Escaflowne: Freid

Nairohe · 05-03-2002, 09:33 AM

Okay people, listen up. You can't post here unless you have an approved character.

You want to go here:

http://animeboards.com/showthread.ph...#post537406963

and read this stuff. Then you want to go here:

http://animeboards.com/t33826/s.html

and post your character sheet after you get it approved by me and NR. Then you want to go here:

http://animeboards.com/t33906/s.html

and post a picture of your character and look at other pictures because they are pretty. Soooo pretty.

You need to go read the Esca Information thread right now. Oh yes you do.

This ancient country with deep spiritual and religious roots is currently ruled by the Duke Dal Freid. Freid was a country that represented the marriage of tradition and technology. For much of the country's history the artistic impulse was largely religious, and greatest achievements can be seen in its countless Buddhist monasteries and their adornments. The classic decorations include magnificently carved wooden panels, used for gables, doors, and windows and often inlaid with splendid mother-of-pearl decorations, as well as glass mosaic and stucco embedded with multi-colored pieces of porcelain. On many temples, the interior walls are covered with intricate, densely populated mural paintings which depict the life of the Buddha or moralistic fables used in teaching Buddhist precepts. Freid’s landscape was rich with farmland and tropical houses. Farmers are usually seen tending to their fields using gigantic elks.

The Knights of Caeli escorted the king towards Freid’s palace in Godashim. Its structures were ancient, yet sturdy. Seen from the outside, beautiful spires rise up from behind thick, white walls. Once inside the walls, nothing can prepare a person for the amazing beauty and intricacy of the buildings and statues.

Inside this Palace there are lots of chedi which have important people's ashes. The four large chedi were built on separate occasions to commemorate the first four kings of the Chakri Dynasty. The halls were lined and decorated by intricate designs and Buddha statuettes.

As they entered the palace hall, attendants and servants dressed in Freidian attire, predominantly of saris, ghagras, salwars and turbans took their places as the Duke made his appearance to welcome King Airien. The two exchanged a few words with the Duke later motioning the servants to leave so that he can speak with the King and the Knights in private.

“I’m glad to see that you are well, King Airen.” The Duke continued, momentarily hugging the king showing that the two were good friends.

“I don’t know how they might have found out about the Shezernade vale, but they have stolen the Shezernade energist. There may be spies in Asturian that I am not aware of.”

“I invite you to stay here in Freid, for the meantime…” The Duke took the king by the hand and lead him to a narrow passage way at the end of the Palace hall. He motioned the Knights to stay where they are for he wanted to speak with the king in private. Their voices trailed as murmers, then a whisper, then nothing.

Sir Ixion gave out a loud sigh, “We’ve taken all the necessary procedures… who else would have known about the Shezernade Vale? I don’t understand how they would have found out about the energist.”

“They were bound to attack soon… we just didn’t know it would come like a suprirse.”
“What would Zaibach be planning to do now. They obviously don’t don’t have an established military force and yet they were able to stage an attack in Asturian Borders as well as shoot down the Shezernade Vale.”

He walked around and shook his head in frustration. I wonder what The Duke and the king are discussing at this moment…

* * *

Castor had managed to get up from its grave and glided down towards the valley near Freidian walls. The melef caused such a commotion when it landed mistaken for a Zaibach associate. Freidian soldiers and fighter monks were immediately dispatched for its capture.

Castor was surrounded. Aaron didn’t have enough strength to fight back for he was bleeding inside and out. He breathed heavily, his eyes blurred and fuzzy, his vision bloody red. His scarlet eye twitched giving him an enormous headache. The pain throbbed from inside his skull and it was so unbearable that he had not realized that Castor has fallen on its knees, a helpless prey against the Fredian soldiers who have now trapped him with a metallic net that sparked and grew tighter when he struggled to break free.

* * *

*Gwyndolin watched Sir Ixion as he paced the area, seeming to be in deep thought. A stern frown was upon his face, and he reminded her a bit of her father when he suspected that someone was trying to cheat him out of money. But she knew his thoughts were other than money... it was apparent that he was worried about what the Duke and King were discussing.

She sighed, Sir Ixion was the last person she wanted to be stuck in this room with. "He does everything so intensely... someone this zealous is intolerable! I bet he even sleeps intensely," she frowned. "I'd rather be stuck in here with anyone else... that troublesome maid even...." she sighed again and allowed her thoughts to drift. "If only Seth had come with us instead of Sir Ixion... he would have at least shared some of his worries. Plus, he wouldn't attack me if I interrupted his thoughts."

Gwyn waited for the King to return, though she wasn't worried about what they were discussing. Surely Airien would let her in on whatever concerned her. A secretive smile crossed her lips as she realized that despite his intense thoughts, Sir Ixion was no closer to understanding than she was.*

(((OOC:

Crap... i screwed up big time... last post brought to you by Hitomi.)))

Kayay · 06-03-2002, 03:09 AM

Owen’s ranting was quickly exhausting the last of Seth’s patience.

After the crash, Seth had made his way out of the damaged ship, only to see the Freidian soldiers capture Castor. Owen had nearly blown his cover as an Asturian soldier at that point, charging towards the scene, and the knight had to resort to using Kaileron to stop him. Now the two sat in one of the guest quarters graciously provided by the Duke Mahad dal Freid, and Owen, pacing the room like a caged tiger, was talking about breaking into the prison and springing Aaron free. Minutes ticked by as the Asturian knight watched in silence from his seat.

“Enough!” Seth exclaimed.

Owen stopped mid-stride and turned, started by this sudden outburst.

“Though not impossible, it is not so simple a matter as you make it out to be.”

A rescue wouldn’t be all that different from thieving. Only this time, the treasure would be a person, not gold or jewels, but it really wasn’t an option as far as Seth was concerned.

“To try and break into a highly guarded prison to rescue him would only be a temporary solution to the problem; Freid’s soldiers would soon come after us, and in an unfamiliar city with few contacts, it would be extremely difficult to remain undetected and look for Escaflowne.”

Owen didn’t look entirely convinced and Seth feared the man might storm off and try a rescue on his own.

“At least we know he’s safe for now, and any injuries he may have suffered will be taken care of.” He rubbed his temple and sighed. “Calm down,” he continued soothingly. “We’ll go down to the dungeon later, and I’ll see if I can convince them to give us a moment alone to ‘interrogate the prisoner’. That way, we can see for ourselves how he’s doing and plan a way to get him out.”

Owen still didn’t look happy with the other man’s plan, and Seth waited for his reply.

YellerCrakka · 06-03-2002, 04:05 AM

“Calm down,” Seth said casually though with a tone that seemed more peeved than usual. He went on, but Owen payed little attention. Owen continued pacing.

Calm down... calm down... okay... Aaron's okay.. just a little.. in jail... that's all. Hell, he IS Zaibach... and they just so happened to attack the ship that the king was on. Why'd he hafta go out there? And what exactly was the Red melef doing? He went on in his head about the fight and the aftermath.

"...and plan a way to get him out.” Seth said some words that Owen decided to chew on mentally. He knew that the couldn't just fight Aaron out... though that didn't stop him from thinking up all different directions of that scenerio. If Seth could come up with a plan that could get Aaron out and have very little violence, that may be the best route.

Owen grit his teeth and stopped his pacing... "okay... you seem to have been helping us out of tough situations. And you seem to have been pretty noble in yer actions... so you lead. We WILL get him out though... and if your fancy words don't help... I'll take matters into my own hands." He looked around to make sure his last words where not studied by close by ears. Giving Dinky a few pats, he decided to sit down.

Kayay · 06-03-2002, 05:00 AM

Seth leaned back in the upholstered chair and closed his eyes.

Take matters into your own hands? Like hell am I going to let the big lummox complicate matters further by running off on some impromptu rescue mission.

The more he thought about it, however, the more he had to admit that should they fail to come up with an alternative, a break out might become their last resort.

I’ll have to make a note of the security in place when we go down there for the ‘interrogation’ -- just in case. Perhaps I could get a hold of a set of keys as well. It never hurts to have a back-up plan.

“Aaron was wearing and Asturian uniform,” he thought out loud. “but, most likely, Freid will assume he’s a Zaibach spy, and I suspect it will be difficult convincing them otherwise without giving too much information away. It will further complicate matters if word of his capture has reached the Duke and King already.”

Unfortunately, nothing Seth had said so far sounded very promising to Owen.

“However,” the knight sat up straight in the chair and looked thoughtfully in Owen’s direction. “Gwyndolin already knows you two as new recruits under my command, so maybe I can talk the guards into releasing Aaron into my custody…” he trailed off, leaned against the stuffed arm of the chair. He was no longer looking at Owen, but through him as he lost himself in his thoughts that wandered from Aaron to the other strangers who had boarded the Vale back in Palas. There had been no trace of the two Anthro women, Risa and Dyran, the desert man, Fang, and the guymelef slayer, Nikolai, in the wreckage of the crash. That bothered him -- a lot.

They’ll be time to figure out what happened to them later. He forced his thoughts back to the matter at hand. Aaron. That impatient, irrational, fool. Why did he go rushing off like that, especially in a damaged guymelef?

Only days ago he had been patrolling the docks of Palas, enjoying the activities of everyday life and going about business as usual. Now here he was, two battles and hundreds of miles later, playing guardian to two strangers, searching for the legendary Escaflowne, and risking his life and possibly his position as a Knight of Asturia in the process. And he wasn’t even getting anything out of it.

One of these days, I’ll have to learn how to ignore that damn sentimental chivalrous side of my conscious before it kills me, he thought with a humorless chuckle.

Nairohe · 06-03-2002, 01:17 PM

"What an odd young man. His eyes are red and gold."

"The red eyes look like its bleeding from inside though..."

"He might be a spy responsible for this tragedy. Make sure you watch him closely and don't let him try anything sneaky."

Fleeting shadows and footsteps aroused Aaron's curiosity as he lay twitching in pain on the cold, stone floor. He could hear drips of water and yet the ground was not wet, just cold.

| --Flash-- |
He found himself submerged in golden liquid. Air bubbles scurried from one side. He looked at his hands as if he had just seen them for the first time. He was wearing black gloves with tubes, strings and wires attached to it. Tubes and mechanical contraptions stuck to him like parasytes.

They were watching. The cloaked black individuals. They were called the magicians.

He moaned as he strugled to raise his body up from the ground. A shadow lurked from one side of the cell and peeked to check up on him. Aaron only looked at him with the corner of his eye and immidietly reached for his side to check if he had Abel.

It wasn't there.

"Looking for This?" The guard held out a bandaged package which was bleeding. "This is a very very odd sword. It's as if it was alive and bleeding. Some soldiers who picked you up mentioned how it glared at them..."

Aaron felt like he was carrying a heavy load on his soldiers and limped towards the guard. Immidietly he moved back in caution.

"Zaibach Spy..."

Aaron had landed on the railings and used it as support as he tried to reach out for Abel.

| --Flash-- |
"Do you know who this is?"

A scientist gawed at him as he danced around the lab merrily. He moved away to allow the test subject to see his newest creation. He wasn't responding so the scientist knocked on the glass furiously.

"Look, look, I want you to see this!

All he could hear was the faint sound of his heart beat mixed with his breathing.

"That there... see that sword right there? That's your brother."

The guard grew wary and knocked aaron out sending him flat on the cold stone floor. The guard grew wary. He recalled how the melef he piloted looked like and looking at the prisoner twitching right before him on the floor reminded him of the melef. The spy appeared to have incurred the same damages that the melef took. His left arm looked broken and loose but the prisoner seems to ignore this as if it was natural. There were gashes on his face, similar to the cracks and damage on the melef's head gear. Right down to the very last scratch and wound...

He had heard of the tales of Escflowne... of how king Van had mastered Escaflowne so well that he melded and became one with it. These were just legends though.

"Don't try anything fishy." he banged on the prison cell one last time and gave one last look at the bandaged weapon. He walked towards it and placed it at a far corner where one would have to get out of the cell in order to retrieve it. He went back and took another peek at the cell and spat at the prisoner.

Aaron simply laid there, tired, wounded, breathing heavily and twitching in pain.

(((OOC: yes, i'm here. i'm here... i think i need to go gm the other threads... eeep.)))

Kayay · 06-03-2002, 03:23 PM

((OOC: NO! You must spend your every making moment here! In Fried.))

"I am Commander Seth Jeture Alston, Knight of Asturia, and I have come to see the prisoner."

This was the first time the man had given his full name and title in front of Owen; he didn't care for the formalities and empty pleasantries so called nobles used. He was to accustomed to his old ways, and preferred to simply be 'Seth'. But now was one of those moments where protocol and procedure was necessary and he acted with all the required respect and grace. His influence here was much less than that in Asturia. The Freidian guards had the upper hand -- for now.

"If he is a Zaibach spy, it is within my right as an agent of Asturia to interrogate the man."

The man facing him rubbed at the stubble on his chin and regarding the Asturian critically. "And what about him?" he indicated Owen, who stood a few feet from Seth. "What is he doing here?"

"He is a soldier under my command. Certainly you understand that I must speak to this alleged spy in private. Certain sensitive matters concerning Asturia may be brought up, and I have brought him along as an extra security measure," Seth answered coolly.

The Freid guard stood there a moment longer. "Very well. Follow me," he said reluctantly.

Mentally, Seth sighed in relief and kept closely by the guard's side. He felt the tension in his shoulders relax slightly -- until they entered the cellroom.

Aaron lay on the ground, injured, semiconscious, and shuddering in pain. Seth could feel Owen tensing besides him, struggling to refrain from lashing out at the guardsman and rushing to the fallen man's side. Even Seth could feel his anger rising, but with effort, he swallowed his growing rage.

"Call when you're finished," the guard instructed, closed the cell door behind him, and strode away down the hallway. His footsteps faded away as he left the three men alone.

Owen, remarkably quick for a man so large, was at Aaron's side in a flash, easing him into a sitting position. Seth just stood where he was. The scene before him was all too familiar; unpleasant memories began to cloud his sight again. Visions not of a pale haired man and battle scarred warrior, but of two young friends, in a smoke stained, bloody room. He shook the images from his mind and knelt by the two men. He placed a hand upon Aaron's shoulder , helping Owen to steady the man, and looked from one to the other with concern.

"Such treatment is unforgivable," he said more to himself than to the others, a dangerous edge in his voice.

Nairohe · 06-03-2002, 03:53 PM

(((OOC: will fight the urge to do yaoi ooc... will fight the urge to do yaoi ooc... will fight the urge to do yaoi ooc... XD)))

"C-c-cain..."

It was a mere whisper... although this was the first time he mentioned his name infront of strangers, it was too faint to hear. It sounded more of a gasp. His lungs were drowning though he knew he could manage. The blurred image of a mountain came to view...

"Owen..."

He coughed again, blood not visible. Open wounds were scattered all over the body. He could still remember the match with the two Zaibach melefs earlier... the pain. He was able to sit straight and found Seth walking forward, not looking very worried. For a moment, a faint memory of his brother reminded him of Seth's disposition.

I will be your strength. If i don't survive... I will be your sword...

"The program is meant to create the perfect weapon suitable for the perfect soldier. These two are excellent subjects. They both share a draconian heritage. They're perfect for the project."

"What's with that kid?"

he looked over beside him, telephatically communicating with his twin. "Don't do it... Please, just stay calm!"
"They can't treat us like this. I'm sick of this!!!"
The boy right beside him jumped on the nearest scientist examining them and managed to bite him till he bled.
Before he could even reach out and help him, someone electricuted him from behind.

The next he opened his eyes, his brother was bleeding right infront of him, drowning in his own blood. The scientist was furious and kicked him. He was furious, everything went blank after that.

"hey, Ugly! snap out of it!" He could smell Owen's breath and pushed him away. He gasped for air and landed on his knees.

"what is this place? where am I?"

Kayay · 06-03-2002, 05:30 PM

((OOC: Give in to the dark side Nair. The seductive pull of OOC Yaoi is undeniable. Its so easy, watch: Seth reached out a hand, and tenderly touched the injured man's cheek, cradling it in his hand. "Aaron," he whispered... Eh, we need a forum for this sort of madness before Crakka and Fairy implode.))

"You're in the prison cells of Freid." He was trying to sound confident and reassuring but wasn't sure how effectively he was doing either. Aaron was hurt, and those guards did nothing to help him. "We'll get you out soon." He forced a small sad smile, reluctantly rose, and moved away from the two men.

Now what? Try and convince the guards it was a mistake? Tell them he's an Asturian soldier who, in desperation, was using an enemy guymelef recovered in the attack on Palas?

He leaned against the cold stone walls of the cell, and unconsciously pulled a dagger from his belt, fiddling with the blade as he thought.

They may not believe that, and even if they did, they might go to the Duke for approval before freeing him. Perhaps if I could get Gwyn's support on the matter they may release him into my custody without going to the Duke, but that would mean I'd have to tell her the truth about them. He glanced over at Aaron, and winced at the expression on pain on the man's face.

He can't stay here much longer. Maybe a break out is our only option. His other hand reached into his pocket, and fingered the cold iron of the lock picks he carried.

Unless…unless we go directly to the King and Duke. Would they understand? Would they find such treatment of one of their prisoners as detestable as I?

Nobles, from Seth's experience, often had their own code of honor - one that didn't necessarily place much value on the common man. The dagger flashed in the dim light as he spun the blade.

"Maybe it's our only option," he muttered, echoing his thoughts.

YellerCrakka · 07-03-2002, 12:08 AM

Carefully studying his surroundings Owen sill wanted to crush someone's skull and excape. It looked as if Seth wanted to keep things simple er at least... non-violent. Owen knew that the violent way may aslo be more complicated. It all depended if he wanted to trust Seth or not.

Owen looked at Aaron feeling some sence of guilt. Why does he keep on runnin' off on me? I could help him if he lets me.

"Are you okay? What happened? I heard they took you in as a spy. and what'd they dota you??" Some rage shown in Owen's voice as he began to contemplate his swinging radius of Dinky in the halls of the jail. "Who did this???" Griting his teeth and turning around he pounded the bars.

"Owen, maybe we could talk to the Duke," Seth interveined a little less casual than normal, you could tell he was troubled with something. "with some persuasion I think he may allow us to take Aaron for here."

Owen clamed down a bit, but still the urge to punch the gaurd in the face for the treatment of Aaron was overwhelming. He pounded the bars one more time and turned around shoeing he was ready to take things Seth's way. He placed a hand on Aaron's shoulder and gave him a reassuring pat. "We'll get you out of here soon... don'cha worry about that."

He looked up to Seth with a "you lead" look in his eyes. I guess it's time to start trusting this guy. I hope his intentions are noble

Kayay · 07-03-2002, 04:21 AM

Seth slipped the dagger back into place, walked over to Aaron, and knelt down again. "I gave my word to help you two and I intend to honor that oath,” he said gently. “And if the Duke doesn’t listen, I have a few other options in mind.” Facing the bars he called out, “Guard! We’re done here.”

Moments later the same grizzled sour-faced man they had spoken to earlier returned and opened the cell door. Seth and Owen left the cell, and Aaron, behind them. After a few steps he unexpectedly stopped and faced the guardsman.

“That man in there is as much a prisoner of Asturia as of Freid, “ the knight spoke a low voice. “While I don’t know what passes for honor in this land, I doubt it includes abusing wounded prisoners. And if your Duke is a man of any honor, I know he would agree with me. Now, if he comes to any more harm during his stay here, I will personally repay you in kind.”

The Freidian man was much taller and larger than the Asturian knight, yet he was too stunned by Seth’s blatant threat to react. Turning on his heel, Seth and Owen strode out of the prison leaving the bewildered man behind.

“We need to find Gwyndolin Valdemar. She may be of some help,” he said in his usual casual manner as they made their way back towards the guest quarters.

DrZepp · 11-03-2002, 07:10 AM

Findel slouched back turning his head up to the mornings rising sun. The light was hot and unusually blinding and within moments the Basramian had picked up his blade and began a steady stroll across the courtyard. Many trees lined the area, clearly being strategically planted around a large lake like pool that span across Freids cobblestone courtyard.
Perhaps for once Findel forgot his immediate goals, his homeland and his eventual return, and he took the time to relax and reflect. The man found Freid very beautiful and majestic in the approaching mid-day sun, and as time passed he eventually found himself overlooking the high rising structures that lay further north. They probably were home for the duke and his men, and they probably held the others as well. The prison area was no more than ten minutes away from where Findel stood, and through word of mouth he had learned that a zaibach spy had been abducted. The Basram native could not help but wonder if it was the lanky man with the strange red melef, or perhaps one of the others that he had met in Palas. They all could have very well been spies for all he knew. Fang, Eitre, even Findel could have appeared suspiscious in an Asurian knights eyes. Yet this hardly concerned him.
After the levi-ship had gone down the past was very much a blur, yet the impact had apparently shaken his attackers off, or perhaps they depearted with the other who was fighting Seth, Findel could not recall. All he knew was that a small convoy had taken him and many others to Freid, yet he had not seen Seth or the barbarian since the crash. His Melef had been escorted to Freid, but in the panic Findel assumed that they had no time to question him or thoroughly inspect his Basramian giant.

In his idleness his mind wandered. Maybe Basram had already learned of Zaibachs attack on Asturia and were preparing their great army for the invisible war that they had trained for for so long. At times Findel thought it obsolete, and over the years he had come to the understanding that the notion of war was something that simply fuelled his desire to train, which in reality he enjoyed as a past time. But now that the possibility of battle loomed over head he became disheartened again. His dilema was that of a warrior who had trained with the accepted eventuality of some kind of peace. Through this mind set Findel had let himself enjoy the sparring, the training, the outposts, the mindless skirmishes with trade pirates and so on. Perhaps if he had been training with the knowledge of an upcoming war he would have loathed the process, but for now, he could not decide which situation would have been favorable at the present time. Findel still had much to learn, and he had been naive when he had started his long battle. For now, he blamed his loneliness on that fact.

EvaRobby · 11-03-2002, 11:29 PM

Touji wandered around completely lost, hours ago he was at home but then all of a sudden he wasn't, he couldn't really remember what happened but he knew it had something to do with the phantom planet he'd seen in the sky... Now though... he was wandering around aimlessly through fields trying to find some sort of civilization, he sat down between rows of grain stalks and rested, he contemplated grabbing some food from the stalks but wasn't hungry, just tired, and so, he fell asleep

Nairohe · 12-03-2002, 01:31 AM

current time in Fried: 1-3PM.

A few hours later after attack. Civillians have been safely evacuated from the Shezernade Vale. Civillians and relief workers are visibly entering the gates of Freid by the truck loads. Melefs are asked to park within Freid's first gate which houses Freid's first line of defense against any attack. The architecture of Freid is similar to Asturia. The only difference is that Freid resembles Cambodia and Thailand. Freid is generally a religious and agricultural country.

First wall consists of soldier look out posts and melef hangers for guests.

Second wall consists of villagers homes, farms, etc...

Third and central area consists of the Freidian Palace, libraries, temples...

Freid has another section which is the Fortuna Temple.

YellerCrakka · 12-03-2002, 04:43 AM

The patern had returned. A constant tapping... from alternating, slowly matching and returning. This time Owen didn't seem to care as much. A slight chatter between gaurds reveiled some tension about having an allegid Austrian knight weilding such an insanely large sword.

Owen strode along side the purple haired knight determined to get Aaron out one way or another. Every gaurd that turned his head their way inbetween lines of rumors and slightly slanderous remarks became a victem to Owen's plotting. He worked out a back-up plan in his mind, keeping track of who seems most responsive to an attack. He planned his course and who he would wail on the most.

But first, He reminded himself, We hafta see if Seth could smooth talk his way out. He better have the right connections or I may have to do this myself. Aaron better be okay. 1... 2... 3... 4 damn footsteps.

"You better have a pretty nifty plan. This may get out of hand if you fail."

"Nifty?... okay. Well I will try to convince Lady Gwyendolyn to have him released into my custody for the way he was treated. If not I have another plan"

Owen looked at him as if he had stolen an idea of his. Blank puzzlement wiped across his face and his pace slowed. "What's that?"

Kayay · 12-03-2002, 05:58 AM

“Hmm?” Seth had only been paying partial attention to Owen. “Well, should the Duke not listen, we may have to resort to that break out you were so keen on earlier,” he answered nonchalantly.

What struck Owen as particularly odd, was that only a few hours ago Seth had been the one convincing him not to rush off on some rescue mission. Furthermore, one minute the man was threatening the guards, and the next he was discussing a prison break as casually as if he has just told Owen they would be stopping by the market to pick up a loaf of bread!

“Excuse me,” the knight questioned a passing servant bearing a load of freshly laundered sheets. “Do you happen to know where Lady Gwyndolin Valdemar is? She is one of the Asturian Knights of Caeli.”

“Oh, the Knights are currently assembled in the Palace Hall,” the man answered and continued on his way.

“Looks like you and I are headed to the Palace Hall then, my large, smelly companion.”