The Conflict [Accepting profiles in DT/ Started]

Asabelle & Theodon -- Eajra

Asabelle had leaned forward, both to see what the elf was doing, and to stop her if she suspected she was hurting Theodon rather than helping him. To her, nothing had seemed to happen, but only a few moments later, the elf said "He's going to be alright, he just needs rest. Come with me."

She wanted to ask a million questions -- what did you do to him, how long will he have to rest, will he recover completely, etcetera, etcetera -- but the elf had already started walking away, and Asabelle did not want to lose her. "If she can appear out of nowhere," she thought to herself as she followed the elf, "she can probably disappear into it just as easily."


Asabelle couldn't help but remain wary of the elf as she was led into the tree -- the mechanics of which surprised her a bit; she'd happened upon secret passageways in the mountains, always built to look exactly like the rock, but she'd never seen anything like it done to trees -- though she softened up a bit when food was mentioned. Some people would say that the only way into a dwarf of byrrh's heart is through food, and soon enough she was happily munching on some sort of berry, and probably would've told the elf her deepest, darkest secrets. If she asked.

The only thing Asabelle could think to tell her, though, was, "My name's Asabelle, by the way. Asabelle Dammensdottir, and he's Theodon."

The elf looked like she wanted to say something, but remained silent. Asabelle, feeling very friendly, asked the elf her name.

"I am Gilrawën," she responded.

"Gilrurowenableh," Asabelle tried to say it, but stumbled over the last syllables. "Ah, I could never get a hang of elven names," she chuckled, and then jumped slightly, "Oh! That reminds me!"

She took off a pack that had been slung around her shoulders, and started to rummage through it. Asabelle didn't notice when Gilrawën left, having been called away by someone Asabelle's dwarf ears couldn't hear. When she looked up from the bag with a letter in her hands, though, the only other person in the room was Theodon.

"Huh," the door in the tree had been closed, and Asabelle suddenly felt rather uneasy. She started knocking her hands against her hips, and remembered the letter she was holding. It had looked important at the time, when Asabelle was packing to leave for Eajra, and though it was written in elvish -- a language she could hardly pronounce, let alone read -- she thought she could make out her teacher's name, Theodon. The rest was gibberish as far as she was concerned, but still she grabbed it, thinking Theo would want it when he was healed.

There was some food left yet, but she didn't feel like eating it anymore. Instead, she sat down next to Theodon, and proceeded to quietly worry about him while she waited for Gilrawën to return.

Spoiler

A bit of background on Theodon: he's somewhat old (later middle-aged) and grew up in an Elvish village (which is why his letter is in Elvish & partly why he requested to be taken to Eajra, having heard about it growing up.) He trained under an Elvish engineer, and is considered one of the masters of his trade by those who know him, though not many do, as he lives as quiet a life as he can manage. He's also sided with Chaos, of course.

Gilrawën Nalgothrond of Eajra - Eajra

"Gilrurowenableh." I quickly swallowed the laughter that was trying to make its way out of my mouth. It wasn't even that difficult to pronounce. "Ah, I could never get a hang of elven names." No, that much was obvious. "Oh! That reminds me!" She suddenly dove into her backpack. These dwarfs sure were amusing.

Before I could see what she was looking for I heard Tathar's voice in my head. "There's a servant coming. Looks like it's important."

I walked outside and closed the door behind me. The servant landed on the ground and walked over to me. "Lady Nalgothrond, your father has called for you. It is urgent."

Wait here, I'll be right back, I told Tathar before climbing up. This time I took the way that lead up to the main entrance, and it went much quicker than the way from the window that I had taken earlier.

It didn't take long until I was once again standing in the throne room. My father was holding a letter, reading it with an expression that was dangerously close to interested. I couldn't remember ever seeing him looking so.. Alive. He looked up as I entered. "An invitation just arrived. You are to go to Pheronia." I blinked. He was telling me that I could leave? That I could actually venture outside Eajra and see the world. "This will be your first task as my heir, and expect you to act accordingly. You are to be a judge in the conflict.. I trust your tutors have told about the conflict?" I nodded. "You will leave tonight together with a handful of servants. Take the visitors with you."

I bowed quickly before walking to my room. I made sure to look calm and emotionless, but on the inside I was screaming of joy. In all my years I had never set foot outside Eajra. It was hard to believe that my father was actually letting me go. Sure, I still had to act the part, but who would blame me if I wanted to laugh and sing? The humans and dwarfs that had visited our village before had done that as if it was a normal thing, so no one (except my servants) would think that I was doing anything out of the ordinary.

I quickly closed the door before letting myself smile. Servants would come to pack my things in a minute, but until then I had time to process it all. When the servants did arrive I had calmed down, and could instruct them exactly as a lady should. When they were done I hurried to climb back down to Tathar, who had grown quite impatient.

So, what happened?

He could feel how happy I was. "We're going to Pheronia."

"We're leaving?" His head jerked up and he tensed.

"Tonight. We're going to be judges. Oh, and the dwarfs are going to travel with us."

I entered the tree where the dwarfs were resting. The older one, the teacher, had awoken. "Are you feeling better?" I said. Once again I had to remind myself to sound and look emotionless. Just a bit longer. The dwarf nodded. He looked a bit confused, which was only to be expected. His mind would clear up soon enough. I turned to the girl. "We are going to travel to Pheronia, and we are leaving tonight. You and your teacher are very welcome to accompany us as far as you want."

"We're headed to Pheronia as well," said the teacher suddenly. His mind seemed to clear quicker than I had thought. "To participate in the conflict."

This was just getting better and better. "Then we can travel together the whole way. I have been invited to judge, as a representative of the Nalgothrond family."

"It seems I have been healed by the lady herself," the teacher said with a chuckle. "Do drop the act, there is no one looking." His words took me by surprise. He apparently knew of our customs. "And your familiar can come inside is he wants."

Tathar looked up at me, curious as always. "Do as he says."

He more or less bounced inside and sat down on my foot. What a funny dwarf.

"Have you visited our village before?" I asked, showing him a slight smile.

Cadence Faraway| Approaching Melrihm's village

It seemed that no matter how much Cadence chattered or attempted to engage the driver in conversation, he never uttered more than a short string of words of a wordless grunt. Cadence was very bored of him.

But fortunately for her, at some point in the journey, a dwarf had started to follow behind the wagon. He walked with short, quick strides and kept a dogged pace, but the exertion was having its toll on him. A slather of sweat dripped from his hairline and Cadence eyed him curiously.

"Where on Earth are you going?" she asked eventually. "It does look like an ever so long way, shouldn't you have a wagon?" The red haired girl had never left her village before, but travellers had always arrived on horse or by wagon so this determined walking seemed at odds to her.

"I'm following you," the dwarf said gruffly.

"Did you have a message? You don't really need to follow my wagon just to give me a message, do you? That seems ever such a lot of work."

The conversation meandered for a few more minutes before they got to the bottom of the dwarf's reasons for walking behind the wagon and when they had, Cadence immediately insisted he should travel on the back with her and a temporary stop was called to resolve the issue.

"I really don't see why you didn't just ask. How long were you planning to walk for without saying anything?" Cadence chattered happily on as the wagon trundled along the poorly maintained dirt path.

"And what I would like to know-" There was a loud crack and a splintering of wood before the wagon tipped to one side and Cadence gave a wild scream. "What was that!"

"Broke an axle," the driver stated. "Have to replace it." He squinted along the path and nodded to himself. "There's a village ahead. Start walking."

"What do you mean, walking? You're meant to take me- somewhere!" Cadence waved her letter at him, but the driver shook his head.

"Gonna take me time to replace that axle. You'll have to find yourselves another ride."

Phantom - Phantom's Forest

I couldn't die, I was invincble, and I couldn't die, my forest was my home, my territory, no one can come into this forest and not expect to fight me, even now I hide watching, waiting, I watched as a male warrior who was wondering though my forest. My physical body was sitting at the center most region of the forest, I was careful to avoid the waves and currents of the spirt world that could sweep me up to the heavens, or down to the black depethes.

The young man wonders with a torch in hand as he travaled, brave man to be carrying such a thing in the darkness of these woods, you never know what exactly could find you. He was wearing armor, had a shield and sword, the rules of combat with me I'm sure he knew, here in this forest the rules were simple, if you bring tribute, then I will start the test of survival, for three days in this forest they must survive against me, then at the end of the third day, you were considered a man in your village and could traval back to the village. Fail, and well, you won't be seeing your village ever again, the young man was about to reach the center of the forest, my mind quickly travaled back to my body.

He enters into the clearing where I sat, a pond before me as I stare though my mask and into the water, watching the fish swim around and play with each other.

"You must be Phantom, I am Charles of the Barrerra Family, I have come to prove I have come of age!" he declares.

"Ha, ha, ha, it has been awhile since the last time they sent one of you for me to test, I am sure you know the rules," I said.

"I do, and before the end of this, I shall slay you Phantom!" he said.

"Bold words young man, but you will soon come to know, that is a promise you, can't, keep," I said.

"Have you brought your tribute to me?" I asked.

He dropped a sword that looked well crafted very nice, I turned my back to him and looked at the trees that were so nice, spotting a bird flying every now and again.

"You got ten seconds to disappear, so I suggest you get," I said turning my back to him.

I waited, for five seconds, only to have a blade suddenly appear though my stomach, I look down, as I wondered, just how stupid this guy could be exactly. There was a reason why no one has been able to kill me, I turned to look at him, as I saw suprise on his face.

"I'm sorry, were you expecting me to die?" I asked him.

I pulled the sword out of my back and watched as his face was filled with horror, no blood, no nothing came out of me. He wasn't expecting it, but I disappeared, teleported right behind him, and stabbed him though the back. To bad, maybe he should have used common sense and ran oh well, I collected my tribute, which was his body and whatever he had on him, and the sword he dropped.

Kildred Maldoor
He had followed the wagon shamelessly as the girl tried to make conversation with her driver. He wasn't particularly talkative. He contemplated asking her if he could hop in, but he quickly perished the thought. When she finally turned towards him and tried to make conversation, he was glistening with sweat and visibly fatigued. The hard trek down there had made him weary. When finally she asked him to climb aboard, it was godsend. They made small talk for a few minutes as he explained his situation when, as if some cruel prank of fate, the axle broke on the wagon, and the driver forced them to walk to the nearest village. It wasn't far off, visible just around the bend, a small town who's name escaped Kildred. He shrugged, and vaulted the side of the wagon and started walking. The lady, who's name was Cadence, seemed more hesitant to walk. It wasn't far. She seemed more worried about getting another ride to the conflict than she was about walking a quarter mile.

"He was supposed to take me to... that thing!" she complained. She didn't know what the conflict actually was, but she had been given a letter. She had to be good at something.

"Don't worry! I'm sure we'll find a ride. If it makes you feel better, I've been walking for a long time, and it's not a difficult process once you get used to shifting your center of gravity appropriately." Said Kildred. He looked over at Cadence and, to his relief, her pouting expression twisted briefly to become a grin. He was grinning too.

"I'll see if I can learn to do it as well as you. Surely it's easier for one so short!" she jested. Kildred laughed.

"Those long legs of yours carry you farther with each step than two of mine! More efficient, if you ask me!" and Cadence laughed as well. They really were getting along well, thought Kildred.



When they reached the town, Kildred almost automatically went for the tavern, but Cadence called after him.

"Where are you going? We need to go to the stables and find another ride!" She asked?

Kildred looked from her, to the tavern, and than back to her. "Is that a trick question? I'm going to get some drinks, and then eventually a room."

"No!" She stamped her foot indignantly. "We have to hurry!"

"I think it will wait. Besides, It will be costly to get a guide to take us all the way. Rather we should invest in some mounts, and a map."

She pondered this for less than a second before responding. "If you think you can find those things in a tavern, then be off! But I think we would be better off going to the stables." She had a point. She was obviously excited about where she was going. She didn't even know...

Grumbling, he followed her to the stables. "Very well..." he said.

As it happened, there were exactly two mounts available. However, they were both ponies. For Kildred, this was fine, but Cadence was more difficult to sway.

"Not as fast, m'lady," said the stable boy. "but it'll carry you longer'n a horse, an' they's cuter too. See?" he pulled one close and stroked it's face lovingly. The pony looked annoyed, if you could picture it. Cadence did find it rather cute, so she agreed. By the time they had gotten a price out of him, it was already dusk. They hadn't realized what time it was. Kildred had lost all sense of time, but they quickly agreed that they were both hungry.

After a hearty dinner of stew in the tavern, and an arm wrestling match between Kildred and a drunk sellsword, they were about ready to go to bed. Cadence paid for a room upstairs while Kildred stayed back with his new friend, for whom he bought a few drinks. It came out about even, though, since he vomited most of it back up. After paying for his own room, he went upstairs to his own room, which was just a bed and a chest behind a wooden door. He gladly took the lodgings, as it beat sleeping in the woods. He stripped his pack, inside of which was his colapsible plate mail, a hauberk of chainmail, an assortment of dried foods about which he had totally forgotten until now, a waterskin still filled with water from the stream he had stopped by, and a bedroll. He placed all of this neatly strewn on the floor next to the chest, and fell blissfully asleep.

Melrihm Felknir

I had followed a small carriage almost all day until I was finally too tired to walk anymore. I was out of shape.

So I did a somewhat mean thing, but it was needed.

I rubbed one of my blue orbs clockwise. A small mist started pouring off of it. Reciting a small incantation, I collected some of the dust and threw on the front axle as the carriage flew by me. The effect was immediate.

The carriage lurched and I heard a scream from inside. A lady with somewhat extreme clothing on and a dwarf walked out. What an odd collection to be seen together. I thought.

They started walking off. I waited until they were out of range of sight, and I walked over to the driver of the carriage.

"I can help you with that." I stated softly.

The man almost jumped at my voice. "Who--" He looked at me. "No thanks, I've got this covered."

"I wasn't asking." I said lightly and raised my hand and muttered a small sleeping spell. He fell into the dirt, making a small cloud. I immediately lifted his right hand and laid it on the orb. "I am sorry for this, but I have to." With that, I concentrated, and the orb glowed a bright blue, giving off a small hum. Slowly the man started falling apart, his soul leaving his body to join with the orb. His body fell alongside the dirt, disentigrating and turning the same ashy color of the road.

I rubbed the orb, then, and slowly my features changed, taking form of the driver. I could feel his emotions, his hatred for the people who killed his son in a fire two years ago. His hatred for having to leave his wife in the custody of another because he couldn't take care of her in her mental state. His hatred for having to listen to an annoying princess of a girl who always wanted to get what she asked for.

There was not much love in his soul. I promised to change that if I ever lived past the Conflict.

Fixing the axle back by removing my spell, I set off toward the city, always making sure to keep the girl and the dwarf in front of me, and the dead host of the driver's soul behind me.

It had been awhile since I had done something like that, and it was not comforting that I fell into the process like I only taken a vacation from it. Perhaps that's what I had done, just take a vacation from my true self, always knowing that I'd come back to it, but always not wanting to.

Soon, I was at the town, and I saw the lady and dwarf walk into a nearbye inn. I made sure to park the carriage in front of the inn and quickly fell asleep. I was falling into character far too fast.

Spoiler

I just had to do that XD. Also, if you guys could kind of think that I am not the driver, but not say anything, that would be awesome.