Agarest: Broken Peace

[GamerKale]

"No, you said don't cause trouble in the farming communities. This would be the exact opposite of that." She picked up the orc's axe and frowned, tossing it carelessly into the middle of the path, revealing a decent sized hole in the ground path. "How can they use such poorly crafted weapons? Although I suppose they would go for quantity over quality." She snatched the 'map' from Lykala. "There should be about 20 orcs and a hundred or so goblins that need equipping. The leader should at least have something decent, or at the very least there should be enough profits so that I can get a well made axe. Or a dress." She commented wryly.

[Chaosbahamut123]

Lykala blinked. "That many? Outside Gridamas?" he asked, struggling to digest the revelation. "How have they not noticed this?"
Listening carefully, he could pick out the chattering of a multitude of goblins. He ran dextrous fingers through his hair, in disbeief. "And you want to take out all of them? Are you mad, or just reckless?" he gestured frustratedly towards the cacophony, blade wobbling dangerously, "How do you expect to take all of those with just two of us, hmm?"

[GamerKale]

"They don't stay together all of the time. They separate into smaller camps usually two or three of these patrols. Only meeting up to turn in what they've stolen. And I could be overestimating their numbers quite a bit, but better to overestimate your enemies than underestimate, no? You should focus on finding information. I'll deal with these. It'll probably take the rest of today and most of tomorrow, this map will help greatly though." She started to walk off towards where she figured the next patrol should be.

[Chaosbahamut123]

Lykala stared after Skadi. She was hoping to take care of them alone? He stard and stared, watching her getting further and further away. Finally, reluctantly, he hurried to keep step with her. "Don't get the wrong idea," he said, daggers still in hand, "I'm just making sure you don't get caught by the guards again. Now, do you have a plan for this, at all?"
He was distracted by the trees. They were nostalgic, strangely, despite the strange smells and raucous, yet distant chattering. Gridamas was still very visible through the foliage. Lykala sighed, more to himself than Skadi, and allowed his guard to drop for a moment.

[GamerKale]

"Lob off the head. Specifically the head of their leader. There might be a third of them at their main camp right now. Using these crossbows I can pick one or two off and lure them away in small enough numbers that I can deal with them. That should reduce it to the leader, his two best men, and one or two dozen goblins. And then I'll just have to intercept the groups as they come in from patrol. And any survivors will be disorganized and should scatter. Satisfactory?" She stopped and looked at Lykala with a cocked eyebrow.

[Chaosbahamut123]

Still caught up in reminscence, Lykala nodded vacantly to agree with Skadi's plan. "Yeah, sure. Um... Are we doing this now, or...?"
A crossbow bolt whooshed past his head. His reverie shattered Lykala turned to see a goblin struggling with uncoordinated hands to operate the loading mechanism. He instantly reacted and threw a dagger at the monster; it toppled, impaled. "I... think we may have to rethink that plan," he mumbled, the memories fading quicker than a morning mist in the wind, "Perhaps they're coming to meet us, now?"
He quickly retrieved the dagger and backed away towards Skadi, acutely aware of his surroundings.

[GamerKale]

Skadi withdrew a crossbow and fired, the shot missed, it was of poor quality, so that was to be expected. She dropped the weapon and dragged Lykala and herself behind a tree, narrowly avoiding several more bolts. "Looks like the chief himself showed up to greet us, should be fun then. See if you can keep the little ones off me." She said, dropping the bag of crossbows next to Lykala. She took one with her as she charged out from behind the tree, bellowing loudly. The goblins shook with fright, most shooting off their half loaded crossbows ineffectually. Skadi took out one of the goblins with the crossbow but an orc hit her in turn, forcing her to drop the weapon. As the orc reached for his axe she gutted him.

A particularly brave, or insane, goblin hopped up on Skadi's back and tried to slit her throat, she interposed her free hand to keep it's blade at bay and proceeded to deal with another. The goblin on her back tensed up for a moment and then went limp, Lykala must have shot it she thought to herself and proceeded to throw the corpse into the legs of a charging orc. She cut halfway through another goblin and kicked it back into one of it's fellows. Spinning on the balls of her feet she pulled a knife and stabbed the stumbling orc in the elbow, the shoulder, and the back of the neck. She then threw the knife at another charging orc and swung her blade in a wide arc, giving several of the goblins severe wounds. She finished her spin just in time to get an axe to the chest from the orc that she had just missed. It bit through her armor and struck with enough force to send her soaring backwards and crashing on top of one of the goblins. Her scimitar fell to the ground not far from where she had been standing. Her vision was still blurred from the blow, but she thought she heard the laughter of the orc that had struck her.

[Chaosbahamut123]

Lykala winced, dropped his crossbow and leapt out from behind the tree. That last blow had looked exceptionally painful, and he wa loathe to let Skadi die when he could do nothing about it.
The orc that had struck her turned to see spinning, flashing blades that bit harshly into flesh and stopping just short of the bone. He weaved around the orc and put himself between the two. "Skadi!" he shouted, over the din. Two goblins rushed him but he cut them down, too. "Y'alright there? Wanna get up any time soon?"

[GamerKale]

Skadi rolled over, grabbing the knife of goblin she had been thrown on top of, and stood back up. She grabbed a charging goblin by the neck, it swung it's weapon wildly but couldn't get past her armor before she slammed the knife into it's chest. Bloodlust taking over, she threw the goblin to the side and tackled the orc that had hit her before. Roaring she slammed the knife into it's chest repeatedly, even after it stopped moving. The nearest goblins broke ranks and fled at the display. The last orc threw an axe at Skadi while the remaining goblins rained bolts on she and Lykala. The dark elf grabbed the fallen orc's axe and charged straight at the incoming barrage, she blocked the incoming axe with her forearm and took a bolt in one of her legs and her shoulder. She and the orc clashed with their axes once and his blow wrenched the weapon from her hand, grabbing hold of his forearm she bit into the orc's hand, it grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her off itself, Skadi pulled the first bolt that had struck her out and jammed it into the orc's eye, forcing it to let her and it's axe go she picked up the axe and lobbed the orc's head off. Panting she turned towards a goblin, it and the other survivors dropped their weapons and ran. Which was good for Skadi since her body took that moment to succumb to its wounds and fall to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

[Chaosbahamut123]

Lykala, forced to let Skadi do the fighting after her bloodlust took the reins, rushed over to her as soon as she collapsed. The wounds, though not serious, were plentiful and accumalative. He shook his head disapprovingly. "That's what you get for biting off more than you can chew, idiot," he chastised, pulling the remaining bolt from her leg and dressing her wound, "Maybe next time you'll listen to me."
The other wounds weren't so serious, but they still needed attention. Lykala regulated his breathing to calm his mind, and once ready, began the arduous task of gathering magical energy in his hands. It wasn't much, but it was enough to stem the blood. Spellwork had never been his forte, even when dedicating himself to learn at least some basic magic. Beads of cold sweat clung to his brow and his fringe, the small effort enough to drain his body a little. With the major threats dealth with, he dressed the remaining wounds and rolled Skadi onto her front. Pondering what to do next. Let her recover, or try to drag her dead weight to the mage's house. "You're too bloody enthusiastic, Skadi," he complained loudly, deciding on the latter course of action and settling next to her, "Maybe it was a bad idea to let you come along after all."

[GamerKale]

It didn't take too long for Skadi to regain consciousness, seeing Lykala's face she laughed painfully. "That was fun." She patted him on the cheek. "Seems you were awfully worried. Take five." She rummaged through the nearby foliage and found a good sized bag with some coin and a few other things the orcs and goblins had gathered. "We need to get to the Thatcher's right?" She began peeling off the layers of her armor and stashing the pieces in the bag. "I'll need to clean this up when we get there. I don't think many people much care for the scent blood and sweat. Don't you agree?"

[Chaosbahamut123]

Lykala rolled his eyes and held his head between his knees. This woman was non-stop! Gathering what little composure he had, masking his frayed nerves with it, he stared up at Skadi. "You... are mad. I swear," he said, slowly. Standing, he took out the map the mage guild receptionist had given him and examined it carefully. Thatchley's house seemed to be a little too far away, "There's a small village south of here we can visit," he explained, stuffing the parchment away, "So long as you don't run off for more goblin-slaughters, we should be able to make it there by sundown."

[GamerKale]

Peeling off the last piece of armor Skadi untucked her tank top and smiled. "Oh come now, do I look at all dressed for such festivities?" She spun around in place once to emphasize her lack of armor.

She collected the rest of her things, slung the bag over her shoulder, and set off southward. Remembering the last thing she clearly remembered from the fight, she ran a hand across her chest and felt no new scarring from the axe wound. "Looks like you're not bad at healing spells. Wish I'd met you years ago." She commented more to herself than to Lykala.

[Chaosbahamut123]

"Why thank you. Spells aren't my strong point, but I can hold my own," Lykala grinned and clapped Skadi's shoulder, "As for you, well... you're, eh, you're a good fighter."
He guided both of them through the woods, checking his map carefully every now and then. The trail was quiet and the chattering of monsters was long gone, but he still felt threatened and kept his hand on his dagger's hilt as a consequence. His curiosity about Skadi piqued at one point, and without thinking, he blurted, "Why're you so violent?"

[GamerKale]

"Violent?" She stopped to think, trying to figure out what he could possibly mean. "I don't understand. You mean what I did to the orcs and goblins? Or does this have something to do with the barfight we met at? Or did I go after you during that fight back there?" Now she was concerned, she crouched and gripped her head, trying to remember, she had never gone after anyone without reason during a rage before. That was one of the reasons she didn't usually mind when it happened, of course she couldn't really think during a rage either so if she had gone after an ally nobody had ever mentioned it. But she rarely had allies for any length of time either, maybe that was why.

[Chaosbahamut123]

"Yeah, violent," said Lykala, scratching the back of his neck and messing with his hair, "You're always after a fight and take every opportunity to beat the living daylights out of something. I'm surprised you've survived at all up to now, with the way I've seen you act. I mean, I've heard rumours of Dark Elves being hugely bloodthirsty, but that was mostly from jaded High Elves and whatnot."
He shrugged, remembering the time he spent travelling with an old High Elf for a job, on his way to Gridamas. The man had refused to shut up, even when bandits decided to raid their caravan - though to his credit, he wouldn't shut up because he was casting some heavily powerful spells. "So, yeah. Why d'you feel the need to fight all the time?"

[GamerKale]

Hearing that, Skadi perked right up. "It's boring." She said with a shrug. "My parents tried their hardest, but crafting was just boring. As was singing, shooting, appraising, sewing, farming, and spellcraft. I mean sure some people can do some serious damage with it, but I just don't have the patience for it. And I always had trouble remembering how spells went. Drinking helps me forget how boring everything is, but that's only a temporary solution. I will admit dancing's kind of fun, but there's usually just so many stringent rules to it all that I just can't get into it. And my partners have always tired out too quickly." At this point she grabbed Lykala's hands and began waltzing. "I mean, look at us, this is just so monotonous. Step, two, three. Step, two, three. Etc. Of course there is the occasional spin," She demonstrated, "but there's just not the same rush that I get from fighting. It makes me feel alive, y'know?" At this point she released Lykala from the waltz and went back to plodding along the path. "So, how can you want to not fight all of the time?"

[Chaosbahamut123]

Lykala shrugged easily. "I like living, to be quite honest with you. Life without violence is an easy life, but in this line of work I guess that's not an option. However..." he paused for a moment, checking around to see if the goblins were well and truly gone, "The less I fight, the less enemies I make, the easier it is to do a job. I was raised as a traveller, sure, and I can fight, but I'd rather not."
Their pace had slowed marginally, and the sun had begun it's long, inexorable descent into the horizons. "We should be at the village soon," Lykala said. Sure enough, just beyond the trees, the first signs of civilised life began to show. birdsong faded to the hum of society.

[GamerKale]

"Fantastic, I'm thirsty." Her stomach growled, "Hungry too. Care to race the rest of it?" Skadi didn't wait for his response and just started running, the bag full of her stuff clanging loudly with each footfall.

[Chaosbahamut123]

Hands on his hips, Lykala took his time and strolled through into the village entrance. It was a small community; larger than the farminf one, and filled with friendlier people. He allowed himself a chance to relax and loosened the grip on his daggers.
Skadi was out of sight, too. No doubt she would cause some trouble sooner or later, he mused, and so he made his to do list short and quick.

A small girl strolled over to him, almost skipping. "Hi, mister!" she beamed, "You look strange!"
Lykala laughed, crouched, ruffled the girl's hair. "Really, now? Well, why don't you tell me where the nearest smithy is so I can stop creeping you out?"
The girl giggled, apparently not bothered by his looks despite her statement, and pointed him to a house with steam billowing from behind it. Lykala made that his first destination, handing his daggers in for a quick repair. Once done, he headed for the village centre to gather whatever information he could. Sadly, most people seemed too wary of him to give him anything worthwhile.