Castle Refuge
Legionnaire's Barracks
1 Week before mission start
The castle was a buzz with gossip. It had been slow for months. The patrols had gone out and returned with no action. The CS and Federation were being quiet, maybe too quiet. Then just the morning a patrol had brought in small boy. The boy was dressed in rags and his feet were torn to shreds. The gate guards are said he kept mumbling something like "dios del sol."
Everyone was speculating on who he was and what he was doing here. Where had they found him? Too many questions and not enough answers, the rumors were flying.
The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
- Technospawn
- Diamond Patron
- Posts: 599
- Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:28 pm
- Vikon Athir
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:59 am
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
New Alamo
3 months ago
Round 0
Vikon stood in the center of the training circle. He turned slowly, eying the four other novices that circled him. He held no weapons, but two of them, a male and a female, held training weapons. The other male and female stood back a bit more, still circling, with staves.
Vikon focused. Beto and Paula were trying to get around on opposite sides of him. He could see Erin and Mateo’s lips already moving in prayer. Vikon called on his gift, feeling the flow of energy in his body. He altered it slightly and water began to gather in his hand, liquifying from the humid Texas air. He heard Paula’s steps behind him, saw Beto charge in. He tossed up his hand, and their weapons splashed off a shield of water. Vikon dropped low as Erin and Mateo finished their prayers, bolts of celestial silver energy blasting the space where he had been. Vikon rolled into Paula’s legs, knocking her over. Beto and the others didn’t dare strike when he was entangled with their teammate.
Vikon’s fists and elbows worked furiously, pounding against the magical armor Paula managed to put up, before he rolled to his feet, extending his hands in a rapid series of punches in the air. Jets of water and flame spat out, catching Erin and Mateo, interrupting their casting as the doubled over.
Beto swung his sword at Vikon. The unarmed man caught Beto’s wrist with one hand then opened his other hand and shot boiling steam to completely envelop Beto’s body, and the boy screamed and staggered away, scalded, saved from more severe injury by his own magical protections.
Three figures observed the training ring from the porch of the abbey’s refectory. Sir Pedro sat in his usual rocking chair, resting a hand on the cane between his legs, his other hand holding the bottle of tequila he drank from liberally. On either side of him were two beautiful, much younger women in white nun’s robes, one blonde and sun-kissed the other Latina, with dark black hair and eyes.
“That move with the steam was pretty good,” Sir Pedro laughed, taking a swig of tequila.
“Beto’s going to need healing,” Sister Penelope, the blonde, said.
“Bah! You can’t take a piss around here without hitting a healer,” Pedro reminded. “Got two right here.” He looked the nuns over lecherously before he continued, “You’ve done a good job with his training, Sister Ashlyn.”
“Gracias,” the dark-haired nun said “He has been more difficult than the others. His powers are innate and...unusual,” she admitted. “There is no opening up to righteous wrath or warming love, but a kind of...balance needed.”
“He has been neglecting his studies and out here training more and more ever since his family was killed.” Penelope said.
“Bah! Studies! That is to be expected. The boy wants to be a warrior.”
“Knowledge is useful,” Penelope responded.
Ashlyn just shook her head. “Sir Pedro prefers to stick them in a church with a vampire and see if they survive method of training.”
“Well, you survived, didn’t you?” Pedro snapped at Ashlyn.
“Barely.”
“So it works!” Pedro said proudly, watching Vikon burst into flame, the others forced back as their clothes caught on fire. The boy didn’t let up, but forced in on Paula, his flaming fists striking against her armor as she tried to defend with her sword.
“You think he is ready?” Ashlyn asked.
Pedro grunted. “Like you said, his power is different than what we’re used to. He needs training beyond what we can give. We’ve given him a good basis. Time he makes his way in the world. The Legion has all sorts.”
Ashlyn nodded. “I will speak to him.”
***
With the fight concluded, Beto, Paula, Erin, and Mateo staggered off to the infirmary. Vikon paused to catch his breath, then wandered off away from the training grounds. He left the gates and circled around the wooden palisade wall that surrounded New Alamo. The town itself was built on a bit of land surrounded by the river, which provided plenty of water to fuel the techno-wizard fire houses mounted on the walls and an effective barrier against most vampires. Strings of garlic along the walls helped also.
Finding a place where the river eddied into a small pool, Vikon stripped off his armor and down to his shorts, grunting painfully. Blood flowed down his arm. The training weapons weren’t sharp, but they could still cut, and they bruised like hell. He called water to flow up his body, washing away the sweat, blood, and grime.
A noise from the bushes caused him to extend his hand, a warning burst of flame erupting as he looked.
“Eee! It’s just me!” came a familiar voice, and Vikon smiled as an attractive young novice picked her way out of the way, brushing back her red hair.
“Graciela,” Vikon said. “What are you doing here?” he asked in his broken Spanish. Most in the town spoke both American and Spanish, and he was still struggling to learn it.
“You didn’t go to the healers. I thought I could help,” the young novice said, lifting the white and blue robes she wore to pick her way carefully along the riverside. “Your arm is bleeding.”
“I’ve had worse,” Vikon said. He grunted as she poked and prodded the cut with her delicate fingers. “Do you have to be so rough, Gracie?”
Graciela smiled. “You’re so stubborn. And such a baby.” A small prayer, and the wound closed.
Vikon leaned in, inhaling the scent of Graciela’s hair. He turned to her and lifted her chin, claiming her mouth with his. She put her hands against his bare chest, pushing him away just slightly in protest, before she slid her arms around his neck and her mouth opened invitingly to his tongue. Vikon eased her down onto the soft grass as they kissed, and she crooked a leg. His hand caressed up her leg, pushing her robes up, listening to her soft sounds of pleasure as he tugged at the fasteners closing her bodice.
“Ahem.”
Both youngsters started, pulling away from each other to look up at Sister Ashlyn standing over them. Both blushed with embarrassment.
“Do you not have duties in the infirmary, Novice Graciela?” Ashlyn asked.
“Ehm, yes, Sister Ashlyn,” Graciela said, quickly getting up and straightening her robes. She gave Vikon a look, and then hurried off.
Ashlyn settled down onto the grass beside Vikon and watched the girl go. It wasn’t too long ago that she might have been Graciela. Ashlyn certainly remembered the time when a dashing young Jude Maverick visiting from the Tomorrow Legion had snuck into the girl’s novitiate dormitory and taken her own chastity. And not just hers, it seemed, over the course of his visit. Sister Penelope, the novitiate mistress, still blushed when Jude Maverick was mentioned.
“Perhaps you should dress,” Ashlyn suggested, noting the trouble Vikon’s shorts were in.
“Yes, Sister.” Vikon hastily pulled on the simple, homespun, durable clothes everyone in New Alamo wore. Little was fancy in the town, except the church. He pulled his armor over to him and called up some water to clean the blood and grit from it.
“We were impressed today,” Ashlyn said, looking out over the river to the farmlands outside the town.
“Gracias, Sister,” Vikon said.
“We think you have reached the limit of what we can train you to do,” Ashlyn told Vikon.
“What do you mean?”
“It is time for you to find other teachers, Vikon.”
The boy blinked. “You mean...leave New Alamo?”
Ashlyn nodded solemnly.
“But...But this is the only home I have left!”
Ashlyn gave Vikon a small smile. “It will not be forever,” she said. “I am going to be returning to Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion soon. We think it would be good for you to come with me. You will find others there that can better help you harness your powers, to grow.” She smiled. “It is what I did around your age.”
“I see,” Vikon murmured.
Ashlyn patted Vikon’s shoulder and stood. “At the end of the week, we will have a fiesta to say good-bye. Then we will leave. Pack lightly. Anything else you need can be gotten at Castle Refuge.”
***
Castle Refuge
Legionnaire's Barracks
1 Week before mission start
Vikon returned to the barracks from breakfast. His bunk wasn’t much. A colorful woolen blanket Graciela had sent with him doubled as a poncho. Ashlyn had given her a small wooden crucifix, and Sister Penelope gave him a small Bible. Sir Pedro gave him a flask of tequila. He was a bit homesick. The food here was different, and mostly pretty bland. What he wouldn’t do for some hot sauce, some good jalapenos or habaneros.
Vikon picked up a manila folder that had been dropped on his bunk and flipped through it. His team’s next mission. Still a junior legionnaire, his time was spent mostly on patrol near the Castle where nothing much happened. He wanted to get on a SET, one of the teams that ranged far beyond the Castle’s direct control. Coming here with Sister Ashlyn, Vikon hadn’t realized what a legend the warrior nun was. She never talked about her experiences traveling in Mexico, fighting vampire gods. And he had wanted to meet the 101st Trailblazers, who had come down and saved New Alamo from a vampire horde when he was a kid and Sister Penelope and the militia were off saving the city of Gloom. Apparently Sister Ashlyn had even had a hand in that! Vikon wanted to make his own legend.
***
3 months ago
Round 0
Vikon stood in the center of the training circle. He turned slowly, eying the four other novices that circled him. He held no weapons, but two of them, a male and a female, held training weapons. The other male and female stood back a bit more, still circling, with staves.
Vikon focused. Beto and Paula were trying to get around on opposite sides of him. He could see Erin and Mateo’s lips already moving in prayer. Vikon called on his gift, feeling the flow of energy in his body. He altered it slightly and water began to gather in his hand, liquifying from the humid Texas air. He heard Paula’s steps behind him, saw Beto charge in. He tossed up his hand, and their weapons splashed off a shield of water. Vikon dropped low as Erin and Mateo finished their prayers, bolts of celestial silver energy blasting the space where he had been. Vikon rolled into Paula’s legs, knocking her over. Beto and the others didn’t dare strike when he was entangled with their teammate.
Vikon’s fists and elbows worked furiously, pounding against the magical armor Paula managed to put up, before he rolled to his feet, extending his hands in a rapid series of punches in the air. Jets of water and flame spat out, catching Erin and Mateo, interrupting their casting as the doubled over.
Beto swung his sword at Vikon. The unarmed man caught Beto’s wrist with one hand then opened his other hand and shot boiling steam to completely envelop Beto’s body, and the boy screamed and staggered away, scalded, saved from more severe injury by his own magical protections.
Three figures observed the training ring from the porch of the abbey’s refectory. Sir Pedro sat in his usual rocking chair, resting a hand on the cane between his legs, his other hand holding the bottle of tequila he drank from liberally. On either side of him were two beautiful, much younger women in white nun’s robes, one blonde and sun-kissed the other Latina, with dark black hair and eyes.
“That move with the steam was pretty good,” Sir Pedro laughed, taking a swig of tequila.
“Beto’s going to need healing,” Sister Penelope, the blonde, said.
“Bah! You can’t take a piss around here without hitting a healer,” Pedro reminded. “Got two right here.” He looked the nuns over lecherously before he continued, “You’ve done a good job with his training, Sister Ashlyn.”
“Gracias,” the dark-haired nun said “He has been more difficult than the others. His powers are innate and...unusual,” she admitted. “There is no opening up to righteous wrath or warming love, but a kind of...balance needed.”
“He has been neglecting his studies and out here training more and more ever since his family was killed.” Penelope said.
“Bah! Studies! That is to be expected. The boy wants to be a warrior.”
“Knowledge is useful,” Penelope responded.
Ashlyn just shook her head. “Sir Pedro prefers to stick them in a church with a vampire and see if they survive method of training.”
“Well, you survived, didn’t you?” Pedro snapped at Ashlyn.
“Barely.”
“So it works!” Pedro said proudly, watching Vikon burst into flame, the others forced back as their clothes caught on fire. The boy didn’t let up, but forced in on Paula, his flaming fists striking against her armor as she tried to defend with her sword.
“You think he is ready?” Ashlyn asked.
Pedro grunted. “Like you said, his power is different than what we’re used to. He needs training beyond what we can give. We’ve given him a good basis. Time he makes his way in the world. The Legion has all sorts.”
Ashlyn nodded. “I will speak to him.”
***
With the fight concluded, Beto, Paula, Erin, and Mateo staggered off to the infirmary. Vikon paused to catch his breath, then wandered off away from the training grounds. He left the gates and circled around the wooden palisade wall that surrounded New Alamo. The town itself was built on a bit of land surrounded by the river, which provided plenty of water to fuel the techno-wizard fire houses mounted on the walls and an effective barrier against most vampires. Strings of garlic along the walls helped also.
Finding a place where the river eddied into a small pool, Vikon stripped off his armor and down to his shorts, grunting painfully. Blood flowed down his arm. The training weapons weren’t sharp, but they could still cut, and they bruised like hell. He called water to flow up his body, washing away the sweat, blood, and grime.
A noise from the bushes caused him to extend his hand, a warning burst of flame erupting as he looked.
“Eee! It’s just me!” came a familiar voice, and Vikon smiled as an attractive young novice picked her way out of the way, brushing back her red hair.
“Graciela,” Vikon said. “What are you doing here?” he asked in his broken Spanish. Most in the town spoke both American and Spanish, and he was still struggling to learn it.
“You didn’t go to the healers. I thought I could help,” the young novice said, lifting the white and blue robes she wore to pick her way carefully along the riverside. “Your arm is bleeding.”
“I’ve had worse,” Vikon said. He grunted as she poked and prodded the cut with her delicate fingers. “Do you have to be so rough, Gracie?”
Graciela smiled. “You’re so stubborn. And such a baby.” A small prayer, and the wound closed.
Vikon leaned in, inhaling the scent of Graciela’s hair. He turned to her and lifted her chin, claiming her mouth with his. She put her hands against his bare chest, pushing him away just slightly in protest, before she slid her arms around his neck and her mouth opened invitingly to his tongue. Vikon eased her down onto the soft grass as they kissed, and she crooked a leg. His hand caressed up her leg, pushing her robes up, listening to her soft sounds of pleasure as he tugged at the fasteners closing her bodice.
“Ahem.”
Both youngsters started, pulling away from each other to look up at Sister Ashlyn standing over them. Both blushed with embarrassment.
“Do you not have duties in the infirmary, Novice Graciela?” Ashlyn asked.
“Ehm, yes, Sister Ashlyn,” Graciela said, quickly getting up and straightening her robes. She gave Vikon a look, and then hurried off.
Ashlyn settled down onto the grass beside Vikon and watched the girl go. It wasn’t too long ago that she might have been Graciela. Ashlyn certainly remembered the time when a dashing young Jude Maverick visiting from the Tomorrow Legion had snuck into the girl’s novitiate dormitory and taken her own chastity. And not just hers, it seemed, over the course of his visit. Sister Penelope, the novitiate mistress, still blushed when Jude Maverick was mentioned.
“Perhaps you should dress,” Ashlyn suggested, noting the trouble Vikon’s shorts were in.
“Yes, Sister.” Vikon hastily pulled on the simple, homespun, durable clothes everyone in New Alamo wore. Little was fancy in the town, except the church. He pulled his armor over to him and called up some water to clean the blood and grit from it.
“We were impressed today,” Ashlyn said, looking out over the river to the farmlands outside the town.
“Gracias, Sister,” Vikon said.
“We think you have reached the limit of what we can train you to do,” Ashlyn told Vikon.
“What do you mean?”
“It is time for you to find other teachers, Vikon.”
The boy blinked. “You mean...leave New Alamo?”
Ashlyn nodded solemnly.
“But...But this is the only home I have left!”
Ashlyn gave Vikon a small smile. “It will not be forever,” she said. “I am going to be returning to Castle Refuge and the Tomorrow Legion soon. We think it would be good for you to come with me. You will find others there that can better help you harness your powers, to grow.” She smiled. “It is what I did around your age.”
“I see,” Vikon murmured.
Ashlyn patted Vikon’s shoulder and stood. “At the end of the week, we will have a fiesta to say good-bye. Then we will leave. Pack lightly. Anything else you need can be gotten at Castle Refuge.”
***
Castle Refuge
Legionnaire's Barracks
1 Week before mission start
Vikon returned to the barracks from breakfast. His bunk wasn’t much. A colorful woolen blanket Graciela had sent with him doubled as a poncho. Ashlyn had given her a small wooden crucifix, and Sister Penelope gave him a small Bible. Sir Pedro gave him a flask of tequila. He was a bit homesick. The food here was different, and mostly pretty bland. What he wouldn’t do for some hot sauce, some good jalapenos or habaneros.
Vikon picked up a manila folder that had been dropped on his bunk and flipped through it. His team’s next mission. Still a junior legionnaire, his time was spent mostly on patrol near the Castle where nothing much happened. He wanted to get on a SET, one of the teams that ranged far beyond the Castle’s direct control. Coming here with Sister Ashlyn, Vikon hadn’t realized what a legend the warrior nun was. She never talked about her experiences traveling in Mexico, fighting vampire gods. And he had wanted to meet the 101st Trailblazers, who had come down and saved New Alamo from a vampire horde when he was a kid and Sister Penelope and the militia were off saving the city of Gloom. Apparently Sister Ashlyn had even had a hand in that! Vikon wanted to make his own legend.
***
Character Info
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
Psychological Review
The kid, wide eyed and polishing his new horned rimmed glasses wandered into the barracks. His raggedy clothes pegged him as an urchin. He had a bottle of Widow Maker’s Mark hot sauce in one hand. Over the last couple of days he had seen a big fella come in with a living Legend. All the talk was that Ashlyn slayer of vampires had returned at last to the castle. Folks had been whispering she had slaughtered something like 10,000 vampires and killed something even worse... Well she had come in with a new guy that always was looking around for something to spice up his food.At the edge of @Vikon Athir’s bunk he caughed, “Ehem, Tomorrow Legion’s Hot Sauce Delivery Service! Hehe, just kidding man. Names Trowel, I saw you looking for something Spicy.” He was a small kid, but one with a big friendly smile. He held out a small bottle. ”Widow Maker’s Mark... Just don’t ask me where I got it eh. So you are Vikon right, what do you think happened to that kid that was nearly torn up?”
- Vikon Athir
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:59 am
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
Castle Refuge
Legionnaire's Barracks
1 Week before mission start
Vikon was shoving his newly issued pack under his bed. He stared at the Wilks laser pistol in the holster that he held, staring like the thing would bite him. Vikon and technology didn’t seem to get along very well, and he’d never been trained to shoot. He put it down very carefully in a drawer in his footlocker and turned to see a young teenager standing there with a bottle of...hot sauce?
“Ehm...thanks, er...Trowel,” Vikon said. That was an odd name. He took the hot sauce from the boy with a smile, and dashed a bit on his finger to try it out. Damn! “Good stuff, kid!” he said, eyes watering slightly. “Yes, I am Vikon. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to the boy. “Which kid are you talking about? I’ve heard a lot of stories since coming here. Like one kid got his leg blown off, so they stuck him in some power armor.” He shook his head. “Seems to me like you shouldn’t be putting kids out there like that, but what do I know. Sometimes you have to, I guess. I wasn’t much older than you the first time I went out on patrol.”
***
Legionnaire's Barracks
1 Week before mission start
Vikon was shoving his newly issued pack under his bed. He stared at the Wilks laser pistol in the holster that he held, staring like the thing would bite him. Vikon and technology didn’t seem to get along very well, and he’d never been trained to shoot. He put it down very carefully in a drawer in his footlocker and turned to see a young teenager standing there with a bottle of...hot sauce?
“Ehm...thanks, er...Trowel,” Vikon said. That was an odd name. He took the hot sauce from the boy with a smile, and dashed a bit on his finger to try it out. Damn! “Good stuff, kid!” he said, eyes watering slightly. “Yes, I am Vikon. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand to the boy. “Which kid are you talking about? I’ve heard a lot of stories since coming here. Like one kid got his leg blown off, so they stuck him in some power armor.” He shook his head. “Seems to me like you shouldn’t be putting kids out there like that, but what do I know. Sometimes you have to, I guess. I wasn’t much older than you the first time I went out on patrol.”
***
Character Info
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
Strolling up the hallway Watcher hears the conversation and his curiosity gets him. The deep voice of the Sphinx comes out of nowhere. "What is this sauce you have?"
Then looking into the room to small for him to enter he says. "Why would the young not be allowed to fight? Are they not also at risk of death if the battle is lost? Shouldn't all beings be allowed to chose their fate?"
The creatures strange was of asking everything, even when it should be a clear statement was sometimes grating, sometimes endearing. His proportions, with a slightly too large head and slightly oversized paws making it obvious he was young, but his enormous presence, making it something easily overlooked.
Then looking into the room to small for him to enter he says. "Why would the young not be allowed to fight? Are they not also at risk of death if the battle is lost? Shouldn't all beings be allowed to chose their fate?"
The creatures strange was of asking everything, even when it should be a clear statement was sometimes grating, sometimes endearing. His proportions, with a slightly too large head and slightly oversized paws making it obvious he was young, but his enormous presence, making it something easily overlooked.
- Vikon Athir
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:59 am
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
Castle Refuge
Legionnaire's Barracks
Round 0
"Why would the young not be allowed to fight? Are they not also at risk of death if the battle is lost? Shouldn't all beings be allowed to choose their fate?"
Vikon looked up at the voice that had spoken, seeing a large, winged lion-type creature. “Because they are weak and vulnerable, amigo,” he said. “They should be protected. Violence scars even the strong adult, and much more so the young. Many came to New Alamo with such scars, including myself. There, we protect them, try to heal them. And we do not put them into danger.”
***
Legionnaire's Barracks
Round 0
"Why would the young not be allowed to fight? Are they not also at risk of death if the battle is lost? Shouldn't all beings be allowed to choose their fate?"
Vikon looked up at the voice that had spoken, seeing a large, winged lion-type creature. “Because they are weak and vulnerable, amigo,” he said. “They should be protected. Violence scars even the strong adult, and much more so the young. Many came to New Alamo with such scars, including myself. There, we protect them, try to heal them. And we do not put them into danger.”
***
Character Info
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
Vikon Athir wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:28 am Vikon looked up at the voice that had spoken, seeing a large, winged lion-type creature. “Because they are weak and vulnerable, amigo,” he said. “They should be protected. Violence scars even the strong adult, and much more so the young. Many came to New Alamo with such scars, including myself. There, we protect them, try to heal them. And we do not put them into danger.”
Watcher hears the warriors comments and thinks only to briefly before speaking, not yet reaching the wisdom his people are known for. "Are not humans weak and fragile by nature? Isn't it only the exceptionally rare that are capable of standing on even ground? Would you prevent the common among them from fighting to survive, or let them be victims praying for salvation by the strong?" Watcher does not care if the mortal child comes or not, but he is inescapably bound by his curiosity and passion to hear the reasoning.
- Vikon Athir
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:59 am
Re: The Calm Before the Storm (RP Thread)
Castle Refuge
Legionnaire's Barracks
Round 0
“If it is fighting for survival, then yes, even the commons will fight,” Vikon said. “We try to make it so they do not need to. If everyone is fighting, who is making food?” he asked Watcher. “Who writes songs and tells stories? Who makes the great art? Who leads us in worship of the Almighty? No, it is better that some be soldiers, so that others may be human.”
***
Legionnaire's Barracks
Round 0
“If it is fighting for survival, then yes, even the commons will fight,” Vikon said. “We try to make it so they do not need to. If everyone is fighting, who is making food?” he asked Watcher. “Who writes songs and tells stories? Who makes the great art? Who leads us in worship of the Almighty? No, it is better that some be soldiers, so that others may be human.”
***
Character Info