Urthdigger
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Post by Urthdigger on Apr 5, 2008 16:07:07 GMT -5
Comments hereUrthdigger ran through the shadow planes, glancing over his shoulder more often than usual. He had to get to Welstar to see the Lord of Light... and it wasn't bandits he was afraid of this time. No trace. He couldn't be seen, nobody but those involved had to know of this... Upon taking the gate, he found himself near the Meritosan Desert, and made haste to the swamps where his destination lay. Castle Zandar. He knocked on the door fervently until it opened. "Greetings Lord, I have come to die." Urthdigger had been idling away in paradise. Supposedly as champion he should be getting omens... but he never saw any, and just used hash for recreation. He wandered over to the rose garden, his favorite spot to spend his time. A large number of red roses were planted there, with a single black rose in the middle, the one flower he tended to the most, and it showed in how it flourished. He had long ago realized that the black rose was his devotion to Cyllyl, while the other roses were the myriad of other pleasures and distractions he took part in.
Picking up the watering can he had left there last time, he filled it at the pump, and watered his roses. However, something out of the corner of his eye didn't look right. As he turned to walk over to the black rose, he could see a number of thick thorns not it's own circling the plant, and choking the life out of it. Dropping his can in his haste, he ran over and reached for his dagger to prune the plant, only to find he was unarmed. He reached out to one of the vines, clenching it in his paw, and yanking it out. It hurt. Looking at his paw, he could see the cuts from the thorns running deep and bleeding freely. Regardless he reached out and pulled more out, gritting his teeth from the pain. He kept telling himself that this wasn't his real body, to keep going in spite of the pain. It was starting to become too much. He needed help, his paws were becoming too sore and bloody to grip onto the vines.
He got up from his work and saw one of the beautiful arakun servants Cyllyl had provided for him here. Surely she'd be able to help. He started to explain, but she was being cross with him. This was a new thing for Urth, as usually the servants were willing to do whatever he asked of them without question. Her tail and ears twitched as she visibly quivered with rage. Urth looked down at the rose near his feet. In his haste to get rid of the vines, he had battered the poor thing, and now most of it's petals had fallen. He tried to explain himself, what he was trying to do, but the servant leapt upon him, rolling him over and pinning his arms behind him. She slowly snaked her tail over to his head, and wrapped the prehensile appendage around his neck, pulling it taught and standing up on his chest. Urth tried to free his hands, unable to do more than struggle uselessly as his vision faded to black. He was going to die...
"Master... master! Are you alright? Speak to me!" Urth opened his eyes wearily to find his apprentice Beth standing in front of him "Ugh... yeah, I'm fine." "You were twitching about and foaming... I thought you'd gotten rabies or something!" said the catfolk in alarm. "No... just a bad trip. That's all it was, shouldn't be mixing hash with alcohol." He shook his head, brushed his apprentice aside, and left the guild to go back home and mull things over. He knew what a bad trip was like. This was far clearer, and seemed to have a meaning to it. It was an omen of some sort... and an ill one at that.
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Urthdigger
Storymaster
Comments are appreciated
Posts: 214
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Post by Urthdigger on Apr 22, 2008 3:11:16 GMT -5
The day in the mages' tower started just like any other. Students filed in for their lessons, eagerly taking out notes and quills. Nobody really noticed the vulpin that had just walked in and sat down amongst them, studying just like the rest. Not once did he give a name, or where he'd come from, and one look at him dissuaded most from asking. His eyes were misty, as if he was blind, yet he moved with a certain confidence that said "I know what I'm doing here... and it doesn't concern you." He never lasted more than a few days in each class. He studied the material fervently, before asking the teacher to prepare the final exam, then acing it. In a matter of weeks he was nearing the end of his graduation, and whispers were being spoken of the Gifted student among them. The faculty were debating whether to graduate him or not. While he had shown aptitude for magic, he hadn't actually gone through any classes, not in the normal sense, but more importantly he had no records. No age, no hometown, no birthday, and especially no name, which was always greeted with a snarl when it was brought up.
Urthdigger laid curled up on the bed next to a scantily clad female anakim, if having a blanket draped over oneself counted as such. "A pleasure as always Eve." said the arakun, bashfully wrapping his tail around himself. "Mmm, the pleasure is all mine Urth." said Eve, scratching the back of his head. He purred contently. "It's really nice of you to meet me like this, all things considered... I know your sect doesn't really like my guild." said Urth after a little while. "Is that what you're worring about? Aww, don't worry about that my fuzzy little boy... while we do oppose Cyllyl's methods, we do not disapprove of her members, unless they are in direct defiance of Sikkar's will. I won't hurt your little friends... and I especially won't hurt you." She rubbed his belly, causing him to squirm and chitter playfully. This wasn't quite what he had heard from others about the sect of templars Eve ran... he'd heard that they considered honor as the sole decider of worth, and that those who did not live their lives with honor were considered as bad as the fallen and cultists. But he had a feeling he could trust Eve... she was nice. Eve pulled the Hand into her lap, hugging him tight against her chest "How would you like to help us with our goals? It'd be awfully nice of you to help us... and you're always telling me how you want to be partners with the sikkarites..." "Yeah, I could do that." said Urth "Just say what you need and I'll do it." "I'm glad to hear that." replied Eve. She reached behind her pillow and took out a small black collar, and tied it around Urth's neck "I don't need anything from you now... but this collar will be a reminder of your promise. Do you like it?" The arakun nodded, and curled up into a ball, purring softly. He loved being treated like a pet, it made him feel cute. Eve petted him softly as he rested "I'm sure you'll be a great help my fuzzy little ally."
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Urthdigger
Storymaster
Comments are appreciated
Posts: 214
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Post by Urthdigger on Apr 22, 2008 6:55:11 GMT -5
The vulpin sighed. He tried to avoid dealing with anyone. Not give anyone anything to remember him as, and try to give them as little time to know him as possible. Instead he wound up well known, the students having made a name for him in the absence of a real one. Blank. He hated that name. It sounded like the kind of name a ninja wannabe would make for themselves.
Most annoying was the girl. A pretty elf, she could probably have any guy she wanted. Instead she went after him. Couldn't she tell he wasn't interested? He answered her questions and bared her company in spite of it, hoping she'd get the hint. It was two weeks before she realized that the same apathy and and distance that originally attracted her to him meant that he wasn't going to let her know anything about him, and that he really, truly, didn't give a damn. She left him with the bundle of roses she gave him, and tearfully left the room when he finally spelled it out for her. "Why do people feel the need to stick their noses where it's unwanted?" he wondered.
Urth stood at the head of a group of Hands amidst the stalagmites on Crypt. Not that anyone looking at him would have realized it, if they could see him at all with his fur coloring matching against the dirty brown and black of the rock. For the past several days they had been planning an attack on a group of cultists that had been abducting the citizens of Igneous. In the eyes of Cyllyl, the people would be much better suited intimidated by the Hands and using that fear for power. Besides, any excuse to stab things was a good excuse. A small group was sent to the entrance of the cave to backstab the few cultists keeping watch and dispose of the bodies. Once that was done they signaled for the rest to follow them inside, the majority of the group spreading out into the caverns, while a small group stayed behind to set up some traps in case of any runners. Not a single one was spared, and when it was all over their blood soaked the cave floor.
Eve was waiting outside the cave as Urth and the Hands left with a group of paladins and templars. She walked past him with a pair of her most loyal paladins, stopping next to Urth on her way "Good work... we're just here to mop up any survivors..." The arakun was puzzled. He hadn't mentioned anything about the plan to her... he hadn't even seen her since the day she asked for his help. He nodded slowly in agreement and walked to the center of the circle of sikkarites. He waved to them "We took care of them, don't worry. Everything's all right." He was getting a little nervous. They had their hands on their weapons, and he could hear those near the cave entrance closing the circle around them. His fears were realized as he heard the scrape of a sword being unsheathed to his left, one of the paladins stepping forth to strike down the Hand next to him. The catfolk's blood splashed over Urth, but he kept his cool, shouting out the code to flee. The remaining Hands unsheathed their weapons and looked ready to attack before drawing the shadows around them. To an outsider, it appeared that the unseen backstabbers were fixing to launch a surprise attack, and the Sikkarites fell for it. Urth was the only one who didn't flee, staying behind to keep the enemy busy while the rest made good their escape. Once he was satisfied and the sikkarites were beginning to realize the others were long gone, he crouched down low and went through the gestures to cast hand spring, leaping to the ceiling, grabbing onto a stalactite, and teleporting back to the guild.
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Urthdigger
Storymaster
Comments are appreciated
Posts: 214
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Post by Urthdigger on May 2, 2008 22:19:00 GMT -5
The day had finally come for the vulpin to graduate. The faculty had officially given him the name of Blank, he was listed as being from Nimbus, and his birthday was given as the day they first noticed him in the academy. Bowing gracefully to his teachers, the vulpin accepted the notice, proof that he was now eligible to take advanced courses in the guilds across the worlds. The first step on a grand path.
Urthdigger jumped down the trapdoor to the guild in a hurry. He was angry at a lot of things, mostly himself, and he wanted someplace to be by himself. Yet, he didn't go back to his castle. They say misery loves company, but anger is it's second cousin. A couple of the Hands that went with him were in the recreational room passing around a bottle of wine. "Jeeze, I didn't expect those guys to jump us like that after we helped them... it's a good thing Urth was there." "Yeah, without our champion around to hold them back we would have been goners. Speaking of which, here's the 'kun of the hour!" Urth snarled "Get out!" One of the Hands tried to ask what was wrong "I said GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!" yelled Urth, his daggers flashing to his paws. The lower ranking Hands fled from their superior, leaving him with the loneliness he assumed he needed. Even the bartender had left. Urth sighed, sitting on a chair with his head between his legs. How could he have let this happen? Here they were praising him... but it had been his fault the templars were there in the first place. He idly tugged at the collar Eve had placed around his neck. It was still as unremovable as ever. He figured that might have something to do with it, and made a note to get it checked out later. The Hands had left their wine behind, and Urth idly picked it up. After a night like this, something to dull his mind seemed in order. He raised it to his lips, then changed his mind with a snarl and tossed it against the wall where it shattered, bleeding it's contents all over the floor. It was lapses of judgement and caring more about his own entertainment than the guild that caused these problems in the first place! As he stood there staring at the shattered bottle, panting heavily, he heard a small chittering behind him. He turned to see the nearly mute arakun, Trashcan, behind him. He was holding up a slate that said "What's wrong Urth?" Urth sighed "It's none of your concern, just a lot of things have been going on lately..." TC had already started erasing his slate and wrote something new "Please be careful... you're making everyone scared." Urth rose from his seat and rubbed his student's head "I'll be fine... don't worry, in a few days this'll all be over." With that, he left the room and went back home. First things first, he had to get back at Eve.
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Urthdigger
Storymaster
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Posts: 214
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Post by Urthdigger on May 11, 2008 1:58:47 GMT -5
The vulpin looked at himself in a mirror in the room he used to reside in... still resided in. Legally, he'd moved out and turned all his possessions over to a friend... that friend being himself. He idly traced a finger around his eyes. Even after all this time, it was still a shock to look in the mirror and see someone else looking back. It was just like when he'd entered the Retroverse. He'd grown attached to that mask... met so many friends, had so many adventurers behind it. All left behind. His eyes wandered over to the vase of dried roses he had nearby. "A useless reminder" he thought to himself. He concentrated a little, and the flowers burst into flame, leaving nothing but soot in the bottom of the vase. As an afterthought, he dipped his paw into the soot, and rubbed it around his eyes, coloring his fur black. He did the same along the tail. A little giddy from seeing the familiar mask again, he almost considered getting a tattoo of an open hand on the back of his neck... but reminded himself that the change of race was to make his new life easier, that he'd always be a 'kun on the inside, but leaving the guild was for good. He could have no association with them anymore for their own good.
There was another reminder of the past he felt obligated to have. No matter what changed, he had betrayed the guild, been a wanted criminal... by all consideration, he was a felon. He finished the final touches spot welding the chain links together and tried on his shackles. They were supposed to be symbolic only, a personal reminder that this form was his prison. However, they were lightweight and designed not to get in the way of spellcasting. Furthermore, a simple switch undid the lock if it ever would come in handy. Already, ideas were forming in his head how to turn it into an advantage...
Urthdigger approached the temple in the dead of night, grabbing a handhold in the rough stone wall and climbing his way up the uneven bricks. Despite everything that had gone down lately, he wasn't stupid. Well, not entirely stupid anyway. He'd always feared Eve would be as fanatic as he'd heard, and had left a way to get back in if he was ever banned from the temple. The climbing wasn't part of the plan. That was blamed on a chaos bandit distraction injuring his wingflaps.
He put his mind back to the task at hand as he made a leap from one of the bricks to an overhanging decoration, hoisting himself on top of it and resuming his climb up another weatherworn section of the temple, at long last making it to the top.
Back when he was first invited to the temple to... accompany the priestess, he had taken the liberty of hiding his daggers. Specifically, they were keeping a skylight propped open. The arakun heaved a sigh of relief as he found them still there, and pulled the skylight open, grabbing his daggers with his other paw before they had a chance to fall. The door to Eve's chambers were down below, flanked by a pair of guards as usual. The plan had called for a more subtle approach, but with his wings in their condition, he back up and dived through the open skylight, breaking his fall on a guard, dagger first. The other one panicked upon seeing an assassin fall from the sky and fled, but the arakun pursued his slow oponnent, tackling the guard to the ground and driving his dagger through the back of his neck. Only his target remained.
"I expected you'd be showing up Urth." said the priestess as she heard the arakun enter the door to her room. She was already disrobed with a blanket draped over her, censoring just what didn't need to be. "You're here for revenge I take it? Surely you can't be happy now that you saw how you helped me." "You lied to me Eve." said Urth with a cold glare "I trusted you, and you lied to me... isn't deception exactly what you're supposed to be against? You're nothing but a hypocrite!" "My dear arakun, how dare you compare me to yourself. What I did was a noble act of secrecy for the greater good, to get rid of the Hands so everyone can live free in truth, and away from the shadows of lies." "That's no different from what I do! You self righteous little bitch!" he yelled at her. "Temper temper... it wouldn't do good to hurt me. I'd never sleep with you again if you did that. Besides, I'm not the only one listening in on that collar. Reinforcements should be on the way soon, if you kill me that would not look good at all." "Shutup." said Urth, lunging forward and plunging his dagger into her chest. She choked and coughed up blood as he removed the blade. "I'm not really attracted to people who lie anyway."
He stood there for a while and watched her bleed to death, his sensitive ears picking up the sound of boots stomping down the hall. The rest of the sikkarites would be here soon. He turned to meet his fate, as the door burst open. "What the f**k happened here?" shouted the lead paladin "And why the hell is the priestess naked!?" Urth leaped upon the unfortunate anakim and gave him a far more pressing matter in the form of several holes in his chest. 4 down, so many to go.
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Urthdigger
Storymaster
Comments are appreciated
Posts: 214
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Post by Urthdigger on May 24, 2008 3:43:18 GMT -5
The vulpin walked down the streets of Borales after enjoying a show at the theatre. He was keenly aware of the two men following him, making sure he didn't leave them behind or betray his knowledge of their presence. When he believed noone to be looking, he ducked down a dark alleyway, goading them into following. "I know you're there..." said the vulpin after the three of them were all in the alley. He sniffed the air "One vampire, one gorgon. Smerr of mixed brood is on you... other peopre's brood. You're here to murder me and take my money, am I right?" The vampire unsheathed his short sword "Aye, that's right!" The vulpin brought his paws up, blocking the sword's blow with his chain. He kept an eye on the gorgon trying to circle behind him, and turned so the alley's wall was to his back. As the vampire brought his blade back for another blow, the vulpin released the catch on the left side of the shackles, letting it hang loose connected to his right wrist. He grabbed the chain and pulled it taut to block another blow, then swung it at his assailant, wrapping it around his midsection. "Next time take a better rook at yer victim!" he yelled, before chanting a spell. The chain glowed red hot and easily burned through the thief's tattered shirt, and started to burn through his flesh. The vulpin pulled the chain tighter, burnign through the vampires organs. He loosened the chain and pulled it back, catching it with his gloved paws. The vampire was as good as dead now anyway. The gorgon fleeing down the alleyway was a bigger concern. He swung the chain again, wrapping the hot metal around his victims legs and taking him to the ground. "Please... don't kill me..." begged the gorgon. "What's this I hear from a murderous thief? Whatever. You weren't going to give me any mercy, why shourd I give any to you?" The gorgon barely had time to scream before flames engulfed his body. Both the corpses were then burned in purifying fire until they were nothing but greasy piles of ash on the ground. Stooping down low, the vulpin applied the former thieves to his face and tail, renewing the arakun markings. He felt better for having disposed of them. There was still work he could do for Cyllyl. Remove those who gave the guild a bad name, and deliver vengeance on everything else. That would be his final favor to the guild, his last promise to Cyllyl.
Urthdigger looked back on the bloodstained temple. Somehow he had managed not to get himself killed... but things were not over yet. Over the next few days, the sikkarites had made him a wanted man. "The arakun with the tainted paw". He couldn't show his face in any major city. Worse yet, they knew he was a Hand, and it was only a matter of time before they began actively searching for the guild. He needed a way to make them call off the search, as well as some so they'd stop looking for him. On top of all that, Eve and her cronies may not have been the only ones capable of listening in on him... and even killing himself failed to removed the cursed collar...
The plan he came up with was simple. Please his case to the Lord of Light and hope his connections were enough to grant him an appeal. Once done, further convince the sikkarites to stop their search by giving them his corpse as a sign that they won. And lastly, to leave the guild. He'd shamed himself enough with his actions, even if he could stay a member of the guild, he couldn't possibly show his face around there. Besides, the temptation to stay in touch with his friends and apprentices would be too great.
He went back home and left a note for his landlord, stating that he had to go away for a while to blow off the heat, and he'd be loaning his room and all possessions to a friend for an indefinite period of time. After doing that, he withdrew all his money from the bank and left it in his room. Less he had to deal with the authorities in keeping his stuff, the better. Lastly, he arranged with a druid friend to perform the ressurection ceremony, after swearing him to secrecy. Nobody was to know he was still around aside from the 3 of them. With all his preparations complete, he entered the shadow planes and headed to Welstar, where the Lord of Light awaited...
Urthdigger ran through the shadow planes, glancing over his shoulder more often than usual. He had to get to Welstar to see the Lord of Light... and it wasn't bandits he was afraid of this time. No trace. He couldn't be seen, nobody but those involved had to know of this...
Upon taking the gate, he found himself near the Meritosan Desert, and made haste to the swamps where his destination lay. Castle Zandar. He knocked on the door fervently until it opened. "Greetings Lord, I have come to die."
The death was quick, but painful. He tried to make it look like he put up a struggle. His spirit free from it's mortal shell, he approached Gaia's Mound and began the ceremony, finding himself back in the featureless white room he saw when he first entered this world. It had changed since then, and now resembled a church, with a single stained glass window featuring an arakun wielding a pair of daggers. As before, he let his thoughts and emotions guide what he should become. He wanted to stay what he was, but knew that could never happen. More than anything, he was angry about the choice he had to make. No matter what he picked, he wouldn't be as cute and cuddly, and if he couldn't be with Cyllyl, then at least he wanted the power to do her will. A new body was laid upon the altar, a vulpin. Urth's spirit looked over his new form, nodded in approval, and gave it life.
In the streets of Nimbus, the day proceeded as always. To nobody's notice, there was suddenly one more member of the crowd as if he'd always been there, making his way to the mages' tower, about to embark on a brand new life.
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