In the capital of New Capita, Mokata Kingdom, people were quite busy running around trying to achieve an entire day's amount of work in a small amount of hours. The reason behind this being that earlier that afternoon the King would be sending down his official messanger to give the people of the kingdom a new royal decree. Rumor had it that the decree would contain new information regarding the rumors of the big mysterious upcoming threat that has caused a surge of refugees to swarm New Capita.

Most of said refugees were quite shaken, and the people that saw their condition didn't fare much better. Anything that could make an island of warriors basically disappear within a few days would be a terrifying concept in itself, but seeing some of those career soldiers clinging to what was left of their families with that dead look in their eyes...It was harrowing.

Residents were gathering in the capital to recieve the news firsthand, though doomsayers had already taken to the street shouting about the endtimes. All anyone could truly hope was that their words were simply hollow shouts for attention.

This had caused quite the stir of adventurers from all corners of New Capita, causing not only an influx of civilians flooding the kingdom but of many warriors of various shapes and sizes wielding magic, melee weapons, and ranged weapons alike. Some were people who could transform into beasts, others were people who claimed dominion over smaller creatures. There were warriors who were skilled snipers with their bows, and others who mountained over others with their physique.

At the sound of noon's bell the people gathered in front of the front gates of the castle of Mokata, eagerly watching as the official messanger walked down the steps, parchment in hand.

"His Royal Highness has decreed a state of emergency. The unknown threat in the south has destroyed both the kingdom of Rjaskav and Solvnir. All of the information we have is from key nobles that have relocated here to seek refuge, so its reliability is questionable. These are trying times and as such, recent events may have skewed their perception. All we know for certain is that a strange conquering army invaded the island and conquered it. Because of this, the king is offering a bounty of two hundred and fifty thousand gold to any group that can provide solid evidence of this strange army. This reconaisance will be vitally important in the days to come, so any and all adventurers are invited to participate in the scouting party. In the meantime, the king has asked that our citizens provide shelter and aid to the refugees
fleeing their home as we could only hope they would for us." The messenger read from the gold trimmed oarchment.

[So it is strongly suggested that your character starts from this point, having heard the royal decree. if not, the decree will have been spread across the island quickly.]

@Chieri@Suku@Eisenhorn@AluminumDude@Levias@Leos Klien@PaulHaynek@Lugia@Bright_Ops@Grec

Troe gripped his singlet ring when he heard the news. Had his family been among the refugees he would have run into them by now. They would have certainly looked him up, and it certainly wouldn't take his two sisters long as they wrote to him every opportunity they had. They had been silent for quite a while longer than usual, which should have been a sign...but perhaps he didn't want to think about it.

Fighting back tears at the thought, he resigned himself to join one of the many scouting parties that would undoubtedly arise to claim the money. While he doubted there was anything he could do to help his almost definitely deceased family, he could at least find out what had happened. Rjaskav and Solvnir were filled with stout and skilled warriors, for something to conquer them without much fuss...it couldn't be a normal invading army. It was clear that the king's decree was merely to calm the people and advertise the reconnaissance contract.

This brought up an excellent question, why would the king send adventurers out instead of the royal army? Certainly they had plenty of scouts available. Unless of course he knew the danger of the mission...adventurers would be expendable and much more versatile, but that wouldn't be enough to justify sending strangers to their dooms.

Troe sighed and placed his ring back on. For all he knew, that was all that remained of his home. He reached into his bag and gripped his spelltome. It was just a standard wind spell, but it could definitely do some damage.

"Now all I have to do is find a group to travel with and..." He trailed off as he scanned the crowd for anyone that looked like they were planning to take the offer.

While he had seem plenty of refugees from Rjaskav and Solvnir that seemed broken down or just... hollow from the horrors, Artyom didn't seem all that fussed himself. Standing in the crowd with an almost bored expression, hand resting on the hilt of a sword that had traveled with him through good days and ensured that he lived to see through the bad ones as he listened to the announcement. Truthfully he didn't really need to hear about what the creatures were; He was fairly certain that his own experiences with them were greater then anything some noble bastards had noticed while looking over their shoulder with their tail between their legs while driving a wagon filled with as much of their wealth as they could load up while their hired help fought and died to buy them time... but you never knew, maybe someone had actually spotted something he had missed.

As the announce came and went, he learned nothing new about the creatures down south... but the bounty that they were offering as a damn fine one... and odds were good that there was still plenty of riches back south that hadn't been transported in time that could be rescued from the darkness.

Glancing around himself for a moment to see if he could spot any other takers, his gaze fell on a young boy wearing the colors of their homeland of Rjaskav doing the same. Offering the kid a small smile, he walked over before nodding his head. "Thinking of heading back south?" He offered the kid a hand to shake "Artyom Barkov, ready to go for a second round with the shadowy buggers. Beats waiting around for them to get here."

@Heckno12

Before Nick could enter any of the houses, which he still called 'dens', a whole bunch of people started gathering somewhere, and oddly few of them even noticed him. he noticed them, of course, and he was amazed. Humans... and this many, too! Nick thought as he walked over towards where everyone was gathering, still in his fox form as usual, of course, that being said, he wasn't quite aware that he HAD a human form, yet, and he sat down and listened as a short man shouted through a metal tube to tell everyone about some approaching evil... and they were offering gold, oddly enough, for any evidence of a strange army. Nick had heard of armies before, they were simply what they called a huge group of humans with that metal stuff, but this dark army was apparently strange, somehow. That's just about when he recalled that the shouting guy said something about them destroying an entire island... yeah, that WOULD be cause for alarm, and if this gold stuff could be traded for anything, then that would be why they were offering so much for information about it. Nick's attention eventually turned to a couple of humans, one wearing a robe, and one wielding a sword... he overheard a bit of the conversation that implied that these guys were going to fight against these 'shadowy buggers', and from the context, Nick figured out that he meant that 'strange army' that destroyed that island. Nick made his way to those two, apparently scaring a few people along the way, and he sat down near the sword-wielding one, and simply said "If those things are what I think they are, then I'll help as much as I can,"

Nick didn't exactly realize that these people might not be used to the idea of a talking fox, so he just sat there, waiting for a reply while he tried to take in the sights and smells around him. It smelled mostly of sweat, and it seemed like the crowd of people blocked most of the sights, unfortunately, as they seemed to be densely packed into the center of town, where the announcement was made. The people were wearing all sorts of different clothes, and colors, implying that they had various different roles, or varying amounts of wealth. Due to Nick moving his line of sight around, it probably seemed like he wasn't paying attention to anything anyone was saying, but he was still waiting for some sort of response from the humans he spoke to, earlier, and once he heard them speak, he would make sure to keep his ears tilted towards them, just so he could hear it, unaware of the fact that him moving his head and eyes away from the group was probably seen as rude to them. Huh... that stench is overpowering... where is it coming from? Ugh, it smells like it's coming from everywhere, and worse, I can't see through this wall of humans. Wait, they didn't trap me, did they? I hope not, but maybe I should start thinking about an escape plan just in case they did. Nick thought to himself as he searched the wall of humans for any different smells, or anywhere that wasn't blocked by them... a truly fruitless endeavor, to be sure.

Ansgar was simply one of the numerous bodies that found themselves being coralled towards the square where some royal decree of some sort, or another, was to be made. The soldier himself had not been awake for terribly long, and had a pounding headache from the night of hard drinking. Frankly, he was surprised he was awake right now, and so early too! That had been his life the past few days since he arrived here in the capitol, was drinking himself into a coma and ignore the refugees as best he could. Unlike quite a few good samaritans that had been helping refugees and the like, the man had fled from the now conquered island quite a few years prior to that. Yet here he was, faced with once again the prospect of going back south towards such places. It was unlikely anyone who knew him had survived, which made him rather less averse to the idea of the matter. However, he had to figure out a group that would march their happy asses down there and not die. He didn't wear the colors of his home anymore, it was too obvious if someone was trying to track him these days still for what happened, yet he did spot something that might be of use. Two wearing the colors of Rjaskav, long standing enemies of his own home nation. There seemed to be another who seemed interested in helping, but he could not get a solid read on him. Too much of a hangover, really. Yet he didn't feel any real ill will towards them. The infighting between both nations was as much keeping one another sharp, as it was anything else.

Since he had no identifying markings that related him to Solvnir and, by all accounts, both nations were wiped out, there was no qualms on the part of Ansgar with working with the two. They seemed competent enough, and he casually approached the two of them, lance resting on his shoulders, walking with a relaxed gait, apparently unconcerned with the royal decree's hidden motives. Why waste state manpower when you could con glory seekers and those trying to make their fortune to do the work for you? It made sense to the former Solvnir soldier, so he gave it no further thought. Rather, he spoke at the two Rjaskav men, since he caught the tail end of one mentioning heading down southwards to do some scouting on the matter, follow through with the royal decree, all that fine business. "Waiting only delays the inevitable, eh? Got no stake in the matter outside survival, but that is as fine a stake as any, I would wager." Riches really meant little to Ansgar, as long as he could afford his next drink, he was happy. Odd behavior for a man of Solvnir, but he had distanced himself as much as he could, at least off the field of battle. In a fight? It would likely give him away as a former member of their standing army. But, for now? They likely would not be able to tell the difference.

@Bright_Ops@Heckno12@Lugia

Troe cautiously shook the man's hand. He wasn't exactly one to brashly greet strangers, but maybe it would be good to have an outspoken ally like this one.

"I'm Troe of house Revinah. Nice to meet you." Troe introduced himself formally. Despite his leaving, he still had to represent his family on some level. Besides, he didn't know anything about this man other than the fact that he was clearly from Rjaskav. "I haven't been back home in years, but it seems that now I don't have a choice." He said attempting a more casual tone.

"Wait...you said another round? You've already faced them?" He asked curiously. The information from a few moments ago was severely lacking, and if they had to come to blows with whatever had taken both the Rjaskavi and Solvniri forces on, any small detail could be vital.

Before he could press for more answers however, a fox walked up and began to speak to Artyom. Troe realized that it was a kitsune like the ones he had seen in a few of the stories he read instead of studying. Though, it was a bit curious that it wasn't in its human form. It was offering to help in the mission, so of course that was good.

It seemed as though they were gathering a party pretty quickly as another man walked up and began to speak of helping out. It was a bit odd for strangers to congregate like this, but Troe would never turn away help in such a dangerous mission.

"I'll agree with you on that." Troe said to the newcomer. "Though, I'd be lying if I said survival was my biggest concern here." He continued idly adjusting the ring on his finger.

@Eisenhorn@Lugia@Bright_Ops

Fie Testarossa

Fie sighed as she heard the announcement it was basic and she honestly was interested in the money reward it should help greatly with her research. Despite it she couldnt help but overhear them talking about forming a group something she could probably aid in if they werent like most others and call her evil due to being a dark mage. "If I may cut in would you have room for one more person?" She added she walked up to them her cape seemingly defying logic as despite walking it was staying perfect straight. "Fie Testarossa is my name" She added as if her name wasn't important to the overall conversation.

She knew about the whole abyss thing and was researching a bit into it but overall it was a back burner project to her but she was going to be dead honest at the rate it was going perhaps a shift in focus was required. If she could figure out how it worked perhaps she would be able to figure out how to stop it. She recognized one from the library in which she worked she didnt talk to him much as she was often busy with her own research more than socializing with her peers. She looked at the group her mind drifting to thoughts onto her projects and how to best carry them as got lost into her own thoughts waiting from them to respond as her foot tapped waiting for their answer.
@Heckno12@Eisenhorn@Lugia@Bright_Ops

The only outward indication of any distress at the news came in the form of a furrowed brow and the faintest of frowns putting at her lips. Rosalia felt that familiar ache in her chest at the reminder that her home was no more, but the knowledge that her parents had at least managed to flee numbed a pain that otherwise would have been much more intense. Still, her heart ached for the friends who she knew had likely been unable to escape; although her mother and father had been able to use their rank to escape so quickly, the same could not be said for the majority of others.

That was merely one worry off of her chest though. Even if she were to ignore the fact that her younger sister was still unaccounted for, there was…you know, the whole thing about the land presently being under some sort of dire, mysterious threat. Truly, she couldn’t help but note dryly, blinking slowly as her eyes scanned the crowd that surrounded her, There is never any rest for my poor heart.

Her gaze flickered from face to face, taking in the different expressions that each individual wore. None, she noted with no surprise, looked remotely happy at the decree, though a few had a spark in their eyes as they quickly converged with others to whisper about something or the other. If she were to wager a guess, Rosalia would bet that some people were considering that little deal of the King’s. Money was always a powerful motivating factor, and the King obviously knew that it’d sway more than a few people. For a moment she wondered if they were aiming for two birds with one stone—find more information about this “threat” and simultaneously decrease the number of refugees that had suddenly flooded the kingdom by sending them off on a dangerous journey—but she dismissed the thought with a sharp shake of her head.

Rosalia had just been about to turn and leave when she caught a snippet of conversation from the small group of men that had formed just beside her. She hesitated for all of one moment before speaking up, her voice quiet but still audible above the din of voices around them. ”Brave to be considering to undertake such a task,” she murmured, eyes drifting between each of them in turn (and momentarily doing a double-take at the fox), ”Though I will be the first to admit that sitting here and doing nothing will do little to benefit us.”

@Heckno12 @Eisenhorn @Lugia @Bright_Ops

Keerin had been doing nothing but assist the refugees ever since they came. The tales of armies with shadow for their cloaks and darkness as their weapons were widely-known amongst the shellshocked survivors. The so-called 'Abyss' had appeared from the south and has been expanding ever since, consuming the two kingdoms south of New Capita into its void.

None of this concerned Keerin much. Her loved ones were far away from all this. However, if this 'Abyss' continued its expansion then she might want to do something about it. It was then a royal decree was announced.

"His Royal Highness has decreed a state of emergency. The unknown threat in the south has destroyed both the kingdom of Rjaskav and Solvnir. All of the information we have is from key nobles that have relocated here to seek refuge, so its reliability is questionable. These are trying times and as such, recent events may have skewed their perception. All we know for certain is that a strange conquering army invaded the island and conquered it. Because of this, the king is offering a bounty of two hundred and fifty thousand gold to any group that can provide solid evidence of this strange army. This reconaisance will be vitally important in the days to come, so any and all adventurers are invited to participate in the scouting party. In the meantime, the king has asked that our citizens provide shelter and aid to the refugees
fleeing their home as we could only hope they would for us."

The bounty was high and Keerin didn't doubt that an army of adventurers would set out, ready to claim that bounty. She, however, doubted that all of them would return alive or, if they were lucky, return as shellshocked people no different from the refugees.

Still, if the stories of the 'Abyss' were true and it will expand forever, Keerin believed she would need to get to the bottom of this before it was too late. Or at the very least, properly warn her beloved. Of course, that assumed that she would survive the adventure. She thought that maybe she should have a contingency plan of sorts.

The Cleric saw a group already forming and talking about heading out. She decided that this group was as good as any and with her Mend staff in hand, she approached the group. "You are a group heading out, yes? Do you have need for a Cleric in your group?" Keerin asked calmly. Her eyes began checking all those present but she put little effort in it. She might be turned down after all making all that a waste.

@Heckno12 @Eisenhorn @Lugia @Bright_Ops @Chieri @Suku

Markus had been in the middle of the crowd when the announcement came. He tried to stay close to where his kitchen was, but was quickly swept away by the large swarm of people that flooded the area. So despite his best wishes, he found himself in the middle of a large group of people with shock in their eyes, but also something more. Some spoke of going down to fight the disaster, and claiming the bounty placed for new information.

Markus considered whether or not he wanted the reward. Money is certainly a problem when you have to feed a wyvern, and it would pay more than cooking. Markus nodded to himself. While the premise of making more money, and letting his wyvern fly free to the skies seemed the reason for his choice, he knew he wanted to join to regain the sense of camaraderie he had known on his home of Airi Island. He nodded to himself. and he wandered over to a group of people. As he glanced over their party he grimaced. There was no sense of co-operation, just a lust for money. He had a feeling they might die in the face of this threat.

Markus shifted his person over to another group that had caught his eye. Well, it wasn't so much the group, as the fox that was within that group. He waited at the outskirts for the conversation to finish, however, as more and more people joined he knew it would be harder to get his voice in. So he waited longer. There was a lot of odd people in the group too. But he let it slide. He'd be able to have fun with this group, he felt it. He put the ladle he had carried from the kitchen out in front of him, hoping that one of them might realize he could cook, something any well respected group of mercenaries needed.

@heckno12 @Eisenhorn @Lugia @Bright_Ops @Chieri @Suku

It was interesting.

All he had done was shake a kid's hand (named Troe... came from a noble house and still acted like that meant something in this new day and age. Who knew, maybe he'll live long enough that it just might) and stated an interest in heading South in pursuit of fun and profit when an absolute flood of people came out of the woodwork in order to join such an endeavor! One of them was even a talking bloody fox! Hell, he strongly suspected that if he waited for a little while longer a couple more people would show up and attempt to throw their lot in with this group that seemed to be forming around himself and Troe.

If Artyom had known it would have been this easy to create a mercenary band, he would have gone out on his own years ago. Still, there were some things that had to be brought into order first and foremost.

Letting out a short, sharp whistle in order to draw forth the attention of everyone there, he quickly slid into the role of a confident sergent. "Alright everyone listen up! To answer what questions that have been asked so far, yes this group is going to be heading South in relation to the bounty just offered and anyone who asked if we could use whatever talents or skill set you just said welcome aboard!" Taking a moment to take a deep breath, he quickly continued "I have faced these things before and survived, I'm happy to go into more detail about that after we have started to head off because I would don't want to tell that story more times then I have to for educational purposes and I suspect we'll be getting a few more people before we leave."

Taking a moment to see if there were going to be any other hopefuls walking over to sign up, he quickly decided to get into the brass tax "Now that we have that settled, my name is Artyom and who here knows where we can get a wagon or two, some beasts to pull it and some basic supplies around here? Because I don't know about you but I would rather avoid cannibalism because there wasn't any food for as long as possible." From the dark chuckle that escaped him, it was meant to be a joke... mostly.

Pointing out to the man with the ladle, he quickly asked "You know how to fight as well as cook? Because it'll make everyone's lives a lot easier if you can."

@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Chieri@Suku@Heckno12@Eisenhorn@Lugia

Cael Augire's day had been a strange one. Normally there were merchants in need of quick and reliable protection - or at least someone looking to off one of said merchants on a trade route - all over the city. Today it seemed as if no one was leaving. It's just as good. Maybe I can do some research about all of these refugees. The refugees had come in a singular swarm, flooding the town and overpopulating it within a short while. Most of the people coming in seemed to be distraught, crazed even. This 'Darkness' that a man had talked to him about, it didn't sound metaphorical. The way that old man had described it, they'd been running from physical manifestations of evil.

Suddenly, Cael heard people rushing behind him. Placing a hand on his sword's hilt and pulling it out of the sheathe a little bit, he spun quickly, just to see that people were running by him to get to the town square. "We've gotta get there so we can actually hear the announcement!" One of them said to the other in a hurry. The other responded, but Cael couldn't make it out as they were already turning down another road. Maybe this announcement will help clarify things. I'm sure the royal family would at least try to explain this influx of people to the people.

Taking his hand off of his sword, he slid it right into the sheathe at his right side while jogging towards the town square. He stood a couple inches higher than the average man, so seeing the announcer wouldn't be hard, but he wanted to make sure he could actually hear the man if it was going to be crowded.

After the announcement had been made, Cael's interest was piqued. A reward for something I already was trying to do. Hell yes. Not only could he help his home, he'd be paid better than most jobs for it as well. Instead of thinking about it any more than necessary, Cael began to look around the crowd for anyone else looking to take part in a mission. The first group he could see was made up of what looked like a bunch of inexperienced kids. Shaking his head, he kept looking around until he heard someone announce, "Alright everyone listen up! To answer what questions that have been asked so far, yes this group is going to be heading South in relation to the bounty just offered and anyone who asked if we could use whatever talents or skill set you just said welcome aboard!"

Cael turned to look at the group, much more satisfied with at least the appearance of experience there. Stepping over to the group, he caught onto the butt end of what the man - Artyom - was saying about the creatures. He's faced the creatures? So they are real, and you can fight them. Stopping his thoughts before they could get out of hand, Cael steeled himself and put on the metaphorical mask.

"I'd be more than grateful to join your party, sir." He called out to Artyom after he'd finished talking to a young man carrying a ladle. "Cael Augire, Myrmidon. One of the best swords for hire in the city." While he said that and appeared confident, he wasn't actually sure of its validity. Sure, he wasn't one of the worst, but there were Swordsmasters in the city as well. "And if you've need of supplies, I have some contacts that can help us get food and wagons quickly, though someone else will have to find your beasts."

@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Chieri@Suku@Heckno12@Eisenhorn@Lugia@Bright_Ops

Kieran had watched and listened to the announcement from the rooftop of the building across from the front of the Castles gates. He hung off the front of the roof, dangling his feet and supporting himself with his elbows. While he was suprised their worthless king was willing to part from his precious gold, he was not suprised that this new threat was scaring so many people already. He was not afraid to admit, to himself not to other people, that this upcoming threat scared him as well. Nothing in recent history has been capable of engulfing whole islands. He had done his research before hearing this announcement, it was the whole reason he had come back to New Capita in the first place, and if he was going to have to face this threat he wanted to face it on his home turf where he had the most advantage. He gripped his hand carved bow, a light silver color type of wood not found in New Capita, in his right hand and hung it over his shoulder. He checked his quiver that hung behind him on his waist, then his pouch on his side. He had his guts, his brains, and his equipment. Kieran smiled, ready for another adventure.

Kieran left New Capita for adventure in the first place, never truly expecting to come home. He had spent years away, thinking he was never going to come home. He has never fought the foreign fighters before, but he had seen them. Quite a little while ago, he had been adventuring in the kingdom of Solvnir when the first of the invaders had appeared. Kieran thought on it, trying to remember what he had been doing exactly.........he vaguely remembered trying to find a missing pet or something for a rather striking noblewomen when he first spotted the invaders. The sound is what attracted his attention first. The inhumanly in sync sound of hundreds upon hundreds of feet shuffling together, moving as if they were even breathing at the same time. Kieran had thought how odd that was, that such a huge army could act as one in such a way. It was very.......inhuman. Kieran had then planned on just leaving, not truly caring one way or another. Kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell, if this one fell from this army then oh well. His home of homes was New Capita anyways. Then it was more than the sound. The army had run into a pack of wolves. Kieran expected....well he had not really expected anything. He became curious how they would handle the wolves, if a single skilled warrior would pop out of the front and slay the wild beasts or would they act as one and strike all foes down at once?

What they did will stay in Kierans mind. The front of the army swarmed the pack of wolves faster than he could blink, almost literally shredding them to pieces. The wild animals stood no chance, and did not live long enough to regret it. The front of the army moved as one in a single breath, some with swords and some with spears, and hacked and slashed the small pack of wolves in an almost instant.

Kieran was brought back to reality as a group seemed to be forming. He cocked his head to the side, wanting to know what was happening. No one else who looked interesting seemed to be grouping up at the moment, and he felt inclined to make himself known. Kieran stood himself up and brushed himself off, looking at his white short sleeved white shirt with his propped up collar, his black pants and boots, and his black cloth bracers on his wrists. His equipment was good, and he felt good. Kieran took a single step forward falling down slightly but catching himself on the ledge of the roof. Kieran took small to medium drops down the side of the building, scaling down it in a manner of seconds. Kieran landed on his feet and rolled away.

Walking up to the main group, Kieran showed a cocky attitude and a hearty smile. "Whats going on? Looks like you guyd are a colorful bunch, you wouldnt happen to be wanting to group up for the bounty right? If so, want a skilled archer? Name is Kieran." Kieran gave everyone a small and quick two finger salute.

@aluminumdude@paulhaynek@chieri@suku@heckno12[@eishorn]@lugia@bright_ops@levias

In the span of maybe a minute or two nine people (Or eight and a fox if you'd prefer) had gathered. It wasn't clear if all of them planned to go or not, but it certainly seemed likely. Perhaps fate had corralled them for some purpose, or perhaps it was merely coincidental. It mattered not in the end, as the destination would likely be the same.

One thing some of the others didn't seem to understand however, was that directly engaging these strange beings wouldn't be the mission. It was a simple recon that, barring anything going wrong, would only involve a small skirmish or two.

Troe looked at everyone who had gathered and allowed the slightest of smiles to appear. He was actually going to travel with a bunch of strangers at what was essentially the drop of a hat.


This is far from what I thought I would be doing a week ago. Troe thought to himself vacantly. "You all can split the bounty if we survive, I don't want anything to do with it. I just need to get home and...see things for myself." He said. "And unless you think we can swim a four day long voyage, we'll need a boat as well. I'll leave that bit of planning to you all, I've got a few things to pack." Troe said backing away from the group to head towards the library. He had most of the basics that he would need (his spell tome, some snacks, and some money for the trip), but after mentioning how long the trip would be he realized that he would need a few books to pass the time as well.

@dabombjk@Levias@Bright_Ops@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Chieri@Suku@Eisenhorn@Lugia (jeez this is a lot of people to mention)

Well, color him impressed if a large party hadn't gathered already! Seemed to have just about every area covered, from cavalry style folks, judging by the one woman's armor even if it was aerial in nature, to hardy close range fighters. And with the archer approaching, that covered range. The mage could work at a distance too, so it seemed they had their bases covered. A well rounded group could adapt better than a focused one, even if that focused one was more effective in one or two given situations. The one fellow, one of the ones from his homeland, just from the opposing nation, spoke at length about having faced the things before and seemed to be taking a leadership role of some sort or another. Fine by him, really, Ansgar thought. He wasn't one for leading anymore, hadn't been for years. The questions about supplies drug an idle shrug from the soldier, he wasn't one for keeping up with supplies. Scrounge up some food, get a drink down his throat, and he was set for the evening. But he made a remark on the matter though, as the group gathered up rather nicely. "Unless we need to pack copious amounts of drink, I'm not much good for scrounging supplies. Not in a city, at any rate."

If they were back on Airi island, finding supplies would not be nearly as hard. Bandits stockpiled for some reason, when they routinely raided and wiped each other out when they weren't turning on anyone foreign to the island at all. That was his experience with the place, at any rate, being one such outsider that refused to bend the knee to the first bandits he stumbled across. He'd earned quite a few scars while on Airi, and he regretted none of them. But he did not readily pick out others that made it brazenly clear that they hailed from Airi, so he was not readily concerned. Besides, not like he had any valuables beyond his lance and the clothes on his back. The one kid who had introduced himself mentioned packing supplies and the idea about swimming, alongside a choice bit about getting back home. Seems quite a few of them were from the south, that might complicate things if any of them had been high up enough to hear reports about what happened during his flight. "Way I see it, home is where the heart is, sappy and poetic as it might be. And long as my heart isn't gouged out and mounted on a pike somewhere, that'll be a bit south of wherever I lay my head. Asides that, most folk call me Ans, short for Ansgar. Certainly a pleasure. Already got my worldly belongings on me, so I ain't in a rush."

@dabombjk@Levias@Bright_Ops@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Chieri@Suku@Eisenhorn@Lugia

In short order the group that Nick tried to talk to ballooned in size and diversity, there was even one human holding some weird stick claiming to be a cleric, as well as one holding a spoon-looking thing riding a dragon... even if the dragon seemed smaller than he was used to, and lacked two of its legs. Wow... so many people... what to say to them? Are they expecting me to say anything? Nick thought as his eyes moved to look at every one of the group's members. Nick tried to say something for the longest time, but just couldn't find the words... and even if he did, surely they'd be lost in such a crowd. Apparently, the one on the strange dragon could cook, which just made Nick wonder if humans didn't eat their meat raw, and a few others started asking about food for their journey. I could hunt... but it sounds like we'll be on one of those wooden things, a ship, they called it? Anyways, it seems like we'll be on one of those for a while... and I don't know if I could follow one of those in the water... sure, I could swim, and maybe even catch a few fish, but I don't think I can get back up once I had to. Nick considered before he spoke, the consideration made his words die in his throat, again, leaving him speechless, once more. Nick then noticed that everyone save for himself, the 'cleric', and two others had a weapon... the two others seemed to hold books, instead, which just had Nick question "Wait... shouldn't you guys have weapons? I'm not sure if books would work too well in a fight,"

So many people in one place was almost too much for Nick, but somehow, he managed to stay there, and look as if he was having a good time, when, if this were any other situation, he surely would have fled, by now. Food seemed to become the topic once more, and Nick accidentally blurted out "Once we're on land, I could hunt for the group," this... was probably a mistake on his part, as he was almost certain that he would have to find something bigger than a racoon to hunt... and he had to somehow get a dragon food. Nick didn't know what a dragon could or would eat, and add to the fact that he wasn't sure which kinds of meat tasted better 'cooked', or what the humans would even want to eat. Now that he said it, he couldn't really take that back... perhaps he would find out what the humans hunted on their own, and just mimic them. If they hunted deer, he would try to do the same. Either way, Nick knew that he wouldn't be the one to try to get a boat for the group, since he assumed that they knew he had at least some sort of issue with talking to humans, and given that this was a human area... he could only assume that the salesman would be human, as well. Nick then recalled someone saying something about not wanting the money, and he responded to that with "I don't think I would need any of the gold, either. Um, I'm sure it looks nice, but I don't know what I'd do with it," of course, it had already been a while since they said that, so it all probably sounded disjointed and random to everyone else.

@dabombjk, @Levias, @Bright_Ops, @AluminumDude, @PaulHaynek, @Chieri, @Suku, @Eisenhorn, @Heckno12
(I'm not actually sure who I should and shouldn't tag with this... too many posts between my posts.)

Fie Testarossa

@dabombjk@Levias@Bright_Ops@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Chieri@Eisenhorn@Lugia@Eisenhorn

"I am in a similar boat to Ansgar I got all my belongings I would need plus I got enough personal rations to last a few weeks." Fie said as she pointed out to the large back with her its color was a dark blue similar to her outfit and was obviously made for abuse with how thick and well made the material was. The provisions was of the dried kind things like jerky and the like things that can last awhile. "Also you vulpine creature worry not all I need is this elder magic is something that shouldn't be trifled with after all" Fie said her voice proud with the mentions of elder magic after all it was a frowned upon and difficult branch of magic compared to the more common anima magic and the magic the clerics used. Sure it wasn't as are as the supposed "holy magic" that appeared only literally a few times in history.

"To be specific unlike Troe who is a mage I am as many would call a dark mage. A dark mage is someone who practices elder magic otherwise known as dark magic. The main thing to be careful is that elder magic is often a largely debated subject some say that it draws on dark power others say it channels raw magic and its the user who in turn affects the magic. This isn't to say that its not dangerous as there was a spell tomb called loptyr that is rumored to exist that is able to transfer its will to overcome and control its wielder. While there is another one called apocalypse that is said to erase your very personality in return for power. With that said I feel the need to remind that despite the fact dark is often associated with evil it is in fact often the wielder that is evil and not the magic itself." Fie continued on going on a bit of a long spiel on elder magic it was a subject she was personally well versed in and was personally researching in.

Troe shrugged at his mention during Fie's explanation. Certainly some mages like to equate dark mages to evil, but he certainly wasn't one of them. His lack of formal education resulted in a lack of bias against dark mages. That being said he did understand the danger that some of them carried in those tomes.

"I may be a bit more boring, all I carry is simple wind magic." He said, more concerned with getting out of the conversation to go pick up his books. "It was hard enough to get tomes sent to Rjaskav as things were, dark magic tomes would have raised too many eyebrows. I'll meet you all back here in a few, I wouldn't be much help in getting anything we need so I'll have to leave it to all of you."

With that he left the group and strolled back to the library to gather a few of the books that he had set aside to read a while back. Upon arrival, he looked from side to side taking in the sight of the place he had spent the majority of his time over the past few times. He wasn't particularly sentimental, but given the recent turn of events it was funny to think of the fact that he wouldn't be coming in for a while...or the possibility that he never would again.

@dabombjk@Levias@Bright_Ops@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Chieri@Suku@Eisenhorn@Lugia

Truthfully, her choice to approach the growing group had been fueled by curiosity rather than any sort of desire to join them. When the offer to travel together was extended to everyone present, however, Rosalia found herself rather surprised by the apparent openness of everyone present. Despite the fact each individual seemed to hail from a different place and classes, the animosity that she had seen among some of the other milling about seemed absent here. Then again, she thought it silly to hold country-based grudges during a time like this. She wasn't so sure that she could even call herself a knight of Solvnir anymore; the fact that her country didn't exactly exist anymore kind of put a wrench in that.

Although she wasn't completely committed to joining this ragtag band on their quest, Rosalia thought that it wouldn't hurt to introduce herself as many others had. She remained silent as the others gave their names, her gaze politely traveling from one person to the other as she made an effort to commit their names and faces to memory. One of them--Ansgar, he had introduced himself as--gave her pause, but when nothing came up beyond a strange, nagging sensation from somewhere within her mind, she forced herself to move on.

She inclined her head in Troe's direction when he took leave of their group before turning to the others. "Belated though my introduction is, my name is Rosalia Flos. I am--was, I suppose--in service to the Solvnir army." It was better to put that out now than to risk someone finding out and potentially becoming upset later on, she figured.

Rosalia folded her arms behind her back and restlessly shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her gaze jumping between each person present. Again, while not completely set on joining them, she could not deny that the thought of milling about doing nothing about this disaster did not sit well with her. What else would she do with her time if not find a way to discover more about this mysterious threat? The trail she had been following for Anise had gone cold long ago, but perhaps meeting and traveling with new people would somehow lead to a spark. "I am not sure if my services as a pegasus knight will be helpful, but should the extra assistance be desired, I would be willing to lend you all my support."

@dabombjk@Levias@Bright_Ops@AluminumDude@PaulHaynek@Suku@Eisenhorn@Lugia@Heckno12

The day was going well for Li, she had managed to secure a very fine bottle of Wolfsennger ale that she had been eyeing up for a while now, she had followed a merchant back to his house and waited for at least 3 days before she could finely get inside and wrap her fingers around it -after she pestered a mage she knew enough to use magic to make it ice cold she sat on her favourite window ledge in the market place.
It was two storeys high and was well situated so that she could both hear the musicians below play the music above the hustle and bustle of the crowd, and get a refreshing view of the city - that coupled with her new favourite drink - she was very happy.

Of course though, happiness is fleeting and it was mere moments into her bottle that the mass of refugees first made their way into the Capital - the news did not take long to hit the market place and before long the music stopped and peoples business became a secondary concern, this was a long feared scenario since the eerie silence that fell upon the south lands, but one that people thought could never actually occur.
Li was not one to care much for the goings on in the country - so long as she could get by and do what she did best; she was happy - but this, this made her brow furrow with concern.

---

That was a couple of days ago now, since then things have just gotten worse, the number of refugees that have came since then seems almost endless; there were a lot of survivors but the stories they told would make you think that very few could survive such an event, the tales of the southerners strength was not exaggerated, had they been weak - its doubtful any would have survived the onslaught.
Li was waiting today, with a fair bit of anticipation for a royal decree by the king - it would dictate something of great import to do with the threat in the south - she sat on a wall nearby the castle gates awaiting the address.
It felt like an eternity, there's very few things that go slowly for Li when she waits for something; typically its mid robbery that she must wait, or when shes tracing a mark, but that time flies by- this
Was a drag, she was passing the time by juggling one of her daggers before the address finally arrived.
It ordained pretty much what she and many others here in this courtyard had thought would occur, those whom were brave; or stupid enough could offer their arms to discover more about this entity that ravaged the south.
Li was the least likely here to offer anything to this, she was a thief, what could she possibly offer that anyone else here could not? But still….
She’d rather have a long life full of happiness rather than a short one with a gruesome end, if she joined some of these people, maybe she could help stop what was happening, and then, then she could start stealing stuff again.
She gave wry smile to herself at that reasoning, flawed as flawed comes, but still it was better than nothing.

She jumped off the wall and sheathed the dagger she was playing with, looking for a nice group of people she could go with; it didn’t take her long to spot quite a large group of varied people that were chatting with one another, seemed as good as any to go with.
As she stepped up to them she gave a small wave and stated her buisness ”Umm, Hi, my name is Li Renverick, this seems like a pretty important mission that has been given out, I can’t just sit by and let others do the saving without helping as much as I can…. My… erm”
She gave a nervous scratch behind her head before continuing Occupation, yeah, means that I’m pretty good at staying unseen when I want to be, I’d make for a pretty decent scout I thought…” She finished with a nervous chuckle, hopefully no one here knew what she really was; it’d be kinda awkward; better yet she hoped she hasn’t actually stolen from anyone here.