[Rasvamaal] The Wishing Well

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The day broke across the western skies.

It wasn't much different from any other daybreak. The birds still sang as normal. The little settlement of Rasvamaal continued to grow as normal. Today they were building more trade schools. Tomorrow they would start work on the brothels.

The brothels. Iskra lay atop the roof of the largest building in "town". She had no moral compass but her lackey, and even now she was fighting with herself.

The feelings of others? It hadn't crossed her mind, but what made her a hyena and powerful as she was and them weak? Perhaps if circumstances had been slightly different, she would be weak as well?

But that didn't make any sense and it made her head hurt to think about it. And the longer her head hurt, the longer she lay there. The kami... perhaps she might see the kami again. Perhaps she might see Lethe again and ask him where the kami was.

But then she'd been confronted with these problems. Maybe it was better up here on the roof.

[ EXP: 200 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

The early morning never was a friend to Lethe. He hardly ever saw it except for thos times in the village of the moon, because someone like himself was more apt to be in bed at this hour than up and about. But this morning was different ... he couldn't help but he up. There never was anything about taking women into relative slavery that set well with Lethe, and after being a part of a raid that added a group of women as well as a raped and battered kami ... well, he didn't sleep that night. After it became increasingly apparent he wasn't going to get an ounce of shut eye, the king of the barbarians had walked throughout Rasvamaal and took in the sights. He'd have to know this area anyway, so he figured it would be useful as well as nerve calming.

As far as his leader went, her whereabouts had been unknown to him last night. He'd never waited to see if she'd left Jack's place or not, but he could feel tension before he'd left. After having attempted to apologize - and being somewhat unsuccessful at it - he couldn't help but want to see Iskra. If she had come back to Rasvamaal through the night Lethe had a hunch of where to find her.

Upon reaching the top of the building he wondered just why he'd climbed up rather than simply flying. But, his hard work had paid off since Iskra was there near the edge, where Lethe walked over to.

"Is this seat taken?"

EXP: 276
PWC: 276
Other: +1 TEXP (August 25, earned 250 exp)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra turned at the sound of her friend's voice, her spotted hair stirring in the pre-morning winds as she regarded him with a faint curiosity. She wasn't upset anymore. The world had fallen into order after her fight with Jack. Things fell under her control, and with that she no longer felt as confused. She could consider anything because she was strong, and that strength was a wisdom to her.

"Not at all, Lethe," she said evenly. Her arm shifted, as though she were retrieving something. It was a detached arm with a glove on it, and she tossed this to Lethe's feet behind her. "I had a pretty busy night. I could use someone to talk to."

Her brow knitted and a bit of concern leaked into her voice as she returned to staring out over the city. "How is... the kami doing? I know I healed her physically, but her mind..." A moment of silence. "Is it okay?"

The demon wasn't as concerned about the other spirit's well-being as she was concerned about the possible mother of her child not going completely crazy. This was not information she was obligated to share with Lethe right away.

[ EXP: 220 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Normally having a severed arm thrown at his feet would have been something that would have startled him, because there weren't many scenarios were something like that wasn't unsettling. The only thing that changed this particular situation, though, was the glove that was on the hand. It didn't take Lethe very long to put two and two together.

"I'll say." He smiled, bliss accompanying the thoughts of Jack being mauled.

"Why, thank you." Lethe calmly replied, taking a seat beside her and letting his legs dangle over the edge. It wasn't often that he took the time to climb to such an elevation and observe the setting around him. All in all it was quite beautiful. "She should be okay." he responded lowly, a small amount of regret within his voice, "It's hard to tell just how someone will respond to such trauma ... but, she's a kami. More than likely she'll have better abilities than a human would have to get passed something like that mentally. If I had to guess I'd say she'll end up okay, even if she doesn't appear to be now."

With a deep sigh, Lethe changed the subject, "Listen, about before ... I was projecting. I don't care what you do to kami ... it's just the humans. They're one of me, you know? It's kind of ingrained within me to be protective of my own, even if they're not direct kin. It pains me to see my own in pain ... "

EXP: 270
PWC: 270
OTher: +1 texp (august 25, earned 250 exp)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

"Oh, I understand," the demon began readily, as though somewhat apologetic herself. "I like that about your kind. You are loyal."

Somehow, the peace of the morning contrasted strongly with the turbulence of the previous night. It was as though she had been cleansed of all of the issues of yesterday. Here she was, at the top of a city that she could very much call hers. Down below, a few watchmen, trained in her very own territory, patrolled the streets sleepily, lighting the lamps for the last time before Paike would start her journey across the sky. In another section of the city, she could see kennels where a few wild spirits had been captured for training. They would soon learn to give everything for the human members of the military, down to their very lives, and the humans would come to see the beasts as no less valuable than an arm or a leg. A little girl, having not had the patience to sleep through the entire night, ran through the streets towards the creek that ran through her backyard, stooping down to pull water up into her mouth. She looked around conspiratorially, as though sharing some delightful secret with the tiny river before she wiped her mouth and rushed back to her bedroom, lest her parents should find her awake in town.

The benevolent spirit smiled on the scenes below. "I can't say... that I despise humans. I can't say that I necessarily want to bring them harm, but... humans aren't all good, are they? They aren't all in your 'clan'. Some of them shall be our enemies, won't they?"

[ EXP: 312 || +1 TEXP (1st thread) ]

[Checkpoint]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Lethe was surprised that Iskra seemed to understand his sentiments so readily. Considering the fact that she'd been so quick to condemn groups of helpless women, in his eyes, to a life of what amounted to be torture may have left him with a bias. Many times he had found himself having the wrong opinion of her, or thinking ill where it was not needed. Right now he found himself quite happy with her response, as he'd hoped he'd be able to lobby for his people to her without much of an argument. "Thank you."

She was correct, though, in the sense that not all humans were in his metaphorical clan. Some people did deserve to have such a fate cast upon them and they deserved everything that came from it. "I can't argue with that. Some humans deserve to have cruel fast cast upon them." Lethe tapped his chin, unsure how exactly to word his next sentiments, "When it comes to women and children, though, I suppose I have a soft spot. A protectiveness, perhaps? I'm not sure what exactly draws it out into the open, but when I see mistreatment upon people I don't believe to deserve it, it causes me to lose my control so to speak."

Lethe made a wide sweeping motion on the outlying landscape, "That doesn't mean we still can't take things over. Our enemies will fall before us, and those that defy us will be crushed. I would think those that are defiant would make good people to enslave and put in such jobs, as people that want to be a part of what we're doing would be better served as citizens that help create and flourish our settlements."

"That is merely a suggestion, of course."

EXP: 319
PWC: 319
Other: +1 TEXP (September 2, earned 250 exp)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The demon crossed her legs as she continued to look out over the trees and the tranquil scene before the sunrise.

She sighed heavily, her breath a puff of frost on the cool morning air, less because of the warmth of her breath and more because of the chill.

"These things..." she began heavily, almost seeming burdened. "...they're new to me. When I was nothing except for a hyena, I would not have thought of putting females of any species into a corral for the pleasure of men. I would not have thought of rape either. It's an alien concept in our world... physically impossible, even."

Her eyes trailed down to her right hand, and she looked into her palm for a moment, studying the patterns of criss-crossing veins and lines. Then slowly, she closed that hand into a fist. "You are right. I let Barathrum Regnum... hell... I let it influence me too much. I may do these things to women still, but I won't hold them captive. They will have mouths that they need to be fed, and this is against my purpose."

She pushed herself up and brushed the dust off of her clothes. "What I will do is go forth and rob these other villages. These things I know well. They may continue their lives after paying me the proper tribute."

[ EXP: 245 || +1 TEXP (2nd post) ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Lethe found himself smiling as he listened to his master's new formed opinion (or outlook, anyway) on humans and in general what she was going to do with people she crossed blades with. He couldn't help but smile. After all, the source of the majority of strife between the two of them had been centered around Iskra's treatment of her so called human property. Now that she was going to seemingly treat them better, and additionally not even go forward with the brothel idea, he couldn't think of anything else that would cause a rift between them.

There was someone, namely that foolish pride demon named Jack, but other than that he was sure he could follow without the slightest qualm. "That sounds like the type of thing I can get behind." Lethe responded with a smile and a nod. Forcing those you conquer to pay tribute was one of the things that he prioritized as his village's leader.

But, the mention of tribute reminded him of something. "Speaking of which, what of the growth of Rasvamaal? I was under the impression that it's continued growth would lead to assistance for Dagan? I'm in need of some construction there, if you'd allow it."

EXP: 231
PWC: 231
Other: +1 TEXP (October 1, 2nd post)

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The woman paused and folded her arms beneath her chest, her head bowed and her brows furrowed as she pondered.

"You know... I am not used to remembering and keeping track of these things. I'm sure your outpost up there in the cold northern area must not have many provisions, and I am very sorry I have been neglecting it."

She began to pace the roof, still in a bit of thought. "My builders could make the perilous journey up there, but at the moment they are occupied with building more... housing. If you helped me conquer some people this day, then I would be in a better position to help you. The people here are very attached. I'd rather give you some who resent me for conquering them and will be more likely to listen to you or move around."

Almost embarrassed of how considerate she was acting towards the villagers below, she continued her confession. "I haven't really asked or made them build all of these things in my town. They do it out of... gratitude for my kindness and protection. Many of them have extended families that they've invited here... clans. I'd hate to break that up, you know?"

[ EXP: 223 ]

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

"Yes, I understand, and that's a very intelligent approach to have. Humans aren't so different from most creatures in how clannish they are. They enjoy their own, you know? Keeping them together only benefits what you want to do ... while separating them from their clan would only be detrimental. Unless you like beating humans into doing what you wish, which you could I suppose, but I always associated such stupid behavior with that Jack fellow."

Lethe made the offhand comment about Jack without even considering that Iskra may view the pride demon as a friend. That would have been problematic, and he additionally hadn't yet thought about having to potentially work with the demon in the future. But, now certainly wasn't the time to dwell upon such things, as his master had just requested his help in conquering lands. Conquering! One of his favorite things.

"It would be my pleasure to assist you." The young warrior said with audible delight, nodding lightly to himself as he envisioned their coming task. "It's been a while since I've done that, anyway. It will be a good warm up to get back into the swing of things. So, where to?"

EXP: 231
PWC: 231

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

"Let's see..."

She put her hand on her chin, then suddenly jumped down off of the roof.

She landed in a crouch and took a brief look around. "That way looks good. Come on."

And with that, she was off. Most of the smaller clans in the area were pushovers anyways. It'd be nothing to coerce a few members from their masses.

[ EXP: 65 ]

-Promotional Tour Complete-

Intern Rep! : 5 Location : Almost Heaven

Thread Totals
PWC: 1,327
EXP: 1,327

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