War of the Dragons

[Flarecobra]

It was a rather typical day in Toran. Merchents selling off their goods, convoys on their way to Ft. Odia stopping for a rest and supplies, A few solders heading to the local pub. Draca Made her way though the crowds to a cart that was selling some fruits. Just then, a rather burly man shoved her out of the way, saying "Outta the way mage!" Getting up and brushing herself off, she let out a low growl, not really loud enough to be heard. If it wasn't for the fact that Toran was so close to dragon terrortory, and anti-dragon sentiment, she wouldn't be having the robe on, and she wouldn't put up with having to keep her draconic features secret. In her whole life, aside from her mother, there was only one other person who knew what she really looked like underneath the robe, and that was the town's doctor.

"Man, I hate guys like that." She said to the merchent after he left, while picking out some peaches. "Yeah, but that's a fact of life now. Besides, you know those guys dislike mages" the guy said, taking the payment for the peaches. Draca just nodded that she understood and walked back, holding the bag of fruit close to her so as not to squish them.

[Squishy Cheeks]

satsu was getting strange looks. He was used to that. Most people were not used to seeing forrest elves in town. Satsu rubbed his hand through his short cropped hair. His guitar strap was getting tangled with his bow he took his attention from where he was going to untangle the strap. He walked into a cloaked girl bearing fruit, knocking her over. "Oh terribly sorry, miss. I wasn't watching my way." He beant to help her up.

[Flarecobra]

"Man, second time in the last few minutes." Draca said, quickly getting back up. Looking over the bag, she said "At least no damage was done."

[Raerlynn]

Galen walked over to the merchant. There seemed to be an altercation of some kind. The man had knocked over a strange figure in robes, and then pulled the figure up. Galen approached and asked the strange figure, "Is there a problem here gentlemen?"

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Well first off it would be lady and Gentlemen, and I'm not really sure how gentile I am." Satsu said to the new comer. "Everything ok miss?" Satsu sad to the cloaked women with a smile.

[Raiden]

Suroz walked through the town, and was recieving many dirty looks. Well, not him specifically, but his Gold Dragon. Ryu-yuuki was bounded happily by his side, like a puppy. But he was far from a puppy. The 6 ft. long golden scaled reptile could easily injure a person. Suroz was going to leave him waiting out in the forest until he got back, because of the strong anti-dragon feelings of the people in this town. But the dragon kept whining, and finally, Suroz let him come. Suroz had to purchase some supplies, but first, he needed a drink.

He found a bar that had some tables outside. He liked to sit outside than inside. When you're inside a bar, chances are higher that he'd get into a fight. He pushed the door open, and walked in, with Ryu-yuuki closely following. Several heads turned when they entered, and many of them were unfriendly. An especially bold one got up and prodded his finger in Suroz's chest.

"Hey, you! No dragons allowed! Get that monster out of here, before we have to make you." A couple of the other men got up to try and help out. Suroz simply smiled and tried to hold back a laugh. He put his face really close to the man's face.

"I don't see any problem with him being here." Suroz grabbed the man's shirt, and with a heave, he tossed him against the wall. He reached to his back and pulled his sword out, and imbedded the point of the blade in the wall by the man's head.
"You don't have a problem with it either, do you?" The man shook his head.
"Good."

[Raerlynn]

Galen blinked and looked closer at the figure in the robe. "What in the name of...! You've dragonsblood!"

Galen blushed and stammered quickly, "I'm dreadfully sorry lady, I had no idea!"

[Forever Zero]

Mag sat in a dark corner of the bar, silentley and slowly drinking his drink, he watched the confrontation at the entrence. <A volatile man, someone to watch out for.> He thought, taking another drink and waiting for his informant to arrive with news of the location if the chosen one.

[Bob the Mercenary]

A small elf moved through the crowded marketplace like a shadow, headed towards the commotion that had just taken place. He spied the area and considered the situation. One man, an elf, a merchant, and...a woman. The more the merrier. He approached the group of strangers from the south, staying low and to the shadows. He saw the elf had absentmindedly entangled his guitar with his bow. Let me help you with that.

He drew his dagger.

The elf with the guitar was helping the woman up and another approached as well. Now was his chance. He sprinted from his hiding place, in a flash he severed the guitar straps and disappeared into the streets with the instrument. It had only felt like a gust of wind to the group. It was daylight out, but he knew he would have enough of a head start before the man noticed his sudden loss of weight.

[Squishy Cheeks]

ooc: Now that's just rude.

Satsu in a flash knocked an arrow and pinned the thief through the bicep to a post. The crowd parted for the archer. "I'll be taking my property back me boyo." He said taking the guitar from the elven theif. "What's it coming to these days. Elves robbing elves."

[Bob the Mercenary]

The young elf hung helplessly from the street post. His own bow at his feet. He had never underestimated another elf before. But...it was another elf. The blinding pain wasn't something new to him, although he was somewhat impressed by the marksmenship of the elf. Should have gone for the bow.

[Raerlynn]

A burst of wind and a short flash blazed in front of Galen, almost knocking him over.

"What in the name of the dark armies was that?!"

Then he noticed that his acquaintance seemed to have lost his instrument. Then he blinked...and saw the thief pinned by his bicep. Looking back at his acquaintances, he noticed that the man had drawn, nocked, and fired a bow all in a fluid rapid motion.

Galen stepped forward and looked the little one straight in the eye. "Most impressive. I've not seen anything alive or dead that moved that fast before..."

Looking back at the other elf and the woman, he noticed the elf had grabbed his guitar back. "Should we turn this one in to the guard?"

[Flarecobra]

(OOC) Raerlynn, there's a reason she has the robe on. It's so that she can HIDE the fact that she's part dragon. So even upon closer inspection, the only thing that gives away the fact that she's not fully human is her unusual eye color. So for the RP We're all going to act like that one post never happoned.


"I'm fine." Draca said, then in a sudden burst of commoation ended up with another elf being pinned to a wall. With a quick whistle she said "Talk about skill." Since it seemed that it was dying down, she decided to start back on her way home before the crowd got busy again.

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Oh thank you, you practice as long as I have and you should be able to do that no problem. I wouldn't have minded so much if he'd gone for my purse. This however" He brandished the guitar. "Has sentamental value." He begins strum a few cords adjusting the strings a little.

[Bob the Mercenary]

The elf continued to watch the group as they spread. Although one was a little too close to his face for comfort. He noticed the minstrel had begun to strum at his instrument. Preoccupied, the minstrel did not notice the elf begin to utter his spell. "Angsha kertian laia fislarmus luar fisatear baequirae." There was a blinding sustained flash of light from the medallion on the elf's necklace. The light was brighter than the sun. After about three seconds, the light dissipated...and the elf (and his bow) were gone. All that remained was a blood stained arrow jutting out from the post.

[Raiden]

Suroz was simply gulping down his hard ale, when a flash spread across the town. It blinded him for a few seconds, and he heard Ryu-yuuki whine. When his vision was back to normal, he guzzled the rest of his drink and strapped his sword to his back.

"Ryu-yuuki, come."

Suroz began to run towards where the light had originated.

[Forever Zero]

Mag had completely forgotten about the stranger as suddenly a bright flash came in through the windows and doors, blinding anyone sitting near them. <It must have taken a very powerful wizard of artifact to do something like that> Mag realized, and after the flash ended he quickly jumped up, threw some gold coins down to pay for his drink, then rushed out the door after the others going to investigate the flash.

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Someone was a bit of an overreacter." Satsu said. "You'd think he'd notice I didn't kill him, and I had ample opportunity. Oh well I need beer money." He pulled his arrow out of the post. It was still intact. He put his guitar case open in front of him. He bagan to play a calm and beautiful elvish ballad. Some passerbys tossed a coin or two his way.

[Raerlynn]

Listening to the stranger, Galen totally forgot about the elf theif.

Until a flash of light hit Galen square in the face. He cursed at the sharp light, and blinded, fell over backwards.

"Ow..."

He looked back where the theif hung by his arm... except he was gone! Galen contemplated this occurrance for a bit, until he heard the stranger talking.

"I'm sorry? Oh yes, he did seem kind of skittish... oh well. I like that tune by the way," as Galen complimented the elf, he dropped a few coins in to the case himself. "Hmm... the lady seems to have taken her leave. I'm Galen, what did you say your name was again?"

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Oh I'm Satsu, Musician and protector of the forrests." He said as he kept playing.

[Bob the Mercenary]

The young would be elf thief turned into a back alley and went down a short flight of stairs to a small decaying wooden door. He eased open the door and entered his "home", an abandoned storage room for some merchant who had left town years ago. As far as he knew, he was the only one who knew its location.

It wasn't much, just big enough to fit a small bed, a desk the merchant left there with a quill and ink on it (probably used for his finances), an "all-purpose" cabinet which he stored what clothing he had along with other necessities, and a large chest in the back left corner. There was only one window, which he enjoyed watching the moon through at night.

He sat in the chair at his desk, slid open a drawer and retrieved some linen (probably also left by the merchant). He slowly wrapped it around his right bicep after cleaning his wound. The profuse bleeding had slowed, but he still felt fatigued. He sat back in the chair and contemplated what just happened.

Mom always told me, "whatever you do, you will succeed in because you are my son." He looked at his medallion. This was my first true failure as a thief. Sure I had others, but this was the most embarrassing. To not only lose the thing I went out to obtain, but to sustain a wound as well. My method is to retreat as soon as there is the smallest chance of something going wrong. I did what I had to. I needed that money, too. I'm starving.

"Eh at least it wasn't a complete loss..." he said as he stripped open a bottle of elven berry wine with one of the human's daggers. "He just got too close. Hehe."

[Raerlynn]

ooc: Oh now that really isn't cool.

Galen nodded. "I'm Galen. So you're a bard of sorts? Have you heard any rumors as of late?"

Suddenly Galen realized that his left boot felt lighter. He checked the sheathe there and let out an explosive curse. "One of my daggers is gone! Damn that thief. Our next meeting won't be so friendly..."

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Well I haven't heard any new news but I heard a new kick ass new ballad.

"TROGDOR!!!" Satsu screamed as he bagan to play power chords on his Guitar.
"TROGDOR!!!
Trogdor was a man,
I mean he was a dragon-man,
Maybe he was just a dragon,
...But he was still TROGDOR!!!
TROGDOR!!!
Burninating the countryside,
Burninating the peasants,
Burninating all the peoples who live in THATCH ROOFED COTTAGES!!!
THATCH ROOFED COTTAGES!!!

And The Trogdor COMES IN THE NIGHT!!!"

[Forever Zero]

OOC: Someone has been watching too much Strongbad E-Mail...

Mag walked up to were a crowd had formed around a few figures. As he walked closer, he spotted a figure running away, but they were too far away for him to do anything about it. Instead he walked up to the musician and the others around him, and asked, "Excuse me, seemed to be quite the magical flash, and I was wondering what happened and is everyone alright?"

[Raiden]

As Suroz and Ryu-yuuki arrived at the scene, they had already missed most of the action. Sadly, they hadn't missed the elf's song. Ryu-yuuki whined.

"I know Ryu-yuuki. Just settle down. Hopefully, that song will be over soon."

Suroz approached the people.

"Hey. Any of you know what that flash was?"

[Flarecobra]

Draca was just starting to leave the town when she ran across a few of the solders from before, though this time they appeared to be drunk. "All wight, you little shpellcashters think you're sho much better then ush." (Just try to say it out loud if you can't understand it.) And with that, they started to advance on her. She backed up, then then, dropping the bag, took off back to the town, the drunken solders right behind her.

[Raiden]

Suroz was about to get an explanation, when he noticed a conflict. A few of the drunks from the bar were hassling what appeared to be a girl in a cloak. Suroz whistled, and pointed at one of the guards. Ryu-yuuki bared his fangs, and charged after him. With a pounce, the dragon knocked the soldier over, and growled in his face.

"If I were you, I wouldn't move. He would like nothing better than to eat you."

There were still quite a few soldiers left, and some more were starting to show up. Suroz drew his sword, and looked at the others.

"I hope you guys can fight. We got a conflict comin' up."

[Raerlynn]

Galen drew his rapier and made ready for battle.

"You've no worries there."

Mentally he cursed the fact that he still hadn't devoted time to studying the arcane arts like he'd planned...

[Squishy Cheeks]

Satsu had povingly put his instrument away. He tied the straps of the case back together. He then went over to the running girl. "You can stop now. I'll be sure nothing happens to you.

[Raiden]

Suroz started to slowly back up with his sword held at the ready. He tapped the elf archer's shoulders, and pointed behind him. The elf looked back, and saw what Suroz saw. A VERY large group of soldiers were marching towards them. Apparently, one of the guards called in an alarm when Ryu-yuuki attacked the soldier.

"If we don't want to hurt civilians, running would probably be what we WANT to do."

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Why me? I just wanted to get an ale. Is that so wrong?" Satsu asked to the divine.

[Raerlynn]

"Well now, this will make things most interesting, now won't it..."

With that Galen flicked his right wrist, and a dagger appeared in his hand. With a quick look at his target, he flicked the dagger. It glittered as it flew, and...struck home. It buried itself into the heel of the boot of the closest guard, pinning his leg in place. The soldier, not realizing exactly what happened, continued to run, toppled over and came very close to breaking his ankle from the awkward fall. The three or four extra men following him tripped right over him and hit the ground hard.

"Well, that should throw off some pursuit. Let's move!"

Galen then reached into his other boot, to retrieve his last dagger. Taking aim again, he flicked it directly at a rope holding up a sign over another group of approaching soldiers, and with a loud SNAP!, the second rope broke under the weight and dropped the heavy sign onto a pair of soldiers.

Galen ran forward snatched up the dagger and ran to the stable next door, and kicked the door open. He grabbed a handful of reins, and counted about four horses. Hopefully that would be enough. He ran back, leading the horses and shouted, "Here! Get on! We need to leave fast!"

[Forever Zero]

The number of drunks had been diminished, but the standard guard had increased as cries for help and reinforcements came out. "Well, guess its time for somethings from my bag of tricks," Mag muttered, and began to say the words to his spell. He he brought up his staff and pointed it at a large group of guards. When Mag finished his spell, with a deafening WHUMP, all the guards were scattered and thrown in all directions, knocking over others and increasing the chaos. Mag quickly ran and jumped up on a hoarse and shouted to the others, "Now is as good a time as any to leave, let's go, all of you!"

[Bob the Mercenary]

As the human burst out the stable door, another two guards arrived holding the young elf thief by his shoulders. The guards found the lead guard and addressed him and the group of strangers. "We found a trail of blood leading to an old warehouse. Thought someone was in trouble so we broke down the door. Instead, we found this little guy. Appears he's been stealing for quite some time. He's the one there's "Wanted" signs all over for. And I would bet that these heathens are in cahoots with him. Word on the street has it that you were seen talking to him."

The guards drew their swords and held them to the elf's neck. "If you want your partner in crime to survive, drop your weapons and step backward ten paces."

The elf struggled in their grasp. The pressure on his arm was making him wince with pain.

[Squishy Cheeks]

<Kill the thief, see what I care.> Satsu thought. He knocked an arrow. and waited for a target. "What we have here is a failure to communicate. Now I'm not in a mood to kill anybody, I just wanted to get an ale and play some tunes." Satsu explained to the guards.

[Bob the Mercenary]

The elf quickly saw his situation worsen. Now he not only had two blades threatening his neck, but an arrow at his face as well. Look how these bodies are thrown around, just strewn through the streets. Those strangers appear as ruthless as to probably kill me. If they want to get out of this they are going to have to eliminate these two guards. Might as well help them out. These may be my last moments anyway.

At that the elf slowly reached for his dagger. He gingerly drew it from it's sheath and held it horizontal to his face. The light from the sun reflected off the blade at such an angle as to hit the first guard square in his eyes. NOW, do it NOW!

[Forever Zero]

Mag had been preparing another spell when one of the guards suddenly took a step back and put a hand involuntarily to his face. <Make's my choice easier> He thought, and completed his spell, pointing it at the other guard who was still holding the theif. A thin beam of light shot out, and when it hit the guard, he froze totally still. He was not dead, just temperarily paralyzed, but it was what the theif needed. "I would suggest we all take our leave quickly," Mag stated, as all the guards that were thrown about or stunned were now begining to recover.

[Bob the Mercenary]

A bright beam of light shot out from the old man's staff. The elf watched as it flew close to his left shoulder and made contact with the guard. He immediately drew back and stopped moving. The elf realized he was free and sprinted as fast as he could towards the nearest horse, mounted by the human he had robbed of a dagger.

This is not going to be a warm reception.

He picked up one of the guards' dropped pouches of money and mounted the horse. After handing back the dagger to its rightful owner, he turned his face to see all the soldiers lying still. It made him remember his hometown being destroyed and innocent people lying throughout the streets while houses were burning down. He shook off the flashback and focused his attention on the human still with his bow and arrow in hand.

[Raerlynn]

Galen leapt forward and landed a light blow on the dazzled guard, grabbed the little elf, threw him on a horse, and took his dagger back, giving himself a slight cut in the process.

"Fun time is over my friends, let's leave! Oh, and Satsu! I know a place with better ale than this pigsty!"

Noticing the little elf regarding Satsu cautiously, Galen tapped on the shoulder. "Not him. Or he'll give you another arrow to remember him by."

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Sounds good to me." Satsu began off at a sprint. Despite being encombered he was quite fleet of foot.

[Raiden]

Suroz whistled again, and Ryu-yuuki came bounding to him. Until a soldier stepped in and tried to capture the dragon.

"Leave him alone! Ryu-yuuki!" Suroz leapt at the soldier who was presently trying to tie up the Gold Dragon, and with a slash of his broad sword, the two halves of the soldier fell dead on the ground. The other soldiers began to get into an uproar. It was the first kill.

"Shit. Shouldn't have done that." Suroz hurriedly sat on Ryu-yuuki's back, and clicked his tongue. The dragon began to ran fast.

"Hey guys, I have an idea on how to get rid of all these soldiers. As long as you don't mind having them all die, just follow me. We need to get to the valley near here."

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Actually I'd recomend my place. It's not to far."

[Forever Zero]

"I don't think killing them is the best way out of this situation. It will only brand us as bandits and murderers everywhere we go. If we flee fast enough and simply lose them, it will not be as bad as if we kill them all," Mag reasoned.

[Raiden]

"If you don't mind having your place be turned into a huge crater of death, be my guest, but we're going somewhere open. Trust me, we'll need it."

(OOC: I think Jadguy knows where I'm going with this.)

[Bob the Mercenary]

The elf suddenly tapped the man with the dagger's shoulder to get his attention and motioned back towards the center of the town. A woman in a cloak was running towards them with a group of three guards in pursuit.

[Forever Zero]

Mag noticed the running cloaked figure too, and used another one of his force waves to knock aside the guards chasing her, then noticing the increasing number of guards trying to stop them from escaping, said, "I'm an old man, and I can only keep this up for so long. We need to get out of here now!"

[Squishy Cheeks]

"I was thinking more of a hide, an' wait for them to leave approach."

(Yes I remember.)

[Raiden]

"Sorry, buddy. But hiding ain't my style."

After a few minutes, they had finally gotten to the vally. It was nice and clear, perfect for what he was going to do. They made it to the other side, and Suroz motioned for them to stop. The entire group was there, and the soldiers were catching up.

"If you guys have anything you desperately need to say to those soldiers, say it now."

[Squishy Cheeks]

"GO HOME WHILE YOU CAN!!!" Satsu shouted. "What!?! No need to be rude."

[Raiden]

Suroz motioned for everyone to get behind him, and when they were, he took his necklace off from around his neck. He held it laying out in his hands, and closed his eyes. He started a low humming, and the stone began to glow. His humming slowly increased in volume, and the louder he hummed, the brighter the stone glowed. Finally, his hum was a yell, and his stone glowed with a fierce light. He opened his eyes, and they were glowing also.

The ground started to shake fiercely, and when the group looked out at the army of soldiers, they saw a horrorific sight. The valley was being torn apart at the seams. Large crags opened up in the earth, and dozens of men fell into them to their deaths. Huge spikes of rock jutted up from the ground, piercing the bodies of soldiers. Wide holes opened and spewed up molten magma, burning large groups of soldiers to death. The earth continued to shake fiercely, and Suroz continued to yell. After a few minutes of the carnage, the earth opened wide, and swallowed all of the dead bodies, leaving no trace of the massacre that had happened. The stone began to dim, and soon, the earth stopped shaking. Suroz opened his eyes again, and they were normal. He put the necklace back on his neck, and hunched over.

"Shit, that takes a lot out of me. At least we aren't being followed anymore."

[Raerlynn]

"Can I get the bodies after this? I want the gold I paid them for rumors back," Galen smirked.

[Raiden]

"If you can find any left, they're all yours."

[Bob the Mercenary]

The elf looked on in horror at the sight as the corpses were devoured by the earth itself. He was instantly off his horse, sprinting as fast as his muscles would take him towards the site of the carnage. He knew that girl had been right behind them. He just hoped she found some place safe to hide.

[Raerlynn]

Galen looked over his shoulder and noticed that the little one had begun to sprint back towards the destruction.

Damn it!

Galen turned his horse around and suddenly realized why the boy had run back...

..the woman following them was nowhere in sight...

This isn't good...

[Forever Zero]

"That, was an incredible magical feat, young lad. So you must be the holder of the earth orb, the legendary relic lost for over a a thousand years. This, shall be a very interesting quest indeed." Mag said to Suroz, then he led his horse to wear the others were frantically searching, but at a calmer walk.

[Squishy Cheeks]

"Now this is right mess you've gotten us into mr. fancy pants. Some of us hadn't done anything illegal. Now we're all in trouble with the law. What would my ma say if she could see her bonny boy now?"

[Raerlynn]

"Stop bickering! The child and the woman are back there! Stop the quake! STOP IT!"

With that Galen dismounted and chased after the boy and woman.

[Bob the Mercenary]

The closer he got to the lava, the hotter the young elf's face became. With his hand to his face he scanned the destruction for the girl. His view was obscured by the smoke and flames rising from the ground as he trudged through the newly formed rock formations.

He finally saw her. She was walking cautiously between the boulders and rivers of flame towards the others' location. When he was within fifteen feet of her he noticed a large stone coming lose off the top of a pillar of rock right next to her. Without thinking he raced towards the girl, smashing into her with his shoulder just as the stone came crashing down on his back. The girl was thrown clear. The elf lay on the ground, bleeding...unconscious.

[Flarecobra]

(OOC) Ok, this has gone a little out of control. First, I kinda had a little plan for the guys chasing Draca. Secondly, I kinda like to have control of major plot events in my RPs. Raiden, that little trick, in my opinion, can count under excessive. Finally, I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I'm not always around on weekends, so if it's all possable, wait for me ok? I'm going to ask the mods to lock this one while I re-wind this thing, and I'll create a new thread from some point in this one.

[Squishy Cheeks]

ooc: sounds fair to me

[Raiden]

(OOC: Awww. But I LIKE that part! It's my favorite. But, alright, we'll do what you say. But can I do it to some OTHER group of people later in the story?)

[Bob the Mercenary]

ooc: yeah I kind of felt uneasy about that part too. If all the guards were killed, no one would be left to defend the village agianst dragons.