02 Journey (Southan Alternative View)

'Bandages? What do they need them for? Neither of 'em even got so much as a nick!' he thought as he eyeballed the gore covering the women before noticing the way the one who'd spoken's shoulder seemed "off", 'probably a broken collarbone...' he intoned clinically, moving closer to get a better look and sheathing his massive blade "Aye missey, and ye'd best be keepin' that arm as still as ye can till we see how bad i' is."

Abby nods to the dwarf “I’ll do so but..” She hesitates explaining why her dear but currently blood soaked sister needs to see a healer for.

“Yeah food and healing and rest in no particular order would be very helpful”Abby concludes.

kuro walks up to abby "i can heal you."
and start to heal her.

Kuro heals [abby].
10 (1/2 Magic) +4 Healer +4 Enhance Healing = +18 hit points!

"Thank you" Abby says while circling her arm to test the motion. "Inside then for food and discussion? For I would very much like to know why an army of undead goblins was attacking here"

Abby gained 8 hp out of 18 healed hp= 12/12

Watching the group gather together, he sees the girls walking around. 'They look like nice people...'

As he scoots back a little preparing to make his entrance to them, he races forward out of the shadows from the nearby shrubs lining the road and leaps to the one that was talking to her sister, the black haired girl in the pinkish outfit.

'She looks like someone that would like me alot.'

As he runs out of the shadow at full speed he leaps up to meet her with open paws.



~~~~~~~~
Must defend against knockdown
4 attack - 4 small size + 9 roll = 9

The member 'Seren' has done the following action : Rolls

'd20' : 9

"Whaaaa..." Abby slides back slightly looking at the fox glance at her sister confirming her sister was still in human form and then at the fox in her arms. Blinking while looking around and again at the fox. "Huh?"

Abby defends agianst knockdown
16 + 8 Defence + 1 Reinforced hat = 25

The member 'Abby' has done the following action : Rolls

'd20' : 16

Removing his hand from where it had instinctively jerked to the handle of the blade slung across his back at the commotion 'Fox, eh? Odd for one to jump out at someone like that...' he eyed the 'wee beastie' warily.

"As fer th' goblins missy, they wern' undead, if they'd been they'd 'ave smellt be'er," he huffed, "and I fer callin' that rabble an 'army'..." He paused and admired the structure before them. "If ye' 'ad seen this place back when me kin held these walls ye'd know what kind of insult ye' 'ad jest let past yer lips."

kuro looked down "lets get in and get fed"

"Foxes are dogs that think they are cats," came Ella's comment. She reached over and scratched to fox behind its ears. "Confused species...but confusion is relative." The kitsunemimi turned her blue eyes towards the rest of the group. "I'm Ella. I'm crazy...or at least that's what my family says...perhaps I'm confused as well?"



"Don't worry, moonface, birdbrain over there is crazy too," Iryna informed as she too scratched the kitsune behind his ears and ignoring the reactive growling the nickname brought from the phoenix in question. "I'm called a lot of things...But my father called me Iryna. Now wasn't there mention of food? All this talk is making me hungry..."

Loving the attention he received, 'Guess i was right, they are nice to me."

Hearing that she called him a confused person, ' Well who knows...'

As he heard the others mention the food waiting for them, "Well that sounds nice."

"Eh? Talkin' foxes now?" he said sarcastically "and i aint even 'ad a cup sence yesterday!" he continues, walking toward the entrance "I think I need a drink in me to prove that I'm seein' this sober."

Abby’s eyes rolled looking at the fox “You’re not crazy Ella you’re....” she trailed off looking for the right word. “Your slightly off but then again anyone spending three months alone in a caved in mine would be” Abby defended her sisters’ sanity while walking toward the keep.

“By the way I’m Abby, Mr. Fox what should I call you?” Looking at the fox, she was currently carrying. “And sir dwarf I meant no insult to yours for this keep surely chewed up many such groups in the days your kin held this place, but in my limited experience a hundred plus goblins does make an army, though a defeat able one” Abby pauses and looks to Ella “I’m babbling again aren’t I?”

'She said it again and you let them just walk all over you.' "My name is Kuro. Please call me that and nothing else."
Kuro walked towards the keep.

"I know ye did no' mean it lass, but an 'undred does no' an army make. an' wha' ye' sirin' me fer, names Korin." He said over his shoulder as he continued on to the door "I'd be interested in learnin' how offe'n 'at 'appens."

"They show up every couple of days," Iryna said as she fell in step with the dwarf. "Either early in the day or towards dusk. Don't hang around long--just long enough for a few of them to die. Then--POOF--only the stink is left." She lifted her black hair off her neck as she walked. The blood was already drying and flaking off her skin. "Always the same group too. The dead ones just come back the next time."



"Black and white,
shades of night
and shades of light
combine into a pretty sight."

Ella cocked her head to the side, cornflower eyes focused on Iryna. She looked over at Kuro and blinked several times rapidly.

"You made people scream--in terror, in pain...it was all the same to you. Why does she call you 'birdbrain'?"

Kuro stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at the girl with a hard stare. "You are treading where you're not welcome, and it is 'cause I am a phoenix. We are bird people by nature."
Kuro turned back to the keep and started to fly towards it, shakeing down the madness crawling in him.
'She knows... at least some things.... hehehe...' Kuro hissed under his breath, "Shut up."

"Actually, it's because he's got the attention span of a bird," Iryna agrued. "Always acting strange-like. He talks in his sleep, you know--agrues with himself. Once he had smoke coming from his room..."

Looking up to the girl that he was being held by, "Well the name i go by here is Seren." As he was held in her arms, he flicked his tails a couple times getting comfortable in the grasp of the person called Abby, "As for the food that does sound good, its been awhile since ive been able to find anything decent to eat around here."

'Slave goblins, sadistic megalomaniacs, talking jewels, thirty foot falls, more rotting goblins, talking foxes, and now a phoenix and a girl that babbles in riddles...' he thinks going over his day and mutters to himself as his stomach grumbles "Could this day ge' any be'er..."

"So, birdbrain," came voice from atop the curtain wall as if answering Korin's question. The arrogant tone of the man's words was not lost on any of the group below. It was clear that this person believed himself to be superior to the Phoenix in some way. A dark-haired man leaned out of the crenel closest to the left side of the massive gate. His eyes stared down at the small group as if taking their measure. The expression on his face made mention of finding them lacking in some vital criteria he had. "What is this rabble you found? Animals aren't allowed in the keep, you know."



"Oh, really? But Father Donny allows you in, you worthless sack of horse shit," Iryna returned before Kuro got a chance to do so for himself. Somehow she managed to sound not only pissed off, but surprised as well. There was a flash of light on metal and then the man gave a surprised cry of pain and dropped back out of sight. The gypsy's next words were almost sickly sweet with the veneer of innocence. "Oops...did I do that? Must have been a passing goblin..."



Ella cocked her head to the side again. This time she was watching the dagger-wielding fiend. Her eyes darkened from light cornflower to a dusky cobalt. Her face, lit with curiousity just moments before, fell slack...blank.

"Night wrapped in day wrapped in night," she muttered dully. It struck a cord in Abby's memory. It was the start to the same litany that Ella had been saying when she had emerged from the darkness of the cave. The pale girl's anixety grew as she continued until her voice had a panicked pitch. "Night wrapped in day wrapped in night.... The colors are there! I can see them but their waves are all wrong, twisted with shadow. Light becomes sound and sound become lights. There are bits scattered--everywhere--I tried to find them, but the darkness swallowed them up. It's hungry."

The girl's stomach chose that moment to give a loud growl. She started a bit violently, narrowly missing smacking her sister or Abby's precious cargo. She blinked several times in rapid sucession before giving the unnerved group a nervous smile.

"I guess I'm hungry too," she said quietly, not making eye contact with any of them.

"Too right," Iryna agreed. The tall woman slung an arm across both Ella and Korin's shoulders. It looked a bit ridiculous as she had a full foot on both her targets, but somehow she managed. "Aye, we w're promised ah meal fer a battle handedly won! Let us en 'fore we chew our way through!"

"Don't do it!" came a call from the same arrogant swot as before.

"What was that, D'Ware? I'm free to go?" Iryna called back cheekily. Her grin stretched across her face. The expression reminded Ella of the phrase "ear to ear".



"Miss Kemoni, do you think you could refrain from attempting to kill Sebastian for just one day?" asked a different voice, this one tired and disappointed. Another man, this one far older than the other one, appeared in the gap between merlons by the gate. He looked over the "rabble". His gaze was no less measuring than Sebastian's was, but apparently they passed as he waved to someone they couldn't see and the gate began to open.

"Grea' now we add a pompous windbag to the mix..." he grumbled and slid through the slowly opening doors to the interior courtyard "I should know by now t' jus' keep me trap shut..."

well well the small man does have a brain how fun... could you let me take control so i can make people show you the respect that you desever

kuro growed under his breath "no." then turned to face the father "thank you father these people helped us keep the goblins back"
"I have asked them to join us for dinner as i was being pull towards it anyways and we always have enough. is that ok?"

"Of course, my son," Father Donatello returned as he made his way down the stone steps just to the left of the massive metal doors. He smiled at the phoenix. It didn't have the touch of distance that the other exorcists at the Order House had. Really, only the Father and his current pet project, Iryna, didn't have that coldness when dealing with him...and his problems. "As you have said, we always have enough. We don't often get visitors, however. How do you come to be so very far from civilization? Even the dwarven city of Ogouri is at least a month's hard journey from here."



"Well, it's like this--"

"Not you, Miss Kemoni," the old man interupted. His lips twitched as if he was supressing a grin.

Eyeing her sister carefully Abby smiles at Korin “it’s standard for every ten decent folk you have one blow hard full of himself genius” Abby pauses at the Father’s word “.. They usually learn after they die the first time though”

“As for how we came to travel here” Abby looks at her sister carefully and sighs using one hand unconsciously to stroke the fox. “It began a month ago when my sister was trapped in a cave-in she was there for many weeks and when we got her out” Abby pauses now not meeting anyone’s eyes as a tear flows down her cheek. “Her mind was not quite right anymore she saw both more confused and more clearly and still does, her words coming in riddles that make more sense the more you look at them true but still,” Abby takes a breath tears still running but not looking at anyone “after it became apparent neither Da our mom’s or any of our half-sisters moms could do anything I volunteered to come here with her to seek help” Abby finishes speaking looking down while still slowly stroking the fox but not seeing Seren.

Hearing the story of what had all happened, and seeing the flood of tears rolling off of her face, Seren was moved by her dedication to her sister and how she has come all this way to be with her trying to find her some help.

"Seems that you have been quite dedicated to helping with your sister, and it shows that you really care for her."

Blinking back the tears and brining up a hand to rub them away “Thank you Seren” Abby slowly smiles and looks at Ella “Father, I hope that answers your question as to how we came to be here or at least the why”

"That's sweet! Nothing like sisterly love to get ya through hard times," the gypsy spoke as she steared the group towards another pair of doors--dark wood bound by wide metal bands this time instead of thick metal. Father Donatello walked stately with them. A few of the other priests and priestesses bowed their heads at him as the group past them. "I have a brother of my own. He's a scrawny thing, all knees and elbows. He's at the Order House in Pathos. So a cave-in, eh? Sounds excitin'!"



"When we are alone and it is quiet, that is when Ozain's voice comes through the loudest," Father Donatello reassured Abby. His tone was similiar to her parents or aunts when they were teaching a lesson. "If your sister speaks in riddles that make sense upon reflection, perhaps God is working through her. Is she otherwise lucid? Capable of daily activity? Normal societal living?"



"I'm crazy," Ella told the elder priest. "Though societal living is different for any children of Daddy's. Two parents, perhaps four, is normal, is right. My family is extrordinary. Love is universial. Daddy is like God. He loves everyone."

"Crazy, eh?" he called back over his shoulder "Crazy aint a bad thing missy, it's often the crazy that make the mos' sense. Crazy also wins wars..." he walks silently for a moment before rummaging through his belt pouches and retrieving a small bluish crystal orb and holding it out "As fer how i got here, she brought me here..." he said nodding to the gem in his hand as they continued to the inner doors.

kuro stops at the front door to let the others pass "i must say i agree crazy is not always a bad thing sometimes it can even take down the strongest overlord."
kuro chukled alittle to himself "but as for the ord what is it?"

OH and now you make fun of me i swear someday i will incarnate in another form so i can kill you again and again just for the fun of it all

"Before t'day, I knew i' as th' Star of Dvergheim," he said somewhat confusedly "bu' she says 'er name is Eria, Eria Jarolyn."

"A Jarolyn? Here?" The old man looked excited by the prospect. He peered at the plain blue orb streaked with dried goblin blood. "But Jael Reis was supposed to have destroyed all of them about two centuries ago. This is incrediable! Have you gotten it to work? You said it told you its name..."

'Destroyed?' came a quiet whisper into Korin's mind. He could almost feel Eria's desvastion at hearing the fate of her family. The orb in his hand began to glow again, burning off the crusted gore on her smooth surface. Feeling her push against his grip, the dwarf released her to float on her own. Like she had before, an image surrounded her and shimmered into solidarity.



"Who is this Jael Reis and how did she destroy my family," the irate woman demanded of the elderly priest. Her smooth hair and her eyes were the exact same shade of blue. She stared at Father Donatello. "Tell me!"

"Oh, my," came the priest's reply. He looked shocked. His words were breathy and soft. "Oh, Ozain..."

Hearing about the name of Jael Reis, started to jog Seren's memory about the person. "This Jael Reis is a demoness that has led campaigns through rural areas so as to keep her identity less known, but still feared. "

As he began the description of her, he sent a small flame to the ground from Abby's arms and had it grow in height and formed it into the woman's likeness as he could remember.

"She has long flowing red hair and a couple markings on her face."

As he finished up describing what he could remember from his short encounter seeing her, he made the flame vanish leaving not a mark on the ground.

"But with everything that shes done, she may have also changed how she looks, since she is part demoness, she does also have the innate ability to change what she may look like."

Abby smiled at the Father “ Her lucidity is questionable but there, her day to day functionality is too, functioning in society well.... no not at this point” Looks at Ella “Yes I admit Dad isn’t Normal nor does our family have more than a passing association with normal”

Looking startled at the Blue woman who had appeared out of the orb “Aunt T mentioned her though only to the adults she’s a succubus who’s as black as the blackest night sky. She destroyed a desert town zintula a century ago, only a handful of people survived...they all tell the same story of her laughing as her minions burned it to bare rock” Abby finished with a frown.

kuro stood still as if fighting an internal war
kuro fights back images of moments when master worked with her and how he had enjoied her handy work
OH yes she was a lovely piece of work wasen't she... i think even you could get to likeing her leaveing little left in an area noway someone like me could come from a dead town HAHAHAHA
kuro yelled "NEVER, NOT A WOMEN LIKE HER!!!"

"Apparently she gets aroun'," the dwarf said forlornly "Even I've 'eard of 'er. 'Bout two 'undred 'ears ago she razed the dwarven city of 'andell, the few that survived described atrocities I won' go inte." he said grinding his teeth, his sword-hand twitching "More recently she worked with another lowlife round the fall of a 'uman town by the name of Ash City."

"Hem," Iryna said clearing her throat before continuing in a tone almost like she was singing,

"'Hark! A temptress comes
With hair as red as the blood she'll spill
And eyes as green as her magic spell
She is known only as the Lady Jael
Learn this name and learn it well'--"



"'For demon song and devil dance
Here comes Death's own herald
Upon your soul, she'll prance
It's too late--the world's in peril.'"

As the last note fades from the air, Ella blinked dazedly at the gypsy, almost unaware that she had picked up the ballad that Iryna had started quoting. The darker woman leaned over to give her a half hug. They had entered the main building of the huge keep by this time. Half muffled, the group could hear a complaints coming from the prat.


"Oh, so she has had songs written about her, great," Eria said sardonically. "Did any of them happen to mention how or why she killed my family?"

Iryna resisted rolling her eyes only by the knowledge that she'd be just as upset if someone had hurt her father and brother--hell, any of her caravan. She picked up the song once more, obviously skipping a bit,

"'The tinker sent his children forth unto the world
An army for the Greater Good
The children grew and trained and planned
But all for naught as Jael's strength would
Prove to be stronger in the land.


One by one, the Jarolyn fell
Crushed beneath the Lady's foot
Some by minion, some by spell
Naught was left but splinters and soot.'"



"According to his journals, Eathin Jarolyn created the Jarolyn to battle the forces of Darkness as they swept over the land. They were to be guardians for the entire world--a great idea from a great man. Unfortunately, his efforts failed in their infancy...and he and his creations were destroyed by Jael's army before more than a handful left his keep..."

"I'm assumin' tha' keep ye mentioned be the one 'bout an 'af-hour hike t' the east." he paused briefly for for a response, and at Father Donatello's nod continued "I ken tell ye it wasn' a pri'y figh'. Scortch marks on melted stone, claw gouges through iron doors..."

Abby looked at her sister with concern “Where did you hear that?” She looks around at the rest of the strange company “and after the meal what’s next? I just want to have a plan” she finishes hurriedly while looking at the group.

"Well, we don't offer much in the way of entertainment here," the Father began. "Being so far away from things, there's just not a lot to do. Master Jikira has the crafting hall open for a hour after the meal. Master Su Ling organizes his acolytes to the task of polishing weapons--he closes any other access to his forges when sixth bell rings--which it did while you were fighting. I'm sure that Miss Kemoni and Kuro wouldn't mind taking you on a tour of keep if you feel up to it."

A rather skinny child walked up towards Father Donatello his black and silvery hair looking rather messed up as it was filled with cobwebs, and he himself was covered in dirt. "Father Donatello there are no more bones in here... I think I found the last mouse bones, and Kitty hasn't found any new mice yet...." the boy said with a rather deep sigh while suddenly tugging on the mans clothing. "Do you have any new bones for me to play with... huh?" he said while bouncing up and down slightly not paying attention that the man seemed to be talking with other people at the moment.

Iryna quickly abandoned the girl she was standing beside to walk the few feet to the boy. As she moved, she was pulling out of....well, no one really could tell where the objects came from, but suddenly she had two bones in her hands. She held them out to the boy.

"Snagged a couple just for you, kiddo," she said with a flourish.



"Darkness creeping...hunting...It's COMING!" Ella grabbed a hold of her sister. Fear was painted on every inch of her body and rolled off of her in waves. Her pale blue eyes were focused on the tiny boy like he was some object of absolute terror. Her nails lengthened ever so slightly biting into her sister's arm. "The Darkness will eat us....and...play with our bones?"

Watching the little kid wander up to the tall guy talking and hearing about him gathering bones, 'An odd hobby... but not a little too bad, must be like a cleaner or something.'

Once the mention of a cat, ' Ah hell... i have to deal with many cats before... they usually try chasing me or playing with my tails... well if this one tries it im sure it'll get a little more than a bite of my tail... ive had to deal with them for several hundred years, one more cat wont be different than the rest'

Getting comfortable in Abby's arms, he relaxes and flicks a tail to keep him from slipping from the grip. "So which way was the place for the meal, most everyone here was hungry, and seems good to eat then we can chat there."

Abby’s eyes look the boy up and down with great caution while getting next to her sister “Ella threat or not?” She asks not sure how to react to the strange little boy but trusting her sisters odd instincts. Looking down at the moving fox “um Seren how good is your balance? Just incase could you shoulder ride instead of an arm ride?” Abby asks her eyes not leaving the boy, gypsy or the Father.

kuro steps up and says "the boy is not a thret, though that is a lose way to put it he is a charge of the church and is safe from harm ok"
kuro shakes alittle as master pushes more memories of the demoness into his mind

"A forge le' go cold! Unworked!" he boomed in surprise. "Knowin' that, I'm glad me kin had the good sense to follow tradition." He snapped and pushed past the assembled group to the wall across from where he'd been walking. "Feh! An' ye ain' even found it in all this time." With that, he pressed on a part of the relief work and twisted it, popping a section of the wall next to him out about an inch. He then proceeded to open the now highly recognizable secret door and push it into the wall. A roughly ten foot square storeroom full of weapons and armor, surprisingly dust free, was revealed. A wave of stale air washed over the group as he walked in and looked around. A low whistle of appreciation escaped the stout dwarf. "Now this is wha' I call craftsmanship!"

"Master Su Ling would never let his forge go cold--What in the name of Ozain?" The older man could only watch in amazment as the dwarf opened a bit of wall. Even Iryna didn't have a snappy comeback. Ella was not so quiet as she had been talking in a low whisper to her beloved sister while the dwarf played with the stones.



"The Darkness found him," she whispered in a frantic tone to her sister. "It found him and touched him. Then the demon came when he called. It destroys--everything." By this point, Korin had let loose his whisper. To the small telepath, the weapons within the chamber glittered with light and color. She pulled away from her sister and rushed into the safe haven from the darkness. "The Darkness cannot hide here. It's much too bright."

Abby blinks as her sister runs into a room full of weapons and other odds and ends “Korin what other surprises are you going to spring? First the lady orb and now a secret room, and all before dinner.” Her eyes look around the group as she follows her sister inside making sure not to let the kid get to close despite the others assurances.

“Ella as much as I’m sure this is a safe place, Dinner isn’t here so we should proceed there. After all I’ll be by your side to help keep you safe. Don’t you trust your sister?” Abby finishes brightly smiling at Ella.

Lifting himself from the arms of Abby and making his way to the top of her head, coiling his tails to perch himself there, "Well that is an interesting sight... most weapons ive seen usually are dull and lifeless but these here are impeccable and sparkling."

With him sitting there at the top he sees the hallway where the rest of the people have been making their way to the dining hall, he hops down, and begins making his way there, on the way echoing in the hallway his stomach growled, with it you could see him almost race to the dining hall even faster than before.