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 Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:54 pm
OOC: Apologies for the super-duper long post, but they're important! Yay for the fun of NPCing...I think... sweatdrop
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:35 pm
"Bryce, do you remember how to open the gate?"
*Bryce, snapped out of his daydream by Naoko's question, looked up and answered.*
Actually, I've just gone over that part again with Narya. I know exactly what to do. Is everyone ready to go?
*Looking around at the group, Bryce sees that the necessary preparations have been made, and everyone seems rather antsy to get on with this temple already.*
Right then. This way.
*Bryce turned to the left, away from the general, and stepped toward the edge of the room. In front of him loomed the giant space of wall within which he knew lay the entrance to the temple.*
This is it. Ready Narya?
*Pulling the chain holding his amulet out of his shirt, Bryce held it toward the door. Closing his eyes in concentration, he began to picture the wind energy contained within him. The amulet began pulsating lightly, causing a faint green light to appear within it and around the edges of the "door". The pulsing slowly increased in tempo, and the door began to come into focus. Finally, the amulet stopped, glowing a constant stream of green light that caused the door to swing forward and reveal a small room with a platform in the center.*
Okay guys...all we have to do is get on the platform and we're off.
*With a final glance back at Reika and the soldier, Bryce walked onto the platform and turned around to face his comrades, who were slowly entering the room. Looks of wonder and slight confusion appeared on their faces; however, Naoko was the exception. She seemed most interested in the runes that covered the room.*
I wonder if she actually knows what they say...
*He glanced upward at the tall ceiling, and cringed slightly, remembering how they must enter the temple. Looking about again, he spotted Daewyn and motioned for her to come stand next to him on the platform. The others gathered around in preparation for their entrance. Bryce only needed a final signal of approval to begin their ascent.*
((OOC: Okay guys...I don't know if anyone wants to RP before we get there...I'm not sure how much free reign you want to give out in this temple. I'm going to start with this and give it about a day before I continue, but if you want me to hurry on with it, please tell me. I don't want to prevent any sort of development by anyone else! Also, if Verdis or Layla wants to follow...I need to give them the opportunity to do so before the door shuts, even if it's unnoticed (which would be easy given the distraction by the room itself). Anyways, let me know. biggrin ))
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:06 am
Verdis, certainly a tad befuddled by General Reika's actions and response, held her ground for the moment, still kneeling.
What's going on? Brow furrowed behind her mask, she clenched a fist, knuckles pressing against the ground. Who are those people? Why would they want me to accompany them? What is Reika so worried about? Do they mean her harm? If that were the case, why did that other woman just express concern over the General's well being?
The general's words struck her as odd. They just seemed so uncharacterstic, though she couldn't quite pinpoint why. Unconsciously, she reached out and retreived the amulet, its metalic edges and faceted gem pressing into her palm.
I'm to remain here?
"General, who was that woman, and precisely what is going on?"
((Aaagh, short post. Sorry about that.))
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:32 pm
Daewyn was trailing a bit behind most of the others. Except for Baikasu of course, who was still insisting on taking up the rear. She watched from around the frames of her much taller party members as Bryce lifted his amulet and called upon it to open the door. She stood entranced at the lights, the runes, the sounds. Magic, after everything that had happened, still mystified her.
She was apparantly standing there gawking a bit too long, for she heard Bryce call out to her, wanting her to stand next to him. Stepping into the spacious room, she suddenly felt small all over again. Her feelings of doubt and mistrust slipped to the back of her mind. She wanted comfort, to know she was not alone.
She reached for Bryce's hand and held it tightly. She directed her gaze at his face, avoiding looking at the room that made her feel so insignificant. My brother... she mused to herself. I suppose this might not be the right time, but everyone is just standing around anyway...
"Hey, Bryce?" she queried timidly. "Umm... I was wondering... how old am I?"
Leave it to Daewyn to ask the most awkward questions at just the wrong time. biggrin
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:17 pm
OOC: Ah, yay, posting!! xd xd *coughs*
IC:
Naoko gazed around the room in curiosity. The runes were particularly interesting...she could translate some phrases yet not others. It was an old Gaelic kind of writing, the kind that was far older than the language that she was taught and knew.
It seems that it's some sort of spell... she thought to herself. Protection, perhaps?
More so to protect from the Death Dealer sealed to ever enter the Temple of Wind, Daemon offered to explain as if he was seeing through her eyes. Which he was, though she wasn't aware of it.
The Melbane glanced back at the room that they had left, wondering if her cousin would be all right.
~~~~~
Reika focused her attention once more onto the aura that had begun to contact with some other entity inside with them, though she was not sure what.
This isn't good...
"General, who was that woman, and precisely what is going on?" her subordinate asked her as she snapped out of the twinge of nervousness she was holding sometime back.
Reika contemplated her answer. While Verdis was a decent soldier and excellent in her job, she was also very naive at times. Or at least, that was what the general interpreted from the times they had been together to complete certain missions that the council handed to them. However, she figured that it would be all right to explain a little bit of what was going on. After all, she still didn't know why Ryden's aura had disappeared when they were attacked by the monsters.
"Do you remember how I told you that I'm not a native of Tuvidal?" she glanced at her subordinate though she still kept her energy onto the mysterious aura. Something in the back of her mind was telling her that the aura just might be the Death Dealer, though she and everyone else was taught by the elders in Tuvidal that it was the Goddess.
Seeing Verdis nod slightly, she continued on. "That woman is my cousin, Naoko Rolfe, the Mistress of Void. Unlike me, she is full Melbane and perhaps one of the few left from our hometown."
She paused for a few moments, sensing that the aura seemed to be hissing at them and bit her lip a little -- a small habit that was hard to get rid of since she was a child.
"She is also an amulet bearer. The bearer of the Void, the same as the magical element that she can wield naturally. Of course, since you do not use magic, you wouldn't understand much, but once an amulet chooses its true bearer, you are bound to finish what is beginning to become the destruction of the world. The other people with her are amulet bearers as well, and what you are holding in your hand right now," her eyes had narrowed at the word, "is the amulet of Fire."
She wondered to herself if this was too much for Verdis to understand, but this was no time to be sitting around and explaining an old prophecy from her "hometown" -- especially since there was something odd about this aura that kept on pushing back her attempts to reseal it.
It was as if something was drawing it out...
A flash of gold reflected against the mirror and Reika narrowed her eyes. So this was what was here...
Without giving another order, though whatever she said always had some sort of hidden meaning, Reika called out to the empty space behind them,
"Whoever you are, you better come out right now or else you'll be facing either a blade or fire."
(((OOC: Will be posting more for Layla and Dante in the next post...>.< I havta get back to work))
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:45 pm
Nida and Xachta reflected on what they knew of the upcoming temple.
Half a second later, they instead decided to reflect on something they actually had a clue about. For instance, the weird thing that Daewyn and Bryce had going. It didn't feel romantic at all, at least not to Nida and Xachta together; separately, Nida had contemplated the possibility, while Xachta had considered it another possible weakness (of many) in the group. Somehow, with the intuitions and intellects of both combined, it was a little more obvious that there was something else going on... something more searching, more questing. Now quests, that was the sort of thing both Nida (a journeyman combat dancer who also had no clue of her mother's whereabouts, recall) and Xachta (a disembodied elemental guardian with a surly attitude and a destiny to fulfill) could understand. So, at least in their combined form, Nida and Xachta allowed their heart to go out to Daewyn and Bryce. For a moment.
Then, back to business.
They will watch the group, they thinks, through this temple, yes, they thought to themself. Through the temple, and see what the true dynamic of the group is. How they will manage together. It is a big group, and this two thinks it is too big.
No, they countered. No, forget the group. Pay attention to the temples themselves. The group will make it, eventually, probably. But it is this two which must be certain to make it, whether the rest of the group does or not. Because if this two makes it, then this two can wait. Maybe send back help. Maybe pray.
From out of nowhere, from the perimeter of the group, Nida and Xachta's thick, clotted voice glopped out, "This two shall pass. Even if the others do not." They forgot to note that they were merely talking to themself, of course.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:05 am
Melbane.... I've no qualms with that. To the masked soldier something such as a person's orgins could not change her loyalty to them. It was a matter not worth addressing at the moment - she had a far more pressing question: Shouldn't this amulet be with you then?
However, as something flashed in the mirrors, and her commander called out to it, she found it to tbe the more pressing of the matters at hand.
I can't let myself be confused now. Eyes slightly narrowed, she dipped forward a moment before smoothly rising to stand. As she reached for her belt, the light glinted off of larger than normal nekote - designed specially for open combat where clashing of blades was expected. As her hand found what she was looking for, she unlatched a rectangular box strapped there, only to flick her wrist, opening it up into a large, folding fan. As she strode over to Reika, no sign of her weakened state showing, she began to raise the fan towards her face. Glaring around the room through the slits in her mask, she stood protectively by her general, fan casually pushing air toward her face.
((Note: Large does not mean Tenmari large.))
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:29 pm
((OOC: Geez...looking back at my posts, it seems I had Bryce leaving Aneidan at age 6, and being banished from Tuvidal at age 12. He's 22 now. That means Daewyn would have to be around 20...hm. I'm gonna say 6 is wayyy too young to go to a Mage Academy...10 would be better and slightly more believable. We could then make Daewyn to have been 6 when Bryce left...making her 18 now? Damn. Ha. Input?))
*Shuichi wandered into the small room after Bryce and the others, still slightly confused as to what was going on.*
Auubi...what is this place?
This is the entrance to the Temple of Wind. It is heavily guarded by both the Mage Academy and the seal placed by the spirits of the temple, to protect from invaders as well as the magic powers the Elders have sealed within the walls of the city.
What kind of powers?
Well...it's complicated...I don't even know for sure...but there have been rumours...Forget it. It's best not to worry you. Go ahead and start preparing yourself for the task at hand. You're going to have to pass another test in this temple, you know.
Yes. That's right.
*Shu stood on the end of the platform diagonal from Bryce, and contemplated his abilities while gazing off into the glowing runes that surrounded him.*
((Figured we needed an update on Shu...and as I kinda volunteered to do him, yep. Gah. Someone needs to take him! lol. Or better yet, he needs to come back!))
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:30 pm
((Make Daewyn 4 when you left. It makes the loss of memory more believable, yet important impressions can still be left on the memory at that age. Then she'd only be 16, and could explain away her small size as being very... petite. ninja ))
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:31 am
((lol...that works))
"Hey, Bryce Umm... I was wondering... how old am I?"
Well, let's see...you're about 6 years younger than I am, because I left when I was 10 and you were 4. That'd make you....hmm...16 now? Somewhere around that age, I suppose. Why do you ask?
((I suppose this is kinda stalling before I know for sure that we need to get the hell on to the temple...cause then I can RP the doors slamming and stuff. Kaede: is Verdis coming or not?))
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:53 pm
OOC: She's comin', she's comin' ^^. Right now she's visiting relatives, so I have given her some idea of what and how I her to get into the temple...you'll see in this post. It'll be just a fun game of catch up for her
when she comes in. Layla, on the other hand, will not follow you guys in as she has her own problems to deal with at the moment for a heads up.
I've made Shu a permanent NPC, as he has such a backstory that it's so good to let go sweatdrop , though I really wish he would come back...if he's ever on Gaia anymore...
Somewhat of a super-duper long post again! (I love rainy days xd )
IC:
Sion inwardly flinched at the sound of Nida/Xachta's voice as he wasn't paying much attention to the decorations on the wall and more contemplating on the task he had to complete ahead. He was new to entering these temples and their trials; sure, Melchoir had told him bits and pieces of what went on inside the temples but they were mainly vague facts rather than details.
Now, his "humble" ancestor was silent, leaving him to his thoughts. This was just as well since the trials weren't mere child's play. The runes around the room were creeping him out a bit -- he didn't like glowing archaic things on walls -- and so he cleared his voice, interrupting the reunion between brother and sister in front of him.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, but are we going to keep on standing here gawking at these things or what?"
((Yes, it's very much like Sion to say stupid things when he doesn't think of them before hand sweatdrop ))
~~~~~
Layla had flinched at the tone in the woman's voice, but she recognized it from somewhere even if she didn't understand what the woman said. Taking a slow peek out from her hiding place, her green eyes widened in recognition at the woman with red hair.
"[....Auntie Reika?]"
The aura that the general had been bravely keeping back had suddenly leaped forward, breaking Reika's concentration, and heading straight at her.
You! Give me back my realm!!
Not reacting in time, the aura had lifted her up in the air, and she screamed.
~~~~~~
"[Auntie Reika?]"
The young priestess had poked her head out slightly behind them in the hallway. All Reika could see was what was reflected in the mirror.
"Layla??"
However, before she could question any more, the aura suddenly shoved her and Verdis aside, knocking them against the wall as it grabbed for the young Halconian priestess. Reika winced as her body slammed hard against the wall, Verdis following. She could feel that something had cracked inside her -- one of her ribs, maybe.
"s**t..." she cursed.
"General!"
Reika shoved the helping hand aside as she managed to stand up, ignoring the searing pain that had suddenly come on her side.
Dammit, how the hell did she get here?
Somewhere in the back of her memory, she recalled about a note from Kato about his sister's disappearance.
Verdis had stood in front of her protectively as the aura continued to lift Layla up in the air. Reika growled at the gesture. The soldier was not in better shape, and without magic, it would be impossible for her to take on this aura that had suddenly broken out of the general's control.
"Move aside!" Reika barked the order, shoving Verdis behind her and sending her stumbling into the door behind them. "You won't be able to hand this thing especially in your condition!"
She really had no choice. It was either send the both of them to death, or at least save one. Reika opted for the second option. She had enough lives killed before her eyes -- of soldier under her command and under her care that had regarded herself higher than them. There was no way that she would allow that again. Not when she knew that she could save them with the abilities she had now.
Reika turned around and moved for the door, tracing her finger quickly over the runes of the seal that left a trail of fire. They all glowed once in sequence, following the exact pattern it had done when Bryce had opened the door. As soon as it gave the slightest bit of entry, though, the general shoved Verdis stumbling inside and used her power to call the doors to close again, gazing into her cousin's eyes with a message that rung loud and clear.
Take care of her.
(((There is an explanation for Reika to be able to open the door to the temple without using Bryce's amulet. Since she does have Melbane blood in her veins and the position of general within Tuvidal, she was given the power to do most anything within Tuvidal itself; just how Naoko could open anything possible within Melbane and Kato with Halconia -- if he hadn't been sucked outside. One of the curses of being Melbane, I suppose.)))
~~~~~
The doors behind them opening again had startled them, and Naoko quickly turned around, taking her attention away from the runes and to the person stumbling inside as well as the scream and hiss of something outside.
She had met Reika's eyes and the slight hint of a smile before the doors once again closed on them before Naoko could run and make it in time. Her hand touched the cold concrete of the temple's doors, and somewhere deep inside of her, her blood ran cold.
Take care of her.
~~~~~~~
"You are supposed to be dead!" he shouted at the waves, still shielding himself from the needles with his wind.
Silently, he signaled Nyra -- who could easily dodge the needles with ease and find the source of this hazard of water.
"I am and I am not," the deep voice echoed back. "You see, my dear nephew, I have been watching you and your sister since Melbane had fallen."
Dante watched Nyra growl and shake her head as an ice wall suddenly appeared in front of the fallen guardian of Nekleska.
"Since Melbane?" he repeated, eyes narrowing. He could feel Wyvern stirring within him, but the Master of Wind refused to let the spirit take over his body at this moment. "So you knew..."
Nyra had quickly taken a slash at the wall, causing it to burn and crumble with her claws. The chaos in the water immediately seized then, but Dante could still feel the aura in the air though it was farther than before.
"Perhaps," the voice replied.
The crew on the ship continued to call orders around the deck, assessing damage and taking in survivors, but Dante and Nyra could still hear the voice's last message as its aura faded completely.
"I give you this as a warning, Dante. Try to continue with your meaningless quest and your sister's fate, and I will personally send you and the other revived dark guardians to hell."
Dante clenched his fist in anger as the panic among their pawns subsided. He would have never thought the man was still alive. The man had disappeared from their hometown twenty years earlier on a journey to learn more about his role and never came back. What was brought back was the spear he had used as a weapon and a letter to the elders that warned of their demise. He was someone that, before Melbane was destroyed, Dante had admired. His and Naoko's father's younger brother and a brilliant tactician and sorcerer, not including that he was considered a genius at his position:
Feiyuan Rolfe, Master of Water.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:23 pm
((OOC: Okay, finally moving this thing along ^_^))
Hit by the blast of aura, Verdis recovered quickly, rolling the fall off and rising to try and help up her red-haired superior. Unlike several others, her condition had forced her to learn to recover from falls quickly and without the impact most suffered: what might be a simple bruise on others could be fatal internal bleeding for her. Suddenly shoved back and into the door behind her, Verdis raised her head looking straight at Reika in confusion, only to realize too late what the General was doing, as she was pushed again, this time through the opened door. Starting back toward it, she stopped short of slamming into it. Slowly laying an open palm on it, her brow hurt from how furrowed it was, as her her hand slowly clenched into a fist against the door, her specialized nekote scratching like lacerating claw marks into the stony surface.
Damn it, damn it all, she choked back the words, like something caught in her throat. Something felt heavy in her heart and in her throat - breathing was difficult. She wouldn't let it show, she wouldn't let them hear it, but she knew her shoulders were trembling slightly despite her efforts to control the motion. Guilt, worry, frustration at herself, anxiety, welled up, trying to find a way out, but she couldn't let herself show it, she wouldn't release her feelings - not now.
As she stood there, left hand still pressed to the wall, fan between the two, the sound of metal and metal striking and sliding against metal caught her ears. Something cold, no so hot it felt cold, was burning against her right palm.
That trinket that she... What's going on here?
Still hurting, still mentally beating herself over what had already hurt her so much that she was emotionally bruised to the bone, she clenched the burning metal and gemstone pendant, feeling blisters rising against her skin, but oddly enough, not burning her cloth glove between the two.
Breaking out of her brooding, she straightened her posture, folding the fan and replacing it in its case at her belt. Turning to the woman beside her, the cousin of Reika, she started quietly, voice resolute. "How do we save her?"
(( xd Whoo, sorry for the wait - should be more regular now. Man, seems like Verdis sure says "General" a lots lol ))
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Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:15 pm
*Bryce looked just as shocked as anyone when Reika opened the door and shoved her companion, the one who now held Phey's amulet, inside. He was almost more suprised at the question she asked everyone.*
"How do we save her?"
This girl looks up to her so much...Reika...but why?
You did too, once, when you were in school with her.
Well...yes...it was more a mutual respect, though. That is, until she turned on me...
In her defense...
I know, I know. You don't have to bring it up again, Narya.
"I don't know what we can do. I've already opened up the gate to the temple; it's a feat in itself that Reika was able to open it after it had closed...Naoko, do you know of anything we can do other than getting through this temple as quickly as possible?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:51 pm
Naoko didn't feel like looking at anyone now. She wasn't entirely listening to either Bryce nor Verdis, only remembering the odd look on her cousin's face before the door had closed. She had sensed that aura only after Phey was killed and she knew that it didn't feel right. When they had entered the center, Daemon had warned her about it. It was a miracle in its own way that Reika was able to contain that aura for so long. However, it had seemed that she could only hold it for so long. Something more powerful had called it out beyond the general's grasp.
She didn't want to expect the worse, but the revelation didn't settle in well. The hand on the door slowly clenched into a tight fist.
That idiot, she can't fight that alone with her strength, even with her fire.
Inwardly, she was fuming and afraid. Afraid of losing another person close to her even if they didn't get along very well. The truth of the matter was that even if they were very distant in relation, Reika was still shared her own flesh and blood.
Outside, with the exception of her closed fist, Naoko was compelled to show no emotion. She had been taught that since the first day the elders in Melbane had discovered her ability to manipulate the Void like her mother. It had been ingrained in her reflexes and it was a part of what the Void really was: nothing.
"We can only hope that she will still be alive after we have finished this temple," she finally said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. She straightened her back to her full height, glad that her cloak and her hair covered the majority of her eyes. If anything, she didn't want them to see the fear she had in her eyes.
"Other than that, I can't think of anything else."
She frowned at her own words in frustration. She wasn't very familiar with the Wind Temple, having only visited Tuvidal once and glanced just the door of the temple since she did not have possession of the Wind amulet, and if she had heard Bryce correctly, there was no way of opening the door again until the trials have been completed.
She glanced at Verdis and gave her a faint smile. "Reika will not die easily. You should know that since you have served under her command for a time."
Deep inside, though, she only hoped that it would be the case. Daemon, of course, was not providing her with any answers. He seemed to remain dormant again, awaiting the perfect moment to test her.
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:05 pm
The sudden open-and-shut of the doorway left little time to contemplate the situation from which Verdis had been flung, but Nida and Xachta had managed to see one thing from their vantage at the perimeter: a certain Halcon standing at the entrance to Reika's post. Layla, the priestess-cousin. The one Nida had fought so hard to rescue from Dante. Not to mention one of the cultural symbols of the Halconic society, from whose stock Xachta had eventually chosen a bearer (not that Nida had any idea of her matrilineal heritage, though her brief stay in the rock-domed city had given her plenty of questions).
The others were concerned about Reika? Puh-leeze.
"They are sure that Daimon knows a way to open this door!" they nearly screamed, shoving their way to the front of the group. They tried to pry the doors apart; pseudopodia extruded from the toughened goo casts on their forearms, working into the crack between the doors, only to be rebuffed by whatever barrier kept them sealed.
Whirling about, they snarled, a hideous sound closer in nature to a bubble of oil from parched earth than an angry creature. "And if Daimon for once is out of answers, then Narya will speak, for this is Narya's test, and retreat is always an option! Cowardice is an option, and they demand that Narya retreat from this test and open these doors!"
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