Ok... so here is how the story goes down...
Me and my friends play D&D and we have lvl20 characters that we all think are pretty badass and thanks to our nerdy minds we were like 'what would happen if they went to the RWBY universe...' and so this is just something that we thought up and they want me to post it on my fanfic account... so after weeks of nagging I finally uploaded it...
I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY YOU UNGRATEFUL ASSES!
I won't be updating this as much as I want to because I find D&D F***ING EPIC! but I have two other stories which I'm writing and I'll be updating this whenever my friends nagging pisses me off enough so that I actually write another chapter...
SO ENJOY!
Naughtbeast
Chapter 1:
A single lamp… that was all that was illuminating the endless abyss that was sent before the adventurers which we now follow. Their footsteps echoed against the cold stone of the cavern they were traversing, falling off into the blackness that surrounded them. Despite the fact that the light barely illuminated 20 feet in front of them, they never lost their way. Such was how it had been going for nearly a day as they were heading to their final destination… the lair of the Lich, Dumarion.
Lich's were foul creatures that used their immortality to plot against all those they see fit to plot against and sought to continue their ever-expanding knowledge of magic. This specific Lich had been causing troubles for the town that lived above ground for quite some time now, killing villagers every once in a while, summoning monsters, siphoning their life forces… you know, the usual stuff.
The party that was sent out to destroy him was a roving band of adventurers, people that just happened to be passing by and accepted the money to rid the problem… but it wasn't the money that they were here for. These adventurers were not your every run-of-the-mill soldiers… they were demi-gods. Who were once mortals had ascended to power levels beyond anything that normal people could ever dream of… all because of one tiny quest.
What had started off as a simple king's errand had quickly escalated to something far beyond something that even the great god Tur, the strongest of the divines, could fight. The entity known only as the 'Great One', a being intent on bringing everything in existence under its iron grip, had slowly risen in power over many thousands of years and they just happened to be around when its final plan of action came into place. They fought in vein to destroy its mortal echo's but not even a god could have destroyed all of them.
It was almost a year since they had taken on their endeavor to stop the disciples of the Great One and they had received a simple vision by the gods… there was no stopping it. There was no possible, conceivable way to kill the Great One. The gods had devised a plan to run and leave all behind who couldn't make it, to forge a new multiverse away from the Great One's scheming, saving everyone from the tyranny that the Great One would bring.
They forged the ship dubbed 'The Arc' to herald all of creation, no matter if good or bad, save the Great One itself, straight into an exact replica of this multiverse, slowly linking souls to the vessel so that when it was transported nothing will have seemed to change. The people would be none-the-wiser as to what was happening and everything would be alright… as was the plan… but nothing ever goes to plan when Gods are involved.
The Great One released all of its power possible to try and stop the Gods from heralding what it thought to be its people away from it, killing weaker gods and maiming those that could stand up to its power… although it didn't pay any heed to a band of four adventurers who stood defiant on the decks of the great ship to battle its forces to the bitter end. The adventurers were battered, worn, bloodied and beaten but they never stopped fighting.
The gods had to expend all their power to try and halt the Great One's advance, but like everything else it was in vein. When the Great One came in to make the final kill and stop the ship from breaking through the gates to the new multiverse, it was not the divine act of a god or goddess that had brought it reeling… but the act of the four mortals. They had shifted themselves onto the same plane where the battle was being fought and had struck it when it was at its strongest, the mere distraction they wrought was enough for the ship to break through and lead them to safety, sealing the gate shut and purging all that remained of the entity's rule.
They were hailed as heroes of all creation and gifted rewards worthy of such a feat, bringing them into the folds of the divine. Three of the dying gods gave the small amount of power they had left to the adventurers and one of them became champion of a major god and they would not put this power to waste. They traveled through the new lands to snuff out all that sought to destroy it, breaking any and all of evil's hold on the daily goings on in the Material plane. And that leads me to the reason that the adventurers were now tracking down this Lich. It was possibly the last living memory of the Great One, everything else being destroyed and re-written in the history books.
It sought to re-establish the link to the past realm and bring back the Great One into the new one… but they weren't about to let that happen. Although the original four adventurers were a power to be reckoned with, they had picked up a few companions along the way. Three more adventurers stood by their side, adding to the potency with two of them being demi-gods in their own right… and the third was a ten-year-old.
They had fought through the dungeon leading to the Lich's lair for almost a straight day now, battling everything from zombies to corrupted villagers, all being dust under the feet of such legends. Then they had found their way to the darker parts of the lair and encountered creatures that really deserved their attention, Death Knights fighting for the Great One and even a Demilich that tried to stop them, the adventurers having to pull out most of their high-level spells to combat the beings own.
The footsteps came to a halt in the confined cavern as an unspoken command went through the silence when their quarry was spotted, a dark purple light coming from the tunnel up ahead. The trademark sound of metal-on-metal was heard as weapons were drawn and the footsteps resumed towards the source, the air becoming denser the closer they became.
They breached the threshold of the door and were greeted by the maniacal laughing of the Lich as a swirling, dark portal was coming into existence behind it.
"You are too late mortals… the spell has been completed and my master will come to take what is rightfully hers!" the Lich mocked, its laughing never ceased as its hands wrapped and flowed around in the air to continue summoning the portal. The group stood just out of the light so that the Lich could only see their outlines.
The adventurers looked between each other before the lead figure stepped forward into the light, holding nothing at all and garbed in a pure white cloak that covered his face with a hood, tiny wisps of blood red on the bottom of it to make it look as though it was dipped in blood, the faint sound of metal clashing echoing in the room as he moved. The figure was nearly 7-foot-tall and easily towered over the Lich, casting an aura of authority and power over the room.
"You are mistaken foul beast…" began the deep and gruff voice of the figure, muffled by a mouthguard and layer of fabric. "you believe us to be powerless against your magic, but you cannot be more wrong… we were there to defeat your master in the first place so I doubt we'll have any trouble defeating the likes of their petty minions…"
Its voice changed to that of fear and the movements made by its arms quickened to a blindingly fast pace.
"It cannot be! You were never supposed to be here! How did you find me!" it ordered, casting quick glances to the rest of the companions. This time, another stepped forward in front of the first, the voice being smooth and snaky with an almost unnoticed lisp.
"We've always known you were here; it was just a matter of revenge that we waited to stop you when you were oh-so-close!"
It cried out in a shout of pained gibberish, never ceasing its ambitions to open the portal all the while, its focus shifting to the smallest figure as he heard a small cry of fear. The Lich smiled when it saw the weak prey and didn't bother hiding it.
"Your minds are still plagued with idiocy of mortals! You bring a child to face me! I will make you pay for such mockery!" it spoke, breaking its summoning to cast Power Word Kill and sending it straight at the small girl. She squealed in surprise and the others made no move to protect her… although when the blast hit her, it simply dissipated over an unseen barrier, a Death Ward cast on the girl by the adventurers. She ran back and hid behind another of the adventurers and quivered while the first one to step forward laughed in mockery.
"You just assaulted my daughter… I'm going to kill you now" he announced, taking powerful steps forward towards the Lich. It tried to set up and semblance of an attack, launching anything it could at the advancing figure but everything it did seemed to have little-to-no effect on the advancing figure.
The figure strode right up to it and the room was bathed in a bright white light for about three seconds before it came down to the same dark lighting as before except the Lich lay on the ground in two halves, a clean cut running straight through the middle of its body indicating the cause of its death. The figure huffed as he smashed the box that hung around its neck, turning to another member of the party after the Lich's soul left the Material Plane.
"Morkai, if you would I believe we need a portal closed"
One of the other members stepped forward and held out two hands, both only having three fingers to use covered in a dark purple skin that was almost black. The rest of his body was shrouded in a dark robe that flowed down to the floor, shifting and flowing in a non-existent wind. The figure uttered words in a language unspoken by anyone else in the party, hands coated in a shifting red mist as they spoke. For a minute this continued until it abruptly stopped and a raspy and light voice addressed the first figure.
"I regret to say this but I do not know how to close the rupture" Morkai spoke hesitantly.
"Are you sure?" the cloaked figure spoke, looking around for anything that could link to the portal staying open.
"I just bet he's not even trying!" spoke up the other female of the group, stepping out and laughing a bit "Damn wizards can't be trusted!" She was a cleric herself, dedicated to the holy storm god Talos and had born a deep hatred for almost all wizards, although the comment was more jovial than an actual retort. Blue-tinged platemail adorned her body and bright blue hair came down to below her shoulders, two pointed ears sticking through the very tops showing her Elvish heritage.
"Nora, you will hold your tongue!" warned the cloaked figure, walking over to a small wooden table and taking a book off a stand. "Morkai, can you read this?" he asked, throwing the book to the man who caught it nimbly. The wizard read it over before handing it back.
"It is filled with the religious spiel of this dead corpse and how it believes it is right in its stupid actions… it will be of little use"
"So there is no way to break the gateway?" the figure asked to confirm the fact, looking deeply into the dark portal, its swirling mists entrancing his sight.
"Apart from finding out what ritual the creature was using then there is no way… and before you ask, there is nothing in the thing's journal that hints at what it was"
"Understood… now the only thing is to ensure that no one else finds their way here and gets sucked into that accursed realm. Adrik, ready the explosives and place them so that the ceiling collapses after we leave"
"Aye Sar!" came a loud and boisterous voice from the shortest member of the group… no it wasn't the girl… it was a dwarf. He strode forward wearing nothing but a wrapping around his waist to cover his lower extremities and two fur boots. Usually this would have revealed his barrel chest that was riddled with scars and cuts, although it was blocked by a very thick beard with gold beads throughout. A massive warhammer was strapped to the back of the dwarf that glinted a bright gold in even the smallest of lighting. The head of the hammer was easily twice the size of the dwarf's own head and he had appropriately named it Bone Smasher.
The dwarf set about pulling several kegs of gunpowder straight out of a portable hole, stringing the barrels out along the rooms walls and spotting each structural weakness for maximum effect. The other adventurers began conversing in hushed tones as the original cloaked figure oversaw the setting of the explosives. The wizard and cleric continued to observe the portal, reluctantly working together to try and discern what was happening, although it only lasted for a few seconds as the portal began emitting a deep warped sound.
"Ummm Holg… you might want to check this out!" warned the last member of the party as he addressed the first figure who turned to face the man. This last figure was by far the most normal in the group, standing at 5'10" with a dark black cloak that kept him hidden in the shadows of the dark and was barely noticeable when he moved, not making a single noise and moving with a speed unparalleled by any of the other members. He was their rogue and the undertaker for their more 'unsavoury' businesses like tracking through a city's underworld or stealing from a minor deity without anyone noticing, using his con as a 'normal human' to sneak past anything.
The other party members immediately snapped up and began heading for the exit, Holg scooping up the girl as he went. She was small for her age, barely able to reach up to Holg's hips and her body was on the thin side. She wore hide armour with auburn hair that went down to her ankles despite being in a thick braid. The only noticeable weapons were a small knife sheathed at her side and a large tome that was hanging off her waist on a silver chain.
They had barely made it a few hundred feet before the light at the end of the tunnel emanating from the portal began slowly coming after them, accelerating with each passing moment.
"MORKAI! TELEPORT SPELL NOW!" commanded Holg as the wave of energy neared, taking a cautious glance over his shoulder and speeding up when he saw it was hot on their heels. It had barely been a moment since Morkai began speaking to cast the spell when the wave caught up to them… and all traces of their existence were gone… well those in that existence anyway.
[One Day later…]
Holg slowly woke from his unconsciousness and pulled himself into a sitting position. His mind was still clouded with the botched teleport spell and it took a while for him to gain his bearings, seeing the subtle ending rays of dusk coming over the horizon. Before he could do anything he heard a faint whispering in the back of his mind.
'Here you lay weakly stumbling from a mere spell… I wonder sometimes how you are worthy to wield me' Came a voice from within his mind, the voice of his weapon Mercy.
Holg shrugged it off and stood up, taking in his surroundings. He appeared to be in a forest of some sort, not like any he had been in before, yet it somehow seemed familiar. The others were lying around in various states of disarray and he could see Genevive, his daughter, lying asleep on the soft grass with her chest slowly rising and falling.
He pulled himself up and ruffled his cloak to get it looking as good as new while shaking off grass, re-setting the rest of his gear back to normal. He spotted a small puddle of water a few feet away and shuffled over, pulling down his hood and taking off his helm to look at his face. A 25-year-old Half-orc stared back at him, face ridden with scars but otherwise looked quite hansom if you ignored the inch-long tusks coming from his bottom lips and his green complexion. Despite only being 25, he looked at least 35 thanks to the speed of half-orc ageing although he was not that annoyed by it. The most noticeable features were two massive scars that ran across both of his eyes, his left eye being clouded over showing his blindness in that eye. Long, black hair was draped over his back in dreadlocks, gold pieces keeping it in place.
He felt nostalgic for a while, having to look at the same young face year after year… such was the woe of the immortal. He gazed at the holy symbol that was hanging on a necklace around his neck, that of the God of War, Kord.
Long ago he had pledged his allegiance to the god and fought until his guidance as a Paladin, smiting any enemies that the god had declared heretical. The rays of sun gleamed over the symbol and Holg felt a strange warmth flow through his body, the sign that his god was saying he was still here with him… wherever here was. The sound of an angry dwarf broke him from his thoughts, placing his helm back on his head and pulling up his hood.
"I see you are awake Adrik" Holg commented, standing and looking over to the dwarf.
"Aye… ya betta have a damn good way ta send us back pig!" answered Adrik as he lifted himself up off the ground and cracked his knuckles, hefting his warhammer into his hands and doing a few practice swings. Despite the mocking of his heritage, Holg ignored the words as he knew Adrik was harboring no hate and he was the only person he let call him by that name, something his other companions painfully found out about when they tried it.
"We shall return at the closest convenience but I believe we should first at least explore these new lands"
The dwarf shrugged and toddled off somewhere, grumbling multiple curses in Dwarvish at the Lich. Holg went over and began cradling Genevive, pouring some of his holy light into her form to give her good dreams while she slept. Next to wake up was the team's cleric, Nora, who sneezed a lightning bolt the second she woke up, hitting a nearby tree and nearly setting it on fire.
"Ooops…" she muttered before standing up and brushing off her platemail armour, sparks flying whenever the metal on her gauntlets and breastplate connected, hinting at the true nature of the armour. It was her main defensive artefact, the Living Lightning set that allowed her to practically be immune to harmful lightning and also power up her spells. It was a truly terrifying sight when she went full-boar with it as it practically turned her into lightning. She straightened out her hair and then noticed Holg looking her way, throwing a smile before addressing him.
"Oi, old man, where are we? Wouldn't happen to know would you?"
"Unfortunately I do not know our current location but I am sure that once Zwelious or Morkai awake they will be able to shed light on the subject" answered the Half-orc, nodding off into the tree's "Adrik has made a more direct effort to scout our location so if you wish to join him you may soon find him"
She nodded, stood up, then sprinted off after the dwarf… not something that produced anything major since the dwarf wasn't exactly fast. As Holg watched, he saw Frath's nose crinkle before he woke up suddenly and looked around like a startled rabbit. When he saw he wasn't in the cave anymore he looked more annoyed than surprised and addressed Holg, even though the Paladin was sure he hadn't even looked at him.
"I still wonder why the hell I'm following you guys around when we keep getting sent to completely random places no matter where we go" spoke the theif, standing up and leaning up against a tree, still not directly addressing Holg.
"The others went scouting up ahead if you wish to join, other than that I have no clue where we have ended up"
"Meh, seeing how much I can steal from you is more fun…" Frath replied, pulling the cowl of his cloak up and over his head, then completely vanishing from existence. One thing that definitely annoyed Holg was when they found a Cloak of invisibility within some old ruins and Frath had immediately taken it upon himself as the team's rogue to take it… which led to some very annoying times. The thief prided himself in his pick-pocketing skills and would often test them on his team-mates much to their chagrin.
Holg ignored the thief and saw that Zwelious had finally awoken, stretching his tail out of its kinks. Zwelious was a copper dragonborn, giving him lightning breath and he was also the team's ranger. He wore scale armour made purely of bark and it was adorned with multiple feathers and pelts, all from mystical animals that he had tracked and killed. Zwelious was their long-range support, shown by the large longbow that was strapped across his shoulder, although the strange thing was he didn't have a quiver with any arrows. Two shortswords were sheathed at his hip, both being made of the teeth of an massive dragon that he had slain, both being far more effective than any mortal-made steel.
Once the dragonborn had finished with preening his tail, he stood up and took in a large breath before punching the air behind him and sending an invisible Frath to the floor in pain.
"I told you to not try and steal anything from me thief, when will you learn?"
"When hell freezes over!" came a short reply out of thin air, then Zwelious turned to address Holg.
"Considering that fact that Morkai is still unconscious and the others have gone scouting, I assume we have no knowledge of where we are?"
"You are correct to assume that" Holg confirmed, watching as he saw Morkai's shoelaces being tied together by what seemed like nothing. Zwelious nodded at Holg and dropped into a meditative posture, motes of glowing green light swirling around his body as he prepared a spell at least give them direction to where they should head.
By now, the sun had dipped below the horizon and the last rays of sunshine were kissing the surrounding forest, draining the area of light with every second. Holg and Zwelious didn't find it that concerning as they could see just as well in the dark as they could at day, as could just about everyone in the group… except for Frath and Gen. The thief pulled off his hood and jumped over to perch on the tree just above Holg, nimbly landing like a cat.
"Yo Holg, throw up a campfire would you!"
The Paladin obliged and laid Genevive on the floor gently, walking around and finding some broken branches until he had enough for a fire. He set the sticks in a small bundle and pulled a small dagger from inside his cloak and using Elemental Weapon to set it on fire then plunged it into the wood and lighting the bundle
He went over and moved Genevive closer to the fire, Frath jumping down from his perch to sit next to it as well. The smoke came out in a steady stream but seemed to magically be sucked straight towards Morkai, or more specifically his nose. The wizard coughed as he fought to keep it out of his lungs then sat up, dispelling the smoke with a wave of his hand.
"Accursed fire, I much prefer my necromancy flame…" he off-handedly commented, levitating off the ground and turning so he was upright. "Our situation could be better although I agree with Frath that it is quite annoying"
"For the last time Morkai, I must urge that you don't mind-read your companions!" Holg warned, Frath angrily throwing a dagger at Morkai… which stopped about a foot away and dropped to the ground. Morkai floated over to the group and stopped next to Zwelious, briefly observing his ritual.
"Do you have any idea where we are?" Frath asked as he retrieved his dagger, slipping it into one of his many unseen pouches.
"I believe we have been warped to a completely useless plane of existence that I haven't yet seen… it is certainly better than being teleported to the Nine Hells I can assure you"
The rest of the group reminisced the time that they had tried to teleport away from an extremely annoying wizard who summoned a Balor… only to be teleported straight to the Nine Hells… and were stuck there for a week. After a moment, they were interrupted by a small flash of light as Zwelious finished his spell, his eyes glowing a bright green for a second.
"There is a town 3 miles east from here, home to civilised creatures, although we might have to be quick because I sense darkness gathering around the town"
As if to emphasize the face even more, Nora and Adrik came crashing through the trees with ragged breathing.
"There's a town under attack over there, multiple fires and I'm pretty sure whatever is attacking isn't normal"
Holg stood from the fire and pulled an axe and shield from underneath his cloak, both shining a glowing silver in the fire-light. The diving symbol of Kord was emblazoned on the front of the shield, a testament to who he aligned to, whilst the silver axe had glowing golden runes etched along its head.
"We move now, Zwelious you will fire on any beast that shows hostilities and watch Gen, everyone else sticks to crowd control, we want civilians alive here so NO lightning…"
Nora groaned but agreed anyway, reaching out with her hand and pulling a massive greatsword out of thin-air, the blade being taller than her entire body and the blade nearly as wide, although it didn't look like it even weighed a pound to the woman. Morkai took the liberty of mind-reading Adrik to gain a general idea of what the town looked like, then cast a spell to teleport them, bar Zwelious, succeeding in getting to the city limits.
The adventurers sprang into action almost immediately, setting their eyes upon their quarries, dark beast-like shapes shifting through the flickering light of buildings that were somehow on fire. Holg immediately sprinted straight for the town's square where he could hear resistance from what would probably be the residents, slicing down anything that dared move anywhere near him with a backhanded swipe of his axe.
The others were a bit slower to collect themselves and took the opportunity to take a look at their foe. They looked like werewolves at first until their other features were revealed. For one, werewolves didn't have armour plating and spikes and they certainly didn't all have glowing red eyes. The adventurers barely had enough time as the first launched an attack at Nora, slashing her across the chest… or would have if her armour didn't send an arc of lighting straight at the beast and vaporised it before it could do any damage.
"Damn I love this armour!" she commented, swinging her sword and yelling a battle-cry as she charged off into the night. Adrik was soon to follow, sending a werewolf-thing flying with each hammer swing. Frath followed, pulling his cloak over his head to turn him invisible and drawing two long, curved knives and sprinting off into the night, beasts dropping as their spines and necks were severed by a seemingly non-existent foe.
Morkai was the last to move, slowly floating down the abandoned streets without haste, casting off glances at the enemy he knew was watching. They tried to follow him down the street without being seen but he didn't even need to bother killing them… the arrows that were lodged straight through their eye sockets took care of that.
Holg had now made it to the centre of the town where he saw a ring of men holding pikes and swords protecting what seemed like about a hundred women and children. He felt pity for them as the beast's prowled around the circle, being prodded back by the reach of the pole-arms and striking at any small gap they could see and slashing at the protectors. With each push a defender would take a hit but the offending beast would be cut down... slowly but surely they would be weakened until the enemy could strike the killing blow.
Holg cast a Haste spell on himself and felt the false energy flow through his body, utilising the power to sprint full-boar at the creatures and slay ten of them before they even noticed someone was in their mists. They turned to face him and try to fight… only to be met with cold steel ripping through their gullet and helping to paint the cobbled roads red.
The villagers watched as this single person moved with an unrivalled speed and cut through the beasts like butter. A new sensation of energy surged through them and instead of keeping on the defensive they broke formation to seek out the source of their problems and ram a weapon through their guts.
Holg watched as the villager's rally and cancelled the Haste, feeling the power drain from him and a sudden exhaustion take its place, the Paladin having to take to one knee to stop himself from keeling over. His thoughts were broken as a creature tried to take a slash at him… only for an arrow to pierce its skull at the last moment. He would have to ask Zwelious how he manages to see perfectly over 3 kilometres AND hit targets with dead-on precision every time.
The Paladin once again stood to face his enemies, seeing that the villagers had crowded around him like he was a beacon against the enemy… a role he often had to fulfil.
"WE MAKE A STAND HERE TO FIGHT OFF THOSE THAT SEEK OUR RUIN! HOLD FAST MEN!" he shouted, his voice booming for all to hear and sending a thrilling chill down the warrior's backs. As soon as he had said that, he heard a dark rumbling from down an alley and the entire village seemed to go quite, the attacking creatures hesitantly yipping and barking as they retreated into the dark alleys.
As they did, a massive black shape shifted in the darkness as it walked towards the town centre, a deep rumble shaking the ground with each step it took. The villagers all lost their hope the second they saw what it was, considering just dropping their weapons and accepting death… that was until the new guy in the white cloak walked right up to it.
The creature in question was a large 10-foot tall scorpion with golden claws and stinger that was covered in red cracks and moss showing its ancient nature… something that didn't bother the Paladin at all. He strode purposely up the great beast and stopped right in front of it, staring it right in the eyes.
The scorpion took this as a challenge and reared up to the offending thing, baring its mandibles and bellowing a mighty warcry and rallying its own forces, the werewolf things coming back with renewed vigour, although not daring to intrude on the alpha's kill. All the while, Holg stood there unmoved, his cloak ruffling slightly as the roar flowed over him… so he replied in kind. Bellowing a bestial roar that would have challenged any great beast, he brought the head of the axe over his head and charged it with divine power, his holy symbol glowing a blinding gold, his axe looking like it was made of pure divine energy… before coming down in a flash and cleaving the scorpion in two.
It stood on its eight legs for a few seconds, the reality of the situation not quite dawning until, with a sickening wet slap, both sides of the creature fell to the ground, everything stopping as it did. Holg casually pulled back his cloak and sheathed his axe and shield, turning to the remaining werewolf things and shouted profanities at them in Orcish.
Even though the beasts didn't understand any of the words that were being spoken, they got the general idea… get out of there or die. A long-winded howl echoed through the night that signalled the retreat of the beasts and the villagers cheered in triumph over the creatures of the night. The werewolf-things bounded off into the darkness, still not noticing as their brethren were slain by arrows hitting them in the skulls every few seconds.
Holg watched as they retreated, still thankful of the long-range support that Zwelious was providing even at this range… then saw as the beasts were all engulfed in flame as they no doubt ran into Morkai and his spells. He heard the clattering of platemail and turned to see Nora bounding into the town square with lightning still arcing off her armour.
"I thought I instructed no lighting…" he deadpanned, straightening out his cloak to rid it of monster spittle.
"It wasn't my fault, the armour has a mind of its own!" she retorted, the armour sending an arc of lightning at the Paladin as if to further the point. A hearty chuckling came from down a street corner and they saw Adrik walking down with his hammer in hand while dragging one of the werewolf things by the leg.
"Thought ye wud want one ta study or sometin?" he concurred, throwing the beast into the floor in front of the Paladin with a deft chuck. It landed with a thud and tried to run… only to drop dead a moment later as a knife embedded itself into the back of its neck.
"Oops, it just slipped out of my hand…" spoke Frath as he uncloaked himself and pulled the jagged knife out of the werewolf-thing, wiping off the blood and putting it back in its sheath. Out of another side alley, Morkai floated into the square and snuck up on Frath silently, frightening the young thief when he finally realised someone was behind him.
"Morkai, if you would, Zwelious and Genevive still must join us in this victory, would be so kind as to bring them here?"
The wizard nodded and in a moment Zwelious and Gen were standing with them, the former holding the girl in his arms as not to yet wake her. He softly gave the girl off to Holg then walking over to converse with Frath. All the while, the villagers had been recouping after the attack and had only just now worked up the nerve to walk over to the adventurers.
"Excuse me?" came a small and almost feeble tone of what looked to be the town's mayor, judging by the fine clothes he wore and the engraved sword he wielded "I do believe thanks are in order for saving our town…" he finished, finally drawing the attention of Holg.
The Paladin turned, causing the mayor and everyone standing with him to shrink back in slight fear at his colossal form.
"No special thanks are needed your lordship, although my companions and I do find ourselves in need of temporary shelter so I ask that we may stay in a barn for the night perhaps"
"A barn! For people who saved our town I'd say you deserve my own house for that… although on second thoughts I do believe you'll find more than one of our houses will be vacant after tonight" spoke the mayor, gesturing to the dead bodies lying strewn around the town square "You're more than welcome to stay in any house that's free… it'll be an honour to host such powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses as yourselves"
"Huntsmen? Huntresses? Do you mistake us for someone else because I have never been addressed by that title before…" Holg answered, earning a confused look from the mayor.
"Aren't you a Huntsman? Didn't you come from Vale?"
"I have never found myself in such a place named as such, we just happened to be passing through when we saw the fires…"
"Ummmm… ok then? Anyway, rest well and I'll talk to you in the morning!" the mayor replied before being ushered off by a group of men all holding pole-arms. Holg turned back to his group of adventurers and received nods all round, showing that they agreed with the plan… although Frath seemed a bit TOO keen.
"I hope we get some rich-ass dude so we can steal his stuff!" he cheered, already bounding up and down in excitement.
"Have you no respect for the dead Frath!" Holg nearly shouted, ashamed at his companion's words.
"What! It's not as if they're going to be using it again"
Holg just shook his head, walking off down the street to the furthest edge of town, the rest of the group following… except for Frath… he went looting. They set down at a small cosy cottage that once had belonged to a young lady, the fact shown by her body being splayed across the front porch with guts spilled out. Morkai burnt down the body with an off-handed gesture and the rest silently mourned the dead.
Despite the fact that Holg, Nora and Morkai all knew resurrection spells they had made a vow to never let civilians know that no matter the cost, mainly because they would either think they were necromancers, which Morkai was anyway, or they would force them to stay in the town until they had revived every dead person they possibly could, which was something that they didn't want happening.
They settled in for the night, taking out sleeping bags so they could have some semblance of comfort, giving the woman some honour and not sleeping in the bed, then nodded off to sleep, except for Nora and Morkai. The former entered her meditative trance while Morkai took the time to cast Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum around himself so he could study where they were without interrupting anything.
Tomorrow would bring a new day… and with it… hopefully answers.