The Chained Ones... [Robert, Aello]

by **Aello** on March 27th, 2011, 8:23 pm

Aello strode toward Robert and the struggling beast. "Trying to take credit for everything?" Aello asked. "Take away all the fun, and the bad guys? Whatever those hideous things may be." She was now standing a foot in front of the two fighters. She smiled wickedly as she raised her hand, the dagger's blade was pointed at the center of the chained one's blood red-rimmed eyes. "Just shut up," she hissed as she brought the knife down. It punctured the center of the creature's neck.

Silently, the young spiritist braced herself. She expected a stream of warm, crimson red blood to stain her fingers, but nothing came. She wondered why she had expected such a thing, for her arrows drew no blood either. The girl hesitated as the creature began to gurgle. Her blade was lodged in its throat, the right hand that held it sweaty, and trembling slightly. What the heck are these things? They're not human... Slowly, Aello extended her left hand to the blade. She wrapped her left hand around her right, weaving her fingers together slowly. She could feel them all sweating, the salty water dripping between the tiny crevices that spanned the tiny space between the index and middle fingers. The middle and the ring finger. The ring finger and the pinky. Slowly, the girl pushed the dagger upwards, towards the creature's chin.

The flesh seemed to part as Aello forced her blade, stopping it as it rested just below the chin. The creature seemed to be coughing up spit and a series of bubbles. Perhaps it was simply phlegm, or some sort of bodily juice. Even more spit? The girl couldn't be sure, but whatever it was, it made the creature seem rabid enough where she simply wanted to get away from it.

Aello jerked the blade out of the creature's neck. Any blood that lingered had already been there before. She took a half step away from the Chained One. "Suppose that one is a goner," Aello commented. Her arms were hanging uselessly at her sides, the blade glimmering in the moonlight as it rested against her leg, awaiting its next victim. The girl glanced around the alley, and caught the sight of Syndre, he seemed off in his own little world. There didn't seem to be any more monsters, though, at least, as far as the girl could see, which wasn't much in the poor lighting. "Hey you!" Aello called to Syndre. "Do you need help down there or can you manage?" not knowing for certain if he had more to deal with. With that, she turned back to Robert, "we may want to sweep the area and make sure we didn't miss anything, yeah?" She wasn't too worried about collecting her things, she could always pluck them up off the dead bodies a little later. Besides, as long as she had the cursed blade, the girl would be alright. She could fend for herself. He didn't need to tackle that creature for her.

by **Syndre** on March 30th, 2011, 11:11 pm

His footfalls were a little louder than usual as he broke thru enough

of the darkness to where they could make out his lean frame. Crystalline voids
shifted over the amped mercenary, checking the man for any substantial wounds
as if he were studying a brand new weapon for any flaws. Satisfied with Robert's
condition, even as his henchman continued to hold the lifeless creature up, the
rogue moved his unconcerned gaze over to the armed woman. A lone eyebrow lifted
upon his relatively unmarred features in Aello's direction, his right leather
encased hand gently sweeping a bit of dirt off the curve of his slender shoulder.
"Does it look like I need any help?...," his tongue was sharp as he answered her
question with one of his own, a condition that accompanied such a high level of
arrogance.

The same hand lifted again, allowing the smooth leather of his glove to

come down against Robert's shoulder in a firm pat. The contact was a signal of
his approval at how the sword for hire handled the situation, and it was clear
to Syndre that his choice of protection was already paying off. Those azure
pools never left the young woman, his buckled boots taking him beside and pass
the battle tested mercenary," You're lucky me and Robert where around to save
your ass... or else you would have ended up like that guy back there..." Syndre
was definitely the sarcastic type, but for some reason Aello brought out the
worst of it.

His left hand held the loose bundle of his whip between curling digits,

guiding the coiled weapon around his slim waist to the small of his back. His
right arm, adorned in a fine black silk that was rolled up to mid bicep, also
reached around his back to assist in tying the snake-like extension to his
dark entwining sash. His corded appendages unintentionally flexed with the
mild effort, and upon completing the minor task his gloved hands returned in
front of his six foot frame. His coated digits stretched outward a few times,
as if it had been awhile since he had put his hands through this amount of
effort.

They would probably have to leave sometime soon, for all the noise they

had just created would surely have attracted some sort of attention. Syndre
never liked the idea of encountering the city guard or worse yet, a member of
the Ebonstryfe. They would be better armed than these undead creatures and
more skilled in the art of combat, which leave them in a precarious predicament
that the rogue didn't want to be involved with. Though they had come to Aello's
rescue this time, the thief would have no problem shoving her in the path of a
charging Ebonstryfe to aid in his escape. "We need to leave soon... I got what
we came for...," his words were directed to Robert even though his cobalt eyes
stayed attentive to the woman's movements.

by **Robert Cithon** on March 31st, 2011, 5:03 am

Robert watched confused as Syndre, rising from the darkness and rejoining the group. Searched Robert over for wounds. Robert had none, minor scrapes and cuts were not considered wounds. Considering Robert had been taken by surprise, it was a miracle he had not sustained any considerable wounds.

Robert let the body of the deceased Chained One drop roughly. He had no sympathy for creatures who lurked in the dark waiting for victims. He nodded toward Syndre, he assumed his pat on the shoulder was sign of approval. Robert must have passed the test, whatever the test may have been. He ignored Syndre’s harsh words. These two remind me of two cats tied by the tails.He thought silently.

Smiling to himself, he stepped over the bodies. If they were to be considered bodies, lumps of flesh seemed more appropriate. Robert made his way to the area he left his battle axe. He listened to Syndre’s words, never looking up from his search. “I agree.” He said half heartedly/ He was intently searching the ground, kicking a leg out of hi way there, a tattered corpse there. Long moments passed, and Robert suddenly lunged forward. A smiled spread over his face as he came up with his weapon. “No we can go. We made way to much noise.” Robert said as he made his way back toward Syndres side. He would follow the man. Robert assumed the man was well practiced in the streets of Ravok. He was likely to no the quickest way to a safety point.

Roert fell in line beside him. He did not ask questions about what exactly they had came for in the first place. Robert was a hired sword, not a consultant. He would follow orders, mostly. A strong sense of pride and responsibility would hinder him in some cases. And he would make it clear if he did not agree with an order given. It had led to more than one fight with his commander and or his employers.

by **Aello** on March 31st, 2011, 3:08 pm

Aello scowled. "Would it kill you to have some manners?" Aello hissed. "We were just being polite." Sheesh, in the name of all that is holy, strike that man down already. "And as for saving anybody, well, if you weren't such a pussy then perhaps we wouldn't have had so many problems." Aello's grip tightened around her blade. Her knuckles were turning white. If that asshole wasn't careful she'd be sure to skin him before the end of the night. She couldn't wait to see Robert so much as try to stop her.

The girl gazed at the man intently. Her eyes were flashing menacingly. As soon as Robert had dropped the last body, Aello put her knife away. She knelt down beside the body, and pressed her left hand into its flesh. It was cold; sent a chill down her spine. Her palm was pressed into the area surrounding where the arrow had struck the beast. The first arrow poked out of the space between her thumb and index fingers. Her right hand, she extended towards the bottom of the arrow. She wiggled it around until the arrow came out. It was strange to her, not to see the projectile caked in her target's blood. Not allowing her mind to reflect on the matter any longer however, she put the arrow back in her quiver, before repeating the process for the remaining arrow she had lodged in the chained one's body. When all of her arrows had been retrieved, the girl stood up.

"We could always split up. Those things, whatever they are, are dead now," Aello commented as she glared at the men for a moment. When she was satisfied with her glare, Aello turned abruptly on her heels and walked into the darkness. It only took her a moment to find her bow. She bent at the waist, and plucked it off the ground. Her grip tightened around it menacingly. Each of her muscles was tense as she straightened her body back up. The girl peered over her shoulder. Her long brown hair tumbled over the side of her face, concealing most of it in shadow. "You know, rogue, you'd best keep Robert close. For should he slip through your fingers, you'll wind up as dead as those incompetent fucks." With that, she turned her head back around, and disappeared off and into the shadows, in search of her companion.

OOCOh Syndre, how I love how much our pcs hate each other. Anyway... feel free to wrap up.

by **Syndre** on March 31st, 2011, 7:37 pm

His brow slightly lowered and top of each pale cheek rose but a fraction

of an inch, causing his cobalt voids to narrow in a hateful stare. His intense
gaze pierced her from behind as she made her way toward the opposite end of the
dark alley, her small form beginning to disappear as the shadows enveloped her.
She seemed awfully familiar, as if he had encountered her before, but he
couldn't put the place with the time. It would probably be in her best interest
if they didn't meet again, for her foul temperament could only be tolerated for
so long. Who did she think she was anyway?

His right gauntlet encased appendage lifted slowly with his elbow locked

into place, causing the length of his arm to extend fully outward. His leather
adorned hand held an imaginary weapon that was lifted to his line of sight,
aiming the unseen crossbow between her shoulder blades just before the shadows
completely concealed her exiting figure. His index finger slowly curled inward
as if he were pulling a mechanized trigger, launching a fictitious bolt after
the escaping woman between the ivory walls of the two buildings. A small smirk
twisted upon his lips after firing the nonexistent weapon.

"You should really do a better job picking your friends Robert...,"

the rogue's comment was directed toward the hired mercenary as he took a step
in front of the larger man, keeping that wicked smile upon his visage while
pretending to return his invisible crossbow against his slender hip. He began
to move with a since of urgency, quickened footfalls leading the thief back
toward the entrance of the alley. They would need to get back to the dock
before any of the city's authorities were informed the skirmish that had just
taken place. The wooden craft was waiting for them to make their escape, and
once they arrived to its location, Syndre would brief Robert on his plan to
rid Ravok of the merchant who had a price on his henchman's head.

by **Seth** on April 11th, 2011, 6:23 am

Syndre:

+1 Boating XP
+2 Observation XP
+1 Tactics XP
+2 Whip XP
+1 Dagger XP
+1 Rhetoric XP

Lores: Chained Ones, The Shrill Shrieking of a Woman, Silent Signals for Robert, How to Easily Agitate Women, How to Use Others as an Advantage, Simple Street Tactics, Delivering Killing Blows.

Loot: 5 Gold Mizas, looted from the body of the fallen messenger. <3

The Method behind my Madness :

Robert:

+1 Balancing XP
+2 Observation XP
+2 Brawling XP
+1 Longsword XP
+1 Axe XP
+1 Rhetoric XP

Lores: Chained Ones, The Shrill Shrieking of a Woman, Silent Signals for Syndre, Keeping your Wits about Yourself, Simple Street Tactics, Delivering Killing Blows.

The Method behind my Madness :

Aello:

+1 Auristics XP
+1 Birdkeeping XP
+2 Rhetoric XP
+1 Observation XP
+1 Leadership XP
+2 Bow XP
+1 Dagger XP

Lores: Chained Ones, Communicating with Men by usage of Grunts, How to Carry on an Effective Arguement with One's Own Brain, Commanding Men About, Delivering Killing Blows.

The Method behind my Madness :

Everyone got a point or two of Observation and Rhetoric, mostly for examining things in the dark of night, as well as some of the amusing Verbal Sparring that went on. Your combat prowess was rewarded with some points in the skills you used, depending on how much you used them, and the level of detailed applied. Any other specifics were detailed to you seperately. Good job with the thread!

I was a bit curious on how the Chained Ones were so... stupid. At some points, plans were openly discussed in front of them. Also, they are supposed to have higher physical/mental abilities than humans... but I never saw that come into play either. Just something to consider, depending on if you encounter more in the future. <3