New Eatha RPG Story Thread

[Jessimyre]

The room was quiet, warm. The only light came from the fireplace, just embers in the grate and almost burnt out. No wind or rain out of doors to disturb the peace and just the Harthing night-watch left awake in the entire building.

It was still too early, for the cooks to be rising from their beds and dawn was at least three hours off. Not even the carroling magpies nor the laughing Kingfishers or even the domestic roosters felt it was time to herald the new morning just yet.

Kathlynne slept deeply, her body at ease in the first real bed she'd lay in for months and she was not even dreaming. Her mind had only her power shielded, nobody would bother about a healer visiting the Hold - everyone knew old Holdlord Oran was ill.

She suddenly awoke as instantly and completely as though somebody had shaken her. The room was peaceful and empty but her mind felt it had been drenched in ice as it echoed that which had awoken her.

Christin's death reverberated through her soul. Kathlynn breathed quickly, gulping deep breaths as she reeled in shock. One of her people, one of her kin had been lost. She did not know where and she did not know how but his life had just ended. He was only eighteen. What could possibly have happened?

She gripped the sides of her bed as she fought down a wave of grief, and reshielded herself to ensure that she did not show power for even a moment to those outside. Christin. Oh Christin, what happened to you?

She closed her eyes, concentrating on linking with the Council, to see if there was any messages or news regarding her cousin. But there was nothing, she could not find the link. A strange haze filled her mind, she knew not what it was, it confused her. Something was blocking her from connecting with any other Annui.

[Renos Babe]

Enyala sighed as she woke, it was still early but she had a lot to do today. She sat up and ran her hands through her black hair trying to untangle it slightly, but to no avail. Standing up she steped over the other sleeping slaves carefully, so as not to disturb them, before dashing upstairs.

On one of the tables was a list with times and chores for the day. She looked over the list and shook her head her first chore for the day was to serve breakfast then she had to head out to the markets. Placing the list back on the table she headed to the kitchen quickly starting to prepare her masters meal resisting the urge to posion it.

[Aurasheild]

The sparks flew as the three swords clashed together, Aryn and Ken (a fellow solider) had the upper hand against the teen. She was smiling evilly, they had been stalking him for a month now, watching to see if he really had powers. Aryn pressed down on her blade, the teen grunted and pressed upwards with his daggers, swinging his arms to the side as Ken backed up, his sword down in front of him. The teen lingered before striking for his heart another sound of swords clashing and his dagger was sent to the ground out of reach as it slid across the floor towards the opposite side of the room.

Aryn struck the back of his head with the hilt of her sword, “Agh!” he coughed falling to the ground, Ken grabbed the boy's arm, twisting him around to a full nelson hold. The boy grunted with effort to get away, but he couldn’t move. "For Kitas," Aryn took his sword, and dug it into the boy's back. He cried out in pain, struggling to get away. Aryn giggled, "Still alive?" She stabbed him once more, leaving him motionless on the ground, before kicking his corpse over.

The bloodstained hallway was eerily quiet as the two stood there, ready for another battle.

"Filthy inbred." She knelt beside him, opening his jacket searching for any thing of value. She smiled as she with drew a small locket. A healers mark was inscribed on it.

'To Christin' A small picture of the teen and an older women lay next to it.

Tossing the locket aside she put her sword away. Her lovely silk clothing was now soaked in this stupid boys blood.

"Search the house for valubles, before you go." She turned and began making her way towards the front door where her steed awaited outside. "I'll continue on towards the temple."

Ken sighed, he admired her beauty, her battle skills, and her total ignorance to his feelings. He yawned as he remembered it was still early morning, a horse whinnied outside before taking off, the galloping of it's feet quickly fading.

[Gabriel Gray]

The constant sound of waves crashing against the side of the ship did nothing to interrupt the already deafening arguement. Harym had been listening patiently to the four men around him contesting their assignment.
"But Captain, you know aswell as i how she feels about men. There is no chance at all that she will come willingly." whined Harym's first-mate Saemin. Another pipped in
"Especially not alone, they say she now has an excort of over 500 men!" Harym just dismissed the claim with a wave of his hand and said calmly
"She has gone too far with her reckless war mongering. We have orders exclusively from the Shafta High Council that we are to bring the girl to them immediately. Unless you would like to swim back to shore and express your thoughts more clearly?" Harym gave a false smile at the man, who was stuttering apologies.

Clinging from wall to wall Harym made his way to the deck, looking around at the rag-tag bunch of men he had been given this time. Ever since the Annui paladins had ambushed them at the dock he had been given temporary replacements. Smiling as land came into view, without the assistance of his scope. Jaryn gave each of his men scrolls with the same instructions on;
"Locate Aryn Hart. Report back to Harym Dermstrurt. Use extreme caution, wanted alive - by request of the High Council."

[Jessimyre]

Kathlynn could not return to resting after the shock of Christin's death. The boy should have still been at the Centre and with the most powerful of Annui around him there could be no way on Eatha's land that he could die there. Her mind full of impossible questions she arose quickly and dressed.

The haze in her mind that blocked her connection to the other Annui bothered her. She knew the Shifta had been getting more powerful in the Holds and towns and knew that it was something they would certainly love to do but no Annui or Shifta was powerful enough to do that, none. It was impossible, but, it was there. She resolved to find out what she could. Any information would be useful and when her time assisting the Holdlord was up, she would travel as fast as she could back to Ethanion to pass on the news.

And find out what fate befell her cousin.

Making her way out of the room and down the corridor, Kathlynn followed her feet to the Feasting Hall in the Hold. The huge dark room was empty of course, it still much too early for most to be up but the smell she could just detect meant that the kitchen staff at least, was up. She decided an early breakfast was in order and she could certainly find a quiet spot to plan her next move whilst she ate.

The staff welcomed her although the Head Cook quickly shooed her out of his way. She left the kitchens with a hot cup of Hraa, some freshly baked bread and a small pot of honey. Settling herself in a smaller dining room off the main Hall, she quickly settled down to eat, relaxing her mind and allowing herself to brood on her problem.

The Shifta here were powerful and as much as she wanted to help Lord Oran, she doubted she alone could cure him. The Shifta of course, were to blame. When she had first gone to see her patient two days before on arriving, one look at the Holdlord told her he was mortally ill. When she administered a dose of her special spiced wine she often used for medicinal purposes, her mind showed her the source of the illness. Like a cancer, the Shifta mindhold was slowly damaging his body. A method of killing used to make the death seem perfectly natural and not the murder it really was. One of the Priests from the town - and an Adept too, was slowly draining the life out of the once powerful man.

This was very bad news for Kathlynn. At the very least, she could take away some of the pain and allow the man a natural sleep. But how could she tell the family? How could she tell them how she knew? As with most of Etha these days, they believed the Annui to be nothing but an old faerie tale.

And that gave thought to a new problem. If the Shifta were killing the father, they would very soon make a move to end the lives of his two sons and daughter. With no heir to the Hold, the Head Priest would naturally lay claim to the Leadership and have no opposition to it. She had to protect the family somehow. She had to warn them.

And then, suddenly Kathlynn realised. Just like a small background sound is not heard until it stops, she realised she was feeling the presence of another. Very, very carefully - using some of her precious energy to Shield her power she reached out with forh - reached out with her mind to find it.

It wasn't in the town. Nor in the marketplace. She couldn't sense it in the Hold at all even though she could easily pinpoint each and every living being in her mind. She looked further afield but couldn't find it. And then she realised. It was Annui. One of her people and not somebody she knew was close by.

Just as she realised where the girl was, she had to withdraw lest she overexhaust herself so early in the day with the strain of maintaining an impenetrable Shield about her power. One of her people was in the Shifta Temple in the town. That really did complicate things!

[Renos Babe]

Regina shook her head as she rushed around the kitchen ducking and doging around the cooks as seh gather the plates that needed to be set on the tables for there respective masters. Regina didn't slow despite how crowed it was getting, her masters where begining to rise and would expect there meals shortly. AS she made her way up the stairs and into the dining hall she ducked and dodged around the other five slaves running up and down with dishes.

As all the plates where set Regina grabbed a list of the head cook, as she ran out the door. Heading down towards the markets, hoping to get everything done before she was needed for anything else.

[Jessimyre]

Shortly before dawn, Kathlynn left the Holdhall, dressed in a common cottonweave dress, a warm travelstained cloak and wearing her dirk and moneybelt. She kept her magic shielded tightly so no Shifta could perceive her. Unfortunately that meant no Annui would either should one be near enough but that was a sacrifice she had to make to keep herself hidden and safe.

The grey sky was steadily lightening as the day began and already the markets were abuzz with a few early buyers out to get the freshest produce before the sun took its toll. Walking easily, Kathlynn headed toward the gypsy display, marked by gaudy colours and old silken hangings set up on a frame to keep the stall shaded. Here they traded many goods from around the country and primarily, herbs, spices and rare plants.

Without noticing anyone in particular but keeping herself alert just in case, Kathlynn went directly to the trade stall. She nodded briskly to the wizened, toothless old woman running the stall as she scanned the goods on display for what she needed.

Kingsfoil, maidenhair, wolfsbane, mint, sage, thyme, cinnamon, and a vast range of various herbs for every possible need. There were even a few sprigs of rare and highly sought after seaklim, some kelp and a red pot of cinabar. Finally she found what she wanted, up in the top row of the stand was a little live plant tucked amongst a bright shelf of greenery.

"The little greyshael please." she told the old woman, "I'll give you three shoes for it." she offered, holding three silver coins stamped with horseshoes on both sides.

The old woman shook her head, "Hard to get, greyshael. It'll be ten shoes and not a screggin less."

Kathlynn knew this was going to happen. She began to barter, keeping her face unreadable and stern. She knew she would have to pay a bit more than three shoes and something less than ten.

Suddenly her attention was distracted as a presence blossomed into her mind, like a sharp bright light, yet as small as a star seen from earth insofar as her mind 'saw' anything. The spark of power she had felt earlier, the other Annui presence was suddenly very close. She turned, her face half shadowed by her hood that had been drawn up to protect her face from the chill of the early hour.

A filthy girl was approaching, barefoot and dressed in rags, her dark hair a-tangle and her grubby hand holding a piece of parchment. She appeared to be concentrating very hard on her errand as she scurried between early shoppers in the marketplace. Kathlynn found herself absently agreeing on a price of seven shoes for the plant and paying quickly, loathe to let the girl out of her sight for even a moment.

A slave, she recognised immediately and with that recognition came a burning of anger in her heart. A Shifta's slave from the Temple or one of the rich houses surrounding it. She may not even realise she had Power. How and why had the girl been taken to serve those vermin, she wondered. And why had they not broken her or drained her power, her life force and thrown her away?

Kathlynn watched the girl for a few moments, and then made up her mind. Scanning her immediate surrounds for trouble and finding none, she set off quickly after the girl. She could not leave one of her own people in this position.

[Renos Babe]

REgina increased her pace as she scurried between the market stalls, only buying exactly what was needed on the list, not worrying about bartering as she didn't ahve the time. As she weaved in and out of the people she had a weird feeling that someone was following her, not daring to look behind her incase it was one of her masters she just continued to purches the items she needed.

[Jessimyre]

The ragged girl was painfully thin that Kathlynn could see and her power seemed unused and Kathlynn wondered if she was even unaware of it altogether. It would not be suprising if this was the case but it seemed very suspicious the Shifta would not have drained her or started schooling her in their own religion and ways.

It wouldn't have been the first time, she mused. Some were taken - and trained - by Shifta and lived for years, hiding amongst the ranks, learning to survive and pretending to be faithful to the Temple. Some escaped, eventually when they were ready and powerful enough in their own right. Some made it to Ethanion and began new lives under the peaceful Annui propserity in the small city and some died trying to reach there.

The girl was moving fast and Kathlynn stepped up her pace to reach her before she turned back to the town's temple. She caught her at last, she reached out and gently gripped the girl's shoulder as she paused at another stall.

"Excuse me," she said softly, turning the youngster to face her. She couldn't have been more than 20 or so, not much younger than Kathlynn but her bony shoulder, bruised lip and sunken eyes told their own story of a violent existance. She resisted the anger, stored it to fuel her Power at a later time.

[Renos Babe]

REgina nearly jumped out of her skin as the girl grabbed her shoulder, as she spun around she relaxed slightly and forced a smile,
"how can i help you?" She asked quietly, her voice raspy from lack of water. She looked the girl up and down, she was wearing simple clothes, it seemed unlikely she was shifta. Shutting her eyes Regina breathed out slowly, her body relaxing slightly.

[Aurasheild]

Aryn sighed with relief as she spotted a small river ahead. Slowly she tugged on the reins, and her horse came to a halt just before a small stone bridge. The day was still young, and she had only been traveling an hour max, but even so she felt the thirst of a parched throat. Cupping her hands she took several mouthfuls before filling her container for a future drink. Her camp was still another two hours by horse-back.

Just then, she sensed another Shifta, rising slowly, her eyes darting back and forth. Standing perfectly still, Aryn began to listen. At first all she could hear was the gentle music her power sang from her soul, but then a soft faint whisper of another began to creep slowly in.

Aryn's hand went to the hilt of her sword to make sure it was free of its scabbard. A gentle tug confirmed it was. Good. She was going to need it and from what she could sense, it was going to be fun.

She listened some more, she heard something that sounded like a musical wind, but it suddenly change to a loud roar of a hurricane, quickly she jumped back. Drawing her sword she quickly deflected an on coming attack.

It was a man, he had long Grey haired, old but not too old to fight. His chest was bare, and he ordained several scars like malicious warnings on his chest. In his hand was one large sword, the hilt had a butterfly like design and the sword itself was dripping blood.

From what? She thought.

The man rose from his current position and raised his head. Deep blue eyes stared coldly towards her.

"Aryn Hart." He took a step towards her. "Your pretty little head has a bounty."

She grinned, trading her sword for too smaller ones. "And what? Your going to try and claim it. It will be hard when your corpse is rotting under that bridge."

He laughed slightly. "I am not Annui. I do not under estimate you. I am Tan."

Aryn led with a sword attack this time. One of her blades came at his chest while the other cut across at throat level. Tan's right hand blocked the cut and held Aryn's blade while his other blade engaged Aryn's in a cross, pushing the woman's blade harmlessly away while extending his own rapier toward her body. Aryn barely stopped her momentum in time to keep from impaling herself.

With a quick jump backwards, Aryn moved herself into a better position. In the meantime, she extended a hand, a quick but small bolt of shadow shot towards to Tan, hoping to keep him occupied while she readied her next attack.

Quickly Tan used his sword to deflect the attack, it fell to the floor steam rising from it. Within a second he had picked his sword off the floor and came in with another attack. She desperately parried his first few attacks, then eased into a calmer rhythm. Letting him gain an advantage over her.

Jumping back, Aryn whirled her hands around. Tan felt the air grew thicker, his mind became cloudy. He watched as another female seemed to appear beside her. She had long white hair, her face was covered by a Valkyrie like helmet. She wore red armour that ended in a skirt. Highly unpractical but yet very familiar somehow.

The woman held a long sword and took a defensive stance in front of Aryn. Aryn lowered her weapons and smiled.

"Your death awaits." She spoke softly.

"What? That can't be, that's one of Kitas's angelic warriors."

The second woman charged forward her sword outstretched. Tan raised his sword in defense but her weapon slid through his with little resistance, cutting his shoulder deeply. Falling to his knees, he groaned in pain and the second woman faded. However her sword did not, his heart pounded as his mind cleared. He coughed blood as he let go of his sword. It hung in his shoulder as he fell backwards.

Aryn was panting and began moving forward, her energy fairly low.

"How?" He groaned.

"Kitas watches over me." Then Aryn knelt and broke his neck.

Slowly wiped the sweat from her forehead. She smiled walking back to her horse. That was one of her deadliest attacks. She weakens her victim until their mind is vulnerable to attacks. Then she sets Kitas's angelic warriors on them. Each victim is convinced that another attacks them, but it is themselves that attack each other. This is a special form of mind-hold and illusion.

Slowly, Aryn took her place upon her steed again and continued on towards her camp, this time she shielded her powers. She didn't have the energy for another professionally trained assassin.

[Gabriel Gray]

Saemin ran as well he could across the uneven floorboards of the 'Black thorn' inn, handing Harym a bloodsplattered scroll nervously. Crouching down to whisper softly in Harym's ear Saemin said
"Tan O'heain's, captain. Two of the lads found his corpse by the lake, well what was left of it." Harym's frown deepened and asked curiously
"What do you mean 'what was left of it'?" Saemin twitched when hearing his words repeated back to him.
"Well captain, it seems the maggots took an unnatural liking to his flesh. The boys only recognised him as one of our own due to the fools gold teeth." Saemin said proudly, as if it was him who had identified Tam rather than just reporting it.

Harym gave a forced smile at Saemin and nodded
"Good work Saemin. It is clear that the girls more advanced with this power than we were informed. Something we won't be so foolish of next time, let me assure you of that." A toothy grin came from Saemin as Harym continued "Set about hiring Shifta priests, one of them between each two of our men. Four in total if the maths confuses you Saemin." His smile dissapeared and he just grunted in approval and left the inn as oddly as he had made his entrance. She managed to kill off one of his best men, true. But with the tables evened out with the assistance of the priests, it would surely be just a matter of time before the girl was in his custody. What other tricks could she possibly have up her sleeve?

[Jessimyre]

"If you wish to be free, come with me." Kathlynn told the girl. She turned away and began to walk through the crowd. Now it was down to her, and she hoped the girl had sense. As she walked back toward the Holdhall she cautiously concentrated her Power into the smallest thread, no more than a cobweb worth and extended it toward the temple. She concentrated, it would be a slower process than a beam but far less detectable.

By the time she had covered the ground into the Hall itself she knew one thing. The slavegirl's master was responsible for the Holdlord's deathly illness and he was the only Adept at the Temple. The others must be out of town for a reason, she thought to herself. This gave the Lord, the girl and herself a chance and it was a chance that had to be taken.

Kathlynn checked behind her without turning her head to see if the girl was following her.

[Nefieslab]

Drew stopped on his patrol of the market. He sniffed the air cautiously as he felt the small tingle that announced the use of power. Drew stopped suddenly as two girls ran past him. The tingle ran across the spine. He saw that at least one of the girls was a slave. That meant that she was most likely not Shifta. He turned to his patrol,
"Get back to the patrol men! I'm going to check something out!" he turned and ran after the two girls. When he managed to catch up with them to some degree even with his armour on because of the fact that he was fed to put on muscle.

[Renos Babe]

Regina looked around then back at the girl who had already started walking. Shrugging she dropped the stuff she had brought and took of after her decideing that whatever she had to offer would be better than going back to the temple.