VitaVitaAR

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

You won't have me!

She felt something gripping her leg. Her heart hammering, her eyes burning, she pulled away, no matter how strong its grip was she would fight back.

You won't have me!

The earth was melting away around her, collapsing even as the grip on her ankle didn't falter, pulling harder, to drag her further down. The world itself was trying to devour her.

You won't have me! You won't have me! You won't have me you won't have me you won't have me you won't have me!

Something gripped her wrist, and she clung back onto it just as tightly.

The mud gave way. The grip on her leg loosened and then lost her completely. Fio was rising now, a soothing feeling like cool water washing over her as she was pulled further and further into the air.

Only briefly did she look back, to see scores of writhing, flailing limbs snatching at the air, emerging from the increasingly-distant muck as the cursed realm fell away.

They wouldn't have her.

Somehow she was somewhere else now. She was falling, but the soothing sensation around her stayed her heart and kept her from panicking as she had before.

The slender, petite girl felt her bare feet lightly touch cool water.

When she was able to examine herself, the sigils on her body seemed to have almost completely burned away. Their protections would have lasted scant seconds longer, at most, the pale skin beneath nearly completely exposed.

That was more then the mere curse inhabiting the body of a Fomorian. That was something deeper and more ancient. Something twisted at the very core of a cursed being's existence.

And yet here, in this place, that hatred and malice was gone.

It was relaxing. Calming. Had Fio not had a goal in mind, she could have easily slipped into the dreamworld herself.

Above her the stars. In the distance a tower stretching towards them.

And she wasn't alone.

The Sword Witch's eyes fell upon a slight figure, not incomparable to herself, seating in a gently swirling about them. A girl, with the ears of a rabbit extending from atop her head.

There was no doubt in her mind who this was, for she had invoked her a the very beginning of the ritual.

The Goddess of the Deep Lake. The Sleeping Girl in the Dark Water. But a gentle and soothing darkness, not unlike that of one's bed.

When Fio looked at her, she could feel her eyelids growing heavy. But she shook her head and inhaled deeply, trying to steady herself.

The Sword Witch wasn't entirely done here.

To be face to face with what was undoubtedly divine was hard to come to grips with in her mind, but at the same time that didn't mean she was going to become speechless.

Her voice came form her, but also from the entire shallow lake.

Exciting.

Fio hadn't found that particularly exciting at all!

"Hmph, well, I guess if you thought it was a good story then something came out of it," she found herself saying, folding her slight arms across her chest as she shook her head again slightly to try and clear the sleep away.

"You must be the Goddess of the Deep Lake. The one I invoked to come here in the first place," continued Fio, "I didn't intend to tell a story, myself... I guess it's more like I came here to read one."

Given how the Goddess had reacted, perhaps she had ended up telling a story anyway.

"... I shouldn't have strayed into that cave. I can't believe I let myself do something so stupid," she found herself saying, her frustration growing once more, fist clenched at her side as she averted her eyes from the Goddess. It was a waste of all her preparations. Certainly she had learned quite a bit, but she'd lost her opportunity for more.

"... I-if you want to hear more stories, I don't know if I have many to tell, though maybe you'll see something in my dreams," she continued, still looking away, "A-and... and I'm... I d-don't sing, so..."

@Rune_Alchemist

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

While their loss was a severe one, there was no further time to dwell upon it. Nor was there any reason to deny Fra's request to remain at the cathedral. It would be a shame for such a place to remain in a state of disrepair, after all. Indeed, in as much as things could be in order after the seeming loss of one of their number, Aleksiya felt now was the best time to move on and begin to cast a wider net. To deepen their understanding of the state of the world.

While her heart was somewhat heavy, it was hard not to be amused by the sight of ragged beasts in the dark, prowling as if they had spotted their next prey item. Even in her weakened state, such creatures were nothing compared to her power, let alone the power of all of their number.

She almost considered declaring that she would give them a little fear, before deciding it was best not to drill that understanding into them quite yet.

Not until they had a more stable supply of higher-quality blood.

Until they understood humanity's state in this world.

Speaking of which, the dead beasts were far more intriguing then the live ones. Twisted canine-cervine abominations, antlered wolf-like beasts with limbs far too long for their bodies. Beyond was the only light for quite some time, atop a tall building surrounded by somewhat less impressive structures.

Shameful. Humans were beneath her, certainly, but humans were still capable of far more then this. It was shameful to see such ramshackle housing. Aleksiya's dismayed expression was easily read.

She had once commissioned resplendent works of art from humans. Her home was built by human architects. Her lands, indeed, were filled with similar structures.

Thus this place was a sad sight in her eyes.

On the other hand, it meant places where humans lived, where more suitable blood could be obtained, still existed.

When Giselle strode forward to ask the villagers questions, Aleksiya improvised swiftly, clinging to her arm and putting on a somewhat frightened expression.

It wasn't a ruse she necessarily intended to keep up, but for the moment the presence of a frightened child seemed likely to disarm them.

@Psyker Landshark@Asuras@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@Click This

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

That voice...

Fio could practically guess who it was, even with the fact her body was almost burning up. Her lungs were on fire. Her limbs felt weighted down, like they were coated in lead.

Everything was dying. Crumbling, Melting. A yawning abyss of curses opening behind her with every struggling step she took.

The enormous eye beholding her, staring down at her, fixing her in its gaze.

The light seemed no closer. Everything seemed like it should be hopeless. Despair was indeed licking at the edges of Fio's spirit, like a fire slowly consuming a library. It threatened to consume her. To leap up and devour her.

The faces of the people she knew were growing ever more distant. The other knights, the Queen... her family...

It would all burn away and melt into the muck, just like she would.

Just like...

Just like...

Perhaps being a particularly confident person was the reason why.

But the more those voices screamed at her, the angrier the Sword Witch grew. How dare they. How dare they think she had any right to keep her here. She had a life to live. Promises to fulfill. Knowledge to grasp ahold of. And she wouldn't let any damned curses interfere.

"Like hell I'm sticking around, you bastards!" Fio snarled, not even bothering to look over her shoulder as she dragged her petite body through the mire of corrupted mud, "The Sword Witch doesn't sit around in muddy swamps full of curses, and she doesn't waste her time indulging nothing but a bad dream!"

@Rune_Alchemist

Godzilla: YATAGARASU

@JDubs: Accepted

@Mangrale: Accepted.

@Martian: Thinking this one over a little, hopefully will make my decision tonight.

Godzilla: YATAGARASU

I'll take a closer look tomorrow, I've been feeling a bit under the weather.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

When someone is nervous, they may want to take comfort in food. Especially when there is such a wealth of excellent cooking on display. It was said that the two greatest of chefs in all of Thaln resided in Aimlenn: One in Candaeln, and one in the Royal Castle itself. The array of edibles on display ranged from piping hot pot pies, to golden-brown fresh roast duck, to honey-glazed pork, to a lovely-looking rack of lamb. The scent that emanated from the food table was one that indicated quality, the savory flavors of seared and roasted meats, vegetables cooked to perfection serving as sides... And of course, there was the impressive-looking multi-tiered cake, decorated with some manner of dark purple and gold frosting, resting on the most distant table closest to the opposite end of the hall to the entrance.

The fact that Fanilly was as nervous as she was and that there was so much lovely food on display made her reaction only natural. The young Knight-Captain found herself taking a plate from the table and approaching the food even as the herald continued to announce the knights as they entered. The blonde girl was only a few steps away from the roast duck when someone approached her.

It wasn't unexpected. Fanilly knew that she was likely to be approached across the whole knight, and had done her best to steel herself for that outcome. Undoubtedly some of the nobles who were among the guests knew her from before her ascension as the Knight-Captain of the Iron Rose Knights, and others would desire to meet her. On top of all that, she had to anticipate being spoken to by the Princess herself given the nature of the invitation.

What she hadn't expected in the least was the presence of a hundi noblelady. She supposed it wasn't impossible, given that the dog-like race lived only just across the border in the South of Ithillin, and that one of the knights she had selected to attend the ball was himself one as well. But she didn't remember ever speaking to a hundi noblelady, at least not recently. Was this someone she had met when she was very young?

Smiling sheepishly, Fanilly fidgeted a little before responding.

"F-forgive me, but if we met before it must have been very long ago," she began, head bobbing apologetically, "Your name is...?"

---

Fanilly was not the only one who had been approached for conversation.

In perhaps what was possibly Sir Gerard Segremors's worst nightmare given the situation, it was not long at all before some of the nobility noticed him and Sir Sergio and approached them.

In what may have been a source of relief for him they were not seeming to look for a way to use a conversation with him politically.

Three young noble girls had approached the men, two of which had eyes sparkling with excitement while the third looked more or less bored with the entire situation.

"Aaaah, good Sir Knights!" called the first girl, who had trailing blonde hair in refined curls and a red and white dress. She looked towards her two companions at her sides with a somewhat smug smile on her face, "See? Didn't I tell you they would be here?!"

"Ah, how exciting!" cried a second, this one seeming to be the eldest of the three. She was clad in a blue and white dress, her blonde hair paler and worn loose. "Yoohoo, Sir Knights!"

She waved towards Sir Gerald and Sir Sergio.

The third girl, who appeared to be the youngest of the three and had black, neatly-cut hair and a black dress, looked rather less enthusiastic.

"It's not as if it was a secret or anything..." she half-murmured in a rather flat tone with a sigh. Still, she followed the other two girls as they eagerly crowded around the man.

"Tell us of your adventurers, Sirs!" said the first girl, "We wish oh so much to hear of them!"

"Yes, tell us, tell us!" declared the second.

The third simply sighed.

---

Of course, the knights were not the only guests of particular interest tonight.

To the left of the hall their stood a girl in a blue dress, no older then thirteen. Her gray hair was up in wavy pigtails, already distinct before being coupled with her almost golden eyes. Her slight features contrasted with a rather sharp gaze, and her slender figure contrasted with the one who stood beside her.

A towering knight, pitch black plate armor completely obscuring their features, obsidian surface gleaming in the light of the party. While the one they presumably guarded was quite petite, the opposite could be said of the knight. They stood at least a head taller then even the next tallest partygoer. Perhaps more.

There was no mistaking the girl for anyone else.

Veilena Cazt.

The daughter of the traitorous Anzel Cazt.

At only eight years old, she had demanded that her father be buried in disgrace, in an unmarked grave. And yet, that did not clear her of suspicion in the eyes of some of the other nobility. Her magical talent was that of a prodigy, having entered the College when she was only ten years old.

For the moment, she was drinking some manner of crimson, non-alcoholic drink, seated close to the window, as her guardian stood wordlessly beside her.

@Raineh Daze@Rune_Alchemist@Psyker Landshark@HereComesTheSnow@Saiyan@The Otter@Crimson Paladin@ERode@Psychic Loser@Richard Horthy@VahkiDane

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Nothing.

There was nothing even resembling further memories this way.

Damn it. She'd made a mistake. This ominous expanse was nothing useful for her, and put her at far too much of a risk of being exposed directly to massed curses.

The only choice Fio had was to try and cancel the spell, at this point. There was no way head back as far as she could tell. Her hubris had wasted her opportunity to gain further knowledge.

At the very least, she now knew that Cethlann was connected to the three-armed Fomorian, and she had some inkling of direction to drive her questioning at the very least. Any knowledge gained this way was valuable.

Then the great sphere in the eye split apart. Within, there was an eye. Swollen, reddened, fixed upon her and bleeding cursed ichor from within, weeping blackness onto the world below.

"That's...!"

The fear that rose in Fio's heart simply wasn't something she could control. But even as she tried to turn, to cancel the spell and break the connection, she felt her lungs burning. Her skin, the sigils she'd painted on her body, burning. Her entire body felt like it was on fire.

It was difficult to breath, to move. The world around her was collapsing, melting away, becoming a thick mud to entrap her feet and drag her down. The terror was mounting in her heart, cold fear eating away at her, her eyes wide as she tried to struggle against the decaying dream around her. She could hear a howling voice in her mind, demanding something from her, to claim something of her.

How could she escape? She'd mired herself this far from the Fomorian's memories, in a land of hatred and malice, a nightmare dreamscape of curses and anger. How could Fio possibly pull herself away from this? Even as the Sword Witch... she'd been so foolish. So utterly foolish to come this way. It felt as if the sigils were going to scald her flesh, to burn their marks onto her skin.

Had she failed?

Was she going to be drowned in curses?

And yet... there was the faintest light, flickering away...

Even the sight of it suddenly reawakened something deep in Fio's heart.

Her fists clenched.

"... You... you won't have me, filth! I'm not an amateur who can be defeated by something like this...!"

The glaring eye was no longer her concern. She had to leave it behind. She would leave it behind!

The Sword Witch dragged herself towards that flickering, seemingly-distant light, putting all her power into her limbs to push herself onward, away from the cursed mud...!

@Rune_Alchemist

Godzilla: YATAGARASU

@JDubs: Okay, don't want to be pushy at all but I just think it's best to get a good variety in the cast and all.

Godzilla: YATAGARASU

@JDubs: Hey, I've actually been working with another player on a researcher character and was wondering if you'd like to try making a more active character who participates directly in combat situations? We have a bit of a lack of them is the main thing.

Not pushing, but it'll make it easier to implement a lot of the smaller monsters so I figured I'd mention.

Godzilla: YATAGARASU

@Mangrale: I'll give this a full lookover when it's complete.

@JDubs: Hmm, I'm a little uncertain about some of the backstory details, let me think this over a bit.