Aeterna - IC

[S121]

Tribal village

"Okay.", Jason said to Kris as he crossed his arms and leaned further back in the chair.

The thought of exploring forgotten temples and old buildings flowed through his mind. If they went, what would they find? Kris did say that there were special items hidden within them, but that they were guarded by traps and creatures. What kinds of creatures would they face? Would they be like giant moles, or something a little more unusual, like Kris's ice elemental companion? Perhaps it would depend on the building's location. All this talk about dungeons, monsters, and traps reminded him a lot of those RPG games where the hero had to explore and do the exact same things Jason and the others were doing. It was so similar that Jason found it humorous.

"Hehehehe.. Hahahaha! Hey Kris? I just realized something. All this stuff we've been doing is just like one of those RPG video games. We've got swords, we've got magic,... all we need now is a dragon.", Jason said to Kris as he smiled.

Jason didn't really know why he found it funny, but to him it was humorous. Maybe it was because their situation was very unusual, or because his observations were so true.

[Tewi_Inaba]

Tribal village

Seki had started turning and rolling over in her bed while the ranger and the miner spoke. She was mostly peaceful but the suddenly, “AH! DRAGON!” she called out in her sleep. She got up quickly and with great force tossed her pillow directly into Jason’s face all without ever waking up. The pillow then exploded into a rain of feathers all over the room they were in. “Hehe dragon stew.” She said before falling on her back and continuing her quite slumber. It’s a good thing Seki wasn’t sleeping next to something else.

[Major Mario]

Regius West District

Eric grumbled and took the coinpurse from the commander. He could tell that it was a paltry sum; only 100 gold coins. It was not enough to get him back out on the road, not enough to even buy him the means to carry his wares again. However, it seemed that the commander had retrieved his pack. If the soldier boys had not gone through it and picked out what they liked, there would be about 900 or so coins left in there. As an added bonus, whatever salvageable materials could be sold to free up space and weight. It was not enough to brighten the already defeated merchant, but it was something nonetheless.

With another grateful nod towards the commander, Eric slid off his gurney and stood up. His back hurt and his legs trembled, a consequence of nearly dying by some terrible fireblast. He swore his eyebrows were seared off along with his beard, but a quick check revealed that his face was mostly untouched. He felt the bandaged gash that ran along the side of his face from his nose to his ear and winced. That was surely going to affect bartering with women, although he figured they liked a man with a few scars. Eric composed himself and shambled to the door.

He reached down to pick up his possessions, or what was left of them. His clothes were shot and beyond repair, but the commander had been kind enough to supply him with a white traveler's shirt and cotton hosen. There was even a leather cape which brought out an air of modesty, and that was something Eric liked to see. He clothed himself and inspected his pack. There was internal damage, of course, but on closer inspection Eric saw that his cooking pot had been managed in the collision with the tree. He wouldn't be able to cook as effectively now, but on the bright side, the pot protected everything else in his pack. With a huff, he put on his pack and shoes and headed out of the complex, his head bowed in thought.

Soon, he exited the complex and arrived at the western district of Regius. He had been here a few times before, but only to supply himself with materials and weaponry from static traders. He looked about at the merchants and buyers going about their business before indulging in a bit of shopping himself. As he went about, he noticed that people gave him a wide berth. His bandages seemed to cause a bit of unease amongst the populace, but Eric didn't mind. He'll heal, and soon he'll be back in business. He bought a walking stick for added support along with other supplies before checking his coffers.

"248 coins... That's not enough," he muttered. He looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on the small headquarters to a caravan company. "Well... While I'd like to stay independent, I do need the coin..."

He began his trek through the congested parts of the marketplace towards the caravan company, one that was titled the "Cerulean Caravan Company"...

[S121]

Tribal village

"Pffft! Ppuh! Ugh!", Jason uttered as he spat out feathers and wiped them off his face and out of his hair.

Jason looked around and saw a layer of feathers all around him. The feathers covered the table next to him, the chair he was sitting in, the floor around him, and his lap. Jason looked down at his hands and saw handfulls of feathers. After finally processing what had just happened, Jason looked at Seki, then over to Kris.

"Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me?", Jason asked Kris as he slowly stood up, causing all of the feathers on his lap to fall to the floor.

[Kristia]

Tribal village

"Lady luck isn´t on your side maybe" Kris said blowing a feather away from her as she was dealing with her equipment, some arrows were at the best quality as they could, the tips could easily pierce armor and skin, some crystals of different elements and rarity were polished and trinquets of many sources were examined to find anything new.

"Seeing that Seki is so active in her dreams must be proof that her body adapted good with the mana flow, now her fire magic shouldn´t cook her in the process" The huntress said while collecting some feathers and storing them in her backpack.

[S121]

Tribal village

Jason frowned at the feathers all over him and sighed. Once he got all the feathers off of his shirt and pants, Jason then grabbed the empty pillow and began restuffing the pillow. Jason grabbed handful after handful, stuffing it into the pillow until there were but a few feathers left. After that, Jason performed a visual sweep of the room, inspecting it for any stray feathers. Once he was completely done, Jason then put the ruptured pillow beside the chair he was sitting in and sat back down.

"Well lucky me.", Jason sarcastically said to Kris.

[Katrix]

Regius Prison

HM asked if she would like lend one of his squads. How stupid could you get.

"Why would I ever lend one of you squads. First off I'm sure that with you as their leader they might be as stupid as you.
Secondly, I'm sure they arn't very proficient with their magic. I make sure my squads actually study their magic unlike yours.
Thirdly, I have my own squads that are better that yours in all ways possible.
Lastly, I don't need squads for now. For now I'm going to design a spell that will aniliate them.
When I'm done with that I'm going north for a special reason."

She then went off to her home and began working on the spell.

[wonderweiss]

"Haha, I guess so. Well, either way, I guess it's safe to say that you let one loose. Oh, boy, and it's been proven by a witness that he did know much more than we had hoped for. He's gone, now, though. It's useless to track him like this. *sigh*... damn. Well, you go off on your ways. I've yet to hone my 'new ability.' This one just might be the tie breaker between us two."

HM walked off as well. Though he hadn't a clue where to go or what to do next. So he head on home.

That Sidna had better watch the path she treads. She let Otori escape. That's a prisoner, nonetheless. As a matter of fact, this is the... let's see, one, two, three... fourth time she let one escape. What's going on with her? She's not doing so hot lately. Well, there's only one explanaition for this...

SHE'S GETTING OLD!!!

HM laughed at his joke as he walked home.

Just as Otori happened to stumble across it.

[Kristia]

Tribal village

Kris got up and talked with one of the villagers to make a deal on the best route to civilization, but not so big to help the trio to adapt well and not cause any problem related to both the empire and rebel groups. Kris knew Jason would try to go with the rebels, but he was still too hotheaded in terms of having a battle like the time with the giant cave moles. Seki´s case was much trickier since she was mostly neutral, but being in the middle and adding her emotional sudden changes have made the fire magician a targeted person by both sides of the war.

("And just when I thought this thing couldn´t get worse, I surely ended up as a wanted person from the empire thanks to the mine situation, but going with the rebels can cause problems too since many would go on unecessary riots and related stuff. dammit") the huntress thought while finishing the preparations for the trip to the base of the mountain.

The path would be easy, go on the ropes again, but on the other side of the mountain to reach the closest town. Going back with the miner boy and the phoenix girl, she said "Well, we got a way to go down the mountain, but the moment we reach there, I want you to decide what you will do, Im sure by now we are wanted persons by the empire, but going with the rebels is also a risky idea, since many would be rebels can be bandits that can stab our backs without thinking it twice" she warned

[S121]

Tribal village

Jason looked over to Kris and pondered her question. Did she mean that once they got to the bottom of the mountain that they would part ways? Jason didn't really know what to do next. His home was most likely under the eye of Tyruss's men and he had no one to go back to. His father was stuck in a void. Jason wanted to stop Tyruss, but he had grown kind of attached to his acquaintances. Would he see them again? It wwas lonely when he was on his own, and the only thing there was to do was wallow in the fact that there was nobody else for him to turn to, nobody else that he could rely on. Eventually, Jason spoke.

"My question is, what are you planning to do.", Jason said to Kris.

[Kristia]

Tribal village

"Im planning to trade some of the stuff I got with me on the town, then Im traveling the Salt Flats, I have information about a temple hidden in its vast area, a good place to train survival and it is better for you guys because of its temperature if you want to join" Kris said as she needed the money for supplies for the travel and the posible traps in the temple.

But the biggest treath were the salt flats themselves, so big that you could get lost unless you knew where you were going, the heat could dehydrate a person with time and the many scorpions and Nagas that could hunt for prey were well adapted to the area

(I asume that the Salt Flats is a desert)

[S121]

Tribal village

Jason listened to what Kris had to say, then began to think out a set of options for him to take.

(Well? What should I do? I have two options. I can either go with Kris, or go my own way. If I go with Kris, I'll become better prepared when the time comes to stop Tyruss, but there's a chance that we can get lost and die in the Salt Flats. If I leave, then I can go at my own pace and have more time to built the tools needed to bring Tyruss down, but I'll have no one to turn to. I'll be on my own. What if more of Tyruss's men come for me? The fact of the matter is, I don't have enough information to make an informed decision. I'll have to wait and see what the others decide.), Jason thought as he stared off into nowhere.

Jason snapped out of his trance and looked at Kris.

"Well, I'm weighing my options, but I'll need to hear the others' decisions before I make my own.", Jason said to Kris as he leaned forward in the chair and interlocked his fingers together, as if he was still thinking about his options.

[Kristia]

Tribal village

"Well then, it is up to you, you have your pros and cons in both options, im not going to put pressure on you or anything related, you know the risks" Kris said while counting her gems and noticed the fireplace getting lower so she walked towards it and added more logs to it. The fire easily devoured its fuel getting big enough for people´s comfort.

The huntress looked at Seki ("I hope she is ready for the trip") she thought putting another blanket on the fire magician

[S121]

Tribal village

Jason unclasped his hands and leaned back into the chair. Jason was getting restless, or perhaps just bored. He was used to always being busy in the mines, at the forge, or abusing his magic, so sitting around like this was not something he was used to. After a couple of minutes, Jason got an idea.

(Well, perhaps I could ask Kris about herself. I already know Phenom's story, so why not the others? It would help pass the time and I would get to know them better.)

"So... What's your story?", Jason asked Kris, trying to start a conversation.

[Kristia]

Tribal village

"Well, you already know that I have been a huntress for a while in this place, but I have the experience way before entering Aeterna" Kris said sitting back on the chair and continued "In my home town I was almost the same, took care of the people from the wild animals and vice versa by protecting the bear cubs from the big boys thinking they could outsmart me" she chukled at the last part

"I lived by myself in a cabin near the town and when the HiveNet appeared, I took the chance to get one and see the place. I did found the girls and boys of my age, but they enjoyed it too much by becoming thieves and related people. By the time Aeterna got popular I traveled away from my home town to a city near a hospital thanks to my savings, my dungeon crawling skills helped me to find a good amount of money by trading and training people both outside and inside thus giving me good resources for insurance and emergency situations"

The huntress then looked at the fire "Then the empire came and hell broke loose, you may have seen that many people disappeared and died in the first months, right? that is because they only lived the joys of Aeterna, but to actually live it as a real life is another story. All I know from my people is that some are wuth Tyrus and others are rebels, but I have lived by my own since my childhood" she said touching her pendant