[IRP] The First of Many

[Toogee]

Cast:

Toogee- Paige Pierpont
Breadophile- Kalin
WyvernSlayer- Satsume Hinotama
Lavi- Neil
Swift_Assassin- Shad Hyperion
Cevian- Orica

RP is closed, but feel free to follow along and post comments here
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Original post:


Lycia was once the moral center of all of Elibe. Countless tales were told of their citizens’ bravery and triumph against insurmountable odds. But those were ages long past. Overnight, Lycia transformed into an empire that brought despair to her neighbors and her own people. Citizens only came outside to work and run errands, scattering when a soldier walked by. This was the case even in Pherae, perhaps the safest region in Lycia. There were no witch hunts and warrantless seizures like there were in the west. But the oppressive law reached all across the country. The people of Pherae felt safer than their brethren in the west. Safer, but never safe.

These were thoughts going through the mind of Paige Pierpont as she rode into a village in the back of a local trader’s wagon. As assistant librarian to Pherae’s royal library, she liked to think she knew a lot about Elibe. Yet despite reading accounts of historical events, Paige could not tell how her country ended up like this almost overnight. Her conversations with her mentor Relius had revealed much of what happened in recent years, but not why. Yet she could not dwell on the sorry state of Lycia forever; she had a job to do.

Several months ago, Paige had dropped off a book at a monastery to be copied. The book in question: a cookbook written by the famed knight Sir Lowen. The cooks of Castle Pherae desired a copy for the kitchen, yet Paige couldn’t bear to have the book stained several times a day. And so, she sought the aid of Elimine monks; she had appreciated their workmanship several times before. This was to be the last time however. After the establishment of the Church of the Preservation of Sanctity, the monks found themselves unwelcome in Lycia. They managed to finish the book in hiding, but with increased witch hunts, the monks were finally moving on to Bern. They were to meet with Paige at a local village to drop off the book and copy. That was where the wagon finally stopped.

Paige tipped the driver as she got out of the wagon, looking around at her surroundings. The village appeared as countless others within the Lycian borders. Many of the buildings were homes, most closed up to keep thieves and prying eyes away. The shops were fairly busy, with the blacksmith and apothecary the most popular stops. The schoolhouse, sadly, was boarded up: all of the teachers were magi who fled for Bern.

Paige got out of her gaze, brushed a piece of hay off of her cloak, and walked down the main road. Today was like any other day in this new age of Elibe.

It would not stay that way for long…

[WyvernSlayer]

This place sure looks different when you’re on the outside looking in.

This was the first and most persistent thought that crossed Satsume’s mind as he walked through the Pherean village. It hadn’t become clear just how hopeless Lycians had become in recent months until he and his family had been situated in Bern for some time. No one made eye contact on the streets. Mothers had death grips on their children’s hands. You could cut the tension with a blade, it seemed. Satsume’s walking slowed, and his eyes came to rest on a shoddy-looking building a few yards past the main road. Its windows were boarded up. Up at the top was a sign, barely legible from the accumulation of dust and disrepair.

So this is what ensures the safety of the Lycian people… knowledge bans, thought Satsume. His family had been largely unaffected by the nationwide ban on magic studies – his mother was a merchant, his father a smith. Heck, even if he or his family members HAD been forced to abandon their trade, Satsume was sure it wouldn’t be an issue. He had always been one to roll with the punches – to adapt to situations as necessary. And had it not been for the smug, unapologetic face of a simple Ostian messenger, Satsume and his family would probably still be living under these conditions.

Damn the Emperor and his cronies! Satsume’s hands balled into fists, and his face tightened, as if to physically resist memories of the day he received word of his mother’s death. He hastily turned away from the school building, and kept his eyes planted on the ground as he stormed off. Elimine save this place. He needed to get out of here and make way for Castle Pherae.

*bump!*

“Oh!” Satsume said aloud. In his focused attempt to clear his head, he wasn’t paying attention where he was walking. He looked up and found himself facing a young woman wearing a cloak. He caught a glimpse of her hair beneath her hood as she picked her head up – it was dark red, much like his own. Satsume could immediately feel his cheeks turning rosy with embarrassment. His armor was quite heavy, and bumping into him could not have been pleasant. He hastily stood up straight and winced to try and hide his shame.

“I’m sorry, miss. Wasn’t paying attention. Are you alright?”

[Breadophile]

"It's sooooooo hot. How do people live down here?"

Living in an area that's average temperature was below freezing, Kalin wasn't used to 70 to 80 degree weather.

The pegasus neighed in response.

"I don't always say that! Just... a lot of the time."

Since Pegasi use a lot of energy to fly, Kalin started travelling across the ground after getting past the mountains. Of course with all the conflict the best place to look for work was across Lycian-Etrurian borders, so that's the way she went.

A passer-by told her they had a friend looking for work and would tell them for a few gold pieces. She figured a few was worth hearing what the man had to say. That's how she ended up here. She was getting the impression that she was being lied to. Still, she had refused to pay much for the info, a nice little side effect of being a greedy money-grubber, so she just shrugged it off. But looking back, it made sense why the man would take any amount of money for the info...

She figured she'd ask around anyway. Hopefully somebody here would see her worth.

"Money money money..."

She walked up to a woman.

"Hey, excuse me. Do you know where I can find a job?"

The woman looked her way, then turned around and completely ignored her.

"Yeah, screw you too."

She figured there were just some people who didn't like the sellsword Ilians. However, continuing to ask around, she found it was more widespread than she had thought.

"Geez, tough crowd. Yeah that's fine, I don't need you people."

She thought to herself. (Guess our reputation is worse than I thought.)

"What to do what to do..."

Kalin, living in secluded Ilia, didn't quite grasp the situation in the area.

"Come to think of it, where are all the magi? You'd think being able to create fire and water at will would be an appreciated skill."

The school was boarded up too. Kalin never liked sitting still in class, but even she could appreciate the pursuit of knowledge.

"Sweet Elimine, what the hell's wrong with this place?"

"And why is it so hooooooooooot..."

[Lavi]

It had been several days since Neil managed to slip back into Lycia after his stunt at the Lycia-Sacae border. Fortunately, none of the guards managed to see his face, but they had a glimpse of his Sacaean clothing. There was nothing that Neil could substitute to hide his ancestry, so he continued on with the hope that displaying the cloth would ward off the suspicion that he was the illegal immigrant.

Ahead, Neil spotted a caravan headed east. Even at a distance, he could tell that many of them were not happy about the situation, though it was too early to tell whether it's because of the Lycians or because of some other event that the Sacaean is not aware of.

"Hey, where are you guys headed?" he called ahead, nudging his horse into a full gallop.

Several of the men of the caravan watched him wearily as he approached, but their suspicion was somewhat averted by Neil's clothing and looks. Neil hoped that these men did not think of Sacaeans as savages.

"Pherae," one of them answered. He offered no explanation. Back in the day, Neil remembered that Lycian caravans wouldn't think twice about sharing the reasons for their travels. Banditry was rare then, but the war changed everything.

"Please allow me to accompany you then," Neil said. "It's along the route that I'm taking."

"Just don't cause trouble," the man said.

That was the extent of the exchange Neil had with anyone of the caravan the rest of the way. Even so, there were women and children along with them: perhaps entire families traveling east. Although Neil considered returning to the Kutolah tribe, he also refused to allow the political climate get in the way of his aspirations in the study of magic. He wouldn't be surprised if a Etrurian government-in-exile becomes established in Bern, considering the latter's stance in the matter, though that may also cause a state of total war between Lycia and Bern.

Once they reached Pherae, Neil immediately went to check in a room at a local inn. The price seemed to be more expensive than he last remembered, granted it was in a Lycian town to the far west, though he wouldn't be surprised if an exodus of Etrurians traveling east had anything to do with the cost of room and board. Fortunately, he was wealthy enough to easily afford the expense, since his route through the Sacae plains saw little of civilization. However, that wasn't to say he had an endless supply of gold: he would have to find a job in Bern as soon as possible.

Leaving his horse Mina at the stables, Neil took to the streets to pass the time, keeping his knapsack at hand. He noticed the minor commotion of a soldier-looking bumping into a civilian. The man's heavy armor is easy enough to tell, though the colors and design reminded him of an Ostian knight.

The Sacaean looked away, turning at the next intersection to get out of sight as casually as he could. He hand a hand to his heart, taking deep breathes to calm its furious pacing.

I'm not in trouble yet. Stop fretting. he reminded himself.

Although the initial shock had passed, Neil couldn't stop thinking about the consequences of him getting found out to be a mage. Bern is only days away: it would be a shame to be captured now.

[Swift_Assassin]

"My lord, don't you think this is a terrible idea?"

Two men, one clad in tattered robes sporting a makeshift eye-patch and the other in a high-quality coat of dark purple with a hood, walked along the path. The man in the tattered robes had one question that he would repeat on a loop during their travels from Etruria to now. The man in the purple replied as he always had. "In a terrible situation, there are no terrible ideas," he had sighed. He stopped in his tracks, drawing the attention on his traveling companion. "And stop with the honorifics, Marcus. We may be in the nicer part of this damnable empire, but we can't risk blowing my cover."

"My...Shad, my apologies. I promise to resist the urge to address you as a man of your standing deserves," Marcus apologized. He lowered his hood to show the many scars that make up the left side of his face. His light blue hair blowing in the breeze.

Shad kept his hood up, however, and leaned into his 'walking stick'. He took out a map that was secured along his waist and examined the trail they had took. "We're nearing Pharae. There's a town along the way. Let's see if we can arrange some sort of lodging," the young lord said to his bodyguard.

"I'd prefer us be in Pharae. We'd be safer in case of bandits. Besides, they'd have a better selection of inns," the knight replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"Then I'll meet you there."

"What?!" Marcus yelled. The knight was getting annoyed with his lord's recklessness. He watched as Shad passed him by. "Why are you possibly considering staying here?"

The young dropped his hood and looked back at the knight. "It might be safer there, but the empire has eyes everywhere. You know what to look for. You can make sure the city is safe before I arrive. They'd expect a lord to desire a certain level of comfort you couldn't get at a small village, so they would look there for me. If I'm suspect of anything, anyway."

The robed knight grumbled with dissatisfaction and walked in the direction of Pharae proper. Shad smirked a little bit before heading towards the village. He still couldn't believe what has happened over the past months. Etruria and the Church of St. Elimine destroyed in a matter of months. He wasn't even sure if he could still be labeled a noble of Etruria, or even a noble at all under this new regime.

I wish I could have seen this coming back when I was living in Ostia. Back then I was a naive child who thought he would be welcomed back home after eight years in exile. I had to fight to get back what was mine once. I might have to fight again to reclaim a free Etruria.

He picked his head up and saw a ramshackle school. Most educated people used magic of some sort or another. Another casualty of this regime. I hope they got out.

[Toogee]

“Those poor monks, having to exile themselves to leave. I’ll likely never find someone of their skill for quite some time- Oompf!”

Paige was thrown out of her thought process by something big and metal. Her shoulder took the brunt of the blow as she collided with Satsume. Paige was nearly knocked to the ground, but she managed to keep her feet on the ground. The hood was knocked off her head, revealing her bright red hair and surprised face. Her green eyes gazed at the man responsible for the run-in. At first glance, they shared the same hair and eyes, though that was where similarities ended. Satsume was huge with the set of armor he adorned, though his height gave the impression that he didn’t need armor to look impressive. He wore the outfit of a soldier, but not one of Pherae. Was it Ostian armor? Was she in trouble? Several other villagers thought the same, wondering if the girl was about to be hauled off.

Paige’s concern faded at Satsume’s question. Hardly anyone talked like that anymore, certainly not a high-ranking soldier. Most everyone would have continued walking away; on occasion one might say “watch where you’re going”. Rather, he seemed embarrassed; this definitely wasn’t an Ostian soldier. Paige decided to set his mind at ease with a smirk.

“Seems like that armor is hiding something soft,” Paige joked, massaging her shoulder as she walked away. The young woman walked backwards, looking back at Satsume.

“Nice bumping into you! Try a bit softer next time!” Paige flashed a smile as she put the hood over her head, turned around, and went on her way. That exchange was likely the most lively the village had been in quite some time.

At least until someone decided to make a scene at the town square just across the street from the abandoned school.

“Fellow Lycians! Lend me your ears! For I have a tale long forgotten, one lost by your oppressive rulers who would dare call themselves your masters!”

Such boisterous claims attracted the attention of several dozen villagers, eager to see some excitement for once. Even Paige took a detour from her destination to see what was happening. What she saw was a scrawny man of spiked brown hair and red leather vest standing on top of a large box. Surrounding him were a dozen larger men. Judging by their looks, they were mountain men, the kind that often razed villages on nightly raids. All were armed with swords and axes; what interest did they have in storytelling?

“Legend once told of a Sacaen swordsman who wielded a legendary blade and carved his way into Lycia to claim his rightful throne! This is the story of Glass!”

The man stepped off his self-made pedestal to reveal a bust that oddly looked like him. The statue was of some decent quality, made appropriately enough of glass. This elicited murmurs from the audience and one question.

“Who?”

“Bah, too long have you been bombarded with lies! Glass was feared by the gods, for they knew he was destined for greatness! Glass started as an orphan, unaware that he was next in line to the throne of Ciaran! He was called to his destiny by his legendary blade. From that point on, he was widely known for conquering great brigand gangs, bands of assassins out for his head, and even the army of Ciaran itself. It culminated with a showdown with Marquess Ciaran, the man who orphaned him, his uncle Ludwig. But no political clout could save him: Glass beheaded him and took his rightful place at the throne.”

“Peace reigned under the rule of Glass, but it would not last. Glass sadly fell during the Bern invasion a hundred years ago. His allies betrayed him! His line left destitute and forgotten long after the Lycian victory. Until today that is! For I, Glass II, have emerged from the shadows in Lycia’s greatest hour of need! I have gathered my own band of heroes you see before you: Glass’s Garrison! We will grow in number and seize not just the land of Ciaran, but to free all of Lycia from this sickness it suffers! All I ask is for you to donate gold, your worldly possessions, and your strongest lads to our cause.”

And there it was. This man’s monologue was a simple veneer to hide what all bandits wanted: gold, trophies, and more men to make into bandits. Paige recognized several elements of his story that seemed like blatant ripoffs of famous stories. While she was well learned in such matters, were the rest of the villagers. Some might be swayed of Glass’s story, especially after his distaste for the new empire. Indeed, some of the brigands were circling around the crowd, gathering donations from unsuspecting people. Someone had to step up. That someone was her: Paige separated from the crowd, took off her hood, and confronted Glass.

“Well well,” Glass remarked at the sight of Paige, a wicked smile appearing on his face. “Care to offer yourself to the heir of Glass?”

“As if someone named after a material famed for its fragility could handle me,” Paige retorted with a sick burn. “In fact, I’m calling your whole story into doubt. It sounds oddly like that of the Lady Lyndis, her sword the Mani Katti, and her own quest to see her last family in Caelin.”

“Lyndis! Caelin! Those are made up, a plot to erase any trace of Ciaran, to erase any existence of Glass! A plot by those jealous of his fame and strength! Psh, as if a halfbreed woman could accomplish what Glass did.”

“A plot by who?” Paige inquired, trying to ignore the derogatory comment about one of Lycia’s great folk heroes.

“Why, the other marquesses of course! And the gods! And women! They always want some famed lady to look up to.”

“So let me see if I have this right. The marquess passed down a plot from generation to generation to erase your ancestor. They were of course aided by ‘the gods’ and…women everywhere…. Tell me, what of the eyewitness accounts? The tales from across Elibe of their exploits?”

Glass stood there in silence, staring the woman who defied him. He motioned for one of his henchmen to approach her from behind while he addressed Paige once more.

“I can see you need more convincing. Well, I do have proof. I have the blade passed down from my ancestor! Behold, the Kani Matti, the Sword of Souls!”

Glass unsheathed his blade, eliciting some initial awes from the crowd. Paige could not believe he said that name after just naming the Mani Katti moments before. This stunk of a scheme.

At first glance, the shiny katana looked formidable. A sharp eye might have caught the small grooves in the blade, the bubbles formed around the hilt, and a few slim black scratches. Paige did catch one of the scratches and suspected it was merely a silver coated iron sword.

“It’s blade was forged from dragon’s tears!”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Paige retorted. “Is anyone here familiar with smithing? Perhaps examine the validity of ‘dragon’s tears’.”

The henchman drew closer behind her, waiting for Glass’s signal to silence the dissenter.

[Swift_Assassin]

Shad's attention was centered on the broken down school before him. Part of him wanted to sneak in and see what books they had within. He wanted to learn more about Pharae than what was written in Etruria, from a Lycian perspective. Surely, his mentor and uncle would probably have committed such books to memory, but it's a bit hard to get an impromptu history lesson when the teacher is in exile in another country. He sighed and turned around in time for a call to come to the square.

He pulled his hood up and grabbed some loose rocks from the ground in front of them. He feared for the worst, a public execution, perhaps. Or perhaps more persecution of mages. He was intent and helping them if they could be an asset against the regime. So he blended into the crowd of people heading to the square. He couldn't believe what was going on.

This whole thing reeked of some kind of improv performance. It must be. A glass bust, of a man named Glass, no surname, being presented by a guy calling himself Glass the second. Or was it just Glass II. The guy might have said that. He began laughing at this mans jokes. Until a red-headed woman started correcting him. And he dismissed them as conspiracy.

Shad stopped laughing. This 'conspiracy' was laughable. Especially considering he learned of the real life Lyndis in a foreign country through records dating back a century, as written by his uncle's ancestors. That's when he looked and noticed the red-head was starting to be surrounded. So he started laughing again as he threw one of his rocks at the Glass bust, shattering parts of it. Then he threw another rock at Glass II, wondering if he breaks just as easily.

[Breadophile]

"Apple"

*snort*

"Clear"

*snort*

"Early"

...
......
.........

*snort*

"Mullet"

The horse neighed.

"Hey that's cheating! You can't use your animal sound as a-"

“Fellow Lycians! Lend me your ears! For I have a tale long forgotten, one lost by your oppressive rulers who would dare call themselves your masters!”

The man was yelling so loudly you could hear him for miles.

What is this? Some cult?

“Bah, too long have you been bombarded with lies! Glass was feared by the gods, for they knew he was destined for greatness! Glass started as an orphan, unaware that he was blah blah blah .... "

Ilia may have been secluded, but it still had its share of nutjobs.

(God, next he's going to say Juno turned an entire lake to ice.)

Kalin sort of drowned out the rest. She also had lots of practice in school.

"blah blah yap yap ... dribble dribble dribble ..." spouted the unknown voice from several buildings away.

She noticed a lot more shirtless, ugly, burly men wielding weapons than she had before. Had they always been there?

"blah blah legendary blade blah"

"Ooh legendary blade. I bet I could steal it and sell it for money."

*snort*

Kalin responded. "Oh aren't you such a white knight. Get off your high horse. Uh... no pun intended."

She was still trying to figure out who the men were.

"... blah blah conquering great brigand gangs blah ..."

"Oooooooh. That makes sense. Thanks mysterious voice!"

"Brigands are poor but their leader always seems to live nicely. I bet the leader of these guys is loaded." Kalin could smell money.

"Hey you! Ilians and their horses sell for a pretty penny. You're coming with us!"

Kalin, being lost in thought, didn't hear the man's yelling.

Maybe the mysterious voice would be willing to be her partner. That guy did seem to have some legendary blade after all. He could help her defeat the bandit leader and take his stuff. She decided to ride around the houses. "Let's go" she said as the pegasus moved for the location of the sound.

The pegasus, hearing both the man and Kalin, refusing to take this insult of being called a horse, complied…

"Hey you, stupid wench! Do you even-"

…and trampled the man as it charged across him.

Did she run across something? She noticed a man on the ground where she just was. Oh shit, this could be trouble, she thought. No reason to stop riding now. The cops would come any time. Out of the city it was. Guess she was going to live like the famous bandits of old, robbing caravans and narrowly escaping with her life each time. It sounded kind of exciting.

She looked back and noticed the burly, shirtless man getting up.

"Oh, whew. He's alright, false alarm!" She continued making for the square where the voice was coming from.

“Peace reigned under the rule of Glass, but it would not blah blah blah ... yap yap yap ... blah blah yap yap ... dribble blah ..."

She turned the corner and saw the man just in time to hear the end of his speech.

"All I ask is for you to donate gold, your worldly possessions, and your strongest lads to our cause.”

“I am just a poor, lowly pegasus knight. You guys should donate to me; specifically that legendary sword.” she whispered.

The pegasus, actually having a grasp of the situation, decided to just roll with it this time. He knew no amount of convincing was going to stop her. He also realized that her actions were in the right this time, even if she wasn't..

After taking a moment to look around, Kalin finally noticed the brigands who were soliciting money from the common folk.

“Oh... the cult leader is the leader of the brigands too. The plot thickens..."

“But geez, this town is dirt poor. No wonder I can’t find a job.”

Tuning out the noise in the background and most of the speech from the would-be savior of men, she heard an interesting line.

“I can see you need more convincing. Well, I do have proof. I have the blade passed down from my ancestor! Behold, the Kani Matti, the Sword of Souls!”

He pulled out the shiniest katana Kalin had ever seen.

“It’s blade was forged from dragon’s tears!”

(CHA-CHING! So that was the famous Kani Matti!)

She remembered reading about that in history class.

(Wait… was that really what it was called? Bah, whatever. Details details.)

Kalin noticed the cult leader arguing with some red-haired woman. The woman looked almost as out of place as herself. It was apparent she took care of herself more than the rest of the people here. Unlike the cult leader, she hadn’t been screaming off of the top of her lungs, so Kalin didn’t notice until now.

Kalin figured she’d nab the sword while he was preoccupied with the woman. Flying high into the air, she prepared to swoop down. She put on her lucky goggles and praised the knights for giving her gloves with enhanced grip. No way was she going to mess this up.

The red-haired woman said something in response, but being so high in the air, Kalin couldn’t quite make it out. The woman looked like she was in trouble, being surrounded, but the stocky monster of a man with similarly-colored hair clad in armor a couple feet away from her (a brother?) gave the look that this was not the case.

“Ready… Aim… Fi-”

A loud sound erupted from a glass statue next to the man as it exploded and parts of it fell off.

Kalin regained her composure. The cult leader looked even more distracted now.

"Let's try that again... Ready... Aim... Fire!"

Arm extended to grab the sword, she proceeded to fly towards the cult leader at mach speed…

[WyvernSlayer]

The young woman stared at him, slightly bewildered and with a hint of concern in her gaze. Was she… afraid of him? Satsume stared back. A couple other passersby had apparently witnessed the collision, and they all seemed to look at him as though he were some kind of intimidating monster. Satsume held up his hands defensively, as if to say “sorry!” again.

The woman must have realized that he truly didn’t mean any harm. She relaxed and flashed him a conceited grin.

“Seems like that armor is hiding something soft.”

“Uh…” Satsume wasn’t really sure how to take that. Was she making fun of him? The young woman backed away and flipped her hood back over her head.

“Nice bumping into you. Try a bit softer next time!” She turned on her heel and went on her way. Satsume could detect the playfulness in her voice, so he figured she couldn’t have been that mad at him. Right. Well, that was… interesting. Satsume turned round and started walking again. He hadn’t gotten maybe five steps before he realized something.

Wait… I have no idea where I’m going.

Satsume wasn’t exactly renowned for his sense of direction. It was only thanks to the wonders of non-branching roads that he was able to get this far in the first place. If he was to find his way to Castle Pherae, then there were only two solutions: wander about aimlessly, or ask for directions. He groaned. He hated asking for directions from strangers. Running a hand through his hair and sighing, he turned back again and started in the direction the young woman from earlier had gone.

As he walked, he could detect some commotion up ahead. Apparently someone had gathered up a crowd in the middle of the road and was spouting some nonsense about legendary glass or whatever. Satsume surveyed the crowd and tried to pick out the girl he had met before, if she was even there. His eyes eventually settled on the only hooded figure he could see. Nailed it. He gently pushed his way past a couple of people and made his way over to her.

“Pardon, miss, but do you know where-”

“I can see you need more convincing. Well, I do have proof. I have the blade passed down from my ancestor!” The man was shouting in his direction. Wait… no, he was shouting at the woman Satsume was trying to talk to. The man held up a sword and grabbed the hilt.

“Behold, the Kani Matti, the sword of souls!” *shing!* The man drew the blade in a flash of light. Satsume was initially impressed, but he quickly determined that the sword seemed… wrong somehow. The edge didn’t seem keen, and the surface of the metal looked kind of gilded. For a legendary blade, it reeked of shoddy smithing.

The man had captured the audience’s attention, and he smirked. “This blade was forged from dragon’s tears!” This elicited another gasp from the crowd. Satsume thought he caught a glimpse of a burly man moving behind him, but he paid it no mind.

The woman in front of him stepped forward. Clearly, she wasn’t buying it any more than Satsume was. “Yeah, we’ll see about that,” she said. “Is anyone here familiar with smithing? Perhaps examine the validity of ‘dragon’s tears’.”

Satsume clasped her on the shoulder as he stepped past. He slowly approached the man with the katana. Another gasp from the crowd. Satsume could hear feet shuffling, as people hurriedly took a step back. Why are these people so terrified of a man in armor? He silently lamented the state of fear these people lived in, and extended his hand to the man in front of him.

“May I?”

The man jerked away with a condescending glare. “Stay back! The spirit of-“

*crash!*

The sound of a shattering statue behind them sent everyone’s eyes darting back and forth. Satsume recoiled and looked around. Nothing... but he did notice a large man standing directly behind the red-haired girl, much as Satsume had been a minute earlier. He had his arm raised, hand balled into a fist.

“Watch out, miss!” Satsume’s hand was immediately behind his back and settling around the shaft of his throwing spear. Things were about to get hectic.

[Lavi]

At first, the entire scene of Glass II calling upon the townspeople for his "crusade" seemed like a strange form of entertainment for the town. Surely, these people saw the similarities between his story and that of the famous Sacaean Lyndis? However, the story drawled on and on, getting even more incredulous for a man like himself, who grew up hearing the story of Lady Lyndis and her journey with Hector and Eliwood with glee, to swallow, until this "Glass" person dared to make his childhood hero out to be a distortion of reality.

Neil pushed his way through the crowd, fuming all the while. The townsfolk seemed to immediately shirk when they noticed him making his way to the front of the crowd. He didn't care if they were armed, or if that they looked more like brigands than heroes, he cannot stand to hear any more of this. One woman's challenge to Glass' claim went over his head: he couldn't hear anything clearly.

There seemed to be only one more person standing between him and Glass so, just like the others, Neil meant to step around him, but sound of the statue smashing stopped him. It was in that moment that he realized the burly man in front of him had his attention on the knight and lady that bumped into each other earlier and his postured seemed to indicate that he was ready to do something to the two.

Clenching both hands, Neil delivered a sharp elbow to the man's midriff and knocking him over to the side (in case he was carrying some weapon that Neil couldn't see from his perspective). He could hear the gasps as the situation escalated.

The act drew the attention of several of the nearby brigands, whom immediately moved to intercept him. Without a weapon at hand, Neil immediately thought of the items in his knapsack. It definitely seemed as though he would have to use them to defend himself.

[Cevian]

The best way for Orica to get a look on the current effects of the Empire's rule on Lycia was to go out and see it with her own. Tania, however, had managed to put it self in a rather good situation to protect itself from sudden attack in the time since the invasion of Bern, so to get a better look on the nation at large took a bit more footwork. That's the reason the daughter of the Marquess of Tania was down in Pherae. It was hard to get the whole picture without actively looking for it.

Like most everyone in town she was drawn towards the commotion happening in the center of town, having arrived a bit late. Still, it was obvious what these men were attempting was a scam, and a terrible one at that. If this "Glass" they were claiming to have been so important to have done the things they said he did then he would have been remembered. Having seen some of the records first hand she knew this wasn't the case.

What was worse, however, was his indignation against women. To think that such a difference was proof of his lies was infuriating. Orica prepared to step forward as the sword was pulled out for more proof of his claim, misnamed of course even after the real name had just been stated by the red-haired girl, the tension was broken as something caused the Glass of Glass to shatter. A perfect metaphor for the flimsiness of their claims.

That action would most definitely set off the men attempting the con and a fight would soon break out. There were several people here that could be caught in the crossfire, weak people that needed not be casualties of the strength these men were bound to try to show off. Unsheathing her trusty spear the armored woman rushed through the audience towards the stage, or rather the box serving as one.

[Toogee]

Just as Glass was declining Satsume’s request, a rock flew from the crowd. The bust of Glass had lost an eye. Glass II had no time to be furious as a second rock hit him square in the forehead. This knocked him to the ground, losing his grip on his sword. Just as the leader was to grab his sword, a peg knight randomly appeared, taking the sword into the sky. To Glass II, it all seemed to be a bit too…coordinated. In his fury, he issued commands to his men.

“Agents of the empire! You guys, kill them! The rest of you, get the others and find that Pegasus!”

Glass II picked himself off the ground and joined the crew of six in pursuit of the peg knight. That left the remaining five to dispatch Satsume and Paige. That was when Paige realized that she and the knight were being surrounded. Fortunately, a man from the crowd elbowed the brigand behind them in the gut, effectively ruining a surprise attack. While brave, Neil only joined the other two as targets for the bandit gang, especially the angry one that he just elbowed. Each of the enemies drew their axes and moved to attack.

Paige briefly looked at her two allies. The knight she bumped into was heavily armed, while the Sacaen seemed to only have the clothes on his back. Though she was no soldier, she could defend herself. Granted, she had never been up against a gang of bandits. Not to mention that her main strategy was stab the guy in the leg and run in the other direction. She was grateful to not be alone in this situation. That didn’t mean the woman was going to let Satsume do all of the work.

Paige quickly threw off her cloak into the face of one of the attackers, revealing her less-than-commoner attire. She easily ducked his ax swing and drew her rapier for a counter. The bandit ran past her, yelling his battle cry as he tried to find her. Paige was not a big proponent of killing, so instead of stabbing him the back, the woman kicked him to the ground. While the bandit was struggling to recover, Paige turned to Neil.

“Stay close, I’ll cover you,” Paige said, not wanting to speak for her other ally. He was about to have enough on his plate with the other bandits. Not that she really knew how to cover someone in a fight. Still, it was the thought that counted.

Speaking of which, the bandits had their backs to the crowd, because there was no way anyone there would come to the rescue.

[Swift_Assassin]

Shad leaned into his walking stick as he watched the chaos unfold from his stone throws. People on both sides of were thrown aback by it, allowing the smart to take hold of the ambush he saw coming from the deluded. Some members of the crowd weren't too thrilled with what was going on and some people brushed against him as he fled.

When the brigands began to take action, Shad was preparing to do the same. He put his right hand on his walking stick near the head piece, waiting for the handle to unseal itself. He pulled against the handled and found it snug in the sheath. He looked at his right hand to see his signet ring missing. Someone had swiped the ring off his finger. Figures that the man that none of them notices threw the rock is the one someone pickpockets as they flee. Unfortunately, until he got the ring back, his sword was useless.

"Time to improvise. This is going to hurt," Shad muttered to himself as he snuck up on one of the bandits. He took his walking stick with both hands and went over the bandits head and put it to his throat. The poor man instinctively grabbed at the sheath, dropping his own weapon in the process. As Shad lacked the leverage to choke the man out with it, he had to try something he picked up from his cousin. Standing to the mans right, he positioned his left foot between the mans legs and hooked his right foot from behind. He then pulled back and dragged the brigand back with him.

Pain. That was the best way to describe how his back felt from the force. But if his cousin can deal with it, so can he. Letting go of the stick, he positioned his arms so his palms were flat against the ground. He pulled his legs back so his feet were going over his head and he pushed up. He swung his legs back and used the momentum to return to his feet. He quickly picked up the mans axe and slashed the 'Glass Garrison' member in the knee, leaving the weapon in place to keep him from getting back up. He reclaimed his sealed sword and looked towards the remainder of the group.

His hood down after that kip-up he performed, his amber eyes gazed in Paige's direction. "You seem to be in charge here. Want me to stay here or follow the pegasus knight?"

[Breadophile]

Deftly grabbing the sword in air, Kalin flew back up into the air before some innocent's face got a foot full of pegasus.

"Alright, got the sword! Now what to do?"

"Neeeeiiigh!"

"That was a rhetorical question! Of course I know what to do! Anyway, let's dock after we get past the crowd."

The pegasus was no where near tired, but why waste precious energy in the air if unneeded?

They did that, landing quite a distance past the crowd.

The brigands were trailing behind her. Trailing was really the best way to describe it, as they could in no way catch up had she not stopped and turned around, especially considering they had to go around the huge crowd of people.

The pegasus neighed a worried neigh.

"Do I have a plan? What do I like? An idiot?"

The pegasus snorted a sarcastic snort.

"Well that would make you the idiot who trusted me."

The pegasus was silent.

The bandits had caught up to her and had become very confused at the knight fighting with her pegasus.

"Don't worry boy. I'll have you know, I am a 100% certified genius."

Kalin put on her best act. She turned around to face them.

"Wwhat the hell are you guys looking at? Do you think this sword is for show? I wield the power of uh..."

*snort*

"The power of Grass!"

*snort*

"Glass!"

The brigands started laughing...

"Shut up if you know what's good for you! This changes nothing!"

The bandits didn't know how to respond to that.

"My- yes, MY sword is made of dragon tears. What are your weapons made of? That's right, weak iron."

The bandits grew silent...

"This Glass fellow didn't know the power he had in his hand, but I know the true secrets of this blade. Believe me when I tell you that you do not want to find out. Now bow down, you plebs! Before I slice you in half with my sword made of dragon."

...and looking even more scared, they stayed that way.

"Now, give me all-..."

Sudden realizations of where the brigands' money came from hit Kalin. She was subsequently saddened.

"I mean, give the people you accepted donations from back their money. The true wielder of the Kani Matti demands no appeasement. It is a blade of justice that never tires."

At least she still had the kick-ass blade, even if she couldn't use it.

Thankfully the bandits chasing her were the dumb ones who believed Glass's lies, and not his inner circle that knew of his scheme.

They quickly turned around. Now... what would she do with the rest of the crowd…

[WyvernSlayer]

“Agents of the Empire! You guys, kill them!”

“What?!” Satsume dropped his hand back to his side and spun around, incredulous. A trio of cutthroats had moved in front of Glass and were slowly working their way towards him. Satsume immediately went for the short metal rod hanging by his left side. He unlooped it and gripped it tight. To the layman, it looked like a lance that a midget would wield. And Satsume hoped that he was dealing with laymen.

“Now hold on a minute-” Satsume started again, but the three men were having none of it. One of them was carrying a large, wide-bladed sword. He looked the more dangerous of the group, so Satsume focused on him. Slowly, his left thumb settled across the hardly distinguishable nub on the side of the rod.

“Whatcha got there, punk? Some kind of toy?!” The first brigand snickered and moved in front of his comrades.

“Listen,” Satsume replied, and he shifted his feet into a defensive stance. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“I’m sure you don’t, imperial scum. Now die!” The sword-wielding brigand lashed out with an arching, vertical slash.

Ka-SHUNK!

Satsume was sprayed with blood almost instantly. The brigand’s eyes grew wide as dinner plates, and he froze mid-swing. Maybe he was shocked at the fact that, in touching the button on his spear, Satsume had sprung it to its full length and reached out to hit him. Maybe he was too busy coming to grips with the hole in his neck to notice.

Satsume pulled his spear back, letting his gurgling foe collapse to the ground, and glared at the second attacker. The axe-wielding brute’s mouth gaped open, much like his companion’s as he was impaled. The third seemed similarly awestruck. Satsume shifted his stance and pointed his spear at them. His face pried itself into a smirk.

“Wah… aaaaaaaaa!” The other men took two steps back, then took to their heels in the opposite direction. Clearly, they wanted no part of Satsume and the weapon he held, the greatest culmination of his father’s many years in smithing weapons.

“That’s right! Get outta here!” Satsume shouted after them. He turned back towards the crowd, where the scene had quickly devolved into chaos.

The red-haired girl had her hands tied with the man from earlier. A couple men from the crowd had drawn weapons and were engaging brigands of their own. And off a ways, Satsume could make out three or four other men chasing after… was that a pegasus? Where did THAT come from?

His first instinct was to help the red-haired girl, if only because she was the most familiar to him. But she seemed to be doing alright. One of the men from the crowd had already moved to her side. Seeing this, Satsume turned back and headed for the pegasus. As he did so, the men who had previously been chasing her were making their way back to the crowd. The stopped when they reached Satsume.

“Hey! No mystical sword on this guy! He’s mine!” one of the men cried, and charged headlong, axe bared.

Satsume sighed and got into his stance again. No surprises here; he’d have to beat this one the old-fashioned way.

[Cevian]

The bandit that yelled to attack Satsume and began to charge at him barely got a few steps forward before stopping in place. The abrupt end to his charge was caused by a spear being shoved into his side. The spear was pulled out and he fell to the ground, his blood staining it's tip.

Orica slammed the end of the spear on the ground hard and looked out over the crowd. "Good people of this town!" She yelled. "The farce these men have attempted to pull off on you shall continue no longer! If you have given any belongings to these men due to their lies, retrieve them as I insure they will no longer be a problem! Stay calm and resolute so that we may send a message that thieving brutes like this are not welcome here!"

Turning towards the rest of the bandits that were still there she lifted her spear off the ground and pointed it at them, glaring at them down the shaft that ended with the blood of their fallen comrade. "And you, remaining thugs! If you think yourself strong enough to escape then attack me head on, else admit your weakness, drop your weapons and await arrest to be punished for your actions! If you attempt to flee you will be dealt with as your comrade has been!"

Orica slammed the end of her spear on the ground again for emphasis as she waited for the people to react to her dictated actions.

[Lavi]

When the woman offered to protect him, the Sacaean was relieved. Although he had no idea how competent she was with her rapier, at least he had someone to rely on so that he wouldn't have to reveal his secret.

"Thank you, I'll do as you say," Neil nodded.

Out of the corner of his eye, Neil saw the knight draw a suspiciously small rod from his side, presumably to use against the brigands. The mage had no idea why the man would use such a small stick against axes and swords. A sudden splurt of blood splattered onto his pants and the Sacaean instinctively stepped back.

"What the..."

The other two brigands shared his surprise and fled. Although the immediate threat was gone, it was clear that it would be dangerous for him to remain here.

The thought of helping came to mind, though at the same time, he wasn't sure whether he actually had to help. Rather than voicing that he could help, Neil decided to stay close to the woman who offered to help. Perhaps the knight, if he is really a Lycian, would overlook his presence until a later time.

[Toogee]

After Shad’s sneaky takedown of one of the foes, he addressed Paige as the de facto leader and requested orders. Paige was a bit surprised: how did she become leader in all of this? Fate needed to do a better job of casting roles. Still, the woman took it in strides. She had read more than a few battle journals; if there were civilians around, priority went to protecting them.

“The peg knight is safe in the air,” Paige said to Shad, “but these people aren’t. Make sure the crowd gets out safely. Guard their exit and keep the bandits here. We don’t need them wandering the town- oh my!”

Paige was taken aback as Satsume took out one of the brigands with a bloody surprise from his spear. She had never witnessed a death like that (or any really) before, so the sight of the gushing blood made her a bit queasy. It was very effective in scaring off the remaining two bandits. Paige refocused and turned to Neil.

“Sir, go with him,” she said to Neil, referring to Shad, “Lock your doors, everything will be fine.” Paige saw Neil as another civilian, albeit a very brave one to attack one of the bandits unarmed. She figured the only way that she could repay Neil was to make sure he got out of this safely.

Meanwhile, the brigands that had previously gone after the peg knight had returned. Satsume was already engaging one of them, while another knight was trying to talk the rest of them down. The gang had already attacked and didn’t seem likely to surrender now. Both would likely need help in dealing with the foes. Paige intended to do whatever she could.

Or at least she would have, had she not forgotten about the bandit she was fighting earlier. He had gotten out of the cloak and was thoroughly angry that he was tossed about by the woman. He grabbed Paige by the hair and threw her on the ground. Before Paige could get up, the bandit was on top of her. One hand grabbed her throat while the other had an ax ready to come down on her head. Fortunately, Paige kept ahold of her sword, able to block the ax. That wouldn’t last long as she was gasping for air; she could only hold back the ax for so long.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Glass was cursing his defeat against a bunch of random passerbys. His scheme would have worked had he not been interrupted. But all was not lost. He still had men waiting outside the village. He had the perfect plan to get back at that blabbering red head and those random strangers…

[Swift_Assassin]

Before the red-haired lady could finish her sentence, the red-haired knight shot a brigand through the chest at point blank range with...Wait, that's a spear?! I have to get Tyber one of those when I get back. Shad's eye spied a little gift that this guard had given to him. "Thanks for the sword. It's a little larger than I'm used to, but it'll get the job done," Shad told the the knight, unable to hide his Etrurian accent. "Red, I'll bring them to that school back there. Seems defensible enough if we get pushed back."

He lifted the dropped sword up and propped it up on his shoulder, thanking that he had some armor to rest this heavy blade on, and turned towards Sacaen. Part of him felt something was weird about this man. He couldn't place it. "Help me round everyone up," he said to the older man. "We're heading to the school."

He began walking away, when his attention was drawn to a woman shouting. She was trying to call the crowd back. "Hold off on that. Everyone!" Shad yelled at the approaching crowd. "Everyone, listen here! I want everyone to head to the school and take shelter inside! We can't take any chances that there might be more of these scoundrels roaming the perimeter of the town!" The crowd didn't take his orders lightly. All they heard were the orders of an Etrurian who may or may not have a vendetta against Lycians. Someone threw a rock at Shad and hit him square in the chin.

"People! Who do you think cast the first stone at the bust of the man called Glass? I am trying to help you people!" Shad yelled again as the crowd turned on him more. He was getting frustrated with the whole affair. "I am Shadrach Hyperion! A Noble of former Etruria! If any of you think I don't have your best intentions at heart, then have me arrested after I helped save your lives!"

My lord, don't you think this is a terrible idea?

After outing himself to most of this village, that was the one thing he heard in his head. He had to hope that placing that much faith in these people would help sway their hearts. It seemed to have worked...although that doesn't mean they won't still detain him after the fact. He sighed and followed them to the abandoned school, unaware of the precarious situation Paige was in.

[Breadophile]

The bandits turned around and ran for it towards the red-haired knight. For some odd (story-confusion related) reason Kalin was now unchecked.

The armored knight looked strong but a 5 on 1 didn't exactly seem in his favor.

Kalin figured she'd give him some help before she continued on with her plans. Taking out her lance, she was prepared to impale several brigands to death in several back and forth charging motions. She went in for a kill and... took some time to adjust her spear... and then thought about the best place to hit... and then... and then...

...

She couldn't do it.

Despite having training for it, it was incredibly hard for her to bring herself to take another person's life. She opted instead to spin her lance around so the blunt end was out. She then did a wide sweep (think a roundhouse kick but with the lance instead of a foot) of the 5 or so fleeing bandits, knocking them all in the head with the side of the lance. She rolled 3d6+4 nonlethal damage (2d6 base plus a hit with a raise plus backstab) against them all. A couple of the bandits passed out, but Kalin rolled ass for some of them, leading to 2 bandits who were now thoroughly pissed off and most importantly, still on their feet.

"Eep! I'm outta here!" She flew up high in the air. Kalin simultaneously noticed that the leader was no longer on the stage as she was going up. She also noticed that the red-haired woman being attacked by a brigand.

“Shoot, she made it this far, she’ll be fine.”

Those words were accompanied by an awfully loud “clang” from iron hitting iron followed by what looked like a brigand choking her.

“Oh shit nevermind.”

She quickly got into position and dive-bombed, gaining speed frighteningly fast. She angled her trajectory like a swoop, just like they had taught her in basic training. It was pretty intuitive, as otherwise the pegasus would crash into the ground, leading to both of their deaths (along with the deaths of the brigand and the red-haired woman).

As the pegasus kicked the man in the back of the head with an extended hoof, Kalin yelled out.

“FALCON KIIIIIICK!”