Glendon Maro's Story

Glendon entered the bar weary from his travel. It only cost him drying up the majority of his well of magic in order to get here in a timely manner. He finally felt it was time though to start his group, The Valhalla Alliance. For him it was something that had spanned hundreds of years and many of them training himself and reading over various texts. This alliance would be of all beings wishing to end Dragons the same ones that burned the woodlands his people had lived in and left him with these scars.

Glendon continued into the bar with his uneasy legs as he slumped down in a chair. This was the place he was told about on his travels as a hub for many. This would be the perfect place to find other like minded individuals or those seeking glory and fortune. It didn't matter to him as long as this race was hunted. He pulled the metal flask from his belt the tang of metal and rum hitting his mouth as he sat there his features obscured by the hood.

Valsaan wandered into the bar his face set into a scowl, the thrulls bumbled in behind him trying to stay as close to each other as possible. Valsaan slings his staff over his back and wanders over a seat, he sits down and stares at his feet for a second before scanning the room. He takes in the other patrons for a moment, looking for anyone who might be offering a job. He then begins checking over is equipment, look for rust or tears on his armor and cloak. Eventually he tosses a miscellaneous bit of meet from a pocket and leaves the thrulls to squabble over it and goes back to surveying the room.

Ashe (otherwise known as Asheking) was already seated in the frivolous array of noise and banter. The large blade that leaned on the table emanated with an aura of brutality and utter fierceness of having fought in over 100 battles. The choice of table was remote, far away from the crowd of tiny parties, each pouring out their stories of the day from their mouths mixed with the smell of beer and smoke followed by loud guffaws and drunken laughter. Ashe simply stared, hardly amused.

He'd come to the Gambit for one reason and one reason only, and that was for another job. He'd just finished securing some poor fool's daughter who'd been kidnapped and ravaged by bandits not far from his current location, of who's reward was some food and a handful of change. Ashe however didn't eat, nor did he require money and left the tiny pouch of coins in the saddle of the mule that belonged to the father - the slim loaf of bread he tossed aside for the gulls.

He'd heard of a man who was recruiting soldiers to fight the dragons, of which Ashe had heard of but never seen for himself. He jumped and took the opportunity as a chance to reveal yet another worthy enemy to erect his blade towards. He looked around, the darkness within his armor coursing, trying to spot the man he came to see among the crowd.

Glendon a bit more refreshed now his magical well being filled after his small respite with the alcohol in his flask found the strength to stand now. He stood not the tallest of figures or possibly the strongest but his mind was what truly made him deadly. Now that the mage was standing he cleared his throat his magic touching upon his vocal folds, it was time to announce to the bar what he had been looking for.

"People of Terra and those perhaps here on other terms, I have a proposition for you. I, Glendon Maro, am in search of worthy adventurers, fighters, technicians and all of a worthy trade to join The Valhalla Alliance. This group's purpose is nothing for the faint of heart for we shall be hunting down the monsters that tower over cities and claim the skies as there own. It is true we shall be the ones to hunt down the fell dragons that still live on this planet. This brings me here in hopes of receiving help and with it you will be paid of course. But know that we do not walk down an easy path." His voice commanding through the whole speech left off on the final word. The bar had grown silent when he began talking. At the end most of the patrons seemed not to care going back to their drinks.

A few of the patrons even took the liberty of throwing empty mugs or half eaten meals at the mage. Glendon slumped down once more back at the table a bit. He was discouraged at the kind of reception he was given, from what he had heard Gambit's was a good place to recruit not some filthy hobble of commoners. He sighed as he pulled out the flask taking a heavy drink from it.

Swaying to and fro in a slow, rhythmic pattern, Misriah's eyes fluttered. Mind sank deeper and deeper into the trance which she had placed herself in, losing touch with the surroundings. Drops of mineral-laced water crawled down her face, stream sustained by the drops descending from the ceiling. Hair clinging to her scalp, her head whipped forward as the effect of the silent incantation struck her, dispelling her to a different place.

Opening her eyes, Misriah saw she was in some sort of bar. A strange place that Idizen had decided to send her. Or perhaps she had chosen it herself. Or perhaps neither of those two options. Shrugging, she sat down, taking immediate notice of an armored man, a necromancer, and another man drinking from a flask. He stood up to announce something, yet her mind wandered, distracted from the current purpose. Sighing, she stood up and walked over to him.

Vaguely recalling something about monsters in his words, she considered the option. Monsters. That might certainly fulfill her desires. Ending up in front of him, she said, "I could not help but hear that you desired aid. I could offer some, should you so desire."

Ashe took in the words of the mage, his speech falling in tandem to what he been particularly in search of, that is, the next battle. Purebred as a warrior for life Ashe's soul had been chiseled in to a weapon of war, he was more than ready to answer the call to arms. Though he ceased to be flesh, the remnants of countless battles won and loss flowed throughout his entire being.

At the end of the mage's oration, Ashe picked himself up and reattached his broadsword to the strap on his back and proceeded to greet him. Silently passing like a wind through a forest, the knight slithered through the tables and met Glendon face to face. Normally, a former knight of Ashe's stature would question the honor of a man who was seeking soldiers for his own aspirations. However, with the transformation of his life as a former member of an honorable order of knights to now a ghostly specter traveling in a husk of armor leaving expressions of fear in his wake, there was no telling if he who could not even recall his past life could recall what it meant to have honor.

There was no question about it. Whether the mage was benevolent or not, Ashe would proceed to serve him as he did many others now long and forgotten. In keeping in touch with certain aesthetic faculties of knighthood, he swooped down to place one knee on the ground and slowly bowed his head.

"Greetings, sir," he said, his voice echoing hollowly through the crannies of his armor as if he were in a cavern, "I am Asheking, formerly of the Praetorien Guard. I humbly seek to employed as your soldier. If you will have me, I shall serve thee with utmost loyalty and obedience."

Sitting off askew from the major gathering of Bar patrons, Kat kept her eyes fixated on the happenings around her, in particular, her eyes watched Asheking and the Mage he was speaking too.

Her face betrayed no emotion, rather she maintained a rather emotionless stare as she listened in on their conversation.

His proposition in particular perturbed her, as it was Kat's utmost goal to protect the Empire from all those who would do it harm.

Kat in particular didn't appear too assuming, the strawberry blonde was wearing the typical dress of the Agency, a neatly pressed black blazer and slacks, worn over a white shirt and black tie. The look was complete with a pair of angular shaped sunglasses, which were clipped to her outer jacket pocket.

As she watched the group, she would inevitably find herself pulling her cell phone out, a Tech Con Lumix i70, a staple cell phone brand with LDA Agents. She used it to record audio, while tapping out a text message.

'We have a situation'

The Message was sent and Kat laid her phone face down on the table, while her piercing green eyes continued to watch the group. Slowly she brought her glass to her lips, and took a sip.

Walking into Gambit's Bar, Aurora's Inu form standing out from the crowd, coal black wolf ears and tail with her icy blue eyes. She sat at the bar and ordered some wine.

Hearing the mages speech Valsaan considered his options, his coin was running low and he'd found little employment for a necromancer in the neighboring towns. Dragon hunting was hardly a cushy line of work but a good necromancer could accomplish much, besides the variety of warriors approaching Glendon meant he'd hardly be operating alone.

Valsaan rose to his feet and readjusted his staff, he then whistled to the thrull to fall into step behind him and he began to make his way across the bar, being careful to give any rowdy or otherwise dangerous looking patrons a wide berth as he moved towards Glendon. When he reached him he raised his hand in a gesture of greeting.

"Sir if you are looking for men to join your fine company may I offer my services? I'm a necromancer by trade and while you may find such magics unsavory I've often found that the dead provide the best means to defeat the living. I'm not well versed in combat spells but I can make thrulls and raise warriors so we'll have little shortage of unpaid help. What say you to my employment?"

The magic had left Glendon's vocal folds as he was slightly slumped in his chair. He was partially stuck in his drink when he was set upon by one looking to work for him. A female dark elf standing a bit taller then he would be if he stood. So it seemed not everyone in the bar was some slouch of the city looking to only live in their comfort. Glen pondered another moment looking at the woman before dropping the flask back into it's case.

"I do but I do have a few current stipulations that could tie up things a bit lass. The pay won't be much at first, I've ran into problems receiving funding from just about anyone. I will pay out of my pocket for all aid we require and do what I can with my magic to fix any injuries. I'll even throw in the back pay once we do finally hit base." Glen's words held a bit of a tone that scared him thinking the majority of people looking to join him were in it for the coin and not for the honor of the job.

He looked down again from the woman's eyes at the ground as another figure approached him. This time a knight or what seemed to be a knight. He could not see anything made of flesh within the armor just a dark aura that emanated from it. Not strictly evil but at the same time not entirely good. Glendon's hair rose a bit on his neck a chill going down his spine but he did not let the emotion betray the features of his face. When the knight knelt before him he was a bit taken aback. His face flustered a tad as he looked at the clearly formidable shell before him, kneeling to such a smaller man.

"Please no need to treat me as such. I may not know of your people's legacy but if you wish to join The Valhalla Alliance we will all be seen as equals. I don't tend to think of myself too highly as some god like figure. I may have out lived most mortals with magic but I can die like any man. Now please both of you take a seat we're all equals in my eyes." Glendon's voice a happier tone with a bit of unease.

Then a third figure came up to the table a necromancer by the feel of his aura and he presented himself as such. He also seemed to already have thralls made.

"If you'll join us I will gladly take you. Just a reminder that the pay is going to be a bit short here in the beginning but I will provide full medical benefits coming from me. I never went to college or an academy for any of my doctorates. But I am an A rate physician and combat mage. Please come join us here so we can discuss things and get to know each other better." Glen waved at the empty chairs that still sat around the table. he was not the least but perturbed by the necromancer.

Kat Continued to watch what to her was the assembling of some magical organization. She watched Glendon specifically now, only taking brief breaks from watching and listening to cast her gaze down onto her phone.

"Gather intel, then we'll determine how to proceed, organizations like these crop up all the time, they're usually no threat to the Empire."

Her phone buzzed and she read the text message, and then she frowned.

"Acknowledged." She thumbed back.

Sliding her phone into her pocket, she stood up from her chair. Grabbing her drink she started over towards the table where everyone was gathering. Her footsteps were heavy yet precise

She made a face at the different magical beings surrounding her. personally Kat, like many of her people detested magic in all forms, but she swallowed her disgust as she took in a breath to speak.

"Couldn't help but hear your forming some kind of organization, I'd like to offer my services." She said with a smile, smoothing down her black blazer.

"I'm a very.. skilled individual."

Misriah observed the other individuals which approached the wizard, curious as to their purpose her and their means of travel. This...bar, seemed to be a communal location which all could access, as indicated by the surplus variety of technological levels and appearances. Some were recognizable, wearing clothing and armor similar to that which one would find in the land of Aelora, while others donned attire which she could not make sense of, glowing lines of light running across plates of iridescent metal, whirring noises or small hisses of gas coming from a few. What were they?

They are not of your world, my dear. Some of these represent the vestiges of civilizations as ancient as the stars, others younger. Content yourself for now with knowing that they are beyond you in some ways.

Misriah nodded as the voice of Iziden flowed through her head. In some matters she had learned not to question him, for his knowledge was much vaster than her own. Many a time had he saved her from such perils. Returning to her examination of the others, she assessed each.

The first of the two to approach the mage in front of her was a heavily armored man, bearing a broadsword on his back. Darkness filled the visor, concealing any features which might lie underneath. He, or it, exuded a dark aura, yet did not appear to bear any malice in that field. A most strange combination. An undead knight? Her suspicions advanced themselves slightly as he knelt.

Next to come forward was a seeming necromancer, judging by the creature which stepped behind him. Misriah did not particularly care for the undead, in fact she despised many of them, but a necromancer who could control his constructs efficiently was an ally to be desired, no matter personal compunctions.

Nodding at Glendon, she pulled out one of the chairs at the table, a sturdy wooden construct that showed signs of heavy use, gleaming dully from faded polish. Settling into the furniture, she leaned back and looked over as a woman strode over to the table, fair-haired with green eyes. Standing there, she offered her own services, smoothing her clothing as she said so. Misriah considered the human. Strange. Certainly nothing like the others at the table. With nothing to say at the moment as matters continued to be arrange, she sat unspeaking, observing the others.

"Norrington, I will be back in a minute. You hold the coin and examine it, and when I return I will ask you what I just asked you." The Deminaught spoke to Norrington before tapping on the table twice with his right hands knuckles.

The Deminaught had noticed a frequency being used in the room. His equipment was full of data and always recording anything it could. What it had caught was a phone conversation. Instead of playing a voice, it would stream the words across the screen in the corner, allowing only the Deminaught to see. He would tap one of the stone corners and the screen would disappear and turn back into a square that he tucked in his coat.

The Deminaught would turn around and leave his booth, taking notice of everyone around. His military background had taught him to read faces and understand the energy emitted by emotions in the mental plane. Immediately he would take notice to a female moving towards the group giving a hints of dislike towards them as she approached.

As he reached the group, he heard mumble about low pay and such for the quest they would pursue. The Deminaught would walk up, taking place next to the woman who had walked up last. He only gave two inches between their arms, all while starring forward at Glendon.

"I'll make you an offer, since I hear you need funds. If you will serve as the Valhalla Alliance under the Demiarch Empire, I will make sure you are well taken care of economically. You can pursue on your quest as you please, but should you accept, we will be there with our force to make sure you can successfully complete your quest. It's not much, we take care of you, support you, reinforce you, and all you have to do is accept place in the Demiarch Empire." The Deminaught spoke.

He would then reach into a pocket and pull out a pouch. He would pull out a few stone like coins. These stones would be considered precious stones in this realm. They seemed to have either a transparent blue color or transparent red color, as if blue and red diamond coins. Upon eyesight anyone would know they are valuable. He would drop them on the table in the midst of the group, flaunting their beauty in the eyes of the beings there.

The stone soldier would keep his mouth shut even though he knew what the woman was up to. At this point, he was just trying to give her something to relay back to her superiors so his tech could place a full tag on her phone and trace it to where it was calling.

"So what do you say? It's a pretty good deal. The Demiarch Empire would be glad to sponsor you on your quest. You know what your quest could lead to and some extra help might come in handy. We won't interfere unless we find your lives to be in danger. So take my offer and ensure that you succeed, all of you. In the end, the Demiarch Empire will give you land and a place to call home whenever you decide you have done what you needed to." The Deminaught finished his attempt to convince them to join under the Demiarch Empire.

The air around the infamous Vale of Ayabal would feel strange; as though tainted to it's core by the inescapable, inevitable void as he made his way into the bar with a slight smile on his face. The bar certainly seemed the perfect place to sit and relax for an hour or two, something Vale rarely got to do those days without trouble finding him. Gambit's, however, had a famously strict and effective system of security and as such the man whose name was almost synonymous with trouble could find himself relaxing without it.

"Ahh, it's nice to get away for a while, isn't it?" He asked no-one, seemingly himself, as he found one of the empty booths and immediately made himself comfortable. "Ayabal can be such a chore sometimes, after all. Though I must say that it seems even the most stubborn and dangerous of its inhabitants seem to finally be growing accustomed to me. About time, I should say. Him? Of course not, I can't please everyone. Besides, I believe he declared war on mother. A foolish thing to do, but he and his gang are likely to kill me on sight right now. Hmm? No, I did not come here to get away from them! I'm no coward, you know."

A black book was chained to his waist; old and thick, with unspeakable words written upon it's cover in the script of a long forgotten language of the void.

Valsaan moves over to one of the chairs and takes a seat, the thralls shambling into place behind him forming a half circle with one at his back and the other two at his sides, as various others come forward to talk to the mage he takes time to look them over, noting faces and equipment as if he is making a list in his head. As silence falls once more he speaks to Glendon again.

"Short on cash isn't a problem for me friend, necromancers get good at...recycling. In any case if you're desperate for a place to hold up until we start making money, my family owns a bit of land out on Terra and probably wouldn't mind housing us. Either way consider me in. Though I must add that I was not expecting such a warm welcome, necromancers aren't treated with a lot of respect in many places so I must thank you for that."

Having said all he needs to Valsaan steeples his fingers and goes back to observing those approaching Glendon and occasionally casting a glance around the bar to look at other patrons, the thralls at his side stay perfectly still, their eyes not flickering in their sockets.

Aurora heard the conversation, but paid no mind to it, sipping her lucious wine and talking to her darkness as depression filled her mind. What are you going to do with all the depression? You must take it out somehow before it gets too high.... The darkness whispered inside her head. "I probably just need to jump in a fight of some kind," she said aloud, her ears folding back, humans and other creatures staring at her strangly.

Glendon moved his head to look at the woman who spoke up on her ending at the table. He saw no magical aura not even the wisp of being around magic except for traces from the bar. His mind ran for a few seconds on the possibilities of what she could be or the type of help she was offering. He pursed his lips for a moment in hesitation before he finally decided on what he was about to say. The words were coming to form when another figured approached some stone monstrosity of a man. He began speaking seemingly invading the personal space of the woman that was beside him. His words were of funding and support in exchange for servitude, at least that was what Glendon had heard.

He watched as the diamond like coins bounced on the table. To him this was selling himself and possible guild mates into an even more dire situation then what the guild's mission was for. The mages demeanor was sour at the end of the talk and even beneath the hood of his robes his eyes let off a silver sheen that was unmistakable. The coins quickly rose suspended in there own little pockets of space. The pressure in those pockets rapidly grew to ten million times that of the atmosphere and continued to go up. The strain was evident on the sweating of the mages face, and his breathing. But the diamond coins turned into the dark gray material known as graphite. The newly changed coins hit the wooden table top chipping and leaving marks on the table as they hit. Glendons breathing grew more labored as the silver sheen went away. The stress of using such magic was evident on the fatigue of the man.

"I.... bow to no one. I doubt... any of these... good folks will either." With his breathing labored he still forced himself to stare back at the stone entity. He paused for a moment before taking a swig from the flask again.

"If you ma'am come with the same proposition you will meet equal resistance at least from me." Glendons breathing had slowed but he was able to talk without taking breaths between every few words.

He looked to the necromancer his thoughts turning to necromancers being shunned. This much was true. They took the dead and reanimated them at the cost of causing emotional and possibly physical distress in loved ones and the general populace. He waited to speak again gathering his energy once more from the feat he just took on knowing it would cost him more time to rest now.

"Bow?" Vale asked, picking his head up and looking over towards the table of adventurers. He smiled; the void-tainted mage picking himself up and swaying across the room towards the table of Glendon and his allies, where he proceeded to give each of them a look of either intense interest or disgust, with no particular pattern of preference. "Is it normal to go into random taverns and invite people to join your empire? You know, if I owned this particular area, I would get quite angry. After all, would any of you wade into another country and begin handing out leaflets?"

He shook his head, making sure that when it stopped moving it was peering straight at Demigrem Demiarch. "What makes your empire so great anyway? I bet mine's better. The City-State of Ayabal! Rife with interesting and dangerous citizens and a Queen who is sure to make you wake up from your dreams sweating and terrified of spiders!"

The door of Gambit's would burst open as a bandaged being rammed through it, coming up in a roll as the door slammed shut behind him, sealing off what looked like utter chaos outside, as if a war waged behind his particular door. He stood up, left arm missing and dripping blood until a twisting red aura formed the outline of an arm, and the bandages wrapped around in turn until it seemed solid, the blood from the floor leaped up in droplets into his open palm and he cracked his neck tiredly. Lazarus had arrived in Gambit's, Tauvyr Tavern had become far less welcoming and he had heard there was always something interesting to hunt here, and so he had come, although by the looks of it he'd stumbled into more political nonesense.

The Vampire licked his palm clean and adjusted his cargo pants, troublesome as they were, and took a stand by the growing group, the sound of jangling chains ever present around him as he moved until he took a stand by the others, his eyes flashed through several colours, scanning each individual across various views until they settled back to their original glow, he bowed low and looked to the mage who seemed to head the group. His arm moved behind him and came out with an electronic pad that fizzed into translation, eventually settling into English "I pledge to you my services of the hunt, I see upon you your intent, until this service is done, I lend you my honour." It read, staying for a few moments to be read before fading out, he purposely ignored the existence of the political intrusion and his hunt-mates, he would learn of them during the ensuing battles, and of the other, he did not wish to know, he was tired of politics getting in the way of hunting.

So the pad was put behind the ludicrous growth of wild hair that flowed down his back in a tangled black mess and his bandaged hands came back around, a flash of red as his weapon came to rest in his hand, chains jangling from the huge throwing weapon as he rest it upon the ground and allowed himself to sit back in a relaxed poise, as if meditating for the oncoming hunt. His lack of social graces and explanation were not things he cared about, his last job hadn't worked out, and he hadn't fed in awhile, talking was not an option for the Vampire.

Whatever was going through Kathryn's mind as she watched the Mage react to her words, it wasn't revealed. Her mind was closed as she pondered her thoughts, and planned her next moves.

Her eyes almost immediately went to the large stone figure in the bar, as it sauntered up towards them. Giving her such little room, she made an effort to take two steps away from the stone figure. As she took these steps, her hand went to her jacket to wrap around a concealed disruptor pistol neatly holstered just under her breast and fixed close to her abdomen. The weapon was however holstered outside a kanvium vest she had been wearing under the white blouse.

Her green orbs narrowed slightly as the weapon was freed from it's holster, but it had not cleared her jacket yet. When his equipment intercepted the signal, Kat's phone vibrated seven short times indicating the signal was compromised. Almost automatically the phone switched frequencies, and the Deminaught was locked out of the phone's systems, and it's data was hashed to where only proprietary ciphers held by the LDA could decrypt.

Kat offered a smile before she turned to one of the Waiters, whom offered a subtle nod back. There was a nonverbal cue as he approached the group, drinks in hand.

"Can i get you anything?" He asked the group. "More Ale?"

While Glendon was focused on turning the coins into Graphite, Kat had her eyes on the Waiter.

"Frank, I need a Noah's boy in a blanket, two hen fruit wrecked on a shingle with a mystery in the alley, a warm Eve with a mouldy lid, and two checkerboards, alright? Oh yeah, hold the pig." Kat ordered, while the Waiter nodded.

"Coming right up!" Before he started back towards the Kitchens, and into the side alley.

Kat then brought her attention back to the stone soldier, and she made a face, her hand still in her jacket.

"Mind telling me what you're doing hacking into my phone?" She asked, before she pulled the device out and showed him the screen, red letters flashing on the phone saying "Signal compromised."

Pocketing the phone she turned back to Glendon.

"We can't have folks like this rock guy working for your organization... I don't think his intentions are in the right place, and this.. Demiarch Empire.. By the way this group of yours.. Tell me more." Kat said as she slid closer towards Glendon. "Your magic intrigues me."

"And I'm sure your Empire is just as backward and insignificant as his." Kat quipped back to Vale. "I'm not impressed." She said to both of them.