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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Oct 10, 2022 14:58:08 GMT -5
Those bandits had messed up his toss, shot him AND kidnapped Little K? Shaa was almost inconsolable as he tried to dislodge the bolt from his shoulder. Normally he had enough know how and magic to take care of himself but he might actually have to see a healer for this one. He could tell the bolt had gone deep. It wasn’t a mortal wound but it was enough to cause him issues. Shaa watched as the bandits got farther away with Zarius chasing close behind.
As Shaa was still in the stands, he had a pretty good view of the action. He noted that several groups of bandits had split up and were going in different directions. Unfortunately for them however, Little K had spent a large portion of the afternoon on Shaa’s shoulders and he knew exactly what he smelled like. Shaa hopped down from the stands and grunted in pain as he landed, bolt still lodged in his shoulder. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and could tell the direction Little K was going. Shaa ran in the direction of the smell, trying to hold the bolt in place as much as possible.
Don’t worry Little K, I’m coming…..
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Oct 10, 2022 23:13:59 GMT -5
The pipe-chomping bandit glances back and doesn't see either Zarius nor Shaa pursuing him. He cackles, thinking he's in the clear. Just as he's about to reach the end of the alleyway, Zarius jumps around the corner, launching off the opposite wall and slamming his fish down on the bandit's head.[1,2] The bandit bounces against the wall and tumbles back into the alley.
He groans in pain as Zarius steps over to him and drags him up. The tiefling slams him against the wall with surprising force. "Tell me where your goons have taken my brother and I will consider not tearing you limb from limb and feeding your pieces to the gnolls." He hisses with vitriol in his voice.
"Ngh, ain't goin' to sell out my-"
Zarius doesn't wait for him to finish and bashes in his face with his fist.
"One last chance. Do not test my patience."
The bandit coughs and spits blood in the tiefling's face. Zarius' expression turns from a scowl into a malevolent smile.
A few moments later, Zarius catches up with Shaa who is already hot on the trail of the bandits who kidnapped Karize. He jogs up covered in blood splatters but doesn't seem bothered by it. It's probably not his.
"They are taking him to a caravan they have on the edge of town. If we hurry, we can catch them before they flee into the desert." He says.
[1] Surface Scaling [2] Hands are Weapons
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Oct 11, 2022 7:41:59 GMT -5
The two make their way through the alleyways towards the edge of town. Shaa can tell that he is moving slower than normal. The blood loss from the bolt in his shoulder was taking its toll. When Zarius had asked about it he had brushed it off like he had gotten a paper cut or something. Brave face and Minotaur bravado. He just needed to focus on the run.
From the outside , this probably didn’t make sense to anyone. He had just met these guys today and he had helped them in the toss, given up solars in their defense, let them in on a pretty serious dessert secret. If he was being honest, Shaa had been mulling it over all day himself why he felt the need to watch out for this kid. It had actually dawned on him while they were waiting in line.
The story went back to when he was still a young adventurer. He had met up with a small group that were exploring in the Kings Wood in Kings Valley. They had hired him to guide them to some well known spots in the woods and he was sure he could get them there. The entire group was pretty young and stupid back then. In particular, there was a pair of brothers, a couple of humans, the younger not being much older than Karize. None of them had any business being there other than to show the nonexistent flocks of girls how brave they were.
During the hike, Shaa had not paid much attention to the young boy. He had already told the group that they needed to keep up and that he wouldn’t be slowing down for anyone, like a true moron. It was the third afternoon and they had been hiking almost all day. They had gotten pretty tired and Shaa had gotten careless and didn’t check for tracks. Had he done his job, he would have noticed the Rune Bear that they had practically walked right into. The group scattered as the bear went berserk. Such brave lads. By the time they had met back up, everyone was accounted for…except the young boy. The brother went into a panic and the group went to find him. Two hours later, Shaa found the torn and bloody clothes.
Of course, the brother blamed himself. But Shaa knew the ugly truth of it all. It was his ego that did it. If he had paid more attention, if he had cared at all, that kid would still be alive. This was something he would have to carry around. Something he always had. For Shaa, Little K was in the woods. The Rune Bear was hunting. He wasn’t going to lose him, not again, never again. Not for all of the solars in the world, not with a stupid bolt in his shoulder, NEVER AGAIN.
As the two rounded a corner, Shaa caught a strong sent coming down the next alley way. They were close. There he said pointing with his good arm. Let’s hurry.
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Oct 11, 2022 20:43:25 GMT -5
As they round the corner, a large hand suddenly catches Zarius by the face and lifts him off the ground.
"MPH!" The tiefling dangles in the air and kicks furiously. He grabs onto the assailant's arm and tries to pry their hand off but their grip holds tight.
Before Shaa stands the ogre from the competition with Bone Breaker perched on his shoulder. "Stand down, minotaur. This nasty business is none of your concern." Bone Breaker snickers.
Behind the ogre Shaa can make out Karize, shackled and gagged, being thrown in the back of a wagon by the other bandits. Some of them load crossbows and approach the Shaa and the ogre with their sights trained on Shaa and Zarius. One approaches with a set of manacles dangling from his hand.
Zarius swings both feet up and kicks the ogre in the chest. The ogre grunts and slams him against the wall but keeps a firm hold on him.
Bone Breaker looks at Shaa and points a dagger at him with a crooked grin. "Back away, cow. Else Bone Breaker eat steak tonight."
The rest of the bandits close in on them, ready to fire if Shaa tries anything.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Oct 12, 2022 2:06:07 GMT -5
There are lots of things you should be proud of. Getting good grades, that new hair cut, finding an extra solar or two in your spare pants. The problem was, Shaa went to the school of hard knocks, the only time his hair got cut was when he was being stabbed with something sharp and he didn’t have an extra pair of pants…
Shaa put his hand up to his face. Now, I’m sure that I told you guys who I was not half a day ago. I gave you a tiny glimpse of what I was capable of, and yet here we are yet again for round 2. I have given you every chance in the universe to not be here, but noooo, just HAD to freaking push it. And you put a @#$& hole in my arm! Shaa grabbed the bolt and yanked it out of his shoulder without flinching. Just staring straight ahead.
Now your gonna get it!
Shaa walked right toward the knife wielding Bone Breaker keeping his ogre perch in between him and the crossbows.
Stay back! Bone Breaker sta…
True to his word, Bone Breaker hurriedly attempts to stab him with the knife. The crossbow wielders are unable to get a clear bead on him from behind the ogre. Shaa grabs the knife by the blade, his hand too tough to be cut. With his other hand he face palms Bone Breaker and pulls a dark force from inside himself and forces it into the motley goblin. Bone breakers only noise is a muffled cry as the life force drains out of him, healing Shaa’s shoulder enough to stop the bleeding and give him an energy boost. Shaa drops Bone Breakers withered husk to the floor with a thud.
Startled, the ogre drops Zarius and attempts to to take a swing at Shaa, but he was waiting for him. As he swung his fist at The Minotaur’s face, Shaa grabbed the ogre’s wrist and shoulder and pulled with all of his strength, ripping the ogre’s arm right off of his body. The ogre screamed in agony as Shaa twisted around and proceeded to beat the ogre to death with his own bloody limb. Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself he mocked as ogre goo splattered with every strike.
As Shaa proceeded to beat the ogre into a viscus paste on the desert floor, the other bandits dropped their weapons and started to run towards the wagon which had already started to move. Where do you think your going? Shaa casts a spell that causes the earth to come up and grab the wagon wheels and grinds them to a halt. The frightened men jump behind the frozen wagon for cover.
The blood caked Minotaur started moving towards the wagon with even purposeful strides, still clutching the ogres severed arm. Some of the bandits started to cry as they saw him approaching.
Vampiric Touch Hands are Weapons Momentous Cleave Improvised Weapons Earth Bind
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Oct 12, 2022 9:30:21 GMT -5
Once Zarius' feet hit the ground he takes off running for the wagon. He dodges a few flying bolts and bounces off the wall to get around some of the bandits.[1]
He leaps into the back of the wagon while it's still moving then nearly gets knocked over when it stops abruptly thanks to Shaa's spell. He manages to keep his balance and quickly ungags Karize and starts rummaging through his bag for some lockpicks.
"I am sorry. I am sorry." Karize repeats through panicked breaths.
Zarius grabs his head on either side of his face and makes him meet his eyes. Karize flinches a little but meets his brother's glare. He's mad, but not at Karize. He is mad at the bandits for trying to kidnap one of his family members. He is mad at himself for getting distracted. He is mad at those who put the bounty on their heads. He is mad at the systems of the world that have failed to protect them and forced them to take matters into their own hands.
He speaks firmly. "Listen to me. This is not your fault."
Karize hiccups and nods, though he still feels guilty for getting caught.
"This is not your fault." Zarius repeats as he lets him go and gets started on picking the locks on the manacles.[2]
[1] Surface Scaling [2] Lock Pick
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Oct 12, 2022 10:07:00 GMT -5
Shaa starts to slowly whistle as he strides towards the remaining bandits. The ones still with weapons fire crossbow bolts at him as he approaches which he catches with the dismembered ogres arm. Ohh fun , decorations!
Realizing they are seriously outclassed, one of the bandits tries to negotiate. Ok ok, we get it, you win. We’re sorry.
Not yet your not. Grunted Shaa undeterred. You can tell me how sorry you are when I have twisted you into giant pretzels.
From the side, a shield baring bandit charges Shaa blindly and smashes into his injured shoulder. Incensed, Shaa slaps away the shield, disarming the man and causing him to stumble. Shaa walks up, still whistling, and gives a one two series of punches to his knee. Gah! Cried the now hobbled bandit.
Shaa turns back towards the cart where he sees Zarius trying to free little K. One of bandits hiding behind the cart sees this and starts to make his way towards them. Shaa picks up the shield and throws it like a frisbee. The shield clunks the head of the moving bandit making a THUNK noise as it partially scalps him. Shaa’s whistling continues as he picks the arm back up.
There are only two bandits remaining. As they survey the scene and the Minotaur baring down on them, they discuss their options.
What do we do, he won’t let us surrender and apparently he doesn’t care about solars!
How do I know, this was supposed to be a quick and easy job. No one said anything about this. My brother in law is going to be so mad about the cart!
Forget the stupid cart, we are about to get massa…A giant hand reaches over the cart, grabbing the bandit by the head and flipping him to the other side. Shaa gores the bandit in the shoulder with his horn. Doesn’t feel good being stabbed in the shoulder with pointy things does it you jerk. He then breaks his nose for good measure and tosses him to the side unconscious.
The final bandit cowered behind the cart sniveling. Not the face! Not the face!
I’m going to give you one last chance to get out of this..somewhat unscathed. Who hired you? If I don’t like the answer…Shaa points to the severed ogre limb.
Deflect Two Piece Guard Break Improvused weapons Horns
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Oct 12, 2022 15:50:23 GMT -5
The bandit looks at Shaa with an expression of absolute terror as the looming minotaur points the torn limb at him. "L-look, we-we're just sellswords, we work for whoever pays us the most. These-these people you're protecting have a lot of enemies okay? That's not our fault."
Click.
The manacles all off of Karize who rubs his wrists and looks gratefully at his brother. Zarius gets up and helps him out of the wagon then walks over to Shaa and the bandit. "And now you have gone and made an enemy out of us. That was not very smart of you. You must not value your existence on this plane very much."
The bandit glances nervously between them. "It was just a job. It is nothing personal."
"Oh, no. You made it personal." Zarius takes a threatening step towards the bandit.
He holds his hands up defensively. "Wait! Wait! We picked up the bounty in Zeinav City! It's sponsored by some rich fella with connections to the Ashen Fathers in the Ash Lands. Real sketchy bloke with scars on his face and a crooked smile but dresses like a noble."
Zarius sighs. His suspicions were correct, he turns to Shaa. "I know of him. He does not get along with my family."
"He said something like 'this is what they get for messing with me'."
"He started it." Zarius says coldly.
"Please, just let me go. I won't say nothing to nobody. I'll even leave the country if you promise to spare my life."
Zarius looks at Shaa, then back at the bandit. "Run far. If I ever see your ugly face again I will remove it."
The bandit's face goes pale and he scrambles away from them.
Karize walks over sheepishly to Shaa. "Thank you, Mister Shaa. You saved our lives."
"Why did you?" Zarius interrupts, his arms crossed and looking Shaa up and down with slight suspicion. "While I appreciate your aid, we barely know one another."
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Oct 13, 2022 7:57:23 GMT -5
He considered for a moment telling him the story but, in the end, there are just some stories that you keep to yourself. Shaa sat down with a grunt, his bones popping a bit. He rubbed his shoulder and pulled out his Medkit to clean and properly sew up his wound.
When you are part of the fighters guild my young friend, you get to know people more by what they do vs what they say. It didn’t take me long to figure out how much you care about your brother. It also didn’t take me long to figure out why. Shaa gave a tired smile to Little K.
You have watched me all day as well. So, you just have to ask yourself, do you know me? You may not know some of my history or my reasoning, probably never will. But, in all of the things that are important, you saw me today. For all my warts, scars and bumps, we are what we do. After he finished sewing his wound shut, he snaps the thread with his teeth.
You know, if you have enemies like that running around, it seems to me like you could use some more friends. If you are interested, you might consider joining the fighters guild. People might be less prone to mess with you if you are part of a group with our “stellar” reputation…Shaa wiped some of the dried blood off his leg. And besides…those guys just pissed me off! And if there is one thing you never ever do, you never piss off a Minotaur. Especially this one! Shaa pointed a thumb at himself and started laughing hard with the occasional snort. Ha ha, beat him with his own hand. Classic.
Shaa stood up and stretched again, more bones popping. Well I’m pretty sure we both lost the toss this year, but, there is always next year. Now that you guys are ok, it’s time for me to get going. Shaa walked over and gave Karize a big Minotaur hug. You take care of your brother little K….and watch out for Rune Bears. He held out his hand to Zarius.
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Oct 13, 2022 8:14:34 GMT -5
The minotaur makes a good point. He may not know a lot about who Shaa was, but he did see what kind of person Shaa is. The minotaur is strong, earnest, and good natured. He wore who he was on his sleeve, something Zarius could not say for himself most days. His care for his brother is genuine though, and the minotaur had recognized that.
Karize accepts the hug, but tilts his head in confusion. "Rune bears?"
Zarius stares for a moment at Shaa's extended hand. More friends was a good idea. His family's reputation and his own work brought a lot of enemies to their doorstep on the regular. It was his goal to change that, to make it so their reputation was unchallengeable and ensure that no one would mess with Karize or anyone else associated with them. It was a lofty goal. They were still a small fish swimming in a large pond. There was a long way to go before they would be able to stand toe-to-toe with the three main families of the Ashen Fathers. Maybe bolstering their name with associations such as the fighter's guild would at least lay down some stepping stones to loftier goals.
He looks at Shaa and nods, returning a firm hand shake. "Thank you. I will consider your offer and extend one of my own. If you are ever in Darkveil and are in need of assistance, do not hesitate to reach out."
It was the least they could offer Shaa in gratitude of his aid this day.
With that, the brothers disappear into the shadowed streets of the town as the sun sets on what was a chaotic day of bandits, goblins, and budding friendships.
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