Grief and Grievious Wounds[Plot]

From deep within a cave that usually rests cold and damp, came a wave of great warmth. A dragon which had been long in slumber awakened and crawled from the depths of the earth to find the corpse of its offspring laying dead in the treasure chamber. Her son, magnificent as he once was, had been slaughtered without grace. His skull was crushed, face mangled beyond recognition, and his stomach gutted leaving his innards to sprawl disgracefully onto the stone floor. All evidence at the scene pointed to humans as the ones responsible for this murder. Knowing not what her son had done to them first, the mother knew only the pain wrought upon her at the loss of her kin. A typhoon of anger and sadness filled the Dragon mother and in an air shattering shriek, she cried in horror.


Nearby villages and settlements would hear the grief stricken cry of the beast as though it were a distant horror. Somehow, even the human's would be able to sense the mix of anger and sorrow that accompanied the terrifying sound. It inspired both fear and sympathy in a way that was impossible for most creatures.

Her silvery white ancient scales shimmered as the mother left the cave and entered sunlight for the first time in centuries. The massive dragon's wings spread open and began beating the air causing an extreme displacement of air pressure. Nearby trees were blown down as if an atomic bomb had gone off as a result of the dragon taking flight.

Following the human scents that were lingering in the den, the dragon made her way to one of the closest towns near by. The people of the town were unprepared for the furious death that rained down over them. The ancient white dragon descended from the skies spewing flames of wrathful vengeance and in seconds there was not a single human left alive. Impacting into the center of the town, the dragon created a massive shockwave that utterly destroyed everything that was left standing.

Taking to the air once more, the dragon left the first town as a flattened black wasteland, but her vengeance was not over there. High above the clouds, she would find herself overtaken by a brief euphoric nostalgia as memories of her son rushed by like they winds her body cut through. Memories of his birth, of his father who was also taken from her by humans. Memories of the barbaric beasts called "Man" which had hunter her kind for as long as they had weapons with which to do so.

No more. The humans would suffer as she had, and nothing could get in her way now that she was awake again. The dragon turned back to the mountains and sought other ancient dragon dens. She would rally what remained of the dragon race and bring an army of molten death to the humans. Nothing was over save for the lives of those she loved and the future of mankind. The righteous justice of dragons would be just beginning.


News of the dragon's attack has reached Reim's capital, but there were no survivors to explain the cause. Only witnesses who saw the charred remains of a peaceful village. Rumors spread throughout the city like wildfire blaming demons summoned by King Lagi or perhaps Kou through some fashion of testing a new weapon. None knew the truth yet, but the facts were presented to King Lagi with utmost haste.


A messenger shouted as he burst into the King's audience chamber, guards holding him back with spears as he had the look of a madman about him.

“At ease my guards, this man comes to us with distress.” Lagi didn’t know what to make of this, what could possibly be going on? Was another war about to start? There have been rumors going on, but Lagi wasn’t the one to concern himself with the dribble among maidens. “ Please calm down and gather your thoughts. What is it that you have to tell me? “Lagi was especially curious to find out what had become of this man. Such a look of terror could only be caused by something that most would say is indescribable. What could it possibly be?

Garret was sitting in his office, doing the daily paperwork. There was, as always, much to oversee, double check, approve or deny. Various reports to overview from different regions were in a separate stack, including information from the homeland of any updated wanted criminals on the run and updates on rising nobility/noteworthy individuals.

Garret worked at a steady pace, which would hopefully clear out the paperwork by the time afternoon got around. As he was going through his latest bit of work the door to his office opened abruptly. His head snapped up as he quickly gauged what reaction would be appropriate; were they under attack, or was it perhaps somebody with urgent news?

It wasn't the former, yet it wasn't quite the latter either. Rather than 'somebody' with urgent news, it was 'everybody' with urgent news. The entirety of the staff's management were there, filing in quickly. They divided up various reports and papers, and passed them around the table. Garret recognized that the nature of this was extremely important, and perhaps even time sensitive. Standing up from his personal desk, he joined the group at the head of the staff meeting table. "Let's begin with all due haste then, shall we, gentlemen?"

Taking his seat at the head of the table, Garret began reading through the reports while those at the table discussed various things in regards to the reports. It seemed as if Garret was the last to hear anything, but that wasn't surprising; these men had to walk here from their departments, and likely spoke on the matter briefly amongst themselves before entering the meeting room that doubled as his Office. When he was finished, making sure to keep an ear out for what else was being said, Garret spoke up. "What's the extent of our damage? Looks like twelve operatives died in that destruction, and we have no information to show for why. Has there been any movement from King Lagi, his soldiers, or any rebel forces that we know of? Lucanus, anything you've heard from the field?"

The man shook his head, indicating that this was the extent of the information that they currently held. "We received word quite quickly due to our communications network, however that was only after the fact that this damage was discovered. There were no witnesses, and I know nothing of rebel movements strong enough and swift enough to deal this kind of damage without a trace."

Garret nodded, having expected as much. The reports they had were short. Succinct. They were void of so many details that it was difficult to even call it a report. Garret looked over to Iulius. "Iulius, has your team been looking into information in regards to that region? I will want a full report on the value of that location as a military resource, including any strategical value it has from a monetary standpoint. Make sure we also look into who would benefit from the town being destroyed. We can't rule out that it was a natural disaster, either, though. Please have somebody look into any reported strange weather from that region."

Iulius Valentinus nodded, acknowledging the orders, before speaking up. "Noted, sir. As we speak, my team is already taking many of those variables into consideration, and are attempting to determine a motivation and responsible party."

Garret appreciated that the man was on top of it, and continued by moving on to Aurelius Junius. "Aurelius. What's our damage control? Any immediate response teams sent to investigate?"

Aurelius shook his head. "Haven't had the opportunity yet to discern what kind of steps to take. From the extent of the reported damage, and the reports of the layout of the damage, it looks like this destruction happened all at once. I doubt it was weather that caused such destruction... There would be more damage to the rest of the surrounding area, in that case."

Iulius nodded his head, as well. "I believe that to be the case as well, Sir. Judging from the report alone, it looks like the damage occurred so fast that nobody had a chance to react. The attack was fast and unmerciful. Whoever did it, they did so without regard to collateral damage."

So. Natural disaster has been ruled out of the equation. But then... Who could have caused such destruction? Garret shook his head, and suddenly looked up as the door opened again. A familiar face made his appearance to the meeting, escorted by one of their guards before the guard left. "Seviticus, we are currently in an important meeting. Is there something you needed?"

Seviticus Quintus Sextus. Reim Engineer. Garret had been instrumental in his kidnapping so long back, but the man cared little about who belonged to which country. He had a passion strictly for the field of engineering and science. Seviticus was known to be a brilliant engineer, having published many books for explosives, waterworks and other matters. His most recent accomplishments have been published under a pseudonym, as many thought him dead. While Garret was expecting the man to answer his questions, it was instead Aulus Ovidius who answered first. "Yes, actually. Mr. Sextus has been called in so that he could be consulted on the type of damage that caused this destruction."

Garret nodded, turning his full attention to the engineer, who was handed a copy of the reports. The man looked over them and whistled. "Interesting. And this damage was caused by apparent combustion, is it? Some areas are reported to be untouched by flame, though... We'll need more concrete descriptions from the field, but this sounds like a high-impact explosion. It would take... Quite the mining operation in order to reach this level of destructive force. Any charting paper, Garret? Get some for me, will you?" The man looked to Garret when he had asked the question. Garret had shown an interest in Engineering, and had read several of Seviticus' books. The man respected Garret for his interest in the academia, which showed through his actions of familiarity with the Spymaster. He treated the man like a favored student, though Seviticus was considered a man beneath Garret's station.

Chuckling, Garret pulled out a large fold of paper that the meetings would sometimes use to help plan out various operations. Seviticus immediately began using the paper, drawing a diagram of the approximate size of the city and showing the blast radius as per the reports. There were many calculations that were jotted down in a quick, sloppy hand. The man got onto the table, and started crawling across in order to use more of the paper. Garret smiled faintly, amused. The rest of the leadership had a mixture of interest, annoyance and amusement at his antics. Once finished, Seviticus got off of the table and borrowed a pointer stick, spending the next fifteen minutes explaining the disaster and the level of destruction. "In short, this would literally require a setup that would take weeks to plan and months to execute with explosives. Bringing in enough materials to cause this kind of destruction would be quite difficult, especially in the setup of how the force of the destruction occurred."


Iulius Valentinus spoke up at this point. "We've been watching the King Lagi's army movements, as well as the movements of any military resources. If there was anything untoward, I would have known about it long since and you would have received a report on it, Sir. This leaves me to believe that the execution of such devestation could only be one thing." The man paused, dramatically.

As if it were on queue, everyone, including Garret, bespoke a single word. "Magic. Some spoke the word with fear, others with a slight tinge of anger and frustration, and even some with wonder. They looked to Garret, recalling the level of destruction he was able to wrought with a single spell back when they had repelled an assault on the Villa. Garret's spell paled in comparison with the destruction wrought on the village.

The next words came from Garret's mouth. "Magnostadt. They're in Reim currently, for the King's Coronation. This level of destruction would theoretically be easy for several mages to perform. I want their actions and movements looked into, immediately. Get a team up to that destroyed village to get a better look, and bring back some of the destruction from there. We need concrete information on this if we are to take any actions."

Garret stood up and began walking to the door. When he got there, he turned to Lieutenant Acius. "Acius, hold down the villa while I'm gone."

The man looked at Garret, quizzically. "Where are you going?" The rest of the table began standing. They had pretty much heard all of what they needed to hear, and were going to begin the flurry of activity that such a large scale issue created. Some looked to Garret, waiting to hear his answer.

"I've got a coronation to attend." Garret turned away, going to get his equipment before making all due haste to Remano.

--exit--

It couldn't be true.  It just couldn't.  An entire city, destroyed in one night?  What could have caused such an event?  The city was on the outskirts of Reims territory, but there was still a contingent of the military stationed there to prevent attacks from mountain bandits.  And the weirdest thing about it all, was that the city targeted was the same one that was attacked by a dragon not long ago.  Altair remembered that time well.  He and two other men had traveled out to the mountain range to kill the offending dragon.  Altair himself landed the killing blow, and they took his hoard as recompense for the destruction he had caused.  But that was all for naught.

Altair wasn't able to find a ride out to the destroyed town, so he rented a horse and set off as soon as he could.  He had to see it for himself.

When he got there, it was total devastation.  Trees and buildings flattened, cracks in the earth, and the only traces of people were the scorch marks their bodies left behind.  "What could have possibly caused this?  Magic?  Explosives?  Maybe another Djinn user?  I have to get to the bottom of this.  For the people that died here."  Altair vowed right then, that he would find out who did this.  Hundreds killed in mere moments.  Altair would find their killer, or die trying.  "I SWEAR IT!"

The messenger stumbled past as the guards lowered their weapons to let him through. Gasping for a breath, the man gathered himself and then took a knee before his king. "Sire, I come from a small village in the mountains that mills lumber. We often trade with the larger towns near by for supplies...but a few days ago there was this...horrifying sound. It was like the death moans of a great beast. When we went to trade with Capinia we found that the entire town had been devastated. Only a large blackened circle remained as is some great force set fire to it all."

The man's breathing had steadied by the end of his tale but his head remained lowered as he waited to answer any questions he could. Not that he had much information in the first place.


Coming to the scene of destruction would not prove to be a waste of Altair's time. As he shouted his convictions, a glint in the distance would catch his eye. The sun was shining just right so as to cast a beam of light into the cellar of a nearby former building. It was the town center where the meeting to decide whether or not to kill the dragon had taken place. There was a hidden basement inside of its walls the entrance to which was now barely noticeable under a pile of rubble. It was up to Altair whether or not to investigate further.

Yakuroro was sitting in a tavern enjoying a meal when he heard the rumors. A small town in Reim was destroyed in a single night and there was no real solid clue as to whom was responsible. Listening in, the Imuchakk managed to catch a few details that made the reason why the culprit was hard to identify quite clear. There was simply little to nothing left of the town to give any hints. The tale seemed like a tall one told to children to keep them behaving and in bed on time at night. An entire town burned to ashes. Trees and buildings flattened against the earth as if the whole thing happened in an instant from one massive catastrophe. The news troubled the Imuchakk, but there was nothing he could do about it right now. His sights were set on the future of Reim and if this rumor turned out to be true then surely that path would lead him to it sooner or later...

Altair was about to leave, seeing nothing more could be done, when something caught his eye. a broken pane of glass reflected in his eyes, causing him to shield them. He moved, and looked in that direction to see what was there. To his surprise, even though the building was almost completely destroyed, he still recognized the town hall building. That was where they had made arrangements to hunt down the... Altair's jaw dropped. "It couldn't be..." There was just no way. It had been the first time he had even heard of a dragon. But, where there was one, there were sure to be others... right? "No. That's absurd."

Altair hurried over to the wreckage and began clearing it. There were several large pieces still in place that needed to be torn down. When he finished, he ended up revealing a staircase to the cellar. Altair hesitated. Who knows what could be down there? But he had to look. Altair headed down.

The stairwell could not be entered for more than a few feet. The glass was not the true cause of the glint, but rather the contents inside of the basement. A single beam of light entering the underground chamber had caught glimpse of a large chunk of gold. Further inspection would reveal that it had originally been a variety of golden treasures. Goblets, plates, coins, jewelry, and much more. But the intense heat from the attack had fused all the gold together into a giant lump making it impossible to move or remove. But where could the villagers have gotten so much gold that it filled a basement to near overflowing? The cause for the original dragon attacks would become a bit more clear. The men of the village had provoked the dragon by stealing an incredible sum from its hoard.

The tragedy here would become a bit more clear to Altair, although nothing could be certain from this evidence. Should he try to claim any of the gold for himself, Altair would fail finding that the mass of gold was simply too large and encased by the earth itself.

Lagi listened to the story silently as he tried to figure out what was going on in the first place. There seemed to be something equivalent to an incredible force that managed to destroy an entire village. What could have the ability to do something like that? “…..” Lagi ruled out magic from a simple magician, blackened cries can only mean that something was among them. “Raw power, was it a brute? A legend beast?!” Lagi would say to himself as he thought it over a little bit more. This was definitely something that he would have to tell his father about. However, it doesn’t change the fact that this impending danger would reach his country soon. They were working so hard on change, change to improve the lives of the people who stayed here. It would be a completely disappointing end for Lagi’s rule to come to a close due to the rampages of a terrible beast. Lagi wish he had El drago soon; he wasn’t ready if this was a legend beast, even if he was a black king. Legend beasts were not to be underestimated; they also had access to magic. “Good sir, were there any survivors from the town of capinia that’s also free to testify their experience? Did you hear anything else about the beast? Where it was headed?” Lagi was somewhat at the edge of his seat, he felt threatened by the monster’s existence.

OOC: Sorry, i've been studying alot lately. The semester is almost over and work has been piling up

Jahan was sitting in his large office/room in Typhon. It was a room draped in purple gold, trinkets and tools from all across the country. A globe sat on his desk, including a map and a stack of papers which he would procrastinate to getting too. A fire place burned in the corner, it was a cozy and large setting but you could still hear the bustle of Typhons antics from the walls. He sat back in his chair swallowing hot Tea and for once relaxing. His time was usually spent on improving everything around him, something that he started to grow a liking too. None the less this was Jahangir's life were talking about here, and this guy is a magnet for trouble.

Jahangir rested his head on his desk, ready to take a mid morning nap. Suddenly his door busted open, some of his comrades falling over the floor. Jahangir growled in annoyance startling his youthful subordinates. They quickly gathered themselves from the ground and saluted him for a second before stating their business.

"Its news about Capinia!"

Jahangir raised a brow at that. "The village that was decimated?"

"Yes, I was traveling towards Capinia at the time....."

"Spit it out do you have information about this calamity?" Jahangir ordered

"Sir, I was on my way to visit my family.. I stopped by a village nearby to replenish on food and resources which delayed me. Then I continued on my journey, I didnt get to see it but whatever it was wasn't an army. Nor any mage."

Jahangir rapped his fingers on the desk.

"How do you know?"

"It Roared."

The rest of the conversation went the same with the boy detailing Jahangir on the beasts monstrous roar and the boys site of the trees which were blown down from the Dragons flight. Jahangir couldn't be entirely sure what caused this devastation, however he certainly had a hunch. The clues certainly helped narrow it down. It would have been far easier if the boy had witnessed the attack himself but none the less he had done well. He would Travel to Capinia to investigate himself.

The simple man from the lumber town knew nothing of what Lagi spoke about. Legend beasts, brutes, it was all over his head and outside his life's knowledge. He simply remained still and waited to be dismissed. The man had not expected to be questioned and looked up with surprise on his face. The messenger gave pause and looked down feeling sick as he responded to the first question. "N...no, there were no survivors. None that I know of. If any did escape, I'd think they'd probably have reported the attack before I did." Looking side to side nervously, it was clear this simple citizen did not find himself comfortable in the king's hall. It was a place he never expected to find himself and the weight of pressure bore down heavily upon him. A cold sweat broke out as the man took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he tried to answer the rest of Lagi's questions. "I don't truly know if a beast was responsible, King Lagi. I couldn't tell you who or what did this or where they went." With the report given, the man had told King Lagi all that he knew. Should he try to get any more information from the individual he would find that the lumber worker knew nothing more than what he'd already shared.

The man looked up to Lagi pleading to be dismissed so he could hurry back home, worries that his own family might be in danger of facing a similar fate.

“That’s all you know? Alright, go back to your family. Thank you for telling me what happened.” LAgi would say as he promptly dismissed the stressed out man, beginning to think about the actions that he was supposed to take towards this creature or thing that caused all of this destruction. “I should talk to the council about this, such omens shouldn’t be dismissed as a rumor if threatens the country. That’s definitely a power that we should be weary of. “Lagi would say to himself as he sat and thought about his next moves as king. There was too much to consider…