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 | Posted On: 08/25/2010 At: 11:39:43 AM |
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It has been 15 years now since the Serpentine Cult captured their so called chosen one who would bear the child that was prophesized. The cult's leader Malebolgia finally having met his end at the hands of the infection that grew within his body, but the war wa still far from over. The crusaders have gained major ground in the conflict and have the Serpentine cult on the brink of collapse. The cult's prized fortress had been stormed and taken over but no sign of the girl had been found inside. Now the remnants of the cult turn to secrecy and dwelling in the darkness, to plot their revenge and to take back their foothold of power. Rumors also now roam the land that a child was born from the girl the serpentines took and will be the one who will lead them back to power could it be true? Will the Serpentines regain their lost throne over the land? Or will the Crusaders finally make the cult face it's end as it's leader did?
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| Posted On: 08/25/2010 At: 11:53:15 AM | | | Reply Link |
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-Mephisto-
A small number of black armored individuals on horseback make for a rapid pace to their destination, the ruins in the distance ahead of them being what they sought. The ruins of the once tall and imposing Serpentine stronghold had not weathered well in the 15 years since it's destruction. The horses finally slow to a halt as their rider's dismount, all of them keeping their hands on the hilts of their swords. Mephisto slowly pulling the hood of the black cloak he wore over his armor slowly takes in the sight, he had never been here, so this was a treat. The surviving Serpentines while great in number where slowly being found and killed by the crusaders depsite the death of his father the war still raged on. The sound of his boot stepping on something that wasn't ground causes him to look down, the tatterd and torn flag bearing the cult's snake causes him to stop in his tracks.
A thought enter's his mind as it had been since he could remember, despite having been told exactly who his father was and what he tried to do; he frankly had to admit he didn't think he understood him at all. His father after the ceremony was completed sent their prophesized mother away along with a numer of soldiers to protect her, it was not known if this was hindsight of what was soon coming to the cult, or if he was as it had been witnessed paranoid. The group continues moving along the ruins of the fortress, Mephisto and the others make their way into what was the Serpentines private burial grounds, the graves still bearing the black armored helms of the soldiers buried there. He was looking for this one grave in particular. Mere minutes pass before their searching eyes see what they looking for, this grave bearing a horned helmet and a more elaborate carving of the cult's symbol.
The other Serpentines drop to one knee then rise again showing respect to the fallen founder and leader of the cult, Mephisto's eyes reading the inscription on the headstone. "Here Lies Malebolgia Our Leader and The Man Who Showed Us The True Path". The infection as Mephisto had been told took his father way before his due time but never the less, he had accomplished his task, and his vision and cause lived on through him and the surviving members of the serpentines. Mephisto turning his head from the headstone of his Father looked at the few followers with him, "Our time of hiding is done with, we start reclaiming what was ours".
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[ Edited by: Dark Deciple on 08/25/2010 4:01:50 PM ] |
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Tahlean
Torturess for Hire
The world had changed in the last 15 years. One could argue that the world was always changing, which is true, but the status quo had shifted. The once powerful Serpentine cult was now an underground group of renegades, clinging to their past, while the Crusaders worked on wiping them out for good. The Mord-Sith were still around, still strong in their art. They were a secret society, not open or accountable to whatever governments that rise and fall. They stood apart.
One Mord-Sith got involved once. Her name was Nyda, a strong powerful woman, who's interest in the Serpentine/Crusader war got her killed some time after the Serpentine leader fell. Tahlean was just a child at the time, but the story was told as a warning tale. Don't get involved. Sell your art, not your loyalty.
Tahlean was a full torturess now, traveling from place to place, kingdom to kingdom, getting information from people at a high price. She may be expensive, but a Mord-Sith never fails.
The young, blond haired, blue eyed woman rode down a well traveled road on a large bay gelding. Her body was encased in her red leather armor, which announced her profession. People crossed on the other side of the street when they saw her coming. Tahlean smiled at them. Their fear was what she lived for.
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Salem Gabrael
Big, shaggy, long-haired horses. Yup, that's what the Gabrael Order was riding at the moment. No fear-inducing or awe-inspiring racing horses or mighty warhorses, nope, the last of their money only got them these big cart horses. Alot of good they did, though they could travel far, they weren't too fast and Salem preferred something that could help him get away at a high rate of speed. Agmar kept insisting that they would be fine, but Salem didn't want to rely on huge cart-pullers if the Crusaders decided to try running them down with a cavalry regiment or if the Serpentines tried the same thing. Mostly though, Salem just wanted to get away from a situation where the two groups might get to fighting in the open. That was a situation the young rogue really wanted to avoid with any type of quickness.
The streets weren't crowded here, they never were in these country towns, and that was the way Agmar preferred it. Salem couldn't disagree the discretion part of it, but he preferred the presence of beautiful ladies in the places he went. Granted the country had its various hidden treasures, there was nothing like city girls. The thought broke off as he noticed, with equal yet totally different interest as Agmar, a blond woman riding in the opposing direction of them. People moved aside for her, causing much more traffic for the pair as they attempted to travel toward some unseen destination. Salem looked at Agmar, who shook his head, sternly disagreeing with the idea he knew Salem had in his head. Yet Salem wasn't much for other people's opinions, so he veered his horse toward her, Agmar following with an exhasperated look on his face hidden well beneath the red hood of his cloak. He had long since given up the armor and cloak of a Cultist for something more traditional amongst his ancestors.
"G'day m'lady," Salem said, turning his rather shabby-appearing mount in her direction of travel. "A woman of your...appearance...may find it unsafe to travel these roads alone. Perhaps my strapping colleague and I could offer you some protection on these bandit-ridden paths. Before you ask, do not fear for we work for a relatively low fee, as our desire to travel the countryside overrides our desire for material wealth." Salem grinned, rubbing at his eye patch habitually as he was reminded of the constant need to avoid both sides of that stupid holy war. "So, m'lady, what say you? Perhaps a regailing of our many deeds as guards of people and goods, or my friend's resume as a Serpentine warrior - that was many years ago, mind you, he left after the leader died - could assist in your judgement over hiring us?"
Agmar sighed, he hated Salem revealing that he was a cultist at one point in his life - biggest mistake he'd ever made, but there was nothing to do. Sometimes people preferred Soldiers to plain old hired men, there was something about a retired soldiering man that put people's minds at ease. Still, he didn't find it necessary to be brought up every time Salem thought he could get a job protecting a pretty girl. It was work, he supposed, but that didn't mean he would force himself to enjoy it. It wasn't as if one could get a farm and live a quiet life nowadays, between the Cult and the Crusaders a peaceful existence was nigh impossible. He could only hope that it would happen one day, hopefully soon.
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Tahlean
Torturess for Hire
The tall, dangerous woman looked amused as the man on the shaggy horse rode up beside her. He obviously had no idea who or what she was. Tahlean pulled her horse to a halt, patting his thick neck as he tossed his head, unhappy about stopping. Tahlean turned in her saddle, facing the young man. And young he was, the boy looked easily in his late teens. She looked him over, her chilling blue gaze moving over his figure. The horse may have been shabby but the young man was anything but. She took in his form, her lips quirking in a devious smirk. She imagined what he'd look like strung up on a hook, shirtless and bleeding.
Tahlean met his eyes, or eye rather. "I assure you, a woman of my appearance needs no assistance in the way of protection. Your friend may have been a soldier back in the day, but I am Mord-Sith." She touched the hilt of her Ageil lightly, as if in warning. Tahlean glanced over the two men again, going over what he said about being a Serpentine. "However, if you have need of someone of my talents, I would be glad to assist." She chuckled, "But my fee is much larger than yours. Unless, of course, you offer yourself in payment." Her eyes flicked over his body once more, ideas of breaking him flashing through her minds-eye.
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| Posted On: 08/25/2010 At: 10:58:43 PM | | | Reply Link |
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-Mephisto-
Takes one last fleeting look at his father's grave then kicks his mount and the small black armored clad group gallops off, taking on a fast pace as they wanted to avoid detection by anyone. Hours passed as they reached the cavernous mountains, before they entered the hidden location of the cult's stronghold they stopped waiting watching the horizon to see if anyone followed them. Seeing no one they turn their mounts face forward and enter the hidden path leading to the Serpentine's home, only mere moments pass before numerous similairly black clad men appear above them, their bows lowered as they see the ones coming in where their own. The mouth of the cave was just as well guarded three guards on either side of the entrance. The black and red snake bearing flag of hte cult hanging all around the insides of the cave as Mephisto made his way inside. Inside the numerous survivng Serpentines went about their daily tasks, torches lit the many passages within, taking one passage in particular he makes his way through the cave.
The fellow cult members bowing their heads in respect to their leader, many of them he'd heard say that it was like Malebolgia never left with how Mephisto was running the cult. Mephisto made his way into the huge central chamber that served as the new throne room and meeting ground for the surviving cult's leaders. "Assemble the council it is time to begin our plans of redemption". A short bow of the head anwers his command and a bell is rung echoing all through the cave system the cult now inhabited.
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| Posted On: 08/26/2010 At: 05:55:14 AM | | | Reply Link |
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Salem Gabrael
Yeah, so Agmar flinched behind him - never a good sign, but Salem had a few fears greater than a girl with a stick. You could say it was a family thing, the lack of fear of an Ageil striking their skin. Pain was something they were accustomed to, but Salem's eye ached when she said those two friggin' words. "Mord-Sith," Salem spat on the ground, touching his eye once, cordial mood hardly forgotten. "I bid you a well fair on your journey and hope your skills don't get any more people's fathers murdered." His smile was bright and filled with the sharp teeth of his father. "And do watch that stick of your's, you could put an eye out." Salem chuckled, looking at Agmar who was quite far more anxious to be away, much less polite. Yet he did what he always did, the old cultist pulled between the horses, guiding Salem away.
"You'll find forgiveness hard for the child," his voice was baritone and a bit older than his body indicated. "He was raised by a village peasant with the delusions that he was the child of the Serpentine General Gabrael, so he's a bit pompous." Agmar growled, looking at Salem with a finite sort of rage in his eyes. "Now, Mord-Sith, I think we will take our leave of you, lest you be heading anywhere the Crusaders and Remnants aren't. Then you'd be heading our way, which is actually that way." Agmar pointed, cloak sleeve falling loose to reveal the marble complexion of a man trained in pure darkness. He wheeled his horse around, grabbing Salem and forcing a turn of his own before the pair set off down the other direction.
"You'll get us killed, Jasper Jr," Agmar growled again, pulling the boy's reigns to get him moving. "You may mistake that look for desire, but she was far more interested in torturing your pathetic skin than anything. Now, get your hind quarters down the road before she changes her mind. We don't need one of her kind anywhere near us."
"So why'd you tell her the direction we were going?" Salem asked curtly.
"In case I need someone to teach you manners, boy," Agmar said, whipping his hand with the length of his reigns. "I may not be inclined to hit the Late Lord's Son, but she didn't seem to flinch at the thought." Agmar sighed, adjusting his sword on his saddle so he could draw it better. Forget comfort, he was all functionality. Practicality over fashion and comfort - that was his motto. "Now, let's get down the road before people change their mind about not using the road."
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| Posted On: 08/26/2010 At: 09:27:58 AM | | | Reply Link |
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Tahlean
Torturess for Hire
Tahlean cocked her head in interest as she watched the younger man and his guardian. The older man, who seemed to be just a few years her senior, was smarter than the cocky little boy, and quickly drug him off after telling her the Crusaders were ahead. The Crusaders were good for business more than these two knew, often hiring her kind in order to get information from captured Serpentine. Those cult members were too tough for the Crusaders to break, but small cheese for a woman of Tahlean's talents. However, the words of the boy bothered her slightly, especially the bit about him being the son of Jasper Gabrael.
Tahlean wheeled her large war-horse around and pushed him into a steady lope. It only took a few strides for her powerful mount to catch up with the pair and then she slowed him down to their pace, stroking his thick neck as he tossed his head impatiently. He hated all this start stop nonsense. He snaked his head in order to bite the crest of one of the shaggy horses, but Tahlean held firm on his reins and kept him from being able to reach.
"Nyda did not kill Jasper Gabrael," she said, her blond hair moving slightly in the wind. "His death was his own as was hers." Tahlean eyed the two men more carefully now, her gaze turning more towards the older companion. "You know, I can fix pompous and for a chance to caress your young ward, I'd gladly do it for free."
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| Posted On: 08/26/2010 At: 09:58:38 AM | | | Reply Link |
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-Mephisto-
Inside the main cavern of the cave the preparations where made and the council of the leading Serpentines was dismissed. The bell rung again through the caverns but it rang three specific times giving a diffrent signal to all those inside. The sound of swords being sheathed and armor being put on now ring through the air of the caves, two whole companies of Serpentine troops now leave the cave and stand at attention outside of it. Mephisto sheathes a sword that looked almost exactly like the one that was buried with the fallen Serpentine lord Malebolgia. The snake's head with its open fanged mouth at the tip of the hilt, lowers the burned black steel helmet over his face as he makes his way outside. The leading officer of each of the two companies shouts the order for attention causing them all to snap into tight formation, Mephisto mounts his horse as he looks over his fellow breathren. "My breathren we have suffered hard the last 15 years, the loss of my father and our beloved leader. Now it is time to make the crusaders pay for what they did to us. Now is our time to regain our foothold of power throughout the land.". The mass of black armor now moves out of the mountains heading toward their destination.
Hours pass as the Serpentines made their way to a hillside over looking a crusader camp, Mephisto knods his head causing three Serpentines to ride off to scout out the surrounding area. He was here to make a statement and show the crusaders they did not have him and his men on the run as much as they believed. An hour passed before the scouts returned and relayed their observations. The two companies now seperate moving in the darkness they had dwelled in for the last decade and a half. The crusaders sat around their fire, their guards not paying the slightest attention around them. Mephisto drew his sword then knodded to his second in command, a loud horn is blown signaling the other company to descend. Chrages forward raising his sword high as he and the other Serpentines charge right into the Crusader camp, "DIE". Screams his wish at the crusaders as he went into the camp, his sword sinking it's way through a crusaders back who tried to run. Pulls the now dripping with red blood blade out of hte body as he kicked his mount moving more into the camp.
The battled continued on, the blades of the Serpentines clashing against those of hte crusader's for the numerous time. Charges right for another crusader and slashes the blade in an arc downward sending the man into the fire behind him. The fire now catches onto the surrounding tents from the burning corpse. A large billow of smoke now rose into the sky accompanied by the sounds of swords against swords and shields.
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[ Edited by: Dark Deciple on 08/29/2010 3:13:13 PM ] |
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Salem Gabrael
Agmar chuckled lightly, a sour turn to the expression as he looked at Salem, his horse plodding along next to its shaggy twin. "I'm not entirely sure you could fix the pompous vein that blights his personality," Agmar said flatly. "As for caressing, I don't care what happens after we make camp, shack up, or whatever we're doing for that specific night. When that line draws itself, I'm deaf and blind to anything that occurs." Agmar pretty much ended it on that, riding on with a relatively silent look to him. He didn't like the situation Salem had seemingly gotten them into, but he was going to deal with it. That's just how he was. Salem had a better time with dealing with it than his older companion.
"Surely you're more welcome to join us than Agmar's simple hospitality makes it out," Salem said. Did these guys even make any sense? They didn't seem to need it, they were a pair of rather loose ends in a rather large war that had been raging a lot longer than the pair of them had been alive. It wasn't really a good survival tool, making sense, after all you couldn't be caught if nobody could think like you. Nobody would lay a trap for someone that wouldn't respond in a more rational and average manner. It was in this random area that the pair excelled, but they were canned in everything else. "So, madam, are you planning on continuing your trip with us or are you off on some other grand adventure?"
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| Posted On: 11/30/2010 At: 11:39:05 PM | | | Reply Link |
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Æswyn (Ashwyn)
From inside her tent, the priestess could hear a terrible ruckus. The screams of battle. The clashing of swords. The anger of the elements around her. Fire had come. She felt him call to her as flames shot up the sides of her fabric shelter.
“What an odd predicament, I wonder whose causing this unnecessary fuss?” She pondered carefully as the canvas walls burned around her. The elements could not hurt her, a nymph of Isline. Of course, the attacker didn’t know that the foul crusaders had chained her with a curse to the man with her moonstone pendant, but that was besides the point. What was truly important in this situation, was if something was causing a disruption then perhaps she could find the captain Aiden and steal back her freedom.
To save her from the heat of the flames, now rising high above her, the petite figure dressed herself in water. The slightly translucent gown was one of her favourites to wear. Especially in front of visitors. She let the element spill across her body, spiralling around her body into a scandalous court gown. Water dripped from the hem, and the areas around her undergarments frosted over for a sense of modesty. As a forest creature she was unamused by the human need to be kept from view. However as a humanoid she understood that humans were idiots and didn’t like those who didn’t conform. The womans soft hazel eyes reflected the forest, and her deep brown hair floated on a non-existent breeze as she stood, waiting for her presence to become known.
Finally there was nothing left of the walls of the tent and a slightly horrifying sight met her eyes. Death. So much death. Mother earth was screaming in joy. She could feel it ripple through her bones as the life-giving blood of man dripped down onto the ground. Their bodies would rot here. And next spring the grass would consume whatever was left from the wild animals. They would return to nature, as was their right. At nearly four hundred years old, Æswyn was uncertain if she would ever even reach full maturity. Her kind was long-lived, but procreated very slowly. A pregnant Nymph could hold the baby for decades.
A warrior in black flew at her, sword high above and ready to strike. As it came swooping down she let the sword pass through her skin. As the weapon sliced, her body parted like the mythical seas of human legends long past. It reformed quickly and the warrior rode on. She hoped, with the cheekiness of a kitten, that he was thoroughly dumbfounded. One did not mess with an elemental creature and ride away unnaturally scared. Mortal creatures always feared what they could not have. She had Immortality.
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[ Edited by: Arrogance 101 on 11/30/2010 11:41:15 PM ] |
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| Don't frown even when you're sad, because you never know who's falling in love with your smile. |
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| Posted On: 12/01/2010 At: 01:31:30 AM | | | Reply Link |
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-Mephisto-
Wheels his mount about face as he turns, the eyes buried deep within the steel of the helmet surveying the damage. One of his mounted troops took a swing with his blade at one female. But this female didn't fall like she should have, turns his attention back to the battle at hand, the fool must have missed her more than likely. The sound of swords clashing now slows and after a bit longer goes silent. The victorious surviving number of the Serpentines now stand sinking their blades into the crusdaers who still lived, daylight began to creep upon the horizon. Mephisto took a brief look at it before he signaled to the second in command who raised the same horn to his lips an blew out a diffrent call. This one signaling the troops to re-mount and leave the area, but three don't return as they begin to burn with the logs of the still raging fire the great snake symbol of the cult into the ground of the now desecrated camp.
Mephisto kicked his mount again causing the animal to increase it's speed, the following mass of black armor staying in formation behind him as they headed back to the caves. Dismounts handing over his horse to the waiting guard making his way into the council chambers, he'd made a statement but he wanted to leave a message for the crusaders attacking a town would come next, not to mention they needed the supplies they could loot from there. Makes his way into his own private cavern within the cave, two searvants now help him remove his armor and don a black tunic. Another council meeting awaited him tommorow, after the searvants left he sat down on the wood like throne in the room and opened a leather bound book.
Inside the caves the numerous surviving Serpentines begin to rebuild their weapons and armor, the raging sound of the blacksmiths hammers ring through the passage ways. Outside the cave the small number of guards sort through a number of girls captured from a caravan earlier in the night, laughing and jests echo around the fire pit at the entrance. Despite the cult's great defeat 15 years ago it was showing now more than ever that death hadn't taken them all yet.
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[ Edited by: Dark Deciple on 12/01/2010 4:06:43 PM ] |
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| Never Let It Go |
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