Damnation

[Immortal_Chaos]

"The crystal is a sign of death and destruction. A scrying pot, predicting the inevitable fall of any civilisation. For it didn't destroy the seven kingdoms of the north, and neither the huge empire of the east. It was the people themselves, who lived there, that destroyed it."
The man sat stunned, a solemn expression on his face as he read it out, his voice projecting across the empty room. He gulped and looked down at his hand. A small glowing, amber crystal was nestled comfortably in his hand, suddenly flashing a deep purple.
"It has begun."

Hello, and welcome to Damnation! This is a random rp that I decided to make, because I am seriously lacking on some roleplaying. Anyway, the plot is a small, but ancient crystal has been smuggled into the castle, destined to bring destruction to the entire kingdom, possibly even every sign of civilisation around. No-one really knows what it is, or where it came from. When you find out, you must struggle through and protect the kingdoms... Unless of course you have some other, malevolent intent.

Rules! (sorry, but it would fall apart otherwise):
1. Basically all Iwaku rules
2. Try your best to at least have proper grammar. If you think that you don't usually have good grammar, check over it. It is okay to have occaisonal mistakes though :)
3. Please don't make your character OP.
4. To make sure you have read the rules, put the word apples in Other: in a sentence
5. Remember to always check the rp, even if you don't get any alerts! Sometimes the alerts decides to refuse to work. If you haven't seen a partner for a while, PM them to say that the rp is still up (if it is)
6. If your leaving for a long time, tell me and whoever your nearby in the rp, and make a post that explains you bot being there.

Remember, its fine to ask questions!

Make a starting post of your character doing something, and add in a small sheet,
Name:
Race:
Age:
Appearance: (photo or description, whatevs)
Bio: (Don't do history, its interesting to discover it along the course of the rp)

 

[Cheselth]

Name: Mike Viral
Race: Half Human/Shape Shifter (It's not what you think, just keep reading.)
Age: 16
Appearance: http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c255/elfqueen1268/Anime/Assassin.jpg
Bio: He's about 6'1 and is "one with the shadows" (he's an assassin). His main weapon is a long sword, but he will use a dagger at times. (Apples) He has a low and raspy sort of voice, but when he is angry it is growly. He can only shift into snakes, mice, cats and dogs. When he shifts, he takes a lot of energy so he can't shift twice in a row without being forced into sleeping.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He sat in a tree branch, watching the sky and awaiting new orders. "Today is slow. It's nice when I don't have to get my hands dirty for once." He layed back and began to sleep.

 

[Penelope Sky]

Name: Delynn
Race: Human
Age: 19
Appearance:

(The picture is sort of a rough outline of her appearance, so I thought I'd write something to go with it.)
At age 19, Delynn looks more as if she could be 13 or 14 rather than an older teen. Long and curly with poofy looking bangs, her reddish orange hair extends a little past her shoulder blades and is easily her most striking feature, along with her bright and wide set emerald green eyes with above averagely long eyelashes. Standing at a little over five feet and two inches, Delynn is a girl of small stature with a thin frame, although she is chubby in the face, hands, and midsection, and with lips that always seem to be puckered, a small nose, and a childlike face with freckles dotting pudgy cheeks, Delynn's appearance denotes someone of an age much younger, although she is an overall cute and pretty looking girl, always seen wearing the green-blue robes of an apprentice mage.

Bio: Delynn is a mage (or a sorceress/witch, what have you) who practices in the arts of healing magic, elemental magic, and various other novice spells in other minor arcane schools, although she isn't the best at what she does and is often overshadowed by her more skillful younger brother. Because of her small stature and lack of physical ability, Delynn struggles with sword fighting and hand to hand combat, although she can defend herself proficiently with destruction magic, depending on the skill of whoever she's fighting, and she carries an Elven dagger at all times in case she ever needs to use it. Additionally, Delynn enjoys making potions, reading, cooking, eating apples, learning new things, exploring new places, and spending time with friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was already a long way to the castle, and for a girl who could hardly find her way to her home city, Delynn, with the comforting partnership of her noble mare, was completely and incurably lost.

She road straight along the road from the Mage's College until she reached a forked path, and, with her knowledge of the castle's geographic location earned from books, she remembered that it was supposed to be somewhere in the capital city, which was supposed to be somewhere near the largest lake in the seven kingdoms, which was supposed to be to the west, which was the path she saw fit to take. However, after hours more of riding in the blazing heat of summer in mage robes too suffocating even in the dead of winter, Delynn had not seen or heard of any lake near any capital city that housed any grand and beautiful castles. For the past few miles - or at least, what she assumed to be miles - all she came across were open plains dotted with trees and flowers and occasionally tall grasses that reached past the knees of her mare, a sturdy horse from the college that she grew to love.

Intently, she studied her map, a wrinkled old scroll from when she was a child, as her horse trotted along the dirt path, which seemed more endless than the barely visible straight line on her faded map of the seven kingdoms. The young mage had wanted wholeheartedly to trust the instincts of her map, but if those happened to be correct, she would have been settled in at the castle by now, already half way into an enlightening visit with the court wizard.

It was a futile practice, she decided, looking at that old map, and stuffing it back into the comfort of her saddle bag, Delynn looked to the clouds to see a shining midday sun, and figured it was time for a hearty lunch of sunshine souffle, a dish she prided herself with making to what seemed to be near perfection. Growing hungrier, she steered her horse to a nearby tree and dismounted, already searching through her saddle bag for the container of what she considered a treat most heavenly, when her green eyes darted to a figure - a sleeping human - cradled in the branches of the closest tree.

Delynn was almost stupidly trusting, and not seeing any danger in it, she pulled a berry from her satchel and tossed it at the man, missing at the first shot, but landing it straight at his neck on the second. Almost immediately, the stranger stirred in his sleep, and Delynn smiled invitingly.

 

[Cheselth]

He opened one eye and turned his head to the person throwing things at him. He sighed and sat up, jumping down from the tree and landing as silent as a cat. "Do you happen to need something, children?" He asked, calmly. His cloak was rustling in the slight breeze there was.

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn, being naive when it came to sensing the moods of others, had no perception of the irritation in the tone of the dark-haired stranger. Rather, she only noticed the calmness of him, and was impressed with his almost catlike display of jumping so silently from a branch that was several inches taller than her. Well, she thought, looking up at the man, everything is taller than me. Still looking, she noticed that there was youthfulness in the however sharp angles of his face, and wondered if their age would allow them to become friends. She smiled at the thought of it.

"Good afternoon, kind sir," Delynn said as she grasped the edges of her skirt and dipped into an elegant, although somewhat clumsy, curtsy. Although she wasn't certain that this man was of nobility, his cloaks seemed to be made of a fine material, denoting a power that she could be punished for ignoring. Besides that, Delynn was the type who enjoyed the simple pleasure of a quaintly executed curtsy, and she smiled yet again. "I'm quite sorry for waking you, but I am terribly lost. Would you happen to know the way to the castle? As in, the one that is supposed to be in the capital? I have been wandering for miles on end, and I am in quite the need of assistance, if you don't mind."

 

[Cheselth]

He chuckled. "Yes I know where it is." He said, finally opening the other eye. He pointed to his right (which would be your left if you didn't know).
"If you walk straight that way, you should reach it in a matter of an hour or so. But it seems you have a horse, so by horse it would be about twenty to thirty minutes, depending on if it's running or not." He crossed his arms and walked closer to them. "What business do you have being there anyways? It's not too often a cub like you would go into the criminal infested capital."

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn felt a sudden pang of self loathing, and even embarrassment, when she realized that she would have stumbled upon it within only a matter of a half an hour or so if she had just kept traveling on the correct path, as she was before. The map had been precise, and so had been her instructor - the castle was a place to the west, and the endless stretch of dirt road that she once saw as trickery would lead her right to it. Self doubting fool, she cursed herself. It was right there all along.

Silently, she hoped this minor delay wouldn't be too much of set back when arriving at the castle, but the stranger's words of a criminal infested capital intrigued her. From her instructor at the college, she heard that the most major city in the seven kingdoms had been facing hard times, but the sensible thought of a consequential increase in crime rate had escaped her - besides the obvious dangers of a small woman traveling alone on horseback, what trouble could be awaiting within the confines of the capital? Delynn not only was curious to learn more to curb her own innate sense of interest, but also to ensure her safety further on.

In doing this, however, she would have to tell this man - a stranger - her business at the castle, and that was not information she was granted to reveal by her instructors, who were, essentially, Delynn's one true authority. However, even so, Delynn hardly had a clue of the purpose of this secret mission she was sent to enact besides the fact that court wizard was involved, he was expecting a representative from the college, and her inevitable visit was of the utmost importance - and confidentiality.

Taking a second to formulate a response, Delynn stroked the white mane of her mare and attempted to stand tall, trying to appear undaunted in front of a stranger who - this had just occurred to her - could be out for blood, and who had just insinuated that she was of a childlike appearance, as most people always did.

She cleared her throat.

"I am a representative of the Mage's College up north," Delynn said, remembering what her instructor told her to say if she was questioned before reaching the capital. "There is official business that must be conducted at the castle." She tried her best to don a firm, professional looking expression; it hardly worked. "The College is very thankful for your assistance, kind sir."

 

[Cheselth]

He bowed slightly and jumped back up onto the branch, in a ninja like manor. (Kinda like when ninjas in Naruto rest, they do a sorta squat thing) "If you need help, I'm here. Though, people there might try to rob you or worse. Would you like me to escort you to ensure you get there safely?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes and grabbed an apple from the tree. "I am sure you're a skilled mage, but this sort of thing only works on people who won't expect it. If there is a thing going on there, then it is very possible that word got out and you can very well be ambushed by fully prepared criminals. I'm not saying it will happen, but I consiter all possibilities before I rush in. You can say... it's what I do for a living." He said as he took a bite from the apple.

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn paused to think for a moment, nervously straightening the creases in her green-blue wizard robes, an obvious sign of her apprentice status at the Mage's College. There was a certain amicability to the darkly dressed stranger, and although it was unwise to trust unknown people on the road while undertaking such an important mission, Delynn preferred giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, no matter how naive - or, as one of her colleagues once told her, stupid - that may be. In fact, despite her childlike naivety, it was hard to deny that Delynn was at least book smart, and remembering back to common situations seen in said books, the stranger's ambush theory wasn't too far from a logical truth - if the capital really was infested with criminals as he said, there could be a darkness like no other waiting for her arrival at this very moment. With where she was now - alone and essentially defenseless - it would be foolish not to take the strange man's offer at this point, whether he was a bloodthirsty killer out for her head or not.

"Your offer is very kind," the mage said, smiling faintly. She acted as if she was considering once more, still trying to appear dignified and professional, then continued, "And your statements are very logical. I accept. You will be in my debt, good sir."

Still smiling, Delynn ran her fingers through the mane of her horse once more - a Palomino named Kyna - and glanced up at the man in the tree, and, with poor vision, squinting to see some of his finer facial features, but ceasing as the pains of hunger continued to creep through her stomach once more. He was eating an apple from one of the higher tree branches, one that was bright red with a snap whenever he took a bite out of it, and Delynn's stomach growled in response. Her sunshine souffle, tucked neatly in the saddle bag by her side, was looking better and better.

"But first," she said. "I must take a quick lunch." She began rummaging through her satchel once more. "And, of course, we can discuss strategy, or...what have you."

 

[Cheselth]

He threw the apple core onto the ground and closed his eyes again. "Alright." He responded with, sniffing the air. "I will be with you for however long you need me." He jumped back down, still silent, and leaned on the tree. "You need not pay me, either. This is free of charge."

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn smiled. A part of her wanted to berate herself for being so guileless, seeing as how this all could be one great scam (as the stranger had said, fully prepared criminals, perhaps himself, could be waiting for her in the capital, or at least on the road to it), but as always, she never failed to be irrevocably trusting, a lasting quality that would stay with her until the day she died. Maybe, she would say to herself, it will be the reason for my death. Strangely, the thought, although unusually morbid for a girl like her, evoked a giggle at times.

After another moment of searching, Delynn recovered a small container holding her sunshine souffle, along with a cloth napkin, and began to slowly pick apart the treat with her fingers, smiling contentedly with every flavorful bite. It was the nutmeg that made it taste so good, but as always, Delynn's never seemed to surpass the perfection of her mother's, a woman renowned for her cooking back at her home in the west.

Delynn took another bite, and addressed the man. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I always pay my debts. I cannot allow such a favor go unrewarded, when you are putting your own life at risk."

Carefully, she slipped another piece of souffle into small, pudgy lips, and delicately wiped away the excess with her untouched napkin. Glancing into her container, she noticed that there were only a few bites left, but, unusually, Delynn wasn't hungry enough to finish the rest - too much excitement from the day's events, she supposed, but still considerably odd because of how ravenous she was only a few minutes before.

"Just let me know a price," she said. "And I will do my best to pay it in full." Looking down at her bowl again, she smiled, and outstretched it toward the man. "Starting with this souffle. Would you like the rest?"

 

[Cheselth]

He shook his head and chuckled again. "You don't need to pay me, yet you want to... That might catch up to you, to the point where you no longer have the money to do so. Tell you what... You can pay me by letting me be your body guard until you feel like you're strong enough to handle yourself. You may be good with magic, but that is more than likely your only weapon. I can tell by just looking at you. You probably don't even have a sword." He said, looking at her in his kindest face, which really wasn't much different from a poker face, really.

 

[Penelope Sky]

At the Mage's College, Delynn was surrounded by a great deal of hot air and pomposity, the usual nature of practitioners of the arcane arts. Considering such attitudes, Delynn had always considered herself different from the others - not just from mages, of course, but warriors, thieves, bloodthirsty assassins, and everyone in between. Most people, Delynn figured, would feel offended by a total stranger essentially 'sizing them up', so to speak, but being so different from the rest, the young sorceress hardly took offense to the comments at all. Although a damningly unworldly being, Delynn was a girl of logic, and, being a girl of logic, she knew the statements of the stranger were true - she was completely and utterly defenseless, even with her cheap arsenal of novice spells.

Resealing her souffle dish, she sighed.

"Well...alright. But, I assure you, good sir, you are going to be my bodyguard for a long, long time."

She chuckled softly, a sound that was like that of a melody if contained, but almost pig-like if let out of control. Storing away her food, she straightened her posture.

"Shall we go onward, then?"

 

[Cheselth]

"If that is what you wish." He responded with, getting off the tree and walking over to his 'master' so to speak. "Pardon my manners, child. I am Mike. And you?"

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn saw it fit to curtsy once more, and this time, she was far less clumsy in her movements.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mike," she said, smiling. "A fine name. I am Delynn. And this..." She stroked a chubby hand through the mane of her steed. "Is Kyna."

Although she wasn't exactly sure, Delynn figured it would be best to travel by foot as long as she had her companion with her, and she could lead her horse along the path by the reins. An alright idea, she supposed, so the young mage and her mare began heading west, hoping that someday this mysterious Mike, excuse the alliteration, would realize that she was at least six years older than he was making her out to be.

A funny thought, so the mage allowed herself to smile once more.

"You do realize, though, Mike..." she began, the dance of a smirk on pink colored lips. "That I'm going to have to pay you somehow one of these days. And, you do know, there will be many days to follow this one."

 

[Immortal_Chaos]

(Sorry everyone, my alerts broke ironically)
Name: Echo
Age: 21
Appearance:

Bio: Echo is a battle hardened, skilled and experienced archer, with an air of mystery too her. Selected for her skill and wisdom, she is a member of a secretive council in the castle, devoted to protection of it and its citizens for whatever cost. Her major weakness, as well as strength, is that she is a lone wolf, finding it difficult to co-operate with others, and generally thinking of others as not as good as her. She is silent, avoiding conversation. However, combat is her strong point. She can accurately pick off enemies from a far distance, and has a small knife for nimble close combat, and intelligence to make a plan, but can be overwhelmed with sheer numbers. She secretly enjoys cooking, and likes apples.

----

Echo walked along the path, pulling her hood down to hide from the sun. Her muffled feet moved quickly, and she looked up just in time to collide with farmer passing by. Echo exclaimed and stepped back, and growled as a torrent of curses flew from the farmer's mouth. She tapped her foot impatiently, her arms folded. Minutes later the farmer stopped and looked up in wonder.
"Are you done?" She looked around in annoyance. "You've held back both of us. Are you done?"

 

[Cheselth]

"Hmph... There is no need whatsoever to pay me back. Really, I do not care for the money." He walked with his new companion, his arms crossed across his chest. "What I care about... well I couldn't tell you that. I couldn't even tell myself that." He stated as he looked up to the sky for a few seconds before looking ahead. "You can ride you horse you know. I'm a lot faster than I look."

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn had figured by now that Mike was a man who meant what he said and said what he meant, so she mounted her steed with the grace of her usual self, which was a supremely ungainly young mage at best, and almost fell while placing her foot in the stirrup because of it. Clumsy fool, she berated herself, scoffing under her breath. How annoying it was to be unsteady on her feet - a limited existence that seemed to shelter her from the wonders of sport, battle, and all things that were supposed to be fun in life. Well, besides reading and cooking of course, she thought with a smirk.

It took what seemed to be an eternal few minutes, but, finally seated properly on her horse, Delynn sat with the best posture she could, and lightly urged the mare to go forward, careful not to surpass Mike on the path. It was a feeble trot at best, not much faster than the pace Kyna was traveling without her master on her back, but Delynn was expecting Mike to tell her to ride faster at any moment now. Otherwise, mounting the horse in the first place would have been a pointless endeavor.

Besides that, Delynn was the friendly sort who liked to make small talk. And, being this way for what seemed to be all her life, she cleared her throat and gave this mysterious Mike an amicable glance from atop her horse, and giggled slightly.

"You seem to be quick on your feet," said the mage. "As you can see, I am not." She giggled again. "How does one become so agile?"

 

[Cheselth]

"Training. Years of training." He said as he began walking faster, expecting her to go faster as well.
"You see... my line of work requires that I be quite nimble and fast. And since I work alone, I have to work twice as hard."

 

[Penelope Sky]

Delynn urged the horse to move at a swifter pace, matching the enhanced speed of a man who was now officially known - to her, that is - as Mysterious Mike, and seemed to be manipulating her, in his own way, to quicken her mount. That way, she figured, they'd make it to the capital much faster, but she was hardly sure what they'd do once they arrived if those aforementioned criminals were afoot. Run as fast as they can to the castle, ditching the horse at the gates? No - she couldn't ditch Kyna. Fend them off until the constable arrived? Kill them? Delynn was no killer. But if these bandits were out for blood...what would she do, then?

Whatever, she thought with a sigh, pushing a stray curl out of vibrant green eyes. It mattered later, but not at the moment, which was an unusual thought process for Delynn, a fairly logical girl who liked to plan ahead. At the moment, she was in conversation with her new ally, and, not being someone of ill manners, Delynn would not allow herself to get lost in such absentminded - likely over panicked - thoughts when she should be paying this man her full attention. It was the least she could do.

She directed her horse to go quicker, and Kyna whinnied in response.

"And what sort of work is this?"

Her smile became a smirk, but she hardly knew why. For some odd reason, she figured he was some sort of courier who delivered important messages to even more important people. It would require quickness, she knew - what if someone were to intercept a crucial letter? And it certainly was a job of solitude. How many people did it take to deliver a single message? Interesting, she thought with a grin. She'd have to learn more.