The Lucky Ones,A Superhero/Fantasy RP with an idea (Closed,Running.)

[Tactical Pause]

Quintus Glaedwine could smell them. As he trudged through the snow he silently hoped this batch would have more on them than the last few he had found. While he needed very little in the way of gold to get by, a few beggar's rags and torn boots just weren't enough, and the familiar pangs of hunger were growing stronger by the day. If he didn't find some items of value soon he would need to find... alternate food sources among the dead.

He had tracked this scent for the better part of a day, and Quint could easily tell that there was a veritable gold mine of corpses ahead of him. He had never before found such an overpowering smell, and it made him more than a little nervous. The stench of decay was one thing, but what he smelled now were fresh corpses, and judging by the strength of the scent he was nearly on top of the them.

"Just over this ridge then, maybe there's a nice little battlefield just for me. I could use some new armor." Having taken to talking to himself shortly after discovering his abilities, this odd habit disturbed Quint more than he cared to admit.

Sure enough, once he reached the top of the ridge he spotted the source of the smell, and at first he could not believe his eyes. This was no battlefield left over from some petty lord's dispute, nor was it a small settlement fallen prey to some plague. No, it was an entire town littered with the recently slain. Quintus did not want to approach, but something pushed him forward, toward the slaughter.

The town was an ordinary-looking one, filled with sprawling, unorganized buildings, winding streets and run-down taverns. Beyond that he could not have said, looking no further than the corpses. They were strewn across the street, in doorways, alleys and inside their own homes. From a single glance one could tell there had been no plague, the ground was stained with red and some of the dead were missing limbs. Spotting what appeared to be a merchant dead at his stall, Quint remembered why he was here and cautiously approached it.

As soon as he reached the merchant he saw the ring, and for a second doubt flashed across his mind. This is wrong. He quickly dispelled the thought and reached for the ring. "It's not like he'll need this" he muttered to himself, putting the ring in his empty coin purse.

That's when he heard the sound. Whirling around, quint saw a muscular man in dented mail standing before him. Bandit, robber, not good. He also saw the mace in the man's hand, and began to unsheathe his claws.

"What took you so long?" the man asked. "I've been waiting here all--"

He was cut off as Quint lunged at him with inhuman speed, sending them both to the ground. Despite his obvious strength, the bandit had not expected the charge and had dropped his mace when it hit him. Quint stabbed his three inch claws into the bandit's chest and saw with great relish that instant of pure dread on his face. It was only for an instant though, as he never saw the club that smashed into the side of his head, turning everything to darkness.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The world didn't so much fade back in as it hit him in the head with a reality hammer. Everything was still black and his head was throbbing, but Quintus could hear voices around him. They were all distorted, so he couldn't make out what they were saying, but the tones didn't sound hostile. He began removing the blindfold from his head (being very thankful that he was not blind) when he did hear a word. "Vendrad". He froze, hoping he had misheard, but no, his hearing had clearly returned to him, and there was no mistaking that word. "Shit" he said to himself, pulling off the blindfold and looking around.

There were people nearby, but they did not seem to have noticed him yet and he wanted to keep it that way, so he silently crawled away from the light and the other cells towards the darkest corner he could find. Only once he was certain nobody was looking did he unsheathe the claws on his right hand and begin slowly dragging them against the wall, searching for cracks. Finding nothing, he crouched down and tried the floor, then the ceiling. Nothing, of course there's nothing, they wouldn't leave such an easy way out. It was then that he remembered the others. Why are they here, and what's my connection to them? For a moment Quint considered that they were other Scions, but quickly decided that was impossible. In all his travels he had never even seen another with the power.

Retracting his claws, Quint slowly walked back to the entrance of his cell and surveyed the people before him. He was taken aback when he saw the children, but quickly realized he must have been right earlier. "So you're all Scions then? Good for you, but unless one of you can melt stone we're all going to die in this hole."

Spoiler: OOC

This is my first RP, so I'm still trying to get used to the writing style and conversations with other players.

 

[Arcanist]

Garret could feel the dread run down his spine as he heard Judah speak. "Vendrad? You'd better not be pulling my leg, Princess."

"Do I look like someone who would joke about Vendrad? Would anybody joke about Vendrad?" He spat back, fear tainting his words.

"Fuck. Well, that's... a complication." Stuck in the poorest, most lawless region in all the world with the bandit clans gunning for their hides. Getting out of the fort is going to be only the first of many huge problems in the not so distant future?

"No shit it's problematic, if they don't have some express purpose for us, they're gonna rape the girls and torture us, and if they do, they're gonna do something worse than that, and then torture and rape us." Judah sounded near the edge of panic, not that Garret could blame him. 'We're dead if we don't get out of here NOW. Time to sack up and start leading.' He stood as straight as he could and spoke with an even voice, attempting to mask his own fear.

"We're Scions. These guys might be bandits, but they didn't get the run of an entire county by being stupid. We have some time, but getting out of here will only be the first challenge."

"Considering we're in the deepest heart of Bandit country, even if we get out of the keep, we're gonna be running for miles. And all the villages have to be avoided, because they'll either sell us out or be another stronghold." He has a point - we won't be able to stop until we leave the county. We can't trust anybody in this shithole. That only leaves one option.

"If at all possible, we'll want to procure some horses, if only to get some distance from this keep. I think I sensed some stables just outside the walls, to the north of the castle. They're probably under heavy guard, though, and I'm not sure we have the muscle to take them."

"Horses won't get us out of the county by nightfall, and if we sleep they'll find us."

"Can you sprout wings, Princess? If not, those are our best ticket out of here."

"There's a reason everybody fears Vendrad Keep, seer, because anybody who has been dragged in here, has never returned. This place has been ruled for decades by the bandit clans and that's never changed."

"Last I checked, Princess, this keep hasn't been around long enough to imprison a group of Scions with nothing to lose."

Seeing Judah get indignant at that remark, Garret decided it would be best to drop the subject to get a feel for everybody's powers. He turned to the girl in the cell next to Judah's. "Josslyn, was it? Care to demonstrate your powers?"

"Not really, and I'd prefer if we talked as little as possible. 'Princess' over there is my guard, I'll talk to him, but I'm telling you now that we're not on talking terms yet."

'Ah, hell. She's got his attitude, too.' Raising his hands to his face in frustration, he continued, "Look, I know this is hard, but a spunky attitude won't get us free of these walls. We're going to need to work together to escape this place, and if we keep each other in the dark that's not gonna happen. I've done my part. Time for you to do yours."

"Oh, so doing your part is just showing some little powers off for everyone? Not planning an escape, just showing off a parlor trick that a few bald freaks on a mountain think make you a god?"

For a brief moment, Garret stood there, in complete silence, his face unreadable, before buckling over in raucous laughter. 'Oh, gods, I remember that feeling. "Oh, woe is me! I'm a freak unto nature, and people expect things of me! Whatever shall I do?" She'll grow out of it, but for now...'

He straightened himself out, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You've got spirit, I'll give you that. Look, you don't have to like me. But if you want to get out, you'll have to work with me. So, show me this parlor trick. I think it's more useful than you assume."

"Fine, then..."

At that, vines started creeping out of the stonework. They were small and sickly and receded quickly, but as Garret looked closer, he saw something very, very...

"...Interesting." The vines, even in this harsh environment, still grew with enough strength to crack stone. Duke Jeenda was right, these things really are the toughest of the weeds.

He turned back to Josslyn, a wolfish grin on his face.

"This is, indeed, more useful than you know."

"Really? Guard boy over there can make things explode, I can make... plants."

Garret, a grin still plastered on his face, retorted, "Plants rule the world, girl. I worked in a castle not all that long ago, and do you know what the duke spent the most of his money on fighting? Not bandits, nor rebels. But on keeping creepvine from choking the roads and crumbling his castle walls."

Garret gestured to the cells around him and continued, "Now, down here, the vines get little water and sunlight, so they seem weak. But out there, your powers could be our ticket through those walls."

"Yeah, I used to spend hours working on a garden, spent hours on it, weeks, even, but what happened when a single bandit got over the walls and found me? Plants did nothing, he just punched me in the head and knocked me out."

"I can see into the fucking future, and they did the same thing to me. Don't let one fluke cloud your judgment. You ARE useful. You just need to apply yourself correctly."

"Oh, I am useful, just not my blasted powers. Want me to find a way to distract them? That's me. The world's been beating up on me for years now, I can take some more running."

Garret shook his head with another chuckle. "Kid, you remind me of myself not all that long ago. But know this - I think we can all get out of here with our hides intact. We just need to be willing to do some dirty work. If you still have doubts, picture this - in the three hundred years Castle Gruddt stood on the Tharblae border, it didn't fall to the enemy. Not once. But collapse it did - not to men, but to a creepvine infestation and a lord that couldn't be bothered to clear it. Now, the vines run so thick that not even grass can grow there. Mother Nature can be one harsh mistress. And you have her at your beck and call."

Grabbing the bars to his cell door and leaning forward, he made a point of looking Josslyn right in the eye. "My visions tell me that the walls around here aren't all that much better. You don't even need to grow the vines all that much - a surge in just the right place will tear a massive hole."

His eyes began to glow with a faint blue light, as though to punctuate his words. "I can tell you where."

"Oh, you can? How about you use that 'future sight' to get us out of here!"

Judah cut in, his voice firm. "There's a difference between sight and action, mistress. The seer has a point."

Garret leaned against his cell door and cast a forlorn look to the cell block's entrance.

"Well, all this postulating won't help if we can't get out of this cell block without alerting the entire damn fort. It won't matter if we break down those walls if their cavalry surrounds us as soon as we do."

Josslyn, frustration painting her words, shouted, "Then why even bother telling me all of -!" At this, the vines in her cell started to bloom, and with a brief glare from Judah, she took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Okay, you're right; maybe... maybe we can use Judah in this? I mean, he's a soldier, he could probably get something and throw it at a guard, explode, take his weapon."

Garret shook his head. "We need to get out quietly. Explosions have a habit of attracting attention."

"One man with a weapon against legions of bandits. GENIUS."

Garret let out a sigh and slumped against his cell door. 'Princess is right. We've got our work cut out for us...'

Spoiler: OOC

Done in collaboration with Sir Lycan and CloggedDonkey.

 

[Tactical Pause]

"So you're all Scions then? Good for you, but unless one of you can melt stone we're all going to die in this hole."

"No such luck, I'm afraid. But I hardly see how that's going to stop us." Quint looked around and found the man who had spoken. He was young and had black hair that stood out against his white monk's robes."Speaking of, what can you do?" The man said.

Quint had seen how people reacted when they learned what he could do (he had been hunted more than once), so he was hesitant to let a complete stranger know of his true ability."I... smell things." He knew it wouldn't satisfy the man, but he had no time to think of anything better. Sure enough, it didn't take the 'monk'? long to ask again.

"There's no need to be coy. Our lives are on the line. What can you REALLY do?"

Quint was starting to get annoyed. "Really, I have a very good nose, and I can hear pretty well too, not that any of it will help of course."

"I'm sensing that there's more to this story. I can smell the gore on you from over here, you know."

"...Well shit." The monk had him there, he stank like a butchered pig.

"There isn't much you can hide from me, so you might as well save me the effort and tell me what got you noticed by our... esteemed hosts."

He was cornered, and there was no point in hiding the truth any longer. "Okay, but remember, you insisted." Quint paused for a moment before continuing, it had been a long time since he had told anyone what he was about to tell this stranger. "I'm kind of... a Wendigo. Not entirely, just... sort of."

"A wendigo? Like, from the legends? Fascinating..."

Fascinating? If he knew what having this power has forced me to... "You could call it that." Quint said, with a slight edge to his voice.

"I could call it plenty of things, including useful. I'm under no delusions that we'll have to do some fighting to get out of here, and having a wolfman will give us the muscle we lack."

The last time he had been called 'wolfman' was by a group of farmers out to slay a 'demon'. They never stood a chance against him. "I'm no wolfman, when I rip out someone's throat I do it with MY teeth, and I don't lose control. I just like to kill." While not entirely true, he hoped this last remark would scare the inquisitive stranger into backing off.

"You're strong, fast, and have the instincts of a predator. As long as you can cut down a few of those thugs, I won't mind all that much whether or not you enjoy it." The monk either couldn't take a hint or just didn't feel very threatened by the ragged, starved man locked in a cage, it was time to change the subject.

"That's fair, but now it's time for me to hear what YOU can do. I don't give up my secrets for nothing."

"You didn't hear earlier? Alright." The monk tore another strip of cloth from his robes and tossed it into Quint's cell. "This demonstration will require some of your blood. One or two drops will suffice."

Quint eyed the other man warily before unsheathing a claw partway and drawing it across his palm. This stranger already knew one of his greatest secrets, what was a few drops of blood compared to that?

"Smear it on that rag and pass it back."

"Alright, but I don't like these games, what are you doing?" It was a long-shot, but Quint hated being kept in the dark.

"Patience, friend. You'll see in short order." Of course, he thought, and did as he was asked, albeit with a hint of irritation.

The monk picked up the rag and pressed it to his forehead. He drew a deep breath and his demeanor changed - he's no longer paying any attention to his surroundings. His eyes glow with a faint blue light, and he speaks in a flat, even tone of voice, as though reading from a book.

"Your name... is Quintus. You grew up in a fishing village in eastern Reaak. You where captured after goring one of your ambushers - good on you, by the way - because they surrounded you and beaned you on the head with a mace. To respect your privacy, I'll go no futher." Quint wouldn't admit it, but he appreciated that.

He slipped out of his trance. "I'm Garret Josiah, and I'm a seer - past, present, and future. Nice to meet you, Quint."

Well that was interesting, but I wonder how far he can really 'see'. "Sounds useful, but I'm not going to ask how we get out of here." Quint assumed that if Garret knew that he wouldn't have wasted his time with the cloth.

"That wouldn't be any fun, would it?

Quint almost grinned. Almost.

"Well, you're lucky I'm here aren't you? I'll make sure you've always got plenty of blood to use."

"Heh. Somber and to the point. I think we'll get along just fine."

Spoiler: OOC

Done in collaboration with Arcanist.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Amata didn't pay too much attention to the people as they spoke, focusing too much on whether or not she should really tell them about her. About her power. She wasn't ashamed of it, far from it, it's just she couldn't shake her reservations. She didn't really like going out and telling everyone all about herself, but then again she thought nobody would. That and... Well her power was very useful for getting out of this situation. Did these people not do research into what she could do?

After a while Amata spoke up, ending her odd silence. "I can change my size." She said. "I think... I think I can get us all out of here if I could shrink myself down and..." She looked from side to side. "Well I could shrink myself down and get the keys for the cells." Amata thought about her simple plan some more. "After that I have no idea though... Heheh..." She smiled and rubbed the back of her head casually. "What do you guys think?"

To Amata the idea seemed alright up to how far she had thought it out. It wouldn't be that hard to get the keys of the guard, she could either sneak them off him or just beat him up. Either way worked for her in the end, so long as nobody died. Amata didn't want anyone to die, least of all by her hand or if she could have prevented it. "You guys are probably better at thinking something out then me, I don't usually have to make up complicated plans..." Amata thought it might be possible for her to sneak out on her own if she shrunk small enough so they couldn't see her, but she didn't want to leave any of these people behind. That wasn't something a Knight like her should do at all, she wouldn't want to do that even if she wasn't a Knight. It was cowardly and stupid.

 

[revolverwolf]

In spite of all the plans people were concocting, Rafiq didn't much feel like talking at length; he couldn't bring any new information to the table, the others were getting a plan together as well as they could be expected to and he was more concerned with looking out for the patrolling guards. But he was listening. He wanted out of here just as much as any of them.

The plans the prisoners came up with were all solid enough, but they all fell over as soon as guards showed up. Despite all of their unique 'circumstances', their chances against a fully armed retinue of guards were slim at best. Still, he had a good feeling about this lot. If anyone could make it out of Vendrad, this lot could.

He looked either way out of his cell for a guard and, after seeing none, propped himself against the bars again, "Getting out of the cells isn't hard. Any of us could do it by burning the doors, or shrinking down through the bars. But they're all just for this first hurdle. It's the 4000 guys between us and the front door that's the problem."

From what the seer had said they were underground by quite a way, and all ways up lead to more and more guards. The armoury was kept from them by the guard's quarters too, limiting their access to conventional weaponry. They hadn't made this easy by any means. "Bastards probably aren't even courteous enough to have sewers to escape out of..."

 

[Arcanist]

Garret couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Rafiq's jest. 'Oh, if only it where that simple. But the problem remains - even if we get out of this cell block, we're gonna have five thousand armed guards barreling down on us if we don't do it discreetly.' Slumping against his cell wall, he could feel his head starting to spin. 'Shit, how long has it been since I've slept proper? A couple of days? I'm so tired... a nap couldn't hurt. Hell, we aren't going anywhere.'

Sliding down to sit, he laid his head against the wall to his cell and closed his eyes. Sleep took him almost immediately, the waking world fading from his notice.

........


He stood in a field of grass, the plains stretching out all around him. In the distance, though, stood a large and imposing castle of dull grey stone. Garret looked around in confusion before gathering himself with a single thought:

'This isn't a dream.'

He knew this sensation well - the same that had warned him that fateful night five years ago. A premonition; a vision of the future bestowed upon a seer in their sleep. The monks had told Garret that this was the definitive proof that he had Loae's favor, that he(it? Garret never could quite understand their theology) was always looking out for him. He had a routine for these events, for they always had something important to tell.

First off, to find when. He centered himself with a deep breath, and that information came in as subtle trickle in the back of his mind - a few hours from the present, at most.

Then, to find why. At that thought, he noticed that a camp had materialized around him, with a couple hundred men garbed in heavy armor running about. An important looking one, with his underlying tunic dyed dark blue, called out with a deep and commanding voice. "Listen up, you louts! We're about to start our mission. Get in formation, on the double! We're gonna have some fun with these filthy bandits."

Wait, bandits? Are they assaulting Vendrad?

At that, the men scrambled into columns, some mounting horses, others stringing bows. "Bring out our pieces! We're gonna get their attention, one way or another."

A couple of men wheeled out some ballistae and started smearing pitch on the bolts. "At my signal. Fire!"

The men operating the ballistae took a torch to the bolts, setting them alight. At their captain's command, they wrenched down on the firing bolt, sending the projectile aloft. It seared through the sky, landing square on one of the keep's watchtowers...

...........

Garret awoke with a start, clutching his chest in a cold sweat and gasping for breath. But for the first time in hours, it was not fear that prompted this reaction - it was excitement. This was EXACTLY what they needed.

Garret stood with a grin and swaggered to his cell door. "Fellow freaks, for the first time since we we've been interred in this hellhole, your illustrious and all-knowing seer bears excellent news."

Spoiler: OOC

Done with information given to me by Voukras.

 

[Voukras]

Outside a mile from Vendrad Keep in the deep forests surrounding it...

A company of highly trained and gifted soldiers are preparing for what any sane man would call a suicide mission. This company however is not made of sane men.

"Do we have everything we need, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, chief, we hijacked the wagon you wanted, the ballistae is being assembled and every stinking patrol of theirs is rottin'n the ground. It won't be long before those rats find out we sliced up their buddies."

"Excellent work Lieutenant. The Duke will be pleased." The captain theatrically twirled his black mustache before the flames suddenly ignited in his eyes. He instinctively gripped the hilt of his broadsword. "It's time to put the fear of God in these barbarians. That is one of your specialties, of course. Assemble the company."

The lieutenant calmly turn away from the captain started yelling at the top of his lungs. "Listen up, you louts! We're about to start our mission. Get in formation, on the double! We're gonna have some fun with these filthy bandits. Vermaaks, ADVANCE! You all know what you have to do, now get to it!"

The ballistae was attended and pushed by multiple men while the scouts advanced quickly to ensure that patrols would be taken out before they were able to the alert the keep. The wagon that was supposed to supply Vendrad Keep was now filled with a nasty surprise. Gunpowder. As the wagon approached Vendrad Keep and parked in front of the gate for an inspection the raiding party and ballistae were lying in wait.

"Bring out our pieces! We're gonna get their attention, one way or another."

The archers readied themselves while the ballistae was loaded, aimed at a watchtower.

The lieutenant snarled the command that would break loose all hell "At my signal. Fire!"

"Did you hear the reports of our patrols being killed? I swear if it's those tharby bandits again, I'll skin 'em myse---" The bolt of the ballistae smashed past the crenelations and skewered the soldier before he could finish his remark. Meanwhile the raiders inside the wagon quickly stabbed the inspecting soldiers to death and lit fuse to the gunpowder, escaping under the cover of archer fire. In a few seconds the gunpowder exploded with a deafening boom, breaking down the gate and killing all the soldiers that were waiting behind it. Raiding cavalry started pouring in through the breach, with the lieutenant in front. The Vendrad garrison was scared and confused so far, the lieutenant couldn't help but smile fiendishly as he and his men cut down disorganized troops while they scrambled to form a coherent force. The captain would ride slightly behind his troops, periodically riding forward to cut officers down. This confusion would not last long as the garrison, while slow to assemble, would surely slaughter the attackers in a straight up fight. They had to disrupt their defenses for as long as possible. Shock and awe was their only tool.

---

Redd was passively listening to all the chatter. He wasn't particularly interested in really getting into his role, so he decided to just lean back for a while. 'What side of the fence to be on, I wonder.' Redd pondered this for a moment. 'The winning side of course, ha-ha'. But was being on the other side constitute winning for him at all... His smile faded. No, it really wasn't, survival isn't winning, it's merely not losing.

A distressing sound interrupted Redd's thoughts. The sound of stone being impacted, shortly followed by a resounding explosion. Was this an... accident? Or was someone brazen enough to actually assault Vendrad Keep? Redd quickly got his answered as soldier stormed in.

"They're attacking Vendrad! All men to the gatehouse!" The soldier's words rung true as the sound of clashing metal and death groans could be heard from above. Before exiting the room, the soldier stopped and order two guards. "You two, stay here and watch those freaks. Don't take your eyes off of them. Got it, you gits?"

Spoiler: OOC: Well here is a protip

Time to escape. Two guards and prison bars block your path.

 

[Arcanist]

Before Garret could get out another word, an explosion rocked the keep. 'Crap, it's started. We don't have much time, and we won't get another chance like this!'

"They're attacking Vendrad! All men to the gatehouse! You two, stay here and watch those freaks. Don't take your eyes off of them. Got it, you gits?"

'Looks like Tweedledee and Tweedledum got stuck watching us. Can't say I pity them.' They took up positions patrolling the cell block, making a point to leer at each of them in turn. 'We don't have time for this. I hope Quint likes thinking on his feet...'

"Oi, I have something to tell you two." The larger of the two turned around with a confused look on his face and stumbled over to Garret's cell. "Wha' is it?"

"See that guy? In the cell on the end, opposite mine? He's making a key from some soap he manage to smuggle in."

"Wha? You're lyin'. Ain't no way he got nothin' through."

"Your funeral, pal. That guy's a wolfman, and if you let him out of your sight for even a split second, he could come barreling through that cell door and feast on your guts." Garret made a point of leaning forward and punctuating each word with an increasingly menacing tone, to great effect, as the guard seemed taken aback.

"He's a... he's a what? A wolfman?" Garret could see the fear etched into his face as he spoke those words. "That's right. Now, I could be wrong... but do you really want to take that risk?"

The guard cast an uneasy look towards Quint's cell, then turned back to make eye contact with Garret. "If yer so sure, you can search 'im. Bors, git over here and help me!"

With their weapons drawn, they opened Garret's cell and seized him by the arms and dragged him to Quint's cell. They threw him against the bars and stood to his side, just out of arms reach of the cell door. "Oi, wolfman! Git up here! This lad's gonna see if you've got anything on ya." Garret made a point of looking Quint straight in the eye with a serious expression. 'Come on, Quint. Just play along for now.'

Quint, with a look of apprehension on his face, did as he was told. "Hold still. Uh, Garret, right? Pat him down."

Garret leaned forward and began the patdown. "Quint, get ready. I'm going to trip one into your cell door. Show me what you can do, wolfman." He whispered, so quietly that not even he could hear the words.

 

[Tactical Pause]

"See that guy? In the cell on the end, opposite mine? He's making a key out of some soap he smuggled in."

What is he doing? Quint thought warily. He knew Garret was up to something, but he had no idea what it was, and hated being kept in the dark. He was only able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation thanks to the sounds of battle above, but he was did pick out a few words; wolfman... your guts... search and some other far less interesting ones. Whatever he was trying to do seemed to be working though, as the guards were certainly reacting to his words.

When both guards pulled Garret out of his cell and began dragging him over to Quint, he was unsure if this was part of the plan or something the seer had not... foreseen. "Oi, wolfman!" One of the guards shouted, "Git up here! This lad's gonna see if you've got anything on ya." The look Garret gave him assured him that things were still on track, so he did as he was asked. "Hold still. Uh, Garret right? Pat him down." As Garret leaned forward he whispered something very quietly into Quint's ear, and Quint understood.

Suddenly, Garret fell forward into the cell door, as if somebody had push him. Instinctively, one of the guards (Bors it was), leaped forward to restrain him, and for a single second he was within Quint's reach. It was enough. In an instant, his claws were out and buried in the stomach of the unfortunate guard. Once he was sure his claws were deep enough, Quint clenched his fists and pulled... Blood and gore sprayed Garret, the other guard and Quint as he quite literally pulled Bors' guts out. The guard didn't scream, but weakly clutched at his innards as they poured out, silently opening and closing his mouth with a look of pure confusion on his face. Then he fell. The remaining guard's face had gone completely white, and he was backing away slowly while shaking his head rapidly back and forth. When Quint saw Garret tense, he knew the second guard would not be a problem for much longer, so he dropped Bors' entrails and went for his keys.

 

[Arcanist]

The remaining guard stumbled backwards, mumbling incoherently as he did. "He... you..." The look of horror on his face was all too familiar - it was the same look Duke Jeenda had as he was being carted away...

'No. Now isn't the time to think of that.'Garret spun to fully face the remaining guard, who had regained enough of his composure to ready his sword. He lunged at Garret with a howl. "YOU... FUCKIN' FREAKS!" Five years of training have lead up to this moment. Master Shen's three lessons echoed in his mind:

'See where they strike and maneuver to counter.' His prescience tells him... A stab to the stomach. Garret deftly steps to the side, careful to keep his balance. The guard, with his weight thrown into the lunge, cannot adjust course quickly enough.

'Always keep the enemy off balance.' Motion to clamp down on his back foot and slip my arm just below his center of gravity. As he moves forward, he'll catch on it and lose his footing.

'Weapons are the tools of lesser men - prove this.' Off balance, he can't motion to stop me as I slide up his right arm and take his wrist in my hand. With a flourish, the sword comes loose, clattering to the ground.

It's over in the space of a few seconds, but in one fluid motion, the guard lets off a pained howl and crumples to the floor, unarmed and helpless. Garret stomps down on his back, hearing the wind leave him, and picks up the discarded sword. His face expressionless, he plunges it into the guard's neck.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

Josslyn hid back in her cage as the two men murdered the guards. Once the two were dead, she moved up to the bars. The men, if they could be considered that, in front of her had managed to slaughter two thugs with their bare hands. The brief silence that fell over the block was soon lifted.

"Okay, now get the rest of us out." She said, a mix of fear and impatience in her voice. She stepped away from the bars, knowing full well that the people on the other side were likely to simply break the bars down.

The thought of having to do this to more people sickened Josslyn. She may have hated people, a lot of people, but she just wanted them to leave her alone, not for them to die. The sheer ferocity that the Garret and Quintus had shown frightened Josslyn, and she responded the only way she could; getting angry.

If they try to hurt me or Judah, I swear I'll kill them... he's my one way out of here and back home, She thought. And I'm not letting them hurt him. I mean, they're stronger than me, but... Her mind turned to having to fight the feral men in front of her, and turned to quickly look at Judah. He seemed to be the one person that wanted to protect anyone else. The fact that it was her might have had something to do with her thoughts on him. Josslyn's hands curled into fists. He still couldn't stop me from getting here... he couldn't even stop himself from getting clubbed and dragged here... She turned back to Garret and Quintus.

"Going to let us out yet?" She asked, her voice dropping a fair bit of the fear from before.

 

[Tactical Pause]

Quint retracted his claws and watched as Garret dispatched the second guard, then he reached through the bars of his cell and took the ring of keys off of Bors' bloody corpse. He unlocked the cell door and walked out into the narrow hallway between cells, feeling the eyes of everyone on him. 'It had to be done,' he thought to himself, wondering who among the other scions would feel the same.

"Going to let us out yet?" One of the girls asked, clearly afraid, but there was anger in her voice as well. Shit, a pacifist? Quint went to her cell first.

"Yes, I am going to let you out, but first you need to understand something girl. Everybody dies at some point or another, and sometimes it becomes necessary to hasten the process a little." He unlocked her cell and began opening it. "That had to be done and you know it, you also know we'll probably have to do a lot more of that if things keep going like this, so you're just going to have to deal with it."

Quint moved on to the other cells, unlocking each of them and releasing people who could very well want him dead right now. 'Everyone's always afraid of me. One fucking "thank you" would be a nice change.' Once everyone was out of their cell (or at least had the option to be), Quint turned toward the dungeon door. "Okay non-people, it's time to leave."

Spoiler: OOC

If you guys think I'm posting too much just let me know and I'll back off.

 

[Sir Strange Of The House Lycan]

Well, that was rather easy. Judah thought as he watched Garret and Quintus destroy the guards with extreme ease. He wasn't sure how he had felt about that. It was very likely that they had murdered and raped other people but such easy slaughter of human beings seemed slightly ruthless even to him. They probably could have just been subdued non-lethally.

He looked to Josslyn to measure her reaction, and saw a looked of restricted horror on her face. Poor girl had already seen death, but not perpetrated by people that she had no choice but to trust. Judah was finding it hard to disagree with what she must have been feeling in anyway.

Slowly, he made his way to his cell door and put his hand on the lock. Josslyn was demanding freedom, obviously not too threatened by Quintus and Garret to demand her freedom. He began concentrating, trying to explode seal the lock. Before he could finish, Quintus came and unlocked the door. Not wanting the energy of the seal to go to waste, he sealed a pebble and held it firmly in his hand.

He began to move over to Josslyn's cell, which had already been unlocked, and stood next to Josslyn, retrieving Bor's sword from the floor. It was strange to Judah, who had not held a blame for so long, that he felt so at home with it. As he did not feel particularly attached to it however, he put a minor seal on the blade. He proceeded to stand next to Josslyn, and, doing his best to restrain any concern from his voice or face.
"Are you quite alright, mistress?"

 

[Arcanist]

'Oh god, blood's everywhere...'

Garret's head was still spinning. The guard had sealed his fate when he attacked instead of surrendering, but that doesn't change the fact that Garret had just killed a man in cold blood. Again.

He staggered against the back wall and took in a deep breath. 'Keep it together, man. For the first time in years, I have more than my own damn hide to worry over. These people need you on your toes. You've killed before, you'll kill again. That's how this shithole of a world works.'

Looking to the gore smeared on the ground, on Quint, on his robes, he couldn't help but wince. 'Doesn't make it any easier, though.'

Garret turned to Quint after he'd gathered himself, who had just finished freeing the rest of the Scions. "Nice work, Quint. I had a hard time believing my prescience until you'd done it. I've never seen anybody move that quickly."

Garret tried to force a smile, though he was pretty sure it came out pained. "Keep fighting like that and we might just get out of here."

Turning to the rest of the group, he continued, "As you heard from that soldier not too long ago, Vendrad is under attack. I don't know who, and to be honest, I don't really care. But this is the only opportunity we've got. The keep's garrison is thoroughly distracted. Josslyn, remember what we discussed?"

 

[revolverwolf]

As a hunter Rafiq had seen death before, and he didn't doubt that all of them had too, but seeing a man ripped apart was a different thing altogether. It was... an experience, to be sure. Even one of the two, the seer, seemed to be taken aback by what they'd just done, but he certainly made an effort to hide it. Rafiq himself... well, it wasn't the way he would have done it.

The wendigo, by comparison, didn't seem phased. He went right to cracking the remains of a youth's innocence and then breaking them all out of their cells. Not that Rafiq wasn't grateful, but a little restraint regarding present company wouldn't go unwelcome.

As he exited his cell, Quint spoke, "Okay non-people, it's time to leave."

"'Non-people'?" Rafiq questioned, "I don't know how you'd feel about being a non-person, but I'd like to think we're all better people than our captors. Smarter people at the very least." He didn't usually joke about the dead, but these two guards had not done well to earn his favour.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

Josslyn stood there, rigid has the half-man that opened her cell walked away. She wanted to hit him or strangle him, but knew better. She stayed in a kind of trance until Judah talked to her, his voice cutting through her delirium as it often did.

"Are you quite alright, mistress?"

She shook her head, looking up at Judag. He looked genuinely concerned, something she'd rarely seen on him.

"Yeah, I'm... fine. I just don't like people dying too much... brings back bad memories." Josslyn said as she stepped behind Judah. She looked back at the two bodies and winched, the gore that now covered the walls starting to give off an odor of iron and bodily fluids. She looked up at Judah and opened her mouth to speak, but looked back at the ground.

"Come on, let's get out of here before more people get hurt..." She clenched her fist, anger growing to the two people who dared call them non-humans after doing that to people. They think they're better than us... I'm not the one who just murdered two people. Judah hasn't even done that... She clung close to him, not quite holding him, but staying close behind him.

 

[Tactical Pause]

"Non-people? I don't know how you'd feel about being a non-person, but I'd like to think we're all better people than our captors. Smarter people at the very least."

Quint glanced at the man who had spoken. "Better? It's possible, but people? No. People can't do what we can do."

He could feel the barely concealed anger and disgust that most of the other scions bore him, it was not something he was unfamiliar with. What surprised him was Josslyn, the 'pacifist' who seemed moments away from trying to rip out his throat with her bare hands. The pure, deep, unmitigated hatred emanating from her both confused and worried him. 'Shit, from the way she's acting you'd think I just killed her family.' The trembling, hate-filled girl didn't scare him in the slightest, but if she decided to act on her anger while they were escaping, things could go very badly very fast.

A dark thought crossed his mind. A single, solitary, unbidden idea, but it did not slip by unnoticed. 'NO. That cannot be how I solve this. That WILL not be how I solve this.' Unnerved by the mere fact that such a thought had occurred to him, Quint quickly turned away from the girl and back to Garret.

"So seer, what's our plan?"

Spoiler: OOC

Quint was unconscious when everyone was listing their powers, so the only one he knows of at the moment is Garret's.

 

[Arcanist]

"So, seer, what's our plan?"

"With the keep's garrison distracted, if we keep a low profile, we should be able to make our way to the north wall. Once there, I will find a structural weakness. Josslyn will use her plant-manipulating powers to tear it down. On the other side will be a set of stables. We'll appropriate some horses, with force if need be, and make our hasty retreat."

Garret was certainly hoping force wouldn't be necessary. Has hands where already stained with so much blood.

"Before that, though, we'll need to get out of this building, possibly loot its armory. I don't need any weapons, but does anybody else?"

Judah spoke up. "Do you know if they have any shields or spears?"

"Let me look." Garret leaned against a wall and took in a deep breath. His eyes began glowing, and he spoke. "Yes, they do. A rather large variety, in fact." He turned his attention to Rafiq. His prescience told him he as a hunter, perhaps he needed a bow? "What of you, Rafiq? Do you need a bow? They have some, as well as many arrows, in stock."

"Some arrows would do nicely. The bow is unnecessary."

Garret then turned his attention to any potential oppositon they'd face on the way, both to the armory and out of their cell block. "Around a dozen guards stand in our way, but they have no idea we've escaped, and they're not all together. This shouldn't be too..."

As he finished that sentence, a familiar feeling of dread overtook him. It grew quickly, overwhelming his senses and suffocating his mind. With a start, Garret left his trance, breathing heavily. 'Whatever that is, it's heading this way. We have even less time than I'd thought...' Considering present company, he felt it best to keep this particular detail to himself to prevent a panic, but he made a point of shooting a dirty look at Redd before continuing.

"We should move quickly. This battle won't rage forever."

Garret opened the door to the cell block, revealing a flight of stairs moving upwards. "There's about a half-dozen guards in the next room. Any plans, fellow freaks?"

 

[Voukras]

Redd was still observing the whole situation with renewed interest. The metamorphosis of that man, Quint, into a beastly killing machine was quite the show for Redd. Redd didn't get any particular pleasure from death or violence, but this was the only excitement he could still derive from the world, as everything else faded into bleakness. After downing that guard, Garret immediately plunged his sword into him. Redd as surprised, he didn't think he had it in him, but survival is always the prime instinct.

"Yes, I am going to let you out, but first you need to understand something girl. Everybody dies at some point or another, and sometimes it becomes necessary to hasten the process a little. That had to be done and you know it, you also know we'll probably have to do a lot more of that if things keep going like this, so you're just going to have to deal with it."

'No truer words spoken, Quint! The only difference between us in this regard is that fate has thrust this "hastening of the process" as a profession on me.'

Redd started clapping melodramatically, wearing a large smile on his face. "Bravo, this whole ambiance was getting boring, it really needed a splash of red. Quite the handiwork." Redd smile faded into complete seriousness. "You have my thanks."

Quint nodded simply. 'I think that's the best reaction I could of hoped for.' Redd thought.

"You can thank me with an explanation when we get out of here." Garret replied. 'As expected, I hate to disappoint...' After that comment, Garret continued with a reply that threw Redd off balance. "You're welcome, though. Us freaks need to stick together."

"That's a... nice sentiment" Redd blurted out after becoming coherent again. 'Okay, let's not go all emotional over here. Those are just words. I've seen plenty like them before.' Redd quickly reassessed the situation and started prioritizing his actions.

Redd walked up to the dead guard and searched for any other weapons. No dice.

"Hey, Garret, mind passing me that shortsword? I see you can handle yourself quite well in hand to hand combat, I however am useless without a blade."

He looks at it with a grimace and hands it over. "Take it."

'Really? Just like that...?' Redd didn't let any emotion of surprise surface this time. It was time to get serious. "Thanks, I'll put it to good use. And by that, I mean I'll put it between the ribs of the next guard I see."

EDIT:

Garret started talking about looting the armory while Redd contemplated that shortsword, recalling his techniques with it...

"Around a dozen guards stand in our way, but they have no idea we've escaped, and they're not all together. This shouldn't be too..."

Redd knew something was wrong. And he knew exactly what. Redd had no intention of meeting him, it wasn't healthy. Garret after quickly recovering from using his powers looked directly at Redd. 'You don't know the half of it.'

"We should move quickly. This battle won't rage forever. There's about a half-dozen guards in the next room. Any plans, fellow freaks?"

Redd stepped forward. "Since I owe you one... I can reliably kill them as long as they don't gang up on me. A distraction perhaps and I can slit a few throats before they realize what's going on. With the help of... Quint, was it?" Redd gestured to the 'wolfman'. "We could probably take them on directly, but there's always some risk, even if they are regular soldiers. If anyone has a creative use for their powers, please, enlighten me."

 

[revolverwolf]

No-one really seemed to have much in the way of ideas about confronting guards with only their powers. Rafiq had wanted to get out of here shedding as little blood as possible, and his power didn't really allow for instant kills when unarmed anyway. But Redd and Quint seemed more than happy to slaughter any other guards that got in their way and, with Garret picking off the rest, it would leave little for Rafiq to clean up. He could perhaps repel some air to trip the guards straight off and give the escapees some easy kills. Would that even work? He'd never really practised that sort of manoeuvre. He furrowed his brow as he thought more deeply.

"I could incapacitate a few," he finally said, "but outright killing them is going to be tough without a weapon. I'll leave that work to you lot."