Fantasy Realms of Nymserine: Main Thread [[CLOSED]]

[Purize]

Maximus followed her down the hall, and when they reached Döthrangus's room, his eyes lingered on the dark stain in the floor. He remembered the day they discovered his body. He hadn't known Döthrangus well, but like everyone in the circle, he'd spoken to him a few times. Elves typically kept to themselves, but he had managed to make a few close friends among his comrades.

Maximus was a little surprised that the room hadn't been cleaned out and renovated for another member, but then again, things had been hectic lately... plenty of their men died within a year. Even the best of the best made mistakes sometimes, but typically they died in battle rather than in their own bedrooms.

Max helped look around for clues, dust motes stirring under their feet where they walked. Particles hung in the air where the light filtered through the small window and they danced and swirled as Maximus passed through them. He looked down at the book that Azaria flung onto the bed, reading over it's contents with a small frown. Plenty of warriors here fought with poison in different way, mastering the art of mixing and growing their own deadly herb gardens... but Döthrangus wasn't not of them. He had many books, the shelves in his room filled with notes and volumes of texts of various subjects. It wasn't solid proof, but it was something to look into.

"You said you knew he was planning to kill the king," Maximus began. "How? Whispers and rumors aren't normally enough to lead someone to kill a man."
Zazz

 

[Zazz]

Opening and closing drawers, now, Azaria answered simply, "The women in the lower ring knew a different side to him. He had an... unquenchable thirst, you could say. They heard things, and I was curious, so I erm... investigated." Azaria pointed to a seemingly solid support beam at the corner of the ceiling and the wall opposite the bookshelf. "It's hollow. Perfect for hiding, provided you can keep still."

She picked up what seemed to be a journal from one of the drawers and flipped through it, brows furrowed. "The healer... I'm not sure if he was in on it, but he took whatever it was Döthrangus was brewing up for the king. The King was sick; it only made sense.

Azaria brought over the journal. Near the end, where Döthrangus's hand had grown less elegant and more scratchy, he had written rather incriminating words.

I must kill it. Drakenskin is not himself. No one else sees it.

The halfling let him read it on his own while she kept searching. "I don't know why he did it." She opened the bedside drawer and found a dagger spotted with something dark. Like blood. She lifted it to examine it, and brought it to her nose to sniff it...

There was a loud clatter as the blade was thrown to the ground and Azaria backed right into Maximus, eyes wide and cursing.

 

[Purize]

An eyebrow arched on Maximus's forehead, but he didn't ask how Azaria would know the murmurs of lower ring prostitutes. Part of him also didn't want to know how she'd gotten into the headquarters and into Döthrangus's room in the first place as he looked up towards the support beam. He had been shuffling through old belongings buried in a trunk when Azaria pulled the diary from the drawer and handed it to him. When she brought it over, he stood and took it form her.

As he flipped through the pages, his forehead crinkled in thought. In the beginning the notes and daily logs were intellectual, nothing out of the ordinary, but towards the end the script began warped and agitated, the words less coherent. It seemed as though Döthrangus slowly began to lose his mind... but why?

He turned to ask Azaria this when she dropped a dagger coated in a dark substance and backed right into Maximus. He caught her instinctively by the shoulders, steadying her.

"What? What is it?" he asked, his eyes wide in alarm.
Zazz

 

[Zazz]

Azaria stared at the dagger in fear. The spots of the dark substance was dried and old, but still potent. Steadying herself, she moved to stand with her back against the wall. "It's... It's succubus blood. Feels great when you have it, but.... withdrawal sends you down a spiral of paranoia and insanity." Her voice was uncharacteristically small as she stared down the dagger. Even now, her body craved it. "...He was innocent."

 

[Purize]

Maximus shook his head sadly at the dagger, everything starting to click into place. It made sense now. "He was innocent of one thing, but not another." Maximus said quietly. There was a reason that the possession of demonic blood was prohibited across Nymserine. The side effects of the substance abuse rarely ended well.

He tore his gaze from the blade to look at Azaria, looking considerably paler now as she leaned against the wall. He wouldn't ask how she knew what it was. It was clear by her reaction. Lightly, he put a hand on her shoulder, nudging her towards the door.

"Come one," He said. "We have all the evidence we need. Lets tell the elders and get this over with."

 

[SilverFlight]

"Really?" Pyrrhus asked after Verity complimented the armour he had chosen. "You don't think it makes my hips look wide?" He turned his human torso to look over his back with a critical frown.
"I'd say I was going for practicality over style but now that you mention it, it does look quite stylish doesn't it?"
He turned to her, "You look lovely too."

When Roland appeared Pyrrhus paused for a moment. He eyed the skull with mild disbelief. "Generally, white isn't the best colour to wear into a battle." He said, trying not to sound critical.

A shadow overhead stopped further thoughts on the matter as the great gryphon descended, wings blotting out the sun. She beat them hard twice to slow her landing and hit the smooth stone paws first, a pair of satchels grasped in one massive yellow talon. Without a word she slung the saddle bags over Pyrrhus' back.
"Hey!" He yelped in surprise, but a violet-eyed glare from Tura shut him up.

"The stablemaster has prepared horses. Its a long journey to Akron. There is a host of demons pouring out of a region near the city. They're terrorizing the people and driving away needed trade. Akron has asked for the circle's help." She surveyed them quickly but stopped at Roland, noting his lack of armour.
She stepped up to him, her eagle head towering above his own, then promptly sat down before him and closed her eyes. It was a moment before Pyrrhus realized she was weaving a spell through her claws. When done she reached up and touched the tip of one black talon to the shoulder of Roland's tunic. The fabric shimmered with magic and went back to normal.
"If you're not going to take something useful then the least you can have is an enchantment that will keep your spine intact should you take a hit."
She had said it with an admonishing tone but Pyrrhus was not so slow as to miss the hint of concern in her voice.
He began to wonder how much ferocity was acted rather than delivered in earnest by their beastly tutor.
"Demons are highly varied, so their comabt is unpredictable. Some are physically agressive, others employ temptation and trickery to best you. Use extreme caution until you have a good grasp of what it is you are dealing with."
She turned and began down the long staircase to the lower ring where the stables were.
"When I'm not scouting you may ask me as many questions about the mission as you have. It is my job to get you all back to the circle in one piece, and I will provide you with all I can to accomplish that. Your own judgement however will count for more than my ability in keeping your asses out of the fire...so I suggest you sharpen that."
She began to walk and Pyrrhus frowned at her back.
"Move!" The gryphon barked and Pyrrhus started down the steps with only mild insults directed towards their mentor as he went.


Purize BugDozer73 Reis Effervescent

 

[Zazz]

The halfling tore her eyes away from the dagger and let Maximus steer her out of the room. She shook her head and took a deep breath. Focus. She needed to focus. She didn't need to fall down that hole again.

She was quiet while they walked to find the elders. Azaria was in a bit of a daze as she mourned the loss of a great mind. She had no idea how her trial would go. She didn't even know who would be deciding her fate, really. All she could do was put her trust in Maximus as he had done for her.

 

[BugDozer73]

Roland pouted slightly at Pyrrhus's comment about his apparel which he pulled a little closer in on himself. He had found himself to be rather dashing in his new garb, and was a little put off that the centaur had been openly critical of it.

"I like white. Besides, I can't bleed on it if they can't hit me" He offered, a little salt in his tone as he brooded.

Before his ego could depress further, a beat of black wings brought Tura before them, and she proceeded to brief them on their mission, before stopping at Roland and assaulting his style in the same fashion. Roland pouted some more before she placed her talon on his shoulder, letting her magic seep into his garment, overlaying every fiber with an etherial strength rivaling the most tempered steel. Roland stared at his gear with a new curiosity, wondering how it managed to continue to be so light. "Woah...." He said, encaptured by her spell. She ignored his subtle stupor, and continued to brief them on their objective.

She didn't waste much time in letting her words sink in. Roland had hardly muttered the word "Demons?" when she pushed them forward with a powerful commanding voice. Roland shot a irritated glance at Tura's back side before mounting one of the horses with chocolate fur and a cream mane. The horse snorted slightly and looked back at Roland with what looked like a smirk, and he ran his hands over her thin fur coat, smiling at the steed. She began moving forward gently, keeping pace when he spurred her with the others as they began their journey. He turned to Pyrrhus, who he was now eye level with for the first time, and offered him a sympathetic smile.

"Bet she's got a twig in her feathers" He whispered, shooting a glance to the still ferocious looking Gryphon before them.

Roland had never seen a gryphon before, but it was even more intimidating than books had said. She was easily larger than Pyrrhus, and had razor claws, midnight feathers and a gleam in her eye that seemed to be a scroll containing the story from every man that fell beneath her beating wings.

 

[Effervescent]

So soon were they into the fray. Jastyr adorned his shirt of mail and light jerkin of a deep green hue before affixing the plate armor for added protection. It was nothing spectacular or ornate, the metal more simple and utilitarian in design. As he grabbed his sword and shield, he reflected on all he had witnessed in training only just moments before. Did they need more time to work them towards better synergy, or were times too pressing not to have the new recruits learn as they go?

Stomping out the mud that had collected around his hooves, he did a mental check of his belongings he intended to take, eyes lingering on his dulcimer where it rested next to his bed. “I’ll come back for you,” he said, huffing a laugh as he turned to exit his room.

The walk to the gate offered more time to reflect for the satyr, and a moment of desire for his favored instrument to pass the time in waiting for the new recruits to meet Tura and him. They were to head to Akron, taking on demons around the area. The briefing was concise and clear in their mission, and as much as those before him were new, he felt a bit of confidence that they could handle the task ahead of them.

Taking the reins of his steed, he mounted, and looked over at the recruits with a smirk. “Trust your instincts,” he said to them. “I saw how you were out in the Courtyard. Heed Tura’s advice and think on it the entire journey. It’ll save your life.”

 

[Lekiel]

"What about Akron's... uhm.. army? Will they be helping us Madame Tura of the Many Feathers?" A small voice called out. Fernwe looked to the large gryphon her hazel eyes still wide at the previous mention of demons; now whether it was out of fear or excitement remains to be seen.

She sat atop a rather enthusiastic Shetland pony, her legs being just a tad too short to reach for the stirrups of any of the other horses. With its thick white coat and short albeit powerful legs, the pony trotted along with the others in a rather upbeat manner as if eager to prove itself fully capable of being a full sized horse. Like Roland, the halfling had declined taking on any sort of armor, putting her faith in her legs to keep her out of harms way. Anything else other than her whitewood and leather robe would be too restricting and uncomfortable. In reality, the halffairy had been sidetracked. Passing by a nursery of sorts on the way to the armory, she had spent most of the prep time sat in a garden talking to the Circle's Master Herbalist and gushing over the various rare plants and herbs that the Circle have managed to obtain.

SilverFlight

 

[Purize]

Verity smiled at Pyrrhus's praise and looked down at herself again. When Roland joined them, she rather agreed that white suited him well, though she didn't voice her opinions. She gave him a playful wink and listed carefully to Tura as she went over the mission.

"Demons?" She heard Roland say, and she couldn't help but agree. That was certainly not what she'd expected.... but then again, perhaps she ought to stop expecting things when it came to the circle. They way they held their order was still a mystery to Verity. When Tura finished, the princess picked a saddle off of Pyrrhus's back, giving him a look of sheepish sympathy before making her way back to an unclaimed horse. This one was a light grey with darker speckles and a soft white mane. Though Verity wasn't too fond of horses, she found this one to be beautiful.

With a few pets and some soothing coos from Verity the horse calmed to her and she fumbled with the straps a bit before finally mounting her. Jastyr spoke to them then, and Verity looked up at him to listen. There was something odd about seeing a satyr ride a horse, but she couldn't quite figure out why. She dipped her head gratefully to him, nonetheless. "Thank you Jastyr, I for one am honored to accompany you both on this quest." Verity said, and she meant it. She truly was amazed to be where she was, even if they were literally about to waltz right into a battle, she couldn't be happier.
BugDozer73 SilverFlight Effervescent

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maximus guided Azaria out of the room and began to make his way to the round room where the Elders were likely gathered for council this time of day. As soon as the half elf seemed like she could fare well enough on her own again, Maximus took his hand off her shoulder and gave her some spaces, leaving her to her own thoughts as they walked.

He stopped in front of a pair of heavily decorated doors and turned to Azaria. "This is it," he said and pushed the double doors open. The women who held the sword and the man with the staff during their induction ceremony stood in the expansive room with another elderly person. They were gathered around a table with a large, withered map. It looked a lot like a war room, except with old people instead of warriors and rows of bookshelves filling the back wall.

They all paused whatever conversation they had been having and looked up at Maximus as he entered the room. "Pardon the interruption," He said with a small dip of his head. "But we have substantial evidence for the Döthrangus investigation."

The woman's eyes flickered from Maximus to Azaria, "Evidence in which favor?" She asked, tapping her fingers against the wood of the round table.
Zazz

((That's all I can spill out tonight, i'm dead tired xD sowwwy))

 

[Zazz]

They reached a room with a round table. By then, Azaria had regained her focus. She took in a deep breath and entered the room, her sharp green eyes taking in all that they could. Azaria stepped away from Maximus and observed the designs carved into the wall. Clearly, the woman with the sword, Meredith Blackburn, was not a fan of the halfling. Azaria ran her finger along a groove in the wall. "Does no one clean anything around here?" Her finger came away with a layer of soft dust. She gestured for Maximus to answer and crossed her arms. "Well, they're not going to trust my answer, so you may as well enlighten them."

 

[SilverFlight]

"Come now, don't take it like that." Pyrrhus gave Roland a consilatory pat on the back. "It does look great, and if fashion could kill those demons wouldn't stand a chance."
As Tura walked on Pyrrhus caught Roland's quiet jab. He chuckled.
"Oh yes, twigs in her feathers...Or a stick up her--"
"I can hear you." The gryphon purred without turning around. Pyrrhus straightened and immediately shut his mouth.

The oddity of a satyr on horseback wasn't lost on Pyrrhus either and it took a moment to register what Jastyr had told them.
"Um, Jastyr, sir." He raised a hand as if he were still in school. "My instincts so far haven't led me to much more than pain."
He paused for a moment and examined the mentor more closely.
"You didn't bring your instrument!" He cried in dismay, settling a saddened look at the lute strapped to his flank.
"...well now I just feel silly..."

Tura looked round to Fernwe on her small pony when she gave voice to her question.
"The city guard has its hands full dealing with the unrest caused by the situation. They are also quite unmagical, and not so skilled as the circle's fighters. Honestly, many are weak-minded, easily tempted. We will be handling this with as few casualties as possible...which means we will deal with it alone."
Pyrrhus pursed his lips. The gryphon certainly didn't mince words. Her truths were blunt, and delivered with as much sensitivity as a hoof to the nethers.

As they left the inner ring of the city Pyrrhus, true to his promise, kept a close eye on Verity, the woman Azaria had been so careful to protect. His thoughts drifted to his friend and he began to frown to himself as he brooded. There was nothing he liked about leaving her behind.

 

[Reis]

Placeholder
Basically Sol feels mixed feelings about going home right after joining the Circle. He also wonders if everyone is safe from demons.

 

[Purize]

Meredith scowled at Azaria as she insulted the maintenance of the building, but didn't bother to entertain her with a retort. Maximus cleared his throat, "We visited Döthrangus's old living quarters and searched his belongings. We found a journal that he kept up to his... untimely death... along with a dagger coated in succubus blood." Maximus's eyes darted to Azaria before returning to the Elders and he held up the book that he'd carried from the room.

Placing it on the table, he slid it to the nearest elder, the third man who hadn't been at the ceremony. He picked it up and sifted through the pages, lingering on the last few words before passing it on to the others. "This is... most troubling," he said.

Maximus nodded to him in agreement. "Indeed it is, Jeremiah. It seems as though Döthrangus became addicted to the blood and then was driven to insanity during withdrawal. At this point his paranoia and lack of coherent thought combined into a plot to kill the king, as you see there." He motioned to the journal. "Miss Azaria mentioned she found out about the plot from some whispers of prostitutes that he'd been visiting... and when she came to investigate, she hid in the rafters of his bedroom."

Blackthorn rose a single, critical eyebrow, disbelief painted plainly over her face. "Really? And once Miss Azaria concluded that these 'whispers' were true, she proceeded to kill Döthrangus and leave. Who's to say she didn't plant the evidence herself then?" Jeremiah gave Blackthorn a tired look, but her focus was still on the half elf, a tint of red blooming in her wrinkled cheeks.

"Your concerns are valid... Elder Blackburn... but I fear you're much to involved with this case. I think it may be best if you sit out the trial tomorrow." Maximus said slowly, giving Blackburn a serious, steeled look. She inhaled, fury burning in her steely eyes, but before she could reply, the man with the staff rested a hand on her shoulder and whispered to her. "I know Döthrangus was your pupil back in the day, but you musn't take out your grief on this member. He is gone and ended up that way by his own misguided judgment and poor choices. There's nothing you could have done."

She closed her eyes briefly, she shoulders going slack, looking slightly defeated. "I should have known," she said quietly. There was a moment of silence until she finally continued. "Very Maximus, I shall leave the trial in your hands. I'm sure Elder Jeremiah and Klein will make a fair ruling in my stead." With that she excused herself from the room, leaving them alone with the other two elders. She didn't look at Azaria again as she passed by her to leave.

Maximus exhaled at the tension in the room left with her. The elder Klein put the journal down on the round table. "Very well. Maximus, you and Miss Azaria should find one or two of these... witnesses in which she got her intel from and bring them here for the trial tomorrow. I will personally go to collect the rest of the evidence from Döthrangus's chambers," Klein said.

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow then, Klein. Have a decent rest of the evening," Maximus said, dipping his head to him before turning to leave the room. As the left, he turned to Azaria. "My apologies about Elder Blackburn... I should have told you that she was his mentor before she became a council elder."
Zazz

 

[Zazz]

"Really? And once Miss Azaria concluded that these 'whispers' were true, she proceeded to kill Döthrangus and leave. Who's to say she didn't plant the evidence herself then?"

Azaria rolled her eyes the clearly agitated elder. "Do you honestly think I would waste my time fabricating an entire journal in someone else's hand?" She snorted and shook her head. Before either woman could bite the head off of the other, Maximus stepped in and suggested Blackburn sit out of the trial. With a bit of whispering, she surprisingly agreed, taking a step back from the situation and leaving the room. Azaria stood still, hand on the pommel of her dagger, as the woman passed her. She wet her lip when the door shut behind her and moved a step further into the room.

The halfling's gaze flickered from one elder to the other before taking her leave with Maximus. Alone in the hall, the half-elf let down her guard, just a little, and shook her head. "It's fine. She is not the only person here who is not fond of my presence." She thought of Pyrrhus, who by some unfathomable miracle seemed to always be delighted by her presence. She missed the comforting smell of sandalwood and the softness of his fur between her fingers. The halfling hoped he and the others would fare well on their mission.

Curious, Azaria looked over at the broad-shouldered man beside her as they walked. "What do you believe happened?"

 

[BugDozer73]

It did not take them long to reach the rolling gold of Akrons ever expanding fields. A single night, a campfire with no brooding half elf, and a rising sun over the final part of their journey, and they had arrived. Roland struggled to keep his eyes open at the morning sunlight he had hoped he would never wake up early enough to see.

The road their steeds strode across was worn after years of traders crossing it, loose dirt flowing up from lack of rain. Roland squinted into the sky and wondered if a cloud had ever existed before. Despite the previous night's chill, the morning air was warm, enough so that Roland took a drink from one of the water skins that he had not brought along to drink from.

Several cows grazed in the distance, enjoying the serenity of the of the morning, the fresh air with a hint of smoke... smoke?

Roland's head picked up as he sniffed the air, and he turned, looking past the fields to the base of the mountain, where a small village was smoldering.
Roland's eyes widened, and he wheeled his horse to the right and with a sharp "H-YAH!" they took off through the fields, leaving behind the others. In no time, Roland and his horse crossed the field and came to the front of the village, with burning houses, blood stains leading to bodies that laid still on the ground, and an air of uneasiness that prompted him to draw his blades when he dismounted. Cautiously, he approached one of the bodies, checking for a pulse. The woman was dead, but she had been killed recently. Her clothes were soaked with blood, and under her shirt, her abdomen had 5 puncture wounds, spaced in an odd pattern. The holes were too large to be arrows, but too small and round to be blade wounds..

"What... the hell?"

 

[SilverFlight]

"Fangs?" Pyrrhus had guessed when he finally caught up with the pirate. He had his blades already drawn in the anticipation that whoever-WHATever did this was still lurking somewhere.
"I guess they've spread out a bit more since the initial report." There was no smile in Pyrrhus' voice now. His face was grim.

Overhead a black shadow circled and it grew larger as they stood over the corpse.
Tura landed in a gust of wind and folded her wings before gesturing Southeast.
"There are more homes like this closer to our destination. We must use extreme caution. Prepare yourselves. Your enemies will not hesitate, so you can't afford to either."

 

[BugDozer73]

Roland looked up at Pyrrhus when he mentioned fangs, doubt in his eyes.

"No, they are too round... its almost like they're from rods.... or even... fingers..." Roland looked back down at the corpse, lightly touching the death wounds. They were so round, but the skin was no slit. The puncture was aimed inwards, like the skin gave way to extreme force over the area and was speared. Could this have been demons? He had never fought one before, but there was a pit forming in his gut at the thought of it. Her eyes stared passed him, frozen in horror on whatever had done this to her.

 

[Zazz]

A few horses came quite suddenly, galloping out of the village at them, their eyes wide in alarm and fear. They kicked up a cloud of ash behind them, adding to the smoke of the dying fires. It settled over the bodies, dusting over their wounds and swirling around the new warriors in a gentle breeze.

As it settled, the group found another live horse up ahead, being guided by a small, cloaked figure. Tendrils of dull brown hair fell from beneath the hood, and the figure's small hands led the final, finicky horse towards freedom. But when it saw Roland and Purrhus and the others, the cloaked figure stopped abruptly and hid behind the horse's knobby legs, peering with yellow eyes at the strangers.

 

[Reis]

Soliel sat comfortably on his saddle. He had always enjoyed the warm breeze of home. It carried memories of his days at the orphanage, always travelling ever slightly further from the city gates with his friends and being scolded for it. Every step of the horses brought more excitement to greet his old friends, and his nostalgia slowly surpassed an ever-present worry of the demons threatening his family. Why did he feel worried in the first place? Was it even possible for monsters to overwhelm such a powerful group of people?

Sol's thoughts were suddenly interrupted, however, as Roland rushed his horse towards a nearby village. The demi-god's face twisted in grim fury at the sight of smoke, and he swiftly led his mount while already clenching his blade. He leapt off his horse mid-gallop and looked past Roland at the body of a woman. Dead...

His face turned pale when he examined the corpse. He didn't personally recognize the woman, but there was no telling how many people suffered the same fate at the ruthless hands of demons. If his family was hurt, or worse...

Sol's mind went blank. The very thought of their deaths spread a blazing heat throughout his body. The rage threatened to consume his mind, to make him lash out at anything he could see. But he held that rage back. All those years of practicing self control couldn't be wasted like this. That's why he left for the Circle in the first place, to prove that he wouldn't lose control of his powers like his long dead elder brother did. He reached for tranquility as he tried suppressing the flame, and soon enough he could think rationally again.

By the time he looked up from his stupor, he saw a short, cloaked figure leading a horse their way. They hid behind the horse and peaked from behind it with yellow eyes. Before he called out to the stranger, Sol sheathed his sword and made his left hand visible, showing his status as a member of the Circle. "Hello there, little one. We were just on our way to make Akron go back to normal." He glanced back at the subsiding ash cloud as horses fled from the village. "Did you set those horses free?"

Zazz @everybody else

 

[Zazz]

The little one in the cloak remained behind the horse's grey-speckled legs, her shimmery yellow eyes darting over the man who spoke. She watched the blade go away, but she did not know the circle's mark. Petting the mare's chest to keep her calm, the child nodded. "Their house was burning. I'm sorry," she said, thinking the man was going to get her in trouble. "I just wanted to save them from the fire."

 

[Purize]

Maximus's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise at Azaria's question, a rare expression on the man who'd seen and heard nearly everything. "What, with Döthrangus?" he replied. "I didn't know him as well as the other members... Elves tend to keep to themselves." He glanced sideways, giving her a pointed look. "I don't know you all that well either... but I believe in innocence until proven guilty." His forehead crinkled in thought for a moment as they walked down the hall once more.

"At this point... I'm inclined to believe the evidence. You killed a man that was a danger to himself as well as those around him... He made a mistake, maybe more than a few, but no one is perfect." A dark look flashed over his face before settling back into his stoney, unreadable expression.

"I think we should go out to look for the witnesses tomorrow at first light," he said, changing the subject.
Zazz

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The journey to Akron was a lot quicker and smoother than the trip to Aeredale from Meletus. The weather stayed nice and warm despite the chill that set over the land at nightfall. It didn't take long for Verity to get used to horseback riding and she even found herself growing fond of her gentle steed. That morning Verity was feeding her new friend some of her cranberries and combing her thin fingers through it's mane when Roland up and bolted. The steed next to her shuffled restlessly on it's feet, huffing nervously at the sudden outburst... or perhaps it sensed the same thing Roland had.

Verity hastily mounted her back again and clicked her tongue, sending them soaring forward after her seafaring partner. When they came up on the village, Verity's eyes widened to sapphire saucers. She hopped off of her horse, who neighed in protest, and jogged over to where Roland stood over a dark lump on the dusty ground.

It didn't take long for her to realized the disfigured, stained mounds that littered the remains of the village were bodies. She gagged at the carnage and forced herself to look away. She was no stranger to death, but she couldn't handle the sight of gore. She did her best to not look at any of the corpses as she scanned the area. Luckily, she'd never confronted demons before... but from her experience with other moon children and the sight of the village, she could imagine that the monsters were beyond horrifying. She swallowed down the lump in her throat to regain her composure. Be brave. Be strong... You're not alone, she told herself. "These are just the outskirts of the city..." Verity said, trying to mask the shakiness in her voice. "If they were here this recently, they're likely still close by."

Verity heard a rumbling sound in the distance that made her ears twitch. Just as she turned to investigate, a small hard of horses galloped past them, coming so close to Verity that she actually had to dive out of the way to avoid being trampled on, making her stumble into Roland.

She murmured him a hasty apology as she straightened herself, focusing on a new figure that approached them. It looked like... a little girl? Could someone have survived this massacre? The new recruit, Soliel she recalled vaguely, was the first the approach the girl who cowered behind one of the horses. Verity managed a sweet smile at the girl, and took a few steps toward her before kneeling to the ground to see her at eye-level.

"Why, that was very brave of you. I'm sure the horses are very grateful." She motioned to the horse next to the girl. "We're here to help, sweetheart. Do you know what happened?"
@BugDozer73 Zazz @All Present

 

[Zazz]

The hooded girl stared at Verity, even as she shuffled a tiny step back. She was wary of strangers; they were often selfish and uncaring. Just like the demons. Only they hid it better. "The fire was hungry," she told the silver-haired, pointy-eared woman. "The demons brought it and let it eat the people." She pointed up the mountain. "They brought it from there." Gold-yellow irises flickered between Soliel and Verity before she went on. "Mm, but i didn't see them go home. I think they wanted to eat lots of villages. With the fire."

 

[Zazz]

Azaria watched his face as he spoke; she found Maximus to be a rather expressive person, even if he was obviously trying not to be. It made her want to roll her eyes, but all that came forth was a gentle twist of her lips and an arched brow. He was handsome, she supposed, in an honourable royal guard sort of way. He held himself not with pride but with dignity and humility.

"Yes, of course. I suppose you would like to sleep." She, on the other hand, would dream of no such luxury. It was not yet safe for her, here, and if she were to be honest, she was not tired. Nor did she crave the nightmares that would follow her into her slumber. "I think I will check out the armory, if it has been left open."