The Mire

Battosai stepped through the Runic Portal and felt the hum ding throughout his body. His armor made his steps a lot heavier but being a Paladin meant he needed to have the heavy armor on, it was his job to take the hits. When he exited the portal he shuddered. It was daylight back in Whitegate but when he zoned into Caerdeva Mire it was always dark. Home to the nastiest of monsters. Bleed a little bit and the Jnuns become aggressive, move to slow and the Imps will have your head. He opened the heavy iron gates and stepped foot into the mire. His eyes scanned the area looking for an imp. It was eerily quiet tonight and he didn’t think that there were a lot of parties going on. He didn’t care who else was here, he had a destination to gather to his party and they were waiting on him. He was their shield, their tank. He rubbed the oil on himself brewed by the alchemist that quieted his footsteps. He sprinkled to powder onto himself and he became invisible. He took a few steps before he saw the Heraldic Imp standing there. “Shit.” He swore as it looked his direction. Those were the biggest problem because of their keen eyes that let them see through invisibility. He froze in his tracks and the Imp let out a squeal as it began chanting a spell. Seeing that made Batt turned and run for the gate. He opened it and sat by the door until the imp flew away. His party leader asked him how close he was to them and he told him he is on his way shortly. He stepped outside and buffed up again. This time he walked past as the imp had its back turned to him. His ears ringed as the flies massive wings flapped and fluttered omitting a deafening sound. He saw the Jnun napping as he began to walk across the path leading to the other side and his party. He saw an imp block his way and he casually waited for it to turn around. He whistled to himself as he watched the imp’s movement and swore when he turned, to face him. “Of all directions.” He said as he jetted back up the hill and towards the gate. His body felt a burning sensation as the imp got its spell off. Burned and bruised he enters the safety of the gate again. “Do you need us to come get you?” The Dragoon asked him. Batt put his pride full throttle and told him he was fine. “Just a little aggro.” He said as he healed his wounds. Stepping out he prepped himself again. He found himself right at the beginning of the pond again and no imp was insight. His effect of quietly moving was wearing off and the Jnuns looked mighty hungry. He felt a finger poking him in the back before the Imp clawed at his armor. Aggro’d again he thought as he ran back to the zone. The imp continued to claw at him until he reached the gate again. He almost was defeated on that attempt and he could have sworn he heard the imp bang on the door as he the gate closed behind him.

“Let us come get you, we’ve been waiting twenty minutes.” The leader said. He was growing tired and if Batt didn’t show up soon he would drop him and pick up someone else. “I got it.” He said furiously as he finally healed fully and stepped out again. He sighed to himself as he was running out of oils. He watched at the top of the hill as two imps whispered to each other as they flew past one another. He figured they were plotting against him. They flew past another one on guard and whispered to him also. Batt started to shake, he didn’t know if that was normal and he seriously doubt they were just saying the casual hello to each other. He walked behind one and it turned to him. He cursed to himself but the imp looked past him, seizing the opportunity he sneak himself and took a shortcut across the pond to avoid the other imp. Walking around the Jnun as his feet slushed in the marsh. His speed slowed down and his feet felt weighted as gravitation was slowing him down. The Dragoon waved to him as he slowly made his way towards them. The White Mage erased the status effect from him and he moved at normal speed. The leader sighed and told the Thief to pull. The Jnun’s head crashed against Batt’s shield as he delivered the final blow into its humongous body. He apologized a lot for being so late and they told him not to worry let’s just get experience. They were targeting Jnuns until they got into a flow and then they would go after imps. The Thief cursed as he ran back to camp and the Dragoon nearly died as he saw what was coming over the hill toward him. “What the fuck did you do?” Batt screamed in terror as the six imps followed the puller to camp. “I didn’t do shit.” He backed himself up. “It was a clean pull.” He yelled as the imps gave chase. They were all lined up but they didn’t assault him. “A clean pull?” The White Mage screamed as she cast Reraise on herself. “Yeah I swear.” The Thief said as he approached them. “Zone them.” Batt screamed as the Thief ran towards him. He took his place behind Batt as the imps drew closer. Batt decided it was in his best interest to let the puller die and hope that they go away and they can pull one so he held off his provoke. His eyes grew wider as all six of them turned their attention to him and laid their claws into his skin. The White Mage sat petrified as they ripped the Paladin to shreds. Her eyes held remorse but she wasn’t going to save him, it was suicide. They interrupted his casting as he tried to cure himself and Batt took his last breath as he lay on the ground defeated. Through the confusion it gotten even worse as the imps turned and flew away. They sat there with their jaws on the floor trying to figure out what happened. They turned to the Thief whose looks matched theirs. “So um. What happened?” The Dragoon asked. “I shot a bolt at one….” He began. “He looked at me, turned and nodded to another imp.” His eyes grew bigger. “Then that one nodded to another imp who nodded to another imp and well…” He said as he looked at Batt. “He’s cursed.” The White Mage spoke. “There’s a Ninja seeking.”