Justice Keep, February 16th
After a month of hard training, Jerreck's student's had
been ready to take the finals tests to become Warrior
Adepts. The tests had proved too much for a few, but
by the end of the trials, a full thirty adepts stood ready
under Jerreck's command. He had made sure that they all
wore solid studded leathers fitted with a badge with a
relief of a red, gauntleted clenched fist as the embleme.
Their weapons varied from swords to spears to clubs
and maces. All that carried a one-handed weapon also carried
a shield, which was also painted with the red gauntlet
on a black background.
On this day, Jerreck had lined them up on the courtyard,
to be inspected by the king himself. King Rolshin would sit
in a tent covered bleacher together with his military advisors.
The morning sun had just managed to reach over the high
castle walls surrounding the yard, and the snow glistened
in gold.
A door opened in the castle wall, and a long line of important
looking men stepped out, squinting their eyes as the sun
touched their faces. In their midst walked a strong looking
young man, wearing functional winter clothing and a warm fur
cap. The men in the lines made no mistake though, everyone
know full well that this was their king, and all the men and
women in Jerreck's unit snapped to attention.
Jerreck stood before his group, waiting for the king and his
advisors to be seated on the bleachers. He was in a bad
mood today, but one couldn't tell just by observing his face...
he always looked as if his face had just turned into stone.
The reason Jerreck was in a bad mood was simple. He didn't like
the idea of showing off his student's like animals in a cage.
They couldn't show much on a yard like this. The king would have
to travel with them to fully understand what he had taught them.
Nevertheless, he figured he owed the king some sort of receit
of what the money had been spent on, and so here they were.
During the hours before noon, Jerreck commanded his adepts around
the yard in different displays of strength, agility and stamina.
All of them managed great leaps through the air, striking at
eachother with blinding speed, or ducking blows in impossible ways.
At one point, when all thirty hovered crosslegged one foot above
ground, deep in meditation, one of the older men around Rolshin
leant over his notes and scribbled something.
At the end of the display, Jerreck whistled and one of the adepts
stepped forward to stand beside him. Jerreck spoke.
"Your Highness, honored members of the court..." he nodded towards
the old scribbling man, "...court magician."
"I present to you the first members of what i would like to call
the Red Fists. You have seen how we gather our strength and you
have seen some of how we do combat. Each of us will pledge our loyalty
to you, King Rolshin of Dantimos, and to the nation you serve.
Doubt not that we take this pledge seriously. Any one of us would
rather die than break this oath. As Commander of the Red Fists, I,
Jerreck of Borrim swear my loyalty to you, King Rolshin, and to the
nation of Dantimos for as long as my services are needed."
The man next to Jerreck stepped forward.
"As Sergeant and second in command of the Red Fists, I, Corax of the
Ashen Plains, swear my loyalty to you, King Rolshin, and to the nation
of Dantimos for as long as my services are needed."
...and so it continued until each of the Red Fists had sworn allegiance
to king and nation. Everything went silent as they waited for the king
to respond.
Rolshin stood up from his seat and walked down to the ground, up close
with the adepts. He stopped before each one of them and looked them in
the eye. Finally he stopped before Corax and then Jerreck. In a quiet
voice, meant only for the commander, Rolshin spoke.
"I note that i have your service for as long as it is needed. I also
understand that Red Fists have sworn a similar allegience to eachother
that lasts for a lifetime."
Jerreck didn't move a muscle as he answered, "That's right. We serve
eachother first and foremost. Secondly, we serve who we find either
have a good cause, such as yours, or someone who pays well enough. I
promise you though, that the money you invested in this training and
the trust you put in me, is payment enough for us to serve you for a
good long time, or until you don't need us anymore." He smiled a
little at the king. "For now, we can call our contract permanent.
Consider us a part of your army, king Rolshin."
Rolshin hesitated only for a second before nodding. "I think i
understand. Either way we can't afford not to accept your help right
now, so consider it a deal."
The king waves with his hand, and a runner boy ran up and delivered a
banner on a pole into his hands. The banner was in turn handed over
to Jerreck, who gave it to Corax, who gave it to a large man in the
front line. The man raised the banner high into the air where it unfold
and displayed a large red surface with a red gauntlet inside a circle
of black.
A loud cheer was heard as the Red Fists were awarded their banner from
the King. It was a day for many to remember and think upon in the darker
days to come.
OOC:
Btw, i'm sorry i haven't posted too frequently lately.. i've just had my butt full of work work and work... today i just met a deadline though and felt so good i figured i'd spend some valuable office time to post on here.
Ravyson, consider Jerreck to have "made an appearance" by the time Ravyson comes back to Justice Keep. I've caught up with you time-wise now, so let's get this thing rolling!
Shadow, did you want the Sage Advisor thing to catch up with this stuff time-wise, or is it of no relevance for Kiara and BIS?
Ravyson looked at the medics who had been assigned to him. "Get out of my way. I'll fly over you if I have to."
One stepped forward. "I'm sorry, great warrior, but I must not let you go anywhere. Your ribs have been damaged, and need to heal."
"I heal extremly quickly. I'm better. Get out of my way right now." Ravyson began to don his armor of blue. "Don't make me fly out of this room. I need to see my friend."
"I cannot stop you, but I strongly advise against it."
"Thanks for your concern. Now move!" Ravyson walked out of the room, his ribs healing and wrapped.
He stepped into the fresh air that he hadn't seen since he had been brought in three days before. The medics had tended to his wounds quite well and repaired many of the damages he had done by continual movement for nearly a month. Jerreck had come to see him as soon as he had heard, and they exchanged stories.
Now Ravyson wanted to see his friend. He knew that he was late for the actual demonstration, but he wanted to catch Jerreck. He walked to the field at which the Red Fists were being given their banner. He cheered along with the crowd that had gathered.
Ravyson walked to Jerreck. "So you cast your lot with Dantimos?"
"Not because of the lack of other offers, mind you. So what brings you out into the light of day?"
"I had to convince the medics to let me out. Quite the fun thing there. But I was looking for a favor."
"And that is?" Jerreck looked at Ravyson questioningly.
"I want to be a member of the Red Fists. I lost many men out there. I don't think I'm as capable a leader as a warrior. I ask to be under your leadership once again."
I might get some more posts in today. Busy dealing with stupid people (see System Announcements). Btw, if you want, e-mail me and I will register you until this madness is over.
Justice Keep, February 16th
"You want to do what??" Even Jerreck had a hard time to hide
his surprise at Ravyson's words.
"You heard me. I've lost my legion, and now i want to once
again serve in your unit, under you."
Jerreck sighed. "What makes you think you aren't capable of
commanding? I saw you take command on a few occasions. Last
time was when we fought in Hell. Remember?"
Ravyson shrugged, "I have my reasons, Jerreck. Please don't
make this decision harder than it already is. Will you have me
in your unit?"
Jerreck sipped on his steaming cup of tea.
"There is a problem, my friend. You know i want you in the
group, but you also know that it consists only of Warrior adepts,
taught in the old Barsaivian ways of combat. Ultimately, we
don't serve anyone but ourselves. We will work for pay or for
a cause we deem just, and right now Dantimos and king Rolshin has
payed us dearly by financing our founding. Naturally we will
serve him for a long time... how long will be determined by a
contract, but it will be enough to see us through the resolution
of the barbarian invasion. Besides, his cause is just."
"I intend to school my students in the arts of combat and staying
alive, until they themselves can teach others in turn. I demand
this of them. Granted i've only spent little over a months with
them, and their training is nowhere near completed, but ask yourself
this... do you want to be an adept like them, Ravyson? To learn a
complete new way of fighting, to adhere to the discipline of the
Warrior, and to follow our code?"
He paused for a moment, thinking.
"I know you have what it takes physically. But would you be ready
to commit yourself wholly into this? To be a Red Fist is to be
a warrior of my schooling, and to follow our code."
"If you are interested, i will tell you more of the code, and I
would be glad to train you personally while we move. Some things
you already have, due to your experience, but others i will need
to teach you from the beginning. If you're not interested, you could
travel with us as an observer, but you couldn't be a Red Fist."
Sipping his tea again, he smiled. "So what say you, friend? What is
your decision?"
OOC: This is all dialogue, so remember, it goes Ravyson-Jerreck-Ravyson-Jerreck...
IC:
Ravyson stood up from his seat. "I lost nearly all the men who were stationed under me. I don't have the ability to command a large group of men. The one-on-one fighting is better for me."
"If you want to become a Red Fist, I'll accept and train you. But if you change your mind, you can go home at any time. I know that you're the best, and the flying ability will surely help the Red Fists. But you'll need to be trained, and that will take time when we're moving."
"I know. But I trust you. If you want me to do something, I'll do it."
"Are you going to have any problems switching from being a general in a national army to one of a small group of mercenaries?"
Ravyson smiled. "Jer, that is what I did before I joined the Dantimos army."
"Good point. The past seems so long ago now."
"Maybe for you. I still have dreams about our trip to Hell. Sometimes it's an exact replay, sometimes it has small differences. Sometimes we all die. It's disturbing."
"You'll be all right. We always end up on top."
"We might one day be faced with something stronger than us."
"Just to say, don't we almost always fight something stronger than us? If I recall correctly, I was the one who came back from the dead. That's about as strong an enemy as you can get."
"And the huge number of demons that we've had to fight. The transition won't be hard at all, actually. It'll be a lot like it was before."
"All right then." Jerreck stood and shook Ravyson's hand. "You're one of us now."
OOC: Okay, preparing to write some posts now. Finally! Grading period is over, so I have ever so slightly less work on my hands. As a general rule, don't worry about my characters if my nonappearence is inhibiting abybody's stories' advancement. Either leave them behind or just do whatever seems appropriate for them. I can work around more or less anything, because I so seldom have a defined plan.
Justice Keep.
Shara removed the hood of her cloak. Her hand reached into her pack, and she took some bread out.
My, my Jerreck, look at what you've become
She moved along the street, darting from corner to corner. Her swift movements noticed no attention.
The Red Fist? Interesting.
It had been a long time since Shara had journeyed with Jerreck. She remember her first fight, she had defended John, a gay cook from a group of ruffians. From there her travels brought Jerreck along, then she had to depart. Her departure had meant much to her, for a vampire had stolen her identity and she travelled far and wide in search of her. Her search ultimately led her far to the north.
She unsheathed her sword and stared at it. It was made of a fine metal, she had never seen before, and its ingravings were foreign to her. She wielded it, not for herself, but for her people. Shara had destroyed the vampress, and freed numerous villagers from her wretched grasp. They vowed loyalty and service. The sword she now carried, had a storied and ancient tradition.
Shara put the sword back in its hilt, and hid behind a tree as a couple of guards passed. She jumped the wall.
If I could just get close enough...
There he was.. Jerreck and Ravyson. She licked her lips, not knowing what to expect.
Jerreck and Ravyson walked the streets of Justice Keep, the city
that had been their temporary home for the last couple of months.
War had brought Jerreck here, and soon it would bring him out onto
the field again. He wondered when he would get to work on his own
home again.
He did not intend to keep his warriors in a compound after this
was over. Each of them would be free to live where they wanted,
but with a responsibility to answer to Jerreck's call, sent from
one Red Fist to another, until they were all assembled again. He
counted on that such a mobilization could take maybe a month. Of
course, he thought to himself, most of them were a bit too young
to settle down, so many of them would probably ride together. He
was also sure that Ravyson could help him lead them when he himself
retired. Jerreck figured he had perhaps as much as ten years on his
companion.
Walking into the market district, they passed a street peddler selling
daggers. Clean, gleaming in the spring sun, they were arrayed in
neat rows on the peddler's table, as he yelled out to the public how
finely crafted these weapons were, and how you would regret not having
one when the barbarians came for you and your family.
"They have no faith in our army", Ravyson sighed. "Not that I blame
them."
Jerreck stopped, and grabbed Ravyson's shoulder. "Listen. You can't
blame yourself for what happened. It would have happened to anyone.
You probably bought us valuable time to set up defenses, and on top
of that you gave their chieftain something to think about when you
chopped his arm off!"
Ravyson gently shook himself free of Jerreck's grip, and they continued
walking.
"I know, but i still can't stop thinking of the death's of my men. I
was responsible for their lives."
Jerreck shook his head. "That's only partially true, my friend. When
they signed up, they knew damn well what they got themselves into. Of
course you had a responsibility to keep them alive as well as possible,
but you can never expect to never see your comrades die on the field
of battle. It's part of the job."
Ravyson was quiet for a while. When he spoke again it was in a quieter
voice. "Not for you it seems. You came back. You never explained how
that really happened."
Jerreck looked straight ahead, answering in a likewise quiet voice. "Call
it a secret of the trade. It is something you will learn about if you
choose to take my training as a Warrior Adept."
After another moment he added, "I take it you mean that time on the
ship and the ballistae bolt?"
Ravyson couldn't hold back a chuckle, "Yes, THAT time... my god
man how many times has this happened?"
Jerreck just smiled.
And then he stopped smiling.
Eyes narrowed, he scanned the copse of trees in the little city park on
their right hand. Placing his hand on the mace by his side, he fixed the trees with his eyes.
"What is it, Jerreck?"
"I don't know.. i thought i saw someone move in
there, among the trees."
Ravyson placed a hand on his hilt as well, looking around for possible
attackers.
OOC: Shara, great to see you! If you want the characters to meet, this
could be a good time. 
OOC: I don't have a hilt. My blades are built into gaunlets that are part of my armor.
OOC: Aha! Sorry about that then... on another note though.. do you walk around in that armor in the middle of Justice Keep city?
OOC: I might like the feeling and security. Besides, I might just keep the guantlets on, instead of the whole thing. And how do you know it isn't like the down of a newborn chick?
OOC: Now you have me confused. What exactly is a "down of a newborn chick"? And weren't the gauntlets a part of the armor..? It feels like it would be awkward and heavy to wear them without the armor there to stabilize them.
It doesn't really matter though.. i was just curious.
Down are a type of feather, the soft fluffy kind.
Ok.. so how do i know something (the gauntlets?) aren't like the feather of a newborn chick? Is chick some kind of bird or something?
Yeah, a baby chicken.
A chick is just a baby bird, any bird, I think.
Heh okay.. thank you. My english vocabulary has been strengthened!
Perhaps we should just go on with things, as Shara might or might not respond to this and i don't think we should hold our breath...
I'll try to post something later today, but if not, then it will have to be next week.
/Jerreck
Ravyson's left hand moved to his right wrist. If Jerreck sensed something, then that something was probably there. His friend's instincts were the best in probably the whole world.
Jerreck looked at the park. "Someone is there. Someone... Familiar." He pulled his blade from its scabbard. Ravyson twisted his gauntlet so the blade came out, then went to the other. "Can you see anything?"
"Not from this point. I could get a little higher, but that might raise a panic here in the city. The last thing we need these days is a panic." He walked towards the trees. "I still don't see anything." He turned around to face Jerreck. "Are you sure about there being someone here?"
Shara jumped out of a tree at Ravyson's back. Jerreck motioned to Ravyson as soon as he saw her move. He followed the training that Jerreck had been instilling in him to do a high backflip in the air, according to the hand motion of Jerreck. Shara landed and rolled, in a fighting position as quickly as she had landed.
Jerreck and Ravyson were equally suprised. "Shara!"
She stared at both of them, her hand clutching her hilt.
"Shara! How wonderful to see you!" Jerreck moved forward, only to be greeted by a hiss and the end of Shara's sword.
The two stopped, and looked at each other, then back at her.
"A lot has happened since we last met." Shara's palms clutched tightly to the end of the sword. "I have come here not of my own will."
"Who's will have you come here buy" Ravyson's voice turned cold.
"This war between you and the barbarians must be stopped! Don't want to fight you, as much as you don't want to fight them." Her eyes darkened. "There is someone more sinister than either of you have ever known working this war.. someone that seeks to gain power."
"Well.. I can assure you we've seen plenty of really evil people.." Jerreck let out a small smile.
"The barbarians will attack this city if nothing is done. Don't underestimate the strength or the numbers of the barbarian hordes. If they attack, this city will fall, millions will die on both sides, and nothing will be gained... you hafto believe me!" Shara's eyes became teary and her sword began to shake. "You hafto.."
<b> BOOM!</b>
In a single instant Shara's whole body fell to the floor, as if her life had been stripped.
Without thinking, Jerreck rushed to Shara's aid and lifted
her off the ground. Carrying the lifeless woman in his arms,
he looked at Ravyson.
"Get her sword. We'll take her to my room."
In silence they quickly made their way through the gates to
the inner palace, ignoring the strange looks that fell upon
them in the courtyard.
Once in Jerreck's room, Shara was placed on his bed. Jerreck
sat down on a stool next to her. Closing his eyes, he placed
a hand on her chest.
"She lives, but..."
"But what?? What happened?"
"She is in chock... the sword must have done this to her. I
don't think we can do anything more than putting a blanket
over her and let her rest."
Ravyson grabbed some of Jerreck's winter blankets from the
closet and placed them over Shara. Jerreck was already looking
at the sword that she had carried. He closed his eyes, took
a deep breath, and observed the sword's astral pattern.
When he opened his eyes again, Ravyson peered at him, expectantly.
"Well?"
Jerreck shook his head. "It is strange. The blade has a strong
pattern, but it is in constant motion. I... I have never seen
such a manifistation before in a weapon. It's..."
He looked up at Ravyson. "It's as if the blade is alive."
Omigod! Get the transfusion kit! She's gone into CHOCK! Sorry...couldn't resist.
Gah!
You know that's how we spell the word shock in Sweden. "Chock". Sometimes when in a hurry it's hard to keep the words straight. You'd be surprised to see how many words are the same or very close to being the same.
Heh.