The Rune Stone

Journey

The road was a slow one, the caravan moving at a steady space on the dirty road. Kralich and Varonno mostly kept to themselves whereas Torstein and Nicholas would often exchange friendly banter or actual arguments that had to be broken up by the mage when it inevitably got out of hand. This went on for about three days when when the usual silence of the campsite was broken.

"Go on then, tell us about yourself, we should know more shouldn't we ? We are working for you and going into the unknown huting for this tief. We should know who we are sleeping besides." asked Nicholas as he was chewing on a piece of dried jerky. Kralich, the mage, took a deep breath with his eyes closes, almost as if he was preparing to rehearse a role he had practiced in the mirror so many times before. " I am Kralich Darkmane, as you know. I was born in Greenwall under a different name however, before they found out I was a mage, at about 7 years old, when I accidentaly set one of my playmates ablaze during some sort of fight..." he'd say with  a long pause, almost waiting for a reaction. Howerver, none came, just a silent glance exchange, the mage could feel that all of them, even the gruff old barbarian held some sort of fear towards him. "I changed a lot since them... a lot has changed since then. I became quite good at what I do. I now specialize in tracking and evaluating artefacts all over Eidos... You'd be surpsrised what some people have hidden away. But that is about it I am afriad, life at the College isn't terribly entertaining. I could bore you all with stories about this or that old manuscript written before the Rune wars. But I doubt any of them make for good campfire stories. Unlike what some of you have." he'd say c*****g a brow up and looking around at his companions.

Hook eventually chimed up, as the mage probably hoped. "Alright, alright, if we are doing presentations, I suppose I should too. Nicholas Hook is the name, marking, swindling and profits is the game. Growing up on the streets and alleys of the big city does that to you. My parents weren't much around, so I had to take care of myself and my brother, wonder why they bothered having us in the first place... That's about it really when it comes to backstory. It was enough to keep me and my good brother busy for the first half of our lives. Got in plenty of trouble, but got even better at getting out of it." he'd pause, reminiscing about the past before picking back up, if a bit sorrowful in his tone. "He is a good lad, better that I will ever be, he does things the proper way, doesn't cheat or steal. Works his ass off every single day for that kid of his. Too bad this world doesn't reward just people, just the lucky ones..." he said in the end, as he stared into the embers of the fire, taking a swig of wine. "What about you too then ? Eh ? Me and Kralich shared. You should too, it is only right." he'd add, looking towars the barbarian and ranger who both got visibly darker as the attention steered towards them.

"I am here just for the thrill of the fight. Nothing else like it in this world." said Torstein simply and sagely. And indeed he was truthful on what he said. "Oh come on... that can't be all. You have to come from somewhere old man. And at your age I bet you have some stories to tell.Or are you also set on having yet another boring night." chimed Nicholas back up. "Not the likes of stories you would want to hear loud-mouth..." muttered the barbarian grimly.

The rogue's wish would come to fruition soon enough however, before he could even utter another reply: An arrow flew right through the flames of the campfire and embedded itself into Nick's shoulder, missing his head, by a few inches. This was followed by a loud thud of the man, falling to the ground groaning in pain, and even more noises of fighting errupting around himself.

Varonno, who was quiet until now, only roared the name of his wolf before jumping into a dance of blades with one of the masked attackers, parring a number of blows before seeking to find an opening to riposte. After a quick roll, he would find that chance, slashing the back of the attacker's knee, forcing him down, only for Shadow to bring himself on top the man and rip his throat out with a loud crunch. On the other side, next to the wounded rogue, the barbarian was standing a head taller than both the men who came after him. He would let out a savage cry which seemed more like maniacal laughter than anything before rushing towards them, grabbing them each by the hand with his massive hands and pummeling them together until nothing than a red much of blood and meat was left of their faces. Kralich on the other hand, was more preoccupied by the archer responsible for the arrow that signaled the start of the attack. He'd conjure an orb of light before sending it towards the origin place of the arrow. Soon enough, he would find his mark, and with incredible reflexes would send a bolt of lightning towards the man, burning him to a crisp.

The fighting did not stop there however, cries were heard where the elven caravan had made their camp. Torstein and Varonno wasted no time, rushing towards the flames of the other fire. Behind, Nicholas had lost quite a bit of blood. Kralich knelt before him as the man was passing out. Nick could swear he saw the mage weave the blood on the ground around his hands, as if a serpent was crawling around them. He would see nothing more however as soon it all became dark.

Next morning, or so Nick presumed, he found himself riding in the open back of one of the caravans. After a moment or two of recolecting his memories from last night, he got up on his ass, to look out the back of the wagon. There, Kralich and Torstein were riding on their respective horses. "You took quite the hit there Mr. Hook. Good think I am proficient in healing magics too." commented the mage with a stern, almost knowing glance. Nicholas rubbed, the now bandaged, wound on his shoulder, feeling almost no pain, as if it were never there. "Yeah... Thanks about that" he murmured eventualy, refraining from commening anything further on the matter, much to the mage's satisfaction. "Who the hell were those guys anyway ?" he would ask in the end. "Bandits, organized group by the looks of it." would answer the mage. "Not anymore they are not, killed every last one of the bastards." Torstein would add before flinging a hoarse gob of spit on the side. "And the ranger ? Where is he ?" continued Nick. "Him and his pet are off scounting ahead our next stopping point. He seemed quite... put-off by the events of the night. Probably blames himself for it. It was his job after all. To make sure the areas are clear." stated Kralich in a matter-of-factly way before spurring his horse forwards, now that he made sure Nicholas was awake... and silent on what he had seen.

With a loud sigh, Nicholas allowed himself back down on the make-shift bed, amongst the many crates and rugs the elves were transporting back to their homeland. Hell... he wasn't gonna let this free time he just got go to waste.