An expedition in Sunberth (Solo)

by **Irowyn** on November 26th, 2012, 1:13 am

Summer 1st 498 AV

Irowyn gazed off into the distance. Far, far away, were the green, mountainous jungles of Falyndar. The process which led up to this point was a long one and it had been tiresome. It wasn't physically exhausting, nor was it mentally taxing. Irowyn could handle those kind of challenges. No, the effort to secure an expedition to Falyndar had, so far, involved a great number of secret deals and shady characters.

Much to his chagrin, he was not at the East Dock of Falyndar. He, instead, laid in a dirty, dark little shack in Sunberth. His exploration party was unable to find a single company which was willing to invest in such a dangerous journey. Instead, they had to contact a group of illegal smugglers. Tsana hide, Ta'Rukhal plummage, it didn't matter, these guys would try to turn a profit on whatever they could get their hands on.

These were members of the street gang the Coffer. More specifically, the smugglers were one of many illegal enterprises within the criminal organization. That was the unique thing about the Coffer. They certainly weren't the toughest gang and they didn't earn the most respect but by Xyna if they weren't the most profitable little soundrels in Sunberth. The Coffer formed when a few members of a more prominent gang began to realize that it was becoming more about the lifestyle than the profit. These few thugs were more less interested in the frivolities of a criminal lifestyle and more interested in the cold, hard numbers of high profit. They broke away from the gang and decided to keep a lower profile. They formed the Coffer as a way to realize criminal ideals which were less involved with violence and more involved with secretive, illicit business transactions.

In the last few weeks they had lost an uncountable number of associates and contractors through these wild expeditions. It mattered very little to the smugglers, most of those lost were not employeed or associated but were contracted third-parties.

This was the case with Irowyn's exploring party. Irowyn really hated the idea of hunting anything. Other than his ideals to respect the regions which he explored, his most important method of survival was never looking for trouble. A hunting trip, as he knew, would do just that. Not to mention the fact that they were going to, of all places, Falyndar. The very reason for which they had to associate with such lowly thugs was that Falyndar was too dangerous for any reputable businessman to associate himself.

Still, Irowyn wanted to see the world. If this was the only way to do it, then he would get it done.

"Alriye', lights out," barked an Akalak with definition that was even notable for his particular race. "Tomorruh we set sail to Falyndar." This was Drulyn, the liason through which Irowyn's traveling party had been negotiating with the smugglers.

This time, his party included a total of six individuals including his two friends and traveling companions, a fellow human, from Syliras, named Rolf Hinland and a Inarta named Esli. Accompanying them were two Zith hunters who were more human than bestial but refused to announce any names. These two hunters were, of course, allied with the Coffer smugglers. They came along in order to secure a profit. Finally, Drulyn would be there so that he could manage the project. The smugglers decided to fund this project because there would be no guide into Falyndar. Experienced travelers, the three explorers and their map would be the smugglers' only method of making it through the jungle and back.

Rolf was a big fellow, much bigger than Irowyn. He was sort of the group's answer for needs involving combat, intimidation or any brawls. He stood a clear foot taller than Irowyn and had a big frame and bright blond hair. His skin bore the leathery roughness of a man who wasn't afraid to scrap and didn't quite understand what 'sun protection' meant. Slung over his back was a fairly large, iron greatsword. He wore a tanned hide jacket over a simple, light linen shirt and brown leather pants.

Elsi shined in more urban environments. This talent was far more crucial than either Rolf or Irowyn had ever anticipated. She had the street smarts. She knew how to persuade people and how to find her way to the important, even if less advertised, travel services in a city. Beyond facilitating many of these trips, she often secured safe housing and warm food in distant, sometimes unfriendly cities. Helping this task was her grasp of various languages. She knew just about every tongue but all of them to different degrees of thoroughness. Elsi was just about Irowyn's height and wore dark, red hair. Her eyes were a bright green and she wore dark purple linens, with crimson adornment, draping very closly about her body. She did not betray her Intartan heritage but these were not the flowly robes of Windreach. These hung very closely as to not impede her ability to explore. Her footwear was not sandals but, in unison with Rolf and Irowyn, she wore large, practical yet decidedly unattractive boots. Her main weapon was a bow slung over her back but she had had a fair amount of training with the nunchucks at her waist, as well.

Finally, there was Irowyn. He protected the group from more natural dangers. His job was to lead the group around natural predators, bottomless quicksand patches and uncrossable river rapids.
For now, the trio rested in an unfurnished, empty shell of an apartment.

"Meh, human city. Roof over our heads. Civil amenities all around. We've done worse, I suppose," Irowyn mused over his surroundings as he drifted off to sleep.

by **Irowyn** on November 30th, 2012, 6:48 pm

An enlarged, pale, yellow moon hovered in the skies above Sunberth. It had cast a great deal of light over the docks, enough to see quite clearly in these late hours of the night. Inside of an unkempt, run-down tavern, a large number of unruly Coffer sailors were closing their evening by drinking and gambling. The revelry was interrupted as the late hours of the night approached the earliest hours of a new, dark morning. In these early hours a stranger had somehow found his way into exclusive and decidedly hostile bar.

“Gentlmen,” he softly called out. “Good evening, I have a proposition for you.” the human was dressed very strangely. He wore dark purple robes with a faint satin sheen and silver trimming. His shoes appeared to be custom leather boots with a pattern which consisted of a series of spirals carved and molded from the exterior surface. They were dyed a combination of dull, dark green and shiny black which gave them an appearance of seeming almost wooden. His gloves matched the silver on his robes. The palm surface of the left glove had the black tracing of a human heart while a human brain was traced onto the surface of the right glove. Over the front of his hood, which now rested against his upper back and shoulders, could be seen an open eye with a large, dilated pupil. Finally, on the front of his chest, emblazoned in silver, could be seen the same oval from the eye except in the center was not a round eyeball but a human heart.

This small tavern was well within Coffer gang territory. Therefore, the simple fact that he had made it onto the docks, at this hour, meant that he was here against either the gang leaders’ will or their knowledge. Furthermore, this tavern was no secret hideout. It had a reputation as big as the Coffers themselves: you had to have one of two things to enter this bar, either official business with the Coffers or a desire to fight to the death.

Though, there was something strange about this man. Despite all of this, despite their rage at his audacity, despite the possible threat which he represented, their collective desires to attack him were quelled. Every one of the sailors and gang members kept their weapons sheathed.

His strange, flamboyant shoes clicked on the wooden floorboards as he walked further into the tavern. “You live out here on the docks, toiling your lives away,” click. Click. Click. “And for what? So that the Coffer leaders can live in luxury?”

The tavern, meanwhile, was stocked with the most exotic foods and drink that money could buy. Many of the sailors had at least one or two pieces of gaudy, expensive jewelry. Their homes were furnished with comfortable beds and pretentious art. This didn’t stop the wizard from appealing to the sailors’ greed.

“How many of you have seen the inside of your leaders’ homes? How many of you even know where these men live? Do any of you have an idea of the kind of wealth that they possess? You all truly believe that you are being provided with your fair share of the take, don’t you? Poor, foolish souls,” Vrlok made sure to look at the ground and emote a facial expression of pure pity as he delivered this last line.

“Don’t you see that they have given you just enough? Just enough to keep you from rising up! Just enough money and gifts to keep you from realizing how much more you are taking in, each day! The Coffers can offer you nothing but labor towards the wealth of a few exploitative men. You are all being abused just as much as the people whom you scam and rob! You exploit the people of Sunberth yet somehow are still united among them as victims!”

“I, however,” he continued, smiling right through his scheme, “can give you everything. When you control the minds of your targets...their power becomes your power, their wealth becomes your wealth. Join me and we will control both the minds and the purses of all of Sunberth!”

The response to this call of action was a loud and fearsome battle-cry from everyone in the tavern. Many of the sailors were shouting devotion to their new leader and for the blood of the Coffers. Some of the men, however, were calling for this intruder’s murder. Their loyalty, unfortunately would prove to be all for nothing. The numbers of the betrayers outweighed those who stuck with the Coffer. The fight was short and one-sided. When all was said and done, Vrlok led the survivors, his new acolytes, out of the tavern and out of Coffer territory.

The only survivors who stayed behind three strange figures in the back of the bar. They had been there since the beginning of the fight. Their black and silver robes were bulky enough as to hide the contours of their body. In the darkness, their faces were not visible within their hoods. The robes were pretty unremarkable other than the identical symbols emblazoned on their chests. The symbol was comprised of two skulls looking at each other. One was on the top, looking down while the bottom skull looked upward. Out of their mouths flowed sand along the course of an hourglass. Most of the sand was in the bottom part of the hourglass while only a small fraction remained in the top.

by **Irowyn** on December 2nd, 2012, 9:38 pm

Summer 2nd 498 AV
7:00AM

“So his name is Vrerlonka or Verlox or something. They know Hypnotism is involved but no one has actually seen him. Just heard mumblings from a few survivors. They think he’s Myrian but that doesn’t really make sense does it? Djed? That’s not their style.”

Rolf was telling Esli and Irowyn about the reason for their delay. The trio had been lightly snacking at a messy, outside dining table along the dock. They were now 4 days behind schedule. Drulyn had spoken about setting sail three days ago but on that next day crucial sailors had since gone missing.

At first, the Coffer had chalked it up to bad luck and began to plan the launch for the following day. After all, a few thugs gone missing was nothing out of the ordinary. The only absurd part of the story was the fact that a whole swath of Coffer guards lay dead at what was considered to be the border of the gang’s territory. That’s when the survivors’ accounts started cropping up. Coffer leadership decided that they had to make this little problem a priority and the trip was subsequently put on hold.

“Alright,” Esli interjected. “So we have to find this cult leader in order to get out of here, right?”

“It’s not all that simple. We may be on the verge of a gang war, here,” Rolf warned.

“This isn’t a gang war! It’s one charismatic mage looking to steal a few thugs away!” she emphatically responded, standing up and out of her seat. “Besides, some of the more crude gangs lack the subtlety to ferret this guy out and the Coffer sure lacks the street smarts to do so. No one’s going to find this guy, let’s get this show on the road!”

The two males stared out to sea, over the harbor. “Irowyn,” she pleaded. “Look me in the eye and tell me that you aren’t getting stir crazy here. Tell me that you aren’t longing to landing on the shores of Falyndar, already.”

Irowyn turned his gaze in Rolf’s direction. “She’s probably right, ya know.”

“Yeah, I’ll admit it,” Rolf responded. “Let’s get off our asses already, then.”

It took about an hour before they were able to come across anything of real value. Most of the dockworkers did little more than repeat already widespread gossip. Finally though, one of the Coffer messengers had something new.

“I think what surprised me the most, dere, was dhet I had seen em’ before. He’s kind of hard tuh forgetcha know? Always wandrin’ outta Stumble Alley inis’ fancy robes. Catch glimpses of’im beteween trips tah various stores where...where we gotta few contracts iffya catch my drift... He nevah looked concerned, dough. What’s more I’d imagine his place is pretty cozy on-inside dere. Dah guy looks so confident I bet he took the time tah actually decorate. Probably gussied up like Ruby’s whorehouse in dat place.”

“Stumble Alley?” Esli repeated, looking a bit more concerned now than she did an hour ago. “I don’t know if that’s such a great idea.”

“I think I can protect you two but let’s not push it, eh?” Rolf suggested in suit.

“Where did he go?” Esli turned back to the messenger. “Did you ever watch him long enough?”

The messenger chuckled meanly. “Aintchu supposed to be dah clevah one?” He asked Esli. “You doan look at anythin’ long enough in Sunberth. Never worth dah blackmail or dah bothah.” This having been the last bit of useful info that the messenger had, he simply walked off to return to his daily tasks.

“Are we getting in over our heads here?” Rolf pondered aloud.

“Only if we’re stupid enough to wander into Stumble Alley,” Irowyn told them. “Let’s cover the market and see if we can identify any activity into or out of the alley. Maybe we’ll even see our guest of honor.”

The trio agreed not to give up and they spread out across the market. A few hours later, a picture was starting to come together. An extremely hazy and barely helpful picture but a picture nonetheless.

Stumble Alley seemed to have an abnormal amount of traffic moving into and out of it. Sure, this really only represented 3 or 4 figures moving intently into the alley but that was 4 more than usual. The only people who really approached Stumble Alley seemed to be foreigners who had no idea where they were or people who seemed generally apprehensive about being anywhere near that part of town.

These anonymous figures moving in and out, with the all the comfort of one on a casual transaction, were highly suspicious.

The group had gathered enough information. They weren’t ready to leave the busy market square, just yet, but they needed to come together and discuss what they had seen. They took an outdoor seat a local eatery and ordered some cheap fair.

“Ya know what the weirdest part is?” Irowyn proposed.

“Yeah. I do,” Esli answered. “The guys walking in their today weren’t the typical (even the word typical here was out of place for anyone casually strolling into Stumble Alley) lowlifes of Sunberth. I saw one of the Night Eyes in there. One of them looked like one of Dalagnar’s boys. There was even a merchant that just strolled into the Alley looking pretty content. Now what the hell was that about?” Esli asked.

“Think about it,” Irowyn smiled grimly.

“He doesn’t care about the Coffer.” Esli followed him. “This guy just wants to raise an army. He’s not concerned about who he pisses off...that’s scary enough in its own right.”

“But to what end? Why come to Sunberth and start making enemies of everyone in town?” Rolf asked.

“Also scary,” Irowyn remarked. “Let’s hope that this guy is overplaying his hand.”

by **Irowyn** on December 9th, 2012, 2:59 am

It was a few hours later when they had gathered themselves and finally forged a coherent plan.

"Well we have a few options, here." Esli needed to educate the other two on the politics and the layout of the city. "Vrlock seems to have found the biggest enemy in the leader of the Daggerhand. The problem is that Dalagnar's group is a bit hard to reach. Their territory is tight, you don't see a lot of his people just wandering around the city.

Dastana Nariette's claim is far less fortified and easier to reach," Esli offered... "Unfortunately, best I can tell, she's also completely out of her mind," she quickly took it back. "I don't think that they'd be worth the high risk."

"So where does that leave us?" Irowyn anxiously probed.

"The Night Eye," Esli smiled. "The two towers are, obviously, out of our reach but I hear that a few of them like to drink in some secret upstairs section of The Simpering Seacow."

"So we're going to barge in on a bunch of drunken criminals?" Rolf interjected.

"What's wrong, don't think that you can handle yourself?" Esli challenged, trying to prod him into agreement.

"What about the Sun's Birth?" Irowyn interrupted, playing peacemaker. "Can we talk to those guys?"

"Vrlock didn't manage to ruffle their feathers. They're holed up safe and sound in their little nook. I'd be surprised if they even knew who or what a Vrlock is," Esli admitted.

Irowyn looked over at his muscular friend. "Looks like its the only option," he shrugged.

"Alright, alright. I just hate that it all comes down to me when things go wrong," he said as he hefted his greatsword. "We've gotta teach you to swing a weapon," he taunted Irowyn as he headed for the door.

They set out and had arrived at the tavern a few minutes later.

"So what makes you think that they're going to tell you anything?" Rolf asked Esli.

"Please, I got us out of that trouble with those Eypharian slavers who wanted to ship us off to Xy, you think a few crooked merchants are going to be any trouble?" she rolled her eyes.

Esli was surprised by how pleasant the Simpering Seacow actually seemed. By all of her information gathering, her mental image was of a seedy, disgusting bar full of criminals spitting on the walls and passed out drunkards lying in puddles of disgusting liquid.

It was, instead a reasonably well-decorated and amiable cafe. The friendly chatter and amused laughter buzzing through the air set a disarming ambiance but Esli soon saw the waitresses. Their skimpy outfits represented the characteristic, of this cafe, most appropriate to Sunberth.

On interesting sight that had caught Irowyn's attention were three hooded figures in the back. They sat quietly in their black and silver robes. They had no drinks and no food. They spoke to no one, not even each other. Irowyn noticed an emblem of two skulls forming an hourglass. The scene was odd enough that he wondered whether or not he was hallucinating. Although part of his mind knew that the robes had completely obscured their faces, another part of it wondered if he recognized grim, manic smiles coming from deep within those hoods. He considered asking Esli if he was hallucinating or not but didn't want to seem unfocused or overly stressed. Besides, they were unimportant. They had come to this bar for a more pressing matter.

They approached the bar but Esli was the only one who made eye contact with the Trayto or leaned in, over the bar.

"We need to get upstairs," she whispered.

"Aw, gods," the six-armed owner sighed in what truly seemed like sheer exasperation. "I hate dealing with you wannabe thugs," he rolled his eyes at them. "Just get the hell out of here and find your own way in with the upstairs crowd."

"It's not about that," she maintained a stony, harsh gaze. "It's about Vrlock."

He blinked at her, with a face totally lacking any semblance of respect or esteem. "That name. Whatever it may mean, it means nothing to me."

"Well," somehow Esli's eyebrows and the corner of her lips seemed to sink even lower. "It may mean nothing to you but the Night Eyes would be furious if they found out that you let them pass on information about their greatest enemy."

Trayto was just completely unfazed but he, at least, understood the brevity of potentially important information. "I don't have time for this mess," he sighed as he whistled over at Linellia. "Deal with this!" he shouted while waving her over.

Linellia stood up from a table across the room and approached the bar. This freed Trayto to disappear into one of his tattoo rooms.

"If he's calling me over, this must have something to do with the Night Eyes," she flatly posited.

"It's about Vrlock," Esli teased. "Now, that means something to you right?"

"The hypnotist?" Linellia whispered with caution. "Yeah, the whole city wants this guy's flesh. What do you know?"

"Doesn't matter," Esli brushed her off. "You need to let me talk to them, though."

"Sweetheart, I'm the best source of information in all of Sunberth," she explained. "The Night Eyes get their information straight from me." She explained. "I can't let you get up there until I get a sense of what you're after."

"Oh, you are good," Esli smiled, seeing through the very subtle manipulation of the truth.

Suddenly Linellia's expression changed. "Look, you don't have time for this and I'm not sure the slobs, here today, do either. I'm not sure what you're after but they aren't upstairs right now. Some fanatical goody two-shoe'd Inartan showed up about twenty minutes ago.

He was shouting and causing a ruckus because he wanted to...I don't know, fight some Night Eye thugs, I guess? I don't really understand these noble ignoramuses who stick their nose where it doesn't belong.

Anyway, they happily came downstairs to knock his teeth into his stomach. They won't get any information from you and you won't get to talk to anyone unless you head outside and see what's going on."

"Thank'ya there!" Irowyn hurriedly said as he and Rolf ran for the back door. Esli gave a grateful nod and quickly turned to follow.

Before they arrived outside, a muscle-bound, dark red-haired, longsword toting stranger was already walking back into the tavern.

"Drinks for everyone, the round's on me!" He smiled, stupidly bringing attention to himself. Meanwhile, Rolf glanced outside seeing three Night Eye thugs passed out on the ground and two running away.

Trayto poked his head into the main room, surprised that the man was still standing. "Those were just a few peons. Possibly even lowly initiates," he called out. "You know that everyone important has been called back to the Towers due to this wizard thing!"

The crimson headed stranger either did not care care about Trayto's detraction or did not hear it. He did, however, make sure to notice Rolf's impressed demeanor and posture.

The man had a deep, dark shade of red hair which was neatly combed back with a classic looking part and a stylized curve in his bangs. He wore a tightly fitting royal blue tunic with an almost reflective sheen and austere golden-yellow pants with a similar sheen. The man, himself, was both tall and obviously muscular. His weapon was a thin longsword. Slung over his back was a white shield with a stylized, calligraphy "S" emblazoned over the front.

"No big deal," he bragged. "My name is Szhair," he nonchalantly offered a hand toward Rolf. Rolf returned the shake and introduced himself in like. Irowyn was not as easily impressed by brute strength.

"Irowyn," he politely nodded his head. "Why pick a fight with the Night Eyes?" he asked the man, cocking his head, inquisitively. "I know that you don't know this, but we needed those men. They have important information that we needed to squeeze out of them."

Szhair's face turned a bit more threatening now. Not unfriendly...it simply served as a visual warning..."Now wait a minute, you're not more of these shady gangster types are you?" he asked them.

"Of course not!" Esli responded. "We're not gangsters, we just need to find someone," she replied.

"And who might that be?" Szhair asked, turning the conversation back to Irowyn.

"No, no no," she stepped in between the two men. "My name's Esli, you can talk to me!" She demanded. "I won't give up our information until you give me some of your own. Why pick a fight with the Night Eyes?"

"Fine but if we are to talk, let us at least sit and drink together," Szhair suggested. "Agreeable enough," Esli responded and the four of them wandered to a nearby table where they soon ordered drinks.

"Alright," Esli threw a hard stare in Szhair's direction. "Let's get back to the topic at hand, here."

"Honestly?" he replied in a rather carefree voice, "I am here, today, because those men are thugs and I am a hero from Syliras. I can't let a cohort of thugs cross my path without taking action. I saw one of them entering the tavern and just knew that I had to protect the good people of this fine establishment."

All three of them were awestruck. "Did he just use the word 'hero' to describe himself?" Rolf asked no one in particular after a long silence.

Szhair almost seemed to ignore that comment and just continued smiling around the bar.

"You don't seem....clever enough...to be deceitful..." Esli tested. Her gamble proved accurate, Szhair took this as a compliment. "I'll keep my end of the bargain. We are looking for a man named Vrlock. He's a hyp~"

Szhair immediately cut her off. "Oh don't worry, about that, I'll protect you from Vrlock!" He merrily laughed.

"What?" Esli asked, displaying her frustration. "That's not even what I`"

"Yes, the very reason that I am here is the vile hypnotist!"

"What?" Esli repeated again. This time much more flat and slightly more irritated.

"Yes, I don't know who wants him dead but some mysterious benefactor must passionately want rid of him! I have heard of Vrlock's deeds and realize that I am the only one able to defeat such a formidable wizard!"

"Is this guy for real?" Irowyn quickly asked Esli.

"No, we need you to take us to Vrlock," Rolf insisted. "We have to ensure that he is no longer a threat to our employers. It is the only way to begin journey."

Szhair truly look shocked now. "Sir, I could never live with myself after endangering the life of an innocent civilian!" Rolf took unique offense to this last little insult.

"Szhair, listen..." Irowyn began.

"Enough!" Szhair shouted. It wasn't a particularly violent or threatening shout but he stood from the table after his exclamation. "Before the end of the week Vrlock will be taken care of. That will be the end of it, I will entertain no more foolish notions of bringing anyone along as part of some kind of guided tour!" And with that, Szhair abruptly turned and disappeared out of the Simpering Seacow.

"Charming little pain in the ass, in't he?" Esli muttered before taking a particularly exasperated sip of her mead.

by **Irowyn** on December 13th, 2012, 2:44 am

Summer 4th 498 AV

Tent City had a particularly putrid smell to it. This was a mockingly, relentlessly undignified smell. That was to say that the mage felt a certain sense of embarrassment at simply being here to witness this stench. These people hated djed users. Everyone in Sunberth did but more than that, the people of the Tent City fundamentally distrusted strangers. His typical skill set wouldn't work here, not as swiftly as his safe escape would require. He would need something else, tonight. Something just effective enough to lead a few of the less clever away from the rest. For this purpose, he had coin.

It was an hour or two past midnight which meant, in Sunberth, some of the nearby residents were asleep. Many weren't. Vrlock walked casually down the dirty streets of the city's most decrepit and poor. He was dressed as ornately as ever. He wore the same expensive robes that he had worn to the docks.

Were he forced to use his djed for protection then his cover would be blown and all purpose for this venture would be lost. For this reason, however, he had a few thugs of his own, disguised in the City and watching his every move. Vrlock wouldn't have to lift a finger in case of an assault.

Vrlock spent the next half hour simply walking around. His presence warranted a great deal of attention in this place and soon enough, the people would come to him. This was the only way to achieve his goal because he had no destination in the Tent City. He wasn't shopping for a specific type of henchmen tonight. He needed volunteers. He needed subjects this time. His plan was to wait for the most curious, the most adventurous. He would wait for the most desperate. Those who had the sense to leave would. The others, however, would be his.

They did come. He succeeded in attracting a crowd. Some of them never responded to his call. Many only offered silent glares and their obvious annoyance. Some, however, were tempted by the gold that Vrlock flashed. These were the first people to go missing. They were the victims of Vrlock's first round of experiments and outside of the Tent City, their disappearance would never be noticed.

Summer 7th 498AV

Irowyn and his friends were still in Sunberth. It seemed as though there would be absolutely no way for them to reach Falyndar. Vrlock had absolutely decimated the Coffers' ability to bring in money. In fact, he really had seemed to be using the Coffer as his own personal bank. Other Sunberth gang members had their individual purposes but the Coffer had somehow become, overnight, the Regional Bank of Vrlock.

Meanwhile, the previous days had proved that Sunberth proper wasn't fairing much better than Tent City. Disappearances were increasing in town and people were beginning to whisper. Szhair was active as well. He had been mercilessly beating the charmed peons among Vrlock's otherwise unwilling army. It made no difference, to Szhair, that these people were not in their right minds, he ruthlessly hunted anyone connected with Vrlock and, in a few cases, beat them within an inch of their life and clear out of Vrlock's control.

The three had been forced to take up temporary housing in The Drunken Fish and now sat outside the entrance. It was early in the afternoon and they had just finished lunch. After meeting Szhair, the trail had grown cold. They had no option but to continue watching Szhair and help restore the finances of the Coffer as quickly as they were able. Right now, they were, in fact, watching him.

He relished the attention that he was getting as he made sure to interrogate his captured "enemy soldiers" in public. By enemy soldiers Szhair had meant the charmed merchant that wasn't permitted to remember any detail over the last few weeks now that the spell had worn off. Szhair wasn't too concerned with that small fact, however. After all, he was having the time of his life here in Sunberth.

"Come on, this is ridiculous," Rolf threw his hands up, watching the poor sap basically get tortured for no real reason.

"Well we really have no other option," Esli pointed out. "I mean until somebody brings Vrlock down, we're just stuck in Sunberth."

"Unless we want to give up on Falyndar and find a new expedition party," Irowyn tiredly suggested.

"No!" his companions responded in unison. "Don't worry," he lazily looked over. "I wasn't serious, I'm just growing frustrated," he turned his head to look back at the immature antics of Szhair.

Szhair had announced, the previous day, that he had discovered the location of Vrlock's base of operations. He had also announced that tomorrow would be the day on which he would end Vrlock's occupation of Sunberth.

Why the delay? Why the announcement of his plans? Why continue the "interrogations?" Production! Because all of these things granted Szhair more attention.

The party, meanwhile, had been waiting eagerly for this day. They were going to follow Szhair and make sure that everything worked toward the financial survival of the Coffer.

"How do we make sure that this mess goes down correctly?" Esli asked.

"We've gotta stay close to Szhair. You know that if he succeeds then he'll turn his misguided attention on every thug in Sunberth."

"You think he's going to single handedly clean up Sunberth?" Rolf scoffed.

"Not in a million years," Irowyn responded. "But his inane zeal to slay a Velispar is going to create a whole other series of delays and distractions. We'll never get to Falyndar if he's allowed to murder Vrlock."

"So we kill him first?" Esli asked.

"If we have to," Rolf was quick to reply.

"Sure," Irowyn agreed. "If we have to. Either way, we get to him first. We convince him to leave. We let him know that Szhair won't be able to take on all of Sunberth but that he could cause a single hypnotist a considerable amount of trouble."

"We've got to stick together though!" Rolf warned. "We don't want anyone to fall under his spell. He's proven himself an adept wizard."

"True but we can't just march in their together. We have to do this intelligently, stealthily. We'll plan to be in each others' field of vision...just hidden to everyone else," Esli added.

"And you think we'll be able to stay hidden from Szhair?" Rolf asked.

The three looked over and he was taking a break from "doling justice" to steal a quick glance of himself in a nearby mirror outside of some vendor's storefront.

"Yeah," Irowyn sharply answered. "I think we'll pull it off."

by **Irowyn** on December 15th, 2012, 4:20 pm

Summer 5th 498 AV 8:00AM

Szhair happily laced up his boots and perfected his hair. He grabbed his custom shield and his mighty sword and marched into the daylight of Sunberth standing tall and proud. He whistled to himself, with the same level of contemplation and preparedness as if he were off to paint a fence.

Irowyn, Esli and Rolf weren't far behind. Rolf wandered through the alleyways, strategically in sight of Irowyn who carefully crept across rooftops. Esli was skilled enough to fade into the crowds and follow Szhair on the street level. They didn't know where Vrlock was but they knew that Szhair knew. Barring any interruptions they only had to follow Szhair far enough to figure out where he was heading. From their, they simply had to distract him and take care of the Vrlock situation by themselves.

There were a few problems with this plan, however. The biggest was that Szhair made no secret of the fact that he was coming for Vrlock. The city would be teeming with Vrlock's thugs. This problem manifested early into their pursuit.

As it turned out, they weren't the only party with an interest in following Szhair. The longer they followed the longer these various parties became aware of each other. This wasn't so much of a problem for Irowyn who was up and out of sight. Rolf found himself fighting off three thugs in an alleyway while Esli had to race around corners and duck into crowds in the hopes that she might lose her pursuers.

Luckily, they had a contingency for these kinds of problems. They all knew that it was a pretty safe bet that Szhair would lead them to Stumble Alley. If they had to split up, they knew to meet back at the entrance to Stumble Alley. Specifically, the square from which they had originally seen the thugs coming and going.

Irowyn had the luxury to stay with Szhair but all of the commotion had, apparently, alerted Szhair. He had started to pick up his pace. He slowly accelerated to the point of running. Eventually, Irowyn was having a hard time keeping up. Szhair would get too far ahead and then Irowyn, just in time, would cut off a corner or two by strategically leaping to a more advantageous rooftop. He knew that he couldn't keep this pace up for very long. Szhair would get away soon if something didn't change. Just as he was starting to grow extremely tired he saw a poorly built, unstable rooftop. It was a hollowed out, destroyed building and Szhair was cutting right through it.

The problem was that this was the only suitable rooftop around. Other buildings were too far or sloped in an unfriendly manner or otherwise not viable options. Irowyn felt like this was probably going to end poorly but he couldn't let Szhair get away. What if Szhair reached Esli and Rolf and Irowyn was nowhere to be found? What if something happened because he wasn't around to help? This risk was not one that Irowyn was willing to take. The poorly constructed roof seemed the more acceptable risk.

When later recalling these events, Irowyn would struggle with whether or not his next visual cue was real. In the moment before his leap he thought that he had seen a Myrian on the street below. This Myrian was wearing the same black and silver robes that he had seen in the Simpering Seacow. The only difference here was that the Myrian was not hooded. She was grinning wildly. Her savage, maddened facial expression would, in later recollection, give him a chill as if he were staring down a glassbeak which had just identified its next meal.

He didn't have time to process this visual cue. Only in memory would this vision manifest. For now, he knew only of Szhair and the chase. Bearing down and hoping for the best, Irowyn lept onto the roof. He immediately heard an unsettling crunch and a loud boom noise. In his last memory of consciousness he recalled the sensation of his feet giving out from under him.

by **Irowyn** on December 16th, 2012, 5:02 am

"Well'ee turn'da corner then'da roof came awn'down," a slightly overweight, grimy, sweaty looking human thug announced.

"Yeah 'in it looks lyiek the whole damn area is a mess." A second thug, this one a crimson skinned Akalak spoke out.

Two of Vrlock's charmed thugs had been following Szhair. They approached the wreckage hoping to find Szhair helpless. Despite not having this wish fulfilled, they were quite pleased with what they saw.

"Ah doanno' if its Rhysol or Uldr smilin on us but we woan be havin' to worry about 'Yahal's little champion' anymore," the second thug joked.

"Whadya mean by'dat?" asked the human.

"Look!"

Szhair's death was completely and wholly undignified. His final moments were totally lacking of any valor or importance. No songs would be sung of the day that Szhair 'fell in battle.' The ceiling had fallen right away and crushed Szhair absolutely flat. He even let an unsophisticated grunt escape his lips at the onset of the physical pressure. The spectacle would have actually been quite comical had it not been so abominably gruesome.

The two thugs didn't know of Irowyn's presence, nor did they care to know his identity. He was hidden among the rubble so that when the two men identified Szhair's battered shield, they were satisfied to report to their master.

Irowyn woke up a few minutes later and slowly came to his senses. It took a few minutes to regain any functionality of his short term memory. After that, it took a few more moments to gather his surroundings. Finally, he was able to put it all together. He saw the spilled blood. He recognized the broken shield. He remembered being on the rooftop.

He wasn't immediately struck with guilt but he experienced a surge of panic. He had killed Szhair. Szhair was dead and Vrlock hadn't so much as even laid eyes on him. This potential asset was dead. Irowyn certainly felt guilt but Esli and Rolf could be in trouble. This was no time for paralyzing emotion. He could ponder the ethical considerations of his irresponsibility later. For now, he had to dust himself off and rescue his friends.

Summer 5th 498AV 11:00AM

"Keep low, Rolf, just this once. Irowyn will be here soon." Esli was whispering to herself, not to Rolf who was on the other side of the empty square. She kept an eye on him and he on her while they waited to rendezvous with Irowyn and less directly with Szhair.

They had been in the square for about twenty minutes when they simultaneously heard an unfamiliar voice in their heads. It was the low pitched, raspy voice of a man who was higher in years but not yet elderly.

"The hero is dead. Crushed by brick and cement. He is dead and your friend lies among him."

They could see him appearing from the darkness of Stumble Alley but they didn't need to. They knew that the voice belonged to Vrlock. There he was, dressed as ornately as ever.

"I knew about him, Irowyn, from the beginning. I've known about you three since I entered Sunberth. Now that Szhair is dead, the fight is over. I have already won...Irowyn saw to that," Vrlock stopped for a quick laugh here. "But since you two insist on being a nuisance, I'll destroy you as well."

"Well we'll just have to see about that, old man," Rolf muttered just before he readied his sword and charged Vrlock.

A gang of thugs was ready to intercept Rolf but Rolf was experienced enough to expect a gang of thugs. Their downfall was that they expected to catch him unaware. He immediately launched into a frenzy of slices and slashes.

Esli, meanwhile, had been ambushed by 4 thugs of her own. She was shocked that they were clever enough to find her while camouflaged within her urban hiding spot. She was hidden cleverly among some rubble in a tight alleyway.

While the gang had the upper hand at first, Esli quickly turned the tables using an impressive domination of her urban surroundings and an astounding aptitude for acrobatics. Resorting to her secondarily trained weapon, she whipped a pair of nun-chucks around to cause the men to stumble. It wasn't enough to stand her ground against four armed criminals but it was enough to stun one of them and intimidate the other three for enough distance to scale up the side of a surrounding building.

From here she could go to her reliable weapon: the good ol' bow and arrow. She quickly slung it from around her back and began to fire off a volley of arrows. She rapidly picked off her four assailants and then was able to assist Rolf.

After earning herself a few precious seconds to catch her breath, she recognized Irowyn in the distance. "Rolf, here he comes!" Elsi then jumped across a few rooftops in order to approach and better aide Rolf.

Rolf was just in the middle of parrying a vicious swing when Elsi called out to him. He was experienced enough that he was able to listen and respond. As if swatting an annoying fly, launched his sword horizontally, decapitating an enemy with a barbaric swing. "Well good!" he chuckled. "Maybe he could actually contribute for once!" Rolf didn't even give the next guy a chance, hefting his sword downward, just medial to the man's left shoulder.

"Alright, let's do this!" Irowyn excitedly shouted, withdrawing his two short swords. Unfortunately, he didn't have a whole lot of time to contribute to the fight. As soon as he showed up, he and everyone around him (including Vrlock's own thugs) felt their bodies seize up. There was a sensation like an extremely tight muscle contraction across their entire bodies'.

This muscle contraction was a response to the overwhelming emotion and this emotion was fear. Each of the three suffered from horrific visions of the other two being torn to pieces by vinumae, tsanas, yukmen, wailers and various other terrors. They viscerally experienced rather than heard an unearthly voice shriek the phrase "you'll all live to burn down to ash."

It ended in a moment but it had seemed like an eternity. When it was finally over, some of the thugs lay dead, seizing or in a coma. Those who survived collapsed, alongside Irowyn and his companions, in the city square.

Irowyn was still coughing and gasping for air when he noticed a strange look in the eyes of Rolf and Esli. It was unmistakable. Vrlock had charmed them. He could have charmed Irowyn too if he had desired too. But he watched Esli and Rolf fight. He deemed them more useful than Irowyn. Apparently, Irowyn was simply chaff to be burned away.

Irowyn was able to gather himself and then evade Rolf's graceless charge by scaling a wall but the near miss of an arrow reminded him that he wouldn't be able to succeed this way for very long. He ducked behind the lip of the building and gathered his thoughts.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings, nothing new for the explorer. There was a long clothesline on the roof. Vrlock was protected in an alley near some jugs of kerosene. He had his daggers, but he was missing a combustion source. Just then another arrow whizzed by overhead.

"Perfect," Irowyn smiled. He quickly stood up and cockily addressed Vrlock. "You underestimate me, wizard!" He joyfully shouted before throwing a dagger into the jug, sending the kerosene into the street. After this, he used the clothing line to soften his fall onto the spilled kerosene. He didn't land on his feet, but this was a purposeful maneuver. When the arrow barely missed him and struck the ground, Irowyn was able to throw himself out of the blast caused by the spark in the kerosene.

Vrlock was more than easily able to avoid any inconvenience from the blast. "You would use a parlor trick as your only way to kill m~" this sentence ended in a pained and breathless gurgle. Expecting to turn around and dominate Irowyn's psyche, Vrlock was instead greeted with a shortsword to his throat.

"No as a distraction." All of the joy that Irowyn had feigned on that rooftop was gone. There was only hardness and resolve in his face. There was a terrifying finality in Irowyn's eyes. He had decided, on that roof to do one thing and this was that thing. He had no regrets. "Again you underestimate me, wizard. You find me to cowardice to take a life." With that, Irowyn ripped his shortsword out of Vrlock's throat and let his body crumple to the street.

Rolf was not far behind, enraged as ever. Irowyn quickly ducked a swing for his head. "Rolf! He's dead. Whatever he promised you is null because he's dead." Irowyn was forced to take a panicked leap backwards as Rolf's sword clanged against a stone building. "So think about what you want. He's gone, what do you really value?" With no real basis for his persuasion, Rolf faded back into his right mind. With two of the three team members reunited, it was easier to stay out of the open and to corner Esli for her own rescue.

"So hey, what happend to Szhair?" Esli cool-headedly asked.

by **Irowyn** on December 16th, 2012, 10:37 pm

The three of them had returned to the docks for some much needed alcohol. Drulyn was there as well as most of the Coffer dock workers. In fact, even the Coffer leaders had wanted to join the three in their celebration.

Irowyn was only barely able to celebrate. He couldn't shake the oppressive guilt that he felt from earlier in the day. Szhair was a jerk and he was conceited but he wasn't an evil guy. It was Irowyn's recklessness that had gotten Szhair killed. He thought that the risk was his own. He only foresaw the risk of falling and injuring himself. He never considered that he could actually get Szhair hurt!

Esli and Rolf understood what was bothering Irowyn. They reminded him about getting rid of Vrlock, about freeing them, about succeeding in their mission and, most importantly, about Falyndar! They tried all of these methods to make him feel better but they were not so foolish as to patronize him by trying to deny his involvement in Szhair's demise.

Irowyn lifted a heavy stein of ale to his face and brought it back to the table only when it was nearing empty. What he saw upon bringing it down nearly made him spit out all of the ale. A dozen or so patrons would enter the bar over the next few seconds. All of them wearing those familiar black and silver robes. All of the Myrians. All of them grinning savagely. This is when Irowyn would first recall his vision while falling from the rooftop.

"What the hell are they doing here!" Irowyn stood up and shouted. The music had suddenly stopped at Irowyn's outburst. No one knew who these people were. No one had seen them, before now, except Irowyn. Consequentially, no one felt threatened. The Coffer's guards were placed on the alert that they were always on around strange faces. But the Coffer wasn't about to turn away paying patrons.

"Irowyn, who are they?" Esli urgently asked. Before he could answer, a Myrian voice rang out.

"The hero failed to kill the wizard. Dira claims her bounty," as she said this, she touched a nearby dockworker and he immediately dropped dead. Upon this incident, the bar erupted into screams of terror.

"What is this!?" Irowyn shot up out of his chair but it was no use. The priests of Dira made extremely quick work of the tavern. Esli and Rolf weren't to be spared. Rolf drew his greatsword at an incredibly speed but his unsheathing took longer than a simple touch from the priest.

"Rolf!" Esli screamed. Her pain wouldn't last long as she was next. Another priest was behind her, waiting to deliver his own deadly touch.

All of this was too much for Irowyn to bear. He was ready to die with his companions. He sternly stared at the two priests but they didn't advance, only smiled impossibly wider.

"Not you," the first one calmly said.

"Why are you doing this?" Irowyn stumbled to the floor. "What does Dira want with these people?" He started to break down. "And why not me?"

"Dira wants nothing." The man flatly replied. "She falls within her domain of oversight. Today's is an act of vital duty, not of greedy thrills," the priest finished.

"But we killed Vrlock!" Irowyn cried. "Why do these people have to die!?"

"The wager was for the hero to slay him," he smugly answered.

"So everyone here is Dira's claim because of an arbitrary detail?" Irowyn was not sure if he was more dumbfounded and confused or shocked and devastated.

"Such is the way of life and death," the priest's smile was sickening and grotesque to Irowyn. "Dira's work is finished."

Irowyn was too overwhelmed to stand or to strike back. In seconds, the Coffer had been entirely exterminated from Sunberth. Esli and Rolf were dead at his side. Irowyn was left alone in the tavern. He was alone in Sunberth and trying desperately to understand what had just happened.

by **Twister** on January 24th, 2013, 11:03 pm

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Experience Award

Irowyn

Grade :

If you've any questions or concerns about your grade, drop me a PM!
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Flashback An expedition in Sunberth (Solo)