[PP-F4] The Crescent Moon Rises

[Khrysaor 0]

Khrysaor was enjoying the warmth the fire was giving him. He hoped his health healed by the time the others start to move out and a plan of action is made. As he was observing the different interactions happening within the cave. Khrysaor did not know anyone within the cave, and only Nikodemus was the only one he was at least partially familiar with. It was all going pretty peaceful with players helping each other out, but all hell broke loose the instant a small fight broke out between two of the players. Some of the players tried to diffuse the fight in there own ways. Nikodemus and a few others had the right idea, and it was perfectly logical, 'Why the hell do they want to fight so much. There was already a lot of blood spilled on this hunt and now they are willing to spill more, just because they are agitated, and failed to protect their comrades.' thought Khrysaor. He was thinking everything was going to be alright now that the players actually started to listen to a plan, a player named Ratatosk, was making.

To him the plan sounded quite decent, and wanted to add a few points himself. He was about to speak up, but again, Orhalimi started arguing again. Khrysaor could not take it anymore, everyone was trying to help diffuse the situation so that we can come up with a plan to escape this nightmare and here he is trying to cause even more panic between the players. Khrysaor shouted, "Shut up, all of you, especially you Orhalimi!" Finally, Khrysaor got the attention of most of the players if not all of them, and did not like it much. Khrysaor was kind of nervous that he actually spoke up in such a high tension situation. 'God, look at all these players staring at me and I bet most of them are at a much higher level than me, hopefully I don't get on anybodies bad side.' thought Khrysaor. He usually liked to keep to himself and be a loner most of the time, but to him the situation called for some action to stop the situation from deteriorating any further. In a calmer voice Khrysaor continued, "We should all focus on getting out of this mess first. If we keep on arguing amongst ourselves, time will keep on passing us by, and the situation outside and deeper within the cave could get much worse, leaving us completely stranded. The risk on all our lives would increase exponentially and more lives will be lost unnecessarily. Even the strongest player might not be able to survive the night alone. If you guys want to have a go at each other fine by me but do it once we are all out of this god forsaken trap we have found ourselves in. I don't want to have any more players death on my conscious, and it is my belief we can all make it out of here with everyone else, without adding to the death toll." Khrysaor took a few deep breaths.

He turned to Orhalimi saying, "And you Orhalimi, are only making the situation even worse, with your continued defiance, and this could lead to others dying unnecessary deaths. Everyone else has become calmer and are thinking more rationally of the solution to our problem, hell even the guy you initially started the fight with has lain down his weapon, so why can't you. You say you don't want to help any one of us but are still here because you care about someone amongst these players and want to help them. So, either you leave and think of a way out of here by yourself or help the person you care about get out of this situation, by working and helping the rest of us out." He truly was hoping Orhalimi would just listen to him, and thought the best way to get him to work with us was to manipulate his emotions a bit, especially Orhalimi's emotions that are linked to the other player in the group who he wants to save badly.

"Lastly, I think we should all listen to the strategy Ratatosk came up with and make small changes to it. to help maximize success. Overall, my opinion on his plans are that they are a good starting point. I agree that waiting here any longer will not be too beneficial, we should search the cave. I also agree with the part we should search in groups, but in groups of 3-4 players. As he said at least one tank and one healer, but with one or two of the weaker players with them. This will help provide more protection for the weaker players in the group instead of having only squads of 2 players. Anyone else have anything to contribute, to help us move forward will be much appreciated." said Khrysaor.

Khrysaor then pleaded with the group, "Please, if anyone of you have nothing constructive to contribute to the discussion, then please just don't say anything and everything should work out smoothly." After, his long winded speech Khrysaor was tired and sore from all his injuries. Really, he just felt like sitting down and relaxing, wanting to think of the times he sat and relaxed outside with the sun bearing down on him, just behind his shop. He wanted to get out of this snowy nightmare. But at the moment, he knew with what he said, he needed to stand tall and firm in what he believes in, and would not be possible to hide back in obscurity, like he did the first time he entered the cave.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

      Khrysaor's JOURNAL    |   The Shield and Sword Emporium    

STATS                                                                                              

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STATS

LEVEL 4

HP: 16/16

ENERGY: 4

DAMAGE: 1

ACCURACY: 0

MITIGATION: 0

Equipped Items in Combat:

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Cuirass of the Iron Wall:

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Name: Cuirass of the Iron Wall

Quality: Rare

Tier: 1

Item Type: Heavy armor

Enhancements: (2/2)   Damage Mitigation: Removes 9 points of damage from every hit to you for every slot used. No matter how much damage mitigation you have, however, you will always take at least 1 point of damage (1 Slot). Thorns: Deals +7 damage when Mob/Enemy hits a non-critical hit on you, where X is amount of slots used (1 Slot).

Description: The whole Cuirass was shaped to provoke images of wall protecting a village. The curved edges of the plates and spiked linings here and there showing off a more deadly side to it.

[Lycan 0]

Lycan snarled his lip and Orhalimi and the surrounding players which had all strongly voiced their decisions to move on. With his piercing yellow eyes fixed on the one dissenter from the corner of his vision, Lycan returned Harbinger to his back. Aggression was never the best solution to the problem, but aggression is sometimes the most necessary to prevent future casualties. In the back of his mind, the swordsman hoped his decision to stand down wouldn't result in a knife, sword, or axe in his back.

"Fine," Lycan spat. "Don't think for a second that I'm not watching you. Pulling a blade on your injured comrades is not easily overlooked."

With his words stated for anyone to hear, Lycan returned to the group gathered about the fire. He took his seat on the broken icy stalagmite and warmed his hands in the fire. He rubbed them together and brought them to his mouth with a puff of breath.

"I'm fine with moving deeper. We should probably disband the current parties we're in. Speaking of, does anyone have the missing players in their party? Check your list and see if they're still alive."

Lycan flicked his wrist and pulled up the user interface. He navigated to his party listing where four names should have appeared. Instead, only his name remained. The impromptu leader felt a heavy weight on his chest. He swiped to his contact list and found no trace of his three team mates.

Dead. All of them.

"Those monsters shouldn't have been here..." Lycan mumbled under his own breath.

"Looks like just Jennet and Nikolai on mine," Itaro added.

"What about you all?" Lycan asked the other survivors. "Who of us can tank and who of us has first aid?"

"I can tank," Nikolai added.

"I have First Aide," Jennet contributed.

"DPS and Crowd Control," Itaro mixed in.

"DPS," Lycan added, looking to the others.

[Hydra 0]

As Hydra wearily watched the players tearing at each others throats, and seemingly every player get involved he couldn't help feel insecure. By that point one of the quieter players who had been sitting at the back of the cave had full on shouted at the group. The air was tense as Hydra waited for the result, he heard Lycan snarl but fortunately back down against Orhalimi. The spearman let out a sigh of relief. He too was cautious of the madman who he was still unsure would calm down. Yet he was glad the safer choice had been made. Turning his head at Allania he nodded gently.

Slowly he turned back towards the group and hobbled towards the fire, the brunette listened to the plan develop. He remained quiet and contempt before speaking, truth be told he was scared and felt rather sick, however he didn't want to be a burden on the group, "I can manage crowds as well." He looked around the fire staring intently at it before continuing. "I also have a little skill in first aid, although barely enough to heal a scratch..." Hydra darted each player a look, he didn't blame anyone for anything and wanted to help out as best he could. However Hydra knew it was unlikely in the condition he was in that they would all pull through, taking a deep breath he finally came up with a suggestion...

"What about if I were to become a decoy, it should provide enough time for the... " Hydra stuttered and tears began to well in his eyes. Turning his head quickly he faked a cough, "So this is what it means to fear death..." He sadly muttered to himself. Before turning back to the group and awaiting a response.

[Nikodemus_Blackwood 1]

As the argument died down and the group began to relax once more, Nikodemus checked his party list and sighed. Each member of his team was dead. He had tried to pull one of them with him, but they had been slain by one of the creatures whilst they had been fleeing. Checking his items and stats he then walked up to Lycan and Hydra. "My whole party was wiped. Saw them all die with my own eyes. As for what I can do, I am not quite sure. I have a high MIT and Thorns, and I do some ok damage. My best Sword art is an AOE, but does medium to low damage. I could tank, or do general crowd control. Whichever is needed most. Put me where I am needed."

 

With that, Nikodemus sat down beside the fire and let his shoulders relax, the weight of this whole mess taking its toll on him. It was supposed to be a simple quest, nothing to hard. Yet here they were, stuck in a blizzard, having lost many of the players. Now they were about to go further into this cave, and Nikodemus was worried that the tensions earlier could slip and cause more deaths.

[Allania 0]

Allania listened patiently to what Ratatosk had to say, holding her position between Rowan and Lycan. "I don't actually know what I am specialised in, though I could likely tank some blows, deal a fair amount of damage. About as much as you or Hydra, though maybe slightly less. I cannot heal though" she said the last part with a slight frown, thinking how useful healing would be in a situation such as this, "so yeah, that's what I can do" she added, flashing a quick smile towards Ratatosk.

Rowan then began to speak once again, this time he went at them with his words. That was by far better than going at them with a blade, so she let him continue his spiel, his small rant, hoping that it would placate him to some degree. Then another player she did not know began to voice their opinion, telling everyone to be silent and then going after Rowan himself. Allania slowly raised her hand to her face with a sigh as he continued to berate Rowan, when he said that Rowan he should either leave or stay and help Allania had had enough, she shot him a dark look, "no one is making anyone else leave, it is a death sentence out there. So... stop... suggesting it" she said, her voice stern, pausing between each harsh word, emphasising each one, "okay?" she added at the end, her face turning bright and playful, along with her tone but her eyes were still piercing deep into this new player.

When Lycan put his sword away and began to walk away from the confrontation with Rowan Allania quietly said "thank you" to him. Allania did not have to check to see if the people in her party were alive, she had set out here with Hydra alone and had ended up here with the hunting group by mere coincidence alone. So Allania waited patiently while everyone checked their party lists in response to Lycan's words. People called out their statuses, stating whether or not people from their party had died. It seemed the hunting group had fared worse than they had all initially fared, though it was now their task to get them all out of here alive. Allania did not really know the level of those around her, though she knew Hydra and Ratatosk were of roughly equal level, being about the same as her and from what she could tell they were the strongest three there by a fair margin as well.

Then Hydra suggested something that she did not want to hear, least of all from him. Be a decoy? In his state? He surely knows that such a course would spell certain death for him. So with a shake of her head Allania looked at him with a smile upon her face once again, "you don't need to be a decoy Hydra. The best for that role would either be Ratatosk or I, but we should not take such an action I think. What I was thinking was that we have two of us, say maybe you and Ratatosk act as a vanguard, protecting the main bulk from the front as we continue down the cave, and I act as a rearguard, protecting us from the back. Of course the positions could change. And as for the rest of you, I suggest following the sort of party set-up suggested by Ratatosk." she said, speaking first to Hydra and then turning to address the group in general. Once her suggestion was complete she turned to Ratatosk and once again motioned for him to take the lead "What do you think?"

[Ratatosk 0]

Ratatosk heard the others call out their roles, his was pretty self explanatory but he'd say it anyways. "I'm Burst DPS, agility based build. Allania, that plan you got there is pretty good. However, I think Hydra should be in the middle since he can heal some of us, there is a possibility that we might get separated inside the cave. If that happens, make sure you're at least with another person alright?" The blonde unsheathed his Anneal Blade and spun it around, "Alright guys, are you ready to venture into that cave? Once we all heal up, we go down there. No turning back."
 

[orhalimi 0]

When Khrysaor he called me by my username I felt a shivers all over my body, like this word alone had the power to awake something my mind tried to forgot. This guy didn't threaten me, he was nothing, maybe that's why I found myself listening to to him. His plan was logical enough, but like the rest of them, like anyone else, they all seems to have something that I lack, or lack something that I had. That thing that made them all act like what they are doing was really important, and everyone accept that, everyone knew that except me. I always thought it's because I'm not so emotionally attached to my character, but sometimes I felt that too without knowing how or why, and that's freaked me out.

Everything was logic on his plan, except the part that offered me to cooperated to to be killed. How dare he, if allena wasn't here I would kill him, I would kill them all. Saying that to myself knowing that I would probably won't do anything just made my pain stronger. I gotta to make it stop, I gotta to do something. I walked to the edge of the cave as they continued talking, as far as I can without really exit the cave, farther from all of them. I bury my head in the snow on the wall and I released a HUGE SHOUT. Because the snow blocked most of the sound, it was quite to everyone else. I hit the wall with my hand over and over again. 

What's happening to me? it just a game, RELEASE. It doesn't matter what happened, it doesn't matter that you are not remember it. IT'S JUST A GAME. Nothing special happened here anyway. Remember, YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED ANYONE, and NO ONE SHOULD INTEREST YOU. Just go with them, finish this nightmare and get out.

It's took some heavy breaths. I was able to find a quiet point inside, although I wasn't sure for how long. Heard the "leader" saying something about our last party members. I clicked on the menu to open up my party tab, an empty list stared back at me. Of course, I was been kicked out. Didn't expect less. Than walked slowly toward the group and set near Allania. I didn't know her very well, but compared to others she was the closest person to me right now . "My build is similar to Ratatosk. I can deal damage and I can fight, but I won't protect anyone and cannot be relying on. So don't try to defend me or counting on me in this mission. Bu at least, I won't slow you down..."  

Edited April 22, 2016 by orhalimi

[Khrysaor 0]

'At least the fighting stopped and we can finally get back on track in finding a way out of this situation.' thought Khrysaor. Everyone seemed to have calmed down and started to discuss the best plan of action. Khrysaor said, "I do not have any specialty yet, the only thing I mainly have are good enhancement on my equipment with some thorns, mitigation and bleed. I do not have the healing skill and not much of a tank yet. Just put me in the best area and where I can help the most."

After that Khrysaor went back to the fire and sat down beside it, to get warm and increase whatever health he could before they left. When he sat down, he felt his body ache and stiff. He tried to stretch his arms and legs to get them looser.

[Hydra 0]

Hydra stumbled slightly as he rose to his feet. The darkness of the cave didn't look inviting to say the least but it was better than the blizzard. The spearman took a stray piece of wood and ignited it on the fire. It wouldn't last long but it was enough to provide the players some light. Twilight lay snuggled up in his pocket, she looked so peaceful. Anyone that tried to hurt someone else in this group would likely end up dead next time. The brunette didn't want that to happen but if the sword user went off on a mad rant again he doubted he would come out intact, especially with everyone else being so edgy. The spearman listened to Ratatosk mention him as a healer, "Don't mistake that im a healer, I know some first aid but like I said not enough to save anyone, if I have any real talent it is in crowd control..." He rested against his spear till tired from the fall but managed to put on a half smile. 

[Nikodemus_Blackwood 1]

Standing beside Hydra, Nikodemus took his shield and secured it to his left arm. His right remained open, but ready to [censored] the large one handed axe that hung at his hip from a length of chain. His blue eyes had an icy gleam to them in the fire light, and his face was neutral. He had hoped this quest would all go well and quick, so he could be back in his shop. The longer he was out, the more at risk he was to succumbing to his insanity. Being with people he knew helped, but he was still worried. "Well, since we have a good plan, who's ready to go? Anyone need to do inventory checks or anything to make sure they have what they need?"

[Allania 0]

Everyone was beginning to move now, the little conflict earlier being brushed over for the time being due to the more pressing matter of the groups survival. Rowan had walked on over to the wall and buried his head in it. Unsure what he was doing Allania thought it best to leave him to it currently, he then recovered slightly and came back, stating what he could do for the group, followed shortly by Khrysaor.

Allania said to Nikodemus "I'm ready as well, I'll take the rearguard position like I said earlier, hopefully that way I'll be able to protect the rest of you in case anything is to come at us from behind, especially if any more of those creatures were to appear and enter the cave behind us". With her comment to Nikodemus over she knelt down, and began to stroke at Blaze, telling him that they'd be setting off soon and to stick close to her. "I'll be at the back, so I'll wait until everyone else has headed off and then stick behind you all, so someone needs to lead the way" she called out to the group, looking up and around at those in the cave.

[Ratatosk 0]

"Alright!" He checked his inventory one more time to make sure he had his best gear equipped, and motioned for the group to start moving down. "No regrets, now let's see where the hell this thing leads to." His will was comparable to iron, but really he didn't want to help at all, it was only because they were in a desperate situation that he took charge. "You all know your positions, Hydra and I will be in the vanguard, Allania in the back, and everyone else in the middle. Stock up on as many healing items as you can if you have any, let's go!"

[orhalimi 0]

I opened up my inventory and and scroll through my items, then I clicked on a healing potion and put it on the ground. It was t1 healing potion, capable to heal only 10 HP. I pushed it away from me, my attention was quite clear. It's only a {cursed} game, I don't need it anyway. After that I stayed on the ground, showing no motivation to move from my position. I want to be in the end of the line, less eyes and questions from everybody...

[Khrysaor 0]

From where he sat, Khrysaor looked around at his fellow players. He observed that some players were ready to go, but waiting on everyone who needed to get ready. Others were in the middle of preparing themselves, and he thought he should start to get himself ready as well. He unsheathed his sword to check on it's condition, and it looked to be in good condition. Deciding that his sword was good enough for a battle he sheathed it back into it's scabbard, and started to adjust his armor. Then he brought out his inventory, and scrolled down to see that he had his healing potion with him and knew he might need it.

After, everything was set he observed his surrounding to see if he could spot any clue of what the group might face. The cave was quite dark so he could not make out anything especially the farther in you go, and it gave Khrysaor the chills. No one knew what was going to happen and what might be ahead. For all they knew, the hunting party might be heading into a trap, that could get them killed. When he saw one of the players use a piece of wood and light it up, Khrysaor thought, 'That is a great idea, why didn't I think of that,' so he searched for a wooden stick for himself, and went to the fire to light it up. He resumed his search of the cave and came upon some small, white fur-like hair in a corner of the cave. He called to the group, "Hey, everyone look at this. It looks like some of the hair from the monsters we were ambushed with earlier, it even has the same shade in color. Do you guys think this cave might be where those white monsters live, and if it is we better get ready quickly. Who knows, they may come back at any time, we should get moving."