Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

- Gros Morne Ruins -


And thus the Velkens bowed to the group and left for bluer skies, but not before Renard promised he would see Duilin and the others again.  The sun was bright and birds sang in the distance.  All seemed well.

For now...

----

- Some random beach -


Hubert wiped the sweat from his brow.  A storm seemed to be brewing to the north, so their trip would likely be cut short.  He reckoned they had a bit of time left, though, so he cast his line out once more and watched the baited hook plop into the water.

"Hubert!" Karl cried from behind him.  "Come look at 'dis!"

Sighing, he placed the rod down and waddled over to his fishing partner.  "What is it, Karl?"

"I found a little kid!  Was floatin' in the water down there!  Poor lil' guy's half drowned..."

Hubert looked to where he was pointing, but there was nothing there.

"Funny..."  Karl said, scratching his head.  "He was 'ere a minute ago..."

A chill laced Hubert's bones, and he shuddered as the sunlight seemed to fade.

What.

Do.

You.

Fear?!?!

Hubert screamed like a little girl at the giant fanged fish that leapt out of the water and flew through the air, chasing him.  For Karl, it was a long sea snake, with spindly barbs on its sides.

"Mmmm.... delicious..."



To be continued...

[Xorlak]

Chapter 16

- Ye Olde Taverne, South Kalvon, Southern Tjed -


Kelmarr wasn't having a good day...

It was bad enough the blasted humans kept staring at him, but the ale was bland and the creaky wooden chair didn't even have a tail-hole.  Bunch of bigots, the lot of them.

He took another swig of the cheap drink and returned a few scowls from his dark corner.  And they thought he stunk.  Bunch of hairless monkeys never had a bath in their lives...

Of course, being the last warrior of the Skunkular, he was cursed to forever be alone, forever be regarded in disdain in this infernal world run by a bunch of tailless freaks.  He thought his life sucked before the Dark Empire fell, but now he was a joke without a job. Running around doing petty tasks for morons who hated him for a few coppers or a night's rest.

He deserved better, blast it!  A skunk-mage of his talents should be held in the highest respect.  They should fear him!  The mighty Kelmarr!

He took another swig, feeling the dizzying effects of the alcohol start to take place.  The fat barkeep waddled over to him, a greasy pig of a human...

"Uh, sir... I'm gonna have to ask you to leave..."

"Why's that, huh?" Kelmarr slurred, baring his fangs.  He stood and grabbed the man by the shirt. "It's 'cause I'm a skunk, ain't it?  Ain't it?!" He shook him by the collar.

"Well..."  He wouldn't look the skunk in the eye. "... some of the customers are complaining about the smell..."

Kelmarr folded his ears and growled.  He pushed the man away.  "Your ale sucks anyway."  Told him.  He should spray them and see how they like that smell.  Bah, next time... He stumbled towards the door, uttering curses under his breath.

----

"I do say, Luciferairion, that this is, in fact, rather pleasant weather we are experiencing right now!"

"Quitely so, Beazlebubudel.  And of course it is important to mention the weather to every single person you ever meet during conversation lulls, because, in fact, everyone in the entire world finds talking about the weather an exhilarating and interesting topic that they never tire of!"

"So very true!"

"And indeed, it was a good thing that excessively long essay by John Crocke, written on the cavernous tunnel walls--"

"-- of hell--"

"-- that happened to take the past three years to read--"

"--written in a rather large font on a particularly twisting passage, mind you--"

"-- also happened to lead outside here, where we can experience and enjoy the aforementioned pleasant weather!"

"That everyone finds such an interesting subject to talk about."

"Quitely so. Quitely so. You dropped your monocle."

"Oh, heavens! Thank you."

[Drannic_Lord01]

Three full years had passed. Aaron was still alive. He was quite amazed to be both a militant leader as well as a political leader. Sure, he ruled over the Empire in his kingdom, but all of that changed. There are now no Empires or kingdoms to speek of in this age except one... the Kandarinian Soverignity. The Gaian Federation brought together all the infant nations and petty territories to form one great alliance that would stand against Monarchy. It was Gaian's first sort of idea that somewhat resembled a Democracy, ruled by Conculars and Military Generals. They brought peace to the world. Only one thing really stands in their way. Kandarin.

Aaron scratched his cleanly-shaved chin as he sat in a wooden seat in a large room that resembled something of an underground building. A sort of meeting place with brick walls and red overhangs that stretched down the walls with a great big 'G' weaved in golden thread. This was the Federation's meeting place. There was a meeting place in every capital city of the former nations. They were constructed to be secret and hidden from enemy eyes. In the building was a great stone table and a large amount of wooden seats all lined across the table. A few of them were occupied with people, some Generals and some Consulars.

"Welcome, one and all, to the Gaian Federation Assembly," Aaron said after standing up from his char, "I suppose I should start us off since we are in my former Empire. Now that that's been said, I'd like to give the floor to my good friend, Consular Mjord." Aaron then sat back down in the comfortable wooden chair.

Ben stood. "Thank you, Consular Grey. I would like to bring up the matter of Kandarin. They do not seem to be so... Hospitible towards us. It seems as if they are claiming all territory lost by the Dark Empire. Now that the Empire is in shambles without its leader, who is to stop them?"

"The Kandarin are no match for our martial might and brute strength!" Jacobie entered the building, and with him was a small raiding party of roughly 50 lizardmen wearing black Empire armor. "My batallion is made up of powerful A-Class and S-Class lizardmen with outstanding potential in both magic and melee combat. Although there are so few of us, we will surely be a needed addition to the current forces."

Ben nodded. The army saluted in unison, then marched out. Jacobie remained and found himself a seat. Another girl was with him and she sat next to him. "Thank you, High General Jacobie. Well, that is something of a start to our defenses. What about some mages? We'll need more if we're going to stand up to those Necromancer-Cryomancer mages."

"Cryomancers?" the girl blurted, confusedly, "What are those?" Jacobie stood up for a breif moment. "If you'll let me take the floor for a few moments, Consular Mjord?" Again, Ben nodded. "Cryomancers are essencially Ice mages. That's it." Jacobie bowed and then sat down again.

"As I was saying before, we'll need to counter them. Either it's fight fire with fire, or in this case ice with ice, or we counter them with Pyromancers. It would be good to have a few holy warriors when the time comes where we must strike down the Liche king Kronos." Ben then threw the back of his cape behind his seat and sat back down.

At that moment, two beautiful Drannivolkan twins wearing blue mage robes entered the building and made a short bow together. "Consular Jacklyn Varrandel, here." The first one said. She walked further into the room and found herself a seat. "Consular Jelscyn Varrandel, here." The second one said. She walked into the room with her sister and seated herself next to her twin.

"If you would all allow me to take the floor for a bit." A tall man with spiked, cyan blue hair got up from his seat. He had tatoos all over his neck. They were black and appeared to be symbols from some sort of lost civilization... or perhapse just unknown. His eyes were red with an erie, cold stare. He wore dark purple robes with a red inside and black symbols on the outside; ones just like his tatoos. His expression was happy, but calm. There was more to it than that... somehow, beneath the calm and the joy, one could see the sinister Consular standing before them. "My countrymen have learned to adapt to their environment well and are quite 'cold' if you get my meaning. They are very good cryomancers, and know the art well. So either we fight fire with fire, or we just use them to find weakness. Not so much use as ask, perhapse?" The evil-looking consular seated himself back in his chair.

Aaron rose from his chair. "Thank you Consular Seymore. We would be honored for your countrymen to teach us their weaknesses, or if we choose to, have them join the current army of mages. I suppose that settles the matter with the Cryomancers, but what of the undead summoners... the necromancers. What are we to do about them?" Aaron sat back down, waiting for another Consular or General.

[Ted Der]

Three years since the sailor had rescued him from the dpths of the ocean and now...

Ashes. It had been many years since Akran had visited his homeland and now he realized why he procrastinated the journey for so long. This wasn’t home. This was a graveyard. The land was burned and scorned with numerous gaping wounds. The wind whistled through the dry branches and crumbling houses. This was a dead island.

A single tear ran down from Akran’s left eye as he remembered his family. His mother and father … and his brother. His brother! Kraaz was responsible for all of this destruction.

Akran quickly got serious. He flicked away the tear as it were a bothersome fly, turned around and cleared his throat.

“Boris.”

“Sir?” asked the man, stepping forward.

Take your men Northwest. I’ll travel south and we’ll meet back here by midday.”

Yes, sir,” Boris turned to a group of men. “You heard the Captain, let’s move out!”

As Boris’ men started to walk away, Akran stopped one of them.

“You.” The guy stopped. “You stay and guard the ship.”

The man stumbled around. He was drooling and had an eye patch on his right eye. His other eye was wondering around blood red.

“Huh?” the guy said, “I can’t hear no good ‘cause I cut m’ear off last summer. Whadda you just say?”

Akran shook his head and continued, “Okay, never mind. Just get out of here.”

As the retard swaggered away following Boris, Akran Turned to his own group of sailors. They were reliable bunch, about 7 in all. One of them coughed.

“Mr. Garrick,” Akran said addressing the man who coughed. He was a tall, lean man with a big bushy moustache. “Sorry to ask this of you, but stay and guard the ship for me aye? I need a good man to do the job.”

“Yes Captain. I’ll do my best sir.

“Great, let’s get moving.”

Akran motioned for the rest to follow him and they headed south.

A few minutes passed and Garrick stood there motionless and expressionless until a slow grin spread onto his face and he watched the Captain fade into the distance.

Suddenly, he whipped around and ran up the stairs onto the deck. He slowed his pace and walked briskly to the hatch, lifted it open and ducked through into the hold. In the corner of the room, there was a wooden box. Garrick smashed the corner of it with his fist and pulled out a small object and quickly put it into his pocket.

He made his way up the ladder and back onto the deck of the ship to see if anyone was coming back. The scorched landscape held no signs of life whatsoever. He smirked again and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small glass orb. It glowed red as he brought it close to his face. A voice, barely conceivable about the noise of the waves crashing into the docked ship, started to speak.

“Sssso, are they gone?”

“Yes master.”

“Finally … I thought theysss never leavesss.”

“Uh, yeah, me too.” The man stuttered, his moustache quivering.

“What wasss that?” the voice spoke and it started to get louder. “Are they gone or whatsss?”

“Hmmm, well technically, they left a while ago-”

“Then get a move on … Whatsss you waiting for?” The now angry voice interrupted.

“Yes, yes of course …  master.” He added.

“USE MY REAL NAME FOOL!” The orb shook violently. Garrick almost dropped it. He looked confused and his moustache quivered even more.

“But you told me not to use your name!”

“Shutsss up …” The orb had calmed back down and continued to hiss. “Get on with itsss. Find the Majeuri Spinel. NOW!”

“Yes … umm, Kraaz.”

On the horizon Garrick could see another ship just barely coming into view. “Excellent,” he said, smiling and putting the orb back into his pocket. “The Gilden Warship is right on time.

[D. Ein]

- Arctic Region, former Gros Morne -

The deep shaft in front of Nils was smoking, as usual - even though located in the Arctic Region, the searing heat coming from it originated from the very heart of Gaian itself. There are just so many things we don't know about the planet we live on, he thought. Who knew that there existed such forms of life that were able to survive temperatures beyond imaginable? Not only that, but they also survived the extreme temperature change - just yesterday, Nils saw one walking in the snow, without showing any signs of discomfort. Very strange, indeed... It is a good thing, then, that the higher-ups from Kandarin decided to ship some of these creatures off to Shuba - the unofficial capital of Kandarin.

It's strange, he thought. The Sovereign is certainly taking very odd actions... Kandarin is, undoubtedly, in dominance of the world, but its leaders are still afraid of something. The Citadel, in which the Sovereign lives, is no longer affixed to one place. Instead, the chains binding it to the ground were severed, and now it floats in between Kandarin-controlled outposts. That's why the first thing done after capturing a town is installing four enormous anchors for the Citadel to attach itself. There is no telling which town it is in - all orders are sent through the M-Grid, impossible to trace, impossible to know...

--- --- ---

- An undisclosed location -

The floors shook - and the light above the rectangular table flickered on and off, briefly exposing the faces of several people. A calm voice broke the short period of silence.

-"We're moving again. The Sovereign is certainly unsettled by something, considering that we arrived here only an hour ago."

Another voice, slightly feminine but unmistakably male, replied:

-"Why, thank you for that very helpful observation, Shen. The fact that you're the captain of the research division doesn't mean that we're all retards, you know. If your ego is in a desperate need of stroking, why don't you concentrate on looking a bit less ugly?"

-"Quiet, imbecilesss!", a voice hissed from somewhere to the far edge of the table. "You are captainss, not ssome new-hatched childrens! Show ssome maturity!"

-"Enough." The statement was simple and final, and came from the very end of the table. The light did not reach the speaker even when it wasn't flickering. "Now, is there anyone here who is not present?"

-"Sun, captain of the Second Regiment, here."

-"Shen Tsoy, captain of the Third Regiment, here."

Silence.

-"Captain Eldridge of Fourth is missing." A deep, rough voice finally spoke. "My own captain, Flora Goethe, is also currently on an assignment. I am filling in. Onwan, officer of the Fifth Regiment, here."

-"Eris Vasburg, captain of the Sixth Regiment, here."

-"Tin Dao Kaineng, captain of the Seventh Regiment, here."

-"Damien Roth, captain of the Eighth Regiment, here."

-"Ssesk, captain of the Ninth Regiment, here."

-"Cain Ryleh, captain of the Tenth Regiment, here."

-"We'll have to work on attendance, then", the darkness spoke again. "Prime matters first. Sun, what is the status of the Continent?"

-"Going along rather well, General! We have gained complete control of over 70% of the land mass now. Captain Goethe is leading a fairly large number of troops, and we are continuing to expand the Sovereignty's borders. At this rate, the continent of Ariosis can be breached within several months."

-"Excellent. Your Sovereign will be pleased. Continue your reports."

The dark silhouette at the end of the table leaned backwards, retreating further into the shadows.

-"I do not have much to report, General," Shen said. "I am expecting several specimens from the Gros Morne Shaft research station. At that point, I will contact you."

-"As captain Sun mentioned," began Onwan. "Captain Goethe is leading the Fifth Regiment - the attack squads, specifically - in further assaults on unconquered land. The Fifth Regiment as a whole is in its best shape. The morale and physical strength are at their peak. Other than that, I suppose, that's it. Captain Eris, please continue."

-"Right. My Sixth's function was diverted a little, as there are no major targets to assassinate. Since wes double as scouting... Well, just recently, one of our scouts reported that all remaining capitals buildings of the legged nations are practically abandoned. This leads us to believe that they carry out their political businesses elsewhere. Scared of the Hammer, no doubt. Everythings elses is trash, really - just small villages, minor townships... I'd say not even worth conquering, but Kandarin must grows, I guess..."

-"Nothing to report from the Seventh Regiment," Kaineng blurted.

-"The Arcane Regiment is also in nominal condition, General," said Damien. "We are training Cryomancers, just like the Sovereign ordered a while ago."

-"The Necrolyte Regiment iss helping Flora on her crussade, General... We have alssso begun to employ the Ssovereign's Marcher creaturess as bases of operationss for Necrolytess...sss."

-"Thank you, Ssesk. I'm sorry, but it seems as though the Tenth Regiment is also at a loss of reports. Everything is fine with the populace, thanks to the new execution methods. The things that scare people are most often quite effective at preventing uprisings, hmm?"

A short silence followed, and then the shadow at the end of the table spoke:

-"Very well. You are all dismissed."

[Dude Man]

Despite all that has happened, the conflict with the Kandarin. Duilin has had a great past three years. He's married, he has made lots of new friends and is very optimistic about the Federation defeating Kandarin. But one thing was bothering him right now...

"Duilin..."

"Uhhh?"

"Duilin! Wake up!" Rink's voice hissed.



- Federation Meeting place, Arosis -



"Huh?" Duilin was laying back in his chair, apparently dosed off from the boredom. He hated these meetings, they were so boring. He was a general, he's supposed to be out killing zombies not talking about them.

"Duilin, Aaron just asked about who is going to handle the necromancers." Rink stated.

"So?"

Rink rolled his eyes. Duilin was such a child at these things. What really annoyed him is the fact that Duilin is 40 years old and he's been getting less and less mature. Rink stood up. "If you would all allow me to take the floor."

The small imp, was barely visible due to his shortness, yet he had a booster seat, which was suitable for him to stand on.

"As part of the Helternia Division, we do have a bit of an advantage being close to the older sections of the Kandarinian Sovereignty. General Talonscar, here..." He motioned to Duilin, who simply waved his hand. "...General Talonscar would like to share us with his plans."

Duilin's eyes shot open. He quickly stood up, appearing caught off guard.

"Okay, so yeah. I've been training a group of soldiers personally, to make them better fighters. You see, before the Federation, I traveled with a small group of very skilled fighters and we were able to battle off armies. You know the stories. Anyways, I'm hoping that my teachings will make them just as good as my old group and one them may even be my successor as high general. They're all good friends of mine."

"Get to the point..." Rink whispered.

"Oh yeah, so uh. I was thinking, since I've got my elite squad, and Helternia is so close to older parts of Kandarin Sovereignty--"

"Kandarinian Sovereignty." Rink corrected.

"Whatever. So yeah, I'm thinking my division would be the best for fighting the necromancers." Duilin finished and then stood in silence for a second and then sat back down in his chair.

//Little short on time ATM, so the rest of my characters will be updated tomorrow.\

[Drannic_Lord01]

- Ariosis, Underground Meeting Area -

"Heh... this meeting really has no meaning. If we are to fight them with their own weapons, as Consular Mjord suggests, then everything is all in place. My own minnions, be they rebellious little bastards or not, are rather 'in touch' with the dark arts. Necromancy does fall under that area of focus, and I do happen to have a lot of necromancer alcolytes. They are of novice potential, but they get the job done, none-the-less."

"With all due respect, Consular Valimore, you did not even ask for the floor."

"'With all due respect,' Consular THAND, you didn't either!"

"Aye, but I was correcting your mistake!"

"Be that as it may, you made the same one that I did."

Aaron arose from his seat. "SHUT UP!!!" He slammed his fists on the stone table. Him once holding addamantine gauntlets, his hands are very strong, and they shook the ground all around them. "I will NOT have such god-damned disrespect in my country! Either play by the rules or shut you mouths!" The angry Consular then took his seat.

After a short period, another lizardman entered the building. She was large in build and tall, walking into the room and taking a short bow. "General Zabel, here." She then walked further into the room and took a seat on the other side of Jacobie that was still empty. The woman with Jacobie looked afraid of the new arrival and scooted near Jacobie, putting one of her hands on his.

"Dammit, I'm sick of these late arrivals! Be sure to be on time, people! Are we all here at least!?" Aaron gazed around the room and noticed that all the chairs were full at last. He then rested back in his chair.

"I've got something to say, if I could have the floor." A young drow woman in silvermail and a teal green cape asked. "My army of Paladins could take out all of the Necromancers hands-down. I could join up with General Talonscar, and with our combined force, we might be able to wipe out the dark threat. That's all." The Drow female then sat back down in her chair.

"If I may have the floor, I do happen to have six full regiments of battlemages, shared between myself and my twin sister. We are no Generals, but we do lead them in combat, as we are the ones who taught them to use magic. They are trained in Fire and Ice evenly. With their power, we would be able to blast away all of the Cyromancers. Just give us a General and we'll be able to fight under their command."

Ben stood from his chair. "If I might take the floor for a sec, I do see a fine plan forming. If we do happen to take the offensive, we'll have to strike on Terian. The Kandarinian force there controls almost three fourths of the continent. We control a slight bit over one fourth. If they take over the entire continent, then they'll have the advantage, and we don't want that. The advantage would be to gain speed in training their army to attack one of the Federation Countries." Ben then sat back down.

Aaron stood up. "Okay, so here's a good plan. General Nymphadora will combine forces with General Talonscar and attack the Kandarinians' Necromancers. General Jacobie will combine forces with General Zabel and attack the footsoldiers. The Verrandel Consulars will take their forces and attack the Cryomancers. This ought to be one hell of a battle for Kandarin! Any objections, speak now!"

[Jenia]

~Former Island of Romme, three years earlier~

The tour was quite long.
Indher walked all over the place, showing the man who popped up out of nowhere around as if he was some sort of distant relative, explaining every structure, field, tree and river.
She told him pretty much everything. About how she got the idea that she could properly revive the dead and resurrect a nation thought long gone.
About how she got Iduran up first, how she went to Tjed, how he proven to a faulty experiment by fusing with a sword at the first sight of dawn's light?About how she returned and met the dragon, about how the people started spawning at incredible rates, about the constructions plans?
"And...That's about it."

She stopped. They were both on the edge of what was meant to be a plowing field.

"I hope this place grows?And I hope the dragon gets along with the citizens!"

She looked into the distance, in the direction of the town, and noticed something wrong.

"Hey, there's a huge thingy over there, where the fountain is supposed to be! What the?

She left the man behind and raced to town.
As she got closer, the object's view became clearer... it was a large sculpted dragon of stone, but it's facial pattern looked familiar... A familiar voice greeted her.

"There you are!"

It was the old man from earlier.

"Baurus.", Indher sighed, "Explain."

The old man smiled, scratching his chin.

"Oh, there's nothing to explain. The people were grateful to the red dragon for protecting them during and after their resurrection, so they erected a statue in his honor."

Indher examined the statue. It looked quite good, in fact, and did well to improve the scenery. She wasn't sure the dragon would appreciate his statue being in the middle of a fountain, though.

"I see... Very well. But next time, try to tell me beforehand."

Baurus raised an eyebrow.

"I sent three people to look for you."

Indher remained speechless.

-----

~Former Island of Romme, two years earlier~

"Is everyone here? Then let the meeting commence..."

Indher and Elphos sat down, along with various other bearded people.
They were all around a large, round table made of the same polished marble-like stone as the rest of the town.

"The first order of business is..."

Elphos was reading from a scroll-like parchment.

"...Is the outer barrier. It is finished. I'm sorry to report, but there has been a slight miscalculation... I ugh... Confused the transperancy rune with the seventh order repellant rune... The island is now invisible."

Some of the bearded people raised their eyebrows at these, but no one was particularily surprised.

"That's fine." Indher nodded "Go on."

Elphos hasitated a bit, but returned to the parchment.

"The second order of business is the current progress of construction... The Capital's core is largely complete, as well as some of the outskirts. Several farming villages to the north and south have been complete as well. We are still missing a working sewer system and the Glimmer Spire is only one third complete."

A bearded person with an opal on his forehead and a monocle raised his hand.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but what is this 'Glimmer Spire' used for?"

Indher took it upon herself to answer.

"The lower floors are training grounds for the school students. The middle area is a power conserver for emergencies. The higher areas are experimentation ground for graduate rune mages. Other than that, the tower will make a good tourist attraction due to it's sheer height and beauty, if I dare say so myself."

"Tourists? Our land is invisible."

"Details, details! That is unimportant. You have to think ahead and see the big picture! Elphos, please continue."

The bearded man rolled his eyes and sighed. Elphos, seeing as no one objected, decided to do as his master asks.

"Next up... A name for the nation. We have gotten numerous suggestions for a name, among which were New Romme, Neoromme, Cukeeland, Errom, Omaggwatoof... Omgootf... Omgwutphbabq... How do I pronounce that!?"

Some of the bearded people hid their smile as Indher took the card from Elphos's hand and threw it away.

"...Right, I'll go on. Let's see... Biggseatea, Necromme, Vitalia, Shizllenia, Belaa, Phoenicia, Majinrengokusatsugekibakoukenzanshoutenhanya, Greenland, Brownland, Orangeland, Whiteland, Made by Paper Towel Industries Co..."

Indher stops her apprentice.

"You are reading from the wrong side. Now, let us discuss which name fits us, why it fits us, and what flag should we make to fit the name."

All the bearded people raised their hand in union.

"I vote for Phoenicia!"

Indher raised an eyebrow.

"Why Phoenicia? All those names were perfectly good!"

Baurus stood up.

"I was the one who suggested it. I have discussed it with the other counselors already as well as with most of the townsfolk. All the other suggestions were sent before I did that, so they are no longer relevant."

Indher smiled.

"Allow me to explain..." Baurus continued "This land used to be called Romme. Romme, however, is long dead. It was burnt down, destroyed, annihilated even. All we did was rise from it's ashes. Romme no longer exists, so using it as a base for our ideals is ridiculous. What I did was using those ashes we've risen from as a base of ideals... You see, Indher, with your power of perpetual resurrection we are able to do it time and time again. It is now who we are. It is what sets us apart. So I named this land after the mythical creature of old lore that does the very same. Do you have any objections, Indher?"

Indher smiled from ear to ear at this. Baurus took the hint and smiled back.

"In that case, I, Third Counsilor Baurus, officialy declare us PHOENICIANS of PHOENICIA!"

The other bearded men stood up.

"LONG LIVE PHOENICIA!"

Everyone was now standing and wildly clapping. Everyone except Indher.

"That is great and all, but the party will have to wait. I believe we have more work."

"No, actualy..." Elphos whispered in her ear "This was the last on the order of business for today."

Indher sighed, but stood up and proceeded to leave the room while stretching her arms. It was a long day, after all.
Just as she entered the corridor, a woman who Indher recognized as a healer ran towards her in a hurry.
"Lerfina! Lerfina!" she called out to her "It's... It's..."
"Calm down..." Indher stopped her, wondering what the fuss was about "What happened?"
"...The firstborn of the resurrected generation..."

Indher's eyes lit up in curiousity.
A birth? This was undeniable proof that her people were very much alive.
But she couldn't even begin to imagine what was wrong.

"Well?" Indher inquired with a snide smile "Show this human to me."

"That's the thing..." The healer muttered "It's not... Human... It's one of us..."

Indher raised an eyebrow.

"One of... You?"

A smiling woman walked towards them slowly, two small hands visible from a patch of cloth in her arms.
Indher walked closer and examined the patch of cloth in the woman's arms.
In there, she saw the face of a sleeping toddler. With a perfectly human nose, a pair of perfectly human ears, a perfectly human mouth...
And a perfectly Phoenician, bright red ruby glowing faintly in his forehead.

-----

~Spire City, Phoenicia. One Year Earlier~

Roughly two thirds of the Glimmer Spire are now complete.
Indher stood on the 36th floor of the Spire and gazed below her, enjoying the white view of the city outstreched below her.

"It's no wonder the city has been nicknamed 'City of White Marbles'..."

Indher turned her head slightly to see who was it that made such a blatantly obvious statment.
"Elphos? What might you be doing here?"

"Me? I came to inspect the spire's new floor. The students of the school are very eager to hear details about the spire since they are forbidden from entering it just yet."

Indher raised an eyebrow at Elphos's warm smile.
"Eager to hear details? Is that what you do during lessons, Elphos? Tell the kids stories?"

Elphos raised his hands as he got on the defense.
"Of course not! They stay after class to hear those. Classtime is classtime! I'm a Basic Runics teacher, after all. In my position, one needs to have a good responsibility!"

Indher chuckled at this.
"It's good that you realize that, but are you keeping up? Are the kids doing their homework?"

Elphos chuckled right back at his master.
"But of course! The kids are all eager to learn and each and every one of them works dilligently! Some kids find it harder and struggle, of course, but their peers usualy help them catch up with the rest of the class. What about your students, Fernis?"

Indher sighed and shrugged.
"Me? All I have is a small class of prodigies who skipped the lower classes all-too-quickly. I'm teaching Advanced Runics to, what, a single dozen people? Elphos, Phoenicia already has all of Romme's people resurrected as well as many others the locals asked for. Our population numbers more than several hundred thousands... That means I have one student for about every dozen thousands of people! You think people THIS special can do anything BUT intense progress? I know your duties as a teacher forced you to progress faster as a rune mage and, in fact, one could say that you no longer need me to teach you. But the people who come to my classroom are almost at your level already, Elphos. Careful, or you might have competition as an instructor soon..."

A cold chill ran down the spine of the apprentice.
"Ah, well... Well how are the guests doing?"

Indher let out a soft laugh at Elphos' attempt to change the subject.
"You mean Shuichi and Reigratto? Shuichi has been teaching in the classroom just across yours! You should know better than I do how his lessons in Alternative Arcana Geometry go about. I heard that whoever does well in your class walks out of his with nothing but a confused expression on his face! I wonder why... As for Reigratto, he opened a bakery at the Red Dragon square. Gotten quite popular, actualy."

Elphos turned around and made a few steps towards the staircase.
"Let's go down, Fernis. We can talk more on the way."

Indher sighed and the two proceeded to descend downstairs...

-----

~Spire City, Phoenicia. Present Day~

"...And that is why you cannot use a core without an outer shell rune. Theres no such thing as a dummy shell, so you should-NARIS!"

Elphos folded his hands and frowned as the 9-year old child drawing birds and clouds in his notebook was cought in the act.
"Naris Schweffleder, I know the lesson is almost over, but you will still be penalized for doing things not relevant to the subject."

The child turned to face Elphos, his teacher and mentor, with pitiful, teary eyes.
He couldn't say anything. He was obviously overcome by shame and became speechless.

"...I will let you off easy this time."

Elphos sighed, thinking he was being too kind for a man who is supposed to be the first step of young minds to scholarship.

"Everyone! The lesson is over. Your homework is to draw a runeset meant for creating an animal-shaped rock. Which animal it is is up to you. Class dismissed! Not you, Naris, I want to talk to you..."

The kids hastly shoved their belongings into leather pouches and left the classroom, leaving a teacher and a child alone in deathly silence.

"So, Naris..."

This time the child interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Master Elphos! I'm just no good at this! I... I become lost in other thoughts and I find myself drawing irrelevant nonsense before I realize it! I can't help it!"

Elphos shrugged. His failure of a student was on the brink of tears...

"Naris... Do you need help?"

"...Yes..."

"Alright then, can you come to my place on evenings, then?"

"...Yes..."

"Good. Then it's settled. I'll see you this evening."

The child bowed, wiped off the tears and turned for the door.

"One last question before you leave..."

The child stopped and turned, full of curiousity.

"...How are your grades in Shuichi's class?"

"Erm, top notch, Master Elphos. It's just... Easier, I guess."

"I thought as much. Oh well, hurry up home, now!"

The child left and Elphos followed shortly.
But Elphos wasn't about to go home just yet.
He hurried to the set of stairs leading up and came upon a partialy closed door.
Inside stood his own master...

"...No, maggot!" Indher exclaimed "When you place a transducer in-between the revolver rune and the core rune, the energy will go to waste and the product will SHATTER!"

"But, what if place a deflectional rune before the transducer?!" Asked a 12-year old student with a pair of glasses on his nose.

"Then theres NO WAY TO THE CORE, doofus! YOU THERE! Tell your buddy what DO we do to seperate leakage noise flaws from the core rune!"

"Yesh ma'am!" a somewhat older, wrinkly student responded "We inshert two amplifiersh! One doublesh, one halvesh!"

"EXACTLY! I expect the reports handed by tommorow! Quiz on tuesday! Test on thursday! Questions!? Good! CLASS DISMISSED!"

Several young yet odd-looking people left the classroom, bowing to Elphos as they run into him at the entrance but not bothering to do anything else.

"So, Fernis, you've got quite a class, eh?"

Indher shrugged. She went out of the classroom and closed the door behind her.
"Well at least they are learning!"

The two proceeded to descend the stairs.
"So, how's life as a teacher?" Elphos asked with a slightly comical tone.
"You're kidding, right? Theres no way I'd get used to that. I want them to take over as soon as possible."
Elphos chuckled.
"I see. So how are they doing?"

Indher raised an eyebrow.
"How'd you think geniuses would be doing? In the name of all flux, I swear, you ask the stupid questions sometimes."

The apprentice sighed.
"I meant for you to tell me about anything interesting that has happened lately, Fernis."

The master rolled her eyes.
"Then you shoulda said so! Something did, in fact, happen. I'm sure you've heard, the Glimmer Spire had it's 104th and last floor finished."

Elphos showed signs of curiosity.
"What's your point?"

He got a chuckle in response.
"A small group of my students had too much free time on their hands, so they went ahead and worked on a really, really big project. They came to me with it a few days ago so that I could point out their errors, help them make it effective and whatnot. Turns out this thing needs 36 of the higher floors to function. Since I'm interested as well... I've arranged for them to have floors 96-66 for themselves..."

By his expression, it was easy to tell that Elphos was quite amazed.
"What... Just what IS it that they are thinking of doing?"

Indher smiled devilishly from ear to ear.
"A world of illusion set in stone with runes. A world where WE decide what happens... And HOW it happens!"

The conversation was cut as the two reached the entrance of the school building.
"Alright, then." Indher waved goodbye to her apprentice "I'm off to congradulate Baurus for having all his students pass his math exam."

Elphos nodded and turned around.
It was time for him to head home.
Like a breeze, three years have passed...
So much has changed... And yet...
Never before he felt so proud to stand under a nation's flag...
Then again, this was his first (and probably only) time of being among the founders of a culture.
Elphos, now a full-fledged master with his own apprentices, headed home, his plans for the next day still taking shape within his head.

"...We have been seperated from the outside world since we came to be... Is that really okay?"

He shook off the thought. He knew that as long as no ship crashes into their land, they shall be safe...
After all, what are the chances anyone would want to visit a dead land?
After shopping in Spire City's Red Dragon square, Elphos headed for his own house, wondering how he should prepare for the coming child...

[Ted Der]

His name was Royen Beastkeeper, Captain of the Gilden Warship. He stood proudly at the mast, enjoying the wind and the spray of the sea. This was his world, none can beat him. He travelled long and far from across the world in search of a treasure beyond any measure; a treasure capable of forming the greatest army known to mankind. The Majeuri Spinel could grant his wish.

Now, he was being lead straight to where it was hidden. Royen chuckled to himself. Who would have known that possibly the most valuable treasure in history lay on a small deserted island off the coast of the well known island called-

“Sir! Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but the island is in sight.” said the pirate at the helm.

“Yeah I didn’t see that. I guess I’m blind,” Royen answered sarcastically, “Get there today will ya?”

“Okey-dokey!”

Did he just say what I thought he said? Royen slid down the ratlines and strode over to the dude at the wheel. As he was approaching, the guy said, “Hey you…” then waved and winked.

Royen started at him. God, what a fruit.

“First dibs on the treasure!” he joked turning to the rest of the crew. "Swing the lead, lads!"

--- --- ---

- The Dead Island -

The Gilden Warship was drawing closer. Garrick was extremely excited. What would they reward him with for spying? He couldn’t wait. If someone was around (which there wasn’t), they could tell because his bushy moustache was quivering like it was alive.

“Hmmmm’kay!” he exclaimed as the ship stopped and pirates in row boats where being lowered into the water. Soon the boats came to the beach and they stepped out. Garrick gave a little shudder of excitement and sprinted over to the boats just as Royen Beastkeeper himself was stepping out. Royen was carrying a strange looking bow.

“Hi there Garrick, thank you so much for leading us here,” he said politely, “I came here personally to give you a gift.” He held up the strange bow. It was a flatbow, but the odd and wondrous thing about it was that along the limbs were stretched out raven wings. The whole thing was a beautiful piece of art.

“F-for me?” Garrick stuttered.

“Oh yes,” Royen smirked, “This is just for you.” And with that, he latched an arrow in the blink of an eye and shot Garrick straight through the head at point blank range. With eyes crossed and moustache still quivering, Garrick fell backwards as stiff as a board.

Royen bent down, retrieved his arrow and reached into the dead man’s pocket. He pulled out the orb, and shook his head. Traitor.

“Don’t mess with me mate. I know exactly how all this plays out. An old ‘friend’ of mine told me everything”

He stood up and his laugh was echoed by his crew.

“Let’s go find us some treasure boys!”

[Xorlak]

(VERY awesome post, Jenia. Just a note, of you want a nation of a few hundred thousand there, the island is likely going to be almost entirely covered by one huge city, since the island itself isn't that big.)

----

- South Kalvon, Southern Tjed -


Kelmarr lit up another cigar as he trudged through the wide empty streets of this miserable hamlet.  He was done with Tjed.  No jobs.  No money here.  There was no way they'd let him near that mysterious capital in the mountains either.

But where to?  Certainly not the Dark Continent.  That was a mess.  Sure, he'd be able to pull a merc job there, but screw that.  He wasn't putting his life on the line for the Feds or the Kandies.  He thought there was a nation to the south, but he didn't see any other islands on his way in.  

That left Ariosis to the west.  He heard they had a fair population of non-humans.  Maybe he'd get more respect there.  Bah... he'd figure it out once he got to the port town, Kesnar.

A grin drew across his muzzle as he bit down on the cigar.  Since he was never coming back, might as well rob some humans...

But what?  There were too few people to pickpocket.  That only worked in dense crowds.  He could break into a house or two...  But blast it, he'd have to wait for night for that.  He wanted out of here NOW.

"Mystical items for sale!"

Hello...

"Discounts on rare enchanted artifacts!"  Came the screechy voice of a haggard old woman.  Kelmarr's eyes drew to the withered form behind a booth in the middle of the town square, largely ignored by any and all passer-byers.

"Ah!  You there, you fine.... young..."

"... Skunkular..."

"Right.  Whatever.  Would ye like ta take a look at me wares?"

Kelmarr shrugged before walking to the decrepit wreck of a human.  That stunk.  Worth a shot, at least...

She had piles and piles of junk, claming each one to be "enchanted", "mystical", and/or "ancient".

She thrust a golden apple in front of his snout.  "Behold!  The mystical apple of Peracles!  Will take ten years off ye age.  But only if ye eat it at 12:05 AM the day after the winter solstice...."

"I'll pass."

His eyes wondered to a weapon pack on the table.  Nothing fancy, except a sword wrapped in a cloth, with the pommel just sticking out...  He could tell by that intricate golden handle that the thing was probably worth a few coins...

He knew better than to keep his eyes on it for long.

"Do you buy?" He asked, puffing out a circle of smoke.

"Of course, young man... skunk... skunk-man."

He rolled his eyes and thrust one of his daggers into the table with a *thud*.  He had a five or six on him at any given time.  This particular one he robbed from a sleeping drunk on the highway.  Old, rusty, and useless.

Running his clawtip across the edge where the blade meets the handle, he quickly traced out a rune of light that flashed for an instant before dissipating.

If the old crone really was a crackpot, she wouldn't have any clue what he just did.

"This is the Mystical Dagger of Arubia... forged by the gods themselves.  As you can plainly see, it glows with heavenly power."

Sure enough, the blade began to give off a pale green light.

The old woman's eyes brightened.  "What do you want for it?"

"100 gold."

"Outrageous!  For a glowing dagger..."

Kelmarr shrugged.  "Well, what would you offer?" he nearly finished with 'hag', but caught himself. "I might consider a trade for... say... one of those swords over there, if any one of them is sufficiently enchanted."

The old woman refused, and the two began to haggle back and forth.  After a moment of getting nowhere, the skunk disgustedly slid the dagger back into its sheath at his belt.

"Very well.  I shall take my leave then.  Good day."  With that, he turned and gave a violent flick of his large, bushy tail, smacking right into the weapons rack.  Everything came tumbling down in a heap, and he dropped his pack, losing the contents in the pile of swords.

"OW!! Blast it!!" He screamed, hugging his tail in mock injury.

"You... clumsy animal!!  Look at this mess!"

Kelmarr bared his fangs and growled, but then deflated.  "I'm sorry.  This tail has a mind of its own sometimes.  Here, allow me to help you..."

He stooped over and began separating his things from the swords, placing the weapons back in the rack.  Quickly, he slid the cloth-covered sword he had his eye on over by the pile of his stuff...

"Good day," he said as he bowed, draping his large tail over his prize to hide it.  He spun around and collected his pack, then walked away at a brisk pace.

He slowed after he exited town, pausing to sling the sword over his shoulder. Probably could get a few meals out of it.  Not a bad deal at all...

[Dude Man]

- Ariosis, Underground Meeting Area -

Duilin looked at the old drow woman who offered to join with him. He knew of her and saw her a few times, but never actually talked. He remembered that General Nymphadora was in Tjed around the same time he was during to occupation three years ago. He figured she might be kind enough, as most drows Duilin has met have been good friends, yet they have a habit of getting killed.

"So, you listening Duilin?" Rink asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm listening." Duilin groaned back.

"Well, good. It's about time. I'm starting to think I should stop bringing you to these things. You never take this seriously."

"Of course I do. I really wanted to make this federation and I helped form it together."

"I'd like to believe you Duilin. But whenever you aren't out fighting, you're with your drinking buddies, getting hammered. You're 40 years old now, you shouldn't be doing that."

"They're not my drinking buddies, they're my team. I try to makes friends with them to boost moral."

"I'm sure." Rink sighed. "Anyways, you better get ready."

"Oh, yeah." Duilin then stood up. "If I may have the floor for a second. I'm all for joining with General Nymphadora, but I'll have to head back to Helternia first to gather my squad. I recommend the two groups will meet at the south-eastern part of Terian. Unless Nymphadora, would like to come with us back to Helternia?"

--- ---

- A random pub, somewhere in the Dark Continent -

A lightly built yellow skinned demon was thrown into a table by a middle-aged but rather well built man, with long white hair.

"N-no. I'm not a bad person! Please! Don't hurt me!" The demon pleaded while getting back up.

There we several wounded people in the bar, with sword cuts across them. Apparently they tried to stick up for the demon, but this crazed man was too strong for them.

"Do you expect me to believe that!? Don't you think I know your kind. Your kind are sick and only live to torture others."

"No. Some of us who live in Gaian aren't like that. I'm different then the evil ones, all I want is peace."

The man stepped forward and brought his sword up, the light shined in his unnatural blue eyes.

"Then rest in it!"

With that the demon's head was sliced off and the man walked to the doors of the pub, he turned around before he exited.

"I am Valos. And I will kill all demons in this world. You can thank me later."

--- ---

- Somewhere else in the Dark Continent -

Sienna had been thinking things over for the past three years. With her new friend Puco, she didn't find it as hard to deal with her problems as she thought it would be. She feels better, but not entirely better.

Her and Puco were laying back on a tree looking, in the forest. Simply relaxing and enjoying the wildlife.

"Puco...Do you think I'm ready to talk to Duilin now?" She asked.

A couple of squirrels chased each other across the path and ran up a tree near by them. The two playfully chased each other all across the tree.

"I know he wants to see me, but would it be healthy for us?" She added. "I mean, he is my brother and I do miss him. I haven't really seen him since he was a child. And now...he's almost becoming an old man now."

"I know he lives in Helternia now. Maybe we should go there? What do you think?"

--- ---

- Helternia, Fort Klawvorn, Mess Hall -

Marshall and Firstman were sitting together at there own table. Seemingly isolated from the troops. They have had trouble making friends, since they were both former Aspyes.

"You know, I think maybe that lizard man might want to be friends with me." Firstman said.

"Why do you care so much? Just let them be." Marshall said to his friend.

"Well, I mean this is boring. I feel so alone here."

"Oh thank you so much."

"Well, man. I always hang out with you, ya know? We need some fresh meat. Whatever happened to that Coriko guy?"

"I dunno. Having some issues with something. He keeps telling me that he can't get on some sort of 'net'."

"Did he join the naval division and is fishing now, or something?"

"I have very little of an idea."

"Well...anyways...Why does that lizard man get accepted better than we do? I mean, he's a god damned lizard man! Blah, they probably only like him because they don't want to look like bigots or something."

"They probabbly like him because he doesn't talk all the time." Marshall hinted.

"Why do you do that?" Firstman asked in an annoyed voice.

"Do what?"

"Do that. You always give hints, or use some big words to slightly cloud what you're saying. Why don't you just say 'shut up' or 'you're an ass' instead of 'secure your oral cavity' or something lame like that?"

"The same reason you're still talking after I gave you a hint to 'secure your oral cavity'." Marshall replied with a smirk.

--- ---

- Terian, A random medium-sized Kandarinian town -

A tall man, wearing tattered robes and a metal mask was walking through the town. People looked at him oddly and children even shouted and ran as he came near. He was used it.

"Yes, yes. Cower in fear, Nex and the Talonscar are here." Nex said as if repeating something he used to enjoy saying a lot.

He was acompanied by two men in wearing full black suits. The Talonscar Elite. Their gems were orange, meaning they were the 'normal kind', but still fairly dangerous.

Nex kept looking up at the floating Citadel, the sky. Untill he saw strolling through the streets was the great god himself, Kronos and all his glory. Yet he wasn't alone. He was with some auburn-haired woman, carrying three swords and had a blindfold on. Interesting. Yet there was some bald, middle aged man. He looked around in his late thirties or perhaps earlier forties. He was wearing a full crimson robe, with light red designs of serpents on them. The man then noticed Nex, and gave him a look. Nex then stepped towards them.

"Excuse me Sovereign, but it appears this...thing is trying to approach you." The captain said, and then approached Nex. "Excuse me, but you're going to have to back away and leave. Now."

"My, don't you look...interesting. What's your name?"

The captain's facial expression changed, to looking rather uncomfortable. What was this guy trying to say. He then changed his expression back to annoyed "I am Captain Tin Dao Kaineng. And I order you to step away from the Sovereign. Such, freaks like you shouldn't even be allowed to be here. I recommend you leave and take your little friends with you." He pointed to the elites.

"Oh? Freaks like me, really? I give you a compliment, and then you just shoot me down like that. Must you be so harsh? I'm hart broken, really, Hart broken." Nex said in his mocking tone. "Anyways, just step aside. I have a few things I wish to say to your Sovereign, an offer if you will."

"I doubt that very much. You aren't the first freak to try and 'offer' something to our Sovereign." Kaineng sneered. "Pah, we're wasting time here." The captain then wiped out a scythe, which was strapped on his back. "I'll make this quick."

"Oh, you have a scythe?" Nex then lifted up his hand and his scythe materialized into it. "So do I." He then held it in a battle ready stance. "And it just loves to spend time with other scythes."

With that, his scythe extended in length, slightly.

"Oh, a fighter now? This should be fun!" Kaineng then slashed his scythe at Nex, but the demon swung his weapon right at his foes' cancelling it out. The captain gave another slash, this time empowering it with energy, giving it a cyan glow. Nex simply gave another slash to cancel it out, but his scythe nearly got knocked out of his hands due to the increased magical force.

"Oh, so you're for real here?" Nex asked. "Good. I honestly love that. You have no idea."

Nex then shot a red lightning bolt at the captain, who was able to summon an energy shield in his hands deflecting the bolt back at the demon, hitting him in the chest.

Nex laughed as the electricity flowed through him. Once it was done, he shot a fireball from the same hand. The captain then slashed his scythe at the fire, knocking it away and then dashed towards Nex and spun around him and made a quick attack at Nex's back. The demon was then slashed across the back, and nearly fell over. He continued to laugh.

"Stop laughing damnit!" The captain shouted.

"Okay, now it's your turn." Nex turned around, his scythe faded away and he then shot a large stream of lightning at the captain, taking him to the ground. Kaineng shouted in pain, but got back up, fighting off the lightning bolts and then shot an energy blast from his hand which smashed right in Nex's face. Snapping his neck back.

The demon seemed stunned, and Kaineng grinned seeing his victory. He picked up his scythe to finish the job and then made a slash across his chest, however the blade was stopped. Nex had a sickle in his hand and had it wrapped around the blade of the scythe which he pulled away, displaying a surprising amount of physical strength.

"How...are you doing that!?" Kaineng shouted, brining back his scythe and then making a downwards slash. Nex then had two cleavers in his hands with he crossed to block the downward coming blade, which he pushed away. The weapons in Nex's hands then faded away and he cracked his head back into place.

"Ooo..." Nex quivered as if he felt an enjoyable sensation run through him. The demon then floated towards the captain at rapid speed and then slammed his fist into the captain's torso, causing him to fly back several yards and crash into a fruit stand.

Nex let out a loud cackling laugh. "Oh, that's a classic one right there!"

The captain got up, and wiped a tomato off of his face and growled in rage. "How dare you..."

//Okay, Ein can continue/finish this. He can control Nex for a bit then.\

[D. Ein]

- Random medium-sized Kandarin town -

The captain's expression of rage, however, quickly soothed - in a generally unsettling fashion.

-"My, my," he growled through his smile. "Looks like we have a real... hmm, I don't want to use the word "fighter", but nor do I want to say "wannabe", because whatever it is you are trying to be is definitely the wrong thing to strive for."

The captain's scythe curled and twisted, appearing something like an Archimedes' screw.

-"Better hope this one doesn't hit you, boy - maybe it will cut your mask to expose whatever ugly face you hide under there."

Like a silver lightning, the scythe crashed down onto Nex. He successfully blocked the attack - or so he thought. The scythe's curled blade unfolded, and, with a devastating force, ripped right through Nex's shoulder.

-"Not crying yet? How about another one, then? Hahahaha!"

The scythe curled once again - but it did not finish. Realizing that the attack is charged, Nex dashed toward the captain's legs, slashing them at the Achilles tendons with his sickle. Kaineng hopelessly fell down. Nex noticed some faint movement coming from Kronos' side - but he was too busy slicing at the captain to pay any real attention. Finally, the time came.

-"It's a pity, really," Nex hissed, "that all this wondrous flesh has to meet such a wasteful end. Too bad it has to belong to you. Otherwise, I might have given you the honour of being consumed like a real man... not like the wimp you are. Die."

-"You're... sick..."

With a victorious gesture, Nex grasped his scythe, gave it a quick spin above his head, and, using the momentum gained, thrusted the edge down at the captain's chest.

Zink. The silver edge was stopped millimetres away from the captain's heart. Looking up, Nex noticed the auburn-haired woman standing sideways - sideways - to the captain, not even looking at him (through the blindfold?), with her scabbard in her right hand, keeping the scythe's blade away from the victim's chest.

Nex pushed further, hoping to either overpower that interfering little wench or just slice through the sheath. However, before he even started to apply additional force, the captain's strange saviour whipped around, revealing a sword - presumably from the scabbard - in her left hand. The movement was so quick that Nex barely even saw the slash, which blurred into a crescent-shaped shadow. Moments later, the blade of his scythe hit the ground to the left of him, bouncing a couple of times from the force of the slash. The elites, seeing this, tried to intervene. However, the Lich's companion proceeded to throw the scabbard at them. Distracted, the elites did not even see her draw another blade. Using the chance, Nex thought of attacking her from behind - but just as that idea raced through his mind, he found the woman's left sword pointing right at his face.

-"You... wretch... how dare you!"

With all his remaining strength, Nex swung whatever was left of his scythe - his staff, rather - right at the auburn head.

Once again, the attack was effortlessly blocked by the dark, thin sword.

-"It's no use," he heard a voice, presumably from Kronos himself. "Be lucky you're alive. Oh, and you, please don't kill this one. I think he's a rather fine specimen to keep in a cage. Entertaining, I'd almost say... just look at the way he enjoyed all those hits. Definitely my kind of toy... oh wait. Look. Heh. You can't. That's a shame, heheh."

The woman turned the sword down to her side somewhat, letting Nex's weapon slide off harmlessly. She retrieved her scabbard, sheathed her swords, and reclaimed her place by the side of the Lich.

-"Anywho," the grey-skinned Sovereign continued, "I think it's worth reiterating how much of a surprise this is for me. The moment I happen to leave my Citadel for a peaceful walk to the execution stands for that idiot bleeding over there, I get a fine young man here so eager to please me that he almost finishes my work for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't let you do that. You see, executions of this manner are quite essential for me, because..."

The Lich coughed.

-"Excuse me, I'm rambling. Although I certainly admire your pious zeal for your Sovereign - either the current one or the future one (probably the future - I don't recall conquering lands populated with such strange specimens as you yet) - I can't let you off easy, see. It's a pretty major flaw in my security if someone were to find out that I enjoy taking the occasional stroll outside the Citadel with no one but my companion here."

-"That companion of yours is a demon," Nex wheezed. "No normal humans move like that."

The Sovereign's face changed from a somewhat amused grin to a cold glare.

-"You watch your mouth, young man, or you may find a sword skewered through it. I do not approve of having fun made of my subordinates." His looks eased again, but they remained a bit dangerous. Best not to set him off, Nex thought. "Anyway, shall we?"

The Lich proceeded to walk down the terrace. Nex assumed to follow, with his elites trailing behind him.

-"Now, tell me your name. What business did you have in a Kandarin-controlled town?"

--- --- ---

- Somewhere in the ocean between the Gaian and the Arctic Region, a boat in a heavy storm -

-"I think it's staring at me."

-"Nonsense. As long as that egghead over there doesn't lose his concentration, these things are as good as dead! Besides, do you even see any eyes on that thing?"

-"I don't think it's a very good idea to call him an egghead... he just might lose that concentration of his."

-"Whatever. Regardless, you hafta admit - these things look damn cool."

-"Yeeeah... At the top, looks like some sort of a bug, but the rest..."

-"I know... Its skin looks bug-ish, but those legs... Lion? No... something else..."

-"Yeah. And are bugs even supposed to have arms like that?"

-"Look at those claws... wouldn't want that ripping my stomach in half... would you?"

-"Scary things. And the weirdest thing of it all... it's completely metallic. However, it doesn't behave like a golem... Wow. Where did they dig these things up again?"

-"Far beneath the ground. There's lava and stuff."

-"Oh, I see, but - hey - did its abdomen just flicker or something?"

---

At last, they captured him. He maimed, and he clawed, and he destroyed - but eventually, he was overcome. Several more ugly dwarflings brandished their blue glowing tongues, and everything stopped. Then... the daggers dug in.

The daggers of bitter chill surrounded him from everywhere, and slashed, and stabbed, and cut, and pierced his very soul. He was in pain, yet he couldn't move. What was this strange prison of glowing, transparent blue substance?

They kept him within the prison for long. During that time, he could see others - others like him - being surrounded by the blue-tongued beasts and imprisoned, just like he was himself. He watched them squirm from the coldness, he heard their horrid screams through the walls of his strange cell, and yet he could do nothing but watch. His soul bled, leaving nothing but rage behind. A fool's rage, it was - for he, with all his anger, could do nothing but watch the torture.

Eventually they loaded him into a half-shell. He did not know what these objects were, but he saw an endless black extending everywhere, in which the half-shell sat. Somewhere in the middle, the black was sliced by a yellow line, and turned into lava-red upwards. The colour reminded him about the sweet convection flows again, and his thoughts warmed his soul through another eternity of torture. It did not hurt as much as it did the first time - the blue-tongues were replaced by only one, as well as two other dwarves with deformed arms: one long, and one short.

Just when he thought he couldn't bear the sight of the short ugly creatures any more, a sudden surge of power shook his whole being to the very foundation. It felt almost like... his home... it wasn't warm, but there was something about this feeling that struck a familiar chord.

The more time passed, the stronger the feeling became. It filled his soul, emptied by rage, with a new kind of strength - one he has not felt ever since the first dwarf with the claw awakened him. He felt his life coming back... the feeling was very satisfying. Encouraged, he moved his finger ever so slightly, and the prison shattered into small stones. The dwarves charged toward him, and he glimpsed another swing of the blue tongue wrapping around him.

No.

None of them were a match for this new strength. They will all... pay.

[Drannic_Lord01]

- Ariosis, Underground Meeting Area -

Aaron seated himself back in his chair. "Excellent! Then it shall be done. You may chat among yourselves while I go check if the coast is clear." The Consular then made a quick hand motion towards a young child, perhapse four, to check and see outside if the area was secure; that the Kandarinians or the 'hammer' was not anywhere in the area.

General Nymphadora got up from her seat rather quickly and walked over towards Duilin. She was quite young and agile yet; her long black hair waving a bit from movement. As she reached Duilin, she bowed. "High General Duilin, I have a ship outside that could take us to Helternia. It is rather packed with my paladins, but I suppose you could merely stand aboard the deck while we sail. From Ariosis to Helternia, it would take about one and a half hours or so for my ship to reach 'said destination.' She is quite fast."

--- --- ---

"Let's go, Karma. We're off to Terian. I'm sure General Zabel will meet us on Terian." Jacobie grabbed the young woman's hand and helped her out of her seat. General Zabel arose from her seat. "I remember you from the Arctic Rebellion... yes I remember that well. What's it been, three years or so?"

"Heh... I suppose. I guess I wasn't much help there, but I did at least meet my sweetheart there. Now those were the days... Ah yes, excuse my maners. You remember Karmandalla?"

"The slave girl? Aye, I was looking for her for a while. Please tell me you've found her, I can pay you quite a load of coins to get her services back."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. She and I are married. I love her too much to let her go."

--- --- ---

The small child returned to Aaron and whispered something in his ear. Aaron then rose from his chair again. "The coast is clear! This meeting has concluded. Please find your way to the exit doors and have a nice stay at Azzkan Endor, Capital of Ariosis!" All of the General and Consulars got up and made their way out of the building.

------------

- Ariosis, Azzkan Endor (capital city)

The capital city outside was magnificently bright and vibrant with color and life. It was beautifully decorated with an abundance of crystals, gold, silver, and oak. The Inns were apparently empty and waiting for some of the Consulars to take residence first before anyone else gets a room.

As Doriana left the building (I'm just going to assume that Duilin is following) she escorted Duilin to her ship. "My ship, the Blue Sancta, is right on the river. The river can take us out of the Continent and then north to Helternia. Let's go then."

//DM, you can finish up the rest of the post.

[Dude Man]

- Random medium-sized Kandarin town -

Nex dusted himself off, he picked up the two pieces of his broken scythe and they faded away. He then followed along with the Sovereign.

"Everyone just calls me Nex. That's been my only name for as long as I've lived. And trust me, I've been around a lot longer then you probabbly assume." Nex said, in a more formal tone. He then went back to his more devilishly cheerful tone of his voice.

"Oh and that demon comment about the lady, that was actually intended to be a positive comment. Where I come from it is." Nex snickered. "Now perhaps later, my dear Sovereign, we could talk about a few matters?"

--- ---

- Ariosis, Azzkan Endor (capital city) -

Duilin followed Nymphadora to the ship.

"Not bad looking, really." Duilin commented. He boarded the ship and looked around, before reading himself for the ship to set sail.

"So, General Nymphadora." Duilin said starting conversation "You were in one the resistances against the Dark Empire, three years ago. Correct? I think I remember seeing you in Tjed around that time. You know Justinian, right?"

--- ---

- Helternia, Fort Klawvorn, Mess Hall -

"Screw it, I'm gonna go and talk to them." Firstman got up from his seat and walked over to the table with the rest of Duilin's Sqaud (which didn't include Duilin at the moment as he was in a meeting in Arosis).

A large heavily tanned skinned man, wearing armour with a blue shoulder pad, got up and looked at Firstman in the eye and stepped close to him.

"Hey, comrade!" The man said, saying the word comrade like an insult.

"Uh. Hey, how about we just cut the crap and sit together? I think you're being pretty unfair just isolating us because of our past. Like, you let the lizard man in the group."

"Why should Lagart be isolated?" The man asked.

"Well because...well he shouldn't and neither should we!"

"Vaughn, just let him sit with us." Said a dark skinned elf. "Then if he gets annoying, we'll tell him to beat it."

"Why should he? He'll probably try and spread his Aspye propaganda on us."

"No I won't!" Firstman sneered. "Listen, we're part of the same squad so we might as well try and get along."

"Or else what?"

"What do you mean, or else what?"

"What are you gonna do, if I don't let you sit with us?"

"That's not what I mean. Are you trying to talk me into a fight or something?"

"I don't even need to. I should just order you to go sit down, you're only a sergeant. I'm a captain."

"Let's not pull rank here." Firstman said pointing his finger.

Marshall got up and went to Firstman. "Come on, this isn't going anywhere. Just leave him."

"Yeah, listen to your friend." Vaughn said.

Marshall rolled his eyes, this guy was such a jerk.

"No. I'm not done here." Firstman said. "Listen, now you can be immature and just bully me when all I'm trying to do is make friends with you, or you can act like an adult and we can work things out like adults."

Vaughn laughed. "Yeah...that's a good point man. You're a smart guy too. I bet those use of words came in handy when you convinced people to go running wild with the animals in the woods."

"That's not what the Aspyes were about damnit. They were better than that."

"Then why'd you leave them?"

Firstman's facial expression lowered and he clenched a fist but then Marshall stepped in between them.

"This isn't going anywhere. Pat, just sit down. Vaughn, you should to. Then let's just ignore this little episode here."

"Oh, what's your problem, Marshall?" Vaughn said pushing him.

"I don't have a problem. But it's clear you two do, so sit down."

"You're damn right we have a problem here. This little wimp won't get the idea we don't want to talk to him. He needs to learn his place."

"I can handle that, trust me."

"Trust YOU? You're an Aspye too. Why should I trust ya?"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "I'm NOT an Aspye anymore. See me, with the federation? I'm here. Not with the Aspyes."

"Whatever man. Just watch out."

Marshall took a deep breath and then dragged Firstman back to their table.

"You know, it's not even the whole group, it's just him." Firstman commented "That Vaughn guy. Man I hate him."

"So do I. I'm sure the others do actually, but he's a captain."

"Well you and Lagart are captains too. So why do they choose to hang out with him?"

"Simply because they don't trust us, Firstman. They hate him as person, but they trust him as a loyal member to the Federation and he's a good fighter, sadly he might even take Duilin's spot as high general some day."

"You see, that's what ticks me off. Just because he's jacked and knows a few magic spells, that automatically makes him better than the rest of us."

"He practices fighting a lot, and it does take a lot of displine to learn magic spells."

"Well, you've got your summoning magic, and in case you haven't noticed you're a pretty bad-ass fighter yourself. Heck, you should take Duilin's spot as general."

"Yeah, except Duilin hates me more than he hates Vaughn. Lagart would be next after me most likely, yet Lagart has stated several times that he does not want to lead, and everyone agrees that he wouldn't make a good leader."

"You'd make a good leader. Hell, you pretty much lead the Aspyes after Haraldur died."

"Yeah, and the Aspyes fell apart. Does that show good leadership?"

"I guess not..." Firstman's eyes then trailed off to the table with the others at them. "You know, I think that one mage chick might like me."

"No."

"You don't even think a litt-"

"No. Don't kid yourself."

"Since when did you become so much smarter than me?"

"Twenty-five years ago." Marshall smiled.

"Isn't that when you were born...Oh I get it. Real funny."

[Drannic_Lord01]

- Leaving Ariosis, Azzkan Endor -

"Justinian...?" Dori's mind raced backwards until it hit where she last saw Justin... three years ago a bit before the occupation and liberation of Tjed. She could remember everything as though it had just happened. His thin face, his orange hair, his white robes... everything. It brought tears to her eyes to think about him. She was in love with him, although she never had the nerve to tell him. At least not before Sierana dragged him off.

"I... remember him. He was the first man who ever attempted to get close to me. As I recall, I believe he's dead. Either that or in a trance from which his mind cannot escape. I loved him..." Her eyes watered and glistened with tears. She quickly wiped them away. The Blue Sancta sped out of the river and into the open ocean, on it's way to Helternia.

"Please, let's just drop that subject. If there's anything else you'd like to talk about, you can find me in the captain's cabbin." Doriana entered the ship and left Duilin on the deck of the ship. A few moments later, a paladin in crusader armor came upstairs.

"Hello, mate! My name's Geomarcus. Nice to meet cha! The Cap'n asked me to watch ova ya. She's a bit disdraught right abou' now. A bit sad about her past, I wager. Well, if there's anything you'd like ta ask me, I'm all ears."