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Post by Maruno on Feb 13, 2007 14:26:35 GMT
"Grape?" Fen asked, puzzled. "What's wrong with gr- Oh! Wine, alcohol." He suddenly recalled his appearance. Not only was his purple and green robe in tatters and splashed with mud and blood, but it was all crumpled from having slept in it. The smell wasn't great either. Then there was his dark brown longish hair, that was tossed about wildly as though he'd just been dragged through a particularly nasty bush the wrong way (oh, how he wished that had been the case!). The slash of silver through his hair was beginning to fade; he hadn't re-dyed it in the last couple of days.
Quite simply, Fen was a mess. Not the best first impression.
He smiled awkwardly. "Yes, I can see where you'd get that impression from," he said. "No, that's not the case. I'm simply in bad wear from..." He sighed. "From a war I fought yesterday. I haven't had a chance to clean up yet. And I suppose, too, getting out of these robes might be a good idea anyway. I'm sure Forlorm's men aren't the only ones with a vendetta against the Chougokin clan, and wearing this ceremonial battle outfit I would tend to stick out."
Fen mostly expected the man to not react to the mention of the Chougokin. He thought it would be unlikely this village would have heard of them. But even if they had, they'd surely have heard nothing but a good reputation.
<OOC: Highlighting important things that are mentioned for the first time helps to point them out, but it's not vital. We should be reading this thing properly anyway.> <OOC: And your character looks great. Quite realistic as well as well-written.>>
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Post by gantz on Feb 22, 2007 12:22:14 GMT
"A war?!" of all the things to hear Riku certainly hadn't expected that. To be dragged unconcious into an inn would suggest revelry of a different kind. It made sense though, Fen's clothes certainly were... unique.
One thing troubled Riku; where were the others from this war? Was Fen's mere presence about to bring a horde of angry warriors down onto the village? "I must say you look rather..." Hmm, how to put this delicately "rather, intact. For someone who's been in a war" It looked, Riku thought, as though his fears were appropriate. This stranger, if he had been through a war, was not only strong enough to survive, but to survive with barely a scratch!
"No word of this war between your Chougokin" a strange name, thought Riku "and the army of this Forlorm has reached this village. Did your companion fight alongside you?" Damn! Riku realised before he'd even finished the sentence - he'd just given absolute proof that villagers were talking about these new arrivals.
Riku stared at Fen for what seemed like an eternity trying to figure out what his expression was. In reality it could barely have been a second but Riku learnt one important thing: Fen too seemed to be wondering if Riku would react to something. "You must understand my concern; we are a small village and if your enemies follow you to this place..." Riku chose to let this sentence hang in the air.
"Though of course, where are my manners? Do you have supplies? Is your need for employment so great because you could take nothing with you from the battlefield?" Riku was confused, was he warming to Fen or did he fear him? "Please, take a seat" Riku indicated the careworn chair on the opposite side of the old wooden table.
<OOC: hope the PM made sense. If our internet isn't back up by Saturday evening I think I may have to shoot the people who sold us it>
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Post by Maruno on Feb 22, 2007 16:20:22 GMT
"Ah, oh no," Fen replied with a smile, which was ever so slightly a weary one, despite being fully awake. "I was the only survivor of the war. Everyone else... died...
"No, you have nothing to fear from my enemies," he spoke up, having lost his demeanour for half a second. He took the seat gestured toward and relaxed into it.
"As for Rin, I met her yesterday. At least, I assume it was yesterday. I don't know how long I was out for. We were attacked by some wolves, and we helped each other out. She even healed most of my wounds, although, heh, her magic skills don't seem to be as refined as my own."
Fen breathed in deeply, now that he felt he'd adequately explained things, as if to form a break in the conversation. The place smelled a little like sawdust, mixed with the faint scent of flowers from outside. Perhaps there was some pot pourri somewhere.
"I'm looking for some money so we can pay our way. We're on some kind of quest. Ancient mystical artefact, as far as I know. Thanks for recommending this Yoyoma person, but with all respect, perhaps you have a bigger task than farmwork? You might as well make use of all of my abilities while you have the chance, you know?"
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 3, 2007 2:21:48 GMT
Before Riku had a chance to say anything in response, Ai Rin entered the building. She looked at Fen firmly, clearly displeased with something.
"Let's go," she said to him, and then pulled on Fen's arm to get him moving. Ignoring Fen's reaction, Ai Rin forced Fen out of the building, but before they left, Ai Rin took one very distrusting glance at Riku before leaving him alone.
Ai Rin looked focused on something, and a little weary. "We need to get out of this village immediately..." she quietly said to him. Ai Rin's bag was heavy. She had somehow managed to replenish her supplies and freshen-up slightly during Fen's absense. There was a small amount of blood glistening on the blade of her naginata, mostly likely not her own. Something must have happened after Fen had left her.
The villagers on the streets and peering out of windows looked towards them quite fearfully. Ai Rin tried not to notice though, and attemped to hurry up hoping Fen would co-operate.
<< OOC: There we go. Now, this means if gantz wants to rejoin in he can. ^_^ >> << OOC: I'll leave the decision here to you e.g. Fen may want to stop Ai Rin and ask her what's going on, they may leave the village before Fen asks anything, some 'trouble' may appear before them... etc >>
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Post by Maruno on Mar 3, 2007 13:41:36 GMT
Fen stumbled along after Ai Rin, forced to because she wouldn't let go of his arm. Five seconds outside the Official he got his bearings back.
"H- hey! What's going on?" he exclaimed as he hopped along to keep up with Ai Rin's pacing. "What is all this? Weren't you asleep?"
He could hear faded muttering from the impromptu crowd now, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. The two of them were certainly causing a scene in the middle of town, so it was probably that.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 4, 2007 1:50:55 GMT
"..." Ai Rin was silent.
"First we should get out of this place..." she spoke quietly to him.
There was some shouting in the distance, towards the direction of the inn Ai Rin and Fen stayed at. Five men ran towards them to block their path, armed with pitchforks and other farming equipment. They looked aggressive, quite needless to say. A few more villagers joined them.
"... The people here don't seem to like magic users," Ai Rin spoke to Fen, "I think they want to kill us." Ai Rin had a slight evil smile to her, as if she was trying to intimidate their pursuers.
It was like Riku had said, the people of this village were not comfortable with the presence of magic users in their village, especially ones that had managed to enter via 'that forest'. After word had spread around the village, a group of them had decided to act on their own to eliminate the 'evil ones', and others had joined them. Clearly they wanted to get rid of Fen and Ai Rin while they were weakened, and they didn't want to simply let them leave the village.
Ai Rin took a step back so that Fen was in front. Hopefully his friendly personality could calm them, was what Ai Rin was thinking, but since she had already been attacked at the inn, had wounded some of her attackers, and took some 'compensation' from the inn's owners for the trouble they caused her, they wouldn't be easy to convince... and of course, Ai Rin hadn't had the chance to tell Fen any of what had happened, yet. They were now quite some distance away from the Official. Ai Rin made sure though to watch her back in case of an attack from behind.
The aggressive villagers in front took a small step towards them...
<< OOC: Do whatever you want to the villagers and make up whatever dialogue you want. ^_^ >>
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Post by Maruno on Mar 4, 2007 18:49:37 GMT
Somehow things had escalated quite a lot. Fen didn't have a clue how this had happened.
"H-hey, now look," he said to the crowd as they waved their various implements of destruction at him. "What's going on?"
Various cries of "Get out of our town!" and "Evil!" and "You're dead!" waved back at him. One of the villagers even has a burning stick.
"Not all at once, please?" Fen asked. He didn't have any of the facts, so gripping onto the little things one at a time seemed like the best idea.
One of the villagers stepped forward, a stern-looking man with an equally serious chin. "You attacked our people!" he announced. "Maruko may never walk again, and poor Julie lost an eye because of you!" A small ripple of shock passed between those in the crowd who didn't yet know the details.
"Wait, wha-?"
"Surrender now, or we will kill you," said the lead villager, with the emphasis on "will".
"I'm not sure if I can trust a mob armed with weapons," Fen replied, his arms remaining by his side. Surprising as this news was, he knew better than to react to it. Such a reaction would distract him, and create openings. No, he would remain calm and collected now, and ask Ai Rin what the Zeus was going on later.
"We don't trust you either," the lead villager spoke. He was quite probably the leader of the village, the mayor or some similar position. "But there are more of us, so it's in your best interests to cooperate."
Fen considered this. Ai Rin's demeanour said she didn't want to surrender, and Fen himself wasn't too impressed by these people's behaviour. Since Ai Rin had helped him the previous day in the forest, first by telling him about the danger and then helping to fight it, and second by bringing him here to rest instead of leaving him in the forest, Fen had decided she wasn't the kind of person to purposely cause trouble. A quick and possibly flawed judgement, perhaps, but he'd made it nonetheless. He'd find out later if it was justified.
"I think we'll just leave, if it's all the same to you," he announced. A small wave of disapproving voices washed around.
"It isn't," was the mayor's reply.
"Do not provoke me, please," Fen half said, half asked. It was a plea, not a threat. "I don't wish to hurt anyone if I don't have to."
A shout came from the small crowd. "Kill them!" it was, and caused the villagers to suddenly become angrier and more energetic in their dislike for the magicians.
One of the villagers suddenly lunged forwards, waving a hoe in front of him. Inspired, the other villagers began to attack too. Negotiations had failed.
Fen clapped his hands together and crouched down onto one knee. "Keep them occupied," he told Ai Rin, before beginning to mutter words to himself.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 4, 2007 22:12:18 GMT
Ai Rin placed the blade of her naginata onto the ground in front of her and created a simple magic circle to cast another spell.
"Barrier."
The weak barrier repelled some of the villagers but was shattered quickly.
"Again?!" She thought to herself. "What the hell is going on here?"
Ai Rin slashed her long weapon at one of the attacking villagers. This didn't go down well with the crowd, but Ai Rin didn't care and put up another quick barrier instead of resorting to more offensive spells.
The crowd became more restless and angrily began throwing stones and other objects, as well as their previous attack.
Something was troubling Ai Rin. Even though she put next-to-no-effort into that spell, such weaklings shouldn't have been able to break it so easily, so she thought.
Ai Rin thought to herself as she maintained her spell, "Ever since I entered this village, my own aura has been suffering, I haven't been able to draw much mana, and I've been lacking the strength to do anything... It couldn't have been just from that spell yesterday or my lack of sleep... though that darkness still needs further investigation... and what's with these stupid villagers? Maruko? Julie? Such a lier... I doubt those were the names of those men, and those wounds couldn't have done any of that anyway... something's going on here... heh, but what's more interesting right now, is him..." She looked over at Fen, eagerly waiting to see what he does next.
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Post by Maruno on Mar 4, 2007 22:51:19 GMT
<OOC: Just trying to go with what I can figure out here. Didn't intend for the villagers to be exaggerating/lying >> Fen finished muttering, parted his hands and stood up. He darted towards the nearest villager, blocked the handle of the rake he was swinging with his forearm, and pushed his palm lightly into his face. The villager immediately became limp and fell to the ground. Fen moved on to the next villager. Once Fen had felled a few of the villagers, the others stopped attacking and withdrew a few steps, muttering amongst themselves about what they had seen the scruffy magician do. "They're just unconscious," Fen replied. "They should wake up in about an hour, maybe a little longer. I'll ask you again to let us go." More mumbling, and a voice called up. "Why did you attack us?" it asked. The crowd fell silent, waiting to hear the answer. "Well, it certainly wasn't me," Fen replied. "I was down at the Official, finding out a few things from Riku. Rin was asleep. Couldn't it have been someone else?" "There's been no one else here for months," the mayor said, returning to the front of the conversation. "Don't deny it; it was obviously you." More murmurs from the crowd of general agreement. A louder "ah!" from somewhere to the back made everyone silent. Another voice could be heard asking, "what?", to which there was no answer. Everyone was staring at that person. "No, come on, what was it?" the second voice asked. "Well, umm..." An embarrassed silence. Fen took the opportunity of the pause in the events to turn to look at Ai Rin. "What happened?" he asked. He knew he was innocent, and although he trusted Ai Rin he knew he could have misjudged her character. For all he knew, she really could have attacked those people that brutally.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 5, 2007 0:07:50 GMT
Ai Rin's eyes were lit up as she examined Fen's attack in her mind.
She analysed it again and again in her mind, trying to work out how he did it and if she could adapt it to something she could do.
She was so excited with seeing such strange magic being performed, she forgot what was going on. Fen's question broke her out of her trance, and she jolted to look upwards at Fen.
"..." she quickly darted her eyes away from Fen. Slightly embarrassed, she spoke uncomfortably and quietly to Fen.
"Well... after you left, I was planning on going to sleep, but then I decided to head to the washrooms to freshen up first... so I could sleep better. While I was freshening up, I was attacked by two large men that came at me with some weapons. I think they were villagers. I fended them off with my naginata, so it's a good thing I took it with me... I hit them with an ice spell to stop them from attacking me. They're probably still encased in ice, but they'll still be alive since it's a low level magical-ice spell, and the spell will wear off soon... ... Nn... then another man came running at me with a weapon as I left the room, so I took care of him with the same spell... though I tried to stop him with a simple barrier spell first to question him, but he broke through my spell... somehow...
"I decided it wasn't safe to stay there any longer so I went to get my belongings to leave. In my room, the inn-keeper's wife tried to attack me from behind with a letter-opener... so I hit her with the blade of my weapon... but I didn't break her legs or blind her! It shouldn't have been fatal... and then I froze her, too," Ai Rin had raised her voice slightly, but then went very quiet for the next bit. "... Obviously, I wasn't pleased... they were all yelling stuff about me being evil, and that it was all the magic users' fault... whatever 'it' was... The inn-keeper held a knife towards me, but was too scared to come any closer and just started yelling instead. I told him his wife wasn't dead, and that the spell would wear off soon, but that he should get someone to look at her wounds when the spell wears off. Some more people started approaching, so I decided to get out quickly and blocked the stairs behind me with a barrier of ice. I took some money and food with me before I left the inn... as compensation for what happened... ... I then went to find you..."
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Post by Maruno on Mar 5, 2007 16:26:58 GMT
Fen listened to all this patiently, as did most of the crowd, because they didn't seem to have anything else to do. You could hear them straining to hear what Ai Rin was saying.
Once Ai Rin finished talking, Fen nodded twice, and thought to himself.
Fen trusted Ai Rin enough to accept that what she had just said was true. This left just three possibilities: that the villagers were lying, in which case he didn't want to remain here for longer than necessary; that Ai Rin's attackers had been attacked by an unknown assailant pretending to be either one or both of the two; or that there was simply something strange about this place and its people.
The third option wasn't implausible. Ai Rin had just said, the villagers managed to break through her magical shield. "Barrier" was one of the more common types of defence, although Fen hadn't used it in quite a long time, having since moved on to use a stronger wind-type barrier spell as standard. Even so, he knew it could withstand a physical onslaught from most people. So why it wasn't as effective here was puzzling.
He also noted that the crowd of people was just a crowd. That is, they weren't a mob. If they were, they'd still be attacking. They obviously weren't used to this kind of thing, nor particularly wanted it to happen. Obviously there was some unrest and anger, but it was more out of need to blame someone than a specific hatred. They didn't seem to be hiding anything, a part of a huge conspiracy. So the first option, that the villagers were lying, looked unlikely.
That left...
"Are you sure there's no one else here?" Fen asked. "Or perhaps one of your villagers attacked those people? I don't know why; it's just a question."
"That's very unlikely," the mayor replied. "Don't you think we would have noticed a stranger to these parts? And we all know each other here, so we'd know if it was one of us. Which it wasn't."
"Hey!" came a call from the back of the crowd. "What about the person Tarreth saw the other day?"
"What person?" Fen asked before anyone else could.
"He says he saw a figure standing on Yeoman's barn three days ago. Just for a second, though; it disappeared."
"Is this true, Tarreth?" the mayor asked back. He received an answer of, "umm... ys".
"He swears he saw it," the voice from the crowd said. "Didn't see any kind of detail, but he doesn't think it looked like those two. Something in the posture, apparently."
"I see." The mayor turned back to face Fen, and "hmm"d.
"Sounds like a stranger to me," Fen said. "Perhaps this person is the one who hurt those others. Rin says she didn't."
"But why would someone come here and then hide from us?" asked the mayor.
"I have no idea," Fen said. "There's probably a hundred reasons. But the point is, there appears to be some stranger around here attacking your people."
Ripples of anxiety spread through the crowd.
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 5, 2007 20:36:15 GMT
"..." Ai Rin didn't have anything to say. She thought if she tried to add anything, it would just make matters worse, so she would stay quiet for now.
But, she did think to herself that she couldn't trust these villagers. It was definitely a planned attack against her, and they were definitely trying to kill her. That was what she firmly believed.
Ai Rin felt slightly faint. She wanted to go somewhere she could sit down, rest, and think properly about everything that had happened so far.
<< OOC: I would say a wind elemental shield was a more specialist technique as it would have lots of disadvantages e.g. it would be bad to cast in an enclosed space or against certain opponents, and could work both ways. Ai Rin's barrier's stronger, hidden form is much more powerful than the one she used earlier... but let's just say Fen doesn't necessarily know of such spells... ^_^ >> << OOC: I suggest if they do go somewhere else, they don't go back to the inn from before. ^__^ Maybe the mayor will want to question them some more and take them to his place, where they'll have a chance to think things through properly etc... >>
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Post by Maruno on Mar 5, 2007 23:27:15 GMT
"Look, anyway, you want to let us go?" Fen said. "You should probably look for that intruder of yours. It seems you don't like us anyway, so we'll be on our way."
"You're not going anywhere," the mayor replied. "You're staying until we find out what's been going on."
"Then let me repeat myself. We're leaving. No discussion." Fen stepped forward. As he did so his hand started tingling. His psyche-type spell that gathered specially-aligned mana into his hand that made abyone else he touched fall asleep, had worn off. Strange. Usually it lasted longer. Perhaps there was something about this place after all, something that seemed to weaken magic.
"If anyone wants to oppose us, they should think about the consequences first," he warned the crowd. Getting the picture, the crowd backed off and parted to make a path.
Fen looked back at Ai Rin, and took one of her hands in his, before guiding her slowly through the crowd and away from the people. Behind them, the crowd closed back together and hushed voices chattered away as the village decided what to do.
Come on, you," Fen said to Ai Rin. "It's best not to hang around this place."
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Post by Mu-chan on Mar 6, 2007 0:02:39 GMT
Ai Rin wasn't pleased he grabbed her hand like that, but decided not to say anything. She was feeling faint as it was.
"... So, where are we going?" she asked.
Ai Rin was struggling to move at Fen's pace.
<< OOC: I couldn't think of anything else to say in this situation... ^_^ >>
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Post by Maruno on Mar 7, 2007 0:13:45 GMT
Fen looked back at Ai Rin, and took one of her hands in his, before guiding her slowly through the crowd and away from the people. Ai Rin was struggling to move at Fen's pace. "I just said, we're leaving," Fen replied. "I don't know where. But these people attacked you, so it'll be better if we don't stay here." From behind, there was a shout as the major managed to call the crowd to an order and demanded that Fen and Ai Rin were arrested. Fen looked back to see the crowd not move. Even if they weren't convinced by Fen's words, they certainly knew he was not someone to be messed with. Best just to let them go, they thought. If it was their fault, they wouldn't be around any more, so that was good news. The two of them walked along towards the end of town and one of the roads that led elsewhere.
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