The Illuminati

I'm glad you guys liked the idea behind the decision but your writer's block tells me that we shouldn't continue with the human story line. I'm also going to bench Brix, and instead use that energy to work on some of my own stories that I've been trying to write for years now but never got around to.

Rend: Day 2
The mystical forest where Fluffy's goblin clan have made their home is a wooded region populated largely by wild monsters and borders on the city of Atlos in the north. Human bandits also make their home in the forbidden forest, regularly attacking travelers in the area. The great forest is also home and the heart of power for the High Elves, beings who have increasingly withdraw from advancing mortal civilization. In recent years, human settlers have come to dark woods from the west and founded villages and missions dedicated to the worship of their gods throughout the forests, further straining relations between the humans and elves...

It was midday by the time Rend and her team of Expendables made their way to the spot Akta had described to Rend earlier that day. Along they way, they easily dispatched many of the horned rabbits that had come across their path. Where they were now, the trees were several times taller than any of they had ever seen before, with golden rays of light reflecting off large, red leaves. This was were the Fae Lights lived. From a distance, they looked like floating orbs of glowing light but up close however, they were mostly jagged teeth and savage claws. Climbing up a small, grassy knoll, Rend and her crew found a group of three fae lights. They currently hovering and dancing in the still air, making a sound like music that they frequently used to lure foolish humans to their deaths. Just behind them were some of the black cohosh that Rend needed.

OOC
Just broad stokes of what you can expect. Feel free to either take your time and kill the horned rabbits (counts as your first encounter), or jump forward and fight the fae lights (second encounter). The fae lights are either blue or white in color and give off a faint, humming sound -- almost like children laughing.

Any favorite characters I might've had are all dead now. I gave up on GoT after last season. I'll come back for the final season, since I've already invested so much time into the series, but the subliminal messages with Daenerys are just too offensive for me.

Yes, and yes.

Rend
Going through her supplies, Mocharr quickly found the item Rend needed -- a simple, copper mining pick. All of Mocharr's mining picks were enchanted with Akta's magic to help the user find the rare metals they needed. In this case, the copper mining pick was attuned to presence of copper ores, and would react whenever Rend was near a large enough source of the metal. From there, it was just a simple question of digging for it.

Mocharr had also finished preparing the other items Rend had ordered earlier that morning: the skin of the Fey Wolverine skin was now a beautiful set of leather armor, and the Fey Wolverine's leg was now a fine pair of short swords. Mocharr had somehow managed to get Wargo to make them before he, King, and the rest of King's raiding party left to go attack a nearby village.

Despite his haste, the items looked like they had taken a century to craft and would last twice as long -- maybe. As Mocharr had explained before, the items were basically free but Rend did owe her for the mining pick -- which had a price tag of only 24 gp. With that done, it looked like Rend was finally ready to head off into the forest.

Ebb
"So where are we heading?" Ebb finally muttered, breaking the brief silence caused by the two lovers. "I didn't know there were this many survivors?"

"Survivors?" Scratch asked, one of Ebb and Shay's other 'cellmates' in the barred carriage. "Just how hard did they hit you, friend. We're from the city prison, Atlos City. And now we're heading to Red Creek to work the mines there -- and fill whatever else that needs filling. Hopefully some ladies, if you catch my meaning." Scratch was lounging against the bars of the carriage with his eyes closed and his iron-clasped hands resting in his lap. Like most of the other prisoners in the carriage, Scratch was covered in filth and wore little more than a pants and shirt to protect his modesty.

"Damn these nobles!" Neck cursed, another prisoner. "They can't do this... you can't do this to us!"

"Shut up!" One of the guards shouted, kicking at the bars to force Neck away from them.

"We have rights! You can't do this to us!!"

"It's already done," Scratch replied calmly. "Best to make the most of this new opportunity."

"Bastards," Neck cursed again. "Do you know where you're taking us?! People die there and go missing in the night all the time. This is a death sentence!" That was when the caravan came across the crucified corpses of what they could only assume were adventurers. "Oh gods, you see!" Neck ranted. "We're going to die out here. The goblins are going to get us for sure! No no no! This can't be happening. This isn't happening!"

 "There is no glory in this!" Ser Laures muttered under his breathe as he drew the sign of his patron god across his chest before touching his fingers to his forehead. "Mi-lady please, this is foolish and reckless. We should evacuate Red Creek, not seek to defend it."

"Is that fear I hear in your voice, Ser Laures?" Commander Collin teased.

"I-I'm no coward..!"

"Funny, you sound like a coward to me."

"I," Ser Laures forced through gritted teeth. "Am simply trying to save lives. You do not see me fleeing in terror, do you?"

I'll read it now and let you know.

I wasn't going to write her an intro. The scene was already in motion. You just had to jump in.

X is BACK! Yay~! Welcome back, X! =D

~~MMOs is Love. MMOs is Life.~~

On The Road to Red Creek
"Aww, isn't that sweet!" Commander Collin gushed as he looked over his shoulder at Anne-Marie and Shay, who were busy chatting away. Isabela didn't share his opinion however, and was just about to turn her horse around and drag Anne-Marie to the front of the caravan by her ear when the commander suddenly stopped her. "Hey now, there's no harm in a bit of casual banter, is there."

"Commander," Isabela replied with a sigh and a frown. "Your lack of common sense is quite appalling."

"Yes, well... but now that you mention it, my mother used to say the same thing," the commander replied after a thoughtful pause. "She's dead now, gods preserve her."

"Then the gods are truly merciful indeed," Isabela stated flatly.

"H-hey now! There's no need for talk like that."

"Did I hurt your feelings, commander -- all one of them?"

"Well, if we're going to be like that, then allow me to tell you exactly what I think of you and you're...!"

"Mi-lady?! If I may," one of the guardsman barked as they quickly rode up from behind, cutting Collin's retort short. Isabela nodded her head slightly to indicate that the man had her permission to continue speaking to her. With no one to talk to now, Commander Collin was forced to settle for making faces behind his subordinate's back. "My name is Ser Laures, Mi-lady. I served your uncle faithfully many years ago -- before I met my lovely wife. The day I saw my Elibeth, I had little choice but to stay by her side from then on, which meant leaving your uncles employ. But it was worth it, and now we're expecting out first child."

The story, though sappy, still brought a small smile to Isabela's face. Emboldened by this gesture, Ser Laures sat straighter in his saddle as he regaled her with another romantic story. Ser Laures was a large man, almost seven feet in height and heavily muscled, with a balding head and a modest, full beard and green eyes. Commander Collin on the other hand, was a much smaller man with delicate, almost femine features -- a direct result of his elven heritage. The elf-blooded commander had blond hair, hazel eyes, pointed ears and a well-manicured goatee.

"Well, if we're all making nice and introductions and such," another guardsman spoke up as he too broke rank and ordered his horse to ride up on Isabela's left. "If I may, my lady?"

"You may."

"Name's Davos -- just Davos, my lady. I ain't no fancy knight or none such nonsense. Was a career criminal back in Atlos when I was younger, you see. So one day I try to snatch this pretty, little purse off this fancy fop of a noble -- no offense, my lady -- but he didn't like that none too much, and so decides then and there to have his guards take my hand as payment for the offense. But wouldn't you know it, the commander here rides up like a knight in shining armor..."

"Stop, you're making me blush!"

"...and saves my hide by suggesting to the lord that it would be far worse of a punishment if I were to spend the rest of my life fighting monsters in the swamps. And now here I am, a proud member of the Red Creek Militia."

"As well you should be, Davos-just Davos" Isabela added once the tale had ended. "You were a petty criminal before, now you have a chance to make something more of yourself. Or do you regret your situation?"

"Normally? Perhaps. But I've seen what these monsters can do first hand. When I was younger you see, before I moved to the city, they attacked my village deep in the forest, not too far from here. Made me an orphan that day -- and a coward. I was forced to run away as they killed my da and raped my sweet, old mum. And all I did was cry like a newborn babe, I did. That day has haunted me ever since, it has. And now, after all this time, the gods have finally given me a chance at revenge. I may not be a trained soldier like ser knight there, but I'll do my part to see these beasts destroyed." Isabela smiled broadly and seductively, charming most of the men present.

"That's good to hear," she said warmly. "If only more of our kind understood the threat, and the sacrifices needed to halt the goblin's return."

"Aren't you being a bit over-dramatic, my lady?" Collin spoke up. "I mean, the goblins and their allies were destroyed and scattered almost twenty years ago. The only thing that remains of them now are marauding warbands, capable only of attacking isolated farms and stealing mouldy bread and cheese -- no offense, Davos."

"Offense taken, commander."

"You're just like all the others," Isabela replied with yet another frown. "You have to bear witness to their cruelty to understand why it is so important that we stamp out every, last trace of them."

"You're speaking of Wilvale, aren't you?" Davos almost whispered. "What was it like? I've heard stories, but..."

"It was worse -- whatever you've heard, it was far worse."

Shay
Anne-Marie was practically lounging against her poor horse's neck as she listened to the fascinating and seductive story of a young man's life gone wrong. It was oh so terribly romantic. Sensing this perhaps, her long time friend and recent fiance, Vicus, decided to finally put an end to her obsession with the prisoners by taking the reins of her horse and leading her away.

"Hey!"

"That's quite enough," Vicus said in a stern voice. "I'm not going to sit here and let you cuck me with some street rat, who imagines himself a merchant prince in the rough." Anne-Marie objected but not too loudly, slightly excited by Vicus' sudden jealously.

"I... oh no!" Anne-Marie gasped loudly, pointed somewhere over Vicus' shoulder. Vicus turned immediately with his hand on a hidden, blade.

"Look there!" one of the guardsmen shouted.

"Poor sods," whispered another.

"That just seems so excessive," Commander Collin replied finally.

The corpses of five adventurers were nailed to the branches of a tall, dead tree by their wrists. Around their necks were signs, written in goblish, warning others to stay away. Little remained of the bodies now, with some even missing their legs and most of their torsos. While everyone else stopped to stare, Isabela kept riding along.

"Aren't we going to take them down?" Commander Collin asked with a frown of his own now.

"Why," Isabela asked rhetorically. "They're already dead, and we need to get these supplies back to the village. If you want to stop and dismantle a warning sign this close to goblin territory as the sun is setting, feel free to do so -- alone."

Frisk
No-name covered the distance between him and Frisk in one leap, smashing down with both fists and crushing the floor boards beneath his hands. Looking between his fists, fingers and splinters, No-name slowly realized that Frisk had already slipped through the front door and slammed it behind him. Enraged, No-name leapt to the door and began beating on the door frame with his massive fists, aiming for the door knob but missing each time as he cracked and splintered the door frame instead. Frustrated, No-name suddenly turned the door knob and watched as it slowly swung away from him. Pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment, No-name leapt down the stairs, landing on the fence below, and immediately regretted his decision as he now lay in a broken heap on the ground. Now No-name was really mad.

@UM: But he did get to play a game! Now it's time to put away the toy and get ready for bed. This isn't a battle Frisk can win, so either he escapes in a convincing manner, or he'll have to sacrifice a limb to stay alive. =O

@MR: I figured it was something like that. xD

I also see that you and DR have the same taste in heroes. d^^

@MR: Why is Ebb in prison?

Isabela

PS: I need to stop being so specific with when I'll post. Life seems to really hate it when I do.

Had to set up a new washing machine this morning and lay some new pipes. So after I feed the dogs and make sure the pipes are glued properly (and eat), I'll come back and get started on the update/comment on your CS's!

Alright! For the next few chapters, we'll be following the story from the perspective of the humans. If your goblin hasn't made it to Day 3 yet, don't worry. This just means that now you'll have more stuff to add to your posts. ^^;

@UM: I'll post an update for Frisk tomorrow.