Night Watch With Friends

[Deleted]

The adventurers had been marching now for three days. They had come a great distance since their departure, but they were very weary and tired. The third day had not treated them kindly either. On that day, it had rained from early morning to mid afternoon. The adventurers had cloaks to keep them dry, but the water retardant clothing did little or nothing to prevent the perpetual drumming of the rain on their hoods. Fortunately, once the rain stopped, the land around them began to dry rather quickly. Soon after the rain had ended, the party of adventures learned that they had passed what was left of derby not too long ago, though the city was not rather beaten and destroyed by the mobs of the land. They marched for another two hours and then established a new campsite and Klide offered to serve as a sentry during the night, as he was not nearly as tired as some of the others. He had slept quite well the night before, despite the commotion caused by the sentries when a foe had appeared and caused some trouble. Now it was his turn to be tired.

Klide was joined by Dumah as a guardian of the encampment, so at least tonight would be one spent with friends. He had asked Dumah to join him outside of the encampment before the sun fell beneath the horizon. The others had yet to establish who would stay up alongside Dumah and Klide, but he was not to concerned about that. He had quickly set up the large tall tent which served as a conference room of sorts. It was taller than the other tents, and large enough to fit a table in if they had one. The leaders would use it for small planning measures when needed, and the Night guard used it as a central hub of sorts while the others slept. After he had set up the tent, Klide went to the appointed spot and stared out over the great mountain valley below. There were several crag cows and wind boar, as well as a few elk, all grazing in the thick grass of the field. The grass itself still shimmered golden in the setting sun's light. Soon the sun would melt into the horizon, and the adventurers would have to rely on the moon and their fires to cut through the dark tendrils of the night. Dumah soon came through the vegetation that separated them from the camp and joined Klide on the side of the hill.

"Hello Dumah. How are you feeling? Not to tired I hope? We have covered quite some distance over these past three days." He then turned to face the sun and stared out over the shining field. Still looking out toward the setting sun, he again spoke. "You did not get to see it last night did you? The setting sun? You were busy with some of the others with that quick fight right? I am sorry if you had other plans for today, I just thought you might enjoy this sight among all the trials and tribulations of constant travel. It is good to enjoy a moment one peace and beauty while we still can. I have feeling that we got lucky today with how little fighting we had to do. Yesterday was much harder, and I think the rest of the trip will be more like that." Klide sighed and looked back at his fellow swashbuckler. "Thank you for coming on this trip Dumah, it must have been hard to leave Alette, knowing you would be gone for a rather long time. I can't help but worry for her. I know she is your daughter, but I want her to be safe too. She can handle herself for now though, I'm sure." Klide listened to all that the Courtesan responded with and made sure to follow every word. As Dumah finished, the sun dipped over the horizon and Klide spoke up. "We better get back to camp, the others will be expecting us to do our duties and keep them not dead." He stood and waited for his companion before heading back into camp.



Word Count: 700
Tags: @dumah , Bailin , Keyala , @1moreperson (please PM me before joining)

[Deleted]

The sky was red as dusk approached; the setting of the sun was always a beautiful site to behold, yet it is too often overlooked and ignored. Klide had asked Dumah to join him outside of the expedition's encampment this night before beginning their patrols together, keep watch over the area to make sure nothing bad happened to the expedition. Dumah had been volunteering himself as a member of the patrols for quite a few nights lately; being surrounded by so many Adventurers whose levels were higher than his own, he felt motivated. He did not wish to hold anyone back, and most would agree that he has done well so far as to not hinder anyone. He walked to the outskirt of the encampment and found his dear friend Klide. "Hello Dumah. How are you feeling? Not too tired I hope?"

Dumah, peculiarly enough, had a rather relaxed composure. This was a rare sight to behold, and was clearly a result of his lack of sleep in the past couple of nights. His right hand was in the pocket of his custom made weatherproof hoodie, and his left hand was holding the scabbard of a sheathed sword near the top, in the way one would hold the scabbard of an un-drawn katana. While Dumah almost always had a somewhat serious expression, with his eyes a bit closed, they seemed a bit more so. Nevertheless, he did not seem to be so tired that it would ruin his abilities should they find themselves in battle. Despite his relatively weak posture, he maintained his typical appearance of honor and pride. His hair was smooth as always, and he did not let it simply flow down freely, taking the time to put it in his usual ponytail. Had one not known better, Dumah could easily be mistaken from behind for a Samurai, a woman, or even both. He smiled a bit and began to speak. "Hello, Klide. Do not worry about me, I am just fine. I got a bit of rest in earlier in the day, so I am doing well."

Klide smiled at his friend. This was something that always made Dumah feel happy: the fact that he could bring a smile to a person's face. He had done so for many since coming to this world - and even many before coming to this world - and each smile made Dumah share in their joy. "We have covered quite some distance over these past three days." Klide then turned from looking at Dumah to gaze in the direction of the sun, staring out over the shining field. The sun was setting behind the trees of the sparse forest, and both waited until the sun had slipped behind the log horizon. ((Yes, I just did that.))

Dumah seemed a bit perplexed, but kept his stoic face. "Has it truly been three days since we took off? Strange, I could have been positive that it had only been but two nights..." This was clearly a symptom of Dumah's recent sleep deprivation.

"You did not get to see it last night, did you? The setting sun?"

Dumah sat down on a tree stump, his right leg crossed with his foot resting on top of his left thigh. He rested the scabbard of his sword upright in the gap between his legs, almost as if he were leaning upon it. "No, I am afraid I did not have the chance to truly sit down and witness it like this, unfortunately."

"You were busy with some of the others with that quick fight, right?"

"Yes, though in a sense I did get to see the sun setting, it was just in the corner of my eye; I did not get to truly behold it in a calm manner."

"I am sorry if you had other plans for today, I just thought you might enjoy this sight among all the trials and tribulations of constant travel. It is good to enjoy a moment of peace and beauty while we still can."

Dumah nodded sagely in agreement. "Yes, I could not agree more. While it is important to do all we can for all that we want, it is just as important to take the time to witness all that is on the path."

"I have the feeling that we got lucky today with how little fighting we had to do. Yesterday was much harder, and I think the rest of the trip will be more like that."

Dumah smiled rather handsomely, yet softly as well, as he recalled his life before this one, particularly his time spent learning the way of the sword. "My master always said: 'Do not judge the cold, without first knowing the warmth of the sun.' Without calming days such as this, we have no right to complain about the hardships that shall meet us along this path. Are these encounters with monsters and other animals out here truly so bad? They supply us with hides, meat, and while I would never condone unnecessary violence, they supply us with some morbid entertainment as well. I feel as though some of our best days are those where we have had encounters with some opposition. After all, what enjoyment is there in life without even the least bit of hardship?"

Klide sighed and looked back at Dumah. "Thank you for coming on this trip, Dumah. It must have been hard to leave Alette, knowing you would be gone for a rather long time. I can't help but worry for her. I know she is your daughter, but I want her to be safe too. She can handle herself for now though, I'm sure."

Dumah smiled a bit fondly, thinking of his daughter. "Yes, while I do miss her, it is only natural. All parents miss their children the instant they are separated from them. She is a strong girl, and smart too. She will be all right, I am sure of it." As Dumah finished speaking, it had grown quite dark out and Klide spoke up.

"We better get back to camp, the others will be expecting us to do our duties and keep them not dead." Klide stood and waited for his fellow Swashbuckler before heading back into camp.

Dumah stood, using his sword to help push himself up off of the stump. "Yes, I think they would be quite upset if they all died in the middle of their sleep and awoke back in Londinium." Dumah walked beside Klide as they both walked back into the camp.

- 1094 Words -
- Total: 1094 -
I feel so pumped having made a post worth over 1000 words! I should hold conversations more often!

Tags: @blazeedge Bailin Keyala @1moreluckydevil

[Bailin]

[nospaces]

HP: 100% MP: 100% RH: Saurum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) LH: Sarum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) QS: Golden Hilt (lvl 21) AR: Flak Jacket (lvl 21)

WC: 261 TWC: 261 Tags @blazeedge @dumah Keyala Theme Song TS Credits Cortana

The sun had set when Klide and Dumah arrived at the camp once again, after they had set out at a rather… scenic time to patrol around the camp. The three men had opted to take the watch and keep their friends safe during the night, a task that would normally be easy enough, though in this terra incognita, it was wiser to keep a solid guard up, and they hadn’t even reached Scotland yet. Though this was a good time to get the routine into everyone’s mind for when they eventually would reach Scotland, or whatever alternative this world had for it. [break][break] “Any news?” the Warden asked of the two men as they met each other again. “Whom is our lucky fourth?” the warden continued, looking up quickly to confirm it were indeed Dumah and Klide who had re-joined the camp from their patrol. Bailn sat next to the camp fire, keeping an eye out over those who were sleeping, gently pulling back and forth the bolt of his riffle, reloading it and unloading it, as if he were training himself to be faster with both actions, though in secret he was keeping himself a tad occupied. Klide and Dumah had chosen to set out and patrol around the camp, their fourth watchman was unknown for the Warden, for some reason, but probably because he simply forgot to listen or pay attention. Rising to his feet the warden walked towards Dumah and Klide, so they could whisper their findings rather than have to shout through the camp, waking everyone up. [break][break]

[Franny Stein]

”Whom is our lucky fourth?”

“That’s my cue.”

Franny had been watching the watchers from the tent as she had not been entirely sure where to meet up. Slightly peeved at being only half right on the rendezvous, she meditated on what a wasted opportunity it had been to sit in the chair with such a cooly confident pose. Since she had more or less little idea what she was doing, so she had wanted to exude confidence for the sake of the operation. Overall it had been a long fifteen minutes...

“These things run on the trust of one another’s competency…”

“Well I don’t feel so lucky, but I’ve got no complaints so long as I’m not unlucky, yeah?”

Franny exited the tent using her staff to part the flaps. Her gaze wandered first to the patch and bolt action rifle now in much plainer view. “Quite the unmodern beauty….the gun I mean.” She hadn’t been aware of the existence of firearms in this land until that very moment. The others she more or less recognized: Kilde, the one she had made her introductions to when they had started this maiden journey, and Dumah, the one whose requested strategy on her summons was now likely to be put into practice under the cover of this thankless night.

The tiny necromancer held her hand up in a lazy salute.

“Franny here. Decoys, manual labor, spooky lanterns…

Franny ventured a glance at Dumah as if to decide something before continuing on without missing a beat,

“…and an apparent competitive compliment to the team’s feminine charms.”

As her salute fell, she crossed her arms at ready letting her staff rest against her elbow. She swung out her left hip at an angle. Shifting her weight, she held her right hand in a pose for an invisible platter:

“You name it, I’ve probably got it; leave the support to me.”

NOTES- Intro.


WORDS- 311


TAGS- @blazeedge @dumah  Bailin

[Keyala]

"Feminine charm? That's why I'm here."  a voice says from nearby, as the red tailed fox girl emerges from the nearby woods, giving a small yawn, her four tails wagging about idly in the air behind her, her shino priestess robes still managing to remain a pristine white color despite her journey through the woods "Or is that not why you kept me around Klide? I always figured it was because you needed someone more feminine, or someone more rash and impulsive to counter Bailin and his grumpiness." she teases, sticking out her tongue and turning towards the Warden, as her hands reach into her bag, aiming to pull out a book of some sort, bound in leather. She yawns, as she begins to write in the book with her finger casually, as if there is nothing odd about that. She continues talking as she writes "But you guys brought the other summoner out here? Am I not enough of a summoner for you? I thought we had something special...I mean granted, I'm more of a smash everything support and a scout than labour...I mean, why the hell should I have to lift things, and why should I expend my mana lifting things when we have three strapping young men right here!"  she says, closing the book and pacing up towards Bailin, trying to pat him proudly on the back, a mischievous smile on her face that only adds to her fox-like appearance "I wanna find some villages up here, after all, we need to get this adventure started! I didn't get my scribe skill up for nothing! I mean, I made so much stuff! I need to start on my mass produced grimiores but that's for when we get back..."  she says, clearly distracted very easily tonight as she looks around, tilting her head slightly towards the woods "Who woulda thought Scotland would start out so boring? I mean, there's not monster guarding the walls? Why haven't villagers just wandered up here already and interacted and built roads? I mean....the Landers can't be that terrified of everything, right? There have to be some bold Landers who wanted to set out up here...or maybe that's just wishful thinking..."  she says, giving another loud sigh and laying down on the ground, curling her tails around herself, laying in a place where everyone can see her, so she can draw the most attention to her dramatic movements


Word Count: 405
Tags: @blazeedge Bailin @dumah Franny Stein

[Deleted]

Klide and Dumah talked in the setting sun until the sky began to darken. There was still some crimson in the sky as they returned to the camp together, and met up with the first of three other members who would be joining them in the night watch. "Hello Bailin, good to see you decided to join us for the night watch." Thus far, these three men had opted to take the role of the night watch guard and make sure to keep their company safe from harm from dusk to dawn. This unknown land would give there usually menial task some extra difficulty and a far greater risk, so there would be no time for slacking off, but that is not to say that fun was not allowed. Klide intended to enjoy himself tonight, but his main focus was just to not get distracted for the surroundings. "No news yet, but I thing the fourth is on her way" Klide said as he indicated to the girl approaching the three men.

Klide and Dumah stood by Bailin as he sat at one of the camp fires. Unfortunately, the terrain was not as even as Klide would have liked, and there were a few trees in the way, so the camp was three circles of tents all with fires in the middle. The camps were basically all back to back, but they could not make one large circle like usual. They could have made one large circle if they had set up in the valley below, but the group had decided on the clearing they were in because there was a dip in the land around them so they were close to the highest point on the hill and the tree line around seemed advantageous, as they had set up far enough away from it that, in theory, they should be able to see anything that tried to reach the camp before it was halfway there. Bailin rose from his seating and joined the other two men standing by the fire. At this point, the fourth member came close enough to begin to speak. "Good evening Franny. You seem to have all of this very well planned out, good for you!" Klide said with a smile. "I am glad to know we have a well prepared support watching our backs." 

Klide shot out of his kind smile when he heard a movement in the brush not far from him. His hand had shot to his hilt instinctual and he was very ready to draw his blade when he heard a fifth voice chiming in. "Feminine charm? That's why I'm here." a familiar female voice says from a short distance off. His hand slid from his hilt and he began to breath again as a familiar red tailed fox girl crashed out off the nearby foliage. She gave a yawn as her four tails wagged about behind her. "Or is that not why you kept me around Klide? I always figured it was because you needed someone more feminine, or someone more rash and impulsive to counter Bailin and his grumpiness." Keyala said, teasing the stern figure at Klide's left side, and sticking her tongue out at him. Her hands disappeared in her bag, and when they reemerged, they were joined by a leather bound book.

Once again she yawned, and Klide began to wonder if she was really up to the task of staying up all night for the watch. She wrote casually in the leather bound book as she asked why they had the other summoner with them in a manner that reminded Klide of a typical tsundere. Though somehow she managed to twist the seemingly jealous comment into a tangent about how she was not much for labor, and even adding a complement for the three men. She joined the group at Bailin's side and patted him on the back. She want on a little rant and Klide listened before sharing his thoughts. "Well technically, we are not in Scotland yet, so we can not say Scotland is boring, but must I remind you that yesterday was a rather hard fought day? We were fortunate that today was so much more peaceful, despite the morning rain fall. Why would monsters organize to guard any wall? What wall are you referring to anyway, there have been no walls since Stratford, and I doubt there will be a wall between Scotland and England. The villagers have no reason to come up here. From our own encounters living side by side with them, we know that they are more passive and docile than us. The appeal of adventure is lost on most of them, which is fine. They are practical about their approach, and if there were to be '...some bold Landers' then they would be some dead Landers. They might survive for a bit on their own, since they have as much strength and life as we did back in our old world, but they seem to live more cautiously, and they do not seem to ever have conflict between each other. Perhaps I should research Lander history when we get back home, it seems like an important thing to know about, but for now, unless someone knows better, I will assume that they have rarely, if ever, warred with each other."

Klide finished his response and Keyala then signed loudly and layed down on the thick grass, curling all four of her tails around her as she did so. "Keyala, are you sure you can do this tonight? We can find a replacement if we need to, most of the others are not asleep yet since there is still faint light from the sun reflecting off clouds and from the fires. Some of them are resting, but as you can see..." He indicated to the other two fire pits. "...There are still a few who wish to enjoy each others company. It is just that... Well you have been yawning since you got here, and not your lying down in the grass, so as I said, if you need rest, Go to your tent, I am sure someone else will be willing to stay up with us." He was not trying to be rude with what he said, he just wanted everyone to be rested and if they were tired on the job, they were not only endangering themselves, but also the other members on this voyage.

Klide then changed the topic to his game plan for the night. "So... We are on higher ground and have a slightly larger circle to cover than usual, thanks to the three circles of tents rather than just the usual one. I suggest that we have two people pair up and walk the perimeter of the camp and then return to the central hub tent..." He pointed to the center of the three circles, in the middle of the three ring encampment sat a taller tent. "...And trade off with two others. It should take at most five minutes to walk fully around the perimeter if you take it slow and keep your eyes moving along the outside edge at the tree line. If we switch of with pairs then the three in the center can have any refreshment they need through out the night, we can still have calm conversation, and if anything happens, the center gives us the best response time to any side of the tent since we will be equidistant from the edge of camp. If something attacks, I do not care if it is something as small and weak as a level 1 slime, It gets reported to me if I am not in the patrol, or else I will report it to the central tent. I am not trying to be a major leader or anything, I just want everyone to be informed so that we know how much is attacking, and when it is attacking. We can then have a total of enemies, of injuries, and of threats. This can perhaps record the threat level of any particular point. If we meet any Landers near by we can inform them of either the threat or safety, which could be helpful to their expansion. It can also be useful for any future adventures up north, as we will know were to avoid, and where we are safe. This seems like the most effective system to me, but I would like to hear your thoughts?" Klide finished and sat down by the fire, staring deeply into it with his elbows resting on his knees and his intertwined hands supporting his chin.

Word Count: 1444
Total Word Count: 700+1444=2144
Tags: @dumah, Bailin , Franny Stein , Keyala

[Bailin]

[nospaces]

HP: 100% MP: 100% RH: Saurum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) LH: Sarum Progressive Riffle (lvl 20) QS: Golden Hilt (lvl 21) AR: Flak Jacket (lvl 21)

WC: 357 TWC: 618 Tags Keyala Franny Stein @dumah @blazeedge Theme Song TS Credits Cortana

Silently the warden listened to what all had to say, not responding at all, merely sliding the bolt of his riffle back and forth. When he was satisfied he opened his menu and summoned his scope. So far he had worked without it and things had turned out fine, however, this was terra incognita, the unknown lands and every advantage they could get would be needed, even if it were just a few metres or a minor increase in accuracy. Gently and deliberately the warden attached it to his rifle. By this time the night watch had gathered and, presumably had spoken through quite a bit. [break][break] Franny had joined them quite soon after he asked who the lucky fourth was, Keyala had arrived shortly after her. From what Bailin had gathered the two ladies were having a competition on who had the most feminine charm, a competition he was glad to not have to judge at. Klide was glad the warden was with them this night. And then the monologues began, Klide starting off. It gave the warden flashbacks on how he had been in the early days of the Miasma realm. How much had changed since then. Klide was ever the gentleman when it came to people’s wellbeing, suggesting that Keyala could be replaced so she could rest up and be fit in the morning. At long last came the tactical evaluation of their position and how they would proceed from there on. What Klide said made sense and silently the warden listened to his friend talk; explaining what the general idea was. [break][break] “Walk in pairs, guard the perimeter, rough eta, estimated time of arrival, five minutes. Get back up if there is trouble you can’t solve with your pair. Be friendly with the locals, ask questions first, and possibly shoot later. Understood.” The warden spoke, cold and efficiently, summarizing what he thought was the general idea of Klide’s instructions. Dumah opted to go first and, standing up patiently waited for someone to join him. Taking his riffle in both hands Bailin joined Dumah and stated a: “Let’s go.”, before walking off to start his patrol. [break][break]

[Franny Stein]

Watching the two backs of the two gentlemen as they departed, Franny breathed a quiet sigh.


“So I’ve gotten up only to sit back down…”



Turning to face the camp just in case some hidden commotion tested their guard, Franny glanced over her back and shoulder over to the two remaining figures, the mappy fox girl and the young man. Remembering that the young man was on radio noise duty, she nodded once to him and called over to the vixen.


“So how have the maps been going? You’ve been near the front of the procession, yeah? See anything interesting?”


Waiting for the girl's probably enthusiastic response, she sat on a rock and stretched by leaning back, her eyes never left her guarded position but certainly she was allowed to be comfortable, yes?


wc-133

notes- Short and sweet, I don't think we need my greater philosophy on sitting, haha.

@dumah Keyala Bailin @blazeedge

[Deleted]

Klide nodded to his two friends as they began to depart for the first round of the night. He and the two companions now sat around the fire and Klide sat at first in silence. His arms still supported his head as he looked at the two ladies at his sides. With a slight sign he began. "Honestly... I did not expect two people to volunteer so quickly. I had expected at least one person to want to sit and discuss the strategy before setting off. The fact that all of you seemed to except it so readily if rather comforting. I take it to mean that my plan was good enough that none of you felt there were flaws worth pointing out. It also means that we have enough cohesion to trust each other in a land where one mistake could mean rippling injury or even death. I am sorry for being so blunt, but that it the situation we are in, and I do not intend to sugar coat anything. After all, the world is not all sunshine and rainbows." Klide looked at the two ladies, only to find that Keyala was now quite clearly asleep, with her head slumped back and her mouth hanging open with a bit of saliva dribbling from the corner of her lips. It seemed that despite her objections, her tiredness had gotten the best of her. It did not bother Klide though, he had expected something like this to happen. And provided that Keyala was ready for combat if something major happened, he would not make any comment on it, though Keyala had seemingly ignored the other girls question. He looked to the other. "Franny was it? I am sorry that we have not spoken more, it seems that these past few days have been a little busier and more tiring than I had expected. If you would please, as one of the organizers of this trip, I would like to get to know my companions as best as possible.  Could you please give me a bit of an idea of how you treat combat, and maybe some of your experiences with it so far?" He looked at her patiently and waited for any response she may give.

Word Count: 376
TWC: 2144+376= 2520
Tags: Bailin , @dumah , Keyala , Franny Stein

[Franny Stein]

Shouldn't you be minding the lines of communication...friend?

Casting her eyes over her shoulder briefly, she darted them back toward their original vigil while considering the question. It took her about ten seconds to begin her answer...

"I'm afraid my answer will probably disappoint you. It's isn't rocket science to me; combat obeys a few simple rules. First, all strategy is at its most basic either choosing to fight or running away. Second, the group with the most guys tends to win. Understanding that, I bring the most guys to the fight and I fight while running away. I leave honor to the romantics. Owen knew it, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."

Franny sighed.

"As for my experiences, it's been as you can imagine, I do whatever the hell it takes to win. I've used decoys, attrition, numbers, terrain, and bad words. Take it from me, if you're ever fighting a fair fight, my friend, you haven't done your homework. Death sucks, that's not some special necromancer knowledge. I'd prefer to avoid it if possible. I've tasted enough of that bitter drink already."

"Et tu?" (and you?)

"Do you hold battle up on some pedastal? Does it smell as sweetly as a rose?"

The tiny necromancer laughed.

[Bailin]

On their patrol Bailin and Dumah stumble upon a rather uninviting cavern, hidden away in the treeline between some bushes.
“Shall we gather the others?” the warden asked of Dumah, looking back and forth from the cavern to Dumah and back.

OC: So here shall end my participation as a player in this thread, unless Dumah chooses to continue the patrol. (Took me a bit longer than I had anticipated)
Once all have responded I shall post the next bit, good luck :D