Dwassyith Swanra

The past week had gone by in unparalleled tranquility. After a heartfelt apology had been made to the owners of the Myrrh and Jade Inn, especially Jade, the group was allowed to take up residence in the Inn once more. The only condition being, that they repaif their debt for the emotional as well as physical damage to the Inn and its owners. And so once again, the Adventurers traded labour for a place to stay, whilst recuperating their strength. Meanwhile, Ul’dah had been stirred due to a re- shuffle of power, with the Five in Chaos the powergrabbing game had begun. So far the Hounds of Ul’dah seemed the most promising to make allies with. Therefore Dwassyith went to meet up with their leader, Mr. Bigman. The outcome of this meeting yet unknown to the group. (Written by R'avi Tia)

Having agreed to take the risk to rescue Myrrhantan, the group travelled to the location of trade that was left on the map; The Sagolii Desert.Once there, they found the captive Inkeeper chained to a metal structure - but between themselves and he who they sought to rescue, there was an open area. Attempting to approach quietly, using the cliffs for cover, did not work out. A disturbance of the rocks under their feet revealed their posistion and triggered a signal from those who had been waiting for their arrival. A large crowd of slaves and two large coaches pulled by chocobo, which had been hidden by the large dune at the group's flank, charged forth and surrounded them. The Master of the Second himself, Jacques Vaincannet, and many of his accomplices appeared atop the cliffs behind them. A battle ensued - pitting the group against starving couerls that were released from the first coach. The crowd seemed restless. The second coach was opened, revealing naught but a group of children - all armed. The crowd, having not foreseen this, reacted in different ways. Those loyal to the Second roared for blood, those new or wanting freedom from such a barbaric 'army', cried for justice. A rebellious fight began in the crowd, some parents making it through to rescue their children. Meanwhile - a powerful blast from one of the group caused the cliffs some collapse, meaning some men toppled over the edge. Already injured, the party could not afford another battle - instead, whilst Xihsa'li and Doyi took to battling Llewyn, Norien took out Jacques with two arrows and watched his lifeless body topple onto the sands. Freedom was had, but not without casualties, the group headed back to their accomodation to lick their wounds.Those who rose up against the loyalists within the Second's rank thanked the group and have since been seen in contact with Z'firah Rhell on more than one occassion. [Written by Z'firah Rhell]

In the following days, the Adventurers visited in turn the inns going under the names of Lynx Inn and Myrrh & Jade, choosing the latter as a steady place where to stay. Much was discussed with Eadgyd and her passionate need for revenge against the ‘Chimeras’ gang, with whom she had engaged in a violent fight, and lost.A few days of quiet planning followed, until the group opted to take action in the following way: a team would have taken out the Chimera’s patrol, while another team would have infiltrated their hideout by passing through the sewers.The coordinated attack saw the Adventurers successful, but at a high price of their health. Almost all members of the two team got severely affected by all manners of damage - bullets, dog bites, blades and beat-up bruises. It took several days of recovery and just when the Adventurers got visited by the owner of Myrrh & Jade, in a deep status of distress;his daughter, Jadeline, had been kidnapped. He implored them to go look for her and so they did, venturing to the city market of Ul’dah which was the last place where she supposedly headed to. Describe how they found suspiciously acting merchants, feigning ignorance over their questions about where Jadeline could have been, until they heard conspicuous sounds from beyond a door. Xihsa’li barged into said door and the Second's ruffians attacked them all of a sudden. A battle ensued, but over hearing the ringing of the evening eleven bells, the enemy scattered all over the place. Behind the door, the Adventurers found Jadeline beaten up into a box. They came back with the unconscious girl to the Inn, only to find out that the Inn had been completely pillaged and destroyed on its inside. The cellar, which was normally the off-limits area for anybody but the Rootless’ core, had been invaded and barged in.Blood on the floor, with a tuft of grey hair belonging to Myrrhantan, the owner’s Inn. A note was left along with it, giving a location of where the old man was, and the condition to have him back was exchanging him for Rhell. In Dwassyith’s views, that meant only one thing: war.

The journey to Vesper Bay had gone without troubles, and Norien had swallowed the capsules in the morning like a pill addict. Luckily they had been nicely lubricated and now rested comfortable within the confines of her stomach. After one last panic attack of R’avi, the group headed out towards Ul’dah, shielded by the dark of the night. Walking through the swamps towards Horizon proved to be straining as big things stirred in the dark, hungry things with tentacles, that were only held back by the meagre light of the lamps. The group was joined by two of the Boulders men, a travelling Alchemist, and a hooded, yet unknown Au’ra, who huddled up at the gates to Horizon, joining the plead to the guards to let them in. The guards appeared rather annoyed with the panicking travellers and let them pass without further inspection, much to the disappointment of the hungry tentacled snail creatures. Horizon was passed without further trouble, and the Boulders men had been scouting ahead only to find a group of bandits lurking in the dark. The poorly equipped and rather unskilled people were no match for the Adventurers and were swiftly taken care of. A close inspection of the bodies showed that the unfortunate folk seemed to had been suffering of some sort of disease that sprouted big unusual lumps and open scabs. The high alert of the guards at the last outpost before Ul’dah proved the suspicion that something was not quite right. The group was warned of an outbreak of illness within Ul’dah and advised to not venture any further. Seeing that Norien was not doing too well and most of the group was tired and anxious, the decision was made to camp outside of the settlement for the night and head for Ul’dah the following day. [Written by R'avi Tia]

The second meeting with the Boulder went over quickly and it was decided to go with the initial plan of transporting the wares. Norien bravely volunteered to be their vessel and so the group made their way to Aleport to pick up the ominous little capsules that would either make them wealthy or horribly regret their decision. The general mood was gloomy at best, it seemed as if everyone had a reason not to go to Ul’dah ever again and yet they headed right for the hornets nest of a City, gritting their teeth. In Aleport, the group was met by yet another one of the Boulders hooded beggars and directed to the stall of an old fortune teller, the heavily draped and most likely drugged woman offered them the goods in a small wooden bowl. The following night was restless for most and in the morning they set sail for Vesper Bay. [Written by R'avi Tia]

The trial lasted for hours in which the Adventurers were given a chance to prove their innocence. Dwassyith Swanra laid down a detailed testimony of how the group had come to Coerthas in good spirits, showing that wherever they went they went peacefully and offering their hand to the citizens of the land. With the help of both Xihsa’li and Rhell he managed to convince the Inquisitor of their innocence to the atrocities committed at Camp Dragonhead. All but the Au‘ra Anayu were set free to go their way. After having survived the ordeal of being imprisoned, they decided to turn their backs on the cold lands of Coearthas for a while. The Boulders task was stll outstanding and so the decision was made to go to Limsa and meet him. The meeting with the Boulder did not go down in the Adventurers favor, not only was his request dangerous, it would also be very difficult to fullfill. Smuggling drugs into Ul‘dah was a risky business, no matter how high the payout might have been. The Boulders proposal of smuggling a highly poisonous substance within someone’s body did not bode well with the group and the decision on whether to take the task or not and under what terms was postponed a day. [Written by R'avi Tia]

It had been a rough week out in the unforgivingly cold and harsh wilderness of Coerthas. The weather as well as the anxiety of an unknown fate ate away at the Adventurers. After consuming mostly raw fish and a few bitter earty roots and endless marching towards the southern border, the group was at their limit. Meanwhile Camp Dragonhead had seen a significant rise in security forces due to a visit of the High Inquisitor Dylise Travanchet, who with Simeon and Broen's help, lead a small army to capture the runaway culprits. Their efforts proved successful just in sight of the southern border. A sound of horns in the distance indicated to the group that they had been spotted. The trap closed on them and the Miqo’te found themselves with nowhere to run and out of luck. Under the smug mocking voice of the Elezen Inquisitor they were marched back to their new and even less comfortable abode in the prison cells of Whitebrim. Two days of agonizing waiting ensued as the low on luck Adventurers faced a trial of justice for crimes they did not commit. [Written by R'avi Tia]

Just shortly after settling back into Camp Dragonhead, R’avi Tia had been informed by Simeon that his father, R’olo Tia, had been seen at the Camp not too long ago. This caused R’avi to rile up the entire group into a search party headed for Whitebrim. However, these plan got put to rest when R’olo Tia showed up the next day. The rejoicement was shortlived as Camp Dragonhead suffered an attack by a yet unknown faction just a day later. Which forced the Adventurers to a hasty, chaotic and bloody retreat into the wilderness. Not all of them made it that far, the survivors found themselves scattered into two groups. The first consisted of only Miqo'te, Dwassiyth, Norien, the little traitor and spy Rhell, their new aquaintance Xihsa’li and the two Tia, R’avi and R’olo. The second group consisted of those that had stayed behind to battle the attackers, Ginu, Simeon and Broen. It was highly questionable how long the scattered little groups would survive out in the wilderness with no provisions or their gear, along with now being wanted by powerful Elezen military forces. Their spirits were at an all time low and and while the sun rose to another frosty morning they remained huddled in the cold and shaken by the events of the past night. [Written by R'avi Tia]

The rampage to La Noscea and more precisely Summerford Farms lasted about a week. The normally tranquil farmer village was painted with the blood of the notorious gang under B’rego Nunh, who found her untimely and brutal end at the hands of Dwassyith and Vadim. The slaughter was nothing short of a massacre, fueled by the rage of their accepted leader Dwassyith and aided by the rival gang called the Boulders, the Adventurers slayed every single Raven they came across.Eventually freeing Nellie Swanra from their hold. Needless to say, the Boulders help came at a price. A future favor was asked of the group and Dwassyith had been all too happy to accept the proposal. After ensuring Nellie was in good medical care the group stayed in Limsa for a few days to rest and try to forget what they had done to save her. Blood was on their hands and that was a stain that did not wash out easily. The decision was made to go back to Coerthas in order to finish up their business there, and to ev everyone’s surprise, their new acquaintances agreed to join in. Broen, a battle hardened and rough mannered Roedagyn and Rhell, the little Miqo'te that had tipped off the rampage in the first place. After a week of frenzy, the group finally met the Commander of Camp Dragonhead to collect their reward and things seemed to calm down. If not for Simeon report some disturbing news. [Written by R'avi Tia]

As with previous pit stops along the way the Adventurers have made themselves at home rather quickly within Camp Dragonhead. Being tolerated by the local Elezen House Fortemps mainly due to the fact that Simeon Siberuse was one of the Lords subjects and therefore his word weighed some when the group had asked for refuge. The group was visited by a healer to patch them up after the injuries suffered by their aquaintance with an avalanche. And later they all found themselves some work to be useful and not as much a nuisiance to the Elezen. It was not long though until their routine got interrupted by bad news in the form of another Miqo’te who was found breaking and entering into occupied rooms at the Camp. When incapacited by the joint efforts of Vadim Bloodlance, Dwassyith Swanra and the moral support of the rest of the group, the Miqo’te turned out to be a spy from Limsa Lominsa. Previously, Dwassyith had sent his very own sister back to see if the air was clear back home. However, it appeared now that this had been a grave mistake, as their enemies had thus learned about their whereabouts and now seemed to have a captive as well. The Adventurers did not wait around for long, one of theirs was in danger and so the decision was made to go back and face their enemies head on. All but Simeon were in on that plan of action, and so the Elezen was left behind as the rest of the group rampaged back to Limsa Lominsa, to a yet unknown outcome. [Written by R'avi Tia]

After healing up from the Ixali battle, the Adventurers decided it was time to move on to the next settlement. Their last week in the camp had gone by rather turbulent and had seen Zumi leave on Dwassiyth’s request and Dorbei Kha vanish out of sight without a word. Nevertheless, these events did not put too big a dent in the overall mood. One early morning the group gathered to travel to Camp Dragonhead, both to collect the remainder of the reward for their Ixali slaying spree and to get a much needed change of scenery. Carrying their belongings on their back they made their way out of the camp, it seemed a good day to travel and they hoped to reach their destination in the late afternoon. However, fate rolled unfortunate dice for them and their journey got intercepted not by beasts but the forces of nature itself. Masses of snow had loosened from the mountain slope. The faint rumble of an avalanche in motion was the only warning the Adventurers received before they found themselves buried under a mass of white. Their torment lasted roughly an hour, each buried with their own thoughts and fears until Knights of House Fortemps were fortunately in place to aid with digging out the poor unfortunate souls. The rest of that dreadful day was spent resting at their new destination and getting their heads around their unbelievable luck. [Written by R'avi Tia]

With the help and connections of Simeon the Elezen, the Adventurers have managed to secure a contract that would, upon successful completion, secure them passage into Ishgard. A rampaging band of Ixali, not far from the Dragonhead settlement needed elimination. With the help of A’ura, Simeon had scouted them out the day before the actual mission, which resulted in the Miqo’te getting badly torn up and departing for warmer climates the next day. The rest of the Adventurers took on the warmongering Birdbeasts just a day later and with the joined efforts of Simeon, Dwassyith, Vadim, Norien, Zumi and R’avi, they managed to wipe out near the entire Ixali clan without any casualties and just a few wounded on their side. While they healed, the hefty reward for their task was to be collected in two suns time and the prospect of travelling on and leaving the drudgy settlement behind them left most of the group with gleeful anticipation. [Written by R'avi Tia]

Throughout the past week the Adventurers have settled into a busy daily routine of work, rest and play. Earning their keep took up most of their days, notable events were the missing and finding of Zumi, who was thought to be dead but turned out to have survived being half frozen and battered out in the wilderness. The group was further introduced to Norien, a quiet and seemingly shy Miqo’te female; Granis, another Hyur who seemed to be just as quiet and gloomy as Vadim; and finally Simeon, the only Elezen who deemed them worthy enough to converse. While the Adventurers planned their next move, their squabbles amongst themselves had reached their peak by the end of the second week in Dragonhead, initialized by the unexpected arrival of yet another Miqo’te. A’ura Tia, an old acquaintance from La Noscea had managed to track them down and despite this treachery was allowed to stay. The need to get a move on to new locations had now become more pressing than ever and plans were swiftly set in motion to hit the road within the coming suns. [Written by R'avi Tia]

The initially hostile Settlement proved to actually be in need of some helping hands. And so the Adventurers soon found themselves plenty of work to get by and pay their debt to the authorities. Their stay got overshadowed by the sudden appearance of G’pandoga Zumi, a blast from the past for the three Miqo'te as she represented everything the three were running from and how she followed their tracks would remain forever a mystery. In exchange for all that was hers and additional services to pay the debts with the Inn Keeper she was tolerated amongst the group, despite being the cause of quite some agitation amongst the group of Miqo’te. Soon other lone travellers became a familiar sight amongst the initial group. And the days were filled with everyone pulling their weight to support their stay. Dwas helped with all the heavy labour required in and around the settlement, being larger built and steeled from his work at the docks back home, he assisted with chopping wood and cleaning out Chocobo stables. While his sister Naelia helped bring in the cabbage harvest for the season, Zakuro made herself useful as the new housekeeper for the Inn they were staying in. Apart from Vadim who still recovered from being gnawed on by hungry wolves, R'avi seemed the only one who wasn't earning his coin through honest work and instead took to pickpocketing the locals. However, the calming routine was soon interrupted by the arrival of another Keeper of the Moon, his sister, none other than G’pandoga Zumi had gone missing. Two days later she was found half dead some miles from the Settlement. Whatever happened to her, was yet to be found out.

Braving the blistering cold and the unknown lands the group marched ever further North towards Dragonhead. None of the Adventurers had a particular eye for the picturesque snowglazed forest all around them. They were too busy trying to keep warm and moving. Unfortunate for them, they were not the only ones stalking the frozen woods. A pack of starved wolves had been following their trail for quite some time and when the groups diversion did not work they found themselves attacked. Vadim the Highlander suffered severe injuries to his leg and was nearly left to die a slow and painful death. With combined efforts the group pushed onwards after slaying the pack of beasts. Upon finally reaching their destination they nearly got rejected entry into the settlement, the Elezen guards drove a hard bargain and the group was forced to sign their lives away in order to be allowed passage through the gates. At the cost of 500 gil to be delivered after two suns.

The first day on the long road ahead had started out quite favourable as the trio of Seekers set out to follow their chosen leader to new shores. They had overcome a few disagreements amongst themselves and a truce was now in place, even if just for the time being. Their stomachs barely satisfied by what vegetation they had found on their way, the Swanra siblings Naelia and Dwassyith with a battered little R’avi Tia in tow made their way to the docks to Coearthas. Their destination beyond that yet uncertain, north was the only guideline. As far away as their sparce gil would get them, preferably to a place where no one would know their faces or ask questions regarding their background. Upon reaching their docks they discovered that their crossing would not be as solitary as they had hoped, it seemed they would have to share their ferry with a most ominious looking man. A lone Highlander with little words to spare and a peculiar love for his spear. They set sails all the while exchanging wary glancing, yet unaware that their crossing would not go as smoothly as planned. The Qiqirn Ratcaptain stirred their vessel Northbound, and perhaps a little too far off the coast, the landscape of the lands left behind soon vanished to a thin line on the horizon until they were surrounded by nothing but dark waters and the sky. This lead to an unfortunate encounter with a creature from the depths of the sea, nearly bringing a harsh end to their journey before it even started. The sea did not manage to claim their lives with the joined effort of the group they managed to wring their companions from the clutches of the deep and certain death. However, most of their possessions were lost to the deep. Upon docking on the frozen lands, they found a little solace in a nearby fisher village and ran into Zakuro, who got stuck with them due to Dwassyith’s charm and mere necessity. As the villagers grew more and more territorial with their scarce supplies, the group decided it was time to move on before territorial could grow into hostile. They faced the march through unknown and harsh territories with an uncertain destination.

I commissioned this picture and it's for MY PERSONAL USAGE ONLY. http://robasarel.tumblr.com/

Entry 28 - Eastern Winds After having defeated the nuisance posed by the Sanguine Eye, Dwassyith went through an intense recovery therapy, while the rest of the group spent restless days at the Inn where they were staying. The depature for Kugane stayed within plans, and as it drawed nearer by each day that passed, preparations had been made to face it properly. The Lominsan docks where Dwassyith worked had found a proper temporary replacement as dockmaster, and Chihaya even went to the extent of holding a lesson of 'hingan manners' to make the group more acquainted with Eastern tradition. Once ready, they faced a one-week-long journey across the immense ocean expanse that divided Limsa Lominsa and Kugane. The ship was named 'The Bearded Lady', inspired precisely by its furry-faced female captain. The journey had been most uneventful, up until when the crashed relics of a garlean ship had been found. Only one survivor was left amidst the graveyard-like destruction, and hauled on the ship as peace-bringing passenger. The Garlean man seemed to be on a diplomatic mission to Kugane, or so he said, before the unforeseen accident. Upon arriving in Kugane, the group marvelled over its splendor; the foreign architecture, colours, people and the general 'different air' got everybody charmed. The Eastern capital city was a completely new world to explore, and after a bit of jaw-dropping wandering, they had a small break in the onsen of Bokairo Inn. After a brief stop in one of the most impressive hot springs of Kugane, the group relocated to Kinshi Iro Inn, a small and quaint establishment in Shirogane. The day after, they headed to the harbour again to witness the grandiose and opulent arrival of Lord Hashimoto, escorted by a contingent of samurai warriors. Drums accompanied his march from the ship to the land, and everybody at the harbour bowed in sign of deep reverence. A few hours later, the group was granted an extremely formal and cerimonious meeting with the important hingan personage. Against all odds, manners had been shown in the name of tradition, and Hashimoto got a good impression over the foreigners eager to get his attention on them. Dwassyith asked for a favour and such got accepted -- however, its discussion was postponed to a later meeting. There was potential in getting a deal sealed, if not for a couple of ominous characters such as a half-Elezen mongrel and a xenophobic general, who seemed prone to advise Hashimoto against lending an ear to the barbaric 'ijin'.

Entry 27 - To Blind An Eye The assignment given by the Sanguine Eye saw the group venturing in a sea-side location, where once upon a time there was a resort place which had gotten close due to mysterious circumstances. The reason soon became clear as the group was forced to deal with extremely strong currents, sharks and multi-tentacled marine monsters to find what they were looking for on the depths of the sea. A shells-covered crusty chest, presumably containing a precious locket. Much to everybody's disappointment, inside the chest there was not the yearned-for locket, but a bottle containing a letter. The message was a clear refusal of the Sanguine Eye to collaborate in any way with the Black Hand, and such constituted the final and ultimate insult to be endured. Seeing as they had been toyed around by the Sanguine Eye one last time, Dwassyith swore vengeance towards the elusive organization and headed to his superior in the chain of command, Vincent Aurora. It took only a few days to organize a big strike of retaliation, which started by divdiing into three groups who paid visit to three different targets. Said targets presumably knew about a slave warehouse, possession of the Sanguine Eye. They got visited, interrogated and brutalized, but only one out of three yielded the wanted location. The three groups were also efficient in silencing every witness, after learning that the place they were looking for matched the 'Serpent's Tongue' hidden cave. The day after, the Hand gathered its forces at Serpent's Tongue bay and commenced its attack by having a mercantile ship crashing on the shore. The impact of tremendous force caused the first victims in the enemy ranks, and what followed brought a wrecking destruction all over the bay. The sand got stained with red, and the Rootless fought bravely and with valiant coordination, up until when catapults located above a tower began tossing projectiles of incendiary oil on the battlefield. Dwassyith ordered to make the catapults everybody's next priority and Xihsa'li, due to his newly acquired powers wielded through Nicky's cane, successfully managed to annihilate them by causing a portion of the above cliff to crumble down on their heads. The Black Hand ultimately came out victorious, decimated the Sanguine Eye's forces and destroyed the remaining slave stock in the bay. A dire consequence, however, hadn't been foreseen: Dwassyith was caught under the rubble of the collapsed cliff. Found teetering between life and death, the Seeker group leader was urgently brought to Limsa Lominsa hospital, along with the injured new recruit Crimson Dawn. The Sanguine Eye was no more, but the victory had a bitter taste of concern and sacrifice from the side of those who were left behind and living. As if that hadn't been enough, the same night Naelia learned of the grave accident that happened to her brother, and looked for explanations. As Nanami stated that she hadn't manage to be there in time for offering him healing services, Naelia unleashed an onslaught of incommensurable violence on the Auri girl, and left her bleeding on the ground with a broken face that could hardly be recognized. Tension was in the air, and times were tough for the Rootless group, despite the achieved supremacy over the rival gang. It was then only a matter of visiting the hospital everyday, to check on their mangled companions while waiting for updates.

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Entry 26 - The Snake's Head A new chapter began as the Snake's Head was cut off. The scars of this battle would remain scorched into Limsan soil for years to come. While the group barely got away with their lives in the fight against Nicky the Cripple, they managed to overcome the Snake and walk away. Yet the forces of the underworld did not sleep, the group's deeds were acknowledged by the Black Hand and just as Vincent Aurora had promised Dwas was made part of the family. After a good amount of rest and healing, their next initiative would be to familiarize themselves with the forces that ran Limsa from the shadows. One particular thorn in everyone's side was a group known as the Sanguine Eye. They were rumored to be assassins and slavers and refused to cooperate with either the Hand or the White Lily for decades. Patience with this group was running thin. While Vincent found himself indisposed, his associate Momoke Mina tasked the group with speaking to he Sanguine Eye one last time. Upon agreeing to this the group was sent a challenge, which turned out to be two riddles and a breadcrumb trail from an arranged tomb to an underground cave. Once the riddles were solved the challenge itself was not too hard, yet not for the faint hearted. It seemed that whoever set the challenge either had a way to make the dead speak on their behalf or were an excellent trickster. All the leads pointed to a cave near Limsa, where the group was congratulated on their success in beating the challenge and invited to a meeting at the Bismark in two days time. Naturally, the anti- climatic ending had most of the group confused if not angry. Two days later, they found themselves in the busy Bismark Inn, where at an empty table they had their first encounter with a man who called himself Azure The Watcher. He laid out why the Sanguine Eye had refused cooperation so far and made it clear that his group was not after power nor wealth, but that they would listen once another challenge was completed. Grinding their teeth, the group agreed to these terms and left. It was clear now why the Sanguine Eye was a thorn in everyone's side. [Written by R'avi Tia]

Another artwork of Dwassyith by https://www.instagram.com/nikdrawson/ I commissioned this picture and it's for MY PERSONAL USAGE ONLY.

Entry 25 P L O T S U M MA R Y ------------------------------ The Black Hand. ------------------------------ The Rootless got pulled deep into a world of bloody intrigues, shallow, passing business relationships and prideful exchanges of tainted money. It was an old world. A world which had set its many, far reaching roots into Limsa since centuries. One of these would find its way into Dwassyith Swanra’s little group of hired killers. And so ‘The Rootless’ released a seed, and then they weren’t all that rootless anymore. In time it would grow and bear horrible, poisonous fruit. But The Black Hand, and the squabbles into which these mercenaries got tossed, started long before Friendly showed up with his kill list. It started with Vincent Aurora, a prospect buried under Nicky’s thumb, which had for decades fought to escape. In the darkness of his growing frustration and hatred for his own situation, he found business in Ul’dah. Business with no other than The Red Queen herself. His time had come. So, as she needed someone to flood Limsa with her product, with drugs, he needed a card up his sleeve. A card, and an insurance. So, he finally saw a way of getting Nicky’s crippled ass out of his seat, and make it free for someone more deserving. Someone like himself, for who else had balls and brains like he did? He made the deal for 40%. A scandalous demand, but what could Miamoli do? She had no one else. And then Vincent started his long effort to bring the drugs into the city, therefor destabilizing the underworld economy and throwing shit on Nicky’s territory. Next came the ruin of his power base. There was always just one way into the pain-center of The Black Hand, and it was to go after the money. Intimidating union officials, assassinating business partners and winning the drug race. Someone was making huge amount of money, and it wasn’t The Hand. They looked to Nicky. Just like Vincent knew they would.(edited) And then an establishment caught fire, killing everyone except lucky little Naelia Swanra. But no one bears witness to an act of such ruthless destruction, and is then free to tattle off to port-wherever and tell stories. This is where the roots of the rootless got stuck in the ground. A longtime friend of K’arhn – C’horuc, invites him and The Rootless to an evening at a restaurant. A restaurant where they are all supposed to be assassinated. C’horuc works for The Black Hand, specifically under Nicky The Cripple. He gives Nicky intel on who they are, where they have been and where they are going to be. Right before the assassination, C’horuc leaves the restaurant. Friendly shows up, plus six Black Hand associates, all part of a hit-squad designed to eradicate all trace of a potential testimony. It came close too, and that’s more than you can say for most people Friendly was sent to kill. Usually, there was never a question of if but rather when it would happen. The rootless, however – even though seared and wounded, rattled and unhinged – escaped with their lives, killing everyone set against them. Only Friendly left unscathed. Nicky, seeing the usefulness of these seemingly exceptional killers, brought them in under his wing. He promised them riches they had never seen before, and also provided C’horuc as a “gift”. A token of trust. But C’horuc had been caught selling information to other ears than Nicky’s, specifically a family named Ives, and that was the real reason behind his elimination. Dwassyith accepted the cripple’s proposal, unsure if he was sending his band of mercenaries into an early grave, or a coffin of coins. A coffin either way, of course. For someone. And in the meantime, Vincent Aurora was having the time of his life with Nicky’s powerbase. His collectors were getting attacked, distributors murdered and his shipments either stolen or destroyed. Nicky decided there was only one sure way of finding a trail. You had to follow the money. Coin was born from blood in the gutter, something Nicky knew well. He’d planted lush crops of them himself in the very same way. But it all ends up somewhere and in someone’s pocket. A bloody game and two dead whores- expertly delivered by Nicky’s new toys, and he had his trail. It was a curving, thin and bolstered trail leading right down the line to Vincent Aurora. Maybe a bit obvious to anyone with half a mind, and should’ve been for Nicky. But where did a piece of shit upstart like Vincent Aurora, get the capital to flood Limsa Lominsa’s docks with product? That was an answer he’d die to know, which wasn’t saying much, considering he’d wanted to die for the last decade. But he’d spend maybe two months more in torture for it, that he would. So Dwassyith and his hired band of killers got to do the dirty work. Not odd though, that was what they did for a living, after all. Infiltrating a torture racket in Vincent’s pocket, brought them face to face with the upstart himself. But once confronted, he made a deal – a convincing one which Dwassyith decided to take. When you can’t trust anyone, why not just go for the biggest bone? Vincent made a deal with Boulder. So instead of a head, the rock got a juicy 25% of The Red Queen’s drug trade, as well as a highway into Ul’dah’s Underworld. Vincent settled for fifteen percent. Well, that and his life. Nicky got the word from Boulder, confirming Vincent’s death, and felt a rock slide off his shoulders. For a while, Limsa calmed down, and everything was fine. All manner of things was fine, until a day when they simply weren’t. Because Nicky decided to do Dwassyith a favor, and send Friendly off on another head-chopping errand. Sent off to a mine, no less, the last job upon which he’d ever embark. When he arrived, he found a mercenary almost the size of himself. Almost. No one was quite as large as Friendly. A swift, mind-blowing battle ensued, and just as Friendly’s sword was to taste blood, a lever was pulled, sending the giant plunging down a coal chute. Rocks were poured into the hatch, then it was sealed and a cart was placed upon it. And while the rather large group of mercenaries above was discussing their mercenary things, Friendly was ignoring his broken arm to count rocks. Holding on to a slight outcrop in the stone, he patiently counted every boulder fallen on his head. Counted them from memory. But the fun never lasted for too long, and soon he realized he had to go to work. So, he came up, slashing and beating his way out of the narrow chute, rising to his full height like a demon out of hell, and announced the number; forty-four. Forty-four rocks. Shame there hadn’t been more, all of them probably agreed. An intense, blood curdling, insane fight took place. Friendly was like a storm of violence, holding two archers, two casters, one assassin, two brutes and one sword-man off at once. for what seemed like hours they fought, while in truth it lasted less than ten minutes. But no one is invincible, and in the end, it was the assassin that got him. She, and their black magician. Friendly’s mighty life of blood and death, ended in a dark place where no one would ever find him. A burnt and smoldering corpse amidst dust and bat-shit. Mere hours later, Dwassyith and his murderers came for none other than Nicky The Cripple himself. By sneaking explosive glyphs into The Passiflora, they hoped to eradicate him and his bodyguards without a fight. It almost succeeded, at least with the bodyguards. A master of Black Magic, a scholar of the arcane and a honed, keen mind, Nicky had for years seen to his own safety. Runes and gems, incantations and magical fail-safe systems, made him a place of invulnerability. So, when the establishment collapsed in fire and death, Nicky was kept perfectly safe within a charged, powerful barrier. He ate from the reserves of the world around him, and shook the earth with a disgusting summoning spell. Enemies, thieves and morons, all rose from shallow graves around the brothel. An inside joke, one of which few would find amusing. But Nicky was one of these few. And just as those unwise revelers and unprepared assassins had been made to do, Nicky knew Dwassyith and his friends would one day rise from those very same graves. Rise to protect the master they had tried to murder in life. Nicky enveloped himself in a shield, and sent his minions on the hunt. A battle ensued where the assassins attempted to break through the ranks of the undead and reach Nicky. They broke the shield, forced it to collapse, and victory was near. But they had all been deceived. For while they had been tangling with worthless, broken bodies, Nicky had been feeding on the world. And when their triumph came, it was to become his victory. Or so he thought, and can we really blame him? He blackened the world, after all. Summoned a comet which blocked out the sun, and sent it slamming into the street. It was destruction on a catastrophic scale, and had it not been for sheer luck or for some skill in magic, they would all have been obliterated. Dragging himself from the ground, bleeding on the inside, bleeding on the outside. Joints screaming and brain whirling, Dwas fed upon his iron will, and charged the now power depleted Nicky. Kai awoke, the mercenary who assisted in taking down Friendly, and joined in very much the same fashion. Two pissed off, blood drunk and raging juggernauts, united as on person for one, single purpose. Nicky lifted his cane, and had he gotten a chance to slam it onto the earth, a lot of things would’ve ended differently. But Dwassyith’s axe sunk deep into the flesh of the broken body, and Kai finished it by cutting the head off the serpent. As Nicky’s life ran out onto the life-deprived land, the assassins were found, and taken to the hospital. Along with five dozen other wounded, and fifteen body bags. Buildings had been crushed, blown away or simply decimated by the cripple’s power, and if that couldn’t give birth to a new era, then nothing could. Later, Dwas was inducted into The Black Hand. But as we will know by now, it won’t be where The Rootless’ tale ends. It will simply be the beginning of another bloody chapter.... [Written by Naelia Swanra]

Entry 24 - Decisions Much to their surprise they all survived the meeting with Nicky and were given yet another task by the Cripple. This was their chance to amend their mistake and the group played eager to please. They were sent to take out the offender, Vincent Aurora, disguised as a delivery crew from Nicky, they were let through the gates of Vincent’s base of operation. An old ruin outside of Limsa. Meanwhile, they had found a new addition to the group, a tribal Miqo’te by the name of X’ken, who made it his business to offend and be offended by everyone upon first meeting them. Despite this, the new guy was taken along to Nicky’s task which was simple enough, get Vincent alone, question him about the dock incident as well as his future plans and intentions and then bring his head to the Boulder. However, this seemed easier said than done, the place was swarming with guards and had an ominous feel to it. There was confusion as to what exactly was going on here, people were being escorted from one place to another and when they got a glimpse at their delivered goods, they horrified to find out that they were children.(edited) In the little time they had to come up with a plan, Dwassyith gave those that wanted to leave a chance to go. Kisha was the only one who took that chance, she promised to stay close and get aid in case the group did not return from inside the base. The rest of the group followed Dwassyith inside, entirely unsure what they had signed up for. Vincent was waiting for them and after a few exchanged words he lead them down to the cellar. There was no denying what they had wandered into, the pained screams of the tortured muffled faintly from soundproofed cells. They confronted Vincent and were ready to kill him, when he made them a proposal. It was simple enough, let him live and betray Nicky instead. Naturally, the group did not trust this at first. However, after a long conversation and much consideration, it was decided to go against Nicky and let Vincent talk to the Boulder. This decision, though collectively made, did not sit well with some of the group. It caused an argument between Kisha and Dwassyith, which was swiftly ended by Kisha being smashed into a wall. She was left at the Limsan Hospital, and not welcome to return to their midst. A few days passed, in which preparations were made for the next step to achieve the new goal. Nicky had to be kept unaware of their plans and while he was being schmoozed by both Xihsa’li and Dwas, the rest of the group tried to stay out of trouble and await a new directive. Unfortunately, staying out of trouble proved more difficult than first anticipated, when Zumi got herself arrested for murdering an innocent girl whilst attempting to stab someone who had been abusive to her a few days ago. It was cause for many headaches and a deal had to be made with the Boulder in order to bail her out of jail. Once she was returned to the group and put in her place, minds were finally ready to focus on the tasks head. [Written by R'avi Tia]

Entry 23 - The Lizard, the Snake and the Rock After recent assignments, the group split up for a brief while. Dwassyith, Rhell and R’avi headed for Ul’dah to collect what was missing from their pay of Miamoli’s task. During the meeting Miamoli made Dwassyith and Rhell an ominious proposal, asking them to bring R’avi to her in exchange for a large sum of gil. According to her, she planned to have the ginger work in her establishment. The offer was politely taken into consideration, though both Rhell and Dwassyith seemed to have their suspicion and reseveration about this. This feeling grew only worse when they found themselves followed by a number of Hyur after their meeting with Miamoli. They managed to shake them off, but fled Ul’dah the next day with a very bad feeling. Meanwhile, the assignments by Nicky kept coming steadily, as the group had proven competent enough in taking out a rival, Nicky deemed them worthy enough to carry out the simple task of motivating his dock workers to resume their work. They had been refusing to work out of fear for a few days, and business was being affected. Seeing no problem with a simple task like that, the group set out to have a little chat with the fearful workers. It seemed to go well up until the point where one of the workers exploded. This explosion was not figurartively either, the man actually exploded, leaving his bloody mass all over the docks and mostly Dwassyith and Kisha. The cause of this unexpected action had been a caster, accompanied by a group of thugs, who had been sent to the docks with a message from Vincent Aurora. The man was set to challenge Nicky for his territory. This insult to their employer ensued in a fight between the group and Vincent’s men, it left the dock in chaos and forced the group to flee the bloody and suspicious scene. The next few days were spent trying to come up with a way of breaking the news to Nicky without having Friendly break every bone in their body.(edited) Eventually, they all made peace with the thought of maybe having to flee Limsa and never come back. Lucky for them Nicky still found them useful and promised more work in the future. Their next meeting with Nicky was joined by no other than the Boulder, who was set on finding out more regarding the groups time in Ul’dah. When his interrogation did not uncover anything, the group was sent to do their next task. [Written by R'avi Tia]