A Grande Adventure

Zee grinned at Richard's 'rogue' remark. "Yeah, Lordy. Weird town, I thought." He didn't get his look, but the aura he expelled at that moment made Zee laugh. He shut up as the others' found their way back to the group.


He walked casually behind the group, taking in whatever happened around him and hummed. His spirits did not dampen as they headed further into the jungle, even if he was a little aware of the danger that he was heading into. he managed to hear Taihaku's question and called from behind, "yeah, they taste pretty good if you haven't eaten in a week. Though I prefer hollow artillery shells. That's some good iron.

Taihaku's ears flattened under her hood. She felt very embarrassed for apparently having asked a silly question, and for not picking up on Gildor's apparently humorful remark. She began petting Dargo's sleepy head, and found that it helped relieve some of her stress, so she continued to do so.

"Then let us not waste any more time," Taihaku said, hearing Richard's remark and his tone of voice.

"That reminds me," Persephone responded, "how are we going to sail to the Evernight Forest? As far as I could tell last time I looked at a map, the only sea route there would involve going all the way down to the Jewel River. Is that where we're headed, or did I miss something?"

Richard smiled a little smile as he turned and looked at Persephone. "Ah it would take a long time via long boat ride yes, but we're going on a short one aboard a small merchant craft brokered from a man I payed. He lives in a little town called Port Starview. It was founded within the last decade and is a hot spot for river trade. They even have a small Navy to help defend their town. I learned of them after I came here and was showing Elia around..." His voice trails and he looks down. "I had no idea the tales were anything more than fairy tales. Hokum non-sen-"

Before Richard could finish that sentence a great roar rent the silence and shook the ground around them.

Corveta gapsed. "What was that?! It sounded like a T-rex...But they don't have those on Felarya.....Or wait do they?" She asked looking around nervously.

In a flash Saen drew his bow looking about to try and find the source. "What is a T. Rex? some sort of Demon? Or beast?" He was a bit worries but more excited, if he fell one of these T. Rexes it would pave his way to be a hero even faster!

Taihaku simply stood by, unshaken. She had learned long ago not to let anything be unexpected. She simply had to do her job and protect the people around her. Simple, no matter what the aggressor was.

Like Taihaku, Gildor didn't react to the roar. Instead he stood next to the Neko, watching and listening. "Everyone, quiet." The elf closed his eyes to try and help him concentrate on where the roar had come from. As he concentrated, he slowly drew out his bow and notched an arrow.

This was an almost too-convenient opportunity for Persephone to try out that new weapon she had been given. She fished it out of her backpack and pressed what was clearly the "on" button (the device was surprisingly user-friendly). A white line of plasma grew out of the hilt until it reached the length of the average sword. The weapon felt unreal - the blade had virtually no mass, and consequently the whole weapon moved with such little resistance that it was as if it moved itself.
She gave it a few cool-looking test swings, and found that, while extremely light, it wasn't entirely easy to control: something about the way it functioned caused it to precess like a gyroscope in her hand, so if she wasn't careful and controlled in her movements it was liable to swing out of control and hurt her. She managed to get the basic hang of the thing in a few seconds, but hoped she wouldn't need to depend on it in combat just yet. Her free hand moved to her belt, ready to grab her trusty pistol should the need arise.

As Gildor and Taihaku listened the roaring seemed to be comming from in front of them their current path.

Richard got his over sized bow and aimed waiting for the creature to emerge. "Bah! We have no tthe time for this, monster, show yourself or be skewered!!"

The mage Corveta was shaking. She had never heard that sort of sound before it was so awful it had to belong to one mean crea- Then she heard another two from in front of her and from the east. "Wh-what are they?! How are there so many of them?!" Her hands erupted in green flame. She appeared to be too scared to even notice. Even when it was charring her sleeves.

Richard had enough of this He was a High Lord of a mighty empire. He'd not be intimidated by monsters. Lowely ones at that! Not even giant man eating women. "You have crossed me and thus tempted my anger..." He paused for dramatic effect before his bow changed from a single barrel to five and he fired. ".... now suffer my Furry!!" The energy blasts shot out through the clearing burning some of the surrounding foliage and then there was silence..for ten minutes then it started up again ! This time it was moing left then right and back and forth but always directly in their path.

(XD I would wake Dargo up but he'd likely not be useful anyway. Feell free to set him down or give him to Rich, Nyaha.)

"Corveta!" Saen exclaimed as he noticed the flames on her arms. "Your sleeves are on fire! Did you need help?"
When Richard fired off into the wildness he was a bit confused. 'Why is he doing that? Wouldn't it be better to wait until you saw the target? I'll make note of it though! This must be how real heroes fight!' He thought to himself.

Ten minutes? Were we all just standing around for ten minutes?

(I know right? What the hell?)

(Ack! Should have said seconds. Oi. That's what I get for rushing yesterday. I was loading some pics to my flash drive and trying not to miss my show. Sorry guys. Please treat it like ten seconds had passed if that seems like an appropriate reaction time. Also here's a pic of Richard I did recently while waiting in lobby. http://david-dent-jedai.deviantart.com/art/Richard-Grande-331703755 and a doodle I did of Dargo after doing an elf OC of mine. It's not 100 % acurrate but it gives one some idea of what he looks like. http://david-dent-jedai.deviantart.com/art/Tydus-and-Dargo-331704051)

Corveta seemed to finally notice her hands were on fire. "What? Fire? Saen I don't have that kind of magi- !!" She exclaimed as she suddenly dropped her staff and started waving her hands about randomly trying to put it out. It went out pretty easilym but where had it come from? She had no clue and she was a littl scared about it. 'I don't know any spells like that! I only know Temporal Magic and some Spacial Telaportation spells but I don't know any battle spells! Wait did I even cast a spell? I don't remeber saying anything or even moving my hands...Which means...Could it be innate magic??' She thought wildly. The roaring broke her out of her dreamy state of being and back into the real world. Where mosnters were trying to eat her. She could worry about the innate magic later for now she needed to deal with this threat first. "Actually, Saen, Richard reacted very poorly and not very heroicly I might add. More like a green soldier on his first combat mission." She said rather coldly.

Richard didn't even bother dignifying her with an answer. He looked at the rest of the others. "Is it just me or does it seem like they haven't actually attacked yet. They just seem to be walking around us and making loud noises. Perhaps a scout is in order, yes?"

No prob. I had a feeling reading your post that something was rushing or distracting you. Just wanted to make sure you didn't really mean that bit. Anyway...
Uh, what's attacking us now? So far all I remember seeing is that it roars like a T-Rex and can run really fast.

"Huh? You can read minds!" Saen says excited. "I had no idea!" He was awe struck and nearly forgot they were in any danger.

(hahaha! XD he was thinking that to himself but I'll roll with it! XD)

Gildor gave Richard a salute. "I am on it sir." The elf didn't comment on Richard's lack of professionalism, though he silently felt the man's actions had been rather disgraceful. Gildir slipped silently into the forest. Years of practice and training made the elf seem nearly invisible in the wooded area as he silently scouted the place.

Likewise, Taihaku felt somewhat perturbed by their leader's actions. However, she wasn't so quiet about it. Or, she wouldn't have been, if she wasn't so shy. In truth, she really didn't want to confront him about it, but she would be keeping her eye, as well as tabs, on him from then on.

"Shall I prepare a spell, just in case?" Taihaku asked the group in general.

(Yeah well so far we haven't seen them, but Gildor is about to. XD Sorry Saen! I didn't realize. Ugh I'm off my game.)

Corveta hadn't thought about that. Saen didn't speak! She just read his mind! Two powers in one day? Or coincidence. " I suppose mabye I did. Though I didn't know I coudl do that." She heard Taihaku speak of using a spell. "Um perhaps you should save some in reserve. I think they may be three at least.

As Gildor crept though the forest he couldn't see anything at first until suddenly he saw them. Three Balbakh. Large shaggy brown and green creatures massive in size, thirty feet at best estimate all stomping about and making deafening roars but what he would notice if he cared to think about it was the monsters were all near the back and the noises he was hearing were being projected away from the creatures and not where the creatures were standing.

Gildor watched them for a few moments. Something wasn't making sense, that was certain. He began to creep closer to get a better look at both the creatures, and where the sound was both coming from and being projected towards.

Richard had been standing there saying nothing like a tree for a little while but suddnely he turned to Taihaku and asked " Say do you have a spell for long range attack? Or perhaps a homing spell?"

Corveta began to wonder what had become of Gildor. He had been gone a while. How long did it take to look at some animals and come back? She asked Saen "How long should he have been gone? I mean I've never been a scout, my role is always range fire support, but surely a scout shouldn't take this long to see what's the mater, am I right?"

As Gildor took a step forward to investigate a lone stick breaks beneath his foot with a "Snap" and the three Balkabh turned to look at one of Felarya's rare treats standing before them and cocked their heads to the side. They weren't able to speak in the conventional sense, they didn't need langue to say what they all were thinking: "Food!!" With that thought they suddenly surged forth at Gildor.

Dargo's big, furry, floppy ears perked up and suddenly he came awake jumping out of Taihak's arms and shaking off. A aura of blue energy wreathing his body. "Grrrrr...." He growled in low voice in the direction of where Gildor had left.

Saen answered Corveta. "Not sure but if something was happening I think we wou-" He stopped when he heard Dargo growl. "Okay, I'm going after him!" Saen said without hesitation he sprinted to where Gildor had gone. Saen couldn't follow Gildor's track but he himself had hunted quite a bit and simply went the direction he would have gone, had he been instructed to scout. "Gildor!" He was surprised to see such unusual creatures but didn't stop to ask Gildor questions he fired two arrows at the one nearest to them's eyes. (Not sure how well you can see thier eyes or not but if ya can't he fired where he thought they should be. ^^)

Persephone assumed a defensive stance, ready to rush to her compatriots' aid, but so far they seemed to be doing pretty well defending themselves. Sure, the shaggy forest beasts looked menacing, but it was easy to tell after a moment or two that they were a fairly low-level threat - more of an annoyance slowing them down than anything else.
She kept her fingers crossed (mentally at least) that there wouldn't be too many more random encounters like this on their way to the Evernight Forest - at this rate they were liable to run out of supplies and ammunition, and at worst sustain a few disabling injuries, before they even made it there.

If that sounded like a poorly-disguised "I'm impatient"... I didn't mean any offense, but I'll admit that's true. If no one objects, can we move a little faster? The group's only been out half a day despite 15 pages of posts, and I worry the RP's going to die if we don't make some more serious progress.

P.S. Okay, that probably sounds slightly hypocritical given the actual content of my post. I'll try and be more productive starting with the next one.

"I have a number of decent long-range spells," Taihaku answered. "Are you wishing for power or precision?"

She paid no heed to Dargo or her compatriots, and focused instead on the matter at hand with Richard.

The elf cursed himself for making a mistake like that. It was something that only people who were still in training or had no idea what they were doing should do. He swore to himself in Elvish and began to make a speedy retreat and nearly ran into Saen. He cursed again, pulled his bow off his shoulder and notched an arrow to it before starting to run again. "Haaku edan!! Run Saen, just run!!"

(Well I don't expect to get to the Evernight Forest in 15 pages. I mean to be honest I don't know how long it'll take. I'll admit I thought we'd be to the ferry by now or at least to Safe Harbor, but eh getting there is only half the fun right? Oh and Saen, since Bakalbh are quadrepeds I'll assume they have more exposed eye sockets so your move works.)

The second creature went down making a awful racket as it fell. The others were not as incapacitated and one rushed at Saen with it's mouth wide open trying to swallow him. The other broke off and headed straight for the group.

Richard was to decide which of Taikhaku's spells to use suddenly the other creature burst into the clearing and came charging at the party. "I think whichever one can freeze things instantly will work, my dear." Said Richard calmly taking his bow and taking aim. Though the power indicator said the batery was empty. He'd need more Aquinite. "Darnit! Corveta look out!"

Corveta didn't need to be told she'd armed a telaport spell the minute she'd saw the creature and with a gesture telaported herself to a rock and shot of a blast of slow spell which missed and hit a nearby Jaykay instead. "Oooh! I hate casting under pressure!" As she worked on creating another spell she thought. 'Though I've never been in a situation where I wasn't. In fact is there such a thing as not casting a spell when under pressure??'

Dargo rolled to the side and breathed a blast of icy breath at the creature his blue aura glowing birghtly a moment before fading entirely. The blast did little more than make the creature's hide get some frostbite. It was too large but he was discouraged it did cause it to turn and look at what was stupid enough to attack it. 'And now Taihaku can finish it. Heh heh...If it doesn't eat me first!' Thoguth Dargo suddenly looking very comic with his eyes wide as he realized he was in even more danger of being eaten than Richard! Just who was the guardian here?' He thought as the creature opened it's maw wide and moved towards him.