Closed [Kabrin Road] Ice Clay and Flesh (Archailist)

[Revy Hiroe]

9th day, Winter 514AV It was cold, it was freezing. In short, it was not a day that Revy was particularly liking. But despite what she wanted, her patron had decided that the former mercenary had to do some community work. This because lately she hadn't been focusing on her training. Right now the woman was wishing she had done some shopping, so she had some warmer clothing. So instead she had to slip into her leather armor, put her woolen red shirt on and then slipped into her armor. Once she slipped outside, her glaive and dagger on her back, she already saw Theresa waiting there. "Come on. We've got a lot of snow to shovel today.", she said. And, as if being psychic, added: "And I don't want any complaining, you hear? Together with her squire, they made their way to the stables. "Don't worry, we wont be doing this alone. We'll be joined a couple other squires with their patrons. Though I wished one of them wasn't so.. eager... to join.", she said. Once they arrived at the stables, the patron spotted a woman and immediately heaved a sigh. "Why does she have to be here right now? I wanted to leave early, so we wouldn't have to see her right away." Despite wanting to turn around and not face that other knight, she pressed on to her horse. "Oh, look who we have here. If it isn't silvertongue Theresa. Finally taking your squire out to do some community work? Dave here frequently does it. Don't you think you should just give up on teaching and work?", she said with a sneer. Knight Orelia and Theresa always seemed to compete one way or another. To say they disliked eachother was always putting it lightly. "Oh, is that so Orelia. I don't believe you are my superior yet. So I think you should keep your advise to yourself. Besides, I doubt your squire would be able to best Revy in combat.", she returned with the same haughty tone. Revy and Dave just left their patrons to whatever they wanted. Both of them started to prepare their horse for travel. Rosalind was really happy to see her owner, as it meant that she could go out for a ride. "Hey beauty, how are you? Today I apparently have to go snow shoveling or something. So I don't think today will be a long ride." Rosalind didn't seem to mind and just urged Revy on to prepare her, which was nothing more then just putting a blanket on the horse. And when she got out of the stable, she was her patron and that other knight still bickering, but ready to go. "Revy, we'll wait for a few chimes to see if more knights and squires show up early.", she said as Revy pulled up next to her. Theresa was still quite proud of her squire, mainly because of the combat experience Revy had and the rate at which she seemed to pick up on the life of a knight. Besides that, she was also proud that her squire was a proud owner of a Sungold, rare, expensive and beautiful horses.

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[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

"Remind me how I'm going to be of use today. Just one more time." The squirrel wasn't exactly annoyed - the chill air was partially numbed with the warmth of the Akalaks body underneath, and getting out in the day was better than spending all of it inside the castle, struggling every tick to avoid being crushed underfoot. However, when he was once again dragged into a task that he couldn't possibly do, complaints were in no short supply. Ser Iros knew that the squirrel didn't have the same strength as a regular human, nor the size, nor a lot of the same abilities. As far as the squirrel was concerned, there wasn't a knight or squire around that could land a punch, and when it came to delivering messages between the districts, he could always find the quickest route.. but when it came to helping with building a house, or fixing a wagon, or shoveling snow, he just couldn't do it.

It wasn't that he didn't want it, even though he didn't. His body just wasn't made for it. The hulking Akalak knew it though, and continued regardless. "A knight of the Order does more than just sit on the back of his high horse and dictate the lives of all those he deems below. You've got to get involved in the community, squire. You live to protect the city of Syliras and its inhabitants from whatever may harm it - be it bandits or drought." As annoying as it was, yet again, the knight had an indisputable point. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to find anything else than snow when he looked about Syliras, or the Bronze Woods surrounding it.

At least he wasn't the only one getting involved - or rather, being forced into it like him. He could see quite a few other squires, complete with their patrons.. sometimes with more than two or three squires surrounding a single knight. Snow surely isn't that big a problem...

As they reached the edge of the city walls, pushing out from the Nettle District, the bands of squires and knights began to thin - some heading out towards the Bronze Woods, with others moving towards the Mithryn Outpost and even others traveling down the Kabrin Road leading off far into Riverfall. Only a few were still milling about the edges of the walls, apparently waiting for the rest of the group or simply idling in the few moments they had before some Sergeant rode in and ordered them off their backsides. Such was the life of the Knights, though.

"Hey, ho!" The squirrel jerked back from his idle daydreaming to look towards his own knight and the pair in front. One held a beautiful mount, the likes of which he'd never even seen.. not even the Akalaks huge destrier could really match it. "Take it you're waiting for the rest of the crew, huh?" Whatever idle conversation the man wanted to start, he was just wasting his much-needed breath for it. His heavy armour and layers of wool stuffed underneath it clattered and strained as he stopped off beside the two, looking down with the little squirrel unfortunately in direct line of sight. Was the man trying to draw attention for something?

[Revy Hiroe]

As the two knights got joined by more and more patrons, along with squires, the two rivals broke up talking to others. The mercenary felt calmer now that that Orelia woman was gone. Who was she to smacktalk about Revy's patron? It was unfortunate that that woman was a knight, otherwise Revy would've challenged her right there and then to a swordfight. She had started to like her patron and she actually wanted to protect her honor. The last one to arrive, seemed to be an Akalak. "Oh great, now I gotta deal with THAT race as well. Bloody shyke. And where in Myri's name is his squire?", she thought to herself as she turned away from him right away. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by her patron, but she could understand why. She had heard of what had happened to her squire. The knight put herself between her squire and the Akalak as she greeted him. "Hello, I'm Theresa Stalinsa and you are?" She left the question hanging as she continued: "Is that a pycon with you? Haven't seen one in the flesh.. or should I say clay, yet. So what's the little one's name?" Revy didn't quite understand what her patron was talking about. Pycon? Clay? All she saw was some sculpture thing with that Akalak. She was grateful to her patron that she sort of shielded her from that... guy. Whenever possible she avoided them. Nowadays she never even went out without a weapon. She just never really felt safe. Rosalind noticed Revy's nervousness and wanted to turn around, but her rider just patted on her neck. "It's okay, Rosa. No need to worry about me, I've got my weapons with me if they ever want to try anything.", she whispered. She just hoped that she could use them well enough to defend herself properly.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The Akalak paused for thought, but didn't seem to be able to recall hearing her name before. "Ser Iros, for now." Despite the fact that it sounded quite ominous, he hoped that the woman would understand. The last thing he really wanted to do was to be forced to explain himself - it made the cultural gaps and ignorance between so many of the knights that much more blatant. He also chose to ignore the fact that she'd not even bothered to answer his question, and instead stiffened his back just a little, and set his jaw just a bit tighter. He wasn't going to be rude, wasn't going to take insult.. he was going to remain calm.

That didn't make the squirrel sat perfectly still on his shoulder feel any better about the whole episode. "The 'little one' can tell you his name by himself, thank you." The Akalak might have held a rather surprising amount of self-restraint and discipline over himself, but the squirrel lacked the same abilities. His voice sounded just a little tense, and slightly agitated - he was sick of having every other knight, squire and otherwise talk about him, without talking to him. This had to be, at the very least, the sixth or seventh occasion it'd happened - and the squirrel wasn't even kidding. "My name is Archailist. A pleasure to meet you, Sera Stalinsa." It wasn't, but he held his tongue from making further insult than he'd likely already caused.

"... Regardless, ahem." If both the knight and squire were blind to the tension in the air, Ser Iros certainly wasn't. "I was just wondering, whether you were waiting for the rest of the patrol team set for the Bronze Woods." There was no point even asking, because regardless of the reason for the stumble, the rest of the group was already beginning to amass just behind the Akalak's horse; a small scattering of two or three knights, with their assortments of one or two squires on horseback around them, and an unidentifiable Sergeant manning the helm. It was obviously a Sergeant, as well - the rather huge horse and the air of confidence around his visored head as he weaved through the throngs was palpable.

"ALRIGHT! Let's get lined up and I'll explain to you what you'll be doing here today." Immediately, some of the knights began pushing forwards to create a semi-circle around their 'commander' for the evening. The Akalak turned just slightly, to make sure that he still had a space in front of the Sergeant, but also to make sure that he wasn't completely alienating Sera Stalinsa. She should have been grateful, really - he never often showed such hospitality towards other knights. Not to say that he was rude to them, but he wouldn't often make such a blatant attempt at friendship.

"Today, we're going to be splitting up into smaller teams, and spreading out to cover a wide area. Squires will stay with their patrons, but I want at least two knights to a group, with three to a group if there aren't enough squires to cover it. That should be.. let's see, three groups?" There were about five knights - the standard wing arrangement. The Sergeant adding to it, too.. yep, it was no wonder that this guy had ascended to the rank of Sergeant. He could count to six. Better than a lot of other knights that Archailist knew...

[Revy Hiroe]

Both Revy and Theresa were surprised when Archailist started talking. Revy couldn't fathom how a piece of clay could talk. And Theresa didn't know that it could speak either. She had heard of that little race, but only that they existed. She had never actually met one before. "My apologies, Archailist, I have to admit that I know little about pycons. Perhaps we can have a chat later during work.", she replied. "What's up with that little thing.... Is that thing... living? Just... what the hell is that thing?", she thought to herself. She was just looking at it. Trying to figure out what it exactly was. It had the looks of a squirrel, which made it a little cute, but still it was clay. Perhaps that thing would notice Revy's observing, perhaps he didn't. Either way, she would stop staring the moment the sergeant started yelling his orders. Both woman took place in the semi-circle, taking the spot that that big akalak let free. Theresa gave Iros a nod in appreciation, but didn't really pay any more attention to him then needed right now. She had to start listening to the sergeant or her patron might get angry with her again. The woman still wasn't really used to the system of the knights, though it was starting to happen slowly. After hearing the orders of the sergeant, sera Theresa immediately spoke to the akalak next to her. "Seeing how we have to form three groups, why dont we group up?" Then turning to the pycon, she said: "And you Archailist, I hope you can join me in a conversation. I want to learn more about your race." Revy wasn't too keen on grouping up with that... man, but if sera wanted to, she couldn't object. She had opposed her a number of times, but almost all times she just lost the argument and in turn was forced to study, something she hated. "Well Rosa, let's get going. Just follow the rest of the group, 'kay?", she told her horse. Sitting on a walking horse was easy, because she didn't really have to try to stay seated. As long as Rosalind would stay calm, Revy would stay seated.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The squirrel visibly relaxed, just slightly, when the knight showed that she had enough competence to apologize for her mistake. A lot more than some knights he knew, that was for certain. Still, he wasn't the only Pycon milling about in the Order, nor in the city for that matter. In some ways, it was understandable.. but in others, not. "If you'd like, it would be my pleasure, Sera." His voice held more sincerity in it, and the squirrel bowed his head in acknowledgement. Truth be told, he figured that his mood would be a little higher when their patrols were done with, and a few bells of relaxation back in the Squire Dormitories had calmed his nerves again. What he didn't expect was the abrupt offer, which was immediately seized by Ser Iros.

"Sounds to me like a wonderful idea." The smile pressing his lips into an upturned crescent looked a little too wide for the squirrels liking, and he found himself uncomfortable on the Akalak's shoulder all of a sudden. No matter how he shifted and turned on the spot, he couldn't get off without hopping onto another mount, though. The only one really available was the extraordinarily beautiful one. Maybe later. With the way that she kept staring at him, he had to wonder whether his presence would be welcome.

"Alright then." The Sergeant pushed back into the middle of the small quibble of conversations like a dagger through a man's neck. "You'll be moving up north, towards the Mines, before rounding out again and returning once you've reached the geysers. You'll be heading east, moving across until you reach the Avitar River and then following it back up to the geysers, and back home." He gestured to the two other groups and they turned once their instructions were given, but that still left Ser Iros and Sera Stalinsa, and without any land to cover. If one was taking the lower section, and the other the upper, then what was left? "You four, I want you to trek down through the middle of the Bronze Woods, over the river, and down towards Aylasa Caves. Scan from there up to Sunset Falls, and back around to the river again, but no further - this isn't an exploration into the Wildlands."

Surely, the man was joking. He was talking about going out to the very edge of the city territory, and then scanning all the way around the little bubble that split between the Wildlands and the Mountains edges. Surely, that was one of the most dangerous areas, when compared to the others. There was no trying to bargain their way out of it, but the Akalak still spoke up. Or tried to, at least. "Uhm, Ser, don't you think--"

"Yes I do think, thank you very much Ser Iros. I'm thinking right now. I'm thinking that you should hurry up and start moving." For all the muscle that the Akalak had, it certainly wasn't doing anything to stop the Sergeant from making himself incredibly clear that they were, indeed, going to be marching across the entire length of the Bronze Woods. They'd be lucky if they made it back during Syna's light, and as far as the squirrel knew, none of them had thought to bring their tents or any other essentials for what was supposedly going to be a patrol that should have lasted a few bells and nothing more.

"Go on, off with you!" The Sergeant still had his own group to lead, and without another word, promptly did just that - turning on his horse and simply plodding off, with a knight and plenty of squires tailing behind quietly. By Sylir, if he knows what's good for him, he'll not come back. Arch was feeling even more bitter after that; how was he supposed to do any more training sessions when he was going to be stuck, doing little more than sitting on the back of a horse for most of the day?!

[Revy Hiroe]

Both Revy and Theresa noticed Iros' hesitation and couldn't help but snicker. Both of them knew that it wasn't a safe area, but who cared? If they had something to do, they could actually not feel bad about sitting on their behinds the rest of the time. "You scared Ser Iros? I thought that knights were supposed to take pride in risking their life for the people of Syliras.", Revy said. Theresa couldn't help but just burst out laughing after hearing that. Apparently she couldn't judge this akalak by his looks. But she noticed that Revy didn't have her longsword with her and was slightly concerned. "Revy, didn't bring your longsword along this time? You sure you'll be ok with just those two weapons?", she asked. Sera Stalinsa knew of the woman's skill with the longsword. The both of hem have had a light spar and it proved very difficult to trump her. The ex-mercenary felt at her hip and noticed she had forgotten her longsword. She cursed herself inside of herself, but hid it from the others. "I should be alright. Can't go back to get my longsword now anyway. Will have to deal with it.", she replied. "Besides, I won't lose. Myri watches over me, so I will win. One way or another." Glancing at her squire, Theresa sighed. That woman was getting overconfident again and that was not a good thing. Better take some precautions then. "Ser Iros, you got a longsword on you? If you do, could you lend it to her later? Just to be sure.", she asked. "Besides, if you're scared and the women aren't, you're just gonna get in the way and you won't need your weapon anyway, ya know."

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The heavily-muscled man turned abruptly on Revy, a thick scowl folding over the corners of his mouth and amplifying his disapproval. It softened on Ser Stalinsa, but only marginally as he glanced between the pair. "I'm not scared. There are other things that could be done with my time." The squirrel glanced at the man, but the Akalak didn't return the gaze. Unbelievable to think that the other duo weren't fazed in the least by the idea of the humongous, muscled man trying to avoid going to that particular stretch of forest. It was enough to have the squirrel on edge, and yet the others were actually laughing. "Besides, even I know that there are things out there that I wouldn't want to face myself against."

At least the mans natural crimson hue prevented the blush against his cheeks being seen, but the squirrels attention quickly migrated back to the pair as they began talking among themselves, and the Akalak dropped the visor of his helmet down over his face to mask it. "Myri..?" He didn't make his question loud enough to be heard, but he still spoke out in thought. True enough, the name rang bells. Warning bells, in fact. He remembered that name, quite vividly, and for all the wrong reasons - it was a celebration that he'd attended during his time in Nyka. Myri Burning Day.

Yes, the day that Ruros had been slain by Myri, the new Goddess of War. He'd seen plenty of effigies burned, and he'd even had a go himself at tearing into one of them in an adrenaline-fueled rage. He'd heard stories of the Myrians from the party-goers, too - that they were all savage creatures who ate children and defied fate itself after death. This woman looked nothing like the savages that he'd been told of before, though. If anything, she seemed rather civilized, if a little bit crass. He didn't know why, but he'd always expected a Myrian to look a little less... well, human. "I wasn't aware... hmm." He wasn't aware that Myrians were actually allowed inside the Order at all. Uncivilized creatures, from what he'd heard.

His deep stare only broke when Ser Iros spoke out from underneath his visor again. "Afraid that all I carry with me is a spear and my Lakan, neither of which will be much good for you." Both spear and shield were held against his back by the straps running over one shoulder and down to the opposite hip, grating against the back of his thick plate-mail every time he turned his body just a little bit. "I'm sure we won't have need for such things, either way. Winter tends to keep the wild animals far away." With that, the Akalak abruptly tightened his grip on the reins of his mount, tugged them hard to the left, and begun trotting off straight down from the Main Gates and towards the lip of the Bronze Woods.

"Come on now, you heard the sergeant. We might as well get going now, because the sooner we get there, the sooner we can come back again." Regardless of the unnatural glee that now seemed so obvious to the squirrel that he should have smacked himself right in the muzzle for not noticing it sooner, there were still other things to be done. Many other things, for that matter, that should have been finished by the end of the day. Now they'd all be stuck in the backlog.

[Revy Hiroe]

Even his reaction was funny. The ex-mercenary couldn't imagine a single situation that would have been as scary as the one she had seen just before she got to Syliras. Hell, even the situation she had gotten into back in Falyndar, the one where she was assisting that fang, had been more scary then a simple patrol. "To me it still sounds like you are making excuses. I don't think that there is a situation more scary then being locked in a small room with a couple big constrictor dhani, hungry for meat.", she said. Theresa was looking at her squire with a bit more interest right now. She hadn't heard that story from her yet, but it was surely gonna be interesting. But then she turned her attention back to the knight. "Don't worry about her attitude. She doesn't just hate you. She kind of hates all males. Can't blame her though. She's been through a lot.", Sera Stalinsa explained. "But what are you worried about?" Both the squire and knight followed the Akalak. The sooner they were done with this patrol, the sooner they could seek up the warmth again. Revy didn't have to do anything, Rosalind had anticipated it and already started following. She was walking with pride, now that her owner was sitting on her back, fully adorned in that good looking armor. The other horses were just inferior in her eyes. Just animals to carry their owners, truly enslaved ones. She still rode without tack, though she had to pay a little attention to Revy so she wouldn't fall off. Theresa couldn't really stand the silence and tried to make conversation with the pycon. "So Archailist, tell me about your kind. You can easily treat me like a fool with no knowledge of your species, for I have close to none. All I know is that you are sentient like us humans." She knew a little more then just that about pycons, but at the same time Stalinsa knew that her squire knew nothing about these little... people. She noticed that much when Revy saw this guy or girl, or whatever he is, for the first time.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The Akalak shook his head. "Cobalt Mountains aren't a place for the faint of heart. Kriital, Yukmen hordes.. Balicani worst of all. More mutilated knights out there that'd fallen to those things than anyone would like to admit." True enough, the Wildlands were more deadly than a lot of people gave them credit for. Two knights, two squires, they could handle a lot.. it still left the question hanging just what unmanned the knight now of all times. "Winter means scarce food, too. Makes all the animals more desperate." That wasn't even the biggest problem, either way.

"Aylasa Caves aren't one of the nicest places about either. Things in there that shouldn't be. Valterric things. All spells out bad news." Now that made a little more sense. The squirrel nodded quietly in agreement, but his mind was already elsewhere.. back to Nyka, and the monsters he'd seen emerging from the Aperture.. as well as the things that he'd seen when finally delving inside. Best not worth mentioning at all, though. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten the others with the tales of the Leper Beetles. None of them would ever venture so far through the Wildlands though, would they?

"Besides, if you hate all males, perhaps you won't get the help that you will so sorely need when they all come running for your blood. I can guarantee you, constrictors won't cleave half your face from its bone in the time it'll take you to blink. Never mind when there's more than one of the blighters." More talk on Balicani. The squirrel could relate - he'd ended up on the wrong end of the little monsters before, and though it no longer showed on his body, it came back over and over in his head. Having a limb cleaved from his body was one of the most excruciating things that could happen, to a Pycon or a human.

His words soon doused all thoughts of conversation as they rode through the outer fringes of the woods - for a few ticks, at best. The squirrel turned and hopped down nimbly from the Akalak's shoulder to take a seat at his back, facing backwards and to Sera Stalinsa instead. His patron was little more than a chauffeur at this point, not that he ever made many complaints about it. He still didn't. "Mm, Pycons. Children of Harameus, God of Transformation, for obvious reasons." Where to really start? There was a lot to be known and to be told about the Pycons as a race of proud beings. "Well, we're sentient and we can change our shape as we please. Unlike you. I chose a squirrel because I like squirrels and it suits me, but if I wanted..."

It took a fair bit of concentration and willpower on the squirrels part, but very slowly, he began to change his shape. The thick tail sprouting from his hips grew shorter as it was reabsorbed. His waist became narrower, while both legs and arms became longer and more 'muscular', even though the muscles were only for aesthetics. The squirrels face flattened considerably, and the eyes became somewhat more humanoid. Before long, Archailist was no longer a squirrel - instead, he'd taken on a rather rough-looking imitation of Ser Iros, only without the armour. A few more moments, and the muscles deformed to make way for flat plates pushing out all over his body, copying even the platemail that the man wore.

It only worked so well because he had something to copy from, as well as the time and the concentration. "I can take on pretty much whatever shape I please.. but there's only one shape that I really want, just as every Pycon does. The final form. The shape that we were all born to take. I guess it's like our life goal... you have goals too, don't you, Sera Stalinsa?" He glanced over to Revy as well, imploring her to join in as well. There was no reason to be angry with the Pycon, after all... plenty of humans needed to ask what gender the Pycon was, since there really wasn't that much difference at all between the genders of the little clay statues, and he could pretty much tell them whatever he wanted and have them take his word for it. Marvelous, really, how gullible some humans were.