The sun shines down on you, warming your skin. A pleasant breeze is blowing from the ocean on your left. Behind you, the Mithril Woods teem with things that many do not speak of. In front of you, a tall stone fortress looms. To your right, the ground dips down. At the bottom is the town of Ironville. Past it, the Iron Palace glows, marble walls reflecting the suns light into the valley.
Between you and the stone fortress that is the headquarters for the organization you now work for, a stocky man is staring at you. As you ride in, the gaurds order you to line up. Finally, he begins speaking.
His voice is deep and strong. You have been brought here because your parents were willing to accept a few thousand gold pieces in exchange for you. Now, it is my job to make sure that His Majesty gets the most out of his money.
While you are here, you will be organized into units. Units will work together to perform tasks. Each unit will have a Unit Leader, selected by me. The Unit Leader is responsible for making sure that your unit gets the job done. When the Unit fails, the Unit Leader takes the blame.
However, when a Unit does well, the Unit Leader gets the reward.
My name is General General. In the top of that tower, is the Warden. While you are working here, you must not disturb her. You are only to go near her if she or I tell you to, understood?
He continues before anyone can respond to his question.
Now, those of you that think you have what it takes to be a Unit Leader, step forward.
Karthal clenches his fists when the general mentions parents, then steps forward and glances around to see if anyone else has stepped forward.
Billy looks around like most of the other younger kids, trying to figure out what's going on. He most assuredly does not step forward.
The grass around him does begin to smoke slightly, however.
Parker steps forward, looking surprised as he does so.
Well, Ma always did say you didn't have much sense...hope you didn't just sign your death warrant, Grenzo.
Shirota steps forward confidently, belying the terror welling up inside of him. This was not the life he had envisioned for himself, but Shirota would make the best of it if he could.
Terra stood still pondering the choice before her. parents, like they even care. she thinks. her father all but ignores her, her mother...
her hand goes to her cheek, she can feel the scar still there from the last bout of "punishment"
... So, mother, this is what you sent me here for? to learn how to be a good little soldier?
Terra steps forward, I will not be your obedient little girl anymore
Sarah steps forward, grinning.
'could getting my cult be that easy ?
While General General talks Remish stands at attention. Although not a fighter, he is a big youth, attractive in build, his golden hair marred by a streak of black running through it. His face is a ruin however. The birthmark that dominates it is vaguely disturbing to look on and was instrumental in his parent's decision to sell their son. His father half suspected that he wasn't his anyways. He steps forward at the offer of command. He has always hated being told what to do. Might as well minimize the number of people giving him orders.
A few THOUSAND? Winst says in wonder, to no one in particular Heck I would have sold myself for that much. He stays back, large arms crossed across his chest, watching those who decide they want to lead. A horde of unwanted, we are. Wonder if those ones are seeking power, escape, or approval.
Silas nods to Winst. "Weren't like I had too hard a feelin about the deal before, what with how some a my stills ended up, but fer that price pa got one hell of a deal! A few thousand buys one hell of an amount a corn mash."
The pale, dark-haired boy, Zathan Jax, stands motionless. The foreign features of his face look forward, showing no reaction. There is no indication that he understands the words spoken, nor that he is confused by them. One might think him deaf, or ignorant of the common tongue.
At his feet, a large black cat lays curled as the general speaks, its eyes following the man. When others begin to step forward, the cat stands, watching them, then looking up at Zathan expectantly. When he makes no movement, the cat lies back down, continuing to eye the other children.
Randrashar steps forward, the sun glinting off of crystalline scales on his hands and arms. He says loudly in a strangely accented voice, "I shall be Unit Leader, but I look forward to what competition others may pose. All glory to the victor!"
Idiots. Or bullies. Either way, I'm looking at a bunch of tools.
Needless to say Runt does not step forward. Runt is afflicted with a condition called dwarfism. He is about three feet tall, well muscled, and wears a constant scowl.
Edit: SHE is about 3' tall, well muscled, with lank black hair roughly sheared in the shape of a helmet. She would have a pleasant looking face if not for the fact that she is so unkempt.
Damn. I feel naked without my armor and weapon. Get on with it already, pick a tool and lets get our equipment.
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Three thousand crowns?! By all the Gods, what horrors do they have in store for us that would be worth that sum... Looking up and down the line of 'recruits', Brayden takes note of several other young men who confidently step forward. For his part, he remains still.
Bold ones, those lads are. But given that we know not what is in store for us, I will not put my head on the block first. Sure, they have the chance for rewards, but they will also bear the brunt of any blame. No, I will stay quiet and do my part. Survive, that is all.
Waiting on the last PbPer. I will check back in tonight.
Shogunto was a frail young man, shy and covered by rugged clothes. His expectations for life were never great, yet it all became worse when he first had the episodes involving the mysterious outsider that takes over his body and fuses with him. As time passed he learned to control it and understand better the arcane powers which came with the "curse".
Their friendship was all that sustained the teenager from being bullied into death, and that's where he took his strength from; yet, he knew somehow a day like that would come. With his humble origins, it was actually kind of a blessing in disguise to see that his life was sold to help feed his impoverished family.
Seeing the people around him taking positions and stances, the human just tried to fade more in his corner. He moved his hands with delicacy, remembering the arcane words, but didn't cast any spells or even tried to fuse with his eidolon - instead preferring to simply pray for the best to happen to his now far away family.
So you stand still?
General General smiles wickedly at the 7 of you that stepped forward.
Well, well, well. The Warden wants you in three units. That means that four of you are going to be eliminated. Which way to do it... so many options.
Well, we might as well start with the basics. All of you that are standing forward, you are coming with me. The rest of you, follow Officer Lay Z.
Officer Lay Z walks up from the fortress that is the ARA HQ. Where do you want me to take them? he asks.
Take the ones not interested in being Unit Leaders to their quarters. Get them a nice lunch and good seats in the TC by noon.
Everyone that does not want to play as a Unit Leader, go to this link.
The other half of people will await further instruction here.
General General leads you to the back of the Fort. There is a large wooden shack. If you want to compete in The Competition, you're going to need gear. In there, we store our weapons and armor. How many of you need stuff from in there?
IF he can, karthal moves to look in the shack. Depends on what you've got.
Sarah raises her arm and starts to wave enthusiasticly "I do" 'I knew that something was missing, an occasion like this calls for warpaint'
"Hmm, normally I prefer to delegate such unseemly tasks to my allies..." Shirota says thoughtfully. "But I doubt that would be fair to my competitors. I like to see what equipment you have available sir." Shirota continues.
Remish chimes in"Well, I certainly do." he says as he steps back from the others, apparently to let them go first. As he does he gestures and in a normal non threatening tone speaks a phrase in Draconic.
He has just cast and is starting to maintain Detect Magic
The sound of unfamiliar words catches Shirota's attention.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Shirota intones, clicking his tongue and wagging his finger at Remish like a disappointed father. "Do you really expect to find anything interesting in the trainee's armory?" He asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
General General laughs. Well too bad! You don't get any yet! Off to Training Camp we go!
And with that, he walks into the forest behind the ARA, taking a small path barely wide enough for one person.
Remish just smiles at Shirota's remark and shrugs. 'Not really' he thinks. 'But it does give me an excuse to check some things out.' he concentrates on seeing if he can detect any divination magic spying on them as the the General begins his march through the woods. Soon the pace becomes too brisk for him to continue concentrating on the spell, but until then he tries to learn as much as his magic reveals.
Although somewhat confused, Shirota follows the General into the forest without complaint. "Either this "General" is yanking our chains, or this is all some kind of elaborate test... Why does everyone have code-names?" Shirota pondered. As they continued walking into the forest, Shirota tried to size up his competition. "The big blond boy is a magic-user of some kind, but I've nothing to fear from a mere wordslinger. The man who spoke first looks quite burly, he might be trouble for me. However, the enthusiastic girl is unlikely to be a threat... But what about those who didn't speak up... might they know what's going on?"
Remish detects nothing unless someone decides to divine a little bit about each other.
Parker smirks quietly. Of course they wouldn't let us have any weapons or gear. That'd make it too easy.
He follows along, keeping his head down and watching for any signs of trouble.
Karthal turns with an amused grin on his face, looking at the general for a second before following him. I should've known, they wouldn't give us weapons this early. It's not like I really needed one, anyway.
Terra just rolls her eyes. typical...
She moves as directed maintaining her silence as was drilled into her head so many times.
Randrashar chuckles and follows along with the group.
Sarah follows General, glaring at the back of his head with burning intensity, till she finds a flower on the wayside, picking it up, smelling it and then eats it.
Eventually, General General leads you to a large clearing. The majority is a wide pit. The bottom is sand covered. The edges are lined with stone seats. As General General organizes you in the center of the sand pit, the other recruits file in and take their seats.
Remish looks around. Surely this is not some sort of gladiatorial fight. he thinks. Just in case, he casts his gaze across the sandcovered pit, looking for a rock or broken remains of a weapon in case worse comes to worse.
"An arena? I guess lunch and being shown to our quarters will have to wait until after they've thinned the pack." Shirota thinks as he was brought into the arena. "Hopefully I was not sold into slavery simply to die in a pit. Although, I'm certain that possibility would have pleased my pleased my father enough to pay them to take me away rather than the other way around..."
Shirota takes a deep breath to calm his nerves, and then begins to strategize. "Without weapons the chances of my being killed are fairly low. Calling for help would give me a significant advantage, but I do not want to take the chance that my helper will slay one of my future comrades..." Shirota ponders as General General finishes organizing the competition.
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The thoughts continue to play in his head as Officer Lay Z ushers them out the door and into the woods. Where to now, I wonder...
As the company of 'enlisted men' emerges into the clearing and gets sight of the sand-filled pit, Brayden's lips part, "An arena? Are we to fight each other?" He realizes his thoughts have escaped his mouth just as the last word slides off his tongue. Damn, I will likely pay for that. He bites his lip in frustration, awaiting what may come next.
Hmm, an arena. Are we to fight each other? Karthal scowls. Figures they would test our mettle before deciding who shall be the unit leaders. As he thinks, karthal scans the arena, seeing if there is any cover, weapons, anything that could give him an advantage in combat.
Zathan is almost comforted by the site of the arena. He didn't know what to think, being given a hot meal and a choice of beverages, but this, he understands. A last meal, it would seem. So, we are to fight and die for their entertainment. At least, for some, it will be over quickly.
Terra shuffles into the arena as directed. A small crooked smile crosses her lips.
recalling the fighting pits she would sneak away to on those days she would run away to feel short stints of real freedom.
she stoops down to touch the sand. feeling the earth in her fingers. should prove interesting.
she looks around for larger rocks that would make for good weapons.
Great, we're going to pick our leaders through combat. Winst sighs as he finds a hopefully comfortable stone to watch.
"'Swatchya get goin' round vah-lun-TEARING fer authority." Silas spits the last word out.
"Are we going to watch a fight?" Billy seems genuinely confused.
Parker's heart skips a beat and he gulps in air. And there we go, Grenzo. This is why you have to stop volunteering for everything.
He desperately looks around for anything that can be used as an improvised weapon.