Whoami

Diablo 2: The Rogue Companion

Sparking this one back up! Been playing D2:R and I've never managed to get this one off the ground! Been wanting to give it a go!

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Posted! Auriel is finally at the party!

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Late to the Party

(Mood Music)

Auriel left the powder room with a frustrated sigh. The blood had taken so long to come off, and it hadn't even entirely come out! Thankfully, the blood stain would be noticeable on her white dress if somebody was really looking for it. And with all of the motion causing her dress to sway, it'd at least be hard to pick out. Auriel had one other advantage to keeping the bloodstain hidden, and that was because she was so late. The party had gone on long before she would arrive. People would likely have had more than one drink, and surely the frivolities of the upper class will have dulled the senses of all of the party-goers too much to notice a small thing like the blood spatter of a broken nose.

Auriel stood in front of the great doors leading to the throne room. She reached for one of the door handles and looked around over her shoulder again, double checking to make sure she wasn't about to get another rude interruption. Seeing that she was clear, Auriel took the handle in her hand, and pulled the door open. She stepped through the doors to see the center of the room was host to a large swirl of dancing couples. Dancing was never her thing, not because she didn't like it, but because her wings were rather clumsy and required too much room to allow others enjoy a shared floor. That often meant that when Auriel was on the floor, she and her dance partner were the only ones of the floor, and such things usually led to Auriel being very self conscious and nervous. She would avoid the dancing.

Auriel was very quickly intercepted by a well dress man, a butler and one of the hosts of the party. He bowed and held out a large platter with glasses of wine neatly placed on it. Auriel smiled and took a glass of wine before the man stood straight, turned his full body to face the ballroom, and cleared his throat. Auriel was in the middle of sip when she realized what he was about to do. She quickly swallowed her sip of wine, "Mm- No-"

"Introducing Lady Auriel! Holy Warrior of the Church of the Four! The Guardian Angel and Companion of both the Sword and the Shield heroes!" he said, his nasally voice was clear and loud enough to echo across the hall.

Auriel had her face planted firmly in her palm when all eyes turned on her. She never got used to being announced. Even after all of these years, it always made her feel like she had to give some speech or perform some sort of trick to keep up with the magnificence of being announced. Auriel took a breath and lowered her hand from her face before smiling to the party-goers. "Erm... Greetings, my lords and ladies. Apologies for my tardiness. Heh... Eh..." Gods this was awkward! "Please! Don't stop the fun on my account! I am glad I can finally partake!"

There were some chuckles here and there and it seemed the energy was returning back to normal. Auriel let out a long sigh of relief and sipped her wine. She glanced sidelong as the butler who had announced her, "Thank you, sir. Er... Perhaps next time we can make my arrival a little less... Significant?"

The butler laughed and nodded, "Of course, milady. Please, enjoy the gala- but first, could I interest you in another glass? T'would seem in your attempt to catch up with the rest of the guests, your glass in nearly empty already."

Auriel blinked and looked back at wine glass. Did she really drink that much already? Oh heavens... Auriel's mind snapped back to when she had gone to the tavern with Cole and Fer before they left to help the farmer with their bandit problem. She was such a lightweight, and she could already feel the wine. Auriel cleared her throat awkwardly and blushed, a sign of embarrassment that was always easy to spot on her fair cheeks. "N- no, thank you. One glass is more than enough for me to catch up, it seems."

"Very well, milady. I believe I have accosted you enough for tonight. I will leave you be. If you change your mind for another drink later on though, you'll find I answer to summons quite quickly." he said jovially.

Auriel nodded slowly at that, "Ah, yes. Well that makes one of us." How late had Auriel been? Two hours? Three? With her mother's remorseless training, Calder's romantic pursuits, the gate guard's unshakable sense of duty, and Bander's childish rivalry and ensuing staining of her favorite dress with his blood, Auriel's luck couldn't have been much worse for finding interruptions. Not that all of it had been bad.

Auriel straightened her white dress a bit and scanned the crowd with her golden hues. It didn't take long to spot Fer standing on his own. She followed his gaze and found Cole among the crowd of dancers with... A demi-human? Who was that? She had never seen her in the palace before, and she had spent a lot of time in the palace growing up. Was he some demi-human nobleman's daughter from Shieldfreeden? Not likely with Zeltoble's general air of distaste for demi-humans. A slave then? More likely, but why would someone's slave be dancing with the country's nobility? She was a guest then. Not a slave. But also not a noble from Shieldfreeden... She had to be a guest's 'plus one' then, or perhaps part of an entourage. Or perhaps... No? Yes? Did they have a new member in their party that Auriel wasn't around to greet?!

Auriel made her way into the crowd, smiling, greeting, and being trapped in small bouts of gossip. As she maneuvered through the social minefield, she finally made her way to Fer's side. With the host announcing her arrival, she didn't need to tell Fer that she was finally at the party. She cleared her throat and let out another long breath, "You look charming." she said to Fer, noting the attire that the king's staff had no doubt put him in. He actually looked like he belonged to this world, even though Auriel knew he was entirely foreign. "Truly a member of Zeltoble's highest aristocracy."

Auriel brought her spear behind her and nestled it horizontally against the small of her back. She held it with both hands and did a curtsy in her white dress. It was difficult to tell if she was being ironic or genuine with the noble mannerisms, especially to a man who was very much against high born tyrants from his own world. When she straightened out, Auriel rested the butt end of the spear on the marble flooring and held it straight up. She brushed some of her golden bangs from her face and pouted a bit, "I'm sorry I'm so late. What was supposed to be one thing turned into several... several things, all in quick succession of one another. Did I miss anything important? Notably an introduction to her?" she cast a sidelong glance at the demi-human girl with a slight nudge of her head in Rivia's and Cole's direction.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

I'll be doing some post stuff this weekend :D

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Thanks everyone! It means a lot!

And I hope you all enjoyed that last post! It feels good to be writing again. :D

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

This is more or less the attire Auriel is wearing right now. It's not exactly like it. Similar but different is the best way to describe it lol

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

Super late, and my post reflects that with Auriel being held up on her way to join the heroes!

So an update on how my life is going at the moment. I am still deployed to help assist with the floods. Our estimates still have us out here for at least another 10ish days. Thankfully one of my friends lent me his bluetooth keyboard so I have been able to write a lot better than just tapping away at my phone and fat fingering everything. I don't know how actively I'll be able to write while I'm still deployed, but I figured since I had time, I would get something to you guys finally since I know you've been waiting on me for a while.

Rise of the Shield Hero - From Another World

The Struggle

(Mood Music)

Auriel hurried toward the palace in an attempt to reach the celebrations and the heroes. But nearly everything that could stop her did. When she reached the palace gate, Auriel was stopped by the two gate guards. One was young and appeared happy and almost in awe of being in the presence of a figure of such renown. The other guard was old, grizzled, and all too serious. He held his halberd out across the gate, "Halt. State your intention, Lady Auriel."

Auriel blinked. This was the first time she was ever stopped from entering the palace. Auriel raised a brow. "I am rejoining my party in the throne room. The heroes of legend, the sword and the shield." she said, suddenly feeling self conscious that such an answer wasn't good enough.

The guard gave her a look of appraisal, his eyes wandering her figure which made her uncomfortable. Finally the guard spoke, "Dressed like that?"

Auriel looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing anything special. A cloth shirt and slightly frayed pants from an afternoon of training with her mother at the monastery. She looked tattered, because she was. Auriel was about to speak when the guard spoke again, "Need I remind you that you'll be in the company of the king, and that it would be offensive to show up looking the part of the common rabble."

Auriel tried speaking again, "But I-"

"Present yourself in a manner appropriate to standing before the throne, Lady Auriel, and then I will let you pass." he said plainly, a hint of boredom in his tone.

Auriel looked incredulously at the guard for a moment before turning her gaze on the younger guard. He stared in disbelief at the veteran as he had just stood his ground and told off one of the most venerated people in the kingdom. He glanced at Auriel and mouthed 'Sorry!' at Auriel, which she sighed and shrugged back in response before turning and heading back to the monastery.

Auriel had lost a little over an hour of time by the time she had returned in an slender white dress, her back exposed to allow her wings freedom of movement. The dress' material was thin and lightweight, and there was white-gold filigree embroidered into the trim of the cloth. She maintained her warrior stature by wearing small shining pauldrons, armor made purely for ceremony with no protective value in a fight. Her arms were guarded by similar ceremonial vambraces. Glimmering chains of gold and silver kept the ceremonial armor plates fastened to the dress. She also wore a circlet of white gold, inlaid with a vibrant yellow topaz on the forehead. Her hair was braided back. In one hand, Auriel held her signature weapon, the golden spear of Archiel. She wasn't about to leave that sitting around for some silly gala.

Auriel returned, her back straight and patience thin with the guards. The younger guard fawned at the warrior-angel and gasped. Auriel kept a stone face and didn't regard the younger warrior. She stared at the veteran who had denied her access. "I have met your condition. Will you allow me to rejoin my party now?"

The veteran cleared his throat and stammered for a moment before nodding and making for the gate latch, "Ahem! O- of course, Lady Auriel! Apologies for the inconveniences, my lady. We have orders!"

Auriel sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked past him, "You were just doing your job... Goodbye, captain."

Auriel stepped into the palace and out of the guard's area of responsibility. Auriel began making her way up the large rounded staircase that led to the second floor of the palace. Once she got to the top of the steps, Auriel heard a man call her name. "Lady Auriel."

Auriel stopped, sighed, and looked over to the voice. It was Bander, a member of the king's guard. He stepped towards her, his gleaming armor shining and reflecting in the light, cape brushing the immaculate marble floor. Bander removed his feathered helmet and tucked it under his arms. Auriel and Bander were the same age, but they never got along. Bander had grown up in the monastery as an orphan. He was a man of exceptional combat talent, and they would often quarrel throughout their childhood. As children and teenagers, Bander had always coveted Auriel's destiny to become the Holy Warrior. He had asserted that he was more than capable of inheriting the role, but the priests would never even give him the time of day. It always satisfied Auriel's juvenile competitiveness whenever Bander was brushed aside. But it seemed that Bander had found his own place among the king's guard, a feat that at their current age, spoke volumes of his skill. The young man could very well be one of the nation's best warriors. But where Auriel received all the praise and fanfare, Bander existed in solitude and null reputation. It would work in his favor. People would underestimate him.

"Bander." Auriel acknowledged him, but her tone was sweet at least.

"You're awfully late to the event, aren't you?" he said flatly.

Auriel glanced at the door leading into the throne room. She nodded, "I am, hence why I am in such a hurry to rejoin the heroes in the ballroom."

Bander, "Yes well, perhaps you should have dressed more appropriately for the event off the get-go. Hm?"

Auriel raised a brow at that and remained silent for a moment. "You knew I was coming. You ordered that captain to delay me."

Bander's lip twitched, but he contained the smirk that was trying to form. He shook his head, "Now why would I do such a childish thing?"

Auriel pinched the bridge of her nose, "You're a terrible liar, Bander... Aren't we a little too old to be playing pranks?"

Bander shrugged, "Well with the world about to end I figured I'd have a bit of fun and relive the younger years, a bit."

Auriel straightened up a bit and bristled her wings at that statement, "The world is not ending! That's exactly why the heroes are here! Why I am travelling with them!"

He was still obsessed over holding the title of Holy Warrior it seemed... What a shame... If only he knew about the sheer amount of stress and uncertainty that came with the title. Not to mention the amount of eyes that were constantly watching her every move. Bander shook his head, "You know, Auriel..." Bander started, his voice almost serpentine, "I would have never fallen on that battlefield."

Memories of that awful moment flashed in her eyes. The rain... The chains... The blood... Auriel's breath hitched her throat, her body seemed to have froze. Her wings twitched, and inadvertantly sent jolts of fresh pain through the injured joints. Bander continued, "You thought you were so great because you could fly. It only made you a singular target to focus on." Bander said, walking a circle around her and tracing a hand along her bare shoulderblade, right to where one of her wings started.

Auriel clenched her jaw, reliving the moment when her wings were twisted in chains and broken under the weight... The pain when she crashed into the ground and was beaten in the mud... The fear gripped her heart when she could practically feel the heat of the branding iron bearing the mark of slavery mere inches from her chest. "Stop..." Auriel said, her voice wavering a bit.

Bander didn't, "You've lost your greatest strength. You can't fly anymore. Have you told your heroes that yet? Or have you simply danced around the subject? You know... I speak to the troops every day, and I lost count how many times I've heard how the soldiers have lost faith in you. How you're just a shadow of your former self, hiding behind the your glorious title." He gripped at the base of her wing hard, causing a fresh lance of pain to shoot through her.

Auriel said louder this time, "Stop, Bander!" Just before turning on her heel and slamming a fist right into his face.

Bander recoiled with a grunt, blood jutting from his nose. He held his hand over her face. The commotion causing a few others partygoers on the mezzanine to stop what they were doing. Eyes were on them know, and whispered began to echo through the high ceiling's chamber. "Is that Lady Auriel and that new king's guard?"

"Are they fighting?"

"She looked so pale. I wonder what happened."

Auriel breathed deep and pointed the Spear of Archiel at Bander as he clutched his clearly broken and bleeding nose. "I am the Holy Warrior, not because I was ever better than you. I am the Holy Warrior because, unlike you, I moved beyond my childish grudges and rivalries. Because I grew up where you clearly did not. I am still the Holy Warrior, because even when I fall in battle and fail the people, I get back on my feet and keep going rather than wallow in self pity like you do, Bander Van Kronen. It is amazing that you've gotten this far in your career. The King's Guard." she scoffed, "What did you have to do to slither your way into that position? You are despicable, Bander."

Bander snarled and stepped closer to Auriel, "You bitch! The king will hear about this-"

Auriel pressed the spear closer, the tip just barely prodding at his chest now. Auriel's wings splayed wider now, an aura of light seemingly emanating from her and making the shadowed corners of the palace hall retreat. "Aye the king will hear about this. He will hear that one of his own personal bodyguards is quarreling with his childhood. That he assaulted one of the king's guests. He will hear it, and he will cast shame upon you."

Bander stared daggers at her, which she returned in kind. He said nothing. "Touch me again, Bander, and I will not hesitate to end you."

Auriel lowered her spear and made for the throneroom door. She reached for the handle to open it, then she hesitated. Her hand was shaking and goosebumps and formed. Not to mention her eyes were watering. She couldn't go in there like this... She couldn't stand before the heroes and the king in such a discheveled state. Auriel took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before turning to head further down the hallway instead of entering the throne room.

Auriel stepped out onto a balcony, the same one she had stood on the day the heroes were originally summoned. She set her spear against a wall, using a torch sconce to hold it in place laterally so it wouldn't fall and clatter on the marble floor. Auriel leaned over the rail of the balcony with her elbows and stared off to the city below, then up the opposite hill to the monastery. She frowned as the fresh thoughts of her darkest hour swirled around in her head.

Auriel heard a flock of birds chirping and squawing above. She looked up at the birds in flight as they swooped down and caught a current of air. 'You can't fly...' Bander's words sat at the front of her mind. 'Do they know?'

Auriel opened his wings a bit, feeling the wind catch in the feathers. She could feel the pressure of sting of ruined joints and damaged tendons. She tried to flap them, but a crack of bones and flash of pain halted her from completing even one full push. She hesitated and drew her wings back in. Auriel closed her eyes, a tear escaping finally and slipping down her face. She brushed it away and took a deep breath. "Master yourself, Auriel... What's done is done..."

Another tear fell, and once again she brushed it away. After a few deep breaths, Auriel managed to compose herself. She took her hands off of the rail and straightened out her dress. A bit of Bander's blood had spattered on the skirt of the dress. It wasn't much, but the crimson definitely stood out on the white. She let out a long, frustrated sigh. That was stain she would have to deal with before going into the throneroom... "Haaah... I'll get there eventually..." she said to herself as she turned and made for the powder room.

Blighted Etherea: The Champions of Hope

I am still deployed and unable to post at this moment. No word yet on when I'll be home.

Blighted Etherea: The Champions of Hope

Well the real call of duty is upon me now. I am deploying first wave for disaster relief in my home province. Will try to keep in touch but I'll be in the mountains so service will be patchy.