Stepping out of the pub, X takes a look around at the burgeoning village. It has grown some since he has arrived here to make his fortunes. They are even starting to work on a real "road"!
X walks to his horse and casts a side ways glance at the beasts teeth, still not comfortable with the idea of riding these things. After all hasn't my own feet served me well all these years?
Patting the dubious animal, X gathers his courage and leaps on his back. If it wasn't for the worries of getting caught by Mongol scouts out on the plains, he would be done with these creatures. He has even heard rumors of "wheeled demons" that are pulled by TWO!!! being manufactured in the other villages.
But it isn't the horse that concerns X today, but, whether there will be any loot from this raid. The gambling debts are pilling up and the purse is getting light.
Removing his Axe from his back and sliding it into the leather strap on the saddle, he glances around for Ice, "Man I hope he didn't pass out on me. Not to sure about those ales...my Pack Master always warned me of Barkeeps bearing free ale..."
"I'll give him a few minutes, and if he isn't out here...I'll steal his horse *snicker*"

Ice, emerges from the bar in a drunken stupor. He looks around and thinks he sees X. He hasn't put much thought into this voyage to the land of the Mongols, but hey, he needs the money. He remembers his mother back at home, and his little brother who seem to be getting poorer by the miunte. Deciding he needs this voyage, he then thinks of his father, whom he barely knew, dieng in a battle with barbarians. *shutters*

Walking over to X, he asks "when will we depart, and how many will our party grow to?"

Ice also worries if any loot will arise out of this all, and looks at his father's sword mounted next to his horse. From day and night he has practiced wielding the sword in such fury, but has barely had the chance to use it. His agility is almost at it's peak, but will he be fast enough? All these thoughts swirl in Ice's head. "I'm ready." he says.

"BEfore you two leave on this paraless journey," speaks The Prophet Future, "let me warn you of the Mongols. They are a strong and proud group who's strength in battle is matched only with their cruelty in their laws. I warn you to go into this with a heavy heart." After a long pause allowing the two mounted men to think Future speaks again, "As I can see that you two will not be swayed away from this journey let me join you. I can not offer much but I am a master of tounge and could likely get us out of situations where a sword would not be as useful. I also posess the ability to heal men and am a master of herbs and medicines. WIll you let me join you? Will you accept me as a member of this group, to bring along the holy powers of Micalian?"
After speaking these words Future walks over to an older horse. It's hair is as white as the snow of a tall mountain. It's eyes as dark a blue as a deep well of pure water. Future knew what their answer would be before they spoke. He was bound to be one of them.

If you survive this perilous journey and can bring me back the secrets of a mongol brew then you are welcome in the Rebel Pub II anytime, a free drink shall be given to each of you if you fulfill this for me. It needs to be sweet yet sour and rich yet flavourless :)

Ice chuckles. "It is not petty brew that I am after, but gold and barbarian blood. However, if i stumble across such a brew, I will be sure to get it's recipe and hopefully a litre of it. But do not worry, I will live to drink here another day."

"And as to you future, you shall accomany us permitting X agrees. I believe we need a man of your wisdom on this voyage."

"Of course good priest, what better ally on this foray than a man of the cloth! I believe Ice may even be sober enough to ride!! Farewell barkeep. We shall endeavor to loot, er petition... the Mongols for their recipes. And if Future can not persuade them to give up their secrets than I'm sure we can come up with more persuasive means eh Ice?" *pats his axe*

"Let us see if we can muster up some grub for this journey, hunting is sparse on the plains. And water does not fill the belly, like a suckling roasted pig eh?"

Shouting to the gathering crowd of curiosity seekers, "Good citizens!! You will have nothing to fear from these mongol dogs, for we go to beard the lion in his own den and to truly see if their women are as hairy they say they are. We shall put to rest these rumors of war mongering hordes for once they encounter true warriors such as us they are sure to go running home to their hairy women!!"

Spurring his horse to a gallop he rides for the outskirts of town, only casually glancing back to see if the others are following...you never can be quite sure with followers...

Riding just a few feet behind X, Ice turns every few seconds, nervously, seeing if future can keep up at his age. However, to his suprise, future and his horse seem to be keeping a better pace them Ice himself.
Ice begins to worry about home, his mother, brother, but further more his girlfriend. These thoughts quickly leave hismind however when he spots a few barbarian axeman just beyond the outskirts. He calls to X, "ready to use that axe?" Just before X gets a word in, he reconsiders. Asking future this time "or shall we go around them for now?"

After thinking long and hard Future Decides that A brawl is necessary. "We must let these people know of us," prclaims the wise man,"First though, let me ride up and talk to them. They are likely to have food and possibly the secrets of the Mongolian Brew that we seek." Quickly and Quietly Future rides down to the Mongolian men. He talks to them for what seems like hours. But with one slip of his tounge(a mistake that wise Future is still amazed he made) the men attack him. It does not take long for Ice and X to protect him, but it took long enough. Future is left with a scar running along the side of his face.
After the brawl the three succesful travelers camp out on a near by hill. They have food that they took from the Mongolians. But they are brewless and weakened. If it werent for the fighting skill of Ice and X Future would surely not have survived. This leaves him with terrible nightmares. "How could he have not known better? He was the one who could heal others, but how could he help them if he was killed?" The nightmares went go on for weeks and weeks. He felt that he was a burden to the whole group.
How can such a wise man be so insecure.

Shaking his head he still wonders at the recklessness of the anointed ones. Maybe Future wishes to meet his god in person, he will bear close watching.

"Baring any further run ins with Barbarian types...I think perchance Ice should do the talking. Or we can let my Axe, either one is sure to get better results than a parley with the priest..."*sigh*

"Gentleman, I have decided that we should proceed through the forests west of Sari. Since it is a mixed bag of forests i am thinking that it would be thicker and not subject to "watchful Eyes".

Besides, I hear there is a fishing village just south of Sari along the river and i was hoping to buy passage on some skiff into town. I suspect that anyone approaching from the plains and our city would be regarded with suspicion. Let us see what we shall see.

OOC: My character, George, is at a campsite in the woods. It is a selfmade campsite in a small clearing. I am sitting on a rock outside a single tent studing a giant tome while a rabbit is half roasted on the spit above the medium size fire. My young black mare is tied to a tree sleeping. Since it is used to life in town around people, it will not startle if you get too close. It is obvious that it is not a permenant site.

Future wishes to prove himself worthy as the speaker for are group. So in one last attempt at redemption he Convinces the nomad George to join their ragtag group. George Accepts this invitation. The others see how charasmatic Future realy is. They decide to try and forget the run in with the barbarians. After all, it is the least they could do seeing as Future has just gained a valuable charactor.
Things are looking good for the group as they make their way to the Fishing village. Once there they negotiate that for a small amount of gold no one shall speak of them or where they have come from. This leaves the group with only 2 decisions. The first is for each party member to pay 10 gold in return for a place to stay and no questions of their origins. The second is to fight the people of the village allowing them to take the gold of the city and enough salted fish to last the rest of the journey. The only question is, can they succesfully take the village?

Ice, ponders this thought. Although it is not spoken aloud, Ice also knows the choice the group must make. "George, we have not spoken much since we first met, barely at all. What weapons do you have ready?" Ice, thinks again for a minute. "If we are to attack, we must not let future near the battle site. However, he still can be of great use to us. Future, is there anyway you can create a distraction while we do our deed. If not, is there anyway you can make us look powerful or, lets say, magical. Fear will lower their morale, possibly giving us better results. I also suggest someone go into to the town and scout it out for any warriors or men who are ready for a battle. I believe we'll need the fish to survive our journey, and the money can buy our way through bigger towns. "X, I'd say you better get that axe sharpened and ready, eh?"

Ice...I would like to join your expedition. I need a few days( OCC:3-4 hours) to get my things together and make sure my tools are ready for useage. Are you looking for any special skills or tools..I have a vast supply of both.

/occ: I need to finish my character, I will hopefully have that done in about 4 hours.

OOC: thats X's decision, I'm sure he'll let you aboard though.

opps..sorry X..dont hold it against me confusing Ice with you.

"Ice," begins Future, "i can pray to the lord Micalian for help. He owes me one."

Future sits under a oak tree to pounder, pray, and meditate. After many hours of silence he stands up to addres the group. "Friends, Micalian has blessed us." he announces, "He promises to transform the water of the river into the richest of ales. Then after the men of the village are drunken by the healthy brew he shall send them visions of three beautiful unclothed women. It is then that we shall attack. Victory is near assured." Then after a breif pause he continues, "I know that their is some worry among you that I might not be suitable to fight. So, I have decided to ride to the other side of the river and gather the alcohol for us to bring with us."

Ice also knows the choice the group must make. "George, we have not spoken much since we first met, barely at all. What weapons do you have ready?" Ice, thinks again for a minute. "If we are to attack, we must not let future near the battle site. However, he still can be of great use to us.
Although I have war supplies, I am not a great warrior. I simply do odd metalworking jobs to help raise money. I will gladly loan out any equipment I have, but I most of what I have now is not of good quality. I don't think we should attack this village. If we find a good supply of ore, I could probably smtih enough metalworks to pay for all the fish we want. Or I could use the ore to make better weapons. I can protect myself, but don't think I'll win the battle myself.

"Four of us, can mine a source of ore?" Ice ponders this, maybe Future can help us with that, but how much can an old man do? "Well, I believe my best secondary weapon was a hammer used to shape glowing steel. "Do you have an extra hammer I can borrow? It would do good to protect yourself, but if we must fight, I want you to accompany and protect Future, for he is more valuable than all of us combined."

I have the head of a hammer, but no shaft for it. I need to find a woodworker to make that part for me. I have some extra swords and spears, but they are not much better than fighting with nothing at all. And most of my armour is too heavy and clunky to be of much use if you need to move fast.
As for myself, I can defend myself and Future with my fists. My steed is also tougher than he looks. I shall keep Future in sight and not let any harm come to him.

I can handle making that hammer shaft for you, George. Just drop it by my shop. You can pay me 2 gold now for a handle made out of the strongest wood I have. I will even custom fit the grip to your hand.

Later after when we get a moment to chat you and I ned to discuss the possibility of you making some metal spear tips and arrow points for me.

Right now all the weapons I have are wooden staffs and big clubs that I call "bonkers" The walking sticks/staffs are 3 gold and the bonkers are 5 gold.

Interrupting the bartering session in progress, X leeps from his horse screaming a prayer to the great god Chip and swinging here and fro with Axe, he charges into the village without a thought for riches or women! The driving force behind this barbaric action...a river full of ALE!!!

"COme Brethern...we must not let this treasure trove fall into heretic hands!! Cast off the non believers heads and drink from the river of righteousness!!!...FREE BEER FOR ALL!!", is the war cry that springs from his companions lips.

The fishing villiage stares stupified by the vision before them. They were told that the Ale Angel would give their village a great drought, not to be confused with the lack of rain variety, and that the herald of this blessing would be the heavenly cryer Ale Angel. Noticing his arrival as spoken by the great prophet Future (so say one, so say we all), the villagers promptly pick up containers of all sizes and rush for the river to partake of the promised bounty. IN the mad rush for the river, X is trampled by 50 year old grandmas, and 20 year old scholars from the local learning establishment (many bearing ancient Greek inspired letters on their jackets). Sucubming to the feverish religeous revival...X crawls away from the battlefield, if not victorious, at least more humble and thoughtful. He has learned a great lesson...always announce yourself properly before pillaging and looting. And second, never get in between a "Dry County" village and free beer.


Though our great warrior has been laid low by the battle, his wisdom has increased from the experience. Our hero limps back to his horse, whose face clearly displays a dubious impression of his owner.

"Would there perchance be a healer in our midst, for Lo...I am ruptured!"
While collapsing and catching his breath from the intense melee, X suggests that someone go and aquire a boat from the soon to be drunk and disorderly masses, and that we promptly...get the hell out of dodge!

"Oh and can you grab me a pint while your at the river?"

Seeing X trampled, Ice waits until most of the villagers have fled to the river of ale. Instead of crying out in war and pillaging the town, he sneaks into now unoccuppied houses, and of course, the butcher's shop. Stealing a considerable amount of gold, and as much meat as he can carry, he sneaks past and villager in site back to the fallen X. Even with Ice's stealth, he realizes he hadn't stole any salt. The meat will never last for anytime without salt for preservation. And what about X's wounds? Well salt would also speed up the healing process.

Running back to the village this time, stealth not in mind, Ice enters the butcher's shop again to find the butcher now there. "May I have two pounds of salt please?" The butcher replies "That'll be er, 13 gold" in Ice's native tongue, but in a very broken accent. Ice now reaching in his pockets for the bags of money realizes he left them with X "****!" he says allowed. How stupid and forgetful can he be today?

He then pulls out his sword and off with the butcher's head. Stealing nearly 5 pounds of salt, Ice runs out of the village as people notice the commotion.

OOC: Worthy of bonus experience ICE!!! LMAO

Future Glances over as Ice nears X with the salt. "Stop you fool,"says Future, "let me take care of this man." Then in a quick and steadfast pase Future Bandages up X. It is obvious now that Future has proven his worth to the group. To rejoice they grab a keg that is misteriously floating in the river and partake in the unsalted fish.
After hours and hours of parting X recals "Hey Future, What ever happened to those 3 beautiful naked women that Micalian Promised?"
Future sits there and pounder and then says, "One second, ok?" He runs back under the tree and four minutes later three beautiful naked women appear. It is truely a great day for the group. Beer, Beauties, Fish, and gold.

"I knew there was a reason we brought him along!"
Let the wenching begin!!!

After a night of heavy drinking between the four, and the merriment of those three women, Ice wakes up to find all his companions laid upon the ground smelling of alcohol. The land looks like fifty kings have thrown a party. Nudging X in his ribs, X finally awakes. "Hey we should get out of here, I don't know how long it will take the Mongols to find us, but remember I did kill a butcher. There looking for us, and I rather not loose our meat, ale and fish. I'm going to scout out the land around us. Stay awake and east some of the bread in the meat bag. It'll help that headache you have. Keep an eye on future and George. I'll be back when the shadow has reached that rock" he says as he points. "I shall be back."

X burps in reply and promptly falls back comatose, with a loaf of bread hanging from his mouth...in X'x tongue that means affirmative.

Future awakes. He looks around and then decides to go and pray again. It is believed by members of the cult of Micalian that a hangover is the best time to pray, and Future being a religious man grabs the opportunity by the nuts.

After almost an hour of praying the prophet stands up. He yells to his companions, "QUICK!!! WE MUST LEAVE NOW!!!"

"Why are we in such a rush?" asks the stagering X.

"Their are Mongol troups nearing, we have no time to discuss it. QUICK!!!"

The three men gather up their spoils of the previous night and start to leave unaware that Ice not with them. Fortunately for them they run into Ice a few miles down their new path.

Ice badly wounded with gashes on his back and both legs is laying in a desolate road. He crawling every few minutes, he finally gives up and passes out. When he awakens, he sees Future standing over him, and possibly george and X in the background. His sight is blurred and he can hardly speak. The words that come out are slurred and meaningless.

Not wasteing any of their precious seconds, Future grabs some herbs from his pack. In less then a minute Ice has regained his strength. Future tells him to use his horse seeing that Ices is no where to be seen. Future Hops on the back and the group continues down the road, knowing that Mongol warriors are close behind. It is then that Ice tells them how his wounds were created.

" I don't remember much. As you know I had left to scout out the area after telling X. I went to the outskirts of the town and saw what looked like the gathering of a mob. I assumed they were after me. I then turned and rode in the dirsct opposite direction, to find our best possible escape option. However, I encountered men riding on horses, with bows at their sides. I tried my native tongue however, they only let out grutns and sounds, as me and my horse backed away, one shot an arrow to my horses torso. All I remember then was falling, and what I now have to assume being trampled." Ice thinks for what seems to be an eternity. "I am not sure what happened to my horse, but by no means were these men mongolian. Possibly german, but they flew no flag."

As the rest listen to Ice's story, Ice spots a regiment of axes jsut over the hills. "Look, full regiments are being mobilized. The war must be near. Shall we go join their quests?"

After many days of camping and dodging Mongolian rioters, the group is ready to move on. They have all been following the battles that have occured in the last weeks and have seen the fall of many men. It is still unsafe to move through Old Sarai or any other of the Mongolian cities, because they are still in a time of revolt and denial. Ice asks "So where are we off to next? Are we to head West towards Karakorum, or shall we travel north back home?"

I WOuld like to suggest that we go on a quest for a Gem that is invaluable to The Jedi Councel. This would take us on a great journey even deeper into the Mongol lands. This would allow us to loot even further, and hopefully pick up a few more those nude women that Micalian has graciously sent us.

Ice ponders this. "Well, what do we do about X. He's been gone for a few days now. Shall we wait, or continue on and hope he picks up?"

X is with us Ice he is just a tad hung over right now I would suggest that we continue on and hope that he comes out of it.

"Ahh so off we are."

"Well all has been well, but it seems that we have lost quite some morale and have become a bit lazy. I am returning to Boaring Wallow to sharpen my skills. I will embark on a second journey through greater lands one day. All who are with me, come now, all who wish to continue you on, may your souls live on if your body can not."

I must continue, for it is my job to find teh Gem for the Jedi, I hear it is in Old Sari.
So all who wish to continue this quest come with me now.