The Pits

*oh sorry, sure you can claim Tadhg MajesticF*

Tadhg-

Tadhg ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, look,"he said. "You'll just have to share it."

"But I found it." said the large burly warrior who still refused to remove his chainmail under the massive heat of the Pits.

"No, I did!" said the woman snarling. "I found it."

"Because I dropped it!" said the man.

"Look," Tadhg said to each of them. "We're all hungry here. You're supposed to be heroes. Act like it. You," he said to the man. "Be chivalrous like the knight you are and give it to her. You," he said to the woman. "Be generous to him like you were to the people in the village and share it with him."

Neither of them wanted to ruin their reputations, so grudgingly the man gave the bread to her and she tore it in half.

Tadhg looked longingly at the loaf that looked almost fresh inside but decided that unless he wanted to cause another fight, he would go without.

He wandered away.

Azael

Azael ate slowly, savouring each mouthfull of meat and chewing it thoroughly before swallowing. He was hungry but no more so than usual. He took another bite and then another before pausing. There was a soft scrape as his observer shifted slightly.

"If it's the food you want, move now. Don't wait for me to eat it." Azael's voice was flat and cold. He did not turn but took another bite of the meat before reaching into his pack and taking out a bottle that contained a small quantity of water.

"When you've been here a while, you start to see a pattern. They always drop water on the North side of the lava caves and there's usually food hidden in the serpent domes. Admittedly sometimes it's easier to steal from others if you're willing to take the risk."

Azael set the meat down beside him on the smooth rock and took the lid from the water so he could dribble a little into his mouth.

"There's even less water," he said. "Think quickly."

The girl moved quickly in a blur of pale skin and dirty blond hair as she snatched first the water bottle, then the meat and then reached for the pack but Azael caught her hand and held her still.

"Don't get greedy," he said. "There are others to feed." He picked up the pack in his free hand, released the girl and then stood slowly and turned away.

[Farleigh]

She kept her distance, unsure if she should trust this new man. "I'm not sure how I got here." was her flat answer.

"Oh,"

Farleigh sat on the dirt floor, leaning against a rock. She had ben flying in her butterfly form for quite awhile and she was tired. Raiden sat down beside her, it was silent for a couple minutes. There wasn't much to talk about.

The azure butterfly on the side of Farleigh's head flew off toward a small flower. There wasn't much greenery anywhere.

"I can't tell you much about my past since I don't remember much, but what about you?" the butterfly flew back and landed on Farleigh's finger.

Astoria-

Completely ignoring the man, Astoria flopped to the ground and devoured the meat. It was hard and chewy, but miraculously still had a hint of salty taste. When it was gone she guzzled the water, letting it run down her throat, smoothing over her dried tongue.

And then it was all gone.

She stared at the bottle, wishing it would refill itself. When it didn’t, she looked around for the man. He was walking among the rocks, walking away from her.

From everything he said, she got the feeling he had been here for a while, and seemed to know something about living here. If there even was anything left to know.

She stood quickly, and walking fast, caught up to him. He kept on walking, never looking at her, though she was certain he knew she was there.

Following close to his side, Astoria looked pointedly at him, “So, where are we going?”

Here's my character. Let me know if I need to fix anything.

Name: Actom

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Appearance: Pitch black, wavy hair that reaches down to his jaw line and bright green eyes. He has a slim build and is of average height. His skin is very pale and looks almost like porcelain. He normally wears dark colored clothes and a cape as black as his hair with a hood. He has a black tattoo on his right shoulder and a jagged scar shaped like a crescent moon on his chest.

Personality: Actom is overly prideful, stubborn, spiteful, and bitter. He is prone to sarcastic remarks and often seems depressed or angry. He does not like taking orders from anyone and looks out for only himself. He is intelligent and is quick-thinking, letting logic lead him rather than emotions. It is extremely difficult for him to make friends because he isn't very loyal and is always changing sides so that it benefits him. He distances himself from other people. Beware his temper when it shows.

History: Actom used to be a magician-in-training. His arrogance and stubbornness made him an extremely difficult pupil, thus he was far behind in his teachings. He only managed to master a few spells before he was thrown into the pits. He used to be a member of one of the minor resistance groups, and was one of the advisers to the leader, though was not in a position of power. He was taken to the pits a little over a year ago.

Weapons: He was still extremely unskilled in magic so he only knows a few very minor spells. He managed to hide a simple silver dagger in his boot when he was thrown into the pits, so he uses that as his defense.

Other: Up for love.

(Korr)

I saw a butterfly floating nearby. Odd, I thought. Then suddenly it turned into a girl... a beautiful girl.

I rarely trusted anyone, but I couldn't help the feeling that swelled up in my heart.

I walked over, loosening my sword in its sheath... just in case.

[Raiden]

He opened his mouth to say something when someone else walked up, Raiden seemed to recall his name was Korr.

Raiden watched him approach quietly, waiting for him to say something.

(not sure how to intoduce Korr, so its up to teh wozzinator )

Derick sighed as two men lay at his feet, "These small fry can't stop me at all. Even so, it wont be long until the start sending out the big fish and I can't handle a whole hoard of them by myself, it's how I got down here." As he was thinking a figure came into view. He sheathed his sword on his back and too a seat waiting.

When he arrived he realized it was a young man about his age. He had long black hair about to his shoulders and wore very dark clothing's. The man paid him no hied and just kept on walking. Derick smirked and the man turned, "What's so funny?"

"You don't meet many people who will ignore dead bodies, even down here."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you may be useful."

The man frowned and tried to kick Derick, but he missed. As he whirled around he pulled a dagger out of his boot and slashed Derick's cheek. "Not bad., but try this." He uttered a few word and suddenly Derick was sent flying back.

"A magic user huh? Very interesting indeed. I'm trying to get out of here by killing all of the guards, you game?"

(Korr)

"Hello," I said simply.

Farleigh and Raiden turned.

Actom-

I regarded the man closely. He looked honest enough. But who could be sure in this place?

Then again, what did I have to lose that I hadn't already lost? My life? Gone, left on the surface. My friends? What friends. My Family? Deserted me.

So why not take a stab at freedom? Together, maybe...

Best to be careful, though. Even the most trustworthy person down here could turn on you, stab you in the back in your sleep.

"How can I trust you?" I asked coldly.

[Farleigh]

Farleigh stood up and so did Raiden. Usually she didn't talk to a lot of people or be near anyone, but there she was. Standing with to other people that she hadn't gotten into a fight with...yet.

"Hello, my name is Farleigh." she smiled slightly, happy that she had people to talk to.

Raiden noticed the man had loosed his sword, and he did the same.

"I'm Korr, hello again Raiden."

Farleigh turned back to Raiden. "What were you going to say?"

Maybe asked another good question and I thought it best to clarify it for you all

Is the setting a prison/jail type thing, or is it a whole underground world our characters are confined to? Are we free to roam, or restricted to cells? It seems that some of the people are in prison cells (kittykat, cat4prowl, and Teh Wozzinator) while others are freely roaming (Majestic Fantasist, Stella Thomas , and yourself).

After reading the posts, I'm going to give a slightly different answer than that which I gave her (sorry dear!) in that, The Pits are a series of underground caverns where our characters are free to roam and experience the dangers of the quicksand and lava paths. There is a single entrance which few people know about. Those who have been in the Pits for six or more years know of its existance and others have heard rumours but no one knows where it is or how to find it and most have given up looking.

If there comes a time for the entrance to be discovered, I will let you know but until then, the guards (who are sent into the pits to take the limited supplys of food and water and then left down there for three days at a time as either punishment or training) are spell-bound to not release any knowledge of the entrance. The enchantment is strong and can not be deceived or removed by any characters at the moment.

Is that clearer? And does anyone want to add or change anything? At the moment I'd like this to be a very flexible storybook. The Pits are vast so feel free to create your own areas. There could be a snake pit, a gemstone mine (that would fit with the Meredians vast wealth and their leader's (name unknown to most) twisted sense of humour - 'take all the diamonds you like but you're going to have to mine them and carry them around and they can buy nothing in the pits so eventually you will discard them and then my guards can bring them to me' - so have fun. If you're unsure, feel free to ask me first.
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Azael

"Venom Lagoon," Azael stated, calmly leading the way over the rocks and then pausing at the very edge to open his pack.

"I don't think I've been there before but lagoon sounds good. That means water, right?" Azael withdrew a decent length of rope and fastened it around a loop that appeared to have been carved from part of the dliff. He leaned out to pull it taught and test the knot.

"The lagoon holds only poison. 'I'll drink to your death if you will.'" Azael's voice became colder still as the quote slipped from his tongue, allowing a drop of emotion, a drop of hate to enter his words. And then he returned to the flat, cold tone - "Give me the bottle."

"Why?" The girl asked defensively, holding the container to her. "It's empty. I'm sure you can find another."

"There's more water than containers," Azael replied with a twitch of his lips that was almost a smile.

"I'll give it to you if you tell me who you was quoting," the girl decided reluctantly. "And your name."

"It is carved upon a plaque beside the lagoon," Azael answered. "And I'll only trade my name for something of equal value."

"Mine's Astoria. A name for a name right?" Azael nodded and took the bottle from her, placing it in his pack before shouldering it.

"I'm Azael. Climb down the rope."

"Why am I going first?" Astoria protested suspiciously.

"I'm not leaving the rope behind. You climb down, then I'll pull it up and climb down without."

Tadhg (it's kinda long)-

Somebody had abandoned a water gourd on the ground. I picked it up only to find that it was empty. Nobody bothered to carry empty gourds, they weren't worth the effort.

But I kept it. I had given my own to an old man who was in dire need of it.

This is how I spent every single day in the Pits. My reputation meant that they expected me to solve every dispute. I wandered from tiny colony to tiny colony, each home nothing more than a cloak on top of a staff or something similar. Scavengers pawed at me. I looked well enough fed, skinny, but not starving, but that was because I knew where to look. Some people are kind enough to trade locations in exchange for helping in their quarrels.

The biggest prize of all would be, of course, the location of the entrance.

But until then I wandered.

I went down a narrow stone bridge over bubbling lava. The settlements became fewer here, no one had realised that further on it was cooller.

On cliff nearby, there was a man and a girl standing looking down at a rope. They seemed to be arguing over who would go down first.

"You go," the man said. "You'll need the rope if you're not a sure climber."

"What makes you think I'm not? How do I know that you're not just going to leave me down there and steal my bottle?"

I walked over.

Azael

Azael paused and took in the girl's appearance in one deep, drawn out glance before shrugging. He bent down and took the rope in both hands, carefully pulling it back in and un-fastening it.

"Now what are you doing?" Astoria asked.

"I wont leave my rope behind," Azael replied. "But you..." he shrugged. "You look like you can take care of yourself." He put the rope back in his bag and, without hesitation, gave Astoria a crust of dry, very stale bread and a smaller water bottle that was almost half full. Then he lowered himself over the edge and began to descend. Astoria shoved the bread into a pocket and held the water bottle in her mouth as she too lowered herself over the side.

"She'll fall!" An alarmed voice called from above. Azael paid it no heed as he descended slowly. More slowly than usual as a precaution. He didn't want the girl to fall and break her neck but he was a good judge of character and she looked strong enough to make it down.

[Raiden]

"I... don't remember..." Raiden answered distractedly. He was focused on the stranger, he wasn't sure if he could trust him.

"Did you... need something?" he struggled to stay polite, confused as he was.