Mirror city - Speeltopics

In a small city near the coast of Greyhorn, a mysterious occurance has haunted it's people for decades. Every day one persoon dissapears without a trace, only to return either outside the city or after 24 hours. No one knowes why this suddenly started occuring or how to stop it. People who come back, tell others of the horrors they witnessed. They were in the same city but no other human was there. But they weren't alone... Monsters filled the streets and sky, the only way to escape was to leave the town. This way you would be returned to your homeland. Many witnessed their own death, being gobbeled up by monsters, only to suddenly be in the village again because 24 hours had past. Everyone always returned, but they were never the same...

The guild of Greyhorn has put up a reward for they how can save this city from the horrors they are facing. A gemstone with the name 'Mermaids Call', with unique properties, said to make anyones wish come true.

[ bericht aangepast op 8 aug 2022 - 19:08 ]

[ bericht aangepast op 7 aug 2022 - 22:26 ]

Panting and tripping is the most consistent action that Enna has taken over the past few days. Her skin burns and heals as she cowers and casts her spells, yet no spell of potion has saved her from the excruciating pain of her body rejecting both elven and dragon form. Stuck in a never-ending limbo, her sight remains blurred while wandering through the unknown forest. She is unaware of where she is or going, knowing that her only home has rejected her, yet continues to persist with the help of her dragon companion. Though, as much as the dragon supports her, it is also a sore reminder of her incompetence. How could the creature, which she considered godlike until recently, suddenly be at her aid. How could such a holy creature be doomed to the fate of never being part of it's own family, now be forced to wander in unknown worlds, risking it's life for a lowly elf. Such thoughts haunt her day and night as she debates her choices, yet she would still make the same mistake over and over again.

Day after day her energy drains and her luck reduces even more as a storm sets in. The deafening sound of the wind rushing through the leaves, force the duo to clamp their ears as they seek for cover, yet no cover can be found. Cowering besides a tree, the two embrace each other, trying to keep themselves warm while being showered with rain and rampaged by flying pieces of forest remnants. As the dragon is hit by a thorned bush, he screeches and his tail slightly lights up duo to the lightning bundling there. The slight surge of energy cause the lightning from the storm to slightly change its course and lands directly on Enna. She squeals as now not only her skin, but her whole body burns and the heat explodes in her body. Parts of her boiling skin turn into golden dragon scales and the iris of her eyes turns gold as well. Suddenly everything falls silent and she finds herself drifting in an empty space, something seems to approach her from far away. As it gets closer, it appears to be a lightning dragon flying straight at her, yet no fear runs through her body. It's appearance seems soothing and familiar so she simply waits as she spreads her arms out as if she were to expect a hug from it. The dragon, however, flies straight through her and she hears someone calling for her. "Enna! Enna can you hear me? Enna..." Confused Enna opens her eyes and mutters: "Pilan?" Pilan jumps with joy as Enna finally awakes. The sun has already shown its face as the morning has arrived and the storm has long past. Enna slowly adjusts to the light and realises how long she has been out. She takes a breath and enjoys the fresh scent of the forest, which has just been washed clean. Little sounds of the forest turn into music and it is only now that she realises that she has been deaf this whole time. For the first time, in what must have been weeks, she cracks a smile and says: "Yes, I can hear you Pilan. It's good to see you." She looks over her shoulder as she can hear sounds coming from afar and notices lovely smells that make her stomach yearn for food. "There must be a city nearby, shall we look for some food?" Enna asks her campanion, whom nods enthusiastically.

[ bericht aangepast op 17 sep 2022 - 22:05 ]

Now that it's summer, the training grounds have because a hellish environment where few to none find themselves. The open area surrounded by white walls allows the sun to obliterate any form of life and turned the once flourishing area into a sandbox. The air is dry and filled with dust, causing excruciating pain for any whom inhale it. This has the knights redrawn from training so most can only be found in taverns, drinking the day away. Yet there was no silence on the desert like terrain, one could here sighing and groaning combined with muzzled blows hitting a straw object. The sweat on Pete's skin had turned to mud with the dry dust flying around. Finally, when his lungs are about to collapse and his hands have gone numb from the heat, does he allow himself to sit down next to the wall. A muffled conversation can be heard in the distance: "Finally the pushover has sat himself down." "Couldn't he just collapse, we'd be better off that way." "Can't believe we're pretending to practise just because he's making the high-ups believe it's possible in this weather." Pete seems unaware of the people sitting on the opposite side, his ears pounding and all his focus goes to the sweet feeling of water touching his throat. “Ah, sweet refreshment, how much I have earned you after exposing my strength to these fine recruits.” He says to the sun. In two days time, the yearly trial will be held which has two categories: The first being to recruit new people into the army, those who pass, are allowed to train on the army training grounds for one year. There they will receive training from veteran knights and be able to practise on their own. These veterans will take note of anyone worthy which will increase your chances of becoming a knight. The second category is for those who have been training for a year, to show that they are now worthy of joining the ranks. They will have to complete certain trials with success, which will be a huge event that everyone in the capitol comes to watch. If someone received a recommendation from a veteran, they are allowed to start at the second trial, with multiple recommendations one can skip that many trials, there being 10 in total. It is expected that everyone receives at least one recommendation in their year of training, therefor the first trial is a crooked, impossible challenge meant to discourage any whom lay eyes upon it. It comes as no surprise, that talent isn't all they look for when recruiting for new knights. Your family and status make a big difference, if one does not have such an advantage, you'd better be liked be a veteran knight.

The night before the trial, Pete is found in a downtown tavern, close to where he grew up. Yet no encouragement or kind words awaited him here, poverty had taken it's toll on the people, as well as his parents whom perished while he was training near the palace. Most of his siblings have joined other families through marriage or in exchange for all sorts of labor. Pete's return brings shallow memories of what once was, but no meaningful words are exchanged between those present. In the corner lies a lute, awaiting it's death as it gets buried under the dust, but it seems to attract Pete's attention. "Ah, that lute came from your old home, after your siblings sold the house, this lute was left here in case a bard came by. You can take it if you like." Says the tavern owner as he rinses his glasses. A strange feeling overcomes Pete, in just hours time, he is to perform at the trials with shield and sword. Yet here he stands, drawn to a lute, and it's not even that he cares for it emotionally. For some reason, he just wants to gently pull it's strings and through his heart out, but he can't. The owners sighs as he sees Pete's confusing. "Just take it, you can always gift it to someone else." The excuse seems to have convinced him enough to finally pick it up and blow some dust off of it. Charmed by his new possession, he leaves the tavern and makes his way back to the training area, where he sleeps in the bunkers which are provided for the recruits without a place to sleep.

As the morning rises, Pete is up with the sun and has already started his warming-up. Yesterdays lute seems to have slipped his mind as his full focus is on todays trial. After entering the ring he looks up to the crowd going wild with enthusiasm and it reminds him of his own excitement as a child when he first laid eyes upon knights returning from war. His memories have to wait though, as everyone is assigned to the trial they have to start at. “You have to start at the first trial? Why even bother showing up, you’re wasting everyone’s time!” Pete looks at the drunkard talking to him. “Of course I start at the first trial, with such a talent as me, you want the crowd to see me shine in full glory. Defeating a black bear as a group is easy, alone is the signature of a true knight! They simply wanted to show me off this year.” Pete boasts as he takes a pose and wipes his hair back. The others just laugh and go to their trial, awaiting it’s start. Each trial only starts as the one before it is ready because they have to show teamwork and also dual each other. Pete readies himself for the first trial as the crowd sheers him on. However, Pete seems unaware of the fact that they are sheering for his death, instead of his success. He firmly holds his sword and shield and uses a brief second to double check that he is really doing this alone. It doesn’t discourage him though, as he believes that he can truly pull it off. He’s painfully aware of the fact that this bear is much stronger than him, yet his agility and cunningness exceed the bear. By making use of the uneven terrain to evade and dust particles to slow it down, slowly the beast and it’s black fur are starting to feel the effects of the scorching summer. Pete sees his chance and provokes the bear with ear splitting bashing of his sword against his shield. Profusely sweating the bear makes his way towards Pete whom slashes his sword through the sand, causing the bar to go blind from the dust for a second. Using this opportunity, he leaps towards the bear and thrusts his sword into its heart. His actions are followed by a notable silence for a second of two, only for the crowd to then burst out into sheers for the never-seen-before actions of Pete. Even after the first trial, the crowd has little time to rest as Pete makes his way through the trials. Even as others make it as difficult as possible for him, tossing him aside or trying to wound him enough to get him thrown of the trials, Pete seems to have luck on his side and remains resilient. His last trial is a dual, where one must win at least two out of three matches. His opponents seems to not be daunted by his achievements as they realise he must be tired by now. After spending this long in the sun, barely having had a break in between, his feet must be swimming in his own sweat. They should have better been more cautious though, since above being tired, Pete is the most stubborn of all. With a firm grip of his sword he shoves his way through the duals, winning all three of them. His victories seem to only feed his obnoxious idea of self worth as he bows to the crowd as if they came to his personal show. Yet after completing all trials, the capitol has no other choice than to appoint him as knight under their army. Proud as Pete is, he’s quick to accept his first assignment as knight, saving a small town from a curse.

Icitra
You know, I could've saved myself a lot of trouble. You'd think that being able to look into the future would mean that you don't make mistakes, that you don't struggle and hurdle through life. But the thing is, I can't look into my own. I have always been 'such a great help' for everyone else but myself. I really messed up today. But I guess I'll be free.

Cold, dark and gloomy, that's how Icitra would describe her home. Maybe other Elf tribes make an effort in decorating and making their home actually feel like a home. This is not it though. Falmer Elves live underground. It's safe, hidden and near impenetrable to anyone who tries to trespass. But it's lifeless, colorless. Elves here are stiff and they're cold as snow. Which is kind of ironic, given that they're Snow Elves. Icitra never liked this way of life. She often sneaks out at night when everyone's asleep. Because of her gifts she is treated like some sort of special price, but at the same time disobeying the rules has consequences. Consequences that more often than not hurt a lot. You see, it's really just an act to satisfy and not worry the masses. There is a lot of different stories going around here about what happened to previous Fire Elves. It was not unusual for them to just 'magically disappear'. That never really mattered though, there was always going to be a new one to replace them. To be used like a puppet, like a dog for their own gain. Elves have time to wait for a new jewel to replace their old one that had lost it's shine.

Faintly Icitra places her hand over her other arm. A warm feeling fills her hand, but it stings. It hurts, actually. After a few seconds the feeling starts drifting away and it slowly becomes less painful. This cut was quite deep, it will most likely still show as a little scar. Maybe if she was a better healer she would be able to make it fully disappear. Too bad most of her body is covered in faint little scars. They say it makes the market value go down.

Icitra prepared a fresh batch of potions to give to Elijah. The plan was to sneak out tonight when nobody's watching and hand them over to him. That is no longer happening though. Tonight she will be banished, tortured too most likely. They found out what she had been doing; the potion exchanges, the nightly get aways, the contact with a creature that's not their own. Falmer Elves hate other species, they don't stay underground for nothing. Not surprising, other creatures usually hate them back as well. She doesn't know who saw her, the Elders would never tell her that. It's not like she ever had any rights here anyways. 'Don't ask, don't tell, do your job and all will be well.' Right..

A banishment usually results in death. Elves don't do well on their own, they need community, safety, status, a place of belonging. Throw in a couple of gushing, lethal wounds and it makes sense why most die pretty fast after being discarded of.

A male Elf steps into the room, his face is covered so she can't recognize him. Not like it really matters, she's pretty dazed as it is and also she doesn't really care that much. He grabs her arm and binds her hands and feet so there's not much room to struggle. He drags her out of the room where she feels her senses failing her. Her eyes shut and she loses her consciousness. Everything becomes unclear after that. Maybe there was.. a ritual?

Elijah
The fresh summer air fills Elijah's lungs as he prepares his horses and carriage to leave. Leaving his hometown to become a travel merchant truly suited him. Or maybe that is just something he likes to tell himself to make himself feel better about it. Tonight he will be passing by Mirror City as it is on the road to Icitra. He had been receiving her potions for quite a long time. She has always mentioned how no one could know they were hers and so he never said a word. Not everyone is too keen on magic and humans especially despise Elves. They would bring bad luck and harm and would curse anyone just for fun. They're just supersticious stories ofcourse, most people had never in their lives come into contact with one. Humans tend to make others the bad guy to distract from their own flaws and wrongdoings. Thus it didn't really surprise Elijah that when he met Icitra, she wasn't anything like that. She didn't curse or harm him at least. No bad luck either.

The bright sky slowly makes room for a darker blue color and the moon shows itself bright and beautiful in the night sky, as she always does. The night sky filled with stars never bores him. He could always enjoy really small, seemingly unimportent things. He fixes his gaze towards the spot where he usually meets Icitra. He has never really known where she comes from, she has always been quite secretive. She would usually already be there before he arrives, but tonight she is nowhere to be found. A small frown shows on his face. Where could she be?

He decides to place the carriage next to some trees and just wait it out. She must be a little late, which is not like her. Minutes go by, maybe even half an hour. An hour? Elijah isn't sure but it is starting to feel like quite a long time. The air begins to feel chilly and it makes him shiver a bit. He figures that she probably isn't going to show up, which is kind of a disappointment. He turns around to grab a thick blanket behind him, but as he reaches out a white silhouet and piercing yellow eyes fills his gaze. It doesn't take him too long to realise that it's a snake and in a quick reflex he pulls back his arm. The weird looking snake stays put in it's place and Elijah finds himself captivated by it's eyes. They almost seem to light up in the dark and they remind him of citrine crystals.

The snake slithers out of the carriage and for some reason Elijah feels compelled to follow it. It doesn't make any sense as to why he is doing this. This snake reminds him of Icitra, even though that sounds completely absurd. He slides the reigns of one of his horses between his fingers and puts a little force on them to make the horses move from their place. The snake seems to be heading somewhere. Evening dew has started to form and starts to glisten in the moonlight. Something seems to be lying in the grass up ahead. Carefully Elijah comes closer and his eyes widen when he realises what's laying in front of him. He can barely make it up to be Icitra. She is almost unrecognizable and the sight of her is horrid. She is bleeding, bruised and wounded all over, her long hair has been cut and she looks to be branded with some symbol. A sound of disbelief escapes Elijah's mouth as he bends down to carefully pick her up. She doesn't respond to anything, but she seems to still be breathing. Which Elijah finds to be a miracle in itself given the state that's she's in. He places her on the back of his carriage. Luckily this is a covered wagon so it should keep most of the wind out. He wraps her in a blanket as carefully as he can and tries to bind her wounds with whatever cloth he has lying around. She feels like glass that can shatter at any moment. He still knows a skilled healer in Mirror City. Though he's not sure if she's too keen on treating an Elf.. He decides that there's not really much of a choice and so he decides to take the chance and make course for the city, praying that she will survive until then.

[ bericht aangepast op 11 aug 2022 - 23:12 ]

With Pilan on her shoulder, Enna slowly reaches a path which leads to a nearby city. The road seems almost empthy but a knight seems to make his way to the city aswell. While one would assume a city to be bustling, instead the three are met with a gloomy and abandoned appearance. Pete marches straight towards the guild hall to let them know he has arrived and checks in at a local inn. After his horse has settled in, Pete brings himself over to the bar to ask for a meal and some information. The bar tender gives him a side eye and sighes. "You'd better leave while you can, I've seen many like you come and go. Once your trapped in the cursed land, you'll return without your soul." Pete doesn't seem to believe a word and boasts his skills. "I acquired the highest rank in the capitol trials and am stronger and more skilled than any other knight. I fear no monsters that dwell in this cursed land and shall defeat them all to free this city from their nightmares."

Enna strolls through the city, trying to figure out where the nice smell came from. Between the houses, the cold breeze can't reach her and her body slowly heats up, causing her to take off her cape, revealing her elven ears to the public and Pilan whom had been resting below it on her shoulder. Almost immediately fears seems to erupt in the city as people take cover or hide in their houses. Confused and slighty frightened she pulls her clothes and looks around uncomfortably. While debating on wether she should run or hide, someone seems to walk up to her. A muscular figure with a large hammer over his shoulder, vigorously closes in on her. "We don't need anymore nightmares here, you can leave and never return or face death!" Enna understands that the man is not welcoming her into the city but is having trouble understanding him. Growing up in a elven town, she hardly ever spoke anything else but Elvish. Learning Common was part of her education though, but the accent seems to throw her off.

Slightly distressed Elijah makes it into town with Icitra covered in his carriage. He has been checking her breathing what feels like every two seconds. Luckily she still is, however faint and weak it may be. He takes a few turns and reaches a wooden house, which gives off a cozy and warm feeling. He jumps off of his carriage and knocks on the door. After a few seconds, which feel like hours to Elijah, a woman opens the door. Her strawberry blonde hair caresses her cheekbones and with big, blue eyes she stares at Elijah. "Febris, I need your help.", Elijah tells her quietly. He doesn't want the whole street to hear him. "My friend is dying and I'm asking you to tend to her. I don't think she'll make it if she isn't cared for immediately."

Startled Febris hurries towards the carriage and slightly uncovers Icitra. She immediatly drops the blanket covering Icitra when she sees her condition and turns to Elijah. Her eyes show a weird mixture of irritation and concern. "How can you ask me to tend her? She's an Elf, do you know how people will look at me if I do this?", she whispers between her teeth. Elijah matches her irritated energy and straightens his back a little more after hearing her words. "You swore an oath when you became a healer, or did you happen to forget? Are you going to let her die just because she has 'scary' pointy ears?", Elijah tells her with a direct tone in his voice. Febris closes her eyes for a moment out of frustration and then turns back to Icitra. "Fine, help me get her inside. And make sure she is covered so nobody sees her.", she quietly tells him as she climbs into the carriage to carefully lift Icitra.

Once inside, Icitra is placed onto an improvised bed and Febris swiftly goes through all of her potions, herbs, bandages and salves. She would be lying if she said that she isn't a little stressed out seeing Icitra's wounds and bruises. How cruel would someone, or something, have to be to do this to another creature? She aids every wound and then grabs her wrists. As she opens her hands she is shocked to discover that she has a big symbol branded on the inside of both her hands. They look painful enough on their own to have made Icitra lose consciousness. Carefully she balms her hands and then wraps them in bandages. Febris throughly scans Icitra with her eyes to see if she missed anything, but it looks like she has wrapped, covered and tended everything in her power. Elijah had been anxiously standing outside as Febris was nervous enough already to not have his piercing eyes in her back. Febris steps out of the room, "I think she is stable for now, but I don't know how long she will be unconscious for. Her body is using up a lot of energy to even keep herself alive. It's a miracle she still is." Elijah peeks into the room. If not with all of these bandages, she almost looks to have sunk into a peaceful sleep. He nods in approval. "I'm assuming she can stay here until she wakes up and is able to leave?", he asks Febris, although the tone in his voice doesn't make it sound like a question, but more like a statement. Nonetheless Febris nods in agreement. She closed the slighty see through blinds, no one would be able to look through the window and be able to make up a wounded Elf to be laying on the bed.

Elijah closes the door, thanks Febris and steps outside. A deep sigh of relief escapes his lips and he runs his fingers through his grayish hair. A few sunrays peek through the clouds and warm his skin. It's no use sitting next to Icitra right now, she wasn't going to wake up in the next hour most likely. He is better off not stressing out too much and so he decides to put his carriage and horses away next to Febris' house and wander the streets. He hasn't looked at the streets, houses, shops and people properly since he left to wander between cities and villages. It makes him feel a little nostalgic and he's not sure if he likes that feeling.

[ bericht aangepast op 19 sep 2022 - 13:53 ]