Corruption of Darkness - OPEN

[killerinstinct]

"Your base?" Papillon repeated, "I don't think there's any need to go back to your base just to tell you why I joined. It's simple, really. I wanted to cross the border, but seeing as how there was a battle going on, I could either wait it out or join in the fray. As you can see, I decided on the latter."

[Dan,_the_Overlord]

Simeon walked around the battlefeild, ignoring completely his merc group. Instead, he removed breastplates and greaves and swords from dead soldiers. The metal would come in handy for his invention....

((sorry, adding a skill here....))

While in the process of removing an axe from a dead rebel, Simeon jumped up as the rebel moved and groaned.

"Water...please, for the love of God get me some water...uuuuhhhh...." The rebel tossed and turned in pain and agony.

Simeon was filled with pity, and removed a vial from a hiddden pocket on his lever greave. The label read 'Mercy Juice'.

Unstopping the glass, Simeon knelt down and tilted it up into the rebels mouth. "Here we go, just take this. You'll be fine. We'll help you..." etc and so forth. The rebel relaxed, and laid down again, his hands moving away from his still-bleeding gut wound. HIs eye's stopped rolling, his pain subsided, and he passed on in peace.

((BTW, nice handling of Wulfi, Griff!))

[Wulfi]

(((

Aug 4, 2008 10:48:41 GMT -5 Dan,_the_Overlord said:

((BTW, nice handling of Wulfi, Griff!))

Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?)))

[Griffin]

OOC: Dan is ignorant of our conversation Lisa. Merely coincidence I believe.

And this goes for anyone...I don't think it's wrong in developing new skills. Seeing as how more and more battle is imminent, we'll be getting more experience and can work on new techniques or spells. Don't go overboard of course, but a few is acceptable.

_______________________

Davian sighed at Papillon's response. "Well, we've just been through one hell of a battle. It couldn't be helped that you joined this late in it but we're all exhausted. I personally would just like to know who you are. We're mercenaries and my orders include reporting to the Solarian king with details of every major battle. And seeing as how Tenmau was involved and most of the king's guardsmen are dead, this fits the bill of 'major'."

He locked eyes with Papillon. While appreciative for the help, Davian was a bit suspicious of her. Again, he couldn't place who she was, but a vague detail in the back of his mind told him she wasn't a crusader or anything of the sort. He didn't know where she came from. She looked like she was from Solaris, but few to no Solarians know the Tenmauan tongue. He couldn't even be sure if the information she translated was accurate. For all he knew, she could've been the one who hired those cavalry and then fought them off to protect herself. She said the contract had no name.

"Look, Papillon, I don't know your business here. But right now, something serious has happened and my instinct tells me it's not good. Rufare is getting more aggressive and Tenmau might be joining them." He paused and looked down. "I'd like your help. If you can speak Tenmauan, you may know some information that can help us explain why they attacked."

Davian pointed with his sword to a building not too far from their current position. "That's our base. We have food and water. If you have no information to give, at least relax a bit."

The mercenary leader wasn't very comfortable with letting new people in with his friends, but it didn't mean he didn't care. Although, her skill with a blade was impressive and he respected her secretive nature. She may be Elite material after all.

[Wulfi]

(((Oh, alright, then.)))

[killerinstinct]

Papillon's hazel eyes stared into Davian's blue ones. Even without reading it in his eyes, she guessed he was being suspicious of her. Not that it came as a surprise to her; in fact, it only seemed natural for her that he would get suspicious. He was, after all, the leader of a group of mercenary working for the Solarian king. Papillon remained silent for a moment, lost in her thoughts, considering her options. She didn't have much to lose by going with them; she could cross the border another time. No rush. And if she was allowed to join them, then it might not be so bad after all. Travelling alone was becoming hard nowadays, what with the tension between the kingdoms.

"Alright", she finally spoke, "I'll come back with you to your base."

[Griffin]

OOC: Excuse minor godmodding.

Davian smiled reassuringly at Papillon with her agreement. He made one last scan of the battlefield. He noticed some injured guardsmen rising to their feet. Local militia from the closer villages had arrived to help the injured guards and carry the dead back to the village to be buried.

With everything in order, Davian motioned for his comrades to follow him as he wearily walked back to their headquarters. Hopefully Papillon would cooperate peacefully. He was tired and couldn't put up with annoyances.

He'd hate to have to kill her.

Davian walked wearily back to their headquarters with the rest of his team following behind him. Lilliana dragging a severed arm and Simeon with arm fulls of steel. After a few minutes or so, they reached it. The two floored, shabby, circular fort they called home. For now anyway.

Davian led his comrades up the stairs to the main room. Davian happily rested himself on his chair. He left the others to do as they please, but asked Simeon and Papillon to stay here. "Now...Papillon. First off, I'd just like to know who you are. Then, anything you've heard, yourself, rumors, anything, about rebel activity in Rufare or about the Cobra Venom tribe. I'm going to get some water.

Davian left momentarily and came back with a large bucket of fresh water and an arm full of granite mugs. He poured himself a mug and sat back, waiting for Papillon's response.

[killerinstinct]

Papillon was led to the mercenaries' headquarters, then to the main room, with Davian and Simeon with her, where Davian began his questioning.

"I already told you", she calmly replied, "I am Papillon. Never heard of that name before? A certain treasure huntress going by that name, perhaps?"

Papillon smiled, then her expression turned serious again. "Concerning what I may have heard, I don't know anything. Not especially."

[Griffin]

Davian nodded. He knew he heard the name before. Before being offered this contract, Davian heard of a contract for a rather new mercenary group to hunt down and capture the treasure huntress, Papillon. Likely she either took care of them, or they just didn't find her.

"Well then, this puts us with no leads." Davian dropped his eyes to the floor and took a sip from his mug. Then, he made a very light nod toward Simeon, who was standing behind Papillon.

Davian was still suspicious.

[Admin]

Lilliana dropped the arm against the wall in the main room. 'I'm going to take the arm to town after I wash off the blood.' the girl dug around, and found her little satchel with her nightgown, and another pair of clothes. She picked up the bag and grabbed a bucket of water and drew water to take a bath. It was cold, but she was filthy. She soaked a clean rag in the bucket. Lilliana took her bag outside, along with the bucket, deep into a group of trees.

The girl stripped off her filthy clothes, staring at her reflection shaking in the water. Her hair was thick with the blood of those she had killed. Her face was coated with dried blood. Her hands began to shake, as she stared into her sinful eyes. Her naked body fell back, as she screamed out into the depth of the trees.

'I didn't want to kill anyone! I'm sorry!'

Her scream shattered the serene silence of the forest. The only solace she could find was that one man got to cut her nose. The cut felt clean and pure, despite the sick and nasty nature of the cut.

Lilliana grabbed the cloth, and smoothed her face with it. Her hands still shook from the guilt. The blood dripped from her skin, and her pale complection ws beginning to show form again.

'You had no offence with me. You all were hired. We could have been friends. Or lovers. We might have been family. I killed you. I'm sorry.'

The girl was chanting rather miserably to herself now. She appeared clean, but she couldn't seem to get the dried blood from her hair. '...I will repent today. I will cover this scar, and I will kill someone who does not deserve to live. I will kill someone sick, with an impure heart. If only to balance the world. I... I have to do it again... ...and again... ...and again...'

The girl redressed, wiping the tears from her eyes. She pulled a rather skimpy, revealing outfit from her bag. Lilliana dressed quickly, not wanting to be seen naked in the woods.

'I will kill a dirty man to justify the lives of the clean ones...'

The 13 year old returned to the fort. Took a breath at the door, and went to find some food to eat. Battle made her weary, and she was quite hungry.

[Dan,_the_Overlord]

Simeon noticed the nod. He was surprised Davian wanted to do that, but he figured it was best not to argue with the boss. Simeon pulled a knife from his side, came up behind Papillon, and held the sharp edge less than an inch away from her throat.

"Sorry it has to be like this Papillon. I know we just met, but it had to be done." he said softly. He nudged her lightly in the back for her to move down a hallway to a one person cell. "Best to go with it. Just precautionary."

[killerinstinct]

Papillon let out a small gasp when she felt a knife near her throat, but she remained calm. Of course, this was something she should have expected, and she decided to go with it, as Simeon said. She began walking towards the cell, Simeon right behind her, knife still pointed at her throat. When she got into the cell, she didn't move, waiting for the next order.

Naturally, as a treasure huntress, Papillon was always exposed to such dangers, and knew how to get out of them, even if she got locked up. But this time, she decided to stay and not resist; what with the rumors going around, it was most likely that some of them were true, and that the tension between the kingdoms would get worse. It'd be safer to stay here, for the moment, until she could confirm what the situation was.

[Griffin]

Davian followed his friend as he led Papillon to custody. He stood in front of her and gripped her rapier. He took and from her and closed the door, locking it with the key in his pocket. "I don't plan on keeping you here for long. Maybe a few nights. I still think there's something you're not telling me. You see, the fun in this is that you don't know us. I might let you go after a few nights. I might kill you. Damn, I might have my buddy here slip some poisons into your water. Think about that. I'll be back in a few hours. I expect some response when I get back."

With a jerk of his head, motioning for Simeon to follow, he walked back to the main room. He shouted to everyone, his voice carrying through the voice tubes Simeon put up, "Listen up! I'm going to report to the king. The rest of you are free to visit the town, buy some things, whatever. Meet back here by dusk."

After his orders, he faced Simeon and spoke to him, "I need you to come with me Simeon. I probably can't get in without a planned meeting, but it's important. You see, King Doren's adviser enjoys the whole science and alchemy thing you like. Bring some chemicals to show off to his adviser while I talk to the king. Oh, and keep your knives on you. Just in case."

Davian waited for Simeon to gather his showcase before he set off for the castle.


OOC: A note, the castle is quite a way off. Just occurred to me though. To make up for that, we've got running horses tethered somewhere in the nearby woods, about a five minute walk from our base. Sorry for that.

[killerinstinct]

"Hm..." Was all Papillon said, as she leaned back against the wall facing the door. You can dig into my mind all you want and you won't find anything, she thought, as she stared at the door, even if I did know something, if you think your threats will make me talk, you're wrong.

Papillon could always escape. It wasn't hard for her to break a lock. And it seemed it would be easier to do it now, as they appeared to be leaving the headquarters. She wondered if anyone was going to stay behind to make sure she wouldn't escape, but it didn't matter. She wasn't going to try to anyway. Travelling alone nowadays was more dangerous than being locked up in a small room.

It was odd to think things this way now, what with her locked up and threatened by the leader himself, but she learnt to look at the bright side of everything.

[shadowdeath]

Aero quietly watched Papillon as they escorted her in. He wasn't even surprised when the boss ordered Simeon to put her in the cell. Aero saw the boss and pulled him aside.

"Boss, I don't trust her being in that cell alone. She looks like the type who could easily bust out. I'll guard her for the day."

[Admin]

Lilliana came from the kitchen with a slice of bread. She chomped down on the bread. 'Let someone else bother with that, Aero. I need you to come with me to town. You have to buy my soap, while I whore myself out to someone, and kill them before they lay a finger on me. I'd ask Tekrias, but he's incredibly boring. So c'mon. Atleast you'd get to have some time with me. Then after, we can occupy time, maybe get dinner, and we'll be back here before you know it.'

Lilliana looked around, then sighed. 'Assuming that the person you'd have to play guard for is that girl we invited with us, I'd say it'd be best if you came with me, Aero. You probably couldn't beat her in a fight, anyway.'

[Will]

OOC: Sorry. Been busy.

"No need to guard her..." Tekrias muttered as he exited the kitchen, nibbling on some dried fruit. Before returning to the fort, Tekrias had grasped his hidden crystal and muttered some words, causing Ifrit to vaporize into the air. Tekrias thanked Ifrit for the help he had recieved.

"She won't be leaving."

Tekrias then walked slowly back to his quarters in the fort. He had no need to go to town. After all, he was widely known as a hermit who could take care of himself. There was simply no need for him to leave. Besides, he would be the only defense against any surprise attacks. All of which he could likely handle himself.

[Dan,_the_Overlord]

Simeon hustled upstairs to the third floor room where we kept his experiments. He dumped the steel he got from the battlefeild in the corner and looked inside his backpack 'o fun. All he had left was some vials of Silence Gas and a couple bags of powder. This powder was his Artificial Illness. He grabbed some vials of Eye Gas from his table of chemicals and a few more jars of Skin Slime. He decided to leave the dynamoglycerin. That was his little secret.

He restocked his belt with knives and went back downstairs, meeting Davian on the main floor. "I'm set boss. Didn't bring any dynamo though. That's the Elite trademark! You sure I'm allowed to have these knives?"

Simeon began to walk with his friend down the stairs and out to the secret spot with their horses.

[Griffin]

Davian and Simeon began to walk out to the horses, confident in the fact Tekrias was holding down the fort. When asked about carrying his knives openly, he responded, "Of course. We have a right as mercenaries. Well, technically mercenaries don't have written rights, but carrying our weapons is a given. It's one of those simple things we require. If told we can't, we can bail out on this contract."

After five minutes, they reached a clearing in the woods where five, long-legged stand tethered to the nearby trees. They mounted their respective horses and began the gallop off to the castle.

Davian had arranged for these horses to be fast, not strong. They weren't going to be used in battle. These were especially bred for speed. From their base, these horses could get the mercenaries to the castle in a mere fifteen minutes.

The ride was quiet and quick. Soon, the plains of Solaris faded and signs of civilization could be seen. Farms turned into villages. Villages became towns. Towns turned into the castle. The Solarian castle was a sight to behold. It's design made the walls incredibly strong and it could easily be defending from all sides with strong battlements and towers. Linked to the back of the castle is the long spiral stairway to the Tower of the Eye.

The Tower of the Eye was magically built by the first king of Solaris. It reaches higher than even the highest peak in Dularion. At the top rests the Eye of Solaris that can be used to peer upon the entire world. Each new king must ascend the tower and view the world. There, he receives a vision of what will happen to the world during his kingship. It's tradition. It's destiny.

Yeah right.

Davian and Simeon tethered their horse at a nearby stable and walked toward the castle gates. Two guards armed in plate armor and wielding poleaxes stood in front of the massive steel portcullis. When they stood in front of them, the one of the left said, "State your business."

"I'm Captain Davian Boyer. This here is Lieutenant Simeon Grey. We're here with a delivery for King Doren's advisor. Lieutenant Grey has some experimental chemicals requested by his advisor."

Mercenary companies must distinguish a leader and a co-leader when given contracts. These two men are, by default, given a military rank of captain and lieutenant.

The guard eyed the men suspiciously, particularly their weapons. The left guard gave a nod to the right. He knew they were mercenaries. The right guard shrugged. "Very well. Open the gates!"

The portcullis began to rise and the heavy wood doors across the drawbridge swung open. Davian and Simeon made their way into the castle to begin their business with the king.

[Dan,_the_Overlord]

((dude, no more. I'm changing my password, and don't get a Mod or Admin to log you on. Seriously, I hate it when you do this. That doesn't sound like how I wanted Simeon to sound at all.))

[Will]

OOC: Oh, snap!

[Griffin]

OOC: It was required.

[daryl1730]

I don't even have a character: Mod or admin to log you on? What mod or admin would hand over your account to someone else?

[shadowdeath]

OOC: If something was required let him know instead of doing it for him. The idea of an RP is that everyone controls their own unique (or cliched) character.

---

Aero ignored the last comment Lilliana said. Too many people had underestimated him before, only to find out he was stronger than they expected.

"Alright, let's go then Lilliana."

[Yumi]

((Um...So sorry. I went on vacation and forgot to mention it. Um...Griffin I got your message, am I a good guy or bad guy?))

[Will]

OOC: Momentarily pausing an RP is always a bad idea..

[Griffin]

OOC: All Corruption members check your PMs.

[Will]

OOC: Griff what's my avatar text from? D=<

[Griffin]

OOC: ...huh?

[killerinstinct]

OOC: VALLEY OF THE DAMNED! Sorry, couldn't resist it.