Can't See the Forest for the Trees...

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Our adventurers have left The Center, making their way into the wilderness of Fremontia. Details about their quest are vague, but the group bravely (or stoopidly) makes its way toward the neighboring kingdom of Jadros, where supposedly they will find the mysterious Rusiel.

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Silvia stops walking for a moment to rub the back of her leg. It's been quite a walk from The Dull Blade - more of a paranoid jog, really, with everyone constantly checking to make sure no guards or other drunken bar patrons have been following them. The sun is beginning to set, and the wind has picked up. "If we're not staying at an inn... do I really want to know where we'll be sleeping tonight?"

This was not how Rosie wanted to end the night... and the night looked like it was far from over. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the other halfling. "Yeah. I don't know this area well enough. Where's safe?"

"Um, we're in the middle of the woods, along a well-known path, while it's dark," Leala said. "I can answer you this question: where isn't it safe." Leala made a grand gesture in the general area, a little peeved off. Of course, she had followed them, so a good proportion of that anger was aimed at herself. She hadn't really thought of anything like bandits or wolves until a good half-hour into their pleasant little hike. All in all, she was glad that she had the sword.

Chance looked around with only a little disdain. Chance was unusually lucky, and almost every time in every situation came out on top, so Chance didn't have too much concern about camping outside; he would miss sleeping in a comfy bed one more time before this adventure though. "I think maybe twenty feet off the trail should be good enough. We're close enough to the Center of Fremontia that not too many thieves will bother us." Chance looked to everyone to read their faces if they agreed with what he said.

Leala looked at a nearby tree with interest, her face sort of set into a frown by now. She wasn't going to go against a group decision, and camping out under the stars didn't bother her much, but the whole thing was still annoying. She grunted, which could be taken either way.

Rosie was a little disappointed. But this was going to be an adventure, right? Sleeping outside was probably going to be the least of her worries.

Cal leans against a tree, now entirely sober, and surveys the area as best he could for the available light. Wonder who's staying up first.

The group makes its way to a clearing a little ways off the path. Silvia opens her bag and pulls out flint and steel. "Can one of you big, strong men gather some firewood? It'll be getting dark soon, and harder to find some."

Chance laughed, he was by far the most opposite of being big and strong. "I'll try and find some, though I don't know how much I could carry, who else wants to come?" Chance put down his sack, assured that none would steal from him but just as a safety measure he stashed away the map in his pocket.

"I'll go," Leala said, letting her own bag fall to the ground. She imagined it would be pretty difficult to set up camp without a fire. "To get it done faster." She didn't bother taking off her belt that had her money bag attached to it; it also had her sword hooked up to it, and even though they'd be only a few feet away from the camp itself, she felt entitled to a bit of nervousness. Without waiting for anybody to join her, Leala walked around some bushes, her eyes scanning the floor for sticks, and maybe some dry grass or... something. She had never made a fire before.

Cal sets his pack down next a tree. Most of the stuff in it was made by him, so it would be rather easy to tell if someone was 'borrowing' or not. He follows where Leala went, walking past her a bit and looking for larger chunks of wood. "That was quite the move back at the bar." He says loud enough for her to hear, but keeps his gaze towards wood.

"Huh? Oh, uh..." Leala flushed a little, although with the combination of her darker skin and the falling light it was impossible to tell. "Thanks." She felt more than a little uncomfortable talking to him, as he was an elf, and thus the main reason she knew how to throw and dodge punches. "Well, you did good too, looking out for... uh. The female halfling. Rosie." Leala stared at the wood already in her arms self-consciously as she shuffled around for more.

Cal picks up a few large pieces. "Yeah. Well... she's not much good if she's not breathing." His face twisted as if what he just said didn't come out right. "I... Where'd you learn that?"

"I, uh, well... Here and there," Leala said, vaguely. But of course, she thought, missing his expression. It comes down to how useful you are. "I used to get into fights a lot. Amazing what you pick up in those situations." She shrugged, rolling a shoulder.

"Yea." He gives her a look of curiosity and interest. "Well, back to camp?" He walks past, arms full of large chunks of wood.

"I'll go see if Silvia needs any help," Leala replied. "Be right there." She headed off to where Silvia was. As the girl was the one with the materials for actually starting the fire, she held out her armful of sticks and a handful of dry moss. "Think this is good? The other one has a lot, too."

Silvia examines the materials. "Yeah, that should be good to start. Set that one aside for later," she points to the larger piece that Cal is carrying. She sets to work starting the fire.

Leala piles up her own firewood next to Silvia, knowing she'd know how to use it. "Need help?" she asked, kneeling next to the pile, not being able to do anything else without light right now.

Cal sets his wood down. He walks over to his pack, shoves it against a tree and sits against it.

Rosie walked up next to Silvia. "I've got some pans and spices... and I found some mushrooms and stuff while the others were gathering wood. Should I start on dinner?"

"I've got the fire," Silvia says to Leala. "But thank you. And yes, dinner would be lovely," she says to Rosie. A spark jumps from the stones and ignites the kindling. Silvia returns to her backpack and pulls out an old quilt, laying it on the ground a safe distance from the fire and sitting on it. "While we wait for food to be prepared, I think it's high time for some introductions. I'm Silvia."

"Leala," Leala said. "I've got some dried meat, dunno if that helps," she added to Rosie.

Rosie began cutting tubers into a pot. "I'm Rosie; nice to meet you, Silvia." She looked up from her work and smiled briefly at the woman. "Nice to meet you too, Leala, and yes, thanks. That would help! Where are you from, both of you?"

"I'm from a small village in the north," Silvia says. "Some farmers, but mostly merchants." She pulls out a hairbrush and begins running it through her blond locks.

Leala pulls out her bag and hands it to Rosie. She figured she could spare it. "I'm from Juluu, a city near here," she said. "Lived in a mostly-elf neighborhood." Without noticing it, she touched her hair, adjusting it a bit as she waited for the other three to speak.

Rosie nodded, tossing some rosemary and salt into the pan. "My town was all Halflings, but I've spent some time around humans with my father." She put the meat in the pan, added water from a skin, and placed it all over the fire Silvia had built. "So why'd you leave? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Lanif finds a pretty purple mushroom growing near where he's started to set up his own blanket and such. He eats it. After a moment or two, his stomach begins to gurgle. He clutches it and tries to call out for help, but cannot. He explodes, and little bits of Lanif are spread all over about a five foot area where he had once been.

Silvia blinks at the sight. She stands and walks over to where Lanif had most recently been, and picks up his blanket, shaking off the little fleshy pieces. "Don't eat the purple mushrooms," she calls over her shoulder, beginning to loot through his stuff.

"Oh gods, are you serious?! I could have told him that." Rosie shook her head and turned back to the pot, dropping in a handful of brown, safe morels.

Chance just got back into the camp holding a single small log, all that his hafling arms could hold when he saw Lanif explode. His mouth was wide open as he subconsciously drops the log. Chance then looks around at everyone else if they had seen it. Slowly walking towards the fire, Chance stutters, "wha..how...wha?"

Cal picks a piece of former Lanif off his trousers. "Anything good?" He turns to Silvia and watches her loot his stuff.

"See for yourself," she responds, indicating the stuff she's been haphazardly tossing out of Lanif's bag. It's mostly the same sorts of things all of them already have, but a few extra supplies never hurt. She makes a face as she examines his bow and arrow set. "This might get a few copper pieces, if anything."

"Nngh," Leala commented, gagging a little on a mini-vomit and kicking an... unknown organ away from where it had been resting near her foot. The liver? Kind of yellow, maybe a kidney or the pancreas or... "Yeah, no. Looting of the body. Yeah, no, that's cool." Leala swallowed, standing up and turning away to pick up her own bag. "Yeah, no, I'll just start with the... setting up."

Cal gets up towards former Lanif, and Silvia. "Hold for a moment. The arrows would find more use in my hands than as copper pieces." He collects former Lanif's quiver and inspects the arrows. "The bow is useless to me." He adds, returning to his seat.

Chance took a seat around the fire. "So how is everyone doing? Hopefully Lanif's trip off of the bad 'shroom won't put the adventure out of your hearts." Chance looks to Rosie, "how's the food doing, love?"

Silvia absent-mindedly hands over the arrows to Cal, but is looking at Leala. "Um, are you alright?" she asks the elf girl. "You just said 'yeah, no' about three times."

"No, I'm fine," Leala replied, tight-lipped as she took out her blanket and shook it out on the ground. She wasn't that fine. She just hoped if she died in an... explosion, or some such, they'd do more than shrug and loot her body. Of course... Leala shrugged a little, as though getting rid of a bad thought. What else was she thinking would happen, really? All she could do right now is prepare somewhere to sleep and wait for the food.

Rosie stirred the food a bit. "It's getting close." Her stomach was a bit turned after what she just saw, but she didn't want to show her inexperience in front of the group. She hadn't lied-- she knew her mushrooms and it was common knowledge where she grew up that you did not eat the purple ones, but she'd never, ever seen anything that violent happen to an intelligent creature.

Silvia goes back to her quilt and bag, satisfied with what she's taken from Lanif. She opens her bag and rumages through it for a moment, finally pulling out a small piece of cloth. It will do nicely to eat her food off of.

Leala sits down on her blanket, close enough to the fire to be warmed up but far enough away that she wasn't worried about her stuff catching fire. "Please tell me the food will be done soon," Leala said, her voice low and even. Since nobody was making a move to get away from the bits o' Lanif, she figured she should eat and sleep as quickly as possible, before they started attracting predators, insects, or worse.

Chance starts to look through whats left of Silvia's search. Chance has seen a dead bodies before, but never had gotten the stomach for it. But after a second thought, even Chance had to admit searching through a former member of the quest's remains seemed indecent. Chance sits down and grabs a nearby sturdy log he had gathered that he had intended for the fire, but seeing how there was already a fire Chance started to dig a small hole. "Anyone want to say any last words?" Chance asked as he pushed the last bits of Lanif into the hole with his stick.

"Uh... he seemed nice?" Leala said lamely. This was a lie, the guy had seemed like a jackass, but... Eh, this probably wasn't a good time to point out truths. She hadn't known that much about him.

Rosie removed the pan from the flames. "Soup's on. Anyone still hungry?"

Chance pushed the final mound of dirt over Lanif's remains when he looked up and answered Rosie's question. "I'll have some soup, never could say no to food when offered." Chance moved towards the fire beside his fellow hafling, grabbing his tin bowl from his pack. After he had his first offering of soup, out of the many to come Chance asked the group, "So hows life going for ya all? Tell me a little bit about yourselves, if you want to of course." 

Rosie ladled a serving of the cooked meat, potatoes, and mushrooms onto Silvia's cloth. "Chance understands figures of speech, right?" Rosie smiled conspiratorially at Silvia. "I don't know where he thinks he's getting soup." She looked back at the other halfling. "How about you tell us more about where we're going?"

Silvia chuckles, also wondering where Chance's soup came from. "Yeah, I'd like to know what this rusiel thing is too. I've never heard of it, so right now we're just taking your word for it that it's valuable."

Leala nodded in agreement, occupied with searching through her bag for her own wooden bowl. She wondered if her parents would miss all the stuff she took from them... Nah. She held it out for Rosie. "And you probably don't want us getting angry with you for weeks of hard labor with no return," Leala said, matter-of-factly.

Rosie served Leala dinner, too. Unsurprisingly, it still wasn't soup. She took the pan with her as she sat near Cal, placing the pan between them. She looked expectantly back to Chance.

Cal, who had been inspecting former Lanif's arrows, had missed most of what just happened and gave a start when Rosie sat next to him. He looked at Rosie then at the pan, "Thanks." He turns to his large pack and fishes out a pair of wooden bowls. Handing them to Rosie, he asks: "Do the honors?"

Chance laughs, "oh it's valuable; besides if everyone knew what it was, it would have already been taken. From what I hear it is in the Kingdom of Jadros, but luckily word on the street is that barely any citizens or politicians of Jadros even know about it. You'll definitely reap the fruits of our labor." Chance slips the map out of his pocket and lays it near the fire, but not too close. "We're here," Chance indicates a point just barely on the map, "and we want go here, to this remote cottage at the foot of the Forlorn Peak. Last time I heard it was being kept there." 

Silvia still looks skeptical. "Where did you... um, how did you learn about this quest?"

"Yeah," Leala said through a mouthful of food, furrowing her eyebrows as she chewed. "If it's so profitable, how did you come across this information?" She swallowed. "No offense. Just... seriously?" Leala looked around at the group. They definitely didn't seem the type to be on such an adventure.

Cal turns in the direction of Chance for a moment; "I agree with her." He eyes Chance for a moment. "We have to trust you just as much as you have to trust us."

Rosie nodded and filled Cal's wooden bowls with unsoup. She tucked in immediately.

Chance sighs, and puts his bowl on the ground. After a second to collect his thoughts Chance tells the group, "the last quest I was apart of, I befriended an ex soldier of Jadros, one of the Queen's personal guard. During our travels, he had talked about a certain gem called the Rusiel. His story goes that he learned to much about the Rusiel, so they told him that he was to get a new station but it was really an attempt to assassinate him for what he knew. Luckily he escaped and only told his close friends. Unfortunately Jadros finally caught up with him, and I can only guess that they took him away and made certain that he wouldn't tell anyone else." Chance took a deep breath; he hadn't told anyone the tale and it was somewhat a relief to finally get that off his chest. But then Chance looked to everyone in all seriousness and told them, "you have to keep this quest secret, if anyone finds out about this, word will bound to spread to Jadros and they will not want their secret gem out of hiding for all the world to see." After that, Chance resumed his jovial attitude and continued with his food.

Cal leans close to Rosie and says in a low voice, "So we are just going to waltz in there, pick this thing up, and hawk it at the first pawn shop we happen by?" He smiles without actually doing so.

"Sounds like a plan," Leala muttered. His story was... odd. For one, it could have just been some paranoid soldier who had heard one too many rumors while drunk. For two, if it was Jadros, the guard probably would have made sure the ex-soldier would have told him who exactly he told, if it was that important. The Halfling would have been on this list, and if that was the case, they might all be in danger. Oh by the Gods, Leala thought. This is exactly like my stories! ...awesome. Just... awesome.

Silvia still looks skeptical. "And let me guess... even though this 'friend' of yours learned a lot about this... gem, you said? He failed to mention anything remotely useful about it to you, right?" She rolls her eyes, having heard of these sorts of quests before. It was highly likely that Chance was flat out lying to the group, and knew nothing about this item other than that someone would pay for it. Oh well. A quest is a quest, and money is money, I suppose...

Rosie suspected they were all getting suckered into something. She knew a shady business deal when she saw one, but she'd never been on a quest before. Maybe that was how these things went. At least the more experienced ones seemed to be going along with it. She chuckled in response to Cal's question, "Sounds like a plan to me." Glancing at Chance and then back to Cal, Rosie whispered, "Honestly, he creeps me out a little. Watch my back?"

Cal whispers back: "Yeah. I fear we'll be fighting back-to-back soon enough." He meant it literally and metaphorically. "and just so you know, so far, you're a way better cook than my mother." He hoped that had come out right, but he really didn't have anyone else to compare her home-cooking to.

Chance, relieved that everyone wasn't openly opposed to the plan, picked up his food again and started to eat again. It was starting to get late, and the faint light from the receding sunset was now gone, and there was pitch black in its place. After completing a big yawn, Chance looked around at the lack of light growing. Turning to Cal, Chance realized that he knew basically nothing about him. "So Cal, why did you go along with the quest? No offense, but you seem a bit young to be adventuring."

"Too young to be adventuring? I don't know how old you are, but I wasn't the one hiding under a table at the first sign of a fight." Cal says flatly. "And why am I here?" He looks around at the fire-lit faces around him and shrugged. "What else is there to do?"

Rosie had never tasted elf cooking before. Was it terrible? She nodded her thanks at the compliment and continued munching.

It is now dark, but luckily it is a clear night. Silvia dabs her mouth with the piece of cloth she's been using to eat off of. "We should probably be getting to sleep soon," she says. "I'll volunteer for the first shift of keeping watch, who wants second?"

Cal had finished his dinner and, now quite tired, started laying out his sleeping pad. "I can take second."

"Third," Leala volunteered, putting the bowl aside. She'd find a river to wash it in later.

"I'll go fourth," Rosie chimed in. And heck if she was doing dishes now... she put her pan near the fire and shook out her bedroll.

"I guess I'll take last shift," Chance stated. He wiped away the remains of his bowl with a piece of cloth. "Well, I think I'll get some sleep, see you guys in the morning." With that he packed up his bowl and laid out his mat nearby the fire. Laying down on his mat, Chance gave a big yawn and closed his eyes; dreaming his hobbity dreams.

Soon the whole party went to sleep; each rotation of guarding the camp went by uneventfully. After Leala went to sleep Rosie stood guard. All of the sudden there was some slight commotion in the bushes nearby the camp.

Rosie's eyes narrowed. It was probably a bird... but she drew her axe as a precaution, and poked silently (but urgently) at Chance to wake him up.

Chance groans, and not as silently wakes up. "Ouch, what was that for? I was having the best dream ever. What's going on?"

"Sshhhht!" Rosie glanced down and back toward the foliage. "Something.... bushes... what is it?" She was trying to be quiet, but if it was something bigger than a wolf she was sure she wasn't prepared to handle it alone.

The rustling in the bushes stopped as a man dressed in total black stepped through into the light of the dying campfire. There was no apparent weapons on him, but somehow the way the stranger carried himself, he looked dangerous. After eying the female halfling, he spotted Chance lying down on his mat. "Ah, can't run forever can you half man." 

Chance gulped. Even if he wasn't looking at the stranger, he could discern who this man was. But always trying to grab hold of any luck, Chance said in a slight shaky voice, "I don't think you have the right halfling sir, please get out of our camp...but have a nice night."

The stranger only laughed, crossing his hands over his chest.

The laughing finally woke Leala up with a snort and a slight flailing of limbs. She sat up and peered at the newcomer. "Men dressed in black are bad," she muttered, still a little asleep.

"You know this man, Chance?" Rosie's confidence in him wasn't growing any.

Chance gave a nervous laugh. The stranger stopped laughing and took on a face of seriousness. "You know how much you owe half man, and if you can't pay it off in money, you'll pay it off with your own skin. Chance face took on full terror with that image in his mind. The stranger continued, "Now, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way."

Chance looks desperately all around. He then turns his eyes to Rosie in a pleading sort of way, asking for any help.

Rosie didn't know what to do. "WAKE UP." She didn't yell it, but hopefully that was loud enough to wake the rest of the camp.

Cal picked this time to show, much to Rosie's inconvenience, that he was more of a deep sleeper after nights of drinking.

Leala stood with the sheath of her sword in hand, having grabbed it from where she left it by her head when sleeping. She cautiously withdrew it, but glanced at Chance, like she was reluctant to get involved. "You owe money?" she asked, her voice accusing and even a bit self-righteous. "This guy has literally hunted you down. By the gods... How much do you owe, exactly?"

Silvia wakes with a start. She sits up and rubs her eyes. "What's going on?" she looks around and sees the man in the dark robe. Sensing that this is not a welcome guest, she attempts to diffuse the situation the only way she knows how. "Oh, am I still dreaming, or is the sexy man in the shadows for real?" She smiles flirtatiously, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

Silvia's statement actually released eye contact from the stranger in black to Silvia. After a quick glance the stranger said, "I have no time for wenches, my business is with only Chance." 

Chance looks to Leala when the stranger broke eye contact. "Ya Leala, I'd rather not talk about that right now, we probably have more pressing matters at the moment." Chance's courage sprung up when the whole party awoken from their slumber. "Look, I have the money coming soon, just give me some more time. I have this treasure that will cover the whole debt." Giving a reassuring look to everyone Chance added, "from my share of course."

The stranger's eyes narrowed when he heard Chance's answer and as his head shook he replied, "That simply won't do." With lightning speed hands the stranger pulled two daggers from his boots and advanced. Right after his first step, he whistled and two other strangers in black appeared at the flanks of the party; one with a long sword and another with a dagger.

"Whoa!" Leala exclaimed, twirling her sword and now decidingly aiming it at the closest Man-in-Black. "No matter what he owes, killing is wrong." She thought about that statement a moment, decided it was cheesy, and killing in self-defense was A-Okay. Her stomach twisted in knots-these people actually had weapons this time. But Leala couldn't think about that now. She gripped her longsword and advanced on the closest attacker.

Cal woke at as Leala spoke. Wondering what was happening, he glances around, seeing the dude in black. He figures arrows wouldn't be all that useful in such close range, and searches the immediate area for anything. He eyes fall on Rosie's pan, still souped up from last night.

Silvia hikes up her dress, flashing a fair amount of leg. She takes out her dagger from its position in her garter. She stands, and immediately regrets having taken off her shoes for the night. 

Each of the three men in black start to circle together around the group, inch by inch coming closer. The group could practically see the confidence in the strangers eyes; they knew this would be an easy task to defeat the party. 

The attacker with the longsword shifted his feet and started to lung at Leala's direction. While the sword weilding stranger was at Leala's side of the encampment, the double and single dagger wielders came in from the opposite direction, to cut off any chance of escape. 

The man in black with one dagger looked to both Chance and Rosie, thinking they were the easiest enemies to take down. The double dagger man, the one who was speaking earlier, came at Silvia. "Seems like the half man can wait, looks like it's just you and me wench," the stranger said, adding a devilish wink that didn't promise pleasure.

Leala's sword came up swiftly to get through the attacker's guard and try and score a hit. The sword was heavier than she was used to, but not so much heavier than the training swords she practiced with. Leala just hoped she had learned enough.

Rosie didn't have a choice-- she had gotten herself stuck in a fight. Guilty by association! She took a few quick steps toward her attacker and swung her axe at his shins.

Silvia returns the smile to her opponent. "I'll try not to make you look bad in front of your friends." She swipes her dagger low, aiming for his sweet spot.

The attack was expected by the stranger and moved back a step, but due to the unorthodox target of Silvia's blade the man in black was taken off guard. The dagger swipe Silvia made towards the stranger missed, but by barely inches. Howling in pain, the stranger curled up while still somehow standing. In his rage he kicked the earth beneath his feet and luckily for the stranger some dust flew in Silvia's face; temporarily blinding her.

The axe sailed by Rosie's attacker, but it did come close to hitting his knee. The man in black laughed, and then all of the sudden lunged at Rosie. The second his foot almost sprang to reach Rosie, the stranger heard one of his companions howl from Silvia's wicked swipe. Luck was with Rosie and Chance for that howl caused the man in black to slip up on his leg and fall down right in front of the two halfings.

Rosie took advantage of the man's fall and kicked his dagger away. "Chance! Help!"

Silvia drops to her knees, making it more difficult for her attacker to hit her. She begins blinking furiously in an attempt to get the dust out of her eyes sooner. She kicks her foot blindly in the direction of the man she's fighting.

Cal silently grabs the pan, runs to Silvia's attacker and smashes him on the face as hard as he could swing it. The pan connects and makes a really loud thwang noise.

Leala's sword scored a minor hit on the stranger's arm that was holding the sword. The man in black stopped for a second to look at the small gash on his arm. "You'll pay for that you will." He steps forward and follow through with a devastating swipe that was literally inches away from Leala's face. If it wasn't for that gash in his arm, the aim would have been dead on.

Chance needed no encouragment and silently thanks whatever gods may be watching that gave his party so much luck. Running forward, Chance delivere a powerful kick to the stranger's temple who was on the ground, stunning him even more. "Good idea Rosie," Chance stated as Rosie kicked away the man's dagger. Now what do we do?"

If there was a god of luck, then its champion would be Silvia, for she had kicked her attacker's hand; the same hand that would have no doubt sliced her open with his dagger. The massive blinking seemed to have gotten the dust out of her eyes. The man in black took a step back and looked at his hand, it was twitching on its own accord. He then gave a look to Silvia, one of pure hate, and came on to charge her with his remaining arm. Just then Cal smacks his in the head with Rosie's cooking pan. This stuns and disorients the stranger and it would have been a great moment of victory for Cal if the man in black had not kicked out reflexively towards Cal and by chance happened to place his kick right in Cal's crotch.

Cal, who thought he'd had an easy victory, was looking to Rosie to see how she was fairing, and was struck relatively off-guard. With a foot to his crotch, he bends over in pain, taking several steps back before falling to the ground.

Leala felt a burst of adrenaline as the sword barely misses giving her an extreme makeover. Now fully concentrated on the fight, slipping back into her basic training, she leaped forward as the guy was still controlling his swing and swung herself, aiming at his torso while still keeping an eye on where her attacker's sword was. These weren't wooden by any stretch of the imagination, but at this point, it didn't matter.

Silvia takes advantage of Cal's distraction and leaps at her attacker, dagger ready to slice at whichever part of his body is closest.

Rosie didn't answer Chance immediately, but instead ran to help the temporarily disabled Cal. "Come on, this is your fault, Chance!"

Leala's sword thrusted into the attacker's stomach, but not enough for a fatality. The man in black yelled out in pain and then quickly retreated into the night; he had had enough fight for one night.

The swipe of Silvia's dagger landed on the stranger's face, but luckily for the man in black it wasn't a thrust but a swipe across. This made him drop to the ground and cover his face with his hands, gritting his teeth through the pain. 

Chance sighed and followed Rosie. "It's not my fault he got kicked in the groin," he said though Chance knew he was the initial reason why the men in black were here. He gave one last good kick to the man in black ont he ground before catchign up with Rosie. By that time Silvia had already taken her swipe at the stranger who talked before and when Chance's little legs carried him to where everyone else was the stranger was on the ground. 

The remaining man in black finally uncovered his face. The party could see that Silvia's swipe started from his forehead through one eye to his cheek. The injury itself wasn't to deep, but it would definitely leave him blind in one eye and scarred. Still on the ground the stranger made eye contact with Silvia and spat in her general direction, falling short of her by a foot. 

Leala saw her attacker was fleeing, which was good; she hadn't ever killed anyone before. Jerking out of her own little zone, she spun around and saw everyone gathered about the remaining MIB. She scowled and put on her best 'intimidation' look as she pointed her sword at him. She didn't know what to say, but it was a good start to let him know that he was at a clear disadvantage.

Cal lies in pain and addresses Rosie as she nears him: "Hope you don't mind I borrowed your pan."

Silvia shakily stands next to Leala, her dagger also pointed threateningly at the remaining attacker. "You might wanna go catch up to your friends," she says.

The remaining stranger laughed an evil sounding laugh and slowly got to his knees. Looking at Chance the man in black said, "This isn't over half man." With that his hand quickly slipped into an unseen pocket and threw an object on the ground. There was a bright illumination, and when everyone's eyes adjusted to the darkness again the stranger was no where to be seen.

Rosie extended her small hand to Cal, offering to help him up. "Glad it could help." She was glad no one seemed too injured, but.... "Chance, is this going to be happening a lot? How many other shady characters do you owe money?"

Leala glared at Chance. "And how many of said shady characters will be attempting to kill you for it?" she growled. "Being a meatshield for someone with money issues isn't really an epic adventure."

Cal sits up, next to Rosie, recovering. "Yeah dude. I plan on needing my body for a while."

Chance backed up, holding his hands out in a non threatening way. "Whoa, hold on a second. How was I supposed to know that they would follow me? I don't owe that much to him, honest!" Chance looked around at the party, slight desperation could be found in his voice. "I honestly didn't get you guys to be just meat shields." Holding his breath Chance looked to each member of the party, a bit more than concerned about what their reaction would be next.

Leala sat down again, suddenly exhausted. She dug the tip of her sword into the dirt and leaned her forehead against the hilt. "This is not how I envisioned this going down," she muttered, catching herself just before she said 'my first adventure.' She wasn't about to advertise her newness on the scene.

Silvia wipes her dagger on the grass, getting as much blood off as she can. "Chance, who exactly do you owe money to? If we're going to be travelling with you, it'd be good to know what to expect." She hikes her dress up and replaces the dagger.

Cal stares at Chance in agreement with Silvia.

Chance sighed, "Have you heard of Donriul? He's the head of the thieves guild in Fremontia. That is what I'm going to do with my share of the treasure, pay him back. I don't owe him a huge amount of money, but it is more of a pride thing with him." Chance hesitates as he tries to find the right wording. "His daughter was quite taken with me and actually left his side to have a chance with me, but I am no fool. Seeing how he was my employer and I wanted to live several more years I told her that we couldn't be together. She ran off and the both of us haven't seen her since. Donriul held me responsible and I ran like hell. So there it is, the whole truth."

Leala snorted then, trying to cover it up with a cough, as she stared at Chance's... diminutive stature and hairy feet, trying to imagine the girl who would run off broken-hearted after he left her.

Rosie had no problem with short men and hairy feet as a general rule, but Chance's story seemed a little... lacking in details. The "running like hell" part did seem true to character, though, so she pretty much bought it (with a few reservations). "So," Rosie asked, "is the guild going to keep sending attackers after you? Those can't have been the last."

Cal too, wasn't all that happy about the way things were going. But he assured himself that even the famous adventurers must have had a bad gig or two in the beginning.

Chance looks to Leala with a smirk, he knew that her cough wasn't really a cough to begin with. Turning to Rosie, Chance replied, "We should be relatively safe once we are out of Fremontia and by the time we get back they won't have a need to send men after me." Searching the gazes of everyone in the party, a slight frown appeared on Chance's face when he could tell that not a single member trusted him nor believed that if something truly dangerous attacked him Chance didn't think no one would hesitate to save him. "Look, if you guys don't want to be apart of this quest, I understand. After what has happened already I wouldn't blame you for not trusting me either. Either way it's probably not safe to camp in the same place now that they know where we are." With that Chance packed up his stuff, he didn't have much, and started to walk away from the fire light. Not turning back to see if any were going to follow him, the hafling truly hoped that his honesty in the speech would cause anyone to second guess leaving the quest, but he didn't really expect anyone to follow after what had just happened.

Leala couldn't do anything but look at the others. She usually wasn't one for following the group, but in this case, she didn't have any previous experience to base her decision off of. This was all sort of new territory for her. Leala glanced at her bags and then at the retreating halfling, still stuck on whether or not to follow him.

Silvia lets out a sigh. "Is he trying to make up for his height by cramming his life full of melodramatic events?" she says to those left in the group. Indeed, Chance seemed to call a lot of attention to himself, and it was a little bit annoying, but overall harmless. She begins gathering up her things as well and follows the halfling, hoping she won't regret this decision later.

Cal sighs. "I don't care where we stay next, but there'd better be ale enough for the lot of us." With that, he packs his stuff, slings it on his back, and asks mostly to Rosie, but addresses everyone else as well; "You coming?"

"Suppose so," Leala said, muttering as she packed. She sheathed her sword, finally, after wiping it briefly with a cloth-there was barely any blood on it, but it was old enough without Leala having to deal with rust. Leala hoisted up her pack and began to follow Silvia.

Rosie put a few last things into her pack and hefted it over her shoulder. "Yeah, alright." She began to trudge after the small figure rapidly fading into the darkness.

And so everyone follows Chance and continues with his quest for the Rusiel, though at this point all are mainly motivated by curiosity and money. What lies ahead for our adventurers? There's a light

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The Rusiel