The Bandits of Tamith (lights_shadow)

[mrblah]

Name: Marantha

Age: 18

Appearance:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Species: Tiefling

Personality: Happy and cheery, for the most part, and extremely driven to succeed in everything she attempts. Most people that know her well would call her a perfectionist but ib reality she just has obscenely high standards for herself and expects the same of others too.

History: Marantha was born into what would pass for a minor noble family in their little village, being somewhat related to the chief's. However a secret they thought they'd burried long alog, that their ancestors consorted with imfernal and abysal beings surfaced in the young girl.

The tail was easy to hide at first but the glowing eye wasn't. As she grew so did her affinity with fire which made the village rumour mungers speculate wildly about why fires would seem to dance if she looked at it. Once she hit her teens the horns grew in, which turned speculations more towards her parentage than how her gift worked.

Stats
Strength:2
Speed:8
Intelligence:15
Charisma:15

HP: 16
MP: 20

Inventory: Empty.

Spells: Wisps [Use 2 points of your MP to redirect a few wisps of a nearby flame. It's a bit of a parlor trick, but can be used to distract, and if used to harm; deals minor damage.]

Skills: None.

Prologue

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

On a bright sunny day in the peaceful lands of Tamith, a village stood in the plains. It was a humble one on the outskirts of the country, near the border between it and Lubia. This village was named Tethyr, and had about 500 or so people living in it. They lived happily, under the peaceful times that their nation had enjoyed since the end of the Great War 2,000 years ago. Because of this, the Kingom of Tamith hadn't been sufficiently prepared for anything more threatening than your average monster or small band of bandits.

And that was why Tamith was in disarray. A large bandit group, at least numbering in the 100s, suddenly appeared and attacked the home of a Duke. His guards, though trained for battle, had never had the experience in a life-or-death situation. It was a slaughter, and the only ones who survived were the ones stolen from the Duke, who was left to tell the tale. The Wolfbloods, they called themselves. A group of vicious savages with a surprising measure of skill in strategy. They'd overwhelm smaller opponents, cause chaos and panic among larger enemies, and swiftly pick them off one by one in quick attacks. They were a true threat to the peace, and the Kingdom of Tamith knew it.

And it was on this bright day that the small village of Tethyr would, in a bad stroke of luck, be visited by the country's new boogeymen. It was a random raid that they couldn't defend well enough against. Most of the villagers weren't combatants, and the ones that had SOME measure of experience were simply outclassed and overwhelmed. In no time at all, did Tethyr fall to the power of The Wolfbloods, and the survivors were left to be tallied up and examined.

It's here that the story begins, with a Tiefling named Marantha, in a room with the leader of The Wolfbloods. Her clothes were ripped nearly to shreds, and she had a few wounds when she had tried to escape from a bandit who caught her. But she had her life, and that's the most that can really be said in this situation.

The bandit leader sat in his chair, staring at Marantha, his arms crossed and his disposition showcasing his apathy. He didn't look like what he was. Which is to say, he didn't look like a bandit. He clearly groomed himself well, and the clothing he wore was fine-tailored. A man like him surely was in a comfortable enough position to NOT resort to banditry... for a minute, nothing was spoken, with the only thing disturbing the silence being the man's humming. The tune sounded like the kind you'd sing to a child, but it was one Marantha had never heard before. After a while of this, he completed his humming, and silence once again made itself present in the room.

Until he broke it again. "I believe it's polite to get introductions out of the way, first. My name is Rolt Royson, and I'm the leader of The Wolfbloods. I'm the person you have five minutes to impress. Now, to start with; who are you?" He spoke in a deep and smooth voice, his eyes analyzing Marantha with a cold look.

The room the two were in was simply a large tent. It was sparsely decorated, with only two chairs on one side of the man's desk, one on his side, and a dresser off to the left. The desk between them had a banner covering it, depicting a snarling wolf with blood on its nose, and a knife in its eye. Marantha recognized this as The Wolfbloods' signature banner. They'd raise it during their raids to alert their enemy, probably for pride reasons.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Rolt Royson

[lights_shadow]

Marantha waits patiently in front of the bandit leader, unsure where to look with her green eye untill the man speaks. She nods, wringing her tail due to nerves. "I... I'm Marantha... I... Ummm..." She recovers enough of her composure to stand upright. "I'm here because I want to join you the Wolfbloods." She declares almost as if it's the batural choice to make and gives him a bright smile which showcases her abnormally sharp teeth.

[mrblah]

He didn't bat an eye as he responded. "Well, that's a given. You understand that there's only two ways this can go. You're smart to at least try to choose this one, something that can't be said for the rest of your village." He casually said this in an offhanded way, as if he hadn't cared about what he'd done. "Next question. What can you offer to us? Every member of my group is a trained killer, capable of fierce combat. I won't take any useless stragglers, so you should at least be prepared to fight. If you absolutely can't manage that, then you better heal. If you can't do that, then you're tending to whatever else is required of you."

[lights_shadow]

She nods to his words, holding resentment towards her village as a whole and the missguided resentment for her family for keeping her locked up indoors forthe past eight years.

"Smart, yes. Good at talking so extortion and intimidation... As for fighting... I have a little control over fire... I can work in that." She tilts her head to the left, unsure if that would sway the man or not.

[mrblah]

He waited for a bit, scrutinizing her under his glare... before a small, nearly imperceptible smirk appeared on his face, before it disappeared so quickly, Marantha wondered if she had really seen anything at all. "Fire, huh... then, last question." He leaned forward, his disinterested gaze suddenly sharpening in intensity, "What are you willing to sacrifice to survive? An arm? A leg? ... Maybe, even a friend?"

[lights_shadow]

She keeps her head inclined to the left as she continues in her attempt to read him and switches it to leaning towards the right at the breif smirk. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps he knew how to further her powers or maybe was planning where to put her.

She mulled his question for a second then met his gaze with her green eye, her crimsom glowing eye flickering and dancing like flame. "A friend? If they couldn't hold themself up or haven't showed myself such kindness then they will fall behind. If you're actually asking if I'd sacrifice another so the I may live then yes, everyone that was in my village. As for a limb..." She pauses and smiles. "I'm a little... Attached to them." She giggles at her own bad joke.

[mrblah]

He hadn't seemed amused by Marantha's joke, with not even a chuckle rising from him, nor a snort. "A little cold, don't you think?" Rolt finally said, after another few minutes of silence. Before she could reply in any way, he suddenly stood up, and walked over to her. He leaned against his desk, arms crossed and eyes firmly on her, as seems to be his usual. "I'll be honest. You seem like you'd probably be more trouble than you're worth. Your fire magic wouldn't hold a candle to even the little bit of my own magic, and diplomacy isn't exactly our focus... but you have potential, more so than most who want to join my band of merry men. So, congratulations, you're going to live."

After saying this, he gestured for her to stand up, before he continued. "You will, from now, refer to me as Captain. Your job, from now, will be decided after your tour of the place. And you will be, from now, the subordinate to one Serrin Sunfield, our resident archer. If you have any questions, speak them now. I'm a busy man, so you often won't get to talk to me."

[lights_shadow]

She furrows her brow at his comment but didn't get the time to explain so closed her mouth. She nodded and stood up with a delighted squeak that she's going to survive. "Thank you, Captain." She didn't say more since she wanted to distance herself from the less desirable people who wanted join. She straightened out her dress and followed him for the tour of the camp.

[mrblah]

He led her outside of his tent, reacquainting the both of them with the camp's scenery. The Wolfbloods' camp was smaller than one would expect, settled by Tethyr's fishing lake in the woods. There were four other tents at the camp, including his, all circling a single campfire in the middle, where four sticks stabbing through fish were being cooked. It was night, so Marantha figured that was someone's dinner. The sight of them reminded her that she hadn't ate since breakfast.

The camp was fortified with hidden traps around in the forest, and lookouts in plain sight, and some in trees ready to ambush. It seemed like the Wolfbloods had some experience with fortifying camps, since Marantha couldn't detect a single flaw in their formation. The only things she'd question, would be the gang's banners lying on every one of the tents in plain view. Anyone walking by would easily spot them and know EXACTLY who they were, which would be a problem if those very people happened to be adventurers or soldiers.

As Marantha looked around, she also noticed that almost every one of the bandits had eyes on her and Rolt... or rather, mostly on her. It was unwanted attention, mostly, but some of the gazes were curious rather than lustful. One big orc gave her a cheerful wave, accidentally knocking over one of his companions right beside him, who glared at the idiot sharply. Rolt didn't seem to notice these shenanigans and the two kept walking in a straight quick line, despite his promise of a tour.

They finally ended up standing at one of the tents, which Marantha knew to be the tent holding all of their prisoners. A single guard sat by the flaps, her head down and her hood covering her face. She was silent, and from a far glance she'd seem as if she were merely relaxing, but closer up, Marantha could hear the light snores coming from the guard. Rolt's face twitched at this, but otherwise remained stony. He snapped his fingers in front of the guard, once.

And before either of the two could react, she immediately woke up with a jolt, pulling her bow up from its resting place on the ground and notching back an arrow, aimed directly at the face of the unimpressed bandit lea -

"C-Captain!" The guard yelped, immediately dropping her bow and arrow, already attempting to apologize before she was cut off by the bandit leader. He turned to Marantha, talking over the archer, "Marantha, this is Serrin Sunfield. She may seem incompetent, but she's an archer of Elven quality. You will be hers to guide and command until I deem you trustworthy with independence. She'll introduce you to the various tasks you can do to help, and introduce you to the proper people you must know in our group. Listen to everything she tells you to do, and go to her for any concerns you may have."

He then turned to the bewildered elf, "Serrin, this is Marantha. She's the new recruit, and your responsibility. You will guide her with everything she needs, assist her with any troubles she may have, teach her about bandit life, and prepare her for what's to come, no matter what job she chooses to take in this group. She will listen to your every command, and if you ever have any issues with her, either punish her yourself or come directly to me. Give her a tour of the camp and introduce her to the people. Make sure no one tries anything with her; use my name if you have to. Oh, and get her something to eat after the tour's done." With that, Rolt turned around in a crisp, formal manner and marched back to his tent, leaving a worried and confused Serrin staring at his back, and Marantha.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[lights_shadow]

Marantha took in the camp curiously, noting the banners but not saying anything, obviously these people welcomed the idea of being found so that they can spread a reputation. The eyes and stares didn't bother her too much, she was use to it from the villagers, but those looks were slightly different. She smiled and waved to the people and giggled at the orc knocking someone over.

Curiously she continued to look around as they went in a straight line till she saw the prisoner tent. She thought to berself that maybe he was going to test the friend thing but instead he woke the guard.

She listened and nodded as the captain spoke and only after he'd left did she speak to the elf.

"Hello." She said with a cheery smile.

[mrblah]

"Uh... hi." Was her timid reply, still seeming unsure as to what just happened. She recollected herself quickly, grabbing her arrow and putting it back in the quiver, as well as placing her bow on her back. "So uh, as the Captain said, I'm Serrin." She sat up, trying to look presentable and returning the smile. "And I uh, hope you don't think less of me for that. It's just been an exhausting few days, y'know." She paused awkwardly, seeming like she had something to say but not saying it. "So... you're new, then?"

[lights_shadow]

She giggled at the elf's antics with a disarming smile. "I'm Marantha and no, I don't think less of you but yes... I'm new. How about you?"

[mrblah]

"Well, I've actually been here since the first days of the group, when it was just about 6 of us. Back then, we didn't call Captain, Captain, but we just called him by his name! He uh, doesn't let us do that anymore though." Marantha's response seemed to have helped the girl with her nerves, as she delivered her response with what seemed to be a more normal amount of enthusiasm. "Oh! Before we get too far into conversation, we should probably get that tour done. I'm sure everyone's curious about you. We don't often get new recruits." With that said, Serrin was already on her way to leaving her post unattended, walking in the direction to the next tent over. Is she going to leave the prisoners unguarded?

[lights_shadow]

Marantha nodded to the elf, tilting her head from one side to the other. "Oh! You're well known then... I guess I'm kind of special..." She paused as Serrin walked away. "Ummmmm... Serrin, should we be leaving the prisoners unguarded?"

[mrblah]

Serrin stared back at Marantha with a questioning look, before it dawned on her what she meant. "Oh! Oh, uh... one moment!" The elf archer then ran off somewhere for reasons she didn't explain, leaving the tiefling alone to her own devices. It took only a few minutes, before Serrin came back with a bright smile followed by a tall orc. He seemed annoyed by the elf and barely acknowledged Marantha, grumpily walking over to the chair in front of the tent and sitting down. He immediately tuned the women out, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, with a menacing angry look. Serrin looked back over to Marantha. "Thanks for reminding me. We're good to go now, so let's hurry!"

She then brought her all around the camp, introducing her to a variety of different people and things. Said people reacted to the tiefling in a lot of ways, with said reactions falling under either the category of friendly or not-friendly, with a surprising amount of people being friendly. Though, one introduction that stood out was when a man actually ranted about the idiocy behind adding her into the group right in front of her, which Serrin ignored and pulled Marantha away from. "That's Arner." She had said. "He's kind of a racist know-it-all wizard. Don't mind anything he says."

The tour was an abridged one only meant to teach Marantha of the most important people she needed to know, and once it was done the two were sitting by the campfire, with Serrin happily munching on an apple. "So, you're a tiefling, right?" Was what she asked after she finished her second fruit. "I forgot to ask this earlier, but what do you eat? Our self-proclaimed head chef wouldn't like it if you didn't get your normal meals, or if you were accidentally poisoned because we fed you something for someone else."

[lights_shadow]

Marantha blinked a few times at the questioning look then giggled as the elf ran off and spent the few minutes waiting near the tent pacing back and forth, trying to keep herself calm. When Serrin came back she smiled brightly at the elf and the orc though quickly followed the elf woman away from the large orc. Marantha kept a cheery and happy demeanor to all she met while being shown around by the woman, even those that didn't exactly enjoy the encounter she remained polite to till it got to Arner and was pulled away. Something told her that he'd be the worst person to handle should she wish to climb up through the gang. She nodded to the elf and smiled, speaking softly and quietly. "I think I'll need to keep an eye on him then."

Once at the campfire Marantha warmed her hands on the flames, still smiling to the guide as she began to reply. "I am! I don't really know where I get it from though... As for food... I tend to like things raw but as for what... I can eat most things that a human can.

[mrblah]

Serrin nodded, looking around the camp with a searching gaze. When she found what she was looking for, she rushed off again with a "Wait here!" to her companion. Marantha watched her walk over to a dwarf, pointing back at her while in conversation with him. The dwarf gave a hard laugh that the tiefling could hear even from where she was, and he then slapped the leg of the tall oafish orc next to him. That was the same orc who waved to her, she remembered, and she could now clearly see that the person he knocked over was the dwarf. The orc reached into a bag on his back, pulling out what looked to be a large catfish. He threw it onto Serrin (who almost fell out of the surprise of such a sudden action), and the elf immediately darted back to her after thanking the two. The dwarf also gave her a wink.

When Serrin got back, she presented Marantha the fish, careful not to drop it onto the ground. "Sorry if you don't like it. Our hunters were ordered to only get fish for the night by the 'head chef'. Oh, and that dwarf over there is him, Gibbley. The big guy next to him is Stu, his assistant." Though she didn't have use of her arms due to them being full of fish, Serrin still sounded out the words 'head' and 'chef' with implied quotations. "Talk to them if you ever need food, but don't ask unless it's around breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Otherwise Gibbley would get mad at you and try to hit you with his ladle for being greedy."

[lights_shadow]

Mara tilted her head quizzically again at the elf, following her with the green eye. She flashed a bright smile over at the orc, forgetting about the razor like teeth for the moment and suppressing a giggle from thinking of earlier.

Watching the three she waiting patiently for the elf to come back. "Fish is delicious, thank you." She took the fish and started to devour the aquatic vertebrate. It only took her about five minutes to consume the entire fish including the bones. "I guess he's not a good cook? Also... What times are meal times? So he doesn't attempt to spoon me with the ladle?" She sucks the fish juices from her fingers while waiting for a response. Having not eaten in a while the fish was delicious but her stomach still protested for more food which made her blush. "Ummm.. Sorry... I'm used to eating... Well.. Rather well..."

[mrblah]

"Oh, no no. He's a fine enough cook, it's just... we've only got ONE person who cooks, and that's him, so his title as 'head chef' doesn't really make sense." Serrin explained, before she stood up. "And I'll go see if they've got another fish. It'd be cruel to just have you starve like this!" She looked around again, quickly spotting the pair from earlier already walking away to another tent. She took off after them, muttering a quick "wait here" to Marantha.

... Time passed. Marantha couldn't see the three, as they had moved into the tent. A good few minutes had passed already, which seemed like more than enough time to get another fish, if last time's a good example. Suddenly, a familiar man crouched down next to Marantha. She recognized him as the bandit leader himself, Rolt. He seemed displeased, though his stony expression was mostly unchanged. "She left you unattended, didn't she?" He asked rhetorically. He sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "I apologize on her behalf. Where did she go?"

[lights_shadow]

She watched the tent and then the fire and the the sky, anything to try keep her mind from her stomach's desire to have more food. She picked up a stick from next to her and started to draw runic glyphs into the ground, though she couldn't quite remember them so they didn't look right.

Those few minutes seemed like forever till she was startled by Rolt, jumping to her feet and twirling around to face him. She sighed softly and giggled at her self. "Oh! Hi, Captain!" She beamed at him, saluting him by using her tail in place of a hand. "Ummm... You don't need to apologize, she went to get me something to eat..." With that reminder of her stomach it protests, causing her to blush again. "Sorry... The fish was great but... Ummm... Not eaten since before the attack... So my stomach is being angry with me."