The Swearing of the Oath [Scene 1] [Dragon's Blood & Golden Sands]

[Cryoseraph]

Deep in the tunnels of the arena, within a small, secret coliseum, sit ten mighty Exalts. Each one of them sits within shadows or glows like the god-kings they are, as is their perogative. Each sit upon a mighty throne of their own styles, waited upon by masked, blindfolded, or eyeless attendants as they watch the gladiators enter the arena.


Each gladiator was allowed only the thinnest of coverings to keep their bodies from distracting others as they entered this miniature of the arena; their oiled, polished or frosted skin gleaming in the essence powered lights there. A man who wore a shining set of golden robes lifted away his hood as he stood, and projected with a honey-silken voice.


"My fellow Chosen. Thank you for your efforts to make today possible, especially involving the utmost secrecy of our fine warriors here. Today we shall unveil what has been 3 years in the making. Yes, rushed I know for some of you, but the public demands that such incredible beings be seen, and since the first Warstriders have been finished for nearly a year and the training for the Terrestrials present are finished this month, we can wait no longer. Soon, once the sun reaches its Zenith, the crowds will cheer for these brave warriors, and they will know firsthand the power of the Realm, the Deliberative, and most importantly, our Patrons here, firsthand.


"As I have not taken a warrior to sponsor into this endeavor, we have all agreed I shall announce the first events here today. Sadly my training was too rigorous for my star pupil, and it has put me several months behind. I have chosen a wonderful behemoth from my own stock for the events today, along with a summoned Second Circle Demon and a fine new automaton being released from the forges of Denandsor just for this occasion."


Turning to the gladiators, nearly a dozen present, the man in golden robes, which had now shifted to look almost snug on him after the hood disappeared, showing off various spots of well-tanned and muscular skin easily rivaling the gladiators here. "Gladiators. Today you become something greater than yourselves. You become living vessels of glory for your Patron, your Dominus. When you enter the incredible works of your Patron, remember both them and your brothers here. If you try to upstage them in a group battle, you may easily die. And if you try to spare them in a match against them, the consequences will be just as dire for you both. You are now no longer those birthed by your families. Now you are all siblings in blood, bounds by your blood and the enemies. Bound to the great Solar Realm that covers Creation and bound to serve as commanded today, to empower the crowd through your own heroics and bring victory to the Houses of your Patrons.


"Gladiators, to your Warstriders."

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Chuzei mia


Mia was excited. Finally, after all this training, the day has come to enter the arena, and show her martial skill. It was also time to make Leviathan proud of his choice. The Warstrider "Churning Bounty of the Ocean" was ready, and with a salute to her patron, she headed to it.

 

[Luck1]

Ox, obviously not a man chosen to be a gladiator for his manners, scoffs at the list of opponents. Ten against three? This isn't even worth my time.


With a halfhearted salute, Ox heads back to the pits. Shouting from across the arena to his crew, "You'd better have that heap of junk ready to go, you idiots!"

 

[Coyotekin]

Saibok Donshi


A simple bow to the audience at large was his response, finished with a salute to the Celestial Exalts gathered. He then made his exit to prepare for the upcoming battles.

 

[Cryoseraph]

The other gladiators moved to their Warstriders with great focus on their faces. The tallest one, whose only introduction in the preliminary greetings of camraderie made between the Dragon-Bloods was as 'The Mighty Mountain' walked with a knowing swagger, while the delicate looking woman known as Silk barely registered where she was as she wandered out towards her own stable. Clepsys Serene was the most talkative one, chatting with others as they moved towards their respective Warstrider chambers.


"By the Dragon's whiskers, I can't believe who's sponsoring us!" she half whispered half excitedly shouted to whoever passed by, "Sabeline is here! I've read all her novels, and plays, and poetic plays on the xenobiologies of the Fair Folk. And Oe-Toa, the legendary Loremaster of Sperimin, here in this arena! Oh I pray I don't have to fight the Summoned Demon if it's his. They say any Second Circle he summons could bring a Third Circle to heel. Granted I've never had the chance to see it in action, but . . . OH! Are you the chosen fighter for the Benificent Bear? I have some questions to ask you about his military . . ." as she fades away from earshot by rushing off to someone else.


As each of you enter your 'stables', a nickname picked up from how much preening and shining attention that has been given to each Warstrider, you see the final preparations are under way as the final checks are being made to each machine by the maintenance crews. The plates of armor were being polished and the artifact weapons were being given final measurements as the pressure for the suits control systems were getting adjusted and the gyroscopic balancers were being given proper prayers and wards against malfunction.


As you prepare to enter your Warstrider, loudspeakers announce that the assignments of which gladiators shall fight which enemy will be selected at random, with three gladiators assigned to each 'beastie', as the announcer put it.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Caressing the Black Jade body of "Churning Bounty of the Ocean", Mia regarded the Warstrider. His gleaming surfaces and the curves on the metal were a welcome sight. She has long trained with it, and now was the time to show off her prowess. Gathering her essence, she attunes to the Warstrider. After the attunement is done, she gets inside and straps herself, giving one last wave off to her friend Lieu Shang. The Wood aspect returned the wave, and was moving aside, leaving the way clear between the Warstrider and the doors.

 

[Luck1]

With a snap of his fingers, one of the crew kneels and lowers his head before The Flickering Glass King. Ox plants his foot on the crewman's back and uses him as a stepping stone to climb into the control chamber. He straps himself into the machine and attunes it as he goes. At the first hint of full attunement, the crew flee the stable for cover elsewhere.


Rising to his feet and then dashing into the arena proper, The Flickering Glass King stands ready for battle. The light of the arena is seemingly drawn to its glass 'head' and then reflected back out again, covering the arena with a reddish tinge.


(OOC: Is a hearthstone provided to power the machine, or am I expected to use my own for power?)

 

[Coyotekin]

A simple touch to Willow and Oak Harmony, the living extension of his will, and then Saibok Donshi was leaping from the warstrider's foot, to it's knee, and higher until he got to the cockpit and loaded himself into it.