Survival in Aeolith: Chapter 1

[IHateMakingNames]

Major resistances against the Overlord were a rare thing in Aeolith. While the majority of the world hated the Overlord, including people aligned to him, their fear of his power easily outweighed the hate. Now a days most resistances were a small group of fighters blindly attacking the Overlord, only to be crushed.

One of these groups had just been formed. They had some how gotten onto a ship from Jade, heading towards the Unnamed Islands, to prevent the Overlord's trolls from claiming it all for themselves.

OOC: Interact and stuff.

[Tarrin]

Breythor stood on the deck, The salt spray drifting up to fill his nose with it's fishy smell, The group had been on the ship for a little while now and he was getting stir crazy.

He regulary stayed on deck where he had room to move, To breath the fresh air, Below deck got stuffy quick the stale smell of what passed for alcohol these days stifling any air that wafted down there.

Soon they would reach land, Hopefuly in the next few days. The crew of the ship were profesionals, They had lived their lives on the sea and as such the trip had been smooth, Apart from one storm but nothing was perfect.

Breythor let his mind drift off again, Thinking of thick jungles and open planes, Places where he could roam and hunt.

[Inbred Chocobo]

Fredrick was up on deck as well, disgusted by the smell of the dead fish and the agonizing salt that came forth from the sea. Though Fredrick knew that this would be a smell he would have to be familiar with, due to the fact they were heading towards the islands, so he stayed up there and endured it.

Getting in the group was unbelievably easy, all he had to do was tell about how his family was killed by the orcs under the Overlords control, and how he vowed to one day do something about it. Quite funny really, but Fredrick didn't let even a smirk come up and show. He was on business after all, and had to make this journey hard on them, and then once the moment was right, kill them off.

[Flarecobra]

Gina looked out over the water in her humanoid form, and sighed. It had been a year since she had left her home, looking for allies in her people's fight to recover their stolen lands, now blasted into a large arciepeligo. All trip back, there was only one thing on her mind: Coming back home to what was left of her village....if it was still there.

[Dark Seraphim]

Pardalis looked out over the water in his humanoid form, and sighed. He ran his hand through his hair, which he had shorn and dyed deep red since his illfated raid. As the first warrior Gina had hired, he took it upon himself to gather a small amount of arms as well as spreading the lead to other mercenaries.

The ship carried around 50 pounds if swords, axes, shields, daggers and other arms. It also carried the handful of warriors that were recruited. Pardalis paid the captain a small fortune, as well as promising to leave his spine were it is, to smuggle them.

The feline fighter checked his map, and looked to the sea again. The outline of the island slowly faded into view. He could taste blood in his throat. He subconcously formed a magic dagger. He would die by the time this job was over, but he would land a major blow and the monster that ruled the land.

[Heliomance]

Tanor was sitting below decks, ignoring everything that was going on around him. In one hand he was holding a small glass ball, in the other he had conjured an illusion of a person. He was trying to work out a way to combine the two, to make it so that anyone, even a non-magic user, could call the illusion out of the globe. It didn't bother him what everyone else thought, he was in a world of his own as he wrestled with the problem.

[Whightwolf]

“Why am I here?” Lucas gazed out across the rolling blue of the open sea, his human eyes seeing less than his true form but it made the sailors more comfortable around him. So different from the veldt of home. So far away, but what was there to keep him there any more? For most of the resistance that had raised him he was a painful memento of what had been. Glancing around his ‘companions’ what was there? A harlequin troupe of broken dreams and empty hopes.

Because that’s all I am. One last stab would be fun and this snake woman had certainly earnt his help, and his trust for that matter. But all the same, something deep in his bones said his last stand should be in the Jade with his kin.

Before he was born.

Even as the werewolf’s thoughts turned melancholy a shadow fell across him.

OOC: anyone feel free to be bothering the wolf-man. This is an unusual low point for him, he should snap back to cheerful in a little bit lol.

[Inbred Chocobo]

The salty ruined smell of the sea still lingered on, but Fredrick thought he could bear it. He rose from his position, having been sitting there for hours he rose slowly, stretching a bit in place to get the blood flowing again. Maybe its time to learn about these fools. Fredrick thought, as he walked up beside Pardalis.

He with basic speaking distance, and leaned on a rail, looking outward towards the island. "We are getting close. But were are we going once we land?"

[Tarrin]

"We are getting close. But were are we going once we land?"

Breythor heard Fredrick asking Pardalis, Breythor didn't know what it was but he always got a "feeling" when talking to the human, Seeing as the rest of the party never voiced an ill will to the hunter, Breythor held his thoughts to himself.

That never stopped Breythor from making sure he and Fredrick were never alone together, He did make it very quiet though giving bad vibes off would have spooked the whole gang.
Deciding to listen in from his current position Breythor let the conversation continue.

[Heliomance]

"Ah-hah!"
Tanor gave an exclamation of satisfaction as the illusion combined with the globe and vanished. He rubbed the globe, and smiled as a full-sized illusion of the Overlord appeared in front of him. Rubbing the globe again to deactivate the image, he set to work on another globe. This one happened much faster than the first, now he knew how to do it, and he set about making several of the illusion-trinkets. He had a feeling they might be useful at some point.

[Dark Seraphim]

"There's a village near the coast," Pardalis answered the hunter. "I'm not sure who besides humans live there. We'll get a detailed report from them, and send a recon on the trolls. We'll play the rest by ear." He looked back to the island.

"Breythor! You and Franklin get everyone ready. We're landing soon." He could sense the other panther's distrust of the human, and found morbid amusement in having them work together. "I'm gonna go get the cargo ready."


OOC: Yeah, we know there's no humans, but the character doesn't.

[Inbred Chocobo]

OOC: Its Fredrick by the way if your refering to me.

IC: Fredrick nodded with this info. He knew the only thing on those islands were trolls, nothing more. If Pardalis thought that they were getting help from the humans there. Well, he would let him find out on his own the reality.

Though for some reason Fredrick looked like he was stuck with the panther on doing recon. It would be a good opportunity to gain Breythor's trust, since he seemed the most distrusting of the entire group.

[Flarecobra]

"My people live there." Gina said, partly turning around. "And I'd advise agenst going to surface villages. Those are most likely Troll controlled." she said as she walked over. "We've only got a couple of underground ones left on the larger islands such as the one we're going to, though it might be a tight fit for some of you that are larger, as the tunnels we use arn't that big."

[Gorefiend]

Rozel stood on the bow, leaning against the railing on the side of the ship. Ahead he could begin to see the islands, clustered and covered in thick jungle. Behind were a few stray hands on their way to the drinking below, and a few of his companions. The sea breeze was cool on his hair the spray hit his skin. He'd decided that, for the time being, he'd pretend to be a human.

Why did I join these guys?

Rozel already had his doubts. He'd never attached himself to any resistance group for longer than one night, and he knew why.

Resistance groups always lose to the Overlord. It's just the way things are. I bet we're doomed.

He looked at his companions. Their leader and boss was, to put it bluntly, a thing. He couldn't quite figure out what she was, but she wasn't a human, or a lycan, or an orc, so "thing" would do until he figured it out. There were also a human, a werepanther, and a werewolf. The rest of them were below deck, somewhere, or out of his sight for the time being. He hadn't really met any of them, and hadn't formed opinions of them, so he walked to them, smiling and trying to be friendly.

"Hi."

[Tarrin]

Breythor! You and Franklin get everyone ready. We're landing soon."

A low low growl eminated deep from within his throat, Why in hell's name did Pardalis have to always team him up with the human...."Oh well" Breythor thought "better get this done".
"You take the front, I'll take the back Fredrick!" The name eased from Breythors mouth, No smile crossed his lips, It wasn't because of the human.... tho that may have stopped him, Breythor didn't smile or hadn't since any of the team had met him.

As they neared the stairs to the lower deck Breythor waited for his new partner to go first, Trust was a hard thing earned from this warrior, But once you had it he would protect you till death.

[IHateMakingNames]

After more sailing, the ship finally reached the Unnamed Islands. They landed on one of the eastern islands, because it was unlikely that the trolls had gotten that far yet, since they were advancing from the west.

The ship would stay docked on the island for a few days, to let the rebels explore and decide what to do. The captain refused to stay longer then a week though, since if he stayed any longer the trolls would find him, or wild beasts would. Either way all of the crew would be killed.

Luckily for Gina, this particular island was home to a lamia village. Unfortunately, she would find it abandoned.

[Flarecobra]

Gina was one of the first off, and led them along some trails that seemed to be quite well-stamped down. Then after about 3 miles in, she stopped at a moss-covered rock. "Ok, this will be a tight fit." She said, pushing it aside, revealing a narrow tunnel leading into a mounten. She knew that if something happoned to the small coastal village, then they'd take refuge in the tunnels, where they could wait out, and hopefully repel, attackers. However, agenst the trolls they've been nothing more then an annoyance.

[Heliomance]

Tanor stood up and wandered over to Gina.
"How good's your knowledge of the area?" he asked.
"Quite good, why?"
Tanor moved his hand towards her head, then hesitated. "Is it alright if I read your mind? I can get your local knowledge and turn it into a map so everyone can see it."

[Inbred Chocobo]

Fredrick looked over towards Gina as she inspected the rock. "Breythor, lets figure out whats in the local area. I don't want to get ambushed on the first day out here." Fredrick started to move on, expecting Breythor to follow and leaving the rest to do as they pleased.

[Tarrin]

Breythor may not like the human, However he was right. Getting a platoon of trolls come up behind you in that small an area was not a good idea.

Following Fredrick he made his way to the front of the group, Always bothered by the feeling of eyes on him, Eyes not in the imideate vacinity but eyes none the less.

[Flarecobra]

With a loud grunt, and pushing with all of her might, Gina moved the rock out of the way, revealing a narrow tunnel. "Hey, we're going in here!" She said, and quickly ran behind a bunch of bushes. "Give me a second!" she called out to them as she started to get her pants off, while scales started to appear on her now-exposed legs. Soon, she was fully transformed. "Man, it's good to get back to my true self..." She said to herself, as she picked up the pants and put them in her small pack. She slithered back out and said "Ok, the tunnel is narrow, so we'll have to go single file. I'll lead." She said, as she slithered into it.

[Gorefiend]

So she's a Lamia! Rozel thought. He'd been uncomfortable thinking of her as "thing," and having an actual species felt more appropriate. Despite the fact he was hiding his species himself.

Rozel moved ahead, and looked down the tunnel. It was narrow and a bit low, and looked long. He'd never really seen anything like it, but he resolved to go through it. I survived that trip, and I'll survive this. With that, he ducked his head slightly, felt his decision to mascarade as a human--which made him shorter--was a good one, and followed Gina in.