Open Trial upon the Mountain

[Khaos the Argonian]

Isnar shuffled up to the door but S'darkiir held up a hand,"One moment friend,", he fished around his purse and finally found what he was looking for,"Ah yes, still there..", he withdrew his hand and opened it. Laying in his palm were four brightly glowing stones stones. He walked over to Zij and gave one to him, "One for the Lizard...", then Felian,"One for you Felian...",He smiled at the Bosmer and gave him a knowing wink. He then sauntered over to the new Nord,"What is your name? Actually never mind, Its name is of no importance to khajiit, just take this, don't loose it or break, by the Gods do not break it understand?",he kept the last one for himself, as he handed a stone out the glow of the stones lessened."These little wonders can help us keep some sort of contact, whenever one you holding a stone is stressed it will send a small vision to the bearers of the other stones, you can will the vision away but if you don't you will be given a brief glimpse of the person's perspective. Also the glow will intensify if it is in the vicinity of another Runestone, the closer they get, the more they glow. Oh! And one more thing, by your ancestors and children, DO NOT BREAK THE STONE.". He gave that last part as much emphasis as he could without shouting, and stared them in the eyes to make the point. Then he plunged into the dark keep.



((DON'T BREAK THE STONE=BIG FIERY BOOM))

 

[solace84]

Felian held the stone in his hands and examined it. He then tossed it in the air toward Wulf, who caught it. The elf assumed the new company with them, the three Nords, would go together.
"Come on Wulf," said Felian. "Let's hunt."

 

[Khaos the Argonian]

"Let's hunt.", S'darkiir was half way through the door when he saw the suicidal elf toss the Runestone to the clumsy Nord. "By the accursed Gods, Don't break the stone IDIOT!", He hissed, death by an arcane conflagration was not his preferred way to go, that is if he survived the initial blast..."Try groups of three, that will dull the glow so you will not stand out in the shadows. Good luck friends, and remember, Don't break the stones.", he grinned, winked, and gave a thumbs up, then disappeared Into the dark depths of Dragon Claw Keep.


((Any questions about the little stones be sure to ask me ^_^ DON'T BREAK THEM))

 

[Star Gazer]

"Let's hunt.", S'darkiir was half way through the door when he saw the suicidal elf toss the Runestone to the clumsy Nord. "By the accursed Gods, Don't break the stone IDIOT!", He hissed, death by an arcane conflagration was not his preferred way to go, that is if he survived the initial blast..."Try groups of three, that will dull the glow so you will not stand out in the shadows. Good luck friends, and remember, Don't break the stones.", he grinned, winked, and gave a thumbs up, then disappeared Into the dark depths of Dragon Claw Keep.


((Any questions about the little stones be sure to ask me ^_^ DON'T BREAK THEM))

(I gotta question. Will we need the stones for later on in the story, or can we chuck 'em at the forsworn?)

 

[Khaos the Argonian]

((Uhm, well if they break it first sucks all the air out of the room then explodes like a dead fire atronach but just a bit bigger, then the fire just goes insane, just setting everything on fire, melting rock, metal, flesh et cetera, you can see why this would worry him, but as I said before they can help whenever someone is in trouble so there's something. Also, I have put a lot of thought into this lol this isn't some spur of the moment plot device. So I would wait till we find whatever is in here and wait till plops gets real till we start chuckin' 'em. Also the fire is black and blue. As to whether or not it will be used is up to yall, but my sources say prolly))

 

[Ma'PiriThePure]

"Ma'Piri, will you come with me?'' She nodded vigorously, giving an honest smile. ''I will follow.''

She did her best to walk backwards, mostly to keep an eye out for any enemies that might try and attack the pair from behind. None came, but she did not want to put her trust in the hands of the Forsworn. As they advanced towards the door, she felt a shiver up her spine, and when she looked at the back of the Argonian, she was overcome with the need to get out of this fight alive.

Once they reached the main egress point of the fortress, she reached out and gently grabbed Zij'Qua's shoulder, being extra careful not to accidentally lop his head off with her axe. ''Before we go...'' she said pleadingly, looking behind her to ensure her companions had all spread about to their individual tasks. The Argonian turned to her, and in a hasty and not at all thought-out move, she bounced up on her tip toes and kissed him. It was the kind of kiss you gave when you were nervous, but earnest in your affections; one of soft lips and sudden pressure. She broke away and rolled back onto her feet, looking up at him sheepishly. ''Khajiit guards your back.'' she breathed, now feeling ten times stronger than before.

 

[Zij'Qua El]

Zij'Qua El marched forwards with Ma'Piri behind him, his shield never lowered. As the party seperated and the two of them neared the gates he felt her hand on his shoulder. He turned, confused.
"Before we go..."
Just as when the argonian was about to ask what the matter was about he felt her lips on his. His heart missed two or three beats as she moved in, as she kissed, and as she pulled back, suddenly looking much more womanly than earlier.

If one could blush visibly with scales, then the argonian would have been redder than a tomato.
"Y-Yes... And I will protect you." He offered her one of the warmest smiles he's ever had in a very long time.
With some new found strength (and fear that this adventure may have been a bad idea for the both of them) he pushed open the gates. It opened into a hall that descended into stairs at the end. "Stay close Ma'Piri."

The halls were barely lit, dim torches dotted along the sides, some only embers and some that looked as if they haven't been lit in years. As they walked down the stairs the argonian kept fighting the urge to drag the both of them out of this fortress and go back to Markarth together, but there was no going back now. Once at the bottom the hall expanded dramatically, separating into different directions. Some visibly lead to rooms while others disappeared in the darkness. The one straight ahead of them, however, was blacker than anything had a right to be.

 

[solace84]

'It's a labyrinth' Felian thought, as he traveled through the maze before him. He held his katana, unsheathed. He walked slowly through the rooms, door after door.
"Wulf, stay close," Felian said, turning around to find no one behind him.
Wulf was gone, as silent as a shadow. Felian opened the door behind him, from where they came, to find nothing but an empty room.
"Wulf? ...Wulf?" the elf tried to yell, but felt it best to whisper when he heard his voice echo the first time. "Wulf?"
Felian continued onward, alone.

 

[Spirit_Spectre]

((OOC out of the way, while it does say open I want people interested to PM me before even thinking about posting in here. I'd really rather not see any requests to join in the forum itself. Doing so makes me believe you didn't bother reading this. That aside, just ask and you can join!))

((Edit: While you can take liberty on whom and what attacks you and what you do, please refrain of inventing the environment or a majority of what attacks you to a minimum! I have a plan for the camp itself and what it shall be. Think of me as the DM. Harhar!))

Markarth was in its usual state. The air was chilly and damp from the mist of the running waterfall and canals while the skies overhead were overcast. The shop keeps outside shouted and proclaimed their goods to any with the septim to pay for it. Just recently word has spread throughout the city and the surrounding lands that an unbelievably huge bounty was posted by the jarl for what seemed to be a run-of-the-mill notice. It was the usual; find a troublesome Forsworn encampment and raze it to the ground, along with whom so ever resided in it. Not only was the amount offered for this task strange in its high amount but the camp itself was strange. Everyone knew the only camps focused on were the ones too close to comfort, too big and too close, or involved in recent banditry operations. From what the bounty proclaimed this camp was in the middle of nowhere in a near inaccessible area of the southern mountain tops, much too far away from any road or village. The size described also was curious, as it was only a medium sized camp, barely, compared to the rest of them.

None the less, that was an awful lot of coin for a simple job. Ten thousand septims.

Hello. I am new to this community. A few days ago, I posted something on here, and wish to post some other entries as well. However, I would like to know what to do in order to get users to view and read the information I post. So this is my attempt to randomly reach out and pull to the attention of another person. Furthermore, I would enjoy starting a "Skyrim journal", but before I do, I would like to know that there would be persons reading the entries. Reading your own publication would turn sour rather quickly. So Jack, any takers?

 

[Khaos the Argonian]

((Begone, randomly barging in on A RP thread is not the way to do this))

 

[Star Gazer]

Isnar opened the door with a creak, and as the door swung by, it seemed that darkness poured out of the open door, instead of light going in. There was a light on the very edge of the tunnel, and Isnar felt it would be best if they got to the light as quickly as possible. "Khajiits. Don't they have night vision? You go first." Isnar said, not wanting to step in a forsworn trap that he couldn't see.

 

[Khaos the Argonian]

S'darkiir could see in the hallways as well as he could in the daylight, if not better. He identified the shuffling he had heard outside. Skeevers, skeevers everywhere. They didn't attack them however, they just scampered away into the dark recesses of the keep. He may have been right after all. "A most astute observation Breton, the eyes of a khajiit are well tuned to the dim light of the keep and as a vampire Khajiit can see even in the darkest abyss.", he whispered, "However if I may correct your grammar, the plural of Khajiit is either Khajiit or Khajiiti, the later used most often used when refering to the Khajiit race as a whole. Just a nugget of knowledge for latter.". He grinned in spite of himself. He stepped in front of the old man and placed a hand on his shoulder, then with his free hand retrieved a potion of Invisibility. He downed most of it then placed it back in his back. "Need a potion?", he asked as he led the old man down the hallway.

 

[Star Gazer]

The khajiit turned invisible, as the light (or darkness) went through his body. "Sorry, old breton accent." Isnar said. "Need a potion?" Asked S'darkiir. "No. Once we get to the end of the hall, there may be forsworn." The old man and the khajiit made their way into the light at the end of the dark tunnel. There was a table with two men in forsworn garb sitting at each side. At the sight of the old man, one stood. "You aren't supposed to be here, old man. By the looks of it, you're not even forsworn. You must be one of the bounty hunters. We've got an entire room of people looking for the 10,000 septims they've put on our heads. I think we'll add you to the pile." The other savage stood, revealing a belt with skulls tied around it. They walked up to the old man, and to their surprise, he attacked. The old man unsheathed his war-axe and chopped one of them down the shoulder. Before Isnar could attack the second, a bare foot was thrusted into his chest. He dropped back, and stumbled to the ground. The second held a blade to his throat, saying "Looks like I've gotta kill you."

 

[Khaos the Argonian]

"Looks like I've gotta kill you.", said the Forsworn brute, "I'm gonna enjoy thi-AHCK", the man tried to turn his head but some unseen force held him like a vice, invisible arms held his own to his sides and he was losing the strength to stand. Suddenly he he could see the arms that held him, they materialized right before his very eyes. The were black furry things, wiry in nature but stronger than anything had the right to be, the thing's fingers were laced together, making for an unbreakable hold. The oddest thing about them was that the left arm had a single Stormcloak officer's bracer, and the right was bare and missing fur in spots. He was getting tired, breathing was hard for some reason, as if he had two daggers in his neck, two large thick daggers...It clicked only moments before the last drops of blood left his body and he fell to the ground, cold and still. S'darkiir felt the life blood of the Forsworn surge through him, filling his very being.

He was charged by two forsworn on both of his sides but when they neared, he shot out his arms and grabbed them by their necks, raising them in the air. He squeezed and started to crush their necks. The one on on the right started oozing blood out of ears, eyes, mouth and nose, while the other turned a vivid shade of blue. S'darkiir dropped both of them and picked up the one that turned blue and sunk his giant fangs into the dead man's neck. "Ahhh, all better.", He raised his hood and readusted it so his ears poked out the slits he made, "There is your Forsworn costume, do with it what you will, Khajiit offers a heart felt apology that you had to view that...But better them than you, eh?", he wiped his mouth and gave a bloody grin, his eyes ablaze in a red craze.

 

[Ma'PiriThePure]

After she reached the bottom of the stairs, she felt a bit more comfortable about not being directly behind the Argonian. The complete absence of anything in that walkway let her ease out to stand at his side, but she didn't stray very far. ''Perhaps... if we went through them one at a time...'' she said, her mouth dry as she stared into the black void that was the hall closest to them. ''Just to be thorough. Although, I'd be lying if I said I was eager to do so...'' The last part was said barely above a whisper, her left hand busying itself with slipping one axe into her belt. Once it was secured, she closed her eyes, focused, and in seconds, her entire paw was engulfed in a placid ball of flame. She used it like a torch, leaning ever so slightly down the darkest option until she heard something move. Ma'Piri gasped and jumped back, scampering behind the shield and protective presence of the Argonian, her tail flicking about so fast and so randomly, you'd think it had a mind of its own and was equally frightened.

 

[Shouts-At-Dragons]

Everyone was splitting up into groups, Hodlin knew that he wouldn't be a part of anyone of there groups. After all he already had Valund and Ulfgar with him. And judging by there lack of combat experience, nobody would want to be teamed up with them. So Hodlin would be left with them.

As everyone began to walk to different directions across the courtyard, Hodlin lead Valund and Ulfgar to a doorway on the north-eastern side from where they just entered from. As Hodlin opened the door it lead directly to a stairway, was this possibly leading the basement of the old fort? Maybe it would have some vital food supplies down there.

Taking out his steel battleaxe, Hodlin began to walk down the stairs. It was deadly quiet, not even a skeever could be heard munching on some goat cheese crumbs. After walking a few more feet, Hodlin stumbled across a small room. Sort of looked like a kitchen, except it seemed like it was fully abandoned. If the Forsworn were here, it must of been a part of the fort they rarely touched.

Walking over to the other room, Hodlin walked up to what appeared to be a wooden table. When he put his hand on it there was no dust. So someone had to be here not too long ago. Suddenly a voice was heard.

"Your head will rest on a wooden spike just like every adventurer that has traveled to this ancient fort".

Valund and Ulfgar had heard the voice too, but nobody, not even Hodlin could make out where it came from. To no surprise Valund and Ulfgar began to freak out. Both of them soon began to run towards the entrance of the small room and tried to turn towards the door leading up the stairs and out to the courtyard. Suddenly a scream was heard and both of the brothers voices died down and no longer could be heard. It was rather dark in the room and he couldn't tell what had taken them or where they went. Before he could take another step forward, Hodlin heard a crack in the floor.

Turning around, Hodlin managed to bring up his battleaxe at just the right time to block the Forsworn from hitting him with his mace. As Hodlin did though, he felt a sharp pain in his left thigh. Another Forsworn behind him had struck him in the back.

Using the butt of his axe, Hodlin smashed it into the Forsworn in front of him pushing him away. Turning around he then threw his battleaxe down into the other Forsworn's skull, killing him instantly. Turning back around, the other Forsworn was still stumbling from the blow of the butt of the axe. Taking this to his advantage, Hodlin swung his axe at the Forsworn's chest, killing him.

Now two Forsworn lay dead in front of him, and Hodlin had no idea where they came from or where Valund and Ulfgar vanished too. They were probably gone for so, the Forsworn did take prisoners. However Hodlin had heard that it was better off being dead than being a prisoner of the Forsworn.

The pain was catching up on Hodlin quickly, and he was stuck in this room alone. He could barely move his leg, and it was almost impossible for him to walk up the stairs. He didn't know a healing spell either so he was basically trapped in this basement. Hiding himself behind a wooden counter, Hodlin began to lean his head and back on the counter while he rested his legs on the ground. Now, all he had to do was pray to the divines and hope that someone would come and save him.

 

[Star Gazer]

"There is your Forsworn costume, do with it what you will, Khajiit offers a heart felt apology that you had to view that...But better them than you, eh?" "I guess so." Isnar said, pulling the furs over his still muddy body. "Stay invisible. These two were probably not the only ones."

 

[Zij'Qua El]

((Da hell is with that Scream character?))

The lights of both fire and lightning danced around Primordius when the khajiit jumped. The argonian became tense and was ready to for a fight when... it was a rat.

"Hehe... Scaredy cat."

It was at that moment that from the halls both to their left and right let out similar noises, angry, battle-cry-emitting forsworn. They poured out of the room, holding bludgeons and some with daggers with strange sheens to them. Poison of some kind.
Before the lizard had a chance to yell a warning to Ma'Piri they were completely surrounded.

 

[Star Gazer]

Isnar looked like a regular forsworn. With his age and his clothes, he would blend in as one of the higher ranked forsworn. Isnar opened the door as he nodded to his invisible comrade. The room in front of them was bright, and was long. It was not a tunnel, but a dining hall. Many forsworn gathered around the table, which offered a variety of food and drink options. "What do we do now?"

 

[Khaos the Argonian]

The Old man suddenly turned into a Forsworn Shaman. The disguise was perfect, "You look convincing, I think it will stand up to scrutiny.", the khajiit slumped in a chair and picked a piece of flesh from his teeth, flicking it into the fire, he watched the bit of Forsworn sizzle and blacken in the flames. He was assaulted by a sudden headache, and his ears started to ring. It took him a moment to realize that the Runestone was doing It's work. He rolled his eyes, Better not be that idiot nord and his merry gang of farmboys, he shut his eyes and saw through the man's eyes. He was actually holding his own against a Forsworn ambush, but the Reachmen managed to wound him seriously enough. He dropped the last of them and fell a knee. He felt his pain and winced, his were not happy wounds. The warrrior crawled behind a wooden counter and lay there, resting his head on a barrel. S'darkiir opened his eyes and sighed, "We may have a slight problem,", he said to Isnar, "it's the idiot on the horse, he's in trouble."