ToastyJester's RPG CYOA

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:24 pm

Abacus.
Your quest is to find out what my vote is from that word.

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:23 am

Well now I've got to write that down so I can constantly stare at it in school until it makes since. Curse you Ebly. Curse you.

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:22 am

[C], a little extra cash never hurt anyone and besides, there might be some crazy old lady some where in this town that needs help

Oh and if i notice a typo or some thing should i point it out or just leave it alone?

Missingo · Post by **Missingo** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:58 pm

Abacus not only begins with A, but uses that letter more than any other letter.
We can thus infer that Ebly's vote is [A]. (Ebly, a much more difficult word would have been 'Academic')

UNLESS he is trying to trick us and wants to choose [D] because it is NOT used (but honestly, choice D sucks and I don't think he would choose something that boring)

My vote is

And another question. Can people be revived? If so, by what means is it possible (only by magic, only by using a specific item, etc.; only when the person has died of unnatural cause, etc..)?

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:45 pm

I will now reveal the true answer:
C.
The reason you can tell is not actually the word abacus (messed with you), but what I said after. I inferred a quest, or a job, which option C was to look around for jobs.
Thus, my vote was C.
Enjoy. <3

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:16 pm

I haven't really thought out the whole revival process yet. Right now I just think something along the lines of some incredibly scarce and legendary liquid that could be turned into a potion, and of course a revival spell, that has to be used within a day of the death, and the corpse has to be intact. But then again, it'd take an expert to be able to use it and not nearly kill themselves in the process.

And Ebly. You witty witty crazy person you. I never would've thought of it. My hat's off to you. Hmm yes. Indeed.

Alright the winning choice by coin flip is: (B) Walk Around Aimlessly

You slip on your jacket and say, "I'm gonna go wander around aimlessly. Who knows what I'll find?" Patrick pulls out his book and lies down on his bed and says, "Alright you two be careful. Don't go hurting yourselves more." You walk past Jen and she says, "Hey at least we've killed monsters. We've got experience.", then she follows you out, closing the door behind her. The two of you head downstairs and Jen stops at the desk to ask Sam about the nearest stores, you slip outside while she talks to him and start off down the road. You check your pockets and pull out a little bag of snacks, and a gold pouch that Patrick filled up near the start of the trip. You start to munch on your food and look around for anything interesting.

After wandering around for a bit, you find an interesting statue of some warrior. You stand there reading the little tablet on the base of the statue, when someone says, "Hey, are you one of those warriors that killed that monster?" You turn around and swallow down what you're chewing and say, "Yes." You look at who's talking to you and see it's a man in a heavily armored outfit, followed by a woman in a white robe, a man in a black suit like a ninja would wear, and another man in a suit of armor. The guy in front looks you up and down and says, "You must be really lucky. Let me get this out now. I don't like you kid." You scratch your head and say, "Okay then. I feel the need to ask why." He leans forward, casting a shadow over you, and says, "Because you stole our monster. We were gonna kill it and get a huge reward, but you had to swoop into town and kill it while we were sleeping." You rest your arm on your sword handle and say, "Hey man, you snooze you lose. Tough break. Besides I don't really feel bad for you. I mean you're decked out in suits of armor, have fancy weapons, so I can assume you're already loaded, and you feel the need to scam this town for more cash?" The main guy gets this furious look on his face and you look at his companions, who seem to be preparing for a fight. You grab your handle and unbuckle your sword, and you hear the other guy in the suit of armor let out a deep hollow laugh. He lunges forward and in a split second you find your sword in his hands. You look at him in surprise, and he shoves your sword in the ground, then snaps his arm to the side. Your sword breaks in half and you stare in shock at the half of the blade he tosses back at you. The group laughs, and you drop your broken heirloom to the ground. You clench your fists and start to focus on your speed. "Now just toss over whatever gold and supplies you have and we-" The leader doesn't get to finish, because half way through his sentence your foot crashes upwards into his jaw. He falls backwards, and you pull his sword straight off his belt, sheath and all in a blur. His sword is a bit lighter than your old one, but it will have to do. The white mage and the ninja catch the leader as he falls, and the suit of armor charges you instantly, with a huge sword as big as you. He swings down and you jump back as the sword cleaves into the earth. Before he can pluck the sword up, you run up is and drop kick his helmet. The helmet comes clean off as you fall to the ground, quickly picking yourself back off. Where the man's broken face should be there is empty space, and as he bends over to pick up the sword again, you see the whole suit of armor is empty. You don't have time to respond though, as a blinding light shines in your face. You feel a sharp pain in your leg and roll behind where the statue should be. You take off running along a street, unable to see, and when your vision finally returns, you find a 'Ninja Star' sticking out of your leg. You yank it out wincing in pain, and suppressing a swear, and continue to run. I can't fight all four of these guys by myself. I'll have to run. At least I got a replacement sword... You stop in front of a tavern building and run inside, gripping your leg. You head over to a booth table and pull your jacket over your head, and put the sword down beside you. A young waitress, probably the tavern owner's daughter from stories you've read, comes up and says, "What can I get you?" She looks at you, then sees the blood coming out of your leg and widens her eyes. The main door bursts open and you look up at her and say, "Got anywhere I can hide?" She looks around nervously, then nods and grabs your arm, leading you back into the kitchen area. She shoves you down a door in the floor into the basement, then says, "I'll get you when they leave okay?" You aren't able to respond, because she quickly closes the door. You look around at the dimly lit area, from what you see it's used for storage for alcohol, and then crawl under the staircase. You hear some commotion coming from upstairs, then after what seems like forever, the door opens and the waitress says, "Alright they're gone." You limp out of your corner, and she helps you upstairs. "Thanks you probably saved my life." You say, as she seats you down in a chair in the kitchen. She fetches a small kit with a cross on it and says, "I couldn't let the town's latest hero be killed by a gang of greedy fake heroes." She pulls out a small red bottle and shakes it, then hands it to you. "Oh I've got of these things... never really used one. Do I like drink it or something?" You say, opening the bottle and sniffing it. She nods and you shrug, then gulp down the liquid. "Huh. Tastes like strawberry jam." You say, holding the empty bottle in front of you and looking at it. She takes it back and says, "I'm just gonna guess they threatened you for saving the town. It's happened more than once... It's sad that this is what most heroes consider heroic these days. My dad said that you and your friends are true heroes, and that the others are all just greedy." You don't really respond, not sure what you'd say in response to that, and she says, "My brother went off to be an adventurer a few weeks ago. You haven't seen him by any chance? Tall, short blond hair, likes to use a spear?" You shake your head and say, "No I just started my adventure a week or so ago. I'm sure he's fine though." The girl sighs sadly, then says, "Well you and your friends don't seem like you just started. The way you took out that monster impressed everyone. Anyways, I've probably kept you long enough. Your leg should be all healed up by now." You look at your leg and see through the cut on your pants your wound is all healed up. You smile and stand up, and the girl walks you outside. You say, "Well here's something to repay you for all your help." you pour out some gold coins into her hands and she says thank you. Then you head outside again, and hook on your new sword. It starts to rain, so you pull over your hood and continue your walk.

While you walk around town, people give you cheery greetings and say their thanks for your actions. Some old lady asks you to help her get home with her groceries, and you trudge through the rain holding up an umbrella over her head. She says thanks, and pats your head, which kind of creeps you out a bit, and then you continue your wanderings. Over the next few hours you take in all the sights available, buy some food, and then finally return to the Inn. By the time you get back the sun has gone down, and the moon is in the sky. You walk up to Jen's door and knock on it, saying, "Hey Jen you back yet?" You hear her stomp across the floor and she opens the door with her hair in her face. "Yes." then she slams the door in your face. "Oops. Hehehehe" You say, walking to your door and unlocking it. You step inside and find Patrick asleep in his bed. You kick off your shoes, one has a bit of blood stained on it from kicking that guy's jaw, then slip off your jacket and crawl into your bed, falling asleep instantly.

The next morning your friends are interested in your new sword, which not only weighs a lot less, but looks cooler too. You tell them about your adventure the night before and they scold you for being so stupid. Patrick managed to finish his book the night before, and went out and bought all the supplies he needs. Jen bought herself some new clothes and books, and after she packs everything up, the three of you head out. You keep moving until the sun goes down, and Patrick says, "Hey, let's stop for the night. This is a good time to see what my summon brings up." You slow the horses to a stop, and Jen pops up in the back with her daggers in her hands saying, "Wha's happening now?" Patrick hops off the cart and says, "We're gonna test out my summon!" He's really excited about it. While you and Jen enjoy some tea, Patrick works on setting up the summoning circle, which he says has to be perfect. After thirty minutes of careful preparation, Patrick says, "Alright guys get ready!" You unbuckle your sword and it shines in the moonlight, and Jen follows with her daggers. You watch Patrick reading from the book, saying stuff in a language you've never heard. You look at Jen and she shrugs, and then a bright light shines from the center of the circle. You cover your eyes and look away, and when you finally look back you see a horned creature with black fur the size of a child sitting up in the center of the circle asleep. He's wearing a ragged T-shirt and pants, and you look at Patrick saying, "So what is it?" Patrick shrugs and Jen picks up a stick off the ground. She walks up to the edge of the circle, squats down and pokes the creature's head. It's eyes slowly open and it lets out a yawn. It looks around confused and says, "Where am I?" You look at Patrick, who's looking at you nervously. You look back at him and say, "Well? Give it an answer Patrick. It's your summon." Patrick laughs nervously and says, "Liam can I talk to you behind the cart?" You shrug and follow Patrick. Once behind the cart he starts to freak out. He grabs your shoulders and says, "Liam this was a bad idea!" You move his hands away from your shoulders and say, "Dude. It's too late to take it back. Besides what's wrong? This little guy could be powerful." He drags his hands across his face and says, "Of course he's powerful. Do you know what that is?" You shake your head and he says, "That is a demon. A demon child. Demon children have demon parents. Do you know how angry a demon is gonna get once they realize their kid is gone?" You look at him like he's crazy and say, "A demon? That thing?" you look over the cart at the little creature, who's being poked by Jen, "I always thought demons were red, fiery, and used pitchforks." Patrick shrugs and says, "I'm sure there are SOME like that. It's not like somebody can just walk into the underworld and take record of all demons and monsters kept there. But I don't think you're taking in how serious this is. That demon's mother will KILL me." You sigh and put your hand to your forehead. "Patrick, we don't even know where this thing came from. For all you know, he could be some random demon child that was abandoned in the middle of a field. Or something. I don't know. Besides, like I said before, you can't take it back. This guy is your responsibility now." You say, walking around the cart with Patrick following you close behind. The little demon is struggling with Jen over control of the stick, after getting tired of being poked constantly. Jen laughs as the demon bumps into the invisible wall set up by the circle. You grab the stick out of Jen's hand and toss it away, then turn to the demon and say, "What's your name little guy?" The little demon looks up at you with big red eyes and says, "Um... name. Some people have called me Shaulner." He smiles and you see some of his sharp fangs, and give a smile back. You turn to Patrick, who's still looking a bit pale, and turn back to Shaulner, saying "Do you have a mom or dad?". He stares up at you, unsure by what you mean, and says, "I dunno." Patrick lets out a sigh of relief, and Jen says, "You want us to let you out of this circle?" Shaulner nods and presses his finger against the invisible wall. You notice the sharp claws on his fingers, and say, "We'll let you out, but you have to promise not to hurt us. Okay?" The little demon nods, curious as to why he'd hurt you, and Patrick wipes away some of the circle. The little demon stretches out on all four, then stands up on his legs and walks out slowly. Jen pokes his head with her finger, and he gives her an angry look. She laughs nervously and she says, "I'm gonna call you Shaun. Well, guys let's get going! I wanna get back to sleep!" She runs over to the cart and jumps in the back, Shaulner follows you, but Patrick is reluctant. You motion to the cart and he climbs in next to Shaulner, who's poking your sword. You get the horses to start moving and Patrick says, "So what is the last thing you remember Shaulner?" The little creature turns to Patrick and says, "All I remember is some other demons crowding around me. Then I fell asleep and woke up here." Patrick nods and you say, "Hey Shaulner why don't you go to sleep in the back. We'll answer any questions of yours in the morning okay?" He nods quickly, and crawls into the back. You look at Patrick and say, "Ha, kids." He looks at you like you're crazy and the two of you laugh quietly.

The fact that Shaulner didn't mind being summoned from his home was concerning at first, but he never showed any signs of caring. He proves to be a big source of entertainment, as he is constantly asking questions about what's going on. Jen takes a liking to him, answering all his questions and explaining things to him. Patrick is still nervous around him, but you like the little guy, and after a small encounter with some bandits you've learned he's still valuable when fighting, after he sneezed and set one of the bandits' shirt on fire. You get Jen to cut some of the group's spare clothes and give him a new outfit, and soon he's like a part of the party. By the time you reach Jernheim, you're starting to run low on food, what with a fourth member added, and when you see the huge clock tower on the horizon your stomach starts to growl. You turn to Patrick, who's asleep next to you in the front seat, and shake him awake, then turn back to Jen, who fell asleep using Shaulner as a teddy bear. "Hey, wake up. Shaulner, pull up the hood on your jacket, don't want to freak people out." The two wake up and Shaulner does as you say, then says, "Why do I have to cover up when we pass people?" You turn back to the front and say, "Well, humans aren't exactly keen on demons. Most are kind of freaked out by them. Don't worry once we check into an inn you can pull it down." While you pull into town Jen wraps a scarf around Shaulner's neck to cover up some of his fur and hands him some gloves and shoes, then says, "So when do you think this monster's gonna show up?" You bring the horses to a stop and Patrick says, "I think it already has...". Jen pops in between the two of you and looks around. A chunk of the town is demolished, and people are out digging through the wreckage of what used to be houses, now just rubble. You sigh and ride through the town until you reach an Inn near the clock tower. You pull up in front and Patrick and Jen head inside and in a few minutes they walk back out with four keys. "Apparently the Inn is packed, so we're all gonna have to share a room..." Jen says angrily. Shaulner smiles and says, "I've never slept in a human bed before. When are we gonna go inside?" Someone comes and pulls your cart in the back, and Patrick says, "Well first we should do something about the monster right?" You sigh and rub your back, wondering what you should do first, there's only a few hours left in the day, you could wait till tomorrow.

[A] Go ask the mayor now
Relax for the rest of the night and ask tomorrow
[C] Go out and look for the monster instantly

Got to work on this all day since I was sick, so I feel like this one is longer than the others. I don't know. Vote. Bleh. Any typos or garbage just PM me with them. I'm gonna go make myself a sammich now.

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:28 pm

The phrase "IT'S A TRAP" rings in my head, but I think I'll say [A] anyway.

Missingo · Post by **Missingo** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:59 pm

I also choose [A]

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:57 pm

ToastyJester wrote:Alright the winning choice by one vote is (B) Walk Around Aimlessly

What are you talking about.
B - Buck, Missingo
C - Ebly, Jimmy
I seem to see a tie |<

whateverwhateverwhatever you wrote it already i don't minddddd 8D

Missingo · Post by **Missingo** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:10 pm

Ebly wrote:
ToastyJester wrote:Alright the winning choice by one vote is (B) Walk Around Aimlessly
What are you talking about.
B - Buck, Missingo
C - Ebly, Jimmy
I seem to see a tie |<

whateverwhateverwhatever you wrote it already i don't minddddd 8D

He said if there ever was a tie he would flip a coin.

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:20 pm

Missingo wrote:
Ebly wrote:
ToastyJester wrote:Alright the winning choice by one vote is (B) Walk Around Aimlessly
What are you talking about.
B - Buck, Missingo
C - Ebly, Jimmy
I seem to see a tie |<

whateverwhateverwhatever you wrote it already i don't minddddd 8D
He said if there ever was a tie he would flip a coin.

the coin counts as a vote? U:
either was as i said he's written it already IT'S NOT A PROBLEM

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:13 pm

Gah oops didn't mean to put by one vote. I flipped the coin, got distracted by TV (spread today's post over the day since I was home sick), came back and saw I wrote down winner as B, after adding the coin to B and circling it. I'll fix that. Now vote. (Unless you somehow already hid your vote in a previous post... I wouldn't be surprised)

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:14 pm

ToastyJester wrote:Gah oops didn't mean to put by one vote. I flipped the coin, got distracted by TV (spread today's post over the day since I was home sick), came back and saw I wrote down winner as B, after adding the coin to B and circling it. I'll fix that. Now vote. (Unless you somehow already hid your vote in a previous post... I wouldn't be surprised)

Actually, I did.
It's not as well hidden this time either.

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:32 am

i think Ebly means B....

not sure...

Dylan · Post by **Dylan** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:25 am

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:11 pm

Alright the votes tallied up (the speculated Ebly vote included, since I can't pick up any signs myself), and the winning vote is (B) Relax for the night
No doodle today

Don't complain if I got the vote wrong Ebly, these things happen when deciphering super secret codes. Ask all the treasure hunters who've died cause they misread something.

"Nah, I wouldn't be able to fight a monster right now. We should resupply and rest up a bit." You say, then pat Shaulner's hood, worried about if people will notice the little bumps from his horns, and continue with, "You can go inside and sleep if you want. Guys you can do whatever you want for the evening, tomorrow we question the mayor about the monster." Jen nods and Patrick shrugs. Jen heads inside and Patrick walks off down the street, and you start to walk away, and after a few steps you notice Shaulner following you. You look at him and say, "I thought you wanted to go and try out that human bed." He stares up at you and you can see the corners of his mouth form a smile as he says, "Jen told me you always get yourself in trouble. I'm gonna protect you! Why sleep when I can be the hero of a hero." You smile and zip up your jacket as the cold finally hits you. Onyx was right, it is cold up here, and snowy. The two of you walk along the road, Shaulner sticking to your side, and no one seems to give two looks at you or him. While passing through town Shaulner asks numerous questions. "What is that?" "A street lamp. Don't have those in the underworld?" "No.", "What's this?" "That's a angry looking dog. Don't touch it.", "What's this?" "No, don't touch that, that's-" *Smash* "Let's go. Now.". After walking around a bit the two of you stop by a bakery and buy some food. The cashier there falls in love with Shaulner, and he gives you a small cake for free when she hears his stomach growl and he says they'd been traveling for days. Shaulner likes the attention, and almost pulls off his hood to say thanks, but you manage to pull it back down in time claiming it's too cold out for that. The two of you sit down outside and Shaulner has trouble eating his food with the plastic utensils, seeing as to how you make him keep his hands inside his sleeves, but the two of you quickly scarf down the cake. His speed at eating doesn't surprise you, because he hadn't eaten anything more than a loaf of bread his first day, then didn't bother eating the other days. After eating the cake and storing the rest of the food in your pockets, the two of you get moving again.

"I don't get it." Shaulner says, as he walks. "Don't get what?" You reply, shaking snow off your jacket. Shaulner jumps in front of you and stumbles along backwards, and says, "I've been with you this whole time and you haven't gotten in any trouble. I was expecting us having to fight a group of muggers, or fighting a group of monsters ravaging around town." You look around and say, "Hey, maybe you scared them all off." Shaulner turns around, now walking a few feet in front of you, and says, "This isn't right. The way Jen said it, it sounded like there'd be a problem around every corner." You laugh and say, "Please, I only met Jen and Patrick... maybe one week ago for Jen, and two for Patrick. Jen's only been to one town with us. She wouldn't know about if I get in trouble or not." Shaulner doesn't seem to hear your comment, and slows down his pace, saying, "Patrick doesn't like me does he?" You shift your eyes and try to think of something to say, but nothing comes to mind. Shaulner stays quiet for a while, making the walk a little awkward, then says, "That's okay. You and Jen are cooler than Patrick anyways." You look at the back of Shaulner's head and notice it's tilted forward a bit. He doesn't buy what he said either. You slowly catch up to Shaulner, taking bigger steps now, and after you turn a corner the two of you bump into a pair of people in dark blue robes with the hoods down. The four of you fall down, and they apologize for running into you. "Ah, sorry sir. We should've been looking where we were going." the younger one says, probably a few years younger than you. You pick yourself up along side Shaulner, and say, "No problem man. Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's with those robes?" The man on the right, probably the younger one's father, answers, "Me and my son are members of an organization meant for the study of monsters and recording of information on them. We take the information and design weapons and technologies that can be used against said monsters, or a way to use parts of the monster in crafting. This uniform is required on the days we are researching." You raise your eyebrows and say, "Well that sounds interesting." Shaulner tugs on the older member's robe and says, "What're you researching now?" The father looks down at Shaulner and says, "Well, you know those destroyed houses on the outside of the town? Well-" The man stops and stares down at Shaulner. The son looks at his dad and says, "What's wrong?" You don't understand what's happening until the man shouts, "DEMON!" He pulls down Shaulner's hood and pulls away his scarf, causing the son to take a few steps back. Shaulner's head is visible to the public, and the shouting causes people to turn and look. The man grabs Shaulner's arm and the man shouts, "How dare you come to our town demon!" He pulls out a small stone with a symbol on it and as he presses it onto Shaulner's neck you step forward and shout, "Hey back off!" Shaulner lets out a pain filled wail as a bit of smoke curls up from where the stone is pressed. You tear the man's arm away from Shaulner and he drops the stone in surprise. Shaulner hides behind you as you back away from the man and the small crowd gathering behind him. Most of them are looking at Shaulner in awe and fear, as the man says, "You're defending him? Do you not know what he is? He is a demon! The most evil-" You put your hand on your sword and say, "I know what a demon is, and Shaulner is the furthest thing from evil as you can get. Now get away!" The crowd starts getting bigger and you see a few guards across the road talking and pointing in your direction. You turn around and pick up Shaulner and take off full speed. You hear him sobbing softly and gripping his neck, and you pull the hood over his head to hide him from people passing by. After running for a while you duck into an alley between two buildings and set Shaulner down on his feet. You take in a few deep breaths and say, "Alright show me your neck." He takes his claws off his neck and you see what looks like a thick scrape in the shape of the stone on his neck. When he moves his hand some black blood drips out and you say, "Alright, it doesn't look too bad. Come on let's get back to the inn." You pull out a handkerchief from your pocket and hand it to him, and he wraps it around his face, as if reading your mind. He follows you back onto the road and you start making your way to he inn you're staying at.

"How could you let this happen!" Jen says, rubbing a pad over Shaulner's neck wound. "I didn't expect him to be a magic stone wielding maniac!" Shaulner complains, throwing his arms up in the air. "I'm not talking to you Shaun, I'm talking to William!" She says, turning her head to you. "Me? Hey I didn't expect him to be a magic stone wielding maniac!" You say, sitting up on your bed. Patrick laughs and Jen gives him an evil look. Shaulner smiles and says, "Come on Jen, it isn't Will's fault. Don't get mad at him." Jen looks down at him, concerned and says, "How can I not get mad? He let people find out who you were, he let the guard see a demon in town, for all we know, the mayor won't speak to Will anymore because he might be wanted." You sigh and Shaulner says, "You two can still speak with him. Will doesn't have to do everything you know." Patrick nods and says, "Yeah. I think you're over reacting Jen. Besides, the kid looks fine. Just let us get some sleep. Jeez." Jen stays silent and finishes up with Shaulner, then heads to her bed and says, "Fine. Good night." She turns off the light next to her bed and Shaulner crawls into his bed too, then turns off his light. Patrick follows next, and finally you turn off your light and fall asleep instantly.

The next morning your group heads out to find the mayor. You find it fairly easily and sit outside on a bench with Shaulner again. No one seems to notice the two of you, and you assume it's because the town is big and word hasn't gotten round yet. After thirty minutes of sitting around Jen and Patrick come back out. "So what's up?" you say, standing up and shaking your legs. "Well, apparently a large group of monsters have taken residence in some caverns nearby under the leadership of one larger than normal monster. The mayor gave us directions to the caves, and said he'd be really grateful if we took care of them." Patrick says, watching Shaulner jump off the bench eagerly. Jen nods and says, "Now I don't know about how we should do this. I really don't want to put Shaulner in harm's way." Shaulner crosses his arms and says, "I can take care of myself Jen! I'm not a kid by your human standards!" Jen looks surprised and says, "What's with the sudden attitude Shaun?" Shaulner looks down at the ground and then up at you and says, "If I'm a hero, people won't be scared of me. I just want to be able to walk around without this disguise." Everyone's quiet for a bit and you turn to Jen and shrug. She sighs and says, "Fine! You can come. You don't know how much this is hurting me." Shaulner jumps in joy and says, "Yes!" You give Jen an encouraging smile but she looks down at the ground as the four of you walk towards the edge of town and get ready to fight.

The four of you are soon standing at the entrance to a large icy cave. You shiver and rub your arms, and Jen says, "D-d-do you want to go inside? We can just go in with spells and swords swinging." Patrick shakes his head and says, "No way. Let's just stay up here. We can wait till they come out to raid the town then take them out. Better to be in open territory where they can't trap us in my opinion." You look at them and say, "Why do you always disagree and make me decide these things!" Shaulner laughs and pulls down his new scarf and cups his hands over his mouth. You see some smoke rising from inbetween his fingers, and Jen scoots over next to him and puts her hands near his mouth. "Ahhhhh warmth!" What's the plan?

[A] Go inside the caverns and clear them
Ambush the monsters when they leave

Goooood. Goooooood. Alright enjoy. AND MAKE YOUR VOTES STRAIGHTFORWARD.

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:28 pm

--A true or false question, and I don't know the answer~~

--I'm going to have to guess ~~

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:45 am

my last vote was actually for C but even if people had realised it it wouldn't have changed the result, ahaha.(C - Ebly, Jimmy.
C- Ebly.
C. Ebly. Heeheehee I told you it wasn't well hidden.)

this is hard to choose
i can't decide between A and B

...
BAH
. ^ my vote

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:39 am

I thought it might've been C, but then I said That's SILLY. Why would Ebly vote for a SILLY choice? Ebly's not silly! So I just let the others choose for you

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:45 am

Ehh

[A]

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:28 pm

ToastyJester wrote:Ebly's not silly!

wat

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:29 pm

Ebly you're like the least silly person I've ever met in my life. Sanity is silly.

Okay I'm assuming Ebly's voting A since the ^ is right under the A, which means the winning vote is [A] Go inside the caverns and clear them.

"Alright let's go inside and clear them out. If we're in a single tunnel they'll have to line up to get to us." You say, turning to your teammates and motioning to the entrance. The four of you take a step towards the darkness, but you loose your footing on the icy floor. "Gah!" You say as you fall backwards. You didn't notice from the outside, but a few feet in it slopes down steeply. You quickly slip over the side before your friends can grab you, and slide down. You hear the others slipping and losing their balance, and soon they are all down with you. Patrick pulls a lantern out of his hat and Jen says, "At least we're out of the snow..." You look around and say, "Yeah and into the ice." The light shines down the tunnel and you see the light reflecting off of gems under the ice. Shaulner looks in wonder at the interior of the cavern and says, "Wooooooow, this place is cool!" He puts his face close to the icy floor and struggles to blow out a stream of fire. While Patrick checks the slope for any places to grip if you need to get out that way, You watch Shaulner melt some of the ice on the floor. Once he gets to a certain points he claws at the rest of the ice and holds up a purple stone the size of his hand from under the ice. Patrick sighs and says, "Alright we won't be leaving this way. This thing is smooth all the way up from what I see." He hands you, Jen, and Shaulner some lanterns, then says, "We're gonna have to go forward." You all carefully walk through the tunnel, taking note of a few corpses frozen in the ice, and find the cavern to be pretty easy to negotiate through after a few minutes of walking. You take careful note of what tunnels you take, and after walking forever the tunnel widens into a large room. You shine your light around the room and when it passes over what appears to be a pair of scaly legs you put your hand on your sword. "Alright guys get ready, there are monsters in here." You say, pulling it out of it's sheath. After Jen and Patrick get ready, the four of you run into the room. You shine your light around the room, but none of the monsters move. "Okay... weird..." Jen says. Patrick walks over to the wall and you watch him shine a light on a symbol on the wall. He puts his hand to it and a line illuminates to the center of the room's roof, then the room illuminates. You're surprised to see all the monsters still unmoving. You walk up to a monster that looks like a snake with a human torso on the top and kick it hard. You walk around to the other side of it and see deep cuts all along it's body. "I think someone got here before us..." You say, as Jen looks at another dead monster's corpse. Patrick starts to say something when you hear shouting from the exit tunnel, and you all start in that direction. The shouts become louder as you run through the cavern, and finally you emerge into a giant room with a hole in the roof that has snow gently falling in. When you run in, the first thing you notice is more dead monsters, and then you notice the large monster killing the monsters. "This isn't good..." You say, handing Patrick your lantern, no need for it now. The hole in the ceiling is letting in enough light. Jen winces as the larger monster stabs through an armored centaur like creature and says, "Well... at least it's killing the other monsters right?" You duck as the centaur gets flung a few feet over your head and smashes into the wall behind you. Shaulner looks at the larger monster and says, "That's a demon." Jen drops her jaw and says, "THAT'S a demon? I didn't expect them to be that big! Are you going to get that big one day?" Patrick fiddles with his hat nervously as the demon digs it's claw into the ground and spikes of ice spring out under some of the monsters. He quietly says, "That's an ice demon alright..." The demon seems to notice your group for the first time and it gives a large sharp toothed smile. It swings its claw along the front of another group of monsters and booms, "Ah! A fire demon! Come cousin, join in on the fun! You can have those humans there!" A group of monsters shout in fear and a few of them charge your group, wanting to take out Shaulner, the fire demon. As a centaur charges you with a spear you side step, grab the shaft of the spear under one arm, then swing your sword directly in his path. Patrick shoots out a stream of fire into a group of monsters approaching on his side, and Jen stomps the ground, causing a set of spikes to jump in the air in front of her, then shoot out into a row of approaching monsters. While this is happening, the ice demon looks in Shaulner's direction and says, "Well? Get them now while they're backs are turned!" Shaulner looks confused and says, "Why would I want to hurt my friends?" The demon lets out a roaring laugh and replies, "Ah, you must not have killed anyone yet. Don't worry I'll help you." The large dark blue demon stomps his hind legs on the ground and spikes erupt all around the room, impaling every single monster. Jen covers Shaulner's eyes and moans of pain fill the room. Your stomach feels like it's been kicked by the sudden show of power, then the spikes retreat underground as fast as they came out, leaving all the bodies sprawled out on the floor. The demon stretches it's legs and shakes, then starts in your direction. "I'll show you how to properly kill a human young one. After we kill these ones we'll move on to that town. By the time we're done you'll have the knack of it down, and you'll get enough food to grow as big as us adult demons." The demon says, standing up onto it's hind legs, stretching up to at least seven times your height. Shaulner looks up in fear at the demon and says, "No, I don't want to... I can't let you do that. It's not right." He steps in front of you and stands up as tall as he can, and the bigger demon laughs again. "You stay up here and watch." He swings his arm and picks up Shaulner, putting him on his shoulder. Shaulner lets out a cry as he clings onto the demon's fur, and Jen shouts, "Give him back he doesn't want to help you!" The demon swipes his hand across the ground. Patrick and Jen get out of the way, and as the hand comes close to you, you jump and dig your sword into the top of it's hand hilt deep. The demon lets out a growl and shakes his hand in the air, swinging you around like a rag doll. You grip the sword with both hands and shout as your body swings around. Finally, the sword yanks out and you go flying across the room into the wall. You hit the wall hard, then slide down along the ice. You struggle to get back up, and watch as Patrick throws a fireball at the demon. It burns a bit of his fur and he growls again, this time whipping his tail in Patrick's direction. He barely manages to avoid having a large gash in his chest, and you look around for anything that could help. Nothing though, the whole room is empty except for the corpses of all the monsters. You duck as Jen flies over your head, and you see blood coming down her arm as she slides down next to you. You hear Shaulner shout and then the demon roar. You look over and see Shaulner gripping onto fur under the demon's eye, and a trail of black blood dripping along the dark blue fur. He grabs Shaulner and shouts, "I've had enough of your attitude child. You want to help the humans so much? I'll kill you along with them." He throws Shaulner across the room and he hits the ground, shattering some of the ice on the floor. Jen starts to come to, and you try to help her up, but a severe pain throbs in your arm. Jen gets up and grips her upper arm, then runs over to Shaulner, who's lying on he ice and twitching in pain. The demon throws his arm in your direction and an shard of ice comes out of the wall behind you. You roll out of the way, but the blade slices your leg as you move. You fall to the ground and grit your teeth, grabbing your leg. The demon puts a hand over his eye and starts to walk across the room, and as he steps under the hole in the roof some ropes fall in. A group of robed figures slide in with great speed and land on the demon's head and shoulders. The demon looks up at the whole in confusion and shouts as a man lands on his good eye, with a sword beneath him. The others hold some tablets onto the demon's shoulders and you see large curls of smoke rising from the demon's shoulders. Soon the tablets disappear into the fur and the robed figures jump off onto the ground. A pair of men run over to you and pick you up carefully, and as they carry you to the center you say, "You with that group of researchers?" One of them remove their hood and you see a serious looking man with silver hair that says, "R.M.D. Yes." You shiver and say, "You guys sure can fight for a bunch of researchers." The man gives a cocky smile and says, "We have some who research from books and work in buildings, and some who go out to the field and test weapons. You're lucky we got here when we did." You look over at Jen, who has one arm around Shaulner, propping him up and a dagger in her other hand, threatening to cut the people approaching if they hurt him. You can barely hear the guys in the distance but you hear them say, "Don't worry we won't hurt him... We saw him fight the other demon." Jen doesn't get to respond though because she falls backwards and passes out. You look in the other direction and see Patrick talking with some of the figures. Then you close your eyes and go to sleep.

You wake up in a bed in a really nice room. You sit up in your bed and find bandages around your arm and leg with your sleeve and pants leg rolled up. A woman is sitting in a chair writing on a clipboard and you say, "Uh... where am I.." The woman looks up and says, "Ah you're awake. You're in the R.M.D. HQ of Jernheim. Your friends are resting up nearby. Would you like to visit them?" You nod and step out of your bed, seeing how much your leg can take. You step on it and almost fall, but the woman manages to get to you before you fall. "Why don't you just use a potion or something?" You ask, gritting your teeth. The woman laughs and says, "As good as potions are, you don't want to become too reliant on them. Besides, they can only be made twice a year in the Red Forest." The woman leads you out of the room and down a hall, to another room. Inside you find Shaulner in one bed and Jen in another across the room. Shaulner's holding his gem up to his face and gnawing on his gem, and when he sees you he puts the gem down and gives you a full grin. "Hi Will! Glad you're okay! Last thing I remember is smashing into the floor... These R.M.D. guys told me they're taking care of us until we're ready to leave." You give him a smile and ask the lady next to you, "So what happened after I blacked out?" Someone walks in behind you, and you hear Patrick's voice saying, "Well, these guys managed to capture the demon, then they escorted us out and took you guys here." He sits down in a chair next to Jen's bed and you say, "Why didn't you get hurt at all? That's not fair..." He laughs a bit and looks out a window at the snowy town, where people are out celebrating the good news. Jen slowly opens her eyes and looks around. She sees Shaulner and smiles, then turns to you and says, "Alright let's get ready to go. I wanna get back to the tower." Patrick looks at her surprised, and you have the same reaction. "Jeez no rest? We just got out butts kicked by a demon not too long ago you know..." You say, and someone walks in and whispers into your walking assistant's ear. She nods and the man hands you a cane for you to walk with. "You all can leave whenever you feel ready. We owe you for stalling that demon and getting him to walk into our trap. We went ahead and got your cart from that inn, so you can just get it and go when you want." She says, then walks out the door. Shaulner has returned to scraping at his gem, and Jen says, "Fine. We can stay for the rest of the day. I'm going to be staying here and sleeping. You can go limp around town if you want." She turns onto her side and Patrick says, "Hey if you want you can accompany me to the book stores. I'm gonna look to see if they have any spell books in this." You walk over to the window and cup your hands over your eyes, looking outside. You see a building far off in the distance with colorful lights shining out of it, and wonder what that's all about, as well as a crowd gathering near the center of town, where it looks like there's a party going on in the streets. "So watcha gonna do Will?" Shaulner asks, pulling the rock away from his face again.

[A] Go with Patrick
Check out those colorful lights
[C] Go to the gathering in the town center

Sorry if this post is shorter, started feeling a bit bad before I started this and my cough started to get worse and really annoying. Bleh. Gonna go get a drink, draw a bit, then go to bed. Man I feel like I half tried on this one. That's gonna be messing with me for the night.

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:33 pm

ToastyJester wrote:Okay I'm assuming Ebly's voting A since the ^ is right under the A, which means the winning vote is [A] Go inside the caverns and clear them.

Okay, this is giving me a good scale of how obscure I'm allowed to be with my votes, because this time you got it.
I like colours, like really like colours, so I'm going to say B before I even finish reading the part.

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:59 pm

i also say Lights might mean a party!

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:21 pm

10char.

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 6:26 pm

Man I'm glad to have a computer again. So much easier to type stuff up again.

So the winning choice for today is (B) Check out those colorful lights.

You pull away from the window and say, "I'm going out I guess. We wouldn't happen to have any potions would we? As much as I enjoy walking with a cane, I'd rather not." Patrick thinks for a second and says, "Yeah but they're short supply. The next natural spring for this stuff won't fill up for another few months." A bottle appears in his hand and he tosses it to you. You offer it to the others, but none of them accept, so you quickly gulp down the drink. Your leg and arm feel miraculously better. You toss the bottle back at Patrick, and it dissappears in mid air. He turns and walks out, eager to head off to the book stores. You head out soon after, taking time to cut the bandages off your arm and leg, then say good night to your friends. You walk down the hall and some people in the robes give you directions to the street. When you step outside you pull your hood over your head, and zip up your jacket. You look up at the roof of the building across the street, and see the glow is still visible. You turn down along the road and follow a crowd, which seem to be heading in the right direction.

In a few minutes you're standing outside a huge building with searchlights in front shining up into the sky, and colorful lights wrapped around various portions of the building. "Wow," you say, breathing into your hands. A man next to you says, "Amazing isn't it? Sir Paul's Party Room. Jernheim edition." You turn to look at the man and say, "A what?" The man laughs and says, "Paul's Party Room. They've got one set up in a few of the more populated towns. A place where people can pay to attend some of the biggest parties ever. Non stop partying in there. On days like this these things are always full." You look back at the building and say, "Wow. Whoever thought up that idea must be completely insane. Or some kind of genius." The man laughs and says, "Follow me kid." You look at him funny and say, "Sorry I've learned not to trust strangers who seem to like giving pointless information to me. It's never ended well in the past. Signs point to you being some kind of murderer or something else that will cause harm to me." The man shrugs and says, "Well, you've been taught well I guess, but I'm not any of those things. I was just gonna show you around inside, but fine." You scoff to yourself as the man walks inside, and say, "Yeah right. I'm not gonna fall for that." You continue to look up at the building, and watch your breath flow out of your mouth, when suddenly you hear an explosion. You look up and see a chunk of the building flying towards you. You cover your hand and let out a short shout, as someone tackles you out of the way. You hit the ground hard and find a guard in a suit of armor lying on top of you. Suddenly the world snaps back and the sounds of screaming and shouting plague the air. The shakes your head and shouts, "What are you doing kid!? Get out of here!" While you can tell he's shouting this, the words sound miles away. The guard stands up and charges inside the party room building thing, you stand up and look where you were once standing, and find a large chunk of building there along with a sparking light. You gulp and look up at the huge building looming over you, and see lights all over it have gone out, and there are two large machines flying in the air over head, with lines attached to the building. You see people sliding down them and a group of people land on the ground in front of you in black outfits. They pull out some blades that seem to glow in the lights of small fires erupting along the building. The girl in the front points one of her blades at you and says, "You'll be wanting to hand over all your gold now, or we'll have to take it from you through force." You swing your sword out in front of you and send one of her blades flying in the air, until lodging into the snow. "I've had a bad day, I recommend you back off," you say, pointing your sword point at her. Her two allies lunge at you and you parry their swipes, ducking back, sidestepping, and when you spot an opening you put a hand on the ground and spin your leg, smashing into one of the lackey's jaw. He stumbles back, holding his chin and cursing, and you plant your feet on the ground firmly. The other lackey pulls a few small blades out of her side pocket, and tosses them at you. You quickly focus on your protection and one of the blades deflect off your arm harmlessly. You block the 2nd with your sword, and swat away the third with your armored gloves. The girl lackey lets out a small whimper and the one with the bashed jaw looks at their boss. She rolls her eyes and says, "You've made a big mistake messing with The Shadow Rogues boy." You spit in her direction and say, "You're the ones who made the mistake of trying to rob this adventurer. My name's William Bradshaw, and I'm not intimidated by your little gang." The girl glares at you, then a few ropes drop down from the flying machines. You watch them zip up, and hear the head lady say, "Fire the cannons at that kid!" You sheath your sword and vault over the railing on the side of the hill as the cannons turn towards the ground. As you roll down the hill you hear more explosions and a blast of fire bursts over the hill top. You roll down uncontrollably down the hill and land on a rooftop of a building. You pull yourself up and look up to see the flying machine flying over the hill and over the town. You see explosions around the town, and look around for any way to stop it. You look towards town square and see a larger explosion from there. You wince and a cable from the flying machine slaps you across the back. You stumble over and watch the cable drag across the rooftop. You pick yourself up quickly and take off running down the shingled roof, then jump onto a lamp post in between the building, and continue onto the next roof. You land next to the cable and grab onto it as it starts to rise in the air. You start to climb up slowly, and suddenly the cable zooms up through the air. You let out a shout as snow whips past your face, and in a matter of seconds find yourself dangling over a hole overlooking the buildings zooming under. You hop off onto the floor nearby and look around, rubbing your sore arms.

"Hey what do you think you're doing on this ship!?" Someone shouts as you walk around a corner. You look down the hall and find a man with a large scar across his face pointing a bow and arrow at you. He lets the arrow fly and you duck back around the corner. The arrow lodges into the wooden wall and you quickly put up another protection spell, and you feel your bones ache from the extra strain. You run around the corner, also casting your speed magic, and fly through the air, crashing into the man, holding your sword tip to his throat. "How can I take this thing down?" You ask, pushing your knee into his arm, when he reaches for a blade on his leg. He looks at you in fear and says, "Just... just go down the hall and turn left. T-The engine room is in there!" You sock him in the face and he passes out, and you stand up, shaking the pain off your fist. You walk down the hallway slowly, tired from using so much magic in the past few minutes. You turn and walk into the room the man spoke of, and find a large piece of machinery in the center pumping, and moving around a lot. You look around and wonder how this thing works. Your town wasn't as far developed in technology as others. You grab a metal pipe lying on the floor next to an unfinished section of piping, and cautiously walk up to the engine. A pair of people walk into the room with weapons drawn and say, "Surrender now or be killed!" You look between them and the machine and shove the pipe through a small piece of glass where a glowing light is emerging, and the ground begins to remor. The lights in the air ship shut off and everything turns sideways. You hear people shouting from inside the ship as it loses altitude and you crash through the two people at the door and fly down the hallway. You smash into a door foot first and tear through, landing on top of another person. Then you hear wood crunching and explosion noises and everything goes black.

"Hey, over there, hurry!" You hear a faint voice shout, and then a burst of light opens up over you. You see Onyx's face looking down through the wreckage at you, and he shakes his head saying, "Yeah he's here. Kid you are an idiot." The debris around you fly off magically and you black out again as the mage lifts you up over his shoulder.

You wake up in a bed at Onyx's tower. You get up out of your bed, and taste the familiar taste of potion hanging about in your mouth. You find a pile of folded clothes on a chair near you and you quickly slip them on, rubbing your head. You walk through the door and head over to Patrick's door. You knock, seeing the sun is up outside the window nearby, and say, "Hey Patrick you up yet? What happened back in Jernheim man?" You step inside and find the bookshelf and desk clear. You walk across the room confused and Jen pops up in the doorway. "Will... Patrick was banished from the tower." You turn around, surprised at her arrival, and say, "What does that mean?" She looks sadly at the desk and says, "It means exactly what it sounds like. Master Onyx kicked Patrick out." You tilt your head and say, "You're joking right? Why would Onyx do that? Patrick didn't fail his mission or anything." Jen puts her hands over her eyes and says, "It wasn't the mission Will. We completed that. It was the fact that Patrick summoned Shaulner. Onyx was furious that Patrick would perform a summoning without knowledge of what he was summoning, and without him there to supervise. He said that Patrick not only could've gotten himself killed, but he could've brought about the end of the world if it was something major. He's letting Shaulner stay here with us, now that he's already summoned, but Patrick had to go. He stormed off without a word on where he was going, he just took off after arguing with Onyx. Shaulner's really taking it hard... You've missed a lot in the last few days." You sit down on the bed and look at the ground, saying "A few days... Have I been unconscious this whole time?" Jen wipes her sleeves across her face and walks out, saying "Onyx wanted to speak with you when you woke up. You should go see him." You sit on the bed for a few minutes, wondering why all this was happening, then stand up and trudge out of the room, onto the central elevator. You softly stomp your foot and the elevator starts up. When your ride finally reaches the top you find Onyx sitting at his desk reading the summoning book Patrick had. "Ah, William. Good to see your awake," he says, putting down the book. You look at the ground sullenly and he says, "I take it Jen told you the news. I don't blame you if your mad at me, but I was doing what I was raised to do by my master. If a student shows recklesness with his magical studies, it shows part of their personality, and we can't have reckless mages in life Will. That's what dark wizards start off as." You don't lift your eyes up to look him in the face and he says, "Well, here's your reward I guess." He tosses you a spell orb and you look at it sadly, inside you see what looks like dark crimson blood inside. "That'll let you heal up any small wounds you get. For a price of course. Use it scarcely. Also, I got you this." He says, as you crush the orb in your hands. You look up and he tosses a necklace at you. You catch it in air and find it's a small orb that seems to glow blue in your hand. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." You slip on the necklace and he says, "Now if you're still willing to help people and get some rewards from me, I have another mission for you and Jen... and Shaulner I guess. Seeing as how you have taken such a liking to the demon. I just want to let you know now, he's your responsibility now Will. Anyways, you're going to be heading south to Silver Oasis. You're going to be heading through a desert, so get ready for that. There are two ways to get there. Silver Oasis has some of the most impressive technology around if you didn't know, and it has set up an air transportation system with another technologically advanced city, Heilena to the west. You can head there and pay some major cash for the ride there and back, or you can head south, through your hometown, and go by land through the desert and save a good amount of gold. Either way, I'll be supplying you with enough gold to make the journey. Since Patrick has... departed, I've taught Jen how to have her own pocket dimension, so the two of you don't have to worry about carrying things around in bags. Your cart will have all the supplies you need in it, feel free to leave at any time you see fit." He snaps his fingers and the elevator heads down. At the bottom you find Jen standing there, eyes red and watery and she says, "So what'd he say?" You sigh and say, "We got another mission... I'm not ready to leave yet though. I just want to rest for now..." She nods sadly and you walk off to your room. "Wait, Will, before you go to your room, can you talk with Shaulner? He's been really depressed..." You nod and walk across to the other room. You knock and walk inside, and find Shaulner sitting and looking out the window. He turns and sees you and lets out a smile, saying, "Hey Will... How's it going?" You close the door and say, "Jen tells me you're taking Patrick's leaving really hard." He nods and turns back to the window. "It's all my fault. I showed up and now he's gone. I never should've come here." Shaulner says, pulling his hood over his head. His little horns poke up under the hood and you quickly say, "Shaulner it's not your fault. You didn't have anything to do with coming here. Patrick brought you here and you shouldn't blame yourself for it. He should've known how Onyx would've reacted." Shaulner doesn't respond, and after a few minutes of silence you walk out and back to your room.

In three days you finally decide to head out. By the time you get to the cart, Shaulner is curled up in the back and Jen is sitting in the front. She got control of herself after resting, but Shaulner still is mopey. You hop up next to Jen and she says, "So what is the mission?" You think and say, "Uh... not sure exactly. All Onyx told me was we were to head to Silver Oasis. I guess we'll find out when we get there right? Anyways, he told me there were two ways to get there. By air or by land. Do you have any preference?" She shrugs and says, "No... I don't care either way..." She turns to Shaulner and asks him, but all he says is, "No." Jen looks at the ground in front of the cart and says, "I guess it's up to you then..." Which way do you want to go?

[A] West through Heilena
South through the desert
[C] Screw it, go find Patrick

Once again, PM me of any spelling errors/typos I guess. Enjoy

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:18 pm

Noooooooooooooooo not Patrick!

[c]

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 8:29 pm

[A] I uhm... never did like Patrick much... *Cough cough* yeahh... *Walks away awkwardly*

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:09 am

(my vote is for c)

Dylan · Post by **Dylan** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:04 pm

I choose you Charizard

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:32 pm

Alright the winning vote is [C] Go find Patrick.

You look at your friends, both looking miserable, and say, "Screw it we don't have a time limit. Where do you think Patrick went?" Jen looks at you in surprise and says, "I don't really know. Maybe he went home?" Out of the corner of your eye you see Shaulner's head pop up from the floor of the back. "Well where's his home?" You ask. Jen shrugs and says, "We never really asked each other about stuff like that. It's a touchy subject me, I just assumed he was the same way." Shaulner quietly says, "He told me about a town called Perthian once. He asked me where I came from and I asked the same question." Jen pulls out a piece of paper from the air and unfolds it, revealing a large map. She drags her finger along the map, and after a few minutes says, "Ah here it is. Wow that's pretty far. We'll have to head south, then head far east to the ocean. It's located in Black Swamp. Sounds like a nice place." You look at the map and say, "Cool after we find him we can just head West and eventually wind up in Silver Oasis." Jen puts away the map and says, "But how do we know he'll be heading back home?" You shrug and say, "It's not like we have any other idea of where he would be... Alright Shaulner looks like we're headed to this Perthian place. Hope you're eager to see a swamp." Shaulner silently lies back down in the back of the cart and Jen gives you a "thanks for trying" look, then takes the reins and gets the horses started.

"Hey, let's stop here for the night," you say, as you draw close to your hometown. "Here? We've only been traveling for a day." Jen says, looking at the sign that reads Serenity Hills, "Besides this town is small, probably doesn't have a decent inn." You cross your arms indignantly and say, "Hey watch what you say, this is my home. We can swing by my childhood home, before I left we had a guest room, and now that my room has been taken over by my sister, there will be two rooms opened up. I can sleep on the couch and you and Shaulner can have the guestrooms." Jen looks at you with this weird look on her face and says, "Your home?" she looks at the town for a little then says, "Okay." You aren't sure, but her expression seemed like a sad jealousy. Your cart pulls onto the cobbled stone road of the main part of town, and a few familiar faces give you greetings. You give Jen directions and soon your cart is parked out in front of the barn near your house. You get off the seat and walk the horses inside, while Jen and Shaulner hop out onto the ground. Jen sniffs the air and says, "Never would've expected you to've been raised in such a rural town. You seem like you'd come from somewhere like Stayville." You walk out of the barn, closing the door behind you and say, "Have you ever even been to a rural town before?" She shakes her head and you shrug, walking over to the fence and vaulting over. Jen follows, and Shaulner slips in between the gap between wood, you point up to the house at the top of the hill and say, "That's home." The three of you walk up the side of the hill, then you lead them around the house to the front door. You walk up to it and knock loudly. You wait for a little bit, then you're greeted by your little brother, who opens the door saying, "Who the heck comes to visit us?" He sees you and lets out a big smile, then gives you a hug, saying, "Will! How's your adventuring going?" You pat him on the head and say, "Good, where's dad?" Your brother gets out of the doorway, letting you walk in, and says, "He said he was going to the market to trade." While you walk in you pull your jacket off and toss it onto the hooks on the wall. You walk look around, then turn to Jen and Shaulner, both of which are looking into the den at the family portraits and hunting trophies on the walls around the fireplace. You pop your head into the kitchen and see your mom at the sink like always, and say, "Hey mom." She doesn't look up from the dishes, and says, "Liam you should've left a while ago! What are you still doing here?" You turn back to your friends and say, "So you want a tour of the house?" As you finish saying this you're tackled by a blur from the second floor railing. "Will!" Your sister says, crashing you into the floor. Jen and Shaulner laugh as you hit the ground, and you say, "Hey sis! You enjoying the room?" She pops back up on her feet and says, "I'm loving it! It's so pretty and beautiful now!" You hop back up and say, "Pretty?" She smiles and nods her head, then leads you and your friends upstairs and opens up the door to your old room. Inside you find her dolls in the corners, new curtains on the windows, and a big pink rug on the floor. She lets out a big sigh and drops onto her bed, saying, "Sooooo pretty..." Jen shakes your shoulder and says, "Will you okay? Your eye is twitching." You let out a deep breath and say, "Yeah I'm good. Come on I'll show you the guest rooms." You walk down the hall and open up the door to your sister's old room, now barely decorated, and the room no one ever used, also barely decorated. Jen looks around in one of the rooms and says, "Wow this room is nice... Better than any room I've slept in..." You look inside and say, "It's okay. What about the rooms at the tower?" She checks her reflection in the corner mirror and says, "They're nice... but they're really small. This room is at least twice the size." You shrug and say, "Okay. You gonna go to sleep? Sun's going down, it gets really dark at night." She nods and then walks over an closes the door. You turn to where Shaulner was, but he's gone. "Shaulner where'd you get to?" You walk downstairs and find Shaulner in the den, talking with your dad, who must've just gotten home. The first thing you notice is Shaulner's hood is down, and your dad has his fingers to his chin, like he does when he's thinking. "Interesting. Ah, Will, I can assume this little demon is your friend?" he says, changing his focus of attention from Shaulner to you. You nod and say, "Uh... yeah. You aren't like... freaked out or anything?" He shakes his head and say, "Not really. I know that when you go on adventures lots of stuff happens. Although I've barely read any stories of demons teaming up with humans... Unless you planned this just to shock me. I know you kids like to rebel and such." You laugh at the last part and sit down on the couch next to Shaulner. He notices your new sword and says, "What happened to your grandfather's sword?" You move your arm and look at your sheath and say, "Oh yeah... that got broken by a bunch of corrupt adventurers. Sorry dad." Your dad shakes his head and says, "It was bound to happen at some point. Better to have it broken then than in the middle of a big fight." You smile and your dad says, "So this little guy's name is Shaulner huh?" Shaulner nods and says, "I can talk you know." Your dad begins to ask you and Shaulner questions, until it gets too dark to see without lights. "Well, I guess I've taken up enough of your time. It was a pleasure to meet you Shaulner, and Will keep up the good work. From what you tell me you're doing a fine job as an adventurer." Your dad walks up the stairs and you hear his door close. You look at Shaulner, who's ingesting a cookie your sister gave him as a present, and say,"You going to bed buddy?" He lets out a large yawn, showing off his fangs and says, "Yeah I guess. Your dad's cool you know that? I wish my dad was..." He stops mid-sentence and says, "Weird... thought I had something there..." He shrugs and heads upstairs, finishing off the cookie. You hear the last door close and walk over to the closet, pulling a blanket out of it. You walk over to the couch and lie down, throwing the pillows onto the floor. You prop your head up under your hands and doze off.

The next morning you wake up to bright sunlight coming in from the window. You sit up on your couch and see your siblings playing with Shaulner on the floor in front of you. You watch your sister hand Shaulner a doll and get him to play pretend, while your brother tries to saw off his horns with a wooden sword. Shaulner laughs and smiles, and when you turn your head to the end of the couch you see Jen sitting on your feet drinking out of a cup. You feel your eye twitching and say, "Why do you always feel the need to cut off circulation to my legs?" She smiles and says, "Because your weak. You are weak. Weak!" You laugh and manage to kick her off the couch, then swing your legs onto the floor and wiggle your legs a bit. Jen hands you a cup of coffee and you quickly take a few gulps. "So how did you two sleep?" You ask, looking between Shaulner and Jen. Jen nods with a warm smile and says, "Yeah. Best sleep of my life." Shaulner stops playing with the doll and says, "My sleep was good I guess... you might need to replace the sheets. I kinda tore them up..." You laugh and watch your sister pull on Shaulner's ear to get him to pay attention to her games. You finish up your coffee and say, "So where did dad go?" Your brother pulls on Shaulner's tail and says, "He said he was goin to the market again. Are you leaving already?" You nod and say, "Yup. We've got to find a friend." When you say this you see Shaulner's ears drop and his eyes go to the floor. Your little sister looks up from her toys and says, "Oh yeah, my dad told me to give this to you two!" She runs upstairs and you hear the door to your parents' room open, then close a few seconds later. She jumps over the couch next to you and hands Jen a necklace. Jen doesn't understand and first, and looks at the shiny gold necklace she was given, saying, "What's this?" Your sister shrugs and says, "Dunno. Dad said it was a present from the family to you guys. There's one for you too Shauny." She hops onto the floor next to Shaun and hands him a silver necklace with a beautiful symbol on the end of it. He looks at it in wonder, holding it up to the light from the window and says, "Wooooow!" Jen pulls her necklace on and says, "I didn't even get to meet your dad... Why would he just give something this valuable away to a stranger?" You shrug and say, "Dad's weird like that. Maybe he knows something about them that we don't." Your sister and brother help Shaulner get his necklace on, and your brother says, "I've seen this necklace before in the house. Dad told me it was special, and that his great great grandfather found it on an adventure he accidentally took part in. Dad said it's a trinket for demons like Shaun. Dunno what it does though..." They succeed in putting the necklace on and Shaulner plays with the symbol in his claws, amused by the reflections. You stand up and say, "Alright, we should get going." You head out of the den into the main hall and everyone follows. You open the front door, letting in a blast of light, and smile, looking outside at the town. You turn to the others and Jen kneels down and gives your brother and sister a big hug. After she's done she heads outside, wiping her eyes, and you watch your brother and sister hug Shaulner, who smiles playfully. "Hey Will, when can we visit again! You're family is fun!" He walks outside and you give your siblings some hugs, they say goodbye and say how much they missed you, then you grab your jacket off the wall and head outside, giving them a goodbye wave. You walk down the side of the hill, and watch Jen and Shaulner pull the cart out of the barn. You run down the hill and jump, clearing the fence easily, and when you land you smile. You look at your friends and say, "Alright let's get adventuring." Jen smiles and hops into the back, lying down to get more sleep. Shaulner hands you the reins when you step up and starts to pull his hood on. You stop him and say, "Hey, you know what. No more hiding, people will learn to live with it okay?" Shaulner smiles and grabs his gem out of the back, and begins gnawing on it again. It's already shrunk half the size of when he first found it in the cave. You get the horses moving and pull out onto the dirt road leading into town. Soon you're out of town and heading southeast.

Over the next few days you travel at a nice pace across the fields, through the forests, and over the Stayv river when you get to it. Finally you see the outlines of small buildings in the distance. You pull the cart to a stop at an inn on the side of the road and look out across the watery land in front of you. A man sitting outside the Inn says, "That cart ain't gonna go much further in that muck." You look at the man, who's sitting on a small chair and cutting up a tree trunk. "What? No way to get this cart to Perthian?" He shakes his head and says, "Nope. Swamp'll take any cart you bring down. Your best bet is to leave it here at the inn and go on foot." You sigh and hop out of your seat, then walk into the inn. After negotiating with the inn owner, you come back out, and find Jen and Shaulner stretching their legs. The man whittling the trunk is looking at Shaulner with interest, but doesn't say anything. "Well guys, we're walking from here." The man at the trunk says, "Follow the paths of wood along the ground. They can't hold too much weight, so go one at a time, and watch out for Suckers. You get your foot caught in one of those things and you'll be lucky to get out alive." You look at the man and ask, "Suckers?" The man rolls his eyes and says, "These plants. They dig down into the swamp, at least fifteen feet down into the ground. They're about the size of a full grown man, if you step on one, it's top will fold in and it'll start sucking you down. It's slow at first, but it has this... chemical in it that messes with your muscles. Make you lose all feeling and unable to move for an hour. If you get sucked in you won't have to worry about that though, cause you'll be dead in a few minutes. Just follow the path and you'll be fine." You gulp and head off into the swamp, stepping on a narrow wooden bridge. You look back at your companions and give them an encouraging smile.

After carefully walking over the wooden bridges, you find yourself at a small town built over the marsh. Like literally over the marsh, all the buildings are suspended in the air by thirty feet on a wooden platform. You look around in wonder, saying, "Wow this place is cool. Wonder why they built it here though..." An old man sitting on the edge of the platform with a fishing rod hears you and says, "Why? Well, for one, no monsters ever come here. Too far out and too wet. Only problem we get is occasionally someone falls off the platform and gets taken down by a Sucker. But that's what we have railings and rules for. The second reason, is because every ship needs to stop through here when they're going along the coast. Lots of trade happens here kiddies." You raise an eyebrow and say, "Ooookay, thanks for the information I guess. You sit here often?" The man laughs and says, "Yes. All the time. I see everyone who comes into town through here. Had three visitors yesterday, six the day before, had some people return after going away for a while. Yup. Lots of visitors these days." You look at Jen, who looks really confused. "You seen a kid walk through? Black jacket, covering most of his face." The man looks up at the gray sky and thinks, then says, "Why yes. Came into town a while ago. I remember him from a few years ago, lived here with his family. Don't know why he came back though, his parents passed away a few weeks ago." You hear Jen gasp and you say, "Did you talk to him at all?" He nods and says, "Why yes, in fact after being here for a day he came back and talked to me. Asked me about recent events and things going on around town. He mentioned a few places he'd been hanging out recently. His old house, down by the docks, said he'd been heading to the tree where they buried his parents." You look at the swamp sadly and say, "You know where all those places are?" The man nods and you turn to your friends. "Okay, I guess we're gonna split up. Where do you guys wanna go?" Jen and Shaulner shrug and Shaulner says, "Will you're the leader. You get first picks."
Now... where do you want to check out?

[A] Patrick's House
The Docks
[C] The Tree

This one took a while to write, but I really enjoyed writing it too. Enjoy I guess.

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:48 pm

Let's go [c] who's at the tree, [c]hall we?

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:01 pm

Buck your witty useage of the letter choice makes me so jealous of your awesomness I want to go burn ants in the backyard to vent.

But it's night time. Curse you sir.

Curse you...

Ebly · Post by **Ebly** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 3:34 am

Buckdida wrote:[c]hall

well that use of [c] was [c]hit.

my real vote, though, is for . trust me, it's for .

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:16 pm

Alright after resorting to the holy coin flip, the result is [C] to visit the Tree.

THE COIN DOTH DECREE IT.

"I'll check out the tree gravestone place. Jen you take the docks, Shaulner, you check out his house." You turn to the old man and say, "Hey, can you give me the direction to this tree?" The man nod and says, "Just walk along the sides of the platform. You'll see a small path of land connected to the platform. Just head down along there it'll lead to the only tree fully above water." You nod and your friends get the directions to their locations. You give them both a nod, and walk off along the side of the platform, looking down into the murky waters. You see a snake as long as you slither along the top of the water, and you gulp as you take a few steps away from the edge.

Soon you find yourself walking down along a grassy path in the middle of the swamp. By the time you reach the tree the city is a gray hill on the horizon, and the sun is starting to set. You squint, looking at the sun setting across the swamp, and then turn your head to look at the tree sitting on the middle of the patch of land. The tree looks completely dead, but you see gray leaves folded along the branches, forming an invisible layer of plant life. You drift your attention from the tree down to the two grave markers next to it, gray and abandoned. You read the names, Joshua and Mackenzie Arcane, and continue to stare silently at the two gravestones. You cross your legs as you take a seat and wait, hoping Patrick will show up at some point. When the sun starts to go down you look up at the tree and see the leaves unfold along the branches, exposing their glowing undersides. You stare up in wonder at the beautiful tree and time seems to fly by until someone walks up next to you. You rub your eyes and turn your head saying, "Patrick?". You look up at the person to the side of you and as your eyes adjust to the dark, you hear a girl's voice say, "No I'm not Patrick. Have you seen him? He didn't tell me where he was going this morning." You stand up and say, "Uh, not really. I was hoping he would show up here. When did you last see him?" The girl laughs a bit and says, "Never really." She pulls her hood down and says, "Last thing I remember seeing is a bright light. That was... eight years ago." You look at her confused, then in the light from the tree you see her pupils and iris nearly as white as the rest of her eyes. She sets down the flowers she was holding in between the gravestones and sighs, then says, "They were good people. Took me in when I lost my family." You look back down at the gravestones and say, "You grew up with Patrick?" She nods and says, "My family had been friends with theirs for generations. I met Patrick when I was four years old, when we moved in next door to his house. I just wish I could've seen how he'd turn out. From what I remember he had the most cheerful smile." You smile and say, "We talkin' bout the same guy here?" She laughs a quiet laugh and says, "Yes, he's changed. Before he left he was more serious, but since he's gotten back he's been downright depressing. By the way, would you happen to know a Shaulner child? I heard him sighing outside Patrick's house and started a conversation with him. He said he was looking for Patrick, along with his two friends Will and Jen. Unless I've been calling guys by a girls name, you must be Will." You nod and she remains silent. "Oh, sorry it's my first time talking to a blind person. I'm used to nodding being enough. Yes I'm Will." The girl reaches over, first grabbing your shoulder, then moving down and looping her arm around yours, saying "We can talk more about Patrick on the way back. You don't mind helping me walk back home do you?" You look back at the gravestones as the two of you walk away, and say, "I guess not." She smiles and the two of you start off down the dirt road. As you walk away from the tree she asks, "My name's Elissa by the way. So what has Patrick been up to these past few weeks?"

After a long walk you find yourself standing outside a large stone house. Elissa opens up the gate and says, "This is Patrick's place. Are there any lights on?" You look up at the building and say, "Yeah." Elissa walks up to the front door and knocks. You walk across the "front yard", which is basically an empty wooden lot, and Jen opens the door. You give her a look asking if she found Patrick, and she looks away sadly as she steps out of the doorway to let the two of you in. Elissa raises an eyebrow and says, "I'm guessing you're Jen." Jen looks at Elissa in surprise and says, "Uh, yeah. Do I know you?" Elissa shakes her head and you say, "How did you know it was her? She didn't even say anything." Elissa takes off her jacket and puts it on a hook on the wall, saying, "Patrick never opens the door that fast. He opens it a small bit, then pops his head out." Jen looks at you and says, "Who is this chick?" Elissa sticks out her hand and says, "My name's Elissa Winters. Old friend of Patrick. Have you seen him?" Jen bites her lip and says, "Yeah... I saw him. Let's go in the living room." Elissa sighs and the three of you walk into the next room, where Shaulner is sitting and poking the flames going in the fireplace with his claws. The three of you sit down on the couch, and Jen says, "Will, Patrick's gone." You look at her and say, "What do you mean gone?" She clenches her fists and says, "What do you think I mean by gone!? He's GONE. He left on a ship, I tried to stop him, but he said he's done. He said no matter what any of us said or did, because now that he found out his parents are dead, he lost his apprenticeship, and the only thing he has left is this house he couldn't stay anywhere near here. He said he's going to get as far away from here as possible, and that he was going alone." You watch Shaulner sadly continue to poke the fire, and Elissa sits there silently. Jen breaks down in tears and as Shaulner stands up and leaves the room she whispers, "And that's not all he said either. Shaulner came looking for me at the docks and found me fighting with Patrick. He screamed at us to leave him alone and go chase our pipe dreams of being adventurers. Then... he punched Shaulner saying it was all his fault his life was ruined." You feel like you've been kicked in the head. You grit your teeth and say, "This whole thing has gone downhill fast... This is all too much." You bury your head in your arms and scream in anger. You pull your head out of your arms and look at the fire, Jen and Elissa try to keep it together, and Jen says, "So, now what do we do?" You look at her, pulling off your gloves and dragging your palms over your face. "Well... we'll head back West. Finish our mission I guess, forget all about Patrick," You say, pulling your sheath off your belt and setting it on the floor. Jen blinks a few times and says, "Just like that?" You nod grimly and say, "Not much we can do. Besides, even if Patrick came back, I don't know if I'd be able to forgive him for his behavior." Elissa wipes her eyes and says, "So what, you guys are just gonna leave?" You sigh and say, "Yeah. Probably stay here for the night, then head out tomorrow. Why?" She pulls her feet up onto the couch and sits there cross legged. She sighs and says, "Well... I was hoping to accompany you guys... maybe? I don't know... There's nothing here for me now that Patrick and his family are gone. I was hoping he would stay and we could hang out like old times... But now that he left that's all changed." You look at Jen, who's looking at Elissa with a mix of confusion and sadness. You look at Elissa and say, "You... do know we're adventurers right? We get in lots of fights, I wouldn't want you getting hurt because of your... condition." Elissa frowns, and says, "Hey, you don't know anything about me. I can fight fine on my own." Jen raises an eyebrow, you notice her face still flushed from crying, and says, "With what? Do you have some sort of secret weapon that lets you see or something?" Elissa shakes her head, and says, "No... but my parents taught me some healing magic back when I was a kid... I can help with that? Patrick's parents also taught me a bit of fencing. Patrick's dad, a former guard for a king, taught me how to sense the incoming blows I guess. Please, I don't want to have to stay here by myself." You look at Elissa's pitiful expression and Jen says, "Well... I don't see why not. White magic will come in handy, and as long as you can defend yourself that's fine I guess." Elissa smiles and gives Jen a big hug, whispering "Thank you". Elissa stands up and says, "I'm gonna go sleep upstairs I guess. There might not be enough rooms for everyone-" as she finishes this sentence you say, "I got it. I'll sleep here on the couch. Elissa smiles and says, "Ah, you really are a gentleman." Jen lets out a quiet laugh and follows Elissa upstairs, leaving you sitting on the couch. You fall onto your side and look at the fire, until you finally get to sleep.

The next morning you're the first one up, and you're ready to leave town, but when you go up to wake Jen and the others, she yells to let her sleep, which causes Elissa to shout to let Jen sleep so she could sleep, which made Shaulner let out a snore-roar, so you decide to let them sleep. You zip up your jacket as you step outside and feel a cold wind flow past you. You walk down along the main street and make your way to the main entrance to town, and find the old man sitting there, still fishing. The man smiles and says, "Back already? How'd your search go yesterday?" You shake your head and he says, "Ah, sorry to hear that. So why have you come to visit this old goat again?" You smile and say, "You know any places around town for me to pass a few hours?" He nods and says, "Well, there's always the taverns, you can hang out there. Or, you can visit the arena, watch some people fight. Wouldn't recommend joining though if you're leaving, and if you're looking for a quick way to make some cash you could check out the Job Center. People post up small jobs they need done around town. Hope that helps a bit." You nod and say, "Yeah that does help." Where do you wanna go?

[A] Visit a tavern
Watch some fights at the arena
[C] Go do some odd jobs around town

Sorry for shortness of this post, has hoping for more, but time ran out for me. I'm real tired tonight, expect a bigger post on Saturday/Sunday. I'll put up some info on the new char tomorrow. Gonna be another member joining up soon too, so yeah. Night I guess.

Dylan · Post by **Dylan** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:22 am

I C a possible reference perhaps?

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 2:26 pm

. Let's see you write some more violence!

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 2:45 pm

[C], sorry i havn't been posting in this thread for a bit... i kinda forgot and then i had three long posts to read.... but i got trough it! yay! so i always vote for "Help the only crazy lady in town" one (and this could easily be just that).

ToastyJester · Post by **ToastyJester** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:52 pm

Sorry for really long break, been extremely tired recently, not had enough time to update, and I decided I'm changing the update schedule from S,T,T,S to S,W,S, that was I don't have to worry about updating on nights with band tiring me out. The winning vote is [C] Go do some odd jobs around town.

"Where's this Job Center building?" You ask, as the man reels up a small fish. The man points over his shoulder and says, "Just follow the signs kid. You'll find it in no time." You nod and walk down the street, stopping at a cross roads with a post in the center. You walk around the post, looking at the signs on there, and find a large one on one side that says, "Looking for a job to do? Want to help the community for a decent wage? Come down to the Job Center, we'll find something for you!" Underneath the print, a map shows a red path along the road on how to get to the center. You drag your finger along the map, memorizing the turns, and then walk off along the side of the road. After a few minutes of strolling through the city, you come across a large building with a large sign on the front, resembling a hammer hitting a nail. Underneath the image it says the words "Job Center". You start to go through the door when they burst open and a pair of teens walk through with big grins and looking at a bag the one on the right is holding. You recover your composition after almost having a heart attack, and one of them looks away from the bag and says, "Ah sorry! Did we hurt you?" You shake your head no and the boy with the bag holds it up saying, "Sorry we just finished up a big job, and got extra payment. This is the most money we've seen in a while!" You look at the two kids, probably brother and sister by their matching brown hair and similar facial features, and come to the conclusion the girl can't be older than 13, while the boy is probably only a year older. "Please tell me the people here gave something ridiculously dangerous to a pair of kids." The girl crosses her arms, insulted, and the boy continues smiling a broad grin, saying "No, nothing too dangerous. Stuff like hunting down monsters and going into the swamp is left for experienced people and adults. We do small jobs like helping fix broken beams, deliver goods, that kind of stuff. But I wish we could do the harder jobs. I've seen some jobs on there that pay at least five times what we make in a week..." You look at the bag and try to estimate how much is in there, and say, "I'm only gonna be able to do one or two jobs, and I don't really need the money. How bout I do one and give you guys the rewards?" The kids stare at you like your crazy, and the boy says, "You're kidding right? Why would anyone give away all that money after doing all that work?" You raise an eyebrow and say, "Why do you think? I'm a hero!" You smile and continue with, "Now, you two go and hang out in the nearby area, I'm gonna go do a job, then come back and have the money." The siblings laugh with joy and run off, and you quickly walk inside the job center. Inside, it's like a tavern, lots of wooden tables around the room, people sitting around at tables, and from what you can tell they're negotiating prices. You walk across the room and find a man standing behind a desk. "Looking for a job?" He says, looking you up and down, like he's analyzing you to find even the smallest flaw that could bring you down. You nod and he says, "You look pretty tough. Got a nice sword on you, some enchanted gloves... probably been adventuring around for a bit. I'll get some of the more dangerous jobs. You fill out this form here while I get a list together. The paper will go over how neither we at the Job Center, or the person who put up the job is responsible for any injuries or death on these jobs." You shrug and sign all the areas on the paper, reading through it carefully, then the man tosses you a few folders. You scan through them, finding most to be simple hunting down a select monster, and one catches your eye. "I'll take this one," you say, slapping the folder down in front of the man. The man smiles as he picks up the folder, and says, "So he finally talks! Alright let's see... finding a rare herb to make some medicine ey? Pays pretty well too. Alright, here's the pic from the folder, you'll need that. Once you get back we'll sort out the money, usual middleman fee for us, you get the rest. Alright then. Head on out, you've got a job to do." He hands you the picture of the violet plant, and also a mask. The man sees you looking at the mask in confusion and he says, "Ah yeah, there are some poisonous fumes out there in the swamp. Don't wanna inhale them. Just place this over your mouth and you should be good. Just don't go sticking your face under the water near the areas where the gasses are emitting." You take the mask and place it over your mouth and the guy gives you a thumbs up. You take in a breath and shrug, having only feel a slight restriction in the speed the air comes in. You turn and walk outside, and the kids are standing there eating small powdery cakes. The girl stops eating her cake, wiping her mouth before speaking, and says, "You're going into the swamp? Don't do anything stupid okay? I wouldn't want to feel responsible for someone dying cause they slipped and fell into a Sucker." The brother nods and you speak, your words coming out muffled under the mask, "No problem. I've been through a lot, no way I'm gonna let some plant do me in." You walk off along the road, and soon you pass the old man, and take a deep calming breath as you wade into the muck of the swamp.

After sloshing around in the muddy waters, and avoiding some of the more harmful looking animals, you find yourself looking at a small island in the middle of the swamp, that is a green oasis from the brown/gray of the surrounding areas. You walk onto the island, dragging mud with you, and when you sit down to take a break you pull up your pants leg. You peel off the leeches that made their way into your clothes and sigh. You look out in the swamp and see a large scaly fin slipping through the water, which soon submerges. You stand up and look at the center of the island, and a huge grin goes across your face under the mask. Dead in the center is a patch of the herb, a violet patch standing out against the green grass. You walk up and pluck out a few stems of the plant, root and all, and keep it in your hand, prepared to not let it get wet. You tuck your pants into your shoes, and walk back to the edge of the island, stepping into the water.

On the way back you manage to fight off a large serpent that wrapped itself around your leg, as well as barely avoid falling into a Sucker, being saved by a nearby creature that passed in front of you, causing you to jump back as it got sucked into the beast below. You took a look inside as the sucker opened up and observed the numerous spines inside and the black pit in the center that was sucking in the water like a whirlpool. When you finally reach the main road you pull out of the mud and check your legs for leeches again, peeling which ever ones you find. When you walk up the ramp to the platform the old man says, "I take it you encountered leeches?" You grumble and continue on as the man laughs. After another few minutes of walking you walk through the doors of the Job Center and drag yourself across the floor. A woman follows you as you walk across the floor and cleans up the muddy steps you leave behind, and when you reach the desk you slam the plant down, saying, "Done." The man looks up from a newspaper and says, "Huh, only a few hours. I would've thought it'd of taken another few hours. Well, the woman who wanted this payed up front, four thousand gold. She was pretty desperate to get this herb, so let's see... taking out our fee... you get three and half grand. Enjoy it kid." The man gives you a wink, that looks odd due to a scar across his face that hits his eye, and you pick up the sack of money he slams onto the desk. You struggle as you sling it over your shoulder, and the man laughs. "Get used to it. We've got stations all over the continent, anytime you need money you just go up and say your name and I'll get some extra cash due to... recruiting you. What is your name by the way?" You turn around while walking away and say, "William Bradshaw. Glad I could be of help." The man picks up the herb and you see him head into the back as you leave. When you step outside you don't see the kids anywhere, so you walk to the surrounding stores and peek inside the windows. You finally find them watching a blacksmith smashing a hammer on a red piece of metal, when you walk up to them they turn around and run up in anticipation. You sling the bag into the brother's arms, and he struggles to hold it up with both arms, saying, "How much did you get?" You stretch out your back and shake your arm to get your feeling back, and say, "Three and a half grand. That good for you?" The girl drops her jaw and the boy says, "That's amazing! We only make about seven hundred a week! Oh we won't have to help make money for the family for weeks!" The three of you laugh and the girl says, "Thank you so much! We have to repay you somehow!" You shake your head and say, "No you don't. I had a few hours to spare I'm glad I got to spend it helping out some kids. So I'm assuming your family has been having money issues?" The boy nods and says, "Yeah our dad went on another trip. Once he gets back in a few months we'll be set for a while, but until then we've all got to do our part. Our mom is currently a bit sick, so we've had to work even harder than usual. But with this I can get some new books, and Chel can get herself some art supplies, and we'll still be able to buy food and stuff for a week or two." You smile and say, "That's nice. Be sure to rest up during those weeks. So you like art?" You turn to the girl at the last part and she nods saying, "I like to paint, draw. That stuff." You rest your arm on your handle and say, "Well tell you what. When I become a huge famous hero, you can repay me for this by being the one to paint my portrait." You laugh and she nods, then the boy says, "Alright we'd better get going. Come on Chel. Thank you, uh." "William!" someone shouts angrily. You turn your head and see Jen sitting on the cart with your team, she's got her hand pointed out at you and you give a small embarrassed wave. "Yeah. I'm over here. Since you people took so long to get up, I decided I'd go and do a few small jobs." You say, as the group approaches the front of the open walled shop. The blacksmith continues to hammer, unfazed by the amount of people crowding near his shop. "Oh yeah how much did you make?" She says, stepping inside followed by Shaulner. Elissa outside, but she keeps her ears facing in to listen to the conversation. You look at the kids then back at her and say, "Well I made 3.5 grand, but I gave it to these kids. They need it more than us. They have to work a bunch to help make money for the family." Shaulner walks up to the two teens and looks up at them, saying "Hi." and giving a big grin up at them. The boy looks a bit freaked out by the demon child, and the girl shares the same reaction, only she pokes at Shaulner's horns to see if they're real. Jen scratches an itch on her face and looks at the kids, the boy holding onto the bag of money tightly with both arms, and you see her expression go from excited to sad, and she says, "Oh... That was really nice of you." The two kids nod and the boy says, "Alright thanks for all the help. I guess we'll see you when your famous William. Seriously, thank you so much." Him and his sister walk off, Shaulner giving a big wave good bye, then Jen says, "Well I guess we should go." You nod and follow Jen outside, and Shaulner takes Elissa's hand to guide her along the streets. Jen takes the lead of getting out of the town and you walk alongside her, Elissa and Shaulner a few feet behind. Elissa and Shaulner get close behind the two of you and Elissa sticks her head in between the gap, saying "So Will are you just nice to everyone? I just assumed you were nice to me and Jen cause we were two very attractive girls. Well, I can only assume we're attractive. Can't really see." Jen laughs a small laugh and you say, "Yes you are both very attractive and I'm lucky I get to travel with the two of you and make all the other men of the continent jealous to the point of wanting to murder me, but I'm not nice because of that. I just don't see any reason to not be nice. What's the harm in wanting to help people?" Elissa laughs and says, "You're up to something... I can tell. I'm magic." You smile and when you reach the edge of the platform you look out over the swamp, eager to leave and head off to Silver Oasis.

After another long walk along the wooden platforms, being very careful to help Elissa not fall, you finally are back on the cart. After traveling for a day you switch places with Elissa and lie down in the back to get some sleep. Shaulner sits in the corner, snoring loudly, and it takes a little while for you to finally sleep.

In your dream you're standing in the forest where you and Patrick fought the plant creature, in the hollowed out tree trunk. A small tree has started growing out of a crack in the center, and there is a small group of figures in black robes standing around it. One of them speaks, with a voice that sounds deep, but dry, saying "This is unfortunate, we won't be able to corrupt this tree by the time the new guardian of the forest is created. You say a child named William Bradshaw did this?" You look at another figure, who's dragging her hand on the tree, as she says, "That's what Izzael said before he was terminated. He could prove a threat to our plans." Another person speaks, and you are unable to tell who it is speaking, as all the others are perfectly still. "He's just lucky I'm sure. He's barely a threat to anything, I'm sure he'll get into a situation he can't handle and that will be the end of him." "I heard he took out our beast in Stayville. He's being trained by Onyx." The woman touching the tree tilts her hood a bit and says, "Wait. Something's not right here." She turns to face where you're standing and all the others do the same. "Hmm. This gets more and more interesting." She says, and snaps her fingers. There's a sharp pain in your stomach and you wake up with a jolt.

The first thing you feel is the pain in your stomach, which followed you from your dream. The second is the throbbing headache you have from smashing your head onto Elissa's who was lying asleep nearby. She sits up rubbing her head and says, "What do you think you're doing Will? Trying to give me a concussion? You full on smashed your head into mine!" You sit up, gripping your stomach and say, "Sorry... had a really really bad dream." You hear Jen let out a yawn and she says, "Oh good. Will your awake. I need you to-" She lets out another huge yawn and then continues with, "Control of the cart. M' really tired you know?" You nod, rubbing your head and join Shaulner up front as Jen hands you the reins. Shaulner is sitting and looking up at the stars, and as you sit down you get a foreboding feeling about your dream.

"Will wake up!" You wake up as Shaulner pokes your chest, and squint at the sunlight. "Hmm what now?" You say, rubbing your eyes. He points up to the front and says, "Jen wants you." You crawl up to the front and drop your head over the edge of the cart, saying, "Eh?" Jen turns her head and says, "Oh good your awake." You cut her off and say, "Not like I had much of a choice." She continues where she left off saying, "There's a town coming up, I wanted to know if you wanted to stop for the night or just keep going." Elissa seems to be lost in thought, twirling a pencil in her hand, and you sigh, looking at the small town on the horizon. "Name? Information? Anything?" You ask, finally hopping up in the front seat. Jen shakes her head and says, "Nope. Not on the map. Must've been established in the last... twenty years according to this map." You look at the town and see no farming fields or mines around the area. Most towns have some form of production for trade, and this doesn't seem to play right with you. You also don't see much movement or smoke from any chimneys. What do you want to do?

[A] Stop in town for the day/night
Go through the town
[C] Go around the town completely, play it safe

Bleh no pic today, didn't get enough time in school. I'll upload two drawings on Friday to make up I guess. Whatever. Gonna finish my dinner and then get some sleep. You know the drill. Send me info on any typos/misspellings/general errors. I'm tired.

Jimmy Jazz · Post by **Jimmy Jazz** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:55 am

[C] i think Will has gotten into enough trouble by now.

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