Captain Green and the other guards walked through the gate and were greeted by the sight of a large number of people. Were they the people that they were going to accompany to the ruins? Before Green could ask Alice, she had began telling them of the dangers inside the ruins. As she spoke a sense of 'this will not be easy' grew inside each of the guards. But the most ominous thing was what she said before she had even begun explaining the dangers. She had said that the dangers in the ruins were nothing compared to what was on the horizon. She must be referring to Dragon's Gate, King Peter had told them that they were going to the ruins to aid in gathering information that could help stop Dragon's Gate. Unlike the kind and queen, the guards didn't know as much about the nation of Dragon's Gate, only what they had been told and what they had heard from the other guards. But they did know one thing, that they were a threat, otherwise why would they need to be stopped?
When Alice had finished speaking, Captain Green spoke, "I have a few questions. Firstly, I assume these are the people that we are accompanying, is that correct? And secondly, where are these ruins?" he said.
A screech, then the piercing gaze of some eldritch being. The one-eyed gaze of foreboding intentions.
A malefic vision of the maw of the void.
***
The sunrise had prompted the High Lord to rise from his slumber. Lord Hawthorne sluggishly put on his clothes and walked to the throne room. "Today was going to be a long day" he told himself. His night was restless as a result from the arcane exploration into the monument. Sometimes, the puzzles contained disturbing images in an attempt to deter the less steadfast. Now lord Hawthorne was one of the realm's most skilled battlemagi, so his resolve was unquestionable(which was why he was delegated to guarding the strange monolith during the war). He perfected the style of arcane-martial prowess and integrated it into his spellbreaker retainers. However, as long as the he did not allow it to corrupt him, he would be fine. Hawthorne's thoughts lingered upon the image, a grotesque mass of claws, tentacles, talons, and other beastlike features in a writhing mass. The most disturbing part of the creature was it's eye. As if it pierced into his soul and killed him from the inside-
"Lord Hawthorne!" an unknown voice spoke from the doors. Hawthorne could only look in the direction of the speaker before the dialogue continued.
"We are the scouting regiment Shadow Moon and we come here to deliver a message, one I'm sure you'll find interesting and could potentially explain some things." they continued.
"Ah, you must be the group Lysander and his men found. I hear you come bearing information? Speak quickly then." Hawthorne says in quick succession. It would appear he wants to get straight to business, avoiding formalities. If Hawthorne wanted to know about the current state of affairs badly enough to ignore his usual visitor rites, then his desire to know must be immense.
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If I do not reply to my posts, I either have no internet connection, or am busy with college work. Alternatively, I may be writing up the post now. It all depends on the situation.
Alice smiled as she looked back at the captain and responded, "Correct, and to your other question, well.... We are going to go to an area that is warmer then the area around it. The illusion that hides it should be dispelled for now, but we need to hurry, we are limited on time." She then looked forward and started to shout out orders to the other people around as they started to move forward as fast as they could.
((time skip to near their destination?))
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Clipse looked at Hawthorn and simply nodded as he looked over at Sky and held out his hand as he said, "Sky, I believe I handed you the message to hold on to." Sky nodded at she started to search to search the bags she had with her, then she started to pat her self down as she started to look nerves about something before she looked up and weakly smiled at the captain before talking, "Um, s-sir, I-I appear to be u-unable to find the m-message."
"Did you leave it with the horses?"
She looked back at him before taking off to the door. Clipse slowly shocked his head and muttered, "What is wrong with her, really? Maby they wern't joking when they said she was forgetful sometimes." He continued to wait until Sky came running back in holding the message. The captain just sighed as he took the message and started to unseal it. He glanced up before he started to read.
((just look at the message I wrote on a earlier page.))
According to what Alice had said, Captain Green was correct in asuming that the people outside were here for the expedition. She also answered the other question that Green had asked. The way to find where the ruins was to find a place that was warmer than the surrounding areas, the ruins must emit heat. Alice also said tha the illusion that hides the ruins should be dispelled for now and that they needed to hurry. Green supposed that the illusion might return and if it did then it would be much harder to find where the ruins were, hence the urgency. Alice began shouting orders and the people moving as they heard them.
"Yes, we should leave soon. When you're ready we can leave" Captain Green said.
Neither Captain Green nor the other guards knew where the ruins were. Instead they were relying on Alice and her people to know the approximate location. Hopefully they would be able to find the ruins before it was too late.
Lord Hawthorne nodded, gesturing the man to tell him the contents of the letter. As Clipse went on about an ominous message about the gates, heretics, and realms, Hawthorne couldn't help but feel threatened by it. How dare this 'gatekeeper' come into his realm and slaughter an entire city. Now they had come here, demanding obeisance and threatening death and destruction. Hawthorne had half a mind to make an example of them, but he had suppressed his anger. This was only the messenger, after all.
"You are bold to carry a threat of this magnitude to my doorstep." Hawthorne said in a grim tone.
"If you have come to ask for our obedience, you will find none here. Return to your 'gatekeeper' and tell her so." he spoke again threateningly.
"However, I do commend you for your bravery for delivering this. Have Lysander treat you a hot meal, and some beds, if you please." Hawthorne spoke, with a strange tone of admiration that is rarely heard.
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If I do not reply to my posts, I either have no internet connection, or am busy with college work. Alternatively, I may be writing up the post now. It all depends on the situation.
((sorry, had some internet problems.))
It took a while but the group eventually walked into an area that suddenly increased in temperature. They all stopped as they all looked at the building a head of them, it seemed to wave a bit until a closer inspection revealed that it wasn't the actual building, but the illusion magic that was starting to restart with the sun slowly rising. That was when Alice soon noticed something nearby, a pack of wolves stalking nearby with what seemed like runes on them. Alice made some gestures with her hands to her men to both the wolves and building.. Her men nodded in affirmative as the ones not carrying something ran forward, managing to kill the wolves silently before everyone regrouped near the door.
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Clipse looked up and just smirked before he responded, "So you will join the ranks such as the order and others, very well." He turned around and dropped the scroll turned flower onto the ground before leaving. Once out of sight the dragon flew off somewhere, though they never noticed that Sky wasn't among them;
Sky only watched as her companions left before looking back at Hawthorn and smiled as something seemed to change about her before she started to talk, "You know, I find your kingdom interesting, especially that rock or whatever you have some were. The high priestess placed me into one of our own regiments, her magic flows through all of her subjects. You all may call it corruption, but we see it as a blessing, after all, no one else controls shadow magic like we can, her magic improves us in many ways. You will be surprised at how much magic was forgotten." She continued to look up him before turning around and leaving, laughing to herself for some reason. When she reached the door though she turned back around and said cheerfully, "Its been a joy meeting you though, and before I forget, a warning. Avoid any contact with shadow blood, its a chaotic version of our order, and if you survive its influence, then may whoever you worship have mercy on whats left of your soul." She resumed her cheerful tone as she finally left, though after a while what sounded like a flute playing was heard getting ever the more quiet.
As dawn began, Captain Green and the other guards noticed the increase in temperature, indicating that they must be close to the ruins. A sense of anticipation grew inside them. Nearby was the dangerous place where King Peter and Queen Jane had ordered them to accompany Alice and her people to. Ahead was what appeared to be some sort of building, but it wasn't the actual building but some sort of illusion. This must be the illusion that Alice had said that hides the ruins. That would explain why there hadn't been any reports of this place by people in Winter's Fortress.
The guards noticed the wolves shortly after Alice did, especially after the hand gestures brought the wolves to Alice's people's attention. Strange runes could be seen on the bodies of the wolves, these were no ordinary wolves. There might be some sort of magic at play. The guards placed their hands on the hilts of their swords almost in unison. But as Alice's people made their move towards the wolves it became clear that they had that under control and the guards stood down after Captain Green gestured that they do so.
"What happened to those wolves? Why did they have runes on them?" Green asked, "Have we arrived at the ruins?"
"Hmph. Shadow magic. The forbidden school. I should have you purified." Hawthorne spoke angrily.
"I will let you return to your so-called 'gatekeeper', but know that some magics are forbidden for a reason!" he said in an argumentative tone.
The event had caused quite a stir within the citadel. Servants speculate that Lord Hawthorne can no longer manage his throne, while commoners believe that a great army will come upon Atheron and raze it to the ground. Only Hawthorne, his inner council, and his armies have faith within themselves. Undaunted by the threat of the enemy forces, Hawthorne ordered the mobilization of his armies.
"If what they said was true, then we must prepare a defense. If not, we must prepare for war." Hawthorne tells the Master of Blades((Atheronian politics will be clarified soon on the ooc))
"Summon the Master of Knowledge. I must learn what he has found about our codes from the Monolith."
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If I do not reply to my posts, I either have no internet connection, or am busy with college work. Alternatively, I may be writing up the post now. It all depends on the situation.
((I can't guarantee frequent posts, my dog has an aggressive form of cancer. Fitting that I find out about it when its raining.))
"Yes, this here is the ruins only the illusion is shifting, its good that we got here before it took full effect. And the wolves, their basically being affected by an ancient-type magic that is turning them into its guardians. They are overall more dangerous then normal ones and would've alerted the other ones if they were to see us. We're just lucky it was only wolves, there are more dangerous types but right now we should try to get in." Alice then walked over to the building, passing through the illusion and vanishing behind it as she approached the gate. More of her people also joined in as they started to push open the heavy gate. Once they finished they were looking into a vast room, the only things being a stairway leading into the deeps of the ruins and a large magical circle with runes etched around it while what seemed like a clock with the lunar cycles was slowly moving in its center. Alice's people were moving around quickly as they began to set up torches and lanterns for everyone else. Alice then walked over to the circle and stood in front of it, her head almost reaching the center of it as she started to move her hand against it. She eventually stopped and smiled as she started touching the runes in a certain order, eventually causing all of them to start glowing as lines started to form into the center, the clock stopping as it started to morph. The arms of the clock extending out as the circle changed to almost resemble a keyhole. Alice took hold of the shifted arms of the clock and started to turn it, causing what sounded like gears turning as what seemed like a glittering, red fog started to pour out from somewhere as it went outside, causing the illusions to dispel before it simply vanished. Alice just smiled as she went back outside and waved to everyone outside to come in.
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Sky simply smiled as she played her flute, the dragon circling around her as she approached to were the other two stopped. She stopped playing and looked at the captain before saying, "Good work captain, let's get back to camp and I'll be sure that you two are rewarded greatly. Who knew that people from the arts can be so good at this job." She then smirked as she continued to play, looking back at the city as what seemed to be a colorless person appearing to be a thief appeared. He appeared to be under a trance as he seemed to have jumped out of a black and white picture. He looked up at her before nodding at an unheard command and moving in an almost marionette fashion back to the city.
Captain Green listened as Alice spoke, saying that they had arrived at the ruins and just in time too. The illusion hiding the ruins had not yet fully recovered from the night when they arrived. As for the wolves, an ancient magic had affected them and changed them into the ruin's guardians. Magic such as that was unknown to the people in Winter's Fortress, not even the scholars knew of it. Alice finished speaking by saying that they were lucky that so far it was only wolves, there are in fact more types of guardians which are more dangerous than the wolves. After speaking she suggested that they should enter.
Captain Green turned to the guards, "Alright, we are entering the ruins. Be on your guard" he ordered. The guards nodded in understanding and followed Captain Green who in turn followed Alice. Soon they passd through the illusion to a gate behind it. As Alice's people pushed the gate which opened with a loud creaking sound. How long had it been since people were last inside these ruins? Was it even constructed by people or by something else?
Behind the gate was a vast room which contained a staircase and a large circle with runes etched around its circumfrence. In the circle was something that resembled a clock, only it displayed the lunar cycle as opposed to the time. Alice's people placed lights, making the room and its contents more visible. Captain Green approached the circle but didn't move past its edge. He knelt down to examine the runes for a moment before standing up again. He had seen runes before when he was training to become a frost guard, it was part of their training to learn about some magic, usually frost magic. However he could not recognise these runes, more magic he didn't recognise. It was hard to believe that this place was hidden here without being noticed for so long. He watched as Alice entered the circle and neared the centre before touching some of the runes.
Captain Green took an instinctive step backwards as Alice touched the runes which caused them to glow. The glow spreading to the rest of the runes and then forming lines in the centre. He hardly noticed that the lunar clock had stopped. He was unsure of what was happening, he had to be on his guard. He hoped that Alice knew what she was doing, and what she was doing was not, accidentally or purposefully, calling the ruin's guardians. The clock began to change, morphing and transforming. The hands of the clock extended and the clock itself started to resemble a keyhole. Alice moved the arms of the clock. Gears could be heard turning and a sparkling, red fog poured into the room. After that Alice left, Green signalling for his guards to stay put as he went after her.
Alice looked at Green and smiled, "I disabled the illusion that hides this place, though it can be turned on again, but it tends to be easier when the illusion is off due to some other effects it has due to prolong exposure. Normally intelligent beings can't be affected, but prolong exposure inside the field will start effecting them after some time. I've seen it happen before to a group of bandits who were using the entrance as a base, they were covered in the runes and moved like they were puppets. The truly scary thing was that they were embedding metal into their skins and seemed to feel no pain. Take their arms out, they'll kick, take out their legs and they'll bite you, and so on. That sir, is why I disable the illusions, so that we wont go through that horror. Now, I believe we have a ruins to explore." As she finished Alice went back inside and waited for everyone to set up their gear. When they finished she simply nodded and walked to the stairs. She started to walk down only to immediately stop when she reached the bottom, looking at what was there.
In front of her were what seemed like two people, only they were slightly transparent with a slight yellow glow to them, bringing one word to her mind, spirits. They were apparently having a conversation, a replay of what once happened here, and a sign of an anomaly in the ruins magic....
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((this is the scene Alice is watching.))
There stood three figures, all but one wearing a white cloak with blue, seemingly random lines all over it, a male and female. The third one towering over them, wearing what appeared to be a suit of armor. One of the cloaked figures then spoke, "Sire, may I ask why you, one of the seven emperors, are here, surly you have better things to do then to watch us."
"A emperor's work is never done professor. I need to ensure everything is well within these facilities, especially with your work here. You see, the others have begun to act strange, only myself and the young empress seem to be acting normally. I fear for the future, there has never been a war between the seven empires and it appears that only two of them will stand united. And to imagine, this all started after she appeared, I fear they have something to do with this. Now come, we have work to do."
"Yes sire"
They all then started to walk forward, vanishing at the door at the end of a hall as the ancient replay finished, what was once lighting the hall plunging the place into darkness as they also vanished.
Captain Green nodded, Alice had disabled the illusion hiding the ruins. She explained that this would prevent other effects of the illusion, for example she told a story of a group of bandits who used the entrance as a base. Over time the bandits became like the wolves they saw earlier, they became covered in runes. It could be assumed that they became the ruin's guardians, Alice said that they also lost the ability to feel pain. They began embedding metal in their skin. Overall it sounded quite horrific, Green suddenly became very happy that the illusion was disabled. He did not want himself, the other guards, Alice or any of her people to suffer the same fate as the bandits.
Green followed Alice back inside and regrouped with the other guards, who said that nothing had happened in the time when he was gone. It was sort of to be expected, but he couldn't be too careful. Who knew what exactly was hiding in the ruins, waiting for an opportunity to jump out and attack. He signalled for the guards to follow as he followed Alice down the stairs.
Green caught up with Alice soon after she stopped. At first he was unsure why she stopped but then he saw something strange. It was some sort of apparation. Instinctively he put his hand on the hilt of his blade but soon saw that it seemed to be harmless. He watched the vision of the three people speaking. There was one man wearing a robe, a woman and someone in a suit of armour who was taller than the other two. One of them apparently was an emperor and was being questioned about why he was there. To which he replied that his work was never done and that some of the others had started acting strangely. This made Green both curious and slightly worried as his brain recalled the story of the bandits Alice had told him. The figures spoke of a war between seven empires which apprently started after an unidentified person appeared. Green turned to Alice, "Was that some sort of ruins trickery? Or was it true?" he asked, secretly thinking that what they saw might be true. He was unsure of the visions significance though, perhaps it was a warning. "Perhaps it is a warning" he said.
((Could you possibly suggest a song that would go great for this part, basically one suited for a dungeon.))
"No, its an event that only happens in a ruins were something important happened, but I've only seen something like this once. In fact it was when I was just an apprentice and at a rather small ruins. It was strange as some kind of crystal was growing on the inside, the air around them appearing distorted before someone brought to the attention that the ancient magic itself acted corrupted in some way. It wasn't until later that we discovered that they were showing the past, the final moments before whoever built these ruins were no more. We must be careful, but these 'memories' if you wish to call them that might be of use, they can reveal more then anything else, though its still an unknown. The only major thing is telling them apart from the hostile ones. Now all we have to do is op-" Alice was starting to walk forward but stopped mid sentence when the room started to shake, causing the room to fill up in dust. It lasted for a few minuets until it finally stopped, but she dared not move until the dust started to disperse. She eventually relaxed as a gust started to blow it away, revealing the phoenix being the one who made the gust. She just smiled at until until she started to notice something different in the room, causing her smile to falter. The door now hung on its hinges, but the most major change were the red crystals with hints of black, purple, and blue in them. They seemed to have busted through the ceiling, walls, and floor, the air around them distorted. They seemed to emit a visible aurora of some kind and it appeared as if some form of magic was leaking out of them, causing the ground to mimic the same effect of water dripping into a body of water, each drop seeming to cause a different sound, as if they were attempting to form music somehow. She then looked back to the door and released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and started to move forward before what sounded like a rawer was heard behind them, right back at the entrance followed by a loud crash. She stood there shocked until she noticed one of her people running down the stairs to her. He stood at attention and said, "Ma'm, I-I'm afraid we have a p-problem."
"What sort of problem?"
"A-A strange creature appeared out of no where, a-at first we thought it was a guardian until w-we noticed something off."
"How?"
"W-well it lacked the normal marking on it a-and it didn't appear like a-any other of the n-normal guardians. I-it then t-took notice of our presence a-and collapsed the e-entrance, w-were trapped in here until we e-either find another e-exit or until were sure that the creature is no l-longer there so we can c-clear the debris."
"Ok, I think we'll be fine for the moment but tell me, what did this creature look like?"
"L-like it was m-made of some type of crystal, l-like those!" Replied the messenger as he started to point behind her. She turned around to look as he pointed to the recently grown crystals and she gulped. As she turned back around the messenger nervously saluted as he then ran back up to the steps, leaving Alice standing there to regather her composure as she started to walk over to Green. She looked at him nervously and said, "Sorry about this inconvenience, we never expected this to happen and who knows whats going to happen."
((Maybe try something from Approaching Nirvana, they have some good cinematic stuff))
Captain Green listened as Alice explained what they had just seen. The ghostly apparition that they had seen was a sort of vision from the past generated by the ruins. Alice said that they must be careful, and that these visions from the past, or memories, can be of some use. But she also explained that it might be difficult telling the memories from hostile apparitions. These ruins contained dangers, they must be careful, very very careful. After she finished explaining the memories she was about to explain they're next course of action but was stopped mid-sentence.
All of a sudden the room began to shake, causing a bit of a problem as Captain Green and the other frost guards attempted to keep their balance. The shaking only lasted a few minutes before it subsided. Fortunately for the guards, their attempts at keeping their balance were successful. But it left them confused as they tried to figure out what happened. The shaking left a lot of dust floating around in the air, some of which made it to Green's lungs causing him to cough. The dust in the air was soon blown away by a pheonix. Green coughed once more before the dust completely vacated his lungs. He was about to ask Alice what had happened when he saw her looking at something, the smile on her face faltering as she did so. Green turned his head to see what she was looking at.
Green saw that the door was now ajar, but that wasn't the only thing he saw. He saw crystals that appeared to have grown through the ceiling, floor and walls. Did they cause the shaking? Upon further inspection he noticed that there was something off about these crystals, firstly there appeared to be some sort of aura around them. It was quite a fantastical sight. Secondly there seemed to be drops of something coming from the crystals, the drops causing the ground to ripple as if it was made of water. Each drop made a different noise, together making something that sounded almost like music. The whole scene was amazing and fantastical.
A sound broke through to Green, it sounded almost like a roar followed by a crash. Soon after that one of Alice's people arrived, bringing news of a creature. The creature they described was unlike the usual guardians of the ruins, it lacked the markings that they had. The creature had caused the entrance to collapse, did it want to seal them in? The creature was described as looking like it was made of crystal, like the crystals coming out of the walls of the room. Alice then apologised, saying that they never expected this to happen, but Green was more preoccupied with what exactly happened and what it all meant.
"I'm more concerned with what happened. What was that shaking? What about these crystals and the creature? What does it all mean? If the entrance has collapsed how will we escape this place?" Green said, not for a moment seeming anyting but determined.
((My dog was put down today.:())
Alice looked at Green calmly, though it was easy to see that she was scared as well. She then sighed before responding, "I don't know, this has never happened before, all I know is that these crystals may change this place in some way. But it would seem that our only way to escape would be to find the back way in, which is deeper into the place. But I suggest we get to throne room, it'll be easier to navigate this place once we get there and we can weaken the ancient magic by taking out the relay source there, but the primary one is at the heart of this place, but it'll be safer to leave it alone for now, so that it can defend itself from these crystals. I'm not sure whats going on, but I would rather deal with the ancient defenses then whatever...These...crystals...Wait, it seems strange how these crystals show up while the land is being invaded, but that doesn't make sense. They shouldn't be affecting this place this fast unless their using something as ancient as it, unless. We need to hurry! I've heard that message and I think there is a possibility. That memory mentioned that there were people acting strangely, as if they were corrupted and those messengers mentioned something about corruption, I fear that there is a possibility that they may be the same thing. We can't stay here forever though, we should go, NOW!" She then turns around and starts heading though the now open door, her people instantly following.
((I hope that you will feel better, losing a beloved pet must be hard))
Captain Green could tell that Alice was worried, even though she appeared calm. She admitted that she didn't know what was happening with the crystals. That was new, Alice seemed to know almost everything about the ruins and its tricks. This was worrying indeed. She said that the crystals had changed this place in some way. How did rhey do that? It was unlike the magic that was known to Winter's Fortress. And now their escape route was cut off. But they were not stranded, Alice said that there might be a way deeper in the ruins. It appeared that the only way to go was onwards.
Alice said that they should go to the throne room so they could weaken the magic that protected this place. If the ruins had a throne room, would that mean that this place was a castle at one point? Did they rule the land before the nation of Winter's Fortress was founded? Alice continued, saying that there was another source of the ancient magic in the heart of this place, but said that they should leave it alone. Leave the source of magic to defend itself from the crystals. That would mean that its attention would not be solely focussed on them, hopefully. Alice said that she would rather deal with the ruin's defenses than the crystals. Perhaps because she probably knew more about the ruin's defenses than the crystals.
It was then that Alice seemed to have an idea, an idea concerning the crystals. She began speaking about the invasion from Dragon's Gate and the memory that they saw earlier. Then something about corruption, and how the corruptions from the memory and the corruption mentioned in the message may be the same thing. After that she said that they should leave now, her people following behind her.
Green turned to his guards, and signalled that they follow. He followed behind Alice, thinking about what was happening in these ruins. "Something is wrong" he muttered, "Even Alice seemed concerned about these crystals. I hope we can make it out of here alive."
((Yah, I'm no longer sure about this, so if you wish to stop then I'll understand. I am no longer sure when I have free time and had to do other things on my computer that draws away my attention. But if you wish to continue I can make time.))
((If you think that you won't have enough time, then it might be time to let this roleplay go. If you want to continue, then continue. I won't ask you to continue if you don't think that you can/want to))
When Alice had finished speaking, Captain Green spoke, "I have a few questions. Firstly, I assume these are the people that we are accompanying, is that correct? And secondly, where are these ruins?" he said.
That was what he saw that night.
A screech, then the piercing gaze of some eldritch being. The one-eyed gaze of foreboding intentions.
A malefic vision of the maw of the void.
***
The sunrise had prompted the High Lord to rise from his slumber. Lord Hawthorne sluggishly put on his clothes and walked to the throne room. "Today was going to be a long day" he told himself. His night was restless as a result from the arcane exploration into the monument. Sometimes, the puzzles contained disturbing images in an attempt to deter the less steadfast. Now lord Hawthorne was one of the realm's most skilled battlemagi, so his resolve was unquestionable(which was why he was delegated to guarding the strange monolith during the war). He perfected the style of arcane-martial prowess and integrated it into his spellbreaker retainers. However, as long as the he did not allow it to corrupt him, he would be fine. Hawthorne's thoughts lingered upon the image, a grotesque mass of claws, tentacles, talons, and other beastlike features in a writhing mass. The most disturbing part of the creature was it's eye. As if it pierced into his soul and killed him from the inside-
"Lord Hawthorne!" an unknown voice spoke from the doors. Hawthorne could only look in the direction of the speaker before the dialogue continued.
"We are the scouting regiment Shadow Moon and we come here to deliver a message, one I'm sure you'll find interesting and could potentially explain some things." they continued.
"Ah, you must be the group Lysander and his men found. I hear you come bearing information? Speak quickly then." Hawthorne says in quick succession. It would appear he wants to get straight to business, avoiding formalities. If Hawthorne wanted to know about the current state of affairs badly enough to ignore his usual visitor rites, then his desire to know must be immense.
If I do not reply to my posts, I either have no internet connection, or am busy with college work. Alternatively, I may be writing up the post now. It all depends on the situation.
((time skip to near their destination?))
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Clipse looked at Hawthorn and simply nodded as he looked over at Sky and held out his hand as he said, "Sky, I believe I handed you the message to hold on to." Sky nodded at she started to search to search the bags she had with her, then she started to pat her self down as she started to look nerves about something before she looked up and weakly smiled at the captain before talking, "Um, s-sir, I-I appear to be u-unable to find the m-message."
"Did you leave it with the horses?"
She looked back at him before taking off to the door. Clipse slowly shocked his head and muttered, "What is wrong with her, really? Maby they wern't joking when they said she was forgetful sometimes." He continued to wait until Sky came running back in holding the message. The captain just sighed as he took the message and started to unseal it. He glanced up before he started to read.
((just look at the message I wrote on a earlier page.))
"Yes, we should leave soon. When you're ready we can leave" Captain Green said.
Neither Captain Green nor the other guards knew where the ruins were. Instead they were relying on Alice and her people to know the approximate location. Hopefully they would be able to find the ruins before it was too late.
((Sure, timeskip to the ruins))
"You are bold to carry a threat of this magnitude to my doorstep." Hawthorne said in a grim tone.
"If you have come to ask for our obedience, you will find none here. Return to your 'gatekeeper' and tell her so." he spoke again threateningly.
"However, I do commend you for your bravery for delivering this. Have Lysander treat you a hot meal, and some beds, if you please." Hawthorne spoke, with a strange tone of admiration that is rarely heard.
If I do not reply to my posts, I either have no internet connection, or am busy with college work. Alternatively, I may be writing up the post now. It all depends on the situation.
It took a while but the group eventually walked into an area that suddenly increased in temperature. They all stopped as they all looked at the building a head of them, it seemed to wave a bit until a closer inspection revealed that it wasn't the actual building, but the illusion magic that was starting to restart with the sun slowly rising. That was when Alice soon noticed something nearby, a pack of wolves stalking nearby with what seemed like runes on them. Alice made some gestures with her hands to her men to both the wolves and building.. Her men nodded in affirmative as the ones not carrying something ran forward, managing to kill the wolves silently before everyone regrouped near the door.
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Clipse looked up and just smirked before he responded, "So you will join the ranks such as the order and others, very well." He turned around and dropped the scroll turned flower onto the ground before leaving. Once out of sight the dragon flew off somewhere, though they never noticed that Sky wasn't among them;
Sky only watched as her companions left before looking back at Hawthorn and smiled as something seemed to change about her before she started to talk, "You know, I find your kingdom interesting, especially that rock or whatever you have some were. The high priestess placed me into one of our own regiments, her magic flows through all of her subjects. You all may call it corruption, but we see it as a blessing, after all, no one else controls shadow magic like we can, her magic improves us in many ways. You will be surprised at how much magic was forgotten." She continued to look up him before turning around and leaving, laughing to herself for some reason. When she reached the door though she turned back around and said cheerfully, "Its been a joy meeting you though, and before I forget, a warning. Avoid any contact with shadow blood, its a chaotic version of our order, and if you survive its influence, then may whoever you worship have mercy on whats left of your soul." She resumed her cheerful tone as she finally left, though after a while what sounded like a flute playing was heard getting ever the more quiet.
The guards noticed the wolves shortly after Alice did, especially after the hand gestures brought the wolves to Alice's people's attention. Strange runes could be seen on the bodies of the wolves, these were no ordinary wolves. There might be some sort of magic at play. The guards placed their hands on the hilts of their swords almost in unison. But as Alice's people made their move towards the wolves it became clear that they had that under control and the guards stood down after Captain Green gestured that they do so.
"What happened to those wolves? Why did they have runes on them?" Green asked, "Have we arrived at the ruins?"
"I will let you return to your so-called 'gatekeeper', but know that some magics are forbidden for a reason!" he said in an argumentative tone.
The event had caused quite a stir within the citadel. Servants speculate that Lord Hawthorne can no longer manage his throne, while commoners believe that a great army will come upon Atheron and raze it to the ground. Only Hawthorne, his inner council, and his armies have faith within themselves. Undaunted by the threat of the enemy forces, Hawthorne ordered the mobilization of his armies.
"If what they said was true, then we must prepare a defense. If not, we must prepare for war." Hawthorne tells the Master of Blades((Atheronian politics will be clarified soon on the ooc))
"Summon the Master of Knowledge. I must learn what he has found about our codes from the Monolith."
If I do not reply to my posts, I either have no internet connection, or am busy with college work. Alternatively, I may be writing up the post now. It all depends on the situation.
"Yes, this here is the ruins only the illusion is shifting, its good that we got here before it took full effect. And the wolves, their basically being affected by an ancient-type magic that is turning them into its guardians. They are overall more dangerous then normal ones and would've alerted the other ones if they were to see us. We're just lucky it was only wolves, there are more dangerous types but right now we should try to get in." Alice then walked over to the building, passing through the illusion and vanishing behind it as she approached the gate. More of her people also joined in as they started to push open the heavy gate. Once they finished they were looking into a vast room, the only things being a stairway leading into the deeps of the ruins and a large magical circle with runes etched around it while what seemed like a clock with the lunar cycles was slowly moving in its center. Alice's people were moving around quickly as they began to set up torches and lanterns for everyone else. Alice then walked over to the circle and stood in front of it, her head almost reaching the center of it as she started to move her hand against it. She eventually stopped and smiled as she started touching the runes in a certain order, eventually causing all of them to start glowing as lines started to form into the center, the clock stopping as it started to morph. The arms of the clock extending out as the circle changed to almost resemble a keyhole. Alice took hold of the shifted arms of the clock and started to turn it, causing what sounded like gears turning as what seemed like a glittering, red fog started to pour out from somewhere as it went outside, causing the illusions to dispel before it simply vanished. Alice just smiled as she went back outside and waved to everyone outside to come in.
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Sky simply smiled as she played her flute, the dragon circling around her as she approached to were the other two stopped. She stopped playing and looked at the captain before saying, "Good work captain, let's get back to camp and I'll be sure that you two are rewarded greatly. Who knew that people from the arts can be so good at this job." She then smirked as she continued to play, looking back at the city as what seemed to be a colorless person appearing to be a thief appeared. He appeared to be under a trance as he seemed to have jumped out of a black and white picture. He looked up at her before nodding at an unheard command and moving in an almost marionette fashion back to the city.
Captain Green turned to the guards, "Alright, we are entering the ruins. Be on your guard" he ordered. The guards nodded in understanding and followed Captain Green who in turn followed Alice. Soon they passd through the illusion to a gate behind it. As Alice's people pushed the gate which opened with a loud creaking sound. How long had it been since people were last inside these ruins? Was it even constructed by people or by something else?
Behind the gate was a vast room which contained a staircase and a large circle with runes etched around its circumfrence. In the circle was something that resembled a clock, only it displayed the lunar cycle as opposed to the time. Alice's people placed lights, making the room and its contents more visible. Captain Green approached the circle but didn't move past its edge. He knelt down to examine the runes for a moment before standing up again. He had seen runes before when he was training to become a frost guard, it was part of their training to learn about some magic, usually frost magic. However he could not recognise these runes, more magic he didn't recognise. It was hard to believe that this place was hidden here without being noticed for so long. He watched as Alice entered the circle and neared the centre before touching some of the runes.
Captain Green took an instinctive step backwards as Alice touched the runes which caused them to glow. The glow spreading to the rest of the runes and then forming lines in the centre. He hardly noticed that the lunar clock had stopped. He was unsure of what was happening, he had to be on his guard. He hoped that Alice knew what she was doing, and what she was doing was not, accidentally or purposefully, calling the ruin's guardians. The clock began to change, morphing and transforming. The hands of the clock extended and the clock itself started to resemble a keyhole. Alice moved the arms of the clock. Gears could be heard turning and a sparkling, red fog poured into the room. After that Alice left, Green signalling for his guards to stay put as he went after her.
"What did you do?" he asked.
In front of her were what seemed like two people, only they were slightly transparent with a slight yellow glow to them, bringing one word to her mind, spirits. They were apparently having a conversation, a replay of what once happened here, and a sign of an anomaly in the ruins magic....
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((this is the scene Alice is watching.))
There stood three figures, all but one wearing a white cloak with blue, seemingly random lines all over it, a male and female. The third one towering over them, wearing what appeared to be a suit of armor. One of the cloaked figures then spoke, "Sire, may I ask why you, one of the seven emperors, are here, surly you have better things to do then to watch us."
"A emperor's work is never done professor. I need to ensure everything is well within these facilities, especially with your work here. You see, the others have begun to act strange, only myself and the young empress seem to be acting normally. I fear for the future, there has never been a war between the seven empires and it appears that only two of them will stand united. And to imagine, this all started after she appeared, I fear they have something to do with this. Now come, we have work to do."
"Yes sire"
They all then started to walk forward, vanishing at the door at the end of a hall as the ancient replay finished, what was once lighting the hall plunging the place into darkness as they also vanished.
Green followed Alice back inside and regrouped with the other guards, who said that nothing had happened in the time when he was gone. It was sort of to be expected, but he couldn't be too careful. Who knew what exactly was hiding in the ruins, waiting for an opportunity to jump out and attack. He signalled for the guards to follow as he followed Alice down the stairs.
Green caught up with Alice soon after she stopped. At first he was unsure why she stopped but then he saw something strange. It was some sort of apparation. Instinctively he put his hand on the hilt of his blade but soon saw that it seemed to be harmless. He watched the vision of the three people speaking. There was one man wearing a robe, a woman and someone in a suit of armour who was taller than the other two. One of them apparently was an emperor and was being questioned about why he was there. To which he replied that his work was never done and that some of the others had started acting strangely. This made Green both curious and slightly worried as his brain recalled the story of the bandits Alice had told him. The figures spoke of a war between seven empires which apprently started after an unidentified person appeared. Green turned to Alice, "Was that some sort of ruins trickery? Or was it true?" he asked, secretly thinking that what they saw might be true. He was unsure of the visions significance though, perhaps it was a warning. "Perhaps it is a warning" he said.
"No, its an event that only happens in a ruins were something important happened, but I've only seen something like this once. In fact it was when I was just an apprentice and at a rather small ruins. It was strange as some kind of crystal was growing on the inside, the air around them appearing distorted before someone brought to the attention that the ancient magic itself acted corrupted in some way. It wasn't until later that we discovered that they were showing the past, the final moments before whoever built these ruins were no more. We must be careful, but these 'memories' if you wish to call them that might be of use, they can reveal more then anything else, though its still an unknown. The only major thing is telling them apart from the hostile ones. Now all we have to do is op-" Alice was starting to walk forward but stopped mid sentence when the room started to shake, causing the room to fill up in dust. It lasted for a few minuets until it finally stopped, but she dared not move until the dust started to disperse. She eventually relaxed as a gust started to blow it away, revealing the phoenix being the one who made the gust. She just smiled at until until she started to notice something different in the room, causing her smile to falter. The door now hung on its hinges, but the most major change were the red crystals with hints of black, purple, and blue in them. They seemed to have busted through the ceiling, walls, and floor, the air around them distorted. They seemed to emit a visible aurora of some kind and it appeared as if some form of magic was leaking out of them, causing the ground to mimic the same effect of water dripping into a body of water, each drop seeming to cause a different sound, as if they were attempting to form music somehow. She then looked back to the door and released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and started to move forward before what sounded like a rawer was heard behind them, right back at the entrance followed by a loud crash. She stood there shocked until she noticed one of her people running down the stairs to her. He stood at attention and said, "Ma'm, I-I'm afraid we have a p-problem."
"What sort of problem?"
"A-A strange creature appeared out of no where, a-at first we thought it was a guardian until w-we noticed something off."
"How?"
"W-well it lacked the normal marking on it a-and it didn't appear like a-any other of the n-normal guardians. I-it then t-took notice of our presence a-and collapsed the e-entrance, w-were trapped in here until we e-either find another e-exit or until were sure that the creature is no l-longer there so we can c-clear the debris."
"Ok, I think we'll be fine for the moment but tell me, what did this creature look like?"
"L-like it was m-made of some type of crystal, l-like those!" Replied the messenger as he started to point behind her. She turned around to look as he pointed to the recently grown crystals and she gulped. As she turned back around the messenger nervously saluted as he then ran back up to the steps, leaving Alice standing there to regather her composure as she started to walk over to Green. She looked at him nervously and said, "Sorry about this inconvenience, we never expected this to happen and who knows whats going to happen."
Captain Green listened as Alice explained what they had just seen. The ghostly apparition that they had seen was a sort of vision from the past generated by the ruins. Alice said that they must be careful, and that these visions from the past, or memories, can be of some use. But she also explained that it might be difficult telling the memories from hostile apparitions. These ruins contained dangers, they must be careful, very very careful. After she finished explaining the memories she was about to explain they're next course of action but was stopped mid-sentence.
All of a sudden the room began to shake, causing a bit of a problem as Captain Green and the other frost guards attempted to keep their balance. The shaking only lasted a few minutes before it subsided. Fortunately for the guards, their attempts at keeping their balance were successful. But it left them confused as they tried to figure out what happened. The shaking left a lot of dust floating around in the air, some of which made it to Green's lungs causing him to cough. The dust in the air was soon blown away by a pheonix. Green coughed once more before the dust completely vacated his lungs. He was about to ask Alice what had happened when he saw her looking at something, the smile on her face faltering as she did so. Green turned his head to see what she was looking at.
Green saw that the door was now ajar, but that wasn't the only thing he saw. He saw crystals that appeared to have grown through the ceiling, floor and walls. Did they cause the shaking? Upon further inspection he noticed that there was something off about these crystals, firstly there appeared to be some sort of aura around them. It was quite a fantastical sight. Secondly there seemed to be drops of something coming from the crystals, the drops causing the ground to ripple as if it was made of water. Each drop made a different noise, together making something that sounded almost like music. The whole scene was amazing and fantastical.
A sound broke through to Green, it sounded almost like a roar followed by a crash. Soon after that one of Alice's people arrived, bringing news of a creature. The creature they described was unlike the usual guardians of the ruins, it lacked the markings that they had. The creature had caused the entrance to collapse, did it want to seal them in? The creature was described as looking like it was made of crystal, like the crystals coming out of the walls of the room. Alice then apologised, saying that they never expected this to happen, but Green was more preoccupied with what exactly happened and what it all meant.
"I'm more concerned with what happened. What was that shaking? What about these crystals and the creature? What does it all mean? If the entrance has collapsed how will we escape this place?" Green said, not for a moment seeming anyting but determined.
Alice looked at Green calmly, though it was easy to see that she was scared as well. She then sighed before responding, "I don't know, this has never happened before, all I know is that these crystals may change this place in some way. But it would seem that our only way to escape would be to find the back way in, which is deeper into the place. But I suggest we get to throne room, it'll be easier to navigate this place once we get there and we can weaken the ancient magic by taking out the relay source there, but the primary one is at the heart of this place, but it'll be safer to leave it alone for now, so that it can defend itself from these crystals. I'm not sure whats going on, but I would rather deal with the ancient defenses then whatever...These...crystals...Wait, it seems strange how these crystals show up while the land is being invaded, but that doesn't make sense. They shouldn't be affecting this place this fast unless their using something as ancient as it, unless. We need to hurry! I've heard that message and I think there is a possibility. That memory mentioned that there were people acting strangely, as if they were corrupted and those messengers mentioned something about corruption, I fear that there is a possibility that they may be the same thing. We can't stay here forever though, we should go, NOW!" She then turns around and starts heading though the now open door, her people instantly following.
Captain Green could tell that Alice was worried, even though she appeared calm. She admitted that she didn't know what was happening with the crystals. That was new, Alice seemed to know almost everything about the ruins and its tricks. This was worrying indeed. She said that the crystals had changed this place in some way. How did rhey do that? It was unlike the magic that was known to Winter's Fortress. And now their escape route was cut off. But they were not stranded, Alice said that there might be a way deeper in the ruins. It appeared that the only way to go was onwards.
Alice said that they should go to the throne room so they could weaken the magic that protected this place. If the ruins had a throne room, would that mean that this place was a castle at one point? Did they rule the land before the nation of Winter's Fortress was founded? Alice continued, saying that there was another source of the ancient magic in the heart of this place, but said that they should leave it alone. Leave the source of magic to defend itself from the crystals. That would mean that its attention would not be solely focussed on them, hopefully. Alice said that she would rather deal with the ruin's defenses than the crystals. Perhaps because she probably knew more about the ruin's defenses than the crystals.
It was then that Alice seemed to have an idea, an idea concerning the crystals. She began speaking about the invasion from Dragon's Gate and the memory that they saw earlier. Then something about corruption, and how the corruptions from the memory and the corruption mentioned in the message may be the same thing. After that she said that they should leave now, her people following behind her.
Green turned to his guards, and signalled that they follow. He followed behind Alice, thinking about what was happening in these ruins. "Something is wrong" he muttered, "Even Alice seemed concerned about these crystals. I hope we can make it out of here alive."