Rissterus
Guildsman
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Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 10, 2007 19:18:00 GMT -5
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Post by Oswin on Dec 16, 2007 3:40:28 GMT -5
((ooc/ Okay, let's get this thread going! I hope you don't mind if I start it all off...)) Two days had passed since they had parted with Taj. They were slowly making progress across the countryside of Adenwar, but their speed was/is severely hampered by the fact they're traveling off the roads. The events happening between then and now are of little importance. The main highlights being: Rissterus clearly presenting himself as the leader of the group. Oswin's accepted this and stopped bothering trying to battle with him for the position. Elyiravëra has talked with both Rissterus and Oswin and they with each other; in short they're starting to know each other better. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It was well into the afternoon. Dark clouds hung in the sky that threatened to increase the light rain into a savage storm. Oswin trudged after Rissterus, his left hand clutched his cloak, just below the clasp, holding tightly around him. The rain wasn't coming down hard, and it didn't pass through the canopy of trees. However, that only made the water droplets that cascaded down on them from the branches larger and more annoying. In his right hand he held his staff, using it to conduct him around the larger puddles. He was looking more down at his feet than ahead of him. Rissterus' feet were just in his field of vision and he used them as a guide. Oswin had been silent for the majority of the day, ever since it started raining. The subject of their quest occupied his thoughts entirely. He was concentrating on them so much he hardly seemed to feel bitter cold of the late winter air. Behind him he heard Elyiravëra. He wondered how she was holding up. She didn't seem daunted by the task ahead, as far as he could tell, but then, she was an Elf, and despite the number of years he had spent around them, he still found them a hard race to comprehend...
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Rissterus
Guildsman
????#??? ????????????? ?
Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 18, 2007 18:53:14 GMT -5
Rissterus generally liked the rain. He enjoyed the feeling of the water on his face in the form of rain, but this time it was just annoying. It was like the layer of foliage above them was draining all the nice part of rain, leaving them with the brunt of the storm. It was annoying, at best.
Rissterus gathered his half-soaked hood closer to his face and pressed on. He was leading them at a fairly quick speed. He wished they had mounts now. They didn't seem to be throwing off their unknown pursuers off the trail, so they may as well stop trying. Perhaps they could outrun them instead.
Still, there's no place we can acquire steeds that's within any reasonable distance. He let the thought pass out of his head. It would be nice, but he wasn't ready to go on a detour to acquire them. Their trackers would probably figure out their objective and get mounts as well. Then the whole thing would be for nothing.
Rissterus stepped over a rotting, moss-covered log and pressed out into a small clearing. He guessed that it was no larger then 8 meters from where he stood to treeline on the opposite end. Still, it allowed a respite from the hard water droplets. He strode out into the center and looked up at the sky, extending his arms. His hood fell down as he tilted his head back. He allowed himself several seconds to enjoy the rain before turning back towards Oswin and Elyira, who were just entering the clearing.
"Come along, we must press on!" he called happily.
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Post by Elyiravëra on Dec 20, 2007 11:41:54 GMT -5
Elyiravëra stepped into the clearing, letting her pack slip from her shoulder to hang loosely on her arm. Oswin and Rissterus weren't the only ones who were getting annoyed at the constant plummet of water. She didn't even like rain, period, yet here she was traveling across the country in a thunderstorm. The rain in the clearing seemed smoother than it had in the forest, though.
"Let's rest for a moment," Elyiravëra called to Rissterus. He seemed to be enjoying himself, at least. She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and flicked it over her shoulder, sending water droplets flying. Then she sat down on the soggy, wet grass. She was already soaking wet, so it didn't bother her
"Is there any place we can bed for the night? There must be some shelter around here. We're not in complete wilderness, yet. If we stay out here much longer, the rain will kill us," she said sarcastically.
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Rissterus
Guildsman
????#??? ????????????? ?
Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 21, 2007 23:03:12 GMT -5
Rissterus nodded in agreement. He wasn't exactly thrilled about reentering the forest, so the idea of resting a little in the clearing appealed to him. He took a step back towards the others, then tossed his pack into the pile.
"Yes," Rissterus started, "the rain will make us all catch colds, and we will die." He knelt down in the grass across from Elyira. "I understand completely." He glanced up at Oswin, then added, "But seriously, we are nearing the road again. There may be place we can stay for the night."
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Post by Oswin on Dec 23, 2007 22:31:56 GMT -5
"The road? I thought we were avoiding the road for no apparent reason?" Oswin said, sitting down next to Elyira and Rissterus. He was soaking wet as the other two, but he scowled anyway when he sat down in a puddle, hidden by the grass.
"Well, either way, let's see if we can find an inn. I don't know how much more of this I can stand." He lifted his hand and flicked a piece of wet grass that was sticking to his palm off his hand.
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Rissterus
Guildsman
????#??? ????????????? ?
Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 23, 2007 22:48:21 GMT -5
"Ah, the priest is the first one to complain," Rissterus said, rising. "Very well. We will alter course and head straight for the road. From there we'll find shelter."
He shouldered his pack then started forwards. He stopped once more, looking up at the trees. "I won't be sorry to put this execrable forest behind us." Without another word, Rissterus continued on, pulling his hood back on.
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Post by Oswin on Dec 28, 2007 1:35:59 GMT -5
Less than an hour later, the road came into view. It was run along the side of a small, 8 foot cliff. Forest enveloped all the surrounding area below it, but above it, the foliage looked less dense. Unfortunately for the three travelers, the highly tilted slant from the road to the forest was muddy and wet, making it very difficult to climb. And they were on the bottom.
Oswin planted his walking staff firmly on the ground as he looked up at the road above his head. As he looked up, the rain came down against his face, partially blinding him. "Do you think it will get lower farther down?" Oswin asked, holding his hand up to shield his eyes.
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Rissterus
Guildsman
????#??? ????????????? ?
Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 28, 2007 16:34:28 GMT -5
Rissterus eyed the slope in front of them. "No, if anything it gets higher," he replied without looking. He planted one booted foot on the incline, testing the ground. His boot slid down, bringing a small avalanche of mud and rock with it. "Well, I doubt we can get up here," he said firmly. He turned, looking at the Elf and the Priest. "And seeing how it would not make sense to backtrack till we find a way up to the road, we shall continue on. We will just have to follow the road from here." Without waiting for them to agree or disagree, he started on his way once again, expecting his companions to follow them. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ They had been traveling for another 45 minutes. The road had indeed climbed higher, or rather, the forest floor slanted downwards. Rissterus, Elyiravëra, and Oswin all encountered difficulty. As they were not on the road, the ground was covered with old leaves that had been rotting all winter under the now-melted layer of snow. Then there was also the soaked moss, and the hidden roots that they occasionally tripped on. They were utterly miserable. At one point, Elyira remarked they should just try to climb up to the road, but Oswin quickly put the idea out of her head; it was too dangerous, now that the road was a good 15 feet above him - and the cliff face as slippery as ever. Eventually, they heard the sound of running water. Rissterus halted the group with a raise of his arm. "That would be the River Ûstov," he said, looking back at them. The Ûstov ran close to the border between Lebonwaith and Adenwar. It meant they were getting closer. "At this time of year, the water level will be higher than usual. Hopefully we can find a crossing point..."
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Post by Elyiravëra on Dec 28, 2007 23:55:32 GMT -5
Elyiravëra stepped past Oswin and Rissterus to get a view of the river. After passing several trees, she could see the Ûstov's banks. The river was a dark shade of blue and ran fiercely downstream. White foam showered over the water from a rock that protruded from the surface. Both banks slanted sharply downward until they disappeared in the rush. The opposite bank was at least 7 feet away, and there seemed to be no accessable crossing point. Farther upstream, she could see a wooden bridge crossing over the river, but the road was way beyond reach by now. The rain was finally seeming to lessen, though it didn't stop completely. She pulled her hood down and shook her brunet hair free. "How will we get across?" she asked, turning back to Rissterus and Oswin.
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Post by Oswin on Dec 29, 2007 14:35:35 GMT -5
Oswin moved forwards, reaching up to grab a tree branch as he looked out over the roaring river. He saw the bridge farther up, but it was unreachable from their position. After looking downstream, Oswin concluded the river must get wider, so that probably wouldn't work either. "I see no way across," Oswin said in reply to Elyira. He looked back at Rissterus. "Do you see something I don't, Sorcerer?" Oswin didn't usually get irritated, but this whole day was getting on his nerves. He couldn't help but sound a little hostile.
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Rissterus
Guildsman
????#??? ????????????? ?
Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 29, 2007 15:41:16 GMT -5
Rissterus joined the two, looking down at the river before them. A hint of a smile came to his lips as he heard Oswin speak. "You must not be seeing clearly." Rissterus turned his head and held his staff up. He whispered words of magic and there was a loud 'CRACK!' as a tree suddenly snapped at the bottom. Slowly it tilted towards the river, gaining speed with every second. Rissterus stepped back, motioning for Elyira and Oswin to do the same. The tree came crashing down, creating a new make-shift bridge. The top of the tree snapped off somewhere on the opposite bank, but the tree was large enough that it still remained firmly in place. Once the whole operation was over, Rissterus walked over to it. "There. You see? We have our way across."
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Post by Oswin on Dec 30, 2007 21:13:00 GMT -5
Oswin scowled. "Now you've made it painfully obvious that we've been here. You can't hide that," Oswin said, pointing a finger at the torn stump. Long shards of spiked wood still jutted out from both ends of the fracture. Oswin took a step forwards, climbing back up the bank to where the tree had fallen. Oswin Placed a foot on the edge of the log and looked out over the width of the river. There were still branches sticking up on every side of the log. He turned back to Rissterus and nodded towards their bridge. "You'll have to go first to clear the way."
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Rissterus
Guildsman
????#??? ????????????? ?
Posts: 130
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Post by Rissterus on Dec 30, 2007 23:27:46 GMT -5
Rissterus looked at the torn tree stump as Oswin pointed to it. He tilted his head to the side, as if considering something. "No, I suppose not." He looked back to Oswin. "It matters not." He climbed up to join Oswin at the foot of their new bridge. He gripped his staff firmly in his left hand. He sprang agilely onto the log and stepped forwards, holding his right arm slightly out for balance. He extended his left arm forwards, pointing his Staff of Demise at the branches in front of him. A moment later a ripple of magic swirled over the top of the tree, shearing off any branches in it's path. When it reached the other side of the river, the circular pulse of magic dissipated into the air. Rissterus was temporarily winded from the use of magic for a few seconds, but he ignored it and stepped purposefully forwards. He crossed the bridge easily, then turned to wait for the others.
[-15 MP for total magic used in felling and cutting the tree]
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Post by Oswin on Dec 31, 2007 1:54:29 GMT -5
Oswin watched him with growing disapproval. He did not like Rissterus' clear use of the dark arts. Oswin reached down and helped Elyira up to the log, then started across. He looked down at his feet the whole time as he crossed their make-shift bridge. He had no idea how Rissterus had crossed so calmly. Below them was a roaring river that would likely drown them if they fell, it was raining, and the log's surface was covered with the stumps of the branches, not to mention the trunk was half covered in wet, slimy moss. He suddenly almost slipped on a particularly slimy section of moss and thrust his arms out for balance, holding his staff horizontally. He heard Elyira called out to him from behind, but Oswin was able to regain his footing. "I'm alright!" He cried over his shoulder, barely heard above the roar of the river. "Be careful, the way is treacherous!"
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