Karthal glances at the kid, smiles, and waves as he moves towards the north side of the pit.
Winst stretches, getting up and moving next to Billy, in case the bandits decide to try something else before leaving. Wonder what all this told the general?
"That they can beat up bandits?"
The bandits rush forward, grab the bodies of the fallen, and retreat into the forest. The leader pauses, and glares at General General. I hope you got what you were looking for.
After they leave, General General faces the group. I take it that many of you lack your weapon of choice. Tell officer Lay Z. and he will see to it that you are equiped. Same goes for armor.
PM me your orders, if you need them. You may also keep the weapons the bandits left.
Winst relaxes a bit as the bandits leave, he smiles down to Billy And much more probably, than moves to gather weapons and armor.
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As the bandits gather their fallen and depart, Brayden takes in the General's words carefully. As the group begins to depart and head back toward the barracks, he steps down from the benches and picks up a hand axe and dagger from the arena sands. Tucking them into his belt, he heads back with the others, preparing for whatever may be next.
Once the bandits have gone, Zathan picks up a hand axe, turns it over in his hand, inspecting the edge, then tucks it into his belt.
Remish keeps the dagger and looks at the retreating bandits. 'Elandra, huh. I think that is someone I need to meet.' He nods at his allies, drawing a wince of pain from the wound at his side. "Well that Shield didn't work so well." he mutters under his breath. He then looks around for Lay Z, to ask for some healing, a longspear and some very light armor like an armored kilt or haramaki.
"Seems ta me one hell oF a lot of gold went in to this. Not even rich folk like wastin this much. Somethin must make them profit. But what?"
"Humph" Shirota intones, dissatisfied with how quickly the battle was over. Shirota says to the strange plant-person he'd conjured;
Soon after the creature disappears in a torrent of green, leaf-shaped motes of light.
"So what now?" asks Billy.
This did not go the way I thought it would. Odd place. Wonder what comes next.
'I kinda didn't expect him to let them go. Well praise Chaos for surprises. I wonder what's for dinner '
Working on the orders...
General General leads the group back to the ARA HQ while explaining that gear should be ready in the morning, where he plans to make a final decision on units. He then enters the kitchen and calls out Temma, is dinner ready?
Temma (a she-elf, for those who didn't know), emerges from the kitchen bearing platters of roast beef.
During the meal, General General makes an announcement. Gear and units will be assigned in the morning. Good luck to all, and to all, a good riddance.
Then he retires.
Winnst will sit, and thank the good lady Temma for the food, his mother teaching him manners even if she did sell him for a horde of money.
Who do you think won that particular test? he asks whoever wishes to have a conversation.
"None of us, nor who fought. When folk are set against one another, the rich win
"
That brought a chuckle from the big ginger Yeah, a guess that's usually the case ain't it. Now with the amount of us here, and with the amounts they casually threw around to claim us, you're saying our general is the winner than, right?
"No, Mister Silas. The bandits lost and our side won. I watched everything like you said to."
Silas nods. "The General, probably. The king, f'r certain. And Billy, let's jus you and me wait till we see what the prize them fellas win afore we call the win."
"I doubt any of us can truly be called winners today. It is obvious that we are all merely pawns in someone else's game." Shirota says after he swallows a healthy bite of roast beef.
Hmmm. Who cares who won? I wanted blood and what I got was more like a spanking. How the heck did that determine who would be the leaders? They should have been fighting each other. Last man standing and all that. At least the food is good."
"Wait until you guys see what meal times are like!"
Sarah laughs at Shirota's words "that's true, but everyone is just a pawn in someone else's game, me, you, the general, the king and even the gods. " and underlines her words with an all encompassing gesture with her fork.
Looks like we all agree on something, us being pawns and them serving a nice dinner. he realizes he's been rude again Sorry he apologizes with a grunt to the two who has joined their table Us normies... gesturing to Billy, Silas, and Runt... Got our names out already. I'm Winst.
Runt grunts as she is currently chewing. For such a small thing she sure can eat. When she swallows she says around bread remnants a simple "Runt" while pointing to herself. She waits for the inevitable joking.
"You may call me Ikari. Although I was born in a small woodland village not far from here, my hated family and their small-minded kin once hailed from distant lands." Shirota says by way of introduction.
"Have any of you yet seen our accommodations?" He asked of those gathered at his table.
"Remish" Remish adds as he digs into the meal. He turns to some of the ones that did not volunteer to be leader. "Something bothers me about all this. After the General had us volunteer, he led us to a building for 'weapons', but we didn't actually go in. The only reason I can think that he would distract us like that is if you non volunteers were told something out of our earshot. Or he may have just been yanking our chains. What happened after we left?"
"I am Randrashar the Shining, descendant of the crystal dragon Rankadrashandir the Shimmering Glory and chosen of the Primal Dragon Cult. I am inclined to agree with Remish. I am suspicious of this General."
Suspicious of the man we all were sold to for no rhyme or reason? Winst smiled sarcastically. He led us in here, tempted us with weapons as well, and then fed us lunch. Sorry to disappoint, we no nothing more than you all.
"You got lunch? They didn't feed us before the battle... I suppose they must not want to waste food on potential corpses." Shirota says.
"I think suspicion might be a healthy state of mind to foster under the circumstances. However it is still in our best interests to follow orders." He continues.
I am fine with the role playing if you guys want to keep it up for a little while.
After you are all done, Lay Z. leads you to the second floor to a small room with 15 bunks and a small drawer underneath. The beds have a thin pad with a single sheet on top. The sheets are made of wool, thick enough to keep one from being painfully cold. Lay Z. makes sure everyone has a bunk and is going to bed, and then leaves the room, putting out the candle on his way out.
"We got to eat lunch and I made friends with Mister Silas. Then we watched you all fight."
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"I have a personal theory - maybe we are in heaven? It sure seems like it. It's just that its so quirky... and I don't see how I managed to make it to heaven. Maybe the gods have more of a sense of humor than I thought? Hey, maybe its all a dream - that could be it. Though I never had a dream this realistic. You know I've never been full before. I didn't think it would hurt. That's another thing; can you hurt in heaven? this place is so weird. If its a dream I hope I never wake up though."
She says all this half to herself, half as an offering to the conversation.
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Brayden has remained silent, trying to feel out the others that had been drawn into this gambit with him. What is expected of us? Can I trust any of them? He eats his meal and retires to the bunk room with the others.
When the dwarf-like woman offers her comparison to Heaven, Brayden snorts. "Heaven, perhaps if your paradise is to be a slave to another, serving and dying at their whim. Make no mistake, things are about to get ugly. And soon."
Settling into his bunk, Brayden places his dagger under his pillow, and ties the hand axe to his wrist. I will be ready for what the morning... or the night... brings.
Winst shrugs at Runt's suggestion, every one's got their own crazy he guesses. Ain't sure what my heaven would be like, but if this is yours, there's nothing wrong with that.
In the bunk house he watches the others to settle, noting those that choose the farthest point from the door and those that pick the closest. And if any groups seem to be forming.
For himself, he chooses one on the other side of the kid. Nodding to Silas if he happens to take the other one.
A kid who boils the room, several women, at least one close to batty, and half the room sporting weapons now.
Going to be a long night.
When they enter their barracks, Shirota waits quietly until everyone has selected a bunk, and then chooses whichever one is left that is furthest from the door.
He withdraws the scavenged dagger and speaks a few strange words as he traces a symbol into the dagger. His fingertip glows slightly as he does so, and the mark he traces upon it appears in vivid green upon the blade of the dagger.
Apparently satisfied, Shirota unties his long platinum hair and slowly combs it with his fingers. Then he undresses shamelessly in the semidarkness, leaving only his breeches on. He carefully folds his clothes and rolls them into a bundle around his scavenged dagger. Finally he sets the bundle at the foot of his bunk before climbing into it himself.
As they enter the bunkroom Jjagir casually climbs atop one of the beds closest to the door, manages to walk in a circle on the narrow mattress, then lies down at the foot of the bed and watches the other recruits. Zathan follows, and scratches the cat behind the ear before sitting down on the bed and removing his worn shoes.
As the others choose their bunks and settle into them, he reflects on what an odd, missfit group he finds himself in. Some of them fought, while others simply watched, and among those who fought there were some who were more effective than others, though one such fight does not always give a fair accounting of such things. Still, he could see that some had magical abilities, while others fought more like himself. Two even seemed to have dragons' blood. A strange lot indeed.
He makes note of the one who summoned a creature to help him fight, with facial features similar to his own, different from the others. His long, silver hair and slender body are different though, and he speaks in a strange tongue, so perhaps the similarity is only superficial. He briefly considers seeing if he also speaks Tien, but is a bit afraid that the others will think the man a coward for avoiding combat, and that he might not be the best member of the group to associate with.
As he lies down and closes his eyes, he replays the events of the day, evaluating in turn what he has learned of each of the others: those who fought and those who watched, those who speak boisterously and those keep to themselves. Zathan is still uncertain as to why they are here, but it seems clear that they will be expected to fight, both alongside and possibly against one another, and as he drifts off to sleep, he imagines how each possible scenario would play out.
Billy looked back and forth at the beds then took one next to Silas.
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Runt eyes the beds with consideration, then makes a nest in the corner of the room instead out of whatever she can find, including at least one of the mattresses. She sleeps mostly upright with her back to the corner, clutching her diminutive falcatta in one hand and a hunk of bread in the other.
Parker finds an empty bed, then quietly curls up in a ball, his swords set to the side, in easy reach.
Randrashar finds an empty bed, and sits down on it, cross-legged. He closes his eyes and begins reciting mantras in Draconic, speaking of the power of light and crystal.
Sarah picks a bed at random and goes to sleep after offering her prayer to Azathoth.
Remish just grabs the nearest bed. He listens to Randrashar's mantras but doesn't join in. Mulling over the events of the day he eventually drifts off to sleep.
We seem to have lost Shogunto, Karthal, Silas, and Valterra.
Anyway, the night brings no action (assuming none of you plan any midnight activities).
Those of you injured heal 1 hp overnight.
In the morning, officer Lay Z. leads you out to line up in the field where you started the previous day. More info soon.
Silas remains unusually silent during the rest of the night, watching over Billy and listening to the room.
Billy sleeps fitfully, gripped by powerful dreams. Those that sleep near him notice that the temperature spikes up considerably throughout the night, usually coinciding with what appear to be bad dreams.
In the morning, Billy says nothing but smiles at Silas and the others.
Winst stretches, popping several joints in an attempt to relive the morning aches. The bed was fine but he couldn't get comfortable, might be the group of unknown potential killers, might be the furnace in the next bed over, who knows.
He greets the others with a nod and a grunt, waiting for the officer to get things moving.
Karthal finds an empty bed and lays there, pondering what happened the day before. When he wakes he greets the others and follows the officer.
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Brayden awakes early, with the dawning sun. Noting the others still asleep, he remains in his bunk, trying to process everything that had occurred over the last few days. As several others began to stir, Captain Layzee stormed into the room and summoned them all to the assembly field.
Guess this is life in the military... or as a slave... what are we after all? Perhaps today will shed some light...
Seeing no other particular option, Brayden rises, straightens his clothes and belts on his meager arms, then follows outside as commanded, ready for what the day may bring.
Runt optimistically joins the others if a breakfast was provided, pessimistically if not. She maintains his distance from the others and keeps a suspicious eye on everyone.