>>4778405
Is the duel a competitive one, or one seeking satisfaction?

>>4778418
One of intended satisfaction, although Loric finds little enjoyment in the sport due to its ease for him.

>>4778405
>>Revelry as he drinks in the feast hall.

Well let's start on a happy note I guess.

>>4778439
Alright, writing right now

Great laughs erupted from the Rhenne castle's feast hall, as soldiers dined heartily fresh in the morning. Their meals were hardly of note, little more than the same stuff that was fed to the peasantry, and it was only early in the morning, the fresh pales of daylight only just dawning through the glass. Normally, these men would be yawning with tired expressions, wishing to be asleep... but they were not, for the great Loric Rhenne was among their presence! The handsome man grinned at the head elevated seat, looking down upon his feasting men. Well, technically not directly his exactly, but close enough. He was redfaced with joy, leading the rounds of banter and the resulting cheers that would occur as he told quips and recalled stories.

"...and so, infuriated, the evil King tried to draw his sword on me," Said Loric with punctuality beyond his drunken cheeks, "but my sword hand was faster than his, and in just a moment, I thought to grab the table knife-"
He paused to take a swig from his mug, then continued, "-not a second after its handle reached by fingers did my blade reach his throat. After that, I had saved both princess and queen, and the two promised their names to mine own."

He left his words to silence with a charmingly smug grin, leaving the soldiers below him to wonder agape. One of them inquired curiously,

"And then what happened? Where are they now?"

Loric gave the soldier a stare for a second, before letting out a laugh, and shaking his head.

"Perhaps we should leave the rest of the tale for some other time. My tales number as many as the stars themselves, and the blindingness of them will leave you dazed, should you stare too long."

At Loric's profound words, the soldier could only nod their head in agreement.

"Now then," Loric proclaimed, raising up his mug, "How about we continue the feas-

"LORIC!"

But before he could finish his words, Loric was interrupted. Gazes turned towards the entrance of the feast hall, as those present were met by the visage of an older man in his early forties, hair streaked with grey and chin angular (not as quite as Loric's, however), sporting a purple-white robe, Rhenne colours.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING," the man boomed, "IN THE HALL?"

Loric responded to the visitor with
>A confident laugh, waving at him with a sure smile
>A hesitant, sheepish grin
>Other

>>4778491
>>A confident laugh, waving at him with a sure smile

>>4778491
>>A confident laugh, waving at him with a sure smile

Loric, true to his nature as THE Loric Rhenne, let out a confident laugh and waved at the newcomer without fear.

"Uncle," He spoke easygoingly, "what's wrong? You seem as if your wife left you... oh wait, you don't HAVE a wife!"

He let out another laugh, his joke so hilarious that no one dared make a sound to cover it, then propped himself up from his seat and walked over. Perhaps subdued by Loric's charm, uncle waited for Loric to cross the full distance - very leisurely - before giving him a quiet, but clearly indignant earful.

"What could you possibly be thinking, stuffing your face with food and drink when you're supposed to be attending a meeting? Shirking your duties as a Rhenne? And eating with the common rabble, no less?"

He began to walk with hasty steps. Being the paragon of virtue he was, Loric followed his senior, tolerating the unfair criticism with grace, responding, "Oh, uncle... I was not eating the crap there. What kind of common man do you think I am? I'd rather go empty than have to eat the crap that the garrisons are served."

Uncle fumed, "That was not the point, you..." he hesitated for a moment, before cursing, "you dastardly fool!"

"Oh please, it's just one missed meeting. How bad can it actually be?"

Uncle opened his mouth to answer, but Loric smiled and tutted with his finger before the older man could respond.

"Oh, no no no, uncle. You're going to say that with the possibility of war breaking out, we have to be cautious. But you've said this for and months already, if not the last whole damned year. I think I've deserved a break.”

Uncle glared at Loric, but perhaps he realized that no number of words could break through the man’s brilliant shell, so he just closed his mouth. The two traversed through the weaving halls of the manor for a while, Uncle silently smoldering, Loric humming a tune.

As they walked, though, Loric mused to himself, ‘But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.’ War... well wouldn't be that great, but something to do would be nice. Something beyond laughing and telling stories to soldiers and wenches, more than engaging in stake less duels, than listening to complaints from farmers and merchants and the like...
(1/2)

File: chekered blue and white.png (16 KB, 400x400)

16 KB PNG

“We’re here,” Uncle eventually said, breaking Loric’s line of thought. The two stood before a pairing of twin doors, lined with intricate metalwork shaping the Pidgeon that was the Rhenne crest. Loric didn’t have good memories of this place – always with the arguing and the politics and the conspiracies. Uncle pushed open the door, and Loric followed in suit.

Contrary to its outside appearance, the room was quite ordinary. For upper-noble standards, of course. A wide “U”-shaped table took central space in the room, already inhabited by familiar faces. Adrea, Loric’s shapely but more fearful than seductive elder sister, Adelia, Loric’s bullyable cute younger sister, Landel, Uncle’s son... and then another person. Loric squinted, but didn’t recognize them. They looked to be young, perhaps just a bit past fresh adulthood at sixteen years, nearly a dozen younger than Loric. Something about their blue-white checkered wear was familiar – they were definitely of some house, that was sure, but which one?

One thing seemed sure. They were....

>A girl

>A boy

>>4778558
>>A girl

>>4778558
>>A girl

File: Ariya Cylleil.png (24 KB, 400x400)

24 KB PNG

A girl. Yes, that they were. And one not too happy, by the looks of it. No, they seemed positively lethal, actually – eyes red and tilted at a glare, fingers tense at their sides, checkered wear, now on inspection a gambeson, clean but faded and torn. Even their face bore the after marks of healed cuts and scrapes. Hardly much could be gleaned of their normal appearance due to their state of injury; their hair was brown and disheveled, eyes grey and cold, and lips cracked and tight. By their side, they wore a sheath with hilt peeking out, thin and short. Not quite a dagger, but not nearly a longsword... perhaps a thinner arming sword, then.

Loric gave them a genuinely pitying smile, yet strangely enough, they did not seem appeased by it. Perhaps they were in some sort of deep emotional distress. Loric's sympathy for them deepened; if his handsome was not enough to put a smile on their face, then he didn't know what was.

“Loric,” Uncle said, “I trust you know who this is.” They gestured towards the girl, while whispering quietly, “Ariya Cylleil.”

Immediately, Loric took in the words and echoed them, “Miss Ariya, is it?” He stretched out his hand, “I’ve heard much of your name, as well as that of the Cylleil-"
The girl twitched-
"-house.”

Loric's mind sharpened when he noticed the girl's reaction. She didn't explain it, however, instead accepting his offer with tight fingers, cold fingers, almost skeletal, though more-so thin than bony. Still, it made him wince a little in surprise, and he was glad when the handshake was over.

“What brings you over?” Asked Loric directly. He expected chagrin to appear on Uncle – no doubt the man would like to be asked, being that he always assumed position as head of conversations. Yet this time, Loric's guess was wrong; his sneaked glance revealed that there was no such emotion to be found in Uncle. Instead, the man looked still. Brooding. Troubled. That didn't bode well.

Ariya’s lips were motionless for a few seconds, and Loric feared that she might even just not speak at all, but thankfully, his expectations were defied when the girl began to whisper,

“My... my home...”

OP here, sorry to leave off with a half-finished post but I'm going to sleep now, I'll be back around 3 PM PST tomorrow (15 hours for the non-leaf)

>>4778685
Retard OP here again, clarifying that Ariya's eye whites are red and her irises are grey.

Bump?

If anyone has an archiving extension, they'll see that I just deleted two posts I just made. Sorry, it was just that I posted unupdated versions of them, the following two posts will be the same except updated:

Yet even though she spoke, the girl did so in a whisper. Loric had to lean in to hear her words better.

“It was attacked... I-I was past the hills, training with Adem, instructor Adem, and then the smoke appeared on the horizon... I couldn’t see much from where I was, only just able to tell that there were flames. Adem told me to run, then headed towards the castle saying that he was going to save his wife. At first, I followed him, but then he hit me, told me to go, so I did... and that was two weeks ago. Somehow, in that time, I made it here... And that’s-, that’s it, I guess.”

Ariya’s voice became more and more raspy as she spoke, and she looked like she wanted to cry, but didn’t. Had her tears run out? Loric felt more than a small twinge of empathy for the girl, a woman in age, perhaps, but only a little more than a child in mind.

But there were more pressing concerns than that, unfortunately.

Loric drew away from Ariya and looked towards Uncle. “So, the Cylleil’s were raided. Who are our suspects?”

Uncle spread his arms in defeat, “We have no idea. Livendall – the Cylleil territory – isn’t the most guarded land. Yet it has a castle nonetheless, and more than three-hundred men manning that castle. In order to lead a frontal siege and have won, the attackers would’ve needed at least three times those numbers; realistically-speaking, five-or-six. I can only assume, therefore, that they had agents working to undermine the castle from within.”

“Either way,” Loric noted, “those attackers must’ve held either a martial advantage or a political one, or both. All three of those possibilities imply this to be the work of another house.”

Uncle sighed, affirming, “That does seem to be the case. Yet that doesn’t exactly help us with figuring out the situation. With the tensions in the Kingdoms being how they are, just about every single family has been acting erratic. Looking at all the cases of armies being mobilized won’t help us a single bit. And of course, as she mentioned before, Miss Ariya was unable to see anything but the smoke. No identification of armies nor banners.”

“How about scouts?” Loric pried, “have we sent any?”

Uncle shook his head, “Not yet. This is what I needed you here for. At most, we can send about a dozen soldiers without compromising our own safety. But such an entourage is bound to garner attention, and our enemy, more likely than not, will receive news of our party’s arrival.”

Loric crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, inquiring, “then what’s our plan?”

“You scout,” Uncle answered, “alone, or maybe with one-or-two others. A small group. The trip is normally a week’s-length by horse, but ideally, you’ll reach it quicker-

“Me?” Before Uncle could finish his sentence, however, Loric was interjecting, eyes wide and tone incredulous, “You’re sending me?”

Uncle frowned. “Is that a problem? I thought you would be excited to leave the castle for once. But I suppose you’ve become addicted to drinking in the feast hall, haven’t you?”

Loric hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, no, I'd sooner die then become addicted to that mudwater. But more importantly, I just...” He hesitated for a moment, looking as if he was struggling for words, before continuing, “I just didn’t expect you’d just let me go. You’ve been all adamant about ‘keeping me safe’ and ‘preserving the bloodline’s safety’ and that whatnot. Oh, thought of another one: ‘Oh Loric, you can’t be risking your life to go searching for a magic brothel that doesn’t even exist!’”

Uncle snorted, “And that’s because you can’t be. But this is a different story. This is one of our vassals we’re talking about; we would be no nobles if we let them be raided and not retaliate in turn. And seeing as how you spend all your time eating food, drinking wine, and harassing wenches, I thought it best to send you to scout, rather than some poor soldier who’ll never return, or an essential part of our garrison.”

Loric grinned. Too elated to care about some snide insults, he said, “Whatever you say, Uncle.”

Finally, a chance to leave the castle! It had been, what, a year since he had last been out? Sure, he had been smiling when he was in the feast hall, but that was a temporary sort of thing, half an act to fit with his personality. Now an adventure – that was something to be jovial about.

“In any case, I accept,” Loric said, “do I depart now? I’ll need a map, that’s for sure, as well as rations. A water-sack too, a whetstone, some-

“Hold on,” Uncle interrupted, annoyance on his face, “before that, you should decide on whether you’ll be going with anyone. A plethora of our men have offered their assistances, most notably Sir Saedik and Sir Andel.”

Loric thickened his brows, “Sir Saedik and Sir Andel? Aren’t those two...”

Uncle sighed, “terrible enemies, yes. The relationship between them is strained, strained to the point where you should really only go with one or the other.”

Loric placed a hand on his chin. To go alone, or with companions? The more the merrier, some might say, but Loric wasn’t exactly sure if that would be the exact case here. Sir Saedik was a traditional, rigid sort of man, an expert swordsman in his forties who still spoke of honour. Sir Andel was almost the opposite, easy-going, charismatic, and stealthful, but much less skilful in the blade.

After a while of thought, Loric eventually made the decision to

>Go on his own

>Go with a companion/companions

>>4780983
>>Go on his own

This is our first time out - lets keep things simple, and use this as an opportunity to gauge what Loric is (and is not) capable of on his own.

Apologies for my shitty timeschedule, I'll continue tomorrow morning, about 13-14 hours from now.

>>4780983
>Go with a companion/companions
Backup is great.

>>4780983
>Go with a companion/companions
Sir Andel

>>4780983
>Go with Ser Saedik
Backup is always good, lets take the more skilled of the two.

>>4781723
>>4781727
It seems that we've decided to take a companion, however, we're stuck between whether we take Sir Andel or Saedik. I guess I'll wait a bit for a tiebreaker, or maybe I can just do a roll if no-one appears for that.

>>4781883
I guess I will change my vote to:
>Sir Saedik

>>4781981
Already, locked onto Sir Saedik.

>>4781985
*Alright

After a while of thought, Loric eventually made the decision to depart with Sir Saedik. Though the older knight was hardly the most fun person to be around, his sword hand and experience could not be understated. And in these times, perhaps that was more important than anything else.

Uncle affirmed: “I would make the same decision. Sir Saedik is a loyal follower of the house and his sword hand is among our best. So long as you stay on behaviour, he should prove to be a great boon to you.”

Loric agreed with an incline of his head, though he pointedly ignored his uncle's last sentence.

“In any matter,” Uncle continued, "’ll send for Sir Saedik, brief you two on your routes, and then you can retrieve your supplies. After that, you two can depart.”

Loric nodded once more at the man, but then drew his gaze away when, in the peripheral of his sight, he saw movement. Ariya, the girl of the Cylleil house, was staring at him, an intense sort-of look. Was she enamoured with him? This wouldn’t be the first time that a young maiden had fallen for him after just a single meeting. But no... it wasn’t attraction, he realized, but just that same stormy look she always had. Just now, more intense, and with a little extra spark in it. Something like... resolve?

“Is there an issue, Miss Ariya?” Asked Uncle also noticing Ariya's gaze.

Ariya opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated, before murmuring something inaudible.

“Tuh”, Loric thought she might’ve said. Or maybe “Teh”?

“Could you repeat that?" Asked Uncle in a polite voice.

Ariya stayed silent for a moment, before swallowing in a breath, exhaling, and exclaiming in a great, booming voice,

“Take me with you!”

The girl's words left those in the room recoiling in surprise, Loric included. When he processed what she said, he wondered, 'After trekking and amassing scars alone for two weeks, she wants to go with us?'

But the more he thought about it, the more it made some sense to him. That stormy gaze of hers held not just unrest and sorrow – no, there was anger in there too. A desire for revenge, and perhaps along with that, a will to help her family. That sort of emotion was a great fuel. Loric had seen it in others before, time-and-time again... and each time, it either drove one to success or downfall. Which was it, in this case?

When Loric finished thinking, Uncle too had recovered his wits and replied: “Miss Ariya, your dedication to your house is admirable, but your safety is of the utmost importance. In this situation, your best choice is to let Loric and Sir Saedik depart. I assure you, though my nephew's disposition may seem... debatable, his fighting capabilities are among the greatest in the kingdom, and notable even amongst those of the Constellation Kingdoms.”

Uncle looked at Loric, perhaps expecting him to agree with the praise, and thus the warning, but the man did neither. Instead, he stared hard into the eyes of Ariya, into those smouldering grey hues of hers... and then he made his decision:
>Reject her
>Accept her
>Request her to show off her fighting skills first
>Other

>>4782148
>Tell her to show off her skills, if she can last for half a minute then take her with us.

>>4782148
>Request her to show off her fighting skills first

It was too early to tell. At the very least, Loric wanted to examine Ariya's fighting capabilities. His mission was one of scouting and reconnaissance, but even so, it was more likely than not he was to run into more than a few skirmishes.

Yet even before that, there were a few more things he wanted to investigate, first - what experience did she actually have fighting?

“Training.” Loric said.

Ariya was silent for a second, before she realized Loric was speaking to her. “I’m sorry, my lord. I... I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Training,” Loric repeated, as if that was enough to answer her doubts. He waited a second, before adding, “you said you were training when you saw the smoke from the castle. What was your instructor’s name? Adam?”

“Uh, Adem, my lord.”

“Hmm... Atem. His name isn’t one I recognize... but even so, he must’ve trained you well enough, if you manage to travel from Rivendall to here by yourself.”

He paced around the girl, examining her frame. Lean and short, only just about up to his own neck. She twitched her body and fumbled her fingers under his examination, as though he was predator and she was prey. Under a stony mask, Loric found doubt sprout in his mind – did this girl really survive by herself? She was much more erratic and introspected than he would’ve expected.

Then again, there was that moment where she asked to join him on his mission. In that instant, however short it was, she exhibited a fierce resolve. Maybe that momentary confidence of hers was her true self, merely buried away under her current stress. Loric just had to make sure she could bring it out in the right time.

“Did you get in any fights?” Loric asked as he walked, probing into Ariya’s mind.

“I-I was in a few fights, my lord,” she murmured, flickering her gaze to follow Loric as he rotated around her. "They were my first real ones."

“How many were you in? How many combatants were in each? And who were your opponents?” Loric asked.

“Four fights, my lord. All fought alone. Three of them were only against one opponent. The last was with a, a pair. All of them were peasants. Untrained, I think. And their arms were makeshift.”

“And how many did you beat? How many did you run from?”

“I won only two fights, me lord-,” Ariya fumbled her words and blushed, tilting her head down, “s-sorry, my lord. One fight was against a single opponent, another against two.”

When she finished, Loric stopped and leaned in towards her. She trembled under his gaze, sharp and inquisitive, until he whispered,

“Did you kill any?”

Ariya was silent for a moment, a second, and for a few, until suddenly, she raised head upon, and slowly looked at Loric. Eyes locked with the man, she answered with a grim, hardened expression,

“I did.”

Loric looked still at the girl for a second, studying her expression, then drew a grin.

“Let’s go to the training grounds. I want to see how exactly you won those battles.”

When Loric drew Ariya’s blade, he discovered that it had certainly been used.

Though clean, probably washed sometime after its owner had arrived into the castle, it was notably chipped. The blade was thin and brittle, yet sharp as a needle, and though its hilt wasn’t overtly decorated, it seemed more a smallsword or rapier than an arming sword. The type used for duels rather than warfare, yet it seemed to have suited its wielder’s purposes just fine when they had needed it.

Though, it had only been used against peasants. And peasant, Loric was not.

“Here,” Loric said, having finished his inspection of Ariya’s weapon. The girl accepted it with a tight grip, harbouring an evident attachment to the blade.

“Are you going to fight with that?” Loric asked, “it’s chipped and it’s dulled. You’re going to need every advantage you can get to handle me. There’s an assortment of weapons in the smith’s-place. Your blade isn’t exactly a very common one, but there’s bound to be one close to yours regardless.”

Ariya shot down Loric’s offer without hesitation: “I apologize, my lord, but Arrow is the one I’ve trained with for most of my life. No other feels as right as he does.”

Loric drew himself a smile. That was a fine choice. For some people, they needed to memorize the feel, material, and dimensions of a sword ‘til they could master it. For others, all they needed was just a glance, and then they could wield it like any other. Of course, Loric was of the latter.

Being that as it was, Loric still decided that using his usual weapon would be unfair. He looked towards the side of the training ground that the two of them stood in, where there stood a rack of practice weapons. There were wooden ones, steel ones with dulled edges, as well as simply steel ones period. He retrieved from the rack a weapon/weapons made of

>Wood/Dulled Steel/Sharp Steel

The actual weapon(s) he chose from the rack was/were a

>Sword
>Polearm
>Warhammer
>Axe
>Other

OP NOTE: The latter choice of weapon type will decide the weapon/weapon set that Loric primarily wields. Specify exactly what type of weapon you want; don't just say something like "sword", say "arming sword" or "flamberge", etc.. Also note that he doesn't have to have only one primary weapon, he can have two, so long as they're dual-wieldable. So, for example, he can have a primary set of arming sword and dagger, or even longsword and dagger, but not a longsword and a warhammer.

>>4782588
>Dulled steel
>Longsword and Dagger

I'm imagining sort of like Bron, whereby he has a dagger to deal with anyone who can lock his blade or when he needs to draw for an up close fight.
The best fighters are smart one's after all.

>>4782588
>>4782639
Why not.
+1

File: kino ariya mistform vs lo(...).png (23 KB, 400x400)

23 KB PNG

Loric retrieved from the rack a pair of longsword and dagger, both of dull steel. He gave the two blades a few swings, testing their weight, then turned to Ariya, prepared.

“Now then,” He said with a grin, “let's begin.”

Ariya nodded, and then aligned herself in a stance. She turned to Mistform, shifting her body to obscure everything but her right, which she guarded with her swordarm and blade. She moved in a circle around Loric with a spring in her step, gaze cold and lethal, as though she meant to kill him. He mimicked her movements, continuing their roundabout so that their distance remained constant.

“Like I mentioned before, I won’t be attacking,” Loric said to his opponent, as the two of them walked, “I’ll only try to fend off your strikes.”

As he spoke, Loric brandished his longsword and spun his dagger, broad smile still etched on face. He took upon himself no particular stance, merely standing upright, arms ever-erratic as he flourished his weapons, like a particularly handsome jester.

“You win if you can get past my defenses. If you do that, I’ll let you join me. If not... well, you should probably shouldn’t think about that right now.”

When he finished his sentence, he tossed his dagger up into the air, inclined a little so that it would reach where he moved when it fell, and then caught it with a soft chuckle.

Though he appeared confident, internally, Loric was studying his opponent, as well as his environment. He and Ariya stood apart four metres; it would take but a few seconds to shorten that gap, down to maybe a meter, maybe one-and-a-half. When that happened, she would be able to strike at and reach him with a quick step in, sure as lightning.

Yet, after a second, a few seconds, and then even a dozen, Ariya still failed to move in, merely perpetuating the cycle. Soon, Loric began to groan and sigh. But still, she kept on moving – surprisingly tenacious and steadfast, Loric had to admit in admiration.

Eventually, Loric shook his head. This really couldn’t go on, not if his attention span was to be preserved. To get Ariya to strike, he eventually decided to

>Stop moving in their roundabout with each other and plant himself still

>Charge forward to close the gap himself

>Other

***

I fucked up a post again, but here's the fixed version:

>>4783276
>Stop moving in their roundabout with each other and plant himself still

>>4783276
>>Charge forward to close the gap himself
Lets try to startle her

>>4783276
Stamp a foot forwards as though we mean to charge, before standing stock still.

Lets see how she responds to a feint like that.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

I'll roll to determine which choice to choose. 1 is the first reply, 2 is the second, etc.

>>4783276
>Stop moving in their roundabout with each other and plant himself still

dead quest

did we win?