Epic Tales of Clashing Empires

[Digital Vulpine]

-The Great Road, not far from the Obsidian Palace-

Simon dusts himself off and smiles, replying,

"I don't think we will have any trouble, unless some brigands wish to try their luck with your friend there.  I and my friend," he gestures toward Joshua, "are trying to reach the Obsidian palace as soon as we can, but as you can see our horses are exhausted, and mine can carry me no further."

His smile quickly fades and he lowers his ears as well as his voice, though he can still be heard clearly,

"Unfortunately, we bear nothing but grim news and a call to war.  The town of Pavestone a few days from here has been attacked by an organized rebellion, we are the only ones who escaped.  We may already be too late, but I ask that you allow us to travel with you the rest of the way.  It won't help us get there any faster, but at least traveling together we will gain greater safety from bandits."

[Xim]

-The Great Road, not far from the Obsidian Palace-

"Alright, you can travel along side of me." The merchant replied. "But I ain't sharing Lagart here. I hired him to protect ME, you're gonna have to look out for yourselves if we get attacked."

Lagart rolled his eyes. He was rather annoyed with this merchant. He really couldn't wait to just finish this job so he could get rid of him.

"Alright, let's get moving. I ain't got all day." The merchant tugged on his ox and they continued to move.

[Digital Vulpine]

-The Great Road, on the way to the Obsidian Palace-

"You have my thanks, and until we reach the city, my weapon."

Simon picks up his gun and slings it across his shoulder, then grabs his horse's reins and guides it in front of the ox.  Looking out to the east he sees the red band on the horizon, heralding the arrival of dawn.  In the course of a single night, the world will never be the same...

[Jonas]

--The Throne Room--

The sounds of battle could be heard from outside the throne room as the rebels fought through the castle.

"How long until reinforcements arrive?" the queen asked the guard to Sennel's left.

"Not long, hopefully. The barricade should hold until they do."

The guard to the right grunted. "It's still too risky. Only one entrance means only one exit. We should move somewhere with a better escape route while we still can."

The first guard opened his mouth but stopped as he glanced at Sennel. Their exchange continued through scent.

We are not cowards! As long as the queen lives we cannot lose!

I understand, sir, but I'd prefer a plan that gives the queen the best chance of living.

And what chance could be better than routing these rebels from the queen's own seat?

Sennel wagged his tail aimlessly as he chanced a glance at the queen. While outwardly composed behind a regal veneer, the rigidity of her posture told the Lupe that she was more afraid than she would admit.

[Xim]

-The Great Road, on the way to the Obsidian Palace-

The group continued to move on, luckily they managed to avoid any unwanted encounters. Finally the Obsidian Palace came into view.

Lagart sniffed the air. "Smoke..."

"Hmm, something's not right." The merchant stated. "Lets keep going though."

[William Swiftfoot]

(ooc: Sorry for kinda disspaearing.)

--Throne Room--

The gaurds stop their scent-banter as the sudden sound of cracking is heard. They look over in confusion as they see a strange thorny plant breaking through the barricade. They draw their swords to try to stop it, but are too late as the barricade is forced back and on top of them. Kicking up debris and dust. Within the dust, Sennel can see the silouette of a Zohal who becons him to come on.

[Digital Vulpine]

-Outside the Obsidian Palace-

The palace walls rise up on the horizon, intact and gleaming in the harsh red dawn.  The small ray of hope inspired by the seemingly unscarred palace is swiftly dashed, as all about it a vast army is encamped, weapons of war at the  ready.  Thousands of torches burn low from a long night's vigil, and campfires have been prepared to cook food for those not currently engaged in fighting.  Near the gate there is much commotion as troops from the camps move up to replace their wearied  comrades.  The gates are down, lowered not smashed.  The castle was conquered not by bombardment from without, but  treason from within.

"I hope your boss doesn't care  too much about who gets your merchandise.  We're too late..."
Simon lowers his head and sighs, then kicks the dirt and looks up again.
"I don't know about you, but I'm going down there to get some answers.  I only hope that we have not merely received a tyrant for toppling our emperor."

[Jonas]

Sennel gets up off the ground and pads over to Vandme.

"Thank you, your timing is excellent."

A glance back to the throne room, however, raises further concerns. The queen still sat on her throne, trying her best not to display the stress her scent was broadcasting. It was a harsh copper mixed with the strange flowery aroma of the royal pheremones. Sennel wrinkled his nose. The only question was what to do now. In Lupe challenges, the contest was over once one side had no means of resisting. The queen was trapped and guardless, which certainly met the criteria. But, as Sennel reminded himself, these were not Lupes he stood alongside. Even though he had no true place in these affairs, he still felt obliged to be involved until their end.

"Someone get Kigar." Sennel announced suddenly to the room at large. "Tell him we're here--tell him we have the queen. He'll know what to do."

[William Swiftfoot]

Vandme raises a brow as he hears Sennel's annoucement before saying "Are you sure that is wise? Most of the others that were with us seem to have dissapeared or gotten lost in the chaos."

[Jonas]

"This isn't our fight. Kigar is the only one we were with who had an actual stake in this rebellion. He should be able to decide the outcome, yes?"

[William Swiftfoot]

"This is true my friend, but how do you know the gaurds will stay down? I believe its best for us to make our exit and wait until the dust settles, unless that is your plan" Vandme says as he looks out to the hallway, and the fighting that is going on.

[Jonas]

"Oooh... right... lead on then."

Sennel's tail curled a bit in embarrassment at missing such a fact. He followed Vandme through the halls.

[Xim]

-Outside the Obsidian Palace-

"My god..." The merchant gasped. "Well...I guess if I get the money then uh, he won't mind." He looked at Lagart. "Let's go with him. Maybe they'll want to buy these supplies."

Lagart shrugged. "Follow Simon." He said, and the merchant tugged his ox and went with them.

Lagart was a little worried about what was going on, he never paid too much attention to politics and never cared too much for Obsidian empire, but he didn't necessarily hate them either. He figured he'd stick with Simon and see if he could get some answers himself.

[William Swiftfoot]

Vandme nods and tries to slowly push his way back to the window. It is not an easy thing as trying to walk through the choas when both sides aren't really friendly. They are able to make it slowly along, dodgeing flying combatants and errant swings along the way. As they reach the window, Vandme sees a problem. He grimaces a little, and looks to Sennel. "You wouldn't have a way to break a fall would you?" he asks.

Meanwhile, down below a message reaches Kigar, and tells him of what Sennel had announced upstairs, plus the disabled gaurds.

[Jenia]

-Halls of the Obsidian Castle-

The fighting was furious. Swords and arrows in close quarters clanked against one another, sending sparks flying.
Kigar was surrounded by the screams of men fighting for what they believe in - some of them even dying for it - and it did not make a good impression on him.
To him, this was worse than the infernal pits, where fighting was for survival.

Few things are worse than giving your life for a dream you will never see come true...

His mind drifted, the clangs and the thudding continued around him in harmonious unison, as if an unholy symphony of death was being composed before him. It was interrupted, however, when he received the message about the queen being unguarded.

"She's surely going to flee!" he roared "THE QUEEN IS RUNNING! SURROUND THE THRONE ROOM!"

The rebel's morale increased beyond astronomical, and they pushed forward - little did they know that the queen had already fled beyond the confines of the throne room using an escape route for just such an occasion...