Lord Roderick Von Firth's Story

High up in the western tower of the castle of Hannifeld, Roderick Von Firth stood before the full length silver mirror. He smiled at his reflection maliciously, more to show teeth than emotion. The princess thought she had been so successful in thwarting his plans. When she appeared, she would have to face just how wrong she was. He heard the marching of steps echoing in the stairwell, alerting him to the presence of his men.

They stopped just outside the door frame. The superstitious lot believed the room to be sacred and to step into it would be a cause for judgement or some ridiculous nonsense. If they weren't going to show some balls, then he was going to make them wait.

Finally, one of the men said, "Sir, we have brought the mercenary as requested."

He turned, that smile a permanent fixture on his face. He sized up the man in front of him and was pleased. He would do well in his employ. No price was too great for this particular goal. He stood tall and placed his hands behind his back. "I'm not sure how aware you are of Arwen's actions or what they mean for Khadian, but my task for you is this, bring the Everstone shards to me. Simple as that. And I will pay you whatever you desire. Do we have a deal?"

There was a dull taste in his mouth, and his tongue felt far far larger than it had the day before. On top of that he certainly didn't remember going to sleep with a throbbing head either.... Wait a second, he didn't even remember going to sleep in the first place. With a groan he groggily opened his eyes, then instantly wished he hadn't. The early morning glare was particularly judgemental today and it certainly wasn't what he wanted to endure. It took him a moment to realise that he was actually looking into open sky instead of being in a bed, and then a further moment for him to realise he was laying in a ditch next to the door of a tavern. The tavern he rented a room at in fact. He rubbed his face and sat up before taking a look around his surroundings. Everything seemed in order, his bow and quiver were still with him so at least he knew he had probably done something stupid enough to get himself kicked out of the tavern for good. Nothing seemed broken and other than a couple of bruises he didn't feel too beat up. He chuckled as he thought about the brawl he must have gotten into in the night, must have been a fair spectacle for him to get so rudely ejected. His laughter stopped as he felt for his coin purse, then patted on the other side of his hips. Then quickly scrabbled through the dirt where he had woken up

"Fuuuuuuuuuck" Leopold sighed in exasperation. Some prick had managed to run off with his gold in the night and once more he was left pennyless. If he caught the son of a bitch that steals from a drunk man, he would ram an arrow so far up his arse they could use him as pike. It was in the midst of this casting around on the ground that he became of a pair of men standing next to him. Almost sheepishly he looked up to see two armour plated men looking down at him. "Hello there. Can I help you gents?"
"Are you Leopold Jürgen?" One of the men all but barked. It certainly did not help his hangover having to listen to this, especially so early in the morning
"I am. But whatever it was, I didn't do it. Probably... What is it I'm supposed to have done?"
"Come with us. Your services are requested." Leopold gave the pair a concerned look, looking at first one man, then the other.
"Gents, just because I'm on my knees here, doesn't mean that's the services I'm giving out." The second man, the one who had yet to talk was apparently easier to fluster than his companion.
"What are you...? No, Lord Roderick Von Firth has need of your services as a mercenary."
"Oooooooh. Well why didn't you just say that to begin with? Sometimes I wonder how you people even survive if you go charging in cocks first. Come on then, lead the way." The two clearly didn't know exactly what to make of the man but they complied anyway.

It didn't take them long for them to arrive... Somewhere. A door to be specific. With the three waiting outside Leopold began to feel like he was supposed to be intimidated or something, but to be honest he was more concerned that he was beginning to need to find a bush somewhere quick sharp. Luckily he didn't have to wait for too long after all before one of the guards called out.
"Sir, we have brought the mercenary as requested." Finally Leopold was allowed to walk in, rather glad to be free of the boring men. And almost instantly he wanted them back again. The man before him wasn't physically very intimidating. But it was that permanent grin that just creeped him out way more than he was expecting, maybe the hangover was still affecting him.
"I'm not sure how aware you are of Arwen's actions or what they mean for Khadian, but my task for you is this, bring the Everstone shards to me. Simple as that. And I will pay you whatever you desire. Do we have a deal?" Leopold simply shrugged before responding.
"Well I don't have a clue who this 'Arwen' person is, and I don't give much of a rats arse either. And I also don't care why you want these shard things, you could be getting them to shove up your own arse for all I care. First rule I have is I don't need to know your motivation, just your target. Second rule is you can't spend vague promises, I get paid a deposit upfront, I'll leave you to try to decide how much you really need these things, and I get paid by the delivery, not by the bulk sum because I learned the hard way that wild goose chases that can last years do not mean me getting any gold. And thirdly if someone offers me enough money to give them these shards instead they're the ones getting them. You only have my services for as long as you can afford them and no amount of threats or half arsed promises are gonna change that. Simple rules of a simple man if you ask me."

Roderick was very pleased with the mercenary. A man who worked for gold without any alliances was the perfect spy. Roderick nodded to one of the stronger men behind the mercenary who came forward, his torso bent in a bow, and left two sacks of royal purple velvet on the pedestal where the stone once sat. They each settled with a soft thud as the man backed away from Roderick, still bowing. The sight pleased him and he stood taller. Before long there would be a crown on his head and the bowing was something he could certainly get used to.

He cleared his throat allowing threat and power enter his tone and gestured towards the bags. "Each sack contains 5,000 gold pieces. Each are yours up front. 2,500 gold pieces will be delivered whenever possible after you send in a report. Failure to do so after two moons will result in a termination of our contract. I can't be paying a dead man now can I?

"I also expect that if you're caught by any of the other kingdom's authorities and I hear about it, our contract will be terminated. I'm sure you know how to withstand torture, but I can't have an alliance with you if they happen to pay you off. Also, an order for your arrest will be placed around Khadian so I'd think twice about allowing yourself to be caught. All I request are the shards. I don't know who else will be looking for them, but in case they have an edge that we do not, then I would like you to act as my spy."

Another man walked into the room. He didn't grovel or bow, but whispered quietly in Roderick's ear, slipped something into his hand, slapped his back once in a sign of allegiance, and walked back out of the room. He sized up the Mercenary as he passed and laughed triumphantly. The sound echoed through the stairway followed by "That stone is as good as ours, men! Did you see that brute upstairs?"

Roderick stepped towards the mercenary and said, "Leopold Jürgen, I ask again. Do we have a deal?

Leopold whistled through his teeth. 5000 gold up front? Someone was very eager to obtain he services, and with half that every time he did something as simple as report in? Hell if this did turn out to be a wild goose chase and lasted for a few years he might not have to work again for a good long time. Plenty of time to piss away that much gold, and if the deadline of two moons was anything to go by, this was certainly a long running contract. Still, he had to make sure.

Undoing one the knots of one of the coin pouches he opened it up to reveal that wonderful yellow metal sitting inside. It always amazed him how so much revolved around the little round chunks, still he wasn't complaining about it considering just how much was being placed before him. He picked one of the coins up and held it to the light, it certainly shone line gold but there was only one way to be sure. He placed half the coin in-between his molars and bit down on it. It was with some relief that he felt his teeth sink into the metal.

He had half been listening to the termination clause that the man behind him was setting, they were always the same anyway, when he became aware of someone else in the room. He turned around just to see the man leaving, eyeing him up as he left. The other man for some unknown reason decided to laugh as though he were winning a bet at a brawling ring.
"Prick." Leopold muttered under his breath before flicking the coin back with the others and resealing the pouch.

"Leopold Jürgen, I ask again. Do we have a deal?" Seemed a bit unnecessary to ask a second time as far as he was concerned.
"Obviously, how fucking stupid do you think I am if I'm gonna just say no to that much gold? But do you have any specific direction you want me to start off in? Or any clues for me to get a lead on? Or do you want me to go off in a random direction and waste your time and money, because I'm perfectly happy doing that too."

The wide grin shrunk down to a pleased smile as he murmured "Excellent". He stepped towards Leopold. "Unfortunately I do not know where the shards are or what they look like." Between them, he held a small reflective object in his palm. It was a small silver hand mirror. "Someone else does." He pressed the mirror into his hand and turned to walk to the window to look down at what would soon be his kingdom.

"To summon that person, tap on the mirror's surface. Yes, that is just a normal mirror, but trust me. There's more to the other side of that than you think. I would wait until you exit, though. Very few people know who waits on the other side and I would like to keep it that way. I look forward to working with you." His final words were meant to be dismissing and he didn't bother to turn as the figure left.

A flicker of movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned. There stood the princess in her stained gown, anger turning her features to steel. Right before her soul was to join the shards of the Everstone, the sacrifice she was meant to make the moment she began casting the spell of Release, he saw the mirror covered with a thick velvet sheet. He reacted quickly and removed the covering and, instead, her soul was trapped inside. Her body was safely downstairs being cared for as if she had fallen under some strange illness, magic preserving it until her soul is able to return. It hadn't originally been a part of his plans, but it certainly was now.

The wide grin returned in full force.

[Claw, when you get the chance please look at the forums. I have a post there about the shard that you are to find and clue on where to find it. Also, I'm going to hold off on posting as Viola until lolkatlove posts so she has a chance to react the situation before the characters interact.]

This man was nothing but creepy, decided Leopold. Despite the fact he was clearly offering a lot for these shard things it didn't really do much to improve his personality. He almost made a comment about personal space as his new employer stepped closer to him, but instead he chose to hold both his tongue and his ground. And unsurprisingly the man had no idea where to look, what to look for, or even where to begin to look. Whilst it meant he was going to be well paid for this job seeing as it was most likely the greatest of wild goose chases in history, it did mean he would actually have to work for it.

He was also just a little bit surprised by the mirror being handed to him. Apparently he was going to be working with magic now, well wasn't that just dandy? He didn't hate magic or magic users, he just didn't trust when he wasn't told exactly what they were up to. Nobody needs to press a mirror and somehow have their trousers turn into ants or something like that. He had heard witches doing that to people before, and he only owned one pair of trousers. He held the mirror up to see if there was anything wrong with it. But no, it seemed to be entirely normal, just showing his own good looking self. Presuming that this was his cue to leave he quickly picked up the bags of money and tied them to his belt before hurrying out.

So he was supposed to press this mirror somewhere where nobody could see him? If that wasn't a good way to murder someone he didn't know what was, though then again, why pay someone if you're just going to murder them straight away? He had to think for a moment where he could go without being seeing. Obviously he couldn't do it here, castles tended to have eyes everywhere, the creepy fucking things. And he didn't know the area well enough to find some hidden cave somewhere. In the end though he had no better option than returning to square one.

Or specifically in an empty stable behind square one, if square one was also a tavern that had thrown its paying patron out into the street to sleep off their drunken stupor. And his headache hadn't really improved much from then either. After checking to make sure that the stable was actually empty and the straw was mouldy- nobody puts out mouldy straw if your expecting horses any time soon. Actually nobody puts out mouldy straw anyway but that's besides the point. He pulled the mirror out again and took another moment to inspect it. It did seem to be a normal mirror.
"Ah fuck it." Leopold muttered, as he held the mirror as far away from him as possible and tapped the surface the mirror.

The princess watched and listened as the others gave their piece. She smiled at the little boy and wished she could be there to offer some comfort, though it seemed he was doing the comforting. The princess's smile was sad as she explained, "I'm.. not entirely sure how we can get the medicine to him in as quick of time as he needs it. Maybe.." Her gaze moved to the edge of the mirror where she assumed her love, Clive, stood. "Clive, do you know of an herb or anything that would help?" She looked back to Carina. "What exactly is his ailment? Also, Rowas, was it? You're forgiven. As I said. this is a lot to take in."

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Roderick Von Firth stood, glaring at the mirror. He hadn't seen the princess for hours now and silently began to wonder if she had found a way to escape. Then he shook his head, waving his hand at the air as if to dispel the thought. It was impossible to escape that realm without breaking the mirror her soul was originally trapped in. He made sure to ask the mages and scribes to confirm and they had, albeit reluctantly. The fools still held allegiance to the fallen royalty, though they'd never admit it. Not to Roderick's face. Maybe he could make an example of them...but no. He needed their minds.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned. There stood guards and a young man with pale hair and piercing blue eyes. Roderick grinned. They found the boy as instructed. He rubbed his hands together. Excellent.

"Braith!" He greeted the boy, stepping towards him and taking his wrist in his hand. The boy returned it with a nod of his head. "Good to see you, my boy. Have the guards passed on my instructions?" Braith nodded, ever the silent spy. Then he said, "Yes, my lord. And I look forward to the Everstone being whole again." He brushed some of his pale hair from his eyes. "Good. Here. Take this as well. It'll allow you to talk to Arwen." Braith smirked as he took the small, polished hand mirror. The guards had told him of the man who left under Roderick's employ, but failed to make his first report. He would make his Lord proud. Roderick didn't even have to pay him a single piece of copper to partake in such a mission. He was to receive some funds, but only as a means to stay alive. "Just tap the glass and she'll come to you. As for a shard, unfortunately, you're on your own. However, you have a stunning sixth sense for someone without magic so I'm sure you'll find another shard soon. "

Braith merely nodded and was escorted from the room. Roderick was left grinning madly once more at the mirror. He reached out with a hand and tapped on the surface, the sound echoing throughout the mirror realm. If she didn't show, he would have to punish the young princess the only way he knew how. Threatening her body. He was working on furthering his plan with the corpse like body anyway. He just needed a proper soul. "Guards" he commanded, "Bring me Dorina."

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Braith roamed the grounds beyond the castle, waiting for the sound of a snick that told him magic was nearby. The longer he traveled, the further from the castle he had to journey until he was at the Glass Lake. That's when he felt it. An unexplainable tug at his core. A shard was nearby. He walked to the calm, glassy surface of the lake and gazed into the pool of water. He could hear the humming, but beyond his light blue eyes staring back at him, he didn't see anything of consequence. Just a strange blackish stone that suddenly seemed clear in a blink and then blacke once more. Well that certainly seemed magical to Braith. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the stone. The world seemed to disappear from around him. In a blink, he was somewhere else. Somewhere dark.

He could still feel the cool surface of the stone in his hand and he smirked. Step one: complete. He held tight to the stone, hoping whatever it did would be of some use, and began to walk. Off in the distance he could hear voices. This was easier than he thought.

((sorry for tossing another character in so soon and so quickly. I need to start moving Roderick's plans forward and I need this character type. Since Claw seemed to have abandoned the rp (who played this role as Jurgan or whatever) I have instead given the task to Braith. He won't come into play until my next post though.))

Viola watched, eyelids growing heavy. She shook her head hoping to dispel her exhaustion for only a moment or two more, but it was not a success. She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand and stifled a yawn. "I'll keep watch for the night Clive offered her. She opened her mouth to object, but had very little reason to do so. Instead, she nodded and moved to her mossy bed and laid down to sleep. Almost as soon as her head rested on the moss, she was unconscious and moving through a very different realm than the one the princess currently occupied: The dream realm.

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The princess watched and listened to the others. She didn't have much else to say to the group now that everyone was calmer. Well.. there was one thing she could say. "Thank you, everyone," she said. It was soft, but the strength of her voice allowed her words to carry through the cave. "I know it wasn't easy and many of you didn't even choose to be here, but thank you." As the others lay down for sleep, she heard a knocking. It was faint and distant, but there was no mistaking who was on the other side of the surface the knock originated from. Roderick. She clenched her jaw and her hands curled into fists once more. By the end of this journey she would have nail marks permanently scared into her palm. She looked sadly at Clive and said, "He calls to me. I have to return when he does. He has my body and if I ever want to be with you again, I need it to be in one piece." She kissed her fingers and pressed them to the glass before turning and moving towards the sound.

Roderick stood before her, that terrifying mad grin etched into his features. "What do you want?" The man continued to grin. "Now, now. Is that any way to address the person in charge of your body?" She glared but bowed slightly at the waist, her arms flourishing a little. "What can I help you with Lord Von Firth?"

"That's better. I need nothing at all from you actually. I just wanted to make sure you knew who was in charge. Be on your way to wherever you are. Know that when I seek information. You're to give it to me. Otherwise I cannot promise the safety of your body."

Anger rose up in her chest and she backed from the surface. She didn't want to give the man satisfaction of watching her react to his words. As quickly as she left, she returned, knocking on the surface so Clive knew she was there.

Meanwhile, the guards had retrieved the bodacious and blonde woman that Roderick had requested: Dorina. Roderick kissed her softly on the cheek. More as a mark of ownership and not of fondness. "Dorina I have a request of you and I'm sure you would not object." The woman grinned at him, the kind that echoed his own. "My love, what did you have in mind?"

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Braith stood in the darkness of the cavern, watching his targets as they prepared to settle down for the night. The group seemed awfully big and he didn't want to add to the noise. It seemed they were taking off towards a town in the morning and he decided it was the perfect opportunity to join in the fun. He sat down and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest for the night. Tomorrow his work would being and he was going to make his master proud.

Clive nodded towards Carina in a silent you're welcome and headed back towards the center of the cave. He looked at the mirror and once again saw the beautiful face of the princess looking back at him. Even when he was back home and everything was normal he couldn't spend so much time with her. It was a sad fact that a terrible tragedy had to happen for them to spend a decent amount of time together. Clive knew with both Arwen's and his schedule and duties it would always be difficult to find time but this incident forced him to see how great it would be if they were actually together. The thought of it both scared him and made him incredibly happy, that is until he thought about the possibility of failing this quest. He shook that idea from his thoughts. He would NOT fail! Arwen suddenly had a look of confusion on her face then annoyance. She kissed her fingers and touched them to the glass as a form of goodbye and Clive did the same on the mirror opposite Arwen. He smiled to her as she left, hoping to give her courage to face the traitor Roderick. He walked over towards the front of the cave and sat near the fountain. The prince used his re-found earth power to send tiny shock waves into the ground. Each shock wave would bonce off objects and it made something like a 3D map in his head. He saw the steady breathing of everyone in the room. The only exception was the boy who was sound asleep next to his sister. His heart beat a bit differently and he could tell he was sickly. Once everyone near was accounted for he pushed further out with his powers so he could be better aware of his surroundings. He began to map outside until every rock and boulder was accounted for in his map up to as far as his powers could reach. After he finished with the outside he ventured inside the cave. It wasn't long before he felt another heart beat not too far from the group. He focused hard on that object but it seemed as if the source of the heart beat was asleep. He silently walked across the room and sat down at the very end of the cave where the light from the fire ended. Clive was no fool, He set his sword off his belt and rest it on his thigh. He held his hand on it's hilt and closed his eyes. He wouldn't sleep but it helped him focus more on controlling his power. There was one thing the prince knew for certain though, There was no way anyone could beat him when he was surrounded by rock. A couple minutes after he set himself up to protect the group, Arwen returned and tapped on the mirror. He opened his eyes and almost broke the connection. He kept it going slightly in the background, just enough to keep watch of the stranger and spoke to the princess. "There's someone else in the cave with us but they don't seem to be making a move. It might be another shard holder but just in case I'm keeping an eye out." He showed her his smile again like he always did to cheer her up before he spoke again. "What did the traitor want?" He said curiously.

Arwen had heard the edge to Clive's voice and saw the set of his jaw as he talked to the new arrival to the party. His reaction made her heart quicken and with a small tap, she disappeared into the mirrored hallway. She heard tapping in the distance and appeared quickly. Viola's face seemed to take up the entire surface of the mirror and Arwen gasped. "Too Close, Viola, move it back." Raising a dark eyebrow, Viola did as she was asked. "What's up Arwen? You seem.. panicked?" Viola asked as she lead the girls back towards camp. "Someone new joined the guys and he seems to make Clive uneasy. Please hurry back, Viola!" She cried before disappearing back down the hallway and appeared before Clive once more. He seemed to be on edge, but much calmer. They were at the medicine shop now and there seemed to be no trouble. Maybe Clive was wrong? No, there was still an edge to his demeanor even while talking to.. is that Rodney? She smiled a little. Then there was a tug at her chest, sharp enough to cause her to hiss in pain. Something was happening to her body. Something.. Not good.

Viola frowned at the empty mirror surface, wondering how, once the princess disappeared, it didn't reflect her face anymore. Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, there she was. She grimaced. She was filthy and her hair was a mess. No wonder the old man in the shop had been suspicious of them. Carina and Rowas were new enough to the adventure that they were more or less clean. There was a little dirt and mess from sleeping in a cave and traveling through a forest but it had no burns, sand, or grass stains from the adventures she and Clive had in the tower.

Rowas was quiet nearly the entire time. She prefered watching over talking. It was easier to read people that way. She silently, but gratefully accepted the throwing knives. Now she didn't feel as defenseless in case someone came up to her with weapons. She could use her fists and feet, but against a steel blade she was nothing.

As the girls returned to camp, she saw Altair, Clive, and a new person--A boy with pale skin and equally pale hair and dark eyes--come out of the cover of the trees. "Clive!" She called to him and practically ran towards him. She was happy to see him, that was obvious enough, but it wasn't because he was handsome (which he was) or she fancied him (which she didn't) he was just the most familiar and she trusted him the most out of the group. She was careful about her greeting though, she stopped just a foot away from him. If the princess and the boy had a thing (which it was obvious they did) she didn't want to get between them. "Who's the new kid?" She asked.

That's when Altair seemed to collapse. Viola hadn't paid much attention to Carina's frantic talk when it came to her brother because she was always treating the boy as if he was made of glass. She was screaming at them now and when she turned back, Altair was in his sisters arms. Not broken just... not breathing. She turned to Clive and held her hand out for the medicine. "I'll give it to him. Keep an eye out?"

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Far away in Hannivall, Lord Roderick Van Firth was up to no good, as most villains do.

This particular act of.. well evil involved the transferring of spirits. In this case, the soul of his lover to the body of the princess. If he wanted the stone then he would have to enact the next phase of his plan a little early. An heir. A magical heir. Once magic was restored, the princess's body would be inhabited and he would have a child-- or children whatever it took to get an heir who would be legitimate since his "wife" would be the princess, who he intended to marry not long after the ceremony. He wanted a big showy wedding. Not because he wanted the world to be jealous, but a big showy wedding meant witnesses. It was more believable and harder to negate if the whole kingdom had seen it. And without magic that would take time. That was fine with him. Let the princess's warriors hear her call and gather the pieces. It would be his soon anyway. Then the world would be his.

They were going to begin the ceremony soon. It involved a lot of ancient language he needed someone skilled to read, a lot of candles, and--unfortunately--a lot of blood. The marks were already being placed on the princess' "sleeping" form. It won't be long now he thought with a dark grin.