Hornfell remains silent, not giving into the urge to curse and flail about. Instead, he weighs his options: I can try to burst the ropes with my strength. Or I can slice through them with my dagger...
Seeing as that doesn't work, he slides out his Adamantine dagger and attempts to cut through the ropes in a single, decisive slice.
completely oblivious to the stalker in the underbrush you see 4 men talking under what appears to be a net trap with a dwarf seemingly stuck in it. Above the 4 players heads there indicator glows orange.
Just stick em and be done with it.
one thug says
wait wait, mayhaps he as' som friends round' 'ere. Mayhaps make fer sum more lootz
You watch as they bicker back and forth for several seconds.
Khode favours Shadow with another quizzical look.
"Leh-vel faiv boss?....Yess. Let us go."
Hornfell slices the ropes again, muttering to himself about having a talk with the weapons merchant that sold him the dagger.
@Argus, and talori
At the sight of yet another extremely well equipped warrior the frantic man faints. One of his buddies catch him and grins a slight apology
Sorry about that mister, he has been through a lot the past few days. We all have, lost a good many friends on this stupid foray you see.... About that man you saved, he wasn't one of us. Matter of fact we don't know him at all still, we were just running for our lives when he showed up and killed 2 of them reaper trees what was chasing us We woulda made it out too, cept them Twilight blade bastards attacked us, got 2 of our mates with there poison they did. That man stood over the two, weathering all sorts of blows, ones that woulda killed me straight. Cuz of that we got surrounded... He kept us in line and managed to keep us alive with his directions though,and somehow we managed to hold off those skeletons for an hour while he took the reaper trees. I don't know what we set off but there sure were a lot of them. Needless to say, if it weren't for him, we woulda died a while ago, and if it weren't for you, we may have all died still... Anyway, here is the info we have on that fortress dungeon, theirs two main hallways in it. We think ones leads to some powerful artifact... we knew the blades were after it so we wanted to get it out before they got it.... Anyway, we think the other passages leads to a portal of sorts. We think it may send you up to the 5th floor and the bosses dungeon. Only reason for that thinking though is this place didn't appear until the 5th floor was unlocked, an of course the fact that the boss door hasn't been found for almost a month now.
he suddenly looks extremely fatigued, as if he is about to collapse.
well... on the up side I managed to level up to level 3..... He huffs.
@ hornfell
As you manage to land on one knee after cutting the net the thugs startle to life.
How'd he! one starts to blurt out.
Hornfell dusts himself off and sheathes his dagger. "Surprised to find that the hunt has turned around?" he asks calmly as his hand situates itself to the sheathed katana at his belt. "Unfortunately for you, there are good people who are willing to pay good coin for your capture. You're going to all come back to town with me. It's all just a matter of how much you want it to hurt." he finishes with an icy glare leveled at the thugs.
The thugs laugh at you, taking comfort in there numbers. The leader with the greataxe speaks up.
Get em
They run at you. one keeps your attention as the other two flank your sides. one is wielding two daggers, Another uses a greatsword while one wields a rapier. (one in your front uses the rapier) The greatsword users burst into flames
]
Hornfell grimaces as the attack from the front slices into his armor. The HUD displaying his HP drops to 59/70. With a grin on his face, he whispers "My turn."
As a Swift Action, he issues a Challenge (+1/every 4 levels to Attack Roll) to the one that hit him, and with dexterety that betrays his race, unsheathes his flaming katana to strike at the bandit wielding the rapier.
When a sword saint successfully hits with an iaijutsu strike, all foes within 30 feet must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the sword saint’s class level + the sword saint’s Cha modifier) or become shaken for 1d4+1 rounds.
The DC is...10 + 3 (5/2 rounding up) + 0 (CHA)...13.
"So you weren't just being greedy and attempting to bite off more than you could $#%în'chew?" Argus nods "Ok, you're aren't total morons, the rest of my guild is coming to put the hurt on these Motha$%#$s. They should be able to ask your unknown ally some questions on account of him getting sent back to the 4rth floor town." He accesses Nyan Kat's given information before nodding.
Alright, Talori lets get these tasty targets back to town and regroup with the rest of the Night Ravens. Perhaps we can round this super tank into coming with us, I don't doubt that if these guy's assessment is correct were are going to need some meat between us if we are going to scout a boss.
Zero appears in the 4th floor town alongside Eira. "Look for the moron with glue? Nope I don't even want to know why Argus is telling us to look for someone covering in glue." He says turning to Eira. "That shouldn't be to hard...I hope."
(activating "charmed Life" for +3)
He staggers away, as his hp Bar is reduced to 50%. He then rushes back in opening with a sword skill (charging)
the other two strike again, attempting to find an opening after his strike.
the enemy fencer manages to knock your blade from your grasp and the knife wielding manages to find a chink in your armor though his other blade bounces off, you manages to dodge the greatsword yet again thankfully.
@ zero, not long after you begin looking around, a man in full plate with a kite shield and knights sword comes along and hands you a TP crystal then bows slightly before saluting.
Here, tell your friend thanks for getting me out of there, though I have no idea he manages to do it. I believe I at least owe him this. I do hope you all are as heroic as he is. You will find him at the newest fortress dungeon near The Dead Hill, its on this floor.
He waves and goes to leave.
he looks something like this- image
Zero appears in the 4th floor town alongside Eira. "Look for the moron with glue? Nope I don't even want to know why Argus is telling us to look for someone covering in glue." He says turning to Eira. "That shouldn't be to hard...I hope."
Eira stops for a moment trying not to laugh and mustering her best "concerned voice", "Glue? What do you mean he is covered in glue? What did Argus do now?" she takes in a deep breath. Hopefully love, it will not be a difficult feat to find the only person dredged in glue... Hopefully the only person. Who knows what the hell Argus is up to."
"Hey, hold a minute. What exactly were you doing up there? If you don't mind us asking. Apparently you were with the Nyan Kats what happened? What do you know about that dungeon?" Zero calls out before the knight can leave.
He turns back for a moment.
oh? Ah, that. Haha, its a bit of a long story, but, the short part of it was, I figured they would run into trouble, so I wanted to aid them. As far as what I know about that place is, its a dangerous area with undead mobs. Other than that, I believe the Kats would know more than I. I was just glad I found them in time. Why do you wish to know?
<Zero> Alright, I see you sent Talori this way... Even though I had said I was scouting. Overeager ginger squirrel cheeked twit. Fortunately I actually did need someone to get these fools home. Heading back now, if you can punch the Glued moron in the head for me as apparently hes not part of the Nyan Kats and unlikely to be there when I get back. Supposedly he was a fair tank though, so you might see if hes associated with a guild. I know you've been trying to recruit folks.
On orders from his guild, The Knights of a New Dawn, Jon is heading to patrol the roads of Meridian Heights. As soon as he reaches the edge of the city, he draws his weapon, dons his shield, and sends a quick PM to his contact in the guild.
<Lefty>Starting patrol on MH roads. Any info on PKers out here?
When he finishes the message, he heads out on the road.
"We plan on clearing it today. In fact according to my guild mates info you didn't do half bad for the Nyan Kats. You feel like going back? Were the Night Ravens and we are always looking for good players to join up with us."
<Talori> Oh. My. God. Talori! Can't believe I finally found you. You remember your dear old sis Lafora, right? The foster house gave us the weirdest names... Anyways, meet you at MH at the Square if you want to see me.
Talori, as she was escorting the Nyan Kats back to town, nearly stopped in her tracks. Lafora?... she thought. Suddenly, memories flooded her mind: Talori tussling with some boys getting ready to beat on Lafora, Lafora tutoring Talori in math, them sneaking pastries out of the kitchen... Lafora. They were best friends before they went to different colleges. Talori quickly typed out a reply:
<Lafora> Can't believe it's you. However, there are some things that are getting in our way as of right meow. The first one, the one happening right now, is that me and my guild mates, the Night Ravens, are checking out a new dungeon today, and I can't visit you right now. The second, I'm just feeling a little paranoid after the local sociopath in the home-you remember Kaefor, right?-decided to try to kill me. So, when we do meet, come alone and unarmed. Make sure you're not followed. If you have guild mates, leave them behind. And, a quick tip: If you see anyone near you with the guild tag "The Blades of Twilight," run. As fast as you can. MH is fairly safe, though you never know when some random event will pop up that will dezone it. Anyway, good luck. Believe it or not, I'll also be pulling a background check on you. Make sure you aren't mixed up in a murder guild or in one of the Renegade guilds or some $#!% like that.
Talori starts whistling as she's walking. Argus gives her some dirty looks.
@ Bristol
<Bristol> They were supposedly last reported to be holding out in a rest spot, a copse of trees with a spring nearby the road. Thats all we have confirmed for now.
As you Patrol the road you come upon a rest spot similar to the one described and think you hear a sound of blade hitting blade.
@ Zero
The mans face darkens a bit.
That is not something I could recommend, seeing as it is already a dangerous area made more dangerous by the amount of PKers in the area, and if your goal is to slay the boss, I am afraid I cannot help you friend. He pauses for a second.
though if you ever seek my aid on a different matter, feel free to contact me.
He offers to add you to his friend list.
@argus and Talori-
1-49 you don't meet, 50-100 you meet.
Zero gives Eira a quick look before geting confirmation. With a nod he continues. "Well that's the point actually we can't let the PKers think they own this world. And we plan on letting them know that there are a few guilds that will hunt them down if they continue hunting other players." Zero says as he seeps into his persona as the Sub-Zero Slayer. That part of him that he thought he'd put away when he met Eira. But ever since this turned into a death game it seemed easier and easier to turn inward into that other person.
He often wondered if it ever came down to ending another players life...would it even phase him at this point.
Bristol runs towards the sounds of battle, a look of determination and anger on his face. "Hey jerks, how about we level the playing field"
Argus scratches at his neck under the heavy dragon skull helm he wears, his own left eye in its impossibly bright state being the only easily seen feature of his covered face.
Gonna do horrible things to that pig$%#$in' a$$hole when I find him again. I $#%$in' hate wearing loose clothes, $#%$in' using my damn personal image in here.
His movements are mostly made with his right arm revealing a blank featureless idea of a limb, fully functional but lacking in its physical perfection. No blemishes, no scars, no marks empty and sterile as a hospital floor.
The ropey burn scars and scattered shrapnel marks at his shoulder establishing what he really looks like.
Tall at 6'3'' he looks unnatural in the game with his damaged form, tall and yet always looking though he might fall over with the thin limbs and tired expression he wore. The bomb had destroyed him, what it hadn't been ripped from his body was burned, everything was shrapnel marked so heavy to be mistaken for freckles.
At the very least the game hadn't taken his right arm, leg and left eye so he wasn't a cripple in the game as well as out. He was just a freak of nature, so Argus was forced to cover himself in full robes and a concealing helm just so he didn't have to deal with the stares.
No Argus planned to do horrible things the the GM if he ever had the chance, because forcing him to have to deal with the $%#$in' pity looks and eyes full of fear had him grinding his teeth at most hours.
At the very least he still had all his arms and legs, though they did look very different to the rest of his body.
Patchwork Argus, they called him. Argus the Frostkissed when they thought he was listening on account of that damned lip mark sticking to him through all of it.
"Ya know Talori this is why I said I was going to scout first." Argus flatly states as the flat sucking noise of the soaked mud pit that is the razor swamp tries its absolute hardest to ensure all 5' or so of the over eager ginger berzerkergang is pulled down into its murky depths one jerking step at a time. A line of murk at the middle of her calf a testament to the small distance they had traveled so far and the slog they still had ahead of them. Argus bounces from one tree to the next acting as scout "And this is just the safe path out of here, the actual swamp is even worse." He looks to the Nyan Kats who are all equally as miserable as Talori if not more "Also, watch out for the leeches."
Meilin sits, waiting to see what Hornfell will do while trapped in the net. She shakes her head when he tries to power out of it, and nods approvingly when he pulls out the dagger. His first attempt has her shading her eyes with her hand and shaking her head but his second attempt brings a smile.
Look like its time to get in there. He'll probably kill them quick like and I don't want to miss out on my chance at the loot! I wonder if its okay to kill them? They are PKs, but if I kill them, does their loot stick around? Maybe I better be careful while a witness is here.
Slipping out from behind the group of four PKs, Meilin slides up behind the one in the middle and tags him in the back with two saps.
Meilin smiles largely, pleased with her use of the saps. They aren't as gratifying as the kukri, but they do work in a pinch, or in front of witnesses.
"Hey ya big man, you no mind I borrow some of dese do ya? I been rookin all day and when I finarry find some, you gots em all."
{HP=50/70}
Hornfell clicks his tongue in annoyance as his katana slips from his fingers. But undetered, he performs another strike, this time unsheathing his adamantine dagger on the thug with the rapier that he challenged.
SInce he hits, all foes within a 30 ft. radius must make a Will Save of DC 13 in order to avoid being Shaken for 1d4 Rounds.
@Zero
I am truly sorry, but if Aiding you in this would bring about yet another boss fight and boss death I cannot aid you. Though I do wish you the best of luck.
He then TPs away.
@PK fighters,
As you land your second strike The man steps back, wide eyed. You watch as his Health bar drops to -1
But, I don't want to die. He gasps before his avatar shatters into crystals that slowly fade away.
As meilins saps land home on the leader he falls unconscious.
with there leader knocked out and having witnessed a "friend" die the other two throw down there weapons.
We surrender! Please! Don't kill us!
"Thank you, strangers. Mind if I ask these two some questions?"
"A boss death?!? They are computer generated creatures! There is nothing to kill. Were the ones that die in here!" Zero says even though Daniel had already used his crystal. "Argus should have just let the damn fool die." He mutters darkly.
Khode ambles along seemingly unperturbed by the dread location. He hopes they find Adamant Fortress Awn soon… Shadow is a fair companion, but her ability to change shape and size does perturb him...
Hornfell sighs deeply, running his hand across his face before he addresses the raiders. "I warned you that you would be determining how much you want it to hurt before I dragged you back to town. You brought this upon yourselves..."
He keeps his dagger trained on the other players as he gathers their fallen weapons and re-equips his katana. Using a silk rope, he has the two survivors line up in a chain-gang line and binds their limbs tightly, but loose enough for them to shuffle awkwardly and carry their unconscious boss.
"And now begins the long walk back to town..."
Heads turn as Hornfell drags the two raiders and their unconscious leader back into the town. There, he orders them to sit in the center of the town, where they do so sullenly, and he shouts:
"Can someone please summon the person who requested the forest brigands be dealt with? I don't want to leave these PK-ers alone even for the smallest of seconds."
"Hey, that looks like the city over there." Argus states to no one in particular "means you all get ta hit up a bath and look less like what your brains do on the inside." The Nyan Kats had fallen into the muck several times on the journey, bone tired exhaustion and Argus's commentary leading to critical mistakes. They resembled nothing more than moving chunks of swamp mud at this point. Talori had been whistling happily, at complete odds with the Nyan Kats suffering and Argus had glared at her a few times for the ear worm she seems to be trying to pass on.
The hells she learned that put such a grin on her lips?
"Huh, that looks like Zero and Eira over by the gate, wonder if they see us yet."
Zero and Eira attempt to gain information on this new dungeon.
I believe there were 2 others there interested in these men as well. Jaha
@zero, despite several people wanting to help, no one really knows anything about the place as the few people who could make it through there and back without much trouble are on the 5th floor searching for the boss or patrolling the lower levels.
About all you find out is that it is an undead area with several spawn traps surrounding and within the fortress dungeon.
"Before you lock them up, I'd like to talk to them."
Bristol walks up to the players, "I have to patrol this road a little longer. If you friends out there, it will be better for them if I'm not surprised. I'm sure you don't want your friends to die and I want to kill them, tell me where they are and I promise to bring them in alive. "