Swords of the Fallen (Fantasy RP Thread - See Interest/Sign-Up Thread for details)

[GrimGrimoire]

The world, once so firmly anchored in the undeniable constants that was up and down began to shift. The very concept of gravity seemed to slip, along with Drogon's grip on the ground beneath him.
Grabbing on to something that might have been floor, roof, walls of something different altogether, the Vulcan, now stunned by this phantasmagoria of dread, found himself falling weightless into the gaping abyss that was the Straylight River.
Everything became a blur of shapes as the humid air was filled with deadly missiles. Stones, armours and adventures came raining down as lethal hail.
Yet in Drogon's mind, there was one detail that stuck, that hammered for attention.
Humid air.
He knew what he had to do. And he hated it.

The flash-frozen cryomancer hit the river with a audible splash, witch would have been sure to draw attention hadn't it been for the fact that this entire part of the river was being bombarded with the once towering bridge.
The ice that encapsulated the incapacitated Vulcan had taken the brunt of the damage, and was now floating down a small stretch of water before it came to rest on an embankment made out of debris from above, leaving behind a thin trail of red in the unresting water.
A chunk of stone hit the cold shard with a sickening crunch, and a veil of smaller shards flew everywhere.
The ice, now a fractured crystal deep blue and fiery red shifted, and came to rest on the rivers sandy banks.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Abe was momentarily stunned at the reaction from the elderly gentleman that had bowed to him only a moment ago. He tried to speak and fumbled his words before coming back to his senses and simply blurting out his name to avoid any further embaressment, "Abe Solomon", he said.

Abe kneeled down but quicly pulled back on account og his backpack. He placed it on the grounf and grabbed the cart firmly, bringing it upwards so the traveller could screw the wheel back on. He looked up an tried to strike up a conversation as he was struggling to keep the cart in place, "So what do you have there?".

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

[HEADING=3]At the Stavros Crossing...[/HEADING]
Soreal, having nothing to brace himself with save for the large wooden tables sliding across the floor's surface, tried as best he could to maintain a foothold but to little avail. Meanwhile, Arborus wrapped his arms beneath Terrus' and helped his brother's ascent, dodging much of the debris as it shifted towards the wall. This task was becoming increasingly difficult, however, when everything was in free-fall and objects were no longer sliding, but hurtling at them in great number. As the Fae were dodging airborne debris, Aaron the mage was blasting away barrels and chairs with fire until he could no longer stand, tumbling down the steepened surface and crashing onto a table that rested along the wall below. Albin was struggling to maintain control over the growth, Gnûrlon, as its survival instinct kicked in and did what it could to keep its host in one piece. He was scraping at the floor, vying for something to hold on to which turned to be a fruitless endeavor on the smooth, stone surface.

Albin, like the other flightless and less fortunate adventurers, tumbled down to the wall with the rest of the clutter in the room. However, he was unfortunate enough to have fallen just moments before a large weapon rack. A blade clattered harmlessly several feet from his head, while a dagger fell downwards towards the Dwarf host's throat. Panicking, Albin held his hands out in a desperate attempt to stop the blade, resulting in the man taking the blade through his hand. He cried out in agony, though was cut short when a much larger blade passed through a lung. Gasping for air and writhing on the wall, the remnants of the weapon rack clattered around him before being thrown once again as the tower turned.

Though Soreal was nearly killed by a falling table, he was kept relatively afterwards when the legs came to rest on either side of him. He looked up at the grimy underside of the large table as debris fell onto the other side, hoping that the sturdy wood would hold. It had, momentarily, until a large barrel of brine careened onto the tabletop, the impact reducing both objects to splinters and showering the Aquean with broken lumber. He felt his weight shift again and was sent sideways, just before a small caravan of chairs could've battered him relentlessly. He tumbled to the adjacent wall with the piles of broken furnishings and metal tableware. He rolled over a bent fork which planted itself firmly into his shoulder, though Soreal hadn't felt its sting for long as his head had collided with the base of a mahogany pedestal, knocking him unconscious.

Aaron, lying atop a table with a shattered shoulder, blasted away a chair with his one functioning arm before having the greater portion of a cabinet smash onto his torso. The mage tried to budge the heavy furnishing, but was relieved by gravity when the tower turned. It was a short-lived victory though, for when he began to fall once more, he landed sideways on the edge of heavy bench, breaking a few ribs and snapping his spine with a dull crunch, inaudible throughout the thundering of the fall.

Arborus was already having great difficulty with flying, lugging Terrus around all the while, when a chest Rena had blown away came tumbling at them. The nature elemental barely managed to clear out of its way, though this momentary distraction averted his attention from what was above.

"Arborus!!" Terrus had called out, but it was too late. When his brother had looked up, the large cast-iron pan had hit the top of Arborus's forhead, knocking him out cold. Terrus freed himself from his brother's hold and tried to slow both their descent, though it wasn't going well with his less-developed wings. Soon, a table crashed into his back and sent them both tumbling to the wall below.

The stone tower crashed into the river below, crumbling as it hit the rocky bed below and littered it with massive chunks of stone as the raging currents swept away everything that wasn't heavily weighted down. Bodies, chairs, doors - all rose to the surface as the river grew wider and wider, further down as the calm waters carried them until they came to a rest on the banks miles from the bridge...

[HEADING=3]Much further upstream...[/HEADING]
"Well, mostly just salves, elixirs," Bartholomew said as he lifted the wheel, put it back on the axle, then made sure it was fastened properly to reduce the chance of a repeat performance. "You see, I'm a traveling doctor and I go wherever the wind takes me, helping all I can. Though the Fates have made it apparant that even I go on without the occasional helping hand. And Solomon you say? I figured just as much, you look so much like your father."

 

[TheIronRuler]

Abe helped the old man with the cart and heard his banter. The old man mentioned he peddled in salves and herbs; a somewhat respectable line of work, Abe thought to himself. He fixed the cart together with the old man and continued to listen to his tales while hoping for a tip or two from the experienced traveler.

"...you look so much like your father...", those innocent sounding words intrigued Abe to no end. If the man had known his father, then he must have been an old friend, but he doesn't remember him coming to the village.

Perhaps he's mistaken me for another, Abe thought, and turned to the man. "Solomon was his name, but are you certain we are speaking of my father?".

 

[Malyc]

Malyc woke up several hours after the collapse, face down on the bank of the river. Well, I guess I ain't quite dead yet... He thought, as he tried pushing himself to his feet. Tried being the operative word there, as he was interrupted by a screaming pain in his left shoulder. That's gonna cause problems... Hope it's not broken.

Feeling gradually returned to the rest of his body, and he wasn't surprised when his shoulder wasn't the only injury he sustained. Malyc felt at least 2 broken ribs on his left side as well. Fighting through the pain, he managed to get to his feet. Well, at least I can still walk... He looked around, trying to find his bearings and possibly figure out about where he was. Well... I'm downstream of the bridge, because upstream isn't really possible... I need to find a spot to camp for the night, hopefully dry off and try to not get killed by something... With that encouraging thought, he set off to find a protected spot to make camp, and hopefully get a fire going.

 

[KronosTalon]

Reganth had been traveling for a few hours since day break at this point, and was nearing the Straylight river. The mans promise of glory was still running through his head, driving him forward toward his goals. I hope that man wasnt leading me on.. I have yet to see anyone, and I am getting fairly close now... He thought as he tread on, and eventually, was standing at the bank of the river. He casually looked around, once toward the north, and once to the south, and he actually saw someone struggle to get up, looking wounded. He could not really tell from the distance, and the figure soon shambled inland. Reganth quickly hurried down the river,breaking into a jog, toward where the person went, intent on meeting up with him, or her.

By the time Reganth followed their footsteps inland, they were out of sight, so he followed the wet steps toward wherever they were. He soon found who he was looking for. Another Aquean, trying to start a fire with one arm, was sitting on the ground. Reganth scowled, but couldn't help but notice the lack of movement in his arm. He quickly spoke up to announce his presence. "Aquean, its easier to start a fire with two hands, trust me. Is it you who I am looking for?" He said, in a grudging tone toward the man sitting there.

 

[Malyc]

Malyc was having trouble lighting the fire. With the use of only one of his arms, the steel wouldn't stay in position long enough to strike with the flint, and the tinder kept blowing around. Cursing under his breath, he was unable to hear the other Aquean approach.

"Aquean, its easier to start a fire with two hands, trust me. Is it you who I am looking for?"

"Very much so, I know." Malyc said as he stood and turned to face the other Aquean. "Unfortunately, I lack the medical skills necessary to fix it, but one must make do with what is given them. As for your question, I know nothing of any meeting to take place in this area."

He looked the other over, noting the missing arm. "An outcast, eh? Least my luck hasn't completely abandoned me..."

 

[DragonofDecay86]

Gale Grimsever

Gale landed with a softness not able to be achieved by humans, a small plume of sand billowing up with his landing. Enormous chunks of marble and stone lay scattered about, and wood drifted lazily in the stream. Gale wasn't quite sure what had happened, but he knew one thing for sure, a tower was now gone, either at the bottom of the river or sitting on it's banks. Such a feat amazed even him, yet how someone had managed to blow up a tower was beyond him. Gale looked around, his eyes darting back and forth between the rubble, looking for any clues as to where the survivors of this collapse were and noticed something small downstream floating in the shallows of the river.

With a flap of his wings, Gale darted up into the air, over to the partially submerged object, only to see a small Fae with bright red hair and green wings. Gale landed immediately and plucked the Fae out of the water, flapping his wings and bringing the girl over to dry land. Gale immediately brought a flame to life which ignited in his right hand with an eerie green glow. Gale threw the flames onto the sand which stayed lit, and brought the female Fae closer to the flames to try and dry her off.

"Don't die now child, you do not yet have my permission to die. Listen to my voice, and come back to the world." Gale said with a forceful edge in his voice, which cut through his usual soft tone and melodious voice that all Fae possessed.

 

[Kuroneko Aisha]

Rena felt like her entire body was on fire as she finally returned to consciousness. She didn't know what had happened, but the last thing she remembered was being in the tower as it started to collapse. She had avoided many things, but something heavy had finally hit her hard. She had a bruise on her forehead, right where the goblet had impacted her.

"Don't die now child, you do not yet have my permission to die. Listen to my voice, and come back to the world."

She heard a voice that felt like it was coming from everywhere at once, but it could have been the heavy headache that she was suffering from. Her eyes opened and adjusted for a moment before they fell onto what looked to be a Fae. Shaking her head, which intensified her headache and caused her to wince, she said. "W-who..are you?" She tried to get up, but let out a cry of pain before setting herself back down and saying. "I-it hurts...I can't move.."

 

[DragonofDecay86]

Gale Grimsever

"Don't try and move, you've taken quite the fall it seems. Just lay there and rest for now until you have the strength to move." Gale said, grabbing a goblet from the ground and fetching a cup of water with it. Gale tipped the girl's head forward, putting the goblet to her lips and allowing her to take a drink before asking more questions.

"As for who I am, you will discover that soon enough. What happened to you? How did you come to have these injuries?" Gale asked, grabbing a blanket from the wreckage and placing it underneath the other Fae's neck for support to keep her head off the ground.

 

[Kuroneko Aisha]

Rena tried to collect her thoughts as she listened to the older Fae. She definitely appreciated the drink before noticing the goblet. She stared at it a little bit before saying. "If you don't mind..c-could you throw that goblet as hard as you can?" It happened to be the exact same one that had caused her to black out, and even had a good sized dent in it from impacting her head.

Once she was able, she continued. "I-I was trying to cross the bridge when this armored something blew it up and killed one of our allies..It was like his everything was just drained into nothing." She then gasped and tried to get up once more, and finding the same pain as before, set herself back on. "M-my friends! We were in the tower together when it collapsed..H-have you seen them? W-we have to find them!"

 

[KronosTalon]

He is injured and all that he thinks to do is start this off on the wrong foot. was all that Reganth could think as he stood in the campsite, looking toward the other Aquean. His left hand grabbed at his axe momentarily, until he decided to let it slide for once. "The man told me to meet someone here, and you halfway meet his description. Where is the rest of your group?" he said quickly before moving closer to look at the Aqueans arm.

He studied it for a short while, and then spoke up, saying "Luckily for you boy, It does not look as though you have broken anything, it is not nearly floppy enough." Reganth quickly poked around his shoulder with his left hand, probing roughly. "I believe I can fix it, if you want, though I will tell you, I will be none too gentle." he said with a broad smile, waiting for a response.

 

[DragonofDecay86]

Gale Grimsever

"Calm down. I will search for your friends, you need to rest." Gale said, looking once more at the cup before throwing it unceremoniously into the river, and then patting the girl on the head and standing up. Gale looked up from the girl and spread his wings, flapping once and taking off into the sky in a quick burst of speed. Gale then straitened himself out and flew off along the river, looking for any signs of survivors.

 

[GrimGrimoire]

Pain shot through Drogon's body as a sledgehammer, pummelling his nervous system in perfect unison with his beating heart, which was slowly picking up speed from his cold endeavour.
Gasps of cold, damp air sneaked their way past rattling teeth and filled his lungs with sweet, free air.
He was alive. Beaten and cold, but alive.

The world grew more and more hazy as he tried to sit up, only to discover that such a movement was too complicated for his current condition. Stronger pain seemed to be emitting from his left elbow and lower left ribcage.

Twisting as best he could to his right, the mangled mage discovered that his vessel had melted and left him on what seemed to be the west shore.
Eventually, Drogon managed to drag himself towards one of the larger cluster of trees just by the river. The pain was to overwhelming to continue any further, and using the last of his strength to place himself in shelter of the wind, he lay down by a fallen tree.
The chilling night wind was biting his wet skin, and even though his robe protected him against the blunt of it, it still stung.


With two bleeding wounds, and a body so battered magic was out of the question, Drogon knew that if he would live to see the light of day, he would have overcome one of his life's longest nights.
Drogon led his usable arm inside his robe and brought out his little black book.
It was too dark to read, but he let his fingers feel the worn leather of the books exterior. He lay his ceremonial dagger next to it on the ground before him.
It was time to face this night.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

[HEADING=3]Along the east bank of Straylight River[/HEADING]
"Solomon was his name, but are you certain we are speaking of my father?"

"Yes, of course," said the old man, smiling broadly. "Believe me, I never forget a face. Especially not when it has a name tied to it. Yours even has a story to it, though it is a shame that your mother had to go before her time."

Bartholomew gazed far off across the river, silently recollecting the events of that fateful day. Suddenly, as if he'd been yanked from his daydreaming, he looked back at Abe with a look of mild concern. "Speaking of time, I almost forgot to mention...a rather curious fellow passed through here, one who didn't seem too keen on showing his face. Seemed to know a great deal about you. Said he had an urgent message he wanted me to deliver to you. He told me you were to keep traveling south, where there would be some interesting folk who will have run ashore by the time you meet them. A rather odd message, I know, but he seemed to think it urgent. Mentioned something about dark times ahead, great evil rising and whatnot. Wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but maybe the Fates will be kind to you and shed more light on the subject than I."

 

[Malyc]

"The man told me to meet someone here, and you halfway meet his description. Where is the rest of your group?"

"I know of no one who even knew we'd be in the area..." Malyc started, confused by the other warrior's apparent knowledge of what was supposed to be a secret mission. "Unless... The wizard, Kaladin. He sent us on this little party. Probably who sent you down here as well. As for where the rest of us are, I have no idea. You get a bit confused when someone drops a bridge on your head."

"Luckily for you boy, It does not look as though you have broken anything, it is not nearly floppy enough. I believe I can fix it, if you want, though I will tell you, I will be none too gentle."

"Do what you must. I'd rather be able to use it than avoid a bit of discomfort." Malyc stated. "Remember though: it isn't a good plan to cause unnecessary pain to potential allies. They may remember it at an inconvenient time." He had no intentions of acting on the threat, but it never hurt to try and even the playing field.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Abe remained speechless in the face of that mysterious man who seemed to have known both of his parents and his story. Had he been the one who helped deliver him, the travelling magician of the dirt path? Nothing was certain, but the facts were on the table. He knew.

Solomon felt his throat drying suddenly. He tried to answer the man, but ended up coughing into his hand. "I-I...", the man mumbled, "Lead the way...", he spoke in a defeated tone. His words taken from him at the sight of an amazing tale he thought to be mere fiction, Abe simply followed the man on the road with a smile plastered on his face.

 

[KronosTalon]

"A wizard huh? He seemed the part, appearing suddenly and wearing his cloak over his face." Reganth said as he positioned himself in front of Malyc, so that they were rather close, and face to face. He set his nub on Malycs other shoulder, in an attempt to hold him down as best he could, as he wrapped his good arm around the Aqueans bicep, and began a quick countdown."One, two.. Three" He said, and on three he pushed the arm back up into its socket, with a grinding popping sort of noise, and released his grip on the other man, standing up quickly.

"There, that was not so bad, kind of quick actually." He said with a half smile, then turned to look around. "Should the others be showing up? Or will we have to go pick corpses out of the river." He said, referring to the mention of the broken bridge.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

[HEADING=3]The Northeastern banks of Straylight River...[/HEADING]

"Lead the way..."

"Bah!" Bartholomew scoffed with hearty laughter as he climbed atop his cart's bench seat. "Nonsense, climb aboard. Trust me, the trip will go a lot more quickly. Providing the wheels stay on, of course!"

Abe merely shrugged and complied with the man's request, wearing a cheery smile on his face as he did so. Before long, Bartholomew coaxed the horse along and they both headed down the river bank, making their way to whomever awaited their arrival...

[HEADING=3]After a night's ride downstream...[/HEADING]

As dawn had already passed, with the sun starting to peer through the tops of the trees of the nearby woodlands, Bartholomew and Abe were well past the Stavros Crossing. It wasn't until the first signs of light had shone upon that region of the world that they realized had, taking note the debris embanked alongside the river. Planks, vessels of wood and metal, anything that wasn't washed further down the river or light enough to be carried had run ashore, lining the rock and soil with litter. Something once thought inconceivable was making itself evident every step of the way as they headed south, the grim nature of it all only being strengthened by the occasional corpse of the Royal Guard washed up.

"Fates help us all..." Bartholomew muttered as his stupor began to fade, breaking the eerie silence of the land around them. The pair hadn't even taken in the soft clop of the horse's hooves when their minds were processing the possibilities of the tragedy that befell the soldiers. "What in all the world could have done this? Collapsed the bloody bridge as if it were naught but a straw hut...there is definitely something dark at work here."

[HEADING=3]Quite a ways downriver...[/HEADING]

Terrus awoke with a great pain in his head and the coldness of the water mixed with the soft breeze bit him harshly. As he moved his arm to try and pick himself up, the stone plates of his armor clacked against the wooden door he'd been riding on until this point. He had to get warm and dry, but that task would seem rather daunting for as he tried to get himself to a sitting position, even that was becoming a job in itself. Finally, he managed to bring himself to sit, promptly removing his heavy stone helm before propping himself on his arms. When the plates of his helm slid against his flesh, the earth elemental winced at a sharp pain above his right brow. He reached up to inspect it and found a deep gash had split his skin open, revealing the soft tissue beneath.

"Damn!" Terrus cried out as the touch brought pain to the wound again, and the realization that there was a fracture beneath open flesh. There wasn't anything the Fae could do for himself at the moment, other than consider himself lucky that he wasn't already dead. Once the pain subsided into a dull, steady throb, the Fae's mind quickly snapped back onto the world around him and it only took a brief moment of clarity to realize his brother was nowhere in sight. "Arborus? Arborus?!"

The shouting of the Fae had brought the unconscious Aquean, Soreal, back into the world. Soreal had been peaceably comatose beneath the surface of a splintered table not more than ten feet from the Fae, though feeling none too comfortable, he slowly lifted the weight off his chest and let it fall to his side. He groaned in pain as he felt every muscle in his frame being put under great duress, and rather unexpectedly, those groans turned into cries of agony as he tried to stand. Upon inspection of the source of this profound feeling, the Aquean's eyes widened in horror as he found his left foot to be facing the wrong direction.

"What...what the..." Soreal's heart and mind were racing, he was at a loss for words as the initial shock took over. He began to inspect the extent of his injury with his hands, but that quickly brought a new surge of pain through his nerves. "Gaaahh!!"

This time it was the Aquean's turn to break the attention from the Fae, for once he let out that second cry of agony, Terrus set focus from his missing brother to his injured ally. The Fae slowly stood and hobbled over to Soreal and knelt beside him. Terrus grimaced at the sight of the injury, the grotesque mound of disfigure flesh and bone that was once a perfectly aligned ankle certainly wasn't a pretty sight. He looked into Soreal's eyes and, with a nervous smile, told the Aquean what he surely knew needed to be done, "Alrigh', lad. I'm gonna hafta straighten this out fer ya. Ye ready?"

"Yeah, no, just wai-" Soreal was unable to finish for Terrus had already wrenched the twisted foot back into its proper place, eliciting yet another agonizing cry along with some profanities the Fae could barely make out.

"See? Weren't so bad now, eh?" Terrus asked with a nervous laugh, a little surprised that the Aquean hadn't reflexively hit him hard across the jaw. The Fae stood once more and made off to search for his pack, needing to fashion a splint for Soreal's freshly-realigned ankle, though not before lightheartedly making one thing clear. "An' I'll let it slide just this once, but sully me mum's good name again, an' I'll guarantee ye'll wake up wit' more'n a twisted ankle."

[HEADING=3]Over twenty miles across the river...[/HEADING]

Arborus, almost subconsciously, began crawling from the muddy riverbank, carrying himself to the grass-covered rise. The Fae breathed deeply, exhausted and aching all over, but vying for dry land and warmth. With much work, he finally reached the tall grass and began running his fingers through the thick blades, their familiarity comforting him greatly. He could only lie there for the time being, slipping in and out of consciousness as he tried to regain his strength.

 

[Malyc]

"One, two.. Three"

Despite the warning, Malyc couldn't help but utter a cry of pain as the other Aquean relocated his shoulder. Damn, but that hurt. He thought, experimentally moving his arm. Don't quite have full motion yet, but at least I can use it...

"There, that was not so bad, kind of quick actually. Should the others be showing up? Or will we have to go pick corpses out of the river."

"I don't think they'll be showing up on their own, at least not quickly." Malyc said. "Although I'm hoping for no corpses. I survived, they should have as well." Yeah, somehow I managed to survive every piece of furniture in the damned tower trying to kill me... They aught to be alright.

Turning to the other Aquean, it occurred to Malyc that they hadn't been properly introduced. "It seems to me that we haven't been properly introduced. The name's Malyc." He said, extending a hand.