Encouraging Crowd

Name: Encouraging Crowd 
Category: Fighter
Class: Warrior

Description: Confidence and encouragement can help anyone, but they aid the warrior on a different level. The warrior only has to feel the presence of allies to perform better in combat.

Result: +1 to each stat for each ally within a 20ft radius. Maxes out at 6 allies. 
Duration 5 of your posts


Devotion Required: 2 in Warrior, 3 in Fighter
Memory Slots: 1


Required Attributes
Agility: None
Precision: None
Resilience: None
Strength: None


Stamina per Use: 50


Word Count to Learn: 500

Edgardo hated the cold. All he could think about as his huddled in his cloak in the back of the discount carriage was how he hated the cold. The letter he had received several weeks earlier was in his pocket, right where the gold he had saved up should be, had he not had to have come all the way to the North for some silly venture that would probably turn out to be nothing but a waste of time, another greedy fool wanting to go to another cursed cavern. He had given that life up a long time ago,  and he didn't want to go back.

The carriage jerked to a stop. The driver looking over his shoulder and grunted, telling Edgardo that it was time to get off. He grumpily jumped off of the shoddy wooden vessel, eager for the warmth the tavern would provide. Trying not to step in the muddy slush that covered the outside grounds, he quickly walked to the door.

Entering the tavern, he was immediately hit by a blast of warm, comforting air. He lingered in the doorway for a moment, enjoying the conflicting feelings of the warm and cold air mixing. After stepping inside, he quickly spotted the table described in the letter. Or at least, he could guess it was the one.

It had seemed that he had arrived late, as there were several people already seated around the thick wooden eating platform. Edgardo cased them as he strolled over to the group. One creepy figure shouded in a billowing cloak, with smoke literally billowing from beneath it. What fun, Edgardo thought. Not even gotten to introductions yet and i already have that feeling. Accompanying the strange smoke man was some waif wearing an excess of eyeshadow, a wannabe hedge knight, and an egghead, by the looks of it. Edgardo was filled with apprehension, less than eager to sit down. Oh well, at the very least I'll try and get them to pay for my dinner, he thought, as he sat down at the chair farthest away from the smokey man he could find.

Watching each one of them enter, one by one, and one after the other, the Seer smiled to himself. It seemed they had all decided to show up. Good.
There were four in total. Four was a good number, but it was a pity it could not have been seven, one for each land. Moving past that, the Seer glanced around at them, each having taken their seat.
The first one had been the only one to talk, speaking to the Seer, making some sort of joke, as if this were a romantic occasion. Humans and their humor were strange. Still, he had assembled them, and hearing no one else talk, the duty fell upon him.
"Well, it seems that you have all decided to attend," he would start with, his hood falling over his face as he was used to. "A wise choice, if you seek your future. Now, you are all no doubt wondering why exactly you received the letter I sent to summon you here, and I will tell you."
Ah, but where to start. When you gather some of the only capable people on the planet, you do not just tell them they will become legends, no. Perhaps, an explanation of why it them that will become known, and not any of the others. Why not? He already knew the inevitable outcome, regardless of how eloquent his following speech was.
"You may not believe what I will tell you, and simply think me a mad, old, strange man, but it does not matter. You simply are to be told, what you think is your own choice." A good start, he thought to himself.
"You are not the same as the world around you. Every face you look upon, other than the four of you, is not capable of what you four will be. They walk upon this earth, but they cannot conquer it. They live and they die here, but they do not understand. You four, though, you will be, and already are different. You four will soon find yourselves growing stronger, and faster, and wiser than any other being you have met. Where the bravest of knights may only be able to face five men at a time in combat, you will find yourselves able to fight twenty. Where the strongest of sorcerers may be able to blast a person against the wall with their mind, you will find yourselves able to lift a castle without touching it; if you set yourself to do so.
"You will not be the only ones, though. However, you are the first; you are the beginning of a new era of humans. You many take this news how you wish, and you may choose to believe me or not, but eventually, you will find my words to be true. If you use your power to become the mightiest of kings, or the cruelest of warlords falls upon you, but you will be different from all others, and so will those who follow behind you."
Perhaps that was a good speech, perhaps not. It had been a good few decades since the Seer had been forced to talk to people directly, and it seemed he may have lost his touch in doing so. However, he knew that every word he had said was true, for the title of Seer was not given arbitrarily.
With the last words, he lifted his gaze slightly, allowing his eyes to sweep across the four before him, seeing if any would speak out or have a reaction.

As each person walks in, Cedric has a different reaction.

The first, a knight who seems not so eager to be here, sits next to the hooded man. Cedric pouts at him, and is about to say something about how he's interrupting his date when a second man walks in.

As the man walks over, he seems at a loss for what to do (must not know what to say in front of these new people), he nods at each of them, and takes a seat one down from Cedric. Looking at these two who have also come forth, he wonders what they have in common. He wants to say something but he lets it go, anticipation is the best part of every surprise after all. After a minute or two of pure silence, another man walks in.

First thought: What the hell is going on with his hair? He also looks kind of pissed off. Must not like the cold, and judging by his clothes he's not prepared for it either.

The pompadour walked over to the table and sat at the very end, which one of us is making him uncomfortable? Probably Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Fantastic.

The hooded figure looks up, and begins speaking.

By the end of his speech, they all had different reactions it seems. Cedric smiled, like a child who just got told he could have any toy he wanted, and he laughed.

"Fantastic! This is much more entertaining than I thought, although there are a few questions." Cedric looks directly into the hooded figures eyes, not once wanting to call him a man. He's no man, Cedric knew that much.

"What are you exactly, and why us? We're all very different just from our entrances alone, is there something that binds us? Do we all have the same pair of slippers at home, do we each of a skill of great importance?" Cedric cut off further questions in order to hear the answers, and to give the others a chance to speak. He couldn't stop his giddiness. Oh! This was the excitement he'd been looking for.

He looked over the people he was sitting with again, the knight and his serious face, the fellow who sat next to him who seemed like an old friend, and the pompadour. What an adventure this turned out to be, he can't keep the smile off his face.

Ivan watched carefully as two other men entered the Lodge and took seats at the table. All the while his hand resting uneasily on his sword.

The first man seemed to be in a good mood and nodded at the others as he took a seat. Ivan payed the newcomer little attention and instead went back to staring at the door.

After some time had passed another man entered the room. He lingered in the door way as if relishing the warmth of the lodge. It was a moment before he came to take a seat at the farthest seat from the hooded man. Ivan immediately disliked this man; everything from the way he walked, to his hair, to his clothes screamed of a man way to full of himself.

Ivan was distracted from looking at this new fellow when the hooded man began to speak. Ivan listen carefully and almost didn't believe what he heard. But he was open to new ideas so he decide to go with it for now.

After the hooded man finished talking the blonde guy spoke up and jabbered off a string of questions that Ivan could barely follow.

When the man finally stopped to take a breath Ivan slipped a knife out of a fold in his cloak and slammed it point down in to the wood of the table and turned to look at the hooded man. deliberately he asked the man one question.

"And why should we believe you? Who are you to us?"

Archea had chosen a seat one away from another man of blond hair, with a somewhat elfish appearance. Though that was really all he knew at that point (that he had blond hair and an elfish appearance), the guy gave off a friendly vibe and Archea was seemingly drawn to him. He would’ve thought more on that feeling if not for another person entering into The Lodge.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the entering person’s large, black pompadour, which personally, he had no taste for. As the newcomer approached, Archea could also sense a bit of judging going on. But he didn’t want to be one to immediately assume a bad person and so changed the topic in his head.

Next, his eyes traveled to the knight sitting directly next to the person who started this all. The knight didn’t seem too eager to be there; neither did Pompadour Guy either, really. Only Blond Elf seemed to be enjoying his time. As for himself, Archea couldn’t decipher his feelings: perhaps a mix of trepidation, excitement, and maybe a little bit of confusion.

Before his mind wandered too far off course, the cloaked figure began to speak. The speech itself was simple enough, but it also held so many things difficult to comprehend. We are different? Archea glanced at the other three seated at the table, trying to gauge their reactions. Everything the strange man had said circled around and around in Archea’s head. Stronger. Faster.  Wiser. Not five men but twenty. Moving castles. New era of humans. What? Archea was confused nonetheless, and his emotions became even more of a mess. Excitement. He felt excitement, definitely. But a lot of apprehension as well – what the hell could all this mean? The combination of the two made him a bit jittery, in a "dangerous thrill" sort of way.

The sound of Blond Elf’s voice broke Archea out of his reverie. He sounded very enthusiastic and lighthearted. He even made jokes as he fired out question after question. It calmed Archea a little bit, to know there was someone completely at easy in the situation. When Blond Elf grew quiet, the Knight presented his own questioning. “And why should we believe you? Who are you to us?” Archea nodded his head a bit too eagerly in agreement with the Knight’s questions.

“This is all very exciting and such. But. I feel to truly believe you, we need more information – who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? I mean. I don’t really want to be signing my life away to the devil, you know?” Archea’s left leg started bouncing up and down in anticipation as he spoke. He had sit still for too long – he needed movement. “Also. Who are we? I mean. I know who I am. Who are we to each other?”

Archea suddenly whipped his body around to Blond Elf. “You. Hello. Who are you? I mean, what’s your name? I’m Archea Altair. Nice to meet you.” Archea swept his eyes over the rest of the group. “If we're really supposed to believe Mr. Cloak, we should get to know each other in entirety. That means you too, Mr. Cloak.” He wagged a finger at the hooded figure, then turned back to Blond Elf so as not be rude.

Suddenly, Archea was feeling much better. The thrill of a new adventure was rising in his blood and he finally felt he was ready to take it on.

((OOC: Archea taking the initiative, wooh, and finally becoming talkative.))

Edgardo was unnerved by the thing behind the hood. He wasn't sure what kind of being it was, let alone the gender of it. It's voice was like thousands of voices, young, old, speaking in tandem,  but calmly, quietly. None of the others seemed to be bothered by the smoke radiating off the Hooded One. Now that he looked closer, all the others had a sort of shimmer around their bodies, like you see   on a road on a particularly hot day. Quickly looking around, none of the other patrons seemed to notice anything strange. In fact, none of them were even looking their way. They were even ignored by the servers.

Unnerved, he turned back to face the others. One thing was for certain, what the Hooded One said was true, they were all different. If the aura around those at the table was any indication of how different they were, he wasn't sure if the Hooded One was even human.

The others all took their turn speaking after the Hooded One was finished, each forming questions on one subject or another. Taking a closer look at them as they spoke, Edgardo realized he had mad several mistakes in his initial evaluation of the others. Eyeshadow turned out to not even be wearing any, it was just the way the light fell. He was actually quite handsome, his golden locks framing his angled, elvish face. Edgardo decided to call him Goldie.

The hedge knight seemed to be on edge, or trying to intimidate the Hooded One to the extent of slamming a dagger into the table. The bartender would be pissed at that, he thought. Despite seeming to have a perpetual stick up his arse, he had a certain feel to him, a dangerous one. The knight deserved more attention.

The Egghead defied all expectations by actually being authoritative and outspoken when his turn came, which surprised Edgardo. He liked him immediately, actually deciding to call him by his actual name: Archea.

Edgardo noticed that it was his turn to speak, looking around and seeing many of the group casting glances at him. All except the Hooded One, who actually hadn't seemed to have moved the entire time Edgardo had been there.Edgardo shivered, partly because of the uneasy feeling the Hooded One gave him, and partly because someone had just entered the tavern, sending a chilling gust through the interior.

Edgardo cleared his throat, and unexpectedly fell into a coughing fit. After recovering after several seconds, he nervously ran his hands through his hair, trying to mold his wondrous pompadour back into shape. Trying again, he cleared his throat one more, with less vigor this time around. He turned around in his seat, yelling to the nearest server to bring him some wine, the older the better. Turning back to the others, Edgardo made ready to relay his powerful words:

"So...uh...what does this mean for us? Do we get to go off and beat a dragon's arse now or something? What's in it for us? You owe us some more explanation, your Hoodedness." Edgardo cast a nervous glance around and leaned forward. Lowering his voice, he asked the Hooded One:

"Also, uh..do you know anything about curses and the lot? Crazy spirits, poltergeists, junk like that?  No reason for asking, just curious is all..." Edgardo looked nervously around at the others again, sitting back in his chair and accepting a glass of wine from a server.

The wine was more water than anything else, not unexpected from a place like this, but a bad omen for sure. Thin wine means thin blood in your future, and Edgardo figured that he...they...would need to have some pretty thick blood to weather the coming storm.

Avis shouldered her way through a lodge door, desperate to escape the cold outside. Her feet stumbled over the landing as she entered, causing her to nearly fall, but she caught herself just in time. Smooth, real smooth. Avis thought to herself as she allowed the door to slam shut behind her. That wasn't exactly the way she would have hoped to enter a building, especially a new one at that.

Avis stepped free of the doorway, brushing snow off her shoulders and sleeves as she scanned the room. She could feel the ominous lump of the letter she had stashed in her cloak pocket. The contents had been strange and she'd had half a mind to ignore the letter completely. But for reasons she couldn't explain, she followed the letter's instructions. Now here she was, in an unknown place, standing in an unknown bar, about to meet some unknown person.

Didn't seem like the best plan, did it? Avis had come close to turning around multiple times, which might explain why she was so late, but here she was none the less.

The Lodge was fairly empty, safe a few bored waiters, the bartender, and an odd group of men in the corner. Avis stood slightly for a few moments, contemplating what she should do. After all, this could be some sort of trick. She wasn't exactly the most well-liked person in the kingdoms.

Then one of the men in corner began to speak; a strange hooded man who somehow seemed...smokey. Avis took a few hesitant steps towards the group of men, just until she was in earshot of what they were saying. Avis listened silently as the hooded figure spoke; explaining the letters and how they were supposedly great heroes or something. The words rattled through her brain as she desperately tried to make sense of it all. It was all quite confusing.

Still unsure of herself, Avis stayed still and silents as the conversation was passed around the group, starting with an energetic blonde man. She took a nervous step back as a burly knight slammed his knife down into the table. Wonder what pissed him off she thought as the next man, another blonde, spoke. Then a man with an outrageous haircut spoke up, attempting to loop the awkward group into conversation.

Avis took that chance to slowly approach the table. Her gut was telling to her turn around and walk right back out the door; she didn't have time for...whatever this was. But she continued to walk right up to the table. All the while her mind screamed, What the hell am i doing? What the hell am i doing?.

"Er, hi." she said simply in a doubtful tone. She extracted the letter from her pocket and let it drop heavily on to the table. She studied each of the men in turn before continuing. "Soooo...this is where we're meeting, huh?"

Avis cast a sly smile down at the group of men. At the very least, this might be a little more fun than her normal routine.

((OOC: sorry i'm just gonna jump in. sorry if this is a little awkward))

The Seer, after speaking what he had to, began to listen and watch the reactions of the four men. None seemed to believe him at first, and they all were very curious as to who, and some asked what, exactly he was. This was the reaction he had been expecting, but not the one he feared. None seemed outright in disbelief. That was good.
The first one to speak, also the first who had entered, seemed more happy than cautious. A strange reaction, but the Seer supposed all humans had their own way. Next, the knight, seemingly on edge and possibly dangerous. Not to the Seer of course, but the others. Then the Easterner, and lastly the pompadour man.
All their questions were relatively the same; why them, why should they believe him, and mostly who was he. He would address them all at the same time, as their questions did not differ so greatly.
Just as he was about to speak again, a fifth came in. Nervous and unsure as the rest.
The Seer bobbed his head to her, as a gesture of welcome and to take a seat, as all the others were seated.
"I see you came just in time, and overheard the reason of this. Though I do suppose that you have the same questions that everyone else does. Not to worry; I will answer," the Seer said, before beginning to answer.
"You all wonder why you four, and now you five, for as I have mentioned, you are not the only ones, you are only just the first ones. Why it is you though, I cannot exactly say. As of now, you are not very different from all the other people of this world, and the five of you have nothing so greatly in common, except your potential. You were not picked at birth by a divine force, but simply by random chance. You have no unique or greater than human powers yet, but you, and only you five and the others, have the ability to learn them.
"As for your second question, and your third; why you should believe me, and who I am, you will find that the answers are one and the same. There is a chance that some of you, perhaps as children, read stories about the immortal beings, the Seers. Those who saw the world into creation, and then went and lived upon it themselves as servants of those who deserved their power. Their name does not come without the ability to do as the name suggests; the power to foresee.
"I am such a being, able to know the future and born hundreds of centuries ago. I have known this day was coming, and that each and every one of you would arrive for a very long time, though if you do not believe just words, so I will show you, if you wish," The First Seer said, glancing around to all of them, checking their reactions.
"Strike me with a weapon, any of you, and I will prove to you that what I say is the truth," he said, finishing his speech.
He suspected that, if any of these would try to do so, it would likely be the knight. None of the others seemed to have the anger or attitude to do it. It was not very often that someone asks you to hit them with the intent to kill or maim, and even less likely that the person asked would then carry it out, but if they truly wanted to know, they could see.

Cedric smirked when the knight stabbed the table, and swung his eyes upwards to look at him.

"Hey there big guy, no need to be hostile toward the furniture." He liked the knight, he seemed to be an interesting guy, though terribly serious. He could make a great ally, or a really enjoyable enemy. Only time will tell. Then the man next to Cedric turned to him, and asked for his name. he introduced himself as Archea. He was bold, Cedric had known that before he spoke. Getting to know everyone's names was probably for the best, though he doubted he could take away Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hadsome's name away. Far too fitting.

"My name is Cedric, I don't have a last name. Just Cedric."

Archea made a snarky joke about this, and Cedric immediately enjoyed him, which was rare for the assassin. But Archea seemed to already feel the same way about Cedric, so it couldn't be that odd. More like old friends meeting again after many years apart.

"Or King Cedric, if you prefer." Cedric knew he wasn't a king, but the looks he got when he introduced himself as much were the best. Archea cracked another joke. Absolutely perfect.

Pompadour himself spoke some words, while nervously fixing his well, pompadour. Weird, he must have a hair thing. I'll take note of that for later. Cedric put the information away in his head, thinking maybe it'll come in handy in the future.

They each introduced themselves at their own ready, and honestly he could say each of their names fitted them. Except Pompadour, but he'd fix that at another time.

Then came in a woman, with what Cedric would describe as 'spunk', considering her joining the table with an offhand comment. Cedric shoots her a wink as she sits, but she probably misses it. No one's in the joking mood today it seems. Hopefully she'll introduce herself, if not Cedric will just refer to her as.... Dandelion. Her hair reminded him of the plant.

The Figure, man, what have you, addressed them all again as the woman sat down, and answered each of their questions.

His words echoed through Cedric's head, enthralling him even more than before.

"Immortal"

Cedric could feel his grin widen, this was too perfect!

"Strike me with a weapon, any of you, and I will prove to you that what I say is the truth,"


Cedric didn't hesitate, his body worked on it's own. He quickly pulled out the longer of his daggers, leaned over the table with efficient speed, and drove it right between the Seer's eyes.

Cedric leaned back into his seat and kept grinning, giggling a bit when Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome just scooted back to where he was before, the force of the blow just moving him backwards. It was like nothing had even happened to him, the dagger didn't even leave a mark! What a great surprise! Completely amazing! Cedric didn't really bother with the other's reactions, or even if they themselves tried to harm the Seer. This was fantastic! Extraordinary!

He was way too happy with his situation, but he couldn't help himself. It's not every day you meet an immortal being, and a Seer no less!

"Well, well, well. Consider me sold Mr." He winks at the Seer, "I guess that settles that for me, what about you guys?"

Ivan Ignored a comment thrown at him by blondie and continued to look at the hooded man.

His attention however was diverted when the other blonde man at the table spoke up introducing himself as "Archea" and asking the others who they were.

Blondie was the first to speak and called himself "Cedric" then made a joke about being a "king" which Ivan didn't terribly funny but it did improves his idea of blondie.

Pompadour man said something and touch ed his hair. Ivan thought to himself What the hell is with this guys and his god damn hair? Pompadour then yelled for some wine and sat back looking satisfied. Ivan disliked this man's arrogant attitude and could feel his disdain for him growing.

Suddenly the door opened again and a shifty looking women entered she looked about and asked if this was the right place. Ivan shook his head ever so slightly when he saw blonde give this newcomer a wink.

Then the hooded man spoke up after rambling on for a bit and answering some of the questions asked of him he said to "Strike me with a weapon"

Suddenly blondie lunged across the table and struck the hooded man between the eyes. It knocked back the man's head but left no mark what so ever. seeing this Ivan smiled and stood up drawing his sword as he did so. "well" he said, "that looked like fun!" and he slashed the sword at the hooded man's chest.

The voice of Blond Elf drew Archea’s attention back to the gathering. He had made a jokey comment toward the Knight and now was turned to address Archea. ”My name is Cedric, I don’t have a last name. Just Cedric.” He spoke with ease and confidence, like nothing was wrong with only having a first name.

“Okay, Just Cedric. It’s nice to meet you.” Archea grinned excitedly; he barely even knew this guy, but already felt a connection blossoming. He had a notion that “Just Cedric” was feeling it too.

”Or King Cedric, if you prefer,” Cedric spoke to him again, a light teasing in his voice. Archea chuckled at bit and decided to go along with it, “King Just Cedric it is!” If this were to turn into a friendship, Archea knew he would be more than happy to comply.

After their conversation came to a close for the time being, Pompadour Guy took his own turn to speak. His questions mirrored all the previous, but he also asked about poltergeists and the like (Archea noted that for further investigation at a later time). It didn’t look like he was too comfortable bringing up the subject, and the acceptance of wine from a server ended Pompadour’s inquiries.

Before any other words were offered, a woman approached their corner table. Archea had seen her enter The Lodge, out of the corner of his eye, but hadn’t paid much further attention. Apparently, she had been listening in all along and was now joining the rag tag group. As she bade her greeting and took a seat at the table, Mr. Cloak began to speak once again.

He spoke first of their roles in all of this, and of the changes that would soon occur for all of them. But what grabbed Archea’s attention the most was the identity of the hooded figure. Archea remembered reading and hearing tales of the Seers as a child. It had been great fun to read about, or play pretend with, but that was really all that happened. It never occurred to him the stories could be true. As Archea grew, the stories of the Seers stayed behind in his childhood.  

“Strike me with a weapon, any of you, and I will prove to you that what I say is the truth,” The Seer ended his speech with a prompt to the company. Cedric took up the charge almost immediately, stabbing a dagger right into the Seer’s face. It didn’t seem to do any damage at all. The Knight also had a go at the Seer, but his sword slash ended in the same results: nothing.

Archea chose not to have his turn. “I’ll pass,” he waved his hand at Pompadour and the woman, indicating they could have their turn if they pleased. “Seeing the results, or lack of, from Cedric and the Knight, have convinced me enough. While I am still a bit mystified about the entire thing, in general, I’m very much willing to see where all this takes us.” Archea grinned again, this time sliding his tongue through his closed teeth, which he did when he was ever particularly enthused about something.

Oh what a journey this would be, indeed.

Edgardo was slowly overcoming the feeling of uneasiness, mostly thanks to the friendly attitudes of Blondie and Archea. Blondie telling the knight to calm down was especially amusing. After Blondie referred to the knight as "big guy", Edgardo chuckled and muttered under his breath "For you..", chuckling some more afterwards. That was the knight's new name, "Big Guy".

After the Hooded One, actually, the "Seer" had finished his spiel, Edgardo looked around, waiting for one of the others to take a swing at the Seer. Not unexpectedly, Blondie and the knight both tried to do it in, but to no avail. Archea passed, motioning for Edgardo to make his move. Nonplussed by the entrance of another, whom Edgardo had neglected to give a once-over, Edgardo waved his hand, as his mouth was currently filled with the watery wine, so as to signal that he had now wish to strike the Seer. Swallowing, he coughed, saying

"I've seen enough. Put your blade away, Big Guy, we can all see that it's very big and shiny, no need to wave it around"

Chuckling at his own joke, he looked over to observe the newcomer. She was fairly wiry, and looked plenty nervous, but Edgardo could tell that she was more than capable. Of what, that remained to be seen.

Taking another swig from the swill that he had been served, he motioned for the newcomer to speak, or strike at the seer, whichever she preferred.

At the hooded man’s welcome, Avis took a seat across from the pissed off knight. As she sat, she caught the blonde man wink at her, and made a face at him in response. Returning her attention to the group, she leaned far back in her chair, so only two of its legs remained on the ground, and crossed her legs. She didn't make even the slightest effort to be proper as there wasn't a formal bone in her body.

Across from her, the bearded knight looked like he was ready to punch someone…and Avis made a decision to try as hard as she could to not be the one he slugged. The blonde man beside her—Cedric, if she’d heard correctly—seemed alright, though perhaps a little overly-optimistic. The other blonde, Archea or something, seemed decent as well, having taken up a light banter with Cedric. And, of course, there was the man with the absurd hair, which he seemed unable of leaving alone.
This was seriously the most random assortment of people she had ever seen. What the hell did the hooded man expect them to do? She rather doubted they be any good at working with each other. They probably end up at each other’s throats before this affair was over.

Well this is just lovely. Avis though sarcastically to herself. She made to speak, but decided that nothing good would come out and stopped herself. She had already held back a few snappy comments from slipping though her lips.

Then the strange, hooded man began to talk again and Avis listened intently, through rather apprehensively.

When man finished, Avis scoffed and shook her head. Yeah right. A Seer? That was almost funny, it was so unbelievable. Everyone knew the Seers were a myth, a children’s tale and nothing more. Who did this guy think he was?

But then the blonde man, Cedric, leaned across the table to drive a knife between the hooded man’s eyes and it, just, bounced off. The weapon left no visible injury to the strange man. Taken by surprise, Avis dropped her chair legs back on the ground with a thud. What the hell?

“Well that looked like fun.” The bearded knight was now grinning and in seconds he too was swinging his weapon towards the hooded man. Again the weapon bounced harmlessly off of the hooded man.

“Great.” Avis muttered to herself, not meaning for anyone to hear. “They all have a death-wish.”

Archea and Pompadour seemed a little bit wiser than the last two, passing on their chances to stab uselessly at the hooded man.

“I’m with buzz-cut boy here.” Avis sighed, the nick-name referring to Archea’s shorter hair-cut on the right side of his head. She again leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. “I’ll pass stabbing at crazy, invincible dude here.”  

Whatever this hooded man was, Seer or not, he was powerful. She had no doubt he could kill any of them easily as they would a rabbit. And here they were swinging weapons at him. She had half the mind to stand and walk out of this thing while she still could.

But either way, this journey might turn out to not be a complete bore after all. Avis was ready to count herself in, even if all these people were idiots.

Cedric, the crazy bastard, had been off on a job when Rowena received a letter talking about a somewhat suspicious summons. He did not seem sure of what the occasion of the summons was, a date or a fight. This mysterious message had worried Rowena and she had set off at once to join Cedric. On her way out the door, a strange letter much like the one depicted in Cedric's letter appeared.

"And now I really have to go" muttered Rowena.

The air around the lodge was cold and tears stung Rowena's eyes. The lodge was about a hundred feet in front of her, but Rowena was hesitant to go in. What would she find? Making herself as small as possible. Rowena slipped through the lodge door and into a gust of warm air.

The room was darkly lit, but she could see well enough to pick out a group of tall men, and one woman in the corner. That crazy bastard Cedric was smirking, and what looked like, winking? at the mysterious hooded figure. As well as anyone else who would spare him a glance, classic Cedric.

The manly-man with the beard seemed to be the most uneasy, Rowena assumed it was his knife embedded in the table. The blonde man near Cedric, who seemed fairly comfortable with him, were they friends perhaps? Seemed to be evaluating the others sitting around the table. The woman who leaned back on her chair seemed comfortable but alert. And finally, there was Pompadour who seemed flashy yet reserved. Why did she call him that automatically? She blames Cedric's influence for the ridiculous nicknames. The hooded figure was mysterious, mysterious and powerful. Sighing, she thinks Cedric probably tried to flirt with him too.

Having scoped out the situation, Rowena quietly pulled up a chair slightly behind Cedric. She gave him a nod and whispered, "Cedric" under her breath and immediately ignored his reactions. He's far too over the top.

She looked around the table, and settling her elbows on her knees gave each person a small nod.

Having come in the wrong door, Rose leaned against the wall furthest away from the table she had been invited to join. Even though she'd already come all this way following the directions of the mysterious note, she was still on the fence about joining the group. She had no idea what this meet-up was about, or what it would bestow.

She studied the characters surrounding the table, who varied greatly in appearance and mannerisms. They looked out of place sitting together at the table. There were a couple blond boys, a dark-haired man who looked a bit on edge, and a fellow with a very... large hairstyle. At the head of the table sat a hooded figure, who she found unnerving.

She listened very closely and could keep a pretty decent grasp on what was going on at the table. A a woman came in, presumably also invited, and sat. Apparently, the hooded figure thought himself to be a Seer. Though Rose doubted him at first, she watched as the blades thrown at him simply bounced off. That's a neat trick.

Intrigued, Rose stood up and began to walk over to the table. Before she could get halfway across the room, a young lady came in the door and pulled up a chair next to one of the blond boys, the one with longer hair. Did a Seer really bring together this abstract group of people? Rose fiddled with her letter in her pocket nervously as she walked.

She sat in one of the remaining seats around the table and looked around at the people. Now, seeing them closer, she had a better idea of who she was dealing with. She nodded at each of them in recognition. As she nodded at one of the blond boys, the one seated next to the young lady, he winked at her. She turned her attention to the hooded figure and left the wink unacknowledged.

The Seer watched as, surprisingly, Cedric was the one to pull out a dagger, and jab it very quickly towards the Seer. The sensation that followed was a very strange one for the First. He had been attacked before, but it had been decades, and he had nearly forgotten what it was like. The dagger hit home, and hit very hard; a blow enough to kill any normal human. However, he felt no pain when it struck, and not a single mark was left. Instead, he simply felt his head pushed backwards quickly from the force of the blow.
Recovering himself from the odd sensation, the knight, oddly, seemed enthralled by this outcome, and ripped his long sword from its sheath. He swung this towards the Seer with the strength one would expect from a knight, and the same result followed. It was a feeling of being blown about by the wind; there was no pain at all, but your body was moved and pushed around without your will. Now he remembered why exactly he rather preferred to fall dead when someone attacked him. The influence of hitting something that simply took the blow was strange on the humans.
Thankfully, the other three did not have the same urges, perhaps they were more sensible than they were bloodthirsty. However, they all seemed to expect the same thing; an adventure. He did not wish to crush their spirits, but there was no such adventure that he would lead them on. They were simply to be told; that was what the counsel had decided. Their powers were too strong to go on without their knowing, and so it was the duty of the First to inform them of such.
He looked around the table shortly, watching a younger girl, one who he had also sent a letter to, arrive, and pull up a chair next to Cedric. Yes, this must have been the man's adopted daughter that he had seen in the visions. He nodded at her when she did so at him.
Then, another came, yet another who had received a letter. She was older than the younger one, but he knew that they had both heard all he had to say. Yet, that was it, there was no more supreme intervention.
"I am glad to see you all believe my words now. However, there is nothing more. I am not the one the one to speak of a mysterious treasure that lays beyond the river, or a dragon that must be slain in a dark cave; I am simply the messenger. You all are wondering what is next, and where this will take you, but that is not for me to force upon you. You are the dictators of your fate from here on out, though, I can say what may come, not necessarily what will.
"Being.... more than the average human, each one of you will go very far in your lives, and know more power than you ever thought you could. Some of you will become kings and queens, others of you will become the most dangerous rogues to walk the earth. Some of you will bring kingdoms into peace, and others of you will wage war on the other, possibly even killing them. However, by simply telling you these things, I have already changed which of them will come to be, and in the visions of the future that Seers have, there are hundreds of other possibilities for each and every one of you," he said, looking around at them each. The night grew late, and their fate now laid in their own hands. He had done what he had been told to do. His work here was done.
"However, your path is your own, and I have done my duty by simply telling you that it will be no normal path. What road you go down now is in your hands," he said, bobbing his head towards the door, signaling that his part had come to and end, and that he would be leaving soon.
This was no children's story, where the grand wizard would lead a strange band of heroes together to defeat the forces of darkness. This was the world of humans, and the crowd gathered before him were both the heroes and the fores of darkness; the whole thing was simply perspective.

Rowena! Cedric's little angel came and sat behind him, but completely ignored he's exclamations and his attempt to hug her.

"Darling! We've discussed this. I asked you to call me Papa!" Cedric pouted as he tried to hug her but she held him back, the ever present serious expression on her face. He tried to get her to let go every now and then, but she'd only show him real, true affection when they were alone (Meaning she would let him hug her when he bought her things).

Cedric looked over to Archea, and quickly introduced the two. He knew they'd both be a major part of each other's lives, just based on the already occuring friendship between the two blonde men.

Then, oh my Gods (or I guess Goddess in this case), a beautiful woman came to sit at the table. Now Cedric does indeed flirt with everything that moves, but to be honest that's just his humor. Being an assassin required a certain amount of charisma, and the best kind was well. The not appropriate for children's, his darling Rowena's more specifically, ears.

He couldn't help winking at her, but to his surprise she didn't even acknowledge it. Playing hard to get I see, looks like there's more too you than the usual. He turned back in his seat, telling himself he'd become something to her, hopefully an ally. What would he call her anyway? He didn't know her name. He looked sideways at her, taking in her long, silver hair that reminded him of a flower. But what kind of flower? he looks back in his memory, thinking that her hair was the color of the North Roses from his childhood, how at night there petals would gleam from the light of the moon.

He smirks to himself, North Rose it is.

The Seer addressed them yet again, telling them there was no great adventure he'd lead them on. Cedric knew that, he was excited for the individual adventure he would have, thinking maybe they'd be apart of his or not. It was all such a great mystery!

Cedric smiles politely at the Seer, and turns his attention to everyone else.

"I'm sure we all have our own destinies, but I do hope we get together more than once on our separate paths."

Cedric made direct eye contact with each of them and nodded, making sure not to wink, but he was unable to hide his smile this time. He already had his destiny in mind.

Ivan sword just bounced off of the hooded man's chest making him rock in his chair. Nodding at the out come Ivan sheathed his sword and took a seat. The others at the table waved off their turns at smacking the guy.

Another women had entered the lodge and was giving their group an odd look. Just as she made a movement as if to sit down with them the door opened again and a young girl, little more that a child entered and took a seat behind blondie. The other women came and took a seat. Ivan sized her up and decided that maybe she could actually take him in a fight, unlike any of these others.

The hooded man spoke once more declaring that this wasn't an adventure only the telling of a message. Good Ivan thought i don't have to go on some stupid quest with these fools.

After the hooded man stopped speaking blondie spoke up wishing to meet all of them again. Ivan stopped him self from making a snide comment and instead decide that if all they had come for was a message, and now that message was told he might as well be on his way, he had other business that needed seeing to.

Ivan stood up and addressed the group as a whole, "well these little gathering has been lovely and i'm sure that we all enjoyed listening to mister hood here but i have some rather pressing issues that i need to attend to back at home, so fare well and uh... good to meet you guys and all that silly goodbye crap."

He pulled his knife out of the table and walked to the door, making sure he bumped in to pompadour's chair on his way out. Once out in the cold again he decided to find a place to spend the night, preferable one with out strange men with hoods and strange haircuts.

[exit]

((OOC: total topic words=996 so that 19 points. Putting 9 in memory and 10 in patience))

Approving Ivan's exit and level request.

Pompadour also chose to pass on the opportunity of taking a swipe at the Seer. Now it was the woman’s turn. Archea’s mind had taken a little trip to nowhere in the time being, and he hadn’t been giving his full attention. The woman’s reference to his hair drew him back with a snap. “I’m with buzz-cut boy here,” she said, motioning to Archea, proving he was “buzz-cut boy.” Archea was a bit miffed. He did not have a buzz cut. He muttered unintelligibly to himself and brought a hand unconsciously up to touch the right side of his hair: it was not a buzz cut. Short. But not a buzz cut. Archea frowned to himself, as always, easily being lost in his swirling thoughts.

A chair being pulled up beside Cedric attracted Archea’s attention out of the corner of his eye. A young girl now sat next to the blond man Archea had started making friends with. Cedric seemed to be trying to be affectionate to her – she was having none of it. She was young. Too young to be a lover? Unless Cedric was into that sort of thing, Archea didn’t know. Maybe a little sister?

At that moment, Cedric, almost as if he had read his mind, turned to Archea and introduced the girl. Rowena. Daughter. Oh? Adopted. Ah. Archea nodded to her and offered a genuine smile. Just as he had felt an immediate connection to Cedric, he was experiencing it again with Rowena. Only this time, it was a feeling of wanting to take care of her, no matter what, for Cedric’s sake (Archea could see how much he truly adored her), and also for his own (though he wasn’t sure why yet).

Another woman entered, albeit from a wrong door, and approached the table. She was very pretty indeed, with lustrous, flowing silver hair. Archea observed Cedric try to flirt with her, his attempts thwarted by her chosen ignorance to him. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight – if that was what Cedric was into, so be it. Archea just had different preferences, to say the least.  

The Seer took the to the figurative floor again. This time, he concluded the meeting by explaining how he was only the messenger, and there was to be no grand journey that all of them would embark on. Deep down, Archea was a little disappointed. Who wouldn’t have wanted a grand journey after hearing news like this? But he pushed the notion aside and was pleased altogether, anyway. He had met many new people, and one that would most likely be in his life for years to come. Archea was happy for that. And he couldn’t complain about returning to his forever wanderings of the known world – with all this new knowledge, the experience would be changed and he was excited to see how everything would shift.

Cedric spoke a few closing words of his own, wishing them all meet up again sometime in their lifetimes. The Knight stood up from the table, bade farewell in a somewhat awkward way, and then took his leave. Archea decided to stay put for a tiny bit longer, if only to see what the others would do and converse with Cedric on any further plans.

Edgardo was mulling over the words of the Seer when another woman entered the tavern, a small little thing that immediately took refuge next to Blondie. The two exchanged greetings, Blondie's much more affectionate than the other. Edgardo returned her nod with a smile. Just then, another woman entered. Actually, to call her a woman would be insulting, the goddess that walked in the (albeit wrong) door was the most beautiful creature Edgardo had laid eyes on, aside from himself. Edgardo beamed at her as she sat down, hoping for at least a small smile from her. However, his mirth was interrupted as the Seer began to speak again.

Edgardo was relieved and also disappointed that they had not all gathered for some epic quest, as he would not mind seeing more of these people, besides the Big Guy. As if reading his thoughts, Big Guy Grumpy took his leave from the table, grunting some crude goodbye at those gathered. Rudely, he bumped into Edgardo's chair with some force, almost causing him to spill his wine. Edgardo's grin vanished instantly, and, showing some unusual accuracy, he lobbed a thick wad of phlegm onto the aggressor's boots. The knight, wither not noticing or pretending not to, exited without a single glance back. Oh, how Edgardo would love to see him again, preferably with most of his face obscured by Edgardo's fist.

With the nuisance gone, Edgardo turned back to those still present. Sipping the last of his wine, he spoke to the seer:

"So, Mr. Smoke-and-Mirrors, any last parting advice for us poor mortals? Should I beware the ides of March, or perhaps anyone trying to sell me chestnuts? Hmmmm? Anything like that? Edgardo turned towards Blondie, "And you, I need to have a chat with you once we're done here, preferrably over more wine," Edgardo said, as he held his glass up and shaking it, signalling for a refill. He turned back to the Seer, awaiting its response.

Avis couldn't help but grin at Archea’s reaction to her comment. She had meant no offensive. She expressed this by catching Archea’s eye and casting him a smile, letting him know she was only teasing. The guy was okay.

Avis glanced up a women approached the table. She was young, still a teenager, and took a seat beside Cedric. The two seemed quite familiar and Avis briefly wondered how the two very different people knew each other. Then Cedric welcomed her, announcing himself as her dad…which served to confuse Avis anymore until she realized adoption.That made sense. The girl didn’t seem as inclined to return her adopted father’s affection.

It wasn’t long before another woman approached the table. This new arrival was a fierce looking woman who seemed to have been hanging out nearby. The newcomer was quite beautiful, anyone could see that.
Both Pompadour and Cedric seemed infatuated with the woman, and understandably so. Pompadour fascinated expression earned a smirk form Avis. Men were so petty. However, the men’s advances were seemingly ignored by the gorgeous newcomer.

Presumably, these two new people had received the Seer’s shadowy letter as well.

The new comers each acknowledged the rest of the assembly with a nod. Avis nodded to both of them in turn, a small smile playing at her lips. This group of ragtag idiots just keeps getting bigger, and bigger, doesn't it?

When the two newcomers had settled themselves, Pompadour still grinning foolishly, the hooded man again began to speak in his low, mysterious tone. His words offered no further answer to what they were supposed to do. Basically, he told them just to carry on with their lives and allow their destinies to unfold at their feet. If that was indeed the case, Avis momentarily wondered what the point had been in calling them all here if they were all going their separate ways anyway. But she brushed off the thought; it didn’t matter.

The knight seemed quite eager to leave the group as he stood almost instantly after the Seer had ceased speaking. The knight, Avis still didn't know his name, muttered something about having some important business to attend to. He uttered at awkward good-bye before making a B-line for the door. He quite obviously knocked into Pompadour as he took his leave, and Pompadour’s disdainful look was quite clear.

The Cedric spoke up and Avis cast him a sideways look as he wished them all to meet again. She wasn’t sure if she agreed with his comment, but she couldn't deny she liked this people somewhat. Compared to most people she encountered, these people were angels.

Archea too acknowledged Cedric’s words and Avis could sense the friendship already forming between the two. Unlike the knight, Archea seemed content to stay where he was.

Pompadour too remained sitting, addressing both Cedric and the shadowy Seer. Avis felt a prick of curiosity at his questions. She wouldn't mind hearing the answer…plus she had nowhere to go. Unlike the uptight Knight, she had no matters to attend to.

“Well, then,” Avis said grinning around at the remaining party members, not relinquishing her lazed position. “I must agree with Mr. Big and angry; this has been quite lovely…I hope you guys don’t mind if I hang for a while.”

Her voice was light and her smile playful. Whatever was going to happen, she wanted in. Not for any reason other than she had nothing else to do and this was the most interesting thing to happen in quite a while.

Cedric's ridiculous quest to get Rowena to call him papa was one she was experienced in ignoring. What came out of his mouth next, however, she paid close attention to. It seems the blonde man with whom Cedric had seemed so familiar, was Archaea. They had not previously known each other but were on a fast track to becoming good friends. Rowena had a feeling that they would be seeing a lot more of each other and she gave Archaea a wide smile.

Rowena looked up just in time to see a beautiful woman with long silver hair walk over to the table from the wrong door. She looked at Cedric, the man whore, expecting him to wink. He did, but behind the wink was something more. Rowena made note of this so as to discuss it with him. She was unsure on what a new parental figure in her life would be like.

As she was thinking this, she noticed the fool with the pompadour also giving the new women a look. Cedric may be ridiculous and flirt just a bit too much, but he was a deadly assassin. Pompadour better sleep with one eye open if he plans to make a move on who she was already beginning to think of as Cedric's lady.

Mr. Mysterious, Rowena knew that if she had grown up in a different household nicknames wouldn't roll quite so easily of her tongue, spoke about a path of their own. It was not what she had expected, but Rowena was satisfied.

Cedric was satisfied as well, he used a voice dripping with sarcasm but a hint of sincerity to wish them all luck and tell them he hoped their paths would all cross again. Then the Knight who was actually kind of a dick drawled an awkward farewell and left. Purposely bumping into Pompadour on the way out. Rowena sensed that something would happen with those two. Something probably involving blood.

Pompadour, after a few moments of looking hurt, asked a question Rowena assumed they all wanted to know the answer to. She settled back into her chair, observing the smirks that seemed to have permanently settled on everyones faces.

Seeing that the conversations had finally come to a close, the Seer took this as his time to leave. Watching the knight leave, the Seer already foresaw two upcoming kings out of this group, possibly three.
Standing and making his way to the door, pompadour asked some final questions, hoping for words of advice, though in a comical way.
"Always avoid someone trying to sell you chestnuts; they can't be up to any good," the Seer replied before continuing towards the door.
Comedy was a strange thing, and the Seer understood very little of it. The only thing he ever found slightly "silly" was mortality, and the idea that every living thing must die was very strange to him.
As he reached the door, he turned, and gazed back on the crowd that was there. He knew there were, and would be many more, but these were the first.
Feeling the blast of cold air as he opened the door, the feeling that he had come to know as his home, he gazed outwards, the visions of the future being hazier than they ever have been.
The times were changing.
(exit.)
(also, when exiting, reference Sterling's exit, and then before adding the attributes, just take a look at his character sheet to see how to do it correctly, because I've edited it to be correct)