William
*Fiona dropped her two daggers running past the two summons hiding in the bushes. Those summons would try to make the two cultist chasing her to trip and hopefully getting out of balance or dropping on the ground. Then they would use the dropped daggers to kill them, at least try to kill them. Fiona herself would run towards the hostage then, and picking her up (strength 3) and carrying her around towards Tythis, still running.* ``4 mana left because of the drain``

I can probably squeeze in an hour though

Since I don't need to be early on work and have a short day
John
*Both Tythis and Almann had quickly disposed of their attackers, leaving the to burn to death on the ground. Only one of the cultists would be tripped and killed by the copy, while the other would sufficiently defend himself with his spear.*

*The cult leader would be running over to the hostage with his sword, backed up by the last cultist wielding a sword as well. The man with the spear was running back to the group to make their final stand.*

*The three cultists were racing to the hostage, only 15ft away. The would be sacrifice was still on the ground, bound and gagged ad shivering in fear. Fiona would be about the same distance, as she ran further away from the hostage to lure the cultists, then had to double back. Tythis would be in the same range, with Almann being the furthest.*
Roderick
_Almann chants_

"Gods of metal and forge, bless me with twin bronze lances to hunt my enemies at a distance."

_The lances would form in front of Almann's palms and be aimed at two of the cultists going towards the hostage. Almann would fire these two lances at the men._

```2 'Bronze Lances' that are 6 feet long and 2 lbs in weight launch themselves barbed head first at the center of mass of two of the cultists heading towards the hostage. They travel 120 fps, and were launched from 20 feet away. This uses up 30 mana, leaving Almann with 54 mana left in the pool.```
Kay
Tythis realized that he, the fox woman, and the cultists were all on a collision course with the hostage. Even if he didn't trust the fox girl completely, he'd rather have her move the hostage *Away* From the insane cultists and their giant fire. "Go! Take her somewhere else, I'll handle the cultists!" Tythis change his path to intercept said cultists instead of towards the hostage, right around the same time that Almann threw his spears.

His blade arm readied as he neared the cultists, ready to block or swing at any time.
William
"I'm trying..." *Fiona would still run towards the hostage with 37mph, and try to pick her up as fast as possible and bringing her to a safe spot. The remaining illusions would also turn into thin air.*
John
*Fiona would be a flash, swooping the hostage from the ground before any others could. She ran behind Tythis and Almann, presumably as the two parties clashed. The spears would meet their marks first, impaling the leader's remaining cronies. The cult leader would practically ignore this, comign down on Tythis with mighty overhead swing from his sword, cocking back his other hand to balance his weight and ready the next attack.*
Roderick
_Almann would cast 'Bronze Shield' a few inches in front of Tythis. This shield is designed to block physical and magical attacks. With his other hand Almann would cast 'Bronze Fists' on Tythis as well for his counter attack._

```'Bronze Shield' would be cast in front of Tythis to attempt to block the incoming attack, costing 10 mana. 'Bronze Fists' would be casted on Tythis to keep his strength up at 6.5, aiding him in a counter attack and costing another 5 mana. Almann's mana pool decreases from 54 -39.```
Kay
Tythis watched as the remaining cronies went down, feeling a bit of relief as the fox girl blurred by. Tythis wasn't slow by any means, she was just... A whole lot faster, than any of them. Another pang of jealousy hit, though he didn't really get the chance to focus on that feeling.

As the cultist leader approached, raising his sword overhead to swing down at him, a bronze shield appeared, and the same spell that was cast on him earlier also reappeared. Tythis had to admit, this was going a lot more smoothly than it would, had he gone alone.

Instead of letting the shield alone block his attack, as soon as the leaders sword clashed with the shield, he swung his own sword at the leader's hand, aiming to hit the handle (or really, just slice his hand in general). Tythis doubted that this big brute would be too much of a challenge, and his ward should be coming back any moment now.
William
*Fiona would would look at the hostage for a moment and then looking around again, to see if there is any danger nearby. She forgot to remove the gag though and her body is still tense and the adrenalin was rushing though her body. The heart was beating fast, as she tried to find a safe spot to finally remove the gag. Though before doing that, she would place a finger on her own lip, to signalize the hostage to be quiet.*
``Regained 5 mana``
John
*The female hostage would comply, looking scared but less desperate now. It would be safe anywhere past Tythis and Almann, as there were no living cultists remaining besides the cult leader.*

*Speaking of which, Tythis blade cleanly found the leader's hand, slicing it in half and disarming him. The leader recoiled, though with his other hand still cocked, threw a jab to punch Tythis squarely in the face.*
Roderick
_Almann would equip his bow and aim for the shoulder of the cult leader, slowly making his way forward towards one of the Bronze Lances still stuck in a cult member. This is definitely more thrilling than a hunt! Almann's archery skill is of an adept level, being of a steppe tribe, all young ones are required to learn bow skills from a young age, and this lumbering cult leader is nothing more than a decently sized antelope._

```Almann would fire a steel arrow at the shoulder of the cult leader using a draw weight of 80 lbs of the composite bow. The Bronze Lance stuck in the cult member would take an additional 2 mana to maintain, but negated by a gain in 5 mana, increasing his mana pool from 39 - 52.```
Kay
While the cultist leader tried to get a cheap shot in at Tythis, he was much too slow about it. Tythis simply tilted his head to one side, dropping his sword to grab the arm trying to hit him, and swinging his left to try and bash the cultist with his shield and knock him out. Tythis would be disappointed honestly, if they weren't making it so easy to nab a good bit of gold.
William
*Fiona would still watch from the safe spot behind the other too, and slowly calming her breath. She still held the hostage in her arms though, because she just want to make sure to be able to run. Though it would be her normal speed of 22mph if that is the case, since the buff from Almann ran out.* "Oh damn... How should we be able to carry all the corpses to get the coins..." *She sighed somehow disappointed, but her look went down to the hostages face.* "Well, at least you are safe now. Hopefully I mean... If not we will just keep running back to the Inn and to the old man." *She actually started to smile again, before looking back on the ongoing battle.*
John
*Tythis caught the punch in time to stop the attack, and Almann's armor would find its mark. More accurately, it'd hit below the shoulder now, as the cultist's arm was raised, and the projectile would slip into his unarmored armpit. Tythis' shield would knock the leader to the ground, and he died in seconds. It was quiet now, except for the crackling bonfire and the muffled sobbing of the hostage, relieved to be free of the cult. Eleven corpses were strewn about, vanquished by multiple different means.*

*A horn would sound, followed by the hoofbeats of horses and the clatter of armored soldiers. The city guard had finally arrived, though would struggle with the thicker vegetation, making their approach loud and slow. They'd be in the clearing in the next turn, though.*
Roderick
_Almann laughs, he hadn't felt this good in ages! Hunts and herding never gave him such adrenaline. There were so much money to be had from these cultists, but this wasn't the time to dawdle. Almann would collect and line up the cultist corpses one at a time, slightly revolted at the leader's protruding tentacles. But, money was money. Some creature of chaos he was, he wasn't that powerful at all._

_Almann turns to the other two while lining up the corpses. He's tempted to start stripping them of their belongings, but he'll wait for the others to make their moves as well._

"Now wasn't that fun? Now the guardsmen come to us to take these heavy bodies too! Saves us the time and effort. I suggest we hurry up and gather some loot here though, they may just _confiscate_ it in the name of their law. I'd be willing to split it even, if that's fine with you two."
Kay
Tythis resisted the urge to sneer at the laughing man, just glad this whole ordeal was over. Yes, he liked to fight, but he would never take joy in the smell of death and blood and killing other people, no matter what they just did. Though, he did have a point. He should go ahead and try to swipe some of the valuables, no?

He looked over to where the fox girl was, his eyes sweeping to see if there any stragglers or something, but she was just there with the hostage. The horns blaring and the sound of clattering hooves... Tythis shook his head in disappointment. His little group hadn't exactly been the most quiet while they were approaching, but giving them a forewarning? That was just stupid, even if they were told other people went up to take care of it. If they were in the middle of combat, they could have retreated and been scared off, let loose to regroup and do the horrid things they did.

Well, at least it was over with now. He watched as the man hauled the corpses into a disgusting pile of rot, only now realizing that the one they had just killed possessed tentacles. Gross. He hadn't even used them, they were so unnoticeable to Tythis. He sighed, waiting for the guards to finally arrive.
William
*Fiona removed everything from the hostage so that he or she was able to move and do what they wanted. Though she walked up to the pile of corpses and sighed.* "Such a shame. I wasn't able to see their magic and here I hope it would something to learn..." *She then shrugged and looked at the others. Killing wasn't really bothering her and the dead bodies didn't bothered her at all. Though she raised a hand up.* "I will take 4 corpses to get the 6 gold." *So she started to pick out four of them, and laid them next to each other. Within a second she would see if there was something valuable on them or anything weird.*
John
*There wouldn't be any possessions on the cultists other than their damaged robes. There was a loop to keep their daggers, as well as trousers and a shirt, but they were bare of items otherwise. Daggers, swords, and spears were strewn about. The cult leader was an exception. Under his robes was a steel helmet and a set of quality Almain Rivet armor. Altogether, the loot would be this:*

*Three spears, worth 3 silver each*
*Two shortswords, worth 30 silver each*
*One longsowrd, worth 100 silver*
*Eleven daggers, worth 3 silver each*
*Bascinet helmet, worth 140 silver*
*A set of Almain Rivet, worth 600 silver*

*Their assumptions were right; the city guard would be confiscating all the equipment strewn about. They had a few choice seconds to grab some items, before the guards came through the trees. If they wanted the armor, they couldn't turn in the body of the leader.*

*As the horn blared again, the soldiers came streaming into the clearing, 16 of them in total. Their captain rode to the front, holding a lance.* "Cult activity was reported here. I imagine you all were the mercenary forward party?" *The hostage would run to the nearest soldier, weeping as he lifted her onto his horse as he returned here to the city immediately.*
Roderick
_Almann would scramble towards the cult leader's body, quickly grabbing the Almain Rivet armor and Bascinet he was wearing, and tossing them in a nearby bush. He proceeds to hide the body of the cult leader. Almann would separate two bodies away from the rest, claiming them as his reward. Almann would leave the remaining 4 as apart for Tythus' share of taking down the cultists, their worth as bodies and loot should make up for the gear Almann took from the cult leader. There are now 4 bodies left for Tythis to loot and claim, as well as their weaponry._

"Aye, that's right. We took care of them too, as you can see. Apologies for not keeping them alive, they gave us a little bit more trouble than initially thought. I think we did a good job all things considered."
Kay
Tythis simply stood by the remaining four bodies, not attempting to strip them for parts like the other two did. The guards were already here, and not only did he not want to get in trouble with the guards, he didn't see anything of value on the other corpses anyways. Of course the other two got the lion's share of the pickings... Oh, whatever.

"We dispatched as quickly and efficiently as we could, but yes, we failed to keep them alive... Probably better that way. They just tried to explode when they were defeated." The 'Immolate' spell they had known was quite surprising, but little more than an annoyance to Tythis and the others, though he didn't know how a common guard might fair against such a last resort.

"The fox girl is taking care of the person they kidnapped. It's a good thing we arrived when we did..." He briefly glanced to the fire, still raging and providing more than enough light to keep the area well lit. He stayed silent, waiting for the guard's response.
William
*Fiona stopped with the search for valuable stuff and shrugged after finding nothing. Though the horses and the people coming to them are somewhat annoying her already. Her ears started to turn away from them a bit, and twitched a little.* "Well, do whatever you do, after arriving too late to such a thing. I just want my 6 gold and that's it." *The kitsune turned around and looked at the leader of the guards and slowly walked towards him with a smile and stretching out her hand with the palm turned to the sky.* "So 6 gold for me and the rest of my cut is yours. I don't care about the stuff laying around here. It would be too much of a nuisance to carry that scrap around."

*Though her eyes turned to see hostage and looked at her, the hand turned into a fist and only the index finger was pointing towards the hostage.* "Also this person was the almost sacrifice. I don't know where the rest of the family is. Maybe you can ask her about that." *She shrugged and the attention went back to the leader of the group.* "Anyway, I'm tired and I want to sleep. So I would highly appreciate the gold now, so that I'm able to walk back to my horse and get a room."
John
*The captain listened to what they said before nodding.* "I count..." *There were a total of eleven dead cultists, and one was hidden,* "Ten bodies. Josef, the gold." *A rider strode beside him giving him two bags, one full and the other empty. He counted out 14 pieces of gold and 100 silver before dropping it into the bag. Handing the fuller sack back to his compatriot, he called out to his unit.* "Heinrich, take four and establish a perimeter. Josef and I will return once we've delivered news to the city. The rest of you, clean this up." *With that, the captain dropped the coin filled bag onto the ground and rode off, back into the woods, as his men collected the bodies and equipment.*

**QUEST COMPLETE**
*Every person involved earned 1.5 Progression Points!*
Roderick
_Almann calculates in his head...

740 silver (7.4 gold) for the gear which includes the helmet and armor set he can take off of the leader cultist... He should leave the rest for the other two to bargain with, Almann already has what he wants in equipment, the other two can fight over the the remaining gold. Almann already has middle men in the city that would gladly buy such a fine piece of armor off of his hands... Especially if he improves it, he could mark it up even more!_

"You two can split the gold coin..."

_He points to the bag_

"I'll go ahead and get the other... Stuff. Was good fighting with you two, we get to take down these creeps, save some people from being sacrificed, and it makes us all richer in the end."

_Almann goes off to strip the cult leader's body. Maybe he could even cut off some of those tentacles for potion making, Almann also has connections in the underground potions industry for poisons and other elixirs... There would be clients wanting such rare ingredients born from chaos. He would make his way around to the main path afterwards back to his horse with a bag of tentacle pieces, the bascinet tied to his belt, and the set of armor tied up with some rope on his shoulders._
Kay
Tythis didn't care much for the armor. He didn't want to get his hands dirty with technically not legally possessed equipment, and he wouldn't really know how much it would sell for, who to sell it to, or anything about it. If that man wanted to go ahead and try to make more off of the armor than the gold, he was free to do so in Tythis' eyes.

He walked towards the bag, speaking aloud for both him and the fox girl to hear. "Well let's see... That man said that they were offering half of three gold for a corpse instead of a living cultist, so with ten corpses, that's fifteen gold, and around seven gold split between us... Tell you what, I'll let you keep whatever extra there may be. But, I want to take out my seven first." 

He didn't trust the fox girl in general, saw her as a lesser looney as compared to the cultists, and he wasn't going to let her handle the money. He waited for her response as he went to pick up the bag from the floor.
William
*Fiona tilted her head and smiled, stretching out her hand directly.* "I tell you something else. It will be 7 gold and 50 silver for me and you. I will get my money first, though you can take it out of the bag. By the way, please do not try and trick me. I wouldn't like that and get really angry and I don't think you would like me being angry. That what you saw is only a small portion of my capabilities and I'm not just a supporter type." *Her almost shining red eyes didn't left the man and the tails started to heavily swaying from side to side. Oh the sweet excitement came back right now.*

"Well, and just a thing for the next time. Don't just go alone without thinking. I don't think it would have been easy to do something like this on your own. Preparation is the key and thinking fast too. I still don't trust the old fart, but now I will never know if he was with them or not." *The Kitsune came another step closer as soon as he picked up the bag with the coins.* "So give me the coins, I, like I said, want to get a room as soon as possible to sleep after walking through the forest the past two days."
Kay
Tythis shrugged, not bothered by her threat, taking out seven gold pieces and placing them in her hand, then grabbing his own seven pieces and tucking them away in a pocket. His hand shuffled around inside the bag, and took out about ten silver pieces at a time, placing them in her hand until she had her fifty. He didn't bother taking out his own. "I'll be keeping the bag, if you don't mind." 

Despite his distrust of the girl, she did have a point. Tythis doubted the cultists could actually threaten him, even if he was alone- but that hostage wasn't something he had accounted for. Who knows, maybe if they were down one less capable warrior, they'd have lost the hostage. He sighed, relenting. "Thank you, for the assistance, and the advice. I will keep it in mind." He held the bag at his side, waiting to see if she had anything else to offer. If not, he would simply walk away, back towards the inn. He needed a proper rest.
William
*Fiona took the coins and pulled out a small bag of her robe putting them into it, though not without gnawing slightly on one to see if they aren't fake ones. After all and one of her rules. 'Trust is good, control is better.'* "Oh take it if you want, as you can see I have my own bag. Anyway, back to the Inn!" *The Kitsune started to almost jog towards the Inn and past Tythis, while humming a different melody than before. Actually she was happy now and glad that this went rather smooth.* 

"I will get you a drink prepared since we both are heading towards the Inn. I will be asleep probably so have a good rest of the evening." *Her head turned around and she waved a goodbye to him, until reaching the Inn.*