VG Rumble II

Kai put a hand over Enya's mouth when she squeaked a surprise. He kept his own voice low. "What? When did this happen?"

"Moments before the attack in Kvatch," Adrian responded softly. Enya's eyes were so wide, it was almost cute. Enya squirmed beneath Kai's hold, trying to voice her surprise about the situation.

"Maybe we should find somewhere else to go for now?" Kai suggested. "She's a handful."

Adrian nodded. "Good idea. We need to find someplace safe to speak before I can give you all the details."

"Got any idea where we can go?" Kai asked.

"My companions are around Skingrad looking for supplies. We all decided on a meeting place beforehand, the stables just on the edge of town."

(All I can think of at the moment. Once our characters get to the stables I can have Adrian explain everything to them.)

(Kai, Enya and Ivellios all still have skill points to spend.)

Adam and Balaes were the first to make it back to the stables. Edgar was still looking around for weapons. They waved to Adrian as he approached, immediately taking notice of the group following him. "Where's Edgar?" Adrian asked.

"Still looking for weapons, I reckon," Adam said. He then motioned toward the others and asked, "Who are they?"

"Survivors from Kvatch," Adrian explained. He pointed to each person as he spoke their names. "Enya and Kai are old friends of mine, their parents fought along side mine eighteen years ago. Reon is a mage who had a magic shop in Kvatch before the attack. And Ivellios is the one who helped them all out of the town during the attack. They all want to help."

Adam pulled Adrian off to the side so the others couldn't hear. "Can we trust them?" he asked. He had to be cautious. In times such as these caution can very well be the difference between life and death.

"I've known Enya and Kai my whole life. Plus, their parents may still be in Kvatch. Same goes for Reon's friends. He even offered to give us potions from his shop if we let him come along. That is, if it isn't completely ransacked by the time we get there."

"What about that Ivellios?"

"I think we can trust him," Adrian told him. "He risked his life to save everyone when he didn't have to. That's worthy of some amount of trust in my books."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Adam said. "One thing's for sure, we're all going to have to ride two to a horse."

They both joined the others to finish introductions. Adrian pointed to Adam first. "This is Adam Scotch, and that's Balaes. Their my companions on this mission." Adrian left out the parts about Adam being a thief and Balaes being a dark mage. He wasn't sure how the others would take it. "There's also Edgar, but he's still in Skingrad looking for weapons. We'll leave for Kvatch as soon as he gets here."

"So, are you going to tell us about this mission of yours now?" Kai asked.

"First, I'll have to explain everything from the beginning," Adrian said. He took a deep breath to help collect himself before starting the story. "As you know, King Uriel Septim has been assassinated, as well as his three sons. We don't know exactly who is responsible, but we do know that they're somehow connected to the demon lord Mehrunes Dagon, also known as the Prince of Destruction.

"Before everything started, Edgar had been arrested for unknown charges. Due to a mix-up with the Watch he was placed in a cell that was used as a secret escape route. That's how he met the king and my father while they were trying to take Uriel someplace safe. I'm not too certain about the details, but apparently the king had seen Edgar in one of his visions. For that reason he gave Edgar the Amulet of Kings moments before his death. The king told him to take the amulet to a man named Jauffre, who is the grandmaster of the Blades."

"So, what does this have to do with the priest in Kvatch?" Ivellios asked.

"With the king and his three sons dead, there's no one left to take up the throne...or so we thought," Adrian said. "Martin is Uriel Septim's bastard child, and now the only remaining heir to the throne. Our mission is to find him and bring him to safety so that he may use the Amulet of Kings to light the Dragon Fires in the Temple of the One."

"Brother Martin...is the king's son?" Enya asked, shocked by the news. "But, I thought his father was a farmer. That's what he told us."

"A likely story," Adrian said, "but false all the same. His existance was kept a secret from the entire kingdom. Not even Martin himself knows that he is Uriel's son. The only ones who knew of his existance were Jauffre and the king himself. Whether Martin was merely a mistake or the king saw this coming years ago we will never know. But the fact that he was kept a secret has given us an advantage, or so we thought before we heard about the attack on Kvatch."

Kai, Enya, and Reon all shivered as they remembered the demons pouring out of the gate in the middle of their town. "That portal that opened in the middle of town, do you know what it was?" Enya asked.

"An Oblivion Gate," Balaes said. "It's connected to the realm of Oblivion, where Mehrunes Dagon resides."

"But our world is protected by magical barriers," Reon said. "Such stable portals defy all laws of magic."

"Not if those barriers have weakened," Balaes told him.

Adrian added, "We believe that the king's death may have had something to do with the stability of the magical barriers around our world. Whenever a new king is crowned, he uses the Amulet of Kings to light the Dragon Fires in the Temple of the One."

"Our hypothesis is that the Dragon Fires are what kept the barriers strong all these centuries," Balaes said. "Now that the royal family is our of the picture, there's no one left to re-light the Dragon Fires."

"Which is why getting Martin to safety is vital in assuring the future of Arcadia," Adam added.

"But why does it have to be Martin?" Kai asked. "If what you say is true, then all we need is the Amulet of Kings. We can light the Dragon Fires ourselves."

"Not true," Adrian said. "The amulet is an ancient relic of great power, given to the very first ruler of Arcadia by the Gods over eight-hundred years ago. Only those within the Septim bloodline can use it. To anyone else it's no more magical than a rock. Which makes it even more crucial that we find Martin as soon as possible. An invasion is coming, one unlike any this world has every witnessed. Kvatch was just the beginning. If we don't help Martin take his rightful place as king, Arcadia as we know it will be forever drowned by Mehrunes Dagon's darkness."

(This is pretty much a recap of everything our characters know. I know I probably didn't have to write so much, but I did it anyway just to make sure everyone understood what was going on. Because I know Ayumi was confused a while ago. If something still doesn't make sense to any of you, let me know via PM and I'll explain it as simply as I can. Other than that, are we all on the same page?)

On the same page here =)

Adam

Impatience was an ill gotten virtue and one that Adam always tried hard to resist but in the present situation, time was precious and he found his adversity toward Edgar growing.

"Let us leave without him," Adam said when they had waited a few minutes more, Adrian fielding questions and the others either asking them or looking out toward their destination with gloomy countenance.

"No," Adrian said. "Even if we did not need the weapons, I would not go without him. He has proven himself to be a man of virtue and the king chose him for a reason." Adam said nothing but he turned away and approached the horse that had been bought for him. The stable had only been able to spare four of the animals and Adam did not yet know with whom he was sharing the black stallion but already he had grown rather fond of it. In his younger days, Adam had stolen the horses of nobles and ridden them for fun before selling them on. It had been a good trade for a short while but couldn't go unoticed for more than a few months so he'd had to give it up and lie low a while, once more sinking into the realm of invisibility. Or so he had thought. And yet, his occupation as a thief had been found out.

The girl with them was young and though pretty, she certainly was not anyone he would want to take advantage of but Adam liked to flirt and he liked the practice. A girl child was often much more difficult to woo than their older counter parts.

"Do you not think this is a fine horse?" Adam asked Enya, stroking the horses mane with a pleasant smile on his face. "But she is not as fine as you."

***Stupid computer deleted my post last night! I'll repost later on, during ROTC Class.

But as for my upgrades, I'd like secret formula for Enya (which does what, exactly?) and daggers for Kai.***

(I hate it when that happens. That's why I always remember to copy everything that I've written. That way, in case I accidentally do something to lose my work I just have to paste instead of re-writing the whole thing.

Secret formula increases the effectiveness of any potion your character uses. If you check the site and go to where it says Abilities, you can check the effects of any skill you need to know about. They're all organized in respect to their appropriate classes, so just scroll down until you find Healer to Summoner.)

Balaes

He folded his arms and leant against on of the stalls while they waited for Edgar. Most of the others seemed to be doing fine - Kai, Ivellios and Reon were discussing exactly what had happened at Kvatch with Adrian, and Adam and Enya were standing beside one of the horses. Adam had a smile on his face that just screamed 'flirt'. Bales frowned to himself, jealous, Some people just have all the luck.

He sighed, wishing Edgar would hurry up so they could get on the road to Kvatch - every second they wasted was a second that Mehrunes Dagon gained. And a second that Balaes was forced to watch Adam flirting with Enya.

It wasn’t that he was interested in her particularly, although he could see that she was pretty. It was more that it was just another example of Adam being allowed to leave a life more or less as he pleased. Sure, he had to steal to survive, but his father hadn’t beaten him, starved him, and forced him to learn dark magic.

“Perhaps we should go and look for Edgar." He said, loud enough for the others to hear, "He shouldn’t have taken this long to find weapons. In fact, he should have been finished before Adam and I even reached the blacksmith.”

(I want to wait and give Ayumi a chance to post before I bring back Edgar. She got mad at me once before for doing that. )

***This will probably be one of the few times - if not last - I will be able to post today. I have a beauty pageant tonight.

And thanks for waiting. ***



Enya blushed at Adam's comment. She wasn't used to such attention; it wasn't a common thing she was subjected to on a daily basis...well, before Kvatch...

She nodded. "Yes, it's a pretty horse...Are you really sure I compare to such a beauty?"

Adam smiled. "Yes, I do."

Kai cleared his throat. He gave Adam a little warning glance - one that said quite simply that's my sister, you know - before continuing to converse with Adrian. "Besides, it's safer in numbers. If Edgar has gone for weapons, then we especially need him. We'd be fools to go unarmed."

"A point well made."

(I'll wait for you Dynamo and then I'll post myself.)

(No problem, I learned my lesson last time. Have fun at your pageant.)

Fifteen minutes later, Edgar finally showed up. He was carrying a bag full of weapons.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Adam said.

"What took you so long?" Adrian asked.

"There's more shops in Skingrad looking to scam you than those that actually make quality weapons," Edgar explained. "I'm sure you wouldn't be too happy if you sword broke during battle."

"I didn't know you were that knowledgeable with weapons," Adrian said.

"I'm not, I just took the ones that didn't snap in half when I tried to break them."

"Uhh... Edgar? Breaking things without paying for them is against the law," Adrian pointed out.

"Is it not also against the law to sell frauded weapons?" Edgar scanned the group, taking in all the new faces. "There seems to be more people with us than before." Adrian introduced everyone to Edgar, saying they all wanted to help with their mission. "If they can hold themselves in a fight, then I have no objections."

The shapeshifter emptied the bag he was carrying into a pile at his feet. "It's a good thing I decided to buy extras. Take whichever weapon you want, we can always sell what we don't need later."

(Instead of waiting for everyone to pick their weapons, the next post is going to be them riding to Kvatch. In your next post, just mention in brackets which weapon your character chose. Make sure you have the prerequisite skill in order to wield it.)

***Kk, now to get back to posting. XD ***


Kai settled with a long sword and a pair of daggers. Enya refused to take a weapon at all; she was unmoving in her resolve to stay out of battle situations. Now, they may need her help afterward, but that was it. Tending to wounds would be her skill.

The siblings had taken a tall bay mare for their steed, Enya stradling the animal's back behind Kai, her arms wrapped around his waist. He would have let her ride with Adrian, but then with Adam... He didn't want to start trouble based on jealousy.




***Waiting on everyone else...***

(Adrian will go with a short sword.)

(We can move on now, all everyone really has to do to say what weapon they chose is what I did in the first pair of brackets above this one.)

The riding order went Kai and Enya, Edgar and Reon, Adam and Balaes, and Adrian and Ivellios. They all made haste down The Gold Road toward Kvatch in hopes they would not be too late. Nightfall was approaching fast, and the closer they got to Kvatch, the redder the sky became.

Soon they reached a small encampment at the base of the hill, below Kvatch. They couldn't see the town from over the trees, but Adrian knew it would only take a short climb to reach it. "Let's leave our horses here and go the rest of the way on foot," Adrian suggested. Everyone did as he said and got off their horses, tying them to a post by a nearby water troff.

"Why is this camp here?" Ivellios asked. "It wasn't here when we left."

"It must be for all the survivors that made it out of the town," Balaes suggested.

Adrian nodded. "Looks that way." He went up to the closest person he could find and asked, "Excuse me, can you tell us where we can find a man named Martin?"

"The priest?" the person asked. Adrian nodded. "To tell you the truth, I don't think he made it out in time. He may still be in the chapel if the demons hadn't got to him already."

Adrian sighed. He was hoping that luck would have been in his favour and Martin was in the camp with the rest of the survivors. But it looked like fate had other plans.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," the man said. "The Guard captain Savlian Matius may know more."

"Where can we find him?" Adrian asked.

"He's at the top of the hill at the entrance of Kvatch. He and Sir Ro, along with most of the soldiers that made it out as well, have been keeping the demons coming out of that demonic gate at bay ever since this whole mess started."

(Just so you know, Sir Ro is Ilum, Enya and Kai's father.)