Incendia was struggling and suffering, not in any particular physical pain, but in her mind...as was Deathblade. They were as bad as each other. The two people Gloria had been most personally offended by were now suffering some sort of trauma. She nodded her head to herself. In her eyes, this was simply karma. Those that offended Gloria were either punished by fate, or else they were punished by she herself. Gloria quickly examined their injuries from a safe but visual distance. She reckoned their injuries were damaging, but not fatal. It was time to get this show on the road. There wasn't even anytime for bickering now. ''Guys, I'm SURE you all have your fair share of mental health problems, but we have a mission to do. Ignis and Deathblade, if you want to check into a madhouse, please do so. Otherwise, get over it. We don't have the time for this.'' She looked over at Lucas. ''Is this not correct Lucas? You are our leader, after all. Those not fit for the mission simply shouldn't be here.''
''Is this not correct Lucas? You are our leader, after all. Those not fit for the mission simply shouldn't be here.'' Lucas looked up again, this time at Gloria who was a short distance away. "We've got plenty of time to rest. When morning comes, if Incendia isn't in any condition to travel, I'll gladly take her back in to town. I'll not abandon anyone on this mission." He said what he meant. No one would be left behind, no matter how serious their injuries. He would take the time to go all the way back to the tavern if it meant leaving Incendia or any other party member in safe hands. "I have to agree with Gloria, Luke. The whole ordeal is overly-dramatic. We simply don't have time to worry about this," Annaleigh piped in, the first thing she'd said to her brother in a long while. Lucas frowned, but didn't look up at her. "I think I know what's best, Anna." "You aren't always correct." Anna didn't want to start an argument, so she said nothing more, and Luke did the same.
Agnorth glared at Gloria. This was something to be expected from her. He was about to give her his two cents when... Agnorth was shocked to hear this from a priestess' mouth. He stared wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at her, appalled that she had said such a thing. No wonder the gods do not favor her... he thought.
He listened to Gloria's comment and he could only retort with a few simple words, "You should say nothing, for you have done nothing to prove yourself worthy in this group, we have done all the fighting, and wounds are nothing to be ashamed of," he said pointing to his scar, "they only mean that you are strong, and mentality can be broken, but after some time, they are healed, and my mentality is not yet broken." He shouldn't be arguing with her, but he cared not, after that he was silent. He was too concerned with his own problems, the group had been attacked and barely survived, they needed to be better prepared for the next battle.
Late that night, everyone finally drifted off into a fitful sleep. Lucas took first watch, switching off with Agnorth and Atrius every few hours. Even though Deathblade had proved his loyalty in the battle, Luke still couldn't trust him to watch over the group. It was a peaceful night; the demons didn't come back, and each member of the group got about 6 hours of sleep. At dawn, Lucas was the first to awaken, and he immediately set about packing up his bedroll, putting out the fire's remaining embers, and waking his companions. Everyone set about packing their things, and soon after everything was in order, the heroes left the campsite, heading north to a town called Sinabor where they would restock on supplies and much needed rest after the previous, terrifying night. Sometime in the evening, the group arrived in Sinabor. Their trip had been quiet. Some of the party member's had bickered here and there, but nothing overly dramatic had ocurred. "Let's head to the local tavern. We'll stay the night here and purchase supplies first thing in the morning. From here, it's a straight shot to Dyan." Luke then led his friends to the tavern, and upon entering he made his way to the bar-keep, asking for a round of drinks for his weary companions. "We might as well make the most of our stay here," he stated with a cheerful smile. This would probably be their only stop in town before reaching Dyan. The rest of the trip would be made in the wilderness.
"Ah, finally civilization and a bit of rest," Len announced as they all strode into the Tavern. He happily collapsed into a chair towards the back of the Tavern at a free table. He quickly set his staff and book on the table and fell onto his book like it was a pillow. Len only wanted to rest a minute and have one drink, then he needed to practice. He wanted to learn a new spell before they continued on their journey.
Agnorth wasn't particularly interested in going to a tavern, so he excused himself from the group, saying that he'd meet them there later. He threaded his way through the milling crowds, browsing the windows and signs of the port cities' many and varied shops. A benefit of being a Priest which was kept hidden from the general public (both so they would not the target of pickpockets, and to keep the corrupt and greedy out of their ranks) was the fact that they had near-limitless amounts of gold, allowing them to buy almost anything they wished without having to worry about budget. They rarely spent this, however, as the gods gave them everything they needed, be it clothing, weaponry, or nourishment. While priests were taught to shun luxuries in training, nothing prevented them from purchasing them afterward, and the gods are lenient in this regard as long as they didn't go too overboard...
"I'm going to go get some supplies. Does anyone else need anything?" Incendia asked the group. She had lost a number of her precious gems and needed to get some more, she was hungry too, and she didn't like tavern food much. The group had confused her that morning, a number of people asked to make sure she was okay. She didn't know what they were talking about though. She knew that she had blacked out and her leg had been sliced, but that wasn't such a big deal. Was it? Of course, she had dreamed more than she usually did and some of them were frighteningly vivid. Maybe she said something odd in her sleep or something...
"I think I'll go with you, Incendia, if you don't mind," Annaleigh said, and she, too, excused herself from the group. Taverns weren't exactly her favorite hang out. She would much rather stock up on supplies now than wait for morning to come. Lucas didn't seem to mind her leaving. "I dislike taverns," she added as an excuse.
I think I'll go with you, Incendia, if you don't mind. I dislike taverns. "Oh. Thank you Anna." Incendia said to the young priest. "I don't actually like taverns much either", she said after they had exited the tavern "Lets see... where should we go first, Anna?"
Len lifted his head, taking a drink from the first round that Lucas had purchased for the group. He quickly opened his book and turned it's thick pages several times until it came upon pages with purple writing in the strange language. Besides the odd text which was still unreadable to Len, there were also dark ink paragraphs mixed in. The purple pages were a mess, several pages had been crossed out by the ink-bearing reader and the remaining paragraphs were littered with comments. "Barobarg, you can't just let magic be free can you?" Len asked, talking to himself. Barobarg had gone through these pages of the magic book and experimented with the spells within. Several he discarded, crossing them out but to Len's surprise one paragraph of the purple writing was circled. Next to it was written: "Good spell, this shield creates a bubble barrier. Good defense against physical and weak magic attacks." Len nodded to himself and began to focus on the writing, waiting for it to change into a readable form instead of a mess of writing in strange symbols and signs. He asked the book to reveal it's secrets and focused harder on the writing. Slowly, the paragraph began to change into a small instruction guide on how to create the shield spell Barobarg was so fond of.
Atrius had mostly kept to himself during the trip. No need to make issues bigger than they were, and he was happy to finally get to a tavern, where he could forget everything that had happened and be happy for a couple of hours. But, he had lost the cap to his flask, so he needed a new one. He threw the useless one on the ground and went to the local alchemist. "Excuse me?" Atrius asked, as he entered the fumes filled tent the "alchemist" had. A deep voice answered him. "Welcome. Is there something I can help you with?" The man stood a bit over 6 feet tall, had a bald head and his voice was as rough as the sound of rocks hitting each other. "Yes, certainly. I just lost my the important part of my especial flask. I'm sure you've heard of the spell..." He described the mechanism of which his flask worked. It refilled itself, magically, every two or so hours, as long as it had the cap on. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't--" Atrius slammed a bag full of currency in the table, looking at him with an 'i-need-it' expression. "Right away, sir." Atrius made his way back to the tavern, with his shiny new flask with an improved spell. Now, it refilled faster! He took a seat at one of the tables, watching the few people that had stayed over. The priests were gone; so was Incendia. Were they still mad at him? Huh...
Deathblade wasn't a fan of taverns, but they provided shelter and food, that much he could handle. Incendia and Anna had left earlier, and he noticed Len studying from his rather large book. He needed help, after his performance at the ambush, Deathblade knew he would be useless unless he recieved some magical assistance. he spoke to him in a low voice, "Len, come with me." He picked up his sword and walked out of the tavern. He knew Len would show.
Quite a few people had left as soon as they'd reached the tavern - Incendia, Anna, Agnorth, Atrius . . . Lucas sat at a table with Len, watching as the young wizard drained his glass of alchohol. Luke sure was thirsty . . . Maybe just a little drink could hurt him. But Annaleigh wouldn't like that. No, she wouldn't like that at all. It had been so long since Luke had had a drink of ale. The memories of drinking had all been bad ones, but now that he thought about them, they hadn't been that bad, had they? He had, at one time, enjoyed drinking, but he had given all of that up because Annaleigh had asked him to. Now that she wasn't watching, maybe he could sneak a drink. Atrius returned almost as soon as he'd gone, bearing with him a new flask and a cheerful attitude. "Where've you been off to?" Lucas asked curiously, grinning, and returned to his thinking whilst staring at the glass in front of him. To drink or not to drink . . . To drink or not to drink . . . With a frown, Luke picked up the glass and took a sip, and then he drained it with a content sigh. He'd forgotten how good ale was. "Care to join me?" he asked Atrius, beckoning for the man to join him. * * * "I need a new bag. My old one just doesn't carry as many items as I would like," Anna suggested. She had never really been shopping all that much. Not since she was a little girl. It would be wonderful to be free again . . . to do whatever she liked. The temple had prevented that, however, requiring she be there every moment of every day to pray, heal, preach . . . Annaleigh had enjoyed all of that, but it got old. Very old.
"Where've you been off to?" "The alchemist. Lost my flask cap." Then he heard a gulp, and an invitation he didn't expect... Lucas, wanting to drink with him? What a merry afternoon. "Certainly." He said, smiling. "Cheers!"
I need a new bag. My old one just doesn't carry as many items as I would like "Oh. Look." Incendia said as she pointed to a nearby shop. "It looks like there's a shop right there where we can get you a new bag." Then Incendia remembered something important. "Wait, before we go to get you a new bag can we stop by the bank first? I remembered that i don't actually have any money with me :redface:. It's just across the street from here."
Gloria scanned the bar with her soulless retina before taking a seat next to the reserved ''Len''. Gloria loved taverns - lots of men, lots of drink and ample opportunities. ''Lets hope the bigot brigade refrain from murdering the bar-keep this time'' she said aloud to herself. She looked over at Len who seemed lost in his own little world. She decided not to approach him Ignis and Anna had left the premesis. With the women absent, Gloria decided it was hight time to make her vulturous move. ''So Lucas, would you to join me for a drink?'' A sly smile smeared across her ruby, serpentine lips. She sensed a weakness.
"Another drink," said Lucas to the nearest bar-maid, "for me and my friend." The girl nodded and swaggered off to the counter to fetch them another round. When she returned, Luke shouted "Cheers!" and drained his glass, setting it back down on the table with a loud 'thunk' and a sheepish grin. Gloria sat down next to Len, asking if Lucas would join her for a drink, and he nodded. "Certainly. This day is finally starting to lighten up." Maybe the ale was actually making him happy. Maybe Anna had been wrong all along. * * * "Of course," Annaleigh said, following Incendia to the bank. "You can't go off shopping without money." She was low on coins as well, and they did need enough supplies to make it to Dyan, which was still a long ways away.
"Thanks" Icendia said as she walked over to the bank. She walked to the back of the bank, to a special counter. "May I help you madame?" the teller said. "Yes, I need to make a withdrawal from the Ignis acount" "The Ignis account?" the teller said with surprise "I will need to see your identification" "Of course" Incendia said as she opened her hand and made a small white flame. "Will that work?" "Y-y-yes, that should do... How much would you like?" The teller was clearly stunned to see an actual Ignis. "hm... I'd say...1000 gold pieces, 100 in solid pieces, 400 in notes, and 500 in jewels." "Of course! Right away!" the teller said as he handed her the money. 100 gold pieces was an huge amount, but 1000 was insane. "Thank you" she said as she took the money "Okay, lets go get that bag now, Anna!"
"Alright," Len stated to Deathblade who was walking out the door. Len packed his book and followed, carrying his staff. "Thanks for the drink Lucas," he added quickly as he left. Len followed Deathblade silently, deciding it would be best to not ask questions. If Deathblade needed him for some reason, it was worth following.
They walked for awhile heading towards a beach, he remembered in his training that he was taken to a beach, it proved quite worthy as a training ground. "Len, I want you to imagine the open water as your worst enemy, I want you to imagine that you are trying to protect someone you care for," he looked at Len, who seemed confused, "I don't want you to think too hard on this one, cast a spell, any of your choosing."
Annaleigh stood by quietly as Incendia made her withdrawal. The enormous amount that the woman was taking out of her account startled her, for she had never seen that much money in her life, but she tried to contain her shock. "Yes, let's," she said, again following Incendia, this time out of the bank and towards the shop where they had seen the bag. On their way there, Anna decided it best to bring up the previous night's events. "Do you know what happened last night?" She paused, then to clarify, added, "You were injured."
Len waited on the sand, listening to what Deathblade had to say. He was confused, why was Deathblade doing this? He realized Deathblade was waiting and he told him not to think too hard. He decided to use his control spell this time. He imagined what Deathblade told him and molded his magic through his staff and pushed it forward. The water gave a little splash, nothing more than as if a bird had dived into the water to retrieve a fish. "I don't get this," Len said after seeing the result of his magic.
"Yeah, of course I do. I got careless and that demon sliced my leg because of it, and I blacked out from the spell because I used too much white fire." Incendia explained. She didn't understand what Anna was asking, it should've been obvious what had happened. "Wasn't that obvious?"
