Log View
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| Volken the Titan | It can be surprisingly difficult to track the path of a giant. Creation is vast, after all, and there are plenty of places to disappear to and sometimes the best places are the most dense and the most crowded of them all.
Nexus. A city so unthinkably vast it's hard to put into common terms, even compared to the mighty metropolic' of the likes of Greyfalls and Great Forks. Nexus is unique. Vast, wonderous, dangerous, consuming and an easy place for even a titan to lay low when he wishes. Laying low, however, can have varied definitions and apparently his version of laying low has some degree of violence involved as the depths of a gambling hall and a fight club in the deeps of Firewander's depths serves as a place of both rowdiness and respite. Known as The Siaka's Jaw, fighters who compete in a ring formed of jagged giant bones that resemble a Siaka's teeth, come from all manner of origins. The Wyld Zone itself has sourced some of these mutants, granting them gifts and deranagements that suit a place like this. Thus, it is perhaps not surprising, that rumor of a giant frequenting this place may have travelled afield and brought those looking for such a being to sniff out the particulars... |
| Deryl Laklan | Deryl was just getting home back to his camp in the Hundred Kingdoms. He visited Great Forks a while ago and even learned some bits of martial arts called the Thousand Blades style from a sifu. As it will be strange for his men to escort him, they are currently in Nexus's mercenary quarters. As he remembered that Volken said he was going to Nexus while hearing tales of a giant in the Firewander District, he arrives in Siaka's Jaw to confirm his presence here.
Deryl fits in especially as he was mutated by the Wyld himself thanks to his inhuman eyes but the only thing notable is that he is wielding his adamant daiklave. The rowdiness reminds him of his time with other sellswords back in old Thorns. |
| Volken the Titan | A loud meaty *TWHOOOM* resounds and the body of a large red skinned firebreathing man is sent hurtling the full distnace of the center fighting area to sla violently into one of the teeth like barricades.
The crowd erupt sinto a cry of cheers and jeers as the behemoth responsible steps into view, emerging from the far side of the ring with one immense arm behind his back as if he had deliberately held it there whiel the other one challenged him. Volken lifts his other arm, turning and twisting abit so the crowd can see it and then he brings it down itno a boulder dwarfing flex, causing the inhuman muscle there to swell up visibly - veins as thicik as ropes criss crossing the mountainous sinew as his physique swells to both delight and the intimidation of the crowd. A small referee enters the ring and passes the behemoth to move to see the other fighter and upon confirming his status, the victor is declard. "The Titan Breaker wins!" A moment later and the giant has left the ring and retrieved his wide brim hat and his heavy jacket. His armored harness, gleaming wih hints of orichalcum, is framing his monstrous physique but he seems unbothered at having exposed it to the mortals here. THe presence of wyld mutants and other assorted types must mean this is a place less likely to be frequented by orthodox members of THe IMmaculate Order. Nexus is varied and has its own culture after all, especially with The Emmisary about. He doesn't seem aware of Deryl yet as he starts to make his way towards the back of the bar while ignoring attempts to gain his attention by fans or annoyed rivals alike. |
| Deryl Laklan | "Ah, Volken, great to see you once again" The Titan Breaker can hear a familiar voice once he's in the bar. Once he sees him, it seems Deryl is here as well. "Ah I see you do tournaments or something while you were away from the Hundred Kingdoms. I've been very busy myself and I have uhm, a long story in what I was doing back at the kingdoms"
He gulps as it will be a mouthful to explain. "I was hired to deal with a deathknight in a nearby town who caused a mass suicide. And then there were some interesting figures that appeared" |
| Volken the Titan | Though he is surprised to see him, Volken is as stoic as before and his emotion is only shown by a slight narrowing of his eyes at Deryl. It's not exactly aggressive or annoyed but he clearly did not expect to see him here.
Once Deryl immediatly begins launching into the depths of his story, Volken gives a quick glance around to see if any mortals are attempting to listen in and then with a grunting rumble, gestures for the Hearteater to follow him back towards a more distant table where they can be more undisturbed. "...Hello to you as well.." he rumbles out once he's put some distance between them and the bar. "Were you looking for me? And what is this about a Deathknight?" e visibly tenses at that, his gargantuan physique audibly bunching up with a sound like leather stretching as if the very term causes him anxiety. |
| Deryl Laklan | "I only came here to Nexus for a rest stop since I was headed back to the Hundred Kingdoms" He sighs as Deryl wishes travelling across the East is more faster. "But I did learn a few new tricks since someone taught me a martial art but I have yet to learn one of it's first moves" He then continues telling his tale regarding the deathknight. "The deathknight went by the name Deep Spiral but his true title was Vitiating Whispers or something. He influenced a party he was handling into committing suicide but it seems it was for some necromantic reasons which attracted one of the people that were with me"
"First, there was this medium lady that supposedly talked with the ancestor ghosts of the town. Supposedly whenever one of the townsfolk die, their soul arrives in the afterlife of the town. Supposedly each culture and civilization in Creation has it. However for those that committed suicide thanks to the deathknight, their souls never arrived to the afterlife as if they were taken." He continues but it gets stranger from here "Then there was this sorceress that appeared out of nowhere and he was with some lion dog thing that's supposedly a god. According to them, the people who were killed were supposedly not fated to die, as if they still have time to enjoy their lives. I also learned something about my kind from her...." |
| Volken the Titan | "Slow. Down." urges Volken, sounding frustrated as he takes a seat at the far end of the table, swamping over it with his immense body.
"You're talking about too manyt things at once. Martial arts? A deathknight? A sorcere? A god...dog thing?" His nostrils flare, giving a bullish grunt as the giant looks annoyed and aggravated, "Focus on one topic at a time. I do not follow." What interactions Deryl has had with the behemoth should make it clear, if he's forgotten, that Volken is a lowr thinker. Ponderous and easily annoyed and aggravated if too much is dumped on him in one go. "Did you kill this Deathknight?" he asks, attempting to focus on one matter at a time. |
| Deryl Laklan | "I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't even expecting the arrival of the other guys and it got stranger everytime one got introduced. I might as well expect a talking Tyrant lizard to come out of nowhere." He says sarcastically on the last part but focuses on the topic at hand. "I was the one who gave the finishing blow until they died of their wounds thanks to both the lion-dog god's bite and the slash of my daiklave. He seems to work for another deathknight called the Lover Clad In The Rainment Of Tears who I suspect to be a high ranking deathknight under the Masks."
He wishes this was easier to explain. "The deathknight wanted to turn the ghosts whom he corrupted into committing suicide was to crush their spectral bodies and turn them into a...soulsteel cog to be placed in his tower to activate something. Although the bleak metals the chosen of death use unnerved me, the fact they are made out of souls is what shocked me." Deryl shudders at the knowledge on where soulsteel comes from "I also learned something about my kind through this sorceress and it was..." There is sorrow in his eyes when he mentions about knowing the truth in what kind of exalt he is. |
| Volken the Titan | THe giant doens't seem to want to ask. He does not lack empathy but his nature is to concentrate on the potential dangers and tasks at hand. He is still pondering the story of the Deathknight and when his death is confirmed, Volken nods his head, thick meaty neck flaring as he nods his head.
"Good." The idea that a tower remains of some unknown purpose does disturb him though. "The tower should be destroyed." he concludes. "Where is it?" There's a heavy pause and he then sighs as he finally notes Deryl's discomfort and he emits an unsubtle growl of not liking to deal with the emotional turmoil of others. Yet ...it is his lot, even if he can't understand it all. "...What is it?" he asks, managing to not sound gruff and annoyed, "...What did you learn?" |
| Deryl Laklan | "Before we became this, the dreaded Hearteaters, we were once the Auroral Exalted. Chosen of the God of delights and the northern and southern lights in the sky, while being the greatest artisan and muse of Heaven, Aurora. He was as great as the Sun and Luna while we were the guides, the teachers and the muses that inspired both the chosen and mortals under the gods alike. Until....a tragedy happened where Aurora was taken by the enemies of the gods and sacrificed him for a ritual. Upon his death, a cursed was laid upon us and we became this. Even with this and learning of the progenitor of my exaltation's death, I learned to keep going even with this terrible curse the enemies of the gods laid down upon my spark of exaltation"
Even if sadness and emptiness lingers in his mind, he must continue serving Creation in the name of his fallen god. He then shifts to the topic about the tower. "About the tower though, the deathknight was unsuccessful in turning the ghosts he took into a giant cog and were returned back to their afterlife. It's now used by ancestor ghosts of the city and don't worry, they are not a threat to the living. With this adventure, I learned something for even ghosts are victims of the deathknights and they are people like the living." |
| Volken the Titan | "Yet you mentioned another Deathknight." rumbles Volken, "Would this one not seek to take advantage of the tower? But very well. I will not involve myself in this matter if you insist that it's settled.."
He frows quiet for a moment or two, reflecting on that as well as the story of Aurora. Then- "I don't understand everything you've said. But...The Sun spoke to me and told me to Be Great. I've tried to undrestand what that means and it's fallen to me to use my abilities as best I can. I think that you have to decide how you're going ot use your gifts and turn its flaws into a benefit to yourself and Creation. You can't simplybe sad and locked in the pain of a past you had no hand in." |
| Deryl Laklan | "Yes I must continue going forward despite the past" He says with an encouraged tone despite the state of his exaltation. "Even if Aurora is dead and didn't send a message to me like your patron, I continue following his example even if he's dead. I even commissioned art of him back in the village. Speaking of the village, we are doing well since the town that hired me doubled the payment which gave us enough money to buy seeds for crops and construction material. Even if we can't retake Thorns, we must thrive even if we lost our homeland"
The thought of another deathknight that linger out there still disturbs him. "But yes I'm on the lookout and my position as a mercenary may help me in making connections to watch out for any activity. So far, there is a civil war going on in one of the dragonblooded ruled nations in the Hundred Kingdoms, for supposedly the ghost of a dead prince rose up and caused the conflict while followed by mysterious allies. I fear the hands of the chosen of death may be involved but I must tread carefully especially in the presence of dragonblooded" |
| Volken the Titan | "Retaking Thorns is..ambitious but beyond you right now." says Volken brusquely, "You need the aid of nations for that. Armies. You were there and it is not simply a husk. It is a nation of the dead now, where the living still dwell and suffer. It's not a task to speak of lightly."
Volken glances around, making sure they are still being left to their own discussion without any eavesdroppers. 'But I will say this.s. The Hundred Kigdoms is too small on its own. Unite them or some of it, perhaps. A given nation there may be smaller then Nexus and less populated. To concern yourself with the matters of a single village is...a waste of your time and talents." |
| Deryl Laklan | "I know that but I have to start somewhere. Currently being a mercenary mostly to collect money for funds and get whatever artifacts I find along the way but the latter is mostly unlikely. I hear of other chosen opposing the Masks Of Winters out there, so I hope to meet them someday but I expect they have differing agendas. The reason why I'm focusing on my village right now is that I hope to cultivate another city state that will be the successor to Thorns, hoping to make it a haven for others that flee Thorns. It's admittedly to ambitious for me but yes, uniting the Hundred Kingdoms is an admirable goal but you have to watch out for Lookshy and the satrapy of Greyfalls"
Seeing as he has other affairs that need to be dealt with, it seems he has to go. "I'm gonna head back to the Hundred Kingdoms especially since a Guild merchant hired me to escort a caravan before their goods become collateral damage in a war" |
| Volken the Titan | "That is true but it would seem that you would need to watch out for them by building a 'New Thorns'." Volken slowly rises, "I will not tell you waht to do. You must follow your instincts but I think you will find that..the ambition you require for the results you want must be greater then your current project. I leave it to you to decide on what to do."
After a pause he rumbles, "I will likely continue to base my efforts out of Nexus but I will come to The Hundred Kingdoms and check on your progress soon." |