Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

As the serpent's upper body bloomed, Fleuri, having been situated just behind where the base of where it split apart, was struck by the expanding wood and knocked back towards the rear of the snake. He didn't seem to be injured, but it did knock him off his feet.

Never thought I'd get backhanded by a plant, he thought to himself as he pulled himself to his feet and and realigned his helmet's eye slit. He quickly realized that the blow was a stroke of good fortune, for it had knocked the knight away from the path of the magical projectiles being expelled towards those still in front of it.

The others were striking at the front, so Fleuri would attack the rear part. He lunged forward and swung his sword horizontally into the serpent's bark skin, intent on slicing through and leaving the creature with a long gash. If the heart wasn't where he struck, he hoped that he'd at least be able to discern which direction- forward or back- the heartbeat was coming from.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

So, this thing changes as it's damaged, Fleuri noted as he evaded the biting maw created by his blow. This would make it more difficult to attack any spot twice, and meant that this monster would get more dangerous as it sustained more wounds.

According to Fanilly, the wooden serpent was animated by a heart. Even stranger was Tyaethe's assessment- the heart was moving around inside the creature. The path forward was clear to Fleuri- they needed to tear up the exterior so that the heart would have no place to hide. Even if the creature could bite and snap from every wound, the key to killing it was taking out the heart.

Fleuri heard Fionn's request to drive the snake towards him. He wasn't sure of the man's plan, but trusted in whatever it might be. Fleuri swung at the snake's wound-maw, keeping just enough distance to strike the bark with the tip of his sword. He didn't need to maim it, just to encourage i to continue snapping and lunging towards him, and in doing so, should move the entire beast bit by bit in Fionn's direction.

Fleuri was curious to see just what Fionn had in store for this thing...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri had never seen a creature like this before. A giant serpent, formed from the very trees, bearing down upon them. Fleuri weaved to the side as it crashed towards them, only for the beast to strike a magical barrier.

He wasn't a mage, but from how the snake knocked through the first of the barriers, the magical bulwark would only likely be able to hold back one more strike. However, with the knights scattering around it, the arboreal beast no longer had reason to put all of its might behind getting past the shield. It now had targets all around.

That's how he figured it, at least. Knowing this thing's likely connection to the fae, its behavior could be utterly unlike that of a
territorial predator.

A couple of weeks ago, Fleuri would not have considered his greatsword to be an ideal weapon for taking on a beast made of wood. That was before he witnessed a tree felled by a single blow from Jeremiah, before he saw Rui generate shockwaves from the swings of her blade, before he spent time in Merilia's world training with the original Roses.

He wasn't nearly at the level of Rui or Jeremiah, of course, but he was much further along than he was back when they first set out to deal with the bandit problem. Now was the time to assess just how far.

Fleuri bolted past the neck towards where the serpent's body rested on the ground, raising his sword and bringing it down with all of his might upon the woooden abomination.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

It was somewhat of a relief to hear Arken suggest that it was possible, if negotiations didn't pan out, to muster the power to go against the Moonlit Queen, as was it to hear Tyaethe's suggestion that the goddesses could potentially get involved. This remained a very daunting task, but Fleuri would trust in the knowledge of a court mage and senior paladin.

---

As they advanced into the woods, Fleuri couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. It was normal to be apprehensive about this mission, of course, but...there was something more to it than that.

These parts of the Brennan Forest had a dark reputation. People going missing, rumors of fae and spirits, this was not a place that Fleuri would travel alone. Before this mission, Fleuri might have at least entertained the notion that the talk of fae and spirits could be superstition, and the disappearances being the handiwork of beasts, but looking at the gnarled trees, almost seeing faces upon them...if he wasn't a believer before, he definitely was now.

If there was a very slight silver lining to this, it was quite clear that Fiadh was leading them in the right direction. But if this was the way to the Moonlit Queen...just what sort of fae would they be dealing with, if this was what she surrounded herself with?

When Fanilly gave the order to form up, Fleuri was already so on edge that he drew his sword without missing a beat. He couldn't see anything specific, but if Arken's words were any indication, there was definitely something out there.

This place felt even more oppressive than the Cazt mausoleum. If Fleuri had known that it would be like this, he might have made a stop to borrow Armand's weapons again.

I wonder if he felt like this when he was setting out to face that undead knight...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Frankly, this conversation was becoming increasingly disheartening to Fleuri. From what he could gather, they were dealing with a fae so powerful she can generate and shape her own plane, powerful enough to drive a Duke of Thaln mad within his seat of power, and all Thaln's finest problem-solvers can hope to do is use words to convince her to undo the madness she inflicted on the Duke.

When the orcs and foreigners invaded, the Roses met them in battle and defeated them. When the traitors rose up, the Roses met them in battle and defeated them. But this...have the Roses ever before faced a foe within our own borders that could not be defeated, only placated, he wondered.

"I'm a bit concerned at the position of weakness that we'll be negotiating from." he stated. "What happens if her final answer is "no"? What happens if she doubts the kingdom of Thaln's ability to inflict upon her any manner of tangible consequences for her actions, or if she doubts our ability to offer her anything that she could not simply take by force?"

Fleuri knew very little about fae and their powers and limitations. He hoped that he was wrong, that the power of this fae queen wasn't beyond what the kingdom was capable of facing and overcoming.

"Or am I wrong?" he directed his question at Arken, "If words fail, is it within the power of the College to overcome her magic?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri listened closely to Arken's explanation of fae realms. It was becoming very clear that the problem afflicting Brennan was not something that would be solvable by force of arms. If the Moonlit Queen was residing within a fae realm, it could prove difficult to get into contact with her unless they entered the realm. Doing so, however, would be extremely perilous, placing them entirely at her mercy.

"If we are to negotiate with this fae, I would suggest we try to get her to come out of her realm and meet us on more neutral ground," Fleuri spoke to Fanilly. "Within her realm, she would be negotiating from a very, very advantageous position, even if we were to do as Fiadh and Renar are suggesting and find someone who could approach her as an equal or rival."

Fortunately, they had someone in their midst who was evidently familiar with both the etiquette of addressing a fae "queen" properly, and with the navigation of a fae realm.

@VitaVitaAR

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon were peak.

@Lith

I'm a fan of Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans myself.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fae tricks were outside of Fleuri's knowledge- this wasn't a matter that he knew how to deal with. Magic, in general, was not something that he was particularly useful for dealing with delicately. He was working on how to deal with magic indelicately, but that wasn't much use here.

He had no objections to Fanilly's suggestion to summoning Fionn's fae friend, so he stood back and watched Gertrude perform the ritual. He doubted that Fiadh would know about this particular incident- after all, just because she was a fae didn't mean that she had anything to do with what happened here- but it stood to reason that she'd have some inside insight as to how fae think and operate, and what their magic is capable of doing.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri listened to Gertrude's words, then the words of the newly arrived court mage. According to Gertrude, there was magic, likely fae or daemonic. Meanwhile, Arken sensed something was missing. Even with Fleuri's very limited knowledge of magic, he could tell that something supernatural, something far beyond that of an ordinary mage, was apparently behind this.

As Fionn and Tyaethe continued to play along with the Duke's ramblings, and Rolan turned to depart to carry out preliminary scouting in hopes of finding any whiff of the fae, Fleuri turned to Arken.

"You appear to have arrived in Brennan before us, Court Mage. Have you been able to glean any other leads prior to our arrival?"

From Arken's questioning, he seemed intrigued at the mention of this Moonlight Queen, which suggested that up until this moment, he may have not heard the Duke mention her.

@VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

There were a few things that Fleuri took note of as he observed this spectacle. First, as Sir Aglan noted, the Duke's state was a parody of madness. For all his eccentric ramblings, he was at least speaking in full sentences, didn't appear to have hurt himself or anyone around him, and judging by his response to Fionn's indulgence of his delusions, could understand and respond to what was spoken to him. It definitely wasn't anything like the murderous insanity that had afflicted the soldiers at the fort.

There was also the very important detail that mages and clergy hadn't been able to find anything wrong with him. Was it possible that for whatever reason, he was entirely lucid, that he might be acting this way for a reason?

"Gertrude," Fleuri spoke up. "You have knowledge of magic that neither the clerics nor mages that attended to him would have access to. Can you discern any manner of magic that might be afflicting him?"

If neither mages, nor clerics, nor a witch could find anything wrong with the Duke, it might be worth considering the possibility that the Duke is putting on an act. If so, surely such a man would not do such a thing without a very good reason.

@Octo