EDIT: replaced the b-word that shares a suffix with "retard" with the c-word that rhymes with "forward".
(Didn't realize it was a bad word, so sorry).
For a moment or an eternity there was absolute nothingness. In this place the insurmountable Time itself was consumed by none existence, making each sliver of a moment seem simultaneously fleeting and infinite. Even the concept of self seemed to be a barely audible whisper heard echoing through the vast Nothing. As Xhayron's senses began to awaken they worked to slowly replace the Nothing with perceptions of the world around him. His brain began to paint a picture of his surroundings as it was bombarded with a kaleidescope of information. The air rushing into his lungs brought with it the sent of wet soil, which complimented the textures clenched in his hands and pressed against his face. His tongue was overwhelmed with the taste of salt as his lips cracked open to allow deeper breaths into his lungs. The sounds teasing his ears were at first indistinguishable from one another as he grew aware of their presence. Along with senses, sentience began to escape from the Nothing and with that came panic as Xhayron suddenly became aware of his lack of awareness.
“Get up,” he told himself, pressing his hands into the ground and trying to find the strength to push himself up. Just as he made his way onto his hands and knees the sounds around him came into focus. Xhayron did not realize that his eyes were closed until this very moment. He forced his eyelids open to let in the sight of his his wet hands digging into the ground. He began trying to reconcile the image before him. The burning in his eyes and taste of salt in his lips told him that he was not simply wet, but drenched in his own sweat. He began trying to peace together events that led him to this state, but was quickly cut off by voices nearby.
“Over there, through those trees.”
“You're certain you heard another one?”
“Yes, hurry!”
Two voices, just ahead, closing in fast. Years of military training and experience quickly quelled his earlier panic replacing it with a cold calmness. Xhayron instinctively sprung to legs and spread his arms out to summon his blades, but only felt sweat in his palms. Undeterred by his failed magic, he immediately reached over his back to unsheathe his swords manually. Xhayron quickly realized that he was unable to summon his blades, because he was standing here before unknown enemies weaponless.
Xhayron's eyes narrowed into slits as he concentrated in the direction of the advancing footsteps and began to focus his magic. The air accelerated around him while his body was enveloped by pure energy. Just as the energy he was summoning began to reach its apex, Xhayron became painfully aware of just how weak he was at that very moment. Falling back to the ground, Xhayron was unable to let the pain in his body, first quieted by obliviousness and then by adrenaline, go unattended any longer. Panting like a wounded animal, he was left defenseless.
“You'll find your not strong enough to that just yet, old friend,” came a bemused reply to Xhayron's pathetic display. Xhayron looked up to see two slender and elegant looking creatures grining back at him.
“Who are you?” croaked Xhayron. He was surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was as unfamiliar to him as the rest of the world he had experienced since leaving the Nothing.
“Such details, will come to you soon enough. Some of it you will remember in seconds, some may take days. The journey here plays havoc with your mind leaving random holes in your memory. However, that which you've forgotten will come to you in time. I am Vigel and this is Kenzith,” responded the second voice, “We are your friends. We arrived here a few weeks before you did just now.”
“Take this hide to warm yourself,” barked Kenzith as he threw a fur to Xhayron, “and Vigel will help to clarify things while your sweat dries. I will stand guard near by.”
“There is some food in this sack, Xhayron. It will help you gain your strength,” said Vigel sitting next to Xhayron.
“Xhayron?”
Vigel couldn't help but let out of a laugh, “Yes. That is your name. Blame your parents, not the messenger.”
Xhayron didn't realize how famished he was until he began to devour the fruit and meat in the sack before him. “Tell me everything,” he said between bites, “I don't like this empty feeling in my head.”
“Let's begin with the basics. We are Dermornians. We come from Hindorin. Those of us here, are generals... any of this ringing bells for you yet?”
Xhayron shook his head as he continued to gorge himself.
Vigel continued with a sigh, “Years ago a great enemy attacked our lands. The enemy is relentless in their quest for complete domination. So much so that they completely decimated our lands. They left nothing behind in their wake as they surrounded us.”
“Who are they?” Xhayron piped up.
“We don't know. One day our outermost sentries on all sides reported armies approaching. Somehow they had managed to encircle us and approach undetected. The attacks came with neither demands nor warning. We were unable to learn much more from the ones that we captured. We know that they call themselves knights, but we do not know which kingom (if any) they fight for. Somehow they did seem to know our race by name.
“As the war progressed and our forces were stretched to their limits, all royals were called into active duty to lead the military. However, the Knights seemed to be endless in number. They could send a fresh wave of troops nearly as quickly as we could neutralize an attack. The onslaught has been continuing for nearly a decade.
“They were not content to simply conquer us. They wanted to completely eliminate us and anything which could sustain us. They burned our fields, killed livestock and contaminated our water, ensuring that any man woman or child who they did not slaughter would not be able to survive for very long.
“We were able to hold them off and at one point it looked as though we may actually be able to defeat them. However supplies were perilously low and despite cutting every possible corner, we were finding it impossible to provide a steady food source for ourselves and the slaves fighting along side us.”
Xhayron stopped mid-chew as his eyes glazed over. Vigel smiles faintly, noticing the change in Xhayron's expression. With that Vigel asked his friend quietly, “Staring to remember something?”
Xhayron replied with a shake of his head, “Nothing specific. Just feelings coming to the surface. Anger... sadness... betrayal.”
Vigel simply shook his head and continued, “With our supplies running low, we found it increasingly difficult to control our slaves. The less comfortable they were, the closer they moved towards their base animal persona. Eventually they were impossible to manage and turned on us with unspeakable acts of aggression.
“We found ourselves fighting two enemies at once in an impossible battle that could only lead to extinction of all those involved. Thus it was decided that those of us who could escape would come to this place and try to rebuild our society.”
“Why here?” Xhayron pressed.
“We weren't even sure if this place really existed or not. Until now, it had existed partially in legend and partially in very ancient history for us. Many generations ago, before it was deemed to be too great of a security risk, our people used their magic to explore lands far and wide. However, when our ancestors would use their magic to make their way to this place or anywhere near this place, they would suffer great loss,” Vigel pointed up towards the dimly lit night sky, “The crystal which lights this place seems to generate some sort of energy which greatly interferes with out ability to transport anywhere near it. The odds of survival through the inference are not very good. We knew that if we survived the trip here, we would not be followed.”
Kenzith walked backed towards the two with a sack in his hand, “Simion has returned from his scouting mission with a little gift for you. I've left him to stand watch,” Kenzith emptied the sack as he continued, “Here, change into these clothes and armor. They'll keep you dry and help you look like a native once you--”
“A native?” Xhayron interrupted, “There are Dermorians native to this land?”
“Yes, they even call themselves Dermorian,” Vigel picked up, “They claim to hail from a land called Dermoria.”
“Dermoria? Who in the name of Vodùl calls a land after their own species?” Xhayron quipped.
“There are more similarities than that,” Kenszith said in a low voice, “There are also Enkitefra
1 here.”
Xhayron felt his stomach turn at the word, “Enkitefra?”
“Slaves, Xhayron,” Vigel replied, “The Enkidukai are our slaves. You must remember something about the--”
Xhayron buckled, overwhelmed with nausea as images began to flash through his head. He looked up to Kenzith with anger in his tear filled eyes.
“Yep, I'd say he's definitely starting to remember something now,” Kenzith sighed.
Xhayron suddenly leapt towards Kenzith with a surprise fury, striking him in the throat. Xhayron wrapped his arms around Kenzith to throw him, but Kenzith was easily able to reverse the move and send the still weakened Xhayron to the floor. Kenzith straddled Xhayron holding him down down speaking calmly with a now horse voice, “Relax, old friend.”
“You let her die! You let them eat her alive, you coward,” Xhayron screamed still struggling under Kenzith's weight. Kenzith could simply stare in silence.
“He saved your life,” Vigel interjected, “The furbacks would have gladly made a meal out of you, just as they did with your wife and unborn child, had Kenzith not carried you off. Her last act was to throw your broken body off of that balcony. Do you really think she would have wanted Kenzith to try to save her at your expense?”
“I know it's difficult for you to do now, but try to remember that Kayleen was my sister, Xhayron,” Kenzith spoke quietly, “You are not the only one suffering her loss.”
Xhayron stopped resisting under Kenzith and slowly nodded. Kenzith released his friend, helping him up, “Alright then.”
Xharon asked with confusion, “How? How can there be Enkitefra and Dermorians here?”
“Combining the intel we've been able to gather thus far with our own knowledge of history, we are speculating that the furbacks in this land are from the same tribes as those which our people harvested the initial slaves from countless generations ago,” Vigel said, “As for the Dermorians... That is a bit more complex. After seeing so many perish through the crystal interference, many of the initial explorers did not want to risk a return trip to Hindorin. We believe that Dermoria was founded by those deserters or their decedents.”
Kenzith countered, “There is another possibility. There is an old legend which speaks of an ancient land that gave birth to our people. It is possible that Dermoria is in fact this place and our exploring ancestors were in fact trying to return to the land of our origins when they encountered the first Enkitefra.”
Vigel said with a sigh, “As difficult as it may be for us to accept, we have to be open to possibility that we and the Dermorians here may share a common ancestry rooted in Dermoria.”
“Do the slaves here seem to be docile at the moment?” Xharon asked instinctively trying to change the subject.
“The furbacks here are not slaves,” Kenzith hesitantly replied and continued before Xharon could cut him off, “They are living freely along side the other races here.”
“There is more,” Vigel continued as he began to draw in the earth with a dagger, “They live in a town called Ojaveda which lies about 4 kilometers south of the main town in this area, known as Hydlaa. Ojaveda sits in a mountain side surrounded by hills on all sides. Only one gate is open at any time. This gate is accessed by means of a narrow road here--”
Xharon cut Vigel off, “Are you describing a town or a fortress? There seem to be far too many tactical advantages here for them to be random coincidences. The furbacks have holed themselves in a fortified position away from all other species. They must be planning something...”
“Well whatever they're planning we are in a position to stop it before it starts,” Kenzith responded, “We have the ability to tame the furbacks. We can force them to be peaceful.”
“Not so fast,” Vigel interrupted, “We will have to regain our strength first. You've see how much the transportation spell has weakened us. We are in no state to tame any creature. Once we are back to our old selves, we will make ourselves known to this world.”
And so it begins...
1 Enkitefra is used by the Dermorian Lords as a derogatory pronunciation of Enkidukai.
[OOC stuff]
We've set the origins of our people to predate the Dermorian exodus from Dermoria, in order to better mesh with our different behavior from Yliakum Dermorians.
Slavery is strictly voluntary and must be agreed upon OOC.
Unless an Enki wants to be a slave outright, then they enter into slavery by fighting one of the Dermorian Lords. If they lose, then they are under the effect of the Dermorian Lord's enslavery spell. However, if they win the duel, they can free a slave.
Only Enkis can free slaves or become slaves. Why Enkis? We had to pick a race and they're furry.
Make sure the slave you want to free is willing to be freed OOC before trying to rescue them. If you win a battle and the slave doesn't want to be freed (i.e. they say IC that the spell has not been broken) then you are under the Slavery spell.
I cannot stress enough that this is strictly voluntary and will not be godmodded onto anyone. If you are a slave and get tired of being a slave let us know OOC we'll RP you out of it.
Current list of those excluded from the RP for various reasons:
[/OOC stuff]
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