Arc one,part 2 subthread:Into the Wyld[Tag Kye,Remmi,Reas [ Between Moments, the Future Changed ]on]

Thorn Darkblade

Thorn Darkblade

I know lots of things. Lots of things...
(reposted from the main thread)


Kye approached the glittering boundary of the Wyld cautiously, bowed to one knee, and spoke loudly and clearly.


"I am Kye Anrai, Chosen of the Sun, of the Eclipse Caste. I am here to negotiate an alliance against the invaders with any fae princes that would hear my audience. These men..."


He gestured to the group that had followed him.


"Are my personal honor guard and are under my protection. I look forward to having a pleasant chat with you soon."


He stood up, and motioned for the group to follow him as he stepped within the boundaries of the Wyld.
 
You'll ender the gew blocks around the gleaming capital dome, a ways away from the fires now. There are a great many dead hobgoblins all over the road you approach in on, their stumpy, twisted bodies transformed into crystal husks. A few hardshells lie dead here and there. They're in the Wyld Zone, there were rumors of such, at least some of the men will mention. Most of them surfaced while Kye was unconscious. The air crackles around you, occassionaly veridian lightning strikes some of the malliable towers round you. The place is silent like the grave. The great Capital Dome is probably ten blocks away, looming over everything.
 
"Alright men! That's our destination. Keep your eyes peeled, your wards close, and your minds sharp, this place isn't going to be a cakewalk."


With his flask in one hand, and Azure Dreams in the other, he made his way through the madness, an occasional spark reflecting off of his armor. The hardshells and hobgoblins did little to ease his stomach though...
 
As the party approaches, you can see, for the most part, the untainted height of the old capital dome. It looms at least taller than many of the First Age towers in Nexus District and yet it seems to fluctuate before your very eyes. Odd geometries open up and spew out gouts of Wyld energy here and there, the very essence of everything.


The walk goes peacefully enough. You're all sticking to the sidewalks and the shadows of the buildings. Dozens of crystallized and bloody hobgoblins line the street, occasionally lying amidst the corpse of one or two hardshells, even a giant and some of the strange automata you've begun to see. Deathly quiet, except for a singular wail coming from the dome. Low at first, then piercing the ears of everyone for blocks like a banshee's wail.
 
Reason


Reason looked around, captivated by the beauty of the relatively intact First Age architecture, sighing slightly. So much ruined. So much lost. He would just have to see about rectifying the situation. Hearing the wail, he looked at the others, then began to move towards the dome at an increased pace.
 
Kye turned to the men and Red, and spoke loud and clearly.


"Alright, pick up the pace, and stay together. If any of you notice another so inclined to wander off on their own, stop them. Stay with two others at all times, don't want you guys being prey for anything in here."


(Exalted buddy system!)
 
The dome, as you'll come to find as you approach is surrounded by a whirlwind of Wyld energies. And it just seems to grow as you get closer. Viridian lightning is striking dangerously close to you, but no one can feel a thing, yet. The Dome lies before you, vast, uncaring, stretching for many blocks in most directions.


And then,


"I see children who have lost their way into my web. Young little maggots who would become flies, and I, a spider willing to speak and become comely for your eyes. All to draw you in a web. Would you prefer that little Princes?" Says a Voice.
 
Reason


Reason cocked his head, looking around with one eyebrow artfully arched. "Why would a spider tell the flies its true nature? That seems... counterproductive."
 
"Ah, I do so love a Solar with delusions of a higher mind." Two Fae, tall, slender, sexless walk from the storm of Wyld in front of you, gossamer strands falling from their bodies as they walk out. You'll watch as their bodies take shape, Both becoming male, almost identical, dressed in crimson chased by silver, covered in perfect glass armor.
 
Reason


Reason smiled slightly Indeed? At least my mind contains things other than delusions. But enough sniping - we are here to negotiate a treaty against a common foe, not exchange verbal witticisms.
 
"It is no concern of ours. The ones who have come are dead. None others have come. They do not satisfy our appetites like humans do. And you, are not the one who has come to negotiate." They say as one. They turn to face Kye. "Speak, Falcon."
 
Kye cleared his throat before stepping forward.


"True, it seems you have turned those who invaded into most pristine decorations...however, if you truly envision yourself as a spider...then you must know the fate of a spider when the owner of a home cleans the cobwebs. They'll turn your attention to you once they've finished with us. One by one, we will all fall. Your paradise will become cold and...fixed. And, then...where would I get my wonderful alchohol, provided I survived the ordeal?"


He smirked at the fae.


"Now...we come as heroes, fighting a losing a war, seeking a desperate alliance with those who may help. While the foes may not serve your particular palletes, the thrill of the battle to come, the glories sung...surely you wish to have a hand in such an epic tale, do you not?"


(Charisma + socialize, WP spent, 7 successes)
 
They shall both tip their heads as one, mirror reflections of the other. Considering, pondering. Their perfect faces show nothing. A gentle finger rises to the lips of the one the right. An almost quaint gesture.


"Yet in stories, do we die or live. There seems to be much death. The Entropy will arrive soon. Despite the works of your...hehe...holy men." It says. Odd, none of you realized it until it giggled. They have the voice of children. Soft, high pitched, like whistles. "They are already coming to us, unless you have not seen our Shining Goblin Brigades. Poor creatures. Would any of you care for dinner? We have a fine meal ready inside the antechambers within the Saturnine Dome."


The other will perk up, "Yes! We have dinner ready and a lovely play to put on. When they killed Gilded Lies Set In Diamonds of Rapture, we lost our main player! But Stubbles has taken over! He's such a good actor even if he is an Ogre!"


The one with a finger still upon Its lips smiles, "Oh yes, that will be so much more exciting than your silly little war with beings beyond your ken out there. Come inside! Oh please!"
 
"A play...so...this Stubbles is an understudy?"


Kye thought to himself, and then grinned his normal insane grin.


"Well, that can't do at all, can it? That means his role isn't filled...I have an idea..."


He walked closer to the fae.


"How about I fill in and help you with your play...and, if it's to your satisfaction...then, you'll help us with our epic going on outside of this paradise?"
 
They'll get stone faced very quickly. "If you do this and you please us, our price will lower. One will peer past you and a sickly light comes to its eyes. Those five will do if you perform as a down payment." Staring at the now nervous guards, fingering their weapons.
 
"They are not mine to give. They follow, and are under my protection...but they are free men. I would not toss their lives away so frivolously...such a pity, I suppose I will have to take my talents elsewhere, with a fairer price."


(Cha+Socialize, WP spent, 7 successes)
 
They'll go stock still, living statues that shall shift into glass and form into one another. Then seperate back again into seperate beings and back to one another. An eye made of Viridian glass will seperate from them and hover around you as the beings fuse into one.


"It pains me, greatly, but I will require a price to be paid for my help, young sir." The voices meld to one in a deep baritone. "I would have demanded 50 souls at the least to be paid. You're young, for now, but you'll understand what it is to cut a deal with us. Someday."


For a moment, you'll picture what it wants and what motivates it. A swirling mass of Wyld energy surging into the city, and the creature before you dining well with its assorted kin within a grand chamber of basalt within the Dome here.


"I am Two-Faced Akino. Remember that name, Prince of the Earth. You came in peace from the old pacts, so I honor it. Your offer is tempting, but alas, to unleash my goblins in the city, I will require the entirety of Firewander for my efforts. For as you see, my resources grow limited."
 
Kye grimaced...it was a dark pact the fae wanted...but, he needed support. The lives of the mercenaries weren't disposable. Hobgoblins would be more effective...not to mention far deadlier in combat, if these fae were worth their salt. He couldn't throw away that many souls though.


He turned to his companions, then back to the fae.


"My apologies then...I'll have to miss out on dinner and the play. Perhaps another day?"


He turned to the company.


"Alright, let's move out. Same as before. We stick together, and mind our manners"
 
The exfiltration of the Wyld Zone goes well enough for the first few blocks away from the dome. Two-Faced Akino fades from view, but all of you can sense that the creature still watches you from afar. A flurry of lightning strikes to the south of the dome. An intense roll of thunder, like the roars of Mela sing over the entire Freehold. As you leave the area, passing the fallen and the already decaying battlefields, the crystal bodies of the hobgoblins fade like dust on the wind.


To the north, as you leave into the fiery district, you'll see, far in the distance, a marching column of what appear to be Guild Mercenaries of all bands marching out of Bastion district. Many hundreds, winding down Avian way into Cinnabar. From where you stand they seem to be a long black and gray line. But they're your people, without a doubt.


As you come further out, past Brookside and nearer to Filth, you'll come upon a horrid sight of Filth and even the canals dirtier than the district its near on fire. A raging, stinking, oily inferno. Like the vengeance of a wrathful group of gods. It seems to be burning hotter than most of the other fires in Firewander. Further on, nearer to the wall dividing Firewander from Sentinel Hill, on one of the collapsed sections, you'll come across a battle site. Many of the hardshells piled at the feet of a dead female Immaculate among the brick and mortar of the fallen wall. Her face frozen in a joyous look.


Her body beaten, stabbed and bloodied.


On the street before you, The wide, devastated Way of the Coin, the main thoroughfare. The Road of a Hundred Names.
 
Kye stopped for a moment at the Immaculate, and knelt by the body.


"Rest easy, mate...I know you may have detested what I am in life...but, may the dragons grant you peaceful sleep and a quick trip to your next life..."


He closed her eyelids,and poured a bit of rum on the ground, the least he could do in respect for the dead.


"Alright, we're gonna rendevouz with the mercs up ahead, and connect with whatever holdouts we've claimed. With any luck, this city will be ours again before Calibration lets out."
 
The few fights you run into are simple enough affairs. A hardshell here or there, a hariry fight where you close with about five of them trying to gain entrance to a furrier's shop down in the Livestock Markets of Cinnabar. Reason and surprisingly Remmi take care of most of them. Your merc lads hold their own well enough, usually ganging up on the massive enemy footmen. Under the shade of an old, gnarly oak in the middle of a small park in Cinnabar, your group takes down a giant, with surprisingly no injuries, mainly thanks to Reason's strong arms and stronger sword.


By the time you reach on of THE bridge of the canals seperating Bastion and Cinnabar, you'll see the tip of the column coming toward your small band. You had to swing round the Enclave to get out here, trudging along East Canal and through East Parko.


Most of you had heard of the second gathering of troops in Nexus district to west, behind you, but no rumors of this second column.


The Column is fronted by bannermen carrying banners of every mercenary unit within Nexus: The Hooded Executioners, The Brass Pioneers, The Nightarrows, The Iron Brotherhood, The Wolves, Viridian Magistrates, and so on. The uniformed mercs are backed by what appears to be a legions worth of local Nexians, carrying haphazard arms and wearing little in the way of armor. So much for the Dogma of no army shall stand in Nexus.


At the head of the column are two weary looking souls garbed in finery and armor, looking like children's mismatched dolls. Before them rides the Emissary, his silver mask glinting in the Sun's light.
 
Kye sheathed his sword immediately, wanting no chances of a conflict that would end so horribly in their deaths. He moved to one side, as not to interrupt the march. If the Emmisary wished their help, the Emmisary would make it known.


Kye took a deep swig of his liquor...a bit of stress relief...
 
Remmi scooted to one side, pale. The massed troops hold her attention, eyes picking out banners and numbers, conditions and attitudes. Quiet, mindless chatter died on her tongue. Her eye flicked to Violet and his omnipresent alcohol, half envious of the foresight.


"Now that's not a sight you see every day..."
 
The men ahorse will nod to your band, the Emissary staring straight ahead. The column is at ten wide, hundreds deep. Probably a line of a thousand, maybe two thousand men. A substantial part of the mercenary forces inside the city.


A voice, just a whisper but crisp and audible to all, "Find your ways into the ranks if you wish, or bring your survivors with the baggage train if you know of any holdouts."
 
((Sorry bout the AWOL))


Kye nodded, then directed his men to find a place within the ranks, finding any officers to help direct them to any holdout camps that Scorpion, Leothus and the others had managed to set up, starting with the Dragon King area.
 
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