"And let this be a message to all, Welstarm will not fall to anyone! Man, Mage, God or Undead!" King Elgar proclaimed to his people.
"The threat of Uxire is no more, his army and disease are gone for good! Welstarm is here to stay!"
The crowd of people looking up at him as he stood giving a victory speech from a balcony roared with cheer, cheering Elgars name.
Welstarm was safe again.



The cold night of Nobarg was drawing to a close, the great sun 's light could be seen on the horizon by those who wanted to imagine the suns warmth.
The dome city of Celmphar could care less, throughout the night, strange things had been occurring.
Celmphar seems to be expecting something. Each of the towers withing Celmphar's walls now seemed to have more soldiers stationed than normal. Throughout the recent nights, each tower has been lit brightly. Small cannon's lined the walls.
The gate was heavily defended, almost as though anyone even poking their nose about would have it removed within a second.
Celmphar was defending... or perhaps they were scared.

"I wonder what they're expecting." A young watchman said to his comrade as he looked through one of the telescopes built onto the tall watch tower.
"Who knows, maybe more of those 'Sand Rats' are scurrying about like before." His comrade replied.
"Eh... Maybe. It's almost dawn, our shift will be over soon. Can't wait to get to bed." He yawned and stretched his arms out.

Hours later, Kryus's streets were slowly lighting up thanks to the suns rays of light.
With it, the streets slowly began filling with men and women working as they do every day.
Soon enough, Francis the towns trade master unlocked the Trade storage building, upon opening the large doors, his eyes met the mild glow of sun reflecting off the rune stone slabs loaded onto the cart.
"Ah, Frank, there you are. We've got a problem." A faint voice spoke from behind Francis.
"Oh? What would that be, Emily?" Francis turned to face her, a dark haired lady holding a notebook, she stood with authority and spoke faintly, hinting at shyness. She scribbled a few names down onto the paper.
"Oh well, its more of a suspicion really... apparently Celmphar is preparing a defense...and well, the Watchtower guards think it might be more Sand Rats, the vermin kind mind you." She said cautiously.
"Bloody hell! Just what I need. I'll tell you, Rayvis better not be on the party roster this time! I've had up to here with his insults." He said raising his hand just above his head, which was quite laughable considering his small size.
Emily covered her mouth before allowing Francis to see her smile.
"Frank, you know about that fight he got into. He lost an eye..." Emily protested.
"He's absurd! Last time he walked the whole way not even saying anything, if I were to ask about his thoughts on a possible ambush he'd stare at me, I half expected to be roasted alive." Francis sighed.
"Well, unfortunately, thats how it is... Do not leave without him and the rest of the party!" Emily ordered.
"Fine, fine. Maybe he'll be lucky enough to get in a fight with me this time, I'll poke his other eye out. He won't see it coming! Damn Cyclops!"
Emily quickly walked away, hoping to note hear any more slander directed at Leon Rayvis.

Leon Rayvis walked through the town, sporting an obvious scowl, he knew his day was going to be ruined by another trip to Celmphar.
Of course, he did get a decent bag of gold for his services.
When it was definite there was an ambush waiting, he'd get a bonus depending on how many heads were removed from bandits bodies.
He made it his priority to get a good drink or two before heading out.
Stepping into the tavern, the barman quickly prepared a drink.
"Oh, you on the party roster again?" the barman assumed rightly.
"Yeah, blasted Emily banging on my door this morning, I bet half the roster was woken up."
"Ah, well, at least when you get back, you'll have a couple gold pieces to spend on drink in here." the barman laughed and soon received a death glare from Leon.
"Chop a few heads for ol' me, aye?" the barman smiled nervously.
Leon finished his drink and headed out of the tavern.
The trade caravan would be leaving in a few hours, he had time to waste, but not a lot of places to waste it at.

((OK, so here we go!
The Roster is basically a list of people required to go on the trip to Celmphar, which is supposed to be everyones characters.
Of course, like Leon you don't have to be happy with it, or alternatively, you could be happy about it.

So, theres some time until the caravan leaves, what would your character be doing in the morning?))

Milo burst open the wooden door of his raggedy house, his arms curved into a stretch and seemed to block the sun from the sky as a cheery smile planted itself on his face. Stamping his feat along the ground and taking care not to let his crossbow - the weapon of choice for the day - hit off of the floor, he marched himself through the streets of Kryus diligently, arriving squarely at the trade storage building.
"Goood morning, Francis!" Milo sang, sliding up alongside the trades master. "Isn't it a beautiful day to do some deliverating?"
"Well at least someone around here knows how to smile. You on the roster today, Milo?"
"Indeed I am."
"Feeling lucky today?"
Milo took out his crossbow, loaded one red-feathered arrow into it and aimed it straight into the air. Firing with a flick twang, the arrow ascended gracefully. Francis took a few steps backwards in an attempt to get under cover as the arrow plummeted back down to earth again, landing squarely inside a misplaced jug.
"You better have been aiming for that." the trades master laughed, "Else that was one hell of a fluke."
"Don't know the meaning of the word." Milo boasted with a proud smile. As he started away he turned momentously to finish his sentence, "No I really don't know what it means."
Francis slapped his forehead before gesturing for Milo to leave. Milo obliged, picking up his arrow as he left to amuse himself.

[OoC That's all for tonight this shall be sweeet. I'm playing a happy character for once.]

"Darren! Get your lazy-hands out of bed or Gervaros help me I'll burn your project!"

Darren was woken out of a wonderful dream by his master's shout echoing from the metal room. He yawned and stretched as he sat on him bed. Today was the day he'd finish his creations that he'd been working on for three months.

"Coming Ranold!" he shouted back.

He got out of bed and proceeded with his new morning ritual at the workshop ever since he moved there to train with Ranold. After freshening up, he went downstairs into the craft station to check on the collection of crossbows he'd been making. After polishing some of his creations, Ranold walked in amused at the expression of his smug apprentice. They both turned then at the sound of the main door being knocked on.

"Get that for me Darren while I take a critical look at your 'touching' creations." requested Ranold as he reached for a shiny crossbow from the arranged line on the wooden table.
"I'll try to act anxious sir." smirked Darren as he ran toward the door.

Opening it up revealed the roster manager, Emily, standing holding her usual notebook in her hands.

"Hi Miz. Emily." greeted Darren.
"Hello yourself." she whispered coyly, "someones in a good mood."
"Well it is the day my crossbows are ready, I just hope the guys take good care of them while traveling." he remarked.
"Ranold is actually inside though, I'll go get him, just a se-" he turned to head in back in but was stopped by Emily.
"I didn't come here for Ranold, Darren, I was looking for you." she explained.
"Me...wait, don't tell me my-"
"Your crossbows will get delivered boy, don't you worry about that."
"Then whats up?" he asked confused.
"Have a look."

Emily opened her notebook to the recent party roster and pointed at his name in the list.

"You know the time." she stated then looked at Darren's expression, "Don't give me that 'I can't do it hurr' look, were all expecting you, just try to be on your best behavior, you-know-who is gonna be on this party as well."

With that, she turned away and left Darren standing in the doorway wondering if a God existed that had to balance happiness and utter blasphemy. He slouched back to the craft station and a proud faced Ranold.

"I thought these things were crazy at first, but they just might be the next revolution kid." remarked Ranold.

Darren sighed at the situation.

He is NOT going to like this...

(OoC: Since Emily's a NRC I guess she can be friends with some people, amirite? :3)

Vielaga Of Uzentine rose with a great yawn and a considerable lack of the sort of proper etiquette expected of one bearing such a noble sounding name. Not that I'm sure there is proper etiquette regarding waking and the subsequent actions that generally follow such an act, but I digress. The large man gave a sigh and stood. For a moment, it seemed that he would topple over, but fortunately for the couple sleeping in the room below his, that didn't happen. instead Velga just shuffled across the room and threw open his door, letting the sun shine and the wind ripple through his slightly unkempt fur. Already he was feeling better- he always did once he managed to let a bit of nature in. Normally, that would seem to indicate that it would be a good day. However, the Diagan man had the strangest hunch that that might not be the case. There were many possible reasons for his feeling. For one, the birds didn't seem to be singing today- and of course his large, tufted ear was twitching more than usual. What else... what else... Ah yea, and there was that strange young woman standing next to his door, staring him down and clearing her throat rather forcefully.

"Are you alright madam?" Vielaga asked, wondering if she needed something to sooth her throat, "Your voice sounds rather strained for this time of day." She blinked, clearly not expecting the intimidating giant to have spoken in such a deep, soothing voice- and what he said was probably strange too. A faint blush rose to her cheeks, possibly embarrassed that the Diagan hadn't quite understood her expression, "Ah- um... Yes, thank you, I'm fine." She shuffled through some papers she was holding before pulling up the one she'd been seeking, holding it level with- er... holding it up for Vielaga to see while she spoke aloud. "Veeal... Vila... Um..." The young woman struggled for a bit, than shrugged past the name entirely, "You, sir, are listed on the roster. As such, you are required to attend the trip to Celmphar." ... She waited for a the inevitable argument to spring up, waited for what felt like a good long while in fact. ... Maybe he hadn't heard her? She gave a rather indiscreet cough, then began again, "You are listed on the-" "There is no need to repeat yourself lady, I heard you," She looked up curiously, and found herself gaping as the giant, furry man scratched the chin of a small blue bird who'd landed on his finger, "I had nothing else planned, so it should be little trouble." After a couple of seconds, the girl just shook her head and turned to walk off.

And that left Vielaga to return to his room and dress and bathe- yes, in that order- himself. So he did so, and finally left his room, various plates of steel strapped about his body gleaming in the sunlight with as much brilliance as the silky, silver fur that hung from his body. It was a rather impressive sight you could imagine, and had there been an orchestra handy in the immediate area, it is certain that they would have begun to play out a rather heroic tune. And now that he was ready, Velga decided to spend the rest of his free time doing what he loved. First, he made his way to the appointed gathering are. Then, that done, he sat down, resting the huge spear-like weapon across his lap, and laid back to stair up into the sky. He'd always enjoyed the mornings- letting the sun warm away the early morning's chill from his body. It reminded him of home.

Felix was soundly sleeping until he heard a loud knocking sound coming from his door. He then let out a loud yawn and rolled off the pile of hay he was sleeping on. Pushing his hands off the floor, Felix stood up and slowly stumbled to answer the door. Once he opened the door he found Emily waiting for him.

"....Emily, what are you doing here?...." Felix asked while still half-asleep.
"It took me quite a while to track you down this time, but I never thought you would be living in a shack......" Replied Emily.
"Yeah well....moneys kinda tight....." Felix said while yawning.

Emily begins to flip through the pages in her roster book and shows Felix a page with his, and a lot of other names on it.

"You are on the roster today." Emily said while holding up her book.
"Ah well, I was looking forward to relaxing today but whatever...." Felix groaned.
Emily closed her book "Also, you should get dressed." she said as she began to walk away.

Felix got confused for a second until he realized that he was still wearing a dirty T-shirt, old shorts, and his hair was a complete mess.

Felix groaned once again as he said "I hate mornings......." then closed his door and turned back into his shack to get dressed.

Felix then took his cloths off a string he tied to two supports of the shack, which he left them there to dry after he washed them last night.
Once he put on he cloths, Felix packed his possessions inside his bag. He then opened the door to his shack and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Felix looked up into the sky to see the sun and clouds around it "This is gonna be a long day....." he said as he started to walk away.

Zeckary grunted. The "runestone" he had formed from a mix of pure magic and rare underground rock, similar to volcanic rock, had turned out to be no more than an abominative creation that had burned into his skin, leaving a scorch mark on his right wrist, right beside his magical mark. Nonetheless it was a break through and an interesting invention; a boiling hot stone that never got cold! Hooray for the science of magic. Or the magic of science, Zeckary wasn't truly sure. Nonetheless he intended to continue his goal of learning to create runestones. He had other things to ponder on however, which eventually led to him pondering on where the word 'ponder' came from. Were people who thought in a pond ponderers, which developed into the verb to ponder? Which, over time, led to a misunderstanding of the meaning so that the pond bit was removed and so it included general thought? He would look into it, for fun mainly. Once he reverted to the matter at hand, he remembered that his only "friend", Rerril Cake, had come to the sewer earlier to tell Zeck that he had been chosen for some roster shenanigans. He thought it would be fun and couldn't miss such a chance, so gathering his gear (including the amazing rock of heat), he set off, bringing any smaller research pieces he could fit with him, and set off to the overworld where the sun immediately hurt his eyes and irritated his pale, delicate skin.


As he reached the streets, he dropped back into his manhole; it didn't feel right. He then climbed back up, only to trop again. After four attempts he performed a suitable climb, and departed, growing irritated in the large crowds, trembling lightly.
"Bloody public..."

Eventually, Leon slowly dragged himself to meet with Francis, he reluctantly started the conversation.
"So... are we about ready to head off? I have all I need with me already." He asked, displaying his sword, shield and shoulder guards.
"Took you long enough! Just need to wait for everyone to gather around here, got an hour left." Francis aggressively tied some crates to his cart, they were probably filled with some supplies, the journey usually took around two days.

Leon sat against the wall of the storage room, occasionally watch Francis struggle with the trade cart.


((@Amaro : Yeah, she and Francis are usable by anyone.))

"Darren, you sure you really want to do this?" Darren and Ranold were standing next to each other discussing the received news from Emily, "You don't know what could happen out there, even with guides, the trips can be dangerous sometimes."
"I'd like to say I'm going out of boredom, but I just wanna get outside of Kryus other than to chop wood." Darren grinned, "Plus it'll allow me to test drive my crossbows for real if the chance comes."
Ranold sighed at his apprentices recklessness, "Then off with ya, don't you dare show your face around here unless your bringing over something shiny."

Darren got his travel pack ready after that. After saying goodbye to Ranold and receiving a bear crushing hug in return, he made his way to the meeting point. Closer examination revealed Francis setting up the trade cart. After a quick hello and a grunt from Francis, Darren helped him finish loading onto the cart. Turning around to stretch in the direction of the storage room, he spotted Leon sitting against the wall.

And here I thought Emily was joking around again.

He turned away, due to Leon seemingly being in a grump mood, and proceeded to wait.

Vielaga sat for what seemed to be hours, simply staring up into the sky and chatting with whatever critters happened to come near. Eventually however, Francis and his cart made their appearance. Soon enough, various peoples were beginning to gather, likely others who had been added to the roster, and who would be accompanying the caravan on it's journey. After a few lazy moments, the Diagan pushed himself up, sitting with his legs crossed as he looked over his soon-to-be-companions. Of course, he wasn't surprised to find a group of humans, not that he minded of course. Either way though, he found it odd that none had took note of his presence. After all, Diagan weren't a common site in any human city, especially one as large and er... nondescript as himself. Still, they couldn't be blamed. It was likely that they were simply concerned with the trip. Vielaga shrugged it off, then pushed himself slowly to his feet, using his massive lance for a bit of extra leverage. "Excuse me sir?" he said, his great voice booming out over the area and towards Francis, "How much longer until we are to depart?"

Felix was staring into space while walking to the meeting point. "I wonder what were needed for...." he thought. As he was walking, Felix looked over and saw a small fruit stand. Felix walked over and paid the man behind the counter for an apple since he never had anything to eat yet. Felix continued to walk while he was taking bites out of his apple. Once Felix made it to the meeting point, he saw that a few people have already arrived. Felix then took his last bite of the apple and threw it in a trash can nearby as he continued to walk closer to the group. Felix waved his hand at them while he said "So... I guess you people where also woken up at this ungodly hour?" He then leaned against the wall next to him, waiting to see if more people will arrive.

"Not long now, just waiting for everyone to arrive. I'm not leaving until everyone's here, I want to get my money's worth."
Francis said to Vielaga.
Leon look up from his spot, he clearly wanted to say something sarcastic but chose not to this time.
Leon then looked over to a another who had arrived.
"Yeah, you get used to it though, especially when you only have 1 eye to keep open." He drowsily said.
He stood up and stretched and let out a silent yawn.
"Francis, hurry the hell up already, I don't want to have to hang around here and smell you any longer than I have too."

"Did someone mention smelling?" Milo chanted in sing song as he strut towards the mismatched parade of people. He stopped in his tracks and designated his finger to his bottom lip. "Wait... That didn't come out right." The archer shrugged and dropped himself against a nearby wall complacently, like a cat pouncing straight into a nap. He snapped his fingers recklessly, recklessly because he was surrounded by several very tired and possibly hungover soldiers for hire who did not want to hear him clicking his fingers.
Finally a rather gruff looking fellow snatched Milo's hand out of the air then let it go. Milo took the message resolutely.
"Well... You're a barrel of laughs."

Francis disappeared to the barn next door to his storage room, mumbling something about horses and compost.
With that, Leon leaned back against the wall.
"So, you lot look like a few of you have seen some action. I hear we may not be getting a decapitation bonus this time around, since theres so many of us. But hell, we can make that up in whatever our victims have. So yeah, leave them in one piece."

Leon began stretching his legs and paced around a bit.
"Well, they seem nice, considering what time it is anyway. The earlier the better for safety I guess. In any case, watch yourself on this trip, I can only see what you can see, and thats not much. Plus those rune stones,the high spirits are working on something though" A voice rang in his head.
"Oh great. Thanks, even after not having any magic for a whole year, the high spirits are working on something. Good to know. Areos, just make sure you're at hand if something happens.
"Ok, ok, no need to get so angry, it's not my fault the high spirits are so 'mouthless', we're all dead, Leon, all of us. Most of us just go someplace else instead of getting stuck with someone or something. Anyway, I'll be hanging around, don't worry. If the High Spirits send out a one way message, I'll let you know what they've got to say."
"I'll be waiting. Leon finished.

((Gonna get this going soon, So everyone needs to be ready.))

"Ok, all ready? I'm not waiting for you any longer!" Francis shouted to the group.
The cart slowly began moving out of the town into the direction of Celmphar.

"Finally, some long waited action." Leon smirked, couldnt wait to get back into action after a few weeks of sitting around.
Leon walked alongside the cart as it moved.
The pair of horse's focused their eyes straight ahead on the road.


(OOC: Lets try to get this going again!)

Milo staggered after the cart, then settled into a comfortable stride along side it. Within the first twelve seconds he was humming an old shanty a friend had taught him years ago, a ritual for good luck. However, much like with all the trips, no one seemed to recognize the tune, so he eventually let it fade. As the sun beat down on them, the tense dragging of a full thirty seconds took its tole on Milo, and he raced forwards to entertain himself. Catching up with one of the others, he tried to initiate a conversation,
"Hey!" He said sporadically, shoving his hand outwards, "Leon, isn't it? Don't believe we've ever been on one of these before, I'm Milo, have a habit of remembering peoples names you see. Great at talking, bad at the other part of conversation, the listening part" Milo's voice trailed off. He turned attentively, awaiting some kind of response, beaming from ear to ear.

Slowly, the large, silver furred Diagan pushed himself up, a great yawn erupting from him like a roar. Reaching back, Vielaga adjusted the massive weapon strapped to his back, then started after the cart. Fortunately, his large strides brought him up to the side rather quickly, and he soon slowed his pace enough to just keep up with the group. His head turned, slowly as with most things he did, letting him look over the others with a curious gleam lacing his eyes. Then, silently, he turned his gaze back down the road. Talking was never his strong suit, and was even less so now that he was an outlaw.

"Yeah, I'm Leon, theres usually only a couple of people on this escort every week or so. Guess we just didnt get the right straws on the right day." Leon replied.
"You ok? You look a bit nervous." Leon asked curiously.
Moments later, he noticed the shadow of another member of the group and turned briefly to the shadows owner.
He turned back to the smiling Milo.

On the horizon, the beginnings of what looks like a dying forest could be seen, the temperature would be cooler, and Celmphar wouldn't be too far away.
More noticeably, smoke rising from the outskirts of the forest. Perhaps, there was something to be prepared for.

"Me? I'm just an optimist. I got this vibe, you know." Milo answered, still beaming his smile out into the desert. He scratched his head, letting the smile drop, "I always shoot better when I'm happy, so I try to be as happy as possible." he continued, his grin returning. He looked towards the billowing smoke and gasped with delight, "Looks like we may have a problem."

Leon looked at the tower of smoke with a devilish smirk.
"Probably nothing to worry about, just simple bandits. We'll deal with them when we get to it."
Leon said casually as he cracked his knuckles in preparation.
"Just remember not to smash any usable loot."

The cart trailed along slowly towards the smoke, getting closer to the mystery of what laid ahead.

Milo laughed lightly, "Please, I could shoot a gem out of the hand of a thief with my eyes closed, and it wouldn't take a scratch. In fact, I bet you a drink when we get back that you can name any body part, and my first shot will hit a guy square on it"
He gazed attentively towards the object of his wager, sure there were enough rune stones for his trick shots to work.