I want YOU to join the Syliran Knights! (CLOSED)

[Imass]

Summer 80th
Morning
Shortly After the Syliran Host arrives outside Zeltiva.

Imass walked through the streets of Zeltiva was a swagger in his step. It was that Syliran Knight confidence. It was that prideful way of walking: chest out, head up, and feet wide. Each step he took clanked loudly against the cobblestone.

The Knight was amoured to the tooth. He had spent the night before cleaning and sharpening his weapons before arriving in Zeltiva, so they were gleaming in the morning sunlight. There was a large basket handled broadsword swinging at his side and a large round shield on his back. The shield bore the crest of the Windoak. He wore the whole military outfit: gardbrace, pauldrons, vambraces, gauntlets, breastplate, cuisses, poleynes, greaves, solarets, and full chain mail underneath it all. He also bore with him a banner. He did not show the colors of the flag though.

Despite his heavy armor he walked through the streets as if it was second nature. There was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, but nothing else. Following behind the Knight were four squires that had agreed to help. They were all wearing light armor, but were similarly dressed to the knight.

The Knight was not trying to come off as aggressive or mean, but he was used to the respect he recieved in the Fortress City and his body language showed. He was still smiling though. He had a big grin on his face. Imass was absolutely confident that he would be successful this day. His goal was to recruit as many people as possible to the Windoak's side. He was well aware that some peoples might not like his message, but if he could save ONE soul he would be successful. This is what fueled his zealous actions. This is what allowed him to do things beyond normal logic.

And thus the Knight found himself standing in the middle of a cross street in the busiest part of town. His plan was simple: speak the true words of Tyveth into the people's hearts and recruit squires for the glory of Syliras.

"Very well," the Knight said to the squires around him, "Bring that box over here, lad, and let us begin our most sacred work!"

The men around him nodded in agreement and took up positions behind Imass.

The Akalak cleared his throat and unfurrled the banner he was holding. A large white flag with the image of a tree waved brightly in the summer sunshine.

Imass let out a glorious roar. His voice was deep, clear, and in tune, "Here ye! Here ye! Come around and listen to my words so that you too might be saved! Here ye! Here ye! Gather around friends and listen to my words! Come all men and women! Come all poor and wretched! Come to me rich and noble! It does not matter your lot in life, come one and all and listen to my words! Here ye! Here ye!"

The Zealot would try to gather a crowd before saying anything else.

[Larknas Tider]

For larknas the mornings lately were pretty normal nothing interesting was happening in the city apart from the quarantine only going to his job each morning or night depending on what he had to do still he took his knife with him now lately for those pesky rats. Still Larknas had heard about the Syliran's who came and a few people from the Univercity and others from Zeltiva who signed up to go with them still no reason to trouble himself he just shrugged off if it was by sea he would had gone but it was faster by land propably. Still he dint expect to see a knight in the streets letting out a roar in the morning before starting his yammering about for people to gather up. But the real question was should he go? he took a moment to think about it why not might be fun to break the routine that i am stuck in. He moved around to listen a bit closer perhaps he would learn something nice or interesting would happen the Akalak if anything seemed confident.

oocopsie its short D:

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Early in the morning, before the bad night she'd be having, Tock was walking through the streets when she saw a purple man in Syliran armor walking by. She was on her way to work and... Purple man? In ARMOR? She stopped and turned to look at... at the purple man in armor. Yes, that's really what he was. She rubbed at her eyes, wondering if she'd been overgiving on Auristics again... though she couldn't remember doing so. She had just never seen a purple man before. She thought about it for a moment, then remembered four years ago, one of the Konti she'd met in Mura telling her about blue and purple men from... Sai-fhrus? Rider hall? Some far off place she knew nothing about and couldn't remember the name of. She thought maybe the Konti had called them yakyaks or something. But as far as she knew, there WERE no yakyaks in Zeltiva. If there were, she'd never met one. She had met Konti, Kelvics, Vantha, Nuits, and once a little clay man. But never one of these. She knew his armor, however. The sigils and colors he was wearing... She'd lived in Syliras for a year and a half, and knew their poshy stuck up holier-than-thou-do-what-we-say-or-else knights, but didn't understand what one was doing here. Zeltiva was a free city. It was perfect. It didn't have the anarchy and endless crime of Sunberth, nor the insane zealotry and strictness of Syliras. It had just a nice balance where Tock could be free to do as she pleased, but still feel safe to walk down the streets at night. So she stopped and heckled him. She stuck her thumbs on the side of her head and waved her fingers like moose antlers, and shouted, "Go 'ome, purple man!" Handy, her wooden hand Automaton, mimicked the taunting motion from where he was strapped to her right wrist, so the purple man would see three hands making rude gestures at him. "We dun needs yer kind 'ere! Go on, git!" she waved her hands at him and blew a raspberry on her tongue. "Pfffft! Git lost! No one wants yer rusty ol' armor trashin' the streets up!" Grading Request : I'd like a "Heckled the Purple Knight" Lore for this! <3

[Nai'shee]

Nai'shee was simply heading to University to get some lunch or something, when she saw the weirdest scene in her life. It even surpassed the scene of half of the city cleaning Tock's back wall so Wart could paint sunset on it. A purple man was standing on a box in the middle of Zeltiva, gathering the crowd, sounding like the cheapest fortune-teller or priest she saw or something. Only case when she would get such a thing seriously was if Konti yelled from up there. As she never lived in Syliras, much less saw an Akalak, Nai'shee had no idea what was happening. Rumors about Syliran Knights have not yet reached her ear, or she would happily join Tock's yells. However, seeing the man now she could just stare.

"Tock", she called out for her friend, oddly poking her arm, "what is this thing? Why is it here in an armor yelling around?" She wondered if her friend would even bother to explain. She didn't seem like the only one who didn't know what was this about, but she was certainly the most curious one. "Tock!", she called out a little louder, poking her violently with her finger.

[Imass]

Imass looked at the small crowd that was beginning to form in front of him. The first to approach was a taller lanky human. He was much smaller than the Knight who was towering on the box. He was wearing the simple clothing of a peasant or a craftsman.

Next to come was a strange woman. She was short and small. She had a strange haircut for a human and was wearing strange clothing. It was obvious she was a craftsman with her tool belt and thick leather gloves. There were old burn marks or black stains on her cloths. They were well worn. She was the opposite of Imass. What was even stranger was that she had a mechanical hand. It twisted and jolted on his wrist as she heckled the Knight.

Imass raised an eyebrow at her. She was obviously a student of the University. The Knight has heard stories of people like her. People who spent their whole days inside reading books as such.

There were two other common humans that joined the crowd. One was tall and had a thick beard. The other was slim and smelled like rum and fish.

Imass could not have asked for a better crowd. The setup was perfect.

He waved at the strange woman and shouted across the street, "Come and speak your troubles with me citizen. I have the answers to you ALL your questions. Why not come and have a friendly discussion with me? Isn't that in the spirit of the most gracious city of Zeltiva?"

Imass was confident that this hook would grab the attention of the student. These types of people loved to try to prove Imass wrong.

He only spoke the Truth, for he was a follower of Tyveth. Who could prove his conviction and personal experience wrong then?

Imass watched as a newcomer came and joined the woman with the mechanical hand. The rough looking blond woman had scars on her arms, but her eyes were as blue as the ocean. Her body was fit and athletic. This was exactly the type of woman Imass wanted to join the Syliran Knights. Unlike this so called Tock, this newcomer was definitely combat worthy.

The tanned human and the two other commoners he could not judge yet.

He beckoned the red haired welch again, "Tock is it? Come over and hear me out, milady!" He waved a gauntleted hand in friendly mannor.

[Bob Barton]

Home sweet home. While out in the Wildlands Bob was anticipating getting some of the local tastes back into him and that was what he was doing right now. Some kelp beer and grilled fish did not sound too bad before visiting some of his fellows after all he had for nearly the whole of the season were rations prepared by the knights. Another thing to add to the ever increasing things he did not like about the knights and wait, one more. One of their psychotic fanatics apparently took to getting some recruits in his hometown. At least Bob would not have to worry about any idiots being taken by the knight's promise of salvation. He was a Zeltivan and they all were a lot more smarter than that.

And even if they were more likely to not get physical like the knights of Syliras to get what they wanted, that did not mean that they cannot talk others into it. Just he anticipated would happen when one of the bolder women voiced out her opinion. Well not really an opinion but at least it got everyone's distaste of the knights across when they were not in the walls of their sheltered little city. Too bad it was only one woman while the rest somehow lost their verbal opinions. Perhaps there was something that Bob could do to make the others speak up as well?

But it has to be done subtly first as all of his not so nice deeds had to be unless they prove to be really tough. Stepping up crouched behind the crowd, Bob tried to make his voice a little bit higher than usual to mimic the woman in front of him with hilarious results when he ended up squeaking "she be right! Ye can keep on holding yer breath for fools cos ye ain't getting no'one!" before using the crowd to cover him while he sneaked on to another side. It was times like this that being shorter than most other people was useful. They got to hide him out of anyone elses sight and with all the noise they were making, no one can hear him running around either.

Bob heard the knight's announcement in the way which he thought was typical of them. Always thinking they were better than everyone else. When he reached another spot of people he saw something really good. The knight was trying to attack her. Alright not really but it was up to the people's perception and with Bob being who he was, he was all up for making them see it in a bad light like "don't go threatening the girl with your arms, tough guy!" that he said in his usual charming voice. Should he go for more? No, not really because these Zeltivans will be a lot smarter than the bull headed Berthians to believe the words of one small man. He was going to need an bigger accomplice.

He hope that his bet would make him a winner because he was putting quite a bit into this. As Bob scanned the crowd for a person that seemed as verbal as the woman, he started gathering up some djed. It built up like the tall bearded man he saw nearby, ready to act and speak out to everyone else. Moving from his eyes the mannish djed went to the man and drunkish smelling fellow by him, just in case, to grasp their heads and pull their attention to the knight and his raised hand. Hopefully they would accept the sudden thought that Bob gave them, that "the knight is angry and going to hit her. I need to do something!" Well he only need them to speak up so hopefully none of them go too crazy but that was the thing with betting especially on uncertain odds like the drunk man. While the payoff, the effectiveness of his hypnotism seems more likely, anything could happen.

[Larknas Tider]

Larknas was slighty weirded that woman that started speaking to the knight dint seem drunk and the knight dint seem to care as much but this wasnt the weird part it was the wooden hand that moved hm magic? he had heard about animation perhaps it was such a creation that one. He took a sharp breath again and shifted his focus with his djed and focused on the auras around him almost becoming overhelmed before focusing towards the aura of the woman first her aura and actions showed that she was annoyed she was fiery and energetic still he quickly picked the other aura close to her the moving hand its aura seemed simple like an animal it had some emotions but lacked a few other things like it was alive but not like flesh and blood creatures which maked sense, but still he could see that it had a degree of sentience but he was unsure about it, he thought about it a moment perhaps at the level of a dog or cat no a bit higher maybe hrm my tavan friend yes about there and its definitely magical i know this much without looking at its aura still it has tell-tale signs, he stopped focusing on their auras and smiled a bit this was interesting he would stick around a whille. As he focused again on the world around him he noted the knights gesture and his words to the woman, he had just scanned the aura, but he had missed his words he did hear someone saying, he threatened her, but he somehow doubt it as he dint see who said that and the knight woulnt be foolish to atack someone in the city that houses them......propably, he wondered if anything else was gonna happen for once he wanted to have more time to study the aura of that wooden hand in his leisure.

oocSo i hope this was my turn if we have a posting order XD if not tell me to remove it

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"'E's a yakakak," Tock told Nai, "o' sommat like 'at... Big purple men what likes ta shag the Konti." At least, that was what Tock had been told. Something about all the purple men being men (which led to some interesting sidetracked homoerotic thoughts for a moment). And somehow all the Konti were women. Though Tock was a bit confused about the biology of all that. She then snorted when Purple Yak Man asked her to come up and have a 'friendly discussion' with him. She wasn't one much for such things. Though she hears whispers in the crowd, and noticed people pointing at her not-quite-subtly. She hadn't any clue that word about her had been spreading around the city lately. "...that crazy lady with all the contraptions..." "...heard she had something to do with stopping those arsonists..." "Mommy, it's the puppet lady!" She started to feel a bit uncomfortable as the whispers reached her. Tock was no stranger to drawing a crowd and being stared at, but this felt... different. She awkwardly scratched the back of her head, not sure what to do. Then she heard more words from the crowd... "She be right! Ye can keep on holding yer breath for fools cos ye ain't getting no'one!" Well, at least the people seemed to have her back. She heard some more similar comments and murmurs of assent. It felt strange... having people agree with her and support her. She felt suddenly very awkward and bashful. Which was NOT part of Tock's normal emotional range! As the murmurs grew, the crowd seemed to get a bit agitated. Someone suddenly said, "Don't go threatening the girl with your arms, tough guy!" Some rough looking men in the crowd stepped forward, and Tock got a bad feeling. Like they were about to get physical. "Pick on someone your own size!" one of them called out. They actually stepped in front of Tock, as if to protect her. Tock rolled her eyes. This was getting ridiculous! She didn't understand why everyone was getting THIS volatile (of course, she had no idea that there was a hypnotic influence at work). And as much as she enjoyed a good tussle, she was in no condition for one... she was still moving with limited mobility due to the stomach wound she'd received some three weeks ago. The surface wound was closed and no longer at risk of starting to bleed again, but she was still in a lot of pain, and certainly NOT capable of handling another fight today! "Awright, awright, settle down!" she said, stepping forward with a noticeable limp. She didn't really understand why SHE was suddenly the center of all this, but Purple Knight had singled her out, and 'somehow' the people of the crowd were being riled to protect her. It felt weird, and she had a tickling feeling at the back of her head that there was something else going on here (but not knowing the first thing about hypnosis, she couldn't recognize the signs). She waved her hands, all three of them, at the crowd to calm them (still uncertain why she, of all possible people, was being the voice of reason). "Ain't nobody fightin' nothin'," she declared to the crowd. She lowered her arms, and Handy decided to detach himself from her wrist, crawling along her arm to perch on her shoulder. He crouched there almost like a five-legged animal, perched on wooden fingers, the leather belt that made his tail waving back and forth. She stepped up to the knight and waved him off, not liking the effect he seemed to be having on the crowd. "Why don'tcha goes back ta Syliras!" she shouted at him, wincing a bit from the strain of raising her voice, and holding a hand over the hidden wound under her shirt. "We done gaves ya fitty men last Spring! Ain't 'at enough!?" While it hadn't been her intent, this sparked more angry muttering from the crowd. While Tock herself hadn't known any of the people who were forcibly recruited into Syliras in exchange for food, those men had been the sons and brothers of some of the people here. It seemed that even a season later, there was still some ill blood. OOC : Since there was a question about posting order, from here it should be: Nai'shee Imass Bob Larknas Minerva

[Nai'shee]

"Yakakak?" A purple people. She saw many different races, even some Charoda and Akvatari, so a purple looking man wasn't as inhuman as it could get. However, she still couldn't stop looking. "That sure sounds weird", she agreed. But why was Tock so angry at that Yakakak?

Mess that he made calling Tock out prevented her from asking. People were murmuring at first, seemingly only willing to stand and watch, but under some courses atmosphere was changed after few people protested. Everyone stood to their side, defending her friend. But it didn't seem like Yakakak threatened her. Or did he? Did she miss some point in his sentence?

Watching Tock standing up against fight and violence was both surprising and expected. Tock wasn't a type to fix matters too peacefully, but she was neither the type to remain silent and watch others fight. Of course she would take a wheel, even if that meant peaceful debate. Little did Nai'shee know what will this turn into.

Only after Tock started to protest herself Nai'shee realized what was happening. Pieces were clicking in her head. Strange, foreign man. Syliras. Fifty Zeltivans. Armor. This man was Syrilan Knight. "You damned shyke", Nai'shee said quietly trough her teeth, clenching fists subconsciously. "You damned shyke!", she yelled out a second later. She seemed furious, almost as she has never been before. "You're a Syrilan Knight, aren't you?!", she said missing the fact that many people knew that. "How come you DARE to stand up and speak to us, Zeltivans?! Do you take us as petching fools?! Don't tell me you were trying to recruit us! As Tock said, you don't need a man more, above those fifty, who sacrificed their happiness, families and dreams to join YOU, so their city wouldn't starve to death!!" Her voice was quieting down as she spoke, but she was still angry, showing her teeth while speaking and soon attention of the whole crowd was on her and Tock. She was surprised herself by heat she responded with. She wasn't aware all that anger and hatred was buried inside her. And on top of that, she didn't know one single person of those who left, but she knew they were Zeltivan. Zeltiva was, perhaps, the most important thing girl had in her life. She was proud to be raised there, she was proud of every inch of her hometown and of every man with it's attitude. She didn't want some petching brat coming across like this insulting this city, spitting on them like that.

Her body was slowly calming, even nor her mind was still under the pressure of adrenalin from her anger. She normalized her breath, looking left and right at the crowd around her. They were supportive! They agreed with her and Tock. Many now yelled in anger as well, while most just remained quiet, looking at scenario before them or leaving the place with their children. She looked at the man, feeling all the strength of those people who protested against the man, feeling blood boiling in her veins. What now?, her eyes asked him.

OOCSorry, Imass, I know this was harsh, but she just freaked out, I couldn't stop her!

[Bob Barton]

OOCMight be busy for the next few days since I'll be travelling so I told Imass I'l skip ahead of him a bit so you guys won't have to wait longer

Now that Bob was able to witness if he has foiled this knight's schemes, he was able to get a good look at the woman that he was using to get the rest of the Zeltivan crowd out of their usual apathetic state. Three hands! Now he knew what exactly those whispers about her being "that lady" meant but that worked out well for him . It was her reputation that was able to get more of the people's attention on her before Bob redirected it to the knight that was dressed like he was prepared for a war in the streets of Zeltiva.

And who would want a war in this peace, knowledge loving city? Definitely not her when she tried to step in and stop the men he hypnotized from "protecting" her. However in the end, Bob found out that he did not need to do anything after all. Zeltiva already had something against Syliras from a recent event resulting from the storm so eventually the subject would have come up. Despite the pride he took in the city he was born in, Bob has not taken a proper interest in it to know current events. Maybe he should call up on some old friends and find some new contacts that can keep him in the loop of what is going on because he did not quite understand what the woman meant about the fifty men and why everyone else seemed so dissatisfied when she did.

Some expressed their dissatisfaction more energetically than others like the other woman. From her unladylike outbursts and the mutterings from some of the people near him, Bob was able to piece together a little of the grudge. Knight...recruit...man more...sacrifice...city...starve... Syliras must have extorted from Zeltiva for mage knights like the one he knew! Indeed magic was a great power as Bob has done here in manipulating the crowd so how can Syliras not want some of its wielders added to their ranks? And all they had to do for it was add a little to Zeltiva's diet of fish. Bob was no idiot. He knew that Zeltiva had no fields and the storm would have destroyed most of the ships at port even if Zeltiva has the best ships. What more the ships out in the open sea?

Being harassed by so many problems, people would undoubtedly lash out. Even Bob became super paranoid in Alvadas thinking everyone and everything was out to get him after the storm and since he could not blame the weather or the gods he blamed whoever crossed his path. The people who grew up the same way as he did, they would not be too different and if they choose to attack the knight now it may not end well. He came from Syliras with the rest of their forces and that same force is at the city. Fully armed to the teeth. No matter how powerful the mages Syliras wanted were, there was no way they could beat so many trained combatants without a significant loss.

Bob rushed to the front thinking of ways to buy some time and stop that disastrous prediction. Learning a little of what was going on, he too thought he deserved some answers and maybe that will calm the unrest. "So Ser, why don't you explain why you took our people from us?" to try and satisfy at least a little of those who experienced the loss. That might make it easier to accept "why do you need more of us when you already have so much companions travelling with you? I'm sure you'd find plenty more in Syliras willing to be recruited. We have everything here" he said as he glanced at the woman who said it earlier to relate it to his words. "Why leave it to follow you?!"

He was hoping that the akalak knights were not all zealots only capable of forcing people to take their beliefs and this one will be able to give the same answer the Grandmaster offered Bob to join the expedition. Not sacrifice for the greater good, but rewarding the greed of the individual. Bob himself was still looking forward for his holiday home in Syliras. However in case the knight could not, Bob posed a reminder that he hoped the sharper members of the crowd will pick up "we don't need the weapons and armour you all got now if you're thinking of giving that" and held up the cane he had in his hands to make the statement come out naturally that Zeltiva had enough already.