Campfires and Creatures[Rezren]

[Clyde Sullins]

Of course, much Clyde had left to himself... Much of the things done against him, he did not mention. Really, when it came to magic, most things seemed steeped in secrecy, and lies... It was a very secretive craft... And the worst thing of all... Well it had not been repaired, its damage, until he had come here to Ravok... Another reason he so favored the place. Clyde sat there, continuing to work at his rock, slowly filing away with the diamond tipped tool, which could be used on things even harder than rock, like metal... He supposed in that regard, a rock was actually easier. Though the man was an informant? A spy? Well, perhaps that skill of his, to gather intelligence, could come in handy down the road. Though he would have to be careful of what he said, lest some of what he said be carried to others ears, for a price. Though it seemed he was attempting to be more than just the average mercenary. "Oh sure, take a nice long break, and relax. We could just be attacked at any moment, by monsters or vicious creatures. The perfect time to relax." He simply nodded as the man thanked him for the blanket... Really, it was in his own self interest, for the man not to freeze to the ground. He would be of no use to him then. So it made sense to help him out a bit. He simply nodded, letting the man think he was helping him out of the kindness of his heart. *** Soon enough, night set, the sun fell, and the moon came out. At least the moon was mostly full tonight, meaning it was not pitch black. They could actually see decently, by the moonlight, and the flickering fire. Clyde had been fiddling along with his rocks, and had finished engraving the simple glyphing rune, as a focus, onto it. Actually, he had finished two, had two rocks freshly engraved with the sigil. Clyde let out a sigh, feeling a bit sleepy... Best to turn in. He would let Rezren take the first watch... "Alright, I am going to sleep for awhile. You can take first watch. Wake me in a few bells, and I will take a turn. Or if something comes to kill us. Definitely wake me then. Don't worry though, Rye should tell you, if anything is getting close that shouldn't." OOC: So, post for your watch for awhile, like a bell or so, and then wake Clyde up to something approaching.

[Rezren]

Clyde decided he would sleep first. Rezren didn’t object because it wasn’t his place to and he wasn’t tired on top of that. As much as the mage’s snarky comments pissed him off, he was also starting to try to impress Clyde. As he began to feel more of a bond forming between them, the mercenary felt more and more of a desire to prove himself. He found a place by the fire that felt quite comfortable. With focus, he stared out into the darkness. Only the moon offered light in the darkness, but the meager illuminations didn’t really provide much vision for the mercenary. He kept his eyes peeled for anything unusual. He did this all the time in Ravok but instead of buildings and streets he had earth and trees. Rezren tried to translate his skills into this new and unfamiliar setting, but he was uncomfortable and a bit paranoid. Beasts were not like people. His job was to think and know about people. He was comically out of his element. He watched the shadows and became accustomed to the view. Rye was the only comfort in the situation. Rezren felt like he could focus on the landscape in front of him. The warmth of the fire and the blanket draped around him proved to be a bit too comfortable. He found himself fighting to stay awake. If he fell asleep, Clyde would certainly be angry… The thought restored a bit of alertness to his mind. He decided he better pace around to stay awake. He stood up and began pacing around camp in order to keep awake. He stayed focus on the wilderness though. He would change the radius of his pacing periodically in order to get different angles as well as to regain some warmth near the fire. A few times a breaking twig or some unknown sound would cause him to draw his blade, but they turned out to be false alarms. He kept his ears alert too. The more Rezren stared into the night, the more he began to notice in his ears. The soft beating of wings from some bat or nocturnal bird would come down from above. The soft rustling of dry leaves in a breeze was delicately beautiful. Every small sound in the darkness tickled his ears. Pacing became quite soothing. The rhythm began to tire him though. It was almost as relaxing as sitting down. After a moment, he went back in the fire to put some more wood on it. A breeze rustled the leaves… Only it wasn’t a breeze. The sound of something bigger stalking through the trees reached his ears. Rezren drew his sword and donned his shield. The creature was still out of sight, but the sound was getting closer. Clyde’s dog seemed to notice something too. The mercenary went and gently shook Clyde. When the mage woke up, he held his fingers to his lips and pointed to the direction of the sound.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde was not sure how long he had been out... He was fairly certain he had fallen asleep, and was a bit groggy at first, not registering the fact of why he had been woken... Something was the matter... That thought took a few ticks to grind its way to his mind. As it did, Clyde woke up fully, and sat up, grabbing his staff, and getting to his feet. Rye was by his side, and apparently something was coming... He grabbed a log, and set it on the fire, feeding it a bit, trying to make it bigger, and cast a bigger light... As he stood there tensed, prepared, he was caught off guard by yelping sound... A dog? What was that about? It did not stop, and ran right past there campsite, not even looking at them... Racing to get away, yelping loudly, like a shamed dog... Well that wasn't a good sign... Clyde added another log, the last one just having caught, trying to make more fuel for him to use, since they would soon be fighting something likely... When he heard another howl, far off, which was quickly silenced... Then he heard a sound he had not heard in a long time... Something which even unnerved him... A high pitched shrieking sound... Petch... "Petch, petch, petch..." Clyde said, as he heard a answering screech, coming off from the distance... Just what they needed, another group nearby... Hopefully that dog coming by had not been seen, or else its movement would have led them right to them... Clyde lowered his hands to the ground, and dropped his staff, palms to the ground, began pumping liquid res right into the soil, exuding it as fast as he could... That beautiful feeling he got, as his res was created and left his body, ready to be used, expanding his awareness as a part of him was forced into existence still under his control, but out of his body... "Petching Yukmen... Get out your sword dang it! Before they get here! I don't know how many there are, but there might be alot..." Clyde recalled the last time he had faced yukmen... It had ended with them making a run for it... Which he did not want to do know... It all depended on how many there were... And yukmen often traveled in groups... Clyde would work at the dirt, shaping it, soaking res into it, and slowly using earth attraction to form it into a weapon, a long earthen spike, a good 2 foot long... Ready to be formed, and burst out of the ground, when he needed it... At least earth attraction, was easier and less costly, than producing it.

[Rezren]

The sounds coming from the darkness and trees were chilling and completely unfamiliar. Rezren held his sword firmly in his hand and made sure his shield was properly adjusted on his arm. He found himself too shocked to blink so his eyes began to burn as they were deprived of their most basic impulse. The mercenary heard the sounds coming closer. He positioned himself next the fire, diagonally in front of Clyde. This gave Clyde a clear firing line to whatever would come out of the trees but also allowed him to form sort of a wall for the mage’s protection. Rezren allowed himself to look back at his companion for a moment and saw him doing something that the mercenary hoped was a spell. If he wasn’t going to get any assistance this fight, he was fairly certain that defeat was on the horizon. As he focused so intently on the forest ahead, sounds began to fade until the frightened breaths his mouth emitted was the only sound his brain perceived. The darkness was so still that it seemed as though time itself held its breath in anticipation of the coming conflict. He began to see stirrings in the shadows as the so-called “Yukmen” approached. The light from the fire probably drew them like magnets. Clyde had gotten what he wanted but his verbal signs of distress seemed to indicate he may have bitten more than he could chew. Rezren chided the mage in his mind for not being more prepared for the situation. The creatures that came into view thanks to the fire’s glow were not what he expected. The beasts he imagined had been like wolves or perhaps some sort bear-like creature, but the things charging towards him were humanoid. They practically looked human, but the earth that was seemingly a part of their body and savage demeanor were the only features Rezren could notice in his adrenaline filled state of being. As they approached, he focused intently and then a moment passed. His legs seemed paralyzed for a moment but he began to move forward. Every instinct told him to do otherwise, but he ignored his instincts. Rezren swung his sword in large arcs. He wasn’t trying to make contact but rather tried to keep the creatures at bay. His swings were fast and wide trying to create a zone of danger that would keep the creatures back for as long as possible while Clyde did his thing. Whenever the creatures gained ground, he lifted up his shield and pushed forward before swinging his sword again in order to regain the ground taken from him. He tried to keep his feet planted but was constantly readjusting in order to not be taken by the superior numbers.

[Clyde Sullins]

Lifting his hands up, the spike rose fully formed out of the ground, to float a bit. Clyde took a few moments, moving slightly with the hand holding the staff, to aim it, moving it so the tip pointed at the foe... To start, there were two of them. Rezren went in with his weapon, slashing and slicing, trying to hold them off. Clyde took the distraction, and shot off his earthen spike, after Rezren fought for a few ticks, a few seconds really... He thrust forward the hand holding his staff, and it rocketed forward, using the res left soaked into the spike to pull it along, and make the spike go all the faster. He guided it right in, the several foot long compacted length of earth, striking one of the pair of yukmen right in its left leg. It went down, the spike going right through it, half poking out the way it came, and the other out the other side. The spike had more or less crippled its leg. But there was still enough res left in it to control it, so Clyde pulled the staff back towards him, gesturing to control the spike. As he did, there was a squelching sound, and the spike tore back out with a spurt of blood. The first one was down, but not out, and was crawling closer to Rezren, as he was busy fighting off the second Yukmen. Clyde gestured his hand, with a sweeping motion, and spun the spike over to face the other creature. Then with a push, Clyde guided it along, sending it shooting at the second still standing yukmen. Clyde spent the last bit of the res in the spike, with one final push, and guided the spike right into the second formerly uninjured yukmens head. It stabbed right into its forhead, and the creature froze, before falling face first to the ground dead. That left them one yukmen dead, and the other crawling closer, unable to stand on more than one leg. It seemed they had a few moments of rest, before the next ones came. It was at least one, but might be several. Though if Rezren was quick to dispatch the injured one, they would have a few moments to catch their breath. "Alright, one down, now finish off the other. I am going to prepare some fire attacks. Gather a few vials of blood from them before the next ones comes. That is what we came for, creature blood." Having said that, Clyde moved over to the fire, and throwing as many logs on as he could to get it roaring. Then as he waited for the wood to catch flame, he began exuding a cloud of gaseous res out of his body, into a big globe above the fire.

[Rezren]

Rezren went to finish off the remaining foe. The sword hilt felt wet in his hand as the sweat accumulated from the skirmish. The creature was so human the execution was halted momentarily by his interest in the biology and mind of the feral humanoid. Was it any more ethical to kill this creature than it would be to kill a human? The thought passed as his sword slid into the chest of the squirming mass beneath him. After tossing his shield on the ground, he clumsily rummaged through his bag and began filling the vials with the warm blood of the fresh kill. The blood filled the vials and coated his hands as it oozed out of the stab wounds. He dropped one of the vials, but the glass remained intact. Also, it was not as if there was a lack of resources. Once the vials were full and secured he placed them in his pack, planning to give them to Clyde once they returned back to the safety of Ravok. Meanwhile, Clyde had been working on his next attacks for any remaining enemies unfortunate enough to come from the trees. Rezren took the lull as an opportunity to clean some of the sweat and blood from his hands. He tossed his sword over by his shield and vigorously rubbed his hands on the grassy ground. Once his palms were clean, he rearmed himself. The blood still clung to his forearms, but the mercenary figured that Clyde would be irritated if he didn’t have a weapon in his hand when the next skirmish erupted. Any fear or anxiety was gone for the most part. Killing something has a way of robbing it of its terror in many cases. Rezren eyed the dead bodies on the ground and poked the closest one with his sword. Any further conflict would be with these things. He almost pitied them, but opted to focus on the darkness instead. The mercenary assumed the same position as before seeing as how it had worked and Clyde hadn’t complained.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde worked up his res, exuding and flowing it, letting it billow off, the sweat taste of res on his lips, the pleasant feel using magic always brought upon him. He swept his arms in circles in front of him, swirling the res, forming it into a globe over the flames. As he worked it up, the fire blazed, and Clyde had to take a few steps back from it, as it suddenly rose up with bits of dry wood catching aflame. Once it rose to a crescendo, the flames at their max, Clyde began using attraction, and to pull the flame off and to the globe of res he had made. Just as he picked up the pace, big gout's of fire rising off, extinguishing the flame by pulling it all out, another scream of a yukman could be heard. Clyde took another step back from the ball of res, as the heat of the flames on it was getting so hot, slowly feeding a small stream of the res to fuel the flames, mixing it into the flames. Looking up, three more yukman came into sight. One a bit over six foot, with grass and dirt on its skin, the other two shorter than six foot by a few inches, one covered in rocks and pebbles, the other covered in grass, dirt, rocks, and some odd red rock. The lead yukmen, the tallest one, came screeching in at Clyde, and he prepared his magics... Holding his staffed hand steady, to hold in place the ball of flames and res, and thrusting forward his other hand, he sent out a gout of flame from the mass, roasting the first yukman, as the flames rolled over it. It fell to the ground, in flames, its skin roasted off, flame going down its throat and inside. Anger in his face and eyes, he let out a roar, and shot off another burst of flame at the one with rocks and pebbles, though this time it was a bit smaller, and not quite as effective. The yukman continued running forward, a bit slower, completely engulfed in flame, though perhaps it would fall to the flame in a bit.

[Rezren]

The mercenary took the opportunity to finish off the flaming beast. It was more of an act of mercy than one of strategic importance. Rezren rushed forward and dealt solid blow to the ignited yukman’s throat. His arm extended outwards until the sword dug into the thick neck. The heat from the flames made him instinctively reel back before he forced himself to lurch forward and completely decapitate the collapsed enemy. Momentarily distracted by the smoldering head at his feet, the mercenary was taken by surprise as the remaining yukman tackled him. The next few moments were filled with confusion as earth and sky and yukman all violently passed into his field of vision in rapid succession. The creature was frightening and strong, but Rezren was more worried that Clyde would toss another fireball and claim the mercenary’s life with some collateral damage. He felt claws dig into his arm and countless more blows fall uselessly against his shield. Rezren blindly stabbed his sword at the mass of earthy flesh on top of him while keeping his head and chest protected with the heavy steel shield on his arm. He felt like a few of his thrashing stabs made solid contact. The attacks against the shield were waning in ferocity and strength. Between strikes, Rezren took the opportunity to lash out with the shield. He caught the yukman in the face. Violently twisting his body, Rezren managed to get on top of his enemy. A claw darted towards his head but met the edge of a short sword instead. The creature let out a cry as three of its fingers fell to the ground. It was over though. After deflecting a blow from the other claw with his shield, Rezren plunged the cold iron sword deep into the chest of his enemy. When the yukman seemed as if it had a sliver of life left, he stabbed at the torso a few more times until it was sufficiently dead. If Clyde wanted any more blood, he’d have plenty. Rezren wiped the blood on his weapon onto his sleeve. Fatigue seeped into his eyes and limbs, but he didn’t feel like sleeping or resting much. He gazed wearily into the darkness, listening for any signs of more yukmen.

[Clyde Sullins]

Rezren did his job, of cleaning up for Clyde, keeping them busy as he worked his djed. The first one, he had killed clean out, with a big swathe of flame. The second, he had injured, and Rezren had finished off the one he had wounded. But the third and last of the group, came right at Rezren, tackling him clean out. He had barely even noticed him coming. And now he was to close to Rezren, for Clyde to finish off, lest he get him along with the beast. And then he would be stuck out here alone. He was using his shield as a barrier between them, and smashing it occasionaly with his shield, while trying to stab it with his blade. That was one downside to his sword. It was good at medium range, but at close range, it was to unwieldy and large to do much use. Perhaps that was why most kept and trained with a backup dagger. If he had one, he could have dropped his sword, swept out a dagger, and planted it right into the beasts throat. It was small and short enough, that the weapon would not be hindered by their range. "If we live through this, I swear you need to get a petching dagger!" He said loudly to Rezren, as he thrashed around with his fighting partner. Unfortunately, as Rezren had been fighting, more had shown up. 3 more. Two were racing in close together, each small, about 5' 4", covered in grass and foliage, with some small stones inter-spaced. Clyde let out a yell, and brought his chunk of res and flame to bear, feeling the djed and res out of his body, and the exilerating feeling of pure energy and power flowing through his veins, as if he was a living conduit of power and magic. Like he could stomp an entire army of foes dead with but one flick of the wrist. Clyde let out a deep throated malicious laugh, which did not faze the beasts, "Mwah ha ha ha ha!!!" He did one last ditch blast, sending the entire rest of the flame forth at the first two yukmen, shooting off a long stream of flame that billowed over and engulfed them both. One got hit right in the head, and flames went inside and baked it black, dropping it instantly. The other simply had the grass and green bits caught aflame, since it was stuck in the chest. It stumbled back a foot, but then continued on to race at Rezren, almost unperturbed, but now on flames. Rezren would need to watch to not get to close, lest he catch himself aflame. Finally, the third large yukmen at 6' 1". He was speckled in stone, gravel, chunks of rock. Clyde was out of fire, and he eyed the beast. Swirling his hands, and breaking them apart, he ripped off a large chunk of the remaining res, and swirled it, circling his hands one around the other, knocking himself in the arm with the head of his staff. But he was so focused on his work, he barely even noticed the small pain. He swirled it and stretched it, bending it out far, and then stretched it longways, hefting his free left hand over his shoulder, as if he was holding an invisible spear. Moving his right hand, he maneuvered the res, to aim at the last large beast. Then he threw his left hand forward, as if he was throwing said invisible spear, and launched the res at it. He waited till it was close enough to hit for sure, and transmuted it to lightning, before looking away and closing his eyes. A crack of sound, a big boom, and a flash of light, and then the yukmen was standing there dead, without a head. Looking at it with spots in his eyes, Clyde was unsure if he had blown away the entire head of the beast, or if he had hit it and took out its throat, and its head had been launched flying. It mattered little, as it still no longer was wearing a head. Clyde let out another laugh, "Mwah ha ha ha ha!!!", glee on his face, as he looked for new foes, only to see none more were coming. It seemed that had been the last of it. Except for the flaming one that had gone to Rezren, which had likely already intercepted and was close to him... Maybe he should finish that one to...

[Rezren]

Clyde was enjoying himself bit if his somewhat wild laughter was any indication. As Clyde did more than his share of the work, Rezren dealt with the flaming yukman that Clyde had turned his attention from after wounding it. The mercenary didn’t have the strength or mental clarity to wrestle with another one of the humanoid monstrosities. He felt heavier than he was, but as he adjusted his footing, Rezren noticed just how sluggish and encumbered his movements were becoming. He dropped his shield and began to slowly back up as the yukman approached.

The flaming creature narrowed the gap, but once it got into sword length, the mercenary used every bit of will left in his body to maintain it. Delivering quick, albeit weak, blows to the yukmans outstretched arms allowed him to backpedal as quickly as his foe advanced by punishing any advances with calculated cuts. The flames began to exhaust their fuel sources and the bright glow faded to reveal charred skin. Rezren decided it was time to turn the momentum and deliver a fatal blow to the beast, but as he tried to gain traction to lunge forward, his foot slid causing one knee to hit the ground. He panicked as he found himself stuck in a very awkward lunging position.

He couldn’t quite comprehend what happened next. It was all pain and panic as the yukman’s weight forced him to the ground. Rezren’s shoulder burst into fiery pain as the yukman’s momentum rammed his sword hilt into it. It sounded like there was an explosion and he saw a bright flash. The disorientation began to fade and the smell of burning meat became clearer. He knew it was yukman, but it admittedly whet his appetite. Everything was calm as he managed to stand up. His shoulder was busted pretty badly, maybe even dislocated. With his good hand, he began to wriggle the sword out of the yukman’s torso. It had been killed on impact thankfully. If the mercenary’s sword had hit just a few inches away, his foe would have likely survived and torn him apart.

Nursing his shoulder, he looked over at the sheer destruction Clyde had brought into the wilderness. It was impressive to say the least. One of the yukman had lost his head apparently and Rezren wondered if that was the result of the bright explosion he had experienced or if that was a sensory result of the collision. He wanted to walk over to Clyde and exchange compliments and share a moment of camaraderie, but he knew the mage and that the desire was very, very likely one-sided.

“Well…” He paused as he clumsily fumbled with both his sword and shield using one arm. “Maybe we will finally get some rest, eh?”

Rest sounded nice. He had tasted death too many times this season. One of these days, his luck was bound to run out and the mercenary would like to avoid that day as long as possible.