Private Tales Something Amiss

[Saul Talith]

Saul perked an eyebrow. Not entirely sure if the girl even knew what she was doing at this point. Threatening him at little point, especially given their current situation.

"During the first great Schism there was a Templar sect that broke away from the Order." He mused for a moment, thinking, and then slowly going on. "Their leader was a powerful mage. This was back when the Templar hated...well pretty much all mages."

Near four thousand years ago, it was said. "Our historians think he was a plant from Elbion or somewhere, squirreled away to break out ranks."

He shrugged.

"Anyway he took nearly two thousand men when he broke away, declared war on the Templar and anyone else in the Reach. Wreaked havoc for a year or so until we managed to pull him down." He frowned slightly. "Fancied himself a King. Wore black armor and a half circlet crown."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska reeled back a little, understanding flooding her in a bout of overwhelmed shock. "Oh." She found herself unconsciously mimicking him, her fingers drumming on the railing. She nodded to herself, the description feeling right. "The armor was black," she confirmed.

There was some relief to realize how powerless this figure was now. Two thousand had fallen into forty, maybe one-hundred buy the time they could return. It wasn't utterly unmanageable. But also best they stop it now... Events surrounding this were starting to make sense.

"So that makes him one of yours," she said pointedly, likewise relieved that this wasn't quiet so much the fault of rangers, as she had been suspecting. "But the firs schism was what? Four thousand years ago? How is he coming into play now? Shouldn't you have noticed him before?"

She was still a touch naive on the finer aspects of liches. All aspects, really.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul's face remained impassive at the accusation. "He was raised by someone else."

It really was the only explanation.

A lich did not just simply pop up out of nowhere from the dead. Usually when they were self made the sorcerer died and then immediately returned, a matter of them bringing about their own undeath. There was also a possibility of being raised through a place heavily seeped in magic, but given that this Lich was traveling that was impossible.

No, somebody raised it.

"Four thousand years is a long time. Even the Templar had forgotten where his grave was." He frowned. "Somebody found it and then raised him from the dead."

His fingers tapped against the railing. "Perhaps hoping to antagonize Templar."

 

[Kaska]

She stiffened, her fears coming full circle.

And she said nothing, not trusting herself to comment as evenly as she would like. She was great at acting, but only about things she didn't care for. Everything else? Open book...

"You do have a lot of enemies," she allowed, pushing off the railing in a dismissive gesture. In her usual abrupt manner, she attempted to walk away.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul shrugged. "No more than you."

The words sounded quite a bit more harsh than he would have liked, but it was true. Rangers and Templar both had their fair share of enemies. The only true difference was where those enemies were. His Order had them all over Arethil, the Rangers? Well everyone onew exactly where to find them.

A problem they had to deal with often he imagined.

As Kaska pushed herself away and began to leave Saul simply stayed put where he was. His mind was racing with a dozen different possibilities, sifting through the likelihood of what and who the lich actually was. The idea that his theory might be correct...terrified him.

The tales of old were never kind, and near enough horror stories that they used to tell them to one another as kids.

He hoped none were exactly right.

 

[Kaska]

It was the eve of the last night that she actively approached him again, the crew having just deposited themselves on land. Some were working towards a fire, others gutting fish. Sensing the soon to be tight resource situation, Kaska and the captain opted for a few hours rest on shore to cook and prepare a solid meal and rations for the up coming days. A few hours was a heavy cost to Kaska's racing concerns, but if it brought a refreshed army and food for her people, she trusted Lia could spare it.

She wasn't going to spend it stagnant though. She walked up to Saul and jerked her chin wordlessly at him, expecting him to follow her into the treeline.

 

[Saul Talith]

The Templar let out a quiet sigh, glancing over to where Leane was polishing her armor and his own.

She looked at him, let her eyes dart towards Kaska, then float over back to him. A shrug rolled over her shoulders, innocents painting her face. She was absolutely no help at all. "If i don't come back, kill her."

He was joking of course, at least he was pretty sure he was.

At this point he doubted Kaska would harm him, mostly because she'd had plenty of opportunity to do so already and she hadn't. Saul doubted she would pick this moment to run him through with a sword and leave him for dead in the forest.

Wouldn't make much sense.

Thus he wordlessly followed after her.

 

[Kaska]

Once deep in she turned on him, an inquisitive look about her. "Do Liches collect stuff? Like dragons. But ... weapons, maybe." Came the ineloquent question, no explanation behind it as she mindlessly drew that heavy sword.

He was clearly expected to do the same, a practice session demanded of without even a polite inquiry.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul did not draw his blade, though he did adjust the heavy metallic bracers that were still strapped to his wrists. His fingers fidgeted with the leather cords for a moment, then he focused on Kaska.

"No, not really." There weren't many stories of Liches treasure hunting.

"Sometimes they'll seek items that were theirs in life." That much the stories told of. "Though only if they held some significance or granted them more power."

He glanced at her.

There was still pieces of this tale she had not told him, small parts she kept hidden. "Why?"

 

[Kaska]

She frowned, rather... disgruntled by that. "He has something of mine. I was hoping to get it back." She bounced the sword in her hand, weighing out on whether or not to tell him more.

In the end, she concluded it harmless. She was about to ask him to whip her senseless anyways.

She couldn't risk her survival on pride. After a month and a half on this sword, she was out playing Adam now. She had always had skill with a sword, she had just stopped trying and let herself plateaued years ago. She had seen no point on progressing past proficiency. At 18, most of her motivations had died out rather briskly. This was a different story.

"My sword. Last time I saw it, it was sticking in his chest. Now I'm left with this." She scowled down at the borrowed weapon.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Ah." He said in understanding.

Burying a sword in the chest of a lich wouldn't do much to kill it, unless it was created in the blessed ways of course. Saul's sword would have done the trick with that, Leane's as well. A few of the other Templar had holy weapons, but really only about a fifth of the Broken Sword had them.

The art of creation was lost. "Unlikely he kept it."

"Though." He offered the girl some words of kindness. "You said that he traveled with bandits. If you're sword was a good one, it's likely one of them picked it up."

Stealing was the way of bandits after.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska nodded, her relief reserved yet present in the softening of her features.

She considered this for a moment more before clearing her throat and gesturing for his sword.

"This is too heavy for me. I need to train and Adam can no longer keep up," she told him briskly, her tone expecting him to comply just like that.

 

[Saul Talith]

"Then attack me." He bade her forward.

There was a trick that they'd been taught during their training with the Templar. Swordsmen often practiced against other swordsmen. It was something that they were used to, it allowed them to establish routines and create forms.

Yet it ignored a large part of combat.

Specifically for the Templar. Most opponents that his Order faced in battle did not wield a sword, they did not fight fairly, and they most certainly did not involve any sort of established forms. Simply put; sword fighting against a practiced swordsman was all but useless for a Templar.

It was why the best fighter in Broken Sword...didn't use a sword.

"The Lich won't have a sword." He reminded her. "Nor will most of his minions."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska hesitated.

Attacking another ranger without a sword was... not a practice many rangers had encountered. If just because their enemies very much had swords of their own. Moving forward on him like this felt... underhanded?

Perhaps if it were day two or three, she would have done so without hesitation, but now... Well. You spend a week with someone who gives you no reason to hate them, and well ... it's a bit hard to spontaneously cut them up at the end of it all.

"This is sharp," she warned, almost condescending in her unconscious tone.

 

[Saul Talith]

He tapped on his armor. "This is hard."

The gauntlets that he wore were crafted from the finest steel in Alliria. Berrick had made it for him almost two years ago, and he'd worked for nearly a month in order to make all the intricately laced plates.

It was something to brag about.

He didn't wear the full plate right now of course, that was far too dangerous for such a long journey by ship, but it was enough for this little sparring match. He had no doubt that she had skill with a sword, but one or two cuts wouldn't hurt him too badly.

Besides, he needed to show off a bit.

Ranger's needed to learn they weren't the only ones who could fight.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska eyed him for a moment, then nodded, her features growing fierce as she lept forward without warning. She tried a simple slash across his front, going from shoulder to hip, the muscles in her arms holding with new steadiness to the control she had worked towards.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul acted quickly.

His arm shot up in an instant, left hand darting into the path of the sword. Steel met steel and sparks instantly flew into the air as the sword caught on his gauntlet.

The Commander could feel his arm shake from the impact, the girl bringing a surprising amount of weight into the blow. Jaw clenched, and then suddenly his right hand jabbed upward and towards her ribs.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska reeled back in shock, his fist skimming up her chest, promising a nice bruise as she managed to yank her sword free and put some space back between them.

She walked a slow circle around him, expecting him to match her movements as she reconsidered her method of attack.

She had never had someone use fists before in a fight. Then again, she had never had a lich use magic on her either.

She stepped forward, mimicing the same slash as before just as she feigned and let the tip of her sword drop, movin to slash him from hip to shoulder instead.

 

[Saul Talith]

The blade caught the left side of his gauntlet, but this time he didn't manage to stop it time.

He felt a sharp pain suddenly as the thin razor edge of her sword cut from his hip over his lower side. Blood soaked his clothes almost immediately, no armor covering his side. A hiss left his lips, and almost as soon as he felt the blade Saul lurched forward.

The Templar Commander reached out, grasping the blade.

Metal touched metal, and with one swift motion he curled his fingers around the sharp edges of the sword and suddenly yanked Kaska forward.

 

[Kaska]

She released released the sword immediately, hands going up in wordless surrender as she relinquish the sword and slammed into his chest at the yank.

"You said you could stop it," she cursed, hitting his chest and shoving off to glance at where she had felt the impact.

 

[Saul Talith]

"It's fine!" He assured her with a slight grunt from the punch to his chest.

The sword was in his hand now, and to his surprise there was quite a bit of weight to it. He frowned for a moment, glancing at the Ranger. He'd misjudged her.

"I thought you'd be slower." A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "Plus my left has never been my strong side."

His other hand gently touched the cut, a grimace flashing across his features. "It's not that bad."

Probably wouldn't even need stitches.

 

[Kaska]

She grimaced back at him, fussing at a compartment to a pack on her belt. "Everything off."

She pulled out a small stash of supplies. A bandage. Ointment in a tint circle. Needle and thread, which she wasn't sure if she needed yet, but she had enough to hold any hand-size wound over until proper treatment could be delivered.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul waved her off, turning her blade in his hand and weighing it for a brief second before he stabbed it into the ground. It shook slightly, but otherwise ground itself into place.

Good sword, that. Saul thought to himself.

Without another word he stripped off his tunic, glancing down at the wound and grimacing at how much blood it spilled. He could still see the cut was shallow, not enough to hurt him in the long run.

Not enough to even inhibit him really.

"It'll be fine." He told her again. "Just need some bandages."

 

[Kaska]

"Sit," she droned, pointing hard to a rock.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul rolled his eyes. "What are you a nurse?"

Did Ranger's have nurses?

Templars sometimes had medics that were specifically appointed, but he had no idea if Rangers did the same thing. Kaska didn't exactly give him that same vibe but...well who knew. His lips thinned for a few seconds, and then finally he decided to follow her directive.

If only to quell some of the aggression.