Rise of humanity: The Saga Of Steel

"That is so. Many kings treat their wives live decorations, and trophies, I only want a partner, and equal; Someone standing beside me I know I can count on" Arden said smiling as he walked closer to her. Some would consider marrying an elf a bad choice, but for Arden it was the only choice, and he wrapped his arms around her, looking Vesryn in the eyes "Would you be the one to stand at my side til death should claim one of us? " He asked her. Perhaps it was unwise politically, but he was deeply in love, and trusted no one else to stand beside him.

It was true then. She had assumed correctly. His hands were warm, and her skin tingled where it was in contact with him. It was... completely unwise to marry her. She had lost her fortune, her power, her status. She had nothing to offer him politically, -not to mention the fact she was an elf - but for her it was a most wise decision if she were to agree to it. She'd gain protection, wealth, land. A kind partner. But... those reasons didn't matter. Because she loved him, she realised. With all her being. She had taught her to live, when for all those years she had merely been surviving. She was now... happy. She would do anything for him. Including being by his side for the rest of their lives. However, she forced all thought that she would most likely greatly outlive him to the deepest part of her mind where she would deal with it later. "Yes..." She said softly, a gentle smile playing on her lips. "Yes. To whatever end."

(Meanwhile )

Oh god it's so sticky, it's just all over, and it smells really bad...not to mention the taste, just spilling everywhere , can this guy just stop it?! What if it dries, eww he's gonna have to take like six showers after this. Oh gosh there's even more, what the fuck!!? ....."Gods dammit could you stop bleeding everywhere?" Piri growls to his victim as he pulls the thin stiletto from the guards gushing neck and throws him over the ledge Piri is hanging on.

(You ruined the moment.)

(Seriously dude, where is he at anyway?)

(I'm only a teeny bit sorry )

Weeks go by, Emron and his companions resume their travels southward as soon as they are able. The Goblin Shaman as a symbol of good will sends with them his apprentice Kolvoilk to act as a guide, and to aid them in any magical conundrums they may encounter on their way south. The Shaman’s prediction proved correct in that the the risen skeletons that had slaughtered the caravan had returned to their rest; leaving only bones behind so litter the sand dunes of the great desert. The trip was quiet perhaps the undead hordes cleared the dunes of bandit activity, either slaughtering said bandits or driving them into hiding. After another couple of weeks trekking through the blistering heat of the desert with Kolvoilk’s knowledge of the dessert saving their lives time and time again, by helping them find food, water, and avoid predators; a city finally comes into view. It is a trade city of the southern kingdoms. The architecture as can be seen from beyond the city wall features predominantly large domed circular buildings with colors of beautiful white for the largest one which is surrounded by spires that appear small by comparison, and features an golden orb shaped roof. Five other buildings can bee seen above the walls , these ones are the rounded and squared circular buildings  with more traditional Domes atop them. Even from here you can smell the aroma of tobacco and spices drifting from the city as well as some less savory things, the smell of the city they could not yet see from beyond the walls, the smell of thousands of people living in small homes stacked atop each other, They must be approaching from the poorer side of town as the wealthy used magic wards to keep that stench away from the great palaces, and merchant district. Trade was what  kept them alive in this city A port for exchange between north, south , and west among a sea of sand, and it was in a way the merchants who truly ruled this city.

Meanwhile up north a month had passed Arden had proven highly competent as a ruler in reconstructing the village destroyed by the undead horde, despite the fact that he had married an elf they were both known to have slain the necromancer who besieged the city, which provided them some leeway in that area, though it was still a bit controversial. More talked about was the wedding itself in which the northern priest of the old ways had shown up completely stoned, and ranted about how everything was just great, Arden had to restrain vesryn more than once throughout the wedding to stop her from stabbing the priest, of course it wasn't the first time a noble had tried tried to stab a stoned priest at the, so there was more laughter, and little shock. When consummating the marriage that night, the condom vesryn had finally explained to him most certainly broke. In less personal news Arden had come up with a rather visionary idea for his lands which could give them some pull in the not too distant future despite the small size of their kingdom. There was a large dark tower a ways outside of town, and Arden had made a request to Rowan and Morina asking them if they could  set up in the nearby tower, and begin training petty magic users in his land. There were no wizard's towers this far North, so this presented an opportunity to cement the center of northern magical learning as his own petty kingdom Which would allow them to grow economically, and culturally with the added benefit of having the first shot at recruiting the most talented for his kingdom, and military.

Emron was quite exhausted by the trip, but they were finally getting somewhere at least. Walking through the hot sand of the desert surely took its toll, but Emron was still willing to go since he could pretty much see the city already and their salavation.

The waves crash loudly,the distinct smell of salt permeating as Piri's escort ship pulls to the dock, Old master had the foresight to hire a completely human crew before he had set off,lest they get a less than warm welcome on arrival. Piri takes in the city slowly taking deep breaths of the air that smells of cinnamon and frankincense. Although he works for hos people of his own accord,he still doesn't understand their goal , why destroy all of this ? Than again he is half human so maybe that's is sympathizer speaking, yet his point still stands, the tiled market streets laden with many colors, the lamps hat hang in the streets ,the fountains that gush of water...why? He rubs the back of his head as he looks over the square that he's arrived in, children playing with wooden sword sin the streets. Their language is flowing,with almost a strange poetic rhythm ,not like the cookie cut hard sounds of he east, more similar to the flowing speech of the west, full of rolling sounds and almost to fast to hear. Like the speech of the elves but not exactly , the elven speech is full of honorifics and double meanings, some words can mean ten different things if you pronounce them a certain way. It's all very different , in a nice way, these ones have their great domes and minarets, the elves have rising pagodas and great temples . There are animals he has never seen before, some caged some walking the street freely , he dawdles for a little while in a store where thirty two different birds squawk in their miniature cells, each with more vibrant colors than the last. He feels a great pull to see everything, if ..if his people are to destroy this he'll at least remember of it. He feels a rising guilt in his chest ,a hard and heavy lump growing as he looks around the city. He has his duty, to his people to he betters, he can't betray them now, not after they saved him from those slavers, took him from the pit of bloody depravity and brought him back with discipline and honor. No, he must do this ,even as he gazes in wonder on the colorful robes they wear , or the gold that hangs from the merchants wrist in loops. He pushes the guilt down swiftly, a hand to his chest.....he never particularly liked the queen anyway.

(Kilo art thou proud?)

Sunlight filtered in through the window, and Vesryn watched the dust particles dance around the air through half lidded eyes. She had remained that way for what seemed like hours, but she doubted it was that long. Memories of the day before returned to her in short bursts, consequently making her have to sort them all in the correct order. Her... wedding. She never thought she would ever marry. Never thought she'd ever settle down, never thought anyone would want to potentially spend the rest of their days with her. The wedding was certainly entertaining, if not slightly annoying considering the priest had showed up high as a kite and bumbling about. He had even ruined her dress by vomiting all down the front of it. A smile whispered on her lips, as she recalled Arden having to make sure she didn't spill his guts on the floor with the dagger she had tucked into the traditional lace garter that had encircled her thigh. It was such a pretty dress: ivory, with a square neckline, long sleeves that fluttered with each movement as if alive, skirts that swirled around her legs and secured with a corset so tight she occasionally had difficulty breathing. Her hair was partly tied up, and garnished with small white flowers that partly resembled snowflakes. These little flowers grew more concentrated near the back of her head, where a single ivory rose was tucked into her hair. The rest of her hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders, and was such a contrast to her usual bland, straight hairstyle.

She rolled over onto her side in order to snuggle into Arden - her husband. Such a strange thought. Recalling the events after the wedding had come to a close caused a blush to rise into her cheeks, and she reached up to brush a light kiss upon his cheek. One more, very, very important detail reached her about the previous night: the condom had broken. She was definitely unsuited to the life of a mother, and so on the save side, she would go and request Rowan if he had any herbs that may wash out the beginning of a pregnancy. She peeled herself out of the warmth of the bedsheets without purposely waking up Arden; the chances of a pregnancy are slim, she wouldn't wish to wake him up at a potential conception.

Speaking of Rowan he was in his new study on the top floor of his tower several miles outside of town, atop the highest mountain, he had divided his time of late between spending time with Mori, co founder, and co head of of the tower school, teaching the four novice spell casters who had joined so far incantations; Violent once as he suspected they would soon be needed for war, and copying down incantations from his journals into books for a library they would soon have. So  far the people that had been sent to them were: A young Forrest Witch, female, 18 who knew a bit of informally taught, and unstructured magic, an apprentice scribe, male, 13 who had dabbled in some magic he read books, he seemed to have an affinity for it. An accolyte of the northern religion, Female, 14, northern religion involves some shamanistic magic, and an herbalist, male, Age 22. Not top tier, but not hopeless. At the moment Rowan was copying down his incantations and their descriptions into books.

As Vesryn stepped out of bed Arden yawned, and sat up. Yesterday had been great what with the marriage, and the funny bit where ves had tried to stab a priest, and of course the hours relieving tension from the last few months on the road. "Morning love." he said to her as he started to get out of bed.

Morina was perhaps not the greatest of teachers, despite being a skilled healer. She would often flirt with students, regardless of gender, and blabber on about something completely unrelated. But she enjoyed it, and definitely enjoyed spending time with Rowan, despite her mind screaming at her for how foolish it is to think about potentially having a future with him.

~

Vesryn turned to smile gently at Arden, before rolling her shoulders and finding something to wear. She wasn't sure how he would react to her going to request something to prevent conception, but she hoped he would see her side of things if nothing else. "Do you think Rowan would have wild carrot?" She asked him absently, still searching for suitable clothing. She knew it had medicinal properties, so assumed it may be something he possessed among the other herbs and bits and bobs.

Arden tilted his head as she asked that, he didn't quite follow why she would be asking for it. It was only after he asked "Why are you having medical problems?" that the thought that she would want a morning after herb cross his mind. It wasn't that he didn't know her well enough, the thought of wanting to do something like that just hadn't crossed his mind. When he thought about it though She was very independent, and perhaps to proud to want to go through the temporary helplessness that came with pregnancy. Still Arden wanted a child to raise and pass knowledge onto and stuff.

Rowan had hinted that he wanted to reignite their relationship, but he was too embarrassed and ashamed of his actions last time to say it outright, but maybe it could work they were both running a tower now after all. Working to leave their mark on the world, and they would likely be in Arden's employ for quite a while... maybe things could work out

She shook her head at his question, with a wry smile. "No, just a precaution," Was all she said. By his question, she judged that he was familiar with the properties of the plant, including the fact it can cease a pregnancy, so she felt no need to elaborate. Ah, she found something to wear that would mean she wouldn't freeze her ass off on the trek up to find Rowan.

~

Morina knocked on the door to Rowan's study, a coy smile on her lips. "Hey, how you getting on?" She asked, making her way with her usual walk of dramatic hip swinging towards him and leaning over to have a peak of his work. This pose, as well as her low cut neckline, was perhaps too revealing for anyone but Morina to dare do.

Arden nodded, and with all the tact, and eloquence she had come to expect from the knight said allowed "I think we should have a child"

"I... I'm doing well" Rowan said looking up from his work, and stammering only a bit, mori popping in the door in her revealing clothes, and sexy walk was one of the few things that could pull his eyes away from his academic work, and put him off guard

Vesryn froze. She turned around to him very slowly, brows raised slightly. You can't be serious. "When you learn how to give birth, you fire away, because I won't." She would feel so weak, so helpless while pregnant. She wouldn't be able to protect herself if she has some watermelon sized lump stuck to her stomach, and she wouldn't always be able to rely on Arden.

Arden was not very good at arguing with vesryn, but tried to point out some of the logic behind having one "Ves I understand being pregnant would make you feel vulnerable, and I know how weird you can get about it , but think about it this way if we have an heir, other kings of the north would be less likely to try and assassinate us so they can absorb the kingdom into theirs." he hopes to use vesryn's distrusting side against her with logic.

She turned and strode to the window, nails tapping irritably on the window ledge. "But I... I can't be a mother," She said, rather quietly. "I don't know how." She didn't know the first thing about raising a child, not to mention the fact a half breed wouldn't be truly accepted. And she had the maternal instincts of a rock. She wouldn't know how to comfort a child if it were to cry, especially if it were in pain.

""We're smart people we'll figure it out" Arden said as he slipped some pants on. He decided to play on her pride as well "Unless you saying you aren't up to the challenge... If you're too afraid to handle it that's okay lots of women are..."

Parath, of all the members in the small group, had seemingly disappeared in a matter of days. Nobody had seen her in her usual spots and Epona started fearing she had left them for good. But Parath wouldn't leave without a "goodbye", now would she? It would seem Parath has been keeping away for their own safety, only none of them had noticed it yet. She hid somewhere a bit far from the city, hoping nobody would come near - for their own safety.

Epona had become distant. Her monthly bleeding had stopped and she knew it meant the shaman was correct about her - she was withchild. She had noticed Parath was no longer with them and she wondered why. Even though she knew her family meant comfort, she kept away from her mother and Emron. She blinked her eyes and came to Shadow's side. "Have you seen Parath lately?" she asked him softly.

Veronica had stuck to Emron's side despite knowing she'd outlive him. Her hunger was threatening to show soon and that was very dangerous especially near the group. She needed blood and she needed it fast.

Shadow shook his head at epona "no not in days, I'm really worried" he admitted

Epona sighed deeply. "Maybe she's not in the city because she thinks she'll scare people." she suggested cleverly. "Go look for her while I look for her here." she added in, blinking her blue eyes.

(but what about the shadow fighting piri thing?)

(That waits until they all enter the city and find a place to stay, then Piri goes to kill the queen doing her diplomatic meeting and Shadow and Piri encounter each other.)