Anarion

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

Robena

The boar is dispatched. Rather than focus on violence, perhaps it is a moment for thanks. The hunt is many things, after all. For knights, it may be a matter of valor, or perhaps a way to display a mixture of youthful impetuousness and undeniable skill mixed together. But before that, it was a matter of nourishment. It is cold, the ground full of snow, and the threatened storm cannot be put off forever. A large boar brought to the castle will feed all the inhabitants for several days, and salted or smoked can be made to last much longer still. This, at its heart is the source of any valor that may attach to it, which perhaps distinguishes the act from the axe upon Pellinore's neck. That here, your prowess will let people eat amidst the cold, while Pellinore's death served some more abstract purpose that holds less meaning now.

Hector is workmanlike in helping the squires prepare the boar for travel. On the ride back she speaks little, looking mostly to the weather, the horizon, and the cleanliness of her gear. But before you reach the castle and your presentation of the final day's earnings to its lord, she offers you a nod. "You have my blessing, whatever may come of it" she says.

And then you are returning, and here you are met by the lady herself, dressed in her finest armor and skirts, covering an ethereal body that is far from human. She has spoken little to you in all your time here, mostly a distant figure even on the hunts where she rode along. But now she is arraigned to greet you and ride with you to the castle chapel, where you realize as you see her arrayed as she is that your judgment is prepared.

What do you say in this moment, if anything?

Tristan, Constance
There is quite the question in the air for you. Answer it, and then array yourselves as you see fit for Robena's formal return. For lady Sauvage has determined that the time for judgment is now, and it seems that the heavens themselves will not stand in her way.

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

Robena

The miracle is that there is a sun. You're busy, there's not time to think about that, but on a day where the clouds were thick and the snow and sleet constantly felt moments away, now there is sunlight. There is a rightness to the world, that you should ride forth on shining armor to face the boar. Apricot's hooves are the wind, the braying of the dogs the only guidepost you need.

You may remark that in your ride, Sir Hector keeps up with you. She is not so shining or so grand, but she is with you through this and that too is something special.

The boar then is a great thing. Dark, its shaggy fur nearly black, its back full of thick, course bristles that come up on the arch to your head mounted atop your horse. It's tusks are long and sharp, and its legs corded with muscle. In its eyes, you see, not exactly what you'd expect. Not fury, no. There is a weariness and almost a relief when you come upon it in the glade and it sets to charge you. And pride too, and a certain fierce competition that says that you will given nothing this day unless you earn it.

Sir Hector is at your disposal, and the two of you both have mounts, shields, and boar spears for your use. It will be an even match, and one worthy of epics should either of you ever care to relate the details to a poet.

[Tell us how you take the boar and roll as appropriate for this final labor.]

Constance and Tristan
Now there is a smile from the lady, and the sun is out. The clouds are not broken mind you, but there are gaps in them and the sun is shining in little beams into the room. You might have the thought cross your mind that being a cat in such a room as this would be a truly sublime pleasure, for you could simply roll yourself into that sunbeam and stretch out to your utmost comfort.

The lady's voice is lighter then. "You have a decision then. Good, that's good. I feared that you might still need another night to determine your feelings. But if you are certain. If...if you are certain then I think we may move to judgment upon the hunter's return. I do not know yet what her judgment will be. Your thoughts weigh greatly, both of yours Lady Constance and Sir Tristan. But there is still a hunt to finish and then we shall see the doom. Thank you." And here you can see already that her grip on the world is more ephemeral than real, and it is a great effort for her to wave a hand and thus let you know that you are free to leave her presence.

Perhaps the two of you would care to walk the hallways and discourse on what is to be done after all this that you may be properly prepared for Robena's return?

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Giriel blinks and before she realizes it, she's thrown several feet and shoved aside. What?! The spirit has seized Peregrine as well. Is it a fool then? Or perhaps an enemy? Were the rumors of Red Wolf more true than Giriel had thought and the spirit served the Dominion and was come to kidnap Uusha? A single N'yari, even a powerful one, wouldn't provoke two witches and a flower knight with a full retinue. Giriel had tried to offer her information covertly and she had revealed her identity instead, which meant she bore them hostility.

Fine then. So be it. Giriel stands and draws her sword. It's an odd weapon, large and heavy, but she doesn't hold it with the expertise of the knight. She's moving it differently. You're a smart spirit though, N'yari, you can see the danger. A witch's blade doesn't need to touch you to cut, it just needs a little time to focus. And for a spiritual possession, a spiritual blade is the far greater danger. Giriel is already speaking her spell as you heft Peregrine over your shoulder. You've got a strong hold on the world, but what happens if one of the threads is snapped? Will it change your personality? Bring that human's fears and worries to the fore?
[Giriel is inflicting a condition on Zhaojun in return in return as part of her Fight.]

"Heavenly Spirit, what brings you before us?" Giriel calls out. Cat's out of the bag (cat is so very out of the bag). "Stop fighting and announce yourself, or I'll banish you if I must." An empty threat of course, you're far too fast to allow Giriel to get that far. But, if the knight intervenes, and if the second witch were to start helping...she's looking for a reaction in this fight.

[Rolling to Figure Out Zhaojun: 4+2+2-2=6. Giriel's only question on a miss is: What makes you insecure? +1 xp]

Sunshards

Rose

Chen was delighted to be led. To be placed in a room and have you set things out for her and take her through whatever you had planned. You could tell the second you saw her by how she couldn't quite sit still but was quivering with excitement. You could probably think of lots of reasons for that. After all, you're giving her a special surprise, so she ought to be excited. And a proud Rose would think that Chen ought to be excited simply because it's something you're doing for her. And there's time alone under Keron's care, which is always precious in a world where much time is spent on appropriate behavior and service of handmaidens.

But do you want to know a secret, Rose? The secret is that she's excited because you're doing this for her. Because it's her Rose, and she's your Chen. And that's before we get to moment when you lay everything out!

Once you're there, you can see Chen's eyes grow as wide as saucers. You can see the way they sparkle when she looks at the deep purple silk and the way her blush gets hotter and hotter as you bring yourself closer until a little squeak escapes her and a quiver shakes her entire body when the pressure of your thumb reaches her lip and her mouth and her tongue. You'd think it perfect if not for a tiny little nibble of those teeth when your thumb is pressed in the closest that might, for just the briefest of instants, bring a blush to your own cheeks.

Of course, that's impossible because you, Rose, are completely in control here, which is devastatingly obvious when you cup yourself and bring the whole of your chest to Chen's face. She looks for all the world like she will instantly lose all coherence and melt into a puddle on the ground in front of you. And when you ask...when Chen squeaks and blushes and squirms and you demand that she answer you, there is the tiniest little nod and she manages, just barely through her squeaking and flustering and dying, a faint little yes that's enough to rocket through your whole being.

***

Yue

Today's the third day that Chen and Yue have been training together. The Countess had thrown both girls into a sparring room mumbling something about compatibility and synergy that seemed like she didn't want to give away the game when she knew perfectly well that you were already friends.

The first day had been tentative. There had been a need for hugs on both sides after everything that had been going on and how long everyone had been apart. And a need to catch up about becoming a flufferdoodle and to learn all about anime and swear to catch up together with Jessic's collection when there was time. And on top of that, Chen wasn't really sure where Yue was this whole time. She'd caught most of the duel, but that had been very much about how Yue had been bringing out Tianic's talents. And, if you remember, the first time Chen had ever seen Yue was when she showed up in her new ghost armor bearing a real sword and looking for all the world like a sword saint fit to challenge Qiu herself. So, there needed to be a bit of apologizing and adjusting when Chen's first attempt at sparring resulted in Yue dropping her sword in a fumble because she wasn't ready and that wasn't fair, actually! And then the second attempt ended in two moves with Yue's nose head bopped and Chen realizing that she had to recalibrate.

The second day was a little different because Yue was in wolf form, which meant first pets and ear scritches and nuzzles. And then Chen explaining very carefully to Yue that swordsmanship was first and foremost about knowing and feeling your body, which meant they spent wolf day working on a different variation of wolf sword style, pushing how fast Yue could move, how quickly she could turn and pivot, when she was in control of herself and when she wasn't. This was maybe the first time that Yue had seen Chen just enjoy herself like this too. This wasn't a high stakes duel, it was just play, practice, and using a skill Chen is good at. And that is visibly different. Chen darted about, laughing and teasing. She danced. She even sang a song at one point in the middle of the training, a fast-paced training theme that, though neither of you knows it, came from people playing bullet hell games in the burrow world.

And so now it's day three and this is the first time the two girls are dueling properly. Chen takes a different tactic this time than on the first day. She starts slowly, like she might if sizing up an opponent, coming at Yue with single moves that can be blocked and then backing off. It's a way to build confidence and to train certain skills because it's hard to just change what you're doing. A panicked parry doesn't become a perfect parry with one repetition. It's a panicked parry, and then a panicked parry, and then a...panicked parry. And then a panicked parry with a little note of frustration because jeez that was like the fourth time how come she's still doing the same thing?! And then because there's a little breather there's time to think about it, and then it's still a panicked parry because it's harder than it seems to go from having an idea in your head to actually executing it instead of responding according to your first instinct. But then, then it's a little bit earlier and a little bit better all of a sudden. And then it becomes something more like wondering why this was so hard in the first place, until Chen changes it up and does two attacks.

That's the point where it takes off, where the duel starts becoming an ebb and flow like water. Chen does a move, and then another, and they're not that fast, but Yue is keeping up and even trying a few of her own where she thinks Chen is going to be. Those prompt Chen to move and counter, and Yue has to counter in turn. Dueling training swords become like ocean waves as the tide rises, each move imparting energy and momentum to the other person. Yue tries to thrust and Chen sidesteps and swings just a little faster and so Yue throws her sword in the way and that's pushing Chen's sword into its next move and on and on, accelerating little by little.

The dance goes on for nearly two full minutes in which the only sound is the clacking of wooden swords and the whisper of their feet on the rush mats. Chen almost lets Yue win. She can see moves where she could let herself take a light blow and break the duel with applause and a pat on the back for her student. Except...except when she imagines that, she's not seeing Yue, she's seeing Qiu and Keron, and that hurt in their eyes. And it...it wouldn't be right to Yue to do that. She's not here to build up false confidence, she's here to show her the heights of what's possible and to help her get as far as she can towards it. She deserves to be treated with respect precisely because she's still learning. So, when Yue puts too much weight into a horizontal slash, Chen is already pushing it up and out of its proper plane and her blade is just below Yue's throat before she can even gather that her move was thrown aside.

They stop, frozen at the end of the duel, and a huge smile bursts onto Chen's face. "That was so good! Yue, that was amazing! Let's take a break and then go one more time before we're done." And you can hear, Yue, that Chen would love to hear how it felt, every little detail because she hasn't felt like this in forever and she wants to know everything about how it feels for you!

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Hail N'yari traveler" Giriel calls out, holding up a hand in a wave. She's been in the mountains and her calm confidence might be recognizable for someone who is familiar dealing with N'yari. Not so submissive as to be a target for teasing, but neither so aggressive as to a rival or challenging. Just someone who knows what they're about.

Giriel's confidence is only a little betrayed by the bags under her eyes and the slight sag in her shoulders that speak of sleepness nights and weariness. For what she most took from hell is a haggard fear that has caused her to go over and over again what had happened. Had Peregrine tricked her? Or Uusha? Or had their spell just gone far over what they were expecting? She couldn't hold it against either of her traveling companions, nevermind Uusha's retainers, not when it could have been her own failure or some odd result of the combination of her powers with Peregrine. Or even some malicious act of the demons themselves being closer than anticipated and influencing their magic. Too many possibilities to blame anyone, but that just meant that she had been going over it and over it in circles. The best she had come up with was that she might manage some new magic by replicating some of what they had done with a little better intent behind it. So, though she puts on a good show of their travel, Uusha is already pushing hard and it's clear enough that she's tired.

But, now she's presented with a spirit from the heavens. So she continues "We are in a hurry to deal with matters of demons, so I apologize but we do not have time for sport." and then because she wants this spirit to understand that she's offering her capabilities without really doing so, she adds to Peregrine and Uusha but loud enough for the N'yari to hear "I've been working on magic that could simply transport us past the rock, but I don't think I could take the whole party, just a couple of us. Still, that might get us to the castle faster." She glances back to the spirit and offers just the hint of a nod as she does so, indicating perhaps, that her services are equally at the spirit's disposal if they are needed.

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

Tristan and Constance

"I do not" that is definitely a smile. On that cold face and those empty blue lips, it is a smile. "The people gathered here are liminal in their nature. Each of them not in their expected role. So they play the castellan, the warrior, and the maiden instead."

She looks up then, a terrible motion slow as the crone, and gazes out the window. At the first flakes of snow. "When our pageant is done, it will no longer be safe here."

She doesn't look down, her gaze still to the sky, but you see again that slow smile on that ashen face. Almost sardonic in its guise. "That is not to say that it will be safe anywhere else. This place will simply cease to be more than a castle in the woods. Subject to all that entails. All who remain may decide then what to do with it."

And lastly she turns to Constance, her gaze fixed upon you, her eyes focused but cold, her arms resting upon her small throne as a statue to honor a past king. The contrast is high between her fading and your life. In truth, much of her next question is already answered by this moment, but she asks it anyway, as she must. "Lady Constance, I brought you here to benefit from your judgment. How stands your mind?"

Robena
You are peripherally aware that servants are moving about. The horses and dogs are made ready, Hector checks her equipment again, the grooms check the harness and saddle with care and love. The hunt will not be ruined by the betrayal of an old strap or a rusted hilt.

Your time with the beasts, however, is undisturbed. The servants are distant, as is Sir Hector who respects you enough to allow you this time. Apricot, briefly, is compliant and enjoys being brushed. Not tempted by nearby sugar nor apples, he takes a rare moment to accept your ministrations. The cat brushes you and you feel for a moment as though the whole weight of the world has passed you by, and then it slips away and hops upon a wall to fix you with its gaze and you judge that it, at least, thinks you might be worthwhile to it in the future.

Presently, the time has passed and all is ready to set out. Sir Hector calls to you gently and you can see in her, despite her criticism before, an understanding that few others here have shared. Of power and of frustration both.

You ride out then in the cold and the gray for the boar. It is the final test in this great hunt. A boar is strength itself and so it will test the strength of knights. And this boar will be great indeed, one of the strongest of its kin, a trial even for the greatest of knights.

Tell us, Robena, how it appears before you and how you and your companions hunt it.

Sunshards

I never wanted it is the first verse of the song of swords. The Countess is more than good enough to tell. Chen's too defensive, her very first move is to use her stance to block and roll backwards, gaining distance, putting the next move on the Countess again. It's not a bad move, it's skilled and its fast.

Though, if we may make an aside from the dance, that first move isn't as fast as you might have thought, Yue. You might have been taken by surprise and gone "why does everyone have more reach than me?!" while getting hit, but Chen's dodge wasn't so quick that you missed what happened. You could see the Naginata, and Chen's move is a single clean parry going downward and out from the center of her body to put her weight into it, followed by using the force of the blow to roll and re-center further away. In fact, if you think about that later, you might even realize that if Chen tried to parry that huge Naginata with just her arm strength, she wouldn't have been able to do it, which is why she had to be able to put her legs and waist into the movement.

But back to the duel. The Countess would know immediately that Chen's heart isn't in the victory because if Chen had wanted to win, she'd have moved forward on a parry like that. She has by far the shorter reach and should not have given up that sort of opportunity, but instead she's opened herself to follow up strikes without being able to retaliate.

When the duel whirls back to her, she dodges without the parry this time, judging the measure of the timing, eyes always on the Naginata. Her response is yes I can be faster and it's asking Keron to press her, by saying that no single blow will catch her, not when she's balanced and ready.

Then there is a series of blows, each thundering through the stadium. Chen takes a step back, and uses that momentum to whirl into a parry with the force of her motion, and then ducks under a horizontal strike using her height to her advantage. And here Chen is smiling again. She's smiling a feral smile, with hungry teeth and a light in her eyes. A smile that's just for the Countess.

I never wanted to win, but I want you to see me The naginata thrusts forward. I want you to see me and know that I see you and that we're both good enough to do something beautiful together. Chen doesn't move, there's no sidestep or backstep this time, and her hand isn't moving at all, the sword is perfectly still. I want you to know, for just an instant, that if I could find a way to give this everything I have, everything in the whole wide world, that I could be transcendent...

In a movement that is too fast to see, Chen steps on the blade. She wasn't even looking at the naginata, her eyes were on the Countess' hands the whole time. This is a savant's move, possible only at the last instant, utterly stupid if done wrong. But it's not wrong and her laced up boot slams the naginata to the ground and suddenly Chen is sprinting up the shaft of the Countess' own weapon, crystal sword gleaming in the sunlight.

And this is where she might have landed a decisive blow but ...but I can't give this everything I have. I don't know how. Help me!

She hesitates. Even as she's running up the shaft of her opponent's weapon with a mixture of pure training and the sort of natural magic that animates the best masters of the sword to superhuman levels, she hesitates. Even as the audience gasps, she hesitates. Because she doesn't know what sort of blow she wants to land. She doesn't remember how to go all out, she doesn't want to defeat the Countess here. And a move like this delivered with anything less than perfect precision opens the practitioner up to a devastating counter-attack. It's only a question of how the Countess wants to take advantage of her.

[I rolled a fight here, but the dice result was a 3, so no amount of boosts would help. +1 XP]

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"I don't...gah, gah!" Giriel manages when the General has departed and they can no longer feel his presence. "What did we do Peri? And what are they doing? Wasn't Ven the name of one of the princesses when we were kids? The one from the kingdom that fell, that must be what he was talking about right? But why would she do this? Aren't princesses supposed to have a court with advisors and all that even when they're in exile?"

Giriel is blabbering. Trying to figure out what exiled princesses ought to be doing with their time is hardly the most important thing they could be doing at this moment (it doesn't crest the top five even!) and she doubts that Peregrine would particularly care at this moment. But she needs to just talk and not about the experience they just had, NOT about all those hands and arms and the slag heap that Tichtokh crawled through. Anything but that, in fact.

She takes a deep breath and reins herself in from launching into a full dialogue on the best dresses for the fashionable princess in exile. "How much do we need to get back to our bodies, do you think? Can we afford to go straight to the castle with this demon-summoning princess? And uh, what did the General mean by 'pick up our meat' Peri?"

Sunshards

Because she recognizes the stance, Chen has just enough time to think gratefully about all the anime she's seen as the electrical energy strikes her. She rolls with the force and though she doesn't fly under her own power, her landing in the arena is not the graceless thud of someone caught flat-footed, but instead the rolling flurry of poofy skirts and squeaks befitting of a little princess such as herself.

She comes to her feet breathless and, despite the gravity of the proclamation, smiling like Yue's best sunshine from ear to ear. She's not mocking Keron though, no no no, perish the thought! She's just, she's excited, that's all. She's smiling like she smiled when she knew she was going to lose to Rose that first time. Smiling like she did the day she held her first training sword and the weight in her hands just felt so right! Because, well, when it came down to it Princess Chen really didn't mind getting flung around a bit when she was having fun. Not even a little.

She looks over at Yue, halfway transformed back to a fluffy tea-color wolf, and to Tianic who seemed brilliant but not at all up to throwing herself into electrical laser fields. She's still got that silly this is gonna be great grin on her face, and maybe, hopefully, they understand from seeing her that it's okay, they're not expected to hurt themselves for this fight. If she were really going all out to defeat Keron, she'd have dropped in with a full team, rested, refreshed, equipped with all sorts of neat gear and blessings from their loved ones, and at maximum power from having worked out all their personal conflicts before the big fight.

But she never was here to go all out to defeat Keron. She came because she had to issue this challenge for both Rose and herself. But she'd been thinking about conceding or throwing partway through even before Rose had dropped the girlfriend confirmation bombshell and made her fantasize about training with her new slave and handmaid. She wasn't trying to conquer the Sky Castle, or ruin Keron's reputation out of the blue in front of an audience. Then who would defend all the other handmaidens and servants? Chen's realization from all that time with Jessic was that she had her own vision, but she wasn't out to steal it from somebody else. She was here to help them live their vision.

She let the smile at last turn to a serious face and set her sword stance: blade pointing towards Keron and hilt high gripped in two hands above the shoulder. From this reactive position, Chen could strike quickly or turn into a parry. She at last looked up at Keron and offered her not a bow but a respectful nod and dip of her sword. Because Keron might be demanding that Chen bow to her knees, but the thing about tyrants that every story agreed on was that brave princesses never just gave up when facing them. Especially when they were overmatched. How else was Keron going to get to show off those laser gauntlets properly, gosh!

"I might" she said, putting her weight on the balls of her feet to be ready to move the instant Keron unleashed her next attack. "But not before I try and rescue my girlfriend!"

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

All

It is, as it always is, the unlikeliest chance that things should be as they are. That you should be here. That Hector should have smiled at Tristan and held onto a ray of hope of things never done. That Constance may have smiled in a secret night too dark by her direction for anyone to see it. That Robena may have gone to bed and perhaps, just perhaps, smiled when she reflected on her own choice.

The final day of hunts does not greet you merrily, but with a growl. Sleet-thick winds strike at the castle stones and batter the windows. The clouds are gray and menacing, the sun a distant glow behind them, little more than a hint that it exists. The trees creek and crack, the snow crackles, and there is no sign of life or movement, though the scouts nevertheless went out before danw to find the boar trail.

And yet...the full downpour holds itself in abeyance. Or is held, perhaps? Who could say what confluence of powers is at war in the heavens, after all?

Robena

You are met at dawn, such as it is, by Sir Hector. Though she has been loathe to speak with you to date, she stands before your room politely while you ready yourself. She already wears her own hunting gear: a long fur cape over her armor, a greatbow slung over her back and a great boar-spear with its high hilt held in one hand. She has prepared a sharpened boar spear for your use as well, held cautiously away from you in her other hand. For today is the boar hunt. The boar stands as the symbol of endurance and ferocious power. It has always been the pinnacle of the hunt. Not cunning or villainous, not fast, never lithe. But powerful, dangerous, and fighting to the last. The spear that Hector presents you is unadorned, but of the highest quality, with a good firm grip wrapped in leather and a point that does not show a single flaw upon it. This is a fine compliment, and one that you would not know what you have done to deserve. It is, after all, a favor to Tristan, not to you.

How do you ready yourself for the final hunt on this harsh day?

Constance, Tristan
You are permitted, if you wish it, to sleep in. The castle is focused on Robena's last hunt, and for the early morning there is nothing else to be done. It is dark, gray, and entirely unlike a day anyone would wish to rise to meet. But you can wake, if you wish, and bathe or chat. Or you can wait, and go to see the lady Sauvage when she calls upon you mid-morning. She will not be joining the hunt at all this day, not even from a distance, and wishes instead to see you.

This is a fell thing, for she has doffed most of her humanity on this last day. Her dress is a somber blueish gray, and her skin has faded to match. Her mouth is pursed, and her hands look almost as stone perched on the gilded sides of her throne. Her doom and with it the last remnants of her existence, is coming to an end. Perhaps the weather is a reflection of her mood. Or one that combats her?

Regardless, she turns with the barest of motions, not to Constance, but to Tristan first. "Most unexpected" she says, her face nearly still save for her lips blue with cold. "What...do you think of the knights I have gathered here?"

Is that, perhaps, the smallest of smiles at the edge of her lips? What an unlikely chance.