Zanthro's Escape (closed)

(also, for those of you sneaking up, this is an opening to the ocean, which means its on the beach. You're still safe, but just be careful about your next move, because there is about 30 feet between the tree line and the water.)

Ah, right after massacring around one hundred people, today was a good day to go sailing. Especially because if he stayed, he would most likely end up dead. He watched lazily as the last of the few belongings were being loaded onto the two small boats. He had seven men remaining, no, eight if he counted that strange man... who he never actually remembered hiring in the first place. Oh well, they would all die out sometime, and if they didn't, he would never see them again. He had what he came for, it was time to return home. 

Turning his head at a sound, Zanthro heard a strange noise, and saw a man running towards him. On instinct, his hand came to rest lightly on the pommel of his sword. The man, however, seemed no danger. He also looked to be from the east, the same homeland as himself. Strange. This fact, however, did not lower his readiness to kill the man if he saw danger. Though, what danger was there? He had seven men... no, eight. He seemed to keep forgetting about that strange eighth. Maybe he would have to kill that one, just to ease his mind. 

"Well, I'm sorry to hear the tragic story, my brother" Zanthro started, upon hearing the not so sad sob story. "But I'm afraid that each of these boats will only fit four people at most, and with my current crew, it seems that I am already one over that limit." His eyes would flick to the man who he didn't remember that well. Why not kill him? He would do it once they took off. No one would care. 
"But, you are an Easterner, like myself, so perhaps I can help in some way." At this, Zanthro reached inside the folds of his shirt, and picked a few coins out, and then threw them at the man. "There is a proper dockyard not too far from here. That should be more than plenty to hire yourself a speedy trip back home. Maybe some left over to come back to this hell if you want." ((+ 5 gold to Archea))

He hoped that would take care of the man. He did not have anymore time to spare. Some of those damned tribesmen had put up enough of a fight. He would hate to meet more here. One of his men asked to use the bathroom. Stupid pig. He could piss in the sea. 

There was that eighth again. Damn, something about that man set him on edge. He would most definitely tip him off the boat once they set sail. And then maybe shoot anyone who tried to save him, just for fun. 

At this moment, Zanthro swore he saw movement in the trees. In more than once place if his eyes weren't mistaken. Could some of the men from Wulfrin already caught up with him? Or perhaps it was simply his own paranoia disturbing his own mind. Either way, Zanthro though it felt much better to walk a ways, and stand just on the water's edge, facing towards the forest. Only a few more minutes and they would be able to leave. 

No, there was most certainly movement in the forest. 

"Hey, you two," Zanthro yelled out towards the man who had asked to go to the bathroom and that damn eighth. "Go to the forest edge and make sure we weren't followed!"

He glanced quickly back at the man who had asked for a ride, making sure he was on his way back. If he was not, Zanthro might have to do something about it. He hoped not. This man was not a filthy Northerner. He laughed at the thought that this land used to be a legend. The Empire was the only legend, and he planned to see it to be known. 

(Sorry about the wait everyone. This also might take sometime to finish, so feel free to make other topics while it's going on. I know I originally stated to leave your other topics, but that won't be necessary until this topic is coming to a close.)

As Archea waited for the most likely “no” response from Zanthro, a figure to the side caught his eye. The person was wearing all black, save for a blood red scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair was gelled back, and a bit darker for that matter – but his face was so elfish … and really probably anyone in the world could have an elfish face, but Archea’s intuition knew it was Cedric.
 
His friend, obviously in disguise (the different clothes that Normal Cedric would not wear, and his dyed hair), was ordering around some deckhands and it seemed like he had somehow mingled his way into Zanthro’s crew. Archea briefly wondered how Cedric had gotten there, but then he remembered how Elfy had not come back when he said he would, after his “business trip,” and so he must’ve been doing something else with his time. This was that something else.
 
Cedric (he probably wasn’t going by that name) barked out some harsh words to a crewmember asking to go to the bathroom, but before Archea could dwell further on how scary his friend had sounded, Zanthro’s answer reached his ears.
 
"I'm afraid that each of these boats will only fit four people at most, and with my current crew, it seems that I am already one over that limit."
 
The smile that Archea had plastered on his face earlier began to fade.
 
"But, you are an Easterner, like myself, so perhaps I can help in some way."
 
His hopes began to rise, only to plummet when Zanthro tossed some money at him. It was hard to hold back a frown. Archea did not need money, dammit, he needed a ride to the East.
 
Zanthro told him of a dockyard close by – to go get a ride from there. He also made a snide remark about the North, which Archea chose to ignore.
 
Archea was about to barter some more, when Zanthro’s attention went from him to over his shoulder, toward the edge of the forest. He shouted at Cedric and the other man Cedric was talking to, ordering them to check the forest. He must’ve seen movement there. Archea hoped that whoever is was would get out of there as fast as possible – he didn’t want to image what would happen if they were caught.  
 
As the two went off, Archea had another chance to talk to Zanthro, and he didn’t want to lose it.
 
“I thank you for the money, but I need a ride now. I don’t have time to wait for another ship,” Archea’s voice became more serious, but he still didn’t really have a plan further than trying to convince Zanthro to let him join them.
 
He had to think about the seating issue, because what Zanthro said about the boats being full were true. “I don’t mean to be controlling or demeaning of your crew members, however, I’m sure I can offer much greater advantages than …” he pointed to Bathroom Dude, “him. Just asking that question when it was widely known you were ready to embark is very disrespectful of him. It may be just this, now, but who knows, later on it could be even more serious disobedience.” Archea ‘tsk’d quietly as part of the act.
 
   
“I can help navigate, if that is any use to you? I am an explorer and know very well these oceans, as I have traversed them many a time.” Archea was getting slightly desperate. But he kept it under check. He had to succeed in this. For Psyre.

"Go to the forest edge and make sure we weren't followed!"

Cedric turned as he heard Zanthro speak, glancing at Archea. His ride being shut down should just be taken as a 'get out of here,' but how could Archea know that? Cedric turned to the man he had decided to be rude to.

"Follow behind, and for gods sake don't get lost." Cedric made a show of rolling his eyes before he quickly turned around and started walking towards the forest.

He noticed a few things, of course. The trees near the beach weren't quite as green as the ones further back, the snow around them would probably never melt, and, oh yeah, literally EVERYONE. WAS. HIDING. IN. THE. BUSHES.

Cedric's mind was basically screaming at all of them in unison before his mind caught up to him about three things.

1) He couldn't show any sign that he saw them.

2) EVERYONE S U C K E D at hiding and

3) Rowena and Psyre were hiding with everyone else.

Wait... Oh Gods no.

Cedric's mind was reeling as he made his way towards the forest, keeping his face calm and his strides even.

Psyre? Oh gods he.... What he must think! Cedric knew he'd want to kill him, maybe even... Oh for the love of the North. Archea was there too. This makes everything seem so suspicious. He doesn't even know what Cedric does for a living, so there would be no way of rationalizing all of this. He'd... have to deal with that. He must have really hurt him... Betrayed his trust.

Suddenly living seemed very... Unimportant. He held back a sigh as he kept on, finally reaching the tree line.

He realizes now Archea has been trying to reason with Zanthro...

Why did this get so complicated so fast?

Well. This narrowed down what he had to do.

"Let's check further back and work our way up," Cedric turned to the man behind him. "Don't slow us down... And I'm sorry for how harsh I'm being on you. Zanthro runs a tough ship, you know. My yelling is better than his sword."

"...Yeah." The man coughed.

"You're also an idiot. How you landed this job with your incompetence, I'll never know." Cedric sneered at the man. "Keep going."

When they reached a bit farther into the treeline, enough to where they couldn't be seen or heard from the shore, Cedric turned to the man. He had to keep Rowena safe, as well as Psyre. Everyone else, well. They should be fine, but Gods are they kind of idiots. His idiots, in a sense, but still. This is dangerous stuff.

"Listen, Pee-Man. We're far enough out that you can take your precious bathroom break," Cedric filled his look with disgust as he looked at the man. "But make it quick. He'll be expecting us back."

The man mumbled a quick thanks as he turned around to do his business.

Cedric slipped his dagger out of his sleeve, quietly sneaking up behind the man.

"You know... I really don't like you but you're a real pri-"

The rest of the man's sentence was cut off of Cedric's dagger plunging into his throat's side. Cedric felt the sure snap of the man's vocal cords, and proceeded to rip the dagger out of his throat by slashing it outward. Cedric watched a bit as the man struggled to stop the bleeding, always amazed by how much blood was actually in the human body. The life slowly drained out of the man's eyes, now Cedric had to move fast.

He approximated 20 minutes left in what Zanthro expected to be 'combing the forest', and he knew he must have an audience.

"Now," Cedric said, finally Cedric once again. "What. The. Bloody. HELL. were you all thinking." Cedric looked around him. "Don't play dumb you're all terrible at hiding. Also, lovely to see you all again. Hoped it would be under different circumstances, maybe a moon lit dinner, but hey. Who am I to be picky." Cedric suddenly remembered. He closed his eyes slowly.

"Please tell me Rowena didn't see that, and tell me where I can find Psyre." They must know, they couldn't all be here on coincidence... But then, how else would they all be here?

Cedric gave a quick, slightly panicked, sigh. 

Why were things so complicated?

((Psst, quick reminder about flow, you won't be able to get close enough to see everyone for sure without them getting a chance to move/ react. 30 feet away, under tree cover or on the ground, they're gonna hear the order the same time you do, so they'll have time to move, run, etc. before you'll be able to see them. Denying people their opportunity to act when they should have a chance to is essentially a lesser form of godmoding. It prevents the players from being able to play their characters in the given situation. The average person hiding behind trees won't be easily visible from 30 feet away. You're strength is under 60, so you can sprint at 18 feet/sec, so if you were to be running toward them as fast as is physically possible for you, they'd still have time to move before you got there. Also, "Bathroom Dude" should be considered the admin's character, so deciding his actions and controlling his death, etc. is also godmoding. Just a quick reminder, cuz otherwise it becomes kinda impossible for the game to function as intended. Just like how in Dungeons and Dragons, you can't tell the DM "The monster trips and falls on my sword" or "The monster turns around because it heard something, so I kill it." The control of admin/mod NPCs goes only to admins/mods. Sorry if this sounds rude or anything, it's definitely not meant to be, I'm kinda pressed for time on some stuff, so this was very hastily written.))

Avis nearly swore out loud as she heard the Mean-Face order Cedric and Pee-Man to check the forest for trespassers.  Luckily, she caught herself before the words slipped from her lips. 
Moving as little as she could, Avis burrowed further down in her hiding space. She knew it was weak attempt to stay hidden, but what else could she do? Running away did not seem like a great option as the motion would likely cause a great deal of noise and alert the men of her presence. Fighting as well was certainly not an option. Each one of these men looked capable of be-heading her with a signal stroke. 

Having sunk down in her hiding place, Avis was unable to track Cedric's and Pee-man's movement with her eyes. From what she could tell from listening, it sounded as if they had entered the forest farther down. She briefly considered making a break for it but then remembered she would probably trip over another hiding for if she did so. Yeah. She'd noticed that there seemed to be another billion others hiding in the trees around her. For instance, she could literally the top of a knight's head (the pissy one she meet in the lodge. What was his name? Issac? Ivis? Ivan? What?). Why the hell everyone had decided the best course of action had been to hide in bushes where they would likely die was quite beyond her...even though she was doing the same exact thing. Maybe this wasn't the best plan after all. 

It was then that she heard the sounds of a body falling to the ground, followed quickly by Cedric's annoyed voice: "Now, what the bloody hell were you all thinking? Don't play dumb, you're all terrible at hiding."

He had fair point, but what the hell was he doing? Was he working with Mean-Face who was obviously a criminal? Was this all a trick to draw them out and kill them? If not, wasn't he at least worried the Mean-Face would hear his voice? 

Avis was torn; one part of her wanted to to hiss at him to shut up, another wanted to step out and ask him what the hell he was doing, and yet another part wanted to hit him in the gut and run away. 
And who the hell was the guy he'd asked about? Psyre? Who the hell was that? 
To say the least, Avis was rather confused and quite stressed out.

Figuring she was probably dead no matter what she did,  Avis edged very slowly and cautiously out of her hiding space. She was careful to keep low and hopefully out of view of the beach. 
She slowly turned to face Cedric, offering a weary, stressed smile as she spoke. "Well. If it isn't his royal highness himself." 
Her voice was low, nervous, but had not lost any of its sarcastic nature. This was clearly a bad situation. she honestly did not know how to handle it. 




((OOC: sorry if this post makes no sense. i am tried as hell. so yeah. sorry. if its unreadable, tell me and i will edit it later))

Cedric started moving toward the trees at Zanthro's behest. Psyre didn't miss a beat. Even as Zanthro issued the command, Psyre was already running back into the forest. Sure, someone might be able to see some movement, but he would be safe in the dense forest. There, no one would be ale to see very far, but as in touch with the Wild as he was, Psyre didn't need to see to know if he was in danger. Nonetheless, this was an amazing opportunity and he didn't want to waste it. So, he ran, but not too far. He ran about twenty feet back into the forest ((rules on difficult terrain haven't been enumerated yet, but assuming the standard 1/2 speed prevalent in other games, this would take about 2 seconds. Admin input on what would be appropriate?)), trying to keep listening to anything that was happening on the shore. He probably wouldn't be able to hear anything, but it was safer to be alive without information than to trade his life for information on which he wouldn't be able to act. So, he ran. Once in the cover of the deeper trees, he turned back toward the shore and strained to hear what was going on. At the same time, he kept aware of his Wild Sense, ready to dart away from any nearing threat ((This will prevent some sort of chance encounter with Cedric as he circles around the group, as Psyre would be aware of Cedric long before either were visible)).

Here, Psyre hoped to catch some snippets of conversation and therefrom learn what was happening on the shore. He knew it was almost certainly futile, but he hoped nonetheless. Then, he heard a voice that made his blood run cold. It was muffled, as twenty feet of forest lay between himself and the speaker, but he heard Cedric all the same.

"What. The. Bloody. HELL. were you all thinking. Don't play dumb you're all terrible at hiding." Psyre was confused. Extremely. It sounded like Cedric wasn't reporting them? But if he was speaking loudly enough that Psyre could hear him, muffled though he was, wouldn't someone on the beach also be able to hear him? Psyre turned again, making as little sound as he could, and ran again, further away. And then froze. He couldn't abandon them. He crept back towards them, then, from his original position, which he hoped was close enough, he said "Guys, run. Right now. They heard that."  Then, without pausing to see if they heard and listened, he began running further back into the forest. His sanctuary. Here, he could sense threats and avoid them. Here, he could survive. He could always come for Zanthro another day.

Ivan and Edgar sat watching the crew. Ivan silently tried to decide what to do next. Who were these men and did they really need his attention right now?. Ivan was distracted from his thoughts when two members of the crew left and headed in to the forest about 20 ft. down from where he was hiding. One of them looked rather familiar, tall, elf like features... What the hell was Blondie doing here! Ivan thought to himself as he recognized the man, and why was he helping a band of what Ivan though were mercenaries? Ivan Decided that what Blondie did for fun was not his issue but was still intrigued as to why he was here. He turned his attention back to the beach.

After a while Ivan was startled when he Heard Cedric say, "What. The. Bloody. HELL. were you all thinking. Don't play dumb you're all terrible at hiding" Turning around Ivan was surprised at how idiotic Blondie was being, some one one the beach almost certainly heard him, and having all those mercenaries coming after him wouldn't be good. But on the up side, from the way that Blondie had stated that, there were others here in the woods too, maybe they could help turn the tides in a battle if need be. But then, Ivan thought, those Mercenaries had looked very big and very mean, so maybe it didn't matter.

From some where in the trees Ivan heard a voice, the voice of a young man that was he was unfamiliar with, "Guys, run. Right now. They heard that." the voice said, confirming Ivan's suspicions, Ivan wasn't one who liked to back away from a fight but he also really valued his life, so he grabbed Edgar by the shoulder and stood up, starting to run back through the forest, hoping that this was the way that they had came. He paused only to yell over his shoulder, "Thanks Blondie, If you get me killed I am totally going to beat you senseless in the after life!", Ivan was unsure what wold happen, he was only sure that if he stayed there he would probably end up dead.

Zanthro flicked his eyes over to the two men who were leaving. Maybe the northmen would kill them. 

Then, he heard the Easterner start talking again. Why? Had the answer "no" not been enough?
"Well if you need a ride now, then I'd suggest you better start hurrying to that dock," Zanthro said, upon hearing the first part of the man's reply, the smile fading from his face. 

"Maybe you don't know who I am, or maybe you do," Zanthro said after hearing the second part. "But I am not someone that you "ask" to ride with, and never so demandingly. I know my own ways back to where I belong. I don't need an "explorer", boy," he finished, his lip starting to curl. He had no idea what the man was thinking, but you don't demand to ride along with someone who had just killed half a tribe. And if you did, you should expect to have your throat slit. There was something strange about the man. 

It was at this moment that Zanthro heard muffled voices, one of which sounded distinctly like that damn eighth. 

He gazed at the spot where he had sent them, and then saw some bushes shuffle and move about. Slowly, Zanthro began to draw his short sword that lay at his side. 

"Now, I suggest you leave," Zantrho said to the man, not leaving it as a question, but a demand. 

Then, the bushes moved more, and he heard someone clearly yell out. Someone he knew to be neither the eighth or the other man either. 

Ripping the rest of the sword from it's sheath, Zanthro started forward, and pointed to the forest. 

"Alright, you heard that," he growled to the remaining six men. "There aren't that many, I can tell, but if they get away the whole tribe will know we are here. Let's get this over with quick and head back home."

A few of the bandits dropped what they were doing, and other's stood, slightly confused. 

"Come one!" Zanthro roared. He pointed at two, and flicked his hand forwards, and then beckoned to the other four another direction. "If you want to live another day, then go! I won't be the one to kill you, they will. You're stronger than a few of them, so go!"

At this, the men ran in their respective directions, two of the group of four pulling the short bows from their back, and the rest either taking out large hunting knives or short swords. 

All ran into the forest, except Zanthro who walked, and covered the short distance in two seconds before they hit the forest walls. Once in, the group of two broke into breakneck speed, and cut off to the left, trying to circle around the sound of running people (traveling at a measly speed of 18 ft/s because less than 60 str.), while the group of four ran (at 16 ft/s) and cut off to the right of the noise.

((hey just real quick to clarify, are the bandits running at 18 ft/s or are we(the characters), i was abit confused on the way that that was worded, also checking to see if i can say out of context stuff out of turn or if i have to wait.))

(Ooc comments are allowed out of turn, but don't spam. If you can send a pm instead, do that.
Also, just a clarification, everyone has 18 ft/s as their maximum movement speed, and that is how fast the bandits are moving. You (Ivan) are the only exception, although by grabbing your guard's shoulder while you run, that makes you run at the same speed as he does (as he cannot run faster, so you must run slower) making you also run at 18 ft/s
Sorry for the bad wording of that sentence. Currently, only the bandits, Ivan, and Psyre are running.)

Archea’s request had been shut down again. Part of his mind cursed at himself for not being competent, another part cursed at Zanthro for being … well, Zanthro, and yet another part of him said to get the hell out of there. There was no time to scold himself, and getting angry at Zanthro would only end in his death, so he had to go with the last option.
 
Once Zanthro told him to leave, the killer didn’t give him the time of day. His attention was now directed at the tree line, where some interesting things seemed to be going down. One, Cedric had said something, and though it had been muffled, they could still hear him. Archea could sense that Zanthro was very suspicious about his elfy friend, and maybe Cedric’s idea to stick out, as Zanthro’s right-hand-man, wasn’t best idea. God dammit, Cedric
 
Two, Cedric’s speaking had been answered by another person, and this person what were they thinking yelled a response. Yelled. For god’s sake, if Zanthro, the crewmen, and he could hear normal speaking from where they were, they were definitely able to hear yelling. And the yelling sounded a lot like the Knight (Archea never got to learn his name), which made him wonder what the heck he was doing here.
 
Dear god, they were all gonna die.
 
In Zanthro’s odering about of the crewmen, and their quick charge toward the forest, Archea took this as his exit. ((Not real exit, just moving away from where the boats are.)) He slowly, but cautiously, turned around, periodically checking to make sure no stray crewman had been ordered to watch him leave. He made his gait purposeful, as if he truly was off to find another ship to take him to the East, and that he didn’t care about what was going on in the woods.
 
He was going to have to think about what to do next. He contemplated just leaving it all to Cedric, who, even though was causing suspicion, had at least managed to infiltrate Zanthro’s crew. Cedric was a lot more capable of many things than Archea.
 
But also. If he left, he’d feel like he was letting people down – Psyre especially. Plus, if things continued the way they were going, with Cedric literally not thinking before speaking, his friend would need all the help he could get.
 
… Archea was not sure how much help he could give, but he would think about that later.
 
(And by now he was too muddled with what and what not to think about; we can just say when there’s a lot of stuff going on in his brain, he can get easily confused.)

Archea sighed, looking down at the sand. Then he drew in a deep breath, looked up, steeled himself, and inconspicuously began his way into the forest. ((He makes his entrance into the forest a couple of tens of feet away from where the main skirmish is.))

((OOC: I had no idea what to write so there's no dialogue or anything super exciting ... also it's like way shorter than my normal ? :B))

Everything seemed to catch up to Cedric at one moment. 

Dandelion came out and greeted him, nice to know she was here. He heard Psyre say they had heard them... This may not be a problem. He could just make her scream? Make sounds of a small fight. He knew ways to fake someone's death if it came to that.

And then the knight yelled.

Idiot idiot idiot idiot! Oh Gods. Okay. Fine. Whatever. We can do this, we're skilled individuals.


Cedric saw people running from the treeline, he had to go. They all did, but where was Rowena? He couldn't leave without her. Was she frozen in fear? Cedric quickly scanned the tree line as he heard the feet coming closer. Now was not the time to fight, he had to find Rowena and get her to safety. Cedric started to run, away from the treeline. He'd find her. He'd have to circle back, but he'd find her.

Once he was out of range from where he believed the main fight would happen, he ran over to the right, quietly. Hiding as he did so. He didn't see or hear anyone around him yet, so he kept going. Eventually he got close to where he thought he had first seen her, and he did their special call. It's a bird call, common to the North. He may be frantic but he'd have to be careful. He'd help the others soon enough, he just needed to save his daughter.

If she's looking for leaves again I might ground her. Not the place. Cedric paused his thoughts for a second. I'd still guild it and let her leave and do whatever, but oh, how she'd be grounded.


He kept looking for her, looking over his back and listening fir anyone who might need help if they couldn't stand their own ground.

Suddenly there was a rustling of bushed all around and people were running. A young boy popped out and made a dash back into the forest, saying something as he went. The pissy Knight appeared too and also made a dash for it, yelling. Yelling! What was he thinking?! Everyone would have heard that! And how many people were hiding in this goddamn forest?!

Screw this. Avis thought, casting a quick look back at the beach. The mean man must have heard all the commotion and they would likely all be dead soon. Now was as good of time as ever to get the hell out of this place. Without wasting another second, Avis twisted and ran into the forest, following the idiotic knight.

((OOC: sorry it took me so long to post!))

Behind him, Psyre could hear the others rustling leaves and breaking branches and twigs as they too began to run away. Psyre tried to think of a plan as he ran, but he couldn't come up with one that didn't involve everyone having a good chance of dying. They were in the forest, so the bows he had seen their pursuers carrying wouldn't be particularly effective in most of it, but there was also the fact that they had broken apart. There was a reason that when deer ran from wolves, they stayed together. But they had all broken apart in separate directions. If their adversaries acted as a cohesive unit, the ragged band would have no chance whatsoever against them. Their enemies would hunt them down and they would die. The only real hope the group had was to reunite and then try to fight their enemies in a place in which their advantage was lessened. 

Still unsure of how exactly his newfound ability worked, Psyre tried to feel around him and figure out if his allies (though, it now seemed, only temporary ones) were anywhere near him. He could tell that something was coming from behind, it felt like a lumbering colossus was moving to the forest and everything was terrified of it. That would be the bandits. Great. Psyre was set on the fact that he had to find the others somehow, so he turned slightly left (~ 40 degrees) and cotinued running. Now, however, as he ran, he called out to the others. It was soft, and as soon as he could feel the enemies within 40 feet of himself, he would stop, but until then, he ran on, trying to find the others. 

"Oi, Cedric? Rowenna? Archea? Other random people that I don't know?"

"Guys, if anyone can hear me, come over here. We'll get slaughtered alone. I can help us get away or set up for a more favorable fight."

"Hello?"

Psyre kept going, but slower, as he was using so much air to speak. He also tried to run more softly so that he would be able to hear any replies. It was a last-ditch effort, and there was a huge chance that it wouldn't work anyway, but Psyre didn't want them to picked off like sick elk.

As Ivan ran he could hear the others begin to run behind him and what might have been the Bandits giving chase. Ivan was furiously thinking of someway that this might turn out well. there little group of misfits was scattered and facing down a larger more trained more coordinated group of adversaries. In almost all of the scenarios that Ivan thought of they would either die or get very very lost. The only way he thought that they might have a chance was by grouping up but that would be close to impossible so Ivan kept running. Edgar not far behind.

Then through the woods Ivan heard a small voice almost to quite to hear, "Oi, Cedric? Rowenna? Archea? Other random people that I don't know?"

"Guys, if anyone can hear me, come over here. We'll get slaughtered alone. I can help us get away or set up for a more favorable fight."


It sounded like the same voice that had told them to run. This could very well be a trap, Ivan thought, but then again what the hell. Ivan angled him self toward the voice and continued to run slowing down so that he could state his reply and not lose all of his air. He called out, but quietly this time aware that maybe his vocalization might have made this situation worse, "Whoever you are you better not be tricking me, because i'm not in a good mood and really don't want to get killed, but your Idea seems to be the only logical thing to do at this moment. So..." Ivan Left that hanging, running slowly now, he wanted to be aware of any thing the other might say.

Everything had happened rather quickly after Zanthro, for she had worked out that this was the man Archea and Cedric were here for, had heard movement in the bushes. For the first time since arriving, Rowena really took in her surroundings and realised that she was not alone in the forest. Psyre was right, she was bad at hiding, but at least she was not alone in this. 

She heard Cedrics angry tone, followed by Psyre's slightly panicked warning and then she had been off running like the rest of the people hiding in the bushes. She could hear shouts and crashes coming from behind and assumed those were the men working for Zanthro. Hearing Psyre called out, she switched direction to try and find him.

Zanthro watched as his men ran off, and knew this to be his opportunity. Throwing one more chest into one of the small boats, he began to push against it with all his might, attempting to get it in the water. He had watched the man who was just begging run off into the forest, and assumed that he must have been a northern spy. Thinking of the three chests which had either been loaded onto the boat, or left on the ground, Zanthro decided his life was more important. 

Meanwhile, the bandits were still in each of their separate groups, but all of them were walking then. The noises of running all around then stopped, and they could no longer hear any noise of talking. 

Each one walked slowly, weapons drawn and ready, ears listening around them. There were faint noises of bushes rustling, and guessed that would be the best hint they would get, and so each group headed out towards the noise. The groups still stayed fifty feet apart or so, in an attempt to flank anyone they came across. Yet, they did not find anyone, not yet at least. 

With short bows drawn and hunting knives as well as short swords unsheathed, they slowly approached where all the running had happened, though they were now walking, crouching in the bushes to assure that they were not seen. None of them said a word, and their hearts were pounding. They knew it would be kill or be killed.

Back at the boats, Zanthro was making very slow progress. Taking a step back from the boat, he could see that the back half was in the water, and if he waited an hour or so, the tide would carry him out. He, however, did not have an hour. To be honest, which he hardly ever was, he had no idea how long he had. Five minutes? Ten minutes? He knew the bandits would not be able to defeat the tribe, but the question was how long could they be held off? 

Slamming his body into the side of the boat as hard as he could, Zanthro felt a very small budge. Perhaps an inch. 

"This could take a while," he grunted to himself, slamming his body into the boat once again. "I hope those damn men aren't as useless as they usually are." 


(sorry this is much shorter, I forgot it was my turn)

To say the least, what Archea was doing was actually pretty stupid: running into the problem instead of away from it.
 
He stopped short in his movement, trying to quiet his breathing in order to hear anything that might be crucial. The forest was painfully silent, as if even it was trying to stay undetected by Zanthro’s men.
 
If the others had been in communication, Archea was too far away to hear it. He had to go closer in if he were to find the others, or at least hear the rustle of movement.
 
Archea half groaned-sighed under his breath. He actually hated conflicts (of any kind but physical the most). He wasn’t a fighter. He just wanted to explore the world in peace.
 
Slowly and cautiously Archea continued his way forward. Flinching at every noise and rustle he made, he had to stop again. It was too much, too much for him. Archea thought he was going to go crazy.
 
He glanced to a tree on his right. A sudden, he-didn’t-know-if-it-was-stupid-or-not idea came to his head. The forest here was pretty dense, and all the trees were somewhat close together. Archea wondered if he could get from one tree to another easily enough. But would the branches make too much noise? Would they be able to hold his weight? Would this actually be faster and safer or was it just a stupid idea?
 
Archea decided to give it a try. He was pretty good at climbing trees – or at least he was in his childhood, when climbing trees was pretend for being on a ship on the high seas, off to explore new lands.
 
Archea glanced around him and strained to listen, one last time. Nothing. Come to think of it, nothing in this situation might not be the best thing, as he had thought of it before. Archea let out a little huff, and then grabbed the lowest branch available, beginning to climb.
 
   
I am going to die. I am going to die.


((OOC: Ahhhhh. I don't know what to write or do at all.))

Cedric saw movement in some bushes, moving back into the forest.

Is that Rowena?

Cedric stopped himself from running after the noise. Now if any was the time to put his whole emotionless assassin face and deal with the problem at hand. He looked back as he heard a muffled voice that sounded like... Psyre? Ivan? Cedric couldn't figure it out but he should go help them. Numbers are better in a fight, but he was clouded with stupid feelings instead of listening to logic. It wouldn't happen again.

 He saw Archea start climbing a tree, he seemed to know what he was doing somewhat... did he have a bow? Something to hit the enemies long distance? 

Then again Cedric just kind of hoped Archea was getting to safety. Feelings or no, Cedric really didn't think he could deal with losing the people he cared about. They were what kept him human, in a sense. Archea could take care of himself, he'd find the others.

Cedric looked back to the forest and ran deeper in, placing his feet instinctively to avoid loud noises. 

He'd find the others, and he'd fight. He'd fight until they were all safe, even if he himself were to die. 


Maybe you deserve it, not telling Psyre the truth.

Cedric stopped that thought immediately. It didn't matter. None of it mattered.

What mattered was the target, they'd find Zanthro again, and they would end him. For now the Big Manly Hands Gang had to go down, and Cedric was going to make sure they did. He clutched his dagger tighter as he ran.

Avis continued to push through the forest, branches and thorns pulling at her cloak from all sides. Ahead of her she could she the lumbering knight shoving his own way through the brambles. She figured she be best off sticking near him as he looked capable of crushing skulls...or something. 

Then, from somewhere ahead, a voice called out, the same voice that had told them to run. Avis had no idea who it was, but guessed it belonged to the young boy she'd seen before.
She didn't quite catch all of what he said, but got the jest of it: Yo, everyone, come over here so we can fight this douche-bag together and not die hopefully. 

Avis was torn as weather to trust this kid or not. But before she could make her own decision, the knight ahead of her seemed to followed the kid's direction and angled himself toward the voice. Avis didn't necessarily trust the knight's judgment, but, to be honest, there really was only plan of action here.  

We are going to die. she though as she too angled herself to make a b-line in the direction of the kid's voice. We are all going to die. We are all so freaking dead.

Bushes rustled behind Psyre from two directions. In a moment of abject, thoughtless terror, he crouched down and held his staff in a defensive position in front of himself. Then, he thought about it. He didn't sense any danger, so they were most likely allies. 

He stood up and watched as Rowenna and the knight broke into the small clearing in which he was standing. "Hey guys, thanks for joining me. Three - no, four, it seems, will certainly be better than one," Psyre said as he noticed someone following the knight. He knew that this would make a difference, but if they were to fight all the bandits at once, he didn't favor their chances. What he wanted to do was make two large groups. Get everyone together and divide into two groups, one with stealthier people and people with long-range capabilities and the other with more melee-focused people. They would move within eyesight or earshot of one another, but the melee group would draw attention to itself, making more noise than necessary. Then, when the bandits attacked (hopefully they would be far enough away that the bows wouldn't be feasible, as well-used bows could completely ruin this), the melee group would charge at them. Then, the ranged and stealth group would launch vicious attacks at them from the side, hitting them where they weren't expecting it, crippling them. It would also make their group less vulnerable to the same thing if their enemies happened to have also split up and formed smaller units. 

The bows. If they were only able to use the bows from within 30 feet because of the dense forest, the plan was extremely viable, but if they were able to use them from more than 50 feet, they would likely be able to demolish the melee unit. Rendering the bows relatively useless was one of the reasons Psyre had chosen to run into the forest, but there was no guarantee it would work. Well, if someone else provided a different (preferably better) plan, they would discuss it, but for now, they probably just had to hope.

Psyre gestured to the others to follow him and then walked in the direction he had been going, taking care that his steps were quiet. As he walked, he explained his idea to them in a rushed whisper. "I'm also fairly certain that they've had enough time to get close to us, so we need some plan to get the others. I'm going to suggest that we break up into those units now as we hunt them down, but skip the whole making a lot of noise thing. I don't want to have to deal with bandits yet. I'm probably more adept at ranged than I am melee, but I think I'm better suited to melee than either of you," he said, pointing to Rowenna and the one who had followed the knight, "so sir knight and I will comprise our melee squad. Let's split up a bit, probably just fifteen feet or so, and press on to try to find the others. I can also warn you when danger is coming, for some reason, I can just sense it in this forest. Stay alert, listen to me, and we should be fine."


Psyre walked with the knight, softly calling out again to try to find the others. If they only had to fight two or three bandits as it was right now, he felt that they could probably succeed, but he was certainly happy that he could use his Wild Sense to avoid or be ready for confrontations. That gave them an edge that they needed. If they couldn't find the others soon, he was just going to take his little squad and start trying to hunt down the bandits before they got to the others.

((Sorry about the borderline godmoding there. Each person with whom I interacted there has plenty that s/he can do that I just kinda glazed over. You are, of course, free to act during this very long set of actions, I was trying to increase the tempo a bit and make sure we started having the real action soon, as the topic is already 4 pages long. So feel free to speak, take actions, etc. during this. I'll put replies and the like the next time I post, but I wanted to get things moving along. Okay, great, thanks guys!))

Rowena finally arrived at the source of the shouting and was pleased to find that it was indeed Psyre. Cedric had always kept Rowena safe from the moment he met her, but right now Cedric wasn't here and Rowena was terrified. She decided the best thing to do would be to follow Psyre. 

She followed Psyre has he motioned the group to move out and listened closely to what he was saying, the words calmed her.  "I'm also fairly certain that they've had enough time to get close to us, so we need some plan to get the others. I'm going to suggest that we break up into those units now as we hunt them down, but skip the whole making a lot of noise thing. I don't want to have to deal with bandits yet. I'm probably more adept at ranged than I am melee, but I think I'm better suited to melee than either of you," 


Rowena was slightly offended when Psyre pointed to her but nodded her head in acknowledgment. Psyre generally knew best when it came to fights and things. She walked briskly along with everyone else, consumed by terror and a desire to tell Cedric she loved him dearly one more time before they both died. 

It was at the moment that the group heard more noises that one, Quill to be specific, broke off silently from the rest of the group, and began to sneak his way out of the forest to the boats. He would not die with the rest of the mindless group, no, not that day. If it meant killing Zanthro to save his life, he would do so, but Quill would live. 
The others, the group of four, did not notice him leave, making their number drop to three.

Yet, the other group, the one of two, had also heard the noises, and they were much closer. Upon hearing, the man on the left drew his long curved hunting knife, and the one on the right unsheathed his short sword; both prepared to kill in an instant. They paused only for a second, waiting for another signal, hoping the group the were hunting would give themselves away. They did, and the bandits signal came from the sound of mail, only a few short feet away (let's say 20). Now, none of the bandits wore mail, and all were clad in leather. They knew that, and knew that this sound of mail meant a foe. 

The man with the curved knife poked his head quickly through a thicket of a bush, and their beliefs were confirmed. Before them were a small number of four, a knight, a boy, and two younger women. Normally they would never attack a group with larger numbers than their own, but this was an exception. They looked very inexperienced, and aside from the knight, the two assumed the fight would be very easy. They had their target only a few seconds after spotting the group, and one made hand signals towards the youngest, and the other nodded. Then, they took off. 

The man with the hunting knife began to circle around quietly, while the one with the short sword stepped forwards, and allowed himself to be seen as he approached the group slowly, sword held pointed out at arms length. 

"So this is the crowd I've been hearing," he sneered, a wicked grin upon his face. As he approached, he made sure to keep at least a ten foot distance between himself and every other member of the four person group, waiting until his partner attacked.

Back on the beach, Zanthro had still made very little progress, and was beginning to worry, the boat barely being in the water, and the front half still being stuck on the beach. However, it seemed that the gods had heard him as he saw one of his men walk out of the forest, alone.

Cedric rushes through the trees and stops, finding the group he'd been looking for. Relief floods through him as he notices Rowena and Psyre among them. They weren't found and picked off individually. Before he can join them, though, one of Zanthro's henchmen sticks his head out of the foliage.

"So this is the crowd I've been hearing,"


Cedric takes out his out his dagger, walking forward to announce his presence. May as well be dramatic, right? Did these guys even know Cedric was a traitor? They were about to find out, in a very flamboyant, Cedric kind of way. The idea made him put on his trademark smirk.

"Well, well, well. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party," Cedric smiles wider. "Mind if I join in? I won't exactly promise to behave, the exact opposite actually, but boy will I make this fun."

He spins the dagger in his hand, too bad he didn't have a larger weapon, but he was willing to die for his family.

Avis crouched down and listened to the youngster speak. She had to admit, he knew what he was talking about. Following the guy's orders, the group began to spread out, but then, as luck would have it, a bandit stuck his head throw the bushes and grinned at them.

"So this is the crowd I've been hearing," 


Crap.

Avis spun around in a moment, raising her staff defensively. She was suddenly aware of how ineffective the weapon would be compared to...well, anything. Hopefully she wouldn't have to fight alone or she would be dead.

And then, just to make things more interesting, Cedric crashed through the bushes and confronted the man. Avis can't help frowning at him as he spoke to the bandit. Seriously, what side was this guy on? Should she trust him or no?

But she didn't worry about it too much as there were more pressing issues at the moment. Avis returned her gaze to the bandit and readied herself as much as she could for whatever was to come.