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Thread: [M] Elf Interest (Holey & Marimo) IC

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    Default [M] Elf Interest (Holey & Marimo) IC

    The knight disembarked from the airship as he arrived at the elven capital city. A wide variety of mixed expressions stared at him in his Imperial-style armor, with his round ears... a very unusual sight indeed, in the elven kingdoms. Some of the elves seemed amazed by the airship technology that, while increasingly popular in the Empire, was nearly unseen in these parts. Others regarded the human with pure hatred and contempt due to the prejudices of their kind towards his own. And still others... mostly younger females... almost seemed to be in love with him.

    Of course, the elves had their reasons for all of this. The rapid expansion of the Empire since it was founded a mere half century ago was a subject of alarm to the dwarven, fae, and elven kingdoms located around its borders. Several elven kingdoms had already been assimilated into the Imperial population, and those that hadn't, stood in staunch opposition to Imperial expansion.

    This was before the orc invasions, however. No one had expected the orcs to come together and attack in such numbers. No one, apparently, except the Emperor himself. Emperor Friedrich I had been quick to propose an alliance of mutual self-defense to the elves, and after losing several of their border villages, the elves saw that they had no choice but to accept this alliance in order to ensure their own survival.

    Which led to the arrival of the Arcane Knight known as Parin. While the Imperial Airship Navy had been tasked with bombarding the orcs from the sky, Parin was tasked with assisting their elven allies on the ground. In order to do so, he was to team up with one of the elven forest wardens who knew the lay of the land, in order to push back against the orc intruders and drive them out of the forest. The knight headed straight to the castle in order to meet with his host.

    Holey Paladin's armor by Haya

  2. #2
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    "They're here, First Warden."

    "Thank you, Kyarn." Miara watched as her subordinate left the room and closed the door behind him. She stared at the wooden door with a hard expression in silence, breathing measured breaths. Though mostly modest, her office was ornate with a diverse range of plants and art pieces, placed in such a fashion that one would assume a professional had arranged it all. The elven warden's perfectionism tended to bleed into every facet of her life and surroundings: work was never left unfinished, plants never left unwatered, dust always swiftly cleaned off of every surface. When it came to diplomacy, she was hard and fast with the rules and expectations of her kingdom; though diplomacy hadn't been much of a concern before now.

    Standing from her decoratively carved wooden chair, Miara smoothed out her green and silver uniform, now adorned with armour-like features because of the orc invasions and subsequent war. Before leaving the room, she hesitated beside her ornamental bow. She had used it in ceremonies and perhaps a bet or two, but never in the violent nature it was intended. Though there have always been fighters, she had never been on the forefront of anything so dangerous as what Valkanyn -- and all other kingdoms -- were now facing. Her skills were adept enough for her to reach her position in the Royal Guard, but it had always been more of a formality than an actual need. If anything, she was more of a geographer than a soldier.

    Her reluctant weapon now affixed to her back, Miara left her office and walked down the hallway. It was more silent than usual, save for the buzzing of gossip. Servants and soldiers alike were casting glances at each other, out the windows, and mumbling. Some with expressions of fear, but most with a hardened expression that could be construed as anger. Miara was amongst these glares, and her expression did not waver as she made her way to the grand hall where she would be meeting... them for the first time.

    The place had been cleared saved for a few high-ranking officials; all from different jurisdictions but equally important in this "alliance" that had to be ventured very, very carefully. Being the only female of the group, Miara stood tall, proud, and very still, her eyes trained on the grand doors. Everyone in the room was silent. The warden's pulse was fast and impatient; just how was this all going to go down?

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    Parin began to eye the elven city more critically on the way to the castle. There were, of course, a number of noteworthy differences in architecture, such as the way the elves tended to blend in and become one with nature, the fact that elven cities were far more clean and aesthetically pleasing than the somewhat hastily constructed buildings of busy human cities, and so on. But what he was examining primarily was the military readiness of the elven city.

    Everything from the ornamental nature of the city walls to the uniforms and weaponry of the city guards told the knight that Valkanyn was a kingdom that knew nothing of war. To think they had stood opposed to the Empire for decades, yet still hadn't adapted to modern military tactics. Had the Empire actually assaulted this kingdom, he was confident that it wouldn't have stood for a week before falling under the banner of Friedrich I.

    Yet he wasn't here to conquer the city, but to protect it. As he made his way into the palace and saw his host, he noted that the female of the group was incredibly beautiful. Beautiful, yes, but with a uniform that had never been worn into combat, and an ornamental weapon that had never been used in battle. These were a people in desperate need of the Empire's assistance.

    He was accompanied by several other humans, of course, but they weren't knights, and therefore wouldn't be accompanying him in his battles against the orcs. Rather, they would be representing the brigade of Imperial infantry that would be arriving later, positioned to defend the elven settlements against the orc invaders. Parin's own mission was to go on the offensive, and strike the orc leadership with tactical precision to bring disorder and chaos to their ranks.

    As he was the ranking official, the knight stepped forward to greet the elves. "I'm Parin, an Arcane Knight in service to the Empire," he said. "It is my understanding that one of your wardens is to be my guide as I shed green blood all over your forest floor while protecting your pretty pointy ears." His gaze drifted back to the woman with the bow, as she quite obviously matched the appearance of an elven warden more than the other officials.

    Holey Paladin's armor by Haya

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    As soon as the knight opened his mouth, Miara knew that she loathed this man with every fiber of her soul. The muscles in her arms clenched instinctively and her jaw was hard as stone. Protecting our pretty pointy ears? she thought, the fumes of rage starting to gather in her chest. Had it not been for her superior instructing her to attend this meeting and assist this man, she would have stomped out without so much as another word. If she were a more violent person, she'd probably think of clocking him in the face but even if that desire sprung to mind, it's not very difficult to see who would have the upper hand.

    "Hello, Knight," she gritted, eyes aflame and staring back into his. Miara flipped her dark brown hair over one shoulder out of irritation, unintentionally making her left ear visible. "Our 'pointy ears' hardly need your protecting, but people above our ranks have agreed that this alliance will be beneficial to the both of us. I look forward to your cooperation." Her last words were almost a hiss, and her eyes squinted as she regarded the man. It wasn't often that Miara saw humans, and perhaps in another world she would have been amazed and enthralled by their differences, but at this moment she only felt spite and disgust. A monster that is excited to shed blood. The thought made her nails clench into her palms.

    "If you will follow me to my office, we can continue our strategy and coordinate our first plans." Miara took a deep breath when thinking of having to be alone in a room with this brute, but it was out of her control. Despite her high standing in the Royal Guard, she received orders like most everyone else. Without waiting for a response, the warden spun on her heel and marched back the way she had come. She didn't look behind her and she didn't slow her gait. If he couldn't keep up, she couldn't care less. If only the others could deal with him, she thought. Why in Valkanyn did they choose me to guide him, anyway?! The thoughts and frustrations followed her all the way back to her office, past the staring faces and hushed whispers from the other workers in the castle. Once at her door, she swung it open brusquely and finally turned around to see her new partner.

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    The knight tried not to laugh at how easily the elf woman seemed to get enraged by his very presence. Indeed, this was definitely the sort of reaction he had been expecting... it was comical, in fact, in how stereotypically elven her entire attitude was. So much superiority complex, while dressed in an outfit that was far more suited to court than it was to the battlefield. It became even more amusing as she opened her mouth to respond to him.

    "Mm..." he said, noting how she seemed entirely confident in her ability to drive off the entire orc army herself with that ornamental bow of hers. He noted the way she arrogantly tossed her hair to expose her pointy ear, looking at it for a time as he heard the rest of her words. "Maybe not your ears," he said with a shrug, "But I'm pretty sure the village elves would like as much protection as they can get, since the small villages are the ones that suffer more than fortified cities like this one." Parin had likely seem more elves than this elf had seen humans, but the ones in the Empire had always been far more friendly than the arrogant creature before.

    With a shrug, he went ahead and let the elf lead him to the office. He couldn't deny the fact that the girl was pretty, but she definitely needed a serious attitude adjustment before she could be considered even remotely cute. As far as Parin was concerned, a cute girl was far more attractive than a beautiful girl with a major attitude problem, as they were so much easier to deal with. As she finally opened the door to her office, he watched her turn to face him.

    "So..." he said, "I didn't catch your name. Do you have any experience killing orcs, or are you more of a tour guide who practice target marksmanship?" There were some major differences between shooting at a target and using a bow in a combat situation. While Parin wasn't much of an archer himself, he knew enough about combat archery to tell that it was a completely different technique altogether, focused more on movement rather than standing still.

    Holey Paladin's armor by Haya

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    "Unlike your brutish and undignified race, the elves of Valkanyn do not resort to such barbaric practices to solve our problems. We use our intellect instead of disgracefully beating our opponents to death, which by the sounds of it, is your favourite pass-time." Never, in her entire life, had she met someone so pompous and full of himself. Every word that passed his lips set another fire in her core. Violence was always the very last thing she ever wanted to resort to, but this Parin was pushing all of her buttons. His confidence in his abilities and his race enraged her.

    "You didn't ask for my name, but if you had I would've told you that it's Miara," she seethed, standing in her doorway and glaring at the knight, "but you may refer to me as First Warden seeing as our partnership is purely diplomatic." After the quip about the bow, she instinctively touched the base of it with one hand, then scowled. "If I were you, I wouldn't worry about my abilities."

    With that, she stormed into her office and sat down in her chair, straightening her back and placing both forearms on her desk. Miara jerked her head towards one of the chairs on the opposite side of her desk, not bothering with any formalities at this point. All she could manage to say without shouting was, "Close the door."

    "So what exactly is your plan, here? Your people have been incredibly vague and unhelpful when it comes to actually orchestrating this alliance. You are the guests on this land, yet you walk around like we should be serving you and kissing your feet." Miara clenched her jaw once more and waited in vain for the words that could very well make her explore.

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    Chuckling at the words of the elf, the knight slowly shook his head. "Intellect, huh?" he remarked in amusement. "That must be why you're still using thousand year old technology and even more antiquated battlefield tactics, right?" He looked at her with amusement as she continued to refer to him as if he was some sort of brutish thug. "So how would you respond to this invasion if you had to fight it on your own... debate the orcs to death somehow? That would be an interesting fight to watch..."

    Shrugging as she said to call her First Warden, he simply said, "Whatever you say, Miara. My name is Parin, but you can instead refer to me as that guy who will be protecting your little hairless butt," he referred to the fact that elven skin complexion lacked body hair below the neck, something quite different from the "hairy barbarian" type skin complexion of his own race. "I won't be worried about your abilities, now that I know I'll be doing all the heavy lifting," he said with a shrug.

    Glancing at the door as she said to close it, the knight said, "You forgot to say please," yet he ended up closing it anyway and taking a seat at the desk, sitting across from her and giving her an expression of amusement as she continued to complain and be entirely unhelpful while asking for his plan. Thinking over how to respond for a moment, he gestured down to the map of the tactical situation in Valkanyn, examining for a bit.

    Taking some time to assess the situation, he eventually moved over to remove a piece from the board that marked the location of an orc war camp. "This camp no longer exists," he commented. "The Airship Navy bombarded it last night, wiping out a good number of green-skins and scattering the camp. While it safeguards this city here," he pointed at the city that the orcs had been heading toward, "It also means the surrounding settlements are in danger," he gestured to some of the nearby villages. "Our first assignment is to secure the nearest village, as we expect remnants of the orc war camp will be raiding it... burning it to the ground, slaughtering all the men and raping all the women. You know, all that barbaric stuff that you think you can prevent without resorting to violence, somehow. As for me, I'd rather be there by nightfall so that the village stands a chance of survival, but what do I know? I'm just a human. But it still falls upon you to get me there, Miara."

    Holey Paladin's armor by Haya

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    Miara's nails dug into her desk. The audacity... she thought, her displeasure no doubt showing quite clearly on her face. She knew how much trouble she would be in if she got even unfriendlier with her "guest", but the urge to kick him out and tell him to find his own bloody way to the village was very, very strong. To be fair, she had insulted him, but he had insulted her and her race first, and decided to play by his game. He's already getting under my skin, she thought angrily, taking slow and measured breaths. And it's clear that he's enjoying every second of it.

    Ignoring all of his comments on her and her race, she closed her eyes and clasped her hands together on top of the map. When opening her eyes, she leaned forward slightly and stared directly into Parin's.

    "I can see that this is all very amusing to you, but how exactly would you feel if we had paraded onto your land and claimed that our ways were superior to yours and insisted on making battle plans?" Miara's voice was a lot more leveled now, and she was actively pushing down the rage simmering within. "Are you really going to pretend like your kind hasn't lost people in other foolish wars and raids? Never mind the ones you incite. You act as though you are an impenetrable force that does nothing but conquer its foes. If that were true, how is it that we've survived just as long as you, without your 'help'?

    "As for the village, I will lead you there tonight if that is your strategy. It is not up to me to tell you what to do or where to go; I'm sure you already have someone doing that for you." Miara stood from her chair and relaxed her shoulders for the first time since this encounter started. Slowly, she was detatching herself. There was telling when the rage would boil over again, but for now she had to regain her composure. He would just make fun of her, anyway.

    "When you are ready, we shall depart," said Miara as she picked up a thin brown bag containing certain things they'd need for the trip from underneath her desk.

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    While Parin could almost feel the fiery rage burning from the elf in front of him, he himself remained entirely composed. She had said nothing that he wasn't already expecting to hear, and he wasn't one to succumb so easily to petty emotion, as the battlefield situation called for a rational approach and some degree of cooperation that involved more than a mere exchange of insults.

    Gazing back into her eyes, the knight noted that they, too, might be considered pretty... if this elf girl showed even the slightest amount of charm, that is. He contemplated the questions she asked of him, thinking them over and processing them. "If you brought an advanced, powerful army with superior weapons, training and equipment to save us from a foe we couldn't beat on her own..." he remarked, "Well then, in that case I'd be happy to listen to your battle plans and defer to your superior combat experience. As the current situation stands, however, these wars and raids you speak of have taught us a great many lessons that cannot be learned in times of peace, so they have only made us stronger." He saw no point in denying the facts... the Imperial troops weren't always victorious, but every defeat taught them much about how to conduct war in a more effective manner.

    "But long periods of peace teach a people to be complacent," he said with a shrug. "I don't expect you to understand, Miara, but thankfully, I don't exactly need you to understand, as the Emperor has already convinced your queen." There were rumors that the Emperor was actually sleeping with the queen of Valkanyn, but as he had no proof of this, he saw no reason to infuriate the elf further by mentioning it.

    At her words, the knight nodded and stood up. "Excellent..." he remarked. "I suggest you secure the swiftest elven steed you can in order to get to our destination as quickly as possible. No reason to find one for me, however... I brought my own," he said. Interestingly enough, there were no reports of any horses having accompanied the Imperials on their airship, which might have raised a question as to just where exactly the knight's steed was.

    Holey Paladin's armor by Haya

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    "Of course," Miara responded blandly at the knights comment of having his own steed. "I didn't expect you'd be depending on any of our resources, anyway." The sarcasm was thinly veiled. The warden walked back to her office door and opened it, motioning for the knight to go first.

    "You may go and fetch your steed. We will meet in front of the castle and then take route." Miara regarded the knight, and closed the door behind them. "I trust you can find your way back to the entrance, at the very least. In the meantime I will fetch my horse and prepare for our travels."

    Taking a few steps in the opposite direction of where they had come, Miara stopped and turned around slowly, looking the knight in the eye once more. Her hands were balled into fists but her voice was more composed -- or rather, reined back.

    "Before you go, I have one more thing to say. Though I may not understand your thirst for blood and power, I would argue that you do not understand the value of living in peace and trust. Using fear and vengeance as pillars for your nation creates a very narrow purpose for when all those wars and fights have ended. If you only see the world as an opportunity to vanquish foe after foe, then you are missing perhaps the most important part of life itself. But, again," Miara paused, and then turned around again, "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

    With that, the forest warden walked away and descended a small staircase opposite her office.

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