The Grand Journey

[Laeta]

It was a long time ago, when only a million people roamed the land. There was a battle between two kingdoms, it was so long ago that no one remembered the names of the kingdoms, but the fight was grand enough to be remembered. More people fell that night than ever before, it was one of the greatest tragedies that anyone bad ever seen, yet after the battle it got worse. The sorcerer was said to come out of no where, his magic wiping them out before they could react. Only one or two survived, they were the ones chosen to live on an tell the story.


After the fall of the two kingdoms, the sorcerer used the blood that now painted the ground to make the blood diamonds. The diamonds wee said to be the crimson, like blood, the product of human souls and tears. Before this sorcerer could make use of these diamonds, a deity struck him mm down where he stood, knowing that it would be detrimental for the diamonds to end up in the wrong hands.


It is said that the diamonds hold the power of a God, that whoever uses them will be granted great power and immortality. They could take lives as they choose and give life back with the snap of a finger. Some say it no s a myth, a silly story that parents tell at night others know better. To this day the diamonds remain lost, and only the most worthy can find them.


@Snickers

 

[Laeta]

Violet felt the mead burn the back of her throat as it slipped down. She didn't drink that often, but this was a rare occasion. A client had made her wait, she had half a mind to turn them away just for that. She took another glance around the room, telling herself that if they didn't show up by the time her drink was gone that they had missed their chance. She looked down at her drink. It was half empty. They had better hurry.


It wasn't but a few minutes later that she had felt a soft tap on her shoulder and heard an even softer voice say: "excuse me". She turned to look a skinny boy. It must have been her client's page. She tilted her head and motioned for him to sit next to her. He quickly complied.


She took the last gulp of her drink and gave him her full attention. She tapped her fingers against the table, making public her impatience. Why wouldn't he just tell her the job?


He noticed her unhappiness and shied away out of fear. "My master said that he wants you to go to the tree outside the brothel at high noon. He said that there, you will get further instructions. " he squeaked out.


He wanted to leave as fast as possible, that was made obvious when he jumped up to run out. He was stopped by Violet's blade. The small crimson stream stood out against his pale neck. He was shaking now. It was only a small nick, nothing too serious. He gripped the bag of coins at his waist and tossed it to her. She caught it easily and then let him go. This was a rather odd mission, usually they just told her what to do and left it at that, but this one took special precaution. Interesting. Looks like she won't be bored for a while.


---


The next morning she was leaning against the tree she was told to wait under. She yawned and looked around, waiting for her next set of instructions

 

[Snickers]

The end was coming to another nice summer day. Blue was giving way to streaks of fiery red and orange in the afternoon sky as the sun began to sink into the horizon. Slowly, shadows crept across the land, reaching out to chase away the remaining light of day. Through the otherwise picturesque afternoon, loud shouts and battle cries rang out effectively disturbing the serenity.


As every day before it, the training ground just outside of the castle walls was alive. All day. Everyday. Sunlight glinted on the variety of metallic weapons as they arced and raced through the air en route to their respective targets, armor shimmering as the soldiers went through the motions they’d practiced so many times over.


To anyone else this was just a nasty patch of roughed up dirt full of angry men with nothing better to do than to fight each other. Peacetime had a way of making people feel that way toward warriors.


A whistle rang out over the chorus of metallic clangs and shouts, putting an end to the training. “Sir Blythe, we’ve received a message for you!” a guard called as he made his way onto the long worn training grounds.


The lot looked up at the guard’s approach, and then resumed their training once one separated from the mass. This one wore a silvery suit of armor with blue trim that proudly bore the royal family’s crest. The warrior strode over to the guard, stopping short of arm’s distance as he reached for the folded parchment. With the little bit of material in his armored hands, the knight made his way from the training ground to read the message in private.


Though, what lay in the message was vague, it still caused a foreboding feeling to stir within him. His jaw clenched, wary eyes shifting in the direction in which he was instructed to go with little given rhyme or reason. However negatively he felt, his curious and vigilant nature warranted that he investigate this request further.


In the following morning Alun found himself making his way toward the tree outside the brothel. Unsure of what exactly he was getting into, he brought along his armored, black and white steed but brought no other men with him. The stallion wore armor similar to Alun’s with another broadsword strapped to the saddle.


Upon their arrival, Alun wasn’t completely surprised to find someone there. Although, he would be lying if he’d tried to claim that he had expected to see the person he did. There was a young woman there with hair the color of hot ember and an ensemble to match. It looked as if she had been there for a little while already.


“Good afternoon, miss,” he nodded in greeting after removing his helmet. Holding the helmet against his side, the knight reached for the note he’d received the day before as he continued, “I can’t imagine you were the one who had this sent to me, but would you happen to know anything about this?” he inquired as he held the folded parchment out to her.

 

[Laeta]

When the Knight came over Violet abandoned her previous lazy position upon the wall and instead got into one that would leave her in a better position for battle. He didn't seem to want to fight, but she wasn't taking chances. She looked over the parchment handed to her. As the contents sunk into her brain, she felt a grace across her lips. It seemed that this Knight was going to work with her.


She sighed and looked back up towards the knight. "it seems we have been called by the same client, what type of job is this?" she was asking the last part more to herself, but she got a reply.


"a difficult one" a voice said from behind her. That shocked her. It had been a long time since someone successfully snuck up on her. She didn't hear footsteps, or breathing for that matter. She turned and faced the woman. She was tall and beautiful. Her ebony hair framing her heart shaped face in a way that would knock most men to their knees.


She reached into her shirt and handed Violet a piece of parchment. "That is map, he asks you to use it to find the item he seeks, there will be a grand reward,, large enough so that you will never have to work another job". So the client wasn't. Her neither, this client was pre cautious for his own good. She took a look at the map. She knew where it would take them and she didn't like it.


"what item does your master seek?" she asked slowly, even though she already knew the answer.


"The Blood Diamonds" that response was enough to make Violet debate rejecting the quest.

 

[Snickers]

The armor clad gentleman didn’t seem to be outwardly phased by her swift change in posture. His composure never wavered in the slightest when he handed the parchment over to her, but seeing her response to the message piqued his curiosity. What did she know of this?


Following the sound of her voice, his dark green eyes lifted from the parchment to her eyes. He had a few questions to ask, but before he could get a word out someone else nearby provided some answers.


The knight was indeed startled by the sudden stealthy intrusion, but remained composed. The only evidence of his unnerved reaction was the crease that had formed in the middle of his knitted brow as he threw a cautious glare at this newcomer. Despite appearances, there was no telling what this woman was capable of or what her true nature might be. More than likely she was just one of the women from the brothel. It never hurt to be wary, though.


Alun’s eyes tracked the motions as the woman passed a piece of parchment to his new comrade with a simple request. A very vague one, but still relatively simple. He hoped, anyway. That was until he chanced a glance at the map, only taking his eyes from the strange woman for as brief a moment as possible. No, this didn’t look so simple anymore.


Thankfully his comrade asked the question he was waiting to hear the answer to before he could ask it himself. The answer was one that made his blood frost over. Was this some kind of joke?


“For what reason does your liege seek these diamonds?” he found himself asking. He knew better, it would be too easy for this client to have a lie prepared. Maybe he just wanted to hear out their (hopefully) well-thought out alibi. With the legend behind the creation of these diamonds, whether they be real or fake, what good person would want them?

 

[Laeta]

The woman simply shrugged. " I ain't got all the answers sweet heart, I just deliver the messages to the desired assailants." the woman took a step back,, her hand was on her cheek as she studied them both.


"I see why he picked you two though, I would have picked you two as well. Both of you seem to be masters at this questing business." she then turned to leave, obviously bored by them now and looking for the next thing that peaked her interest.


"It is in your best interest to do the mission. Very few people deny my master of what he wants, but those who do have hell to pay. When you find them, bring them to the Salty Grain, a tavern down the road, and ask for Jessica."


Violet scowled. So he just expected her to say yes? No negotiating pay, no asking, he just expected her to go on this journey because he told her to? She clenched her fist at the thought, slightly crumpling the parchment. She had half a mind to throw it to the ground and be done with it. Then she remembered the pay. It would be enough, nay, more than enough to allow her to stop this business.


She looked back down at the map. Perhaps the quest would be worth it and perhaps it had its perks. She turned back to the man in armor who had shown up earlier. "Well? WilI I be going on this journey alone or shall you accompany me? What is your name, sir?"


Part of her was hoping that he would back out. It was a long and dangerous quest after all. Plus, she usually worked alone and she would be happier if he didn't mess that up for her.

 

[Snickers]

The paladin stiffened at the strange woman’s answer, gripping his horse’s reins a little tighter. This was frustrating. They wouldn’t be getting much out of this messenger, then. His eyes fell to the earth as he contemplated during the silence that stretched out between them, only returning to express his mild annoyance when she spoke up again. Compliment or not, it didn’t do anything toward the reasons behind this request making any sense. Well, making sense in a positive way… Not that he was expecting that from such a shady client. So far the only contact had been through a letter and this woman.


What followed the compliment had more of the ominous weight he was expecting to accompany the request. So… Just find these ancient relic jewels and bring them to that tavern? Was the client overconfident in them accomplishing this, or underestimating the quest? Maybe it was a mix of both. There was a bit of sarcasm sitting at the tip of his tongue, but he withheld.


Perhaps he would try his hand. There was always the possibility of holding the diamonds in safety until he knew this master’s true intention. Or just holding them and not turning them in…


He was brought out of his thoughts when the other addressed him, “My name is Alun,” he replied, placing a hand on the side of his steed’s neck, “And this is Bishop. What’s yours, miss?”


There was a bit of hesitation in his answer to her first question, “..It may be better to see this through. I’d like to know what his intentions for these diamonds are. Would you have any guesses?”

 

[Laeta]

Violet shrugged and allowed her hands to rest on the back of her neck. "Probably wants them for the powder that they grant. World domination maybe? Becoming King? What he does with them doesn't matter to me. It is his fate, not mine"


She returned to her position of rest against the tree.,, cool breeze came by, it made the fair hairs on her arms stand, attempting to warm her from the small chill. If anyone were to look up they would see that a storm was coming. A rather large one at that. As if the Gods heard what they were up to and were trying to stop it.


"My name is Violet, by the way"

 

[Snickers]

Well, his comrade for the quest was certainly single-minded. Possibly a little egoistic even… But who was he to say anything? He had asked for an opinion after all. To be fair, he had assumed the same for the purpose of the precious gems but was hoping for better. Was it too much to ask that someone seek things like these for some better purpose for a change? Perhaps he was asking too much.


He noted the darkening of the sky and felt an unsettling unease in the atmosphere. This felt more like a bad omen than an average rain shower. Despite this, he offered a smile and extended his hand, “Nice to meet you, miss Violet.”


Trying to be mindful of this quest, he glanced at the darkening clouds in the distance before returning his green gaze to the fire mage, “Could I see that map? Maybe we can find a route to avoid that rain so we can get this over with as soon as possible.”

 

[Laeta]

Violet pressed the map into his palm. That must mean that he was going. For better or for worst, she had him as a companion now. It had been at least four years since her last partner. He had died a rather gruesome death, a magical snake had strangled him to death.


The wind hit her, ripping off her hood and attempting to take her entire cloak. She felt the slight tug on her neck, the only thing binding it to her was the strings that were knotted and usually laid limp against her collarbone. The wind worried her. It seemed to have come hour of nowhere.


She turned back to her companion, she didn't know how well they would get along. He seemed like the good and righteous type, always doing what is right and frowning upon anyone who disturbs the balance. He might not like her if she was correct on that analysis. "If you think you can find a route then please do it quickly, I would rather not get soaked. The quest is already hard, this will make hot much harder."

 

[Snickers]

“You have everything ready to go already?” he asked idly as he unfurled the map to get an idea of where they were going. The wind began to pick up, kicking up some dust clouds from the road as a nice little prelude to the storm that would soon follow. As the wind shifted and veered Alun found holding the map still to be an increasingly difficult task. The wild nature of the gusts was making it hard to figure out the direction path of the storm as well. Hell, even nature itself was against them. Fun times.


Beside the armor clad man, his Appaloosa snorted with impatience and resisted by pulling back on his reins toward the stables.


“Let’s head this way,” he stated, nodding toward the road ahead of them, “There’s a cross road not far from here. We can turn left there and get out of the storm’s path,” he suggested as he wrapped Bishop’s reins around his fist and started forward.

 

[Laeta]

She did have all her things ready to go. She carried a small bag with her on her back that contained all of her belongings, the very little that she had. She stumbled a bit as a rather large gust of wind hit her. A cloud of dust had worked it's way into her lungs and now she was coughing, her body's way of trying to get rid of the alien substance that had invaded it.


Her eyes watered a bit has she turned to look at Alun. He was struggling to read the map in the oncoming storm. She wasn't able to talk when he said to take the road in front of them, but she could nod to show she understood what he was telling her.


Her cloak was now flapping in the wind, the only thing that kept it from flying away were the knotted strings that usually rested on her collarbone, but now they tugged at her neck. She began walking down the road he had said to. He seemed like he could be trusted enough. If he couldn't be then she would just have to burn him.

 

[Snickers]

With the weather suddenly turning on them to such a degree he considered having Bishop give them a ride to the crossroad. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be enough to get them out of the wind. At the most recent gust and dust cloud, he glanced over to his partner as he tried to stabilize the map, “You okay?”


Hell with it. Frustrated, he finally folded the map to the best of his abilities given the circumstances and passed the folded bit of parchment to her. He’d figured out something to get them out of the storm’s path and started on the journey, so there really wasn’t any need to study it any further. However badly he may have wanted to see the details of their trip, it would have to wait.


Seeing how the wind was nearly taking away her cloak, he motioned back to Bishop who’d finally relented to the trip, “You can ride Bishop if you’d like. You should be safe from the dust up there,” Alun offered over the next gust of wind, hoping she’d heard him.

 

[Laeta]

She shook her head and looked forward. "Thank you for the kind gesture, but I can do well by myself." She knew that was a lie. Riding the horse would make it a lot easier. She had to provide herself though. Like she wanted him to prove himself as a partner, she had to prove herself to him.


She took the map from his outstretched hand and slipped it into one of her many pockets. A frown found its way to her face. It seemed that they were making things up as they went. It was completely understandable why, the wind had grown much too strong. The possibility of reading a map in this weather was zero to none.


The first drop of water hit her in the cheek. The second the neck. Soon it was a down pour. The thunder cracked above and the lightening offered them sight for brief intervals. "it looks like we will be soaked by the time we get to our destination" she sighed as she ran a hand through her wet hair. "oh well, that is life."

 

[Snickers]

Following the whipping winds was a downpour the likes of which he’d rarely seen. In preparation for the rain he’d replaced his helmet in an effort to keep his head dry and keep his vision a little clearer. Not that it mattered, really. There was nothing but a gray abyss less than fifty feet before them on the road. And that sight was only granted by the flashing lightning overhead. This was all… quite dismal.


“You’re a mage, correct? Could you sense if there was any magical influence behind this? It seems unnatural to have a monsoon hit without warning like this,” he shouted over the torrential downpour. He knew little of magic, aside from how badly it could sting on the battlefield.


The knight shifted his course briefly, moving to fetch something from one of the leather packs strapped to steed’s saddle. From the pack he tugged out an old blanket, and first offered it to the mage. “We can stop to set up shelter with this to wait out the rain. It won’t do us any good to travel blindly like this,” he reasoned. Even if they were already soaked, it was his hope that they could stop and try to dry off before attempting to travel again. Preferably without the storm this time.