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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 12:23:45 GMT -4
I was going to compliment the castle, but
"I have to agree with that," I say. "There are way too many guards around, even for a castle like this. I feel like there's gotta be some sort of reason for this, like perhaps you guys are preparing for something big or there's a few rules you've really needed to enforce as of late. I've never been to a castle before, but it does feel a little excessive."
I'm also not ignoring the possibility that they might actually need these defenses because there could be some sort of serious threat that is always present, and the second the castle drops its guard bad things will happen. But let's see what the Baron's reasoning is on this.
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 15:14:02 GMT -4
"Really? I can actually understand Zynna's view, but not your's Harsvold. You were born near the border of Valiese, after all."
"Why is that a problem?" the blacksmith questions. "I mean, after all, the last war with Valiese was what? Seventy years ago?"
"That was our third war. And do you know why we war with them?"
"Not really."
"Because that wind dragon Rakasmil promised Valiese the kingdom of Thesland back when their first 'wind king' contracted with them," the Baron promptly replies.
"Why would Valiese want this kingdom?"
"Because, not only has a grand dragon agreed to work for them, but Rakasmil's also an emperor, one of the most feared great dragons in the world. Valiese thinks that if can 'subjugate' a being like that it can handle our three great dragons. Not that it can of course, in the end it's more like Rakasmil controls Valiese rather than Valiese controlling Rakasmil, and Rakasmil only has the deal going on to settle his long running rivalry with Chedretyl, however what matters is that they believe they can," the Baron explains. "This is why I must have so much of a military presence. Get weak and Valiese, who borders my barony, will take their chance."
"So... it's a power show?" Harsvold asks, not really enthused.
"Exactly. Ah maid, perfect! Get me and my new companions some drinks!" the baron says to the maid who just walked in. She nods and exits.
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 16:02:32 GMT -4
"Well, no one can say that isn't a good reason to keep the castle's defenses at the very maximum, I suppose."
I take a seat on one of the sofas, taking in the whole view of Rembes. I'll definitely be having one of those drinks as well, when they arrive.
"Defenses aside, I have to say this is quite the castle. I'm starting to figure out, as always, that there are quite a few places around here that are much roomier than they appear on the outside. It's definitely a castle worth having any amount of guards for."
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 16:34:42 GMT -4
"Why thank you, Zynna. You know, in the Cyvler barony we produce a lot of building materials. After all, there needs to be some way to fund the armies and all. We're quite known for our quality metals and woods. Not to mention a lot of the men in my family are quality craftsmen. I actually made a sofa for the late king's 31st birthday about a decade ago."
"Nobles? Craftsmen? Pardon my rudeness, but that's the last thing I expected to hear," Harsvold replies.
"Oh, don't worry. That's a common response. Most of the baron families enjoy things like chess or studying their academics to pass time. It's not hard to imagine why they are all surprised to see the Cyvler family is into other things. Even then, it helps gain favor from the Ivelon family. Apparently they're quite happy to see their nobles working personally on their royal gifts and all. Sadly, I don't think we'll be earning too much prestige when Esmelle dies, as we put most of our efforts onto Princess Velvet, who enjoyed our gifts the most. I won't blame her too much though, after all the throne is a big responsibility! I can see why she doesn't want it."
The door opens, and in comes Sir Cauthrien and Reyael. The knight looks like he's seen a ghost.
"Ah, you two have caught up! It was so long I was getting worried," the Baron chuckles.
"My apologies, my liege. I was just..." Sir Cauthrien mumbles.
"It's fine, it's fine. I was shocked to hear it myself. Come, sit down."
"Of course," Sir Cauthrien says as he and Reyael took their seats. "Pardon me, my liege, but what do you intend to do about the situation at the quarry?"
"Oh. I already had orders sent out for the 1st platoon to mobilize immediately. They'll come in, make a few arrests, and keep an eye on things for a while."
"An entire platoon? Are you sure the people there are gonna take to that kindly?" Reyael questions.
"It's fine. After all, if who we think is involved showed up there that'll be consider far too low of a guard we should put up," the Baron explains. "Actually, that reminds me, Zynna. I have a proposition to make if you don't mind it."
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 17:12:06 GMT -4
This sounds like it's going to be interesting, so I nod and say "Absolutely. I'll need to hear what this proposition is before I can take it into consideration, of course."
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 17:46:37 GMT -4
"How about you teach some of that 'magician' magic to some of my army? I know you say it's derived off of luck and all, but I say if a soldier wasn't lucky then they'd have a sword through their chest to begin with. Besides, your magic and can change people and their properties. The only other way this has been done is through Wyrmblade, but that weapon was lost a long time ago. I'd definitely compensate you well for your efforts," the Baron promises.
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 19:19:42 GMT -4
(I like to think of the effects of my cornerstone as, I can teach one person an ability from my class instantly and that's it, where as without that it would take a bunch of time to go through such a process. Of course, we can go farther with it. My character's definitely good at teaching, but)
"It'll take time," I respond. "It'll take a lot of time, for sure. I can teach one person almost effortlessly, as I've done so in the past, but teaching these spells to part of an army will certainly be a long process. It'll use up quite a bit of time and resources. I'm certainly willing to do it, though, since I haven't been doing it for a while."
"Before we get started on that, though, I think it'll be best if I first teach one of my abilities to a single person who understands magic in order to make the task of training an army much easier. Have you got any people in mind for this one?"
(I'm going to go with, this one free insta-teach can be done once every three days, since that seems like the most balanced one to me. It's not too long and it's not short at all.)
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 19:30:07 GMT -4
(Oh, I completely forgot about that cornerstone actually. I was just doing stuff the Baron would do.)
"Hmm... I have a good number of mages under my service, but my best is Reyael, and she's far too busy on other matters for that. I will need some time to determine a good student for you."
"Sir," the maid says, walking in, "I've brought the drinks."
"Ah, perfe-"
The Baron is interrupted by a sound like a roar, but at the pitch of a hawk's screech.
"What was that?" the Baron asks, moving to the window.
"Not sure," Harsvold says, following him.
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 19:37:31 GMT -4
I'm going to move to the window as well, seeing if I can at least catch a glimpse of whatever might be going on.
I wonder what those two hundred guards are up to right now.
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 19:56:47 GMT -4
As you reach the window, your amulet glows again as O-Lord gives you an announcement.
"Uh... Sorry about that. I was wrong. The bad thing's happening right now. Good luck, TFF!"
The blue glow fades away as the sky begins to... glitch? The glitches start off small, but getting increasingly larger and faster, and every time they are accompanied by a noise that sounds like static. Eventually, the whole sky is replaced with what looks like a tv screen after the channel shuts down. And then it turns into a night sky with a giant full moon above. Everyone below is practically stunned.
"In all my years," the Baron says, jaw agape. "Zynna, please tell this is one of your magic tricks."
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 20:09:40 GMT -4
Well, I'm pretty sure this day won't end as planned. "I'm afraid not..." I respond, just as surprised as the Baron did. "Did the sun just die?" When you come from a world where the moon (a Dragon Aspect) has been long dead, this is a perfectly normal assumption to make. I'm willing to bet the sun died forever. "I can't imagine the best of things are going to happen on a night like this, though," I ponder as I look through the window to see if anything is different on the surface.
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 21:20:48 GMT -4
You all hear wings flapping in the distance as a massive dragon flies overhead the castle. It's huge, with it's claws being large enough to probably crush a decently sized house. On it's head are three things which are like bad of flash that stand like a fish fin without the webbing. It's mouth is lined by a black bone that end it's snout like an axe head, and it's wing tips are spiraled and the tip of it's tail is forked. It's white, with it's claws, wing tips, tail tip(s?) and fin tips being black like someone splashed ink on it. It's probably the weirdest looking giant dragon you've ever seen.
"What is that? Is that a great dragon?" Harsvold asked.
"I'm not sure. It's certainly not like any great dragon in Thesland," the Baron replies.
The dragon flew overhead for a bit, and then it opened it's jaw and let out a roar just like the one you heard before. You see some spots of the earth below glitched out for a bit until they just disappear, revealing large holes with only lava at their bottom.
Problem? One of these holes opened up below you. From the sudden cracks in the room that appeared as half of it began falling down into the wholeyou can tell that Sir Cauthrien and Reyael are safe, but anyone at the window is effectively screwed. You could probably save yourself easily, but that'd leave Harsvold and the Baron to save themselves. You could also help save one of them, although due to the distance you wouldn't be able to help the other. Someone might just die here.
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 22:16:49 GMT -4
Thank god it's been at least two hours, because now I can try a super turn and save as many people as I can! Just imagine this is happening in slow motion right now. The first thing I'm going to do is immediately pull out a deck of cards and throw them sky high. I'll have more cards within the next hour, but I need to see if I get any good choices in addition to my standard repertoire. I'm making these choices quick. Second thing is going to be Featherfye, with my second option being Glyphs of Power EX... actually I do in fact have only one option for this one. For my third limited, I will attempt to perform a Hail Mary Polymorph, hoping for a flying beast. The second option was also useless, being Gift of the Earth EX. The last thing I'm going to do is cast Fire Dash or perhaps Midnight Strike instead. Holy shit, those were some unlucky second spells. I yell "Heads up!" and instantly cast a spell from both my hands. The first is Featherfye, instinctively aimed at Harsvold since he'll recognize the effects of the spell. This will save him from dying in lava for sure. The second spell is going to be a Polymorph, which is the spell where I hope for an animal that can avoid falling to their death somehow. It's aimed at the Baron, of course. (Big money, big money, big money!) Finally, I buckle my arms in and cast a fiery spell, dashing in a straight line over to Sir Cauthrien and Reyael, but not too close. The spell will leave behind fiery terrain that isn't quite as lethal as lava, but can still potentially kill anyone who tries to walk through or stand on it. |
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Post by Tikobe on May 30, 2017 22:54:11 GMT -4
You cleared the distance safely, although the falling debris did give you some trouble. Harsvold was able to float away from falling and landed just barely outside of the hole in the courtyard, although the falling roof hurt him quite a bit.
The trouble, however, was the Baron, who turned into a Raskum. Unable to figure out how to move in the body of a four legged animal in mere seconds, the Baron was helpless as he fell into the lake of lava below. Sir Cauthrien stood motionless and wide eyed.
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Post by official clown business on May 30, 2017 23:19:40 GMT -4
(Man, he turned into an immortal animal too. Definitely wouldn't have made him immune to lava, sadly.) "Fuck!" I yell out as I see the Baron's transformation and inevitable death. "That was almost the perfect one, too! Fuck!" I'm just going to be kneeling down, looking at where the Baron fell, and shake my head in disbelief that I wasn't able to save them both. Even though the chances of getting a spell for that exact situation were super low, I still feel like there was more I could've done to save both of them at once. Sadly, though, that wasn't the case this day. I don't think the castle is collapsing or anything, so at least I can spend time here, lamenting fate. I only knew him for three hours, but that didn't seem like the way he would've wanted to die. I'm going to be doing only this until something happens or someone does something. |
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Post by official clown business on Jun 1, 2017 13:12:31 GMT -4
how could this happen guys I just can't believe it. What could I have done differently to ensure the safety of the Baron and the castle of Rembes? Will the others somehow find a way to connect these events to my appearance? After all, nothing bad actually happened until I showed up. No, I didn't cause this myself did I? Surely I couldn't have somehow indirectly caused all this to happen? I don't think I've ever killed someone before, at least not on purpose. (I'm gonna keep going with my character doesn't know what else to do right now, they could be lost in thought until dawn, assuming dawn ever shows up. If only someone would notice, or maybe they all immediately booked it and I haven't noticed yet. I'll try not to run out of things to think about. In times of low activity, I always think back to the magic shows I used to perform back at the caravans and travelling circus. Well, it's someone else's magic show this time, but same thing.)
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Post by Tikobe on Jun 1, 2017 14:38:25 GMT -4
(Actually, the reason nothing happened yesterday was that I was sick and decided to rest around and take a moment to review what was going to happen later on)
"Alright, snap out of it, you two! We gotta get going!" Reyael says.
"But the Ba-"
"He's dead. Nothing could've save him. We were only lucky that the rest of us made it out alive. For now we have to leave before things get dangerous," Reyael snaps, interrupting Sir Cauthrien.
"You're right," the knight says after a minute. "Where should we go?"
"How should I know? Let's just get out of the city where there's a giant dragon rampaging."
"O- Okay. Where's that maid?" Sir Cauthrien asked, looking around eventually setting his eyes on the open door.
"She ran off when the dragon showed itself. No clue where she is now. From the sounds of it the whole castle is in a frenzy."
Reyael was right. You could hear the shouts and screams of the servants and the members of the Cyvler family. You should hurry down. Harsvold looks like he's having a hard time getting up by himself. You can see that part of his clothing looks wet, particularly among his back. Wait a minute, that's not water, that's blood. Lots of it.
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Post by official clown business on Jun 1, 2017 16:06:03 GMT -4
I immediately run up to the blacksmith, yelling "Harsvold! HARSVOLD!" as I frantically look him up and down seeing how bad the wound is.
I'm also going to turn to the other two and shout "Rayael, Sir Cauthrien! I need you guys right now!" I'm not a healer, hopefully one of them might know how to stop a wound as big as this one!
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Post by Tikobe on Jun 1, 2017 16:36:03 GMT -4
"Patience! I understand it's bad, but we need to reach him first!" Reyael snaps.
She was right. Harsvold had landed just barely out of the rim of the lava pit meaning he was in the outer yard of the castle. You were still on the fourth floor. Not to mention the dragon was now going around destroying building with his size and strength while also summoning more of those lava pits.
"Let's get going," the mage concludes as she walks out the door, Sir Cauthrien in tow.
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Post by official clown business on Jun 1, 2017 17:46:31 GMT -4
(I meta just want to get the hell out of here, but in character...)
I take my hat and... No. That's far too risky right now.
"Where's the fastest route to him?" I ask Reyael. "If we can reach Harsvold soon, surely we'll have enough time to save him and get him out of here!"
Of course, I'm going with the two since safety in numbers, and there's no way in hell I would've bothered to memorized the layout of the castle, especially when it was in this condition.
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Post by Tikobe on Jun 1, 2017 17:58:40 GMT -4
"There's only three exits: The front gate, the door to the barracks connected to the castle, and the door to the larder. The barracks would be the fastest way if we wanted to escape, but the larder entrance is closest to Harsvold, technically. It would be the front gate in a normal situation but that was under us and quite clearly fell into the lava," Reyael answers.
"I remember you can turn into birds. I don't know if you'll be able to help when you're there but that'd be faster than just walking," Sir Cauthrien mumbles.
"I wouldn't recommend it," Reyael interjects. "Unless you know anything about bandages and happen to have some on you, you're best off with Cauthrien. He doesn't know how to heal, but the knights of the Cyvel family are required to learn a bit about closing wounds. It might not be able to save Harsvold, but it can at least give the man a chance."
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Post by official clown business on Jun 1, 2017 19:57:21 GMT -4
"Yeah, I can't say I really know anything about healing," I respond. "It looks like we might have just have get to Harsvold on foot, and Sir Cauthrien seems like he's the one who can get the job done. I'll be right behind him."
I'm actually wearing some kind of healing belt, but I have no idea what it does (and even if I did it wouldn't be nearly as fast as I need it to be) and I don't have any sort of healing items or spells on me. You know what I do have, though?
"While we're going to the blacksmith," I say as I take my hat off, "we may as well have some backup with us too." I make a hand-waving motion over my hat and then start shaking it causing something to come out.
Will Hocus Pocus give me something good this time? Only one way to find out!
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Post by Tikobe on Jun 1, 2017 20:24:35 GMT -4
Out of your hat comes an elven dreamweaver with the Artistic attribute. Reyael stood there wide eyed. You recall she wasn't at that performance you put on, but rather she was busy discussing a secretive matter with Sir Cauthrien.
"Ignore it," Sir Cauthrien tells her, bringing her back to earth, "that's just something she does."
"Right... Uh... Let's get going," she says, moving out of the room. Sir Cauthrien follows in suit.
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Post by official clown business on Jun 1, 2017 21:37:50 GMT -4
Hmm... definitely not the most appropriate person for the situation, but if it has to come down to it the Dreamweaver may end up with something to do.
I motion for the elf to move with me as I continue following Reyael and Sir Cauthrien. No need to be doing anything else until we finally reach Harsvold, or we end up in yet another situation. It's going to be the former, right?
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Post by Tikobe on Jun 1, 2017 22:58:51 GMT -4
No, the latter.
Just kidding.
The three of you move on through the castle. At this point, the servants have cleared themselves from the upper floors. Now only the Cyvler family knights are in the castle, looking for their lost Baron.
"Leave it," Reyael warns Sir Cauthrien.
"But shouldn't they know the man they're looking for is...?"
"And who failed to save him? It's bad enough that the maid might have seen it, but if the knights know, then in this situation Zynna's a dead person. We'll worry about it when we're safe from the dragon. Those knights will eventually think that the Baron's run off somewhere and leave, so for now, it's best that we remain silent and just get out of here."
Sir Cauthrien looked worry, but eventually fell to silence as you all went down the floors of Castle Cyvler. The bottom floor was a frenzy with panicked servants running out to the barracks, yet you were all able to make it safely to the larder and reach Harsvold.
"Oh my," Sir Cauthrien gasped as he took off Harsvold shirt. The wound was pretty bad.
"What do you think?" Reyael asks him.
"He's gonna need a little more than a bandage to fix him up. My mom used to tell me that there were herbs in the forest that can help with these things, but I wouldn't know them."
"I uh... I think have a piece in my old professor's notes about herbs. I'm a nature mage so it won't be hard finding them. Just uh... Here it is!" Reyael says, after pulling out an old notebook and going through the pages.
"Good. We should try to help him as fast as possible before it gets worse. The forest is close to the East gate so I think we should... Oh by the Grand Light!"
Sir Cauthrien looks into the distance, where you can assume the East gate is. However, in view was the dragon.
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