Journey of the Accursed: A Dark Souls RP (closed, PM if interested)

[Tactical Pause]

"I have heard that it is even poisonous in some spots. If it gets thick enough it will choke you if nothing else, its not air after all."

Caelius had been unfazed by the giant man who had just approached, but he didn't like the sound of this. Poison wasn't something he could fight, and that almost made him nervous. He glanced around at the others, then at the path through the mist. Finally, he got to his feet and joined the rest who had begun to gather on the path.

"Let us be off, then. I will not be thwarted by some blasted fog."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Isis-​

Isis didn't relax as the black knight spoke, and in fact, his voice only put her more on edge, though her face certainly didn't show it.

"Stay your blade knight. Our goals our aligned, I too assist the White with their endeavors, to which the paladin can attest. I have been waiting well-nigh a week for your arrival in this place, my name is Ulrich Dagonet.".

The Paladin himself nodded, though he kept his hand on his sword-hilt.

"I had heard you would be waiting for us, you took so long to appear though I had begun to wonder if you had hollowed.".

At that, Isis slowly straightened. But, by no means did she sheathe her swords. She kept her guard up, since even though this Ulrich was an ally, he still rubbed her wrong, somehow. But she couldn't be sure why that was. As both Ulrich and the Paladin spoke of the mist, they mentioned that it had the added danger of patches where it was poisonous.

She took the time then to sheathe her weapons, though only to check her pack. She only had a few Purple Moss Clumps left, and not enough to go around for even one each.

"Well, I have some remedies for poison, but not much I'm afraid. It's best we avoid poison as best we can, and save the moss I have for when times are dire.", she told the others, before stuffing them back into her pack, and starting to follow Travis as he mounted his horse.

 

[DarkRawen]

Another person appeared, a large, frightening looking man. He scared Rang, a lot, and the young man turned his head, not listening to the conversation the others had with the newcomer, so that he didn't seem rude or even just curious. From before, he had heard the people who had led them here telling them that they should leave, and someone mentioned something about the smoke around being poisonous.

It really was time to leave. With a light motion, Rang went to his feet, and started following those who had started walking, clenching his staff in his hand. It was more for the purpose of giving himself courage to join these people, than courage for the trip itself.

While he walked, he kept his eyes away from the others, scanning the surrounding area for any sort of difficulty that might appear. It was important to know what the road looked like, and to take note of anything that seemed off or problematic.

 

[sage42]

Avina turned her gaze to the new speaker and her eyes widened. This man was huge! And such strength to even be able to walk in such armor. This man was a sight indeed, and Avina wanted to know more. But there was a time and place for questions. Sadly now was not time. She cast one lost look into the bonfire before sighing and standing up, pulling her hood back over her face. It would protect her somewhat from the poisons in the mist. She pulled her shield from her back and strapped her blade to her waist once more. She left her blade in it's scabbard however instead clenching her right hand around the small ember feeding a tiny amount of her spirit into it, enough to make her hand glow. She joined the others as they began to walk the path, glancing towards the mist and scanning for any signs of danger.

 

[IFS]

The path remained thankfully clear of smoke ahead of them as they walked, though on either side it clouded their vision of the burned plains. All around them strange noises could be heard through the mist, and occasionally shapes could be seen moving. Some stood recognizably as hollows staggering through the smog, others crept low to the ground moving quickly through whatever remained of the grasses and shrubs of the plain. The path itself was in disrepair but navigable, and led invariably forward with only a rare curve to it. Soon enough the top of the keep could be seen emerging in the distance over the haze, a proud grey stone fortress that had weathered the years unchanged.

A stiff breeze blew through the air, and ahead the smog was pushed thickly into the path enriched by dying embers in the grass kindled by the passing air. As if in reaction to this a low intense buzzing could be heard from the ground to the left of the path, and at a close glance it would seem the ground was beginning to writhe. Ahead could be heard a high pitched warbling cry, like the cry of some large bird or other beast.

 

[Tactical Pause]

"Halt!" Caelius shouted to the rest of the brigade, raising his shield and readying his mace. He stared at the newly formed fog wall ahead of him, but couldn't make out the source of the noise emanating from within it. "Spread out and prepare to fight, don't stray into the fog," he barked, only hoping that the others would listen.

He had positioned himself near the front of the group, but shied away from the left side of the path when he heard the buzzing. His eyes darted between the movement to his left and the fog directly ahead of him, and he quietly murmured a prayer as he waited for an attack.

 

[Red_Fog]

"Halt! Spread out and prepare to fight, don't stray into the fog."

Sound advice. Thought Travis to himself as Sue let out a whiny and reared slightly at the disturbances up front.

"Rang, stay behind Caelius! Use him as your shield and be ready with your sorceries!" Travis positioned himself to the left of Rang to guard his left flank from the suspicious ground but behind any others who would stand up front. Giving himself a tactical view from horseback he was able to keep track of the group's positioning and what lay in front of them unobscured. He quickly assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that the current situation was unacceptable. An unknown threat lay before obscured by a potentially deadly fog and their only flanking route was occupied by some thing in the grass. As it was they were on the defensive, merely waiting for their enemy to attack and seize the initiative. Travis wanted to attack. Travis wanted the initiative.

A smile cracked Travis' lips, "Avina, I don't much like the look of that ground to the left. I think the view would be much improved if it were on fire. Don't you agree?"

Thank the Gods for blessing me with a pyromancer on this quest. She provides a whole new range of tactical options I've never had in the wars. Shame really, the stigma against her kind.

"Everyone be ready. I think we're about to start something."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Isis-​

Isis kept at Travis' side, her eyes scanning the landscape like a hawk as she followed. She could see some vague forms in the mist, some who she could pick out as Hollows, shambling aimlessly, while the others were alien to her. The noises, on the other hand, were completely foreign to her, and made her feel like, maybe, something was out there, stalking them.

She remained on edge until a gust of wind blew the thick fog onto their path, and immediately, a low buzz could be heard in the air around them. The ground looked like it was starting to come alive, while a loud, high pitched call came from ahead of them.

"Halt! Spread out and prepare to fight, don't stray into the fog.".

Nodding, she started to move away from Travis, drawing her weapons and wishing that the fog wasn't in her way. She would much rather pull back and draw her longbow, and support the group from long range. But, that simply wasn't possible if she couldn't see what she needed to fight.

Travis, not one to waste initiative, started barking out sound orders, and Isis had to admire that, even as her eyes darted this way and that, hoping to see some kind of target to run through with her Estoc.

"Everyone be ready. I think we're about to start something.".

 

[sage42]

Avina brought her shield up to her chest turning to cover the left hand side of the path. She heard the buzz, but did not reconize it, smae with the shapes other than the Hollows in the fog. Then she heard something she liked very much.

"Avina, I don't much like the look of that ground to the left. I think the view would be much improved if it were on fire. Don't you agree?"

Someone else besides the others of the Swamp asking for the gift of flame? She didn't know weather to be annoyed of these outlanders or to hug them. She setteled for a laugh. "Gladly!" She said lowering her shield and widening her stance. she opened her palm, focusing on the ember in her hand until it grew into a fire ball the size of a child's head. She giggled as it grew, and laughed again as she threw it into the fog, turning the dry grass into a beacon.

 

[Pandalisk]

Rogue knight Dagonet stood among the group as the shrieks and howls from beyond the haze grew and intensified and members of the party began to bring attention to their stalking foes in the mist as the knight he had spoken to earlier began to take charge with a certain flair and moxie. Dagonet wasn't wrong in his assumptions, that knight was of fine stock.

"Avina, I don't much like the look of that ground to the left. I think the view would be much improved if it were on fire. Don't you agree?"

"Glady! Came the response from the one named "Avina", a tattered individual Dagonet had only glanced at briefly. As she wielded her pyromancy within her hand, she began to giggle and laugh as she stared into the ever growing ember flames. savages was all Dagonet could think as he watched the woman lose herself within the flames in a fit of almost maniacal enjoyment before tossing the orb wrapped flame into the fog.

The young flames black smoke billowed from the grassland as it mixed in with the white smoked haze as if the old fog was trying to devour the upstart flame. It was almost poetic to behold as Dargonet watched the orb try desperately to light up the area surrounding it, the light dancing upon Dagonet's black armor.

"The land we stand upon is disadvantageous, attempt should be made for the fortress" He motioned to the party.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Spread out and prepare to fight, don't stray into the fog,"

The man named Caelius said, and Rang looked around, unsure of how to act. He had never fought with several people before, so he hoped he wouldn't be in the way.

"Rang, stay behind Caelius! Use him as your shield and be ready with your sorceries!"

"O-okay," Rang said, and positioned himself where he had been told to. He wondered if he should tell them that he was capable of fighting as well, although with dodging and a quarterstaff, rather than using a good armor, but he decided that doing so would just bother them. He started scanning the area around them for any sort of creature or enemy, if he saw one, he would act immediately. How he would act would depend on how close it got, within hitting distance, he would use the staff itself, unless that was a bother to someone else. If not, he would use the only offensive spell he knew, homing soul mass.

 

[IFS]

As the flames struck the buzzing was momentarily silent, then intensified as a swarm of monstrous wasp-like insects burst from the ground. Their numbers were thinned by the explosive blast of fire and they seemed dizzied by the eruption of thick black smoke that followed it, but they were not eliminated and began, almost lazily at first but gaining speed as they exited the smoke, to move towards Avina as a group. Each of them was at least a foot in length covered with a black chitinous exoskeleton and armed with fearsome mandibles and an over-sized stinger.

Not to be outdone but as if in response to the newly intensified buzzing the screeching from the other side grew louder and closer, and its origin became clear as a pack of lizard-like creatures burst through the haze. They ran on their hind legs and were each the size of a large dog, their grey-black scales stained by fire and smog and their long claws extended to grab and slash what they could reach. Their mouths were open revealing row after row of pointed teeth. They were eight in number when they first struck.

One of them lept at Isis and was quickly run through the mouth by her Estoc, it trashed violently before expiring but its claws could hardly reach her armor and did little damage to it. Caelius managed to fend off another, deflecting its attack with his shield and beating it back with his mace, but not killing it. However if did not fair as well against Rang's casting of sorcery, the light blue mass of energy flew past Caelius and struck the thing dead sending its corpse rolling for another few feet.

Another two circled Ulrich, looking for a break in his armor or to get behind him while the other distracted him, one began rushing towards Avina to strike while her back was turned, another pair circled Travis and Sue looking for an opening to attack them but wary of the horses size, the final one halted its rush before Isis on seeing its compatriot run through, it hissed at her and began circling as well, its tongue moving quickly and hungrily about its mouth.

 

[Red_Fog]

"Gladly!"
The pyromancer performed as requested, though Travis found her maniacal laughter somewhat unsettling. Ah, so maybe that's why her kind are treated as such if they all share her same... enthusiasm. Still, he couldn't argue with the results as the blast stirred up and burned down several large wasp like creatures.

"The land we stand upon is disadvantageous, attempt should be made for the fortress"

"Agreed. Though I think we're going to have to fight our way through!" Responded Travis as screaming through the fog came not one large beast as Travis had suspected, but several smaller creatures.

Travis took in the sight of the monsters assaulting the group. The lizards, while foreign and somewhat intimidating reminded him of wolves, using the their agility and the strength of the pack to flank. Two of the beasts were quickly dispatched though and seemed like they were a manageable threat when taken head on. The wasps were somewhat concerning, but they seemed quite averse to Avina's flame, and the more they grouped up the more effective her fire blasts would be. Her flank was threatened though, and if she continued to focus on the wasps, the lizard would likely pounce and maul her.

Their initial spread out formation was now a liability, allowing the lizards to circle them individually. Travis eyed the 2 that had singled him out, waiting for the right moment. As one of the lizards circling him occupied the space between him and Avina's flanking threat he kicked Sue's side spurring her into a charge. While the creatures were foreign to Sue, battle was not and she was calm and responsive to her master's commands. Travis stood in his stirrups for greater leverage and flexibility to aid in his strike as he readied his blade. He stayed his hand as he approached the first lizard, hoping it would either get confused and trampled under Sue's charge or that it would be unnerved and dodge out of the way, but keeping his shield ready to bash it away should it choose to leap up and attack. Now he approached his intended target. The creature that threatened Avina's flank. The beast was focused on it's current quarry and hopefully wouldn't notice Travis as he slashed out with his divine blade packing the added momentum of man and horse in an attempt to cleave the monster.

"Rally around Avina! They mean to take us down one by one! Get back to back and force them to take us head on! Avina, continue to burn down those wasps!"

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Isis-​

Isis didn't have much time to really react as Avina's orb of fire turned the writhing ground ahead of them into a small inferno, only to cause a swarm of what looked liked monstrous wasps to burst out from what patches were free of flames. They were larger than any insects she had ever seen, and their stingers looked deadly enough even without the threat of venom.

Shortly after, a small pack of dog-lizards tore through the fog towards them, eight in all, and each with long claws and razor sharp teeth. And one headed straight for her. She pushed Avina's predicament to the back of her mind as she focused on her own enemies. As the first dog-lizard leaped for her, she quickly brought her Estoc to bear, and managed to plunge its fine point straight through the back of the beasts head. It's dying throes, while not deadly or very dangerous, still managed to catch her armor some. With a small scoff, she used a boot to push it off of her blade, and then turned to another that had its attention locked onto her.

"Rally around Avina! They mean to take us down one by one! Get back to back and force them to take us head on! Avina, continue to burn down those wasps!".

As Travis barked out sound orders, Isis had to smirk just slightly. She didn't really feel like she had her hands full with the one dog-lizard, she couldn't exactly ignore it to help Avina, though she wanted to. Instead, as it started to circle her, she carefully maneuvered herself in turn, edging closer and closer to the pyromancer to be more helpful.

Then, as soon as she felt she was close enough, she lunged towards her opponent with two quick thrusts, before stepping back again with a quick horizontal slash.

 

[Tactical Pause]

Caelius watched the lizard collapse before him, felled by Rang's sorcery. He quickly surveyed the battle, and saw the creatures attempting to flank several of his compatriots.

"Rally around Avina! They mean to take us down one by one! Get back to back and force them to take us head on!"

It was a sound plan, and Caelius did not hesitate to obey. Keeping his shield raised and his mace ready to strike, he began to slowly back toward the pyromancer. "Rang!" he called over his shoulder. "Stay close and watch my back." As he continued moving toward Avina, he kept his eyes on the lizards that were ahead of him.

 

[sage42]

Avina stared in wonder for a moment as the wasps burst from the ground, dizzied by the wondrous flame. But only for a moment as she readied her hand again, instead holding her index finger and thumb together. As the first buzzed closer she raised her hand and snapped her finger's. A small fiery explosion erupted from her fingers and the wasp was engulfed in flame.

"Rally around Avina! They mean to take us down one by one! Get back to back and force them to take us head on! Avina, continue to burn down those wasps!"

For the second time that day, Avina's respect for the outlander grew. She had no time to see why the others began to rally around her however. The wasps were getting closer. Her robe's would offer some padding against the stinger's of the wasp, but the mandibles were another story. She readied her flame again and raised her hand as once again the swarm drew closer. "I'll burn as much as I can. Too close though and I won't have time to ready the flame!" She called to Travis as she snapped her fingers again, this time catching two in the same blast. Damn that snake, another few days and I would have had Greater Compustion! She thought cursing the creature of the Swamp.

 

[DarkRawen]

In a very short amount of time, creatures had appeared, some wasp-like, and the rest like large lizards. Although they managed to take out some -him and Caelius bringing one down in what could be called team-work- there was still a lot left, and Rang realized that they would be too close for spells to be very sensible. Good thing he could use the staff as well.

"Rally around Avina! They mean to take us down one by one! Get back to back and force them to take us head on! Avina, continue to burn down those wasps!"

That sounded like a good idea, the way they were standing now caused too many openings. Before Rang got the chance to move according to what Travis said, Caelius spoke.

"Rang! Stay close and watch my back."

"Yes," he replied, and did as he was told. He followed Caelius' movements as they got closer to the pyromancer. If anything got close he would strike it with the staff, swiftly and accurately. He was good at aiming for the best spot, be it eyes, legs or stomach at that moment.

 

[Pandalisk]

Ulrich stood still as a duo of lizard creatures circle and the shimmer of flame and smoke began to fall around him.

"Rally around Avina! They mean to take us down one by one! Get back to back and force them to take us head on! Avina, continue to burn down those wasps!"

Dagonet knew all too well that the lizards were starting to separate him from the party. They would descend upon from all angles, chipping away at his stamina, his armor, till he could fight no longer and the killing blow was struck like a pack of savage wolves upon their larger prey.

They were fast, these lizard creatures, and his helm narrowed his vision as they darted across it. Ulrich began backing off towards the party as sharp clangs wracked against his armor but held fast.

One of the duo began another offensive against his armor within Ulrich's limited vision and so the great heavy mace was raised instinctively above his head with both hands, feigning a vertical overhead attack Ulrich let go of the mace with one hand, before twisting the pommel and bringing the mass of iron in a sudden horizontal sweep.

 

[IFS]

One lizard attempted to leap at Travis as he charged to Avina's aid, only to be nearly trampled by Sue who simply charged through the beast. The lizard charging towards Avina turned and hissed as it was run down, its head sent rolling away with a stroke of Travis's blade. Isis's lizard did not fare much better, it lashed out with its tongue as she struck, the thing was surprisingly long and struck like a whip making. The blow struck soundly, but Isis's blades found their mark easily and the beast fell to the barrage of stabs. Ulrich felled another lizard with a mighty blow of his mace, crushing the thing. Avina's fire dropped more of the wasps, only a half dozen escaped the flames though they were scattered by them.

The monsters responded in kind though, the second lizard that had been circling Travis ran and leaped after him, planting its claws into Sue's hindquarters and it latched onto the horse. The second lizard facing Ulrich managed to avoid the brunt of his blow and found itself dazed and swept to the side, it scurried to its feet and began to back away from him cautiously, hissing with its tongue rolling quickly around its mouth. The remaining wasps surged angrily, scattered as they were they flew in separate directions. Two continued towards Avina, one grabbing onto her chest with its legs and attempting to tear at the cloth, another attempted to sting her but whether due to the cloth protecting her shoulder or its disorientation from the fire its stinger struck lightly and was deflected. The remaining four surged towards Rang and Caelius, though one was crushed by Rang's staff and another swept away, they buzzed angrily their vicious stingers leveled at the pair as they moved to strike.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

-Isis-​

As the dog-lizard ahead of her fell to the brutal series of stabs, it lashed out with a long, whip-like tongue. It staggered her just slightly as it connected, and the smile behind her porcelain headpiece took on a slight edge. They weren't to be toyed with, that was for certain, though their greatest threat was their numbers, by far. Thankfully, their numbers were quickly dwindling as far as she could see. Ulrich and Travis had both felled at least one dog-lizard each, while the Astora Knight's faithful mount trampled on another, showing that a war-horse was a danger all its own.

Rang and Caelius on the other hand, had started to work on the gigantic wasps, while Avina admirably held her own. Isis had to admit, she was rather impressed by the small group of them, since while they were clearly outnumbered, so far they were making short work of the beasts, though this couldn't be their greatest trial while in search of the Rite.

She turned as she watched Travis ride towards Avina, only to have one of the dog-lizards leap up and latch onto his steeds rear. So, she rushed forward and, flipping her Parrying Dagger into a different grip, plunged the blade down towards the beasts head while pulling back, attempting to pull it off the poor horse.

"If you would be so kind, get off of Sir Travis's Horse.", she said, her tone calm and pleasant as ever as she tried to tug it to the ground.