Potential

[INDK]

(open through posting here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=1232))

Damon smiled. He liked the Anebrilith ports, if for no other reason than it was so rare to find the same kind of mix of smells anywhere else in the world. On good days at the harbor, it felt as though every beautiful smell had come together to create a savory smorgasboard of aroma. The earthy dry smell of the golden wheat fields cascaded against the salty tones of fresh surf, mixed in with all the exotic wares moving in and out of the harbor. Salvarian animal pelts, spices from Fallien, things that Damon hadn’t known existed were in Anebrilith now. The boy smiled. This was why kept coming to Raiaera. The continent supposedly held a great deal of his earlier conquests, but that had little to do with Anebrilith’s appeal. Ever since regaining his quickening ability, Damon had been traveling all over Althanas on a whim, ending up in some particularly odd locations. Now, he wanted to know what their was out there in the world for him to discover, and the stories that he heard from sailors at Anebrilith port always managed to whet his imagination.

Thus, Damon was quite satisfied as he sat on a barrel near the Gwalior, listening to a couple of young deckhands tell tall tales about their times at sea. The boy ate up every one of the stories, taking it for granted that the two storytellers had performed all the fantastic feats that they claimed they had. The boy occasionally interjected with questions, but he had been so enamored with the tales that he hadn’t even thought to question their veracity.

“Wow…” was all Damon said, and he said it very often. His eyes were wide and he was truly eager, only to be disappointed when the ship’s captain called the two deckhands back up onto the Gwalior.

“Hey there,” a blue eyed elf called out. “You kids get back on here and earn your keep. Rooms don’t clean themselves just because the crew’s out on shore leave you know…”

The two deckhands and alleged adventurers looked at each other sheepishly. “We uhh… we clean things in between our missions… yeah… that’s it” one of them said, fumbling over his explanation.

The other nodded. “Yeah… yeah… that’s it. Everyone has to clean from time to time.”

Damon merely nodded. “Okay, see you guys later… can you tell me more about when you defeated the Fallien Sandworm Seamonster?”

The two deckhands looked up to notice that their captain had continued to listen on, and ran straight back up the gangplank to their captain’s hearty laughter. Damon chuckled a bit, unsure why he was supposed to be laughing, but intent on joining in the fun.

“You know those kids are telling you tales straight out of their heads don’t you?” the captain replied warmly. “They’ve been on this ship for six months, and at the first sign of a storm, they head to lock themselves in a broom closet somewhere. If they weren’t good about their jobs, I’d have sent them back to work in an inn somewhere.”

Damon was shocked. He felt a bit betrayed by the deckhands, especially because they had told him such amazing tales. The boy had already made plans that after leaving Anebrilith he would visit the Golden City of Alerar and the Flying Mountains of Salvar. “All of them are made up?” Damon asked dejectedly, hoping that perhaps one of them contained a grain of truth. “Even about the sea ports of Haidia?”

The captain laughed even more heartily. “My boy, you can’t get to Haidia by sea. Precious few know how to get to Haidia at all. The High Bard knows well enough that I’d have no idea.” He chuckled profusely, tears of mirth streaming down from his blue eyes. In ten years of sailing, the captain had never heard a story so incredulous. However, the elf was not without sympathy. He noticed now that Damon was walking away from the Gwalior with his heart broken, as if his entire day had been a waste. Hoping to redeem the day in the boy’s out, the captain called out to Damon. “But you know what! Hop on board, I’ll show you a few maps and star charts, tell you about treasure I’ve found working for Tel’Aglarim’s navy. How’s that for you.”

Damon smiled. Perhaps it would be a good day after all.

“Just hop on up,” the captain said. “The pathway’s over there. I suppose I should introduce myself, I’m Captain Velinyal of the merchant ship Gwalior. Former member of Tel’Aglarim’s navy.”

With a smile, Damon responded. “I’m Glen Lambert,” he said. He had learned quickly enough he couldn’t introduce himself as Damon Kaosi in Raiaera without attracting unwanted attention. “And it’d be an honor to meet you.”

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Captain Velinyal replied. “You’re one of the politest boys I’ve met… especially for someone who isn’t an elf.”

Damon hoped that wouldn’t be followed with a question about what he was, for the truth was, the boy didn’t know. However, the moment he’d climbed up on board the ship, another elf came running down from inside the ship’s steerage.

“Captain… captain…” came the cries. “It’s gone… you know… the treasure, its missing.”

Velinyal’s eyes fell low and the smile on his face disappeared immediately. “Call Tel’Aglarim…” he said grimly. “Until they get here, we’ll have to solve this mystery by ourselves.”

[Iriah Caitrak]

Ira sighed pleasurably as the sun hit her face. Being out at sea had been an experience but she was glad to finally be upon solid ground now. Hopefully the country of Raiaera would be just as interesting as her own country had been and hopefully she would not be troubled by any Fallen anytime soon. She wanted to relax and enjoy herself, meet new and interesting people and races and just, well, go on an adventure!

Life was good right now, even though Ira didn’t have the money to pay for her passage, she’d managed to snag a place upon a merchant ship called Gwal…Gawl—Gwalior that was it. All she had to do was cook for the crew and do some cleaning. It wasn’t hard and though she wasn’t getting paid for it she didn’t care, it was free passage. She had received a few odd looks from some of the crew and had been kept busy making sure some of them kept their hands where they belonged, but that was alright. The Captain was this nice fellow from a race of elves. Ira didn’t know what elves were, but she’d come to like the guy.

A new country with new people. Already the sounds and smells here were different, heck it had taken her a few days to get used to smelling almost nothing but sea salt for their journey here. After all she’d never been to the ocean before and she was sure the look on her face had been priceless when they’d hit the open water and land had just disappeared. After all, she lived in a desert country, she’d never seen so much water before in her life and she’d wished she could have jumped off the side of the boat and the into the endless blue.

But she didn’t know how to swim and figured it would be a really bad idea in the end.

An odd noise filled her ears and Ira looked up to watch a few white and black birds sail above her head and through the masts of the ship. She didn’t see many birds in Fallien and these ones were beautiful to her eyes, even though one of the crewmembers spat something and called them shit-hawk, whatever that was.

Looking passed the ship; Ira saw a harbour full of people milling about doing their own business. There were small shops made of wood and cloth that displayed their wares to people coming on and off of ships. Food, weapons, armour, travel necessities, books, and other things that she couldn’t see through the crowd of bodies. She wanted to go over and examine this countries armour, their weapons, even though she had no use of them and even try some of their food.

Ira adjusted the rucksack on her shoulders. She was about to turn and leave when she felt the light touch of someone’s hand on her shoulder.

“You weren’t going to go before saying bye where you?”

She turned around and smiled at Velinyal, the Captain, the elf.

“I thought you might be busy with…Captain stuff.” Ira said.

He laughed, “Not much really to do now besides load the ship up for the next journey.”

Ira smiled at him; “Thanks for taking me on, I have a feeling that it’s not something many merchant ships would have done.”

“Are you kidding, your cooking was awesome, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have you onboard. And you never complained once when I asked you to clean anything.”

Ira nodded her head.

“You take care now.”

“I will, perhaps I’ll see you again some time, after all, I will need to go back to Fallien eventually.”

Velinyal laughed.

Ira waved and turned to leave the ship, close by on the harbour she noticed a group of three boys talking together. Well, two of them were talking and one was sitting there rather stupefied, as if enamoured by what the others were saying. She recognized two of the boys as being part of the crew on the ship and they were probably weaving some tall tales for the other boy, who wasn’t cluing in to the fact that they weren’t real. She was going to go over and say something, when she heard the Captain bellow from behind her. Seems like they were ignoring their duties.

When the boy heard that the stories he’d been listening to were made up he seemed rather crushed but the Captain, kind man he was invited him back on board to look at some of his charts but before he could get around to it he was interrupted by one of the other crewmembers saying something about treasure being stolen.

This perked Ira’s ears, she stopped and turned back. Velinyal had let her aboard his ship when she knew others wouldn’t and now he was in need of some help. After what he’d just done for her she couldn’t turn around and leave the ship like this.

“I’m sure you could use an extra hand helping to find the treasure, Velinyal, especially with most of the crew on land leave.” Ira said to him.

If he turned her down, so be it, if not it wasn’t as if a little treasure hunting was going to slow her down. She had nowhere in particular to be and besides it might turn out to be an adventure of it’s own.

[Sheex]

“Hey! HEY! I said I was sorry! Come on, can’t we all just be friends!” Cried Sheex as he quickly ducked underneath an incoming fist. The attacking sailor (who in Sheex’s opinion really couldn’t hold his liquor) stumbled after Sheex, who quickly darted back and forth in order to avoid the slew of punches that kept coming at his head. All in all, Sheex had definitely had better days.

“Sorry? Why you little punk! I won’t let you get away with insulting me!” Screamed the sailor as he grabbed the end of Sheex’s coat and flung the wanderer to the ground. Sheex felt the skin on his hands rip away as he collided with the hard earth below his feet, sending out a nice stream of curse words as he fell. Sheex would have to make a mental note not to compete with sailors when it came to hitting on barmaids. Judging from his current circumstances (namely Sheex on the floor trying desperately to dodge a multitude of kicks), sailors did not take losing very well. Sheex gulped as he felt two rather large hands grasp his throat and yank him to his feet.

“Got you now punk! I’m going to beat you to a pulp!” Shouted the sailor as he brought his right hand back for the final blow. Sheex’s eyes darted around the scene, looking for an escape but seeing none. All he did see was a rather large crowd gathering around the two fighters, most of the people watching eagerly to see just who would go down first. Judging from the death-grip the sailor had Sheex in, the wanderer was pretty sure that he would be the one on the floor. It was obviously time for something drastic.

“Okay…but before you beat me to a pulp, can I ask you one question? Is it really fair for you to do all the work and let your friend reap the rewards?” Sheex asked quickly as he pointed behind the sailor. Keeping his foe in a firm grip, the sailor slowly looked over his shoulder to see another one of his fellow sailors chatting it up with the barmaid who had been the target of both men’s affections. Snarling with rage (and a bit of alcohol breath), the sailor flung Sheex to the ground and stormed off towards the other sailor. Instantaneously Sheex sprung to his feet and quickly darted down the street as he heard a punch being thrown behind him as well as something crack.

“Note to self, in the future stay clear of sailors trying to hit on women, no matter how bad their pick-up lines may be.” Sheex muttered to himself as his run turned into more of a stroll. After all, he had managed to somehow reach this town (although Sheex wasn’t exactly sure what the name of this town was), and it would be a shame if he did not stop to see the sights. Besides, it wasn’t as if Sheex had some sort of all-important mystical quest he was involved in. Sheex tried to steer clear of those things; he figured they were more trouble than they were worth. Unless maybe a beautiful princess was involved.

But seeing as how there were no beautiful princess in distress nearby, Sheex figured he would simply buy one of those shinny red apples from a nearby fruit stand, take a stroll around town, and then probably go to sleep. After all, being attacked by a large sailor took a lot out of a guy. It was a perfect plan, but as soon as Sheex had taken his first bite out of the apple he heard an all too familiar voice.

“HEY! Get back here punk!” Sheex heard as he turned to find not only his former assailant but now the other sailor, whose nose was bleeding pretty badly, charging after him as well. Instead of running, Sheex simply turned around and took another bite out of his apple while he surveyed the scene. He was outnumbered two to one and those sailors probably knew a lot more about fighting than he did. On the bright side, the apple in his hand was really delicious. He’d have to remember to stop by the same vendor and pick up another one before he left this place.

“Hey gents. You know, you don’t look so good. Maybe you ought to sit down.” Sheex said with a mouthful of apple as he pointed to the sailor with the broken nose. The two sailors (who had come to a stop to catch their breath) glared at Sheex, who did his best to smile back. Judging from their quick breaths and red faces, Sheex guessed that the two men were close to being completely out of breath. He would just have to time his get away right.

“I only look like this because of your sorry ass! And all I was doing was helping the girl pick up the glass that you broke!” Shouted the broken nose sailor as he gave Sheex a violent shove. Sheex stumbled backwards, but managed to regain his balance before he fell backwards into the ground below. Unlike before, the people in the busy market place didn’t pay so much heed to the shouts of the sailors this time around. Perhaps that was because violent outbursts were more common in this area.

“Yeah, but I only dropped that glass because your pal took a swing at me, so in actuality it’s his fault. You should really be mad at each other, not me. I’m just the innocent bystander in all of this.” Sheex said as he took one last bite out of his apple and tossed what remained of the fruit over his shoulder. He saw the two sailors blink a few times as they processed what Sheex said. When their hands began to reach for Sheex’s head, he cursed silently. I guess they didn’t buy it.

Several minutes later…

“Beg your pardon! Coming through! Excuse me! Sorry about that, my hands seem to have a mind of their own!” Sheex shouted as he dashed through the market place, shoving aside a wealthy looking man, a fat man, and a rather good-looking woman dressed in a very skimpy outfit. As expected, the woman took a wild slap at Sheex in response to where his hands landed as he pushed her aside, but thankfully she only managed to graze his cheek. Scowling, the woman stomped off as Sheex looked around for a place to hide. He had managed to elude the sailors, but there was no telling how long his luck would last.

I need to think…of course, it would be a lot easier to think if I didn’t have two drunken sailors chasing me down. Ah ha! I’ve the perfect hiding spot! They’ll never think to look here! Sheex thought to himself as he raced up a wooden ramp. In retrospect, Sheex’s hiding spot was nowhere near perfect. In fact, it was probably the worst possible spot he could have chosen. But then again, how was he supposed to know that the ship he chose to sneak on to would be the one that the sailors belonged to?

“Captain… captain…it’s gone… you know… the treasure, it’s missing.” Came a faint cry as Sheex leaned against a nearby wall in order to better hide himself. Apparently something had been lost, but it wasn't like whatever had gone missing really mattered to Sheex. No, he was far more concerned with the fact that those two sailors had actually followed him on board the ship. In about fifteen more seconds Sheex would realize his blunder, and then he knew that it was either face down the sailors as well as their buddies, or do something drastic. Sheex opted for the drastic choice.

“Gentlemen, I couldn’t help over-hearing your problems! I say, it’s down right shameful that good, honest people can’t traverse the seas without being robbed! Please, let me help you with your problems so that I may spread love and peace around the world!” Sheex said in a slightly overly dramatic as he walked up towards the captain. The sailors immediately skulked away, knowing better than to pick a fight right in front of their captain. As long as he stayed near this long eared guy, Sheex was safe.

“Nyah-nyah!” Sheex muttered silently, wondering just how the captain would responded to his offer.

[Malstrife]

Looking for a nearby tavern, Leon carefully slipped his way through the crowded market place. He hadn't had a real drink since his banishment from the Order; which was months ago.

He was not familiar with the town, nor its people. Which is what he prefers. A comfortable life of solitude was his beckoning since his days as a low-templar.

Not paying attention, he was brushed aside by a man dressed in black, almost knocking him over.

“Beg your pardon! Coming through! Excuse me! Sorry about that, my hands seem to have a mind of their own!”

What the hell? Leon thought. He never spoke much, save for a few conversations with merchants. Sadly for him though, his thoughts were interupted yet again by two sailors, apparently drunk and pissed off.

"Hey there whitey! Did you see some scrawny bastard run through here?"

Not too appeased with being called 'Whitey,' (a term he had been called by children in the neighboring town) he did not respond.

"Hey boy!" yelled the second man. "He asked you a question!"

Tilting his head slightly, Leon shrugged.

"I beg your pardon, gentleman. But as you see, there are quite a few 'scrawny' people running around here. How exactly would I keep up with one?"

"There he is!" yelled the first sailor as he took off, this time knocking Leon over into a nearby woman.

"Oi!" she yelled. "Just what the bloody hell do you think YOUR doing?"

Before Leon could justify with a response, he was met with a blood-curdling slap, causing nearby patrons to cringe.

"The second man to grope me today!" she yelled as she stormed off. "I'm no damn floozy!"

What a day... he thought.

It was then, he noticed a ship in the nearby port. Which is where the two sailors were headed.

"Just for that," he mumbled. "I have a score to settle with those two."

Normally, Leon did not hold grudges against his fellow man. This situation, however, was differant. They dishonored him, and caused him to be assaulted by a woman no less.

Still nursing the red handprint on his pale cheek, he stormed off towards the port.

As he finally made it onto the main deck of the ship, he saw that the commotion had already started. Not the one he was involved in.

“Captain… captain…it’s gone… you know… the treasure, it’s missing.” cried an elf sailor.

Amazed, Leon did not expect that elves were sailors, much less captains. And this one in particular, was not in a good mood at this point.

“Call Tel’Aglarim…” he said. “Until they get here, we’ll have to solve this mystery by ourselves.”

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Leon knew all too well what was next. Lovely. he thought. So much for solitude. I suppose I will lend a hand.

His thoughts, yet again interupted at the sight of the man in black. The reason the whole situation with the drunken sailors and the inappropriate dessed woman started.

But first... Removing his hood, Leon approached him. His calm demeanor fading rapidly with every step.

"May I ask what the hell you were doing back there?!"

[INDK]

From here on out, I’d appreciate it if everyone left Velinyal’s dialogue to me.

Captain Velinyal was certainly surprised that so many people seemed interested in helping out the Gwalior in their time of need. It was particularly surprising, simply because it was rare for sailors in Anebrilith to be all that friendly with each other. In general, the elf boats talked only with the other elf boats, the humans with the humans, the anthromorphs with the other anthromorphs and so on and so forth. That so many people of different types were so interested in his recent loss, Velinyal was naturally suspicious.

“Well, I suppose I could use a bit of help from you Ira,” he replied cordially, while looking over the other man who had volunteered to help. “But I am a bit suspicious that so many people have wandered out onto my ship so recently.”

Damon gulped, misunderstanding the comment and wondering if it was directed at him. “I only came because you asked me to,” the boy said defensively. “I didn’t take anything, I promise, you can check over all of my things.”

The Captain shook his head, maintaining a surprising amount of calm for someone who had just had the pride of his cargo stolen. “Not you Damon… some of these other people here.” Velinyal’s gaze was fixed upon the human who had introduced himself but a few minutes ago. He then glanced over to the other strangers who had made their way onto the deck, including the ones dressed in black. “With the exception of Damon, I would like everyone not associated with the ship to empty out their pockets for Second Mate Terelin and then leave my vessel please. I’m sorry, I’m sure you all came with good intention, but this situation will be complicated enough for Tel’Aglarim without there being increased interference.”

“What about me?” Damon asked.

“You can help if you want to,” Velinyal replied.

“I do,” answered Damon. The Captain had been nice to him, and the boy was often willing to undertake missions to help people he liked. This would just be one more job that he was going to have to do. “Where are we going to get started?”

A sudden scream was heard from down in the steerage, and soon a pair of shipmen came up, both of them covered in a mixture of blood and a slimy green liquid. “There is something!” one of them cried. “It’s a monster, a beast, there are many of them and they’re down in the cellar. They’re terrible, monstrous—“

“You’re not telling it right!” the other interjected. “It’s Eluriand undead! They have risen again.”

Velinyal shook his head. “We can’t wait for Tel’Aglarim then. I don’t know what this has to do with the robbery, but I’m sure they’re connected. Everyone else, if you choose to, you can follow me.”

“Aren’t you going to get the rest of your crew?” Damon asked.

Velinyal replied somberly. It was an answer that may have seemed cold, but he wanted to impress the nature of their task before they sought out on it. “Any crew down below is probably already dead,” the captain said.

(Anyone who wants to bunny the group moving down into the steerage is welcome. Describe it mostly as being fairly dark, and if you want to describe seeing dead sailors and green blood, go ahead.)

[Iriah Caitrak]

Ira was actually pleased when Captain Velinyal agreed to let her help, she wanted to pay back the man for allowing her on his ship and she could think of no better way, after all, it was much better than the cooking she had performed for the crew. The amount of strangers who were offering their services was surprising though; Raiaera seemed like a far friendly place then the one she had come from. In Fallien one could barely trust ones neighbours, of course her tribes neighbours were nomads that lived around the Suravani Oasis and they feared strangers and had no qualms against killing them. So it wasn’t at all surprising to Ira when Velinyal asked them all to empty their pockets and leave the ship.

The scream that rent the air was surprising though, it made every strand of hair on Ira’s neck stand on end and every muscle in her body tense. It was then that she realized she could sense souls below the deck of the ship. As the two sailors came running up the stairs rambling off something about monsters and then undead, Ira quickly stepped into action. Her Swallow materialized in her hand and she raced down the stairs the sailors had just come from.

”Undead? The name speaks for itself, but how is that possible…the soul leaves the body once it’s dead and though I’ve seen many try they have never successfully re-entered after the heart has stopped beating. What the heck is going on?”

Ira raced down the stairs into the darkness below deck; she stopped after a few feet. Ahead of her were the body of three sailors who seemed to be running for the stairs, only they didn’t make it. All of them were dead, she could tell without even checking for a pulse, their souls were floating nearby their bodies, which were stained in blood and something else, the same as the sailors upstairs, there was a strange green substance on them too.

The sight was not very disturbing to her eyes, after one lays eyes upon a Fallen and what havoc they can do to a single village a few bloodied sailors and some green blood did nothing to turn her stomach.

”Why, why? I didn’t want to die, my life was just starting to turn out right!”

Ira felt sorry for the sailors, but she didn’t pity them, there was a place of light they could go to if only they wanted to.

“Move on, souls, there is nothing for you here anymore. Go to Heaven and be free.”

”But my wife!”

“Regret not! If you regret you will be trapped in the world of Purgatory, in a place of pain and suffering. Let your regrets go with your mortal bodies and know that you will see your families again someday.”

The three souls looked at her for a few seconds before they turned into black and red butterflies and completely disappeared. The newly dead were usually in such shock that they lingered around their bodies, for what she didn’t know, she’d never asked, usually they just talked to themselves about how they shouldn’t be dead. It was sad, disturbing, and uncomfortable knowing one day she would be a helpless soul floating above her dead body, she only hoped she had enough sense to move on without coercion.

There were other souls still on the ship too, she didn’t know how many these ‘undead’ things had killed but by she was going to have her work cut out for her keeping these sailors out of Purgatory, as well as fighting off whatever was on this ship and returning a stolen treasure. Things just kept getting more and more complicated.

Stepping forward, Ira’s boot slid along the wooden plank as the green substance coated the sole of it making it slippery. Disgusting, whatever it was. Before she moved forward, Ira realized she had no idea where she was going. Though she could sense souls she couldn’t sense other living creatures…or unloving creatures and even though she spent some time on this ship, she didn’t know where every corridor led and she didn’t know where the creatures were!

Ira turned back to the others for some guidance on this matter.

[Sheex]

“What was I doing? I…um…was jogging…cause…you gotta stay in shape nowadays. Never know when you’ll have to face down an army of demons threatening to take over the world. Or something like that.” Sheex responded to the person who just recently appeared. In all honesty Sheex had no idea who the man was or what he wanted, but knowing Sheex’s rotten luck the wanderer had probably angered him somehow. Judging from the man’s rapidly increasing angry demeanor, Sheex had thought some excuse was in order. He was about to think of another (hopefully better) excuse when the captain told him to empty his pockets and get off his ship. Sheex didn’t really blame the guy.

“Let’s see. Um, a pack of cigarettes, some matches. Oh hey a cookie! Awesome!” Sheex said as he pulled out a small clear bag in which remained the crumbling remnants of that which once was a cookie. Sheex quickly opened the bag and popped a piece of the snack into his mouth as he started to walk away. If the captain didn’t want his help, Sheex was totally fine with that. After all, those two drunken sailors were nowhere to be seen, which meant Sheex had a clear getaway. Plus the cookie was chocolate chip, which was Sheex’s favorite. Smiling to himself, Sheex began to head towards the ramp that led off this boat and onto dry land. Maybe today won’t be so bad after all.

Sheex had to rethink that statement however, when a terrible scream froze everyone on board the ship. Pausing mid-bite, Sheex turned around to see two sailors stumble across the boat. If it weren’t for the blood and the slimy green liquid that covered most parts of their body, Sheex thought the two men would have looked pretty normal. However, it was that blood and green slime that caused Sheex to pack away the rest of his delicious cookie and tuck it back into his pocket. Somehow, blood and slime had a way of killing his appetite. And if things weren’t bad enough, those two sailors stated that some sort of undead freaks were on this ship. There was only one thing to do.

“Well gentlemen, I wish you and the cute lady the best of luck but I’ll be taking my leave. After all, stealing is one thing, but I have to draw the line at the undead. Me and them don’t get along too well; personally I think they’re just jealous of my good looks. Be seeing you.” Sheex said with a wave as he turned around to stroll back down the ramp he had come up. Of course, the wanderer’s keen brown eyes did spy those two sailors cracking their knuckles and smiling at the bottom of the ramp. Sheex had momentarily forgotten that the captain of this ship was his only protection against a beating. Drat. Undead or drunken sailors? On one side is a sure beating, and on the other is a bunch of ghouls and ghosts. Man, why do I have to get all the hard choices in life? He thought to himself, until one of the sailors began to sharpen a knife. Instantly Sheex wheeled around and ran down the steps of stairs the group had gone down.

“On second thought, I haven’t done a good deed today, and the Lord does say to help one another. Wait for me!” Sheex shouted as he barreled down the steps a little too fast. Sheex had forgotten that the lower decks did not have anywhere near as much light as the clear open deck that Sheex had recently been standing on. Lack of light meant lack of vision, lack of vision meant inability to place his feet properly, which meant that Sheex’s run became more of a tumble. Cursing as he fell down the stairs, Sheex desperately grabbed at the railing near the bottom, managing to catch himself before he tumbled head first into the wooden deck below, as well as the dead bodies covered in green slime. At least Sheex assumed they were dead, since they were covered in blood and not moving. That usually meant people were dead.

“Damn. What a mess. And be sure to watch your step.” Sheex exclaimed as his left foot landed right in one of the puddles of slime. Sheex quickly gave the air a hard kick, sending the slime onto a nearby wall. At the same time, Sheex wondered if green undead slime left stain marks. Also, Sheex was without a doubt a little confused by the woman next to him. Apparently she was talking to air. Poor woman. Sight of the dead bodies must’ve made her go crazy. It’s so sad really. Sheex thought to himself as he shook his head. Eventually, Sheex turned his attention back towards the captain as the wanderer pointed at the dark chambers ahead.

“So, let me guess. We’re going that way, into the creepy darkness, right? Cause, you couldn’t have possibly stored this treasure in a well-lit area. Surrounded by bunnies. Happy bunnies. Happy pink bunnies that won’t be dangerous in anyway. Please tell me that all you have down here is pink bunnies. Pretty please?” Sheex muttered as he retrieved the smash cookie from his pocket. His luck just changed back to bad over the course of five minutes.

[Malstrife]

"Excuse me.....we're not finished yet!"

Leon could not believe the shrudeness of the man he confronted, playing off the situation as if it was nothing and walking away.

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed throughout the ship, everyone freezing in their tracks, including Leon himself.

Instinctively, he clutched the hilt of his sword, his 'Burden.' He could not tell where exactly the screams came from, but noticed two sailors staggering around the deck, covered in some type of green-slime.

What the hell... were the only words running through his mind. The Order prepared him for many situations, but he caught wind of possible 'undead' lurking among the ship, which is something he was not prepared for.

Carefully, he followed the captain and the man in black (whom he still did not know his name, nor the strange girl that resided there either) towards the dark corridor, leading into an even darker room. The ground decorated in the green ooze that had covered the sailors.

To himself, he mumbled a prayer he learned as a young boy. In fact, it was the only one he knew, since he did not really apply himself to his studies at the Order.

His battle experience was limited to say the least. He was a mediocre fighter at best. And he had no experience fighting legions of undead, or any other vile creature for that matter.

This is no time for cowardess. he thought. That girl ran down there alone not too long ago. She hasn't come back up either. God, be with me on this.

Slowly making his way past the elf-captain and the man in black, he made his way down into the chambers, not knowing who, or what to expect for that matter.

Spotting the girl, Leon felt a deep shot of relief. If shes okay, then the situation couldnt be that bad. She is a woman after all. (NOTE: Don't mind the sexist part, he was raised in a church.)

He was wrong, spotting the dead sailors at the ground, only noticing red butterflies hovering over their bodies then vanishing into dust. This is definately not what he was trained to encounter, ever.

It was then, he saw an odd shape lurking in the darkness near the girl.

Without a word, he quickly pushed her aside, launching his 'Uneven Burst' at whatever it was in the darkness. The force pushing him back slightly, but knocking the figure up against the wall. A technique which drew on Leons very life force.

Wiping the sweat that was already dripping from his forehead at that moment, all the was left was to see what exactly it was he hit.

[INDK]

As the rest of the stragglers had all taken to coming down below the ship as well, Damon had wondered if he would actually be necessary. There were four people now, and the boy couldn’t help but to feel a little nervous. He would have wanted to ask questions about the history of the undead in Raiaera, but the way things were going, he didn’t know when he would have time. Down in the steerage, he was nauseated by what he saw. A few well enclosed kerosene lamps provided the place with adequate lighting, but it was still dark enough that Damon’s power was considerably diminished. With green goo smattered all around the room, it was particularly nauseating. Dead people were all over the place, some of whom had even begun to rot prematurely.

“Anyone rotting will have to be immolated before their families can see them,” Velinyal replied, his voice sounding like it was struggling to stay steady. “They’ve already got the taint in them, and that means that there’s nothing left for us to do… But you with the pink bunnies- have some respect. People have died here.”

Damon shuddered, his thoughts interrupted as another of their party had suddenly pinned an enemy up against the wall. Immediately, Velinyal stopped chastising the cynical man and had turned to address this creature without even taking the time to look and see if Ira was alright.

“Good work,” was all he muttered to the man who had pinned it, and looked on as a grey creature stood forward. It was a blood zombie. Mostly grey, looking like a decayed elf. Red portions of the creature’s body pulsed provocatively, deep red arteries around the neck and in the arms, and even the creature’s brains leaked out with a bright reddish hue.

Damon looked on at this beast and his fists clenched inexplicably. The boy had never seen anything like it before, but for some reason, he was enraged at the thought of it. “The undead were supposed to have been defeated,” the boy thought. “Raiaera was supposed to have won. If they won, you can’t go and change the rules. A win is supposed to be a win.”

Velinyal gulped. He didn’t say much. It looked for a few moments as if he’d seen a ghost, or perhaps someone from his past. The captain shook his head for a few minutes before muttering disjointedly that someone should kill the creature now. They weren’t going to be able to interrogate a blood zombie.

However, Damon had no particular interest in killing the undead that day. He hated the idea of its presence in Raiaera so much that he didn’t really even want to look at the foul zombie.

“Do it quick and lets get moving,” he said, more to himself than anyone else as he headed off into the darkness.

As he moved forward, the boy could hear the sounds of heavy breathing.

[Iriah Caitrak]

OOC: Note to other players, any remarks made by Ira about ‘souls’ or black and red butterflies, you guys won’t be able to see that stuff unless your characters have the ability to see the dead.

Ira stumbled when the man shoved her aside. She must have been getting rusty because she didn’t even sense the creature coming near her, but then again, as she looked on at what was pinned against the wall she understood why. The creature before her really was dead and had no soul whatsoever in its body, therefore she couldn’t sense it. Calerian’s could strongly sense souls without a body and could sense other people and beings through the soul in that person’s body, though that one was a little harder to use and required a bit of concentration. This one had no soul and thus she couldn’t sense it, which means she would have to rely on her other senses down here or continue to be pushed aside which she didn’t like the thought of at all.

She watched Velinyal approach the creature and the emotion that flickered across his face, not really understanding what was going on or why he was acting this way. Then again she didn’t know much at all about this strange land or what went on within it.

”Blood zombie? There were different classes of the undead? And I thought dealing with the dead themselves could be complicated…”

The boy muttering about them getting it over with and just killing the thing bugged her more than the captain asking someone to kill it. If it bothered him so much he should use his own weapon upon it and not expect others to step in and do it for him, however as the boy moved away Ira didn’t see that happening so she turned her Swallow into a sword and took the creatures head off with one slice. It’s head rolled away somewhere down the hall and the body slumped to the ground, though disturbing, Ira had seen worse when it came to Fallen. However she was used to something disappearing after she killed it, this thing just fell to the ground in a heap and stayed there and Ira just watched it for a few seconds as if waiting for it to disappear like the all the Fallen she released in Purgatory, however this wasn’t Purgatory and it wasn’t going anywhere.

Ira dropped the sword she’d formed and watched it hit the ground and disappear. She couldn’t form her Swallow again and use it down here, the hallways of the ship were too narrow, there was a chance she’d hit one of the others or get her weapon stuck in the wood, not that she couldn’t just let it go and form something new, it would still leave her vulnerable for a few seconds. She’d cross that bridge when she got to it though, either with swords, which she wasn’t too fond of, or her Half Swallows.

Turning away from the creature, Ira walked further down the hallway.

[Sheex]

“My apologies. I simply wanted to know what we were up against.” Sheex muttered as he popped another piece of cookie in his mouth. He silently munched on the sweet until his eyes fully adjusted to the dim light, at which time he was greeted with the sight of even more dead bodies. If there was one thing that Sheex didn’t like walking into, it was a room filled with dead bodies and lots of blood. Despite his previous lecture, Sheex was about to comment on the current state of affairs. Fortunately for the wanderer, before he could even mouth off one sarcastic word he was quickly brushed aside by the angry man from earlier.

“Now that was just uncalled for.” Sheex muttered softly as his body hit a nearby wooden wall, thankfully free of green slime. However, Sheex’s beloved cookie was damaged beyond repair, and he could only sigh as he watched the now completely smashed crumbs fall to the wooden planks below. Shaking his head at the ever-worsening conditions surrounding him, Sheex gently pushed himself off the wall and back into a standing position. It was all for naught however, for Sheex immediately stepped back into the wall when he saw just what the angry man was after.

It was, without a doubt, quite a disgusting sight to behold. The captain called it a blood zombie, and judging from its appearance Sheex needed no explanation as to why it had such a name. Not only did the smell of rotting skin make Sheex’s nose crinkle in disgust, but what made the wanderer’s stomach hurt the most had to be the brain coming out of the thing’s head. That…is without a doubt…the MOST…disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.

“Nice moves you got their ace.” Sheex said weakly, congratulating the attacker (whose name eluded Sheex) with a pat on the back. Sheex then heard the young kid mutter something about finishing it quickly, which could only refer to the zombie. Seeing as how Sheex abhorred bloodshed (especially his own), he quickly began to back away from the task. Fortunately, the sole female in the party stepped forward and somehow made a blade materialize out of thin air. Not only does she talk to air, but also she can create blades out of nothing. I’ll make it a point not to get on her bad side. Sheex thought to himself as the woman sliced off the zombie’s head in one smooth motion.

“You too. Couple of born heroes we got here.” Sheex said towards the girl as he watched he blade vanish just as easily as it had appeared. With but two ordinary daggers tucked away in his coat, Sheex felt a little outmatched by the group surrounding him, but at this point in time he figured that was a good thing. Turning his attention away from the now decapitated (and profusely bleeding) zombie, Sheex turned his attention back to the path in front of him. Just like before, the lanterns on the wall illuminated far too little light to properly light the path, and all Sheex could see ahead of him was darkness.

Such a sight, while rather unnerving to Sheex, apparently did not bother the boy at all for Sheex watched him bravely march off towards the darkness. Perhaps the kid had some sort of night vision, but Sheex could hardly see five feet in front of him, and he was not about to walk blindly forward in a ship filled with dead sailors and flesh-eating zombies. Well, Sheex didn’t know if they were actually flesh-eaters, but he figured it was a pretty good guess.

However, all Sheex had that could act as light was a small book of matches, which would be of little use at the moment. He looked about the ship for a moment, and then snapped his fingers as he had a sudden brainstorm. As quickly and as carefully as he could, Sheex walked over towards the nearest lamp and gave it a soft jerk. It quickly came off its hook, and with it came its dim light source. Better than nothing I suppose.

“Hey kid! This any better?” Sheex said as he held the lamp up, trying to redirect as much light as he could toward the darkness of the ship. While he did so, Sheex made a silent prayer that he would not find any more zombies. In his opinion, one zombie a day was already more than he could handle.

[Malstrife]

Damn! he thought. I can't be drained THAT much after just one attack. Should hav done something differant...

Breathing in deeply, he stood up straight, making an attempt to hide his fatigue.

Looking back at the man he knows as 'cynical,' he found his 'hero' remark rather amusing.

"I'm no hero," Leon muttered. "I have enough to atone for, may as well make this the start."

He tried his best to keep his digust off the now-decapitated zombie to himself. The sight of so much blood made him squeamish, he kept reminding himself that he had not been trained for this sort of endeavour. But, he figured there was no turning back now.

He looked forward down the dark path the boy had walked towards. Surprised at his seeming nerves of steel, Leon followed.

The dark halls were soon illuminated with light from the cynical mans lamp.

Just when I think things could not get any more interesting...

The halls ahead were splattered with the green ooze that they had witnessed in the room before. Instinctively as always, he kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. Not trusting the shadows as he always has, although, he had used the shadows most of his life to hide his shame after that dark day of the Order.

"Alright..." he whispered. "Anyone have a plan, or idea? I'd like to know what we are up against."

He know his question would fall upon deaf ears, they did not truly know. But he desperately seeked comfort in SOMETHING that could make sense of the situation.

[INDK]

Damon wasn’t particularly pleased with what he saw now that they had a bit more light. All around them were wounded people, people who had been beaten almost to an inch of their lives and were now having the blood zombie virus take hold of them. With belabored breaths, these new undead wouldn’t be dangerous for at least another five hours. Or at least that was what Velinyal said as he instructed the group.

“We’re going to have to head down to the lowest level of the ship,” the captain said. “Undead like dark most places, and there aren’t too many darker than the deep underbelly on a ship. That’s where we’ll find the key to all of this.”

“What about your stolen goods?” Damon asked. “Aren’t you still worried about those?”

Velinyal didn’t say anything for a few moments. The elf bit his lip cautiously and looked around. “Not anymore,” he said.

“But you were so panicked earlier!” Damon insisted. The boy wasn’t sure why the thievery was such a priority to him. With undead running through the ship and potentially threatening Anebrilith, it would only be logical that a patriotic Raiaeran would shift priorities. “Does it not matter now, or do you think the zombies have it?”

“Just drop the subject,” Velinyal replied curtly. “We should be careful even speaking now, with zombies all around us. They could come out from anywhere with so much of the ship enveloped in darkness.”

It was a good point, and it silenced Damon for a bit. The boy remained on guard with his machete unsheathed, trying not mind the foul smells all around him as he continued on his journey. The ship smelled like rot and decay, so much so that the boy couldn’t imagine them ever being able to get the taste of zombie out from the boat. As it was, zombie blood had seeped into the wood of the ship, leaving deep red stains into the woodwork with only the slightest hint of green.

“They should just go ahead and set the boat on fire,” the boy thought. “That’d solve this problem right there.” However, Damon was well aware that if it had been his boat, then he might have been considerably more reluctant to see it go up in flames. Not only were sea faring vessels relatively rare on Althanas, but the bond between a ship and its captain was likely very strong. Damon could see how setting the ship up in flames would be something that was beyond consideration for the captain, though invariably one of the other members of the group would have asked about it.

The fact was though that the ship was already doomed. Velinyal knew it. With the massacre that had taken place below decks as severe as it seemed to be, there would be no way of ever cleaning it up. Zombie blood would seep into the wood, weakening it as it seeped its poison into the floorboards. In a few days time, the entire ship would be so rancid that there would be no choice but to set it on fire to burn out in the water.

Yet, Velinyal continued down towards the basement, for reasons that he wouldn’t reveal.

Soon, Damon approached a new set of stairs that led down to the damp storage areas of the ship. His feet creaked on stairs that were soaked in half congealed blood, and there was a sudden rush of feet and chatter as he took another step down.

Velinyal grabbed Damon’s shoulder before the boy could go any further. “For the sake of the Bard Council, I couldn’t send a boy down their first,” the captain said, holding onto Damon’s shoulder tightly so that the boy had no option but to agree.

“Someone else go,” the elf demanded. “Someone with a light.”