RPG #12 - Loldia

[Kage Chaos]

The skies of Loldia have darkened, and corruption has spread throughout the land. Many of the people of Loldia have either run to the temples, or resorted to violence and crime.

A priest named Coldohr travels to the capital city, Séopala to find the prophesied "chosen ones." Though is he is unsure where to look or who to look for, the words of the prophecy tell to look for “the calm among the chaos.”

______________________________________

Coldohr walked through the fallen gates of Séopala. They had been ripped down by one of the recent windstorms that had been occuring since the darkness had spread across the skies.

He desperately looked through the groups of people who now walked the streets. Most of the buildings that weren't made of stone or brick had been destroyed, forcing the majority of the population out into the streets. As Coldohr walked through, he received a plethora of different expressions from the people, ranging from anger, to jealousy, to nonverbal pleas for help.

Coldohr had been told to look for "the calm among the chaos," and so far all he could see was a sea of emotions. These people were anything but calm.

[blossom]

The man staggering through the temple door was bleeding, hands pressed to a gash on his forehead. As he stumbled into the infirmary entrance people turned to stare at him, then after a moment all the noise and activity resumed. Violence was no stranger to them nowadays. Someone would take care of him.

And it looks like that someone will be me, thought Nene, getting to her feet. Every other priest and priestess was busy tending someone but her.

The newcomer looked relieved when he saw her coming over.

"What is your name?" Nene asked.

"Amith," the man replied, "I'm a baker."

"I'm Priestess Nene," she bowed, "Come this way."

Nene led Amith to a spare bed when he could sit down. She then look his hands away from the cut so she could examine it. It wasn't pleasant; a deep gash running from his hairline to just above his right eye, with blood seeping steadily from it.

Nene grimaced. She had little energy left with which to heal him, so she would have to do what she could and then stitch him up. She signaled to one of the novices who ran over with a bowl of warm water and a cloth.

Taking the items, Nene asked the novice to bring a needle and thread also. The novice bowed and left.

Nene sighed as she began to bathe the man's wound. It was not the worst injury she had seen but was more serious that most. How long would this go on? How long until someone rose up and ended this chaos? People could not go on living like this.

[Raikadin]

Earlier that day this same baker was peacefully working with his wife at his side. After a few items were completed the woman ran out of flour, she told her husband she would go and retrieve some more. He smiled at her as she left. Soon he ran out of flour as well and waited patiently for her. Soon after this he heard a scream from the pantry and rushed to secure the safety of his wife. Seconds before entering the room he heard one of the cupboard doors slam. Turning the corner he saw his wife terrified. He asked her what happened, she replied she saw a mouse and asked if he could grab the flour since she had been startled so. When he bent over to pick it up he heard the door slam behind him and his wife turned around and grappled his neck, pinning him against the wall. "Tell he everything you know about a priest named Coldohr!" She pointed the scoop she was holding at his neck, it turned a silvery color then took the shape of a sword extending until it was less then an inch from the man's neck. "I know you must know something why else would you give up your priesthood to become a baker unless you were hiding something." The hostile woman seemed to melt into another form, a far leaner, stronger woman.

Terrified the man stuttered, "My wife, I'm not allowed to be married, so they exiled me for having a wife."

The woman seemed to get angrier, but satisfied with his answer. She swung the sword back and struck him hard on the head with the butt of her weapon, giving him a large gash on his forehead. "Useless, every one of you." She stormed out of the room slamming the door yet again, this jarred the door of the tall stand up cupboard which fell open, and the limp body of his wife fell out onto the floor. Screaming and limping the man made his way, as best he could, out of the room and into the street making his way to the temple, perhaps they could help his wife.

Criana changed her form in an alleyway, she was loosing time, and all these dead ends were causing her to become angry and frustrated. Perhaps someone else had some sort of lead she could use.

[Kage Chaos]

Kecek roamed the streets of Séopala, casting an illusion to make others see an empty street if they happened to look in his direction.

He cast a spell to see the good or evil inside of people, and looked around to try to find the source of the evil that was plaguing the continent.

At first, he couldn't find any evil in the hearts of those around. After walking for a while, he saw a man ahead of him dressed in all black, with a pointed hat and a gigantic sword strapped to his back.

The black clad man's aura was completely red.

How could someone be that powerful?

Kecek felt the man's power grow as the man noticed his presence.

He knows I'm here...

Kecek dropped his illusion, and readied his Bo staff, "Who are you?"

----------------------------------------------------------------

Drickagon turned to see the young man. He didn't reply to him, but just gazed into the man's eyes.

"Now is not the time to fight," Drickagon replied finally, casting his hand forward and sending his Shadow Eye spell at his would-be opponent.

-------------------------------------------------------

Kecek's vision turned to darkness as the man threw his hand toward him.

"Damnit!" Kecek cursed as he heard the man dash away.

He'd have to sit and wait for the spell's effect to wear off, so he recast his invisibility spell, and knelt on the ground.

[blossom]

The baker, Amith, winced slightly as Nene finished stitching his wound.

"There, all done." Nene smiled at him as she turned to wash the needle. Amith reached up tentatively to poke the wound, and winced again. Nene smiled again, "I wouldn't recommend that. It'll hurt for a while. Hopefully after a night of sleep I'll have enough magic to take away the worst of the pain though."

"You get a lot of injured then, to use so much magic?" Amith asked. Nene looked down at the ground, serious.

"Yes. There is so much .... chaos, everywhere. And so much suffering," she looked up at the baker, "There simply aren't enough of us to heal everyone."

"Aye, I know," the baker nodded, "We need someone to purge the land of this chaos, right enough."

"But who will do that?" Nene asked with a smile. Amith shook his head; he didn't know, noone did.

"Rest now," Nene instructed, then moved back to the entrance of the temple. There were more wounded already waiting. The young priestess sighed. So much for my night's sleep.

[Kage Chaos]

Kecek waited for a while before he finally regained his vision. Looking around, he couldn't sense the presence of evil anymore. He stood up and began walking again, until he came upon a temple.

It's aura was a light blue. No evil had tainted this place...yet.

He walked in through the open door.

"Hello, there," he said, to nobody in specific.

[blossom]

Nene looked up from the young woman she was tending. Many other heads had turned, but as usual all activity resumed after a moment. One of the other priestesses' signaled to Nene to finished with the woman and see to the newcomer.

The young priestess nodded, and quickly finished tying the woman's bandage.

"There now," she said with a smile. The young woman thanked her, and Nene pointed her to a spare bed where she could rest. The hospital was rapidly running out of space though, and Nene wondered what they would do when there was no more room. They would not turn people away, nor ask them to leave. She couldn't see a solution.

Sighing slightly, Nene decided not to worry about and instead moved over to the newcomer. A young man, her age or perhaps a bit older, with a slightly elven look about him. He wasn't injured, so what was wrong?

"Welcome," she greeted him with a small bow, "How may I help you?"

[Kage Chaos]

One of the priestesses spoke to him, "How may I help you?"

"I'm here to help," Kecek replied, "If there's anything I can do, that is."

[blossom]

Nene was surprised, but tried not to show it. There weren't many who volunteered now. "Do you have knowledge of healing?" she asked.

[Kage Chaos]

"Some," he answered, "I can stitch wounds, but my magic abilities dwell in the realm of Illusion magic."

[blossom]

Before Nene could reply Ellone, the High Priestess, came bustling over and looked the young man up and down. She was nearing fifty, with iron grey hair and a stern, square face, and often appeared iquite intimidating, but she had raised Nene after finding her on the temple steps and the young priestess knew she was kind at heart.

"You know healing?" Elllone said now, briskly, "Good. We need all the help we can get. Clean and bandage wounds, give stitches if necessary but if a wound looks particularly deep consult a priestess. The novices will supply you with anything you need. Nene here will take you to wash before you begin. Any questions?"

[Kage Chaos]

"No, I should be fine," Kecek answered, "but, have you seen any suspicious looking people since the sky darkened?"

[blossom]

Ellone looked startled, and exchanged a glance with Nene. "You mean besides the villains running rampant on the street and the cause of most the wounded in here?" she said, and looked to continue until another priestess called for her.

"Duty calls," she said, and turned to Nene, "Show him around. Make sure he washes before he starts helping."

"Yes, Ellone," Nene replied, the corner of her mouth quirking up into a smile as the older woman bustled off. Nene turned to the young man, "This way to the wash rooms."

As she led him through the healing rooms, she tried to answer his question more seriously, "No one .. suspicious ... has been in the Temple," she said, "But ... a little while ago I was stitching up a baker and he did mention something odd. He had a deep head wound and I had given him a remedy for the pain so I thought perhaps he was half dreaming, but maybe he wasn't. Anyway, he said something about his wife ... morphing into another woman. Would that help you any?"

[Kage Chaos]

"Yes, that sounds rather strange," Kecek agreed, "Would I be able to speak with him? It can wait if there are still injured to tend to."

[blossom]

"Well, there are several wounded waiting," Nene answered, "And Amith is resting at the moment. If you wouldn't mind waiting we really could use the help."

[Kage Chaos]

"It's no problem," Kecek said as he washed his hands to get ready to help, "I can wait a while. Now, shall I get to work?"

Without waiting for an answer, he walked over to the first casualty he could find, a young girl, and began bandaging her injured leg, "It's a shame there has to be so much evil in the world."

[Raikadin]

Criana decided the next logical place to search for the priest might be the temple, though it would be a logical place, perhaps he would show up their or be attempting to hide in plain sight. Morphing herself into a man, she donned herself with royal armor and weapons, also morphing her left leg and arm to be quite mangled. She made her way to the temple strolling without a limp that should be assumed for the injury she was mimicking, when she was withing several blocks of the temple she began acting appropriately for her ailment. Entering the temple, she politely asked for assistance.

[Kage Chaos]

Kecek looked up as he finished bandaging the girl's leg.

This man has an evil aura...

He arose and walked to the nearest priestess, Nene.

"We should be careful, this guy is bad news," he whispered to her.

[blossom]

Nene looked up from the little boy she was tending to the soldier the young man was indicating. She frowned. Amongst so much pain and suffering, her senses were unable to indentify anything in particular that was odd about the soldier.

"How can you tell?" she whispered back to the young man.

[Kage Chaos]

"My father taught me to detect good and evil auras," Kecek answered, "This guy has a very evil aura."

[blossom]

"So what do we do?" Nene asked, "We can't just turn him away. Not without raising suspicion."

Even as she spoke she saw another of the priestesses heading to tend to the 'wounded' soldier.

[Raikadin]

Criana, the soldier, accepted the priest's help, she wasn't going to cause a scene yet, she had no information, for now she would watch for any sight of the priest she was looking for.

[Kage Chaos]

"Well, evil or not," Kecek said, "It's not right to turn away the injured, and there's no way of knowing whether or not he will attack, so let's leave him for now."

[blossom]

Nene nodded, "All right. We just keep an eye on him then." She turned back to the little boy who was waiting patiently for her to finish binding his arm, but kept glancing at the soldier out of the corner of her eye.

The priestess tending him was called Lucia, and was two years older than Nene. She was also an orphan, and the two had grown up together and were as close as real sisters. Nene hoped fervently than this soldier really was wounded and only wanted help, and wouldn't cause her friend any harm.

[Raikadin]

accepting the help of the priestess, Criana morphed her fake wounds and played along perfectly, calling on her years of experience to act as if the healing was helping. All while watching the people in the temple for clues.