Fantasy Battle for the Continent

[Synergy JADE]

✹ Trust ✹

location: Travelling - Febo's camp | with: Kidari, Febo, and Tai'iq| mentions: Stabby? | tag: Athanas blitzfritz Yahhah

There was something almost glorious about the way the cold metal felt in Auria's hands. A rush of energy swirlled as she looked up at Febo, almost erasing her embaressment from moments earlier. He had once again caught her in a lie. But the flush in her cheeks faded as her gaze turned to the twisted iron in the weapon in her hands. It felt... good. Like being handed back some little control that would allow her to take her life back. The spark of life thumped in her chest and her legs solidied in the soft leather of the boots he had given her. She wanted to do something. But instead she forced herself to twist her hair behind her and slide the stiletto into the auburn locks. The slid the belt into place around her waist.

"Thank you," Auria whispered and was surprised to find out how much she meant it. She raised her chin to comtemplate the stranger in front of her. So far he'd been carried, clothed, and armed by this man and she'd done little more than lie to him and unload her stomach on his boots. Her faced reddened. Lore. Auria hoped he wouldn't hold that aginst her. Yet the more she studied him the more she found how badly she wanted him to be all that he said he was. Perhaps she wasn't quite safe, but something told her it would be a long time before she felt safe around a man again. Nonetheless, what Febo had helped her get this far, and the anxiety and enthusasm in his eyes when providing her her weapon made her insides pull. She turned towards his horse, hoping that he didn't notice how abruptly her gaze had dropped.

"Thank you," she said again, her voice laced with the strength held in that piece of metal now holding her hair behind her. "Just... please don't tell the others... who I am." She chewed her lip for a moment before adding. "I will trust you Febo Obinspal. You are as noble as my father's knights for all the kindness you have shown me." She forced herself to face him one last time from where she stroked his great horse's muzzle. The way her father had faced her when there was nothing but truth in his eyes. "I want you to say all this to the perhaps the last and only person who may know who I truly am that from the bottom of my heart I thank you."

Auria knew she should probably listen to his request to sit down and rest. But a memory of sitting there, her body frozen and useless as her family was butchered in front of her caughted her to seize the war horse by the reins. "I'm just fine though. I will untack your horse. I think it would be good to stretch my legs after riding so long," Auria blurted, and ignoring her body aching in protest lead the horse away before Febo had the chance to protest. Her body hurt, but this was something she could do. And god above if anyone was going to stop her. The rhythm of unloading made it easier to forget the pain and let her mind wander. Starting now she would forget who she was. She would be as useful as the rest of them. She had to learn. Thoughts swirled in her head of laughter and banter and maybe kill the people she'd swore vengence upon. Auria wanted to stop being a damn rose and wanted to start being a thorn.

Her mind's eye turned to the others in the group. The tabaxi especially couldn't be trusted. His cat's eyes watching them from the trees still made her shutter. Kidari though? She unfastened the saddle bags from Febo's warhorse while she turned the thought of the tiefling over like a gold coin. She'd saved her. And she'd seen her. But no. She couldn't risk telling her who exactly she'd saved. The less people that knew the truth, the better. Plus the idea of anyone grovelling and scrapping over her parentage made her sick. Not only were those days long gone, Kidari was the hero right now. She was the one who deserved to be treated with respect. No. Kidari didn't need to know. She would be plain simple Ria to the tiefling.

The last of the horse's tack slid into Ria's arms and she hefted it over to a stout treebranch and tied the horse beside it. The stallion immediately dropped his head and started to graze, searching out tufts that jutted out from between the great tree's roots. Slight satisfaction tickled her stomach as she examined her work and patted the horse's thick neck. "I wonder what your name is?" she mused and gave him one last pat. She hoped it wasn't a silly question. But well, she liked having names for all her animals. And men named their weapons sometimes, right? Why not their horses?

She sat down by the campfire and hugged her knees to her chest. The smoke seemed thicker for such a small campfire but damn, she hadn't realized she was cold. Her stomach let out a growl like a that of a dying wolfhound. Don't forget about me. It growled. Her cheeks flamed and her chin jerked up to see if Febo or hells... half the forest had heard.

 

[Synergy JADE]

☾ Rita Silverwing ☾

location: | with: Princess Jade, Lorne, Captain Valtek, and Navara Pathfinder | mentions: Auria of Runia | tag: Cosmo animegirl20 Baradour deer

“By the Motherland,” Rita said in awe, watching as the mountainsides burst into flames-- almost the color of blood.


She’s followed the trail of the giant. While many whispered about the one who’d throw or been thrown from the tower, her encounter with a "Commander Rylind" and his many curses over his runaway Orgrillion had caught her attention too much to pass up. Aroshaan would probably beat her to it anyway. And in the middle of his famous blood madness, perhaps it would be best to avoid her old friend until he had caught his prey. Besides, it was surprisingly easy to track a man nearly three times the size of the average man. She need only ask and people quickly pointed the way they’d seen the half-ogre go. Strangely enough, not far from the sight of a smoldering gatehouse, people added that a tiefling had been seen with him as well. An odd pair, but stranger groups would form as the war continued to gain momentum.


Interesting. She thought as she leaped over rubble with the catfish grace. Before long, the path became clear. They must have been headed for a town only a few miles outside of the capital.


Heat blazed from the mountainside as Rita finally drew to a stop. A sly smile spread across her lips as her gaze settled on the “Dead Egg Inn.” It wasn’t much to look at but the she-devil’s instincts told her this is where she would find what she was looking for. The ground shook under Rita’s feet and she crouched.


Shattered glass and echoed from within the inn’s tavern and soon people were rushing out in a panicked frenzy. Their mouths dropped open and their eyes bulged as they skittered about in fright. The giant did not emerge.


Rita wound her way around the throng of people with ease. Eyes that did not see barely registered the young vampiress. Finally, she pushed the door open and was greeted by a nearly empty common room. The innkeeper, notable due to his heavy build gut adorned an apron sat on the floor, shaking his head in confusion. Instead, Rita crosses to the bar and grabbed the woman by her throat.


“What are you called?” Rita said, turning her red irises to the woman.


“Meg,” the woman trembled, dropping the remains of the two mugs she’d been holding.


“I’m looking for an orgrillion and a tiefling. Point me in the direction they went and I won’t slit your throat. Deal?”


The woman gulped and her eyes flicked to the back door. The one that lead to the inn stables.


“Thank you,” Rita said, releasing her fingers from the woman’s throat. Meg started to scuttle away but Rita grabbed her by the nap of the neck and twisted, sliding her cursed dagger across the woman’s neck before she had the chance to scream.

***​

Rita threw the doors of the stable open just as four shapes started pulling themselves into the saddles.


Rita let out a yowl. Not only was the orgrillion there, but the tiefling and could it... yes, the Ashlander princess turned to face her. Without thinking she drew on the threads of her magic and ripped a beam from the barn ceiling sending it hurtling towards an older, study-looking man and the tiefling. Neither had the chance to duck as it sent them crashing through the barn wall and into the evil glow of the fire just beyond.


She reached out again to restrain her two newest targets, but found her power reserves nearly gone. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath and pulled out her dagger. “I challenge you to a duel,” she hissed hoping she could stall them just enough to draw blood. All she need was a small stream and she could freeze it like ice and send it through their skin like an arrowhead.


“Fight me,” she screeched.

 

[Yahhah]

Tai'iq slowed his pace slightly so as not to outpace the Tiefling, Kidari which had yet to return any conversation. She had hidden the shiny thing that had roused him on this venture in her shirt, which he supposed helped him keep focus. Though the tabaxi hoped she didn't mean to keep it hidden, that would not stand. To offer a shiny and not give it up was a great sin as far as the cat man was concerned.

If Tai'iq remembered correctly they were looking for snares. That was if of course he'd been playing close enough attention in between trying to swipe the bracelet. That meant he needed to find small critters trapped within snares. He decided to ignore the Tiefling for the moment and instead scan the forest surrounding them. His ears twitched and spun in different directions in an attempt to hear anything even slightly out of the ordinary in all directions.

Tai'iq was not only on the quest to find the snares but he was also looking out for those three that'd been chasing him. It was not long until Tai'iq's feline senses led him towards a slight sideroad. There was a slight thumping in the underbrush. With barely a move the tabaxi moved towards the soft sound and pushed aside a small bush to find a rabbit struggling in its death throes while being caught in a snare. Tai'iq's yellow eyes looked over the animal and noted its state of not quite being dead. His hand went to a knife that'd been hidden in his clothing and with a swift swipe he ended the rabbit's misery and wrapped a hand around the corpse before picking it up. He holstered the knife and set off to check more of the traps.

Tai'iq was not sure how many traps there were nor exactly where they were but he did manage to find one more where the corpse of what appeared to be a squirrel hung with a noose had caught its neck. Tai'iq added that to his catch arm and was about to turn to continue looking or to meet up with Kidari before his eyes and nose were caught by a very intriguing sight and smell respectively. A plant that he had only seen once before hung from the branches of a nearby tree. It was widely regarded as a delicacy among tabaxi, he used his free hand to sever thr plant from the tree and put a little bit of it into a pouch at his side. He'd have time to enjoy it later.

Mentioned: blitzfritz (Kidari)

Nearby: Synergy JADE (Auria) Athanas (Febo).

 

[blitzfritz]

The tabaxi was quick to follow, and Kidari was somewhat thankful for that. A hundred and twenty paces to the north-the tiefling wasn't much for conversation during the walk at the moment, as she was more worried about...Hadria, she called herself? It wasn't uncommon for someone to pick up a name on the road, especially if they were running away from their previous life. She just gave a quiet nod to Re'in, following after his pace-quite the different talkative demeanor from before from when she gave Febo cheek.
Their tail bobbed and weaved like a party ribbon as she could hear the sounds of the forest, before the tabaxi lead the duo to the sound of thumping in the underbrush. The source? A not-quite dead rabbit, to which the catman quickly ended the prey's life with a knife swipe. The smell of blood tinged the air in a different direction as Kidari looked around, letting Re'in look for more of the traps while the demonkin went another direction to the smell of blood. After a few paces, Kidari pushed past a brush to find said blood was from a ground-nesting bird, having its neck caught and most likely bleed to death.
Kidari quickly untangled the snare from the bird and carried the fowl with her left arm, sniffing the air a bit to try to catch any tinge of blood that would lead her to another snare, to which there were two more; another rabbit, and another ground-nesting bird were in the next two snares, and while Kiki set to work untangling the snares, her mind recollected itself to pull taunt a memory from the various sights and sounds.
~~~
"Kneel!"
"But sir-"
"I SAID KNEEL, DEMON!"
"....."
A young, battered and bruised, tiefling crumpled onto the ground in a weak mock of a kneel in front of a heavily clothed merchant, the trader smoking what seemed to be a pipe. He had heavy fur coats from various game fauna, and the rings on his finger indicated his status; the demonkin was shaking, bruises lining her arms, and what seemed to be a dark substance running from her lips-was it blood or drool? The merchant put the blunt end of his pipe onto her growing stubs for horns, applying pressure to make her lower her head-the tiefling simply winced.
"I've had many a servant in my circle, come crawling and begging to serve under me. What makes you any different, hm?"
"I..." the tiefling's voice was hoarse, dried, "I'm simply looking for somewhere to stay for the moment, some food and water and a place to sleep. I'll do anything to get those, I just..." Her voice died as her tail-something that felt too big for her body-coiled and wrapped around her legs for some comfort.
The merchant gave a huff as he suddenly grabbed her by the horns, making the demonkin cry in pain. "Anything?" The tone that the merchant gave was sleazy, almost taunting, and was definitely not a good sign...but the demonkin didn't care. She just nodded. And the merchant gave a smile, slipping a hand under her shirt, feeling the soft skin underneath.
"Then we have an agreement. You serve under me, tending to my...needs, and i'll let you stay in my care. Any disobedience is punishable. Understand?~"
Kidari just gave a nod.
~~~
The tiefling snapped out of the memory with a sharp pain, before realizing her right hand was bleeding a bit and shaking. A cut or two was on said hand from her wavering, as she was having trouble untying the snare-Kiki quickly wiped her hand on her clothes and resumed work on the snare, breath shaky but able to get the game from the trap.
"ut quietam ut quietam ... ..." Her voice wavered as the demonkin took the prey and met back up with Re'in, a little shaken up and her tail sharply and tightly coiled around her leg. Looking back up at the tabaxi, they simply gave a nod before heading off back to camp, grip tight on the food for tonight.

(( interaction: Yahhah , mentions: Synergy JADE

 

[Bigmoe808]

The World I Know​

The world was small, limited. One would be sorely disappointed if they tried to move about even if only to scratch themselves. Yet, Meadeus could not say exactly that he was uncomfortable in his motionless state. The existence of tight borders did not make much of a difference to one born from inanimatey.

Comfortable, however, he was not. The world was small, limited, and in constant motion. He recognized this great swelling and caving by instinct. He knew this force and momentum from experience. He despise it to his core. His great prison yawned and howled from beyond the world, searching for its recent escapee. How recent? Meadeus couldn't use exact numbers to describe it just yet. The world, this one and the greater beyond, was always dark.

But it was not always cold. There was a period of warmth that exchange with a period of cold, the presence of the Sun came and went as it pleased. He remembered experiencing the rotating shift, penning self acknowledge hours for each and counting them down. All that went to waste, however, when he set out to sea. Now, encased in the small world, it was always cold. Days had pass without him having anyway to truly mark them.

He could hear the men beyond his small world work. Their toiling and tinkering never seemed to end, always finding some issue beyond his small world that needed attending to before moving down the list for the next. It was as if they never slept. Though he had little interaction with them from his own confines, they were a consistency in this rocking world. A stable pillar that maintained order above an ever shifting chaos below. It had earn a bit of recognition from Meadeus, if for no other reason then self preservation and breaking the monotony.

Sleep was not something Meadeus engaged with, having been awoken not to long ago. His mind was active and away at learning the world beyond this one. The New World. An Unknown World. Some place far from the Old World...granted, he had never seen it. Fate, as far as he understood, had denied him his heritage in the Old World. He had never walked the lands at the height or fall of its legacy, met the heroes of its destiny, or taken his place within its history. Olympia. It was a world that he was as alien to as this one.

What came now, then, was his purpose in the New World. The origin for his existence...no longer mattered. Olympia was gone and he had no way of returning. Yet. There was also the matter of his freedom and the person he owed it to. Perseus. The twisted sense of humor fate had no longer caused him to grit his teeth. The man had yet to make any demands or specify any form of compensation from Meadeus, but he would see to it this debt be paid. His chains were no longer, his destiny was his own to command, and the path towards building his legend was open. But it wasn't clear, however, what exactly he should be doing in the New World.

From what he been told, the country they were sailing towards was Chaan. It coexisted alongside several other kingdoms on the much bigger continent. The lands were in rather peaceful and prosperous times, the people lived fairly good lives. The different governments upheld a strong alliance with one another, in fact, the even participated in grand festivals held by one of the southern countries.

Runia.

While it would've been interesting to see, such a sight would have to take place the next time. When others were enjoying the fat of their glorious era, Perseus was trying to maintain meat and bones with his business. Which is when Meadeus had been found. Sadly, it seemed the sailor had been cost dearly. He considered working for the man directly, but if most of that consisted of living at sea...

There was noise from beyond his small world, the men outside had become more active. This moment had been anticipated for quite a while by now, especially since a bit earlier when Perseus last spoke to him. Soon, his trek across the sea was coming to an end and his journey through out this New World would begin. He could feel the movement around himself, objects being shifted and released as the sailors set about their work. Eventually, he could feel his small world being tampered with by these outside forces.

As they were undoing the bindings that secured him, Meadeus continued to think about his future on the continent. Preparing for the unexpected was expected, even when there was only so much he could do with it. Chaan was geographically centered in the continent, maintaining a mostly equal distance between each of the other nations. Plus, it had a strong presence within the internal river system of the land where it dominated in trade. Not that Meadeus had an interest in being near more water, but this was an opportunistic beginning. If he chose not to stay, he had just as good a chance of traveling north or south to any of the other kingdoms.

As for where? He wasn't sure. Drobis piqued his interest when he heard about it's mythical beast, and yet it was Zenobia that seemed the most hospitable climate for his preference. Course, this would most likely come later, for now he would likely stay for a while and learn more-

"..."

There was commotion from outside his small world, more so than there was before. It was enough to break his train of thought and alert him. He wasn't sure when it happened, but he was no longer on the boat. The vertical swaying of the ship had disappeared and all that replaced it was the firm foundation of land. He approved of this change, however, he could not fully appreciate it as he took note of the sounds coming from beyond his small world. If they were in a port city or even a town, there would most certainly be a crowd of people doing all manner of business. And yet...some of the things he could hear challenged his understanding of this land.

Invasion

Treachery

Desecration

Armies

Meadeus, for the first time in a while, moved. His head tilted as he realized the things he expected were not to be. His plans for the future would have to be revisited at another time, as he was, admittedly, he was fairly late to the state of events.

Was Lore not at peace in this age?

 

[Synergy JADE]

And so marks the end of this story thread....

Thank you to everyone who contributed. For the characters who survived with their authors, you will find the continuation of this journey here....
Shattered Continent​