Diamond in the rough

With a heavy sigh to match the stale rushing wind in the alley, Gallager steps out of the Castille Magic Shop. Running his right hand through his thick brown hair, he glances up and down the street. Everywhere he looks, there are signs of poverty, disease, famine and depression.

"I wonder how many generations will suffer through life like this for the sins of our fathers..." Gallager thought to himself out loud. He was not born into a time of faith in the gods and a bright hope for the future. No, he had been born into a time where man was nigh extinction and the glory of human heritage was now a mockery spat upon by other races. "...perhaps the gods are merely waiting for us to remember them before they remember us?"

Shaking his head slowly, he stepped down from the doorway and used his twisted, poorly made Apprentice Staff as a mock walking stick (for he didn't need one) as he made his way further up the street towards the church. ^"Church" such an odd name for a building with no gods.^ As he passed by the various altars dedicated to aspects of life, he mused within himself whether these same altars were once dedicated to the gods...^No wonder they're angry with us...^

As he approaches the large stone doors of the church, Gallager takes a heavy breath and shoves them open. The Seer sat in his usual meditation hall and patiently greeted him as he approached.

"Your holiness, my name is Gallager Ministrev. I'd like to ask you some questions about the past, if I could?" The Seer looked him over with an expert eye of appraisal.

"Knowledge is not free. First, you must prove that you are worthy to have it." The Seer replied casually.

^As expected, nothing is free in this realm.^ Adjusting his stance a bit and positioning his twisted staff against his left shoulder, Gallager drew out a small book of blank parchment and a worn quill. "Alright, what would you have me do?"

Again the Seer looked him over and with an exhale that sounded like a mix between a grunt and a sigh, "You must gather reagents for sacrifice upon the altars. The test is two-fold. First, in the gathering you prove your mettle. Second, in the sacrifice of your reagents you prove your devotion. Now go."

Gallager stared at the Seer blankly. ^Seriously? You want me to go kill something and drag it back here in order to ask about the past?^ "What exactly are you looking for?"

With a cold chuckle, the Seer smiled to the young human male. "You must bring me the teeth of rats as prove of your accomplishment, we will discuss the details further beyond that."

"Rats?" Gallager asked incredulously.

The Seer gave no answer and returned to his meditations.

"Rats." With a nod lacking in enthusiasm, Gallager stepped out of the church into the newly arrived rain. "Rain and rats."

Pulling his hood over his hair to offer minimal protection from the rain, Gallager stepped out of the church and into the courtyard. He was not at all pleased with the progression of the conversation, if it could be called a conversation. There is nothing wrong with wanting to prevent knowledge from falling into the wrong hands, but how in the pits of Hell is slaying rats supposed to prove anything? Besides, he hated rats...really hated rats.

Passing back through the main street, he glanced around him as he often did. The scenery changes slightly in the rain, most people clear the streets, seeking shelter under a pavilion or visor. Some of the more flavorful people would have magical rain shields or simply stand in the rain anyways. Gallager walked with his head lowered, his twisted apprentice staff clinking against the broken stone pavement beneath his feet. This day had not gone as planned so far and he really doubted it was going to get any better.

While the rain continues to fall, painting the sky a dark gray and lending a new level of dreariness to the dull gray of Castille, the young Enchanter wanders through the streets of the city towards the docks. Or rather, the abandoned docks since they weren't used for trading anymore.

^It would figure it would be raining, I doubt I'll find any rats at all in the rain. Perhaps I should be thankful....^ It wasn't hard to find the docks, Gallager had been living in Castille his whole life. His father was a craftsman, fond of swords and pretty good with both making and using them. His mother was a priestess. Of course, none of that mattered now, they had both been slain when Gallager was just hitting his teenage years. Decided they would try and make it west to Fenelia and never returned.

Thoughts of his family seeped into Gallager's mind from time to time and his emotions never knew how to react. Sometimes he was angry, sometimes homesick, sometimes simply saddened and other times, thankful he was not with them. Thump! Ah, that was the sound of wood on wood. He had arrived at the docks.

[USAViper2127]

so, he dies by the ship rat, doesn't he?? lol

(Please keep OOC talk within parenthesis, thanks!)

Pulling the now soaked hood down, Gallager ran his eyes over the scene of the docks. Most of them were in ill repair, wood chipped at the ends, splinters begging for the unwary body part to pass over them so they could plunge into it. The water crashed along the docks in the storm, small waves breaking over the man-made barriers and splashing back into the depths through the cracks. In the distance was a half-dressed man trying to fish in the rain, several empty rum bottles lay around him.

Gallager tightened his grip around the twisted staff in his hands and took a step towards the end of the pier he was on. He was so busy murmuring to himself about this ridiculous "quest" that he almost didn't notice the rat scurry across the docks to some unknown destination. Almost.

The very sight of the little rodent caused Gallager to stop in his tracks. The little buggers were more trouble then their worth.

"It's you and me, rodent." He said more to himself than the oblivious rat. Casually, he reached his right hand down towards a pouch on his hip and pulled out a polished gem. Right as he looked up, the rat rushed straight at him and bit him on the shin. "What in the blazes?! Vile vermin!" He had to admit that he had not expected it to attack him!

With a slight grunt, Gallager whirled the twisted staff towards the rat and walloped it right over the head, sending it toppling backwards. As it tried to recover from the blow, he then drew the magic from the gem in his hand and focused it on the rat. A bright burst of gray-white energy slammed into the rat, which promptly collapsed lifeless on the pier.

"Rats."

Gallager wiped his right hand on his robes as if brushing something disgusting from it. The light gray from the magic blast fading into non-existence as he did so. Taking up his twisted staff once more, he walked towards the corpse of the rat and grimaced in pure distaste as he spotted the rotting teeth jutting forth from its open jaw.

Gallager had been trained in the use of spiritual and physical reagents as he studied his profession of Enchanting, but that didn't make certain aspects of it any more appealing. "This had better be worth it..."

Even as he knelt down, drawing a knife from his side to cut the teeth from the creature, movement to his side caught his eye. Glancing over, he noticed another rat coming his way and the fisherman had stood up, taking another sip from his bottle. Setting the knife back in its place, Gallager stood up and prepared for the next kill.

Withdrawing his hand from the hilt of the knife, Gallager stands to get ready and drags the fingers of his right hand towards the gem pouch at his side. The oversized and now apparently angry rat lunged teeth first at him and bit into his right forearm.

"Bloody Hells!" A mostly subconscious response to the sudden stab of pain in his arm as he swung it outward, hurling the rat from it. As if taunting the man, the rat landed soundly on its feet and its dark eyes stared menacingly at the human before it. Finishing what he started, Gallager drew a gem from his pouch and drained the magic from it, hurling another bolt of grey magic into the torso of the rat.

In retaliation, the vile beast leaped forward again but was soundly planted into the docks by the staff in Gallager's hands, a loud crack of bone heard as the creature made contact with the solid wood and went limp. Taking a brief moment to inspect the bite on his arm, Gallager glanced up just in time to see the clenched, dark-skinned fist of an angry, drunken fisherman slam into his face.

The impact of fist to face sent Gallager toppling backwards. Falling to his back, rolling sideways to his stomach and pulling himself back to his feet quickly, he brought his right hand to tenderly cover his bleeding nose and locked sapphire colored eyes on fisherman.

"Yoush in mah waysh ta tha schity." The fisherman slurred, holding up an empty whiskey bottle.

Gallager found himself getting grievously angry over being struck for the idiocies and addiction of an alcoholic bum. "I don't suppose you've ever heard of asking someone to move, hm?" his hand muffled his voice a bit, so he spoke as clearly as possible.

The fisherman simply shook his head slowly and tossed the empty glass bottle over his shoulder, letting it shatter on the planks behind him. His other hand had been gripping a wooden fishing pole with the string missing so it was more of a shaped stick than a fishing pole. The fisherman gripped his hands around the base like a bat and his lips curled into a mischievous smirk.

"Yoush shtill in mah way...."

Gallager wiped the blood from his nose and upper lip, fixing a gem into the head of his staff for permanent use. ^All the monsters in the world and humans will still fight humans....^ Gallager opened his mouth to speak but was abruptly interrupted by the crack of the wooden fishing pole against his jaw.

With a sharp sting of pain followed by a burning in his lower jaw, Gallager toppled onto the wooden planks again and slowly pulled himself up. The pain in his jaw begged him not to open his mouth, but he was headstrong and determined...for better or for worse. "We really don't need to -"

CRACK!

Another solid impact of wood against jaw as Gallager spun to the side and planted his staff into the plank to keep from falling yet again. There was no more stinging, no more burning...his jaw was numb and his thoughts faded into emotion. Faded into anger and aggression.

His eyes narrowed.

His hands tightened around the staff.

His jaw subconsciously clenched.

His feet readied.

His muscles tensed.

The fisherman smirked.

THWACK!

The fisherman's stick cracked against Gallager's armor-less thigh, sending a stinging sensation and a sinking regret straight through his body. He clenched his jaw and tipped the head of his staff toward the fisherman as a crackling bolt of grey energy leaped forth from the inset gem and smashed into the fisherman's chest with a small explosion.

The fisherman barely blinked at the impact and spun on one heel, the stick in his hands whipped around with him and swung straight at Gallager with extra force due to the velocity. Thinking quickly, Gallager brought both hands to his staff and held it vertically out, intersecting the path of the stick and saving him from a horrible beating.

No sooner had he blocked the stick than a dark-skinned fist slammed into his jaw from slightly behind him, staggering him forward and causing his head to tilt downward just a bit. The fisherman took a single step forward, positioning one leg behind Gallager's legs and brought the hand that punched Gallager back up for a solid backhand across the jaw.

Gallager's head whipped up at the impact, his body tried to stagger backward to compensate but tripped over the fisherman's leg and Gallager toppled helplessly onto othe docks. The rain trickled against his skin, washing the stream of blood from his mouth and nose as everything faded to black.

The light hazily broke through the overwhelming darkness as Gallager slowly came to his senses. A quick glance around revealed that he was right where he had been left, on the docks. With a wince of pain and a concentrated effort he rolled over and pulled himself back to his feet. His collecting of his thoughts and awareness were interrupted by the sound of hissing.

Glancing to his surroundings a bit more warily now, he noticed a congregation of rats had gathered while he recovered and were now eagerly awaiting their turn to beat him senseless. ^Alright, fine. Let's dance.^

The first and largest rat decided it was time to attack and lunged straight for Gallager but was abruptly halted by a forceful crack of a wooden staff against its cranium. The rat crashed into the wooden planks, crushed between the force of the blow and the solidity of the pier. Gallager straightened his stance, wiped his mouth with his left hand and turned his gaze on the rest of his opponents.

The gem at the head of his staff started to glow faintly.

(mind if I join in? I've posted on the social group and the main page, but I didn't get any answers...)