The Last Heroes' Guild Arc 1: "Nuglar Mountains"

As the manlings and their dragon...food? seemed rather distracted after the avalanche, Shish thought it would be a good time to come out of hiding and make themselves known to their heavenly gifts. With the chef priest behind him Shish walks out from the brush with a forced smile and using the happiest tone he can muster the Grunt announced himself to their guests.

<Welcome, welcome, welcome great gifts of the gods to humble lands of red moon! Graced we are graced by your presence on this day! I am Grunt Shish Krim Baub and this is my hunting party's Chef Priest, Nozogut Kukig! I am honored to have you here my friends! come, and we shall talk and feast on meat and bread!> Said Shish. <We bring you offerings and gifts to please you!> The Chef priest behind him offers a large slab of frozen meat. Despite the Grunt's well meaning words to the manlings, it sounded more like...

"Elwcmeo, ewlecom, ewlmcoe rtega fgtis fo eth gosd ot bhmule dslan fo erd omon! Adrcge we era graedc by uyor esrpecne no hist ady! I ma Tgnru Sshih Rkim Abub dan htsi is ym huignnt rptay's Chfe Priset, Zonogut Kukig! I ma hoodner to hvae yuo ehre my renfdsi! come, nda we salhl tlka nad eafst on emta and breda!Ew irnbg yuo effriongs dan gtifs ot lpaese yuo!"

----

Underground, with all the commotion above, a stony Granite Troll is on the prowl, looking for prey that might have potentially fallen into its territory. Stomping around, the troll blended in perfectly with its cave surroundings, and as it walked towards the cave's entrance, it saw what it heard what it was looking for. It followed the noise, and soon its prey came into sight. A thin pointed eared creature, smaller then itself, but the Granite Troll was hungry and it let out a rumbling roar that echoes throught the cave system, but muffled above since the snow covered the entrance, before charging its prey, hoping to kill it with a single blow.
 
Back on the newly snow covered mountain tops, a sudden jolt awoke Merl. He opened his eyes and saw Ellyxia, the dragon seer, lifting him up by her enormous talons and gently placing him on her back.

"My hands! There's something wrong with my hands!" Merl exclaimed, waving ten crooked fingers in the air.

It took the wizard a few moments to realize what had happened. The wall Merl summoned in spite of the avalanche had shattered and ironically tossed him into the death trap, crushing his hands in the process.

The fingers were not so broken that bone could be seen protruding, but just broken enough to be noticeably distorted.

Without his hands he was basically useless, save for some butt kicking and head banging action. Merl, with no idea of what to do next, proceeded to desperately hold back his tears.
 
Anri turned when she heard someone call her name. She was greeted by the sight of one of the others. In her mind, she recognized the individual as Page, the Half-Elf Scribe. But she didn't want to call him that right now. Right now, she would call him,

"Book guy!"

Anri waved at him, assuming that he could see her as well as she could see him. Honestly, this was a perfect opportunity to either look at his tomes or take a look at the firearms he usually had on him. The only problem was that he looked all sorts of exhausted. Small bits of snow hung off of him, and he looked as if he was still recovering from the avalanche. It was likely that he would be too tired to agree to any of her own requests.

"How are you today?"

Page's brow furrowed in irritation. Internally, he wanted to scold this child to death, but his previous sentiments kept him from doing so. With a long sigh, Page faced the little girl and responded somewhat nonchalantly.

"Just peachy Anri, I do hope you came out of that unscathed."

Again, this was not the time to lose patience. And their were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Anywho, we should figure a way out of th......"

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Pages words were cut short by the sudden bellowing of a large stone creature rampaging their way. Without thought, the scribe dove forward, taking Anri and himself out of harms way. The both of them barely dodged the creature's mindless charge. In its haste to try and kill the two, the troll didn't account for its own momentum and charged straight into the Heap of snow that covered the entrance.

Page pulled himself back up, helping his fellow companion in the process. Luckily for them, the ogre had embedded himself deep inside the snow of the entrance. That'll buy us some time, he thought quickly. When Anri saw the monster arrived and slammed itself into the wall of snow, she laughed. She wanted to start shooting at it right there and then, while it was still trying to free itself. Unfortunately, Page had stopped her, and dragged her away from the enemy. She wanted to scream out protests and run back, but it something happened. As they ran, Page started to speak hastily, trying to counter what the erratic girl might be thinking of doing at that moment.

"Anri, you probably want to go back and kill Mr. Meanie Rock Beast, and you probably might a way to do that, but we can't do that in such a small space. Ok? We need to find a bigger space."

Hopefully Page thought, that'll be enough to keep her from doing anything rash. It was registered as a request in Anri's head, and one that was to be followed. In an instant, she hushed herself, and whatever childlike energy that emanated her before had gone. Her face softened into an almost expressionless look. She returned to being the girl that had gone with them a small while ago. She was calm, quiet, and obedient.

"Understood."

The word came out in a deeper, more serious tone unbefitting the little girl's age. She kept up easily, and assisted in searching for a wider space. She considered making marks on the glowing crystals to keep track, just in case they got turned around, but the creature could find them again at any moment.

They went down the cave's corridors with only faint light of magical crystals illuminating their way. Anri's sudden change of character almost startled Page off his pace. If they weren't running for their lives inside an icy cave, he would've been chilled to the bone by that response. However, a sudden roar of anger from behind them reminded Page that there were far more terrifying things than a 12-year-old girl. Well, in Anri's case it might not be more, but certainly comparable.

The pair continued down the twisting path before them, with the Ogre hot on their tail. For a moment, Page was afraid that there was no end to these tunnels, or that maybe they led to a the end. He shook the potential thought out of his head. No, if this monster lives if this cave, then there must be a suitable lair of sorts. One larger than that entrance...As if fate came to confirm his thought, the two finally burst into a large open cavern. Page couldn't contain his awe.

It was littered with all matter of rock formations, from stalagmites to rock pillars, small boulders to large ones, there was even a small pond. But the most breathe-taking part of the whole place was the sheer amount of glowing magical crystals that illuminated the whole cavern. So much so that Page shaded his eyes, struggling to adjust to the sudden brightness. Despite all this he didn't have time to gawk at that sight. He'll have time to take samples after they deal with the Ogre, whose bellows were near the two.

Page led Anri behind a sizable boulder. He let go of the girl's hand and put down the rest of his gear. Rummaging through his pack, Page took out 2 larger than usual acidshot vials that fitted only with a blunderbuss, 2 regular acidshots, and 2 gale shots. This accounted for a third of his remaining ammunition. Along with the vials, Page readied his Magelcoke Variant Blunderbuss. Pull back bolt, load acid vial, push bolt back, cock percussion cap...The actions went through his head as he performed them swiftly. Taking a deep breath, Page finally faced Anri and started to explain to her what he had in mind.

"Here's the plan. That rock beast has to be some sort of elemental, or at the very least have some object that connects it to the magical stream of this world. Otherwise, it wouldn't have skin made of rocks Hell, this cavern gives that theory some merit. If we destroy its catalyst, that thing should be as good as dead. If its anything like the ones back in our world, I'm sure its catalyst is either near the heart or the head."

Page paused for a moment to past Anri the 2 acid and 2 gale vials he previously took out.

"The stream of this world is different from ours, so we can't assume normal acid shots will be enough to burn through its skin. A blunderbuss shot, however, should be able to have enough stopping power and spread to penetrate that thing's skin."

That is if I get close enough to it, Page thought in back of his head. As if on cue the cavern floor rumbled as the Rock Ogre announced his entrance with a bloodcurdling roar. The scribe took a quick peek at the monster from behind the boulder. It's pissed, he thought. The ogre was violently searching around rock pillars and other boulders, giving small growls of disappointment whenever he came up empty. Page looked back at Anri and gave his final command in a low, hushed whisper.

"Don't fire until I've either shot both vials or exposed its catalyst. Once either happens, give the thing hell." Page turned, but stopped as thought entered his head. "Oh, and if we get out of this alive, I'll make sure we'll both find something good to eat. I promise."

He delivered those last words with the most comforting grin he could manage, and set off to face the monster. Part off him didn't want the girl to fight at all, but he knew through what was written on the Guild Logs that Anri was a force to be reckoned with. Regardless though, that didn't mean Page couldn't keep her from doing the dangerous parts of the job. For the kid's sake, he thought

As lightly as he could, Page sprinted towards the Ogre. His job was expose its head or chest so that Anri can finish it off. It was a hunch as to whether or not he was right, however they didn't have much of a choice. While the Ogre stooped to search behind yet another empty rock pillar, Page sneaked behind its exposed back. I'll shoot off the head first, he decided, seeing as it was the harder target of the two. Page crept closer to the Orge, took aim at the back of its cranium, and pulled the trigger.

A loud, resounding boom echoed through cavern as the Blunderbuss spit out a wide torrent of acid projectiles. The acid hit its mark, leaving a sort of sizzling sound on the monster's head. The Ogre, however, simply stood up from his hunched position and turned to its assailant. At that moment, Page realized two very unfortunate things. One, the catalyst was definitively not in the Orge's head, as parts of it were eroding away under the acid. Two, the blunderbuss acid shots were indefinitely not as powerful as they should be in this world. Normally, a point blank shot to the back of the head by an acidshot would, in fact, blow its head off. This was not the case. The ogre gave off an angry war cry as he charged the scribe. Quickly, Page rolled to the left as the Ogre pounded the spot he stood in. Frantically, Page ducked behind a small rock pillar and readied another acid shot. Before he could peek out and take aim, Page was suddenly lifted off the ground. Suddenly, he was suspended in the air by the Ogres massive, stone hands gripping the poor scribe's chest. Its head was barely recognizable at this point, with its face considerably eroded.

Slowly, the Ogre's grip tightened around Page's slender body. It didn't press hard enough to where any bones were broken, however If he didn't do anything soon, he would fall unconscious from the lack of oxygen. This was so the Ogre's next meal could be kept as fresh as possible. Unfortunately for the Ogre, however, heroes are made of harder stuff. With every ounce of strength and will Page had in him, he lifted his blunderbuss, which he never let go, aimed his best at the monster's chest, and fired. BOOM! Shot went through, and managed to hit Ogre's stone chest head on burning through the surface layer of its skin. This time, it staggered, dropping Page with a light thump. He laid on the ground, exhausted, breathless, and bruised. Page managed to use the last of his endurance to break his fall with his blunderbuss, but that alone was enough to take him out of commission. Before blacking out, Page managed to raise his head, if only a little, to see the shimmer of a glowing magical crystal within the Ogre's body. As his senses slowly left him, the scribe managed to squeak out "I still...need..to get... Anri..food...."before finally succumbing to darkness.

All throughout the battle between the half-elf and magical beast, Anri prepared herself, going through the process of loading the vial into her rifle, and getting into a position where she would be able to follow through on her orders. She watched as the battle progressed. It seemed as if Page was caught off guard. Still, he had done what he needed to, and the creature's weak point had been exposed. Anri brought the rifle up, her single eye looking down its sights. She waited for the right chance, and...

The sound of another magic shot echoed throughout the caves. It felt as if time slowed for the ogre. In that moment, the ogre looked a little further up towards the source of the sound, and found a little girl. The sight of that little girl would be the last thing it saw before being pushed over to one of the walls of the cave. Parts of its body that had been weakened during the battle fell off before its body slammed against the wall. The crystal inside, which acted as its heart, had shattered into pieces, ending its life with its last memory being that of being cheated out of its victory.

As for Anri...She didn't come out of it unscathed, either. Using a single galeshot, given to her by Page, she had taken down the monster while its weak point was exposed. She was used to using all sorts of magic bullets, even galeshots. However, something was different about this. When she shot the bullet, the power wasn't the same. It was more powerful. Powerful enough to shatter the monster's crystal heart upon contact. And because it was more powerful, the kickback was also enhanced. The shot sent her flying backwards. Her body hit, and rolled off of several boulders, until she rolled up to the base of a stalagmite. Though the pain registered in her mind, it wasn't anything too bad. Anri got hurt all the time, but she simply ignored the pain. It was something that she was taught and told to do when she was still at her father's side.

"Note...Find a way to reduce recoil, and investigate anomaly."

Her body slowly got up, slightly shaking with soreness and possible bruises. The first thing Anri did was check her person. To her relief, her knives and dagger weren't able to penetrate the thickness of her pockets. The second thing she did was walk over and put her hat back on. It had been blown off while she was sailing through the air. The third and probably most important thing she did at the moment, was check on Page. He was unconscious, but otherwise okay. She'd need to find a way to wake him up, otherwise she would have to carry him through the cave.

The final thing she did was walk over to the dead monster. Its core was undoubtedly still useful. She cut some pieces off the broken crystal, and placed them in a couple of her pockets. Having a feeling that the glowing crystals may also prove to be useful, she retrieved a few pieces from those as well.

When Anri was done, she sat down near Page. She would have to wait for him to awaken.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally regained consciousness. Slowly, his eyes opened, taking in the scene around him. Immediately he could make out Anri's small figure close by. The state of her clothes indicated that she took a tumble somewhere, but her expression showed no pain from it. Tough girl, he thought. To the other side of him was the limp body of what was once a rampaging Rock Ogre. Now, it was just a lifeless husk of rock. Page couldn't help but chuckle at their handiwork. Surviving two life threatening situations in one day seemed like a silly joke in his head. With some effort, Page sat up right, grunting at strain it had on his sore body. He slowly rose from the ground, using the blunderbuss next to him as a makeshift crutch. Limping, Page retrieved his gear from behind the boulder and made his way to Anri. With his free hand and a light grin, he gave the girl a thumbs up and said,

"Good job. Lets get out of here find the others, oh and some food."

With noo command to reveal possible magical material for bullet-crafting. Anri had decided to speak of it of her own accord another time. For now, she would comply and help escape the caves. At first, she simply assisted in trying to feel the intensity of the wind. Her own logic was that the more wind there was, the more likely there was an accessible exit. Of course, she got sidetracked when she heard the sound of a battle nearby. Sounds of something shifting on the ground, and metal hitting rock. Before Page could get a word in about how they should handle the situation, Anri rushed over to a corner, and readied her rifle with the other windshot. She waited a while longer, and then turned the corner with her rifle aimed down the passage.

However, instead of finding a monster and a random warrior, she found one of the others. The one known as Jack.

"Ally found. Jack, the Raven. What were you fighting?"
 
"My hands! There's something wrong with my hands!" Merl's voice woke her up from a healing nap. Tirnel shot up from where she was sat on the Dragon seer's back.

Her wound was healed. Must've been Ellyxia, she thought, thankful to the dragons for not leaving her behind. It's warm, Tirnel thought as she felt a slight tingling sensation on her temples. Her head had felt like it was going to split into two from the pain emanating from it. Her left hand reached for her temple, while her right groped around for her weapons, checking if they were still intact.

She tried to remember what happened. I was chasing after Anri, and lost her. Then, I shot on a cliff for safety from the avalanche, and fell on a pile of snow. Probably hit my head somewhere along the way.

She watched Merl, as the Sorcerer tried to hold back tears. He must be feeling helpless right now, with his fingers broken. Nel didn't know what happened, but she would help him, protect him in any way she could.

Her bow was still intact, will never be destroyed due to the materials it was enforced with, but her arrows were a different story. Most of them were bent, if not broken. She would have to use her daggers in this case. Because until now, she could feel watchful eyes on them, trying to figure out a weakness.

They were safe, for now.
 
Page struggled to keep pace with Anri as she ran towards clang of steel. He was still using his blunderbuss as a very awkward walking stick. As he reared the corridor the first thing he saw was probably the second last person he wanted to encounter, the first being another one of those damned rock beasts. "Oh, it's you Jack. Glad to see you made it out..- WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS?!" Page's relatively indifferent greeting quickly turned into a bout of unfriendly accusation. The scene before him was quite troubling.

A dead body near a fire, the sound of steel clashing, and Jack having his daggers drawn, a sane person would put two and two together and assume very logically that Jack had gone mad. However, if the previous Avalanche run with Anri has taught Page anything it's that thinking too hard and simply usually brings about the more frustrating parts of him. Taking a deep breathe, Page pointed at the body and said "I'm going to assume...ignoring my better judgement, that that body is unrelated to your daggers being drawn, and that the sound I heard beforehand was you fighting off some suspicious character...thta vanished...somehow. Please tell me I'm right." Page vemonatly hoped he was right.
 
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Jack looked at Page, then at the dead body, and then back at Page. He pointed towards the corpse with one of his daggers.
"Oh that?" he tried to mock Page, but his mouth was out of control. It was like someone had reached inside his mouth and had ripped his tongue off.
He took a wobbly step forward before falling to his knees, his daggers dropped to the ground. Jack looked at his hands and that is when he noticed it. A small cut on his forearm.
Poison
That was his last thought. His body was lifeless before it even hit the ground.
 
When Jack collapsed, Anri simply looked down at the body with an expressionless face. She bent down and nudged it, trying to see if there was still life within it. No one simply collapsed out of nowhere. When no response was given, she looked at Page. She had no idea as to what they were supposed to do now. Should the body be a corpse, should they simply leave it? What if he was still alive? Leaving him would surely mean his death. It wasn't her call. She simply followed orders, and Page was the only one she could take them from at the moment.

"What will we do?"
 
Wonderful, thought Merl, that a creature so fearsome and terrifying can be bestowed with the powers of an angel. Truly wonderful.
Merl's hands had been transformed from snapped twigs on a branch to firm Stone pillars protruding from his palm. He had no clue how Ellyxia could do this by simply touching him but, then again, magic worked in strange ways in this place.

His attention quickly turned to Jack, who had collapsed onto the snow nearby. Merl hopped of the back of his dragon savior and ran to Jack. While the others had no idea what to do, Merl was already working on a plan.

"We need to get him on ice and off this mountain, fast." He said, before kneeling and placing two hands onto the icy snow beneath them. A few seconds later, the ground under Jack snapped in multiple places. From it rose a golem of ice, which suspended Jack within its crystal clear carapace.

Merl started down the mountain, with the ice golem following closely

"Come on everyone, follow me."
 
"And that, my children, is the story of how Merl saved a fellow hero and continued the adventure into the Nuglar Mountains."
"Aww, but Grandpa Merl, you didn't finish the book!"
"I'll finish it tomorrow. Besides, it's getting late, you three better get to bed."
"That's not fair!"
"Now now, I promised your mother and father I would take good care of you while they're out on their usual shenanigans."
"Bu-"
"Off to bed with all of you."
"Ok grandpa. What are we gonna do tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow I'll take you three back to The Great Oak and finish the rest of this book. But for now, time to sleep."
 
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