Xaltwind

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

As the three goblins who charged and lunged at Big Red learned the obvious lesson of why you don't attack something that's eight times your own size, the Steppe Archer made short work of the little git who had aimed to attack her. Big Red's corpseshield protected the lizardman against another volley of three arrows, before a gargled outburst of unintelligible noise errupted from further down the tunnel. Apparently, the archers weren't keen on trying to shoot at him anymore, for the moment.

That being said, the goblin that went for the Druid Girl faired little better than its brethren. Although initially forcing the nature mage to evade a shaky shank-attempt by its rather crude weapon, the girl soon gained the upper hand in the one-on-one, due to the simple fact of her longer arms. The goblin managed to stagger back and avoid a swing form her sickle, but was then too eager to charge ahead - finding himself with a new nose-piercing, as the girl swung her instrument upwards once more.

Shrieking and flailing wildly, with the crescent metal tool still protruding from the top of its elongated, ugly snout, Druid Girl proceeded to pull the sickle sidways, ripping through the little creature's nostril and nose, causing it to hang limply like a goopy, drippy, lumpy sock. Screaming in rage and pain, the goblin could do little else than clutch at its destroyed smelling-organ, before another swing of the sickle came from the side and tore through its throat, causing the little greenskin to topple backwards and gurgle pathetically as it struggled vainly to resist choking to death on its own blood.

The archer's attempt to shoot at the goblin archers further down the tunnel proved fruitless though. The pixie had ffollowed the five charging goblins, not the archers, and so the shot had just taken flight into relative darkness, striking against the stone walls of the cave and breaking harmlessly from the impact. Of course, the shot itself had the effect of putting fear into the little missile-slinging wretches, as they squawked and shouted, before the pitter-patter of their tiny feet could be heard.

.. Except the sound was growing distant and fainter... It seemed they were retreating further into the cavern.

With the immediate ambush dealt with, and their foes lying bloodied and broken at their feet, Druid Girl had her little fairy fly about the area around them, looking behind corners and behind small outcroppings. Just to make sure there was nobody lying in ambush just within their vicinity. When nothing was found however, the little glowing thing returned to its summoner, sitting itself down atop her head like a little, glowing light bulb.

Druid Girl let out an apparently held breath, letting her shoulders soften a bit. She took a breath, then another, and then looked around at her companions.

"Are you two okay? Do you neeed any healing?" She asked, voice a bit frazzled but otherwise fine. She hadn't personally killed something in a rather long time, so the actual deed of having taken a life - even if it was the life of an evil, wicked, filthy and unsavory goblin - was something she'd need to get used to again. After all, she usually let the more battle-focused members of her previous parties deal with the actual death-dealing, while she'd focus on support and post-battle clean-up.

"How many... How many is that now? You two downed five at the entrance, and we got another seven here." She asked and monologued a bit aloud to herself. "Hopefully, there aren't many left. "

She then flicked her sickle to remove some of the blood from it, as well as wiping the rest off on the dirty rags of the gobo she ahd herself had killed. Then, the caramel-skinned, golden-eyed lass turned to Big Red, a frown on her face and her eyebrows lowered. If they hadn't been in a situation whert she needed to keep her weapon ready, she probably would have had her hands on her sides as well.

"Also, you!" She said in a serious tone. "I appreciate you protecting me, but you can't do something like that." She said, pointing with her free hand at the corpse with six arrows now stuck in it. "That one was an adventurer, just like us. He deserves better than to be treated like some makeshift shie- What the what!?! You've got arrows in you!! Are you okay!?" HEr upset and scolding lecture and tone quickly changed to that of genuine concern and worry, as she dropped her sickle and quickly ran over to the lizardman to inspect his shoulder and bicep, grabbing gently onto his arm with her soft slender hands..

"A-Archer! Are you okay? You didn't get hit too, did you?" She asked hirriedly, peering around Big Red's side to look at her lion mane-haired friend.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

"Hyah?!"

That was all of the noise Druid Girl could make, before burly and scaled arms swooped down, grabbed onto her and pulled the girl into a forceful embrace. It wasn't very pleasant, nor comfortable, but then again, neither was getting perforated by arrows. Speaking of, Big Red would soon learn that arrows already launched from bows moved much faster than even his reptilian reflexes, and een though one of the projecticles missed the mark entirely, the other found their way into the lizardman's massive frame. It seemed that despite their supposed weakness, goblins - or at least their archers - had enough power to pierce the hide and scales of a lizard.

Fortunately for the giant warrior, the arrows truck non-lethal areas of his body, with one imbedding itself in his great, big, broad shoulder and the other in his upper arm. As the giant grabbed the corpse of the deceased adventurering priest before himself and his sheilded maiden-in-distress, another volley of three arrows came whistling. Luckily, these three all struck the rather cold corpse-shield, rather than either of the live adventurers.

Shrieks and garbled noises could be heard from further down the tunnel, and soon the pitter-patter of tiny feet was heard. Within seconds, a group of no less than five goblins, each wielding their own weapon, ranging from a hand axe to what looked like broken-off femur to a dagger dripping with who-knows-what. The goblins using bows however, seemed to have stayed behind, not advancing with their fellow kin to rush in attack their invading enemies. The five attackers ran at somewhat different pace though, meaning they weren't all moving at the same speed, nor were they lined up next to each other in unified order either.

Druid Girl, having witnessed Lizard Fighter's rather macabre use of a fellow fallen adventurer as an impromptu barricade, was about to let loose a barrage of scolding words, but were thankfully interrupted due to the arrival of the new wave of goblins. While she was thankful that the big oaf had saved her supple butt from being turned into a pin cushion, she wasn't exactly thrilled about how he had managed it. Still, now wasn't the time for such matters.

The little fairy that the nature mage had summoned flew off, racing at the goblins and then beginning to however and circle above them, shedding its light over the quintet and making them less obfuscated by the glooomy dark of the cave. Reaching for her hip, Druid Girl unlatched her sickle - the spear she had been given by Big Red wasn't going to do much good right now, nor was she going to have time to start chanting and casting a spell, what with the little monsters almost already upon them.

The young girl scooched a bit away from Big Red, though not far, standing a bit to his left side. As the creepy, long-nosed freaks got close, three of them leapt at the red lizard, yelling and cawing like little madmen, while one raced towards Druid Girl and the other seemed to want to squeeze past the two frontliners to get to their archer-friend in the back.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

The Druid didn't say much in response to either of her companions. Her mind was too pre-occupied with keeping herself from both screaming and crying at the same time. That poor woman had just been minding her own business, probably heading home - perhaps to her own family - and then these... Creatures... Had attacked and killed, along with violated, her and stolen every last crumb she had brought with her. She clenched her fists hard for a bit, before taking a deep breath and calming herself down. Now wasn't the time to lose focus.

Prodding about for traps and digging through the pile of bones would turn up nothing however. Apart from some bugs that scattered when Big Red disturbed the clattering, dry pieces of white bones, there was nothing of interest there. Nor would he find anything while looking about with his torch, apart from more rubbish and filth on the ground. The Druid Girl's pixie would circle about the room as well, but return with equally empty hands.

Once agreement was made to press on, the trio began their path down the next incline. This tunnel was a bit taller, allowing for the lizardman to stand fully upright, but it was still narrow enough that neither of the girls could flank him. They themselves could walk along one another just fine, but Big Red was taking up the vast breadth of the tunnel in the front... Which would make it difficult for the Steppe Archer to shoot any arrows at this point, as she was more likely to hit her companion's massive back, less she was skilled enough to shoot between his legs or under his armpits... Or ricochet arrows off of the walls and ceiling...

Still, as they moved, something further ahead caught their eyes. At first, the threat of more goblins put them all on edge... But when the shape did nothing to approach or run away, they slowly inched forward. Eventually drawing close enough to see that the shape was that of a human! In fact, it was a young man, clad in white - albeit now dirtied robes - with wheat-colored hair. Strangely, he was sitting down, slouched somewhat forward with his back towards the tunnel's wall. He didn't seem to even notice the approach of the other adventurers. This was likely one of the members of the previous group that had come down here a day or so ago prior.

However, as they got even closer, and Druid Girl's little fairy flew forth for a closer look, the group became privvy to unsettling developments. Specks and blotches of now dry, reddish brown dotted the youth's apparel. Especially along the arm and his left side. His downcast face also displayed traces and lines of dried blood, and the fact that he wasn't moving, let alone seeming to breathe, gave way to unpleasant feelings and concern. At least for Druid Girl.

Squeezing her way past Big Red, with no real concern for any danger that may lie in ambush just around the bend of the downward sloping tunnel, the young girl hurried over to the boy's side. He looked to be about the same age as both Steppe Archer and herself, perhaps a just a bit older? As she knelt down and lay a hand on him to rouse him, the body of the priest shifted and slid to the side, collapsing in an unceremonious heap. At this point, they could all see what had happened to him though. A long gash ran along his arm, and multiple small punctures and scratches adorned his chest... Worst of all though, was the seemingly torn out throat he had, seemingly having been chewed open.

Again Druid Girl had to clasp both hands over her mouth to surpress both a gasp and a yell. The sight was rather terrible indeed. The boy had been completely and utterly mauled to death. it was likely that he had suffered the gash and the scratches first, only to have had his throat ripped out at the end. However... Wasn't it strange?

If he was in such a condition, why had he been sitting as if he had been resting or using the cave walls as a back-rest? Surely in the state he was in, he would have been panicked and frenzied, trying to do everything to run away... So why hadn't he been lying in the middle of the tunnel, spread out like acollapsed deck of cards?

Thwonk! Thwock! Twang!

The unmistakable sound of bow-strings, coupled with the quickly approaching whistle of arrows, seemed to be a clear indicator as to why... Druid Girl raised her head in surprised terror, as three curde arrows quickly made their way from further down the tunnel towards her kneeling-down frame, next to the collapsed, former adventurer.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

It was a bit unsettling for Druid Girl to watch as her companions moved over and slew the helpless goblins. Naturally, she understood that these little blighters had to be killed as part of their quest, but there was just something about killing things that were helpless and unable to defend themselves that made her feel... Bad. Still, she shook those thoughts from her head as the archer and lizard both voiced their personal view on what to do next. Complete opposite oncepts, of course. Still, didn't seem like Big Red was going to be open to debate on the matter, as he'd already struck up and lit a torch in preperations for descending the cave.

"I guess there's nothing for it. Besides, if we spend too long clearing them out, the Guild might think we ended up dying and send a new group to look for us." Druid Girl stated - given that they weren't the first team to have accepted this quest.

That being said, she felt that just having the lizardman's torch wouldn't be quite enough, so she took it upon herself to once again utter the words of one of her lowest-tier spells:

"Lend me your glow, tiny fey, summon pixie!"

Once more, the pixie that had been called upon over by the ransacked wagon, appeared out of seemingly thin air. Or perhaps this was a different one? It was sort of hard to tell, given the creature's petite size and hard-to-distinguish features. With the little fey buzzing around her like a moon circling a planet, the druid went to pick up some of the stones she had thrown and stoved them back into her pouch. She then unhooked her sickle from her hip and made sure the staff on her back was secure and not hanging too loosely. After having prepared as well as she could, the caramel-skinned girl walked over and joined Big Red, though stayed a little ways away, as the big brute was meant to lead the charge and take the brunt of any would-be resistance.

The sun was now almost gone, and night had more or less fallen entirely. The sky was dark but clear, dotted with many of the small stars as well as the two moons. A slightly unseasonally chilly wind was blowing through the clearing, playfully tugging and toussling Druid Girl's and Steppe Archer's long hair. The noises of the day died down and the quieter, softer sounds of night began to slowly emerge. Of course, those who didn't pay attention to the difference in such things would likely not notice anything save for the cicadas ceasing of chirping.

When they all confirmed that they were ready to move, the trio would finally set off into the cave proper. Immedaitely, they would notice that there was a slightly slanted, downwards angle to the dirt and stone-covered ground just inside the opening. The ceiling wasn't very tall, which would make things a bit more tiresome for the lizard, as he'd have to occasionally duck and angle his head weirdly, less he want to bump his noggin on the solid stone walls and ceiling. The walls of the cave weren't anything special, just plain grey rock and stone. There were small, irregular patches of either black-ish moss or fungus growing in places, but other than that, nothing of note.

After a bit of walking however, they soon found themselves reaching a more levelled and more flat bit of ground. The ceiling at this point was also slightly taller and the passage less cramped. They came into what looked like a chamber of some sorts, finding a pile of mismatched bones lying off to one side, and a bunch of broken junk on the other. Among the pile of broken wood, scrap metal and torn rags, they did spot something unusual though...

"Is... Is that a wheel?" Druid Girl asked, blinking at the sight of what looked like a large, wooden wheel, though broken and dented rather severely. At that point, the memory of the poor woman by the side of the road flashed back intot he yuong girl's mind, and she placed a hand over her mouth to quell any noise she might've been about to make. "Is it... That wheel? DOes that mean that... These goblins were the ones who attacked her?" She asked in a low, hushed tone. Her face was a mix of anger and appalled disgust.

While standing in the chamber, not much larger than your average, tiny studio-apartment, the pixie that the girl had summoned went about flying around, inspecting the area and things strewn about. There seemed to be only one path heading further down, and the path they had come from leading back up. There was no sign or indication of any goblins though... They hadn't seen nor heard anything yet... And nothing had tried to stop them. There hadn't even been any traps or obstructions so far. Things were going very smoothly... PErhaps this was just a very small and very weak nest?

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Well then, great...

... I decided on this a while back, but as of now, I'm resigning from the position as GM for this RP. I've asked that people send me PMs or messages of some kind when their motivation drops or they're not enjoying themselves, so I can try and understand what I'm doing wrong or how I can change things to make the RP more enjoyable. But people don't seem to want to do this, which means I can't improve as a GM and can't fix whatever it is I'm doing wrong.

If anyone wants to continue this RP, feel free to let me know, either in this thread or via PM. I'll assign you Co-GM status and all the necessary administrative perks and doodads you'd need to run the RP. Please do so ASAP though, as I'll be removing this thread my subscriptions after the weekend.

Not exactly how I wanted my vacation to start off, but hey, I was kind of half-expecting it to turn out this way, given the almost weekly drop-off rate we've been having.

Sorry guys and girls. Again, let me know if any of you want to continue the RP and I'll make sure you can.

Oh, and of course, thanks for the time and efforrt you all put into this. It was a fun ride, until it wasn't.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Wooh, we did it guys! We're almost done with the prologue! Wretch, get ready. Your intro is just on the threshold!

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Forgotten Ruins, East Gate

Things weren't looking good for the rear-guard of the Imperial army. With more than half of their footmen fleeing, a quarter lying dead or wounded and the other quarter now engaging and being mauled by a giant lizard and a scowling, trying-to-look-intimidating-pretty boy elf, along with their archers atop the walls being harassed by a tiny, crimson gloop-monster and a woman throwing electric spearheads.... Well, it was safe to say that anyone, even a complete novice at tactics and strategy, could see that things had turned - as they say- tits-up for the Empire here. With the shrieking angel-summon moving in for another dose of otherworldly terror-tactics, the men who had attempted to join with their allies finally had enough of this situation.

"R-Retreat! RETREAT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

A chorus of panicked voices, each screaming different versions and variants of the same message, rung out from the among the dozen remaining men in the streets. Somehow, this tiny group of adventurers had managed - against considerable odds - to beat down and chase off over two dozen foot soldiers, as well as a small squadron of archers, all on their own. Veritable pats on the back were in order, but now was not the time for such frivalous gestures. Seeing the state and end-result of their opposition falling back and abandoning their charge, the way to their ultimate goal, the eastern gate, was now left unchallegend and unbarred.

"Alright, score! We can get the hell outta here!" Serafaye chriped, happily, while bouncing from one foot onto the other, in a very vutesy, bouncy, excitable fashion... Causing certain torso-allocated bits of her body to also bounce up and down - not that she seemed to notice.

Calming down a bit eventually, the dracokin soon began to stride towards their desired exit - at that weirdly unnatural speed of her's. Although both Vani and Kaze had been infront of her, and Cecilia and Annabelle were up on the walls, she'd be the first of the group to manage to actually pass through the old, decripiti stone archway and lay eyes on what actually lay outside the ruins to the east!

... And it was grass.

... Lots and lots of grass. Stretching on. Forever. Not even joking, there was pretty much nothing else, apart form the lonely spruce tree or small, low shrub. The rest? Just field upon field upon knell of grassland.

How... Anti-clmactic... Serafaye thought, as her smiling, excited face turned into that of a deadpan disappointment. Kind of like how an excited kid on Christmas Day looked when they were opening their present, only to find it contained one of those itchy, hand-made wool sweaters from their granny. Yeah, that kind of face.

The good news, however, was that due to the rickety state of the gatehouse itself, the archers inside wouldn't actually be able to easily get into a position to fire at them as they were leaving the ruins. Incredibly convenient, but beneficial also! This meant that, barring any chance of the Empire sending cavalry or flying beast-riders, the group would be able to escape unharried from this cursed place.

Turning back towards her allies still within the walls, Serafaye made waving and beckoning motions with her hand, urging them to come her way and hurry up.

"C'mon! We're almost there! Let's go people, move it!" She half-yelled, half-said-in-a-loud-voice.

Really though, if you squinted reeally hard, you could make out the outlines, or tops at least, of a woodland or forest straight east - just going right forward from the gate itself. If they wanted to avoid being pursued or followed, heading there and hiding out in the undergrowth would likely be their best plan. Of course, you could always head north, or south to Palagria... If you wanted to risk that whole mess.

Meanwhile, Annabelle and Cecilia would deliver a final combination of Carpenter body-net and electric throwables to the archers, before the Spellblade of thunder used her wind-powers to elegantly leap off the side of the wall and let the winds carry her down. Meanwhile, the hemomancer used her little familiar as a whip, swinging down from her perch in a very Indiana Jones-like style. It was all very impressive, really.

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Aww, sucks to see you go Rodey. :(
I hope you find something you enjoy more elsewhere though, until next time. o/

From Oubliette to Oublioth [R.I.P]

Just reminding peeps that there're 4.5 hours left until that deadline.

Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

Druid Girl's eyes went wide at the sight of the pin-point precision that her ally had with her bow. It was truly impressive that someone could hit a goblin's head, a rather small target, from that kind of distance in this dimming light. She must've been a magnificent and truly gifted huntress indeed! The caramel-skinned nature-mage was very impressed. She was equally impressed when Big Red suddenly rose from his supposed hiding-spot, lurched forward and hucked one of his home-made javelins at the little green gobbos.

Now, unlike a metal-tipped arrow, a fully wooden spear, made from a freshly plucked sapling, didn't exactly have the same piercing-power - no matter how hard you chucked it. However, that didn't stop the sharp stick from striking one of the little green men square in the chest, causing him to let out a 'Gfffuuuuuuh!!'-sound, before flying backwards, tumbling comedically and then laying flat on his back, eyes staring wildly into the cavern ceiling as his mouth hung agape. Now, with two of their kind caught in traps, one lying dead with its head split open like a watermelon and another being knocked out by a stick, the remaining two goblins didn't seem to feel as confident as before.

Stopping their charge against Big Red midway-to-him, they turned and began to flee back towards the cave, shrieking and screaming loudly, making a lot of ruckus. Druid Girl, not wanting to be completely useless, stood up from behind her fallen log, and took a bunch of the small stones from her bag, and began throwing them after the little fiends. However, unlike her allies, she lacked both the precision and skill with ranged weapons, as well as the physical strength and familiarity of using thrown weapons in any capacity. As such, her stones flew, but landed harmless behind the fleeing freaks. She let out a low growl and puffed her cheeks in frustration. It was kind of cute.

Steppe Archer would have had the time and skill to launch another arrow and possibly take one of the retreating duo down before they could both reach the cave interior proper, but alas, taking both of the little gremlins down would have required her to be able to shoot two arrows at the same time. Big Red's javelins wouldn't be able to reach either, as their craftsmanship and unbalanced make-up would make them too inaccurate, even with his impressive strength propelling it forward. It seemed their ambush had both succeeded and failed - they'd taken out all but one of the little creatures, but now that one little runt was likely going to slip back down into the lair and alert all of its brethren... Which either meant a large group was gonna come charging out, or they were going to turtle up and stay safe inside their underground nest... Either result wasn't exactly desirable.

"What do we do now? Chasing after them could be dangerous... But if they come swarming out, the three of us might not be able to take them all on. We don't know how many are in there after all." Druid Girl asked and stated at the same time, concerned for what their next move should be.

Meanwhile, the two goblins dangling from the traps were still making a fuss, and the one lying on the ground after being punted in the solar plexus by a javelin, seemed to have passed out.