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[Sir Deimos]

Catterick and Leo too? Lena must be seriously concerned... Synile's train of thought is interrupted as Leo taps him on the shoulder.

“Look, man, I know you and me got off to a bad start, but why don’t we start over again?” Leo said. “No hard feelings, alright?” Synile looks into the dwarf's face. Synile merely gave Leo one sharp nod. Synile turns his focus back towards Catterick.

"I've heard of it. I was asked to go as well." So Jordan may be along for this mission as well?

OOC: I'd have written more, but I'm really at a loss for what to do currently. XD

[JRPomazon]

The crunching of snow came from behind the party of vikings, Jordan rejuvenated from the drink at Astrid's home. Slightly jittery, but that could have been the cold. He looked at the Calatian party that had formed to go off into the Cursed Lands. Leo Crimson, the viking known as Catterick and the insane drunkard Synile. The group turn around and looked at Jordan, a hard look in his eye coming from the knowledge of where he was to guide these men. Brave, or perhaps foolish. Most likely both.

"I take it upon myself to guide each and every one on this mission into the Cursed Lands. I have only one thing to say before you leave this place, don't assume you're going to come back alive or at the very least unharmed."

Jordan turned to Leo.

"Are we waiting for anyone else Leo or are there more daredevils for me to babysit?"

[Crimson Lego]

Glancing around at the two Calatians beside him, along with Jordan, Leo began to feel slightly more confident about surviving the trip into the Cursed Lands. We’ve got a strong team now. Though he was slightly put off by Jordan’s comment about near certain fatalities in the regions, he also knew that any mission worth going on would have some kind of pain attached to it.. Freaking boar nearly ripped me apart, grimaced the dwarf as he recalled his own trial on Korento. Luckily, he had walked away from the battle with only a few bruises.

Hearing Jordan’s question, he did a quick head count and shook his head in response. “No, there’s still some more people here I want to bring along. An officer named Khallos is one of them; he’s the commander of the Huscarls and is pretty trustworthy as well.” Gesturing to a guard on duty nearby, Leo gave the man quick orders. “Do you know Mr. Archibald Khallos by sight?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Go into the castle and see if you can find him; tell him to me us out here for a rendezvous as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the guard jogged off into the snow, Leo turned back to the group, a satisfied expression on his face. “Do you guys have any supplies you think we should bring up there?” he asked.

[JRPomazon]

"Don't bring anything excessive, travel light." Jordan added, grabbing a small pouch by his belt. He opened said pouch and revealed the contents to the viking group.

"Dried Meat, beef in this example, nuts and dried fruit. Anything retaining water will just be heavier and spoil quicker."

He placed the pouch away a took out a waterskin, a satchel filled with water. However, being out in Calatian climates for so long, his waterskin had solidified.

"Save from the freeze, you'll want water."

He looked over to Synile, taking a swig of his flask.

"The water in the cursed lands are very drinkable, still as good as it was two years ago so don't worry about refilling. I would, however, not let that be an excuse for you to drink up all you have without some sort of moderation. Some areas are less fortunate than others, and because of this you'll want to be ready."

He placed the water back.

"Everything else that you might want can be hunted, but animals are now more wary to human beings than ever before. They smell a human, they flee."

Jordan looked over to see everyone.

"These are only a few of the things you'll want to know. Now, please brief the other saps coming along for me so I don't have to repeat myself."

[Kwicky Koala]

ooc: Okay, just finishing up here. Will see you guys in the next thread.

---

"Well, I may as well go inform my friends I won't be coming home tonight" Catt said morosely. "Maybe someone there can make me some lunches or something...be back soon" he shrugged as he turned to go, the first to leave the group.

As he walked past the entrance to Snowpeak he felt a funny chill divorced of that coldness that was everywhere in Calatia at night, and looked up at the massive structure, but saw nothing amiss.

Finally reaching the mission, he found the place packed with people huddling round the hearth for warmth. Stepping over the bedrolls that covered most of the floor, he made his way to Ebeneezer, who had looked up sharply when the door had opened to reveal an armed man.

"Another five families arrived while you were gone!" he said by way of greeting. "I told them they could stay, if that's alright with you, like"

"You know it is" Catt responded, his mind elsewhere. "If they've nowhere else to go we let them in until its physically impossible. There's room in my office right now."

"Your office, son? But that's where you sleep"

"I'm afraid I have to go away for a while. On that crazy expedition as it happens. But Leo and a bunch of others are coming along, so it'll probably be okay. I want you to take charge while I'm gone"

Ebeneezer started coughing. "Me? but I'm an old man!"

"There's no-one I trust more to run this place in the right way. And there's trouble on its way - Eichbower got me sent on this thing to remove me from the picture. You'll need to watch out for his goons"

"And if they do show up?"

"I'm sure you can get the kids here on your side" said Catt, remembering how they had never listened to him. "They look up to Allie, and I know she figures in Eichbower's aims. Treat them like adults and tell them the truth - but no arming them" he finished sternly.

"Wasn't even thinking of it..."

"Remember, you can always go to my Garrison. Dieter, Anders, Morris... all of them have family here. They'll scare away Eichbower's men...probably...well, maybe if they wear their armour...actually no, stick with the kids plan".

Ebeneezer sighed. "You're really leaving, then. Well, I won't stop you, and I'll try to do my best by you. Don't get yourself killed, you're too young to die by half".

"Thanks, friend" said Catt, feeling truly indebted to the old man.

---

Having packed whatever he'd need in no time, he left without fuss. As he walked away, he heard a voice call him:

"Ca - Mr. Moose!"

Catt swivelled on one foot, smiling. "Looks like one of us is going to visit the Cursed Lands after all, Allie!"

"Tell me what its like!" she hollered.

"I will!!" Catt yelled back, as he was swallowed by the swirling snowfall.

Allie waited outside until Ebeneezer and her father came to take her inside, concerned that she'd freeze, and fearful that some night wanderer would recognise the child.

[Crimson Lego]

ooc: We’ll probably get Call of the Cursed started soon, I think; just gotta wait for Selena’s permission.

Taking notes as Jordan laid out the basics for the group to hear, Leo was slightly surprised to see most of the protocol he used to test Snakehead recruits on their survival skills. This stuff is starting to become universal in the world we live in, he reflected. Many of the Snakeheads were smart, but only a few chose not to follow the guidelines, believing they could survive on a normal schedule. Those are the guys that fail the test and get killed in the real fights.

Stuffing the parchment down his pocket, the dwarf gestured in the direction of Snowpeak Ruins, where Catterick was already heading to. “Alright, thanks for the info,” he said to Jordan. “Why don’t we all head back to the castle before we freeze out here? I’ll need to tell Selena we’re ready to go; feel free to tag along.” With that, Leo turned to follow Catt and began trudging slowly in the direction of the structure.

[Selena]

No. NO! Selena sat up in her bed, eyes wide with murderous rage. She had finally gotten to sleep after all of that restless pacing, and now she was being woken up by someone who should not have even been there to begin with! Even while in Chik's grip, Selena's hands flexed and shook as the Calatian warlord imagined herself strangling the goddess for the interruption. She did not care about whatever drama Chik was facing this week. She wanted sleep! SLEEP! Damn that mead hall visit. Selena should have never joked about Chik coming over for drinks and whatnot.

Selena groaned. "I am not the goddamned Bride of Lazu - despite what you and all your voices think. Leave me alone!"

Then, not worrying at all about whatever divine powers Chik had, shoved the smaller woman clean off the bed and onto the floor. Selena curled up into a fetal position and ducked her head clear underneath the bearskins, hoping the warmth would lure her back into sleep. But then Selena stopped. And she woke up the rest of the way. And she considered what Chik actually said. Chik was losing control of her chaotic powers? She sounded so upset about it, almost lost and afraid, and part of Selena wanted to comfort her friend.

The other part had its own opinion. The full release of Lazu's power was a dangerous but beautiful thing. In a way, Selena had been the one to trigger the destruction of Olimandias by daring her companion to kill as many people as possible. How wonderful would it be to have a Chik-cannon that could be unleashed whenever she felt like destructive fun? Chik seemed to be able to recover afterwards, so everything would be fine! And neither Chik nor her voices really wanted Selena dead. Lazu, perhaps, but Lazu's essence had been contaminated by people that liked her.

Selena poked her head out from underneath the bearskins - but only so that her eyes were visible - and looked at her former mentor. Seeing that she wasn't going to die from a fireball or some other foul magic, she sat up and smiled. She leaned in toward Chik, still ecstatic, and put her hands on either side of the goddess's face to ensure that she was paying attention.

"I know you tried to make that seem depressing, but oh, Chik, let's have a girls night out!" Selena beamed. "To hell with your empire - literally! You wanted me to visit. Let's both go to Koridai and sate Lazu's desires by burning the place down. We can raid wine cellars, steal all the nice clothes from the ruins, and watch the fires of destruction from the cool desert hills. I'm not allowed to do anything too evil anymore because of all the straight-laced people under my command. I'll admit that I need a vacation. It'll be so fun! Come on!"




ooc: And for those curious, we're assuming this thread takes place after "To War," so Chik's not technically in two places at once. "To War" is roughly set at the same time as the Voodoo quest. They just don't post as frequently over there.

[Chikara Nadir]

"No, Selena, you don't get it," Chik grimaced, grabbing her protege by the wrist and flinging her deftly backward like a ragdoll despite the other woman in fact being taller than her by several inches.

And it only took her another split second to rethink her decision, tossing her hand out into open air, palm forward with fingers spread. Selena stopped just short from slamming into the wall, the air around her shuttering for a moment like a cobweb that had just shared a fly. The flicked her wrist around, and the Calatian flew forward again to where she had been before. The hand slid around again, palm forward, and Selena was caught in place, able to move against a great unseen force only with all of her strength. In the meanwhile, her former mentor stayed on the floor where she had been thrown before, glaring with disdain as though it were a chore to put up with a woman of such mere mortal tendencies.

"The more I am consumed, the more I learn of my new powers. The more I accept those powers, the more I am consumed. Am I to surrender and hope to live in harmony with Lazu, or will I become a puppet, one of dozens of voices living in this brain? I cannot risk it." Inexplicably, her sneer turned into a smile as the pale lady rose up again - not using the strength of her hands or legs to achieve it. If anything, she seemed to fall upward into place. "I know how to make a truly immortal army, Lena. Soldiers who never, ever grow old with skin of steel, the strength of titans, and no fear even of taking on a full battalion singlehandedly. Stronger even than the Labyrinth! I could make all the men of Koridai that strong…I could offer the same to you as well…"

Chikara shrugged, raising the back of a delicate finger to brush against the other woman's chin. "But Lazu is a god of chaos, of destruction. He cannot create, only tear apart and reconstruct…or outright destroy. I can make immortality by draining the life from men, I can give knowledge by causing dozens of righteous men to go insane. I can build a castle by felling a mountain. I can even stop time if I so desire -- but those are minutes or hours that can never be returned to the lives of those men paused by my efforts. You know I can murder thousands at a time then give some semblance of life to the dead - the Labyrinth and Ikana both knew some form of all these talents well. Or do you think that either was cloaked in some ancient mystery bound by millennia of magical developments? Do you honestly believe that our subterranean home was made over centuries by mortal hands?"

"Your heart races with excitement at my power, when it should quiver in fear. You want to play games with me as an old friend, to use me like a child, instead of killing me off when I look my weakest. You want to go barhopping with me and hope I'll slaughter everyone in the vicinity but yourself - It's a wonder I haven't ended you yet."

"Then again, it's also a wonder I have not forced you to see things my way earlier. You so fear being subordinate to me, when even then you could be a goddess, yourself." The goddess starred long into the Calatian's face, eyes that smiled with thirsty insanity. After all, others shied away from her glance lest they allow themselves to go mad. But both these women were raised to revel in it, more intoxicating than the finest ale…

She wrapped her arms tenderly around the woman's shoulders, all contempt changed in a heartbeat to twisted affection, and reached to pull Selena's face to her own.

[Nevermind]

Far in the back of Lazu's mind, a pair of eyes, representative of a single conscious, lay hidden. Whilst not complete, it was enough to recognise, and understand what was going on. Keel's psyche sat in its covert position, fully aware that Lazu - perhaps not Chik but Lazu - was also aware of his own presence. A perverted smile accompanied the pair of eyes as it formed in the darkness and the remnants of what was once Keel watched the scene unfolding before him. There are those instincts that just cannot be dispersed. Even by gods.

[Selena]

When had Selena ever been scared of the "fearsome" queen of evil or goddess of chaos? Even as an apprentice, Selena had been chronically - famously - defiant toward her mentor. She had attempted to wrest power away from the other woman from the very start, and she didn't care if most of the other Loddies and nearly all of the overworlders were terrified of Chik's ferocity. They had made a game of it. Selena would act like an ambitious ingrate and Chikara would make some grand show of force to demonstrate that she was, in fact, still the boss. It had been that way for centuries, and, to an extent, it went on into the modern age. Selena was still not terrified of Chik, both because she knew the other woman far too well and because it was just in her nature to be rebellious. All gods needed their vile, rebellious icons. As evidenced by their last visit in the Mead Hall, Chik knew this to be true and appreciated it. It was better for Selena to act as if nothing was different than to turn into some submissive bundle of nerves.

Even when being tossed around like a ragdoll by Chik's mental powers, Selena remained unafraid. Irritated, but unafraid. She flexed against the invisible grip in every direction, attempting to lean back with so much force that her abdominal muscles became strained to the point where it felt as if she'd done a hundred situps in under a minute.

And then all of a sudden, the goddess's disposition changed, and Selena suddenly found out what it was like to have a deity's tongue shoved halfway down her throat. Well, if she couldn't sleep anyway, maybe it was best to get worn out....

But that would have been submitting, wouldn't it? Selena gripped the back of Chik's head with one hand and wrapped the other arm around her waist so that she couldn't move. Then, like some sort of magical (but non-sparkly) vampire, Selena concentrated and began to draw chaotic power directly from Lazu in order to break free of Chik's invisible hold on her. And when Chik began to fidget, Selena made sure to hold her in place. Rebellious as ever.

The plan soon backfired, as Selena was not prepared for the full rush of Lazu's power. Her head began to feel as if it were being crushed by a vise. Her lips and hands began to burn from the contact. Then a swift, sudden shock of electricity that caused her muscles to seize up. It was only from sheer concentration that Selena was able to use what power she had gathered to fling herself backwards, out of Chik's hold, and slam into the decorative headboard of her bed. In vain, she tried to back up further, her muscles still tensed against her will and her voice was suddenly lost. And it was frightening, but one thing was still important:

She was still being a rebellious shithead by doing that.

"I don't take orders. Not even from a goddess." She leaned back in and smirked. "Besides, you like the fact that I don't put up with your nonsense. All those loyal, submissive people in Koridai ultimately bore you. You wouldn't function without me."

Selena stopped. She'd nearly forgotten the source of all her sleeping troubles.

"Wait. You're here to distract me, not to have fun. What's going on the Cursed Lands? Something is off; I can feel it. You're here to make me forget about it. It's important, then. You're building something, perhaps. Another part of your empire that mere mortals cannot enter for too long. A new home for your loyal Loddies? You've discovered that we're starting to age now that the Labyrinth is gone. Even the Labyrinth members under your current command. Only the Cursed Lands will restore our immortality, since it's the same power the Labyrinth had. Is that it? You're giving your Loddies their immortality back while the Calatians must remain here to grow old and weak?"

She leaned back.

"It doesn't matter. I'll figure out what it is soon enough. I'll move back to the Cursed Lands - into the wreckage of the Labyrinth itself - to avoid growing feeble. Not yet. Someday."

Then she made a realization.

"And yet, without the Labyrinth as it once was, I am dependent on you for my continued immortality. Aren't I? You cold get rid of the Curse in a moment."

Dammit.

[Chikara Nadir]

"The girl does learn." Chikara gaped for air, as affected by the force of the kiss as Selena herself had been. She felt shaky for a moment - even if only that, before returning again to full strength. She did not feel intimidated or upset by Selena's action; quite the contrary, she was almost proud. To have thought so quick on her feet during such times of duress, and used the situation to her advantage…

"Well. That woke me up." She wiped the spittle from her mouth, swallowing hard still as if from sprinting miles. What a rush! "If you were smart enough to conserve any of that power, you should find yourself substantially stronger for the next several days - maybe more depending on how you use it. I'll give you no hints about what that might mean. You may even take a few extra years to wrinkle and grey, although you're very correct that either attribute can be taken away in a heartbeat."

The woman winked, grinning in her sly way. "Of course, you could hide in the Labyrinth again and hope that all the powers it has known were not pulled out for the sake of my rebirth. Pray that you'll somehow be safer in the land that I've forged in my own image of insanity - the lands where all but the most pure or most mad lose sight of themselves. For that matter, pray that I'm the shadow you feel looming over that abyss…"

The goddess shrugged, wandering past Selena's still somewhat rigid form - while lingering a half second to pull a loose ringlet from the girl's face and tuck it behind her ear - before settling herself neatly at the foot of the snow-dweller's bed. "But I am not. Aside from the occasional Crusader tour of the hem of the badlands, I've made no attempts to return to our old domain. Not that I'd dream of sharing a kingdom of Loddies with you again - you'd just stab me in the back again. Oh wait, that was the stomach."

The woman couldn't pass up the opportunity to be snide, but there were bigger matters afoot. "Nor have I actually paid much attention to the recent feeling of pressure bubbling up in the Cursed Lands…I just assumed Lazu's influence was staying strong there."

She stroked her chin, searching the headboard beside Selena for secret knowledge. It wasn't telling. "You haven't been sleeping well, either, have you? But then what would cause you such unease - or give the most powerful being in the known world nightmares, for that matter?" The board creaked slightly under Selena's weight, and Chik took that as a sign of agreement.

"So enough of my troubles, I can tell you of my silly planned festivities in Koridai later. What do YOU have planned for finding out what ne'er-do-wells are troubling our sleep cycle in the Cursed Lands?"

[Selena]

"I'm sending people to go look, of course. I'd go myself, since living in the Labyrinth for so long would give me good or complete resistance against it, but I've been away and have gotten behind on all my duties here. There are things to oversee and strategies to write down. I still have a war to plan."

Selena felt her body relax following the power surge, so she sank back down into the bed and stretched out. She didn't mind the presence of the other woman, who sat at the foot of the bed like a good dog should. She smirked at the tiny goddess.

"I don't suspect you'll want to surrender and turn your lands over to me. There'd be no sport in that. The game's not over until someone begs for mercy. As for the 'stabbing,' you did that to yourself. I was expecting you to fight back, not get angst ridden and kill yourself." She grew serious for a brief moment. "When you did that, I was very upset. I wouldn't have known what to do with myself. It was good that Keel took pity on you. Or whatever you want to call it. Stupid woman. You aren't allowed to do that again. If you want to die, you go out fighting like an adult. Not by offing yourself."

"As for why I haven't been sleeping, I don't know. It's strange and I don't like it. Something's off. Maybe it's too weak for a deity to sense, but something that mortals can pick up on. Or maybe I'm going crazy. Crazier, anyway. Who knows."

She brightened a bit after that, and slid down the bed until she was seated next to Chik, bearskins still bunched up around her due to the cold climate.

"You obviously didn't come here to talk about me." She smiled and ran a finger down Chik's arm. "Other things with me, maybe! But not to talk about me in particular. You're clearly excited about whatever plans you've made. So much so that you're revealing them to your mortal enemy. Get on with it. What are they?"

[Chikara Nadir]

"Oh, nothing at all," Chikara murmured, a sucker for the light tingle of Selena's finger against her bare arm. She pulled the afghan a little tighter around her shoulders to fend off the shivering from cold and human touch. The woman wasn't very well accustomed to either nowadays. "Just a bit of a city festival. Bring up morale about the strength of our troops, get some fresh blood into the military, announce my heir, maybe have some fireworks as a late founder's day bit…I would so love to have the holiday named after me. What do you think? Day of Chikara? The Goddess' Week?"

She let her head fall to Selena's shoulder, eyelids heavy in a sign of trust..or at least she certainly felt no threat from the younger woman. She was tired, regardless, and it had been so long since she felt it was safe to close her eyes…

"Did you really worry about me, when I died? At the time I thought it was for the best, nobody would question your rule over the Labyrinth, I wouldn't have to worry that escaping back to our homeland would bring down the full wrath of the Alliance on our heads again…and besides, then you'd always owe me one." Her rival's thick chocolate hair smelt of hickory and pine, like fresh sap and winters warmed by heavily stoked fires. When she began to nuzzle into it, it was the reaction of a child loving their security blanket. "You know I never would have hurt our people on purpose…"

Despite her otherwise sluggish demeanor, the goddess snapped her arm around to grasp Selena's hand without warning, weaving their fingers together and forcing another jolt of energy into the taller woman's flesh. Selena might have felt like she had just grabbed hold of an electric eel, but Chikara only felt further drained by it, and therefore more tired than she could remember in recent weeks. "You won't win the war, Lena. There's no war to win. We both are Labyrinth dwellers respected and allowed to lead only during times such as these because either side is afraid that the other's Loddies will always attempt to attack under cover of darkness. We are shadows commissioned to fight shadows."

Chikara chuckled - not a maniacal, jackal laugh as she used when filled with dark glee, but instead a pleasant guffaw. A relaxed, human sound, if she knew of such a thing. "You are a mercenary leader, protecting barbarians from the evils of civilization and religion, while I am supposedly the religion and order necessary to fend off you barbarians. I may be immortal, but…always stepping on eggshells to ensure that they respect, rather than fear me. We battle-crazy girls, now hard-working, dutiful saviors."

Her face softened, as did her grip on Selena's hand. The goddess opened her mouth as though to make another comment, but she stopped short - and instead simply, steadily breathed.

[Selena]

All of that was very well and good, but Selena had tuned out near the start with the mention of one key word. While Chik relaxed and got cuddly, Selena grew tense again. That just... it wouldn't do. No, that wasn't fair. She'd said it like that on purpose too, the little harlot, assuming that Selena would gloss over it as easily as Chik had, but no, that wasn't how things worked. When the little goddess had finally shut her deceitful mouth, Selena reacted with her predictable explosion of rage and jealousy. She snapped her hand free and, in one swift motion, used both of her arms to pin Chik down on the bed and hover over her like a victorious wrestler. Sure, Chikara could fling her off whenever she wanted - or slam Selena into the far wall at top speed if she saw fit to do so - but the action allowed Selena to at least pretend that she was the more powerful force in the room.

"Heir? You have an heir. I am the heir. I have always been the heir. What have you done? You've named someone else as your heir? I hope you told them that I have a tendency to kill your other heirs for shits and giggles on my days off. Who is she? Is she pretty? Is she taller than I am? Is she blonde? Is it a man?"

This was unacceptable.

"What do you need a new heir for? You're immortal!"

[Chikara Nadir]

Chikara was woken back to reality by the sheer force of a woman pumped full of adrenaline borne of anger and confusion. She was being interrogated, of all things, by a girl whose strength, while tremendous, was no match for her own. Yet she let her, if only because it was amusing and she enjoyed the current company. At least for now.

"Na-ah-ah," the goddess tsked, smirking at Selena's childish behavior. She had always taken threats to her power like a child who's just discovered there is a new baby in the house…it was something to be loathed and destroyed. "You're not allowed to be jealous. The leader of Calatia hardly makes for a fitting heir of Koridai. Besides which, the only land where you were ever princess lays in rubble, if you recall?"

She slowly reached up and, rather than pulling the barbarous girl off of her in one fell movement, pressed her the palm of her hand against Selena's side knowingly, as if she saw something otherwise invisible there. "Do you remember when you were wounded here in the field and I used my spork, of all things, to cauterize it? What fools we both were. All I could think was how childish you were to have gotten yourself into that situation - rough house all you want on your own, but no getting injured on my watch. Perhaps I was angry that you weren't yet as strong and battle-worn as myself at the time, when I had such high hopes for you. Or maybe I was simply frustrated that I myself was not all powerful, able to protect my people and prove a formidable military force at the same time, all of the time."

"Now you ask me such a silly question, as why I chose an heir other than yourself? Chh." The last sound she made with her tongue against the back of her teeth, shaking her head for a moment. "You rule your own nation, Selena. You're my strongest threat, although a measly one. And while we pretend to play tea party again and again, as though we are peers - even friends - reality dictates that our true feelings for one another are only made evident on the battlefield by the steel of our blades."

"No, I will not tell you who my heir is, nor why I would choose one to begin with. You will not be given the upper hand in battle with such knowledge, nor will you be invited to whatever coronations or festivities may take place in honor of them. Let your spies do that, instead of pretending I owe you anything. Coddling is not the Loddie way."

[Dizzy]

Ooc: Here goes...!

The frigid northern winds nipped at her nose as she strained to see past the billowing flurries of snow. Struggling to stay atop her great elk, Egill, together they attempted to continue pressing through the blizzard. In a brief moment of worry and fright, however, Dizzy’s cloaked and golden head quickly turned to double check the cargo behind her. This must have been the hundredth time she checked, but she felt the same immediate state of relief to see the freshly hunted and dangling quail still fastened securely to the saddle.

Thank God…
It’d be a bitch to have to wait out all night in this weather for a chance to replenish what I’d have lost.

Albeit they were just several paces away from reaching town, it felt like many miles in the punishing and relentless snowy weather. And frankly, the sooner she reached the creature comforts awaiting for her in her beloved den, the better this night will immediately be. It certainly had been a rough few days, and for some reason, she found herself getting less and less sleep as of late. Despite their seemingly good progress, Egill gave a heavy moan of frustration before continuing to trot through the high drifts of snow.

“We’re almost there, boy. And I’ve got quite the batch of carrots waiting for you when we make it back!”

She tried her best to shout reassuringly over the wail of the winds, as being loud was generally not her nature. Dizzy’s pale fingers slid past the beasts great antler and caressed his left ear in effort to comfort him. In spite of Egill‘s increasingly frequent signs of impatience, she never truly had to worry for her elk‘s levels of discipline. He was always surprisingly mild mannered and easy to keep…

As they finally passed through the welcoming statues positioned at each side of the entrance gate, they were immediately greeted by the familiar Wanted post standing before them. Exhaustion and the cold winter breeze finally took its heavy toll, casting Dizzy’s eyes ablaze and full of water. The one thing that always helped was pulling her clock tight about herself and pressing her mitten hands over her face to ease the pain. Albeit she could only discern darkness (as she was reduced to a balled up, black fur ball on the back of an Elk), the sounds of the slumbering town at night still echoed around her…

How much longer until home?

Eventually after some time, there was stillness. Together, Dizzy and Egill came to a complete halt, as they had finally arrived at their final destination. Excited and relieved, she dismounted the loyal creature and leaped toward the snow-covered underground shack.

“Man, Egy, I’m gonna stuff you silly with all sorts of yummy--”







And there it was, staring her in the face.
A shivering letter, with a recognizably sealed military crest, weathered and pressed upon her front door.

[Khallos]

OoC: been living in a field for a week.

A slightly breathless guard was granted entrance to Khallos' office.

"Yes?" Asked the seated man.

"General Crimson, sir. He wants you to meet him immediatly, it sounded important." replied the guard.

"Hmmm, ever considered joining the Huscarls? Oh never mind, another day. Go back to your duty soldier, I presume he wishes to meet at the castle."

"It looked like they were planning on heading that way."

"They?" Khallos responded curious, "who are they?"

"General Crimson naturally, with that green foreigner and Catterick."

"Jordan of the Whirlwind Spear and Catt, very interesting. Dismissed." Khallos rose to his feet, buckled on his cloak and left for the castle's main hall.

------

Hearing the tale of Leo and what was required Khallos was not surprised, he thought it had to be about the expedition to the Cursed Lands. Returning to his quarters, he packed minimally taking a waterproof leather jerkin, a cloak and his standard combat equipment. Lugging a a winged spear freshly made by the blacksmith for him, he placed some iron rations in his horses saddle bags and mounted up. Saluting his second in command, Colonel Snorri, Khallos left Snowpeak to return to the forsaken lands he once called home.

[Selena]

"No, coddling is not the Loddie way. Tough love has a tendency to turn us ruthless, so you tell your pampered heir to watch his or her back, lest they find a knife there in a few short weeks," Selena replied.

Chikara had made no effort to move her just yet, so Selena was content with the present arrangement. What was that woman thinking? There was no point to naming an heir if she was an immortal. The last time Chikara had named an heir and refused to give up her throne had not been a pretty situation. Granted, there had been many factors in play. Chikara's mortal laziness was one of them - no matter how much Selena threatened to take over and no matter how big of a fit she threw, it seemed as if Chikara had simply grown tired as a mortal and no longer had any driving force behind her actions. But there would come a time when Chikara the Goddess would also grow bored and tired of her present ambitions. Then what would happen?

"I think you're taking this Koridai situation much too seriously. You and I are going to be kicked out of our respective kingdoms eventually. Me for being a cruel, murderous warlord. You for being that, insane, and capable of destroying mountains with little effort. We're both getting fed up with being saviors. You get locked in your towers and I can't put up with being a 'hero' for much longer before I start burning down villages for some villainous release. Apart from our sparring, and I think it's little more than that, you and I aren't having very much fun. Thus why you're always showing up here for some amusement."

Selena leaned down and smiled.

"I think we should start another society of fearsome raiders to plague the nations we've created. Turn Koridai over to Steel or that Magnus of yours, and I'll give Calatia to my officials. You know it would be fun. Rant all you like about how I'd stab you, but I had no intention of killing you that day. You did it to yourself, fool. Fighting is just so fun, but I'll promise to behave if you're that terrified of me."

Upon remembering what position they were in, Selena winked.

"Well, I'll behave sometimes."

[Twinrova]

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"

A loud chanting rang through the Mead Hall, its occupants standing in a ring around a certain young lady. It would come as no surprise that that certain young lady was Rova. She spent a large majority of her free time at the frozen bar, doing her very best to destroy her liver before the age of 25. She sat at the counter, surrounded by empty glass mugs, and was currently draining another in record time.

"Lady Rova!"

Upon hearing her name, she slammed the now empty mug onto the counter and stood up. A little dribble of beer trailed down her chin as she swayed on the spot and let out a hearty burp. The crowd that had been cheering her on parted so one of Selena's assistants could make her way through.

"Yeesss?" Rova liked Lena's choice in assistants. She was very pretty.

"You're wanted outside. Selena's sending a group up north to the Cursed Lands on a scouting mission."

"The Cursed Lands? Ughhh. Okay. Get my bear. THE BIG ONE! His name's Bill."

"Yes ma'am." Eivor hesitated. "Do you need help walking?"

"Nooooo. ..No. I'mperfectlyfine." Rova stepped forward, wobbling a little. She headed towards the door, running into a table in the process. This might have been due more to the fact that she was staring at Eivor's ass than being drunk. Or both. She clumsily righted the table and chairs and continued on her way outside. The cold Calatian air didn't bother Rova, but it had a bit of a sobering effect on her anyway. She stood outside and tried to focus her fuzzy mind on where she was and where she needed to go, and after a moment, headed off to her house to collect her things.

Bear. Glaive. Cloak. Skull. She clambered around her house, gathering up her things.

..Should she bring her skull? Yes. It might get in the way but it looked neat. And she'd spent a long time making it. What else what else what else...

...
...
...
..Ah! Flask!

Once she was ready, Rova stumbled out of her house just as Eivor returned, the biggest bear in her cavalry in tow. Rova climbed up into the special bear-saddle with her usual drunken grace and dumped her few travel items into a pouch on his side.

"'Kay Bill. Let's go." She squeezed his sides with her legs and they started walking, and suddenly she remembered something. Turning around in her saddle, she called back to Eivor, who was watching her leave and trying not to laugh.

"Hey! Where am I supposed to go?"

"The other way. Leo's at the castle informing Selena of the departure."

"Awesome! Maybe Lena'll give me a goodbye kiss." Rova signaled Bill to turn around.

Once they got there, Rova tied Bill up outside near a few horses, who shuffled away from him. She stumbled up the steps and inside, wandering around in a drunken haze until she found the others. Her eyes quickly scanned their faces and slumped when she didn't see the object of her affection.

"What'd I miss? Where's Lena?" Rova grabbed onto Leo's shoulder for support as she tripped over her own feet. "I'm not drunk I swear. Just a little tipsy. Okay REALLY tipsy."



OOC: So are Lena and Chikky gonna have sex or

[Crimson Lego]

ooc: Wouldn’t you wanna know?

As he made his way back towards Snowpeak Ruins, Leo felt a hand grab his shoulder; instinctively whirling around, he was surprised to see the owner of the hand. “Lady Rova! What a nice…surprise.” Are you sure you’re not drunk? From the rumours that spread across Calatia, the general knew that the high ranking woman spent much of her time at the Mead Hall, which was the most likely explanation for her current state.

Glancing back, Leo steadied the drunken Rova by using himself as a leaning post. “I believe Selena is in her bedroom, office, or somewhere in Snowpeak,” he replied certainly. “I was just on my way to talk to her about an upcoming mission; why do you ask, ma’am?”

[Chikara Nadir]

OOC: Not without you, Rova.

Chikara fidgeted an inch, mocking as though she were actually trying to escape Selena's grasp. She didn't mind the situation so much either - in part because she had been so close to her daughter figure emotionally and physically since they first met, and maybe, just maybe because she wanted to give Selena the opportunity to weasel a few more answers out of her. If she had it in her.

"I wish it were that easy, Lena. It would be nice to give it up and run away, rarely I even take such ideas seriously. But Koridai has only existed for two years; if I leave now they'll be left in chaos and anarchy, fighting like children over who's more worthy of control. Besides that, protecting them grounds me. Being a somewhat peaceful leader of normal mortals, many weak, young or old, is a change of pace that calms the fires in my brain. It's a symbiotic relationship."

She lowered her chin, shimmying back and forth a little to get herself comfortable in the pile of bearskin rugs. How primitive, and yet she almost liked it. "I told you that I already have burned an army and a village to the ground recently. It wasn't an invitation for you to follow my lead and trek along on a villainous adventure with me. It was a warning. Not my fault if your impertinence precedes your downfall."

"And yet…" the goddess smirked in delight, lifting a bare ankle to slide against her oppressor's thigh. She could find ways to make Selena uneasy even without putting up what little fight was necessary to escape her grip. "You sound downright obsessed with having me by your side again. With all your talk of me being lonely in my ivory towers, you're the one nearly begging for me to leave it behind and embark on escapades through the wilderness with you. I never would, of course. I trust you…well, a lot less than I can throw you. You would betray me and attempt to ravage my nation, at least until my heir tears you limb from limb. Still. Your offers are adorable."

[Selena]

If Chikara thought that little action would unnerve Selena, she was sorely mistaken. Personal space had been invaded long before then. There wasn't much else that could take Lena by surprise unless Chikara materialized some sort of extremely questionable contraption, and that had not happened. If anything, the body heat was a welcome addition to the bearskins in the snowy Calatian evening, as Selena's fireplace had died an hour before. It was comforting, in its own sick and twisted way.

Selena laughed without restraint at the last comment. "That was a good one. Oh, please, Chik, you've trained me far too well. All that near-torture I received growing up, and all the battle experience that has followed in the last several hundred years, means that I am nigh unstoppable. If you were a mere mortal, even you'd have trouble besting me. You think your heir can rip me limb from limb? I'd like to see them try. I hope you have plans beyond this 'heir' person, because it sounded like you were relying on me to kill you in the event that things get out of control. Which I won't, because that's not allowed after what happened last time."

She slid down until she was lying with a good portion of her weight on top of her rival, still confident that Chik wasn't going to move.

"You sound so pitiful," Selena said contently. "'Oh, poor me, alas, I have too much power and it would be wrong of me to be evil.' Perhaps you should figure out how to fix this deity problem of yours if things are that bad. What kind of life do you hope to live if you forbid yourself from bloodshed, villainy, and lust? Not a life worth living unless you've truly redeemed yourself, and we all know that's not the case. You can't really keep this messiah act going for too much longer. It's not you."

It was then that Selena began to gently neck her dear rival, if only to be the one that made the other uncomfortable this time around. Chik was too used to getting the upper hand on the otherwise easily flustered girl. But that was in public. Very different.

"You should be allowed to indulge once and a while, is all. You're no fun anymore."

[Twinrova]

OOC: I'll take that bait.


"In her bedroom, you say?" Rova swayed, a stupid grin spreading across her face. She seemed to be thinking hard, imagining things in her head in great vivid detail, probably. "I wanna see her before we leave. I'll go and...fetch her." She let go of Leo and hurried off towards Selena's room, the location of which she'd learned by heart, even if she'd never had the pleasure of entering it. "And don't leave without me!" She called back to Leo, her voice enchoing in the hall.

It took Rova a little longer to find her way than usual. She tried a couple doors she thought were Lena's but turned out they belonged to someone else. The shrieks of a girl in the middle of changing behind wrong-door-number-three still rang in her ears. She decided to try one last door, quite sure this was the one as she burst right in without bothering to knock.

"LEEEEENAAAAAAA! I'm going on your little mission and I--" Rova stopped dead as she noticed Selena on top of Chikara. She held the doorknob for support, her mouth hanging open, at a momentary loss for words. She blinked. Maybe she'd had more to drink than she thought.

"What's she doing here? Did she surrender? Are you guys about to do it? Can I join?" She said all this very fast. Her mouth slowly curled into that same stupid smile she'd had before.

[Chikara Nadir]

"I wan't under the impression that you liked that manner of fun anymore…" Chikara found that her voice was a murmur, her vision blurring into the shadows when both her eyelids and heartbeat began to flutter. She had felt free to relieve her urges on the occasional night guard in the Arbiter's Grounds, but tried to keep things strictly business. No emotional ties, no conversation, no desire to see them again. They tended to be promoted or demoted depending on how well she approved of their skills (in and out of the bedroom) shortly afterward so she would not need to see them again.

Give in. We've all been making bets here, don't let us down.

The goddess swallowed hard, trying to fight back her instincts and the voices attached to them without physically beating back Selena. "You…you're forgetting, Selena. Your powers will only continue to wane as my connection to you weakens, while my Koridians shall become stronger by the day. Your own days as a leader are limited."

"It's never too late to join-"

She stopped short, staring at the blinding light of torches lighting the way outside the door. A shadow which quickly revealed itself to be one of Selena's most trusted Valkyrian as their eyes adjusted, slightly wavering in their ability to stand up. Chik's extraordinary senses were yet again her weakness, as she could smell alcohol on the girl's breath from across the room.

She snarled viciously at both of them, lust instantly dissolving into wild rage. Her arms pulled free of Selena effortlessly, grabbing the Calatian's arm and flinging her so fiercely into the air that she stopped just shy of skimming the high ceiling supports.

Then Chikara was back on the floor, taking a defensive fighting stance despite being weaponless and still clothed in nothing but a dressing gown. She refused to be embarrassed…instead the petite warrior was just red faced and furious. "Never a moment's peace. Who wants to die tonight?"

[Selena]

Selena wasn't sure quite what happened, but she was able to land somewhat gracefully on the stone floor after falling from the top of the room thanks to the force of Chik's sudden cock-block rage. Selena looked at the door and saw that it was open. And there was an intoxicated Rova having a heart attack.

Selena pointed at the intruder, equally upset (if still stunned from the toss into the air). "She does! Get her!"

[Twinrova]

Perhaps it was the drink, impairing her judgement and grip on reality. Perhaps she was just stupid. But Rova merely held her hands up in surrender, her eyebrows raised at the sudden change in position.

"Whoa, hey! Nobody wants to die! Especially not me!" She stumbled further into the room, sidling up next to Selena and wrapping an arm around her waist. "C'mon, you love me, you don't want me to die. Why's everybody so upset? I see no reason why all this sexy time had to stop just 'cause I showed up."

Rova stared at Chikara, her grin faltering a bit. "She's not really gonna kill me, is she?"

[Chikara Nadir]

Chikara's rage could not be sated by surrender, of course. She didn't want to get herself all bloodied up this late at night, but she very well couldn't have the barbarians thinking she was kind or forgiving, could she?

"Maybe I am," the dark goddess replied, letting a fanged grin get the better of her. Teach this girl a lesson on when and where not to interrupt…a lesson learned the hard way.

She stepped forward once, all it took to move ten feet with the blink of an eye, and grabbed up Rova's collar with an iron grip. Pity she'd have to do this, the woman was actually rather attractive when she wasn't being stupid. "We're going on an adventure, little girl."

The door slammed shut, empty of anyone to get in its way, because without thought or reason, both Chikara and Rova were gone.





When they landed, the wail of bitter winds and the crunch of permafrost were the only sounds to greet them. Now angry AND cold, the petite goddess tossed the other woman into a nearby snowbank and turned her back, looking into the distance at something neither could quite see beyond the relentless snow flurries.

She pointed into the wind, not necessarily caring of Rova was even listening or watching. "Go that direction and you will eventually find yourself at Snowpeak again. It shouldn't take you longer than a couple of hours at worst, provided you don't freeze first or get eaten by snow panther. It will give you time to think about the repercussions of your actions…and to sober up. Drink all you'd like on your own time, but watch your intake when ambushing your own personal grim reaper. Pray to your heathen gods that we do not ever meet again."





Without another thought, Chikara leaned against the door of Selena's bedchamber, staring once again at her former protege as she attempted to remove herself from the floor. "One less nuisance. Shame I had to do that, in another lifetime that girl might have made a welcome addition to our royal court. Now where were we?"

[Selena]

'In another lifetime' had a bad sound to it, but Chikara didn't seem to show signs of using her powers - she liked getting up close and personal with the bloodsprays, after all. Granted, she could have done all sorts of horrible things at range in order to prevent herself from looking guilty. Selena should have been very concerned with the well being of one of Calatia's leaders, but, well, priorities. However, she had a feeling that there may be other intruders soon, so Selena decided to resolve that issue before it turned into another problem. She had only so many officers and leaders that could afford to go missing.

"Pardon me," Selena whispered, and gently nudged Chik off the door. She opened it until she could stick her head out, and then she looked down the hallway. A few of her attendants and personal assistants were still on duty. Good. She raised her voice until they could hear her at a distance. "Oh, Eivor? Would you do me a favor?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"I am not taking any further meetings for the night, so tell all visitors to make an appointment for tomorrow - late tomorrow. If Leo shows up asking about his mission, tell him to head north and look for anything suspicious. I'm not certain what the problem is, but my senses," Selena said, then paused to slap Chik's wandering and distracting hand away, "tell me that something has recently changed up there. The former Labyrinth members should be just fine up there if all else fails. Rova will rendezvous with his team eventually... I think. No more meetings tonight, though. Just... just tell him to go."

"As you wish. Is everything all right?"

"Fine, fine."

"It sounded like Rova was causing a ruckus. Are you sure?"

"That problem has been resolved. Goodnight!"

And with that, Selena slammed her thick wooden door shut and latched the lock. Then latched the secondary lock below that one. She then turned to face her rival, and she tried to look intimidating, going so far as to take several paces forward with an attitude that almost indicated that Selena had every intention of causing a fight. After they had backed up a few feet, Selena became still.

"You have a lot of explaining to do concerning what just happened with my public relations and mead stock specialist, but either way I'm sure you've been a very bad girl. And I'm thankful for that. You see how much more fun you are when you obey my orders and give in?"

Selena smirked, grabbed Chik by the waist, making sure to sink her nails into skin, and hoped that obnoxious warriors under her command would just mind their own business for a while.

--

And, much later, after waking back up from her temporary slumber, Selena faced a new dilemma. Relocating her clothes. She leaned over the side of the bed and found her belt, her ~right~ boot, and socks. What the HELL would she do with socks?

Oh, where the hell had her sleeping shirt gone to? This was why she preferred to sleep naked on most nights. Less trouble. Not looking back, she kicked the other woman's thigh with the back of her foot.

"Wake up. You're going to be caught here eventually. You can go now."


ooc: There was a massive inside joke there somewhere, but only a tiny handful of people will get it, and most of them don't post in the Chronicles. ^__^

[Sir Deimos]

OOC: Oh that joke was inside alright. Also way to spoil my fun. I won't let you know my intentions next time.

[Twinrova]

OOC: Synile why the HELL would you tell them what you were planning? XD


Rova's back hit the snowbank, hard, and she heard something crack. She tumbled down to the ground and landed in a heap all tangled in her cloak. Nothing felt broken... She wriggled around for a minute while Chik spoke, finally extricating herself from that feathery mass just in time to catch which direction her kidnapper was pointing.

"Alright then, Ms. Grumpy Gills." Rova said to the wind, as Chikara had already vanished. "...Motherfucker!" She'd begun the process of trying to figure out where that crack came from when Chik threw her, and she'd just discovered her precious skull-mask was broken. What a bitch! She sat in the snow and pouted for a few minutes, still not sure why her appearance should've caused so much rage. Three was always better than two! Now she'd have to make a new mask. Or wear a different one. Dammit! That one was her favorite.

With a sigh, Rova got up, stumbled a little, and began to walk. Women.


---


A couple hours later, Rova's eyes could finally see the big shadow of Snowpeak Ruins, with smaller shadows around it marking the rest of the capital. She couldn't make out any details through the heavy snow storm, but she was relieved she'd been heading in the right direction, at least. She'd long since emptied her flask, and the alcohol's influence was just now starting to wear off. She'd made the journey relatively unscathed, minus a new collection of bruises from the number of times she'd tripped and fallen down, not to mention Chikara's little tantrum. She soon re-entered the city, considerably less inebriated and rather cranky.