Sup?

Ssssssup?

It's too warm here, I wish it was winter.

Lol. It's high 90's over here rn.

high 90's? how tf are you not melting

That's just slightly warmer than what it is here right now. It's 30 Celcius, which is about 86 Fahrenheit, I think.
It's usually a lot cooler here. XD

(Draco) That's on Fahrenheit
It's like 30 Celcius

(Draco) Actually it's about 35 Celcius which is pretty hot

Yup. tho, to be honest It's usually way worse over here. This isn't so bad.

I couldn't live somewhere that hot, I'd rather live somewhere that's always cold. XD

So, anybody got any ideas for if we RP today?

o h

if it was 90 something over here i think we'd all be dead

(Draco) Yes if it was 90 Celcius we wouldn't be alive
It would be like an oven
Literally

how do you tolerate the h o t

Hot is evil

Yeah, 90 C would kill us all.
Idk, you wanna pick up with Silver fire and Merewen and the like?

@Draco the magic of AC

Hmm, I dunno. It might be interesting to start something new. I don't really know what to do with those guys right now. XD Besides, there's more than just us here today.

We have no air conditioning here... We just have to open all the windows and then the insects come in...

we don't even have a fan
every year we say we should get a fan and we never do

@Radiant Ok, what did you have in mind?
Ouch. You get big insects over there?

I don't really have anything specific in mind. We could do a random new character interaction, or some Shacklestone AU thing, or if anyone has another idea, let me know. There's no rush. X)

The insects are normal sized, thankfully. We just get a lot of flies and mosquitoes in here.

I CAN'T STAY LONG BUT HELLO

HELLO FADE

so someone is trying to do a magic spell but the open a portal and fall into it and there's someone else's bathroom on the other side and someone's in the shower and they're like "get out i'm naked" and then they both fall into the portal and they go on an adventure

i'm so sorry-

Hey, Fade. How you doin?

oh hi fade--

(Draco) Is that your new story idea

Hey! Good to see these faces after so long!

(Fade) I'm pretty worried if you can see my face right now

fade

all around you are familiar faces

I see everything. Didn't you notice?

(Fade) Are you hacking my computer

@ Draco No.
@Radiant Why not do something in one of my worlds? I've been meaning to try something in ancient Ferros.

What else would you expect?

I also hooked cameras to a few locations in your room

Fade If ur hacking, not cool.

(Aggron) We can try. I have to find a character who would fit the world though. XD

I know what you say about Draco-Felis when you're alone

(Fade) You're a computer virus

um
I'm sorry-

I know what your kitchen smells likeeee

(Fade) I would have found hidden cameras in my room
You can't get past me

They're in your clothes

How did you put them there

Teddy bearsssssss

I made the teddy bears do it

Sorry for the unusual stuff, I just got back from several hours of clothes shopping x'D

@Radiant Literally anyone could fit. Use Sargon and Ana if you want so they can see how Dianne used to be in comparison to how she is now. XD

NOOO
My teddy bears are loyal to me

This kind of thing is normal for me. XD

Hmm, alright, I'll try. XD I think I'll use Sargon, Ana and Armin, in a universe where they're all still working together. Sargon won't have a huge army, though.

Ok, cool. Let's see what happens. Also, there might be a few characters and creatures that I have no refs for, but I'll just use descriptive writing.

That's all fine with me. You can go ahead and start if you like.

Ok, give me a minute...

(I'm gonna be a little slow for a while.)

{It was dusk in the land of Iron. In a walled off city, people were stirring, going about their business, but with an undertone of anticipation. It seems something was amiss, and the townfolk knew it.}

In a building at the edge of the city, a vampire (Sargon) was watching through a second-storey window as the people went about their daily lives. He sensed that something was going to happen, but he didn't know what. Frustrated, he continued to watch, alert for anything suspicious.

Some distance away, Ana the dark witch was returning home to Sargon's house after completing a mission for him. She had been sent to assassinate some enemy of theirs (no-one important), and was looking forward to getting back and telling him the good news.

'You know, I still think you should have killed him right away,' commented a voice to her side.

'Oh, shut up,' said Ana irritably. 'I can torture my victims if I want to...'

{As they were discussing Ana's prey, a loud droning comes out of nowhere, drowning out everything. Three giant beetles came flying into the city, each with structures built on them, and landed in the center. From atop one, a woman disembarks. She had dark hair, a scarf covering her lower face, and light leather armor. She seems upset, as she stomps off to a nearby bar, leaving her mounts and crew behind.}
(Just a note, the ancient Ferrosians tamed a giant species of beetle for utility and to use as war mounts against behemoth class enemies.)

'Woah!' Armin exclaimed, stopping dead as the giant beetle creatures buzzed past. Together he and Ana watched the whole scene unfold, and after the dark-haired woman had gone into the bar across the street, they both looked at each other.

'Who was THAT?' snapped Ana. 'And those horrible flying things?'

Armin shrugged. 'No idea, but why don't we go and find out?'

'What? I can't. I have to get back to Sargon...'

'Suit yourself.' With that, Armin wandered off and entered the bar. Ana stared at the beetles and their crews for a moment longer, then grudgingly pursued Armin, though stayed a distance behind.

{As Armin entered the bar, the woman was already sitting at the bar.}
Woman: "Another. Akhetian Ale."
Barkeep: "Take it easy, that's really strong stuff. I think you've had enough."
Woman: "I'll tell you WHEN I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

Armin listened to their conversation as he walked up to the bar and addressed the bartender. Ignoring the woman, he asked for some sort of whiskey, then sat down at the other end of the bar.

Behind him, Ana had stopped in the doorway. She hung there, arms folded, scowling slightly. It was clear that all she wanted to get back to her boss quickly.

{The bartender gives Armin his drink then turns back to the woman.}
Bartender: "Didn't High King Magnus tell you to stop drinking so much? He won't be happy when he finds you here."
Woman: "He doesn't speak for me! He doesn't understand what I've been through today! The sh!t I've seen! So do your job and SHUT UP!"

Armin sipped at his drink, then spoke casually, without looking at either the barman or the woman: 'This is just from my experience... but getting blackout drunk doesn't usually make your problems go away.'

{The woman turned to Armin with a wild look of hate.} "I know that! But at least I won't have to deal with this sh!t for a few more hours!"

'Well, I understand that. But hangovers aren't exactly fun. You'll only feel worse tomorrow if you drink too much.'

{The woman snorts and just turns away while bartender looks between them.} "Well, Captain, I take it the liberation of Carthage didn't go well, I'm guessin' that's why you're trying to get drunk."
Woman: "Oh, you think? Of course it didn't!"
{She gazes mournfully into her drink.}
"We got there, and the place was crawling with Delilah's draugrs...Couldn't even land. And the people...they were all still screaming.....oozing with that curse sh!t....I-I can still hear them.....Begging to die......." {She then subsides into sobbing.}

Armin looked back and forth between the woman and the bartender. 'Liberation? Draugrs? Curses? What's that all about? Is this something not everyone knows, or have I just been living under a rock?' His expression hadn't changed when she described the horrifying scene or when she started crying; it seemed he didn't care very much.

By the door, Ana was busy keeping track of everything that was said so she could repeat it to Sargon later.

{The bartender gives Armin a puzzled look.} "You must be new around here. You haven't heard of the Necromancer War? They're only trying to wipe out all life in the region."

Armin turned to the bartender. 'Well, I only came here a little while ago, and I haven't really been involved in anything that's happening. Guess that means I WAS living under a rock.' He gave a short laugh. 'So, this war... Who's the other side? Who are we fighting against here?'

{The bartender sighs.} “The Will of Death. It’s a cult of necromancers bent on the destruction of life as a whole. Nasty people, they are.”

(Gotta go, internet going off. Will reply later.)

(Ok.)

'ALL life? Not very picky, are they?' Armin stared into his glass of drink, thinking. 'How long has this war been going on, exactly?'

At the door, Ana's eyes widened. //Evil necromancers who want to kill everyone? This could be a problem for the Count...// Sargon's ultimate goal was to turn as many humans as possible into vampires, and he was travelling around the world to do just that. But if there was a cult of murderous sorcerers here, then it wouldn't be safe for him, or anyone. //I need to go back and warn him!//

{The Barkeep takes a moment to think.} "A few years now, I believe."
Woman: "...And we're losing..."

Ana rushed outside, not waiting to hear what else might be said. However, before she could turn off up the street that led to Sargon's place, she caught sight of the giant beetles nearby. After a moment's deliberation, she decided to approach them.

Armin shrugged and took another sip of his drink. 'Sorry to hear that. Maybe you need to rethink your strategy.'

"It's not that simple." {She growls.} "We're fighting draugrs. The only way to kill them is to tear them apart or use light magic. Because the latter is quite rare, the former is all we really have to work with. But, that's not easy either. It's hard to tear into them when they're in large groups and every soldier we lose is another soldier for them. All they have to do is be in the area and wave their hands around and poof, they have an instant army."

{As Ana approached, she is stopped by a crewman in steel plate armor.} "Sorry, civilians aren't allowed to approach the beetles. These are kinda skittish."

Ana halted, though she briefly contemplated blasting him aside with magic and continuing on her way. 'I'm not just any old civilian, you know. So, these pretty things... Are they literally just giant beetles, or are they intelligent creatures?'

"Erm, you'd have to ask the captain." {He replies nervously while pointing at the bar.} "Apparently, she can communicate with them telepathically."

'So, you people don't actually know anything about them? Some 'crew' you are,' said Ana scornfully.

"Hey, we just man the ballista turrets, we don't drive. Only the captains really know." {Just then, the ground started shaking, as something massive was coming. Down the street came walking this entourage of massive beings. They looked like automatons, except for one. It was a massive woman made of gold, silver, stone, and other metals. She wore an elaborate headdress, adorned with ebony horns and a sun disc. She walked through the streets for the city gate, not so much as glancing at anyone.}

(*See Random RP and Akhetian Info for Akhet and #AAMonsigneus)

Ana watched the automaton-like things walk past. 'What are THEY?' she exclaimed, just after the metal woman had passed where they were standing. 'Robots?'

(Missed Dianne's response earlier.)

Armin considered this. 'Maybe you could find someone who knows light magic to fight them. Or maybe fight fire with fire... Create draugrs of your own fallen soldiers or something,' he said thoughtfully.

"Eeeeeh, no. Those are the Akhetians. They must have finished talking with the king. I hope it went well..."

'Who are the Akhetians?' said Ana, stumbling a little on the unfamiliar word. 'Are they a part of this 'war' that's going on right now, too?'

"They're, uuh, complicated." {He said.} They're apparently a race of 'hyper-dimensional beings', whatever that means, and they're completely 'inorganic', so they kinda are like robots. They're neutral and look down on everyone because we're apparently 'inferior constructs.' They were here today 'cause the king stole a bunch of their weapons that emit light magic, and they didn't like that. But, to be honest, without those weapons, we're screwed."

Ana pondered this. 'Can't you make some deal with them and get the weapons WITHOUT stealing?' she suggested. 'They're a fellow sentient race, surely you can negotiate with them.'

"They wouldn't, no matter how hard we tried. Our plight means nothing to them, because it's not their world. They're apparently only here looking for one of their own or something, and could give a damn about the rest of us."

'Oh...' Ana mumbled, annoyed that her idea was useless. 'Well, I might have decided to help you out, but I'm a dark witch.' She said this with a lot of pride in her voice. 'I don't know how to perform light magic, and I'm not about to learn it.'

(Ummmm, That's not Dianne. Lol XD)

{The soldier just chuckles.} "I wouldn't expect you to. Only the most talented magic wielders can even learn light magic, let alone master it. But still, your help will be very welcome." {The soldier was about to say something else, but stopped abruptly when a very large man in armor, a wolf pelt, and a crown made of dragon bone began to approach them. The soldier snapped to attention and made a kind of salute.}
Soldier: "Ah-Your Majesty!"
King Magnus: "Where is she?"
Soldier: "Captain Morgana? She's over there."
{The king sighs and walks over to the bar grumbling.}

{The Captain sighs and looks at her drink.} "Any necromancer we could get can't match that cult. They're at the top of the field. Other necromancers with they were those...monsters..."

(Eh? Who isn't?)

Ana watched the man walk away, noting his armour and unusual crown. 'Was that the kIng?' she asked.

'Well, sounds like you're in a bad way,' remarked Armin. 'Really, I'm sorry to hear all this. If there was anything I could do to help, I probably would.' //That is, assuming Sargon didn't have a problem with it. I think he might leave the region when he finds out what's happening here.//

(You said you missed Dianne's response earlier, but she hasn't appeared yet.)

"Yup, that's the king." {The soldier replied.} "And he won't be happy about the captain..."

{The captain was about to reply when the king walked in. When she saw him, she slumped down a bit, seemingly, embarrassed.}
Barkeep: "My Liege."
Captain Morgana: "Oh jeeze..."
King Magnus: "Morgana, what are you doing?"
Captain Morgana: "I-I was just..."
King Magnus: "I told you to stop drinking so heavily after missions. It's not good for you and it hurts our morale."
Captain Morgana: "I'm sorry I just....I don't think I can handle this war without it..."

(Oooh, yeah. XD It's from doing two RPs at once and mixing names up.)

'Hmm... Well, I need to be going,' said Ana. 'I have someone I need to talk to right about now...' She closed her eyes, and shifted into her true form, a dark-blue dragon fifteen feet tall. Looking down at the soldier, she grinned toothily and then began to walk away.

Armin finished his own drink and pushed the glass away. He was pretty sure he ought to show some respect to the King, but wasn't sure what to do, having never been in the presence of royalty before. So he just sat there awkwardly, not saying anything.

{At this time and place in the world, dragons and nonhumans are quite commonplace, so Ana's transformation was no surprise to the soldier. He waved her off as she left.}

{As Armin sat, the conversation continued.}
King Magnus: "How many have you had?"
Captain Morgana :"...Not many..."
King Magnus: "Barkeep, how many has she had?"
Barkeep: "Two Akhetian Ale, four whiskeys, and a beer."
King Magnus: "That's it, you're done. No more booze."
{Captain Morgana just sighs and kinda goes limp as Magnus hauls her to her feet.}
King Magnus: "Come on, I'm taking you home. On your feet."

Ana was surprised that the soldier wasn't afraid of her, but just shrugged and decided that people must be used to dragons here. //Well, they DO have giant beetles... Hmm... It seems like the three of us don't really know much about this region yet.//
Minutes later, she was standing in front of a ramshackle old house at the edge of town. Shifting back to human form, she knocked once on the door and then slipped into a dark, cobweb-filled hallway. 'My Lord? I'm back. And I have news!'

'Come in,' said Sargon's voice from another room.

Armin also stood up as Magnus helped the Captain to her feet. 'I, uh, should be going now too,' he muttered under his breath, then stood aside to let the King and Morgana go through the door first.

{The king nodded politely to Armin as he exits with the captain, who's just looking down, a little embarrassed. Once outside, he starts walking her to the palace.}

Once they had left, Armin glanced at the bartender, slid some money across the bar, and then walked out.

He'd already decided that he wasn't going to go home just yet. He wanted to find out more. Besides, going home while Ana was there alone with Sargon didn't sound appealing to him. Instead, after a moment of deliberation, he shifted into his hawk form and leapt into the sky, intending to follow the King and the Captain from high above, where they wouldn't notice him.

Sargon was in his study, poring over an old leather-bound volume of some sort. He set the book down and stood up to greet Ana as she came in.

'Ana. You said you have news?'

'Yes, My Lord.' A little breathless, the witch flew into her account of the conversation in the bar. '...And they're fighting evil necromancers, My Lord, who can make draugrs - undead warriors - to fight for them. This... this cult is trying to destroy all life in the country. It's not safe here!'

{The King and Captain walked a while up to the palace. Apparently, the doors had been taken off the hinges to let the Akhetians fit, but even then there were signs that it was a tight squeeze.} Captain: "Did they agree to let us keep them?
King Magnus: "Not exactly. I convinced them that we lost them and to go look for them."
Captain: "How?"
King Magnus: "They think they're so smart, but they're just like the rest of us."

(This be RR.)

Armin could not follow the pair through the doorway without being noticed immediately. Instead, he landed on the sill of an open window and closed his eyes, relying on his sharp hearing to know what was happening inside the palace.

{Inside, their voices echo, making them easier for Armin to hear.}
King Magnus: "Servants!"
Servant: "Yes, my Lord?"
King Magnus: "Draw a bath for the captain and put her to bed."
Servant: "Yes, my Liege."
Captain: "Hey! I'm not a child!"
King Magnus: "Then act your age. Don't go running from your problems with booze like some adolescent. I need you sober and aware. If the enemy attacks while you're wasted, we're screwed."
{After that, Magnus walks away to some advisers while the Captain's grumbling disappears into the palace.}

Deciding that there was no more to be heard, Armin left the window sill and flew back up into the sky. Along the way, he spotted the giant beetles waiting. Just for fun, he swooped down and landed on the nearest one's head.

Sargon was quiet for a while as he thought over Ana's report. Finally he said, 'I had already heard rumours of this war when we first came here, though I hoped it really was just a rumour. Unfortunately, that obviously isn't the case.'

Ana shook her head, almost frantically. 'We have to leave, Sir!'

'Patience, Ana. Let's not be too hasty here. I am interested to see how this war plays out. Perhaps we could even join a side and fight with them. It would be much easier to achieve our goal of human-vampire conversion if we had an army behind us.'

'But that cult wants to kill EVERYONE. That must mean they want to kill vampires too.'

Sargon made a noise of understanding. 'We won't make any rash decisions. But we will not leave the city just yet.'

{Th beetle shakes its head and bites the air with its mandibles, trying to shake Armin off.}

Armin clung onto the creature's head with his claws, laughing and taunting it with telepathy. //Giant ugly buuug, you can't catch meeee--//

With their conversation over, Sargon and Ana went their separate ways. Sargon continued to pursue his books, while Ana left the house to go grocery shopping. Yes, grocery shopping. //People always think that's weird,// she grumbled as she walked through the town, searching for somewhere she could buy food. //But even if I live with two vampires, /I'm/ not a vampire and I still need to eat like a normal person!//

{Possibly to Armin's surprise, the beetles reply telepathically.} //We can catch you, for we are many.// {With that, all three beetles huddle up and try to bite Armin off the one's head.}

With a startled hawk screech, Armin flew up and out of the beetles' reach (at least from the ground). //Hey! Since when could bugs talk like that? Last time I checked it was only vampires and a few other magical races that used telepathy.//

{The beetles all face Armin. At the same time, the crews are trying to calm them down.} //We are magical, from our prey, the dragons. After feasting upon them for eons, we have inherited some of their potential.

{Yeeeeaaaah, the beetles aren't very nice. XD}

(After this, wanna do a time skip to when the necromancers attack tonight?)

(Sure!)

Armin started flying away, not prepared to risk a fight with these weird creatures. //Fine, fine, I believe you. Just don't kill me, thanks.// Swooping over the buildings, he made his way back to Sargon's place.

(So, now, or are you going to do one last thing with Sargon?)

(Nope, feel free to do a skip now.)

(Okie Dokie.)

{A few hours after Armin's run in with the beetles, it was the dead of night. Everyone was in, except for a few guards on the ramparts and even fewer patrolling the streets. All at once, there was an unholy ruckus. Within minutes, all available troops were mobilizing, beetles were buzzing, and the city began to awaken terrified.}

The explosion of noise and activity came so suddenly, the people in Sargon's house had no time to react properly. Ana leapt up, screaming threats at no-one in particular and gathering dark energy around her hands in readiness to strike, while Armin just fell out of bed with a groan.

Sargon was already up, fully dressed and hurrying downstairs to get the others. It almost looked like he hadn't been sleeping at all, which wasn't surprising given that he was an ancient vampire. 'Outside! Quickly!' he snapped just as Ana emerged from her bedroom.

She blinked at him, confused. 'My Lord, what's going on?!'

He didn't respond. In unison, both Sargon and Ana ran to the front door and stepped outside to get a look at what was happening.

{As soon as they stepped outside, dozens of soldiers hurried past. Off in the distance, a massive creature could be seen. It had multiple dragon heads, but stood upright. It's eyes were dark black holes and it seemed unnatural in its construction. It was tearing down a portion of the perimeter wall while the soldiers on the ground tried to assault it.}

Ana gasped. 'What... is that?' She pointed wildly at the enormous dragon creature.

Sargon looked. 'I believe it's a draugr,' he said softly.

'But that's not even a real creature! Is it?'

'You can't know everything about them, Ana. Now, come on. Let's investigate further.' Sargon started walking. 'And be prepared to shift at a moment's notice.'

Ana nodded worriedly and followed her boss. As she walked, she summoned a small battalion of ghosts to surround them both. They weren't very strong ghosts, as they were made mostly from the corpses of rats and a few birds, but she didn't have anything better available yet. //That might change soon, though.//

Armin emerged from the house after they'd both left, grumbling incoherently. He set off quickly in pursuit.

{As the creature finished punching a hole through the perimeter wall, it was set upon by the massive beetles. They tore into the massive construct with their mandibles, using their weight to push the creature back. In their wake, however, hundreds of unspeakable abominations clamber through the breach, from centaurs made from different beings sewn together, to just limbs and teeth making up a horrid creature.}
"Form a Line!"
{The commander bellows.}
"Charge!"
{With that, the soldiers engage the army of the dead.}

Sargon stopped in the middle of the street, looking around. Then, with vampiric agility, he scaled the wall of a building and leapt onto the roof to get a better view of the battle. Ana followed him a moment later with far less grace.

'It must be those necromancers,' she panted. 'They're attacking again.' Sargon nodded, looking grim. 'What should we do? Run? Fight them?'

Armin climbed up onto the roof as well. 'I'd say we run,' he replied. 'Look at them, Ana. Would we stand any chance fighting those things? Besides, we've got no obligation to help these people.'

'True,' said Sargon quietly. 'But if we did help, if we could turn the tides of the battle... It would put the King in our debt. That can be a useful thing.' After a bit of deliberation, he shifted into a falcon and took off from the roof. //I'm going to investigate more closely.//

'Master!' Ana stood there helplessly as she watched him fly away. Then, ignoring Armin, she assumed dragon form and took off in pursuit. 'I have to protect you!'

Sargon drew close to the enemy lines, hovering in the air high above them. He was fascinated by the fabricated undead creatures. Who could have the power to make something like this?

(Whoops, novel.)

(lol, I like novels tho. XD)
{As Sargon spectated the battle, it could be seen that the undead had a very particular strategy. they would fight relentlessly, with no regard for themselves, then after causing a good number of casualties to the opposing side, those fallen soldiers would be raised, and an even larger force would assail the soldiers. However, it was not clear who was raising them

As Sargon and Ana watched the battle, more draugrs began to appear, and dragon draugrs began to close in on them from the sky. Sargon, as a bird, was hardly noticeable, but Ana was a big target. The dragon draugrs begin to aggressively approach her.}

(Novels are fun to write.)

Sargon and Ana exchanged glances. //Fight them or leave, I don't care,// said the vampire telepathically. //I am going to find out who is controlling these draugrs.//

He swept off through the sky, able to dodge around the undead dragons without drawing much attention to himself, leaving his assistant behind.

Ana looked around, realising in a moment that she was surrounded. A grin curled her lips. 'I'm not a part of THEIR army, but if you're going to pick a fight, you'll get one!' With that, she blasted the entire area around herself with neon-green flames, at the same time summoning ghosts from some of the corpses below to drift around her, trying to distract the draugrs.

Further away, Armin had finally caught up and was hovering about fifty feet behind Ana in his hawk form. He knew he couldn't fight these monsters as a mere bird, so after a bit of hesitation, he grudgingly took off after Sargon.

{The dragon draugrs fly right through the flames, not caring that they were ablaze. Most of them start to attack the ghosts, but two continue to go after Ana, trying to tackle her out of the sky.

As Sargon flies, there's another battle in the middle of the city between the soldiers and a man controlling flames and the undead. He is covered head to toe in black armor, and has a maelstrom of flames surrounding him.}
"The Living Inferno! He's here!"
{Shouts a commander.}
"Ardens, you vile creature! Today, I avenge my people!"

Ana grabbed at one dragon's head with her claws, pulling it backwards so violently that its neck snapped. She then flapped sideways to get away from it and launched herself at the second draugr, grappling with it and ripping through its body with her foot claws.

Sargon came to a halt, hovering some way above the armoured man. He caught the commander's shout in the distance. //Ardens? He is the one controlling these creatures?// he thought. He decided to stay inconspicious and continue watching for a moment.

{The dragon whose neck Ana snapped didn't cease. despite its head limply swinging about, its jaws still snapped at her and its claws still slashed at her. The other one paid no heed to Ana's attacks and dug its claws into her, tearing into her as well.

Ardens, as he was called, directed his firestorm at the troops, causing them to take cover behind buildings and their shields. However, his draugrs simply ran through the fire and picked apart the troops while they were helpless.}

Realising immediately that she was overpowered, Ana activated her Ward spell, bringing to life the magical barrier that would shield her from harm. Then, while the barrier was protecting her, she threw herself at one of the draugrs and tore it completely in half.

Sargon watched Ardens perform his magic, the first hint of an idea creeping into his mind. //Ana, come here,// he commanded.

Ana heard, but needed to break free of both draugrs before she could fly to him.

{The dragon she tore in half turned to ash but the other didn't quit. It threw itself at Ana from behind, looking to disable her wings. }

Ana reactivated her Ward barrier as the dragon pounced on her, causing it to be thrown backwards through the air. 'Get off me, you disgusting mosquito!' she snarled. Three ghosts materialised around her, holding physical blade weapons taken from the battlefield below. They leapt towards the draugr and began hacking and slashing at it, trying to keep it away from Ana while she escaped.

{The draugr recovered quickly from being thrown. Upon seeing the ghosts, it engaged them, trying to tear into them.

Ardens below was still fighting the troops, torching anyone who got close.}

Ana ignored the dragon draugr, leaving it to fruitlessly attack her ghosts while she escaped the scene. After a moment, she came across Sargon in his falcon form, hovering above Ardens. 'Master!' she gasped, out of breath from fighting. 'Who is that?'

//The one controlling these creatures, I believe,// said Sargon. //Ana, I wish to try something. If it doesn't work, we will both be in danger, so be ready to flee as quickly as possible.// He told her his idea, and she listened intently.

'I'll try it, My Lord.'

Folding her wings, Ana dropped to the ground. She landed amongst the troops, careful not to crush anyone, and turned to face Ardens and his firestorm. As the flames came rushing in her direction, she cast Ward again, rebounding all the fire straight back at its creator.

{As the flames rebounded, Ardens simply put up his hand and the flames split around him, rejoining the storm. He agressively walks towards Ana and creates an arena of flames around her and himself, blocking the soldiers from helping. As he does, numerous draugrs walk through the flames, surrounding Ana.}

Ana looked disconcerted at first, but swiftly recovered and offered Ardens a wicked grin. 'Won't you face me in a fair fight, without all your ugly monsters to protect you?' She drew her magical power from the air and held it close to herself, creating a kind of invisible aura of energy that surrounded her, ready to be turned into a spell or blasted out as raw power at a moment's notice.

Above, Sargon watched the confrontation, feeling frustrated. //Run, Ana,// he commanded, but she was too focused on Ardens to hear his voice. Armin was also watching from a short distance away, but he looked amused rather than worried.

{Ardens raises a hand, causing his minions to stop. He speaks in a distorted, low voice. It seems his helmet changes his voice.}
Ardens: "You're not worth the effort. Kill her."
{With that, all the draugrs rush her, snarling and clawing.}

Ana gave a yelp and immediately launched herself into the air, trying to leave the draugrs behind on the ground. She hoped that most of them couldn't fly.

As soon as he saw what happened, Sargon dived to the ground. He landed some way behind Ardens and outside the wall of flames, shifting back to human form as he did so. With a snap of his fingers he conjured two daggers that floated in the air around him, gleaming in the firelight. A quick gesture from Sargon sent the blades flying through the flames directly at the back of Ardens's head.

{Once Ana flew up, Ardens clasped his hands together in her direction, causing the flames to form chains that leapt up and bound themselves to Ana. As he was pulling her down, Sargon's daggers bounced off the back of his helmet, breaking his concentration and dissipating the chains. It seems the armor he's wearing is very high quality. Turning angrily, he splits the flames to see Sargon.} "Bring him to me!"
{With that, he turns back to Ana while the draugrs run to swarm Sargon.}

Taking advantage of the chains snapping, Ana swiftly flew up into the sky. However, once she was up there, she hesitated and looked down. She knew that Sargon had risked his life to free her and she wasn't going to leave the scene without making sure he was OK.

Sargon watched the draugrs charge towards him, cold red eyes boring into the back of Ardens's head. 'Now is not the time for a confrontation...' He summoned a multitude of floating knives and sent one flying towards each of the draugrs. Not waiting to see if they did any damage, he shifted into his falcon form and flew up just as Ana had done.

{The daggers stuck into the draugr, but didn’t even make them flinch. They clawed at Sargon as he flew away. Ardens gazed upon Ana and Sargon, now aware of the falcon.}
“Mongrels! You’re outnumbered and outmatched! Just accept your fate!”

//So you are the one who wants to destroy all life here?// Sargon spoke telepathically into Ardens's mind, keeping high enough to avoid the draugrs on the ground. //Do you even have a reason for wanting to do so, or is it merely a desire for power and destruction that leads you?//

Ana stayed beside her master, looking worried, ready to use Ward to protect them if any flying draugrs came over.

“The world is unbalanced!” {He calls out to the pair.} “Life must be culled, trimmed back like a plant! It is not by my will that this must happen! It is the Will of Death!”
{At that moment, Ana gets tackled out of the sky from behind by a large dragon. She was armored, but not as heavily as Ardens. She was black with ebony horns and an off white pattern.}

With a screech of surprise, Ana crashed into the ground. 'My Lord, go on without me!' she cried dramatically around a mouthful of dirt. Twisting around to view the other dragon, she let go of all the magical power she had gathered up earlier, throwing it at her opponent in a huge blast of energy, trying to force her off.

Sargon flapped higher into the sky and kept a keen eye out for more dragons. //Do you have a leader? Is somebody ordering you to do all of this?// he asked Ardens. //Death itself does not have a will. It is a concept.//

{Upon taking the blast, the dragon turned to smoke, then rematerialized a short ways away. The look on her face was one of wild hate. Her red and black eyes seemed to burn right into Ana's soul. One soldier spotted her and shouted.}
"The OrphanMaker!"
{Ardens laughs at Sargon's questions.}
"I assure you, death is much more than a mere concept. What do you care of our leader? What good is it to a dead parasite?"
{Raising his hand, he directs the fire at Sargon.}

//You are deluded,// said Sargon coldly. He might have said more, but was forced to stop and avoid the flames. As he plunged away from the battlefield, some of the fire caught his wing, burning it severely, but it didn't seem to worry him too much.

Ana scrabbled to her feet and faced the other dragon, glaring indignantly and pressing her ears back like an angry cat. 'The OrphanMaker? What kind of a name is that?' she growled, gathering more magic around her in preparation to attack or defend herself.

(Yes, past Ardens was very deluded.)
{Seeing Sargon fleeing for the time being, Ardens turns to Ana, once again conjuring his flame chains. He sends them at her seeking to bind her once more. Delilah (aka OrphanMaker and Dianne much later) seemed to get even more angry at the name and lunges at Ana with a roar.}

(Lol, Ana and Sargon are risking their lives fighting these two and Armin's just kicking back watching the show. XD)

(Yeah, he's not gonna risk his life helping Ana and Sargon. XD)

Ana cast Ward just as the flames swept towards her, shooting them back towards their maker. 'That's not going to work on me, idiot!' she screeched. Then she let out a gasp as she turned around to see Delilah lunging towards her. Momentarily losing control of her magic spell and letting down the barrier, she dived sideways in an attempt to evade the lunge.

{Once again, Ardens redirects the flames coming at him. As Ana dove, Delilah snatched Ana's tail in her jaws and swung her around into a small stone house, knocking it down. Letting go of Ana in the rubble, she begins to maul the smaller dragon, tooth and claw. However, something is strange about her attacks. Everytime Delilah's claws make contact, they seem to cause Ana's flesh to decay.}

(I'm not making Ana a zombie again already. D:<)

Stunned from connecting with the house, Ana didn't move for a moment. However, once Delilah started clawing at her, she bolted upright and began scrambling to get away, aware of how the other dragon's magic was eating away at her flesh. 'Get your horrible disgusting magic away from me!' she exclaimed.

//Ana!// came a shout inside her head. //We are retreating!//

'I'm coming, Master!' Ana yelled back. As she backed away from the enemy dragon, she gathered up her power again and flung it towards Delilah, snarling the name of one of her spells as she did so. 'Excruciate!'

(Oh, don't worry, she won't kill Ana. We've only just begun. >:D)
{Delilah clearly wasn't expecting Ana's magic, as the spell contacted her mid lunge. Her body seized up and she fell with a thud, crying out in pain. She seemed stunned as she didn't get up right away. Ardens saw this and ran to her aid, shifting as he went. His dragon form was considerably smaller than Delilah's form, roughly the same size as Ana. He jumped and landed between Ana and Delilah, waiting for Ana's next move.}

Ana started forwards, but then hesitated. Now that she was in a momentary position of power, her instinct was to press home her advantage. But with Sargon calling to her, and aware of her own injuries, she knew it would be better to run.

'Next time that'll be you, Mr. Deluded,' she hissed at Ardens, before leaping into the air and flying rapidly after her boss. 'And there WILL be a next time!'

{Ardens just glared at Ana from under his helmet as she flew away. Moments later, Delilah got up, growling.}
Delilah: "Where is she?"
{Ardens was about to speak when a strange sound broke the silence. It was the sound of draugrs retreating. A beetle was walking over the buildings with a strange box fixed to the underside structure built upon it. It was emitting an intense beam of light. Once the light touched a draugr, it began to writhe and rapidly turn to ash. It seems the king pulled the stolen Akhetian weapons out from wherever he was hiding them and was using them to drive the undead invaders from the city.}

Ana didn't look back, but Sargon paused for a moment in his retreat to watch the undead army falling back in the wake of light magic. //Why didn't they use that weapon earlier?// he thought in confusion. Deciding to question it later, he swept back over the city to the relative safety of his house.

Ana landed and immediately shifted back to human form. 'I hate her, I hate her...' she growled, obviously referring to Delilah. She started examining the wounds on herself, dismayed by how the flesh had decayed around them. She knew a little healing magic to use on herself, but this damage would still take a while to repair itself.

Sargon, meanwhile, was gazing around with a thunderous expression. 'Where did he go?' he said.

'You mean that unreliable scum of a vampire? I think he was just watching us suffer,' said Ana.

(Will continue. Making a novel. XD)

(Wifi dying, will finish that later.)

(Lol k)

Sargon's thoughts were on more than one thing. 'I ought to return to the battlefield. I wish to know if the king's army successfully drove off the draugrs, and how many were killed in the fighting. And I would like to know more about the two we met, as well.'

'Alone?' said Ana. 'But you can't, what if they hurt you--'

'Ana,' he interrupted, impatiently. 'As we left, the king's soldiers arrived with light magic, driving the undead away. I think it unlikely that they are still fighting. The battle is over.' Ana had no answer to this, so she just nodded. 'I'll only be gone for a short while. In the meantime, if you're well enough, I task you with finding Armin and learning why he didn't help us in the fight.'

He walked away, not bothering to shapeshift this time. Ana watched him until he was out of sight, then set off to search for Armin.

It didn't take her long to find the other vampire. She was walking down a deserted street when he suddenly flew down in hawk form, landed in front of her and shifted back.

'Hey, what happened back there?' he asked. 'I was watching you and the Count fighting, but then I lost track of you and couldn't find you again, so I went to watch that giant beetle killing the zombies. When I got back, you were both gone.'

'Oh, I bet you would've loved it if we'd both died!' Ana screeched. 'You useless piece of dirt! You didn't even TRY to help us back there, did you?'

'Look, Ana, when I first joined Sargon he never said I was obligated to save him from every dangerous situation he gets into. I would've stepped in if I thought you were REALLY in trouble... maybe.'

'I bet you thought it was funny, watching us nearly dying!' Ana screeched even louder.

'Well, it was pretty funny seeing you getting tossed into a building by that other dragon.'

Ana marched right up to him and glared in his face. It wasn't as intimidating as it should have been, given that she was almost half a foot shorter than him. 'I'm giving you a warning,' she hissed. 'If you ever, EVER desert us in a fight like that again, I will kill you. Slowly. And. Horribly.'

'And you don't think Sargon will mind if you start randomly killing his few other allies?'

'It'll be better for him in the end. Besides, he'll never need to know I did it. I am very good at hiding bodies.' She gave a sinister smile, and then turned to leave.

'Shame you're not so good at getting Sargon into bed with you,' Armin said as he watched her walk away.

With a furious growl, Ana threw all the remaining magical power she had gathered up over her shoulder. It blasted him into a wall with a nasty crunching sound.

'The relationship I have with Sargon is none of your business,' said Ana delicately, and then she left, feeling quite proud of herself for handling this confrontation so well.

(Novel making over.)

{As the fighting subsided, and the undead armies fled with the darkness at dawn, Magnus was discussing the battle with his captains and generals, including Morgana. They stood by the wall, talking intently.
After Ana blasted Armin, a field medic spotted him and ran over.}
"Hey, you alright? You need help?"

Sargon spotted the group of generals talking and decided to go eavesdrop. He stood by another wall, out of their line of sight, and listened.

Armin was just struggling to his feet when he heard the medic speaking. 'Fine...' he groaned, getting up and leaning against the wall for support. 'I might have broken one or two things, but it's nothing that won't heal quickly. Thanks, though.' //Damn you, Anastasia. Even though I guess I deserved it this time.//

{The commanders continue their discussion, unaware of Sargon. While most might not be able to tell, Sargon's close attunement with non humans would probably allow him to tell that Captain Morgana is only partially human.}
General: "Well, the weapon was a massive success. We drove off both Arden's and Delilah."
Magnus: "But too late! If only we didn't have to hide them from the Akhetians, we could have repelled them before they could cause too much damage!"
Morgana: "It's a damn shame we weren't quick enough to catch that witch. She's the reason I drink so much."

{The medic gave Armin a side glance.} "Yeah, you should still go get looked at. Draugrs are no joke. There's a healer dragoness in town, helping the effort. You should go see her."

Sargon had indeed suspected that Morgana wasn't human, just from being near her, though he hadn't gotten a good look at her yet. Also, as she was standing with a group of others, it was hard for him to differentiate her scent from theirs. After listening for a moment longer, he moved around the wall to make himself visible to the group, and spoke up. 'Would this witch you speak of be the large armoured dragon who wields dark magic?'

'Oh, I haven't been fighting any of those draugrs,' said Armin lightly. 'I've been staying well away from all the fighting. No, that was just a minor disagreement with a colleague of mine. But,' he added suddenly, 'how has the battle gone? I heard that the undead army was successfully driven off by some light magic thing.'

{The group turns to look at the new arrival.}
Morgana: "Yeah, her."
General: "I'm sorry, who are you?"

{The medic rubs the back of his head.} "Eh, good and bad. Yeah, we drove them off, but we lost a lot of men, and we weren't able to catch any of the necromancers. So, they'll likely be back."

Sargon stepped forwards and told the group his name. 'I only arrived here yesterday, so I am uncertain about everything that's happening in this war. However, when my allies and I saw the battle raging earlier, we decided to step in and try to help. I think you met two of my allies before?' he added, glancing at both Magnus and Morgana.

'Hmm...' Armin thought for a moment. 'Well, now that you have those light magic weapons, I'm sure the draugrs will be more wary about attacking again next time.'

Magnus: "Did we?"
Captain Morgana: "I'm sorry, I don't recall."
Magnus: "Either way, we appreciate the help."
{Despite having seen Ana and Armin, it seems they really didn't take note of them.}

Sargon nodded as if he'd expected this. 'I know we may we newcomers here, but we would like to help. If there is anything you think we could do, don't be afraid to let me know. I'm sure that this cult destroying all life would be a problem for us as well as you, so we want to avoid that happening.'

{The medic thought about this.} "Perhaps, but none of this will end until we destroy that cult. I can only hope that such a feat is even possible."

{Magnus nods.} "Well, welcome aboard. We can always use more help. Actually, if y'all could help repair the outer wall, that would be a big help. In the meantime, I need to plan a counter attack. No doubt that attack came from Carthage. If we leave them there, it'll just happen again."

Sargon thought for a moment, then nodded. 'We can certainly help others with repairing the wall. Will you be using those light magic weapons in your counter-attack?'

'I'm sure it's possible,' said Armin. 'You just don't know it'll be easy.' He pushed himself away from the wall with a grunt of pain. 'I should probably be getting back. Got to make sure my boss isn't injured or dead. Not that that would be a bad thing...' Muttering under his breath, he set off along the street at a fast limp.

Magnus: "Yes, we will. And any help you can provide would be welcome."
Morgana: "Without those weapons, it's basically pointless to fight them. We have to use them."

{The medic nods and walks off, in search of the injured.}

'I see. Well, if there's nothing else to talk about, I will be taking my allies over to help with the wall,' Sargon responded.

Just then, Armin limped over. There was no sign of Ana; apparently she hadn't come looking for Sargon yet. 'Did I hear something about a wall?' he asked.

The older vampire favoured him with a baleful look, then said, 'Yes. We are going to help with the repairs. Have you seen Ana?'

'Nope. Well, not since she came to shout at me a few minutes ago. She'll probably show up soon enough.'

(I gotta figure out exactly what was suppose to happen next here, just give me some time.)

(Alrighty, no rush. X))

(Ok, I think I figured it out.)

(OK, feel free to continue whenever you like.)

{Magnus nods and walks away with his commanders. At the wall, soldiers, sorcerers, and citizens gathered to help with the repairs. One particularly powerful earth mage was providing the stones from the ground, and a group of apothecaries were creating magic mortar.}

Sargon, Ana and Armin approached the broken wall. 'Anything we can do?' Ana yelled out to a group of citizens all working in the same place. Sargon said nothing, keeping himself at the front of the group but allowing his subordinates to do the talking for now.

{From the group walks a burly orc. He looks the group over.} "Yeah, let's see...two vampires...*Sniff*...And a dragon? Yeah, okay. Miss, if you could kindly shift and bring those large rocks over from the earth mage, that would help. As for you two, grab a shovel and help with the mortar. Ok? Ok."

(oops, I forgot to include the description for the necromancer's place of residence. I'll rewrite that lol.)

{Meanwhile, the retreating draugr army arrives at their destination; a hollowed mountain on a desolate plain in the heart of Ferros. The draugrs take tunnels that lead beneath the mountain while Delilah and Ardens enter through a higher entrance. They seemed a bit pensive as they walked to talk to their 'boss'.}

{Entering, Ardens removes his helmet. He's a short, stout man with brown hair and a beard. His eyes are black with red irises, like Delilah's and every other being on this floor. On particularly scrawny looking man approached them.} "So, how'd it go, you two? Heh, judging by those faces, not well."
{Delilah growls at the man while Ardens ignores him. The pair continue to a throne room of sorts, adorned with the bones of numerous creatures.}

'I can do that.' Ana glanced at Sargon to make sure he wanted her to obey, and when he nodded, she immediately shifted and flew off to collect the rocks. She scooped up one easily in her talons and brought it over.

Meanwhile, Sargon beckoned Armin over, and they both set to work with the shovels.

'So,' said Armin, 'how often do you end up needing to rebuild these walls?'

"This is the first time." {The orc says.} "Until now, three cities kept them at bay, Carthage, Aurum, and Dredge. However, Carthage fell to them not a week ago, giving them a straight shot towards here, our capital, Viribus. If not for those weapons, they would have won this war in an instant last night."
{As they were working, there was an interesting individual helping alongside them. She was a tall, muscular woman with blond hair, green eyes, and wicked scars across the right half of her face. She was a dragon, and was very strong, hefting the stones Ana brought over her head in human form, placing them down where needed.}

'So what about the other two cities? Aurum and Dredge?' said Sargon. 'How far from here are they? Do they help in fending off the attacking army?'

'I'm guessing Carthage was the nearest city to here,' added Armin thoughtfully. 'If its falling meant they could march straight on to this place.'

Ana carried over another rock, pausing to eye the tall woman helping to carry them away. She sensed the woman was also a dragon, like herself. However, she didn't say anything and just continued with her work, a little annoyed that the stranger was capable of lifting the stones in human form while Ana needed to be in dragon form to manage it.

Orc: "Yeah, it was. although, it was also the weakest link. Dredge is highly defensible, being based in a valley. Aurum has been retrofitted into a beetle breeding colony, so nothing's touching that. Carthage was based on a river and was a port town, not the most defensible."

'Hmm...' Armin trailed off into a thoughtful silence. In the background, Ana was dragging over another large rock - one of the last ones. She'd almost cleared the pile by then.

'So the King's men intend to march out and launch a counter-attack before the enemy army can strike here again,' said Sargon. 'Will the Akhetians try to stop you if you see you making use of their light weapons?'

{As Ana brought over the rock, the dragon lady came over.} "I can place this one. Thanks, sweetie." {With that, she picked up the rock and carried it off to the wall.}

"Yeah, probably." {The orc says.} "Those things don't care about us at all, they just want what they want and then they go back to their world."

'Hmph...' Ana set herself down at the base of the wall and folded her wings, watching the other dragon's progress. Finally she burst out, 'How are you able to carry those in human form?! I can barely manage in dragon form!'

Armin looked up from his shovelling. 'I don't suppose there's any way we could bribe or manipulate the Akhetians to attack the enemy army instead? I caught a glimpse of them, and they look pretty powerful. Especially if they have more of those light weapons.'

{The dragon looked up at Ana after putting the boulder down, smiled, and rubbed the back of her head.} "Well, I'm just....really big in my real form, so a lot of that strength carries over to this form. That's all, no reason to get upset."

{The orc sighs.} "Bribe, no. They don't want anything we have. Manipulate? Well, I guess if you're really slick with your words, their cognitive reasoning isn't much different from ours. If you want to try, go right on ahead."

'You'd have to be REALLY slick with your words...' Armin muttered. 'Don't ask Ana to do it, then.'

Sargon said nothing. Though he'd never say so, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be much good at convincing the Akhetians either. Especially not when he knew almost nothing about them.

'Oh...' said Ana, in a more subdued tone of voice. 'I see. Sorry then.' Seeing there were no more rocks to be carried, she shifted back into her human form. 'Are there a lot of dragons living here?' she asked curiously.

"I wouldn't really know, I just got here. By the way, I'm Biceras." {She says while offering her hand out to shake.}
{The Orc nods and subsides into silence. }

Ana lifted a hand and shook Biceras's. 'Oh, that's pretty nice. I only got here yesterday myself. The name's Anastasia,' she added with a slight grin.

As the conversation trailed off, Armin and Sargon continued with the shovels.

"Anastasia. That's a pretty name." {Biceras says, giving her a hearty handshake.} "So, what brings you to this war torn country?"

{Meanwhile, back at the necromancer lair, Delilah and Ardens have been in the throne room, waiting. At long last, a voice calls out from the back of the room.} "Ah, my two favorite vassals. What news do you bring from Viribus?" {From the back of the room comes a massive winged serpent. He had red plumage, an off white pattern, and a toothy, unnerving grin across his face. His eyes were like the rest, black, with red irises. Upon his arrival, Ardens and Delilah kneel and lower their heads.}
Ardens: "My Lord, Dolorus, I'm afraid we must ask your forgiveness. We failed in taking the capital..."
Dolorus: "That's quite al-"
Ardens: "You must understand, once they had the light weapons there was nothing we c-"
Dolorus: "Hey, relax! It's ok, you don't need to 'beg my forgiveness' just cause you failed one time. It happens."
{Before this point, Ardens had never failed Dolorus in anything, so he didn't know what to expect.}
Ardens: "So...you're not mad?"
{Dolorus laughs and grins even wider.}
Dolorus: "Of course not! You were never meant to wipe them out right there, just rattle them a bit, remind them we're here. I knew they had the weapons, I just wanted you to poke them a bit."
{Ardens just stands in confused silence.}

'Well...' Ana thought it probably wasn't a good idea to reveal Sargon's intentions to make more vampires across the country. 'My companions and I are all travellers. We're always moving from place to place, exploring new countries. Sometimes we stop to help people along the way - like here.' She smirked.

Dolorus: LOL it's fine i don't care :D
Ardens: wait wut :(

(Lol. XD)

{Biceras smiles pleasantly at Ana.} "Well, that's very generous of you. These people look like they could all the help they could get."

{Dolorus turns to Delilah, as Ardens wasn't saying anything.} "Delilah, you're responsible for capturing Carthage. How'd it go?"
Delilah: "Smoothly, my Lord. They could not withstand the ceaseless attack from within the river."
Dolorus: "Ah, yes, the river. Isn't it great to have soldiers that don't have to breath? They can attack from anywhere!"
{Dolorus transitions into evil laughter when Ardens interjects.}
Ardens: "My Lord, I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but how can we move forward when they have those weapons?”
Dolorus: “Oh Ardens, don’t you know? They stole those from the Akhetians. All we need to do is tip them off during a decisive battle, and we’ll make an ally out of an enemy, regardless of how brief. It will be all we need. Anyway, you two should just leave those details to me, and get some rest. Dissmissed.”
{With that, Dolorus floats away to his upper chamber while Delilah and Ardens walk out the door.}

'I'd like to join the King's army when they go out to attack those monsters in Carthage, too,' said Ana thoughtfully. 'I think I could really help them. With my magic and their light weapons combined, those /zombies/ won't stand a /chance.'/

'Oh god, here we go. Ana's going to get herself killed in a pointless attempt to win Sargon's affection,' Armin muttered under his breath. If Sargon himself heard this, he pretended to ignore it.

{Biceras grins.} "That's the spirit. With any luck, this region will be rid of this scourge in no time."

{The orc's keen hearing caught Armin's comment.}
"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

Ana grinned back, then gazed around the area to see how the wall was coming along. 'Hmm... how soon do you think they're going to march to Carthage? I don't want to miss anything.'

Armin turned around with a rabbit-caught-in-the-headlights look. 'Uhh... nothing, really,' he replied. Then he said to the orc telepathically, //Anastasia, our dragon friend over there, is madly in love with Sargon over there. But you didn't hear that from me.//

{The orc looks to Ana, then to Sargon, then back to Armin, wearing a mischievous smile.} "Mhmmm. Ok."

{Biceras puts a finger to her chin.} "Hmm. Hard to say. Probably very soon, considering the weapons are stolen and all. The king will probably want to use them while we still have them."

'So, you think the Akhetians-or-whatever-they're-called will figure out you have those weapons soon?' said Ana.

Armin rolled his eyes and returned to his shovelling. Sargon paused to shoot a mildly suspicious look at both Armin and the orc, then apparently decided it wasn't worth asking about, and also returned to his work.

{Biceras nods.} "Yeah, probably. Honestly, I don't know what's worse, the zombies or the automatons. The zombies are scary, but the Akhetians are tough as nails."

{The Orc continues his shovelling, a smirk on his face.}

'Do they have any big weaknesses?' Ana asked. 'Like the draugrs are weak to light magic, the Akhetians are weak to...?'

Sargon finally looked up. 'Is something funny?' he said coolly to Armin.

The other vampire shook his head. 'No, boss. Nothing at all.' He then turned away quickly to hide his grin.

"No, well, it depends on the 'class'." {She says.} "Smelters do have distinct weaknesses, but War Wagons really don't. And Ultras, well, if you're unlucky enough to piss one off, there's really nothing you can do."

'Well, the first two classes sound like they'd be easy enough to disable with some dragon power and dark magic,' said Ana with a smirk. 'Even if I can't destroy them, I bet I could slow one down. I'd like to meet one someday, just to see if I can.'

'Geez,' said Armin quietly, having been eavesdropping on their conversation. 'You guys just HAD to steal light magic from the most powerful race out there, didn't you?'

{Biceras smiles at Ana.} "Well, I'd like to watch if you do. War Wagons are hard to perish, I'd like to see if you could do it."
{The orc, once again hearing him, replies quietly.} "We had no choice. If we didn't, we would have lost by now. Sucks, doesn't it? In order to beat the draugrs, we stole from something even stronger. If we beat Death's Will, then we might get wiped by the bloody Akhetians."

'Oh, I'll certainly try,' said Ana slyly. 'I'd like to see how powerful magic does against robot monsters...'

Armin glanced up at the orc. 'Have you guys thought about what you're going to do if the worst happens? If your army can't beat the draugrs, will you evacuate to another country or something?'

"So do I." {Biceras says while grinning.} If we could beat them back, maybe they'll stop looking at us like inferior beings."

{The orc sighs and leans on his shovel.} "If we lose, well, we can try to run, but, if we don't stop them here, well, they won't stop. They'll likely spread to other lands, like a disease, and do the same things there."

'Nobody calls /me/ an inferior being and gets away with it,' agreed Ana. She pushed a small bit of rock away from her foot, then made a noise of delight when a large spider crawled out from underneath it. She reached down and picked the spider up. 'Aww, how cute...'

'Well, there's no point in worrying about it when it hasn't happened yet,' said Armin grimly. 'You've still got a chance. Even if you can't stop them, there might be somebody else out there somewhere who can.'

{When Ana picks up the spider, Biceras shies away, eyeing her uncertainly.} "Hey, that thing could be poisonous, put it down!"

{The Orc nods.} "That's true. The world's a big place, you never know who's in it."
{At that moment, a man dressed in some sort of royal attire appears in the crowd. He walks up on the nearly finished wall and starts reading from a scroll.}
"Ahem. Hear ye, hear ye, Last night's attack took its toll on the army, and our High King finds himself short on soldiers. He has decreed that any and all able bodied persons are to be highly urged to volunteer to march with him to liberate Carthage. This war is very dangerous, and the King understands if many wish to be left out, but those who offer their assistance will be handsomely rewarded at the closure of this war. Twenty acres of land and four score bushels of pure gold for each citizen who undertakes this task and sees it through to the end of the war. And, his Highness is prepared to offer an entire castle to anyone who brings him the head of Ardens, the Living Inferno, Delilah, Orphanmaker, or Dolorus, the very head of this despicable group. Any who are brave and willing, please report to the castle. That is all."

'Oh, don't be silly,' said Ana as she watched the spider climb across her hands. 'It won't bite me... Hm? Who's that?'

At the same moment, she, Sargon and Armin all looked up to hear the royal man's speech. When it was over, Armin looked at the others expectantly.

'Something tells me that a lot of citizens are going to end up dead quite soon,' he remarked.

Sargon ignored him. 'We ought to go up to the castle with everyone else,' he said. 'We have already spoken with the King and his general, but we ought to go and let him know that we're willing to fight in this war.'

'So, we really are fighting?' said Armin, sounding surprised.

'Of course. I don't want the world taken over by this Will of Death any more than the King does.'

{Biceras looks up at the man speaking, then looks back to Ana after with a mischievous grin.} "Huh, guess the king really wants those guys dead. You gonna go to the castle?"

{The orc chuckles at Sargon's statement.} "Take over? Try ending it all. Dolorus, that vile snake in charge of it all, wants to /end/ as much life as possible."

'Of course!' said Ana. 'I wouldn't miss out. And if Sargon is going to do it, then I definitely will too.' She glanced at Biceras. 'So, you fight in the army, right?'

'Hmm...' said Sargon thoughtfully. 'How much do you know about this... Dolorus?'

{Biceras shakes her head.} "No. Like I said, I just got here. I am going to go volunteer though."

{The orc take a moment to think.} "Not a lot. Just that he's evil and thinks he's right about all this murder. The King and his generals would know more."

Ana nodded pensively, her gaze on Sargon.

'I'm curious about what kind of person he is,' said Armin. 'If he wants to wipe out all life, he must be insane. And deluded. But then again, we already saw that much in Ardens during that battle.'

'I imagine all of them are deluded,' said Sargon coolly. He looked to the orc. 'Is there more work to be done here, or may we leave? We have preparations to make, and must go up to the castle as soon as possible.'

{The orc looks back to the wall.} "Looks done to me. Let's go." {With that, he starts to walk to the castle.}

{Biceras looks at Ana with a little concern.} "Well, I'm going to walk over there now. It was nice talking to you." {Walking away, Biceras waves goodbye.}

Ana glanced around quickly to see Biceras walking away. 'Oh... see you later!' she called back, a little embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming. Shaking herself back to reality, she hurried to Sargon's side.

'Come,' said the vampire, and with that he began walking towards the castle.

Armin yawned and buried his shovel point-down in the ground before heading after them.

'I wonder how many people will actually volunteer to join the war?' Ana mused as they all walked along.

{Once at the castle, there was was a decent number of people there to sign up, backed up in lines. The lines were leading to tables where soldiers were handing out slips of paper.}
Soldier: "Here, fill out your full name and all questions on the form. Once that's done, hand it to the weapons master in the back and they'll get you equipped with weapons and armor that fit your abilities."
{The form itself consisted of 8 questions, full name, age, height, race, powers/abilities (if applicable), preferred magical field (If applicable), What next of kin to notify in the event of horrific death, and 'anything to declare'.}

As they came level with the nearest table, each of Sargon's group took a slip of paper. As everyone examined them, Sargon snapped his fingers and three pencils appeared in his hand.

'Oh, cool, I thought you could only conjure knives and stuff,' commented Armin as the older vampire gave each of them a pencil.

'I can theoretically summon anything as long as I know where it is,' Sargon replied. Beside him, Ana was busy scribbling down quite detailed info about all of her different dark magic spells.

'None of us has any next of kin, do we?' she questioned. Both vampires shook their heads. Frowning, Ana wrote 'N/A' in that part of the form.

After a few minutes, all three of them had finished. 'Where's this weapons master, then?' Armin asked, looking around to see where the rest of the crowd was going.

(If you need to know what they actually wrote on those forms, I can write that too.)

(I don't, but I'm curious. XD)

{The orc they met earlier passed by, hearing their predicament.} "This way, fellas." {He leads them through chambers to an armory, deep in the castle. There, in front of the open doorway, was a burly man taking the forms and telling people what gear to receive. He takes the orc's paper and reads it.}
"Ok, Khan...front line infantry. Go to the back to the guy with the big golden helmet, he'll get you geared. Next!"

Ana was the first to reach the weapons master. 'Hello!' she said brightly, handing him her form, which contained a description of all her magic spells, as well as the fact that she was a dragon shifter and could control ghosts. It seemed that she was very proud of her abilities.

(I might write them out between my posts, if I can figure out exactly what they wrote. XD)

{The weapons master looks over Ana's form and nods approvingly.} "Anastasia...Battle Mage. Go to the back and find the tall guy in the long robes. Next!"

'See you later,' Ana whispered to Sargon before hurrying off to find the described person.

//Meet us back at the house once we're all finished here,// the vampire said telepathically, before stepping forwards to give the man his own form. It had far fewer details than Ana's, only giving a basic description of his powers, which included summoning weapons and other objects from distant places.

{The weapons master looks it over, taking a minute to think.} "Hmmm. Sargon.....Shapeshifting....Telepathy....Weapon summoning....Ok, I know what to do with you. Scout. Go in the back, find the guy with the wolf pelt cloak, he'll get you geared. Next!"

Sargon nodded in acknowledgement and left. //Scout... I wonder exactly what I'll have to do,// he mused as he walked away.

Seeing that he was the only one left, Armin came up to offer his own form. 'I feel inadequate now,' he grumbled. 'I promise it's not as interesting as those other two.' His listed abilities were similar to Sargon's, but he had no weapon summoning power. Instead, he'd mentioned that he normally used swords as a weapon.

"We'll see." {Said the weapons master as he took Armin's paper.} "Arminus.....Hmm, you have telepathy and shape shifting as well. Scout it is. Go in the back and find the guy in the wolf pelt. Next!"

'Alright.' Armin set off in the same direction as Sargon, finding him just about to approach the man in the wolf-pelt cloak. Together, the duo went over to him. 'Hey, two new vampire scouts over here.'

Meanwhile, Ana had wandered off to find the guy in the long robes who she'd been told to look for. Upon spotting him, she hurried over. 'Hello! I'm going to be a Battle Mage,' she said proudly.

(Hmm.... I think I'm gonna change his name from Arminus to just Armin. Arminus is too long, doesn't sound right with any surnames, and isn't even a real name. XD)

{The guy in the wolf pelt looks the two over.}
"Good. Scouts are in high demand around these parts. Here." {The man hands them light, leather armor, wolf pelt cloaks, and two short, stout blades each.} "Go put those on. I need to make sure they fit."

{The robed man looks at Ana amused.} Excellent. You are also a dragon shifter, yes? Here." {He hands Ana a witch cloak/ heavy armor hybrid.} "Go put this on and come back. I need to be sure it fits. Otherwise, the tailor will get cross."

'So vampires are actually useful for something? That's a surprise,' Armin remarked as he accepted the new gear, and then both vampires left to get changed.

Ana did the same, returning to the robed man a minute later, dressed in her new armour and cloak. 'It seems to fit fine,' she said, looking down at herself critically. 'I'm not used to armour, though. It's quite heavy. Well, I guess I'll get used to it.'

"I assure you, it's necessary." {The robed man says.} "Draugrs absolutely devour lightly armored mages. We've found it absolutely necessary to give our magic wielded heavy armor to keep them alive."

'Hmm... I suppose you're right.' Ana glanced down at herself again. 'So, this is everything I'll need?'

(Just to make sure I'm reading the earlier post correctly, did the wolf-pelt guy give Sargon and Armin two swords each or one each?)

(Yes.)

Robed Man: "Pretty much. You can request a melee weapon if you wish."

Armin and Sargon both returned to the wolf-pelt man, wearing their own wolf cloaks and leather armour. Sargon was inspecting his dual blades, while Armin was making practise swings with one of his, having sheathed the other.

'Everything seems perfect,' said Sargon. 'Thank you very much. Do you know what we might be asked to do as scouts in this army?'

Just then, Armin spoke up. 'Almost forgot to mention, I don't need the second blade. You can take it back. I can't use both at once, so it'd be kinda pointless to waste it on me.'

'Thank you for the offer, but I prefer to just use my magic,' Ana replied. 'I've never learned to use any melee weapons.'

(By the way, if you want to, you can make a new room for this RP. This one's getting a bit full.)

(Sure, I'll do that in a bit.)

Ok, the room's up but I'll reply here first.

{The wolf pelt guy adresses Sargon first.} "Well, you'll likely be asked to scout dangerous areas and report back. The fact the Weapons Master sent you two to me tells me that you must be fast on the battlefield, or have an alternate form that greatly gives you an advantage over ordinary troops at scouting."
{He then turns to Armin.} "Keep it. You never know when you might need the second one."

{The robed man grins at Ana.} "Of course, why would you? Magic is superior to conventional weaponry after all."