Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on Apr 11, 2013 14:36:02 GMT -6
They say there's two sides to every story. For example, What if the Ending Winter's damage didn't heal? Many scholars ponder this question over and over again, as well as how it did heal. Alternate realms are scattered throughout the multiverse these tales are from. It comes to mind that there's only been one realm that light has been shed upon, and I plan to right this wrong. The realm where the damage didn't heal, but grew worse. Creatures will have adapted and changed altogether, which makes for some new and exciting stories. Why not take a look at one of them? The wind blew softly against the desolate waste, which was odd for the time of the year. Carried upon it were the dreams and legacies of rogues and heroes long passed, turned to dust(This "dust" for convenient reference, doesn't exist). Tales of legendary crusaders and humble militia warriorss. But this is another story, set in a time vastly different in setting, but not location. The sun was rising, broadcasting its rays to all who could reach out and feel them. Denizens of the night were retreating to their homes, awaiting the next night, and meal. All was calm in the outskirts of Etruria, at least for the moment. --
Camille awoke with a start, forgetting for a moment where she was. She was lying awkwardly inside of a tent, her armor silhouetted on the outside from the rising sun and her cloak twisted around her. Famous for wiggling around in her sleep, Camille was used to waking up in a twisted cover. It took a moment to remember why she was there. Then it hit her. She had been traveling with her uncle Garrett to the Magician City of Kharne, to research a cure. A plague and other more...arcane things had been breaking out all over the countryside and ravaging the citizens. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, she was caught by her uncle, and had convinced him to come along rather than have her go back. It had been two days of travel so far.
Wordlessly she rose from the ground, sediment falling from her cloak as she cast it aside and stretched. She pulled the tent flap in and stepped through, shading her eyes from the sun all the while. The fire had died down to coals over the past few hours, and a lone figure stood nearby it, on guard for the last half of the night. For some reason, the freezing chill in the dead of night never got to him like it did to everyone else. "Uncle, your shift is up," Camille carefully pieced her words together, groggy as she was. "We should eat a meal and make our way to Kharne before high noon."
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Apr 11, 2013 15:45:02 GMT -6
The night air was arctic, freezing the average man right to the bone. It calmed him, the air felt good as it broke upon his skin. He needed sleep just like any other living thing, but it was hard to miss this. The day's sun was uncomfortably warm to him, but he had long gotten used to it just like so many others. It felt nice to not have that ever present heat upon him for once though. A pale moon hung in the sky adorned by countless stars, a crescent that shed it's light on the wasteland around him. It wasn't always like this, long long ago he remembered a time when the entire world was as green and vibrant as the oases in Nabata. Or perhaps that was simply a dream that his mind took as fact, but one had to hope that some time the world wasn't this way, what kind of cruel god would create such a thing?
He sat next to a dying flame that had grown weak from neglect as he stared at the sky above him. Watching as one by one the stars that filled the night sky faded from existence. The horizon was red, the light of the sun threatening to rise over the edge of the world bled into the night's sky, tinting it all a soft glowing orange. He thought to himself, just for a moment. A voice called to him, and he turned his head to look. "Oh, good morning Camille." He grinned, looking at her. A young woman, with a serious case of bedhead. Restless in her sleep like always. She'd been that way ever since she was a baby. The air began to warm, signalling the night's end. He looked at the flame and groaned. "I let the fire die again." He grumbled. "Oh well, we don't really have the time for a heavy breakfast anyways." He reached into a pack, pulling out a loaf of bread, it was halfway gone and hardening from being out for so long. Not long until it could be used as a bludgeon. "Ugh, the bread's gone hard." He hit it in his hand a few time, the rigid sides crumbling as it hit. It was edible, but they weren't that hard up for food. He stashed it away, pulling out some jerky instead. "Jerky it is." He shrugged, handing her some. "Unless you want me to cook something for you." He cooked often, having had a long time to get good at it. Same thing with cleaning, and sewing, and other skills that are generally handled by servants. He didn't speak or carry his self like one, but that was from a overwhelming familiarity with the family. It's hard to think of these people as just his masters after he was the one changing them as children.
"Do you know where we're headed to in Kharne?" This was her journey, he was just coming along to look after her. Still, he wanted to know if she had a plan, or if she was just sort of travelling without a place in mind. A goal, but no direction as it were.
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Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on Apr 14, 2013 22:17:08 GMT -6
The sun was three quarters from being off the horizon now. Camille thought it over, whilst scratching her head. "Hard..bread, or jerky.. Definitely the jerky, the salt in it will make us hungry later, but the hard bread will do that faster. It tastes good too." She rubbed her eyes a bit more and ducked back into the tent. She picked up a piece of parchment from under her armor, and retrieved it to show to Garrett. As she pulled a knotted string and unraveled it, it was revealed to be a basic map plotting of Kharne. She pointed to the entrance. "We're going to make our way in, and talk to the healers about what we're dealing with. If they can't help, we must at least report the information about it to the leaders if they don't already know about it." She paused for a moment, her thoughts starting to run faster the longer she was up. "That's the abridged version of it anyway, Uncle. Anything you don't like about it?"
To be honest, she didn't actually have everything all planned out. One of the most common codes of a soldier was "Expect the unexpected", and she was kicking herself now for not preparing earlier. If things didn't go the linear way Camille had planned, it would go from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Any number of scenarios could happen, and if you weren't prepared for being struck by multiple lightning bolts, you were prepared for nothing. "It feels like there's still some holes in it, but we can work those out on the way there, can't we?"
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Apr 15, 2013 8:26:11 GMT -6
"If I remember right..." He began, though from the first few words it was obvious that even he wasn't sure of the words he was about to say. "Kharne isn't the most welcoming place in the wastes. Many mages, by nature, are very condescending. It takes a lot of studying and thinking and training the mind to become talented in magic, tomes are rare in these wastes and people capable of teaching people of using them even more so. Kharne is a reflection of that, they may not just let us walk in. Even if they do, they may not just let us go and walk up to the mages who could help us." He looked off at the horizon for a minute, the desolate desert that stretch before them endlessly. "Long ago, they shrouded their entire town with some kind of a strange magic and made it impossible for people such as you and me to even see. Hidden inside a mirage, as they say. Then again, I haven't been to the town in a long time, so maybe the stories are simply starting to mix with my memories as they tend to do." He had so many colorful tales of every place in Elibe, but if you asked him about the truth of it all he just simply shrugged.
"Even if they aren't as secretive as they used to be, there's no doubt they are still a very dogmatic city. Be careful where you step, who you talk to, and what you say. Especially if you're asking for help. There's mages that will blow you off if you don't massage their fragile egos, and others who are just as likely to dissect our home to see how the plague works so they can use it themselves as they are to try to find out how to cure it." Maybe he was prejudiced, and it was all in his head. After all the young master turned out just fine and he was well versed in healing. Caracens have been mages before, but never were they the kind that Garrett found distasteful. "The ones in charge are certain to be mages themselves, so you should be careful there as well. Powerful mages, who could turn us into a smear if we disrespect them, so remember to always be polite young master."
"I'm just trying to say, young master, that you should be careful. Expect the unexpected as your father always tells you." He took out some jerky for his self, biting down in the hard salty beef. He preferred meats, but he can eat vegetables and grains without trouble. They just weren't the same though, as some beef or venison, or Elmine forbid chicken. This cruel mockery of agriculture made it hard to grow anything or raise animals though. "I have no objections though, I'll follow you no matter what you decide."
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Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on Apr 15, 2013 14:22:34 GMT -6
Camille stepped over the fire pit and graciously accepted some of the jerky. It wasn't quite as good as a nice stew and a brew of that brown stuff she could never remember the name of, but they simply didn't have the supplies or the time out here for such a feast. Anything was better than jerky except for hard bread, if you were looking at it negatively. But it had that smoky feel and taste you simply couldn't find anywhere else in the world of food. What was she doing again? Oh yeah. Kharne and stuff. She munched on the stuff thoughtfully, speaking in between mouthfuls.
"Mages are definitely a stubborn lot, even if they are friendly. Secret or not, we still have to get into the city, because its our only chance. No one in Nabata even knows what it is, and we don't have a ship to get to Lycia or the time to get to the eastern regions. We would probably see something close to men out in the middle of nowhere patrolling a designated spot, or a merchant caravan off the beaten path traveling into the desert. We'll have to just wing it when we get out there.
"What's nagging at me is that we don't have a mage in our group to earn their trust with, though. It's why I had invited brother in the first place, but I guess he was right for staying back home. One old hag isn't enough to take care of dozens..." As she trailed off, she stuffed the rest of the jerky in her mouth and started kicking sand over the fire; the sun had left the horizon line and they needed to move if they wanted to get anywhere today.
Camille ducked back into the tent to change into clothes that weren't stained with sweat. from the night of travel before. After that, she set about to dismantling the tent, yanking the tarp off. In her haste, she had forgotten to remove the pegs from the ground, which caused part of the tarp to rip in half. Multiple curses were muttered under her breath as she set to work removing the pegs, folding the tent cloth's remains, and shoving them in a bag. Attaching the bag to one of two horses she'd "borrowed" from town that had been grazing on anything it could find outside of the camp, she also took the horse's saddle and strapped it to its belly. She took enough care to make sure the small beasts weren't sucking their guts in when she did put the saddles on both of them, and finally went back to retrieve her lance. The lance had been used as a makeshift tentpole when Camille was too tired to search for the real thing in the middle of the night. The timespan of what Camille had been doing had taken about twenty minutes, according to the sun's current position. "Alright then, uncle, get your things if you have anything with you, please, and let's go."
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on Apr 17, 2013 21:39:45 GMT -6
"Of course young master, I never would imply anything else. I just wanted to warn you of the dangers, caution is not the same thing as cowardice." He nodded his head to his young ward, whom seemed thoroughly invested in the meat she was eating. "Your brother would have come if he could, his talents are better put to use trying to prevent things from growing too severe." The lack of a mage would make things difficult in their own way, even if they could get an audience there's a real chance they won't understand a word they were saying. Magic is a difficult thing, and if you don't understand the practices it can be hard to understand what a person is trying to say when they talk of it. He grinned as he turned to Camille once more. "We'll just have to cro...ss..." Oh. She's not there.
He heard her rustling around, doing things in a frantic manner. While she did this he cleaned up the camp, putting out what little flame that remained and gathering whatever things she missed in her haste and putting his own things aware after changing into a clean outfit. He was done before her, while she was fidgeting with the horse's saddle. He stood there, waiting for a good five minutes at least while she went about doing whatever she was doing. She eventually finished, then finally told him what she was doing. A good twenty minutes after she started. "I'm fine young master, don't worry." He assured her. "We should make haste, the sun hasn't fully risen yet and we should get as much traveling done before it reaches midday and becomes suffocatingly hot."
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Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on Apr 22, 2013 18:00:57 GMT -6
"I'll never understand how you manage to do that, uncle! You go at such a leisurely pace in life, but you're always just a step ahead of everyone else. You have to teach me that someday soon, before both of us are unable to move at all." Camille laughed in between breaths of air. She had deigned to not put her hair up yet and probably wouldn't notice or care until they were well on their way to Kharne. The air began to get stuffier and stuffier from the sun's now piercing rays. The rocky terrain around them was starting to heat up as well. As well-bred as the horses could be, their hooves and horseshoes were no match for the heat. Rags were wrapped around the hooves, which the horses didn't mind very much considering the alternative. "It almost feels like you're reading my mind whenever you do that, too. That's another thing you must teach me to do someday." She took a good look around the former campsite, making sure everything was accounted for and the only trace of their presence ever being here was a blackened patch where the fire pit had been.
She put her right foot into the right stirrup and hauled herself into the groove of the horse's saddle. "I will obviously be riding, but what about you, uncle? It seems like extreme temperatures never bother you anyway, so do I need to attach your steed to mine or will you be riding too? You should probably ride, we'll cover ground faster than--sorry--me riding and getting slowed down by you walking. If it wasn't for the blasted heat, trust me I'd be walking with you too." She was awaiting the decision with bated breath, the sooner he decided the sooner the duo could get on with their journey.
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Hal
Soldier
Wings of Courage
I've got 99 problems and Elesia caused every one.
Posts: 215
Bern Fame: 1
Lycia Fame: 1
Affinity: Light
Profile: Hal Kailas
OoC Alias: Kenshin
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Post by Hal on Apr 24, 2013 4:14:42 GMT -6
Reid had been in Kahrne for a few days, once he heard about the magician city he knew there should be more knowledge of magic than he had access to in smaller towns. He spend the past two days reading and studying as much as he could, this day wouldn't be any different. He sat down with a new stack of books, he removed his flux to cross reference anything he read with and a two notebooks, he had almost finished filling one from his studies there alone. He wasted no time, cracking open the first book he began to start reading and taking notes, a girl who's been watching him the whole time finally walked up to him and asked why was he spending so much time reading. "There's so many mysteries in this world, it would be a shame not to learn any of them." She slowly nodded and walked away.
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Post by Valcrist on May 5, 2013 21:23:27 GMT -6
He looked at the horse so graciously acquired for him by his young master, grinning at it with a toothy smile as it backed away. Horses never liked him much, but this one will just have to suck it up. "I shall ride, it would be a shame to not make use of this steed bestowed upon me. It's well enough, as the faster we move the faster we can be done with this desert." He spoke, walking towards the mare. It neighed, shaking it's head, like it was afraid that man was going to hurt her or something. He simply rolled his eyes and furrowed his brow. "Come on now, I'm not going to hurt you." He sounded annoyed, maybe a bit grumpy, though not too terribly surprised. After a minute or two of placating the horse's worry, he eventually found his way atop it. Sitting kind of awkwardly, looking a bit confused but not altogether wrong. He's learned how to ride horses but that was, gosh, how long ago? He couldn't remember.
"There's nothing to teach young master." He spoke after he was sure he was sitting right. He was sitting right, wasn't he? Oh well, didn't matter. He left it at that, not really explaining why he couldn't teach her. "I'm ready to follow your lead whenever you're ready."
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Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on May 6, 2013 20:48:32 GMT -6
Camille was sheepishly grinning ear to ear, watching her uncle perform his country renowned "master horse-wrangling" skills. She hoped he didn't figure out she had "accidentally" picked the stubborn one of the lot. What was the thing's name again? Something silly and foreign, like Themis. Didn't matter, horses don't need names when you're in the desert. When you only had one companion, you probably didn't need names for each other either unless you were referring to a horse.
"Guess I forgot you and them don't mix. It's not like we can just fly there anyway like those pegasi or wyverns, so this is the next best thing. A wagon would just slow us down." She glanced up at the sun, and let out an almost unintentional gasp. "We've been wasting so much time, we might as well have been here for days! C'mon uncle, we should be traveling in a straight line from here on out according to the map." The thing was, the map showed approximately where Kharne was, not the place itself. The circumference of the area was about twelve miles total, according to the old parchment. Kharne was definitely a secretive place, and no one could be bothered enough to actually mark down its location. They needed to watch for surrounding villages; some were disguised, some weren't, and some were just mirages. If you ever saw any of the last ones, you were probably dying of thirst. "See if you can watch for the dust I blow in my wake." Camille reared her horse up and took off down the slope that lead to the sandy wake. The rush of the wings while riding was always great to feel, as long as you knew to keep the sand out of your every orifice. --
According to her map, they were now on the outskirts of Kharne's radius. Looking back, she realized how much progress the two had made. She felt a small pang of sympathy for their horses. Sure, they were stubborn, horse-faced (duh), smelled funny, and almost completely inept, but those traits were desired more than to be stuck with two camels. Ugh. She nearly stuck her tongue out in disgust from the thought. She was lost in thought when the sudden halt of her (now reared up) horse jerked her back to reality by nearly throwing her from the saddle. "What the..." She saw nothing in the distance, except for the heat starting its morning ritual of rising from the dunes, yet... "Eegghh! What's that stench?!" She looked around again, and a faint moan drew her attention to the ground in front of her. The site that she beheld was so indescribably ugly that she could hardly breathe from the site of it. A mage that most likely a Kharne Guard, judging from the red attire he wore and the stylish hat he had worn, was curled up with a tumor-like creature on his back. Blood and pus were pooling around the man, and his skin was nearly translucent.
"K-kill me, kill m-m-me, k..ill me, kill me..." was all he could say as he mercilessly endured the torment. Camille was sure his gaze was miles away from her or her uncle[who had recently pulled up behind her, if she had paid attention to it], but wasn't completely assured. Unbeknownst to the pair, he'd been like this for several hours, when he separated from the rest of his troop by a rookie mistake. With every pulse and wiggle of the tumor beast, the man's life force only seemed to fade faster.
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Aidan Lowell
Griffon Knight
Symbol of Rebellion
Ten years is far too long to be a stranger in your own home.
Posts: 265
Bern Fame: 4
Illia Fame: -4
Profession: High Consul in the Bernese Senate
Affiliation: Bern
Affinity: Thunder
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Aidan Lowell on May 9, 2013 12:32:35 GMT -6
"Flight would be nice, but it's not allowed for either of us." Garrett couldn't help but sigh. The horse seemed to wiggle underneath him oddly, but it wasn't anything worth mentioning. Animals were a little cautious of him, it's always been that way, it wasn't much of an issue because he didn't deal with them that often but it did make the times he did somewhat trying. He was once bucked off a pegasus mid flight, he survived the fall but it was annoying. Still it wouldn't do to complain, he wasn't that kind of person. "I'll live, horses just don't like me. They never had." Camille didn't seem to care much, she was in a rush to go as fast as possible and cover as much ground as possible, wanting to leave this place 'in her dust' she urged the horse to gallop at near top speeds with reckless abandon. Garrett was different, he took a leisurely gait, one that at first was also left in her dust, but eventually caught up once her horse tired and had to slow down to rest.
It was a lengthy, boring, and hot ride. He was fine though, the heat never bothered him all that much oddly enough. It was like the cool stone he wore around his neck was insulating him from the harsh sunlight, as no matter how long it laid in the light it was always cold. Even if it would be tossed into the flames, you could pull it out and it would be as chilled to the touch as ever. Obviously it was odd, but he never answered the questions as to what it was. No matter who it was who asked, and no matter how many failed attempts were made at stealing it from him.
Camille was almost tossed right off her horse not to far away, and instinctively he hurried up to try and catch up to her. His horse being a stubborn beast and not wanting to get any close, so he hopped off and neared on foot. What he saw was... disturbing to say the least. It wasn't a man, no, whatever this was could no longer be called human. It was alive though, and in pain. So much pain. He could hear it in it's voice, it's pained begging and pleading for the release of death. His body covered in tumors and boils that writhed in his body like some beast was crawling under his skin. His skin was almost glowing with paleness as some disgusting beast sucked him dry of life.
"Camille."He looked at the young master, she looked... He couldn't explain how she looked. "We should kill him. There's nothing we can do, his life was forfeit as soon as this monster claimed him." Despite never seeing anything like this before, Garrett was still completely calm. "Every moment he lives, is another moment of pain. Allowing whatever monster this is to grow and feed."
He looked down at this disgusting mockery of humanity, feeling pity for the poor man. "We can't just leave him like this."
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Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on May 9, 2013 15:42:38 GMT -6
The gaudy red on the clothes the man was wearing hid quite a lot of the dried blood and pus if you didn't look that closely. Not like you would want to after you saw the things attached to him. Or the smell. The smell was almost as bad as the sight itself. The two together would probably make lesser men want to vomit. Camille's stomach definitely wanted to distance itself from her breakfast at this point. It took all she had to keep it together. She circled her horse away from the "man" and half-jumped, half-fell out of the saddle. She detached her lance from the holster it had been in, and readied it by her side, in case the still-living thing decided to see if it could fight. "I...I've never seen anything so revolting, Uncle. I've never even killed anything more than prey before, much less an Etrurian guard or some beast that looks like the Demon Dragon itself." The man's eyes were getting blearier with every second, merely tolerating the pain now. The world seemed to fold into a tunnel of millions and millions of colours, and explode before his very eyes.
It was a shame, the dream world seemed much nicer than the harsh reality of real life. The concept of a feast wasn't even heard of where he came from, raised in the slums with two twin sisters. It was a real stroke of luck to be accepted into something more than pawning off his body to the highest bidder. He had been able to care for his mother and sisters with the money he got. At least enough for food and some other pleasantries. ...He was muttering something out of his lips, but he couldn't even feel his lips moving or tongue forming words by lashing across his teeth, much less the noise coming from them. Must not be too important anyway. The real world jerked him awake, if only for a minute. Hazy figures stood over him, but nothing he could make out. Another thought occurred to him(He really needed to stop having those). The one closest to him carried a pole, with a blade coming out at the top. Maybe it was Nasib, the desert's Mistress of Death, come to take him into her arms. He weakly outstretched his arm and managed to wrap his fingers around her leg. A cry pierced the fog that clouded his thoughts.
Camille did what any sensible person would do if someone akin to a contagious leper that also had several different types of cancer slid their hand up to her leg. She cried out in fear, and jabbed her spear downwards, pinning his arm to the ground. The man let out a soft moan. "Ehhhh...okay, Camille, you have this," she whispered to herself. "Uncle, I'm gonna do it." She looked for her inner courage when she realized it was gone. Dragging it back to the forefront of her body, she steeled herself for the inevitable. She shakily removed the spear from the man's arm, rapidly shaking it when it wouldn't come loose. She stepped back a pace, and then another, and another. Letting out a cry of anguish, she rushed the man, stabbing into the small of his back where the largest tumor was. The "tumor" let a shriek out that more than rivaled Camille's, and after several more repeated killing blows, it finally fell dead, nearly taking the man along with it(it was so deeply buried in the man's internals). Blood seeped out from it, both orange and red-colored, the latter probably being the man's. "Thank...you, Mistress.." The man laid his head back on the ground and embraced eternal relief.
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Hal
Soldier
Wings of Courage
I've got 99 problems and Elesia caused every one.
Posts: 215
Bern Fame: 1
Lycia Fame: 1
Affinity: Light
Profile: Hal Kailas
OoC Alias: Kenshin
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Post by Hal on May 13, 2013 16:14:22 GMT -6
Reid wasted no time returning to his studies, the book he was reading was about the foundations of anima magic. This book differed from the others he read before, he'll have to compare notes later. After a short while the girl had returned with a tray, on it there was some biscuits, a tea kettle, and a couple of cups. She sat it down before taking a seat of her own "I noticed while you're here you hardly eat or drink. Please take a short break." Reid was again lost in thought, has it really been a couple of days since he ate more than a few bites of something and fell asleep? His stomach let out a low growl, it was as if it was responding to his mind. He reached over and poured himself a cup of tea and nibbled on a biscuit before taking a sip. "I guess I had forgot to eat once again. Hours fly by as fast as the pages turn when I get lost in my studies." The girl smiled as she asked him what it was he was studying.
"There are many theories on what could have caused the Ending Winter and what could have been. It's truly an interesting and mysterious subject but that is not the root of my studies today. There is a greater mystery than that, nobody knows exactly how people are able to cast magic and where it comes from. There are three basic schools of magic, two of them are widely accepted while the third is shunned by most especially by those who are able to cast magic. Oh one second, I actually have a couple of books that I had wrote about my thesis on two of them." Reid started to dig in his bag full of notebooks he filled, pulling two out he opened them to the first page and began to read "The magic most commonly refereed to as 'Anima' is the most versatile of the known magics. You are able to cast a wide verity of spells ranging from fire to wind or even calling down lighting bolts. Each spell has a lot in common despite the fact their effect is different, they draw their raw power from nature itself. It is unknown if the caster, known as a mage, has a high attunement to nature or if they were born with what fuels their magic and need to learn how to unlock it. If the later proves to be fact it could be possible that anybody can learn how to wield the elements themselves if properly trained." He closed the book after reading a little from the first page and pulled the other book closer. He stopped to check on the girl, normally when he started to talk about his studies people stopped listening. He took a couple more bites of a biscuit and drank some more tea before reading more out loud to her.
"Light magic, the bane of elder magic, has been passed down from clergyman to their understudies for centuries. Many clerics and monks tie their mouth shut before they speak of where their power comes from, could it be if they spill it's juicy secretes they'll anger the source and would be cut off. It also could be very possible that they show restraint when using their magic and if it falls into the wrong hands it could be destructive to anything they use it on. My theory is quite the opposite, they don't have any magical abilities at all. The spells they "chant" aren't really spells but a prayer to their gods for aid, judging weather the prayer is worthy or not they strike down their foe with a beam of light from the heavens. They must spend years in the church to gain a good favor with their god before they can make such request but it is unknown by myself what happens if a member falls from grace." Closing the book he stacked it upon the anima book.
He waited for a response to the passages he had just read as he ate and drank a bit. She seemed even more eager now than she was moments ago, she began to ask about the third kind of magic which brought a smile to Reid's face. He was use to people interrupting him with "facts" about how he was "wrong" because of some irrelevant reason or total disinterest. "You know, I may not look like it but I am a practitoner of the elder magic. Out of the three schools of 'magic' this one seems to be the most unknown, all of the text I have found pertaining to it either show signs being altered or pages torn from the books themselves. That is if it was taken care of properly, all three a true crime if you ask me. When it comes to the spell books they aren't written in a language that is commonly known, it seems as if people spoke multiple languages at one point and this one almost died out if it wasn't for these types of books and those who used them to cast magic." He opened the flux at his side and slide it towards her so she could see what he was talking about. "Even though I have been given the gift to use elder magic I still know almost nothing about it. I have yet to learn where it draws it's powers from, I had heard it called 'dark magic' before I was thought how to use it. My instructor had made sure I never called it dark magic but by it's real name, elder magic. I think it's name has been passed down from teacher to pupil since the dawn of magic and it could very well be the original magic."
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Elias
Mage Knight
The Crimson Mage
I'm just saying that the problem isn't going away, no matter how good we get at stabbing them.
Posts: 451
Etruria Fame: 1
Sacae Fame: 2
Lycia Fame: 1
Profession: The Crimson Mage
Affinity: Fire
Profile: Profile (updated)
OoC Alias: Elias
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Post by Elias on May 19, 2013 21:03:01 GMT -6
"I've never seen anything like it either. In my many years, such a monster is new to me." He shook his head as he looked at the pitiful being writhing in front of him. "Death truly is the kindest thing we can give to him." The man crawled and moaned, reaching a dessicated hand to Camille's ankle, causing her to shriek and stab him. Garrett himself stood nearby, watching as the man endured the untold pains. Willing and ready to stomp on his neck and snapping the bones within if Camille was unable to give him a clean death. It seemed too much, to force a girl as young as her to do such a thing, but this was the reality of the world now. It wasn't the soft, warm land he can remember in foggy memories centuries ago, but a harsh land full of monsters that the very earth rejects. Something she would have to learn, whether or not she wanted to. It was best she learned now, instead of when her life was on the line. You can't protect people from the world around them, no matter how hard you try. Something he has learned time upon time again, but it was still never easy to see people forced to face it. It made him want to take their place, to do it for them so they never have to, but that helped no one. It only fed his own ego.
He watched as she stabbed the moving corpse, again and again. The tumors crying and screaming as they were pierced by her blade, writhing and wriggling, being closer to monsters then any sort of disease imaginable. He flinched at the first blow, being hard to watch no matter how prepared he was. He never did like seeing people die, no matter how many he's seen come and go, he never got used to it. There was a hissing sound, that almost sounded like some sort of... gratitude. Though he was dead, Garrett knew that in death he was finally at peace. "He can rest now." He couldn't tear his eyes away from the corpse though, he expected for it to spring back up at any moment somehow. Perhaps he was simply paranoid. "I don't know what beast this was, but to be straddled with it is a fate worse than death. It must have attached itself somewhere around here, he could barely move so he couldn't have gotten too far once it attacked him. Unless... no, that's too disturbing to think. Regardless, we must be alert." He bowed his head, a moment of silence to this poor man. He wouldn't let such a thing happen to Camille, no matter what.
"It sounds cruel, but we shouldn't touch the body. Who knows if whatever this was can be spread? We didn't bring shovels either, so we'd be forced to dig by hand. In this heat, it would set us back another day." Then he stopped and simply bowed. "But if the young master wishes it, I will bury this body without a single complaint."
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Zacharia
Shaman
Kingmaker
"You fight for the promise of a better tomorrow for this country."
Posts: 172
Bern Fame: 3
Illia Fame: -2
Profession: Advisor
Affiliation: Bernese Senate
Affinity: Thunder
Profile: Link
OoC Alias: Zach
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Post by Zacharia on May 19, 2013 21:33:15 GMT -6
A burial seemed proper for him, but it was either him or the two of them. As cruel as it was to suggest they leave it for the buzzards. It would cover the stench that permeated the air a little bit, though. She was tempted to do it, but what was skipping one burial when weighed against potential millions? "I'm not getting within another foot of that...beast. I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's skirt around it before anyone or anything finds us." She started shepherding her wagon of thoughts back together after they had deserted on her. If at all possible, Camille would inform the court that this man needed a burial, and to be careful if they were brave enough to do it. She could only picture what the man would look like when the tumorbeasts had fled...no, she couldn't picture without that wagon getting away from her again. Time for mentally scarring wounds in picture form after they got to Kharne. However, off in the distance she heard...more voices? Yes, and the sound of muffled sand tossed in the distance. The first voice she made out was determinedly female. "The smell's getting stronger, I just hope it isn't what I think it is..." Two other voices popped up immediately after the female spoke. Twins, probably. "Sarge, don't you fret--" "--I'm pretty sure it's not that. It could be--" "--Anythin' that winds up in this--" "--Wasteland." Gods, they were hard to listen to. One more voice said something, but it was filtered out by something else.
"Uncle, let's get a move on. I'm willing to bet that if they aren't guards, they're brigands. At the very least, we should check them out before they check us out. Methinks they're wearing something stupid like Sir Corpse." Trying to shrug off the corpse by ignoring it, she took her horse by the reins. "Hey!! You folk, over here!" She called out. Camille gestured for Garrett to follow her out of the little ditch they were in, so they could get a better look at the approximate four.
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