Shards Chapter 1 - How it all began... (IC)

@Yiyel
Rennfield snatches the spoils from your hand without any gratitude and leaves, strolling off into the rapturous, bustling city.
 
Smiling at the others as he watched them be handed their crystals, Krim placed his paper on the desk and took one of the small pouches of gold from the instructor, gently hitting his chest with a faint *clink* before asking his question. "What are we to do now?"
 
Gregory was hungry. The time had run out and he couldn't help but remember the conditions of his mission. He yanked a slender green chain from his neck, at the end of which was a black leather bound journal. He jammed his thumb into the locking mechanism and it popped open. He pulled away his bloody thumb, and began flipping through its pages.

"No... nope.... nope... AH! here we go." And he pulled the page from his journal. With a grin that one might refer to as 'shit eating' he placed the paper firmly between several of the other. He gave the Scholar a wink and put away the journal.

Now Gregory did what he liked to do best and took the reward. His eyes rolled when he felt the weight of his pouch. Two hundred gold pieces were chump change in the big picture, but for now that pays for a trip to a brothel and all the fine grog he could drink at the filthiest pub he could find. The other participants were doing similarly, though he doubted he would be crossing their paths until the next meeting. The lot of them, short of that absolutely stark raving mad old man, seemed like stand up types. The old man, more than any of the others, definitely had some skeletons in his closet.

The giant was waiting for an answer, so Gregory answered instead, "Go and spend yer gold. Drink, fight, find yourself some companionship." Gregory laughed, "While we all still can. Especially you old man.". Gregory was becoming excited, so he reached into his side pouch. Drawing from it one delicious, masterfully cut green gem.

Into the air, and into his mouth. Calming his nerves.
 
Rennfield grunts indistinctly at this scornful remark, and continues walking. He examines the grey, crystalline pellets rattling about in his pouch. He heavily scrutinises every facet, every vertex.
Then, in his vision, the crystals fall into a fluctuating, tenebrific well of caliginosity. His consciousness wanes...
And splutters.
 
The teacher, still radiant, was not done though. “Although I have to apologize, you will need to wait a little bit to enjoy your rewards - I just got word that our next, and permanent, class area is now ready - a large college a town over built specifically for this purpose. As such - grab your gear, and let’s go ONWAR-”...

The teacher stopped dead in his tracks - and anyone looking outside to where he was headed could see why. A large column of smoke was visible beyond the treeline. “...ds. We might have to put out a few fires before the classroom is ready though.”
 
Gregory resisted a smile. They were all playing with objects beyond their comprehension as of yet, but this old man faced age. That was an issue for Gregory. It could only make his job harder. He was hoping not to give these people the wrong idea and surely charity was not his objective, but alas it was becoming necessary. So he made his way over, procuring from his shield a dried root of Warriors Weed.

Gregory listened to the scholar, more annoyances. "Fool! Do I look like a peasant to ye? Fires are not my concern. Let those less qualified handle such matters." Gregory knew that they would have to go regardless, he just would not pretend to be happy about it.

"Oi! Old man, stay with me for now. I'll not have ye out cold without some help. Mind ye I'm not going to wipe yer ass, but I'll be keeping ye from your grave." He had made his way to the old man and held out the root, "Please eat this, small bites. It will fill yer body with strength. If yer spells dinnae pass, let me know. I can fix those as well, though that will taste a wee bit worse."


@BaskinJR
 
Rennfield is unable to ingest the root, and trails saliva down onto it. He is cold, unresponsive. He jitters in a feverish fit, as though experiencing a particularly frightening dream. Digested chunks form a broad array, splattering all over Gregory. He tries to wrench his eyes open, but to no avail, as though something is blocking him.
 
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Gregory feels the warm splattering of vomit on his face and, although disgusting, he did not easily show weakness. He simply grabbed a portion of the old mans clothing and wiped it away. His blouse would smell awful until he was given an opportunity to burn it and buy a new one. The old man was seemingly wrestling with some dark spirits.

"Dammit, ye geezer." If this were one of his boys, Gregory would have killed him. "Oi! Big fella!" he said to the Beast "It would seem this, truly exquisite young man needs a wee bit of help at the moment. And, as fate would have it, we are being called to do peasant work and un-set some fires. Truly my least favorite kind."

He made sure the old man could breath, opening his mouth and pushing down his tongue to open up the airway. "Ye are undoubtedly the second strongest here, but alas ye're bigger than I. He must be your burden so long as he cannot walk."

He took a small blade from his belt, hardly the size of his thumb, and made a small incision in the very center of his palm. Then, pricked the old mans ring finger for a drop of his blood. Mixing the two he muttered incantations under his breath.

"Attenrobendum eos,
ad consiendrum,
ad ligandum eos,
potiter et solvendum,
et ad,
congregontum eos,
coram me."

He finished the incantations and began towards the smoke. Hoping for something to kill.
 
Krim had already made his way out of the building by the time the teacher had opened his mouth, leaving the others far in his wake as he rushed toward the smoke, hoping to save anyone trapped by the flames, caring more for those ahead of him than himself or those he left behind. "There has to be some way to keep these flames from spreading any farther, and I may have just the right idea." he spoke to himself as he reached the edge of the now burning woods.
Taking his massive sword in hand, he cleaved through a nearby tree, cutting it at an angle to which it would land towards the flames, yet he clasped a large branch in his hands and tore it free, opening his garb to reveal the gem covering nearly his entire chest, placing the branch upon it to ignite it, and throwing it upon the toppled tree. "If I can backburn the flames, the two fires should snuff one another out." yet, as he spoke these words, just the opposite occurred, the flames attempted to spread further, overtaking the small blaze he had just created with intense fury. "Plan B, I suppose." He said under his breath, an irritated sigh escaping his lips as he once more hid his gem under the gray and indigo coated green plate.
Making his way towards the already burning trees, he began to clear a path towards his true objective: the origin of the fire, and, hopefully, be able to find some way to stop it before too many lives could be lost.
 
@Hellomadgod
The illusorily palpable mists loom around Gregory, slowly encircling him. It's suddenly illuminated in scintillant brilliance by some foreign light. There's a sound of fibres cracking, and some durably organism groaning as it is twisted. Then, a robust, broad vine shrouded in thorns lashes out, withering and dying half way toward Gregory. The mist begins to dissipate and Rennfield materialises in it, his lower body veiled by the vapour. His face is serene, devoid of emotion.
 
George withdrew his gems and made toward the door, finally, he thought, he could do some experimenting. The opportunity to save another was there, of course, which would be an added bonus. Though if there happened to be an enemy surely the others could easily slay the man, he had no time for killing, deteriorates the soul is what his master always told him.
He turned to the others "We should work in a group, we all possess our own differing skills. We'll be able to operate more effectively, now make haste because one of our own has stormed off in a fit of naïve valour" indicating toward Krim in the distance before he disappeared into the flaming woods.
 
Drayko accepts the present and stares at the gems in his pouch. They seemed slightly different from what he normally works with. He messed with his bag of gold, letting it jingle near his ear. "What is it with people in power and them giving away shiny stuff?" he asks lost in thought. He is broken out of his musings by the teacher speaking and the smell of smoke. He stares outside and watches the action for a few minutes. Then he goes to the window and hops back out. "Seems like the quickest way to do this would be to find a large water source and find some way to divert it." he calls back into the classroom. Drayko walks towards the sound of water and finds a small river. "Now to find a way to get point B to point A."
 
After the better part of a two hours walk, the party finally reached the village. The streets were entirely empty - and the College, a large stone building, was burning along with the two houses closest to it. Without hesitation, the teacher unleashed a few waves of yellow magic on the air - creating bursts of air so powerful that all of the fires were choked in a heartbeat. He couldn’t help but to glare at the scene. “I’ll be going inside the College to try and see if there’s anything missing.”
What do you wish to do? Investigate the seemingly vacated houses? Or mayhaps you think that investigating the local church would be more productive? Of course - nothing’s stopping you from following the teacher into the College.
 
Rennfield stares at the church, and shivers. He strokes his hand fondly down the decorative trellises around the door. He doesn't have fond memories of churches... but he's compelled to search it.
He steps inside.
 
Gregory sighs deeply within himself, this old man was becoming far too much trouble. He had not prepared for this obscure a variable. It was too soon. The giant of a man was proving more heartless than he had expected as well. Nobody else cared to do more than take their prizes and race forward. This left Gregory, much to his own surprise, to care for the old man.

"Oi, old man. Don't go walking too far from me just yet." He hated churches. His professions do not grant him mercy in the eyes of the divine. And he had never wanted for it. The church felt altogether wrong to him. He reached into his pouch and popped another gem into his mouth. Always carefull not to chew. Never chew.

"Oi! Scholar! If ye need the two of us we will be confessing our deepest, darkest sins to the god who protected this town so well."

@BaskinJR @Yiyel
 
Rennfield turns. "So you're coming?" He snorts. "Better hurry up."
He shows no gratitude to Gregory for awaking him from his state. "I'd prefer some solitude, but since you're intent on sticking your nose in everything, come along."

@Hellomadgod
 
Seeing how most would go to the church in such a crisis, Krim left the most stubborn individuals to go and check there, thinking it best to check the seemingly vacant houses so as to be sure that everyone within them escaped the blaze, hoping to save anyone trapped inside, as well as to see if the source of the flames had come from within these buildings instead of without.
 
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Drayko sighed tiredly from the long walk and sat down in a slump on the ground. He felt he should get a drink from one of the water skins he brought with him. As he did, he decided that trying to put out the fire with just the water in them was a very silly idea and he was glad the teacher decided to put it out himself. Well, at least he had enough water to share with the other recruits if they needed it and it would probably still be cold because of the insulated bag he had them in. He was thinking about following Krim to help him look for survivors or the older man and the one he believed was a mercenary into the church, but he also wanted to follow the teacher who brought them here to sate his curiosity of the what was amiss with the college. Choices, choices, too many choices. His gut told him Krim would not need much help with his self-appointed task but would appreciate some company and that the older man and the mercenary, who he forgot to ask the names of, would probably be upset if he trailed after them and he could always check the church after they exited it, if they ever did. He did not know much about their teacher and he was pretty curious about the College so he was at an impasse between what he believed was essential and his own growing curiosity. He sighed and got up from his spot on the ground and made his decision. He would help Krim check the seemingly vacant houses. Perhaps after he helped him, he could explore the College as well. Right now though, he did not want to lose sight of someone he believed to be a friend. "Wait up Krim. I want to help you with checking the houses," he commented rushing to catch up with him. "The fire looks quite bad as well."
 
@Caramon Zero @CrimsonLaurana

You enter the houses one by one. In each one, a similar scene is laid upon your eyes - dead or comatose people, stuck in a limped-over version of normal life poses, their eyes completely glazed over. No gems could be found anywhere in the house - even in places where it would make sense to find some, or where there seems there should be some. It seems pointless to search the houses any more thoroughly.

@BaskinJR @Hellomadgod

You investigate the church. It seems that there was no religious events being held at that moment - however, heading towards the confessional chamber, you find three bodies - the Priest, and two bodyguards. You can’t help but notice that the two guards had orange-metal shields. This town was neither poor nor vulnerable. The priest seems to be holding something - which, upon closer examination, appears to be a decorative buckle from a cloak - and it bears an insignia you don’t quite recognize. It would probably be best to show this to the teacher.
 
Krim fell to his knees at the sight before him, letting out a cry of anger as he slammed his fists into the ground, causing the earth beneath them to concave from the force of the blow, his eyes welling with tears as he sat in this position, cursing himself for his tardiness.
"I-...I was too late. I couldn't save any of them. Even after clearing a path through the woods, I still wasn't fast enough..."

Wiping the tears from his face, he set about his new task: retrieving the bodies from within the buildings, and after that was accomplished, he asked his companion for a favor, pointing towards the unconscious masses.
"Drayko, I need you to take those still alive, if even just barely, into the College. Hopefully, in doing so, they can receive the medical attention they require. Get the survivors to safety, I have something else that needs doing that's just as important. I will see you back at the College when I have completed my task."

When he completed his own task of removing the bodies of the dead from the buildings, he began taking one by one into the woods, returning each time covered in more and more dirt, mud, and sap until every body was no longer above ground, the process taking several hours before he made his way to the College for some much needed rest.