Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The swordsman, the pirate and the hyena (closed)

Not seeing the humor in things today the gnoll headed over to the remains of the rifle-using bandits. Now Flavio's own musket required serious repairing it'd be better to find an alternative, or perhaps even a replacement.

It wasn't only the rifles he was after, he'd feel their pockets as well while he was at it, perhaps he could find more bullets or powder, his own powder horn was nearly empty by now.

"O' course I did, lad. When else will ya get a chance ta see a person get devoured by someone ya have ta travel with?" Bender justified as he walked Ghen'Drak back to the group.

Roughart too joined the group around Brenniken and gurgled loudly as he spat onto her hair."Bitch." He mumbles. Brenniken ignores the thick Orc spit that was flowing down into her neck."If there was anyone else, they'd have run by now, so yes. That was everyone. Are you happy now, you motherless bastard?" She snapped at Arien.

Roughart kneeled down next to her."Why did we even capture her? We should just cut off her head and be done with it!" Bender shook his head."No, that's just stupid. She's a criminal boss for cryin' out loud. I'm pretty sure there's a ransom on 'er pretty lil' head."

Arien watched as Flavio went in pursuit of rifles and powder horns--he didn't understand how it worked and was content enough with his sword not to have to worry about something blowing up in his hands.

He grinned at Brenniken. "Not too far off the mark there. You outta be careful what you say, seein' as how you're outnumbered." Not that he would do anythingto her. He did look at Bender. "Does she have a reward? That would be good."

With a collection of rifles and powder, he'd pick the best one later, he walked back over to his two companions. At long last his grin had returned, accompanied by his general good mood. "You'd give a gnoll you still have to travel with a fresh taste of your own kind?" The sharpshooter asked Bender with a rhethorical tone to his voice.

Flavio gives the woman a little kick, just his way of petty revenge. "Well lets load her up then. We'll have lots to trade when we finally arrive at the city."

Bender Of Iron Will checked Brennikens guns."Hey! Give those back, you fat 'n ugly oaf!" She yelled. She completely ignored Arien now, realising she won't get through to him. Bender looked down at her."Yer too noisy." With that he punched her unconcious with his steel arm."I ain't fat either. I'm just broad." He examined the two guns and threw the golden engraved one at Flavio."Useless thing, can't modify it. This 'ere clunky one is better." He said as he feld how the large pistol felt in his hand. He then put it in between his belt and picked up Brenniken over his shoulder. The old sea captain also made sure he got his former gun back from where Flavio dropped it."Well, if everyone's done lootin' we can head back. I'm sure Alexander missed us loads."

Bender would wait until everyone got what they needed. All Roughhart wanted to do was cut the trapped bandits as if they were piñatas. Bloody piñatas with guts in them instead of candy.

As soon as the group got back to the carts, Bender looked in shock at what he saw."What in the hell happened here!!?" It seemed as if something had attacked the unprotected carts as the group was fighting. Delaborgio's cart was completely wrecked. His boxes were scattered everywhere, most of them intact. Bender's cart was fine, although a few of his boxes fell out as well and were broken. The red powder was seeping from the cracks and some black slime was seeping through another box.

What was worse was the stench of death. Alexander's corpse lied in between the dead branches and the grass. The poor man had a huge gaping hole through his stumach from which his entrails had been scattered behind him. From the looks of it he meant to escape whatever attacked them. From Segrid there was no sign, neither of the elven prisonor. Only puddles of blood could tell what happened. Barton's corpse was to be found as well however. He was underneath some of Bender's broken boxes. His blood got mixed with some of the red powder. All of the horses were dead too, except for two of Alexander's, who for some reason remained dead silent.

Arien opted for backtracking through his traps to ensure they had all been sprung. Satisfied that they had been, he looted whatever Flavio hadn't--coming up with a handful of purses that, while not loaded, were probably not lawfully gained either judging by the materials and wide variety. He happened across extra wrapping material, which he took to bind his bleeding arm. He would attend to it properly later, when he had time.

"Well, I'm done looting," Arien murmured, following Bender back to the carts. He nearly lost his stomach again at the sight of the carnage. "Oh no!" What had happened here? And seeing Alexander's body gutted was giving him the shudders.

He unsheathed his sword and turned to look around them; what was going on? Who had attacked them?

Flavio had no trouble stomaching the carnage, it was the strong smell that got him. The one of death was not too smelly to him, but the combination of the black goo and the red powder made him spring a little fountain from his mouth.

He whiped the puke off his lips and ran hunched over tot the side, the scent was certainly not subsiding, and he couldn't stand it.

Having already puked his lunch out earlier there wasn't much else to get out of his stumach. By now the smell had been accustomed to. Bender Of Iron Will went to his cart to see the ravage. He sighed in relief that the damage was only minimal, though he had lost a few of his goods.

Ghen'Drak started to panick."Where's my sister!? She's not among the corpses! She might still be alive!" Though she could not walk well, she attempted it anyway, but wasn't strong enough to take even one step."Your sister's probably hauled off by whatever attacked here. Be glad, that means more pay for us." Roughart answered. The disraught Orc couldn't believe her ears."Segrid fought alongside us, she's our sister! And you'd let her go over... profit!?" She spat at him. Roughart shrugged."It's not like Alex's gonna use it, is he?" "I have news for you, Roughart. Dead or not, we're still honorbound to him. Don't touch his belongings! They are not yours until we can share in all honesty with Segrid." The wounded Orc turned around to the group."And I must ask you to do the same. These things are not yours, not until I've found my sister, you were under his employment, so you have earned the right of a share. But for now you must wai-"

Turning around was her worst mistake. Roughart had unsheathed his axe in pure rage and smashed it through her skull whilest she wasn't looking. A sickening crunch ended Ghen'Drak's speech as her lifeless body fell to the floor."Alex won't use it, and neither will you." Roughart said in a dark tone."And you lot better move on! This stuff belongs to me alone! Get out of here before I kill the lot of you as well!" He shouted angrilly.

Arien hadn't paid too much attention to the spat going on--he figured it would be relatively harmless and it would be resolved by either Bender or Flavio. So when he heard the blow of the axe connect with bone, he whipped around to see what had happened.

"Oh no! Hey! You can't just go claiming all this stuff. It doesn't all belong to you." Arien flexed his hand as though contemplating taking on Roughart, but he barely had the strength to make a fist--let alone wield his sword. And up against a battle-axe, strength or at least cunning was needed. And he was tapped out as far as teleporting went.

Except he had rope. Lots of rope from when his previous traps had been sprung. Though most of it was sawed off into pieces, he could still fashion together a couple of short snares. He'd just have to get close enough...yeah, no. That wasn't going to work. Roughart would just split him in two like he had with Ghen'Drak.

"Flavio! Can you do something about this?" He'd seen the hyena pick up a few rifles and powder horns.

When the axe struck the female orc, Flavio too snapped to attention. He gave Roughart a confused look, sure the gnoll had been plotting, but he'd hoped that the orc would at least not start anything right after a battle. But actually the gnoll wondered if the orc still considered him a part of the deal, he had very clearly said the word alone after all.

"Hey Roughart! What is the idea here!?" Flavio asked, taking a rifle from his back and pointing it towards the green brute. It wasn't probably loaded, but the orc didn't have to know that, in fact Flavio himself hadn't checked the guns yet so it might very well be. "Did you engineer all this?" The sharpshooter waved a hand over the carnage.

"Don't even try it, Gnoll!" Roughart warned Flavio."You know just as much as I do that if your shot misses, you and your little friends are doomed! And no, you stupid mutt, when was I supposed to plan anything out at all? Alex had his filthy eyes on me twenty-four seven!" The Orc seemed to calm down ever so slightly."And you? You're wrong, pretty boy. It does belong to me! I am the only survivor of Alex's guards! I have spend years in employment for that bastard, only so he could criticize me on every turn! And now becuase he hired you three misfits for a few hours, you think you're obliged to any of this!? NO! I'm giving you one chance to walk away from this!"

Bender Of Iron Will had drawn his pistol as well. He knew Brenniken had loaded this one, but it also jammed when she tried to shoot Arien with it. It was very untrustworthy to try and use it now."Yer tellin' me that ya just killed yer friend just so ye could have a few goods? Lad, I've met some terrible people 'nd I've done some terrible things, but THIS? This sickens even me."

As the others talked an idea came to Arien and so he began to quietly and systematically tie the pieces of rope together, making a rudimentary net. It would only slow Roughart down, hopefully tripping him so that he wouldn't be able to swing that axe.

And if Arien could make it weighty enough he could probably even throw it. He carefully bent down to grab a couple of rocks for such a purpose.

"If my shot misses! I believe I've shown you multiple times by now that when everything works right missing isn't a thing I tend to do." The gnoll grinned back at the orc. Flavio made an act of sizing up the gun, in fact he was checking whether it was in fact loaded, but whether it was or not he acted like it was. "Seems perfect to me. I'll have you an extra eye before you've taken so much as a step."

The sharpshooter raises the gun, aiming it right at the orc. "Besides, should I miss, there's still this old man and the swordsman. You're quite outnumbered."

"Don't talk to me about morals, old man!" Roughart spoke out to Bender."You're a pirate! You stink of murder, and more than that!" Bender kept his aim at the raging Orc."Aye, lad. I did. Alot even, but never have I taken the live o' someone who'm I trust!" He was unsure wether his gun would work, or he would've shot him by now. If things were to turn for the worst, he still had his arm to protect the others.

As Roughart turned his gaze to Flavio, it was too late. Bender had disracted Roughart well enough for Flavio to take a shot. The enraged Orc had no time to react as the bullet raced through his forehead and emerged again, dropping to the muddy ground. Blood got splat over the remains of the wheel of Alexander's broken cart. The Orc managed to take a step back, only to fall down in front of the bloodied wheel whilest his gigantic axe fell on top of his gut.

Bender sighed and withdrew his gun."Nice shootin'." He said calmly."Take whatever box ya can fit on me cart, lads. Both o' ya will get a share o' whatever I can sell."

Arien wasn't aware he was holding his breath until the orc dropped after the cacophonous noise from the gun. He still wasn't used to that dratted noise.

"Good shot, Flavio," he told the sharpshooter. And then he looked down at the net he'd constructed. "Well, this should probably help with keeping things in place on the cart." See, he could be practical!

But as he went to help load up the cart, he gave the orc's body a wide berth. The poor sod had let glory and riches go to his head and hadn't thought about the repercussions of taking on three men at once. Arien glanced at Flavio and then Bender. If it came down to it, he wasn't sure he could prevent either of them from simply denying him his share. They were strong, formiddable, and skilled in their respective classes. He grunted as he hefted a box onto the cart--his arm throbbing. He was just happy to have made it through another skirmish alive.

Flavio sighed as he lowered the gun and hung it back over his back, then the gnoll laughed, it was a solemn little giggle, devoid of the usual maniacal tone. “Why thank you Arien, let me help you with that.” Eager to be away the gnoll tore a piece of cloth from the nearest merchant’s shirt, muttering a half-hearted apology as he did, and then tried to tie it around his muzzle so it covered his nose.

As soon as this was done the gnoll walked over to Arien to help him load the boxes, it was easy to see that despite the cloth, the sharpshooter was still smelling the contents of the box well enough, it only served to make him work faster, so he could be rid of this as soon as possible.

Bender Of Iron Will made sure to check every box before he loaded them onto his cart. They wouldn't be able to bring everything Delaborgio was carrying. Bender's cart was too small for that, so he made sure to only bring the most profitable. The dead merchant carried many tools as well as a few clothes. These would do just fine.

The old sea captain was rather quiet once everything got loaded up, the only time he spoke was to thank Arien for the net. It would deffinatly help. He even took Roughart's gigantic axe and threw it on top of the tower of boxes in the back of his cart. The broken box was inspected as well. As he picked the broken thing up, he saw Barton's corpse oozing terribly underneath the stains of the black sludge and the red powder that had gone liquid."Hrm. The Sparfish guts couldn't be saved. He ain't goin' to like that." Bender mumbled.

Bender wasn't particulary sad about the many deaths he had seen today. The man was used to that by now. He was more sad that he couldn't fulfill his promise of getting Alexander safely to Kurin's Pride. Loyalty was everything to Bender, not being able to fulfil the loyalty himself made him feel down. Before riding the final stretch towards the city the man took both corpses of Alexander and Ghen'Drak and placed them in the broken down cart. That seemed more fitting than keeping them in the dirt. They earned that much at least.

After everything has been done, Bender took Brenniken next to him on the cart. She was still unconcious, though still breathing steadilly."Right, lads. I don't think Kurin's Pride's far. I reckon we'll reach it after the sun's set."

((OOC: Changed the title a bit becuase Mr. Complaints had complaints. You know who you are! >:o ))

Arien finished loading the cart with a sigh, nodding briefly at Bender's thanks for the net. It was the least he could do, really, before clambering onto it as well to pass out. The combination of teleporting and the injury he'd sustained in battle taking its toll now of all times. And he'd rather not get left behind.

"If you need anything...wake me." And he was out cold; one hand gripping the pommel of his sword which bore a blue sapphire.

As soon as everything was done Flavio hopped on the cart as well, he chose a place away from the boxes and kept the cloth where it was. His intention was to check the rifles to determine the best one, although he'd keep them all. Despite his intentions, the gnoll too would doze off after a while, slumped over a rifle he was looking at.

Before Bender Of Iron Will would drive to the city, he took two of Alexander's surviving horses and tied them to his cart."Oh, ya lazy bumholes." Bender grumbled as he noticed them get in his cart. Bender was in pain as well. The battle left no one undamaged. But he could not take a rest. They were so close now.

As he drove, Bender sang a song to himself, and forced Brenniken to listen to it as well."From Isania's bloody shores we set sail. In search o' alcohol; the drunkards holy grail! For a pirate's life is empty without booze. When th' situation's dire, we got nothin' to lose. To Ranland we all ride, with vengeance on our minds. We'll kill the monks 'n get all drunk, come on lads, it's monk booze drinkin' time!"

After a few hours, at sundown, a loud windhorn would blow, followed by a bellowing voice which would wake even the deepest sleeper up."All aboard the Sepulcher! If you're headed for Reinstaten now is your last chance!" The sound of a creaking valve opening was heard as well.

Were the two sleepyheads to wake up, they would find that they have passed the woods and saw at least twenty large stone towers, covered in copper piping from which steam emerged from time to time. At the towers people were waiting in an orderly line as a gigantic zeppelin would land on top of the tower.

In the front Bender could see the magnificence of Kurin's Pride... or at least its wall. A large crevice seperated the city from the rest of the landscape. People as well as carts had to be lifted up on a wooden platform which got hoisted up by chains, operated by a person in one of the wall's many slender towers.

The only part visible in the city currently was the gigantic castle which was build on a hill. The many towers ended up in a point and had a flag ornamented to them. The windows seemed to have many shapes and the entire building was in symetry.