Fantasy The world of a thousand legends (always open)

[Emu]

"I'm from the Arid Plains to the east. My tribe used to live there...the Whitemanes. I'm the last surviving member of my tribe." Lecoro paused to gulp down some of the salted fish. Craggard silently chewed on a piece of dried fruit, processing what Lecoro had told him. His expression remained neutral, but he felt an intense curiousity pricking his mind. What could take down something as huge as Lecoro? The though chilled him to the bone, and he decided not to dwell on it.


" ... Jeez, that's pretty bad. But, hey! You made it out alright, yeah?" Craggard finally said in an optimistic tone. Despite his insensitive comment, he did feel a bit of sympathy for Lecoro. His entire tribe- slaughtered. Craggard was self-centered, but he wasn't a monster. Even he could understand the weight of such an event. He awkwardly slapped Lecoro on the back, surprising himself when his hearty slap didn't so much as budge Lecoro.


"And that's why I'm here now, otherwise, I think I'd still be east...I like it there better...but I can't go back." Craggard ogled at Lecoro, who was preoccupied with a villager. She offered him a canteen of water, and he accepted, downing at least half the battle. He passed it to Craggard, who accepted happily. He drank some water before continuing to eat. Just as he was stuffing his face, Lecoro spoke up after sitting down next to him.


"I don't usually ask others about where they came from. None of my business, and frankly I don't usually care..but you intrigue me, Craggard. So, Where are you from?" Lecoro said, resting a paw on his cheek.


Craggard bounced from his seat onto his feet.


" I should intrigue you, kitty-cat! I'm a creature of mysterious origin..." Craggard said with his mouth full of food. He sighed. No, his tale was a lot more boring.


" Ehh, well. I mostly grew up in Egerion. It's a real big city up North. They don't let mutts hang around where I was born. Gotta keep the llugat bloodline pure, all that junk." Craggard said lightheartedly. He grinned for the upteenth time.


" Man, you oughta' meet my folks in Egerion! They can't stand me!"


@Ghost Hunter

 

[SpookySpecter]

Craggard jumped to his feet. " I should intrigue you, kitty-cat! I'm a creature of mysterious origin..." He said excitedly, with a mouth full of food. Leco leaned forward curiously. " Ehh, well. I mostly grew up in Egerion. It's a real big city up North. They don't let mutts hang around where I was born. Gotta keep the llugat bloodline pure, all that junk." He said grinning. " Man, you oughta' meet my folks in Egerion! They can't stand me!" Leco smiled. "Yeah, I believe it." Leco said, grinning. "You're folks sound pretty smart." Leco yawned, revealing his huge fangs. He growled a little as he yawned, some people scooted away from him. "I'm exhausted, i'm going to bed. Night Craggard." Leco yawned once more and curled up into a ball on the ground, he looked a little bit like a giant house cat. He soon began snoring loudly.


(READY) @Emu

 

[Emu]

Craggard watched as Lecoro curled into a giant ball on the ground. Damn it, he really is a kitty cat.


"I'm exhausted, i'm going to bed. Night Craggard." Lecoro yawned.


" Sweet dreams. See ya come morning! " Craggard responded.


Soon enough the lion was snoring loudly and the villagers returned to their shelters, satisfied with their meals. The fire had been burned out, but the moon's silver light gave him just enough light to see what he was doing. Craggard stayed awake for awhile, busying himself with polishing and dusting his merchandise. The occasional clang or crash never seemed to wake up his companion. Eventually he felt his eyelids droop and his arms grow heavy. He eventually went into a deep slumber, sprawled across of the top of his huge backpack. His head lolled off to the side and he could be heard muttering things in his sleep along with Lecoro's loud snoring.


(Same here!)

 

[SpookySpecter]

Leco dreamed of his family....In his dream he was a cub again, and was playing in the fields outside of his Bloodmane (btw I messed up the tribe was actually called the Bloodmanes..) village with his brother Girbopis. The scene changed suddenly, and he felt his mother's warm hugs and nuzzles, and his fathers affectionate head ruffling. Leco purred as he slept. But oddly..Leco couldn't move at all, and his surroundings were simply a mass of darkness. His brother appeared before him and Leco could move again, but the darkness turned to crimson and his brother's throat was slashed open. His blood splattered on Leco's paws. And then, his father and mother appeared before him as well. So did a group of human knights. Young Leco could do nothing but watch and scream in terror and anguish as his mother and father were torn to shreds. They did nothing...they didn't even fight back...the simply watched Leco as they died, their eyes hollow and grey.


In reality, Leco's purring turned into thrashing, and he woke up in a fury, roaring loudly. He sat up, breathing heavily and looking around. It was all just a dream...sort of. The sun was up now. Leco looked at his paws and sighed. Holding back a tear. "I'm sorry...i'm sorry...." He said to himself, putting his head in his paws. He put his paws back down and folded his ears back. A single tear rolled down his cheek, getting absorbed by his fur before it hit the ground. "None of you deserved this." Leco whispered to himself.





@Emu

 

[Yum222]

@Pandorian


Amidst Sera's feverish state, she started twitching and turning her head side to side. She mumbled words here and there without making sense. Suddenly, she turned to her side and grabbed at Aer, holding herself to her tightly. "Hah...nngghh..hurts...make it...stop!..", she muttered through her panting and pained moans. Her forehead was burning hot.

 

[Pandorian]

Aer, rather forcibly, was the second to wake up. Awaking rather lazily to Sera's feverish clutch, she took a while to understand quite what was going on. "...Sera, what are you..." she muttered, her eyes still barely open and her focus lost. Her first reaction was to fall back asleep, leaving Sera to do what she was doing. However, upon leaning forward as she began to fall back asleep, their foreheads touched lightly, forcing Aer to realise the situation at hand. Though up only by the panic of her mind, she pulled herself up a little, shaking Sera to try and snap her out of whatever she was in. She hadn't even realised the slight embarrassment of the situation at the time, nor the words of which Sera was unconciously spouting. "..S-Sera! What's w-with you? Snap out of it!"





@Yum222

 

[Yum222]

Sera's grip loosened, and she flopped back onto her bed. Her eyes opened slightly, they seemed to show clarity. "Aer...I..!" She then fell back to unconsciousness, panting and sweating more. If one could sense magic, they'd notice that Sera's magical energy seemed to be consuming itself.


Minnie seemed to stir, not really awake yet.


@Pandorian

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Lukard had been silently observing after regaining his composure after that slip up involving the shooting star. However, during the night when everyone slept, he sent a vision to the forgemasters head priest saying that he will be making an appearance in Gyinsheer soon and to prepare. After doing so, the rest of the night proved uneventful. Although while watching he fiddled around with the branch he was working on earlier to create a woodcarving which he would keep hidden. As dawn broke the night sky, rustling could be heard in Sera, Aer, and Minnie's tent likely indicating that they were starting to shake of the dredges of sleep. Lukard paid it no attention as he had no inclination to sleep, although if he was to stay in this form for another night, he would actually need to recharge this form's energy.


@Yum222 @Pandorian

 

[Emu]

Craggard's peaceful slumber suddenly came to a halt at the sound of an ear splitting roar. Startled awake, Craggard tumbled off of his backpack and onto the grass.


He grumbled some gibberish to himself, unwilling to wake up. Finally, he managed to say something comprehensible.


" Ergh... the hell was that? " He muttered. He opened his eyes to the harsh sunshine and got to his feet. He looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He looked down at Lecoro, who had his paws in his hands.


" Ah. That noise was you, eh?" He leaned down and flicked Lecoro's ear.


" Whatcha doin' down there?" Craggard said curiously.


@Ghost Hunter

 

[SpookySpecter]

" Whatcha doin' down there?" Craggard asked. "Nothing...just thinking." Leco said getting back to his feet. He looked down at Craggard. "What do you suppose we do now? Do you want to keep looking for Rook? Leco asked, stretching his sore muscles. His body ached from the fighting yesterday, plus he had been dropped through a building...so...that took a bit of a toll on him. "I think if he was on a horse he'd be long gone by now...if he's still alive." Leco began packing food as he talke, putting the jar of what he though was chowder in his pocket, along with a paw-full of fish, which he put in his own small sack. "If you have any room in that backpack, you might wanna take some food with you, Craggard." Leco said, adjusting loose belts on his armor. Seeing his armor and supplies were all in order, he looked back at Craggard.





@Emu

 

[Pandorian]

Once Sera's grip was released from her, she attempted to shake off her tired eyes, stretching herself very quickly before tending to Sera in a panicking haze. Taking the towel next to her, which had been the one Sera had given her only the night before, she wiped the sweat from Sera's forehead, before putting her own hand to her skin. She's burning up, Aer thought. But what could be causing it..? Aer, after ravaging thoughts about it, had begun to realize what was going on, feeling a cold shudder escape herself as latent magical energy seemed to disperse through her. Wait, was her energy..!? If Aer was correct in what she thought was happening, the effects of it could be self-destructive. She could use mana conduction to split the pain, but the risks were too high... in a state of panic, she called out to Lukard, before trying to get Minnie awake. "L-Luke! Are you awake!? I need a bit of help in here!"





@Yum222 @Clockwork Syringe @Computing Magus

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

After looking around for a bit, Lukard heard Aer's cries for help from the rustling tent. Rushing over to the tent, he threw open the flap to see Sera convulsing, panting and sweating on the ground with Aer kneeling over her. Doing the same, he waved his hands over Sera's body and realized what was happening. Her mana was slowly overpowering her, it had no outside avenue to escape and would lead to a devastating build up. Turning back to Aer, he explained what was going on, "Aer, her mana's hurting her, it has no exits. If this keeps up, it's going to lead to a fatal disaster; we need to make an exit or drain her mana, but I don't have the materials to do it here, we need to get to Gyinsheer fast! The fastest way is through a portal, but we'll need to move fast, alert everyone else, I'll set up the portal and then you, Sera, Minnie and I will travel through and meet Marcus in Gyinsheer!


@Yum222 @Pandorian @Computing Magus @Federen Mason

 

[Yum222]

Minnie woke, suddenly aware of the noise and panic. She shook her head, then turned towards Sera, hearing her ragged breathing. 'Oh no...it's happening again!' Minnie jumped over, then heard what Lukard said. She quickly poked at him, shaking her head. She grabbed Aer's hand and started writing to her. She wrote: "That's not it, this happens to her sometimes. Another wizard thought the same thing, but it didn't work. Just let her rest, it will pass in about an hour. I'll explain later." She started using the towel Aer had to wipe sweat off, pulling her shirt up to wipe under it. She turned and motioned to shoo Lukard away, thinking Sera wouldn't want him seeing her. She continued writing on Aer's hand: "Help me strip her so I can wipe her sweat. That's all we can do till then."


Sera looked like she was feeling less pain, but she still wasn't awake.


@Pandorian @Clockwork Syringe

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Seeing that Minnie probably had things under control, Lukard nodded and left the tent and began to wait again if they needed help.


((Really short post sorry, but I'm working on finals right now as well))

 

[Pandorian]

Aer felt a little hesitant at first, but soon moved to remove Sera's rather basic outer clothes. Though she had saw Sera as such only the day before, being so close had left her more cautious than she initially would be. Once they had stripped her for the most part, Aer sat back with a rather worried expression, avoiding her own gaze over Sera. The suspense that the air had taken on only served to suffocate her midst the silence. "This doesn't seem like the type of thing you would just say 'happens sometimes'... especially not something that looks this torturous."





@Yum222

 

[Yum222]

Minnie looked down, very well knowing how painful and sad it was for Sera to experience this.


She pushed her onto her side so she could wipe her back, then set her back down. "As far as I know, she's been having these attacks since..." She paused her writing for a moment, glancing at her friend, then nodded to herself. "..since she was exiled from her home." She took a moment to move Sera's hair to show her two peculiar ears, one pointed and one round. "She doesn't talk about it, but I think it might be related to her blood and how her magic behaves. Did you notice some sort of protective magic back in Inderigo?", Minnie asked Aer in writing.


@Pandorian

 

[Pandorian]

Sera, a dark past? It seemed everyone in the group had some sort of past story to recite. But this one, if she had not known any better, would've been the most unexpected. Aer saw Sera's attitude despite that incident as a testament to Minnie and Sera's friendship more than anything - quite inspiring, Aer would admit. Her being a half-elf however, is what caught her. "Protective magic..? Well, if I am to admit, my memory fails me about the day in Inderigo. I might've at the time, but I doubt I could tell you if I did. Are you saying that's as a result of Sera's rather... wild magic?" Aer admitted, fidgeting a little as she honestly struggled to remember the early events of the previous day. It had all become a blur to her. "Being a half-elf... I can see why magic could become a bit unpredictable, in that case."





@Yum222

 

[Yum222]

Minnie made a small smile, remembering old conversations with Sera. "Wild is one way to put it.", she wrote, "She never believes me but she sometimes uses magic...by instinct, or subconsciously, and it's usually not too noticeable." She was interrupted by one of Sera's sudden wakeful moments, grasping at Minnie's arm, then letting go again. "One woman though, a seer, said something peculiar, that it was Sera's own fault that this is happening. I don't know anything else.." Minnie released Aer's hand, proceeding to wipe off more sweat, lifting off her undergarments as well.


@Pandorian

 

[Emu]

Craggard sighed, running his hands through his greasy hair.


" Gotcha." He answered, still groggy. He grabbed a bit of corn and hastily stuffed it into his coat pocket. He also pulled a small container from his coat, filled with a pasty white liquid that smelled strongly of animal fats. Craggard didn't seem fazed by the unidentified stench, and proceeded to stick his hand in and run his fingers through the hair. He dusted off his coat daintily, then turned to Lecoro once again.


" I'll second you on that. Rook's either history or going to be soon. The kid must've been bonkers, huh? " Craggard chuckled to himself, before correcting himself.


" Er... sorry. Maybe I'm underestimating him!" Craggard offered before quickly changing the subject.


" Anyway, I'm ready to leave this place. The atmosphere here is friggin dull. We oughta go to a real nice city, if you ask me. "


@Ghost Hunter

 

[SpookySpecter]

Deumex'ani:


Deume opened his eyes, he hadn't been sleeping, just relaxing. He got up from the dragon throne and walked the main courtyard where his troops were training and being blessed by priests. Meanwhile,close by, blacksmiths were busy making new weapons for the holy army. His heavy footsteps alerted everyone of his presence and they all ceased what they were doing to run up and greet the god. "Back to work everyone. We have no time for tidings. But I appreciate your kindness." With a mighty flap of his wings Deume took to the sky, perching on a clock tower that overlooked the main courtyard. He changed into his courage form. As he shrank down to ten feet tall, his scales began to turn and glow green, as well as toughen up. His wings became smaller, losing the ability to fly, and his claws grew thicker and sharper. When his form was complete he unleashed a roar that could be heard for miles and miles around, rallying his soldiers to train even harder, and his blacksmiths to work faster. Deume watched the progress from atop the tower, smiling with content.





@Lord Anubis @Clockwork Syringe

 

[SpookySpecter]

" I'll second you on that. Rook's either history or going to be soon. The kid must've been bonkers, huh? " Craggard laughed, but Leco only looked at him with a blank expression.


" Er... sorry. Maybe I'm underestimating him!" Leco stretched his aching body once again. "I hope you are....i'm sure he's fine." Leco looked at the ground. "Besides, I know a great place we can go, plenty of jobs to do, bustling city. It's called Lorib, it's to the south." Leco pointed to the southern exit of the city, he might not know what's in the city, but he knows all the ways out. He started walking out, gesturing to follow. "Come, it's only a day's journey. But...the way there goes through Plague Swamp, a lot of beasts like to live there...so just stay close." Leco began walking.


@Blacknife @Emu

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

While minding his own business, Lukard suddenly heard a loud and bellowing roar. "Thats not possible, I've never heard such a thing!" As if it became as clear as water, Lukard recognized the roar as the roar of Deumex'ani the elder god that was asleep for over 200,000 years. Lukard NEEDED to get to the city that Deumex was in so he rushed over to the tent and quickly explained to Aer and Sera what he was going to do. "Sera, Aer, an important issue has come up, however, I will still meet you at Gyinsheer later, pass this message to Marcus for me. Lukard snapped his fingers and a portal was opened to the nearby city where Deumex's roar could be heard. Entering through the portal, he appeared in another alley, another one, so he made a mental not to not rush these things in the future. Exiting, he walked around until he found a nearby blacksmith working and asked him, "Excuse me fine sir, where might I find Deumex'ani? The blacksmith, clearly enraptured by his own work simply motioned over to the capital where he simply stated, "our god is there." "Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, may your craft be exceptionally well today," Lukard stated as he simply motioned to the forge which the blacksmith was working causing it to increase in temperature and roar with new found vigor. Going back into another alley, he opened another portal, this one to the grounds in which Deumex was most probably at and opened it along the wall out of sight causing him to appear at the grounds.


((Leave it up to you how Lukard and Deumex meet))


@Ghost Hunter

 

[Pandorian]

"...Her own fault?" she questioned, before turning towards Lukard who had rushed to the tent after a resounding roar rested upon their ears almost invitingly. A dragon, perhaps? She had little experience with the gods, despite her position, so it was no doubt she would not know the reasons behind Lukard's sudden action. "I see... well, See you at Gyinsheer, Luke.". Aer didn't quite know how to react to his sudden embark, so her reaction was rather confused all the same. Back to Minnie, she felt like something on her mind needed to be released. "...You two really seem like good friends, you know that? Very few friendships would be able have such an impact on someone's life like this one - I mean, it's quite obvious you two look out for each other. I apologize if I seem like I'm rambling on, but honestly, I'm inspired."





@Yum222

 

[SpookySpecter]

Deumex'ani





Deume saw a stranger appear in the courtyards from his perch. He recognized an odd energy going about them. He felt threatened, and decided to portray his dominance, which is common nature among dragons to do. He leaped from his tower, changing to his anger form as he did so. His whole body caught aflame as he grew in size, and he slammed down, right in front of the stranger. He roared right in the man's face, clouds of smoke puffing from his mouth, the flames about his body began to die down, revealing himself. Once the flames had dissipated he reared back and bellowed once again to the sky, releasing a gout of all-consuming fire from his mouth from. Soldiers, blacksmiths and priests tried their best to not look, as they had been commanded to keep working no matter what until they were finished. After Deume stopped roaring he went back to all fours, glaring right into the stranger's eyes, smoke and fire rising from his nostrils and mouth. "STATE YOUR NAME, WHO ARE YOU?" He said, gnashing his jaws. "And give me one good reason not to torch you in a gout of FIRE!" He said, unleashing a small puff of flame to the side. "And tell me, why do seem to have a powerful energy about you? Were you sent by ZENON??!"

 

[Yum222]

Minnie nodded and smiled. It was true, she and Sera had a remarkable friendship. They both needed each other to a certain degree. She needed her to see and travel, and Sera needed her to take care of her wounds and health. Above all, they were both outcasts from their home...


But Minnie didn't want to get in the way of Sera's feelings. She wasn't so interested in love, but Sera deserved a chance a have it, she thought. Even with their bond, Sera won't stop having these attacks...but maybe Aer could help. 'If anyone could help her now, it's her..'





Minnie wrote in Aer's hand again. "You might think I could take care of Sera myself, but I can only do so much...but I think what she needs now is someone she cares more about now. Someone like you. I believe, in time, she might confide in you some of her past."


Sera started regaining consciousness, but she felt too much pain to want to open her eyes.


@Pandorian