forest of the dread

jakku made his way around to the back of the execution area keeping an eye out for the signal he was also was running every possible scenario in his head to determine if the plan will succeed. he sighs* this better be worth it * jakku readies his dagger and give them a temporary fire enchant

 

Laura arrived to the town and made her way to the largest church in the town. High priest Farid resides here. Apparently he had the ear of the king but Laura didn't know much about comings and goings of the priesthood here.

I really should have payed more attention to Sister Rita's lessons.
It didn't seem important to know considering she was quite happy in the little backwater priory.

:Knock: :Knock:
An elderly women's voice answered from inside Farid's study

"Um, Hello. My name is Laura Grimes, I'm a ardent from the Yutra Priory outside of town. Do you know where High Priest Farid is?"
"Oh! Someone from the priory! We don't get many visitors from the outside. I'm afraid you just missed the High Priest, he's out to deliver the final rites for some criminal. I don't know the details, sorry. The High Priest was just looking for an excuse to dump his work onto me if you ask me. Just don't tell him I said that okay?"
"I'll check with the sheriff office then"
"Is something the matter? You seem a little stressed."
"Something happened at the priory and I need to check it with the priest. Maybe the sheriff could help"
"Sounds serious, do you want to talk about it?"
"I... would rather get the matter cleared up first"
"Okay, the sheriff office isn't far from here"

The office wasn't far. Laura entered through the door where the receptionist greeted her.
"How may I help you miss?"
"I'm looking for the sheriff, I'm an ardent for Yutra Priory and I need to know what happened there."
"The sheriff left for the execution grounds. If you want you could wait for him here"
"No. I'll go there myself"
"Oh but it's such a dreadful thing for a women of the cloth to witness."
"I've seen death before. Well, thank you for your help."
She left the office feeling a strange sense of apathy

Strange, why do I feel nothing for the accused? Rita would disapprove, she would protest such an event. Yet Rita is dead and I can't shake off the feeling that it wasn't the monster of the forest that did it. What am I doing? It's obvious the priest and sheriff are going to tell me it was the beast but then why the discarded arrows...?

Heavy thoughts in mind, Laura made her way to execution grounds.

 

Dalton's eyes occasionally darted back to the prisoner as he tried to broker a deal for the man's life. The cruel smile he momentarily flashed hadn't escaped Dalton's notice.
"He's up to something, alright. That look on his face...kinda makes me wonder if this is a good idea after all."
Keeping these thoughts to himself, Dalton gave the sheriff a dismissive wave.
"Your loss, friend. I was willing to go as high as 300 but I can see you're in no mood to listen to reason. Fine by me. Go ahead and do what you need to do."
With a slight smirk on his face, Dalton tossed a gold coin in the air and caught it.
"Try not to have too much fun."
Dalton turned and slowly began to walk away, listening closely for the chaos that was sure to come.

 

smirks* finally * with that jakku throw one of his throwing knives at the rope and cut the rope* now for the fun * equips a ice bow and starts shooting ice arrows at the sheriff and any guards around freezing them in their place * hey you stop standing around and get out of here this won't stop them for long

 

Nephilim was quickly faced by 2 guards, even though he was free from the rope he still had his chained shackles on. They charged in towards him, Nephilim quickly threw his hands up and stopped the blade with the chains, coming in closer to the guard he kneed him and threw him to the ground. The next guard came close and tried to swing at him, he dodged just missing the strike and Nephilim wrapped his shackles around his neck. Pulling downward and leaning all the way to the ground, By this time he was kneeling as the guard struggled to catch his breathe. With as much strength as he could muster he snapped the guards neck.

"Fuck, I could really use my weapons right now." He thought to himself. Shouting out in the distance at the man who tried to free him through money. " Hey! Take this god damn cowl of my head, it's an anti magic ward. They're trying to contain me." He started running towards him. By this time both Dalton and Nephilim was surrounded by the town guard; the sheriff making a narrow escape from the ice arrows was leading the charge. At the same time a secondary group of guards surrounded Jakku.

"There's about 12 of them." He said to Dalton, "if you can somehow get not only these chains and cowl off me I can deal with all of them so long as you have a crossbow. And you're willing to listen to me for each command that comes out of my mouth, any projectile is a weapon I can use to deal with these people. Make up your mind and fast, die here or unbound me."

The guards were beginning to close the gaps on both Jakku and Dalton & Neph. "Hurry up! We don't have much time."

 

Laura arrived to the grounds to witness pandemonium. Up ahead on the stage stood several figures fighting off the guards
What in heaven...?

:Whiz:
An arrow zipped right by and hit one of the soldiers charging the scene. He froze into a block of ice, his assailant firing arrows at any guard who dared to get close.

Laura ducked behind a wooden crate and payed attention to what was happening. A man with a cowl over his head was making frantic gestures to another who was busy shooting arrows at the closing guards.

An ice bow? Every one he hits turns into ice! There's a third man up there too. Is this some kind of escape? Where's High Priest Farid?

She looked around for the sheriff and saw him leading guards for an all out attack. Farid was with him preparing some kind of incantation.

I need them alive! They might be the only ones who knows what happened at the priory!

 

jakku runs towards Dalton and slashes the chain* I don't carry crossbows only bows * summons a small hunting bow and puts a Taser enchantment on it then gives him the bow* no killing and I don't take orders either so get it out of you head * removes the cowl * now get going head towards the forest

 

A ball of fire ignited on the ground in front of Jakku and Nephilim. Above them on the town wall Aureal crouched, the barrel of her arquebus supported by the stone rail.
"Tch, just missed."
The cylinder spun on to the next firing chamber and she took aim once again. The weapon bucked in her hands as the air in the chamber was converted by the equation imprinted on the cylinder. The round flew across the distance that had been vacated by the still fleeing crowd and mustering Guard to explode at Dalton's feet.

These people were aiding a criminal escape. She didn't know the crime but law must be upheld, even if it may seem to be in error. These people were now attacking the Guard, the Sheriff and even the head priest.

The bounty would have to wait, this wrong needed to be made right.

 

jakku look around for the shooter once he spotted her * I summon the bow of light * as soon as the words were spoken the bow appeared jakku nocked an arrow and returned fire as soon as the arrow landed at her feet a burst of light appeared and blinded her * quick the light wont last long

 

By feel Aureal switched the cylinders in her weapon with her eyes screwed shut. She dropped low to keep herself out of the line of fire until she recovered fully. Already the afterimage was beginning to fade from her vision. Her hand wrapped around the pole of the parasol after fumbling a few attempts and she clutched it in preparation.

 

Dalton calmly surveyed the scene, watching as everything quickly fell into chaos with a look of annoyance. He clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath.
"Why can't these things ever go like their supposed to? If they'd spent more time running and less time fighting guards...ah well, doesn't matter. This is why we have contingency plans."
He glanced over to a nearby alleyway where there weren't as many guards, just as he'd hoped. He nodded to a few men in brown robes who were hiding among the scattered crowd and they moved into position, catching the two guards in a sleeper hold and dragging their unconscious bodies away. He then looked over to Jakku and Nephilim, motioning for them to follow.
"This way, while there's still an opening! Move!"
He dashed towards the alleyway as quickly as he could. He knew that if they hesitated for even a moment, the guards would reform their ranks and close in on them, all while the newcomer with the arquebus was gunning them down. Fortunately, he was used to desperate life-and-death situations just like this and knew how to handle them.

 

"Sorry kid, if it ain't lethal I don't use it. Thanks for the help though." Neph charged into a guard as he was swinging he dodged him, grabbed him by the arm, and broke it. Once he dropped the sword he grabbed it and cut the guard vertically and through the middle. As he continued walking, he walked towards the sheriff and the priest. One by one men tried to kill Nephilim and one by one they died.

The real resistance came when he was close enough to both of them for it to be a concern. After cutting through at least 8 men, it was only the sheriff and priest in front of them, the sheriff tried to engage Nephilim, he striked towards his stomach, an impale, Nephilim dodged to the left and cut the sheriffs legs, completely removing function in them, walking up to Farid before he could run Nephilim grabbed him by his hooded cloak and impaled him. Leaving the sword inside of him, he raised him high, insuring that he had no chance of survival and threw him to the ground.

The sheriff saw the entire thing "YOU BASTARD!" Shouted the sheriff "You'll pay for this, you son of a Bitch! I'll fu-" Nephilim walked behind him and snapped his neck. It was entirely obvious that Jakku didn't like the abundance of bodies that laid around them, but they were also now pinned down by a random newcomer. Luckily Jakku has kept her busy, looking towards an alleyway he saw Dalton and took his break for it, his attention still on the person shooting he made his way towards Dalton, when he got to him he shook reached his hand out to shake.

"Names Neph, Sorry for all the blood. These people had it coming to 'em, They destroyed all my gear, so I'm afraid I won't be much use to you until I get new equipment or until you decide to have a use for me. I'll follow you around so long as the gettings good. You know what I mean? I don't like owing people, But you did save my ass back there I suppose I can travel with you for now."

Nephilim sat down on the side of Dalton, "Got a cigarette, I'm itching for one right now."

 

Jakku ran into the alleyway where Dalton was standing * so much for doing this quietly , what now you know since your friend here went and kill the sheriff * just then a group of guards turned up and blocked both ends of the alleyway * jakku resummoned the ice bow *you guys go ahead I will take care of theses guys

 

Laura stood over the remains of High Priest Farid.
May the light of heaven guide your soul to the heavenly father

She then made her way to the body of the sheriff but a guard cut her off
"Halt! Clear the premises at once!"
"I must speak to the sheriff!"
"He's already dead"
It was true, his neck snapped by the man attempting to escape
"Where did they go?"
"We'll get them in the alleyways so don't worry civilian...hey where you going!?"

Laura grabbed the staff Farid was using and started to climb up on the rooftops, a skill she learned from living on the streets as a child.

Just in case I better track the fugitives. I hope they don't see me, I don't understand the magic in this staff.

 

"I'm glad you're so open to the idea of traveling with us because that's exactly what you're going to do. Funny story. I don't like having people owe me, either...that's why I always collect on my debts as soon as possible."
Just then, more guards showed up along with Jakku, who was holding the line with his bow of ice. Dalton motioned towards a nearby alleyway and make a break for it. While they were running, Dalton turned to Nephilim.
"At this rate, we'll have the whole town chasing us. On the way here, I found a cave that we can hide out in for a while. Once we're there, we can talk about getting you some new equipment. Which you'll also owe me for, naturally."
With that, he led the way out of town taking the least populated route which he had mapped out in his head before everything began.

 

jakku stopped every few hundred meters to slow down any guards that were following them

 

Aureal let out a curse as her foot slipped on the shingles. Thrown off balance she was thrown face first onto the roof and began sliding for the edge, hands scrabbling for purchase. She managed to grab hold of the edge just before she fell to the cobblestone far below. Hauling herself back up onto the roof she let out a breath of relief. Only a moment was taken regaining her bearings and she set off again in pursuit of the fugitives.

It had been a while since she'd lost their trail in the winding labyrinth of the alleyways. The sun was beginning to set but she couldn't give up yet. She had been originally following the sounds of fighting as the man with the enchanted arrows held off the guards. But their were only so many men in the garrison and their morale only extended so far. However where the guard gave up the Guild would never tire. Especially not when there was money to be made. With a self satisfied grin, Aureal set out for the chapter house.

"Hey! Attention!"

The shouts, laughter and general din of the assembled Guild members was slowly brought to nothing. However when the head of the house bellowed for silence every member went silent in an instant.

"Please proceed, Lady Aureal."
"Thanks, Altross," she smiled at the barrel chested man. "So I'm sure all of you have heard of the fight during the execution this afternoon. I'm placing out a bounty, amount still to be decided, on the fugitives. The head priest and sheriff are both dead along with a score of guardsmen. They fled north out of town through the alleys. I want them brought in. Get to it Guildsmen!"
"How much?" Came the chorused question.
A sly grin covered her face. "30,000 Dorune."

Altross gave her an odd look as the assembled guild members rushed out of the hall.
"A bit much isn't it, My lady?"
"Not in the slightest. Because I plan on collecting it myself."

She left him standing there perplexed as she rushed to gather her equipment and a meal.

 

Neph followed Dalton, he understood he had to in someway show gratitude towards the men who just helped him out of a sticky situation. As they made their way out of the city and into the treacherous forest, there was the cave Dalton spoke about; Jakku was still scouting to make sure no guards had followed, Neph didn't seem to care much either way, he proved he could make quick work of the entire town if they decided to follow.

"So, now that we have a moment, You was saying something about new equipment, I would be honored if you could outfit me for free; but the amount of equipment is always a little pricey, I carried a small armory on me. A longbow, a Crossbow, Hell, even a hand cannon, Among that I trusted scimitars and rapiers, always was a fan of foreign steel myself, they kill just as well as native. Regardless, I'm not cheap especially when it comes to being outfitted; I can maintain my weapons so you're fine there. I'm good at hunting a target whether it be demon or human. My aim never falters neither does my blade."

Regardless of his speech to Dalton he was half expecting some sort of lecture on what happened today regardless if it was Dalton or Jakku, It raised too high of a notoriety level around town, maybe even the entire county. "Probably best we avoid major cities for a while. Don't want to be back in the same situation." Neph stopped and sighed. "Enough with the small talk though, Am I getting new equipment or am I just gonna walk away."

 

I need to head back to my guild to report in

 

If theres been a bounty put on us I will need to make sure that the guild prevents any of its members from trying to collect