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Drek stepped forward. "I apoligize for my companion's manner, Sir Knight. I assure you, he meant no direspect. As for your question, we are strangers in this town, and do not know it well. You would be better off asking a local. Though I must admit, I am curious to know what the King's Own Horse Guards would be doing away from the capitol. I apoligize if the question is too forward." The elf bowed slightly.

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The lizzardman also bowed, but much more hurriedly and awkwardly. "Hello, Sirs Knight. I am Marcus Donaldson."

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"And I am Tem deepwater.I apologise for my rudeness, i just always associate people in shiny armor with paladins, paladins with undead smiting, undead smiting with me. So, anyway, I'm from the High Flayer city, with no contact with other species. I didn't even know this was ruled my a king."said Tem. He bowed deeply, and with the politenesss that comes with the civilised Deep Flayer genes in him.{}{}{wow, I didn't know we were so far back as to use Ye Olde English}{}{}

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!

<OOC: Sorry about the long delay, guys. Busy day at work.>
<GM's Note: AS I outlined earlier, this land is known as Skaera Brae. It is a monarchy that resembles a mix of Irish and English ledgend and myth, with a good deal of my own fabrications and museing thrown in.

The world is as yet mostly undefined, but I did say earlier that there are barbarian invaders that were pushed back and finaly beaten only a few years ago. Little is know of these invaders other than that they wer human. And that that they were horriby barbaric. they seem to have been a nomadic sea-faring clan, and some say that they came from a land across the the frozen seas to the north. Many peolple find it hard to believe that they came from another land, let alone so cold and inhospitible. That they were here, however, is yet undisputed for the dead that they left in their wake bear silent testimony to their passing.

I also mentioned that there is an Elvish land known as Suldeneselar. This land is separeted from Skarea Brae by an impassible mountain range, but the two nations have never the less developed a good trading relationship via sea routes and Gnomish airships (although the airships are prohibitively expensive for most traders, who find is much more profitible to use sea routes or magical transportation instead.)
The land of Suldeneselar is quitefar advanced, in every way, but they maintain a general policy of non-aggression, neutrality and non-interference. In the entire history of human-elvish relations, there has always been peace between the two races. In recent centuries, a considerable trade with the Humans has led to some of the more adventurous Elves setteling in human lands (including Skare Brae), which has led to severla generations of Skarae-born elves who have never set eyes upon Suldeneselar. It has also led to a little-noticed but growing popluation of half-elves.
The Elves, the Dwarves and the Gnomes have formed an alliance based on mutual protection. As a matter of fact, there are two tiny independent enclaves within Suldeneselar; One is a Dwarven Caern, and the other is a permenantly anchored Gnomish flying city (Although by human standards is more the size of a flying castle than a flying city.)

The Dwarves are known to hold sway in their fabled underground cities, as well as in tiny scattered pockets on the surface. However, it is unknown if there are any substantial Dwarven kingdoms anywhere on the surface.

The Gnomes are even more enigmatic. Their sheer numbers suggest that there must be a Gnomish kingdom somewhere on the surface, but the Gnomes are a very secretive people who never discuss such matters with outsiders, not even their Elvish allies. As far as in known, the Gnomes do not ever touch the surrface of this world. The only exception to this rule is the Gnomish Ambasidor to the Elven High Court who is known to have stood in the High Court Chambers on more than on occasion, but even he lives in an airship. Why the Gnomes refuse to touch the surface is unknown. Humans who have tried to force a gnome to touch the surface have all rapidly thereafter met untimely ends, none of the elves seems to have been foolish enough to try, the Lizzardmen rarely meet Gnomes, and the Flayers seem to unnerved by the presence of a Gnome. It is unknown what the Dwarves think of them, but since they're in an formal alliance with each other one immagines that it must be rather cordial.

The other races on the surface of this world are not what one would call "Civilized" Or particularly intelegent, for that matter. In fact, a great deal of them are downright unorganised. The Ogres, for example, live in scattered family groups with no aparant alligences whatsoever. They sometimes form a loose band with other Ogres, Goblins, Orcs or Human outlaws, but these groups never last very long. In general, the Ogres live in abandoned or otherwise unhibhabited regions, venturing into civilized realms to raid or terrorise, sometimes just to grab a quick snack. They are considered persona nongratta (Litteraly: Persons With No Status or Rights) in just about every all civilized settlement on the face of the world... even the pirate kingdoms do not welcome Ogres. That's not surprising when you consider that Ogres have an annoyingly frequent tendency to eat people. Oh, they eat other kinds of meat, sure; but among Ogres the meat of a person is considered something of a treat. Same goes for their cousins, the Goblins (although goblins prefer their people young and uncooked, while the Ogre's perfer them fully-grown and roasted or boiled.) In fact, it's not unheard of for an Ogre to eat another Ogre. And if you think that's disguisting, pray that you never see an Ogre bathe. 'Nuff said 'bout the 'monsterous' races.

Well, if the Ogre's and their kind are 'monsterous' the Drow are 'diabolical'. Now, you haven't met The Drow yet, and if you're lucky you never will. The Drow are feared and despised across the entire world, and for good reason. All of the intelegent races have apocoliptic ledgends and myths that feature The Drow doing what they do best: Swiftly and suddenly appearing on your borders in vast numnbers, and then proceding to destroy your armies and take your lands from you.

The Drow and the elves share a comon genetic herritige, it has been eons since either race pursued common goals. Today, The Elves and the Drow are bitter enemies, with the Elves always at the vangaurd of any force that stands in the way of a Drow army. The two races fought a protacted struggle for world-wide dominence that lasted centuries, exhausting both sides. However, in the end the Drow were forced to retreat into underground sanctuaries, while the broken remmnents of Elven civilization slowly declined, their borders retreating to what is now Suldeneselar. It has been so long since any Drow have been seen on the surface that no one you know of has ever met anyone who's seen a Drow or even knows what one really looks like. However, the legends and myths all agree that the Drow look like Elves... only terribly pale-skined and in perpetual shadow. They are usualy portrayed as being of a matriarchiocal society, but not always.

The Council, the Government, and the High Lords of Suldeneselar all maintain a bounty on the head of a Drow as a way for them to encourage people to report their seeing one. The bounty has achived mythical proportions, sommuch so that it's reported ammount varries depending on who tells you of it. Some of the more fantastic tales surrounding this bounty involve gold nuggets the size of a man's head, flying horse, ships that said themselves without crew, magic so powerfull it can split the sky, and swords that can kill a man who isn't even in the same country as the weilder. Like I said, fantastic tales.
However, Micheal, Maxwell and Farnham have had occasion to read an actual copy of the posted bounty notice. It says:

"Hear yea, hear yea. Let he who wishes to claim the profered bounty upon the head of Drow-kind, as offerr by the King and Lords of Suldeneselar pay solem heed and listen well. The Claim-bearer must present one severed or attached Drow's head to a duely empowered Officer of The Law, Lord Magistrate and/or Government Official of The Dominion Of Suldeneselar, it's embassys, colonies, armys, navys, envoys, or High Wizzard in order to lay lawfull claim to any or all of the offered bounty. No subsitutions are permited. Offer good only whilst your soul is untainted by Drow magic. Deserving claims will be considered by the High Council. If the High council doth find the claim to be with lawfull merit, said claim will be forwarded to The King (or to The Queen if the King is unable to attend the claim) who shall seek advice from The Lord Chancelor. If The King does also find that the claim is with merit, he shall order the claimant be rewarded by the President of the High Council, who shall duely and solemly, and with all respect and with proper circumstance and cerimony, reward the worthy claim-bringer with the most apropriate reward, as is spelled out in the ancient law, aznd he shall make public to all the people the full circumstances of the claim and it's claimant and his reward. This offer is not open to people of The Drow, their allies, agents, constructs or mercenaries. So sayeth His Magesty King Ehtschislein Uthgtreih the Thrid, seventh King of Suldeneselar, son of Dretmdreach Uthgtreih who has gone to join his father in the final rest; and so doth he most solemly swear upon his blood and with his own hand. [dated a very long time before you were born].)

And there you have it, a breif overveiw of the races of this world.>
< Now, as far as how language goes, I don't expect you to do the Olde English thing. I throw it in every now and then to add some spice to the various NPCs. Give it a shot if you think it suits you. Or not; I won't mind either way.>

<sagre rest fingers now>
{EDIT} <Sarge went back and fixed a few errors and threw in a legal thingie.>

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<OOC: Shall I assume that Lizzardmen are lumped in with the "Other" races?>

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Prosper had never liked gaurds, it was the street-urchin side of him. But with his newfound companinoions he felt much bolder. He limped out the door.
" 'Scuse me sir. The jails down that ways a bit." he gestured twords a stone building with barred windows on the far outskirts of town.
"If'in ya don't mind me askin' sir. I'm curious as to what you're doin' here too."
<Yay!! Exibit A's not dead!">

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(THE ABOVE USER HAS BEEN BANNED)

<mmmmmmmm, no. Read a little more carefully. I mentioned them in there a bit. I just didn't give them a big do-up since you seem to have a better handle on the Lizzardman than I do.

But since you aasked... The Lizzardmen are generaly lower on the cultrual scale of civilization than their human and elven counterparts, but that doesn't meen they're not civilized. They're just a little behind in the cultural development department. The more civilized tibes of Lizzardmen are about at the same level of civilization as the Humans are, only they are not unified under a single leader. They are split into many different factions, tribes, clans and warlords that are never able to agree on much of anything. This has held their culture back, but their military and economic advancement hasn't suffered quite as bad. They have had the good sense not to provoke the humans or the elves into anything more than the occasional border skirmish or trade dispute. The only major conflict between Humans and Lizzardmen occured when a Lizzardman warlord (who's name is forgoten) unified some of the tribes on the Human/Lizzardman border and foolishly provoked a war. His charisma had united the tribes, but his leadership in war proved to be disasterous. The Lizzardfold quickly deposed their now-honorless leader, sent him in chains to the Human King, and sued for peace. Ever since then there has been an uneasy understanding between the two peoples (mutual respect, even) that has generaly prevented the two sides from ploting against each other. More recently, during the Human-folk's war with the invading barbarian northmen, some Lizardfolk mercenary outfits even fought alongside the Human armies (the Humans were in need of fighting men, human or otherwise, so they hired whoever they could), which has generaly lead to an improvement in Human/Lizzardman relationships. In fact, there are bardic tales that feature Lizzardmen warriors in a positive light... as heroes, even.

The Lizzardmen are a complet society that is not well understyoon outside their own kind. They farm, they mine, they have pottery... in short, they have most of the technologies that the humans have, but their society is very, very different. For one thing, Lizardmen are hatched from eggs, and it is rare for a Lizzardman to have less than a dozzen brothers and sisters. Some lizzardmen families have upwards of 100 children (not all from the same birthing, mind you). This, as you might immagine, resulted in the socio-economic order to be radicly different than it in among Human or Elven families. It meant that the the Mother and the father would need to work so hard to feed all their chuildren that having time for "nurturing" activites was just not practical if they wanted to feed them all. aunts, older borthers, grnadparents, village elders... essentialy the whole tribe... took on the responsibility for rasing the young. Slowly, over time, a there developed a "clan as family" system that extended the concept of "imediate family" to mean the entire clan. Uncles, aunts, cousins, etc, all became just as 'immidiate" a family member as your own shell-brother. As a result, Lizzardmen are a very tightly-knit society. More than that, they are feircly proud and feircely independent. They do not easily recognise the authority of outsiders, but at the same time they are not hostile to strangers just for the sake of being hostile.
Some of the more barbaric tribes (a scttered few still exist) are that way becasue they were isolated by distance or language; Sadly, they never reached the sort of level of social order and efficency that their civilized counterparts in the more succesfull Lizzardman tribes did. They sank into anarchy or were assimilated by larger tribes, but their legacy lives on in the form of certain rituals and rites that survived in the Lizzardman shamanistic and artistic circles. Some of these became harmless fariy-tales songs, stoires, games, etc. Few wish to go back to the barbaric and difficult lives of the barbarians, but a streak of wild freedom and a connection to the land is still very stong in Lizzardman culture.
Structuraly, Lizzardman society is basesd on the "Circles", which is the formal name for one's clan. Thus, a Lizzardman who wishes to emphasise his social standing will let others know what Circle he is from. Females of the less presigous Circles are constantly pressured to seek a mate from a Circle that holds some distinction or fame that is desireable to the Female. The Circle does not choose one's mate and they do not arrange marriages, but marrying to a "lesser ring" (to a clan with bad repuation, for example) can lead to one being "spun out" ouf one's Circle.
Being "spun out" is not obvious, it's not a ritual, and it doesn't happen overnight, but it will mark you as an outcast never the less. It is a whisper campaign of the most insidious sort, and it is obstenively intended to make the Circle's displeasure known to the one being Spun Out so that they can amend their choice and choose the "better" way (not that anyone bothers to tell you what that better way is). It usualy ends up working he opposite way, though, with the Spun Out only realising what it is he needs to do to make amends after it is alread too late. Those unlucky enough to be completely Spun Out will find themselves on the edges of society, eeking out a living on some degrading job or meanial labour below his nominal social standing. The only good thing about the Spinnong Out process is that it is kept entierly within the Circle. In fact, it is considered a taboo sunject to discuss such things outside of one's own Circle, and it's a major breech of social politeness to actualy tell the name of someone who is being Spun Out to somone who is from outside the Circle (You don't want to know what the Circle would do to a Lizzardman who tells any of this to a non-Lizzardman person. Let's just say it's not pretty.) The up-side is that if you-ve been Spun-Out, you don't carry any of the baggage with you if you join another Circle. The hard part comes when you actualy try to JOIN the another Circle, but onece you're in, you start witgh a clean slate a far as your new Circle is concerned.
Leaving a Circle and joing a new one can be accomplished through marriage, professional millitary service (millitary regiments are a special type of Circle), Royal privilage, bribery, or if you're really ambitious you can go and try and start your own circle by ritualy cutting yourself off from the Circle you were in. If you do this, you become "Circleless" untill you take a mate (who must also be "Circleless"), at which point you get to go and register your brand-new circel with the high elders. This is actualy turning out to be a more and more popular option among young Lizzardfolk who wish to marry purely for love. It's a diffucult option, to say the least, becasue it cuts you off from the (usualy considerable) support that your Circle can provide, but it also offers one a measure of freedom that staying within the established Circles does not offer.
For criminals and those who have gravely offended the social order, a shunning punishment is reserved: The Circle casts you out and erases your name from it's lists of honor. This is worse than being Circleless becasue it marks you as an outcast to ALL the Circles. The only way to find a way back into Lizzardman society after this is either go and try and join a distant tribe and hope they do not know of your shame, or to to do something so extraordinary that a Circle would be willing to forgive your past and grant you membership out of sheer awe.
There is only one punishment more severe than this, and it is, thankfully, very rare. Treason is so reviled within Lizzardman society that there is no punishment too severe. I won't describe the process becasue frankly, it's gross, but it would be fair to say that it is designed to send a clear message to everyone of what becomes of traitors.
Lizzardmen have a legal system that deals with criminal offenses, but it is poorly funded and badly corupt, sad to say. The local Magistrate is usualy the highest-prestiged or richest member of a well-to-do Circle, and bribery and all sorts of corrupt parctices go on in the legal system. This is due, in part,to the fact that the Lawyers and the Scribes are not accorded a very high standing in terms of how desireable it makes you as a mate. This results in a lack of of Circle standing that means that fishermen and pottery artists often make a considerably better living than even a famous lawyer does. As a result, few Lizzardmen want to go into the "wordy" professions. This had resulted in a legal system where few know their rights and fewer know the law. Lizzardman society as a whole decries this issue, and the nobility and higher-circle leadership are working to remedy the situation, but so far there has been little change.>

{EDIT} Yes, it seems that I have temporarily lost the ability to spell words correctky. I'm just too tired to change them all now. I'll fi it later when that part of my brain is working again. Did I mentio I have dyslexia? Well I do. And iit's not fun. Awwgeez, there it goes again. {/EDIT}

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<Wow, you're really dedicated to this, Sarge. You did mention the skills and weaknesses of Lizzardmen before, just not the whole societal/cultural thing. I'm impressed, nonetheless. >

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The knight with the really hointy-toity name and the shiney armor said to Prosper: "Ah... er. Yes, I see. The big building with the bars on the windows. I suppose the Sherrif is minding them, is he? Yes, of course. I take it that you are an, um, adventuring party of some sort, yes? And you the leader, good master Drek?

<GM'S Note: Flowery Langualge and Medivel Titles 101:

Drek is beiong adressed here as "master" (note the lowercase "m") because the Knight is using a formal-language way to say "young." In onther words, this Knight is being polite (in an upper-crsut way)to Drek becasue Drek was polite to him. Aparantly this Knight takes his etiquite very seriously.
Now, if this Knight was to adress someone who owns or presides over a buisness establishment (that is, the most senior worker on staff, owner or not) he would adrtess that person as "Master Suchandsuch" (note the uppercase M" That is a totaly different kettle of fish.
The common folk don't use these archahic phrases anymore except if they're on their toes like Drek here, but this Knight still expects people to adress him that way becasue... well... he's really very out of touch with the common man. He means well, though.>

The other knights had pulled up alongside the Inn and were casualy dismounting. One of them, aparantly the second-in-command by his Rank insignia, interupted the converstion by saying: "Terribly sorry, please do forgive the interuption Sir, but it seems Sir Archibald has found the Sherrif."
"Not at all, not at all. I say! That was quick work, whut? Oh, master Drek, do allow me to present Sir Charles Masterson, my second. Charles, this good fellow is Master Drek and his party of.. well, we were just getting to that, were'nt we? What are you all doing out here in the middle of this soggy logging town if not adventuring, whut? Am I correct in assuming that you come to try yourslef atwixts the Dire Wolf?"

<Don't ask what "atwixts" means. Juist pretend it's a really archachic term that none of your characters have ever heard. And no, it doesn't have a real-world counterpart, either. That's right: I made up a word to convey how far removed this guy is from the everyday modes of speach. Yipes.>

Drek got the distinct impression these two were up to somethuing, and it didn't just involve asking the sherrif for a spot of tea. Drek has delt with noblemen before, but none of them had ever adressed him as "master" before. It was usuualy more like "You, with the bow." or "Out of the way, woodsman." The fact that this nobleman was using his name AND using the flowery courtly-type talk didn't fit with what he'd come to expect... not that he'd been hoping for what he'd been expecting. It was nice to be spoken to like this for a change. Still, there was something a little odd going on here... something not quite... not quite... ah, it's probably nothing.

Marcus was hardly paying attention to the dialog, becasue these suits of armor were JUST SO COOL! He'd never seen armor this good up close before. Great lizzaards, there's no riviets in that platemail! And the chain... that looks like silver... naw, can't be silver. Who'd use silver for making armor.... iron is way stronger. But still, it sure is shiney. Marcus wondered how much this sort of thing cost? Must be a bundle... more than a bundle. The fancy engraving alone would keep a smithy busy for a month or more. Hey, look at that.. there's words in the engravaing. Just make it out... hrm, Marcus wondered if the Mage could read that for him.. probably could...

Micheal was also looking at the Knights, but he was pondering something else entrierly. He could see "manawaves" flowing off the Knights... something that only a Mage can do. Now, from what he'd learned in the Acadamy, when one spontainiously sees manawaves, it means that a nearby mage of signifigant power is, in the quait ettiquite of the Mageocracy, signaling something important to you. It's like a secret code used when one doesn't want to attact the attention of "mundanes" (people without the ability to spellcast). In this context. I meant that these men were under the mage's protection and that the mystery-mage was giving Micheal a friendly warnning that said "I'm far more powerful than you are, so don't do anything stupid or I'll have to hurt you." Micheal was at the same time a bit scared and a bit relived. Powerfull wizzards are always a bit scary, but it seems this one is courtious and isn't of hostile intent.

Tem was wondering what that strange feeling he was feeling was.. in the back of his mind... hrm... odd.. no it's gone. Hey, there it is again... like someone is standing right behind him looking over his shoulder... no.. nobody there. Most disquieting. He didn't sense any telepaths about.. nobody probing his mind, or he'd know it. But he could feel it... feel it.. in his mind, he could feel the probe. Get OUT! Out of my head, whatever you are.... Tem pushed with all his strength... pushed at the invader in his mind.. and just as quickly as he pushed at it, the invader was gone. Tem got the distinct impression that he hadn't pushed it away, that it had left of it's own accord.
Tem broke out into the Flayer eqivilent of sweat... tenticals in m,ontion and eyes turning color; Whatever that had been, it wasn't natural. Someone or something had tried to probe his mind, but whatever it was it had been powerfull enough conceal it's location in the physical world. He'd never felt anything that powerfull before, not even from the High Elders. Nothing like that at all.

Prosper was wondering what the strange man in the wizzard robe was doing standing on the roof of the barn. No, wait... what wizzard... he'sgone... aw, I'm just daydreaming again... wizzards and kights in shining armor, nobody would belive him if he told them about all this, what a day.

Acedia was paying attention to these Knights, and frankly she a was a bit bored with them. Pompous windbags, get to the reason you want to see the sherrif already. Honestly, these noble-types sure do blather on a lot. Still, they're probably loaded with gold, so best not to offend them... might even get a free meal out of it if she played her cards right. Cards.. cards.. that reminded her of something. Oh yeah, the amulets. Probably could get the mage to explain how they worked. Now that they is both on the same team and whatnot, that should be easy enough to finegle. She wondered if he was the rechargeing kind of mage, not that she knew what the different kinds of mages were, exactly, but she did know that all didn't do the same thing. Some cast spells, some sold magic trinkets, some cooked up potions... all different types, right? Oh, her mind had strayed... She imediately snaped back to the conversation, but as she did a thought crossed her mind... one that said that something about what had just happened was very unnatural... but what had happened?

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<<<<SPECIAL GM'S NOTE! Believe me, if you didn't read the whole thing that I wrote in the imedeiately preceding post and just skipped to your own character's part... go back and read the whole thing. I've set up a bit of a mystery for you to solve. Can you peice it together and still play the game in-character? Hey, it's a challange! Have fun!>>>>>>>>

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<OOC: Is one of the Knights actually a mind-reading Mage? Oh, and it seems like "atwixts" means "against".>

Marcus carefully touched the platemail & looked at the engravings.

There's lots of words on here...funny-looking words. I wonder if Mister Michael can read them...

"Hey, Mister Michael Mage Sir!!!" Marcus yelled quite obnoxiously. "Can you tell me what this says? It looks like a bunch of gobbledygook to me."

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<Thanks! When I said that character class is the main thing we use for playing the character, it was true. Still is true. But now you've got some backstroy to play aound with when it comes to what other people of your race might be like, how they act, what their motivations might be, etc. Inother words... what their society is like. But societies refer to groups of people in general, not specific individuals. So, there's no reason to change the way you play your character just becuase it doesn't seem to fit with what you saw in the society I described. Maybey I just didn't descibe the part of that society Marcus came from. Or perhaps he's changed his ways a bit since he left that society and started traveling. See? Thee's a million different ways you can go with that. That's what makes this RPG stuff fun.
As far as dedicated... well, it is the weekend. We working stiffs only get so much toie to have fun, so we gotta cram it all into the two days they give us (and I'm lucky I GET two days) per week. I played a lot of Pen&Paper RPG when I was a kid, but the silly dice and the endless rulebooks always seemed counter-intuitive to me. It's supposed to be fun, y'know?
As far as all the medievil stuff... well, I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm making all of it up. I'm about as much of a history buff as Bill Gates is a ladies man. (ouch... sorry Bill. All hail the digital overlords, long may they continue to provide me with computers to fix. For thine casteth they art, it doth shineth and breaketh easily unto thy Blue Screen of Death). <---------Made that up too.
Yes, come see Sarge and his fearless imagination of DOOOOOM! Thrill as he hurdles immpossible language and strill manages to Not Ruin the Plot!
Gasp as he maked agreegious spelling errors that he swears he'll come back and fix someday!
Be amused by his odd sense of humor!
All this and more for the low, low, price of... um... hey, what am I charging for all this anyways?

No, really. Free, huh? Yeah, that sounds about right.

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<Yeah, Marcus' backstory is pretty much set in stone. He's a bully, thief, wanderer, and a liar. And pretty darn good with a sword.>

Aurieul had just finished cleaning away the table when she realized the rain had all but stopped. What a day. She had woken in the wee hours of the morning and, not able to fall back asleep, started her day early. She tried to be quiet so as not to wake her mother, until she remembered it didn't matter. It had been two months since her mother died and she still wasn't quite used to it.

Maybe a walk will ease my mind.

Aurieul set off in the general direction of the inn.

<Aurieul is a half elf, who's father was killed before she was born. Her human mother raised her as best she could, but knew little of the elves. Thus, Aurieul has managed to grow up with almost no knowledge of elven culture. She has also never seen an elf.
She is slightly taller than the average female human, but would still be considered short relative to full elves. She has striking emerald green eyes and long, pale gold hair.>

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Michael heard Marcus's call and read the engraving, he could copy down a whole spellbook, why couldn't he read the engraving on the armour?

<OOC: I was thinking of the reason Michael was a magician, to protect people or something like that>

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Click this link unless you hate Homestar Runner & Strong Bad. You like Homestar & Strong Bad, don't you?

Well, you're on a the right track, but no: None of the Knigts are secretly mind-reading-mages.


Both Knights laughed breifly, as if very amused and pleased by Marcus' outburst, and said: "Well for heaven's sake man, you could just come out and ask me what it says. I mean, really: Do you suppose I don't know what has been engraved upon my own armor? It's not a secret. It's just not written in the common tounge, is all. But, I shall indulge you for it is a lark. Yes, go on and.. erm.. Micheal, was it? Yes, Yes Micheal, good sir Mage read what it says in the engravings hidden in my armor. Go on, I asure you I take no offense."

Tem has regained his composure after the mental violating he had just suffered. He though of what he shouold do... The mental attacker could strike again at any moment... it could assult his new-found friends before he'd even had a chance to get to know them... The attacker was clever, hiding somewhere nearby... but how to flush it out?

Drek's mind was racing. Something about all this didn't feel right. He was missing a peice of the puzzle..puzzle... clockwork... gnome...GNOMES!! The Gnomish bow! Drek had ben so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he'd been ignoring what his sense of touch had ben telling him for a while now: The Gnomish Bow Was making a clockwork noise and it was moving. Dreck's first indication was to reach for the Gnomish bow he had straped to his back, but something... he didn't know what... made him stop... he had a suden realisation of fear come over him... as if he knew that the bow was a deadly serpent that could bite him if his fingers got close... but this was maddness. Drek knew that bows don't simply turn into snakes unless..

unless..

unless a mage was projecting fear into him in an effort to keep him from reaching for the bow.

Drek suddenly, unequivecly, clearly knew what was going on... as if a cloud of confusion had been lifted from his mind. Yep, someone was definately messing with his head, but he knew how to fight back now: The mage was subtly messing with his emotions, but once he knew he was being manipulated, he could use his intelegence to fight back. It was a battle of wills, and Drek didn't know how he'd managed to realise the nature of the trap, but now that he was sure of it he'd be dammed if he was going to let himself be manipulated twice.

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Tem snapped his fingers. "YAAAAAAAAA!!!!GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!! GO AWAY!"He sent a spike of pain so severe it could barbecue a snake. Luckily, everyone knew that when he snapped his fingers they'd imagine impregnability, but they weren't prepared for this! Either way, those suspicious knights and the psion will be knocked unconcious.However, his psi-blast weakened him so he let down the psi-shield. And then Marcus's thoughts came at him.'This better be worth gaining Maxwell's trust, then robbing him'he heard. But that was a bunch of nonsense. That could never happen.Never happpennn...He surrendured to his fatigue and blacked out.

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!

Realised Tem falling to the ground and went down to him and said "Tem are you okay?"

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Click this link unless you hate Homestar Runner & Strong Bad. You like Homestar & Strong Bad, don't you?

Drek steeled his will and grabbed his bow, despite the strong feeling that it was a serpent. As soon as he grabbed the bow, the feeling was gone. "Steel your will" he shouted. "There is a mage nearby, influencing our thoughts." Even as he said this, he felt how foolish it was. Why would a mage... but no! The mage was trying to influence him again! He would not let himself be controlled!

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"Urk."said Tem,"I'll be okay. I'm going Ethereal awhile to recover from the fatigue. The knights want to hurt us. Tie 'em up while they're stunned from my mental annihlation." With that he faded into the ethereal plane. This gave time to think about Marcus's stray thought. It could be fatigue delirium. Then again, Prosper's stray thoughts indicated otherwise. It would be best to tell maxwell about this, maybe talk to Prosper.

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!

<OOC: OK, someone is reading our minds. Is it the Wizzard on top of the barn?>

Marcus suddenly fell to the ground. He felt like someone was sucking his mind out, reading his thoughts...his secrets...

"This is NOT shiny!"

The lizzardman took out his sword and started swinging it in the air, like someone was attacking him.

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Aurieul was soon in sight of the gathering outside the inn.
<i>That's strange. I wonder what's going...That was a nice walk. I should leave now.</i>
Aurieul was turned around and headed back away before she realized she'd only left minutes before. Something strange was obviously going on here. She turned around again and moved closer to the group, fighting the feeling to leave.

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Tem was looking for the magical pulses that indicated Psionic activity. These waves were much different than the ones that Michael could see, and they were only visible while ethereal, which is why psions are so hard to detect. The thing was that, although the only physical limit while ethereal is one's imagination, it was still incredibly hard to find. Apparently his Mental Mace had no effect on him. Then he saw the psion. Fatigued as he was, he still had the physical prowess of a High Flayer. He unetherealized right behind the psion, and threw him off the barn. He caught him with his telekenesis, then fainted.

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!

<GM's note: Bingo. There is a mage on top of the barn well, there was, but Tem's now thrown him off. Prosper was lucky, he had caught a glimps of him in a single fleeting momemt when the mage had let down his invisibility spell. This is the same mage that was sending manawaves at Micheal and telling him not to interfere. It's also the same mage that was trying to mess with Tem's head (but Tem imediately fought back)and had breifly confused every member of the party. Only Drek was lucky enough to break the influence, but now that the party is on it's guard the wizzard will have a much harder time messing with your head. Tem's deduction that the Knights are not what they appear is also correct, but not quite in the way he thinks.>

Suddenly, a man dressed in black robes and carrying a glowing staff materialised in front of the barn doors. He was lying on his side, and was obviosuly not in a good mood. He was elvish, but with pale skin and very pronounces facial features, much more pointed ears than the typical elf. He cursed at the party, and as he did, the Knihts, ther hrses, and theif footprints vansihed. Micheal imediately realised what had occured. He had been decieved... they had all been decived! The Knights were nothing but illusions, and sofisticated illusions at that. The manawave messages he had recived was a deception all on it's own, dewiged to put Miceal off guard. However, Michal was even more upset by the realisation that their adversary was a Drow! Whatever the drow was after, this went far beyond the party. The High Elders musty be informed, a Drow agent has been spoted!

Before anyone could act, the Staff the Wizzard was carrying let out a bright blue pulse, and the wizzard vanished again.

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Marcus stopped thrashing about on the ground, but not before Maxwell & Farnham arrived and saw him acting so foolishly.

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"Geez, I've never, in my travels encountered anything as bad as that. Darkelves are forces not to be tangled with. However, Deep and high Flayers hate them. I might be able to recruit a few friends I knew in life, and nothing is better against Drow than other Drow."said Tem"I still need some rest. That physical and mental exetion really wore me out."

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!

The embarrassed Lizzardman got up, brushing the dirt off his armor & kilt.

"I'm real sorry, sir. My head really hurt. It was like someone was sucking my mind out."

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"Well, for one, we need to talk marcus. When i used my psiblast, my psishield went down. I picked up your thought. I know why you're in this party, and I'm going to tell Maxwell."said Tem, with a very intense look in his eye.He grabbed Marcus by the shoulder"unless, of course, you tell him yourself.Your choice"he walked away."think about it"he said, over his shoulder.

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!

"Wait!" Marcus grabbed Tem by the arm. "Mister Maxwell already knows why. I'm looking for whatever killed my father, and if we kill that Dire Wolf, I should be ready for a shadow man."

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"Liar"said Tem"I heard your thought.'This better be worth gaining Maxwell's trust so that I can rob him.' I hope you're going to do something good with that money."He slapped the lizard with one of his tentacles"Because I have just seen the most underhanded thing in my unlife. I won't tell Max, because it'll be so much more fun watching the guilt tear you apart from the inside out. To help that, I've just amplified your concience. You'll eventually tell Maxwell of your own free will, I'm just speeding it up.Goodbye"Tem disapeared.

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I lost the state spelling bee in FIFTH PLACE!!