Ballad of Cody O' lamaturtle

[MercTroop]

Hiding out in one of the wagons near Baldur Gate, Cody waited until sun rise to venture into the forest again. Walking through the forest the minotaur friends were all in the forest. Man who had vanished from sight day before fired a blast of energy dazing Cody. Limping through the forest Cody quickly faded from sight went towards Baldur Gate. Ground around him once again exploded until he made it close to the bridge to make any one wary of drawing Fist attention.

He needed to track down a merchant for a see invisibility spell. Or just wait until the incident blew over. Either way he would spend next couple of days in a tavern. Getting across the bridge by hiding on one of the merchant caravans that contained grain. Cody got off at the farm lands, where he spent a good portion of his time chasing chickens.

While taking a rest at his chicken chasing Oawa showed up. After a lengthy discussion about needing to kill invisible enemies, Oawa enchanted Cody with a see invisibility spell. Pair ventured into the forest. Man who had been attacking Cody, Hin, and the silent dark skinned man all stood confident in their invisibility spells.

Build up of arcane energy in his main assailants hands caused Cody to reflexively to conceal him self from sight. Hiding behind a tree Cody read from a mind blank scroll, then focused at the trio in the forest. Their seemingly leader was destroying sections of the forest again, perhaps searching for Cody. Using the magic in his gauntlets to close the gap, Cody flew into a rage.

Skirmish at close quartors took the trio by surprise. Dark skinned man stood stunned at what was happening as Cody enguaged their leader. Each of Cody blow struck with unnerving accuracy hitting his target weak points. Cutting the mans arm off before knocking him to the ground, the Hin appeared striking Cody from behind.

Fighting quickly intensified as the dark skinned man regained his wits. It was too late one of his companions was already dead and the hin was trying to crawl away as she bleed out from many long sword wounds. Firing a blast of energy at Cody knocking him down, he watched as he slid across the ground. He quickly burst into a dash as Cody stumbled to his feet.

Not making it far dark skinned mans back quickly became littered with bolts. Even more as Cody finally caught up with him having no intention of leaving any one alive. Oawa watched the entire event before moving on again silently. Cody walked over to see what indentification his enemies leader had. That was until he saw Suvania walking down the trade way...

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Coming to the conclusion the leader of the group he had just slain was a warlock. Mostly through previously seeing him shift forms into a devil and summoning other devils. Cody approached Suvania down the road with a spring in his step. As she impatiently listened to his story, Cody already began to lie about details of the story.

Claiming that he had been attacked by a warlock who turned into huge demon ablaze in flames wielding a sword the size of a man. Killing the creature and the small army of demons it controlled, all that remains was the warlock and two of his minions.

When Suvania and Cody returned to the scene all the remained was a single corpse. Man who Cody came to know as the warlock leader. Suvania told Cody he would need to go to Fist HQ to sort the situation out. Not wanting to get blood on Suvania, Cody lugged the corpse to BG for it.

It didn't take Cody long inside a Fist head quarters to tell the real story. Afraid they would set Axle on him again he tried his best not to make him self look any better. At least for awhile it seemed like the warlock was doing good enough job making him self look bad.

To Cody surprise Suvania blamed him. Releasing the Warlock she vanished into the back with the man. Cody sat in a jail cell, accused of murder he knew the Fist would have his head. He began to craft a shiv out of stone, if the Fist were going to kill him he would take some of them with him.

Waiting for the inevitable days passed with out word. Eventually word reached Cody he would be released. A few days later with out a reason given he was shoved out into the streets with his equipment. Fist had never been one to ever believe a word Cody said, especially with some one living disputing what he said. Not wanting to press his luck, Cody vanished into the streets of Baldur Gate unsure what to make of the situation.

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During a magical incident where people's wishes said aloud were coming true in a twisted form. Cody wished he was living in a musical. Unfortunately for him he was only one effected by the magic and started to break out into song and dance. After some one summons a trent one of Cody musical numbers leads him to slay it. A fight quickly breaks out between him and Kahai.

Small hin proves to be allot tougher then Cody expects, easily dodging his blade strikes. Kahai weaves between his sword, using his own momentum against him. Every failed strike against her opens him up for her hands to directly touch him. With each touch a portion of his strength is drained away.

Realizing it's only a matter of time before Kahai touch kills him, he makes a run for Baldur Gate. Using magic in his gauntlets he notices the hin doesn't follow him towards the city. Getting across the bridge check points he stops to take a rest. Sound of snarling causes him to instinctively step back causing a grey figure to fly in front him. A wolf lands on the ground next to him and lunges at him again.

Creature was unlike the average wolves Cody had grown used to hunting for hides. It was stronger, allot stronger. Easily dragging Cody to the ground he tore into his right arm. Unsheathing a boot dagger Cody stabbed at the creature wildly until it let go. Wolf began to limp away as Cody dragged him self in the other direction.

Finding the Chauntea shrine he apologized for killing the trent and left what ever gold he had in his pockets. Finding a secluded place by the river bank he removed his right arm gauntlet to reveal it had been completely infested with maggots. It would take him his entire supply of healing items magic and mundane to undo most of the damage done to his body.

Passing out he would awake days later in the temple of Tymora...

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News of Justin death fills Cody with joy, as a added bonus Beren Cross is one the responsible. These sole acts remind Cody that Illmater could never be his true god, it is the Goddesses of fate who truly watch over him. Thought of Beren finally getting what he deserves sends Cody off to celebrate while the city weeps.

Good times quickly come to a end when Suvania informs Cody that if he is sent to prison again he will be executed. On still on going orders of Justin, that if Cody wanted lenientcy he should help the Fist track down Beren allies. Handing Cody a list of names he scans over the list not recognizing most of them. Just as suddenly as the list is given a women emerges from the shadows grabbing the list out of Cody hands and running off.

Dumb founded at what to say they watch the women run off and shimmer from sight a couple feet away. Handing a new list to Cody, Suvania tells him not to lose this one. Cody makes sure he has a tighter grip in case another person tries to snatch this list. As the pair part ways Cody looks at the list unsure what to do.

Deep down he wants to start killing the Fist members, even with out Justin they remain the same. Only thing Cody hated more then the Fist was Beren Cross. A excuse to kill Beren friends was not some thing he would give up. Not wanting to split his attention between the two Cody flips a coin, shortly after he buys a mule and makes his way towards Naskel...

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First target Caedis.

Easy job, old man still patrolled the road like a ignorant fool. Plan was simple shoot him with a bolt drag his corpse to Baldur Gate, cash in with the fist hopefully getting them on Cody side. Unfortunately like most jobs Caedis was deceptively hardened.

Sword met sword on the trade way. Deep down Cody knew it would of come to this even if Beren were still alive. For some reason Caedis sword skills were extremely good. Old man parried a few attacks but Cody irrational movements got the best of him knocking him off balance. Or at least it seemed that way, every time Cody would go in to finish Caedis off old man would take the stab fully placing his hand on Cody chest he filled him with negative energy.

Effects were devestaiting. Unwilling to risk his own death just for a assassination attempt Cody with drew from the fight. Giving Caedis the middle finger he ran off into the forest. Next time they met he would not under estimate the old man.

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Attempt to kill Caedis was only beginning of Cody bad luck. Other people he was tasked with finding proved as hard to find as they were to kill. Swords and spells clashed each time Cody was forced to retreat dangerously wounded. Deciding to try kidnapping a friend of his targets to force them out of hiding didn't go well either. Just as Cody was about to grab the women his ankle snapped as she vanished into the gate.

Frustrated at his bad luck Cody enlisted the help of a bounty hunter on the bridge. Managing to secure the mans help by gambling for his employment with the flip of a tower shield. Pair walked into the forests near Baldur Gate, it didn't take them long to find Caedis again.

After a short discussion Caedis one of Caedis companions appeared on the road. The man quickly began casting spells, not confident in the bounty hunter he had brought along Cody began to run into the forest. Using a spider web scroll Caedis attempted to bind Cody with it, instead Cody used the bounty hunter as a shield as he ran into the forest.

Hiding behind a tree Cody watched for a moment as he saw Caedis say some thing to the other man who was still casting spells. Pointing in Cody direction, Caedis charged into the forest. Using magic in his gauntlets to cast haste, Cody used his quickened state to use a death ward scroll, then activated his gargoyle boots. Caedis had not seemed to notice that he was being isolated by chasing after Cody or that in his haste to catch him he had not raised his own protective wards.

Entering a thick brush the chase quickly ended as Cody let his base instincts take over. All the rage Cody had held onto Beren was now focused solely on Caedis. Caedis quickly found him self being forced on the defensive, slowly cornered. Every sword strike took a piece of Caedis with it, as he desperately prayed for more healing spells Cody raged built up even more. Cody could of taken the man alive, but these were the same who had backed a man who hunted him down when he wanted mercy. He would not let Caedis die well...

Using the bottom of Caedis sword as a guide, Cody pressed his own sword against it. Finding the mans torso he struck clean through the armor. His prayers ceased as he fell silent, eventually collapsing on the spot just as his companion had arrived.

Bounty hunter had managed to break free of the web spell and crept up behind the second man and plunged his daggers in his back. Cody plunged his sword int he mans chest as his rage slow subsided. Gasping for air he glanced around at the crowd that had watched from a distance.

Myhun like he had been watching whole incident appeared took Cody and the two deceased men back to Fist HQ. Arrest was more for appearance as Cody was almost instantly released from the Fist barracks.

A few days later Cody would learn he had made a terrible mistake...

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Why had the Fist been slow in their exonerations?

Had the Fist used him to make a example of Beren friends?

Caedis and Christian had been released from prison just as quickly as Cody. Fist were just playing games with peoples lives, it made Cody angry. Doubt spread through Cody mind about his current mission. He could see him self becoming every thing the Fist was. It tore him up inside, to become the thign he hated the most. Abandoning his quest to track down the other members on his list. Cody gave up working for the Fist entirely.

Situation had not been entirely a waste he had a chance to prove his skills. Merchants were eager to hire him, new work was often bloody but frequent. Still he was considered a small time mercenary, he would need to do some thing big to get his name out there. Word around every Tavern was Seadin was the best swords man in the lands. What better way to get his swords man ship recognized then by killing Seadin...

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No planned seemed to work against Seadin. He disarmed every trap layed, killed every summon sent, dodged every bolt shot at him, parried every type of fighting style Cody could come up with, even attempts to poison him back fired. Still it didn't stop Cody, every time Seadin sent him running in defeat Cody would return with even more determination. While Seadin reputation in side Baldur Gate was bad, out laying villages had allot of good things to say about him.

After finding out that Beshaba priest had been turned undead, Cody had what he saw as a falling out with the Goddess. Turning solely towards Tymora, he completely stopped rotating the Goddess days of worship. Cody started to do some thing he hadn't done since his imprisonment, help people on the trade way. It made him feel allot better then the gold he made from assassinations.

After a brief discussion with Seadin, Cody was able to smooth out at least some of the bad blood between them. Surprisingly Seadin didn't hold a grudge, they became loose associates. At least until Seadin showed a sign of weakness...

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Adjusting from the life of a hardened criminal was hard for Cody. Money from assassinations was too good for him to ignore. Despite this he tried his best to take jobs against people he thought deserved it.

Placing ads with in the N.T.E. and on the black market as a mercenary Cody was getting his name out there. People at least knew him by name at the least. He was able to smooth hostility between him and Cat at least until a Kobold druid provoked him into threatening to burn sections of the forest again. Once again he spent his time avoiding druids or taking any jobs that took him deep into the forest.

As he stopped burning the forest, or poaching animals for profit he began to see strange things in the forest. After eating a special herbal mushroom he saw a ghostly visage of a tiger and raccoon. At first believing them to be hallucinations he saw them again and again in battle. After a fierce battle in the serpent hills that put him on the edge of death he saw them again. Except it seemed they were talking to him.

Whole situation freaked him out. Setting out to find answers, he would try to mend his relationship with the druids once again. Other wise he could always burn the forest again to hopefully make the visions of animals go away again.

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Feeling Tymora had been too long ignored, Cody scrapped up what little money he could gather. Hosting gambling tournaments to Tymora with his own money as the prize. It was a slow process gathering people, he worked out of Burning Wizard in Bereghost. For a while he felt happy serving his Goddess, thrill of not knowing how a card game would end kept him at the edge of his seat.

Talk of a war against the Banites captured Cody attention. If he wanted Tymora attention he would spill the blood of those she stood against. Managing to get Maximus to agree to offer to reward him for his help he gladly joined the cause.

Maximus lead a large group of people mostly adventurers and peasents against the Temple of Bane. Chants of steel, sacrifice of blood filled the forests surrounding the temple. Observing the fight from a distance Cody was able to pick out members of the Fist in the fighting. Sight drained him of his will to fight, he didn't know which side was worse.

Waiting for the fighting to die down he walked across the battle field scavenging what ever he could find from the fallen. Braving the inside of the temple of Bane he was able to collect even more items of value. Leaving the scene behind he goes to collect gold on goods he had taken.

Cody felt like he was only one left who remembered what the Fist had done. His rage towards the Fist only ignited when he beheld Axle publicly walking around at Volo flogging. Each crack of Axle whip against Volo made Cody want to make the streets of Baldur Gate run red with the blood of Fist.

Leaving the city Cody grew increasingly frustrated that those who praised Tyr would let Axle live. People of Baldur Gate seemed to celebrate what the Fist were doing. Tiger spirit that was with Cody fed off his frustration and rage. Bond between Cody and the tiger spirit grew stronger, it offered to help him for a sacrifice.

To the north lay a creature half man, half snake. It had slain the tiger in life, and taken the Tiger lair for its home. Accepting the task Cody spent the next month trekking through the North Mountains. Clues the tiger spirit used to guide him took him days to decifer. It was only on luck he was able to find the creatures lair.

As Cody prepared to enter the cave, the creature emerged to greet him already aware of his presence. It slithered against the ground before propping up right, towering over Cody. Green scales still moist glistened against the sun, shield and sword with serpent insignias were readied in each of its hands.

Fighting lasts for hours, flesh and blood is equally shared. At last the beast lays dead at Cody feet, pain greets Cody as he falls to his knees in exhaustion. On the wind he can hear the tiger spirit chanting his name. It is a good feeling, as Cody roars in trumpt he can feel the spirit roaring with him.

His path for blood had just begun...

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Cody scoured for some of the best mercenaries, assassins, people he thought would have a grudge against the Fist. Allot of them called him crazy for wanting to get back at the Fist, others told him not to talk to them ever again. No matter how good he made the money they feared retribution of the Fist.

Unfortunately Cody knew just the hin crazy enough to take his money. One of his old traveling buddies, who had turned into his friend after mercilessly stabbing Cody repeatedly over a minotaur bounty. Cody had fondly nick named the Hin the Castrator, which the hin took unnervingly name to the extremes. Castrator seemed to want revenge as bad as Cody, getting paid gave him the little nudge to get back at them.

Now with some help Cody felt a little more confident that Axle head would roll.

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War had come to Baldur Gate. Preachers screamed on every corner to join the fight against the evil Bhaalist. To Cody they were all fools, if the enemy wasn't Bhaalist he probably would of sold his sword to them. Despite his protests many members of the temple of Tymora had decided to join the front line. He grudgingly enlisted to help on the front line. Small payment he received almost made him want to hurt his recruiter. He took the pay and spent his time off to the side observing the camp eating free food provided.

At night the sky lit up with catapult fire. Turning on his dark vision the scene reminded him of shooting stars streaking across the sky. When a few flaming boulders fired from the Bhaalist fortress landed on a small group of Flaming Fist it made him glad he had come. After three days of being stuck in camp he was finally pushed into a small group of mercenaries tasked with scouting and raiding forward positions.

Sent to check on a Bhaalist camp located near the woods of sharp teeth, Cody and other Mercenaries were surprised to find a camp filled with dead bodies. Some of the corpses were knights of the Triad, from allot of the evidence both sides had fought to the death. As they explored the camp, Cody saw horrors he hadn't seen in a long time, undead.

Cody had heard rumors of Bhaalist using undead soldiers, but they were nothing like he had seen before. Smart, cunning, ready to kill every living thing around, undead spewed from the forest into the camp. When the fighting ended only a handful of survivors remained. As they returned to the camp, no one seemed to care that a few mercenaries had been slain. They were more concerned with recovering the corpses of the fallen Triad knights.

War had become even more personal Cody he was invested for the duration. Merging with other mercenary groups to rebuild their numbers, they were used for the missions the higher ups didn't want to waste better paid soldiers on. As the fighting intensified Cody would see many of his friends die over the course of the next few days.

When the fortress fell there was no celebrating from Cody, just a deep bubbling anger...

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One of the card players Cody used to play Nela had been caught with Fist. Letting her emotions get the best of her she foolishly tried to small group of Fist after execution of one of her friends. To no surprise their magics disabled her before their leader stabbed her in the heart. Killing her on the spot was no surprise to Cody, he knew he would have to become even more merciless if he wanted to punish the Flaming Fist.

Watching the Flaming Fist drag Nela corpse to town with them he already knew she would be resurrected and killed in a cell. He just needed to be there when they discarded her corpse, fortunately Cody knew just the guy....

http://bgtscc.fomwaa.com/forum/viewtopi ... 6&start=10

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She offered him a chance at hope. To repair scars that bore deep physical and emotional pain for Cody. Abby plan made little sense to Cody the details were too complex for him to follow. All he knew was she would drug him to sleep, cut his face off then fiddle around on the inside.

When he awoke he was his old self again. His facial scarring had been healed to his amazement, he no longer felt like a monster. Bursting into the streets from the temple of Illmater he ran naked as he celebrated what had happened.

Despite what seemed like a new start deep seeded anger still boiled...

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He had asked for Justice but they had swept him aside. Their callous eyes scorning him, ignoring his pain. Forgiveness for what the Fist had done was not possible in Cody eyes. They were all criminals protecting a man who had turned him into monster. They would all face judgement for protecting and supporting Axle, until Cody got what he desired.

Ambush after ambush, Fist fell prey for his gorilla ware fare from the shadows. Growing impatient he purposely stalked down and trapped the Fist private Kane into the forest. Letting his primal rage wash over him he gutted Kane in the woods. Spelling out Axles name with his intestines. His promises to carve compensation from the Fist in blood was coming to fruition. Trail of blood was only beginning, his rage had reached its boiling point time for action was at hand, no more words, no more seeking alternatives, absolutely no mercy...

After challenging Azareil to a bard duel, which ended in the second round with Cody utter humiliation. Cody runs off into the forest angrily to avoid trying to kill every one on the spot. Once he gets a short distance into the forest he sings a song.

"I'm hunting in the woods again. Gonna make Axle pay, plan to slice his friends away. Usher in a new blood stained day, then go to the tavern to spend some stolen pay. My name will go down in historyyyy."

Frowning his singing becomes slower paced and sadder.

"My unyielding rage, it fills my entire frame. I can't remember when I was not at war. How did I get this way?
Suvania was stolen away, now she loves Barvok each day. Abby can heal any body part, except this broken heart."