Somewhere within the borders of Tyr. Midday. Hoard 22nd
Far from their homes, a pair of hunters were tracking their game. A herd of salamanders had wandered near. The two cloaked figures laid underneath the prickling cacti, finding what meager shade it could provide. Their clothes were dusty and full of sand, the grains finding their way everywhere in their clothes caused them to want to shift and groan in discomfort. But they stayed still. They had a job to do. A family to provide for.
One of them, the human, shifted and spoke, his skin red and blistered from the shifting sands that blew around his face.

"We can't spend another week out here. Hell, we don't even have nough water for another 5 days! And we're getting nowhere here, Might as'well give up!".
The dwarf growled roughly and said gruffly.

"Ah Quit your bellyachin'. Ah don't like this anymore than yeh so shut yer trap. We've just a bit more to go. When we bag this, Mave and Nys will be ‘appy! So shut up an' rest. We leave in 5 minutes."
As he settled in, he glanced at the bracelet on his arm, made of bone. His wedding band.

Village of Kelna, Small gate, At the borders of Tyr. Night time. Wind 2nd
The cold of the night had crept in. The walls of Kelna weren't high, stood to about 10 feet, made of loosely packed sand and dirt. It took a long time to fortify it and still. It wasn't enough. Not usually. Poor Vex could barely see as he huddled underneath his meager furs, sitting on his chair. The howling wind and the sand made him keep his head down. But as he glanced up, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. Something amidst the darkness. Getting up and clutching his small bone axe in one hand and holding onto his furs with the other, he squinted, trying to block out the sand. Then he saw it, a figure lurching towards him. He blinked and without any hesitation, Vex attacked, swinging his axe into the figure, over and over and over again. Amidst the howls of the wind, no one heard his yells, the sounds of his axe. After sometime, the figure fell and Vex ran, ran to get some other guards.

They came running and with the only lantern they had, they went back to find the body. By the time they got there, the sand had buried half of it. A corpse, mangled and putrid lay amidst the sand. On its wrist, there was a small bone bracelet, whatever design on it weathered and faded from the abuse of the weather. As they approached, its arm started moving blindly towards them, reaching out for them. The Captain blanched and said quietly, almost cursing.

"This is a matter for the Templars.".

Village of Kelna, Town Square, Borders of Tyr, Early Morning. Wind 4th
Clad in their bone armour, the Templars stood in front view, 5 of them, each of them with the crown adorned on their chest and their shields. Their faces were covered by the helmets they wore, giving them an unsettling appearance. One of them was extraordinarily tall, second from the left. He stood to be about 7 feet tall while the others appeared to be tall men but dwarfed by his size. That is everyone but the soldier in the middle. They appeared to be smaller or slender.
One of them spoke, a man judging by his voice, deep and commanding as if he was used to giving orders.

"We've gathered all of the people you've requested! Every mercenary, hunter or seemingly skilled traveler!"
Indeed they have. For standing with you now, a group of about 30 men and women stood. All of them were armed. Many appeared to know each other. But there were a few who appeared to be loners.

The shorter Templar stepped up, standing tall. As she spoke, her voice was stern and businesslike, amplified many times more than normal.

"Listen up. I won't repeat myself. To make things simple, there's been sightings of magic here. And we're going to use you to help us. There's a potential ruin. Unexplored. Undiscovered. To the team that finds something inside. We'll give you 200 Ceramic pieces. Each. It should be somewhere to the North West".

At that, many individual seemed interested but the templars weren't finished yet.

"And just in case we didn't make it clear enough." She continued. "This isn't a negotiation. Do it. Or consider yourself an enemy of Kalak." With that, the Templars turned away and began walking away from the crowd.

Amidst the group of 30, a large portion of them are humans and it appeared that they knew each other as 3 groups of 6 were formed at the start. They began walking towards the only inn in town, The Bronze Salt Tavern. A haggard looking group of elves and dwarves looked tersely at each other and then walked away from each other without giving any attention to anyone else.
The Square was silent. Empty except for Six strangers. A half-elf, a Mul, a human, a thri-kreen and, A strange duo. A towering half orc, as well as an elf.. One of the Grey skins.
Who would make the first move?

Village of Kelna, Town Square, Borders of Tyr, Early Morning. Wind 4th
The shorter Templar stepped up, standing tall. As she spoke, her voice was stern and businesslike, amplified many times more than normal.

"Listen up. I won't repeat myself. To make things simple, there's been sightings of magic here. And we're going to use you to help us. There's a potential ruin. Unexplored. Undiscovered. To the team that finds something inside. We'll give you 200 Ceramic pieces. Each. It should be somewhere to the North West".

At that, many individual seemed interested but the templars weren't finished yet.

"And just in case we didn't make it clear enough." She continued. "This isn't a negotiation. Do it. Or consider yourself an enemy of Kalak." With that, the Templars turned away and began walking away from the crowd.

Crowe had only been half-listening, but her ears perked at the sound of 200 Ceramic pieces, of all the things that could be said about the Templars they at least knew how to motivate the rabble. Then came the masked threat and demand, typical "do what we say or else" attitude of the law enforcing types. He was, of course, used to trouble, it was practically one of his specialties, but to get on the bad side of Templars was something only a fool would do, and he was no fool.

As the crowd began to thin he found himself among fewer and fewer other travelers, until only five others remained besides himself. A Naugrim-agar ((dwarf-blood), an Edan((human)), a nir'telko ((many-leg)), a Glamhoth-agar ((orc-blood)), and a mori Edhel ((dark elf)). "So we're the bottom of the barrel are we, the rejects no one else wanted on their team," he thought to himself, "we'll just have to show the entire lot the error of their ways by getting this done before anyone else."
Crowe stood tall, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly addressing the varied group before him, "Friends, it seems we are the last of this crowd to form up and leave, and I don't know about the lot of you, but I would prefer both not to have Templars viewing me as an enemy, and to have those Ceramic pieces in my increasingly lighter money bag. What say we band together, get this task done before any of the other stulti that the Templars had rounded up? For simplicity sake you may call me Crowe, I am a traveler, a troubadour, and a fan of the finer things in life."

((The words I translated above were Elven, which I translated for ease, even if they were only within his head. The other word, "stulti", is a celestial word that Crowe uses to describe most anyone who is not a gyspy or a trusted companion, it translates roughly to fool (I'm using Latin for the Celestial, if anyone is interested). I will try to post translations, if not in the post proper than in my ooc notes at the end like so.))

The Templars first spoke of rewards then, as he had come to expect from all in authority, they spoke of retribution if they were not obeyed. He heard many such threats before. None of them bothered him for he was not likely to be in one place long enough to see the final outcome of the threats. Just as he was about to shrug and walk away, one of the others spoke about working together. This was interesting. Few indeed were those who would openly offer to work with his kind. Even his own tribe had refused him. "You work with I?" The question was spoken slowly and in a bit of broken speech. He found making the common language a bit taxing but he knew that his own language would never be understood here among these people. "Willing work. Call Ochit" He pointed to his chest as he spoke the name most often spoken by those who met him.

Crowe had only ever met a handful of Glamhoth-agar in his time, and even then they were usually avoided. Today he learned that the rumors of their intelligence, or lack there of, were not over exaggerated if this specimen was the norm. He shrugged slightly, "Even a dumb brute can have his uses, even if just as cannon fodder," he thought to himself, "guess I should dumb down the speech for his sake." He tapped himself on the chest and said slowly, "Me Crowe, we do work for shiny, yes?"

The one known as Crowe spoke slowly and a bit louder. Ochit knew that it was a result of his own slow and broken speech. Others always assumed he was slow because it was difficult for him to make the sounds of the common language of the realms. He wondered how others would fair if they had to speak his language. "Yes. Work together." For now he was ok with others thinking he was slow.

At almost seven feet tall Klik-Chaka'doc stood towering over most of those gathered in the town square as he assessed those around him. He bore the same authoritative crown burned deep into the relief of his bone and leather armour as the Templars issuing first a call for adventurers seeking wealth and fame; cut by the blatant lack of request and reinforced by threats of punishment for defiance. Though his armour denoted allegiance to the militant lackeys of the God King and his ambitions, Klik's hearts beat for another more pious purpose. He observed many as they brokered tenuous partnerships and companies as the crowd thinned, leaving only a handful of strangers amidst the dust of the mid-day congregation.

Six strangers, from six far reaching lands and lineages remained and without words the motley crew was already a spectacle. Those deemed without merit enough to be drafted into one company or another, the dregs of the skill barrel.

No matter. Klik thought. And as he looked around at those gathered his thought's became his voice as it echoed in the minds of those he focused on.

Fear not the Templars, nor the situation we find ourselves in for through adversity we build strength. We are granted opportunities when least we seek them, and this is but one challenge thrown upon the pile of surviving this cruel machination we call life.
Klik gently fingered the bloody ribbon between the fingers of his left secondary hand, as his mandibles clicked excitedly.

The Thri-kreen shifted as he witnessed a half-elf introduced as Crowe break the ice with a lumbering brute of a man named Ochitt. The muscled man spoke plainly, articulating slowly; but was that due to a lack of a verbose vocabulary or deliberate intent Klik was uncertain.

Klik tried to force out some of the common tongue, but lacking the very muscle in question, it came out broken and strained. Pointing to himself, and his dust crusted Smock he tried to mouth the word Klik, but without proper vocal chords or a humanoid tongue, it was nigh impossible. With a sigh, he resorted to his native telepathy, projecting his name to the others.

You may refer to me as Klik. Doctor Klik if it suits you. I am a field medic trained in the Templar order, though not bound to its stringent regiments as most foot soldiers. If you have need of patching up on this newfound journey. It would seem I'm to be your bug.

Ochit turned towards the strange looking creature as he heard voices in his head. "How speak no words?" Never had he encountered such a trick. "Together work?" Sizing up the stranger, Ochit saw they stood nearly equal in height but the other was not as bulky. Perhaps here was one who would understand how it felt to be very different. "Ochit" he said as he pointed to his chest.

Trossach listened to the Templars speech. He despised the orders they gave. The reward was fine, he would work for money, but a threat was a good way to get an ex-slave angry. If the Templars thought that they would earn his services through threats, they were wrong. Which wasn't to say that he would refuse. He could use the money. And sometimes one did things because they were compelled by the powers-that-be. But if he did submit to the powers, he would do it on his own terms and for his own reasons. Not because of a threat.

Still, this was not a task he was likely to be able to accomplish on his own. Eventually there were six of them left. Perfect. The others seemed to forming groups of six, so this would work out.

He looked at those around him and listened to their comments. Crowe started the discussion - the Mul was glad someone had the courage to begin. "Ochit?" Trossach smiled. He liked the name. Their group just might have the two biggest warriors in the entire crowd. The bug was interesting. He had only met a couple in his life. The telepathy was weird. He didn't think it worked the other way - they couldn't read the minds of others. But as had happened last time he had met one of the Thri-Kreen, he wondered. A medic? That would be a very welcome addition to the group.

After several had spoken, the big Mul looked at each of the others in turn and added his words. "I am Trossach. I agree with Crowe - we appear to have a task set before us, and a better chance of success if we work together. I welcome good companions. Crowe, Ochit, Klik - I will work with you if you will work with me. A team." He looked at the last of those who had no yet spoken. "Hopefully you will join us as well."

It had only been a couple of years since Reynard had left the guard of his old town. Despite the obvious corruption of the rest of the guards, Reynard found he missed those times. He had left to try and be able to better help others; however, so far he had barely been able to help himself. At least there he had a stable income to get food and shelter with.

As the Templars gave their speech Raynard listened. He was not fond of them. They took their duty to Bodyguard the Sorceror king very seriously, but they did so without regards to the rest of society. As this presentation showed. Instead of dealing with the threat themselves, they chose to force others to do it for them. Still, the pay was good, for a mission that the Templars felt was beneath them.

Reynard sighed. How had he gotten himself into this? The last couple days were a blur. He shook his head, returning his focus to the group. As the crowd started to dissipate, he was left standing with a motley crew. For one of the first times, he actually found himself dwarfed by multiple others. A half orc, Mul, and Tri-Kreen all made his stature seen small.

The other's began to introduce themselves. Crowe was first, followed by Ochit. Then, the Tri-Kreen introduced itself.

Reynard spun around as it spoke to him, and the others, telepathically. Reynard had never worked with a Tri-Kreen before. From what he knew, they roamed wastes in packs, hunting down anything they came across. This one seemed civil. Despite the now introduced Doctor Klik making him uncomfortable, Reynard supposed that he would have to get along with Klik. If Reynard didn't, he probably would end up dying during the missions.

The Mul, Trossach, then introduced himself. So far, everyone was in accordance with teaming up.

Taking advantage of the silence, Reynard spoke up. "My name is Reynard Coslett, and I will join you. As long as you choose to fight by my side, I shall stand beside you." He motioned to the entire group to try and convey that he meant all of them. "I mainly fight with my hammer and shield," He said while gesturing to this equipment," But I can heal as well; though, I have doubt I am anywhere near as capable as our trained friend, Doctor Klik."

Silent in the darkness, she spun her web. Eight graceful legs guided the silk from her spinnerets around long filaments of silk already spun, methodically placing each thread. One among thousands, she danced in the eternal night. Were it not for the faint moonlight, she would have been all but invisible. But she was not.

There was no warning. A shining beak snatched the spider from her spinning as dark wings tore through her web before flying high into the night sky. The other spiders rushed in, but they were too late. The raven was gone, disappearing into the darkness above. She had taken their sister with her.

Far above them all the raven smiled. There was one less spider in the world, and from her would rise another raven.
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Wrapping herself in the tattered white cloth of her robes, Morrígu huddled in trying to find some shelter from the blinding horror that was the sun. She never ventured out when the sun rose in the sky, especially not during the awful dawn. The dark elf hated dawn most of all, a daily reminder of her solar enemy's eternal rule. Oh how she wished to kill the sun, to blot it out forever with cool darkness.

Let beautiful shadows rise up and swallow the world.

Burning with hate, Morrígu's glare followed the Templars and their would-be-heroes as they left the town square. She had been safely wrapped in darkness only to be forcefully roused to help them hunt down magic. Sending a witch to hunt down magic... Foolish twits them all! She'd show them magic, make an arcane flambé out of that fat human that had pushed her into the morning light. It'd be a feast for his nasty Templar friends! At that the dark elf smiled.

Roasty. Crispy. Roasty! Crispy!

"Dormagyn l"lalys whol ultrinnan, ussa ssinssrigg" The other dark elf had finally broken the silence. "Udossata olath faer orn vaq'mina ulnin, jhal jlole zaalei ust."
(Save the smile for victory, my love. Our dark magic will consume them soon, but cool patience first.)

Morrígu nodded at the wisdom and bowed her head. Xenophobella was right, she was always right. Xenophobella was really, really, really smart. Best to listen to her.

Nearby chatter drew her attention to the few that remained in the square. The five others drew closer. Although difficult to make out in the wretched light, their forms became clearer as they drew closer, especially that of the hulking brute closest to her. Looking up to the half-orc, Morrígu smiled. She'd always wanted a pet giant and he had a lovely name. Ochit. Her ugly sweet Ochit!

As introductions were made round the group, Morrígu took them in with elven eyes, one blue and one violet. There was a gangly half-elf, a pompous human, and massive mul, and... a giant bug. Her eyes widened at the sight of such a creature. Overtaken with curiosity, the drow girl stepped forward to poke and see if it was real. That's when the horror happened. Out of nowhere thoughts in a voice not her own filled her mind. Grabbing her head, she screamed and tossed about in a vain attempt to kill the nasty intruder.

"Honglath, ussta ssinssrigg. Honglath. Nindel zha fridj lu'oh nind telanth."
(Calm, my love. Calm. That is just how they speak.)

At the sound of Xenophobella's soothing voice she stopped screaming, faced the others, and giggled.

"Vendul dosstan, nin, jhal xuat tesso mina bauth, uns'aa. Naut fridj quin. Udos z'klaen kyori vel'bol nind shlu'ta xun whol udossa ussta ssinssrig."
(Introduce yourself, now, but don't tell them about me. Not just yet. We must see what they can do for us, my love.)

Morrígu nodded, "Siyo. Usstan orn. Udos orn. Usstan zhal. Udos zhal." Stepping forward the dark elven witch smiled and spoke in a heavily accented common. "I am the great Morrígu!"

(Yes. I will. We will. I shall. We shall)

Moving closer to Ochit she looked up and held out her hand, "Let's be best friends."

Morrígu smiled as she looked up with a light in her eyes. Whether it be the light of innocence or insanity...

((OOC: Meet Morrígu. Translations for drow are in parentheses. Xenophobella may or may not be real, so only Morrígu can see and hear her. Off we go!))

Ochit watched the strange dark elf. She seemed to argue with herself. Perhaps she was not alone in her thoughts. The shaman of his tribe had told of those who heard voices. Ochit had never seen one for they were driven away as soon as they were discovered. When she offered her had and friendship, Ochit stepped back. "Work together but friend best not".

Morrígu stood, blinking in anticipation, waiting with her hand held out. Once he agreed to it they would have such fun. She would ride atop his shoulders and he would run, the sweet night wind rustling through her hair.

Ochit, it seemed, had other ideas. The brute stepped back and then he did the unthinkable. He denied her.

"Work together but friend best not."

Work together but friend best not...

Work together but friend best not...

The stinking fat orc refused her. HER! He should be kissing her feet grateful that one such as her even talked to him. Instead HE refused HER!

WORK TOGETHER BUT FRIEND BEST NOT

Morrígu wanted to scream. She would set him on fire and feed his cooked flesh to his mother! She would dip him in acid one limb at a time! Oh the horrors she would visit on him. Oh the horrors!

"Gi ussta ssinssrigg, dos z'klaen lassrinn natha fuer'yon ust. Talinth d'jal l'jivvin do'rn inbal..."
(Oh my love, you must break a beast first. Think of all the fun you'll have...)

At the sound of Xenophobella's voice she dropped her hand and tilted her head to the side. Wise Xenophobella's words did make sense and breaking big Ochit would be so much fun. It could be a game and they had all the way to the ruins to play! The light returned to Morrígu's eyes and she giggled.

Klik observed the strange ebony skinned woman as she approached him with eyes wide in bemusement and curiosity. There was a light behind the heterochromia which gave her face such a uniqueness. The woman poked him as though she expected him to vanish like a figment of her imagination, and when he did not, and replied with a simple "Hello little ashen one;" the woman flailed about like his voice had assaulted her very being.

Seeing others react strangely at his form of communication Klik focused his thoughts and tried to deter from further unrest by saying " Forgive the intrusion, but we kreen lack the anatomical necessities of your form of speech. I will keep the disruptions to a minimal, and mean no harm.

Trossach looked around at the group. It seemded that all had agreed to work together to accomplish their quest. Were they the dregs of the adventuring lot? The big warrior was sure that he, at least, was not. Ochit could clearly wield a blade as well. And Reynard seemed to add another weapon to the group. They were well defended physically. Crowe? He wasn't sure exactly where his talents lay, but the fact that he wasn't another big bruiser was probably good. And the Thri-Kreen - Trossach was actually quite pleased by its presence. A skilled healer might be worth its weight in water. Somehow, Klik gave him more of a sense of confidence than any other. Briefly he wondered if that sense was entirely his own. He'd have to keep his eyes out for such a thing.

Then there was the dark skinned elf. She seemed . . . odd. Disturbed. She reacted strongly and unexpectedly to everything. Ochit may have made the right choice to avoid being friends, although by the look in those eyes, it might have reprecussions. Hopefully the dark one would bring something besides trouble to the group, but Trossach wasn't sure exactly what that would be.

"It seems we six are a group. I welcome this. Let us now see what the Templars have gotten us into."

The Half-elf observed the rest of the introductions, taking in what he could and sizing up these 'companions' as he would a mark for a con.


Eyeing the half-orc, mul, and human he thought to himself, "Muscles, lots of them, good for staying behind and probably best to stay out of arm's reach if they start swinging too erratically. If nothing else big means easier to see which means I can go overlooked if needed."

The kreen was a case he was not sure about, on one hand it was always nice to have a medic on hand, but a medic that stood out may draw too much attention and find itself in need of medical attention. "The bug could be useful, it is, after all, hard to go wrong with having a healer in our midst."

The Drow was most concerning to him, not because of her race, with his upbringing he was taught to accept anyone, people should be judged for what benefit they bring to the family, not because of the family they cannot choose. No, this Elf concerned him because she was obviously a missing a couple lute stings. "Need to keep an eye on this one, crazy and unpredictable can be dangerous..."
He cleared his throat, and addressed the gathered stulti once again, "It seems we are in agreement then, if we are to find this ruin before any of the other groups then I suggest we move on from these introductions and get to searching." With that he glanced again between his companions and added, "Would any of you happen to have any specific knowledge of the region, or perhaps experience in locating things?"