13org

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

With Zeynep's arrival, most of the issues, at least regarding the interaction between the Jotunheim crew and Nellara's group was quickly addressed, from Kerchak's suggestion to mimic the human's appearance in order to not alert the crew to Kareet's offer to help the humans with electricity and ending with the rather urgent issue of a second group of Tekeris having approached the area. Nellara couldn't help but be a bit impressed with how calmly and efficiently Zeynep seemed to deal with the situation.

"Certainly." Nellara said, nodding towards Zeynep as she got ready to meet the Tekeri hunters.

The moment she was about to leave with Zeynep though, a loud, strange cracking noise echoed through the hills, Nellara immediately began looking around, alert. If a conflict had started between the Tekeri hunters and the humans, even if the Tekeri weren't soldiers or weren't formally allied with the Ascendancy, such event would certainly make things even more difficult.

Fortunately, the situation didn't end up being as grave as Nellara previously thought, with both the humans and the Tekeri hunters being completely fine and apart from that rather 'intense' meeting between the humans and the hunters, there weren't many noteworthy incidents for the rest of the day. Much to Nellara's relief.

Following that issue with the Tekeri hunters and the tensions between Silbermine and Nellara, the humans quickly ended up creating a 'neutral' space in front of Jotunheim, as to better mediate any meetings and deals between the Ascendancy and Mythadian forces. Especially since the arrival of armies from both nations was already expected and the possibility of a war was very real.

It wasn't really a secret that Nellara was incredibly irritated with the disrespect from the Mythadians towards the Ascension. Every single time hers and Silbermine's eyes met, even if from a distance, the hostility in Nellara's eyes was evident. While she did make it clear she wouldn't be the one to throw the first stone, if any of the Mythadian soldiers as much as gave a single wrong step, she wouldn't hesitate in acting.

Luckily for the humans, due to the arrival of soldiers from both sides, neither Nellara nor apparently Silbermine had enough time to visit the neutral area the humans had created yet, leaving that area to the ones that were more focused on learning whatever they could from the humans. One of the main examples was Kareet, which seemed to be incredibly eager to learn, joining the human neutral camp early in the morning to meet with Vigdis. Even though Nellara herself was very curious about the humans and would love to join the conversation, not only her duties prevented her from doing so, but she knew well that if Silbermine saw her near the humans, he would probably feel the need to intrude... Which would definitely hinder Kareet's efforts to study and understand the humans better. Due to those reasons, Nellara could only hope Kareet would be able to tell her what she had learned with the humans afterwards.

In another note, the news that reinforcements from Lenkik were starting to arrive were very welcome news to Nellara, enough to bring some relief to her and clear her mind, especially since she wasn't able to sleep much due to the tense situation. What Nellara wasn't expecting was who exactly was the reinforcements she would receive, according to one of the soldiers. The moment the soldier told her, Nellara couldn't help but show a satisfied smirk. Knowing that no one other than General Kvarr himself was coming was definitely incredibly good news to Nellara. Such fact meant that the Ascendancy took her report very seriously and saw fitting to send reinforcements matching the seriousness of the situation to assist her.

"Wonderful news. Please guide the General and his forces to our encampment as soon as they arrive." Nellara said nodding her head and silently thanking the soldier for his efforts before she got out from her tent and started to prepare for the arrival of the General and his forces.

Orbis: The Liberation of Gyrland, A ground based Mecha RP

I'm a huge sucker for mecha stuff! Definitely interested! :-)

13org's characters

Catherine Blackwood

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Basic Information:

Name: Catherine Blackwood
Age: 21
Nicknames: 'Walking Disaster'
Height: 1,75m
Gender Identity: Female
Civil Status: Unmarried
Occupation: Alchemist and Adventurer
Reason for accepting this task: Any capable scholar or alchemist would immediately jump at the chance of studying the unknown. The implications of the potential discoveries far outweigh the risks. Both that and after Gremarre's royalty not only allowed her, but specifically requested her to do so.
Place of Residence: Gremarre Kingdom, Gremarre

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Appearance:

If gods are real, they definitely blessed Catherine with her beauty. Standing at an above-average 1,75m, Catherine has a lean, athletic and elegant body. Blessed with perfect bodily proportions, from her hair, often kept in a slightly disheveled braid, to her long legs, calling Catherine a beauty is often an understatement.

Catherine seems to have a very unique style of clothing, often favoring more function than form, as it is evident by her signature, red overcoat, which seems to be custom tailored to her own needs, with dozens of places to hold potions, vials as well as internal pockets for ingredients and reagents.
Interestingly enough, Catherine's taste for clothes seems to fit her perfectly well. Her functional and elegant style complement her height in a beautiful manner and even the red overcoat seems to give her an unique 'touch' in her appearance. Other than that, despite her rather... 'unique', fashion sense, she is not oblivious to the beauty she was graced with, which is shown by how silky and well taken care of her hair is and the fact that her skin is always perfect (undoubtedly, thanks to her knowledge in Alchemy. Rumors are that queens would definitely start a war if they knew the tonics and skin care products Catherine is able to create and has been using for some time).

Underneath her elegant looks are hidden quite potent muscles though. Due to her unique physiology, result of years of self-experimentation with poisons, potions, tonics and many other things, the muscle fibers in her body became compressed and reinforced, giving Catherine enough strength to compete against a bodybuilder, while keeping her body lean and elegant. The rather unique mix of potent muscles with a light weight frame give Catherine rather unique physical capabilities.

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Personality:

Most of the times, Catherine is an enthusiastic and very energetic person. Her wild personality and unruly behavior does make her quite at home among many adventurers, whom, despite how infamous she is, often enjoy having her for a drink.

Catherine shows interest to those who share her views, are interested in her work or those she considers her 'friends'. Despite her quirks and being somewhat hard to deal with, she still values friendship and camaraderie (even though it is rare for others to approach her enough to become more than 'drinking buddies'). That said, she shows a complete lack of interest on people who dont share her views, often outright ignoring them should they not have anything worthwile to say to her. Most of people in Gremarre find her hard to deal with, both because she openly despises those who speak ill of her regardless of their status, but still come to her when needed and because she accepts no interference in her job nor any 'suggestions' regarding her methods.

Being rather infamous for her dangerous research and experiments, unorthodox (and unethical) methods, Catherine often finds it very hard for her to get her hands into materials for her research, both due to their rarity and due to petty reasons from half of the academic society, which still dislike her after she wounded their pride when she arrived on Gremarre. Due to that, she has taken this 'supply' problem into her own hands, which wasn't exactly hard, since she was already an adventurer before arriving in Gremarre.

In combat situations, Catherine shows herself to be rather difficult to control. With little to no regards to collateral damage, the chaos she created in combats quickly became a nightmare to both enemies and allies alike by making unrestricted usage of poisons, explosive mixtures and some even worse compounds she created. While she is definitely a force to be reckoned with when by herself, she doesn't make any effort to work as a team and if the party she is working with does not know how to deal with her, they might find it easier to just stay out of her way and let her take care of things by herself.

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Biography:

Little is known about Catherine's origins before she arrived on Gremarre as an adventurer other than the infamous record she holds in the Adventurer's Guild and the nickname she received, the "Walking Disaster". While she claims to be the daughter of a famous adventurer and an alchemist which had connections to the academic society in Gremarre, it's unknown if her claims are true or not, since both the adventurer she named seems to have either disappeared or be dead and the alchemist, while indeed having been once a promissing student from one of the academies in Gremarre, died from a contagious disease a few years ago after she left Gremarre.

Despite the unclear origins though, almost immediately upon arriving in Gremarre, Catherine estabilished herself as an unparalelled genius after openly and publicly interrupting and debating with scholars in the middle of an academic conference, disproving and debunking the theory that was being discussed while revealing the errors in their research. While that little stunt did earn her the enmity of half of the academic society, it did attract the attention of many eyes, including Gremarre's royal family, which saw great potential in such a genius, despite her rather... 'dangerous' personality and the complaints regarding her experiments and the methods she used, coming from both the Adventurer's Guild and especially the staff members that are tasked to cleaning up her mess afterwards.

Even though she was unfit to occupy any seat of importance due to obvious reasons, the royal family still considered her to be too valuable to throw away and at the same time, too dangerous to not keep an eye on as long as she was in their city, thanks to the trail of destruction and chaos she often left on her wake due to her recklessness and the 'experiments' she often made. Instead of labeling her as a dangerous individual and not allowing her to stay in the city, they made a small proposal to Catherine. As long as she agreed to provide them consultation and assistance in case her talents were needed and agree to periodically research and study subjects the royal family was interested in, they would not only give her complete freedom to make her own research and experiments, but would also provide a particular laboratory near the borders of the city, along with an yearly research funding to help her finance her studies.

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Abilities:

Hand-to-hand combat:

What started only as a hobby of practicing martial arts in order to keep her body healthy, ended up evolving into an unique fighting style thanks to her body's unique constitution and became incredibly useful once she became an adventurer. Catherine makes use of not only punches and kicks, but her entire body in combat, including acrobatic moves, choke holds and even using her anatomy knowledge to strike joints and other weak spots.

Unique Physiology:

Years of using herself as a guinea-pig for testing potions, tonics, poisons and venoms due to the lack of willing subjects gave Catherine a rather unique body physiology. Her muscle fibers are both compressed and reinforced, giving her enough strength to compete against a bodybuilder without changing her body mass or flexibility and agility... As long as she is anchored on the ground in order to make up for the weight difference.
In combat, most of her strength doesn't come from her body weight, but instead the explosive acceleration she is able to produce when punching, kicking or her mobility, being able to both easily jump over and use acrobatic moves in order to reposition herself and move herself in a very quick and agile manner.

This unique physiology also gives Catherine an incredible resistance to most venoms, poisons and toxins, along with making her skin resistant to corrosion and burns.

The tradeff to that is that most beneficial potions and tonics that are normally used to heighen one's physical capabilities or senses to have a minimal effect on her, with the exception of healing potions. Her dulled sense of pain also means that she can fight despite being wounded, although it can be rather dangerous for Catherine, since thanks to that, she can reach the point of overexerting herself enough to tear her muscles apart without realizing if she doesn't pay enough attention.

Combat Alchemy:

Catherine makes use of a myriad of potions, venoms and mixtures while fighting, both throwing vials and making use of special gloves she had made for herself. From paralyzing venom and liquid nitrogen to explosive and incendiary mixtures to corrosive acids.

Miscellaneous Facts:

- Catherine often likes to play pranks on people that are unaware of her unique 'physiology', such as challenging them to drinking contests, arm wrestling or even races.

- While most of the staff-members from the Adventurer Guild really dislike her, the adventurers herself often enjoy her company, as she seems to identify herself with the most 'rowdy' type of adventurers.

- Catherine started learning martial arts as a hobby in order to keep her body healthy after extended periods of time stuck inside of her lab when researching left her with recurrent cramps and stiff muscles.

The Hunt, A Modern Fantasy Smorgasbord RP

^{Interactions: Amanda @Kumbaris, Micheal Crane @BigPapaBelial, Scarlet @AWACS}

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Faye kept watching the strange scene on the tape, letting it play only to rewind and watch again as Scarlet and the others commented about it. Only being able to see the faint image of the wisps in the monitor and not being able to feel the magic as she usually did was very frustrating for Faye.

"This small thing really doesn't help!" Faye said, frustrated as she stopped the tape, giving up on trying to see anything more than she was already able to.

"It would be much easier to have more clues about the magics the impostor is using if I could at least see him personally... Whoever it is, it must be rather skilled. Or at least had the help of someone decently skilled to be able to weave spells like this." Faye said with a sigh.

"Stacking magics like that would be done differently according to the type of magic used. Faes used to 'weave' their magic spells almost like fabrics in order to make them work together... I am not sure about how other types of magics would do this stacking though..." Faye said, agreeing with Scarlet as she mentioned it wasn't something exclusive to the Faes.

When Scarlet mentioned the other car, Faye immediately looked to the screen as well. She was so concentrated on the wisps and the spell that she didn't even notice the black SUV Scarlet mentioned getting out of the parking area after the Lada or even how no one seemed to get inside that car, which suggested that they were inside, waiting.

"Huh... I had completely missed that..." Faye said, curious as she watched the tape again, focusing on the interval of time between the Lada and the black SUV getting out of the parking area.

Just after Micheal mentioned looking at the plates of the cars, Amanda finally returned with the information they needed, narrowing down the location of the car to an apartment complex in the downtown area. Particularly the second floor. According to Amanda, they should start getting ready, as the raid would occur in about half an hour from now.

"Already? I thought we would have a little break after everything that happened..." Faye said with a heavy sigh. The fact that they wouldn't have reinforcements was a bit worrying as well, considering the ambushes they faced until now, but they didn't seem to have much choice on that matter. Faye hoped they wouldn't face any more ambushes though.

When Amanda mentioned that Mr. X could be a deity, Faye furrowed her eyebrows, in a thoughtful expression before she replied.

"But I thought the actions of every deity were pretty well controlled nowadays, aren't they? That would make it considerably more difficult to a deity to move themselves in secret and plan those kind of stuff... Although, considering their influence and power, depending on who they are, some might not even need magic to pull some strings to make things go according to their plans..." Faye said, commenting on Amanda's theory.

"If we are going against a deity, things might get even scarier as our target gets even more cornered..." Faye concluded, looking to the group with a worried expression.

She wasn't aware of what Mr. X was capable of if he was a deity, but she was certain that the moment Mr. X got cornered, he would use everything at his disposal without worrying about anything else and when he did so, things would get much harder to deal with by themselves.

Avalia

Time: Morning
Location: Forest near Guarav Village
Interactions: Cyrus @Helo, Ophelia @princess, Dante @FunnyGuy Darius @Samreaper Menzai

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Viola's nervousness was clear on her expression as she heard Cypress' words. Knowing Ophelia could be in danger was incredibly worrying, but Viola had no choice but to trust both in Ophelia's plan and her brother Cyrus. Still, it didn't make much to make her less nervous about the situation.

Despite the tense situation and how nervous Viola was, it was still impossible to ignore the impossible feats the two elves were performing. Starting with riding on top of huge rocks before throwing them at the Roc and only getting even more absurd from then on: Building domes of rock to protect themselves from the Roc and even making a cloud of dust to blind the Roc's sight. Regardless of how strange the two elves were, Viola didn't really have much time to worry neither about them or the strange Demi-human at the moment. The fact that they seemed to be Ophelia's allies also let Viola focus her attention on the thing that was clearly their enemy, before she started worrying about the strange elves and the demi-human who were nearby.

The two elves' warning echoed through the forest as the dust cloud rose above them, warning for them to stay under the dust in order to not let the Roc see them. Using that brief moment of distraction, Cyrus' words drew Viola's attention, as he asked if her plant was still hungry.

"The Roc will break free the moment it starts feeling the vines gripping him. I need it to be distracted, even if only for a single second, to bind it down with the rose's vines..." Viola replied, knowing what Cyrus was asking her to do.

Unfortunately, the dust was only able to delay the Roc for a brief moment. After it became aware it wouldn't be able to hunt from the air with the dust, the Roc immediately began beating it's wings, preparing to land and dispersing the dust. The very moment the dust cloud was blown away, Viola immediately started frantically looking for Ophelia.

There was no time for Viola to do anything but to feel her heart tightening with desperation as her eyes finally found Ophelia, with the Roc already diving towards her, ready to attack. Realistically, there was nothing Viola could do in such a short time and she knew that. Neither her not her vines would be able to close the distance quickly enough. Fortunately, the demi-human from before somehow was able to get to Phia quickly enough. Moving fast enough to turn himself into nothing but a white blur, the demi-human pushed Ophelia away in the last moment, taking her place as the Roc closed it's beak on the Demi-human's arm, ripping it away from his body before flinging the unconscious demi-human aside.

Despite the terrible noises of bones breaking and flesh being ripped, Viola couldn't feel anything but relief, even though one of Ophelia's allies was gravely wounded, even if he had his arm ripped from his body, the fact that Ophelia wasn't wounded was all Viola cared about.

But saving Phia wasn't all that the demi-human did. By jumping in front of the Roc, he also gave both Cyrus and Viola herself the perfect opportunity to deal with the Roc. With Cyrus using his magic to send every single big of plant and wood towards the Roc, Viola did the same.

The Blood Rose's vines tightened around Viola's body, their thorns piercing her skin and getting soaking in blood, contrasting with her beautiful, immaculately white skin. The moment the Blood Rose tasted Viola's blood, they shot downwards into the ground, burying themselves into the ground as they moved towards the Roc.

It only took a single second until countless vines shot upwards directly from below the Roc, quickly aiming to get a hold of the creature, focusing to first hold it down into the ground before slowly suffocating it, draining it's blood.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

The moment Nellara heard Silbermine's threat, saying he could slay her where she stood, instead of being offended or angry, her reaction was simply to laugh. Not a sarcastic laugh of someone who was trying to get back at Silbermine's threat, but a genuine laugh of someone who couldn't see his words as anything else but a joke.

"You, slay me? Don't make me laugh..." Nellara said as she looked to Silbermine, with a contemptuous expression.

"If I really wanted to kill you, you would be choking on your own blood before you could even draw your weapon. Neither you, your pillager-knights nor your precious god would be able to do anything about it. You are nothing but a pitiful 'noble'. Your position wasn't earned, it was given on a silver platter, no matter if you are worthy of it or not. The same cannot be said for me. I am a Castigator because I have the skills necessary to be one. Because I trained and studied for years and showed nothing less than excellence to the Ascension." Nellara said, with an acid smirk as she looked at Silbermine.

It soon became clear that Nellara wasn't the only one that was getting tired of Silbermine's arrogance, as Shirik quickly made his dissatisfaction known. Upon hearing Shirik's threat towards Silbermine, Nellara looked to the humans, raising an eyebrow almost as if asking if they still thought that Silbermine really deserved to be treated politely.

"He speak of all around him as lesser beings. As creatures that should feel grateful to serve him and Mythadia. Even Shirik, who is a third party, completely unrelated to either Mythadia or the Ascension... Such is the way the Mythadian 'nobles' act and see the world around them... One should be firm with their boundaries around Silbermine and his 'ilk'... Lest them start feeling that they can step over your rights without any consequences... History has already shown that they would do so without hesitation if given any opportunity." Nellara said, looking to the humans.

As Zeynep arrived, she heard her words with a growing concern, visible in her expression. To think the humans were entertaining Silbermine's outrageous proposals, despite him saying he clearly wanted to use them as pawns, speaking as if both him and Mythadia were something the humans should be proud to serve was simply ridiculous.

"Offering them coin and glory? You speak as if they should be proud to serve you and Mythadia. You offer them no respect with your outrageous requests. You talk as if they should be honored to have the chance of serving Mythadia. Even claiming you already have a 'role' for the humans. I have honestly never met anyone as arrogant and pretentious as you, Silbermine." Nellara said, rolling her eyes.

When Vigdis asked for her and Silbermine to calm down, mentioning she doubted her motives were as 'pure' as she claimed them to be, Nellara couldn't hide the confusion on her expression.

"I didn't try to hide or sugarcoat my motives, Vigdis. Our motives were clear and honest since the beginning. A trade agreement. Both of us have things we want from the other part, you need our electricity, our mages and supplies, we would like to study your knowledge and technology. That is all there is to it." Nellara said, turning to Vigdis with a confused expression.

While Nellara's words were honest and genuine, she didn't mention that she hoped to sign an 'exclusivity' contract with the humans, in order to prevent other nations from having their knowledge... But they didn't need to know that. At least not yet.

"War is not on our best interest either, but I assume you can understand that when people from Mythadia, who have an history of taking what they want, start invading your territory and ignoring the agreement dividing plains and mountains, no matter how peaceful a nation is, such actions cannot be ignored." Nellara replied to Vigdis and Zeynep.

"Considering your people's story, you should be well aware of such 'territorial disputes' and what happens if one lets a religious, warmongering nation do what they want and disrespect the borders without any consequences... Especially when the other nation not only brings a small army and establishes a military encampment, but also has the audacity of asking for reinforcements." Nellara said, looking to Zeynep and Vigdis.

"The Ascension is merely coming here to enforce the treatise between our nations, respecting each other's territories. Even if a war do starts, you have my word not even a single arrow will land next to your ship or your people." Nellara finished.

Listening to Ixtaro's inquiries, Nellara let her speak before replying.

"While there are no 'formal' borders, the natural division between the plains, marshes and the mountains is clear. If we let Silbermine and his people claim these hills as part of their territory, they will certainly not stop with just that." Nellara said, looking to Ixtaro, her tone clearly indicating that no matter what happened, she wouldn't concede not even a single meter of mountainous terrains to Silbermine and Mythadia.

When Ixtaro mentioned that other tekeri were approaching the ship and weren't too happy with their equipment, Nellara furrowed her brows, specifically upon hearing how Ixtaro called them 'hunters'.

"You said 'hunters' and not soldiers? They might not be part of the Lenkik army that was dispatched here." Nellara said, looking to one of her soldiers and nodding towards him, silently giving him the permission of going to those so called 'hunters' and investigate if they were part of the Ascension or not.

"Whether they are part of the ascension or not, try to bring them to our encampment." Nellara said, clearly wanting to avoid any problems involving locals that weren't aware of the humans yet and the humans' machines and equipment.

Avalia

Time: One week after Zora arrived into Avalia.
Location: Riverbloom, Daisy Bakery
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Rowan @GingerBobOh
Mentions: Barrock @Conscripts

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Zora smiled tenderly towards Aurora as she heard her saying she was glad she had enjoyed the cake. Part of her was starting to get a bit worried on how attached she was growing to Aurora. Due to her lifestyle back on earth, Zora wasn't exactly used to being cared for like that. Even if Zora was quickly grown fond of and attached to Aurora, she still couldn't feel an ounce of malice on the woman's words and actions, something which definitely helped her be a bit more at ease with the idea of 'trusting' someone as much as she was starting to trust Aurora.

The Orc was quick to leave the ignorant dark elf behind, heading off towards the nearby forest. Unfortunately, Rowan didn't seem to be as calm as the orc was on his own ordeal, after he heard Zora's reply. Zora simply raised an eyebrow, listening silently as Rowan said he was only trying to give her a better chance of survival and would not accept being branded as the villain, before he stormed off towards the river, coincidentally, the same direction the Orc went earlier.

Zora gave a heavy, exhausted sigh after Rowan stormed off, shaking her head with an obviously annoyed expression before she turned to Aurora.

"Your brother needs to understand that I am not a soldier. It doesn't matter how much he tries, I will never be one." Zora said, looking to Aurora with a sigh. If she was going to fight for her new home, it meant that despite their differences, both her and Rowan would have to find a way to at least tolerate each other... Zora only hoped Aurora could help her with that.

"I might not be bound by a deal or a promise, but if this is going to be my new 'home'... It is still in my best interest to bring peace to it. But I will do it my own way." Zora said with a determined expression as she looked to Aurora.

"Still, if we are going to work together... We will need to find a way to at least enough to tolerate each other... In my old life, sailors often solved their problems with knife fights and lots of rum... But I doubt things would work the same here..." Zora said with a chuckle. Sailors often had a rough way of dealing with their problems and the alcohol always helped, either with the resulting wounds or helping them bond with each other.

"Rowan is your brother. You understand him better than anyone ever could. Can I ask your help with this?" Zora asked looking to Aurora as she waited for her reply. If possible, Zora didn't really want to go after Rowan if that meant she would have to deal with any more problems, so waiting for Aurora's answer before doing anything was her best bet.

Avalia

Time: Morning
Location: Forest near Guarav Village
Interactions: Cyrus @Helo, Ophelia @princess, Dante @FunnyGuy Darius @Samreaper Menzai

---

Together with Cyrus' branches, despite the sheer might of the Roc, both he and Viola were able to hold on into it's legs, even if for a brief moment. Unfortunately, their attempt didn't seem to encourage the Roc to stop pursuing them. Infuriated, the Roc began beating it's wings, making powerful gusts of wind as it tried to get free from the vines and branches. As if the winds weren't already strong enough, forcing Viola to use her blood rose's vines to tether her to the ground to prevent her to being thrown away by those, the extremely loud screech let off by the Roc was loud enough to make her head seem like it was going to burst. Both the winds and the screech were quickly sapping away at Viola's concentration and stamina. Competing against the Roc in a battle of attrition was definitely not an option.

"Cyrus... I can't hold on for much longer..." Viola said as she did her best to hold down the Roc while keeping herself tethered to the ground, despite the twigs and wooden shrapnel flying through the air, results of the mighty winds produced by the Roc's wings.

It was exactly on that moment that two loud shouts could be heard just before a huge rock hit the roc straight in the chest. Alarmed, Viola looked to the two strange elves that suddenly approached them, not knowing if they were their allies or not. Fortunately, such question was soon answered as they spoke to Ophelia, in a tone that made it clear that they knew each other.

Hearing Ophelia's 'plan' made Viola visibly worried. She knew exactly how dangerous the Roc was and both versions of Ophelia's 'plan' involved putting herself into incredibly dangerous situations, where death was a very real possibility. Knowing that, Viola felt the desperation slowly taking over her mind. She couldn't lose Ophelia now... Not before she found out if she really forgot about them... Not before Viola herself had enough time to figure out what exactly were her feelings for Ophelia...

"Ophelia! Don't..." Viola said, looking to Ophelia and raising her arm at her just as she flew away.

While the stone had at least made the Roc stop it's screech, it didn't seem to do much to wound it or even dissuade it from continuing it's hunt and instead, seemed to only make it angrier as it suddenly snapped itself free from the vines and branches, before it flew straight upwards, doing a loop then dove straight down, swooping down just above the trees' canopies in a frightening speed and opening a huge clearing as it did so, looking for it's prey and potentially preparing an attack.

Cyrus could see in her expression, split between the decision of protecting her brother or going after Ophelia to be sure she wouldn't get hurt. Unable to decide herself, Viola simply looked towards Cyrus, her expression telling more than any word she could have said. Viola would never have acted out of her own free will to protect anyone... and Cypress knew that very well. The only exception was if that 'someone' was one of her siblings. Even if it meant offering her own blood to her Blood Rose or turn an entire city into a forest of thorns, blood and bodies, with her own body at the very center, she wouldn't hesitate to do anything if it meant protecting the family she had left.

Without the trees to protect them from an aerial attack from the Roc and with Ophelia going by herself, there was little doubt in her mind that both of them needed to move, quickly.

"Brother Cypress... We need to go as well..." Viola said with a determined expression as she looked towards Cyrus.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

The very moment Silbermine started mentioning their 'god', Nellara couldn't help but sigh loudly, massaging her temples as she did so. Religious fanatics, all of them. Why was it always SO hard to make those kind of Mythadians, like Silbermine, to open their eyes and see what was happening instead of simply keep twisting reality and always saying it was all work of their 'god' to favor them, test them or any other religious nonsense to warrant them taking what they wanted or having things their way.

"Judging by what you told us about your story, I believe you might know these kind of people rather well as well, don't you? Religious fanatics, I mean... And those who use religion for their own goals." Nellara asked, looking to the humans.

Regardless of how much nonsense they spoke, Nellara was willing to entertain them, or at least until the Glens started walking towards Kerchak after he spoke about how Silbermine intended to use his words to deceive the humans and as Mythadians always did, take what they wanted or have things their way.

"There is no need to apologize yourself, Kerchak." Nellara said, raising a hand as she saw Kerchak bowing down towards Silbermine.

"Your arrogance truly knows no limits, Silbermine. I suggest you to remember where exactly you are. In Ascension lands, lords, kings or priests are empty titles and you would do well to remember that." Nellara said, her cold, cutting words making it clear she wasn't just bluffing as she looked to the two Glen that moved up to Kerchak.

As Silbermine countinued talking, Nellara couldn't help but just be disgusted by his words. He didn't try to hide his true motives. He simply continued suggesting the humans to work for him, to give him information about their metal 'golems' for free and etc. Without giving any consideration for them, instead only looking at his own goals and desires. Almost as he felt as if he was entitled to all that.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel disgusted by all this... I hope you are aware Silbermine isn't even trying to hide his true reasons... right? He simply want to use you, humans. Asking you to be their pawns for their political game... They covet what is yours. Your technology, your technology... And I am sure I don't need to remind you on how the Mythadians wanted to simply take your ship apart and take it with them, believing it was their 'god's gift to them... We were honest and transparent with our reasons. We want to forge a trade agreement with the humans. We have never treated you as other than equals... Unlike Silbermine, which wishes to turn you into their pawns." she said, replying to Vigdis as she turned towards her. Once again, Nellara made no effort to hide how disgusted she was with Silbermine and how they carried themselves.

As Ixtaro came to talk in a more private tone, Nellara simply heard her words in silence at first, before she turned to her with a serious expression. Even though Nellara didn't really want to spark a war with Mythadia, there was still the very grave issue of Silbermine and his knights having literally just invaded Ascension lands with a small army.

"A war would be disadvantageous for both kingdoms. Mythadia and the Ascension, seeing the delicate balance of power Kanth-Aremek encounters itself right now. With that said, there is still the very grave issue that Silbermine brought a small army and defied a Castigator's authority inside Ascension territory and is calling a real army right now. The Mythadians always were like this, Ixtaro. They use their religion and their god to justify why they are taking what they want, doing what they want and why they are 'better' than the others... If we do give in to this aggression, they will keep going further and further until they are on Arcaeda's doors. That is how the Mythadians work, Ixtaro." Nellara said, whispering to her in a low tone.

"While It is not in my interest to start a war, I will not stand down to this insult and aggression towards the Ascendancy." Nellara finished with a determined expression.

When Ixtaro turned to Silbermine and started speaking about their sky god, Nellara looked at her shocked. To have a human entertaining Silbermine's religious nonsense would only serve to further inflame their fanaticism... And make them think even more that they had some kind of 'divine right' to do what they wanted.

"Silbermine, you know as well as I do that a war will be incredibly disadvantageous to both our nations. Regardless of which one of us wins... And you know this as well as I do. This parlay will be a turning point to decide if we will end this diplomatically or not." Nellara said, her tone and expression being incredibly serious as she said so.

"It is not my desire to spark a war between Mythadia and the Ascension and I hope we will be able to solve this without bloodshed but... we will not stand down when Mythadia invades our borders with an army without any provocation." Nellara finished, looking straight to Silbermine as she said so.

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

Time: 6pm
Location: Guest House Dining Room - Dinner with the Sultan
Interactions: Everyone at the Alidasht dinner.
Mentions:

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Mayet's expression as Farim began to talk was a mix of disappointment, anger and irritation. One single look at her would be enough to tell him that it wasn't only the usual irritation. There was something much more difficult to appease in her expression as she looked at Farim. Something that she would not forget... The loss of her trust on him. She felt betrayed.

"I would have gladly unsheathed my weapon for any one of my family members, should they were as insulted as I was today. I am glad to know now that you would not do the same, Farim. Neither you Farim, nor you father or any of my siblings or cousins." She said, looking straight into their eyes.

"I sat down and watched in silence as this bumbling fool called us circus clowns, acted rudely in a number of different occasions and now said I was giving him 'bedroom' eyes, while not a single member of my family, apart from my dear sister Layla said or did nothing." Mayet said, quickly snapping her wrist and pulling the scimitar away from Farim's hands, leaving a shallow cut on them as she did so.

Most people from the table would know well she was skilled enough to not leave any wounds if she so desired.

"Even after all this, I have never mentioned an execution. It seems you are quite willing to escalate this issue. Maybe your eyes are growing greedy with the possibility of getting the throne for yourself, cousin Farim? It would be a good moment to escalate this issue and get rid of the competition... Of getting rid of your cousin, which would have gladly put her hand into the fire for you, or anyone in this family, if she had to. The one member of the Alidasht Royal family who puts more importance into the well being of her family than the race for the throne." she continued, looking straight at his eyes, her expression clearly showing just how betrayed she felt.

"You claim my mother would be disappointed in me? My mother would have NEVER let someone else disrespect us like this without saying anything. Her way of dealing with the situation would be much calmer and more different, but she still wouldn't have sat down and did nothing. Your inaction, your passivity as someone insults your country, your culture and your family is disgraceful, Farim! Besides, you should know better than to try that pitiful discourse on me, trying to make me feel emotionally guilty. I know your tricks well, Farim. Don't even try. You ask me if I don't trust my father's plans? I WATCHED as this bumbling fool did nothing but insult us since we arrived in Caesonia, without ANY consequence either from the Caesonian royalty or from the sultan!" Mayet said, her voice burning with hatred and dripping with venom as she said though.

"I will tell you this, Farim. I will overlook what you did and said to me today, but don't expect any mercy from me. Ever again. You are alone. Do not consider me as being part of your family or your cousin ever again. Should you spout the same words again in the future. We will solve this in the Alidasht way." Mayet said with a cold, threatening expression as she looked at Farim.

"So I highly suggest you to never direct your words at me, ever again or as much as look at me again. Unless you want me to learn how cruel I can really be. Farim." Mayet said. Both her words and stare towards him made it painfully clear that it was much more than just something said on the heat of the moment.

Noticing Charlotte suddenly getting up, Mayet simply sent her a cold, threatening gaze, before she spoke to her.

"Sit down, Lady Charlotte. I said I would teach him a lesson. I have never said I would kill anyone today. Besides, no matter how innocent it might be, not even your unconditional love towards your father will save you, should you raise your hand against me... Or look at me with such intentions ever again." Mayet said in a cold tone, giving a quick glance towards Charlotte as she suddenly stood up. The coldness of her eyes and the way she said those words, without a single hint of hesitation, were enough to send shivers down one's spine.

Even though Nala seemed to be a bit confused with the situation and the scent of blood, especially since it came from someone Mayet considered as being from her family, or a least once did, she still kept a watchful eye around Mayet, growling at anyone who as much as dared to approach and doing the same to Farim, should he move in a sudden manner.

When the sultan began to speak, Mayet couldn't help but to laugh. What was that? Even her father, the mighty Alidasht sultan, seemed to be more willing to punish his own children than to do anything to a mere duke who was insulting them? It took all this time for this to merely SAY a few words about the duke's actions and words?

"Do you intend to take away every fork, every knife, every pencil and sharp stick away from me, dear father? Would you also want to cut my hands and feet off while doing so in order to 'take away my weapons', dear father? Maybe pulling my teeth from my mouth as well?" Mayet asked as the Sultan said he would take away her weapons, plunging the scimitar deep in the table, just in front of Duke Vikena as she said so, letting go of it.

"My mother would have said something the moment the Duke started to insult us. She wouldn't have let the situation get to this point. She wouldn't have let him feel he can do whatever he wants and say whatever he wants. Even if she did so delicately and calmly. And you know that, father." Mayet said, looking to the sultan with a serious expression.

"It seems the mighty sultan of Alidasht is more willing to make a public scene punishing his own children than to do anything to a mere duke insulting his entire family and culture. It took me throwing a knife to scare that insect and even unsheathing a sword and pointing at him before you finally addressed him, didn't it? I would like to extend the same words I said to Farim, to every single one of my family members present at the table. Once, I would have gladly spilled blood to defend my family's honor... Although it seems I would be the only one to do so." Mayet said, looking straight to the Sultan's eyes with a fiery glare, then looking straight in the eye of all the others in the table.

"Your words to Duke Vikena are nothing but insulting to me, considering everything that happened. Your daughter was already insulted and embarrassed many times since she arrived at Caesonia by this man, father. It is a bit late to say you won't tolerate them now, isn't it?" Mayet asked, both her expression and tone of voice making it clear how wounded she felt by the lack of action from her father until now and his words now.

"Let me make it clear, prince Auguste. Even if your knights wanted, I highly doubt they would be able to do as much as touch me." Mayet said while looking at Auguste with a threatening expression.

"And prince Auguste, let's stop with this farce. I doubt that your family would react calmly if the same insults were said to them. Considering how an innocent stable boy was almost executed recently only to cover up for a certain situation... It almost sounds suspicious to how the Caesonian Royal family seems to be fine with such insults being said publicly to the Royal Alidasht family, isn't it?" She asked, looking at prince Auguste.

"Quite ironic, isn't it? That your family didn't even try to punish Duke Vikena for this insults against us, but you are so willing to demand me to be punished. How curious it is that you are willing to ignore what happened the other night, with royals from Alidasht being poisoned and how there were no punishments given to the Caesonian royals that were involved with this matter but you seem to be so excited to have me punished... The Caesonian law does seem to discriminate. Quite a lot in fact, doesn't it?" Mayet asked, looking furiously at Prince Auguste.

"I beg you, father. Ask yourself this question: Can you really say the Caesonian Royalty are really treating us as equals? With everything that happened so far? The way they are treating us, it feels almost as if they consider us their vassals... I wouldn't think the mighty Alidasht would lower their head so easily. Neither me, nor our proud people." Mayet said, looking to her father before she turned to Auguste once again.

"But even if the law is apparently discriminating against us, it seems my dear father isn't willing to do anything to protect his own family. So who knows, your little charade might be successful and even manage to get me punished, arrested, exiled or even executed. That would be quite something, would it not? But if that is the case, I promise you I won't just lower my head and accept it." Mayet said, looking to Prince Auguste with an acid, sarcastic expression before it suddenly changed to a cold threatening one on the very end. Her words clearly suggesting how much the Caesonian royal family loved their schemes and political games.

"Despite my effort, despite my attempts, this family seems to be quite intent on tear itself from inside out at the mere mention of any problem. Maybe in the end, I was the fool. A fool to think bloodshed between members of our family could be avoided. A fool to think we could walk together as a family. In the end, it seems that throwing your own family members to the wolves and tearing each other apart in the pursuit of power is on this family's blood." Mayet said, looking at her own family with a wounded expression, which seemed to surpass her anger, only if for a brief moment.

"But I have learned finally my lesson. I will only act and move for myself and my interests. Nothing and no one more. Thank you for finally making it clear... How this family works, that is." Mayet said, looking to her family members. There seemed to be nothing more she wanted to tell them.

"Do not show your face in front of me ever again, Duke Vikena. Let that be a warning. My final warning." Mayet said, turning to Duke Vikena once again, clearly threatening him before she stormed out of the dinner room, soon followed by Nala, which refused to look away while getting out of the room, keeping a watchful eye on everyone present before she finally exited it, only then to turn and catch up with Mayet.