FrivYeti/DragonsS4IC
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Friv[8:25:06 PM]: It is late afternoon, heading towards evening. The characters have travelled about ten miles of the thirty mile distance to Mela's Bounty, through increasingly thick forest. There is a main road, wide enough for caravan wagons to travel, but the forest on either side is thick and dense.
Friv[8:25:41 PM]: The air is crisp, and clouds on the horizon hint at a storm brewing; despite this, it is still clear overhead.
Friv[8:26:50 PM]: The soldiers have been heartened by the sight of other people, and are more relaxed, although no less alert.
Moonsword[5:26:50 PM]: Valeria is moving with ease at the group's pace but most of her attention is focused on the woods flanking them, so unlike the areas she grew up in.
ambisinister[5:28:44 PM]: ::Finally glad to have some practical terrain to work with after all the texts she studied during her training::
Dakura[5:29:39 PM]: Errant Tiger is near the front of the procession as the soldiers make their way to Mela's Bounty. While he is also impressed with their surroundings as compared to Scarlet Haven, he is somewhat more focussed on their destination.
Friv[8:31:34 PM]: As the company travels along, Skein is also focused on the party's destination, still considering his encounter in the village.
ambisinister[5:40:42 PM]: ::Hailey drops back from her advance position and falls in beside Tiger. She speaks in a low voice:: Sir. We're being surrounded by 12, maybe 15 people.
ambisinister[5:41:11 PM]: If we have a standard, it may be worth flying it at this point.
Dakura[5:44:20 PM]: In the same tone, Tiger asks, "Can you tell what they are wearing, though? Local militia, bandits, or just curious civilians?"
Moonsword[5:45:32 PM]: As usual, Valeria is using her grand staff as a walking stick and has moved closer to the commander and her friend.
ambisinister[5:47:00 PM]: No, sir. I was only able to hear them, and I thought it better to alert you to their presence than to investigate further.
ambisinister[5:47:39 PM]: In my experience, curious civilians do not generally surround bodies of moving troops.
Dakura[5:50:03 PM]: "True. But then again most of the civilians back at Scarlet Haven know better." He frowned. "Go alert the soldiers to their presence, but have them continue to act as normal. Then go see if you can make out just who these watchers are."
Dakura[5:50:36 PM]: "Normally, I would put up our colors, but I'm in the mind that it wouldn't be recognized, at least not here..."
Moonsword[5:50:37 PM]: "Sir, do you want me to move up and reinforce the forward guards?" Valeria asks quietly.
Dakura[5:51:41 PM]: Tiger nodded. "Do so. Don't make any actions that would suggest we feel threatened, but do be on guard."
Moonsword[5:52:13 PM]: Valeria nods and moves up to the forward scouts, behind Hailey.
ambisinister[5:52:38 PM]: I'll be returning to my position, then. ::Hailey will nod to Tiger then return to her advance position::
ambisinister[5:55:16 PM]: ::As Hailey travels, she'll attempt to surreptiously get a look at one of these people::
Friv[9:02:59 PM]: There is the sound of someone moving in the woods...
ambisinister[6:05:43 PM]: ::Hailey drops back, commenting to Val as she goes by:: They know we know about them. ::She keeps moving towards Tiger:: Sir, human, leather armor, bows, no inignia. They know we know they're out there.
Dakura[6:05:55 PM]: Errant Tiger tilted his head at the sound. His eyes darting in the direction it had come from, his hand drifted slightly towards his sword. He tried to figure out where the observers were, and what, tactically would be the best way to recieve them should they be hostile.
Friv[9:06:57 PM]: As the characters consider this, there is a rustling near the front of the group. The leading soldiers, alerted earlier by Valeria, shift into a defensive posture, as a man walks from the woods to the centre of the path.
Moonsword[6:07:26 PM]: Valeria whirls her staff into a defensive position but says nothing, knowing her wispy voice would never be impressive in this situation.
Friv[9:08:25 PM]: He is fairly tall and thin, and is wearing finely crafted jade armour, but he doesn't have any aspect markings that you can see. In his right hand, he longs a reaver daiklave that looks as though it was forged of iron and white jade, with patterns running down its hilt. His black hair is tied back tightly, and his gaze sweeps over the company as he speaks. "Return to the Wyld that spawned you, or die where you stand."
Moonsword[6:09:10 PM]: Valeria steps to the front of the group, narrowing her eyes intently, and holds her black jade staff defensively, prepared for whatever may come.
Moonsword[6:09:37 PM]: "We came from Creation, not the Wyld," she whispers intently but the voice carries no further than the soldiers at her side.
Dakura[6:10:16 PM]: Errant Tiger watched as the man came into view, a mild scowl on his face. With a quick battle gesture, he sent the message to his soldiers to stand ready. The commanding Wood-Aspect then walked forward. "We are not of the Wyld. I am a Dragon-blooded, as are my companions, and the troops under my command are entirely human."
Friv[9:17:41 PM]: The man frowns slightly at Tiger's statement, and then laughs once. "Please. Such tricks might work on a lesser soul, but I can see. You have no fates; you are not a part of Creation, nor were you shielded by the Wall. Even if you are humans, you are Ravagers of the Fair Folk, and you will return to your masters peacefully, or in pieces."
Moonsword[6:17:59 PM]: Valeria frowns, not understanding what he's getting at.
Moonsword[6:48:39 PM]: Valeria closes her eyes, turning her senses inward for a brief moment, reaching for the core of her connection to the earth. Grasping her natural Essence, she slams her staff into the ground and releases a pulse of power that floods the space within two feet of her.
Moonsword[6:50:34 PM]: Seeming to take longer than the two or three seconds it really does, her shadow explodes outwards with the sound of an avalance, manifesting fully as a Western dragon of obsidian with marble highlights glowing the sky above her. It roars, loudly, like the sounds of the earth itself shifting beneath your feet.
Moonsword[6:51:12 PM]: Somehow, Valeria's harsh rasp echoes around you, quiet but still easily heard. "We... are not... FAIR FOLK!"
Friv[9:54:58 PM]: The man takes a step backwards in shock, frowning. He looks around the group, and his frown deepens. "If you are not minions of the fae, what is your excuse for being outside the Loom?"
Dakura[6:54:39 PM]: Errant Tiger frowns deeper. With a pulse of Essence, he infuses the air around him with his banner, causing an etherial tree to tower over himself, its banches choked by thorny vines of green. "I am Errant Tiger, Lieutenant and Commander of the 23rd Scout and Defence Patrol of Scarlet Haven which was forged from the remnants of the 46th Legion. For over 100 years we have struggled to defend ourselves from the Fae. I vouch for every man and woman behind me. I can assure you, whatever your 'Wall' may be, and whether it had any effect on us, we are no servants of the Wyld."
Moonsword[6:54:49 PM]: Around her, dust, dirt, and small rocks fly, cloaking her form in a whirl that settles back down in a moment's time. When it does, the dragon has faded to a mere shadow on the ground, the distant scraping of stone against stone still echoing in everyone's ears.
Moonsword[6:55:36 PM]: Valeria straightens up from the martial posture she had been in, returning her staff to a defensive guard position, glaring at the man as if daring him to deny her power or that of her commander.
Friv[9:56:36 PM]: There is a long pause, as the man considers Errant Tiger and Valeria, and the rest of the group to a lesser extent.
Friv[9:57:21 PM]: After a moment, he speaks. "A hundred years?"
Friv[9:57:35 PM]: "You don't look a day past twenty-five."
Moonsword[6:57:26 PM]: "Yes," Valeria's usual soft rasping voice speaks.
Moonsword[6:57:54 PM]: "We are... descended... from the original Legionnaires lost all those years before."
Dakura[6:58:32 PM]: "That is roughly how long it has been since our forefathers were trapped within the Wyld, managing to survive only by sheer luck and the will of the Dragons in finding a masive Reality Engine that provided us safety."
Friv[9:59:52 PM]: Frowning, the man strokes his cheek thoughtfully with his left hand, the right still holding his iron daiklave. "I... see. That is quite the tale. But your entry into Creation sent the Loom quivering. I imagine every Arbiter in the Northeast felt it."
Friv[10:01:23 PM]: Mostly talking to himself, he continues. "Could that Engine have divorced your land from Fate? I wouldn't have thought that possible within the walls of Creation, but perhaps..."
Dakura[7:02:43 PM]: Errant Tiger waved a single hand dismissively. "All that I know is that it provided us a place of stability in the shifting chaos. Untill recently, we were cut off completely from Creation, with no way to return or to send word."
Moonsword[7:03:11 PM]: Valeria looks at him intently. "Our predecessors were Creation-born, stranger, but they travelled far through the Wyld at the behest of a Silver Anathema's trick," she offers in explanation soon after Errant Tiger finishes speaking.
Friv[10:03:50 PM]: His head comes up at that. "I'm sorry, a what?"
Moonsword[7:04:16 PM]: Valeria blinks. "The shapeshifters who lurk at the edge of the world," she replied, equally confused.
Friv[10:04:56 PM]: "The shapeshifters who... when exactly did you say you entered the Wyld?"
Moonsword[7:07:37 PM]: Valeria frowns and shakes her head, unable to recall any more information than that and getting the sinking feeling that she's forgotten a few other things as well.
Moonsword[7:09:47 PM]: Valeria's internal confusion grows and, as she leans against her staff, suddenly gravely tired, she presses a hand to her forehead.
ambisinister[7:09:56 PM]: ::Hailey pays equal attention to Amaranth as he does to the other groups spokesman::
Moonsword[7:10:21 PM]: "My apologies, stranger," she says, her voice even quieter and harder to hear than usual, "I... can't seem to recall."
Moonsword[7:10:43 PM]: She shakes her head momentarily and then her eyes bulge and she stops moving it, very quickly.
Dakura[7:12:11 PM]: "The 46th legion was sent out in Realm Year 672 to combat a Fae incursion in the North," Tiger said, reciting the history of Scarlet Haven that all its children were taught. "Upon the triumph of the Legion, our ancestors began the journey home, only to suffer the wrath of one of the Silver Anathema, who used sorceries and misdirection to send the Legion stumbling into the Wyld."
Friv[10:14:10 PM]: "I... see." The man lowers his sword, thinking furiously. "I may recall something like that being taught to me, but..." He looks back up, solemnly. "The world is not as your fathers left it, Dragon of the Earth."
Dakura[7:14:41 PM]: "That has become apparent."
Moonsword[7:15:01 PM]: Valeria, squinting through the haze of her sudden headache, asks, "What do you mean, stranger?"
Friv[10:15:45 PM]: He sighs, shaking his head. "On the Blessed Isle, they count this as Realm Year 913."
Friv[10:16:41 PM]: "But few use that reckoning anymore. To most, it is the 144th Year Of The Dragon-Wall."
Dakura[7:16:27 PM]: Errant Tiger stared. Quite obviously. "Nine... Nine-hundred thirteen?"
ambisinister[7:16:45 PM]: ::Muttering to no one in particular:: Wow...
Moonsword[7:16:58 PM]: Valeria sinks to her knees, overcome by shock and vertigo.
Friv[10:18:38 PM]: This time, his nods is sympathetic. "It is a long tale, but I can tell it to you. If there is a city outside of fate, it behooves the Arbiters to try and weave it back into the Loom without undue distress - as best we can."
Friv[10:18:51 PM]: "Where were you bound?"
Dakura[7:19:25 PM]: Errant Tiger composed himself. "We were set for Mela's Bounty, to speak with its Daimyo and ask for news and assistance."
Friv[10:20:44 PM]: "Mm." The man nods. "The Arbiters are not welcome in Mela's Bounty, but night is falling. If you wish, we can join you as you make camp, before leaving to spread the news. We will not want any of our fellows to attack you by mistake."
Moonsword[7:20:42 PM]: Valeria slowly, laboriously forces herself back to her feet, using her staff as a walking stick for a good reason as opposed to her usual faint flare for an appearance.
Moonsword[7:21:15 PM]: "That... sounds... like a good idea..." she mutters, barely audible to anyone. "I really don't feel very good."
Dakura[7:21:24 PM]: "You spoke before, of 'Arbiters.' What are they?" Errant Tiger asked.
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Friv[10:23:15 PM]: The man smiles, and waves a hand. "Why, they are us." As he says this, the men that were with him ghost out of the woods; they still have their bows in hand, but no longer have arrows nocked and ready to fire. All are dressed in the same leathers, but you notice that the designs running down the man's jade armour is repeated on all of their own.
ambisinister[7:23:58 PM]: ::moves over to Val and speaks softley:: You don't look well, can you make it on your own?
Friv[10:24:28 PM]: "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Hadren Marell, captain of the Third Branch of the Northern Divison of the Arbiters Of Fate, Dragon of the Sky."
Friv[10:25:53 PM]: "The Arbiters of Fate are made up of the Sky Dragons and our companions. We watch the Loom of Fate and try to keep it secure against demonic forces, and have done so since the raising of the Dragon Wall a hundred and forty-four years ago."
Dakura[7:28:04 PM]: Tiger frowned again, though this time in confusion. "'Sky Dragons'? You mean the Children of Mela?"
Friv[10:30:02 PM]: "Ah... no." Hadren shakes his head. "The Dragons of the Sky are something new. When the Scarlet Empress raised the Dragon Wall and slew the Anathema, she shattered the hold that they held over the sky and released its Essence to Creation." He pauses. "You know, it's sort of a long story. I should probably start it at the beginning, instead of hopping around like this."
Friv[10:30:19 PM]: "Shall we make camp, so that I can explain properly?"
Moonsword[7:30:11 PM]: Valeria moves her head, slowly and deliberately, to watch the situation. "I... it's a headache, a bad one," she admits, quietly enough not to reach anyone but Hailey. "I'll be fine in a bit."
Moonsword[7:30:49 PM]: "That... sounds like a good idea," Valeria replies, but only Hailey can hear her. "I need to sit down."
Dakura[7:31:16 PM]: "Please, yes... It appears that we know too little of this world now... far less than we even expected..."
Moonsword[7:32:34 PM]: Cool.
Moonsword[7:32:40 PM]: This sounds very, very interesting.
