Fantasy A Medieval RP

[MarieK]

The Encampment

An orange glow cuts through the trees. At first, it is believed to be a prequel to dawn shedding it's first light, but then it flickers, proving too elusive to be the rising sun. In a gruff tone, someone orders you further into the forest toward the light. It's the voice belonging to the man who had explained that you were being taken to someone who knew your secret and promised it would be worth going to speak with her.

Overgrown shrubbery and stones slick from the early morning dew that are embedded along the path prove a hindrenance to the stability of your footing, but it also tells you that the men who have kidnapped you are taking a route no one has traveled on before. Wherever they are leading you to, they clearly don't want you to know the destination- or want any others to stumble upon it.

"There," mutters the leader, jutting his chin in the direction of the light.

By now, the light has expanded and multiplied. Numerous lights decorate the forest before you. The aroma of burning logs, leather, and food waft through the trees and soon an encampment comes into view. Torches illuminated the area where rows of tents are wedged between tree trunks. Spiralling up the trunks are wooden stairs that lead to small huts built above in the trees. Rope bridges with wooden planks connect the huts. The precarious height at which they hang is nothing compared to the worn state of the wood and the thinly stretched ropes that hold them together. Upon second glance, the huts also appear tattered and poorly built with their warped and missing boards.

Despite these flaws, many people can be seen meandering from hut to hut, appearing unbothered by the risk they take in trusting the wood with their weight. As the men lead your group into the camp, many of those above stop and stare. A hiss of excitement follows.

A woman comes into view, standing in front of one of the closest tents. Arms crossed across her chest, she studies the group the men brought to the camp with something akin to hope peeking through her guarded expression.

"Welcome," she greets. "Thank you for coming."

The man that had led the group gives the woman a pointed glance as if to remind her that the people who were there had been given little choice, but she either doesn't see the look or pretends not to.

"You see, my men and I have been watching each of you and it is believed you may sympathize with our cause. My name is Adelaide. Princess Adelaide. I have left my kingdom to seek help in overthrowing my stepfather, King Darius. He has oppressed the people for too long and for people like us, we have paid a far greater price than the other citizens of our good kingdoms."

Extending a hand, she holds out her palm and a small flame appears in her hand.

"I am a Marked, like yourselves. You may choose to stay or leave, but know if you stay you will be help bring down a tyrant and free the people and yourselves. No longer will you have to hide and fear for your lives."

Extinguishing the flame by clenching her fist, she permits a thoughtful pause before giving the group a tight smile that did little to alleviate the tention woven into her gaze.

"For those who wish to stay, the men will show you to where you will be sleeping. The rest will be blindfolded and escorted back to their homes. Cook will be preparing breakfast soon. I'll see you there."

As instructed, the men begin to lead the group to their tents or huts.

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Jayera

To say Jayera was in a bad mood would be the biggest understatement to date. Anyone would be if they were taken from their bed in the middle of the night then bound and gagged. Though, she was sure the only reason she was gagged in the first place because she was cursing at the men who were currently kidnapping her. Surprisingly no one had heard the crashing of dishes and the breaking of glass inside, Jayera trying her best to break free. She hadn't heard them breaking in, but that was because she was in the middle of one of her rejuvenation sleeps. Had she not had to rejuvenate, she would have been able to hear them and protect herself but here she was.

She was blinded for much of her journey, but once they were near their destination they took off her blindfold. Her eyes were trying to adjust to the light provided by both the moon and what seemed to be fire. Even if the moon was hidden by the abundance of trees, she could still sense it was up and visible elsewhere. She turned to the voice of a man, ordering her to move forward. Frowning at him, she rolled her eyes. "I guess it's too much of me to ask you to say 'please'?" He hadn't responded as she followed his directions to move. Walking on the uneven terrain was proving to be difficult, often having to fix and figure out her footing. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't the tiniest bit of interested in what was going on and where she was being taken. There was one final directional instruction until she was within what seemed to be a camp area.

The people were lively as she and the others that had been kidnapped were brought into the circle. 'Could this be some weird, Marked killing cult? What kind of strange things could they be trying to do?!' She was too busy thinking about all the possibilities of what may or may not be happening to take in how festive the place actually looked. It reminded her of the place she had just come from, except there were no trees. Everything was on the ground all the houses had lanterns strung up on each to create that light, festive community vibe that she loved so much. Now she was feeling worried about what could happen to the people there. If these people were seeking out and killed those who were Marked, did that mean they would continue to go back for more? There were at least 3 others she knew of and only hoped they wouldn't be found out.

The voice of a woman broke her concentration, her white hair sweeping over her shoulders to look at her. She was thanking them for coming, to which Jay immediately scoffed. "For com- we were kidnapped! If you wanted an audience all you had to do was ask." She let the woman continue, having expressed her annoyance about being taken abruptly from her bed. When the woman -- who revealed herself to be the Princess -- finished talking, she momentarily stared. She was beginning to question the truth of what this woman was speaking about when she caused an orange flame to burn from her hand. The present King hated those with abilities so there was no way she could be lying... Right? She watched as one of the men grabbed her attention, a bag with her things inside slung over his shoulder. Though she followed him to her own hut, she was still going to be on her guard from here on out.

​

 

[SilverInu]

Sylvia was very much annoyed she had just left the orphanage were she had just dropped of a few deer and a hog for them to use for food for the nexr few day late at night. it was very rare for some one to get the drop on her unless they were more skilled than her but to actually be able to knock her out ment who ever took her out was above her or they were very lucky. so then best theing to do is wait and see what happened because of right now she was unable to do anything other than be carried like a sack of potatos over his shoulder. eventualy she could see flashes of light that looked like a sun rise but from her experiance it was some one who was of the marked like her. after a while of waiting she was placed before some one only to find out if was some one ffffrom another kingdm wanting to over throw the evil king. but then wo would take over the throne. but for now it would seem like fun to help out so she nodded in agreement. so while she was here she would see who showed up and joined and maybe get some fun out of this. with out speaking she was released from her restaints and shownto a tent. as she looked about the tent she knew this was better than how she normaly lived and slept so that was a plus on her side.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Sera Albion
Location Unknown

Sera was marched, blindfolded and arms restrained securely behind her back, down an uneven dirt path between two large men to either side of her, each with a gentle--yet very firm--grasp on one of her arms. Ostensibly, they held her to make sure she did not fall due to lack of sight, but Sera was sure they were also there to ensure she did not try to run. She had gone to sleep the evening before in a small clearing in the woods on the move from one village to another. She kept her belt knife close at hand when she went to sleep in case someone tried to attack her like this as she slept, though it had done her no good. Her kidnappers had been so silent, she hadn't had a chance to wake and grab it before their gloved hands were already holding her down and a blindfold placed over her eyes.

Their gloved hands, she thought numbly. These men had been very careful while accosting Sera not to touch her bare skin with their own. That meant they likely knew what she was and, more specifically, what she could do. That could mean only one thing: the king's men had finally caught up with her. She'd avoided them for eight long years, but it seemed her time was finally up. She expected to be executed sometime tomorrow. Outwardly, she tried to maintain a calm and composed facade, imperious and straight-backed as her restraints would allow, as though she were a noble and they her bodyguards rather than a prisoner at their mercy. Inside, though, she felt like a cornered rabbit caught in a hunter's trap.

"You don't have to do this." She spoke evenly to her captors. "I am a doctor. I only wish to help people. I have no interest in making trouble for your king or his kingdom." Not entirely true, but not entirely false, either. "Release me and no one will have to know."

The man on her right snorted a laugh. "Relax, sweetie. This ain't what ya think. We're not with the king."

"Then who are you?"

"Friends," the other man to her left said simply. "All will be explained in good time, Ms. Albion. Just be patient, please."

"Friends," she said incredulously. "Do you ambush all your friends in the dead of night with restraints and blindfolds? I'd hate to see how you treat your enemies."

She heard the one on the right guffaw and felt the motion of the man on her left shrugging, hopefully uncomfortably. "Apologies," said Left, though she didn't think he sounded particularly apologetic. "This is a necessary precaution. We'll release you as soon as we're able."

Sera tsked, irritated, but said only "Very well, then." They sounded genuine, but Sera doubted they were telling the truth--likely just trying to calm her to ensure she did not resist them. Even so, she took a deep breath and forced her muscles to relax in their iron grip, let the anxious tension seep out of her limbs. Let them think she was pacified and cooperative. She could do nothing yet, but all she needed was one small chance. If she could just brush up against one of them, even for just a second, it would be all the opportunity she needed and more.

As it happened, it would be another two hours of walking before she finally got that chance. The men still held her, but they were all noticeably tired from the long, late night trek and their grips were not nearly so tight as they'd been at the start. She herself was exhausted, and she was not faking it when she tripped on a rock she could not see and nearly fell flat on her face. She was held up only by her kidnappers.

"Woah, there, little lady," said Right. "Careful, now. This ain't exactly even ground." The way she'd stumbled, he was closer to her now than Left. If she remembered correctly, she thought he was the bigger of the two men.

"My thanks," she said in a light, airy voice, gasping. "I'm not used to walking for so lo--"

Mid-sentence, the previously limp and tired young woman violently jerked all her sagging weight as hard as she could into Right. Left predictably lost his grip on her other arm, surprised by the sudden burst of energy. She and Right tumbled away from Left and down to the rocky ground in a tangled heap of struggling limbs. Sera flailed about with her head--the least covered area on her body besides her restrained hands--searching for any area of bare skin she could find on the man. Her headbanging was rewarded with a loud crack when her forehead collided hard with his.

The millisecond of contact was all Sera needed. Even blindfolded as she was, the man's body, his organs, his muscles, everything inside him that comprised his physical being, was as plain to her extra sense as if she had cut him open with a scalpel in brightest daylight. She recalled a boy she'd treated once in a village some years ago who'd eaten a piece of rotten meat and gotten the worst case of food poisoning she'd ever seen. She recalled the way his stomach roiled and grumbled and contracted, the way his throat eased to permit the flow of bile and vomit to the mouth, the way his bowels groaned as they tried to evacuate the poisonous contents of the stomach in liquid form from the opposite end, the high fever as his body tried to fight off foreign invaders...she recalled all this, and she willed Right's organs to mirror that activity even in the absence of any rotten meat.

Sera disentangled herself from the man's body and forced her knees to raise her body up. She was dazed and disoriented, her head aching from the earlier impact as well as her all too real and nearly overwhelming sense of fatigue. She did not have much time, though. If she was going to get away, it had to be now. She ambled blindly in a random direction which she thought was opposite of where she last remembered Left, hoping she could put some distance between herself and him.

If she could have seen her victim, she would have seen Right's skin turn a sickly green. Instead of attempting rise and recapture her, he remained on the ground, curled in a fetal position and clutching his horribly aching stomach. All she heard of him as she tried to run was a low, pitiful moan and then the abrupt sound of his retching.

"Wait!" she heard Left call out. She ignored him. She felt herself collide with trees and branches, nearly tripped over every rock and nook and cranny in her uneven path, but she pressed on, breathless, determined. She knew she was unlikely to get away, but she had to try something. She did not want to die. She did NOT want to die. Not like this, not after all these years running. If she could just get away for a little bit, she could get the restraints off her hands and the blindfold off her face, but for now she just had to run. She just had to--

She heard a loud bang, like the deafening peal of thunder, from behind her and fell over in surprise. She summoned all her resolve and began to rise again, but heard Left's footsteps quickly catch up to her.

"Wait, Sera," he said, sounding a little breathless himself. She could no longer hear Right's groans of discomfort in the distance. How far had she gotten? Not far enough, she decided, and readied herself to run again. Too late. She felt his gloved hands grab her as he pushed her back down to the ground and held her down. She struggled, but he was larger, stronger, and he had the upper hand.

Her writhing ceased in surprise when her sight was suddenly returned to her. She looked up with bleary eyes at the man holding her blindfold above her. He backed away, held his hands up to show her he was no threat.

"Look," he said. He held one palm out, and a ball of bright, white light appeared to float above it. The open hand then clenched into a fist and the ball of light exploded in a white hot flash of light that left Sera seeing afterimages, accompanied by a deafening bang the likes of which she'd heard a little earlier. When her ears stopped ringing, she heard him speak.

"We are not King Darius's henchmen," he said. "We mean you no harm, despite all appearances. Tell me, would that man employ someone like me? A Marked One, just as you are?"

She said nothing, did nothing, but her brown eyes glared at him with all the baleful malevolence she could muster.

"I understand you don't trust us. I wouldn't either in your shoes." He took a step toward her, hands still raised in front of him in a placating manner. "May I remove your bindings? We're far enough from where we started that you could not know where we are, nor where our destination is relative to your camp."

She hesitated a moment, then turned over to present him her hands still tied behind her back. Carefully, the man pulled out a knife--her knife, the one she'd slept with, she noted--and deftly cut her restraints as he promised. He presented her his hand to help her up, but she rebuffed him and lifted herself up, rubbing feeling back into her chafed wrists. He sheathed the belt knife and presented it back to her, presumably as a sign of good faith.

"If you want to run now, I can't stop you, and I wouldn't even if I could after what happened back there," he stated matter-of-factly. "But I will ask you, one Marked to another, to hear me out. I cannot reveal our purpose here, not yet. I can only say that we want to help you, whatever you might think. And we want you to help us. We want to make the world a better place for people like us. Please, come with us. Hear what our leader has to say, from her own lips. Then, if you don't like it, I'll bring you back myself and you can go about your business, I swear it."

Sera looked around at her surroundings, what little she could see of them obscured by the darkness of night. Massive trees and thick foliage, a deep forest. She had no sense of what direction they'd been moving, only she thought they'd doubled back or taken circuitous routes at several points throughout their journey, probably to make it harder for her to determine where they were. If she ran now, she'd have none of her possessions from back at camp, and she'd be forced to fend for herself with no idea where she was or what was out there. Once she got...wherever these people were taking her, she'd be in a better position to run away then, now that she could see and her limbs were free.

Besides, she had to admit, much as she distrusted the men who kidnapped her, the idea of a better world for Marked...no, for all people...a world free of King Darius's tyranny...it was tempting. A pipe dream, crazy, outlandish...but tempting all the same.

"I'll come," she said finally. "But I catch one whiff of foul play, and I bolt."

"Fair," he said, his handsome face flashing her a disarming smile. "And, ah, if you wouldn't mind...fixing...what you did to my companion..." he trailed off tentatively.

"I don't see why I should after what you and he put me through," she said angrily. "A little stomach ache is far less than either of you deserve! Perhaps we'll just see how I feel about it when we get back to him."

Left chuckled uneasily, but didn't argue. When they returned to the scene of the scuffle, they found Right huddled behind a tree, skin pale, nose running, still groaning pathetically. He seemed at the moment to be having a rather intense bout of explosive diarrhea. Sera laid a hand on his head and set his body's equilibrium back to a state of normalcy. Rather than giving him food poisoning, she reflected, Sera could have caused his heart to stop or his brain to cease functioning. She could have killed him in seconds if she wanted to. But, deep down, she was a doctor, and she was pledged to do no harm. She wanted to save lives, not take them. Even with her life on the line, she found it hard to contemplate straying from that basic principle if it was at all avoidable.

Within moments, Right was breathing heavy from his ordeal, but otherwise back to the way he was except for clothes stained and stinking with his various discharges. The whole rest of the way to their destination, the man said nothing, but kept a wary eye and a careful distance from Sera. All his boisterous confidence from earlier had evaporated; there were no more "sweeties" or "little ladies" from him. That was fine by Sera.

Some time later, the three met with a larger group of other members of their party, all of them accompanied by men and women of all ages and nationalities. Some were still bound and struggling as Sera had at first been, and some had been given more freedom during their journey. She supposed they were all Marked like she was if what Left said was true. Truthfully, despite the evidence of her own eyes, she was still afraid he was lying, and that she and all the rest of these people were being marched to their executions like pigs into a slaughterhouse.

"There," she heard the man at the head of the large gathering say.

He gestured in between the trees, where Sera could make out a faint glow. As a group, they all headed in that direction and were soon greeted with a sight the likes of which Sera had never dreamed was possible. She'd been all over the continent, to all kinds of different places and in different terrains. Mountain towns, forest hamlets, settlements by the ocean...but this was something else altogether. It was like a city in the trees. Huts and houses were built from the bases of the mighty oaks all the way to the very tips of their branches. Sera stared slack-jawed and felt her mouth go dry when she saw some of the huts at the very top of the settlement sway back and forth in the wind. She could not imagine living in a place like that without fearing a fall to her death while she slept, but the people looking down curiously at her and the others from above seemed as comfortable as if they'd been living there their entire lives. At the base of the massive tree trunks was a neatly organized sea of tents.

From one of the largest tents at the front of the formation came a regal looking, slender, dark-haired woman with a stern, no-nonsense expression. She bid them a casual welcome, as if her victims stolen in the night were simply house guests over for tea.

"My men and I have been watching each of you and it is believed you may sympathize with our cause," she explained. "My name is Adelaide. Princess Adelaide. I have left my kingdom to seek help in overthrowing my stepfather, King Darius. He has oppressed the people for too long and for people like us, we have paid a far greater price than the other citizens of our good kingdoms."

When Adelaide was finished making her appeal to her "guests," displaying her power as one Marked and asking for help in overthrowing the king, she retreated back into her tent without taking any questions. The various new arrivals were left with their captors to discuss what had been proposed. Sera considered what she should do. She had little to lose, she figured. It was either this, or go back to aimlessly wandering from village to village in search of people to help. She might as well stay and try to help people this way instead.

She turned to Left, who was still by her side watching her closely, his eyes boring into her skull as if trying to read her mind while she deliberated. Right had vanished nearly as soon as they got within sight of the village in the trees.

"I'll stay," she told him. "But I'm not a fighter, I'm a doctor. I want to save lives, not take them, however noble the cause. I'll help you any way I can, but I won't kill another person unless my life is in imminent danger. If you can accept that, I'll join your group."

All at once, the man let out a deep breath, apparently relieved. "I think we can work with that," he said happily, showing her that easy smile again. "Come, I'll show you to your quarters."

When she got to the hut she was to sleep in--one of the higher up ones in the trees, like the ones she saw swaying earlier, she was dismayed to learn--she found her bag full of valuables, rations, herbs, books, and instruments already by her bedside. She'd thought they'd been left behind at her former camp site.

"Thank you," Sera told her kidnapper, genuinely grateful. "These things are irreplaceable to me." The man didn't seem so bad, really, at least once you got over the unwilling abduction part. She almost felt bad she didn't trust him at first. Almost.

"It's not me you should thank," he replied. "It's my companion. He's the one who made sure to bring the bag."

"I see." She looked away, feeling guilty. "Tell him I'm sorry for what happened between us. I regret what I did. But to be fair, your 'princess' really needs to work on her recruitment strategy. Midnight kidnappings are not a good way to find new allies."

He laughed. "Clearly. I'll be sure to give her your message. If that's all, then, Ms. Albion, I'll leave you be. Good night."

Alone in her new room, Sera laid down and closed her eyes, exhausted from her unexpected journey. She dreamed of her mother, a woman she'd never gotten to meet, and of a world built on peace where the Marked did not have to live in constant fear for their lives. A beautiful dream indeed, but, for now, only that.

 

[LeelLu]

Petra Florence

The trees were creaking as the wind grabbed hold and moved the branches on their way through. A dark shadow was sitting well-crouched on a thick tree branch in the darkness of the night. The moon was out, but the trees provided shadows and shelter from prying eyes. A campfire light shone through the clearings of the trees to what seemed to be a temporary campsite for a traveler. It was a cold night and the wind was not friendly, so the campfire made sense - although it attracted attention. A shadowy figure moved silently towards the campfire, it did not notice the crouched being in the height of the trees. It took minutes for the silent shadow to move all the way in towards the campfire. It stopped and observed in silence.

"You know, it's very rude to sneak up on people like that." the crouched creature that previously had sat in the branches of the trees had quietly made her way down behind the assaulter with the help of the nature around her. She peeked over his shoulder and made a grimace. Her voice was more playful than annoyed, although she was not amused to find herself ambushed - or attempted ambushed - in the middle of the night. The shadow jumped and let out a screech in surprise as he stumbled forward to get away from Petra. Petra let him create distance between them, knowing it would make no difference to her if she had to use her abilities to protect herself. She sighed with an overly gestured shrug, "I don't know what you are doing in the middle of the woods at this hour, but it's not bird-watching, so get your buddy out from the shadows and we can talk this out, you know?"

Another shadow, a woman, appeared from the other site of the camp with her hands in the air to show she meant no harm. "See?" Petra scoffed and pointed to the lady who had revealed herself followed by a laugh. "Now what the heck are you doing trying to mess up my midnight snack like this, hm? Do you know a single person who likes to be interrupted during a meal, because I sure don't! So what do you guys want then? Are you hungry?"

The two looked at each other in confusion at the carefree woman in front of them. Petra was not hostile unless she needed to be or someone put her up to a challenge. True, she was highly competitive, but she got no ill-intent from the two as they immediately subdued to her when she caught them attempting to catch her by surprise. The woman who had appeared last lowered her hands and sounded confused when she answered Petra, "Uhh, no, we didn't come here to steal your food.. We are --"
Before the woman could continue, Petra already interrupted her and marched into her campsite with a grunting noise. "Then I assume you don't mind if I eat? Come, sit, there's food for you two as well! I promise it's not poisoned, see?" Petra took a huge mouthful of the white meat cooking above the campfire. "It's not poisoned. In fact, it's herb-infused turkey. Absolutely delicious. Let's talk! Why in the world are you here?"

Despite being so lax and talkative, Petra was on her guard with these two. If they were sent by the King, it meant she had stayed in her previous location for too long and she had not been quick enough to outrun them. She had not visibly used her abilities anywhere she could be noticed, but they were already here - so her attempt to take advantage of the situation and gain intel before bolting seemed to be a success. Reluctantly the two strangers sat down by her small campfire as Petra chowed down on turkey. The man was the first one to reach out for the meat, and the woman took her time to explain why they had come. Together, they told Petra about Princess Adelaide's history and the cause they had been sent to get her for. By the end, Petra coughed and frowned at them in disbelief.

"So.. Let me get this straight.. You two.. Were sent to follow me.. Ambush and kidnap me.. To talk to this Princess who, for the record, I haven't even heard of!" the last part was a lie. Petra did indeed know who Princess Adelaide was, but the story these two told seemed filled with bogus. In honesty, it sounded like a plan the King would have concocted to gather Marked ones and make the killings easier. However, if this was true, it meant Petra was closer to finding out about her parents and if they were still alive. Maybe they also had been contacted like this to be summoned to fight. "That is the story you are going with..?"

The woman did not say a word, but she poked at her friend who was nibbling on a piece of turkey. He was much larger than her, but he was a quiet one. He sighed and looked up at Petra. His eyes started to change. Instead of his normal, dark brown eyes, they changed into yellow-orange'ish irises with a cat-eye slit in the middle. He pulled the sleeve of his garment up and showed scale-like surfaces to where his skin had been normal just moments before. "Whoa!" Petra gasped and nearly launched onto the man to get a closer look. She poked at his skin and looked up at his eyes with stars in her own. There was no way the King would send Marked ones, right? His hatred was all too obvious and his ego too large. "I would like to talk to this Princess.. See what it is all about. Would you tell me about it on the way? Help me clean this up, would you! Dragon-man, take this bag!"

It seemed the two had no choice but to follow Petra's lead instead of their own - the only compromise was to put blindfolds on her until the final steps of the journey. It would not help one bit as long as they were travelling by forest, although her two companions did not need to know that. They lead the way and told her about what had happened and what the Princess was hoping to accomplish by reaching out to fellow Marked ones. Although, they did not have all the information, Petra was intrigued aplenty. The further the trio walked, the deeper and more entangled the woods became. The ground was uneven, perfect environment for Petra's abilities. It did not take long before they could see a clearing in the forest. Petra's blindfold came off and she narrowed her eyes towards the light. A dim light that slowly grew bigger. "So this is it?" she turned and asked her previous assailants, now companions. The lady nodded and gave off a smile, for the first time since their encounter. Curious.

There were already groups of men, women and creatures she did not know what to make of, gathered in front of a selection of tents. "Oi, seems like we're late to the party," she giggled and pushed her way through the crowd to see better. As she came towards the front of the crowd, a brown-haired lady appeared in her view. That had to be the Princess she had been told about. Or so she would assume. The woman welcomed them and thanked for their presence. Petra gave off an expression of confusion as she gazed around. Not all of them seemed to have complied or come on their own accord, she laughed heartily - assuming it was a joke from the Princess' side. When most of the crowd remained silent, she cleared her throat and wet her lips awkwardly. She listened to the Princess speech with her arms straight at her sides. This woman was also a Marked. Now, that was evidence that made her choice all that much easier.

The crowd was too packed to make up all the individual faces, at least from where she was standing, but she was pulled back out by the two companions she had gone with as the Princess finished her speech and asked them to enter their living lodges. "I better get one of them huts." Petra mumbled to her self as she was guided to her room, thankfully one of the huts, and got her effects brought in with her.

 

[Lazaro1505]

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”​

-???

​

Abelgard Müller the Plague Doctor

Location: ???


Nature, a simple.... yet completely complex question and answer that lies outside of our understanding, it was simple, in the fact that nature was made up of a variety of creatures that existed merely to survive, to be born, grow, thrive, before their eventual death... as simple as it gets. Humanity as a whole was given the gift of being at the top of the food chain, having little to none competition out here in the wild. With nothing else, they had done many things that would have been considered impossible to the ancestors of the past, yet, with each improvement, came more downsides, death, war, chaos, corruption, Pestilence. But even then, it gets even more complex... such as the true purpose of even existing, if they can already surpass all of the hardest challenges set onto them by nature, and continue surviving. Are they cursed to stay within this repeat cycle and continue on, or will they be surpassed by another highly intelligent race.... even then, would they suffer the same fate as well to another, or will they go farther beyond than humans have gone, and complete what human kind as thought as impossible.

Yet, those thoughts were not the main focus, it wasn’t the thought of all his progress going to waste, it wasn’t that fact that he didn’t know what would happen in the future, well sorta, and the fact that there may lie something bigger out there. No, it was merely w-

“What purpose do you have for a Plague Doctor such as me? Is it because of this ‘secret’? I’ll let you know that I couldn’t even hurt a fly, let alone a human person unless in self defense, and even then, I perform poorly at it.”

A man wearing a large cloak, a bird like mask with googles attached to where the eyes lay, which when looked hard enough past the reflection coming from the orange light, would show completely calm hazel eyes, very different to his voice, but the last part was wearing a large black hat and both had a cane and backpack full of medical supplies. It didn’t seem he was providing much resistance other than his quiet speech, as the man walked with other three individuals guiding him, but it was unnatural for their ‘kidnapped’ individual to be walking next to them normally, occasionally stepping the cane into the ground.

To be honest, he was too scared of what may happen if he tried running, especially since they know of a person who might know what secret he was trying to keep away from the hostile world he was born within.... Abelgard merely continued on with the three, whispering out reason after reason of why they even need him in the first place, to which the three men didn’t answer at all. Abelgard just wanted to go back to the campsite he set up, boredom was a much better choice than this amount of stress coming to his mind, even then, he tried to maintain a calm and neutral attitude, trying his best to persuade the three into letting him go. But as more and more time was spent, the less and less hope he had of actually getting out safely was diminishing. Still, he knew something like this would happen, either from discover of his Mark, to a simple robbery gone wrong, it’s that fate decided to claim its due early, but the distant cawing of a Raven through the dimly lit forest, brought more calm knowing that at least someone will be there, til the very end.

The path they took was too confusing to remember, considering he wasn’t focus at all about the routes, as well as the thoughts going through his mind, but at least they were smart enough to overthrow any kind of person after them or stay hidden. The leader of the group said a couple of words, as they approached the sight of what appears to be a campsite, a much larger one, perhaps a tribe or even a small village if he understands more about the surrounding area. It was here, he found other individuals that he believed was in the same situation as him, being brought to deeper and deeper into the camp...

‘Hmm... so it appears that this is either some sort of bandit camp.... considering the buildings and their structural damage, or this is some sort of.... execution grounds, let’s hope it is neither’

Abelgard thought to himself as he looked at the others, before a a wave of excitement came from the men, as supposedly, the individual who was commanding these men, walked forth, and from there, Abelgard now had another thing to think about. Apparently, she was a Princess named Adelaide, and she was the daughter of that god-forsaken King Darius, the same guy who makes special individuals such as Abel be so afraid to even reveal a second of their powers. And apparently, they were brought here to rebel against the King, and bring peace back to the lands.... it almost sounded... like a death wish to Abelgard, if they were relying on people like him, a man who couldn’t even use a sword properly, let alone partake in actual combat with his powers for the first time is troubling... but, he doesn’t want to live in fear that if nothing is done, it would continue being like this.

He stood to think more about this decision, while yes, this was gonna be tough, and many men will lose their lives, so much more will be lost if nothing changes... and with another caw coming from above Abelgard instinctively rose his left arm, as a familiar figure flew down from the sky, and landed onto his arm. A rather large black Raven sat upon his arm, looking at the others with its black beady eyes, a Raven that goes by the name of ‘Nevermore’, before making another caw, this time aimed towards Abelgard, as the man smiled underneath his mask, and then faced the woman once more.

“I will join you people... since you clearly need more medical professionals within your ranks... and one that can take care of themselves within combat if they get caught up within it. I wouldn’t enjoy the.... killing of sentient beings... but if it’s need to be done, I will complete it... just don’t get too overboard here.”

The man finished, and with that, followed the individual leading him into his hut, while keeping the bird that now rested upon his left shoulder, tap tap tap, the sound combination being made up of both his shoes and his cane. He just hoped that he had made the right call here.​

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver​

Despite the late hour, Silver was awake when the men came to take her. Pacing back and forth in the narrow cell, tail lashing angrily as she glared out through the bars for what felt like the millionth time today. Yet all movement would cease as her furred ears picked up on a noise out of the ordinary- more than just coughing or shuffling from another cell, someone moving around...

They were good. If she hadn't had the senses of an animal she wouldn't have had the slightest idea they were there. But she did have the senses of an animal, and so she was prepared long before the man picking the lock to the cell got the door open. Lucky for them, she'd hardly eaten for the past two days she'd been in captivity and didn't have the energy to shapeshift, otherwise the ensuing fight would have been much bloodier.

Red eyes gleamed in the dark and the cat-like girl pounced - only to find that they were ready for her. Her target took a quick step to the side, while his companion grabbed her from behind, putting a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet while the first man worked on tying her wrists together.

Putting a hand over the shifter's mouth was not the right move, as the man would discover at the feeling of sharp teeth sinking into the meat of his hand.

Silver heard muffled curses but the hand over her mouth remained as the first guy finished up the difficult task of restraining her hands while avoiding her claws. A moment to replace the hand over her mouth with the safer alternative of a gag and then she was rather unceremoniously blindfolded and put over the shoulder of the man she had bit, as it was clear she wasn't going to walk by herself. The three of them managed to get out the way the kidnappers had entered without further incident, despite Silver's constant kicking and struggling, uttering muffled protests and threats the whole time.

Once they were in the woods she at least settled somewhat, the scents and sounds being familiar even if she couldn't see, and the three were able to pause for a short while for the man who had been bitten to clean and dress his wounds.

The journey after that was tiring more so for the two men, who had to take turns carrying the shapeshifter - any attempt to let her walk either had her go limp and refuse to move or trying to bolt into the woods. Neither felt inclined to remove the gag, the deep wounds inflicted by her teeth being great incentive to keep it in place, though they did remove the blindfold when the village among the trees came into sight. Her second glimpse of a human settlement and she's once again bound, seething with hostility towards the ones who'd brought her here. At least when they stop moving they let her down, as it no longer mattered when she promptly dropped to the floor, eyeing everyone around her as if they were nothing more than meat. Untying her hands and removing the gag required a little more thought than that, but the pair eventually chose to do so, the man with the already-bitten hands flinching as she snapped at him.

With her hands free to cause mischief the cat girl was already thinking of the best way to get out of this place, and hopefully cause as much havoc as possible on the way out but then the woman approached. Silver didn't understand a lot of what she said, due in part to a limited vocabulary and a sheltered lifestyle where she knew not of kings and power struggles, but she did take notice of the small flame that appeared in the woman's hand. Less out of any kinship with her fellow Marked - it was unlikely the shapeshifter even recognised herself as human, let alone a Marked human- but from a sense of pure wonderment. She would lean forward, red eyes wide until the flame was extinguished.

And then there was a choice. Leave or stay. Silver liked her life how it had been. Nothing to do or think about besides climb trees and hunt, it was... easy. And yet, if she chose to leave, the only place it seemed likely the men who had brought her here would return her to would be that cold, narrow cell. The fur on her tail stood on end at the thought and she tilted her head to the side, clearly considering the choice rather seriously. It might have been the most she'd had to actually use her brain all year. Finally, she'd glance at the man changing the bandages on his hand and demand that she get one of the higher up huts, rather than be stuck on the ground.

She didn't exactly have any belongings to pack away so after a few minutes sniffing around the hut and exploring every nook and cranny, the shapeshifter would be out on one of the rope bridges looking out over the camp. She wasn't certain about staying - humans were strange and annoying and only good for food as far as she was concerned, but she was even more certain she didn't want to go back to where she'd been brought from.

 

[Athanas]

Battle.

What could possibly be more beautiful than battle?
Scenery dims and fades, or is obstructed by bad weather. Fair faces contort with disgust, anguish, or terror. Even the most polished pieces of equipment eventually turns grey and dented from use. weapons rust. Castles crumble. Books turn stale, and the stars slowly lose their meaning without someone to hold you as you gaze at them. But battle, battle is a constant. The thrill of carnage, the aboslute rush of imposing your will forcefully on others. Nothing could possible ruin that. Nothing could possibly cheapen it or detract from it.

Mordred had not long ago uttered such an opinion while talking to his quartermaster. And now, being gleefully stuck in a melee, the small portion of his brain that was not utterly consumed by the bloodlust congratulated itself on how right it had been. He swung his colossal maul left and right, shattering shields, armors, and bones alike. He roared like a beast, his adrenaline spiking with each kill. The soldiers fought back, of course. But what wasn't blocked was stopped by his armor, and what wasn't stopped by his armor was simply...ignored, much to the horror of the attacker. As far as they were concerned, that beast before them might as very well have been immortal. Any attempts they made to flee however were stopped dead in their tracks as they were ambushed from the flank. Hails upon hails of crossbow bolts soon destroyed what little cohesion the unit had left. Before long, what was a determined fighting force had become a terrified rabble, trying desperately to flee in all directions....and failing.

But how did this come to be? Well, it was simply a matter of misunderstanding the threat at hand. Mordred's entire band had been flying bandit colors, and started off small, raiding merchant caravans of the southern kingdom and the like. When a force was dispatched to deal with the problem, Mordred had let them think they'd cornered him. He'd found suitable terrain, a place where there formed a natural bottleneck. And he stood alone. Seeing the opportunity, the enroaching militia fell upon him. But their numbers were not nearly as useful as they had thought, and it soon became dreadfully apparent that they were outmatched. The rest of his forces appeared from the surrounding ravine, raining death upon them...and that was it. A hundred and thirty men, defeated with only a few wounded on his end. As he crushed the last opponent left standing before him, Mordred could feel the rush still going strong. He looked around, but there were no more foes to be found. A few captives, but that was all. The rush turned to pride over what had happened.

He did not move for some time, simply leaning on Spinemangler , his maul and overseeing the results of his own actions for a while. His sources told him that one of the southern royals had been in the region previously, but conclusive evidence was scarce. He needed to cause a bigger ruckus...flush them out with displays of power. And now that the local militia had been destroyed...why yes, that large village barely a day away was unprotected. Grinning widely, like a shark, he finally decided to stop gawking at the destruction and instead set his mind on the coming battles. Oh, and there would be many of those.

"Boys!" He barked, causing his men to turn and face him in unison. Many had already began picking apart the dead, taking any valuables off of them with efficiency that would make crows feel inferior. "Finish taking some loot, and form on me! There's a village near here, and I do believe it's full of stocked granaries and beautiful women! Let's go take what we deserve! And remember, we need some prisoners for information!"

The loud cheers of the men around him only served to further his bloodlust. It was not sated, not nearly. Not yet. His innate rage was amplified a hundredfold by the reason he was here. He would bring his little sister back home. He'd promised his father as much, and Mordred never failed to deliver.
"I'm coming, Addie. I'm coming. I'll save you, even if I have to burn down this whole fucking country to do it."

 

[Dtheraider]

Capture!​

The sun had long set upon the forest shrouding almost everything in darkness aside from the silvery light of the moon glistening through the boughs above. In the darkness was a small campfire whose light has faded to a few embers and a thin trail of sweet smoke drifting lazily to the sky. There was a horse resting tied to a tree on one side of the clearing, on the other was a wooden cart with a lean-to of a tent propped against it.

The Twins encountered an issue earlier that day. One of their wagon wheels had broken in the town over which put them behind schedule. From the looks of it, it almost seemed like someone had tampered with it, but knowing the farmers in the area they knew this couldn't be likely and just chocked it up to some woodland animal gnawing on it. The repairs put them behind reaching the next town before dark. Wishing to not create anymore delay they decided to go for it, and if night fell, the section of woods they were going through usually had very little bandit activity.

Fortunately the advantage of having two bodies is being able to sleep with one set of eyes open however despite one being on guard when you are literally half asleep, the other half might not be far behind. San had slept inside the the tent, while Ichi who was supposed to be on guard fell asleep against Jeksai the horse.

Ichi didn't notice it, but Jeksai did. Jeksai either heard something some thing resulting in him to stir slightly waking the Twins up. Ichi groggily looked around the clearing and saw six figures amongst the trees. He quickly rose to his feet and made an attempt to draw the sword at his waist, but once the blade was out he saw these figures had several bows ready and drawn. One of the figures stepped forward, he wore a hood and helmet blocking most of his facial features. "We know that you and your brother are gifted... you do not have to speak to know what the other thinks, you are marked. Now please Tell your brother to put away his crossbow and come out."

The twins was shocked. Someone knew he was marked, this could be bad given the present politics of the kingdoms. Albeit their assumption on the mark was for all puns intended, off mark, it'd make no difference. If this got out they could no longer reside here, they could go back to the birth land of their father. Firstly they'd have to make it. Ichi would have to use their misunderstanding of the mark to stall for time and hopefully San could double.

"Why should we listen to you? You could kill us and take everything with no problem, seems like to me you just don't want to risk a confrontation that could hurt you." With this line San began to attempt to double in the concealment of the tent. Straining and pulling, it was something they'd done only a few times before. Ichi slowly began to kneel in order to keep his countenance due to the mental strain. "We guarantee not to harm you, but we need you to come with us." "You won't harm us? you could just easily take us somewhere to dispose of us leaving no trace for anyone to find, I think it's be better if we attempted to run." With this the final part of their mark had activated causing Ichi to quiver while saying his last words almost throwing up. There was now San one and naked San two, Shi Foji, in the tent. "Sounds like your a little more fearful and sick than initially let on, you running would not last long." "Well if you say so." With that San one came out of the tent hands raised. San two, Shi, had slipped on the change of clothes meant for the following day.

These assailants lowered their bows and began to approach with blind folds and a rope. With that Both Ichi and San One bolted in a similar direction. 4 immediately redrew their bows and let arrows fly in pursuit quickly followed by the night men themselves.
The arrows themselves were blunts, heavy with out a point meant to hit, bruise, and hinder, but not to kill. Ichi had been hit by both, one to the left thigh, and the other to the right shoulder blade. It caused him to gasp and fall to the ground. San One on the other hand didn't get hit, but the excess strain of duping that body left him dizzy and exhausted, he made it ten feet into the forest before tripping on a log. The prestige of this act however was Shi Foji rolling out from under the tent while the six captors were occupied with this chase and disappearing into the woods.

"See told you that you wouldn't last long." The captors quickly bound them and blinded them. 5 led Ichi and San back to the main base, and one was left to guard the camp and make sure nothing disappeared by the time they got back.

A Cause and a Plan​

The twins were Shocked to see Adelaide before them. This was something very unexpected. It was one thing to be approached by someone vying for power, but it was something else to see someone long thought dead with only rumors that they were still alive; only for them to be fully alive and leading a secret rebellion against their father the king. This was something unforeseen. Well a chance to reshape the world? Maybe, but The twins knew the extend of Darius especially The Troll who spread terror to all keeping everyone in the fist of the king. They may go along and spend the night, but unbeknownst to anyone else their contingency plan was in place.

Shi had returned and just like the Twins, the guard left back at their caravan believed the woods to be empty that night and let down his guard more than he should have. Shi had been able to slip out a smithing hammer but decided he didn't want to kill the guard and instead opted for a hoe, using the handle he had snuck up on the guard and struck him upside the head. With the Guard unconscious he quickly packed up the wagon connected Jeksai, and make as much distance as possible before the rest of the guards came to fetch the twin's supplies.

Ichi and San were led to a hut to spend the night. There were the bare necessities inside and some rough bedding. Ichi and San both laid down without a word and fell into a sleep like state.

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver
Interacts with - Sera ( MagicPenguin )
​

With her short attention span it did not take long for Silver to grow bored of simply watching over the camp. Especially considering the hour, as most people seemed to have retired to their huts or tents to wait for dawn.
Speaking of huts, despite how she had demanded one of the highest huts, her own living space was further down the tree, only a few metres from the ground. To someone else it would likely not have mattered, or even been reassuring to not be as dizzyingly high as some of the others but after spending most of her life among the treetops the cat was more than just used to heights - they were a refuge. Few other predators could follow her up into the treetops, and even those that could couldn't get as high, nor as fast.

And so after a bit of exploring the section of the camp in the trees, Silver would seek to go higher. She didn't need to use the stairs and bridges the humans had made to make the trees habitable for them but finding them easier than just climbing she ended up sticking to the established routes and reaching one of the higher huts.

Entering without knocking or otherwise making her presence known, she was quick to notice someone asleep in the room. If there was ever a way to catch her prey unawares... Luckily for Sera, Silver's attention would be caught by the smell of meat from the woman's bag. With no regard for personal property, the shapeshifter sat on the floor, rifling through the bag and sending it's contents scattering all over the wooden floor until she found the smoked meat.

It was different to what she knew, being used to fresh-killed prey but still identifiably meaty enough that she would only sniff it hesitantly once before tasting it - pausing for a moment to consider before deciding that it was, in fact, edible and proceeding to wolf it down as fast as possible - too focused on the food to be paying attention to the formerly sleeping figure.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Sera Albion

Not long after she fell asleep, Sera was awoken by a strange sound within her hut.

"Huh?"

Disoriented and momentarily forgetting where she was and how she'd gotten there, Sera sat up shakily, her bleary eyes casting about the darkness of the tiny hut for the source of the rummaging sound. They landed quickly on a young woman with silver hair and...cat ears and a tail?

"Must still be dreaming..." she muttered weakly. She was about to lay back down and hope for a different, more pleasant dream, but she noticed what the cat woman was doing. All her fatigue was replaced with shock when she saw, strewn about the floor of the room, were her books, her tools, and her herbs and plants that had previously been stuffed safely in her travel bag. The catgirl herself was gnawing away at the travel rations she'd bought before setting out from the village she'd visited last.

"What...what are you doing?! That's mine!" she shouted, now tense. Between being kidnapped last night and her things being stolen in her sleep now, Sera was seriously starting to wonder what was wrong with her that she'd dropped her guard so egregiously twice in a row. She was better than this!

Sera quickly sprang out of bed to grab her travel bag back from the girl, heedless of the possibility the cat woman might be hostile. She was stopped only by the abrupt rocking motion of the floor underneath her as the little hut swayed back and forth on its tree branch from her sudden panicked motion.

"Eep!" She dropped quickly to the floor, certain the whole room was about to plummet to the ground, though nothing of the sort happened. She'd completely forgotten how high up she was. Her stomach lurched at the thought.

When the house stopped moving back and forth, Sera remained still as possible for a few seconds, not eager to repeat the experience. Slowly, tentatively, Sera reached out again to take her bag back from the strange feline invader.

Given the absurdity of the situation, she still wasn't convinced this wasn't all just some terrible, stress-induced nightmare.

Interacting: WillfulWren

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver
Interacts with - Sera ( MagicPenguin )​

The initial sounds of Sera stirring would be ignored, but the moment she spoke Silver's eyes would fix on her, two spots of light in the room impossible to hide as they reflected whatever illumination there was, causing them to almost seem to glow, yet she wouldn't stop eating just yet. The human woman didn't seem to be much of a threat and Silver just watched her - until she shouted.

The sudden noise combined with movement sent the shapeshifter skittering back, clutching her stolen goods tightly and paying little care to the movement of the hut. She was more than used to branches swaying beneath her, and this felt little different. What she wasn't used to was having someone else this close to her outside of a hunting context. And she could drop the bag and pounce on the other woman but there were so many other people here and she had unfortunately learned that they didn't seem to like it when she ate one of their own...

Still, she snarled at Sera, ears pinned back against her head and puffed up tail lashing wildly - clear signs of feline hostility. As far as she was concerned, anything she could take automatically became hers no matter what anyone else had to sat about it, so from her perspective it simply seemed like Sera was trying to snatch something that Silver had decided was now hers.

And as Sera's hand came closer to the bag Silver would growl, the sound becoming louder the closer the woman's hand got until - without any further warning - the shapeshifter would sink her teeth into the healer's hand, tasting blood.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Sera Albion

The instant the invader's teeth sunk into Sera's hand, several things happened.

The first, obviously, was the sharp sting in her hand. Sera let out a pained cry and retracted her hand as if she'd touched a hot stove. She sucked on her bleeding finger, eyeing the feral thief warily.

More importantly, however, in the instant of physical contact between herself and the young woman, Sera got a good sense of the cat girl's anatomy. Her physiology was mostly closer to human than feline, so far as Sera could tell. The only differences were the ones plainly visible to the eyes--the ears and the tail that functioned in the same way a cat's might--plus differences in the internal structure of the girl's eyes and nose, and slight differences in brain structure. This was a human woman, a Marked One, with the sensory capacities--enhanced sight, smell, and taste among other things--as well as, Sera guessed from her behavior, the instincts of a wild animal.

Sera didn't know nearly as much about animals as she did about people, but she did know a few things about a cat's nose specifically. There was a certain plant, ubiquitous in nature and readily available, that was well-known among the medically trained. It had no discernible effect on people, but if a cat got a good whiff of it...?

Sera retracted her throbbing finger from her mouth and couldn't help but smirk. Given the way she'd used her ability to stimulate the cat-girl's olfactory sense and prod her brain's response in that brief moment of contact, she suspected this young feline woman was about to get a lot less hostile.

"Now, now," she cooed soothingly. "It's alright. No need to be afraid." Sera perched herself on her knees and scratched the wooden floor of the hut softly with her fingernail, hoping to entice the now-drugged kitty closer so as to distract her from the contents of her travel bag.

Interacting: WillfulWren

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver
Interacts with - Sera ( MagicPenguin )​

Oddly enough, Silver had never been exposed to catnip before - despite how widespread the plant was, she'd never encountered any, and so the feelings that it stirred up were completely unfamiliar to her. Instinct would dictate that she chew on the plant, rub against it, roll on it - but due to the feeling being born from the ability of the woman the catgirl had nearly attacked, there was no plant in sight.

That didn't stop the catgirl from rolling over though, purring as she lay on the floor, pupils dilated to the point where they looked round rather than the normal slits. The bag was all but forgotten about as she continued to purr, eyes fixing on the movement of Sera's hand. Her fluffy tail swished across the floor, stirring up a small cloud of dust in the previously unused room.

"I'm not... I'm not afraid." She mumbled, the words slow and seeming to require some focus - her voice was slightly raspy from lack of use, but she at least clearly understood what had been said, and was capable of a coherent reply. "You should be afraid, I could... I could bite you again." Baring her fangs, but this time it seems to be more playful - this being confirmed as the catgirl actually does approach and gently headbutted Sera, still purring away.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Sera Albion

"Hee hee. What a good girl," Sera cooed, amused by her invader's antics. Once the feline came close enough, Sera reached up and scratched her gently behind the ears, and rubbed the top and back of her head soothingly. The throbbing in her hand was still there, though all but forgotten now.

"What's your name, little one? My name is Sera."

Interacting: WillfulWren

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver
Interacts with Sera ( MagicPenguin )​

Oh. Oh, that was good. Considering the portion of her life she actually remembered had been spent in the woods, the only times she'd actually been touched by another person were when she was hunting, when she'd been dragged in from the woods and when she'd been brought here - making this the first time the catgirl had experienced any kind of affection.

All those years had left her somewhat touch starved, even if she didn't know it, and it didn't take much for Silver to be putty in Sera's hands, purring and nuzzling against her as if she hadn't just moments before been willing and prepared to bite her again.

"It's Silver," She'd inform Sera seriously, "Like my hair, see?"

 

[MagicPenguin]

Sera Albion

"Oh, that's a pretty name. I like it very much, Silver," Sera said smiling. Her hand moved in slow, soothing motions through the girl's hair, up and down her head, stopping only to occasionally give the back of her ears a scratch or the back of her neck a massaging squeeze.

Sera had not forgotten she was dealing with a dangerous creature that had tried to both steal her possessions and eat her hand, but fighting her probably wasn't an option--even if Sera had the physical prowess to do so (which she very much doubted she did), she wanted to minimize violent motions which would cause the hut to sway as before. It would do no good to get her bag back only to fall to her untimely death. This gentler approach seemed a much more efficient option to both pacify her attacker and protect her things.

Besides all that, she thought, her face a little flushed, those twitching silver-colored ears were simply adorable...

"You must be so tired, Silver." She spoke softly while continuing to rub at Silver's head. "It's been such a long day. But you're safe here with me now. Why don't you close your eyes and rest? We'll have a nice, big breakfast when you wake. How does that sound, dear?"

Interacting: WillfulWren

 

[Lazaro1505]

Abelgard Müller the Plague Doctor

Location: Somesort of camp? Abelgard doesn’t recall the name of the place.

And just like that, he was now following another guide, this time to the hut he will be setting up in for the following days he would live here. Well, certainly interesting if he said so himself.... but at least he still had the materials needed in order to make a small lab inside. ‘Ah, where would I be now if I forgot to bring my lab equipment and medical supplies everywhere with me on my journey... it is important for a Plague Doctor to have the proper items necessary to aid the sickly.’ the man thought to himself, as he was finally led to the front door of the hut. Merely thanking his guide with a nod, he took his first few steps of what he believed was a whole lot of headaches in the future... at least he would be fighting for a good cause then.

Entering through the door, he was meet with... was unsurprisingly, very dull and mostly empty except for the most important necessities such as a bed and a couple of wooden furniture to at least act as containers as well as try to decorate the room a bit. Honestly, this wasn’t the worst he had seen, so it was fine by him, the Plague Doctor then turned his head to Nevermore sitting upon his left shoulder, which the Raven got as a sign to begin exploring its new home now, taking off from his shoulder and beginning to fly around the room, cawing and occasionally stopping on a piece of furniture or somewhere within the room to inspect it.

The man merely chuckled within his head at the sight, before going to towards his bed, removing the backpack full of supplies in the process, then settling it down upon the cloth blankets of the mattress, leaning his cane against the wall near the bed. It was time to take count of anything he has and requires, opening the backpack and going through each and every pocket for an item, setting it down as well onto the bed, scrolls of valuable information made of certain diseases, empty flasks, bandages, a box of herbs, and many more was stored within the backpack.

“It appears nothing important is missing for now.... time to start setting up my side of the room now, and make it much more.... like home.”

The man said to himself, grabbing two flasks and going to a nearby wooden table, laying the flasks down and going back to his bed to continue setting up the area. As the minutes passed, it looked more of a medical professional’s workplace with the exception of the different furniture and bed, the bird masked man doing so with a whistling tune, but there were some unnatural things he had with him that, such as a couple of glass beakers filled with a sickly green liquid, that seemed to glow. As well as a small area set up with cotton and cloth blankets, as well as a small bowl filled with a couple of blackberries and seeds... as well as a couple of thankfully dead worms as a meat option. Pecking at the bowl was none other than the Raven, which finally calmed down and having dinner for the night, Abelgard kneeling down and looking at his Raven companion, occasionally raising his hand to pet the back side of the bird. It seems he was also taking a break as well watching the bird, but appears to be too distracted here, maybe someone ought to snap him back to reality.

@ Open for interaction ​

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver
Interacts with - Sera ( MagicPenguin )​

"I'm not sleepy!" Silver protested, much like a child being told it was bedtime before they had finished their game, though the truth of the matter was, between the effects of the catnip and the soft, soothing affection she was actually feeling rather tired. It was made even worse by the fact that the last few days she'd been in captivity she'd hardly slept, and even then it was much lighter than usual - now she was finally feeling safe enough to sleep somewhere the exhaustion was catching up quick.

Even just thinking about it enough to protest seemed to make it worse as the shapeshifter yawned, impressive fangs being on display - and seemingly admitted defeat, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "It's not a good time to sleep." She mumbled, a half hearted attempted at protesting with no explanation for the reason behind such a statement.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Sera Albion

"It's alright, Silver. You don't have to sleep." Sera sat cross legged on the floor, her back against her bed, and patted her lap invitingly. "Why don't you just lay your head down here and get comfortable?"

Between the warmth of Silver's body, the feel of the girl's gentle purring against Sera's own body, and the repetitive motion of her own hand up and down the cat-girl's head, if Silver did choose to lay in her lap, it likely wouldn't be long before Sera fell asleep in this position as well. She had barely slept all night, after all, instead forced on a grueling march to this strange new location. She was exhausted.

"Please, come relax here with me, dear," she said with an inviting smile.

Interacting: WillfulWren

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver
Interacts with - Sera ( MagicPenguin )​

If it wasn't for the catnip, Silver might not have taken the offer - ear scratches were all well and good but to sleep near someone seemed like the height of vulnerability. She was feeling ridiculously relaxed, though, and so it didn't take much coaxing at all for Silver to lay her head in Sera's lap, still purring quietly.

She wouldn't question the fact that they stayed on the floor - considering she slept most nights either in a tree or simply in the forest floor just being inside was better than what she was used to.

At least she wouldn't get rained on in here.

Despite what she said about not feeling tired it didn't take long at all for Silver's eyes to drift shut off their own accord. And so the pair fell asleep there on the wooden floor of the hut.

 

[Melanin-Gxdess]

Jayera

Once the guard had left her, Jayera set about pacing her hut in thought. If the Princess was here, Marked, that was a good thing, right? It meant she was on their side and that she was helping lead a revolution that had been long overdue. But, what if Darius was just using her to lure in everyone who had been Marked to kill them all at a later date? It wasn't too far-fetched but, a plan she would come up with if she were in that position. Something in her told her she could trust the Princess, that she was telling the truth and not at all lying to them. The sound of her voice, perhaps, or maybe even how calm it was when she spoke. Jayera would know, wouldn't she? If she were being lied to. 'I don't even know anymore. She thought to herself. She was trying to find out, as there were people she knew back at the town she was taken from who were also Marked. They had been safe there thus far, but if they were safer here then she wanted to send for them. But because she hadn't deduced if this place was even safe yet, she wouldn't make any such moves. With a heavy sigh, she hung her head to the side and rubbed her neck in frustration. "Now I have to restart my healing process..." It wasn't that it was a lot to do, but she would be sleeping well into the next morning as long as no one interrupted her.

She searched through her bag, putting away things as she went about so she wouldn't have to later. With her soaps and change of clothes in her basket, she set off the find someone who could give her directions. It was nice that their little camp had baths and ways for them to keep clean, but she was in search of something specific. She received her answer from a young girl, who informed her there was a waterfall with a small lake that sounded like what she was looking for. It was still tucked away from prying eyes, but she would be able to see the moon's reflection on the surface. It was exactly what she was looking for and thanked her, a smile on her face as she watched her runoff. She reminded her of the children she had helped so many times before, currently worrying about them now. Hopefully, they were staying out of trouble until she was able to return. As she walked to the waterfall, she took in the sights and sounds around her as if she were sightseeing. A lot of people who had just come were getting settled, some settling into their huts or tents to sleep and others doing some exploring like herself. They all seemed to be settling in quite nicely which made her think she could be over-thinking... Or not.

The walk to the waterfall wasn't that long, taking a few minutes but when she arrived she was surprised. There was no one else around, the only sound being the water flowing and she smiled to herself. She set her basket down and kneeled to the ground, sticking her hand in, the water eerily warm. She stood back up and walked closer to the waterfall itself and set her things nearby before she slowly entered the water. A small bottle with a lavender scetned liquid inside was amongst the crsytals she had in her hands. Once she found the perfect spot in the moon's reflection, she poured out the soap and let go of the crystals before saying a prayer. She submerged herself in the water to relax, bathing in the moonlight. "Nothing can ruin this moment whatsoever..." She muttered to herself.

Open for Interactions

​

 

[MarieK]

Interacts with: Abelgard Müller Lazaro1505

What had began as a tingling sensation at the back of her neck had evolved into a throbbing migraine. After over a decade of suffering from such pain, she had yet to develope a healthy coping mechanism. Usually, she would sleep it off, but Adelaide needed to be alert as the Marked were brought to the camp. Once her illusion had ended and the people had dispersed, the princess stepped out from behind the tree she had been hiding and released a heavy exhale of once bated breath.

The Marked.

Finally, the pieces of her plan were assembling, yet it was with a sense of foreboding mixed with excitement that she prepared herself for it all. If her plan failed she could very well be sending these people to their demise- the same people she had forced to come here and persuaded to put their confidence in her.

And what was the very purpose of her plotting? Dispose, possibly fatally, of the very man who had raised her. Countless though his sins may be, he had been the only father figure she had ever known and a very small, twisted part of her dreaded what she had to do.

Even he would call her a coward for such regret.

Giving herself a mental shake, Adelaide raked her fingers across the branch of a blueberry bush, collecting its bounty of plump fruit, and headed to one of the huts in the trees. Each passing step was more precarious than the last as the stairs built out of mismatched lengths of decaying wood, creaked obnoxiously beneath her weight. She would gladly face a den of mother bears over ascending more than a foot off the ground. Even so, her pace was unhurried, but determined as she neared her destination. Stopping at one, her knuckles rapped the frame built out of warped planks around the door. She was not prone to self-pity, but the feeling wedged its ugly head as her gaze wandered out over the camp below and she found herself missing the accomodations her station had awarded her. There was no modesty or subtlety to be had for a woman amongst a group of mostly men within the cover of trees and nomadic homes. Even the huts had gaps in the wood that yielded enough space to afford a passerby with a considerable view of the inside of them. The men she had collected for her cause were mostly ruffians tired of the tyrant ruling over them, but she doubted they would have been less eager to offer their services to dethrone a righteous leader. And the rest of the men were retired knights, too old or too jaded to summon the strength to lift anything too heavy, and men and women who had somehow found themselves at the receiving end of the king's injustice. In the end, it had been up to her to oversee the camp's construction and she was ashamed at the shambles she had helped build.

A damp sensation drew her attention to the palm of her hand. The offering she had brought the man's bird was crushed beyond edibility. Annoyed at her wandering thoughts, she wiped her hand against her thigh, disposing of the traces of blueberry. If she had not already knocked, she may have retrieved more.

As her eyes lifted to the ground below, she noticed a figure moving toward the direction of the waterfall. She frowned and thought about following her to ensure her safety, but then decided against it. The ones in the camp knew well enough not to defy her orders and ensuring the well-being of the Marked was at the top of the list.

 

[Lazaro1505]

Abelgard Müller the Plague Doctor

Location:
‘Home’ Hutt

Loneliness, a feeling that is all but familiar, and it’s one he had endured his entire journey throughout the known lands. Each day spent living, each week survived, each year he spent thriving... nothing but the mere pursuit of knowledge and medicine to keep him motivated. The time he spent thinking with every step further he becomes ever closer to his goal of curing the sickly and learning more about the medical world, the more and more the strings of family are being cut between him and his family... homesickness eventually becoming a problem. Thankfully, a friendly Raven had befriend him.... becoming a great f-..... no, the one and only true friend he had made a year ago. It was the only animal that went close to reminding him of his home... no matter how sickly everyone would end up as due to the occasional disease. Esp-

He was brought back to reality when a knock on the door occurred, as the man now wondered who was at the door, was it perhaps a roommate? He didn’t care, he had a visitor, and while it was still early, he couldn’t keep them waiting, as he gotten up from his kneeling position next to Nevermore, and walked towards the door, still wearing the same clothing he had arrived with other than his backpack left at his bed. Opening the door, he was surprised at the person who knocked, the individual none other than the princess who had started the first few steps of a revolution.

“Oh.... miss Adelaide, I didn’t know you would come to check up upon us this quickly, I just recently set up my equipment within my side of the room... but what brings you here? Is it of what I may expect for tomorrow, or someone else?”

The man questioned, before quickly realizing something and continuing with;

“Forgive me for my lack of manners, would you like to discuss more inside or continue talking out here, whi-“

Before he could finish, a loud caw could be heard inside, as a quickly soaring object went past the shoulder of Abelgard, who merely looked instinctively to see the familiar form of-“

“Nevermore! How many times do I have to remind you of not trying to interrupt a conversation I am having with people!”

He yelled out into the night sky, mostly aimed towards the bird, now mimicking the sound of a human laughing, which was awfully similar to Abelgard’s. After his small shouting, the Raven then flew back to its friend, landing upon Abel’s left shoulder, as Abelgard now focused his attention back to the conversation, continuing with.

“Sorry for that, Nevermore is quite curious when it comes to strangers here. But yeah, what is your purpose for visiting me right now?”

He questioned, quickly getting over the small distraction and continuing what needed to be said. It was honestly embarrassing to the man for something like this to be happening when talking to royalty, even if they were no longer part of the castle, they were still of noble blood.

MarieK ​

 

[MarieK]

The politician within her forced a tight-lipped smile as the door to the hut swung open and revealed the man she had come to see. Too late did it occur to her that one may not care for her dropping by at such a late, or rather early, hour and may even take offense. Not that she needed the man to like her. After spending the majority of her life cut off from people other than from the few who were perhaps more unfortunate than not to have been related to her, she had grown used to being alone. Servants came and went, but she never confided in them knowing their allegance was aligned to itchy ears of gossips or to her quick-tempered father. Still, as the man waited just past the hut's threshold, Adelaide knew she stood before an imperative part of her plan; even if he didn't know it yet.

The woman's brows quirked up slightly at the man's humble greeting. As off-putting as it was in her current state of mind, it eased the forced smile into a genuine expression. However, the same smile fell when he asked her to enter his hut. Such an invitation may have been conceived as offensive and bold had they been back at the castle. For propriety's sake, she should have had one of the men escort her, but it was too late to remedy the situation. Perhaps propriety had died at the cusp of the revolution.

Adelaide's thoughts were interrupted by the raven's cawing and the thrown object. The expressiveness of Abelgard's reaction to the bird's antics along with the sound the raven made that bore resemblance of human laughter, nearly caused the princess to giggle. She may have if it had not been for her throbbing headache. However, the smile had returned by the time the man turned his attention back to her.

"I thank you for seeing me at this late hour," she said, but her gaze had shifted over his shoulder to where his belongings were, namely the beakers. She glanced back at him. "I was hoping to ask for your help involving medicinal properties."

Clearing her throat, she looked around to ensure they were alone and suddenly wished she had accepted his offer to go inside.

"Specifically, poison," Adelaide went on. "If you could help me in obtaining supplies to create a concoction that would render the victim incapacitated for at least a half hour, I would be in your debt. Not deadly, merely something to cause temporary illness. Of course, I needn't your answer this moment. I only thought you may know of something."

Curiosity getting the best of her, Adelaide waited only a moment before pointedly looking to the bird and asking, "May I?"

Unsure of what she was truly asking for herself, she took the liberty of taking him up on an offer than may have already expired and walked around him with a tentative step over the threshold and closer to the raven.

Stopping short of diminishing more than an arm's worth of distance between herself and the man's companion, she bent at the waist and cautiously observed the bird. The only kind of animal she could recall seeing up close aside from her father's dogs was a horse.

"Nevermore?" She glanced at Abelgard to ensure the accuracy of her memory before regarding the bird with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you."

Making a mental note to replace the blueberries she had crushed and deliver them to Nevermore, she turned to leave. Once outside again, Adelaide took notice of the faint traces of sunlight and the descending moon overhead. Cook would be preparing breakfast by now.

"Abelgard, would you care to join me for breakfast?"