The King's Burdens of the Past [Epic Quest - Lagi El Nagi]

The Western Front. A land desolated by war in the southern reaches, and a dry, barren wasteland in the mid western reaches. The Western Front was populated mainly by scavengers, low-lives, bandits and the like. Roark sat atop his Legendary Beast, the Hydra, and silently boiled with anger. He had recently berated his son for acting like a fool and embarrassing him once again. Not only in the Council did he do so, but in his daily life as a King, as well. Roark did not approve of Lagi's decisions, which were made without the councilor's input on the matter. The truth of the matter was Lagi had made Roark out to be a fool who could not even raise his son properly.

Damn that Ten Long. He had snidely remarked to Roark that if he was unable to discipline his son, what volume that bespoke of his clan's ability to tame beasts. The thought of Ten Long brought a grim grin to the man's face, as he recalled the news of the Councilor's death. Only the Strong could reign supreme. He still stood, alive, while Ten Long and Shylock, regrettably, had died. Even still, the man had struck him in his pride. But after today, he would recover that pride and finish the job he had left unfinished so long ago; disciplining his son, both thoroughly and appropriately.


He was aware that King Lagi was headed south of Remano, close to the edge of the Western Front. It seemed as if some new life had recently appeared from the canyons, and the El Nagi clan had obtained an influx of new breeds to check up on and document their individual uses. It wouldn't be long until Lagi would appear.

Roark, standing atop of his Legendary Beast, awaited his son's arrival in order to finally punish the boy for his impudence and teach him the reality of their world. When Lagi approached, he would be able to see Roark and the legend beast waiting for him in the distance...

Roark's Legend Beast:

Lagi was adamant about taking action towards avenging the deaths of Shylock and even Ten Long. They were a part of the council, and that could only intend that their deaths were a message to Lagi, it can yet be seen as a message to Reim. This isn’t the first time that significant figures were murdered, the same thing happened in Lagi’s coronation. “What does this mean? Am I being targeted as well? “ Lagi would think to himself as he sucked his teeth. There were also many things on his judgment, including the fact that there were reports of a few new species being present that he desired to take for himself. By doing thus, he would not only have variations towards war efforts, but variations towards city construction, cultivation, or anything else that these beasts might be utilized for. That was one of the things that encouraged him to go over his current response and position towards the murder. However, it seems as if fate lives to suck the good vibes out of everything that Lagi does. “What's he doing here?”

Lagi would say with a somewhat annoyed expression on his facial expression. If there was one person that he wasn’t expecting to show up, it was his father. What was the point of Roark heading to the western front? Lagi could of sworn that Roark would have more pressing matters to turn to, due to the fact that one of the members of the council has perished. In that respect is besides the fact that Shylock accumulated a great deal quantity of wealth, shouldn’t he be talking about as to how they could regenerate some of that wealth for Reim? “......" Lagi stopped a few meters away from his father, about five to be precise.  Zygus wasn’t there with him; he only had Orie and his usual gear. Still, considering his father with that face he bore along his expression kind of pissed Lagi off. “What do you want?! Shouldn’t  you be focusing more on the council? I don’t require an escort!” Lagi would say with a bit of animosity in his tone, he didn’t like his father pretty much. He was constantly looking down on him and arresting in his means. However, Roark’s power was real; the Hydra has looked as threatening as ever. Lagi only ever saw his father fought once when he was little the things that the Hydra did could cause constant nightmares throughout your entire childhood. That's how scary it is. However, Lagi got stronger as well, and he wasn’t failing to back down to his father.

Roark watched as Lagi approached him. The man had not brought his Metallic Bird beast with him; a folly, he thought, that only served to make him angrier. Looking down on his son, Lagi, his face slowly grew red at the words spoken by the man. His son would dare to question him? The man may have been King, but Roark viewed himself as the child's superior; a superior beast tamer, and a superior fighter. That was how it had always been.

Though Roark did not think it himself, Lagi and himself had both shared a common trait; their terrible temper raged with a passion when lit. It was a legacy that father had passed onto son. Much like how Lagi's anger seeped into his words, the anger in Roark's voice was evident as well. "LAGI!" Roark's shout carried itself over quite a bit of distance, and was much louder than necessary. "You continue to embarrass me. You do not have the strength to lead Reim. Once I discipline you here, you will resign from your position and allow a more fitting individual to take your place. Someone with the strength. And wisdom. To lead." Though he had stopped shouting, his anger was still clearly transmitted by his words. The last three sentences were spoken through gritted teeth. It was evident that Roark would not allow this encounter to end peaceably. Lagi's father drew his blade from his side, punctuating the fact that he would now be 'disciplining' his son.


Two of the heads of the Hydra, whose main body Roark was standing upon, shouted out a battle roar.

“What?! I see, you bastard! This was your plan all along, to get me alone and force me to resign?!’ Lagi was along with his father, the man who caused him so much pain and anguish ever since he was a kid. The man who tormented him and belittled him, he was now even willing to stand in his way of kingship. “You can’t take this from me! All of my life,  you taken everything and gave back nothing!” Lagi would say as the black rukh was practically oozing out of his body as he said his next words. You thought I was going to except the fate of being a failure?! The son of a famed tamer, but I have nothing to show for it? I managed to become king, and I’m about to show you just why I’m not a figure head! This power, enjoy the sight of it this while you can, because the only reason I have this is in order to kill you!” That was it, Lagi has reached his peak  and there was not much let to be said. Here was his chance to  face his father, and he was willing to give everything  in order to beat him.

“My fall from grace only fuels my rebellion! Balek, realize my ambition and shroud this world!”

Lagi would say as he proceeded to transform into his full body equip Djinn transformation. he appearance of the dark djinn equip takes on the form of a set of dark armor. The armor is much more slim than most, and the appearance itself reminds you of a ninja. The black helmet of the armor is  covered in black and grey designs, a small red gem resides in the middle of the forehead. The gauntlets also take on a black design, including the bracer. Lagi also gains a dark mist like cape that seems to be mostly transparent. The weapon of Balek is a gauntlet bracer on the right hand. The blade itself is a foot long and 9 inches, Being able to extend from the top or bottom of the bracers with just a flick of the wrist.

As the steam  started to spread throughout the transformation, the completion of the transformation immediately went into another ability.  A large wave of vapor steam  is dispersed from Lagi at 20 M/S and spreads at the range 15 Meters. This removes visibility for opponents  within the range of the technique due to the thickness of the steam and constant sizzling sound that echoes from within the steam fog lowers hearing. It is also treated as a sensory network, allowing Lagi to detect movement from within the steam fog and give Lagi  a greater reaction time towards things that happens in the steam fog. It would be hard to take on his father  and the legend beast with the mount of heads and limbs to spare. The Hydra would not be easy to surprise, so Lagi had to start off with one of his famed techniques  and hide himself. Being  5 meters away, the Hydra and Roark would have been caught in it.

Taking off at 15 m/s, Lagi wasted no time going for the kill with his hidden blade , aiming directly at the chest of  Roark and using the steam fog as a distraction for the Hydra. If Lagi had to kill the hydra too, then so be it. Lagi had a better change of dodging in this fog tan anything, being able to pick up even the slightest twitch from the Hydra or his father. This was his kind of fight now, Roark would have to be ready for it.

250/300

Abilities

Spoiler:

As Lagi shrouded himself within his Full Body Djinn Transformation, his father shouted out to him. "CHILD! GRIT YOUR TEETH..! Living Blade... The executioner!" The last four words were a command, sent to the Hydra beneath him. A bone growth began to cover his arm, and reached the length of a meter before stopping. The growth was in the shape of a sword, which tapered off into a fine point and covered the entirety of his arm.

It was at this point that the fog had begun to cover the area. Both Roark and the Hydra, whom Roark was still standing upon, were caught up in the mist and were unable to see. Immediately the Hydra moved its heads in a triangular formation to view any possible ingress of assault. Roark seemed confident of his ability to fight. Though the Hydra did not react in time to strike out to Lagi, Roark was able to note Lagi's incoming position due to the rumble of sound made by the Hydra head that Lagi was moving past. Quick on the uptake, Roark worked on clashing against Lagi's blade with his own bone blade. The sparks began to fly between the two of them, and Roark gritted his teeth. "Not bad, boy! But you couldn't hope to defeat me with that! Get ready to take your lumps!"

Roark placed weight behind his blade. Lagi would be able to tell that, if he wanted to disengage, he would have to put effort into repelling Roark's blade away from him or suffer the wounds from the attack. The man's attack was backed by a red hot anger, an anger which seemed to be reciprocated within his son's actions. It seemed like Roark's words and attack was part of a distraction, as one of the Hydra's heads came shooting towards Lagi's left side in an attempt to bite his left arm.

Lagi knew better, he knew that his father wasn’t going to be easy to defeat. His immense strength was also something to behold,  but it wasn’t something that Lagi was going to cower in fear to. “As if!” Lagi would say as he put an equal amount of strength behind has bade as well in order to disengage  the attack, but this would leave him to be pretty occupied to get away in time after he successfully pulled away . However, Lagi’s steam fog also served as a sensory, which helped Lagi anticipate the movement of the head. Along with an increased reaction time against anything coming in contact, or inside of the fog,  Lagi was able determine the position  of the  hydra head that seemed to be coming even closer to him, with the assumption that the Hydra was making an attack

While lagi  put his effort into disengaging, he fired a pressurized blast of steam at the head of the hydra that was coming for him. It would be in the shape of a 15 meter long javelin that would be  moving at 15 m/s. On top of the versatility that it could be fired from any point of lagi’s body, being an unexpected attack for the hydra to take care of while Lagi focused on his father. After a while, Lagi would be able to disengage safely and circle around his dad, using the steam sound and the fog as cover while he moved at 15 m/s . After circling back around, Lagi would aim for his father’s left side with his hidden blade. However, Lagi would have to take care of Hydra as well if it continued to be a nuisance, even though he didn’t want to waste any energy on it.


205/300

Abilities used

Spoiler:

Roark grunted as Lagi disengaged from the blade he held. While his force and effort was put behind it, it was not on the same level as the El Nagi clan leader. Even so, it was enough to keep the sword from wounding Lagi in a serious manner, as the blade barely nicked Lagi's leg as he gained distance between the two. The Hydra's head, coming towards Lagi, was incredibly surprised when Lagi's pressurized blast of steam shot out towards its head. The steam pealed away at its skin, forcing it to cry out in anguish. As Lagi moved to circle around the Hydra, a strange rumbling was heard as life magic coursed throughout the area; it was one of the Legend Beast's Magic spells! Though Lagi did not know the name or effects of the spell, Roark's beast had used Awoken Forest.

Various trees, 15 meters tall and a meter wide, immediately thrust up out of the ground with vines linking the trees together. The forest that appeared there was just as large as the El Nagi's mist that made it impossible to see. Yet that was not all there was to the Awoken Forest. The trees were not simple trees, but life detection rods made from the spell. Any life within the forest itself would be detected by the beast. Normally, this by itself would not be anything terribly advantageous for Roark; Lagi's father was not the Hydra, and therefore could not sense what the beast could. Yet this was something Lagi's old man had already found a workaround for; Body Link was activated. Roark merged with the Beast, in a somewhat similar way that Orie merged with Lagi. His legs were rooted within the beasts's body, with the assistance of the life spell, and the two of them shared their thoughts and senses.

When Lagi approached the two that had become one, Roark sent a mental command to the Hydra to cast a third spell; Vine Spear. A vine, under the volition of the spell, grew sharp thorns and twined into a spear before shooting down and out from above, aiming to strike into Lagi from the front.


OOC:

Abilities used:

There was so much going on into the fight that it was a bit strenuous for Lagi to keep up. Trees started to grow out of nowhere, which made Lagi think that it was the Hydra’s doing. Lagi made a mistake; he should have focused on taking care of the beat after all. The hydra was too problematic for Lagi to single out his father alone, he would at least have to get the creature to end the spell, or find a way to work around it. So Lagi and the Hydra were on an even playing field for the time being in terms of sensory, but that didn’t stop Lagi. The fine spear would have been formed or entering in the steam at some point if it was fired at Lagi, in which Lagi would notice that there was something heading his way.

Using this as a forewarning, Lagi used the assisted reaction time that Lagi’s steam fog to give himself an adjusted flight path to the left, taking advantage of the fact that the width and girth of the spear was one meter. With this, the spear would have missed Lagi if Hydra didn’t contain the ability to manipulate the trajectory. Thinking more about the problematic abilities that he Hydra would have, Lagi decided to aim for the eye on its left knee. With the A rank capabilities of his weapon, Lagi was hoping that he could take out its knee at least. Hopefully he could have the Hydra use up its stamina before he used up his own.

Stamina 180/300

Abilities

Spoiler:

Lagi's flight and skill in movement was much smoother than when he had first seen his son in battle, so long ago. It was apparent to Lagi's father that the child had grown significantly, yet he refused to believe that Lagi was strong enough to lead. "Cheap tricks..!" It was all he had time to shout as Lagi brushed past the vine that had been shot out, and aimed down towards the beast's leg. The Hydra attempted to turn and bite at Lagi, yet it was not quite fast enough. Lagi's strike hit the beast's knee, and both it and Roark screamed out at the sudden pain that it sent to both of their senses.

"BOOOY!!!" Roark turned his pain into anger, having the beast disengage its spell and allowing him out of the beasts' meld. His white hot anger was all that kept his mind off of the remaining tingle of pain that itched at the back of his head. The man began to manipulate the magoi throughout his body. His manipulations allowed him to move at a much faster speed than normal, using his technique Gazelle's Bursting Speed, and Roark jumped towards where he had last seen Lagi.

He waited for Lagi to come to him, but that wait wouldn't be long. The steam that had been hiding Lagi for so long would soon be out. When that happened Roark would combine his Gazelle's Bursting Speed with a jump at his son using Tiger's Pounce when Lagi was within range and unable to dodge his sword strike; Dragon's Fury.

OOC:
Just as an fyi, the third paragraph doesn't happen until the beginning of your post (new sustain rules state B-Tier can only be sustained for 3 posts, and the beginning of your next post is the 4th one). You may clash with the attack, but if you are within 15 meters of Roark when you start your post you will be unable to dodge it.

Abilities used:

Lagi’s steam fog was open; he would have to wait a while now if he wanted to use it again, but Lagi was not discouraged. There was still more things that he could do at this moment. Lagi was not without his tricks, and Roark was going to learn this the hard way.  He didn’t bother to dodge Roark’s move, lagi wanted to get as close as possible in order to inflict a decisive blow and end this fight.   He was within  15 meters of Roark with no intention of changing course. Black birds could be seen all around as Lagi’s heart was filled with blood lust,  he didn’t care what he had to sacrifice in order to defeat his father. “I’m the King!”

Lagi would say as he emitted a medium sized dragon head made of out heated vapor from his  body. The dragon head itself is 15 meters in size, and it moves at the speed 20 m/s per second, clashing with Roark’s move as Lagi continued to keep his pace and impale Roark with his A rank weapon Roark’s chest, hoping that the clash was enough to surprise Roark and knock him back. Since the dragon head was made out of steam, Lagi would use it as a bit of cover as he went for the kill with his right hand."RAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

140/300

Abilities used

Spoiler:

As Roark began moving towards Lagi, the King shot a dragon head-like burst of heated vapor towards Roark. The coward! He'll probably run away from me, once again... Roark's thoughts raced, determining Lagi's next movements based on his belief of how weak his son was. Grunting, Roark put extra oomph in his attack and sliced at Balek's Dragon Bullet with his Dragon's Fury. The blade parted the vapor in a violent manner, and a grin of satifaction was plastered upon Roark's face. My son should be tired and runn.. The Hydra had roared behind him, interrupting his thoughts. Yet the warning was too late.

A look of utter surprise was plastered onto his face as the son he thought would be running away was, instead, right behind the vapor that Roark had just sliced in half. His sword, never risen back to its starting position, was still pointed to the ground. His chest was open to attack, which Lagi had taken advantage of when he drove his blade through Roark. The two plummeted to the ground, Lagi's blade having pierced the man and pushing downward, before striking the ground and making a large noise upon impact. That very same impact caused Roark's leg to break. He grit his teeth together and closed his eyes, enduring the pain. Upon opening his eyes back up he looked at Lagi El Nagi, his flesh and blood son. He shook his head, slowly and almost imperceptibly, before speaking. "It seems I was wrong about you... My son."

The head of the El Nagi seemed to struggle saying the last part, as if the words were foreign to him. He began to chuckle, but the sudden pain from the blade caused him to wince instead. "I.. I don't know why I didn't see it before. You are much stronger than I gave you credit for." This time, the words he spoke were words of amazement. This was the closest thing to praise that Lagi was going to get, yet at the same time it was a high level of praise. Roark respected strength, and recognized the capabilities of those who held it. He looked away from Lagi and towards his beast. It had begun to cry out when its Dominance Master had fallen to the ground, and the trees disappeared. It was beginning to drag itself closer to the group across the ground due to its own leg also having sustained a heavy dosage of damage.

Roark turned his attention back to Lagi. "You've won... A fair fight, I'll give you that... My only regret is that I cannot claim responsibility for having taught and given you the strength you weild." He closed his eyes, thinking back on how he had exiled his son from the clan. Grunting, his face turned serious. The wound upon Lagi's father looked pretty bad. "Listen closely, son. There's not much time. In my pocket, you'll find the key that unlocks the Rukh Compass that has been passed down the El Nagi clan for generations. It's a stone that resonates with your inner desire and transfers it clearly to the compass... Without it, the compass only points to the correct direction occasionally and often changes."

The man's words seemed rushed, as if he knew of something that he hadn't yet told Lagi. That would soon become apparent with his next words. "Once you tame El Drago... You have my blessings as the next successor of the El Nagi, with your legend beast as proof. Yet El Drago will soon leave this continent and hide for another hundred years. I didn't think you were ready and... Didn't want you to face the beast. You should leave me here. I'll be fine."

The hole in his chest attested otherwise. The man was easily on the verge of death. Were those the words of a dying man, ready to pass the mantle of leadership from father to son? It certainly seemed that way.

Lagi removed his blade and looked downwards at his father. It was the posture of a man that triumphed over the odds, a humanity that has defied his fate of being a loser. No longer was he a failure, Lagi has defeated his father with the aid of his dark metal vessel. However, what was the feeling that Lagi was currently experiencing? It wasn’t pain, there was something even more bearing down that was eating at Lagi’s heart. Lagi said nothing as he ran deep down his father’s pocket and removed the key; he also ended the dark Djinn equip. Lagi would then continue to apply the key to unlock the mysteries of the Rukh compass, somewhat relieved that it wasn’t a trick to hold the compass blow up in his face or something. Lagi had enough surprises for once, but there was a specific choice that Lagi had to make this time. Large kneeled down and appeared at his father’s expression, as well as appearing at the lesion. “ Without you, I wouldn’t survive. I owe you that much, where does my obligation to exist for my kin and my land. It would be a disgrace to die here, wouldn’t you guess? Just another reason for Kou to try to contract advantage of Reim if we were short one more council member, that is something that I wouldn’t want to go on. It made me question what the stage of the infighting was? Kou doesn’t seem to be doing it, then why should we?

It was at that point that a gold light started to rush over Roark as Lagi used the angelic brace to heal up to B rank injuries. It wasn’t a perfect job, but Lagi was bringing his father out of the danger zone. “Didn’t I tell you before, this accursed power was delivered out of the fact that you refused me. I cursed that fate, the luck of being the failure offspring and never amounting to anything, never being capable to beat you or accept you accept me. After becoming king, the coronation, Shylock, the thought of murder became so simplistic to me. I hated you, but I’m just like you, I became what you wanted, and you are my father. “ After the healing was done, Lagi proceeded to walk forth in search of El Drago. “ This state needs us, the El Nagi. The Fanalis corp is no more, and we have adopted the mantel of being the new lynchpin of this nation. There will be no more infighting, my desire is Reim’s prosperity and the end of whatever proves to block that. Mama would want that, she would want us to give up fighting….. “That was all there was to it, the sake of Lagi’s mothers who awaited Roark’s return in the village, she would of wanted her hubby and her son to finally come to peace with each other. “I will come back with Draconis…… EL Drago ….or die trying. I’ll resist my fate even more, by creating a black miracle.

125/300

Abilities used

Spoiler:

Roark watched his son as Lagi healed his wounds. He had been surprised, twice in the same day. He had never imagined Lagi to have grown as he had. Matured so much, that he was able to to set aside such a long held hatred and anger. A strange feeling rushed over Roark, one he had not felt in a long time, and one he fought against showing. His body slowly recovered from some of the wounds Lagi had caused; the first thing that had surprised him in their fight. He nodded to Lagi. "This is true. The El Nagi clan must guide Reim to prosperity, now, in its time of need. I will head back to the council, and attend to any final matters regarding the current state of affairs... You have no time to waste here, go, now!"

---

When Lagi left, Roark looked over to Hydra, who was still crawling towards him. He snorted. It was true that he had lost to Lagi, yet he had only used about sixty to seventy percent of his strength. Somewhere, in his mind, he was holding back because it was his own flesh and blood. Just as his son had healed him instead of leaving him for dead, he too did not truly wish to kill his son. He moved to Hydra, and a bubble of healing engulfed the two of them. It healed all of the harm that had been done, and Roark stood to stretch out his body. "Come, partner. We've both been through worse, in the past. We've got work to do in Remano..." Jumping up to the back of the beast, Roark and Hydra made their way back to Remano quickly.

---

Lagi's trip would take him to the outskirts of the canyons that created a natural border between Reim and Heliohapt. If the compass were to be trusted, then he would find El Drago somewhere within those canyons. It was getting close to night, however, and it would be wise to set up camp for the rest of the night.

Lagi looked up at the sky and grunted. It was time to set up camp. The first thing that Lagi did was set up a fire with some nearby wood and a tinder box. Afterwards, Lagi would proceed to set up his tent . “It looks like we are making some good progress Orie. “Orie would pop up from his shoulder and give Lagi a happy look. After the tent was set up, Lagi started to unfold his sleeping back and take out a small bag of rations that he chewed on immediately . After looking around the area, Lagi took out a small bag of rocks and threw one of the rocks inside of the fire for it to burn. The thing that makes this rock special is the fact that it gives off a certain small when burnt, it keeps predators away. That’s one of the ways that the El Nagi can get animals to stay away from their camps. When everything was set up, Lagi fell right to sleep in his tent.

The next morning, Lagi would be slightly rejuvenated from the prior day ((+50 Magoi/Stamina)). The Rukh Compass continued to point south. Following the compass, Lagi would find himself upon the road that lead down a trade route between Reim and Heliohapt. The road itself was well-used, and had some traffic on it at this very moment. There were various topics being discussed amongst the individual traders who worked hard together in the caravan. If Lagi decided to walk alongside the group, which moved at a slow pace alongside their camels, he would be able to hear snippets of those conversations.

"Did you hear? Chef Zarken has created a new hot sauce..." The sound of another conversation floated down from further away, a bit more difficult to hear. "Barbaric... utlawed slavery... an you believe.. I even he...... King Lagi ... harmed ... own peo.........ing a riot, only healin..... rioters that...........ble to add to his cause..."

The sound began dying out as a boy, likely one of the sons to a merchant that belonged to this caravan group, came running by while playing the flute. He didn't seem to have a lot of skill with it, though, yet enjoyed it just the same. There was a happy, carefree look upon his face as he skipped past Lagi.

Lagi was hearing a bit of commotion as he walked alongside the group of travelers. One of the things that managed to interest Lagi the most was the hot sauce, it really has been a while since Lagi had a nice swig of that. Surprisingly, Lagi liked hot sauce a lot better than wine, eve though wine is involved with the majority of the decisions that he made. “Hmm, I wonder if it tastes any good?” Lagi would say as he started to hear bits and pieces of another conversation that seemed to be talking about him as well. “Hmm?” It sounded like the time he had to defend himself against the rebels, which seemed like a fun Tuesday to be honest. Lagi was curious as to what the people were saying about him and decided to walk a bit closer to the conversation that was going on so he could hear the full story. He would take note of the little boy, but would tend to the kids bad ability of playing later. “What’s this about King Lagi?” Lagi would say as he moved closer to the people that were talking about him, thought he wasn’t sure if they knew who he was or not.

The group continued speaking, talking about rumors here and there, about the deaths of two Councillors. About how blatant it had been. As Lagi approached, he would be able to catch what they were saying much more clearly. "I'm telling you, the guy has got to be a magician. To get in, and then out, without anyone seeing them? Magic. The death of two officials, in broad daylight? Come on, man."

The other man snorted. "That's what people used to say about my cousin, Sethki. Called him the 'magician of dice'. Damned bastard always won. Raked in a ton of money in those games, too. Till they caught him cheating, switching out the dice with loaded ones. Damned fool got his hand cut off for that little trick. I'm telling you, anyone can do something like that, with enough practice..." Lagi had finally arrived at the discussion between the two, and the man who was talking just a moment before trailed off and looked towards Lagi. "What can I do for you, traveler?"

As Lagi inquired to their prior discussion, the storyteller's face blanked off slightly. He was recalling which conversation he was talking about. A look of clarity flashed on his face, and he began talking about that topic, once again; merchants were very keen on rumors. They could gauge the markets of places with such things, depending on how successful and skilled they were. It seemed as if nobody recognized Lagi, as they had never met or seen any portraits of the latest ruler, the King of Reim.

"Lad, you look like you have a good head on your shoulders. You probably know a thing or two about the story I'm about to tell. You see, it all happened not too long ago, shortly after the new King had gained sovereignty over Reim. There was a group of nay-sayers, you see, that disliked their new king. So they grouped up together and, lead by a Noble, they took their beliefs to the king to rally for the honor of their country! Yet the King would broker no argument. Declaring these men who were fighting for the sacred right of owning a slave as nothing more than traitors... King Lagi called upon a demon's powers to give him the strength of the legions of the underworld! He punished these noble men, and the Nobleman, into a corner. With the terror that could only be felt by those who witnessed the transformation, Demon King Lagi sent out a great blast of burning force and caused great harm to the people.

Yet the story does not end there. For you see, the Demon King is a mighty shrew. Having been newly crowned, he used an old tactic for subduing slaves on the Nobleman. After the stick, he provided the carrot; by healing the Nobleman, he had managed to secure strong support in his court. Yet the people were outraged. The normal citizens were left without worry.... And that, my new friend, is how the story goes." The storyteller seemed immensely pleased with the grandeur of his story, though Lagi would certainly know that most of what had truly occurred did not do so in the fashion that the man bespoke.

Lagi was holding back his laughter, its been a while since he was allowed to bullshit around. The last time he would do something like that and tell outlandish stories was when he was travelling with Zadi, even though their partnership was short-lived and now Zadi is working with some guy who doesn’t respect Lagi at all. Either way, Lagi decided to turn this story around and have a little bit of fun. “No no! that is not what happened at all! Here is how the story goes, I seen it myself! There was fire and brimstone! The league of angry gentlemen being led by the noble was leaving havoc among the streets of reim. “Lagi would say as he tried to be as dramatic with his storytelling as possible. “ The women and children were screaming as business went ablaze, as if the very hate for the king transpired to the people who adored them. As this unfair punishment continued as if the noble claimed as his god given right to punish thee, the victims ! they scream into the sky for the help of their savior! King Lagi! King Lagi!

And he came, in a suit of black armor with noble marking that could only be the sight of a man with great power. His mere existence brought aside the ruckus as the rampaging lunatics that were blinded by the nobleman’s greed attacked him. The King was critical and decisive…boom!! Swish!!! Protecting the weak that remained in their burning buildings while fighting off the unjustified attacker. After their defeat, an honorable challenge from the King himself was met to the noble, as they met off in a fair bout of mortal combat! Shing! Blin!” Lagi was making the sounds of the weapons clashing as they continued. “However, King Lagi’s mighty blow was too much for the noble. The noble would have died if he haven’t administer first aid, saving the man’s life. As for the injures, he made the noble himself attend to the medical bill as the guards were ordered to send those innocent men who were pressured into hurting those kinsman to the nearby doctors for immediate treatment. There was pain! There was destruction! But no lies were taken; no lives were sacrificed……. And that’s how the story went.”

Lagi would say as he wondered if it was enough to convince them

The storyteller guffawed during Lagi's retelling of the same story, through a different pair of eyes. The other man, who was listening to the stories in the first place, was listening with great interest. The storyteller nodded at parts of the dialogue, and smiled as Lagi emphasized the parts of the battle by punctuating it with exaggerated sounds of a blade. There were tears of laughter in his eyes, by the end of the story, as it was told in a very cheery nature and with a hint of humor behind it. "I see! I like it! I hope you don't mind if I adopt some of that story into mine. You tell a good story, stranger."

The sound of the flute had long since passed, and it seemed like the child was gone for the day. It was getting late, and the group was beginning to slow down in their travels. "I would be happy to share a camp fire with you, if you would like to make camp with our caravan. I'm sure there are more stories the two of us can share, and we'll likely be the life of the group at the camp fire to boot! Ah, but I get ahead of myself. My name is Shari Khousine. Might I ask yours? What brings you on this road with us, today?" The storyteller laughed, again, patting Lagi on the shoulder.

“My friend, you would be shocked to know who I am and where I come from. “ Lagi would say as he sat next to  Shari Khousine. Lagi would take out a small patch of wine and take a swig from it as he offers it to the man. “Just call me L for now. “Lagi really gave off the vibe that he was a people person, people would have the wrong idea about him. However,  it wasn’t necessary that these people know who he was at first. He wasn’t warranting any special treatment, and he only felt like relaxing at some point. The last thing Lagi would want is someone trying to kill him in his sleep. “Where are you guys headed? These areas could be dangerous with the beasts running about

"Oh? A storyteller AND a man of mystery? You certainly like to lay on the mystique, L!" The man laughed, slapping his knee. "Where are we headed? Why, we actually just recently finished our trade in Remano. We're headed back to Kou to trade Reim goods there, and re-stock on new goods... Well, I say 'we', but asides from being a story teller, I'm mostly just a porter!" The man laughed again, and some of the others laughed alongside him. "As for beasts, well, we've got plenty of mercenaries to help keep us safe!" If Lagi looked about, he would note that the caravan was well protected by various different professional guards. The caravans often worked in that kind of manner. A group of merchants, each with their own business interests close at heart, gathered together and pooled their resources in order to limit the dangers of the road.  

The night continued to come closer as the man told several stories; some sad, some happy, and some funny. Over the course of that time, various individuals came to listen to some of the stories, getting a laugh at them here and there. At one point, a young woman came to listen to some of the stories. She stood besides Lagi, casting a sidelong glance at the man. When she had an opportunity, she whispered to him "Hiya. Haven't seen you in camp. My name's Shivali. Who're you?" She glanced away from Lagi, a slight red blush on her face as if she had worked up her courage to approach him.

Shivali:

Lagi turned around and noticed the face of the pretty girl. He almost instantly blushed as soon as he looked at her. “ Hey… I’m…” Lagi thought for a moment, he was still going under the persona of a random individual that was travelling and didn’t want to cause trouble for this travelling group. If keeping his name under wraps kept the peace, that’s exactly what Lagi would do. I’m L….. Hey!” Lagi would say as he gave a shy smile. However, he still kept eye contact with the girl with every intention and interest in having a conversation with her. “ I guess you can say I’m pretty new Shivali Chan, I just so happened to run into your camp. However, I’m kind of glad that I did……”

"L... Is it? I'm happy to meet you, L." She listened to his explanation of having just recently joined the camp, and being happy to have joined. Nodding, she looked at the caravan as it began setting up camp for the night. "Me too. The caravans offer protection for us travelers, and as an Entertainer that is worth the world. I feel much more comfortable when I'm being protected." She paused, hesitating once again.

Her cheeks were red as she looked up to Lagi. "And you also get to meet interesting people..." She trailed off, looking back to the sunset. "So, L... Do you plan on sticking with the Caravan for a while?" She looked towards Lagi with a hint of a smile on her face and a look of expectation behind it.

“I mean, everybody would like to be protected nowadays. It’s a dangerous world out there, but I think I have everything covered. “ Lagi would say as he pulled out one of the scented herbs and showed it to Shivali. “If this is burned in the campfire, it should keep the wild animals away because they would pick up this scent. With that being said, I kind of wished that these herbs were bandit proof as well. “ Lagi would say this with a small reassuring smile. When she asked Lagi if he was planning on staying for a while, Lagi took out his Rukh compass and glanced at it. “Well, it all depends if what I’m searching for is not completely out of the way of the caravan for the time being. Finding it is important to me….” Lagi would say as he puts his compass back in his pocket and smiles at Shivali.“What about you? Do you have any family? Tell me about your entertainment career, what are the cool tricks that you do? I would love to see a performance one day; I bet it’ll be amazing.

The young woman listened intently to Lagi speaking, and looked at the herb with wide eyes. "I see... That IS useful." Her amazement at there being such a repellant for beasts was evident. When Lagi mentioned that he simply wished there was one for bandits as well, Shivali giggled at the joke. The preparations for the night had been completed, and there were a few fires being set up. When Lagi took out the compass, Shivali stared at it curiously. "Something important to L..? I wonder what that could be..." The last sentence was more of a mutter to herself than it was a question to Lagi, and she looked back up to Lagi shortly after he began asking her questions about her, and her family.

She smiled, partially a sad smile. "No, I don't have a family. The closest thing I have to a family is the performance group I'm a part of. But I left them in order to go on this trip and meet new and interesting people..." She trailed off as she realized she was staring at Lagi as she said this, and averted her gaze while blushing. Lagi's question about her work, however, gave her a topic she could use in order to hide her embarrassment. "As for what I do as an entertainer? Mostly dancing. It's considered a very beautiful form of art in Heliohapt. If you don't mind, I would love to show you a performance in a few hours! It would be at that fire, over there!" She seemed excited at the prospect, and eagerly awaited Lagi's response as she pointed over to one of the larger camps being set up.