Name:No One Enters Brigand's Mine Type: Task Location: Atmos Island Requestee: Diego Difficulty:1 Significance: 1 Objective:Enter Rolough the Brigand's Mine Sub-Objective: Defeat the Vikings protecting the mine Plot: Once Diego reaches Atmos Island, he seeks out Rolough the Brigand. Diego wants advice on fighting against the Holy Army for the man who's 47-day siege led to its creation. Rolough is not as eager to meet the young bandit, and sends his Viking soldiers to attack him. Diego must defeat the Vikings and enter the mine if he's going to get the old Viking to speak with him. Wishlist: NPC Coins Cast: Diego Tameemon Viking Grunts
Name: Bragi Type: INPC Rank: D Gender: Male Race: Human Faction: Viking Description: 7 feet tall, bald with a hand print on his face in red warpaint.
Job: Mine Guard Items: N/A Traits: Protector- Generates Endurance and Durability advantages when protecting Brigand's Mine
Strength and Power: E Endurance and Durability: E+ Speed and Agility: E Perception and Wits: E Spirit and Willpower: E+
Once Diego arrived on Atmos Island, it became clear to him almost immediately what he would have to do. Growing up on Rubeck Island meant that in addition to being familiar with the different races of the world, Diego was also decently read on history, especially events that had occurred in the North Blue. He had read about Rolough the Brigand's history of terrorizing the citizens of the North Blue; this includes his legendary 47 day siege of Judge Island where, despite coming up short in the end, he still caused extreme damage to the island and harmed countless citizens. In Diego's opinion though, Rolough's greatest feat was simply the fact that he had lived for so long despite attacking Rhimesburg directly before the formation of the Holy Army. The fact that the army had been unable or even unwilling to try and take his life was what made Diego certain that he would have to meet the legendary Viking. Atmos Island was populated by many different groups of Vikings, and on one side of the island there were constant fights where strong people were occasionally recruited by other Vikings once they had proved their worth. Diego was sure that he would visit that area before leaving the island, but at the moment he stood on the more peaceful side of the island. 'Peaceful' is only meant to describe the people though, as Rolough's rule preventing violence did not extend to the weather. The landscape was treacherous, and if someone was not careful in the mountain ranges they could potentially be caught in an avalanche or simply fall to their death after slipping on the icy terrain. This was exactly the area Diego would be forced to explore as well, as Rolough's mining company had all their mines in that region. Diego began walking through the snowy landscape of Atmos Island, with no clear direction in mind, walking from the snow covered forest that separated the snow covered beach that surrounded the island from the mountains that were dotted across its center region.
The plan was simple, if Diego wanted to find Rolough, he would simply search through the mountains for different mines until he finds the one Rolough was in. Of course, the plans simplicity was due to Diego's ignoring key details such as the sheer number of mines there could potentially be on the island, as well as the chances that there are measures in place to prevent someone from simply waltzing into even one of the mines. Diego ignored these details because they would not help him in successfully reaching Rolough, and so they didn't need to be considered. "I'm gonna find the old man and get him to help me defeat the Holy Army, even if I have to pull him above the ground by his cane." The moment his sentence concluded, Diego paused. He had once again mentioned the Holy Army. It had not been long since his clan had been slaughtered, and the wound was still fresh enough that even saying the name of the group caused Diego to wince, the voices of his fallen comrades filling his ears as he walked
"Diego, are you just gonna let them keep messing with us?" Diego's eyes became misty as the snow crunched beneath his feet. "Why aren't you doing anything about the Holy Army? Are you scared or something?" The large dark-skinned man could barely see a few meters in front of his own face, as his large arm raised up to shield his face from the snow as he walked forward nearly blindly. "We have to take the fight to them. They can't get away with getting into our business all the time." Diego continued walking with the voices in his ears growing louder as he walked, eventually arriving at the reason for his trek into the snowy wasteland: one of Rolough the Brigand's Mines. Shaking the haunting words of his former comrades away, Diego pushed forward through the snow. He could barely see the mine, in fact the only thing that Diego could see though the snow was a large crack in the side of a mountain about 10 meters ahead of him but he was sure that it was what he had been searching for. In order to reach the crack in the mountain, Diego would have to climb down slightly, as he was standing on a snow covered rock formation about 6 meters above the ground when he first spotted it. Diego was careful when climbing down, not confident that the snow beneath him would properly cushion the fall of such a heavy man as himself. Diego made it near the bottom of the rock formation safely, slipping from the ice that had built up at the bottom and forced him to lose his grip, but still not being in bad shape as he had fortunately been close enough to the ground to not injure himself upon falling onto his back in the snow. Standing up and shaking the snow out of his hair, Diego continued walking towards the crack in the mountain.
From afar, especially with the snow covered and windy landscape acting as a sort of natural camouflage, the mine entrance appeared to be just a large vertical crack in the side of the icy mountain. But as Diego got closer, it became clear to him that the entrance to the mine was much more advanced than he had originally thought. Instead of a large crack in the mountain, Diego was staring at a reinforced iron door, 10 meters high and 4 meters wide sealed into a small gap in the thick mountain ice. Diego was once again haunted by a voice from the past, except this time it was his own. Diego recalled his response to his fellow bandits after they had urged him for weeks to retaliate against the Holy Army; his words from that time rang in his mind as he repeated them in the present with just as much fire as he had then,"Those Holy bastards will all burn."
Diego's resolve hadn't wavered after the devastating loss he had suffered at the hands of the Holy Army. Losing his clan had only given Diego even more reason to want the Army disbanded, even if he would be forced to build his forced from the ground up in order to do so. His fist slamming against the reinforced iron door, Diego began shouting at the top of his lungs,"Old man Rolough!" Getting no response, Diego would only begin slamming his palms against the door, trying to generate enough force to create a loud bang without hurting his hands with the impact. "Old man!" the young bandit would resume shouting, his voice echoing alongside the sounds of his hands repeatedly slapping against the door. After a short time, Diego would have no choice but to stop, as his red hands and heavy breathing made it obvious that he would need to take a break. "I can't stop, if the old man doesn't help me I won't stand a chance against the Holy Army. We got destroyed last time but the Old Man knows how I can win, I need his help so I can avenge Kuki and the others." Talking to himself always helped Diego to refocus, and as his breathing slowed to its normal pace Diego began slapping at the door and shouting with renewed vigor. "Old man Rolough! I'm not leaving until you come out here!" Diego continued slapping the door and shouting, continuing for much longer than he had the first time. "I know someone's in here! If I can't find the old man then I'll have to come in and make you tell me where he is." Diego continued his actions until his throat hurt from shouting, not stopping until finally the door began to slide open with a loud creaking sound and the sounds of a loud klaxon screeching just inside of the door. "Now what could you possibly want with gramps?"
The man who emerged from within the mine was not the legendary warrior Rolough the Brigand. Instead Diego now stood approximately three meters away from a bald man, one who was tall, but not nearly as tall as Diego himself. "And who are you? You called Rolough gramps, you're his real grandson?" Diego didn't know that Rolough even had any family, since things like that never made it into the history books unless the children themselves went on the become legends. "My name is Bragi, and maybe not by blood, but everyone on the island looks at Rolough as a mentor and a father figure. After he retired from life as a Viking, the old man settled on Atmos and turned it into a safe-haven for all those who needed to law low or avoid the attention of the government" Diego took in those words and reflected on them internally. 'A safe-haven for those who want to avoid the attention of the government? Doesn't sound like a particularly spectacular place to me.'
"So he took an abandoned island and turned it into a criminal outpost. That doesn't really sound like something to be proud of." Bragi simply shook his head at the taller man, "You don't get it. Rolough didn't just come to an abandoned island and invite a bunch of criminals to it. Atmos Island had been ripped apart by constant fighting for years before Rolough ever got here. When the old man got here after his seige of Judge Island, he took control of the island, designating half of the island to fights. This left the other half of the island to be a peaceful area, where bandits and vikings alike can get a fresh start without being bothered by the government. Those who want to retire from theft and pillaging can work for Rolough in the mine in order to feed themselves and their families. Gramps is the definition of a real leader."
Diego hadn't even considered that Rolough's greatest accomplishment may have come after he had retired from life as a Viking; but Bragi's words, and the passion with which he delivered them, made him think that maybe he was mistaken. The bandit's goals hadn't changed though, and he still would need to find Rolough in order to get his advice. "Maybe you're right, but I'd rather hear from the man himself still. Where's Rolough? Is he in here?" Diego looked directly over the head of the shorter man as he said this, trying to see deeper into the mine behind him but only seeing what appeared to be a long passageway just through the door. "Of course he isn't. The old man has been retired for years he has no reason to just sit in the mines all day. He mostly just runs the mine as well as the rest of Atmos from his home." Diego was stuck; that meant that his plan had been doomed to fail from the beginning. "Well then where does he live? I need to ask Rolough some questions."
Bragi scoffed,"You think I'd just tell you where Gramps lives? Not a chance. What kind of questions could you be trying to ask him anyway." Diego was annoyed that Bragi wasn't just giving him the information he desired, but he hoped that by answering his questions he could get the answer to his own, "I'm planning to take on the Holy Army, and I want to ask the old man what he knows about fighting them." Bragi's facial expression changed upon hearing Diego's answer, morphing into one of complete amusement as he burst into laughter. "The Holy Army? Going against them is suicide. Gramps may have fought against Judge Island in the past but everyone knows that no one in the North Blue can go against the Church of Svon." Diego didn't like what he was hearing, and his annoyance was rapidly turning into anger,"Look, I'm not here to argue with you about my chances of beating them. Just tell me where the old man lives so I can get what I need and leave." Bragi simply continued laughing at Diego as footsteps began to become audible behind him. Diego could hear the sounds of footsteps getting increasingly louder from behind Bragi until 3 tall men in miner's clothes emerged. These men were all between 6'8 and 6'10, so they were all slightly shorter than Bragi and much smaller than Diego. "If you want to find gramps, you'd better go out into the snow and start digging for him yourself because I won't be telling you anything."
'Three on one huh' Diego had been in this position before, and he couldn't say that he'd ever liked it. The three men in miner's clothes had approached Diego together, and the three meter distance between where they emerged and where Diego was standing would not take long for them to cover. The three men all simultaneously lunged at Diego once they reached a meter in front of him, striking out with different moves aimed to hit the large man in a coordinated manner. The first man, a typical North Blue resident with long blonde hair and rippling muscles, decided to go low intending to sweep Diego's leg out from under him with a powerful kick aimed at his lower leg. At the exact same time that the blonde attempted to kick Diego, one of his companions charged at Diego'd midsection with a powerful tackle. This assailant was a man with red hair and a similar build,and was hoping to knock Diego off balance by attacking his waist at the same time that his leg was struck. The final mine worker was bald just as Bragi was, only he hid his bald head under a typical miner's hat with a light attached to it. This man was straightforward in his attack style, jumping directly over his two comrades who had gone low, aiming to hit Diego in the jaw with as much energy as he could force into a single punch. The three men had coordinated their attacks to all strike at the same time in order to overwhelm Diego, and so the attacks would have to all be dealt with at once as well.
Diego allowed all of the strikes to make contact, sure that they would be unable to damage him. The three men all hit Diego with as much force as they could muster, and were shocked when they made contact with that seemed to be an immovable wall of muscle. "Wow, that sure did hurt a lot. Now it's my turn." Diego brought his arm back, his hand open as he swung his palm as quickly as he could into the face of the man who had decided to punch him in the face. The other two man were pushed back slightly by Diego moving, falling backwards into the snow in front of the tall man. The actual target of the blow was less lucky, as Diego's hand made direct contact with his cheek leaving behind a red print and sending him falling to the ground.His hat was knocked off on impact, flying off of his head and landing a few feet behind where he fell, it's light cracked and flickering as it struggled to live despite the damage it had taken simply being attached to the man. "Oops." Diego stepped back from the injured man, allowing the other two miners to tend to their hurt ally. "I really only came here to talk. This could've all been avoided if you had simply answered my question." None of the men were listening however, as instead the three remaining men just rushed Diego together, determined to avenge the bald man who was by now seeing images of cartoon birds flying around his head.
'Ok so this should be easy.' Diego wasn't happy to once again be facing off against three opponents at once, but the last time had gone so well for him. The two miner's decided to once again strike as a team, but Bragi stayed shortly behind them as if he was planning to attack right after them. The coordinated attack worked even more smoothly with two people, as the redhead got down onto a single knee with his hands out and cupped, before the blonde man jumped up placing his foot into the hands of his ally. The redheaded miner then flipped his blonde partner up towards Diego, who then became the target of an attack from above. At the same time that the blonde man was launched upwards, his partner shifted from his kneeling position to began sprinting towards Diego while crouched low. Once the blonde man became airborne, he immediately drew Diego's attention. This would prove to be exactly what the miners wanted as Diego would look up towards him, leaving his midsection open to the attack that was coming from below. "Take this you giant bastard!" The red haired man yelled as he thrust his fist into Diego's exposed abdomen. This once again prove fruitless however as Diego's only response would be to grab the blonde man out of the air with both hands before laughing,"Yegogogo, you really thought that your fancy tricks and teamwork would help you overcome the power of these muscles?" He flexed his large biceps as he said muscles in order to put emphasis on the word. Bragi was still running shortly behind when Diego was first his by the red-haired man, but he wouldn't be far behind as Diego would see his fist flying towards his midsection where he had just been struck. The feeling that Diego got from this punch was totally different from the one before it.
When the fist of the red-haired man struck Diego's not even flexed abdominal region, his hand had connected with a thud as it nearly bounced off of the surface of the muscle covered area. Bragi's fist however, seemed to sink slightly into Diego's gut, causing him to let go of the blonde man from a combination of shock and real pain. The punch wasn't strong enough to actually injure him, but it was clear to Diego that Bragi was stronger than the other miners. "Well would you look at that, grandson Bragi has a little bit of a hook." Taking advantage of the fact that Bragi was now directly in front of him, Diego entered his stance, bending his knees slightly as he spread his legs to get into a more traditional sumo wrestler's stance. Immediately, Diego lunged forward from this stance, both arms extended down towards Bragi aiming to push him backwards. Bragi crossed his forearms in front of himself in order to reduce the impact, but when Diego's large hands made contact with his guard, Bragi was pushed back several feet. Despite being pushed, Bragi seemed as if he was still in just as good condition as he was before being hit. "Torryg, Ulfric, you guys go back into the mind and make sure that Balgruuf is taken care of. I'll deal with this guy." The two subordinates followed his orders as it was clear that they would not be able to take on the bandit themselves, picking up the still delirious Balgruuf and carrying him back into the mine they had emerged from. "Oh is it just you and me now? Good, now I can focus on making you tell me what I want to know without slapping anymore small fries."
His red overcoat was barely able to shield him from the freezing wind that blew on Atmos Island, but he was still prepared to give it his all. Responding to Bragi's intense glare with a wide grin, Diego began to taunt his opponent, "You look pretty angry at me, is it because of what happened to your friend? That's on you man. I only asked a simple question, and since you couldn't give me an answer he got knocked out." Bragi's glare shifted into a look of pure rage as he uttered a loud battle-cry before taking off, sending his body hurtling towards the larger man. Diego had a significant reach advantage over Bragi, so he simply waited as Bragi sprinted towards him, the 4-meter distance between the two men shrinking quickly. Once Bragi was 2 meters away, Diego swung a powerful palm strike at his chest; intending to stop Bragi's rush before even getting into the bald man's range, Diego was shocked to find his strike hitting open air. Bragi had ducked under the clumsy attack, launching a furious combination of strikes at Diego's exposed chin once the wrestler overextended himself. Diego was struck with a total of four punches in quick succession, a jab followed by a left hook and right uppercut separated by a second quick jab. Bragi fought with an orthodox stance and was obviously experienced. It was also clear that he was putting much more effort into his attacks than he had been before. (Small exertion so he does moderate damage instead of minor).
Diego was dizzy from the combination of punches but knew that he couldn't take a moment to recover. This time using both hands together, Diego once again launched ferocious palm strikes towards his opponent. Bragi reacted the same way he had to the last attack; ducking under the much slower attack from the larger man before delivering a powerful pair of straight punches into Diego's gut. Just as his earlier blow had, these strikes managed to penetrate the powerful defense that Diego's muscle's provided. The wind thoroughly knocked out of him, Diego took a few steps back from his opponent in order to try and catch his breath. Bragi was unwilling to provide him a window to do so, instead keeping the pressure on by attacking Diego's waist with a powerful tackle, grabbing the larger man, and attempting to drive him towards the ground through sheer strength. 'The hell, this guy's pushing me backward?' As shocked as he was, Diego refused to allow his opponent to overpower him. Bragi was clearly the superior striker, but Diego had never been defeated in the battle of strength, and he had no intention of having it happen for the first time on Atmos Island. Diego's feet did slide back a few feet from the power of the mine protector, but he was able to stop the charge as he lifted one of his legs. Once Diego's left leg left the ground, Bragi attempted to take advantage of the resultant lack of balance by grabbing at Diego's right leg but was shocked by the strength of his opponent as Diego stepped forward powerfully with his left foot, stopping his charge. Bragi was then left holding onto Diego's right leg as the large human stood unaffected by his attempt to take him down. Bragi's position then got much worse, as Diego bent that same right leg that he was holding onto, jumping and pushing back the mine guard with his knee. Bragi was pushed away from Diego by the attack but he was relatively unhurt. Upon landing on the ground, Diego attempted to remedy that by launching a second flying knee at his opponent, this time with his left. The first knee had not sent Bragi more than a few feet away, and so he was still close enough to be struck by the second attack from the 13-foot tall man, a move he certainly hadn't been expecting; the first flying knee had honestly been such a surprise itself, that the idea that it would be followed by another seemed almost absurd to Bragi. It was the reality, however, and as the second knee strike landed on his arms which he was able to put between his chin and the offending knee at the last second; he was nearly launching into the air. Instead, he merely jumped a few feet backward on impact, creating about 5 meters of distance between the two men as his arms throbbed in pain.
