Quarreling Hearts [Flashback]

Subject: Quarreling Hearts [Flashback] Sat May 22, 2010 2:39 am

One thing about being a mercenary is that when there aren't many fun conflicts taking place, you have to settle for less eventful jobs like watching after a village and providing base security for them. Recently, the boys and I have been given such a job. We find ourselves taking a mission from one of the forest villages to serve as a sort of civil unrest deterrent. Apparently, a clash has broken out between the two primary heads of the village. The Village Elder has brought us in because the village's defense force is caught in the middle of all this and they are split against each other as well. The female in the couple is the spiritual leader and the male is the military leader and expected to become the secular head of the village after the elder passes on. The female is the daughter of the current village elder and beloved by the people for her shaman powers and blessings. The village elder seems to favor his daughter to lead because of her compassionate nature though he knows that the village will need his son in law's strength. The two of them have recently gotten into a huge fight and their quarrel threatens to split the village in two and stop the wedding from taking place. They have taken up residence in opposing sides of the village and it has become more difficult for the opposing sides to enter the other half of the village. The main library and temple are on the bride's side of the village, but the primary storehouses are on the groom's side of the village. The marketplace is in the center of town, so this quarrel is causing difficulty for business as well.

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Subject: Re: Quarreling Hearts [Flashback] Sat May 22, 2010 4:38 am

Upon entering the village, the mercenary leader of our group splits everyone up and sets up patrols strategically around the village's core conflict areas. He comes to me and asks me to speak with the groom. He tells someone else to speak with the bride and find out her side of the situation. This region is fairly peaceful, but this village does have an uneasy relationship with a neighboring village where no official peace has ever been declared during their half year long ceasefire. News of the internal strife could be just what is needed for the enemy to strike. I nod to our captain and head to the northern section of the village as requested. I would prefer to just teleport over there, but I have to walk to conceal my true nature. The guards at the lower "border" to the north side look at me suspiciously and I calmly tell them that if they want to keep their eyes in their heads, they should stop looking at me like that. They reach for their weapons, but find their throats griped by some unseen force. I ask them if they care to challenge me any further. They shake their heads as they look at me with fear and make no further gestures as I continue heading towards their leader's hut.

The military leader's hut is fairly large in size and upon reaching the front, his guards ask me to identify myself and I am tell them that I am with the people hired by the Elder to keep the peace here in their village. "Our Captain asked me to come and speak with your master. As you can see, I carry no weapons." They look me over and hearing the commotion outside of his hut, the leader tells them to let me through. They part and open the flaps and I thank them. Walking inside, his hut is pretty damn nice and spacious. He is meeting with a few of his captains and a couple of female attendants are in the room with them. I stand silent as I scan the surface thoughts of the female servants and one of them sheds light on his abusive nature of smacking her when she makes mistakes. The attendant in the middle seems to have thoughts of battle and protecting him from danger, so he either trains her or she spends a lot of her time tending to his needs when he is training or out at battle. When I scan the attendant nearest to him, I find thoughts of a recent sensual encounter between the two. For a moment I think that this is just a fantasy of hers until the memory becomes more vivid and shows how certain items in the room got their placement... or displacement rather. Looking around the room, this becomes interesting to me. So he is set to marry the Village Elder's daughter, but he's still bedding his servant. I look deeper into her thoughts and see that this has been an ongoing thing for years now. Interesting indeed. While he continues his discussion, I look around the hut silently.

Once he finishes, he turns to me and speaks, "Sorry about that. The defense of this village cannot wait, but I guess being a mercenary, you know all about that. I am Ryeme. While I don't like that the old man went to outside help for our matters, I am glad that you all are here. My betrothed can sure hold a grudge and she has gotten it into her head that I am having an affair, so that is not helping either." I look at him and return the introduction with one of my own, "It's good to meet you, Ryeme. I am called Tyrn. It's our hope to get this situation reconciled as quickly as possible. We understand that you have a neighbor that would like very much to capitalize off of this discord in your village. We're here to make sure that they fail miserably should make an attempt to do so. My captain wants me find out your side of the situation, but I feel I should give you a heads up about me, I am very good at telling when someone is lying to me. I'm here to help you get out of this situation as best as I can, but I need you to be honest with me. Fair?"

Ryeme nods to me and begins with his explanation of the situation, "The whole situation came about when one of my scouts told me that my betrothed had been quite friendly with the heir to the neighboring village. She and his younger sister became friends when the Elders had agreed to let the two meet and discuss trade between our villages. My scouts in the enemy village also tell me that the young heir has expressed feelings for my betrothed, so you can imagine that this news is displeasing to me. It bothers me that while she was sent on these diplomatic missions, her focus should have been on securing peace, but these reports seem to be suggesting other behavior. When she returned from the most recent trip a little over a month ago, I confronted her about these allegations. She accused me of having an affair and slapped me across my face like I was some servant boy. I lost my temper at such a showing of disrespect and struck her. Just because she is the daughter of the Elder does not put her in a position to address the man who is to be her husband as if she is his equal. She is just being childish now as I have already apologized and sent her gifts to make amends. She is still insistent on implying that I am unfaithful and unjust. I need you to handle this because our village needs to be united and with her acting like this, we are unable to do so."

Listening to everything, I scan his thoughts at the same time and most of it matches up. That which doesn't brings about an inquiry from me, "So are you going to tell me that you have never laid with another woman while you have been betrothed to your fiance?" He looks at me and decides to test my ability to spot a liar by denying that he has had an affair. My eyes take a sterner look and I ask him, "So you have never slept with your servant there? While I don't give a damn about your personal transgressions, I do not like being lied to. We are done here, Ryeme. Also, stop beating the other one. Only a coward beats women. To do it for making simple mistakes, makes you even less than that in my eyes. Goodbye." He looks at me then back at them and asks how I know these things and I look at him and reply, "You might want to spend more time thinking about how to tell the truth since it is going to come out anyway." Turning towards the door, I head out and start moving towards the main "base camp" in the center of the village.

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Subject: Re: Quarreling Hearts [Flashback] Sat May 22, 2010 9:09 am

When I make it to the main hut that we are using, the captain tells me that he's been waiting on me to return. I ask why and he takes me inside the hut to speak in private. Inside the hut, there is a figure in a hooded lavender and white cloak waiting. They turn around and lower their hood and it is a young woman. She looks at me and nods, "This is the one that my lady wishes to speak with." I look at her then at the Captain and ask him what's going on and he says with a smirk, "You have been requested by the elder's daughter. She refused to speak to Jiles." The envoy speaks, "Please do not take that as a sign of distrust or disrespect, Captain, but my Lady asked for him when he entered the village." The Captain asks how she knew about the him or how the envoy knows that I am the correct person. The envoy responds, "He is not human and she told me to bring her the Spirit Crown. I did not know what that meant but his name is Tyrn you said and that means Crown in the Spirit Tongue." I smile and tell her that I will meet with her lady as requested. I tell her that I need a moment to debrief the Captain first though. She nods and walks outside. I communicate telepathically with the Captain and inform him of all that I learned. If she is spiritually aware, then I cannot be sure what other powers she might have. The Captain nods once I have fully explained everything and he tells me not to get into any trouble. I look at him and he tells me that I know exactly what he means. I have to admit that he is correct so I just smile as I head out.

Walking with the envoy, she and I engage in small talk and the question finally came up from her, "Why are you called 'the Crown'?" I tell her that I am not actually from this realm, but trapped here by magic along with others from my realm. To us, your realm is like the ancient past. In my realm, my people call me the Veilos Tyrn. Why did you come in person instead of sending an emissary?" She looks over at me and smiles, "When did you figure it out?" A grin slides onto my face as I answer, "Immediately. You are bathed in jasmine and lavender with the petals of white roses. Your manner of speech is very refined for a tribal woman. You always looked me in the eye when you spoke. Also, most servants would have said your name the first time they spoke of you to me. They tend to feel the need to express who they are in service to. You wouldn't know b/c you are not a servant. Also, you have spoken to your betrothed and since you know what Veilos Tyrn means, you know how it is that I also knew what you looked like. I have a question for you now, my lady. Why did you wish to speak with me?" She smiles and giggles at me, "The answer to that and your first question are quite similar actually. Your reputation precedes you, Tyrn. I have heard of your unique fighting prowess and your penchant for lust. I do not want you tempting and seducing those of my order. Also, when you arrived, I felt a presence stronger than all others I have felt save for one. I wanted to meet you myself. I also wanted to know of your talk with Ryeme." Wow... first I've ever been to this village and already she has heard about my lustful nature. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing to be honest. I tell her that I am hungry so I would like to talk over food and wine or nectar if she does not drink. She tells me that food should be prepared at the temple by now. I walk towards her and a column of light surrounds us as I tell her to take a deep breath. She inhales deeply and we shimmer from sight.

We reappear inside of the temple and she is completely disoriented from the void walk. I hold her steady and connect my mind to hers so that her mind settles faster. I place my hand on her solar plexus below her breasts and use telekinesis to settle her insides. Once everything relaxes for her, she looks at me with widen eyes. "My apologies, my lady, I forget that you have never entered the void before, so the effects can be quite unsettling. How are you feeling now?" She responds, "Better. What just happened? I felt like you were within my mind soothing me. I have never felt so connected to someone before. Nor have I ever felt so disconnected from everything as I did when we entered the void as you call it." Taking a step back after realizing that my hand was still placed on her, I nod to her and reply, "I was actually. Since you have no real experience or knowledge of the Void, when you enter it, you are susceptible to being lost to it without a guide. It has been quite some time since I've teleported someone with me and the last few times it was people who had teleported before. In order to calm you, I needed to be able to speak directly to your heart and ease the fears in your mind."

She nods to me and we head to the dining hall. Her temple guards are surprised that she is within the temple since no warning was given and no one saw her come thru the gates. They are relieved that she is safe though. We talk for hours about magic, this realm and the customs here, how she handles having powers in a realm where so few have powers and a topic that I did not expect to hear from here, Power Brokers. The Elder's daughter and I enjoy many topics of conversation over nonalcoholic nectar and food. I am invited to spend the night in the temple under the condition that I do not bed any of the maidens of the temple. I agree to the conditions and spend a good portion of the night, touring the temple and spending time in the library. The benefit of not requiring sleep is that I can complete so many different things while others rest.

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Subject: Re: Quarreling Hearts [Flashback] Sun May 23, 2010 3:41 am

The next morning I am summoned to the temple's infirmary where the Lady asks for my aid with one of her personal guards who was assassinated last night. Her healers are trying to help him, but his injuries are too far gone and he stops breathing. "It is poison that killed him. The flesh inside the wounds is blackened. Who did it?" She tells me that the other guards caught the assassin and are interrogating her now. I place my hand on the chest of the guardian and utter an incantation, "Jīvana bahāla hō." My hand glows a radiant white and green color and a light mist covers his body. A second chant is spoken aloud, "Kō'ī aura adhika jahara." The mist settles into his flesh and liquid starts to ooze from his wounds as they close up. Moments later, the guard gasps taking in a deep breath. When his eyes open, I place my hand on his forehead to tap into his thoughts. I wanted to know if he knew of any insight into this whole situation. His mind would see images of the bride to be and the heir of the neighboring village in order to trigger his thoughts and memories regarding them. Being one of her personal guards, he would have more insight into the situation. Looking thru his memories, I find that there is subtle flirtation taking place, but nothing serious at all. The heir acted respectfully as well. I search for any kisses, longer than normal embraces, or anything of that nature but find none. I look at the daughter and nod to her. She thanks me and I tell her that I wish to speak with the prisoner. She nods in agreement and we head over to the holding room.

As we approach, she asks me what exactly I am and I look over at her about to inquire as to what she means by exactly, but her eyes told me more than enough of what I wanted to know. "I am not a god, my Lady. My kind are called the Dark Kami. I am from a royal bloodline of higher order spirits." She nods to me and before we enter the holding room, she thanks for giving her bodyguard his life back. I smile at her and open the door. Looking at the female assassin, I walk over to her and she tells me that I can torture her all I want and she will never betray her masters. I chuckle as I walk up to her. "If I had more time with you, we would put that to the test, but I don't feel like torturing you." My eyes glow as I look into her eyes and speak calmly and slowly with my words echoing in her head telepathically, "I am not your enemy, but a friend looking to help you. My Lady does not wish to harm you either, but she wants to know why you would betray her so. Talk to me and I will set you free." The female assassin looks at me then at the Shaman and apologizes to her. "I had to prove my loyalty to him. The guard knew too much and was in the way of my master's plans, but with him dead and you concerned about that, we could unite the village." The Shaman asks how and I nod to the female assassin and she remains silent for a moment as commotion is heard outside. The female assassin nods to me and tells me that the deed is done. I inquire as to which deed and she says that the enemy is without its head and seeking revenge. "They will attack soon and our tribe will unite to crush them. The young heir will be consumed by grief and anger. The Master is waiting with an ambush." The Lady asks where the ambush will take place and she tells her that they are waiting on this side of the forest's central clearing. "All of them will be wiped out and my Master will be a hero." I look into her eyes and inquire, "Is your Master, Ryeme?" She looks at me and tries to fight the Influence, but finds that my mind is too strong for hers and she confesses, "Yes, Master. I will not lie to you. Ryeme sent me to kill the guard. There is another who is to be sent to kill you, but unfortunately I do not know who." I nod to her, "You have done well. I am pleased."

A sense of deep joy and satisfaction comes over the female assassin and I withdraw from her mind. Now having her free will back, she looks at me with fear and asks what I just did. I tell her that I found out everything that I needed to know without hurting her at all. I turn to the Lady Shaman and tell her that I will leave to try and retrieve the heir if she wills it. The Lady pulls me outside and asks me if I believe her. "I have never met anyone who could overpower my Influence, so yes I do. You should have your most trusted guards watch after you or we can hide one of your maidens disguised as you and I'll hide you at the camp with the boys. Your betrothed... what of his fate?" She tells me that she leaves that to the will of the great spirits and the gods. I nod to her and she asks me which I would suggest for her to do in regards to her safekeeping and I tell her to get one of her trusted maidens and come with me.

The two of them are accompanied by other maidens and guards. They start forming lines of defense with just the chief maiden going into the actual room with her. Once she is securely disguised as the Shaman and rests into a light meditation, the command, "Timatimana" is recited to take us from the temple to the mercenary HQ. I appear inside of the captain's hut and he looks at me. I tell him that I need her kept out of sight and safe. "No one can know that she is here. I am going to handle things. She will fill you in." He nods to me and tells me that he has this under control. I vanish again and if there is one thing I love about to see into people's thoughts it's that I can get a visual of a place that I have personally never been to before in order to teleport there.

I arrive at the edge of the clearing amongst the trees and the ambush is sprung as I arrive. I have to give it to Ryeme, he is a skilled warrior and commander. His ambush is quite beautiful to watch. Still, I was sent here to protect the heir. His forces are decimated and they take up a defensive position as they are attacked from both sides. I shift to my Dark Kami form and descend on the heir and his remaining forces. A rapid onslaught of trios of crescent shaped blades of spiritual energy lay waste to the first wave of soldiers. I land next to the heir and look at him. He stands in awe as do his warriors as I chant over him, "Atma silda, raksa!" A defensive shield forms in front of him. "You will not die here, but Ryeme needs to. Find your shot, archer, and kill him. That is the only way to establish peace between the villages. You are the only one to do it." I lift back up into the skies and cover the enemy forces. Ryeme watches as his men are cut down. An opening presents itself and as expected, he heads into the field to seize the opportunity. While I have an open attack at him, Ryeme watches as I do nothing and actually withdraw from the fray. The heir, Caes, and Ryeme would settle this. Caes slips out of the back of his defensive shield knowing that Ryeme is heading with his guard right for the defensive circle. His bow spins around to his rear as an arrow is loosed to drop an incoming attacker. His guardians move forward to engage Ryeme's forces as his chief bodyguard engages Ryeme himself. Caes knocks two arrows and moves from around a defensive wall. The opening is there. Ryeme pushes away the bodyguard as the arrows as loosed. Being an avid swordsman, he slashes to deflect the arrow. The sound of metal on metal rings thru the area. Everything stops as Ryeme's guards rush towards the swordsman. He drops to a knee and as his knee hits the ground, another arrow lodges itself into his throat. "That is for my father." Ryeme's forces are confused and his guards grab his body and pull back while others continue to fight. A stream of ice separates the two sides. "Ryeme is dead. You now take your orders from the Elder. You, Archer, have avenged your father. You and your father desired peace and the Elder and his daughter desire it as well. Forge peace. You are alive now because of her. Fall back to your village and reopen talks now that he is out of the way."

Both sides pull back and I remain in the air with my wings flapping before I land and vanish from sight. I reappear in the captain's hut in my humanoid form and walk over to the wash basin. I cleanse my hands and the Shamaness approaches me. Without turning around, I answer her silent question, "The Archer is safe, Ryeme is dead. Your people will unite under you. They also have the opportunity to end the conflict within your tribe as well as the Archer's village. You will need to see to that." She thanks me and I tell her that I am simply doing my job. I take her to the Elder to report on everything that has been learned and happened. While they are talking, I decide to pay a little visit to the Archer's village. I decide that mourning and grief might get in the way of this little romance so I resurrect his father. Now I would have to kill a few more people to appease Death. When I return to the Elder's house, I inform him that the neighboring Elder's wounds apparently were not fatal after all. The daughter looks at me and tell the Elder that it is possible to forge an alliance or merger between the two villages given their close proximity as well. He nods in a thoughtful manner as he considers the proposition. He hands me an amulet and a coin purse and thanks me for everything that I have done. I bow respectfully and turn to walk away. The daughter catches up to me outside and stops me. I turn and look at her and she steps forward and gives me a kiss. I look at her and ask what that was for. "For not bedding any of my maidens and for freeing me from the prison that my heart would have been trapped in should peace have been restored with Ryeme. Also, for bringing Caes' father back. Will I get to see you again?" I smirk and tell her, "If you wish to save your virtue for the Archer, probably no time soon." She giggles and I bow to her. The boys pack up by the time I arrive and I trade our peddler the amulet the Elder gave me for 1000 Shinny bringing my total from the Elder's personal generosity to 1400. My cut of the job's pay turns out to be 2590 Shinny.

2094/4821

Lovers Fight Quest (1571)
Mercenary 5/5 (1250)
Hone: Support - Revive (2000)

EXP = 2821 x Quest Bonus
PWC = 4821 to Lord - Mercenary Group is the basis of Mukhya's army. They are prime force that Dainos goes to retrieve in Blood for Gold Entry 2.
Shinny = 1400 + 2590 = 3990

Subject: Re: Quarreling Hearts [Flashback] Sun May 23, 2010 3:41 am

The member 'Psi Prince' has done the following action : Dices roll

'1-100' : 74

Subject: Re: Quarreling Hearts [Flashback] Sun May 30, 2010 1:49 pm

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