[RP] The Magi Saga - The Mandate of Magic

[Neo Emolga]

Jysan Ryderan, Faerie
Shadow Guild
The Rusty Shield Tavern, Savire, Dyrin

I could tell Captain Blackwood had hired assassins before. But this was the first time he had dealt with one that was a faerie. And of course, they always make the same, rookie mistake the first time. So, I get the order on a normal-sized piece of paper, which to them would be like getting an order on a carpet. I had to fly away with it, take it to a quiet area in the ceiling rafters, break the wax seal, and roll out the whole thing and stand on it.

Blacksting,

Vester Dulunt. Head Tax collector on the docks. That bastard is definitely one of Vrell's and he has been having his men collect double duty just for his own pleasures. That sneer-faced hooligan arrives at dawn and harasses the fishermen for the dock tax cut and confiscates the smugglers' goods like the sniveling swine he is. He has lavish tastes and usually wears rich clothing amongst men that can barely afford rags. The man is nearly half-pig with his girth, and he is a drunkard for wine, even at that hour.

Him being dead would do us all a favor. I don't care how you do it, but do it. Sooner the better. And you would do well to destroy this note after you've read it.

~ C.B.

Please. With a smile and a shrug, I had a Darkfire Spark gobble the whole thing up in less than a second. I don't leave stuff like that laying around.

As for Vester, this was a matter of picking exactly how I wanted to do it. And this was an easy hit. Him being a fatso just meant I might have to do double dosage if I use poison, but that was easy. The toughest assassinations were usually mages. Especially necromancers, warlocks, and anything that's undead. But this guy wasn't anything even close to that.

For this one, I decided to be creative. This gave me wriggle room to experiment and wasn't one of those occasions where I'd have to play by the book or risk failure.

[FedoraChar]

Valryssa Scarlet, Dragon
Fire Guild
Skybound City, Aquamarine Ocean (Arrived) @Gaster


Skybound City was truly a marvel of magic—a civilization suspended above the Aquamarine Ocean, free from any land-bound kingdom and a nation unto itself. Its location and independence made it an ideal center for trade and travel, and certainly for the Circle’s activities. Over the ages, it became a melting pot of cultures, as evidenced by its architecture. Whatever shapes and sizes the buildings came in, most were constructed of white marble that nearly blended in with the clouds that cradled the city.

Valryssa had visited the Skybound City on a few occasions. Each time the city left her with an empty and jealous feeling. Seeing so many of the city’s winged denizens flying freely around them, enjoying the sky to its fullest, made her yearn deeply for her own wings. As she stepped through the Flames and emerged, her first action was to stop and look up at the sky, hand drifting to the stone embedded in the jewelry around her neck.

One little spell, and she could fly higher than them all.

And ruin everything she and so many others had worked for. With a sigh, Valryssa dropped her hands and stepped aside, waiting for her companions to emerge. Once Izuru and Bahram stepped out blinking in the sunlight (it was afternoon in Skybound, rather than evening), she didn’t skip a beat.

“Izuru,” she barked, turning on her heel to face them, “Are you needing any further supplies? Someone—“ she stared pointedly at Bahram, “forgot to bring proper gear for our mission. Would you mind accompanying him to the markets? Meanwhile, I will search out our ice mage guide.”

Bahram frowned, looking down at his bare apparel before looking at Izuru with confusion. “What’s wrong with what I got?”

[AWA1997]

Izuru Natsume
Fire Guild
Skybound City, Aquamarine Ocean
Affected RPers: @FedoraChar

Izuru shook her head and pointed at a bag strapped to her back. "I good, but will take Bahrim, ma'am." she said. She looked at him. "We go cold place, your clothes not warm."

[Neo Emolga]

Jysan Ryderan, Faerie
Shadow Guild
Savire Seaport, Dyrin

Normally, faeries don't care for seafaring. I couldn't say I was a fan of fishy and seawater smells either.

Vester Dulunt was an easy target to spot. Usually the ones with the biggest egos tend to go that way and always want to be the center of attention. He made his way from vendor to vendor, collecting taxes and station rentals. As I could tell, the people of Savire were really irked by it.

I decided to test out what I called Shadowblot Poison. It was my own creation, made from experimenting material both from neurotoxins and Shadow Magic in a nice, nefarious cocktail. Oh, I knew it would definitely be the end of Dulunt, but this was to experiment when. It worked slowly as opposed to instantly. I wanted his sickness to be very slow so it was impossible to trace where he contracted it and when it happened. With him going from vendor to vendor, the chances of them figuring it out were impossible. Not to mention they'd never suspect me, a faerie, to be the one to deliver the sting. For one thing, they'd have no evidence. All it would take is for me to slather a pin, which would be like a rapier to me, with the Shadowblot Poison and prick him in the jugular vein. To him, it would feel like nothing more than a bug bite, but it was much deadlier than that!

I made my move. Sure, Captain Blackwood probably would protest against the idea of me experimenting with this assassination, but this was just how I worked. I quickly flew toward Dulunt, delivered the sting, and quickly flew away before he swatted me.

With the speed a faerie could fly, we were practically invisible. Dulunt wasn't wearing any armor so it made the task easy. I quickly sped to the rooftops, just to watch from above the result.

"Damn, filthy insects," Dulunt grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck before going back to work.

I estimated in about two hours, he'd be stone-cold dead. And in those two hours, all the places he would visit would end up as investigation sites that would yield nothing. They wouldn't be able to tie the Shadowblot Poison with any of these fishermen, captains, ship crew members, or vendors. I would sure they'd either write it up as some kind of new sickness or the result of some nefarious insect.

Captain Blackwood would soon get the news. I was sure in the time between now and then, he might thing I was stalling or taking too long, hence why I was going to stay up on the roof where he wouldn't ever find me. I figured I'd head back to the tavern once I was certain Dulunt's days were over.

In the meantime, I didn't mind Captain Blackwood underestimating faeries and believing we couldn't be assassins, rogues, and dark mages. When the whole world thinks your kind isn't capable of something and you know that's untrue, the ways you can use it to your advantage are endless and so much more effective.

[VeloJello]

Lightthroat Hadran Lurel
Wind Guild (High Speaker)
Lesonia, Raya (Shadow Guild chapter meeting)
ARP’ers: @Saraibre Ryu, @Alphys

((I feel like now would be a good time to mention that the orphi have their own religion, which they still partially cleave to. I won't get into all of the details here, but suffice to say that most orphi either accept a hybrid of their own native religion and Vinathism, or profess Vinathism and practice their own religion quietly out of fear of public shame. The orphic faith ended up getting deeply corrupted, bloody, and just plain off-track before most orphi began to publicly profess Vinathism, so many people still see the orphic faith as backwards at best and dangerous at worst. For reference, Hadran falls into the "hybrid" category, though she herself isn't terribly religious anyway.))

As a politician, Hadran had a lot of experience keeping her reactions concealed; it was almost second-nature to her. Therefore, when Saryus revealed herself to be a succubus - even going so far as to openly discuss that her own Guildmates had once tried to assassinate her - none of Hadran’s surprise showed. Though that wasn’t to say that she wasn’t a bit startled. While the Wind Guild had never been the most united faction on the face of Ariel, she had never heard of anyone trying to assassinate the higher-ups. Generally, Wind Guilders took more indirect routes when it came to political enemies - discrediting, blackmailing, or bribing their opponents was irritatingly common.

For a moment, Hadran wondered just how many of the myths surrounding succubi were true. Obviously, unless Saryus was some bizarre exception, then they weren’t mindless beasts obsessed with mating with and killing every living thing that crossed their path. Though was it really true that they drew life energy from seducing and consuming others? Were they really creatures of Callum, who hated the children of Sycor and created demons to steal the souls of those who deserved to find peace in the afterlife with the orphic goddess?

The orphus had to resist the urge to shake her head. If every myth and rumor was true, then orphi would just be arrogant savages who sacrificed sapient beings to idols and killed their foes using nothing but their pointed teeth. She felt a bit ashamed for her immediate prejudice, given that she was used to working with so many different species and races in her own Guild. Until she had reason to distrust Saryus, then the succubus was no different than any other creature of magic that Hadran had ever met.

“I understand and respect your caution, Saryus," Hadran said. "Rest assured that there are no hard feelings on my part over your discretion, or your husband’s. I regret that he cannot join us at this time, but I do not begrudge his reluctance.” Having cleared the requisite niceties, Hadran clapped her hands together and looked over her Guildmates. She found herself stifling a sigh of relief. Although a couple of them looked a bit aggressively stoic - like people trying to conceal reactions rather than actually doing it - none of them were reacting in horror or disgust. That sort of thing would have made a diplomatic mission like this completely backfire on her. “Shall we begin? My company and I are eager to meet your Guild members.”

[FedoraChar]

Valryssa Scarlet, Dragon
Fire Guild
Skybound City, Aquamarine Ocean @Gaster


The Ifrit scratched his head. “Well… If I get too cold, couldn’t I just do this?”

Bahram slammed his knuckles together, and instantly his bronzed skin burst into fire. Nearby denizens of Skybound City started at the sudden explosion of flames, but the easy-to-spot Fire Guild members hardly batted an eye to the human torch, used to such behavior.

Valryssa swatted her apprentice from behind the head, extinguishing his flames in a second. “Idiot! This is an undercover mission—the Guild expects us to lay low and not draw attention to ourselves.” She took a breath, trying to reign in her temper. “Besides that, maintaining open flame against severe temperatures would require a heavy amount of energy. You’d pass out before we ever made it to Tyanis.”

“Just… listen to Izuru and her broken Common, alright?” she lifted her sharp gaze to the Kitsune. “Get him something to cover his horns. The more human we look, the smoother our operation will go. I will see you eventually.”

With that, she stormed away from the Kindred Flames, seeking the identity of their ice mage guide.

Meanwhile, Bahram turned to Izuru with a smile. “Guess that’s that, then. Shall we? Er…” he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “…I don’t actually know where the market is…”

[AWA1997]

Izuru Natsume
Fire Guild
Skybound City, Aquamarine Ocean
Affected RPers: @FedoraChar

Izuru backed away slightly at the burst of flames, and waited for the little interaction to end. "I no know, but we find." she said. "Just act as you belong, okay?"

[Morzone]

GeenLeaf LongBranch, Ent
Wind Guild
Multi-Guild outpost near Ezrond, Mavi
Affected RP'ers: None

Greenleaf hummed a light tune, one to match the nice, light day he was enjoying. Or at least, he should've been enjoying. Currently he was sitting outside the window of the small guild outpost on the very edge of Ezrond. Being a ten foot tall ent didn't particularly help when you had to deal with human sized buildings.

"We need more mages! We Must contact the headquarters and request more!" This was Xavier, the leader of the shadow guild group. A good hearted man, but much to worried about everything.

""There isn't time! We need to be focusing on preparing the people of Mavi for War!" This is Phi, the leader of the water guild group. Greenleaf liked her, when she wasn't preparing to battle she would help him tend to the plants.

"The people of Mavi have been preparing on their own, what do you want us to do?" This one was James, a Light mage. He was the kind of guy who always had a serious look on his face, no matter what was going on.

"Mavi is, or was, a peaceful kingdom! They don't have the forces nor the skill to stave off an invasion right now!" This was Phi again.

"Which is exactly why we need more support from the guild headquarters! We can fill in where Mavi lacks!" Xavier again.

Greenleaf sighed. This sort of debate had been going on for days now. The small guild outpost on Ezrond only had about 20 mages total, and they already had members from all five guilds there. They'd been trying to find a feasible plan for defending Mavi, but it had only resulted in endless argument so far. At this point his mind started to wander, toward more peaceful subjects. Like all the birds he'd been meeting ever since he came to Ezrond. There were some really nice Yellow and green ones that sang very beautifully he'd sen the day before. Perhaps Deeproot could-

"LongBranch! Pay attention!"

Greenleaf opened his eyes in surprise, once the arguments started he generally wasn't noticed. The person who'd called out to him, an Elf by the name of Gianus, was the leader of the fire guild's group. Not someone Greenleaf particularly liked.

"You were told to report your work on persuading the ents to join our cause." Gianus demanded.

Greenleaf let out a Ho-Hum and said slowly, "The ents of Windsong forest are very proud. They will not join your cause, you are much to hasty and dangerous for them. However... They are a proud folk indeed, they will defend their forest mightily. They do not care for the troubles outside their woods, So they only wish to protect their homes, even if all the cities in Mavi burned down to nothing but rubble for bugs to live in."

Gianus was not pleased. "Ent! You are the only one I know of from your race that has joined the guild's cause. But if I had my home, family, and friends destroyed, I would put in more a little more effort than what you've given us so far."

Greenleaf let out another Ho-Hum. "Hmm,that is because you are too hasty and don't understand the workings of things. You cannot rush an Ent. The northern boundary of Mavi is safe as long as there are water mages willing to help counter the FIRE used against my people. I myself am planning to help protect This city. Is that not enough for now, Gianus?"

Gianus opened his mouth to retort but was cut across by Jenny, a Dryad and the wind guild leader. "Gianus, it is not your to demand things from members of my guild. Please keep your tongue in check." She turned to Greenleaf, "You've done well to incite the native Ents against the present danger, Greenleaf, but I have a different mission for you than staying here. We do need more people, so I am sending you out to find certain mages and convince them to position themselves in Mavi. Can you do that?"

"Ho... Yes I think I can." he replied in a thoughtful tone.

"Good, come see me later for a list of the mages and where I believe they are now. You are dismissed."

Greenleaf stood up, the window quickly becoming too low to see through. The Ent moved off away from the low building toward the shore. He knew he was going to have to go back into Dyrin. The idea worried him. There was only so much a single person, even a seven and a half centuries old ent like himself, could do. Especially in a place like Dyrin.

[Noblejanobii]

Delbin Kawa, Encantado
Water Guild
Flying over Dyrin
Affected RPers: @Gaster

Delbin frowned, his brow furrowing in thought as he tried to recall how long it would take them to arrive at their destination.

"Well, I didn't exactly account for us flying, so I actually thought it would take us a week? Since that's how long it usually takes by horseback. But… how much faster than a horse are you going? I can figure it out from there."

Rima Omarah
Shadow Guild
Lesonia, Raya (Shadow Guild Chapter Meeting)
Affected RPers: @Velocity, @Saraibre Ryu

Lady Saryus seemed pleased with Hadran's response. She nodded and gave a smile, displaying her sharp fangs before turning to the crowd nearby. She snapped her fingers and a tall woman with brown hair, dressed in all black with most of her face concealed, stepped out of the crowd. In her arms were several items, including parchments, maps, and other articles of the sort. Saryus drew one of the scrolls and dismissed the woman back to the crowd. Saryus opened the scroll and used two weight to keep it open so that Hadran might be able to view it as well.

"I am unsure how much you know about Shadow Guild meetings, High Speaker Lurel, so I will preface with the fact that we usually have representatives from all or many of the branches of the guild present. However, with recent events, only a small number of the branches are here today. The crowd you see here are regarded as some of the most capable members from their respective branches. Given our time is limited and we have goals to achieve, I find it would be best if I just introduced a few." Saryus gestured to the scroll. "But if you truly wish to know them all, all the members in attendance today and more are listed here." Saryus turned to the crowd again and barked something in another language. Three women stepped forward, including the one who has delivered the scroll before.

"These are the three most trusted members of my part of this branch, all female to lower the distraction factors, of course. The first member is Ekō Clava, a Popobawa. She is most well known in the guild for her superior instincts at night, given her species is nocturnal, and her extreme stealth abilities. She was one of the first members of my branch of the guild and I would trust her with my life if I had to." Ekō turned to High Speaker Lurel and bowed. She stood barely at five feet with jet black hair with bright violet eyes. Her skin was extremely pale and her upper fangs stuck out past her lips. Overall she seemed to have a very child-like face, but given her species were shapeshifters, it was possible that this appearance was purposeful. Like Saryus, Ekō was wearing a black cloak. Underneath it appeared she was wearing a purple dress, just barely touching the floor, leaving her feet hidden.

"The second member is Raven Sincock, a human assassin trained from a very young age in the arts of thievery and clean kills. She prefers her own skills over magic, as is common to her kind." Raven, the woman who was holding all the supplies, glanced over at Saryus and raised her eyebrows at the succubus. "What? It's the truth." Raven rolled her eyes and snorted but otherwise made no indication of protest. "As you can see, she isn't one for more formal regards, and I probably have aided in this given I have never stopped her from addressing me informally. But given we knew each other long before I was the leader of this branch, I saw no reason to suddenly change that. Nevertheless, she gets the job done exactly how you tell her to do it, and can adapt to virtually any situation. She's, in a word, resourceful." Raven, unable to bow as Ekō did due to the load in her hands, slid her leg behind her and made a curtesy motion. Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that trailed down to her shoulder blades. Everything from her nose down was covered in black, presumably a body suit of sorts. It was skin tight and given how all of Raven's movements were soundless, it had to be made of some special material. The muscles on her body were evident, but weren't so big that they didn't seem to fit on her body. Most evident of all though, were her striking brown eyes that seemed to follow Hadran's every movement.

"Lastly, we have Lancelot. Lancelot is a Kagezill, a subspecies of shadow demons that have their own will, rather than being completely consumed by the darkness they manipulate. At least, most of the time. Lancelot is very reliable but her-"

"Mouth and emotions often lead me into worse situations than my demonic nature would. Yes?" Saryus gave Lancelot an annoyed look but didn't hesitate to pick up where the Kagezill left off.

"Indeed. Other than being a little outspoken and feeling rather than thinking, she's a reliable fighter than can manipulate the shadows better than anyone else. It would be wise not to cross her, since then all darkness would be your enemy." Lancelot turned to the Wind Guild group and made a somewhat mocking bow, which earned a set of glares from Ekō and Raven. Lancelot took note but didn't really seem to care. She grinned to the group, displaying her set of two barbed fangs on each side of her mouth. Her eyes were a bright almost reptilian gold and her skin was a pale white in color. Lancelot's hair was a dark brown, almost black in color, currently cut very short, no longer than the base of her neck. Her body was small and lean, but its structure and her stance indicated Lancelot knew she could overpower or out run any threat that would face her. She was dressed very similarly to Raven, except everything from the neck up was uncovered, and the suit's color was more gray than black.

Saryus waved her hand and the three stepped back into the crowd. "We also have two members from the Grim's Reach branch." With that, a young man and woman stepped from the crowd. They were wearing matching clothes, the man in a black and pink suit with a tailcoat and tall top hat and a black cane with a clear crystal on top. The woman was in a black and pink dress that draped to the floor, appearing to be made of a silk material. She also had a talk top hat, but she held a black fan in her hands rather than a cane. Both had markings on their cheeks, the man a pink spade and a black diamond while the woman had a black heart and a pink clover. The man was roughly 5'6 with pale white skin and tortured brown eyes. He has short cut auburn hair and a wicked smile that could almost be attributed to that of a serial killer. The woman was roughly 5'1, her skin bright and flushed with life, and her eyes were a warm brown in contrast to the man's. Her hair was slightly curly, the dark brown locks tumbling down to just past her mid-back. Her smile was soft and sweet, like that of a doll's.

"You may or may not recognize them, their names are Brent Hughes and Amy Risa, but they are better known by their stage names, Madder and Maiden." Madder and Maiden smiled at their announcement, the two being very famous magicians in Dyrin. Their illusions were regarded as some of the best ever displayed in such acts. What wasn't well known is the two were also members of the Shadow Guild. "Beyond their exceptional use of illusionary magic, the two are also blood witches." Blood witches were a rare and somewhat feared species of the witch family that were able to control the actions of others by using the blood that flowed through their veins to control their muscles and actions. Depending on how skilled the blood witch was, the easier and more widespread their control could be, both in quantity and in species.

Madder walked up to Hadran and bowed.

"Good day, High Speaker, a pleasure to meet you. I hope you are able to attend one of our performances one day, if you have not already." Madder took Hadran's hand and kissed it before receiving a smack in the back of his head. Madder released Hadran's hand and glared at Maiden, who was standing behind him with her arms crossed. "What was that for?"

"You know exactly why!" Maiden replied with a glint of jealousy in her eyes. Madder growled and shouted at her in another language that sounded similar to the one they were currently speaking, except the vowels seemed to slur together and they put a particular emphasis on their hard "k" sounds. Maiden responded back very calmly with something that made Madder's face go bright red. He glanced bashfully back at Hadran.

"Please excuse me, High Speaker." Without another word, he returned to Maiden's side. Saryus sighed and shook her head.

"You can see their leader is not too strict with them," she commented before dismissing the two. The two magicians, rather than just merely walking back to the crowd, simply vanished, but given some of the startled shouts from the crowd, it could be presumed they had reappeared somewhere else.

Rima felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she shifted her attention away from the High Speaker to the main event. She could tell that her branch was most likely going to be called next or within the next few summonings. She wasn't surprised when this theory proved correct.

"Next, the Goldsand City branch. Their branch probably sent the most members but the main three to represent would have to be Rima Omarah, Kilyni Obesto, and Kisu Fortune Feather." Rima had to admit, being called as one of the main members for her branch was unusual. Given how new she was, it seemed unlikely. Nevertheless, someone had seen her as worthy enough to list, so she traveled to the front alongside Kilyni and Fortune Feather. Once all three were standing at the front, Saryus introduced them.

"First we have Rima Omarah, a sheikah from one of the tribes near the Fay Oasis. I've only heard good things about her skills when it comes to stealth and despite being very new to the guild, her skills are growing at quite the accelerated rate." Rima stepped forward at her introduction and bowed for the High Speaker, looking over the Wind Guild members briefly before returning to her spot. "Second, we have Kilyni Obesto the Dunmer. Raised in Goldsand City, her knowledge of both its geography and people have aided in the branch's effectiveness." Kilyni stepped forward and executed a perfect curtesy before stepping back in line. "Lastly, Kisu Fortune Feather the Tengu. Fortune Feather is one of the strongest members of the Goldsand branch. He was one of the first members to the branch and, while he is not officially a leader, is regarded as one due to his immense power and commanding demeanor." Fortune Feather stepped forward and bowed, his black feathers glowing in the light. He stretched his wings just slightly as he returned to the group's side. The three were then dismissed.

The next branch members to step forward originated from the Coralay branch. It was another trio, a gargoyle, a dualahan, and what appeared to be a regular man with glowing jade eyes. The gargoyle was made completely out of stone, the ground shaking somewhat as he walked. Just as the rumors often said, the gargoyle was excruciatingly ugly, with the face and fangs of a boar, the horns of a ram, and the claws of a lion. The dullahan seemed to be missing her mount currently, but the horse had to be close or else it could kill the dullahan. She stood tall, almost seven feet, long flowing black hair trailing from her head, tucked safely under her arm. The body was clad in a shining silver armor, like that of a mythical knight. The head had a slight smile on its face, her blue eyes just barely open. Finally came the young man with eyes of glowing jade. He was in a tailored suit with short business cut white hair. He was twirling a rose between his fingers in his right hand, a sly smirk on his face.

"Introducing Goliath the gargoyle, Aife the dullahan, and Crow the Phantasmic Parasite." The three all bowed in unison. "Despite looking quite bulky and slow, Goliath is great for blending in on missions, often doing recon and scouting for his branch. Aife is an expert interrogationist, using her intimidating appearance to her advantage. Lastly, Crow is an undercover man. Having died long ago, Crow cannot actually be killed as long as his touchstone is in place at his branch of the guild. His species allows him to possess others or create a temporary body of his own. Might I inquire which it is today?" Crow smirked and sniffed his rose.

"I'm projecting my appearance today. Other than the white hair and glowing eyes, this is exactly what I looked like the night I died," he answered simply. With that, the three were dismissed. Saryus then signaled the final branch present, of which only one member stepped forward. The crowd parted to let him through, revealing a large white tiger with glowing gold stripes.

"This is Chiying the Byakko Demon, leader of the Diantaga branch." Chiying bowed as best as he could. His tail shifted back and forth as he stood in silence. "Chiying is one of the most powerful demons in this world, though most are not even aware of his existence. Currently though, his powers are somewhat limited due to a seal placed on him just a few months ago." Chiying growled a little at the mention of the seal.

"Thank you for the introduction, Saryus. And thank you for attending, High Speaker. I greatly appreciate your consideration in joining us this meeting, all of us do." The Byakko demon walked over next to Saryus's side. "Shall we proceed then? Do you wish to have introductions on your side as well or should we proceed with our regular order of things?"

[AWA1997]

((So many references I understand in your post, Jan!))

Jason Richardson
Shadow Guild
Flying over Dyrin
Affected RPers: @Alphys

"If it is normally a week by horse, then we should be there in about three or four days." Jason said. "I can fly at roughly twice the speed of a horse, a little less than that if I'm going at a semi leisurely pace such as I am now, so possibly five days, but no more unless we have any sort of unexpected delay."