a simple swat was enough to slap them out of the air and keep them away from any skin.

So the baldman continued to run as the skeleton below yelled at him.The bucther didn't what the skeleton was yelling about...

...he didn't even have any hair!...​