Veralidaine Roleplay

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((Sorry for the wait guys!))

Asher walked along the dirt road, his heavy brown cloak pulled tightly around himself. His hood hung over his head and covered his eyes, though he didn't need to see as he could navigate by sound. He dodged around the humans walking in the opposite direction with ease, and the road itself was pretty straight.

He walked off the road and stopped for a moment. He lifted his hood just enough so he could see what was ahead. The walls of Agustine rose up in the distance, about another half hour of walking and he'd be there.

He had no idea what was going through his great-grandfather's head when he decided to send Asher this far north for some book. The old man must be losing his mind. However, Asher couldn't turn him down.

The sun was now high in the sky, though some clouds had begun to move in and cover it. There was a slight breeze that rustled the grass and the few trees that grew on either side of the path. Despite that, Asher was ridiculously hot, but he had to wear this cloak in case of poachers or whatever else. He knew what humans were like.

He pulled his hood back down and continued on. The road was somewhat busy, though the increasing number of demons tended to keep many people home and off the road. Also, only the most tolerant humans actually went to Agustine, since there were infanima there too. It had only been 68 years since the war between between the races had ended, after all. King Elson III had made Agustine as a place of peace and appointed his family and an infanima family, that of King Alyran, as its dual rulers, allowing both races to mingle there.

Lost in his thoughts, Asher accidentally bumped into someone. His hood started to slide back and he grabbed it, but not before he heard a woman gasp. He darted off the road and into a cluster of trees. He knew she had followed him; he drew his sword and waited for her.

She approached around a tree and came face to face with the blade. She stopped dead, but didn't take her eyes off the cloaked figure.

"I saw... horns. You're a..." she stammered.

"You never saw me," Asher growled. "You'll continue on like you never saw me and not breathe a word about it or I swear..."

He thrust his sword closer and she ran away. After fighting off a few stray demons, he returned to the road.

The rest of the walk was uneventful, and he soon arrived at his destination. The massive stone walls rose up before him, tall and sturdy enough to stave off most demons. Archers were positioned along the top of them to shoot down the airborne ones.

He slipped past the guards at the main gate using his stealth and a group of humans that were passing through and he was finally in. The city sprawled ahead of him, the houses and stores all made of stone and wood. Humans and infanima passed each other on the streets with restrained tolerance. Even after all these years, the city still wasn't the peaceful paradise King Elson had envisioned.

Asher passed by a group of infanima who had cornered a human, a guard who was breaking up a fight, and a male infanima and female human sitting on a bench together. Overall, he questioned the wisdom of making a place like this, though there seemed to be some good.

The library was near the castle. As he moved toward the north end of Agustine, he could see the tall spires of the castle rising up into the sky. The library was dwarfed by the building's overall enormity.

Glad to finally be there, Asher hurried on to the library.

((Attn: All))

Pallas snickered when Cassian's next attempt was less than graceful and then winced when Leroy hit the water. "Damn-" He wondered if maybe he could pull the poor guy onto the next platform when he made it over. Or if he made it over; he eyed the platform, biting his lip. He couldn't exactly get a running start from where he was standing, but there was no point in staying put. He gritted his teeth and with a leap of misplaced faith, ended up in the freezing cold water. Panic flooded him and he flailed a bit as he tried to keep his head above water.

[ATTN: Leroy, Pallas]

Asher couldn't help a small smirk when he saw Cassian fall in the water and scramble back out. He had it coming to him, really. Next, Leroy and Pallas decided to head to the next platform, though neither of them was able to get on it, and in Pallas' case he didn't even make it far enough.

He knew he would have to fish them out, so he flew to the platform and landed solidly, barely slipping at all. Leroy was right next to the platform, so Asher reached out and pulled him on. Pallas was a bit further back, so Asher grudgingly got into the water and swam out to him. He grabbed onto him and dragged him back to the platform, then climbed back on himself.

"Y-you guys r-really gotta s-stop f-falling in," he said, mostly looking at Leroy.

{Attn: Karyne, All}

Maresca walked out to the edge of the platform and looked across. She watches the others continue to have difficulty getting to the next platform. She takes Rusya and tries to get a grip in the ice below. However the rod just slips on the surface of the ice.

Maresca walks back to Karyne. “I will stay h…here. You are right it is look…king a bit full.” She looks down at the ground, her cheeks turning pink. “I ap…pologize about my outb..burst earlier. You d…didn’t need to hear that.”

[ATTN: All]

"Th-thanks again! I r-really owe y-you one... or two..." Leroy gave Asher a sheepish grin. He was shivering quite a bit so he pulled his knees up to his chest. "I th-think I'll j-just stay here for a b-bit..." He looked up ahead at Cassian crouching on the platform he had landed on.

Cassian slowly stood up. He was already tired from walking and the cold water wasn't helping. He just wanted to get this temple over with. Flying into the air once again, Cassian made for the second closest platform ahead of him. However, his tiredness was catching up to him and he didn't quite make it to the platform. He was quite close though, so he was able to grab the edge. Cassian took a moment to catch his breath before beginning to struggle to pull himself onto the surface. It took him longer this time, but he was able to do it. He sat on the platform, shivering.

((Attn: All))

Just as Pallas was thinking drowning may be hereditary, Asher came to his aid. He shivered on the platform as he looked up at the tiamat. "Th-th-thanks f-for that..." he said gratefully. After taking a few moments to recover, he gazed out. It was probably a good idea for Leroy to take a break, but Pallas knew he had to try to get to the next platform; sitting out in the middle of the water wouldn't get him anywhere. What he'd dreaded most had already happened and he'd survived falling in. Besides, he felt like he'd been preoccupied and hadn't been pulling his weight much recently and his pride was going to force him to fix that. He pushed his wet hair off his face and took some time to examine his next target. He held his breath and jumped again. This time, he landed quite gracefully on the next platform.

[ATTN: All]

Leroy could tell that Cassian was getting tired, but he seemed determined to get to the end. He wished he could have gone with him, but Leroy knew he would have just been a hindrance.

Cassian stood up and glared at the last platform. It was all that sat between him and the ground at the opposite wall. He had a feeling he didn't have enough energy to fly all the way to the end, so he tried flying to the platform instead. It went well; he even landed on his feet.

Cassian glanced ahead at his next destination and flew again. However, this time, he faltered in flight and plunged into the water. He wasn't very close to where he wanted to be, so he had to swim. It didn't take long to reach the edge, where he struggled once again to pull himself up. Once he was on solid ground, he wanted nothing more than to lay down and curl up to gain some warmth, but instead he started pacing around. Suddenly, a spot on the ground where Cassian had stepped indented unnaturally, causing him to jump back, startled.

The water seemed to become disturbed and a deep rumbling sound could be heard. An ice bridge rose from under the water, connecting one side of the room to the other. Cassian sighed, annoyed that he could have just waited and used the bridge.

"Aw y-yeah! Way to g-go Master!" Leroy cheered. There was a sizable gap between his platform and the bridge, but he thought he could jump over it. Unfortunately, he fell short of the bridge and landed in the cold water once again.

{Attn: All, Karyne}

Maresca feels helpless as she watches the others. Cassian is the first one to make it over to the other side. He paces around and suddenly the water begins to shake. She takes a step back keeping her eyes on the water. Slowly an ice bridge emerges. She looks at Karyne. “You were right! I thought we were going to be stuck here.” She grabs some of the other bags and starts to walk carefully across the bridge.

((Attn: Leroy, Open))

Pallas looked slightly unamused when Cassian triggered the bridge to activate. "A-a-are you f-fucking kidding me?" He'd basically risked his life leaping across those damn platforms only to see that it hadn't been necessary. Now, he had to leap to the bridge. He carefully measured the distance between his platform and the bridge and jumped. He made it, though barely. Leroy, on the other hand, did not. Pallas leaned over the bridge and reached for Leroy, hoping he could pull him up onto it.

[ATTN: Pallas, Open]

Once again, Leroy thrashed about in the cold water. He soon spotted a hand reaching out to him, so he grabbed it readily. Unfortunately, Leroy pulled a bit too hard and Pallas came tumbling into the water with him. The process had at least gotten him a bit closer to the bridge, so he was able to grab onto it and keep himself from sinking.

"Aw, cr-crap! I'm sorry, Mr. Priest!!" he said as he reached out and grabbed Pallas' arm. He pulled him over to the bridge and placed the priest's arm on it before pulling himself up. Leroy then tried pulling Pallas onto the bridge as well.

A loud sigh came from the other end of the bridge, where Cassian stood shivering, his arms folded. He was soaked and just wanted the others to get moving so they could finish the temple.

((Attn: Leroy, Open))

Pallas' good deed came back to bite him in the ass as Leroy pulled too hard. The next thing Pallas knew, he was submerged in frigid water. He panicked slightly, thinking he just might drown this time, but calmed as he felt Leroy grab his arm. The infanima pulled him to the bridge and in spite of his violent shivering, and with Leroy's help, Pallas was able to get back on the bridge. "D-d-d-dammit, a-are you tr-trying to kill me?" he spat out through chattering teeth. "Ah, w-w-well, th-thanks for g-getting me o-outta there."

[ATTN: All]

Karyne jumped up and down, clapping her hands enthusiastically when Cassian made the ice bridge appear. Maresca was carefully making her way out on to it, so Karyne followed after her.

However, the temptation to slide across the bridge was too great. She moved out around Maresca and pushed herself forward with her scythe. She laughed as she slid the length of the bridge, just managing to keep her balance.

When she made it to the end, though, her feet hit the dirt and stopped her in her tracks. She fell forward onto her face, but never stopped laughing.

Asher sat on his platform for a while and shivered. The water was pretty cold and it felt like the coldness had seeped into his bones. After a few moments he forced himself to get up and fly over to the bridge. He watched Karyne do her faceplant at the end and was afraid for a moment, but once he heard her laughing he knew she was okay.

{Attn: all}

Maresca feels Karyne brush past her and pushes herself on the ice bridge with her scythe. She shakes her head back and forth and muffles a chuckle when Karyne falls face first on the dirt. Maresca makes it across and catches up to Pallas, Leroy, and Cassian. Without even thinking she takes the blanket on her and wraps around Pallas. She takes the blanket Cassian left behind and gives it to Leroy. “You guys should change out of those wet clothes before you get sick.” Her eyes grow big and she shakes her head. She looks over at Pallas “Shoot me, I am turning into the Mistress… the blankets should provide sufficient privacy as you guys get out of the wet clothes.”

She turns and places a hand on Karyne. “Where to next, fearless leader.” She winks. So far this is much better than booby trapped doors. She swears the tip of her hair is still fried.

[ATTN: All]

Cassian watched, his arms folded, as the tiamat came sliding toward him on the bridge. He didn't know what she was trying to accomplish and he didn't care, but her laughter caught his attention. Tiamats were beasts, as far as he was concerned, so he didn't know that they would behave in such a way. Cassian glared at Karyne and shivered as he turned away.

Leroy accepted the blanket from Maresca. "Thanks! I am p-pretty cold!" He tried to pat himself dry, and then realized that the luggage was on the other side of the bridge. Wrapping the blanket around himself, Leroy quickly went and retrieved the stuff. When he returned, he moved away from the group and started to get changed. It wasn't long before he was finished.

"All right, I'm r-ready to leave this room behind!" he announced.

((Attn: Maresca, All))

Pallas was in no shape to insist that Maresca kept her blanket; he was shivering like a leaf. "Th-thanks, M-m-maresca," he said, smiling with chattering teeth. He couldn't help but give a shaky chuckle at her next comment; she did indeed sound like the mistress. "W-well, th-there are worse th-things to t-t-t-turn into," he said jokingly; he actually had a lot of respect for the mistress. "B-b-but yeah, y-you've got a p-point..." He wasn't keen on the idea of stripping down in the middle of the temple, but he was eager to get out of his wet clothes. Once Leroy brought the luggage over, he acquired a change of clothes and strategically concealed himself as he changed.

He was still freezing even in his dry clothes, but he figured he should make sure Maresca was all right without her blanket before just walking off with it. Priestly instincts and manly pride could be an obnoxious combination, as far as he was concerned. "H-hey, y-you sure you d-don't need this?" he asked her.

{Attn: Pallas, Open}

Maresca rubs her arms. She did miss her blanket, but knows that both Leroy and Pallas need it more than her. “Yes…I am fine…Pallas.” She chuckles softly when Leroy announces his distaste for the room. “I still think the lightening was worse, but I am all for leaving this behind. Come let’s go!”