"has he said anything yet?" Damon asked the warden "Only that he curses you and your kin, HAHA and that he hates us useless humans" The Warden replyed. "He feels pain yes?" "I think so" "Then fire arrows into his legs, it pains me to make a man suffer but... Well he is more dangerous then we know, that i am sure of!"

The clockwork carriage arrived at the designated location in about two hours, enough time for Caltra to fall asleep despite the bumpy ride. Her snooze was interrupted when Ignis gave a loud and extremely exaggerated cough, startling her awake and causing her to hit her head on the roof. Swearing softly under her breath she gave Ignis a quick glare and looked out the window.

The forest in which the contest would be held was home to no end of wildlife, ranging from the benign to the dangerous. The trees reached heights of nearly a hundred feet at their shortest, the canopy formed by their leaves creating a shadowy forest floor in which various insects and small mammals presided in large numbers. Caltra was quite impressed. She had expected the contest to take place closer to a city seeing how most of her fellow users of the Arts were rarely far from comfort.

This was reflected in the faces of her colleagues as she joined them under a large cloth tarp, looks of disapproval and discomfort dotting the faces of most of those present. Caltra however was quite pleased to be outside. She rarely had time to step outside and relax these days, what with her studies, research, and family matters to attend to. The 'hawk' sitting on her shoulder also looked pleased with the sight of the forest.

Caltra noticed an elder who would serve as one of the judges and made her way towards him, greeting him when he noticed her. "Elder Lyom, I pray today finds you well." she said, a common greeting among fellows, "It appears you and the others have certainly chosen a promising spot for this little contest. I expect we will have quite a show today." Elder Lyom, a shortish man with bushy grey eyebrows and a kind demeanor, gave Caltra a smile.

"Ah Caltra. I'm glad you've arrived. I had hoped that the messenger would arrive with the invitation in time, after all, I know how much you had your eye on that book." Caltra gave a sheepish grin. It was true though, she had wanted that book of summons and this was the perfect opportunity to get it. Lyom glanced over his shoulder at the road down which Caltra had arrived as if he were looking for someone. This was not lost on Caltra.

"Is something wrong Elder?" she said. Lyom shook his head.

"Not quite my child. We are still waiting for a few others to arrive before we begin. If you recall it was agreed that we would send out invitations to the contest to everyone, not just members of our group." Caltra nodded. While the Arts users that Caltra had joined with was quite large it was far from the only one in the world. There were dozens of other such groups with different agendas in the land surrounding them alone. Each had received invitations to partake in the contest.

Elder Lyom excused himself to go converse with two of the other elders, leaving Caltra and Ignis to take a seat in one of the cushion seats that had been set up for those who had arrived. The sky overhead promised rain and quite a lot of it. Caltra noticed several of her associates beginning to spread out around the tent, placing markers for a spell that would most likely keep the rain from leaking thru their tarp.

After the battle was over, Damon headed down to look at the prisoner. He was badly damaged and looked tired but it had seemed he used the arts to protect himself. "Where did you learn to use Magic like that!?" Damon demanded, "no man i know of or have heard in legends can use the arts so well!"

Deth_Glitch"You three, capture that man! he is not mortal for he still stands!" Damon said as he shot at the beasts

BlackFTW
A handful of people awoke from what could be described as some kind of hibernation, except, their bodies never aged or anything. It was like they were kept locked away from the affects of time... they were immortal. Not literally immortal, but immune to time.

((Anyway))

Ignis alighted on Caltra's extended arm, his hawk form shimmering slightly as he intended to change into his usual orbiting flame. "Oh don't change. I've a use for that form today." Ignis bobbed slightly, the avian equivalent of a bow.

"What task do you have for me today?" he asked, shuffling a bit on her arm as she ducked into the carriage waiting just a few feet away.

"There is to be a hunt today. Do you recall that incident a week ago, the one involving that newly uncovered book of summons?" Ignis nodded. "Well it's been decided that whomever can catch the most game today using a hunting bird will be awarded the book." She noted the questioning look in the eyes of the hawk. "I don't quite understand what this has to do with prowess in the Arts either."

Ignis gave what passed as shrugging for a hawk and set about preening his feathers. While he could just as easily have shifted his form to make the feathers pristine he always preferred to play the part of any form he took, honing his abilities to blend in. Just because one could change their shape to whatever they wanted did not mean you could abuse it after all.

The way Djinn shifted forms was rather simple; A Djinn such as Ignis was extremely capable of shifting into hundreds of thousands of different forms, but shifting one's form more than once every hour could severely diminish one's powers. Imagine if you will, a cookie jar that grows back any cookies taken. If you take out one cookie (One change in form) it will grow back at a slow rate. If you take out another before the first has regrown (Changing form before power has been equalized again) then you are now missing more (less power).

While shifting again before an hour had passed four or five times would not have a large effect on Ignis, too many shifts in shape would leave him significantly weaker than he should be. The only way for a Djinn to quickly regain his/her powers and heal their wounds in a timely fashion is to send them back to their plane of existence where the mingling energies of all Djinn combined and help one another.

So far Ignis was sure that only Caltra was aware of this fact, most other users of the Arts caring little for their otherworldly servants or how they work. Caltra was an oddity in the eyes of her peers and Ignis always enjoyed being around oddities. After all, Solomon was an oddity and look at what he accomplished.

It was another three minutes before the carriage driver started up the engine and they began to make their methodical way out of the Gearwise estate and down the road.

"You three, capture that man! he is not mortal for he still stands!" Damon said as he shot at the beasts

Sek'ma rose up, and watched as the Immortal's Control over the demons dissipated, they were free to go, ultimately, most of them went back to their burning lands of their own will. The others were forced. . . .

"Duck!" Damon screamed as someone flew towards the castle "Ok Reload, Up and FIRE!". A melody of Twangs accompanying his call, "Fire at will" Damon said

As Sek'ma reached the end of the ranks, he peeked up, and saw what he had hoped for.
The Immortal commanding the army.
He flung his tail up, grabbed him, and shot him towards the walls of Loxley.
"Lets see how immortal they really are." He thought to himself. . . .

-=[The word also works for attacking a Mighty/legendary thing Animal/Object Anyway, we have dealt with it so not more argueing]=-
Damon looked wide eyed at the army of Demons "I though you said it was helping? Where is it?" He asked all the soldiers around him. Then he drew back his bow "Wait for it, Wait for it!" Damon Releised his bow "Fire!"

((I said assailants of Loxley, would I be fighting myself? Are you TRYING to destroy Loxley?))
Sek'ma realized that these Demons weren't going down without a fight, he would have to use extra cunning.
He burrowed into the ground, and waited until the Demons reformed their ranks, and marched onwards, he then burrowed to the end of their lines. . . .

-=[I do, but when used in the context of something being attacked, then we could be the assailants]=-
The beast did not apear, it headed toward the far wall, "Some one is trying to attack us!" said a soldier "and the beast is helping". Damon rallied all men to teh far wall "Mutch, get a messenger and send message to the king, tell him: there are soldiers attacking us, we can deal with them but we beleive it to be a distaction"

((Do you know the meaning of the word assailants? It means attackers, I am attacking the army that is attacking Loxley.))

"Fire!" Damon scream, a volly of arrows curved over the Beast. Damon got out his own bow, handed to him by Robbin of Loxley, his adpted father. "Now Fire at will!"
-=[Dont be invicible, i will not let you destory the Keep]=-

Sek'ma ascended through the ground, and began attacking the assailants of Loxley, they were quite a few of them, doubling the fun. He executed a series of tail-lashes, jar-mashes, and sand-dashes. . . .

-=[6 Meters on the outside, 2 meters on the inside]=-
More twangs, more arrows digging into the dirt. "Damn in hell! Somebody hit it!" Damon said as the last of the soldiers scrambled into the extrior walls

((How thick are your walls?
Sek'ma grabbed four more men, crushing them and devouring them.
He then went outside the keep, and observed the opposing forces. . .

-=[At loxley?]=-
Damon rallyed his men "Its back, to me, to me" He screamed. Men were running toward him "Get on to the Wall, this thing is under the soil!"

As the soldiers were rambling about how wonderful they were, Sek'ma swung his tail through the earth, and grabbed three of them.
You could hear their screams, and the crunch of bone . . .

Damon heard the twang of bows being fired, he ran back into the town. "what happened?" He asked one of the soldiers "Some beast appeared out of the ground" "Where is it now?" Damon asked "It had gone before we hit it." Damon looked at the hole, Now they come here! To my keep! He thought. "Now remember men! We are as true as the flight of our arrows!" He Screamed, men all around him be gan chanting "And we will not let this menace attack teh good folk of Loxley!"

-=[Loxley is a Town with a Keep, most people living outside the walls, only soldiers and Lords are generally inside the Keep, (They have no servants, they do every thing themselves)]=-

The clockwork 'spider' made it's way over the mounds of gears and cogs, getting stuck only once along the way, ripping itself free thru sheer brute force. Caltra, still half asleep, let out a small cry as a shower of gears and a shuffling mess of clockwork came bursting down upon her. Her brother, still focusing intently on the telescopic sight in his hands, reached over and plucked the flailing spider from atop his sister's plate and tossed it over the table, aiming for his father. The spider froze above the table, a small shimmer of emerald light surrounding it.

Caltra, looking quite displeased that her headdress had been ruined, continued to hold the clockwork device aloft, bringing a small smile to Ignis' features as he thought of how much she had gone from being powerless in the Art of Manipulation and Interaction to being capable of suspending an item of substantial weight from a distance for more than a minute. "Caltra, honey, please let down my invention. I do not think it meant to surprise you so." Samuel said, speaking like one would speak to a child who has something they shouldn't.

"Oh I'm well aware that the machine didn't mean to father." Caltra said, a disconcerting smile spreading across her face, "You on the other hand I'm not so sure about." The emerald shimmer around the 'spider' intensified, the clockwork device shuddering a bit. Her father went a little pale at the sound of metal creaking while her mother rolled her eyes in an amused way and ate her breakfast.

Ignis continued to watch the Gearwise family eat and mess around until he decided it was time for him to patrol the estate grounds. After shifting into a quick bird of prey, Ignis quickly made his rounds, checking each of his magical tripwires and alarms. Satisfied that nothing had triggered any of them, he returned to the front entrance of the estate to find Caltra waiting for him, a new headdress in hand.

I looked up from where I was standing in what felt like quick sand, but after walking through a blazing desert all day, anyone would want to just fall down on the ground for a while. At least the sun was more forgiving in the Arcturian Desert, as it was furthur North than Atherburgh. But, sadly, it had no wild water or anything. It was all just a big mass of boiling, sadistic sand that hated everyone besides the sun.

The Speaker turned back to the bar keep. It knocked on the counter twice, and through a Silver "Serpent", to the bar keep, and received a mug of a hard, tender brew. The Speaker downed it, and walked out. It continued to wander, this time, taking a faded dirt road. Well, it was not aware of that fact. The Speaker was blind, after all.

Janos looked walked on the faded dirt road forever wondering if anyone would accept him for who he was.

Breakfast (or any meal for that matter) at the Gearwise estate was a rather entertaining event, at least to Ignis. The Gearwise family, while quite normal in structure, was far from everyday. Tiny clockwork constructs dotted the exquisite dining room, hanging from chandeliers and clustered against the walls. Gears and cogs lay strewn upon much of the surface of the beautifully hand crafted Darkwood table, tiny screws and pins accompanying them as well. The dishes of food that lay amidst these heaps of metal and mesh seemed out of place, like a pedigree horse in a field of mules.

Despite the metal and machinery though, breakfast went on unopposed. The head of the Gearwise family, Samuel Gearwise, sat next to his wife, Rebecca, a well respected woman of higher society who had never seemed to lose the same innocence that she had when she and Samuel had first wed. Ignis was quite fond of Rebecca, her small talk always leaving him relaxed. She had that effect on people, her voice soothing out the stress in them. At the moment Samuel was busy fiddling with what looked like a tiny clockwork spider, as big as his first, while Rebecca was looking on with happy interest.

Opposite the couple sat their two children, Caltra who was trying to keep her headdress from falling into her food, and Daniel, who was attempting to fix a telescopic sight of some sort. Ignis had seen them affixed to the various 'guns' that Daniel was known for creating. Apparently he was renowned for creating some of the finest quality weapons and armor around. He had taken after his father in more ways than one, the two seeming almost identical to the point of being confused for brothers on more than one occasion.

Ignis noted Samuel had finished his clockwork device and was powering it up, setting it in the direction of his daughter. This was going to be entertaining.

"You think of blackness the wrong way. The world doesn't change. It tends to be the same everywhere. The only way for the blackness to fade is for the people to change." Grem said looking straight at the Speaker. "Now, leave me be."

Sek'ma, listened to the Casconic Resonances.
It was fact.
Above him was a Great Teleporter, with a few charges left.
He dug upwards, and found himself in the city of Loxley.
"How perplexing!" He mused to himself, before disappearing again . . . .

Damon was on the battlements, he knew there were brave men of Loxley fighting the
Demons in the fae far distance, beyond view. "Do i have to meet anyone?" Damon asked the man next to him. "No, you good for today" The man replyed "thank you Mutch, take the day off" Damon said to him (his name is mutch)

The water felt unusually chilled for being in a desert, and it felt freezing to Kyle after being in the boiling heat all day. He hated warmth so much, which lead to a deep hatred for deserts and everything like them. He almost felt like going back to Tazmilly, but he had an order, so it was pretty much necessary to keep going forward. Besides, it would be a nice experience to explore more of the world. There's not much to see in a very flat plain of wheat and vegetables, while the deserts were crawling with all sorts of interesting things.

Kyle took off his over coat, and laid it on a rock that was extended to a point to where it was just a tiny bit above the water running smoothly across the clay river floor.

He shuffled around the desert village, and finally found a map.
He opened it, and looked around.
On the map, there was a ring of deserts surrounding the central cities.
The Arcturian desert had nothing.
The Shamvel Desert had almost nothing.
The Atherburgh Desert had 3 major towns, and 6 bodies of water.
It was a fair distance away, but doable in maybe 3 weeks at top speed.
Sek'ma began digging.

Shadow rambled through the city, and began looking for the tavern.
He opened the door, and looked around.
He saw a Jackoloian, speaking to something, else.
Shadow ignored this, and moved to the central tavern, and demanded a barrel of aged ale. . . .

Kyle took a very heavy gulp from his canteen before putting it back to its strap that was strung around his shoulder. He slowly stood up from his seat beneath the date tree. He began walking out of the very cooling shade, and into the blazing sun that never seemed to want to stop burning the sand beneath everything's feet. Kyle climbed another hill, which luckily was a lot less steep than the last. He squinted to keep the sun out of his eyes as he tried to look for a long line of trees that shielded a very small river from the sun's burning rays.

((Oh, I thought that was your Atherburgh was a town's name, because of the German burg suffix.))
Sek'ma continued to do so every time he hungered, and eventually destroyed the town.
He was growing tired of this white desert, without much water.
He had to move to greener pastures. Literally. . .

((No, Kamels are quite large animal-beasts that look like a mixture of a camel and an ox. Also, no, it's not the same desert, as you said Sek'ma resides in the Arcturian Desert, while Kyle is in the Desert of Atherburgh.))

Alak', as a shadow, moved through a crack in the wall and down quickly into the shadow of a table. There he listened to two people talking. He wasn't sure of what yet, but he listened a bit closer.

((*Camels?))
((Also, is this the same desert where a certain creature devours many travelers?))

Kyle wiped the sweat from his brow as he finished semi-crawling up the large sand hill. The slight breeze scratched him every so often with the power of sand, but most of the time it felt nice, as the sun was ruthless in the Desert Plains of Atherbregh.

The inhabitants of Atherbregh sometimes spread tales of travelers that died within a day due to extreme heat stroke. Though, the truth is is that death is extremely preventable if proper clothing, plenty of water and fast feet was brought. Kamels were even recommended, despite how slow they were. They both gave less energy usage, and emergency food supply and shelter.

After a bit of sighting the landscape, Kyle looked at how steep the hill dropped to ground level. He quickly decided it wasn't bad and started skidding down the hill side.

"Oh, does it now? I have been blind longer than you can even imagine. I am older than this Earth, older than your oldest ancestor. And, the blackness, is a void. When the blackness is described, it seems brighter. You have lived your life with vision. And I have lived mine without. So, who are you to tell me, the world is black?"
The Speaker said, turning its head towards the Jackolion.

((Beds for me. Gotta be up early to head on over to Animal Kingdom. Kennedy space center wasn't worth the car ride and the cost. Consider this a placeholder for my next post depending on how far the thread goes in the time I sleep.))

"The world becomes blackness after you watch it change for so long. If you are blind you simply see the blackness earlier than others." Grem said starting to walk away. He didn't much like this creature.

"Just a simple discussion. I want to know what it's like to be a Jackolion. And, how you see the world through your eyes. I am blind, and long to see. I can do so, by hearing descriptions from many people."
The Speaker said, cocking its head to one side.

The morning progressed much the same as it usually did, with Caltra constantly attempting to find some way or place to fall back to sleep and Ignis always keeping her from doing just that.This was not out of any malignant desire to keep her unhappy, he was simply following the orders she had given him when their contract had first been enacted. "The continued safety of (her) well being and good health" had, to Ignis at least, meant that Caltra would wake every morning at 7:30 and begin the day with a cup of tea whilst enjoying a warm bath followed by a brief cold rinse to fully awaken her.

So far his plan had worked, though she always seemed to want to fall back asleep. Regardless of that small obstacle though, Caltra had grown far more healthy and diligent since partaking in Ignis' morning routine, her studies into the Arts progressing at an astonishing rate.

It was when Ignis was assisting Caltra out of the bath and covering her with a robe (all from outside of the bathroom. Caltra had been adamant about that when he had first tried to help her in such a manner, stating that "If it can think and it's male then it isn't going to be in the same room as me when I'm undressed.") that she informed him of a possible task he would have to undertake soon. She did not tell him what it was, meaning that it was most likely a task given to her by one of her peers or even her father and she had as little of an idea as he did.

Still, Ignis nodded. He trusted Caltra. After all, she was a competant user of the Arts and had yet to subject him to any form of torture or punishment that was well within the power of those holding a contract over a Djinn. Her tasks, while sometimes moderately difficult, were rarely life threatening and had never gone against his moral principles. If she needed him to do something then he would do it.

After Caltra had been dressed (by various maids of course. The same rules as the bathroom applied after all and manipulation of air from afar could hardly button up a blouse.), she headed downstairs to the dining room to find her family waiting. Ignis was nowhere in sight, having chosen to take on the form of a small spider and sit on the ceiling above.

"Doesn't matter. I doubt any non-Jackolions would know what I'm talking about." Grem said standing up. "Now, what do you want with me? Or shall I go?"

"The Fountain? Which one? I have seen many, but which do you speak of?"
The Speaker asked, intrigued. The Speaker seemed to stare with intrigue. Of course, behind the blindfold, the eye sockets did nothing. The Speaker kicked the body of the man to the side, after hearing, and smelling, it collapse.

Alak' turned back into a shadow, and went quickly in between each shadow. He watched the humans walk along, waiting for darkness to fall.

Sek'ma crawled through the soil and sand, and dug a shallow cave under one of the homes. He twitched his tail, and the home sunk into the ground. He quickly dashed in, and devoured the drowsy denizens, and he then retreated to his cave . . .

Alak's victim fell over to the side, and landed next to The Speaker. The man laid there unconscious, his head actually bleeding a bit.

"I saw the fountain." Grem replied. If this creature was smart enough to know what it was than he might actually might have someone to talk to.

The Speaker looked at Grem. "Eh. Not a polite fellow, are you? Well, you seem polite enough. But ye don't speak as one. What's your story?" The Speaker asked, cocking its head.

Grem looked up. "Not many people talk to me. Why does a creature like you want to talk to me? I seek nothing and I shall give nothing today. If you want something ask someone else." Grem said and closed his eyes.

The Speaker smelt a Jackolion. It chuckled, and walked up to the creature.
"'Hello there, Jackolion. How doth thee fare?"
The Speaker spoke, softly.

Alak's most recent victim wandered out of the alley, and into a nearby tavern. The man looked sickly green, and had a horrible cough. He could barely walk straight, let alone keep himself from falling over.