Upon the Eyes of Elemis (Accepting Profiles)

[Randomly Gone Insane]

Since the dawn of humankind, when the ancients killed with nothing but sticks, rocks, and bones, humanity struggled to survive. The lands were harsh and filled with many dangerous creatures they killed and devoured man like easy prey. Mankind was struggling to survive at it's low point in the food chain, and progression in life was at a halt.

Then, something changed. When humanity was on the brink of extinction, ten dragons descended from the heavens and approached man. The dragons did not wish to see humanity wiped off the face of Chels, as they saw great potential within the struggling species. Knowing mankind would never survive on its own, the dragons granted a gift to man.

Power.

The new power grew within mankind, giving men a new sense of strength and authority over the lands that wanted to erase them. At will, individuals had control of the land around them. They could command it to do their bidding, follow their will, and shape to their form.

Man, who once was nothing more than prey, was now a predator. The individuals who were granted this new found power of the elements became known as elemi, and the dragons who granted these new elemental powers were revered like Gods.

Since then, humanity rose up from the slaughter and the shadows, and became the dominant species in Chels. Civilization in the untouched lands began, and the population of man spread across the entire continent. Nothing stood in the way of humanity's path now.

Nothing...

---

Mount Elemis, recognized as one of the oldest landmarks in Chels' history. The active volcano has bubbled and brewed magma and lava since the beginning of recorded history, and quite possibly since the beginning of everything. Unlike many of it's sister volcanoes though, Elemis never erupts. Perhaps because of this, and the mountain's massive size that raise higher than any other mountain, is why man decided to live in the desolate land of what was now called Strunmah.

Near the mouth of the volcano, stands a monastery that was carved in the side of the mountain by ancient humanity. Its purpose is shrouded in mystery and lore. No one is freely granted access into the stone halls of the ancient building, nor are they allowed to see the monks who live quietly within.

Up above the ancient monastery, one of the monks stood right at the mouth of Elemis, almost on the verge of stepping or falling into the lava that she stared down in to. She was quiet in her trance, her eyes never leaving the lava that burned and boiled below. Despite the massive amount of heat one would feel, she showed no signs of discomfort.

"What are you doing up here?" A voice asked from behind the monk. She turned her gaze from the lava and looked at the much taller and large monk who walked up the stone steps that lead to their location from the monastery.
"Astaroth is asking for our presence in the war room." He informed as he drew closer. "You know that."

She quietly stared at him, and gave a subtle nod in acknowledgement to what he said before her gaze returned to the lava below.

The monk's brow furrowed with worry. His sister was a quiet one by nature, but something in this silent session didn't feel right to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked, quickening his haste to stand beside her. She gave no answer, and he looked into the lava, desperate for answers he couldn't find. "Has something changed? What's wrong?" He asked her again.

"I'm not sure..." She answered him quietly, her gaze never leaving the lava.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" The other barked. He grabbed his sister by the shoulders and forced her to face him. "What the Hell happened?!"

She looked at him dully, unalarmed by his panic or actions. She turned her gaze to the side of the mountain, and pointed at the ground.

There was a slight disturbance as something had climbed up the mountain.

Or down.

"No.." The large monk loosened his grip upon his sister, as he stared at the trail. "Does this mean--"

"Yes. It does." She answered him before the question could be finished.

"He's growing stronger. And we're still unprepared for him."

"What... What are we going to do?"

"...I don't know..."

---

At the moment, his forces were stuck on the peninsula just outside of Ortme to the North West. Taking control there hadn't been much of a problem for the Light, especially since Dilon was to join in after the attack on Anocona to defend this small part of land Silvius controlled. The young Jun was just wishing his enemy hadn't swept in so quickly and put a stop to his assault. He had Anocona in his grasp, and then the Dark forces just chased him out. Luckily, they didn't pursue him across the gulf to his small hold.

Silvius sighed in his tent, hunched over a table and glaring down at the map laid down before him. His blockade of the Krif Islands were still holding, at the moment, but his latest report indicated that the border separated Pindaar and Sot was coming under fire. It seemed Malandra wanted to shove back, now that she had Astaroth backing ******** bastards..." He growled under his breath, his glare burning holes into the map where Pyrius was marked.  

[Zahzi]

Astaroth stared down towards Dilon, where his Adversary had set up camp. He had placed his current base atop Mount Elemis for both short distance from his capital, and the vantage point to see enemy troops far before they were even a danger to Sot.

Atop the mountain, harsh winds blew away from the mouth of the volcano, carrying ash and debris. Most needed to brace themselves for this kind of Atmosphere. This was home to Astaroth, and many soldiers around him, whom had no troubles where they stood.

"Astaroth." Darian said, after clearing his throat.

"What is it, Grimm?" Astaroth asked, still staring down.

"I have a report from the Krif Islands. They will be...Delayed." he said, after a pause.

"How long?"

"It should not take too much time. I dispatched a small group of our forces to reduce their blockade to cinders before too long." Darian replied, giving a chuckle.

"Good." Astaroth said, nodding.
"Their support will be more than just a dagger in Silvius' back..."


Within the Dark Encampment, Barix stood in front of a practice dummy, staring at it intently before he began attacking it with his fists, the dummy convulsing from each solid hit. After twenty seconds, tears began forming on the dummy, before it began spilling out the sand that was within around it.
"....Booooooooorred....." he groaned, making the dummy drop on a previous one as he set another up.

----

"Staring at a map will not bring them down, Silvius." Cain said, looking over at the Jun, sitting down, his hands clasped on the pommel of his blade, which was pointed and digging into the ground.
"And did you really think he would sit back while you attacked Sot?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vos sat down outside one of the main tents, looking at a picture locket, staring at the image, before closing it. He would periodicly open it once again before closing it once more every now and then in silence.  

[cptflint]

A quick gust of wind signaled Flint's landing a few feet outside of the tent, having returned from the rear guard just in time to catch the end of their conversation. "And now all of Sot thinks he's a dammed hero," he added as he entered the tent. "You should be home defending your borders Silvius."

Dojime was working metal, doing repairs on the armor and weapons of anyone who needed it. Currently he was working on a shield. The sound of his fists hitting the steel rang out through the camp as he worked, and the crack in the shield slowly started to close, bending to his will. Once he was done he tossed it to the soldier. "Next!"  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"I know, Cain..." Silvius muttered in reply to the old mercenary. He glanced up at the old man and gave a heavy sigh before returning his gaze to the map.

"I'm just trying to figure out how he caught us." He studied the map more closely, looking around Anocona's surrounding area. "He's so far away from the city.. There's no way he could just moved when word got out of our attack." The young Jun sighed, growing tired of being in his current location and situation. Things needed to change..

A sudden gust tore the Jun's attention from his map and to the outside. No surprise, the winds were caused by Flint whom Silvius had mixed feelings about. He was a great soldier, and could get the job done. But sometimes, Silvius just wanted him to go away. Permanently.

"Yes, I'm aware Sot has officially chosen a side now." He sighed in response as his eyes looked back at the map where the border between his lands and Sot's laid. "I have forces defending our borders. They will hold. And if not, then I'll send reinforcements."

From a distance, Tret watched as the Crimson Elemi kept himself occupied with the small locket he wore, and would often hide out of sight from others. It was cute, seeing him so bashful and secretive about the piece of jewelry at times. But it brought a sense of bitter pain as well that Tret related to. The loss of family was a hard thing to swallow.

Metal clanged, and Tret flinched in surprise. The hawk on his shoulder flew from his shoulder and into the skies. He growled in some anger, but let the creature go. No doubt it was getting hungry anyway.

Tret looked back to his crimson friend, still finding him fiddling with the locket. That damn elemi looked depressed, it was absolutely...

...Well, depressing.

A sudden idea came to Tret's mind. Arboth's training reminded itself in him, and the Electric Elemi got a dangerous idea and rose up his hand. Sparks came from his fingers as his grin widened while he watched Vos lose himself within the jewelry.

In an attempt to lighten his fellow soldier's spirits, Tret sent a light jolt of electricity at Vos. Nothing to seriously hurt or cause damage. Just enough to.. wake him up.

---

Leorine watched the brute quietly, taking a minor note of how he destroyed yet another practice dummy. She made a minor note of the destruction. At this rate, they'd run out of sacks and the others would never have an opportunity to train.

She batted her eyes, jerking her attention back to the task at hand. She had orders from Darian that needed to be see through.

"Barix," she addressed the brute as he replaced the destroyed dummy with a new one. "Are you able to listen? I have orders and wish to speak with you."  

[SoujiAtsumi]

There went another practice dummy. Boris watched the older male with a dull expression, it was the only thing to do right now really. He had practiced a bit but grew tired of that fast, he also thought to find some beasts to kill but was too tired to get up. To put it simply the boy was just being lazy and using the heat as an excuse. He perked up a bit however when he heard Leorine speak, curious about what orders she had, even if they weren't for him.

It was something to do at least.

Elsewhere in the encampment an explosion could be heard before blue smoke started to pour out of a tent, followed by a man in a white jacket.

"That went horribly wrong." Fidel coughed, glancing back at his smoking tent. Nothing was on fire, save for a mixture in a bowl which would soon simmer down. "It was an interesting reaction though, I'm sure I can use it." He hummed happily, clasping his hands together with a hidden smile.

A black and white dog looked up from where it was laying outside his tent, snorting at the man before laying her head down to go back to sleep. "Well I can. The smoke is a nice color." He moved over to pet the dog before glancing back at his tent. It'd be a while until the smoke cleared...  

[Zahzi]

"It would not be a stretch for Astaroth to have agents all around. A single messenger can bring word to an army long before an attack." Cain replied, still sitting as he was before.
"...And you were not exactly subtle with the attack." he added, before Flint entered the room.

"Ah, Dalichid!" he chuckled, slowly rising to his feet.
"I take it you have news from your post, then?" he asked, sheathing his blade.

At the shock, Vos jumped back off of the chair and landed on his back with a solid 'thud'.
He stared up at the sky, his eye twitching.
"...Ow..."


"Yes, I am listening." Barix said, still hooking the dummy up.
"Anything is better than just sitting around..." he grunted, before looking back at her.
"What are our orders?"

Darian looked over to where the explosion occurred, tilting his head at the sight of blue smoke.
"Well! That's new." he said, before looking back to Astaroth.

"And since you are busy being stoic and all, I'll go see what that was." he chuckled, walking off.

"........"

"So...What did we do this time..?" Darian asked, looking from the smoke to Fidel.  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

Silvius looked at Cain warily. Spies were always a possibility, and a factor to be aware of, in any war. But could Astaroth root them in so quickly..?

"If I wasn't subtle, the Malandra would have been prepared for my attack." The Jun argued against Cain's opinion on the matter. "Her forces wouldn't have been scrambling the city wouldn't have been in my immediate reach."

"Heeeeeeeeyyy buddy~" Tret's voice cooed between snickers as he walked up to the Crimson Elemi, a grin plastered on his face.

"...How are you feeling this morning, Sparky?"

---

"Glad you're interested." Leorine responded dully. She glanced around the area, noting the soldier's presence. The more the merrier.. She thought as she cleared her throat, the dry air of Strunmah wrecking havoc on her body.

"Well then, if you two ar--" An explosion interrupted and paused Leorine's request, and the Sot soldier immediately looked to the rising blue smoke with curiosity and irritation. No surprise the jester Crimson was responsible for the explosion. Leorine grunted at the mess, and turned her attention back to Barix.

"As I was saying, the enemy has set up a blockade on the Krif Islands to delay our supplies and island soldiers from reaching the main land, and us." She explained, her gaze shifting between Barix and Boris so that it was clear she spoke to both of the soldiers.

"Darian has asked that I prepare a team and end this blockade. Are the two of you interested?"  

[SoujiAtsumi]

"Oh, hello sir." Fidel straightened up when he heard Darian approaching, glancing once more at his tent. "Just a minor miscalculation with a mixture is all, nothing to worry about. Sorry about the commotion." Though he had speculated that the mixture would fizzle and spark, the mistake was anything but minor seeing how it blew up instead. "I think it's a good thing though. This would make an excellent smoke screen don't you agree?"

Boris tilted his head slightly as he listened to the conversation before it was interrupted with an explosion. "The hell..." He murmured, looking towards the smoke with a scowl. There wasn't any signs of fire so there wasn't anything to get panicked over; most likely just the Crimson doing who knows what. Shaking his head, Boris looked back to the blond, listening closely since he was part of the conversation now.

"I'll go, it sounds better than sitting around here." His family would be safe while he was gone so there was nothing to worry about, at least he could practice with his powers on actual people if he went.  

[cptflint]

"Most of the men made it back. The enemy did not pursue us very far. They seem to be more interested in advancing into Pindaar then attacking us here," he answered. "It's relatively quiet on the other side of the gulf actually."

A sword was next in his list of things he needed to work on. This action was a bit quieter, as he ran his fingers up and down the edges of the blade, sharpening it better then any stone could. He held it out to the soldier in question. "Careful with it... you could shave with that if wanted to."  

[Zahzi]

"Not to mention the entire attack on Anocona was rather... Erroneous." Cain grunted.
"If you had reaffirmed the evidence you had over Astaroth, she might be our ally now." Cain told Silvius before looking to Flint.

"I see. It's clear they're more focused on forming up and biding their time than thinning their ranks." he grunted.

"Go get some rest, Dalichid. You've earned it."

One arm slowly raised into the air, the middle finger raised as well.
"Friggen' hurt...."

---

"So long as I have something to do, I have no problems with it." Barix told her, crossing his arms.
"When do we leave?"

"Hmm...Perhaps..." Darian said, staring at the smoke.
"Are you able to keep it under control, though?" he asked, looking at Fidel.

"If you can coordinate it, its effectiveness will save lives."  

[Randomly Gone Insane]

"I don't need more evidence. Those people are being found all across Strunmah, heading for the b*****d's capital!" Silvius barked angrily. "Even if it isn't his actions, someone under his supposed watch is kidnapping those people. But can he bothered to give a reason or explanation, or even investigate why people missing from every city in Chels are appearing in his territory? No. The b*****d just ignores me and acts like nothing is happening." He sighed, clenching the sides of his table and gave Flint his chance to give in his report, which he barely listened to. He wasn't surprised to hear they weren't pursued. Astaroth was a defensive b*****d and Malandra was pushing on his borders, not Dilon's. She probably wanted to sack a city rather than pursue this part of the army.

"Yes, rest," he mumbled, repeating Cain's words to appear as if he had been listening in detail. "I need nothing right now."

"Aw, don't be like that." Tret frowned as he touched his index finger to Vos' middle, and pushed.

"I was only trying to cheer ya up, buddy. Honestly, you were starting to form a big enough cloud over your head I could draw electricity from!"

---

"Excellent." Leorine nodded to the two soldiers upon their agreement to work.

"We leave as soon as possible, preferably. We mustn't delay destroying the blockage. We'll need all the support we can get if Silvius continues his bold marching and full scale attacks upon us.

"If you have anything you need to gather, then I suggest you do so now. We can discuss our first move in a moment." She said before glancing back at the mountain behind her. Astaroth's figure could still be seen standing up there, doing who knows what. Leorine sighed and turned her attention back to the soldiers in front of her.

"Meet here in ten minutes." Leorine departed immediately, walking towards Darian and the Crimson Elemi he spoke with.  

[cptflint]

Flint frowned, wanting to give some input or some advice as he usually did, but he knew it would go about as well as it did all the other times. It was quiet literally like preaching to the stones and he was finding himself starting to care less and less each day. "I will not be far..."

Flint left the tent only to find Tret hassling Vos no to far away. "If you make him explode I'm sure it would be justified," he said as he approached the two of them, frustration clear in his tone and expression.

Dojime was now looking over a set of armor. Many of the pieces were split or punctured by arrows. "This... will take some time..."  

[SoujiAtsumi]

Boris nodded slightly in understanding. He doubted that by the time they got back the Light army would have managed to reach the capital, right now it seemed like they were just using up their energy. "Yes ma'am." He nodded again before heading back to his tent to pack. He knew it would be good to travel light and take what food and water he could.

"It'll need some tweaking but I should be able to. This much came from only a small amount so next time I'll have to make sure the measurements aren't too large." He wouldn't want to cover the whole camp with smoke after all, especially with how think it was. There was also the problem of the explosion during ignition...Fidel looked away from the blue skinned man when he saw someone approaching them. "Oh hello. No need to worry, it's just some smoke."  

[Zahzi]

"Just remember. When history is written, it will show you struck at someone for asking a question." Cain grunted.

"Nevertheless. What is our next move, Silvius?" he asked, walking towards him and looking down at his map.

"Riiiiiiiiiight...THAT'S where the shock came from..." Vos groaned, hearing Flint.
"THINKIN' about it........Sooo....What's got you annoyed..?" he asked, slowly getting up.

---

Barix nodded as Leorine left, making his way towards his tent. So long as he was able to fight, he didn't care where this mission took him..

"Don't feel rushed, just make sure to take your time with this. Don't want it to be a hazard to someone's heath." Darian chuckled as Leorine approached.
"Ah, Miss Lowon!" he called to her, giving a gentlemanly bow.
"How goes the preparations for your mission?" he asked, rising.  

[cptflint]

"Feeling a bit unappreciated and unwanted," he answered. "I do as much as anyone else and I do it for less and he still sees me as a nuisance. He won't listen to anyone. He's rash with every choice he's made..." he started to rant. "I'm afraid without a cooler head we won't win this war... it is a good thing we have Cain..."

The clanging sound started to ring out from Dojime's station again as he began to work on the armor, sounding very much like stone striking steel.