Fantasy A Fresh Start (Closed)

[June Verles]

Erik stares at this person in front of him for a few seconds, the small lad in front of him is clearly a lot younger and frailer than him... "Giovanni was it? Good name that is." He then looks at the fort and then at the kid for a few seconds before breaking the silence again; "Well, I don't feel like anymore, but you seem like a decent human being here." he unshackles the spade on his hip and throws at him before jolting into a surprisingly fast sprint in the forest, and as he enters the woods you could hear him; "Don't give that puffed up bird anything".
L llamatime Ubertide

 

[ShakinMcBacon]

Thalen shrugged, but noticed the subtle yet potent gesture of Lothar's hand moving to the pommel of the sheathed falchion.

"Well, truth be told, I've very little clue of where I am, as I mentioned before, I have become lost, and feel as if I have been in stupor for some time. My town could be leagues away, for all I know," He said, seeing that his ruse wasn't quite working. It seemed the red stone creature was something far more important; it had the air of something ancient. "But you say you awoke with others? All together on the hill? I came to consciousness on the hill as well, I feared I had been left for dead by bandits!" Thalen spoke, dashing a bit of truth in his words to see if he could procure the information he sought. The man seemed kindly enough, but the guardian still held his suspicion.

 

[Ubertide]

The Raven just watched as Erik abruptly took off into the forest without any explanation and let out a short laugh. "You lot aren't very trusting, are you?" It hopped back up onto the wall and spread its wings out as it glanced over its shoulder to Giovanni. "Why don't you ask them how tough they are? There might still be a door inside the keep that locks from the inside, if you think yourself lucky." And with that, the bird took off into the air, quickly becoming nothing more than a distant sparkle that swooped its way back southward towards the pine forest.
L llamatime

There certainly didn't seem to be any place out there that indicated anyone was living out there. Nothing but sand, cracked earth, cacti, flowers, and that ever present sand storm.
matzi8qr

"...This traveler...changes....his...story." Guardian intoned bluntly as it turned its attention to Thalen, just staring him down. It was clear it did not find the newcomer as trustworthy as Lothar. "Bandits....are...not common...in this...forest, as...far...as I...know. Although...I have...not left...this place for....a...long time." The statue then paused and turned its head upwards as it noticed a glimmer in the sky above the canopy. "....Please....no."
Heyitsjiwon ShakinMcBacon

 

[llamatime]

Giovanni
He looked up as the raven flew off leaving Giovanni alone with his new spade. He fastens it next to his hatchet on his belt, he glanced to the cave and then towards the wooden structure where he was headed. He turned back to the mutts. "I'm sorry if I arrived unexpectedly. But I'll be leaving for today. Enjoy.....whatever it is that you creatures do." And with that he dashed over to his destination, keeping the larger lake and cathedral-like structure in mind for his next destination.

 

[matzi8qr]

Snippet

Snippet finished her fish and calmed her noisy stomach, and used the fish-less spear to catch more fish and build up a stockpile of food. "I should probably wait until night to explore, huh. It's probably much cooler then," she said as she thrusted her spear through the water, narrowly missing a fish. The fish squirmed away and dashed back into the lake. "Maybe find away to bring some if this water with me, too," she said. Her spear found a fish that she took out and laid next to her in the sand. She prepared her spear to catch some more fish for the road.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Lothar nodded. He wasn't really buying it, but in the end. He didn't want trouble. That said, he noticed the Guardian look up in the sky and mutter. Taking this to be a sign of danger, Lothar ran to find some sort of cover. Clearly something was in the sky that even the Guardian didn't want to see... a magical stone construct being worried? Never a good sign.

 

[ShakinMcBacon]

At first Thalen stood bemused as Lothar dashed to cover, but upon looking up he also saw the glimmer of light descending quickly. The stone creature obviously wasn't happy, but it didn't make any defensive precautions. Nonetheless, Thalen drew his longsword with a satisfying hiss, its oddly familiar weight a comfort in his left hand as he waited for the glimmering thing to arrive. First a talking stone, now an unknown object in the sky? Just where was he? The magical properties of this land were starting to show, and Thalen couldn't help but feel a growing curiosity.

 

[Ubertide]

Running away would prove to be the smarter decision as with the Raven gone the dogs were suddenly much bolder and a few would chase at the man's heels, snarling and barking before retreating back to the vigil so that the pack may collectively nurse its wounds after its bloody battle. His brazen dash into the forest would startle quite a few denizens, notably elks, (slightly smaller) giant rats, giant turkeys, and these strange little primates up in the trees with small, black ape faces, light brown fur with black stripes around the arms and legs, big blue eyes, and long curling tails. These would be especially notable as by the time Giovanni made it to the old abandoned lookout tower, it would be completely covered in the creatures who all clambered up to the very highest point and started hollering down at him in alarm and surprise. If he looked around he could see that the ladder had long since fallen away and was lying on the ground, overgrown with grass, moss, and fungus. It probably wasn't usable anymore.
L llamatime

As Snippet was left to her own devices for the first time all day, she'd likely be feeling rather relaxed and peaceful as she dutifully hunted for fish to take with her. However, the more she fished, the more her movements kicked up the lake bottom and soon she'd start to notice something shining and metallic being uncovered, but it would be difficult to truly see just what it was.
matzi8qr

The Guardian wouldn't move in the slightest as he watched the glittering thing get closer, and closer, until a giant bird suddenly descended and landed square on the giant's shoulders. "Guardian my good friend, you've moved! And look, I see you've found two more humans! There certainly are quite a few of them around aren't there?" It cackled as it peered down at the two men while sitting on the rock's shoulders. Something about Guardian's tone would sound rather resigned to its fate as it responded, "I have....indeed...since...Lothar...arrived....and...offered to...help....rebuild the...fortifications....of...the Master's...estate. I do...not...know of...this other...for....he...is...a newcomer...that tells...conflicting...tales." "Is that so? How interesting!....So which one's which?" The bird asked as it tilted its head side to side.
Heyitsjiwon ShakinMcBacon

 

[llamatime]

Giovanni
When he reached his destination he was in a mix of frustration and surprise. He glanced around at the primates on the watch tower. Giovanni was reminded of the rodents from earlier and hoped that these creatures might be more accepting as he moved his hands away from his weapons. "I am sorry if I startled you. But I was unsure of where to go as I'm not from around here. If you forgive my intrusion then I promise that I'll try to live alongside you for the rest of my stay here." He backed away slowly and bent down to his knees.

 

[matzi8qr]

Snippet

Snippet got her third fish for the road when she noticed the sand swirl from the bottom, unveiling some sort of metallic thing underneath the bottom. She went from monotonous spear fishing to curious investigation of under the lake in a second. She took the fish off the spear and used it to try to get the sand off the metal in swirling motions. The metallic thing underneath the sand became more and more visible as sand moved away from on top of it. "What on Earth are you doing here," Snippet said, watching as more of this hunk of metal became unearthed.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Lothar was cautious, but it appeared that the bird was not hostile. He walked out from his cover and said "Hello, I am Lothar... you said that there's a lot of people around lately? How many have you met so far?" Lothar asked. He woke up with several others... but they all seemed to have gone their own ways. Still, it was reassuring to hear that they were still around and not dead... the lands didn't seem too dangerous, so far.

 

[ShakinMcBacon]

Thalen wasn't quite sure what to say, but he figured the truth was wise with this thing. It didn't seem like the kind of being you wanted to get angry.

"I am Thalen, what are you? And where are we?" He asked, keeping the sword drawn. All he wanted were answers, then he would be on his way, but things seemed to get more and more complicated with each passing moment. Growing annoyed, he felt the glove on his right hand grow warmer, as if it wished to unleash its own wrath...

 

[Ubertide]

The startled tree huggers would continue to holler and scream at him as he spoke, skittering across the ancient beams of the tower as they watched him warily. However seeing his more peaceful demeanor, they would start to calm down a little although they'd remain up in the highest reaches of the tower. After a moment they'd just be watching him curiously, still a bit tense and apprehensive, but it seemed they weren't going to attack at the present moment.
L llamatime

As Snippet proceeded to uncover the metal object, perhaps she would be startled to find that it was a helmet, or at the very least was a helmet. The shape was distorted, as if it had been forcibly melted and flattened both at the same time. As she uncovered it further, she'd find evidence of an old, tattered tabbard which was so utterly muddied that it was impossible to make out the crest or colors. Considering the position of the items, it was safe to say they were being worn at the time of impact, but there wasn't the slightest hint of bone to be seen. It was safe to say, the helmet was utterly unwearable in its current state.
matzi8qr

"I have currently met five, including the pair of you! If there are any more I have yet to run into them." The raven answered gleefully as it shifted foot to foot on the statue's shoulders. Guardian would just stand perfectly still, not bothering to try and shake the thing off. "I am the Golden Raven and, obviously, you are here." The bird let out a short cackle before adding slyly, "That's all I can say really, nothing here has had a human given name for a very long time. Of course at least one of you has already started naming things...At least before he ran off into the forest to the north that is." There was a glimmer of amusement in its eyes for a moment before it twisted its head around to look poor Guardian directly in the eyes, its beak touching the stone visage. "Hey, can we do the thing? I'm sure they won't mind!" "....I...refuse...to...humiliate...myself...in front...of...an...audience...bird." "Ohh come on! Just real quick!" The bird hopped up and down with excitement.
Heyitsjiwon ShakinMcBacon

 

[llamatime]

Giovanni
When he saw the primates were less hostile he slowly got up and lowered his hands. He was about to negotiate with them until he noticed something, he was close to the edge of the dome. He started thinking about his situation some more. He knew that he, along with the other people he met are trapped in this dome, but he never knew much about the dome itself. He decided that he would take a detour before he continued to his next destination. He turned back to the primates. "I apologize for my interruption, but I don't intend to do harm. I pray that our next meeting will be.....better than this one." And with that he walked towards the edge of the dome, slowly as not to disturb any wildlife.

 

[matzi8qr]

Snippet

"The heck?" Snippet said, uncovering the once helmet underneath the sand. She waded in far enough for her spear to hook under the crumpled helmet and bring it up towards her. She noticed the tabbard as well and picked that up, and, bringing them ashore, she inspected them. Noticing how they both looked completely crushed, she looked up, seeing nothing but the top of the tower and the bright blue sky. Suddenly paranoid of something that can seemingly crush a human person from out of the sky, Snippet left the shade of the building with her fish and sat closer to the forest l, away from the building. Here she made a new fire, cleaned and cooked the fish, and watched the skies for falling objects.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Lothar

Lothar was puzzled at the sight at the giant bird, but at least it seemed friendly... enough. "Golden Raven, pray tell, can you tell us where we are and what has befallen these lands? It appears that Guardian was the protector of a King's estate... alone with his wife and his mage... not to mention some sort of war. What has happened to all these people?"

 

[ShakinMcBacon]

Thalen was about to simply leave, but he decided to wait for the raven to answer Lothar, although he doubted it would provide him with an answer any different. Suddenly an idea struck him, and he stepped closer.

"I have a proposition; I will ask you a riddle, and if you answer it correctly in two tries, I will go on my merry way, but If I manage to fool you, you must tell me where we are, and what nature of place this is, does that sound intriguing to you?" He sensed the bird was a being of mischief and trickery, and he was confident the bird would bite at his bait. Why not fight wit with wit?

Ubertide

 

[Ubertide]

The edge of the dome would be very clear cut, precisely right at his very feet as he approached the horizon line. There wouldn't be any sign of anything beyond this dome, and no real sign that the dome existed besides the lack of anything beyond it. It didn't glow or shimmer or anything quite like that, it just appeared as though the sky was a force field keeping the area tightly confined. If he attempted to touch it, however, he'd feel as if he just experienced a rather strong static shock, but nothing too harmful.
L llamatime

Both tabbard and former helmet would both appear to be quite ancient once she pulled them out. The piece of clothing would even begin to fall apart as it was pulled on up. Clearly, this had happened some time ago and so it was with great relief that she'd see that there were no signs of falling objects. Currently, at least.
matzi8qr

The poor guardian wouldn't even respond to the bird's demands for the 'thing', just staring straight ahead as the two men once again caught the bird's attention. The Raven would first scoff at Thalen dismissively, "First one of you assumes I am some personification of greed and now you think I am tempted by riddles? The nerve, not everything is as it is in fairy tales, you know!" The Raven fluffed its feathers up indignantly before it paused and turned its attention to Lothar. Its demeanor would seem to change rather suddenly as it turned to face the man and examine him with scrutiny. "How do you...?" It stopped as its gaze met with the man's fancy new(ish) footwear. "Those...those are her handiwork!" Its feathers fluffed up in agitation as it swooped down briskly and landed in front of him. "Where did you get those?! And why are you wearing them?" It sounded rather uncharacteristically angry as it spread its wings out and stretched its neck up high to make itself appear even bigger.
Heyitsjiwon and ShakinMcBacon

 

[llamatime]

Giovanni
When he reached the edge he stood there intrigued for a while. He tried best to map out where this dome might be located but he couldn't see past the ocean. He tried to see if this dome could be taken down but he got shocked when he touched it. He looked around for something that could help him puncture the dome and that's when he looked down to his hatchet. He took it out and started to think about his current situation. He knew that he was going to check out the chapel shortly after this, but he was wondering what would happen. He knew that this dome was most likely keeping something in or out, the shock he just experienced is the proof. And he only touched the dome, he didn't do apply any force to it. After finally making a decision, Giovanni raised his hatchet, took a deep breath, and swung it at the dome with all his might.

 

[matzi8qr]

Snippet

Snippet finished cooking the last of her fish and laid down on the lakebed. Sleeping in the unfamiliar place is probably a bad idea, but being tired is probably worse. If she was to explore the desert tonight, she might as well do it with a full battery.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Lothar shrugged and pointed over to Guardian. "Guardian mentioned that there was a chest in the estate that I could take a look in as there was something interesting in there that I might be able to use. Low and behold, I found these shoes with..." as he then reached into his pocket to fish something out. "This letter. It appears that these boots were meant to be a gift to the King to help protect him in the war... can you tell us more about what happened? Who was this... sorceress? The King? The Queen? And a War? What happened in these lands?"

 

[ShakinMcBacon]

"Bloody hell, I've had enough of this," Thalen muttered audibly, sheathing his sword and turning away, his frustration mounting. He had had enough of this bird, this stone, and this man, and he decided to head east, towards the mountains. With that he disappeared into the woods, and left the dead-end conversation behind.

The trek through the woods was largely uneventful, and he navigated the thick foliage with a moderate degree of difficulty. After a couple of hours of walking, he neared the foothills of the eastern mountains, where the terrain gradually became more rocky, and trees more scattered. Resting on a ridge, he scanned the landscape before him, looking for points of potential interest.

 

[Ubertide]

sssHHHHRRRCCAAK! The birds of the forest fluttered away in alarm at the sound that was made as metal struck the dome, causing its surface to ripple and the blade to crack just a tiny bit. Once the ripple faded away, all would be still once more as if nothing had happened. Clearly it would take more than a simple tool to affect this kind of magic.
L llamatime

And so, all was peaceful and time continued to pass as Snippet laid down to rest despite it being mid afternoon now and slowly approaching evening. It would seem that, for now, she'd be undisturbed.
matzi8qr

The only one who'd really seem to notice Thalen leaving would be Guardian, who turned its head and stared after him silently before suddenly being brought back to the conversation as the raven jumped up and flew inches from its face in quite the rage, "YOU FOOL ROCK HAVE YOU NO RESPECT!?" Said rock just stood there cluelessly while the raven angrily swooped back down in front of Lothar and squawked, "Those should of been mine! They should have..." The bird stopped abruptly and just stood there huffing and puffing before it managed to finally calm itself down as it peered down at its talons. "...Not like I can wear them anymore anyway." It mimicked a snort before looking back up to Lothar, its feathers still puffed up slightly even as its tone evened out and became more reasonable, "Right...Can't be lingering in the past, let's see this letter." It tilted its head side to side slowly as it squinted at the page, apparently being quite able to read it! "...I see." It fluffed its feathers one more time before preening them back in place and finally answering the man's questions with a dismissive tone, "Lady Estelle is a Magi, thank you very much. As for the king, he was nothing short of a stubborn fool who refused to hear reason even from those that wanted the best for him." It stopped preening at last to glance Lothar up and down again dubiously, "The queen is dead, just like everyone else. That's all that war really accomplished, if anything." The Guardian spoke up at long last as the queen was mentioned, "I...have been...waiting for...her return...for...some time...now." The raven said nothing as it merely shook its head.
Heyitsjiwon

At first glance, there wouldn't seem to be anything. However the longer Thalen looked, the more of those strange humanoid figures he would notice just aimlessly wandering across the foothills. However with the river in the way, he wouldn't be able to get close enough to get a better look at them and the terrain unless he was willing to wade on to the other side.
ShakinMcBacon

 

[llamatime]

Giovanni
He grunted as his attempt failed. He wasn't ready to give up and readied his hatchet for another swing, but then he noticed the crack. If this was after just one impact then who knows how many it will take until it shatters completely. He decided that now's not the right time and decided to continue. He put his hatchet away and went on his way to his next destination, the chapel.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

"Not anymore... sounds like a touchy subject." Lothar replied. It appeared that this giant golden bird used to be a man. "If the war killed everyone else... then how are you... and I suppose the Guardian here still alive? What was this war?"