Welcome

[Kessler Nok]

His long black hair swaying in the wind and his tiny eyes squinting angrily Kessler Nok stood with the mountains at his back, they paled in comparison. If there was a man who would be able to uplift one from the ground using their own brawn, surely Kessler would be the one to place the money on.

He stood tall and wide blocking the road his eyes lingering towards the travelers he was about to rob blind.

There where three of them, one of them clearly a holy man, while the other two where his wife and teenage daughter. The traveled with a mule pulling a cart filled with a small household's worth of items. It appeared if they where on the move.

The father figure of the group stepped forwards.

"Excuse me sir...you're blocking the path...." He gingerly stepped forwards a few feet away from the motionless Kessler.

"Sir...would you plea---UNGH!!"

With his massive hand Kessler suddenly lunged forwards fitting the whole man's face within his hand. The wife screamed in shock, as he daughter grabbed a hold of her.

The man struggled and tried to run away but soon found his feet off the ground as the giant with his death grip still intact lifted the holy man off the ground.

With an overwhelmingly loud and larger then life voice Kessler made his demands.

"Drop all your valuables before I crush his skull like an egg." He said shaking the father figure around like he was a rag doll, and with his free hand tossing them a rather dirty burlap sack.

Tears in their eyes they quickly started casting off their jewelery, then making their way to the family wagon they started collecting even more valuables.

Kessler was silent, and loosened his grip on the old man slightly as he watched the two women fill up the loot sack.

[Malick Jorgensen]

Malick crouched behind a rock on the hillside above the road, watching Kessler do his work. He grinned. The giant was perfectly suited for a role like this.

When the bag of valuables seemed about full, Malick quickly unsheathed his sword and stood.

"Foul giant!" he cried, "Unhand that man at once!"

Nok merely grunted in reply... as planned.

"Very well then, villian... We will do this the hard way!" Malick proclaimed, raising his sword so it glinted impressively in the light, "Prepare to do battle with Thespis Metrobius!"

With that battle cry, Malick leapt over the rock and ran full tilt down the hill. He thrust his blade right into the belly of the giant, and Nok fell, releasing his grip on his hostage in the process. An astute observer would have noticed that the tip of the sword slid back as the thrust was made, but, in the heat of the moment, none of the victims thought to note that little detail, just as they didn't notice that the red liquid coating the blade was actually an artificially thickened dye. All they noticed was that "Thespis Metrobius," heroic swordsman, had miraculously saved them from certain doom.

The grateful family insisted that "Thespis" return to their village with them in order to be properly honored as the hero he was. He accepted.

That evening, after a feast of the best food the small village could find on short notice and the official presentation of his reward, a fairly valuable goblet from the village elder's home, Thespis was invited to spend the night with the family. This, too, he accepted.

Around midnight Thespis, the goblet, and the family's still-bagged valuables disappeared (along with a few spices and a bag of coins Malick grabbed on his way out of the house).

Malick always had a little bit of trouble finding his way back to the bandit duo's campsite after a "sleepover" raid like this one, but he did not fear the creatures said to lurk in the mountains. He didn't believe in anything capable of taking down Kessler Nok, and he knew that the big man would be keeping an eye out on the road for him. Loyalty was one of Nok's most endearing personality traits.

[Kessler Nok]

Loyalty indeed.

Kessler had stayed at their little camp as he always did, during these longer excursions. He leaned quietly against the mountain his eyes staring intently on the small fire that was keeping him warm. He and Malick never dealt with the dwarves that also habited the mountains, though the two groups where aware of each other, it was just easier for both parties to believe the two didn't exist.

The fire crackled away noisily in the quiet cold night. The two men kept only a small wagon, pulled by Nok in most cases. They quickly got rid of the goods they stole and traded them for food. They didn't horde items, they liked to travel lightly and quickly as possible.

Kessler's gaze was suddenly drawn towards the brush, his companion was drawing near.

The giant man spoke greeting him.

"I was starting to think you where going to spend the whole night, what kind of things to bring to the table tonight, Malick?".

[Malick Jorgensen]

"Ah, hello there, friend!" Malick said in greeting, "You should know by now I don't stay all night unless the girl is more lovely than that homely peasant. I've had my fill of unsightly women, believe me, I've had my fill." He walked over to the fire and sat down, dropping the bag down beside him.

"In answer to your question... I bring much in the way of shiny metal, Nok. I'm afraid not much here is edible..."

Malick opened the sack and showed the stash of goods to Kessler.

"Oh, I did manage to procure some spices on my way out..." Malick added, holding up a small pouch, "...at least next time we eat it'll taste a little better."

[Kessler Nok]

Kessler groaned quietly it sounded more like a wild beast's growl then anything human. Malick was good at what he does,probably almost as good as Kessler was at his part of the scam, but the man was short sighted and attracted to shiny things.

"Then we must rise early and make our way to the river...it looks like we're going to have to earn our meals."

Kessler slumped down till he was seated. "I am going to sleep now, glad to see you back."

With that Kessler closed his tiny dark eyes, and a few moments later he was snoring loudly. The man was taught to sleep sitting up at a young age, he took up less room in the slave stables that way.

[Malick Jorgensen]

Malick just shrugged at Nok's lack of enthusiasm. Anyone with any refinement realizes that spices are just as important to a meal, if not moreso, than meat and vegetables. Besides, one can turn gold into food in any town. Now that they had lost the Dallinian slavers, nothing was stopping them from heading to a market. Why, at a market they might be able to purchase some decent food rather than continuing to subsist on scrawny rabbits and whatnot.

Malick unfurled his bedroll and laid down. Nok's loud snoring was always a bit of an annoyance this time of night, but he tried to screen it out by focusing on visions of crowded marketplaces filled with the finest food available on the continent of Nelim.

He fell asleep to dreams of a royal feast prepared just for him. In the morning he woke with the taste of pheasant on his tongue.

[Kessler Nok]

Kessler awoke a few moments earlier Malick's scuffling and wandering had awoken him.

"Looks like it's gonna be a nice sunny day." He said as he rose to his staggeringly tall full height. He stretched briefly, yawned then grinned, swiping the whole loot bag this time.

He quickly inspected the contents , much easier to do it now then in the light. "You did pretty well, I did not expect to get that much out of them."

He tossed the bag at his partner. Malick dealt with much of the loot, Kessler never had a fine eye for jewelery.

"Shall we get right to work today? Or try our luck at the stream? Perhaps we could kill two birds with one stone..."

[Malick Jorgensen]

Malick yawned and ran his fingers through his hair. It was feeling greasy again. The stream would work very nicely. He could kill three birds with one stone!

"The stream sounds good," he said, yawning, "Bring the loot ... I don't want anyone swiping it while we're gone."

[Kessler Nok]

"Aye..." Kessler walked over near Malick and retrieved the bag of loot, and stuffed it through his belt loop tying it tight and secure.

The two quickly traveled to the river, Kessler with a fishing pole in hand. The ground was still damp from the morning dew(Which made it easy for Kessler to acquire a handful of worms on his walk) and the bird's where whistling beautifully. Kessler was feeling great even though he was desperately hungry.

They came to the rock shore of the stream. Kessler turned his back Mallick. Malick seemed to indulge himself in skinny dipping whenever there was work to be done near the stream. Kessler would just work alone during that time.

He put a worm on the hook and cast his line into the water. The man was quiet as usual. He loved to fish. Even if he was using an improvised rod and a bent sewing needle as a hook, he enjoyed the sport to the fullest.

[Malick Jorgensen]

Malick yelped a little at the touch of the icy mountain stream, but he soon adjusted to it. It wasn't a steaming perfumed bath, it wasn't drawn for him by a scantily-clad slave girl, but it would do for now. Someday he would return to Dalinn, once he had amassed his fortune, and then, when he returned in triumph, he planned to let the whole continent know the pain he had gone through because they spurned him.

As he cleansed himself in the creek, he thought of the one benefit of outdoor bathing... there was always the chance that a girl would wander up and instantly swoon at the sight of his glistening form.

*Ahh... if today were only that day...* he thought, chuckling to himself.

[Kessler Nok]

(Mallick's gonna be gone for a few days so i might end up talking to myself.)

Kessler fished for some hours while he left his friend to his own world of imaginary women and splashing about in the cold water. The fish in this river where an easy catch, the place was under fished and the water was shallow enough Kessler was able to visually spot the fish most of the time.

The beast of the man pulled in 6 before deciding to give things a rest. He went back to base camp all on his lonesome, taking with him a bucket of water. Using a tree stump as a table and a fillet knife the two bandit's had picked up at an earlier date he preceded to clean and fillet the fish. The guts and and inedible parts where tossed to the ground for an animal to feed on. He tossed the edible parts in the bucket.

When he was done with that, he reached for the bag of spices that hung from his belt. Glancing inside and testing it, he confirmed that it was mostly salt. Content with this he dumped all the spices into the bucket as well. He stirred it up causing a salty brine for the fish to rest in.

Content with that he took a long rope and stood on his tip toes and strung it from tree to tree then attached the bucket to it and put a grate over top of it.. It wouldn't be till tomorrow till the salt would work it's magic on the fish, putting it up so high would stop wild animals from getting inside.

The giant glanced from tree to tree calmly as he leaned up against the rocky mountain wall, near his 'home'.

Malick was probably finished bathing by now. More likely then not he was already on the prowl looking for someone to con. He usually wasn't out that long and given that they where successful the day prior, Malick would choose very carefully if and or when they would rob someone again.

[Malick Jorgensen]

When Malick decided that he had done all that he could do (given the circumstances) to counteract the natural tendency of the human body to stink, he concluded it was time to go for a stroll. He somewhat enjoyed walking through the hills (though he thought walking through the streets of a bustling city was far more exhilarating), but scouting was the true purpose for his meanderings.

It seemed to him that the day was fairly quiet. He saw a single traveler from a distance, but the man was only very lightly burdened and was traveling quite quickly. Malick figured him for one of those eccentric "adventuring" sorts and decided not to pursue.

Had he been a little more observant, a little more curious, or a little more superstitious, Malick might have lingered long enough to see the shadowy figure walk through a tree only a few moments later.

[Kessler Nok]

Kessler awoke from his dreams, and quickly started a fire. He then using a knife started to chip away at a piece of cherry wood. He would have to smoke this bounty of fish if him and Malick where to ration it off.

The big man hummed to himself a song his ears had picked up back in the day when he was traveling with the circus.

He removed the fish filets from their salty brine and strung them up over the fire letting the smoke do it's work. It be a day or two before they would be ready. He'd have to keep an eye on them for a bird of prey would happily take advantage of this easy snack.

[Daeven]

OOC: For the record, this takes place before Freedom from Banishment

From all that he had been reading, this seemed like it was the right place. Daeven had been searching for the Guardians for a long time now, and had come up with few leads. However, now it seemed like he might have finally stumbled upon something promising.

Sitting on the edge of a cliff, his child-like physique casted a small shadow below as the sunlight glinted off of his light armor. His white cape-like cloak flapped in the wind, contrasting his pitch black hair. It was certainly colder higher up in the mountains.

However, he would gladly deal with it for now. The Northern Wind, who, from what he had read, was one of the leader, if not the leader, of the Guardians. From his travels, he had heard a rumor that the Northern Wind's house was towards the peak of the tallest mountain in these Border mountains. From what he heard, it was like a mansion built back on the upper cliffs of the mountain. Apparently, it was extremely difficult to climb, which made sense why the Northern Wind would have his house in such a place. Very few had ever attempted to reach the highest peak of these mountains.

Daeven now readied himself to continue. He had already purchased supplies at the nearby town, where they were having some sort of feast for a "hero." Daeven had no interest in the festivities, so he had found this cliff away from the noise. Luckily he had bought enough food, and even more fortunate, he would still have more than enough for a big meal when he got back. For now though, he would put his mind off of the food, and start his trek to the peak.

[Malick Jorgensen]

Lost in thought, dreaming of his (slowly) coming glory, Malick wandered aimlessly up one of the many steep mountain trails. As the narrow road leveled off into a relatively flat stretch, he spotted a young boy sitting on the edge of the cliff, cheerfully dangling his legs over the abyss.

The young boy was garbed in what appeared to be light armor, and for a moment Malick recoiled in fear, wondering if the short figure might not be one of the mountains' rumored dwarves. Upon closer inspection, however, it became clear that the proportions of the boy's body were decidedly human.

That did, of course, still leave the question of what a young boy was doing up here in the mountains. Had Malick been a more superstitious man, he might have fancied the boy a ghost, some leftover relic of a failed expedition across the mountains, perhaps a passenger aboard a wagon whose ruins were long ago strewn across the rocks below the cliff. As it was, Malick just figured the boy was lost... or something. He was sure that the armor would reveal itself as a simple costume when he drew nearer, merely the stuff of a child's imagination.

Malick decided to approach the boy in his full heroic persona. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his posture. When he came to a halt he made sure to stand so that the theatrical sword sheathed at his hip would be highly visible.

"What's a fine young lad like yourself doing out here in the wilderness?" he asked. "I occasionally see peasant children on the mountain trails, but never a boy as well clad as yourself. Did you come here with a group? Your family? Are you lost?"

Malick adopted an admonishing tone.

"It's dangerous up here in the mountains, you know. Young lads such as yourself shouldn't be wandering around up here! You might just wind up being something's supper... or at least you might have if I hadn't come along when I did! I see this as providential timing, my boy! I am Thespis Metrobius, guardian of the innocent, and I can see to it that you are reunited with your family!"

[Daeven]

Daeven looked back over his should. He had to contain himself from bursting out in laughter. Who did this imbecile think he was? A child? Well, that was understandable... he did look like he was twelve or thirteen. However, maybe it could prove beneficial for him to play along. These people might have something nice to steal. This man certainly didn't seem very smart to him, however, that didn't mean he wasn't, at least, Daeven didn't really want to assume he was, because that could lead to failure.

I like looking at the mountains. They're so much cooler from up here. I come up here all the time by myself. I'm an okay fighter though. he said standing up, pulling a blade-less hilt off his belt and waving it around like he thought he knew how to use a sword. It was comical the way he thrashed about with nothing more than a handle. Daeven ignored the man's reproach though. He didn't find it too convincing, nor did he appreciate it coming from someone so obviously fake to him.

Are you the hero they were celebrating last night? he inquired bright eyed.

[Malick Jorgensen]

Malick laughed at the child's naive display of "fighting" skills. He knew then that the kid was definitely just a child playing a little too far away from home. Malick's grin brightened further when the child mentioned the celebration.

"Why I see my fame has preceded me! Yes, it was I who rescued that family from a brutish bandit who accosted them as they traveled a road not far from here. One must always be on the lookout for danger here in the mountains... shadowy figures lurk around each corner. Only through the constant efforts of my comrades in arms may the roads be kept open."

[Daeven]

This man was so full of hot air. Daeven wondered where he came from and what he was actually good at. It seemed obvious to him that he was not really a swordsman at all. He had never met a swordsman who carried themselves so... so... hero-like. Every one he mad met was somewhat noble, but they were not at all like this man, they were usually more secretive, rougher, more down-to-earth people.

I'll bet being a hero is cool. People give you stuff to thank you for helping them... I heard that you got some cool stuff. What did they give you? I wasn't around at the festival. They must've given you a lot of money, and food, and other cool stuff. he commented. He was hoping that his egotistical seeming attitude would want to show off his newly acquired treasure.

[Malick Jorgensen]

Malick almost frowned, barely catching himself in time. Usually peasants and children focused on the sword or the hair or the general heroic aura and asked him to tell stories of his exploits or demonstrate some techniques or something. This boy was focusing not on the emotional aspect of heroism, not on the physical aspects of heroism, but rather on the economic aspects of heroism. He wondered if the child might actually be working as a spy for a rival bandit group trying to move into the area and hoping to find out where he and Nok stashed the loot.

As much as Malick hated the act, he realized he was going to have to pretend not to be in it for the money if he wanted to maintain the heroic facade and not reveal his bandit nature to the spy. At least the child claimed ignorance of the actual proceedings at the festival. If that claim was true, then his gambit might just work...

He laughed heartily.

"Occasionally the people I assist attempt to thank me by offering me all sorts of flamboyant gifts, but I am a simple, unassuming man. I am not above accepting a good meal as a token of appreciation, but I'm afraid I have to refuse anything else offered to me. Taking it would be against my personal code of honor."

[Daeven]

Inside, Daeven frowned a little. He was certain that the man was lying, but no matter the case, he wasn't going to show him the goods. Ah well, he would give up on that for now. Maybe he was a real hero. He highly doubted that, but he would see what this Thespis character had to say.

I expected as much from an honored hero. I didn't think you really were a hero, but I know you're a hero now. Anyone else would have agreed that heroes are given a lot of cool stuff. he said excitedly. It seemed as though he only asked him about that stuff to see if he really was a hero.

So, Mister Thespis... what sort of stuff do you do as a hero? I mean, do you have to use your sword a lot? he asked curiously. One thing Daeven prided himself on was his ability to act like a child. Although sometimes it had its downsides. He put on his act so much that it was almost his natural state of mind. His older side was really only displayed through his thoughts. Otherwise he almost always acted like a younger kid.