My Kingdom for a Sword MAIN IC

[deepsear]

Clouds and fog are prevalent on these plains. You stare up at the sky, then back at the dirt road ahead of you. A small grove of trees and a farm house sit to your right. You and the other people in this band of headstrong youths have already been briefed: Infiltrate Konrad's kingdom, and somehow kill him. It would sound impossible to a trained man, but what do you care? You're a teen, you are invincible. And you have been sent. There is one stop before the Avarik mountains, the fortified city of Plainsmoor. From there, you can supply yourselves (Or just find some women), and prepare to trek across the dangerous mountain path into Kondrad's seaside kingdom.

[purepolarpanzer]

Green eyes stared through the mist, trying to catch any sense of movement on the horizon.
Nothing!
Tara walked back to towards the group. Just over five feet tall, she looked out of place onhe road in her forest garb. The dark brown buck skin she wore may havid her in the forest, but on the open road she felt as exposed as a turtle without it's shell.
I don't see anyone, but this damnable fog isn't helping much.
She didn't know any of them well. She barely knew their names. A few looked harmless, some looked dangerous, but all looked like they were typical nobility- spoiled rotten.
On the other hand, if I am proud, it's because I made it on my own. Until they show me different, there all just like all the other pompous buffoons who run these southern lands. Barely lands, from the look of them. More like nurseries for babes.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius said nothing. He hadn't said anything for the entire trip. Instead, he had been snacking out of his backpack. He was eating a big sack of pork rinds right now.

The party stopped, so Lucius walked around the farm a bit, slightly disinterested. His sailor hat jingled as he walked and everywhere he went he dropped candy wrappers.

He'd heard there would be fighting. If there would be fighting, he reasoned, he'd need something to hit people with. He walked up to one of the smaller trees in the grove and tried to pull it out of the earth with one hand, still holding the bag of pork rinds with the other. When this didn't work, he downed the whole bag of pork rinds and threw away the empty bag. Then he held the trunk of the small tree with both his hands and yanked it out of the soil. Now he had a club.

[FullPlateJacket]

Matthew strides forward, an odd contrast with his relaxed and slightly slouched pose. As of right now, this trip is incredibly boring.

I should have known it would be just as boring as everything else, he thinks, continuing to walk forward.

The fog is obscuring his vision, and he squints for a moment, glancing forward.

Man, this fog is getting annoying. How can I make it go away?

He grins for a moment, his mind beginning to start up its thought processes. If a Magic Arrow of fire is made by concentrating the magic energy into one spot and firing it, I should be able to make a torch if I keep the ball stationary.

He twirls his staff for a moment before closing his eyes, concentrating his power into the tip of the staff. After a moment, the tip is lit up in a small sphere of fire.

He grins and looks back at the group. "There! That should help clear up this fog a bit."

[LostOne27]

Terry fought hard to stifle a laugh as the lordling Matthew twirled his staff and closed his eyes. What an idiot...why would you twirl a staff like that? It's not gonna do anthing. Needless to say, she was a little bit surprised when a glowing ball of fire starts burning at the tip of that very same staff. Ooh! Nice trick!

Mathew grinned and looked back at the group. "There! That should help clear up this fog a bit."

Terry responded, "Neat trick. Of course, if any of you had been really smart, you'd of brought a horse. Like me. Because REAL nobles don't walk when they can ride in style." With that, she spurred the grey into a trot and pulled ahead of the group, heading down the road.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius threw the club onto his shoulder and picked some apples to eat.

"Crunch"

[FullPlateJacket]

Matthew shrugs. "Eh, I decided not to bother, since I'd just have to ditch the horse once we reach the mountains. I don't need to rely on a horse to do my work, anyway."

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Yum, horse" Lucius says stroking Terry's horse. He then tossed up an apple and swallowed it whole.

[LostOne27]

Terry pulled up short. "Ditch the horse? Are you mad? Besides, what's wrong with taking the road through the mountains? Then we'd get there alot faster."

Seriously, some people. They just can't think straight. And that one...he probably wants to eat my horse! With that thought, Terry took off again, determined to keep herself (and her horse) a safe distance from that Lucius fellow.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius was distracted by his last couple of apples, which he was all trying to fit in his mouth at once, when the horse took off. He didn't react for a while, but when he finally managed to fit all those apples into his mouth and smiled broadly, he noticed it was gone.

"Fwmp wheje's mah hofsy?" he said, apples dropping out of his mouth onto the floor. As soon as he spotted the horse again, he picked up his apples and went after it. Lucius took his time though. He was occupied with his food, after all.

[deepsear]

Up the road, a figure comes out of the mist. He seems to be a dirty and disheveled old man, stooped slightly, and with a long grey beard.

"Oh goodness! Such finery! I shall keep my head down I shall..."

Without raising his head, he says loudly to Terry:

"Pardon ma'am. Do you have spare coin for a poor beggar?"

If you were to look under his bowed head, you could see the darting eyes of a terrified man.

(Look up here again! The OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74220) is up.)

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius dug deep into his pockets with his spare hand and tossed a couple of coins at the old man. When I say "tossed" I mean chucked. And when I say chucked, I mean chucked hard. Lucius probably meant no harm, but he wasn't taking any particular care not to harm the old man either.

[Sir Shadow]

Her eyes gazed with some sense of sadness toward the towering mountains. This is not where she belonged. She should be sitting in the lap of luxury surrounded by servants going through her lessons. Instead, she was in this godforsaken dump. Plains? Hell, they were very PLAIN. They were an eyesore. Every damnable blade of grass, speck of dirt, and nasty hovel made Estarael's anger boil.

Even those tramps she was forced to call her companions. She had been nice enough at first, exchanging pleasantries with graceful flair and the kindest of smiles. But eventually they had begun to wear on her nerves. Especially that large one... always eating, munching, slopping, slurping... he gave her shivers. And that Terry... ... what a self-righteous witch. Though, Estarael couldn't say she was any different. But at least she deserved what she had. At least Matthew was proving himself valuable, he has just conjured up a bit of fire to fight away the fog.

Speaking of fog... it was rolling in thicker, distrubing her vision. With a sigh, she put her helmet back on and turned to the others who were quarreling as usual. Her armor had begun to chafe, which made her especially iritable. She adjusted her scabbards, one of her right and two on the left, and walked over to them. Just as she arrived a beggar appeared. Scum, she thought, worthless trash asking for alms, how pitiful--disgusting...

[purepolarpanzer]

Try not to kill him with your mercy, you oaf.
Tara chastitised the little brute as he abused the man.
What a waste of flesh. All strength, no substance.
She drew her hunting knife and began to sharpen it on her whetstone as she walked. It had become slightly duller than its normal razor sharpness, and she was slightly glad. The simple task kept her from thinking too much about her companions. But still...
And the one on the horse treats it like his property. I could get it running twice as fast with half the effort. Where did the King find these idiots?

[FullPlateJacket]

Matthew deliberately walks by the old beggar, paying him no heed.

"I say you'll have to ditch the horse because the road is the one place that will definitely be guarded. It'll probably be crawling with soldiers. Besides, the horse will be gone far before the mountains if you can't figure out a way to protect it from a certain member of our group," he says, motioning back to Lucius with his free arm.

[LostOne27]

Terry looked down at the disgusting old man begging for money and hesitated for a second before drawing a single copper coin out of her purse. Better give him something or he may never go away, she thought as she through the coin to his feet.

"Ok, then, what's YOUR plan for getting there? Ditch everything and sneak through some pass like common criminals? Throw away our weapons and pretend to be pilgrims? Ooh! Or better yet! All of you could be my servants, and I could play the part of a young lady, quite fed up with our lord, trying to escape! That would work!"

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius got bored with the conversation and walked over to the farm, kicking in the door.

"Anyone hoooooome?" he asked.

[deepsear]

"OOOOWCH... Thank you..."

The beggar gathers the coins thrown at him, and runs back the way he came. Rather spritely, for an old man. Probably because a brute was just throwing coins at him.

The door of the farmhouse busts down easily. Inside, a small man with red hair looks at the intruder, looks back down, and shakes his head, continuing to whittle at a small piece of wood.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius walked in and started inspecting the house's closets and cabinets.
He had to do something to pass time while the others were bickering. Any food he found he ate right away.

[purepolarpanzer]

And your plan has so much more merit! Let's just casually trot down the road, maybe act snooty while we're at it! And when the soldiers come, we tell them we're here to kill the king! I'm sure they'll instantly be cowed by your nobility and intelligence and lead the charge into the kingdom! Either that, or they could instantly know that only nobility would have a horse, ask us why all of us are travelling together, hold us, and execute us for entering lands we do not belong in! I hope your sword arm is stronger than your mind, or else this mission is doomed outright. The only way we'll ever get anything done is if we treat this seriously, Princess, so let he adults do the planning.
Tara walks, increasingly dissatisfied with her company.
Atleast that one appears t have some sense. Maybe the rest of them will be killed soon so we can get this finished with a modicum of efficiency.
Just making sure no one takes offense. We all knew how this was gonna go, with this many egos.

[deepsear]

The red-haired man looks at Lucius, takes out a piece of parchment, looks at it, and nods to himself. He quietly gets up, walks past the feasting Lucius, and goes outside. From there, he watches the group have their little spat, waiting for a lull to break in.

[Sir Shadow]

Estarael sighed, Maybe we could get moving before somebody reports us? Waiting here in the middle of the road, we're lucky there's fog or the sentries in the mountains would probably have noticed us. I say we travel through the country side and at least try to find some cover as we approach the mountains, then we can ditch or let Lucius eat that damned horse as we try to sneak across the mountains... seriously. We have no papers, no cargo, or anything that would allow guards to let us through the pass. So get off your high horse and let's move!

She found herself tapping her foot; she often did that when she got antsy. The thought of being caught in the open did not at all interest her, and she just knew they'd have to get to the mountains before the fog passed or they would be noticed for sure.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius follows the man, after having eaten everything there was to eat in the house. He tries to look over his shoulder to read the paper. Well, he's actually hoping there'll be drawings on it, because reading can take quite a while when Lucius is doing it.

[LostOne27]

Terry takes her time and looks at everyone in the group. "I don't see any adults here. At all. And don't go thinking you're one any more than I am. I'm still waiting to hear a plan from you, though. All I've heard so far is 'no, that won't work' from any of you. Oh, besides the idea to throw away one of our assets. I heard that one too."

[FullPlateJacket]

Matthew scowls. "A horse is not an asset if it gets us caught. If you care so much about keeping it, we should stop in some town and try and find out if there's some other path through the mountains that isn't swarming with pesky guards."

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Storm the castle!" Lucius shouts, swinging the tree club in the air. He then tries to focus on the paper again.

[purepolarpanzer]

Funny. I thought "get rid of the horse and sneak through the mountains" was a pretty straigtforeword plan. Maybe you just can't comprehend my words? I'm sure Lucius can translate for you.
She takes a breath and starts in again.
And we may not be adults, but atleast we aren't being childish. You only want the horse because you are too spoiled to have walked more than five steps yourself. I for one refuse to be caught and die while you abuse this beast, and I am certainly not carrying youon a litter. The option for you is, leave the horse when we get to rough terrain or ride it back to your palace and play princess. Got it?
Angered, she turnsto the silent man with the paper. In her frustration, she snaps at him.
And what do you want?

[deepsear]

Lucius can, in fact, see pictures on the paper. One of them looks a lot like him. The others, well, they look like the others.

The red-haired man then clears his throat to gain attention.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Hey, look, he's got pictures of us!" Lucius yells. He then grabs the paper out of the man's hands and shows it to the others, skipping around. Should the man try to take the paper back, Lucius will shove him out of the way quite brutally.

[LostOne27]

"Pictures of us!?" Terry shouts in astonishment, and not a little fear. "Why would he have pictures of us?"

[purepolarpanzer]

Wow. Bump?

[deepsear]

(Hah... Maybe this is long enough? I must confess to not being a very good DM. I might try this story again later with someone else as DM. But as long as people are interested I will continue, with a little jump-start to the story.)

"There is no time to explain now. You must go to the city and ready yourselves for the trek across the mountains. I will help you. They call me Jared the Red, for obvious reasons. I cannot tell you to trust me, but I insist you all come now."

The word... that word insist... you all feel the most overpowering urge to follow him. Some try to shake it off, but as long as he stands you follow. The trek to the city is uneventful. Maybe something did happen, but it is all a haze. You simply follow, not noticing the strange looks you receive. Jared buys you all equipment. Is he an agent of your lord? Who knows... When you regain your composure, you are on a winding dirt path leading into the fog-shrouded mountains. The man is nowhere in sight. Your... Packs? He must have bought them. Anyway, they are filled with various survival supplies.

Immediately, something happens. A band of armed farmers, torches at the ready to stave away the fog, rush from behind you.

"Good! Get over here you guys. Time to rid ourselves of that stone golem. Deserters of the militia receive the death penalty! LONG LIVE THE KING!"

The band forces you deep into the woods. In the middle of a clearing there is a single stone mounted atop a mound of earth. A crash from your left brings everyone about to see a mountain of animated stone bearing down upon the group. Almost half desert immediately, running for their god-forsaken lives from this monstrosity. Several are snatched and crushed as the golem stumbles about, not sure what to do. In the confusion, Matthew is grabbed by the golem. It stares at him, oddly enough. A lull in the fighting finds him staring into its eyes.

[purepolarpanzer]

Damn thing! It's huge!
Tara leaps to the left, dodging a massive, flailing limb.
If we don't stop it, it will crush him!"
She immediately nocks an arrow and lets it fly at the monster's face, trying to take an eye.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius ignores the fight completely and sticks a lollypop in his mouth. When equipment was being bought, he will have insisted on using the funds for his stuff to buy candy instead. Or perhaps a very silly looking souvenir he liked at that point but has carelessly thrown away by now. Either way, he prefers clubbing stuff with his tree to using a proper sword.

[FullPlateJacket]

Matthew

"Well, this is just great... but my position gives me an idea. If it had a mind to desert the army..."

Matthew performs some complex hand motions, and balls of light begin to grow at the ends of his index fingers.

"Two magic arrows of purifying light are aimed at your eyes. We seem to be at a bit of an empasse, now aren't we? You can simply crush me with your hands... but if you do, these projectiles go off straight into one of the only weak points in your defenses. Why don't we work together? If you provide me and a few of my friends with transportation across the mountains, I'll let you go free on the other side."

[deepsear]

The rock giant ***** its head, rather like a dog. The militia men stop, except for one, which smashes one of the rocks in the golem's foot with a hammer. For his trouble, he gets booted halfway across the clearing into a patch of wildflowers, where he shudders then lays still. The arrow from Tara hits his eye, and bursts into flame in the magic-fire filled socket.

Then, without its glowing sphere eyes moving from Matthew, the golem plods over to the stone in the center of the hummock, and points to it, shoving Matthew uncomfortably close. Text, plain and blocky, dominates the slab.

The only constant is the Earth, so I shall live forever thus! Monday the Everlasting

It seems to be the tomb of some wizard. A strangely expressive golem and the tomb of a sorcerer... For the more advanced magic-users, it is apparent that the man put his soul inside his golem before dying.

Hearing Matthew's request, it points at the mountain.

"Take."

It begins to crash through the undergrowth towards the mountain, evidently with entent to not let go of Matt anytime soon.

[FullPlateJacket]

Matthew

Matthew is powerless to stop the golem from moving him around as he pleases, and he finds his face pressed up near the stone of the wizard's tomb.

"I-it worked, I guess... so you used to be a wizard, and you placed your soul inside this golem?"

As the golem starts to move towards the mountain without providing an answer, Matthew protests a little. "W-wait a sec! There are a few other people that need to travel with us!"

[MrEdwardNigma]

Lucius shrugged and followed the golem. He didn't fear the behemoth.

[Sir Shadow]

Verona

Breathing heavily, Estareal quickly sheathed two of her swords and charged after the golem. Damnit, she thought, There it goes taking the only useful one! Three swords were useful for straight up brawls, but too unwieldy for chasing prey. With a grunt, she shouldered her remaining sword and dug her heels into the earth, trying desperately to keep up with Matthew and his new friend.

[deepsear]

The golem is now near the base. Their is a river crashing down now to your right, and a path has materialized next to it. It is late, and you are all tired from running.

[MrEdwardNigma]

For some reason Lucius had decided clubbing the golem with a tree was a good idea. Luckily the materialized path distracted him and he decided to skip down it like in that performance of that one play where a girl, a scarecrow, a construct and a lion skipped down a yellow brick road. He'd hated the play at the time and had tossed stuff at the actors, eventually killing one with a brick, but for some reason it had now resurfaced as a dear memory and Lucius was all too happy to do some skipping. He barely felt the fatigue, as he wasn't the kind of person that ever really got tired. He was the kind of person that got other people tired. There was no doubt though Lucius would soon become bored of his new-found hobby and would start beating the crap out of that golem (Erfworld related pun inteneted) if he didn't find something more interesting to do soon.