Altaea Saga: The Thousand Halls

You are Azim al Imad of the Alf Ma'abid sect, known among the western crusaders as the 'Thousand Temples'. As a loyal adept of the sect you have lived your life in service to the prophet Hassan Abbas, who found you as a child and raised you as his own. Since the age of six you have been trained in the arts of death. Now you are an assassin, bringer of swift death to peasant and king alike.

The Alf Ma'abid have isolated themselves from the world in their mountain strongholds. Nevertheless their fame has spread far and wide, men of fanatical devotion who gladly sacrifice their lives to strike down their targets.

It is morning and the halls of the great mountain of Imad al Din stand empty. The sandstone walls and pillars tower over you and dust swirls in the shafts of light that illuminate the walkways of the fortress. The only sound that greets your ears is the echo of your own footsteps as you tread through the grandiose chambers. Coming to an open walkway you cast your gaze out through the towering arches and over the awe inspiring vista that surrounds Imad al Din. Colossal snow capped loom over snaking valleys and canyons.

Finally you come to a large wood and iron door. It is easily three times your height and sturdy enough to repel the blows of a ten man battering ram. The thick wood of the door feels rough under your hands as you rap loudly on it with your fists before taking a step back. Slowly the doors open with a loud grating sound of iron against stone. With a casual yet dignified stride you enter the chamber beyond. Moved by an unseen force the doors behind you close with a trembling boom.

In the chamber beyond a paved stone walkway encircles a large and lush garden that resembles paradise itself. The musical twinkle of fountains and sweet chriping of birds fills the air and the smell of grass and the perfume of exotic plants greets your nostrils. At once your eyes, so accustomed to the sandy hues of the desert are overcome with the bright and vibrant colours of the garden. Even after all these years the place fills you with a sense of awe. And at the centre of the garden a wisened figure sits cross legged in contemplation, the white of his robes reflecting the harsh brilliance of the sun.

Will you:

Call out to the figure?
Kneel before the figure?
Attack the figure?
Investigate the garden?

I vote Kneel before the figure!

(Pardon if I misunderstood, but you did say to post your vote in this thread, I hope. O_o )

I think kneeling would be the proper thing to do. But I'm curious what would have if we attacked. Anyway, I'm with Lox, lets kneel.

I vote for kneel. A good assassin always appears to be an upstanding citizen!

You drop to your knees before the robed man. Touching your forehead to the ground in a display of reverence you utter the words "A humble adept awaits your instructions, most holy one." You do not lift your eyes to look upon him, though you feel his gaze like the scorching heat of the sun.

"Young Azim." The voice, hoary and rasping but with a great inner strength, speaks. "I have called you here to speak of a matter of grave importance." He speaks slowly and deliberately, as though he weighs the value of every word. "Raise your head." The words are comforting, like that of a kindly grandfather and you obey unquestioningly. Before you, robed in the finest white silks from the far East sits an old man. His body, stooped by countless years is wiry and taut with dark brown, leathery skin that shows the lines of his bony ribs. In his bald head are set two hawk like eyes closed in quiet concentration and a thin mouth drawn in an impassive expression of contemplation that betrays no emotion.

He is Hassan Abass and his wisdom has guided the Alf Ma'abid for countless generations.

"It appears that we have come to the attentions of Sheikh Maalouf, a minor vassal of the Sarife Empire. Maalouf seeks to use our order as a tool for his political aspirations. Show him that our loyalty cannot be bought by threats." He states simply.

Will you:

Accept your orders?
Ask for further explanation of the situation?
Decline the mission?

I vote Accept your orders. An assassin knows not to ask too many questions.

God that was quick!

Hahaha, I was awaiting the next post with GREAT anticipation.

Speaking of which, I'm going away today for the Army trials, so I won't be able to vote tomorrow and friday. I'm sure y'all will do fine without my voice of reason, though.

Yes, lets just accept, I guess being an assassin means when you're asked to "show him" it means kill him. I guess it's because I'm a girl that my brain doesn't just jump to that.

Don't worry Lox, I'll vote for you. I"m good at voting.

I vote for accept orders. And no Amber, we were not asked to kill him, we were asked to instruct him. We'll either A) kill someone close to him -or- B) maim him.

Oh what happy prospects!!

Stone wrote:Oh what happy prospects!!

I know right?!

"I am your right hand, your sword." You state simply with another bow. Hassan nods sagely before reaching into the folds of his robes. He produces a short, curved dagger and scroll which he places on the ground between the two of you. You reach out and take the knife in your hands reverently, raising it above your bowed head as you utter a prayer. Slipping the leather scabbard of the dagger into your belt you rise to your feet and walk head for the door to the chamber with unhurried steps.

"God be with you." Hassan says softly as the door closes behind you once more.

Outside you unfurl the scroll expectantly, on the rough papyrus your orders are written in black ink. It reads:

"Maalouf and his men are currently engaged in a seige with a rebel group in the city of Aramsa South of the Pillar. Take this dagger and place it beside the Sheikh whilst he sleeps. Demonstrate to him that none are beyond our reach." One the reverse of the papyrus a map has been painstakingly reproduced, marking out the lay of the land, from the fortress of Imad al Din where you now stand to the beseiged city of Aramsa in the South. There are several routes to take from the fortress and you deliberate over which one to take for some time before coming to a decision.

To the West a river runs South and will lead directly to Aramsa. The journey will be a long one as it will require heading West for two days and nights, but you are unlikely to be harassed.

To the South East a highway leads to the city. However the journey will require you to pass through an area notorious for bandit attacks, making it dangerous to travel alone.

If you were to strike out across the dunes to the South you would find yourself at Aramsa's gates in little over one day. The trek will not be an easy one as the desert is treacherous and on the open sands you will likely be spotted by Maalouf's men, who will be keeping an eye out for rebel reinforcements

With thes things in mind, what route will you take.

The river to the West?
The road to the South East?
Or will you risk the open sands to the South?

Across the sands! C

I vote for A, the river to the west! It might take longer, but if you get caught on the sands, that will too!

The river takes too long, by that point the siege may be over and we will miss our target. The road has the danger of bandit attacks and yet offers us the chance to blend in with other travellers. The sands mean we WILL be alone, and may be spotted by watchers.

I can think of no reason at all to take the river. It has to be road or sands.

Then I pick the road. Even if we get attacked by bandits, we can totally fight them. Where as if we are spotted in the sands not only might we not beable to fight the more trained ruffians, they could tell our prey and he will either leave or put up even better defenses.

The road seems to be the lesser of two dangers

Hmm, it seems we have a tie. And Loxley isn't around to make his vote, so unless someone else drops in to make a vote I'll mae an executive decision tomorrow morning (by which I mean flip a coin.)

The road it is!

(We're going to use this section to decide what skills and equipment our assassin will have to aid him in his mission. Choose wisely, as you can only have one skill and one main weapon.)

Escapology

The art of escaping from bonds and small spaces. You have trained your flexibility to it's peak, allowing you to dislocate your joints and slip through small spaces. Furthermore you have learnt how to pick locks as well as identify and disarm traps.

Disguise

The art of changing one's appearance. Through the skills of ventriloquism and acting you are able to fool others into believing you to be someone else. You are able to construct a sturdy disguise from common materials with ease and you can change your mannerisms and voice to resemble another's given enough preparation and study. Only particularly careful or familiar examination will break the illusion.

Acrobatics

The art of litheand agile movement. Your intense training has made you extremely athletic and you can tumble through the air with ease and fall from great of heights without injuring yourself. Physically you are in incredible shape and can run and vault and climb for long distances without tiring.

After deciding to take the road to the South East you head for the fortress' armoury to begin your preparations for the days ahead. In the armoury is a variety of weaponry that you may take with you should you choose to do so, including a long, curved saif measuring roughly two feet in length with a swept hilt long enough for a one handed grip, a heavier two handed shamshir with a thick, three foot blade capable of shearing through armour and a small, plain looking double edged dagger. You may take only one of these weapons in addition to Hassan's dagger.

Should you choose to do so you may also take a belt of five throwing knives and a vial of Emperor Viper venom. The knives are small, but will be of no use in close combat while the poison, the most virulent known to the Alf Ma'abid is fatal even in small doses. The vial carries enough for three uses.

Once you have prepared fully you make your way to the main courtyard of the fortress. Even at this early hour people mill about, engrossed in their day to day activities. You slip through the scholars, soldiers and laymen without notice and head to the gate. There will be no fanfare for your departure. Your mission is a secret and should you die it will be as though you had never existed. The guards nod solemnly at you as you approach and you return the gesture as the gates part for you, opening out onto a vast expanse of desert that reaches to the horizon in undulating waves. The glare of the sun blinds you briefly and you pull wrap your scarf around your head to shield your eyes before trudging down the path that winds down the mountainside towards the valley.

As the sun sets you come to the road and strike off South towards your mark. Compared to the scorching heat of the day, the night brings with it only a biting cold and you hug your robes about you closely. After an indeterminate time walking your keen ears pick up sounds from behind you and you strain your eyes in the pitch black to make out the source. Surely enough a procession of pin prick lights can be seen in the distance.

Will you:

Hide?
Wait for the owners of the lights?
Ignore the lights and carry on South?

Remember you must also choose which skills to take and what equipment to carry.

You may choose one of the following skills:

Escapology
Disguise
Acrobatics

One of the following weapons:

The Saif
The Shamshir
The Dagger

And whether or not you wish to take the daggers and poison.

Ya the road! Thank you Silv *hugs*

I haven't a clue which skill we should have or what weapon. I think I will leave the weapons up to the boys, they know more about them than I do. Same really goes for the skills, though I think if we take that heavy weapon, we wont be able to be as agile, so I don't think those go well together. But what do I know.

btw Mr. D THIS IS AWESOME! Thanks for bringing it here! *hugs you too*

I'm voting for Escapology and the dagger, and I think we should also bring the other things as well. Also, I find it best to hide.

Oh, I forgot to hide! Yes, lets hide please. And whatever else Silvy has said.

So I have a vote. I think the escapology is really cool but the acrobratics seems to be more valuable. I just imagine an assassin would need to be more acrobatic in order to get to more places whereas I see the escapology as just enabling him to hide more often which is still good but kind of seems more of a passive approach. Definitely prefer the dagger too though and hiding.

(Since we have a tie in regards to the skill choice, I'll be leaving that for now until someone else gives us a tie breaking decision. However since there was no vote for disguise we can't make use of it for today's choice. It seems the dagger has won out in terms of weapons though, so we'll be taking that along with us and since the only vote for the poison and throwing knives was in favour of us taking them we'll grab them too.)

You swiftly make your way off the road, laying flat on the sands in such amanner that your sand coloured robes blend in with the desert. So long as you remain still you are invisible to the naked eye from a distance.

You wait that way, pressed with your belly against the cool sands for many long minutes until finally the distant clatter of hooves draws near. Peering up slowly and with as little movement as possible you observe the travellers. From what you can gather they are a simple caravan of peasent folk, likely making a pilgrimage to the holy city of Judeau which lies past Aramsa in the South. Still, you decide to remain hidden and with only the dim light of their torches to guide them they do not spy you among the sands.

When at last the caravan has passed into the distance you rise from your hiding place, shaking the sand from your robes and press on South. As the sun rises it bathes the empty dunes with a copper tint as though all the land was engulfed in flames that lay just beyond the horizon. After two uneventful days of walking you finally catch sight of Aramsa. The city itself is perhced atop a low mesa with only a single earthen ramp leading to its' gate set amongst high walls of white plastered stone. At the base of the mesa, encircling the city a large encampment stretches out in all directions. Maalouf's soldiers. They have made little headway with the seige it seems and the two sides have dug in for a stalemate.

You study the encampment for a while from a distance. Gaining entry will be dangerous, but a simple matter for one such as yourself, however finding the Sheikh will be another matter entirely.

How will you approach the camp?

Claim to be a messenger on your way to deliver important news?
Wait until night and infiltrate under cover of darkness?
Disguise yourself as one of Maalouf's soldiers and enter that way?
Disguise yourself as one of the rebel soldiers and allow yourself to be captured?

(Also, remember we still have to cast a deciding vote for which skill to take:

Escapology
or
Acrobatics

Or I guess you could be an asshole and vote for Disguise to make it a three way tie and COMPLETELY throw me off, but who would do that?)