Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Even as he walked away, Fleuri could hear Renar and his half-brother going at it. It was clear from the exchange that he could perceive they had a considerable sibling rivalry going on. It wasn't too surprising considering what he knew of Renar's upbringing. A bastard son of a noble, refused a noble title by his father, but still raised to serve.

All of the obligations of nobility with none of the privileges. The exact opposite of the problem that many nobles have.

Fleuri wondered how Lord Brias felt about Renar being inducted into the Iron Roses. Was he proud to see his sons entering into the crown's most prestigious knightly orders? Was he proud to see Renar gain the status of nobility through valor and strength of arms? Or was Lord Brias the type of aristocrat to scoff at the notion of a commoner being raised to a knight? After all, he did refuse to grant his own son noble status.

I hope they don't forget that they both serve the hosts of the party. The last thing we need is for relations between the Iron Roses and Crown Knights to become strained because of those two, he thought as he grabbed a plate and looked over the foods at the nearest table, trying to move his focus on what to eat for this evening. If things started to sound heated, he may feel obliged intervene.

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Ethelred at least managed to get some answers as to what was going on- at night, the Unseelie used singing to lure people into the woods. The singing no doubt had a hypnotic or mesmerizing effect, and Ethelred wasn't entirely sure how if it'd have any effect on the knights.

As Elnith asked how to go about dealing with the Unseelie, Ethelred had to consider both options. If they stayed and waited, it'd be much easier to find the Unseelie- just follow the singing and smash whatever trap they had set for the peasants. If they kept a low profile until dark, they ought to be able to completely catch the Unseelie off-guard. On the other hand, the singing could potentially affect them too, and if any of the peasants were lured out, the knights may not have the chance to save them.

If they went hunting in the woods, they might be able to put an end to this thing before anyone else got hurt, but the fairies would have the home advantage, since they no doubt knew the terrain much better. Additionally, it might be much more difficult to actually find the culprits without a singing voice to home in on. Lugh could probably sense their corruption, but unless they had a bag full of stray cats, actually catching a fairy would be another story.

"I'm worried about that too. I fear I may be uniquely vulnerable because unlike you and Lugh, if that singing affects me, I cannot reach my ears to muffle them," he stated to Elnith, tapping the side of his helmet as to demonstrate.

"There's more to it than that, though," he spoke somewhat sadly. "During our previous mission, I witnessed several people being murdered by Fomorians. If I can avoid it, I'd prefer to avoid putting these people at risk. I say we spent what daylight hours we have left searching the woods for any whiff of the Unseelie corruption. If we find nothing by sunset, we'll head back here and prepare for whatever nightly trickery they have in store."

It was risky, but Ethelred believed that waiting and using these innocent villagers as bait would be highly unbecoming for one of Sorcha's knights. Their duty was to protect these people.

@Rune_Alchemist

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Novak

Ayumi had led him to something quite interesting. It was a cabin, situated in the woods where the Kyrsa were sending their patrols. He didn't see anyone, but the smoke rising from the chimney suggested that somebody was inside.

Novak considered his next course of action. There was definitely something strange going on with the Krysa, and this cabin might have the answers he sought. Why were they so agitated and suspicious of outsiders despite having their supposed culprit under siege? Who was this person of interest that Lady Marushka was looking for? Why are their troops patrolling these unimportant-looking woods? And the most recent question- what is a cabin doing so close to their patrol routes?

Judging by the charms and sigils on the dwelling, whoever lived here probably knew magic. There meant there was some risk in attempting to get their attention, depending on how benevolent or malevolent they proved to be, or how attached they are to their solitude. Judging by Ayumi's hesitation to touch the door, Novak judged it wise to likewise not touch it. For all he knew, that sigil could be a trap. Still, he needed to obtain the answers he sought, and after steeling his nerves and looking around to make sure nobody was watching them, spoke through the door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" he would ask at first, to see if there was a response. If he had learned anything from observing Mie interact with her prospective customers and work her mercantile charm, now was the time to put it to use.

"I represent a merchant that traffics in trinkets and exotic goods...the sort of merchandise you might have an interest in," he introduced himself. "Unfortunately, we have found ourselves mired in a rather difficult kerfuffle with the Krysa and Yaga for reasons they refuse to share. The Krysa in particular are acting very strangely, evidently searching for somebody and routing their patrols in close proximity to your home. Might you be willing to share with me just what is going on with them?"

Novak eyed his sword, but did not reach for it quite yet. He had no idea if this person would be hostile- heck, for all he knew, there could be a Krysa in there- and wanted to be cautious until he knew otherwise.

@Rune_Alchemist

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Things were going swimmingly, when a Crown Knight joined the conversation and began to boast of his own achievements. While there was naturally a bit of rivalry between the Iron Roses and Crown Knights, the fact that the newcomer took more interested in Renar's achievements suggested a relationship. Fleuri might have recalled that one of the sons of House Brias was a Crown Knight, but he didn't quite manage to recall it before Renar elaborated.

"Felix!" My half-brother, in case any of you are wondering. And evidently, the spinner of quite a yarn."

If Fleuri was still a betting man, he'd wager that this was exactly why Renar pulled him into this conversation- to boast in front of his more privileged half-brother. And evidently he was either resentful or familiar enough with him to directly challenge the veracity of Felix's own boast.

Slaying an orc warchief and accusing a Crown Knight of lying about his achievements in the middle of a royal ball? Sir Renar definitely has stones, he thought as Renar brought up his own deed. A deed that, if Fleuri recalled correctly, was what got him into the Iron Roses- and granted him the nobility that his father had denied him.

As the conversation became more heated, Renar gestured for Fleuri to depart from this conversation. Fleuri nodded in acknowledgement, silently raising his glass in support of his fellow knight before walking away. This was Renar's duel, and his alone. Hopefully he wouldn't escalate it to violence before the dancing began.

@Psyker Landshark@Rune_Alchemist

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Captain Argus Fellborn

This was the end.

After all the years of sailing, plundering, and occasionally contributing to the vampire cause, the tale of the Red Tide was finally drawing to a close. His weapons were broken, and the hilt of a blessed sword stuck out of his chest, pinning him to a tree trunk like a proclamation.

He could've fled, sacrificed his skeletal minions to get back to the ship and cast off. There were too many of them to defeat- the Paladins had come anticipating a battle with an entire pirate crew, and after he slipped away the first time, they weren't taking any chances. There was no shame in fleeing a hopeless battle to fight another day. After all, pirates that did no appreciate the importance of discretion did not last long.

Perhaps it didn't need to have been the end. Perhaps could have stayed ahead of them forever if his will to survive at any cost had held out. Instead, he had opted to conclude his tale of piracy and adventure on his terms, by going down swinging. After breaking both his halberd and cutlass, after firing every pistol he had, after putting up the fight of his unlife, he found himself immobilized by a very well-executed impalement straight through the heart and all the way into into a tree behind him.

With the last of his strength, he floored the attacking paladin with a right hook, but was unable to muster the might to free himself. There was no questioning that this was a fatal blow. As his vampiric vitality faded, Captain Fellborn looked out at the Silent Swordbill off the coast, its anchor rising out of the water, and gave a pained, faint smile as the pirate accepted his end.

---

Any drowsiness that Argus may have had upon awakening quickly dissipated as he realized his predicament and scrambled up to safety. As he rose to his feet after pulling himself away from immediate danger, he strained to make sense of what was going on.

He was on a ship or rather, a shipwreck, nestled on a cliff. Far beneath him was a great graveyard of ships stretching out into the ocean. The decayed wreck creaked as he got up, giving Argus some uncertainty as to how stable it was. How did he get up here? For that matter, how did this ship get up here? Was Silent Swordbill one of the wrecks resting down there?

It was at this point that he realized that he was not alone here. A strange woman, dressed in maid's attire and sporting a blindfold over her eye sockets, leaned against a broken desk, directly facing the pirate. She wasn't anyone he could ever recall seeing before- he'd remember someone like her? Was she one of the maid-knights that serve Princess Giselle, maybe? If she was able to see beneath that blindfold, he'd think she was staring at him.

The woman spoke, revealing that she had pulled Argus out of the ocean, which the paladins had opted to make his final resting place. He let out a light chuckle at the mention of his fate- for the paladins to have taken such efforts to dispose of him rather than tossing his lifeless body in the hole he had just finished digging, he had clearly left an impression on them. Equally amusing was that it seemed they had evidently interred him with his hat.

Next, the woman told him that it was her mistress, whoever that was, that returned him to the land of the living. She stated that she had a task for him to complete, and would compensate him accordingly. Even with her promise of payment, he didn't think he'd have much of a choice. Just by his efforts of pulling himself to his feet, he was able to tell that his power and strength were a shadow of what they once were. Of course, even if it wasn't the case, even if he was at his peak, he would not be so foolish to challenged someone that possessed the power to pull him from the abyss (in more ways than one) and restore him to undeath.

Perhaps he was even a little bit grateful for being given another chance, even if they clearly had an agenda.

"I appreciate the second shot at undeath, lass, and I'm not so foolish to decline your offer, but might you enlighten me with some answers?" He asked, adjusting his attire. "What has become of the world since my death? Are the paladins still hunting us, or were we victorious? Where may I obtain fresh blood to mend my parched body?"

"And finally, who is your mistress? You must know that a one of Ichor's pups, I cannot go against Her." His words were not conveying defiance, but rather weakness.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Ethelred wasn't surprised by the occupant's unpleasant response. These people were clearly scared, and for those already living in fear of the Unseelie, it was understandable that they'd see someone like Ethelred and assume him to be with them. However, it still left him dealing with the difficulty of getting answers.

One option would be to attempt to reason with the people, convince them that if they're right and he's an Unseelie, then it'd be most unwise to be uncooperative. On the other hand, he didn't want to scare or coerce these people, and like Elnith said, fear could push them to act rashly. It would be best to play it nice, although it'd take longer to coax answers out of these people.

Fortunately for the Frozen Knight, someone else in the house answered him. A woman on the second floor looked down at him and, after correctly concluding he was not an Unseelie, asked what he was. Now they were getting somewhere.

"No, my lady, despite my appearances, I am a human," he answered her. "Rest assured, I am no friend of those wicked fey, and neither are my companions. We've heard rumors of Unseelie around here and were sent by Queen Sorcha to help you. If your household is unwilling, is there someone that we may speak to that could explain exactly what is going on?"

@Rune_Alchemist

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Novak

Curious, they seem to be focusing on that area," Novak silently noted and he observed the patrols come and go. It was odd that the rat-folk soldiers would focus their patrols on that unimportant-looking wooded area outside of the town. Just what were these Krysa up to?

There was a lot that didn't make sense. Why would they be harboring so much suspicion if they were convinced enough of Mie's guilt to lay siege to her caravan? It wasn't like the Kitsune and her Oni could be mistaken for anyone else. And just who were they looking for in the snowfields. His first thought was that it might be Haruno, but surely they wouldn't be looking for her so close to where she had broken out.

Going in there would be risky. He already had a run-in with Lady Marushka, so getting caught poking his nose in more of their business would bring considerable suspicion on him. However, Mie and her people were counting on him, and he couldn't let down the people who took him in and taught him how to survive. He needed to know what these rats were up to, and what they were hiding.

At about the halfway point between the patrols, Novak slipped out of the town and followed the guards' tracks, carefully keeping an eye on his surroundings. The next time he'd see Ayumi, he'd gesture at the fox to follow him. The guards' route shouldn't be too hard to follow, and Ayumi's sense of smell should keep them on track even if the footprints disappeared. He'd need to stay unseen though, and if he made any tracks in the snow outside of the guards' route, it'd alert them that someone else was out here.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

"I agree, something is amiss here," Ethelred replied to Elnith's observation, as he looked around atop his icy horse. "We need to find someone willing to talk."

Ethelred knew that this was the place they were looking for. It was normal for people to feel some apprehension and fear at himself and Elnith, but this village was the only one where they fled inside and worriedly sought to avoid their attention. It certainly wasn't normal for people to claim that the Unseelie had returned when fleeing into their homes. The knights needed to figure out what was going on as quickly as possible- the longer they remained in the dark, the more danger both they and the locals would be in.

The problem, however, would be getting people to talk. They might be frightened enough to not offer any resistance to those they believed to be with the Unseelie, such as Ethelred, but Ethelred would rather not cause any of them further distress, nor give them a reason to distrust Queen Sorcha.

"Lugh, see if anyone in the town center is willing to talk," he instructed the squire. "Don't hesitate to give them those pleading eyes. Elnith, could you keep an eye on him, make sure nobody gives him trouble? I'm going to try one of these houses."

Ethelred dismounted his horse and walked up to one of the houses whom he had seen a villager flee into. He knocked on the door, which he assumed would be locked, latched, bolted and barricaded.

"Hello? I am Sir Ethelred, Knight of Airedale. Is anybody home?" He felt that it'd be best to try a somewhat subtle approach at first (or at least as subtle as a crystalline horseman atop a crystalline horse, a cursed berserker, and a Tuatha could be). He wasn't sure if they'd answer at all, but their reaction, whatever it was, might provide some useful information even if they didn't cooperate.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Ethelred looked away, embarrassed. Normally it'd be difficult to see what his eyes were doing behind his helmet, and it was handy to allow him to take note of things without alerting others to what his attention was on, but clearly he had failed to be subtle here. He only hoped it didn't upset Elnith.

Unfortunately for the Frozen Knight, when he averted his gaze, it went straight down to where Lugh was, silently pleading with puppy-dog (or fox, or whatever animal he shared he bore the features of) eyes to accompany him on this mission.

"Don't blame yourself, Elnith, you didn't know that you'd be facing that monstrous wyvern." he assured, looking back at her, unable to continue to meet the Tuatha's eyes. "If it was a Fomorian like Sorcha believed, I'm confident you'd have handily slain it."

"And yes, I would like your assistance," he continued after glancing over the other knights. "It looks like Vyrell and Luna will be going to find the elves, and I'm unsure what Elias and that Owl Knight are up to. Might you accompany us on the mission to Hrelskins' Fall? You know better than most the harm those evil fairies can cause. Besides, it looks like Lugh wants to come, and I could use some help keeping an eye on him."

He wasn't entirely comfortable with Lugh coming along, but the Tuatha needed some practical experience if he was to become one of Sorcha's knights someday. Additionally, given how elusive and nimble the diminutive Unseelie could be, Ethelred couldn't deny that the squire's magical skills and senses could be quite useful for this mission.

@Rune_Alchemist

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

The development following Fleuri's return from the tavern were unexpected, but not unwelcome. He was informed that Fanilly had selected him as one of the knights to accompany her to the royal ball, and thus the remainder of the day, and the next one, were spent preparing. He bathed and groomed, then spent a few hours touching up on his formal attire. It was likely an odd sight for the Flower of the North to be seen using a needle and thread, but given his family's relative lack of wealth, being able to maintain his own attire had been an important skill to develop. By the late afternoon when the ball drew close, Fleuri was ready..

For the ball, Fleuri's attire consisted of a white mantle over a white long sleeved tunic, accompanied with black pants, boots, and gloves. Both the mantle and tunic proudly the black fleur-de-lis symbol. This archaic-looking ensemble was was his family's traditional formal wear, nearly unchanged in over a century. While Fleuri was no longer relegated to wearing ancestral hand-me-downs, he still honored his family's traditions (even if, admittedly, the only reason the tradition existed was to not waste money chasing fashion developments) by donning formal wear crafted in the same style. The only oddity was the sheathed greatsword poking from beneath his mantle and his dagger hanging from his belt, both having been brought at the request of the princess.

As he and the other knights followed Fanilly to the ball, Fleuri looked up at the castle. He wasn't unfamiliar with these sorts of events, but he had never attended one as an Iron Rose knight. House Jodeau wasn't completely removed from Thaln's high society, still commanding some prestige from their history of service to the crown and to the Church of Reon. This time, however, he was representing an organization far more prestigious than a noble family- he represented the Iron Roses, making it all the more important that he not make any missteps.

As expected of a ball hosted by the royal family, there was no shortage of prestigious guests in attendance. Among them, Fleuri noticed a pair of elves, likely relatives given their matching hair color. If they were human, Fleuri would guess them to be siblings, but given how long elves live, they could potential be a parent-child pair, grandparent and grandchild, or potentially something even further removed. Even more curious was the spider-woman in attendance.

I wonder how deft of a dancer she is, with those eight legs, he pondered as he watched Cecilia approach her. He wasn't sure what sort of interest the archer-knight had in the arachnoid woman. Perhaps, like many people, she had a thing for exotic women with monstrous features, or maybe she just wanted some spider silk for a bow string. He hoped that whatever her motivations, Dame Cecilia would remember to be discreet in her interactions.

Fleuri headed for the wines to sample what was available. As much as he wanted to try some of the red wine, past experiences had taught him just how easily they could stain white clothing. Consequently, he chose white wine instead, and was just about to take a sip from his goblet when Renar approached.

"I'll need to borrow you for a good few minutes. Play along for a short while, and I'll be in your debt," the fellow knight spoke before "volunteering" Fleuri for some mingling with the nobles. Fleuri complied, silently playing along, not entirely sure what Renar's game was. Generally, the Jodeau family stayed out of the politicking of the nobility due to their relative irrelevance in Thaln's aristocracy, but ever since Fleuri gained a reputation as a successful tournament fighter, he had to getting dragged into the games on occasion.

Perhaps Renar was just establishing some credentials as a part of Thaln's nobility, having only recently gained the status due to being knighted, or maybe he was leveraging his newly gained station.

"You all wish to hear of the battle. Well, our Flower here mounted a griffin in live combat. But of course, he could tell that tale himself, yes?" So that was Sir Renar's game. Very well, he would play along.

"Yes, Jeremiah and his bandits had captured a griffin. I'm not sure what they wanted it for- it certainly wasn't following their orders. During our attack on the camp, it broke out of its cage and we found ourselves fighting it," he began, taking a drink from his goblet and setting the stage for the tale.

"Sir Lucas- one of the younger knights- and myself climbed the bandit watch tower and jumped onto its back while it was distracted by the other knights. I wasn't keen on giving that beast a chance to take flight. Instead of trying to buck me off like a horse would, it tried to crush me against the ground. I haven't gotten off a mount so quickly since I took that lance to the chest in the Aimlenn Tournament two years ago."

At least some of the nobles here probably remembered seeing that. It wasn't exactly his most glorious moment.

"Of course, the griffin was just a distraction, a spectacle," he turned his head towards his fellow knight. "Our victory that day was thanks to knights like Sir Renar here cutting the bandits down like weeds."

@Psyker Landshark