Conquest Of The Crystal Kingdoms IC

[ActRaiser]

http://roleplayerguild.com/showthrea...*High-Fantasy*

Grand Palace Zaras
A great palace stretches out mile beyond mile, as a testament to the Emperor's wealth, and power. Here in this massive royal city, both unspeakable atrocities and unexpected kindnesses have taken place. In the Far East, well-beyond the other Crystal Kingdom's reach before the Emperor conquered them, this Palace is the capital of the entire known world. It is here that your journies begin. You have been all seized by the Emperor, an immortal man who's cruelty was once legendary. None of you know if you will ever see life again. Something though, is strange. None of you are in the prisons that the Palace is known for. Instead, you seem to be treated like royalty. Even if you WERE royalty, you doubt that the Emperor would have bothered to treat you so well. Something is definitely weird here.

[MacDoogleBlah]

Having been seized, I thought it was over. It was just a little while ago I was traveling down a small dirt road to a small village where I heard a blacksmith lived. This blacksmith was said to forge the strongest swords in all the world. On my way to see him I was abruptly stopped by the emperor's men. Taken out of my quest, I was brought to what I thought would be a deep, dark, and smelly prison. Instead, I found myself treated as a royal- better treatment than I had ever found in Mazdis, where I lived a rich and lavish lifestyle. I take a deep breath, and pull out my sword. Weird I find it that the king left me with a weapon- a tool with which to kill. Had he wished, I could have been stripped down, but no, he left me clothed and armed with a weapon, one which I new too well I could use to a deadly extent. Everything seems confusing, and hopefully should be revealed to me soon- rarely does the antagonist take someone such as myself without reason. I take another breath, put away my sword, and take a sip of sweet wine. How terrible to be stuck in paradise.

[Erodios]

Maiakos was pacing back and forth, his eyes looking all around. It was not too long since he had been taken from the steppe by the emperor's men, and brought to this place. He felt so out of place, his familiar tent walls of felt and leather were now the sturdy walls of a palace, he had never been in a building like this before. He was worried for his herd, lest another clan steal his hard tended animals, or worse his own clan steal them amongst themselves. He gripped onto his bow in anger at the thought before finally stopping and sitting down. He pushed his blond hair from his face and tried to relax, after all, however suspicious this situation was, he might as well enjoy himself.

[Skryte]

Hex wandered the palace, having never really been in such a clean place like this. Even the stone paths outside were devoid of dirt and dust. He wasn't really nervous or anything, he was a Mercenary, or a bounty hunter sometimes. It wasn't unusual for people to want him to do jobs or tasks they would not have the skill to do themselves, but he had never taken a task from someone this high in the social ladder. The Emperor himself. Who knows what kind of dangerous task the Emperor needs complete? What his thousands of armies, hundreds of heroes and personal guard could not do, could Hex really deliver? Thinking about it made Hex uneasy, he traveled to the Royal Guards Barracks and there were several guards training. Hex walked over to the archery range and stood next to a Royal Archer. He let fly an arrow he picked up from the arrow stock, the arrow's path true and straight, landing with a heavy thunk into the bullseye. He gathered several more from the nearby stock and continued to fire arrows down range, each one landing within centimeters of each other, creating the tightest grouping of those currently training.
A royal archer saw the impressive grouping and walked to Hex, "You're one of the VIP's, right?"
Hex stopped and turned to the archer, "Yeah, if you could call me a VIP."
"To be honest, when I heard of your arrival, I imagined pish-posh high nobility type guys, not some dirty run down archer." The archer said, with a devious grin on his face,
one of the VIPs, there's more of us here. Hex thought, he glared at the royal archer. "'Some dirty run down archer'? Do you think you could do better than a dirty run down archer?" Hex challenged. He got back to firing arrows down range. This time, each arrow he fired, split an arrow that he had fired previously in half. The royal archer stood silent at the display, speechless.

[ActRaiser]

It would be mere moments until the messengers would finally arrive and inform the group assembled from the ancient royal families of their role in the world. The Emperor would soon be speaking with each of them personally, and their fates would be written in the stars forever. From the Eastern Isles of Yamatai, to the Most Western Isles, Emperor Zaras had made the Empire personally. Was he a cruel heartless villain, a shinging benevolent governor and royalty, or something inbetween? None of those seized by the Emperor's men would know until that fateful moment where they would see him face to face. The time had finally arrived, a man wearing a turban, and bearing a curved sword came to the assembled royalty. "It is time for negotiations with Emperor Zaras." He informed them, a most peculiar choice of words. "Negotiations?" Nevertheless, the Messenger and his men herded the party to the very Throne Room of the Emperor Zaras himself.

[MacDoogleBlah]

Having lost track of time, I finally gained a bit of direction when a messenger came to my "home". He told us of "negotiations" with the Emperor, and ushered us into the throne room. I was a bit confused, why were they capturing us, then treating us as royalty? Why did they want us to negotiate with the emperor? I didn't know negotiations were necessary! I crept along with the other men, whom I recently realized were in a similar situation as I, following slowly and keeping into shadows in case something terrible occurred.

[Calvin]

With the sun shining clearly into the Royal Gardens and a beautiful courtesan on each arm feeding him exotic delicacies from all reaches of the empire, Bertrand was having the time of his life. After biting into a deep red fruit that shone like a jewel and having it's juices burst in his mouth like a pomegranate seed, he laughed loudly and messily in sheer pleasure. His escorts laughed with him while discreetly wiping his mouth with a soft, moistened cloth and a gentle kiss. Although he enjoyed his company, it was the beauty of the gardens that had so enchanted Bertrand. Enormous flowers in full bloom showed him patterns more intricate than any painting with colors more vivid than he had thought possible. Indescribable scents wafted through the air which seemed to speak directly to his heart, filling him with a sense of rapture and realization. And in the background, the babbling of a brook and chirping of playful birds in the trees seemed to compose a song all by themselves. He was enveloped in indulgence, and every one of his senses felt more alive than he could remember.

Such treatment and splendor were a welcome change -- and worthy reparation -- after the startled confusion of being taken into the custody of the Emperor's clockwork soldiers. Wooden and metal men without faces that moved in jolts and spurts, like a pressed spring being let loose, Bertrand found them wholly disturbing. What he had found even more disturbing was that the soldiers had rendered him unconscious for the majority of the journey, although he was somewhat glad he hadn't had to sit through the long trip. Between his previous rough treatment and then the welcome reception he had received at the palace, Bertrand didn't know what to think. So, he didn't think anything. Bertrand simply let his escorts lead him and enjoyed the experience.

Having completely lost himself in hedonism, Bertrand only just realized that he was standing in the Imperial Throne Room as his companions left him. He looked ahead with a large smile on his heavy jowls and remarked in a booming voice,

"Splendid! Absolutely splendid!"

[Skryte]

Hex was pulled away from the archery range by several guards, he resisted at first, by instinct. But alas, he stopped and eventually followed. He arrived into a room with several others, and then a man appeared. From the deserts of the middle east, Hex thought. The curved sword, skin color, turban, it all fit the card.
"It is time for negotiations with Emperor Zaras." The man said.
Negotiations? Hex thought, he scratched the cheek of his helmet, well I am a Captain of the militia. But what of the others? He asked himself, glancing at the others. Some were warriors, but others, were not. Hex sighed and walked into the throne room of the Emperor, head held high.

[ActRaiser]

Emperor Zaras
The Emperor looked to them on his throne. He was aged, the look of a man of eighty years or more. Yet he was immortal. He smiled at the people as they had their looks of confusion on their faces. "Aw, welcome. I am Emperor Zaras. I see that you are confused why you are prisoners and yet honored guests at the same time. It is time that this Empire learn the truth. First of all, I would like to hear your questions and I will answer them as well as I can. But first I must ask, has your accomadations been satisfactory?"