Tales of the World: The Radiant Game (Main RP)

[Augla]

Tales of the World: The Radiant Game

[Sapphie]

Meanwhile, just outside the sleepy countryside town of Ithurl, a dark shadow watched as the townspeople went about their daily lives, blissfully unaware of the shadow the late afternoon sun was casting upon them. On a hill to the east of the main town stood two figures, one clad in blue, another in black.

"Pitiful, aren't they?" The man in blue turned away from the scene with a look of disgust. "It makes me just want to kill the lot of them!"

The other man, clad in black armor from head to toe didn't move as his counterpart started to pace up and down impatiently. Instead, he stood, unnervingly still as his eyes, hidden by his full plate helmet drank in the sight of Ithurl bathed in the warm orange glow of the setting sun. He had planned to wait a few more minutes, but he was given a stark wake up call by his compatriot in the blue suit waving a rapier in his face.

"Hey, can we get started soon?" The man in the blue suit said, his purple hair rustling slightly in the breeze. "I want them to get the gift of suffering!"

"Patience, Saleh," The larger of the two men responded from behind his helm. "That is why we have come here, after all." He finally began to move, stepping forward as his armor gave off a very distinctive clanging noise. "Indeed, time we set out to achieve our goals."

Saleh turned to his companion, ecstatic upon hearing the words he'd been longing for all the while. "Excellent. I've been waiting for this moment..." He grinned wickedly as he adjusted his ascot. "Then, you take the main town, Sir Moht, I shall clear out the orphan village outside of the main town."

"You know, you may call me Nerezza if you wish, Saleh," The armored man replied. "But we are allies, nothing more. Your position as my junior should be very clear to you." He added sharply, with a hint of warning. "Anyway, very well, your plan is sound. Remember, leave none alive."

"I haven't forgotten, Sir Moht," Saleh replied, saying his superior's name in such a manner that it was almost mocking him. "Indeed making sure they all die is the part I'm looking forward to the most!" Saleh chuckled, his laugh dripping with venomous malice. "Although," He continued, "I might keep one or two alive until the end in order to torture them..."

"I will have no complaints if you make their deaths painful, Saleh, just as long as they die." Nerezza said sternly as he began to walk down the hill towards the town.

"Oh they'll die alright," Saleh said to himself as he headed off in a different set of directions. "Slowly, painfully and afraid..."
_________________

[Akashic]

<Luchino Fiore ~ Caravan: Couple Miles from Ithurl>

Traveling down the road a little less than a few miles southeast of Ithurl, a small band of three caravans hailing from the outpost of Endern were steadily making their way towards the small countryside town. At this point in time, the merchants of the caravan were all too eager to set up their trading stations in the farming town, knowing that this season was the perfect time for farmers to harvest their crops for distribution around Zonthera, as well as to make a decent profit for their hardships.

Resting at the very top of the middle wagon, a man dressed in unusual white clothing was laying over his back against the wooden flanks of the roof, staring in a daze at the late afternoon sky with piercing, yellow eyes as if deep in thought. His arms were folded behind his head full of pure white hair and his knees were slightly bent in the air, while the ebony belts hanging from his limbs dangled down one side of the roof. If anyone were to take one glance at him, it was apparent that he was a foreigner from these parts and wasn’t a part of the caravan. All around him and traveling by foot were mercenaries and protectors of the caravan, keeping a close eye on the children playing around near the mule-like creatures that pulled the caravan forward, and for monsters that may be prowling in the edge of the tall grasslands.

To think why the unusually dressed man would be traveling in a tight-nit caravan such as this one was almost beyond him, since he favored traveling in seclusion, however, it was probably the lingering desire of wanting to be around his family—the pack of wolf Lycanths from the glaciers just outside of the small city of Cintilar. It had been seven years since he had been exiled from his pack because of his unstable lycanth side, and it took him all those years to finally leave the continent of his homeland. Since these people were traveling down the same road as him, he figured he might as well hitch a ride to the town instead of walking. It’d be much faster anyways and he wouldn’t have to worry about encountering monsters on his own to drive them off. Though in turn, he had to play his part as a temporary mercenary until they reach Ithurl.

“Hey lad, if you’re going to keep watch from up there, mind actually look like you’re helping out, instead of daydream?”

The man soon blinked back to reality and turned his head to the side, glaring down at the man walking beneath him with cold, unyielding eyes. The mercenary grunted somewhat nervously under his stare and averted his gaze from the white-haired man. Letting out a soft growl from his throat, he soon sat upright and stared over the horizon to the farming town in the distance. The sooner they arrived at their destination, the faster he would be relieved of his responsibility to protect these people that he didn’t consider close to him. He wasn’t used to being bossed around by strangers either—as a dominant of his pack it was usually the other way around and he had the obligation to protect his family. When he heard the mercenary below him let out a long grunt again, he turned his golden eyes to the man and snarled viciously.

“Mind your own damn business!” His voice hissed with irritation and startled the children that were playing nearby, causing them to stare up at him with nearly wide, fearful eyes. Lowering his own gaze at them, they flinched and soon, scurried back to their parents or friends at the front wagon. Smirking in amusement, he turned away from them and took a deep breath, taking in the smells around him for any potential threats of monsters or bandits. Though, with this close to the farming town as they were, he doubted that they would encounter any creatures of the sort to worry about them. Less than an hour, the band would soon reach the countryside town of Ithurl.
_________________

[Augla]

Millad: In the Middle of the Town

Seeing as his house was closer, Rose and Thorn stopped off at Thorn's house. He gingerly knocked on the door and called inside to see if his parents were home. He and Rose waited about a minute, but there was no reply. Thorn shrugged and turned towards Rose.

"Guess my folks aren't home..." He said. "And it's not like I know where they are, either..." Rose shrugged.

"My guess is that they're probably out shopping or something like that." She said before smiling widely. "In that case, I don't think my parents would mind if you stayed over for dinner." Thorn sighed.

"But Rose..." He said. "I come over so often... I don't really want to impose..." Rose laughed as she grabbed Thorn's hand.

"You're not imposing anything!" She said. "You're my friend, and I don't mind you coming over. I'm sure my parents feel the same way, as well..." Thorn blushed as his best friend spoke.

"W-well, if you insist..." He surrendered, trying to hide his feelings and failing. "I guess it's better than starving until my parents get home..." Rose smiled, and then started dragging Thorn along behind her towards her house.

"Of course it is!" She said, not slowing down to let Thorn catch up to her. "Now come on! It's almost dinner time!"

---

Ithurl: The Orphan Village

Many of the orphans were out and about doing things around their small houses, when, all of a sudden, a large puff of smoke came out the chimney of one of the houses along with a simultaneous cry of terror. A few heads turned towards the house where this had just occurred, wondering if something bad had happened to its owner. A few seconds later, a young man who was completely black with soot stumbled out of the house, coughing his lungs out. He had to hold onto the railing to prevent himself from collapsing during his coughing fit.

While the young man was coughing away, one of the other orphans, a little girl not even thirteen years old yet, walked up to him to see if he was okay. Her first question, however, was more right to the point about what had happened. "Why are you all black?" She asked. The moment the boy recovered from his coughing fit, he opened his bright eyes to look at the girl and chuckled.

"I was just trying to clean out the chimney of my house." He said. "Little did I realize how much soot was stuck up there, and my broom kicked all of it up... I'm covered with soot from head to toe!" He looked at his body in disdain, for it was all a monochrome dark gray, and sighed.

"...I think I'm going to need a shower..." He said, taking off the gloves he had been wearing while doing his chores, revealing his original skin color underneath. "Stand back, I'm going to shake these out." He warned the little girl who was still nearby. She took a few steps back, still watching the young man closely. A minute later, he set the gloves aside and rubbed his face with his clean, bare hands so that he didn't get any more soot into his eyes, nose, and moth. The girl chuckled.

"You're a complete mess..." She said. "Do you want me to get some clothes for you?" The young man chuckled as he looked briefly back into his home.

"No, I have an extra set of clothes." He said, smiling for the first time since the incident. "I'll just take a quick shower and put those on and then do some laundry with these..." He took another look at the rest of his clothes, and noticed something odd as he looked up again. There was a man with purple hair and a blue suit coming in his direction, and he had no idea who it was. From the looks of the guy, he seemed like an adult. Adults almost never came into the village...
_________________

^ Screw it, I actually kinda liked this set. I'm keeping it, seeing as I'm rarely here anymore.
(Avatar by Flaming Tonfas. Signatures made by me!)
Check out my Facebook roleplay group!

[Gabriel Helsing]

A couple of miles from Ithurl

A young man clad in armor is seen walking along a path towards the village. Looking around the place as he walked, the young man admired the blissful silence and serenity of the countryside. He then however let out a sigh remembering the past events prior to his "arrival" to this world.

It has been three months since he got here, mostly spent on finding out where he is, how did he got here and whether he could get back. He couldn't remember how he ended leaving Elyansia to begin with. One moment, he was in his world. The next, he found himself in the middle of another one.

"That has got to be the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me." The man said to himself.

The man named Gabriel Helsing then recalled another weird thing that happened to him. Out of nowhere, a man he didn't recognized wanted to kill him. Unfortunately for him, Gabriel had something did others didn't have: Immunity to offensive magic. After dispatching the attacker, it was as though that started a chain reaction since countless others came after, though Gabriel dispatched them with little to no trouble at all.

As he walked, Gabriel wondered if he would ever go home at all. Maybe he is stuck here forever....

"C'mon Gabriel, snap out of it!" The Spellbreaker patted himself on the cheek as he continued to walk. As of now, he had no clue as to how he got here or if he could ever go back to Elyansia. So Gabriel did what he always did: Travel.

Speaking of which, The Village of Ithurl is pretty close now.
_________________
At the birth of the world, Man was given a soul and with it, Clarity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Light and Darkness... the road to both Dawn and Twilight...

[Sapphie]

The man with the purple hair and blue outfit, of course, was Saleh. He confidently strode into the village, paying no attention to the surprised reactions of the children that saw him. That is, until he felt something tugging at his left sleeve. He looked down, only to see a little girl, no more than six years old staring up at him with innocent eyes.

"Hey mister, why are you here?" She said inquisitively, "Grownups, they never come to see us, you know?" Her voice was almost a squeak as she spoke, she was so high pitched. This got on Saleh's nerves immensely, but he wasn't going to let his temper spoil what promised to be a very enjoyable day. He returned her gaze and forced a smile.

"Really now? I had no idea." He replied, maintaining his facade. "The grownups around here must be very bad people..." He waited a moment for the girl to respond.

"They never come to see us because we're all orphans," The little girl chirped back. "But you have, Mister!" She smiled warmly back at him, completely unaware of the danger she was in. "But why have you come here?" She looked puzzled as she repeated the question to him.

Saleh continued to smile, though now it was less a forced smile as his mind played out what he was about to do. "Well, I could be here for hours explaining that, little girl, he replied deceitfully, "But I think it's best if I just show you outright why I'm here."

"Okay, right now?" The little girl asked, her face lit up with curiosity. "Okay! Ready when you are!" She bounced up and down a little, clearly excited to see what this adult had brought to the village to show them. But she was not expecting what came next. In the blink of an eye, Saleh's expression turned sour and he uttered a single word to her. "Die." Before she could even react, he drew his sword and slashed her across the face, causing crimson blood to spatter everywhere.

The little girl squealed in pain and tried to run, but Saleh's sudden attack had blinded her and she tripped over herself, landing prone on the ground. Desperately, she tried to scream, but Saleh was one step ahead of her on that and slashed the edge of his sword across her throat before she could call for help. As she lay there dying, Saleh stooped over her and spoke into her ear.

"Consider yourself lucky, little girl." He sneered. "Your death was relatively quick." With that, he stood and looked around, seeing fearful and anxious looks from all the orphans that had witnessed the event. "Frozen with fear?" He snarled at them. "Good. That makes my work much easier." He flashed a menacing smile and began to walk towards the nearest orphan, a young boy of around ten years. Without waiting for the boy to speak, he quickly dashed forwards, stabbing the child in the heart. Withdrawing his blade, he started to dart about the village square, cutting the orphans down left, right and center.

Meanwhile, in the actual town of Ithurl, chaos reigned supreme. Nerezza had wasted no time setting every last building ablaze, his immense power allowing him to do so with a mere hand wave. All around him, buildings burned, their inhabitants trapped inside with no hope of escape. Those that managed to escape the blaze however, would be the unlucky ones. Nerezza watched coldly as another would be escapee tried to run from the town.

In an instant, he moved like a flash to block the young man from escaping. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his glowing black energy blade at the startled young man and ran him through before the victim could even move. And then, the most horrifying part started to happen. His sword quickly began draining away the man's blood, soon leaving him as dry as dust and finally, ripping the man's soul from his now crumbling body and devouring it whole. "Pathetic. Barely even a snack for Hell's Gate." He turned to see if there were any more survivors trying to flee the town, but apart from the sound of the raging flames, the town had now fell silent.

Satisfied that he had eliminated every last inhabitant, Nerezza slowly began to make his way towards the orphan village to check up on Saleh. It seemed also, that there were only civilians in the town. All the players they had designated in the area had clearly left town, which suited him just fine. It meant a little more fun for Ewignacht in the long run and he knew Noira would rather they saved the players until the game started for real. Nonetheless, he knew she would be content with the carnage wrought today.
_________________

[Gabriel Helsing]

Ithurl: The Orphan Village

Gabriel quickly ran towards the village as fast as he can. He could hardly believe his eyes as he saw it ablaze within an instant. Wondering what the hell was going on, Spellbreaker reached the village in a matter of minutes.

The sight that greeted him was both gruesome and despicable.

Bodies of young boys and girls are lying on the ground, blood flowing everywhere. As he walked around looking for survivors, he wondered who could do such a thing... this slaughter, this massacre...

'Just like the Cluvern Massacre... this must be it was like...'

Gabriel recalled the infamous massacre that took place within his home, Elyansia. Because of that, hundreds of lives were lost... for what?

Whoever did this is going to pay... by the lives of these children, I swear to it.
_________________
At the birth of the world, Man was given a soul and with it, Clarity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Light and Darkness... the road to both Dawn and Twilight...

[Akashic]

<Luchino Fiore ~ Outskirts of Ithurl>

The caravan was just ten minutes away from the town of Ithurl and only moments had passed when suddenly the buildings were set ablaze, simultaneously one right after the other in mere seconds. The caravan abruptly halted in their tracks at the sight before them, crying out in terror and shock at the once abundant town. Black smoke snaked into the sky, leaving the late afternoon rays to turn deep golden-orange over the razed town. The lead merchant of the caravan craned his body over to a pair of mercenaries waiting by the wagon’s side and beckoned them to gather the rest of the caravan to push eastward towards the former Walled City of Nibarats. Not wanting to risk their lives in the blazed countryside town, the mercenaries only bothered with their task at hand with the caravan. Why help out a lost cause when you were going to be paid in the end by escorting their ‘bank’ to safety?

The man dressed in white, however, paid special interest of the sight before the caravan. While they had been roused in the confusion of the spectacle, he slid from the roof of the second wagon and crept away from caravan, crouching low in the tall grass of the fields nearby. None of the mercenaries, nor caravanners had seemed to notice his absence, so he continued to advance until he was close enough to the burning town to be able to smell the thick fumes of smoke and ash. More scents seemed to also flood his senses, bringing the aroma of blood, burning flesh, and death. The smells made him lick his lips excitedly as he briefly reminisced his time with his packmates in a hunt while in their Lycanth forms. How he missed those days… it didn’t matter what they hunted—animals, monsters, humans; whatever crossed their path was food to them in the harsh terrain of the glacier tundra.

“ ‘ey, did anyone see that lad dressed in white? Where did he run off to?”

“…Did he go to Ithurl? If he thinks he wants to be a savior, I’d think he’s committing suicide!”

“Just leave him. It wasn’t like he was being any use to us anyways, daydreaming and all…”

His golden eyes slowly moved to the side of his eyes as he glared back at the trio of mercenaries at the edge of the caravan. Unable to find his form hidden in the tall grass, the caravan continued on eastward, leaving him behind and the blazing town of Ithurl. “Good riddance…” he muttered lowly and shifted his eyes back to the front. Recalling what one of the mercenaries had said just moments ago, he snorted with disdain. Savior? Him? What obligation did he have to save complete strangers whom he never met? People die eventually, so why risk his life for others when there was no one there to risk their life for him? The past seven years taught him that he had to be strong in order to survive and the weak will only be picked off. He is a dominant wolf and it would do him no good if he started to grow submissive to anyone.

While he remained at his spot just a kilometer or so from the town, the terrifying shrieks of the townspeople began to die down until there was nothing but silence. Crawling ever so slightly closer, he suddenly paused when a slumped figure emerged from the flames at the exit of the town. The body was still consumed in flames as it moved and barely a feature was recognizable as it crawled on all fours like a dog over the flattened grasslands near the entrance.

“…elp…meh…hur…” the voice from the person was barely a gurgle as it continued onwards, clearly in pain.

The white garbed man only snorted at the sight of the burning being and slowly drew one of his pistols holstered against his right thigh, bringing it up in front of his face while aiming the barrel of the gun at the deteriorating figure. The man was already too weak to continue on and there was no one else here to help him. He is a lost cause, like the town behind him. So he might as well give him a quick death to end the being’s suffering while it still remained alive.

“Sorry, but there’s no other way…”

As the words left his lips, his finger tightened over the trigger and followed by the small click was the crisp ‘pop’ of his pistol, before the being fell limp on the ground. The bullet pierced straight through its head, ending its life in a mere heartbeat. No more townspeople seemed to emerge from the town, so he continued to approach forward until he saw a mysterious figure appear from the chaos unscathed and made his way towards another part at the outskirts.

Growing curious, the white garbed man followed at a distance with his pistol still in one hand to see where the dark armored man was heading, which he soon discovered to be a small village of sorts. With his acute, wolven senses, he was able to smell the strong scent of blood in the air that was carried by the wind. It seemed like misfortune had also occurred within the village as well, but he wasn’t about to rush in to see what was the cause. His stomach growled softly from the fresh scent of blood, but he quelled his urges and remained patient as he kept a wary eye on the armored man approaching the village.
_________________

[Augla]

Ithurl - the Orphan Village

The young man who had been unintentionally covered in soot was suspicious of the man who had come to town, but he wasn't going to confront him while still covered in soot. Therefore, he quickly grabbed his spare set of clothes and headed for the public shower. He quickly doused himself in water to get all the soot off of his body and threw on his extra set of clothes after drying himself off a bit. He now was wearing a green shirt, a dark gray vest and pants, and gray gloves now - an outfit that had once belonged to his housemate who had long since moved away because he was deemed too old to live in the village anymore.

During the time the young orphan was in the shower, Saleh was wreaking havoc in the tiny village, killing innocent children left and right without giving a second thought to their pain. He had been trying to make sure the children didn't give too much of a fuss before dying, but enough of them had screamed during their last throes of life to attract the attention of the young man who was now clad in green and gray. The villain stopped for a second to take a look at the carnage he had caused and couldn't help but utter an evil laugh. The young man watched Saleh as he did this, feeling an utter sense of hatred for the murderous villain.

Fortunately for the young man, the house he was right nearby belonged to a fellow hunter who had been unfortunately slain already. Looking inside, he instantly found what he was looking for resting near the sole table in the tiny house - his friend's sword. Not wasting any time, he grabbed the weapon and rushed back out of the house, noting that the purple haired man still hadn't moved and was really rubbing in the destruction. It was the perfect chance to strike.

With sword in hand, the young man gave a fierce battle cry as he ran towards Saleh with the intent of slashing the sadistic villain in half. However, his shouting had also alerted Saleh to his presence, who turned around quickly enough to sidestep the attack with ease and caused the boy to stumble in surprise as his attack missed. However, the green and gray clad young man quickly recovered and again swung at Saleh wildly. This time, the boy's attack was too unpredictable to dodge, so Saleh put his sword up to defend against the attack, clashing his sword against the boy's so that they were in a standstill. The purple haired man smiled as he looked his young opponent in the eyes past his sword.

"My, you're a tenacious little brat, aren't you?" Saleh said, not showing any signs of fatigue. "Looks like you're not going to die without a fight, I see..." The boy snarled, not fazed by Saleh's insults.

"What the hell are you doing here in this village?" He asked, a determined frown highlighting his face. Saleh chuckled loudly, his evil smile growing even larger.

"Tenacious AND thick-skulled, it seems..." He said, pushing the boy's sword off of his own. "It should be obvious, child; I'm killing all your little friends!" This proclamation only served to further increase the boy's hatred towards Saleh, and his eyes glowed with a dangerous indignation.

"Why?!?" The boy roared, leaping up into the air with the intent of striking Saleh down from above. Once again, however, Saleh pushed the boy away. "Why the hell would you attack defenseless children?!?" Saleh's sneer became even darker. He was just toying with the young man and not even flinching from his attacks.

"Well, let's see..." He said in a psychotic, bittersweet voice. "I'm doing it partially because I was ordered to..." Saleh raised his sword so that it was in front of his face. "...But I'm mostly doing this because I enjoy it~~~"

At that point, Saleh finally took to the offense, rushing at the young man before he could even react. Even though he was completely off guard, his arm came up as a reflex to try and deflect the attack, but it only caused the boy to sustain an injury to his shoulder. The boy groaned slightly in pain as Saleh's blade sliced through two layers of clothes and took a gash out of his skin. He stumbled backwards a couple of steps, trying to recover from the injury. Despite the fact that he was hurt, the look of pure hatred towards Saleh was still highlighting his expression.

"Dammit!" The boy shouted, half aimed at Saleh, half aimed at himself for not blocking the attack properly. A second later, the green and gray clad boy pointed his sword back in his opponent's direction, not giving up yet. "You MONSTER!" His voice was growing more indignant every moment. "How dare you!" Saleh still kept his cool, however.

"How dare I?" He repeated in a mocking tone. Saleh then erupted into sadistic, maniacal laughter a second later. "Like any of you worthless trash actually matter anyway!" His evil smile was quickly replaced with a determined frown. "...Now DIE!" Once again, Saleh lunged at his young opponent, this time trying to slice the boy cleanly in half. Yet again, the boy tried to defend himself, putting his sword up to block the incoming assault.

However, Saleh's attack was redirected towards the boy's exposed forearm at the last second. The blade cleanly sliced into his skin, sending blood flying everywhere as the boy screamed in immense pain, dropping his sword and falling backward onto the ground. Saleh's evil smile returned as he saw that he had disarmed the young boy.

"Heh..." He taunted sadistically. "For a worthless brat, you've sure got some fight in you!" Saleh grabbed the boy by his neck and lifted him off the ground for a couple seconds, the sadistic smile getting wider as he watched the boy struggle in his grasp. "...I'm going to enjoy killing you~~~" After saying that, he threw the injured young man down onto the ground hard, causing him to grunt in pain. The blood was still freshly running down his injured arm, and he was quickly losing a lot of blood.

"Ngh..." The poor young man grunted softly, trying without much success to hide the pain in his voice. "Dammit... I can't fight like this anymore... But I can't die, either..."

"Can't die?" Saleh asked rhetorically. "No, you ARE going to die here today..." He poked his sword into the preexisting injury on the boy's arm and ran the blade along the length of the cut slowly, as if to inflict as much agony as possible. "Of course, I'm just going to take my time killing you... Ahahahaha!" It was taking everything the boy had to keep himself from giving his tormentor the satisfaction of pain that he was looking for. He was completely determined to not let Saleh see him cry. The purple haired man quickly noticed this, and decided to add more insult to injury.

Saleh withdrew his blade from the cut on his victim's arm and swiftly kicked the boy so that he lay flat on his back. In the next second, he slowly thrust his sword into the boy's other, uninjured shoulder until his blade had completely pinned the boy to the ground through his shoulder. The boy screamed in pain at the top of his lungs for a few seconds as tears started involuntarily rolling down his face. Yet, despite all his injuries, the boy was still alive ever so barely. Such injuries as he had sustained would have killed a far weaker person a long time ago...

[Sapphie]

Saleh inhaled deeply as he drank in the boy's fear. This brat had been quite entertaining and it seemed to almost be a shame that he would soon die no differently than the ants he had squashed beneath his heels prior to their confrontation. As he breathed in the stiff breeze blowing from the direction of the main town, he also took in the smell of burning wood and flowing blood. Nerezza, it seemed, was already done with his part of the mission.

Saleh sighed. This meant the man in jet black armor would be there soon to spoil his fun, no doubt. And no sooner had he thought this, than the looming figure of Ewignacht's second in command was present on the scene. Nerezza stepped forwards and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"Having fun, are we?" Nerezza strode towards where Saleh was torturing the young man. As he drew near, he realized the boy was still alive, which surprised him immensely. "And why have you kept this one alive, might I ask?" Nerezza regarded the child with a fearsome gaze, though it was entirely concealed by the obsidian of his helm. "Did I, or did I not instruct you to leave none alive?" He continued, though in truth, he was quite impressed with the child's resilience. Though a mere civilian, this boy had endured more than many of his own underlings could tolerate.

"Hahahaha, yes, of course," Saleh cackled wickedly. "This one was entertaining though, so I felt it was only right to have a little fun with the whelp before sending him to join his friends in the underworld." Saleh smiled smugly, apparently quite proud of his handiwork.

"Hmph, If I didn't know better..." Nerezza began to respond, casting another glance at the boy and noting how agitated his sword was getting in the wounded child's presence. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that either you grossly underestimated this brat or you're an incompetent mook." Nerezza stared at Saleh, demanding an answer simply by virtue of the fear he inspired, even in this most wicked and black hearted of humans.

"I...Incompetent? Of course not!" Saleh snapped. "I'll finish the little twerp right now, just you watch!" He drew up his blade in order to end what he had began, but he was stopped in his tracks by Nerezza who walked up to him and batted the sword out of Saleh's grasp with nothing but his bare hands.

"No. I've decided I have a better use for this child." Nerezza retorted, his words absolute and clear as day. "Bind him, then gag him and blindfold him." Nerezza kneeled over the boy and with as simple a wave of his hand as he had destroyed an entire town with, the child's worst wounds healed over in a flash. "That will keep him alive, but barely. And that's just how he needs to be for what I have in mind..."

Saleh pouted. As he had known right as soon as Nerezza had arrived on the scene, his superior had completely spoiled his fun. One day, I will exact revenge on this idiot, he thought to himself all while he diligently carried out his orders to bind the young man. Upon finishing, he turned to his superior, who had quietly been watching him at work. "So I expect you wish for me to carry him, too?" Saleh quipped.

"Yes. That is what you will do," Nerezza responded bluntly. "As long as I outrank you - and understand this, I will always outrank you, I will expect no less of my servants." Nerezza spoke in a cold, harsh and humorless voice. "Especially an incompetent halfwit who can't do his job right! Now get back to work!"

[Akashic]

<Luchino Fiore ~ Outskirts of Ithurl's Orphan Village>

Once the dark armored figure disappeared into the small village just outside of the main town, the white-haired man still remained where he hid under the tall blades of grass a kilometer away. Taking in the dry air in a single sniff, he contemplated whether to venture into the village or wait it out until when things seemed to calm. There was too much death in the air and if he decided to enter without knowing what he was in for, it could cost him dearly. For a few long moments and growing a bit agitated with hiding around, he finally decided to stand over the tall grass with his pistol in one hand. Scanning the area once to make sure he was alone in the grasslands, he began to make his way around the village, stalking along its outer parameters, but not actually setting foot within. From here, he could immensely smell the thick aroma of blood and raw meat.

Passing a building, he could see the faint outlines of the small bodies littered over the streets, and unconsciously licked his lips, before shaking his head soon after. A faint growl emitted from his stomach, but he ignored it for now and continued to walk around the village. Though ever so slowly, he also began to approach cautiously closer to the small houses.

“Children…” He muttered quietly when his expressionless, golden eyes were finally able to see the sliced bodies over the streets. The moment his gaze became fixated on the red liquid that pooled underneath them, the inklings of the Wolf began to stir within him and he approached closer to the nearest body of a dead child sliced to ribbons. It seemed like the corpse wasn’t nearly close to becoming in its teens and he knelt down to examine it. The scent of the blood wafted strongly against his face and penetrated through his senses deeply; if it weren’t for the sealed-belts around his limbs, the Wolf would have taken over him completely.

Awake so soon? The white garbed man mused in his thoughts at the presence of the Wolf inside him. Of course, the Wolf had been conscious the entire time even before the massacre, but it wasn’t until the fresh scent of flesh, blood, and death that had truly caused it to become more roused. Hunger… Was the response he was receiving from the Wolf, which caused the man to frown a bit. Standing upright, he gazed down the street again, bypassing the litter of deceased children, and then to an alive, youthful figure in the distance. The youth is a male, sporting black hair and wore plated armor all over his body, along with a sword strapped against his waist.

From where the white garbed man was standing, the young man had not noticed him yet, so he took advantage of that opportunity and moved silently out of sight from the youth before he could be seen. The rather small house nearby provided sufficient cover for a moment, but soon after he continued moving on to evade the black-haired youth. Reaching once again at the far edge of the village, he continued to stalk around it in order to satisfy the Wolf’s curiosity, all the while keeping his awareness in full focus of his surroundings.

~~~~~

<Emil Castagnier ~ Nibarats>

After accompanying a small pilgrimage to the heart of the massive city of Nibarats, Emil decided it was time for him to part ways with the traveling group to find his own path to walk on. Before he had decided to journey to Nibarats, he had lived most of his quiet life in the outpost of Endern until a sudden urge within him caused him to (reluctantly) do something with his life. So from then on, he made the decision to travel around the world to find his purpose. Only armed with the long sword behind his waist and a small bag of necessities, the green-eyed youth first encountered the pilgrimage while on the boat ride to the former Walled City. At first, he didn’t bother to interact with them, but the members of the pilgrimage had decided to talk to everyone on the ship, so he had no choice but to go along with them. Though, once they arrived at Nibarats’ docks, he learned that the pilgrims were soon going to journey to Baxalaz next—which to Emil, was way too far for him to make the trip in one go. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much faith in himself.

“Wow… Nibarats is enormous…” He muttered softly, nervousness was clearly hinted in his voice as he walked around the city streets. The long cloth of the dark colored scarf wrapped around his neck swayed behind his legs as he walked and his dark colored attire made him stand out amongst the city's residents. “I wonder if there’s a map of this place… I hope I won’t get lost…”

Glancing around at the large trees surrounding the houses and the massive walls at all sides, he continued down until he reached the marketplace, hoping he would find an item shop where they would likely sell a map of all the locations and streets of the city.
_________________

[Augla]

Millad - Rose's House

The two friends had walked together for a few minutes, slowly making their way towards Rose's house. Once they arrived at the small, humble abode, Rose noticed that her mother was on the front porch, seemingly waiting for her. Her mother's shoulder length gold hair shimmered in the setting sun as she watched her daughter come into sight. Rose jogged lightly over to where her mom was standing.

"Hello, Mom." She said slowly, not knowing what to think due to her mother's confusing posture. However, she relaxed a bit as her mother's disposition turned friendly.

"Hello, Rose." Her mother said cheerily. "You're just in time for dinner. I see Thorn's with you, as well." The boy who had just been mentioned nodded his head.

"Yeah, I can't get back into my house..." He said. "One of these days, I need a house key..." Rose's mother laughed.

"Indeed you do." She said. "Why don't you ask your mother once you're back home after you're done with dinner here to look into giving you one?" Thorn sighed.

"I've already asked her..." He said defeatedly. "...Three times... She keeps promising me that she's going to make a key for me, but somehow she ALWAYS forgets... She's so scatterbrained..."

"Thorn..." Rose's mother tapped her foot. "Don't say such things about your own mother... I mean, what would you do without her?" Thorn gulped.

"I... Don't want to find out..." He said, looking pretty nervous. At that moment, the guttural roar of somebody's stomach cut everybody off. Judging by the sheepish laugh that followed, it was safe to assume that it was Thorn. Rose chuckled.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's hungry, then..." She said. "Is dinner ready yet, Mom?" Her mother smiled.

"Actually..." There was a brief, high pitched ding that cut through the air as if on cue. "...That was the timer going off. Perfect timing! I'll go get the fish out of the oven right now. Dinner shouldn't be too long after that." And with that, Rose's mother strode into her house and disappeared inside. It was just Rose and Thorn out on the porch, now. Rose sighed.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Rose spotted something brightly colored hiding in the garden. Curiosity got the best of her, and she went over to see what it was. To her surprise, it was a book. It was covered in dirt, however, and she had to brush the dirt off to see what the title of her new discovery was. Upon reading the title of the book to herself, she gasped.

"Wow!" Rose exclaimed. "Is this another one in the series?"

"Another what?" Thorn said, making his way over to where Rose was. Upon realizing what she had in her hands, however, Thorn audibly groaned. "Really? Another Tales book?"

"I guess so!" She said. "'Tales of Eternal Night', it's called... I wonder what it's about...." And with that, Rose flipped open the book to a random page, only to double take at the blank leaflets before her.

"...It's a blank book?" Thorn said. "Obviously somebody must be trying to pull a prank on you..." Rose sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so..." She admitted sadly. "I was really hoping for a good new book to read, too..." At that moment, a slight gust picked up, blowing around some of the book's pages. Rose was going to put her hand on the book to stop the pages from turning, until she realized that the wind had opened up to a page that actually had words and a black and white illustration on it. Rose gasped. Thorn blinked twice in disbelief.

"...So, there really is a story, but it seems to be only half written..." He said. Rose was smiling intensely.

"So I CAN read this book!" She said, her eyes turning to the illustration. There was a woman in a long dark cloak trimmed with ermine fur with long wavy white hair. She was making a strange hand gesture as if she was commanding something. Rose wondered who this character was. Of course, she would only find out after reading the story...

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

Ithurl - the Orphan Village

The boy was still laying on the ground, half dead and hurting all over from all the injuries Saleh had inflicted upon him. His breathing was labored, his eyesight was completely blurred, and he was completely unable to talk. It was just a matter of time before he would die in this condition. He had lost so much blood already, and three open wounds were taking their toll on his small body.

However, the boy was not thinking about his ill fate so much as he was thinking about his friends. A large number of them had been slain by Saleh, and he was incapable of getting revenge for their deaths. As one of the older orphans in town as well as being one of the few capable of wielding a weapon, the other orphans all relied on him to protect them, just as his former housemate had done before he had moved out of the tiny town. Silently, he wondered as to what his old friend was doing these days - they hadn't seen each other in such a long time, and now they were never going to see each other ever again. He wanted to cry as these thoughts went through his head, but his eyes were as dry as they were clouded.

His ears, however, were working still, so he listened to a newcomer with a deep dark voice boss Saleh around. The man's voice was so evil that it embedded a deep sense of fear in the nearly dead boy. Just then, he heard the whistling of a sword whipping through the air, followed by Saleh's voice.

"I'll finish the little twerp right now, just you watch!" The purple haired man had said. However, the next thing he heard was the sword being flung through the air and landing harmlessly to the other side of him.

"No. I've decided I have a better use for this child." The evil knight said. The words echoed through the boy's mind. What exactly was that guy planning to do with him? At that moment, he felt an intense rush of energy course through his body, which mended all his deep wounds that Saleh had inflicted as if they were just small cuts.

However, at the same time, the energy was just too much for the boy to handle in his fragile condition, and he slipped out of consciousness, completely unaware of what was going to happen to him next. Little did he know that the knight had commanded for Saleh to take measures to capture him. Within a couple of minutes, the young man was bound and completely at the mercy of the dark villain who had evil plans for him...

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

Endern - Docks

A large, multicolored ship was situated in one of the docks, attracting the attention of all passersby. Upon the deck of the ship was a single child who was wearing a large black hat with light blue feathers on it. Her name was Chat, and she was the captain of the ship she was resting on - the Van Eltia. Chat had just docked the ship here a couple of minutes ago, and was just going to enjoy the late afternoon sun a little bit before going into town to look for supplies. She just needed this time to relax, seeing as she had been cooped up inside the ship for so long. She alone sailed the mighty Van Eltia across the world. It was somewhat lonely at times, though.

Just then, a mighty gust passed over the Van Eltia, causing her hat to blow off of her head. Chat instantly shot to her feet to try and recover the hat. "No! Not my grandfather's hat!" She cried as the wind carried the large hat into town. Fortunately for her, that meant that the hat could be recovered completely dry, as she didn't want to have to fish it out from the water. Sighing, Chat started making her way through the ship to get out and try and recover her hat.

~

Nearby, a boy with dark red and white hair was jogging through an alleyway between two buildings. There was a look of panic on his face, and his eyes darted from side to side. Once he got to the end of the alleyway, he stopped to catch his breath for a few seconds before shouting a name to the sky.

"RUBIA!" He cried at the top of his lungs, silently hoping that the girl whose name he had just called would reply. However, just as he feared, there was no response. He shook his head out briskly and placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes. "Come on, Caius, keep your head on..." He quietly instructed himself. "Don't lose your cool... She HAS to still be in Endern..."

Upon opening his eyes again, Caius' mind strayed back to how he and Rubia had ended up here in the first place. They had grown up together in Oratip, but Rubia had only been able to go so far with her studies to become a priestess while in the forest city. So, dragging him along, they set out for Baxalaz, where Rubia could finally get the proper training she deserved. However, now she was missing - she had pretty much vanished before his eyes - and Caius wasn't too familiar with the port city as it was.

Just then, something black smacked Caius in the face, startling him. A second later, he removed the thing from his face, only to realize that it was a large black hat with blue feathers on it. Looking around, Caius couldn't find anybody in sight. Returning his gaze to the hat, he started to wonder who the owner of such a large and audacious hat would be. Either way, somebody was missing a hat and he had it now, so he figured the right thing to do would be to look for the hat's owner on the side while continuing to comb the city for Rubia. And upon making that decision, Caius set off jogging through the town again.
_________________

^ Screw it, I actually kinda liked this set. I'm keeping it, seeing as I'm rarely here anymore.
(Avatar by Flaming Tonfas. Signatures made by me!)
Check out my Facebook roleplay group!

[Akashic]

<Luchino Fiore ~ Ithurl’s Orphan Village>

Passing another abandoned street, the white-clad man decided to finally set foot into the village streets once again fully with his Wolf egging him onward to find the source that had created all this havoc. He didn’t particularly liked not knowing what caused these sort of things to happen, but he was pretty sure that the armored man who entered the village earlier had something to do with it. Stepping over the corpse of a child with her eyes slashed out, the white-haired man wrinkled his nose when he caught the scent of brimstone, freshly laid blood, and even a hint of fear. The Wolf stirred restlessly again within and the white-haired man quickly jogged in the direction of the smell, however, before he could turn a corner to pass a bricked house, he froze in his tracks.

Voices soon reached his ears, both belonging to males, and he peeked slowly around the side of the building. His wary, golden eyes fixed onto three figures at a clearing—one was the armored man he had seen leave the main town, while his partner was a violet haired man cloaked in blue, and just below him on the ground was a young man, apparently a civilian from the village. The latter was covered in blood and his open wounds shown that he was on his last leg of his life, but just barely. The white-haired man could easily smell the fear from the youth as the armored man spoke to his companion, and his eyes narrowed a bit as he too listened in. However that wasn’t all he smelled either.

The two, well alive pair, also stank of power and evil.

It was then the man did something to the half-dead youth. He raised an eyebrow and glanced up at the roof of the building. Deciding to get a better look at what the duo were doing to the young man, he silently hopped up onto the roof of the house before carefully leaning at the side of the chimney, kneeling down on one knee as he rested his head over his right arm which held a single pistol. He watched with unyielding eyes as the wounds were already healed from the youth and one of the men began to bound their poor victim. Unconsciously, a small sadistic grin began to form over the white-haired man's face before he even realized it.

He was silent the whole time watching them and feeling the powerful auras radiating from them, yet he did not flinch, nor tremble from their presence. Their raw power felt exactly like the Alpha of his Lycanth pack, as well as other dominant and Alpha male wolf Lycanths he had met before during his travels (some of which he discovered living for a few centuries old like his father). He could also have the title of Alpha if he so wished, having the ability to display such power called forth from his ‘unstable’ Wolf, that was able to keep him in control from cowering away. Remaining perched where he was on top of the house, he was sure that one of the men could easily spot his white clothing; yet, he decided to wait and gauge them as he let loose some of his Wolf in order for him to not display any weaknesses, nor to be intimidated by these men. He also didn't have the intention of saving the young man either, since he wasn't one of his own kind.
_________________

[Gabriel Helsing]

Ithurl~The Orphan Village

Gabriel walked around the village, looking for any possible survivors. Unfortunately, all of the children he found were either dead or close to death, with no hope of survival. The best he could do was release them from their suffering and as he did, the Spellbreaker's hatred to the ones responsible for this incident deepen further.

While walking, Gabriel suddenly noticed three, four people in the distance. Two men, one in black and one in purple, a boy lying on the ground and another man in white standing on the roof of a house. Assuming the two on the ground were the ones who caused this pointless slaughter, Gabriel walked closer to towards them.

The two men were bound to notice him, so Gabriel made sure that his sword was ready in case his suspicions were confirmed. His hatred and anger did not cloud his judgement and so he walked warily towards them in a silent manner.
_________________
At the birth of the world, Man was given a soul and with it, Clarity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Light and Darkness... the road to both Dawn and Twilight...

[Sapphie]

"Saleh, get the boy now, we have company, Nerezza growled. "A player or two, it seems. How unexpected..." Nerezza turned around and laid eyes on the man approaching them silently with sword in hand. "It seems my blade will dine well today after all, heheheh..." He gave out a low chuckle as he reached over his shoulder and gripped his hand around the hilt of his evil greatsword. Slowly and purposefully, he drew the sword and with one hand, levelled it at the newcomer.

"Looks like someone wants to die," Saleh snarled as he too laid eyes on the swordsman. "It's regretful that I have this load to carry," He continued, "I would so enjoy assisting you with the dispatch of this lowlife, after all."

"Next time Saleh." Nerezza replied. "This is my kill. Just make sure he has no chance to retrieve our quarry." Nerezza's voice cut through the air like a harsh winter wind as he studied the man's posture. He was clearly no amateur, the dark knight could tell that with ease. He could also tell that in spite of the man's experience, he was overconfident and that there was a vast gap in power between them. No matter, this challenger would a least amuse him for a little while. Finally, he called out to the stranger approaching them. "Well, well, well, seems like someone came looking for a fight..."

---~~~---~~~---

Meanwhile, deep in the slums of Nibarats, trouble was afoot. A young man hurtled through the streets, unphased by anything he ran into. This was because he was running for his life from a pack of hunting hounds that belonged to one of the gangsters that operated in the slums, a particularly nasty one in this case, named Crash Threefingers, who enjoyed turning his vicious pets on random passersby. The man had nothing to do with this gangster, he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He looked back behind him briefly as he ran, only to see the hounds were gaining on him. And in that brief moment, he tripped over a box set out in the middle of the street, which sent him tumbling to the ground face first. He scrambled at the cobbles to try and get to his feet, but he realized it was too late, so he closed his eyes and let the pain take over as his bref life flashed before his eyes. The baying hounds were but a few feet away now, ready to tear him to shreds the second they got to him.

Just then, as the man closed his eyes, seemingly having accepted his fate, a soft, determined and distinctly feminine voice intervened. "Force Field!" It called out and as the man opened his eyes in surprise, he was surrounded by a protective barrier. It was then that she made her entrance. Leaping off the roof of one of the buildings overlooking the street, a young maiden clad in silver and blue landed between the man and the hounds, a huge warscythe in her hands. Without saying another word, she assumed a casual looking fighting stance and waited for the hounds to pounce.

She didn't have to wait too long as the pack made their move on her, hoping to remove the obstacle between them and their prey. But this was no ordinary young woman and and as they pounced, she unleashed a flurry of strikes, like a whirling dervish, sending pieces of hunting hound flying all over the place. Once she had taken care of the last enemy, she bowed her head and ffered a silent prayer, before turning to the young man and offering him a hand up. "Francesca Angelou, at your service," She said as she hauled the man to his feet, her relatively petite build proving to be a poor measure of her outright srength.
_________________