Armeira

[OCDysseus]

Ryan nodded, then started following the troll.

 

[Master Mew]

The Yarurk groaned furiously before falling to the ground with a crash, coiled in a heap.

 

[Renewal]

Nate walked forward cautiously, swords still held at the ready. The Yarurk may have been wounded, perhaps even mortally, but a creature in its death throes could also be at its most powerful. He would need to finish the job, so to speak. He grimaced. Killing a wild creature, who was probably attacking only on instinct... was distasteful. But it was necessary. He walked to the fallen serpent's head, and stabbed it in the eye.

With a sigh of equal parts exhaustion, from his search earlier and now this fight, and distaste, he cut a scale from the Yarurk's skin. Mission accomplished.

 

[Godzillawolf]

OOC: How long until it'll be nighttime so Relic can cross the mountains into the boundrey land?

 

[DXFrost]

Silion turns to the Troll and chirps a reply back, saying that he would accept, then takes off, following from the air. He chirps a message to the troll, asking him to tell ryan in his langauge his name was Silion.

 

[Master Mew]

OOC: Thank you all so much for keeping this RP up and running in my absence, I'm very impressed that things didn't fizzle out while the GM was away.

 

[System Error]

The troll nodded in response. He grunted back a confirmation, and said to the druid, "His name is Silion." Looking to the lands beyond, he stated, "we must be off now."

============

It was many hours of travel before the group arrived back at the palace. The Emperor, as he usually was, sat on his throne. A blonde girl of small stature wearing a blue frock stood before him. She had on a patchy headwrap decorned with the colors of the sky, and looked no older than 20.

"Look, I keep telling you, I can't!" she yelled frantically, almost crying as she did so.

The Emperor simply shrugged. Without an ounce of anger, he asked, "You keep saying you can't, but you're not telling me why you can't."

"I...I just...I can't. I just can't!"

"You can't tell me why you can't?"

She had calmed, but was still sad. "I can't tell you that..."

"So what can you tell me?" The girl did not respond to this remark, and simply lowered her head. A look of recognition crossed over the Emperor's face, and he slapped his forehead. "I see. Merely get some rest for now, we shall worry about this issue later."

She nodded, and after a brief hesitation, walked out a door behind the throne. With her gone, the Emperor noticed that his infantry had returned. With a smile, he greeted, "Ah, Corvus Bashwood, the mightiest troll in all these lands, both physically and mentally. Did the retaking of the fort go well?"

The troll, apparently known as Corvus Bashwood, gave an affirmative nod. "Besides ancient dragon emerging from earth bowels, it do go well. We rebuilding as we speak."

"That figures. Is it dead? Nah, of course it's dead." The Emperor leapt from his throne to look over the two unfamiliar men. "So who are these? New recruits?"

"Perhaps. You say you want Beastlord leader. I give you Beastlord leader. They have soul of beast inside them. They unleash it."

"So what I think you're saying is...they can become beasts?"

"Correct."

The Emperor mulled this over briefly. "Well, they say to beat thy enemy, you must think like thy enemy. And what better method than to literally put yourself in their soles? Brilliant!" He showed excitement, but it vanished almost as instantly as it appeared. "On the other hand of the matter, I do want to choose a good, strong leader personality-wise. One who simply has the means to get the job done is naught without the confidence to go through with it." He looked to the door the girl had left through, somewhat guiltily. He wondered...would one of these two men be able to step up to the task no other in the Beastlord unit had been able to?

He thought about this matter momentarily, until an idea visibly came over him. He narrowed his eyes at the two men, but smiled. "Well, I like the prospect, so let's give it a shot. Show me your best transformation!"

 

[OCDysseus]

Ryan nodded at the emperor.

"As you wish, your highness." He smirked, then got on all fours. He grew a dragon's tail. His hands and feet started growing claws, then fur grew from his arms and legs. His head also grew fur, and his mouth extended. His back grew to little budges, which the turned into wings. Inbetween the wings, large scales extended in the form of a spine. After all that, Ryan had the head of a Coyote, limbs of a bear, tail of a dragon and wings of an eagle. And it all happened in just a couple of seconds.

 

[Renewal]

The Yarurk scale in hand, Nate sank to his knees, pale hair sliding over his eyes. He closed his now obscured eyes, shutting out the din of fighting from his mind. Lumen? What do I do now? Where do I go from here, my lady?

 

[DXFrost]

Silion chirped couriously, sniffing the air of his suroundings. He smelt fish. Salmon to be exact, his favorite. With a screach of hunger, he bolts off to find the salmon.

 

[Master Mew]

Return now to my Temple, Aeternus Nauta, and your task shall be complete. Then shall your faith shall be rewarded.

 

[Godzillawolf]

OOC: Is it night time yet so Relic can move across the mountains?

 

[Master Mew]

OOC: Late evening, so yes.

 

[Renewal]

Nate nodded solemnly, in silent acknowledgment of the goddess's command. Time to go. Wiping off his blades, he sheathed them, and tied the Yarurk scale to the sheaths on his back. It would have to do.

Looking around, he saw that the area where he had fought was deserted; even now, the sounds of fighting drifted further away from him. He grimaced; the battle for Alimbar would be decided without him. Giving one last look around the area, Nate turned toward the city walls, beginning his long journey back to Ignoret.

 

[System Error]

The Emperor clapped delightedly at the display before him. "Excellent, excellent, excellent!" He had no idea what in the world the man had transformed into, but loved it all the same. However, there was minor issue to be had. "The bad news is, there can be only one Beastlord division leader. The good news is, it looks like you win by default." said the Emperor, looking to the other man running off. "Congratulations."

The troll involuntarily scratched himself. "I forget to tell, he cannot speak."

"We'll worry about that in a bit. Well, I should introduce you to the others...except you already met them. There are four main divisions in the Royal Guard, each headed by a leader. A figurehead of sorts." He looked to the troll. "You already are aquainted with Corvus Bashwood, leader of the Assaulter Division. They're the ones who go out on the tough missions of conquerment that require brute strength for success."

"Then there's the opposite, the Protectorates. Dedicated more to defending, rather than offending. I'm sure you've at least heard of its leader - the legendary Sir Rwalatheus. He's served in the royal guard for several generations. Ministrals have spun many songs about him, most notably The Ballad of Rwalatheus."

The Emperor again turned to the doorway behind his throne. "That girl you saw was the leader of the Cauldreins, Leah Epstein. They study the varying branches of alchemy. Leah...she has the spirit of the practice in her blood, but her heart begs to differ on the matter." He stared at the lonely passage for a couple seconds more before turning back, and explaining with befuddlement, "Though it is strange. Every time I offer the opportunity to step down, she says no."

Now addressing the man directly, he said, "What you'll be heading are the Beastlords, in essence, a combination of experts on the land, beast, and riders. They can be a pain at times, but you should be able to manage. They are preoccupied for the moment, but should be back shortly. In the meantime, though I hate to put you into action so soon, could you look after that the wild man?"

The Emperor moved over to his throne and opened a cabinet next to it. He retrieved something from within and returned with three beakers. "Accomplish this any way you desire, just ensure he stays out of trouble. Here, these might help you."

{E} Sleeping Potion: Administer this to assist in sleeping. Calms one in small doses.
{S} Modif. Agility Drag Tonic: +6 to Speed and Agility/Acrobatics for 72 hours (realtime). But, -2 to Marksman and Stealth during the same.
{S} Modif. Focus Drag Tonic: +6 to Marksman and Stealth for 72 hours (realtime). But, -2 to Speed and Agility/Acrobatics during the same.

OOC: Tonics
Chemist/alchemist mixtures come in a variety of forms, but one of the more notable are the stat tonics. By drinking these, you can experience an increase in stats for a period of time. Just remember, there may be side-effects. While currently unavailable for general purchase, when you do obtain one, you can use it simply by PMing Master Mew with your desire to do so. You may only be under the effects of one statchanging tonic at a time.

If a stat is too low when you take a reduction, you still become worse, albeit slower. When you hit 0, it takes two negative points to go further down. Some special varieties exist which can modify these effects, such as the ones being presented here, but they are rare.

"There may be a way to assist in communication with him yet, but it might take a while to put together." Once more, the Emperor looked to the passage, but only for a short moment. "Oh, and before you set off, I didn't get your name?"

 

[OCDysseus]

When the emperor asked, Ryan transformed back to his usual self.

"My name is Ryan Coyot, Druid of the Mountains." Ryan proudly smiled. He then took the potions and put it in his belt.

"I'll look after the wild man, even if it costs me my life." Ryan said.

 

[Master Mew]

Night has now fallen fully on the land of Armeira, the skies painted in a deep shade of purple, accented by the occasional cloud on the horizon.

 

[System Error]

"Let's not get too carried away now." said the Emperor, raising his palm as he did so. He was not at all displeased; rather, he was somewhat glad. "But, it's good to know you would give your life. On the subject, I learned a particular philosophy at a somewhat young age. It went like this - protecting others is noble indeed, but should rashness get the better of you, who else would be there to protect in your stead?" His voice expressed mild hesitation as he spoke the last phrase, but it was only faintly noticeable.

What was more noticeable, however, was his abrupt shift to a much more casual tone than typical. The purpose of this was ambiguous, perhaps even to the speaker. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't worry about the little stuff too too much. Besides, you don't want to get badly injured on the first day on the job, right?" For a moment, it looked as though he was going to address Corvus Bashwood, but he thought better of it. He gradually returned to his usual cheery semi-formal tone, "So yeah, try to stay alive for this task, Ryan, as well as others like it. Save risking making the ultimate sacrifice for the most dire of circumstances."

The Emperor continued, "And whatever the case, I've now remembered another philosophy - at times, you just need to step up to succeed." Once more, the Emperor looked to the hallway as he spoke his words, making it clear as to who he was referring to. "I'll speak with Leah about the communication matter. If luck is on our side, I may be able to at least get a temporary solution."

The troll looked up. "I able talk to him. Our two languages similar." he noted.

To this, the Emperor tilted his head in thought. "Well, the true matter here is, communication with others. We shall figure it all out in due time, though. The first and second steps are to calm him and discover what we can do long-term respectively." He started off towards the hallway he had glanced at so many times. "I'll begin work on the second step. And you two can set off to accomplish the first step."

He had almost disappeared into it before he turned around again. "Oh, and one thing to remember, this palace wasn't exactly built with a giant in mind," he said looking to the massive Corvus, before turning to Ryan to complete his sentence, "so depending on how things go, it may be left up to you, at least for a period of time." With that said, he made the last few steps into the hallway.

 

[OCDysseus]

Ryan tilted his head, confused at the ending. He shook it off, then put a hand on his sword handles.

"Okay then, protect, but not with my life. Go it." He said to himself before letting go of the swords.

 

[-Gray-]

(Sorry SO much for being so inactive, everyone! There's been a lot going on since Christmas.)

...Unfortunately, the man's armor was not strong enough to protect him from three different attacks, all at the same time. Nightfall rushed into the enemy's swing and sliced one of his knife blades across the man's elbow, forcing him to release the axe. Dusk repeatedly slashed and stabbed at the man, leaving him no chance to attack, as Coal darted around the man and blasted electricity at the man. Stunned, he fell to the ground. Dusk quickly aimed an arrow at a chink in the man's armor near his neck, but Coal pushed it away.

"He does not deserve to die," Coal said. "But he must leave this city, never to return." Coal kicked the man in the back for good measure, sheathed his weapons, and strode out of the room, Dusk and Nightfall following closely.