The Magecraft Chronicles III Story Thread

[Monika]

"A summoning tome?" Lenore repeated, tapping her foot thoughtfully while racking her mind for any thing relating to a book of summoning. For a brief moment her mind came across her and Kazan's Book. 'It's not exactly a summoning tome per se,' she mused. 'But it does have quite a bit of summoning knowledge in it.' Just as quickly as the thought had come, it faded away to the recesses of her mind. 'That couldn't be it, anyway. Kazan found the Book on some island he used to play on when he was younger. Not really Arcian territory, nor is it a library.' Lenore thought and thought, but in all her years of summoning training, she couldn't recall hearing anything about any such library or tome. Then again, it was just a rumor.

"Awesome!" Kazan broke the silence (and Lenore's train of thought), making no effort to hide his excitement. "If we find this, you could learn to summon 3, maybe even 4 headed dragons, Nori!"

Lenore rolled her eyes and continued to think. On the one hand, finding this tome could help me fully master Summoning and I could restore quite a bit of lost knowledge. But setting foot near Kyros again might-

"I say we go with Val here and find this awesome book!" Kazan interrupted Lenore's thought once more, oblivious to (or perhaps not concerned by) the potential dangers they might face in Kyros.

With a sigh, Lenore nodded. We don't have anywhere else to go at the moment... "Alright, then. Mister Valendis, was it? We'd be happy to travel with you for the time being, if you have no objections."

[Sariel of Tevet]

And there they were. Lifeless. Inanimate. As cold and unforgiving as the icy permafrost they collapsed on. I looked around in horror as the masses lay scattered across the barren, frosted earth. And there they were. The populace of a once active clan, a small one at that but a carefree and joyful people. MY carefree and joyful people. MY loved ones. MY friends. MY family. And there they were.

The snow powdered ground was melting into puddles from the warmth of the blood that now stained it. THEIR blood. MY...blood. It poured from Roluo's now festering wound on his neck and chest. So much blood...my blood. '...how did this..'

"and there they were..." Roluo muttered to himself subconsciously having just faded out of a day dream. He and his faithful as always companion Liulfr were hiking towards the now retreating airships. He had lost count of how long they had been on their feet and began to drift off in the monotiny of their pace and started to dream again. The same dream. The only dream.

Liulfr tugged at Roluo's tunic and whimpereed. He always seemed to know when Roluo was dreaming again. It was still weird that he acted so much like his old self, but those are the tiny miracles of necromancy.

Creepy as it were, the gesture always seemed to cheer Roluo up atleast enough to allow him to continue being productive and end his sulking. As he collected himself he paused and looked up at the horizon. Just in front of the dusk he could make out the outline of a collausal building, a castle. "Well boy I suppose that's what those airships were after huh? Ha, not the end of the world today. Those monstrocities are retreating. Atleast...I hope they are. For some reason I have a feeling that necromancers live in that castle. As cold hearted as they are, I'll bet they are a lot more friendly than whoever are piloting those things. Even drunk off his ass that old fart seemed to have his wits about him enough to be scared off, or atleast I guess he was scared. I'm not quite sure he would know if he were." With that Roluo chuckled and patted his hounds head and took off at a jog towards the citadel.

At last the duo had reached the intimidating structure, awstruck. "This thing is pretty impressive Liulfr, think they have anything worth hiding in there? Maybe a chronomancer!!" Excited, Roluo bounded down the hill with his necrotic wolf at his heels and the wind in his face, and soon the ground in his face as well as he tripped and began to roll down the icy slope.

Liulfr stopped dead(well undead) in his tracks and watched his master tumble down the hill and collide into an unsuspecting young girl at the foot of the castle. He trotted down the hill lazily, in no rush to descend and end up like Roluo.

[Myrdraxxis]

((Right, two things I feel I should point out. One -and I don't know WHY no one has yet to grasp this- Kelenyr is built into the side of a cliff...you can't just walk up to it. And Two, while it's not a big deal, we generally try to stick with controlling our own characters and not others unless the player gives permission))

[Monika]

((Methinks the admin is more annoyed about a geography issue than taking control of someone else's character.))

[Sariel of Tevet]

((pooooosssibly. but its cool. never done this before so when I do something stupid just tell me. ))

((OOC posts go in parenthesis btw))

[Myrdraxxis]

"Breaching in five..." The storm troopers crouched near the great double-doors that blocked their entrance into the Great Hall of Kelenyr. Nathaniel stared at the ancient doors for a moment before nodding faintly. The trooper Kasser lit the fuse of the combustion charges that had been laid at the various weak points in the doors. The trooper backed away quickly, taking his place in the formation.

The Keep echoed as the charge exploded in a thunderous boom, collapsing inward. The storm troopers quickly lobbed a couple of smoke emitting grenades -a fairly new Vaering device- into the Great Halls.

There were cries of distress and surprise within as the smoke began to thicken into an opaque fog. Nathaniel couldn't help but grin slightly as the team charged into the breach. The Necromancer-Lords had prepared well, gathering their forces here and digging in. But they were mages all, and thought like mages. The tactics that the Vaerians used caught them by utter surprise. A fatal mistake.

The Great Hall of Kelenyr was a large room, with one wall overlooking the vast expanse of the valley below. In its prime, this room had seen history made.

Nathaniel took aim at the of the necromancers that had been caught in the initial blast. The man was hacking and coughing, scratching at his eyes widly. Nathaniel silenced him with a single shot to the head.

Around him, his retinue were engaging their own targets. As the smoke began to settle, the air filled with inhuman howls as undead minions began to pour into the hall. Nathaniel's troopers uniformly turned and began to focus their fire on the new threats while Faust and the Mage Hunter killed two more of the necromancers.

By now the remaining Necromancers had regained their bearings. Many were chanting under their breath, conjuring unholy spells. Nathaniel fired a shot at one, only to have it deflected as a wall of grisly bone rose up in front of the caster.

"Nathaniel, duck!" He heard Ishabel call from her place near the door. He dropped to the ground, just a bony ghoul claw scythed the air where his head had been. Nathaniel fired two rounds into the beast's chest and kicked it away, standing quickly and decapitating it with his blade.

The necromancers were preparing more spells, and even now Nathaniel could see some of the downed minions beginning to twitch with reanimation. And more and more minions were pouring in from the other exits of the Hall. The storm-troopers were fighting well, but they were beginning to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of minions. The fact that there were still so many in the castle was a grim surprise.

Without warning, the air around an approaching swarm of ghouls exploded in arcane fire. The undead hissed and shrieked as they were burned alive. Nathaniel paused, and the necromancers looked visibly surprised.

With a loud cry Ezeriah and Secundus burst into the hall, halberds and swords ablaze with magic as they began cutting down undead left and right. The commander aimed a hand at the closest of the necromancers. Lighting leaped from his palm and struck the man who cried out as he died. Ezeriah looked around the room for a moment before his gaze caught Nathaniel's. The two stared at one another for a long moment. Nathaniel inclined his head in greeting and Ezeriah nodded. As one the two turned and resumed their combat.

"Secundus! Leave no trace of this filth!" Ezeriah roared, and the Battle Magi roared in response.

At this point, whatever moral the necromancers still had disappeared. One turned and broke into a run for the back of the room. "Lord Apophis!" he called to the shadows. "Lord Apophis please! Save us!"

It was only then that Nathaniel noticed the hooded figure standing int he shadows of the far end of the hall, watching the fight silently. Had he always been there? What was he, their leader?

"Lord Apophis!" The necromancer approached the fire, reaching out and grabbing the figure by the front of his cloak. Almost immediately the man's pleads turning into screams as his arm burst into flames. "M-My lord..." she necromancer dropped to his knees, staring in horror at the figure, who simply strode past the burning body without a glance. Apophis directed his gaze at Nathaniel who, despite himself, took a step backward. With a growl Nathaniel fired a shot at the approaching figure. The aim was true, yet the bullet simply passed by the mysterious man's head. Nathaniel frowned and fired again, with no result. Suddenly the man upon Nathaniel.

"Curious." A single word, yet Nathaniel felt the world around them fade. He struggled to stand. What was going on? "I sense much in you. Even the blood of the Ancestors. Yet it is wasted on you. A pity." The man, Apophis spoke, yet Nathaniel didn't even see his lips move. "I wonder what your role will be in the time to come. You have stopped my efforts here, but it is of no consequence. I will not be stopped by mere humans."

The air around the man hummed with power and suddenly large black wings sprouted from the man's back. Nathaniel choked back a cry of surprise as the man Apophis hovered from the ground, and disappeared suddenly, the air shimmering in his wake.

Nathaniel dropped to his knees, staring at the empty air.

"Mi'lord!" He heard Faust yell, the man rushing up to him. hands grabbed his arms and hauled Nathaniel to his feet. "Sir! What happened?" Faust asked. Nathaniel looked around, trying to regain his bearings. The hall was silent, the necromancers had been slain. His troopers waited off to the side along with Ishabel and the silent Xing. The assassin was glaring mutely at the approaching forms of the Arcian Battle Magi.

"That was well fought, Vaerian." Ezeriah said. His brothers halted behind him, eyeing the Vaerian storm-troopers warily. Nathaniel stared at him for a moment.

"And you as well. I suppose I should thank you for aiding us. you assistance made our job easier." he said thickly. Ezeriah held his gaze for a moment and a tense minute passed. Finally the Magi bowed.

"I am Ezeriah of Squad Secundus, of the Battle Magi." he introduced. Subtly the tension lifted as the storm-troopers and magi lowered their guard slightly.

"Nathaniel Sorian, of his Imperial Majesty's Mage Hunters." Nathaniel returned.

"Well met." Ezeriah nodded. " I suppose that our business here is concluded then. We let none escape the Hall....if I may inquire, who was that man a moment ago?" Ezeriah glanced over Nathaniel's shoulder at the air where Apophis had stood.

"I do not know. But...I feel that we will find out soon enough." Nathaniel couldn't keep the trepidation out of his voice. Ezeriah looked at hi for a moment.

"Well. I wish you luck, Vaerian. My brothers and I are returning to Kyros to make our report." With that, Secundus turned and exited the Great Hal. They would signal for Captain Solomon to retrieve them from the upper tier of the Keep.

Nathaniel's team stood there for a moment in the silent Hall. Ishabel approached Nathaniel, concern written across her features. "Sir, are you alright?" she asked. Nathaniel nodded slowly.

"I will live. Come, we have injuries to tend to." He led the team from the Hall through the ancient keep until they returned to the open battlements where their hired airship hung in the air.

"I'll signal them." Faust said, stepping out into the cold. Nathaniel let out a sigh, glancing up at the looming castle walls above them. Something caught his eye. Thee were two figures standing at the edge of Kelenyr's lower terrace.

"You there!" Nathaniel called, hand dropping to the pistol at his side. "State your business here!"

[Damien]

Izaak continued walking towards his cottage, fully aware that Sorin was following him. Izaak kept trying to get Sorin off his tail, but every time that he seemed to have lost Sorin, he would sense something moving behind him.

"Will you stop following me!" yelled Izaak as he spun around. No one was there.

"Why?" asked Sorin from behind Izaak.

Izaak spun back around. "You're being extremely annoying, and you don't seem to be the kind of person I want following me. Shadow magic has been known to corrupt those that practice it...except shades...they're corrupt magical beings even without their shadow magic."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," said Sorin, "but I must confess I cannot allow myself to leave you. You seem like a dependable ally. It's not often that I find those."

"I bet," mumbled Izaak. He saw his cottage on the horizon and, acting quickly, he veered off-course to keep Sorin from ever knowing where he lived. If he knew that, Sorin would never leave Izaak alone.

"Where are you travelling, my friend?" asked Sorin.

"Dunno," replied Izaak. "I feel like I might need to get out of Arcia for a bit."

"I can make that quicker, you know."

"How?...wait a sec-"

Before Izaak could finish his thought or even react, Sorin placed his hand on Izaak's shoulder and said an incantation. "Vokun filok!"

Both Sorin's and Izaak's shadows began to quiver. All of a sudden, they stretched forward towards the horizon.

"What are you doing?" asked Izaak, but it was too late. Izaak and Sorin both fell foward into their shadows. As they passed through them, they rose up from the ground on the other end.

"Here we are," said Sorin.

"Where the hell is 'here'?" asked Izaak.

"Pretty close to the Arcian shore that puts us close to Ossen."

"Why the hell did you do that?"

"You wanted to see the world, right? It all starts here."

Dear gods, thought Izaak, this guy is going to get me killed.

((OOC: Just for clarification, even though both Tyler and Adam tried to get me to understand the map, I'll just say it straight-up: my post is meant to put me close to Valendis, Lenore, and Kazan.))

[Mizagium]

Inanis huffed and shoved Red aside. To the drunkard, he delivered a sharp squeeze to the base of his neck, where it met his shoulders. The man went limp and collapsed in his arms.

"Pressure point," Inanis assured the girl. "Not entirely sure how I know how to do that, but the point is: he's unconscious." Hefting him over his shoulder, he remarked, "He're hoping he doesn't throw up down my back."

He started up the beach, leaving her to scramble after him. "You're taking him with us?"

"I'm sure as hell not going to leave him out there alone. He might wander into the sea, or pick a fight with a bear - I don't know. We'll find out where he lives and drop him off there."

The coastal town was only just up the hill from where they found him. Rather than bother going door-to-door to see if anyone could identify the drunkard, Inanis decided it would simply be faster if they went straight for the place he had likely originated from: the tavern. It was exactly as run-down as he expected and it housed exactly the types he expected: poor, drunk drifters. It was too early in the day for the farmer men to come in.

"Anybody know this poor sap?" Apparently Inanis was not much for pleasantries; Red did her best to hide behind him.

A few heads turned his way.

"Aye," one man spoke, "he stumbled in not too long ago, drank his way through his coin, and wandered off."

"So no one knows who he is, then?"

"He's a drunk bastard like the rest of us!" That set the men to laughing. Rolling his eyes, Inanis cleared off a table and laid his passenger out to sleep.

"Are we staying here?" Red asked Inanis as he turned the drunk's head to one side so he wouldn't choke if he vomited.

"No. Well, yes. At least until he wakes up. I'm pretty sure there's an inn here." A thought occurred. "Got any money?"

She twiddled her thumbs. "Um....no."

Whatever Inanis has planned just went out the window, so he dropped into a chair, careful to avoid a face full of alcoholic breath. Red sat down beside him. "If we find that treasure, we'll have money."

He looked at her. Hard.

"Just sayin'," she shrugged.

~~~~~

Valendis jumped at the sudden appearance of two more men. Jorsin disappeared into his pocket, but Raefe chose anger.

"Are you kidding me?! MORE of them?"

[Damien]

"Sorry," said Izaak. "This nut-case decided to take me on a little trip."

"Yes, I did," said Sorin. "You said you wanted to get away from Arcia for a bit, and here we are at the very edge of the country."

"I did, but that didn't mean teleport me away from my home!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," said Sorin. "That was not teleporting. Teleporting is spacial magic, and I have no knowledge of that school. That was shadow passage: a stretching of the shadow and using it as somewhat of a dimension door spell."

"Whatever," mumbled Izaak. He turned to the man with the familiars. "Since I'm here, I suppose I shouldn't be rude...or any more so than I already have. I am Izaak Bezeleel, and this is Sorin Markov. Please excuse his...strangeness."

"It's very nice to make your acquaintance," said Sorin.

[Mizagium]

"Valendi Gae'om," he returned. "Nice to meet you both, but if you're looking to get out of Arcia, you might not want to stick with us; we're heading towards Kyros - I am at least."

Raefe padded over to them and sniffed daintily before turning her nose up and stalking away. "One of you stinks," she declared.

"Raefe!" Hesseppatt chided to no avail. The prissy Fury kept right on walking. Jorsin peeked out from his hiding-pocket, suddenly very brave.

"Well, I like them," he said - mostly at Raefe. He got no reaction, which was better than he had expected.

Valendis rubbed his neck sheepishly, more than a little embarrassed by his Familiars. "Right, so, anyway, perhaps we should get going? Kyros is still a ways off and if Ixion still deigns to transport us, we should waste no time."

[Monika]

"The more the merrier!" Kazan beamed, always happy to have more people around. For a moment, he gazed at Sorin with a hint of longing, thinking to himself. 'I've always wanted to be a Shadow Mage...'

As if she could hear his thoughts, Lenore quickly replied. "You should master what magic you already know, Kazan."

Kazan was visibly caught off guard by the sudden response. "What? Nori, how did you-

"Enough. Ixion, if you would be so kind," Lenore nodded to the dragon, who lowered each of its necks down to the ground. "Guests first. Valendis," She motioned for Valendis to climb upon the dragon. After some consideration, she pointed to Sorin and Izaak. "And you two as well, if you wish to accompany us. I'm Lady Eleanora Morana, by the way," she bowed.

"Kazan..." Kazan muttered, still baffled as to how Lenore guessed his thoughts.

[Damien]

"I'll join you!" said Izaak as he rushed towards one of Ixion's necks.

"Not without me you won't," said Sorin, running for the other neck. That Kazan child, he thought, seems to want to know something about me...or from me...maybe I'll use that to my advantage in some way.

[Razgat]

Deyanira fell hard on the ground as something hit her from behind. "Hey!" Her voiced was muffled in the snow. "Owwwwww!"

She managed to wiggle herself out from under him and wipe the snow off of her face. As she did, she noticed blood on her hand. Her nose was bleeding. "You made my nose bleed!" She held her hand over it as she pouted.

"Gasp, oh no! Steve!" She quickly reached into her band to check on the skull she had named Steve. Just now. "Oh good, he's not crushed. You could have smashed him!"

Just then, she heard the shouts and looked up to see a group of people staring at them. "Oh yeah, I was stalking them. I forgot." She put on a big smile. "Hi! I'm just wondering around! Until I got a nose bleed..." She glared at the guy who knocked into her.

[Mizagium]

Valendis and the Familiars (minus Hesseppatt, who opted to fly alongside them) clamored onto Ixion's back, where the neck joined the shoulders. He barely contained his amazement at the experience. This was Ixion, one of the highest level summons ever recorded! And here he was, riding it like common pack animal.

"Uh, hello, Ixion," he greeted nervously. "I, uh, hope you don't mind that we're, uh, riding you?"

The dragon answered with heavy silence.

"Don't worry," Hesseppatt assured him. "If he was unhappy, he would tell you. But as it is, Ixion and we go a ways back."

"Really? How far back?" Valendis watched the small Roc spin lazy circles around them, waiting for a response. She never answered him, flying off instead. "Jorsin, how long ago did you meet Ixion?" For once the Twigman had nothing to say. He had a strange, sad look, but would not speak.

It was Raefe who, uncharacteristically somber, finally said, "The last time we saw Ixion...we were with Adden."

Valendis knew exactly who the Gae'om legend was and said no more.

[Monika]

"Your turn, Kazan," Lenore instructed. Kazan, slowly recovering from his confusion, made his way toward the section where Ixion's tail and back were connected and climbed aboard.

"Well, if that's everyone, I suppose we can go..." Lenore sighed and gracefully jumped up onto the center of Ixion's back. "...to Kyros." Reluctantly, she gave the signal for Ixion to begin flying, and the five (plus 3 familiars and the dragon itself) were off to Arcia's capital city.

[Myrdraxxis]

Nathaniel stared at them. "You were just walking around?" He asked incredulously. Faust snorted, shaking his head. Nathaniel's face pulled into a frown and he pulled the pistol at his side out of its holster, but kept it lowered. "Do you not realize where you are? This site, until minutes ago was a hive of necromantic activity. Why would someone be out in Nostian wilderness like this?" Nathaniel interrogated.

Ishabel shuffled up through the snow beside them, tilting her head curiously as she examined the duo. "I sense magic from them." she said after a moment. Immediately Nathaniel's pistol snapped up, pointing at the girl's head. Behind him Nathaniel could hear rifles clicking as his troopers copied the movement.

"The only mages out here in Nostia are Necromancers and Blood Mages." Faust growled, drawing his sword. "Being either is not good in the presence of His Majesty's Mage Hunters."

Nathaniel glared at the two. "I'll ask again. Who are you?"

[Sariel of Tevet]

"Well I uh...", Roluo tensed when he saw the weapons pointed in his direction. "I am Grand Duke Bow Wow of course", he said with a slight bow, "I was uh...just chasing after my sister here. She tends to go off wandering like she said. Father tends to get very angry when he hears of her going into the wilderness like this but you know women, such a handful right?"

He grabbed the girl by the shoulders and turned her toward him, casting a look of "please..please go with this and also sorry about the nose thing" (which is a very specific glance of course), "So sis let's get going ok? You don't wanna go worrying father right?"

Roluo started to lead her away slowly, hoping for his life that the ruse holds up, and then turned and began to wave at the assaulting cast of soldiers. "Sorry for the trouble everyone, we'll make sure it never happens again ok bye bye now."

[Razgat]

Deyanira paused for a moment as she was being led away. "That boy looks so familiar...." she thought to herself. Being that she had a very short attention span and very little patience, she immediately turned around, forgetting that she was supposed to try and leave.

"You know, you look really familiar. Have I seen you before?" She went right up to him and began to stare hard at his face.

She had lived most of her life separate from people, so it would be almost impossible that she would have met him. Yet he looked so familiar. It was something about his face that reminded her of something she couldn't think of. Then it hit her. "Oh! I get it! You look just like me!"

[Sariel of Tevet]

Roluo wasn't sure what just happened. Can she REALLY get distracted that easily? How hard did I hit her in the nose? This may be tougher than I thought.

"Why yes sis, I DO look just like you. So silly, sisters ya know?" He glanced back at the cluster of soldiers who seemed to be as confused as he was, thank goodness.

"So uh, off we go kiddo. Come on hurry up we are wasting these gentlemen's time." Roluo tried to rush the girl away and no longer looked back, just hoping the soldiers would continue to stand in their stupor and allow the pair to leave.

[Myrdraxxis]

Nathaniel raised a hand, halting his troops. "We have never met before." he growled at the two people who still hadn't told him their names. Well, the boy had, but Nathaniel was pretty sure he was lying. And mocking him. Why hadn't he shot the guy yet?

"You know, she really does look a lot like the boss, now that I get a proper look at 'er." Faust muttered back to the silently waiting Xing, who just nodded faintly in response. Nathaniel shook his head. They did look similar. Very similar. It was troubling, but Nathaniel wouldn't let it distract him.

"Regardless of who you say you are, you are obviously mages. And the only mages in Nostia are those that bring destruction and death." he said. He paused. "Now I will ask once more. Who are you really? And why shouldn't I execute you here and now?"