The Kingdom of Astaeron

Ghaurl awoke once more, in the brash cold of night. The small campfire that he created had already dwindled away away leaving nothing but embers and ashes. He could feel the chills of death run down his spine as his grogginess soon faded away, yielding to the memories recent of death. The people, the men, the women, slaughtered at the hands of highwaymen. He thought of his closest comrade, Peter... or was it Percival?. And what did this person look like? Although revealed, some still hid in the fog, just beyond his reach. He gazed at his right hand and produced a small spark, which slowly grew into a ball of flame that fit into the palm of his hand. He held it to his face, looking in wonderment as he felt the flame graze his face but felt no heat. He could feel this power course through his veins, albeit being faint, but present nonetheless.

Reveling in the sight he relinquished the flame onto the pile of embers setting it ablaze once more, filling the sandy cave with heat once more before grabbing a pole from the assorted pile and limped toward the hole upwards. Examining the hole, he concluded that it wasn't to far deep of a hole, created by unnatural means of erosion. Jagged rocks protruded from the sides which could be climbed provided they gave the proper footwork, granted they would probably slice into his hands if they had the chance. Tearing a portion of the linen off of his shirt, he wrapped the palms of his hand with the cloth, to create a form of makeshift coating. He released his other arm from the sling and shoved it into his pocket.

Gripping his makeshift torch he slowly began his ascent out of the cave, grasping rock after rock, taking care to maintain footwork. Searing pain shot up through his arm as he made his way a little higher, rock, foot... rock, foot... "Come on, just a little bit more.."

The top! He pushed his arm over the flat surface, using his sprained arm to position himself he jutted his good arm forward and in one motion, pulled himself over the edge, rolling onto a flat surface. Gathering the rest of his energy, Ghaurl hobbled toward a pile of bodies before collapsing altogether, falling unconscious.
 
A young lady in black holding a scythe had been waiting in line ahead of me. Her presence was like that of death, so I might have been a bit unnerved when she first approached, but it quickly became clear that I had nothing to fear from her. Well, I thought at least, but it seems that misplaced kindness can cause grief. Even despite my condition, I wanted to properly greet the queen, but already I committed a foul by not waiting to be summoned, and yet another for interrupting her majesty. In addition, I resented being talked down to like a helpless child. Even still, since she had good intentions in mind, it would just be pretentious of me to speak out, especially since she was letting me skip ahead of her. I blush, embarrassed to be allowing someone to address me in this way, "Thank you for your kindness."
 
celeste turned to a girl in all black with bright eyes speaking. At first she did not know what to make of her. Behind her was a small child . Celeste loved children, but this child did not seem to be feeling well. Her heart sadden to see any child without smile on their face. Celeste had even been known to give orphanages bags of gold to improve conditions, but she had never been honored to have a child of her own.

celeste peeked back at the girl in black. She studied her in great detail. Celeste spotted the synth in her hand. "Oh! its death!" celeste said in her mind. she had never imagined death as a person. Celeste only heard of such thing in folk lore, but have never witness such person. Celeste reasoned that she was thinking too much into it. It was only a girl with a unique taste of weaponry.
 
Arianna gave Celeste a warm smile as she saw the golem return with the pouch of gold.

"Fascinating," she murmured, longing to hear the story behind this strange being, but as she looked up upon hearing the words of the woman with the scythe, she knew that it could wait. A frown crossed her pink lips at the sight of the little girl, who certainly did look ill, and she outstretched one hand towards the young newcomer.

"Come here, my dear, are you alright?" she asked gently. "Do you need a healer?" A servant standing by the door appeared all set to summon a healer at the Queen's command.
 
Feeling slightly swamped by the flurry of activity, Sepiroth decides that it might be best to take his leave.. lest he ends up getting in the way of something important, he can't help but feel like he does that a lot. Plus he's unnerved by all the females- and saddened by the fact that they're all waaay prettier then him- though he'd never admit it. He clears his throat and starts to walk away, bowing politely once again. "thank you for your help, your majesty.. because of how busy things are..I will take my leave, lest I accidentally make a annoyance of myself." he smiles. "maybe one day, when the master has recovered, you would like to meet him? He will be happy to meet with the person who is so kind enough to offer us shelter.." Sepiroth says as he starts to walk out the room, nodding at all the females politely.. trying not to make eye contact with them, in case he offends them.. women are strange things to Sepiroth and he has no idea how to interact with them on a non professional level.. so he tries not to think of how ill the young girl .. or how nice the stylish women's outfit is.. or how deadly and enchanting the scythe of the women in black looks.. or how well the queen's handling the situration- not that he expected anything less.. 'no, I'm sure they don't need my help..' he reasures himself.
 
Arianna looked up as she heard Sepiroth's words. She smiled quickly towards him.

"No, no, there's no need to leave," she said to him quickly. "I should be only a moment."
 
The queen is worried about me too. I must really look awful. Well, I guess that technically counts as both being summoned and addressed, so she is treating me casually. I should still address her formally, even if it is only to make what I have to say more credible. I preform a curtsy, though I stumble a bit due to the dizziness. "My name is Kyo, high mage of Agesis, a country far west of here. As of a year ago, both Agesis and our northerly neighbor have been at war in response to the killing of the previous high mages Aldred Sharp and Golde Sharp. I was told to flee, in order to protect our bloodline. I was told to protect this with my life, and never open it, your majesty." I totally forgot that I left it in the Aether, so this is going to hurt. Using my life magic despite not having much mana left, I reach in and produce an enclosed scroll, it is addressed to Arianna. A wave of nausea passes over me, and it takes the entirety of my will to remain standing. I absolutely won't show weakness. I feel faint, the room is getting darker. I start crying, I didn't want this to happen. I pass out shortly after the episode.
 
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Celeste turned to the man trying to leave. "Why don't we step aside together while the Queen is tending to the child." She smiled at him. She could not help but gravitate to him. His kingdom was a curious place, and she wanted to know more about it. She noticed how humble he was about his problem. She knew that he was a servant,but she questioned the conditions he had taken in the fact that his home was booming with demons.

Celeste wondered about the girl in black again. was she to seeking a home? She would love to have a talk about her unique weapon. In the mist of her thoughts she felt the little girls mana depleting. "oh no" before the child hit the ground celeste rushed in to catch her. She was far so she quickly ran and slid to her just in time to grab her.
 
Karine watched the proceedings, unsure of whether to insert herself into the action. As the queen had acknowledged her she was content to wait, allowing those with more pressing needs to go ahead of her. She felt the uncommon emotion of relief, knowing that all of her issues would be resolved soon. In most scenarios Karine would have insisted on an orderly line, but seeing that the queen had sold a house she was placated, hoping it would be just as easy to purchase a shop, perhaps with living quarters above it.

The motherly woman seemed especially protective over the young mage, Kyo, though it appeared that they had not met before. Despite Karine's status as a magic user, her powers seemed to be completely different than the child's, as hers came from working with cloth rather than mana. Karine was impressed that one so young could call herself a high mage, as all types of magic generally involved intense training and study. Though, based on the child's condition, she had overextended herself. Karine was glad that the nature of her own power did not rely solely on her inner strength, and therefore was very difficult to stop as long as she had access to cloth.

The nervous seeming man, who Karine assumed was a servant, and the woman stepped closer to her. When the child fell to the ground the woman rushed to catch her, and Karine was left with the man. "What business do you have?" she asked him, her voice cold despite the fact that she was making at least a small attempt to be friendly. She traced the scars on one hand with the fingers of the other, hoping that she had not frightened him. Though she had a reputation for a disagreeable personality where she had come from, Karine hoped that she would not start out on the wrong foot with this new opportunity.
 
Arianna turned and gave the servant at the side of the room a nod, and he quickly hurried out to go and find a healer. Arianna stood up, the book falling to the ground with a heavy thump as she dropped it, and she rushed over to the girl, kneeling down beside Celeste, who had caught her.

"Thank you, Celeste," Arianna said to her softly before reaching down and brushing a few strands of the little girl's hair from her face. "One of the royal healers will be here soon." Arianna paused thoughtfully, delicately fluttering her silvery-white wings. Sure, she had magic, but she knew absolutely nothing of healing magic - her mother had certainly encouraged her to learn, but young Arianna had never been fond of her studies and had a bad habit of not paying attention as a child.

Her pretty blue eyes fell upon the scroll that the girl had produced, and she lifted it up in one hand, figuring that now was as good a time as any to open it and see what it was - after all, a healer had been called and unless someone else in the room came forward with healing magic, there was nothing more she could do until the servant returned with a healer to tend to the girl.
 
The scroll contains the following message, "Your majesty, ruler of Astaeron. I'm afraid to inform you that by the time you receive this message, the kingdom of Agesis will have already fallen. We were ill prepared for war, and thus after the transgression, put up token resistance to make us seem capable when in actuality we were buying time to ensure our nation's treasures remained out of enemy hands. This child, Kyo, is one such treasure. Although she is young, she is already a capable magic user, and by the time she reaches your castle, will surely have much blood on her hands. I never would have wished this on a child her age, but she now is the last holder of the elemental hybrid magic of life and wind. For this reason, it is not safe for her to live in any country that intends to expand their boarders. Such a country would surely exploit her power. Please, take care of Kyo. I can't offer anything in exchange, but she is very capable. You may use her in any way you see fit, so long as she is safe."

Signed, Lord Hargard, King of Agesis.
 
celeste placed her hand on the girls hand. "i will heal her...but..." she shook her head. Her magic flowed through celeste and into thee little girl.her healing knowledge was vast, but unless she could do a full workup on her body she couldn't completely heal her, only take away the fever and any pain.
 
Celeste soon learns that many of the symptoms are being caused by the girl's own magic use. The fever was acquired due to Kyo using a class of magic higher than her body was capable of properly channeling. Kyo likely won't show signs of improvement until she is properly nourished and rested.
 
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*Poke*

"Nnyngh"

*rub*

"Mmph, not... now..." Ghaurl rubbed his sunken eyes and pushed the object away, which promptly brushed his face again, fully waking him. He rose from the congregation of bodies, pushing the newly piled ones off of his person. He pulled at his arm and looked back at it in wonder. The bruise had already healed from the battle 2 days before. Stretching his neck, he swung his arm around, surprised that the pain didn't just come back. Perhaps it was another gift that was bestowed upon him like the strange magical power.

Observing his surroundings, he saw several other corpses scattered about, many which bore the uniform of whom he traveled with, and a various assortment of other bodies, bearing various types of armor ranging from leather plating, to bronze and iron vests, chainmail and the like. Among them were armaments aplenty. Halberds, axes, pikes, lances and others. Using the rule of thumb he ransacks one of the bodies for loot.

Get!
1 x Leather Chestplate (44% condition)
1 x Linen Cap (80% condition)
2 x Steel Bracers (76% condition)
2 x Iron Greaves (81% condition)

He strips himeself of a good amount of his leather boots and uses it to crudely clean and patch the cuts and scratches on the chestplate, using more of his linen shirt to do so.

Ghaurl uses "Torn Leather Shirt" (condition 60%)
  • Requires 64% condition to do well.
  • Shabby operation.
Noticing that he doesn't have enough to cover the entire gash in the armor, Ghaurl takes strips the boots further down, reducing them to a sneaker like state, before slipping on the armor he picked up before, essentially covering what he cut off. "It's rather bad, but it should hold until I can find someone to outfit me better." He looked at the corpse once more and glanced at the Xiv that it held. A male, which bore a mark of a highwayman, a pouch of gold attached to his side. Plucking the sword and sheath from the dead man only to see him cough and sputter blood. The gash in the chest plate he procured had made a clean cut into the ailing man's side.

The highwayman looked up at him and pleaded. "Please sir... I was left here for dead, by my... my mates."

Gaurl gazed at the man, looking at the rather large wound in his side. If he left him here, he would surely die within the day, and it would be done. But if he carried him along, he could potentially gain a new ally to potentially use for his own purposes. Then again, this same man would probably turn against him and loot him for his own purposes.

"Why should I help you, highwayman? If I help you, chances are you'll just stab me in the back!"

Sputtering, he coughed up more blood before replying "Well, would you rather die here? In this hellhole?" Ghaurl circled around the area, seeing sand, sand and dead bodies.

"Bah, I'll make my way."

"Really? *cough* I.. I have a map..." He unfurls a ball of scrunched paper to reveal a small map of the area. Ghaurl glances at it and scowls.

"A few trees, some mountains, and a crudely drawn castle, what is this junk?"

Pointing to the castle, he used his blood to draw a circle around it incessantly pointing to it and back at Ghaurl. "This is a business, a... place to stay... Astaeroth." Ghaurl's eyes widened, looking back to the hole, remembering the vision of the old man before, the one whom welcomed him there.

"Get up, we break for Astaeroth immediately." but the man struggled to raise himself, falling unconscious as Ghaurl slung the man over his shoulder. Then, Ghaurl felt a strange sensation flow through him, beckoning for him to brace the highwayman's wound. Laying him on the ground gently, he places both his hands over the injury and breathes slowly watching a faint green glow radiate from his hands as well as a light hum.

A few seconds later, he lifts his hand and the injury is all but gone leaving a small scar in it's place. "Well would you look at that... What else can this gift do?.."

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he raised the map into the air, embarking for Astaeroth.

 
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Arius had watched in silence, even as that scythe of hers began to glow softly sensing death, because that's what happened when someone was that sick in Arius' presence. There was this odd desire as well, to keep an eye on and maybe help the little girl so Arius steps forward her luminescent green eyes falling to the sick girl. "Queen...I could take care of this girl; unless she chooses otherwise. Her magic...I can sense it and it's very close to Death even though it is called 'life' magic...I feel like I could help her with it..." Arius looked concerned and was crouched by the woman called Celeste, though Arius had still not deigned to introduce herself she had heard the Queen say the woman's name.

It didn't take Arius long to realize what exactly was wrong with the girl and from her bag she produced a small piece of jerky tapping the little girl. "Can you open your eyes... I have some food if you feel you can move..." Arius is quiet as she waits to see if the young girl could awaken, some part of her wished she was confident her own power would help the girl but from the mix of magic Arius could sense dwelling in the girl she felt the two would get along, which is one of the reasons she was trying to be more helpful than she would normally be.
 
celeste nodded at the young girl offering to take care of her. " she needs proper rest and food. I have numbed her pain and calmed her body with my magic so her fever should go down soon enough. She needs to be careful about her magical ability." Celeste went into her bad and pulled out a charmed braclet. " This has stored raw magical healing energy. this should help her body restore what is now deteriorating, but if she using her powers before she is ready, it won't do much good" Celeste knew the braclet she made would come in handy. She was happy that she could help the adorable little girl. Celeste did not want to give her away, but if she wanted to go that was her choice alone. " ill be around if you need any help" Celeste was addressing the girl in black and the everyone else in the room.
 
At that moment, the servant Arianna had sent off earlier came scurrying back into the room, accompanied by one of the healers, a woman all dressed in white. She rushed over to the little girl and knelt, holding one hand over her. The woman's palm glowed with a soft white light and she moved it back and forth slowly over Kyo's body, and then looked up at Arianna.

"She needs to rest and be fed, she will recover," said the healer, and Arianna gave her a thankful smile, and then turned her attention back to the servant. "Could you prepare a guest room so that she may lie down, and have the cooks deliver her a meal?" asked the Queen, and the servant scurried off again. Arianna turned towards Celeste, smiling a bit. With how Celeste had rushed to her and held her, Arianna could see that Celeste felt for the girl. "Would you like to stay with her for a bit, until she's rested and feels better? I'm sure she'd like that more than being alone."
 
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The clock's a ticking, Asta knew she couldn't stay in the sunny forest forever. Even though it was always day, her body was still prone to exhaustion. But she couldn't sleep in such daylight, and it's not like she could walk out and choose a place to sleep. In her heart a love for the little pixies and the creatures there had settled, certainly she'd come to visit. It was a magical forest, it made her feel magical. Always using her healing magic to help the wounds of creatures, and always going to the dark forest to hunt. How could she ever hurt the creatures in the sunny forest, even for food!

She arrived at the castle, it was gran and flourishing. It did have a girlish taste she was sure was from the monarch since she was supposed to be a girl. The elf was wearing her embroidered blue gown for the occasion, you must dress to impress. If she looked like she might live in an old shack in the bog, they'd give her an old shack in the bog. Hopefully they also gave out castles, that'd be nice but a simple dream. Besides what would a lonely elf do in a castle, she didn't even have the money for upkeep.

Her long fingers wrapped around the door handle as she opened it, revealing a sea of people. Yet in this repertoire there were no other elves, quickly putting her to shame. The ears that peeked from her long lock became a little heated with embarrassment. Most of them were humans, yet thankfully the queen was a fairy. Oh how she wished she had wings instead of ears, her ears were foolish while the queen's wings were magnificent.

Yet she got in the line without a peep, folding her hands in front of her and smiling like she always would. Surely no one would care about her ears, it's what made her unique she guessed. And that distinguished her from the crowd, oh maybe she'd get called before the rest. Oh no that was unfair and mean, and she certainly wasn't mean. At least she didn't think she was mean…
 
Haruka was both tired and hungry, despite having woken up just a few hours ago. She hadn't been able to find anything suitable to eat in a long time, neither had she managed to get much sleep because of it. Nevertheless the young black haired female knew there wasn't much left until she reached her next destination: Astaeron Kingdom. A smile lit up her face as she told herself this, as a result feeling more motivated to continue. "Here I walk, on the rode, to the kingdom here I will, prove myself~" she hummed in a cheerful tune, almost beginning to skip.

Moments later, she had arrived at a signpost. Frowning slightly, she stopped in her tracks as a look of confusion settled upon her features. Now, which way was I supposed to go? Haruka asked herself, thoughtfully rubbing her head. She was just about to take out her map from her back, when she noticed something small and black sitting beside her. Her eyes widened in surprise, before a look of shear joy replaced that look. "Oh my god, so adorable!" she squeaked before forcing herself to calm down. She had learned that one should be calm around animals, after all.

Taking a deep breath, she keeled down and carefully extended her hand towards him, offering him to sniff. "Hi there, kitty..." she murmured softly.

(Sorry it's so short. I'm just too exhausted for this... gonna post Chris later or tomorrow. x3 *has gotten a terrible sunburn*)
 
Tom blinked as he heard a singing voice approaching, not having time to look round before the source was already standing next to him in front of the signpost. He tilted his head up at the girl, wary for a moment, and ready to quickly back away if she made a grab for him. He had had bad experiences with overly affectionate young girls in the past...although this one looked old enough to know better, even if her squeaking hurt his ears.

As she crouched and offered her hand to him he hesitated for a moment before nuzzling his head into it, not bothering to sniff it even just to keep up appearances of being a normal cat. The girl didn't exactly appear to be a threat, and even if she was, as far as she was concerned he was just an innocent and totally adorable kitty who'd been sitting at the side of the road. Perhaps he'd even see if she wanted to travel together for a little while if they were going in the same direction, although for now he wasn't going to speak unless he needed to. There were times to flirt with every pretty girl in sight and there were times to not reveal himself and this was the latter although the girl certainly was fairly cute, if slightly on the little sister side of things.
 
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