Untitled story

(( this story is supposed to be an ongoing story, I don't know how long it'll last but I'm writing it to help give some atmosphere. The time is set to one year before the siege of Kathia and there are five main characters, a Balah and his squad and you'll have the pleasure(?) of following them on their journeys. Each post will be as long as I feel like writing and I'll basicly just keep writing this for aslong as I can think up ideas for it. And yes, I might draw plots for ingame rp from this story. ))

Characters:
Male Stygian Kamra aged 52, Balah.
Female Stygian Yusra aged 19, Shan're.
Male Aquilonian Marius aged 18, Shan're.
Male Aquilonian Salus aged 17, Shan're.
Male Cimmerian Aden, aged 19, Shan're.

[ place holder - it's 01:45, I wouldn't do myself justice if I started now ]

Kamra smiled alittle to himself as he walked out through the archway of the keep, he had been given a mission by the Dathanar himself and that was just what his group needed. It had been a long while since they had been out and especially the stygian girl, Yusra had long since their last assignment grown tired of training. They all needed to come out though, Kamra was a man who believed that you should see the world while you're young and reflect upon it as you grow older.

Thirty minutes later the sun was still rising on the horizon and he stood infront of four youngsters that were his to command, he had reached them over the network that they could gather at this location and hour. Unrolling the scroll he carried in his hand he began to read aloud the mission statement:

"Dathanar Rashad Mahdi of the House of the New Dawn, in the 19th year and the 5th month of his dynasty commands the following order from his 173rd squad."

He paused for a moment to let his eyes raise over the parchment and gaze at his four, except for Aden, the boy standing alittle away from the group they all had grins from ear to ear and as he made his pause the woman almost narrowed her eyes at him to make it clear he had better continue and to do so fast.

"To travel far into the south of the Stygian kingdom and enter the Lotus Swamps where you are to investigate it's ancient ruins and what lies within."

As he reached the end of the scroll he he rolled it back up and tied the string around it once again. Straightening his back he let out a bit of a grunt as he saw that Yusra had her hand raised, "Was there something you did not understand with our orders, Shan're?" The young stygian woman bowed low before her commander before she replied to him "I.. Was just wondering if that was all, Balah Kamra of clan Lore. I mean.. An investigation of ruins.. archeological work" she let out of a cough at this moment to clear her throat as she could nearly feel Kamras gaze bore into her skull "Well it seems something befitting of clan Lore to take care of, by itself. Why are we needed on this mission?" After this question she promptly recieved an open palm to her cheek that nearly threw her off her feet.

After having explained that you do not question the Dathanars orders and that there was clearly a purpose as to why not only members from clan Lore were sent Kamra sent his group off to gather rations and water to bring on their journey before they set out through Kathias gates. Kathia, hidden away in the eastern mountain ranges of the Laceish Plains is remote from the rest of the explored world of Hyboria that it takes nearly a fortnight of travel to leave it's snowy rocks and bushes and enter the warmer coastal kingdom of Aquilonia. From their docks travel to most lands may be hired and so in this end of the world that many long journeys truly begin.

It was high noon when Kamra and his group arrived at the gates of Old Tarantia, though unnecessary most times he had requested permission ahead of time to enter the city and showed the guard this notice, whom simply waved them through.

"I can't believe they're so lax in security, it's their capitol afterall." Yusra mumbled as they walked through the archway, it's marmor walls were decorated with different symbols in the blue so favoured by the Aquilonians. Aden turned his head around to look at her and his lips parted as though he was about to speak but he was interrupted by Salus, a teenager who didn't look a day older than he was with black curls framing his tanned face and brown eyes. "He probably shat his pants when he saw old man Kamra and his standard" the boy broke into a sheepish laugh at his own remark closely followed by the boy who walked next to him but they both fell silent nearly instantenously as Kamra glanced over his shoulder at them.

As they made their way through the city they recieved a fair share of glances and even stares from the local populance whom had quite a different custom as far as clothes go but most returned to their conversation after a courteous bow or nod from the group members. Then suddenly Yusra took off in a sprint, drawing her sword from its scabbard on her hip. "What in the world!? Yusra! Stop right now!" Kamra barked after her and started to run aswell as she disobeyed the order, he was not used to such activity however and having already travelled all day in that heat he was soon out of breath, instead the younger lads ran past him to catch up with her, Aden was first and came up next to her "What is going on?" He asked her, panting, then let his eyes follow her finger as she pointed ahead, she wall following someone who was running appearently for their life or whatever he carried under his arm, bumping into people and pushing them over as he did. Aden let his knee touch the ground with his next step and put his palm flat against the ground. From somewhere ahead, hidden by the crowd a shriek could be heard and then a crash, clearing through the gathering of people Marius and Salus also caught up and could help but start to laugh out loud at the man who now lay in a heap of planks and fabrics from what was once a merchants stand. Yusra quickly sheathed her blade and putting her foot on the mans back she grabbed his wrists to lock them on his back. Only then Kamra arrived, whiping his brow and opening his mouth to give the girl some well deserved words when he noticed the book laying next to the man that Yusra was standing over. Instead he walked over there and snatched it from the ground, putting it back into the satchel it had been taken from. "Well done, Shan're."

Yusra bowed to Kamra with her free hand still on the handle of her sword, she had secured the mans hands under her knee and he was writhing in pain under her from this rough treatment. "What do we do with him, Balah?" Kamra turned his head to look at the two youngsters who then ceased their laughs "Clan secrets will need to find out what he was after for whom and why." His gaze lingered on Salus and Marius for a moment before he reached into his backpack to retrieve some rope which he used to tie the thieves hands and legs. "We'll rent a room here tonight."

As it turned out it was only the green man inn that had any free rooms and they still ended up having to share one. Uncomfortable conditions and the lack of privacy is often the norm in Kathia and during missions especially however so there were no complaints on this matter, what there was some arguing about however was the activity that was taking place that night. Having graduated from the teachings of the clan of Secrets Salus and Marius were meant to handle interrogations well. However the two brothers were never too fond of doing this. After some persuasion and threats however Aden, Kamra and Yusra went downstairs to leave them alone with their subject. "Is it really necessary though?" Aden shot a question towards Kamra as they sat down with their evening meal at a table in the serving area. "He probably just thought he could get a good price for it at the market or some such." Yusra looked up at him briefly from her plate and Aden shyed away from her black eyes, making him trail off into a mumble. "That may be so, however it also may not and in any case such a crime against the clan of Lore I will have appropriatly punished." Kamra said in a voice that made it clear this was his final word on this. Instead they finished their meal in silence.

A few hours later Salus and Marius came down to join them, the older brother was whiping his hands with a piece of cloth that had a crimson tone which obviously came from use rather than its own colour. Salus was fetching meals for both of them as he sat down and discreetly tossed the textile into the fireplace they were sitting next to. He heaved a sigh before he looked up at Kamra with a bit of a dull look in his eyes, the merry gleam that was always there had gone away. "He worked for a local antiquer, appearently your book looked old." Salus set the plate down infront of him before he sat down silently. Marius poked at the vegetables and meat with his fork before pushing the plate away from him looking abit pale. Kamra nodded to him and pushed the plate back "eat, you'll need your strength tomorrow." Marius met with his eyes and nodded again, forcing the food down without another word.

The next morning the two brothers came down the stairs laughing at some shared joke as usual. Aden came after them, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, followed by Yusra who was still tying her long black hair up, Kamra came last as he had given the room a final lookover before he decided he could leave.

After they had paid for their stay in the bar they headed out into the tarrantian streets, even though it was dawn the streets were already bustling with life and merchants were shouting out their wares. Many of the things available in the stands there are not in Kathia and so the youngsters couldn't really help themselves to be intrigued by the many strange (and often completely useless things) that were up for sale. As they didn't have any money they shot mean looks at Kamra for not buying anything for them. Instead they were soon out through the gates of the dock to find a ship to take them south across the ocean to Stygia.

With the news of Toth-Amon rising in the south few captains were willing to sail that way, but one was. He was a large bearded man who was missing an eye which he claimed he lost in battle with a pictish horde. Kamra and him argued for awhile of the price of the fair and it wasn't until the man spotted a guard comming his way that he became abit more compliant to Kamras offering and he quickly chased them onto his boat and still got a few arrows to the hull of his boat as they pulled away from the shore. Aden would've probably made them stop with his own hadn't his comrades held him back and told him that wouldn't have been a good idea.

Thanking lady luck for even having been able to leave the port the passengers left their pilot alone until they had reached a bit out into the sea. Kamra then walked up to him and demanded to know what the whole situation was about, he couldn't very well travel with some savage. "Hah well, actually you probably won't believe this but I'm wanted in Tarrantia for freeing a bunch of slaves and helping them escape on my ship." Kamra frowned at this, clearly he didn't believe him. "Hrrm, well turns out I had some good use of them on the ship. They were happy to help me for pretty much what they had gotten before so.. But I still set them free after a month or so! An I didn't have them chained up and. Ah. Well I believe a man should be free you know, thats what I am out here, free on the sea! You have to believe me!" His explenations had become more desperate and rapid in succession as the five had drawn their swords and were pointing the sharp tips at him. Kamra nodded at this and sheathed his as he was appearently satisfied, the others followed suit though Aden gave him a dirty look before going back down to the main deck.

Besides a few storms and Salus getting sea sick a couple of times per day the journey passed with little insidents, the last few days went without food as the captain hadn't had time to load his last crate onto the ship before they had to flee from the guards but it was nothing any of them weren't used to. As the climate turned hotter and the green shores turned into sand Yusra was found more often than not in the front of the ship, "Uhm, what are you doing up front here anyway?" Aden asked some days after she had started doing this as he had finally worked up the courage to speak to her, she looked at him over her shoulder briefly and shrugged. "I've never been to Stygia before, my parents come from there.. I'd like to see the origin of my existance." She mumbled after a long pause. Aden nodded at this and stood up next to her, placing his hand on the reeling as the boat rocked violently and almost threw him off his feet. "I can't say I really understand how that feels, my parents homeland isn't too far from Kathia and well they tell me it's not much different there, except just alot of needless death and pain." Yusra kept staring off in the distance and nodded slowly "They told me the same and about worshipping some serpent called Set. Appearently alot of people has to die in his name and they leave snakes laying around in the streets and you're not allowed to touch them or even do anything if one bites you, isn't that terrible?"

They're conversation went on into the evening and when they finally decided to head to their respective cabins Aden ran into Salus and Marius, except you never ran into them, they always seemed to be able to find someone when they wanted to and Aden sort of had a feeling that they had been after him for awhile, one that was confirmed when Marius said "So, how'd it go with Yusra?" His brother grinned wide at this and stiffled a chuckle since it was so late. "Eh, I don't really know what you're talking about, we just had a conversation about our homelands." Marius crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall. "An awful long conversation to have from noon to dawn about your homelands, don't you think Sal?" The brother nodded and agreed that it was indeed quite some time to have such a conversation. "You stay away from her, Aden, you hear me? You know I have eyes for her."

Aden didn't speak with the brothers after that, in fact he didn't speak with anyone and when Yusra addressed him he just mumbled something incoherent as a responce. She wasn't really the kind of person to care about such a thing and simpy ignored him for a while. At last they finally sort of crashed into a pier in Khemi since the captain claimed that rum helped him stay up at night and they had made the last day a full day and night ride to reach the docks as soon as possible, not wanting to be out in the slaver haunted water of Stygias coast.

Once ashore Yusra requested permission to look around on her own which she was granted and she took off promising that they would meet up at the serpents head inn later where the rest went off to right away after having paid the captain his money. The inn, as it always is was full of barely dressed courtesans that the boys stared at in their immature awe. Kamra had to chase them off to a private section before they were swayed by one of the temptous whores as much for their virtue as for the cause that they had no money to pay with and the consquences of that, Kamra knew first hand, were not so pleasant.

The sun had almost set outside when Yusra finally returned, she had some difficulty reaching their table however, since she only knew a few words of the local tounge that her parents had taught her. Finally united with them again though she had little to say and there was a dark look in her eyes. Kamra decided to leave this alone for now and ordered the boys not to ask her any questions which she seemed to be relieved to hear.