High Fantasy RP Thread

"I'm not a-" Ahn was interrupted by the sound of Kin quickly drawing his sword and taking a step forward. Anotheyn's head whipped around and he shouted at him "PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE YOU GET SOMEBODY KILLED," Kin complied and layed the sword on the ground. "You have no more reason to trust me than I have to trust you, Paladin. But we can all walk away from this... we're on the same side here..."

"Are we?" Marcus asked, Cadoc rooted to the ground. "And what side is that?"

Ahn turned to the bounty hunter. "Yes, we are. You want Praxa off the map? So do we!" His stare shifted to the paladin again "So do we".

That was.....an odd thing to hear. Destroying a nation? All the threats it held? Tempting but.... "Who says I want to destroy a nation?" he asked. "I may have no love for Praxa, but neither do I have love for war."

"I'm not talking about starting a war here, I'm just saying..." He looked back at Kin, who was again staring off silently into space. "We hold no more love for Praxa or what it stands for than you do, yeah? We're just two guys trying to make our way in the world, don't want anybody to get hurt over it".

"Even if you pass us, not like the next will be so understanding," Marcus said. "Your friend there especially, will be sure to get you both killed."

I thought back to Knight-Commander Caelin, what he would have done. It's true that, as a paladin, I should be oathbound to kill these two. I didn't trust the human bounty hunter, but he was living, and I had a duty to protect the elf and to avenge Caelin.
"Why would you want Praxa destroyed?" I asked, "They are the only nation that won't sentence you to death."

Anotheyn looked at the paladin for a moment before speaking to Kin. "Kin, where do your loyalties lie?"

"To you, master".

"Do we support Praxa?"

"No, master."

"And why is that?"

Kin stood straight up, his voice a little louder and clearer, almost more human, than before. "Praxa facilitates the systematic oppression of all undead as tools for war rather than people".

"Thank you, Kin". Ahn paused for a moment before speaking again. "Praxa may not want us dead, but they don't want us free either. Us? We just want to go about our lives like anyone else..."

"Well," Marcus said, "about as much life as an undead can have really...."

Ahn glared at the bounty hunter. "Kin may not be the most... lucid... but that's not his fault. I... Well I didn't do the best job at raising him".

"So if he goes on a killing spree, then it'll be on your head," Marcus said. He wanted to make it clear that he was in no way a supporter of necromancy. At all.

"That isn't going to happen. I botched his resurrection somewhat, so he isn't quite all there mentally. He'll do pretty much whatever I tell him without question". He relaxed his stance somewhat. "Other undead aren't like that. Either they're trapped under Praxa's rule, or they're people just like you and me..."

"Except for the whole, me being alive and them being dead bit," Marcus pointed out.

"That doesn't- ugh! Look, he died, that was my mistake, but I gave him a second chance. Where's the evil in that? We don't hurt anyone, we're good people".

"The evil," Marcus spat, "is that it's a mockery of life! A twisted abomination of nature and an affront to the natural order!"

"Give me one good reason why. This man lost his life in an accident! Have you no sympathy?"

"For him, of course, but surely it's kinder to let him rest?" I asked, mentally adding that we should also avenge his death. At least now I was sure how the bounty hunter felt about this, meaning I had at least his support.

Anotheyn sighed. "Kin, how did you die?"

"You shot me, master".

"Explain".

"You were being chased by the Praxan Undead I was hunting. You didn't see me, and I startled you. You shot me, and I died".

"And then I raised you, didn't I?"

"Yes".

"Would you prefer I didn't?"

"You gave me back what you had not meant to take. It was imperfect, but you have amended this too".

Anotheyn turned to the Paladin again. "I keep him far away from Praxa. We're not with them, nor do we wish to be. We just want to be". He stepped forward, speaking with a little less frustration in his voice. "Nobody has to get hurt here, I've said that enough. What do I gotta do to convince you of that?"

"Honestly? That's a hard question," Marcus stated plainly. "That said, I've seen worse done in the past few years with regular magic than I've seen done with necromancy. Add to it the fact that you've made no move against us--with the exception of Kin, but that was no doubt a mistake."

"You can't seriously be defending Necromancy!" I shouted at both of the humans, though it was mostly aimed at Marcus. "Raising the dead is evil," I said, "You steal their lives, and then take control of their deaths."

"I'm not defending it," Marcus growled. "I'm saying that I've not seen as much necromancy as I have other magics. Is it wrong......perhaps. The dead and those that pass on are not for the living to touch. But I have seen more horrors wrought by normal magics than from the little I've encountered of necromancy."

Leokul walked into the house that he had set aside on the edge of the town. His guards were posted around and so far, everything had been going smoothly. The king had replied with a raven not more than an hour ago, refusing to pledge his support against the Paladins. A move that Leokul had more than expected.

He flipped open the book he was carrying as he entered the main room. Following the main instructions written there, he began the carving on the runes around the room. Once they were finished, he sat down and concentrated on the gap that existed there.

Slowly, the light filled the room, until the portal was fully open. Leokul stood up, gave himself a moment to breathe before walking through the portal.

Darkness filled the other side. Nothing else. He could hear the blood pumping through him, the sound of air filling through his lungs. There existed nothing in the Void around him.

And slowly, He came to form. Leokul smiled as he watched. Today was going to be the first of many victories.

"He follows me of his own accord," Anotheyn sneered at the paladin. It was a half-truth, but a truth nonetheless. "He may choose to end his in life at any time, but does not. Why? Because he did not wish for death. That death was my fault, my mistake, one that could have been made by anyone, but I gave back what I did not mean to take and he considers himself indebted to me". He paused for a moment, looking back at Kin before glaring a hole in the she-elf again. "And as for 'controlling their deaths', not all undead are like him. They can possess the same free will and morality as you or I. Unfortunately, not all necromancers are like me..."

"Most Necromancers are put to death," I said, mulling over his words in my mind. On the one hand, he hadn't tried to lie about his undead companion, he hadn't been hostile, aside from the undead moving to protect its master, and if what he said was true, I wasn't sure what to think. If he wasn't lying, then I may not have the right to destroy it. I sighed, and sheathed my sword. "Please don't give me a reason to regret this."

Kin picked up his sword and sheathed it without a word, and Anotheyn simply bowed slightly before backing away to stand beside his undead.

"So, we can go then?" Marcus asked. "Because there's already a group of orc slavers behind us down the road who want this girl back, and I'd rather put more distance between them."

"Slavers," Kin said grimly, drawing his sword. Anotheyn grimaced at him, but refrained from shouting again. He turned his head to the bounty hunter and spoke with some urgency.

"If we're parting ways anyway, we may as well throw them off your trail. After all, it isn't like we don't enjoy harassing slavers every now and then". His eyes shifted to the paladin as he paused. "It's the least we can do".

"I'd appreciate it, but in truth I had more plans of alerting the rest of Palis to their presence than I had of killing them. Orcs this deep in Palis and enslaving people? An elf no less? There'd be war."

"There won't be war, not over the orcs, anyway." I said. The situation with Sutrea was already volatile, and that would take precedence over rounding up orc slavers.

"Well one can hope not," Marcus said. "Though I'd not be torn up over it, I've no love for the orcs."

Was Sutrea supposed to be a secret? I wondered. Probably not, considering that the human king would have to raise an army, so the humans would know anyway.
"Palis is about to be involved in a civil war," I said, "Sutrea's Lord Leokul murdered a member of our order."

Marcus suddenly stopped, eyes going wide. "Is that true?" Marcus demanded.

"Paladins don't lie," I stated, which in itself, wasn't the whole truth. The Inquisitors did, but they were a different kind of Paladin. "Lord Leokul murdered his council with dark magic, and then murdered Knight-Commander Caelin."

The whole time, Anotheyn and Kin simply stood in silence, listening to the conversation. Of course, the pair only even knew what half of this meant, but what they could decipher sounded very bad. At the mention of dark magic, the young necromancer just had to speak up.

"When you say 'dark magic', what exactly does that entail?" He said in a plain tone while still retaining a distinct air of humility.

I shot the Necromancer a look, what he meant when he asked that question being obvious,
"Demon summoning," I said, "He summoned several while we were there."

"Demon summoning...." Marcus whispered. "That....that form of magic is forbidden, isn't it?"

Miles, elf paladin
Terrin, elf paladin
Old Man, Seneks of Sylwa Wizard, Necromancer, Lightning
Necromancer
Dwarf with gun

Some time had passed before Miles and Terrin stopped to rest. They had followed the
necromancer for a long way but they had not seen him since the collapsing of the floor.
Nor had they seen any signs of zombies or other beasts. They wondered about the depth
of these caves and where they led. They seemed to stretch on for miles. The passage they
walked down had no diverting passages. Which meant that the Necromancer they were
hunting was simply moving faster than they, and not hiding in a different tunnel. 
•••••••
Seneks of Sylwa followed the Necromancer by walking through a series of nigh hidden
paths. He had walked these tunnels many times. The Necromancer would not get away.
The passage the two paladins and the necromancer were in led to a perpetual dead end,
the only way out being a rope or ladder to scale the side to get to an exit tunnel. This
was his destination. He would arrive there and wait. This necromancer would not escape
his justice.
•••••••
Eventually the Necromancer arrived at this dead end. But he did not realize it. He walked
around the room he was in, looking for an exit. Finding no way out on his level, he created 
artificial light and shot it upwards to reveal the room he was in. This was a mistake. As he 
did he revealed a freshly dug path in the side of the room, he would have to climb up to it, 
that was occupied by something. Once the light hit the freshly dug hole, the occupant
turned and covered its eyes. The necromancer could not make out what he saw, but it was 
a dwarf. Moreover, it was a Dwarf holding a strange device that is rarely seen by surfacers.
This device fired little metal pellets using something they called gunpowder. The dwarf
leveled his gun at the necromancer and fired. The shot was loud, and echoed throughout the
room and down the adjacent passageways. The necromancer was not hit however, and the
dwarf had to reload...
•••••••
The strangest sound echoed through the passage the paladins walked down. They looked at
each other with both alarm and curiosity. For what could make such a sound? They hastened
their steps.

I ignored the human's question, it was a pretty silly question to ask. Demon magic was on-par with Necromancy for its danger, though it did lack the disrespesct that violating a corpse had. Something told me that it was time to leave, mainly due to the fact that I couldn't waste time smiting this Necromancer. I nodded and turned to the bounty hunter.
"We should hurry to Praven," I said, mounting my horse and waiting for Marcus to do the same.

"Yeah that sounds good," Marcus said. Getting back on his horse, he figured he may as well let the Elf Sindara take the lead.

I kept one eye on the Necromancer and one on his undead as we passed, making sure that they didn't move towards us. Once we were clear, I sped up and rode with a little less caution.

Keeping pace with the elf was easy enough, Marcus' mount trotting beside her own. "So," he said in a quiet voice, "what do you plan on doing with them?"

I looked at the human, examining his face more closely than I had earlier. He looked experienced, but still somewhat young; though he was definitely older than I was.
"Evil will always be destroyed by the good," I answered him, "The undead will be freed, and the Necromancer killed."

"Well I'll leave the slaying to you," he murmured. "Unless you need help. He doesn't look powerful, especially if he has trouble controlling the thrall."

"What do you make of them?" the necromancer said softly to his companion as their company rode away, out of sight. "That Paladin could've given us some serious trouble". The Undead shifted his stance, remaining silent and deadpan. "No comment?"

"There is nothing to say, my master".

"You frustrate me sometimes, you know that?"

"My apologies, master".

"Don't start with that. Come on, we should get out of here before the Elf changes her mind".

The largest Paladin rushed the black-armoured knight, swinging his greatsword as he did. The knight raised her arm, smashing the sword aside with a plated forearm while her fist smashed into the Elf's unarmoured face. He staggered back, blood gushing from his now broken nose. His partner, a female with a much smaller frame, charged forwards, her shield raised, and crashed into her opponent, knocking her off balance. The paladin swung her mace towards the knight's mid-section, only to find her opponent had regained her balance andhad ripped her mace from her hand. She tried to raise her shield again, but she was too slow, and the razor sharp longsword cut along her ribs. The knight followed the blow, stepping past the wounded Paladin, and towards the other, who was still standing.

The male raised his arm, a warm light flying towards the still standing knight. She moved out of the way, though the light reached her arm. Her arm smoked as it burned in the light, and stopped as she out of its path. She stepped forward, bringing her sword down on the Paladin as she did. He tried to parry with his own weapon, his shoulder almost breaking under the force of her blow. He tried to counter attack, but the knight smashed the hilt of her sword into his jaw, rocking his head backwards. Before he recovered, a fish smashed into his throat, pushing him further off balance. He panicked, swinging his sword in one hand. The weak blow was brushed aside like a twig, and the knight opened up his neck with her own blade.

The younger paladin returned to her feet, having healed her wound and recovered her mace. She charged, angered by the death of her mentor. The knight sidestepped the charge and delivered a blow of her own, though it was deflected by the shield. Keeping the shield between herself and the knight, the Paladin circled, trying to find an opening to exploit. Sensing one, she rushed forwards again. Her opponent was ready, however, and her sword crashed down onto the shield, smashing through the wood and rendering it almost useless. The Paladin dropped the shield and tried to get away, but in her low position it was easy for the knight to place a boot in her stomach and flatten her. Without pause, the knight stepped forward and drove the tip of her sword into the Paladin's throat. Rather than finish the blow, the knight watched silently as her opponent desperately tried to stay alive, until she eventually bled out.

The creature studied Leokul for a long time, and Leokul returned the action in kind. They stood for nearly a thousand life ages of the earth staring across the void from one another.

And finally, He spoke.

"Hungry. Food?"

"I can feed you forever."

The creature chewed it's tongue. It was a disgusting thing if Leokul was honest. It's body was disproportionate to his hands and legs and he couldn't tell where it's head began and it's neck ended. A gaping hole filled the space where it's mouth should be and it had 3 sets of eyes lining back along it's head. A vile, khaki liquid dripped from the maw of the creature, sizzling away into the nothingness of the Void.

When the second Paladin finally died, the knight sheathed her sword and continued, as though nothing had happened. She had been walking for days, and had almost reached Sutrea. Her master had tasked her with investigating an unregulated Necromancer hiding in Sutrea. The Paladins hadn't acted, and so it was up to her to find and destroy them.

The creature vanished from the space of the void, leaving Leokul without an answer. He gave a final call to the darkness.

"Spread the word"

With that, he took a step back and the light of the room returned. The portal infront of him shrank in size until it vanished from the space of reality that it occupied. Leokul felt tired, the summonings earlier and the portal now had really drained his energy. Stepping into the demon realm was no small feat.

As Sutrea appeared in the distance, the armoured woman stopped, analising the walled city. If the guards let her in without resistance, then there would be no problem. If, however, they refused to let her in on account of her 'unnerving' voice, she would need another plan. She could, theoretically, force her way into the city without too much effort, though it would take a while to slaughter her way through the guards. That course of action would also make finding her target much harder. She could demand to see the lord of the city, who if she remembered correctly, would be one of the Serpenthelm family, but she wasn't sure which of them it was. She was, technically, descended from royalty, and any checks would confirm her lineage, even if she herself was listed as deceased.

As she approached the gate, the guards eyed her with suspicion. With the gate locked shut, she had to wait for one of the guards to address her.

I watched the figure as it approached. Once it came close, I realised it was a woman of some kind. She kept herself rather covered up. She stopped at the gates so I motioned to the other guy on watch with me and shouted down to her.

"Bit late to be wandering, ma'am."