Fantasy The Adept

[Shog]

"There is no guarintee," Thomas replied.  "They might want to stay out of the way all together.  If war does come knocking, they must know they will not be left alone.  We have some vital trade systems in place with them that will be easily interupted if either country goes to war."  He stood up and streatched for a moment.  After picking up his dishes he began to make a way out of the court yard.  "Try to enjoy yourself today, Kenzi."


He returned to the kitchen to drop off his dishes before heading out.  He didn't know where he was headed at the moment, but he was sure he would find something entertaining.  Until then, he just began wandering the halls, his feet making little to no sound as he walked.

 

[lyn.]

Kenzi didn't respond to Thomas as he walked off, finding no need to in her mind. She turned and grabbed the book, deciding she was bored of it and headed back inside the castle. She wanted to get her mind off the war, if the time were to come, she was sure the king would be prepared, and so would she. That's all she needed to know. She headed to the library and returned the book back to it's original place before walking around, in search of something else to read. Possibly a book she hasn't read before. She paid no mind to the people around her and she searched.

 

[Ch3rryBlossom28]

Aurora just watched as Jack left the room. He sure was an interesting man. Shrugging it off she finished her food and dropped her dishes off to the help in the kitchen. She gave them a smile and thanked the man for doing her dishes for her. Aurora was now walking back down the hallways. Twirling her hair around with her fingers signifying being a little bored. There were always days like today. No one who wanted her services and getting all of her 'chores' done in the morning. 


If there wasnt a possibility that she would be called upon, Aurora a


would have just meandered around on Knight for the whole day. Even the horse enjoyed a day off every once and a while. She looked around to make sure the hallway was empty before letting out a semi loud groan. "I wonder if any of the other Adept would do a sparr with me?" She mumbled. Aurora always made sure to practice archery once a day but she only practiced her katana maybe twice a week, three if she was feeling motivated. She only kept up with that skill to make her Adept work in her favor. After all if you don't practic, even with an Adept with accuracy, you won't hit. 

 

[Shog]

Just over two weeks later the whole country was in high alert.  News of the ambassador's death spread through the kingdoms like a wild fire.  Deva was in outrage and demanded compensation.  The Bandarian King offered to find the party responsible, but that was no longer enough.  While further negotiatins took place, both sides prepared for war, knowing they were olny delaying the inevitable.  It took almost no convincing to form a formal allience with Hasa, considering they were close trade partners now.  Word was Deva was looking for an ally in Camorin, but nothing definitive was known.  Hasa had also reached out to Japura, hoping they would aid in battle.  They seemed a bit hesistant, but they were none to pleased with Deva in recent years and most who knew were confident they'd come around soon.  At the moment Tanjung appeared to remain neutral, but no one could prommise how long that would last if they were the only neutral party in Waipara.


At the moment,  Thomas was awaiting further orders and spent most of his free time training.  Who knew what the king and his advisors had planned for him and he felt he needed to be ready for anything.  In fact, he was training right now.  He was working on his accuracy with ranged weapons.  He prefered not to travel with a bow as well as the rest of his weapons, so he worked mainly with throwing knives.  It wasn't his specialty by a long shot, but he was slowly improving, having every blade hit the target at the very least (though only near the center by luck).  He'd even Asked Aurora ( @Ch3rryBlossom28) for some tips.  He had also been down to Jack's ( @fuil) workshop to inquire about a more compact crossbow.  He had some designes that Thomas could see, seeming to always have spare inventions around his shop, but they weren't really what he was looking for.  He was willing to sacrafice some range to make it as compact and light weight as possible and asked if he could design something like that.  He wasn't sure if it would be done considering the King had him working overtime to try and mass produce some of his more useful weapons for the ordinary soldier.  He hadn't heard anything back yet, but had faith Jack would deliver soon or report that he simply didn't have the time.


(If either of you feel as though I interacted with your chararacters in an inappropriate way and would like something changed, please just let me know in the OOC or in a PM and will be happy to change it.)

 

[fuil]

Jack was busy working on a new compact crossbow for Thomas. It was small, about one third the size of a normal crossbow and yet it had a decent range. He was almost done but was setting the sensitiveness of the trigger. He took a swig from his flask and finished up. He put his tools down as he looked at the weapon. "Finally got this darn thing done." He picked up the bow and headed out to give it to Thomas. "Hope he plans on using it, because if I spent all that time makeing a decoration I'ma going to break it over his head." He walks out of his shop and down the hall in search of Thomas.


@Shog

 

[lyn.]

Kenzi was currently training, after news of the war spread out around the castle she was training every day, she wasn't planning on dying no matter what. So she's been working on sharpening her adept skill for awhile, and was also working on using weapons in combat, since it was never her specialty, she knew she wouldn't be able to get far with just hand to hand combat on her list. She was practicing in the middle of a training room with a knife in her hand, her hair tied up so it wouldn't get in the way. After a couple minutes she set the knife down and went to go take a swig of water, only to find the cup empty. She sighed and walked out to the halls and to the kitchen to go get more water before she began to train again. A few people stared at her since her arms were trailed with sweat but she didn't care.

 

[PressureCooker]

Adrian sat in his room and pored over a series of maps that displayed the continent of Waipara. The prospect of the war made him rather excited as now he had something that could hold his interest and keep him occupied. Now, as he sat an closely analyzed the maps, his mind was abuzz with various plans of action. An alliance with Hasa was inevitable, and with the (albeit hesitant) allegiance of Japura, a strong confederation was formed against the Deva. But if Deva managed to gather its own allies, than that advantage would be lost. Adrian thought back to the reports he had heard that nothing definite was known about what Camorin was doing. He found this mildly funny. Of course there would be an alliance! Just like Bandar and Hasa, Deva and Camorin were isolated together between the mountain ranges, and had to keep each other company. Tanjung, however, was the wild card. It wouldn't be too hard for Deva to bully Tanjung into joining them, and if that happened, than they would be equal in strength to the Bandar-Hasa-Japura alliance. Adrian sat back and rubbed his eyes. The thought of an all-out war between two equally-matched superpowers made him a bit jittery with anticipation. He couldn't concentrate now, and decided that he might as well do something else. Adrian stood up, and decided that he would train to focus his mind again.


Adrian walked down the hall to the training room. On the way, he passed Kenzi who emerged sweaty from the room heading down to the kitchens. Well someone's been training hard, Adrian thought to himself. His fellow adepts, Kenzi, Thomas, and Aurora all seemed to get more combat action than he did, and as a result, utilized the training room a lot more. Adrian had spent his fair share of time in there, but repeatedly beating and beheading the same mechanical dummies over and over got old fast. By now, Adrian had reached the training room, and positioned one of the beat-up training dummies in front of him. He pressed a switch on the side, and the dummy whirred to life. It raised its right arm, and swung it down to hit Adrian, but he easily sidestepped it. Adrian then subjected the dummy to a flurry of blows, spinning his staff around, jabbing its torso, and clobbering it over the head. The poor thing was finally able to find an opening, and went for an  underhanded jab. Adrian spun back around, and effortlessly pulled the staff apart to form two swords. Once again, he sidestepped the machine's outstretched arm, but this time, he used his right sword in a downward slash, effectively severing the mechanical arm from its body. The machine's whirring and clicking faded to silence, and Adrian dragged it off to the side and threw it into the pile of other demolished training dummies. He was already getting bored, and wanted to at least talk to someone else. 


@Miss Obsess


@Shog


@Ch3rryBlossom28

 

[lyn.]

It didn't take long for Kenzi to reach the kitchen and get some water, almost immediately she chugged the whole thing before getting another glass and heading back to the training room, once again getting odd stares from people in the halls. She heard noises sounding through the door of the training room and saw Adrian in there fighting a dummy with his staff. Kenzi watched until he was done before closing the door, not speaking she set down the glass of water in the corner of the room before picking up the knife she had left on the floor.


@AyyyLmao

 

[Ch3rryBlossom28]

War. When she was first told that they were going to War with Deva it didn't surprise her in the least. She was actually a little excited for the war gave her purpose again. She was there through most of the negotiation attempts so Aurora was in the loop despite not actually being told anything. Being a guard did have its perks. Training now took up almost all of her time though it was mostly her attempting to train newbies to use a bow. Aurora worked with Thomas, giving him pointers to help him get better with the bow. To get better with her katana she would try and train with Kenzi whenever she had time. It wasn't much but it did help improve that version of her fighting style.


At this point in time Aurora had just finished her personal training. She had a large smile on her face since it was the first time in a few days that was actually able to ride her horse. Aurora brought her right arm to her chest and started messaging her muscles. They were starting to get a little sore from consistent usage, weather It be from a pulling a bow or using a katana. Aurora was back in the castle and was headed towards her room but changed her mind at the last minute. As much as she wanted to bathe she knew she couldn't. She had a group she needed to train later in the day and she would only get more sweaty. Instead she just put her hair up in a loose bun and whipped the sweat off her face with the sleeve of her kimono.  She saw Jack wondering the halls with what seemed to be a mini crossbow. Her interest immediately peeked.  Crossbows weren't her thing but she had never seen one so small before. "Hey Jack!" She called out and she skipped up to him. "Who's that for? Looks pretty cool."


@fuil

 

[Shog]

Tomas had just finished throwing another round of knives into the target.  He wasn't making much progress, but hoped he'd be much better with a smaller crossbow.  He wanted to go see how things were going, but didn't dare interupt Jack's work.  Instead he'd just have to wait patently for Jack to him him.  Regardless, he needed a break and left the training room to find a bite to eat and some more water.  Along the way, however, he saw Jack in the halls with the smallest crossbow he'd ever seen.  He could only imagine the size of the bolts that went with it!  Just as he began approaching him Aurora showed up and beat him to Jack.  Before he could respond, Thomas spoke up.


"Me," He announced, walking up behind Jack.  "I asked him to make it and it looks perfect!  Thank you for this.  Has it been tested yet?"

 

[PressureCooker]

Thomas, who had also been in the training room before, left as Adrian started dragging another dummy back onto the training floor when he spotted that Kenzi had come back. Adrian never really interacted with the other adepts much. For the most part, he was usually by himself, or surrounded by other people. At the moment, he didn't feel like brutally dismembering another training dummy, he wanted something that was more intensive, and would get both his heart and mind racing. Reassembling his swords back into staff form, Adrian approached Kenzi and asked "Hey! Do you want to have a practice duel?"


@Shog


@Miss Obsess

 

[lyn.]

Kenzi paused as Adrian spoke to her, asking if she wanted to duel. What was his adept ability again? Oh right, tactics. Kenzi shrugged, spinning the knife in her hand she looked at him. "Sure." she said plainly, "With weapons?" She asked as she walked to one of the walls that was lined with various weapons on it, from knives to swords. She stuck the knife back into its holster and turned back towards Adrian.


@AyyyLmao

 

[fuil]

Jack handed the crossbow to Thomas. "Yep, its got the range of one twice her size but I just finished her trigger sensitivity. So, what are you planning to use her for?" He took a swig from his flask then handed Thomas a case full of small bolts. He sat down and looked at the dummies. "You have four kinds, explosive, poisoned, knockout gas, and broadhead. I want to see you test her out." He smiled as he thought about the explosive one, 'Hope he can handle them.' He thought as he watched.


@Shog

 

[Shog]

Thomase took the crossbow and bolts, examining them for a moment.  They were well designed and the bolts appeared to be well equipped for the jostling of being carried around, so he wasn't too concerned there.  "Consider it self defense.  Both Adrian and I are less combatants than some other Adept here, but we still train.  That said, I'm hoping to carry this aroud discretely on the off chance that an assassin sneaks in.  This way I can always have a weapon close by.  If you want to see this in action then follow me."


Thomas had to remind himself that Jack did not yet know what his adept was or what he really did here.  He doubted it would remain a secret for much longer with the war but the king had instructed him to maintain appearences for as long as possible.  He led Jack over to the small target range along the back wall.  He assumed that Aurora would like to see this as well, but didn't check to see if she followed.  He first loaded a broadhead bolt.  He took a minute getting accusomed to the feel of it while aiming before firing.  He hit the target surprisingly close to the center.  Jack wasn't kidding when he mentioned the range it was capable of.  Next he decided to try out the knockout gas arrow and skip the poisonous ones.  The broadhead bolt he could likely reuse and was a good first test shot.  He wanted to make sure the gas and explosive bolts worked propperly and found no good reason to try the poisonous ones and waste some of the poison.  He shot the gas arrow slightly more to the left this time and, as prommised, the gass was released upon impact.  He quickly loaded an explosive arrow and aimed carefully.  He was a bit nervous about shooting out an explosive, but he trusted Jack.  He pulled down on the trigger and the bolt flew.  He knew it hit the target, but not much else because the target was blown to smitherines.  Neighboring targets also caught fire.  He noticed that the gas was gone as well, so he assumed it must be flamable to some extent as well.  Just icing on the cake.


Before Thomas could give his praise some guards stormed into the room and Thomas had to explain to them what was going on.  They all got some weird looks, but the fire was mostly out in the stone chamber anyway so they returned to their positions.  Now he could speak to Jack and turned to the master craftsman.  "It workes perfectly as far as I can tell.  Thank you for this.  By the way, what kind of poison did you use?"

 

[PressureCooker]

"Sure, why not?" Adrian responded. He stepped back and positioned himself in front of her. He held his staff behind him in a ready position. Adrian was aware that Kenzi would most likely floor him with her enhanced reflexes, but he didn't really mind. It would be a welcome change from normal training. Adrian readied himself, and decided to go on the defensive for this duel, although he may maybe use a feint attack to bait a response.


@Miss Obsess


@Shog

 

[lyn.]

Kenzi took the knife back out from the holster, she wasn't very experienced with weapons yet but could still try. She positioned herself in front of Aiden, she hasn't sparred with him before so wasn't very sure about his fighting style and how she should move. Seeing that Aiden was in a defensive stance she strikes with the back of the knife so she wouldn't injure him, being wary that he'd probably defend and attack.


@AyyyLmao

 

[fuil]

Jack smiled. "Oh you know just a mix of black mamba and black widow venom, nightshade, and crude oil." He looked at the destroyed targets. "Well at least you aren't going to use it for decoration." He got up and asked. "If you want more types of arrows just let me know." He took a swig from his flask and offered the homemade drink to Thomas. "To celebrate a job well done." He gave him a mischievous smirk. "It's a bit strong I warn you."


@Shog

 

[PressureCooker]

Kenzi took the knife back out from the holster, she wasn't very experienced with weapons yet but could still try. She positioned herself in front of Aiden, she hasn't sparred with him before so wasn't very sure about his fighting style and how she should move. Seeing that Aiden was in a defensive stance she strikes with the back of the knife so she wouldn't injure him, being wary that he'd probably defend and attack.


@AyyyLmao

Before Adrian could decide how he would feint, Kenzi stepped forward and struck with the butt of her knife. Adrian managed to deflect the blow in time, and he decided that a light strike to his opponent's now unprotected torso would be a good move. So Adrian spun his staff back, and swung it forward in a low jabbing motion. 


@Miss Obsess


@Shog

 

[Shog]

Thomas held up his hand as a friendly rejection.  "Thank you for the offer, but I don't drink."  It's true that having a bit every now and then couldn't hurt, but he didn't want to impare his judgement when it might be needed soon.  He had his first drink just a few years ago and determined he was a definite "lightweight."  "So what kind of projects are you working on these days?"


(I'll get things going when I get back in a couple hours.)

 

[lyn.]

Adrian had dodged her attack like she expected and attacked afterwards, which was exactly what she had in mind. She quickly jumped back as he attempted to jab her with his staff and lowered herself on the ground, swinging her leg at his feet in an attempt to knock him to the ground, holding on tightly to the knife in her hand.


@AyyyLmao

 

[Ch3rryBlossom28]

Aurora tagged along with the two of them, a frown on her face as Thomas practically ignored her after just saying that the arrow was for him. It made her feel a little like a third wheel when it shouldn't have. After all a weapon like this cross bow would be much more deadly in her hands than in Thomas' but she wasn't going to voice her complaints. No Aurora never voiced her complaints. They always cause complications. As She followed the two boys she heard Thomas say it was for self defense but she knew that it was more for the offence, though Jack wouldn't know that.


Aurora made sure to put a little distance between her and the two as Thomas fired off the weapon. She wasn't exactly impressed with the broadhead bolt but the others were amazing! Why wasn't Jack making her explosive arrows? She have to ask him when she got the chance. Aurora didn't particularly care about the poison and she was happy Thomas didn't waste the arrow. Poison is useless to her, takes to long to fully take effect.  Aurora hadn't even noticed the guards that had entered the room, instead she just moved back towards the boys. her eyes never left the cross bow, though they did roll when Jack offered Thomas some alcohol. Does he ever not drink?  Aurora wanted to test the crossbow but it was not built for her so she did not ask.

 

[fuil]

Jack shrugged and thought. "A few things but the biggest project is my self loading crossbow, but I'm having trouble with it jamming all the time." He looked at Aurora and saw her staring at the crossbow. "You want to test it out? I'm sure Thomas wouldn't mind." He looks at Thomas and asked. "You wouldn't would you."

 

[Shog]

Thomas shrugged.  "I see no reason why not.  Just don't waste some of the good ones, will ya?"  He then gently tossed it at her, knoving full and well that she'd catch it.  He also knew (well, assumed she knew) that she was aloud to use some of the "funner" bolts as well.  He knew it would be much more effective in her hands and that she would hit the center of the remaining targets no problem.  Heck, she could probably do that if she was standing as far as three times the distance of this room away from it.  Though he would never admit it, Thomas was always jelous of how perfect Aurora was with her accuracy.  True it was her adept, but that didn't mean he could't envy it.  She herself wouldn't make a bad assassin if thargets tended to stand out in the open where she could have a clear shot from far away.  None the less, he hoped he'd never need to be that accurate.  Part of the reason he was ok with a smaller range (which Jack still managed to improve) was because he hoped to get the drop on people when he was close enough for it to still be effective in his hands.  That could be a problem with the explosive arrows, but he doubted he'd need to use one of those to kill a single target with.


@Ch3rryBlossom28@fuil


(I'll postpone the bit announcement until a more convenient time (hopefully tomorrow))

 

[Ch3rryBlossom28]

Aurora didn't believe that Thomas was going to let her use his weapon, after all if their roles were reversed she was pretty positive she wouldn't let any one else touch it in case they would break it. When Thomas tossed the weapon at her, Aorura's eyes went wide and she reached to catch it. Once she had it in her hands, Aurora had to admire how much lighter it was compared to other crossbows. Even though there was no arrow in it, she turned to a target and held it up to see how it would look to shoot it and she actually liked it. The first type of arrow she picked up was the broad head and she loaded it into the weapon. Loading the arrows was the reason why she didn't like using crossbows. It took too much extra time to lead the arrows and shoot compared to a normal bow and when on horse back it was even worse.


Aurora stepped back as far as she could from the targets in  front of her, which in her mind where still too close to properly test a ranged weapon. Aiming at the target she took a deep breath before firing. The arrow hit the red dot in the center of the target but because she wasn't used to handling a cross bow it wasn't exactly in the center like it would be with a normal bow. Thomas had told her not to use the good ones but Aurora went and reach for the explosive one anyway. If anything this was the type of arrow she would be using if sent out on a battle field of sorts. To get rid of as many enemies as possible. Aurora got back into position, this time fixing her self so that she would hit the center of the next target. (even though none of the other would know) Firing off the arrow, a huge smile spread on her face as the explosive went off. She quickly turned to face Jack and made puppy dog eyes at him. "Can you please make me arrows like that one?" oh yes Aurora now wanted those explosive arrows more than anything. Her horse was going to hate her for this but it would be so worth it.


@Shog @fuil

 

[fuil]

Jack looked at her, took a swig of his flask, and smiled. "Sure thing, plus I can add more explosives to it. The arrows for a bow are bigger so they can give a bigger boom." He looks at her and smiles. "If you want I can make you a new bow." He was already excited about it, his head buzzing with ideas. He mumbled ideas to himself as he thought.


@Che3rryBlossem28