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 Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:48 am
 'A lower section of the Holy Citadel used for trials due to it's proximity to the dungeons.'
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:44 pm
Court room was hot. Sweltering, in fact. And while the room was filled with a mass of bodies, it true culprit was the roaring flames that burned know the edges of the room.
This was not the only room like this in the citadel and at the moment they were all similarly filled. The guards had been working tirously to round up foreigners and place them here. One by one they were led out to be interrogated, it was an arridously slow process.
Hajime would find himself sitting alongside several priests watching the events unfold. Arina, similarly, would be amongst those priests, the man who had brought her there long gone.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:11 pm
INDENTArina tried to recollect the journey from the herbalist shop through the open corridors of the citadel to a rather large, unforgiving room which was overflowing with others whom she assumed were also new to the area. It was an educated guess but the probability of them knowing who all the shinobi were as individuals was highly unlikely. The man would not have been as kind when they left the establishment if he had suspected her of anything. He had accompanied her all the way to this room and then left without a word which left her wondering if perhaps he had some sort of connection to the military of this area. There would be no other reason to feel responsible enough to escort her to this – her very own personal hell. INDENT‘Hak… vesh,’ the word played around in her mind. She had heard whispers about the shinobi fighting in the main corridor of this sacred place in worried and quiet tones. She wondered if the term was specific to shinobi or was it an all encompassing term. Either way, there were some idiots who had specifically revealed their presence. She would love to know who was at fault for this disgusting display. She only hoped that they were not from Water Country. Surely, that would have made a mockery of their home country and would bring great dishonor. INDENTThe young woman shook the thought from her head letting out an exasperated sigh. Luckily, the herbalist had given her that reenergizing tonic before she was forced to leave the shop. She could not imagine the amount of tired and fatigue any of the others here must have been feeling. Admittedly, she could feel the effects beginning to wear off and fatigue beginning to plague her eyes. Arina covered her mouth while a yawn escaped her mouth and rubbed the tired from her eyes afterward. INDENTAfterwards, Arina was hit with a thought and before acting on it. She questioned whether she had anything questionable on her person. A few snacks, bottle water, assorted herbalism books and a balm meant for treating minor injuries along with some bandages tucked away into a side pocket. Her money… Hm, she had to think about risk versus reward. She did not have any jutsu, so it would be hard to clarify one hundred percent that she truly was a shinobi; but she had that scar on her back that her mother said was a memento of her father. Never mind, it would have been suicide to try to faint her way into the hospital where the scar would be open for anyone to see. She would suck it up and hope for the best in this situation. It was much smarter to just wait on them to interrogate her or whatever it was they had planned. She did not really have much for hiding as her enthusiasm and desire to apprentice under an herbalist was true. INDENT“How will they be able to tell who the true hak’vesh are,” the young girl questioned quietly to the group of nearby priests? “I surely hope they catch them all soon, so we may all return to our beds. I am sure you all must be rather exhausted yourselves. Would any of you like a drink,” the young girl offered a drink of the water bottle which she pulled from her knapsack. While waiting on a response, the young girl grabbed the bandages and ripped off a small piece to wipe the sweat from her face.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:05 pm
Hajime was wide eyed as he followed the priest and priestess through the halls. His robe rippled in his wake, and he tucked his sedge hat back, respectful that he was now inside the halls of a holy place. He wasn't sure why where they were going, but he was confident above all else that he was at least safe. An eager new student had nothing to fear, surely. And, as a shinobi, he was equipped to handle a few unskilled guards if need be. The monk slipped into the sweltering hot court room behind Gaveth, and asked, "What is this place? We must be very deep in the mountain, for it to be quite this warm." Sweat collected on his brow for the second time in the little time he'd been in town. He loosened his collar, and ran a finger along the sweat moistened fabric. While Hajime overheated, he heard a nearby woman yawn. She, like him, wasn't fashioned as one of the priests or priestesses, nor like one of the people he'd seen in town. He leaned forward, evesdropping into her conversation a bit, then turned to Gaveth, "Excuse me- but someone said something about a hak'vesh. I'm not familiar with that word, but it sounds very important. Could you explain it to me?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 8:30 am
The old priest nodded his head. Accepting the bottle of water from the young lady he took a short drink from it before passing it to the young priestess, insisting she take the rest. "Ah, yes... The Hak'Vesh are those who tamper with the natural order of the world. They manipulate their souls and the souls of others to do their bidding.." The priestess snorted, garnering her a stern look from the old man before he sighed and relented. "To be truly honest, it's more than that. You see, the people of the Aren can and do manipulate their souls, however we call it our breath. By commanding it we may grant objects that never lived temporary life or even restore life to what has died, though you may never bring one back from the dead... and that is an ultimate sin, of course!
I digress. Simply put we Arens do manipulate with our breath in a similar way. However we must always return that breath to ourselves or we will eventually perish and we can only breathe into inanimate objects. It's a matter of balance, order, you see. A Hak'Vesh ignores that... they splurge their souls or breath, it is a gift from the gods and they squander it like water, caring not if it is returned to their body as they have gained more than a single breath.
To gain more breath is to take from another or to be born with an abnormally strong breath, that works similarly. A Hak'Vesh is one who has bought the souls of others." Gaveth went into a fit of coughing, taking the bottle of water back, he cleared his throat with a few swallows. "Breath, souls... in other lands they have other names for it; Chi, Chakra and Mana are some of the more notable ones. These are the people who scare us the most as they don't know how great of a sin they commit and seemingly have found a way to draw the breath of others into them without consent and simply use it in their ignorance.
For these people, we have developed ways of detecting, tracking and containing them. It's a rather invasive and frightening process but sometimes to fight a monster... some must become a monster of equal."
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:18 pm
INDENTArina nodded thoughtfully while listening to a nearby priest talk about the hak’vesh which indeed was a general term but one that certainly was centered on the shinobi abilities. ‘Breath… What an interesting term to use,’ the young girl was having a hard time comprehending how they could retract their breath without also retracting any benefits that may have resulted due to the use of their breath. There were so many questions about this culture and the different types of medical procedures used throughout the country. It seemed like within this culture that there was just an abundant amount of information that processing everything within the time allotted would make completing her missions difficult, almost impossible if the cards weren’t in her favor. INDENTThe young woman looked over towards a young man dressed in peculiar attire who had asked about the term hak’vesh. She wondered whether or not he was also a shinobi, as well. They seemed to be everywhere around here. In theory with so many participating countries, she knew that their numbers would be sizeable; however… that was also probably part of the reason why things were becoming so hectic and so quickly. He seemed rather calm regarding the circumstances but then again, Arina was also trying to give off such an appearance. It was in their best interest to make it through this event unscathed. INDENT“Is everyone born with breath or is it something you have to train for? Do you heal with your abilities? How about joining the priesthood… Do you leave your family? Is it a conscious decision or are you born into it…,” Arina rambled for awhile so interested by everything around her and also trying to play into her role to make it even more believe. “Ehh, I am sorry. I am a traveling apprenticing herbalist. I am rather fond of learning, especially anything where helping others is concerned. It does not help that we seem to have quite a bit of time to marinade in our thoughts. The culture is fascinating,” she apologized promptly bowing her head. INDENTArina put one foot forward trying to get a better view through the crowd of bodies which waited for the interrogations to begin. “I wonder how long we will be waiting for some sort of announcement to explain what is going on here,” the young girl mumbled quietly to herself. There did not appear to be much movement; however, there was very little room left in this particular room and from the amount of movement outside… It was safe to say that they had found alternate locations for those extra personnel they found to be suspicious. INDENT“What are those,” the young woman thought she could hear somebody yelling from somewhere outside with o being over accentuated. It sounded like things were only getting worse… The young girl sighed again pulling her foot back and trying to get into a relaxed stance. It would appear they would be standing here for awhile. ‘Oh goody,’ she thought to herself realizing that soon enough the fatigue would begin to set in which would be no good for any sort of self preservation or interrogation.
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:08 pm
After having been detained when he attempted to assist the girl from getting arrested, Shun could only sigh in despair. His eyes glanced around when they began to hurry, noticing the swarm of insects that had been disintegrated only a moment later by the soldiers of Aren. He shot a glance from the corner of his eye over to the girl. "Nisha..." Shun turned back to gaze upon the entrance to the Holy Citadel, admiring the work they had put into it while he remembered the specifics of his mission. This might be my chance… now to see if I will be arrested or not. Shun watched his surroundings very closely as best as he could, but he could start to feel the effects of both hunger and exhaustion hitting him. He caught himself zoning out as if he were about to fall asleep when he had been led deep into the citadel. They currently had confiscated his belongings along with all of his Jakatas, which most likely meant he would not see them any longer. The paperwork he had carried with him that established who he was as a traveling merchant alongside his two bodyguards. He hoped that both Takera and Averus would have been able to hide and get away from the guards searching. More than likely they are rounding everyone up who is out on the streets… possibly due to an attack or a shinobi was captured… those insects… I remember Kiyoshi telling me about them… one of the clans in Konohagakure… A wide eyed smirk crossed his lips when he realized that Konoha ninja had also infiltrated the city, which also meant the other villages must have sent other shinobi as well. It made him wonder if they had all been here for the same mission they were, but it also made him wonder if any of them would interfere with their other goals - both from his village and his teammates’. Once they had arrived inside of the Trial Room, Shun looked out into the crowded room while feeling the heat radiating from the flames that surrounded them. All of the people located together in such a room along with these flames were enough to make him almost blackout, but he continued to fight as much as he could. He needed to stay awake even if it meant passing out throughout the day. He had been thankful that his adoptive father had trained him to be able to sleep for small amounts of time in order to recharge, this helped on nights he had reconnaissance with any of his teammates. It was far off over what looked to be a platform extending over the edge of a pit, he noticed water pouring down into it. Water… Water… That’s it…It was in that moment that the full effect of the sweltering heat and his exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks as he collapsed onto the heated stone while every breath his unconscious form took was harsh. Meanwhile Zarathos watched Averus move about the shop quietly as if he were attempting to keep himself quiet. It was not until he saw Averus attempt to flee over a wall that Zarathos caught the glance of another whom had entered their shop. A thief… Zarathos let out a low growl as he was about to lunge for her and bring his jaw around her throat that he stopped and sat down to watch her. ... Damn you and that promise I made you, Shun. Zarathos kept his eyes on the girl as she grabbed the lockbox filled with the vials and darted away quickly. A wolfish grin crossed his muzzle as he knew exactly what would be consequence of someone taking that box. Hahaha… foolish girl. The wolfhound said to himself before he laid back down with his head sticking out to keep an eye on their remaining goods. He would stop anyone else who attempted to steal from them, knowing that they still needed to maintain their composure as merchants… at least he hoped.
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:56 pm
Hajime watched the bottle of water pass back and forth between the priest. In the heat of this furnace, the monk was feeling a bit parched himself, but certainly was not impolite. He could wait to parch his thirst until after the trial, assuming it didn't take too long. All this conversation of souls breath was highly intriguing. It was true, in a sense. Hajime had heard the stories- the true origin of chakra- which he thought had been demonstrated in full to the world at some point in the past, but apparently these people had already forgotten. Regardless of origin, though, chakra was a sort of soul power, and releasing it was an extension of the soul, in the way they described. He mused without a twitch on his face, If only they knew the extent of the power they used- and perhaps a better way to use it... They might actually compete with the shinobi world. He pondered over this "breath" weapon. The way they made it sound, it sounded like a ninjutsu, or perhaps some strange foreign branch of the original ninshū techniques. Alternatively, it sounded as though they were trying to describe the Leaf Village's Yamanaka clan Hidden Jutsu. Hajime recalled his short but effective shinobi recitation training, a way for him to always remember the strangest, most unique bloodlines and techniques out in the world, at least in brief summary. The Yamanaka clan held secret the ability to extend one's soul into another. With it, they were able to control that person from the inside out. The key difference here is that the Aren people only breathed life into inanimate objects, not people. "Ah," Hajime said, squinting down at the figure entering the court room. The girl nearby began to ask a flurry of questions, ones that heightened Hajime's senses a tad. She sought so much information. She was like him, a stranger in a strange land. It would best to assume her a shinobi, just to be safe. In the meantime, there was no great action required on his part. All he needed to do was keep an eye on her, and be sure that she wasn't antagonistic to his work here. Hajime ran slim pale fingers over his bare chin, "In my land, we call the Hak'Vesh 'shinobi' or 'ninja'." He stared thoughtfully, "Do you suppose that we'll see someone demonstrate the Breath during this trial? I would like to see how the Breath compares to the shinobi's evil assassin arts. I imagine that it must be a sight to behold, no?"1925 Words
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:55 pm
After entering the Citadel Nisha was really interested in looking around the hallways and rooms they had been brought to by the guard as they were escorted to the trail room, as they entered the main trail room Nisha walked around the room several times looking at the details of it, as she walked she noticed that she was getting a little tired as the night grew late, but what was really causing her tiredness was the heat of the room. While moving around the room she made a returned to 'Nii Nii', with a skip in her step as she got back to him and hugged him, letting him rest on her body as he seemed to be getting sleeply. "Nii Nii didn't eat again didn't he, what kept you from being able to eat?, Nisha had dinner at the inn 'Erin's Slice of Aren', before going to look around the market place for Nii Nii". Nisha said as she takes a sit and rests moving 'Nii Nii' so he wasn't on the stone flood, resting his head on her lap as he drifted into sleep, brushing her fingers in his haired and a cheeky smile on her face. 'Well isn't 'Nii Nii' rather cute'. Nisha thought as she let the boy who had pretended to be her brother sleep on her, taking the moment to study him, judging from his face and comparing herself to him, she guess her was about the same age as her, she would say older if asked because of the way she was calling him 'Nii Nii', but she didn't really know at the moment, and a little taller which should help with that.
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:50 am
As Juugou walked along with the group of citizens escorted by city guards he couldn't believe how easily the swarm of insects had been wiped out by the beam from the guards' shields. What the hell was that light?! he wondered, lucky to have been forgotten by the guards. He followed the flow of human traffic through the streets back to the citadel. At this time of night the place looked somewhat sinister. He climbed the steps and walked through the gates. The hallway was long with many corridors branching off in many directions. At a certain point the guards stopped everyone and began to sift through the crowd again, checking for citizenship. Once the person in front of him was cleared a burly guard beckoned to Juugou. "Identification?" he asked in a tired and annoyed tone. The young Aburame made a show of looking through his bag and checking his pockets before looking at the guard and smiling apologetically. "I, uh, think i dropped it during the commotion earlier." The guard scowled and snatched the bag from the genin's grasp. "Hey-!" he yelled in protest, but the withering glare the guard gave him made him reconsider making another scene. "You will be escorted to the trial room for questioning. IF you are deemed as a non-threat after questioning your belongings will be returned after they have been searched." With that said the guard waved one of his crew over and told him to escort Juugou to the Trial Room. The second guard nodded and wordlessly led the boy deeper into the Citadel. Eventually they came to a set of doors which were guarded by another pair of guards. One of them opened the door to allow Juugou to walk in, and pulled it shut the moment he was clear. The first thing the Aburame felt was the subtle rise in temperature. He then notice several people. Some huddled in groups while others remained alone. Juugou opted to sit not too far from a group in order to glean any information while closing his eyes to feign sleep until this so-called 'Trial' began
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 11:48 am
Gaveth chuckles softly, waving the questions away. "You can always join the clergy here if you are truly that interested. We are always looking for the young to become devout." Smiling, he lets his gaze fall upon the masses being held before the, "Ah, I'm sure we'll hear from the Holy Falah'd come morning. Until then we wait and watch. I daresay, it is much preferable to be here watching than down there waiting to be interrogated... I fear our dungeons will quickly be overflowing with the fear of a Hak'Vesh on the loose." You notice that soldiers are positioned on the far walls, their eyes hidden within their helms. Guards stand at the entryways of all the exits. On a higher level an array of priests sit regarding the mass of detained individuals, they talk among themselves in a whispered manner. You notice that there are two individuals, a male and female who sit among them but do are not dressed in the same fashion, perhaps the royal children.
Looking around you may also notice that guards have began selecting groups of ten every few minutes and leading them away. Individuals are selected by those who stand closest to the ramps, several others have noticed and have begun crowding the ramps to be selected sooner.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 6:48 am
INDENTArina sighed in relief having confirmed her suspicions that she was not going to be a part of the trials. The young woman did wonder how she was lucky enough to have landed a spot watching from above… him, as well. She looked over towards the young man who had barely said a word. He seemed sullen and ‘bo-ring,’ she thought to herself turning her attention back to the priest and his offer. INDENT“That is an interesting prospect. I am sure it is an experience that would be difficult to over look. I might just do that,” Arina was very nervous about answering. This could be a good experience allowing her a better look into their culture and granting her the ability to move more freely as she would appear more natural in her surroundings. There was also the possibility that she would have the ability to unlock further information that maybe even the common folk did not have access too but where there was great reward, there was also a higher risk of being caught and locked away in the dungeons forever. INDENTThe young woman stood up straight and proper glancing down at the masses below which had begun to move in large groups. She did not recognize anyone from her own village down there. She hoped that they were also some of the more lucky ones that did not get questioned or better yet, not apprehended whatsoever. Given the time, she hoped that the Holy Falah’d would make an appearance soon as day was beginning to break.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 3:13 pm
The entrance of a group into the trial room rustled Shun awake, having slept enough to provide himself the rest to continue on for the next few days. He had been specifically trained on being able to stay awake for long periods of time with minimal sleep, Shun was just thankful he had pushed himself before their arrival and was now rested. His eyes were now a deep yellow as opposed to the blue they once were when he opened them and looked up, half thinking he would be staring at the floor but he was instead staring up at the girl from earlier. Thankfully she decided to play along even here. He rose a hand up to her cheek and brushed his thumb against it before slowly sitting up. ”Thank you, Nisha. Your lap was much better than that hot stone floor.” He grinned a little before quietly leaned in as the man who sat on the throne began to speak. He stopped just an inch from her ear and whispered into it. ”I’m Shun, a traveling merchant… thank you for playing along… keep it up and we can get out of here without trouble… my bag… has identification that can indemnify both you and I… hopefully they will be willing to allow me to those belongings at least.”Shun pulled back from the female, getting a much better look at her than he had before. A small smirk crossed his lips as he slowly stood up, offering a hand down his 'sister' as his head turned to gaze at the Holy Falah'd and focused upon him. He would take this chance to obtain as much detail about the cities leader that he could, it may prove useful to him. He would have to make sure that both himself and Nisha were aligned rather close in the queue so he could make sure their stories were well enough aligned. Shun had figured that his Jakatas were no longer in his possession since his things had been taken, thinking that the guards pocketed them when they searched his bag. ”Come along, Nisha.” Shun smiled rather pleasantly, taking the girl by the hand to get into queue with the remaining people in the trial room. He was sure the Holy Falah’d had a specific reason for doing this himself, but he was not entirely sure the reason except to make sure the trial of Leoman happened on time. This is my chance to get in somewhere… I suppose I should get into suit… the humble merchant brother come to trade goods to the people of the City of Aren… if Zarathos were here this would be much easier to get an ‘in’ with these people...
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:11 pm
Nisha sits on the floor with the drifting between sleep and awake Shun or 'Nii Nii' as she was calling him, she had moved onto her lap to let him rest on her as the heat and action of the day had taken its toll on his body, Nisha was having a little bit of fun playing with his hair while he slept. "So how are you feeling now?". Nisha said as she looked at the boy resting on her while she was waiting for things to progress. Taking the time while waiting for something to happen, Nisha was resting a little so she wasn't completely wreaked by the lack of sleep, looking up and around the trail room, noticing that the people within the room were slowly going down as they were grouped together and slowly moved out by the guard every few minutes, and taking note of the people in the upper area looking at them Nisha noticed the people the seemed out of place compared to the others, she didn't know ether of them but she did notice that the male looked like a monk from the land of fire, Nisha had seen them from time to time while at home, but took note of the two out of place people, part of her really wanted to move closer to the area and take a moment to see them better. Nisha smiled as she noticed stirring from her lap as 'Nii Nii' awoke, she looked down at him with a smile as he looked up at her with groggy eyes that focused as he fully woke up, as he reached up and brushed her face she just nodded at him and then replied. "It is alright Nii Nii looked tired". She said helping him get up as he leaned in to whisper into her ear, she hugged him and nodded before he pulled away. As Shun helped her up Nisha smiled and happily follow after him taking his hand as he offered it to her, as they made they way closer to the edge of the room, Nisha took this time to listen in closer to the people around the room as they stood in line. "So how was the market today Nii Nii?". Nisha asked as she stood with him.
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:12 am
With the Holy Falah'd presiding over the interrogation not much changed beyond the location of the interrogations. The man himself did not participate but merely oversaw as person by person was led before him and a priest questioned and finally made a ruling over their fate. So far it each person had been sent away to be returned to their homes. It would be another two hours before Nisha and Shun were brought before the Holy Falah'd, "State your name and reason for being in the Holy City of Aren." A priest says in a robotic tone, the weariness of the proceedings obvious on his face.
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