[Cutter's Gap] Crippling Volley

by **Daust Greywind** on May 27th, 2010, 5:12 pm

Season of Spring, Day 5, 510 AV.

Cutter's Gap continued to be one of the busiest paths through the Cobalt mountains even today, as it was the prime route to reach some of the more scenic attractions in the mountains. The road gained it's name from the bandits that once ambushed merchants from the cliff ledges above. The gap was narrow, only capable of allowing one traditional wagon passage at a time.

Daust was no common bandit, as he didn't care much for coin, despite his current trade. He had a job to do however, and attacking at Cutter's Gap would likely be the best time to strike. It was a narrow pathway, offering little cover if he sniped from the ledges, and his employer had mentioned little in the way of protection for the family. If anything, he'd have to deal with a small-time bodyguard or two, and he'd be on his way.

Still, the marksman wasn't one to underestimate an opponent, he took the time to premeditate his assaults when allowed, and his vantage point also offered a quick escape into the mountains, should any problems arise. He didn't suspect too much trouble. One could scale the granite walls of the gap with ease thanks to the rocky outcrops, but the only other way up was at the entrance and exit of the path where the land sloped up on either side.

Daust waited in the treeline overlooking the entrance of the path through Cutter's gap, he'd kept himself still and hidden for many hours now, only occasionally taking a few sips from his waterskin and keeping his stony gaze on the path. He simply had to wait for something that resembled the family mentioned by his employer. Not only was he watching for a family, but even lone travelers. He didn't want to get caught off-guard should one of the bodyguards be sent ahead to scout him out. Cutter's gap was no longer used by bandits, since merchant trains found safer paths through the mountains since then, but it was still an obvious ambush spot to the trained eye.

Daust tugged at the crimson cloth wrapped about his face, heaving a grunt and leveling the bow flat on his knee, impatiently staring down at the entrance to the pathway. Mumbling to himself, the marksman's voice was still crisp from the water. "C'mon you fucking tourists, I'm not sitting up here all damn day..."

by **Jaquise Emittere** on May 27th, 2010, 7:35 pm

The pale mercenary sighed as he moved down the dirt road, believing his luck must be cursed. Despite his feelings the man looked well enough, aside from a few obvious issue of his missing eye, which was replaced by a fancy gold one. He wore a black, wide rimmed hat on his head, shielding his eyes from the sunny light of spring. A simple loose fitting white cloth shirt was the only thing obvious thing adorning his chest, though beneath the chest a glint of metal could be seen suggesting protection. No sound issued from it. On his arms and legs he wore pieces of armor, and along his hip he wore a rare sword with a bead hanging from the handle.

Of all the jobs to get, Jaq had to take this one. His drinking buddy Thomas, a wilderness guide for those seeking to go into the Cobalt mountains for whatever reason, told Jaq it would be an easy job for a good price. Guard the family for a few days, collect the payment, and get drunk. Apparently they wanted to visit all of the places tourists would go before they left for Zeltiva with a caravan. The hotsprings, the waterfall, and the geysers. If Jaq had known just how annoying the family was he would have never agreed. He should have known better, the deal just seemed to good. Even now they couldn't keep quite, all to busy chattering to notice how far their voices carried and what kind of danger it might attract. Jaq had tried to tell Farel, the man who was paying him, this and had been promptly told to shut his mouth.

The idiotic family members consisted of a married couple, the husband a merchant and the wife a wife. Apparently it was a chore for her. They had one kid, a somewhat short boy who was as bad as his father and seemed to have the same amount of maturity. The family wasn't exactly stupid, at least not from what Jaq had heard about them. The husband was a rather wealthy merchant who made plenty of money selling foreign alcohol to places. No he wasn't stupid, he was arrogant. He, and to some extent his family, were assured of their in their continued existence because they thought the world could not function without them. Jaq had wanted to bust the guy in the lip, but he wanted to get paid for the two days he had already spent protecting them even more. For now he'd just put up with them.

'Why do the other human's speak so much about such inconsequential things? Do they not realize the danger they place us in with their voices?' The cold voice that moved through Jaq's mind was Zagarek, Jaq's familiar. The being currently rested underneath Jaq's slender chain mail in the form of a small bead hanging on a string. The being held Jaq in rather low esteem. The pale wizard wonder just how badly he thought of other humans. 'There are some humans that are better then you, some worse. These human you are accompanying most definitely fall under the latter category.'

That was comforting, almost. Jaq turned his attention from his talk with Zagarek to the tracker, Thomas, up ahead. It seemed he had stopped and was waiting for the family and Jaq to catch up to him. For a moment the darker part of Jaq hoped the man had found a bear they could feed the family to. 'Do not such creatures mainly eat fish?' Zagarek had a thing about humor, he didn't have any. 'It was a joke.'

When the group reached the spot, the family started sitting down. Thomas waved Jaq over. "We are almost to cutter's gap. Its just a few minutes ahead."

Jaq frowned at the name. This is what he got for agreeing to a shortcut. "That sounds very comforting. Pray tell, what is the origin of that ever so interesting name?" The cold thoughts moved through Jaq's mind once more. 'Is this another attempt at a joke?'

Thomas's feature narrowed as he realized Jaq was being sarcastic. "Don't get cute with me. I had no idea that idiot Farel wanted to go this way until he told us both yesterday." He took a deep breath and looked in the direction the path was going to take them. "It used to be a favorite spot for bandits and slavers to lay ambushes and catch unsuspecting folk traveling this way off guard. I'm going on ahead to scout the top of the cliff, just in case. I shouldn't find anything as the majority of people don't travel this way any more, making it slim pickings for any thieves. You stay here with these folks and keep watch."

"Great, you get some private time and I get to be left alone with the worst group of clients I've ever had." Thomas smiled and let out a laugh that sounded more like a cackle before darting off. When Jaq returned to the side of the family Farel stood up and looked at him with anger.

"Where is that fool going? I'm not paying him to leave us here unattended." The man had a voice almost as annoying as his attitude, and for a moment Jaq questioned his choice in not trying to knock some sense into him. The moment passed as he remembered the money.

"He's going ahead to make sure the shortcut you wanted to take is safe to move through." Jaq tried to keep his own barley restrained anger out of his voice, he knew it would only cause further problems with the pompous man before him. Apparently he didn't succeed.

"I will not take this attitude from someone I am paying. We will move until I say otherwise. Now lead us down the path." Jaq looked from the man to the path they were traveling on, and with a sigh began walking down the road. He just hoped against all hope that his bad luck would not continue, and that they would travel through Cutter's pass without any issue.

Secret :

by **Daust Greywind** on May 28th, 2010, 3:15 pm

Daust rest by the trees, back propped against one and sitting over the roots, the composite bow resting peacefully in one hand. Vibrant green eyes, brilliance that had no place on the scar-twisted face and contrasted against the blood hued cloth wrapped about the man's head. The sun was still high and bright, but the world dimmed and cold. No, not cold, he could feel the warmth in the tree next to him. Just, detached...

Daust had experienced it enough to know when he was beginning to lose it. Of course, there couldn't be a worse timing. Even now he could hear foreign voices in the distance, but now he had to wonder. Were they the voices of his mark or just voices they had no business being in his head? Often, Daust had tried to reason them away, use logic to defeat his madness. Such a thing didn't work, the logic in his world was as solid as clay. The only thing Daust could ever think to do was to go along with it. Fighting his own mind wasn't going to work, it controlled what he saw, what he heard, what he felt? How can you fight something with such control and yet not summon up some deep-seated self-loathing? Daust had yet to find the answer to that, but the cycle would begin again.

Sitting up and pressing his shoulder to a tree, he peered past the aged bark and to the entrance of Cutter's gap. Nothing. Still, he could hear voices, distant, but they were there. Remaining perched against the tree, the marksman waited. Rugged brown leather armor blended in well enough with the trees, giving him an odd camouflage in the distance. The only thing that didn't stand out was the flash of crimson that rested on Daust's face, but from his position, he figured he'd see his prey long before they had the chance to catch sight of him. Once he had sight of the family, he wouldn't need to keep his position any longer and he could simply move to the ambush point.

The drab grey world twisted to a smear of warmer colors at the sound of footsteps, Daust's dementia swirling about and recoiling like a surprised beast. Poking his head around the tree a bit more, his eyes followed the land that sloped down towards the entrance, catching sight of a man scaling the incline with relative ease, making his way towards the cliff top that Daust had hid himself upon. This new view also allowed Daust vision of a group that moved towards the entrance to Cutter's gap. The distance was far, but the marksman caught the important details. Two men, only one of them armed, and an unarmed woman and child. At this point, the largest threat would be the man scaling the slope to the cliff top, as he seemed to have some wilderness experience and agility with how smoothly he crossed the terrain. The armed man below could have been a threat, but Daust was doubtful. From the distance, he saw no evident heavy armor, not even a helmet. The one armed man among the family was likely nothing but a cheap bodyguard, seeming to have no well-funded equipment. Daust couldn't help to think he looked on edge, maybe he suspected such a trap? So long as things went according to plan, all five would lay dead in a few seconds.

Sure, Daust only had to kill the three family members, but if he could pick off the other two, why not? The guide would have to go first, if he had his position betrayed now, the ambush spot could possibly be ruined. Though, if the man had been sent ahead to scout, why the hell were the others still moving ahead?

Fuck it. Daust dipped a hand back over his shoulder, picking a barbed arrow from the quiver and notching it onto the strong in a single fluid motion. The moment Thomas reached the cliff top, Daust leaned his upper body out from around the tree he perched against, aiming for but a second, before loosing the missile towards the man's throat, a small hiss sounding quietly in the air. The position he fired from was jerky and unnatural, but Daust figured if the first shot hit, he wouldn't have to worry about a warning cry. If he'd hit anywhere else, his position would likely be given away by a scream. Hit or miss, he at least needed the man out of his way before he got close, Daust wasn't one for sword-fighting. Daust dipped back around the tree to pick another arrow from his quiver. In the best of luck, the man could have been struck in the throat and simply curled up and died. If Daust wasn't that lucky, then he'd likely have missed the quick-shot, and would have to pepper the bastard with two or three arrows to the torso while he let the whole damn mountain-side know about an ambush.

by **Jaquise Emittere** on May 28th, 2010, 8:50 pm

Whether by luck or skill the shot landed where intended. Some people that have been shot by arrow's claim that there was a moment where they hadn't even realized an arrow had hit them. Jaq had heard such stories before and believed them to be added simply for flavor or suspense. It was at this moment that Thomas would agree completely with that thought. The pain was immediate and overwhelming for the tracker, who had just reached the top of the pass of Cutter's Gap. That was where the assassin's luck ended. Instead of falling silently forward to die, the tracker fell back down the edge of the cliff to the pass below.

Jaq and the family had just entered the pass when the body landed in front of them. Only Jaq didn't hesitate. The pale mercenary drew his sword with his right hand and immediately summoned a cloud of res from his left hand. The blue cloud of res moved slowly between the side of the cliff. Thomas seemed to have fallen from and the people within. The family was to astonished by the body to do anything but stare at the dead body of the tracker. The child seemed morbidly fascinated by the fact that he had seen a real dead body. The wife's face was stuck between an expression of surprise and fear. Farel's face held little surprise and was instead completely given to the fear his wife was only halfway expressing. He knew something. Now wasn't the time to find out what it was, but dammit it all if Jaq wasn't going to knock the guy around for some answers later, if there was a later. Without looking over his shoulder Jaq yelled back to them, "Run you idiots. Go find a rock or something to hide behind."

As if they had all been slapped at the same time the family jumped and looked to Jaq for a moment. It seemed like Jaq would have to tell them again when the wife pulled the boy out of the pass and back the way they had come. Farel spared one more look for Thomas then turned and followed his family. Jaq backed up slowly, making sure to keep the cloud of res between where he suspected the shooter was and the retreating forms of the family. 'I see a figure in one of those tree's.' Zagarek had pulled his way out from under Jaq's chain mail and now rested against his chest. The warning caused Jaq to shift the cloud a little, but the mercenary did not have the familiar's impressive vision. Where the being saw and armed figure Jaq only saw branches and leaves. Both beings stood poised, ready to action should another shot be taken. Zagarek would tell Jaq when it came, and Jaq would use a chunk of the cloud of res in front of him to gather some air and knock any incoming projectiles off course. The working itself was a simply one, the res cloud wasn't even thick enough to obscure vision, and was perhaps only a few feet wide. "Come on you coward, your arrows are useless now! Don't believe me? Go ahead and fire a shot to see what happens." Jaq shouted in the direction of the tree's, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement that would betray his enemies location.

by **Daust Greywind** on May 29th, 2010, 5:54 pm

There was only silence for the first couple seconds, heavy and intense. Peaking back about the tree, the body was... gone? "Son of a whore." He slid off into the pass, didn't he? The thought echoed as the marksman's eye drew along the edge of the cliff that the wilderness guide tumbled over. He could see the family, but a clean shot would be difficult from the angle. Not to mention, there seemed to be a strange force between him and the target individuals. The sound of voices, one quite commanding. Daust had to assume that was the cheap bodyguard speaking up to the family.

Daust was unsure whether to rush in now and try to pick the family off as they went for cover, but the magical energy in the air was ominous. Not often did Daust hesitate, but the archer knew not to underestimate magic. It wasn't a wall of fire, nor was it a bolt of lightning firing from the man's fingertips, but it distorted the air, and he didn't know the capabilities. Perhaps if he wasn't so ignorant of the arcane arts...

The time had come and gone, but the family was off to hide now, and the hesitation seemed reasonable. His opponent didn't seem to be doing anything in the way of a counter attack, so he still had the advantage. Daust only remained still against the trees, his head dipped slightly to the side to keep his eye on the swordsman, his bow rest close to the tree with him, as to keep himself from appearing to separate from the foliage that camouflaged him. The man's words seemed confident, arrogant even.

Taking a moment to aim, Daust pulled the string of the bow back to it's full draw weight, putting as much force as he could muster behind the next shot. Eye on the target, Daust released the arrow shaft. The wooden missile was on course, but if what the man said was true, that bull's-eye shot would completely miss. As the arrowhead touched the cloud, Daust lost sight of the projectile from the movement of the air, but he assumed that since the man didn't fall over dead, his arrow had missed.

The archer's hand lowered from the bow, dipping down to one of the daggers at his side. He doubted he wanted to get into a sword fight with this guy, but he was unsure of what choices he had. It wouldn't be easy killing off the whole family while having to deal with the bodyguard, and it would be such a pain in the ass to meet him in melee combat. Daust was feeling impatient again, as none of this thinking was really getting him anywhere.

Lowering the bow, Daust strode out onto the edge of the cliff, mostly to get a better view of his opponent below. Daust raised a hand to his face, itching one of the many grizzly scars that lay underneath the red cloth mask. His opponent seemed something of a skirmisher. He didn't wear particularly heavy armor, but he seemed to have a solid grasp of magic and swordplay, making him something of a double-threat, though, from what Daust had seen so far, the arcana that the man knew only looked to be for utility, nothing in the way of violence, even though it may be used as such.

No, it was likely the sword that would cause him the most pain if he decided to rush the bodyguard. "Look here you little piss stain, those three are already dead. Whether it be now, tomorrow, or the day after that- I'm going to fucking murder them." A sigh was released at the end of the small declaration. He'd rather the bodyguard just give it up and go on, as Daust wasn't completely willing to jump down and go toe to toe with the swordsman, and the swordsman wasn't about to let Daust feed him an arrow.

Daust peeked down at the dead body of Thomas, tilting his head at how the arrow stuck out at a funny angle, the tip of the arrow lodged in the front of the spinal column and bent some as the corpse fell to the path below. "Did he have a whore? Maybe some ugly kids? Where'd he live? Can I go give them my condolences?" By now, it was probably clear the marksman was trying to stall things out. The weird thing that interacted between them was that while the swordsman could spend all day using his magic to block arrows, he'd probably get tired a lot sooner than the archer, seeing as firing an arrow had no drain on the spirit.

Daust knew he still had the upper hand here, but he wasn't particularly using it to it's full effectiveness, he'd mostly stopped thinking strategically. If he had some sense, he would have kept firing arrows until either the bodyguard backed off or his magic faltered. From what Daust could see, his opponent was of pale skin, and to fit the 'skirmisher' type of fighter, he was of a lean muscle structure. The eyes... seemed odd. Neither of them seemed real, and Daust had trouble discerning whether the man was indeed blind or if his dementia was subverting his thoughts again. The katana at the man's side likely meant he was prone to slashing-attacks, which could result in very powerful, very wide swings. Ugh... Why couldn't he find a swordsman stupid enough to lug a claymore around with them?

by **Jaquise Emittere** on May 29th, 2010, 8:03 pm

Jaq listened to the man before, but he heard none of what the man said. He could only see Thoma's glazed over eyes that gazed beyond at something could not see. The man and he hadn't been more then drinking bodies, not even close enough to be considered friends, yet Jaq couldn't help but feel angry at the trackers loss. Worse yet, the man who had done it stood before him taunting, or at least Jaq was guessing from the tone he was using, he still couldn't force the words he was hearing to make since. 'It seems this man is what you call an assassin. If we do not kill him now your employer will be hunted down at a later time.' For a moment Jaq thought of simply letting the man take the merchant, but that darker part of him didn't have much weight in what he did, And despite Jaq's overwhelming hate for the arrogant merchant, Jaq hated assassin's more. They were what gave swords for hire a bad name. 'Remember wizard, it is not just your life anymore.'

Jaq nodded at the thought. "I know Zagarek, I won't forget." Jaq didn't bother quieting his voice, not caring if the assassin heard what he said. The familiar paused for a moment before giving the equivalent of a mental nod to continue.

By the time the man was done asking toward Thoma's family Jaq had already formed his gaseous, whitish blue res into three spears perhaps as big as the arrow in Thomas' neck. After a moment of concentration he willed the res to change into ice. The three shafts glittered in the light, still glowing faintly of the color Jaq's res had been. He didn't leave any around it to push with air because he had used what would have been the energy for such a working knocking aside the last arrow and didn't want to overgive and four workings was his limit at the moment. Still they were strong, and as if he was mentally winding up the three arrows of ice pulled back a few seconds before he threw them toward the man on the cliff.

Just as they left Jaq's mental control the pale mercenary was on the run, moving back down the path he had come and toward the line of tree's. A moving target was difficult to hit under normals circumstance, when one is trying to dodge incoming fire of his own it was extremely difficult. 'So when you said take away his other advantage you meant his ranged weapon.' Jaq said nothing as he zigged to the left and zagged to the right, finding it hard to get rid of that feeling of having an arrow aimed between his shoulder blades. 'It seems to me that if you had instead continued to screen yourself with the res from incoming fire, you wouldn't have a problem.'

Jaq ignored the thoughts as he focused on reaching some form of cover. He dodged to the left, hopefully putting the other side of the pass between him and the archer. He was about halfway to the line of tree's when Jaq jumped behind a particularly large rock. The forest line near him was almost equal distance from his spot in every direction. Just great. He took a few breaths, and waited a few moments. It was times like this when he really needed to run that Jaq had never invested in heavy armor. 'Perhaps, but now he's going to be worried about me pulling out more attack's like that. The more on edge he is, the more mistakes he might make.' When the sending went out Jaq picked up a small rock next to him and tested its weight. After a few seconds of bouncing it up and down in his hand Jaq readied himself for a sprint. One more breath and he threw the rock to the right while running to the left and the saftey of cover.

Secret :

by **Daust Greywind** on May 30th, 2010, 4:50 am

The bodyguard seemed to be talking to himself- What a nut. Daust grew wary as the man's body language began to change, showing tension in the muscles and proof of his intent was shown quickly. As the strange, ethereal substance shifted, Daust picked an arrow from his quiver.

But even as he tried to focus on the impending attack, all the color of the world kept fading from his vision, and all the world warping around a single voice. It was as much of a voice as it was a feeling, as much of a feeling as it was a thought blooming into mind-blowing migraine. It was all of these things at once, stretching across several spectrums and causing the very solid granite rock around him to seem as if his leaked blood.

For some madmen, this would seem like a complimentary setting to a bloodbath in the making. However, Daust hated blood. Hated how wet it felt, but how quickly it dried on his fingers. The smell of it, especially when it was burning. The blood slinked past his boots, and he knew it was an illusion, something caused by his dementia and something only he could see, yet he was quite disturbed. Sometimes he couldn't help but to freak himself out, or was it him pulling the strings?

Attention swiveled back to the guardian, glazed over eyes shifting out of their tunnel vision and recognizing those very dangerous looking 'spears'. Diving to the side as the arcane missiles arched towards him, the archer rolled to a stop a few feet away, having felt a strange displacement following the projectiles. His leg buzzed quietly. "Nothing but fucking tavern tricks..." The grumble trailed off, but Daust felt the gash on his thigh. One of the 'spears' must have struck him mid-dive, he'd hardly felt it, but being cut by magic wasn't something he'd ever experienced. Of course, it'd taken the properties of ice, and he'd never been cut by ice either, so not only was he wounded, but he was confusing himself.

The blood had seemed to dry on the rocks, the dementia fading as he himself began to bleed, and he'd lost sight of the bodyguard as he rounded the other side of the pass. Moving at a half-jog, half-limp, Daust notched the arrow onto his bow, keeping the weapon raised slightly in the event a quick-shot was needed.

Movement to the right. The bow raised and the right hand moved to maximize the draw weight of the string, but the movement was not of his prey. And his vision locked back onto the figure moving about to the left. From the rock and likely towards the cover of trees. He wouldn't be able to land a shot before he entered the tree-line, but Daust could hope he continued running past the first tree he reached. Lining up a shot between the trunks of the trees, Daust lead the arrow in the direction the bodyguard was moving, keeping the projectile aimed at about torso level, in the hopes that it would maximize the chances of hitting. It was much easier to track prey if it was bleeding out.

Though, Daust should have been thinking about how reasonable it was to be trying to chase down the bodyguard, when he could just go slay the family and leave. He should have been thinking about that, but he wasn't. This was less about the money, and more about the thrill of the hunt.

[OOC: Daust simply wouldn't be scared of magic, or really much of anything for that matter. He's scared of stuff that probably wouldn't make sense to the common person. Remember, he is insane, and not always prone to following the same patterns of thought as the typical human being.]

by **Jaquise Emittere** on May 31st, 2010, 6:49 am

Jaq dared not look over his shoulder as he ran. He had no doubt the rock hadn't done more then annoy his opponent and any attempt to turn around would slow him down, which could prove fatal. Thankfully he hadn't the need.

His familiar, Zagarek, had the annoying habit of shifting where he hung from Jaq's neck to see better the events unfolding around the mercenary. Annoying most of the time that is, but when he hung from the back of Jaq's neck resting on his back it offered an eye behind him where otherwise Jaq would be blind. 'He's aiming ahead of you. I would suggest putting something between you and him as soon as possible.'

The words came just as Jaq entered the line of trees, and ran past the first tree for something farther in and better covered. Jaq dove to the ground, hopefully dodging whatever incoming missile that had been aimed for him. He didn't feel anything and didn't have time to look around and check as he began crawling, but Jaq new from experience all the adrenaline would act like a shock absorber for the pain. Zagarek had worked his way underneath Jaq's chain mail once more, perhaps fearing more incoming fire.

Jaq shuffled forward quickly, keeping as low tot he ground as he could for a few seconds. When he was sure at least to tree's were between him and the archer the pale mercenary stood up and ran for a minute. It was here when he came to a particularly well covered brush that Jaq stopped for a moment to take a breather. A pain on his arm flared. Jaq only had to glance at it to learn that he had been clipped. The injury was a superficial one, but he had been crawling on his stomach a few moments ago. The archer would know the direction Jaq had taken, and might be able to pick up the magician's tracks from there. 'It seems to me the most prudent action would be to change course then and lose our would be killer.'

'Perhaps, but if he loses our trail, he might double back on the family. He might also try and find us at a later date. Better we handle it now before he becomes to much of a problem.' Jaq took off once more in the same direction, at a controlled run now.

'I find your definition of the word problem to be disconcerting. I believe he is a problem now. I see logic in your statement though. Just be cautious. Know that the option of fleeing still exists.' Jaq nodded, but kept to himself the fact that running from an assassin, even the idea of it, left a bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps a bear, maybe even one of those horrid monsters formed from wild djed, but not an assassin. They were as mortal and fallible as Jaq, and they made the man sick. Such thoughts accompanied the mercenary deeper into the woods, along with the hope the assassin would follow.

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