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Post by Maruno on Jan 21, 2007 19:11:08 GMT
It was a pleasant day, warm yet breezy. A few small clouds scattered themselves across the sky, and the hot red sun, as large as a fist at arms length, blazed continuously above.
A large expanse of land, with short green grass all over, undulated into the distance to meet with the sky. A wide and shallow valley basked peacefully in the sunlight. On one side of the valley was an army, and on the other side, a second.
The first army, a thousand strong, shifted impatiently, braying at their opponents. Swords glinted through the ranks, as did metal armour and helmets. This army fought under the control of Meynar Forlorm, a solemn middle-aged man with a determination to succeed.
The second army, two hundred strong, remained motionless, gazing vacantly at their opponents. Long wooden staffs of varying colours rested in front of the fighters, one to each, and were gripped softly by each owner. The only white staff there belonged to Gandor Leit, an elderly man with long white braided hair, who commanded this army.
The two leaders directed their attention towards the other. They were waiting for the signal. It came. The sunlight struck a reflective dish some distance away, focussing it into a narrow beam which was played across the battlefield. It fell upon a pedestal at the centre of the war, striking a small spherical crystal and splaying refractions everywhere. And just as suddenly, it stopped.
The two leaders walked towards each other, meeting at the pedestal. They both placed their left hand upon the crystal, looking into each other's eyes. The crystal and pedestal vanished, leaving their hands in midair, which then met and grasped each other. They let go and took two steps back, preparing their attack.
Meynar drew his sword and stood ready. It took a few seconds for the sunlight to charge the blade, causing it to flame.
Gandor held his staff sideways, moving his mouth in a silent chant. A long blade of blue light appeared from the top end, and as he grasped his staff towards this end, the staff shrunk until it was the length of two sword hilts. He, too, stood ready.
A thin barrier of white suddenly emerged, separating the two armies, and vanished again. The fight had begun.
The two leaders lunged at each other, thrusting and parrying alike, scratching the other's body. Each time the blades clashed, a small burst of light fell from the focal point onto the ground, where it quickly faded.
The flame surrounding Meynar’s sword eventually failed, leaving behind a blade of metal, which was quickly cleaved in two by the elder man. The two parts of the weapon fell to the ground, as did Meynar and his head and right arm. Gandor gazed across at the thousand warriors standing before him, all still motionless.
Then the supplementary battle ensued, with every man present but Gandor engaging in close combat with the other army. Men fell to the floor, either with broken staffs and bones or with smoking holes, until just three warriors of Meynar’s army remained. These three faced Gandor.
They charged at each other, exchanging blows, one, two men falling. And as the final warrior swung to decapitate the old man, the white staff swung upwards, an axe blade of light emerging. The two caught each other, and the battle ended in a draw.
Or not.
One man stood up, looking over at the mass murder site the large field had become. This man, a Chougokin Magi, was Fen Dyu Shina. As his pale green staff lay snapped at his feet, he surveyed the scene.
"Magi du fornatui," he spoke. He then picked up the two halves of his staff and walked forwards, just forwards. He had no destination.
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Fen had not changed his direction for five hours now. The sun was low in the sky behind him, casting a blood red across the land. He had reached a small forest, but he entered without hesitating. He continued on until he reached a large tree, at which he then sat against, holding his staff fragments in his hands. He looked at them without moving for ten minutes, before putting them to his side and closing his eyes.
"I need a new staff," he decided.
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 22, 2007 1:43:19 GMT
At that point, a strange character who had been travelling through the small forest walked up to him. This person, known as Ayaran Ai Rin appeared quite feminine, dressed in a long black cloak and knee-length black dress, wearing black tights, dark purple fingerless-gloves, a small bag, and boots that were clearly made for walking. Ai Rin's long brown hair parted centrally and tied up at the back with a long purple ribbon blew softly in the wind. Around Ai Rin's neck was a small blue, crystallic pendant. Ai Rin stared towards Fen with large purple eyes, while holding a large black naginata with a glistening blue blade in one hand... Needless to say, Ai Rin had suspicious written all over.
Ai Rin looked down at Fen, sitting by the tree, and said, with an almost expressionless face, in a soft, quiet voice:
"... This isn't the kind of place you would want to rest at... You should leave..."
Without saying any further, with a slight smile, Ai Rin then tried walking away...
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<< ooc: Am I doing this right? ^_^ >> << ooc: ... "Chougokin"... as in "super-alloy", or the "Chougokin Z" Mazinger Z is made of? >>
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Post by Maruno on Jan 22, 2007 14:48:47 GMT
Fen opened his eyes again at the comment, and looked toward the speaker just in time to see the person head off.
"If you're suggesting this isn't a safe place," Fen spoke after the person, "I've been in worse. But thanks for the advice all the same."
He would take this advice, though. He at least wanted to be somewhere safe. After all, with his staff broken, he was severely weakened.
<<OOC: "Chougokin"... as in "random word I thought up at the time">> <<OOC: Yep, looks good to me>>
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 25, 2007 4:43:33 GMT
Ai Rin slowly turned around and looked at Fen, wondering what kind of response he was expecting...
Ai Rin then started walking off, clearly not wanting to stay here any longer, leaving Fen behind. It was up to him to decide whether to try and follow this person or to go off by himself.
<< OOC: I leave it to you to decide what to do and where you want to go. I don't necessarily have to join your party at the very start of the story or something like that. I could always meet again at a later point now that you've encountered my character once. It's up to you which path to take. ^_^ >>
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Post by Maruno on Jan 25, 2007 20:57:55 GMT
Fen stood up slowly with a groan. His muscles ached, and his body was weary. He scooped up his staff, and proceeded to follow the stranger.
He eyed up the stranger. She - The gender was assumed, but she did look feminine - seemed to like dark colours, clad as she was in black and purple. At first glance she seemed fairly attractive.
Fen himself stood just under 6 foot tall (in Earthan units for convenience), a well-proportioned 20-ish-year-old man who exercised regularly (it was part of the Chougokin training). His longish (just longer than his eyebrows) hair was dark brown, with a slash of silver along one corner of his head from front to back. His dazzling aquamarine eyes always made him look alert, and seemed to intensify his looks. His Chougokin robes were, to say the least, worn and dirty, mostly from the battle a few hours earlier, but when new were made of artistic patches royal purple and green with a large white trim. Now they had blood and mud splattered across it, and one or two slashes (none of which had had caused more damage to Fen than he was able to mostly heal on the battlefield once the fighting had died down, fortunately).
"So do you know of a safer place?" Fen asked the person. "And for that matter, why are you here if you claim it is dangerous?"
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 26, 2007 15:29:23 GMT
"... This place is covered with a very dark aura, and there is clearly something strange about this forest... You look like a mage of some sort... I'm surprised you didn't notice..." Ai Rin said in reply, while being unimpressed with the stranger's questions.
"Once we get out of this forest it should be safer... I only came here because it seemed like a short-cut..."
Ai Rin glanced at Fen and wondered to herself what this man's intentions were... She would not let her guard down to him and persisted on keeping her distance as they walked on...
"So, why are you here, then?" Ai Rin asked the man with great suspicion.
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Post by Maruno on Jan 26, 2007 17:25:18 GMT
Fen did not notice this distance. To say he was tired would be an understatement.
"I don't really have anywhere to be anymore," replied Fen. "I am now the last of my clan, as just earlier today we fought a horrible battle against Forlorm's men, which ended in the deaths of everyone involved but me. I just chose to walk, no longer caring about my destination, nor perhaps even myself.
"I still cannot sense any aura about this place, but I am exhausted. My partner has been destroyed," he said, referring to his staff, "and frankly I am at a loss of what to do."
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 27, 2007 1:03:08 GMT
Ai Rin was at a loss for words, not knowing anything of this battle he spoke of, or of this Forlorm character, or of his clan. Ai Rin felt it might be intrusive to ask any further as the man seemed very depressed as it is.
"... If all of his clan died in battle... what happened to all the children and those that did not fight...? What must have happened to them all for him not to have anyone to return to...? What kind of clan must he be from, and why would someone want to kill them all...? I don't recognise his clothing... but I know very little about this land, or of the magic used here," Ai Rin silently thought to herself, not really knowing anything about Fen's situation.
The two of them continued to walk on. The forest seemed bigger than Ai Rin had thought, as she thought they should have reached an exit by now...
"I guess the important thing is you're alive, so you shouldn't give up living until the very end. Your fallen comrades probably wouldn't want that... What do you plan on doing now?" she said to Fen.
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Post by Maruno on Jan 27, 2007 23:38:23 GMT
Fen dropped silent as he considered this, his mind and expression delving into sorrow. The future was the one thing he had not considered in his many hours of walking. His mind had strayed to times long gone, to good friends who now lay dead in a battlefield, awaiting the Cleansing. It must have happened already, now that Fen thought about it. The War Pedestal removed all traces of a battle some time after it ended. What had remained of his dear comrades must now have already been evaporated, leaving just an endless green field.
No one knew where the War Pedestal came from, nor who built it. It was simply tradition to wage war there. If its designers had intended it for another purpose, they would have been greatly disappointed with its current use.
The future. What would it hold? Would Fen try to resurrect the teachings of the Chougokin way, to rebuild the clan? By definition, the only members of the Chougokin clan were the mages, none of whom had families or retained contact with them. It could be said that the Chougokin were a group of loners, of people who had nothing else. But the Chougokin were one big family, closer to each other than brothers. Love flowed through the clan like water, pure and neverending. Until death. To rebuild this spirit, to nurture it and watch it grow from the smallest seed, would be a fantastic thing.
Or would Fen Dyu Shina be the last of these people, and take from the world everything that was the Chougokin way? Perhaps the cost of such benevolence was the loss of it, and if so, was it too high a price to pay? To lose all that you hold dear is not something to be wished upon anyone; yet it was indeed a possibility here. Perhaps even a certainty. And having lost everything, as Fen had recently suffered, there would be nothing left to live for. Not even hope.
Love makes life enjoyable and unbearable at the same time. Perhaps the best thing for the world would be to remove the love it contained.
Fen remained silent.
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 28, 2007 1:28:57 GMT
Fen had remained slient for quite some time. Ai Rin chose not to ask any further. She had no idea what was going through his mind, what he was thinking, anything. Therefore, she couldn't say anything to him. They simply continued walking on, but as they did, Ai Rin became more concerned with something.
"... I thought we would have found the edge of the forest by now... but I don't see any sight of it..." Ai Rin spoke to Fen.
Ai Rin thought to herself that she hoped she was worrying over nothing, as the darkness in the air was not weakening, and night was quickly approaching.
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<< OOC: Can I leave it to you to decide what happens next, since this is your world and I don't know what could happen in it? Whether they reach the edge of the forest, what's on the other side of it, or what may appear in the forest etc. Maybe it would be nice if we could get into a situation or a place where another character can join in. ^_^ >>
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Post by Maruno on Jan 28, 2007 14:21:32 GMT
Long ago, it is said that a great civilisation spanned the world, spanning even across the unforgiving waters that surrounded it. These treacherous waters surrounded a continent, which comprised of several smaller countries. But it was thought that this ancient civilisation had expanded even beyond the continent everyone called the world, and had discovered what was on the other side of the sea. The people of the world now dared not challenge the sea and attempt to cross it, because such a thing was simply suicide. So everyone kept to the continent.
The continent itself contained a variety of landscapes. Towards the West there were sparse hills, and lots of rich farmland. The majority of villages were located here. South, past patches of woodland, held a water-ridden place, full of lakes and marshes. To the North, beyond a desert or two, was a huge mountain range that could be seen from almost anywhere in the world. And to the East was rocky terrain, with some towns towards the South and the marshlands where crops grew more easily.
Of course, this description was a blatant overview, as the terrain varied a lot even in each country, but as a whole this description held.
The woman's comment brought Fen back to the real world. "Perhaps it's a large forest," he replied, slightly dazed. "I don't know this place. I live (at least, I used to live) towards the East of the world, and this is more West than I've ever come before. Don't you know your way, Miss... Miss?"
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 28, 2007 22:27:17 GMT
Ai Rin had run forward, ignoring Fen. Something had caught her eye. In front of her was what appeared to be a small shrine with an inscription on it she could not read. Ai Rin had no idea what it was, but it intrigued her as a magic enthusiast.
This was a mistake, for at that instance she had let her guard down. Without Ai Rin's aura to fend it off, the darkness she was able to sense since she entered the forest grew stronger and surrounded them.
By the time Ai Rin realised this though, it was too late. They were engaged by a dangerous adversary...
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Post by Maruno on Jan 28, 2007 23:16:20 GMT
Now Fen could tell something was wrong. It was still only a vague impression, though, but it made him snap to attention.
"What is this sensation...?" he said to himself. "It feels like... I don't know."
He could feel it closing in on them. He knew this wasn't good. He looked towards the woman to see what she would do.
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Post by Mu-chan on Jan 28, 2007 23:39:36 GMT
She could see it clearly now, surrounding them. A powerful darkness trying to devour them whole. Was this some kind of trap? Was someone after Ai Rin, or was it Fen they were after? Perhaps it was just a coincidence and they both happened to walk into such a place.
Ai Rin needed time to prepare a counter-spell. This was not a weak spell, but she had some idea how to deal with it. She lowered her bag and took out a book from it. She started flicking through the pages quickly trying to find something, while using a small light she carried on her bag to see the pages as it was now quite dark.
As she did, the darkness manifested itself in the form of a pack of wolves, pitch black in colour, with glowing green eyes. They seemed ready to attack, and since Fen looked the weakest because of his current status, they looked ready to attack him first.
"Can you see those things? Keep them busy for me. I need time to break this spell..." she called to Fen, not really explaining anything to him, partly because of the situation, but also because of her personality. She returned to reading her book, keeping her naginata close. She looked ready to do something, but she needed time to prepare it.
It was up to Fen to somehow give her this time.
(There were currently eight wolves surrounding Ai Rin and Fen. As more time passes, more wolves slowly appear)
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Post by Maruno on Jan 29, 2007 0:00:43 GMT
Fen gaped at the woman, but only for a second as the first wolf lunged at him. Fen stepped back, spinning around, and swung the two halves of his staff into its head, knocking it away. At the end of the 180 degree spin he slammed a palm into the focus on the top end of his staff, causing a burst of white light to shoot forth from it and hit the ground near three more darkness wolves, sending them fleeing momentarily.
A magician's staff was comprised of two main elements: the focus, which is a fist-sized sphere that amplified magic passing through it (in Fen's case, it was dark green), and the thread or core, which passed through the length of the staff and joined with the focus to direct the magic into it to be amplified. The longer the thread, the better, since the longer the magic travelled through it the more concentrated it became.
In this case, though, the power was perhaps only doubled, since although it was a staff of high craftsmanship and technique, it was snapped, and thus the thread was all but incapable of directing the magic into the focus to be amplified. That's why Fen tried directing his magic directly into the focus, but since it was never designed for such a thing the focus had a hard time of even doubling the spell.
"Please bear in mind I can't keep this up for long!" Fen urged the woman, as he deflected another leaping darkness wolf with a light shot.
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