Kairi
Acolyte
The Watcher never turns away one in need. No matter his sins.
Posts: 49
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Post by Kairi on Nov 28, 2011 0:55:55 GMT -5
Ah, such peaceful plains. It was beautiful, a true miracle that such a thing existed in this land. The sun glittered down upon them as they walked while the natural wonders of this world surrounded them. It was amazing to look at every hill, every tree, think of what it may have seen in it's life. For a world to have such things, it was a true proof that the Watcher loved them, he loved his children and let them live in his world.
She stretched widely, arcing her back and clasping her hands together high in the air as she pushed her body as far as she could, working out the many kinks caused by sleeping on the ground. A long, stifled, yawn escaped from her embarrassingly. She brought her arms and crossed them in front of her body, with a wide grin, looking up to Gavyn. He said something though, something that made her smile slowly melt away into a look of confusion. "Smoke?" She looked on as Gavyn walked away, to find the source, so she turned over to look at Mr. Magnus and Kona.
Mr. Magnus was a nice man, he seemed to be happy with his self, and had a lot of fun when he was hunting. He made the coolest looking explosions and magical attacks, it was amazing, and it made her wonder why so many people didn't enjoy charming. Kona was kind of distant, but that's what made Kairi so curious. She never spoke of herself, but remained distant even when she was close enough to touch. She had such soft skin, silky black hair, it kind of made Kairi jealous while she was in awe.
"What do you think it is Mr. Magnus?" She hoped it wasn't bad, she didn't like bad things.
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Kona
Myrmidon
I must extract my revenge. I must... Not only for me. For my brother.
Posts: 27
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Post by Kona on Nov 28, 2011 19:21:54 GMT -5
Kona stood a little removed from everybody else, listening to what was being said by Gavyn and Kairi. Smoke? Perhaps there had been a lightning storm that had ignited the grass... But there wasn't a cloud in sight. More likely, bandits. Or brigands; whatever name floated your metaphorical boat. If this was the case, it'd at least give her an opportunity to practice her swordplay... She had been meaning to ask Magnus these past few days if he'd like to spar with her, seeing as he was the only one who really used a weapon, but she had refrained on the simple reason that the bounty hunter was a little... Overenthusiastic in combat? Something like that, at any rate; there was a reason she hadn't asked. Whatever the reason, she had refrained from asking, and, as such, hadn't found the time to stop and practice. Kairi was as cheerful as ever; Gavyn was Gavyn; Magnus was Magnus. Kona was getting used to their presence, however, and was beginning to find them easier to tolerate, even if their final destination was a tad bit... Against her, and she would guess Gavyn's, tastes.
Indeed, there was smoke; Kona could see it. And here came Kairi, asking if it was bad. Asking the one who blew up a wall for no reason other than it was dramatic no less... The evlorei took a step forward, her hand on the hilt of her blade. "Kairi; where there is smoke, there is fire. From the looks of it, and from Gavyn's concern, I would say that it's a fairly big one, as well. It has probably been burning for a fair amount of time, or we're getting awfully close to it. The beast is right; we should be cautious."
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Post by Magnus on Nov 29, 2011 23:42:26 GMT -5
Magnus looked at Kairi, a blank look on his face, then up at the smoke that had caught everyone's interest, but shrugged his shoulders. What of it? Smoke comes from fire, and fire isn't always a bad thing.
"What's so bad about a little smoke?" he asked, gnawing on the leftovers of a wolf bone from this morning's breakfast. Canine had gotten caught in the blast from one of Magnus's spells this morning while he and Gavyn had been hunting, and the charmer hated wasting potential food. He also had an appetite to match Gavyn's, due to all of the energy he'd been expending lately. Magic was serious business, and summoning repeated firestorms and flashbangs wasn't exactly an easy feat.
"Probably a couple of bards having a bonfire party a bit of a ways up the road." The charmer twirled the wolf leg in his hand, pretending to play a few notes on it like a flute. "Nay, but bards are a weak sort. Wouldn't be able to move any of the logs to make the fire. Maybe a couple of hardy mercenaries?" He twirled the bone again in his hand and waved it like a sword. "I could challenge them to a fight, then blast them away with a bit of smoke and fire. Always love seeing the look on a man's face when his pants burst into flame."
Magnus chuckled loudly, then paused, his "sword" frozen in his hand, before glancing at Kairi. "All in good fun of course," he chuckled again, this time more hesitantly. "Never to seriously hurt anyone."
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Kairi
Acolyte
The Watcher never turns away one in need. No matter his sins.
Posts: 49
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Post by Kairi on Nov 30, 2011 11:28:42 GMT -5
"A big fire? Oh no..." She muttered, looking off into the horizon. Kona sounded serious, and Kairi couldn't help but worry. Fire could destroy so much, even when it's bent and shaped into incredible creations like Mr. Magnus did. He still caused so much damage when he wasn't watching his self, this morning he incinerated a wolf that had got in his way by accident. It ended the animal's life so quickly, so violently. She wasn't opposed to hunting to survive, but something about the incident made her feel a bit deflated. As if it reminded her just how dangerous things were, and how quickly life could fade.
"I hope so Mr. Magnus, a bonfire sounds much better then a wildfire." She grinned, then he went off about blowing up people's pants in a way that just made her blankly stare at him. "Of-of course."
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Gavyn
Tiger
[M:0]
Posts: 118
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Post by Gavyn on Dec 1, 2011 7:10:49 GMT -5
"I doubt it." Gavyn responded to Magnus. "Look at the fire's base, it's too spread out to be from one place. That means a large area caught aflame." He turned and looked back to Kairi and Magnus. "Watch her." He ordered, before shifting with a roar and blitzing forward. In animal form, he arrived at the scene in moments. A torched village, how horrible. Bodies strewn in the streets, clearly run through with all manner of weapons. From swords and axes to bows and even some evidence of magic. What the hell had come through here?
Physically, they were approaching the border with Calirce, but this didn't look like something the border bandits would do. Was it an invasion force? That didn't seem likely, wasn't Calirce in the middle of a Beastman rebellion? Would they really have the troops to spare for an invasion? Gavyn began examining the bodies in the town, trying to get the information he needed before Kairi showed up and lost her mind. It was at that point that he saw something that made him realize just what this place was.
One of the downed citizens had a branding on his forehead. The Sparathen's Royal crest branded into their skull...but that meant.
Gavyn cursed. He knew the Queen had been more aggressive lately, but if this was what he thought it was, things were about to get really interesting.
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Post by Magnus on Dec 4, 2011 9:27:47 GMT -5
Magnus nodded as the tiger entrusted him with Kairi. Seeing how protective Gavyn was of the girl, and how, up until recently, the charmer really hadn't held much favor in the beastman's eyes, something up ahead was clearly wrong. That, or at least Gavyn thought there was, but as he saw the tiger sprint away on all fours, Magnus couldn't help but agree.
"Stay close to me, will you?" asked Magnus, gently ushering the acolyte behind him as he held his bo staff in front of the both of them. Clearing his mind, the charmer closed his eyes in an attempt to analyze the flow of spiritual energy in the air. The spirits were chaotic and disturbed, but aside from that Magnus couldn't sense any open hostilities up ahead. Then again, for a charmer, his meditative abilities and spiritual awareness were poor, if not downright shoddy at best, so it was best not to go on feel for things like this.
Following in Gavyn's powerful footsteps, Magnus eventually made his way to the source of the smoke, and to his dismay, there were no bards, and no bonfire. No, instead his eyes were introduced to disgusting display of what the charmer could only describe as evil. Houses smoldered as dying flames licked their walls and dead bodies were tossed around and piled up all about. Besides a dragon, or perhaps a very powerful summoner, the only thing capable of this kind of destruction was...
"...an army," Magnus muttered distastefully, and judging by the utter lack of life and systematic arrangement of bodies, that indeed seemed to be what had caused this. The scarred man turned to Kairi and attempted to pull the acolyte closer to himself, shielding her eyes in the process. "Don't look at this, girl. Your eyes were not meant for this."
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Gavyn
Tiger
[M:0]
Posts: 118
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Post by Gavyn on Dec 12, 2011 19:40:37 GMT -5
If Gavyn was concerned or relieved by the bounty hunter behind him, he didn't show it as he turned a few bodies over. The same thing, the royal seal branded on the forehead.
"Tell me Magnus. Do you know what that branding on a corpse means?" He asked, though it was a rhetorical question as he moved into the answer. "It is the mark of the traitor. Reserved for treason, betrayal and spies. But look here, this entire town has them. Women and children too..." He remarked, gesturing to a few of the less gruesome bodies.
"Someone wanted this village gone, but just a look can tell you that. They didn't have any weapons, they weren't ready for a fight. A town of traitors would have some kind of plan for this. So..." He grumbled, rubbing his chin. "What were they trying to do by destroying their own city?"
His ears perked up for a moment, and he swiveled his head slightly. "Be careful. Something is coming...not an army...but at least a few horses." He remarked, moving to climb a piece of rubble to get a better scouting location.
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Kairi
Acolyte
The Watcher never turns away one in need. No matter his sins.
Posts: 49
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Post by Kairi on Dec 13, 2011 10:29:28 GMT -5
Something was... wrong. She could feel it in the air. It chilled her to the bones, it frightened her. She shivered ever so slightly as Gavyn came back, and that look on his face said it all. He told Magnus to watch her, and she didn't object. "A-alright." She was quiet, but complied. Such a solemn, thick air. She stuck close to Magnus, not wanting to be separated. Something about this, all of this, terrified her. It terrified her far more then the most bloodthirsty bandit, and most vicious wild beast. The charmer followed Gavyn's steps, and she followed his.
What they found was an image burned into the very eyes of the acolyte, an image that will haunt her for years. There was no word for this kind of destruction, this kind of death, there was no reason great enough. It all hit her, a suddenly shock that paralyzed her entire being. Her breathing became shallowed, frenzied, faster and shorter breaths with each passing second. This death! This destruction! This... this... Evil!
Her breaths began to build into a scream, a shriek of pure terror. Magnus tried to pull her closer, block her eyes before she could see. But it was too late, it would always be too late. Her eyes welled up in tears, and she didn't want to look, she couldn't look. Look at man's cruelty, of his arrogance to think they should be the one's who decides how one's life should end. This was wrong, this was all wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong! "Why?" Was all she could squeeze out, her face turned away from all the death. But it didn't matter, she could see it, it was burned on the insides of her eyes. Every time she closed them, tried to look away, she could see nothing else.
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Kona
Myrmidon
I must extract my revenge. I must... Not only for me. For my brother.
Posts: 27
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Post by Kona on Dec 13, 2011 23:13:28 GMT -5
Kona had been quietly following the group, and was walking forward slowly as Kairi was seeing the carnage. Poor girl... She didn't need to see this... While Gavyn and Magnus talked, Kona checked over a smaller body, that of a young girl, a symbol burned into her forehead that Kona vaguely recognized. She picked the dead body up off the ground, holding it in her arms like a baby. Strands of hair covered the body's face, and the elf pushed them to the side. A closer inspection revealed that the dead girl's green eyes were still open, staring off into the sky beyond Kona. The black-haired woman moved one arm forward, closing both eyelids at once with slender fingers. With a little effort, the elf slowly lowered herself and the body to the ground, resting the body against a shattered wall, continuing to mess with the body until, aside from the wounds and the branding, it looked as if the girl had simply fallen asleep. Wiping her hands on her clothing, Kona stood, and, without turning to face her, called out to Kairi. "Stare long and hard, and know just what happens to the innocent and happy. Never forget." Kona was not to know that her comment was redundant, that Kairi already had the image seared into her mind's eye.
The elf woman walked over to Gavyn and Magnus rather slowly. "So. Do we leave this spot as quickly as we can and continue on our way towards this church, or are we going to investigate this?" she asked, her hand lowering to rest on the hilt of her sword as she spoke. "I naturally do not care, as I plan to follow whatever plan you come up with."
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Post by Magnus on Dec 14, 2011 0:33:33 GMT -5
"Aye, looks like Sparathens work alright," muttered the dark haired charmer. "For the life of me I can't imagine why, though rumors abound that the queen's gone mad. Huglausi..." The scarfed man scowled, spitting the last word in disgust as he did so. Cowardly. Such unnecessarily violence, and against civilians? It was just cowardly. What queen could do such a thing against her own people?
The charmer bit his lip, turning over his own thoughts in his head, as Gavyn climbed a nearby piece of rubble to get a better look at the approaching whatever-they-were, then turned to see Kona resting a body against what was left of a wall.
"Stare long and hard, and know just what happens to the innocent and happy. Never forget."
Magnus's fist balled in anger as the dark haired elf approached. What was she thinking, saying things like that? Kairi, safely behind the charmer with tears streaming down her face, was already traumatized enough as it was. If he could help it, he would like to keep such a bright ray of sunshine from being blotted out by such a not-bright ray of not-sunshine. "There was no need for that," growled Magnus in a low voice, before turning around to face Kairi, ignoring Kona for the time being. He placed his rough hands on the cleric's shoulders. "Girl, are you alright?"
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Zack
Soldier
[Red]Banned[/Red][M:0]
Posts: 4
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Post by Zack on Dec 14, 2011 12:49:13 GMT -5
Zack crawled through the village. He had no idea what had happened, just that there was chaos, and destruction, and soldiers killing everyone. Zack had no idea how he had survived all of that. All he knew now was that he was all alone in this village full of the corpses of all those that he had cared about.
Zack wondered if anyone from the village was alive other than himself. He highly doubted it. There were still fires left burning in the village, hours after the soldiers left the scene of destruction. Chances of anyone else having been lucky enough to survive the massacre seemed slim. If anything, Zack was all on his own. The only thing that Zack could do now was to at least forrage around and salvage anything, especially supplies, that could help Zack survive for at least a few more days while he found and sought help.
Zack stepped lightly over the next pile of bodies that he encountered in the village. It was then that he heard someone talk. "There was no need for that!", the voice spoke, followed briefly by, "Girl, are you alright?"
Zack could not tell if the person who had spoken was part of the company of those soldiers, but at least he could tell that there was definitely more than one person there in the village. Zack, huddled behind a building, listening to the voices, instinctively gripped onto the lance that he had been holding on to. Somehow, Zack's lance had come out of the destruction intact, probably due to Zack inadvertently holding on to the lance during the entire incident.
Making up his mind to confront whoever it was that could have been the ones who brought about the destruction. Holding his lance in front of him, Zack stepped past the corner of the building he was hiding behind to face a group of a large man, two girls and one beastman.
"W-what are you doing here? Was this d-destruction a part of your doing?", Zack half-spoke, half-stuttered. He knew he must have looked weird, wearing extremely dusty, slightly charred clothes and brandishing his lance in a very slipshod way.
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Gavyn
Tiger
[M:0]
Posts: 118
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Post by Gavyn on Dec 15, 2011 20:24:08 GMT -5
Gavyn sent a glare towards Kona that very clearly said 'Shut the hell up before I rip off your jaw.' Well, that was a rather specific message for a glare, but he thought the general idea got through.
"I see....half a dozen riders." Gavyn spoke, then corrected himself. "No...Half a dozen horses...some of them have two riders. They don't have a flag I can see...might be trouble."
He heard something behind him and whipped around, seeing the boy climbing out of the ruins. He looked like hell. "Hardly. Do we look like Royal Troops to you kid?" He took note of how shaken and injured he appeared, he wasn't going to be any help in the fight that may break out...
And Kairi needed something to take her mind off of all the death...
Bingo.
"Kairi." Gavyn called to the shell-shocked acolyte. "I know you feel bad for the dead, but we have some living who need your help. Can you take care of him while we see what these visitors want?" He said, gesturing to the ruins the boy had just come from. "It might be best if you two stay out of sight, I cannot promise that this won't get ugly, though I will try to avoid a fight."
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Zack
Soldier
[Red]Banned[/Red][M:0]
Posts: 4
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Post by Zack on Dec 15, 2011 21:02:11 GMT -5
"I do not need taking care of!", Zack shouted as one of the members of that group asked another to take care of Zack.
Zack still did not trust the members of that group. It was definitely very unlikely that people who would be able to or willing to help would pass by a village that was just razed to the ground in order to help out. These people definitely had a reason for being here, or so Zack wanted himself to believe. Half of Zack felt lost, unable to cope with everything that had happened, the other half put Zack in denial, denying anything that would be offered to him.
It was then that Zack saw someone he recognised. There was a corpse of a girl lying against one of the walls behind the group. When Zack saw the body, his grip on his lance laxed and he ran over to it. That girl was his younger sister, Alice. Her body, leaning against the wall looked like she was asleep.
"Alice! Alice!", Zack cried out, as tears streamed down his face and feelings of hopelessness overwhelmed him again.
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Kairi
Acolyte
The Watcher never turns away one in need. No matter his sins.
Posts: 49
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Post by Kairi on Dec 15, 2011 21:19:33 GMT -5
She didn't want to hear it, not what Kona said. It can't be true, it wasn't true. This wasn't what happened to the happy and innocent, this is what happened when evil entered the hearts of men, it was the innocent who must pay for it. But those men, those who caused this... they'll get theirs some day, when they stand in the afterlife, the watching will avert his gaze. He won't guide them, they were destined to wander endless in the veil of the afterlife as punishment. It was divine judgement.
"I... I'm alright. Thank you Mr. Magnus. I'm sorry..." She tried to perk up, but that was impossible. At the very least she showed an effort to look happy once more. A failed effort, but sometimes it was the thought that counted. "It's not me that needs to be worried about though... Why... why would.... someone do something like this?" The twisted burnt flesh, the smell of death filled her head and made her feel heavy. Like her flesh weighed her down, like the world was bearing down upon her. It made her sick, the thoughts, the images, the death... She gagged on it all as she tried to look at the death once more, she needed to stare it in the face. For, this too, was a part of The Watcher's world.
She brought a hand to her chest. Closing her eyes and bowing her head. "It's not much, and I know we should hurry... But I'd like to say the prayer of the dead. It's... It's the least I can do." Suddenly her attention was pulled on, tugged like children fighting for it in a tiring game of tug of war. It was a boy, looking distraught. Was he... a survivor?
Gavyn spoke to her and she nodded. She took a step closer only for him to take a step back and deny any help. Still she couldn't just leave it like that. "Sir... I'm an Acolyte for The Watcher." She began, but that hopeless shouting, screaming. His heart must of weighed more the heaviest lead. "I... I'm sorry. I can't... I wish I could do something... I can... I can atleast say the prayer of the dead. Hopefully help guide them to the next life." She bit her lip lightly, talking to the young man. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was feeling, she never was able to deal with the mourners. She was too soft in some ways, this was one of them.
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Kona
Myrmidon
I must extract my revenge. I must... Not only for me. For my brother.
Posts: 27
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Post by Kona on Dec 16, 2011 16:23:44 GMT -5
Kona shrugged, turning away from both Gavyn and Magnus, and looked around her. Dead bodies everywhere... If she could get Kairi to consent to it, Kona could probably use them to form a wall of sorts to either funnel or block off the horses... Although she would also need more time for that plan. Maybe some more dead bodies... The elf drifted over towards where Kairi and this new boy were standing, where she rested one hand on the boy's shoulder. "I understand your pain." she said simply. It was true, even though she didn't know how this boy and Alice had been related. Loosing someone important enough to you to get this kind of reaction... The black-haired elf turned away from the two, and then walked away, back towards the two men.
"How much longer do we have before they arrive, Gavyn?" Kona asked, glancing over at Gavyn as she did. She was already readying her sword, pulling it out of it's sheath in hope of coming slaughter. "If we have another few minutes, we might as well see if we can increase our odds of success."
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