Arc 5 (Great Sea) -- Undergoing Setup

[niveksirrah]

Rintaro Umeda

Rin had managed to prop himself up into a sitting position. He was looking up at the night sky, trying to build up the energy to stand and start the long walk to Horon. Who knows what happened to his horse at this point, it might still be on the bridge, or it might have been stolen or found by a passerby. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something approach. It made no sound, nothing at all, but he could feel it. Like a little scratching inside his head. It was powerful it was strong it was... Short and cute? He shook his head once then refocused on the little girl that approached him. Maybe the wound and blacking out had messed with his mind more than he thought. She spoke oddly, She seemed well grasped of the situation at had for someone with no memories. On the other hand her cloths, makeup and style suggested an up and comer from the Winter or maybe autumn castes. Both of which held very bright people, though sometimes their own minds got them into trouble in which he and the summer caste would have to bail them out. He pushed himself up and strode over to her.
"Well that is very unfortunate little one. Can you remember anything at all? Your name perhaps?" He spoke with the same tone that you would think of an adult talking down to a last child, comforting and warm, yet obviously not as equals. Now that he was closer to her he could see that her making was not smeared or fading, her clothes were not well travel worn. She must not have been lost long in that case. Maybe from a nearby village? He shrugged and placed a hand on top her head, tousling her hair in the same way an older sibling would do to the younger one.
"In any case I'm sure I can help you, you can count on me." As he touched her the hair on the back of his neck stood up again, Odd...

[Attaxer]

Ginkarai Hisei

Ginkarai stood coldly as Winter addressed him. In a manner that did not reflect the respect he should be shown as a superior member of the rebellion, but he had never been one for such things. He simply smirked and took a step forward. " Winter." he said softly. " What a dreadful name." he said shaking his head, but his demeanor turned cold in an instant. " I am no man of honor, nor a Sohei. I hunt and I kill, if you flee that is exactly what will become your fate." he said firmly his eyes serious, the dark abyss-touched aura emanating without restraint.

Then he stopped and smiled looking at Nerise. " I will have him in the Vanguard at my side, when I could spare an eye, I nearly thought him my equal with a blade." the man snickered a bit at that and looked back at Valan. " Welcome aboard, but I do believe you have some explaining to do about your current...living arrangement?" he said not sure if he had found the right word.

[SilverLich]

Valan Danar

Winer couldn't help but chuckle at Ginkarai's comment about his name. "Were we our own person, Summer and I would have chosen our own names" he replied to it "but we are simply the pieces of a someone who had no other way to cling to the teachings the mystics tried to take from him, thus the simplicity of two who reflect the seasons in our own." While he did fear the power that Ginkarai wielded, he wasn't sure if his power or whatever power that warrior on the bridge was the lesser evil when it came to a fight. His threats meant little to any of the three right now, they only fled when they deemed it necessary, and that always meant an opponent who obviously outmatched them. Ginkarai need not worry about Valan, Summer, or Winter turning their backs on this resistance, at least not without reason.

The comment about their skills with a blade made him narrow his eyes though, while he was by no means a master, all three considered themselves proficient in their own way. "I'll choose to take that as compliment" he muttered "as you are the one with powers I don't understand and I am but a simple swordsman." The question of their living space possibly meant the three, but with this man, it could mean anything. "The three of us will make do with whatever you place us in."

[Zectorman]

Dimitar

"My dear scrub, Horon city has the grandest of caves and other constructions. Many races walk the streets and even the air is filled with a stream of Deku merchants flying in and out. You will find all sorts of diversions or trinkets. Even some secrets for those so inclined" said Dimitar glancing at the Doctor and the historian. "Libraries with book written on the mysteries of the east and even some books on the west. It is also the center of power in the east, where my master resides. An ordered and wonderful place, thus I am saddened by the fact that radicals are out to destroy it" Dimitar sighed after the last comment. "Of course not like rebels care....they only care about themselves..." grumbled on Dimitar. "Well you all seem like reasonable people, if people start coming up to you with flyers for a free Horon I would use it for toilet paper before reading it, because that is all those words are good for. Al they seek is the destruction of beauty and to undo the peace we have worked hard to achieve...."

[Avatar of the Ice Wolf]

Nerise

Suddenly it made sense why a Summer Caste would harbor such hatred for the Hegemony. In most cases, Sohei would be honored in the current social stratification system, becoming one of the two groups who benefitted most from the current structure. However, this man had been personally tampered with by the mystics, turning him into something else entirely. Nerise figured anyone who had his mind so fractured that it split into three distinct personalities would reasonably be resentful towards those who inflicted such harm. Not only were the mystics unquestionable authoritarians, but now it seemed they were also responsible for unconscionable experimentation. Add one more reason for her to overthrow them.

Ginkarai's plan was sound, but he would have to use discretion.

"We are aware of three Fall Caste Seed Shooters. It would be preferable not to engage until they are taken out, lest they open fire and risk hitting key structures. Now this might not be an issue, but it is possible that they are carrying Ember Seeds. I shall not jeopardize the operation by taking the chance that they do not. Wait for my men to take those three out. Afterwards, the Spring Caste and the Sohei are yours."

[gaiachild]

Nebuzia
The disproportionate sized person swatted at the arm attached to the hand on her head with her fan (which didn’t move said limp in the slightest, since she didn’t put any force whatsoever behind it to uphold her disguise, even though she currently had to supress the urge to incinerate the man for his condescending attitude. Fortunately it was easy for a shapeshifter to keep a straight face).

“I do remember that I should be far too old for you to call me child, kind stranger.” She sniped in a voice that sounded a bit spoiled. “A for my name, I do recall something like Mulan, but I can’t be sure if that’s mine. Actually… I feel like I am missing something dear to me. Have you seen another being around here by any chance? Or…. Whatever material things people like me may hold dear.”

[Mattwensley]

Anton Laar

Anton was surprised by how aggressive Nerise was in the defence of her village, but wouldn't he do the same? There is, of course, little more important than family.

"Lady Linair, wouldn't it be best to attempt to conclude this matter without bloodshed?"

[Avatar of the Ice Wolf]

Nerise

There was no time to explain the full gravity of the situation to Anton; and, as he was a foreigner, there was little chance he would understand the eminent doctrines of honor caked into the mentalities of the rebels and loyalists alike. For these reasons, Nerise answered him in broader terms.

"When you hold a conviction deep enough to take root into your soul -- to have it ingrained into the essence of your being -- then you will remain steadfast and true to that conviction, correct? This is the plight of both the attackers and the people here. There will be no compromise. There will be either complete victory or complete defeat. By the power of Din, our cause is just, the Goddesses are with us, and in their name we shall prevail."

[Avatar of the Ice Wolf]

.

[PhilAO]

Quid

Quid shook his head. "Rebels, they sound bad. Destroying peace, not good. I always kill things when they stop peace in my kingdom. Where are rebels, nearby?" If their pack was close he would be willing to take a detour and kill them. Dimitar had given him a shiny rock and not killed him, so he owed the two-arm one, he figured.

[niveksirrah]

Rintaro Umeda

He giggled slightly as he removed his hand from her head. Though this caused him to wince in pain and put a hand on his side.
"I'm terribly sorry if I offended you little miss Mulan." He said as he looked around again up
"Un fortunately I was in quite the scrap a few hours ago and Have not had the chance to take stock of the area around here. But if you feel as if you have lost something then it is my duty as a Sohei to help you." He tried to give her another warm smile as he offered her his hand.
He thought for a moment that he might be dreaming, or that he might be dead as this all seemed too strange, but another flare of pain in his side assured him that he was indeed alive and awake. Well it didn't matter, he wasn't going anywhere fast and he couldn't leave this strange young girl here alone.
"My name is Rintaro Umeda by the way, my friends call me Rin. Anyway lady Mulan, shall we?"

[Attaxer]

Ginkarai Hisei

Ginkarai looked and bowed respectfully at Valan before turning on his heel. " I shall arrive with the hour of battle is near. Until then. I'll be in my tent." He started off at a leisurely pace away from the war plans and discussions and without introducing himself to Anton. The trees crunched underneath his sandals as he walked. The autumn leaves blowing in the wind gently. He breathed in and out and stopped once he arrived at a place far enough into the trees that he could do his own thing.

His blade ringed into the air as he drew it and tainted the grounds with it's foul aura. The vibrancy of the leaves before somehow seemed diminished, as if the mere presence of his blade drained some of their life force.

He took another deep breath and spoke in the tongue of Maku. Translated it said.

" Here I am, let it be known that I do not come in peace. Defend your forests."

As he finished his sentence he stabbed the blade down in front of him and sat down in a meditative posture. One of the Maku around here would find him and attempt to end his befouling of the forest. Something Ginkarai knew, this Maku would regret.

[SilverLich]

Valan Danar

With the departure of Ginkarai, that left Valan to his own devices, taking control back from Winter. "If you have need of me lady Nerise, I will be surveying the area to get a better idea of the layout of this village." He began heading to the second floor of the tower, Summer muttering in excitement at the prospect of killing more than their usual number of summer and spring caste soldiers, while Winter began going over possible strategies they could use. While he had no idea who the man who was speaking with Nerise was, he obviously did not know much about rebellions, though the fact that he was obviously a foreigner didn't mean he was going to get any excuses in Valan's opinion. Most rebellions ended in bloodshed, and this one would be no different, blood had already been spilled, and it would not stop until the leaders of the rebellion and their ideas were utterly destroyed, or the Mystics suffered that fate, or they actually realized their ideals were now tearing the Hegemony apart. None of the three were in favor of ending this peacefully though, not until the mystics who tried to force them onto a path that was not theirs were all dead.

The tower had a good view of the square he observed, and if the plan went off without any problems, their foes would be wide open for an attack from any direction. "A sniper or two up here could do some decent damage with a good shot" he muttered under his breath as he continued looking over the village for anything they could use. There were a few houses, if they used those, they didn't exactly need him to tell them what to do with them, one of the few buildings that actually stood out was the inn, one of the larger buildings. That was going to prove to be useful in its own right if they managed to bait any of the Sohei and those that were with them into it

[Emrys]

Professor Charles R. Grey

Professor Grey gave out an audible sigh. He didn’t want to waste his time blathering with simpletons, but the magic user did make a good point. Beasts roamed these lands, and Charles was ill equipped to deal with them. Begrudgingly he decided to fall in behind the Hrok alongside the Labrynnan.

[gaiachild]

Nebuzia
She looked at the offered hand, unsure of how to proceed. Was he insinuating that she would get lost if he didn’t hold on to her? Or that he would get lost? If that was the case, the mortal races were even more pathetic than she had though, for her people that would have been a grave offense.

But she was here to learn, so she took his hand, again with the utmost care to put no strength at all behind her movements.

“My thanks, kind stranger. Though forgive me for asking, but what is a Sohei? And shall we do what?”

And while she didn’t comment on his apparent discomfort (pointing out a weakness counted as a grave insult in dark fairy society), she was well aware of it. Since he’d be worth nothing to her if he died of injury, mortals where so frustratingly frail, she subtly employed the healing magic all fairies possessed. Since she didn’t want to tip him of right away, she kept her magic invisible and weak enough so that it would only ease his pain. She’d finish the job of healing the actual damage later, perhaps once he was asleep.

[niveksirrah]

Rintaro Umeda

Rin looked at her for a moment then chuckled. This girl was strange indeed, or maybe that was just due to her lack of memories. Once again though he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, like there was grave danger nearby, yet with a glance around he could see nothing. Perhaps he was just tired. Well at least the pain from his side seemed to ease slightly. "Shall we go look for this missing object of yours? Or at least find out where you are from."
He started walking and figured he would fill her in on what he could while searching around for anything that might belong to her, or anyone around who might know her.
"Forgive me Mulan, I have never dealt with someone who has lost their memories. Hmm where to start. I am a Sohei, the Sohei are from the Summer caste of the people of Horon, that same people you hail from I would guess judging by your features and clothing. We are the Warrior priest who are born in the summer, and given a blessing that reflects the strength of that season. There are other seasons too, People born in the spring are Fast and fluid, they also can grow and create things of great beauty, whether it be food, flowers or anything else like that. Those born in the Autumn have an enhanced wisdom, making them sharp as well as shrewd business men and skilled diplomats. Those born in the winter are blessed with heightened intelligence, They can create and build wonders and grand things. We of the summer, we're blessed with both strength in battle, and the strength to lead. We Safeguard and help our people as best we can. Of course things can vary from person to person, I have seen spring warriors that could out class a Summer, a summer who could outwit an autumn and a winter who liked growing flowers, though they all applied their own talents to help them along. We believe in order, but we also believe that people should be able to create their own future, as long as they don't harm others then what they do with their gifts is up to them." He paused as he realized he had been going on for about a half hour now and seemingly found nothing so far. He turned to her
"do you have something else you would like to ask me?"

[gaiachild]

Nebuzia
So those Horonians breed their people for specific roles in their society similarly to how the Ghoma did? That she hadn’t expected. She was a bit confused by her companion claiming that people were born to do certain things, but on the other hand free to do as they pleased. She chose however not to inquire further for now, after all, her previous attempt at suicide had depended on her challenging a established social order.

Still, the whole cast system intrigued her. So she answered:
“Indeed. First and foremost, why have the seasons of all things been chosen to dictate the order of the people. Also, since I don’t remember any more than before, I guess it would be best to head for the nearest settlement. Now, in the case I don’t find clues there, and never regain my memories, how would a person without previously determined status and standing be able to join society and advance on the social ladder?”

In her own society, in general the best way to get a higher position was to punch the former owner from the top of the tower (of course doing it with finesse gained more authority, since beign a mere bully was easy), so she was interested how that worked with these specific ilk of mortals. After all, if she was to live between them, then definitely not at the bottom!

[niveksirrah]

Rintaro Umeda

Rintaro nodded to the girl and looked around, once getting his bearings he set off for the closes village he knew of, a small one the was pretty close to the river he had washed up on.
He spent a moment thinking about the girls' questions and decided to answer as best he could given her situation.
"There are two reasons that we go off of seasons for our casts. The first and foremost being that when our country was first founded we were heavily influenced by the Temple of seasons created by the goddess Din. As such we have modeled much of our people to emulate the temple. I'm not a historian but I do know that life was not always good for us, and that before the seasons and cast that we were ruled over by another vast empire that ended up destroying itself after thinking that they could never fail and always knew what was best. Such happens to those with much power but no discipline or wisdom of how to use it." He looked at the sky for a moment, lost in thought. A few minutes passed before he started up again.
"The other reason was that the First mystics, a some what ruling order of the best of us, sought to bring in a type of order, and they had always been sensitive to nature and need some kind of order for the blessing they and the fairies of Tarm were to bestow onto our people." He thought for another moment about her last question.
"Well if you are from horon then any mystic could find out your blessing, this would give you an idea of what kind of talents or skills you might have. Though I supposed for someone lacking a blessing, while difficult, could always try to join our people. I have not seen it myself but I have heard of outsiders joining us and gaining some form of blessing."
He shrugged then went on.
"In any case There is little of a social ladder, while the Mystics guide us they are not rulers exactly. Most leaders of towns are of the summer caste, though again I have seen some people of other Castes running towns large and small. So I suppose if you wanted to be someone important you would have to make a name for yourself. I have earned a reputation as a swordsman, others are known for growing food better than others, some of the winter gets famous for their inventions. Of course a simple way would to gather large sums of rupees as rupees could be used to fund or buy a lot of things. Or if you were inclined you could even devote yourself to nature and the balance of peace and train to become a Mystic. As I said people have options, the only limits are those that they themselves put infront of them."
Again he had been talking for some time and he looked up at the sky. If he was right they would reach the village sometime after dawn.

[gaiachild]

Nebuzia
The disguised fairy had to sneer scornfully at the mention of the goddess and the inevitable fall of undisciplined power. Fortunately her companion was looking skywards at that moment.

The loathing of beings more powerful than her aside, he did provide her much to think about. Religion. Dark fairies didn’t think much about gods, aside from envy and discomfort. With mortals however, it would make sense for them to cower at the heels of superior being, as they damn well should. She’d entertain the notion of proclaiming herself a goddess, but that would be far to bothersome, and she didn’t want to incur any real god’s wrath. Well, at least her understanding of mortal society was clearer now. They weren’t powerful or daring enough to make nature serve them, so instead they copied nature and followed superior beings. She could work with that.

And speaking of superior beings:
“What are fairies? Or Tarm? It sounds so… alien.” She laced her words with an undertone of fright and discomfort, once again going with the damsel angle. If it worked, well, she was always happy to turn mortals against the Tarm trash.

[niveksirrah]

Rintaro Umeda

It was a minute before she spoke again, the fear in her voice was strange to him, first due to why anyone would see fairies as scary and the other due to those being the first emotions she had expressed. May be talking about home had triggered something and some of her was coming back? Anyway, he felt he should lay her fears to rest. So with another warm smile he spoke to her.
"Fear not young one, the fairies are close friends without people and have both helped and guided us in the ways of magic and the world for generations. In fact in the great city of Horon you might even see some of the smaller ones flying about, small multi-colored glowing balls of light zipping through the air. It is a beautiful sight to behold. Fairies have always been drawn to me from a young age, I have no idea why but perhaps it was a gift left behind by my late parents."
He took a moment and drew one of his blades, letting the moonlight shine over the fairy script.
"In fact they help in the making of the summer castes weapons, special blades that bond with the user, changing shape over the years to reflect the wielder."
Most blades are of a silver color, or have a silver blade with a black flat back. His blade however was inverted, having a black edge and a silver flat back.
"Everything from the size, length, weight and even color reflects the soul of the one it's bonded with." ​He smiled down at the blade of his before going on.
"The fairies of Tarm, Tarm being the Forest in the north that they come from, are beautiful and powerful, and we are lucky to have them as such close friends. Either one of us would gladly rush to the aid of the other. Though I have heard tales of fairies that are not so kind to others, but those are more then likely just tales used to scare children into listing to their parents."