Joe vs the invisible swordsman

[zipcat]

*zip was already beginning to think of Feng as a friend; he liked a few things she did and seamed to care for others as well. His checking of his armor did remind her of what might come in the journey, but she tried to put those thoughts from her mind for now. When Feng moved closer, zip welcomed his company.*

*She took the time to take a nice bite into the apple, keeping her eyes off of his scar and instead on his. She was different herself; and so knew that having abnormalities stared at made her uncomfortable. In ways one is different may define them, but not on a physical since.*

"A picnic would be nice, but I'm not sure if we'd have time. Maybe we could pull something together and share a watch if it comes to it," zip was a bit nervous with what might come again, and it was almost obvious to those who knew her well that she was speaking without thinking. She changed her offer, thinking allowed, "no... I don't think we should have the distractions, maybe just when we're taking a break would be better." She'd never stood watch before... and had no idea how it would go if she had to.*

*When Safarah came, zip thanked Feng for the supplies again, resting a hand on his still armored shoulder while addressing him after standing. She thanked him too, for the conversation, adding that it was pleasant and she would be happy to speak again. She smiled to her other friend, but it faded with her shrug. "I think we'll be ok on food, Safarah, with the weather I wouldn't advise traveling heavy. I suppose that we should take what we can, I have everything I should need and could use other things along the way if I must." zip blinked to herself, she hadn't talked this much to someone in a long time. Out traveling, she didn't make a single new friend as she had hoped. It was helping though, so she wanted to keep if up, "If you would like to fetch some more things, if it wouldn't slow you down I'd like to join you and help."*

[Feng]

*Feng noticed the others approaching as Zip stood, it took a moment for him to remember where the conversation was headed before he mustered a reply:*

"I gots me plenty fer everbody what wants somethin'. I can 'eave it on my back th' whole way an' still be ok.

Hi uhh, stumbl... uhh, Safarah! Wanna wineskin fer th' walk?"

*Fengs hand replaced, fastened and double checked the shoulder plate as he stood, he was completely unaware of it and it didn't even slow his hand as it grabbed a full wineskin from the bag on his back to offer with a small pouch of assorted items to snack on. The last few words that Zip spoke got stuck in his mind for a moment and he sorted his thoughts as best as he could before speaking:*

"If youse wanna come, then youse come, I 'member seein youse at da 'urt guy's place, youse count as one of me new mates. If ya think youse gonna slow us down I'll pick ya up an ya can watch the road on my shoulder, more travelin' crew is always better. An what wrong wit da weather?" *Feng's moment of psudo-clarity had passed almost instantly when the new subject had been made know to him.* "I likes a good storm, th' ship was always too quiet 'till th' storms came."

*Feng heard Joe call out about a good fight and had trouble composing a reply, there was nothing around to fight and he was involved in the discussion with Zip and Saf, so he remembered to waive and grin and went back to attempting to follow the conversation going on a bit closer to him.*

[Tharris]

*Tharris finished packing up his equipment while greeting everyone as they gathered. Joe asked him if he had a plan to get them to the castle. He did actually although he wasn't sure everyone else would be up for it.*

"I've been thinking about the paths that we could take to get to this place and i believe i have figured out the best way. It will take a week's travel to reach our destination and I can navigate around all the serious issues save one. There is a gang of bandits about half-way there that patrols a rather large area that somehow is next to impossible to avoid. Normally such a band would be of little consequence and easily dispatched, but this particular band keeps growing in numbers and has been befriended by a gray render. For those of you less traveled or who havent seen or dealt with such a beast before they fight for the kill they don't go for disable or even the surrender and this band has adopted its philosophy on this matter. They are huge beasts that claw and bite, and if they land a bite they will try to rip you apart. I have personally seen, from a distance mind you, a render rip decent sized trees out of the ground and rip them to shreds in mere seconds. We may miss this group although it's unlikely and the trouble avoided by only running into them is much worse."

*Tharris paused after this and awaited the responses of his companions on this journey*

~tharris

[Feng]

*Feng took great interest in the story upon hearing the part about the render, paying specific attension to how it fights and the fact that it had apparent friends, or subjects. He turned to face Tharris and though for a moment, making sure he spoke correctly and as evenly as he could muster, though his excitement was beyond obvious, feng thought he did ok at holding back:*

"Can I fight it? Please?"

*Feng took a moment to shift his armor and consider the group he was traveling with, and had a bit more of an even disposition as he spoke:*

"Maybe youse and me should go fight first, everyone's not gonna wanna fight wit it. We finda spot out in th' clearin for em to watch, they can jump in if they up for it.

Can I fight it?"

*Feng was litterally bouncing with the thought of fighting something big, wanting to prove his ability to his new friends, he didn't notice the bag on his back shifting as he moved or the clank of his sheild on his back, he did hold his swords steady but had no clue he was doing it. Looking around, he realized his proximity to his companions and flushed a bit as he moved back and made sure he didn't harm anyone. Just to be safe, he passed out another wineskin to everyone and apologised while still grinning from ear to ear.*

[Safarah]

She saw the anticipation in feng's face as he listened to tharris speak of a fight. Safarah knew in she was not the best fighter going, but she wasn't a push over either. She was well skilled in many magical areas, let alone practiced storm and elemental calling on an almost daily basis. She had started to study various forms of martial arts and found she was quite good at stealthy techniques and excelled in areas requiring flexability, and agility.

She had felt for her dagger and throwing crystals to reassure herself she was armed, be it lightly, but still armed. She had perfered to be less armored, as it allowed for more free movement. As she reached into her pouch, she felt the swirling stone she had picked up when Joe was injured, and pulled it out to give it a look again. Perhaps she would see what the story was on this strange stone if she had a chance durring the adventure. Surely it had some kind of magical properties.

She smiled to feng and took the wineskin he had offered..."Well thanks love, but i believe I will save it's contents for later. Has anyone seen Joe yet?"

She decided to go sit next to Zip and share some fruit with her, and show her the stone and see if she has ever seen anything like it.

[Agustus]

.:: Gus and joe enter the armory without being seen as everyone had their backs turned. Both Joe and Gus entered in time to catch Tharris' explanation of the possible danger on the way. Gus spoke out loud so that all would know that they were in the armory and ready to set off.::

Yo!
Were here, seems like were going to have some trouble on our way...
hmm.... i have heard of such dangers, but have yet to meet up with them.

.::As he said this, he thought of the only reason of not seeing such dangers. He transformed to a creature inorder to travel swiftly. He lurched his pack making sure that his bow and that his quiver of arrows was on his side. He put his arms at his side and felt his swords and reasured himself that if need be he could handle such problems from a distance with his arrows and would put up a good fight if need be.::

So is everyone ready?
*Smiles at the thought of another adventure*

[Joe]

Making an entrance twice in the same scene was a bit odd to Joe, but he decided he'd move on from that and get on with the plans ahead.

"This is gonna be fun." Joe smiles around at everyone who decided to join him. He claps Feng on the shoulder as he walks up from behind him, "If you're looking for a fight, I'm sure there'll be plenty for you by the time we're done here." Then, back to Tharris, "Well, if that's the best way, I guess we should get going then. I feel like time is very important in our little task."

[zipcat]

*zip smiles when her friend, Safarah, joins her, and offers a bite of her apple. When Safarah showed her the pretty stone, zip stared at it in awe shaking her head, “I’ve never seen something like that Safarah; it looks like it would be great on a necklace or something.” her grin widened, “You’d look pretty with it, and everyone could see it. I’m sure everyone would complement you even more too.”*

*The Amentan smiled at Joe when he came, but she looked back to Safarah after the silent greeting. “I bet he’d think so too.” She didn’t know much about Joe, but she saw how Safarah looked at him at times. Such looks always seamed a bit obvious at times, but she never said much about them.*

[Guest]

*Tharris watched as everyone gathered and listened to the various conversations that sprouted up amongst the people there on the side as well as the responses to his statements about the chosen path.*

Sighing he responded to Joe first, "Yes, i think that would be the best way minimal conflict on the way so that we can save our strength and resources for the castle and this wizard..."

*Tharris remembered the last time he had taken the fight to someone elses home turf, it always gave them a huge advantage and it wasn't an advantage he enjoyed giving his opponents.*

*Looking towards Feng he had to admire his enthuasm, it almost seemed as if he was talking to a child, a battle hardened child he wouldn't want to cross swords with, but a child none the less. Resting his left hand on his hilt he to his new friend Feng.*

"I look forward to fighting beside you on the fields of battle, with your strength and my speed we should beable to quickly dispatch of our opponents," this was said while gesturing towards the fact that Feng had just been jumping up and down with a fully loaded pack as if it wasn't even there. "But it would be wise to look at all the options before rushing out onto the field. Either way we will see what happens when we get there..." Tharris clapped his hands, "Alright I've got some horses prepared behind the armory one for everyone. I suggest we get going and get as much travel by daylight as we can." Tharris turned and began walking around the building....

((everyone will get one post to describe the landscape and leaving titan as they see it while we are journeying and then we will hit the render))

...As he was riding along he was leading the group and took them to secluded areas where they could safely make camp a guard was still posted but more out of habit than actual need, they were well away from any danger, Tharris had guided them well. Along the way they all shared stories of their past ventures which he greatly enjoyed. He shared a story about the time he and his brother had been cornered in an old abandoned dwarven mine that had been taken over by orcs and they had held off three scores of orcs by themselves among other stories that were shared....

~tharris

[Agustus]

.::As camp was made, stories were being told of old battles. Gus thought for a bit and started telling of his adventure with Tbeck, Carzal, Ryu, and Zuka. He shortened the tale and omited a few details about it but he told an excellent tail of the assault on el'th'norann, an elven city originaly it was ment as an assault to take the city and rid of a few of zuka's problems.... but then something else happened another band of demons appeared, so the remaining elves that had survived our attack from Zuka's army of undead soldiers and demons joined and destroyed the other army..... gus omitted what he had gained from this adventure but did mention the amulet that protects him from all manners of dark magic.::

Well... thats a summary of my adventure with those knuckle heads.... though.... i do regret a few things.... like the loss of Mara....
*Lowers his head*

.::Once he finished telling his tale, he climed to the top of a nearby oak and covered himself in a blanket and watched the sky/stars then fell to a deep sleep.::

((Oi note to you's guys, ill be gone for three weeks, if i dont get around to posting, joe you can control my char..... also so you know (since i dont have a charsheet up here yet) my char can polymorph to any creature, excluding mythical creatures well some of them. hes still training to be able to be able to transform into those complex ones. Also.... he is an archer who has a variety of arrows and an enchanted quiver meaning that he doesnt run out of arrows so long as he has a source of wood... So ill catch ya in a while, hopefully ill have my char sheet done by then.))

[Safarah]

Safarah saw the group of horses being brushed and prepared for her companoins, when all of a sudden, she saw one in perticular that made her heart jump. It was a large young gelding that had fur so black, it looked as though it had blue in it. His maine and tail matched the rest of his fur and his eyes were the same color as safarahs, violet. She had never seen a horse with eyes like that. She needed to go to him, but she was stopped before she could get to the pen he was being contained in.
It was obvious that the attending stable workers had their hands full , as the gelding was rearing up and trotting about, that was until they locked eyes. She felt an instant connection to this animal and had to have him. She walked over to one of the keepers and attempted to bargin with him, but was unsuccessful. As she felt her heart sink, she started to walk toward the group when the gelding jumped the fence of the enclosure and ran wildly for a few minutes, releasing pent energy, then stopped about 10 feet in front of safarah, prancing in place and snorting.
She slowly approched the beast, locking eyes, and talked softly. All of the stable hands watched in awe as she reached the beast, and started to caress his neck and face, without being trampled, in fact, the beast nudged her slightly. Safarah was able to communicate with most animals and attempted to speak with this regal creature...."It's ok I wont hurt you, and I will try to keep them from putting you back in that pen."
She recieved a response but not the one she expected, as the beautiful creature sort of bowed to allow her to mount him, and that was just what she did. In an instant, she jumped on the creatured back, and leaned over to pet his shoulder.

"See beautiful, I told you I wouldnt hurt you. Why dont we go over to that stubborn stable keeper, I would say he cant deny my offer anymore."

As the gelding proudly trotted over to the keeper, he stood in awe as Safarah threw a sack of gold coins at him... "I believe the horse has made his decision clear."

With a laugh, she yelled over to her friends. "Hey guys, I already have my horse, I'm just going to let him run around here to streach him so he does not get lame. I'll be in the field!"

No sooner did she finish speaking, the gelding shot off like one of her rockets. She felt the warm morning sun on her face and wind flowing through her long hair. She looked back to see the impressive city of titan standing proudly like a single shining star in the black night sky. The fields were green laced with a whispy layer of purple and yellow from the wild lavender and camomile flowers. She could smell the combination of the two lightly in the air and it calmed her.

[Feng]

*Feng was a sailor, and had no idea how to ride a horse. He was taught as much as the stable hands could teach him and not a bit of it stuck in memory, the horse was happy to discover it would be carrying gear instead of a fully armed and armored half orc and almost seemed to gloat as it trotted happily along the paths.

Feng had no trouble keeping pace and making an effort to talk to and trade stories with everyone while they moved further out of the titan lands. Trading stories of the open ocean for tales of the great battles of titan passed the time quite well, they had reaced a point to camp for the night and feng insisted on taking a full night's watch, claiming that he would be able to use the time to make sure his gear was in good repair for the impending battle. He was honestly just too excited to sleep and liked making changes to the camp while everyone slept to give them a shock in the morning.

Checking his pack, feng offered food and drink to everyone, making sure to leave a drop of 'wah wah' sauce in the wineskin offered to Tharris while his back was turned, it was obvious even to feng that the group needed a good laugh after a long day in motion. He even tossed a drop on his own food to spice it up, it made almost any food his favorite and he didn't mind the 'side effects'.

True to his word, feng kept the nights watch and stood guard over the group without fail, ready to travel or fight at a moments notice.*

[zipcat]

*zip didn't really like the idea of riding a horse, but she would if she had to. She always took a moment to scratch her horses' ears and cheek before mounting, just to be a friend to him. She named the horse Abdul, just because it was a nice name and every friend needed a name. Whenever she could, like when everyone was going a bit slower, she would walk the horse instead. When she did, she would walk beside Shumpy to listen to his stories and because he was also on his feet.*

*She wondered what the environment would be like where they were going, or where they would camp. She wasn't picky, but with so many different things to do in different places she couldn't help but be curious. She didn't have any stories, so she instead spoke of the future. She talked about how she may go off again, take a look around someplace new. She didn't know where she was going to go just yet, but she was sure it would be interesting; just like how they were going out today.*

[Joe]

Along the journey, Joe mostly listened to the stories that each traveler had, getting to know his new comanions as best he could. After they made camp and were sitting around the campfire, he decided to tell his story. (insert character sheet story here because I'm lazy, and having writer's block. eesh) After telling the long tale, more writer's block occurred but Joe was anxious to actually get this rp finished so he posted this anyway and fell asleep under the watchful eye of his new friend Feng.

[co-game master]

The group had been traveling for the better part a week when they came upon the first signs of the bandits they had been warned about by the ranger. They had done well to avoid trouble till now, but that was all about to change, reaching a crest they came upon an old dried up riverbed surrounded by trees. Deep within the bandits territory this was a perfect place for an ambush to be set up and the ranger knew it. The horses knew it too, under the auspice of not wanting to ride the horses down such a steep embankment which everyone knew to be untrue he had gotten down and recommended that the horses be walked through the area motioning for the half-orc and the archer to keep their eyes open. The six adventurers walked down the side of the bed and once in the middle the trees came alive with movement birds flittering everywhere as several bandits, who had been hiding in the lower hanging thicker branches of the tress jumped down.

"You are traversing our wood and we require payment to continue safely." Seeing the entire group of adventurers had drawn their weapons and were ready for a fight he continued, "You are plainly outnumbered,..." then he chuckled after whistling over his shoulder, "and sorely outmatched." He said this with a confidence that was eerily steady. Then they understood why.

The ground began to shake as the brush was swept away, suddenly a tree right behind the apparent leader of this buch was pulled out of the ground and ripped in half. There standing right behind him was the grey render, even bigger than the ranger had warned them about. The group was surrounded ten behind them on the rise they had just crossed and ten infront of them on the other side of the riverbed with the render ahead.

The ranger stepped forward and said, "We may be outnumbered, but we are not outmatched. We have no intention of paying for the privelage of passing through these woods. And if you intend on making us it will take more than this to do so."

The leader looked them all over and responded, "For your sake, I hope you're right." With that it was on 19 of the bandits charged, the only one that stayed back was the one that had been talking and he seemed to be waiting with the render right behind him everyone including the other bandits kept a watchful eye in his direction...

...((the rest of this post occurs after most of them are dispatched, everyone go ahead and write how you dealt with them, and then write about how you dealt with the render.))...

...The man at the rise watched as the group tore into his men it was almost pathetic how quickly they fell, *It's been too long since someone denied payment* he thought *They need some help.* And then he motioned for the render to join the fray. The hulking mass lumbered down the side of the hill, straight at the unrelenting group of adventurers eager to show his companions that he was a valuable asset and friend, and began fighting as well.

((This post was purposefully kept as vague as I could possibly be to allow you guys to post and have creative license with the actual battle I apologize if i limited someones abilities in my setup.))

~co game master