Blood and Sand
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Human Solos =&gt; Topic started by: sciurindae on 16-05-2009, 10:12:06</h2>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>sciurindae</strong> on <strong>16-05-2009, 10:12:06</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mattia shivered and had to force himself to not let tears fall where his 'escorts' could see them.&nbsp; He understood the necessity of what his family was forced to do.&nbsp; A sacrificial lamb is what he was, sent to keep the lion feed and prevent the beast from consuming his home.&nbsp; &nbsp;He understood, but that did not help against the pain that clenched in his chest.&nbsp; His mind may understand, but his heart did not, and the feeling of betrayal cut deeply.&nbsp; It was almost equal to the pain of the makings inscribed into his flesh, locking his magic away to be released only at the command of a royal of Andol or if they broke the treaty. . .<br><br>It was a wise precaution, last things the rulers of Andol wanted was for him to seize magical control of their minds, or anything along those lines.<br><br>The elf prince forced himself to keep his chin high as he strode up the streets of Gerontal.&nbsp; Forced himself to not gag and cough on the fumes of industry even as he felt them burn his nostrils and lungs.&nbsp; Finally the parade of escort came to the palace. . .
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eidenn</strong> on <strong>17-05-2009, 00:13:05</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				On the steps of the castle, the escorts stopped: One, designated from the others by the insignia on his arm, was apparently there leader, for he had been issuing muttered orders to the others throughout their progression through the city. Now he stopped and turned to the only elf in their party, who was purportedly a guest... but everyone knew he was much more the prisoner.<br><br>The captain, if that was what he was, wore his expression like a mask: There was nothing to be found but an impassive face, although his eyes - the red-garnet common among the humans of Andol - displayed a tinge of disdain for the elf before him. All he said, however, was this:<br><br>"Our orders are to blind you before we enter the fortress; security reasons, I'm sure you understand." More likely, it was to lessen the prince's chances of escape, for the castle - a mammoth fortress of red mortar and coppery steel - seemed at the moment invulnerable. Withdrawing a strip of black silk from the bag at his belt, the captain smiled thinly.<br><br>"If we could get going, <em>sir</em>."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>sciurindae</strong> on <strong>17-05-2009, 05:49:57</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mattia stopped when his escorts did, not letting his relief show for the momentary repose.&nbsp; Between the fumes and the disgusting sights and sounds of industry, and trying to not allow his discomfort to show, he was quite fatigued.<br><br>He let a disdainful smirk appear on his face, "very well, if you fear me so much despite my being well aware of the potential costs to my people if I were to break this. . . 'treaty'."&nbsp; The elf forced himself to take the silk and tie it around his eyes, blinding himself as to where he was being taken.&nbsp; With his nose stinging from the fumes and his ears ringing from the cacophony he couldn't rely upon them for any real aid either.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eidenn</strong> on <strong>17-05-2009, 07:28:31</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The captain did not show any response; although, doubtless, there were things he would have preferred to say, it was not part of his duty to put the point-eared royal in his place. Besides, came the thought, as he gave a slight shake of the head to those other guards fanned out behind the prince, as like as not the Andol ruling family would break him soon enough.<br><br>Not, of course, that such a thing was part of their agreement. Said captain, however, would wager a month's pay that it was as much as expected.<br><br>The black silk went about the elf's eyes, more than black; there was a shimmer to the threads that indicated there was more to it than just silk, perhaps to help it blind so completely. The party then proceeded into the curving archway, through endless corridors and on several platforms that moved up and down accompanied by the faint, distant sound of turning gears. The heat, present in all other parts of this desert city, began to cool as they ascended through the fortress, until at last their steps on the bare metal floor were muffled by a thick carpeting. With a shove that said the elf was on his own, a clanging heralded the close of some great door, and the voice of an older man, echoing with power, resounded in a room that sounded large.<br><br>"You may remove your blinders now, Prince Mattia of Erandel."<br><br><br>(Pardon me for making up the name of his country, but I don't recall you mentioning it...)
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>sciurindae</strong> on <strong>17-05-2009, 07:53:44</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mattia swiftly became lots as he was lead through the twisting turning passages of the human's strange desert palace.&nbsp; He grunted as he was shoved from behind, falling to his knees on the carpeting.&nbsp; The elf winced as the clang added further pain to his sensitive ears, his head throbbed with a headache.<br><br>"How kind of you," he muttered as he reached up and undid the silk to lower it.&nbsp; Blinking as he he could once again see his surroundings. . .<br><br>(no forgiveness necessary :) )
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eidenn</strong> on <strong>17-05-2009, 23:50:01</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The old man on the throne was not yet so old that his faculties had failed him; there was a powerful air to him, as though he had honed his strength working in the heat of the forge. His hair and beard were gray, though he was only in his fifies, and a heavy crown of gold and diamond lent its weight upon his head. In his youth, Harald of Aldon had been a fearsome warrior, leading even some of the early attacks upon the nation of Erandel, and now he was a conqueror secure in his right to rule.<br><br>That could not be said for the younger man beside him, perhaps in his mid-twenties, a man whose ice-white hair made it clear the royal family's genetic quirk: His eyes, blue adamant, were his father's; this was what the king had looked like, three decades ago, and his voice was cutting as he said "This is hardly the place to lose mastery of your tongue, Mattia." The lack of title made Mattia's place obvious; in this land of metal, he was no prince at all.<br><br>From the king's left side, a young woman with waist-length white hair and the dark-tanned skin of her people laughed into a lace fan, her gown of black and red and metallic copped clinging to the body that sat, self-assured and almost indolent, in her own ornamented throne. Laughing azure eyes peered over the fan's edge, studying the elf with a frankness that would have unnerved many.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Blood and Sand</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>sciurindae</strong> on <strong>18-05-2009, 03:01:25</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mattia looked at the young, to him, king in an elderly body.&nbsp; His smile did not touch his eyes as he inclined his head respectfully to the king only.&nbsp; Ignoring the prince's barb as if it didn't exist, likewise did he ignore the princess and her studying eyes.<br><br>"Greetings Emperor Harald of Aldon, I have come as the treaty of our alliance has demanded.&nbsp; My arcana and knowledge shall serve you and your country for as long as the treaty stands unbroken." His tone and manner were respectful, but not submissive or groveling, he managed to keep his distaste of the whole arrangement from showing.
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