Twilit Tears

The owl quickly flew by as he dropped the letter from a safe distance. The letter was meant for Fenrir.

To Fenrir;
"One of your men, the one with red skin, has fallen to two of what seemed to be the enemies men. The first one got close to wall of Dunbarton, so Xenark decided to stop him. Xenark fault for a while, he seemed to be playing around with him. Not long after the battle started a second man came and started to attack Xenark as well. The first one seemed to be using a crossbow, as the second one used fire magic. We all heard Xenark boast about his skills so we thought he could handle it. But then suddenly he was trapped in the air, in a fire vortex as the second one shot him. He fell out of the air, they took his lute and two hander and they talked to him. He seemed unable to move, they picked him up and dragged him towards Emain_Macha. Xenark's hand glowed and they stabbed him, I didn't see where but he was losing a lot of blood. After stabbing him, an electric surge went around Xenark. It seemed like they got shocked, when it wore off they stabbed him in the throat. Xenark fell and they burned his body. We went down to help, but it was to late. For some reason nobody seems to remember what happen after we went down, or how they looked."

The signature was weird, like the whole hand writing.

Jinnhin wrote:((The main problem in Emain Macha is civilian safety, due to the Queen's choice to pardoned Caliandra and put her back in the Commander position, some are ignoring the safety regulation that would have reduced the casualties by Robe Wraiths and be helpful for Wolfe's army. Those who ignored the safety measures are just making up excuses and was really to spite the Queen, thinking that the law was made by her instead of her Royal Adviser, Kalinthire. So, Black and Silver may have to worry about the civilians who would be endangering themselves by ignoring the Robe Wraiths and Robed Figures, thinking that they are "the Queen's idea of oppressing them." At least it is less worrisome because the 19 paladins (who are trained by Caliandra) do know how to fight the Robe Wraiths and can intercept them on sight or notice. But still, the civilians may need to review their safety strategies before more Robe Wraiths or worse (Robed Figures) comes into Emain Macha.))

[[I speak for a few of us when I ask if you'd kindly put this in simpler English. ]]

Gatemo wrote:

Jinnhin wrote:((The main problem in Emain Macha is civilian safety, due to the Queen's choice to pardoned Caliandra and put her back in the Commander position, some are ignoring the safety regulation that would have reduced the casualties by Robe Wraiths and be helpful for Wolfe's army. Those who ignored the safety measures are just making up excuses and was really to spite the Queen, thinking that the law was made by her instead of her Royal Adviser, Kalinthire. So, Black and Silver may have to worry about the civilians who would be endangering themselves by ignoring the Robe Wraiths and Robed Figures, thinking that they are "the Queen's idea of oppressing them." At least it is less worrisome because the 19 paladins (who are trained by Caliandra) do know how to fight the Robe Wraiths and can intercept them on sight or notice. But still, the civilians may need to review their safety strategies before more Robe Wraiths or worse (Robed Figures) comes into Emain Macha.))

[[I speak for a few of us when I ask if you'd kindly put this in simpler English. ]]

((we want to keep civilians safe
Civilians do not like the person trying to keep them safe.
Civilians will do stupid things because of said dislike.
We now have to work even harder to keep said civilians safe.
I think thats the jist of it))

((Or you could just let the morons who are all "I dun like the person saving my stupid life from the killer robe thingies!" and running around like horror movie targets learn what happens in that line of work. Cruel, but it gives you a convinient example of why you should swallow your blasted pride and do what the people trying to keep you safe say to.))

Jtipton wrote:((Or you could just let the morons who are all "I dun like the person saving my stupid life from the killer robe thingies!" and running around like horror movie targets learn what happens in that line of work. Cruel, but it gives you a convinient example of why you should swallow your blasted pride and do what the people trying to keep you safe say to.))

((we could, except for the fact that people would then get angry with us for not protecting them adequately enough, because that's just how people are. Everyone except for themselves is to blame. Plus, it would be bad for our reputation is we let people get eaten right under our noses))

((It's things like that that keep me out of leadership roles.))

Jtipton wrote:((It's things like that that keep me out of leadership roles.))

((and make me regret my character's Neutral Good status prevents any of them from establishing a Dictatorship based on conquest and loot to distract the masses from their miserable living conditions. They wouldn't really care that much as long as we produced nothing but victories and bountiful loot.))


((at least i they're Neutral good.))

((Well, well, well, this has gone pretty far since I checked... I really need to meet up with you Gate.
Note: Small wall of text.))

Crusade sat overlooking the robed wraiths at Gariech, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She was bruised, her clothing was torn slightly, and her face was pale. Behind her lay the remains of two wraiths and a smoldering patch of grass. She stood up, wincing slightly, and unsheathing her gladus, swung it around a few times, as if she was testing herself. Satisfied, she sheathed it once more, and a small grin appeared as she looked as the remains behind her. Suddenly she chuckled maniacally, and she sat next to the smoldering patch.

Too bad for those two... She thought as she gazed at the remained coldly. She winced and suddenly seemed different, realizing something. After effects.....

She quickly tried to recall what had happened. She had been watching the wraiths gather, just as she was now. She had turned around to find three wraiths upon her. Two of them had grabbed her and the other... the other tried to possess her while she struggled... she had remembered losing consciousness, or what seemed to be her consciousness. Then she woke up, standing, battered, swords drawn against the remains of the two wraiths... the one that had tried to possess her was gone, and there was a small fire burning the grass where she had lost consciousness.

It didn't take her long to realize what had happened, as flashes of vivid images appeared. Using Shannara's help, she was able to recall what happened after she had lost consciousness. She had yelled out, and the wraith that had been trying to possess her let out a shriek as it wrenched itself from her, seeming to be drained of its power, and turned into dust. The other wraiths drew back, and watched Crusade, studying her.

Crusade laughed manaically, "That's all? Pathetic! I feel great! Come on," She pointed to the other two wraiths, "I'll take both of you at once!!"
And with that, she transformed into a Holy Knight. After a brief exchange of blows, both wraiths fell to the ground. They rose, and the battle continued for some time, the wraiths falling to the ground. At one point they were able to beat Crusade back, but it appeared as if it didn't affect her, and she came at them again. In the end, both wraiths had been killed.

Crusade looked at the gathering group below her, then at the two dead wraiths. She came out again... She thought darkly. She shook her head. It wasn't safe here, and she knew it. She gazed once more at the gathering, and, brushing back her hair, she turned around and started off for Emain.

[[Yes, I still do need to get in touch with you, Cru. XD]]

[[Forgot to post what's been going on on my end all this time so...]]

Kurohi stared up at the wraiths in annoyance. They hadn't done much in spooking the knights - Fenrir's training helped in that, she was sure. But the townsfolk were another story. Most of them had gathered to move with the army at a moment's notice out of fear in what the things might do; and chances were that fear was going to cause them to panic, scatter, and make little inconveniences when push came to shove. She didn't know whether to be pleased or angry with Xenark's second death. On one hand, he was a fool who deserved it for being the start of this; but on the other, a second mage on her level or higher for an ally would have come in handy with her enchantment works.

Maybe it was just the waiting that was getting her frustrated though - not for the wraiths to make a move, but word from Fenrir. If she didn't get a command soon, she'd have to go on instinct for "the plan"'s next phase.

Much to her surprise and as if on cue, she heard the caw of a raven nearby. Looking away from the sky, she saw one of Requiem's dark-feathered messengers skipping along the wall with a note tied to its foot. Must have flown in low and been moving along the walls after spotting trouble on approach. "Smart bird." Kurohi mumbled while she untied the delivery and treated the raven to one of the small snacks she kept on hand for her familiar. She expected it to be bad news, but seeing the paper made her frown.

Old blood stained one side of a shred of paper. On the other side appeared to be writing from an unfamiliar hand that was faded by it, but from what she could make out...

"--weapon-, I h--e th- troops -o w---- ---m."

Two words that hadn't been wiped out and blood all over the note...sighing, Kurohi cast a small fire spell to burn the paper to ash and called for a knight. Fenrir just had to make this more difficult by running off. "Have the goblins gather the slab from the church. We move at dawn tomorrow."

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Wonder if it reached...

It had been a few days since Fenrir had camped out in the hills northeast of Bangor. The kobolds living there, while they wanted no part in his vendetta against Erinn, also hated humans with a passion and had no problems with letting one of their own live among them for a while with is pet. It had been a few minutes before he reached Bangor that he had a change of heart actually - even with her promotion, he was still testing Katsuna's resolve. Fenrir knew what he put her up against in sending her to command an army of her race's sworn enemy; but from the view he had in the mountains, she'd passed with flying colors, though he wished she hadn't used THAT name when addressing him.

Peace indeed... he thought, recalling an eavesdropped conversation between two guards on the northern entrance to town. He chuckled to himself. Never thought he'd hear ogres mumbling about that. Peace would be something nice though.

The everlasting, eternal, emptiness of true peace.

Grimacing as that thought went through his mind, Fenrir looked down at his left hand. The stab wounds he gave himself days ago had healed nicely by now thanks to the snack he had; but there were still some nasty scars. He wondered why he never bothered cleaning of the blood though. Either way, the reason he had to result to stabbing himself in such a manner worried him more than Erinn's most recent infestation, not to mention the trouble in Dunbarton. Whatever these things were, he couldn't tell if they had turned his plans completely upside-down, or advanced them in a way he never thought possible. It made him tingle in anticipation; and that also troubled him. Losing control...

Fenrir was pulled from his brooding when a frantic kobold came racing toward him. It was the "scout" he'd asked to go take a look around to the north after the wraiths had gone by a day or two ago. "Fight!" he wailed. "There's a fight!"

So he finally made it... "How many?" Fenrir asked, expecting at least somewhere around a thousand men to be coming. Compared to the odds, he was hoping Wolfe's men would at come with odds that showed they'd have some chance of winning.

The response wasn't something he was expecting at all. "J-just one! I t-think? There were so many of those things! Hard to tell!"

Meh. Pity, it must've been another of Erinn's famous heroes "rising to destroy evil" again. Fenrir did wonder how long they'd last; but wasn't about to push his luck in rushing in to the rescue either. He was still a man with a death warrant on all sides, after all. "I suppose it's time..." he sighed, adjusting his robe as he stood. "Keep watching. If this hero makes it past, send me a raven with the news and I'll send back payment for your hospitality. I'm sure at least my company would want to meet them." Assuming they make it.

Fenrir called for the scroll-tamed bear he'd been using for a mount since leaving Dunbarton. It was time for him to meet up with Katsuna and his forces. "For your sake," he said while climbing onto the grizzly's back after it drew close. "I'd suggest you and your friends retreat to Barri while you still can. Lest you decide to fight under my flag shortly, there won't be much hope for you in the future."

With that, the fomor king rode off quickly. Time to see what Katsuna had accomplished and make final preparations before things became better or worse.

Not that there's much hope for any of you...

(( Since most have been posting their troop movements and dispositions, I think it best that I had better do the same now.))

(( Angelshade and her "Troops" - Lone scouts are all over and through the continents. Packs are active in canine occupied regions. Due to their "Nature" they are immune to control by fomors. Those unlucky enough to have their forms destroyed return within a week. They are personally hostile to fomors and those recognized as wolf hunters, while being under orders to dispose of any single wraiths or other undead they encounter, though they do leave true ghosts alone. Tactics are standard wolf pack harrying and pull-down as opposed to the fomor induced one-on-one suicide attacks. Targets are ripped into small shreds. There are roughly 200-300 packs in each of the wolf regions, of the appropriate sub-types.

Notes:
Dingo's are related to wolves but their territory has not been fomor occupied as yet, so that antipathy doesnt apply. Number don't matter yet.
Domestic dogs packs do exist but do not work well with the wolves. About 200 packs total being gathered in the forests east of Dunbarton. ))

(( Lone Guy in white robes - Just him but that is more than enough. ))

Narrator: Kenelm managed to quickly dispatch the Robe Wraith that attacked him on the road leading to Bangor. Curious as to why he was able to dispatch it so quickly, he collected the construct's corpse for study.

Bangor was a different city. Gone were the friendly open gates, allowing passerby to enter at any time of day or night. Now the narrow crevice that was the northern entrance of Bangor was a fierce looking wall of stone and metal. Twisted bits of scrap that had been salvaged from the wreckage were embedded into the surface of the wall, making it a miserable climb for any fool who would be so daring. The walls themselves were tall, perhaps 40 feet or so, at least twice the height of the walls at Dunbarton. Were it possible to explode such walls, it would be a most miserable end for anyone caught in the blast. And wedged between the two cliffs as it were, there was a likely chance that it's rubble would fall within the narrow passage to Bangor, only making it more difficult to get through. The southern wall was identical. And at any point in time, there were always a few goblins and a few dark knights on each wall, keeping watch.

Inside, the town looked completely different, bare as though it had been swept clean. the buildings were gone. The stone and metal that had made them was gone, used in the construction of the walls. In much of the open space, troops worked on their skills such as swordfighting and archey. Where the blacksmith had been, the anvils still stood, and two new furnaces had been built. One, however, was not as good as the other, and was used only for softer metals. Nearby, coal was piled neatly. Wood was too difficult to find, now that the southern gate was beseiged, and a new coal deposit had been found in Barri. The sound of hammers on metal rang through the air- Katsuna had taught the basics of smithing to anyone who showed an interest, and at the moment, two dark knights were working on some project on one anvil, and an imp was making himself "a little shiny" as he put it. a short distance away, a row of cooking fires held large pots full of food. It took a lot of food to fill even one ogre, and Katsuna had to keep a constant guard on the stores to keep people from taking an 'unofficial second helping.'

Barri was the main place where everyone lived, now. Sections of mined-out areas were cordoned off for sleeping barracks, storehouses for food, fuel, and armaments. There was also one small tunnel, easily overlooked. It led to a small chamber that Katsuna had made into a cell. So far, there were three children in it. Two were previous residents of Bangor, who had, in the fright of the sudden evacuation, hidden themselves and been missed, as well as trapped when the town was set to burning. These were Ibbie and Sion. Sion, in fact, was the only reason Katsuna had been able to have two furnaces at all. His knowledge of such matters was a goldmine in and of itself, and as long as she promised Ibbie's safety, he was a cooperative, if somewhat sullen, instructor. The other child was a long-time prisoner of Katsuna's, a teenager, really, rather than a child. She had coppery red hair and deep blue eyes. This girl was Cinnahin, the daughter of Jinn and perhaps, if the reports were true, now a princess. Katsu had made the child's whereabouts quite a secret, and she wasn't too worried about someone turning up to rescue her now. She kept her safe as one final wildcard.

As for the woman herself, today Katsuna was sitting on the southern wall with the guard, drinking coffee and admiring how the robed figures beseiging their gate stood perfectly motionless and silent, day and night. There was always a robe wraith that flew overhead, one per day, but she had instructed her archers to leave it unmolested. If all it wanted was to pass, she would not interfere. Unless she was ordered.

((we should set a date for RPing my arrival))

Southern Region Udahl

The Sen Mag Residence attack calmed into an eerie silence as smoke rises from the fires set by the Robed Figures to drive out civilians. Now to those of Emain Macha, Gairech, Sen Mag Plateau, Morva Aisle, Bangor, and Port Ceann will see it as a signal of the Robed Figures' first victory against Udahl. The Robed Figures now exited the residence with 350 heading to Emain Macha through Sen Mag Plateau. Suddenly, multiple shrieks are heard from Gairech, near Bangor. Whatever happened, the army south of Bangor start mobilizing, the giants stood up and moved slowly towards Bangor with a very small cloud of fire arrows released towards Bangor.

ETA for Sen Mag Robed Figures to Reach Emain Macha: Friday.

---

Middle Region Udahl

The Robe Wraiths surrounding the dragon ruins heard the shrieks and deformed their formation into a flying worm-like swarm movements towards the north, they may have intentions of attacking Dunbarton and Tir Chornaill. The Robe Wraiths at Dunbarton stopped at each sides of Dunbarton and raised their skeletal hand as they charged for an Ice Spear attack.

ETA for Dragon Robe Wraiths to Reach Dunbarton: Friday.

---

Northern Region Udahl

Nothing going on there.

(( Did you give any opportunity for RP events to represent resistance, or did you just decide to burn the residence yourself? ))

((If I did, would anyone go all the way to Sen Mag Residence to play them out? Jake said that he doubts it due to the busy times and the high chance of the calling being missed; along the way, Jake always put up the deadline for moving on.))

((enemies in front of us, enemies behind us, enemies possibly above us. I'm marching to the aid of a person who was until very recently my enemy, whose army probably hates us. Were outnumbered and, from the looks of it, horribly outmatched. Trouble both with the civilians at home and with some of my own army. There is no where to run to if we fail.

I LOVE THIS RP!!!)))

Jinnhin wrote:((If I did, would anyone go all the way to Sen Mag Residence to play them out? Jake said that he doubts it due to the busy times and the high chance of the calling being missed; along the way, Jake always put up the deadline for moving on.))

[[Did you even try to announce it in Mabi when you were online or did you just base it off an assumption that nobody would bother? Whenever I see you on, you've been either silent or doing Barri runs for ore and silent; and I've never seen you present in times when there's events where your wraiths would probably have intervened (though that was just one small case and worked around, but still! XP).]]

Narrator: After studying the construct's assembly, Kenelm worked out two ways to dispatch them even faster. This was just before they mobilized, and once they did, he quickly moved to try and intercept this new enemy.

// Depending on their numbers, Kenelm may be able to dispatch more than a full squad's worth, and be able walk away, alive...

//EDIT: Uladh.

Gatemo wrote:[[Did you even try to announce it in Mabi when you were online or did you just base it off an assumption that nobody would bother? Whenever I see you on, you've been either silent or doing Barri runs for ore and silent; and I've never seen you present in times when there's events where your wraiths would probably have intervened (though that was just one small case and worked around, but still! XP).]]

Silent? I was IGNORED many times whenever I said something.

>>I asked for an escort through Barri, ignored.

>>I asked if anyone wants to come with me through Rabbie Basic, ignored.

>>I asked if there is a RP going on, ignored.

>>I announced that I was going to start a RP, ignored as well.

I got better chance asking Zefiris, Joelove and Surge to go with me into Peaca or an advanced dungeon and get a response than asking the guild to go with me into Rabbie or Barri and expect a response.

-.-" If you said, "Then speak up more." I'll not be a very happy lady.

Besides, Jakelvin put up enough opportunities for you guys to go ask me if you guys want to go play them out. None of you did, except asking me about the Robe Wraiths and Robed Figures. >.>"

((I escorted you through Barri))

((Welcome to Thomas and I's world, enjoy your stay. Sometimes, we're frakkin' busy. Sometimes, we're not in a talking mood. And sometimes, we just. Friggin'. Hate. Barri.))

[[I'm not going to speak for everybody in the guild, but froms personal experiences:

- I've also escorted you through Barri. You made no mention of wanting to RP, only to mine and for me to clear out rooms while you did so.

- Admittedly, you DID ask to RP in Barri once, though it wasn't with me - you just wanted it okay'd for this plot. Considering that Bangor is currently under control in T.T. and Jinn IS an enemy of Gate's, any sign of her near the town would leave her to be killed on sight regardless of the fact that anybody not bearing Requiem's colors is to be treated as a hostile anyways. And it took me near an hour to argue this point across with you before you just went silent and did I dunno what.

- I have NEVER heard you ask over guild chat for a roleplay in my times online, much less anything but escort requests through Barri for your training.

- As far as my concern with the wraiths, they haven't done anything but move around regions and NPCs under my control, so they haven't been an immediate until this morning; but that doesn't mean I haven't been watching them and everybody else's reactions to them. I ask questions to keep things fair and regulated, as this is a plot I created to begin with, and I'd like to keep up with whatever's being worked around it so I can adapt as everybody else has been doing with their own plots. I'm trying very hard to let everyone have a chance to keep up and I do thank you for scheduling the ETAs recently on attacks in that regard. (Note - this is good idea, people. Remember it!)

Point is I've seen a lot of activity in posts here, but no mention of things in Mabinogi. Maybe I'm just getting on at the wrong times, but even when I do hang with you, nothing seems to happen since your spies took off. ]]

(( Just to follow up:

There have been no mention of the Wraiths or the Robed figures at all in the guild chat when I have been on.
Considering this is almost an RP event, I would expect that more aspects that effect regions
would be RP'd, or at least offered, rather than just assumed everyone will let it fly.

My half-a-cent, for what little it's worth ))

((Gate, hows Thursday, usual time sound for an arrival RP?))