The Wilds' Bane goes North

If it is smart, it will follow us, if it doesn't, it wasn't worth the money Aleran paid for it, and he can buy another when we reach the next city.

Kehvyn leaned down to pick up Aleran, gently placing him in the wagon.

Well, Kehvyn said as he jumped onto his horse, Do your thing and lets be off.

NINJAGEEK solidified the shadows around the body to protect it and then silently climbed into the cart and urged the horse into motion. He thought about things but nothing made sense.

The Wild's Bane trudged on for the rest of the day. The sun was almost below the horizon when Kehvyn saw a city a few miles away.


Do we go for the city, or camp here for the night?

It would probably we better for Aleran if we kept on for the city.

I agree, we move onward to the city. It is almost night and I can handle anything that thinks that the night is to it's advantage.

NINJAGEEK kept the horse pulling the cart moving and glanced backwards at the road. Aleran's horse had been smart and was trailing behind them at a distance.

When we get into the city we should find a tavern with a stable to put the cart. I will stay with the cart and Aleran's body while you can go find someone to revive Aleran.

Kehvyn led the small entourage the remaining distance to the city. He used his magic to light a torch to illuminate the way.

Hmm... I hope this doesn't cause any trouble.

They had reached the city, and it was fairly large. Large enough to be sourounded by a while and the only opening was a gate, and therein lay the problem. The guards were closing the gate for the night.

NINJAGEEK noticed that the gates were starting to close for the night as the approached them.

SHIT! We have to get inside those gates before they close.

Calculating the distance and how fast they were moving NINJAGEEK decided that they wouldn't make it in time. He jumped down from the cart hands on the ground and focused. The shadows stirred and the gate stopped closing. The guards on the gate became confused, unsure of why they couldn't finish closing the gate. Curses rose through the air as they tried harder without success. Sweat had started to bead on NINJAGEEK's forehead.

Kehvyn, get into the city. I am unsure of how long I can hold the gates from this distance and I don't think I can keep enough concentration if I move around. Get in and find a stable and a healer to revive Aleran. I will try to sneak into the town afterwords.

NINJAGEEK's down turned face now was dripping with sweat. His only thought beyond holding the gate was about how good the gate was built.

Kehvyn throw Aleran's body sideways over his horse.

Aaaiiiiiyyaaa!!

Spurring his horse onward, Kehvyn did his best to make sure that Aleran wouldn't fall off.
With only a couple hundred yards between him and the get, Kehvyn yelled at the gaurds.

Hold that gate!!!

Kehvyn closed the final distance and slipped inside the gate, right as NINJAGEEK's strength failed him.

You know, normally when someone is yelling 'wait!' you stop what you are doing!

Kehvyn reprimanded the guards.

We were only doing our jobs, sir! What are you thinking, running through nearly closed gates, you fool! Now it is our jobs to arrest you, and bring you to our prison. You will see a magistrate tomorrow evening.

Laughing, Kehvyn tried to use a commanding voice and stop the guards.
Touch me, and I swear you will regret it. Let me and mine pass. I need to get my deceased friend to a necromancer, or a healer, if they are good enough.

The guard replied that he couldn't let Kehvyn pass, and reached for Kehvyn's wrist to arrest him. As soon as he touched Kehvyn's wrist, the guard collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

I warned you, don't touch me. Blasted fool... Have a nice evening.

Kehvyn continued through the city looking for a necromancer. The other guards backed off.

NINJAGEEK collapsed on the ground gasping for air, sweat running off him in rivers.

Bloody freaking hell was that hard to hold. Got to keep that in mind, distance makes magic ten times harder to maintain.

Laying on the ground he continued to gasp for air for a minute. Then he remembered what he was doing out here in the middle of nowhere and why he had been exerting himself so much. He slowly stood up and staggered over to the cart and Aleran's horse. He got there and nearly fell flat on his face. He sunk to the ground next to the cart exhausted.

A brief nap wont hurt anyone he mumbled before he fell asleep.

Kehvyn wandered through the city, reached a shadier side of the town. After passing brothels and sweatshops, he finally found what appeared to be a shop of all sorcery.

Kehvyn walked inside after tying up his horse by the door and approached the counter

Excuse me, do you have a necromancer here? My friend was shot and killed by a crossbow bolt, we were travling on the road. He has been dead a few hours. We have money, can you help us?

NINJAGEEK was roughly awakened by a man tying his hands together behind his back. He jerked but couldn't move much.

So this is why they close there gates and don't let anyone in during the night, interesting.

NINJAGEEK smiles at his attackers and simply says, I would have to suggest that you let me go before I get mad

The thieves laughed at him and held up his katana and mocked him for his stupidity for sleeping in the open outside the town. NINJAGEEK's face bore little emotion when his body fell limp and his shadow stood up.

I warned you, didn't I?

NINJAGEEK still had little emotion as his possessed shadow ripped apart two of the men and immobilized the last. His shadow then freed his body and sunk into the ground. NINJAGEEK stood up uneasily due to more energy use. His nap had allowed him to use shadows to help him but not very much. He rummaged though the would be thieves remains while he thought about what to do with the last one.

Aye, croaked an old man from behind the counter. We have the services of a necromancer. She herself is a spirit, which is why she converses with the spirit world so well. She can talk with the spirit of your dead friend here and see if he would like to be revived.

It will come with a price. 700gp.


Kehvyn considered the price, and hoping that Aleran would have the manners to repay the debt, agreed to consult the necromancer.

NINJAGEEK looked at the captured thief.

I need to get into that city tonight but the gates seem to be closed. He looked in the direction of the city and saw the glow of torches as guards walked along the walls. He then looked back at the thief, The walls also seem to be well manned and I really don't want to get into a fight. Being a thief I assume that you would know of any secret entrances into the city that one could use after sunset. If you don't know of one then I guess I would have no use for you.

To make sure that the thief understood him he started fidgeting with his katana. The thief looked at NINJAGEEK's blank face to his katana and then at what remained of his friends. He looked back to NINJAGEEK and started to stutter, "I-I-I do k-k-k-know a w-w-way into t-t-t-the city t-t-through an old s-sewage pipe."

NINJAGEEK looked at the man and knew that this man didn't have the wits about him to lie so he released the man.

You will show me into the city and then you can leave. In fact I will even give you 10 gold when we enter the city. But first you must help me hide this cart and horse.

A gust of wind blew through the room, and with it came a shimmering in the air. It looked like how the air does on a hot summer day.

A voice, seeming to come from no where spoke, with a light, airy, quality, like a bell.

Hello, I am Sylvia. Your friend, Aleran, seems to have died recently so his body should be a good host. Let me contact him, and ask if he would like to be returned to his body. That is a key point.

The room grew foggy, and Kehvyn felt like he was trapped in quicksand, he could barely move. Out of the fog came as clear as day shone a woman, clear, bright, full of life. She was beautiful. Kehvyn assumed that he saw Sylvia, in her own world. And there, at Kehvyn's side stood Aleran, clear and as vivacious as he was just hours earlier. Sylvia broke the eery silence with her bell-like voice.

Lord Aleran, your friends are trying to revive you. I have been granted the power to exchange souls from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. Would you like to be rejoined with your mortal body and continue your life in Merisha, or shall you continue on as you are now?

Aleran answers the woman.
"Hell yes I would! Whatever gods there be saw it fit to keep me out of the afterlife for some reason, so as long as I'm stuck in this planet anyway I might as well be able to eat!"

As a side note, Aleran says to Kehvyn, "Don't worry, I'll pick up the bill..."

The room grew darker, and more cloudy, even Aleran seemed to fade. All was dim except Sylvia. Light emanated from her as she danced in lithe, confusing patterns. She started mumbling words in an old, forgotten language, quietly at first, but slowly building up to a roaring finale.
Sylvia finished the incantation with a short, almost quiet word, seeming to be in contrast with her previous state. With that final word, Kehvyn's vision of Aleran disappeared like a waft of smoke. The room cleared and the were again in the Sorcery Shop.

NINJAGEEK trudged through the woods to a small cabin led by the small thief. Silently the thief secured the cart and Lord Aleran's horse in a makeshift stable next to the cabin. He looked at NINJAGEEK with nervous eyes and spoke, "This is where the three of us lived. We built the cabin and discovered a cave beneath it that leads to the sewers of the city. I will watch your cart and horses and wait for you to come get them, just please let me live."

You have your life and because I prefer a bought man then a scared man you also will have 100 gold pieces for watching and guarding the horses and cart. I also request that you continue to not inform anyone of this entrance to the city and stay here. You will be paid for that if you give your services to the Wild's Bane Guild.

The man smiled and said, "My services are owned by this guild of yours for the gold you shall pay me. The secret entrance to the city now belongs to you." He bowed and led NINJAGEEK into the cabin and down some stairs.

Aleran awoke, thrown over Kehvyn's horse. He was alive! Alive and able to get his revenge on those who had killed him!

He tried to move, but could not. He attempted opening his eyes, but couldn't do that either. He was completely stuck. Aleran was now a spirit in a body, but that body had been dead so long that it was no longer functioning.

"F**K!"
he thought silently to himself (because he couldn't talk).


He wasn't breathing, his blood wasn't pumping, he was just the same as he was when he was drifting around as a spirit. Only now, instead of drifting around, he was stuck in his old dead body.
Something had gone wrong. Perhaps Kehvyn could jump-start him by transferring energy? Maybe he could steal that energy from the b**ch spirit who stuck Aleran in an inanimate corpse.

Thank-you for your business, Sylvia said as Kehvyn handed her the 700gp. Your friend should be outside waiting for you where you left him.

Kehvyn left the building hopefully, but as he turned around the corner, something didn't seem right. Aleran was still in essentially the same place that he had left him.

Aleran! He called out as he ran to his horse, Aleran, are you ok? Can you hear me?

NINJAGEEK walked into the cabin with the thief and down some stairs to a cave. The thief started taking out a torch but NINJAGEEK stopped him. The thief told him to just keep going straight until he found a ladder leading up.

Guard my cart until I return.

With that he started walking down the pitch black tunnel under the outskirts of the city. The shadows around him told him the way and kept him from falling down.

I wonder how Kehvyn is doing right now. He said to himself as he walked.

Aleran didn't know what to do. Couldn't hear, see, move, talk. There was only one thing he hadn't tried...

"Fire"


He didn't know what good it would do. At least it might alert people to his presence. There was no way of knowing if Aleran could use his magic while in this state, but he tried anyway.

He turned the heat up and the flames on, praying that this would somehow get him free.

Kehvyn shook Aleran's body, but nothing happened.

What the hell did that bitch do, other than steal 700gp?

As a last resort Kehvyn sent a bast of energy into Aleran's body, and tried healing him.

NINJAGEEK walked for quite a while through the cave. Finally he hit a point where the walls were smooth and even and the smell was moderately bad. He made a mental note not to fall down and kept walking at a slightly slower pace.

I wonder how Kehvyn is doing in the city?

Aleran awoke with a jerk. Sensory overload! He could hear people screaming, smell a horse's ass, and feel himself flying through the air. He opened his eyes to see where he was, and promptly wished he hadn't. A blinding white light filled his vision, then everything went black. The blinding white had done just that, blinded him.

With a start, Aleran realized he had been channeling white flames, and when his body was revived and reconnected with his soul those white flames popped into existence. He turned off the heat and stayed on the ground, trying to figure out where he was, what was happening, and what he should do next. The molten rock around him solidified, leaving him half buried in stone (he had turned the road to magma when he landed on it). He looked up at where the sky should be, but could see nothing; only darkness remained.

NINJAGEEK was still trudging through what he assumed was shit. The sewer pipe just kept on going and the water level was slowly getting a little higher. When it hit the point where he was starting to get worried about it the pipe started to go upwards and the water level thinned down.

Finally I might be getting out of this sewer.

He then almost ran directly into a ladder leading up. He mounted the ladder and started to climb.

Kehvyn ran over to his friend.

Aleran! Aleran, all you all right?

He tried pulling him from the rock, but to no avail.

You need help getting out? Or can you do it?