Legends of Akena -- Reboot

[Merolg]

Akena: A land of many faces, the people have Akena all live together in peace; all those that are bad and evil are locked away, specifically the demons, behind a massive blackened gate, the Gates of Darkness.

But peace can not last forever. Beyond the Gate, the demons plot their return to Akena at large and to take their revenge. Revenge on a world that locked them away so very long ago.

Do heroes still exist in the world? Can these heroes stop the demons before they rise up?

RULES
1. The usual (No godmodding, godmodelling; no making your character absolutely ridiculous!)
2. You are allowed to introduce subplots into the roleplay if it makes sense for the point that the characters are at.
3. HAVE FUN!

PLACES
Map:


Akena
A continent roughly about the size of North America

Fort Rankin
Located roughly in the south-east corner of Akena, the human capital of the land. Rankin the busiest place in Akena and also one of the largest. The Fort is surrounded by a large, thick, heavy-duty stone wall that has stood since the ancient attacks of the demons (many have forgotten their original purpose). Contained within are a multitude of busy streets, the larger, well traveled streets harboring shops, cafes, inns, and small houses while the smaller, less crowded streets house the very expensive restaurants and large houses for the wealthy people. Rankin is one of the 'safest' areas in Akena.

Lumenia
To put it simply, the City of Angels. A popular sightseeing and tourism destination to the north-east, but not everyone can get in due to the Gate of Light, a special gate that can 'see' the purity of a person's heart, and will only let through those it deems to be pure enough. It should go without saying that the Demons can't enter meaning that it is a safe haven. The place radiates with positive energy and light. During the night, it shines to act as a beacon for nearby travelers.

Lake of Gelbor
Located between Lumenia and the Melrock Forest. To the casual onlooker, it would seem that it just any other lake, but once you pass the surface of the water (by magic, or some of the plants growing nearby), it becomes an entirely new world. The lake is inhabited by many mysterious sea creatures.

Melrock Forest
A mysterious forest that divides Akena into two. It runs from the northern shore down to the southern shore. It's thick, and people never travel in there unless they're highly skilled at keeping themselves alive. Melrock forest is a dangerous place, for all of the deadliest creatures live in there. The northern-most part of the forest is called the Borderline, where the felid tribe lives. Half human, half cat, and are very protective over their territory. To the south of the forest is where Zagato's castle is.

Morish
The Dark Land. The home of the Demons. The demons are locked behind a massive gate similar to the Gate of Light of Lumenia, the Gate of Darkness. Like the Gate of Light, the Gate of Darkness can 'see' people's hearts, but the difference is that the gate will only let through evil, cruel and sickening people. Though the Gate was designed to hold the Demons in, as of late several varieties have mutated and developed wings that allowed them to fly over the Gate and the Border Mountains. Morish is ruled by Lord Zagato, a demon of massive power and a master of the darker magics.

Melandru
The City of the Elves. They do let other races in to the city. The elves are often considered to be the "smarter species." The City is large and round. If anyone was seeking ancient knowledge, then they would come here.

Caves of Bhelrock
Located south between Fort Rankin and Melrock Forest. It's a very large cave, in which the Dragons have taken over. You see dragons flying across the plains a lot although they always come back to their nest. The Dragons share their territory with their cousins, the wyrms, though they hold the lesser dragons in contempt.

The Great Plains
The Great Plains cover the rest of Akena, in between the major locations. Usually very bright, and you can see nothing but lush grass for miles. It's nice having the wind in your hair, but you have to be stocked up in food.

CURRENCY
The main currency of Akena are the copper, silver and gold coin.
Copper = 1 dollar
Silver = 5 dollars
Gold = 10 dollars
Example: A new sword that costs (in dollars) $150 would be fifteen gold, thirty silver, or 150 copper.

[Merolg]

Ectaint sat cross-legged on the roof of what he assumed was a cafe watching the sky. Though it was invisible to all but a few races in Akena, he watched the wind as it curled through the air; the moderate breeze ruffled his bluish-grey hair, causing it to swirl around his head. He smiled, today wa- His thoughts were interrupted by something on the wind, it reeked of death, destruction and the blackest of magics.

Almost immediately, he was on his feet, heart racing. The szuldar patterns on his skin glowed softly with diluted light blue light in response to his heightened sense of awareness, "I don't like this one bit." His voice unconsciously carrying over the wind in a soft tone, only noticeable to those who are paying attention, a trait unique to his kind of Genasi.

The 'scent' reminded him of a certain event that he would rather forget.

[Spectre]

Doppel regained consciousness in a bit of a predicament. He was only currently aware of two things: firstly that he was being dragged by the arms, his legs dragging on a stone floor, secondly that his forehead seemed to be dripping blood. Memories came rushing back to him as he recalled how he got in this mess.

He had wanted to see how poorly demons were treated in bigger cities, wondering if any of them grew accustomed to his kind yet, or if anyone else had even made it past the gates. The metal gauntlet to the head he had recieved earlier gave him a rather straight answer: no.

He felt his back hit a masonry wall rather roughly, looking up to those who had thrown him there. They were two armoured soldiers of some sort, behind them were dungeon bars. "Hey, can the maggot see now?" he heard one of the guards ask in a condescending manner.

Doppel grumbled, adjusting his seated position within the cell, "Well that was rather rude..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. We'll try to make your stay as comfortable as possible before we send you to the block tomorrow," the guard chuckled, exiting the cell and closing the door.

Doppel sighed, slouching in his current position. They were going to execute him. Well, that wouldn't be any fun whatsoever.

The knife he had kept hidden through his torture, on the other hand...now that would make things interesting.

[Merolg]

Ectaint walked over to the edge of the building, kneeled down, put his hands on the edge and swung himself over the edge and dropped down to the ground into an alley. Walking to the mouth of the alley, he closed his eyes and listened to the wind.

The whisper on the wind told him to head for the castle, so he did, carefully sidestepping people as he went, eyes fixated on the castle. The action and his appearance drew people's eyes to him quite easily.

[Len Kagamine]

Noh sighed with frustration as he tried to reason with the castle guard again, saying "Look, I know it makes no sense, and all I have is me feelings of misgivings, but you must believe me! something terrible is about to happen"

[Xinjay]

Amara had been walking down the castle corridors when she heard. She had passed by a group of serving girls talking animatedly among themselves, and they had stopped to bow the heads slightly as she walked by, but not before she caught a snippet of their conversation. Particularly, their conversation about the guards catching a demon in the lower towns.

At first she had not believed it. A demon? Even though there were rumours, there was no way a demon could be in Fort Rankin. First of all, they shouldn't have been able to get out of Moria, and second of all, Fort Rankin was on the complete opposite end of the continent. For a demon to escape and come all the way here...?

Even so, she couldn't stop her curiosity as she entered her chambers and rummaged through her dresser. She grabbed a simple dark grey cloak and pulled it over her shoulders. Underneath she was wearing a long, purple dress made from the finest of silks, with decorative sleeves that hugged her arms tightly. Amara wondered if the cloak would be enough to hide the obviously rich clothing, but she didn't want to take the time to change into the usual outfit she wore when wanting to get somewhere without being seen.

She head out again, making a beeline for the dungeons, only pulling the hood of her cloak up when she neared them. It was surprisingly easy slipping past the two guards that were stationed to guard the cells, but she didn't wait to ponder over whether it was just because they were incompetant or if she was really good.

Amara stepped lightly down the hallway, peering through the bars of each cell until she found the one she was looking for.

"So it was true." She didn't notice she had said her thoughts out loud.

[Spectre]

Doppel's focus returned to the living plane, having been busy falling asleep as his window of opportunity still wasn't present.

Hearing the voice of a female, he looked to the cell bars in curiousity. Last thing he expected was a female guard in this dungeon, for starters. His thoughts quickly changed course upon sering the cloaked figure looking into his cell. He grinned, not bothering to alter the shape of his teeth, revealing a spiked set of teeth easily describable as fangs. "Hello, my dear. Come to confirm the rumours before my execution?" he asked, curious on the female's reason for being there, let alone how she got there.

[Merolg]

Ectaint walked up to the castle and saw a Drow standing there talking with the guards. Walking up to the Drow, "Is there a problem here?" A faint whistle echoed in his voice, the guards stiffened, apparently they had heard about the amount of raw power a Genasi can wield, Ectaint ignored the reaction.

[Xinjay]

Amara pulled her cloak tighter around her, making sure it concealed her clothing underneath. She walked a little closer to the bars as she looked at the demon. He looked everything like the pictures drawn in books, bhe had never actually seen one in person before, so this seemed almost surreal.

"What did you do?" She asked, referring as to why he was in the cells waiting to be executed. She wasn't sure on what the laws were about Demons, for they never had to deal with one before. But given the history between Demons and, well, pretty much the all the rest of Akena, she didn't think they were good.

[Len Kagamine]

Noh shook his head and said "I know this will sound utterly insane, everyone I talk to gives me weird looks when I say it, but I sense something in the castle! Something is going to happen and will end in bloodshed if nothing is done!"

[Merolg]

Ectaint thought for a moment, listening to the winds, "No. I do believe you. The winds...they match what you say."

Turning to the guards, "Guards, I understand that you know neither of us. You may know a drow, but to know a Genasi is a hard thing to do. I implore you to let us into the castle, my people are few and far in-between and are not known to form alliances with entities that mean the Rankin royals harm in any way, shape or form, whether it be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. If you see fit, assign us a guard to discard any paranoia of our actions."

Listening to the winds once more, he nodded slowly, "We only have need of access to the dungeons, nothing more."

((Jenny, I'll let you deal with the guards.))

[Xinjay]

The two guards, who were increasingly getting annoyed by the drows attempts to get into the castle, gruffawed and adjusted their hands on the hilts of their swords.

"If only to relieve you of your suspicion, we will personally escort you to the dungeons," One guard said, rocking forward and back on his heels like he meant something.

"Any funny business, from either of ye, and you'll be thrown in there yerselves," The other said, pointing a finger at the other two. Though there were a small amount of non-human species living in Fort Rankin, it was a very small amount, as the city was mostly made up of humans. The guards couldn't help themselves but being wary and suspicious of these two.

[Len Kagamine]

As Noh passed the guards he said "Many thanks," then added under his breath "racists"

[Merolg]

Ectaint followed close behind, hearing Noh's remark, he put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Not here, not now, at least for those kind of remarks."

[Len Kagamine]

Noh shrugged and replied quietly "I know. I may be drow, but I'm not about to attack mildly irritating guards over such a trivial thing"

[Merolg]

"A good thing then. Last thing we need to make enemies when the true enemies may be close at hand." Ectaint remarked.

[Spectre]

Doppel shrugged, "As far as I'm concerned, I'm in here merely for existing. Too many folks got nervous when I dropped my guise. Bit of a bout later and I wound up in here," he replied. Sure that wasn't all he did, but it was all the citizens of Fort Rankin could convict him for.

[Merolg]

Ectaint entered into the dungeon ahead of Noh, the air was polluted with feelings, thoughts, and foul phrases, but he focused on the cloaked figure standing in front of one of the cells, striding up, "My apologies, but there appears to be something...wrong on the air. Myself and my associate here are trying to find out what it is."

[Xinjay]

"I see. That is unfortunate, though expected given the history between our races," Amara said, leaning forward on the bars. She couldn't really help but look at him, take in all the details she never had the chance to see before. It was weird; she always imagined that, if she should encounter a demon, they would be cruel and barbaric. Yet here a demon sat, behind bars and talking to her very much like any other human would. Because of her upbringing, she couldn't ignore the fact that he was in jail, and he could've done something wrong, but she could at least be sympathetic and fair when her brother and father would not.

"No doubt they told you you were going to be executed. You deserve a fair trial," She said carefully. She opened her mouth to say more, but a sudden sound from the hallway had her head snapping in the direction of the entrance, and she cursed as two people entered, accompanied by two guards. She slowly turned around as one asked a question, but she didn't raise her head.

"Who let you in here?" A guard pushed past the other one and seized her by the arm, pushing her hood back. He gasped as Amara held her head high.

"Oh, my lady, I'm sorry, I didn't know... did the king send you?" The guard stuttered.

"Yes, just to check on the prisoner and to let you know to treat him fairly before he is trialed," She said with a smile, lying through her teeth.

"Of course," The guard stepped back, and Amara turned her attention to the Genasi, who she hadn't even noticed was a Genasi until now.

"If there's something wrong in the air, as you say, the best course of action would be to report it to the king, not march down to the dungeons yourselves. No one should be allowed in here," She replied, pointedly looking at the guards as she did so.

(( Sorry long post. Other people can control the guards and whatnot. ))

[Merolg]

Deciding to whisper, making sure the words were directed at Amara, so no one else could hear, "Falsities drip from your tongue, like the water from a cloud heavy-laden, mi'lady."

[Spectre]

Doppel chuckled, looking to the female as she removed her hood. "Forgive me if this comes across as an insult, but you seem to be held in high regard here. With whom have I been conversing with, might I ask?" he inquired.

[Len Kagamine]

Noh bowed politely and said "considering her posture and standing with the guards I think it is safe to say she is either captain of the guard or a very sneaky princess"

[Xinjay]

Ignoring the Genasi's whisper, Amara sighed, looking at the the drow and the demon.

"I suppose you're all not from around here? My name is Amara Lanvaldear." She announced simply, hoping they knew the name of the king and that they'd make the connection themselves. She gave a look to the guards and they looked warily between the princess and her company before leaving. She knew they'd be waiting just outside the doors incase anything happened.

"So tell me, why exactly are you so convinced something is wrong?" Amara asked after a moment.

[Merolg]

Ectaint crossed his arms, as he did, a sudden shrill wind picked up within the dungeon, then died down almost immediately, "The winds speak of a 'Dark Land,' 'Dark Lord,' 'Uprising,' and destruction to come. Myself and my Drow associate had the inclination to come down here instead of going to the King. And I believe that that inclination was correct, a demon seen in a land that has not seen demon kind for almost a few hundred or more years."

[Xinjay]

Amara raised an elegant eyebrow at the Genasi.

"Not that I'm doubting your 'winds'," she accented the word with air quotations, "but just because a demon shows up here doesn't mean all the demons are suddenly planning a break out and are going to destroy everything. We have no idea how he got out or what his intentions are."

She knew that if her father or any of the guards were to hear her say this, their jaws would drop at the idea of giving a demon the benefit of the doubt just like a human. But Amara had always been open minded about different races and concepts, and she wouldn't draw the line at demons. She looked over at said demon once more, her own words reminding her that they should probably ask how he got out of Morish in the first place.

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