Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Alliance of Living Things (Team Story) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

ooc joe my charecters are not hobbits there very tall about 6 foot tall

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Yummy! My moldy, crunchy, mouth-watering... *drools* frruuuiitt cakkeee...

The darkening clouds overhead roared angrily, growing ever closer, blocking out the high sun and peaceful sky, leaving the alliance with the freezing weather and the lonely road ahead. The rain grew harder until it began to sting the bare skin of the travellers, and the air was so thick with water that the path they walked upon was completely blocked from view. Random voices rang out, but only one, that which was closest, made it clear to Nixus’ ears.
‘Nixie!’ It was Yunaleska. ‘Nixie where are you? I can’t see a thing!’
The voice was coming from just beside Nixus.
‘I can’t see either!’ Nixus cried back. ‘Yuna, take hold of my hand!’
Yunaleska squinted through the rain and Nixus’ young hand suddenly appeared from a space just to the girl’s left. Yuna slipped her own hand into the mage’s; at least now two of the six would not lose each other.
Another voice, Joe’s this time, rang out into the storm, but Yunaleska and Nixus could only make out random words. ‘…shelter in…trees… …go further!’
Nixus led Elanor into the forest just to her left and Yunaleska followed, still clinging tightly to the mage’s hand. The air was still clouded with rain, but it was easier to see at least five or six meters ahead fairly clearly. Yuna could see the back feet of another titan just ahead, flickering in and out of view. She pointed this out to Nixus and the two girls sped their titans up, eventually catching the phantom titan. It was K'reec'renetch'oorom. The poor moogle sat shivering, his tiny eyes clamped shut, the pinkish leathery wings around his miniature bear-like figure, and his tiny paws hung loosely to the titan reins. Nixus and Yuna rode either side of the moogle, calling out to him, but he wouldn’t reply. Nixus reached out and lifted the moogle from the titan, and held him close to her, closing her travelling cloak to keep the rain from him. He shook violently against Nixus, the red pom-pom atop his head swaying rapidly in front of the mage’s face.

The two girls and the moogle struggled on through the raging storm for another few hours, Nixus holding the moogle, Yunaleska leading Elessar as well as her own titan.

(ooc)When Yuna and Nixus had heard Joe call “go further” he had actually called “Don’t go further”. They had missed the “don’t” because of the noise of the storm.bic)

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When doubts arise, the game begins

[This message has been edited by Nixus (edited 09-10-2003).]

OOC: Well, I'm back, I just moved here to Tennesee, and have a bit more free time on my hands. I do regret not being able to join this team story earlier, but I was preoccupied with moving, among other things, and didn't have enough free time to post more than a little at a time here. I'm back now, so is it possible that I could join this story as a titan-rider? If not, then something else?

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--Fanatic72802 (GameFanatic)
Will the real God please stand up?

[OOC] Fanatic: Joe's herd is so small because the rest of his trained titans were captured when some bad guy raided and destroyed his ranch, which is recounted in [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum5/HTML/000506-3.html#bigjoe04-24-200303:03PM"]Joe's history[/url]. I limited the number of titans because even from when I first created this character, I wanted him to lead a group of riders someplace, and I figured that more than six other people would make it too difficult to coordinate. But I neglected the snail's pace of this board, and I'm finding that my limit is just making the story go very slowly, and I'm starting to wish I hadn't put it in place. However, I feel we have to maintain continuity in order to make the story any good, meaning we have to maintain the number of titans in Joe's original herd. Also, since they've already left Cademia, it will be very difficult to bring in a character who is still back there. If you can invent some way for Pyrus or Fanatic or another character to intercept and join the group, I would be happy for you to participate.

To everyone participating: In case you can't tell, I'd like this story to read as much like a real story as possible. Everyone is doing a good job of keeping it nice and literary-feeling, so keep up the good work. I've seen some team stories on this board and other places that wind up reading like [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/newsdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=52&forum=*Cythera+Chronicles&DaysPrune=25&article=000128&startpoint="]Ping's Chronicle[/url]. Thanks again for your participation, everyone. Oh, and sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've had a busy month preparing for and moving into college ([url="http://"http://www.tamu.edu"]Texas A&M University - Gig'em Aggies![/url]). Now that I'm here, I'm starting to realize what a light schedule I have this year, so I should be able to post a little more. [/OOC]

Joe pulled his soggy hat low to his head in a futile effort to keep the rain out of his face. The cold, pouring rain was coming in every direction at once, and even when water wasn't in his eyes, Joe could hardly see the muddy road only a few feet in front of his titan.
"Joe! Where'd you go!? Can't see a blasted thing!" the boy Thomas shouted into the wind.
"Right here to your left. Here," Joe responded loudly, as he handed him a rope. "Tie it to Ory's harness. I've got the other end tied to Giant."
"We can't go any farther in this weather!" Villa anounced to the world.
"Everyone! We have to stop here! There's a forest here! We can shelter in the trees!" Joe shouted at the top of his lungs,and then paused for a second to catch his breath. "But don't go any farther into the forest than you have to! Bandits and wolflizards! Yell if you heard me!" Several responses were muffled by the storm. Joe headed Green Giant to the nearest grove, leading Ory carrying Thomas, who was curling his hands up into his sopping wet cloak.
Joe reached the grove, told Giant and Ory to lie down, and showed Thomas how to make a small, inadequate lean-to out of his cloak and the side of his titan away from the wind. Joe then began looking for the others.

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"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Inventor of the "Analytical Engine", the first computer.

[This message has been edited by Big Joe (edited 09-03-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Big Joe (edited 09-07-2003).]

OOC: Well, I wanted to join this team story because the Tavern was going nowhere. Here goes nothing. BIC:

-A few hours ago-
Pyrus looked around. A young waitress carrying a few empty platters approached him and said, "Welcome to Ratlizard's! How may I help you?"
Pyrus replied, "I'm looking for..." but was cut off by the door bursting open some five yards behind him. There in the doorway stood the two men from before who had been chasing him. They looked around, but the crowd was thick from the evening rush, so they didn't notice him. "I'm looking for another way out," he said, taking her hand and putting a few obloi in it. "Can you help me?"
Looking at the two, then looking back at the expression on Pyrus' face, the waitress realized the situation immediately. "There's a back way our through the kitchen," she said. "Follow me and keep your head down."
As they walked, Pyrus questioned her. "Do you know where I can get a ride out of town?"
"Of course," she said, "There is a Titan breeder who lives on the outskirts of town, an old man called Kelix."
"I see. Thank you for your help," he said, standing finally in the kitchen doorway. Giving her a couple more obloi, he set out for Kelix's.

"You want a titan?" Kelix asked. "They're not cheap, but let's see what we can do. This is Striver," he said, leading him to a holding pen. "A good titan, she's fast, and has high stamina, but a bit on the temperamental side. Here," he said, hoisting Pyrus up into the saddle, "How is it?"
In truth, it was a bit uncomfortable. "Well, er..."
"Good! That settles it. Now let's talk about the cost," Kelix said. This was going perfectly. He would be well rid of the most troublesome of the beasts, and collect a hansdome fee for doing so.
"There he is, get him!" came a voice.
Pyrus looked back. There were the two men, running towards them. Striver apparently felt threatened by them, and, with a great bellow, charged, knocking the wall in front of her down and ran off, Pyrus still stuck in the stirrups.
"Hey! Get back here and pay me! You theif!" Kelik shouted, but Pyrus was already long gone, off into the gathering storm.
"You. You helped him escape," One of the men said.
"You are allied with him," the other one added.
"Come with us. There are a few questions we would like to ask you," the first man said.

Joe looked eastward into the storm. Had he heard yelling? Wait, there it went again. He could almost make out the words.
"Help! Someone, stop this crazy titan!"
An out of control Titan came into view, galloping at full speed, it's rider dangling from the side. Joe ran out of the way just in time to feel the wind from the passing Titan. It was not ten yards away then the rider's foot came free of the stirrup and he crumpled to a heap on the ground.
"Hey!" Joe said, running towards him. "Hey, are you alright?" Joe knelt down beside him.
"Ouch," Pyrus said, "That smarts!"
"You're bleeding badly. Let's get you to shelter." Joe said. "Can you stand?" he asked.
Pyrus stood, and staggered a bit. "Yeah, I can stand." This was not at all what he thought an adventure would be like. Not at all.

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--Fanatic72802 (GameFanatic)
Will the real God please stand up?

Ferazel stared wide-eyed where Pyrus and his Titan had just crashed through the brush. He dismounted and came over. "That looks pretty serious," he said. Ferazel knew that he couldn't fix the damage magically immediatly as there were internal injuries as well, but found some herbs to apply to the wounds. A disenfectant lotion was conjured and also applied to the wounds.

"I'm not entirely sure how long it will take to heal." Ferazel said, "You should get to shelter, though."

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Key Part in the making of Xichra's Revenge.
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Welcome to the lighthouse at the bottom of the hill / we don't get many guests 'round here; some say we never will / the world is crumbling before your eyes, before your vacant stare / listen to the sound of trees falling when nobody is there.
---

Kelix received another punch in the face. This one knocked him to the ground and, before he could get up on his feet again, Sineval placed his right foot on Kelix's right shoulder, holding him down. He groaned as the sharp pain jolted through his arm.
Kalain unsheathed a katana sword that he had been concealing in his robes. The sun shone down on the blade and onto Kelix's eyes, blinding him.
"This isn't actually turning out in your favor, but we could make this as painless as possible," Kalain threatened, "where was the boy headed?"

Sweat ran down Kelix's forehead as he exclaimed "I have no idea! He ran off with my best titan and didn't even pay me!" He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the silhouette before him, but was still blinded by the bright light from the sword's blade.
His two assailants weren't to happy with the answer he had just given. Instead of blinding Kelix and hurting his eyes, the blade was now aimed at his throat. "I'm not going to repeat myself," Kalain answered, "and as you probably understand, we don't have all the time in the world. Tell us now and we won't kill you."

"I'm telling you, I don't know where he was headed!" Kelix started to realise that his life was on the line, and that he was in a no-win situation. "You with the authorities? Then take me in, arrest me, haul me to the goddamned jail, do whatever you want, just don't kill me!"

Kalain smiled at his companion. They started to chuckle, and it soon developed into diabolical laughter.
"We are willing to forget about this whole affair if you would lend us a couple of your titans there" Sineval said, gesturing towards the holding pen.
"Fine! Take all of them if you want, just let me live!" Kelix exclaimed. Sineval removed his boot from the shivering man's shoulder. "Smart man" he said and walked towards the holding pen.
They found a couple of vigorous looking titans and got into their saddles. "We follow the tracks as far as they go" Kalain said, and with a loud "hee-yah!" to get the beasts going, they set after Pyrus.

(edit: spelling)

[This message has been edited by Rogan (edited 09-07-2003).]

Joe carried Pyrus to the shelter he had begun to prepare in the windbreak of Thomas's titan, Ory. Ferazel followed, leading both Pyrus's titan Striver and his own titan, Dory. Pyrus had not brought any sort of survival equipment, only a short sword and some new, stiff leather armor. "Poor kid, off on some adventure to slay dragons or some such. Didn't give a thought to the possibility of bad weather," Ferazel whispered to Joe as he tended to Pyrus's wounds.
"Or untrained mounts," Joe said as he led the titans to lay down as wind breaks around the camp. "The boy's titan has calluses at the base of his neck and his front- and mid-shoulders. Those only come from pulling a plow or wagon. He was a working beast, not trained for riding at all. It's no wonder the boy had to hang on for dear life. It can take years to train a titan to be ridden." Joe finished up the hide tent in the middle of the ring of titans, their huge bodies preventing the wind from blowing it away. Joe entered the tent, and knelt down near Pyrus. "Boy, I know you don't really feel great right now, but I have to know two things. First, what is your name, and second, where did you get that titan? That titan wasn't meant to be ridden at all."
"Heh. Well, I guess I kinda figured that part out when he dragged me here all the way from Cademia. My name is Pyrus, and ... well, I don't think we ever actually "finalized the transaction", but the man I got the titan from was named Kelix, on the south side of the city."
Joe was suddenly quite angry. "Uncle Kelix?! That stupid old geezer! I wish I could get my hands on him! I only sell him working stock. He knows that! If he's selling them as riding stock, I'll have his head! It puts people's lives at risk, and it's not good for the animals, either. Plus, he’s cheating people out of their money. A working titan is worth no where near as much as a riding one."
"Why do you do business with him if you don't like him?" Villa piped up from behind, intrigued, now that the conversation had turned to his kind of business.
"Well, he's the only other living relative I've got. I feel like I'm obligated, since he is my dad's brother and everything. He’s basically just a middle man, anyway. He knows just enough about titans to care for them long enough to sell them. Oh well. Now that I’ve only got a few titans left, and people are using them, I don’t really have a herd to sell to him.” Villa, disappointed at the impossibility of entering a lucrative market, curled back up in his cloak.
Joe stuck his head out the tent flap. He motioned Ferazel over to join him. “It’s been a little while since we were forced to take shelter. I think we should have run across the girls and the moogle by now. The wind is letting up a little, we need to go look for them.”
“I agree. This is not a good area for a traveler to be lost in, no matter how tough they are. But this new boy needs my attention. This cold rain can only make things worse for an injured person” Ferazel replied.
“Villa, come here,” Joe called. “You and I are going to go look for Nixus, Yunaleska, and the moogle.”
“I’m sure they’re all right, Joe. They’ll run across our little camp in no time.”
“No, we’re going. Now. They are my responsibility, and there are some rather unfriendly things in this forest.” Joe pulled his cloak around him, left the tent, and walked over to where he had left his titan, Green Giant. Villa followed, cursing the foul weather under his breath, and mounted his titan, Glorfindel. Before Joe mounted Green Giant, he repositioned the titans remaining around the tent to fill in the gaps, and also double checked the stakes at the corners of the tent. Then he and Villa rode into the forest, shouting the names of their missing friends.

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"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Inventor of the "Analytical Engine", the first computer.

Kalain got up and brushed the dirt off his cloak. He looked around for a few moments before the grunts of Sineval caught his attention.
He grabbed the fairly large branch covering Sineval's torso and threw it away.
"I guess the old man ripped us off" he said.
"No kidding" Sineval said with a dry voice as he got up from the shrubbery he landed in. "He must pay, but we have to deal with personal business later."
Kalain bent down and looked at the ground. "The tracks lead in this direction" he said, gesturing at a path of broken twigs and bushes, "looks like we have to follow him by foot."

-----

Joe froze as he heard a noise, in the distance. "Villa, did you hear something?" he whispered to his companion. Villa however, was too busy cursing the weather and wasn't paying too much attention.
Joe ordered his titan to a halt, narrowed his eyes and looked into the forest, trying to confirm the noise he just heard.
"Hey! Over there!" Villa directed Joe's attention towards some bushes in the distance.
"I think I saw..."
Before Villa could say any more, they both saw a figure appraoching them. The rain was getting heavier, so they couldn't make out the figure until he was getting closer. Too close for Joe's liking. "That's neither the girls nor the moogle" Joe muttered to himself and raised his voice: "You there!"
He had been heard, and the figure stopped some twenty paces from them. Suddenly, a lightning bolt split the sky in half, illuminating everything around them, followed by a resounding thunder that could make the most rugged of adventurers need a clean pair of underwear. In that flash of an instant where everything was at its brightest, Joe was able to make out that it was a tall man, dressed in robes, with a hood. Dark colours. Or was that just rain that had soaked the garment? Now, it started to rain for real: The heavens literally wide open.
The figure drew closer. "I didn't expect to find anoyone else out here" he hollered. He stopped right next to Joe and his titan. "I got lost trying to locate some peppermint plants to use in my stew." He took the hood off his head, water running down his face, revealing a pale face, delicate nose and mouth, thin black hair and bright green, almond-shaped eyes. An elf. "Someone beat me to my usual place, and there wasn't a single plant left." he fumbled through his ropes to reveal a pouch filled with peppermint plants, along with a sharp sickle. "Weather gods aren't actually smiling at us today," he continued, "but you look like sturdy adventurers, unlike myself."
Joe and Villa dismounted from the huge beasts. Joe took the elf's hand and shook it. "Joe's my name, and this here is Villa." Villa nodded with a smile.
The elf nodded as well. "Greetings. D'ak Taan is my name." He looked around, looked at the sky, at the ground, took a deep breath before he continued, "it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere until this blows over. Where are you headed?"
"We're looking for some friends of us," Joe answered promptly, "we set up a camp not far from here."
D'ak Taan smiled. "Is there a chance you have some spare shelter for me? I can help out searching for your friends, if you want to."



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Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.

The rain thundered on without rest, never lightening. The three companions, Yunaleska, Moogle and Nixus, trudged endlessly through the never ending mud, roaring wind, fallen branches, and thick, water stained air, until finally they came to a cliff. The rock wall rose far above the travellers, not that they could see that far above themselves. The followed the wall for what seemed to be hours, but was in reality barely ten minutes. The trees began to grow thin next to the wall and eventually revealed a shallow cave gnawed into the earth.

The cave was just large enough to shelter two people, giving the three little room to stretch their legs. The titans were forced to make as much comfort for themselves just outside. With the titans crowded around the cave entrance, blocking the wind, the companions found that they were rather warm. Yunaleska and Nixus sat with their backs resting against one of the hard earth walls, their legs curled up in front of them, their toes pressed hard against the opposite wall. Moogle curled himself up across both girls’ laps, and it was not long before his soft snores rose up from his miniature, rain-soaked body.

‘We, too, should probably get as much sleep as possible while we have the cover,’ Nixus said, staring at the wall in front of her.
Yunaleska sighed. ‘Alright, goodnight Nixie.’ She leant her head against Nixus’ shoulder and tried her best to fall asleep in the tiny cramped shelter.
Nixus spent a short time continuing to stare at the opposite wall, before she too leant her head on Yunaleska and fell asleep. ‘Yeah…Goodnight Yunaleska.’

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When doubts arise, the game begins

Ferazel produced a small bag of medical supplies, and started sorting through it. Seeing the worried expression on Pyrus' face, he said, "Don't worry. It'll be alright; I'll take care of you."
"It's not that I'm worried about, it's those men who were after me..." Pyrus said.
"Men?" Ferazel asked, "What men?"
"There were two of them, and they...chased me through what seemed like all of Cademia before I got that Gods-forsaken Titan that dragged me there. I almost feel...sorry for old man Kelix; I left him there with those two."
Ferazel thought for a moment. If they were chasing after him, they must want something they thought he had, which meant they would be coming...Well, no time for that now. He could tell Joe later. "Where does it hurt?" He asked.
"My left arm." There was a large bloodstain on his shirt. "And I...feel a bit dizzy."
Ferazel pushed the sleeve up and looked at his arm, which had a deep cut running along it. "No wonder, it looks like you've lost quite a bit of blood. Here, take these." He produced a couple of bittersweet smelling herbs. "These will make you sleep, so that you won't feel a thing when I start to fix you up. Eat them."
Pyrus complied, but only felt more dizzy afterwards. "Feel...dizzy. Head feels..."
"Sleep, now." Ferazel commanded. The room started spinning into darkness.

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--Fanatic72802 (GameFanatic)
Will the real God please stand up?

Villa stared at the elf and an idea sprung to mind.
"Joe-" he whispered "if you let this fella here come along you and him could find the others in no time, you wouldn't need me then."
Villa looked longingly back towards the dry tent, and the stuttering fire he was sure provided no warmth for those huddled around it, trying desperatly to burn fuel far too wet.
"No, the more of the us searchng the better, I think Villa. I think they rode off in this direction." He pointed to a dripping clump of trees, shook by the wind.
"Hope up, D'ak Taan, we'll start searching. Keep your eyes open."
The elf jumped to Glorfindle's back where Joe had indicated and grabbed hold of Villa to steady himself. Villa mumbled and pushed the tempremental green titan into an easy canter, following Joe's back, doused in rain.
"It would help if I knew who we were looking for. Can you vneture a description?"
Villa mumbled shortly about the two girls, and the odd bear like creature, giving as best description as he could; "running off like that without waiting for the rest of us and-"
So the search began.


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Better to die on your feet then live on your knees.

(ooc) Hi I decided to be the evil side but not with my charecters. (bic)
The bones of old knights snapped back into place as the undead army stood up. The knights picked up their rusted swords and sheilds. The cave door was closed for it was not half moon, yet when that night comes the undead army will move out of the cave to reck havock apon the land.
The Time Of Reckoning Has Come!

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Yummy! My moldy, crunchy, mouth-watering... *drools* frruuuiitt cakkeee...

Quote

[OOC] Good work, Pippin, with the whole "meanwhile, at our heroes' destination" thing. An undead army guarding the cave should make the story more interesting. It makes me wonder - what raised the dead like that? If you don't mind, I've got a suggestion. In my initial post, Fauna said that the animal-speech charm is in that cave in the first place because the owner of it went crazy and hid in there while still wearing the charm. The crazy old mage could still be living there, using arcane magiks to raise up an army of undead. Pippin, if you want, I give you permission to control/operate that crazy old mage for use in this story. Email me at [url="http://"mailto:bigjoe_512@yahoo.com"]mailto:bigjoe_512@yahoo.com[/url]bigjoe_512@yahoo.com to tell me what you think. [/OOC]

Back in the forest:
Joe yelled at the top of his lungs while searching for the girls and the moogle, but though he had a loud voice, his calls didn't carry more than a few yards in the torrential downpour. Villa and D'ak Taan weren't having any more success. To help with the search, the dark-elf mage summoned a bright blue orb of light, which he guided around shadowy trees and rocks with a wave of his hand.
"Joe, I think there may be a large cave under this pile of rocks. If they had any sense, they would have crawled into this one or one like it."
"Yeah, I know. That's what I'm afraid of. There's hundreds of caves like that all over this forest, and that's where the spiders live," Joe responded.
"I keep forgeting we're in spider country. They normally avoid me because of my magic." D'ak Taan said. "They can sense it."
"Doesn't Nixus have some magic abilities?" Villa asked Joe.
"Yes, but it's not the same. Her magics are much different than that of the typical mage. I don't know what effect her magical abilities will have on the spiders, or if they will have any effect at all. I hope they didn't crawl into an inhabited cave."
After checking the cave, the three continued on their search.

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"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Inventor of the "Analytical Engine", the first computer.

They ventured further into the forest, searching across cave after cave. Each one turned out blank, little more then a sandy hole in the ground with a puddle of water where the rain had penetrated. By this time all three adventurers were sodden to the bones, the chilling rain wipped into a frenzy by even more ferocious winds. Joe yelled at his companions to follow him, leading them to the entrance of one of the scattered caves. He tied the titans reigns to a tree and told them to stay there. They were scittish, grunting with wild eyes in the flashing lightning.
Joe ran inside the cave, jumping down the small hole; he was followed by the moaning Villa, the elf and his glowing ball. Villa landed soflty on the muddy sand and brushed himself off, shaking his hair out of the rain. D'ak Taan pushed his ball further into the middle of the sandy cave. There was a short chittering, and all was silent- Villa looked worridly at Joe, who looked worrdily at D'ak Taan; who in turn looked worridly at the darkness surrounding them.
It was clear this cave was bigger then any they had entered so far, a cool breeze ruffled slightly the wet clothing of the travellers, sending chills up their spines. Joe sat himself down on a large rock in the middle of the cave and motioned for the others to join him.
"No point in running about in the rain, we'll never find them in this weather and if they've any sense what so ever they'll stay put into it passes aswell. We might as well wait here."
Villa nodded heartily. Joe was right- they shouldn't go galavanting about in the rain for no purpose, the three sat with backs together, D'ak Taan's ball of light hovering above their heads.
"No point in wasteing mana, and we're not going to see anything in here anyway." There was a sizzle and the ball of blue light flickered out of existance.
The cave now was almost pitch black; a shaft of light and rain from the hole, and an erie dull blue glow from one of Villa's fingers.
They sat in silence, and after a short while Villa noticed a sound. A chittering, scurrying clickaticlack noise; all around them. "Can you hear it?" Villa whispered, shaking quietly with fear. D'ak Taan nodded, and lit the ball of light again.
The three gained a fleeting glance of legs running backwards, a sudden burst of almost inaudible sound and once again a chittering. Villa drew out his sling and loaded a single obol like disk. Joe too, armed himself.
"I think we should leave- now!" The three jumped and turned, running for the entrance- but suddenly it wasn't there. Villa ran towards where it used to be and fell backwards, stumbling away.
He was white with fear, teeth chattering. "It's all cob webs, they've sealed us in we're trapped!"
Joe pushed Villa aside and thrust his sword at the wall of web that blocked the world outside. His thrusts were useless, the web being spun from something above regenerated flawlessly.
Joe gave it up as futile, and faced the darkness, D'ak Taan and Villa either side.
There was silence, and in the silence was whipered by a petrified Villa- "We're not alone..."

[ooc] I won't be here for the next few days, so I apologise in advance. [bic]

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Better to die on your feet then live on your knees.

D'ak Taan muttered something under his breath as he produced a ball of fire from his right hand. He thrust it towards the cobwebs. In a bright flash of fire, the ball exploded and the webs burst into flames. Slowly regenerating, but not fast enough to keep up with the flames, they began collapsing.
"That takes care of that" D'ak Taan grinned and turned around to face Joe and Villa. However, turning around, he eyed a shadow on the opposite wall. The others had seen it as well.

There was that noise again... with the fire burning behind them, they had enough light to make out the creatures they had felt the presence of. "It's coming from down there!" Villa cried and pointed at an opening in the cavern wall which seemed to extend into the darkness. Actually, there were two different openings in the cavern wall, both equally large. It seemed like they served as exit and entrance for whatever lived down there. Suddenly, a huge spider - reaching the tallest of the men to his knees - leaped towards them. Villa reacted swiftly, and placed a disk from his sling in what was believed to be the spider's forehead.
More spiders came to aid their brethren, and soon the opening was filled with the foul creatures. They charged and closed in on the men. Villa turned around, attempting to run for it, but the opening in the burning cobwebs wasn't large enough for anyone to pass through. "It's regenerating too fast!" he shouted and placed another disk in his sling.

D'ak Taan hurled a bolt of lightning towards the attacking spiders, immediately filling the air with a sickening smell of burnt, rotting flesh that could make anyone gag. The smoke from the burning cobwebs was also flowing into the cavern, making it more difficult to breathe. D'ak Taan whipped a katana sword out of his robes and charged at the spiders together with Joe. Villa launched his projectiles from a distance.
Hacking and slashing at the spiders, the men realized that they couldn't wait for the cobwebs to vanish. The smoke would have rendered them unconscious and made them into easy prey for the spiders, that didn't seem to mind the fire nor the smoke, in no time.
"We can't do this much longer!" Joe shouted as he brought down another spider.
"We're trapped! Doomed!" Villa cried, almost frightened to death.
"Wait! Down there!" Joe noticed that not a single spider had emerged from the second opening in the cavern wall. "Follow me!" he headed for the opening. "It's our only chance!" he crouched and started walking into the darkness, followed by Villa. D'ak Taan came in last, and managed to impale a following spider with his sword. A couple more spiders followed, and met the same destiny. The carcasses blocked the entrance, making it more difficult for their pursuers. "That should hold them off... at least for a short period of time".
The air was extremely damp, and they could hear water dripping in the distance. The hole didn't seem to narrow as they went further down, but it wasn't becoming anymore roomy either. D'ak Taan produced the blue orb of light again, sending it downwards so that they wouldn't have to proceed in pitch darkness.

------------------
Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.

Yunaleska shivered. The cold from the rain was blistering and more then the younger girl could handle. She had lived in the forest for years, subject to all types of weather conditions but this seemed almost unnatural. Almost as if some stronger power was behind it.

The storm had been raging for days, lightening at times but quickly resorting back to its fierce state. The titans became restless quickly, they didn’t like the storm much either and liked being couped up even less. The animals were strong and could go out at times but even they couldn’t handle the immense winds at times.

The Moogle seemed to suffer more than the rest of them. The small animal kept to himself a lot however Nixus seemed to handle him well. Yuna was never quite sure what to think of the small moogle. He looked so scared and useless however the teeth and claws he possessed changed your mind quickly.

With the storm not looking to ease soon the young girl settled back. It was times like this she missed her old life, her friends, and her family. They had meant so much to her, even if they were animals. Sighing the young girl wished with all her might that Joe was looking for them. She would never admit it to Nixus but she was scared. Terrified in fact …


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Ferazel looked back over at Pyrus, who was still sleeping soundly. The cot he slumbered on was rather old and rickety, but Pyrus didn't look too heavy.
Or perhaps, Ferazel thought, not so soundly. Presently, he shifted in his sleep, the cot creaking dangerously. Ferazel moved closer to investigate.
"...And some onions..." came a mumble from under the sheet, along with another shift, which caused the cot to creak even more menacingly. Perhaps Pyrus was heavier than he looked.
Ferazel, deciding that he should wake Pyrus before he did any real damage, shook him lightly. "Hey...you all right?"
"...Tomatoes, too..."
Ferazel shook him a bit harder.
"Hey, wake up," Ferazel said, and shook harder.
Pyrus' eyes snapped open, and he immediately sat up. The action was so sudden and forceful that the cot resigned and collapsed from under him with a resounding crash.
"Ow!" Pyrus exclaimed.
"Hey, you alright?" Ferazel said, looking at the broken cot and sighing.
"Yeah. I'm pretty much alright, 'cept for this ache in my side."
"No, I mean, you were out for days."
"No kidding," Pyrus replied and winced as he tried to get up. The ache in his side turned out to be that wound he had recieved from falling, allegedly a few days earlier, from his titan. Now, it smarted like all get out.
"...Definitely not my idea of an adventure..." Ferazel heard him mutter, and stared at him with a strange expression on his face.
"What did you expect?" Ferazel asked. "Well, anyway, that might smart for a while, but I've magically treated it, and it should be healed in no time." He paused, and looked at the tent flap. "Confound it, I wish Joe would hurry up and find them!"

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--Fanatic72802 (GameFanatic)
Will the real God please stand up?

[This message has been edited by Fanatic72802 (edited 09-28-2003).]

{ooc: hi like i said in the team story i sort of started i would look at posts for a bit. I think i can write a post that might help out the team story rather than hinder it. bic:}

On the fith day of the storm, the wind howled more than blew and to make it worse it started to hail. Which made it impsooible for Thomas to sleep. He looked around to see if any one was up still or if they all had finally drifted to sleep. Thomas smiled when he noticed no movement besides the normal toss and turns. With this chance Thomas sat up on his cot and picked up his belongings. after he was packed he head out of the tent, he made sure no rain or hail got in.

Thomas headed past the titans, and off into the forest. After about a mile of walking Thomas sat down in the protectiong of a big tree. He was suprised that most of the ground was dry, here he pulled out a book given to him by a friend, Acrolek. he looked through the brown book. These were some of the basic spells that Acrolek and Val knew. They hoped that he would look at it and learn most of them so then he could go on thier adventures.

Thomas settled in, and started to read the book. After a bit Thomas fell asleep (which never happened before in a storm) while reading. When he woke, he noticed that there was some frost on the ground, and some sunlight came through the clouds and trees, providing a little warmth. "In the weather that I dont need warmth, it gives me some." Thomas muttered to him self. Since Thomas and Acrolek were raised on mountains, they were basically imune to ice spells and snowy weather, although rain still affected Thomas, he didnt get as cold from the rain as the other adventures.

Thomas picked up the book and replaced it, and when he left the cover of the tree it was still rain but a little more lightly. He decided to head back to camp before more people got lost try to find other adventures.

When he approached camp, he saw that Ferazel was up. As he neared Ferazel started to ask him some questions.

After five questions, Thomas finally answered:
"Okay, i am sorry i was not at the tent i might have scarred some of you that i suddenly dissappeared but it isn't my fault that i cant sleep when the windy is sitting right next to, howling at the top of its lungs!." Thomas exclaimed. "All i did was read a book, its not like i went around blowing up cities."

After Thomas finished that, he walked past Ferazel and head for where his bed was supposed to be. Already he was regreting yelling at Ferazel over something that seemed so insignificant, compared to what he had joined this quest for. Thomas noticed a few others up, woken by the converstation that they had. Thomas ignored them and fell a sleep on the grass instead of his bed roll.

{ooc: i hope this helps and doesnt hinder, if it does help then i think i am getting the hang of this and i think i might restart my team story. see ya. bic:}

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[This message has been edited by Dark Jet (edited 09-28-2003).]

Villa ran behind D'ak Taan at a manic pace, driving the dark elf forward into the gloom of the cave with whimpered remarks and half sarcastic, half terrified murmers. Joe followed behind the pair, jogging over uneven ground, sandy and dank (the water starting to seep through) and littered with jutting rocks.
D'ak Taan tripped, and feel heavily to the floor, his ball of bluey white light crashing into the ground as he flung his hands up with a sizzle. Villa didn't notice the stumble and ran blindly over the fallen form and crushing fingers into a sharp looking rock, D'ak taan let out a scream which setn Villa reeling, smacking his shoulder on an outcropping rock.
D'ak Taan stood up and glared furiously at Villa, holding a hand lacerated along the palm, dripping with bright red blood. Villa noticed the wound, and panicked "Did they get you where are they why didn't you tell me where is it where is it WHERE IS IT?!"
Joe slapped Villa and grabbed his jarred shoulder, brining him to his senses. "Villa, calm down!"
Villa's eyes darted from left to right, pupils widened with the darkness and fright. Joe held his eyes in a firm gaze and waited while Villa calmed down. He looked straight into Joe's eyes, his breathing slowing down. Villa could feel his heart rate decreasing, it was ok. There were no spiders, D'ak Taan had just tripped.
"Sorry Joe..." he murmered, looking down. D'ak Taan, having fashioned a quick bandage, leant against the tunnels walls.
"We need to take things slower, the spiders will take a little while to get to us and it's no good surviving a storm like that so we can kill ourselves running into walls. I suggest I continue taking the lead, as I know this area and we are bound to come to the surface soon enough, Villa you take up the rear this time, as your sling will keep the spiders off longer then Joe's sword will, at begenning at least."
Villa gulped, and nodded, the group took up their positions and continued at a less hurried pace.

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Better to die on your feet then live on your knees.

[This message has been edited by dusk (edited 11-29-2003).]

[OOC] Good to have you back, Dark Jet! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, everybody. My first round of tests were last week.
Okay, I'm a little bit obsessive-compulsive about certain things, and one of them is making sure everyone knows what's going on. To do that, I'm including a recap. Please don't shoot me.

Josephus the titan rancher was contacted by the spirit of the animals and commissioned to convince the humans and animals of the island to work together. To aid him, he was instructed to gather some friends and acquire an enchanted charm that would allow him to communicate with the animals. The charm is located in a cave on the south side of the island and is protected by a host of undead and a loony mage. Also, the door of the cave only opens at every waning half-moon, which was three nights after Joe was contacted by the spirit. Anyway, Joe did gather some friends and set out to retrieve this charm, but unfortunately, they encountered a terrible storm that has been raging for several days. Nixus, Yunaleska, and the Moogle were lost in the storm, and have taken shelter in a small cave. The rest of the party has set up a large tent as base camp, and they also ran into Pyrus, who is wounded and on the run from a pair of mysterious strangers. Joe and Villa set out to search for the girls and ran into a dark-elf mage, D'ak Taan, who agreed to help them find the others. After searching a long time, they were also forced to take shelter in a cave. Unfortunately, their cave was inhabited by several hundred extra-large, hungry spiders. Joe, Villa, and D'ak Taan held off the spiders, but were forced deeper into the cave. They are now searching for a way out.

Sorry, but I felt it was necessary now that we've got more than one page. Okay, on to the story.[/OOC]

Joe, Villa, and D'ak Taan continued deeper into the cave. Even though his paranoia had been the primary cause of the previous mishap, Villa continued to make comments about their situation. "You know, this floor continues to slope downhill. Are you sure we're headed towards an exit? I mean, I would think that..."
"Shut up already!" Joe cut him off. "I think you just enjoy hearing yourself complain. D'ak Taan knows where he's going."
"Actually, I've never been in this particular cavern," D'ak Taan replied honestly. "But I know that all of the caves in this area were formed by rain water soaking in and reacting with the limestone, and they normally have more than one opening to the surface due to sinkholes and water run-off."
Unfortunately, this did little to allay Villa's fears. He continued to moan about "getting lost in a disgusting spider pit miles underground."
Suddenly, D'ak Taan stopped in front of a small stream coming down a side passage. "It's a rain-fed stream," he said, after tasting some of the water. We can follow it upstream, and we should come out wherever the water is coming in." The three spelunkers began walking alongside the narrow stream.
"The cave around this little stream is quite wide and high. If the water carved this out, couldn't that mean that the stream could rise and fill up this whole tunnel?" Joe remarked. Villa whimpered.
"Yes, but something is restricting or diverting the water flow. We should be all right."
They continued up the underground stream bed, and as they ascended, the roof gradually got lower. Soon, they were unconsciously ducking to avoid bumping their heads against stalactites. The three only realized that the cave ceiling was lower when they were forced to start crawling. Villa, who had stayed quiet after the stream was discovered, resumed his complaints. "Why did we have to go this way? I'm not meant to be crawling through mud. I should be back in the warm tavern, playing dice." Joe was just about to give him a piece of his mind, and probably a piece of his boot, when D'ak Taan held up a warning hand.
"Hush, I see light ahead!" D'ak Taan called back. "And there's a few people at the mouth of the cave." As the cave had maintained it's width, if not it's height, Joe and Villa hurriedly crawled up beside him.
"The cave mouth is only big enough for one person to fit through," Joe said, examining the small aperture. The opening was responsible for letting some of the stream's water in, and the rest came down through cracks at the base of the rocky wall. "We'll have to go through one at a time. And the people out there are armed. If they aren't friendly, we could be in a lot of trouble."
"Well, I''m cold and wet and I don't care anymore. I'll go," Villa said.
"Not necessary. Look at the wall's base, cracking and crumbling away, letting the water in," D'ak Taan replied. "A well placed explosion should do the trick, and it would get the drop on any enemies. Get back."
*****************************
Nixus and Yunaleska sat together for warmth in their small cave. The moogle was still feeling quite poorly - his normally pink nose had turned blueish, and he continued to shiver in his sleep. "Poor thing, he's so sick, and he can't sleep soundly at all," Yuni commented to Nixus.
"Yeah, if we don't get out of here soon, there's not going to be much anyone can do for him. I don't know where he's from, but he obviously isn't cut out for this cold weather," Nixus replied. She looked at the little rivulets of water coming into the cave from outside. "It's a good thing Joe has his titans so well trained. If they weren't laying in front of the cave, blocking the water, this little place would be half full by now.... Say, did you hear something?"
"You mean other than the howling wind, pouring rain, and shivering moogle?" Yuni chuckled. "No, I can't say I have."
"Funny, could have sworn I heard something.... It sounded like someone muttering an Elven charm."
*****************************
"I placed a timed explosive rune on a small rock over there." D'ak Taan said to Joe, as he joined the other two behind a stalagmite. "It won't be powerful enough to harm whoever is out there, but it will stun them, giving us an edge. It should go right... about... NOW!" BOOM! The small rock-turned-bomb went off just as planned. The explosion blew the rock wall apart, knocking the unknown people unconscious and covering them with bits of dust and debris.
"Nice show!" Villa exclaimed. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Many years ago, as a member of a group of rogue dark-elves, I acquired some skills in sabotage. They just happen to come in handy sometimes." D'ak Taan replied.
Joe crawled ahead to check on the stunned bodies at the cave entrance. He began clearing the debris from the bodies. "Hey, these are our friends! We found them! You two get over here!" Villa and D'ak Taan scrambled over to help as Joe frantically threw small rocks and gravel aside. "They look fine, but they're unconscious," Joe told the others. The three sat their unfortunate colleagues upright against the interior of the cave. "A few cuts and bruises, nothing serious," Joe said, as he examined them more closely. "But I feel awful about this. What are we going to say when they wake up? I can imagine they won't be too happy with us."

[OOC] Sorry for the long post, but I was getting tired of the cave/search.[/OOC]

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"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Inventor of the "Analytical Engine", the first computer.

[This message has been edited by Big Joe (edited 09-29-2003).]

(ooc) I too am sorry for my lack of posts lately. I’ve been busy with assignments, and having two brothers makes it even more difficult to get online. Plus, I’ve only just come back from a holiday at my uncle’s house. Again, sorry if it has caused any trouble. (bic)

Shadows rushed past in a misty blur. Somewhere, far off, someone was speaking. The figures began to take solid shapes, and again Nixus was swallowed up by blank memories and emotions.
The mage slid her eyes open. They were fogged up, but she could make out three figures sitting around a small fire just in front of her. Rubbing them clear, Nixus recognised two of her companions; Joe and Villa. Her eyes rested upon the third and final figure. His wild elven appearance struck her, and for a moment she forgot where she was.
Villa was sitting directly opposite Nixus, and noticed that she’d woken. ‘Er, welcome back!’ he said nervously. Nixus’ eyes flicked to Villa, and she shook her head as if trying to remember. ‘Um, what happened?’ she asked, looking confused.
Joe whipped his head around and jumped up, hurrying over to make sure the girl was all right. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘I guess we gave you quite a surprise…’
Nixus smiled weakly. ‘Um, my head hurts a little,’ she replied, and repeated ‘what happened?’
‘Just a little?’ Joe persisted. ‘Is that all? No sore ribs?, arms?, legs?-’
‘Hmm, my back feels a little bruised, but that’s all, really. What happened??’
‘That would be my doing,’ said D’ak Taan, turning to face the three missing persons. Joe helped Nixus over to the fire and introduced her to the dark elf, who explained all about the recent events, with help from Villa and Joe (particularly for all that happened before the three had met). ‘And so we found you.’
Nixus turned to Joe. ‘I’m so sorry to have caused all this. I was the one who dragged Yunaleska and Master Moogle all the way to this cave. We thought you’d told us to keep going.’
‘Well at least we’ve found you,’ said Villa. ‘So as soon as the others are awake we can all get back to the camp and rest up!’

The four talked lightly for another half an hour or so before Nixus went back to where the other two were, to check that they were all right. She sat watching Yuna for some time. ‘She looks so young and defenceless,’ the girl thought to herself. ‘Sort of…lost, I guess. She reminds me of myself, really…’
It was an odd coincidence that Yuna happened to regain consciousness just as Nixus was about to check the moogle. She yawned and winced as she stretched her arms wide. ‘Nixie!’ she said as her eyes flicked open. ‘You’re all cut up.’ And she noticed her own injuries. ‘What happened?’
‘There was an explosion,’ Nixus explained. ‘The others will tell you everything else you need to know.’ Yuna looked around Nixus and saw the three sitting by the fire. She looked back at Nixus. ‘Who’s he?’ she whispered.
‘He’s a dark elf,’ Nixus answered. ‘His name is D’ak Taan.’ Her eyes flicked back to the elf, but she quickly moved on to check on the moogle.
The two girls made their way to the fire and sat between Joe and Villa, Moogle cradled in Nixus’ arms, and again the story of the search was retold. ‘Wow,’ Yuna said in awe, ‘you really faced giant spiders? I had no idea that this area was so dangerous. You know Nixie,’ she said turning to face Nixus, ‘we could have stumbled upon one of those spider-infested caves and ended up a lot worse off than we are!’
‘Yes, that thought had occurred to me, also,’ Nixus said with a shiver.

Another hour or so passed before it was the moogle’s turn to wake. He sniffed and grunted a little before opening his eyes and seeing the familiar faces around himself. ‘Joe! What a surprise this is! Pray tell, what happened? Nixus said she heard something and then all of a sudden all was dark.’ And so, the story was retold a third time.
‘We should probably be getting back to the others,’ Nixus suggested. ‘We’ve already hindered this journey too much. We have to be at the cave by a certain time, and if we don’t make that time then we’ll have to wait longer.’
‘Well I don’t know about the rest of you,’ said Villa, ‘but I should like to rest up a little more before heading back. I’m in great need of sleep!’
Joe nodded. ‘Yes, I agree with Villa. We should be getting back, but I think we could all do with sleep first; the pace will only be slower if we’re tired.’
So they rested, and fairly easily I might add. The cave was now much bigger than it had originally been, so there was a lot more room to spread themselves out, and the water had softened the ground. Each of them took comfort in knowing that they were together once more.


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When doubts arise, the game begins

The army was getting restless. moonlight was aproching and the undead were hungrey for Blood!
ooc sorry for the small post but your taking ages to get to the cave bic

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Yummy! My moldy, crunchy, mouth-watering... *drools* frruuuiitt cakkeee...

(ooc)I'm sorry that you have had to wait, Pippin, but these things can't be rushed. If the journey to the cave was easy going then the story would be dull and people would lose interest. But don't worry, your time will come, and we'll all be rather dependant on your posts. Until then it's your choice whether you post or not. Perhaps you could give a description of the deep caverns? Or more of a background on this army of undead?(bic)

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When doubts arise, the game begins

[This message has been edited by Nixus (edited 10-06-2003).]

(ooc)Hello. This is Nixus. Yunaleska's account has stopped working, and she's asked me to create her a new account. The e-mail address her_infernal_majesty96@hotmail.com is mine, so if at any time anyone wanted to contact her you'd have to do it through the e-mail address of her old account. Thankyou.(bic)

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