Private/Closed Elder-Veil: Magical World

[Frontier Master]

Tor-Lok stood alone in one of the Imperial Palace’s many open courtyards, gently tossing his Khopesh from armored hand to armored hand the occasional flourish thrown in as a testament to the Zenith’s confidence.
“You grow complacent nephew, you still have much to learn about the ways of the Griffins blade” rumbled the voice of Iroh as he entered, an air of silent majesty surrounding the Grand Griffin as he strode into the center of the courtyard. His voice alone brought an immediate end to Tor-Lok’s showboating, the young leader humbled by the elders presense.

“Yes Uncle, Sorry Uncle” the youth bowed respectfully, even the Zenith was considered a social inferior to the Grand Griffin.

Iroh simply let out a hearty chuckle the tension of reverence dissolving to that of familial affection.
“Ready your blade Tor-Lok, we have much work to do” without a second to register the command Iroh launched himself forward swords spiraling in whirlwind of steel.

Tor-Lok slid weightlessly to the left and attempted to establish a degree of distance between himself and his deceptively talented Uncle, his offhand sending a focused jet of air toward the Griffin while his feet glided effortlessly over the earth as if they were raindrops on a lily-pad. The jet blew them both back slightly temporarily halting the encounter

“Not bad, you’re still not fighting back fully”
“I was a little focused on not being torn to pieces by your whirlwind of slashes.”

“Regardless, you need to be able to attack and defend all at once.” Iroh gestured for Tor-Lok to attack and once again readied himself with an otherwise uncharacteristically determined look upon his brow. Tor-Lok, immediately rose a large portion of earth from the area directly ahead of him and sent it hurtling toward his uncle before silently launching himself behind the boulder in an effort to surprise his uncle. Iroh simply smiled and split the boulder down the centre with a single slash of his swords, the second part of the attack however took the older Horizon by surprise. Iroh taking a rare back step in order to brace himself before parrying his nephew.

“Better though now you leave yourself open to coun...” laughed Iroh believing himself to have won as he brought his blades together and down seemingly hooking Tor-Lok’s Khopesh. Though the Zenith’s blade twisted at the last moment instead locking the twin blades and sending them clattering to the ground.

“Did I really? Or was that a trick to lure you in uncle?” Joked the young leader
“It was undeniably an unintentional opening, though you were able to correct your mistake in time” replied Iroh in that wise, world-worn voice of his.

—later—

A servant came striding into the courtyard not long after the pair had finished sparing. A single strip of ruby red material wrapped loosely around his right hand.

“Grand Griffin... Your Imperial majesty” The servant bowed deeply as he addressed each leader in accordance with Social Hierarchy
“I come bearing grave news an Eagle has arrived this hour, he comes clutching Ruby Reddened Cloth. A War is brewing.”

 

[Red Gallade]

Upon the Frozen Fields of the North East, the snow gently fell from the ground on to the white blanket that covered the fields for miles on end. Somewhere in the center of this cold and empty land was a colony of buildings too big to be called a village, but too small to be called a town surrounded by a wall decorated with towers with groups of six men each, all were armed to the teeth, their armor was a stunning shade of Bronze hidden underneath fur cloaks to counter the seemingly endless cold.

In the middle of this group of cities was a rather large mansion that had even more soldiers around it, they calmly patrolled the house while a few conversed with one another... but they stood at attention when a tall fur cloaked man walked past them. "Lord Gareth." One of the men greeted as he walked past. "Boss." The other one said, but Gareth said nothing, he simply gave the soldier a nod before the latter proceeded with his patrol, the tall man made his way over toward the garden, despite it also blanketed in snow, the sides were littered with several flowers and paths of pavement, but what really stood out was the little fountain.

At the edge of the fountain was a young adult man in a simple shirt, despite the little clothing, he seemed undeterred by the cold as if he lived in it all his life, in the man's hand was a well sharpened Sai which he let spin in his hand. Gareth smiled as he walked toward the man at the fountain and finally opened his mouth to speak. "Marduk!" He shouted without any sign of aggression, just loud enough to get his attention.

Marduk held his Sai after he spun it one more time and turned to the tall man who now loomed over him. "Hey father." Marduk simply replied as he put his Sai away in one of his back pockets and stood up.

"I thought you were training today." Gareth said rather casually as he folded his arms which showed a clear sign on muscle before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Right, today's your day off this week." He added with a chuckle which Marduk soon joined.

"Yeah, I was planning to head down to the bar later and grab a drink. The lower level ones seem to have more of a kick to it... maybe I'll be lucky and find the right girl." Marduk said in an almost joking tone of voice.

Gareth boomed with laughter as he put one hand on his son's shoulder. "Marduk, with looks like yours, you'd make ladies surrender to you in the blink of an eye." He said as he began to roughly pat on Marduk's shoulder, but this wasn't anything new for Marduk.

"Father, stop..." Marduk said as his face was stuck with a smile and his face slowly turned red. "A-anyway, have you found any new people worthy to become Bearers?" He asked in hope to change the subject.

 

[~Patriot~]

Heat was a rare sensation this deep into the K'yptoth Mountains, so much so that the amount of heat he felt now was beyond anything Ikran K'othal had felt before. "Form a ring!" K'othal roared, and his Wardens did as he commanded. They spread out around the village, pounding the slowly melting snow with their massive feet and fists.

Ikran grunted a signal to the magii standing beside him, and as they swirled their hands around the snow surrounding the village picked up into a thick tornado before falling onto the village. With the flames extinguished, Ikran shouted to his Wardens to move in. "Find any survivors! Kill any remaining raiders!" He shouted as he moved into the village.

Ikran effortlessly ripped doors from doorways to check inside the burnt out cabins, only to find families dead from the smoke. As he walked through the snow-covered paths, Ikran found still-bleeding bodies at every turn. And to make matters worse, Ikran heard the same story from every Warden he passed by: everyone was dead, everything was burned.

***Two Days Later***
​

"SLAUGHTERED LIKE LAMBS! BABES WITH THE SKINS BURNED AWAY, TUSKS STUCK LIKE PIGS!" Ikran roared as he tore apart a burned out cabin. He had ordered his Wardens to begin to bury the bodies and deconstruct the cabins, and High Chiefs such as Ikran had a duty to lead by example. So he worked to clear the burned out houses, with only his most trusted General by his side.

"My Chief, I am just as enraged as you-" Sadek, the General, began, "But now is not a time for emotion for you and I." Ikran turned to Sadek, snorting into the air to take in his full form. Sadek stood nearly a full head below the High Chief, but the difference in stature didn't intimidate the General as so often happened with Ikran's subordinates. "Now is a time to form a plan and strike back," Sadek continued.

The smaller ape closed the distance between himself and Ikran before holding out a large piece of cloth. Ikran took it from the General and held it to his nose, drawing in it's scent before letting out another roar of rage. "Beast-folk," Ikran growled. He tucked the cloth under his
armor and went back to his work.

"Sadek," Ikran addressed his General as he ripped out a beam from the cabin's ceiling.
"Yes, my Chief?" Sadek replied.
"Find a Warden of your choice. He will go to the Beast-Folk's biggest village, where their Chief sits. He will warn them of the mistake they have made, and remind them why the others fear us so." As Ikran said this last sentence, he tore the thick beam apart.

 

[Sentorus67]

Deep within the large open canyon thrives a long weave of interconnected tunnels. Each tunnel led to several different directions and unless you were familiar with each hole you were bound to get lost. Through this series of interweaved rooms, there is a tower at the very top that looked circular, like some type of bubble made of dirt and shining stones. This was the throne room, where many important Tarksa would discuss how to improve every means of life for the people. At the time it was night and the only people who appeared to be there was the great Tarksa himself, Burxa, and another merchant. While Burxa was adorned in glistening jewels the merchant, who went by Shaw, wore many bandages of cloth around his body. Wearing heavy amounts of cloth was seen as a taboo due to the implication, but for now, Burxa did not comment on it.

"Great Tarksa, The jewel of life, I am honored to be in your presence." the merchant called Shaw began his spiel. It was annoyingly common that merchants would come and present their ideas to the Great in hopes he would pay millions for their product. Always Burxa would be disappointed. "What I have brought is something never seen before, never heard of, and yet it will be in your hands." from his side he a small statue and carefully laid it on the floor. Burxa noticed that one of his arms did not bend or move, but he did not comment on it. the statue was a glistening white the size of a hand. it resembled Burxa himself, except the statue did not have a horn nor was it serpentine tail long enough. "Now you may be thinking 'a statue? I have a hundred statues' but this is no ordinary piece. this living moving doll. The rumored 'golem' right in front of you." In Tarksa history there was an ancient theory of enchanted the most valuable of gems could bring it to life. Many who tried to make one died before creating the tail. "it can walk, talk, sing and dance. it is the perfect toy for children and a great helper for the elderly. I can give you a taste of its flourish." The merchant clapped his hands twice and the statue bowed. it was slow and rigid. "So now that you have seen my work how much will you pay for it? maybe my own private land or money is fine by me." Burxa did not move from his throne as it was unnecessary to see the flaws. the merchant tried to take advantage of it being night, but even the moonlight that reflected through the series of crystals lit the room and exposed the glaring details. throughout the body of the statue were many small cracks and bits of powder was lightly flowing out of it. While the object was supposed to be a reflective white Burxa could see the pieces of white string hidden in its body.

"Talc and salt." Burxa finally responded. "You made this out of Talc and salt. two materials that crack under the slightest pressure. you also used a lot of string to make it move. Even if enchanted like you say it is I bet only one or two spots are as magical you claim to be. this thing" Burxa picked up a loose rock and beamed it at the statue. It shattered into pure powder. "Trash that is not worth even looking at." the merchant first looked shocked, then enraged.

''This- THIS WAS MY LIFES WORK!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. he pulled back the cloth on his arm to reveal an assortment of different gems growing out it, wincing in pain as he moves his arm more than he should. "THIS is what I had to do make it. THIS is how serious I was being. I gave my LIFE to make art and you SHATTER it and call me TRASH?!" the merchant waited for a response to some type of apology. Burxa simply flicked his tongue. which was a natural thing to do but also a gesture meaning he doesn't care. With that, the merchant screamed and violently slithered towards Burxa. Seemingly out of nowhere a much larger Tarksa leaped from the side of the throne room and pinned down the merchant, snapping the merchant's arm to his back. It was only a few seconds before a sword rested on his temple.

"No. You gave your life to insult me." Burxa said, low and without mercy. "you failed using to master alchemy and thought you could give me crap work and come out a rich snake." Burxa leaned closer to the merchant who almost looks like he might cry. "I am merciful so I will only detain you, when your sentence is over you will never sell anything again. Dismissed." Burxa clapped his hands twice like the merchant. And with that the merchant and the guard disappeared into another hole. Burxa returned to throne and slouched. too often have people tried to swindle him. he sometimes really hated his rule allowing whoever to come in and advertise junk. but Burxa knows that people follow by example. this is one he needs to keep. he did not have much time to think as another Tarksa appeared. this one a messenger.

"Great Tarksa. An official from parliament needs a word with you." Burxa thought for a moment. then waved the messenger away and requested the official makes a written report. He was much too tired to speak of important matters now and disappeared into a tunnel where he could rest.

 

[IDKWhatUserNameToDo]

The queen of Sakharr, Naharia, was walking around her palaces hallways with some small dust bits occasionally falling off of her. The walls had big openings as windows and she would occasionally look out to see the view of her kingdom. The houses were quite simplistic, resembling square-like shapes, but they were decorated with different pieces of fabric. The pieces of fabrics would usually function like doors, with some exceptions of some houses having wooden doors. The houses were also decorated with the local vegetation and flora of the Debazo oasis.

The kingdom itself was located inside of the oasis, Dembazo, and the oasis it self was located inside of a big desert named Sekage. The weather was warm and sunny and the wind was still, so nothing out of the ordinary really. Naharia walked onto one of the palace's terraces on the side and watched over her city. It was quite a peaceful day and the queen was quite thankful for it. She shifted her gaze over her current view and watched as her citizens were going by with their day-to-day things. There was also the training area for the soldiers both trainees and the more experienced ones. It looked like a training session for trainees was going on right now. It made Naharia want to practice her skills with the both arts of Chambark and Lyhiam, also known as the arts of manipulating the elements of water and earth. There were foot steps rapidly approaching the queen which made her turn around. It was her head servant, Saheim. Saheim was a sakharrian with a more rough and a pebble-like skin with a dirt brown color. Her hair was bleach blond and it was currently in a loose messy bun. She wore the standard servant uniform, which consisted of a loose midnight blue shirt and either silver gray skirt or slightly baggy pants that the servant could choose between. The head servants exception in the uniform was lime green decor and shawl around her shoulders to indicate her placement among the servants.

"Your majesty! Your majesty!"

"Yes Saheim?"

"Your majesty. A citizen is having a conflict with one of our local merchants,"

"Is the situation that bad?"

"Yes. They were at the brink of attacking each other when I arrived to try and solve it,"

"Alright. I'll take a look then," Naharia said and made her way towards the grand throne room with the head servant at her side. The room it self was quite big with a color scheme consisting of mostly red and purple. There was also some local plant life and flowers as decor around the room and there was of course the royal guards were surrounding the room. At the end of the room was the throne that looked more like a couch with too many pillows on it to have people call it uncomfortable. She laid down on her throne and watched as the giant wooden doors opened to the current room and inside stepped two sakharrians with two guards escorting them each. The sakharrians were glancing at each other with angry expressions, but they stopped it as their gaze shifted upon their ruler.

"To the left, merchant, and to the right, the other one," Saheim leaned over, quickly whispered and quickly went back to her position.

"Speak," Naharia said and and pointed to her right. The conflict went for about half an hour until it was cleared. This was mostly what She had to deal with. Merchants being angry at other merchants or other people being angry at merchants. She let out a deep sigh as the two left. It was tiring and frustrating, but it was her duty. She got up from her throne and saw one of her servants entering from the giant doors and went up to speak with the head servant. Right now Naharia couldn't careless when Saheim called her over.

"What is it now Saheim?"

"Apparently the Apex Syndicate attacked K'yptothans,"