Arriavar (IC)

[Drakken]

[spacer]He wasn't sure how to feel about Jax and the orc being alone together, but no one else seemed to care. Still, once within the manor's perimeter, he felt at least marginally safer from the wandering eyes of any zombies in the area. Marcus kept close by to Echo, shortening his halberd's haft so he could wield it like a great axe. The stench of rotting was something he'd gotten used to over the past couple of years, so he barely reacted beyond making sure to breath through his mouth instead of his nose. He saw the zombie before Echo and put himself between it and her with a calm expression.
[spacer]Seeing that it didn't seem to have noticed them yet, he immediately rushed forward and brought his axe down in a diagonal slash that would likely cleave the creature in twain.
[spacer]On the way down, he ignited the blade with his magic, the edge rapidly turning cherry red and almost buzzing through the air. Before the zombie even had time to rise, his axe cut through its cold body like soft butter, splattering its rotting gore across the barn floor, along with the remains of the horse. Even so, Marcus took a step back from the zombie, the blood on his halberd evaporating under the heat of his magic.
[spacer]Marcus glanced at the horse, and back to Echo. "It would seem we're out of luck on the horse count. But at least we found a wagon." He stepped over and offered a hand to help her back up onto her feet.[/spacer][/spacer][/spacer][/spacer]

 

[The Crimson Crow]

Location: The Manor​

Kirby left no time to waste, scurrying inside the manor. It was like a dream come true. Kirby never experienced the finer things in life or anything remote to well. Gutters was more of his lifestyle, although he craved the rich in ever possible opportunity. Kirby tread quickly yet cautiously, his eyes firing shots among the vast house of the rich. He let his hand caress a bookshelf, the wood was mahogany, engraved with the art of elvish work. Kirby's admiration was dazed, running his fingers along the garnished decorations. He inhaled, thinking about just staying here, but he knew the others would be reluctant. How long could he continue for? It was only a matter of time before some crisis was to occur and Kirby would put all of his money, if it was even relevant now, that he would be the first down in action. Old and weary, Kirby was worried for his future. But this only made him enjoy the moment even more.

Kirby found some barrels of goods, grabbing a nearby jagged hammer, Kirby pried open then lids. This barrel was sour, Kirby moved to the next. He whipped a looked behind him to make sure of no threats before continuing. Prying open the next lid, he found equipment and weapons. Most of it seemed rusted, yet he spotted a few bolts. Seizing the bolts, Kirby offered an inspection upon them, noting they were too blunt for battle. Storing the bolts in his quiver, Kirby's eye was caught by another bolt in the bottom of the barrel. Picking it up slowly he noticed this bolt was different. Instead of an iron end it was stone but had an indention feint, orange glow. This bolt was an enchanted with dwarven rune. Kirby's hand glided across the tip, reading the mark studiously. A wry smile spread across his face as he stashed the bolt with the others.

Opening the third barrel he found what seemed to be food and wine all in good condition. "By te' beard," Kirby rubbed his hands together, hungrily, "I found te' feast of an orc!" Kirby thought about the actual orc in the group, twitching his thoughts. "Bes' be not to tell em', aye?"

 

[Brosephus]

The last few weeks had been very bad. The heat and the walking were beginning to take their toll.
Aristede shook his purse and heard the rattle of the few coins inside, wondering if he would ever
put them to use. He took a swig from his water-skin, looked at his compass, and kept walking. Just
another mile, he told himself.

Aristede stopped for a moment when he came to the manor. The front door was open. Someone had
gotten here first.

Two of them. Both armed. The orc looked like trouble. Was it worth it? His pack felt light, his water-skin almost empty. If he turned back now, he probably would not make it far before thirst got him.

He crept toward the other side of the house. The coins softly clinked in his purse. Lot of good you're doing me now.

 

[Alordex]

Jaclin had followed after Kirby into the manor. With some interest, she watched the dwarf scurry around examining things. She lets out a nonchalant cough in an effort to keep herself from laughing. After a few moments, she decided to make a mental map of the inside of the manor. Her keen eyes move over ruined furniture and belongings that had been haphazardly thrown at some point.

Upon hearing the dwarf's exclamation, she walked over and peered into the barrel. "Is that wine? Lucky lucky. You really struck gold on this one." She says with slight excitement. "Wine isn't exactly all that essential. You think we could stash it for ourselves? No harm done, right? Though, I might want to share some with Jax. He'd be a great drinking buddy." She adds with a playful tone. It had been a long time since she'd seen a decent drink, and wine would definitely do the job.

 

[The Crimson Crow]

Kirby dug through the mountain of food, retrieving a wedge of cheese. He ripped it into crumbles, stuffing his face eagerly. "Missy, ye do what ye like. I ain't touchin' te wine. Moment I pass from te drinkin', be my luck ye leave me behind." Chomping down on more cheese, Kirby continued browsing around the area. A lot of silver was here. He had a compelling urge to hoard it all, but knew how feeble and useless that would be. The food was a great bit too find, but if Kirby wanted to search future options he would need to come back with more. The basement clicked in his mind. Manors usually stored their weaponry and excess water in the basement. He knew how the rich worked. Too proud to follow routine of the common so they would fetch the upmost water and store it to avoid little association with them.

Kirby made his away around finding the staircase downwards. Complete darkness. Kirby gulped, staring still like a simple stone. "Lass, check te' basement, ya?"

 

[Brosephus]

Aristede was about twenty yards from the house, flanking the guards at the front. He took cover behind the remains
of an ornate wooden archway that led into the garden.

He considered his options. From here, he could try to pick off the ones at the front undetected, then lure anyone
still inside out the front door -

He paused for a moment. His thoughts took a different track. He felt something in his gut.
He could simply ask them. Following it was the wrong thing to do. These people were desperate, dangerous.
Even if they weren't raiders, they may not be willing to share. Naive decency was receding into the past every minute.

He took out his bow, nocked an arrow, and stood up from cover. Stupid, stupid.
He circled around the house from a distance, making himself visible to them. Stupid,
you won't get lucky this time.

He probably couldn't take all of them on, anyway.

He raised his voice and challenged the figures.
"Ey!" He couldn't believe what he was saying."Keeping all the loot to yerself? Or will ye name a price?"

 

[Teiso]

Our group was not alone in the Manor they had decided to raid, though it seemed to goo unnoticed that other's were in the building with them. The other group in the building consisted of five people in total, four of which appeared to be your everyday thugs, the other a small girl who seemed rather out of place. While our group had not noticed the extra company, the same could not be said of the other's in the building, the young girl who appeared to be in her teen years had heard the shuffling of items on the main floor, and moved to sit atop the stairs to observe. Moments after she had sat on the stairs, a dwarf came into view, looking as if he was about to go down into the basement. The girl tilted her head a bit, in a curious manner, causing a small 'clinking' sound from her medallion being shifted.

_____________________________________________________________

Echo was still shocked even after Marcus moved in to dispatch the undead creature. She felt sorry for it, and the horse that had been it's most recent meal. On top of that, she felt like she had let the group down, her spell was supposed to find them a beast of burden to transport a wagon, not a dead horse.
"I-I'm sorry..." she muttered, her failure, though not her fault, making her feel rather useless to the group. When offered a hand, she shyly accepted it, quickly pulling her hand back once up. She didn't mean to be rude, but she didn't want to seem any more helpless than she felt.
"th-thank..." her gratitude was cut off by an unknown voice shouting from the front of the building. Unknowing who the voice belonged to, she hid behind Marcus before speaking in a quiet manner, close to a whisper. "We should tell the others about the wagon."​

 

[Drakken]

[spacer]Marcus gave Echo a bit of room and glanced at his halberd blade to make sure there wasn't anymore blood on it. "It's not your fault. It was a shot in the dark to begin with." He lowered his weapon and focused on the small girl. "At the very least, I don't blame you."
[spacer]When he heard someone shout, Marcus spun towards the door, weapon at the ready, presenting his broad, armored frame. He glanced at Echo and added, "And find out who that was. I didn't recognize the voice."
[spacer]That said, he led the way back out of the barn and around the manor towards the front entrance to see a stranger with a bow approaching the orc and Jax. His first instinct was to charge ahead and draw his shield, but then he noticed the bow hadn't been drawn back, so he forced himself to relax and settle for simply drawing his shield off his back.
[spacer]Marcus didn't relish being the one to speak, so for the moment he remained silent and kept a wary eye on the newcomer, while making sure he kept himself between him and Echo.[/spacer][/spacer][/spacer][/spacer]

 

[CasketCase]

He began shouting.
"Ey!" He couldn't believe he was asking this."Keeping all the loot to yerself? Or will ye name a price?"

They hadn't even been in the building for five minutes before the vultures came! Zartusk grunted in annoyance as he turned to face the scavenger, although the orc was more annoyed with himself for letting someone get that close without notice. For his survival, he would have to ensure there was no time; at the very least, this one had possessed enough decency to come out, although he still found it foolish. A quick glance was all he needed to know that this man most likely sought what they did, but most likely didn't have the means to properly trade and while the others might be kindhearted as to lend him some supplies, Zartusk saw no benefits to feeding a hungry mouth when they themselves needed that exact same food.

His arm lowered and the spiked skull of Goregrin struck the ground and was dragged along as he made his way toward the archer. There was no reason for him to do so, other than for pure intimidation, which wasn't hard when you were a massive orc.

"Unless you have food, water, medicine, or transportation on you at this very moment, I suggest you find somewhere else to scavenge."

 

[Brosephus]

Aristede kept his bow ready. The orc looked like he could be nasty up close.
And that flail could be magitech. Any number of deadly surprises. Still, he held his ground.

"There's coin or there's steel. Let's not waste time with the latter."

Bartering might set them off. He decided on his demands, straight to the point.

"Let me fill my waterskin, assuming the well below ain't empty, and I'll be outta yer way."

Not as much as he wanted. Certainly better than nothing, however. He heard the creak
of armor off to his right. A hulk of a man clad in heavy armor emerged from the stables. He should have thought of the stables. He was making a lot of mistakes today.

He began to step away slowly from the armored fellow, raising his bow a little.

"No closer, tin-man. Yer head's a fine target. Reckon they forgot yer helm when they soldiered ya."

 

[Purveyor]

As Jax looked the stranger over wondering whether he was desperate, stupid, or a really good distraction. He could maybe see another group trying to discuss a trade with them but just one guy? One very tired looking guy? Not likely. And since apparently everyone had their attention on this one guy Jax would need to keep himself aware in case the new guy had backup. But until that possibly non-existent backup got here he might as well try to defuse the situation.

"Hey guys, lets maybe tone down the aggressive walking and bow pointing. If we actually get into it we're gonna attract the attention of the living and dead in the area. If all you really need is some water then fill your waterskin and be on your way. It isn't worth fighting or killing over."

Jax specifically looks at Zartusk. "Even if there's not a lot of down there I can create and melt ice myself. If the group really comes down to life or death because of one waterskin I'll take responsibility."

Bringing his sword up and resting it on his shoulder Jax cracks his trademark smile and looks back to the possible distraction. "The name's Jax, by the way. Jax Aken."