Open The Age of Oppression

[meben15]

They traveled across the desolate tundra for several hours, until the group had almost gotten into the Reach. Mack lead them to a small, secluded cabin tucked between several snow covered rock outcropings. He climbed onto the roof, sliding through a small hole in it and into the cabin interior. A second later the door swung open and the tired group trudged in. Some went downstairs, to were there were a few old straw beds and matresses, but Valrin stayed up stairs, moving to the fireplace and nocking aside the burn logs to make a small fire.

As he crouched by the fire blowing on the small pocked of kindling he had started on fire with his flint and steel, Valrin's keen ears heard a soft thwack, and then a thud coming from just outside the cabin door. Instantly he was on high alert, his years as a fugitive had given him razor sharp perception and keen instincts. Whiping his bow out Valrin knocked an arrow, coated in a paralizing poison, and slunk towards the door, keeping low so as to stay out of the windows. As he peered quickly around the doorframe he saw one of the men from the village who had acompainied them, lying dead in a pool of blood with an arrow in his back. At first he wanted to go out to investigate further, but his instincts told him otherwise, whoever was out there was a very good shot, if he stepped out for even one second he would be dead.

Instead he slid over to the stairs, calling to the others who were down there quietly, "We have company boys, get your weapons. And be quiet about it, they don't know we know they are here." After his words of advice, Valrin moved back over to the door, drawing Lokfyr and leaning it against the wall near him. He then aimed his bow at the door. If anyone came in from there they would be dead in seconds.

 

[The_Madgod]

Fultheim, still wide awake, readied Avalanche for a fight. He followed his Dunmer friend to the door and peeked out, seeing the dead body of the man who was always extremely generic they had picked up on the road. There was an arrow in his chest, dripping with poison.

Fultheim ducked back behind the door, knowing that Avalanche would do nothing. "I'm a master of illusion magic and sneaking about. I'll see if I can find our archer. If I don't come back, eat me. I always wanted to be eaten, and I don't know why. You know what, never mind. I just thought of that because I'm hungry right now.", said Fultheim to the group. He readied a blue spell in one hand and a purple one in the other.

The burly Nord sucked in a breath and cast both Muffle and Invisibility. He snuck outside and looked around. After a couple of minutes of searching, he spotted a Khajiit standing in the mountains. Then, his spells wore off.

 

[blue 468]

Aenar didn't know what was going on but he readied his sword for a fight. "whats wrong who's out there" he asked getting anxious. He was still unarmored but had his sword, he knew he could handle a small fight but if things got out of hand he would be in trouble especially if there was an archer.

 

[.ol0w0lo.]

Plagus had made his way to the kitchen, ignoring the calls of Valrin and the others. During the journey, the others had given him small portions of their own personal stocks of food. A piece of bread here, a bit of fish there. But it had been far overdue, and those small meals did little to destroy his hunger. His stomach would not hold up for much longer; he needed food. Now. He rummaged through the cupboards. Spices, grain, flour...

A crash from behind.

"Who's there?" Plagus drew his dagger, turning to face the intruder, who had just crashed in through the window. Before the intruder could react, Plagus was charging at him with his rusted dagger, ready to kill.

But the man was two feet taller than Plagus, and weighed fifty pounds more. The intruder tossed Plagus to the side, breaking a great deal of porcelain and knocking the boy unconcious.

 

[blue 468]

Aenar heard the loud crash come from the kitchen and without thinking drew his sword and ran. When he got to the kitchen he saw a man throw Plagus across the room. Before Aenar could do anything the man drew a sword and charged. Aenar sidestepped his swing but stumbled on a chair and fell to the floor, the man prepared to kill aenar.

 

[lbrasz44]

Dargo spent minutes with his bow drawn, just waiting for anyone to get anxious and take the bait. Waiting between the boulders patiently, he suddenly sees a flash. Instinctively Dargo moves to aim at the occurence which turned out to be one the people whose spell wore off. Dargo let his hold on the bow string loose and shot the arrow.

Without checking to see of his shot hit, Dargo quickly moved out of his spot. Everyone would certainly be outside going for him now, so it is time to hit them hard. Swiftly moving down the mountain ledge and leaping from tree to tree he leaps from a branch and crashed through the window of the cabin.

Upon balancing himself, he sees that one of the people was already going at him with a dagger. Too easy. With a swift move, he stepped out of the way, grappled the man and performed a judo throw. The man chrashed against the wall and went unconscience.

Quickly turning, Dargo pulled out his daggers and went to stab another man. This time, the target stepped out of the way hastily but fell over in the process. Preparing to stab the man, Dargo sees that the other targets are already at the doorstep. There was no time to kill the man and it wouldn't be wise to fight 5 people in a small room at once.

Leaping out of the window, Dargo went to climb a tree and dissapeared. This stalemate gives Dargo the chance to stalk each one individually now and let fear take over.

 

[The_Madgod]

An arrow whizzed past Fultheims shoulders. He ducked to the side, panting, then saw the archer rub away. "Milk-drinker!", shouted the Nord. He normally used Argonian or Dunmer vocabulary, but he had picked up on the local insults and such as well. He scanned the horizon for a good 3 minutes looking for the assassin, when suddenly a crash came from indie the cabin.

Fultheim ran in and saw the younger Dunmer being attacked by a Khajiit. He heaved Avalanche at the man as some others entered, just barely missing. "What in Oblivion are you doing?!", shouted the man, picking up his war hammer once more.

 

[meben15]

As Fulthiem walked bravely out into the open, Valrin remained standing near the door his arrow ready to hit anyone who attacked the Nord. He saw the man jerk as a arrow whizzed past his head and Valrin stepped into the doorway, ready to shoot his attacker.

The mysterious sniper had vanished before he could get a shot in so Valrin stepped back inside the cover of the doorway and waited for their attacker to strike again. Then he heard a crash from the kitchen, were he had seen Plagus go. Spinning around he saw a Khajiit dressed in fine leather, throw the dunmer boy aside. As Valrin was about to take a shot at the Khajiit, Aenar rushed past him, blocking his line of fire.

As the cat stabbed forward at Aenar, he managed to dodge, at the cost of his footing. Then the Khajiit ran back towards the window, trying to flee the scene before he was overpowered. Valrin took a shot at him as he ran, but the nimble cat dodged it. He darted out the window just as Fulthiem's hammer was about to hit him in the back.

Swearing Valrin dropped his bow and took up Lokfyr, charging after their enemy. He was not going to let this damn cat get away, it was strange that such a person would choose to attack them, the Stormcloaks hated Khajiit almost as much as they did Dunmer. On his way through the kitchen Valrin shouted to Aenar, "Make sure Plagus is alright!"

He jumped onto the windowsill and into the tree the Khajiit disappeared into with the skill and grace of long practice. Grabbing onto one of the larger bows, he lifted himself up to it and looked up to see the Khajiit already several more branches above him. Whipping a dagger out of its sheath on his belt Valrin hurled it towards the cat, shouting, "You traitorous swit!" for good measure.

 

[.ol0w0lo.]

Plagus opened his eyes. The room seemed to be moving rather rapidly, and the others all seemed to be in a frenzy to catch the intruder. His head ached. He could feel blood running down his leg. The nord they called Aenar was kneeling beside him, but probably would have been more happy if he were chasing the intruder with the others.

"Guhh ahed..." His mouth swam with blood. "Guhh an halb teh utters." The boy tried to stand, but the pain was too much. He had trouble moving his left leg. He managed to prop himself up against a wall, and spat most of the blood, along with three of his teeth, on the ground beneath him. "You know, I never really liked cats." He tried to force a smile, but the pain was too much. "I'll be fine."

 

[R'alle]

Mack was busy going over the map when he heard crash. He ran downstairs to see a khajiit fighting with his men. The Cat man ran out the door before Mack could do something. He followed him to a tree. The Cat disappeared. Mack shook his head "Coward." He walked back to the cabin to see a man on the ground. He ran to him. "Stylus!!! Stylus!!! Stay with me. You can do it. Don't die on me." Stylus choked on blood as he spoke"I came to drop off some mead. *coughs* I thought we could go hunting later and maybe murder some stormcloakseh? *Coughs up blood*" Stylus was smiling. Mack tried to pull the arrow out. Stylus grabbed his hand before he could. "No. I've been living for too long. I've done all I wanted. We had a blast eh?" He smiled at him. Mack had tears coming down his face. "It's been an honor captain" Mack saluted Stylus. "At ease Mack...At ease Mack." He died after his sentence. Mack went to the house and got his wood axe. He cut up some tree branches and set them under Stylus. He then went to go get a torch. He stood over his captain and dropped the torch. The was set ablaze. It was a captains funeral.


Mack went back to the cabin. He felt cold and alone. He just watched his captain die. That man saved his life countless times. He looked at the group. "I have medicine/potions in the pantry next to the foodbox(Fringe). I want you to come with me." He opened up a cabinet and took out a potion. It was to help internal bleeding and pain. He gave it to Plagus and sat next to the boy.

 

[blue 468]

Aener still sat next to Plagus feeling like he was useless he was mad that he had almost been killed on some stupid little mistake, but he felt worse because the cat escaped. Aenar stood up looking for something to calm his nerves. He didn't really know the man who was killed but he felt that it was his fault that he died.

Aenar walked to his pack and found his last bottle of wine already half empty and without drinking finished it. Looking down at the empty bottle he said "By Talos I swear never to be that clumsy again because of alcohol", "BY TALOS I SWEAR IT!" he yelled for everyone to hear.

 

[lbrasz44]

Moving swifting, Dargo knew he was being chased. However he knew that they had no chance of spotting or catching up to him, not against a master assassin like him. From the looks of the group, they believed that he had ran away, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Moving farther away, Dargo soon found himself in the forest, but he is still in the general area of the woods and cabin.

This contract is going to take a while; one is down already, but there were still plenty more. Dargo knows he's going to need to get help from his brotherhood for this one.

Sitting atop of a tree branch, Dargo begins to plan his next move. Its going to take more than myself for this one. It looks like they are going to stick together and I can't attack any further today, they will be expecting it. What do I need to do next... ah yes. The group is going to start an uprising so i'm predicting that they will need to go to villages and towns in order to recruit. The next time they go to a highly populated place, it is up to me to blend in with the crowd and get close. Dissapear in plain sight and work in the city shadows. I will need to call upon my brothers for this one... I'm getting a bit too old.

 

[meben15]

Valrin's dagger flew towards the Khajiit, but he sprung out of the tree before it could hit him. The Dunmer climbed furiously in pursuit of the cat, but with his natural claws he was much to fast. After chasing him for several minutes Valrin stopped in the middle of a clearing. He looked around, saw no sighn of the Khajiit and cursed.

The traitorous cat may have escaped today, but they now knew he was after them. He would not take another of their number as long as Valrin was with them. He then ran back to the cabin with all haste, arriving back at the door to see that someone had set alight the dead mans body and the Dunmer stopped for a second to honor the dead mans memory. He had not even know his name but he had wanted to fight against the Stormcloaks and that was good enough for Valrin.

Heading back into the cabin, Valrin picked up his bow and headed over to were the others were sitting. Mack had given Plagus a potion and the others were sitting around the table nearby. When Mack looked at him to see what news he brought of the Assassin, Valrin shook his head, "He escaped. I don't think we have seen the last of him however, we should be even more on our guard than usual."

Walking over to the others he sat down next to Aenar and took some of the food out on the table, "It's getting dark. We should eat."

 

[.ol0w0lo.]

Plagus snatched the phial of pink liquid from Mack, quickly drinking it. It had a strong, sour taste, but the effects of the potions were felt instantly. He tried to stand once more, this time with much less pain. Once on his feet, he struggled to take a few steps. It was difficult, but he managed to walk around the room a few times, gaining confidence that his injury was healing. He looked at Mack, who had a grim look on his face.

"Who died?" The boy giggled a bit, unaware of the dead Captain burning outside.

 

[R'alle]

Mack looked at the boy coldly. "Who died? Who died!!!?!?!?! I'll tell you who died. Captain Stylus tuben of platoon 117. The man was a legend. He gave ulfric the scar he has today. In the great war he saved the whole platoon from a thalmor ambush. He and I were the best scouts in our platoon. He taught me everything I know now. He taught me how to make the potion you just drank. He was like a father to me..." Mack patted the boy on the back. "Come on let's eat." He stood and helped the boy up. He took out 4 lamb chops and threw them in a pot. He rested the pot over a pole that's above the fireplace. As they waited for the food to cook Mack ate some blueberries and grapes. He gave the boy some fruit.

 

[.ol0w0lo.]

Plagus slowly took the fruit, confused by the man's reaction. Is he upset or not? He chews me out, and then pampers me? Something's not right here. He looked at the fruit. It must be poison. It HAS to be. Why else would he be so nice to me? Have I angered him that badly? He watched as Mack continued to eat the very same fruit he had shared with the boy. Why is he eating the poisoned fruit? Did this Stylus teach him how to make Dumer-Only poisons? Can the Nords do that? Probably. He looked up at Mack, and then back at the fruit. His stomach cried at the sight of the food. His mind told him no, but his hunger said otherwise.

He ate three berries.

I'm not dead? He moved his legs. I can still walk? What's with this man? He looked at Mack again. He ate two more berries and a grape, the sweet juices burning his tastebuds. Maybe Mack wasn't as mad as he had seemed to be.

"Can I have some more, please?"

 

[R'alle]

Mack handed him the leather bag of grapes. "Here boy eat up. I'm waiting for the meat."

 

[.ol0w0lo.]

The boy took the grapes, savoring each morsel. He nodded at the man as a sign of appreciation fir his hospitality, and turned to Valrin, who was sitting with Aenar at the table nearby.

"So, I heard you yell for Aenar to look after me." A slim grin encroached upon the boy's face. "Were you worried about me, Valrin?" The boy's tone was mocking. He took a seat at the table, drawing his dagger again. He began to casually toss the dagger in the air, catching it by it's blade every time.

 

[blue 468]

Aenar was still felt as if stylus's death was his fault but decided to try and hide his sorrow. He walked into the kitchen and saw Valrin as cheerful as ever tossing his dagger in the air. Aenar smiled the boy had quick reflexes to catch it by the tip each time. Aenar sat down reaching for a bottle of wine but stopped half way and instead grabbed a bottle of water. Aenar asked to no one in particular "so what's our next move?"

 

[R'alle]

"Rest....Tonight we will prepare. we will plan. But most of all we need sleep before we move on." He walked over to Aenar. He sat and patted the man on the back. "You look upset what's wrong? We are a team we have no secrets...I'm a little upset due to the fact my head captain was murdered tonight by a coward."