Watcherx/Warmont
- Upon returning to the fortress, it was clear that the circle would soon need someone who could train, manage, and command a large military force. And only Iron Soul was possibly suited for this task. But his only experience in leading men had been while a mortal, and on a much smaller scale than this called for. He was not ready.
- Thus began Iron Soul's intense self-training, to become a military master. Here now is a look into various moments in the Dawn's struggle, windows of his time during this process. . .
Iron Soul is resting in a chair in the library, studiously reading through a tome. The tome's cover says "Tuch Downing's Manual for Armchair Warriors." Flipping the page, Iron Soul rubs at the armored plate above his belly, then reaches over for some pork rinds, before suddenly stopping mid-reach. Iron squints his eyes as he looks at the next page, then shrugs his shoulders, tossing the worthless book over his shoulder.
Iron Soul is in Key's room, leaning forward in his seat, carefully studying the pieces on the Gateway board in front of him, as Aimless Key casually reads a book, waiting for him. Each has only moved one piece each, and with surgical precision, Iron Soul carefully takes his second piece and moves it. He crosses his arms, satisfied with his prowess. . .until Key glances at the board and moves her piece.
Iron Soul's head rises up in shock. It appears he's lost. That didn't take long. Key shrugs, as she goes back to poring over her tome.
Iron Soul is out in the courtyard with Volim, along with six ghostly soldiers. Iron and Volim both have their familiar weapons in hand, and the soldiers all carry wooden training swords. Iron says something to Volim, then turns and suddenly shifts his stance, demonstrating the Fivefold Bulwark stance. The six soldiers attack Iron as one, but they can find no gap in his defenses.
Iron Soul then turns to Volim and gestures. Volim rolls his eyes, then makes a strange little hop, his knees bent at an awkward angle, and his arms out wide. The six soldiers attack Volim as one, and generally knock the stuffing out of him. As the bruised Volim rises up, he flips off the Dawn. Iron just presses his palm to his forehead.
Iron Soul is out in the blasted wasteland of the Underworld, alongside thirty of his ghostly soldiers, each one wearing a red armband. Looking over his crude map, he points out several positions to his soldiers, then gestures out. They salute and run off.
Iron Soul raises an eyebrow, a short time later. He finds five ghostly soldiers with a blue armband behind him, one tapping his back with a wooden sword. And then, his red-armbanded soldiers are visible walking up from a hill, each one bound and being covered by blue-armbanded soldiers. It seems Iron has failed this particular exercise. He sighs deeply.
Iron Soul is in the ghostly town of New Harrack's Conquest, standing before the absent-minded ghosts that have assembled here. Iron clears his throat, then loudly says several things in his best old realm to those assembled, urging them to join him in battle. The Dawn watches, hands on his hips, as nearly all those assembled slowly shuffle back to their houses, save for two elderly men. Iron Soul shakes his head.
Iron Soul is out in the wastelands of the Underworld, leading those he recruited from New Harrack's Conquest. His recruits are only two old men, one with hip problems. Iron leads them along, until suddenly Ibis leaps out from behind a rock, carrying a spear and wearing a large tiki mask that covers half her body. She hops from leg to leg, making strange noises.
Iron Soul calls out words of encouragement to his recruits, but to no avail. The two men gasp in horror, and run away in fright, one of the old men having to slowly walk away, his pace not even coming close to his terror. Iron Soul sighs, then nearly falls over as Ibis slaps him hard on the back.
Iron Soul is in the pantry of the fortress, preparing a drink. He breaks several eggs, and drops the yolks into a glass, before downing the whole thing in one gulp. One of the ghostly soldiers stationed down here looks on, confused but quiet.
Iron Soul is resting in a chair in the library, studiously reading through a tome. The tome's cover says "Advanced Warfare for the Sophisticated Gentleman." Flipping the page, Iron Soul adjusts the collar of his red velour robe, stretched over his armor. His helmet is tipped upward a bit, as he smokes from a pipe. The Dawn pauses though, as he hears something, then removes the pipe and places it in his lap, hidden.
Iron Soul sticks the book in his face as Platinum Storm walks into the library, looking confused and troubled. He says something to Iron, who simply shakes his head side-to-side in response. With a huff, Platinum leaves the library. Iron pulls the book away from his face and squints at it, before tossing it over his shoulder. . .and then frantically patting his lap, as the pipe has started burning his luxurious velour.
Iron Soul is in Key's room, leaning forward in his seat, carefully studying the pieces on the Gateway board in front of him, as Aimless Key casually reads a book, waiting for him. Iron still has a third of his pieces left, but they are scattered around the board. Key still has two-thirds of her pieces left. Iron carefully places his next piece, but then cringes back just after he lets go of it. It seems he's noticed something.
Iron Soul looks up, and sure enough, Key glances away from his book and sees it too. With a casual move of one of her pieces, Iron has once again lost. Key shrugs, as she goes back to poring over her tome.
Iron Soul is out in the courtyard with Volim, along with six ghostly soldiers. Iron and Volim both have their familiar weapons in hand, and the soldiers all carry wooden training swords. Iron says something to Volim, and then slowly demonstrates the Fivefold Bulwark stance, making sure that Volim can see the movement and positioning.
Iron Soul then turns to Volim and gestures. Volim makes an offhand comment, then shifts his body into a stance. It technically looks quite similar to the Fivefold Bulwark stance. The six soldiers attack Volim as one, and though he manages to deflect several strikes, two manage to hit the assassin. As Volim rubs his sore ribs, he flips off the Dawn. Iron just presses his palm to his forehead.
Iron Soul is out in the blasted wasteland of the Underworld, alongside thirty of his ghostly soldiers, each one wearing a red armband. Looking over his crude map, he points out several positions to his soldiers, then gestures out. They salute and run off.
Iron Soul raises an eyebrow, a short time later. He finds a single ghostly soldier with a blue armband behind him, tapping his back with a wooden sword. And then, his red-armbanded soldiers are visible walking up from a hill, each one covering a blue-armbanded soldier, who are bound. They only let one enemy soldier slip through, but one was enough. It seems Iron has failed this particular exercise. He sighs deeply.
Iron Soul is in the ghostly town of New Harrack's Conquest, standing before the absent-minded ghosts that have assembled here. Iron gestures an raised hand, as he loudly says several things in his best old realm to those assembled, urging them to join him in battle. The Dawn watches, hands on his hips, as most shuffle back to their houses, save for a dozen men, and a little girl with a dolly. Iron Soul shakes his head.
Iron Soul is out in the wastelands of the Underworld, leading those he recruited from New Harrack's Conquest. His recruits are a dozen men, and a little girl with a dolly. Iron leads them along, until suddenly Ibis leaps out from behind a rock, carrying a spear and wearing a large tiki mask that covers half her body. She hops from leg to leg, making strange noises.
Iron Soul calls out words of encouragement to his recruits, but to little avail. Ten of the men gasp in horror and run away in fright. One of the men cowers behind Iron Soul. One of the men manages to timidly step toward Ibis and raise his weapon, but his limbs shake so badly that he can't swing. Iron Soul sighs, as the little girl walks over and shows Ibis her dolly.
Iron Soul stands in an animal pen, located within the fortress. He stares down a skeletal chicken, more bone than flesh. Fully armored, Iron Soul then chases after the chicken, attempting to catch it with his bare hands. A half dozen soldiers look on, all confused, but none willing to ask why this solar is doing this.
Iron Soul is resting in a chair in the library, studiously reading through a tome. The tome's cover says "The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier." Flipping the last page, Iron Soul nods his head. It seems he is pleased with this particular tome. He slaps the book shut and holds it aloft with one hand, as he pumps a fist in triumph with the other.
Iron Soul is in Key's room, leaning forward in his seat, carefully studying the pieces on the Gateway board in front of him, as Aimless Key casually reads a book, waiting for him. Both Iron and Key have only two pieces left on the board, and they are far from each other. Iron carefully places his next piece, then leans back and watches like a hawk, to see what Key's next move will be.
Iron Soul sees that when Key finally glances away from her tome, she looks to the board and blinks a few times, as if actually paying attention to the game for the first time. She says something to Iron. Apparently, it's a stalemate. Iron Soul pumps a fist in triumph. Key shrugs, as she goes back to poring over her tome.
Iron Soul is out in the courtyard with Volim, along with six ghostly soldiers. Iron and Volim both have their familiar weapons in hand, and the soldiers all carry wooden training swords. Iron says something to Volim, and then physically moves Volim's arms and legs into specific positions, emphatically raising a point and making sure Volim's stance is steady.
Iron Soul then steps back from Volim and gestures. Volim poses a question concerning Iron's sexual preference, then shifts his body into the stance. The assassin concentrates on his breathing, as his essence flows down his limbs. The six soldiers attack Volim as one, but Volim's stance is perfect, and their myriad blows are handily deflected. Volim nods his head in appreciation. . .and then flips off the Dawn.
Iron Soul laughs, then pumps a fist in triumph. Seeing this, Volim presses his palm to his forehead.
Iron Soul is out in the blasted wasteland of the Underworld, alongside thirty of his ghostly soldiers, each one wearing a red armband. Looking over his crude map, he points out several positions to his soldiers, then gestures out. They salute and run off.
Iron Soul raises an eyebrow, a short time later. He finds a single ghostly soldier with a blue armband behind him, about to tap his back with a wooden sword. But then, the soldier raises an eyebrow himself, as he turns about and sees three red-armbanded soldiers behind /him/, tapping his back with wooden swords. In turning, the single soldier then sees his fellow blue comrades, each one bound and gagged.
Iron Soul nods his head, pleased with the efficiency of his the troops he directed. He pumps a fist in triumph, as the soldiers salute.
Iron Soul is in the ghostly town of New Harrack's Conquest, standing before the absent-minded ghosts that have assembled here. Iron confidently gestures with his daiklaive, as he loudly says several things in his best old realm to those assembled, demanding that they join him in battle. The Dawn watches, hands on his hips, as every resident in town readies up their arms; even infants brandishing their rattlers with battle fury.
Iron Soul nods his head a few times in approval, and then pumps a fist in triumph.
Iron Soul is out in the wastelands of the Underworld, leading those he recruited from New Harrack's Conquest. His recruits consist of the entire town's citizenship. Iron leads them along, until suddenly Ibis leaps out from behind a rock, carrying a spear and wearing a large tiki mask that covers half her body. She hops from leg to leg, making strange noises.
Iron Soul calls out words of encouragement to his recruits, which seem to bolster their resolve. As one, the entire group of unorganized citizens charge the lunar with their makeshift weapons. Nonplussed, Ibis rears back and swings her spear with all her strength, the sheer air pressure from her swing knocking every mortal off their feet, without so much as touching them.
Iron Soul looks to the lunar, then to the citizens, as he pumps a fist in triumph. Ibis looks out from her tiki mask and scrunches her face in sympathy.
Iron Soul jogs through the streets of New Harrack's Conquest, the entire township running along behind him, as he pumps his fist up into the air triumphantly. He reaches the old solar temple in the center of town and jogs in, swiftly climbing up the innumerous steps, to the bell steeple at the top. The people below cheer, as the Dawn moves about the bell, both fists raised up high. He has done it.
- And so, this was how the great General Iron learned his mighty skills of the battlefield. Whatever challenges lay ahead for him, Iron Soul knew that he would be ready to face them, and triumph. And if he ever comes up against a general named Apollo Creed? That sucker is going DOWN.
