The Knights' Roleplay - War Ascending

[fuzzbucket]

"I volunteer..." Fuzz said, "When do we leave?" Sir Fuzz asked. He had experience in long waits before anything was done, but he never got used to it.

[emmhwal]

Emma sat quietly, letting the other knights around her talk. She was still processing the information, one word thumping through her thoughts. War. If they were conquering outlying lands, it was no far jump to think that they were headed to Dunburrow to do the same.

Of course, it wasn't like they were going to be attacked; but she'd never had the patience to go out for politics, never held those who vied for power in high esteem. But nonetheless, she followed them carefully, wanting to know who wanted control of her hometown. The thoughts of home sent her mind spinning, and she fought to focus her attention on the extremely important matter at hand.

She kept quiet still, churning things over in her mind. Really, she'd rather stay here, prepare the castle for whatever may meet it in the next days. "I'll stay, and help to defend the castle," she said, finally bringing her gaze down to the rest of the knights.

[zarikrahia]

'As soon as either this meeting ends or we are excused.' Zari responded, folding her arms. Zaha moved from her position on Zari's chair, turning half-human, half-cat mid-jump, and began to pace. Zari heard a few muffled gasps from the newer knights, those who hadn't seen the Felraen Ninja in her two-legged form. 'If indeed they are coming from down South, and we are lan'locked, King Wolf's plan seems perfectly reasonable.'

((Westerners...hey, they might be Xenami! XD Minor godmode, and Zaha has trouble with 'nd' sounds))

[Deleted]

Finally Fenrix had enough. "General Alec!" She spurred Hava up to the front of the caravan. The general sat on a large war horse, the breed that made the westerners a formidable enemy. Next to the general's horse, Hava looked tiny and frail.

"Yes Lady Fenrix?" General Alec turned in his saddle to look down at the woman. He was good looking, sandy blonde hair, a neatly trimmed beard, sparkling blue eyes and fair skin. He was the perfect image of a westerner.

"Forgive me Sir, but how long until we are in Dunburrow?" She tried to keep anxiousness out of her voice.

He smiled and tweaked her nose, which irked Fenrix to no end. "Relax your fears sweetening. We'll be there around this time tomorrow. We will be camping outside of the city. I would like you to accompany me to the council. You have proved a loyal asset to the caravan the last few weeks. And I seem to be lacking in refinement." He glanced back at his men. "Surely the King of Dunburrow will not allow everyone into the Castle. I will take ten of my best men. I would like you to be my eleventh."

Fenrix smiled flatteringly, hiding a mask of indifference. "If it pleases you, General Alec."

[Shadaras]

The knights were interesting. Sir Fuzz, the newest one at the table, seemed ready to tell them his opinion about everything. Zari had reinforced what Shade herself had said about keeping them out of the castle, and her contacts sounded interesting. How trustworthy they were, Shade wasn’t sure, but they would almost certainly provide interesting information. Tirilia was.. a bit distant, Shade supposed, but still agreed with them. And then Wolf spoke, and the table fell silent for a moment, but as soon as he finished, talk resumed.

As soon as there was a break, Shade spoke. “Meeting at the Council Hall sounds like a good idea. We will be meeting them at the city gates and showing them to the Hall, I assume. Do you think that they will bring people not involved in the discussions? If so, we must decide where to put them while everyone’s talking. Even if they aren’t, we need to decide on where they will stay when the negotiations aren’t going on.”

[Tirilia]

She listens with a half ear as Wolf dismisses her idea, but she shows no signs of disappointment - as she may once have done.

She waits for another pause in conversation and then speaks up once again, "Haven't we forgotten something? The 'unknown presence' in the castle? So far none of us has been capable of locating it, yet alone its intentions and purpose..." she raises a perfect eyebrow and glances around to all present, "doesn't the idea of sending our 'strongest' outside the castle and leaving this 'presence' free run of the halls, bother anyone?"

((yes she's somewhat of a female canine now hehehe))

[fuzzbucket]

"Shade has a point." Sir Fuzz said pondering, "I think that one, or two of the stronger knights should look for it while the 'negotiations' are at hand."

[Dice]

Pyro leaned forward in her chair, crossing her arms on the table in front of her. She stared at the model of Castle Kestrel as the others spoke. The news that the Knights could be facing war bothered her, for she knew that, while the Knights were strong, they were few, and if the opposing forces decided to bring an entire army, the Knights would be in for trouble.

“I think Lady Tirilia has a point,” she spoke up, finally lifting her eyes from the stone table to look around at the other Knights. “I will stay at the castle, along with Lady Emma, and whoever else wishes to remain rather than go with the party that will meet with and negotiate with these strangers. I suggest that those of us who stay here should fortify the castle’s defenses with whatever magic and force of arms we can gather. And I think it would also be wise to have some instantaneous or rapid way of passing a message between the negotiators and those who stay—just in case trouble occurs the instant our Knights meet with these strangers.”

Pyro frowned deeply. She didn’t know how powerful, especially magically, the Knights who would probably help defend the Castle would be. She herself had no magical power, a fault that she felt keenly. Yet she knew she would fight with sword and blood to keep their home safe—and what she lacked in magic, she prayed she could make up in strategy.

“Normally, I would caution against bringing these people into the castle,” she said slowly. “But in this case, I think that—perhaps—we should hold at the ready to alert some of the city’s people. This way, if those we bring into the Council Hall try anything, they won’t escape from the city alive, if we can help it.”

[zarikrahia]

'Hopefully, whatever got into the castle has been booted out, but that's me being way to optimistic for my own good, and I don't think I should rely on my intuition in this case. I tend to think the best of people.' She pulled a wry face. She still hadn't quite got over the way she -the way all the knights- had been deceived during the Short, brutal period known as the Guild War. A frown crossed her face, half-closing the eyes so they looked brown rather than amber. From behind closed lids she saw briefly, a Xenami face, one she’d seen but couldn’t attatch a name to- Tanned skin and Dark hair streaked heavily with grey. It could have been any Xenami- they all looked the same. She could pass for a Xenami if she dyed her hair darker. It didn’t concern her. Things like that happened.

She shot Pyro a rare smile. 'This excursion won't take long, and hopefully I will be back before this meeting has reached the halfway point and will be able to defend Castle Kestrel if things go sour. I do hope this group isn't an army, since our forces are...small.'

[Bacon]

"I will go as well." Sir Bacon said at last, breaking his long, thought-filled silence. "King Wolf said they may be two-dozen strong, and I think I know just how strong. Besides, I may not be good at negotiating, but my blades are." With that, he hefted his heavy octo-axe, almost brandishing it in anticipation.

<Don't forget what I have told you.> The voice ended.
Shut up already, he demanded inside his brain, although the presence had already faded away. No. Sir Bacon had no patience for visions at all...

[Tirilia]

After some thought she nods fractionally. "Agreed, I'll stay with you too Pyro. As for speedy communications, I may just remember the whereabouts of a few fragments of Octiron Mirror. If I can get ahold of 3 sister pieces, we can place one at the negotiation table, while the other two can go to ourselves and the base of this so called 'army'. If you can keep the negotiations brief, the mirror shards should provide us with instant visual and audio communications. Each fragment see and hear what its sisters see and hear. Although, the piece we will hold at the castle will not be able to communicate with the piece at the other base... I don't consider that to be too much of a concern."

[Deleted]

Wolf nodded along with the others as they spoke in turn. He waited a moment and took a breath before speaking. “The presence in the castle…is being dealt with.” He took another breath and sighed. “Sir Kit has been tracking it since he first discovered it. Unless someone else here is capable of sensing it, there is nothing else we can do.” Wolf nodded and stroked his chin. Thin stubble scratched at his fingertips.

“Those who enter the city should probably be let to linger in the city, I think; we can accommodate them at the inn. That way, they cannot meet with those outside and plan an assault if negotiations do not go as they wish them to.” He looked up at Shade. “This would be…reasonable, yes?”

To Pyro, he added, “If needed, I could probably call the Knights to the Council Hall. I’ve been able to sense everyone’s presence a few times before since the coronation, and my awareness of this ability has grown over the past few days, so I’m rather confident I’d be able to work this in reverse. However, if Lady Tirilia may acquire the mirror shards she’s spoken of, we may have no need to depend on my abilities at all.

“Zari, Sir Fuzz, Sir Bacon; if you wish to depart, you may be dismissed. If others wish to take leave as well, you may do so. A messenger will be sent with orders if needed.”

* * *

General Alec dismissed the easterner and watched her ride away. He was glad she didn’t have that pesky falcon with her this time; it annoyed him. And it was related to the kestrel, longtime symbol of Dunburrow. She could be trouble, or it could simply be coincidence. He figured the latter: King Wolf of Dunburrow was too new to have sent spies into enemy caravans already. Besides, there was still hope that he could sway the good king to see his plight in favorable light.

If not, General Alec had plans for that, too.

He raised his hand. “Casandra!”

A woman rode up alongside his left, her armer so dense she could've easily been mistaken as a man. “You called, General?”

“Yes, I did,” he said slowly. “I require your services once again.”

“My sword?”

“Your sorcery.”

“I see.” She nodded solemnly. “It is the one I favor to give: My sword has seen too much of late.”

“Fair enough,” said the General. He cupped his hand around his chin and enjoyed the softs strokes of his bristly, sandy-blond beard against his fingers. “Gaze towards Dunburrow, tell me what you see.”

“As you wish it, General.” Casandra reached down to a brown satchel at her waist and untied it; she reached inside and withdrew a perfectly spherical orb of chiseled crystal. She raised it to her face, pressed it against her lips and whispered a silent spell, a prayer perhaps. Then she rubbed her thumb in small circles over the stain of her lips until its surface was unblemished once again; she blew onto it and brought it near her eyes.

“Tell me, Casandra, what do you see?”

((Casandra and General Alec are community characters.))

[Tirilia]

"Unless someone else here is capable of sensing it, there is nothing else we can do.”

I can.. but I don't intend to. She thinks to herself inwardly before drawing herself up, "Then if for the moment you've no further need of me, I'll find the shards and bring them back as soon as possible."

She turns on her heel to go, she seems unusually eager to leave the council room. Though whether this has anything to do with her disposition of late, or merely the will to act quickly, no one would be able to decide.

[fuzzbucket]

"I'll go and pack then." Fuzz said standing up. He walked out the door and headed to his room. Right now would be so less complicated if I wasn't worrying about my Home Clan. He thought to himself.

He walked into his room and opened a hidden door. He picked up his pike and a strange red sphere, and then he plopped the sphere into his pack and walked out of his room.

He walked back into the meeting and said, "I'm ready to go as soon as you are, Zari." He sat down in his chair waiting patiently untill she was ready.

[zarikrahia]

Zari stood, Zaha balancing on her arm. 'Follow me.' she said firmly. 'Don't get distracted. I don't want to double back and find you if you get lost.' with that, she quietly opened the door and slipped out.

-mild timeskip (about 5 mins at most)-

Zari stopped abruptly, turn to check if Sir Fuzz was still behind her, then knocked on the door of a small, cream-white house only a short way from Castle Kestrel, althoiugh she had doubled back and taken pointless shortcut several times. 'Vedimet. If he's a bit patronizing, just put up with him, because he sees alot more than you'd think.' she informed. No one answered the door, so she tried again. This time, there was a muffled 'COMING, COMING, JUST DEALING WITH A PARTICULARLY TROUBLESOME BLOWFLY!' followed by some thumps and some buzzing. 'Got'im.' Vedimet was a short, stocky man of about sixty, hair completely grey, with olive skin and a look of satisfaction. 'Oh, Zari. I was wondering when you'd be here again. Have you brought another Knight? Hallo. I'm Vedimet ret Jonen. Of Jonen, to you of Dunburrow. And your name is?'