Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

It was quite a curious assortment of figures in this strange world. A copy of Talderia in its prime, presided over by Prince Erion, and inhabited by an order of knights who lived much later, when the empire was but a memory and the capitol was nothing but a pit of horrors. Had Merilia borne witness to both of these eras? Was she that old, or did her witchcraft give such mastery over time that the past was never out of reach? Quite curious, considering as far as Fleuri knew, the Witch-Queen and her strange magics only began to appear in recorded history about a thousand years after the fall of Talderia.

It was doubtful, however, that uncovering information on Merilia would be of any real importance in here. In truth, he wasn't really chomping at the bit to escape this world. The journey, not the destination, was what would really matter.

For now, he would say nothing to Prince Erion- Rolan had already given him a decent enough explanation of what they were doing here.

@Eisenhorn@The Otter@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

After a bit of thought, Fleuri opted to use some of the clothes that Florian had provided. It wouldn't be unwise, he thought, to make some effort to blend in while walking the streets of, from what he could gather, was an unspoiled dream of Talderia. His knowledge of the language might prove handy, although his was not the dialect that would've been spoken during the empire's heyday. On that note, he wondered- were the memories of Talderia where Rui's Talderian dialect came from? Had Rui spent some time in this dream or memory world previously? It didn't matter for now, but it might be worth asking about later.

For now, Fleuri would simply keep his attention upon the task at hand, which was being given a tour guide by the Mirror Knight. As it progressed, as Florian revealed the path to the castle and revealed that Prince Erion was in this dream-world too, he caught onto a few important details. First was that Florian pointed out that there was no kingdom to rule over in here. The second was his mention of the knights' obstacles.

"I think it'd be a good idea to meet the prince, if he'd allow it," Fleuri spoke after Rolan. Fleuri wished to learn more about the obstacles that Merilia had in store for them.

@Eisenhorn@Raineh Daze@The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri was fiddling with a pauldron strap when another entered the room.

"Ah, good to see you, Sir Fionn," Fleuri spoke as he saw the knight enter the library. "Rolan and I ran into Florian and Randon in this section of the castle. Would you care to join us? The Mirror Knight has offered to give us a tour of the city."

@Eisenhorn@Raineh Daze@The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

"I can worry about my quarters later," Fleuri replied as he began to undo the straps of his armor plates. "I look forward to seeing the city."

Fleuri wouldn't need to change into anything- the garb beneath his outer armor should be comfortable enough for casual travel. If what Florian and Randon said was true, then they probably wouldn't run into any trouble in the town that'd warrant armor.

"I hope you don't mind if I bring my sword, though," he remarked. "I'd feel underdressed without it."

@Raineh Daze@Eisenhorn

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fascinating, Fleuri mused- whether or not this Florian was the real Mirror Knight, he remembered. More than just remembered- judging by what Randon had said, Florian had spoken of the experience to another in the dreamscape. Speaking of Randon, he couldn't help but be amused at the thought that Lein wasn't the first male Hundi Iron Rose to put on a dress and make the look work.

The ancient knight's words were no less fascinating. Fleuri had for some time looked at his past tournament history with some shame, despite the considerable benefits it had yielded for him. At the time of Fleuri's knighting, his mentor offered to put a good word in with the Roses and ensure that their unsung two-man crusade against the necromancers during the war would be taken into account with the order. In other words, he could've joined the Roses right away and started fighting the good fight. However, between the war ending and being put off at how heroism and merit meant nothing in the Roses when it came to who would succeed the fallen Captain, he had opted to fight for himself instead.

Up until meeting Florian, he had been hesitant to look upon his tournament career with anything other than regret. But if Florian approved of the diverse avenues of combat that Fleuri had pursued, just maybe he was looking at this the wrong way.

"I'll certainly join you," he replied to Florian's offer. "Where might I leave my armor?"

@Eisenhorn@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

As wild as it was at the thought of meeting the original Roses- or at least Merilia's dreams of them- it was probably a good idea to start figuring out more about this dream world. Fleuri opted to head to the library behind Sir Rolan. The other knight had expressed interest in looking over the maps, probably in hopes that the maps in this dream castle's library were an accurate depiction of the dream world. Cyrus' words implied that things shifted around though, so it wasn't impossible that the maps might show something completely different than the current state of the dream world.

Fleuri was a bit more interested in the other books, though. What sort of tomes and texts could be found in a centuries-old Witch's dream plane? Were they the same as those in the real Candaeln's library, or perhaps as they were when Merilia was an active member of the Roses back in the days of Elionne?

There was only one way to find out. Fleuri headed to where Cyrus had pointed them, hoping that the location stayed put like the ancient knight had assumed would happen. Once inside the library, it was easy enough to see Rolan, looking through the maps. He wasn't the only one here, however. There were two others in the room.

The first was unmistakable- Mirror Knight Florian. Unlike the last time Fleuri saw him, Florian was wearing fine clothing instead of armor, and he was with a Hundi, whom Fleuri presumed to be Raya. Or it might be Randon- as Lein had demonstrated at the ball, a male Hundi could look quite feminine in a dress.

"It's...good to see you again...Mirror Knight," Fleuri spoke somewhat stiltedly but sincerely, taken aback by running into the knight in his dream. "I found our duel very enlightening."

Fleuri was very curious as to whether these dream-knights remembered anything from the first dream. The answer would help a great deal to figure out what the knights were truly dealing with in this dreamscape.

@Raineh Daze@Eisenhorn

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri didn't expect to find himself back in this place again. Up until now he had been going on the assumption that Merilia's dream would be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Clearly, however, his assumption was incorrect, and Merilia wasn't done with them yet.

This time it was different, however. Instead of being alone, he was accompanied by a number of other knights, including Gerard, Renar, Fionn, and Sergio. He noticed two sets of horns poking out of the crowd, belonging to Steffen (the towering Ingvarr being quite easy to spot) and Amy, the half-demon empath. And perhaps most importantly, he spotted the Captain.

He was wondering if they were they his fellow knights, brought to one place in the dreamscape, or if they were just phantoms, but when Merilia appeared and began to address the group, he became confident that it was the former.

He wasn't surprised when Merilia mentioned that she was testing them, nor was he surprised at her unknown contact's assessment that they needed to get better if they wanted to survive. The first dream made it rather clear that they had a long way to go. What did surprise him a bit was when Merilia announced that they had all passed her test. More than that, the fact that she had narrowed them down for this next test was even a bit flattering. He wasn't sure what to make of this Witch apprentice that Merilia had handed over to them, but there was definitely some merit in having someone with magical talents on their side.

For now, he should probably focus on the more immediate matter. He wasn't sure if this Cyrus was a phantom from Merilia's memories, or if it was the real knight, pulled from the afterlife to play a role in the Witch's dreamscape.

It was somewhat amusing that upon meeting this long-departed hero, the first question uttered was Fionn inquiring about their encounter with the twin Hundi knights Raya and Randon. As far as he knew, it was perhaps the first time the Iron Roses had learned of the Hundi marriage customs.

If anything, Fionn and Cyrus seemed to be hitting it off quite well, as the topic delved into the topic of Tyaethe. It was somewhat amusing to hear one of the vampire knight's old friends speaking so candidly of her. Renar, however, didn't care for this jovial conversation, and turned the topic towards the matter at hand. Figures that a killjoy like him wouldn't appreciate the appeal of engaging in casual banter with a long-departed legendary knight.

If Fleuri wasn't already hanging on every word that Cyrus spoke, what he said next would've caught his attention- his mention of the others. If he was interpreting Cyrus' words correctly, Elionne and Tyaethe weren't here, but the other knights- and Erich- were around here. As for the "little one-armed thing", that description could refer to multiple people he knew of in Candaeln. It was probably Rui, since she was already associated with Merilia.

"So aside from those two, the other Iron Roses...and Erich...are they here in the castle?" he asked.

@Raineh Daze@VitaVitaAR

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Roger Falkner

"Err, he's certainly strong enough, but, well..." Roger began to answer, "Griffins are extremely proud creatures and they're very picky about whom they allow on their backs. I should be able to convince Shortclaw to take you as a passenger, but it'll take some bribing."

Shortclaw would never allow anyone aside from Roger or Roger's parents take his reins, but it was possible to sway him- usually through food- to allow a passenger. Still, sometimes the griffin was willing to put up with it even without coaxing. He didn't mind transporting Velvetica, having evidently deducted her place at the top of the Lions' hierarchy. In one instance, he had even been willing to give a ride to a woman whom Roger had met at a ball. With Cadmon, however, Roger wasn't sure if he could pull it off without bribing the griffin with food.

"But you can be assured that if you need me, I'll have your back on this," he assured Cadmon. "Even if this Baron Bridger isn't actually mad enough to make good on those foolish threats, he can't be allowed to go around pushing other nobles and land-holders around." He didn't really think that Baron Bridger would try it, though- Roger figured that the Baron was bluffing in hopes of coercing the young Cadmon into giving him what he wanted or taunting him into making a serious misstep. Over the generations, dealing with over-entitled nobles such as this was a common problem that the Falkners faced, and if Cadmon's trouble were any indication, this wasn't going to go away just because they had been elevated to nobility.

@The Otter@HereComesTheSnow

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

The fight was finally over. The wyvern was certainly a tough foe, but in the end, their skills and powers proved sufficient to bring it down. And even if it was one of the few creatures capable of surviving having its head frozen inside and out, Lonan made sure it was dead.

Ethelred let out a sigh, releasing a breath of cold mist from his helmet. "That should do it. It's a shame that this thing refused to go down without killing people, but at least he won't hurt anyone anymore."

There were many questions that were left unanswered. Where were these "heralds" coming from, how many of them are there in all, and who were they heralds of? The Frozen Knight suspected that this would not be the last of these unique wyverns.

Ethelred walked over to his horse and mounted up. "I should head back to the castle and await Sorcha's return, she'll want to know all about this." He was unsure if they would or even could safely make use of this thing's corpse given how lethally venomous it was in life, but they'd need to know its location regardless.

@Rune_Alchemist@BrokenPromise

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

The trap had worked, and the wyvern had been left stunned by the blow and further immobilized by Luana's vines. Well, except for its tail, which was as mean as ever.

They needed to use this opportunity to strike a fatal blow. Ethelred surged ahead behind Luana, careful as to not get struck by its tail this time. Instead, he came to a stop just short of its tail range and bided his time while the courageous druid grappled the dragon and allowed herself to be the target of its tail strikes.

As Luana gripped it and kept the beast distracted, Ethelred waited for a window of opportunity in between the wyvern's tail attacks to charge ahead, aiming his lance for the wyvern's eye and readying his powers to freeze this vile creature.

@Rune_Alchemist@BrokenPromise