Exploring the Compass Rose, Eventide Crescendo

[nighthand]

Mac Anu, the city of rivers, the city of newbies, shone in the permanent sunrise. People hurried around, going on their errands, rushing off to battle, or spamming the air with calls for purchases or sales. A few errant bots, somehow not yet picked off by the admins, hawked the ill-gotten gold to be had for only a few USD or Yen. A string of a dozen lone wolves, brooding warriors and dark knights lined the bridge, spaced evenly to watch the river in their solemn silence. Below, people splashed in the river, having water fights or simply having been thrown from the bridge above. A couple tried to fish, with no results.

High above the sun-sparkled river floated two pairs of birds. They circled on the thermal currents of the air, large black silhouettes against the sky. Each scanned the hustle and bustle of the city with their black pearl eyes, looking for one character in particular. On occasion, one or two of them would swoop down low, diving for a closer look at a character in the town.

Down below, no one seemed to notice, or care. To them, the birds were graphical effects, tied to the sky. No matter how close they seemed, they could never be touched, never be targeted by a spell or attack. They were background; something to make The World more realistic, but nothing beyond.

One by one, the crows dove from the sky, locating the player they had searched for. They landed on rooftops, watching their chosen, ruffling feathers and preening wings. Only when they were sure, would they make their move.

One by one, four characters found small scrolls dropped at their feet, landing such that a single word was embossed on the front. One: Kashi. Two: Shenmock. Three: Exangelus. Four: Bane. The scrolls plainly were meant for them.

Picking them up and opening them revealed a short message.

You have been invited to an event as yet unseen. Earn fabulous rewards! Come to the field Delta: Glorious Crossroad Negotiation to see for yourself. Feel free to tip the bird.

Looking up, they would find the crow perched on a nearby rooftop, watching.

[Magras]

Whoa, damn is it busy today.

The Blademaster thought to himself with a small sigh as he gazed walked through the city he digitally called home. Throngs of players clogged Mac Anu like a dozen chunks of cork in a tiny drain. Groups moved about the city, laughing and chatting. Scorned warriors purchased large quantities of items, particularly Health Drinks, as they muttered to themselves about a random monster preying on their class’s weaknesses. The bridge was as populated as it normally was, except there was a small mood shared among the characters standing by the ledge side. Kashi had a small urge to tip a couple of them over, headfirst, into the dunk to join the frolicking players down there and actually have some fun, but making a scene when there was so little room to manoeuvre was a bad idea.

There’s gotta be a place in this city I can get to without being bothered, he thought, trying to picture the city as a self-made map. The shops were all busy, the bridge and central square were fairly jammed, heck, he could even see the feet of some players swinging from the rooftops. The only place he could think of to get to was the network of back alleys that usually stayed empty. But… he shuddered as he thought of what happened the last time the boy had to make his way through the alleyways. Regardless, it seemed to be the best option he had, as all his other hiding spots were taken.

Pushing his way past a handful of conversing Wave- and Whipmistresses, the boy excused himself as he made his way around the crowd blocking his entrance. He wasn’t going back there unprepared again, though. Drawing his Komura, the shiny light-red blade glinted softly as he made his way into the semi-dark area. Turning around to make sure he didn’t have a certain clown-esque stalker this time, the Blademaster screened the players hanging out around the alley’s entrance. There wasn’t anyone dressed up in flamboyant pinstripes, but he wasn’t sure if Shin was there, considering he could only see one layer of characters. The boy turned back and resumed his trip, shoes softly padding along.

Small rays of sunlight shone down from above, but there were hardly enough to make a soft glow of light near the top of the tunnel, much less illuminate ground level. The boy started to wonder what happened to two people he had seen recently. Neither of them were particularly safe, one having witnessed the deletion of her friend to a dangerous hacker and another apparently working as a fake in the field he had been escorted through. Kashi was more worried about the woman than the man, as she didn’t have any part in their little drama.

Hearing footsteps echoing behind him, the boy turned his head over his shoulder. To his surprise, he found a blond-haired boy tailing him. The boy seemed very familiar, except for the smirk on his face and the sword in his hand. The sword was glowing blue, a very light blue. Almost the same colour as the data released from a character when they were…deleted…

Shadowy remembrance erupted into clear recognition. The boy was…not one to be messed with, especially on his own in the alley. Breaking out into a run, Kashi turned the corner, raising a Rue Zot behind him to stall as he tried to get out. He wouldn’t do anything with all those other players around, would he? His thought was shattered as the ice behind him did, the boy sauntering past remnants of the spell. The Blademaster doubled his efforts, turning corners and dashing past chunks of wall (looking quite familiar), leaving spells behind him. Each one met some sort of loud destruction, and the boy continued his prowl. Isn’t this way a…dead end? Skidding to a stop at a three-way intersection of sorts, the boy dashed left, casting a Rue Zot in the other path to try tricking the boy. Watching behind him, he saw the youth destroy the spell before turning around and following again.

Sound flooded his ears and light his sight as he tripped forward, stumbling into the back of a short red-haired Heavy Blade. He faintly heard a cry from behind him, “You can’t run forever, Kashi!” The boy got to his feet, apologising swiftly to the woman before he exited to his left. Amazingly, the Blademaster wound up leaving the way he entered. He wandered back over to the Chaos Gate, running through the fields he knew. None of them would work to take his mind off the boy, and worse, he would be alone.

A small scroll bounced off his head before falling to his feet, his name written in raised ink. Curious, the Blademaster unrolled the scroll, reading the small message contained within. When the bird was mentioned, he looked around, confused, before spotting a small crow perched on the roof, watching him intently. “Didn’t see you there. You just wait there, birdie, and I’ll have something for you.” The boy headed over to the Item Shop, picking up ten Mage’s Souls, ten Resurrects, ten Health Drinks and a Dark Night scroll. He then returned to the Chaos Gate, placing the Dark Night scroll and five gold GP coins on the spell, waiting for the bird’s reaction.

[Shenmock]

Bring it.

A golden light burst forth from the Fist Fighter’s hand, showering sparks onto the enemy and sending it back a few feet. Shenmock crouched down, listening to the gentle pound of the rain as it came down on his head. His emerald eyes were closed for a second, his ears perked for the signal. He didn’t have to wait long, though, as not a second passed before it roared and brought both of its swords down. His eyes flashed open and he was up in the air, sliding in between both of the swords and bringing his fist back.

“Moon Calling!” he cried. He brought his fist down first, creating a large dent in the monster’s arm. Then, pushing himself back up in the air, he brought his leg crashing down on the monster’s head, sending it back down to the ground. He realized once he landed that it wasn’t about to get up anytime soon. Thunder crackled in the distance. Shenmock smirked and then gated out.

---------

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish…

The Fist Fighter once again looked down into the icy depths of the Mac Anu River, a place that he had been quite fond of ever since his first entrance into the MMORPG, ‘The World.’ It was a strange thing looking down into the lives of the virtual fish and seeing all the NPCs rowing their boats around. Occasionally he’d even witness someone fall into the river. Maybe pushed was a better word for it…

It was rather nice, actually. Most people left him be, as he was one of the few people among the thousands of players that still hung out in this root town even when the level of the monsters was well below what might actually give him a decent challenge. Either way, he was perfectly content with it. Better to be alone than to be constantly bothered, right?

The fishing rod he pulled out occasionally sometimes attracted a few eyes, too. It didn’t do anything and it was horrible for catching fish, but it was still something that amused him. Why anybody would actually use one in an online game to waste their time was strange. But that was just what he did, and he was perfectly content with it. At this point there seemed little point in trying to gain levels to be well beyond that of every other player. He hadn’t come here thinking that the sole goal of the game would be to level up and fight monsters 24/7. There were things to see, time to waste…

The Fist Fighter heard the squawk of a bird and instinctively looked up. It wasn’t often that birds actually made a noise in this game. Usually they just flew around… A small black speck falling towards him caught his eye, though. With each second it grew bigger and took more and more shape. Shenmock caught it between two fingers and opened it, still in his seat. That was certainly…weird.

Upon reading the note, the Fist Fighter raised one eyebrow. An event yet unseen? Win fabulous prizes? Tip the bird? Sounds fishy… He heard the squawk of another bird and looked up, only to find two black eyes locked onto him. “Okay, this is definitely weird,” Shenmock muttered. He stood up and ignored the bird, who he was sure was watching him as he approached the Chaos Gate.

Once there, the Fist Fighter muttered the keywords under his breath. Expect the unexpected, I guess? With a longing look back at Mac Anu, the player disappeared behind the golden rings and was whisked to the field.

[Bane]

((OOC: For my reference, this takes place after the events of a solo I am yet to finish, so…yeah.))

Beep…beep…beep…

Ivan groaned, rolling over in bed and fumbling around for the switch on his alarm. He rolled back onto his back; sighing and looking at the ceiling through his dyed fringe, hearing the sounds of the morning resonate within his ears as the new day called to him. He furrowed his brow, unsure of what to make of it. So much had happened to him thus far, and he just couldn’t wait to have everything nice and settled again. He sat up, stretching and scratching the back of his head, grumbling about how the mornings were too rough on him as he prepared for the day. A day with no school, and thankfully something that let him have more than ample time to play The World.

After his shower, and the daily ritual of getting dressed, he sat down in his swivel chair and contemplated. All things considered, The World was becoming less and less kind towards him, and from the increasing numbers of comatose victims, he really wondered if it was worth the risk. His eyes gazed over his setup, examining everything over his desk with little interest with his closed fist supporting his cheek as he peered around through his spectacles. Then something caught his eye. His FMD was sitting off to the side, and for some reason, the break in his curtains had let a single beam of light fall down upon and illuminate the glossy sheen of the headpiece.

He chuckled, reaching out a hand and taking the FMD securely in his hand, placing it gently onto his head, making a sound of amusement. “I must be nuts…” He pressed the power button on his hard drive and let it whirr to life, watching the monitor switch itself on and continue on with it’s loading. While it did that, Ivan considered how Erika was doing, and that he should probably give her a call later today to make sure the funeral was going okay.

He heard the Altimit OS do its odd little chime to indicate that it had loaded, and Ivan began typing hurriedly his personal information regarding his The World account. With a short time loading, Ivan’s FMD made everything go dark momentarily, before he saw himself descending into the construct of the data plane known as The World. He held his hands up, and his hands transitioned into the hands of the Heavy Blade known as Bane, someone who was continuously becoming more and more of a real person through Ivan.

As the three golden rings descended over his figure, Bane opened his eyes, hair rustling as a gentle breeze drifted by, looking up to the sky. ”Well…I’m here…what now?” He held out his hands as if he were to only half shrug, and before he knew it, a crow was hopping around near him, looking at him curiously with something held in its beak. However, when Bane made a move to come closer, holding out his hand to take the scroll, the crow took to the skies and left the Heavy Blade stranded on the ground, looking up at the bird that had joined its companions in the wide circle they were flying in.

He stood there for a bit, watching the birds descend in other parts of the town, but they never returned to their formation. Bane took a single step forward and looked through the crowd, noticing someone running towards him at an alarming pace, Bane’s eyes widening in both shock and curiosity at the fairly unique behaviour amongst a mass of casually moving players. Then he took a closer look. The kid was familiar, and then he placed it. He had seen him once or twice around the AoD mansion from time to time, but from memory, never talked to him.

He watched the boy access the Chaos Gate, looking over his shoulder at the Blademaster with an amused smirk and watched one of the crows perch on one of the gutters of a building nearby. Bane then heard the Blademaster behind him make an odd sound of surprise and out of the corner of the Heavy Blade’s eye, Bane could spot a scroll similar to the one that the crow he encountered before, had.

He chuckled. ”Oh, a game is it? I see…if it’s by invitation only, then I suppose all I’ve got left to do is go about my business, then.” He let the Blademaster rush past him, closing his eyes as he let the player get on with his business. He felt so full of pride in himself, but at the same time he felt…empowered in a way that he was doing something worthwhile with his life.

Oh how naďve…this game is just a construct…it’s just a game. I don’t believe you felt how something like this could be dangerous. He looked up at the sky again, feeling another gentle breeze rush past him, the hustle and bustle of the Root Town of Mac Anu made him somewhat weary. So many lower levelled players, and so many people squandering their hard earned allowances and paycheques on a game where they play such an insignificant role.

But what made Bane different? Was it because someone had taken an interest in him? Was it because of Erika’s past that had now made him connected to the sever and it’s problems moreso than anyone else? He shrugged. He didn’t know, nor did he see a way of ever really knowing for certain. Bane noticed the Blademaster returning, and watched the crow flutter down from the gutter so that he, the Blademaster, could pass the crow something. As he waited expectantly for the bird to react, Bane wandered over and crouched near the pair, looking at the bird and then the Blademaster in turn.

”So…this bird running a party or something? He didn’t want me invited before when I tried to take that scroll he gave you. What did it say?” Direct, and straight to the point, just like Bane liked it. However, no sooner had he spoke, had a loud caw distract him from the Blademaster and make him look next to him. On the cobblestone ground next to him, hopping up and down impatiently on the spot was a fairly young crow which seemed just a bit more than excited to be noticed. Bane smiled, holding out his hand and letting the bird drop its scroll into his hand. The Heavy Blade destroyed the wax seal on the scroll with a single finger and unrolled the parchment, eyes scanning over the words as he read them to himself.

“You have been invited to an event as yet unseen. Earn fabulous rewards! Come to the field Delta: Glorious Crossroad Negotiation to see for yourself. Feel free to tip the bird.” Bane had to pause after reading it, looking down at the crow and momentarily forgetting about the Blademaster next to him. ”A tip for the bird? Well, I’m afraid I don’t have any birdseed, however…Here.” Bane rummaged through his pockets and took out a Sports Drink, an Antidote, a Health Drink, and 100GP, setting it before the bird and wondered if the small thing could hold it all.

Bane stood, turning to face the Chaos Gate and rolling his shoulder, shifting the weight on his back and psyching himself up. He looked over the scroll again, memorising the key words and inputting them into the Chaos Gate. He raised his hand, looking back at the bird, smiling. ”See you later, I’m sure; little bird.” His smile faded as his character data was deconstructed and sent to the field in which this game was supposedly going to be held.

He could only hope that this was going to be fun.

This post has been edited by Bane on Jun 17 2009, 10:23 PM

[nighthand]

One by one the crows found their marks and delivered their scrolls. Three of them, anyways. The fourth, destined to search out Exangelus, was unable to find the character.

Shenmock ignored his bird, and the crow gave a miffed squawk and fluttered off into the sky. Both Kashi and Bane left items at the feet of their birds. The birds hopped over, and one by one, swallowed each of the items. Then, with happy chirps, they flew off to disappear into the sky.

Then, once more one by one, the trio of invited players gated into the field.

When the golden rings dropped from the sky and revealed the players to the field, it also revealed the field to the players. Despite leaving at different times, they arrived at the same instant. They stood on a flat bricked square, a plaza of sorts, wide as a city street and raised above the land around them. The sun was high and hot, shining in a cloudless sky. Below them, the bricks were painted in a vibrant compass rose; they faced north.

To the north before them lay a transition point. Far in the distance were mountains, but to the west were trees, while to the east were sands. Turning to look behind them, far to the south they could see the faint shimmer of water; again to the east was a sandy expanse.

The forest, and jungle, seemed to merge where they stood. To the northwest was coniferous forest, while to the southwest it turned to rainforest. From this half of the map, they could hear the myriad sounds of life. Birds chirped, animals called, and wind rustled the leaves. Through the middle of this forest, heading in a straight line due west, was a wide cobbled path. This path reached where they stood and continued on, somehow unburied in the desert sands, arrow-straight to the east.

The only hint of where to go or what to do stood in the form of two signs; one at the foot of the plaza where it met each road. To the west was a simple black triangle, its point at the ground. To the east was a white triangle, its point at the sky.

Before the players could greet each other, or decide where to go, a pair of figures emerged from the field, walking along each road. Each step took them hundreds of yards, but they walked at a slow pace. From the western forest came a man dressed in black leather armor, bound with chain. He wore a broad sword on his back and a black iron helmet rested on his brow. His skin was pale and his boots marred with dirt from the forest. From the eastern desert came a man dressed in white robed, covering him from head to toe. Only half his face was visible, eyes and nose and mouth, his chin and forehead wrapped in white cloth underneath a hood that dazzled in the sun. His entire robe shimmered, as if woven with threads of silver. He carried a long white staff, neither using it for walking nor holding it as a weapon.

The two figures arrived at the same time, and gave each other looks seemingly made of hostility. Then, as one, they turned to the newcomers, speaking together.

”Hello and welcome to the Rendered Land, watched and ruled over by the Twin Princesses. The Princess invites you to visit her holding, to hear her plight, and to come to her aid. Please, follow me to our home, we must make haste.”

The pair stop and glare at each other again, and mutter at each other. The trio would catch some heated words, about line-stealing and getting in the way, among other more personal insults.

”Look, you can only follow one of us, but we both want you to come.” says the black general. ”My name is General Kirkus, and I’ll be your guide to see Princess Kyora.” here the white wizard glares.

”Much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. You can only meet with one princess at a time. I’m your guide to come see Princess Inra. My name is Geoff.”

The two stood, waiting for questions to be asked, which they fully expected. No adventurer would make a decision without knowing more than names, would they? So they waited, hoping a decision would be made sooner rather than later.

[Bane]

((Scripted with Nights to get some vital information out of the two NPCs))

Bane sped through the multi-coloured highway that was the transitioning point between the Root Towns and the fields. A spectrum of colours surrounded him, and all he could do is look and wait, biding his time until the server loaded his location. A flash of white light signalled his arrival and the next thing he saw were the golden rings settling him down onto a brick platform of sorts. Bane looked to either side of him, noticing more people, one of which he had made a comment to only moments before.

He stepped forward with his hands on his hips, looking north to the mountain range spanning the horizon. Bane did a few stretches, before jumping up and down on the spot a couple of times, psyching himself up for the adventure to be had. To his left, the west spanned a road leading into a forest and jungle hybrid, the lush greenery more apparent to the side closest to the southern ocean. To his right and to the east, spanned a long weaving road through what seemed to be endless dunes. The Heavy Blade’s gaze turned to the sky, letting out a sigh before deciding silently to get to work.

Alas, the server had other things planned as something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Down the road to his right, from the desert sands approached a white robed figure, travelling at an alarming as well as misleading pace. He spun around and noticed a knight, clad in black leather armour, approaching at the same pace as the white figure. They arrived simultaneously, exchanging glares before looking at the group, speaking in unison.

“Hello and welcome to the Rendered Land, watched and ruled over by the Twin Princesses. The Princess invites you to visit her holding, to hear her plight, and to come to her aid. Please, follow me to our home, we must make haste.” Their time to exchange their hostile gazes came again and Bane could hear the sarcastic mutterings coming from both of them, relating to the other’s presence and their unfortunate lack of creativity when it came to thinking up their own lines. Bane couldn’t help but chuckle, bowing his head as he heard the pair squabble like an old married couple.

”Look, you can only follow one of us, but we both want you to come. My name is General Kirkus, and I’ll be your guide to see Princess Kyora.” The black general spoke, arms folded while the white wizard glared at him. The other figure, the wizard spoke in a bitter tone towards the general, however his words were for the group. He outlined that he was Geoff, an emissary of the princess Inra. Bane looked at them both in turn, from where they came from, and he knew already that this was going to be more hassle than what it was going to be worth.

There were three of them, and only two paths to traverse. If they chose one as a group, then the other may be cut off from them forever. If only one chose to follow one while the other two followed the other, it could be a potential trap for the one left alone. There was too much mystery around this, and Bane didn’t like it one bit. If there was at least one more person with them, they could break off in couples so that there was some degree of protection. Then again, levels would need to be taken into account, let alone introductions. Bane gave a sigh of exhaustion, thinking through things and then coming to a conclusion: He would need to interrogate both the general and the wizard to find out which was potentially the safer of the two decisions.

Bane turned to Kirkus first and folded his arms, looking inquisitively at the general, his voice neutral and glancing across at the wizard. His mind wandered to what would be the most important question that would need to be asked, so he asked simply. ”Sir Kirkus, why us? What makes us so special?”

The black general rolls his eyes. "You're not special. We sent out the call to adventurers, and you're just who showed up."

Bane, taken aback by the blunt response considered the possibility and then concluded that yes, it was possible. He looked at Geoff in case he had anything to say but went back to the general all the same, prepared with another question. "Alright, so we replied to your message. What possible dilema could possibly be solved with us? From where I see it, both of you want us, so this leads me to believe you're at war."

He sighs. "War, yes. A battle fought for ages. Our forces are even. You will be able to turn the balance. Perhaps."

Bane nodded. "Yes, with there being only three of us, even if we were to split unevenly, one side would have the advantage over the other, if it is in numbers alone. However...what is in it for us? Honestly, if one kingdom were to prevail over the other, all we'd be recieving is bloodshed. Is there no way for a treaty to be made?" The Heavy Blade looked up at the sky, scanning the mountain range briefly. He sighed, and then looked up at Kirkus again,waiting for a response.

"I don't know. I'm just here to bring you to the Princess. What you do there, what you're rewarded with, that's all up to her."

Bane unsheathed his blade, holding it at his side, not in any way a hostile action. He looked it over, noticing that Kirkus had a blade of a similar style. He looked back at Geoff, then back at the general. "Alright...Then answer me one more question. Why is it that you rage war on one another? Surely it's not just because the princess wills it, right?"

"The princess commands it, and what she commands is what we obey."

Bane turned to Geoff. "Is this the same on your side, too? If this is the case, must we meet with both princesses, or just the one?"

"You may only follow one of us." the wizard replied. "Yet what he says is true."

Bane closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and concentrating, thinking over what he had been told. It was as he feared; this was just going to end in bloodshed. One way or another though, he didn't plan on dying any time soon. Whether or not his reward would be worthwhile or not, he had made his choice. He didn't know his fellow adventurers, but at this stage in time it mattered very little. He approached the general, standing by his side with his blade in front of him, pointing down with the tip touching the brick pavement. "My blade is at your command, general. I'm sorry that it has to be like this Geoff, but if we have to make a choice, I'd rather someone that is on par with me. As you are undoubtedly more magical than I, there's little defence I have if your side of the story is a trap."

Geoff just eyes you for a moment, his eyes narrowing, then turns to the other two. "Is this your decision?"

Bane cut in, a slight smirk on his face. "Do not get me wrong, Geoff. I stand alone in my decision and whatever they choose is up to them. Those two I have not met formally before, so I hold no allegience to them as such."

The general merely shook his head at the Heavy Blade, glaring at the wizard. "You misunderstand. The three of you are in this together. Either Geoff or I will return home alone."

Bane, looked up at Kirkus, blade returning to his side a look of bewilderment on his face. "Together? With people I have never met before? I understand the importance of unity, but I cannot justify making their decision for them. That's the same lack of freedom of choice that you have, both of you, in raging war upon each other!" Bane stepped back slightly, sheathing his blade once more and folding his arms again, annoyed. The decision could be made with a simple coin toss, but...How could he make such a decision if he had to take into account the feelings of others?

”You will face far greater challenges than unity amongst strangers." says Geoff, glaring back at the general and muttering profanities and insults at the general under his breath.

"Perhaps...but in this situation, we have to choose which kingdom to save and which to condemn. While yes, this is inside a game, the fact is so many innocent lives will be slaughtered thanks to our forced decision to choose. It's starting to make me reconsider what to do now..." He turned to the others, grunting and unsure of what to do. "Well...what should we choose?"

This post has been edited by Bane on Jul 10 2009, 02:04 AM

[Magras]

The crow cawed happily, gobbling up the scroll and the pittance of GP. Must have catered to his tastes. The Blademaster watched the bird fly up into the air, hearing the words of this stranger next to him. Something seemed familiar about him, but he couldn’t really place it.. Experience had taught him the best way to deal with prying eyes, ears and mouths was silently, so he paid the man no attention, wondering just what the bird wound up doing with gold coins and a spell in its stomach. Another caw sounded off; a second crow flew down, dropping another message. It seemed that this one was for Mr. Nosey, an unfortunate development. It meant that the Blademaster would most likely be going to the same field as the person he tried to brush off, possibly an awkward situation. The Blademaster watched this stranger read the scroll aloud, then entered the keywords into the Chaos Gate and warped away.

Kashi got to his feet, making sure he had what he would need for the event. Ten Health Drinks, Ten Mage’s Souls, Ten Resurrects. Kind of basic, but with my budget it’ll have to do. I just wish those prizes from the tournament would have been distributed, so I could use mine. ‘Unexpected delays’ my ass, it better be worth it. He drew one of his swords, the Mizuchi. While his weakest weapon, it did hold a handy buff spell that would affect the collective, saving him SP. He considered equipping the Rondo instead, but the Ap Torma would probably not have been as useful as an Ap Ganz. The boy knew he was just delaying - he was nervous about going to this event. At least with the others he had some idea of what they would be doing, or even what it was about. The lack of both pieces of information bothered him. Well, at least I know someone who will be there. Stepping to the Chaos Gate, the boy cleared his throat and entered the keywords, watching the golden rings whisk him away.

Warping into the field, the boy looked around. The area looked nothing like the standard fare, but that itself was becoming normal to him. This field was more like an estranged town, the three players standing in the middle of a square ‘plaza‘, the midday sun beating down upon the vibrant stones beneath their feet. The colouring of the ground painted out an odd shape, one the boy had only seen once before in his lifetime. Since it was on a map, he assumed it had something to do with direction, but the shut-in didn’t know what. What he did know was that whoever designed this field had no sense of consistency. Far ahead of them in the distance were several mountains, but closer lay two different types of terrain. To their left there stretched forestry for miles and miles, two different types of forest separated by a single road at precisely ninety degrees ‘west’ of their position. To the right was desert, golden sand as far as he could see. Again, a road separated the expanse of sand, ninety degrees in the opposite direction. The boy turned around, looking for anything different. Behind him, he was surprised to find gallons upon gallons of water forming an ocean of sorts.

The boy had little time to marvel at his surroundings. Opening his mouth to talk, he shut it, watching a figure come from his west, what would be east originally. A figure decked out in shimmering white approached them. He couldn’t help but gawk a bit at the foreign attire, the Blademaster hadn’t seen anyone dressed up entirely in white before. As he got closer, the boy saw only half of his face. The other half hid behind a cloak of material. Turning around, the boy caught sight of the armoured knight approaching them from the left. He didn’t have much more than a quick once-over before the discussion began, but he did note the unusual amount of chains wrapped around the man.

The two stopped simultaneously and welcomed them to the field, referred to as the Rendered Land. The pair of introductions flowed along with complete synchronization, right up until they finished and bickered to high heaven. The black general introduced himself as General Kirkus and he wanted to bring them to a Princess Kyora. The white wizard also told them his name, Geoff, as well as his princess’ name, Inra. The Heavy Blade that was so inquisitive in the Root Town earlier began the round of questions. Kashi quickly found that, through the conversation, these two were proving to be less than informative in an interesting way. What he did learn, however, was that the Heavy Blade was less than eager to actually make an effort in uniting their group. In fact, the collective well-being of the group could have probably not mattered any less to him. Something struck in his head then, and the boy knew where he had seen Mr. Nosey before. He’s in the Army. The boy was less than thrilled to remember.

Kirkus and Geoff waited expectantly, and the third member of the group wasn’t striking up any conversation. Kashi figured he’d fill in the gap with a few questions. Turning first to Geoff then to Kirkus, the boy voiced his first question. ”What is life like in your kingdom? General activities and such.” The wizard answered him first.

”You should come to find out for yourself. Due to the war, though, neither of our kingdoms fare well.”

Kashi turned to Kirkus. ”You can’t tell us anything else at all? Not a word?”

He could see the general practically sigh with annoyance. ”Look. We want you to come to our kingdoms.  Telling you things you can see for yourself isn't going to get you there."

Fair enough. I wanted to maybe get an idea of just how bad it would be, but I guess we can see once we arrive there. He thought for a second about what they had already been told, before deciding on his next question. "Could you tell us anything more about your princesses than their names?"

The answer he got made him want to slap his forehead and drag his hand down his face. “Princess Kyora is the ruler of half of this land’s elements, while her sister rules the others.”

He tried prying a bit further, looking to Geoff for this one. ”I meant about their personalities, not their real estate. Some insight into their values, notable past activities?”

Together, this time. ”We’re not granted permission to speak for them on this matter.” He closed his eyes for a moment. Are they that bad? Or, are these two just trying to rush us off… The boy thought back to some of the ancient games he used to play. Enemies had reasons for being enemies, right?

"What's the issue between you two? There seems to be a lot of animosity."

The answer he received from Kirkus didn’t exactly fit what he’d thought would have been said. “We’re at war, what do you expect?”

Looks like the Fire Emblem method of diplomacy doesn’t work. Kashi couldn’t help but throw back a quiet mutter of a retort along with a small roll of the eyes. "The way you talk? For a fight to have already broken out."

He looked to Mr. Nosey. The Heavy Blade pitched a question on their course of action. The Blademaster thought for a moment. Well, we didn’t exactly get much to go on either way. I’d like to know more about the royalty before picking, but… “I’d rather not walk through desert. The scenery is a bit depressing, y’know?” He waited for a reaction, doubting that one would come. ”With what little we know, my vote’s on Kirkus. If we’re headed into a trap, at least the forest will provide some cover for a getaway.” He looked over to the two signs for a moment. Sure that he had tried both their patience already, the boy voiced a thought. ”I’d like to know what those two triangular signs mean before we head out. Any idea?”

[nighthand]

To Kashi, Kirkus answered.

“Those signs are indicators of territory. This plaza is a zone of truce. To our side is Kyora’s land, and on the other side is Inra’s.” The black-clad swordsman turned and faced Geoff.

“Tell your mistress what transpired here. Don’t forget to assure her of her imminent defeat.” He smirked, and turned his back at the wizard. The wizard in turn glared, seething with anger, but schooled himself and turned away. Without a word, he stepped off the platform and began to walk across the desert.

Kirkus faced the two players, looking them over. “A bit scraggly, but you’ll do. Come, follow me. It’s a long journey, and Kyora will be interested in meeting you as soon as possible.”

The swordsman walked off the platform and headed down the path designated by the black inverted pyramid. He seemed utterly at east, his weapon tightly sheathed, unworried and unhurried. He kept a solid pace, not too fast, but faster than a walk. It was plain he wanted to make the best time he could for the energy he expected them to have.

Soon, sooner than expected, the forest began to close in on them. The trees were larger and growing closer to the path. The canopies knit together until it was a dim half-light, most of the sunlight blocked out. The few small gaps there were, showed the hour was growing later as they walked. The sky turned orange and red above them, and finally grew so dark as to be almost black. Before long, if there was still sky visible, it was as black as the undercanopy.

As if to forestall questions, Kirkus began a small monologue.

“Kyora and Inra split from unity long ago. Each took with them half of the world, and half of the elements. Mistress Kyora controls the water, wood, and darkness. What you see around you is the world we live in.” He paused, gesturing around as he walked, and gradually they could make out more details.

Side paths, gaps in the magnificent and gigantic trees, seemed almost to be hallways through the forest. Sounds echoed, carried above and through them, coming from everywhere at once. No light came from the sky, but there were numerous forms of luminescence. Fungi, large glowing mushrooms, sprouted from the base of trees and from the crooks of limbs. Bioluminescent lichen grew on trunks and similar moss carpeted the floor. Here and there, insects floated, fireflies glowing and pulsing in the darkness. Occasionally, large lights hung from the ceiling; massive insects as big as a head, glowing softly blue.

The effect was beautiful, and magnificent. It also made it easy to see their path, the widest of the glowing trails. Everything was tinged with blue and green, the occasional insect tending towards yellow. Kirkus’s armor appeared to be coated with something that reflected the light, or perhaps absorbed and emitted it, for he too glowed with the same soft blue. If he stood still, he would be near-invisible in the soft diffuse light.

“We are lacking. Our people have no fire, no thunder. Our rain is soft, not storms. Even our earth has dropped away, leaving only this; wood, tangled branches for walls and floors and ceilings. The water has washed the dirt away.” He is right; a soft rain can be heard somewhere far above, light, little more than a mist. The water filters down, lending everything a soft hiss they had almost tuned out until it had been pointed out. Any true dirt, any soil, had long since been washed away.

“We cannot cook our food. We cannot light our homes without capturing or killing insects, or cultivating the mosses. We cannot build; only tease the slow growth of plants into something habitable.”

The further they travel, the more it seems like the Vak, Rai, and Gan elements are completely missing. In fact, were the pair of them to check their status screens, they would notice those particular stats were minimal.

After some time, they reached their first landmark. There was no way to tell how long it had taken, with a sense of time almost completely gone by now. Kirkus stopped, on the edge of what appeared to be a large room. In a normal forest, perhaps it would have been a clearing, but here it was a large hollow. Perhaps half the size of a football field, and equally tall as it was long. They could see the path continue on beyond it, but there were a dozen ominous holes, bits of blackness in the moss and bugs.

“Your first test.” Kirkus said, facing the open room.

At the sound of his voice, a light hiss filled the air. From the holes crawled large, sinuous shapes. They looked similar to iguanas, only as large as people, and more lithe, faster. There were six of them in total, once they all crawled loose. Three were large as people, and three were half that size. One of the large ones and one of the small ones had blue glowing eyes. Likewise, two had purple and two had green.

“Survive, defeat the Wyverns, and we can proceed.” Kirkus stands aside, and watches.

-------------------------------ooc:

Yay, a battle! Monster descriptions are below. For this battle, due to the unique distribution of the elements on this field, you act as though you have a perpetual and unremovable Dek Vakz, Dek Raio, and Dek Ganz.

Blue/Purple/Green Wyvern (Male)
Level: 10
Rue/Ani/Juk Tolerant respectively

Each Male Wyvern has a few attacks. They have a tail whip, a bite, and a slash, as any large lizard would. They have a charged slash attack where their claws glow, equivalent to the Blademaster “Crack” skill of their element. The blue one can cast Rue Kruz, the purple one can cast Ani Don, and the green one can cast Juk Zot.

The Male Wyverns are the smaller ones. They’re faster than the females, more agile, but weaker.


Blue/Purple/Green Wyvern (Female)
Level:20
Rue/Ani/Juk Tolerant respectively

Each Female Wyvern has a few attacks. They have a tail whip, a bite, and a slash, as any large lizard would. They have a charged slash attack where their claws glow, equivalent to the Blademaster “Crack” skill of their element. The blue one can cast Rue Kruz, the purple one can cast Ani Zot, and the green one can cast Juk Kruz.

The Female Wyverns are the larger ones. They’re slower , less agile, but stronger than the Males.

This should be a pretty challenging battle, so Kirkus will help in his own little ways. He won’t do any fighting, but he might heal or res you if you die. You should script with me for his actions, though. Otherwise, have at it.

[Bane]

He considered things, thinking over both options as the Blademaster interrogated them for further information. He was only half listening as he eyed both paths and they respective owners, wondering which the better path to take was. He was still leaning towards following General Kirkus into the forest due to the cover of the foliage as well as the more inviting nature of greenery rather than the harsh desert.

The Blademaster came over again and spoke plainly to Bane. “I’d rather not walk through desert. The scenery is a bit depressing, y’know?” Bane noticed he paused, quite possibly waiting for a reaction. Bane nodded, but realised that it went unnoticed as the Blademaster continued to speak. ”With what little we know, my vote’s on Kirkus. If we’re headed into a trap, at least the forest will provide some cover for a getaway.” Bane nodded again. It appeared as though this player saw reason as well.

”Yes, I agree entirely. All things considered, it’s better to play it safe, for now.” Kirkus dealt with the last question, outlining the territories and stating the neutral nature of the plaza they were currently standing in. Then the general put on an arrogant display before Geoff stormed off, retaining what composure he had as he left. Bane was going to state his discomfort but when he realised that Kirkus and his partner were already on their way, due east, into the dense forest. Bane glanced once over to the desert and ran to catch up to the general.

They were surrounded by the overgrown mass of green, the gnarled roots and coiling vines of plants only getting in the way as they traversed further into the realm of Princess Kyora. The canopy created a speckled path of light that lead them into the dark depths; however, the deeper they traversed, the further away from natural light they found themselves. Bane could hear birds and other wildlife settling, and considering that the path behind them was just as dark as the path ahead, he concluded that dusk had come and soon, night.

“Kyora and Inra split from unity long ago. Each took with them half of the world, and half of the elements. Mistress Kyora controls the water, wood, and darkness. What you see around you is the world we live in.” Kirkus spoke to break the silence, and Bane could only guess why. The darkness was stifling, and it was only now that they were starting to get to the point where fungus and other like things were beginning to provide their own brand of bioluminescence to guide them further. The ground had transitioned from dirt to moss, and it was like a lit walkway for them to follow.

The tune of “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” entered Bane’s head and he groaned, scratching the back of his head as he followed on, making sure to go around the large, bulbous mushrooms rather than risk temptation by jumping on them like a makeshift trampoline. He found something glowing ahead and as he concluded that the closer they got to the keep of the princess, the more furnished this forest would become. He reached out and grabbed a firefly, opening his hand slowly and letting it fly out to join its friends once more in a ballet in the sky.

He looked around as they walked, hearing Kirkus talk again after a long while. “We are lacking. Our people have no fire, no thunder. Our rain is soft, not storms. Even our earth has dropped away, leaving only this; wood, tangled branches for walls and floors and ceilings. The water has washed the dirt away.” It was the first time Bane noticed it and could place the sound. Before he just figured it was a speaker playing up on his computer, or very soft white noise, but what it was, was the faint pitter-patter of the rain on the leaves above their heads. It was gentle, almost like a mist, then again that could be an inaccurate assumption as the canopy above them had become so dense no light could filter through. “We cannot cook our food. We cannot light our homes without capturing or killing insects, or cultivating the mosses. We cannot build; only tease the slow growth of plants into something habitable.”

Bane interjected, muttering something to the Blademaster so that only he could hear, walking forward next to him with both of his hands on the back of his head, a sullen, unimpressed look on his face. ”Considering that the polar opposite would be happening over on the other side of the plaza, I bet things would be equally bad, and also why I think that this war us just a joke.” He stopped, letting the Blademaster go on with Kirkus for a little bit before getting the hinting suspicion that something wasn’t right.

If things here were essentially Ruem, Juka and Anid controlled, then he wondered if this was going to have an influence on them as well considering the influence it had on the landscape. His first reaction was to check his health and status. While he may have had a thing for various poisons and toxins, he didn’t have a particular fondness of being poisoned unwillingly. Finding nothing there, he checked his status, and swore. The environment, while not technically causing any status down effects was playing games with his elemental alignments. Ruem, Juka and Anid remained unchanged, however Vakz, Ganz and Raio had taken huge hits.

He realised how far behind he had fallen for spacing out, and sprinted forward to catch up, almost tripping over a root, and having to make an awkward dodge around an engorged mushroom. He saw Kirkus standing in front of what seemed like a hollowed out bee-hive; a large room that stood in place of a forest clearing or glade. Its size, in no way, shape or form was small, but their path ahead could clearly be seen which made Bane wonder. Kirkus turned and spoke again. “Your first test.” Bane looked around and found that they were no longer alone, or rather, weren’t alone to begin with.

As if the general’s voice had summoned them, a low, serpentine growl began to echo off the walls of this roost, as six reptilian figures began to emerge from hiding. Bane unsheathed his blade, nudging the Blademaster to follow suit if he had not already done so, looking above as the lizards peered down at them, making Bane grunt slightly from the trap that was set up for them. While this supposedly a test, they couldn’t harness the natural surroundings as the room-hive-thing they were in was pretty much bare aside from patches of moss that provided the lighting. Bane counted and, smirked at the irony and predictability of the programming for this field. Conveniently, there were an even number of foes for them to take down, and each one of them having their own specialised tolerance for one of the dominant elements of the area.

“Survive, defeat the Wyverns, and we can proceed.” He watched the general with an uneasy frown and figured that he was going to let them do all the work. Figures. In any case, Bane immediately dove for his item reserves and applied a Speed Charm on himself, casting Ap Ruem shortly after, followed with Ap Vorv figuring any and all help he could get with his stats could be a life saver. He rather not risk placing either poison from Duk Lei or charm from Miu Lei just in case their resistances were too high. Recalling that the Blademaster was exactly half his level, he sized up the targets and, without a second thought, instructed him to go for the small ones as if it wasn’t already obvious those were designed for him.

The Heavy Blade however was faced with a trio of female wyrms, each one sporting their own form of feminine beauty and eyeing him suspiciously. Bane chuckled, looking at each of them in turn, sword arm lowered and relaxing himself. ”Come now, ladies. Surely we can’t work this out some other way?” A loud, unified roar from all three of them made him get back on guard, grinning. ”Guess not then. Well…Who wants the first dance?” He smirked and heard one of them prepare to charge, lunging at him from the hole she was hiding in.

The Heavy Blade stepped back and to the side, avoiding a downwards striking claw and delivering a sweeping motion horizontally to its front leg. It reared up in pain, but had more than one reason to feel pain as Bane saw it necessary to be quite the opposite of a gentleman by continuing the attack. From his current position, he spun both his blade and his own body, although the latter only to the point where his back was exposed, before thrusting his blade backwards into the side of the enemy. The Blue Wyrm roared in pain, retreating slightly and making a fierce rumbling sound, the Juka Wyrm joining the fray and letting the Ruem one fall back to its roost to rest.

Before Bane could make a smartass quip about the current battle being able to be compared to both speed dating and Pokemon, he found himself hit to the side by the tail of his new found friend. With a grunt, Bane realised his HP had taken a fairly decent hit, but not worth worrying about and wasting a Health Drink on. The new foe kept her body low to the ground, hissing at him and making him roll his eyes in annoyance, muttering something about women. A green rune opened up below him and he tensed up in his computer chair as he realised what was to come.

Brambles fell atop him, chipping away further at his HP. It was as if they didn’t want him to recover, as a blue rune opened up on him and he noticed the Blue Wyrm he ticked off earlier was casting a spell of her own. Looking up, he assessed the beginnings of a Rue Kruz spell and rolled off to the side, rearing back his hand and aiming high at the Blue Wyrm. ”Let’s see how much you like my own variation of your spell!” He swung his arm around, ducking under a swipe from the Green Wyrm and letting his spell fly. Larger boulders of ice and sleet fell down upon the wyrm of the same element, however, with the added bonus of Bane’s Ap Ruem status, the spell had a little bit of extra bite…

…In a normal situation that is.

Bane swore, loud, when his magic did absolutely nothing and was more than annoyed when the Blue Wyrm shrugged it off as if it were nothing. The Purple Wyrm hadn’t moved, but was just watching from above, waiting for her time to strike. Bane dove forward, clashing blade against nail as he fought for his ground and for the opportunity to strike again. Finding himself at a standstill, he broke the engagement and rolled off to the side again, dodging the blow. He looked across at the Blademaster and smirked, finally admitting that he had forgotten his name. ”Hey! Blademaster! I’m Bane by the way!” He ducked and attacked the underside of the wyrm he was facing, jumping back to get out of its tail-attack range. ”I can’t remember your name, sorry! But I doo remember you from…the AoD Mansion, yeah?”

Listening out for a reply, he continued to fight, keeping his sword strokes confident, swift and fluid like the Ruem element he was representing. Three more strikes to the flesh of his current ‘date’ and he found that she too wanted out of their ‘relationship’. Bane, getting more serious now, charged as soon as the Blue Wyrm came back to the floor, and spun on his heel and used the momentum to power his next strike. His blade, powered by the added motion dug deep into the flesh of the Blue Wyrm and dealt a heafty blow to her HP.

Granted, he couldn’t see it amongst other things due to the poor lighting in his room and on the game itself, but all things considering the enemy seemed to be in massive amounts of pain from how much it was writhing around. Bane rushed forward and kicked forward with a foot, before cutting down with his blade, and then spinning around again to slice the wyrm from the other direction. This was when he saw a chance, quite possibly the last one he’d get before another enemy substituted in and attacked him from behind. So, he triggered one of his skills, one he didn’t use all that much, and watched his blade glow green. Considering that this attack was his only physical skill that would be able to be used, and even though it couldn’t be used on a single enemy of the three, it was going to be more than enough to finish off this one. ”Hirameki!

Three powerful, swift, and decisive strikes to the monster’s head signalled its fall. The Heavy Blade found that his Ap Ruem and Ap Do status had gone, soon to follow his Ap Vorv. The Anid wyrm decided to take her chances and leapt down upon Bane, pinning him to the ground and attempted to take a bit out of him. The Heavy Blade wasn’t going to go down without a fight and held up his blade to collide with the Anid wyrm’s teeth, grinding against tooth with metal to prevent getting hurt. Granted, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to move, but was definitely possible.

He looked up at the Purple Wyrm and used his spare hand to gently touch her jaw, whispering soft, caring words to her as his hand glowed pink, and soon enough, the pink aura transferred onto the creature. With his Miu Lei a success, and the charm affliction in place, the wyrm hopped off and tackled the lesser, male counterpart of her Anid self. Bane jumped up, skipping to the side to avoid yet another vertical claw strike from the other of his foes.

The charm effect didn’t last long, however, that only really made things a lot worse for him as instead of taking things one on one, it was now two on one. Bane grunted and dug his heels into the ground before calling over to Kirkus, keeping his eyes focused and continually moving between his two approaching targets. ”Hey! Kirkus! Mind lending us a hand? We’re a bit swamped here!”

Kirkus will shake his head, not moving. "I know. This is a test for you, not me."

"Tch. What good are we to you if we're dead?" Bane swings his blade around to bat one of the wyrms out of his way, keeping it at bay while he conversed with the general. "Besides, wouldn't you rather us get to Princess Kyora earlier rather than later?"

"If you die, we get more, better adventurers. Besides, I don't make the rules. I just have to follow them." Kirkus stood perfectly still, watching the battle unfold and adopted a persona, from Bane’s point of view, stating quite clearly that he didn’t wanna get involved in this.

Bane grunted, driving his blade into the Juka aligned monster and grinding it to the hilt in between its eyes. "So it's your princess that's behind this? Figures..." He unsheathed his blade, his metal running with blood that only tinted his blade in the dim, blue light.

"You'd be facing the same thing on the other path, too. We need to test you."

"Well, make sure you remind me to thank Princess Kyora personally. I want to make it known to her that even though we may need to be tested, your kingdoms are at war and if you're at a standstill, a few extra people would be more than able to tip the scale."

"Well, do your best to live to tell her." He nods, but any expression is lost in the darkness and the glow.

((EDIT: Formatting tags for the lose. @_@))

This post has been edited by Bane on Jul 14 2009, 03:58 AM

[Magras]

The general turned to him and curtly replied to his question. It seemed that the signs were just markers of land, differentiating Kyora’s half of the field from Inra’s. The Blademaster looked at the two signs one more time, deciding that the directions the triangles pointed in were just a sign of discord between the two princesses, nothing more. Kirkus turned to Geoff, taunting the wizard and his ruler’s chances at success. The wizard left haughtily towards the desert, barely controlling his anger while his opponent began trekking in the opposite direction. Kashi looked over at Geoff for less than a moment before trailing after Kirkus, wondering what the wizard would do about all that anger he seemed to be controlling and dismissing Kirkus’ rather unwanted assessment. Rather, when the man would show up to battle them (it was bound to happen eventually). Looking over his shoulder, he stopped for a moment to allow Bane to catch up a bit, then continuing on after the black general.

Their brisk pace took them through the early section of forest - what Kashi could see from his vantage point on the plateau. Not long after they had departed, there was a noticeable drop in the lighting of the forest. Broad rays of brilliant bright light slowly gave way to pathetic threads of red and orange, hues of their once-strong selves. The foliage quickly closed in around them, wiping all trace of road away almost the moment they entered the forest. Large trunks and trees began to encroach upon their path, bramble and stray branches occasionally jutting out slightly. The leaves and colours of the surroundings were both much darker shades of their “normal” colours, and the ground underneath their feet crunched much more than it should have, leaving the Blademaster to believe that the soil was loose under their feet. The light eventually died off almost altogether, whatever he could catch while squinting his eyes not very bright at all.

Kirkus broke their temporary silence with a simple couple of statements about which elements Kyora and Inra took when they separated from each other as rulers, waving his hands to show Kashi and Mr. Nosey what they lived with. As they continued walking, Kashi began to see more and more of their new environment, little by little. Looking to his left as he walked, the boy saw miniature deviations of the path they walked, like semi-hallways into the darker fringes of the forest. Small insects glowing beautiful variants of teal, blue, and green began to appear, quickly becoming more and more in number. The ground was covered with a light moss which made walking sound less crunchy, and illuminated plants sat upon trees, larger insects sometimes joining them. Large mushrooms of varying species grew out of the ground, some a pleasant mixture of brown lit by a false green.

The general (whose armour was lighting up similarly to the wildlife found in their current part of the forest) continued his description of life in the forest. Without the elements of Vak, Rai or Ganz, housing was nightmarishly difficult. Homes were built by moulding the growth of plants into something hospitable, and the food eaten was not warmed even remotely. Lighting was provided by capturing or murdering the insects to be used as lamps or candles. Upon hearing that water washed the dirt out, Kashi looked to one of the trees. True enough, he caught the reflection of light, provided by a small streamlet of water trickling down the trunk. He could also just barely hear a soft dropping sound coupled with that of the flowing water, the soft rains that had been mentioned.

The Blademaster heard what his Heavy Blade companion had muttered, and nodded in agreement. If your ways of life would be so crippled, why separate in the first place? Kashi looked back and noticed that he had fallen behind again. Waiting momentarily, he watched the man close the distance between them and continued walking behind Kirkus, almost jogging to catch up.

The quiet coupled with the monotonous journey gave the Blademaster the effect of time travelling slower than it was. After what seemed like hours of walking (while it being just minutes), they happened upon a large, clearing-like area. The lighting of the bugs was thrown off in a handful of places, and, after hearing the first three words out of Kirkus’ mouth, Kashi had a bad feeling as to why.

It was rewarded, the stupid thing.

Six iguanas clambered out of the holes, a reptilian growl echoing between them. Without even waiting for Kirkus to continue speaking, the boy began optimizing his equipment. The Prince Attire and Komura would be the best tools for the job, as would his Face Guard. Shrugging the Attire on, the Blademaster fit the Guard on his head and drew his Komura from an invisible sheath. The blade, dark red and practically emanating its desire for blue blood, was pointed forward, at the smaller, male blue wyvern. Firing up his SP bank, the boy unleashed an Ap Do and an Ap Ruem on himself, boosting his resistance to the two supposedly Ruem-aligned enemies. Noting that his ally charged off into battle, the boy nearly reached out after him. It would make more sense to get rid of the weaker ones first! Alas, the Heavy Blade had already engaged the three females.

About to chase after him, the boy was interrupted by a trio of snarling petit wyverns. ”I’d love to hang out with you guys, but there’s more pressing issues to be--” He narrowly dodged out of the way of a tail, the appendage whirring right over his crouched head. ”Fine, let’s play three-on-one, cheap Reptar wannabes.”

The boy instantly raised his Komura, smacking an incoming tail out of the way. Two glowing green claws clanged off of the sword, the Blademaster launching into a Revolver. The skill batted away the oncoming attacks, slicing into the nose of an approaching biter. The purple wyvern snapped back, hissing at the wound. A glowing blue circle on the ground warned the Blademaster of an incoming spell, and particles of ice quickly gathered in the air, converging on the Blademaster. Unable to dodge due to the wind-down of the Revolver, he was battered back by the assault, his Ap Ruem negating some of the damage but the spell packing some unusual punch. The Blademaster lashed out with his Komura, missing one of the wyverns, and was bitten from behind. Watching a chunk of his HP dissipate, the Blademaster whirled around, delivering a diagonal cut to the sneaky green lizard. Turning back to the other two, he charged the energy of fire into his sword. ”Vak Slash!”

The flames that licked along the blade’s edge were pathetically small, and they dealt a pittance of damage to the blue wyvern, both strikes lashing against its back. ”It’s not working?!” The boy exclaimed, surprised. He jumped back, the giant flaming skull of an Ani Don crashing down in front of him. The resulting shock wave from impact knocked him over, clip damage stringing his health bar right into the critical range. If he wasn’t more careful, he’d wind up ghosted in no time. Getting to his feet, the boy used what SP he had regenerated in casting Repth on himself. The blue aura washed over him, restoring his health. He sheathed his Komura, drawing a Grunty’s Sword instead. If his Vakz stat was so low as to reduce his Vak Slash to almost nothing, he didn’t want to know just what had happened to his Ganz abilities, making the Souleater fairly useless for this fight. He heard Mr. Nosey call something out, and responded in turn. ”Name’s Kashi!“ He would have said more, but there were reptiles to hunt. The boy looked around, searching for the glowing eyes that gave his foes away. It seemed that, as he recovered, the wyverns dispersed into hiding. The wily bastards.

A soft blue glow emanated from one of the six holes, the blue magic circle appearing around the boy. He dove out of the way, the shattering of ice crystals heard behind him. The Blademaster saw something move out of the corner of his eye, something green. The Juka wyvern tried to make a quick entrance behind him, but he wouldn’t have it. Whipping around, he instinctively stabbed out. His sword pierced the tongue of the wyvern, open jaw quickly shutting around his weapon. Kashi tried booting the thing to the face multiple times, but it wouldn’t let go. Tugging with a series of yanks, the fragment of the sentence ”Would…you…just…let…go!” escaped his lips, frustrated. When the freak-guana finally let his sword go, he lurched back, stepping forward and slashing across its face. He turned around, catching the blue-eyed wyvern trying to make an escape. Running after it, he pulled a scroll from his inventory. Flame Blast. Deciding against using his only level 2 Vak scroll, he returned it to his inventory, instead activating a skill housed on his Grunty’s Sword.

”Crack Beat!”

He jumped high into the air, his running start providing him with distance. Sword raised, he came charging back down, the weapon cleaving right through to the wyvern’s skull. Slashing three more times, he finished with a thrust, right through its spine. The wyvern passed on, but not without releasing one last Rue Kruz. The spell ripped through him again, shredding most of the HP he had recovered. He turned around, seeing the purple-eyed wyvern prepare to finish him…until his female counterpart came barrelling in, biting down on one of his arms and snapping it. ”What the heck?” Whatever Bane had done, it was a most welcome distraction. That left just the one green wyvern, whose health was probably close to the Blademaster’s. The Ap Ruem conveniently faded, returning his Ruem stat to normal, and the female wyvern returned to her earlier prey. The boy smirked, drawing a blue scroll from his inventory. Now that both blue wyverns were done for, he could try out a Cygnus. He renewed the Ap Ruem on himself and ripped the scroll.

[Bane]

Bane grunted, speaking through clenched teeth. ”Tch. Fine.” The Heavy Blade skipped around the Juka wyrm and brought his blade along with him, cutting sidewards and then curving his attack upwards; dragging his metal along the side of his target. The Purple Wyrm, who was still aligned with Ani (As if that was going to change anyway) charged, finding it’s mark in the center of Bane’s chest and delivering a firm blow, knocking him over the Green Wyrm.

Struggling to get up, Bane downed a Health Drink, rolling out of the way when the Purple Wyrm lunged again, letting it run straight into the wall of the dome they were fighting in. He heard the Blademaster call out his name, and he remembered immediately. Yes, Kashi was part of the AoD. He didn’t know much about him, granted, however there was very little time for that at the moment. Right now, he was trying to stay alive. In any case, Bane ran back towards the Green Wyrm and drove his blade deep into the back of the lizard-like creature, making it cry out in a shriek of pain.

Bane was thrown off, losing his blade momentarily as he skidded along the ground, looking around as much as he could whilst re-enacting a rag doll being thrown across the room by a child. He came to a halt, landing on his backside and jumped up immediately, drawing his Kikuichimonji, which while was 15 levels lower than his other weapon, still had been a reliable weapon to date. Rushing towards the monster that still had his blade, he pulled back his blade, swinging it forward and calling out his skill’s name.

”Hayabusa!” He swung his blade right horizontally with a blinding speed, following it up with one following the same track, albeit back towards the left, spinning on his heel and swinging his blade over his head to strike downwards upon the lizard. Again, it recoiled in pain, jumping back to let the Purple Wyrm take its place before Bane. The Heavy Blade brought his blade up to parry an oncoming attack coming from above, pushing the lizard’s attack to the side and elbowing it in the jaw. Bane grunted as he felt himself in the pincer formation again by the two remaining lizards.

He watched from over his shoulder, stepping to the side as he evaded an attack from above by the Green Wyrm, and then jumped over a sidewards claw strike from the Ani aligned monster. He planted his hand on the claw of the monster that attacked him second, pushing off it like a springboard much like Erika had taught him. Considering that she was a Fist Fighter, she had moved that move a lot considering that she would always find some way to turn her attack on someone else; also known as, the counter attack. Back to the battle and away from memory lane; Bane, now airborne, positioned himself in a crouch, mid air, and had his blade pointed downwards.

It found it’s mark in the Green Wyrm’s skull again, and he found that it’s HP was in critical. Wasting no time, he reared back his hand and aimed a GiRue Kruz at it, letting it suffer from big chunks of ice while he turned to face the Purple Wyrm. A loud roar in pain signalled the Green Wyrm’s defeat, and his blade fell to the ground with a clatter. Ms. Ani-Wyrm decided to attack with some variety and spun around to create a whiplash effect with her tail.

The Heavy Blade sighed, standing on his toes in preparation, crouched and leapt backwards in a somersault, catching his blade when he landed in a handstand, falling back in a kneeling position on the ground. It was funny, or rather amusing to Bane in that as time went by, he was becoming more and more like a Fist Fighter in both his fighting style and personality. That, of course, was in Erika’s opinion. It didn’t bother him really. Jumping back once more, he found his ground now on the body of one of the weaker, still living wyrms. He didn’t mind, because he wasn’t on there for long.

He bounded forward, keeping his motions partially erratic in terms of side-to-side to keep the Purple Wyrm guessing, rearing back his Kikujyumonji and letting it glow with Juka energy. ”Hirameki!” Much like his Hayabusa skill, his sword strokes were a flurry, or rather swift in the three strikes he delivered. Due to his Juka stat remaining unchanged by the environment, his skill was able to take full effect, as shown by the big numbers being pumped out from his consecutive hits.

He was getting tired of this; however, he knew it was only the beginning. Considering that this was the first trial of undoubtedly many more to come from this field, Bane sighed, holding his blade tightly with two hands and delivering the final blow to his last target, slamming its face between metal and dirt; he was already bored of this. He wiped his brow with his arm, sheathing his blade and casting Repth on himself. He turned to Kirkus, watching him. ”Can we go now, please?”

[Magras]

The Cygnus erupted into smoke in his hands, blue sparks claiming the papyrus paper. Drops of water from the forestry overhead converged in several places around the green wyvern. Globules of water combined, growing in size until each one was roughly the size of a two-thousand page book, hovering in midair. Sharp decreases in temperature froze each newly-formed block of water, creating several large chunks of ice. The blocks flew toward the wyvern from all angles, the boy raising his Grunty’s Sword. Blowing the remainder of his SP, he restored his health to full, racing after his “spell”. The Cygnus was doing a fine job of holding up his target, knocking the wyvern around like a rag doll in the hands of a hyperactive five-year-old. Twice he heard the quiet crunching sound of bones breaking. The icy projectiles disappeared after striking the wyvern, returning to some hitherto-unknown place.

Kashi took his opportunity, stepping in with a sharp thrust forward. His sword was blocked by a dirty claw, the wyvern snarling and batting his sword to the side. Green scales enveloped his lower vision as the third appendage of the beast swung in from behind it, connecting with a sound *thud* against his stomach and bowling him back. The Blademaster rolled twice, colliding with a tree. His head spun for a moment, not enough to divert his attention from the quarter of his health knocked away. Eyes refocusing, he spotted the green wyvern closing in as he had, claw glowing a bright emerald. The teen scrambled out of the way, blazingly bright claw tearing into the tree behind him, but not before he sustained a deep wound to his ankle. Blood dripped down his foot as he hopped up, weight on his left leg.

Eyes darted to the right, sword arm following his line of sight. A black tail and a green one swung for him in tandem. The boy struck up a Crack Beat, jumping up into the air before coming down with a crash on the green wyvern’s head. Two diagonal cuts diced his face, a horizontal slash beating back a pathetically swung defensive claw. He repeated his fake Cross Slash manoeuvre, reversing the ‘x’ so the slashes dragged up against the green wyvern’s maw. A dark hue lit the ground around him, a telltale sign of the Ani Don cast by the victim’s partner. Hopping forward, the Blademaster planted his left foot on the green wyvern’s nose, turning around and throwing himself away from both his target and the oncoming spell.

The rush of air generated by the skull’s landing propelled the boy forward slightly faster, messing up his landing. He landed heavily on his injured ankle, stumbling ahead, left foot planting down forcefully on the grass ahead of him. Kashi sucked air in through his teeth as he heard the impact bring a minor fracture in his right ankle. Suddenly finding himself unable to maintain balance for more than a few moments, he brought the healing light of a Repth down to him again, restoring his ankle to normal and recovering the majority of the damage taken. He wheeled around, raising his left hand in the direction of the Anid wyvern. Crackling sparks of electricity thundered around his wrist, eagerly anticipating the words that would free them.

”Rai Rom!”

The electricity arced towards the wyvern, small strands of thunder coiling around the beast. Hardly a tornado, but it served its purpose. The green wyvern, bleeding profusely, was on the warpath again. Growling, it released a spell. Leaves cascaded through the ground under the Blademaster, foreshadowing pain. Kashi dove forward, but was still caught by the tree. Branches clipped his stomach and legs, tossing him up a foot before slamming into the grass. He grunted as he landed, the wind rushing from his lungs. Rolling forward, he stabbed at the green wyvern with the sword that he had a death grip on. The Grunty’s Sword easily sliced right through the scaly underside of the lizard’s chin, leaving a gaping hole prior to withdrawal. Two beating strikes against the iguana’s back and it was dust, collapsing in a heap. The death of the creature had an added benefit, bestowing upon the Blademaster a gift of three SP [15]. Nothing to write home about, but enough to push him back into Repth range.

The remaining wyvern was done with the fake-nado, and it was ticked. Crashing toward the invasive, violent human, it charged energy into its claws, imbuing them with a purple shine. Kashi switched his Grunty’s Sword with the stronger Souleater. Raising his sword, he unleashed another Crack Beat, flying up over the wyvern’s furious slash. The Blademaster returned to the ground, slamming his sword into the beast’s arm. The purple wyvern’s arm was crushed between the ground and the jagged brown blade of the Souleater, the flesh torn along the limb. Snarling, the wyvern gurgled a growl out - a sound full of pain and rage. Teeth sank down on the Blademaster’s left ankle almost immediately after, a claw puncturing his right. The boy swore profusely (and quite loudly), beating the dumb animal over the head with the flat of his blade five times. Amazingly, three of the beatings yielded health, albeit extremely minute amounts [16, 2, 17, 17, 5]. The frustrated player heard Bane nearby, huffing something about progressing on. Fortunately, Kashi’s dance partner was beyond exhausted. He delivered the creature to digitization with three rough cutting blows across the nose, left eye and neck. The lizard slumped over, dead at last.

The Blademaster took a step forward, forgetting that both of his feet were wounded. The recuperative energies from the Life Drain of the Souleater mended his left ankle, but the right was still wounded, trickling blood. It wasn’t enough of an injury to warrant a regenerative spell casting, so the boy limped back over, leading with the left foot. He noted (with a distinct lack of interest) that his Ap Ruem had run out, presumably when he offed the green wyvern. Upon reaching the two others, he sheathed his sword. ”Sorry for the hold-up.” If pressed, he would dismiss the stab wound. They most likely had bigger fish to fry, and he needed his SP back.

((OOC: Dice rolls are in the square brackets when it comes to the Drains, minimum 0 maximum 20. I actually got four Life Drains, but that would be excessive. and I’m not a lucky guy, IC or OOC.))

[nighthand]

Kashi and Bane fought valiantly, but in the end, their victory was less than beautiful. Kirkus watched, studying their tactics, their moves, their banter. He wondered how they would fare in the palace itself. Others before had found the restrictions too much to bear, and now lay rotting in the twisted roots and branches of the trees, their flesh food for the luminescent molds and insects.

When the final wyvern had died, Kirkus walked forward, and looked over the two warriors.

“A less than stellar success, but a success nonetheless. Perhaps you will do after all. For now…” The general drew his sword and used it to scrape a section of the luminous moss from the wall. He tore it in half and compressed each half into a small ball. He sheathed his sword and pulled a flask from some pouch in his outfit. A small drizzle of the liquid inside quenched the light from the balls, and he capped the flask again. He handed one ball to each warrior, and it dissolved almost instantly upon touching them.

Bane and Kashi would find upon the dissolution of the moss ball, their HP and SP were restored to full.

“Come now, we have some distance yet to travel. Princess Kyora will be interested in seeing you now.” He started off without another word, leading the way through the twisting and turning and branching tunnels.

The tunnels seemed to grow smaller, but such was an illusion. In reality, the branches making up the tunnels were growing larger, so fewer of them composed the walls and floor and ceiling. In reality, the tunnels were also growing larger and wider. Until, at last, after ages of walking, they came upon their goal.

The tunnel opened up abruptly into a great open space. The branches still twisted tight above them, but it was surprisingly… bright. Soon, it became apparent why. High up in the peak of their exceptionally large room, a mass of light hung. It seemed to be wavering, pulsing, moving. It cast enough light to illuminate the entire room in an almost-daylight, like a thickly overcast day.

Filling the majority of the room was… a palace. It was unlike any palace on earth, constructed completely out of living trees. It was speckled with glowing mosses and insects, people bustling to and fro, and nothing in the way of guards. No one save Kirkus was even armed. Here, the general paused, and faced the two adventurers.

“Here I must impose upon you. None may seek audience with Kyora without first being bound to peace.” He held out his hands, palms up, and they began to glow. He wove a pattern in the air using the light, which held in place like an afterimage, but not fading. Then, his pattern concluded, he touched the design’s center. It rotated, enlarged, and folded over the pair like a net.

“This is the Audience Enchantment. I caution you; do not draw a weapon, nor raise a hand in violence, nor attempt to cast a spell harmful in nature within the grounds of the palace. The enchantment is ruthless. The first offence results in instant paralysis and reduction to half HP. The second offence reduces HP to 1, puts the offender to sleep, and teleports them to the wyvern pits.”

He paused, looking up at the palace, then began to walk towards the opening that served as a door. “I should also caution you. This far into our realm, you will find the elements of fire, lightning, and earth to be nonexistent.”

Passing through the door led them to a large hallway, lined with paneling of different colored woods. Except here, the wood made up the whole wall, and was not cut to be panels. The floor was smooth with age, the seams between branches and trunks invisible.

Beyond this tunnel was another, and another, until they arrived at a thick curtain of foliage, hanging still. Kirkus stopped and pushed the vines aside, revealing a dimly lit room. “She will see you now.”

Inside was bare, save a single chair at the far end of the room. On that chair sat a beautiful woman. Her skin was pale as moonlight and her hair as black as the night. Her eyes glowed the same blue-green as the luminescent insects, and her gown was made from spidersilk, shimmering in silver and black. She rested lightly, comfortably, in her throne.

”Welcome, warriors, to my throne room. Please be seated, so we may talk.” Her voice was soft, yet filled the room, and was as dark and sultry as her realm. She waited, for the pair to sit or speak as they desired. Kirkus meanwhile stood just inside the door, his arms folded, leaning against the wall.

----------------------ooc:

Vak, rai, and gan are unable to be used. Any skills involving those elements will be grayed out. As will any items, deks, or aps.

Now’s your chance to take up your beef with the princess =D

[Bane]

((OOC: More scripting with Nights. I'm starting to dislike seeing so much orange color.))

As Bane’s gaze fell upon that of Kirkus, he noticed the general walking towards the pair of players. “A less than stellar success, but a success nonetheless. Perhaps you will do after all. For now…” Bane’s expression turned to that one of slight annoyance, and possibly tiredness from the impossible task of pleasing this general. He sighed and watched carefully as the supposed leader of this group drew his weapon and made some kind of make shift cure out of the moss on the tree nearby.

As the orb medicine dissipated into Bane’s character avatar and restored his wounds to their utmost completion, the Heavy Blade noticed something amiss, something that hadn’t before stood out as abnormal. Then again, due to the heat of battle, it was quite understandable that something like this was to go unnoticed. Rotting corpses of the fallen, strewn about where the trees were implanted into the soil; the carcasses now homes for maggots and food for other flesh eating creepy-crawlies that may require sustenance. “Come now, we have some distance yet to travel. Princess Kyora will be interested in seeing you now.”

Bane couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark, although did so under his breath so he wouldn’t get a mouth full from Mr. General over there. ”She was the one that wanted us in the first place…she better be interested in seeing us…” Bane grumbled as he trudged along in the wake of the general, glancing across at Kashi every now and again to check the Blademaster’s reactions to their surroundings. He could tell they were getting closer; how farther left to go was a question that still eluded him to some extent or another due to the labyrinth-like nature of the path they followed.

The overgrowth was getting worse, and soon enough whole trees were making up the walls around them, and the faint sound of the rain high above them now muted by the dense canopy overhead. Up ahead, and this was confirmed when they got there, was what appeared to be a large, cavern-like room with a light fixed overhead like a pseudo sun. Bane could’ve sworn that it was moving, that it was alive, but dismissed it to his imagination, but not an impossibility due to the unexpected nature of the game he was playing. The main attraction of the room: A large castle; made entirely out of the trees around them, coiled together to form a tight lattice of which inside, rooms were built.

The people around seemed peaceful, although somewhat sad. The Heavy Blade could only conclude why with what Kirkus said earlier. With no sun, no lightning, and no minerals in the earth, there was little to be done about the workability of the land and possible power supplies for the populace. It was unfortunate that one side would need to fall so the other may live, but perhaps the princess may be able to shed more light on the situation. He was good at dealing with those of a higher class; it came as a second nature to him, and quite possibly expected of him as a child. He couldn’t tell for certain, as for some reason recollections of his childhood evaded him like the bubonic plague.

“Here I must impose upon you. None may seek audience with Kyora without first being bound to peace.” Before Bane could respond, he, alongside the Blademaster, was afflicted by some sort of enchantment that didn’t register on his status screen. He gave Kirkus a weary yet curious look, before letting him explain further. “This is the Audience Enchantment. I caution you; do not draw a weapon, nor raise a hand in violence, nor attempt to cast a spell harmful in nature within the grounds of the palace. The enchantment is ruthless. The first offence results in instant paralysis and reduction to half HP. The second offence reduces HP to 1, puts the offender to sleep, and teleports them to the wyvern pits. I should also caution you. This far into our realm, you will find the elements of fire, lightning, and earth to be nonexistent.”

Oh, that’s great fun really. I mean it. Then again…not unreasonable considering she is the ruling monarch… Kirkus began walking towards the castle, and Bane followed behind, led through the castle’s rainbow halls up towards the entrance to the audience chamber. It was a curtain of leaves and vines, and when Kirkus parted it, Bane was the first to enter, wasting no time in striding inside, before bowing once inside the new room and gracefully crossing the floor towards the maiden at the end of the hall.

”Welcome, warriors, to my throne room. Please be seated, so we may talk.” Bane looked around the room, wondering where there was a seat in the otherwise bear room. Perhaps she’d rather them sit on the floor in submission, then again, as a Japanese by heritage, sitting on the floor was generally no problem. Bane knelt down and sat in the traditional Japanese style, sitting upright and down on his ankles, hands placed neatly in his lap as he looked up at the princess, nodding gently at her with gentle eyes before speaking.

”You rule a beautiful kingdom, princess. I would like to thank you for your hospitality. As a follower of Rue myself, what you rule here is much to my liking, however…” Bane’s gentle and pleasant tone disappeared for a moment, becoming calm and serious, looking up at the princess with a fairly curious gaze. ”Princess Kyora, to more pressing matters, as we are more than aware, there is a war raging. There are questions that remain unanswered, and while they may be trivial, my goal here is to try and find a solution with as little blood as possible. A war ended in bloodshed will only resume again. What I’m proposing is thus: Is there no way to cease the war between you and your sister?” Bane reconsidered his question, not bothering about Kashi as he felt he had this situation under control. ”Before you answer, dear princess, I do believe both of us would like to know more about this war. Basic information about how long it has been going, and why it started; assuming of course we would be allowed to be graced with such information.”

Pleasantries and proper etiquite were essential in this environment. Considering the elements, and which elements were present, it could be safely assumed that the hot headed nature of the Vak followers did not exist here, but that said, the cold and unforgiving temperament of Rue might exist here also. It was going to be a risky situation, and considering the restraints of elements to work with, and the enchantment bound on them, this had ever opportunity to not end well.

”Princess, please tell us why the war started, how long it has been going, and what was the cause of it all continuing. Also, I suppose the most important question would be: Is there a way to end this conflict without bloodshed?” Bane’s tone was gentle, but firm, making sure that he kept his respect but had an air of business about him, demonstrating the best he could that chat with royalty; even under simulation.

The princess however merely sat there in her throne, poised and pretty, answering in the same tone as she introduced herself. "The grievance between Inra and I is long since lost in the shadows of time. Our war has been raging for generations, a balance long maintained in conflict. Time is relative to you, perhaps, but for us it has run for hundreds of years." She paused, considered the next part about the needless bloodshed. "Perhaps. I do not desire the death of my sister. I require an artifact she holds, known as the Soul Stone. It contains the power I need to unite this land once more."

Bane considered the information he was given, ideas and questions forming in his head, but before he got ahead of himself, he found that asking the questions relevant to information already given may aid more than going off random tangents of thought. "If said war has been raging for generations, and I question this without a hint of disrespect, how could you two possibly be at war if you are sisters? He paused, asking yet another question. "Regarding the Soul Stone… All things considering, I would assume that you also hold an artifact similar to this, and Inra desires it for her own use?"

To the first, the princess replied "We are cursed to live forever, at least, as long as the battle rages. We are cursed to see our people know not why they fight, and remain unable to tell them."; and for the second, she replied "I know not of her desires. My power is my own."

While that’s all good and well, you’re twins. Why would you have something that can potentially stop this resting with only one of the twins…Unless the Vak princess is an utter bitch, which in my experiences with Rue can more than easily happen on this side of the scale, something isn’t adding up…

Bane considered, keeping that thought in his head until a later date, taking this time to question more and get more answers rather than waste time arguing over facts such as that. Kashi decided to ask some questions, and the princess replied in kind, the Heavy Blade paying close attention to what her answers were as the Blademaster was able to ask some of the questions that he hadn’t even considered to be relevant. Sure, he only listened to ones that piqued his interest, but even so, Kashi was on the ball. ”Is there anything of use known to be across the ocean or in the mountains?”

"There is rumor... but no. I would not have you kill yourselves in search of rumor." Bane interjected here, and obviously annoying the princess to one extent or another just by the sigh she let out in response to Bane’s question.

"Rumor or no, princess, if there is even the slightest chance that we can end this bloodshed, even be it a rumor, it would be worth hearing; assuming you would be willing to tell the tale."

"I suppose I must speak even rumor to the saviors of the land. It was said, long ago, that two figures lived in the furthest reaches from our central path. I know little of them, precious little; Koschey the Deathless, a warrior said to be unkillable because he hid away his soul, and Baba Yaga, the blue-nosed witch, with magics so potent none could challenge her. Where they reside, or even if they still live, I know not."

Bane dismissed the last part, the warning, and retorted with confidence: "I suppose if all else fails, we could always travel into Inra's domain under the guise of merchants to do some information gathering or even sabotage. From what I've currently seen, we've got a few options open to us, and the one that causes the least bloodshed is the one that I'm prefering." He looked up at Kashi as he spoke, listening as the princess warned him about the risk of being found out as an outsider. He let Kashi ask his remaining questions and then rose from his sitting position, turning to face the Blademaster.

”I’m personally for following this rumor. With no other leads, our only other option is to go retrieve the Soul Stone, in which case we should go undercover and check out things on that end of this world. I’m fine either way, but we need to do something and soon.”

[Magras]

The Blademaster snorted, mentally backhanding the first half of the comment out of mind. Such assessments weren't needed or wanted. Alas, it was not his place to retort, for the general handed them a strange item and left for the princess. The item Kashi was handed was made of moss and mystery liquid. He didn't have long to look at it, though. As soon as the ball of plant touched his gloved hand, it dissolved. The item had the wondrous effect of restoring his health and SP (the boy couldn't decide which was worth more, ever). There wasn't anything left to do, just to follow Kirkus, as they had been before.

The flora grew wilder as they began their trek anew, taller and closer together. The lack of light combined with battle frenzy hid some sights that would have been appreciated had they stayed hidden. A stray insect shifting lazily illuminated the remnants of a skull, bugs crawling all over the rotted bone. The boy gasped shortly and softly, not expecting The World to cover realism to such a degree that decaying corpses would be rendered so accurately. It wasn't the first time Kashi had seen a body part laid bare - such effects were commonplace in movies and television. Every other one he had seen was so obviously fake that it helped to desensitize him to such an aspect of death. But this one, empty eye sockets staring dully at the passers-by, burned a horrific impression in the kid’s mind. He was dully reminded that, although the years of being on his own and beating back any involvement from others tried to make him believe otherwise, he was still a child. Children shouldn’t have to look at a decaying corpse of anything, much less if it was looking back. Footsteps growing soft brought the Blademaster to turn his eyes from the skull, to his ally and guide. Grateful for the distraction, the boy hurried after them, not looking back for a second.

Catching up to Kirkus and Bane, he caught a glance from the latter, giving a tiny smile. Putting on airs, the boy (hoped he) looked slightly bored, the customary expression his character displayed. Breaking down to any degree would not help right now - there was time for that crap later.

The trees around them were now close enough so that it looked like bumpy brown walls were closing in on them. Reaching out slightly, the boy was informed that no, the walls were not in fact closing in on them once he hit nothing. Kashi looked back around, trying to find any sort of landmark to tell him they were making progress. At times like this we’d really have appreciated an auto-walk feature.

Without warning, the tree-walls leapt out, developing much farther away than from where they seemed but a moment ago. Light shone throughout the cavernous room, the sort that came with a cloudy afternoon. It lit up a very interesting sight: a palace composed of the native flora. For all the world it seemed like an almost normal village, with people running around as they would in a populated city. Trees made up any and every structure in the area. General Kirkus stopped as they entered, turning to the Blademaster and Heavy Blade. Giving the slightest warning, the man drew a pattern in the air, hands flowing with the light of the area. Once finished, he pressed down on the centre of the design. It grew, spinning, until it wrapped around the two visitors. Kashi checked his status, but it didn’t reflect any change. Kirkus went on the tell them that the spell he cast on them had very...nasty side-effects if triggered by violence. He went on to inform them of the lack of fire, earth and lightning in the palace. Checking his spell list, the boy confirmed what the man said. Gan Slash and Vak Slash were both unusable, as well as Rai Rom. In fact, checking through his inventory found the boy lacking most of the spells and skills he had. The only usable techniques left were on weaker weapons and his weakest armours. Wonderful. A cripple, I have turned into.

They continued on, through a series of halls. Paneling of various colours lined all the walls, the wood various natural colours. The three arrived at a wall of vines, the plants doing a good job of obstructing view into the passage beyond. Kirkus admit them entrance, both verbally and physically, pushing the vines out of the way.

Entering the throne room, the boy didn’t notice much. There wasn’t much to notice. Just a chair and a woman sitting in said chair. The woman seemed very accustomed to her surroundings, clothing and eyes reflecting different materials found in the realm of hers. Of Princess Kyora’s.

They approached the princess, who gestured for them to sit down. Bane did. Kashi wasn’t going to let himself be caught off guard by something while in such a position, so he stayed standing, observing what he could. He trusted Bane to do the talking for now, warring princesses didn’t strike up enough respect in his book for the tone he needed. Listening to Bane converse with the princess, the boy thought for any points he was missing. Primarily, there was the issue with the mountains and the ocean. Logically speaking, they shouldn’t be there if there wasn’t something contained within. This was a game, after all. Anything and everything had a purpose.

Once Bane finished his initial round of questions, it was the boy’s turn. He started with the obvious. ”Why are the elements of fire, earth and lightning missing from this kingdom?”

The princess responded coolly, as though what he asked was standard fare. It was, to everyone else. ”Those are Inra's command. Just as I control water, wood, and darkness, so does she command fire, earth, and thunder.”

He thought for a second. Kashi wanted a different answer than what he got. Something deeper. Maybe something they could use. He tried pressing forward, seeing what he would get. ”Is there any known way of reversing it?“

“I require her Soul Stone, so I might use it to reunite the elements."

The idea of taking someone’s Soul Stone seemed akin to taking their life. Against his better judgment, the boy asked yet another question on the topic. ”Is reconciliation even considerable, if for the citizens' sakes?” Perhaps they could actually try something diplomatic--

"As I said, I do not wish my sister's death. Only that she give to me the Soul Stone."

Taking her Soul Stone did not sound in the least way diplomatic. Thinking about their power source, he tried another direction. ”Are the glowing insects numerous, or waning?”

The reply came, almost nonchalantly. ”The insects? They persist as always. There is no cause to concern yourself with them."

Shaking his head, the boy shrugged. Perhaps not every little detail needed to be investigated. The big ones, however...”Is there anything of use known to be across the ocean or in the mountains?”

There was hesitation this time. Any reaction other than the normal was good. "There is rumor... but no. I would not have you kill yourselves in search of rumor."

Bane jumped in before the Blademaster could continue his thought. The subtlest of glares was directed at the new speaker, who had his turn already. Kyora’s answer was absorbed, and the boy was intrigued. Having the witch on their side would prove beneficial if they absolutely had to go toe-to-toe with Geoff. More than the deathless warrior. Magic was one thing their two-man team was lacking in.

Returning to his line of questions, the boy wanted to know the status of the war. ”Have there been any major skirmishes lately? What were the outcomes?”

The princess returned to her original tone of voice. "Every battle is fought to stalemate, neither side willing to retreat. These days, battles are rarely fought. Only trespasses are met with death."

The answer brought another question to mind. “Are the only people involved of the two kingdoms, or are there others?”

"Some few are granted passage to and from one kingdom to the next. These few are traders or merchants, those who might keep commerce alive amongst us."

He nodded. It seemed to make sense. The Soul Stone was bothering him, though. He wanted to know more about it. ”I don't suppose we'd be privvy to what the Soul Stone does, or why it's so important? Besides returning the lands to normal.

"It is an artifact of great power, and its energy is required to unite the land once more. Without it, while we could still bring unity, the chaos of reuniting the elements would tear the land apart."

Another nod in return. There was a lot to go over, but he was required to come to a decision. His partner already had. ”I agree. If we’re to try getting Inra’s Soul Stone, we’d best have some extra power on our side. Even if there’s a chance of nothing being there, we have to take it. Since there’s two of us, I’d guess we could each take a direction.”