Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Sorry to hear about your computer. I hope you don't need to replace the GPU.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

The entrance of the fort looked normal enough, but upon entering, Fleuri beheld a gruesome sight. There were corpses all over the place, killed in various ways, and all of them appeared to be Thaln soldiers. It seemed that the fort had provided little defense against whatever had attacked, because the south gate had been destroyed and none of the bodies appeared to be those of the attackers. At least there appeared to be one survivor, perhaps they could get some information out of him.

Anything that can knock down a fort's gate and kill a garrison of soldiers without taking casualties could be a serious threat even to us, Fleuri thought to himself as he followed behind the captain. Any hope of getting some context to this attack from the survivor, however, was dashed as the was skewered from behind before the knights could reach him. Anticipating a fight, Fleuri discarded his lance and drew his greatsword, then waited for Fanilly to give the order.

To Fleuri's surprise, however, the assailant did not attack; in fact, she didn't even ready her bloodied spear. She simply and casually claimed to the captain that these weren't Thaln's soldiers and that the bloodbath had already happened before she got here.

She doesn't look like she's expecting a fight. She's either very confident, or she's set us up for an ambush. Fleuri nervously looked up at the walls, half-expecting expecting hidden foes to emerge and start pelting them with arrows from all sides, but he saw nothing of that sort. Just what was going on here, he wondered.

"I don't see anyone on the walls, Captain," he conveyed his observation to Fanilly. "If this was a trap to lure us in here, I think they'd have sprung it by now."

@VitaVitaAR

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak wasn't sure what that thing was in the lit room, but he knew it wasn't Leannah. Being unsure how dangerous it was, he opted to avoid confronting it for the time being, moving back away from the light emanating from the altar room. There wasn't much else he could do in the laboratory, not unless he wanted to risk drawing that thing's attention. If he were to try and remove the barricade that held the other door shut, that thing would likely hear the ruckus of heavy furniture being moved. Thus it seemed like the best option was to backtrack to the tar room and see if the others had made it down here. Novak put his sword away and quietly made his way out of the laboratory.

The skull- or whatever was inside the skull- didn't give him any trouble as he made his way back the way he came. He had a bit to think about from what he had seen. The diagrams and illustrations on one of those texts suggested that the laboratory was used to create some sort of ooze or slime. That'd explain the pool of tar-like substance at the bottom of the pit, and the slime-like creatures, he thought. Most worryingly was the fact that the diagram depicted what looked like a human heart as an ingredient. Just what had been going on in this temple? And why does it look like it was hastily abandoned?

Well, not entirely abandoned. Something's still down here.

Novak turned around the corner to see Lazhira and Narkissa in the tar room. He could not hear what they were conversing about at this distance, but he did notice the rope sticking out of the opening in the ceiling, which meant they now had a way back up and out of here. He didn't need to worry about startling them, with the light cast by the glowing crystal chunk he carried, he was probably seen coming even before he turned the corner.

"It's good to see you two here. Just as I got down here, Leannah went into a room on the left and and it shut behind her. I couldn't find any way to open it from this side, so I've been exploring this level. What happened up there? Are those slime things gone?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

It appeared that Novak had stepped into a laboratory of some sort. There was no sign of whatever he had seen peering from behind the corner, only a room filled with tables, an assortment of glasswares, and books. Novak was equally relieved and curious as to the purpose of this room. It seemed quite odd for a place of worship to have a laboratory. On the other hand, if the temple's former inhabitants worshiped the god of knowledge, perhaps experimentation was just another means of gathering knowledge. If so, exactly what sort of experiments were carried out here, he wondered.

Novak noticed two doors in the room. The first one, located across from where he had entered, was barricaded by furniture, and an ominous looking puddle of tar appeared to have seeped underneath the door. Somebody had clearly blocked that door, and it didn't take much thinking for Novak to conclude that it'd be wise to leave it that way. The second door was much more interesting. It was ajar, and light shone through it from within, indicating the room beyond was well-illuminated. But what really caught Novak's attention was that the light appeared to be moving or shifting, strongly suggesting that something, or someone, was in the room. Could it be Leannah, casting that powerful light spell of hers? Until he knew for sure, it'd be wise for Novak to keep quiet and avoid drawing any attention to himself.

Novak crept up to one of the tables, trying to move as quietly as possible. He looked at one of the books, curious as to what its contents were. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to read the texts, but perhaps he could glean something from illustrations or diagrams. After looking through the book, he'd don the mask again to see if it'd provide any further insight.

It was at this point Novak noticed a skittering noise behind him. Pocketing the mask, he peered around the corner to see what it was. It was the skull, having moved from the pedestal room to halfway through the corridor. If Novak hadn't been trying to keep quiet, he'd have let out a chuckle. By themselves, the skittering and the moving skull both unnerved him greatly. Together, however, those phenomena suggested a more mundane and less dreadful explanation- that some crawling critter was underneath the skull, using it as shelter or camouflage. There was no way of knowing whether the skittering creature was dangerous or not, but Novak saw no reason to antagonize it as long as it remained out of stabbing distance. Perhaps it might even be useful for something.

Novak returned to the laboratory. There was still the matter of where to proceed to next, and there were two doors leading out of here. Why was this door barricaded? Is it a dead end meant to keep something from getting out, or was it an exit meant to keep others from getting in? Regardless, the more pressing matter was the second door, the ajar one leading to the illuminated room. Whether Novak chose to take the barricade down or ignore it in favor of the second door, he needed to know what moving around in there, whether it was dangerous, and whether it would react to the noise that removing the barricade would create.

Novak looked over the glassware and vases, looking for anything that might help. Perhaps he could toss the crawling skull into the room to see if it was safe. Wait, I have an idea. He drew his sword and carefully used his sleeve to wipe whatever blood and dirt may have been on the blade. He approached the iron door, careful as to not step into the light emanating from beyond, using the blade of his sword as a crude mirror to try and see what was moving in the altar room. Whether or not the sword was able to cast a clear reflection, Novak would follow up by carefully peeking through the door to get a better look. If whatever in there appeared to be or one of his companions or otherwise non-living, he'd slowly open the door and walk in. If, however, the occupant appeared both alive in any sense of the word and unfamiliar to him, he'd carefully move back, and consider heading back to the tar room to see if the others had made their way down the pit.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

It seemed at first that Novak's symbol-pressing had no effect. But when he viewed the pedestal with the mask's sight again, he was greeted by the sight of a light floating over the pedestal, and figures surrounding it. He beheld as the phantoms grabbed the light and a series of flashing images depicted them fleeing down the hallway into the unexplored section. Beyond the darkness, Novak beheld what looked like...something humanoid peeping at him from behind the corner. A disconcerting giggle sounded and the figures vanished, followed by a few strange whispers.

Perhaps it was simply a primal fear that would spook almost anybody, or perhaps it was the vestige of a fear from his past life. Whatever the case, it was too much for Novak, who let out a short, quiet scream from beneath his mask. He put the glowing crystal down and moved his hand to the hilt of his sword, fearful at the prospect that something was down here watching him. He stood there, frozen in fear, heart pounding, waiting to see if those...things would emerge from the darkness. Would he be able to defend himself against them? Would he even be able to hurt them? Or were they just more memories of this place, perceptible only through the mask?

As Novak pondered on this, the latter possibility- that they were harmless phantoms that the mask was showing him- seemed to become more and more plausible as nothing happened, and with it his fight-or-flight instinct subsided slightly. The place was almost certainly empty, and the figures he saw were nothing more than memories that the mask was recounting to him. At least that's what he told himself. He pocketed the mask, bent down to pick up the crystal, and it was only then he noticed the skull in the room, which once again caused him to let out a short, relatively soft scream.

How did that skull get here? Was that always here? I don't remember it being here before. The presence of human remains, even if it was just a skull, was of some concern to Novak. Just what happened here, he wondered.

With one hand holding the crystal and the other tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, Novak tentatively walked down the unexplored hallway, as his alarmed mind tried to make sense of what he had seen. Those figures had taken the light from the pedestal and run off- it almost looked like they were stealing something, some sort of object that had once been stationed on the pedestal? What would happen, he wondered, if someone were to return that stolen object here? Further speculation could wait; first he needed to explore here and prove to himself that it what he saw was just the mask's images. At least that's what he hoped he'd prove.

@Rune_Alchemist

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

The last week had been relatively uneventful after the excitement of Jeremiah and the conspirators. Many of the Iron Roses had been ordered to help guard the palace to ensure the princess' safety, but Fleuri had not been one of them. His last few days had been spent keeping his skill sharp, reaching out to his contacts in the Reonite church to inquire about the possibility of obtaining a blessed or fire-enchanted weapon to better combat supernatural foes, writing to his family to inform them to restock their mausoleum's emergency supplies, voicing his concerns to Fanilly about the order's seeming shortage of magical specialists, and cleaning the blood stains from his formal attire. He had just been able to settle in Candaeln's library to get some reading done when he was summoned to take part in a mission to Fort Daelantine.

The details of the situation were scant. From what he had been told, a messenger showed up, dropped dead after arriving, and on his body there was a scrawled message, requesting that the Iron Roses' assistance at Fort Daelantine. Other than that, they knew nothing about had happened or who they'd be up against. It was all quite strange, and Fleuri couldn't dismiss the possibility that it was a set-up. On the other hand, the Iron Roses couldn't afford to let lives potentially be lost on such a suspicion, and whatever the truth of the matter was, it was their duty to bring the malefactors to justice. Fleuri's only gripe was that he'd have to wait until he got back to read the next part of the Saga of Halfhorn.

I could have brought it along, but last time I tried something like that, it didn't end well, for multiple reasons.

As the fort came into view in the distance, Fleuri took note of the surrounding lands. If someone was besieging the fort, the flat plains would serve as ideal terrain for a cavalry charge, and would afford no concealment for ambushers. The current state of the fort wasn't clear at this distance, however, beyond the fact that it was still standing. The Iron Roses would have to get closer to see what was going on, and two of the other knights, the rookie Jarde and the naga Maritza both volunteering to scout it out first.

"It won't be easy to approach unnoticed, not with flat plains on all sides of the fort," Fleuri remarked to the captain. "On the other hand, we know nothing about the situation at the fort, so I concur that it'd be wise for someone to get a closer look at what we're dealing with before we get close enough to make ourselves known."

@PaulHaynek@FlappyTheSpybot@VitaVitaAR

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

The line of light leading to the unexplored path was definitely worth investigating, but the pedestal room was of far more interest to Novak. There were figures of light, figures that had not been visible without the mask, whispering indiscernibly. A chill ran down his spine as the realization dawned upon him- whether these were spirits, phantoms, or vestiges, he and Leannah were not alone down here. A small part of him wondered if it had been a mistake to use the mask, before the rest of him banished the notion- the truth may be scary, but with knowledge came power.

Novak picked up the glowing crystal and slowly approached the pedestal room and the invisible beings within. As he entered the room, however, the figures dispersed. Had they fled from his presence? Was there a consciousness within them? Or was it merely magic taking the form of humanoid figures? The phantoms were not the only thing to respond to his arrival; several images lit up upon the pedestal. These appeared to be a crown, sphere, trident, eye, and...a chain link.

Curious. Novak wasn't sure what it meant, not yet. Still holding the mask to his face, he looked around the room, hoping to find clues. Upon the walls there were several strange markings carved. Each was a set of what looked like tally marks, or an equivalent simple numbering system, ranging from one through five. It wasn't clear, however, what they were referencing or alluding to.

Novak removed the mask, curious as to what was visible without it, and what he saw was quite curious. Under the light of the glowing crystal, the tally marks were gone, but next to where they had been, he could now see previously unseen carvings identical to those on the pedestal. Where the "1" tally had been, there was now a carving of the eye. The sphere was with 2, the crown with 3, the trident with 4, and the chain link with 5.

If it's assigning them an order, it's "eye, sphere, crown, trident, chain link", he observed. It was fortunate he had taken the mask, because even if he had opted to explore the pedestal room without it, he would have not been able to discern the tally marks. Now the challenge would be how to correctly apply this knowledge. Perhaps if I were to select the glowing pedestal images in order...

Novak carefully touched the luminous images on the pedestal in the order corresponding to the tally marks. First was the eye, then the sphere, then the crown, next the trident, and finally the chain link. He hoped that this world work, and that if it didn't, that it at least wouldn't make things worse.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak was a little worried about jumping into the hole, even if the cat girl had told him it was safe. After all, being part cat, being able to survive long falls might just be second nature to her. Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about- the layer of goop safely absorbed the force of his fall, causing him to gently bounce. As he struggled to get back onto his feet, a doorway down the hallway slammed shut, startling Novak and causing him to lose his footing.

"Leannah? Is that you?" Novak asked, once again endeavoring to try and stand up. Had she triggered another mechanism? Novak looked around, noticing the glowing crystals that his companion had mentioned, as well as a curious trail of luminous shards leading into the hallway. Did Leannah make that? Or was it already there?

Novak pocketed the mask and broke off a piece of crystal for light. It'd lessen the light in the room even further, but being the only one of his group who could didn't know how to use light magic, Novak needed a source of illumination. Perhaps the mask could pierce darkness with its strange sight, but he'd rather not over-rely on it. According to Lazhira, the Illuminator was a fickle being who took away as readily as he gave, and Novak couldn't be sure if the mask might suddenly stop working.

Now with a light source, Novak was ready to explore and find his feline companion. It was at this point that he realized that Narkissa and Lazhira had not followed him into the hole. Were they really choosing to fight those slime monsters? At this point there was nothing he could do for them, so he opted to proceed down the hallway and hope that his companions on the upper levels would make it out in one piece. It wasn't like he'd be any help up there, since those things didn't look like they could be killed with a sword.

"Leannah? Can you hear me?"

To his left, and where the trail of crystals ended, was what used to be an entrance, but now, Novak didn't see any way of opening it. The doorway to his right led to what looked like an old kitchen. Novak briefly pondered as to whether anything in there might be of any use. There might be some cutlery in there but I already have my sword. The next room down appeared to be a dormitory. Clearly this sublevel used to be a living area.

Novak proceeded further down to the end of the hallway. Leannah was probably in the sealed room behind him, but he felt it'd be wise to look around first before attempting to deal with that dilemma. Or perhaps he simply didn't want to be caught off-guard by anything in this eerie sublevel. At the end of the hall there were two paths. The path to the right led to a room with a pedestal. The path to the left...he wasn't sure where it led.

Just what is this place hiding, I wonder...

Novak could feel his heart pounding as a feeling of trepidation rose within him. He carefully down the crystal, and with his now freed hand, pulled out the mask and placed it upon his face. With the mask on, he glanced at the pedestal room, then back at the sealed doorway of the hallway behind him, then at the passage leading away, hoping to discern clues to open the sealed room. It might have been easier to simply hold the mask with his other hand, but this place gave Novak the willies and he wanted to keep his sword arm unoccupied.

@Rune_Alchemist@Crusader Lord

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Novak

Novak looked down the pit, and back up at the slimes closing in on him and the others. According to Leannah, there was a layer of goo at the bottom of the pit that broke her fall, and a deeper passage leading further in. Novak contemplated his options. He had hoped that he'd have enough time to tie the rope around one of the pillars so they might be able to climb back out, but that would be a risky proposition with these amorphous monsters in the room.

Suddenly, one of the slimes began acting strangely, shifting its color slightly. More alarmingly, it grew until it had tripled in size. Novak had no idea what was happening but he no longer had any interest in sticking around for things to get even worse. Could all of these slimes do that? Things were quickly getting worse, and with every moment the mask's suggested course of action seemed more and more appealing. Even if the slimes were to follow them into the deeper recesses of the temple, it'd at least buy them some time. Assuming, of course, that there was another way out of the temple through the lower levels, because if there wasn't, they could end up trapped down there with these blobs continuing to close in on them.

"Leannah says there's goo at the bottom of the pit that broke her fall," he shouted at he turned back to his companions. "I don't know about the two of you, but I'm taking my chances down there." Novak placed the bundle down near the edge of the hole, just in case there wasn't a way out through the lower levels, then briefly glanced at the mask in his hand.

Well, here goes.

Summoning whatever courage he had (although it was debatable whether jumping into a pit to escape a burning temple full of slime-like monsters constituted an act of courage), he jumped into the pit. He could only hope that Leannah's safe landing was not a fluke or an exclusively feline characteristic.

@Click This@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri considered Gillian's words carefully, and the advice he offered. While he had trained under a paladin, he never really picked up on the nuances of countering the powers of powerful magical beings beyond the general advice of "if dismemberment isn't stopping it, burn it". It wasn't unsound advice, but clearly there was much more to be known about how to deal with vampires. While Fleuri felt that Gillian was an uncouth, foul-mouthed troublemaker with terrible taste in literature, he couldn't deny that the living reliquary was quite knowledgeable. As for Gillian's antics, Fleuri couldn't judge him for it- after all he himself had done a lot of similarly irresponsible things during his time as a tournament fighter.

I never knew that a vampire's heart was a weakness, I figured they'd be as unfazed by organ damage as other undead, Fleuri thought as he listened to the Living Reliquary describe in detail how he'd kill a vampire.

Gillian's next advice was about using fire or ice to kill them, and perhaps the most relevant part of the lesson for Fleuri because being neither a mage nor a Living Reliquary, obtaining an enchanted or blessed weapon seemed to be the most feasible option to improve his ability to combat undead. Perhaps, being a devout Reonite, the Church might be willing to provide him with a blessed weapon, or bestow a blessing upon his own sword. Not that it would've helped against Damon, since he was using a borrowed Crown Knight weapon at the time, but it could give him an extra edge in any future confrontations with vampires, or those liquid undead for whom a mundane sword would be utterly useless against.

Tyaethe confirmed most of what Gillian said, explaining how the previously mentioned countermeasures stifle a vampire's regeneration, and how magic wasn't worth using, at least not for martially-focused knights. Her take away was that they needed to be cautious when facing powerful magical beings and not just rush in. It was actually a little weird to see Tyaethe and Gillian getting along, the living reliquary almost acting like a teaching assistant to the unliving paladin.

What stuck with Fleuri was the concern that the recent battle illustrated a troublesome lack of magical specialists within the Iron Roses. Their fight with the necromancer was only resolved as smoothly as it was because his co-conspirator betrayed him, and they certainly wouldn't be relying on her again. Perhaps they could ask the college to lend the service of one of their mages, or request the church to send a combat capable healer to support the knight. It wasn't Fleuri's call, of course, but he intended to voice his concerns to the captain when he got the chance.

Speaking of which, Fanilly arrived just then. She wanted to speak to Tyaethe about something, which was probably his cue to leave. He had no idea what they needed to speak about, but it wasn't any of Fleuri's business.

"If we are dismissed, I will resume my duties," he spoke to Tyaethe as he rose out of his chair. "Thank you for this lesson, it has been quite enlightening. And captain, might I speak with you later when you have a free moment?"

@PaulHaynek@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@ghastlyInc