A land of sand, gems and blood. (For BubbleLord)

[Penguinmafia]

As they approach the sand sphere it seems to thin out, enough for Cason to get a good view of what is happening inside. There is a young girl, no older than 12 with fair skin and white hair. She is wearing a white cloak with gold highlights, she appears to be a cleric and is clutching an ornate staff to her chest. "G...go away! What are you doing to Bran!" She yells above the noise of the swirling sand.


Two figures in light brown cloaks that cover their faces are standing over her, brandishing swords as she hits them with her staff to no avail. On the other side of the sphere is another person wearing a light brown cloak, they seem to be a mage as they are carrying no weapons and the sand sphere seems to originate from them, their spell seems to have been weakened by a strange feathered dragon scratching at their face. It is pure white and quite small, perhaps only the size of a small dog so the mage has no trouble throwing it to the ground but doing this weakens the spell enough for Sai and Cason to enter.


There is also an older man lying on the floor next to the mage, he is wearing the same clothes as the little girl. Sai lets out a sigh of relief when his chest rises to show he is still alive.


"Fucking sand snake fucks!" Sai shouts and charges into the sphere, a fire in her eyes that Cason has never seen before. She ignites her sword and swings at one of the sword wielding cult members but misses. The mage's concentration is back and the sand sphere seems to be getting stronger again, before long it will be up to full strength and impossible to enter!


[Speed roll, req 16 to enter the sand sphere before it gets very strong. Otherwise take half a point of damage to enter before the sphere reaches full strength and it becomes impossible to enter. Or just do nothing, that is an option.]

 

[BubbleLord]

[Roll Result: 17]


"Damn it, Sai! Wait!"


As she charged and he was only just hopping down, he couldn't help but be unsure of all this. A child with what looked like a relative to dragons was out here seemingly alone with two assholes and some older guy. Normally the idea of saving someone was to get his dick sucked or to take a hole as a reward, but that little child wasn't going to do either of those! But letting Sai run in and not helping her was something he couldn't do. Even as he charged forward and drew his own sword, he could only hope that them rushing forward would prevent anyone from going after the sleeping Aneesa and weakling Amir. Both of them were likely better at sex than they were at defending themselves, after all. The one plus side was that he pushed through the sphere just in time... charging up behind Sai but intending to take on the mage who was making this sphere possible. If he could just land one strike on that guy, maybe it'd be enough to shatter this sphere entirely...

 

[Penguinmafia]

"Who are you!!!" The mage shouts in a raspy voice that sounds like sandpaper. They look to Sai then to Cason, deciding to take on the Male bodyguard. "You two idiots, kill the lizard!!!" They grunt in reply, moving in on Sai. The feathered dragon picks itself up, one of its wings is bent the wrong way and stained red, it stumbles over to the older man still on the floor and nudges him with its nose. The mage doesn't have time to finish the job with the dragon and ignores it, now he is facing Cason and Cason can see his solid black eyes but not much else as the rest is covered in a black mask.


A tendril of sand works its way out of the swirling wall of sand and the brutal spear of shifting sand launches straight at Cason! [Speed roll, 15+1] [casons roll, 10+3] [int roll, 9+3] [casons fort roll, 8+4] It slams into his chest and knocks him back a bit. [Does 1 damage, leavss him on 6hp] He laughs and starts charging another spell, luckily he won't be able to dodge very well as he is concentrating on the dome as well as launching spells at Cason. [Get a +1 on attack roll. Btw the mage has 3 health and 0 fortitude] 


Meanwhile Sai has managed to get a good hit on one of the sword wielders but they don't seem to be bleeding although neither Sai or Cason can think about it for too long. The other one brings his sword down and strikes her shoulder, Sai lets out a cry and brings her flaming sword up to block the next swing he throws at her.

 

[BubbleLord]

[Roll Results: 14 v 9 for the attack, 13 v 8. 1 damage inflicted on Mage!]


Taking a few steps back after taking a shot like that, Cason knows full well that his shot was to end this fast so he could help Sai. Her cry had inspired some rage in him, ignoring the fact that a child and the feathered dragon seemed innocent as he charged forward. With the mage preparing another spell, his half-assed attempt to get away from the armored male failed. Striding close, Cason's blade hand was in a bad position thanks to just how close he had come... but his manner of attack was more than sound. Drawing his head back, he smashed his forehead against the mask-covered face of the mage with the training of any proper Eokesh fighter. In his homeland, a scrap like this was more common than a proper swordfight... and as the mage would no doubt stumble and the mask would suffer damage or hopefully outright break, Cason was taking his sword in both hands as the weight of his armor had so far proven useful against a mage like this.


"Sai, just hold on! I'll take care of this magic-bitch and throw his corpse at his friends to help you out!"

 

[Penguinmafia]

Sai looks over and wipes a trickle of blood from the side of her mouth, she grins and charges the still recovering swordsman. "You're gonna regret that you fuck!" She plunges her sword into its chest and it lets out a blood curdling scream that nearly bursts their eardrums. Then it collapses into a pile of sand, only its mask is left behind. The other one slashes at her with its sword and leaves a deep gouge in her armoured gauntlet.


"You dare interupt us?!?" The mage summons another spear of sand and sends it flying towards Cason. [Attack roll 13 v 12. Damage roll 17 v 13. Cason is on 5hp.] The spear connects again and sends cason staggering back across the dome to where Sai is fighting the remaining swordsman. Before he can rush back over the mask left on the ground rises up and forms another sand soldier that faces off against Cason, it seems he will get the first attack though. [They have 2hp with 2 fortitude, 2 strength and 1 speed. 0 in all other stats and immune to lust.... if you were thinking about doing that kind of thing.] The mage appears to be channeling another spell and the dome dissipates as he concentrates on this new spell.

 

[BubbleLord]

[Roll Results: 8 v 8, 16 v 12. Sand Soldier has 1 HP left!]


Yet another spear smashed against his breastplate, the air threatening to leave his lungs are he stumbled back with far more of a stride this time. Sai was still locked in her fight, the mage's dome falling around them signalling at least some progress to the pair. If only he knew magic, he probably would have ended this idiot by now. But as a new soldier formed from the mask, he could only curse his luck at failing to get a look at the mage's face. Raising his blade, he let out a yell and charged forward without the slightest bit of lust on his mind as he cleaved through the sandy figure's shoulder before smashing into it to send it staggering back. Compared to Sai with her magical blade, Cason had to rely purely on strength... which he could only hope combined well enough with his armor to really mess with this thing so he could get back to fighting the mage!

 

[Penguinmafia]

The sand soldier takes a clumsy swing as Cason. It certainly isn't moving as well as it was earlier. [Roll result 11v16.] Cason eaily dodges the majority of its blade and it only nicks his arm [Cason is on 5.5 hp]. It tries for another swing but misses completely. "They got really easy all of a sudden, what the hell?" Sai seems to have noticed it too, she plunges her burning sword into the creaturs chest, it lets out the same ear bursting scream that makes her wince and it falls to the floor in a pile of sand. Near instantly it starts to rebuild itself.


"Oh no you don't!" Sai brings her sword down and shatters the mask, after that it maks no attempt to get back up again and befre long the sand has blown out into the desert. Meanwhile the mage is reaching for the older man, once he grabs his arm sand begins to whip around them, blowing the dragon back towars their cart. The young girl screams at the top of her voice as she sees the spell being cast but it is impossible to stop even for Sai with no one to block her. A second later the sand tornado is impossible to see through and then it dissipates with no sign of the mage or the old cleric.


With its master gone the remaining sand soldier seems even more sluggish, it is slowly decaying into sand but still poses a threat. [Sand soldiers stars are now all 0 and it has 1hp]

 

[BubbleLord]

[Roll Results: 9 v 3, 14 v 7. (Critical) Kill!]


The escape of the mage had him cursing, the screams of the young girl all it took to finish inciting his rage. The nick from the sand soldier's blade stung, but he was done playing games as he swung his blade across and severed the head of the slow and sluggish magical entity. The mask appeared as the sand of its body began to fall, taking all but a moment for Cason to drive his sword back on the backswing and smashing it to pieces. The "death" of the soldier secured and the battle having wound down, he knew full well that his wounds were minimal. Sheathing his sword, he turned his gaze to Sai's wounded shoulder and immediately cursed as he rushed to her side before even considering checking on their rescued cleric child and the feathered dragon.


"Damn it, Sai... I barely get nicked in all this armor and you get hit like this. If you're really knocked up, you're not going to be allowed to fight unless you wear armor from now on. The last thing I need is for you to lay an egg for us and end up dead before me..."

 

[Penguinmafia]

Sai winces as she looks to her wound, it seems bad but it isn't that deep and blood has already started to clot and seal it up. "Hey, salamanders don't wear armour. It's uncomfortable and seen as cowardly, if there is one thing I am not. It's a coward." She gives him a playful punch on the arm, wincing again since she used her injured arm.


"Zookie! You're alive!" The young cleric is holding the small injured dragon in her arms, it weakly mewls and closes its eyes. "Um, um, um Zookie!!! Don't worry i'll fix you up!" She lays Zook on the floor and picks up her staff, she starts a slow chant, the staff and the dragon glow green and before long the wing is back to normal and the blood is removed. The dragon excitedly flaps up and rests on top of her head. "B.....Bran, where did he go....." She looks down the road as sand blows across it and the wind whistles past, she looks to be on the verge of tears.

 

[BubbleLord]

If it weren't for the kid nearby, he'd be shoving Sai down and fucking her senseless just for joking about her health. She was the only one he could trust with Aneesa in this whole damn place now. Instead, he'd give her a spank to her barely covered ass and give her a look. Turning and moving toward the young cleric, he'd study her looks as he walked to stand near her.


"Are you alright? You and your pet aren't hurt, correct? Saving a girl wasn't what we were expecting to do today, but we did... so you're not going to die, right?"

 

[Penguinmafia]

"Y...yeah i'm fine... th....thanks for saving me...." She manages to say through sobs, she tries to get up but stumbles and falls over again. The feathered dragon manages to catch her by the back of her robe before she hits the floor however.


The young cleric just sits on the floor, wiping tears from her eyes as her expensice looking clothes are slowly coated in sand. "B....Bran..... where did that mean guy take him?" 

 

[BubbleLord]

He takes a few moments to register the little one's question, Cason's hand shifting the blade slightly. Was Bran the older fellow?


"He... I don't know. Look, staying here won't help... do you live near here? We can take you home if you want, but we should leave as soon as possible..."

 

[Penguinmafia]

"NO, WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM...O...OK!!!" She shouts, stamping her foot and putting on a defiant face even through the tears running down her face. It seems the young cleric won't be taking no for an answer and it doesn't seem like her pet is either, it has already taken off and is flying in circles high above them to look for any signs of the older cleric. "Thank you for the help with those bad guys but I have to find him before they do something awful to him!" The young girl has already started off down the road following the dragon high above.


Sai turns to Cason. "Y'know, she probsbly won't find him and even if she does. She won't stand a chance, we have to help her!" Sai looks pleadingly to Cason, doing this could be dangerous but having a healer on their side for even a short time would be very useful and he could always use this as leverage to get some of that lizard pussy at some point.

 

[BubbleLord]

While he'd been for helping, how were they supposed to do that? They had no way of tracking that Mage.


"Well... fine. But only if you convince Amir to join us next time. I wanna see a comparison of how you react to both of us. Maybe get some revenge for him cumming inside you so much..."


Turning to face the child, he'd give chase with a curse under his breath. He'd have to hope Sai stayed behind or brought the wagon, but he was going to need to be ready to help the small child if something else sprung out!

 

[Penguinmafia]

Sai runs up to the cart and looks inside, suprisingly both of the occupants are still fast asleep. "Hey Cason, we can't leave them here! Try to get that girl to get on board and we can go find this Bran guy, even pulling a wagon horses are faster than people." She shouts over as she goes to sit on the wooden bench at the front of the cart and grabs the reigns. The horses start off in a slow trot down the trail.


Meanwhile the child is too far down the road to (thankfully) not hear Casons lewd comment and Sai gives him a look when he says it in the presence of a kid. The dragon has atopped its circling and is now slowly flapping its way down the trail, it seems to have a good idea where the cultist sand mage teleported them. The girl is running after but her feet get caght in the long robe and she falls over face first. "Owwwww..... my face...." To her credit, she gets back up again, dusts herself off and carries on following the dragon.

 

[BubbleLord]

It wasn't like the child was going to understand what he was saying, Cason had figured. As clumsy and focused as she was, he doubted she had even heard him talk to the sexy salamander. While she had got up and started running again, it wouldn't take longer than a moment to scoop her up and off the trail with his empty hand's arm.


"Look, we'll help you... but if you run like that you're going to kill yourself before you even find your friend."


Turning, he'd move to climb up and onto the wagon as Sai would catch up to them, holding the girl until he was fully seated and could put her down between them. His eyes looked toward the dragon, pointing at it for Sai to spot if she hadn't already. They'd need to follow it of course, but his gaze finally had the chance to fall to their newest travel partner for as long as it lasted. As small as she was, he doubted she was just one of the short races... but what had led her to travel with her old friend out here? And what was up with the strange dragon-like creature?


"We're going to help you... so we need to know about you and your friend. Why would someone want to take him, do you know?"

 

[Penguinmafia]

She seems to recover and swell up with pride as she tells him why she is here. "Well, we're clerics from Eroth come to help relations with the locals and stuff by helping with healing and thst kind of thing, it's a very important job! B...but we heard there was a town down this road with loads of injured people, we started down the road and these guys made of sand turned up and they took Bran!" Her eyes well up with tears and Sai hands the reigns to Cason, then she brings the girl to rest her head on her bikini clad chest. Sai strokes her head gently and shushes the distressed girl.


"I know exactly who those fuckers were, church of the great sand snake, " she spits on the ground to the side of the cart, "more like cult, they capture people and either convert them or feed them to the great expanse. People with more magical power seem to be their biggest targets though." Whoever they are it seems this cult doesn't have a good reputation in Ramil. The strange dragon flies down and lands on top of the carts white tarp roof, it tilts it's head and gives a questioning growl. 


"She's fine, just a bit tired." Sai says to the dragon. Although it can't speak it seems to understand speech, after Sai reassures it, it takes off again and does long slow circles around the cart and is leading them down the road. The clerics eyes close and she snuggles up to Sai, not really in the best shape to answer any more questions just yet.

 

[BubbleLord]

"A cult, huh? I bet they've got some attracti-... I mean... they've certainly got a lot of people if that's the case."


While his dick had been more than eager to imagine a bunch of slutty women and boys serving the horrible cult, it had been just as quick to remember what they had used against them. Fighting a cult like this to rescue some stranger seemed like a suicide mission. The fact Sai was so quick to rest the girl on her nice tits was already proof that they were forced into helping this Eroth native rescue or at least try to rescue her friend from being converted or fed to the Expanse. Being simple bodyguards wasn't enough, fate had decided, and now they were being forced to go and save someone for no pay. With Amir and Aneesa sleeping in the back, he couldn't dare even think of helping an entire town like the girl had said. As they moved along and the nameless child rested, he could only look at Sai with a clearly demanding look. She'd owe him big-time for this and more so if it endangered their royal cargo in the back...

 

[Penguinmafia]

Sai gives him a look as if to say "We can't exactly leave them here can we?" Then she carries on stroking the head of the child, not daring to say anything because it could wake the distressed girl up again. The rest of the trip is uneventful apart from the occasional tumbleweed and lizard darting across the sand swept road. Before long Sai spots something in the distance and taps Casons arm.


"Hey, look!" She whispers. The dragon has led them to the church and has now flown down and into the cart for a nap, it pads around before falling asleep on Aneesa's tail but she doesn't wake up thankfully. The church seems to be surrounded by sands constantly whipping around it even though the weather is hot but not particularly windy. The church itself looks like any old church with ornate stonework and large windows with a spire on top, that is if normal churches were made of constantly moving sand.

 

[BubbleLord]

With the sight of the church at last, the man shifted ever so slightly at first before finally hopping down from the wagon with a light thud and jingling of his armor. Walking quietly toward the front of the horses, he looked out at strange sight with a more and more gloomy frown on his face. This was steadily turning into something that was far too dangerous to be worth messing with. Fighting a cult that could mage a building from sand in a place like this when only two of them were skilled fighters? It was far from smart. It was outright stupid.


But that didn't stop him from drawing his sword and carefully starting forward and across the sand with a gesture for Sai to stay with the others. Taking the girl in there would be too dangerous and it was a terrible idea to leave Amir and Aneesa alone. On the inside, Cason was still a mercenary and man enough to know he was the best option for heading in there with all his armor. If he could, he wanted to avoid a fight... but if it came to it he could survive long enough for Sai to know and rush to his aid. For now, however, he was making his way over toward it and hoping to find some entrance of any-kind or opening to view the inside from at the very least...

 

[Penguinmafia]

"Cason! Just, be careful ok!" Sai yells from the cart before heading for a small rock formation to the side of th eroad that the cart can be hidden behind. She certainly looks worried at the sight of the weird building and the thought of sending Cason in alone worries her greatly but she decides to trust him, after all they can't exactly leave their sleeping companions alone. Before he can get close the small dragon shakes itself awake, spreads its wings to get rid of the thin layer of sand covering them and flaps over to Cason, it lands on his shoulder and turns its head to look into his eyes for a second, it lets out a non threatening growl and turns around to face the church.


Walking around to the front of the church, where a door would normally be is just an empty space leading to the inside. Inside it looks nothing like a regular church, just an empty space surrounded by the shifting sands of the walls apart from the large sandstone altar in the center where the older cleric is tied up and the shrine next to it where the mage is currently kneeling and praying. "Please o great one, forgive me for failing..." He says. Luckily there isn't anyone else there so it will just be a one on one fight! The dragon notices the knocked out cleric but knows better than to alert the mage by flying over to ruin the element of surprise.


[to get the drop on the mage roll for speed with an advantage, 17 or higher means you rush him and catch him off guard, doing 1 damage. lower means he has time to turn around and blast you with a sand spear doing 1 damage to you.]

 

[BubbleLord]

[Roll Result: 12. Cason loses 1 HP, dropping to dropping to 6 (he healed during the travels due to damage inflicted being superficial =3=)]


The little dragon taking time to come to his aid had him more than a bit annoyed, but there wasn't any time to really mind it much.  Sneaking through the sands, the only noise until he reached the doorway was the soft crunch beneath his boots. Peering in, he saw the mage sitting there and praying but couldn't help chuckling. It didn't alert him as far as he showed, but the swordsman drew his blade with a knowing smirk to his new companion critter.


"Don't worry... we're going to take care of this idiot and really make him suffer."


Turning the corner, Cason took only a few steps with his sword raised before a sandspear slammed into his hip and tore at the material in such a way that his the pants tore and revealed a muscled hip. There were some scratches, but his clothes had endured enough to avoid making him a bloody mess as a good deal of his groin was even revealed. Cursing while he unintentionally gave a show to the priest, he kept up his charge knowing he'd need a while longer before he could get in sword range!


[Rolling for Seduction/Mental damage! Rolled a 13 vs 9. Priest loses 1 mental HP!]

 

[Penguinmafia]

The mage priest gets an eyefull of Casons exposed crotch but it seems his mind is tougher than his body and shows no signs of being affected by the lewd display. He snarls and holds his hands up, summoning one of his sand soldiers. It charges Cason with its sword held high, it has no technique but makes up for it with raw power. [Mage has 0 strength, 3 speed, 3 precision, 0 fortitude, 5 intellect, 4 insight, 0 charisma. Currently on 3 hp and 4 mental hp. Speed check 12 vs 13.] However, it brings the sword down just a second too late and Cason dodges easily. The mage has stepped back and appears to be chanting out another spell, Cason can't get past until he deals with the sand soldier though!


Meanwhile the dragon has jumped off Casons shoulder and flaps over to the altar, it starts pulling at the leather straps and manages to work one loose, it jumps and celebrates a bit before it shakes its head and goes to deal with another one. "You!!! Fool, i will not make the same mistake as last time! You die today foreigner!" The mage says in a voice like sandpaper as he carries on with the spell.

 

[BubbleLord]

[Rolling for seducing the mage. 12 vs 11. Mage takes one mental damage.]


The arrival of the soldier stopped Cason from reaching his target. This Mage was becoming a real fucking pain in Cason's ass. He'd dodged, but with the side-step to do-so he had been caught on the pants. As he strafed into view for all but a moment, Cason's dick was in plain sight for the Mage to see. With his sword and 'sword' drawn, the male could only back up as he looked for a mask within the sand-soldier's body. Ending it in one strike was far more efficient than just lashing at this thing. He'd learned that before from both his and Sai's fights.


"Just wait there you magic using bitch! I'll kill this thing then handle you!"

 

[Penguinmafia]

The black mask is still over the face of the creature, Cason doesn't have long to think about it though as it dashes forward again to strike him! [14 vs 13. damage roll 17 vs 15] It slices and gets a good hit on the armor covering Cason's leg, [1 damage] It makes a small slice in his armor and blood is dripping out of it, it certainly isn't fatal but the injury will slow him down a bit. [reduce speed stat by 1 until you can rest/heal]. Meanwhile the mage seems nearly done with the spell, they look uncomfortable but their mind is far stronger than their body and he isn't affected much by it. [mage is on 3 mental hp]


The dragon is nearly done freeing the older cleric from the bindings, before long he will be free and can get away providing he wakes up. The snow white creature looks up at Cason as he takes the hit to his leg, concern in its eyes as it redoubles its efforts to free its master and let them escape from whatever the mage is planning.


[as long as you would normally get a 1 damage hit, not a half damage hit from losing the damage roll i mean, then you one shot the sand soldier since you know its weak point, otherwise you do a bit of damage to the mask but it still lives.]

 

[BubbleLord]

[18 vs 15. Hit on mask soldier. 16 v 14. Ded soldier.]


The cut through his armor made Cason curse, the man staggering back. It was superficial for the most part, but the pain and blood was a warning. He'd need to dispatch the sand soldier or else he might not live to fuck his salamander and Princess again. Drawing back his blade, he'd leap upward and swing the weapon and cleave through the mask to instantly destroy it. By the time he landed and his junk was on full display, the sand was settling and he began charging the rest of the distance at long last.


"Got you now, you shit! Time to show you what a man from Eokesh can do!"

 

[Penguinmafia]

"IT WON'T BE THAT EASY, FOREIGNER!" The sand mage holds their hands up to the sky, then suddenly crouches down, slamming them into the sand. The church seems to disintegrate and everything turns quiet for a moment, even the shrine and the altar disappear as the sand collects in a huge pile in front of the mage. The old man finally wakes up, to see the giant pile of sand slowly moving and shifting. "By the gods....." He mutters, backing away as quickly as he can, the dragon following him.


Suddenly an ear shattering roar pierces the silence and the sand rapidly moves around, forming arms, then a torso, then legs and finally a head. It is a giant sand golem, standing at just under three times taller than Cason and it has one of those masks on each hand and knee, the center of its chest and two on its head although it is just a shapeless mass of sand with no defining features apart from the limbs. It lets out another earth shaking roar and slams its hands into the ground, the mage is nowhere to be seen.


[Giant sand golem has -3 speed, 7 strength, 6 fortitude and 0 in everything else. cant be charmed or lewded into submission. Doing damage (not scratch) lets you destroy one of the masks and make it weaker in some way, doing scratch damage still damages it as normal but you don't destroy a mask, crits can kill two at once. either destroy all the masks or deplete all its health to win]