The Kingdom of Astaeron

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With a nod Custos took the coin from V. It was definitely a nice little flourish of showmanship at the end there. It was vaguely like a performer with how V acted at the end. It definitely sounded like a handy thing to have, regardless of outcome. As he pockets the coin, he decides to ask a question. "I'm a little surprised you're letting as handy as this depart from you. Do you have more of these? Or was this something you made?"
 
V shook himself and pile of tin coins fell, stacking onto the ground next to him. "Leftovers from my last domain. I was quite successful at the job that paid there." He pushed the stack into one of the folds in his other arms. "I can use any coin though, it is not the coin that is special but the power I am... given." It wasn't really given, more like absorbed as radiation. Luckily he could produce it without losing any from himself. "I can make things like them though, but I millions and don't think they are worth much in this nation."
"What are your brothers like?"
 
The coins worked as some kind of focus? Interesting to know. "My brothers are a group of warrior monks that live in a monastery carved out of a large mountain. We believe in honing our bodies and minds to our greatest potential and to pass the secrets of enlightenment down the generations." Custos begins. "They are overall a very organized and spiritual group of people. Well, as long as they're not celebrating major holidays anyway. All bets are off then."
 
V nodded, "They sound delicious. Lean meat is always good." He licked his mandibles with a long purple tongue. "Have you met the queen?" His eyelids were drooping, and he looked close to falling asleep.
 
Custos wasn't exactly pleased with the idea of the spider attempting to eat his brothers, but had enough mind to realize that it was at best a far off dream for the time being. It wasn't like it was a real possibility right now anyway. "I haven't met her yet. i only got a brief glance of her before she was crowded with other at the ball." he replies to V as he watches him. "She is rather young for a ruler."
 
Interesting, I wonder what has brought her to power. "I thank you for your time. I'll be waiting here for the castle to open, I look for ward to seeing you again." He purred and closed his eyes. He looked less terrifying when he was unable to see, but most people still avoided him, though several would eventually approach him to see what he was. Like anything that didn't move they would think him a statue possibly, or somebody's art decoration. He wouldn't respond to their prodding, some touched him, surprised to find he was so soft.
 
"Sleep peacefully." the robed dummy says to V as he lays down and appears to sleep. He leaves him to his rest for the time being as he goes and sees what the city is like at night time, since he had little need to sleep. he would likely find a nice out of the way spot to meditate on his journey so far.
 
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Maven's glow deminished at the sight of an armoured figure entering the battle defeating one of the minotaurs in a single blow to the lower body. The cut was massive and swung through the air, slicing it as well as the flesh of the minotaur whose screams went silent. Maven's sword was clinched tighter keeping his sight on both the remaining minotaurs and the new arrival, an adventurer it seemed to be, just now reaching the center of the Dark Woods. Maven took another stance and attacked one of the remaining minotaur. He dashed quickly towards the beast head on preparing for a full on battle between the two.

"Let's see if you're ready for this!" he yelled out holding his sword back for momentum then swinging it forward with the power added in from his dash and clashed hard with the minotaur's axe. Now Maven swings left to right clashing hard with the minotaur's axe pushing him back it seems. The minotaur turned his axe to it's back during Maven's rush and parried the attack, sending Maven's arms up and leaving his chest open. The minotaur took his free hand and reached for Maven and tried to grab him. Maven dropped his weight from the parry and fell back following through with the previous clash and rolling back, then leaping high up. He spun in the air slowly turning his back towards the minotaur then diving backwards after a full three-sixty spin towards the minotaur.

Maven's glow returned and he flipped upward again and had his blade ready to slash down on the minotaur's chest, hopefully cutting him straight down the middle. The minotaur slamed his axe into the ground and dragged it through the dirt and swung it upward. The crimson glow in Maven's eyes shone brighter as he sliced comepletely though the axe after falling through the chunks of dirt swung upward towards him by the minotaur. Maven returned to his feet and turned away from the paralyzed minotaur then swung his blade aside to quickly clean his blade of the staining blood from his enemies. The minotaur finally fell down with a large cut coming down from the crown of his head to his stomach. Maven noticed that he felt a little weak after that last attack, now realizing that his shoulder was bleeding out. A piece of the minotaur's axe after being shattered to pieces left a large chip in his shoulder. As Maven took his sweet time removing the chip, watching the stare down between this new fighter and the final minotaur, he only though about who this new fighter may be and what's his business in the Dark Woods. So many questions with no answers mad Maven a very mad camper.
 
Maven's glow deminished at the sight of an armoured figure entering the battle defeating one of the minotaurs in a single blow to the lower body. The cut was massive and swung through the air, slicing it as well as the flesh of the minotaur whose screams went silent. Maven's sword was clinched tighter keeping his sight on both the remaining minotaurs and the new arrival, an adventurer it seemed to be, just now reaching the center of the Dark Woods. Maven took another stance and attacked one of the remaining minotaur. He dashed quickly towards the beast head on preparing for a full on battle between the two.

"Let's see if you're ready for this!" he yelled out holding his sword back for momentum then swinging it forward with the power added in from his dash and clashed hard with the minotaur's axe. Now Maven swings left to right clashing hard with the minotaur's axe pushing him back it seems. The minotaur turned his axe to it's back during Maven's rush and parried the attack, sending Maven's arms up and leaving his chest open. The minotaur took his free hand and reached for Maven and tried to grab him. Maven dropped his weight from the parry and fell back following through with the previous clash and rolling back, then leaping high up. He spun in the air slowly turning his back towards the minotaur then diving backwards after a full three-sixty spin towards the minotaur.

Maven's glow returned and he flipped upward again and had his blade ready to slash down on the minotaur's chest, hopefully cutting him straight down the middle. The minotaur slamed his axe into the ground and dragged it through the dirt and swung it upward. The crimson glow in Maven's eyes shone brighter as he sliced comepletely though the axe after falling through the chunks of dirt swung upward towards him by the minotaur. Maven returned to his feet and turned away from the paralyzed minotaur then swung his blade aside to quickly clean his blade of the staining blood from his enemies. The minotaur finally fell down with a large cut coming down from the crown of his head to his stomach. Maven noticed that he felt a little weak after that last attack, now realizing that his shoulder was bleeding out. A piece of the minotaur's axe after being shattered to pieces left a large chip in his shoulder. As Maven took his sweet time removing the chip, watching the stare down between this new fighter and the final minotaur, he only though about who this new fighter may be and what's his business in the Dark Woods. So many questions with no answers mad Maven a very mad camper.
The remaining minotaur raised its axe into the air, swinging it down. The axe came down, as the new arrival steped to the side, barely avoiding the axe. The minotaur growled, attempting to wrench its axe from the ground, as the armor-clad warrior raised his blade into the air, bringing it down like an executioner, seperating the Minotaur's hands from its arms. The minotaur shrieked and roared in agony, stumbling backwards. The warrior looked at the axe, wishing to wield it, but realizing that not even he was strong enough. He sighed, a muffled sound from inside his armor, as he walked slowly towards the Minotaur, who lie on the ground now, unsure what to do now that its hands had gone. The armored figure strolled over to the side of its head, where it used both hands to grab its sword, before plunging the tip of the sword downwards, through the minotaur's forehead, straight through the skull, and out the other side into the dirt. The armored figure put its foot down on the Minotaur's head, and used the leverage to rip its blade out, wiping the blood off on the Minotaur's fur, before sheathing his massive sword and shield on his back.

He turned towards Maven, lumbering towards him. "Greetings swordsman," the armor greeted dully, but it seemed to strangely hang back, denying the black-clad man a view into its visor. "I am Ser Rein, or "The Rook," it introduced itself, with a nod of its helmet. "And you are?"
 
Maven was still down tending to his wound, ripping the chipped piece of metal from his shoulder. The armoured adventure stepped forward and introduced himself. His name was Ser Rein, but commonly known as The Rock. An awkward name to Maven, but a name nonetheless to give this faceless adventure. He stood a bit a ways back and kept his face hidden, while Maven finished wrapping his arm up and getting to his feet. Chester emerged from his shirt and squeeked aloud greeting the armoured adventure, Ser Rein before Maven could get a word out.

"My name's Maven, and this anxious little guy here is Chester." he said picking him up and returning him to the confines of his chest. Maven looked the adventure up and down, scanning what he could but nothing was obvious about where this guy could've come from. Maven looked him straight on and asked aloud "What are you doing in the Dark Woods? This is no place for humans, ya' know."

As the conversation continued on, Maven began dragging all of the bodies away from the tree to cremate them completely and bury the ashes as a symbol of respect to the Dark Woods guardian tree.
 
((OOC: All members are asked to view this post in the OOC before posting any further in the IC. It is unlikely that it will majorly affect your RP unless your character is still at the Winter Ball. DO NOT post in the IC until you have gone and read the post in its entirety.))

The Winter Ball was over. The snow that fell all around the Kingdom had come to a stop, and was now melting, giving way to the Kingdom's natural lush green. Up in their tower, the witches who had frozen time now chanted a new spell, and as they spoke, performing their magic, the sun began to rise. The moon sank low over the horizon until it disappeared, leaving only the glowing golden orb of the sun to shine down on the Kingdom with its radiant beams of light. The sky was a soft blue; it was now early morning, and time would continue to progress normally.

The guests had begun to file out, Arianna included. She had headed up to her bedroom for a short nap, and after she woke, proceeded to go about her day. She decided to wear one of the beautiful new gowns that had been given to her as a gift by the leader of the visiting army, and perhaps to adorn herself with some of the lovely jewels that had come with them. She searched through the large chest that had been delivered to her room, noting that these gowns - unlike most of her closet - came in a number of vibrant and unique colours. Though she normally wore pink, she decided to change it up that particular day, pulling out a beautiful blue gown which was quite unlike the gowns she typically wore and pulling it on. It had elegant floral patterns and as she twirled before the mirror, she found herself pleased with how it looked. She was pleased as she searched through the jewels to find that for every uniquely coloured gown, at least one set of jewels had been included in the same colour. After some fishing around, she chose a simple turquoise pendant to adorn her otherwise bare neck. Dressed, rested, and quite pleased, the young Queen left her chambers and headed down quickly to the throne room to begin her day, seating herself upon the magnificent throne and ready to welcome guests.

Lucille, upon the ending of the ball, had returned to her home along with Krados. She had the guest room set up for him, telling him that he was free to roam about, help himself to food, read a book, anything he wished, but that she was retiring to bed for the day. With that, she retreated into her chambers, with her servant positioned by the front door of her lovely mansion in case any newcomers should come to visit her. The ball had her all wound up, excited to be home and thrilled by the presence of her new houseguest. There was just something about Krados that made her heart speed up a bit, and in the moments before she drifted off to sleep, she found herself wondering...could she be in love?

As the ball came to an end, Lance found himself a flurry of panic. Isabella had been so excited about the ball, but he hadn't seen her at all. He had headed quickly to the guards' quarters to change, slightly irritated by the presence of all the men from the visiting army, and once he had changed into his everyday clothing - not his guard uniform as he wasn't intended to work that day - he began to search the castle. He found Isabella in her bed, sound asleep, and he was concerned - why did she sleep? And where had she found the necklace that she wore? He decided, however, to let her rest. He wandered off, deciding to head into town and do some shopping while he had time off.
 
((Considering I already have two characters in here, I am not sure I can make a third as I dont normally do so. Should the situation demand it, I will consider doing so))

'So the goat man was lying about the whole demon appearing at the ball huh? Well what a waste of time that this had turned out to be.' thought Jericho as he gave a somewhat drunk sigh, making his way out of the ballroom. He was unsure if Harman was still talking to that strange woman, the one who had the inhuman scent. The smell of the vampire had gone as well, and honestly he had lost interest in that as well. He waited out of the entrance of the castle should Harman leave, he didnt like the looks of the woman, and was worried for his friend.



Krados lay awake in his bed with a gentle smile on his face. Never had he imagined that he would attend such an amazing ball with an equally amazing woman. Just the thought of her, her red lips, her mesmerizing eyes, it made him feel ways he never felt before. It was easy to tell that he was falling for this woman, he wondered if she felt the same way. He fell asleep for a few hours and woke once the sun was shining into his room. He decided to close his curtain should his lovely hostess come to his room. Noticing the large bookcase in his room, he decided to pull down one of the books and opened it. It was an older copy of Hamlet, one that he had read many times over, it was one of his favorites. He gave a small smile as he leaned back in his chair and continued to read.
 
She had been little but a side concern in the scheme of things, and Harman was rather glad to take the opportunity to duck out when the situation presented itself. if what Jericho said was true she was likely another possible suspect, but his suspicions would have to wait until another time. It was time for the guests to depart. "If you'll kindly excuse me, but I believe it's time for us guests to show ourselves to the door." Harman says politely to the unnatural woman. He quickly makes himself scarce from the ballroom to outside. It appeared his lycan companion had taken a nearlier leave, and the armored man decided to go try to locate him, eventually seeing him. He quickly approaches, more than happy to be out of there. "I couldn't be any more glad that this whole thing is over." he remarks as he approaches. He had only been here a short time but so far he had encountered no more than two demons and caught hints of a vampire!


Julius was a little sad to have to depart from his conversational partner's company, but rules were rules. If it was time to go, it was time to go. "I'm sorry to have to depart, but I would love to pick this up with you again sometime. I run a small caravan shop in the marketplace, you should consider coming by and saying hello some time. In the meantime, I hope you have you have a nice day." he says to her with a smile. As he leaves he heads back to his caravan. It only then hit him that he forgot to pay respects to the Queen! He slaps his forehead in disbelief as he returns back to the others. The next day Julius quickly makes his way back to the castle with a small gift for Her Majesty. He considered it a courtesy to at least to at least give some small token of appreciation for being allowed to set up shop in city limits so easily. When he arrives he waits his turn to able to speak with the Queen.
 
Jericho looked over as he noticed Harman coming over to him. He made his comment about finally getting out of their and he gave a nod in agreement. "I can say that this demon was nothing but a bunch of hot air. Making false threats like that. I literally had nothing to do this night but drink horrible excuses for alcohol." he muttered with a disapproving glare at the bottle that was in his hand. He tossed it behind his back and gave a sigh, making his way to the town. "Im off to get a mead to wash this taste out of my mouth, you coming?"
 
"I've got nothing better to do for now, so i guess I'll come along." Harman replies to him as he begins walking with him. he almost wondered if they should consider saying something to someone about this. No point in doing much for now though, there was very little the demons seemed to be able to do within he capital city walls anyway. He wouldn't have minded putting his metal plated foot into their skulls though. "Heh, were it a few years earlier i would have stuffed both their faces with enough holy power to melt them off."
 
"Holy power eh?" said Jericho as they walked together, "Well a few years back I may have avoided you in that sense. Holy power tends to... not sit well with me". If it were only a few years ago, he would half expect Harman to still have that power. So why not anymore?

"Any reason you couldnt do that today? Out of practice or did you just get old?" he asked with a chuckle, spotting a nearby pub and making his way to it. Once inside, they were greeted by the drunken cheers of the men that sat on round tables, either joking or talking about times of the past. Others who had passed their limit, were groggily singing different drinking songs, hiccuping mid verses and falling off their chairs as they did.

"This is much better" Jericho said with a relaxed sigh.
 
Harman spends a moment taking in the joyous sight of people having a good time in the tavern. He wasn't surprised that Jericho would have avoided him. Holy power didn't sit well with a lot of night creatures. "I'm practically as sharp as I was then." Harman insisted to him as he looked for an open table. "Like that female demon implied, I was a paladin at one point. I worked under the Kelvar, the god of protection back home." he says, offering a little explanation. He would rather not spoil the moment with this, but he would at least answer that much.
 
Maven was still down tending to his wound, ripping the chipped piece of metal from his shoulder. The armoured adventure stepped forward and introduced himself. His name was Ser Rein, but commonly known as The Rock. An awkward name to Maven, but a name nonetheless to give this faceless adventure. He stood a bit a ways back and kept his face hidden, while Maven finished wrapping his arm up and getting to his feet. Chester emerged from his shirt and squeeked aloud greeting the armoured adventure, Ser Rein before Maven could get a word out.

"My name's Maven, and this anxious little guy here is Chester." he said picking him up and returning him to the confines of his chest. Maven looked the adventure up and down, scanning what he could but nothing was obvious about where this guy could've come from. Maven looked him straight on and asked aloud "What are you doing in the Dark Woods? This is no place for humans, ya' know."

As the conversation continued on, Maven began dragging all of the bodies away from the tree to cremate them completely and bury the ashes as a symbol of respect to the Dark Woods guardian tree.
"I come here as I will. Seeking fights. More often than not, I find them." the armor chuckled. "I've done quite the cleaning up here," the armor said, before simply walking away. The armor trudged back through the clearing, before marching between the trees, roots and branches cracking and splitting beneath his armored feet, his new club in his hands, ready incase anything else came up on him. ((I don't know what to do in this anymore :P))
 
Herzius awoke, his eyes opening suddenly and he moves the blanket-coverings off of him, setting it down as he stands up and stretches. His nude body exposed through the light flooding in through the drapes. He had slept late, that he did indeed. His tanned form moves over to the large dresser and he pulls free a drawer, removing from it a dark brown pair of ankle-low breeches and pulling them onto his figure quickly, already having completely recovered from his waking-sleep. He would continue this process with various other articles of clothing. Equipping himself with the breeches, a deep, forest green tunic pulled over a tucked in white dress shirt, the sleeves of which are pulled to his wrists, covering up the large boned plating of his forearm, though not able to hide the large spikes on his elbows. He finishes by pulling on socks and his hunting boots, brown and less decorated than his usual boots, as well as a not-so flashy brown belt underneath his tunic and around his breeches, and a more exposed belt over his tunic, to hold it tightly in place around his muscular frame. The brown tone of the belt matches the style nicely, and the gilded -with gold- belt buckle seems to sparkle in content.

He moves for his routinely worn sword but instead decides that perhaps today is a time for something less. He pulls out his dagger, it's 8 inch blade satisfying enough for he, a man-o-reach. He steps free from his cabin, the dagger holstered proudly on his hip. He escapes from his dwellings and moves through town, headed towards the castle of which the young queen, Arianna resides in all her magnificence. He moves past the gates and through the doors, taking note that none reside within other than her majesty through a series of resounding yet soft clicks with his tongue, his eyes shutting intuitively as he does. His echo-locative abilities allowing him to search the entire room quickly.

"Apologies for arriving with announcement, fair queen of Astaeron. I would not impede, I simply sought company and found it to be not had in my own residing and thus arrived to such conclusion as venturing to you, so as to spend but mere moment if that is all you find yourself willing to spare. Doth mine request sound fair to thee?" He questions in a slow, calm voice, his brilliantly shining eyes taking note of her other-worldly beauty.
 
A bright smile came to the young Queen's lips as she saw Herzius enter, his magnificent eyes upon her as he spoke. She listened patiently, and then nodded. After how lovely the ball had been, dancing gracefully with the tall man almost the whole night, she had wanted little more than to spend more time with him, and this would be the perfect chance - especially since there was no one else present yet. The sun was still low on the horizon, making its ascent into the brilliant blue sky that hung over her Kingdom, and she doubted that any newcomers would present themselves quite yet.

"I would quite like that, Herzius," she responded in her soft, gentle voice, smiling warmly towards him. "It does get terribly lonely here - many people come, but few come to talk. Most come only to get their affairs sorted out, and then they carry on their way."