God Bless The King [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

[Techi☺]

The Kingdom of Gnorfiend, what a beautiful, tantalizing sight. It has always been more remarkable from the sea, and Vellan had managed to secure this view frequently as he would return to his kingdowm from visiting his parents. They lived far away in the Elven Kingdom, a land ruled by his slightly older Elf Cousin Tichondrus. And though Vellan's blood seems to carry an ancestral nostalgia for this homeland of his father's people, his heart will always belong to the island Kingdom of Gnorfiend. Birth place to the humans of their realm, the Kingdom of Gnorfiend was founded upon a story of triumph and military success with expert tactics and brilliance. These humans banded together along with the various other races among Gnorfiend to create a massive castle-like city in the center of their island and are the ancestors of those who inhabit it today. 

 

The humans of Gnorfiend follow a King, royal blood of the first human who took command and led them to success. Today's king is Tarian, a handsome and broad human male and uncle of Vellan. Thanks to Vellan's mother being a princess, and Tarian's sympathy for the horror that had inflicted Vellan in his youth, Tarian has his Kingdom recognize Vellan's royalty status as a prince and potential heir. Given that Vellan isn't always among the humans, and is frequently requested to join his parents almost monthly, many of the younger children growing within Gnorfiend are unaware that they have an Elf-Human Prince. Vellan doesn't feel like he deserves the respect and love of those who accept him as their Prince, but he can at times feel insulted when humans of Gnorfiend refuse his title based upon his Elven ancestry alone. 

 

With his ship docking at the harbor in front of Gnorfiend's gates, Vellan was excited to join his master Tristan and continue to hone his magical affinities. The merchants that were pedaling epic treasure and fine material had weekly trips out to the Elven Kingdom and enjoyed Vellan's company so they allow him free travel. With a short walk off from the dock with his small brown bag slung over his shoulder, Vellan proceeded up the long stone steps to the gates of Gnorfiend. 

 

Familiar, and with a scent that Vellan considers the smell of home, Vellan charged past the open gates and across the opening Plaza that lead to several different districts. There was a district for imaginably anything you'd need in Gnorfiend. Though the original foundation of the Kingdom crafted by the ancient humans was far too small to accommodate what Gnorfiend has today, the craftsmen of this kingdom have always been organized and masterful. You can find the Business district has many different kinds of shops and resources, many of the high-end Business districts pay a localized tax to the King's Estate that is a percent of their products, like fine enchanted Swords and Armors, or useful herbs and the such. Normally the tax on such items is used to uphold the Royal Guard that protects the King and doesn't wind up adding to the wealth of the already filthy rich King.

 

Rushing past the numerous housing districts, Vellan takes note of their different types and the people that resides within them. Though the middle class-typed citizen of Gnorfiend is certainly the highest percentage of the population, there are the lower class. They are few, and struggle to maintain work to pay for common necessities like classes and non-conjure-able items, thanks to the mastery of mana and the most common type of magic being Conjuration, there is rarely a shortage of mana-crafted food and clothing. The items made for the lower-class does tend to be of lower quality, but since they are typically seen as being lazy for being in their position they tend to have their quality of life neglected. As long as they can eat, and as long as they are not running about in the nude, they seem to be all but ignored by the much better off and majority of the kingdom. Vellan finds a little dark humor in this concept, but often tries to ignore it himself given that it is sad but not horrific. 

 

His grey-silver hair dances about in front of his red eyes as he runs across a few roads and enters into the Mana District. Oddly named, the Mana District is actually where all of the schools and places of study are, excluding the libraries and private studying chambers within the center of the city, the Royal Palace. Vellan's best chances of running into his Master would be here with reading being Tristan's favorite hobby and lending a hand to the lessons for the younger mages being his joy, Tristan can find almost everything he needs within the Mana District. Given that Tristan is often stealthy and flocks seemingly invisible across this district, it isn't unusual to find Vellan prowling about on his own in the search for Tristan. 

 

[spoiler=IC]

Officially Started! 

Event: Opening Day! Meet the cast~!!

[/spoiler]

 

[Supreme Gamesmaster]

To one accustomed to monastic life, to the inescapable community and iron discipline of an almonry school, sleeping in on the weekend was no idle pleasure, but a treasured luxury. Maia awoke early, as anyone raised for years on a church bell's clanging at eight in the morning would, but she stayed in bed. She didn't even really sleep - she simply enjoyed being able to sleep. She burrowed into the covers and irrepressibly beamed, relishing the delectable comforts of her quilt and pillow. In reality, her bed was nothing luxurious, just a simple little thing on one side of a small bedroom; but compared to a dormitory, it was sheer bliss. For that matter, it wasn't even a real weekend for Maia, since she had to go replenish her stock of medicines anyway; but she could make her own schedule to do that.

 

There was the real pleasure in solitary life: the freedom to go at her own pace, without the restrictions of a thousand rules or the glares of perpetually bitter nuns glaring down their overlarge noses. So she cocooned herself in her covers a half an hour longer than usual - not because she was tired, but because she was comfy and she didn't need to get up. When she finally got up, she rolled out of bed - not because she was lethargic, but because she could without a sister looking over her shoulder telling her to make it again, and get up more gracefully next time. She ate breakfast slowly, glancing over a novel as she did - not because she was habitually sloppy, but because no angry sisters were raring to unleash a ruler on anyone who grabbed a spoon instead of a fork. And she only changed after she'd done all that and washed up, and did so in the middle of the kitchen - not out of immodesty, but to enjoy the fact that at last, she was truly independent. Trusted to make her own decisions. Allowed to live her own life, not the life the sisters set out for her (or even the one her roommates might insist upon).

 

She indulged her freedom in these and a dozen other ways on this morning alone. After all, she only had one real errand to run that day, and she had plenty of time on the clock. When at last she decided her time was up, she packed her bag, grabbed her mace off the wall (just in case), and stepped out of her little home onto the sunny streets of Gnorfiend. The whole world exulted with her, shining in vivid sunlit colours.

 

There's a world out there, thought Maia, and no one left to keep me from seeing it.

 

Oh, she knew that all of her little transgressions this morning were very normal things that very normal people did. But these little freedoms were new to her, and she insisted on seeing where they'd take her. Responsibility - for herself, her fellow man, her life - seemed a gift long overdue.

 

So Maia, still revelling in the thrill of such exotic activities as "sleeping in a bit" and "multitasking over breakfast," decided she'd add yet another adventure onto her list: taking a detour. She knew where the big alchemist's shop was - the almonry school nuns used to send her on errands there even before university. But she never liked the proprietor there - an old man with a head so shiny you'd swear he polished it, and a moustache he curated as carefully as his store - and they probably overcharged, anyway. Hadn't she heard about some small family business opening up a few streets over? Why not go there...?

 

And so she set off, rightfully relishing the last really good day of her life.

[.Rooster]

''Finally, I can indulge in some peace and quiet for once,'' Fayyad  as he woke from his bed. For once in a long time, there was no remedies for him to prepare, for this would be a lovely day of rest. Seldom could he revel in an idle hour without being burdened with being one of the most popular chemists in the kingdom. People from all stretches of Gnorfiend would come to his abode, and their orders would often require specially-prepared lotions and potions. In Gnorfiend, people knew to themselves into painful situations, for their were many dozens of foolish magicians and warriors in quite a colossal and civilized region. Once he got up, he happily treated himself with a proper cleansing session, with all the dirt from his mouth removed and a nice hot, steamy bath. Ah... 

 

Ah... Wake up! Wake up! 

 

''Why was I cursed with such evil dreams?'' Fayyad got up, and commenced his daily routine. With haste galore for customers more, our busy alchemist speedily removed dirt from his mouth with a maple twig, and rapidly grabbed oats from a dusty clay vessel. He popped open a jug filled with milk and poured it into a pot hanged with a noose made from rope and dangled in a lovely oven. He always knew to prepare his oven for meals before-hand to save precious minutes. You may start to image Fayyad as a greedy bastard, always cutting time for extra silver and gold for his over-sized treasury in your privileged perspective. The problems lies at the fact that alchemists must be slaves to the community, for lazy alchemists are depicted as witches and scoundrels. Hard-working alchemists are loved, for they spend few hours on themselves.

 

After the porridge was ready, Fayyad left it to cool, and checked if there were any customers. ''None so far,'' Fayyad murmured to himself. Alas, it was slowly growing popular for people to visit clerics to heal their wounds, thus slowly consuming Fayyad's daily customer rate.

[Chaotic Angel]

"Kane, another world awaits you. Do you think you can manage on your own? The Kingdom of Gnorfiend. It's awaiting a legacy to be influenced by either you or its citizens. Now, wake the hell up, you asshole."

 

May I introduce you to Kane Underwood, a nineteen-year old orphan who was born in the outside world. "So... It was just a dream? Yeah, I thought so..." he said, claiming that he had heard voices in his head. It may not seem like it, but it has already been a while since he migrated to Gnorfiend. He has yet to meet the King, or what have you. Believe it or not, he was treated as a normal resident prior to his arrival.

 

Going back to how he arrived: Kane came from an alternative Earth, where it had skipped well into the future and technology well ahead of everyone else. In order to go to Gnorfiend, he simply used Dimensional Magic in his own world, creating a portal. "Alright, I'm off now!" Kane said during the flashback created from quite some time ago. "Remember what I taught you, make the effort and grow a reputation between your peers. You're not here to get it sullied by a bunch of losers who knows absolutely shit all. Remain focused at all times." the voice said, claiming to be Kane's guardian, he watches as Kane leaves his home world for Gnorfiend.

 

When he arrived, a dark portal was created in the middle of the streets of Gnorfiend, Kane walks out of it and looked confused. I wonder, would he be able to get used to this in such a short time? "So this is Gnorfiend? Someone told me about it, but it didn't seem like anything I expected... I better take in what my guardian taught me. He gave in some fair advice anyway, so I might as well..." Kane said, looking at the streets he stepped foot on. Even residents looked confused at the arrival of a foreigner, but they all proceeded to accept him as one of them.

 

Kane had a tough history as well in the past: At the age of two, his parents had passed, leaving custody to his guardian, who happened to be a half cyborg. He used to be a human who, prior to his conversion had known magic from ancient spell books and also creating his own. After becoming a cyborg, Kane's guardian taught him the magic that he had created as well as some of his own combat abilities, but then he was left to train after a while on his own in order to develop new skills to bring and demonstrate to Gnorfiend.

 

Back in the current world, as soon as he wakes, he starts getting dressed and trains as his guardian would teach him. He grabs his life-sized training doll made from wood from the wardrobe and placed it in front of him. He took out his knives and started hacking at it straight afterwards. Kane then takes a hit, unbeknownst to him, from his training doll and proceeds to healing himself. "Heal, Chaos Curaga!" he slaps his hands together and prays, creating an aura. It was actually unknown whether or not he actually had a God, but he worships one anyway. Probably back in his home world, where Astaroth, a being his weapon was named after was deemed to be his self-proclaimed God. A few minutes in, dark streaks run through his body and immediately heals him like he was uninjured at all, but the pain doesn't go until later in the evening as a consequence. Chaos Curaga is nothing like the other elements that Kane owns.

 

Although we say it negates their properties, it only negates the appearance of the spell and inverts their colour. The healing spell may have just gone and done that, but it does the complete opposite of what the other spells intend to do, healing allies over damaging enemies. As we all say, the spell has been amplified to become stronger than its original incarnation. More to be explained later, and so...

 

"If this goes on in a real battle, I'm screwed. I better be careful..." Kane said, in stance for another try at the training doll.

[Supreme Gamesmaster]

Odd. Maia could have sworn a new shop was supposed to have opened up around here just a couple of weeks ago; but here she was, and already the place had already boarded up.

 

"That was quick..." she muttered. Curiosity - and a bit of apprehension - built inside her. She glanced around at the rest of the street. Most of it was similarly dishevelled. Some houses were for sale, others abandoned outright. The lone exception was an austere house at the end of the road. This house was reasonably well-kept - certainly inhabited - and it was far from empty. A gaggle of desperate, ragged people crouched around it. All were trying not to be seen; all were failing.

 

Curious, Maia drifted over to one of them. Only when she approached did she notice the menacing knife in his hand. She kept one hand on her mace while she raised the other in a traditional greeting. When he noticed her, he started, barked, nearly fell over.

 

Okay, Maia thought, put on your cleric voice. "Let's put down that knife, shall we?" she said. "'For the Lord delights not in death, nor in hatred,' after all."

 

He did, in fact, lay the knife down, almost sheepishly. Like many of the city's destitute, he kept a certain reverence for the clergy others did not. Most likely he'd been to the church-run homeless shelters in the pasts. "I en't gonna use this to kill anyone, sister," he half-whispered. His gravelly voice had the intonation of a four-year-old making excuses to his kindergarten teacher. "Honest, I wasn't. Swear to God, I just want his leg."

 

"His leg? That's... oddly specific."

 

"Ooh, yes!" His eyes shone with a heartbreaking mixture of greed and hope. "Many a man wants his leg who lives in that there house, sister. It's got ruby and silver and God only knows what else. The man who sold that would be made for the rest of 'is life, sister."

 

Maia swallowed, trying to keep the serene smile of a cleric from slipping into the slack jaw of a disbelieving young woman. "...You mean to tell me the inhabitant of this house has a leg made of jewels?" she said.

 

He nodded wildly, his eyes wide and desperately sincere. "Yea, yea. He tries to keep it hidden under those pants of 'is, but we can all see th'ankle glifferin' in the sun." (I think he was going for "glimmering?" thought Maia. ...I think?) "There ain't a man on this street who hasn't wanted it for 'imself. Even the ones in the 'ouses stare at it every time 'e passes, all salifyin'." (Salivating? Maybe?) "But no one's had the balls to do it who's come back," said the man, "an' I was gonna be the first..."

 

"You had best lay aside those intentions," said Maia, choosing to ignore the man's ridiculous story. "'The Lord protects honest dealings,' after all, 'and will keep from them wicked intent.' ...Which verse I'm sure you've heard before."

 

"Many times." The man sighed a heavy sigh. "I ain't never cut a man's leg off afore. I ain't even hurt no one stronger than a gash."

 

"And you had better keep it that way." Maia smiled down at him, crouched as he was in the shadows, knife dropped lamely at his side. He looked up at her like a man in a cave peering out at the sunlit world.

 

"I won't go," he said finally. "I'll take your word, sister. But there be others here that won't, I tell you. Everyone that sees that leg wants it."

 

"I confess, I'm a bit lost on that point," said Maia. "How exactly did he acquire this jewelled leg?"

 

"Lord only knows," said the man. "He's the one who came out o' the portal."

 

"...Aaaaah. I see now."

 

Leaving him with a benediction, she let this miserable street pass behind her, heading for the marketplace. She'd heard of the portal, of course - so had everyone in Gnorfiend.

 

Magical anomalies of these sorts popped up from time to time in Gnorfiend. Houses turned upside-down, sections of road turned into magical gardens, outhouses disappeared, and so on. They'd be the talk of the town for weeks afterwards, but after a month or two, some other anomaly would happen and the old one would be forgotten. Two things distinguished the portal: that a person had apparently emerged from it, and that the King's mages could not immediately identify the source of the anomaly. He'd sent a team of mages down to investigate; she had never heard the results.

 

So legends sprang up around the mysterious 'faerie' that had left the portal. All agreed he was male, muscular, with sandy-blond hair. Some said he was slim and fit; others said he was built like a wrestler. Some said he was a giant; others said he didn't even measure six feet. He carried a dagger - or a short sword - in jet black, or perhaps glowing rainbow, or dripping blood-red. This "jewelled leg" rumour Maia hadn't heard before. What would even be the point? she thought. That'd be heavy... Surely it'd clunk around so much, everyone would hear you coming a mile away?

 

For the most part, people had allowed this man to fade into normal society. He had no interest in stirring trouble; mostly he stayed in his house, which Maia had apparently just passed, and... did something (some said prepare for war; some said practice evil magics; some said commune with his demonic/angelic/fey/etc. masters from his home mension). Maia had supposed the whole thing to be just another anomaly and let it be. I suppose the King's mages will want to interview him, though, she thought. It seems like it'd be hard to solve this portal incident without talking to the man who came out of it. I'm surprised they haven't yet...

 

Well, no matter. That was for the King's mages to deal with, not for her. By now Maia had arrived at the marketplace, in all its hustle and bustle and dazzling colour. There had to be an alchemist around someplace...

 

Aha! There was one - run by some Fayyad Nejem, apparently. It was fairly large for a store Maia had never heard of. And traffic was low - perfect! With any luck I can get home, brew some of the stuff, and relax for the rest of the day... Such smiling thoughts in mind, Maia waltzed into the store.

[Chaotic Angel]

Few hours of training have passed and Kane finally finishes. He puts his training doll back, finds his glasses and switches them with the contact lenses he had on earlier. "There, now let's get to the streets..." he thought, heading out into the streets with his knife put away. He greets residents along the way as well. Then he hears whispers about a foreigner arriving at Gnorfiend, despite being there for a while now, and also at the fact that they are after his leg. He sat down on a bench nearby, and pulled his right leg sleeve, showing the jewelled prosthetic and examining the ruby from all over. "He definitely made this thing into perfection..." he continues, pulling down the sleeve straight afterwards. He gets up and saw a flyer. "A shop? Hmm... May be later. I got stuff to do." Kane said, picking up a flyer and places it in his pocket.

 

He thought of another thing next, he straightens his arm at a horizontal line and clicks his finger. Black flame appears in front of him, examining it before he clicks his finger again, making it disappear. This is what we call Chaos Firaga, with colours inverted and when hit, the strength is amplified by 125% compared to the normal fire magic being cast. We can say it's an elemental magic, but because the magic is fairly new to the world, we cannot say or tell for sure.

 

He saw Maia from a distance as she went past his house earlier. He initially didn't want to say a thing, but it made him curious. "I wonder if she's after something?" he wondered, but proceeded to heading the opposite direction anyway. He didn't want to disturb Maia or cause any trouble. Mid way through, he stopped again and experiences a flash back. "Kane... Remember, make a reputation for yourself, don't sully it and let it go to shit. The responsibility is all yours, I'm too busy back at home dealing with shit down at my end."

 

That being said, it was an awkward flash back. Kane looks at his prosthetic leg again and saw the red streak of ruby at the sides of his leg. Of course, who wouldn't when residents are staring at his leg almost all the time. "Excuse me, but would you mind? If you needed to ask questions about my leg, then go straight ahead... Don't just stare at it, it's embarrassing." Kane reminded the street residents though one came up to him and asked: "How did you get the leg, sir? It seems expensive!"

 

It took Kane long enough to reply, saying: "I simply asked for it from my guardian. I had this not too long before I came here, I previously lost a leg for a reason I don't quite remember. Probably because of an accident..."

 

"What do you have to do to get the leg then?" the resident asked, wanting elaboration. "Just talk to me if you want it, but it's very pricey, hence why it looks expensive. 300 Thousand Gold for an arm like this, 500 thousand Gold for a leg. Of course, the currency came from my home world, so I don't exactly know how to translate the money here." Kane informed.

 

Indeed the leg was pricey, but it didn't stop the one resident from being interested. "Just let me think about this one, boy... I might just have the money to buy one off you..." the resident said, watching the young six foot man leave with a smile on his face.

 

"Take care now, mister. Have a think about it before you do!" Kane said. Half a mile from the resident that Kane just greeted, he uses the Dimensional Magic to open the portal in order to see his home world and judging from the situation, it wasn't so good. Kane's guardian already has quite a bit on his plate. That being said, he had quite a few enemies of his own to kill.

 

"What is it Kane? It better be good, I got hundreds of thousands to kill here!" the guardian of Kane said, fending his own enemies off with his weapon.

 

"Where did you make my prosthetic leg? It seems that the residents of Gnorfiend took an interest in them..." Kane replied, in absolute confidence.

 

"Really now? Ugh... Alright, done. Give it three days. A box of prosthetics will arrive then." his guardian replied, closing the portal as he fights off his own enemies.

 

Kane now walks back to where he came from and took the flyer he picked up earlier from his pocket. "May be I should go there now... The only problem is... Where the hell is that thing?" he wondered as he started walking to the store in question.

 

"The only thing I need to look out for are officials... Mages, even..."

[a bad post]

In the hustle and bustle of the Mana District a young mage in white garb expertly dodged in between the closely cramped and sometimes irritable mages. The small girl was hardly noticed as she ducked in between the narrow spaces the cramped mages provided for her all the while never looking up from her tome, making quick notes in her small, practicedly neat script. 

 

This girl, Daphne Aerior, had been navigating these streets since she was a little girl and by now she could find her way anywhere without even needing to raise her head. This specific day she had in mind a very specific place. The shop owned by the alchemist Fayyad Nejem. Ever since it had opened Daphne had been using to make sure the castle stocks were constantly filled, and made sure to visit every weekend. With all her magic experiments the young girl burned through supplies quite fast, though none could say that she hadn't made strides in the field of magic due to the girl's shy nature they were known to few but the other mages she worked alongside.

 

After several minutes Daphne finally reached her destination ducking into the shop pulling the list of items she would need from her bag the quiet mage hardly even looked up from her book muttering to herself and adjusting her reading glasses before making another quick note.

 

"Umm... just this..." Daphne said absentmindedly placing the list as well as several coins on the counter in front of Fayyad before walking away to browse the shelves of the store hoping to find something interesting. Though she usually always found two or three or four things that she found interesting, which is why she always made sure to bring extra money.

[.Rooster]

Fayyad played with his abacus. He was fairly wealthy, but not so much that he could retire. The store stayed stagnant until a pretty girl entered, providing a bit more life to the room. She was slightly taller than him, and she was a little chubby. Her eyes were green, radiant and round like her round nose as well as her round face. Her head was a luscious auburn colour. Fayyad looked up, glanced at the woman and shot a perfectly genuine smile. A customer at last!

 

''Welcome to my shop! Would you like any help?'' Fayyad chirped.

 

He took a further look, and his eyes widened a little. She was clearly a cleric. What would a cleric want in a chemist's shop if healing magic is al she really needs? But if a cleric was seen with Fayyad's potions, then maybe he would muster some more interest. And more interest is equal to more customers. And more customers is equal to... Glorious work! Wonderful, fantastic, magical, outstandingly fun work! Precious work! Fayyad shone at the thought.

 

But maybe, the cleric was here to bring his home-made potions in order to preach against them. Of course. If she did so, she could heal more people with her arcane ability, thinking this act is for the better. He wasn't sure. Clerics, priests and whatnot tended to be quite an odd bunch of spellcasters. But, of course he had to check. Maybe ask for her name or something.

 

''Ah. Of course, I always forget to introduce myself. My Name is Fayyad Nejem, the one-man band shopkeeper. What about you? What's your name?''

[Chaotic Angel]

A few miles ahead and Kane also arrives at the store. He saw Fayyad, who seemed like he was twice the age as he served another customer. Kane took a look around, checking if there were anything that he wanted. Pushing his glasses up a bit, he took some spellbooks out and took a quick read. "Hmm... I wonder if this would help me become better..." he said, skimming through the pages in the shop. After a few seconds, he finished reading and put it back on the shelf. He was after something else, it looks like. "Alright, where to go next?" he thought, glaring at the set of potions in front of him and taking one of them. "Hmm... I guess I can live with a few. I'll take two bottles of them..." Kane continued, but then he stumbled across some lithium. Not something that someone like Fayyad would normally serve. "Lithium? That's the material on my guardian's leg! I know, it's stronger than platinum, but I'll just leave it at that. Lithium is expensive..." Kane said, but when he took a look at the price and translated it, it simply said three hundred Gold a piece, according to the currency in his home world.

 

"Still pricey. I'll leave it at two potions..." Kane said, taking the items to the counter and waited behind Daphne, who at the moment is being served by the alchemist that is Fayyad Nejem. It was obvious that his right leg was going to be noticeable, even a ray of sunlight could glare at it and reflect back at the counter. May be it was because of the ruby being used to make his leg.

 

"Ah, okay. So the sunlight hits my leg and reflects the counter... I have no complaints. Let's just leave it at that." he said, waiting in line.

 

After some time waiting, he realised that the girl being served actually walked away, so he proceeded to interacting with Fayyad. "Just the two potions please, my man... Kane Underwood here..." he said, taking off his glasses and switching them for contacts. "Yeah, excuse me. I can't see very well with either of them... Not yet, anyway. If you can recommend me to some really good contacts, I'd appreciate it." he said, explaining the situation about his poor eyesight. He then put some money on the table. Hopefully enough for the two potions he took from the shelf. If not, he would put some more, but in the end it was up to Fayyad, who runs the place.

 

"This place is certainly quiet... It's just opened, is probably why. I'd say give it some time. I'll even be a regular customer if help is all you need..."

 

But of course, it's not the matter of whether Kane would help at a shop or not, but all he was here for really is create a reputation amongst his peers. We just hope he doesn't screw it up.

[Supreme Gamesmaster]

When she first walked in, Maia was so busy looking for the counter that she nearly ran into the only other customer in the store. She stopped just in time to watch the tiny, white-robed mage slip by her. The mage, perusing her shopping list, didn't seem to notice. Thank goodness for small graces.

 

Actually, watching the girl pass, Maia realized - She's cute... She looked like a porcelain doll: small, pale, delicate, and exquisitely crafted. Even browsing the shelves (quite aimlessly, for someone who just seconds ago was buried in a shopping list), she managed a sense of elegance. She eyed a vial of some kind on a high shelf. Too high for her to reach, by the looks of it...

 

I should go to her, Maia thought. Introduce myself, ask her name. I'll regret it if I don't. She traced the girl past a couple of shelves and strode towards her...

 

"Welcome to my shop! Would you like any help?"

 

Maia started. Once again, she'd nearly walked into someone. In this case, the shopkeeper. He was cute, too, albeit in a very different sense from the mage: small, in orange clothing, with a goatee that somehow reminded her of a friendly faun, or perhaps the wise centaur from the stories. Well, perhaps she only found him cute because of his voice. He was so happy to see a customer, he sounded like a lark greeting the dawn.

 

She did consider brushing him off and going after the girl instead. She wasn't proud to admit it, but she did consider it. Still, she couldn't bring herself to leave this man. (In her indecision, she managed to miss his smile contorting from happy to thrilled to frightened to observant. She was glancing back and forth between the man and the girl at any rate.)

 

The shopkeeper apparently mistook her inner conflict for simply being overwhelmed. "Ah, of course," he said. "I always forget to introduce myself. My name is Fayyad Nejem, the one-man-band shopkeeper." He smiled again, a salesman's smile. (Well, obviously, thought Maia, he's a salesman.) "What about you? What's your name?"

 

It was a bit tricky to answer a script. "Erm, I'm Maia," she said. "Maia Delward. I'm here on behalf of the Church of the Rising Glory, in the east quarter."

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Maia caught a flash of movement. The mage was back in her sights. As she explained her situation to the shopkeeper, Fayyad Nejem, she glanced occasionally over at her, trying not to lose track of her. "We were planning to open our clinic again on Monday, but we're, er - " glance at the girl - "running low on, er, ingredients for the medicine. I think we're set on Anti-Abrasive Serum, and that's the main thing, but we need - " glance at the girl, who was changing shelves - "um, I wanna say Potions of Inner Restoration and... oh, Cleansing Serums, lots of Cleansing Serums. We do all the brewing ourselves," she added, quickly enough to forestall the shopkeeper's suggestions, "but we gotta get the ingredients from somewhere, so, uh..."

 

She'd lost the girl again. Curses. Well, no sense regretting things now. Live in the present, or something. "Uh, long story short, I've got a list of what we need here," she said. "Don't suppose you have this much Gesthenor's reagent...?"

 

Clunk.

 

Maia turned towards the sound, expecting to see a bottle fallen from the shelves. Perhaps the mage had reached for a compound on the top shelf and hadn't quite reached; perhaps a draft simply knocked a bottle loose. But she didn't see a bottle.

 

She saw the strangest man she'd ever seen.

 

***

 

He was huge. That was the first thing he noticed. Not tall - he barely stood six feet, if that - but big, bulky, like a mercenary, or a circus strongman. This much alone could hardly intimidate Maia. She'd treated far worse patients. His clothes were stranger. His shirt, a peasant's tunic, was torn, with the sleeves ripped off - but strangely white in colour for a garment so abused. But his pants were dyed blue, the colour of the aristocrats. Well, a strange, faded blue, at any rate. Their fabric was rougher than any Maia had ever seen, and she knew of no dye that produced such a faded hue.

 

He took a step. Clunk. Every time his right leg hit the ground, it clunked against the wood floor. He'd be instantly conspicuous, even in a crowd. In this store, which had fallen very quiet after the man entered, it was agonizingly loud. Maia examined his right leg, curious. There, by his ankle - something red caught the light, briefly shining. No, it couldn't be... A leg made of ruby? Those rumours were true? So this was the strange recluse from that dismal street!

 

He didn't seem to notice her presence; rather, he drifted to the spellbooks on the other side of the store. Maia let out a breath. She had to admit, she didn't relish the man's presence, though she was glad no desperate madmen had sawed off his leg to pawn it off.

 

She turned nervously back to the shopkeeper. "Er, as I was saying, we need a lot of Gesthenor's reagent..."

 

And so they discussed, back and forth, the nature of her purchase, as well as some of the finer details. Fayyad Nejem turned out to have quite an extensive selection. Maia made a mental note to visit him more often in the future. Still, she couldn't quite settle in and enjoy the conversation. Every once in a while, the clunk of a ruby leg would echo throughout the store.

 

Then the clunks started getting closer. There the man was, rounding the corner with a purchase in hand. Maia decided this would be a good time to excuse herself and get to browsing. Just as she left Fayyad, the man showed up, gingerly holding two bottles in his massive hands.

 

"Just the two potions, please, my man. Kane Underwood here." He set his potions down on a counter, then moved his hand to his face. Suddenly Maia realized he was wearing some strange form of glasses. He took his glasses off, pocketed them in his faded blue pants, then produced some strange jewelry box from his pocket. He opened it, and retrieved from it... nothing at all. He simply looked at his finger and nodded, satisfied, at some invisible object perched on his fingertip. Then he stretched his eye open and poked himself in the eye

 

NO

 

NO

 

NO

 

NO

 

NO

 

THIS IS NOT OKAY

 

The man seemed fine - his eye was no worse for wear after the fact, and he kept chatting to the man quite amicably, asking to find some contacts in town (of all the non-sequiturs! Who would ask about contacts after jabbing himself in the eye what). But frankly Maia wasn't about to stick around after that. Still shuddering from the image, she sidled behind a shelf and slipped away. She didn't want to see this strange man anymore today.

 

She decided to track down the mage girl, as quickly as possible, and hope she hadn't seen the horrific sights Maia herself had seen. She set off to search amongst the shelves.

[Yami Zero]

"Finally I'm back home!" Said the just awoken teen to himself "That Goblin thief mission was tedious at most"  He spoke of a small quest he was sent on to keep him busy and not adventuring towards dangerous areas as he usually did. He quickly noticed his mission supplies were running low "Oh great! I'm out of potions and I've learned everything in my grimoires! Now I need to go and do a supply run." He began to stand up and put on his adventure gear and began to exit the house with a flier at hand "Maybe this Fayyam has the stuff I need."

 

He walked towards the nearby shop as he noticed Maia "So there's the cleric" he thought as he walked past and grabbed a crumpled up list from his pocket and entered the shop, awaiting his turn. When it finally came he asked the obviously older shopkeeper "Hey! Name's Luke! I wanted to know, do you by any chance have anything even closely related to Gorgon's Essence or Gowrow Tusks? I need them to make some potions. Oh! By the way, do you by any chance have any fire magic grimoires?" he asked as he ignored the distinctive man and grabbed a vial of phoenix tears from a nearby shelf.

 

He saw some other potions on the shelves and collected them. He followed up by putting them on the counter and asked "Can you add those to the bill too?" He continued browsing for more potions and some elixirs around the shop.

[a bad post]

Daphne continued to peruse the shelves of the alchemist's shop while she waited for her order to be filled. As she did so she noticed some of the other strange customers of Mr. Fayyad Nejem's shop. A woman clad in the garb of the church, and Daphne thought she recognized the woman from some of her trips to the church, but the young mage couldn't quite place her finger on it. 

 

Daphne nearly jumped out of her skin though as she heard a heavy clunk from behind her, and gaped in awe as a massive man marched up to the shop owner with two potions introducing himself for Kane Underwood. Daphne's eyes widened even further as she saw begin to mangle his eye right before the cleric woman and Nejem.

 

"What are you doing!?" the royal mage girl nearly shrieked, before clapping her hands over her mouth at her outburst. She was so shocked by the sight before her that she didn't even acknowledge her teen wolf colleague as he entered the shop.

[Chaotic Angel]

Realising his reputation was about to be sullied, Kane looked at the royal mage, Daphne, then looked away again. He began placing more coins on the counter and legged it with his items. "Here you are, Fayyad! I better shoot off! Consider the extras as tips!" he said, beginning to make a run for it. He realised quite early on that mages were in the shop trying to track him down. "I better try something then... Aeroga!" he continued, running a few more miles and near the front of the shop, he was swaying his arms back and forth to create two strong tornadoes in order to block off the path. That, we can call Chaos Aeroga, the two tornadoes that blocks the path to Kane. Again, we say it negates properties and elements... But in reality it only negates the appearance and inverts its colours. Surely, nothing wrong with that? No. The spell is actually stronger than the original Aero, without the Chaos name behind it. Thankfully, he wasn't trying to attack anyone just yet.

 

Kane then opens the portal to his home world and gets in touch with his guardian.

 

"Seriously, Kane. Fuck off. What do you want?" the guardian said, slicing one of his enemies and ended up having its corpse go through the portal. Before the portal shuts, Kane said: "Mages are starting to tail me... I think they found me out. Here, take the lens!" Kane said, taking off his contacts, placing it in the box and swaps them over for glasses, before giving the lens to his guardian. "Whoop. Shit. Kane, why give me those? There's people tailing you, you should really run off and find a place to hide... We don't want them turning against you!" Now, goodbye! I still got a few thousand left to kill! I've been fighting for nine hours today! Now fuck off, leave me alone." the guardian said, shutting the portal to Kane's home land and left him to fend for himself.

 

"Ahh! Corpse!" Kane said, stepping back a bit, to examine the corpse behind him. "Phew, it's only a replica. But, whose...?" Kane continued, flipping the dead corpse with its back facing up. The engraving said 'Suffocated Gravekeeper'. "Shit, that's me... Oh yeah, I know." Kane said, flipping the corpse back up and placed his right hand on its chest. After a full minute, the replicated version of Kane gets up and was immediately made into the real Kane's ally. "They wanna track me down, eh? Fool the mages to thinking it's me! Go back to that shop!" the real Kane commanded, as the fake one heads straight back to the shop. The Suffocated Gravekeeper goes ahead and nullifies the magic Kane casted under his command and headed to the shop.

 

As soon as the it reached the shop, it pulled out its knife and pointed it at the mage. The Suffocated Gravekeeper looked real, but the saturation and the contrast in terms of colouring is slightly darker than the real Kane, so with a naked eye, no one could tell whether that was real or not unless they are truly professional mages. The replica is likely to be looking for a fight. That wasn't under the real Kane's command though, before the real Kane realised it, the Suffocated Gravekeeper thinks about who to start fighting first, standing in position and to the fakey, it was whoever it looks at first would be getting the first hit.

 

"Wait, is my replica gonna cause trouble to everyone in Gnorfiend? I can't allow that!"

 

With that said, the real Kane also heads back to the shop, but will he arrive to stop his fake self before it's too late?

 

"Hey, people! We have unauthorised entry that accidently flowed outside of one's home portal! Can anyone help me with this!?"

 

Kane asks the townspeople, hoping that he could get help removing the Suffocated Gravekeeper from Gnorfiend.

[.Rooster]

So far, three people were in his shop. He pretty much forgot about Daphne, and the cleric was about to start talking. "Erm, I'm Maia," the cleric said. She continued. "Maia Delward. I'm here on behalf of the Church of the Rising Glory, in the east quarter.", she said. Of course! The clerics feed on all the publicity. "We were planning to open our clinic again on Monday, but we're, er - " she stopped glanced at Daphne - "running low on, er, ingredients for the medicine. I think we're set on Anti-Abrasive Serum, and that's the main thing, but we need - " Again she watched Daphne, while she was changing shelves - "um, I wanna say Potions of Inner Restoration and... oh, Cleansing Serums, lots of Cleansing Serums. We do all the brewing ourselves, but we gotta get the ingredients from somewhere, so, uh..." hmm

 

She stopped to gaze at some blacksmith in dirty trousers and some cute-looking muscles. What was her problem? She couldn't speak without gazing into somebody's eyes. What a weird child, but she still payed anyway. After Maia was finished, the odd-looking smither stopped standing there like a cheapskate and went up to the counter.

 

"Still pricey. I'll leave it at two potions... Ah, okay. So the sunlight hits my leg and reflects the counter... I have no complaints. Let's just leave it at that. Just the two potions please, my man... Kane Underwood here... Yeah, excuse me. I can't see very well with either of them... Not yet, anyway. If you can recommend me to some really good contacts, I'd appreciate it. Kane gave Fayyad some money. Fayyad couldn't care less about the way he spoke, but he still decided not to speak.

 

"This place is certainly quiet... It's just opened, is probably why. I'd say give it some time. I'll even be a regular customer if help is all you need..." the smith proposed. Regular customer? What does he mean?  He is a regular customer. And this shop has been open for a decade! Much to his delight, Kane decided to add extra money. For some reason, the peculiar goldsmith seemed worried. This was incredibly obvious once he cast a spell in his shop. Fayyad started to fume. What on earth is this son of a bitch trying to do?! Before Fayyad could shout, he disappeared. 

[Not-so-Radiant Arin]

In a lone quiet forest on the outskirts of the realm, a small shack sat secluded among a grove of evergreen trees. The evergreen trees did well to hide the shack, a simple house with a small chimney that was puffing out smoke. She had really wondered in such a condensed place like this if the trees would catch fire from the smoke. No, that would never happen, would it?

 

Rosalina had just awoken with the bright blazing sun glaring overhead. She was accustomed to sleeping in for the whole day, not even waking up until the evening time. Her training was so rigorous and specialized that it took the most out of her. But today, she felt that there was something different going on. She could feel in the air, and with the recent strange weather occurrences that have happened, it almost seemed as if something apocalyptic was ready to take place. Rosalina closed the curtains to her window, slipped out of her bedwear clothing, which consisted of nothing more than a simple black dress that barely reached to her kneecaps and thigh-highs, and dressed herself in her usual attire. Her attitude wasn't sluggish, but it certainly wasn't enthusiastic, either; like most people, Rosalina was definitely not a morning person.

 

She walked downstairs to the living area of her house. She had been living here for the past nine years with her new father, who only honored the name of "Grandmaster", and did not actually share his name. Rosalina sluggishly threw together some breakfast, which consisted of some warm bread and milk. After finishing, she walked to the outer door, grabbing her spear off of the wall mount next to the door and proceeded outside.

 

Rosalina looked as numerous training dummies, made of a soft fabric in the center and wood to resemble the bones, littered the front yard. The Grandmaster must have had a specific challenge in mind for Rosalina. There were about ten, no, twenty of these wooden dummies that littered the front of the house. But the Grandmaster was nowhere to be found. Rosalina knew she had training, but not to this kind of degree. But Rosalina had to do what was necessary: she wanted to become strong. She wanted to practice self-control, and she wanted to redeem herself for failing her family. Ever since the incident all those years ago, she has devoted her life to becoming a patron of self-control. She thought nothing of revenge or torment, but only retribution for herself and her failure.

 

She bowed in honor towards the dummies to start her training. Even though they were just training dummies, the symbol of an honorable fight could not be ignored. She then drew her spear, and took a stance to prepare to strike. She lunged at the front most training dummy, knocking off the fabric tied around it's chest. Then, she diverted her attention to her left, swinging her spear down vertically, dismembering the training dummy's left arm. She then brought her spear around across her body and struck the other training dummy, knocking off it's fabric as well.

 

She glanced forward. There was a circle of training dummies with enough space for her to practice her swinging technique. She gripped her spear, swinging down at one of the training dummies, then turning the blunt end of her spear backward and striking at a training dummy behind her. She then crouched, preparing a special stance for her circular swing, then swung with the full force of a hundred men, knocking off the training dummies from their posts in one single strike.

 

The last of the training dummies fell to the floor with a crack. Rosalina looked around, analyzing her situation, but there was no more prey for her to eviscerate. She had completed her training, which apparently was supposed to be special today, but Rosalina felt as though it was anything but. Then, she heard the sound of slow clapping. She looked around, and noticed an old man with a long white beard walking towards her.

 

"Oh, Grandmaster!" Rosalina quickly bowed in recognition towards her Grandmaster.

 

[spoiler='OOC: Music]

 

[media]http://agnello-pecora.chu.jp/CAMeLIA/mus/m6.mp3[/media][/spoiler]

 

"You've come far in your training, Rose. But today, you must set your wings for greater heights," said the Grandmaster, stroking his beard and leaning on his cane. "There is nothing more you can obtain here. I have taught you everything I know."

 

"But, Grandmaster, there must be so many more things you must teach me! I am in need of your wisdom!"

 

The Grandmaster simply shook his head in response, continuing to stroke his beard. "Today, you must set out. If you really wish to continue on your path, then you must head...to a place called Gnorfiend. They have a branch of warriors there, just like you, magicians and fighters alike, all with a common goal. It is up to you to decide whether you want to pursue that path."

 

Rosalina gripped her spear. "I can't just leave the Grandmaster all alone. He's done so much for me. There has to be a way to repay him."

 

"I know what you're thinking, and it's quite alright, my dear. A bird must always leave it's nest one day. They grow their own wings and set out on their own adventure. And as for this father bird..." The Grandmaster's voice trailed off as he looked down at his hand, opening it and staring at it. "...I'm afraid his time has come. The time to pass on what he knows. If you really want to devote your life to this cause, this redemption of yours, then you must go. Go to the place they call Gnorfiend."

 

Rosalina looked away from her Grandmaster. "Gnorfiend?"

 

"Yes. You must go there. Surely you must have noticed the terrible weather that has been plaguing this realm, right? It is unnatural. The answer must lie in Gnorfiend, somewhere. You...you must find out what it is."

 

"But, what will YOU do, Grandmaster?"

 

The Grandmaster shook his head again and closed his eyes, lifting his head up to the sky. "I will live my life...in peace." There was a pause in the atmosphere before the Grandmaster spoke again. "Now, you must go. Do this, and you may find the redemption you are looking for."

 

"Grandmaster, I..."

 

Rosalina's head was filled with the beautiful and amazing memories she spent with the Grandmaster: him watching over her during training, them laughing and having a good laugh over breakfast together, them going down to the pond and catching fish. A tear formed in Rosalina's eye. But she knew she had to be strong. She couldn't show weakness to anyone, even her mentor.

 

"It's okay to cry, child. This is a big step for you. Most others have taken this step, much like you, and have persevered in the same way. Please do not worry about me."

 

Rosalina nodded, wiping away the tear in her eye with her hand, and then bowed to the Grandmaster. But this would be the last time she would ever see him again. Rosalina walked over to her mentor, and in the next moment, gave him a long, big, embrace, wrapping her arms around him for quite some time. She cried into his shoulder, softly and quietly.

 

"My oh my. You act so tough, but you really are soft on the inside, you know? Ssshhh, it's okay."

 

When their moment was over, Rosalina pulled away from her Grandmaster and looked to the distance. Gnorfiend...the only thing that she knew about the place was that it was the Kingdom, the biggest city in the entire realm, and that there was something there that she needed to seek out. Rosalina gripped her spear, then looked at the Grandmaster sternly. "I'll see you again, right?"

 

"Yes. Now go on child. Your next great chapter awaits you."

 

Rosalina started walking away from her house, away from the Grandmaster, and into the unknown. She gave one final look to her Grandmaster, turning her head away and holding back tears. Was she even ready to take this big of a leap? She knew she wasn't strong. She knew she wasn't ready. It was only apparent that time would tell...

 

**

 

After a few long hours on the road, with the occasional stop or two to ask for directions or to ask for some water for her journey, she had finally arrived at the steps of Gnorfiend. The city was larger than she imagined, with multiple walking in and out on carriages and messengers running patrol routes in and out of the city. Twin watchtowers guarded the entrance to the city, and mantled on it were blue flags, flying high and mighty. Rosalina breathed in deeply and walked into the city.

[G4hardcore]

<Do you think there are fighters in this place?>

Vanilor's thoughts bled into Katrina's head as the two walked through the outskirts of a forest. They had flown in over the salty seas on a long journey; a journey that demanded they both take a break from flying for a bit. Having passed through a powerful storm over the water, Katrina and Vanilor had witnessed first hand the type of weather atrocities that seemed to plague these lands. All things considered, the duo saw it as nothing more than a normal occurrence, even if the winds were so strong they'd threatened to rip the young dragon's wings from his shoulders. Sore and worse for wear, the tired pair took to the ground on the first bit of land they saw. Now, their path toward the city that loomed in the far distance was one that would continue on foot. Katrina, walking beside her trusted companion, nodded in response to Valinor.

"There must be fighters here. That and more, I would wager. If the rumors about this land are true. It almost seems as if that storm forced us to land here, even if this was our destination... You're hungry. Are you well enough to hunt?"

The dragon snorted in response, even going so far as to puff his broad chest out and let out a wisp of black smoke from his nostrils indignantly. <I am a dragon; I could hunt with my wings cut off and my forelimbs tied by my own tail!>

"Alright, alright. Go ahead then, and catch up with me when you've had your fill. I saw animal tracks a few paces back."

<I can still smell the critters,> Vanilor replied matter-of-factly. <If they have never seen a dragon, they might not even run...> Vanilor hoped whatever prey that lived among these evergreens were at least mildly challenging. Even though the silver dragon was a small, young drake, as an alpha predator back home, not many creatures could put up a half decent fight in the wild. Giant rams, bears and even a few sea creatures, to name a few, were among his favorite to hunt, even at the cost of some injury.

"Oh, they'll run," Katrina smiled, stealing a glance at Valinor. "Teeth like those are not for warm greetings, I should think. Maybe they shall fight too. I shall continue north, go on then."

Valinor prowled off south, backtracking to ensnare his potential prey. Meanwhile, Katrina trotted onward on strangely light feet, despite her saddle-sore body. Valinor carried most of their supplies in his saddle, but Katrina had a few essentials on her person. Among them were her vials of metals, secure; she downed just a bit of tin to enhance her senses, and picked up on the scent of smoke not far. She adjusted her course just slightly to find the source, and after a few minutes, came to a small cabin. The area around it was filled with battle dummies, all destroyed and pulverized. Whatever or whoever had done this, was strong, based on the condition of the figures.

"That answers Valinor's inquiry with certainty, I suppose. If not a fighter, an animal of some kind."

She strutted about a bit, eyeing the surroundings with inhuman senses. Her vampiric sense of smell coupled with the lightly burning tin was able to distinguish between two separate individuals, one of which who was still nearby. Hm... She thought for a moment of her own hunger, but thought against her natural instincts. Even after all these centuries, the urge to feed was just as potent. However, it wouldn't be smart to go around eating strangers in a strange land.

Katrina walked up to the door of the shack in the woods and knocked three times.

[Yami Zero]

Luke obtained his shopping and left, thinking to himself "Well this is interesting. And why do I have this strange feeling as if something's going to go wrong?" He quickly grabbed his just purchased grimoire and read a few new spells. He looked over at a nearby savage bear from the wilderness, and said "Kurementsu Harlor" as his clawed hand engulfed itself in bright flames and cut/scorched the bear. Luke's eyes widened at the power of his new spell, but this was quickly forgotten after feeling the drawback of said power. He fell to the floor, noticing that his whole right arm, along with his torso, had been burnt, not to the point of being useless, but to the point of excruciating pain. He let out a savage howl as he began to transform, losing his control, and his sanity. His wolf form quickly looked over at Kane, baring his fangs and his claws. He  ran towards him, about to strike him until he managed to regain consciousness and untransformed. He said to Kane "Sorry about that!" awkwardly laughs as to try and not make the situation any more serious. "I'm extremely sorry I kinda lose control sometimes when I obtain horrible pain or emotional chaos. Oh where are my manners at? I'm Luke Lansor Night! What's your name dimension jumper?" He kindly smiled, trying to reconcile for the near attack at the distinguishing man. Luke then, before allowing the man to speak, ran towards a nearby bush, having heard a savage growl from another bear (the natural predator of a wolf, or atleast the cubs which Luke technically is considering he's a child). He fought a few before coming back to Kane wearing a bearskin coat and shoes.

[Supreme Gamesmaster]

Who knew two casks of Gesthenor's Reagent, six flasks of Viper's Tonic, eight vials of glittersteel solution, fourteen crane feathers, four owlbear skulls, and a bottle of catalwort would be so incredibly heavy? If her bag weren't enchanted, Maia wouldn't be able to carry it all. Even with the enchantments, she struggled a bit under the weight of it.

 

So when Clunky McEyeStabber threw a couple of tornadoes around outside the shop, Maia ended up overbalancing and falling.

 

She barely noticed the pain of the fall, though. How could she, when the spell itself hurt to even stand near? The instant he cast his spell, sharp pain stabbed into Maia's head, and the aftereffects lingered after he'd clunked off into the distance. He'd done... something to the flow of mana there, something violent and chaotic and painful. Curious, yes, but hardly pleasant. Maia decided she didn't want to see this man ever again.

 

Several of Maia's things had fallen out of her bag when she fell, so she gathered them up, slowly and without much dignity. The shop had fallen into a strange silence after ruby-legs had clunked away. "What just happened?" Maia asked, half-smiling, hoping to make some conversation, maybe lighten the mood. No dice - the shopkeeper looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. She found the mage girl, too, standing near the front of the store and looking positively traumatized. Truth be told, Maia didn’t feel much better. But her job wasn’t to let that show.

 

So she put on her Cleric Voice: the voice every cleric learned, by training or by experience, to use while looking over the sick, the needy, and the desperate of all stripes. “Is everyone all right?” she asked – always the first question. She let her voice stand firm as rock but soft as velvet, secure yet gentle. Hopefully the shopkeeper would be able to swallow his anger; hopefully the mage could resume her calm. After a second, things seemed to settle.

 

Then they heard Clunky’s voice: “Hey, people! We have unauthorised entry that accidently flowed outside of one's home portal! Can anyone help me with this!?”

 

He darted off again before anyone could respond, but his words left a chill in the room. Maia glanced around at the shopkeeper and the mage, each of whom was about to lose it. “What do we do?” she asked, quietly but surely. No use letting uncertainty infect her voice at a time like this. Still, she hardly knew what to do herself. A Cleric’s job was to help everyone else, to protect them from harm. If her fellows wanted to stay in the shop and barricade it, she’d help them. If the mage chased after the “unauthorized entry,” she would too.

[Not-so-Radiant Arin]

Rosalina definitely felt something strange going on. She listened to the clamor of the people in the district that she had entered, which looked more or less like a Mage Quarter, fitted with some street vendors and nameless civilians who went about their business. It felt just like a normal day in the district of the city. But Rosalina couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was happening, or about to happen. Rosalina walked along the cobblestone path towards the center of the city, watching many nameless people run in the opposite direction as her. Rosalina had attempted to stop and ask numerous people what was going on, but all of them simply ignored Rosalina and left in a panic. Finally, she got the attention of one civilian, a young male, who had looked like he'd seen better days.

 

"What, you don't know? There's someone that just arrived here and is causing a ruckus in the Shopping District. Portal magic and all."

 

Wait, portal....magic? What was this portal, and did it have anything to do with the recent flux in the weather surrounding the realm? Rosalina knew she had to set her sights on this next person, who could manipulate this "portal" magic. "Forgive me for asking, but what does this person look like?"

 

"Umm, pale, blue-eyed, tall, very tall. His leg, though, he has...a weird leg."

 

The prospect of someone having a "weird leg" intrigued Rosalina. "Weird leg," Rosalina repeated to the passerby, in a questioning tone.

 

"Made of expensive jewels and whatnot. Rubies, some kind of strange metal. Makes a strange sound every time he takes a step. It's really creepy!"

 

Rosalina perked up. It seemed she knew what to do next. "Thank you for your time. Now please, get somewhere safe!"

 

"You don't have to tell me twice!" And with that, the distraught townsperson ran off in the opposite direction. Rosalina readied her spear, just in case the situation warrants it. Though she wasn't in the mood for fighting, she couldn't afford to let these people die carelessly. She continued walking up the stone path and rounded the corner.

 

Outside of one the shops were two large vortexes of wind. They looked like miniature versions of tornadoes. They trapped people inside the shop, as Rosalina quickly glanced at the front entrance and saw two females, one who looked like a church priestess or something of the like, and another who liked she became a life-sized version of a certain popular doll. But then, there was also a third one, a man. Had she not talked to the passerby beforehand, she definitely would have not known who the man was, but given the accurate (and maybe truthful?) description the man presented, it definitely was him. Rosalina hid herself against the wall so that she wouldn't be seen, but then poked her head out again to look at the commotion. Her ears caught wind of something that the man was telling everyone.

 

"Hey, people! We have unauthorised entry that accidently flowed outside of one's home portal! Can anyone help me with this!?"

 

Wait, just what exactly was going on? Given the circumstances, Rosalina definitely thought the man would be a bad guy of some sort, since he was causing all sorts of upheaval for what seemed like the hell of it. There were people trapped inside the shop who were probably scared to death, or injured of some kind, and that wouldn't even be the worst of it. But the way he talked about the "unauthorized entry" gave Rosalina the clue that the man was definitely not from this world. If that were the case, it would make subduing him that much easier, as she didn't have to worry about people potentially coming after her or lynching her.

 

Rosalina thought about how she would go about the situation. Would it be wise to confront the man at this point? Rosalina didn't have time to think about this anymore. She rounded the corner and walked slowly up the cobblestone path, towards the man. "Hello, sir...? Would you mind telling me what's going on here?"

[G4hardcore]

A howl reverberated through the forest, catching the attention of a certain pale reptile. The creatures Vanilor were tracking seemed to be small, according to their fresh footprints and looming scent, but the dragon knew only one kind of animal to make such a sound; wolves. Though his prey were many, he opted to transition to a larger and more worthy meal. From the sound of it, an unreasonably big one, a few miles away at least. Vanilor found a clearing hastily and jumped, gliding so close over the treetops that branches scratched at his scales, until he was close to the source. Not wanting to give away his position, the hunter crept through the trees after landing, until he found what he was looking for, though what he found was not what he was looking for.

Instead of a giant wolf of some kind, Vanilor spotted a man. He was not alone either; he was butchering a small handful of savage and proud looking bears, having already killed one. Vanilor watched, his interest piqued, until the man began to slice and skin the bears. The dragon's lip curled in disgust; the stranger walked away from the massacre, uninjured and sporting new clothing with an amicable smile. As he approached another man with a gleaming leg, a single word sounded off in his mind at what was going on.

<Poacher.>

The majestic bears were simply left to rot under the heat of the rising sun, without having had a single bite taken from their flesh. Vanilor had dealt with the likes of men like this before, but this was a little different. This man seemed to be very skilled, and possessed power over fire; the carcasses were still smoking.<A human who kills for pleasure. How sickeningly old. No matter, you shall soon enter the wheel of fate, for one who lives a violent life is destined to die violently.>

Vanilor turned and left the way he came. He'd not forget his face and smell. Meeting back up with Katrina, he explained his findings. Katrina's reaction was similar, though more contained.

"Do not fret, my friend. Let us meet this desecrating poacher with Uden's bite, as we have in the past. Skilled though he may be, evil deeds must not go unpunished." Poachers were unquestionably cruel and relentlessly violent. If left unchecked, this man would continue his ways, either disturbing the delicate ecosystem of the island and/or threatening the species as a whole.On the way toward the poacher, Katrina explained that she discovered a cabin with an old man that had been kind enough to offer some tea and directions. He apparently thought she was a lost traveler. She gratefully accepted the directions, kindly declined the tea, and went on her way. The old man, upon Katrina asking about the dummies, had also explained what had caused said destruction. The dhampir wasn't sure that the information was relevant or helpful, but she's remember the name and the scent nonetheless.

After a short bit of time, the duo came upon the scene of the crime. If he was still there, they'd stay hidden amongst the trees like predators on the prowl. Sure enough, skinless bears were strung about carelessly. "Such a shame," she murmured to herself, before Vanilor motioned with his snout towards the guilty individual.

"I'm glad you came back for me first. That's unlike you, I must say. You grow wiser by the day; I would be loathe if any harm came to you. Now then, bear-killer... it seems you do not travel alone." Katrina felt the little bit of tin left in her system run low. She flared it, closed her eyes, and listened in to get a grasp of who these people were to the poacher.

[Chaotic Angel]

"Hey, replica... Stay the hell put!" Kane said, as he re-enters the scene. He notices Rosalina as he came back and said: "I had to take down a foreigner that my guardian in my home world accidentally thrown in here and throw him back out."

 

"This is it, my own replica, there's several hundred at the moment and this is the only one that managed to accidentally fall in. I'd be careful..."

 

He warns her and everyone around him, but then the Suffocated Gravekeeper turned around and points its knife at Kane, intending to kill him as well.

 

"Aww, hell no... You put that thing down, you hear me... PUT IT DOWN!" Kane warns his own replica, but the latter seems to fail at complying so it leaves Kane with no choice. "You won't comply, yeah? Fine. Looks like I'm gonna have to euthanize you." he concluded, pulling out his knife and ties it to a string that he pulls out minutes later. Afterwards, he takes a step forward and throws a knife at his replica, or shall we say clone in that case? It shouldn't concern Kane, but the minute he throws his knife, the Suffocated Gravekeeper tries to block it. The latter fails and manages to get the knife impaled through his arm before Kane drags the Suffocated Gravekeeper towards him and pins the latter down.

 

"Are you guys alright? Is anyone hurt?" he asked, pulling the knife out of the replica and looks around him. Much to our surprise, no blood was coming out. Kane then puts his knife away and brings his hands together as if he wants to cast another spell. To be honest, this one is a bit more depressing than the others we've seen...

 

"Karma!" Kane chanted, bringing out his right hand and presses it against the Suffocated Gravekeeper's back, applies a rune on it, and a countdown appears, starting from ten.

 

"That should do it. After ten seconds, it should be put to sleep or rather, to death."

 

"I'll be back in a short while, excuse me..." he said, as he dragged the foreigner back a couple of miles, swaying left and right constantly because of his eyesight and struggling to keep straight. As soon as he got back to where he once was, the replica was already dead and with that, he opened the portal again in order to try and reach his home world. Kane threw his replica back inside and closes the portal again after shouting: "And you can STAY THERE!", patting his hands together and heads back outside the shop, still questioning his reputation in front of the mages, or what not.

 

When he arrives back, he stands outside the shop and apologises for the trouble.

 

"Sorry I blew up on you guys earlier... I wondered if you guys thought I was bad news to you guys... I hope I wasn't like that to you guys, after all. All the citizens seem to have accepted me when I arrived here some time ago, in case you're asking." he said, but then he goes around thinking whether or not he should co-operate with those people, or mages perhaps?

 

The King would be intrigued to see Kane, but it's only a matter of time before he does so...

[TheWhiteWizard]

There was something amiss, Ian could fell it in the air. The sky looked like something had morphed it. Ian had been laying in a low branch on a tall tree. He was at lest a mile away from the kingdom, however he could make out a large shape flying in the sky. "Maybe its just a bird," Ian spoke silently.
"I should investigate the disturbance though," Ian climbed down from his tree. At the base of his tree was a small campish area, there was a table littered with papers and notes. Form the information he had gathered, there was a strange portal traveling maniac on the loose. Ian figured he had nothing to do with these disturbances, so he cast the details on him aside and studied the maps of the island.
Suddenly Ian felt a greater disturbance. He grabbed a well worn book, flipped through a few pages, nothing in his notes could explain what he felt. "Could this be the shadow warriors?" Ian questioned his self. He climbed back into the trees and began moving through the trees. "There's that bird again." Ian thought out loud. Moving through the trees Ian followed the rather large bird now, towards the source of the disturbance. Finally the large bird landed near skinned bears, finally Ian realize his bird was a dragon. Had this best cruelly killed these bears? The disturbance was stronger here but it was fading what ever it was, was long gone now. Ian watch the dragon, "has it seen me?" Ian was careful to stay out of sight of the dragon, and was there another creature? "I have to be careful not to be seen."

[G4hardcore]

Katrina's tin enhanced senses strained to hear what was going on, but the others were simply too far. The challenge came from the sheer output of having to sort through what was relevant in the world of sound. Luckily, not much was going on around them, but even still... They were going to have to get closer, and that meant leaving the security of the woods and entering the outskirts of the district where the shop was. Her tin flared, it burned out in her stomach, but not before her ears picked up on a soft rustling of branches in a patch of thick trees. Suddenly, her focus shifted from Luke the flaming poacher and his merry band, to... an unknown stalker. She made no indication that she knew she was being watched, but instead reached out to Vanilor's mind with her own.

'...Vanilor.'
<I know. We may have to take them all on. The advantage is ours if we strike first. It is the cost of mindlessly slaying the animals of the forest for dishonorable gain.>
'Vanilor, we are being watched. I can hear someone in the trees.'
<How odd. I can smell no one. Only the trees. Are you sure, little one?>
'Quite. My tin was burning at it's peak before it faded. That is why I speak with my mind, not my voice.'
<Ah, and how might we greet our friend in the trees?>

Katrina put a hand on the pommel of Uden without looking away from Luke. Then, without a moment's hesitation, she jumped into the air, kicking off of Vanilor himself. She grabbed a branch in front of her when she was high enough, and swung onto it with her free hand, the other sporting her silver blade. "I know you are there, stranger," Katrina barked, eyes narrowed. Vanilor snaked between the trees on ground level, coming toward the source of the rustling. He knew where the sound came from because Katrina knew, and they shared what they knew. "Show yourself!" Katrina repeated commandingly, "lest my dragon decide to eat you!"

[Yami Zero]

Luke overheard the people in the forest and ran towards them. He looks over at Katrina and her dragon. "What's going on? Who are you and what's with the nature spirit?" He asks not really caring for the answer, but to distract them as he starts charging a flame spell behind his back. He then shoots a giant flaming projectile at Ian.  "Well one suspicious entity down." Luke quickly grabs his dagger and points it at Katrina, baring his fangs as he says "Why was he stalking you? Well? Who exactly are you, and why does he want to spy on you?" His grimoire then unleashes a burst of light as it creates small flames that surround the two of them. An eerie energy then emanates from the magical book, and it's user.

 

Luke, having remembered the dragon nearby aimed several of the flames at it and commanded them to attack the large beast. Luke then punches it, walking back to Katrina and trapping her in a volley of small flames. "I wouldn't struggle if I were you. Those flames are at volcanic temperatures." Luke quickly realizes that the shop people are trapped and tries to help but faints due to excessive use of mana. This made all of the flames surrounding Katrina dissipate.

[TheWhiteWizard]

Ian didn't have time to react to the strange woman, when a boy yelled at them. "What's going on? Who are you and what's with the nature spirit?" What was he doing, Ian could fell the magic behind his back. "I come in peace, don't worry." Ian heard the boy say before he did something that startled him. Time seemed to go slower as a flame came towards him. Ian only had a moment to escape, good thing he had experience with mortals before. Ian jumped out of the way of the flame as silently as possible, he landed in a tree be hind the mortal.

"Wait is this mortal wearing bear skin?" Ian thought to his self.

The mortal started speaking gibberish "Why was he stalking you? Well? Who exactly are you, and why does he want to spy on you?" Then the mortal started to go crazy with flames and what not, "I wouldn't struggle if I were you. Those flames are at volcanic temperatures." Finally the boy fell to the ground, Without hesitation Ian waved his hands and cause veins grow all around the boy, which tied him to the ground.

Ian looked towards the girl and shot her a look and then to the dragon. "I guess we have a common enemy here. Now your not going to try and burn my eye brows off, right?" Ian yelled to them.