The mass exodus of mist citizens had begun a few days earlier, Ao had staid as long as possible keeping a watchful eye on those who remained. A fair amount of looting and pillaging had occurred, which Ao had secretly been a part of taking anything he thought may be helpful in his travels. Taking things like weapons, clothing, food, and other vital supplies, as soon as he felt fully prepared he made his leave from the now silent village.
As Ao left a strange feeling fell across him, he attributed the odd feeling to the silence of the once great village. As he looked over the now snow smothered village Ao could not help but wonder if this was the silence Azathoth had spoken of, the silence before creation. If so it was both wondrous and a little creepy.
“Yes, this is very similar, but even under all of snow there is life. That’s the annoying thing about creation, it just keeps finding ways to live, not matter what the circumstances.” Azatoth responded to Ao’s thoughts, a scenario that has been occurring more and more frequently as time went by.
Ao turned and left the village, saying one last farewell to his former home. Now he had to set out on the task of finding a new home, a new purpose, and he had no idea where to start. So he decided he would head to the docks and see if he could board a ship to the main land and begin traveling, working for hire if need be, until he found something better to do with his time.
After several hours of walking through the silence and thick snow Ao overheard numerous screams. He rushed to the vicinity and investigated from the treetops. Apparently a small caravan of approximately thirty men, women, and children was being surrounded by a group of eleven bandits. The civilians, apparently unarmed and helpless, were gathering all of their yen, jewelry and other valuables at the feet of the bandit leader. Ao did not necessarily care to help these people, but all of those valuables would certainly help him afford passage on a ship, so he decided to intervene.
Ao launched himself out of the tree he was perched in and released several metal discs into the air. The projectiles shot through the chests of three of the bandits armed with bows and arrows in the back of the group. As those three fell Ao detonated the discs which caused small explosions to propel shards of metal towards the others. At least one of the other bandit’s that was nearby was taken out by the shrapnel. This left seven opponents to face as he landed in front of the man he assumed was the leader. Before the man could speak Ao punched the man in the throat, using an upward thrust that was powerful enough to break the man’s neck on impact. Ao then proceeded to take out the remaining six bandits with metal discs similar to those he had used to start the fight. This all happen over the course of seconds, and when the fight was over the civilians were still grasping what had just happened.
A large man wearing fine clothes ran up to Ao and fell to his knees, thanking Ao for saving their lives. Ao let the man finish his sentence before he spoke up.
“Your welcome, but I hope you understand that my help isn’t free, I expect some form of payment.”
The man stayed on his knees for a little while longer while he deciphered Ao’s words. Then he rose quickly as he repeated the phrase “Of course” and continued on with “I would never have let you leave here without something!”
The man retuned quickly with a small chest filled with yen and a cloak. The majority of the cloak was a bright blue, it was also lined with a metallic silver color and had similarly colored spheres of different sizes scattered across the blue section.
“Oh I like that. Azathoth purred.
“These are for you!” The man said proudly as he presented Ao with his reward.
Ao then took the chest and sealed it within one of the small summoning scrolls he had ‘borrowed’ from one of the ANBU equipment stores. He then donned the cloak, which was quite heavy due to the thick and apparently insulated fabrics.
Ao then looked at the man and nodded his head, leaving the travelers as quickly as he had arrived, but now he had a nice cloak to travel with, which Ao thought was well worth the trouble.
MFT-773
As Ao left a strange feeling fell across him, he attributed the odd feeling to the silence of the once great village. As he looked over the now snow smothered village Ao could not help but wonder if this was the silence Azathoth had spoken of, the silence before creation. If so it was both wondrous and a little creepy.
“Yes, this is very similar, but even under all of snow there is life. That’s the annoying thing about creation, it just keeps finding ways to live, not matter what the circumstances.” Azatoth responded to Ao’s thoughts, a scenario that has been occurring more and more frequently as time went by.
Ao turned and left the village, saying one last farewell to his former home. Now he had to set out on the task of finding a new home, a new purpose, and he had no idea where to start. So he decided he would head to the docks and see if he could board a ship to the main land and begin traveling, working for hire if need be, until he found something better to do with his time.
After several hours of walking through the silence and thick snow Ao overheard numerous screams. He rushed to the vicinity and investigated from the treetops. Apparently a small caravan of approximately thirty men, women, and children was being surrounded by a group of eleven bandits. The civilians, apparently unarmed and helpless, were gathering all of their yen, jewelry and other valuables at the feet of the bandit leader. Ao did not necessarily care to help these people, but all of those valuables would certainly help him afford passage on a ship, so he decided to intervene.
Ao launched himself out of the tree he was perched in and released several metal discs into the air. The projectiles shot through the chests of three of the bandits armed with bows and arrows in the back of the group. As those three fell Ao detonated the discs which caused small explosions to propel shards of metal towards the others. At least one of the other bandit’s that was nearby was taken out by the shrapnel. This left seven opponents to face as he landed in front of the man he assumed was the leader. Before the man could speak Ao punched the man in the throat, using an upward thrust that was powerful enough to break the man’s neck on impact. Ao then proceeded to take out the remaining six bandits with metal discs similar to those he had used to start the fight. This all happen over the course of seconds, and when the fight was over the civilians were still grasping what had just happened.
A large man wearing fine clothes ran up to Ao and fell to his knees, thanking Ao for saving their lives. Ao let the man finish his sentence before he spoke up.
“Your welcome, but I hope you understand that my help isn’t free, I expect some form of payment.”
The man stayed on his knees for a little while longer while he deciphered Ao’s words. Then he rose quickly as he repeated the phrase “Of course” and continued on with “I would never have let you leave here without something!”
The man retuned quickly with a small chest filled with yen and a cloak. The majority of the cloak was a bright blue, it was also lined with a metallic silver color and had similarly colored spheres of different sizes scattered across the blue section.
“Oh I like that. Azathoth purred.
“These are for you!” The man said proudly as he presented Ao with his reward.
Ao then took the chest and sealed it within one of the small summoning scrolls he had ‘borrowed’ from one of the ANBU equipment stores. He then donned the cloak, which was quite heavy due to the thick and apparently insulated fabrics.
Ao then looked at the man and nodded his head, leaving the travelers as quickly as he had arrived, but now he had a nice cloak to travel with, which Ao thought was well worth the trouble.
MFT-773