Artemis 2011/04/21(Thu)01:04 No. 298038 ID: bd0a01
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-----------------------------------
Artemis opens his eyes and finds himself falling through the air. He feels a brief moment of panic then realizes he's simply floating downward. He gently touches the ground.

>"Glad you made it through alive."

Regulus smiles at him again. Maggie falls down beside them but before she can greet him she throws up into a nearby shrub.
Ion floats onto the ground and sees Maggie.

"... Not everyone takes teleporting easily.. Throw it up Maggie, you'll feel better."

Ion looks around himself.

"Well, here we are.."

Artemis 2011/04/21(Thu)01:05 No. 298039 ID: bd0a01
File 130337311452.png - (105.48KB , 800x800 , 529.png )

"The Hurrikane Mountain Range."

so, should we find a defensible spot now or hike until nightfall?

>>298038
"Regulus, sir, wouldn't you agree that it's better to get there quickly? If we carry Ion then we can get to the merfolk tonight."
If he agrees, then:
Cast Gravity to make Ion lighter.
"You're the strongest one here, of course, so you would be able to carry him with little fatigue."

>>298041

This plan is great except for one detail.

IF we get attacked by something that ISN'T Regulus and just wants to kill us all...

It could get really bad without a healer.

>>298043
Clearly we would be making camp someplace defensible, simply much closer to the merfolk.
Remember, we want to be able to take Maggie and do some scouting tonight - before Regulus has a chance to do anything.

>>298047
That's a good idea.

Except, what if Regulus WASN'T the one who destroyed that shrine? Sure he has reasons but he is not the only bad guy in the universe.

(Also a crazy idea: Shareas destroyed her shrine on both sides to bring us here ;P)

And here I was wondering why people just didn't teleport all the time. The shrines sure as hell didn't hit Maggie that hard. Ask Regulus how we go about securing camp.

>>298047
That gives us a chance to bring her up to speed without Regulus hanging about... but then, he'd probably be expecting that and there isn't much we know that he doesn't. Still it'll help if things go sour. Same with Ion if we end up alone with him.

>>298060
Interesting theory, or she noticed her brother died and didn't want to be targeted next? To be fair, that was our fault and we were about to run off to see her. Well it doesn't much matter, what does matter is that we're going to find out what happened and we are keeping an eye on Regulus. And then Sharaes will know everything we do, once we meet up with her.

Hmmm. It occurs to me that we have been greatly neglecting Artemis' social development fellow voices, it's embarrassingly bad. I think it is time to explain sarcasm: Sarcasm is a type of humour most often used for mockery, insult and dismissal. The following is an example:
There is no way that Regulus could have known about the mimic before Artemis became a knight. The mimic was only in the barracks for long enough to have had multiple masters, that's not nearly enough time for a creepy, plotting stalker guy like Regulus who goes through everybody's stuff to have found it.
That was sarcasm which mocks Artemis and the rest of the voices for not having already put together a plan for dealing with the fact that Regulus has been playing us like a violin for at least as long as we were a knight and probably longer than that.
We can't trust ourself around the dragon as long as he exists and is free to act, he probably has a half a dozen different ways to make us try to kill her.

The linked archive is missing Chapters 6&7. By simply looking at the fancy new Guardian Skills we got I'm assuming I missed something. If someone could like the other threads that would be cool i would than perhaps be able to contribute.

>>298262
>he probably has a half a dozen different ways to make us try to kill her.

Well duh, thank you captain obvious. This isn't the first time we confront a plotting "All according to keikaku" villian.

>>298262
anything short of MIND CONTROL cannot make art attack her. and if he does try MIND CONTROL then we use guardian powers. simply put, nothing he can try will make us kill her. he could mind control HER and make us have to defend ourselves and be like 'only way to stop her is death' and we sill wont.

>>298290
6
http://www1.tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/288979.html
7
http://www1.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/293837.html

[url=>>298292[/url]">http://www1.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/298037.html#298292]>>298292[/url]
[url=>>298293[/url]">http://www1.tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/298037.html#298293]>>298293[/url]
Okay, okay, then help me out here: What is our plan for making sure he doesn't get a chance? Less than a week ago the king was glaring at him for manipulating us about killing the wind dragon. Somehow he's gotten free of that to take us off to the territory of the water dragon, and as far as I know the king isn't a feckless moron. Even approaching a situation he wants us in seems like a very bad idea to me.
If this analysis is correct it follows that we need a plan for taking this dude out of the equation yesterday--and we can't ask the water dragon for help, or even get close to her, because that's too risky. He seems to have ways of making people do what he wants and we don't know and understand all of them yet.

>>298323
>Less than a week ago the king was glaring at him for manipulating us about killing the wind dragon.
That was the night before last.

>Even approaching a situation he wants us in seems like a very bad idea to me.
Yes, it is. However, it's not as bad an idea as letting him act unobserved.

>>298323
whatingodsnameareyoudoingwiththoselinks

Also, if nothing else we could just pull a DF and let him have an unfortunate accident.

Artemis 2011/04/23(Sat)14:49 No. 298615 ID: 1f90c5
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"Regulus, sir, wouldn't you agree that it's better to get there quickly? If we carry Ion then we can get to the merfolk tonight."

Ion
"I can walk myself thank you. You might want to carry Captain Maggie though."

Regulus
>"Besides there's no way we can make it from here. That would be suicide. Even I would not trek through these mountains on foot."

Maggie
>"... I think I'm b-!!!"

She throws up again.

"And Captain Maggie is in no condition to walk. We'll make camp here for the day. Artemis, you'll take first watch. Captain Regulus you have second, I'll be on watch third. Captain Maggie, if you've recovered by then you have 4th."

Maggie makes a groaning noise.

>"Artemis take watch, Captain Regulus and I will set up camp."

"Uhm, Right. Yes Sir."

Regulus and Ion start setting up a makeshift camp.

Sigh.. You guys know I can hear you right? All this conspiracy, alternate theories. I wish there were some concrete facts. Everything said right now is just an opinion..

Man we're high up.

He peeks over the edge.

We're actually above a cloud. I can't see much below us now.

shadow thinks you should jump on it. being made of shadow may of let her sleep on them but not you.

Artemis 2011/04/23(Sat)15:36 No. 298632 ID: 1f90c5
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Yeah I would die..

Artemis leans over a bit to look at the clouds when he feels a great weight pressing on him. He's forced to bend over slightly as arms wrap around him.
He hears Maggie moaning again.

"I never want to teleport again..."

She leans against him more pressing him even further down.

"How can you stand it? Seriously. I feel like I'm gonna die. If I do tell my parents to not come to my funeral. If they do dress up as me and scare them. It'd be hilarious."

"Nice to see you too Captain."

"Again, call me Maggie. So what's a runt like you doing on this super tough mission?"

explain you were on a mission to the mermaid lakes before. you have actually become a friend of shares. also ask how leaning on your spiky hat is not hurting. if it can't deflect people then how can it deflect thought eaters?

>>298632
"Lending ...support, of course. No actually it's kinda complicated..." You should give her a quick rundown of the days since you met her last, at least about the promotion and explaining the encounter with Aeryr. Explaining Regulus' involvement there is damn important. You're worried about Sharaes and need to talk to her, and who knows what Regulus might do.

>>298632
Cast a heal on her. It probably won't help, but it's it hardly costs any mana. Also, it's the thought that counts.
"Too bad you can't do telepathy, Maggie.
Anyway, I'm worried about Sharaes. Also, I've been promoted to pseudo-captain.
It's been a busy week."

Artemis 2011/04/24(Sun)16:26 No. 298941 ID: ab117e
File 130368760780.png - (155.14KB , 800x800 , 532.png )

"Too bad you can't do telepathy, Maggie. Anyway, I'm worried about Sharaes. Also, I've been promoted to pseudo-captain. It's been a busy week."

"Sounds like it. And I can so do telepathy. Telepathy and Telekinesis are my forte. Are you calling me a bad Psion!?"

She leans on him even harder.

"S-sorry..."

She gets off.

"That's better. So what're you worried about the water dragon for?"

okay, just think AT her.
'i think Regulus is planning kill or hurt her somehow, it's only a suspicion at the moment so i am trying to gather evidence first'

>>298941
Just because she can doesn't mean you can, but maybe she can hear your thoughts? Maybe only if they're loud enough...

[Turn up mind-volume moderately]
HEY CAN YOU HEAR US MAGGIE? WE'RE HIS GUARDIANS. WE THINK REGULUS HAS IT IN FOR THE DRAGONS, HE TRICKED ART INTO KILLING ONE, AS HE DID TO HIS DAD BEFORE HIM. SAY NOTHING BUT TOUCH YOUR CHIN IF YOU CAN HEAR US.

[Reset mind-volume]
...I hope that didn't give you a headache. Ah well you'll live.

>>298941
Think:
HEY! MAGGIE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?
If she doesn't respond, then say "I'd like to talk about things that I'd rather not have to say out loud. Could we talk telepathically, please?"

@Maggie: Can you hear us? We've much to say!

Yea, I figured. Would have been nice though~

>>298941
"Good, because I need to talk to you without the others listening in."

Explain the situation via telepathy.

Artemis 2011/04/24(Sun)19:59 No. 299005 ID: 7dbf4c
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"Good, because I need to talk to you without the others listening in."

Artemis thinks the situation at her.

"mmm... Interesting. But Artemis, what if you just said that to the wrong person?"

She giggles.

"Anyway I'm going to get some rest, I still feels sick. Seeya."

She goes into one of the tents.

For the rest of the night Artemis doesn't have a chance to talk to anyone one on one. Once his shift is up he simply goes to the tent and sleeps.
In the morning Ion wakes up the group and teleports them to the Merfolk Lakes.
As soon as they land Maggie starts throwing up again. She wipes her mouth and looks at the lakes.

"What the..."

>"Dear God..."

The grass around the Lakes is burnt away, leaving nothing but scorched dirt. The Lakes themselves are now grey with ash.
Artemis can not hear a single merfolk singing.

they may just be hiding. splash the water and see if someone shows up.

>>299005
Ok, we need to check for survivors, but we need to do this properly.
Turn to Regulus and say "Orders, sir?"

If he doesn't give you instructions then ask Maggie to keep her mind's eye on the lookout for survivors while you check on Sharaes.

Oh, and don't worry about Maggie. If she can read minds then all informing her does is make it so that we know she knows what we know.

>>299005
Wha... how? This is... how could this possibly happen? Can you see any end to the destruction, a direction it came from or stopped? Any sign of bodies? Spend some time investigating, then we should head to where Sharaes was. I don't know if she still might be there but I hope she isn't... better she ran than suffer from whatever did this.

[Turn angle to look at Regulus' expression right now]

Artemis 2011/04/24(Sun)20:33 No. 299021 ID: 7dbf4c
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Artemis looks at Regulus.
Regulus seems just as shocked as the others. He looks at the destruction in utter confusion.

"Orders sir?"

"I... Look for survivors."

The group nod and begin combing the lake.
Maggie tries to sense if any are around while Ion pokes at the water yelling for any to make themselves known.

Artemis splashes on of the lakes. After a moment a head pokes out.

"Hey.. I remember you.. What can I do for you?"

Ask it to tell you what happened. It may not do much but cast cure on the poor thing to ease it's pain.

yell that you found one then wait for the others to gather then ask what happened. ion is a better healer then you so he may be able to fix the damage

>>299021
Cast a heal on him. He's not too bad, but it helps to establish intent and you're going to have him do all the finwork for you.

"We're here to help, take us to the wounded. Is whatever burned this place still around?
Maggie, is Central too far for telepathy?
Ion, you need to save your energy. You can get the worst-off stable, but don't overreach."

Scrawl a note to Mimi telling her to let you know if Saisai stops in.

Artemis 2011/04/24(Sun)21:01 No. 299031 ID: 7dbf4c
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"Guys I found a survivor! Rane, what happened?"

"I don't know.. There was a terrible fire. We thought we were safe in the water but that got really hot too. We tried to run but the exits were all blocked.. I'm the only one left in this lake... I don't know about the others."

Ion runs up to them.

>"God..."

"Ion can you heal him a bit? I think there might be more."

>"I can't. There are more wounds on his body. Many more hidden beneath the water."

"Don't worry about me. Heal the others. And go see Sharaes. I saw smoke coming out of her cave.."

Regulus
"I'll investigate. Ion, Artemis, stay here and search for others. Maggie, come with me."

"On it Captain General."

Maggie and Regulus run to the mountains.

Ion
>"Artemis, stay with this one. I'll keep searching."

Ion runs off and splashes at the other lakes shouting for survivors to surface.
Rane closes his eye.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more."

>>299029
"Rane, keep your eye open. Stay awake. I need your help, and I'm going to help you."
You have some healing potions, right? Cast heals on him, then pour one or two down his throat.
Shift his body so you can see how bad he is and start applying non-magical treatments.
If he's survived this long then his prognosis is pretty good if you start healing him now.

Also, think this at Maggie:
Maggie, can you inform the king from here?

pull him out of the water to get a good assessment. lay him down on the shore, use gravity to make him really light. should make his heart not have to work as hard to pump blood.

Mana: Mid-High Artemis 2011/04/24(Sun)21:22 No. 299042 ID: 7dbf4c
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"Rane, keep your eye open. Stay awake. I need your help, and I'm going to help you."

Artemis turns him over onto his side and begins healing him. He keeps talking to Rane the whole time to keep him awake.

He can hear loud noises coming from Sharaes's cave.

wait, the huge ass mega healing crystal in Sharaes's cave! gravity, pick him up and run over there.

>>299042
Gravity on him and carry him with you. Crystal-boosting your magic should accomplish this task.

Dammit! Does it sound like a fight? Sharaes should know what we told Maggie, did you tell her the other two dragons still live?

I don't think we can carry Rane all the way to the cave, let's take him to Ion and give him all the mana potions we have, let him teleport us to Sharaes and he can keep helping the Rane and the other merfolk.

Do we still have the real dragonslayer sword, and if so do we have any idea what the chances are of 1) Regulus getting his hands on another one, and 2) managing to successfully attack a dragon with Maggie's help?

Carrying him to the cave has many benefits.

a) Shareas would probably be calmed if she saw us help a merfolk. And she'd also read our mind.

b) We can help whoever we want with fighting (Because if let's say, two other dragons/some other mystical beings attacked Shareas and are now fighting with Regulus and Maggie we should help them ).

Artemis 2011/04/26(Tue)18:45 No. 299504 ID: 7dbf4c
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Ion can't teleport right now, no choice but to run.

Artemis grabs Rane and runs through the ashen waste.
As he nears Sharaes's cave the ground trembles.
He see the mountain shake and erupt as it's side is blown out.
A great fireball is shot out of the new hole. It flies through the air then stops and begins to take shape. A moment later a flaming dragon is revealed, floating near the collapsed mountain.
Sharaes flies out a moment later and charges straight at the dragon.

Artemis 2011/04/26(Tue)18:45 No. 299505 ID: 7dbf4c
File 130386875668.png - (183.43KB , 429x635 , 538.png )

There a loud bang and a flash. For a moment Artemis is blinded.
When he regains his vision the two dragons are nowhere to be seen, however he can still hear crashing sounds from far away.

Someone crawls out of the ruined mountain. It is Regulus.

"Artemis, retreat! This mission is over!"

>>299505
Retreat? Why that wouldn't be proper, not with Regulus hurt like that.

We should hurt him more. With the sword.

don't kill fire dragon. just pin him by the leg or something. let sharaes decide what happens when they are down.

no wait, they are too far for now. that heal crystal should still be there though. after healing rane all up, you should charge after them

oh man, and where's maggie?!

Great, the dragons are fighting.

Dragons fighting is never good.

>>299505
"...But I'm not done here."

They are less danger to us, and us alone. Maggie isn't here and hopefully can be saved, Sharaes is in trouble but we don't want either dragon to die. Give Rane to Regulus and head in there. Request permission to put an end to this, because you are the only one who can. And if he resists be sure to tell him that he owes you and you owe it to the dragons. If he still doesn't grant it go anyway.

[Change Gender]
Draw your blade, and wield it to save dragons for once. We will end this battle before any more lives are lost.

Artemis 2011/04/26(Tue)20:37 No. 299531 ID: 7dbf4c
File 130387544670.png - (157.14KB , 800x800 , 539.png )

"...But I'm not done here."

"This is an order Artemis. Drop whoever it is you have and head over to Ion, I need to find Maggie."

"Sir I'm the only one that can stop this fight."

"It's not our fight to stop. These dragons are going through their own thing and I won't lose anyone to a feud."

"I'm sorry sir, I need to do this. I owe the dragons."

"This is a direct order from Captain General. Retreat."

"I can't."

"Then consider you, and your cat eared friend out of the knights."

>>299531
Kill him now.

they are not having a 'feud', something set the fire dragon off. don't worry about regulus, just go to the dragons.

>>299531
We can't make this call for you, kid. Being in the knights was your dream, not ours.

It's probably not too late to knuckle under if you're not willing to face being expelled from the knights; the king did explicitly tell you to obey Regulus, so even if you're in the right he'll have to consider you to be acting in defiance of his personal commands. There'll be no going back. And Saisai will pay for being your friend, and Mimi will probably get killed as a demon since she won't be useful to Regulus for blackmailing you anymore.

On the other hand, fate of the world. That counts for something big. Might be worth the sacrifice. Either way's gonna suck.

>>299531
Ooh that fucker.

"She has nothing to do with this, but you have had everything to do with the dragons dying so far. Even if you weren't behind this, you owe it to me and to them. The king does not want them to die. I am the only one who can prevent that. Order me to do what I can stop this. Or... I declare a royal battle."

>>299531
...cat-eared friend? He's blackmailing you. Doesn't that make you angry?

>>299531
Laugh darkly, and keep carrying Rane to the cave. Sharaes can take care of herself for now, but Rane can't.
"King's orders, but your blackmailing is noted."

Think at Maggie: "You ok? When you get back to Central I need you to tell the king that Regulus is trying to kill another dragon and blackmailing me into helping, and tell Saisai to take Mimi to the king and tell him our secrets."

Once you have a minute, you need to send a message to Mimi telling her to make a lot of noise, then tell whoever responds that Artemis orders that Saisai report to his room.
She then needs to tell Saisai that Regulus is trying to blackmail Art into helping him kill a dragon, and they need to tell the king their secrets so he'll be caught in his attempt.

[Stay male]

>>299556
Just tell him that your orders come from an unspecified higher authority. No need for long-winded explanations, and even telling him that it was the king specifically might give him enough information to maneuver his threat into greater success. Get moving.

>>299592
This man is second only to the king. He knows exactly who that order would be coming from.

We don't know why the dragons fight. Neither do we know if they would kill each other. Probably they won't. Leave the to themselves.

You have to much to loose. Maggie and Rane could die. Mimi will die for sure. Saisai... well her fate won't be good.

The king will wreck all kind of shit upon you for disobeying his direct order.

And for the last thing: Both dragons could attack you for disturbing them.

So yeah, help friends, GTFO, come back with a larger fighting force.

Also if Regulus IS evil as some voices suggest (I don't believe that) then killing one or both the dragons would only benefit him. So don't fall for the trap.

And telepaths from the academy would surely extract your memories of killing/wounding Regulus from your head. DONT DO THAT!

>>299596
Sharaes is already hurt, she can't win on her own anymore.
Rane is already dead if he isn't healed with something VERY powerful shortly. ion is a VERY powerful healer and he said he can't do anything. only thing more powerful would be to activate Sharaes's giant healing rock.
the king will simply kick us out for this if he does anything, not 'wreak our shit'
we are also equipped with a super powerful anti-dragon sword. it completely nulled a spell from the wind dragon that was supposed to age us 200 year.
only reason we got here within a day is Ion could teleport us, a larger force would take WEEKS to get here.
we wont kill any dragons. just use the sword on a leg or something. weaken fire dragon so he has to stop fighting.
finally, I also agree that hurting regulus is a bad right now.

>>299607

And does Artemis want to be responsible for Saisai being thrown out? And possibly for Mimi death?

Also, if we stop being a knight we won't know a thing about further incidents involving dragon. Rumors are to slow. Let's say Earth and Fire dragon would decide to fight. We wouldn't be able to stop that fight if it happened. So I think that getting thrown out is a rather bad idea.

Artemis 2011/04/28(Thu)14:04 No. 299928 ID: 899d92
File 130402466578.png - (147.93KB , 800x800 , 540.png )

Yes, I am mad. Furious to be exact.
But I don't know what to do.

I can disobey him and calm the dragons
or
listen to him and retreat back to the kingdom.

Something tells me that the choice I make now will greatly affect everything.

>>299928
Dragons that can level a city without a thought raging over the countryside

Or

You get to stay in an order that has clearly been corrupted by a few of its members who don't give a shit about anything but their own power.

I really hope I don't have to spell this shit out.

DO WHAT YOUR FATHER WOULD HAVE DONE.

>>299928
...We can't sacrifice our friends. But damn if we're just going to go along without fighting in some way. We'll follow his orders, but he's gonna get an earful.

First off, let's get the anger loose with an angry yell, if you're feeling it.

"I can't betray my friends and I don't want to disobey you but I won't simply let the world be thrown into chaos at your whim! I have the damn blade and the responsibility but you want to control how I use it? Then talk to me, work with me, and let's get out of here as allies and then you give me your honest reason for all this! That's all I ask!"

Since we don't really know if not calming the dragons would be a bad thing (at least I don't believe it is 100 % sure. The other dragons gain more influence but the dark elves didn't die out, did they? Sure the merpeople will have it harder if their dragon died but such is life.) I'd vote for returning to the kingdom.

(Clearly this is a choice between: Loose position/loved ones or Cry later when thinking about how you upset the balance of the world and made humans/tigerfolk conquer the whole world.)

Also for those of the other option... shouldn't fire dragon be the tigerfolk one? Because I think he should be. And thus you could use this as an argument for Regulus, telling him that either killing him or having him as a friend could help with any tensions our nations have.

And Maggie may need the help of that big crystal and Shareas if she is hurt...

You know what, disregard what I said earlier, GO AND SAVE THE DAY.

Doing something else would probably make you blame yourself. And your friends will probably remain them even if they loose their knighthood. Also if you do some heroic shit you may get pardoned. Maybe just tell the two arguments about Maggie and the dragon to Regulus before running away.

Also: While running write a note to Mimi (and maybe Saisai if she could get the information to her somehow so she could help) to GTFO out of the quarters and hide somewhere so they don't find her. Do it quickly in case the Fire Dragon burns your bag by some weird and impossible (as often happens in epic encounters)way. Also take the sword out.

>>299928
Doesn't your blade disrupt dragon magic? Try using it (nonlethally) against the fire dragon.

fuck Regulus, go stop the dragons. if you let him blackmail you now then he will just keep doing it. every single time he wants you to do something he will threaten you. and you will do it cause you did it once already. so break out at the start and leave him.

That's the thing, the dragons aren't a great danger to us but Regulus is a threat to them, us and our friends. Doing the right thing isn't a matter of who we side with but what good we can do right now. And those dragons aren't even here.

And stopping this conflict, even if we can, doesn't save them or the others from what Regulus would do later without us around. Everyone is better off keeping this enemy close.

Until we can kill him anyway.

>>299928
We need to pick our fights and this time he's got too strong a position, but since he's laid out his trump he's in an off position that we can leverage against him.

"A compromise, then. If you let me save this merfolk's life then I won't interfere with the dragons and we'll all go back to central together.
He's the only witness we have, and if we left him here to return empty-handed then the king would be rather upset."

Think:
MAGGIE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?
SHARAES! I CAN HELP IF YOU COME OVER HERE!

Artemis 2011/04/29(Fri)12:36 No. 300187 ID: 2c93b8
File 130410577958.png - (248.89KB , 800x800 , 541.png )

Artemis walks over to Regulus with Rane in his arms.

"Good, now-"

He hands Regulus Rane and starts running to where he heard the loud sound.

"What!? Artemis what are you doing!?"

"What my father would have done! Heal Rane, he's the only witness we have!"

"Wh-what!? You can't just disobey me!"

"I also can't sit around and see the world be thrown into chaos like this! I'm the only one that can stop this!"

Regulus continues shouting at Artemis but he's too far away now to hear.
He runs around the ruined mountain and sees Sharaes lying on the ground with the fire dragon hovering above her.

>You have doomed us all sister. The humans are using the blade again. The treaty is broken and it is because of your foolishness all those years ago that we are suffering now.

...

>I would kill you now if it would not upset the balance. I will let you live and watch as I kill what remains of your people and the humans as well. I doubt Myli will try and stop me.

Thasti... Please..

>Don't speak to me, traitor.

>>300187
"Leave her alone. Leave humanity alone. The one you want to blame is right here. And I'm not here to fight, but to talk."

>>300193
If he finds out that we killed the wind dragon, we are dead.

Nice story, fire dragon, but it was YOUR KIND that broke whatever treaty there was by attacking humans, and especially the wielder of the blade. Even though he warned him that he didn't want to fight, wanted to look for a peaceful resolve and would use it to defend himself.

Also is the physical form really so important to you? Because if not the spirits of your kin still exist and have a fun time. So find that idiot brother of yours and take it out on him, not on peaceful nation. Because if you don't stop this we are going to FUCK YOUR SHIT UP to stop the world from going into chaos.

So Fire Dragon, do you want to resolve this conflict that came to be through a small problem with communication peacefuly, possibly restoring the balance, or are you going to stay MAD MAD MAD and force us to use our strenght to beat some sense into you?

"Hi, is this a bad time? I just want to borrow a cup of sugar for this pie I'm baking."

>>300187
Ask them who Myli is. I have a feeling that's Regulus.

>>300197
(psssst, humans broke the treaty when art's dad killed shadow)
make sure your sword is on you. it protects from dragon magic.
"you have no quarrel with her, Thasti"

>>300212
You are implying she is dead? ;D

>>300216
(if Thasti doesn't know she is in art then she may as well be when he decided to attack)

>>300235
(The wind dragon could tell right away, maybe they all can. That would mean Sharaes declined to mention this earlier though. At least she can read our mind and confirm it for him, for what that's worth.)

>>300216
(Dragons reduced to a spirit aren't much better than dead, as far as the balance of things go.)

>>300203
(Myli has to be the earth dragon, regardless if Regulus is him or not. He could just be a human supremacist of some sort.)

>>300187
"Stop you, Thasti? Myli is the one behind all this! Your anger at Sharaes is misplaced; if Myli's plot were not uncovered then she would have been the next to die!
Leave. I'll not kill you, but nor will I let your harm here continue."
Walk over to Sharaes, hug her snout, and say to her "I'm sorry. Rane's alive, but barely. Can you heal him?"

Artemis 2011/04/30(Sat)13:09 No. 300468 ID: ab117e
File 130419415813.png - (152.01KB , 800x800 , 542.png )

"Leave her alone. Leave humanity alone. The one you want to blame is right here. And I'm not here to fight, but to talk."

Artemis..?

>Artemis. Slayer of the Wind Dragon Aeryr, Vassal of Ombra. I can sense my powers draining just being near you. I would kill you where you stand were I in my prime. Even though the death of two of my siblings has given me strength it is still a fight I do not wish to engage. Speak now, I have other more important matters at hand.

"You mean the annihilation of two races who do not deserve it? I am sorry for what happened to Aeryr. I was manipulated into fighting him by being sent to capture a supposed light elf spy. He refused to surrender, fatally wounded my ally and it was not until I struck that I realized what he was. By then a peaceful resolution was not an option even though I told him to run and leave us be he insisted on vengeance against all of humanity. I knew nothing of the treaty or my blades history, but I knew I couldn't just let my country and those among it I love suffer. He only relented before the final blow, and lives on as Ombra does, as a vassal to another."

"I'm not going to pretend my ignorance or apology makes anything better. It may not be enough that my king has great regret at what happened to Ombra and was horrified that it happened again. What matters is that this blade has been manipulated against your kind if you choose the path of vengeance it will be again. No matter of you kill me and every human alive. I am asking for your help to prevent any more harm being done to your kind, mine or any other. I want peace."

>>300468
"Humans had been entrusted with the dragon slayer, but the its history and purpose were obscured.
My father was tricked into slaying Ombra, and on finding his folly he did the best he could to save her.
In my ignorance I obeyed orders to slay Aeryr when he attacked central. I tried to disobey my orders and offered to let him leave peacefully if he would only heal the people he brutalized, but he refused.
I only learned the truth and consequences later.

Now we come to the part that you will find personally important. The person that tricked my father is the same one that ordered the death of Aeryr. A man by the name of Regulus.

I have an offer for you which is simple, and not open to discussion. Leave. Do no more harm to Sharaes or her merfolk, and do no more harm to the humans. Naturally, any who desire the death of dragons are under no such protection, but if you wish revenge upon one such as Regulus then do no harm to those around him."

>>300485
>Regulus
We should try to avoid sending him off on vengeance right off the bat we want to cool him off of assaulting humanity not just pin the blame on another one. We try diplomacy as far as it goes. Should that fail... if we can save others by throwing him to the flames, then so be it.

Artemis 2011/04/30(Sat)22:46 No. 300558 ID: ab117e
File 130422881293.png - (185.71KB , 800x800 , 543.png )

"You mean the annihilation of two races who do not deserve it? I am sorry for what happened to Aeryr. I was manipulated into fighting him by being sent to capture a supposed light elf spy. He refused to surrender, fatally wounded my ally and it was not until I struck that I realized what he was. By then a peaceful resolution was not an option even though I told him to run and leave us be he insisted on vengeance against all of humanity. I knew nothing of the treaty or my blades history, but I knew I couldn't just let my country and those among it I love suffer. He only relented before the final blow, and lives on as Ombra does, as a vassal to another."

>Then he is in a cursed state. He will be stuck as a spirit until he can force enough of himself into his host to the point where he is in control again. I'm sure you've felt that too. Moments where you loose control, a simple slip of the tongue. Maybe doing something you would not normally do? Anyway I will not rest until I feel like things have been evened out again. Killing off a few of the now more powerful races will balance it out. Unless you have a different idea, mortal.

The dragon shrinks slightly and leans down to get a better look at Artemis.
Artemis can feel the heat coming off of his body and see the ground beneath him burn, the plants simply turn into ash.

>>300558
"You consider the merfolk to be powerful? Mayhap, but as they are incapable of even considering violence I would be hard pressed to think of them as out of balance.
Even without Ombra and Aeryr, Light Elves are more than a match for any other race and the Dark Elves are a fairly close second.
If you wish for balance, then the solution is to forbid dragons from interfering with other races or aiding their own race against another. I'm sure you would prefer this, as your method would have you killing your own people."

"at first your idea sounds like it may work, but then the other dragons will become angry at you for destroying their races and attack you together, possibly someone will be killed and unbalance everything even worse. therefor, I will become the guardian for the weakened races until the dragons can come to an agreement to ether cull their people themselves or to stop fighting each-other entirely."

"Curses are made to be broken. Maybe a dragons spirit on it's own power can only possess and control a mortal, but with the dragon and it's host working together, with help from others and the guardians... I think I can do better. Impossible things are what I'm best at pulling off. For instance I figured out I could bring back my dead ally yesterday, despite half of her guts missing. Giving a dragon's spirit a proper form will be harder but I'm sure I'll manage.

Now to restore balance? I have some ideas but I need you to answer a question: does the earth dragon still live? Because there is certainly a plot to kill the other dragons but I'm not sure if humanities dragon was the first of those or if it's meant to be the only one remaining.

>>300558
Is Genocide all it can think of, or all it can Do?

Perhaps its being lazy, doing what seems easiest?

Artemis 2011/05/02(Mon)00:50 No. 300897 ID: ff053c
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"You consider the merfolk to be powerful? Mayhap, but as they are incapable of even considering violence I would be hard pressed to think of them as out of balance. Even without Ombra and Aeryr, Light Elves are more than a match for any other race and the Dark Elves are a fairly close second. If you wish for balance, then the solution is to forbid dragons from interfering with other races or aiding their own race against another. I'm sure you would prefer this, as your method would have you killing your own people."

I would never consider attacking my own people. And the fight between us dragons will never end. The treaty is broken, there is no reason not to fight. However the Balance is my top priority. If you have any ideas on how to restore it I will listen.

"I have some ideas but I need you to answer a question: does the earth dragon still live? Because there is certainly a plot to kill the other dragons but I'm not sure if humanities dragon was the first of those or if it's meant to be the only one remaining."

The Earth Dragon is nothing to be worried about. Long ago he was forced to remain in his human form. He has not the power to harm us.

"Human form? Who is he?"

I will not say.

"So.. If I bring the dragons back to life will the balance be restored?"

It is possible. And I sense you have a great power within you. But how can I trust that you would do so hmm?

"You have my word."

I require more then that human.

The fire dragon touches the ground in front of Artemis. Flames engulf him and he can feel his body burning.
Before he can even scream the pain is gone. Nothing seems to have even been damaged.

The word of my sister will suffice.

Artemis tries to open his mouth but finds himself unable. He tries to move but his body seems to be paralyzed.

What the h
-----------------------------------------

Ombra 2011/05/02(Mon)00:57 No. 300900 ID: ff053c
File 130432303835.png - (134.13KB , 800x800 , 545.png )

"Hmm.. It's been a while since I could feel wind and heat"

Good to hear your voice Ombra. Tell me, would this boy really try to bring back the rest of the dragons? Would he ever turn his blade against one of us again?

Ombra laughs.

"He's a sweet boy, a good heart. Way different from his dad. I think he will."

Thasti nods.

... Ombra.. We're dying out. You, Aeryr,Myli...

"And you're not exactly helping are you!? Idiot!"

S-sorry...

"What the hell were you thinking attacking Sharaes!? If I had all my powers I would punish you!"

Sorry... I was.. Mad.

"You always let your temper get the better of you Thasti.. Find Masil. Sharaes needs healing."

... I will do my best.

"You'd better. So.. How long am I going to be like this?"

Depends. Enjoy it while you can. Also keep me updated on what is going on.

"Will do."

And Ombra... If he fails, or kills another one of us...

"I know. And I won't stop you."

Thasti nods and flies away. Ombra watches him become a red dot in the sky.

"Sharaes, go to your cave. A merfolk is there. Heal him and yourself."

Sharaes nods and slowly makes her way back to the cave. Ombra takes a deep breathe. She moves her hands and legs.

Feels nice.

that seems like a very powerful bit of magic. so, anything you feel like doing while you are in control?

>>300899
Not quite what I had in mind, but I'm glad that you got a chance to stretch your legs. And thanks for standing up for Artemis too. What kind of tricks do you have up your sleeve like this? Does the dragon slayer blade weaken you? And we're curious about Myli and Masil too, if you're willing too share.

Now then... It would be really nice to get to central before Regulus does. Who of course is the earth dragon, I mean seriously don't even try to dodge that one anymore. We would really like to stop him from screwing our friends over, and I'm sure you have some choice words for him yourself. But make sure Maggie isn't off bleeding to death somewhere around here first.

>>300900
Well, I suppose if Regulus is a dragon then we can't kill him.

Go ahead and enjoy this, Ombra, but it would help if you kicked Regulus in the nuts. You know you want to~

Oh, is there anything you want to do before this wears off?

>>300900
Hey, what's this about Myli?

Ombra 2011/05/02(Mon)03:45 No. 300915 ID: 251a14
File 130433313561.png - (108.09KB , 800x800 , 546.png )

>>300909
Myli is the Earth Dragon. Long ago he attacked Masil so she sealed him away into a human body. He's been trapped like that ever since.

>>300906
I don't have any more powers then Artemis would have in this form. Maybe I can fly but that'd take all my power.
Also I can't sense the minds of anyone around me other then merfolk and Sharaes. It seems that group of humans have left. They have a pretty big head start on us.

>>300907
>>300901

Ombra stretches out her legs and touches the grass a bit. She stands up and crosses her arms.

....
I want to take a hot bath.

that sounds do-able, should be at least ONE hot spring around here.

Nice, you have a body now. Even if it's only for a while.

So, do what you want, cause a dragon is free. Do some things that are pleasurable and require a body. You know, eating, going to hot springs, you name it.

Because it doesn't seem you will listen too us like Art does. But if you do take suggestions then it would be nice to get to the central before Regulus... Not only because it would nice to help Art friends, but a big city is a nice place when you want to do some fun things.

>>300915
You could ask Sharaes if there's a hot spring around here.
Or if she could give you a lift to Central.
OH! The Dark Elves are closer! You could ask her to take you there so you could spend some time with your people!

Oh, and while you're at it could you ask how Rane's doing, and tell Sharaes that the human king would both be willing to aid her if she asked and is unaware that Myli is in human form?

Art's flipping out right now. Also, why didn't you tell us it's cold where you were stuck? We'll have to find a way to do something about that...

>>300915
Fly there? I'd like to see that... but between taking all your energy and the chance of coming up short we can't expect it of you. I am still asking though. Maybe Sharaes and her big magic rock can be of some help, I know she's in bad shape but who knows when you can talk to her again.

>>300916
Any water here would be warmer than usual, but also filled with soot and dead merfolk.

If I correctly interpreted what the conversation between you and Thasti meant then it is fairly obvious what Regulus either is, or is a representative of. We need to 1) figure out if the human king is his thrall or if he can freely think and act for himself; 2) come up with a plan to avoid losing our position and allies and resources since Regulus is certain to kick us out of the knights and seize our stuff the moment he gets back if we don't somehow stop him from doing it first.
I'm sorry to cut your tour of a blasted landscape short but we've averted one disaster here at the price of setting another in motion.

Ombra 2011/05/02(Mon)22:34 No. 301096 ID: e19bd4
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>>300919
Ya never asked how I felt.

Anyway Sharaes is severely damaged. If the Light Dragon doesn't heal her then she's dead. Right now I don't wanna bug her.
Right now I wanna kick Regulus's butt.
And I know he's not that far off...

Ombra summons wings and takes flight. She goes to the hurrikane mountains and flies around looking for Regulus. she spots a tent on one of the mountain paths.

Well well.. This must be them. Yep, I can sense their thoughts. Wait..
There's only two of them.
Also I didn't sense the other one back at the lakes.
Ah well, what's the best way to do this...

hard and fast, last we saw he was missing an arm. so grab him by the neck and forarm.

>>301096
Rocket down from the sky with sword drawn, screaming appropriate insults. Remember Sir Ion is going to be a witness to all this, so be sure to spell everything out and pin the blame where you should. That'll give us leverage to help minimize the damage he can cause, living or dead.

Maggie might have died... well we can fix that too if we get back to her soon enough. We need to get back to her when we're done here. Or if we're lucky her body is with them, or if we're really lucky she just isn't detectable because of her mask or powers.

>>301096
I did ask how you felt. You gave a non-answer

The best way to do this is probably to land, walk in, and say "Oh, Myli~ Why have you been killing dragons?"
Then unleashing hell on him.

Ombra 2011/05/03(Tue)01:23 No. 301143 ID: e19bd4
File 130441100341.png - (95.59KB , 800x800 , 548.png )

Ombra tries to slam into the tent but is knocked back as though she hit a wall. The tent is tossed away and she sees Ion projecting some sort of field.

"Hmm. You were right Regulus. I didn't think he'd go so far as to attack us."

>"I told you. He is in league with the dragons."

stand up and say
"i simply wished to cripple you so you could not flee before getting sent to trial, dear brother. that sword only destroyed my body, my soul is just fine"

>>301143
"Hello, Ion. My quarrel is with the earth dragon Myli, the one who murderered Maggie and ordered my death. The one you know as Regulus.
He's lying to you, you know. The king doesn't trust Myli anymore. He went so far as to order Artemis to be prepared to kill him if he tried to kill Sharaes - which Myli did attempt, by the way.
You don't even have to trust me, just tell the king what you saw without his embellishments.

Oh, and keep the psychics under guard. Myli will likely try to kill or discredit them so that they can't clear Art's name when he returns. He's going to order Artemis be killed on sight so that the king can't discover the truth.
Myli is also going to suddenly "discover" some secrets about Artemis and Saisai he was using as blackmail, and destroy the evidence before it can implicate him. Nothing treasonous, simply embarrassing.

Now I'm going to go restore Maggie and fix the damage your treasonous friend has wrought. When you arrive in Central to find that Thasti hasn't burned it to the ground, you can thank Artemis for that."

If I may? "Regulus you fucking asshole! "In league with the dragons"?!? The only dragon causing problems here is you! You nearly got Central torched and Sharaes may die! You lied to kill the Wind dragon and you tried to kill me! Did you kill Maggie too? What the hell is wrong with you?!? GET OUT HERE AND ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES COWARD!"

Of course I have make some assumptions here. Whose fault is that? Just work with it. Do try not to fight Ion, he's a good guy... and we'll be right screwed if he doesn't help us if and when you revert.

Ombra 2011/05/03(Tue)02:52 No. 301158 ID: ab117e
File 130441635353.png - (109.67KB , 704x779 , 549.png )

"Hello, Ion. My quarrel is with the earth dragon Myli, the one who murderered Maggie and ordered my death. The one you know as Regulus.
He's lying to you, you know. The king doesn't trust Myli anymore. He went so far as to order Artemis to be prepared to kill him if he tried to kill Sharaes - which Myli did attempt, by the way. You don't even have to trust me, just tell the king what you s-"

Ombra is cut short by Regulus's laughter.

>"Really? Is that what you're thinking? That's ridiculous."

He laughs again.

>"I'm beginning to doubt if you are a dragon. You should know that the species is immortal. They do not age no matter what form they are in. I was born in central. I joined the knights as a young lad. I grew older training in it. Already your story has flaws."

Well.. That much is true. Honestly I never saw what form he was cursed into. And that was quite a while ago too.

"He killed Maggie so that she could not read anyone's mind."

>"She can't read minds anyway unless you and her are both thinking about reading one another's mind."

"Not only that but her body was burned. It is obvious that the fire dragon caused her death."

"He's trying to blackmail Artemis and Saisai!"

>"Blackmail? With what?"

"Artemis, are you still in there? Do you have control? Were you the one who ran off to meet the fire dragon or was it this demon within you?"

>>301158
"I am no demon. I am Ombra, dragon of shadow and the matron of the Dark Elves.

Artemis says 'Stop this now! I would never go up to him and accuse him like that!!!'.

You should thank Artemis. Thasti attacked Sharaes because she gave the Dragon slayer to humans, and now two of us have fallen to it. His next target was to be Central.

Now, if you would direct me to Maggie's body then Art will restore her when he regains control."

"fine then, fuck both of you, i quit" and just leave.

>>301164
no, sorry, i'm just getting mad cause regulus is an asshole.

"first off your age could simply be a full body illusion. second, why didn't you at least take maggie's body with you so she can get a burial.
third, you were trying to blackmail us with the fact that art would b kicked out of the knights and saisai is part tigerfolk."

>>301158
...if Regulus isn't the one...

OH shit it's the king. He used some fucking strong power to kill that corrupt captain, and he's buddy buddy with Regulus. So, Regulus is a pawn, and the king is the one guiding his actions.

Has the king ever aged?

Finally thought about the fact that Regulus MIGHT not be the dragon/bad guy. Took you long enough guys. All of his actions, except the blackmail, don't suggest his evil. Just efficient.

And why do you think the king might be the dragon... you are so obsessed with finding him you might not thought about the fact he might just be some random guy living somewhere.

And even if the king was the dragon, what then? Of course we could use the argument to point out that EVERYONE is in league with a dragon then :P But that doesn't really mean anything.

Or you, Ombra, could just ask them to lead you to the king and "promise" to go peacefully? You'd explain the whole mess to him... and if he is rational you'd get all kind of cool stuff and awesome activities.

If he is a bro. Is Myli a bro? Or is he the plotting/not caring about his kin kind? Because if he is not a nice/rational guy then there is no point in visiting the king. He seems to be cool though, as he was against any blood being shed today.

>>301193
I've understood there was a chance it wasn't him, but his actions fit far too well. Also, remember that Regulus was able to tell that the spy was Aeryr in spite of him having what was for all intents and purposes a perfect disguise.

The king's behavior suggests he is not out to harm the dragons. If he were Myli then there would be little cause for concern, but if he were Myli then he would have known about the dragon blade's history.

Of the people we have seen so far, I suppose Ion could be Myli, but I doubt it.

>He seems to be cool though, as he was against any blood being shed today.
No, Regulus was against humans preventing bloodshed today. Sharaes would be dead if Art hadn't stepped in.

>Is Myli a bro? Or is he the plotting/not caring about his kin kind?
Myli was trapped in a human form because he attacked another dragon.

>>301196
1.I wasn't talking about Regulus.

2. Everyone can be dumb from time to time. I was asking if his act was something like that or was he "I HATE YOU ALL, SCREW YOU, I CARE ONLY ABOUT MYSELF" all the time when he was a dragon.

Also: Time helps people change. Especially if a dragon is in human form and has to change the way he lives ;P

>>301197
no see, if all the dragons are dead then he would become powerful enough to break the curse and return to dragon form. so he probably 'died' and was 'born' a lot of times, each time under a different name.

>>301158
Dammit Ombra, this isn't working so well. You're even less careful about what you say then female Artemis!

"Heh, maybe I drew some wrong conclusions. No matter. Artemis is still here, and he'll be back in control soon enough. For good. He couldn't as much as hear me before today and I can't do this again. Don't blame him for this mess. I'll stay my accusations, they don't really matter now anyways. What does matter is that the Fire dragon was furious about his brothers death and was about to attack Central next. I convinced him Artemis would not kill another dragon and I stayed is wrath. For now."

"Regulus, listen up. You have your plots and whatever, fine. You're just going to have to quit using Art as a tool or he's going to up and leave and take his blade with him. Probably throw it in the ocean or find some way to destroy it. I know you don't want that, but he really doesn't want to get everyone killed in war against and between dragons. Neither do I, incidentally. I like to think you don't either no matter what the hell you thought to accomplish."

>>301162
Addendum:
"Tell me, then, how did a dragon made of fire caused bleeding wounds? You would be ash if he came close to you.
Ion, you know how mages can call forth fire? Ask your friend there about the advanced magical research he is involved in. Elemental spells incalculably more powerful than simple fire magic.
You say she was 'undoubtedly' killed by Thasti only because it's more convenient to rule out unpleasant possibilities.

It was Artemis that ran to stop the fight, but under the king's orders. Again, ask the king yourself.

Consider what that one has told you and asked you to believe, and what I have told you and asked you to test."

>>301202
Further:
"Artemis can restore Maggie to health, and the fastest way to power that ability is combat. Thasti ran off too quickly, and out of everybody still in the area I'd say he's the most deserving of a beating.
That's one of the reasons why I want to kick his ass, but I'm not going to kill him."

Ombra 2011/05/03(Tue)15:24 No. 301260 ID: 899d92
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"I am not a demon you fool. I am Ombra the Shadow Dragon."

>"It seems that the shadow dragon has possessed it's slayers son."

"I wish. This is temporary, at best."

>>301186
I'm not certain. I'd never seen the king before Artemis did.

>"So why are you here then, other then throwing out random unfounded accusations?"

"A few reasons. One is because I'm certain you either are, or are working for, the Earth Dragon. Two is to make sure you don't try to go blacken Artemis's. And lastly I just really don't like you so I'm hoping I can kick your ass."

Regulus sighs.

>"How could I be a dragon? That makes no sense. Where's my mark? All of them have a mark somewhere on their upper body. And again the whole aging thing doesn't help that theory. Second I wouldn't want to 'blacken' Artemis or Saisai's name. It's already over for him. He ran away from me after I'd given him a direct order. He's not welcome back into the knights. There's no need to say anything more then that. Finally if you can even make it past this field and attempt to touch me then I have no choice but to cut you to ribbons."

"Regulus, he may not be a knight but this is still Artemis."

>"First of all this isn't Artemis, it's Ombra. Seecond if she attacks me I have no choice. Again, leave us alone. We're tired, beaten up and we need to not only report that half of merfolk lake was destroyed but out teammate is dead as well."

"Wait, if you let me fight you I can get enough energy to have Artemis bring back Maggie!"

>"........"

>>301260
You forgot to say Art was under orders from the king.
Oh, well.

"You're familiar with limit breaks? Art has one that can restore a body to perfect health. You know this is true because Fleur's corpse was restored to life, and was waiting for the final treatments to awaken her when we left.
Limit breaks are charged by physical conflict.
If I kick your ass around for awhile, then Artemis will have the energy required to restore Maggie. You both know that he and Maggie are friends, and that he'll go to silly lengths to help his friends.

I'll believe you're not Myli when you remove your top and show us your entire upper body.

Artemis isn't out of the knights because I wouldn't let him obey your order. It was a damned stupid order and your king will agree with me on that."

fine then "artemis disobeyed cause he knew he could stop thasti, which he did. thasti was planning to finish off the merfolk and then attack central, with art stuck here they would of had no chance, especially since he fought too hard and mortally wounded shareas meaning she would die while he was fighting, becoming even more powerful during the fight. all this while the only person capable of fighting him was stuck here because ion is the only one who can cover that much distance. if artemis didn't disobey you, then central would be gone"

"Yeah, Artemis can pull off the life restoring limit when he needs to because of his trinket. We spar a bit and I'm sure it'll max out, when he regains control he can do it right away. If not it will take a bit longer. But if we don't get to her soon it may not work at all. And we can go back because the danger at the lakes has passed. Thasti had nearly killed Sharaes and was about to assault all of humanity, but I promised him Artemis would not kill another dragon and so he stopped. For now. "

"If it weren't for my words and Artemis' snap decision the fire dragon would be reducing your kingdom to ashes already. And it was because of the kings orders and wishes as well that he did so. You can make the argument that he isn't a knight but the king may disagree that the savior of humanity should be punished."

"So you can do whatever you like, I have just enough power to go back myself. Artemis will do what he does and nearly kill himself trying to save everyone. Maybe he finally will and take me with him. Or we can all go back, save her and maybe some more merfolk, and see if Sharaes still lives."

"And I want to make this perfectly clear to you. I want the dragons to live, but also humanity and every other race. Artemis feels the same way, but he puts humanity first. That's the only reason he decided to kill that fool Aeryr, because he was going to wage war against humanity if he escaped."

"Okay, fine, I'm very, very angry, so much so it possibly even has clouded Artemis' judgment. I'm pissed off that you pushed Artemis into harm's way and induced him to kill my brother without even informing him of the danger involved. We also have read enough of Artemis' progenitor Sable to know that he was ordered to kill me and that you are the one who gave that order. We know this was justified with the pretext that I was the dragon of the tigerfolk, which I'm sure all three of us know is not so--it's not like it was a secret. Because of all this Artemis was attempting to discharge his loyalty to his King by second-guessing your treachery, which seems quite justified and reasonable to me but of course I'm biased since you tried to have me killed and partly succeeded!
Still, I aim to right this terrible situation, starting with the current one: I demand compensation or satisfaction for the injury and insult. The choice I offer is this: Will you begin restitution for your crime against me and aid me in restoring my sister, or; do I instead take my due vengeance? Artemis prefers the first and if getting started healing the balance you have upset twice requires me to let you live then so be it. But please, please give me an excuse to take my vengeance instead."

Ombra 2011/05/03(Tue)22:05 No. 301336 ID: 899d92
File 130448554408.png - (199.00KB , 800x800 , 551.png )

I look like such a fool.

"I know it sounds weird but Artemis gets more power when he is in a conflict. It's a limit break."

Ion
"Ombra, I'm sure you must understand that that sounds like a poor excuse just to hit the Captain General."

>"My thoughts exactly. I'm sure Artemis has great powers but a limit break can be used even outside of combat. Ion here can do it at will."[.i]

"Well that's just how his works!"

[i]"Sorry, we simple won't let you."

"Dammit! I'm trying to be nice, I'm trying to talk this out with you! That man is fucking evil! God why don't you believe me!?"

"Because we have no reason to. I apologize Ombra but we simply do not trust you. Regulus on the other hand has a spotless record. Now please leave us alone. We need to rest."

"Dammit!"

Ombra glares at Regulus.

"Take off your shirt."

>"Hmm?"

"Just let me see. I want to see if you really don't have a mark."

Regulus sighs again and takes off his shirt. He shows her his front and back.
Ombra glares at him and curses silently. Her wings grow out and she flies up

That was fucking pissing me off.. You and I know he's evil but we literally have no proof.
Where should we go now? Back to the Lakes or Central Kingdom?

>Regulus on the other hand has a spotless record.

Absolutely spotless? That doesn't bother anyone else? I mean really - everyone is bound to fuck up some time.

let's see shareas first. if she and Thasti can show up and tell the king what happened then it would help. also need to get maggie's body and see exactly what happened to her. then we need to get to central and clear out art's room and tell saisai that regulus knows she is part tigerfolk but hasn't told anyone so he could use it as blackmail.

>>301338
Wait, no. He doesn't have a perfect record! he nearly killed two knights and disabled a third because he misinformed US about a mission!

>>301336
God just... AUGH! Ok fine look, first thing you're going to do is be disappointed that he didn't have a decent fucking reason for the stupid shit he did, then explain why it was fucking stupid. You know, how he nearly got the kingdom burned down.

Then... well dammit we can't just leave Maggie like that, but we can't sacrifice Saisai and Mimi. Tell me, if the Light dragon shows up to heal Sharaes would he be willing to help us get to central? If that can work we should talk to him, I don't see a better way... if not we may need to cut our losses and fly to central. Can you even get that far?

Ombra, get the body if you can and get ready to fly.

Fuck, I hope this works.

Ombra 2011/05/03(Tue)23:27 No. 301361 ID: 899d92
File 130449043257.png - (101.04KB , 800x800 , 552.png )

Yeah this is all crappy for Artemis. Sucks for him..

Anyway better make sure Masil is healing Sharaes.

Ombra flies back to the lakes. Near Sharaes's cave she sees a glowing yellow light.

Hello Ombra.

"Hi..."

She's such a show off.

It is good to see you alive. How are you?

"Good.. What're you doing?"

I came here to heal Sharaes as you requested. I also healed this merfolk and a human I found here.

"Good."

....

".... Thank you."

Good. Unless there is anything else you need I am leaving.

let's see if we can wake up maggie, if so and depending on her story it may be better if she is still thought of as dead. then we should see about ways to get back to central faster. think your shrine is the nearest one, would be fastest way.

>>301361
Ombra, our next objective is securing our friend's lives - Saisai and Mimi. While YOU certainly likely don't give a shit about them, both have unique talents that will help us in the future. Right now, it's all about getting back and warning them and hiding them.

Mimi is more likely to actually be killed, as a demon. She is more important, therefore. Store her with Morgan, after explaining the situation. She can blend in in a shop behind the counter.

Saisai needs to hide again. I'm not too certain about this one...

>>301361
Human? Maggie! Well that's one thing less to worry about.

Ok now look, you want to get your own body back right? And you don't have much time as it is. Ask your glowy friend here for a favor in carting Artemis and Maggie back to central. If Sharaes is stable of course. We have to talk to the king and get him to understand the situation and support our dragon healing, balance restoring mission. This is in your own best interests.

If he agrees you probably have some time before he's ready. If you have time to wait go see about that warm bath. And invite Maggie.

>>301361
"Oh, could you tell me what name Myli is going by now? Or at least what he looks like? I need to speak with him about all this."

Ombra 2011/05/04(Wed)02:49 No. 301387 ID: 899d92
File 130450255943.png - (137.25KB , 800x800 , 553.png )

Yeah probably couldn't make it to the Kingdom anyway so...

"Masil, can you fly my host and this human to Central? The human kingdom?"

....

"... Please."

Sure. Give me one moment, I need to finish up a bit more with Sharaes. Her species death has caused her more damage then the actual attack. Her soul was damaged.

"Can you fix it?"

I can try.

"How long will it take?"

An hour. Roughly an hour. Be back by then.

"Will do. Oh hey do you know who Myli is? Like, his current form?"

I wouldn't be able to tell you. After I changed him I left. Whatever he goes by now is something he chose himself.

"Darn.. Okay. Well the girl is healed right? Bring her down, I need to talk to her."

And do what I wanna do..

Masil lowers down Maggie. Her mask seems to have been lost, for the first time Artemis and Ombra see her face. She opens her eyes and looks at Ombra.

"Woah.. You dyed your hair.."

"Come with me."

Ombra picks up Maggie and starts dragging her away.
As they walk/drag Ombra explains the situation. They go deeper into the ruined mountain side.

"Where are we going shadow chick?"

She leads her into a tunnel. They walk on until they see a pool of water with steam coming out of it.

"This. I wanted company. Come in."

Ombra quickly strips and jumps in.

"??? This is a weird day. Ah well."

Maggie follows suit and hops into the pool.

"Oh man... After being in a cold corner of Art's mind this is heaven."

"Mmmhmm.."

I bet Artemis wishes he could do this. Anyway what's the plan when we get to central? just so I know what to do first. Should I even see the king? Well, should Art? I won't be there..

"Hey, so what happened to you?"

"Ah man it was pretty damn crazy. So we came over here to the mountain them BOOM BWOOSH! The fire dragon was fighting that water one! SPLASH! She summoned huge waves to try to kill him them BAM! I died. Fireball to the face."

"Ouch.."

yeah, plan is no embellishments or accusations. just EXACTLY what happened. think we should get saisai to reveal her ears to the king, would disarm that threat. even if saisai is kicked out it would go better for her. maybe even get someone to cast a truth spell on us before telling the story.

>>301387
"So, things you should know...

Art's got a Mimic in his room - sweet girl, and Saisai was born with cat ears for some reason.
Regulus found both these things out.
Regulus ordered Art to let Sharaes and Thasti fight things out on their own and go home, Art told him this was a fate-of-the-world thing, and Regulus threatened to use the secrets he knows to get Saisai and Art thrown out of the knights. Art talked Thasti down from his plan of killing Sharaes and then wiping humans off the map, Thasti pulled me to the front to give my word Art wouldn't kill anymore dragons and would try to bring us dead ones back, I made Thasti call Masil to keep Sharaes from dying, she brought you back.

Ion wouldn't let me beat Regulus senseless, so I went and called Regulus out on being an asshole.

Anyway, Regulus is gonna tell the king that Artemis turned traitor or some shit like that, then get Saisai thrown out of the knights to rub it in.
Masil's gonna give us a lift back to Central in about an hour.
All I want you to do is watch out for Saisai and Mimi- Art's mimic, and let Art know if you find any plots against him. Will you do that for me?

Business out of the way, why did you wear that mask? Your face is too pretty to cover up all the time."

Ombra 2011/05/04(Wed)05:59 No. 301396 ID: 6c068e
File 130451394859.png - (109.37KB , 800x800 , 554.png )

I already told her most of this stuff.

"So, things you should know... Art's got a Mimic in his room - sweet girl, and Saisai was born with cat ears for some reason. Regulus found both these things out. So Regulus is gonna tell the king that Artemis turned traitor or some shit like that, then get Saisai thrown out of the knights to rub it in. Masil's gonna give us a lift back to Central in about an hour. All I want you to do is watch out for Saisai and Mimi- Art's mimic, and let Art know if you find any plots against him. Will you do that for me?"

"Mmmm... Maybe. I'll think about it."

"Hey, why did you wear that mask? Your face is too pretty to cover up all the time."

"Haha you flatter me. I wear it cause it's freakin awesome that's why. Also it bothers people when they see my ears, ears and nose bleeding.. That happens a lot when I use my psionic powers."

sounds like a good enough reason to me. so Ombra, i was thinking, darkelves are good at soul magic do you remember any being REALLY good at it? if so then it would probably be a good idea to see if we can get help from them for shareas.

>>301396
Can you use Soul Magic like this? Or help Art learn it? That would be incredibly useful.

Also, you should totally try to seduce Maggie.
"Bah, showing a little blood keeps 'em from thinking it's easy. Mask's sweet though.

We've got a bit less than an hour here before it's time to leave.
So, what do you do for fun?"

>>301399
Ekhem... seems like a rather well planned troll. With Art being unable to stop looking.

But let's rather not do that. I'd rather they just rested

>>301396
Ask Maggie to make Artemis squirm a bit more. I'm sure you both want to.

Well, you're certainly giving Arty a show.

...WHat are you going to do about Morgan? About Saisai? Are you just going to break hearts and friendships for your own gain, or will you lie to them and lead a false life?

Actually, if the king does accept Regulus kicking us out of the knights can we get the dark elves to take Artemis in? I'm sure they'd like to protect their dragoness and may be more interested in discussing the balance of dragons and how to help restore it if it could help lead to peace.

Ombra 2011/05/04(Wed)18:31 No. 301530 ID: ab117e
File 130455908987.png - (93.40KB , 600x600 , 555.png )

>>301472
Maybe.. They've always been level headed people.

"Hey Maggie, you know Artemis can see right?"

"I guessed as much."

"He can look but can't touch. Let's mess with him a bit."

Maggie smiles. She stands in front of Ombra and poses.

"Oh Arty~"

"Hahaha awesome."

Excuse me, it is time.

"Woah.. Uhm, let's head out Maggie."

She nods.
----------------------------------

Ombra 2011/05/04(Wed)18:32 No. 301531 ID: ab117e
File 130455913949.png - (35.27KB , 600x600 , 556.png )

-------------------------------
Well, here we are. Central Kingdom.
First go warn Saisai. Then stash Mimi away. Then go look for low rent living quarters.
That's the plan right?

yeah, sounds about right. also need to ask saisai about revealing her ears to the king before regulus does. it also may be good to see the king as you instead of art, the king may be glad to know the dragons are not truly gone. then give him the facts, no conjecture just exactly what happened, including the part where we disobeyed regulus. admitting a fault will lend a lot of credence to the story.

Make sure to see Saisai first before seeing the king, Regulus may have deceived us about not being either the dragon or the dragon's agent, and for all we know the king may be the dragon or the dragon's agent. To be honest I think it may be safer to visit the elves and seek allies amongst them but if we don't even try to get a handle on things here now it could get much, much worse.

Well... all that needs to be done. But we should take advantage of getting here before Regulus and go talk to the King. I'd prefer you hurry, so you can talk to him as yourself. We may be able to stack things in our favor. Go ahead and use Flash Step if you think it will help, the GP cost is worth you holding out longer.

We should send Maggie to inform Saisai and have them get Mimi. Pass Mimi a note telling her to be expected to be picked up as a precaution.

>>301531
No.
First we get Maggie some clothes.
Second we tell the king what happened, and ask him to say that the order to not kill dragons extends to not letting them die through inaction, or at least not letting them kill each other.
Third we warn Saisai and have her move Mimi someplace else.

Ombra 2011/05/05(Thu)00:00 No. 301583 ID: ab117e
File 130457881939.png - (149.25KB , 700x700 , 557.png )

Maggie has her clothes, to the king!

"Maggie, try to get in touch with Saisai okay?"

"I'll try."

Ombra thanks the Light Dragon and hops off. She Flash Steps all the way to the castle. Before she can reach the king she's stopped by a knight.

"Sorry miss, only knights or those who have been summoned may see the king."

"What!? I am a knight!"

"Are not."

>>301583
"Then tell the King that the Dragon of Shadow is here to see him and she will not brook being made to wait!"

ask who he thinks you are then. if he says artemis then we are too late. if not then say you are artemis and you have urgent news for the king. if he asks for proof then pull out the sword.

>>301583
"I'm Artemis Dispo, I messed up a spell. See the sword? This kind of thing happens all the time, really."

If he still doesn't believe you say "Fine just go tell him someone is here to see him about Regulus' mission to the lakes. He'll know what I mean. And make it quick."

another point of proof is art is the only one who knows that he was bit by a shade.

another point of proof is art is the only one who knows that he was bit by a shade.

>>301590
Oh yeah, it's that guy! Let's do this then: "I'm Artemis, I messed up a spell. Remember we worked together on that mission? How's that bite wound looking?"

>>301583
"It's me, Artemis. The mission the King sent us on went horribly wrong, and it's vital I speak with him immediately."
If he doesn't relent then sigh, and say "How's that bite doing?"

Ombra 2011/05/05(Thu)01:47 No. 301598 ID: ab117e
File 130458525269.png - (115.22KB , 800x800 , 558.png )

"It's me, Artemis. The mission the King sent us on went horribly wrong, and it's vital I speak with him immediately."

"No."

".... How's that bite doing?"

"!!! A-Artemis!? I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"It's okay, just let me through."

"... Fine."

He moves out of the way letting Ombra enter the room. The king spots her and stares.

>"The shadow dragon. I knew you would come for me some day.."

"i am not here to fight you, but to tell you what has happened." then start explaining what happened after arriving at the mermaid lakes. from finding Rane to you taking over. don't say anything about what you suspect, just exact quotes.

>>301598
"Not here for you. Regulus is blackmailing Artemis and another knight. He very nearly allowed the Fire Dragon and the Water Dragon to combat one another - knowing full well where the Fire Dragon would go next. King, I really hate to say this, but I believe Regulus may be using you."

>>301598
Laugh. Also, see if your mind powers let you tell if he's Myli or not.
"Hardly. If I did anything to you then who would help me get a new body? Besides, Regulus is the one that's been having us killed us off.
Speaking of which, I need to give you Art's report before that asshole gets back.

We arrived to find the entire area ash, and almost all the merfolk dead. Regulus and Maggie went off to find Sharaes while Art tried to heal the sole survivor.
About then Art heard a blast and saw Sharaes fighting Thasti. He tried to take the survivor to Sharaes' cave so he could heal the merfolk and stop the fight when Regulus showed up and told him to drop the survivor and retreat.
Art refused, insisting that he was the only one who could stop the dragons from killing each other, at which point Regulus attempted to blackmail him with threats of having him and Saisai thrown out of the knights and exposing their secrets - oh, yea, Regulus digs up dirt on all the knights he can so they'll do what he says - at which point Art handed the survivor to Regulus with instructions to bring him to you for questioning and ran off to stop the fight. Regulus then dumped the survivor and went looking for Maggie. Finding her burned to death, he left her behind and told Ion that Art sided with the dragons in some kind of war on humanity.
Art arrived at the fight in time to hear Thasti accuse a mortally wounded Sharaes of being a traitor, and say the treaty was over and he'd kill what few merfolk remain before moving on to wipe out humanity.
Art managed to talk Thasti into relenting, and promised that he would kill no more dragons and would attempt to resurrect the ones who died. Thasti then turned control of Art's body over to me because he trusts my word, and I told him art was good for it before cowing him for being such an ass and telling him to go get Masil to keep Sharaes from dying and fix up whoever could be fixed.
At that point I flew off to kick Regulus's ass, but Ion wouldn't let me. So instead I shouted a bunch of accusations at Regulus - not all of which were supported by evidence - until they teleported away.
I went back to Masil to find Maggie already alive and well and asked for a ride here when Sharaes was better, then soaked in a hot spring chatting with Maggie until it was time to leave - I like her, fun to be around.
That brings us up to now, with Maggie being sent to get Saisai and warn her Regulus is probably going to screw her over again.

That brings us to now.
You remember how you ordered Art to not kill any more dragons? You're going to state that includes not letting them die, so your order trumps Regulus's.
You're going to give Art special dispensation to keep his mimic.
Saisai might decide to share her secret. You're going to maintain that her service record is what matters, and it doesn't have any bearing on her position. If it ever becomes an issue, then claim it's an injury suffered in the line of duty when fighting Aeryr or something.

Given the circumstances, I'm sure you'll agree this is all completely reasonable for me to request and for you to do."

Ombra 2011/05/05(Thu)02:44 No. 301606 ID: ab117e
File 130458868604.png - (91.00KB , 700x700 , 559.png )

>>301599
>>301601
>>301604
Ombra briefs the king on what happened during the mission.

The king sighs.

"Tell Artemis he is dismissed from the knights."

"What!? I -just- told you he saved the human kingdom and everything! You need to keep him here! He's the only thing keeping Regulus in check! The only one the fire dragon can trust!"

The king stares at Ombra.

"Understand, I have no choice."

He puts emphasis in the last two words.

"Shadow Dragon, I'm sorry about what happened to you. They were before even my time. I am sorry about what happened to your brother. Both events were... Out of my hands.. If Regulus has sufficient evidence that Saisai must be released as well then she will be. You should go talk to her yourself. Or have Artemis do it."

"What the hell is going on? Is Regulus the Earth Dragon? Are you both just his pawns?"

"I can not say. Be sure to keep that blade on you when you are around Regulus. You are dismissed."

>>301606
"Ah, so he's blackmailing you, too.
You know how blackmail works, right? The more you obey the more they can force you to do, and it never ends until you stop them or they decide they'd be better off not keeping your secret. You have choices, just not easy or pleasant ones."

Ok, lets leave, get Mimi, get Saisai, and GTFO.
Now we just need to figure out how to kill Regulus.

>>301607
Or the king is the Earth Dragon, and he's setting Regulus up to take the fall, and try to get a legal reason to sentence Artemis to death.

We should confirm Regulus' identity. Surely there is some way to prove he's the Earth Dragon or not? Maybe we should spy on him.

yes, the king is under something, he wants to kick regulus out, badly, but he CAN'T. ether even more serious blackmail against him or regulus may be powerful enough to kill him, in which case he can't do anything.
for now let's head to artemis' room and gather up his things. how much time you got left before changing back?

>>301606
"One last thing. Artemis still deserves some kind of support from you for what he still has to do. Official or not."

Now you should probably get to Saisai, or she's likely to just barge in here and make a scene.

>>301608
The proof was supposed to be the presence of the earth symbol on his body. But I think "Be sure to keep that blade on you when you are around Regulus." comes pretty close.

>>301624
no it wasn't, we decided he should be a hero

Guys we're going after the wrong guy. The king is the earth dragon.

>>301627
Metagaming aside, we don't control him - he just takes our advice. He is still fulls responsible for what he actually does. This is not a case of direct control over his actions.

Artemis 2011/05/05(Thu)23:10 No. 301793 ID: aca5e6
File 130466221678.png - (103.20KB , 700x700 , 560.png )

"So you're being blackmailed to? Shame."

She leaves the kings room and begins walking to Artemis's.

How much time I have left? None. Time to go back to the cold place.
It was nice while it lasted.

Ombra closes her eyes as dark tendrils surround her.
Artemis opens them and looks around as the tendrils vanish.

Artemis 2011/05/05(Thu)23:13 No. 301794 ID: aca5e6
File 130466243261.png - (115.84KB , 700x700 , 561.png )

Artemis flexes his arms a bit.

Man that was weird.. I feel so bad for Ombra, having to stay in that place..
Now, I saved the world but now I need to save some other things.
First gotta go to my room and get Mimi. Need to figure out where to put her..

Artemis 2011/05/05(Thu)23:15 No. 301795 ID: aca5e6
File 130466254728.png - (116.27KB , 700x700 , 562.png )

And then I need to talk to Saisai. Hopefully the king just kicks her out and doesn't reveal her secret, I don't think many people will take to kindly to her.
Then I need to find a place to stay.. Should I stay in the kingdom?

OHHHHSNAPPIZZLE

hmmm... think morgan's would be good for now. but talk to Saisai before exiting the castle. then we need to find all the captains that were dismissed and anyone with a Water symbol. Kain fits both categories and he was kinda your friend, so him first.

and it's okay artemis, you can cry, this is pretty damn upsetting. maybe find saisai first and let it our with her?

You lost the title knight, and gained the title hero. Your dad would be proud. Now we just have to make sure everyone else damn well knows it.

Head to your room, I half expect Saisai to show up soon or already be there. And yeah stick around the kingdom. See Morgan you can probably crash with her, and we'll figure it out from there.

First: Talk to Saisai. Explain the full situation. Make certain she is safe, first - then find your own safety. Explain to Morgan what happened. Crash with her, if possible.

Our next priority? Politically ruin the shit out of Regulus.

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)00:44 No. 301805 ID: aca5e6
File 130466786801.png - (117.70KB , 700x700 , 563.png )

I -should- see Kain. I kinda feel bad for not seeing him in the first place.

Artemis wipes his eyes

I'm fine though. I'll be fine. I'm sure my father would have done the same thing I did, though maybe for a different reason. And I don't think I could have lived with myself if I didn't do it.

Artemis goes to his room and is about to open the door when he hears someone call out to him. He turns to see Saisai jogging up to him.

"Man, I've been looking all over for you. The mission is over huh? The General isn't back yet though.. Anyway we were supposed to practice remember? I got a new practice staff and everything. Well you just got back so you're probably tired anyway."

..... I can't say it.

you want to switch to girl form? [if he says yes then do so]
'i would love to, but... i can't, i'm out of the knights, disobeying a superior. we should talk, come to my room'

>>301805
Well... give her a hug. Tell her you're sorry and if you are feeling like having a break down just go right ahead. Talk about the mission, tell her you saved central from the fire dragon and just keep talking...

>>301805
Walk up, hug her, and just let the tears flow. Let her ask what's wrong.

"Something horrible happened, and I... have to pack up and leave. I don't know if you do too but it might be a good idea. We need to figure out a place to meet up at so I can give you the full story."

"The mission forced the hands of several players, and I disobeyed direct orders to prevent open war. The dragons are incensed, but I took a vow to make things right.

"I'm no longer a part of the knights, officially for disobeying orders. Unofficially, there's a lot more to it. No one's officially said anything about you, but I'd bet everything that the plotter that brought things to a head views you with deep suspicion because you're my friend. Sorry. You deserve to know the details, so that you can make up your own mind about how you'll side in all this.

"Let me fetch my things, and then let's meet up somewhere neutral. I'm being paranoid, but I don't trust that my room isn't being spied on somehow. Or yours, for that matter, given that you're my friend."

Hug her, have a breakdown if you need to (with all the things like crying and what not). Tell her you saved the central from the fire dragon. Tell her you saved the balance of the world, that you tried to be a hero like your dad.

And then tell her what the consequences are (her getting thrown out). Let her push you away and take the beating if she does want to do it. You deserve it for deciding her fate for her.

If she still asks (if she doesn't chase her to tell her this) why you did tell her that you wouldn't be able to stay in an order that has been corrupted for centuries. That you couldn't look at the world destroyed by your lack of action. That choosing between her and Morgan and pretty much everyone you know dying/getting wounded in the dragon attack and her getting thrown was a choice of lesser evil.

And if she wants she could always join the ragtag bunch of misfits that you are planning to gather to keep the balance of the world and protect the dragons from the people and vice versa... Because you are planning to find people like Kain (or that thief... gah what was her name) and try to make them join you right?

>>301917
>>301877
There's a time for rational discourse and there's a time for collapsing into an emotional mush.
This is mush time.

>>301920

He's had a little time to get used to all this though, when he was in the backseat and letting Ombra do the driving. Right now they need to pack up their shit, and put themselves out of harm's way. In Artemis' case this means collecting Mimi and then taking steps to dodge spies.

Saisai may still be able to keep what she has here, if she sacrifices her friendship with Artemis. Otherwise she'll be in danger of being assigned impossible missions that will get her killed or discredited. But that's her choice, isn't it?

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:20 No. 302123 ID: 6c068e
File 130474562936.png - (106.57KB , 417x667 , 564.png )

Artemis hugs Saisai.

"Uhm, Artemis..? Why are you..?"


"I've been kicked out of the knights.. For disobeying orders.."

"What!?"

Artemis explains what happened in the mission, even Regulus's blackmailing. He doesn't mention that he might kick her out too.

"That's terrible! We need to do something about this! I'm sure the king won't stand for this!"

"He's the one who kicked me out... He said it was out of his hands.."

"That's bullshit! We'll go together and complain! He can't just not listen to me! To us!"

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:23 No. 302130 ID: 6c068e
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"They're gonna kick you out to. He warned me he would if I went against him."

Saisai's eyes go wide in shock. She pushes Artemis away

"Saisai, I'm sorry. I had to. If I didn't go with him.. Everything would've been destroyed."

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:26 No. 302133 ID: 6c068e
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Artemis feels Saisai's staff slam into his face. The force knocks him into a wall.
He crumples onto his knees and stares at the ground.

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:42 No. 302141 ID: ff053c
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"You got me kicked out...?"

"I had to help the dragons Saisai. They would've attacked Central."

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT! You didn't know any of that UNTIL you left! Until you disobeyed him! At the moment all you cared about was some stupid dragons fighting!"

"Saisai the balance would've been.."

"This is all I wanted! This is all I worked for! All I had! I've been here less then a month and already it's been taken from me!"

"Saisai.. I.."

"Shut up you stupid human! Don't ever talk to me again, or I swear I will kill you!"

She runs off but not before giving Artemis one more hateful glare.

>>302133

You totally could have delivered that better, but yeah, see, that's why I wanted to talk to her in private, in a place where she didn't have her weapons.

She and you still have some mutual friends, so arrange with them to let her know the door's always open if she can forgive you for letting a manipulative sonnovabitch use her career as a bargaining chip against you. That's for later though.

For now, collect Mimi and your things, and leave. You've got some funds, you've got friends and contacts, and you've got a goal you took a vow to accomplish.

she is just angry and shocked. if she suddenly decides that everything else you did was worthless then that is incredibly shallow. go to your room and let her cool off.

You're a true knight, Artemis. You made the choice to sacrifice whatever you had to in order to protect people. Not just your health and life, like any soldier; you risked and perhaps lost friendships and dreams in the name of the right thing.

I know that knowledge of your own virtue is small comfort at a moment like this, but it's something to steady yourself with. We're proud of you.

...

Now you should really get Mimi the hell out of there before Regulus gets back and kills her for spite.

We still owe her one, no matter if she wants it or not. Hopefully Maggie can manage to talk to her at some point... anyways, we need to do what we can for our Mimic, so get over there.

GP:50 Artemis 2011/05/07(Sat)00:05 No. 302172 ID: ff053c
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Thanks guys..

Artemis grabs Mimi and his few belongings and leaves the castle.
He takes one last look at it and sighs.
On his way to Morgan's he takes glances over his shoulder, constantly expecting to see Regulus or someone following him. Through the whole way no one seems to be.

When he arrives at Morgan's he sees the sign say Open but the door is locked. He knocks on it.

???
"Who is it?"

"? Uhm.. Artemis."

The door opens and he is pulled inside. A girl with horns and a odd tooth grins at him. She runs behind the counter.

"Welcome friend! I'm standing in for Morgan while she's out hunting Phoenix Feathers with her dad! What can I do for ya?"

... I'm not sure if I should leave Mimi here. Or if I should stay here.

this is perfect for mimi they are obviously used to demons, i mean look. explain that you need to talk to morgan, but also need to do stuff, mimi can hang out here with this other demon while you do the other errands. when morgan comes back mimi is to let you know with a note through the bag.

Hah, a part demon? Neat. Hang out for a bit, talk. She's friend or family of Morgan and you should get to know her. Tell her you're just a friend of her's and wanted to talk to her. Don't quite say you're moving in but you can mention being displaced and carrying around your... stuff.

>>302172
"Ah, that's awkward.
I was going to ask Morgan if I could stay here for awhile, but if she's not here...

So, what's your name?"

Lets see if we can crash at the twins' place.

>>302179
Oh, and head over to the Shop to see if you can buy an item that records everything you hear so you can play it back for other people later.

Have you thought about getting Saisai a transformation potion or spell that can turn her into 100% human? That way Regulus won't be able to kick her out of the knights.

And there's always Masil the Light Dragon, if she could transform Myli into a human, maybe she can do the same to Saisai.

Artemis 2011/05/07(Sat)04:41 No. 302192 ID: ff053c
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"Ah, darn. See I'm kinda... Without a home right now and I was hoping Morgan would let me stay here."

"Is that so? Well she's told me all about you. You're more then welcome to take the upstairs room. It's not like I'll ever use it."

"Really? Well thank you miss.."

"Call me Shopkeep."

"Okay, Miss Shopkeep. Uhm.. Can I leave my chest here?"

"The mimic? Sure. She and I will have lots of fun together."

"Okay.."

He whispers to the chest.

"I'll be back for you Mimi."

He leaves the chest there, thanks Shopkeep, and heads back out. He goes out to the streets and asks people if they've seen a man named Kain who was once a knight.
After a bit of searching he finds his house. Artemis knocks on the door.

??
"Honestly who would be.."

Someone opens the door and stares wide eyed at Artemis.

"Artemis..?"

>>302192
"Could you put some tea on? I've got a story to tell..."

ask to come in, then tell him what happened. then ask what happened with him. the official reason him and the others were kicked out was they were spies, but you want to know what he thinks is the reason.

Last time we saw apple was when Regulus took her with him... I hope he didn't hurt her.

Could regulus be the son of the earth dragon and a human?

Saisai need to know that regulus probably works with or is the earth dragon. She also needs to know that she now has the light dragon in her. As such she is a prime target for him, and also we should inform her that the king pretty much told us he MUST obey regulus, which means her life is danger if she remains, also paint it in a positive light... She might be technically kicked out of the knights, but since they have been corrupted and the king is so enthralled we might very well end up saving them and the kingdom... when that happens she will be forever remembered as one of the greatest knights ever.

Saisai is especially not safe because its almost certain that regulus has been faking stuff (reports of catfolk aggression that he got mysteriously and our spy got assassinated?) to annihilate the catfolk.

I am worried that mimi will not be safe if left in this city as well. Regulus KNOWS her and her relationship with us, most likely. He is actually powerful enough to forcibly open her chest.
We need to get a new contract with mimi ASAP. For that matter, I am concerned about our girlfriend shopkeeper and the twin mages, pretty much anyone close to us...
ugh this is terrible.

We need to all vamoose to dark elf territory and establish ourself as the reincarnation of the shadow dragon... with saisai as reincarnation of light dragon we will be able to ally with the light elves as well.
Although it could be assumed that anyone you DO leave behind is not important enough to you to warrant harming, I do not wish to trust Regulus to not be that petty... I suggest rounding up anyone you consider taking with, telling them pretty much the following:

I harbor the spirit of the shadow dragon until her rebirth, saisai the dragon of light whom I had to slay. High captain of the knights Regulus has been manipulating events to kill off dragons, and is most likely working for or is the earth dragon. I stopped the outbreak of a new dragon war via diplomacy, against Regulus's orders. I got here before him to brief the king first and the king made it clear that he is powerless against Regulus. Regulus made it clear he will seek vengeance not only against me but those close to me. With the king in his thrall and the powers he commands you are all in grave danger. We must leave, today.
I suggest we go to the land of the dark elves. If you choose to stay, be careful... and keep your knowledge to yourself.

sorry for the double post but.

Go find saisai first before doing anything else.
Speak over whatever she says to say "you are possessed by the dragon of light"

When she says "what" say "I must explain things, in private, please just let me explain before deciding what to do with me".

It is absolutely imperative to present it correctly. You offered yourself to the dragon of light and instead it possessed her... and we now know why. It is expected that the dragon will grow and eventually she will transform into the it... but it will be back in control, not her. Its important to clarify that you did not offer her to the dragon, as that would be a violation of her body, which is especially bad considering what happened before and how you were there for her last time.

You should start off with other information, get her to know everything she needs to before explaining the dragon thing:
Before getting to the dragon of light I should explain a few things. And please let me say all of it before responding. It is important before we get to the part about you being possessed by the dragon of light and possibly losing your body.

First, you should know that I contain the dragon of shadow whom my father slew. He did so at the orders of regulus; as absurd as it sounds considering the time periods involved.

Regulus knew about your heritage from the moment you walked in, and for some reason chose to blackmail me with it rather then you, or did he blackmail both of us?
At the time I didn't understand it but I do now; it was the dragon slayer sword.

You see, Regulus intercepted the informer in the catfolk lands with no explanation, whom my team was supposed to get the report from... The informant was assassinated right afterwards before being able to deliver her report to anyone else. This left Regulus as the only source of information, and that information is building up to war with them, and allowed him to personally name those knights who were still uncorrupted as traitors collaborating with the catfolk. Knights we know to have been innocent of treason have been ruined on his word.

Your ancestry is more then enough for him to want to ruin you, beyond my disobedience.

Regulus manipulated me into fighting and slaying the dragon of light; he personally ordered me on that mission, saying it came from the king. But his orders conflicted with his report in our debriefing with the king and were made in such a way as to force a lethal confrontation.

And in the last mission actively opposed the ending of hostilities between the dragons. I managed to get here first and report to the king, the king warned me that he must obey regulus; that he has no choice. With all the non corrupt knights removed on regulus's orders and the king in such a state things are very grim.

I am certain he is either the dragon of earth or works for him and is using the knights and the king to eliminate the competition.

I learned in my last missions that if a dragon's soul possess a mortal that mortal will eventually be transformed into said dragon. But it will be the dragon, not the mortal with a dragon's body. That is, if not somehow removed we will be subsumed by them.

In regards to how you got the dragon of light. When my father slew the dragon of shadow he let her soul possess his charm, and through it me. I believe it was possible for him to prevent that and destroy her completely but as they both lay dying they talked... As I was slew the dragon of light I suggested it live on as well, I was offering myself but instead it possessed you. It was he who then reversed the youth spell on you.

I have not and would not have offered your body to him and fully expected him to reside in me. I did not know about the eventual transformation, which would suggest it would not be a good idea for it to share with another dragon. I am certain it can move instead to a willing host and that one can be found within the light elves. And it might not be that bad to be the host, great power and longer life... might even have longer to live then without the dragon. I will ask her as soon as I can.

As it stands I believe we should escape the city with our friends to save them from petty revenge. Reveal our condition to the light and dark elves to gain their support, contact the 3 dragons I have befriended, and find the uncorrupted knights who were sacked at Regulus' false word. You are only going to lose your knighthood temporarily before regaining it and accolades for saving the knighthood from its greatest threat ever.
We must unite the knight captains who were falsely accused of treason and we must save the knighthood, this kingdom, and the whole world.

>>302199
>>302204
[woah woah woah, dude, you wrote so much but you got a lot of facts wrong. for one it was the dragon of WIND not light. for two it's the TIGERfolk, not the catfolk. for three, put that somewhere else until saisai is actually somewhat nearby instead of in the castle and we are talking to someone else, it's like you regard them as irrelevant.]

Suddenly worry that Morgan is in danger as well.

Realize how poorly-equipped you are to handle political tyranny.

>>302221
Two minor naming mistakes are not "a lot of facts wrong". thanks for those two corrections though. Wind dragon (who is the dragon of the light elves and made out of hard light) and tigerfolk (tiger is a type of cat :P according to >>253838 cat and tigerfolk are two different races). So please make those adjustment when talking to saisai and others.

As for talking to someone else right now... neither has spoken yet, you just met him... and I was just saying what we do after that. That person we just met hasn't actually said anything yet so I can make no suggestions on how to deal with him.

It is possible but improbable that regulus is just a very powerful human mage staging a power grab who has a personal vendetta against dragons... still nothing we can handle. I didn't even commit to saying he is the dragon of earth, just probably is or works with him. It is entirely possible (but not probably) that he isn't related to the earth dragon.

>>302226
Yea, doesn't that just suck.

Artemis 2011/05/08(Sun)13:51 No. 302513 ID: 529eff
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>>302226
:(

>>302199
I really don't want to live in the dark elf forest though... All my friends are here, Morgan is here...

>>302204
Remind me to say that when we see Saisai. Also not sure if I WANT to see her, she almost broke my jaw.

"Could you put some tea on? I've got a story to tell..."

"Uhm sure.."

He shouts into the house.

"Honey can you get some tea, an old friend of mine is here."

He leads Artemis inside and listens as he tells what has happened the past week.
Kain shakes his head.

"That is terrible... To think the Knights would be this corrupt. We must do something about this."

"I was thinking the same thing sir. But if you don't mind my asking, why did you get kicked out? Were you blackmailed?"

Kain smiles a bit.

"No Artemis I was kicked out for a decent enough reason. The king could have done much worse. They believe I sympathized with some of the other races and that I would be a liability if war erupted."

"What made them think that?"

As if to answer his question a catfolk wearing an apron steps into the living room holding a tea tray.

>"There's cookies too."

Kain smiles and motions at her.

"That's why. Artemis meet Kayla. The king had found out about her one night and had me leave the knights. At first I was furious but he said he'd done the best he could. Laws state he should have had her kicked out of the kingdom and me branded as a traitor for letting a catfolk inside our borders. I'm grateful for that much at least."

>>302513
"Pleasure to meet you, Kayla.

The laws need to be changed, but the way things are now I don't see how we can improve things.
Actually... It's strange that you were thrown out at the same time as so many other knights. The king decides on these things quickly, so the only reason I can think of for so many to be expelled at once is for their secrets to be revealed at once... Did you ever do anything that displeased Regulus? He makes it his business to know the secrets of every knights, and I honestly can't think of any other person who could sully so many names at once.

Blah, I think I'm going paranoid. Do you have a list of other people who were kicked out? We need to figure out something we can do to help. Maybe build a town somewhere with no race laws, or something."

does he know that a lot of other captains were kicked, possibly for a similar reason, at the same time? Regulus probably knew the whole time she was here, but only just recently decided to kick them all out. think kain talking to saisai would do her a world of good, help her understand that some things are more important then a title.

- When and how did Regulus rise into his position?

- As a Knight, what are his specialties?

- What sort of missions does he excel at?

- How many has he 'found out'?

- Why would he thin the ranks of the knights like this?
((Theory: He is reducing the number of knights and replacing them with people who work 'well' with him - corrupt individuals.))

- Why can't the king overturn this shit? What is preventing him?
((Theory: He's been blackmailed or Geassed somehow.))

- Lastly, a list of all the people who got hit with this crazy overturning.

Artemis 2011/05/08(Sun)15:24 No. 302545 ID: 529eff
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Artemis greets Kayla and asks Kain a bunch of questions >>302526

Kain thinks for a moment.

"I don't remember when it was exactly but it was before I even became captain. Regulus was quite young but his sheer strength and intelligence allowed him to easily defeat the previous captain general and gain his title. He's always been great in every field whether it be combat or espionage. I have no idea how many people he's kicked out or even who most of them are. All of them though have had solid evidence put against them so the king had no choice but to let them go. The only logical reason behind this mass firing is that he caught a lot of people breaking the rules."

Artemis nods and listens. As he sips on his tea the door slams open.

Maggie.

"There you are Artemis! Oh, a catfolk, hi. ANYWAY Saisai challenged Regulus to a Royal Battle! Everyone's watching it!"

>>302545
Swear as heavily as you dare.

We need to get in there and join her!

Welp, seems she is going to get burned/electrocuted/something else with Regulus magic. Man, I knew she'd fight either you or him.

You could dash with the hope of reviving her after the fight. Because she probably will die.

Go there, tell her to GTFO before she's burned to cinders. That is all.

get in there and gravity her hat lighter, then switch it up and make it heavy. hopefully it knocks it off and we can get her kicked out for being a spy before regulus kills her. morgan is hunting phoenixes cause she has no more feathers.

>>302550
Why would we need feathers?

Also: Be prepared to fight some guards and run the hell away after you help her. Because you might have some problems getting in with all the "thrown out" thing. And after you help her things will go even worse.

So just remember, try not to kill anyone.

>>302551
phoenix feathers are the primary component in those resurrection feathers. use one on a body and it comes back to life.

>>302545
[Change Gender]
Drop everything and RUN there! Shout out a "THANKSGOTTAGOBYE!" as you run off. Girl-you can run faster.

>>302552
So what? We just need to stock up on power to try and ressurect her. No feathers involved.

>>302553
An excellent idea. Change your gender, as this will probably help with a lot of things.

>>302558
our rez spell only makes the body breath again. it has no soul. the feathers get the soul back.

FUCK! You need to get there NOW! The king said always keep that blade on you around Regulus, Saisai needs the same protection... That won't be easy or possible if the battle has already started.

Ask Maggie if she can create illusions or make things disappear with her powers.

>>302572
>Be invisible >Hang out in the battlefield and disrupt Regulus's hurdurpower

Flash Step x 5 GP:29 Artemis 2011/05/08(Sun)16:24 No. 302577 ID: 529eff
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"What!? I gotta go!"

Artemis changes form and flash steps to the castle. He runs into the Arena and see the fight already in progress.

"Saisai, we can end this now, I've already drawn blood."

>"I won't stop until you're dead!"

".... Very well."

There are stone spikes floating around Regulus's hand and several more embedded into Saisai's body.

do you think you could discreetly cast gravity on one side of her hat? make it fall off.

>>302577
Get as close as you can, draw your blade and... lean on it. You know, don't do anything that would interfere with any human, but if a dragon were close to you for some reason it would have it's powers lessened. But no knight would be a dragon, of course. Be sure Saisai gets a glimpse of you and the sword, so she can bait him over. If Regulus sees you first then you may as well call to her.

also call out "saisai, stop this, you can't win. a selfless sacrifice only matters if you win!"

>>302579
We are in agreement.
Motion Saisai over to you if it won't get you in trouble.
If Regulus looks at you, then do this:
Glare back, point your index and middle finger at your eyes, then turn the hand to point directly at him.

Oh, also, what happens when you pour mana into the blade? Can you make the suppression effect stronger?
Remember: Your blade suppresses dragons, all knights must be humans, dragons are not humans, ergo it couldn't possibly interfere with two knights fighting.

[Pour GP into the blade to boost its dragon-suppressing power]

Remember, the dragons lose power just by you being close to them with the sword. Would it be legal to enter the arena as a spectator?

>>302590
that is a good question, remember that you are not longer a knight

Suspected dragon. Stone Spikes. Friend in mortal danger. You know what to do.
Even the odds.

Whatever you do, do NOT remove her hat to reveal her... you think she is angry and distrustful of you now? if you betray her like that she will never forgive you. Even if you think its "for her own good".

Artemis 2011/05/10(Tue)20:21 No. 303227 ID: 9f0b5c
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Artemis tries to get Saisai's attention but she seems to be too focused in the battle.
She pulls out the dragon slayer blade and goes as close as he can to the edge.
Saisai tries get close to Regulus but he keeps throwing spikes at the ground in front of her.
He fires another one at her head, she dodges it but the spike catches one of her straps.
Another spike flies at her head. She ducks under it causing the spike to hit her helmet, knocking it off.

The crowd gasps.

>>303230
We're damned low on GP. I would be reluctant to fight in this condition unless we absolutely have to.

Pity we aren't in mage form; we could have gravity-pinned her hat to her head.

>>303231
What for? she cannot defeat regulus, she is already injured, she is trying to make it a fight to the death (which is almost certain to be her death) in order to keep her secret. Now that her secret is out she will live. This was a stroke of luck, you didn't have to blow her cover yourself to save her life... and charging into the arena would have made things worse for all involved.

>>303232
>Now that her secret is out she will live.

What the flying fuck makes you think this is even a slightly reasonable conclusion!?

Well... shit. That's that then. At this point her being kicked out is the least bad result. Get down there between them with Flash Step as the odds of him suddenly trying to execute her as a spy and traitor are pretty high. You won't get in trouble for interfering if she isn't a knight, the battle is off.

And be prepared to speak, because we have some parting words and nothing left to lose by saying them.

>>303233
because it was a battle to the death that she could not win and which she was not willing to retreat from. The only possible result would have been her death.

Now that she has been exposed she knows her knighthood has been lost, and will likely be amiable to escaping, with your assistance.

I would get READY to interfere but don't jump in just yet, the king might just declare the fight over and her expelled. If we immediately jump in it could potentially make things worse. If the king doesn't end it that way, or even sends other knights to help Regulus, then jump in of course and save your friend.

>>303240
Again. What the fuck keeps Regulus from putting a fucking stone in her face?

Artemis 2011/05/10(Tue)21:12 No. 303244 ID: 9f0b5c
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The spikes vanish from Regulus's hand.

>"Sire! This fight is over!"

King
"I agree. The Knights of Central is a human only organization. Saisai is not human.. Therefore she is no longer part of the knights."

"Must we continue then?"

"No. Saisai is not allowed to fight in this arena."

Regulus walks over to Saisai but still keeps his distance.

"This is terrible... A spy infiltrating our ranks."

The crowd gasps again.

>"What!? I'm not a traitor!"

Her voice is almost drowned out by the crowd talking.

"Were you honestly trying to execute me? Trying to take my position as General?"

>"What!? I only did that because you were trying to blackmail me!"

"Blackmail you? With what?"

>"What..?"

"I'm just as surprised as the others.. If I'd known about this sooner trust me you would have been kicked out. I wouldn't allow for such a thing."

>"But..."

King
"Saisai, please pack your things and leave. A knight will accompany of course."

Regulus begins walking away.

>"So you didn't know..?"

"Nope."

He leaves.
Saisai turns to leave, a knight by her side. She catches a glimpse of Artemis.

Oh how I would love to just scream our side of things to everyone... but we won't be heard. Shake your head and mouth the words "He's lying" to her. And "I'm sorry" if she doesn't turn right away.

Go catch up with her, homicidal tendencies be damned. The knights aren't going to heal those wounds for her.

Ok, this was the best possible outcome, seems like regulus is more of a manipulator... he lied to her and the crowd to make himself look good... he lied to her about not knowing to make you look bad. Doesn't matter, follow her, she will take her things, get kicked out and then approach and explain.

>>303243
Her dodging. He knocked her hat off while trying to put a spike in her head.

also, aside from the king, it is very difficult to tell who is saying what in the last post.

>>303258
no we didn't. We barely told her anything. She has no idea she is the host of the dragon of wind, she has no idea it will transform her into its new body (which essentially kills her) in some many years. She doesn't know that we were offering ourselves to the dragon of wind as a host, but it went for her because of said transformation (which we didn't know about back then). She has no idea regulus was the one who named all the "traitors". We need to assure her he did know and that him pretending it was a "surprise" was just a lie. We need her to know many things:
>>302199
>>302204

Also, she isn't the only one we need to get.

BTW, regulus fought by controlling the earth (dragon of earth suspicions)

I keep on worrying that Regulus is somewhat of a red herring, that he is really just a very very powerful human and that he really believes he is doing his best to protect the kingdom by removing "traitors" (the racially impure & sympathizers), but then again... that would still make him a bad guy, and he still had a lot to do with the various hurts we and our friends went through.