Stranglethorn Vale

Elsie furrowed her brow.
“Wh-what..?” She looked over the small goblin, now realizing what she was dealing with. The sound of the bear startled her momentarily until she realized it was carrying.... fireworks. She took a moment to straighten out the situation. This was by far the strangest day she’d ever had.

The feeling of her brother moving brought her back around.
When he sat, she finally had a moment to see the extent of the damage to him. Honestly, she didn’t know how he was still alive, let alone moving. It might have seemed cliché, but the only thing she could think to do was rip at the skirt of her dress and try to bandage him up as best she could. She knelt behind him, a hand on the small of his back as she looked around him counting out scrapes, lacerations, punctures and general bleeding-must-be-bad spots.

She didn’t know first aide at all… but she had read stories about combat medics and priests. Stopping the bleeding first, right? Or was it…set…bones.. or… She quirked an eyebrow as her hand passed over a HOLE… She ducked her head around to look at the front of him. It went straight THROUGH… Sweet sen’jin was that an arrow hole?! Yeaaah maybe she should do something about THAT first…

Elsie stopped counting when her brother spoke to the goblin.
“Wait… THAT WAS YOU?! You shot the rocket!!”
She ducked her head, a little frightened of the bear as it stood.
After realizing it meant them no harm, she set into her first aide work.

She held a strip of the stained linen to the arrow hole, turning it this way and that trying to figure out how to wrap the bloody thing. She started to wrap his shoulder arrow wound with a long piece of fabric. Around his shoulder and under his arm.
Then she saw the slash on his chest. Elsie paled. She wanted to touch it, but didn’t. It reminded her of those pranks Tuli would play with the tomato sauce… Maybe that one should have been first? Or his hand?
“I don’t….. know what I’m doing…. We need to get you to Booty Bay, Tai.”

Gipnig frowned as the “Tai”, (which he'd gathered was the older troll) faltered. He could see the berserker rage, or, magic rush, or whatever it was that had kept him going leaving. Apparently Gipnig wouldn't be getting paid by anyone today. 'the things I do for the sake of conscience' he thought.

“Aye, that was mah, rocket,” he said absently as he stepped up to help. “No need to thank me,” he added, still feeling rather proud about how his rocket had turned out, despite the dire looking injuries. He was a troll after all and Gipnig always tended to think of them as being indestructible since what could kill a goblin was little more then a scraped knee to them. Bending over he tried to inspect Tai's wounds through Elly's fluttering fingers. He didn't know much of healing beyond what he'd gotten from the Horde medics, which was basically 'drink this potion and if you can keep walking you're fine.'

“He should make it to Booty Bay” Gipnig answered Elly. “There's some healing potions around, Ah think ol' modlywarts there,” he motioned to the bloody, hacked up chief troll “bought some off the last trader.” He gently poked at the slashes and arrow wound on Tai's chest. “else-why's we might have to burn these, ah don't know if they'll take stitches. haven't done nothing' like this without a healer before.”

He turned and left Elly with her dazed friend and scuttled towards the Cheif's hut, calling over his shoulder. “Berny, you keep a sharp eye!” Gipnig didn't want any more raptors to show up and have a sudden craving for goblin lunch.

Berny acknowledged him with a snort and then fell back down on all fours. He looked down at Tai, and then up at Elly with a pair of mournful eyes, and made a questioning noise.

Taizen could barely move a muscle as he let Elsie patch him up. He nearly fainted a few times, but somehow managed to stay conscious for the most part. With most of his body covered in what Elsie could scavenge to stop the bleeding, he sat there, motionless except for the slow rising and falling of his chest. Everything hurt too much to move.

"Did that Goblin actualleh do what he said he did?", Taizen said, his voice was quite strained though.

He watched the Goblin walk away, not sure what to think about the situation. He looked around at all the dead bodies, the men, women, and children. They would all have to be offered up to the Loa in sacrifice, as per the agreement. It desired the flesh of mortals and Zenosi said he would deliver it. He chastised himself for what he'd done, it was foolhardy and stupid. But, he looked up to his sister and thought that given the chance he'd do the same thing again.

"I'm glad you be okeh Elly.", he tried to make it sound offhanded. Maybe he was getting soft.

Elsie couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Yeah… I guess…” The goblin was strange.. Besides that Elsie didn’t really think health potions worked. Probably some gimmick made up to get you to buy more. Sure, it took a while but we trolls regenerate… right?

She was just finishing up wrapping the arrow hole in his hand. But it was when he said he was glad she was okay she lost it again. Forgetting herself, she hugged him hard. Her tears fell into his hair as she held him.

“I love you SO MUCH you big dummy!”
She kissed his head, then suddenly remembering she let go of him.
“Sorry!....And don't call me Elly" She fake swatted at him. "Makes me sound like an elephant."

She checked him over to make sure he’s okay. She sat back on her heels, looking around the camp. She wiped the tears from her face and let out a sigh.
“What happened here anyways? I saw raptors…But…” She looked back at her brother.
“How did you get back to camp?”

Gipnig slipped into the chief's tent and immediately started scavenging. He could barely hold back his glee at what he found hidden under the furs and tarps. There were bits and bobs enough to satisfy even the most greedy squirrel, or a very poor goblin. Same principle. Gipnig felt quite comfortable about the fact he loved hoarding random objects. He turned a bone whistle up-side down and looked up into it, checking for spiders. He was not, however having much luck finding any potions. He had to wonder if the chief had drunk them all thinking they were wine at some point, he had been the type to do something like that.

Finally, hidden under a rag with stains Gipnig did not want to think closely about, he found a half empty bottle of red liquid. He uncorked it and sniffed first (just to check it wasn't rum). By the smell he'd say it was a minor healing potion. He didn't know if it would do Tai much good, as Gipnig was far from an expert on trolls, but if Gipnig was bleeding from as a many places as Tai was he'd certainly want a potion. And if Tai didn't need, or want it, well, more for Gipnig in the future. He smirked and tiptoed out of the hut again, carefully hiding the whistle and his other treasures (which included a half peanut) inside his leathers.

His ears perked up when he got back to the trolls, coming in on the tail end of Elly's question. He was also keen to know what happened. He'd only seen the very end after all. Although he'd assumed Tai must be a very powerful shaman, since it looked like a bomb had gone off well before Gipnig arrived.

He dropped the potion bottle on Tai's stomach and crouched down to listen.

Taizen looked down at the potion and give the small Goblin a grin. Or at least it kinda looked like a grin, his face was a pretty damaged. Taking the bottle he took a long gulp of whatever was left in the potion. It tasted terrible, but it wasn't any worse than what his father had given him every so often. After a few moments, he felt much better. Not quite his wounds, but his spirit seemed higher and he had more energy. Somewhat rejuvenated he told them what he was willing to share at the moment.

"Well, ah escaped..", he recounted up until before he'd made the deal with the Loa God, deciding that it was a detail he could leave out. Instead inserting a lie about luring a pack of hungry raptors to the site. It was a bold faced lie, but he wasn't about to tell his little sister he'd stricken a foolhardy deal with a bloodthirsty God who could tear his mortal soul from him if he refused to full fill his side of the bargain.

Elsie idly pet her brother’s head as she stood and looked around.
“Yeah… but I saw raptors…” She looked, but didn’t really see anything. Not even the raptor who had her suitcase.

“Oh!” She walked over to where all her things had spilled out earlier. “Ugh…” She tossed her head back in disappointment. Leaning over, she picked up a few of her garments. Most of them were covered in mud. She let out a sigh. Gathering up a few salvageable things, she returned to the other two. She set the pile down by Tai and went to retrieve the dropped Dal’Rends.

“Oh man… Dad’s gonna kill me.”

She looked over the blades, dried blood speckled them. Had she really just killed a guy? A few? It was like a weird dream. She rubbed the flat of one of the blades against the filthy dress on her thigh. Good enough for now. Tucking them both under her arms she walked back over to the goblin and Tai.

“Hi… My name’s Elsie. This is my brother Taizen. I dunno if we would have made it out of there without your help. W-what was your name again?”

She stood behind her brother, hands on his shoulders.

“Come on Super Troll… It’s been a long night. Lets get out of here..” She bent and grabbed him under the arms trying to lift him up.

Gipnig listened to rapt attention to the tale, and grinned when the raptors were explained. You had to admire someone who could tame a dozen raptors. He was wondering if Tai had any training as a hunter, when Elly came back and Gipnig's eyes widened when she put down a pile of garments.

So many pretty things! His fingers were itching, and when Elly turned away to clean her blades Gipnig reached out toward the pile without thinking. Curious, he to took hold of a lacy top and held up to himself, admiring the crochet work. Very nice, very delicate. He wondered if he could get a suit made out of something like this.

He looked up, blushing bright green when Elly came back and introduced herself. He quickly dropped the garment and made himself busy adjusting the straps on Berny's luggage bags.

“Ah'm Gipnig,” he growled back, answering her and mentally readjusting the troll names. Elly was Elsie, and Tai was Taizen, ah well he'd been close enough.

“Berny can carry your friend a ways,” Gipnig offered, patting the bears side while Berny heaved an almighty sigh, and looked very martyrish. “You two are heading for Booty Bay?”

Taizen watched with a bemused look on his face as the Goblin poked around Elsie's things. He'd always found Goblins were fascinating creatures, and often spent time watching them when he had nothing better to do. This one was proving no less entertaining. With Elsie's help he found his feet again, feeling tired, but knowing what he had to do now.

"Ah...well yah we should be leavin, but ah gotta do somethin' first.", he said as he shuffled along toward some of the bodies. Grabbing on he started to pull them into the center of the camp.

"It's jus' yah know somethin' thats gotta be done.", he murmured trying not to give too much away.

“What?! Are we going to bury those barbarian excuses for living beings?!”

Elsie’s eyes wanted to bug out of her head. She marched after her brother grabbing him by the wrist.

“Just leave them, Tai. They don’t’ deserve any better…” She looked over her shoulder in disdain.

“Let’s just go…”
Elsie couldn't imagine touching them, let alone being civil. She'd much rather let the wild animals devour them.

He gave Elsie a mournful look, it betrayed his true feelings. He wanted to leave this place as much as her, but this had to be done. It was an imperative to him, unless he wanted to forfeit his soul. He gently pushed Elsie's hand away and continued to drag the bodies into the center of the camp. It was a slow process because he was weak, though he kept on doing it.

"I jus'.....it's gotta be done Elly. Yah can help meh or not, but I gotta do this.", his voice was sad and low.

She rolled her eyes. She thinks he might feel differently if… well. She was better than that. If it was important to him, then fine. She didn’t get it… but fine.
She grabbed the legs of a small troll, probably a child.

She didn’t feel remorse… Nothing. There was too much hatred. She dragged the body towards the center of camp, where her brother had taken the others. She dropped the legs casually, not giving a second glance.
She looked towards her brother.

“Don’t call me Elly…”

She went to grab the next body.

Gipnig watched from a distance as Taizen started dragging bodies, and Elsie went after him. He wasn’t sure what Taizen was planning to do with the bodies, but his instincts told him to stay out of it. It was never a good idea to get between arguing trolls.

With a small sniff, Gipnig started poking at the bodies Taizen hadn’t pulled away yet, discreetly going through their clothes and checking pockets.

You could find amazing things on dead bodies.

When the bodies were all in one large heap in the middle of the camp, Taizen walked around to make sure that there were no stragglers that he'd missed. Once he was sure of himself, he walked solemnly to the pile and pulled out four shrunken heads he'd hid in his belt packs. Finding long sturdy sticks from the camp he impaled them all around the pile in the four cardinal directions. And on these sticks he stuck the heads atop them.

"Stay cleah.", he muttered to the others backing up and sitting just outside the prepared area.

Reaching up to the nearest body he set it alight with a puff of flame that manifested from his finger. The body caught alight, but it wasn't burning very well. Most bodies are resistant to the flame and it takes a good bit of umph to send one alight. But, that was not his intent, he was simply starting the ritual.

He closed his eyes, and spoke once again to the Loa. He offered the sacrifice to it, to sate its blood thirst and full fill his own part of the bargain. It took a long moment before the four sticks set around the pile began to vibrate violently. The shrunken heads opened their mouths, a low rumbling almost inaudible to the ear echoed through the camp, and the fire spread. It quickly engulfed the bodies, going from a lowly spark to a huge blaze that was almost unbearable to look at.

Taizen was sweating, simply communicating with the Loa was terrifying, especially now that he was thinking straight. Finally he dared to open his eyes and see the sacrifice be accepted, between the roaring of the flames, he swore he could hear screaming. He'd damned the entire villages' souls to be consumed by a Primal God. And he wasn't sure he felt too bad about it.

Laboriously standing, he turned to his sister and the Goblin, "Lets go."

Elise stepped back when instructed. Curiosity burned at her. She didn’t dare question Taizen, though. She watched on, entranced by what her brother was doing. She didn’t really understand but she had a good idea that her brother was into some freaky shit. And that was as far as the thought went. She turned her back when the flames erupted. The heat was enough to burn her if she stood any closer.

Elsie brought two hands up to her face and pushed her hair back. It was sticky with blood and sweat. Her thoughts drifted to getting back on the road to Booty Bay. She didn’t know where it was… or how long it would take them to get there. But she’d be damned herself before she got on another raptor.

She hadn’t even stopped to consider the notion of what else was out there on the road. But she couldn’t help but feel a little bit more ready to take on… whatever. Besides that the bear would be a good deterrent.

Elsie turned back to her brother when he said “let’s go” She shielded her eyes from the flames. She had never really seen her brother like this. She could admit that she often thought of him as more of a little brother. She had always been able to take him down when they would play fight. He was a few years older, sure. But she had yet to see him as an adult. Closing her eyes she still pictured him as the same skinny little boy she built blanket forts with. But something about him seemed a lot different now. In fact she nearly had respect for him the way he walked now. She held her hand out to her brother.

“Yeah. I’m all for that…”

She tossed her hair back and looked over to he goblin.

“Come on, Giples. You comin’?”

Gipnig watched the flames, mesmerized. He'd stopped looting when Taizen took the last body and added it the pyre. Then he'd ducked behind Elsie when warned to stay clear.

He felt a brief moment of regret as he watched the bodies catch fire. He had after all traded here. He had not liked the trolls Taizen and Elsie so methodically annihilated. He'd had his own harassments and beatings at their hands; when they wanted something and he didn't have it. He'd often wondered why he kept coming back, but every time his pockets grew empty he would tread the old path back here again, and again. Because mean and stupid went together with this village. They'd buy anything, even a rock he picked up on the side of the road if he told them it was priceless. They liked to have, and own, and they snatched anything they could. Gipnig supposed he'd have to find another village of idiots now. Still, they didn't all deserve such a gruesome fate. Gipnig squinted past the flames at the burning face of a troll child. He sighed and turned away. He didn't pray, and somehow, he doubted they would be hearing prayers anyways.

“Ah'm coming” Gipnig said, when Elsie called him, ignoring the butchering of his name. He was, frankly, used to it. So long as no one was making 'gimpy' jokes it was par for the course. He limped after the trolls, sparing one last look behind him at the burning pile of faces and limbs. Then he shook his head and limped on. It was life, shit happens.

He reached Berny, who was hunkered down some ways away eyeing the open flame with a suspicious glower, and clambered up the bear's side. He straddled Berny's head and gave him a nudge with his knees, turning the bear around and out of the village, towards Booty Bay. He settled in for a long ride, arms crossed over the crown of Berny's head and watching the two trolls ahead of him with a wary smirk.

Something told him his life was about to get very interesting. He hoped he survived it.

Taizen limped along the whole way, which slowed them down considerably. Luckily they were able to find the path with the help of Gipnig and his bear making their trip a little easier to bear. The entire way there it seemed as if the jungle itself wanted nothing to do with them. They hardly saw anything bigger than a dragonfly, and even the humid breezes came few and far between. Taizen looked quite paranoid, darting his eyes back and forth every few moments.

He was nervous, what he'd done was starting to weigh on him more than his wounds. He had doubts, yet he wasn't sure if he regretted what he did. What if he hadn't done it? What would have became of Elsie?

His worries were forgotten when they arrived at the familiar cavernous entrance of Booty Bay, the two Goblin Bruisers barely batting an eye at the state of the group. They had seen worse traveler's in their line of work. For some reason Taizen found the silence of the cavern mind numbing. Emerging out of the other side, Booty Bay was the same way the left it.

A salty breeze, a throng of travelers, and the familiar shouts and calls of the various shops in the bustling port.

"Finally.", he muttered.

((This storyline continues in the Booty Bay thread))

Dinendal and his brewfest kodo (('08)) ran swiftly northward, following the main path. He gave a soft sigh in recollection of the misgivings, to the things he'd just said to Clem in front of everyone, except of course the curious family. He held no guilt over what he'd said to the drunken human, but he did regret losing his temper and smashing the door like he had. He'd broken a knuckle or two in that fit of rage, go figure.

The path moved northward for some time, trees and shrubs rushing by Din as he urged the great horde beast on. After some time a path emerged on the right, a few men walking around just beyond the main stretch. The Kodo let out a great ear piercing roar as Dead urged it into the camps of the Bloodsail Pirates. The paths between Deadlyte and the few watchmen closed rapidly, Din already having pulled his shield and axe from their respective locations, lined up the first man.

"FOR ELUNE!" and then as the kodo suddenly ran beside the man, Dinendal leapt from the great beast and flew through the air at the pirate, the gap between them fast closing. Dead smashed into the man head long, no second thought as the two went down. The much larger, much heavier Din crushing the breath from the mans lungs.

"Bleedin' hell!?" Another watchman screamed and jumped up, ready to rip the Nelf from the pirate but stopped short when Deadlyte glared at him suddenly, standing over the paling body of the human. Blood ebbing from the pirates chest as a great axe wound just continued to ooze the life essence.

"Aye! COME THEN!" Din roared his eyes blood red even through the goggles! Before the human could turn to run (He'd started to..) Dinendal had closed the gap instantly. The man stunned from sheer terror (Charge?) suddenly felt the blade of cold steel rip through his hip and quickly upward, lodging in his midsection.. Deadlyte had opted to not waste time..He ripped the axe away as the figure collapsed into a heap, broken.


The alarms began to sound around him.. "I suppose I was a bit loud.." He grinned and kept his weapon out, walking toward the next camp..

Din made his way toward the main portion of the camps, where he'd find the most supplies. On the way, he met the most resistance though. Dinendal just went on, hacking, slashing, and bashing human after human out of the way. The occasional shadow bolt glanced against his armor and went sputtering off in a random direction. When Deadlyte did catch a bolt coming at him, it seemed to bounce back at the caster..

"COME ON! Someone gimme somethin' ta work toward!" He began to race on, gaining speed. His axe came across a mans stomach tearing it open. He continued on, spinning toward another man, as he did, the axe whipped around, the spike in the back slamming into the humans temple. His eyes rolled back and he fell..the tip was pulled free from the mans head; blood splatter hit Dinendal's armor like a grim warning.

And still the Nelf continued, so far alone. Another warlock hit him with a shadow bolt, Dead didn't care! He hurled his large axe at a charging man and watched it land clean in his chest, sticking from it, he then hefted the large shotgun ((engineering tanking gun which suddenly escapes me..)) and aimed at the warlock, who's eyes went wide, skin blanched, and robes dampened. "'ave some dignity friend!" Deadlyte bellowed, then squeezed the trigger.

"BOOM"

Dinendal snorted... All the pirates knew now. He was still a ways off from the camp. The lock lay on the ground, unmoving and clearly gone from this world, his face filled with hot saronite. Din walked over to the man with the bleeding axe wound. "I..I..I" The man was still alive, though he shouldn't be, and clearly in shock. Din sighed. "'Ave the sense to just die quickly, mate." He frowned then brought the bottom tip of his shield down into the mans face, ending his suffering all together. He ripped the axe up and wiped the blood off on the mans trousers.

And still, Din continued on.