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"This curse is a special one." Natalie explained, "I'm trying to find more information about it because it's affected my beloved Travis."

Natalie burst into tears again at the thought of Travis, Wendy looked on worriedly as Logan turned to Bronya.

"Thank you, I've heard about the Library from Maddie Dreamcatcher Lance, who visited here a couple years ago for information on a Sword Called Apocalypse, I need directions." Natalie explained to Ocarina.

Logan and Wendy heard Michaelis call out to them.

"That was Michaelis, we're headed to bed, see you in the morning." Wendy responded to Natalie as her and Logan turned to Michaelis and followed him.

As Wendy and Logan left, Natalie whispered, "Can you show me the way to the library?"

@Clite of Dragonbow @Spoiled Bread
 
Ocarina

"I have an interest in fate-altering feats such as curse, sir Michaelis, so you can rest assured I will try to help our guest here." Ocarina replied. She still have an enthusiastic expression on her face despite Natalie crying in front of her. She gently tapped Natalie's shoulder.

"I believe everything have an end, including any kind of curse. The library isn't here but in Caspe, South east of here. If you can bring Travis to me, however, I will be able to tap into his chronicle to gain more information and we can see what we can do from there."

@Cmeriwether @Clite of Dragonbow
 
Michaelis
Michaelis smiled to Ocarina "Thank you again, I will see you again at the library, Lady Ocarina" he said and leaded guests to their rooms.

Leo and Nis
Leo and Nis left the palace, other nobles also seemed to be leaving the funeral. First steps has been taken and they have said their goodbyes. This day slowly sink in the darkness as night comes. Leo told Nis and Taylor, where were rooms for them and after that, he headed to his own room. He just took off his shirt, didn't cared to put on pajamas of some sort and fell asleep.
--- After Midnight ---
Funeral has ended and Palace lights dissapired as everyone fell asleep and only some guards were patroling around. A person in black cloak and a young woman were watching the palace from the distance.
"Was this funeral really that interesting?" the woman asked the cloaked person.
"Welll,~ It wasn't boring, so you can say that, yess~ it wass.~" said the cloaked person and chuckled. "Let them play in those little games for a whilee.~ We will do it in the most unexpected moment~"
--- Morning, Next day ---
Michaelis
Michaelis got up, as usually, first among all the castle staff and quickly went to bathroom, washed himself and prepared. He watched and helped with breakfast, cleaning the palace after a funeral, inspected garden and garnison that was protecting castle this night. After all of that, he ordered to ring a bell to wake up guests and maids quickly made few rounds around halls. They were ringing with their bell to wake people up.
Andre
Young warrior couldn't sleep during the night, thinking about everything that happend. So, when breakfast time was getting close, he headed to the dinning room and waited.
Leo and Nis
Nis waited for Taylor in front of her room to go with her to a dinning room and begin the day with a breakfast. Leo told him earlier that he will be in his room or outside, if they were searching for him and that he will call them soon to discuss their moves.

At the same time, Leo was in his room and solved another battle simulation on the map that Generals and Grandpa were giving him every day telling him to make one decision that may change fate on the battlefield. He also read earlier some books about stewardship and intrigues that his mentors gave him in the past. Leonard, prepared for everything, put on his usual clothes and took care of his hair (with a little help of his servants) and began the day with his forces inspection outside Dragonheart's palace.

(@IDKWhatUserNameToDo @Night's Shadow @kyuukestu @Spoiled Bread @RisingGarchomps @SageNeb @Cmeriwether @Sentorus67)
[OOC: Emm... Yup, that's a timeskip... :'|]
 
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Yowas rest was.. dull at best. Even without drinking, he felt as if he had the worst hangover. It did not improve as he spent the night traveling home jotting down everything he could think of into garbled notes. Still, as a retainer, it was his duty to prepare for much and given he didn't have anyone to complain to he was up very early. Yowa cleaned his room and checked up on the servant's routine. He was wandering through the halls of the palace with a fresh biscuit and approached Palladia's room. He banged on the fancy doors and pressed his ears on it.

"Tia, up and at em. I know your beauty rest is important but we have a lot of matters we need to discuss."
 
Bronya

As the maid expected, Ocarina got a fever the moment she reached her home and now she would spent one or two days resting inside her room. Traveling back and forth between between Caspe and the capital in such a short span was something that she never did before and her frail body couldn't handle the stress. However, it seems the girl still had plenty of energy and she had been vigorously writing a small book while sitting on her bed.

"Milady, please drink your juice." Bronya offered a glass of orange juice. Ocarina's eyes widen when she saw the beverage and immediately drank it.

"Thank you, Bronya. Nothing beats orange... juic..e... I feel weird.... huh..." Ocarina fell unconsciousasleep. Bronya tidied up the blanket for better cover and let her sleep.

A maid that casually spikes their master's drink with sleeping drug would be considered dangerous in most occasion. However, Ocarina couldn't sleep and had been writing non-stop even though she really need to rest. This kind of occurence wasn't uncommon either, once she set her mind on a goal, she would likely disregard her own health to achieve it as fast as possible. Bronya simply protected Ocarina from herself, that's actually what Bronya would considers as her main job.

"Let's see what you have been writing." Picking up the book Ocarina had been writing, she found out the thing to be a written copy of a book about curse. She probably thought to writes a copy for that Natalie person and then got too excited to even thinks about something like calling the library's scribes to help her. A piece of paper fell from the pages, Bronya picked it up and read the text written on it.

Bronya, If I fall asleep, please go visit cousin Al and apologize in my behalf, I might not be as useful as I think I would be. I am a bad retainer.

O.


Bronya suddenly had an urge to tore the message to pieces but she refrain from it. She changed her maid uniform into a much more elegant black dress, unbraid her hair and let it fell down her back. Bronya transformed from a mere servant into someone who looks like a highborn noble... If only she didn't carry those swords, but she refused to let go of those.

"Vina, Rina, Ebina, I'm going out. You three take care of things here. Allright!"

And thus, Bronya went to the Tigroran's castle, not to apologize like she was ordered to but to assist the heir in his endeavor, despite her having bad impression of him. She now acts as an extension of her mistress, just like a sword wielded by a warrior. Her opinion didn't matter, her existence didn't matter.

@RisingGarchomps
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Taylor had turned in early the previous night; she was tired from the journey, and even more tired from keeping a lid on her anger whenever the Tigroran heir opened his big mouth. The beds were comfy, the rooms were nice, everything was so fancy... a bit of a change from sleeping in a tree every night. She shrugged off her clinging sleepiness and slipped on the most reasonable thing she could find. A fairly loose, off-white shirt, black leggings, and her own leather jacket. She stayed barefoot, because, you know, that’s just her thing.

The girl opened her room door and grinned when she saw Nis standing outside. “Hey,” she greeted him before they went to breakfast. Again, extravagant — a definite change from hunting and cooking birds or deer. But it was a welcome change, and Taylor ate gratefully. “Sooo...” she asked Nis. “Any idea when Leo’s gonna call us?”

@Clite of Dragonbow
 
Nis grinned back to Taylor, who just came from her room "Morning Tay, you look great today" he said with the smile, that didn't leave his face even for a second, when they headed for their breakfast. He ate and that meal was truly amazing. So thats how nobles eat, huh...
Then Taylor asked, when Leo gonna call them. "I honestly don't know... But I think that-..." he didn't finish the sentence, when a butler came.
"Miss Taylor, Sir Nis" started the butler "Young master is waiting for you outside the castle"
"Okay, thanks" said Nis "Well, there is your answer Tay, let's go" he smiled sweetly and walked outside. Leo was standing there, he just finished his inspection. "Hey guys, its good to see you on your feets. I would like to tell you.. About my intencions for this country.. I also would want to meet you a bit... Mind to tell me about what you like and dislike? I for example like games and baths, but don't like paper work" said Leo, he was smiling and seemed really friendly to Nis "Oh, ummm.... I like using my magic and also..." he blushed extremly hard and went silent "Em.. I dislike prideful people" said Nis.
Leo turned his head "How about you, Taylor?"
@Night's Shadow
 
The doors to Palladia's room flung open and a bevy of maids ushered, virtually carried, the Puresoulia heir out the door. Though the heiress enjoyed the mornings, she was evidently not a morning person. She mumbled something unintelligible in response to Yowa, but the words 'breakfast' and 'Dining hall', were enough to guess at her intentions. Tia stumbled her way down the halls and into the dining hall, settling down into a chair where a servant swiftly brought her a cup of coffee. A few sips later, the heiress was...not fully awake, but sensible enough to hold an intelligible conversation.

Tia covered a yawn with a hand-fan, before turning to address Yowa. "You wanted to talk about something?"

@Sentorus67
 
Natalie had to explain to Ocarina that Travis is Across the sea, and in no shape to be brought approximately two thousand miles away from his home, it would surely kill him, and she couldn't bear that thought, however, she did remember about a pendant in her pouch, and checked on Travis with it.

------

The next morning, the princess assassin woke up, checked up on Travis with the pendant, and a single tear fell from her eye.

"I will cure you, no matter what it takes, I love you, Travis." Natalie whispered to the pendant as she got ready and dressed.

She looked around her room and headed out for breakfast, hopefully not finding Rager, or anyone else who may have allied with the Four Lords of Death. She went to the mess hall, dining hall, or whatever it was called, instinctively getting there by the smell, since she was raised in an underground castle of similar size.

-------

Logan had woken up to a maid at his door, he got ready for the day, and found Natalie as he walked towards the mess hall or Equivalent. He was worried, from what she and Wendy said, this was a bad curse. Logan was here to help restore Sophia to the Eastern Corridor Throne.

-----

Wendy had woken up to a maid at the door and got ready, then heading to the mess hall for breakfast, before meeting with Michaelis.
 
"No, I did not want to talk about something. I want to talk about everything." At the dining table his plate was sparse, save for a large cup of coffee and hot chocolate.

"Yesterday of course was a big deal, your announcement to Bracia and the rest of the country will have eyes purely on you now, this means everything you do will determine the fate of our house. Now don't get wrong, I don't think you're reckless or stupid, but precautions must be taken so people do not casually come for your throat." At some point in the conversation, he pulls out a multitude of papers, most of which are wrinkled, crumbled, or with ineligible writing.

"Forgive the mess. I'll organize it as we speak. Right know we have three major topics we ought to cover. There's your competition, your campaign, and the role of me and our new retainer. Which would you like to go over first?"

@kyuukestu
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
Al immediately rose as early as he could and requested a horse to take him back to Caspe. He was going to have a word with his father and take control of the family properly. With a loud neigh from his horse, he rode off. Several miles down the pathway, he saw a short boy in ragged clothes. The boy could be mistaken for any commoner but he was in fact of noble birth. Beside him, rode a rather extravagant looking bard in rich blue clothes and a large band of guards.

Both of them instantly got off their horses and stared at each other. Al started with horror whilst the boy stared with amazement.

“Al, is that you?” The boy smiled at him.

“Puma...my brother?! What are you doing here?”

“We came...” He looked at the bard, who looked at him sternly. “I came...to help you. Father thought best to send me to help you.”

“What with? The court proceedings are done! I’ve heard all the idiots in that bloody castle! None of them with be able to stand up to-“

“Only if you accept help from the rest of us brother. Remember, we are here to help!”

“Nonsense, I-“

“You need me brother!”

“What is the real meaning of this? Surely you knew that I would be heading out to-“

“I’m sorry. I came to apologise after our last-“

Al wandered up to Puma and put his right hand on his shoulder. “I see, boy. It was in the past. It’s fine.” He shook his head. “Let us ride home together. I’m starving. I haven’t had breakfast. Let us stop at a local tavern.”

“Same! I haven’t eaten much either. There’s a good tavern near Caspe, only 10 miles out.”

“Let us go there.”

And they did, they rode over the hills just outside of Caspe. There, they saw a sign for the ‘Whispering Wildcat’. Puma directed them into the tavern hastily.

“Mother says the tavern was built for her, but she never used it. Says the soldiers all use this place and the people from the city and country, common folk.” Puma explained.

“What are you doing taking us to a common folk’s tav-“ Al protested but before he could finish it was too late and Puma had pushed the door open.

The wooden walls of this tiny tavern actually provided the meeting and drinking grounds for dozens of working class people, mainly large hairy men drinking and laughing making considerable noise. Al didn’t like the noise but actually enjoyed the working class filled room. However, all positive tones soon changed when the heads of ugly, fat and shrimpish men turned to stare at them. They weren’t looking at Puma, though they recognised him. They were looking at Al. They soon recognised the coat of arms on his armour and the guards who accompanied them.

“The Stevensons ran this place the last I heard. They were good friends with mother.” Puma whispered to Al as he marched up to the counter.

A tall gruff man with an old beard, plenty of stubble and a yellow left eye that appeared missing looking upon them with a dusty dark tankard in his hands. He didn’t think much of them.

“What do we have here?” He looked down at Al and shook his head before laughing.

“Your finest Beers. On all of us.” Al commanded, like a military leader as he placed several high value gold coins in the counter.

“Haha!” The man laughed, as several folk near the bar and on seating on the benches near the var joined in.

“This Noble wants to order a beer! He must be really classy!” He laughed.

An old Man with barely any teeth sat near them. He immediately butted in . “Some noble he must be! He’s not even ordering wine!”

“Vintage beer how about that?!” The rude barman responded. “He doesn’t even know what to order!” He chuckled.

“Hey! I hope you know you’re talking to the heir of the Tigroran family from Caspe, Aloysius-“ As he muttered his long name the whole room looked at him and gave a laugh.

“That’s some name!” A Young woman at the bar shouted.

“Long one! Fancy!” A middle aged man sitting down exclaimed.

“I dont think it was wise to shout your name out like that. Now the whole room is staring and laughing at you.” Puma whispered.

“The servant boy’s right!” The barman answered hearing him.

“Silence! Shut up! Or i’ll-“ Al yelled.

“Haha! You hear him? If you all don’t do what he says, Mr. General here’s will release his army upon us, he’ll have to annex us!” The barman laughed.

“His army will be full of toy soldiers! His family have spent so little money in the people of this county that he cant even afford a basic army to take us with!” A muscular man giggled.

There were great laughter and insults thrown at him. His face red, Al ordered the barman to retrieve his alcohol for him. He left the room to a back room and Al glanced at the Stevenson house banner on the back wall behind the bar. It vaguely depicted a Leopard on a black field. By this time the noise had died down and the dots shifted away from him.

“That’s odd. I thought the Leopard was used by a different family...” Al commented.

“I thought it was a domestic cat their banner...odd...this wasn’t here before.”
 
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=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Taylor grinned at Nis when the butler told them Leo was ready. She turned and followed him to where Leo was, and stood by politely while they talked. Or not so politely, she was really just staring off into space... She was jolted out of her stupor when Leo asked her a question. She blinked a couple of times before coming up with her answer.

“Hmm... I like climbing trees, running... travel, I guess...” Taylor nodded to herself before continuing onto the second part of the question. “I don’t like a lot of things. Most of all jerks. Although kale is a close second.”

@Clite of Dragonbow
 
Michaelis continued his job across the whole palace, he gave his last instruction to palace's staff. He also took care of reports from the borders and about some villages problem. It was usually king's problem, but those matters couldn't go without someone checking. It wasn't Michaelis first time to manage not his territories. He quickly settled the most important matters and hoped that he won't be needed today anymore. He sighed, maybe he will be lucky and ruler will be chosen after this week.

Michaelis also remind himself about that he invited Nis to Boryia, but didn't meet with him in the end. "Well we will have an occasion to..." he whispered. Now, he waited for his 'other countries' guest to eat and settle and also, waited for them to need or join him.
(Well, not directly, but still kinda mentions your characters? @Cmeriwether)
---
Andreas noticed Yowa and Tia as they walked to the 'dining hall' and quietly, slowly followed them. After that he entered the room, he just made a small wave as a good morning and smiled. As he saw that they were talking about serious. He didn't say anything not to interrupt them and waited for occasion to speak or when will they allow him to.
@Sentorus67 @kyuukestu
---
Leo smiled to Taylor "Then you are lucky, as there may be occasion for us to beat up some of Tigroran family jerks! Although Dragonhearts have a few jerks too..." he chuckled and continued "Also, you may have yet occasion to travel across whole Boryia's continent. I promise to you, it is really beautiful place. Sadly, you will need to suffer most of the day in a palace for today, Taylor. I am sorry" he said with a smile. "What would you need from us, Mr.L" asked Nis. Leo face became more serious. "Yeah.. Sorry that you will have go straight to work. Tay, I would like you to remain by my side for today and guard me from any danger. I just sended a massage to my Uncle, who is also a part of Montiante Family and I hope that he will be able to arrive today. Nis, you will take care of our dokuments and informations. I will need you to check a few things for me. I also invited Puresoulia's heir, Palladia. Preperation of dinner and etc. is a job for maids and butlers. I just want you two to be with me, when I meet with her. You are my retrainers, after all. I thought about visiting Palace's hot springs with our guest or guests, as she may arrive with retrainers too. We have both separated and mixed hot springs, I tell you about them as it may be a good occasion for you to catch a break. After a meeting you will be free for today to do anything you two want" said Leo.
"Any Questions?"
@Night's Shadow
(Well, just stating that your characters were mentioned even if there is no interactions with them here. @SageNeb @kyuukestu)
 
"Hmmm."

Tia hummed into the crisp, morning air, and sipped at her mug. She noticed Andre as he trailed behind them, but kept her focus on Yowa. It appeared that her retainer had gone to great lengths to prepare a comprehensive report for her. She hadn't been expecting it but was pleasantly surprised. The three main topics in the report were all equally intriguing, but, after some thought, Tia decided which to start with.

"Then, since we're all here, let's start with your roles."

It was, after all, best to settle matters between herself and her retainers before she could think about taking on the other heirs or striving for the throne.

@Sentorus67 @Clite of Dragonbow
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
The Stevenson barman entered the room once again with many chalices of alcohol, mostly beer and wine. "Listen, my lord, I've been too rude you! These ones are on the house."

As he delivered them, the guards took their places on the wooden benches and sat across two or three of them. "Er...thank you?" Al shrugged. Why the change of tone, thought?

Puma took his place and tucked in to some food. Some battered pieces of bread had been provided. It was apparently the only food they had stocks of. Puma was given milk in a harsh tainted bottle. As he sat down to drink it, there were a few chuckles from across the other side of the room.

Puma looked at the banner on the wall behind the Stevenson barman and then at Al. "There's something wrong here." He whispered to Al as he approached his young brother. "Can you see what I can see? There seems to be another banner behind the one we can see here. What are they hiding?"

"I don't think they're hiding anything. The Stevensons are honest people. They're strong, just like me." Al replied.

"No...there's got to be something else...why are they acting so weird in front of us?" Puma got up and approached the barman. "I've finished my bottle."

"Is baby alright?" The barman chuckled.

"That's enough!" Al jumped up. "Listen, we should have been more grateful towards you lot. Really you guys are like me, tough and strong, none of this 'etiquette' business. Today, we drank like real princes, not how the other families do."

The barman looked at them both and nodded. "You're right...I guess I should have been less joking with you. Listen, I'll get ya more drinks on the house. Young lad, you look like you need some alcohol. I'll get ya some. You've probably never had any have you?"

"I don't know about that!" Puma exclaimed excitingly. Al gave him a look of disapproval.

"He doesn't drink...but i'll allow it...ONCE."

The barman clapped his hands and went into the storeroom. "I'll go and get it, i'll be just a second." He said as he exited through a door.

With the bar unmanned, Puma ventured past it. "Now's our chance." He whispered. "Come over here."

Al approached the banner, where Puma stood. Now, people from the rest of the tavern looked over towards them. Over on one of the tables, the guards started to groan about their drinks. There was a loud coughing sound from one of the guards, followed by at least four others. They struggled to contain themselves.

Al withdrew his longsword. "Let me do this." He swung his sword as a loud metallic sound rang through the tavern, Al and Puma jumped when they saw the banner that was below the current one as the old one fell to the ground.

The banner was a black field with a large side wards face of a Panther with its claw out like a fist. Behind them, a guard fell to the floor, collapsed from his coughing.

"The drinks milord-" One of the guards began. The guards eyes were firmly on Al. They were in total silence as they saw the banner.

The barman came out of the storeroom and dropped all the drinks in his hand and they flew with a great smash.

The banner, they all recognised as the banner of an organisation from Al's past.

It was the banner of Black Fury.
 
Yowashi spread his papers aside to make room for more drinks.

"Well, you know that I have been at this for a while now. I have studied for the position for entire my adult life and know as much as I can about being a retainer. My goal is to have an heir who is merciful and generous ascend the throne without bloodshed. I've spent a good day as a kid getting into fights so I'm used to confrontation. I would consider myself the type of diplomat Pursoulia prizes itself, but i saved myself quite a few times out of being haggled. If I would make a suggestion I would prefer to be an advisor on subjects such as politics, economics, and mathematics." He turned his attention to Andreas.

"As for you, well, I don't know much. I've learned your named Andreas and that you're somewhat of a scrapper. I will need to see that for myself. State whatever you think is important for Tia to know, given that you will be working with her day and night, do not hold back."

@Clite of Dragonbow @kyuukestu
 
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Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
The Tigroran castle of Caspe had been recently rebranded. The old rock walls that stood firmly as the outside of the castle had been replaced with freshly built walls of rare but powerful stone walls reinforced with Montiante metal. It screamed the artistic flare of the east, as the four massive towers which were now moved towards outside the city of Caspe were painted with exotic colours, namely that of orange and black tiger-like stripes. Lush plants from foreign jungles were growing in pots all around the outside and inside of the border between the castle and the more country like environment and there was a plethora of vines and creepers growing through some cracks on the walls. The effect of the vines were that it made it look like the walls were covered in them and this was very subtly done by the chief Gardener of the Tigroran family to impose the feeling of fear into any attackers. The guards who patrolled the walls, the majority of them archers still found it uncomfortable up on these walls. They could still not comprehend the move into outer Caspe and the countryside. Strategically it did not make sense. When the castle was in the heart of the city of Caspe, they could easily call upon militia and the mass movement of the people to protect them. Now, the castle was at least a few miles from the centre of Caspe. That being said, they were well protected here. If the walls were to fall, they could easily flee to a large keep like building in the centre, made of old stone, it was a remnant from the past that had always been a part of the design. In front of the castle was a separate wide building where men with large wild cats wandered. Large bridges led to this. Behind the back wall was a bridge and pathway into a more mountainous region, filled with craggy rocks which led up to the library. The library was a great spectral building connecting to the back and sat upon rocks based on a hilly pathway which ran alongside with the sea. It was a good distance away but was still considered part of the castle.

Inside the keep, servants paced up and down a red carpet. Paintings of famous Tigrorans filled the walls. Several important maids stood on the sides of the carpet leading up to a rather minimalistic steel chair, made to look like some kind of throne. Normally, a rather hairy man would sit here. Instead, was a tall, old woman with long alburn hair, who placed an elbow on one of the arms of the chair and one side of her head into her fist so that it went into her cheek. She looked tired and bored. She had now sat there for at least a day. Nicknamed 'the Lioness', this was none other than Catherine Tigroran, loyal wife of Leopold Tigroran. Behind a door, yelping sounds could be heard.

"Is it over? Has he been cured?" She asked.

"No Ma'am." A maid answered next to her. She wandered up to the door and put her ear next to it and heard the sound of a man throwing up. "He's very much gotten worse."

Catherine sighed. She didn't know what to think. She had thought that he would have died from his condition in the last few hours. He seemed to have gotten worse. Catherine loved him and cared for him, but she couldn't help feeling all this man did, with all the affairs, that he didn't deserve her love. She was glad to know it would all end when he was dead.

A middle aged to old butler in a black and white tuxedo stood next to the door. He made a gesture with a white glove towards the maid. "Go away." He whispered. "Leave the master alone. He'll be alright if people like you aren't trying to poison him."

"What was that?" Catherine asked. But the butler put his hands behind his back and went silent.

"Nothing...your grace." He spoke.

"Which servant are you? There are dozens around here. I can't seem to get rid of them. They seem to be making things worse."

"Tahris Silvermane, ma'am."

"Silvermane? Leopold goes on about you. You're the faithful one. You've been here since the beginning, haven't you? You go EVERYWHERE with him."

"Yes ma'am."

"I'm told your family used to be nobility like us. I'm told they were important." She smiled at him briefly knowing the Tigroran family had outlasted the Silvermanes.

"Yes ma'am. The Silvermanes were powerful back in the day, but they quickly lost their relevance. I am indebted to you and your husband, for the pair of you have spent much money trying to remove me from my homeless ego outside of court. Without Mr. Tigroran, I would not be in such a good place."

Catherine nodded. "That's why he means so much to you. That's why you won't let anyone get through that blasted door."

"He is wounded...he..."

"Aloysius did this to him! Leopold said so! It was the first thing he said, to me! Our heir, OUR boy, he pushed him down a set of stairs! He induced deliberate wounds to his head and chest."

"Now he's feeling nauseous ma'am. He's complaining all day of a 'sickly feeling' ma'am. We rushed him to the bed as soon as possible."

"I know that! But it seems the condition has gotten worse. They were only wounds. They could have been plastered up. I was ready to forgive Al."

They heard a great sound coming from behind the door. "ENOUGH! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" It was Leopold's iconic shouting voice.

"Oh no." Catherine muttered.

The door flew open. A man in a white, pink and red suit ran out. "It's no good." He shook his head. "The condition has gotten worse! He's gotten infected through the wounds somehow! He started throwing up a few hours ago! His mental condition is unstable!"

"Lucian Goldheart, the Belfan doctor, I presume?" Catherine looked at him.

"Yes yes...I was here all this time with Leopold in his room...but he's refusing to see me now. He doesn't like me very much. He needs help. He's writing letters and doesn't want anyone to see."

"What is it you think he has?"

"Your son...he...made problems that were already there worse. You see, I recently diagnosed Leopold with Cat's heart, a disease that seems to be hereditary in the male line of your family. I have documents to prove this. The disease would normally lead to an early death, but Leopold's previous doctor apparently gave him medication which muted the effects of this disease. When Leopold had his fall, it sped it up. When he found he had cuts relating to the fall your son induced on him, I discovered that the disease, which had gone away, now came back through infected substances throughout the palace. Fortunately, for you, I was authorized to move these substances. But for Leopold it is too late. He lies in a traumatic state and he is on death's door. There is not much I can do for him now."

------

Inside of Leopold's room, he coughed loudly several times. There was a large metallic bath like container filled with his detestable sick. He felt extremely weak. He could have a heart attack at any minute, his temperature and beats per minute were so high.

Yet, he desired to do one last thing before he died. One thing more, one that was on his mind the whole time and had been for a week. He was going to force himself against his will, no matter the cost, his final bowing out moment to the world, his final act on the stage of the theatre of life.

He crawled, red faced towards the wooden desk from his lushous bed. It took him all his might, but he was able with great pain to get into the seat and intending to do so quickly yet slowly because of his condition, he was able to write with a fountain feather pen. On the parchment he wrote a letter which he intended to write to all the leading members of the noble families: Montiante, Dragonheart and Puresoulia. He also wanted to copy one to Michaelis and the court of the deceased king. He was aware of the King's upper circle and had spent time with them.

He tried his best to write this letter. He had several servants copy it out for him. Catherine and the good doctor were surprised to see him up writing and concluded he was still in good shape. However, immediately after he wrote the letter, he started coughing again on his bed.

The letter was immediately approved and sent out to the noble families in their castles using ravens. The contents of the letter were as follows:

Dear Leaders of the Noble families and of the court of the late King,

With great urgency, I write to you all of pressing matters. The times we are living in are a desperate one and increasingly, I feel the need to address the rise of a great corruption, a great evil, one which lurks the lands of Bracia which is now quickly becoming full circle. During this uncertain and desperate times, we, the great families of this realm, the only hope left for it, must band together in the face of great adversity to protect ourselves and its people. I acknowledge the great feats of each family, despite some arguments and some tensions with others, know that I am truly sorry for the problems I have aroused with each of you and know that in my heart of hearts, I have always stood by your side as an ally. I write also to the late King's court, the one who I truly have admired all this time, the one who united the Kingdom under his leadership. With him gone, the question arises for who will be the next heir. One of us must come with the goods. One of us must nominate an heir for the rest to follow.

However, in my foolishness, I have accidently appointed an heir, Aloysius Stripeclaw Tigroran, for the throne. I was not aware of the dark deeds he was involved in up until now. He is the reason why I am in this current physical state, barely able to move, barely able to breath, I have been throwing up for a while because I re-contracted a rare genetical disease caused by my son. You see, I had recently killed off the disease in my family. However, I soon went to go to the castle for our meeting with Al. He quickly turned on me and pushed me down a flight of stairs. The cuts I endured were only part of the pain. After he did this, I fled back to Caspe, the castle where I sit now. I missed the meeting. But I heard of the nasty, rude and arrogant things my 'heir' said. He has endured great pain and suffering himself in his life. At a young age, his older brother left the family and went to another part of the world. His twin sister, who grew up with him, perished early on. He was also convinced that I was abusive and that he was an unfaithful husband to his mother. These are all slanderous lies and are untrue! Do not believe a word he says about me! In short, his personality should indicate an element at least about who he is. He is not a gentleman.

Second, I'd like to draw to Al's political side. I have heard of his idea of ethnic cleansing for the elven race. I have never gone against this noble race and the King's assistant, Michaelis, was a great role model of mine. We must work together to stop the elves from being expelled or persecuted in this noble kingdom. Al's comments have sometimes bordered on the anarchical side. You see, he was briefly part of a vicious and evil cult like organisation known as 'Black Fury'. Black Fury are terrorists. They wish to brainwash the population of Bracia into thinking that the noblemen like us and the families up high are corrupt and money-hogging. Therefore, they throw their men into a war of rage, their conflict with us Tigrorans has been never ending. I have reason to believe that Al is secretly harbouring these brainwashing ideas despite my disciplining of him. He also believes a strong totalitarian leader should be in control of the country. Combined with his anarchical ideas, this kind of brutal dictatorship would great a catastrophic contrast. We should be weary and not allow him to have ANY power whatsoever.

I, Leopold Tigroran, formally denounce Aloysius Tigroran of the title of heir. Let it be said that he does NOT represent ANY of our views as a family. Instead, i'd like the title and nominee for the throne be passed to my wife, to one of Al's brothers or his cousin, Ocarina, who has so neatly taken control of the library.

We are on the brink of destruction here. We can either go one of two ways: dictatorial and brutal OR anarchical and chaotic. We must stop these two ideas from colliding. We need someone who is just and fair, Kind but not crazy.

Black Fury has grown strong in the past few months. They have gathered financial allies from the more mountainous north and some noble families have turned against us. We are losing control here. The wizards who sometimes use our great library have started to speak out against us too. We require URGENT support as soon as possible.

I would like to propose a quadruple alliance of families to watch over these lands and ensure a stable future. Only together can we stop the rise of evil. Please come to our court, the keep in the middle of our great castle, just outside of Caspe. We must discuss a great many things, if not, my wife will be willing and my growing heirs.

But for the love of the elements, please do not be tempted by Al or Black Fury's words against us. We must work together.

I know I am dying. This shall be one of the last things I ever do in life...accept going to the toilet. Ah, my good sense of humour comes in again. It has been a good life for me, but the end really went badly. I hope that my heirs will continue my legacy, my future. They're going to need all the help they can get.

In any sense of emergency, I nominate Puma and Ocarina Tigroran as official heirs.

Thank you for listening to my fair story, and, goodbye.

Lord Leopold Tigroran.

----


That night, the King would be found, surrounded by a pool of blood on the bed. He would be dead.
 
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=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
"No questions here," Taylor assured Leo. "So I just gotta keep any assassins outta your hair? That shouldn't be a problem." Especially since I used to be one, she thought to herself. I know how they think. Mostly. "Hot springs sound nice, too. A long soak sounds great to me." She could almost feel the steam already.

Except there was a meeting she had to attend first.

Which just kinda... sucked.

"Actually, one question," Taylor said, realizing something. "When exactly is this meeting going to hap-- nevermind, wherever you go, I'll be tagging along, so I guess I'll know when I need to. I'm ready."

@Clite of Dragonbow
 
Back at the Montiante Castle in the city of Belfa, Lucy walked around the halls of the extravagant castle. The halls were decorated with beautiful hand painted murals, statues and portraits of both past and present Montiante families hanging on the walls. Multiple maids, and butlers were running through the castle working on their assigned chores. Outside were the palace guards marching and patrolling the grounds.

Lucy had been called by her parents to go to the meeting room to discuss the events at the King's funeral. In her own head she tried to repeat all the events, but trusted that Clay would help her if she forgot to mention something.
"Alright. Here we go," She muttered under her breath as she stopped at a big beautifully carved wooden door with two guards standing beside it and knocked. The door opened and Lucy stepped inside the Montiante's 'meeting' room. This was usually where important meetings were held about trading, recourse management and so on, but it was also where family business was usually handled.

At the end of the big table were two figures with a third sitting beside them. Those were Lucinda's parents and the third figure was her grandmother. Dumont Montiante, the current head of the Montiante, who was quite tall, had sharp facial features, fair skin, blue eyes, dirt blonde hair, goatee, wore accessories made out of mostly out of silver with golden decor with the family emblem on them and looked like he was in his early thirties even though he was in his late forties.

Beside him sat his wife, Coralie, who was a bit shorter than the average female, long brown hair with some silver hair mixed into it, was worn in a small braided bun, but let the rest of her hair fall on her back. She had tan skin, bright green eyes, a hawk nose and like her husband, wore accessories with the family emblem on.

Beside them, sitting on Dumont's other side was the old mistress of the Montiante family. She looked like she was in her 60's or 50's maybe, but she was a lot older than that in reality. That was Orestina Montiante. She, like her son and granddaughter had sharp features, but looked more elven with slightly pointy ears and all. She also wore some jewelry and accessories with the blue crystal emblem on, but not as much as her son or his wife. After Dumont took over and became the head of the family Orestina is more like an advisor and occasionally takes charge of the castle if her son is somewhere else in Bracia and can't be reached.

"You wanted to see me," Lucy said with the doors to the meeting room closing behind her and then sat down at the giant table.

"Yes. We wanted to hear how the King's funeral went and we received a very concerning letter from the Trigrorians, but one topic at a time," Lucinda's father replied back.
 
Andre was wondering if to hit Yowa for that Scrapper part... "I am Andreas Unvalor, son of the chieftain of Skidia Tribe. Fatger was a part of United Tribes. Which is in fact 36 tribes connected and ruled by a Grand Chieftain. Grand Chieftain is chosen by fight and our entire culture is focused on battles and art of war. I left my home when I was 7 in order to get stronger I traveled across the continent. I Helped people and killed various monsters, I was capture during my sleep and was a gladiator for some time, so I am a really expierienced and strong warrior, if I can say so about myself. Umm.. I also learn quite fast, at the beginning I didn't know your languege well, but it was quite nice for an ear, so it took me about a 3 weeks to learn it to a point that allows me to communicate with you and I keep learning it further" said Andre slowly, after that he continued "If I may, after you settle with all of those matters, I would want to speak with you about one thing, Lady Tia" He added.
@Sentorus67
@kyuukestu
---
Leo smirked "Like hell I know" he said suddenly.
"Either today or tommorow, depends on Lady Puresoulia" he said. "Also, I send earlier a message to Uncle Arthur and hope that he will arrive here soon" said Leonard. "Nis, I would like you to go for now and begin information gathering and inspection on our manpower and resources, as well as anything about other noble families" said Leo.
"I gonna get to work then" Nis replied and smiled softly to Tay, He patted her head. "See you a bit later, Tay" Nis said and left Tay with Leo.
"Let's take a walk around garden, shall we?" Leo gave Taylor a proposition, then he slowly made his way to a garden. The garden was huge, full of beautiful and well-kept trees and flowers that come from many parts of the world. Huge Statues, depicting many family members from the past and present. As he had his pleasant walk, one of the butlers came and handed him a letter from Tigroran's family head.
"What those little kitties may want from me?" he mumbled quietly and looked at the letter. He made a sudden and soft laught "Heh, one person less in the way, it seems. Well, thats good, I felt like we wouldn't get along well anyway and that could be troublesome in future...Yeah,its great" he said, kinda to himself.
"How do you like my gardens, Taylor?" Leo asked his retrainer.
@Night's Shadow
(Mentions @SageNeb character)
---
Michaelis also received a letter and it was quite a suprise. He just got one more reason to visit Tigroran's province. He told maids to send his guest an information that he is heading to Tigroran's palace and that they can join him, if they want to.
@Cmeriwether
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
Clay made sure he was near Lucy at all times. He had great respect for the elder Montiantes but he made sure he’d let them know his feelings on each matter simply by making small sounds or laughs from time to time.

- - - - - -

In the Whispering Wildcat, a shocking revelation had been made. A banner discovered by Puma and Al behind a newly placed one indicated that the lowly Stevensons, who were normally loyal to Catherine Tigroran, has betrayed her and now we’re pledging allegiance to rebel militia Black Fury.

As they looked up at the banner once again, they heard a loud firing sound. A large arrow like projectile came towards Al and Puma. Puma spotted it and quickly shouted “Watch out!” as he pushed him tot he side. The arrow hit the wooden wall behind them. Al looked to see where it has come from. To the side of the the room, next to the wine cellar door stood an angry bartender, the same ones as before, holding a large crossbow in one of his hands, tankards fallen onto the floor.

The sight brought a lot of attention to Al. Wade Shantysong, the apparent famous bard who had been briefly introduced to Al now hours ago stood in the corner playing his lure. His flamboyant personality had attracted attention of his own and had preceded a moment where he was playing non stop songs for a few hours. At the sight of the Black Fury banner he stopped playing. When the arrow was fired he slowly started walking towards the counter, aware of the fat and chunky men around him.

“So you’ve discovered our secret!” The barman yelled.

“You’re with Black Fury? But we’re your allies?”

“Pfff.” The man spat. “We don’t need no funny pussy cats to teach us how to be men!” He laughed.

“Why do you think it’s the okay to fire at the heir?” Al asked. “What kind of messed up person are you?”

“Black Fury sent us a lot of money to invite you here! They’re going to do so much for us! This tavern failed under the Tigrorans and it will prosper under them! First, all we have to do is get rid of you!”

Before Al could say anything he was interrupted by several coughing sounds from guards. One passed out into the floor. Before he could do so, Wade was on the scene. He grabbed him and pushed him up so easily and blew air into his giant mouth. “No good...some of these guys have been poisoned. Don’t drink the alcohol in the chalices!” He exclaimed.

The guards got up to try and help Al. Three of them stubbled because of the poison. This weakened then. Suddenly from behind, a muscular beefy man appeared with several friends who whipped out daggers and stabbed each of the three guards in the chest. As they fell to the ground the guards withdrew their weapons, mainly swords.

“Protect Al!” One of the guards shouted.

The barman with the crossbow fired again. It narrowly avoided Puma. Al drew his longsword and together with Puma, who also drew a longsword, they circled the barman. Al swiped at the guy and the large crossbow fell out of his hands. The bartender backed into a corner and drew a sword. Puma came down at him with his longsword. The to two swords clashed but the bartender was able to parry it and then flick the longsword into his hands. With two swords now into his hands, he kicked Puma into the bar and Puma fell, wounded but not out of the fight.

By this point, every strongman in the bar has gulped down the last of their beer, cracked their knuckles and joined the fight by punching fellow neighbours, or, more importantly, by fighting the guards. Some even had short swords, daggers or bows o help them. The guards were able to repel most of the initial attacks and restrain the first members but they felt they’d had to use Moreno aggression and force when their men started dropping like flies. Every woman and child in the tavern had fled by the time a group of smokers had lit torches on flames and paraded around the room, threatening to burnt it up.

Wade saw Puma wounded and tried to help him up. However, two tall and thin men blocked his path. At the sight of him, one drew a large mace and the other presented a maul. Wade thought it was time to reveal his true identity. He took off the clothes covering the outer layer of his persona to reveal a drawstring white shirt. He threw his cap into the ground and drew a long shiny sword. They came at him, but he simply dashed forward faster than time itself, parried both attacks in the space of a few seconds, pushed one of the weapons into the chest of one and stabbed the other, before pushing both of them into the floor.
He lent a hand to Puma.

“Hey kiddo. Get up. We can do this.” He said.

“Wa- I mean, Alfonso, is that you? This is the first time I get to see you in battle!” He got up.

Alfonso, as he was called dealt Puma his sword before pulling out a rapier for himself. Al was kicked in the stomach by the Stevenson barman and he was about to be sit down by the hairy man before Alfonso and Puma danced gracefully in front of him and partied his attack, pushing him into a wall. Al got up and grabbed the bartender by the chest, who dropped his sword in a stage of surrender. Alfonso and Puma accepted it and backed off, choosing other nearby targets who ran forward towards them. Alfonso duelled a man who was wielding sword short swords. The man he was duelling stabbed a guard who was trying to kill a man standing on a table with a torch in his hand. The guard fell to the floor. He was trying to stop the man on the table from setting the wooden tavern on fire. The man threw the entirety of his torch onto the wooden wall and several others added with their own bonfires, before Alfonso danced his blades in front of them with some guards. But they were too late, the wall and ceiling started to catch fire. It was mostly visible from outside. Everyone inside starting coughing and a few weak protesters fell to the ground after a lack of oxygen.

Outside the tavern, three people sat on horses and enjoyed the show, the loud noises and flames coming from the tavern. It was quite the spectacle and it seemed like the three mysterious visitors had planned to watch it in this spot. A silent man in a blue robe carrying a staff didn’t know what to think. He was on the right. On his left, was a young woman in similar robes except they were yellow.

“They’ve set the place on fire.” The blue wizard stated. “Was that meant to happen?”

“Yes.” The woman replied. “Apparently so. It makes for a good show don’t you think? I for one have been loving the display they’ve put on. It’s all part of the plan. I can’t wait to go back and try doing this at our place.”

A hairy man with a feathery beard sat on a horse behind them. It looked like he had gotten rid of a lot of his brown beard to hide his identity. He turned around and scooted in between them. He was different. He did not ooze magic. “This is just the beginning of our plan to create chaos within Bracia. It’s about time. We’ve been here for a few hours watching. I think it’s time you two get to your stations for the next part. Besides, it’s getting dark.”

“We have the fires of this tavern here in the darkness. It can guide us!” The woman laughed and the young hairy man did too. But the silent scholar didn’t.
 
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SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
The previous day Arthur listened to Lucy's response to his question and agreed with her, but he didn't stay much longer in the funeral as others had also left. He went back to his home, a humble place with not too much elegance to it as perhaps other richer nobles but could definitely be told apart from regular folks. He spoke with his wife Alicia about the events that transpired and received a letter from the Dragonheart heir to meet with him.

Arthur wore different clothing than usual from when he went to gatherings and his work. Instead he donned more formal apparel suited for meeting people. He headed off on his horse to the Dragonheart fortress and was greeted by a servant. His mount was taken to a stable to be kept and Arthur asked to see the Leonard. The servant was receptive of his request and started leading him to the gardens, along the way Arthur admired the decorations before reaching where he was supposed to be.

"Good evening, Lord Leonard. I have received your letter of invitation and understand that there's something you wish to discuss with me. Is it pertaining to the funeral of our late king yesterday? Or do you want me to support your claim to the throne?" he asked.
 
"Then..."

Tia paused for a moment, letting her fingers thrum against the glassy sides of her mug while she took another sip, and drew the obvious conclusion.

"I have an advisor and a guard."

That was good. Palladia herself was rather balanced, in her own assessment she was decently adept at combat and somewhat knowledgeable in the sciences and arts. Her creativity and experience at diplomacy were what made her a force to be reckoned with, but with two competent retainers at her side, it would be foolish of her not to employ them to the most of their abilities.

"Since you both seem rather good at what you do, I'm sure you won't mind helping your Lady get better at those things as well, right?"

The way Tia envisioned it, she would set up a loose schedule of training/tutoring, on Mondays and Thursdays she would train with Andre, sharpening her skill with her weapon, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, she would hit the books with Yowa, sharpening her mind with knowledge. When she wasn't training with them she could attend to her own matters. It was an excellent arrangement assuming they accepted, but that wasn't at the forefront of Tia's mind.

"Oh, you had mentioned plans for my campaign as well, no?" She turned to Yowa once more, curious to hear what he had in mind; but, she also spared a glance towards Andre, nodding slightly to show she acknowledged and accepted his request to speak with her afterward.

@Sentorus67 @Clite of Dragonbow
 
Ocarina

After she wome up from her 'nap', Ocarina felts much better and continue writing her book on her bed, while three other maids were busy combing her hair. Vina, Rina and Ebina were triplets and they're more or less the same age as Ocarina. Unlike Bronya who can handle most matters by herself, the three were still inexperienced and like to chat while working but Ocarina did enjoy their company. They're currently talking about one of the squire and how handsome he would look if only he would wears better armor. Someone knocked on the door and after Ocarina told the person to come in, Bronya entered the room.

"Bronya! You read my note, right? Have you meet cousin Al?"

"..." Bronya seemed a bit hesitant before she answered Ocarina's question. "I haven't met your cousin, it seems he hasn't arrived yet. However, I have other news. Sir Leopold died last night."

"Ah." Ocarina's eyes widen when she heard the news and the triplets stopped their chat. "U-uncle Leo!! I must visit them." For the next few minutes Ocarina ordered the three to finish her hair while Bronya fetched her robe and drapped it over her body. Once finished Ocarina and Bronya hastily went towards the main castle.

"Aunt Cathie! Aunt Cathie!" The two approached Cathrine Tigroran, which Ocarina simply calls Aunt Cathie due to her habit of nicknaming almost every family member she met. "I-I'm sorry I hadn't come earlier. My condolence for what happened... can I see him? I want to offer a prayer."

@RisingGarchomps
 
Lucy explained all the event's in order from meeting Leo, the late King's retainers appearance and explanation of how the next heir is going to be elected, Puresoulian heir's show, how the other heirs reacted to it, Palladia's invitation to the city of Giupi and meeting Arthur at the funeral.

The room became silent, as Dumont thought for a second and took in all the information.
"I see.. you made a wise decision to stay out whatever Puresoulian wanted to start, but when you go to Giupi I suggest trying to socialize with Dragonheart and Puresoulian and make your intentions clear regarding what your intentions and goals if you were to be on Bracia's throne and try and make alliances with them too if possible," He finally said and his wife nodded in agreement.

"Then there's the matter of the Tigrorians.. You mentioned how Aloysius behaved at the funeral and that lines up with what Leopold wrote in his letter.. This is truly concerning. We aren't sure how to react in this situation, but we should be cautious around the Tigrorians," The head of Montiante continued, but then was cut off by his own mother
"I trust that you keep Lucinda out of trouble like always, Coalmore," Orestina said and looked at the dwarf that was beside her granddaughter.

@RisingGarchomps
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
Catherine Tigroran was, at this stage still crying at the news of her husband's death. This was indicated by a face that was already drenched in tears. She couldn't help it. The man who she had always hated, she now realised she loved. But it was too late. By the time Ocarina appeared, the wife's hands were deep in her face and she would not budge. Maids and servants were trying to help her out but she would often reject them with loud shouting noises.

Tahris Silvermane, formerly Leopold's personal butler, appeared next to her. "Need a hanky?" He held a large white thing in his hands. Catherine didn't respond and Tahris sighed. Then he saw Ocarina.

"She's not faring well, young one." Tahris said hearing what Ocarina had said. Even in these times of great harshness he maintained constant formality and a tone of calmness. "She's broken. I've had to rearrange times with the babysitter to look after the children. Only about half of them know Leopold's dead. Ma'am doesn't want to anything, so I've been self-appointed."

"Leave...leave me al-" Catherine final spoke.

"Sorry, Ma'am. We can't leave you this way. You need help. We must arrange a funeral for Leopold. Maybe that will put it to rest..."

"Maybe..." She sniffed.

"Ocarina is right. We need to organise a ceremony at the very least...in the catacombs. We can thank him there! Come on women!"

Catherine stopped crying and lifted her hands from her face. She realised what must be done. "Thank. You." She said to the two of them. "We must go to the catacombs with the body right away."

------------------------------------------------------------

"Ho ho ho!" Clay laughed at Orestina's remark. "Rest assured, you can! But she doesn't need much help! At the King's court, she was doing so well, she held her own, she probably doesn't need me!" He chuckled. "I did see something. She was warming to one of the Dragonheart heirs, I believe!"

------------------------------------------------------------

The Whispering Wildcat was crumbling away, probably because of the intensity of the flames that covered it. In a timespan of a few hours, part of the ceiling had fallen down. Al had his bow out and was firing towards various tavern brawlers who attacked Puma.

"We need to leave Jacob! It's too dangerous!" Alfonzo yelled at Puma. He grabbed his hand. They looked back at Al.

Al was not ready. He looked to the floor, at the barman who had started all of this. He was still alive. He grabbed him by one fist, lifted him and bashed him against the wall several times.

"Argh...un...necessary..." The man muttered.

"This is what you'll get for hurting my family!" Al screamed. By now, the fires had consumed most of the fighters and a few wounded guards had luckily escaped.
 
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Yowashi gave an improving smile and short round of applause to Andre's introduction. "A gladiator as well, and to learn a language in under three weeks. To call that a feat would be an understatement. I'm certain you could even teach me a thing or two." He then turned to Tia. "Of course if there is anything you would like to learn of me, all you must do is ask." He then took a moment to clear his throat before moving on to the next topic.

"As the rules state the way of successfully achieving the throne is by having the other heirs not vote for themselves. there are multiple ways to do this, something of which I hope you consider more than others. I feel the best strategy is through the power of voice. Having influence of the people around them and their citizens would put them in state compliance. Again I would like to keep this journey as bloodless as possible, or at least not be involved in the unadulterated chaos." His face molded into something serious following his next sentence.

"One important aspect is that you are beautiful. This is not just a compliment but rather a statement. You will always have eyes on you even when trying to be discreet. I have plans for using this as an asset but that will require more time to come to fruition."

@Clite of Dragonbow @kyuukestu
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Taylor nodded to Nis as he left before following Leo to the gardens, still on alert. The flowers permeated the place with a bright aroma, and the trees and grand statues gave the path some dappled shade. It was quite beautiful, in Taylor’s opinion, and she bent to get a closer look at the large petals of a purple-and-orange flower. “It’s gorgeous,” she said absentmindedly. “Must’ve taken a lot of work to cultivate all this and keep it in such pristine conditions.”

@Clite of Dragonbow
(Sorry for the short post, didn’t have much to say)
 
Logan and Wendy were eating when two maids walked over, explaining that they're heading to Tigroran palace, where the grand library was, so their plan was to grab Natalie and then head towards the palace. The finished their food as they found Natalie, and the three went outside to prepare for travel.

"I'm going to try to summon my familiar, but I don't know what will happen,"

A horse sized dragon like creature appeared.

"Voltnir?"

"It's been years, I'm guessing that time rift got me down to a horse." The little dragon spoke in a high pitched voice.

"I think you can take me, but no one else."

"Understood," the small creature responded as Logan hopped on.

Natalie was told by Travis that on the other side of the pendant kept in her pouch was a access spell for his horse. A large grey horse with a blue mane and red eyes appeared. The horse whined and tried to attack Logan.

"Sufeeris, calm down." Natalie whispered to the horse.

The horse calmed down, as a brown horse walked up and nuzzled Wendy.

"Looks like this brown horse wants you to ride them." Natalie responded.

Both females hopped on their horses, and the trio started looking for Michaelis.
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
Alfonzo and Puma left together. They danced around the remaining militants, knocking them out or simply ending their lives as they left. They rushed out towards where they had tied up their horses and leapt atop of them. In one hand, Alfonzo had what he could find of his Wade outfit and dressed himself once again. He was aware that if he approached a town in his Alfonzo persona, they might detect him. A group of heavily wounded guards staggered out. They managed to cut free the Stevenson's horses and big cats they had been using and managed to tame them in a few seconds.

"Is that everyone?" Alfonso asked.

"Yes." A guard reported.

"Wait." Puma interrupted. "Al's in there. We need to get him!" Alfonso saw on the right side of his face was a tremendous mutation of the skin caused by the fires of the tavern.

"Al's going after them. He clearly has a vendetta against the Stevensons. If we leave now, we won't cause such a fuss. This will be played off as a simple fire. Al will get out just fine. I've seen his physical capabilities over the past hours and that it is what I can conclude...other than he's a deranged lunatic, like those bastards in there."

"Since when were you the one in charge?" Puma asked.

"I'm sorry. I just want to protect you. I was assigned so by your family. Leopold paid me highly. He said 'If you fail this boy, you will fail me'. He also threatened to cut my pay. Your life is more precious than Al."

"Fine. Fair. We should get ready to go then."

Inside the burning tavern, Al slammed the battered body of the bartender against the wall furiously several times. "Die, you stupid-"

"Don't..." The barman coughed. "My brother...is in the cellar...he...would die for me..."

"You tried to have me and my brother assassinated. You idiot!" He slammed him again and again and again. Noises were made on the other side as a warning signal for what was to come. The man simply collapsed when Al slammed him the next time. Sighing deeply, Al looked at the dead body of the bartender. He examined his facial features. Then, without any sense of urgency, he wandered around the burnt room, looking at the dozens of dead bodies. Amongst the chainmail armoured guards and barebone skinheads, he found men with similar features to the dead man. He concluded that these were all members of the Stevenson family. He sighed. No redemption for them, he thought. No second chances.

He marched over to the cellar door. It looked like only one of them was left. He peered in the glass on the door. He saw steps leading down to a small room filled with barrels and kegs where a slightly older man in his 30s was sitting at a desk. He was hairy like Al and muscular but he didn't seem like the type that could get into fights. Seeing Al peer in, he jumped and made a face of pure fear. Al was surprised at what the man was doing. It appeared he had been writing on a skint scroll with a cheap piece of writing equipment. He wasn't aware these people could write. They weren't privileged enough. It seemed like this one was self taught or passed down through the family. He had no writing skill and he held the feather in the wrong way.

The man held onto this parchment with his bad writing on and attempted to force open a window, which presumably led to the outside world. Al retaliated by drawing his now partially broken longsword and cutting open the lock on the door, which had been locked previously on the other side. The door flew open and the terrified man dashed out the window into a short underground passage. Al chased after him in such a narrow corridor. "Come back, you fool!" Al exclaimed. In no time at all, the two of them where on the surface again and were a considerable distance from the burning tavern. Checking his surroundings for this, Al dashed forward. He stopped, out of breath. He saw the Stevenson get onto a horse. He rode the horse towards a man on another horse. Al took his bow out and fired several arrows at the Stevenson. His horse was hit as he rode the other way and he went flying off. Al then stabbed him with his longsword.

In the distance, the man on the horse he had given it to could be seen. He was clearly just a simple messenger. He gave the scroll to another man before riding away. The other man Al briefly saw before he rode away. He recognised him.

After a while, the paralysed Al went round the front of the tavern to try and find Puma and the others. There was no sign of them. They had decided to ride away in the dark of the night.
 
Michaelis walked up to the three guests clearly waiting for him on their mounts. "Oh, it seems you are ready for our little journey"
He created a horse from ice, it looked and acted like a living one.
Mika jumped at his horse back and looked at them. "Follow me" he and his mouth rushed to the Tigrorans lands.
@Cmeriwether

---

"It sure did" Leo agreed with her "This garden is almost a thousend years old"

He turned to the Arthur, who arrived earlier than he expected, good.
"Why so formal thone, Uncle? Isn't it normal for me to want to see you?" Leo asked him. "You will be first to learn about this, Grandpa died 2 months ago and so far I was giving orders as 'Grandpa' to keep things hidden, but I don't think its necessary anymore... Yes, I want you to support me, as a head of this family as well as a person with a strong rights for the throne. Of course, I won't be mad if you will support also someone else like... Montiante, as long as you remain loyal to this family. We may not be family by blood, but you were my Uncle's... Adoptive son and you earned your position with your abilities. No one need to give it to you" said Leo calmly.
"Yet, there are many minuses of not being our blood relative. We can't share our most hidden secrets and tehniques with you, as you wouldn't be able to put them in any use... But thats not important. I will need you, Lord Arthur. I will need you to help me in my future battles, both on the field and political. I thought that you could be my third retrainer or at least a valuable friend. Oh, and one more think. I would be careful think about answer. I don't want to threaten you, I just say that I wouldn't want to have you in another camp, as enemy" he finished with a slight dragonic glare.
"So? What is your answer?"
@Night's Shadow
@Cmeriwether
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
At the guards station outside of Caspe, two men sat on rather large Tiger like beasts. A group of travellers followed by a caravan were let through. They stopped to check the last two members, who rode on horses and wore robes.

“Wizards, eh?” One of the guards asked.

“Just passing through.” The blue robed mute Male finally spoke. “Don’t mind us.”

“Where are you going to?”

“The library.”

“What for?”

“Great knowledge awaits us there.”

“Alright. Let ‘em through!”

And so the two wizards proceeded. There, they passed through the grand city of Caspe, before going south via the crags. They stopped to enjoy a view of a massive a beautiful beach and a shining sea which were overlooked from a crumbling cliff.

The young male wizard stood on the cliff marvelling at the sea. But it didn’t look like the woman was interested. She rode forward and turned back to him. “What are you looking at?” She asked.

“The sea.” The man replied. “It speaks to me. It tells me something. The tide is turning.”

“Come on, Mr. Phrophet, or your words will never be lived out. They are waiting for us. You’re supposed to be the great wizard Carlock. Come on.”

With that reply, he was persuaded and they headed towards their destination: the library.

- - - - -

Catherine Tigroran stood in the middle of the hallway leading up to her seat of power. She had caused a rouse when she had called the entire rest of house Tigroran that lived in her proximity to the castle within short notice. In amongst the crowd in front of her seated were the ruins of a once great family. In the crowd she saw brothers, sisters, uncles, maids, servants and distant family friends. Many of them were tearful as they had been just told of the death of Leopold. Although they were not all there due to time constraints, Catherine did notice in the front row some of her children, little brothers and sisters of Al. Most notably, she identified 11 year old Roark and 9 year old Roran sitting in the front with their golden spikey hair. She also noticed 5 year old Kitty, one of the youngest Tigrorans, blonde haired and sitting quietly in a tiny pink dress. The kids seemed quite mature and took the death well. She was proud of them.

“Welcome all. I suppose you all know why you’re here. I wanted to...get SOME kid of memorial done for our Leopold. I was tempted to get a proper funeral done in a couple of days...but time is pressing and there’s maybe future conflicts. I’m not good with this kind of thing and quite frankly I’m just recovering from the shock of it all. So I’ve appointed Tahris Silvermane to come up with a moving memorandum to Leopold in the catacombs in a few hours. Please bare with us.”

Tahris stood next to Catherine and looked on to some confused faces. Tahris’a face looked surprised as everyone else. “This is most unexpected.”

“Why did you choose this stump?!” Someone shouted from the crowd.

“Please be polite.” Catherine demanded. “Truth be told, it’s because Tahris knew Leopold as he was his personal butler for what...35 years?”

“What does he know about death?!” Someone exclaimed.

“Woah woah woah. Calm down!” Catherine roared. “He’s doing his best.”

“Tahris...my man.” A friend of Tahris, a nobleman in the crowd stood up and the two greeted each other and smiled. “How’s your wife Tanya doing?”

“Tanya died many years ago.” Tahris brought grim news to the nobleman.
“She was the best of us. I couldn’t save her. Funny I couldn’t with Leopold either. But he provided work form me when she was gone. Most of my family’s gone now, crumbled, none left of significance but me. Not sure what’s going to happen now.
I need to think about the future of this family. There is a conclusion I need I get to but I need to use Tanya as a baseline.” There was a tear in his left eye that signified life could be all over for him. He had put so much hard work into Leopold now that he felt like his life was over. He didn’t feel like working for the Tigrorans. What reason had Catherine still employed him?
 
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"Ohh! Is that so?" Orestina replied and chuckled, but her and Corelia's attention fully shifted onto Lucy. Even some of the servant's in the room reacted to this, but then swiftly went back to their positions and waited for orders.

"Wait! What do you mea-" Lucy said. She was confused by what Clay said about her "warming" up to Dragonheart, but she was cut off before she could continue any further.

"Ahem, Let's get back to the matter at hand. We are going to launch our own investigation regarding the Tigrorian situation and keep in contact with the other two families," Dumont continued and steered the conversation back, "That is all. You may go now,"

"Lucinda. Remember your schedule today. Oh and take your brother with you" Corelia quickly spoke up, just to remind her daughter.

"Yes mother,"

Walking out of the room Lucy let out a sigh of relief, but then quickly turned towards Clay, almost glaring at him. "What was that?!" She asked the dwarf, as she was still confused about his comment about Leo, "Ugh.. Never mind. Help me find my brother. He's probably somewhere outside- If not already in the courtyard" the teen then said and started to swiftly walk around the castle in search for her brother and made her way to the courtyard where maids and even some guards were helping helping set up the courtyard for the two young nobles to train. A boy, roughly two years younger than Lucy, with tan skin, angular features, green eyes, tall, lean and short brown hair waited and looked as Lucy approached him.

"Oh you actually showed up. Ready to loose?" The younger teen asked and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Har Har- Very funny..You do know that this isn't a competition, Aaron .. BUT I'm going to beat you in target practice," The platinum haired girl replied back with with a playful tone in her voice. Lucinda didn't know why her mother felt the need to try and remind her of every little thing. She even reminds Lucy of when she shares classes with her brother and not, but she obeys her non the less. This was her favorite day in the week, with her study subjects at least, as they were more practical (usually) with first being combat training being for the most part of the day and then magic studies in the evening.

@RisingGarchomps
 
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Ocarina

Another funeral, another grooming. In the next few hours after Catherine announced Leopold's funeral Ocarina returned to her room and prepared for the ritual. She wore a black and white garb that resembles the uniform of the priestess of chaos, but much thicker and with much more frills. Meanwhile behind her Bronya wore a similar looking but more practical set of clothes, she also carried a rather lengthy briefcase with her. Ocarina waddled through the catacomb and approached Catherine and Tahris at the center.

"I'm sure you will do great with the memorandum, Mister. T. You're uncle Leo's trusted person after all." She casually slipped into the conversation by cheering Tahris. "Also, I believe that the deads can still live through us the livings. They might not be here anymore, but we can inherit their wills. Through the will, a person lives. Through the will, a person loves. Through the will, every person becomes a star." Ocarina realized that she accidentally recited a few lines from the holy book of her sect, but it sounds fitting so it should be fine.

@RisingGarchomps
 

Helios.

Previously RisingGarchomps
As Lucy spoke to Clay outside of the room, Clay felt he needed to respond as quickly as possible. "I was just telling 'em! It is, after all, part of my job to protect you and find you a suitable partner in marriage." The dwarf was in a grumpy mood. He appreciated the support of Lucy's ancestors but why was Lucy rejecting his role as a retainer?

Clay then smiled and laughed when Aaron appeared, changing his mood entirely. Hopefully, he would change his spirits. At the sound of a competition he rubbed his hands together.

----------------------------

Al saw a large spotted leopard like big cat caged in a pen. It was one of the few mounts not taken. He read the word 'Spotty' on the gate of the pen, assuming this was its name. He set it free and it immediately pounced at him. He struggled to push it off him.

"Spotty?!" Al asked, trying to tame the beast. The beast got up and stared at him given the chanting of his name.

---------------------------

The catacombs were long, narrow and dark. Fitting many people in this space was not really an option, yet most people were here for the ceremony. There were little openings on the walls where there were shrines dedicated to fallen legendary soldiers, noblemen who were friendly with the family and finally, various children and members of the Tigroran family, ancestors through the ages, towards the end of the hall. At the end of the catacombs, Tahris Silvermane stood reading a grey book. It seemed to be his family heirloom with details of the Silvermane family, once a great noble family, reduced to dust. As he noticed Ocarina, he winked and nodded at her.

"Thank you, ma'am." He said acknowledging her words. Oddly enough, he recognised her words at the end of her sentence from the holy sect.

He looked towards the end of the corridor to try and find Catherine. He saw her standing much closer towards the entrance at a shrine where a sarcophagus was. He saw a picture of a young baby. It was the burial site of young Tigris Tigroran, the tiny prematurely born baby Tigroran born years ago. After a painful pregnancy, he had been born and perished not long after at the age of 1.
 
Michaelis forced his mount to speed up the pace to as fast as, something was fishy about all this and he couldn't let any organisation to work during this time, when they lack a king. Michaelis looked from time to time behind him to check if his guest keep up.
"We should be there soon"

He suddenly stopped, a cloaked figure stood on the road. On the groups way to the Tigrorans palace.
"Well, I feel honoured. Seems that Famous Ice Emperor make his way to those kitties palace. Are those Black furries... Black kitties... Black... Well, something black that much of a threat that-..." Figure didn't finish as Michaelis aimed huge ice shards at him after a second.
"Is there something you need from us, stranger?"
Figure chuckled "Just a word of warning, better take care of that problem of yours quickly and without big losses.. Ahh, I talked too much, too much~ See ya, Mika my boy~"
Michaelis couldn't say when the figure and how he dissapired and he was looking straight at this person this whole time.
" One more reason to hurry..."
---
Michaelis arrived in front of Tigrorans Castle Gates " Lord Michaelis, I came to say my last goodbye to your dead Lord and to check one thing"
@Cmeriwether
@RisingGarchomps
 

SageNeb

Previously 5DigitNeb
Arthur listened to Leo's response and was interested on how he had been giving orders as his grandfather had done.

I suppose he would now be the general of the army?

He wondered whether or not he should help his nephew try to become the leader of Bracia as he was... not quite a true Dragonheart and was in a different situation from most as a noble. However when it came to court politics he cared above all for himself. If he were to help someone he'd expect something in return.

"No need to worry, I don't wish to become your enemy. However I think it is too early for me to decide who to support. Lady Lucinda also has great plans for the kingdom and I presume Lady Palladia has ambitions as well. I heard that the heirs would be meeting in six days, no? Perhaps all of you could come to an agreement and cooperate with each other after choosing an heir for all of you to achieve your goals... I don't think there would be issues as long as you all wish to better the Kingdom. I don't think I will become a retainer... however I would prefer to be neutral and perhaps a mediator between the heirs. I will support all those who wish to help the people."
 
"But what if our ideals collide? World isn't this simple uncle and if you will be too greedy, you may bite more than you can chew" said Leo with calm voice.
"I will talk with Palladia before the meeting with everyone happends. How do you think, how this conversation will end?.. Nevermind" said Leo with a smirk.
"Just a few tips for you. Remember that one second of courage can change everything and... That there is a difference between Ideals and Reality" he took a deep breath.
"If you want to say something, tell me now, Arthur... Oh, I may as well ask you. How are Montiantes doing? No need to tell me anything important, I just want to listen how they do, may as well tell me about a chess match between two of Montiantes or something"
@SageNeb
 
"We're fine, Sufeeris is worried though, so I'm trying to calm him down." Natalie responded to Michaelis.

Logan had Lightning bolts armed from his air element specialization, pointed at the figure as well, who luckily spoke up or would've dealt with someone much worse.

The three, well two put their hoods up so they wouldn't be discovered, as Wendy rode along on her brown horse. Natalie slowed Sufeeris to a trot when they got to the gate and followed Michaelis.
 
Bronya

Despite her sheltered life, weak constitution and occasional dangerous brooding fit, Ocarina was a sociable person. She greeted every family member that she passed by and occasionally make small talk and offering little encouragement. Bronya always admired that part of her mistress.

She never told anyone about this, but being in the middle of a gathering like this made her feels very vulnerable. Old habits die hard. She felts the need to watch everyone for anything suspicious and the swords on her left hips help providing her with some semblance of security to keep her paranoia at bay. Ocarina mistook it as her being observant though, which was fine, her past was irrelevant to her current status.

"Milady, you should take a brief rest. There's still some time before the ritual begin." Bronya noticed that Ocarina's walking speed had slightly decreased and she started to drag her legs when walking. Ocarina nodded weakly at Bronya's suggestion and sat on a nearby chair.
 
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