The main street of Osvik, since the war of corruption ended most coastal towns have been in the rundown. But Osvik is completely deserted. The inhabitants hide in their houses for fear of Verholm's men. You can smell the fear and decay in the air, a few metres to the west is the Osvik pier, many ships lie their without sails by Skelle's ordinance, the only vessel that seems to receive regular care due to it's condition is a small and fast looking ship with the name "The Wisp" written on the side. To the North lies the main road, which leads to the Osvik barracks and town wall Gate. To the south lies another road, nothing but battered houses that way. To the east, what used to be the Osvik Market, a few starving merchants still try to sell their overpriced goods there.

Time - 12:30 am

---

Gaius came out from the "Golden Sail" and waited for the others on the main road.

Kah'ta leans against the wall outside the door to the golden sail, awaiting the other's.

Saris came out of the inn. "Had you been in this town before? You seem to know many people around" she asked Gaius and stood there, waiting for the others.

Gaius looked at Saris and thought of an answer. "Well... i guess there is no harm in you to know..." he said carefully watching the surroundings. "I'm actually an agent, from Claudia Orator of Caessen, i've been staying in this town for a while, Fagerbotten is our inside man here..."

"Claudia Orator!" Saris said in a surprised whisper. "You're an important one then..." she inclined her head, showing interest. "Maybe you could tell me more later... this is not a good place" she said glancing around. Even as everything looked deserted, she didn't feel sure.

Oni'ryu walked out of the tavern, something did not seem right about these deserted streets. He walked up to Gaius, Kah'ta and Saris as he looked around cautiously.

Urien strode out of the tavern, glad to be out of the cramped conditions. He stretched fully vertical, reaching up and letting his fingers scrape the underneath of the inn's sign. "So, are we heading off to find some traders? I know a good blacksmith."

"We are still waiting for the Hauken..." says Kah'ta. He is eager to get on with this mission.

Eirian steps out of the Inn, pausing to restring her bow.

"Alright then it looks like we're all here." Kah'ta says as Eirian steps out of the door. "Where too?"

Urien nodded to Eirian. "The blacksmith is only 10 minutes walk from here, it shouldn't cause any problems."

"I thought we were going to discuss the situation a bit further first" Saris said, looking at Urien.

An arrow flies from down the road and strikes the dangling sign of "The Golden Sail". Three men close off the north and four men the south. It is an ambush, most men bear just short swords and small wooden shields, two of them are equiped with shortbows as well. A large man, clearly the leader, carries a large flail and stands in between the two archers northwards, he is Skelle's lackey, Vallmak. He smiles and shows his crooked teeth, "Get' em boys!" he says with a chuckle.

---

Combat has started -
Combat Turns are as following - Eirian Ain'sedth, Oni'ryu, Saris Asdar, Kah'ta Marj, Urien Flametongue, Vallmak, Gaius Varro, Vallmak's Archers, Vallmak's Warriors.

Eirian's Turn! -

Eirian reacts quickly and without thinking it twice she fires an arrow at one of Vallmak's archers.

The archer tries to dodge Eirian's arrow but fails, the arrow strikes him right in the head, dealing 13 points of damage. He falls to the ground, dead.

Oni'Ryu's turn! -

Oni'ryu flips his katana over his shoulder, gripping the scabbard with his left hand, popping the sword out by the tsuba with his thumb. His right hand drags the blade out and he drops the scabbard, assuming a 2-handed stance, staring down Vallmak.

Vallmark slightly draws his blade in response to Oni'ryu. He smerks and reveals several false teeth.

"Close your mouth and walk away so that you may keep what's left of your real teeth...AND your life" says Oni'ryu with a smug confidence.

"You are all bark and no bite, foolish boy of Xiadom! Why don't you run home to your master" Says Vallmark, making a shooing motion with his hand.

Oni'ryu rushes Vallmak, drops his sword low and swings upward in a 45degree arc when he comes within striking distance.

Vallmak tries to block Oni'Ryu's blow but the katana is too fast for his heavy flail. He takes a direct slash in the chest and looses 11 HP

Saris's Turn! -
As the men appear, Saris putted on the hood of her cloak and tried to dissapear as the attention was focused on Oni'Ryu and Vallmak.

Saris manages to camouflage herself near the buildings of Osvik. She stealthily moves around without being seen.

GM Notes - Saris uses her special skill and gains 1 extra point to all her skills -
HP - 11/10
MP - 11/10
Atk - 6/5
Def - 6/5
Spd - 7/6
Mag - 6/5
Car - 6/5
As long as she remains unseen.


Saris moved carefully to the north, closer to the men standing there and waited for the proper moment to attack.

Kah'ta's turn! -

Kah'ta grasps the handle of his wakizashi, unsheathing it by a little. He crouches for a moment and then bursts forward with amazing speed. He dashes at one of Vallmarks soldiers and draws his wakizashi at the last second in a long arc aiming at the mans middle.

The man quicly raises his wooden shield and succesfuly blocks Kah'ta's slash. He takes a few step backwards as he readies his sword

Urien's Turn! -

Urien drew his longsword and his face became grim. He removed all distractions from his mind and focussed on the now, as he had been taught. Staring right at one of the bowmen, he charged, his blade upright and behind him. As he reached the archer he brought it up and round in a quick yet powerful strike.

Seeing Urien charge towards him, tha archer quickly moves aside and manages to dodge Urien's blow in the last second.

Vallmak's Turn! -

Vallmak, severely wounded from Oni'ryu's blow, quickly leaps next to his archer while trying to stop the bleeding in his chest with one hand, he raises his flail and attempts to strike Urien! </b>

<b>Urien saw the attack coming and attempted to block the blow with his sword.

Urien raises his sword and succesfully blocks Vallmak's blow, Vallmak looks at the knight in disbelief. Vallmak looses 1 HP due to bleeding.

Gaius's Turn! - </b>

<b>Gaius, pleased with the quick reaction of his comrades focused on giving them support if they needed it, as his fighting skills were not very good. He placed one hand on his Staff and mumbled some words, then aimed a beam of magical energy at Oni'ryu.

GM Notes -
- Gaius now has lost 3 MP, he now has 3/12 MP.
- Oni'ryu has been blessed, he now has 6/5 Atk.

Vallmak's Archer's Turn! -

Having barely escaped Urien's strike, the archer drops his shortbow, draws a gidden dagger from his belt and tries to stab Urien in the side!

Urien span round to meet the attack of the archer and flicks his longsword up to block the small blade.

Just having blocked Vallmak's flail with his sword, Urien can't seem to be able to turn fast enough to parry the small blade, however he manager to intercept the dagger with his shield and push the archer away!

Vallmak's Warrior's Turn! -

One of Vallmak's warriors who had just blocked Kah'ta's blow with his shield ducks and rushed forward trying to pierce Kah'ta with his sword!

Kah'ta rolls to the side, attempting to dodge the soldiers attack.

Kah'ta manages to dodge the warrior's attack and ends up facing a second warrior who attemps to slash him.

Kah'ta reacts immediatly after the first stike, leaping backwards.

Kah'ta is not able to leap backwards fast enough to avoid the blow and receives a small cut. Kah'ta looses 1 HP.

Another one of Vallmak's warriors rushes towards Oni'ryu and attempts to slash him while he faces Vallmak!

Oni'ryu attempts to sidestep the incoming attack.

Oni'ryu manages to get out of the way just in time, the Warrior misses and readies his sword once more.
The last of Vallmak's men rushes towards Eirian and tries to stab her seeing that she is not being protected by any melee warrior!

Eirian attempts to block the strike with her bow.

Eirian is unable to raise her bow fast enough and receives the blow, which leaves a deep cut on her left shoulder. She receives 4 damage, Eirian has 3/10 HP!

Eirian's Turn! - She spins away from the blow and pulls out her mace. Using her wings to destract her attacker, she lunges forward, trying to strike a blow.

Eirian strikes the enemy warrior right in the head with the mace as he tries to dodge the blow, he stumbles backwards, completely stunned by the hit. He lost 5 HP.

Oni'ryu's turn! -

Oni'ryu twirls his katana around as he dodges the warrior's swing, bringing it around for an underhand thrust, trying to keep his new target between Vallmak and himself.

Vallmak's warrior tries to dodge Oni'ryu's thrust but he is not fast enough, the Katana does not get to stab the man, but it makes a deep cut on his side. He looses 4 HP.

Saris's Turn! -

Saris jumps from the shadows and strikes twice with her scimitars at the warrior battling Oni'Ryu.

The warrior receives both slashes in the chest before he can even react and receives 14 HP of damage. The strength of the attack pushes him backwards and he falls to the ground, dead.

Saris became visible again, loosing her camouflage bonus.

Kah'ta's Turn! -

Kah'ta quickly half turned, facing the warrior who had just attacked him and attempted to slash him with his wakizashi.

The warrior tries to dodge the slash but he is to slow, he receives a deep cut across the chest. He stumbles backwards, almost dead. He looses 9 HP

Urien's Turn! -

Urien was enraged by the attack of Vallmak and span round, shield and sword in hand. He let all emotions flee from his mind and he loosened the grip on his handle of his longsword. Then he sprang forward, blade back behind him and he brought it round in a straight and powerful slice.

Vallmak is unable to react to Urien's furious strike fast enough, Urien's sword is stained red as it directly slashed through Vallmak's shoulder as if it was butter. Vallmak's corpse is catapulted backwards and hits the wall of a building behind him before finnally falling to the ground.

Gaius's Turn! -

Gaius turns as he sees Vallmak's warrior strike Eirian. "Eirian!" ha yells to get her attention as he draws closer. He extends his hand towards her and mumbles some magic words.


GM Notes:
- Eirian now has 6/10 HP
- Gaius now has 0/12 MP

Vallmak's Archer Turn! -

Vallmak's Archer, just having missed a blow against Urien, tries to stab him again as he attacks Vallmak!

Urien span and raised his shield to block the blade again, his shield arm being closer to the attack than the sword arm.

Urien manages to block the small blade and the Archer's dagger gets stuck in Urien's wooden shield. The archer quickly drops his dagger and ducks o grab his bow.

Vallmak's Warriors Turn!

One of Vallmak's warriors who had just been slashed Kah'ta attacked him, as he moved forward.!

Kah'ta drops quickly to the ground and rolls under the warrior.

Once again, Kah'ta is not fast enough to dodge the warrior's slash, the tip of the sword cuts his cheek as he drops, inflicting 1 HP damage!

Seeing Kah'ta vulnerable and on the ground, a second warrior tries to stab him!

"D*** YOU!" Kah'ta shouts as he rolls out of the way and then leaps back onto his feat.

Kah'ta rolls out of the way just in time as the warrior jabs his sword into the ground!

The last of Vallmak's warriors, stunned from Eirian's blow aims a slash at her, aiming for her mace-holding arm!

Eirian tries to block the blow with her Mace.

Eirian manages to block the sword with her mace!

Eirian's Turn! -

Eirian pulls back, striking out with her bow.

The warrior is unable to get out of the way of Eirian's bow as she bashes his neck with it. After a loud crack the man falls to the ground, lifeless.

Oni'ryu's Turn! -

Oni'ryu makes a second slash at Vallmak's Archer.

The archer is not able to get up quicly enough, weaponelss and wounded, he takes the blow in the chest and falls backwards, dead.

Saris's Turn!-

Saris looked at the remaining warriors and attacked the closest one.

The warrior manages to block Saris's blow, however the deep wound made by Kah'ta prevents him from blocking Saris's second scimitar slash. She stabs him in the side with the blade and his heart stops as his body touches the ground.

Kah'ta'a Turn! -

Kah'ta whips around, facing the warrior that just attempted to stab him. He casts haste on himself and then lunges forward, his blade slipping easily through the air towards the man's neck...

Kah'ta's blade pierce the man's throat as he tried to dodge it, he quickly withdraws his blade as the man grabs his neck trying to stop the blood and falls on his knees, finnally dropping face down to the ground.

The Battle has ended!
Everyone receives 225 XP!

---

Gaius walks away from the corpses and looks at the others. "Boy!... didn't we make a mess?..." he says as he walks near Vallmark's body.

Eirian kicks her slain foe for good measure, and then looks around with a strained grin. "At least now we have some idea of how each of us handles ourselves in a fight."

Urien laughed loudly, his broad Lochmorian lungs carrying his chuckle. "We certainly showed them! Be ready Skelle, we're coming for you!" He then eyed his sword and pulled out a cloth, wiping it down carefully, making sure it was completely clean.

Kah'ta pulls his wakizashi out of the warriors body. He quickly walks over to Vallmark and searches his person for any maps or items that he may have been carrying...

Gaius glanced at Kah'ta and then at the other bodies. "Good idea.. let's search them, we'll need all we can get.. specially money and supplies", he said as he picked up the archer's arrows and handed them down to Eirian. Then he looked around once more. "Should we bury them or something... they are people after all..."

Kah'ta retreives a Flail, Leather Armor and 140 GP from Vallmak's Body.
Gaius retrieves 39 Arrows and gives them to Eirian.


Saris cleaned her scimitars with a piece of cloth and saved them. She looked at the warrior she had just killed and silently searched for something of use in his pockets. "Found something interesting?" she asked Kah'ta, since he was searching the boss...

Saris finds a small pouch with 6 GP on the warrior's pockets.

Urien frowned a little when he saw Kah'ta take the spoils from his kill. "I hope you don't do that again. There is no profit in killing a man other than what they leave when they are dead. I don't want to have to cause a fight amongst our group."

"It is hard to survive in these times. I intend to sell these items for a greater good hopefully..." Kah'ta said.

"Let's finish this quickly. I don't particularly like the smell of death" Saris said standing up. "I suppose we can't just leave the corpses here... anyone has suggestions?"

Urien sighed. "Perhaps we just drop them in the river. There they will join the others murdered in this town."

Kah'ta nods, saying a quick prayer of each body and then putting the money in a small pouch. He tosses the armor over his shoulder and sheathes his wakizashi, He then picks up the flail. It has the crest of Verholm on it. kah'ta grimaces in disgust tossing the flail down next to Vallmark, "Keep it, worm..."

Total loot - 176GP, 39 Arrows, Leather Armor.
Left in Place - 4 Short Swords, 4 Small Wooden Shields, 6 Leather Armors, 2 Short Bows, 2 Daggers.

Gaius was still feeling uncomfortable in such place. He turned to the others. "If someone wants to take anything else i'd suggest they do it quick, I feel uneasy here, besides all my power is gone and I won't be able to cast any spells anytime soon." he glanced down the south road. "The house I told you about is down there" he said pointing southwards. "We can divide the money there and think our strategy through... I'd recommend we hide the bodies somewhere. We sure don't want Skelle figuring out we dispatched his men before time."

Oni'ryu walks back to where he dropped his scabbard, using his own sash around his wait to clean the blood off the blade. He sheaths his katana with a click, and throws it over his shoulder as always.Pushing his straw hat up a little in the front, he gives the rest of the group a friendly nod of approval.

"Well, I think Gaius is right, but it won't be easy to carry all this bodies!" Saris said. "So, we should stop the talking and leave it for later. Let's hide them" she pointed the dead warriors "the river idea isn't bad. And then we leave to your house" she said turning to Gaius.

"Ok then" said Gaius as he dragged Vallmak's body to a nearby alley.

Urien hefted a body onto either shoulder and then took them to the dock side. "Farewell, brothers of the land," he said solemnly as he dumped them into the water, their armour carrying them to the bottom.

Eirian followed after, dumping her own victim into the filthy waterway with a sybolic flick of her fingers.

Saris grabbed a body and went after Urien, throwing the corpse to the water with some effort.

Kah'ta grabbed the body of the soldier he killed and dragged it over to the riverside, then shoved it in.

Oni'ryu follows suit, carrying his share of the corpses to the water.

"Now that we are done with that.. um.. unpleasant business we should really get going." Said Gaius as he begn walking down the south road, towards his rented house.

"Absolutely" Saris said taking a last look at the water, and went after Gaius.

"Erm...is there a shop where I can sell this armor? Then we can split the findings and profits." Kah'ta says.

Gaius turns to Kah'ta one last time before vanishing down the southern road. "Sure there is... but with the situation at hand, do you really think anyone is going to buy it off you?"

Eirian shrugged, "There would be little profit, but great risk to the trader that deals with us. More likely he would turn us in for a reward from this Verholm."

Urien frowned at this as he followed Gaius down the south road. "Remember that most of these people are Lochmorian. We're a proud and strong people. If we found a Lochmorian trader, no doubt he'd give us a discount. They want Verholm away from here as much as the next man."

Erian just shook her head, "I wasn't accusing the Lochmorians of siding with Verholm, merely trying to point out that fear does strange things to people- even those who are strong and proud."

Urien nodded. "True. And neither was I accusing you of making false comments about Lochmorians. I'm just saying that it might be possible. For instance, I'd say it would be better if I were to barter alone, as they would more likely trust someone of their own people. And if we find foreign traders then no doubt the rest of you could do the same."

"Well Then, here..." Kah'ta said, handing Urien the armor and the pouch of coins. "Get us anything you think we may need..."

Eirian gives her left shoulder a rub, and grumbles slightly in frustration. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I could go for something to eat."

Gaius, who had walked down the south road for a while with Saris looked back at his companions, "What are you guys waiting for?! It's not safe! let's talk this over at my house!" he yelled, he then turned around, sighed and kept walking.

Saris nodded. "Come on, we can sell later" she said.

"Yeah, let's get going,now. After we dispense with Verholm and his men, anything with his crest embossed on it might sell for a nice sum." says Oni'ryu.

"Doubtful, these people hate that man and would likely resent anyone carrying an item with his symbol." said Kah'ta, following after Gaius.

Oni'ryu trails behind Kah'ta following the other 2.

Urien frowned. "How much further to the safehouse? Its late and even if we don't meet any more of Verholm's men there are bound to be plenty of bandits out."

---

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