Heroes of Plaethera (IC Thread)

[Redfork2000]

ARE YOU READY FOR ADVENTURE?​

The realm of Plaethera is a large one, full of very diverse lands and places to explore. From the freezing tundra of Crygos, the thick rainforests of Pattar, the vast, scorching deserts of Azaria, the rocky mountains of Kalpania, and much more. Not only is this world a home to some of the most diverse and breathtaking landscapes, but it's also home to a lot of civilizations, that have thrived across the realm, founding large cities and prosperous empires.

The population of Plaethera is vastly diverse among the realm, with people of all walks of life, diverse histories and homes. But across the entirety of Plaethera's population, there's a small percentage of the population who is born with a unique trait, an essence.

You see, it's common knowledge that every living being in Plaethera has a certain amount of life force, which is the energy it uses to live, move, and perform different actions. The life force of every individual is different, and as such, their abilities and skills are different. Each individual has their own distinct type of life force, a different type of energy that's unique to them, and allows them to be themselves and interact with their world in their own way.

Some people are born with a stronger life force than others, powerful enough to allow them to manifest their life force in ways that others can't. For example, someone who has a unique life force may be able to use their own energy to generate fire, or to propulse themselves into the air, or to accelerate their bodies to move at higher speeds. Exactly how these unique life force abilities work is still a mystery to the general population, but there's different people working in some research centers across the realm trying to figure out how these life force abilities work.

People born with this uniquely powerful life force are known as Supers, and they are a never ending topic among the habitants of the realm. You see, some of them are benevolent, and use their unique abilities to protect others, but others aren't as kind, and use their abilities for pursuits fueled by greed, malice, cruelty and selfishness. So among the populace there's a very strong controversy about the Supers. Some people fear them, others believe they're the only people who can bring peace to the world, others distrust them, believing they all have selfish intentions, and some are mostly neutral about them. One thing is true though, and it's that Supers are a very important part of Plaethera's history, and many of the wars that have been fought among different civilizations have had Supers are some of the key players.

So what does all of this mean to you? Well, my good friend, you are a Super in the Realm of Plaethera! But not only that, you have been summoned! You have received a message by none other than King Aurum, the ruler of the vast and prosperous kingdom of Emeryon. He's looking for a team of powerful heroes to help protect the kingdom from a treacherous threat that has arisen, and you've been chosen as part of the team! Join your new allies as you go out on a quest to save the kingdom from disaster! Travel across the realm, fighting against powerful adversaries, gaining experiences, building bonds with your allies, and become a hero! What are you waiting for? Let's get started!

TIPS
​

The game is divided in three different sections:

-Cutscene: During cutscenes, there is no combat. You get to interact with other characters, ask questions, gather information, form relationships, etc.

-Battle: Whenever a battle starts, a status chart will appear where you will see the stats of every unit in the battle. On each turn, everyone gets to use one move. Player moves are performed in the same order they are posted. When all player moves have been submitted, the enemies will move, and the status chart will be shown again to reflect the changes.

-Shop: While at a shop, you can use the gold you have earned in battles to buy items.

If at any point there is anything you don't understand, ask in the OOC thread for more information, check the lore page, or ask in the OOC thread.

 

[Redfork2000]

Before you begin, you must first choose your characters.

BoltBeam
- Yume Satono
- Ame Hisako

Thanny
- Yaloo "Lucky Day" Doremi

QuickSmasherEXE
- Ophiuchus Digger
- Kylie Irons

Each player must choose one of their characters to use in battles for this chapter.

 

[BoltBeam]

Rise and shine!

CHARACTER SELECTED (for this chapter): Yume Satono

 

[Thanny]

WHOO!

CHARACTER SELECTED: Yaloo Doremi.

 

[QuickSmasherEXE]

Keepin' it simple (drama-wise) with Ophiuchus.

 

[Redfork2000]

Excellent! All characters have been selected. The chapter can now begin.

CHAPTER 1: A CALL FOR ADVENTURE
​

-CUTSCENE-
It's a very busy morning in the central town of the Kingdom of Emeryon. Being one of the largest and most populated areas in the entire realm, it's not unusual to see the town full of people moving around, getting their tasks done. Some are buying food at the local market, others are opening their own stores: blacksmiths, bakers, tailors and much more. But the place that stands out the most in this busy and densely populated region is King Aurum's Palace, a large palace that stands on the top of a hill in the middle of the town. Its stone walls, tall watch towers, and massive size make it the most significant and noticeable landmark in the entire region. Here is where the monarch of the kingdom lives.

On this busy morning, a group of Supers have been summoned to the palace, they've been requested to come talk to the king for a very important matter. The group of Supers meets at the entrance of the palace. The walls and towers seem so huge up close, it seemed like even if all of them were to make a ladder with their bodies, stepping one onto the other's shoulders, they wouldn't even reach halfway up the walls. The entrance gate is also heavily guarded by dozens of royal guards, all of them dressed with blue and golden uniforms.

"Wow... I had seen the palace so many times... but it looks even bigger up close." Mark said as he looked in awe at the monumental building.

"It's to be expected. It is King Aurum's Palace, after all." Alyssa replied.

"True. It just looks so much larger up close." Mark added. "But anyway... we should go inside, we don't want to keep the king waiting." He said.

Oliver Black just nodded, not really saying anything.

 

[BoltBeam]

"I don't remember being this close to such a structure before...! It's so... amazing..." Ame blurted out in admiration. "As much as I'd love to fixate my eyes on this some more, it's as you've said - we don't have the time to... shame, really." Ame promptly frowned at her own words as she told herself.

"I've seen..." Yume began to murmur, only to pause and yawn - holding a hand over her mouth as she did so - raising her tone so she can be heard. "Mmmf... seen bigger, I mean... Just not in the real world..." With a light laugh, the sleepyhead worked up a weak smile.

"Let's just - not waste time. We were officially called here by the King himself of all people - and we 'were' told it was important!" Ame continued, glancing towards the others and raising one of her arms up and stretching it then after, complete with a confident smile.

"Yup, yup... Keeping them waiting would be, a... bad thing, mm? A waste of their time if we are... behind... Get in, get out - so we can all... save time." Yume nodded as she spoke quietly, now returning to a sheepish silence - for her volume dropped considerably.

 

[Thanny]

Yaloo, behind everyone else with his hands cupped around the back of his head, glanced about with a studious gaze, as if assessing the worth of everything around him -- planters, the decorative stone, the foods of the market, the weapons the guards were holding, and sometimes the people themselves when they perform an act both positive and negative. He cracked a snaky grin as he saw a pickpocket in action, a little girl nabbing the coinpurse of some fancier individual while being distracted by a boy about her age, probably an accomplice. It was in a crowd where there was a lot of hustle and bustle, a perfect spot for the act, and nary a guard in sight, at least not to his knowledge. He remembered his days of being on the streets like that, alone and risking life and limb for a bit of coin. Not anymore. He had his own gig now.

"Get in and get out sounds right, but remember the potential for great reward," he opined to the bunch, chiefly to Yume as he caught up with a few silent steps from his cloth-shoed feet. Giving a signature smile that was part toothy grin and part sideways smirk, he freed his hands to gesticulate as he spoke. "I do wonder what riches the good King Aurum can provide us for our service . . . whatever that is. To my knowledge it is an important matter, but undisclosed further."

 

[QuickSmasherEXE]

A stocky looking little man stared up silently at the towers. His face was covered by a hood, which would have lent him a certain menace if he wasn't so darn short. He glanced over his shoulder to an ongoing conversations, but decided not to interject himself. He fiddled around with his supplies and turned his attention back to sight-seeing.

Around that time a pale, sickly looking woman dragged herself towards the palace gate. She trudged into earshot of the conversing parties and moved passed them without a word, at least not until she had gone a few paces past them. Then she stopped, turned around unsteadily, and spoke. "Why don't we all get moving then?" She looked between the others standing outside. "If-" she wiped her brow, "if it is rude to keep the king waiting and we're all...trying to get in and out." Her voice sounded froggish and mucusy.

The stout little figure looked around and cautiously approached everyone. "Are we allowed to just...go in?" He nodded towards the gate. "Do we not wait for someone to come get us?"

 

[Redfork2000]

Mark looked at the woman said they should get moving, to which he nodded. The short man approached and asked if they were allowed to just go inside, to which Mark wondered.

Alyssa, however, just looked at everyone. "Look, each of us got here because of a letter, right?" Alyssa asked. Mark and Oliver both nodded. "If we show the guards the letters that were sent to us, summoning us here, I'm sure they'll take us exactly where we need to go." Alyssa suggested.

Mark smiled and nodded. It seemed like a reasonable idea. He walked up to the royal guards that were guarding the entrance gate. He took out the letter he had received. "Excuse me, we don't mean to bother you. All of us you see here have been summoned by King Aurum himself." Mark explained to them, handing over his letter to the guards. The guards read the letter, and then looked over at the rest of the group, to see if the others had their letters. Alyssa and Oliver both held up their own letters as well.

Once the guards were convinced that their story was true, they opened the entrance gate. "Very well, if that's the case, we'll escort you to the throne room immediately." One of the royal guards told them. Soon, the group was surrounded by at least a dozen royal guards. They were all mostly serious-looking, dressed in exactly the same uniforms. "Come with us." The same royal guard said, as he guided the group into the palace, with the dozen of royal guards still surrounding the team as they were escorted into the palace.

The halls inside the palace were just as beautiful as legend had it. A long red carpet along the length of the halls, along with large, beautiful and colorful glass windows that portray significant events from Emeryon's history. Mark looked around in awe, he had never seen anything like this place. Alyssa was more focused on just getting to the throne room, while not doing anything that could anger the guards. Oliver seemed calm as always, though it was unclear whether he was happy or not.

 

[BoltBeam]

"That would be in our best interest, yeah..." Ame mused in response to the woman, then looking to the stout figure. "But that's the problem, I don't think we know right this moment. So that makes this kind of awkward." With a shrug and a sigh, Ame kicked a stone out of the ground and just whistled to herself, while Yume on the other hand... just stood there, idly swaying her head back and forth with closed eyes and a weak little smile.

As Alyssa spoke, both Yume and Ame seemed to understand what she was saying - and so not long later when Mark, Alyssa and Oliver presented their letters to the guards, Yume and Ame presented their own as well - though Ame's was a little bent, it was still perfectly readable - while Yume's on the other hand was spotless. Within seconds of presumably the rest of the group showing their own letters, the royal guard surrounded them all and began to escort the group into the palace. Yume paid no attention to her surroundings, and though Ame was a little claustrophobic, she was taking every single second she could to span her gaze across the room.

"Darn, it's even better on the inside...!" She quietly squealed to herself, prompting Yume to yawn a little in response and speak up. "Contain yourself, yup... you can sight-see later, I think, and... this is a serious environment, too..." The sleepyhead spoke amid her yawn and various pauses, shooting Ame's mood down - but yet she kept on eagerly glancing around, much to Yume's disappointment. Granted, she can't stop her from doing this, but Yume doesn't think this is the best time for Ame's excitement in a time of potential need - if they 'were' called for something said to be important.

 

[Thanny]

Yaloo, observing that the others had pulled their letters from their person, mentaly shrugged and decided to do the same, his being far less presentable and more worn, as if he carried it through a few rivers and ran through a few bogs to get here. If you look closely, some residual caked matter flew forth from the mud-stained paper, its origin only known by the presenting individual. It too was still legible, but not quite as pretty. He offered a smile of apology to the onlooker, claiming that while the suit he was wearing was fresh, his other one is still at the cleaners as of last week. He had an odd habit of going from squeaky clean to a breeding ground for illness, and he blamed his ill fate for bringing it here in such a condition. And just look at the state of his shoes! It is happening again!

All of this was completely false, excepting the shoes part. The reason for it all was that his clothes were thrown out by his ex-landlady and landed in mud, his letter included. Why did he tell such a tall tale? Chiefly he just wanted to spin a yarn.

Slipping inside with what possibly was the barest of consent, he continued his way inside following the others and, afterward, among them, admiring the riches around him with a keen eye. Someday maybe some of these riches will be his while he enjoys early retirement or devotes himself to his own little hobbies.

As he ventured with the main body, his eye focused on the stained glass of the castle windows. He whistled, wondering how much it would cost if even the smallest of frames shattered. Perhaps it was enchanted, he thought to himself, to repel birds and stones and even the wind. He had met someone with such warding ability once. Her services did not come cheap, but were seemingly effective. Then again, it could have just been the customer's belief and it had all been a scam. He grinned on that prospect.

Here, among the others, he waited for the opportunity to speak, his green eyes looking over the rest like glistening jewels. There were a number of beauties in the troupe. Maybe one of them was single.

 

[Redfork2000]

The royal guards continued to guide the group through the hallways, until finally, they arrived at a couple of large doors with golden designs on them. These were no doubt the doors to King Aurum's throne room. Two of the royal guards opened the doors, allowing the group to finally enter.

The throne room was quite large, the most determining features being a long red carpet that led to the throne, some more stained glass windows, some pedestals where some statues and expensive vases were kept for decoration, and of course, the throne itself, which was tall, large, and mostly golden.

Mark kept looking around in awe, while Alyssa just looked forward, where the king was waiting for them. A few royal guards were standing by him, and the king glanced over at the group as the royal guards brought them into the room.

"Your Majesty." The royal guard that was leading began. "The group you summoned has arrived to see you." He explained to the monarch. The monarch looked at the group, and gave them a warm smile, pleased to see them. King Aurum's appearance gave away that he had been the ruler of this kingdom for quite a long time. His hair was already a silvery tone. On his head was a golden crown with encrusted jewels. His eyes were blue, and he wore a silky, blue cape.

Mark, who had been pretty outgoing and confident so far, suddenly realized he had no idea what the protocole was for talking to the king. Alyssa, realizing that the guy that had been taking the lead for them suddenly didn't know what to do, deciding to take it upon herself instead. She did a small curtsy. "Your Majesty, it's a honor to meet you." She said. "We received the letters telling us to come here as soon as we could." she added. Mark and Oliver bowed, not saying anything, letting Alyssa talk.

The king nodded. "Indeed, I have summoned you all for a very important mission." The king began. "I understand that all of you of Supers." He said, to which Mark, Alyssa and Oliver all nodded. "That being the case, you are just who I need for such a delicate matter. You see, it's about someone I believed was gone many years ago." King Aurum explained. "It's about my brother, Prince Argentum." he explained.

Mark's eyes went wide. He had never heard of the king's brother before. Oliver remained with a neutral expression, and didn't say anything yet. "Brother, your Majesty?" Alyssa asked. The king nodded. "Exactly. You see, many years ago, when our father was still alive, both of us were very close. We were inseparable, and we planned to rule the kingdom together. But that all changed one day, after both of us were ruling together. "The king explained.

"My brother is a very intelligent man, but he's also very power-hungry. He wanted to rule the kingdom with an iron fist, treating the people like little more than slaves, and then breaking diplomatic alliances with other kingdoms by declaring war on them, with the intention of global conquest. His plans would've brought war, chaos and ruin to the entire realm." he explained. "When I refused to follow through with his plans, he got furious, and decided that he would rule the kingdom better by himself. In the end, his plans were foiled, and he left the kingdom, swearing that one day, he would return to take his place as the true king of Emeryon." King Aurum explained.

Alyssa listened. She had definitely read about that incident in some of the many history books she had read. "But your Majesty, that was over 40 years ago." Alyssa said. The king nodded. "It was. But apparently, he's been busy all these years, preparing forces of his own so that he can return, invade Emeryon and take the throne for himself." King Aurum explained. "My sources have confirmed that he's planning on invading Emeryon very soon. I don't know how or where he found his own forces, but the fact is that he has an army on his side." the king explained.

"An entire army?" Mark asked, surprised to hear that. "So, your Majesty, you've summoned us to defend Emeryon from his army?" Mark asked. The king shook his head. "Not quite." The king explained. "We do have an army of our own, but that's not the reason I've called you." the king said. "My brother has had his forces ready for quite some time, apparently. We believe the only reason he hasn't tried to invade yet is because he's seeking more power first." King Aurum explained. "According to my sources, he has set his eyes on the Tenebra Forest, and most noticeably, an ancient treasure that resides in the center of the forest: The Gems of Equilibrium." King Aurum added.

Even Alyssa hadn't heard of these before, but it piqued her curiosity. "Gems of Equilibrium?" she asked, confused but curious. "The Gems of Equilibrium are perhaps the most powerful magical artifacts in the realm. They have inmense power, and are supposedly what keeps our realm in balance. If my brother got his hands on those Gems, his forces would become too powerful to stop, and the results could be catastrophic." The king explained. "That's where you come in. I need your help to traverse the Tenebra Forest, and find the Gems of Equilibrium before he does.". He explained.

Now, the Tenebra Forest was known to be one of the most dangerous and scary places in the entire realm. Many people had gone into the forest, but only a tiny fraction had come back to tell the tale. It was a treacherous place full of savage wild beasts, hazardous exotic plants, and who knew what else. Truly a journey for only the bravest of souls.

 

[QuickSmasherEXE]

The guards read the letter, and then looked over at the rest of the group, to see if the others had their letters. Alyssa and Oliver both held up their own letters as well.

Ophiuchus timidly presented a letter smudged with green and reddish stains.

Kylie trailed behind everyone else, growling and groaning through the process.

King Aurum's appearance gave away that he had been the ruler of this kingdom for quite a long time. His hair was already a silvery tone. On his head was a golden crown with encrusted jewels. His eyes were blue, and he wore a silky, blue cape.

Ophiuchus fiddled and fidgeted around before coming a still and stiff posture. The apothecary stood attentively and kept his mouth shut- Aurum had been king for his entire life, and for his entire life he'd been aware of the respect that position commanded. He wasn't too nervous though- his entire life had been plenty of time to learn how to look respectful.

"I understand that all of you of Supers."

The swordwoman glared with glossy eyes at the sheathed Tyrfing. "Yeah," she said bitterly, "you could say that."

"My brother is a very intelligent man, but he's also very power-hungry. He wanted to rule the kingdom with an iron fist, treating the people like little more than slaves, and then breaking diplomatic alliances with other kingdoms by declaring war on them, with the intention of global conquest. His plans would've brought war, chaos and ruin to the entire realm." he explained. "When I refused to follow through with his plans, he got furious, and decided that he would rule the kingdom better by himself. In the end, his plans were foiled, and he left the kingdom, swearing that one day, he would return to take his place as the true king of Emeryon." King Aurum explained.

"Oh my," began Ophiuchus. "Yes, I do recall hearing about that as a boy. Rather unfortunate business, I remember the prince being reportedly-" his voice dropped seamlessly to a murmur, "unpleasant."
"He sounds like a stupid prick."
"Hm?"
Kylie held her side and swayed. "Nothing. I didn't...I didn't say anything."

"The Gems of Equilibrium are perhaps the most powerful magical artifacts in the realm. They have inmense power, and are supposedly what keeps our realm in balance. If my brother got his hands on those Gems, his forces would become too powerful to stop, and the results could be catastrophic." The king explained. "That's where you come in. I need your help to traverse the Tenebra Forest, and find the Gems of Equilibrium before he does.". He explained.

Now, the Tenebra Forest was known to be one of the most dangerous and scary places in the entire realm. Many people had gone into the forest, but only a tiny fraction had come back to tell the tale. It was a treacherous place full of savage wild beasts, hazardous exotic plants, and who knew what else. Truly a journey for only the bravest of souls.

This whole talk made Ophiuchus shrink a small bit, but he noticed one woman stepped- stumbled really- forward almost as soon as the king had stopped talking.

"D-" Kylie cleared her throat. "Consider it done, your majesty. If these stones- gems- are as powerful as you say, it would, uh...it would be our honor to get 'em."

 

[BoltBeam]

Yume and Ame stood in silence as they were brought alongside the others in the group, to meet the King himself, as he began to explain the situation. Short story is, power hungry 'king-to-be' (possibly) wants even more power from some incredibly powerful gemstones, which are probably numerous in quantity and just as powerful as they sound. Or something like that. Their job is to simply find these gemstones and attain them for themselves, and stop the power seeker from getting them instead - sounds easy, on the surface! By the end of the king's talking, Yume had just about fallen asleep while standing up, while Ame just stood there, thinking over all of this, and swiftly remembered the location he speaks of.

"First stop is through that mess?" She blurted out, sounding fearful - conflicted, surprised. "Appreciate the laid-out 'map' for us, but I'm pretty sure that place may as well be haunted, and I don't fancy our chances if its reputation is... you know, exactly that." Ame's worried tone intensified as she spoke, and as she attempted to compose herself, she found herself shaking some more at the thought of all sorts of possibilities - which included various ways of failure or even worse, death. In response to her frantic shaking however, she felt a nudge on her shoulder from Yume, still visibly 'asleep' - and the sleepyhead began to speak. "I'd like to think we all understand, and... we just hope we can succeed, to stop this... from getting worse? Power, like that... I've heard of it, I read about it myself. Power like that should be... protected..." Yume raised her tired, slumbering tone so she could be heard, but not too loud - just loud enough. "But, uh, I'd like to ask... When we have these, gemstones... what do we do then?"

 

[Thanny]

Yaloo's eyes shimmered at the thought of the quest, intrigue boiling within him upon the thought of the lost stones of power being within his grasp. He had heard of them in passing through his groups of do-no-goods, but none of them knew the answer to where they may be, and those who sought the Tenebra Forest were on the right track but fools nevertheless for entering without proper preparation. How . . . exhilarating! A job like this only comes once in a lifetime, and he was willing to pounce on it. Not to mention that there were sweet ladies of whom to protect and bask in the glory. He eyed the sleep-logged one especially, finding her drowsy smile quite fetching, but the other women within the group had other appreciable qualities. Kylie seemed easily flustered, which was cute. Alyssa seemed rather bookish, something he also considered attractive, and the other one seemed scared of hexes and ghosts, something he can comfort her with. What an assembly of potential candidates.

Shifting his smile to a more presentable one, he stepped up to the plate and offered a quick reverence in the form of a one-knee kneel.

"Your Majesty, I would happily retrieve these gems for you, but I feel that we need more information than 'in the middle of the forest.' We can pass a hollow of a decayed tree they were hidden in and be unwary of its presence. Are there any other clues of their existence in certain locations? A vault, perhaps?"

 

[Redfork2000]

King Aurum listened at what they had to say, and nodded. "In the center of the Tenebra Forest are the ruins of an ancient castle. Perhaps that would be the best place to start searching." King Aurum explained. The truth was, not much was known about these gems nowadays. They were ancient relics from the distant past, and no one had touched them in centuries.

"An ancient castle in the Tenebra Forest... I think I remember reading about something like that." Alyssa said. She definitely remembered seeing something about a castle in the Tenebra Forest in one of her books.

Mark smiled. "You can count on us, your majesty!" Mark replied. Oliver nodded, agreeing silently.

 

[Thanny]

While not wholly satisfied with the answer, Yaloo performed a bow and stepped backward into the group, his question answered for now. There will be the matter of payment, but given that there were a fair number of people he assumed that the reward was to be well worth the risk. A self-satisfied grin remained on his face as he looked among the group, wondering if any other things would be asked before they headed off into danger's maw, no doubt successfully because he was in the group.

 

[BoltBeam]

"Ancient.. castle... at the center of the forest?" Yume murmurs in her sleep, rubbing her eyes and nodding as she woke up from her implied standing-up-slumber. "Yup, yup... got it..." With that, she flashed a sweet, clueless smile, and Ame just stood there continuing to try and compose herself, and try as she might, she... just remained silent, for she couldn't think of anything important she may want to ask. With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and just tried to relax and began to wait until the meeting was over. Yet, she noticed - they know where to go, but he didn't answer what Yume asked about what to do with the gemstones afterwards... They can't be left alone after being found, right...? He'll just go for them again, she thinks... Right?

 

[QuickSmasherEXE]

"Um, excuse me your majesty," began Ophiuchus. He stepped forward and bowed heavily before continuing. "What if the gems aren't in the castle? I must also repeat what one of my companions asked-" he motioned to Yume, "what shall we do with the gems once they are found? I assume we return with them, but I would like to be certain what it is that you wish."

 

[Redfork2000]

King Aurum listened as Ophiuchus asked a couple of questions. "The castle is also home to a lot of ancient scrolls and books that were written centuries ago. If they aren't in the castle, certainly the answer should be in one of those books." King Aurum replied. "I apologize if that isn't much information, but even I have very limited knowledge of those gems." King Aurum explained.

Alyssa's eyes sparkled as she heard the words "a lot of ancient scrolls and books". That seemed like a treasure for Alyssa. "Indeed your majesty, we'll do everything in our power. I'll be sure to check the ancient scrolls and books as well." Alyssa replied with an excited grin.

King Aurum nodded, and then answered the second question. "Well, as much as the gems were considered to be safe in the depths of the Tenebra Forest, this entire situation just confirms they aren't safe there." King Aurum explained. "As such, I believe the safest option is to bring them to the palace. That way we can keep them safe from any other threats that appear in the future." King Aurum explained. "Are there anymore questions?" He asked.

 

[BoltBeam]

Yume let out a sigh of relief upon hearing her question brought to attention once more - and muttered a soft 'thank you' to Ophiuchus under her breath: she had her answer, and with that, she now knows the gems are to be found and taken back to the palace - no problem! What happened next was Yume and Ame both shook their heads in response to the king and his own question - if there were any others. Those two in particular had nothing else coming to their minds, but the others might! So for now, they both backed away and excluded themselves from the rest of the conversation unless they would think of something in due time, to ask the king regardless. However, the scrolls and the books the king spoke of - that even he doesn't know a lot about the gems, so he suggests to look into those - fair enough!

 

[QuickSmasherEXE]

Yume let out a sigh of relief upon hearing her question brought to attention once more - and muttered a soft 'thank you' to Ophiuchus under her breath

The chemist just barely caught this and replied with a meek thumbs-up.

King Aurum listened as Ophiuchus asked a couple of questions. "The castle is also home to a lot of ancient scrolls and books that were written centuries ago. If they aren't in the castle, certainly the answer should be in one of those books." King Aurum replied. "I apologize if that isn't much information, but even I have very limited knowledge of those gems." King Aurum explained.

"I suppose that takes us to the same place either way." Ophiuchus nodded. "I have no further questions, your majesty."
"None here either."

 

[Thanny]

Yaloo raised his head high with a contented smile and shook his greyed locks to signify that he had no further questions. An ancient castle was a castle able to be pilfered and plundered, probably full of artefacts or collector's items unless it was being vacated properly. If it still housed the jewels that the king desired, he had high hopes and aspirations to come back there one day to collect everything of value. There was only so much pocket space he had on his person. Honestly, though, considering the value of the gems, he expected an up-front reward, but this can work in his favour if there was none discussed. The value of the gems might rise significantly under the right scrutiny, and he had plans on surviving long enough to be the appraiser.

"I am looking forward to this," he muttered under his breath, perhaps incredulously. He did not fully expect that this would be exciting. His voice louder this time, Yaloo pressed, "Then without further ado, I would like to begin this while we still have daylight. If time is of the essence, the sooner we can get our hands on these gemstones, the sooner we can stop this revenge-laden exile of a king-brother from taking over or potentially wiping clean the kingdom. Thank you, Your Majesty."

With a bow he stepped back, his smile still evident on his features and his green eyes flashing toward his new companions.

"Are we ready?" he mumbled to them quietly, so as not to be heard over the distance.

 

[Redfork2000]

King Aurum nodded as it seemed like everyone agreed that they were ready to go. "Very well, if you're all ready, then you should get going. Time is indeed of the essence." King Aurum told them. "May luck be on your side, brave and noble heroes. The fate of the kingdom, and potentially the entire realm, lies within your hands." King Aurum told them, dismissing them.

"Thank you, your majesty. We'll do our best." Alyssa said, performing a small curtsy before leaving. Mark and Oliver bowed as well, before following the rest of the group out of the King's room. The guards led the team out of the palace, and back to the entrance gate.

"Well, I'd say we've got our work cut out for us." Mark said to the group. Oliver nodded silently, not saying a word.

Alyssa thought for a moment. "The Tenebra Forest. It's definitely not something to take lightly. Lots of dangerous beasts live in that forest. The natural hazards of the area make it one of the most treacherous places to navigate in the entire realm." Alyssa explained. "If we are going to travel through the Tenebra Forest, we need to be prepared." Alyssa explained.

"What do you suggest?" Mark asked Alyssa. Alyssa had a slight grin. "Well, first we should stop by the local shop to get some supplies. We never know what we might need." Alyssa explained. Oliver nodded, he seemed to approve the idea.

"Hm... I think it might be better to just get going. We don't want to waste any time." Mark explained.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?
>Visit the Shop
>Start Adventure