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Gods, Gold, Trouble and Adventure! (Ezralora and Guardian Angel)

Ezralora

Supernova
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Location
Somewhere in Limbo at the moment.
The world is a strange place, the place is wrought with dangers of the land. Magics to be discovered, myths and legends that are routed in the history of the world, even with the Gods and Goddesses of the land themselves. Adventurers work to find the gold, the items of myths and have their names carved in history for all of time! For what better way to be remembered then to be woven in stories with that of heroes of the ages! Myths and Legends change throughout the land, with various connections to the Pantheon, a few even claiming that they at times walk amongst the world themselves in mortal forms to create heroes of destiny that the likes of the world will never see again! Of course none of this has been proven, but one thing is for certain.

There is GOLD to be made! Which brings us to the Lilandis Empire.

The Lilandis Empire currently resides over the largest continent on the planet. It is a land that has been through many rulers before falling under the current ruler, King Dogma Lilandis, and in his life time has managed to get the entire continent of Wildheim under the control of his glorious empire. With that came a few new rules, such as deities being outlawed, whether they are good aligned or evil. Only a few are allowed to be worshipped in public, and those that are caught can be punished by the guards that wonder through towns and cities trying to keep the peace. It has been near fifteen years since Lilandis was able to bring the continent under his rule, and whatever tides of rebellion fell onto the land had either been quelled or crushed under the sheer force of the empire. Yet, our story starts much smaller, without the large democracy of Empires, Kings, Queens and Deities.

Our story starts in a local brewery town of Barnabuck, a town surrounded by fields of barley and other plants for producing drink. It had the feel of an old rustic village. It was here, where on this rather rainy night many a traveller, adventurer and others have taken shelter in the local inn. The Cow Bell. Cheers and merry making can be heard all around it, as the inn keep continues to pour out drinks and keeps the merriness at an all time high, and keeping his pockets lined with the highest in take of coin he has seen in a long time! Tankards are clunked together, drinks are spilled on the floor. The smell of wines, ales and food breath a welcoming air to those that seek to rest at the hearth. It was certainly a lively time, as no one wanted to be out in the weather like this!

The members of the Adventurers Guild were clearly marked out by their clothing, attire and just general care free attitude. A lot of people tended to started as Adventurers whilst young, in order to make a name for themselves before moving on to other professions. Heck it is even rumoured that the Arch Mage of the Empire started as an Adventurer and had worked up to his position. It was things like this that made it all worth, that and the promise of a sizeable reward for a job well done.

It was amongst this chaos that the first member of the future band of misfits could be found. Thors sat in one of the larger chairs closer to the hearth, smiling to himself as he drank from his mug. He was a half-orc from his appearance of two toned green skin, with shaved sides of his head and a head of black hair with a grey flecked amongst it. His face, despite having scarring across it still resembled that of a handsomeness that refused to go away. His armour was absent as he had been sitting for a while, warming up by the fire. The half-orc sat with dark trousers and brown leather boots that seemed well used, as well as a cotton white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his shoulders exposing his scarred forearms. He drummed one of his black nails against the wood of the chair to the theme of the bards playing in the background, humming along quietly as he peered over, observing the patrons and taking note how they were acting. It was, certainly interesting to observe, but even that was beginning to get a little dull. With a grumble he wiped his hand through his hair, feeling the still dampness of it. "Still not dry..." He closed his eyes before standing up to get another drink quickly, not wanting anyone to take his seat. He was probably shorter than one would expect, just about hitting the six foot mark.

With a tankard plonked in front of him Thors widened his eyes as he lowered down, watching the ale be poured into it as a smile moved over his face, his tusks as was common with orc, not visible in the slightest. "Come on... keep pouring..." he said as he waved his hand, a leather band on his left wrist as he continued to rotate it before bring it to a halt. "Stop! That'll do my man... that will do~" He took the tankard in his hand, and began with an almighty drink.

He had just come back from a job with a few others that had been in the town, he had gotten along with some of them.... but he was sure that most of them would just want to get going once the rain cleared. He did not mind that in the slightest, it was rather rare for a party to stay together unless they were close friends already.
 
Aerilaya found herself venturing towards the circus tent, and she was just watching everything that was going on. If they hadn't wanted people coming in to watch the performers practice, then they probably should have kept the tent closed, or had people outside to keep everybody out. So she had wandered in and was merely watching everything. The performer that had taken the ring had definitely caught the young woman's eyes, as she watched the woman, listening to her play the lute and listened to her sing. How beautiful! Although she was seriously wondering about the outfit that the woman was wearing. Black and red seemed to dreary for a circus performer. Very dreary, yet again who was she to even question about what they wore.

The elven maiden was just looking towards the plump dwarf that just seemed to come up out of nowhere before she was giving a small shake of her head. No for the time being she was actually going to head back, see if she could track down the others. Before she had just needed to get away from the damn warrior. The man had seriously been irritating her and that comment of his, had majorly bothered her. With that thought in mind she was turning so that she could leave the tent, and go to find the others. Perhaps she could even meet those that the warrior had founded to join up with. She was certain that Thors had already met them, and he definitely had a good opinion of people.
 
The dwarf glanced at her and gave a portly smile before he began to make his way back to the stage and made sure each and every seat would have a good view.

The musician cocked her head to the side, and although her veil covered her face Aerilaya could probably get the sensation that she was being looked at as she started to walk away. She cocked her head a little as she saw the elf beginning to walk off before she picked up her instrument and went to get changed.

Thors was probably fairly easy to spot considering how he was riding a large wooden cart through the street with a few horses. It seemed as though he were heading to the inn to find a place to park it. He glanced at her spotting the cloak and gave a wave. "Hello." He said with a small smile before taking in a deep breath as he saw her and patted the side of the wagon for her to climb on if she wanted. It seemed like a fairly cheap thing but could carry a fair number of people and equipment, and on top of that there was a large canopy that could be set up should it begin to rain.
 
Aerilaya had given the dwarf a gentle smile before she had walked away, although it wasn't long before she almost felt like she was being watched. This just had her looking over her shoulder for a brief moment, before she was brushing that feeling aside. Nope she was ignoring it for the time being, it wasn't anything important to worry about.

It did take her long to find Thors, not since he was sitting on a wagon, more than likely taking it back to the inn. This had her walking over before she was climbing up beside him. Mind as well join him at that point in time, she had been looking for him after all. "Guess you ventured with the warrior to meet this new group." she was commenting after a moment in time, although she was twisting her cloak a bit with her hands, fidgeting almost. No she was still attempting to decide if she wanted to remain there, or if she would just start making her way home. Or perhaps.... she would continue to adventure, but ditch the warrior.

"I'm undecided on if I wish to return home, or to continue adventuring. I believe if I continue.... I will be walking away from the current group we have put together. Away from our darling bestest friend ever." Aerilaya spoke, although there was definitely sarcasm in her voice at the last couple of words. She was looking towards Thors for a moment from under her hood before she was commenting, "If I decided to return home.... a bit convenient that my brother is here. He can escort me home. Or.... I can kidnap Nemoth away from him."

Flying home would definitely be something that she would do. Good thing Nemoth liked her and would listen to her commands without too much hassle. Plus the dragon would ensure that she got home safely, should that be the decision she made, the route she decided to take.
 
Thors glanced at her before raising an eyebrow. "I mean you can go if you want, but if you return home it might feel like you're running away once things get tough you know. This world isn't going to be like the palace, everything isn't going to go your way. Sometimes we have to do things we absolutely hate and despise and just march on through it... Haing said that, if you do go. I'll miss you. It'll be very unlikely i'll be able to get near the palace to say hi so that would be it i suppose."

He laughed loudly once she said she would kidnap Nemoth. "Now that is something i would very much like to see you try to do. "But wouldn't that be taking an easy way to run back home as well?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not going to keep you here, but at least stay around until this job is done. Never leave a job half done and then if you feel like leaving. We can walk there and take a few days before saying our goodbyes."

The half-orc finished his suggestion as he glanced at her, bringing the cart to a slow halt, the wood groaning out as the wood sighed in relief over the harsh cobbled street. "Just think about it for now, but you wanted this as well. Otherwise you'd still be home with a nice toasty fire for the night."
 
Aerilaya just shrugged before she spoke, "Not like I much help anyways. I'm a cleric, I'm not a fighter. I don't know any offensive magic whatsoever." Not to mention as a priestess of the Goddess of Light, she was a pacifist. That was an important part of being a priestess to that particular Goddess, refraining from fighting. Self-defense was one thing, but she had taken to being non-combatant in general. Self-defense or not. That is where barrier magic came in handy. With that she was tilting her head a bit at the comment of how he would like see her try to take Nemoth which had her chuckling before she spoke, "It wouldn't be hard. All I would have to do is ask him, and he would gladly do it. Whether Raeran liked it or not."

She did listen to his suggestion though about finishing the job. She had never officially said that she was going to return, it had only been a mere thought that had crossed her mind. But nothing definite. "Either way.... Either decision, I still have freedom to do whatever. Unless I do go back and my father finally realizes that he has a daughter, and actually takes to trying to confine me to the palace." she was mumbled. Oh she definitely didn't want to deal with that! She would lose her mind if that happened. And while she missed that life, she also enjoyed the adventurer life as well. At least sometimes. There were some moments where she didn't want anything to do with it.

"Nemoth says that he doesn't like the warrior at all. He smells too much like alcohol, and he doesn't seem to have much for brains." Aerilaya was commenting, rephrasing what the dragon had said, being a little more polite about it. After that she was handing over a sheet of paper to Thors about a different quest that she had learned about. Actually information that Raeran had given to her. "Raeran gave this to him. Retrieving an artifact." she spoke after a moment in time.
 
Thors glanced at her before laughing as she mentioned if her father found out that she existed. "Well i think he might have to regret the day that that happens." He told her as he stretched his arms above his head and frowned a little. "Smelling of booze seems normal to me, i mean the guy drinks like a fish each night bit it doesn't mean he isn't a bad person as you said. You were the one telling me that he could potentially have some more going on in that head than we both expect to see."

Placing his hands down he heaved himself off the wood and as elegantly as a stone being dropped, fell to the ground with a thud, his legs bending slightly under his weight. "But then again, what am i to say? We're all a group that by no rights should be together, and that in itself is kind of special. We got a drunk, a run away and a handsome half-orc who's too smart to do all of this stuff." He gave her a cheeky grin before he patted one of the horses and began the process of taking her off the wagon.

"I would however, recommend taking a look at the new people we have. Most of them won't try and rob you, but i'd keep your hand on your coin purse around the one in the black cloak, he's got long fingers good for snagging things that ain't his... Unless of course you want to keep little old me company whilst i rub the horses down."
 
Aerilaya just looked towards him before she spoke, "Everybody has to potential to have more going on than what others think. Everybody has their own secrets to hide, and he is no different." With that she was giving a shrug before she was climbing down form the carriage, brushing off her skirts before she was commenting that she had never stated she wouldn't give the new group a chance. She just wished that the warrior had at least talked to them about it first, especially considering they were his current team, not the newcomers. "I'll hang out with you for now. You I trust more." she was commenting after a brief moment in time, as she walked up to the horse and was just gently touching its nose.
 
Thors chuckled laughed a small bit before he shook his head, "Well then you'll be in for a treat i suppose, once the horses are rubbed down. We'll be eating then to the circus." He added, his hands working on the fur with a brush as the horse seemed to be enjoying it for now. The brown fur getting a nice sheen to it with every brush he made. The half-orc took in a deep breath before he chewed his gum a little, feeling the little bit where his tusks used to be before they had been... removed. "I'm glad i'm trusted though, i was always told i have those faces." he mused as he gestured to the scars that plagued his face before he shrugged. "If it means anything, i trust you as well. I am glad you told me, can't imagine what it's like to have something like that resting on your chest." He said, he was lying but he was a good liar and made it come across as sincere, checking the horse for a few bits of lice or ticks.
 
Aerilaya just studied him for a moment in time although she didn't really say anything in return. Nope something told her that there was more than what he was saying, but for the time being she wasn't going to push it. It probably wasn't important at all. Her attention turned back towards the horse when it snorted at her before she spoke, "Let him finish brushing you down then we'll go and get you an apple or two." After that she was commenting that food sounded good, and she was definitely looking forward to the circus. That was going to be quite fun. Her attention did turn away briefly when she heard Nemoth make a comment, which honestly had her wondering where the hell the dragon was at that point in time anyways.
 
Thors seemed fixated on the task of brushing the horse, just the simple motion of bringing the brush side to side, following the lines of her fur as he brushed it. Hearing the nice schwip of bristles smoothing them out. He seemed almost a little at peace whilst doing it. Within a few moments though he snapped out of the trance he had put himself in before clearing his throat and nodded at Aerilaya for them to give them some apples. He frowned a little as she seemed distracted before he pointed at the bag in the wagon. "Come on you can feed them the apples, just be careful i was told this one bites." he said pointing at the brown one. With a click of his tongue he heard a loud rumble as his stomach complained of its lack of food.
 
Aerilaya was turning her attention back towards Thors for a moment in time before she was prancing over to where the apples were at, before she was grabbing some out, and walking back over to the horses. She was offering an apple to one of horses before she was offering one to the brown horse. "Perhaps the horse didn't like whoever had him before." the young woman was commenting as she was rubbing the creature's nose, a soft smile on her lips before she was commenting that the horse had been perfectly fine with him around. "Animals know when a person is good or bad."
 
"It is always a possibility that there have been some bad experiences in the horses life. Seems happy to be getting out of there." He said, feeling the lightness of his coin purse having bought them and owned them. He let out a slow sigh before smiling a little at her as he watched the the brown horse reach forward. With a munch the horse chewed the apple contently before it went to get more, and more and if she wasn't careful it would take a munch of her hand, only gently though. "If animals know good from bad it can always be a good idea to carry one around." He chuckled before he let out a sigh after he finished with the horse and threw his brush into the wagon.

Thors cleared his throat as he looked at her, "Come let's get some food and then enjoy an evening of well i suppose entertainment." He added and clapped her shoulder as he walked past her and went to get a meal. It was a simple meal of potato and bacon soup, with some very, very fresh bread. It was a hearty meal, before the bustle of the circus was open up and tickets were being collected. There was a fair few people who had decided to visit the set up inside was grand and elaborate and there had been a great amount of props set up in the ring.
 
Aerilaya looked towards him for a moment in time before she was following after him to get some food. She was getting something simple, and just looking around for a brief moment in time. It was relatively calm at that point in time, despite the hustle and bustle of the circus happening. There was no surprise at all that she spotted their dear warrior friend was coming towards them, and it seemed like following after happened to be those that Thors had met earlier, or that is what she was assuming anyways. "There you guys are." the warrior was commenting as he was sitting down next to them. Aerilaya was taking a small bite from her bread, and just gave a slight wave towards them.
 
Thors waved as well as the warrior approached before letting out a hearty belch. "Oh excuse me, glad you finally found us." He said in a tone that seemed to be hinting that he was just expecting to have a quiet evening of entertainment. The wind blew through the tent causing the purple flaps to fall shut, then along with that flames began to ignite around the inside. The audience let out an awe of surprise, the flames were not orange, or red.

They were blue.

They cast their spectral light among the crowd, making the inside appear cold and costly, despite the fact that the flames were alight. The shadows of the audience moved in the fire light, trying to find a way to constantly remain put without being pushed back from the flames. There was a brief moment of quiet before there was a woosh and two trapeze artists began to swing around. The costumes they were wearing were elegant and consisted of bone and colourful feathers to make them stand out. They flipped, they caught, they lunge across impossible distances and when you just thought they were going to miss a part they caught the other person.

That was until one of them, a copper skinned woman flung forward and missed her catch. She fell to the ground with a crash and splat as orange flames erupted out towards everyone. She was most likely a fire fairy being able to do such a thing, with a few bits of trickery that had been laid up. The flames began to give way as more members of the troupe appeared out, dressed as the stereotypical view of demons and other hellish figures, tieflings and others seemingly amongst them as they began to move and dance in a transfixing way. Then all to soon they froze. The flames died away, leaving a simple glow as the veiled figure from before stood in the middle, her instrument in hand before she began to play.

The shadows started to dance around her along with the demonic figures, it sounded as though three people were playing instead of one as her fingers methodically plucked every string at the right moment, then her voice joined the melody as the sequence continued, the demonic figures and shadows began to crawl around her, before spreading out into the audience. Jumping and leaping around all perfectly rehearsed. Before she stopped, the song ending and her hold over them fading. Leaving the end of the first routine.

It seemed as though it was a way of demonstrating all the acts they had in stall for the audience before breaking off into their own longer solo routines. But it was certainly a way to open the circus.
 
Aerilaya just looked over towards the warrior although she didn't say anything at all, not after Thors had belched and spoken. Nope there wasn't really anything that she wanted to say at that point in time. For the time being she was just going to enjoy the show that was occurring in front of her, leaning forward in her seat a bit as she watched. The blue flames were most impressive, and then she was watching the copper skinned woman lunge forward, and completely miss her catch. Well that definitely had everybody in the audience give gasps of shock, but in the end it seemed like it had been perfectly planned. A unique and interesting twist. Definitely not something that most performers would do, intentionally fall just to create a unique opening. Oh now that she heard the music... this was the woman that she had spotted earlier when she had stopped by the tent.
 
The circus continued on with that same feel of magic yet, also dark at the same time before things gradually came to a stop and with that they gave their final bows before the show had ended. Thors stretched his arms out and looked over at Aerilaya before giving a small smile as he nudged her with his foot. "Well it seems like it was worth the watch." He pointed out with a smile before he looked over the blue flames as they spluttered out to be replaced with the natural light, lamp like constructions began to flicker on with a faint fizz and the audience began to move away. The veiled player took her veil off showing a pale black haired female face with soft features as she stretched her arms over her head and removed her costume showing more casual tunic and trousers underneath. With that she began to clear away before spotting Aerilaya and gave a smile and wave, her black eyes meeting hers for a moment. Just seemingly being friendly.
 
Aerilaya was just watching the show intently, hardly noticing that Thors had nudged her with his foot. Heard him speak though, which had her giving a nod of her head. Most definitely worth it. No doubt about it. "This was.... impressive. And amazing!" she spoke after a moment in time before she was watching as the woman was taking off her veil. Yeah definitely the woman that she had seen earlier, and she was a bit shocked to make eye contact with the woman. She was giving a smile in return before she was getting to her feet as everybody else began to get up. Well that was a fun show. Beautiful, and definitely not something she had truly watched before. Sure there had been circus' that would visit the palace when she had been there, but it wasn't often that she actually went to attend the show.
 
Thors clear his throat and gave her a wide toothy grin before he followed the warrior out as he stretched his hands over his head. "Well if we ever see them again i'll definitely be visiting." he said before he cleared his throat and glanced at Aerilaya. "Now i guess we just have a job to do and try not to die." He joked as he rolled his arms around and patted her shoulder. "i'm sure it'll be fine right...What do we have to do again?" He questioned as the group were seemingly already making their way back to the wagon. "Or is there anyone we have to see first?"
 
Aerilaya was giving a small giggle before she nodded her head then spoke, "Oh yes I most definitely agree with this notion." There was a faint smile on her lips before she was just looking towards the others then looked at Thors when he was asking what they had to do again. This had her thinking for a brief moment in time before she spoke, "We were going to go and retrieve some artifact." Not much information had really been given about said artifact, other than it was something important, that had been stolen away from some rich family a few nights ago. They were paying a handsome amount for somebody to retrieve it and return it to them.
 
Thors frowned a little before he nodded his head, "Right, of course got it. Though where are we going? Whilst i'm all for riding around in circles." He said as the group began to get onto the wagon and nestled in and Thors headed to the front to get the horses hitched up and ready to go as he worked quickly. "But how hard can it be to grab an artefact eh?" He asked her with a smile as the horses were hitched up without too much trouble at all.
 
Aerilaya was giving a small shrug of her shoulders before she spoke, "Not sure where we are going. They only have an idea of who took the artefact. One of the mercenary groups. Scarlet Jackals I believe. Weird name, but it works for them I suppose. They have become feared." With that she was looking towards the others that walked up to them. Oh the people that the Warrior had ended up joining up with. For the time being she was merely going to remain silent, not really wanting to socialize much with strangers. Although that wasn't really abnormal for her. It had taken her a bit to warm up to Thors and the warrior, and now she could hold a decent conversation with them. Well Thors more than the warrior.
 
Thors nodded his head as he ran a hand through his hair before he cracked the rains causing the horse and cart to begin walking forward. "Well then we'll head towards the edge of town and ask some of the guards if they have seen them leaving or coming in." He pointed out as they made their way through the quiet cobbled streets, the horses hooves clopping on the stone beneath them. The guards were positioned around the city edge looking tired, as was normal with the night shift. Just keeping an eye out for any bandits or unwanted people who would approach the town.
 
Aerilaya was giving a nod although for time being she was walking along beside the cart, not really wanting to sit at that point in time. And they were still in town so it didn't really matter much as it was. She was just trying to rack her brain for information about the mercenary group, just trying to figure out why that name seemed so familiar, but she wasn't coming up with anything. A small frown formed on her lips before she just shook it away and then studied the guards for a moment. Poor dears looked exhausted, but they would be getting switched out shortly with replacements, which was good for them.
 
The guards looked over the group before letting out a tired sigh. "Listen there are a lot of names that come through here, but..." he nodded his head, "I do remember those lot, the Scarlet Jackals, obnoxious lot who caused too much trouble. They left a few days ago proclaiming something or other that was going to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Bunch of nonsense really." he pointed out before spitting out a bit of phlegm. "I think they scarpered off after that, rushing into the forest. Don't know where they'd go in their, folk don't like going into that place." he mused as he looked over the edge of the looming trees that blocked the night sky. "Folk claim the fae make their home there....If you're going in, i'd be careful..."
 
Aerilaya listened to what the guard had to say about the mercenaries, how they had scampered off into the forest. Brave folk that was for sure, considering she knew that many people didn't like going there. What a better place to take off into, than a place where people refused to go to. She wasn't overly concerned about the fae though, if they were there. For the most part, as long as they didn't do anything stupid to harm the forest, the fae would leave them alone. Pester them at the most, but nothing harmful. She was looking towards the others for a moment in time before she was speaking in a soft voice, "Well I guess we know where we are venturing off to."
 
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