Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

To the Aukari, Blood Metal was more of a status symbol than anything else. The best use of it he had been taught was to improve the armour of his superiors back in Sirothelle as, not only did the Blood Metal reinforce the armour, it also made a distinctive colour for it as earned by those who achieved the higher ranks. As F'mos was no longer a servant of Sirothelle and therefore no longer held to its standards, there was nothing to stop him from collecting the county of Blood Metal dust which had surfaced in Etzos for his own purposes.

He had been collecting the dust over the trials since its discovery whenever he had the opportunity. As the trials went longer and more people collected the dust for themselves, it was soon running scarce and the Aukari found he had to venture further away from the city just to get a worthwhile amount for his efforts. On this trip he had brought his tent and followed the river in hopes to reach a reserve of the valuable dust. The first trial he could barely fill half a bag despite his efforts. The second trial saw a little increase of the amount he was able to obtain. The third?

It was the Jackpot!

Even if he was now in an unfamiliar part of the wilds, F'mos was too exhilarated to care and he could just follow the river back to Etzos anyway. He spent the rest of his time in the water, waist deep in it as he greedily separated the dust from the sand and rocks and dumped them into his bag. He knew the only reason he could collect the dust this way was that it was long enough since the river's water level rose. All things considered, he was quite fortunate, not only for the bounty of dust he chanced upon in the river but also that he found it at a time the river was no longer strong enough to sweep him away.

With the scython as his only companion he had brought with him on this little expedition, being swept away from the waters would mean he was lost even if the cat would try to help him. All in all, the scython would only lose its meal ticket while its owner would have lost his life. Even now it lazily sat at the foot of a tree not even worried about any of the hazards of the wild. F'mos should be worried too, but he had confidence that his cat would detect any which came close to him although that confidence was fast waning because of its own attitude.

A break of work. Half a break of rest. Another break of work. One break of rest and organizing his haul of dust. Again, another break of work collecting the dust followed by lunch for him and his cat. F'mos expected this to continue for the rest of the trial and with it, finally call his expedition a success and make the trip back to Etzos the next morning. That was not in the cards for him however as the serenity of his surroundings was broken very obviously by something... unnatural...

F'mos could have ignored the disturbance and continued with his work or return to Etzos but the bounty of dust he found filled him with confidence. The appearance of the Blood Metal dust, a mineral he knew was native to his volcanic homeland was unnatural enough which meant it something had to have brought it to Etzori lands. He may very well lose out if he chose not to investigate the disturbance as it may be the source of the dust he had been working so hard to collect. It could even be in a form much easier for him to bring with him back to Etzos and with less work!

Believing that he had nothing else to lose as he could just run away if the disturbance ended up something too much for him to handle, the Aukari quickly put on the armour he had removed so he could better navigate the waters and then on his scython, headed towards the disturbance. His poor riding skills however would make sure it would take a little longer than he wanted, unless he wanted to reach his destination weakened, sickened and unwhole.

At some point the Aukari had decided he had ridden on his mount long enough, if the sickness he felt was any accurate indication of the state he was in. He left the scython a little away from the edge of the clearing as he had no idea no idea what he might find. As he was out in the wild, the most likely danger he should encounter would be some sort of beast but as far as he knew, no beast had ever made that sort of a sound. The only other possibilities he could think of would be some mutants in hiding or a monster given the proximity of Etzos to the Fields.

Either could just as easily give him problems even if he had Kavelza around to assist him which made any form of confrontation out of the question. Fortunately, F'mos had a tendency to not rush into a clash and had other options available to him if his goal was to find any opportunity to exploit should the chance present itself. Alone, the Aukari advanced on his own to where the natural foliage bordered the clearing. Not a beast, not a mutant and not even a monster; just a group of cloaked figures out in the wilderness for some reason which probably made them the most dangerous thing he could have encountered.

And also, the most suspicious thing he could have encountered.

It was at that point F'mos had to make a decision. To approach or to get out. Without a reason to commit to either, at least, not without any more information, the Aukari decided to get more information for an informed decision. The most foolish thing he could do in accordance with that decision was to simply go up to them. The former guard who was trained to look out for the dangers of urban living did not miss the telltale gleam of blades which reflected the light of Saun. Within a few thrills, F'mos took to the skies. The best method in his opinion to fulfil his objectives; to gather information and to stay away from the danger the cloaked figures currently posed.

But even as the 'best' of ideas, the Aukari failed to realize the sight of a bat in the sky before dark might be a weird thing to spot. He was too occupied with his own plan which had been effective so far. It was to be a fly-by he decided because if he stuck to one spot, he would be too obvious. F'mos had climbed to the top of one tree before he transformed, before he lifted himself to a greater height. From his previous experiences he knew it would be a harder flight as he would be at the mercy of the wind currents but, it would still be much easier than the weird noise he kept hearing interfering with his flight. Damned bats. As if the trees were not a big threat to him already with his smaller build which would hurt should he run into one of them.

It was questionable if luck was on his side as the wind resisted him a little as it blew from his side and forced him to press on harder in order to not get off course. This effort which took most of his attention almost made him forget the purpose of his flight but in the end, he was able to catch a glimpse of the group. While they were all in their dreary cloaks, there was one F'mos identified as the leader or so he believed, as all the other cloaks seemed to take their orders from him. That was not the most telling however. Despite their cloaks, The Aukari could tell there was something... odd with the leader.

Only when F'mos spotted the object, actually person being kicked, was he able to at least make a guess about the groups strange leader. While they did not share the same unique qualities, both had their own mismash of characteristics borrowed from other beasts. It was not a long shot for F'mos to assume like the infamous Padfoot, the other was also a becomer. Perhaps it was some sort of a cult and they had a falling out which probably explained why Mal did not stir despite being kicked. That said, it was regrettable that F'mos had to let this opportunity go. There was no chance he would be able to get the corpse from the group despite the rich mutagens it might hold being the source of the numerous Freakshows in Etzos.

A quick round over the group to get even more information which the Aukari would have been unable to obtain had he left his observations to those he had solely in the trees, including any other hidden weapons, armor and unique characteristics of the group, F'mos rode the air currents back to the trees. It was a bit of a way from where he started off, but he had no problem with walking the long way back. He was already tired and to continue his flight to return would tax him too much.

This decision as it turned out was a fortuitous one as the weird sound found a few other figures in the trees he would have missed had he not transformed. He took a quick look towards its direction to find the familiar figure of the one winged Avriel and his crew. While the Aukari knew anything which involved them would not be too good, it was a case of choosing the devil he knew and, one he had profited off from before. He landed a little behind them and transformed back. Ears was the first to hear his approach and set the rest of the crew's attention to the newcomer.

"Fancy seeing you lot here" F'mos said in feigned surprise before he made his offer to the rest of the group. He would share whatever information he had learned during his flight and, might even help them in their obvious criminal plans against the cloaks if provided a weapon. All the Aukari wanted in return was the corpse of Mal for more experiments which may profit the entire group present; as it had the trials prior during Parren's contest.

It would only take a scream should his gambit with the Crow fail and, have the other group alerted and set upon them just as they had with Padfoot- a scream F'mos had at ready on his lips. Fortunately it did not come to that and their brief negotiations ended up fruitful for the Aukari. Taken with the declaration that the items of the fallen would go to him, no doubt the Avriel was after the bounty on Padfoot as well and a large one at that! An inevitability for someone who caused Etzos enough troubles with his mutants and public attacks on the city's so-called "hero" over the seasons. The bounty would have been something F'mos should have been after as well if not for the one thing the alchemist held was in true value. The magic and mutagenic rich body of Padfoot of course.

The alchemist had ideas of the possibilities ever since he was aware of the Padfoot potential but doubted he would ever have the opportunity to get the true source, until now. The arrangement was great, at least with how F'mos interpreted it as no doubt with the information he had given Noth, he already made himself useful. If nothing else, the Aukari may just help in the battle for appearances so he could justify his own claim to the corpse however he knew; his ownself joining the battle would be nothing but a liability to the rest of the group. He was unfamiliar with them and their methods therefore any act by him might very well end up tripping the group up. He could have tried to discuss things with the rest of the group, but, before he could the group's brutal leader had already initiated his attack on his own.

"Whelp."

If Noth had expected F'mos to rush into the battle like the rest of his crew, the Avriel had poorly judged the Aukari's capabilities. Evidently the Avriel also failed to pay attention to the fact that the Aukari had no weapon- as hinted when F'mos pointed out he would help with the group's plans had he been provided with a weapon. As his offer had not been taken up, the Aukari instead slinked off into the foilage while the Crow's gang rushed out of it. Buffered from the rest with his concealment, he headed back towards the direction he came from- where he had last left his mount and made the signal for it to come to him. With no desire to waste any time, he continued onwards anyway until the moment he met up with it.

With his own armor shifted into the colours of Etzos' famous Black Guard, F'mos rode out to meet with the battle among the miscreants and more importantly he was now armed. It was a good thing too as for whatever reason it was, one of the robed figures were also headed towards him in what looks to be an attempt to abandon his own allies. The Aukari pulled out his rapier to try and dissuade the man's advance but instead, the man picked up speed. The thrill it took for F'mos to register what had happened after the energetic yell for the now bear to get close to him.

Unfortunately for Mr .Bear, F'mos had already faced a bear earlier in that very season with another of Etzos' famous winged personalities. While he was unable to take advantage of the same tactic he had used then, he was a lot more confident to face another such a beast. A quick kick into his scython's side and he had his own beast reared up to attack. The big bear which opposed them made an easier target for the scython to dig its claws into its flesh. As a stationary target, even the F'mos who avoided physical confrontations in preference to methods which would not put him at such a risk could hit and his rapier was thrust into the bear once... twice... thrice... right until the blood seeped over the scython's claws and the mount lost its purchase.

Though at that point there was no reason to remain any longer as the bear itself slumped onto the ground from the many blows the Aukari was able to make as it was held into place. As he watched Noth's own group still in their own fight, he decided to try his own ruse. With himself and his mount positioned with the bear in between the pair and the fray, his loud yell would bring attention to just one thing...



Before the Aukari made a show of wiping the blood on his rapier on the bear's fur. That said, he and the the criminals knew better that there was no one else coming to assist them. Hell, even with F'mos and his scython around, there was no real member of the Blackguard on the scene. Of course, the cult which took down Padfoot did not know that and his trick rested on whether or not they would take the time to think the situation through, or just flee.

He had thought to at least rally the rest of his allies with his cry if not scare the hostiles off but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Noth somehow or another was smacked about, by a woman no less! Though that fact would only be apparent to F'mos once he examined the corpses, his immediate concern at the time was the possibility of the Avriel being slain in the battle. It was not a terrible prospect mind you despite the profitable arrangements the Aukari had with the criminal but should he fall, how was the alchemist going to secure his negotiated prize?

That outcome as far as F'mos was concerned, was not one he could allow to happen!

The distance between him and Noth was significant and not one he could close in on fast enough even on his frenzied feline mount but nevertheless, he had to try. His scython seemed faster than normal as its rider gave out a bewildered cry of enthusiasm and a sharp heel to its side and while he F'mos was unsure of the reason why, he had no arguments that it was effective on the hellcat. Not only the scython it seemed, but also the woman as she looked towards him in anticipation of another surprise attack. While he had been unable to get close enough to strike in time, F'mos was satisfied that he at least gave Noth the opening he needed to strike back.

Even though the Avriel was now able to fight back, F'mos did not stop his charge and continued on. If he reached on time he would be able to help in the fight against the woman as well and if not, he would be at least close enough to the battle to choose some other target which an ally had difficulty with. It was the tumble however and not any side getting the upper hand in that scrap which made his charge useless as F'mos went right past the pair- unable to make a turn as the scython went too fast and he had to slow it down before he could do anything else which cost him precious thrills.

And with that, the battle was over. As he rejoined the group, he asked about what had happened because he had not expected any bears or bats- bats other than him that is. F'mos had decided it was a good victory and started to address Noth on the spoils along with whatever else they might have learned when suddenly, one of the should have been corpses stirred. It was not the woman Noth had fought as it was some other hooded figure which Noth's underlings were able to beat but all the same, with a hand to the neck and a cry, the hood started to shift with wounds being healed into a feline form akin to the Aukari's own mount before it immediately rushed into the forest. Too fast for F'mos to even react.

Not one, but two though that had the same result. "We gonna haul these things back or what?" he asked, before he checked the inhuman Becomers for any other promising prize the day had for him although as far as the alchemist was concerned, none would beat the source of Padfoot's Freakshows.