Sunflower

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

Hm. I was actually thinking that Triver would specifically ask for them to be his guards, so they could be housed near him, since he's got his own private area of the castle.

Triver likes the fact that they were able to over come most of the obstacles together. He's never seen people protect each other before so it's very new to him.

I will probably reply tomorrow since my internet is acting up. :/

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

Thank you~

If you need to hold off on replying then go for it. I'm willing to wait. :)

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

I hope this post was good. I tried to find a way that both Daryn and Daelyn would be chosen while kind of hinting at the king's and mages darker sides...and get in a bit of action~

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

The king watched as the matches in the final leg of the trials grew more and more interesting. The ones that caught his eye were the twins and the man who went right after them.

He had been called to face his opponent after the woman had limped out of the circle. The man held the sword that had been handed to him proudly. He was confident that he would not fail. His opponent wasted no time in charging at him with his sword poised to run clean through the man. For a few split seconds the candidate was taken by surprise at the speed of the knight, but then the man simply moved to the side and delivered a punch to his attacker, as if the knight had never been moving. The knight shook off the blow and kept his hands firmly on the sword as he tried a new approach. For a few moments the two men circled one another before the knight lunged again, twisting his body around to the other side at the split second. His sword was easily deflected and finally the candidate seen his opening. Thrusting his sword out at an almost impossible pace, he impaled the man in the abdomen before letting both the man and his sword go. The knight fell to the ground in defeat as a steady pool of blood formed underneath him. His body was taken out of the arena by a few other knights and the next two were called forth.

The king was surprised. The candidate had come out without a single scratch and his match had ended quicker than the others. As the next two were defeated the king stood once the bodies were cleared out from the arena.

To Triver the match of the man after the woman seemed to go by at a dizzying speed. It had almost been too hard for the prince to keep track of until the end, when the candidate came out as victorious. There was something suspicious about the man and Triver had a feeling that things would not work out so well.

His father let out a hearty laugh before addressing the remaining three candidates, who by all means were technically already knights. "I only have room for two more knights!" He bellowed (it was a lie since Triver knew that his father lazily accepted the previous knights and there had been four of them.) The mages who had participated were taken to rest by a few servants and knights. They had become exhausted, Inaris had been among them so Ser'deni had been left with no one to ignore, well up until the remaining mages pulled her into a huddle.

"You," He pointed to Daelyn, "and you are my victors." He pointed to the other man, completely ignoring the bleeding woman.

The man grinned widely; he had always known that he would be chosen.

"Father!" Triver exclaimed, "There was something wrong with the match, the woman should be--"

"Silence boy, I have chosen my victors." The king said with a dismissive wave towards his son; never before in the king's rule had there been a female knight and he wasn't about to start the custom of female knights now. "Bring them wine and women!" (And the king forgot about their injuries...)

Servant brought out wine for the victors and the man quickly hoarded one of the goblets and asked for it to be filled to the brim. It had been rumored that the king had a liking for strong but sweet and expensive wine and the man was surprised to find that it wasn't a lie. He drank the wine in large gulps; the knights around him shot the man looks of disgust. Clearly this man had no manners. When the man was already asking for a second pouring of wine, the mages spoke up.

They were the only force that the king would listen to. Even his own advisors envied the mages.

"Your Highness." The remaining mages bowed before him. "We sensed something was wrong with the match between that man and his opponent." The greedy man had been singled out by the mages, who had no possible way of knowing that he had done something wrong.

"What do you mean? His skills with a sword are fine, even better than Garrod's!" Garrod was the Head Knight, the oldest and most experienced of all the king's men.

"He cheated." Ser'deni said, as none of the other mages were going to.

"That is a lie!" the man shouted, "I won my match fairly!"

"We sensed magic coming from you. The use of magic is forbidden to knights that serve under the king, and magic is illegal for knight candidates to use." The woman pointed out and by then the man had gone red in the face. His breathing became heavy and there was a large prominent vein that poked out from his neck. It seemed to go slowly as he reached for a sword that was strapped to the side of a nearby knight.

"You bitch!" He yelled as the goblet crashed onto the floor. The man began to run at the mage with his sword ready.

Triver might have been peace loving but the man would not stand for reckless violence. If someone who was blind (and had no way of knowing which man it was) pointed you out as a rat then chances are they weren't lying. Triver grabbed the man by the arm before twisting it behind his back and forcing him to the ground. They struggled for power as the man twisted his body around Triver's. The king had made a move to protect his son but the knights stopped him. Triver wrestled the sword out of the man's hand only to be met with a dagger to the arm. His eyes widened as he looked at the blood that began to trickle slowly from the wound until that trickle grew larger and larger.

The man who had stabbed the prince was tackled to the side by Garrod. He tightened his arms around the man's neck until the man began to change colors. "Let him go!" The king bellowed, Garrod obeyed and released the man. He began to greedily suck air in and rub furiously at his throat to soothe the ache that had started there.

The king stood over the man as knights helped the prince into a lying position so a mage could heal him. "Ser'deni..." the king commanded the woman to his side.”You said that he was cheating. Show me."

The woman held out her hand over the man, his face had gone white and tears gathered in his eyes. "All I wanted to do was become a knight." he whimpered. He had been found out. He was going to die. The mage in his home village had lied. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was afraid to die.

“I…just wanted to become…a knight…I don’t want to die. I’m scared to die.” Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

The mage found her target and none too gently ripped through the top of his tunic to reveal a silver charm hung on a simple leather cord.

"A charm to increase his speed." she said before tugging the charm off of the man. "That was how he won the match so quickly."

The king turned away before giving his orders to the mages. "Kill him."

The man desperately tried to crawl away in order to preserve his life. “I don’t want to die.”

"What about the other two; they are the only victors."

"So be it then. I do not care. Give them medical treatment." The king stormed away. A few men trailed behind him before they disappeared into a dark corridor.

"How shall we kill him?" One of the mages, a woman named Rean, asked.

"Let us burn him."

"No let us torture him." A few other suggestions were made but ultimately they decided on the dogs.

The man's scream echoed throughout the large room before dying down under the vicious snarls and growls of the dogs. The mages that had not participated in the killing of the man went to administer first aid to the wounded woman and the man beside her.

Rean healed the man as Ser'deni healed the woman.

"You both did well today." The tattooed woman commented. When she was done healing the woman Ser'deni spoke again. "We cannot heal anyone completely. Your wounds must heal a bit more until you are fully recovered. Prince Triver must be worried about you." Ser'deni knew that her half-brother must be worried as she had heard his plea for the woman that had gone ignored by his father.

Together the two mages left the man and woman alone. Rean wanted to rest and Ser'deni wanted to check on the prince.

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

Alright~

My post will be up later.

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

Did you want Daryn and Daelyn to be the only victors or should there be one more?

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

Triver could not look away from the sights of the obstacle course. His stomach turned and he could taste the last bits of his early breakfast in the back of his throat. The prince blinked back his tears; he had never seen such sights before. His life had been sheltered within the castle walls where it was safe and death was just something that he never had to deal with. Servant had died, yes, but he never attended their simple funerals and he had never seen a dead body before.

He could tell that his father was enjoying the 'show' as he kept calling it. The king was sitting forward with his elbows resting on his knees, his amber eyes were glued to the bodies as they moved around the course. It had been designed to test not only their strength but their reaction times as well. If they were to serve the king they must be ready for anything. He would go on a campaign again soon and he needed able knights to serve him.

The mages behind the two men simply faced forward where the sounds were coming from, those that could see simply watched with glassy eyes as the number of candidates was once again shaved down. No one needed to speak of the events that played out on the course and those that had summons out on the course knew what was happening. Ser'deni gave a soft, inaudible sigh as her vulture was kicked. Those that could summon animals shared a bond with them that went beyond the contracts that had been borne through their summoning. Inaris gave a light nudge to her hand, his own searched for hers and he tugged her a little closer. "Do not let the feelings get to you." In their younger years, Inaris and Ser'deni had been quite close to each other. They were the same age and had been the youngest of the mages up until they gained a few more. Triver had even been close to Inaris at one time and then things changed between the trio. Inaris no longer wanted to spend almost every hour with Triver and Ser'deni. He began to grow reclusive to the point that even the other mages began to worry about him. About six months ago, after Inaris had come back from his latest campaign he began to act like he did when they were kids. The change was welcomed by Triver and his sister but they had some suspicion of their friend.

A simple break was called for so the king could be served wine and a simple snack. He had claimed that the events had "awoken his appetite" and he demanded food. This was the only time that the mages would be allowed off of the raised platform until the end of the trials and a knight or two was selected. They needed to repair the ground in order to make a simple arena for fighting. The king always liked to go grand when it came to a blood show. Thee ten black-clad figures walked in a perfect line and then branched out to stand shoulder to shoulder as they moved to fix the earth into its proper position, the bodies were removed and the summons returned to their masters.

Triver had also found a small bit of time, claiming that he wanted to survey the knights personally. The king, already on his second goblet of wine, simply nodded his head as he pushed a roll glazed with honey into his mouth. The prince looked at the candidates with a frown. They were all too bloody and injured to continue. "Administer medical treatment." He ordered; Triver disliked being in a position of authority and he rarely ordered anyone to do anything. The mages all turned curiously towards the prince before one spoke up.

"Medical treatment is withheld until the knights are chosen."

Triver bristled, "I do not care! You will-"

"It is a custom that we cannot break."

"To hell with the customs! Heal them." Triver's outburst had caught the attention of the king. The man had always noted that his son was too soft but perhaps he had doubted the boy too soon. The distance between father and son was too great for the king to hear what was being said. He pulled his goblet to his lips and he watched his son over the rim.

Triver looked towards Ser'deni and Inaris. They had huddled around the body of the fried man and had been debating with each other on the topic of letting the vulture eat the man. "Give him a little snack..."

"His family would not like that..."

They stopped talking when the prince approached them. "You want us to heal them?" Inaris asked with a curious tone. "You know that is against the rules."

Ser'deni sighed as the prince gave her a stern look. "I cannot see what expression you are making, prince."

Triver gave a small grunt of irritation. "Why won't anyone help them?"

The king had grown bored of waiting, he had eaten his fill of snacks (eight glazed rolls, a handful of grapes and two goblets of wine) and he wanted to see the end of the trials. Triver gave one last look to the candidates, wishing them all a simple good luck before heading back to the platform. The mages followed along, those that had summons quickly called off the summoning spell and allowed their beasts to return home. They filed back into their proper places before the final stage of the trials were announced.

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

For the final part would they need to fight each other, some official knights or mages?

The mages are physically weaker and are largely unable to fight but it might be interesting to see how the candidates square off against a magic user. Or the mages could enchant the weapons the candidates would use?

Inaris is going to be a side character that is sort of important - at least for now. He's got some history with Triver and Ser'deni that I wanna kind of explore for a tiny while. Plus he's starting to become one of my favorites~

Please forgive my post it kind of got off topic but I kind of wanted something different to happen rather than Triver and the mages stay where they are.

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

It is a bit shorter than my other ones but I was unsure of how you wanted the obstacle course to go. Since summoning magic is really common within Danycia there's a few more mages who can use that type of magic, just not Ser'deni~

I think her specific set of summons revolves around birds or flying things like moths and butterflies as well as bats~ I'm unsure if I want them to be more normal and simply live within a special place in Danycia or if they should have some sort of supernatural/magical twist to them. I can see cute little months with unicorn horns that grant wishes.

Hm. I'm thinking that she could summon vulture-like demonic creatures. I don't want to give her too many different ways to get powerful.

Triver would be really afraid of her vulture thing though. He'd like the cute little insects though.

REBELLION {Aims&Sunflower}

"And I thought my handling of people was harsh." Inaris teased once the first trial was over. Beside him Ser'deni made a face of disapproval, even if she had never seen the expression for herself and the man standing next to her hadn't either. Inaris was the best of using mental magic and he was quite proud that he was able to master one of the most difficult types of magic, and the only known "Seer of Truths" in Danycia. He was well known for a streak of cruelty and he had a nasty habit of burning through slaves like wildfire.

"I am not like you, Inaris. I find no pleasure in this." Ser'deni only did as she was told like a good little girl. She did not enjoy tormenting others and she certainly did not enjoy the reputation that came with it.

Inaris grunted before turning his attention to the Prince. Since Inaris lacked the ability of sight, he often used his magic to supplement his missing sense. Most of the mages used their magic to fill the voids left by their disabilities. For Ser'deni it was having some sort of creature feed information to her about the environment.

"The little Prince is afraid~" Inaris cooed softly. Triver did his best to ignore the male behind him, Inaris had always teased him in their younger years and even as adults that would never change. The prince fixed his gaze to the remaining eight; it had been painful to watch the others fall under the mages magic. As a prince, Triver was immune to the mages and their magic. He was one that they could not touch (as he was the only surviving heir to the throne it was forbidden that the mages used their magic on him.) The rustling of the heavy cloaks caught his ears and a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Do not listen to Inaris." Ser'deni whispered. The King ignored the words shared between the mages and his son. He had always allowed Triver to interact with the mages since one day
(in the very distant future) the boy would become king and follow in the footsteps of his father. "We are only doing our job. Please allow us to continue, the candidates must be able to endure pain and suffering to be deemed worthy." Her words made a bubble of nervousness rise in Triver's throat. They were doing this for his safety? He didn't want to be protected by them or the knights; he didn't want to be protected by anyone! Ser'deni returned to her previous location, allowing Inaris to return to his place.

The King scanned the small group of candidates before silently betting with himself which would crack first. His money was on the lone woman. The King had little respect for women and even his wife wasn't immune to his treatment. She might have been his wife but the King held little respect for anyone who wasn't capable of holding political power. The female mages behind him, as few as they were, were only valued for their magic. He stood up and finally addressed the crowd. The King was tall, like his son with similar features although the boy had his mother's gold spun hair. The King's hair was a dark and earthy brown that he wore short to hide the many silver hairs that streaked through it.

"The time has come for the second trial!" He barked out and the knight in charge of announcing the events quickly parroted his words. Some might say the King was mad and there probably wasn't a soul in the room that wouldn't agree. He sat back down heavily in his gold colored mini-throne, as Triver had called it. It was simply a smaller version of the Danycian throne that had been a symbol of power for hundreds of years.

Just as soon as the King had settled into his seat, it began to rain.