The Quest For The Black Treasure: RP Thread Chapter one: In the Beginning

[rachel25]

OOC: We're starting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Ok, just to say, it's mid Winter!

Toka sat, staring moodily at the wall of his cell. He'd been captured early last Autumn, by some Warlord who owned this neck of the woods. Toka was now sitting in a cell right at the very bottom of that Warlord's castle.
It was dark in the cell, there was no window, the only light came from some torches out in the corridor outside. The torches made loads of foul smelling smoke, and often went out, and sometimes wouldn't be relighted for days.
Toka's cell was down hill from the other cells, which meant everything from the other cells got washed up into his cell. It was revolting, also on the other side of the outer wall, was a lake. During the Autumn, when it rained, the cell would flood terribly. But it was Winter at the moment, and the cell hadn't flooded in ages. But that did mean that Toka's cell hadn't been cleaned out from the flood water for a while.
Toka looked around his bare cell, the only things in it, was a pile of mushy straw, and an upturned bucket, that was full of holes. And, one other thing, a wooden spoon. The spoon had been washed down from somewhere, and had come in under Toka's door, at first Toka hadn't seen the use of the spoon, but then he discovered that the stones in the corner of his cell had worn away, revealing the bare ground. Toka had begun digging an escape tunnel using the spoon as a shovel. He covered up the hole using the mushy straw.
Toka yawned, and smiled, he would escape soon, and he'd take back his sword of the filthy vermin who'd taken it, and then, he'd continue on with his quest. To Redwall Abbey.
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Perry, sat next to a camp fire. He was cold, homesick, lonely. Oh, and miserable.
Why did I ever leave home to go on this stupid quest? He wondered.
He took the riddle, and metal thing he'd found back home in Southward, out of his pocket. He looked at the carefully, then got bored, and put them back on his pocket.  He'd found them in his late sister's belongings, and decided that he would take up the challenge of a quest. Maybe it had been because he had been full of grief, and was upset, and wanted to prove himself to his father. But maybe he should have waited until Spring to start traveling up to Redwall. But he was here now, he wouldn't go back, not until he'd done what he set out to do.  

[Gonff the Mousethief]

Marshall leaving. He had been banished from Village Ryhgrud. King Wetpaw, the Otter King, had seen him looking in his treasure. Marshall just had enough time to grab a little metal plate with some words on it. They had a trial, and banished him for theft. Now he was on his own.
''Dumb metal thing! Why did I take you with me! Ugh, now I have to cross the North Mountains to get Mossflower and build me a new home! What do you have to say!''
He looked at the metal plate.
''What does it say on ya?''

[Cornflower MM]

Arya rubbed her paws, and put them over the embers of her campfire. A few days ago, she'd been hanging around an old tree that had fallen, and found an old, weird metal plate with a riddle that she couldn't make head or tail out of, and decided to go to that redstone Abbey, to see if they knew what it meant. She dug through her pack, looking for it so she could look at that riddle again. Ah, there it was! She held it up and softly recited,

A red Place of refuge nested in green.
Along a brown path from afar can be seen.
A stand for the old for the week for the free.
The place where you'll meet them and start your journey.

She frowned, then sighed. It was time to get going, and it wouldn't be long now. She could just barely see the top of the Abbey, and so she packed the metal piece back into her bag, took out a small package made out of leaf, and opened. More oatmeal scones! Oh well, better than nothing. I'll eat this on the go, and hopefully I'll be there before nightfall. Hey! Where'd the others go?  I know I had more in here! She thought, then began frantically searching her bag, them noticed a stoat's pawprint, going West. The same way she was. She smiled grimly. She'd track him, and regain the supplies he hadn't eaten, and then probably tie him to a tree. Without any thing sharp. Of course she'd leave a way for hinm to escape, and if he couldn't find it, then that was that.

[Unimaginative]

The Trickster muttered to himself. Despite being alone, he refused to let the ruse drop, as a little, or in this case a lot, of paranoia was usually pretty useful.  He walked out of his cave, and looked at the nearby Abbey, which stood tall and bright against the barren trees. The creatures of the Abbey knew of his existence, but left him alone for the most part. Sometimes they would come to him with riddles to answer, and he would give the answer to them in another riddle. Once some young-beasts had attempted to mess with him, but he quickly taught them to leave him be, unless there was a riddle or food involved. But that was many seasons ago, and the creatures were mainly forgotten.
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Tauten Err Rip stood proudly over the hill, looking at the Abbey happily. He had been hunting a treacherous Shrew that had tried to kill him, and tumbled down a hole. In the pit he had found a stone tablet with words etched on it. In the dim light, Tauten had read the poem.

A place of trees
And flowers of moss.
There is a shelter
For all who are lost
Look for the signs
That I have left you
And the path to the Abbey
Will never desert you

Tauten felt that this riddle had been left for him. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he was right as soon as he had this thought. Pulling himself out of the hole, he made sure that he had the riddle right. And then, for the first time in his life, he abandoned the hunt, in order to find the Abbey.

[Cornflower MM]

Arya saw a fresh mark on an elm tree where the stoat had slashed it with some sort of sharp blade. She fumed, as she was quite fond of trees, and she had a special connection with them.  Arya took any injury to a tree made by another beast personally. Unless the injury was done in the good of the tree. But it still mad her mad. She walked over the elm and patted it, and in an undertone said, "I'm sorry. But don't worry; I'll find the beast that did this to you. I swear it." Then she the feathers of a dove, and that made her even madder. And you did NOT make Arya mad without a price. And that price usually ended up with someone on the ground, cringing. She patted the tree, collected the feathers of the dove quickly, since they would be good  for fletching, since she was almost out of arrows. Then she quickly walked on, still fuming.

[Faiyloe]

the snow swirled in a blizzard racing cold and hard across the snow swept plans of the far north covering every hole and crevice and rock in a uniform blanket of white.  Snow fell so fast and thick that it was impossible to see more than a few paces in front of you and in the middle of all this stood an old broken down shack almost buried in the snow. The in side was ransacked no beast had lived there for many seasons. The table was on its side and the chairs where either broken or knocked over the soot from the fire place had been scattered across the floor by a draft from the chimney. The drapes and blankets where torn and paperer scattered over the floor blowing around with the draft. there was a shattered lantern broken dishes and an old chest in a corner covered in a blanket and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

The door banged open and snow swirled in scattering the paper all about  the room and a white figure stepped in. An Ermine Dressed in black leather and a gold mask hiding all of her face except for here eyes which shown with a strange deep gold color. She was fallowed in by two to others. The last of her hoard the rest of them had all died of cold and starvation.

"Close the door you idiots!" The ermine said.  One of them, a short skinny rat,  pushed the door closed fighting against the wind and shoving a block of wood under the door.

The Ermines name was Raxanna and she was terrible and beautiful at the same time. Proud and commanding. She kicked aside a chair and yelled "Get a fire going! Get this place warm! Now!" The other one a tall stoat went over to the fireplace and tried clumsily to get a spark going. The rat grabbed the blanket from the corner and uncovered an old chest. "Look 'ear," He said. Raxanna stepped over a turned over chair and kicked The Chest with the bottom of her boot. "Well don't just stand there get it open there might be some thing useful inside," The rat opened the chest but the only thing inside was a bundle of paper.  The rat reached for it but was promptly knocked over the head. "Don't put your grimy paws on it," Raxanna said. She bent over and picked it up. She blew the dust from it. It was a package wrapped in paper and tied with a piece of twine.  

She tore away the string and puled away the paper revealing a strange mettle peace with odd marks on it. She turned it over in her paw. Maybe it was valuable. She thought. She then noticed something scrawled on the back of the paper.  

A place of stone red and tall
Gates wide open to welcome all
A place of joy and rest and cheer
And all the pieces will meet here.

All four walls of red sand stone
Along the path it stands alone
Here is where you'll find the rest
of the pieces and start your quest


"It's a map, it is a piece of a map," She said                 

[W0NWILL]

The soft blanket of darkness was over the eastern forests, creating long shadows on the ground. Not a soul was outside.
Except one.
The hare wore a hood, yet that didn't hide the shifty green eyes darting this way and that, trying to catch a glimpse of a beast not there as he hurried down the narrow cobble street towards a small group of houses-his target for the night.
Clark halted outside a dark house and peered through the window. No-one home, but lived in. Perfect. He unbuckled his shoulder pad, revealing several lockpicks tucked inside, chose his tools, and went to work on the front door.
After a short while, it clicked, and he was inside.
A quick search of the house revealed little of interest...except for the carved metal slate. It was too dark to read, but as he ran his paw over it, he could feel words etched into it. As it was better than nothing, he slipped it down his tunic and exited the house.
Clark sat at the corner table, alone, over as mug of woodland ale. The tarvern was almost empty, dawn just a few hours away, and he puzzled over the tablet yet again.

The sun must set,
As perilous blood must rise,
Go along this way,
The friend in disguise.

The green lands fair,
The sanctuary of blood,
Hurry now, find it,
Before first spring bud.

Red, the color of war,
Red is the color of strife,
Don't consider this,
Falsehood will be life.

Puzzle pieces,
Treasure, a dozen a dime,
Meet comrades here,
Redept in due time.

Clark didn't really get the rhyming, nor what it meant, but he could see the word treasure, so he would solve it, for sure.

~~~

All this was nearly a season ago, and it was now midwinter. Clark had a contact in the underground that had solved parts of the riddle in exchange for a nice silver locket Clark had stolen a while ago. So Clark was heading west, looking for the red sanctuary. He had left the east forests of his home, and was now miserable in the winter of the west.

[rachel25]

Perry had decided to move on, the icy wind had blown out his fire, and he hadn't been able to start it again. So moving on had seemed like a good idea. Maybe he might find a cave, or a little village.
Perry had trudged through the snow for what seemed like years, but in truth it had only been a few hours. He was frozen, he couldn't feel any of his paws, and he felt like he was about to faint. Then in the distance, he saw a pin prick of light.
"A house!" He coughed, and made a beeline for the light.
----------------------
Toka was digging again, it was the only way to keep warm. His tunnel wasn't far off being completed, but the ground was hard, and frozen. His spoon could snap at anytime.
Toka coughed, and pulled his tattered jacket more tightly around himself.
"Not too long now. Not too long now." He muttered to himself as he worked. 

[Cornflower MM]

OOC: I'm not going to post until Han gets on and answers a question of mine in the OOC:

[Gonff the Mousethief]

Older then record.
Redder than a rose.
A Welcome to friends.
Strong against foes.

A place in the South
Where you will find.
All of the pieces,  
And Those of like mind.

You all set out,
With one intention.
But you wont find it,
With out there concession.


''Well, sounds like a riddle to me!''
Marshall kept walking through the snow. It was very deep because of all the snow from the north. When it was getting close to evening, he decided to make a small camp.
''So, what does the first part mean? Older than Record, Redder than a Rose. Well, that must mean it is an old red place I guess. A welcome to friends, Strong against foes.
''I hope they see me as a friend! That's enough for now, great, its Snowing! Ugh, now how am I supposed to make a camp! Ill keep movin' till im tired then.''
He picked back up his stuff and kept moving through the light snow.

[Cornflower MM]

OOC: Okay, you knw what? Sorry, Han! I'm bored. And I have time for a nice, long post,

BIC: Arya saw another slashed tree, but this one had the dagger IN iot. She gasped in outrage, and ran over and pulled out the knife, then heard a voice say, "Drop da dagger, an' no one gets hurt. My my, but ain't you the pretty one?" Arya had turned around, glaring at the stoat. "No, I don't think I will. This is a good blade, who'd you take off of? I think I'll keep it." She said, then added, "Oh, but maybe I will drop it." She dropped the dagger, and got her bow off her back. "Now, stand there or run, it doesn't matter to me." The stoat panicked, and ran. She aimed, the fired, and the arrow zipped straight over his head, drawing a line of blood. She'd aimed that way on purpose, and the trick worked. He fainted in fright, having never dreamed there would be a bowbeast so good, and especially a female who was so good! She walked over, and searched the bag he had. Sure enough, there was her food. And a handy rope. She grimly smiled, and dragged him over to the closest tree, tied him to it so that he was giving it as backwards hug, and sat down and waited.

When the stoat woke some time later, he realized that: He was tied to a tree, his pack was gone, and the squirrelmaid was sitting in front of him, sharpening the dagger. When she spoke, her voice was cold. "Now tell me, why did you take my food and harm two trees?" She asked, never pausing, just waiting. When the stoat did not answer, she raised her head, stood up, walked over to the vermin and put the point of the dagger on his nose. "If I were you, Vermin, I'd start talking before I had a blade for a nose." The stoat started blubbering, and she pressed harder, drawing blood. "Quit that racket and answer me!" She snapped, and he immediately stopped and started babbling. "I only took ya food 'cause I wuz so hungry! I tripped and had me blade in mew paw when the dagger swiped a tree! I stuck me knife into the other tree fer safe keepin'! Honest!" Arya frowned, then gave the stoat his verdict. "This is your lucky day, vermin.I'll let you live, but I'll just stop and see if anything in your pack catches my fancy. There is a way to get un0tied from this tree, but if you aren't smart enough to find it, then your luck's run out." Arya did as she said she would, and took back her food, along with the dagger. She left the rest, since it had no worth to her. She went and retrievdd her bow and her pack, then set off. The stoat had taken up quite a few hours of her day, and she sighed. But Arya still walked on.

[Faiyloe]

Raxanna read the riddle over again and one phrase caught her eye. Here is where you'll find the rest. "The rest," she said slowly to herself.  "The rest... We will head south as soon as the blizzard stops. We will find the other pieces,"

   

[HeadInAnotherGalaxy]

OOC: Ah vill pozt in ziz on ze morrov!

[rachel25]

Perry had made it to the house. But had collapsed, a few steps away. He couldn't go on, he was just too cold.
From inside the house, he could hear singing, it was such a lovely sound, Perry wanted nothing more than to be in that warm house.
Just then the door of the house opened, a hedgehog stepped out, and started towards a wood pile. Then he sighted Perry, half buried in snow.
"Cara, heat some water, and gets some blankets. We've got ourselves an half frozen squirrel!" He called into the house, then hurried over to Perry.
All Perry remembered was being picked up, and carried towards the doorway, then he blacked out.
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Toka's spoon snapped. Right through the middle. Of course Toka wasn't happy about this, he was so close, and the darn thing snapped.
The ground was frozen, but Toka began digging with his paws. He would not give up now, he wasn't going to spend another day in this stinking cell! 

[Cornflower MM]

OOC: Just a thought, but sometimes when a spoon snaps, there's enough of the bowl shaped part to keep digging - Or eating. Yes, I've snapped a few plastic spoons. So sue me.