TaliPaendrag

A Crown of Bones

Rali Corcaleo

The dark storm clouds overhead were indicative of a coming rainstorm, and Rali didn’t need her magic to see that, which was a good thing, as the pink metal bracelets on her wrist kept her from accessing her magic at all. They and the dirty, woolen tunic she was wearing were painful reminders of what had happened to her, and she couldn’t wait to be rid of both of them. A nice warm bed and a set of clean clothes, in addition to a key that would remove the bracelets, were essentially her idea of paradise at the moment.

Sir Julius had done an excellent job of teaching her how to observe weather conditions from the shape, color, and altitude of the clouds alone, though there were numerous other methods he had imparted to her before his death a little over a year ago. It had taken several months, but she had eventually gotten over her grief, both for the loss of her mentor and for the loss of her homeland, though she wasn't sure which had hurt the worst. One thing was certain, however: the sinking of the pirate ship and her resulting freedom were without a doubt the best things that had happened to her since the war, certainly ended by now, had started.

Apart from that, she didn’t really have all that much time to think about what had happened to her homeland, or the people she had loved the most. Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other took up enough of her attention, especially as her stomach growled in protest over lack of food and her lips and mouth dried up from lack of water. It had been quite some time since she had left the forest that had started a short distance from the beach she had landed on, with its fresh water streams that she could just get a mouthful of water from when she needed one.

As she crested the little hill that she was on, the first she had seen since emerging from the forest several miles behind her, she saw the large grey walls of Vespar. The knowledge that she was only about two miles away, to the best of her approximation anyway, from a place of civilization gave her a new energy that allowed her to keep going. There had to be somewhere in the city where she would be able to get a bite to eat, something to drink, and a comfortable place to sleep.

From the top of the hill, it was also evident that the city was a port city, as the coast line angled to touch the city’s boundaries. Though it didn’t spur her on as seeing the city itself had, it was something of a comfort to her homesickness to see that not everything about this land was entirely foreign. In fact, the smell of the sea was distinct on the breeze that blew over the plains, bringing with it memories of home.

Shaking her head slightly in dismissal of such memories, she continued on her way, if a little faster now that the end of her journey was in sight. On the way, Rali saw a few armored individuals on horseback, some of the only people she had seen on the road the entire way. They paid her little mind, no doubt because of her appearance. Few things were as non-threatening as a small woman covered in dirt after all.

Upon approaching the walls of the city itself, Rali noticed that there were similarly armored men atop the wall, each one holding a large bow and a quiver full of arrows. In addition to that, the solid wooden gates were closed. While Rali was entirely unfamiliar with the customs of the strange land she had found herself in, she had a strange feeling that what she was seeing wasn’t the norm. In short, it gave the city a somber feel, which certainly couldn’t be a great thing.

Before Rali could contemplate turning back, one of the guards atop the wall called out to her. “Who goes there?” he shouted, his deep, gravelly voice reaching her ears perfectly. Unfortunately, the language wasn’t one that Rali recognized. In fact, it didn’t sound even remotely close to any of the languages that she had been exposed to back in Aerian.

“Do you speak Aerian, sir?” she responded, trying to project politeness in her voice. There was no telling what the guard would think she was saying if he didn’t know her language, which could lead to a variety of unpleasant, though admittedly interesting, results. The guard scratched his head as if unsure of what she had said, though he didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and talked to someone else on the wall that Rali couldn’t see from where she was.

A few moments of silence later, the gate was being opened, albeit rather slowly, and a pair of guards emerged. “What did you say that your name was, lass?” the one on the left, a slightly overweight individual with a beard of dark brown hair, said. The guard on the right, a tall, lean man with a clean-shaven, freckled face seemed rather uninterested in the whole scenario, indicating that he had probably been selected for the task without having much choice in the matter.

“I take it that you don’t speak Aerian then?” Rali replied, still keeping her tone and mannerism polite, though expecting that they would just look at her. Her prediction, however, turned out to be correct, as the guards looked first at each other and then at her as if trying to comprehend what she had said.

“So Rickon wasn’t hearing wrong then,” the overweight guard said, “you really don’t speak Common. Am I right?” Rali didn’t answer, blinking at the guard and waiting to see what he would do. Nodding, he turned to the other guard and started whispering, presumably about what should be done about her.

After a few moments, the tall, lean guard motioned for her to follow, and the pair led her into the city, the gates closing behind them. As expected of a city, there were certainly a lot of people out and about, but the strange thing was that almost all of them had a look of despondency about them, which Rali supposed should have been expected considering the feel she had gotten from seeing the city all walled up.

The guards wasted no time in leading her through the streets towards the inner areas of the city. Considering the fact that there weren’t a ton of people on that road, and that they moved out of the way for the guards, they moved at a rather quick pace, which prevented Rali from really being able to observe her surroundings. She noticed several things that looked like shops or inns, but specific details eluded her.

As they got closer to the inner city, which involved ascending a fairly steep hill, it became apparent that they were taking her to what appeared to be a manor of sorts, with large stone walls that loomed over the city itself surrounding it. At first, the walls gave the impression of strength and resilience, but, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that they were beginning to fall into disrepair, with several sections of the wall worn down.

They paused at the gates while the two guards who had lead her this far explained the situation to the guards on duty there. Once everything was explained, they were permitted through the gates, which lead to a twisting path up another section of the hill to the keep itself. Rali was rather curious to know why they were taking her there, but contented herself with the hope of a warm bed and fresh clothes.

Once they arrived at the entrance to the keep, they were subjected to the same procedure as what had occurred at the gates of the inner wall. The guards at the door were a little quicker to understand the situation, probably due to the credibility imparted by the fact that the trio had made it through the gates of the inner wall. After being given what seemed to be directions, the guards were allowed to lead her into the keep.

The interior of the keep was, in short, lackluster. There were few tapestries still hanging and faded spots where others had hung before, the flowers and such that decorated niches every so often were wilting, and there was barely an ounce of gold, or silver for that matter, that she could see. It matched the outer appearance of the keep perfectly, so Rali supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was curious as to what was going on in the city to result in such conditions.

After numerous twists and turns through the halls of the keep, the trio arrived at a door that stood out from the ones that Rali had seen before. Clearly, it lead to a particularly important room, though Rali wasn’t entirely sure what purpose it had. Odds were that it was a throne room or something along those lines, but Rali wasn’t familiar with the customs of the land she found herself in at all, so her guess was as good as anyone’s.

The guards knocked on the door a little hesitantly, clearly hoping that they weren’t interrupting anything, as muffled voices could be heard on the other side of the door. “Sir Elric?” the tall guard asked. “We were told that you were going to be in here? We have a bit of an issue on our hands and were hoping you could help.”

A Crown of Bones

I will hopefully be able to finish my post with Rali tomorrow or Friday at the latest. I have most of it done, but schoolwork has prevented me from completely finishing it. :3

A Crown of Bones

Not small, but mostly swampland and/or forests. So any land that would be great for farming would be small by comparison and not enough to sustain an entire nation.

A Crown of Bones

I imagine that any land where agriculture would be viable won't be very large, as the people have had to turn to fishing as the primary method of keeping the cities fed.

A Crown of Bones

I got my post for Itzli up. I'm still working on Rali, and I hope to have that up tonight or tomorrow. I am really enjoying the other posts, though. They've all been great to read. :D

A Crown of Bones

Itzli
The early afternoon sun filtered down through the canopy of trees around them, leaving a few bright spots here and there, but far more shadows. Itzli and the others that followed Lucien were scattered among the trees in strategic locations. A few of the men were fidgeting with gear, checking and rechecking to ensure that they were ready, while some of the others kept a vigilant watch of their surroundings.

Itzli, standing in shadows to keep the sun from gleaming on her armor and therefore giving away her position, remained motionless, contemplating Lucien’s plan again. It was fairly straightforward, with the group she was with serving only to stop the Gorgon force from following if Lucien and his men were forced to retreat. Her only concern would be that Lucien would get himself killed in his quest for revenge against the one who usurped his father and took the throne. He had a tendency to be rather brave, and therefore stupid, when it came to that throne.

Almost as if thinking of him had been a summons, the sound of men crashing through the forest could be heard from down the path, if such an overgrown stretch of ground could be called a path accurately. Before too much longer, the first of Lucien’s force passed through the checkpoint, heading back to the hidden camp to lick their wounds, both literal and figurative. Lucien himself, as usual, took up the rear, though it appeared that he was injured, as two of his men were holding him up, at least until one was taken in the back with an arrow.

As two of the Rangers walked up to Lucien’s prone form, Itzli smacked her arm against her leg, the sharp sound of steel clanging on steel serving as the signal for the men to begin their counterattack. She stepped out of the shadows to intercept the Ranger whose sword was being held over Lucien’s body while an arrow took the second. A few more Rangers stepped carelessly forward before they realized that it was an ambush and were shot down, but Itzli was only vaguely aware of that, as her focus was on the Ranger with the sword.

The sound of steel striking steel echoed throughout the forest as her sword, Wolf-Fang, intercepted that of the Ranger. He snarled with frustration as he realized that he had been stopped from killing the leader of the rebels. Incidentally, the man was very skilled in the use of a sword, and Itzli found herself enjoying the challenge of facing him over the uneven ground while a few of the other rebels came out of the shadows to grab Lucien and carry him to safety.

Once she was sure that Lucien was safe, having stalled for quite some time with the tiring Ranger, Itzli cursed the man by fusing his foot to the ground, interrupting his movement and allowing her to slide her sword into his chest. His death was quick, and Itzli pulled her sword from his body, taking the time to wipe it with his cloak before leaving to follow the rest of the force, cursing the ground to create a trap for any who wished to follow her. Most of them had fled once it was discovered that there was a counter-ambush, but a few might have been brave enough to try and follow.

As usual, a few of the rebels were to stay behind just in case, but the majority of them went with her back towards the camp, slapping one another on the back and otherwise celebrating the fact that they were still alive. From what Itzli could understand, it was a very uncertain life that they lived following whom they believed to be the rightful king.
The camp wasn’t really all that far from the point of the ambush, though the route was quite twisty and covered with illusions to prevent people from chancing upon it by accident. The sight was a welcome one to the men who were with her, as they saw their friends and, in a way, family again, everyone going off to recover and relax after another harrowing day. Several fires dotted the camp for just such a purpose it seemed, as groups of rebels gathered around them to warm their spirits as well as their bodies.

As for Lucien, he should have been taken to the medical tent, a large, dark green thing off to one side of the camp to avoid disheartening the other rebels of the camp, and so that’s where Itzli went, bending her head down to fit through the narrow opening and into the dimly lit interior of the tent. The smell of sickness filled the air of the tent, men suffering a variety of conditions, from an injury gained while fighting for their king to a simple disease caught from being out in the woods in cold air. Though spring was upon them, the nights still had a tendency to grow chilly.

The “doctor,” a short, stocky man with thinning black hair, was muttering over how careless Lucien had been this time, pouring his liege a mug of ale to dull the pain while he prepared to pull the arrow from his leg. The doctor took a deep breath to steady himself and then yanked the arrow from the leg. Then he held his hands over the wound and concentrated, his magic accelerating the healing and causing the tissue to knit itself together, first at the deepest level and then moving to shallower and shallower tissue. After a moment, he relaxed, sweat beading his brow.

“My apologies, my Lord,” he began, “but I am unable to heal it further than that with my level of skill. I’m afraid that the wound will scar, though it won’t take your life.” Itzli stepped forward and clapped the doctor on the shoulder to let him know that he had done a good job, pouring him a glass of ale. The man seemed to greatly appreciate the offer, but turned it down.

“Sorry, m’Lord,” he replied, “but I’ve got others to attend to besides the King here.” Itzli nodded her understanding and set the mug aside, letting the man get to his work elsewhere in the tent, the sound of moaning serving as a good reminder that not everyone was lucky enough to get away with nothing in the service of their king. As for her, she stepped over to Lucien’s side to see if he was still conscious. It wouldn’t hurt for her to remind him that he couldn’t always go risking his life like he had a penchant for doing if he wanted to actually sit on the throne someday.

A Crown of Bones

I'm working on my posts as we speak, but I'm curious as to how you feel about Rali speaking another language, Brand. Realistically, it would be highly likely that her people would have spoken an entirely different language, but that may not be the most convenient situation, so I just wanted to get your opinion on the matter.

A Crown of Bones

Rali

Name: Rali

Gender: Female

House Name: Corcaleo

Age: 21

Appearance: Rali is rather non-threatening at face value, as she has a rather petite build to her. She also stands out in a crowd due to her white hair and bright red eyes, both lucky traits to be born with according to customs back in her homeland. Up close, one can see that she has a couple of scars on her face, with more covering her torso, arms, and legs, from a variety of sources.

As to her clothing, she is currently dressed in the same rags she had as a slave aboard the Black Dragon. Normally, she prefers the traditional, scholarly clothing of her people, which consists of trousers, a shirt, and a jacket, all of which are loose enough to allow free movement, yet elegant and dignified at the same instant.

Homeland: Aerian

Race: Mage

Spells: As of this moment, Rali is actually unable to do any magic because of the bracelets of Orichalcum on her wrists.

“Explosive” is the key word in describing Rali's magic, as she has a lot of latent power, but mediocre control over it. This is primarily because of the fact that magic was very rarely a focus in studies. It was always along with something else, like astronomy or meteorology in her case, so it took a lot longer to achieve the level of master than it does in the Five Nations. As such, Rali often has a difficult time with the more technical aspects of her magic, or of being subtle with it, especially after going so long without being able to use it at all.

Aeromancy:
Rali's Aeromancy is typically involved in manipulating weather systems to an extent. She can adjust pressure systems with her magic to change the direction or intensity of a storm, though not both at once. Of course, she can also do the basic manipulation that virtually everyone is capable of doing, pushing things around, stopping projectiles, etc.

Pyromancy:
Rali's Pyromancy generally sees less use than her Aeromancy, but is perhaps the more notable. Due to her magical power, the flames she creates, or even manipulates, are green in color, indicating that they are of a higher intensity than normal fire. Throwing fireballs is the typical use of Pyromancy, though she is able to create things like walls of fire.

Combinations:
Rali does know enough to combine her magic in several useful ways. One of her most impressive combinations is using air and fire to create an explosion that is mostly concussive in nature, though she often doesn't find the need to use that. For a sheer fear factor, she can also combine a whirling vortex of air with a flame to create a tornado of fire that she can move around or let go until it fizzles out.

Bio: Rali was born in a land across the ocean known as Aerian, specifically the capital city of Lumiya, which sat right on the coast. In all the lands she had known of while growing up, there had been no better city for learning or culture. The children of those who were citizens were expected to attend schooling in order to learn the basic skills to contribute to society, such as reading, writing, and how to perform arithmetic.

Once they graduated from basic, or elementary, education, they were expected to find a patron that would teach them valuable skills in a profession, such as blacksmithing or weaving. One of the most valued professions was that of a magician, as having a propensity for magic was required to attract a potential patron. These people were often called scholar, rather than mages or magicians, due to the fact that their education went far beyond that of the regular citizens. It included such things as astronomy, physics, history, etc., and it wasn't uncommon for a scholar to engage almost exclusively in a specific field of study after having learned the basics.

Rali was one of the fortunate few who were able to convince a scholar that they would benefit from taking her on as a student, as her magic, while unrefined, was remarkably powerful. The individual who became her patron was Sir Julius Lerown Telamon, a man with an intimidating presence, standing at 6'3” and with eyes that could out-stare a stone. He was also quite famous throughout the country as an astronomer, meteorologist, and astrologer, responsible for predicting future events and taking note of when events were to occur.

Like she had done during her elementary education, Rali devoted herself to her studies, proving that she was a wonderful student in short order. The concepts that Sir Julius explained to her never really seemed to be beyond her and what was said usually stuck like a steel trap, her love of learning evident in it all. It actually kind of made her the perfect student for a guy like Sir Julius, as he had a tendency to be impatient with people who were unable to keep up, and was well-known for his tendency to revoke patronage if a student was unable to perform to his standards.

Sir Julius was also a master in the use of magic, like virtually all scholars, though his expertise lied in aeromancy and hydromancy specifically. It turned out that Rali took to aeromancy like she did her other studies, but she did have a poor affinity with hydromancy. Considering she was a stellar student in other respects, Sir Julius was able to overlook that particular shortcoming and actually allowed his wife, Hestia to teach her pyromancy.

One of the many perks to being a student of a scholar in the employ of the king was the ability to tag along whenever they left on royal business. Of course, this wasn't something that was really open to Rali while she was just beginning her studies, but once she had gotten enough of the material down for her patron to be happy with, she was allowed, and actually expected, to go with him on business. This privilege, however, was something that took time to earn, even for a speedy student like Rali, and it as around her thirteenth birthday when she was finally able to go with him on a routine trip further inland to check on the signs to see if they needed to prepare for anything that would damage crops or livestock.

Unfortunately, it was one such trip that would alter Rali's life forever. A war had broken out with an island nation, Yuren, to the north over a petty dispute with the nation's ally, Korzin, to the west. The little nation, though lacking in military might on the ground, proved to have a sizable navy with which to pester the coastal cities of Aerian while their ally attacked from the ground to the west. To make matters worse, a massive volcano, Mt. Mulcibar, erupted shortly after the war broke out, destroying many of the farmlands to the north.

The peace the nation had experienced for so long had softened the military, which, when combined with the decreased food supply due to the eruption, meant that the military of Aerian was hard-pressed to turn the tide. Unrest over how the war was being handled grew among the elite, which eventually culminated in the assassination of the king. Confusion broke out over who was to take the mantle, which weakened the military even further.

While this was going on, Sir Julius and Rali, were heading west by ship to help reinforce the army that was trying to hold the border, their magic seen as a surefire way to turn the tide. Other scholars had been sent out as well, but most weren't sent to the same location, and so it wasn't unusual for there to be only one pair on a ship heading in a particular direction, even if there were other ships a few days ahead or behind traveling in the same direction.

It honestly isn't quite clear in Rali's mind what exactly happened or if more mages would have helped prevent it, but the ship she and Sir Julius were on was suddenly attacked out of the mid-morning fog by the enemy. Before either of them could do anything, the ship was being boarded by the enemy. They killed anyone that resisted or didn't seem worth the trouble, including Sir Julius. Rali's memories from that point on are rather hazy, as she had essentially gone numb, but she does remember having her hands bound and being lead to the other ship.

Shortly after the sea fight, she and the other captives, were taken back to land, specifically a small island that the Yurens occupied, guarded by a group with at least one mage in it the entire way. There they were told to strip off the clothes they had been wearing and to don a set of filthy rags before being marched out to a wooden stage in front of a crowd of people. It wasn't long before Rali realized that it was a slave auction and that she was on the market. They were sold one at a time, and the people that had orchestrated the event had put her near the end of the line.

Seeing as how most of the members of the crew were sold to what were clearly farm owners, Rali felt pretty confident that she would be passed over. She was nowhere near as large as the men of the crew and so there would be no need for her as a farmhand. Unfortunately, she didn't count on there being non-farmers there. She was sold almost immediately after she stepped up onto the stage to a man who had the bearing of a sailor about him, being ushered off the stage and to the side to wait for the transaction to be made.

Once the man officially owned her, he tugged the chains that bound her hands and motioned for her to follow him, eventually leading her to a large ship of dark wood. As they walked, he told her that she would be expected to perform routine chores on the ship, like swabbing the deck. He also informed her that she would be “entertainment” for the crew, as an entertained crew was less likely to mutiny on a long voyage than a bored one. This, of course, infuriated her, but she had resisted often enough on the way over that she knew it was more or less futile. She really didn't want another beating.

Before they left the dock, he took her down to his quarters and told her to sit, grabbing what she recognized as a brand. The lantern flame he stuck the end in heated it up rather quickly, and it wasn't long before he was placing the red-hot end on her hand, leaving an image of a clover, his personal symbol.

And so Rali's new life as a slave on a pirate ship began. Of course, she did her best to just survive. The bands that they had put on her wrists were made of a metal known as orichalcum, which nullified the magic of the wearer. It seemed, at least to an extent, that the knowledge that she was a mage resulted in the crew treating her worse than what Rali figured to be usual and generally having their way with her whenever they could.

After about a couple of years, a significant bounty got placed on the captain by the nation of Yuren. Due to their significant naval might, he figured that it would be best to skip town so to speak, and had the crew set sail for the undiscovered lands to the west. As the captain expected, the Yuren's weren't keen on sending a fleet after him across the ocean, and so it looked like they would be able to get away and start over in a new land.

Unfortunately, they were chanced upon by another pirate crew shortly after the new land came into sight. The two crews seemed to be equal in naval combat, but it appeared that the other had magic on their side, as the ballistae below deck were unable to hit the other ship, and the sudden, incredibly localized, churning of the waves beneath the Black Dragon.

The ballistae of the other ship, however, had no problem striking their mark on the Black Dragon, eventually sinking the ship entirely, though only after the loot had been taken from it. In the chaos, Rali had been able to leap from the ship into the water below, grabbing onto a floating piece of debris once she surfaced. The orichalcum bands on her wrists still prevented her from using her magic, and, even though the surge of water from the sinking ship pushed her towards the land, it was around two days before she washed up on the shore (of Valaria).

After a few days of recovery, mainly involving the location of a source of fresh water and some sort of food, she began traveling north through a fair-sized forest until she found a beaten road. From there, she began following it east (towards Vespar), figuring that she should be able to find a city of some sort. Considering that she was essentially on auto-pilot, she didn't really take in the oddity of her surroundings. Forests like the one she had passed through were essentially non-existent in her land, as was the flatness of the land. The topography of Aerian was characterized by its hills after all. Lumiya itself was built among several, with the king's palace atop the central hill and everything spreading down around it.

But all that goes mostly unnoticed by Rali, who merely hopes to reach a center of civilization before she starves to death out in the wilderness. There's also the hope that she can get the orichalcum bracelets off her wrists, though that is, of course, secondary to not dying.

Hopefully that addresses all of the issues. I'll have to find a good picture later, however.

A Crown of Bones

@Brand: So you're saying that the material should be made in a similar to process to what turns a mage into a guardian? I was thinking that it would just be an inherent property of that metal, which is rather rare, but I could definitely see it being the other way.

Also, is constructs always its own form of magic, or does that vary? I'm asking because I know that Saltwater's character has Hydromancy and Constructs, while Headphones character has Hydromancy and Aeromancy, but can make water constructs.

EDIT: Where would be the easiest location to set my second character? I'm thinking the coast of Valaria as opposed to Gorgon because Ink and I are sort of planning to collab there, and I would like to keep my characters separate.

A Crown of Bones

That is an amazing series, but if you're talking about the a'dam, it won't be like that. I was just thinking of a material that had an anti-magic field of its own that prevented magic when worn by a mage. Guardians aren't a thing in the other land, so there isn't another way to deal with those who can use magic.