Selibas
Hero
The Little Wolf
My Word is Iron.
Posts: 455
Etruria Fame: -1
Bern Fame: 4
Illia Fame: -3
Profession: Khan
Guild: Tribe of Sacae
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Selibas on Jun 1, 2015 10:20:10 GMT -6
OoC: Takes place after the council in What we do Best.
IC: The short Sacaen was escorted quickly through the camp of the Nightwings. He held on his person no weapons, but he was walking with the weight of a sea of swirling responsibility in his mind, and a mountain of duty on his shoulders. Besides that, he was tired. He had marched into Macendew only hours ago, then held a war council, followed by a quick match with Kelvin. The sun was setting behind Macenedew, and Selibas needed to go and rest with it. However, his mountain could not be set down until he could address the issue of the Wyvern Riders camped outside of the fort. Selibas had stepped out of Macendew without any weapons, and without an escort. He would need to extend even more trust towards this commander than the man had offered him. He must look weak to the man, after Saturos' 'observations.' He needed to prevent the strongest case possible to Ilheod, Commander of the Nightwings.
Selibas was brought in front of the man. He held out his arms to show that he held no weapons. If the blue haired swordsman had been correct, which Selibas knew he wasn't, this would be the time for Ilheod to slip a dagger between his ribs. When no dagger came from the darkness, Selibas let his arms fall. He inspected the each of the men around Ilheod. A few of them looked similar to the Bernese commander, but they all had one very important similarity. They were all hard in the face.
Selibas nodded his head at Ilheod. At the moment, there was no translation of their ranks. Ilheod was a commander of his own forces, a subordinate to none. Selibas answered to Aidan, but no one else. He cleared his throat before speaking, wanting his voice to be as loud as possible, to reach the ears of any and all the Nightwings in range of the conversation. When he spoke, he said, "You have my apologies for our interruption commander. Trust I had not planned on the intrusion. Before my asking you to leave, I believe you still had some unanswered questions. Please, ask them now, and I'll tell you the answers honestly." Selibas had put on his commander voice now, which he had dropped after the councils conclusion. This wasn't a chat, this was serious business.
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Post by Ilheod on Jun 16, 2015 13:37:12 GMT -6
The camp outside of Macendew was almost one reminiscent of that during war time. The few tents pitched were all set up in a militaristic formation. Outside of the camp were six men spaced out in prime locations that from their point they maintained a fixed watch. Beside each of them, a wyvern with varying depths of dark to midnight blue scales. Their mounts sat or stood beside them while they maintained fixed rotational shifts of guard duty. Occasionally a small group of four flew over the camp's boundaries in a manner similar to that of a patrol. Until they were committed to the rebel cause, they had to look after their own. It would've been foolish to entrust them with all manners. After all, until now the Nightwings had only had themselves to trust. One of them, noticing Selibas on approach, extended his spear to indicate the man's halting. His chin lifted as the man observed the green haired rebel commander before slowly acquiescing his request to speak to Ilheod.
At the center of the camp, resting in the evening setting was the orange haired commander himself. Leaning against the back of his colossal mount Astraeus, Ilheod was enjoying the dancing flames radiance; heat emitting in a way that made rest easier. With closed eyes, and the mesmeric patterns of Astraeus breathing in and out was also a contribution by no small means. This changed though as both detected the sounds of the approaching soldier who walked behind the unarmed green haired Sacaen. Ilheod's head inclined slightly, though his poise of sitting with one knee raised and his arm resting on it did not alter. He observed the man slowly, eyes having eased open as Selibas approached. Astraeus however, did not take kindly to this man approaching, who smelled-not-of-wyverns, and smelled not of the home-nest-barracks. The wyvern slowly unfurled his colossal wings, starting to lift himself off the ground as a low throaty snarl resonated from his throat. Given that Astraeus was older, and a fair bit larger than most wyverns, it was not an open greeting. The Wyvern backed down however at the sharp piercing whistle from his rider's lips, Ilheod remaining in his position of rest despite the intense brief tension on Astraeuses part. He leaned his head back to scold the older territorial beast. "Enough of that. "
Selibas approached further and began to speak in his commanding tone. Once again, a brief snarl began to lightly quake the ground beneath Astraeus'es claws as the wyvern took negatively to the Sacaen's tone. An actual glance shot to the creature from Ilheod however quieted it for good this time. It did not, however shake the wyvern's nature in full as it protectively coiled it's body around the back half of Ilheod like a crescent moon. Quiet thought stirred within him before speaking in a far quieter tone than Selibas. "Lad, my men and I flew all the way here so that I might obtain a specific answer. Now, without the politics of it. All the crap cut out, and all the agendas set aside. Why do you rebels fight. What do you fight for? My lads and I've been through more than one conflict now, and if were fixing to throw ourselves into another one, then I'll be damn well sure that It's one I'm willing to lead them through. " There was no disrespect in his tone, but a blunt honesty. He wasn't one to cut his words short.
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Selibas
Hero
The Little Wolf
My Word is Iron.
Posts: 455
Etruria Fame: -1
Bern Fame: 4
Illia Fame: -3
Profession: Khan
Guild: Tribe of Sacae
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Selibas on Jun 27, 2015 21:09:32 GMT -6
The Wyvern growled at Selibas, but the Sacaen didn't respond. In the coming days, or weeks if things went poorly, he would need to face one of the most fearsome Wyverns in the sky, and while this Wyvern was powerful, Selibas needed to keep his calm in front of it, or the more terrifying Wyvern would eat his lunch. Or have him for its lunch. What struck him more was the winged commander calling him lad. Selibas was, technically, by the most basic definition, a lad. However, he didn't feel like a lad. He didn't like other people calling him a lad. It was upsetting, he led over three hundred men into battle. He was a chief that had united two tribes. If he was a lad... the world was filled with infants. No matter, he wasn't here to get compliments. He was here to get soldiers, or finish Ilheod's business at Macendew.
"What am I fighting for? I'm fighting because, I'm good at it. I'm good at it, and the rebels needed someone good. I meant what I said, back in the council room. This is a war over sentiment, and the rebellion can't lost. Ilia has to be the one to lose, or this conflict will drag on, with the only ones punished by it being the citizens of Bern. If I... Fight. If I fight, and I'm good at it, less people die. I think that's as good a reason as any for a man to fight. I want to fight, because if I take enough lives, more will be safe."[/color] Selibas scratched his neck and looked at the stars for a few seconds. "The rest of them? I don't know. The men and women in that room, I don't know. They could be fighting for any number of reasons, but I can't begin to know any of them. The soldiers? Their family is of Bern. Bern is their home, and even with its troubled history, they want to defend it. The world sees Bern as easily swayed, capable of atrocities other countries haven't committed. They want the chance to prove that's wrong. Breaking Ilia's hold on them gives them that chance." Selibas looked at the Wyvern once more, then back at Ilheod. [/font]
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Post by Ilheod on Jun 30, 2015 8:10:23 GMT -6
Though Astraeus had settled down, Ilheod felt the faint vibrations of a growing rumbling growl within the Wyvern's chest from where he sat leaning against him. Ilheod didn't bother to speak up about it again yet since Astraeus wasn't actually snarling at the man. His single eye did dart in the direction of the Wyvern however before coming back to rest back upon the green haired man. Like most of the others, one of his eyes was obscured by an eyepatch. His emerald one. the Wyvern Commander shifted from where he sat to a slightly different position as he listened to the bernese commander. Ilheod lifted his hand to point towards the man as he retorted, before indicating the fort and pointing towards it as well. "Aye, and I can respect what the soldiers fight for. It's what we've fought for all these years as well, me and my lads. Ah..I guess it wasn't as clear of an answer as a whole as I would have liked but.. "
Slowly Ilheod stood up. His hand brushed the scaled hide of his winged companion along the neck before he moved his hands to press his palms into the small of his back. Though barely audible, a ripple of pops let out as he realigned himself. A soldiers life wasn't exactly known for comfort after all. Ilheod gazed to the lad for another moment longer before speaking again, snapping his fingers slightly as Astraeus stood to his full size. Dwarfing the average wyvern in muscle build and bulk, Astraeus'es dislike for Selibas was evident at the general preditorial gaze that it directed at him as the mount extended his wings to flap them twice as if stretching as well.
"My shift at foot patrol's coming up around our little camp. Old habit, you see. Your welcome to join me if you'd like. I think though..that I've made my choice. Aye, I'll join your lot. I've seen enough of the Ilian occupation, I think, to know that the average soldier and common man are best off without it. I'll join you, and throw what little weight my lads and I can muster behind you, if you'll take us. I've seen too many wars to sit idle while my home eats it's self...so I suppose it's best time we put it back together, aye?"
Aye. William would have liked that course of action. Was primarily his old fixation with the rebels that had drawn Ilheod's notice to it beyond that of the average spectator in the first place after all.
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Selibas
Hero
The Little Wolf
My Word is Iron.
Posts: 455
Etruria Fame: -1
Bern Fame: 4
Illia Fame: -3
Profession: Khan
Guild: Tribe of Sacae
Affinity: Ice
OoC Alias: Selibas
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Post by Selibas on Aug 18, 2015 23:05:09 GMT -6
Selibas nodded and fell in next to the much taller commander. For a few days after Selibas had left his imprisonment, he had believed himself to have grown taller, but upon returning to the rebels and seeing familiar faces, he noted that was not the case. Now, new faces towered over him much the same, and the little wolf was reminded once again why becoming the alpha of a situation was always an uphill battle for him. He had no true little man concept, the world did. He was expected to be aggressive, to be angry all the time at people who were taller than him. Aside from the title, people watched the adjectives they used around him for fear of setting him off. The little wolf was, in truth, fine with his height, though a few inches might have improved his reach in a sword fight. However, if every person who was unnecessarily high off the ground wanted to shove him into a box, then Selibas would take up so much space that he busted the box open on all sides.
Selibas looked up at the stars for a moment, silently glad to be away from the man's Wyvern. He spoke, "I have not seen quite as much war, I was only a boy when the Bandit Wars ended. Many men in my tribe left for it. Few came back." Selibas heard the crackle of a small fire a few of the Nightwings gathered about. He sighed, "It will take more than spears and swords to put it together I'm afraid. Soon enough, we'll be brushed aside for men in funny hats with important papers."
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Post by Ilheod on Sept 20, 2015 14:45:31 GMT -6
Small campfires littered around the surrounding area in-between rows of tents as the two men moved through the Nightwings camp. The slight rhythm of armored footsteps broke silence, the occasional heavy foot-falls from Astraeus as he trailed behind them. For Ilheod, foot patrol was never a solo duty. Like most wyvern riders, his companion followed him virtually everywhere. He lifted a hand to the back of his neck as he shifted briefly, pondering it all. It was odd. He'd spent so many years in service to Bern's military, never thinking he'd have to worry about philosophical ideals impacting his career; much less making choices determined because of them. Then again, had he ever planned on siding in the civil war with anyone but the bernese military prior to this? Though..that in and of itself was riddled with questions. Half of the military supported the Ilian claim. Half supported the peoples rights to have a Bernese ruler.
Bah. He dismissed the growing storm of inner conflict. He was a soldier. Born and bred to fight his homes battles and win them. He was no politician. Feeling the weight of his spear upon his back, he finally replied to Selibas' comment after a few brief moments of silence. "Perhaps that is for the best. It is rare that good soldiers are good at leading people other than soldiers. At-least..with our system that is. As long as I am allowed to fight Bern's enemies, I suppose I'll be content. It's all I know how to do really. "
The man leaned back to Astraeus with a chuckle as he thought back. One of the few times Ilheod was anything short of quiet and calculated, was when dealing with his wyvern. " A bit over twenty six years I've been fighting for Bern with Astraeus. So what does require swords and spears, we'll happily throw our weight behind. Though..I admit...it can be a bit harder than not. During the war, I spent most of my time in Lycia. After what I saw of the Sacaen people in the City of Heroes? Probably for the best. LYcians fight rank and file. Organized, and rigid. Far easier than the concealed or scattered Sacaen people that specialize at hit and run or ranged combat. Though...there was Pherae..those marksman are no joke either.."
As his thoughts trailed off, he remembered the particulars of Pherae's marksman, he turned to look to Selibas. "If you don't mind me asking. What has drawn you to fight in Bern, if, given what I've heard and you've said; you are from Sacae? If you don't mind me asking."
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