Dec and Sery's Excellent Adventure, No time travelling phone box required =P

[Nikolai]

Without thinking twice, Anton hurriedly grabbed the items the nezumi was offering him and ran off - more like quickly hobbled off, given his condition - into the woods, stifling a mumbled thanks as he made his escape. Perhaps now he'd be able to spend more time with his loved ones rather than risk life and limb out here in the wilderness.

---

The party won! In his haste to get away, Anton dropped his rifle (Ulysses), a silver bell and a phoenix down. But other than the amount that Declan had gave him, he didn't carry any money on him at all.

Declan gained 45 EXP; sill on level 20 (2094)

Serylis gained 43 EXP; now on level 20 (2029)

Terry gained 44 EXP; still on level 20 (2059)

Yvette gained 46 EXP; still on level 20 (2046)

---

Unfortunately, the battle had a rather surprising outcome, as several loud voices can be heard on the opposite side of the wall. It was obvious from the commotion that the occupants within the outpost heard all the gunshots coming from around the back. To make matters worse, the sound of a ladder being erected on the opposite side of the scaffolding can be heard, as one guard started to climb up to see what was going on for himself.

If the party remain out in the open, they will most certainly be spotted by any impending reinforcements arriving on the scene, thus spoiling any chance for a surprise attack on the group. They may choose to hide, but if any of the party remain out in the open, they may risk getting captured.

[Serylis Fireheart]

In her typical fashion, Serylis managed to sum up the situation with a admirable thought towards simplicity and directness.

"Crap."

She looked around, and cocked her head at the sounds. "Meh, we can take 'em. From here, or from the shadows with poisoned arrows. I'm all for the former, personally, of course." It was with no small amount of willpower that she held back the battle cries that threatened to erupt forth and spoil any chance of escaping to the bushes the party might have.

[Declan Tribal]

"Oh sure, that's a great idea, Serylis. While we're at it, let's wear huge sparkly signs saying 'Over here!', so that they'd find us easier and kick our asses!" In spite of his sarcastic remarks, Declan kept his voice down so that his ranting and raving was reduced to a mere whisper.

"Serylis, are you crazy?! Even if we did wear them down, we still can't take these guys head-on all at once! The only way we'd win is to ambush them whilst they're all isolated."

Picking the stuff that Anton dropped, Declan quickly darted into the thicket, popping his head back out to address the dragoness again. "C'mon, get your muscle-bound ass in here before they spot us!"

[Serylis Fireheart]

The dragoness scowled mightily at Declan's sarcasm, not used to hearing it from him. "No, I've got a better idea. Let's go hide in the bushes and wait for them to sneak up on us, that's loads better...of course I'm the crazy one." But in spite of her scowling and protests, she followed the nezumi into the bushes as quietly as she could manage - also managing not to elbow his ribs in passing.

[Dungeon Master]

"Don't move!" A voice boomed out from the top of the barricade, as a gunner pointed his rifle at the two remaining party members left out in the open - Terry and Yvette. In addition to being held at gunpoint, three more of the camp's personnel arrived before the two girls had any time to escape. The three guards - a male weasel, a lioness and a male hippo - weren't alone however, as the base commander soon joined them.

The commander, Illford Brigg, was a strange creature altogether - though he was canine in nature, his tail was a lot thinner and longer, and his ears were long and pointy like a Burmecian's - a jackal, or as they would call themselves, Tavresians. This one in particular, however, stood out from the rest of the troops, with his shiny tan fur and snappy clothing, in contrast to the other guards who all wore basic, worn-out garments.

Brigg took a few moments to survey the surrounding area - he was expecting to see Anton around, either dead or alive. However, his body, nor equipment could be seen anywhere. Finally, after a long period of silence, the commander finally spoke.

"I came out here hoping to find that buffoon Anton keeping things under control out here. But instead, I have myself a have-a-go hero and her pet rat, with no stinking badger in plain sight. So I take it that gunshot we all just heard now scared him away, yes? Figures - that one has been a liability from day one."

As if his condescending tone wasn't enough, Brigg was busy pacing back and forth in front of Terry and Yvette as he spoke, a slight grin flashed on his face for a brief moment. "Regardless, it's a good job we caught you two in the act - it would've been troublesome for us if outsiders like you two knew what was going on behind these walls. Tobias! Hana!" He addressed the hippo and lioness respectively.

"I want you two to escort these two to the prison cells, then have the interrogation room prepped. I want to know what these two are doing out here and how they managed to found us. Perhaps they can also explain to us why Ted hasn't come back yet."

As Brigg spoke, Tobias and Hana were busy binding Terry's and Yvette's wrists together, before taking them back around to the entrance. After they had left, he then addressed the remaining weasel. "And you, Xander - you search this area for anything else. You find anything suspicious, report it immediately! I want this whole area cleared within the hour before we start taking that scaffolding down. Now that Anton's left the group, I'm going to have to find another manual laborer to maintain this place."

The jackal then walked off, mumbling something to himself as he made his way back to the camp entrance, though it was probably something unimportant and known only to himself. The gunner at the top of the wall made his way back down, his arms tired out from pointing that rifle at the prisoners, leaving Xander the only hostile in the area.

[Serylis Fireheart]

"If it weren't for my own recent experience being 'interrogated', I'd say those two slow morons deserve it. But even a drunk like Terry deserves better than that..." Serylis withdrew her axe, but stayed hidden, as she continued whispering to Declan. "I say we ream this S.O.B., then go in and get those two outta there. Then we continue to kick ass and take names throughout the facility. How's that sound? I'm itching to to perform a few limb-ectomies on the august persons of this cave."

[Declan Tribal]

For once, Declan was in agreement with Serylis, as he gave a slow, single nod. "I know how you feel... I wouldn't want anyone go through that kind of hell." The nezumi drew his sword slowly and peered at the lone guard. "Looks like he's busy going over that scaffolding. If we go now, we could take him down quickly before he has a chance to react. You ready?"

[Serylis Fireheart]

Only on Serylis could a smile look like a snarl. "I was born ready." Not wasting any time, she held her axe in both hands as she crept through the brush towards the clearing. Once she was as close as she thought she could get without alerting Xander to her presence, she launched herself wordlessly at the bandit, aiming her chopping and killing implement at his midsection.

[Nikolai]

Fortunately for Serylis, Xander was too scouring the area for any possible signs of any intruders that had stumbled across their camp. He saw the stray arrow that got lodged in the wooden barricade, but before he did anything, the weasel felt something sharp and, from the feel of the weight, heavy struck his back, sending him flying forward on his face as he had no time to react to the surprise attack just now. Xander flailed around in pain as the huge gash now covering his back dealt him a severe 1188 damage!

"Unngah!" he cried out as he slowly and painfully reached into his jacket to brandish a crossbow, turning over onto his belly and taking aim at Serylis' left leg, as he hammered down the trigger and sent the bolt flying towards the dragoness' left leg in retaliation (Archer ability Leg Aim).

The bolt pierced through Serylis' left quads for 311 damage, but due to the thickness of her muscles, it didn't penetrate deep enough to immobilize her. (Leg aim ability Immobilize failed)

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Declan: 820/838, 810/838
Serylis: 881/1217, 397/406

Xander: 812/2000, 380/400