[IC] Fire Embem: Arise

[Blaze Gamma]

It was the dead of night. Years of strained peace weighted heavily upon the head of King Alphin of Iris. The castle was nearly empty. Very few guards were present, government officials who normally made their residence there were sent off on holiday. Why was this?

The truth was, the King knew that the end of this peace was coming. He'd already spoken with a seer to confirm his suspicions. Yes, Alphin knew that he probably would not live to see the sunrise. Even though the king was only 57 years old, he'd already predicted that his time was at an end.

While some loyalists still stayed by his side, he'd evacuated the castle to minimize the loss of life when the, rather peculiarly, much better equipped dissident forces stormed the castle. He'd even tried to send away his sons and daughters, only for his requests to fall on deaf ears.

No, the time had come for him, and for his family. He walked over and sat at a desk in his room and poured a glass of brandy, taking a small sip. He prayed for the peace of his countrymen, of his land, and hoped that his fears... That the dissidents were backed by forces that wished to see Iris burn, would not come to pass. As he set down his glass, the first signs of a struggle began. He heard a crash, and the sound of fires burning.

"So the time has come..." Alphin sighed. Within minutes, a loud banging came from the king's door.

"Lord Alphis!" An attendant spoke. "The enemy has arrived at our doorstep! We must hurry and flee."

"... No, that I cannot do." Alphis spoke. The door opened, and a pale faced young woman entered.

"My lord..."

"I have made peace. We cannot force our countrymen to fight among themselves..." The King spoke. "Aaron and Cassio... Have them here with haste. I must make preparations." He explained.

"But."

"There are not to be any objections." Alphin spoke. "Bring those two to my chambers. NOW."

"Y-yes, my liege..." The attendant spoke. She quickly fled, and within minutes, the two were brought before the king, Aaron the mage and Cassio the healer.

"... I apologize for pulling the three of you deeper into the lion's den..." The king told them. "I am sure you are both wondering why you were not sent away when the castle was cleared out in the weeks past... It comes to this night. Men of your talents are what the kingdom needs now. I know, it seems terrible to say, but... I've a task of the utmost importance for the both of you."

Alphin walked over to his bed and pushed the mattress aside, revealing a hidden compartment. He opened it and pulled out a gilded staff. "In my younger days, I was not as clear headed as I am today... I made mistakes. Bedded many women by using my name and influence. I've my regrets over these decisions, but it is my hope now that... Between those of my kin who left when I asked them, and hopefully some unknown child... Just maybe the kingdom may yet be saved..." He pointed the staff at the three. "Aaron... Cassio... I know the two of you may not know me that well... But I also know that neither of you are men who wish harm upon the people of this country. I am sending you away to the Sacred Temple Ignis... I need you to check on an important artifact entombed there. Once you do, I will have you-"

There was a sudden clamoring heard growing closer to the king's chamber, and almost without warning, the door was knocked clean off its hinges.

A blonde haired man wearing black armor, holding a tome whose cover was just as dark as his armor, stepped through the doorway. Obscuring the top half of his face was an ornate mask, blocking out many features, leaving only his stubbled chin. The man was almost frighteningly tall and had an imposing presence.

"Your majesty..." The man spoke in a polite, yet mocking tone. "So I guess this is your elite guard? A shame. It seems they will have to die." He raised a hand, opening his tome.

"You will not harm them." Alphin spoke, holding the staff up. "I am sorry, you three... But hopefully you will be able to figure what to do." He said. As the light of the staff circled Aaron, Cassio, and the attendant. a crimson bolt flew from the armored stranger, straight at the three. With a blinding flash, though, the three vanished.

Aaron and Cassio would find themselves in an old marble chamber when they came to, with the attendant lying there as well.

~~~~~

Almost a year. It had been almost a year since Felix had joined the militia, and things had become only painfully routine. The horse on whose back he rode made a rough neigh and shifted. He was in the middle of a patrol of the town of Prima. There normally weren't issues, of course. The occasional ruffian needing a scolding, and then it would be back to the barracks to... Something? Hell if he knew. Of course, as he was heading back to the outskirts, he heard the telltale sounds of people about to start a fight. Shouting and angry voices.

Coming from a tavern.

"... Going to bet 50 gold pieces that Sareena's behind this..." Felix sighed as he dismounted and grabbed his sword, knowing he couldn't very well bring a spear into a tavern. Sure enough, as he stepped in, people were rowdy over something, likely the girl at the bar. "Man... Now I owe myself 50..." Felix sighed again, scratching the back of his head.

~~~~~

'Four, five, aaaaaaand six perfect bullseyes' the lavender-haired young woman thought as she the last three daggers deftly left her hand, the pleasant *Thunk* *Thunk* *Thunk* of steel hitting board drifting into her ears as she finished chugging her ale and opened her eyes for the first time since she took the knives up.

Only to see one perfect bullseye, one dagger north of the board, two in the wall to each side, one embedded on the floor, and bizzarely, one in the wall opposite the board. 'Shit. Maybe I drank too much. Still, the bet was for just one, sooooo...' "There you go. One perfect bullseye, while chugging a brew, eyes closed, no time to aim, thrown sideways. Now, everyone pay up!" she called out. Half the tavern groaned while the other half cheered as varing amounts of money changed hands. All execpt the guy who challenged her in the first place. Some two-time nobody, probably a bandit or something. "Oy! Let's go. Pay up. You said double or nothing if I got just one. I'd say that qualifies as one" she said, standing on... partially unstable legs, and getting right up in his face "Don't be a sore loser". Growling, the man dropped a pouch of gold into her open palm. Flashing him a cheeky grin, she turned on heel and counted her newly acquired assets 'Five hundred! Ha!' "Thank you for your business! Oh, and you might wanna get that popping vein checked out!" she called behind her, laughing her way to the door when she spotted a familiar face "Felix! Hey buddy!"...

"You're causing trouble again," Felix sighed as he led Sareena out of the tavern with an exasperated look on his face. He was going to have to take her down to the barracks for some lecture she almost certainly wouldn't listen to. Of course, that wasn't his only reason. He had to keep his friend safe, even if she was a bit of a shady customer, especially considering the thuggish looking man who appeared to be ready to knife her.

"What were you even doing this time?" Felix asked. He decided to walk along with his horse this time, not wanting to leave the young woman behind him, lest she scamper off.

He made some idle talk as they strolled down the path. Still, as they did, he noticed red smoke flying from the roof of the barracks. "What... Red smoke... Bandits?" Felix groaned. "Just great... Hey, Sareena... I think we should go see what's up." He said, getting on his horse. From the look of the signals, the bandits were coming from...

The east.

"Oh no..."

They were headed right for Felix's childhood home. Without giving his friend time to react, he spurred on his horse, urging it in the direction of his farm.

[Ezmeralda]

Katherine was whistling a merry tune as she checked on the crops. She had just finished her chores and was now double checking to make sure she had tended to each and every one. That is, of course, until her eyes fell upon the barracks. It had red smoke. This was usually a warning that a threat was on it's way, and from what Felix had taught her, they were going to pass by here...

She wasn't sure how much time she had before they got there, but she didn't hear anything yet. Still...better get back home. Her Lightning tome and Heal staff where back there and she had to warn mother and father. Katherine dropped her tools and ran back. She didn't know either of them to be particularly good fighters. And nor was she, but her magic should be enough for some bandits....hopefully. She didn't know their number.

Kathy quickly entered the building, "Father! Mother! Bandits approach!" she said, rushing to her room to grab her tome and staff. "Please hide, I'll fend them off. I'd imagine help from the militia is on it's way, so all we need to do is hold out till they arrive." she left the little house, and ran to where she thought would be the best place to meet them. She was pretty scared, to be honest, but she wasn't about to let some bandits destroy her home and her family.

[AluminumDude]

Aaron's eyes opened slowly as he gained consciousness on the cold marble floor he had been sent to. He brushed his curling hair out of his eyes to take a look around his surroundings. It was old and made of marble, so it was reasonable to say this was the ignis temple he was told about He tried to remember how he had found himself on the temple floor. Running away from his father, when an attendant had found him huddled in a corner with only his tome and the robes he had been wearing. The King had sent them there, talking about a sacred artifact. But what would they do if they found it? Probably use it to help the kingdom.

"The king!" He spoke suddenly, as he remembered the figure that had entered the room moments before he was sent away. Aaron got up hastily, neglecting to brush himself off, and saw Cassio and an attendant on the floor beside him. He noticed he was the first one up, and quickly shifted Cassio and the attendant to wake them up.

@Grey

[Grey]

Cassio
Sacred Temple Ignis / @BlazeGamma@AluminumDude

---

Cassio stared into empty space, lost in thoughts and completely, utterly alone.

(This was, of course, disregarding the two others who had been transported to the temple with him, but they were basically dead, laying around in some ancient ruin like corpses, so it was okay.)

They say that the first stage of grief is denial. Cassio had seen it in the bearing of amputee soldiers, consigned to a life of hopeless peasantry. He’d seen it in the eyes of widows, their lovers too frail to save. And now, for the first time, he understood it cerebrally, but not yet literally. That ill-tempered old hag couldn’t have gone down so easily. Cassio wouldn’t allow such a thing; he was the one who was supposed to be the end of her, not some asshole with a mask, questionable facial hair, and a retinue of fools and his kinsmen. This had truly been a terrible day, to say the least, and now he was in this strange land with nobody to accompany him.

(One of the bodies in his peripheral cried out and began to move on his own in very un-corpse-like fashion, but that was besides the point.)

Indeed, a wholly unpleasant feeling this was, to be alone. Not even his horse was here to accompany him on this perilous journey! The poor thing was probably having a terrible time at the hands of some uncivilized insurgent, manning her reigns with such brutish incompetence. Perhaps it would die. Perhaps he would die, and some measure of karmic balance return to this lonely world.

(He registered that one move over to the other, shaking her awake, but Cassio was content to pretend that didn’t happen. They may have not been dead, but philosophically speaking, were they not all simply walking dead?)

Unfortunately, in the midst of wallowing in self-pity, a shadow crossed him. Not the spectre of death, but that fiery haired gent, who was trying to touch him.

“Nonono. By the gods, that’s all wrong; clean yourself before you handle a body,” Cassio raised a finger, conveying his sobriety and stopping Aaron from shaking him awake, “If I were injured I may have caught some ancient disease from the stones of this redundant and ostentatiously named temple.”

The horseless troubadour got to his feet and dusted himself off. Then he picked up the twin staves laying at his side: Heal and Freeze.

“Now that we’ve established equal lucidity and proper first-aid conduct, let us find this artifact that our adulterous king was so kind to send us off for,” he tapped one of his staves against the ground, “Then we can get to the fun stuff: murdering, torturing, or otherwise inflicting grievous bodily harm on some insurgents. My staves want blood! ...But not in the usual fashion."

[Blaze Gamma]

Felix continued to ride, not wanting to lose any time. He'd be damned if he was going to let some bandits ravage his home. He was going to get there first, no questions asked.

As he continued to ride, another on horseback started alongside him.

"Felix," the older woman spoke. "You're en route for the bandit forces, I take it? You've an uncharacteristically serious look on your face." She continued.

"Commander," Felix spoke, not giving more than a single word to the woman.

~~~~~

@Grey@AluminumDude

"Quite the respectful behavior for a place of reverence," a young girl's voice spoke. A girl in luxurious red robes stepped from the shadows, approaching Aaron, Cassio, and the aide. "So, I suppose from the looks of you all that little Alphy's premonition has come to pass." Though she sounded young, and indeed, looked no older than twelve, she spoke and carried herself with the air of a noblewoman. "So tell me, what are your names, young ones?" She asked before motioning to a figure in the shadows. "It appears the young lady here has fainted from the trauma of her trip. Please take her to a side room so that she may rest." She said, an old man nodding and taking away the king's attendant.

~~~~~

@Ezmeralda

As Katherine prepared, the bandits continued to encroach upon the farm's boundaries.

"'ell mates," the leader spoke. "Looks like this place is ripe fer a spot o' mischief. Men, kill any men or kids who are stupid enough to stand before us. If 'ere are any lil' beauties 'ere... Well, we consider them a prize for the camp." He said with a hearty laugh. As he descended on the farm, it was clear that he was in charge of about ten men. "Well, 'op to it then! No lollygagging!"

[Ezmeralda]

Katherine hid in the crops on the side of the entrance once she saw them. "One, two, three....ten? I think." she whispered to herself, "Too many to take head-on by myself...but I know this farm better. Maybe I can whittle them down before they do too much or get too far in. Or at least until help arrives. I'll need them after me, though....Hope they find me pretty?"

She couldn't wait too long or they'd be too spread out and she'd be surrounded. Kathy took a deep breath to calm her shaking, and then stepped out from her hiding place behind the crops once they got close enough. "H-Hello there, boys..." her voice was a little shakier than she would've liked, she smiled at them and gave them a little flirty wave, "Fancy a game of Kat and Mouse?" she asked, with a wink, and then hopped back into the crops without waiting for their answer. Hopefully, they'd be more concerned with...capturing her than damaging the crops.

Kathy went enough into the crops that she could hide and waited for them to get closer, ready to blast the closest one in the face with a Lightning. After which she'd take off running again to the right, keeping to the outskirts of the farm to find another spot she could hide in for another ambush.

[Pirouette]

Laeva didn't know where she was going to go now that all regional tournaments were canceled for the foreseeable future. That meant unemployment to the wandering showsword as Laeva had one time been called. It was an unflattering title, really, as the man who called her that did think of her fondly. Despite the negative connotation, the title kind of stuck so Laeva kept it.

Title aside, Laeva really did have an issue with money at the moment. She was down to the last coin from her previous prize winnings, exchanging the nearly everything that was left for food and a place to stay in some unnamed village, well someone told her the name but she forgot it by now. Whatever this village's name was, it clearly wasn't the best place for Laeva to find work because as it turns out, common folk usually don't need someone skilled with a sword. While this was a major setback, it was all made up for in the deliciousness the host's Shepard pie. It was so filling, Laeva tended to be put to sleep shortly thereafter and with having recently stuffed herself, she found herself sleeping by an old oak tree near the village.

The oak was probably one of the better places she had ever managed to fall asleep at with her internal ranking probably rating it a seven out of ten. The shade from the leaves provided protection from a stifling sun on warmer days but those days were usually the best to find a shaded tree for a little R&R. Today was one of those warmer days as Laeva quickly nodded off with the sensation of a warm blanket being around her. Perfect all things considered, but today just didn't seem to be her day.

A stubby greasy hand annoyingly poked her cheek until she stirred awake. "What? What?" Laeva spat as she swatted the hand away. Turning her head to see the disturber, it was a plump boy on the verge of his pubescence. "Oh. It's you, Rodrick." Laeva sighed, clasping her hand to her face. Rodrick was his host's son, a boy who was initially very excited to be hosting the Great Apollo in his house, only to be disappointed that it was a girl. Still, the boy was sweet in some ways and quickly got over his initial disappointment by hearing Laeva's stories about the tournaments. Given his enthusiasm, Laeva had half a mind to train him a bit while she was here but his parents had none of that idea. Laeva could relate and wanted to teach him anyway but seeing as she would directly go against her host, it was in bad taste to do so.

"Please you have to help everyone. My mom tells me some men are going to attack us."

Laeva lifted her head to take a questioning glance at the boy. He seemed sincere enough but he didn't sound like he fully understood what was happening. Laeva pegged that his mother came out here to have Laeva help, which she probably would have done anyway. Somehow Laeva thought this was her host getting out of paying her for the assistance. Sending the kid to play the innocent card because if the mother had asked herself, you bet Laeva would ask for her money back. "Ugh. Fine, Rodrick. I'll take care of the bad men but you better pressure your mother into giving me some of my money back."

Satisfied, Rodrick nodded and ran back to his home leaving Laeva to dust herself off and find the ruffians who were supposedly threatening the area.

Turns out, it wasn't too difficult. After asking around, she figured out the visible red smoke meant they were to the East. The same guy who told her on the road also mentioned that it was entirely possible the bandits might first target a farm that was due East, down the road a ways. Great... They're going to send me all the way over there. The village might have been next, but Laeva would disagree solely on the idea that she had been disturbed from her sleep too soon. However, might as well see what is going on since she was up.

It was going to take a few minutes on foot but the farm shouldn't be that hard to find. Laeva was prepared to react accordingly.