Fantasy CLOSED The Saga of the Ryujin

Kaynus Allbright IC:
~Training Zone, Athas~

Kaynus stared at the elder as he finished talking with Anaxagore and then finally began moving toward him. Zalzabar even had the nerve to laugh at his anger. Laugh!

A vein twitched somewhere on his forehead as he stared at the man.

“My boy, this is no farce, you seem rather unused to having to control your aura at all. I feel it so strongly right now, if it was not for my lovely little cage, you’ll probably tell every mage and ryujin in Regnum where we are right now.”

Kaynus just sniffed in irritation fashion as the man approached him further, tossing him a new stone as he did so. Despite his extreme frustration, he caught it in midair, though his gaze didn’t leave him.

“Tch.”

“You are strong Kaynus, but that strength is useless if you have no control.”

“Strength is never useless,” he retorted.

Zalzabar seemed to allow this statement to just pass ignored, likely knowing there was no point pressing it at this time. Stopping a couple feet away from him, he began to instruct him.

“Take a moment and breathe. Focus on the stone again, but instead of trying to flood it with power, as you have been doing, try and let it out….well essentially nothing. The strain comes not from releasing the energy, but from letting only the smallest fragment out.”

His eyebrow arched. Let out nearly none? How would that achieve it? He didn’t get the concept.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

Zalzabar headed off toward Esenma and Ne’tar. Kaynus watched him walk off, still staring hard, before glancing over to the other two in his group. They seemed to just roll with what the elder had said, and indeed, had been making more progress than him. Already they were onto two stones…

“Fine,” he grumbled and clutched tightly onto the new stone while taking in a deep breath. He did it a second time. Then a third. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Feeling a little better, he spread his legs out a bit and tried to re-center himself. Holding the palm up where he could look at it, in front of him. He felt his aura again, but this time tried to do as instructed. Indeed, one of the problems he first faced this time was his aura itself.

Letting it out…Kaynus almost always just had it out. So to essentially put it away was the first problem. It took some time, but he did manage to accomplish this without too much difficulty. Honestly, though it was such a subtle thing and not one that physically interacted with the world, he had grown so accustomed to the feeling of it…it was like a second skin that was always about him. To have it not readily on display made him feel strange. Odd. Almost dizzy.

Naked.

Closing his eyes now, trying to put such thoughts away, he just gave another huff and focused on the next step. Ignore how you feel and just let out a tiny bit…

WHUOOO!!!!

A mental sound, more imagined by him alone rather than heard outwardly. But nevertheless, it helped him gauge how his aura came out.

Kaynus gritted his teeth. Dammit. Without even meaning to, he had let it all out at once. Slowly, he was able to ‘grasp’ his aura and force it away again. There was that naked feeling once more. That sense of self not being self. A sense of something simply being off.

It was almost making him nauseous due to the sheer unfamiliarity.

Letting out a breath, he tried letting out a little yet again. Directing all his will toward that stupid little rock in his hand. His face began to redden again, his legs shake, sweat beading down his cheeks once more. How was this so difficult!?

It was like a peculiar version of trying to allow just a bit of water through a strainer into a drinking cup, but the source you were pouring from was a whole river! How was it possible to hold back all of that aura! All of that which made him, him?

In the back of his mind, he could almost hear the roar of his own dragon form raging at him in protest, and then…

WHUOOO!!!!!!

Dammit! All of it was out again! Breathing heavily, he squashed it back down and inside himself once more. Like corralling horses into a stable that really didn’t want to be inside. But he accomplished that first feat a little faster this time.

Ok. Ok. Here we go. This time. This time for sure!

Out came the aura. Toward the rock! The Keening Stone began to shake, to vibrate…to…

Whuooo!!

Too much again! It wasn’t all of it this time though. Progress at the very least. Taking another, very large, deep breath as if he was about to go underwater…Kaynus Allbright tried yet again.

Whuoo.

Kaynus’ eyes furrowed in agitation. Still too much! Getting closer though, he thought he heard a faint sound. Just a bit less and then…then keep it fully directed it toward the stone. Couldn’t forget that part either.

Opening his eyes to glare at the rock, he attempted again. And again. And again.

His legs threatened to give out, his heart was hammering, a slight headache forming. His sweat poured down to coat the snow at his feet.

But at last….the stone sang. Loud and true, crystal clear and unmistakable.

Kaynus grinned triumphantly as if he just passed a trial that had meant to be impossible.

“HA! Finally! Zalzabar!” he barked out as if he had been the ‘winner’ the whole time, “Throw me the second rock!”

Yes…Yes, he had the hang of this now! This had only been the beginning and a slight mistep. But now! Now he would beat the others to the finish line! Whatever that was.

Little did he realize that it had taken him another full hour to get the first Keening Stone to respond. But no matter, Kaynus Allbright would master this exercise!

Make no mistake.

Tag: Zalzabar, Anaxagore, & Delsanra @Shadowsun @greyjedi125 @Ktala

 

IC: Anaxagore
Training Day, The Second Stone

He hadn’t opened his eyes as he sat, but remained at peace as he was, though he did listen to the words directed at him. Without looking, he received the second stone from Lord Elder Zalzabar.

He smiled softly as the Great One gifted him with a congratulatory gesture upon his back. This was actually, encouraging.

For Anaxagore there was no ‘taking a rest’. He was secretly a perfectionist. He would gain the control necessary for their mission to move forward. That was his sole focus at the moment.

The warrior’s eyes remained closed, the one stone still keening. Methodically, he removed his boots with one hand as he held the second stone in his hand, which was still silent. It was with preternatural dexterity that he picked up the first stone from the folds of his knee with the toes of his opposite leg; even as he rolled forward and smoothly transitioned into a one-handed handstand.

The adept ryujin palmed the ground with his left arm which acted as support, lifting his core upward. His right arm was extended to his side, parallel to the ground, palm up, with the first keening stone emitting the first note. His legs were split apart as they pointed skyward slightly off-center, yet at a 90 degree angle from each other. His raven hair spilled unto the ground like a dark silken curtain. The second stone was held in his left foot, diagonally opposite his right arm.

There was symmetry here, balance, concordance, harmony. Anaxagore controlled his breathing, emptied his mind of all other concerns and focused solely on harmonizing both stones.

For a longtime, no other sound joined the first stone. Sweat began to pour down the adept ryujin’s forehead, as droplets began to dot the snow below him, yet his expression remained placid and calm.

Slowly, he began to move again. First, he tucked the first stone under his chin, then changed arms. His feet met each other, forming a diamond shape for a mere moment as the second stone changed feet, before silence reigned again.

Night chases Day and Day chases Night, as the Sun and Moon dance in perfect synchronicity. Both push and pull, yet work together, being both different and the same. One voice begins, then is joined by another, both merging to become more than they were before. Two became one and create something new. Solo, Duo, Harmony, Accord.

A soft and subdued pulse emanated from the ryujin as a low and gentle hum began to grow ever so subtly, moment by moment, growing and harmonizing; the second stone to the first. It was almost as if the second stone had awoken. Anaxagore’s mind was focused past any discomfort. His body had adjusted and regulated to accommodate for the necessary flow of internal energy. He was not sure if he had ever been this deep before, but this was no time to wonder on what wasn’t, but to wonder on what was.

Indeed. By the Three!



Tag: @Shadowsun ( Others )

 

Delsanra Taenya Helestina
Training in the small

Kaynus Allbright gave a shout of anger, spun on his heel with the snow twisting underfoot, and hurled the stupid rock off into the distance. It disappeared into the great white around them as he held his pose, his right arm dangling after swinging through the throw and the ryujin just stared after it. His chest heaving. "What farce is this, Zalzabar!?”

Delsanra heard the outburst, but she did not look over. She was already quieting her mind. It was an interesting sensation when she made the stone keen. It was a mixture of what she felt when she concentrated on some illusion spells. But... It was kind of like if you were to imagine threading yourself thru an embroidery needle. From something large, into a small opening, you have to make yourself smaller. In this case, your astral self. As Delsanra pondered over that thought, Zalzabar came back over, crouching down as he passed her another stone. Another stone!! The look on his face made her wonder, as he spoke.

"Very nice my dear, very nice indeed. Take a rest, but when your ready try and keen these two stones at the same time. It might take you.... quite some time. And don't worry if you need to just keep practicing with just the one." He smiled as he said this, and Delsanra had a sneaky feeling that there was more going on. But she accepted the second stone with a nod, giving her own smile, as she now stared at the two stones in her hands. Delsanra watched Zalzabar walk away towards Anaxagore and then, HIM, speaking to them as well.

Delsanra stared at the two stones in her hands for a moment. She concentrated for a moment, and then gently tossed one stone in the air. It froze for a few seconds, and then started to rotate slowly in the air. She kept her eyes open, as she slowly exhaled, as she did in some meditations. She concentrated on the stone, imagining that she was splitting herself to even smaller, as she had done before. She lost track of time, of other events going on around her. Her entire being was focused on the stone.

This time, it did not take quite so long, before the stone started to keen again in its distinctive sounds. Delsanra puffed out a bit of air, pursing her lips. She then gracefully stood up, feeling both stones in her hand. She walked around a bit, noticing how she felt, after the second trial. She then looked at the two stones in her hand. Two, hmmm?

Delsana stretched, this time opting to stand. She tossed both stones into the air, and they began to slowly rotate in place. She gave a slight gesture, as she began to focus once more on her task. If she thought the first one was difficult, then the use of two stones was positively exhausting. She was not sure for how long she stood there, seeming to stare off into the distance. She just imagined her astral self getting smaller and smaller, a speck in the ways of things.

A what felt like a very long time indeed, she heard the keening of the stones. This time, from both stones. Delsanra exhaled sharply as she let the stones fall into her hand. She closed her eyes, searching, feeling her body's responses to the exercise. At this rate, she would be ready for lunch soon.


TAG: @Shadowsun , @Darth_Elu, @greyjedi125

 

OOC: Sorry for the delay!

Cretaus IC:
~Rocks and Schooling…What kind of adventure is this…~

<A few moments previous>

Cretaus watched and listened as Zalzabar lauded Taella’s work with the Nature Stone. Something he agreed with. Still, what he said was interesting.

“Excellent and so pretty too! You have quite a potent magic, no surprise for a wood elf!”

Right. Different types of elves. Now that he thought about it, she and Dominus for example, were both quite clearly elves yet different looking. Were there names for different looking humans, he wondered? An idle thought and not one he pondered much longer as the Elder turned to look at him, explaining what happened with Taella.

“Because the stone changed shape, it means that Taella has a manipulation arch-nature, and by the looks of things either tree-singing or some kind of communication or manipulation of animals.”

Cretaus blinked and looked at Taella while in the act of receiving the Nature Stone himself. She could talk to animals and control them? That was amazing! He definitely needed to learn that, that’d be so useful…Tree-singing?

Um. Needed more explanation. But being magic, was probably cool too.

<Back to present>

Zalzabar had started laughing at him. Laughing! He didn’t blame him, he’d probably laugh too at his stupid self. While his face remained red, Cretaus couldn’t help but let his gaze drop to the ground.

“Oh my boy, you remind me of my youngest son!”

Wonder how many kids he had.

“Don’t worry, these things often take time, I expect you’ve never even seen magic before today. No worries, you can keep trying later, this isn’t particularly pressing; more for my own curiosity.”

Cretaus let Zalzabar take the stone back without resistance, his shame going with it, but at least he felt slightly better from the encouragement. Perhaps the man hadn’t been laughing at him after all? Or maybe felt bad about it at least.

“I’ve seen magic before all this,” he responded quietly. “But only a few times.”

And nothing to the scale of what he’d witnessed since arriving here. Indeed, it was because of magic coincidentally, that he even could make the trip. It was the magic of a dark mage (a woman if he remembered right…it was pretty hazy) that killed the knight looking man who originally had Zalzabar’s letter. It was from that corpse that he retrieved it and the prospect of a new life.

Before he could dwell further on his personal past, Zalzabar ironically brought up their new subject of training.

“Now, we have something far, far, far, faaaaaaar more important to go over. HISTORY!!!”

Cretaus had been looking with some form of interest when the book he had saved was being pulled out, but then the look in his eyes dimmed. History? What did that matter? It was in the past hence the term. Even the future didn’t matter, not fully, cause it didn’t really exist. All that mattered was now. Not focusing on the present killed you.

“Yes, yes, I know it isn’t flashy and ‘cool’ like combat or magic of whatever they’re doing,” Cretaus looked where Zalzabar pointed and raised his eyebrows. What were they doing over there?

“But it will be crucial in finding the three dragon weapons and dealing with the numerous people we are bound to come across.”

“How?” Cretaus asked right away. Honestly, he could understand how it would help with the weapons (and was annoyed that history suddenly did have a reason to be learned), but how would it help with people in the present? That confounded him.

“Anyway, turn your textbooks to page one….oh right, we don’t have any textbooks…Ah no matter we’ll do this the olde fashioned way!!!”

For a moment there, Cretaus looked like he had seen a ghost. Or some other supernatural entity of horror. But slowly, feeling returned to his suddenly pale face. A danger narrowly avoided!

He saw the snow chairs being formed, and having used one before already, allowed himself to calmly settle down on one without any hesitation.

“Alright, you ready to begin?”

“I guess,” muttered Cretaus who glanced toward Taella.

It would appear she remained standing and was staring off in the direction of where Anaxagore, Kaynus, and Delsanra were undergoing some kind of training. Obviously the elf was already detaching herself from the topic. History was not Taella’s thing.

Noted.

For…reasons.

Tag: Zalzabar & Taella @Shadowsun @Kurisan

 

Training Day
Part III​

Zalzabar one returned to the group looking over each of them, he sat cross legged hovering in the air supported by tendrils of lightning, his eyes closed. His mind cast outward taking in all the sensations. He could hear the keening stones begin to whine, the aura flowing into them, exciting them. He could smell the old pages of his journal as his clone read from it. He could taste the sweat protruding from Dominus’s forehead as he went in for his next strike.

Slowly they would get stronger, wiser, and faster. He knew the crimson knights were only the beginning, and thankful for the fact only half of them had decided to show up, their arrogance it would be their undoing.

He opened his eyes as Kaynus called out to him.

“HA! Finally! Zalzabar! Throw me the second rock!”

Zalzabar one reached into the pouch, taking out another stone and tossing it to Kaynus. He would have overheard the instructions earlier that he had given to the two other ryujin. He closed his eyes once more as the hours passed, sensing, and feeling his three students’ aura as they struggled to attune it to the stones.

Around noon he reopened his eyes and began to stroll back to the ice structure, resuming to cook some more boar meat. He waddled back outside; his signature smile plastered over his face.

“Seems I forgot I carry seasoning with me” he said with a laugh, a small indication that it would not taste as awful as before. “The others will eat later, but time for a lunch break!” He said waiving his hand around. As he offered a platter with cooked boar meat atop of it.

As they began to eat, Zalzabar one indicating for them to sit around in a circle, although he had a feeling not all of them would sit.

“Alrighty, excellent progress all of your aura control is a rather massive pain. Keep in mind this is just the beginning, we are only going to go over how to conceal yourself, takes quite some time for full aura control, even I still have things left to learn.” He took a big bite of boar meat, chewing it before speaking again.

“Now three keening stones at the same time, yes three is a rather difficult task. Took myself a couple days before I could do it consistently.” He waffled down the last part of the boar meat.

“Something rather special happens when three keening stones whine in unison. Probably best if I just show you.”

Zalzabar stood holding three stones out in his right palm, they began to float in front of him, his hands outstretched as he focused on the stones. About a minute went by the three stones began to the same high-pitched noise, and then after a moment they began to sing. A slow, somber song.

​

Nine hundred years
You were so bright
Champion of Zafir
Father
Husband
Protector
Now you fade
A shadow of your former self
Your children scattered
Consumed by themselves
Knowing only a father of nothing
Cold from your failings
Protector of All
Protector of None
Your sins laid bare
One final quest
One final chance
To redeem
To make right what you have wronged. ​

The three stones fell to the ground, Zalzabar dropped to the ground on one knee, drenched in sweat, his face red not only from the sheer intensity of the task but also from deep embarrassment, he had not expected the stones to sing about that. For a brief moment the jolly mask Zalzabar had constructed was broken, his face on the verge of him breaking down, the memories flashing back of last night’s events.

He regained his composure, although still breathing heavily, as he looked up at the three ryujin.

“Well…that’s… that’s the idea anyway. I will be very shocked if you are able to make all three keen today but nonetheless still try. Although I expect you are all quite tired so feel free to rest for some time if you need to” He passed out the three stones giving one to each of them as he sat back down in the snow to catch his breath.

TAG: @Darth_Elu (Kaynus) @greyjedi125 @galactic-vagabond422

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Esenma clapped her hands together very excitedly as she watched Ne’tar perform the test of breath.

She began to open her mouth to speak before Zalzy wandered over to interrupt. He looked over to her, conveying in a look what need to be done.

“Yes, yes, I know, now SHOO!” she said waving small jets of air at him to get rid of him in a playful manner.

“Now, dear Ne’tar that same emotion you felt, you need to use that to transform in your dragon form. Take what it was you were feeling and imagine it, the first few times of transforming in a dragon come from need not desire. Part of the reason so many little newborns don’t get much stronger.”

She gave another smile, although the same serious glint could be seen in her eye.

“Might take you some time to focus that emotion, seems dear Dominus was able to press the right buttons earlier for you to transform. Now, now anyway... go ahead Ne’tar”

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @The Jedi in the Pumas (to observe)

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Zalzabar two flicked through his journal, paying little attention to his two uninterested students. Once he had found his place, mumbling to himself as he did so, he looked up. Taella, was looking off to the three ryujin training with Zalzabar one and Cretaus in turn was looking at Taella.

Oh, dear he thought to himself. They might not realize it but there was a reason he had picked these two to undergo this little lesson. Zalzabar had peered into Cretaus's mind, briefly, but enough to know he knew little of the world. And as for Taella…well her attitude towards Ne’tar was disconcerting to say the least. The wood elves are a proud people, but once they got to Xan if she still had that attitude about orcs it would make their journey much more difficult.

The lightning elder cleared his throat trying politely to get their attention.

“Perhaps ‘history’ is a bit of a misnomer, as much of what we will be discussing concerns current events, but history is important for the context’”

He looked back down at his Journal and continued speaking.

“Now I’m going to just go overly briefly the couple Kingdoms that we will be travelling through and how those Kingdoms interact with one another, that includes Ziapoah.” He stated, giving a look to Taella.

“Let us start with Athas, oh and feel free to interrupt me at any point if you have questions…” Now eyeing Cretaus as he continued.

“The Kingdom of Athas was founded five hundred years ago or so, by King Athas the first, before that point Athas was comprised of a number of city states, each called a Polis, which just means city in the old Atharian tongue” He paused, bringing his finger to his tongue and then turning over a page.

“King Athas saw a growing threat to the north in the form of the Kingdom of Haugun, which had been much of a wasteland and urged the poleis to unite to this rising threat.”

He paused again looking up to his pupils to see if they had any questions.

TAG: @Darth_Elu (Cretaus) @Kurisan (I started this as a combo, but got bulky so decided to add it to the update, please respond in the combo chat)

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TAG: @galactic-vagabond422 Continue combo, expect a solo update as soon as the combo is done and posted.

 

Rebecca Dragon
Training Day

Dominus examined the young warrior’s face. Clearly she was agitated about the prospect of training, perhaps she took it as an insult to her capabilities, but surely she recognized their enemies were far stronger than she was. As capable as she was there was always room to grow. Dominus did not vocalize any of this, merely contemplating Rebecca’s question.

“Taunt you? No, not in this case. Our opponents in the future are going to be varied and numerous. And in most cases much stronger than you. You have my blessing to be as ruthless as you want, don’t worry my body is rather special.” He maintained his dark, foreboding focus, taking in even the slightest movements of the human mercenary. His face seemed more youthful than it had before, odd, perhaps it was merely a propriety of the snow elves or perhaps, perhaps not.

“Strength, Power. Surely a mercenary such as yourself can appreciate such things” He then turned silent, gazing into warrior’s eyes, waiting for her first strike.

"We were just unprepared, we fought them off well enough." She said believing that if they had been ready for the crimson knight's attack they would have faired better. Seeing him face her unarmed she knew he would be lighter, quicker, and with her facilities fully hers, well as much as they could be, she knew she couldn't just slash wildly. In her guard she moved cautiously towards her opponent before bringing a quick short slash toward Dominus's shoulder. It wasn't full strength so as to leave her able to quickly shift her feet to avoid any counter attack that was sure to come.

Dominus narrowed his eyes slightly at her last statement, becoming slightly annoyed. We fought them off well enough? How dare she make such a ludicrous claim. Last he had checked his two brothers in arms had been killed, he had almost died and when he stumbled into encampment the night prior it seemed a good number of them had suffered serious injuries. To say they had made it a out alive by the skin of their teeth would have been an understatement.

He shifted his body to the side, dodging her swing, if you blinked you would of missed his movements. Taking a step back, his right side now facing her. His front leg came up in a quick thrust, aimed for her face. His body was, loose, agile, able to adjust his movements if need be.

As her blade met nothing but air she quickly started to return to a guard. She stepped through her strike putting her right shoulder forward and turning her body slightly. Seeing the attack come in she just bent back at the waist letting the boot fly past her face. With a quick snap of her upper body she sent a fast chop aimed at Dominus's leg, the one holding his body up as the other was currently over her shoulder.

As Rebecca bent backwards Dominus began to shift his leg, he noted the fast chop bearing for his left leg. As it approached he brought his right leg, the one just over her shoulder, smashing into her face, knocking her to the ground. He jumped backward, his feet now both firmly planted in the ground. His feet were shoulder width apart, his right foot about two feet behind his left. His front leg bent, his arms up and ready for the laughing butcher's next strike.

It Rebecca wasn't on the ground long just as Dominus was set she was right upon him. Leading off with a thrust to his midsection but, it was a feint snapping her blade around in a chop at his shoulder, looking to cut him from shoulder to hip. The pain was nothing to her the slight bruise forming under her eye just a bit of makeup. Though she could start to feel the fire in her veins starting to burn a little hotter.

Dominus's eyes narrowed, his eyes transfixed on her blade. He brought his left hand round in a swing to bat the blade out of the way but Rebecca changed her movement, her blade moving swiftly to a chop to the shoulder. Leaning forward on his front leg he dropped to the ground, his head ducking beneath the blade, his hands placed on the outside of his front leg as his right came round in a swing colliding into Rebecca's legs, toppling her once more to the ground in a hard fall. The snow elf shot up his deadly serious composure unbroken.

"Your weakness is disappointing." he stated, resuming the stance he had formed before, the disappointment clear in his tone.

She gave no answer or words to him as she got up holding her blade in one hand. She slashed out with her sword a little less powerful than in two hands but her free hand held close to her body tensed. As she stepped into his space she grabbed the back of his head with her empty gauntlet and brought his forehead into contact with hers. She was not completely without unarmed training.

Dominus began to shift his body, ready to disarm the human warrior, but then she caught he by surprise, grabbing his hair and bringing his forehead towards her own. Normally he would harden his body to avoid any such damage but it happened so quickly, her speed had caught him off guard. Their heads collided into one another, a large thud resounding throughout the mountainside. He kicked the warrior away reflexively and not in a manner that could do any real damage to the warrior.

He staggered as the separated clasping his head as he looked up at the warrior.

"Perhaps...perhaps I underestimated you..." His eyes the shone a deep red as he gazed into the women's eyes, preparing himself defensively for her oncoming wrath.

Finally connecting feeling his head bounce off her own made her heart skip a beat, she finally got a hit, she could finally start turning her frustration into anger. While his kick gave him some distance, she wasn't going to give up. He'd asked for this, he'd wanted her at her most ruthless. He would get it. In the space of a breath she came in with a heavy overhand strike. It was obvious and slow, a man of his speed and talent would avoid it or block it easily enough. Though she was counting on that, he was slowly waking a monster, this was just the beginning. Rebecca would press her assault no matter the outcome, lowering her shoulder to try and take the elf off his feet, take this fight to the ground where his mobility would mean nothing under her power.

Dominus looked up at the lumbering attack headed his way. He darted to the left, avoiding the overhead strike, her shoulder shifted as he moved, bringing the sword at an angle, causing him to duck rather than leap up into the air. He brought his right hand, the fingers outstretched as a knife hand, to her side, hardening the outer part of his fingers attempting to knock the warrior of her feet once more. Although the chances that Rebecca would allow a similar attack to land once more were almost zero.

It was her intent for her first strike to miss, her follow up intending to pin him down, leaving him open for her to slam into him with a tackle and drive him to the ground. However he might have just given her a gift. His right hand lashed out at her left side, right toward her free hand. She brought her elbow in tightening her core. The strike glanced off her armor but before he could pull his arm back she hooked her arm over the top of his and pinned it to her side. With him held down she slammed into him looking to push him to the ground and end the fight.

In her chest her heart beat faster, and her veins were burning hotter.

It was close now, that moment she longed for.

Dominus's eyes grew wide as strike bounced off her armor, his attack had been too weak, he began to pull back before she grabbed his arm, pinning him in place, her body slamming into him.

He felt his body smash into the snow below, providing a small and rather inadequate cushion for the rocky ground. He grunted in pain as his body made contact with the ground. A firm crunching noise resonating in the air as his back found the mountainside. His eyes flashed red as his aura seeped into him, he was surprised that Rebecca had forced him to dig into his magical supply. He gave a loud yell, grunting in frustration. He twisted round so he was on top his strength trying to keep her at bay, but that was unlikely, like a man trying to wrestle a wild boar with their bare hands.

Finally she brought him to the ground. Her hand pressed into his chest trying to pin him to the ground as she brought up her blade to drive it into his chest and end this fight once and for all. As the dealy point of her sword began to fall trying to find it's mark Dominus rolled to the side throwing her off and ending up on top of her. With her arm now across her chest she was at a bit of a disadvantage but that wouldn't stop her. Pulling her sword out of the dirt she swung her hand with all the force she could muster. Dominus just got his guard up bringing his arm to the side of his head but, the pommel of her sword slipped through catching him on the jam. As his head snapped around then back to her she saw a drop of blood fall from his lips.

The fire burned hotter, her strength increased. With the flame in her eye she grabbed the back of the snow elf's head and wrenched it to the side with all her power turning her hips as well to reverse the situation. They were a tangle of limbs and pain and memories of her first fight came to her mind. A fierce fight on the ground that ended with the other man's head caved in. That thought sparked her more as she finally pinned her opponent to the ground and laid in strikes with the pommel of her sword her other hand pressing into his chest to hold him still.

The blows rained down, quick fast and powerful...the only question was, could Dominus survive this assault and regain control or had the rage of Rebecca overcome him?

TAG: @Shadowsun

 

IC: Dominus, The Knight of Power
Training Day, The Mountains of Athas

Quick strong bursts of wrath rained down on the Knight of Power, his hair tangled and frayed. His red eyes dimming as blow after blow struck into him. His body a war drum that Rebecca continued to beat. Dominus could feel the his essence beaten out of him, blood spurting across the snow marking it a crimson red. He looked up to gaze into the warrior's eyes. There was something fundamentally different about this human. In all his years he had never seen a human warrior display such strength and not be a Ryujin.

As he stared into her eyes he slowly began to realize that this was not a human being he was dealing with at all.

It was a monster.

A being born to slaughter, filled with a singular desire to extinguish life.

And that look, he had seen that look before. It was the same look the Leader of the Crimson Knights had before he had decapitated Dominus's clone. A gaze of sheer insatiable hunger.

Another blow landed across his skull as he felt it crack.

"ENOUGH!" he bellowed calling forth upon the deep well of his will, augmenting his strength far beyond that of even the mighty orcs. However it did have its toll and he only used it for a instant. He flung Rebecca off his body, staggering up as best he could. He clutched his face, now an ugly amalgamation of wounds. Slowly he let his aura seep into it, healing the damage that she had inflicted.

He then looked up at the thing that was called 'Rebecca' his eyes narrowed and focused.

"Why is it you fight? What brought you here other than that slip of paper?" He stood tall, the same commanding statue and tone he had displayed back outside Zalzabar's castle when they all arrived, not taking any particular fighting stance. His tone sounded slightly annoyed and almost distrustful. The annoyance did not stem from being beaten to resemble a dried cranberry, but rather from what dwelled inside Rebecca. Could this be the so called 'Laughing Butcher' Veritas would always go on about after his travels from South Osatia.

Dominus knew full well that she may simply ignore his questions and come at him at full force, but he needed to know if she was going to journey with them what she was in it for. Nevertheless she had demonstrated her power earning his respect whether she wanted it or not.

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422

 

Delsanra Taenya Helestina
Training Day. Part III

Delsanra was practicing with her two stones. She was finding it a bit easier, but still, it was still an effort. She had just finished her last bit of homework when suddenly the smell of meat crossed her nose. She turned her head, opening her eyes.

“Seems I forgot I carry seasoning with me,” he said with a laugh. “The others will eat later, but time for a lunch break!” He said waving his hand around. As he offered a platter with cooked boar meat atop of it. Delsanra sat, taking a piece of meat. This one smelled MUCH better than before, and so was its taste. Wine would be tempting, but it was too early. She would wait. For now, she sat and chewed on the meat, enjoying herself. She always found magic fascinating to learn.

“Alrighty, excellent progress all of your aura control is a rather massive pain. Keep in mind this is just the beginning, we are only going to go over how to conceal yourself, takes quite some time for full aura control, even I still have things left to learn.” He took a big bite of boar meat, chewing it for a while. He then spoke up again.

“Now three keening stones at the same time, yes three is a rather difficult task. Took myself a couple of days before I could do it consistently.” He waffled down the last part of the boar meat.

“Something rather special happens when three keening stones whine in unison. Probably best if I just show you.”

Zalzabar stood holding three stones out in his right palm, they began to float in front of him, his hands outstretched as he focused on the stones. About a minute went by the three stones began to the same high-pitched noise, and then after a moment, they began to sing. A slow, somber song.

Delsanra worked hard to not show any emotions on her face. She could not believe the song the stones sang. Was it something from the heart? Or something more? Obviously, Zalzabar was just as shocked as they were, it seemed. Zalzabar dropped to the ground on one knee, drenched in sweat, his face red not only from the sheer intensity of the task but also from deep embarrassment. The look that swiftly crossed his face made her heartache. 900 years could hold many mistakes to look back upon.

The three stones fell to the ground, as he regained his composure, although still breathing heavily, as he looked up at the three ryujin.

“Well…that’s… that’s the idea anyway. I will be very shocked if you are able to make all three keen today but nonetheless still try. Although I expect you are all quite tired so feel free to rest for some time if you need to” He passed out the three stones giving one to each of them as he sat back down in the snow to catch his breath.

Delsanra looked down at the piece of meat she was chewing from. What would her stones say about her? She thought of the song. 'Protector of all...protector of none." Did the song come from what the user thought of themselves? Projecting things that even they didnt know they felt?

Delsanra looked down at the three tiny stones in her head. To redeem.... Delsanra would work hard to change the tune of that song and hopefully grow her own song.

Delsanra would rest for a bit, after eating. Stressing did not reveal the best results. But after a pause, she would begin her practices anew.

Time for a new song.



TAG: @Darth_Elu (Kaynus) @greyjedi125, @galactic-vagabond422, @Shadowsun

 

IC: Ne'tar
Training Day, Continuing

Esenma clap, happy Ne'tar do the breath test. Ne'tar a little weary, Ne'tar feel heavy - inside.

Zalzy came, Esenma shoo-away. Then she have many words for Ne'tar. “Now, dear Ne’tar that same emotion you felt, you need to use that to transform in your dragon form. Take what it was you were feeling and imagine it, the first few times of transforming in a dragon come from need not desire. Part of the reason so many little newborns don’t get much stronger.”

"Same emotion." Ne'tar state back, Ne'tar no like that. Ne'tar no want to feel that way. Ne'tar normally change when Ne'tar angry, maybe Ne'tar feel that other thing same time, but Ne'tar want to just feel that! Why Ne'tar no use Wind Granny emotion! That seem much more pleasant.

“Might take you some time to focus that emotion, seems dear Dominus was able to press the right buttons earlier for you to transform. Now, now anyway... go ahead Ne’tar”

"Ne'tar no enjoy this. Ne'tar ask for though, so Ne'tar no complain." Ne'tar grumble, know Ne'tar do what Ne'tar say no do by saying do. Ne'tar head start hurt looking in so much. Ne'tar go cross-eyes for sure! Still Ne'tar try.

Ne'tar feel it. Focus on feeling. Focus on Tar. Tar was angry. Tar was sad. Tar was alone, when no want be. Ne'tar focus, that bit, that piece, that no Ne, but merely Tar. Ne'tar not sure how long Ne'tar stood there, breathing, huffing into the cold, cold like pricks upon skin, cold like the desert night without shelter. Ne'tar focus. No know how long Ne'tar do, but eventually after sad song on wind Ne'tar felt it, in all the ways feeling and trying feeling different ways, Ne'tar feel it. With watery eyes Ne'tar look Touchy Granny and Ne'tar have snout in way!

Ne'tar drop to all five limbs with grunt. "Ne'tar. . .*huff* Ne'tar did!" he felt happy, but Ne'tar no feel to eyes. Ne'tar know what she say. Ne'tar need feel that, everytime. For Ne'tar no know how long! Ne'tar sad that, Ne'tar no want so long time. But Ne'tar take. Ne'tar take.

TAG: @Shadowsun , @The Jedi in the Pumas (to observe)

 

Anaxagore
Training Day, Another Stone

Almost of their own accord, Anaxagore’s grey eyes opened up. Smoothly, he rolled himself down to a sitting position, ending with both stones in his hand. He looks dup into the sky and wagered that the time was around noon. Looking down at his hand, the stones were now silent. A soft smile tugged at his lips, as a measure of satisfaction welled within him. He had regulated his aura successfully, that was probably why he was not feeling the cold at the moment.

Looking around he took in what the others were doing and stood stock of their activities. Ne’tar was undergoing ‘breath control lessons’ under Esenma, Cretaus and Taella were sitting with Zalzabar’s copy as the double read to them, and somewhere outside his peripheral vision, it sounded as if Rebecca and Dominus were really going at it.

Anaxagore smiled to himself, remembering how surprised he was to learn that Rebecca was a truly worthy adversary. Dominus would find out for himself. Inwardly, he was glad she was with the ‘good guys’, despite her mercenary ways.

Refocusing on his fellow ryujin adepts, Anaxagore offered a simple nod to Delsandra, and force d himself to do the same towards Kaynus. He needed to set the example, by his actions as well as by his words. That’s something Master Nin would say. The dark haired warrior couldn’t help but shake his head at the memory, his smile widening for a moment.

The smell of cooked boar meat drew him towards the real zalzabar, who invited them to share a meal. Anaxagore needed no further prodding. He sat in one smooth motion, thank the Elder for his portion, though it would remain untouched for the moment and simply listened.

Zalzabar took a moment to instruct them on the use of three keening stones.

Three? Anaxagore exclaimed in his mind with some surprise. Managing two had taken a great deal of focus and concentration- but he now understood it. Three Stones, representing harmony between ‘The Three’. That was a clever subtlety.

As before, Zalzabar went on to demonstrate as that was his preferred method of teaching, at least so far. What happened next he did not expect.

Not much happened at first, but after a moment, a slow and somber song emanated from Zalzabar. Somehow, Anaxagore understood it, as well as felt it.

’A Protector….’ he exclaimed in his mind, as he navigated through the deep meaning and melancholy of the song, which had a depth he had not at all expected. For him, the experience was astonishing, moving and revealing. It almost felt as if he was intruding on a private memory, if it weren’t for the fact that it was being shared.

Is that what the third stone does? Anaxagore wondered, suddenly unsure if he was brave enough to become that ‘vulnlenarble’.

Lord Elder was quite magnanimous to be so open with them; and why not? Were they not facing the end of all things? Hmm, perhaps it was better not to focus on that quite yet.

Zalzabar informed them that making three stones resonate would take some time, which caused him to feel a measure of relief. He wasn’t rushing to bare his soul to anyone again, at least not yet. Still, he gladly accepted the third stone into his hand. He was now curious what song they would sing for him.

The call for a break was quite welcomed as well. Yes, resting was a good idea.

Getting up with the portion of boar meat in hand, Anaxagore gave Lord Elder a curt respectful nod, before walking over towards Zalzabar’s copy and his two students.

“Apologies..er..Lord Elder….” the dark haired warrior intoned apologetically, just as if he were addressing the real Zalzabar, for in a way, he was.

“Would it be possible for me to borrow Cretaus for a moment?”

In quick succession, Anaxagore, offered Taella a soft smile, a solid nod to young Cretaus, then regarded Lord Elder as he awaited his response.



Tag: @Shadowsun ( @Darth_Elu, @Kurisan, @Ktala, mentioned )

 

Rebecca Dragon
Training Day

Dominus had asked his question, and he would get no answer. Rebecca's heart was beating fast the fire in her veins burning it's way through her. Blood dripped from her pommel a smile blooming on her face. Though he could heal she'd seen that she could make him bleed, that he could be brought down. That was all she needed. The battle wasn't over, and her blood screamed for more blood. To batter her opponent until they fell, until their blood stained her face. There were already crimson streaks painting her face lines of blood cast onto her face by the sheer force of her pommel strikes. But this was not enough, not enough for her blood. It drove her on, and even if someone had told her to stop she wasn't sure she could. The fight had been started and she would see it through.

She rushed forward sword in one hand the other ready to fend off his unarmed strikes. The smile was broad on her face, a light childlike giggle on her lips as she continued the conflict. He wanted her to be as ruthless as she wanted to be, as she needed to be. She wanted to test his healing, to see just how powerful it was.

Her reasons didn't matter, the gold she wanted, the opportunities to commit legal violence upon others, they were nothing. All that mattered was killing this man.

She started with a quick slash at Dominus's middle followed up with a lightning quick swipe at his throat, with each attack she pressed into him, giving the snow elf no quarter.

She would have her blood.

TAG: @Shadowsun

 

Kaynus Allbright IC:
~Training Area, Athas~

Kaynus caught the rock tossed to him by the hovering Zalzabar and merely got right back onto on the task given to him. He had one keening stone down. It was time for two.

He supposed at this point that there might be a little struggle, but there was no way a single stone could add that much more difficulty. Kaynus was tired, far more tired than he cared to admit even to himself, but he was once again confident. This would not take as long as the first.

Closing his eyes, Kaynus set out to work. It took only a matter of minutes before he realized he was, for the second time, very wrong in his initial assumptions.

By adding in the second keening stone, it was almost like neither one wanted to cooperate with him now! Gritting his teeth, but with his back turned to the others so they couldn’t see his frustration; he fought with him.

Squash the aura down, almost to nothing. That was what had been said. There was still a little difficulty in this, his aura by its very nature did not like it. Indeed, none of him liked it. But he did anyway.

And he succeeded.

But it was at this juncture that the problems set in. Every time he tried to let out just the tiniest bit of his aura, like he had earlier, it was like both the stones had backs to turn to it. It kept slipping out between them it felt like.

He’d aim at one, hoping to get that going before moving to the next. There was some effort, but it progressed. But when he went to try to do it to the second at the same time, it was like it slipped out of the first and passed between them again.

Kaynus’ temper was starting to flare as his veins began to stand out and his whole body trembled with supreme annoyance.

WHUOOOO!!!!

Now he had lost all control he had mustered before. Back to ‘throwing his aura’ back at the stones, as Zalzabar had described it.

Clutching the two stones in one hand, he stopped and stared up at the sky, letting out a grunt. Oh, how he would make Zalzabar pay for this mockery one day.

As he stood there, his legs shaking but refusing to sit in the snow, he rested. It was then that he heard the Elder speak again. Apparently having been a little busy while he had been wrestling with the exercise.

“Seems I forgot I carry seasoning with me!”

The Dragon of Blinding Light glanced over toward the man with a faint sense of distaste. How could he be so forgetful? Whatever. Not really his problem.

“The others will eat later, but time for a lunch break!”

With a little ‘tch!’ under his breath, Kaynus pocketed the rocks and moved over to where his little group now congregated. Anaxagore seemed to nod toward him, which he ignored. Delsanra remained quiet and mostly to herself. He was fine with this.

The three of them sat down as if in a circle and while Kaynus took some offered meat with not so much as a nod in thanks, he began eating while still standing. His body trembled slightly still, though he did his best to hide it.

He refused to show weakness. Not to these two especially. Not to anyone if he could help it.

Unceremoniously, he began to eat and just listened to what Zalzabar had to say this time.

“Alrighty, excellent progress, all of your aura control is a rather massive pain.”

That was putting it lightly.

“Keep in mind this is just the beginning, we are only going to go over how to conceal yourself, takes quite some time for full aura control; even I still have things left to learn.”

Kaynus just ate in silence, not quite trusting himself to speak right at the moment.

“Now three keening stones at the same time, yes three is a rather difficult task. Took myself a couple days before I could do it consistently.”

THREE? Did the fool just say three? That means the other two were already passing the two stone mark…Kaynus’ eyes hardened at the information gleaned from that. Not only that, but he was nowhere near done with two yet!

These stones would quite likely find themselves crunched to dust in his palm by the end of all this.

“Something rather special happens when three keening stones whine in unison. Probably best if I just show you.”

He let out a huff and watched as Zalzabar floated three of them and after a minute or so, made them sing in unison. Literally. A full song presenting itself.

Despite his anger at the madness of the exercise, Kaynus did have his eyebrows raise in surprise for a moment. Temporarily forgetting it to take in the song. A slow, lilting thing that spoke of sadness and regret. One that clearly spoke of Zalzabar himself.

When it was done, the stones fell to the ground suddenly and Zalzabar even collapsed to a single knee, showing signs of heavy exertion. Not something Kaynus was looking forward to. Still embarrassment was on his face as well. This was something that he nodded at.

Served him right.

Still, the look of deep despair now once more revealed on the Elder’s face, his mask of frivolity broken; made Kaynus look away. It was…uncomfortable to bear witness to for more than a few seconds. Such vulnerability.

Such weakness.

And yet he had to follow him? What a joke…

“Well…” Zalzabar started as he regained himself, “That’s…that’s the idea anyway. I will be very shocked if. You are able to make all three keen today but nonetheless still try. Although I expect you are all quite tired so feel free to rest for some time if you need to.”

Kaynus took the third stone for later while it was handed to him, but he looked Zalzabar in the eyes as he did so.

“I refuse any such songs, Zalzabar. I am not here for such things. They will keen or whatever, then I will shut them up.”

With that, he went right back to continue working on two. Rest. Pah! Let the other two rest. He, Kaynus Allbright, would persevere and surpass them before long!

Rest in such a thing was for the lower classes. As Saviour, he must hold himself to a higher standard. One that bespoke of his status far more fittingly.

Always.

Tag: Zalzabar, Anaxagore, & Delsanra @Shadowsun @greyjedi125 @Ktala

 

Zalzabar, Cretaus, Taella (combo with @Darth_Elu and @Shadowsun )
Training Day

Taella registered that Zalzabar - the mirror Zalzabar - was still talking. She could not seem to get eye contact with Anaxagore despite her best efforts. What are they doing with those stones? she wondered.

Then their teacher mentioned Ziopoah, and this briefly held her attention. That was what outsiders called Loreth. She glanced at Cretaus, and was not sure if he was paying attention either. The Dragonlord continued reading from his book, but then paused as if inviting a question.

Taella seized the opportunity. "Are you really just going to sit there and read it out to us?"

Zalzabar two gazed into Taella's eyes his own turning steely.

"Do you think it is my intention to waste your time?" The final word came off his tongue like the crack of a whip. A small crackle of lightning could be heard as blue sparks came off his hair. He continued to stare at Taella waiting for a response from the little wood elf.

Taella's eyes flashed and her nostrils flared. She felt a surge of excitement ripple through her body. She could not help herself; when chastised, her defiant side always surfaced.

Yet... here she was in the presence of a Dragonkin Lord, a King, and one she had sworn to serve. The lightning flashes that accompanied his words acted as warning, and she remembered his fury when dealing with the arrogant Kaynus.

Her eyes smouldering with fury, she decided to defer... for now.

She sat sullenly on one of the formed seats, bringing her knees up under her chin. Then she waited for the teacher to continue reading, deliberately looking away.

Zalzabar felt a pang of guilt as Taella looked at him her eyes like daggers and then looked off again. "My intention isn't to annoy you Taella, I don't want to hold you hostage." He paused looking up at the sky for a moment. "But this is important, knowing who we might have to work with and perhaps more importantly what our enemies are like will be crucial during this quest"

The Wood Elf girl felt her hot temper cool. Oh... now she felt guilty. And he said this was important. Knowing about their foes... and their friends... was indeed useful. She made an effort to give her full attention.

The Dragonkin had played at being hurt, and acted kindly, rather than trying to force her to his will with discipline. He had evaluated her quickly and successfully guessed the stimulus to which she would respond positively.

Cretaus sat where he was quietly and listened as Zalzabar began to speak, while beginning to mention the name of a place he was unfamiliar with.

However, the exchange between the Ryujin and the elf showed that they both knew. Furthermore, as Taella began to act a little defiant, Cretaus' eyes widened slightly at the sign of irritation from Zalzabar, and looked to the elf girl again.

She appeared as if she wanted to challenge him further, which would be very unwise. What was she doing? This wasn't the most exhilarating thing in the world, he agreed, but if Zalzabar demanded this of them...how could they truly say no?

Thankfully, she quietly sat down next to him finally, though still looking a bit stubborn as she turned her head away. At the statement of questions, Cretaus remembered something from the brief time he had been in school ages ago. He raised a hand to get his attention immediately.

"Um...ok, then. What are Ziapoah and Athas? Or...why are they important at least? I can tell they are countries."

The teen had no idea he was currently in Athas. Simply put, he had no idea where he was, just that he was here. Wherever that was.

The lightning ryujin beamed pleased at the inquiry and curiosity of the young boy, although he gave a slight chuckle when he asked what Athas was.

"Ah my boy Athas is the Kingdom we are in right now, ruled be King Kenrinth, Ziapoah, or Loreth as the wood elves call it, is the well for lack of a better word 'Kingdom' of the wood elves and lies south of Athas"

Cretaus listened quietly again as Zalzabar continued. This wasn't the most interesting, but his brow was furrowed. He couldn't help yet another question coming forth anyway.

"Uh...another question?" he looked sheepish for a moment, "Why was Haugun a threat? Is there any reason for them to be afraid of each other?"

Zalzabar paused once more, flicking a page of the Journal and showing the two of them a map of Regnum, indicating Athas and Ziapoah on the map.

"Now as for your other question..." He continued sitting back up and gazing into the boy's eyes. "Haugun is still a threat. It was founded a little before Athas and well... there are a lot of ryujin that live there. Haugun is where those three 'crimson knights' came from." He paused once more letting it sink in before continuing.

"Their King Malum made it clear his intentions to conquer Athas, they have often send raids pillaging small towns and villages along the northern coast of Athas."

Zalzabar looked downwards as he spoke this last part, a small hint that he was uncomfortable about the subject of Haugun.

"Not many people know this but Malum wants to resurrect Sapientis" Zalzabar gazed of into the distance a tone of disappointment in his words.

"Now...any further questions before I continue?...oh and for the record I'm just skim reading dear Taella I wouldn't want to waste your time after all..."

Cretaus scratched the back of his neck slightly embarrassed as Zalzabar revealed that Athas was where he was currently at. He probably should have known that. He nodded at the map and where he pointed to illustrate what he was talking about. Too bad he had lost his own on the way up the mountain.

Still...

"So that's Ziapoah? I had no idea...that was where I arrived from by ship! Made it to the mountains through there, though I guess I remained on the outskirts the whole time."

The boy quieted as he listened to the continuing lesson then, frowning and shaking his head at King Malum's intentions being revealed. Just why would anyone want to do that? Something that was completely unfathomable to him. In the end, he let Zalzabar keep teaching for now. There would likely be more questions to ask yet despite himself.

Taella was genuinely intrigued by the map. The Wood Elves navigated from memory, or verbal directions, using the wild places of the world - mountains, lakes, rivers - as landmarks. And their greatest asset were the secret Ways that could be opened between woods, using the ancient magic that connected all the forests of the world. It was strange to see it all laid out in terms of mundane distances. How long it must take humans to travel anywhere!

Cretaus was full of questions and Taella listened while Zalzabar answered. She realised he was lucky not to have strayed into the woods of Loreth. He might never had emerged again. Lucky... that word again. It seemed to cling to everything Cretaus did...

She shook her head of these thoughts as Zalzabar continued. She noted the origin of the Crimson Knights.

The key question, that rendered all the other information secondary in her mind, seemed to go unanswered.

Taella cleared her throat. "Why does Malum want to resurrect Sapientis? Does he not know the consequences to the entire world?"

Zalzabar nodded and smiled as the two of them inspected the map. He forgot how much the young love their visuals. He then turned to Taella who voiced what both she and Cretaus were thinking. Why by Tellus would Malum want to bring Sapientis back?

Pain briefly flashed in the elder ryujin's eyes as she asked the question, he then suppressed it once more.

"Malum believes that the return of Sapientis will result in the subjugation of all non-ryujin, in truth Malum despises those without the blessing of the Three. He also rather foolishly thinks that Sapientis might reward him if he was the one to resurrect him." Zalzabar cast his head downward as if almost in shame and then looked back up at the two of them.

"Does that answer your question dear Taella?"

Taella took in the answer for a few moments. She nodded. "It does, My Lord. Malum is a dangerous fool."

Cretaus shook his head in bewilderment.

“I always heard that Sapientis would just destroy everything were he to come back. So I wonder his Malum guy got those ideas....of course, I always thought Sapientis was made up before. Something to scare people.”

He shrugged with an embarrassed smile.

The Elder Ryujin nodded his head at his pupils’ comments, seeing no need in particular to respond to either of them he continued with his lecture.

"Now Athas never really had many ryujin, only a small handful, and coupled with the raids I mentioned earlier the general populace of Athas are very distrustful toward ryujin." Zalzabar sighed for a moment.

"Its a tragedy really, one side wants ryujin to be everything and the other wants to exterminate them...well there is an exception...I'm not sure I've mentioned this, I think I have, but I am almost nine hundred years old so I was alive well before the unification of Athas. . Anyway I've been able to make an agreement with the King of Athas for some centuries now, advising them to keep this threat at bay."

Zalzabar flicked a page, not really reading from the journal at all at this point.

"The current ruler, King Kenrinth is a good friend of mine, and despite our best efforts the populace still despise ryujin. Athas is also famous for their massive ballista throughout the country..." He paused, looking up at their faces.

"Neither of you know what a ballista is do you?"

Cretaus gave a little shrug and shook his head at Zalzabar's straightforward question. He had guessed right, no need to hide it. Still, it was unsettling to see such a large difference in opinion regarding ryujin. Couldn't people just pick one and stick with it? Frustrating!

Still...after seeing them first hand, he could kind of understand why they would be afraid...

"No, I don't," he admitted verbally before adding, "And...how are you nine hundred years old? You're not an elf from what I can tell."

Now this was something that really baffled him. Only elves could live long lives like that! At least, that's what he thought.

Zalzabar smiled at the young lad's question and noted the blank look on Taella's face.

"Well a ballista is basically a bow that you load a steel rod into and it shoots out...wait...here is an image of a small one" The elder ryujin then turned a page and indicated to them the sketch of a ballista.



With the explanation and the image, Taella nodded.

“Yes I have seen humans with these machines of war - but not as large as that." They were quite a clever race with their strange machines. She scowled with further memories. “The orcs make their crude copies each time they go on the warpath and invade Loreth.”

Zalzabar then proceeded to go into a ramble that lasted about an hour explaining the intricacies of the ballista, how it worked, the materials that were used and how they found or made and many other mundane facts that perhaps did not matter too much. It was a hodgepodge ramble that went all over the place, a rather peculiar speculate to behold.

"...and so that's how steel is made...hmm...wait where was I? Ah yes anyway Athas has giant ballistae, massive ones that are capable of killing ryujin. Athas built several hundred, no no a few thousand all over the Kingdom, but mainly on the northern coast, to slay any invading ryujin force, they are quite effective."

He then looked up his two pupils, who were doubtless a little lost and a little bored at this point. "To answer your second question Cretaus...well it is complicated. Ryujin naturally live longer regardless of race, but even nine hundred years is quite excessive...I...err... had a fun little adventure one time that...er...well extended my life... a tale for a different history lesson I think, but one that I will tell you." Zalzabar smiled looking off in the distance at the fond memories.

Cretaus listened intently despite some of the information not being the most riveting in the world. Still, it was interesting to varying degrees. Now that he saw the picture, he knew what Zalzabar meant. Yes, he had seen a few ballista back at home. There had been some on the outskirts of the city, but not that many and nowhere near the size the ryujin was talking about.

Still, even though he wanted to daze off, Cretaus absorbed everything he was told. Steel-making and all. Even if it didn't look like he was. Had Zalzabar quizzed him, he might have been surprised at how well the boy would answer.

He was visibly more interested in what was said about the extension of the man's lifespan. So ryujin also lived way longer than normal? Of course they did. They were...better. In every way, it would appear. And yet something extended Zalzabar's life even further? He had to hear that story sometime!

"Hopefully soon," Cretaus mused honestly, indicating his interest before looking at Taella with a frown now. "Invade? There are...a lot of wars aren't there."

This statement was one of dismay and frank incomprehension as to the reason for it. It was also directed to both of them, though not necessarily in need of replying to. It was more a realization than anything on his own behalf.

Taella was struggling to maintain interest again. She did not see the purpose of the lecture on making steel. But Cretaus' question - or rather, statement - took her by surprise.

It came from a place of innocence, yet there was a yearning for something in it that she had never even considered before.

The juvenile Wood Elf had only ever known a state of constant war, sometimes fought on several fronts at once. The Necromancer and his undead hordes, the Dwarfs and their insatiable axes, the Orcs and their constant raids to enslave and torture; always the forces of darkness thirsted to seize and destroy or pervert the magic of the forests. And it had been her duty, along with all her kindred, to resist.

She had never considered that there may be a time of peace, without war. She wondered if such a thing was even possible, and turned to Zalzabar to gauge the elder Dragonkin's reaction...

Zalzabar looked at the young boy, the sweet innocence, it moved the elder ryujin's heart. He slowly bobbed his head up and down as replied.

"Yes my boy, there are indeed a great many wars in the world, I only wish I could stop them all." Zalzabar then caught the wood elf's gaze, a question buried in her eyes.

"At some point dear Taella we will need to have a conversation about the subject of orcs, peace is possible between your people but it will not be any small feat." Zalzabar then gazed up at the sky, checking the time by gauging the position of the sun.

"Let's have lunch a little early, I'll tell you that story Cretaus as we eat" He then proceeded to go back inside the dome, cooking some slabs of meat, after a few minutes he came outside handing some slabs to the two of them. He took his own piece chewing on it and then began to tap his chin, gathering his thoughts for the story.

Cretaus was quiet as he was told there were lots of wars, as suspected. It seemed so obvious, but it had to be asked. He had at least hoped the answer wasn't as bad as the expectation. But that was life. Cold, hard, and cruel.

He watched as Zalzabar left for food, which Cretaus just remained sitting quietly. Thinking to himself. Guess Zalzabar broke his own statement earlier. He did end up making lunch after all.

When he returned with some more meat, Cretaus grinned and took them eagerly, beginning to hungrily devour. Something that seemed to be become a bit of a normal pattern for him.

Cretaus and Taella waited for what would be said next...

@Ktala @galactic-vagabond422 @greyjedi125 @The Jedi in the Pumas @Mitth_Fisto

 

Training Day
Part IV​

Dominus’s eyes narrowed as Rebecca ignored his question charging at him with that devilish look in her eyes. There was no mistaking it, she wanted to kill him.

The Knight of Power let out a terrible roar, echoing through the mountain tops. He began to grow in height, becoming at least seven feet tall, his muscles bulging and growing in size. His aura seeping into his body, his eyes a deep crimson red.

The Laughing Butcher came at him, taking a slash at his middle, he brought his arm in defense, her blade searing through it sending the upper part of his forearm flying. She continued her assault, darting up at his throat.

His body shifted to the side, as if a wraith in the wind, he dodged her attack, appearing behind her in a flash as he brought his arm crashing into her side, sending her flying across the mountainside.

He stood still, giving her time to recover, focusing back on his severed arm, blood gushing out staining the white, powdered snow. In an instant the arm seemed to pop back out, healing at an impossibly fast speed. Dominus flexed his fingers, trying out his new arm. He could not lose too many limbs, it required a great amount of his will to regrow his limbs that quickly, if she kept this up, she might force him to transform into his ryujin state, a bridge he did not want to cross as it might alert the Crimson Knights to their position

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422

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Esenma waited patiently as she observed the newborn ryujin, she always had enjoyed watching her young pupils find their way, learning slowly how to control their dragon form, it was always such a beautiful event.

"Same emotion."

Esenma nodded encouragingly, knowing full well it would not be a pleasant experience for the half-orc.

"Ne'tar no enjoy this. Ne'tar ask for though, so Ne'tar no complain."

She chuckled slightly at this, thinking back to one of her orc lovers, she had always enjoyed the way they spoke.

It took quite some time before Ne’tar began showing signs of changing, no surprise these things always took time. She beamed excitedly after the young half-orc finally transformed into a dragon.

"Ne'tar. . .*huff* Ne'tar did!"

“Very good Ne’tar! Very good!” She then proceeded to jump on the dragon’s back, her giddy tone still clear in her voice. She then laid forward, her arms clasping around the beast, her mouth right by the dragon’s ear.

“Now I want you try and fly my dear. Don’t think about it too hard just imagine the air flowing around as your rise up like a glorious divine angel.”

Ne’tar, like all newborns, had never truly flown before. Although wasn’t uncommon for more skilled newborns to hover slightly in the air, but required great concentration and willpower for them to do so.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @The Jedi in the Pumas (To observe)

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As Zalzabar two settled in, and after a few minutes he began to resume speaking to the duo.

“Well yes as I said as you might know full-blooded Elves can live up to two thousand years but yes, I’m not an elf nor even a half-elf just a ryujin human. So yeah, normal humans like you dear Cretaus have a life span of eighty or so years, but ryujin humans can live up to four or five hundred years.

Now that still doesn’t explain why I can live nine hundred years.”

The elder dragon paused, contemplating his answer.

“Well, I should tell you how a ryujin exactly becomes an elder. You see Cretaus you might not know this but there are three main classes of ryujin, newborns like dear Ne’tar over there, who can barely transform upon command and require a great amount of emotion to do so. There are adepts like Kaynus, Anaxagore, and Delsanra who can transform upon command and have a great range in their capabilities, and finally, there are elders like myself and Esenma.

Now, most people know the difference between a newborn and an adept: control. Being able to change form on command is the big piece. Most people, even adepts don’t know the difference between adepts and elders. Mainly because elders are so rare, only about thirty of us still exist. Malum is also an elder ryujin.

Anyway, what makes an elder, an elder is when they ‘unlock’ their ‘Elder Form’. The Elder Form which has a bunch of different names, let’s see ‘Ascended Ryujin Form’, ‘True Form’ some even call it ‘The God State’ but I always found that a little ostentatious and inaccurate. One elder I knew called it ‘Super-Ryujin’ but we all agreed that was a silly name. Anyway, anyway this Elder Form allows a ryujin to tap into their blessing from the Three to a much higher degree, resulting in a much larger dragon form. It also has a number of physiological changes, your magical capabilities get enhanced to a crazy degree, even when in your humanoid form, but the one you are probably interested in is that it often extends the life span of the individual. I’m not sure by how much as so few elders exist but I can tell you that is why I have lived this long.”

The elder paused for a brief moment grabbing a small piece of snow and then put it in his mouth, letting the water trickle down his throat.

“Well, I promised you a story so here we go, I’ll tell you how I achieved my Elder form. When I was oh, I don’t know about one hundred and ninety-three, no no four, yeah one hundred and ninety-four I left my old home in Zafir to travel and figure out how to achieve it. I spent many long years searching for old ryujin texts, you see back then there were even fewer elders than there are now so not many people knew how one became an elder. My old master who had trained me in my youth was an elder, but I hadn’t seen him in many years by that point and no idea where he was, so I had to figure it all out by myself.”

Zalzabar two stopped, taking a piece of meat, chewing on it, and then resumed speaking once he swallowed it.

“Where was I? Oh right, right. Well, I spent several decades tracking down these texts, many dead ends, loose threads, traveling from country to country trying to get a single glimpse of anything that could help me find the key to unlocking this power, eventually, I found an ancient temple in Ahmound that seemed to worship some forgotten deity, rather fascinating stuff lots of tombs buried in the desert, anyway, one of these lost temples had a book entitled ‘The Path of the Ryujin’ only issue was many of the parts were not in the common tongue but in a forgotten language lost to the ages. Well lost until now, so I spent several more decades, see why long lives are useful, anyway, I spent more time cross-referencing the inscriptions in the tombs with more recent relics in the area and was able to slowly build back the language, you see some of the locals spoke a disjointed, descent of the language in the book, well more of a scroll, so I spent about fifty years reverse-engineering the language until I could read it. Now this was the really fun part, actually finding out what I had to do-“

At this point, Anaxagore wandered over to the three of them. He would have been able to hear the last little part of the conversation before he interrupted.

“Apologies..er..Lord Elder….Would it be possible for me to borrow Cretaus for a moment?”

Zalzabar two looked up the young adept ryujin.

“You dare interrupt me!” spoke the elder in a joking fashion. “I was just getting to the good part… alright very well, take him away!” He looked to Cretaus giving a nod of approval before turning back to Taella.

“Now my dear I’m sure you are quite bored of this old man’s rambles. What would you like to do now?”

TAG: @Darth_Elu (Cretaus) @greyjedi125 @Kurisan

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Zalzabar one gazed back into Kaynus’s eyes, the intensity clear in the young ryujin’s eyes.

“I refuse any such songs, Zalzabar. I am not here for such things. They will keen or whatever, then I will shut them up.”

“I would like to see that Kaynus, somehow I doubt it, but I would love you to prove me wrong” He withheld the fact that getting the stones to ‘shut up’ was impossible once all three started keening correctly. He was pleased with the desire to learn in the young lad, the key now was to guide him in the right direction.

He eyed Anaxagore as he wandered over to Zalzabar two, clearly, he did not want him or he would just come to the original, no if he had to guess he wanted to talk to the boy, Cretaus about something or other, most likely to train him. Good, he would approve very much of this course of action.

Zalzabar one then walked over to Kaynus observing him for a few brief moments before speaking to him.

“You know Kaynus, once you can do two, we can get going. It won’t completely cut your aura off but will be for practical uses be good enough for traveling. But all three you’ll need as the first baby step for achieving your Elder Form.”

The young man would know what that was, oh he knew all too well what that was. He gave one last nod of encouragement before going off to view Delsanra’s progress.

He repeated the same thing to the snow elf, although she of course could already keen two of the stones.

“Remember how you only let out a tiny amount of your aura, how it felt to close off and weaken the aura flowing out? You’ll want to do that but all over your body and continuously.” He gave a slight chuckle.

“I know it sounds like a lot, but it isn’t that bad, the thing about the stones is they require a lot of energy, but you can’t flood them have to give it they piece by piece but dampening your aura? Much easier. And don’t worry you won’t need to be able to keen all three stones to mask your ryujin presence, that is a bit more advanced, but I’m sure you too would like to become an elder one day?”

His eyes twinkled slightly as he said this, spinning and marching off, now lost in his thoughts.

TAG: @Ktala @Darth_Elu (Kaynus)

 

Taella
Training Day, Opportunity Identified...

Taella jumped from her reverie as Anaxagore arrived. Unfortunately, despite her hopes, he had come to "borrow" Cretaus, whatever that meant. Her heart sank and she scowled at no sign from the handsome Dragonkin that he had even noticed her presence.

"What would you like to do now?" asked Zalzabar.

She looked back to him and bit her lip. "Well, My Lord, I should think I must go and watch over Cretaus. That is what your Knights tasked me to do."

She glanced away, hoping Zalzabar would not read the emotion on her face and in her eyes.

@Shadowsun @greyjedi125 @Darth_Elu

 

Rebecca Dragon
Training Day

She charged forth unafraid of the aura that surrounded Dominus, of his growth in stature and power. Fear had never been a part of her, measured caution maybe, but fear never. Her first strike dug into his arm being stopped by the barest measure of flesh and sinew. With a quick pull cut she finished the job letting the limb go flying off into the distance. Her second slash was meant to take his head however he battered her away with his other still intact arm. She landed hard sliding a little in the snow. Her armor protected her, the padding softening the blow but it still hurt. However he knew that pain wasn't a deterrent for her.

Like their fight previously she laughed at the pain, a board smile blooming on her face. With a shake of her head she charged ahead again both hands on her blade keeping her stance low to duck under his not longer arms. As soon as she could she lashed out, with a powerful slash turning her hips to put as much power as she could in a short amount of time. Showing that even in the deepest part of her madness, she could still strategize, still display control over her body, not becoming a wild swinging storm of blood and steel. No she was more like heat lightning, striking fast and suddenly. Her blade was slicing through the air, looking to take Dominus's leg off at the knee, bringing him down to size.

He could be hurt and he could be killed, she would see it done. The blood rage had nearly taken complete control of her mind. No longer was this just training. Anaxagore had been training, she had kept her cool and composure in that bout. Here, this man had told her to give him everything, to be as ruthless as she wanted. That was his mistake, his failing.

He had let loose a monster of battle, a beast of war, meant for one thing, the destruction of the enemy.

It could be stopped, the monster could be sated. If Dominus could play dead, if he could convince her that she had beaten him. Though he seemed too proud to let that happen. The only other way would be to restrain her, no easy feat, and direct her ire towards something else, something she could kill without remorse. Though there was always killing her, something a Ryujin could do easily and simply. While she was powerful, strong enough for a Ryujin in human form, a Dragon could still burn her to a crisp, shred her armor or eat her alive. Though even then she would not go quietly.

What would Dominus choose to do...she would not be stopped by her own volition, someone or something would have to make her stop.

TAG: @Shadowsun

 

IC: Dominus, The Knights of Power
The beast unleashed.

What had started as simple training to test the limits of Rebecca's power had quickly divulged into a brutal battle for survival. The true challenge was not in defeating her, he could if he wanted to transform into a dragon and roast her, but as he had gone over moments ago that was not a viable option. He knew of Zalzabar's magic and while it could mask the aura of ryujin in humanoid form, and even that of the newborn Ne'tar, if he fully transformed it would surely alert the Crimson Knights to their position.

He was done underestimating this human, if you could even call her that, the longer this battle went on the more likely he was to lose. The red aura glowed more passionately as he hardened the skin on his arms. He blocked her blade, although this time it was as if it had struck steel. He went in with his own strike, his arm acting as his own sword, he would bring down this monster, he had to. Attack and parry, both trying to find a weak point and both deflecting the other's blows, unable to gain ground.

Dominus would make vain attempts to grab the blade or to swing around and knock the warrior to the ground as he had done so before, but she would have learned from those earlier encounters and would have been able to escape these attacks with ease. The snow elf could still not get over the fact that a simple human. A non-ryujin of all things was able to keep up with him. He would have gladly taught her all he knew, but at this point, he was unsure if he had anything to teach her at all, save perhaps for unarmed combat.

Then it dawned on him. The weapon. If he managed to rid her of that sword would she be more 'manageable'? Like a lion, its claws trimmed reduced to a meager kitten. Part of him doubted it would be enough, that this warrior was more than her weapon, but perhaps she relied on it too much, he simply had no way of knowing until he tried.

It was simpler said than done however, he could get no headway past her defenses. They continued to trade blows as this all raced through his mind, his expression frustrated and yet intrigued as if solving a complex problem. Leaping back he took a moment, focusing on himself as he shifted into three beings. Each would be weaker than the original, but that was not the issue here he simply needed more hands.

All three charged at her, one from the left, another from the right, and the final one center stage. Each aiming for a different section, each wanting to bring her down and pin her into place. Could the Blood Beast of South Osatia contend with such opposition? It would remain to be seen.

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Ne'tar
Training Day - Pre-lunch

Esenma wait patiently. Until Ne'tar do, then she very vocal praise! Made Ne'tar feel better, but then she do what she do. Little Dragon Elder jump on Ne'tar back! Very surprising to Ne'tar! Ne'tar let out a yelp at that, lucky dragon form make sound high pitch grunt sigh.

She then laid forward, arms clasping around Ne'tar, mouth right by the ear. Ne'tar feel air move when she speak! Ne'tar feel that this be too close, but Ne'tar look and no see Zalzy. No one to save Ne'tar now. Ne'tar ask for this, no know get touchy granny.

“Now I want you try and fly my dear. Don’t think about it too hard just imagine the air flowing around as your rise up like a glorious divine angel.” Esenma say.

Ne’tar, Ne'tar never leave ground but jump. Hop maybe. Fly? Ne'tar never, unless carry like bad bag as last night. Or when lizard mount kick, Ne'tar not sure that count fly though. "Ne'tar no angel. Ne'tar try." Ne'tar focus, Ne'tar try feel gentle air beneath his scales.

Ne'tar try feel gentle air. Gentle air lift. Gentle. Air. Swirl. Lift!

Nope. Ne'tar go nowhere. Ne'tar no do before, Ne'tar now do with added person, Ne'tar Orc though, Orc can do. He can do. Tar or no Tar Ne'tar was Orc Ne'tar was Ryujin would be Jin. Feeling the anger and the alone-ness of the situation, Ne'tar no care other on back or near, they no help. Ne'tar was alone with a word and point to follow. Only Ne'tar do. Ne'tar open mouth and roared at that air, Ne'tar no want puny breeze, Ne'tar call to all air, Ne'tar call to even frozen water beneath him, ARISE! ARISE AND LIFT NE'TAR! Ne'tar no use words, but Ne'tar sure air get idea. Ne'tar felt snow fall up into underside, snow got message, air did too as Ne'tar feel rise - rise Ne'tar until last toe nail barely scritch-scratch snow.

"NE'TAR DO IT!" he bellowed in glee, only Ne'tar forget wind and snow and air and lift. . .Ne'tar drop like rock on belly onto ground. "Ne'tar did it. Ne'tar kinda sure Ne'tar did."

TAG: @Shadowsun , @The Jedi in the Pumas (To observe)

 

IC: Esenma
Training Day and Story Time

The wind ryujin continued to lay upon the newborn's back, her mindset adrift in her thoughts as she waited patiently for the half-orc to fly, well hover.

"Ne'tar no angel. Ne'tar try."

Again she giggled at the half-orc, he was quite funny even if he didn't mean to be. She could feel him struggle a ball of emotions that was figuring out who he was. The anger, the loneliness, she felt her heart go out to the young half-orc. The potential that he showed, such a strong boy. After a little while, that was longer than she thought it was, the wingless ryujin began to hover slightly in the air, yelling excitedly in his achievement.

"NE'TAR DO IT!"

Esenma sat upright as he said this, a huge proud smile over her face, coercing the wind she lept off high in the air and landed next to him, her face still beaming. She ruffled the head of the dragon as she spoke.

"Well done my dear, I'm so proud of you." She continued to smile and rub his head as she gave the instructions to transform back.

"Now darling you need to do something arguably much, much harder. You need to suppress and bottle up that emotion you are feeling right now, control it, and reign it in. That doesn't mean it is going to go away, just control it. Do you understand my dear? After you transform back we'll see what we can do about getting a spot of lunch." She gave one last affectionate tickle behind the ear before stepping back and watching the dragon, nodding encouragingly as he focused.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto

 

Delsanra Taenya Helestina
Alone, within

Ad Delsanra was resting, chewing on the bits left of her meal, Zalzabar walked over to her after speaking to

“Remember how you only let out a tiny amount of your aura, how it felt to close off and weaken the aura flowing out? You’ll want to do that but all over your body and continuously.” He gave a slight chuckle as Delsanra lifted an eyebrow. "Continuously?" she echoed.

“I know it sounds like a lot, but it isn’t that bad, the thing about the stones is they require a lot of energy, but you can’t flood them have to give it they piece by piece but dampening your aura? Much easier. And don’t worry you won’t need to be able to keen all three stones to mask your ryujin presence, that is a bit more advanced, but I’m sure you too would like to become an elder one day?”

His eyes twinkled slightly as he said this, spinning and marching off, now lost in his thoughts.

"An elder?" Delsanra echoed softly. Of bleeping COURSE she would want to become an elder!!! After just seeing an inkling of what Zalzabar and Esenma could do, if she wasnt driven before, she certainly was now. She did wish he would stop walking away, however. Made it hard to ask questions. She hoped that ALL elders didn't get that excentric.

Delsanra finished hef meal, and then gracefully stood. Taking her cloak, she moved over to the side. She turned her head, startled when there was a very loud roar! It was Dominus! She looked as she saw Rebecca in a state she had never seen before and had only heard of. The woman looked possessed, and was going at Donimus full steam. By the three, the woman was powerful, if Dominus was roaring as such. If that was connected to the request of why she wanted a boar the night before, she would have to give thought to making something so the would could have something to cool her blood when needed. But such thoughts were for later.

As long as she didnt sense any immediate danger, Delsanra would continue with her studies. This was important. It was the same as when she was studying new spells. Magic was about control as well. Lack of control usually ended very badly. Even explosively sometimes. So she understood why such precise control was necessary. Delsanra walked away from the others for a small distance and spread her cloak about. She then laid down and placed the stones on her chest. A few seconds later, the stones slowly began to rise, and then slowly circle around each other, as they hovered over her.

Delsanra thought of like the light when it hit a prism. Of how that larger bit of light was split into smaller, more colorful shards of light. Or like how one filters a large amount of a thing into smaller, more multiple items. Delsanra exhaled softly and slowly. Like an hourglass, filtering the sands. But in this case, she felt smaller. Smaller than a grain of sand. It was like taking an ocean and filtering it, once drop at a time. But oceans could be filtered. By land, narrowing its pathways. Not the entire ocean needed to be contained. Just its edges. The parts that could lap out, and could react. Her aura was the same. The trick was not trying to contain the ocean that was her aura. But how to keep most of the flow within, and only letting out smaller amounts of it. She masked her aura from higher-level mages before, but they were human. This was different. The ones hunting them were used to hunting Ryujins. So they were better at picking out particular auras. So, the best way to hide was to make it smaller.

Delsanra looked over towards Cretaus. A plain human. A young human. A slight spell and her eyes narrowed for a moment. His aura. Not Ryujin. Well, not that she could tell. So his aura was a good thing to look at, and compare to the others. Is she could mold her own aura to mimic his.....

..Keep it small... Make it a whisper...from a might roar to a tiny trickle....


Delsanra then looked at her own aura around her, and try to replicate something closer to Cretaus as she closed her eyes to mere slits, ignoring the world around her, paying attention only to the stones.


TAG: @Shadowsun

 

(OOC: Post approved by @Shadowsun )

Rebecca Dragon
Training day

With both hands firmly on the hilt snow crunching under her feet the Crimson Blade pressed on continuing her attack. Her blade crashed against something like steel, but Dominus held no weapon. The edge bit into the hardened flesh and she looked up at him with a broad smile. The red tinged aura shined in her dark eyes, the flame of her bloodlust flickering in her pupil. His choice of fighting her on her terms made her more vicious, more aggressive. The ring of steel, the vibrations of violence shook her soul. This is what her heart longed for, almost as much as the moment of death, the struggle on the edge of a sword. The fight to survive or die at the hands of the enemy. It was the dangerous dance that made her feel alive, that sustained her and brought her to the next fight.

He thrust his hand like a spear towards her stomach, she deftly moved out of the way chopping at his hand and knocking it down before stepping into him with a slash which he blocked with his hand wrapping his fingers around the blade but not being able to disarm her as she quickly pulled it away. Around and around they went dancing to the music of destruction, played on their blades and bodies. His heavy hand scooped down to plant her on her back again but she blocked it with sword slashing into his elbow.

On and on they went her matching him move for move, step for step. The snow beneath their feet was a mess of footprints and slides, with crimson punctuating the struggle, this waltz of death.

Her strength grew and grew her smile too. She could see the thought on the snow elf's face, the strategizing. He was thinking of a way to win, the one that thinks has lost. She was reacting following her instincts trained into her by years of training and combat, he had them too but now they were not enough. Or was it that his instincts were to end this fight by completely overpowering her, turning into something she could not, a dragon.

He lept away from her getting the distance he so desired, distance she had no desire to give him. Rushing in the space between them closed but not before a trio of Domnius greeted her. For the frist time ever, she took a step back, sacrificed her unrelenting assault to prevent herself from being flanked. With a hop backwards she lunged for the man to her left just avoiding the striked of the Dominus aiming for her middle. With the same speed and power that she came at Dominus in the beginning she brought to this clone. Only this clone was weaker than the man from earlier.

His moves were slower, his skin not as durable, little cuts starting to form on his arms as he continued to block her attacks. Stepping around him she did everything she could to keep all three in front of her. She was a great warrior but numbers could very easily overwhelm her. Without taking a breath she struck again this time faster and striking low driving her blade into one of the clone's legs, he didn't have time to harden that part of his body, or simply she overcame his thickened hide driving into the muscles of his thigh. As the clone cried out in pain she quickly drove her blade into his chest watching the lights go out in his eyes…

She had done it, she had killed Dominus, a clone but still, in her mind it was the same. As she withdrew her blade her hand ran over the steel collecting the blood that now stained in. As a sign of her victory she quickly smeared the fresh lifeforce over her face, a great bellowing laugh coming from deep in her chest.

This was the Laughing Butcher, the Bloodstained Beast that cut a swath of red across the battlefield. This was Rebecca, her face covered in someone else's blood, laughing as if she'd hear the greatest joke in all the land…

The remaining clone grabbed her right arm pulling out of the way as Dominus himself tackled her to the ground pinning her against the cold snow. She looked up, pale face covered in crimson, her brilliant red hair splayed out behind her head. Her chest heaved not only with exertion, but relief...she had killed, she had watched the life fade from another being. A clone but, her blood didn't really care about that. A life of some sort had been snuffed, and it was clear Dominus was only looking to restrain her, not kill her. Had he made any move to kill her the fight would have continued, she would not let the ecstasy of death rob her of life either.

"So, do I need more training Master Dominus?" she asked voice dripping with sarcasm, and venom. What more could he teach her when she'd bested one of him, had driven him right to the edge of his abilities out of dragon form.

TAG: @Shadowsun

 

IC: Ne'tar
Training Day, Lesson - Life is Pain

Little Granny of big wind jumped off Ne'tar, before Ne'tar hug ground. She rub Ne'tar head, why do that? She think him have lucky horn or something? Then she say words.

"Well done my dear, I'm so proud of you." She continued to smile and rub his head as she talk, "Now darling you need to do something arguably much, much harder. You need to suppress and bottle up that emotion you are feeling right now, control it, and reign it in. That doesn't mean it is going to go away, just control it. Do you understand my dear? After you transform back we'll see what we can do about getting a spot of lunch." She gave one last affectionate tickle behind the ear before stepping back and watching the dragon, nodding encouragingly as he focused.

"Bottle up?" Ne'tar think on that while laying in the snow, try ignore what she do. Bottle like water skin, seal away for journey. Save something for later. Ne'tar did that with some good meat and fat bits before head to castle, Ne'tar ate those though. Hmm. They taste good. Emotion? Emotion Ne'tar no enjoy feeling? Ne'tar sad say Ne'tar have experience stuff that in skin. Emotion skin. Nodding Ne'tar focused, take what Ne'tar no want to feel, what trigger change, Ne'tar feel get smaller, stronger, harder. Ne'tar feel as if squeezed between claw tips, Ne'tar hold there. Then Ne'tar take Emotion Skin, put through lip of skin, put stop on top. press and seal with twist. Hold, let emotion sealing oil stick.

As Ne'tar do, Ne'tar no know time, but as Ne'tar learn do and effect change. . .Ne'tar in slow steps revert back to Ne'tar. "Ne'tar could eat." he softly stated as he opened his eyes with shrug.

TAG: @Shadowsun

 

IC: Dominus, The Knight of Power & Esenma
Training Day

Dominus felt himself internally recoil as the memory of him dying flashed into his mind as his clone ceased to be. He had died hundreds of times before, so it was more of a nuisance more than anything, still, it had that extra sting because of the beast that had led to his demise. The two remaining clones grappled Rebecca to the ground, knocking her sword out of her hand in the process. His aura glowing intensely as the clone absorbed back into the original his eyes were steelily mingled with anger and respect.

The bloodthirsty look in her eyes was good, her desire to kill dissipated. The fight was over with a mixed bag on who exactly 'won'. That was not to say the fight did not have its value, Dominus now understood the capability of her power and perhaps more importantly what to do next.

"So, do I need more training Master Dominus?"

The ryujin's eyes narrowed as she said this, he relinquished his grip on her letting her stand and recover her sword.

"Perhaps" he blurted out curtly, a little too annoyed to fully answer her question. He looked up at the sky, gauging the position of the sun. The fight had lasted far, far longer than he had anticipated.

"Come let's eat something"

---

Esenma did not spend that much time looking at Ne'tar as he began the process of reverting back into his ryujin form, instead she pottered off to prepare a nice little meal for them both, taking out some of those wonderous slabs of meat. She eyed them for a moment, the boar may have been big but eight people certainly ate a lot of food, they were running rather low.

She hummed quietly to herself as she cooked the meat, heading slowly back outside at the now humanoid Ne'tar.

"Very good my dear, excellent, excellent!" She conjured the wind to guide the snow to form two seats akin to how Zalzabar had done so various times before. She then sat neatly down on one handing a slab of meat to the half-orc she began to open her mouth to speak but before she could she eyed Dominus who had wandered over to them.

"Lady Esenma, I would like a word if that is alright." she gave a big sigh as she got up leaving her slab of meat on the chair she had been sitting on, Dominus gestured over to where they should speak, nodding to Rebecca to go ahead and eat.

"I will just be a moment until then do as you will" he stated plainly to the two of them, before marching off to converse with the elder ryujin.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @galactic-vagabond422

 

Cretaus IC:
~Story Time & Unexpected Meeting~

After a few minutes, Zalzabar seemed to settle in himself and begin with the promised story. Cretaus himself snuck in a quick glance toward Taella to see how attentive to this story she was before looking back to the ryujin teacher.

“Well yes, as I said you might know full-blooded Elves can live up to two thousand years, but yes, I’m not an elf nor even a half-elf, just a ryujin human. So yeah, normal humans like you, dear Cretaus, have a life span of eighty or so years, but ryujin humans can live up to four or five hundred years.”

Cretaus’ eyes went wide at the mention of how long an elf could actually live. He knew they were long lived, yes, but not that long. He said nothing though. His brow furrowed slightly at another bit of information he’d have to ask about later, but for now he wouldn’t interrupt. Also…how come humans like him got the short end of the stick when it came to lifespans anyway? Didn’t seem fair…

But hey, that’s life.

“Now that still doesn’t explain why I can live nine hundred years.”

No, it certainly did not. The teen kept quiet this time, not wanting to delay the answer to this.

“Well, I should tell you how a ryujin exactly becomes an elder. You see, Cretaus, you might not know this, but there are three main classes of ryujin: newborn like dear Ne’tar over there, who can barely transform upon command and require a great amount of emotion to do so. There are adepts like Kaynus, Anaxagore, and Delsanra who can transform upon command and have a great range in their capabilities, and finally, there are elders like myself and Esenma.”

Huh. Ok. Well, he wasn’t sure about ‘classes’, that just seemed to say who was younger than whom…but clearly it was also connected to power. Noted. Still…Esenma didn’t look like an elder to him! Then again…neither did Zalzabar. So confusing.

“Now, most people know the difference between a newborn and an adept: control. Being able to change form on command is the big piece.”

Well, now he knew as well.

“Most people, even adepts don’t know the difference between adepts and elders. Mainly because elders are so rare, only about thirty of us still exist. Malum is also an Elder Ryujin.”

So few? That was surprising…what was less surprising was that one of their enemies also was one. Somehow that just didn’t catch him off guard like some other things did. Almost like it was expected instinctively. Was that because he was used to all those who opposed him having much greater power?

Probably.

“Anyway, what makes an elder an elder, is when they ‘unlock’ their ‘Elder Form.’ The Elder Form, which has a bunch of different names, let’s see: ‘Ascended Ryujin Form’, ‘True Form,’ some even call it ‘The God State’, but I always found that a little ostentatious and inaccurate. One elder I knew called it ‘Super-Ryujin’ but we all agreed that was a silly name. Anyway, anyway, this Elder Form allows a ryujin to tap into their blessing from the Three to a much higher degree, resulting in a much larger dragon form. It also has a number of physiological changes, your magical capabilities get enhanced to a crazy degree, even when in your humanoid form, but the one you are probably interested in is that it often extends the life span of the individual. I’m not sure by how much as so few elders exist, but I can tell you that is why I have lived this long.”

As Zalzabar ate some snow, Cretaus just let the information just bounce around in his head for the brief moment given. So…this last ‘form’ essentially just made them like…like…He wasn’t sure what. Perhaps not gods, but something hard to fathom. He’d just say ‘beyond him’, but that wouldn’t be right either. Most things were. Still. What the Elder was saying was understood to the degree that he got the fundamentals of it.

“Well, I promised you a story so here we go, I’ll tell you how I achieved my Elder form. When I was oh, I don’t know, about one hundred and ninety-three, no no, four, yeah, one hundred and ninety-four; I left my old home in Zafir to travel and figure out how to achieve it. I spent many long years searching for old ryujin texts, you see back then there were even fewer elders than there are now, so not many people knew how one became an elder. My old master who had trained me in my youth was an elder, but I hadn’t seen him in many years by that point and no idea where he was, so I had to figure it all out by myself.”

Zafir. Another place he didn’t know. Expected by now, but still. Here Cretaus asked a little question that was presented before the man resumed.

“Who was your old master?”

It was hard to imagine Zalzabar as a boy, or maybe that was just him. Still, he was curious who had trained him. Especially if Zalzabar himself was going to train him in turn. It was like a chain, whom was bound by whom through the march of time. One’s knowledge continuing to persevere from one vessel of wisdom to the next.

“Where was I? Oh right, right. Well, I spent several decades tracking down these texts, many dead ends, loose threads, traveling from country to country, trying to get a single glimpse of anything that could help me find the key to unlocking this power, eventually, I found an ancient temple in Ahmound that seemed to worship some forgotten deity; rather fascinating stuff, lots of tombs buried in the desert, anyway, one of these lost temples had a book entitled ‘The Path of the Ryujin.’ Only issue was many of the parts were not in the common tongue, but in a forgotten language lost to the ages. Well, lost until now, so I spent several more decades, see why long lives are useful? Anyway, I spent more time cross-referencing the inscriptions in the tombs with more recent relics in the area and was able to slowly build back the language, you see some of the locals spoke a disjointed, descent of the language in the book, well more of a scroll, so I spent another fifty years reverse-engineering the language until I could read it. Now this was the really fun part, actually finding out what I had to do-“

Cretaus did definitely see why long lives came in useful after that long tangent. And he was able to figure out an old language no one spoke anymore? Amazing! He wondered if he could learn it…Cretaus mentally winced. Perhaps there were certain…things…he needed to learn before that.

While he kept listening, his head turned to see Anaxagore approaching them casually. His ears had picked up the man’s footsteps in the snow, despite his rapt attention to Zalzabar. He was no elf, not by a long shot, but his hearing was good for a human. Again, that whole past survival thing kicking in. Taella likely heard him coming way before him though.

Wonder why he was here?

“Apologies..er..Lord Elder….Would it be possible for me to borrow Cretaus for a moment?”

Cretaus blinked, his surprise very evident. Why would Anaxagore want him? Cretaus’ eyebrow rose, apprehension and excitement rising in equal measure.

“You dare interrupt me! I was just getting to the good part…alright, very well, take him away!”

Cretaus chuckled once, softly, at Zalzabar’s persistent humor before he slowly rose from his snow chair to look uncertainly at the ‘adept’ ryujin who had nodded toward him. He briefly noticed how Taella had jumped up as well at Anaxagore’s approach, but then scowled and looked away after he had asked to ‘borrow’ him.

What was that about?

Too many unknowns. The biggest currently now coming to take him away to elsewhere.

“Um…ok, I’ll…I’ll follow you then. Though I’m not sure why you want me,” he replied honestly before following Anaxagore to some distance away to garner a level of privacy.

The boy’s eyes searched him curiously the whole while.

Tag: Anaxagore, Zalzabar, & Taella @greyjedi125 (Combo?) @Shadowsun @Kurisan

 

IC: Ne'tar
Training Day - Lunch!

Esenma go make food, leave Ne'tar do what Ne'tar must return to healthy green gray form. Time she get back Ne'tar ready eat!

"Very good my dear, excellent, excellent!" She make wind make snow seats, sit and pass slab of meat Ne'tar. Then Flashy one come, granny touchy leave meat behind and give blood one.

"I will just be a moment until then do as you will" dark elf say before go off with granny touchy. Poor guy ask for it. Ne'tar no watch.

Taking bite Ne'tar eye her, she fight again. She like Ne'tar day Ne'tar Mom die. Only she no get better. "Hm." Ne'tar grunt, soft with gesture for her eat. "Ne'tar think we need more for journey, long walk or long fly. Either way, need more for journey. You need fresh blood? Like Orc in burning?"

TAG: @Shadowsun , @galactic-vagabond422