Last call for Caltani [Fate|Location]

[Jace]

The world of Caltani was one of darkness. Since any could remember, it had been a constant war, an ever-growing land of blood and death. Children were born in tents upon battlefields, mothers were seen wielding swords while protecting their babies, and old men were sent to front lines rather than homes to rest.

The Empire of Rosn was the largest of the three remaining nations. It’s sole city, one spanning forty miles, rested upon the crags of a large hill. On one side surged an ocean, on the other three sides rocky foothills that made climbing treacherous. The only way in and out of the city was either by boat or by a narrow road that navigated the breaks in the jagged rocks. The largest, and highest, building in the city was the Palace, a thing crafted of gray stone, with towers and parapets seeking the heavens in their height.

On this day the Emperor rested, his body splayed onto his throne haphazardly, his robes of state cast about his body with an uncaring ease that spoke of boredom. He had given the command that morning for the remainder of his troops to march the final 20 miles to the fields of Bebl, where he would once and for all crush the Enz and Syrs’s foolish alliance. A viewing orb hung several feet from the ceiling, and within its murky confines he watched as the Shock Lancers and Battle Wurgs road towards their victory.


At that moment one of his concubines entered the vast room of his throne, her lithe body bowing to the floor as she spoke.

"Lord of the Sun and Stars, Master of All and of Everything, people have come, and seek audience with the One True."

"Have them killed."

[Skallagrim]

Skallagrim and his companions waited for word from the leader of this Rosn empire. Having arrived in the cover of smoke and darkness they had made their way to the wall and found someone to bring word to the emperor they wished to speak to him. Knowing his appearance would do much to cause distrust than anything else, the Xindhi wrapped himself in his cloak and lowered his head, dimming the brilliant energies that coursed through him. He appeared, in the shadows as nothing as much as a thin warrior and that would be the image he presented as he allowed the thrum of resonance to flow from him in softly flowing waves.

Prana wrapped and flowed through the world around him, feeding back information in the most subtle ways, through the interface and exchange of energies. Pausing as he felt the sudden increase in the body electric of those on the other side of the wall, a surge of activity that indicated a change in posture and attitude. Focusing the prana on the female he felt the sudden heart rate increase, the flood of electrons that fed synaptic message to the muscles. That charge was felt in the others, flipping his energy level up slightly into the x-ray field, Skallagrim pulsed a wave through the wall and witnessed the images of guards drawing their weapons.

Stepping back with a snarl, the cloak flipping up and over his shoulders, as the war sword Keefe is ripped from the sheath, a crackle of silver-blue energy arcing along the worn blade. The pulsating black dagger Rhiannon swirled in the inky cloud that embraced its form. A dazzling burst of amethyst energies blazed from his eye sockets, "To arms, they come with weapons drawn…they come seeking death."

Even as the ornate door swung inward, the Xindhi was moving, with a quick slice his war sword crashed against the armored body of the door guard, sending nearly 150,000 volts and 4 amps to carry along his metal armor before grounding. As the smoldering form hit the floor, Skallagrim was standing before the oncoming horde, his weapons low and blazing with energies the likes of which these Rosn warriors had never seen. The energy swirled and twisted around his skeletal visage causing the first to see him to pause and rapidly back up to the consternation of their allies behind.

'Think carefully on your next actions, for they could well be your last…"

[Script]

Alanna walked up behind Skallagrim, her hat tipped down so that the brim shadowed her eyes, and her cloak drawn about her form. She raised a gloved hand to her hat, tipping it slightly and nodding to the armed men.

"Afternoon, gentlemen." she said nonchalantly "Might I advise that you take the words of my companion to heart, for though we are but three..." she began, trailing off as she embraced the source and began to weave threads of spirit, creating the illusion that she, the Xindhi and the tigeress were growing to great heights, and projecting their voices ominously "...We are greater than you, in all your numbers."

With that, Alanna wove more threads, fire bursting from the walls behind her and her companions, swirling around their forms and lighting their already ominous forms. It was an impressive display of power, that would terrify the soldiers into quivering wrecks, like children playing at war. "What? Art thou afraid! What emperor is he that would have such feeble servants as his guard! Bring the coward to us and let him bare his own teeth, for these weaklings are less than nothing before us! Perhaps if the 'brave' lord deigns to speak with us, no more lives need be lost. What say you, Emperor of Rosn?!" she boomed, the power of Saidar projecting her voice through the entire palace, reaching the ears of the man himself as well as every one of his subjects. No leader could ignore such an open accusation of cowardice and retain the respect of his people, and this Alanna relied upon. For if she could but come face to face with him, she could weave a web of compulsion on the fool.

[Tigeress]

The sounds of heavy foot falls sounded suddenly as the warrioress lurched forward, nearly 2 feet taller than the largest armored man, her body moving like water as she followed near the woman, flames bursting behind her and her own great bladed sword held readily as she roared, combining with the scene so powerfully that it hurt her own ears... it was rare that she was affected by her own sound, and she had trouble standing, it echoed wildly in her own mind.

There was something that made them frightening now, and she could smell with her beast-like sense the smell of loosened bowels, but also she could "Sense" in much of a way that a dog senses fear, bravery, they would be most unwise to lower their guard.

Her blackened armor engraved with the signs of a great beast made her look like some frightening demon, and in a sense she was.. her own great blade was taller and more broad than whole men, and even without having to swing or move the weapon threateningly, she was a sight to behold... a woman who reeked of battle, of war, and of the joy it brought her.

[Ryand-Smith]

The black op looked around. He had been on this world since they sent him from command, and as his orders, he had masked his appearance, taking on the form of a simple fighter, though his technology would give him a nearly unnatural advantage over most of the fighters he would encounter. His mission was simple, attempt to end the wars so Trade could go on.
His blade was clear, as he fought inside the capital city, the metal taking bodies as he prepared to head into the throne room. “This is…” He said, kicking down a guard, “The goal of all… to expand… trade.. and profit!”

He had planned this out ever since the operation was intercepted, to try to sneak in first, and make trade. Then, the eternal wars drafted him into some army which he did not remember, but he would prove his worth, being promoted to a rank of captain. As per his plan, he had sneaked out, finally somehow making it to the plains of this city. “If I can intercept the king before those blasted Xindhi, I’ll be rewarded..”

The motivation was a weird combination of patriotism and greed, as he prepared to finally enter the room where he had seen the Xindi’s signatures, the energy as clear as day. What he would see, would be a genuine shock…

[Skallagrim]

Skallagrim marveled at the powers of his companions. The feline woman was a great warrior and one that gave off an aura that gave him a chill. Like the beast from which she seemingly came from, the sinewy muscles and silently padding of her feet, the look in her eyes would give many pause before acting. The other one, radiated an energy that defied his understanding, yet she affected the warriors before them in a way that froze them in fear. She was indeed a potent ally.

The energy flared from his eyes, swirling and spinning around him, dissipating slowly away, flushing the area with a thrum of energy the information that returned startled him. Focusing on the anomaly, he zeroed in on the signature. It was different, more advanced than the holon should have. The blue-silver energy amplified along his blade, the humming, and crackling intensifying and boosted by the power of Alanna.

Taking a step forward he sought to push through the frightened guards, however, as he advance, the men retreated and there was scant room to do so, forcing those in the for to scramble to retrain their feet against the wall of men behind them. Then it occurred, a single incident of fate, a moment where the balanced is altered and tipped. A crossbow man had somehow managed to get his weapon targeted on the skeletal figure, his body rigid with fear he had no intention of firing upon the giant figure before him. Yet the crowd before him jostled him and his finger squeezed the trigger. Of course had he the ability to see the threads being manipulated for such an occurrence to happen he might have been angry, instead, he was startled.

With a loud and distinct "twang" the crossbow fired, the bolt racing out towards the body of the Xindhi. Skallagrim saw the release of the string; saw the energy signature as the prana told him something had happened. Raising the dagger into position and changing it into a heater he had hoped to block the incoming missile. However, fate had intervened and the bolt by luck had avoided the inky shield and struck the Xindhi in the shoulder. The chainmail rattled as the bolt pierced the armor, striking the shoulder bone, shattering it under the impact. Dropping his warsword as he was spun around by the impact, Skallagrim roared and unleashed a burst of energy that shook the ground under him as if an earthquake were rending the land open.

Dropping to his knee, he began focusing his energy to repair the damaged bone, but it was enough. The guards, seeing this, roared and charged the three who faced them.

[Script]

Alanna cursed, this had definitely not been in the plan. She did not want to kill these people, they were innocents and intervening in their Fates would not be an act of benevolence but one of unintended malice - if the first experience the universe had of FATE was the unprovoked assault on a stronghold, it wouldn't be beneficial for their reputation. Unfortunately, the soldiers had no intention of giving her a choice in the matter. Having been near to the guards to start with, she almost immediately received an elbow in the stomach - or what the man thought would be her stomach, but rather due to the illusion of imposing size she had woven, happened to be her face. Staggering backwards, the weaves of saidar slipping from her grasp, she barely managed to jump back away from a sword thrust that would have pierced her heart otherwise.

It seemed that fighting was the only option here, it was kill or be killed. Still, as the mage wove saidar again, she called on threads of air rather than those of fire or earth, attempting to incapacitate the soldiers rather than kill them. At her command, a powerful gale burst from where she stood, catching the soldiers in its swirling winds and tossing them backwards, some impacting with the wall behind, others simply tipped off of their feet and sent tumbling to the ground below in a heap of metal and cloth.

This wind would not hold the guards for long, and Alanna could only hope that the Emperor would take her challenge to heart, and show his own face. Then, we would see what he had to say about their request. Or more accurately, what Alanna told him to say about it. Compulsion was a dark use of saidar, outlawed in many places, but any scruples that Alanna had once possessed were long since discarded to be replaced by practicality and efficiency. When one had the ultimate tool of persuasion at one's fingertips, it seemed such a waste to ignore it simply based on morals - besides, this emperor sounded like a bastard. Because that made it all alright...

[Tigeress]

The mass of blackened steel moved forward in a near blurr now, lifting the huge,jagged blade high before bringing it down heavily on a single gaurd, the sword cutting the man easily as well as dragging and tearing him with its ragged appearance. His still screaming body was on the blade as she swung again now, twisting like a spring before dealing a deadly cleave, the large blade hurling the victims body and colliding with several others, one crushed from the weight of the mighty weapon in a sickening torrent of red mist and gore. The red splattered on the womans armor and through the helm, onto her own her face and soaking her fur in the mist. She could taste it..

She could see the skeletal warriors power surge as he became wounded, and the gusts that followed nearly knocked her off her massive feet as the woman caused something of a great storm in the room, and it was perhaps only due to the massives beasts weight and the combined weight of her armor and blade that she could keep sure footed in the gusts.

Rushing wildly in these moments her blade would find many lives, and she couldn't help but to feel sadened rather than joyful, it was too easy- smack.

A large mace had struck her in the massive arm, causing it to jar but not to break. The bone was bruised and it creaked slightly as the blade rewarded the attacker with a cut that tore through the whole body, splattering the victims entrails in a shower of sparks and power.

She began to move faster and faster, in a wild blurr now, her own body unable to keep up with the physical movements and bleeding through splitting skin, blood splattering the beatiful castle floors in crimson droplets. The god-like of her physical ability came at a harsh price. Her race, her lifestyle, all meant that she would become a early grave... Still she did not unlock her abilities, keeping calm and using only what she needed fight.

She roared now, a sound so loud it made her own ear-drums creak and vibrate causing pain to swell through her head as blood splattered out of her mouth and into the back of her helmet, where she could feel it trickle down her robes that was underneath and onto her womanly breasts, a oddly feminine appearance that laid underneath the shielding.