Glayp'neir (Arc 1)

Sharpe nods.

"Yeah, we'll just have to see how far the castle is from here exactly. I don't think Air's map has a scale on it. In the meantime, we should just keep to the road, then find the trails."

As he walks out of the city, he sees Doc notice something suspicious, and Sharpe notices it too. The patrols around the city have become more frequent and heavier. He starts to worry if now even he has a bounty on his head. He's not about to get branded an outlaw.

He holds up a bit and lets Airgetlam catch up to him.

"May I see the map?"

She blinks and gets it out of a pocket and hands the map to him.

"It should have a legend and scale on it... Oh, take this too."

She gives him a compass as well, and keeps walking. She pulls her hood over her head and hides her eyes under darkness, and pulls her cloak around her. She turns to face the other to members of the party.

"Do you guys know the area by any chance? And if we have to worry about something potentially more dangerous than wild animals? Like dumbass bandits with nuts for brains? Would really help so I can switch ammo."

She keeps her hand on her crossbow, but doesn't reveal it. She looks to the side and sees there is ample cover and shadows for her to take advantage of. If things get hairy, she can go quiet.

Dr. Atrium thinks, rubbing his chin as he does. "last time I left here, there was a group of wanna be assassins hiding in the woods around the town. They were people that were ether kick out of my family or wasn't accepted, but that was when they were still round. The rejects could of left by now, but I would careful."

The group makes their way out of the city of Recudor without problems. It seems to be a clear day for now but the air is humid and remains so for all of the morning. The group discusses a great many of things and gets to know each other a little further as they travel along the road leading out east away from the harbor city. Nothing seems amiss or out of the ordinary and the group heads up a great hill past some fields towards a forest and a mountain region. So far no sign of any bandits, castles or cultists of any kind.

It is noon by now and the group has been traveling for a few hours. The forest has a sudden start. Two paths branch off the main one and a small pond sits between the bend. Behind the pond a small river sends water rushing down from the mountain range behind the forest. It seems that there is a bit of a climb no matter which road they take, and according to the map they have it seems like both paths connect at the very top of the hill, inside the dense forest. On further inspection the group notices a bit of a steep small mountain range cutting the two paths in half with the river flowing in between it. On the right path there is some wooden structure deep in the woods, barely noticeable but enough to be seen from where the group stands. On the left path there are definite cart tracks though nobody seems to be able to tell whether they lead up or down the mountain. Still, there is no castle in sight but the sky is still a clear blue.

As the forest starts, Jian gets a bit of a flashback about when he was a kid, playing in a forest with his brother. There was a shrine in the center of it and people went there to pray or wish for things. It was his favorite place to go. The beautiful design of it always makes him feel happy about it. But now, thinking about it? Does the shrine still remain? Or was it destroyed by the other nation taking over? Who knows...

They keep walking and he hums the tune again. Always tailing everyone else, sometimes falling a bit behind during falling back into the past now and then. Shortly after, he starts to drink a bit, he tends to have a big thirst and hunger, even if his figure is not really speaking it for him.

He takes a deep breath, the air's nice.

"Well, so, is it even far? I have no idea. I never even bothered looking at the map since I am awake. What did I miss anyway, it seems like lots of things happened."

He kind of seeks answers and information, maybe something might come in handy later.

He notes Jian's reminiscing and decides to sit upon a random rock, resting the tip of his sword's scabbard on the ground like a cane. He's getting vibes that the place is serene, yet both contain possibilities for peril.

On the right, that wooden building in the distance. He shouldn't let the old stories get to him, of cannibals dragging of beautiful vixens and their lovers into the woods.

On the left, a trail that seems to have been used for commercial purposes, but perhaps might be home to those that would prey on trade caravans.

He looks out toward the middle. There is always that way, they could swim or walk along it's side.

They will need to seek higher ground anyway though, since it will make it that much easier to spot things from that high an altitude.

He looks over to party with an instinctive "Where should the wind take us?".

Airgetlam keeps walking until she gets to the actual fork. She looks both ways, but is herself unsure of where they should go. She sees what might be a house to the right, and figures maybe it might have people living in it. If anything, it might be a good place to rest.

She turns her shoulders a few degrees and looks back.

"I think we should go right. We've been up and about for a while."

Secretly, she's readying her crossbow and cycling the ammunition as a tic to keep focused. All while under her cloak of course.

"What about you guys? Sharpe's probably going to be impartial on the matter anyway."

Dr. Atrium looks in the directions that lay before him, then pulls out the golden compass that his sister gave him. the compass points to the right. that is all her needed. He puts it away and leans on a near by tree. "My vote is on going to the trail on the right, I can see a house over there too. Maybe there will be be someone willing to give us a hand. I don't know about you, but that would be must useful

Jian shrugs. He mentioned earlier that he'll just tag along and let them decide. Seems like they'll be heading towards the house then. He pulls out some of the spices in one of the pouches and rubs them into his mouth as they point and look around. He is pretty absent minded anyway, so he doesn't want to be in charge for maybe making a wrong descision. He was the one tailing them up to where they are now anyway. After a while he just falls back into thinking about the last few days, the mysterious woman and the past he spent with his brother in the forest at home.

After a while of deciding, the group heads up the right path towards the wooden structure. It's a little whiles away so the group begins traveling into the forest. The humidity inside the forest seemed a bit greater than outside of it. The vibrant smell of pines fills the air around them. As they move closer up the path the structure comes further and further into view. Behind a pair of enormous trees a small hut can be seen. Some sort of porch is visible, facing the path. And the worn down wood is overgrown with moss and mushrooms. Sticking out of the roof is a metal structure of sorts, rusted over and worn. It is a cone shape with a round sphere on the top and a few rusted boxes welded to the side. Whether the metal structure is part of the building or a foreign object is not clear from this perspective. Minutes of traveling later the group arrives at the hut. Its bigger than it seemed originally, with a small second floor that was previously obscured by trees. It is clear that nobody had lived here for quite a while. Cobwebs and dust have settled all over and throughout the house, and the molding wood is beginning to fall apart. The windows have mostly been smashed an the inside of the house is a mess. A broke dining table ontop of some charred ground surrounds itself with a burnt out fire place and destroyed closets and shelves. Pieces of glass and metal and random scraps of objects are littered everywhere through out the house.

A stack of papers lies in the corner of the house, the ink on them now long washed off and the letters unreadable. Underneath a collapsed set of stairs is a bed with faded green sheets and a dirty pillow and some photos on them. There are two photos and a letter. The letter itself is unreadable, its hand writing and language seemingly foreign. The only thing that can be made out is a bold font displaying "Alphonse Marcus Brigeutant". The first photo is of a castle entrance. The image is mostly blurry and faded but its contents non the less disturbing. A mutilated body lays next to its severed and consumed arm, overgrown by plants with blood spilled everywhere. Inside the arch leading into the castles courtard is a pole with a woman sitting tied up to it. Her face had been torn off or destroyed somehow, and her arms ripped off brutally...
The second image is a photo clearly taken by the police. It bears a man with very light hair and a fancy collar that suggests very expensive attire. He has a small cut on his eyebrow and over his nose and bears a smug visage while holding up a plate with his name and a number. The plate also reads "Marcus Alphonse" but there is nothing else of note there.

There doesn't seem to be anything else of interest inside the abandoned house. No people, not even bodies, no blood or signs of recent vacation. The upstairs is clearly too unstable to be walked on but then, the stairs are out anyway. Behind the house is a small greenhouse with rotting fruits and vegetables and some pouches with different seeds in it.

"Well," Sharpe says "This is certainly an excellent honeymoon getaway."

He looks about, trying to find maybe a chest.

"Wonder if they last occupants left anything good?"

He goes up to a box chest and goes to open it, but at the slightest touch it cracks and falls into dust and particles. A bunch of spiders and a centipede here and there crawl away out of what's left and scatter.

"Well... shit..."

He frowns and lowers his eyebrows. He turns to Airgetlam.

"Air, go see what's in the greenhouse besides biohazard."

She nods and walks on out the back door into the yard. She looks left and right, surveying the yard. It was beautiful once, she can feel it. someone had cared for what was here. She goes into the greenhouse, the glass door being unlocked conveniently, and inside is the smell of dirt, but also rotted vegetables and fruit. Nothing edible here, but there are some seeds that might be useful if they had room to plant them, however they have no permanent home. She takes them anyway in case she can get a place in her home town. She notices something else, sparkling. It's a note with a ring beside it, and a sapphire inlaid in it. It's tucked away out of sight, and the reading is indecipherable. She takes it as well, not knowing if maybe someone in the party might be able to read it, but it is worth a shot anyway. She hears her name again and proceeds to walk outside, but takes a last look. She sighs at such decay and leaves.

Dr. Atrium take the photo of "Alphonse Marcus Brigeutant", he stares at the man's face and fetchers, memorizing them. He then tuck the photo into his inside pocket and walks around the house. He tries to read some of the papers but they just fall apart in his hands. He then walks the odd figure trying to figure out what it could be. He starts to feel around it, maybe there is a hidden lever or button that will help them find out more of this house and it's secrets.

Jian walks in and takes a look around.

"Well this looks kinda old now, doesn't it? My god, it must've been ages since somebody came here."

He carefully takes a step further in, you never know if this house might collapse if somebody's doing a wrong move. He then approaches the stairs up, trying to go there. He then hesitates and decides not to, crashing down might not be too useful. He turns around and decides to not stay here much longer, he doesn't want to rest here either.

"Well I doubt we can use this to sleep, I'd rather sleep outside or something"

He yells and frowns afterwards. Then sits down outside to drink a bit more. He then proceeds to tell the others to let him know when there's something interesting to see.

Upon closer examination the doctor understands this structure is not part of the initial design of the building. It was put there by someone, but what purpose it once had is unclear but it was very clearly broken and unusable. For a brief moment the whole group feels watched. In the distance behind the house Jian spots a pair  of glowing orange eyes in the distance but they move behind a tree and disappear from sight. Meanwhile the doctors compass vibrates softly in his pocket, but no dots are showing up. Neither blue nor red.

Sharpe feels the hair on his neck stand up and an alertness running down his arms into his hands. There is something here, he can tell. He walks into another room, what looks like a study and finds a great many old books, none of which look potentially useful. He gets that feeling again, and hears something outside, like twigs and leaves and other forest floor debris being crushed under foot. Jian's only on the front porch, and Air's out back. Can't be Doc either, he's busy with the building.

He quietly and carefully reaches for his sword, and tries to minimize the sound of it being drawn out of the scabbard. The blade shimmers with a glint and the reflection of his eyes. He keeps his arm relaxed, but his grip no less tight and in a ready position.

We've been followed, or something really does live here.

Airgetlam begins walking back into the house, when she spots a pair of orange eyes, or spheres in the distance that soon disappear. She feels her blood rush a little and her heart beats a little fast. She brandishes her crossbow and cycles the bolts. Two regular bolts and a sleep bolt. She stops for a moment, keeping the weapon at hip-height. She begins taking steps back into the house, and closes the back door. She finds Sharpe in a side room, his sword drawn.

"You see eyes, too?" she whispers, but he shakes his head.

She looks a bit more to find Doc, and she puts her hand on his shoulder.

"We've got company."

She walks out to Jian and taps his shoulder as well, nodding. He must have seen them as well. Everyone inside, she backs away, melting into the shadows.

Felling the vibrations through his coat, he pulls out the compass. He frowns when he sees that there are no dots letting him know where the...what ever it is, is out there. He pulls out two scalpels in his left hand and has his right hand on the giant scalpel. He looks around for what ever could be out there. He closes his eyes and starts to tune out all unnecessary noises. He stands still, listening to the best of his ability when he hears a twig snap. With one quick motion he throws a scalpel as hard as he can at the duration where he heard the noise. When he opens his eyes he sees that the scalpel is sticking in a tree. Hearing a painful yelp he sees that when he threw the scalpel it slashed acrossed Air's left arm. Panicking he rushes over to her. "Are you ok? I am sorry, I didn't mean too...I-I'm not used to traveling with anyone so when I do that trick I don't have to worry about anyone getting hurt."

Jian sets down his bottle and gets up.

"You have to be more careful man! Even if you're not used to travelling with people, instant actions with such a risk are not really something you should take regardless! Thank god it's just the arm!"

He kind of flails his arms around, he is a bit panicking even. After a few minutes he settles down though and pulls his blade. He lets the side of it run across his fingers and lets 1-2 drops of blood run out. He then Rubs it onto his charm.

"I do this to keep myself going. Blood on the charm is a symbolisation for me that things might turn serious. My charm then keeps telling me that I might spill my own blood in a battle. Regardless of that, I still am pretty scared and I feel like avoiding this fight."

He trembles as he talks, still looking if Airgetlam is okay. She seems not too wounded thankfully. He tells the doc once more to be a bit more careful and walks up to Sharpe, just nodding to signify that he's ready.

For a moment everything is quiet. Then some sort of growl tears through the humid air and a child's panicked scream comes from behind the greenhouse. The crash of glass alerts the group further and a shadowy creature leaps into the treeline and disappears as well as the soft rumbling of the doctors compass.. Some crying catches their attention again as a little girl, bruised with deep scratches in her arm and dirt and blood on her clothes stumbles from behind the greenhouse. She cries and cries and keeps on walking, confused and shocked.

"Firstly! Sometimes shit can smell blood! Goes for both of you! Secondly I need you to cover me!"

Sharpe runs out, sword drawn and slides next to the girl.

"How bad? On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?" As he slides in, he pulls out his pistol and flips the safety off.

He points the gun towards the treeline, swiftly running it end-to-end, tree trunk to tree trunk, hunting for a target.

"I got nothin'!"

Without an answer, he sheathes the sword and snatches the girl up, bringing her inside. He's too high on adrenaline to notice her features. just that she's injury and in pain and he must move urgently.

"I'm fine Doc, but I'd rather you see to the girl."

She doesn't really care for the wound as it's not too deep at all, merely a glacing shot. She's had worse. She takes out her crossbow and aims it, her arm a pulsing a little, but it does not hamper her aim. She looks about, but nothing can be seen. She sighs and melts back into the shadows.

"Sharpe's right though, letting blood might make things worse since the scent of blood is very strong. Iron is a strong aroma."

Dr. Atrium mumbles about how it was an accident and he know about how blood shouldn't be spilled. He rushes over to the little girl and looks her over quickly. He deems her well enough to move her so he carefully picks her up and carries her over to the front of the house. he unrolls one of his sleeping bags and puts her on it. The little girl is confused and panicking, he needs to quickly test her to make sure that...thing...didn't poison her and to make sure that the little girl doesn't have any internal bleeding.

"Hun, I need you to sit still." He tells her as gently as he can, but she is still wiggling around. Getting an idea he hands the girl the cat. "Here. If you sit still, I will let you pet my kitty."

This seems to work, the little girl hugs and pets the cat. He pulls out his charm and starts his scan over her body.

Jian moves up to Sharpe, covering his back to see if there might be somebody ambushing them. His view shifts through the woods. He flips his blade around a bit, trying to keep himslef focused on what might happen. He still trembles though, every fight brings up fear, which can make the combatant vulnerable. He keeps looking outside the windows, as they're all inside, trying to make out where somebody or something could be. His breathing starts to be mor controlled, he tries to concentrate and spot any smaller misplacement. He can't see anything regardless and gives up on trying too hard to make out something.

As the little girl plays with the cat, the cat is clearly not happy about it. It makes aggressive sounds towards the girl but she doesn't seem to mind and continues to pet it. After a short while the cat wiggles itself free from her grip and jumps off, running a bit into the distance and continuing to make aggressive sounds in their general direction.

A rustling shakes the trees outside near Jian and Sharpe, and then another tree next to it. With a strong leap a small squirrle jumps out of the trees and lands on the roof of the house, then jumps down onto the ground and runs off into the distance.

Back over with the doctor and the little girl, the doc tries to fix her up as good as he can when suddenly her eyes are coated black with glowing orange pupils. Her mouth turns wide and tiny sharp teeth make their way towards the doc as the girl rushes at him from the ground.