Companions' Journey (Fantasy RP) (Closed/Dead)

[Blasphemous Rex]

Spoiler: OOC

Unfortunately, I'll not be on too often the next few days. Finals next week and family over for my brother's graduation.

Prudence ate the meal very slowly, ocasionaly giving a piece of bread to Sue, whom happily ate it. Durkon was watching her, and knew that he needed to talk to the girl as soon as possible, but with Kadence in the same house they couldn't talk in private.

"So how did you two sleep," Durkon ask to break the tension.

"Fine, fine," Pru responded, pulling them back into the awkward moment.

 

[RBMidknight]

Kadence nodded as she finished her toast and then gave some of her bacon to her partner, who had finished his meal in all of five minutes. When the two of them had finished all that was on her plate Kadence sat in the silence that had befallen the room. After a minute of silence she felt a wave of impatience from the wolf. She looked down as Garret stood and walked over to the doorway to sit down next to it. The wolf looked at her silently.

Kadence tilted her head and listened to the low hum of conversation from the people outside. But she couldn't hear anything specific. Not that sounded important. Here and there a person laughed, someone yelled, and a child cried. Kadence shrugged lightly and looked over at Pru and Durkon as she addressed them both.

"It was nice meeting you two," she said, "and thank you for the meals, sir. But it looks like we are going to go check out the celebration for a bit." She smiled slightly as she stood and stepped away from the table. "Maybe we'll see...one of you later?" Kadence suggested.

 

[Baldrek]

After finishing the meal, and paying the innkeeper for it, Lev and Tatiana walked into the streets. There was cheering and dancing all around, with minstrels and bards from the far corners of the kings realm showing up to sing and play their praises, and troupes of entertainers spreading merriment among the population. Lev sighed as he rubbed his temple, this was almost too much, he was tempted to return to the relative silence of the inn for a moment, but decided that he had to find this shop today, if only so that he could leave earlier the next morning, or whenever the shops opened up again. He took a moment to look down at Tatiana as they both walked through the streets towards the street where it looked like most of the shops were located, or at least he could make out a blacksmith, and saw that she was none to pleased.

Tatiana was constantly growling as she walked a little to his right, with her ears flat along her head, partly to show her displeasure and partly to muffle the music he concluded, and she was frequently roaring at people standing in the way of her and her way out of this noisy hell. "Now, Tatiana, behave!" Lev told her in a loud voice, as to try and communicate over the voices and music, as she had just attempted to swipe a young gentleman who had bumped into her while dancing. She looked up at her companion and roared loudly right at him, silencing the crowd around them for a moment before a minstrel could work up the guts to begin playing again.

"Yes, I know that you don't like crowds, but it's best if you don't try to harm any of them. We don't want a fine, or jail." He replied to her outburst as he started walking again, "We're soon there, and then we'll take a break before heading back to the inn."

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

"Oh I'll be staying in the house most of the celebrations," Durkon responded. "Please come by for a visit whenever you're in town. I'll make a meal for you." The old man got up and started collecting the plates.

"Maybe. It was nice meeting you." Prudence stood from the table as well. "Have a good time wherever you're going. I wish you luck." Sue echoed her partner's farewell.

 

[RBMidknight]

Kadence smiled as she replied to Durkon. "I'll be sure to do that." She walked to the door.

She waved and said goodbye a final time as she opened the door for her Companion. Garret bowed his head at Durkon and Pru and turned to walk through the open door to the outside. Kadence followed the wolf out and shut the door. The street they walked onto contained many people, adults and children of all ages. For a moment Kadence was disoriented.

Garret had no such problem. Now that they were outside the wolf had lost his impatience. He began to walk down the street at a leisurely pace. Kadence frowned and then shook her head in amusement before following her Companion. The wolf stopped moving so that she could catch up. Then together the two slowly made their way toward the center of the city.

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

"So I believe now we're alone," Durkon said, leading Prudence into the kitchen. "What's been going on? Why did you sleep here, my lady?"

"Oh Durkon. My father. He..." She started tearing up. "He disowned me, Durkon! He hates me and I can't go home or see my mother or read in the library or, or sleep in my own bed!" Prudence was full on crying now. Sue flew off her shoulder over to the counter.

"That's terrible! Humpf. How could he lose his only daughter? That man, I swear I never liked him from the moment I met him." He sighed and pulled her into a hug. "Honey, the best thing to do is to try your best to think nothing of it. Get out of the city. Go to one of the nearby towns and try to make life for yourself. I'll come to visit you every chance I get."

"Dear Durkon, you know I can't live outside of the walls of Gemmal! I couldn't survive without the familiar sights and sounds. If I leave, then I won't be able to live with myself." She hugged the old man tighter.

"Prudence, you can't stay here, you know that. You'll never stop thinking about home, and you'll never stop crying about it." He pulled her out and made eye contact. "If you can't live outside of Gemmal, then don't live anywhere. Go and travel around the countries, see nature, but please don't stay here. I'm sure Sue would enjoy it." The bird chirped in agreement.

"Al-alright, Durkon. I'll leave the the city in a few days. Thank you for your words." With tears in her eyes, she turned and left the smith's house. After walking for a few minutes, she found a bench to cry on in the center of town.

 

[RBMidknight]

Spoiler: GM Notice

[font color=Purple] After the announcement all shops will slowly be reopening for business. Inn rooms remain free of charge. The group/each group must talk to the city gate guards before attempting to leave the city.
[/font]

I could be dancing with a pretty maiden right now. Or having some ale at the tavern. But of course Father had to send me away on what he called an important 'mission'. I don't know what's so important about a letter. Nor do I see why I had to be the one to go. Cole's not too young to travel, no matter what Mother says.

Father did promise to explain everything to me when I get back. I suppose that is worth something.

And I'm glad he provided me with a map. The last time I visited Kenward I was just a boy. I wonder if Uncle will recognize me.

_-_-_---__---

Father's idiotic bird keeps interrupted my writing. The foul thing won't stay put. It keeps flying around my head and hooting and its starting to irritate me.

...I told my father that having Bernaht along was completely unnecessary.

Peryn Thoron, Journeyman Blacksmith

The crowd noise grew and grew into a dull roar as individual sounds blended into one another. Voices were raised to compensate for neighboring noise and the occasional shout pierced the air. Then suddenly, as one the trumpeters raised their instruments to sound a single clear loud note. The crowd noise died down and the king stepped forward. The forty five year old battle-hardened king was an imposing figure as he stood on the platform, with his dark hair and blue eyes and one hand resting lightly on the sword at his side. For a moment he remained still and looked out into the crowd. He looked at his subjects, his people. Then the king took his hand from his side and held it outstretched toward the seated row of advisers.

One of the advisers stood up and stepped forward. He placed a rolled piece of faded parchment into the king's outstretched hand, then quickly returned to his seat. The king cleared his throat and each guard immediately straightened up and stood at attention. The crowd went completely silent.

Lord Kelden unfurled the parchment and held the paper out in front of him. He looked down at the words to verify them. Then he raised his head and addressed the crowd in a low baritone voice that carried all the way to the back of the square.

My people, today is a great day. For today, I bring news of what may be the greatest historical discovery of our time.

Many months ago I came across a sealed envelope addressed to my great-grandfather, King Edward. The envelope contained a journal entry that my scholars determined was written by a well respected and knowledgeable citizen explorer. The letter documents his discovery of what is referred to as Ruins of a Great Temple.

The explorer wrote that he fell into a cave underneath a cavern while researching bat Companions. In this cave he found giant stone slabs with words written in a language he did not know and several large columns similar to those found on temples of his time. The document goes on to detail how he was only able to view a small area due to having limited visibility. But this man suspected that what he found was merely the entrance to something larger. Unfortunately he did not record the location of the Ruins and after climbing out of the cave he wrote that the earth shook and dirt fell to completely cover the hole into which he had fallen.

However, in light of this potential discovery I am declaring an official quest. These Ruins are proof of the World That Was. Evidence of the civilization that existed before our own. I task you, my people, with finding this historic evidence.

His declaration finished, the king lowered his hands and took his seat again. One of his advisers stepped forward to declare the terms of the quest. This man had a shorter piece of parchment from which he read in a crisp and clear but emotionless voice.

For the person or group that brings back valid information about the Ruins, each member will be rewarded 100 silver. Those who brings back the location of the Ruins and returns to the Ruins with a party of the King's choosing will be rewarded 100 gold and be bestowed a title by the king himself when the location is validated. An additional reward will be given if a group or person is able to bring back proof that they found the Ruins.

All persons or groups wishing to embark on this quest must sign and be registered at one of the guard stations at the city gates. These registration papers must then be shown at the main gate of each city or town that is visited during the quest.

The trumpets sounded another single clear note, indicating that the announcement was over and the quest had begun. For a moment, no one moved. No one seemed to even breathe. Then the crowd of people began to react.

Excited boys turned to their fathers. Worried mothers cast anxious glances at their daughters. Some people saw the riches. Some people saw the adventure. Some people saw an escape. Very very few people saw the truth. And those people were afraid.

 

[RBMidknight]

Kadence grinned excitedly as the king's adviser finished reciting the quest terms. Here was something new and different that she could do. Well, she paused to revise her own internal statement. The traveling wasn't anything new, but the potential of finding some thing so important...and the money that she could get for her family. Kadence paused yet again to marvel at the amount of reward money that was being offered. That's almost enough money for Mother to buy the tavern she works at. Kadence laughed softly to herself. Her mother would never ever consider such a thing because that particular establishment was family-owned by one of their neighbors but still...

As a courier Kadence had been to many towns and cities. But not every place in the kingdom was civilized. She thought about the potential danger the quest would entail only for an instant. Garret, however, was anxious, and bumped into his partner's side. Kadence frowned as his worry filtered through their bond. She was excited and the rush of emotion was confusing her Companion.

Kadence started to walk away from the crowd and Garret instinctively followed her. As they traveled down one of the side streets she carefully tried to explain what the quest entailed to him. By the time they arrived at the main street of stores the wolf understood that Kadence wanted to search for something, the king leader had requested the search, and if she succeeded her and her family would be given gifts. Kadence laughed when Garret's equivalent for gifts was an image of one of the huge rare steaks her father liked to feed the wolf back home on special occasions.

Kadence and her Companion entered the tailor's shop. While his partner shopped for spare clothes to travel with, Garret's worry decreased to the normal level associated with his protective nature.

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

It took some persuasion from Sue, but she got her companion to listen to the king's announcement. "A, quest?" Pru wondered as the adviser was detailing the reward. "Maybe if I do this, father won't be mad at me anymore!" Her excitement was cut short by a glare from the bird. "You're right, Sue. He'll never take me back after what I did to Bishop, but I hope he forgives me for it. I never meant to get anyone hurt." She got out of the bench and brushed off her pants.

Prudence walked down the street, slower then most other people heading in that direction, and looked around as the shops were beginning to open. The tailor? she thought, for she only had the one thing to wear. If I'm going to leave the city as Durkon told me, then I'll need to get supplies. The girl felt for her coin purse and found it inside her pants on the left side. She pulled it out and noticed there was quite a few silver and even a few gold. Crap, I didn't return the money I borrowed from father! This only makes it worse.

With hate for herself, Pru opened up the door the the tailor and saw Kadence over to her left. Her again? I wasn't expecting to see that girl again so soon or even ever. I bet she's going on that fool's quest to find the secret temple. Humpf. The king must not be thinking straight, believing that rubbish. Then again, I would like too have some company other then Sue for once. Shyly, she approached Kadence. "Hello, again. I don't suppose you're going on that treasure hunt?"

 

[Blights]

Both Styru and Nathan woke up, Nathan grabbed his gear and they went outside to listen to a message from the king. "Yo, you okay now?" Nathan said to Styru, the Jaguar had a scar running across his head. "Sorry..."

After the announcement was finished, they both left the busy part of the town.

"We need to do this quest, I need money for the both of us, and we can still get Nick a cure or treatment or... something." Nathan shook his head. They walked on to the armoury.

"You need somethin' special or just plain steel, I got it all." The blacksmith grunted at him, Nathan took off his jacket and placed it on the counter, the Hardened Leather was falling apart and the metal underpart was shattered.

"Can you repair that? I have the broken parts all here" Nathan said, he took a bag out of his satchel and poured it onto the table. Numerous bits of leather and metal fell from it.

"Yeah, sure. That will be 10 copper as you have the stuff here n' all." The blacksmith explained. Nathan chucked it onto the table and began to walk out as the Blacksmith said "It'll be ready in about an hour!" Styru followed.

New undershirts, this one is getting old.

He headed to the tailor where two people were greeting each other, he ignored them as he looked around the shop. He suddenly bumped into someone. "Uh, sorry, Are you OK?"

 

[RBMidknight]

Kadence looked up from the shirt she was eying critically. Placing the garment back on the shelf she turned to smile at Pru.

"Hello there. I am in fact, going on the quest. It sounded like it may be fun and my family could use the me-uh-reward that's being offered." Kadence looked curiously at the girl. "Are you going?" she asked. Garret walked over and sat down at her side.

 

[BloodyThoughts]

Sam made it out just in time to hear what the king had to say. He listened closely; to make sure he heard everything. He smiled at the mention of this quest. It meant he was going to be able to return to the forests, and even become nomadic. Of course, the 100 silver wouldn't be so bad either.

"A quest? Ill be leaving this city huh?" Sam said to himself, he looked up at Echo who was perched on his shoulder staring directly ahead of him. "So Echo, you want to go on an adventure?" Echo looked at Sam for a few seconds before nodding his head. "Alright, whatever you want."

There was dead silence between the two. Sam had been thinking about this adventure of sorts. I have always been able to survive on my own. But for some reason, I feel as if going at it alone without any aid would be a mistake.... He kept thinking about it, I might need some people to help...I don't like the idea though.... And neither will Echo. Sam looked at Echo again. He stared at him for a minute or so before finally speaking again, "Echo, you might not like this, but we are probably going to need some help on this quest, or we might die." Echo looked at Sam curiously, then with a dreadful stare, "I knew you wouldn't like it, but it might be the only choice we have. We have no idea what the hell is going to be out there. We've never been to these ruins nor have we ever heard of them."

Echo kept staring at Sam with that dreadful stare. He really didn't like the idea. Sam could tell cause he kept snapping his beak, fluffing his feathers worryingly, and he tightened the grip of his feet on Sam's shoulder. "Ow! Echo, please stop doing that, you keep cutting deep into my skin." Sam ordered. He did so, loosening his grip. Not a whole lot but to the point where it didn't hurt Sam.

Depending on how long this would take, Sam would probably need new clothes. His deerskin jacket, as comfy and warm as they were, was not going to do the job. He looked around for the tailor. When he found the shop, he sprinted for it. He opened the door and walked in. He saw a person bump into someone else. Should I ask him, or look for someone else?

 

[RBMidknight]

The middle-aged man that Nathan bumped into turned with a scowl that faded at the apology. "I'm alright. You should be careful where you walk." he advised. There were a lot of people in the shop, and some collisions were to be expected. The source of the man's concern was the small boy in front of him who was holding up a large shirt for appraisal. The man turned away from Nathan and smiled down at the boy as he took the shirt and thanked his son for his help.

 

[Lambi]

Zestia stood there and was taking in the announcements.

So, a quest to find some Ruins. And there is money as a reward for either just information on the Ruins or the location of them. Sounds interesting. But I can't go alone. I wonder if I can find some other people here that are going...

Shade rested on her shoulders and watched the crowd. Landon stood beside them.
"I don't think I'll be able to go on this quest. There is far too much work for me here in Gemmel. I trust you to be able to go." he said.
"Yes, Father. But I'll need other people to help me. No matter how useful these daggers are, there is always strength in numbers."
"You are correct. Now go out there and find some people." Landon patted her back, then went back home and left Zestia and Shade there all alone in the crowd.

Zestia walked around, looking at the other people. Some were excited, others didn't seem to be interested, and a few others were simply afraid for some reason. She kept walking.

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

Spoiler: OOC

Why the hell did we arbitrarily decide the tailor was our meeting place?

"Pfff. There isn't any ruin. The King must not be well to listen to this long since dead man's cries for attention." Sue looked glaringly at her. "But, I really must get out of this forsaken city before--... and Sue here hasn't left for far too long a time, either." The bird whistled. "I just need to leave, and this is my excuse to myself."

 

[Pandalisk]

a quest? Viktorya sat in the Tavern, listening to the commotion the earlier speech had caused, Viktorya had not been to the speech itself, oversleeping in the Inn and drinking in the Tavern while the Speech played out, After all she wasn't here for his speech, meerly the Festivities and errands.

But what people had shouted, laughed and ranted about while they drank away their misbegotten lives intrigued her, some ruins in some far flung corner of the empire did not matter to her, what mattered was the 100 Gold coins up for grabs, imagine what her family could do with that money? imagine what she could do with that money, her own house, her own land, even her own Smithy.

The bear yawned, it obviously didn't give a damn about any quest, but this could set them for life. She took a swig of ale before returning to the her thoughts.

But how to find these ruins? where to start? what of supplies? would she need to employ others in this quest? employing means sharing the profits, could she do that?

Her thoughts began to pile upon her with little answers coming to light, she banished them to the far corners of her mind with another swig of Ale. Was it really all worth the hassle?, perhaps she could Hire herself out as a mercenary to one of the questers, surley a blacksmith and a Bear would be of use to someone.

She took another swig of Ale and sighed.

 

[Baldrek]

Lev walked away from the city center, with Tatiana following behind him, still in a foul mood due to a series of annoyances and the damned heat in this city. Luckily for them both, the place they were headed weren't crowded with the adventurous and greedy just yet, seemed like medical supplies weren't high on their list, the fools, not even once thinking of the possibility of getting hurt. A good lot of people would get hurt, or worse during this, of that he was certain.

The door to the apothecary creaked slightly as he pushed it open, and the familiar warm smell of herbs and medicine enveloped him as he walked into the way too warm corner store, making him feel right at home, and making Tatiana sneeze once or twice.

"Greetings, sir. And how may I be of service today?" An elderly, nearly bald, gentleman with a great gray mustache and wearing a leather apron said from behind the counter, where numerous jars and bottles in brown glass littered the shelves behind him.

Lev procured a list from his satchel while Tatiana seemed mildly interested in a mounted fox in the window, softly bumping it with her paw to check if it was alive. Lev handed the old man the list of medicines he needed, "I need all of this, and some extra bandages, rubbing alcohol, thread, and two empty jars."

The man nodded as he surveyed the list, "Will that be all, sir?"

Lev nodded back to him, "Yes, I would appreciate it if you could have it ready within the hour. I have a few other small errands to run as well."

He old man stroked his mustache a little, "I'll see what can be done, some of this is quite uncommon, might take a while to get it out of storage." He smiled, "But I think one hour should be enough."

"Thank you. Come Tatiana, we need to get moving." He told her as she had nearly toppled the window display in her attempt to ascertain it's aliveness, being convinced by the old mans taxidermy skill, but not entirely convinced by the fact that it was standing it's ground against her paws. But she none the less followed Lev out of the shop, and back into the noisy, crowded streets, laying her ears flat against her head again.

"Bear it, we're soon finished, we just need some other supplies." He told her as they walked over to a tailors shop, and she looked sceptically at him, growling in a slightly questioningly manner.

"Yes, we need something here. Change of plans, we're going on a trip." He told her as he opened the door, letting both himself and his companion into the, now way too crowded, shop.

 

[RBMidknight]

"Ah." Kadence nodded and recalled the bird's request for a forest. "Well," She pointed back to the shelf she'd put the shirt down on. "I wasn't planning on staying in the city for very long so I've got to buy some items to prepare for the trip. After I'm done with that we" she gestured to her Companion and then herself, "were going to see if any of the Guards I know have taken time off to go questing. After all of that, I figure we'd head out of the city."

Kadence paused and looked at Pru. "Would you...want to come with us?" she asked. Then added hastily "You wouldn't have to travel the entire way, if you don't want to...maybe for a little while? I'm sure we'll be going through several forests." She grinned.

 

[Blasphemous Rex]

"Really?" Sue happily chirped. "Well she seems to want to. You wouldn't mind? I mean, you don't have to ask if you truthfully don't want me to come along."

 

[RBMidknight]

Kadence tilted her head slightly. "I wouldn't mind at all." She reassured the girl. Debating on whether or not she could refer to Pru as a 'friend', Kadence went with her minor reason for wanting the company, "Having another female along would be nice, most of the Guards I know are male."

Although now that I think about it... Kadence made a mental note to check with the one non-male guard she knew in the city. Perhaps we'll end up being an all-female band of travelers. She chuckled to herself and as Garret bumped into her side she amended her statement. ...with one male Companion.

"It would be nice to have someone to talk to." she finished.