5 - 030: The End?

[K Man]

Romar -

There are no more blasts of light this night. The next orange amber hue to grace the horizon is that of the sun itself--the orb of life-giving light. Of course, with its coming, the Duke begins his slow thawing process. Like the former leader, Avyant stretches as well, shaking his massive neck and ruffling his feathers along the whole length. He looks to you after completing the morning grooming ritual and eating enough for five men.

By the time the Duke is thawed, it is nearly an hour after sunrise. Climbing aboard the huge eagle, Avyant leaps into the sky and gains more and more altitude until the ground is but a hazy picture far below you. Once again the rush comes, the exhilaration of flight that lasts all day.

Despite the Duke's incessant whining and picking at you, it is a little before dusk when Anvyant flaps his wings, makes a few turns to land in a desolate field. The trees, though twisted and near-dead are very familiar...something about the rolling hills and plains of wavy grass...even the deep blue sky seems like a haunting memory...

Carealal...

This is it, the site where it all happened. The once magnificent city walls overgrown with fauna, the buildings beyond them shattered, broken husks--testament to man's failure. The great library where sages of the land once came to uncover nature's greatest secrets, broken and scattered as though it was made of nothing more than dead leaves.

Every home that was destroyed, every life lost...all due to the once-man next to you. The Duke, in his usual style, comments;

"Looks a little different than when I left..."

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All Others -

Sturmguard crumples the parchment and lets it fall to the ground. He crushes beneath his boot and nods to a nearby soldier to wave the torch--we got the message. Once done, the Elves turn and leave, their spellcasters weaving magic that makes them disappear in an instant. Once gone, the great King comments.



"If it were not for Romar, we would not be facing this enemy now Yuri. What would you have me do? Scatter my people to the winds and leave them defenseless? How many times can this weapon fire? How do they aim it?"

"No, there are too many unknowns to take a chance like what you propose Yuri. Even if the army of Blackwing sits outside the city in a siege, who is to say the Elves will not just fire upon them?"

Sturmguard turns to Girud and Garor his eyes light.

"Tell me more. You think you can get to this weapon?"

[Japic]

Sharing a look with Krysta and Galdren Girud silently seeks their opinions.

"We have been to the Queen's throneroom; we have seen the city and its external defenses. But we are few against many. It is possible to vein ride inside their walls; though what resistence we would find I cannot say for sure."

"Magic they have aplenty and from what we have seen from travelling with them and again today; they do not fear to use it."

"The Knights of the Purest Star nce took up residence within the walls of Astoril. Perhaps they can offer insight and assistance to how we might accomplish an assualt if that is your wish Sire. I will do as you command, My Leige."

Sharing another look with all who visited the city of Cannon's Foot he speaks again.

"If it comes to war with Astoril; we still have a score to settle for the damage they brought to Cannon's Foot, eh?"

[VemuKhaham]

I'm going to take a little liberty in describing a few elements of the place where I lived, just to paint a picture of Romar's home the way it was before the war. If that is okay with you, then I'll leave up to you what I actually find there.

---

The moment the city, or its ruins more likely, came into sight, the impressions and emotions that came upon Romar overwhelmed him. He had seen ruined cities before, he knew what he would find before he came here, but this total destruction was too much for him to bear. The remarks of the Duke were like acid on an open wound, but he did not yet answer.

The bird landed not far from where he lived. It was but a few hundred feet from the main road, which would cross the dirt road by the old oak after heading a mile or two away from the city gate. That dirt road was his road, for his was the fifth house which it would pass while curving through the countryside like a snake. First they would come past the Hendars, then past the house of the widow woman Odella, then there would be no house for some distance except for the old barn where he and his brothers used to hide in childhood if they had pulled of some prank again. When the road bent around a small pond it would come past the windmill of the Sandels and the farm of their closest neighbors, Dirkan and Idil Gael. Their son Tor had been a good friend of his.

Then, after yet some more bends, there he would find the Belamor house, a house which had been passed on through the generations of their family, and constantly improved upon. It was but a simple one-storey farmhouse with a small barn and a fence around the yard. There was a small porch with ivy climbing up the wooden supports and the roof. There was a stable, quite an impressive one, which Romar with the help of his family had greatly enlarged once, and in it they held the family's greatest treasure: their cattle, but most importantly, their horses. Romar remembered still the day Húna was born. He was only nine back then, but between the young beast and Romar a bond grew until Húna would bear no other but Romar. Ever since, Romar was hardly ever parted from his new friend, and often they would go make rides, sometimes going off for an entire day. But those were always exceptions. He was the most loyal son to his father, and he was always there to help him run the farm.

This road Romar traveled, after saying to Avyant that he would be at that same spot as where they landed at noon tomorrow. "Get some rest, Avyant, so that tomorrow at noon we may continue our journey."

He took Duke Gramble with him, dragging him if he must. He hoped to reach his home before he would freeze again. For now he said nothing to him, still too overwhelmed by his sadness. He looked everywhere about him, checking every detail to see what still remained of his memory. As such, every once in a while, he stooped over some unrecognizable heap of bricks besides the road, picking up the bricks and putting them back again. To the Duke it may have been but heaps of rubble, but Romar knew it was the well in which Maros once foolishly fell after their race across the fields, or a part of the low stone wall running between the road and the pond from the mill to the Gaels house.

At coming at the place where once he lived, whatever it was exactly that he would find there, he fell to the ground on his knees and mourned again. Not saying a word to his companion, most likely having completely forgotten about him, he begins to inspect the place thoroughly, as if looking for something that isn't there. Everything had a memory, and he wanted to relive them all.

[K Man]

{Anyone else wanna join in on this? Romar: Excellent, take all the liberties you want.}

[GeneralMHB]

(OOC: Had some IRL stuff to take care of, haven't had enough time to post)

Yuri is a little disappointed about the king's response, but understands where he is coming from. Romar did indeed turn his back on us, but Yuri is not about to give him up just yet. Forcing the memories aside, he addresses the King.

I do not know of the magical defenses in the capitol, so I do not know if vein-riding there is a viable option. I also do not know where exactly this weapon could be. I was hoping someone else could enlighten me on this.

[BluSpecs]

"Let go talk with these knights so we can commence with the butt kicking"