A Kingdom Cursed [Fantasy RP/IC]

[Charellia]

For untold centuries the wizards of the Academy lived in harmony with one another and the people of Gravidan. With the help of the wizards the Kingdom of Gravidan entered an age of unrivaled peace and prosperity. Then came the Schism. A powerful wizard by the name of Malzorrak challenged the leaders of the Wizard Academy. Malzorrak believed the Academy should allow exploration of the darker secrets of magic. When he was refused he attempted to overthrow the leaders of the Academy. He was defeated and the king banished him from Gravidan.
But Malzorrak had his revenge. In the desolate wastelands of the north he wrought a terrible curse upon Gravidan. Winters grew long, crops withered in the fields and storms battered the coasts, terrible misfortune fell upon the king and his family, chaos reigned. The once prosperous kingdom fell into ruin.

This is where your story begins. You are one of the inhabitants of Gravidan. Will you fight to restore peace and lift the curse? Will you take advantage of the chaos for your own benefit? Or are you a supporter of Malzorrak who will aid him in his quest for power? That is entirely up to you.

This is essentially a sandbox RP. While Malzorrak's Curse will be a constant factor, you do not have to deal with it directly if you don't want to. I will occasionally add in world events for characters to respond to in order to keep things interesting, but otherwise you are mostly free to do your own thing.

Rules:
1. No godmodding, etc.
2. Don’t kill other people’s characters without permission.
3. Posts must be reasonably detailed. The occasional one-liner is okay, but they should be a rarity.
4. The OP has final say on any dispute.
5. If you are using magic, be reasonable. You will not have the kind of power Malzorrak does.

If you wish to join the OOC is here

[Thimbyrland]

Coastal lands
Gravidan

The sounds of the surrounding world were serene. Birds filled the forest with song, and the air was still and full of the scents that come with the earth's rich soil. Rajan could hear things from far and wide, and the comforting silence was only broken by the occasional snap of a twig under his boot. He had slowed down to a walk, but still continued forward with a feeling of haste around him. He had no idea how long he had traveled nor how far he came, but he must be certain that he is far enough from the beach to keep going without having to fear being recaptured. He knew that he had been going for long enough to avoid being caught up to, the forest was certainly large and by the look of things it was starting to end, thus he must be far enough in. He figured that they would have to run fullspeed without stopping to be able to catch him before nightfall, of course, he had ran like this for a short while himself and he knew that they would still be far back if they had done the same. Still, there was always a touch of danger and worry in the air.

Still, it was hard to think that just half a day ago he had been tied up to a post on the beach by his crew after a mutiny. He had to give it to the two loyalists who liberated him, otherwise it would only be a matter of time before they dumped his lifeless body into the sea. He would certainly have to repay them if he ever crosses paths with them again. Regardless, his only goal now is to survive. He has the weapons to defend himself, and a pouch to collect drinking water, but food was the one thing he really needed to obtain. Luckily he was left in his captains attire when his reign was toppled and tied to the post that way. His large yellow turban matched well with his yellow coat that reached just below his knees, accented with a rich red belt that had an end hanging down past his side. One would think that he was a prince in his homeland, and to an extent he was, a prince of the pirates. Regardless, he made sure his rich attire allowed for flexibility in combat, it was after all the spice-islander's style to dance with their swords. Other than that his outfit was probably only good for selling, granted you found a man rich enough, though Rajan figured he would let it go for some food if need be.

As fortune would have it as he came to the end of the forest, he noticed a small hamlet, a few country houses, nothing to fancy, though not in poverty, probably the start of a future village. He did his best to get closer and observe what it had to offer. No one was insight, however he took less notice of everything else when he spotted a basket full of bread, probably just baked by the looks of it. He moved up against the side of the house nearest to the basket. He made his way slowly the back, however he realized that it was to difficult to sneak when his chakram, of which were tied to the side of his belt, kept clanking against each other. He took a moment to take two off, leaving one as it wouldn't make sound, in case he needed one for combat. He finally inched his way over to the basket. He took a piece of the round bread, biting into it. It had indeed just been made and was still soft from the oven. He then took a few more pieces, stuffing them inside his coat. At that moment the door to the cottage swung open. Rajan ducked behind the basket, his heart pounding, hoping whoever it was had no weapon and did not notice him. There was a deathly silence for what seemed like minutes and then finally a call out. Not hearing what the man said, Rajan shot up and bolted away as fast as possible. The man didn't pursue, regardless Rajan was determined to get away as quickly as he could.

After rushing back into a different section of the forest, he came out onto a dirt road. The road itself was of a medium size, it looked like carts could easily be brought along it. He followed the road and observed the countryside. All around him was farmland, except for the forest he had just came out of. He could see people working in the fields, as little sticks in the distance. Ahead of him he could see a village of significant size. The village he figured, would be where he would start his next step on the road to survival and recovery. He continued down the road.

[Toronina]

A Small Village, a days way from one of the cities
Gravidan

It had been a long journey for Andrew. He had traveled weeks to get to one of cities he'd always heard about. Hopefully he could get an blacksmith apprenticeship in there, but the city, whose name Andrew knew not was still a days out, so he decided to stay at a local inn. He took in the scenery, it reminded him of his youth in the village, until the Orc attack, he still remembered the shouts, the screams, the fire, he'd wanted to help, but his father deemed it to dangerous. "Stay in the forge Andrew until I get back okay?" his father had said. But this was not the place to dwell on it. He entered the inn. 'Anything I can do lad?' the Innkeeper asked. Andrew asked for a room and gave the man all his money, not that it was worth much. He headed upstairs to his room, and fell onto the bed asleep. He awoke to Alarm Bells ringing. He knew what they meant. Many places close to cities and the city's themselves had alarm bells to warn of a orc attack, his village had been in the middle of nowhere, and so was unlucky. He strapped on his armor as quickly as he could, donned his helmet and picked up his sword. He had no idea if he'd survive this orc attack, his sword helmet and armor all rusty and dented iron, nothing compared to what he heard guards in city's wore. He rushed outside, hearing screaming, yelling, the crackling of fire. It was the village attack all over again. As soon as he saw an orc he snapped, he rushed his sword through the creature, killing it. That was the first orc he'd ever slain, but not the only orc he'd kill that night, and not the only thing that would fall by his rusty iron blade.

[Videssos]

The ruined fortress city of Hai Caemlyn,
The Thalayn Mountains, North-Eastern Gravidan

Ophioneus watched from atop the tower of the long-ruined settlement's keep, of which below lay an entrance to one of his many hideouts. The mountain upon which the Cyclopean edifice was built upon was a clear grey dagger, cutting through the cloud line and into the atmosphere above. Clouds gathered far to the west, and he would have estimated a down pour would have fallen had it these been normal times. But as these were not normal times; a better guess would be hailstones, with the seemingly permanent cold that seeped into the very earth, and only with difficulty did the heat of a fire dispel it. The sun's rays seemed dimmed, and the further north or south, the worse it would be. A brief gap in the clouds above the nearby Lake Marath brought the momentary reflection of sunlight, before the clouds rolled over and the light was extinguished,

His serpentine gaze narrowed, following the lines of half-collapsed buildings and dilapidated walls, before focusing on a group of thirty odd dubiously armed and armoured individuals approaching the entrance on what were clearly stolen horses. They were likely bandits, come to set up camp in these runs, or perhaps to search for treasure- or both, despite the local myths and legends regarding the area that seemed to dissuade most explorers and travellers from coming near, especially in the past year or so. The Eternal Serpent smiled faintly, partially revealing poisonous fangs in the process, evidence that he wasn't entirely human any more. As soon as the brigands were all between the outer gateway and the inner gateway, beneath the gatehouse, and along the long corridor which lay along it, Ophioneus put into motion the response he usually made to such fools. He snapped his fingers, and walls of hardened water formed, emerging at both ends of the entrance.

The distraught bandits shouted in surprise as serpents emerged from cracks in the walls, rapidly growing in size, their fangs dripping with toxins that would render their victims paralysed and in a coma. Arrows flew, and they were ether avoided by the serpents that showed shocking speed, or simply bounced off the thick scales. The serpents easily overwhelmed and took out the panicking, trapped bandits, even as they yelled and attempted to flee, weapons ineffective against these strange snakes. The serpents used their strength to crush the horses, asphyxiating them. The collapsed yet still living forms of the bandits would perhaps be of some use to Ophioneus n his experiments, and so he motioned for several of the cloaked, masked and armoured figures that had sworn to follow him for various reasons, to collect them, bringing them down to the hideout in the underground complex beneath him. There would be much else to do, both here and in some of his other bases, but Ophioneus could attend to such matters tommorrow.

[Toronina]

A Small Village, a days way from one of the cities
Gravidan

It had been a long journey for Andrew. He had traveled weeks to get to one of cities he'd always heard about. Hopefully he could get an blacksmith apprenticeship in there, but the city, whose name Andrew knew not was still a days out, so he decided to stay at a local inn. He took in the scenery, it reminded him of his youth in the village, until the Orc attack, he still remembered the shouts, the screams, the fire, he'd wanted to help, but his father deemed it to dangerous. "Stay in the forge Andrew until I get back okay?" his father had said. But this was not the place to dwell on it. He entered the inn. 'Anything I can do lad?' the Innkeeper asked. Andrew asked for a room and gave the man all his money, not that it was worth much. He headed upstairs to his room, and fell onto the bed asleep. He awoke to Alarm Bells ringing. He knew what they meant. Many places close to cities and the city's themselves had alarm bells to warn of a orc attack, his village had been in the middle of nowhere, and so was unlucky. He strapped on his armor as quickly as he could, donned his helmet and picked up his sword. He had no idea if he'd survive this orc attack, his sword helmet and armor all rusty and dented iron, nothing compared to what he heard guards in city's wore. He rushed outside, hearing screaming, yelling, the crackling of fire. It was the village attack all over again. As soon as he saw an orc he snapped, he rushed his sword through the creature, killing it. That was the first orc he'd ever slain, but not the only orc he'd kill that night, and not the only thing that would fall by his rusty iron blade.

A Small Village, a days way from one of the cities
Gravidan

Andrew woke up on the ground, sweaty, bruised and bloody, he remembered vaguely what had happened. He felt horrible, sure they were orcs and they needed to die, but when he saw the bodies lying around and the blood on his rusty iron sword, there was a look of unmistakeable horror upon his face. He had never taken a life before and that night he took several. 'Uhhhhhhh, my head' complained Andrew as his head starting to hurt and throb. 'How could I just lose control like that? That isn't me, what's wrong with me?!' Andrew said to himself. He got up and looked for the inn, he found it, a burned wreckage, the orcs had taken their brutality out on it. 'Guess I better check if anyone is still around' he told himself. After looking around town several times he found that either most had been killed or escaped the village. The village was almost burned to the ground, about the only surviving building was the forge. Andrew hoped he could find some armor in there. He walked inside, most of the armor was rusty iron, however, there were a pair of iron boots that weren't rusty. 'Sweet' Andrew said as he put then on and cast away the old boots.

After searching the town for food, supplies and once more for other survivors, he set off to the city.

[Charellia]

Wilderness, Central Gravidan
Hortulan paused at the side of the road and gazed around trying to get his bearings. A farmer some miles back had told him there was a town along this road. But Hortulan could not find any sign of it. The road was long and winding and badly maintained. The undergrowth was beginning to creep in. A few years from now there would probably be no road left at all.

It was like this everywhere. Nobody wanted to travel these isolated roads. When people traveled at all it was as part of the mass exodus to the south where things were at least slightly better. The north, Hortulan knew, was on the verge of famine and long since dissolved into anarchy. Even as marauding orcs pillaged the countryside towns were turning against each other, desperately trying to seize one another's dwindling resources. Even Hortulan did not dare go so far north as that. There was more than enough for him to do here and little enough that he could.

Hortulan had used all of his skills in an attempt to aid the poor farmers of Gravidan, but it seemed that every day he got poorer results. All his skills, all his spells and potions could produce no more than a small increase in growth. If things got much worse farmers would not even be able to afford his fee of a hot meal and enough supplies to get him to the next farm. Then he would most likely starve along with the rest of Gravidan.

As Hortulan was pondering his future he heard a rustle in the bushes. Three men burst from the undergrowth and surrounded him. They were gaunt and ragged. Two were carrying pitchforks. The third had a notched and slightly rusted sword. Hortulan recognized the man with the sword as the farmer who had directed him down this road.

"Why?" he demanded.

"I had no choice." There was a plea in the farmer's voice. He wanted Hortulan to understand that he was not just some criminal, that desperation was his only motive. "We need money."

"So you decided to rob a missionary who doesn't even take money for his services? That doesn't seem like the best plan."

"You have tools, and rare potions. You have a sword made from elven steel. Please just hand them over. We don't want to hurt you."

Hortulan shook his head. "I have done all I can for you and I am sorry, but cannot give you my tools or my sword."

The farmer looked grim as he leaped at Hortulan awkwardly swinging his sword. Hortulan could have killed him then and there, but instead he sidestepped. He drew his own sword as another one of the would-be bandits came at him. He caught the thrust from his pitchfork on his sword and swept it to the side, pulling the sword free before it could get caught in the tines. Hortulan stamped on the shaft, breaking it in half. He brought his sword up level with the man's throat. The would-be bandit's eyes widened with terror. Hortulan lowered his sword slightly and the man bolted along with one of his companions.

The sword-wielding farmer did not run though. He came at Hortulan again. Hortulan was not a master swordsman by any stretch, but this man had no skill at all with a blade. He easily parried the first and second strikes, then struck his assailant with the flat of his own blade, hoping that such a demonstration would frighten him off. But no such luck. The farmer attacked him with a series of vicious overhand strikes. Inept as his opponent was Hortulan knew he would not be able to keep parrying forever. He had no choice but to fight back. As he evaded yet another strike Hortulan thrust his sword at the farmer, stabbing him in the leg. The farmer fell.

"I'm sorry," Hortulan whispered as he ran off down the road as fast as he could.

[Toronina]

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan
Coastal Gravidan
Andrew thought the city would be big, but big could not begin to comprehend the size of the city, a huge place, protected by thick walls as far as the eye could see. In the middle, a huge palace, rising high into the sky, Andrew guessed this must be where the royal family lived, he had no idea who they were though, only that the king had defeated an evil wizard, at a great cost though. But this was only the talk of beggars and peasant's. Of course he knew no one like a noble would talk to him about this kind of stuff, and he was happy for it, he though of rich people as those he would not survive in times of strife. Andrew was a peasant and happy for it, though a small part of him wished to be something more.

After wandering around for hours in the city, trying to find a blacksmith who would take him on as an apprentice, he finally found one, a human with muscly arms, grey hair, and a large muscly body, who liked like he'd been born to smith, named Tounan. 'Make me the best iron sword you got boy, and I'll see if you're good nuff'. So Andrew set to work, making the blade, put hours of countless patience into it. When he was finished he showed the blade to the blacksmith. 'Keep this sword lad, it's great and you'll need it, oh and you can be my apprentice'. Andrew was euphoric, 'Thank you sir, my father was a blacksmith, he taught me everything I know', said Andrew. 'Hmm, I might know your father, what is his name?' asked Tounan. Andrew was surprised that this man might know his father. 'His name was Robert, though you can't have known him, both my sides of my family have lived far from the cities for ages!' replied Andrew, Robert then proceeded to give an exact description of how his father had looked during his prime, Muscly, dark hair, tall etc. Andrew was surprised.

Tounan told Andrew that he could live with him as he had enough room for him. 'Thank you sir, I will not forget this!' Andrew replied. Finally, life was looking up for him.

[Firstaria]

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan

Daniel had arrived today to the old capital of the kingdom, using a merchant ship to travel there with the little money he had, believing he would have found a place in complete ruins. According to what he heard, the kingdom was suffering droughts and poverty, that's why he and his parents had left the continent. It was hard to see the whole town form afar, since the fog raising from the cursed sea made navigation quite difficult despite the light from the port and the clear coast.

He adjusted his bow and his brown hairs as the ship finished the docking operation, and payed his last coin to the captain...but stopped when he finally got a sight of the town: it was like two different worlds, as the port was literally a slum filled with people, with houses old and needing for repair, and in the background, the majestic hill where the castle and the noble houses were cut from the filth by a long and sturdy wall.
This made no sense, as he remembered his father talking about the king with nice words; why then this looked like he was ignoring this scenario?

" You are from the islands, huh? " the captain said " It's not the king, he barely has power now because the crown is the only gold thing that belongs to the kingdom. If it wasn't for the nobles, the realm would have no money to buy the food needed to survive the winter, so in exchange they pretend to be treated like gods. You will get used to it sadly, as even the guards are on their payroll. " he concluded, inviting him to left the ship since his travel was concluded.

" This looks like it will be already harder than I though, and I was not already optimistic about it... " he murmured arriving in the slums, still with a smile but already surprised to see such a hurdle to pass: he had hoped his family's former glory would help him to meet the king and receive a blessing for his quest, but this now seemed almost impossible.

[Toishima]

Western Coastal Regions
Near Meloppido Town
Gravidan

Wearing a sun hat and a plain blue sun dress, with a haffer-sack slung over her back and a basket full of fruits in her right hand, the girl looked like any other regular youth in the area, out picking fruits for her family or such. This town was once famous for its honey, and fruits were a necessary ingredient in the more higher-priced flavoured variants. The roaring sea could be heard close by, right behind the wall of greenery to the side of the dirt road- though she was curious, she still did not dare venture too far inland. She had managed to obtain a room in the local inn just by providing her name and a single silver Imperial Gehirnheim Merch. Silver was silver, no matter what was stamped on its face.

Upon closer inspection, however, she did look somewhat different from the locals. Her skin was markedly paler, and she had golden-blonde hair that curled slightly. She also had bright blue eyes, and features that set her apart from the others. Her accent, though, immediately gave off her nationality. Gehirnischt. Hailing from the north-western continent, the Gehirnischt people were naturally tolerant to the frigid cold that marked their homelands, and had conducted business with this part of Gravidan enough for the locals to know and respect a Gehernischt person, particularly this one.

She was Adelaide mir Alstreim su Reinhard li Dorothea zi Enneagram, or Ada for short, daughter of Lord Reinhard mir Alstreim su Bismarck li Monika zi Kruszewsky and Dorothea mir Enneagram su Heinrich li Elizabethea, currently seventeen years of age. As a member of the influential Imperial Gehirnischt Alstreim House, her surname alone- mir Alstreim- was reason enough for most locals to oblige her requests. If that was insufficient, there was always the small fortune given to her by her parents when they sent her away.

Ada walked leisurely down the road, back towards town. There was little for her to do at this point, and she was merely exploring up and down the coast, centring her walking adventures around the port city of Lor-Emportum, which would definitely be where her parents would contact her to make her way home, once the civil war ended.

The forest to the right gave way suddenly to a battered cliff, with roaring waves beating away at the base. The smell of the sea drifted over, filled with the stench of rotting fish and animals. Local fishermen had stopped attempting to catch the sickly fish and instead caught crayfish and crabs instead- less nutritious or profitable, but a necessity to keep the town alive. It was like this all along this stretch of coast. Ada for one enjoyed crayfish, if only because it was one of the Gehirnischt national delicacies. Here though, it seemed as though the shellfish were considered an inferior product.

Passing two farmers loading up their cart with weak-looking wheat stalks, she lamented the situation she had found herself in. No contacts, no parents, she was, for the first time in her life, completely free in this land. She could go out and pick fruits without a security detail. She could buy a room at the inn without it being guarded by two armed soldiers. She could explore the countryside. That was what her time here would be, then. Exploration. Smiling to herself, she descended the long flight of wooden steps that would take her from the top of the seaside cliff to the town itself, which was nestled between two large hills.

[La Cancion de Guerra]

Outskirts of Urbaim
Forests

Brelynn was trailing behind a carriage, she was sure it would be headed towards Urbaim and she needed an easy entrance into the capital city and there would be no better disguise than a carriage such as this one. She had been following it on foot for a number of miles and was growing tired and hoped the carriage would come to a stop but had yet to do so for about five miles now. She did her usual flips and gymnastic type moves in between the trees to avoid being seen or heard, the carriage itself was not heavily guarded as it had only a single driver and possibly a person inside. As she neared her target, she thought to herself of her own circumstances, "Look what I have been reduced to, a former nobel in my homeland, turned into a hunter of some sort." she thought

Now almost next to the carriage she drew her dagger that had an insignia across the entirety of the blade and a chain that reached about two feet, she would have to get close and be precise in order to catch her target and swift to take them out. She took a couple large leaps forward and then dove to her left, throwing the dagger in between the wheel while still holding onto the chain. Mid swing she began to cast a spell, she nearly whispered the words accendo. And flames circled around the chain and burst from the edge of the dagger, lighting the wheel on fire. Once she landed Brelynn yanked on the chain to cut the wheel enough to nearly snap in half. She swung the dagger on the chain in a circle and let out a slight smirk. The carriage came to a halt and the driver quickly hopped off, he had a long sword, and had on armour to cover his chest with a silver helmet. "Who dares?" he shouted before taking out his weapon, "Come out and meet your own demise for making this mistake!" he continued to shout now fully gripping his sword. Brelynn had hidden behind a tree and was now slightly unsure of if she should take on this man, after all he was alone, but angered and armored didn't make a good combination.

She leaped from behind the tree and did a front flip towards him, by the time he noticed and began to swing upwards to slash her, Brelynn had landed another flip and slid behind him to tie the chain from her dagger around his neck. She kicked the sword in an effort to make him drop it, but she simple made him lose balance and he planted it in the ground. She whispered again, this time as close to his ear ash she could, accendo and the chain ignited in flames which she quickly released and planted her own dagger in the ground as he fell back in reaction to the flames. She left him there and quickly ran over to the carriage to put out the flames with dirt and opened up the carriage door. It was empty, the other sides door was flung open and whatever was inside was now long gone. Fortunately she now had a carriage so it was a nice consolation prize. She looked out into the forests and down the path. She went over to the man and took her dagger, unwrapping it from around him. She closed the doors to the carriage and leaned against it to take a rest. She let out a sigh and latched the dagger to her side. "Another day." she said aloud

[Toronina]

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan
Coastal Gravidan

As soon as Andrew woke up he went to forge, he intended to smith himself some new armor to replace the rusty armor he'd found. It was still dark but the heat of the forge kept him warm. Within 2 hours, he'd crafted a breastplate, now to let it cool. He was sweaty, and exhausted, and he loved every bit of it. He got started on a pair of leggings, beating it with a hammer into shape, it felt good. He was so into it, he didn't notice the sun had come up. Tounan found him working at the forge. 'Lad stop, go get some breakfast, you'll need some energy today' he said. Andrew reluctantly decided to go get some breakfast. 'Here, go get something from across the street lad' Tounan said to him, offering him some money.

After breakfast Andrew got back to work on the leggings, he was almost done, when heard noises coming from the docks, sounding like as boat. 'Huh, didn't know boats came this early' he said. He got back to work, hammering the leggings into shape. When he was done, he wiped his brow with his hand. He now had a set of Iron Armor, best of all, he'd made it himself. Andrew started working on a shield as well, twas better to be safe than sorry.

[Toon World-]

Southern Graviden

It was just another boring day in the hills of Graviden. Madrid the dwarf awoke from under a tree he found the night before, and began reading the book he got from a travelling salesman. The book spoke of powerful beasts that soared above into the heavens, raining down fire, claiming everything as their own. These dragons were definitely the most powerful creatures in the land, and the more he read, the greater the fascination became. Madrid then closed the book and got up. Heading out up northwest, Madrid could only imagine what it would be like to cross paths with one again. His only goal in life was to find one and tame it, hopefully domesticating the monsters. The book was well detailed in what the dragons were capable of, but did not speak of how one could possibly control one, perhaps because it had never been done. Nevertheless, Madrid was determined.

Armed with nothing but his own wit and a pickaxe, he had to keep pushing forward to find anything helpful, such as food. After days of nothing but crackers, anything would be better.

[Toronina]

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan]
Coastal Gravidan

Andrew was lieing in bed. It was a day off, the blacksmiths was not open today. He had shut his windows, and gone back to sleep when he first woke up. The second time he decided to get some breakfast, a bowl of porridge. After he was done he wandered about, to see if Tounan was up. Mysteriously Tounan was gone, so Andrew walked back to the kitchen when Tounan came in, dressed in armor with his sword. 'I've got some news,' he said 'There's an Orc camp not to far from here, they're planning on attacking a nearby village, would you like to join us and teach them a lesson?' Andrew replied 'Of course, let me get my armor'. Andrew put on his armor and picked up his sword, sheathing it in a leather strap on his back. 'A friend of mine has some horses we can borrow, we can very soon, are you ready lad? Orcs are creature to be reckoned with, they care for nothing but battle, they aren't afraid to die, come with me if you're sure you're ready' Tounan said. Andrew followed him to the horses, they quickly mounted and set off. With them were James, the baker from across the street and Jozen, the man who had lended them the horses. These were hard times, even bakers and horse salesmen had to be ready to fight. All of them had basic Iron armor and iron swords.

They arrived at the village a short while after they left. Orcs were running all over, killing civilians and putting buildings to the torch. As soon as Andrew saw them, his mind went into a psychosis, he run up behind one, impaling him through the stomach, he pulled out his now bloody sword.
One orc decided to take him head on, matching him blow for blow with their swords. Andrew was not worried about defense. The orc managed to cut his arm, but Andrew did not feel the pain, he was in his psychosis, pain was nothing to him. He quickly chopped the orcs head off when the orc was getting exhausted. He could vaguely see the others, fighting some orcs. But he was in a world of his own.

Andrew woke up on the ground, tired, exhausted, hurting all over. He had quite a few cuts and his sword was bloody. He saw the others looking at him. He quickly explained what had happened in the situation. 'I've seen men who hate orcs lad, I'm one meself, but I've never seen someone go mental over them. You've got problems with orcs boy. Look around, quite a few of the orcs are dead because of you. I think next time we should bring you along again lad, you're strong' said Tounan

[Firstaria]

After breakfast Andrew got back to work on the leggings, he was almost done, when heard noises coming from the docks, sounding like as boat. 'Huh, didn't know boats came this early' he said. He got back to work, hammering the leggings into shape. When he was done, he wiped his brow with his hand. He now had a set of Iron Armor, best of all, he'd made it himself. Andrew started working on a shield as well, twas better to be safe than sorry.

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan

While walking in the slums, Daniel quickly noticed how the place was filled with life even in those poor condition. Of course, it was not the look anyone would expect from a capital, especially considering how Urbaim was a big commercial center before the curse, and now...Hope began to diminish even in the fiery heart of the archer as he mumbled "If people in the main town live this way, how am I suppose to find again a place my family can call home?"

While lost in his though, he noticed one person more active than everyone else: it looked like a blacksmith, although maybe not the one of the forge he was working with, but even if his didn't needed to forge a single arrow for ages it wasn't hard to notice the passion he was put in making that shield. Daniel remained to watch him interested, not even realizing he had nothing to ask or gain from that loss of time.

[Charellia]

Abandoned Village,
Central Gravidan
The farmer had at least been telling the truth about the village up the road. Unfortunately it was abandoned. Quite recently abandoned by the look of things. The buildings stood empty, but not yet dilapidated. Only a few cobwebs had begun to form. Hortulan guessed that the inhabitants had been gone for no more than a few weeks. He searched through several of the houses but found that they had been stripped of their contents. The job was too careful and too thorough to be the work of bandits, so Hortulan reasoned that the villagers themselves must have taken them.

An apple tree was growing in the center of the village. It too had been stripped clean when the village was abandoned, but since the villagers were gone a few small shriveled apples had begun to grow. Hortulan performed a blessing and caused the apples to ripen. He then picked them and put them in his bag. It wasn't much, but every bit of food would help.

Hortulan had finally realized what many of his kindred already had. There was nothing to be done this far north. The region would soon be abandoned to criminals and orcs. For all his good intentions Hortulan could not even delay the inevitable. He would return south and regroup with his fellow missionaries. Maybe that region of the kingdom could still be saved. With a sigh he hoisted his bag and set off on the long journey.

[Erhialam]

Malzorrack's Castle

"Did that please you?"

Sharæth, sitting on the edge of the carved ebony bed, braided back her wild hair with a practiced ease. Looking over her shoulder, the elf saw Malzorrack's prostrate silhouette among the sheets, gave a little smile; all of Gravidan knew his name, but only she saw the infamous maker of the curse living as a mortal man, succumbing to a mortal man's exhaustion, a mortal man's temptations. She knew the answer to her question lay in his sleeping form, relaxed as it almost never was. Leaning gently across, she kissed his brow.

Standing, Sharæth picked her gown from the floor and redressed, becoming again the woman she wanted the world to see.

As she walked the corridor leading away from Malzorrack's quarters, the elven woman meditated upon her relationship to the dark wizard. When his forces had found her, that one night, when she'd opened her eyes to find him staring into them...she thought it way to vie for power, and, bitterly, knew how her former mentors would praise her for the thought.

But he wanted me, and I wanted him. I could not have played him for such a fool.

And what had she now? Passion? Love?

Coming to her own chamber, Sharæth eased herself into the chair at her desk, fingered the elven script etched into the labels of her vials. Then, plucking a dagger from the wall, she began a deadly dance, a form she was taught in the coven. Though she hated every teacher that taught her these arts, they had proved useful through the years.

She had a strange sense of premonition; she would need them soon. For what, or why, was unclear. But she knew it, the same way she had known to flee on that dark night, many years ago.

[Apto]

The ruined fortress city of Hai Caemlyn,
The Thalayn Mountains, North-Eastern Gravidanh

Today was a good day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing their little melodies, she ate cooked meat for breakfast and the small band of bandits she was trailing were mauled to death by serpents.

Joy.

She had watched the whole thing, light magic concealing her presence, and felt ecstatic and sad at the same time. Watching magical serpents crush bandits wasn't something you see everyday after all. Why, she barely held herself back from joining the slaughter, consequences be damned. Alas, her mind settled for watching the slaughter from a distance. The wall of water was somewhat obscuring her view but that didn't stop her from examining the details of the massacre. Her still invisible self walked into the entrance just in time to see a pair of armored individuals drag the corpses deeper into the cave system, her hold on her spell wavered for a moment, a faint outline of her body appeared before disappearing in less than a second.

How dare they interrupt her examination of these corpses! Don't they know who she is? She's Rena Aelyn the only sane person in this sick and demented world and she would not be interrupted damn it!

Holding herself back for the moment she let the pair of nobodies walk deeper into the cave complex, completely unaware that a psychopath was following them. Silently, she walked behind one of them and placed her hand on his shoulder, instantly the man turned and was met with nothing. Shrugging it off as paranoia the two continued to walk.

Rena almost giggled at the man's reaction and instantly decided that she wasn't going to kill them, not yet at least. Messing with them was funnier than murder.

Abandoned Village,
Central Gravidan

The sound of galloping horses echoed loudly amongst the trees that flanked the road. Thirty fully armed and armored soldiers, quite possibly the most Ventrasia could offer at such a short notice raced north with the intent to scout the area and kill any bandit or orc in their way. Far from knights in shining armor these men were simple peasants who voluntarily enlisted for the army when they heard of the benefits such a career could give them. They wore no plate armor and did not wield finely crafted lances and swords, instead they wore simple hardened leather over their clothes and brought with them modest looking spears accompanied by small, circular, wooden shields. At the head of this formation was the Duke of the Visivon family. Normally he wouldn't be part of such menial tasks like scouting since he had more important things to do but the Cardinal, a good friend of his parents and himself, had insisted that he relax for a bit so Kundrata mustered what forces he could before setting off north. Mostly to enjoy the scenery and to vent his stress on whatever poor orc or bandit happened to be in the way.

The scouting was of course a secondary objective. "Halt!" He shouted and raised his cutlass, the men behind him instantly attempted to do so, some fell of their horses while others were able to follow his orders properly. Kundrata examined the village from atop the hill he was on and spotted nothing wrong with it save for the disturbing lack of activity. Curious he and his party entered the town just in time to see someone preparing to go off on a long journey. Getting off his horse Kundrata asked "Excuse me but do you know what happened here?"

[Toishima]

South-western Gravidan

Ada had been moving south the last few days, still travelling along the coast but going farther than she had gone before. Word was that a particularly large Orc gang was moving west, soon it would not be safe for her to remain where she had been. While she had faith in the locals' fighting abilities, the danger to herself was too great. The North was out of the question, and she did not wish to leave the familiar coast behind, so she instead decided to try to get to the capital on foot, moving from town to town.

At this moment, she was resting by the side of the road in a small pond of clear water and green grass, a stark contrast to the field of wilted wheat and rotting potatoes just on the other side of the road. She enjoyed the water, feeling the cool liquid surrounding her body. She did not bother to remove her clothings, and allowed the light yet thick material to float around her as she waded in waist-deep. No matter how hard they tried to hide it, she knew she was a water mage, and water gave her strength, according to the manuscript.

Her haffer-sack was lying at the side of the pond. This bag was somewhat of an oddity in this parts, though was relatively common back in Gehirnheim. It consisted of a large cloth pouch with two straps that one carried on their back, with one arm through each strap, providing a comfortable and stable carrying posture that allowed one to carry more than just a simple pouch or sack could. Besides clothing and personal effects, she had a multitude of books enclosed within the bag, most in Gehirnischt, thus being illegible to the locals of these parts- if the locals were able to read at all. One book in particular was of utmost importance to her- the water mage manuscript. By her investigations, this script had been written centuries ago, when mages were still an important part of Gehirnischt society, building beautiful ice palaces for the people in the time before Imperial Gehirnheim. Then came the time of cold steel and hot furnaces, and the mages were exterminated in the name of the Gods- part of why she was now here.

Making herself float in the water was effortless. With a few mental tugs on the water beneath the still surface, a small current was created that pushed her body to the surface. Her feet left the smooth pebbles on the bottom of the pond and she was soon lying on the water's surface serenely, looking up into the sky, dark with clouds. When had it not been such since she arrived here? She willed the water out of her ears and listened to the sounds of the world around her, closing her eyes.

Heavy footsteps. Too heavy to be a human. Scheisen.

Ada opened her eyes to see a large, sickly yellow orc standing by the pond, with strange bony protrusions on his face and back. She began wondering why this was so, then stopped herself because shinzeine scheisen, zore ist ein orkischt! Her immediate instinct was to play dead, and continue floating there until the dumb creature left. It appeared to be alone, a solitary alpha male, perhaps, which still did not explain the strange growths. The orc dropped to one knee, and Ada held her breath. The creature put his face into the pond and began drinking, ignoring her completely. She couldn't just lie here and wait for the thing to spot her. She had to escape.

She was unarmed and could not possibly hope to fight this thing. Unless...

Carefully moving her arms slowly, she created a small current that brought her to the side of the pond, next to her bag. Once she had drifted over there, with the orc looking up now, she quickly rolled over onto the grass from the water and grabbed her bag. The orc unleashed a defeaning roar and scrambled to its feet. Without thinking, Ada instinctively raised her arms, gripping the air with her hands. The water in the pond stirred and rose upwards, crashing into the orc. With another movement of her arms, the water froze rapidly, leaving the orc trapped in mid-motion.

Did I do that? She stared at the spectacle in awe for a moment before turning and running down the road. A sharp crack was heard behind as a piece of ice broke off, though she ignored it. The poor people would have to face the creature once it thawed out, but not her. She was gone.

[Charellia]

Abandoned Village,
Central Gravidan
Hortulan spun around. How had he failed to hear these horsemen approach. At least they did not appear to be bandits, although aside from their leader they were not much better equipped. Bandits did not normally ask polite questions before robbing you. Nonetheless Hortulan let his hand fall to the hilt of his sword. "I know no more than you about this. I came here hoping to purchase supplies but found the village abandoned. No sign of a struggle. The residents have probably gone south as I intend to."

Deciding that he was not about to be attacked Hortulan let his hand drop from his sword hilt, although he still kept a wary distance from these unknown humans. "Hortulan of Nionos at your service. And who might you be?"

[Apto]

Abandoned Village,
Central Gravidan
Hortulan spun around. How had he failed to hear these horsemen approach. At least they did not appear to be bandits, although aside from their leader they were not much better equipped. Bandits did not normally ask polite questions before robbing you. Nonetheless Hortulan let his hand fall to the hilt of his sword. "I know no more than you about this. I came here hoping to purchase supplies but found the village abandoned. No sign of a struggle. The residents have probably gone south as I intend to."

Deciding that he was not about to be attacked Hortulan let his hand drop from his sword hilt, although he still kept a wary distance from these unknown humans. "Hortulan of Nionos at your service. And who might you be?"

Kundrata raised an eyebrow in amusement when he saw Horlutan grab the hilt of his sword. Did the man actually believe he had a chance against 30 men? If worse comes to worse he could always run the elf over. Then again, it was probably more like the elf didn't and wouldn't want to go down without a fight rather than suicidal foolishness. He could respect that. As he listened to Horlutan he couldn't help but sigh in disappointment, he knew the north wasn't doing so well but when villages and towns are being abandoned then something must have gone horribly wrong. He made a mental note to bring an army with him next time so he could go around purging the land of bandits and orcs, the boys back home could use the experience.

He found Horlutan's story believable enough and so introduced himself in return "Kundrata Visivon." His name was well known around Gravidan, what with him housing a madman and being the only person keeping his once great noble family from ruin and all, and wouldn't blame the elf he didn't want to associate with someone accused of being a madman. "Nionos?" he asked a bit surprised that someone from that group was still in the north "Last I heard you were all down south. Tell me, how does your Elven magic fare against the curse?" He was genuinely interested now, the curse had ruined the land's farms so much that the Kingdom was one step away from the worst famines in recorded history. If it weren't for Port Cities like Ventrasia importing huge amounts of food the Kingdom would have collapsed already.

[Charellia]

Kundrata Visivon did he say? It took Hortulan a moment to place the name. He recalled hearing some travelers discussing the infamous Duke in an inn a few weeks back. Hortulan made it a habit to listen to the occupants of inns whenever he had enough money for a room. It was a great way of keeping up with events of the kingdom. Farmers were rarely knowledgeable on current events, especially in times like these when they could not afford to look farther than their fields. The rumours of Kundrata Visivon were enough to make Hortulan immediately wary, but so far the man had done nothing yet to make Hortulan mistrust him. Certainly there was no harm in answering questions. A bit of conversation would tell Hortulan more about Visivon than any gossip in an inn anyway.

"My elf magic grows less effective every day. It is as though the curse is growing even more malignant as time goes on. After a farmer tried to rob me I decided it was time to head south with the rest." He sighed. "It is all rather discouraging."

[Toon World-]

South-western Gravidan

Ada had been moving south the last few days, still travelling along the coast but going farther than she had gone before. Word was that a particularly large Orc gang was moving west, soon it would not be safe for her to remain where she had been. While she had faith in the locals' fighting abilities, the danger to herself was too great. The North was out of the question, and she did not wish to leave the familiar coast behind, so she instead decided to try to get to the capital on foot, moving from town to town.

At this moment, she was resting by the side of the road in a small pond of clear water and green grass, a stark contrast to the field of wilted wheat and rotting potatoes just on the other side of the road. She enjoyed the water, feeling the cool liquid surrounding her body. She did not bother to remove her clothings, and allowed the light yet thick material to float around her as she waded in waist-deep. No matter how hard they tried to hide it, she knew she was a water mage, and water gave her strength, according to the manuscript.

Her haffer-sack was lying at the side of the pond. This bag was somewhat of an oddity in this parts, though was relatively common back in Gehirnheim. It consisted of a large cloth pouch with two straps that one carried on their back, with one arm through each strap, providing a comfortable and stable carrying posture that allowed one to carry more than just a simple pouch or sack could. Besides clothing and personal effects, she had a multitude of books enclosed within the bag, most in Gehirnischt, thus being illegible to the locals of these parts- if the locals were able to read at all. One book in particular was of utmost importance to her- the water mage manuscript. By her investigations, this script had been written centuries ago, when mages were still an important part of Gehirnischt society, building beautiful ice palaces for the people in the time before Imperial Gehirnheim. Then came the time of cold steel and hot furnaces, and the mages were exterminated in the name of the Gods- part of why she was now here.

Making herself float in the water was effortless. With a few mental tugs on the water beneath the still surface, a small current was created that pushed her body to the surface. Her feet left the smooth pebbles on the bottom of the pond and she was soon lying on the water's surface serenely, looking up into the sky, dark with clouds. When had it not been such since she arrived here? She willed the water out of her ears and listened to the sounds of the world around her, closing her eyes.

Heavy footsteps. Too heavy to be a human. Scheisen.

Ada opened her eyes to see a large, sickly yellow orc standing by the pond, with strange bony protrusions on his face and back. She began wondering why this was so, then stopped herself because shinzeine scheisen, zore ist ein orkischt! Her immediate instinct was to play dead, and continue floating there until the dumb creature left. It appeared to be alone, a solitary alpha male, perhaps, which still did not explain the strange growths. The orc dropped to one knee, and Ada held her breath. The creature put his face into the pond and began drinking, ignoring her completely. She couldn't just lie here and wait for the thing to spot her. She had to escape.

She was unarmed and could not possibly hope to fight this thing. Unless...

Carefully moving her arms slowly, she created a small current that brought her to the side of the pond, next to her bmag. Once she had drifted over there, with the orc looking up now, she quickly rolled over onto the grass from the water and grabbed her bag. The orc unleashed a defeaning roar and scrambled to its feet. Without thinking, Ada instinctively raised her arms, gripping the air with her hands. The water in the pond stirred and rose upwards, crashing into the orc. With another movement of her arms, the water froze rapidly, leaving the orc trapped in mid-motion.

Did I do that? She stared at the spectacle in awe for a moment before turning and running down the road. A sharp crack was heard behind as a piece of ice broke off, though she ignored it. The poor people would have to face the creature once it thawed out, but not her. She was gone.

Madrid had been wondering for hours. He came across the most peculiar sight. He watched some woman actually freeze an orc in ice. It was the greatest thing he ever saw. After she had left, he approached the frozen monster. Gripping his pickaxe, Madrid took a massive swing at it, attempting to hit it in the face. After doing so, Madrid began to wonder who that girl was. How did she do that?

Suddenly, a sound came overhead. It was a familiar beating sound. It caused his very spine to tremble. "Fernil..." he whispered. The Fernil Stalker, the perfect thief. This beast loved to hunt merchants and it loved gold. He already had an encounter with one before, but this time he was alone. The only thing he could do was run. He ran into the pond, trying to cross it. The dragon circled in the sky, with its shadow covering the area. He was barely at the other side before it pounced. Fire rained down furiously, lighting the surrounding trees ablaze. Madrid just continued to run, never turning back. "Help!" he shouted. "Dragon!"

[Apto]

Kundrata Visivon did he say? It took Hortulan a moment to place the name. He recalled hearing some travelers discussing the infamous Duke in an inn a few weeks back. Hortulan made it a habit to listen to the occupants of inns whenever he had enough money for a room. It was a great way of keeping up with events of the kingdom. Farmers were rarely knowledgeable on current events, especially in times like these when they could not afford to look farther than their fields. The rumours of Kundrata Visivon were enough to make Hortulan immediately wary, but so far the man had done nothing yet to make Hortulan mistrust him. Certainly there was no harm in answering questions. A bit of conversation would tell Hortulan more about Visivon than any gossip in an inn anyway.

"My elf magic grows less effective every day. It is as though the curse is growing even more malignant as time goes on. After a farmer tried to rob me I decided it was time to head south with the rest." He sighed. "It is all rather discouraging."

Discouraging indeed, he'd thought the elves would be able to at least garner the attention of Malzorrak and force the wizard to step out of his hidey-hole to deal with them. Apparently he was wrong, the spirits really weren't joking when they told him that Malzorrak's curse was too powerful for any lone mortal to lift magically.

Stroking his beard in thought Kundrata asked "How about a partnership then?" He let a few seconds pass for the elf to digest what he just said before continuing "Your group would prove to be valuable in combating the curse, I have people under my employ that fight the curse by studying it, the more we know the faster we can create a cure." Knowing that the offer was too sudden he added "We could save countless lives if we succeed in this endeavor. I have everything prepared already: labs, funding, instruments, libraries, ingredients..." He stopped and reluctantly continued "All we need now is manpower, the number of men I have eligible for the task can be counted in one hand, I fear that without help we won't be able to lift the curse in time." It was annoying, you can make a peasant a fine soldier in weeks but turning someone into a scholar took years, decades even.

[Charellia]

That was not what Hortulan was expecting to hear. "I must warn you, I do not speak for my order." He gave the warning in part to buy himself more time to think. He still did not know what to make of Kundrata. He did not seem mad, but appearances could be deceiving. On the other hand sometimes it takes madness to fight madness, and it was plain to anybody that Malzorrack was mad. "I will come with you and see what you have to offer," he agreed. "If I think you have any chance of lifting the curse I will help. If I deem it a valuable use of their time I will try to recruit others like myself to your endevour. That is all I will promise you for now."

[Toronina]

After breakfast Andrew got back to work on the leggings, he was almost done, when heard noises coming from the docks, sounding like as boat. 'Huh, didn't know boats came this early' he said. He got back to work, hammering the leggings into shape. When he was done, he wiped his brow with his hand. He now had a set of Iron Armor, best of all, he'd made it himself. Andrew started working on a shield as well, twas better to be safe than sorry.

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan

While walking in the slums, Daniel quickly noticed how the place was filled with life even in those poor condition. Of course, it was not the look anyone would expect from a capital, especially considering how Urbaim was a big commercial center before the curse, and now...Hope began to diminish even in the fiery heart of the archer as he mumbled "If people in the main town live this way, how am I suppose to find again a place my family can call home?"

While lost in his though, he noticed one person more active than everyone else: it looked like a blacksmith, although maybe not the one of the forge he was working with, but even if his didn't needed to forge a single arrow for ages it wasn't hard to notice the passion he was put in making that shield. Daniel remained to watch him interested, not even realizing he had nothing to ask or gain from that loss of time.

Urbaim, capital of Gravidan
Coastal Gravidan

While making the shield, Andrew stopped for a moment to wipe his brow, when he suddenly noticed someone watching him from nearby. 'Can I help you sir?' He asked, wondering what this man was doing just starring at him. While he waited for the man to answer he continued to make his shield. Perhaps one day I will work with steel he thought to himself.