Oh...
Food, or rather enough of it.
Cause say Ozpin is a fully charge V12 supercar then a regular human is the Toyota Pirus if you know what I mean.
Lets Get To It! Rwby Ideas/discussion Thread
- Thread starter GeneralScrage
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Food, or rather enough of it.
Cause say Ozpin is a fully charge V12 supercar then a regular human is the Toyota Pirus if you know what I mean.
- Location
- Singapore
Thats a something i'm writing. Food and medicine. What else?
Fabula Amanti
I want a Grimoire, but I got books.
- Location
- Singapore
So I don't know if there's been a discussion about this already but how large is the City of Vale really?
Cause I don't think it's that large at all. Certainly it seems smaller than New York, with the horizons of some shots in the show giving us views on the mountain ranges and hills in the background instead of cityscapes as one would expect in a big metropolis.
On flat surfaces on Earth, horizons end up to about 5 km? So the backgrounds in some scenes really makes it seem really small. Consequently, the world of Remnant would be quite small if the size of the City of Vale is properly scaled.
Also, what's the general opinion about the state of City of Vale in Season 4, it seems like it's in evacuation, but I wondered if it was just the area around Beacon that is being affected. Whole city fell or just Beacon with a certain radius around it?
Cause I don't think it's that large at all. Certainly it seems smaller than New York, with the horizons of some shots in the show giving us views on the mountain ranges and hills in the background instead of cityscapes as one would expect in a big metropolis.
On flat surfaces on Earth, horizons end up to about 5 km? So the backgrounds in some scenes really makes it seem really small. Consequently, the world of Remnant would be quite small if the size of the City of Vale is properly scaled.
Also, what's the general opinion about the state of City of Vale in Season 4, it seems like it's in evacuation, but I wondered if it was just the area around Beacon that is being affected. Whole city fell or just Beacon with a certain radius around it?
Only Beacon fell, the rest of the city is seemingly running close to normal with new casters and everything, the people being evacuated were visiting for the Vytal festival.
As to its size that is a trickier question, as it is rather... vague:
OK I am going to use some images, lots in fact.
First of all, we should establish some map presences:
This map could be seen as representing Vale's location, or Beacon academy given its on the mountains, but in either case given where it is compared to the ocean and the fact we know Vale has docks, that is very far inland.
Similarly Patch is a good sized island and it is way smaller than Vale, which is solely a city.
Edit: Of course Ruby also said she could see Path/their home from the airship so... yeah not sure about that.
Next some of the art and angles to give us a sense of scale:
This is reference art so its not wholly trustworthy but it does make Vale look pretty massive to me. Though with Beacon in sight maybe not so much?
However these are from in the show and are of the high way alone:
That highway is kind of absurd for anywhere in my eyes, but could maybe fit into a massive state sized city more easily.
Finally the view of Vale from Beacon, note how massive the platform is as well, that will be important in a moment. Beyond that, the size of the ships, the span of the lank separating Vale from Beacon and Beacons visibility convey a massive size to me.
Finally, some comparison with Beacon, mostly to demonstrate how massive Beacon is which could give us a better idea of Vale:
Its like a small town.
This is Ozpin's office and the CCT, all those spires and buildings are just part of Beacon Academy.
Another for scale image.
Which in of itself looks like this within an episode and we know water leads up to Beacon based on the map Roman was using up above.
I could be wrong as I am no expert but based on this, to me, Beacon and Vale look huge.
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Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
So back in the day, I started a quest called ROYL about a team of OCs. I kind of sputtered and died on being able to write it (something that seems to happen more and more with me), but that one was my longest-running quest so far (even though it never got past Volume 1) and probably the one I have the fondest memories of. I passed it on to some other guys, but lately I've just kind of been thinking on what I would have done differently if I were to go back and do it all over. After all, I've kind of changed as a writer in some ways, a lot of which had to do with writing ROYL itself.
After all, when I started writing ROYL I didn't have the characters nearly as straight in my head as I do now; I mostly just had some general ideas about their characters and backgrounds that I filled in as the quest went on, mostly built around a couple of scenes and interactions I really wanted to do. The whole time I was repeatedly surprised by the very characters I'd created, which was both an odd and thrilling experience. I have a much clearer picture of who the characters are now, so that would definitely influence how I'd write it now, especially in the early parts.
That was actually why I included the "Bright/Dark" choice; I wasn't really sure what kind of tone I wanted for the story and the characters and kind of let the readers decide. And while I loved the results, I've since kind of crystallized what I like about the characters and their stories and what specifically I'd like to write. For most of them, I'd be including elements of both options, though some of them would lean more one way than the other. I think I'd still let the readers pick the genders, though.
For weapons and Semblance I did - as I've said before - mostly just copy off of the RWBY Jumpchain, which was actually the nucleus around which I built the characters originally, but I think it's something they've kind of grown past. I've since had a lot of other ideas about weapons and Semblances I could have given them that would have worked, so I probably would have just included several options for each character rather than giving one option and then having write-ins.
Something I really considered doing but didn't feel I really had the writing chops for was to not have an actual dedicated PC. When I was growing up, one of my favorite storytelling experiences was Wild Arms 3, which began with the main characters all meeting, with no explanation or context, and then gave you a prologue for each of them that explained who they were and how they got to that particular moment in time, and it let you pick the order you did it. I always wanted to do something like that, but when I wrote ROYL I didn't really feel like I could pull it off, especially with how loose my grasp of the characters was at the time. I'm still not 100% sure I could pull it off well, but I'd be more willing to try if I went back and did ROYL nowadays. It would be very interesting if I had the readers vote on which one of the four characters they wanted to take control of during each "chapter" of the story, and see how that influenced how they saw and interacted with what went on.
I really liked presenting things so that the players only had a superficial understanding of the characters at the start, and how I could use that to surprise the readers with both the things the characters thought and didn't think; the ways that even the PCs, who were nominally under control of the reader, had things they were keeping, and in ways that fit their personalities (namely, how Roy and Yun would both omit things, even in their internal "narration," and the readers wouldn't be privy to them until later). You didn't really know their motivations and backstories at first, and I liked doing that. But since ROYL is a thing that actually exists, I wouldn't really be able to do that over again quite as effectively, even with the changes I'd be making to their backstories and personalities. The character prologues wouldn't come even close to revealing everything, of course, and I'd try to keep some feelings of ambiguity about the characters at first, but it wouldn't be quite the same experience.
I think this is how I'd write the OP:
-x--X--x-
The Emerald Forest; a testing ground for the future heroes of Remnant. Descending from the Beacon Cliffs into the wild, untamed forest below, Beacon Academy's newest crop of students have a chance to show their educators the full extent of their skills, their potential, and their character, and to form what has come to be romanticized by some as an almost sacred bond: a Team of Hunters.
To some, the Emerald Forest is thus considered the beginning of some of Remnant's great heroes, for it is where some of the most powerful and enduring bonds are first made that will one day carry them to glory… or tragedy.
But every legend that begins in the Emerald Forest has a prologue, and this one is no different. Four young Hunters in training, brimming with potential, will meet in this forest.
It hardly matters which one you see first. Pick whichever you like; they all end in the same place.
[] Clad in Purple
"You know what they say: there's no one closer than family."
[] Clad in Blue
"You can get used to anything, really. You have to."
[] Clad in White
"What a lovely sunrise."
[] Clad in Gray
"Shut the fuck up, you patronizing shit."
After all, when I started writing ROYL I didn't have the characters nearly as straight in my head as I do now; I mostly just had some general ideas about their characters and backgrounds that I filled in as the quest went on, mostly built around a couple of scenes and interactions I really wanted to do. The whole time I was repeatedly surprised by the very characters I'd created, which was both an odd and thrilling experience. I have a much clearer picture of who the characters are now, so that would definitely influence how I'd write it now, especially in the early parts.
That was actually why I included the "Bright/Dark" choice; I wasn't really sure what kind of tone I wanted for the story and the characters and kind of let the readers decide. And while I loved the results, I've since kind of crystallized what I like about the characters and their stories and what specifically I'd like to write. For most of them, I'd be including elements of both options, though some of them would lean more one way than the other. I think I'd still let the readers pick the genders, though.
For weapons and Semblance I did - as I've said before - mostly just copy off of the RWBY Jumpchain, which was actually the nucleus around which I built the characters originally, but I think it's something they've kind of grown past. I've since had a lot of other ideas about weapons and Semblances I could have given them that would have worked, so I probably would have just included several options for each character rather than giving one option and then having write-ins.
Something I really considered doing but didn't feel I really had the writing chops for was to not have an actual dedicated PC. When I was growing up, one of my favorite storytelling experiences was Wild Arms 3, which began with the main characters all meeting, with no explanation or context, and then gave you a prologue for each of them that explained who they were and how they got to that particular moment in time, and it let you pick the order you did it. I always wanted to do something like that, but when I wrote ROYL I didn't really feel like I could pull it off, especially with how loose my grasp of the characters was at the time. I'm still not 100% sure I could pull it off well, but I'd be more willing to try if I went back and did ROYL nowadays. It would be very interesting if I had the readers vote on which one of the four characters they wanted to take control of during each "chapter" of the story, and see how that influenced how they saw and interacted with what went on.
I really liked presenting things so that the players only had a superficial understanding of the characters at the start, and how I could use that to surprise the readers with both the things the characters thought and didn't think; the ways that even the PCs, who were nominally under control of the reader, had things they were keeping, and in ways that fit their personalities (namely, how Roy and Yun would both omit things, even in their internal "narration," and the readers wouldn't be privy to them until later). You didn't really know their motivations and backstories at first, and I liked doing that. But since ROYL is a thing that actually exists, I wouldn't really be able to do that over again quite as effectively, even with the changes I'd be making to their backstories and personalities. The character prologues wouldn't come even close to revealing everything, of course, and I'd try to keep some feelings of ambiguity about the characters at first, but it wouldn't be quite the same experience.
I think this is how I'd write the OP:
-x--X--x-
The Emerald Forest; a testing ground for the future heroes of Remnant. Descending from the Beacon Cliffs into the wild, untamed forest below, Beacon Academy's newest crop of students have a chance to show their educators the full extent of their skills, their potential, and their character, and to form what has come to be romanticized by some as an almost sacred bond: a Team of Hunters.
To some, the Emerald Forest is thus considered the beginning of some of Remnant's great heroes, for it is where some of the most powerful and enduring bonds are first made that will one day carry them to glory… or tragedy.
But every legend that begins in the Emerald Forest has a prologue, and this one is no different. Four young Hunters in training, brimming with potential, will meet in this forest.
It hardly matters which one you see first. Pick whichever you like; they all end in the same place.
[] Clad in Purple
"You know what they say: there's no one closer than family."
[] Clad in Blue
"You can get used to anything, really. You have to."
[] Clad in White
"What a lovely sunrise."
[] Clad in Gray
"Shut the fuck up, you patronizing shit."
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
Fur and Fire.
---
Rehgar Earthfury slid off the Worg he had rode on, eyes roaming the valley. A moment later, he heard Bloodeye slide down after him, the gladiator staggering as he adjusted to dismounting for the first time.
A low whistle came from the Blackrock orc, his one eye following the path Rehgar's had just finished.
"Damn, whoever did this really had it out for 'em"
Rehgar nodded in agreement, carefully picking his way down the valley that the renegade Warsongs had once inhabited.
Now, there was massive fall of lava burning away at the opposite side of the valley, and a trench dividing it in two, leaving Rehgar undoubting of who had done this. A shaman.
"We're going down there?" Bloodeye asked, "haven't we done enough? You said we were to find them, so why don't we turn around?"
"And who would be the one to explain to the Warchief that we decided to turn around instead of finding out who did this?"
Bloodeye didn't respond, obviously accepting the point as he followed Rehgar down into the heated valley. The shaman raised his hand in a warding gesture.
"What?"
"You can't survive down there," Rehgar said, pointing down at the slowly hardening lava, "don't be tricked by stories, there isn't anything on Azeroth hotter than the raging power of a magma elemental. I can survive through my accord with the elements, you can't. Not everything can be beaten, boy."
Bloodeye snorted, dropping onto the rocks, "Then I'll be here when you get back."
"You better be," Rehgar responded, "I paid good money for you, I don't want my investment to go to waste for having to kill you."
Both master and slave were aware that Rehgar wouldn't actually do it, that if Bloodeye took off, Rehgar would do little more than a token search.
Rehgar descended into the valley, eyes scanning the destroyed camp. Burned bodies sat around, the green skin charred to black from the heat.
As Rehgar traveled further into the camp, he stretched his senses, trying to find any sign of life.
As he approached the smithy, Rehgar heard a disgruntled grunt, followed by the sound of metal on metal.
Rehgar leaned in, watching the human girl seated on a chair inside thrust a leg into the forge, before pulling it out and dropping an axe on the superheated chain.
Well, it looks like he had found their shaman.
"You," Rehgar said, drawing her attention, "what are you doing here? Humans aren't allowed in this part of Orcish territory."
The girl's head snapped up, a look of wild terror in her eyes, before she grabbed the blacksmith's hammer and threw it at him. As it left her hand, fire coiled around it.
Rehgar ducked under the flaming hammer, aware that it had seared his wolf pelt, before coming up and throwing a lance of lightning at her.
She tried to dodge it, only for the shackle around her foot to snap taunt, sending her crashing onto the ground. As that happened, Rehgar took a look around the room.
A small pile of furs sat in the corner near the bracket the chain was bound to, and a tray with meager scraps sat on the table.
"You!" Rehgar barked at the girl in Common, "how long have you been here?"
"You," she stopped, "you can talk like me?"
"What do you mean, girl?"
"They," she gestured at the outside, "they only speak that other language. I've guessed a couple of words, but nobody wanted to teach me."
"How long have you been here, girl?"
"I'm," she frowned, "I'm not sure. The days have blended together, you know?"
"Yes," Rehgar agreed as he walked over to the wall, examining the chain.
Rehgar was well aware of it, he had spent years in the gladiator pits of Highmaul, fighting other slaves for the amusement of the ogres.
"Tell me, girl, did you have something to do with the destruction of this village?"
"Why?" Rehgar saw her grab the axe, preparing to attack.
"Because if anyone has the motive to do this, it's a slave."
"I," she gripped her axe tighter, "I just want to be free again."
"Of course you do," Rehgar said, "they could only keep you bound so long as your heart was, and it wasn't, was it?"
"Wuh," the girl seemed taken aback, "what do you mean?"
"I mean that you don't want to be chained," Rehgar said, "so you would do anything to free yourself," Rehgar turned, making the wall binding the girl melt, "so I'll offer you a deal."
"What?" she said, eyes locked onto the free chain.
"Come with me," Rehgar said, "I'll teach you the way of the shaman, and when you decide you're ready to leave, you can."
"I," she looked torn, "I have someone I need to find. That's how I got captured, distracting them from her."
"Then I'll help you find her, if that's what you want," Rehgar held out his hand, "my name is Rehgar Earthfury, will you come with me?"
"I- Yes," she nodded, picking herself up, "I'm Ruby Rose."
---
Ruby sat next to Rehgar, doing her best to radiate her disapproval of the contents of their wagon.
"Ruby-" Rehgar started.
"I'm not talking to you," Ruby said in Orcish, turning her head away from him like Weiss used to do.
"Ruby," Rehgar repeated, "don't be petulant."
"I'm not being petulant," Ruby muttered petulantly.
"You never complained this much about Bloodeye."
"That's different," Ruby said, "Bloodeye wasn't really a slave, you paid him, half the time you paid him more than you pay me. Definitely more than you've paid Broll."
"Leave me out of this," the night elf called from his spot in the cage.
"Even Broll choose slavery," Ruby stopped, "ok, that sounded weird. But she's a teen, she'll be chewed up in the ring."
"What are they saying?" the young blood elf asked Broll.
"Be quiet," Broll snapped at her.
"Behave," Ruby called in Common, "you're going to have to cooperate if you want to survive."
"Oh, so now you decide to talk to us," Valeera complained, "who are you? What's a human doing with an orcish slaver?"
"Maybe she took a lesson out of your kind's book and turned traitor?" Broll responded.
Ruby snorted, "You know why I'm here, Broll," she said in Orcish.
"Yes," he agreed, "but that doesn't mean she needs to. How long until we reach Orgrimmar?"
"Another day, give or take," Ruby scratched her arm, "don't get too comfortable, Rehgar is probably gonna drag us off to another auction so we can have a team ready before Dire Maul."
"Of course I am," Rehgar said, "we won't survive another year if we don't have a team ready. Unless you'd go into the ring?"
"Not on your life," Ruby said, "I've still got things I need to do."
Rehgar grunted, "still hoping you'll find her?"
"I'm not giving up until I find out where she is," Ruby said, "I got a lead back there, they said someone carrying her weapon and Crescent Rose was heading towards Darnassus."
Ruby heard Broll sit up straight at the mention of the night elven city.
"Can you all stop with the whole 'talking in Orcish' thing? You know I don't speak it," Valeera complained, "actually, does the orc speak common?"
"So when are you leaving?" Rehgar asked, ignoring Valeera. Even the older shaman knew that Crescent Rose was too much of a red flag, neither of them had seen anything that could compare to the mech-shift scythe in the past three years.
"I'll stay until you finish your team, then I'm gone. If you're gonna start ramping up the slavery, I don't want anything to do with it."
Rehgar nodded, stopping the cart.
"What?"
"Do you hear that?"
Ruby strained her ears, catching the noise of a struggle.
"I'll go check," Ruby slid off the cart, grabbing the wooden scythe handle and pulling it from behind the cage.
She missed Crescent Rose.
As Ruby picked her way through the brush, she called for the wind to assist her in her search, the scent of whatever was fighting being carried right to her nose.
It didn't take much for the Elements to be willing to help Ruby, her and them having found an easy accord.
Stopping before the swamp, Ruby watched the human man struggling with a crocolisk for a moment, before throwing a ball of air at the six legged reptile, forcing it into the air as lightning tore through it on the back swing.
Ruby walked over to the man, helping him up.
"You alright?" she asked, "I'm Ruby, what's your name?"
"My name?" he said, clutching his head, "I, uh, I don't remember."
"Amnesia?"
"What?"
"You don't remember your name? What about anything else?"
"I-" he shook his head, "I don't remember anything."
"I- Ruby frowned, "I can get you to Orgrimmar, but you'll have to figure the rest out yourself. Come on, I've got a cart we can take."
---
Valeera snapped her eyes open as a hand planted on her shoulder, trying to lunge forward.
Broll kept his hand on her, pressing a finger to his lips and pointing outside, where several people talking in Orcish.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"We're at Orgrimmar, we'll be at the arena in an hour."
After a minute, the cart shuddered back into motion, carrying the group forward. Valeera watched as they entered the fortress city.
Orgrimmar was built into a long valley, metal walkways lining it to allow people to access several of the natural caves that had been converted into buildings, while more building sat in the valley proper.
After ten minutes the human woman jumped off the wagon, sharing a brief conversation with the orc, who threw her a coin purse and pair of letters as they continued past a market.
"What were they saying?" she asked Broll.
"Ruby's going to pick up some supplies for a trip she'll be making later, and Rehgar asked her to stop by the butchery and make a delivery."
"Ah," Valeera said, watching as the human disappeared into a throng of Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren. The other human, the one they had found on the road, looked like he wanted to follow her, before Rehgar suddenly spoke in slightly stilted Common.
"So, Crocbait. Ruby said you don't remember anything?"
"You can speak Common?" Valeera blurted out.
"Clearly," Rehgar said sarcastically, "Crocbait?"
"Crocbai-? No, I don't remember anything."
"Mh… Any sort of identifying thing on you?" Rehgar speech stumbled slightly as he said that, "a badge, locket, something like that?"
"No, I don't think so," the man said, patting himself down.
"How long do you think you'd been fighting that Crocolisk when Ruby found you?"
"I don't know? A few minutes maybe? Why?"
"Most humans wouldn't survive a minute, there are plenty of orcs that couldn't either. Think you would have won?"
"Maybe?" Crocbait asked, "I had caught sight of a broken plank, I figured if I could worm it under the thing, it's own weight would have impaled it."
"That could work," Rehgar agreed, "do you think you were a fighter, a soldier maybe?"
"I don't know, why?"
"I've got have an opening at my home, Ruby's headin' toward Darnassus, I also need a third member for my gladiator team. How about I hire you on? It'll be dangerous work, but the pay will be good and you'll have a roof over your head."
"Oh, come on-" Broll slapped a hand over Valeera's mouth, pressing his finger against his own again.
"That does sound nice," Crocbait agreed, "do I have to give my answer now?"
"No, you have a few days, but I do need it soon. I need to know if I have to get another gladiator so I can have the team ready for Dire Maul. Think about, would you? I'm good at guessing how good people are," Rehgar stumbled again, "and you seem like you could go far."
---
Ruby walked away from the Orgrimmar rookery, approaching Grommash Hold. As she approached the seat of the Warchief, two Kor'kron guards stepped in front of her. The bigger of the two sneered at her, exposing his gold ringed tusks.
"What do you want, human?" he asked in rough Common.
"I'm delivering a message to the Warchief."
The sneer grew wider, and the orc turned to the other, "the pinkskin thinks she's going to meet with the Warchief," he said in Orcish, electing a sniggering laugh from the other.
Ruby sucked her teeth, clenching her fist behind her back. The first thing she was doing when she met Blake again was retroactively agreeing with her on every matter of Faunus rights she had ever mentioned. She had lived in Orgrimmar for three years, why did so many people act like she was a second class citizen?
"What's the message?" he asked in common.
"A letter from Rehgar Earthfury," Ruby said, raising the letter, "I'm also supposed to speak with Farseer Drek'thar."
Ruby saw the Kor'korn's eyes widen at the reference to Rehgar, and he reached out for the letter, only for Ruby to store it away.
"I'll be going in now," she said, sidestepping him.
"I didn't say you were allowed in, pinkskin," he growled.
"I didn't know you chose who met with the Warchief, I'll be sure to pass that fact along to him," Ruby said, watching the Kor'korn's grip on his axe tighten.
She understood why Blake did this to Weiss, it was really fun annoying people like this.
"You aren't going in," he repeated.
"Sir," Ruby called out to a passing undead with red eyes, "were you aware that the Warchief isn't informed of messengers sent to deliver important letters?"
Duck.
Ruby fell slightly as an axe attempted to take her head off, turning towards the orc.
"Ignore the pinkskin," he barked in orcish, "she doesn't kno-"
"What would the Warchief think," Ruby asked loudly in orcish, "if he knew that his guards believed that they were more knowledgeable about wha-"
Left, right, left, right, right.
Ruby dodged the flurry of axe swings, the impression warning her seconds before each strike came.
"Sir," Ruby said as loudly as possible, "I apologize, Rehgar didn't inform me that the true power of the Horde was the man guarding the Warchief. Allow me leave, and I'll go inform him that he should contact you next time he wishes to speak with the Warchi-"
Block!
Ruby threw up a barrier of rock, before uncoiling the chain whip she had long taken to carrying in Orgrimmar out from under one sleeve and lashing out with it, flames following in its wake as it struck the axe.
"What!?" the orc growled.
"What's going on here?" a familiar voice demanded, allowing an old, blind orc out of the hold, "why are you fighting a Kor'kron, Ruby?"
"He wasn't letting me in Drek'thar," she shrugged, "I came to let you know that I would be leaving soon, and to deliver a message to Thrall."
---
Thrall looked over from where he had been quietly conversing with Vol'jin about the war brewing near the gates of Sithilus, eyebrows raising slightly as Drek'thar walked in with a pair of bowed head Kor'kron and Ruby Rose.
"What happened?" Thrall asked, slightly resigned.
"These two," Drek'thar gestured to the orcs, "decided to take it upon themselves to keep Ruby from entering."
"Called me pinkskin, too!" Ruby piped up, a slightly forced grin on her face.
Thrall winced, well aware of how the former slave hated to be called pinkskin, since it was the only thing her masters had referred to her as.
"Saurfang? Would you take these two back to the Valley of Trials? They clearly haven't learned enough."
The guards shared a look of horror. Being sent back to the Valley of Trials was a heavy punishment, a way of declaring that their mentors had failed to instill enough knowledge in them.
"Warchief!" one yelled, "you're not taking this pinkskin's sid-"
"Don't call her that. What if she had been an envoy from Theramore, or Stormwind? You would have caused an incident. Go," Thrall watched them be escorted out, turning to Ruby, "I'm sorry about that."
"It's not your fault, Warchief."
"I've told you before, you don't need to call me that. You aren't a sworn member of the Horde, but you are my friend."
"Then you should hurry up and find your name, I'm not calling you slave, ever."
Thrall laughed slightly, "but if I don't know it, is it truly my name?"
"That's a question best left to the philosophers of my profession, Warchief."
Thrall nodded, "What did you need, my friend?"
"I'm delivering a pair of letters, one from Jaina that she asks for you to read alone, and the other from Rehgar."
Thrall took the letter, storing the one with the seal of Theramore emblazoned on the front in wax, before opening the one from Rehgar.
"What's it say?" Vol'jin asked.
"He says that he plans to retire from managing his gladiators if they win at Dire Maul, and is offering his services as an advisor in the place of Nazgrel," Thrall said as his eyes scanned the rough orcish words, testimony to the fact that his people had once held even other orcs as slaves, that some, including Rehgar, still did. A part of their history that Thrall wished to put an end to once and for all.
Putting the letter away, and resolving to think about it later, Thrall turned his attention back to Ruby.
"Anything else?"
"Yes," Ruby was examining Doomhammer, picking it up from its place on the pedestal next to Thrall, practically fondling the warhammer, "I'm leaving soon."
"Rehgar running you ragged again?" Thrall asked.
"No," Ruby shook her head, "I'm leaving for Darnassus, I got a lead. I came here to thank Drek'thar for his help teaching me these last few years."
Thrall saw Drek'thar frown, the older orc stepping forward, "You shouldn't get your hopes up, it's been six years."
"She had Crescent Rose, even if it isn't her, I want my baby back."
"And if is her? What will you do?"
"I don't know," Ruby said, placing the hammer down, "but it doesn't matter. I'll just happy to see her again."
"You could return to Orgrimmar, you will always be welcome here," Thall threw out, trying to find some way to help his friend, "you could do mercenary work, or assist us."
"Maybe. Do you know a quick way to Darnassus? I'd like to head out as soon as I can."
"A portal from here to Theramore, and then from Theramore to Darnassus," Thrall said instantly, it was what he did on diplomatic meeting with the night elves, "just say the word and I can have one opened."
"I'll think about it," Ruby said, "I need to head out now, there's things I need to buy before the shops close down."
---
Ruby walked through the halls of the Ring of Valor, a torch held aloft, the only light in the dark pits. At each of the grates, Ruby briefly leaned down, checking the people in each oubliette.
After a while, Ruby found who she was looking for, placing the torch in a holder. The shamaness dropped the sack in her hand, unlocked the grate with her copy of the key, and then dropped down, grabbing her sack as she did.
"Wake up," Ruby hissed, nudging Valeera with her foot. After a moment, the blood elf snapped up, looking around bleary eyed.
"Wuzzit?" she asked.
Ruby reached into the sack, throwing a cooling loaf of bread at her. Valeera caught it, looking down at it.
"Bread?"
"Yeah," Ruby said, waking Broll too, passing another loaf to him. Then she pulled out a knife and a glass jar with strawberry jam.
Ruby unscrewed the top, grabbing Valeera's bread, cutting it, and adding a generous amount of jam to it before giving it back.
"Eat," Ruby insisted, "you'll need plenty of energy tomorrow, training starts then."
"Why do you care? We're your slaves."
"You're Rehgar's slave, I'm not having anything to do with the slave trade," Ruby said, perhaps a bit too sharp.
The trio sat in uncomfortable silence, the two gladiators eating their food in silence, before Ruby sighed.
"Sorry," she said, "I just, I have a bad history with slavery."
"How?" Valeera asked.
"I spent three years a slave," Ruby said, "you two have it lucky, Rehgar's a good guy, despite what you might think, he normally gives slaves a cut of the profit, they'll keep you fed enough so you don't get weak, and you'll always have a way out if you decide to take it in the arena. That's more than I had."
It had taken months to regain the weight she had lost, longer still to get back into shape.
"What did you do?" Valeera asked, her food gone, "they didn't-?"
Ruby blinked in confusion. Didn't? Didn't wh- ewww.
"No!" Ruby let put a full body shudder, "Dust and Spirits, no! Why would you assume that?"
"Well," Valeera tugged at her sleeve, "you're a pretty human."
Pretty? Ruby wasn't pretty. Yang was pretty, Blake was pretty, Pyrrha was pretty.
"Most orcs would sooner jump off a cliff than lay with a pinkskin," Ruby stood, dusting off her lap, "I need to go, Rehgar's still waiting for meats for dinner."
The house Rehgar owned wasn't far from the arena, the gladiator pit having been central to the two shamans and their deceased friend's lives.
Ruby walked into the house walking into the kitchen. As she did, Rehgar looked up from where he was teaching their houseguest how to play Hearthstone.
"About time you got here," Rehgar stood up, storing his cards and taking the bag. Ruby slid into the chair, pulling out her deck as Crocbait grabbed his cards and started to shuffle them.
"Sorry, got sidetracked," Ruby finished shuffling her deck, playing a card. A miniature illusion of an air elemental burst from the card, dust whipping around it.
Rehgar grunted, grabbing a knife and starting to trim the fat, "stew sound good to you?"
"Yeah. What about you?" Ruby asked the other human, who was squinting at one of his cards, before he placed it.
A guard clad in plate mail appeared on the card, Ready for action!
"That's fine," Crocbait said as Ruby put down a totem token, which launched a fireball at the guard as she ended her turn.
They continued in relative silence, only the simulated sounds of battle breaking them from it, when Crocbait played a card.
Behold! The might of Stormwind! the man cried, lifting a battle standard up. At the same moment, Crocbait's eyes bugged out and his elbow slipped off the table. This sent the man's chin crashing into the table, knocking several pieces off.
"Woah!" Ruby cried, running about the table to check him for an injury, "are you alright?"
"Yes," he said around the fat lip he had given himself. Ruby ran a finger along it, the healing water circling around her outstretched finger and sealing the injury, "I'm sorry about the table."
"It's fine," Ruby said, "I'm pretty sure the stew is almost done, anyways."
"Ah," he said, "Ruby, are you good at fights?"
Ruby's eyebrows met, "I'd say so, yeah."
"Do you want to spar after dinner? I want to see how well I can myself."
"Sure."
---
The human currently going by the name of 'Crocbait' was standing across from Ruby, a blunted sword in his hand. Ruby had a hand scythe in each hand, deftly spinning one around her left wrist.
"Sinister?" He asked, a lesson from Anduin rising up.
"Come on, up you go," a large hand gently wrapped around his upper arm, lifting him to his feet, "try again!"
"I don't get it," he complained, reaching down and grabbing the training sword in his right hand, only to drop it with a stifled yelp as Anduin's blade struck him across the hand.
"Left hand, again."
"This doesn't feel natural," Crocbait complained, but did as he was told, "I don't get how anyone could fight like this."
"There are those who it comes to naturally, and if you ask a priest, or a lord who has never stepped onto the battlefield, they'll tell you that it is a sign of cravens and those consorting with spirits and demons."
"You don't think that?"
"Would I be teaching you to fight with it if I did? No, I don't know how the idea rooted itself into the faith, but those lords think that way because they hate to fight against them in duels and tourneys, what good is armor on your left side if the blade comes from the right?"
Crocbait tried to deflect the blade, feeling his arm protest even though Anduin was holding back.
"They why teach me?"
"Because what good is armor on their left side if your blade comes from the right? And if they wear armor on their right, well, you still know how to fight with your right hand, eh? Those are the really dangerous ones, boy, those that can fight with both hands. There's a probably a word for that, it's probably a long one, too. I don't know, never cared for fancy words myself, best leave that to the scholars and bards."
"What if they're wearing armor on both sides?"
"Kick 'em over, then find a chink in their armor and kill them before they get up. Armor's heavy, that's something a soldier can tell you better than any bard."
Crocbait's lips pulled into a frown. Who was Anduin?
"Huh?" Ruby asked, stopping her trick, "what's sinister?"
"Left handed?"
"Ambidextrous," Ruby said.
"What?"
"I can use both equally well," Ruby said, proving it by doing the trick with both hands at once, "always have."
"Just in fights?"
If Anduin had liked people who were 'ambidextrous' as much as that one memory implied he did, he would have probably killed a man to be born like that.
"Everything," Ruby said, "writing, cooking. Rehgar!" Ruby switched to Orcish briefly, looking to the door.
As she quieted down, Rehgar walked out of the house, settling in a chair on the porch, and leaning forward, "alright, Crocbait, let's see what you can do. Ruby, don't go to hard on him."
Too hard on him? What was that supposed to-
Crocbait ducked as one of the scythes flew at him, feeling the displaced air send his hair dancing. Looking up, he brought his sword up to parry her other scythe several times, feeling static form with each attack as he did so.
Finally Ruby hooked her scythe around his blade, locking them into place, and drove her fist into his gut.
Crocbait gritted his teeth as a burning tore through his stomach and down his legs, leaving him numb even as his body was screaming at him to move. Left with no choice, the amnesiac human did the only thing that made sense.
He dropped his sword, reaching behind him with his other hand.
Ruby's eyes widened, the sudden lack of tension caused he to stagger forward as the bizarre wind carried her other scythe right into Crocbait's hand.
Doing a half spin so he was behind Ruby, Crocbait reached down, scooping up his sword while he finished his turn.
He got a blast of cold wind to his face for his troubles, leaving him batting his stinging eyes as he used both weapons to deflect Ruby's one.
Eventually, Ruby's right arm lashed out, wrapping tightly around Crocbait's left, and pulled it tight, forcing him to drop her scythe.
Tightening his grip on his sword, Crocbait smashed the hilt into Ruby's skull until she let go.
Crocbait charged forward, stopping his sword before Ruby's throat as one scythe looped around the back of his neck and the outer edge of the other pressed against the front.
Crocbait panted, trying to keep the grin off his face as they stood their for a moment, neither one wanting to be the one who lowered their blade first.
"Alright" Rehgar called, "that's enough! I don't need to clean one of your bodies off the ground!"
Crocbait lowered his sword, looking over to the orc, "is that position still open?"
"Why? You want in?"
"Yeah," Crocbait grinned, "that was fun."
"Wait," Ruby was looking between them, "what position?"
"On the team," Rehgar said, standing, "I offered it to him while you were out, figured that if we could get someone quick, you wouldn't have to wait for long before heading out."
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked Crocbait, "it won't be like this, you could die out there. What if you have a wife or kids?"
"I'll," Crocbait stopped, "I'll deal with that when I come to it, you should go, if you've got something to do."
"But-"
"Go," Crocbait insisted, "I'll be fine, I'll have something to do, until I remember what's going on."
"I-" Ruby stopped, "Ok. I'll go, see you at some point."
As Ruby turned away from them, Rehgar suddenly called out to her, "Girl!"
"What?"
"I don't care how this turns out, I want to see you back here before Dire Maul, you hear? This is your house as much as it is mine!"
"I'll-" Ruby lowered her head, switching to orcish again as an almost musical string of words escaped from her lips.
Rehgar responded in kind, before Ruby walked over to the cart, grabbing a full sized scythe, and heading down the path.
"What was that?"
"An old orcish thing, I don't know how to say it in Common, so don't ask me. It's traditionally said from a child to the clan head and farseer at the end of a fostering. Before they go to return to their family."
Rehgar stood on the deck for a bit longer, head facing the end of the street, until Ruby turned disappeared through the gates. The orc pushed himself off, pulling open the door.
"Come on, Crocbait, I'll teach you how to play another game, maybe one with gambling."
---
"I'll take a couple of tuna," Blake said, handing over a bag of copper gryphs.
"That all today?" James, the fishmonger, asked, grabbing the bag, taking out a few coins, and handing it back to Blake.
"Yeah," Blake took the rolled up fish, storing them in her pack. She would be glad to to return to the apartment she had been renting in Darnassus.
"Blake," James said suddenly, "someone came by the docks the other day, was looking for you."
"Who?"
"A human, probably around your age. She was asking for you by name too. I said I'd tell you she was looking for you if I saw you," the immigrant said, "she gave me the address of the inn she was staying, wrote it down, too. Didn't know you'd moved so far up into the world that you had people who can write lookin' for ya. Ya want it?"
"Sure," Blake held out her hand, taking the note.
"Give me a second," James crouched, fiddling with his lockbox, "she said she'd been looking for you for a couple of days, seemed relieved when I said I knew ya. Dressed weird."
"How weird?"
"She was wearing a big red cloak, fur lined, with black clothes. Here you go," James held out the note, letting Blake grab it.
Opening it, Blake felt her eyes widen at the familiar scrawl, eyes scanning the address.
"You alright?" James asked.
"Fine," Blake said, fighting to keep the look off her face as she picked the tunas back up, "I'll see you later."
Blake turned, rushing quickly back to her house, dropped the fish in the cooler, grabbing Crescent Rose, and heading further into the city.
It took Blake the better part of two hours to find the large inn, built from white marble in traditional night elven style.
Breathing in, Blake steeled herself, and walked in, looking around for the innkeeper. People were seated at chairs around the room, playing games and drinking.
"Can I help you?" an elf called from the bar, "If you're looking for a room, we're all out at the moment."
"No- I mean… I'm look for someone who's staying here. In room," Blake checked the paper , "ten."
"Left side," he said, pointing towards the place, "end of the hall."
Blake headed that way, before stopping before the door. Taking a deep breath, Blake lifted her hand, knocking on the door.
"One moment!" the voice on the other side called, "I'll be right there!"
Blake held her breath, waiting for the foot fall to approach, before the door swung open.
"Sorry I just- Blake?" Ruby's voice cracked at the end of her question.
"Ruby?" Blake asked in return, "Is this- you're really here?"
"Yeah," Ruby suddenly exploded forward, wrapping Blake into a Yang-esque hug, "I missed you. Come in, we need to talk."
---
Rehgar Earthfury slid off the Worg he had rode on, eyes roaming the valley. A moment later, he heard Bloodeye slide down after him, the gladiator staggering as he adjusted to dismounting for the first time.
A low whistle came from the Blackrock orc, his one eye following the path Rehgar's had just finished.
"Damn, whoever did this really had it out for 'em"
Rehgar nodded in agreement, carefully picking his way down the valley that the renegade Warsongs had once inhabited.
Now, there was massive fall of lava burning away at the opposite side of the valley, and a trench dividing it in two, leaving Rehgar undoubting of who had done this. A shaman.
"We're going down there?" Bloodeye asked, "haven't we done enough? You said we were to find them, so why don't we turn around?"
"And who would be the one to explain to the Warchief that we decided to turn around instead of finding out who did this?"
Bloodeye didn't respond, obviously accepting the point as he followed Rehgar down into the heated valley. The shaman raised his hand in a warding gesture.
"What?"
"You can't survive down there," Rehgar said, pointing down at the slowly hardening lava, "don't be tricked by stories, there isn't anything on Azeroth hotter than the raging power of a magma elemental. I can survive through my accord with the elements, you can't. Not everything can be beaten, boy."
Bloodeye snorted, dropping onto the rocks, "Then I'll be here when you get back."
"You better be," Rehgar responded, "I paid good money for you, I don't want my investment to go to waste for having to kill you."
Both master and slave were aware that Rehgar wouldn't actually do it, that if Bloodeye took off, Rehgar would do little more than a token search.
Rehgar descended into the valley, eyes scanning the destroyed camp. Burned bodies sat around, the green skin charred to black from the heat.
As Rehgar traveled further into the camp, he stretched his senses, trying to find any sign of life.
As he approached the smithy, Rehgar heard a disgruntled grunt, followed by the sound of metal on metal.
Rehgar leaned in, watching the human girl seated on a chair inside thrust a leg into the forge, before pulling it out and dropping an axe on the superheated chain.
Well, it looks like he had found their shaman.
"You," Rehgar said, drawing her attention, "what are you doing here? Humans aren't allowed in this part of Orcish territory."
The girl's head snapped up, a look of wild terror in her eyes, before she grabbed the blacksmith's hammer and threw it at him. As it left her hand, fire coiled around it.
Rehgar ducked under the flaming hammer, aware that it had seared his wolf pelt, before coming up and throwing a lance of lightning at her.
She tried to dodge it, only for the shackle around her foot to snap taunt, sending her crashing onto the ground. As that happened, Rehgar took a look around the room.
A small pile of furs sat in the corner near the bracket the chain was bound to, and a tray with meager scraps sat on the table.
"You!" Rehgar barked at the girl in Common, "how long have you been here?"
"You," she stopped, "you can talk like me?"
"What do you mean, girl?"
"They," she gestured at the outside, "they only speak that other language. I've guessed a couple of words, but nobody wanted to teach me."
"How long have you been here, girl?"
"I'm," she frowned, "I'm not sure. The days have blended together, you know?"
"Yes," Rehgar agreed as he walked over to the wall, examining the chain.
Rehgar was well aware of it, he had spent years in the gladiator pits of Highmaul, fighting other slaves for the amusement of the ogres.
"Tell me, girl, did you have something to do with the destruction of this village?"
"Why?" Rehgar saw her grab the axe, preparing to attack.
"Because if anyone has the motive to do this, it's a slave."
"I," she gripped her axe tighter, "I just want to be free again."
"Of course you do," Rehgar said, "they could only keep you bound so long as your heart was, and it wasn't, was it?"
"Wuh," the girl seemed taken aback, "what do you mean?"
"I mean that you don't want to be chained," Rehgar said, "so you would do anything to free yourself," Rehgar turned, making the wall binding the girl melt, "so I'll offer you a deal."
"What?" she said, eyes locked onto the free chain.
"Come with me," Rehgar said, "I'll teach you the way of the shaman, and when you decide you're ready to leave, you can."
"I," she looked torn, "I have someone I need to find. That's how I got captured, distracting them from her."
"Then I'll help you find her, if that's what you want," Rehgar held out his hand, "my name is Rehgar Earthfury, will you come with me?"
"I- Yes," she nodded, picking herself up, "I'm Ruby Rose."
---
Ruby sat next to Rehgar, doing her best to radiate her disapproval of the contents of their wagon.
"Ruby-" Rehgar started.
"I'm not talking to you," Ruby said in Orcish, turning her head away from him like Weiss used to do.
"Ruby," Rehgar repeated, "don't be petulant."
"I'm not being petulant," Ruby muttered petulantly.
"You never complained this much about Bloodeye."
"That's different," Ruby said, "Bloodeye wasn't really a slave, you paid him, half the time you paid him more than you pay me. Definitely more than you've paid Broll."
"Leave me out of this," the night elf called from his spot in the cage.
"Even Broll choose slavery," Ruby stopped, "ok, that sounded weird. But she's a teen, she'll be chewed up in the ring."
"What are they saying?" the young blood elf asked Broll.
"Be quiet," Broll snapped at her.
"Behave," Ruby called in Common, "you're going to have to cooperate if you want to survive."
"Oh, so now you decide to talk to us," Valeera complained, "who are you? What's a human doing with an orcish slaver?"
"Maybe she took a lesson out of your kind's book and turned traitor?" Broll responded.
Ruby snorted, "You know why I'm here, Broll," she said in Orcish.
"Yes," he agreed, "but that doesn't mean she needs to. How long until we reach Orgrimmar?"
"Another day, give or take," Ruby scratched her arm, "don't get too comfortable, Rehgar is probably gonna drag us off to another auction so we can have a team ready before Dire Maul."
"Of course I am," Rehgar said, "we won't survive another year if we don't have a team ready. Unless you'd go into the ring?"
"Not on your life," Ruby said, "I've still got things I need to do."
Rehgar grunted, "still hoping you'll find her?"
"I'm not giving up until I find out where she is," Ruby said, "I got a lead back there, they said someone carrying her weapon and Crescent Rose was heading towards Darnassus."
Ruby heard Broll sit up straight at the mention of the night elven city.
"Can you all stop with the whole 'talking in Orcish' thing? You know I don't speak it," Valeera complained, "actually, does the orc speak common?"
"So when are you leaving?" Rehgar asked, ignoring Valeera. Even the older shaman knew that Crescent Rose was too much of a red flag, neither of them had seen anything that could compare to the mech-shift scythe in the past three years.
"I'll stay until you finish your team, then I'm gone. If you're gonna start ramping up the slavery, I don't want anything to do with it."
Rehgar nodded, stopping the cart.
"What?"
"Do you hear that?"
Ruby strained her ears, catching the noise of a struggle.
"I'll go check," Ruby slid off the cart, grabbing the wooden scythe handle and pulling it from behind the cage.
She missed Crescent Rose.
As Ruby picked her way through the brush, she called for the wind to assist her in her search, the scent of whatever was fighting being carried right to her nose.
It didn't take much for the Elements to be willing to help Ruby, her and them having found an easy accord.
Stopping before the swamp, Ruby watched the human man struggling with a crocolisk for a moment, before throwing a ball of air at the six legged reptile, forcing it into the air as lightning tore through it on the back swing.
Ruby walked over to the man, helping him up.
"You alright?" she asked, "I'm Ruby, what's your name?"
"My name?" he said, clutching his head, "I, uh, I don't remember."
"Amnesia?"
"What?"
"You don't remember your name? What about anything else?"
"I-" he shook his head, "I don't remember anything."
"I- Ruby frowned, "I can get you to Orgrimmar, but you'll have to figure the rest out yourself. Come on, I've got a cart we can take."
---
Valeera snapped her eyes open as a hand planted on her shoulder, trying to lunge forward.
Broll kept his hand on her, pressing a finger to his lips and pointing outside, where several people talking in Orcish.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"We're at Orgrimmar, we'll be at the arena in an hour."
After a minute, the cart shuddered back into motion, carrying the group forward. Valeera watched as they entered the fortress city.
Orgrimmar was built into a long valley, metal walkways lining it to allow people to access several of the natural caves that had been converted into buildings, while more building sat in the valley proper.
After ten minutes the human woman jumped off the wagon, sharing a brief conversation with the orc, who threw her a coin purse and pair of letters as they continued past a market.
"What were they saying?" she asked Broll.
"Ruby's going to pick up some supplies for a trip she'll be making later, and Rehgar asked her to stop by the butchery and make a delivery."
"Ah," Valeera said, watching as the human disappeared into a throng of Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren. The other human, the one they had found on the road, looked like he wanted to follow her, before Rehgar suddenly spoke in slightly stilted Common.
"So, Crocbait. Ruby said you don't remember anything?"
"You can speak Common?" Valeera blurted out.
"Clearly," Rehgar said sarcastically, "Crocbait?"
"Crocbai-? No, I don't remember anything."
"Mh… Any sort of identifying thing on you?" Rehgar speech stumbled slightly as he said that, "a badge, locket, something like that?"
"No, I don't think so," the man said, patting himself down.
"How long do you think you'd been fighting that Crocolisk when Ruby found you?"
"I don't know? A few minutes maybe? Why?"
"Most humans wouldn't survive a minute, there are plenty of orcs that couldn't either. Think you would have won?"
"Maybe?" Crocbait asked, "I had caught sight of a broken plank, I figured if I could worm it under the thing, it's own weight would have impaled it."
"That could work," Rehgar agreed, "do you think you were a fighter, a soldier maybe?"
"I don't know, why?"
"I've got have an opening at my home, Ruby's headin' toward Darnassus, I also need a third member for my gladiator team. How about I hire you on? It'll be dangerous work, but the pay will be good and you'll have a roof over your head."
"Oh, come on-" Broll slapped a hand over Valeera's mouth, pressing his finger against his own again.
"That does sound nice," Crocbait agreed, "do I have to give my answer now?"
"No, you have a few days, but I do need it soon. I need to know if I have to get another gladiator so I can have the team ready for Dire Maul. Think about, would you? I'm good at guessing how good people are," Rehgar stumbled again, "and you seem like you could go far."
---
Ruby walked away from the Orgrimmar rookery, approaching Grommash Hold. As she approached the seat of the Warchief, two Kor'kron guards stepped in front of her. The bigger of the two sneered at her, exposing his gold ringed tusks.
"What do you want, human?" he asked in rough Common.
"I'm delivering a message to the Warchief."
The sneer grew wider, and the orc turned to the other, "the pinkskin thinks she's going to meet with the Warchief," he said in Orcish, electing a sniggering laugh from the other.
Ruby sucked her teeth, clenching her fist behind her back. The first thing she was doing when she met Blake again was retroactively agreeing with her on every matter of Faunus rights she had ever mentioned. She had lived in Orgrimmar for three years, why did so many people act like she was a second class citizen?
"What's the message?" he asked in common.
"A letter from Rehgar Earthfury," Ruby said, raising the letter, "I'm also supposed to speak with Farseer Drek'thar."
Ruby saw the Kor'korn's eyes widen at the reference to Rehgar, and he reached out for the letter, only for Ruby to store it away.
"I'll be going in now," she said, sidestepping him.
"I didn't say you were allowed in, pinkskin," he growled.
"I didn't know you chose who met with the Warchief, I'll be sure to pass that fact along to him," Ruby said, watching the Kor'korn's grip on his axe tighten.
She understood why Blake did this to Weiss, it was really fun annoying people like this.
"You aren't going in," he repeated.
"Sir," Ruby called out to a passing undead with red eyes, "were you aware that the Warchief isn't informed of messengers sent to deliver important letters?"
Duck.
Ruby fell slightly as an axe attempted to take her head off, turning towards the orc.
"Ignore the pinkskin," he barked in orcish, "she doesn't kno-"
"What would the Warchief think," Ruby asked loudly in orcish, "if he knew that his guards believed that they were more knowledgeable about wha-"
Left, right, left, right, right.
Ruby dodged the flurry of axe swings, the impression warning her seconds before each strike came.
"Sir," Ruby said as loudly as possible, "I apologize, Rehgar didn't inform me that the true power of the Horde was the man guarding the Warchief. Allow me leave, and I'll go inform him that he should contact you next time he wishes to speak with the Warchi-"
Block!
Ruby threw up a barrier of rock, before uncoiling the chain whip she had long taken to carrying in Orgrimmar out from under one sleeve and lashing out with it, flames following in its wake as it struck the axe.
"What!?" the orc growled.
"What's going on here?" a familiar voice demanded, allowing an old, blind orc out of the hold, "why are you fighting a Kor'kron, Ruby?"
"He wasn't letting me in Drek'thar," she shrugged, "I came to let you know that I would be leaving soon, and to deliver a message to Thrall."
---
Thrall looked over from where he had been quietly conversing with Vol'jin about the war brewing near the gates of Sithilus, eyebrows raising slightly as Drek'thar walked in with a pair of bowed head Kor'kron and Ruby Rose.
"What happened?" Thrall asked, slightly resigned.
"These two," Drek'thar gestured to the orcs, "decided to take it upon themselves to keep Ruby from entering."
"Called me pinkskin, too!" Ruby piped up, a slightly forced grin on her face.
Thrall winced, well aware of how the former slave hated to be called pinkskin, since it was the only thing her masters had referred to her as.
"Saurfang? Would you take these two back to the Valley of Trials? They clearly haven't learned enough."
The guards shared a look of horror. Being sent back to the Valley of Trials was a heavy punishment, a way of declaring that their mentors had failed to instill enough knowledge in them.
"Warchief!" one yelled, "you're not taking this pinkskin's sid-"
"Don't call her that. What if she had been an envoy from Theramore, or Stormwind? You would have caused an incident. Go," Thrall watched them be escorted out, turning to Ruby, "I'm sorry about that."
"It's not your fault, Warchief."
"I've told you before, you don't need to call me that. You aren't a sworn member of the Horde, but you are my friend."
"Then you should hurry up and find your name, I'm not calling you slave, ever."
Thrall laughed slightly, "but if I don't know it, is it truly my name?"
"That's a question best left to the philosophers of my profession, Warchief."
Thrall nodded, "What did you need, my friend?"
"I'm delivering a pair of letters, one from Jaina that she asks for you to read alone, and the other from Rehgar."
Thrall took the letter, storing the one with the seal of Theramore emblazoned on the front in wax, before opening the one from Rehgar.
"What's it say?" Vol'jin asked.
"He says that he plans to retire from managing his gladiators if they win at Dire Maul, and is offering his services as an advisor in the place of Nazgrel," Thrall said as his eyes scanned the rough orcish words, testimony to the fact that his people had once held even other orcs as slaves, that some, including Rehgar, still did. A part of their history that Thrall wished to put an end to once and for all.
Putting the letter away, and resolving to think about it later, Thrall turned his attention back to Ruby.
"Anything else?"
"Yes," Ruby was examining Doomhammer, picking it up from its place on the pedestal next to Thrall, practically fondling the warhammer, "I'm leaving soon."
"Rehgar running you ragged again?" Thrall asked.
"No," Ruby shook her head, "I'm leaving for Darnassus, I got a lead. I came here to thank Drek'thar for his help teaching me these last few years."
Thrall saw Drek'thar frown, the older orc stepping forward, "You shouldn't get your hopes up, it's been six years."
"She had Crescent Rose, even if it isn't her, I want my baby back."
"And if is her? What will you do?"
"I don't know," Ruby said, placing the hammer down, "but it doesn't matter. I'll just happy to see her again."
"You could return to Orgrimmar, you will always be welcome here," Thall threw out, trying to find some way to help his friend, "you could do mercenary work, or assist us."
"Maybe. Do you know a quick way to Darnassus? I'd like to head out as soon as I can."
"A portal from here to Theramore, and then from Theramore to Darnassus," Thrall said instantly, it was what he did on diplomatic meeting with the night elves, "just say the word and I can have one opened."
"I'll think about it," Ruby said, "I need to head out now, there's things I need to buy before the shops close down."
---
Ruby walked through the halls of the Ring of Valor, a torch held aloft, the only light in the dark pits. At each of the grates, Ruby briefly leaned down, checking the people in each oubliette.
After a while, Ruby found who she was looking for, placing the torch in a holder. The shamaness dropped the sack in her hand, unlocked the grate with her copy of the key, and then dropped down, grabbing her sack as she did.
"Wake up," Ruby hissed, nudging Valeera with her foot. After a moment, the blood elf snapped up, looking around bleary eyed.
"Wuzzit?" she asked.
Ruby reached into the sack, throwing a cooling loaf of bread at her. Valeera caught it, looking down at it.
"Bread?"
"Yeah," Ruby said, waking Broll too, passing another loaf to him. Then she pulled out a knife and a glass jar with strawberry jam.
Ruby unscrewed the top, grabbing Valeera's bread, cutting it, and adding a generous amount of jam to it before giving it back.
"Eat," Ruby insisted, "you'll need plenty of energy tomorrow, training starts then."
"Why do you care? We're your slaves."
"You're Rehgar's slave, I'm not having anything to do with the slave trade," Ruby said, perhaps a bit too sharp.
The trio sat in uncomfortable silence, the two gladiators eating their food in silence, before Ruby sighed.
"Sorry," she said, "I just, I have a bad history with slavery."
"How?" Valeera asked.
"I spent three years a slave," Ruby said, "you two have it lucky, Rehgar's a good guy, despite what you might think, he normally gives slaves a cut of the profit, they'll keep you fed enough so you don't get weak, and you'll always have a way out if you decide to take it in the arena. That's more than I had."
It had taken months to regain the weight she had lost, longer still to get back into shape.
"What did you do?" Valeera asked, her food gone, "they didn't-?"
Ruby blinked in confusion. Didn't? Didn't wh- ewww.
"No!" Ruby let put a full body shudder, "Dust and Spirits, no! Why would you assume that?"
"Well," Valeera tugged at her sleeve, "you're a pretty human."
Pretty? Ruby wasn't pretty. Yang was pretty, Blake was pretty, Pyrrha was pretty.
"Most orcs would sooner jump off a cliff than lay with a pinkskin," Ruby stood, dusting off her lap, "I need to go, Rehgar's still waiting for meats for dinner."
The house Rehgar owned wasn't far from the arena, the gladiator pit having been central to the two shamans and their deceased friend's lives.
Ruby walked into the house walking into the kitchen. As she did, Rehgar looked up from where he was teaching their houseguest how to play Hearthstone.
"About time you got here," Rehgar stood up, storing his cards and taking the bag. Ruby slid into the chair, pulling out her deck as Crocbait grabbed his cards and started to shuffle them.
"Sorry, got sidetracked," Ruby finished shuffling her deck, playing a card. A miniature illusion of an air elemental burst from the card, dust whipping around it.
Rehgar grunted, grabbing a knife and starting to trim the fat, "stew sound good to you?"
"Yeah. What about you?" Ruby asked the other human, who was squinting at one of his cards, before he placed it.
A guard clad in plate mail appeared on the card, Ready for action!
"That's fine," Crocbait said as Ruby put down a totem token, which launched a fireball at the guard as she ended her turn.
They continued in relative silence, only the simulated sounds of battle breaking them from it, when Crocbait played a card.
Behold! The might of Stormwind! the man cried, lifting a battle standard up. At the same moment, Crocbait's eyes bugged out and his elbow slipped off the table. This sent the man's chin crashing into the table, knocking several pieces off.
"Woah!" Ruby cried, running about the table to check him for an injury, "are you alright?"
"Yes," he said around the fat lip he had given himself. Ruby ran a finger along it, the healing water circling around her outstretched finger and sealing the injury, "I'm sorry about the table."
"It's fine," Ruby said, "I'm pretty sure the stew is almost done, anyways."
"Ah," he said, "Ruby, are you good at fights?"
Ruby's eyebrows met, "I'd say so, yeah."
"Do you want to spar after dinner? I want to see how well I can myself."
"Sure."
---
The human currently going by the name of 'Crocbait' was standing across from Ruby, a blunted sword in his hand. Ruby had a hand scythe in each hand, deftly spinning one around her left wrist.
"Sinister?" He asked, a lesson from Anduin rising up.
"Come on, up you go," a large hand gently wrapped around his upper arm, lifting him to his feet, "try again!"
"I don't get it," he complained, reaching down and grabbing the training sword in his right hand, only to drop it with a stifled yelp as Anduin's blade struck him across the hand.
"Left hand, again."
"This doesn't feel natural," Crocbait complained, but did as he was told, "I don't get how anyone could fight like this."
"There are those who it comes to naturally, and if you ask a priest, or a lord who has never stepped onto the battlefield, they'll tell you that it is a sign of cravens and those consorting with spirits and demons."
"You don't think that?"
"Would I be teaching you to fight with it if I did? No, I don't know how the idea rooted itself into the faith, but those lords think that way because they hate to fight against them in duels and tourneys, what good is armor on your left side if the blade comes from the right?"
Crocbait tried to deflect the blade, feeling his arm protest even though Anduin was holding back.
"They why teach me?"
"Because what good is armor on their left side if your blade comes from the right? And if they wear armor on their right, well, you still know how to fight with your right hand, eh? Those are the really dangerous ones, boy, those that can fight with both hands. There's a probably a word for that, it's probably a long one, too. I don't know, never cared for fancy words myself, best leave that to the scholars and bards."
"What if they're wearing armor on both sides?"
"Kick 'em over, then find a chink in their armor and kill them before they get up. Armor's heavy, that's something a soldier can tell you better than any bard."
Crocbait's lips pulled into a frown. Who was Anduin?
"Huh?" Ruby asked, stopping her trick, "what's sinister?"
"Left handed?"
"Ambidextrous," Ruby said.
"What?"
"I can use both equally well," Ruby said, proving it by doing the trick with both hands at once, "always have."
"Just in fights?"
If Anduin had liked people who were 'ambidextrous' as much as that one memory implied he did, he would have probably killed a man to be born like that.
"Everything," Ruby said, "writing, cooking. Rehgar!" Ruby switched to Orcish briefly, looking to the door.
As she quieted down, Rehgar walked out of the house, settling in a chair on the porch, and leaning forward, "alright, Crocbait, let's see what you can do. Ruby, don't go to hard on him."
Too hard on him? What was that supposed to-
Crocbait ducked as one of the scythes flew at him, feeling the displaced air send his hair dancing. Looking up, he brought his sword up to parry her other scythe several times, feeling static form with each attack as he did so.
Finally Ruby hooked her scythe around his blade, locking them into place, and drove her fist into his gut.
Crocbait gritted his teeth as a burning tore through his stomach and down his legs, leaving him numb even as his body was screaming at him to move. Left with no choice, the amnesiac human did the only thing that made sense.
He dropped his sword, reaching behind him with his other hand.
Ruby's eyes widened, the sudden lack of tension caused he to stagger forward as the bizarre wind carried her other scythe right into Crocbait's hand.
Doing a half spin so he was behind Ruby, Crocbait reached down, scooping up his sword while he finished his turn.
He got a blast of cold wind to his face for his troubles, leaving him batting his stinging eyes as he used both weapons to deflect Ruby's one.
Eventually, Ruby's right arm lashed out, wrapping tightly around Crocbait's left, and pulled it tight, forcing him to drop her scythe.
Tightening his grip on his sword, Crocbait smashed the hilt into Ruby's skull until she let go.
Crocbait charged forward, stopping his sword before Ruby's throat as one scythe looped around the back of his neck and the outer edge of the other pressed against the front.
Crocbait panted, trying to keep the grin off his face as they stood their for a moment, neither one wanting to be the one who lowered their blade first.
"Alright" Rehgar called, "that's enough! I don't need to clean one of your bodies off the ground!"
Crocbait lowered his sword, looking over to the orc, "is that position still open?"
"Why? You want in?"
"Yeah," Crocbait grinned, "that was fun."
"Wait," Ruby was looking between them, "what position?"
"On the team," Rehgar said, standing, "I offered it to him while you were out, figured that if we could get someone quick, you wouldn't have to wait for long before heading out."
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked Crocbait, "it won't be like this, you could die out there. What if you have a wife or kids?"
"I'll," Crocbait stopped, "I'll deal with that when I come to it, you should go, if you've got something to do."
"But-"
"Go," Crocbait insisted, "I'll be fine, I'll have something to do, until I remember what's going on."
"I-" Ruby stopped, "Ok. I'll go, see you at some point."
As Ruby turned away from them, Rehgar suddenly called out to her, "Girl!"
"What?"
"I don't care how this turns out, I want to see you back here before Dire Maul, you hear? This is your house as much as it is mine!"
"I'll-" Ruby lowered her head, switching to orcish again as an almost musical string of words escaped from her lips.
Rehgar responded in kind, before Ruby walked over to the cart, grabbing a full sized scythe, and heading down the path.
"What was that?"
"An old orcish thing, I don't know how to say it in Common, so don't ask me. It's traditionally said from a child to the clan head and farseer at the end of a fostering. Before they go to return to their family."
Rehgar stood on the deck for a bit longer, head facing the end of the street, until Ruby turned disappeared through the gates. The orc pushed himself off, pulling open the door.
"Come on, Crocbait, I'll teach you how to play another game, maybe one with gambling."
---
"I'll take a couple of tuna," Blake said, handing over a bag of copper gryphs.
"That all today?" James, the fishmonger, asked, grabbing the bag, taking out a few coins, and handing it back to Blake.
"Yeah," Blake took the rolled up fish, storing them in her pack. She would be glad to to return to the apartment she had been renting in Darnassus.
"Blake," James said suddenly, "someone came by the docks the other day, was looking for you."
"Who?"
"A human, probably around your age. She was asking for you by name too. I said I'd tell you she was looking for you if I saw you," the immigrant said, "she gave me the address of the inn she was staying, wrote it down, too. Didn't know you'd moved so far up into the world that you had people who can write lookin' for ya. Ya want it?"
"Sure," Blake held out her hand, taking the note.
"Give me a second," James crouched, fiddling with his lockbox, "she said she'd been looking for you for a couple of days, seemed relieved when I said I knew ya. Dressed weird."
"How weird?"
"She was wearing a big red cloak, fur lined, with black clothes. Here you go," James held out the note, letting Blake grab it.
Opening it, Blake felt her eyes widen at the familiar scrawl, eyes scanning the address.
"You alright?" James asked.
"Fine," Blake said, fighting to keep the look off her face as she picked the tunas back up, "I'll see you later."
Blake turned, rushing quickly back to her house, dropped the fish in the cooler, grabbing Crescent Rose, and heading further into the city.
It took Blake the better part of two hours to find the large inn, built from white marble in traditional night elven style.
Breathing in, Blake steeled herself, and walked in, looking around for the innkeeper. People were seated at chairs around the room, playing games and drinking.
"Can I help you?" an elf called from the bar, "If you're looking for a room, we're all out at the moment."
"No- I mean… I'm look for someone who's staying here. In room," Blake checked the paper , "ten."
"Left side," he said, pointing towards the place, "end of the hall."
Blake headed that way, before stopping before the door. Taking a deep breath, Blake lifted her hand, knocking on the door.
"One moment!" the voice on the other side called, "I'll be right there!"
Blake held her breath, waiting for the foot fall to approach, before the door swung open.
"Sorry I just- Blake?" Ruby's voice cracked at the end of her question.
"Ruby?" Blake asked in return, "Is this- you're really here?"
"Yeah," Ruby suddenly exploded forward, wrapping Blake into a Yang-esque hug, "I missed you. Come in, we need to talk."
- Location
- Singapore
Hmm.... what does lush flatland look like?
This?
This?
- Location
- Singapore
Centurion Atticus had been selected for the trip into the World beyond the Gate. This morning, he had gathered together his army from their camp, and had charged through the gate, through the other side. Finding.... nothing.
The Gate had appeared on a mountain. It seems that there was no true way down, except for an extremely steep cliff overlooking a large, lush, plain of greenery and bushes. The land was good and fertile, but it would do no good. Previously, the opening of the gates had been a way for people to find civilizations from other worlds, and to use them for plunder. This time, however, it seemed to be different. The land here was certainly of a type that most romans would love to have, but there was no place to carry out plunder. Nobody to rob, and no goods to loot.
This angered the men, who were expecting to gain riches and valuables from the expedition. Although they did not express it directly, he could almost hear the grumblings and complaining emanating from the camp. He could feel their frustration. Even the command staff around him were annoyed, as they spent their days doing nothing. As the days went by, and the engineers slowly built a rampart for the men and horses to get down from the cliffside, he began to feel stir-crazy. Would the gods, please, just send someone or something to them? It would be nice for anything to happen. Anything!
2 days later, as the sun rose, he got his wish.
The scouts saw it first. A large cloud of dust approaching from 2 opposite directions of the plateau. As the 2 opposing groups of men approached, he realized 2 things. The ones coming from the north, bore blue and white flags. The ones from the south, they had orange and green flags. Their weapons were different, too. While the ones from the south had ordinary weapons like swords, spears, and shields, the some of the soldiers from the north had strange staffs they pointed straight in front of them. It seemed that the 2 opposing armies were about to clash with each other. And he had a front-row seat to the show.
It was 6 hours, until they attacked. That was when everything went wrong.
The first shot was a beam of light from a faction wearing blue. It struck the ranks of the green, sending them flying from a massive explosion, as if from a mage. A crater was left, at least a meter deep. That was when both sides started to move.
Men moved like blurs, leaping acoss several leagues to clash against their opposite number with a shower of sparks. Warriors wielding polearms, swords, hammers, or just their fists, blurred against each other like flowing water in a delicate dance of death. There were men wielding oversized axes twice their size, and others held blades longer than they were tall. The clashes between weapons were punctuated with explosions as the air itself shook as a thousand perfectly executed strikes parries were carried out in a second
And that was not all. As the battle raged, magic began to appear. Shining crystals were used by many of the warriors on both sides, which conjured the elements to bring mass destruction to the areas around them. Hurricanes threw men and equipment like ragdolls, while large showers of earthen spikes appeared to skewer opponents from the ground. Rivers of flame manifested, transforming men, horses, and such into ashes and left roads of glass where they had passed. Warriors were there one minute, then smashed into pastr as if an invisible giant hammer had struck from the heavens to destroy them, or flung into the sky never to be seen again.
It was nothing like he had ever seen before. Within ordinary warfare, there were at most a dozen mages. Here, there were thousands..... and why were there so many still fighting? He noticed men moving faster than a man on horseback. That man was struck by a rock that should have by all means turned him into a red paste, that girl is hefting that massive hammer like it was nothing.....
With a gut-wretching turn, he looked at the war again. The soldiers weapons; arrows, swords, spears, and the elements they were throwing at each other weren't killing each other directly. Every single man that was struck had the swords bounce off their bare skin. That strength, endurance, durability, and skill......
Apostles. This were 2 armies of apostles and mages, trying to slay each other.
And they had come to plunder them.......
Leaping to his feet, Centurion Atticus ran back to the camp to get them to flee. He did not like to think what the armies would do to him if they should find out his true intentions.
The Gate had appeared on a mountain. It seems that there was no true way down, except for an extremely steep cliff overlooking a large, lush, plain of greenery and bushes. The land was good and fertile, but it would do no good. Previously, the opening of the gates had been a way for people to find civilizations from other worlds, and to use them for plunder. This time, however, it seemed to be different. The land here was certainly of a type that most romans would love to have, but there was no place to carry out plunder. Nobody to rob, and no goods to loot.
This angered the men, who were expecting to gain riches and valuables from the expedition. Although they did not express it directly, he could almost hear the grumblings and complaining emanating from the camp. He could feel their frustration. Even the command staff around him were annoyed, as they spent their days doing nothing. As the days went by, and the engineers slowly built a rampart for the men and horses to get down from the cliffside, he began to feel stir-crazy. Would the gods, please, just send someone or something to them? It would be nice for anything to happen. Anything!
2 days later, as the sun rose, he got his wish.
The scouts saw it first. A large cloud of dust approaching from 2 opposite directions of the plateau. As the 2 opposing groups of men approached, he realized 2 things. The ones coming from the north, bore blue and white flags. The ones from the south, they had orange and green flags. Their weapons were different, too. While the ones from the south had ordinary weapons like swords, spears, and shields, the some of the soldiers from the north had strange staffs they pointed straight in front of them. It seemed that the 2 opposing armies were about to clash with each other. And he had a front-row seat to the show.
It was 6 hours, until they attacked. That was when everything went wrong.
The first shot was a beam of light from a faction wearing blue. It struck the ranks of the green, sending them flying from a massive explosion, as if from a mage. A crater was left, at least a meter deep. That was when both sides started to move.
Men moved like blurs, leaping acoss several leagues to clash against their opposite number with a shower of sparks. Warriors wielding polearms, swords, hammers, or just their fists, blurred against each other like flowing water in a delicate dance of death. There were men wielding oversized axes twice their size, and others held blades longer than they were tall. The clashes between weapons were punctuated with explosions as the air itself shook as a thousand perfectly executed strikes parries were carried out in a second
And that was not all. As the battle raged, magic began to appear. Shining crystals were used by many of the warriors on both sides, which conjured the elements to bring mass destruction to the areas around them. Hurricanes threw men and equipment like ragdolls, while large showers of earthen spikes appeared to skewer opponents from the ground. Rivers of flame manifested, transforming men, horses, and such into ashes and left roads of glass where they had passed. Warriors were there one minute, then smashed into pastr as if an invisible giant hammer had struck from the heavens to destroy them, or flung into the sky never to be seen again.
It was nothing like he had ever seen before. Within ordinary warfare, there were at most a dozen mages. Here, there were thousands..... and why were there so many still fighting? He noticed men moving faster than a man on horseback. That man was struck by a rock that should have by all means turned him into a red paste, that girl is hefting that massive hammer like it was nothing.....
With a gut-wretching turn, he looked at the war again. The soldiers weapons; arrows, swords, spears, and the elements they were throwing at each other weren't killing each other directly. Every single man that was struck had the swords bounce off their bare skin. That strength, endurance, durability, and skill......
Apostles. This were 2 armies of apostles and mages, trying to slay each other.
And they had come to plunder them.......
Leaping to his feet, Centurion Atticus ran back to the camp to get them to flee. He did not like to think what the armies would do to him if they should find out his true intentions.
Last edited:
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
So that post I made about what I'd do differently if I remade "ROYL?"That led into me making a bunch of different weapon options for the OC team, here:
Purple
Blue
White
Gray
Purple
A longsword - which means a longer double-edged sword meant to be wielded with two hands, rather than the one-handed arming (or knightly) sword that fantasy has arbitrarily decided is called a "longsword" - with an empty slot in the hilt for the placement of Dust crystals; when a crystal is placed, it can be activated at will to empower the blade, allowing for powerful elemental attacks (including ranged ones). The blade folds in and retracts to the size of a dagger to be more convenient when not in use (or potentially for combat in cramped quarters).
The blade has odd bands of purple in the steel that seem to form ancient runes, and the hilt is etched with ornate designs of purple vines and stylized golden lilies. The pommel is a small golden sphere, with two purple etchings that seem to suggest the claws of some bird of prey.
Clarent's fighting style is practical and adaptive; "Purple" wields it with great skill, strength and dexterity, and Clarent can be used with one hand or two, and can slash, stab, and even bludgeon and beat opponents equally well in their hands. They often use very theatrical movements that appear to leave them open, but in actuality their ability to use any part of the sword, and at almost any angle, means they are very rarely truly without a wealth of options.
Unknown to most, the hilt of Clarent is actually partly hollow; with a twist of the pommel, a long, thin stiletto blade perfect for stabbing vulnerable foes slides out of the hilt; the blade is as black as a crow's feathers and completely without ornamentation. This weapon is unnamed, and "Purple" considers it merely an extension of Clarent.
The blade has odd bands of purple in the steel that seem to form ancient runes, and the hilt is etched with ornate designs of purple vines and stylized golden lilies. The pommel is a small golden sphere, with two purple etchings that seem to suggest the claws of some bird of prey.
Clarent's fighting style is practical and adaptive; "Purple" wields it with great skill, strength and dexterity, and Clarent can be used with one hand or two, and can slash, stab, and even bludgeon and beat opponents equally well in their hands. They often use very theatrical movements that appear to leave them open, but in actuality their ability to use any part of the sword, and at almost any angle, means they are very rarely truly without a wealth of options.
Unknown to most, the hilt of Clarent is actually partly hollow; with a twist of the pommel, a long, thin stiletto blade perfect for stabbing vulnerable foes slides out of the hilt; the blade is as black as a crow's feathers and completely without ornamentation. This weapon is unnamed, and "Purple" considers it merely an extension of Clarent.
Calesvol is a broadsword - a one-handed, double-edged straight sword with a basket-shaped guard to protect the hand; historically, the military counterpart to the rapier's function as a sword of civilian duels - while Prydwen is a buckler, a small, round shield about 18 inches (45 centimeters) in diameter. The sword is worn at the side when sheathed, while the buckler retracts the outer segments in crescent-shaped spiral segments, leaving only the central shield boss. The sword's pommel slides out so to reveal a container for a Dust magazine, and the central boss of the shield has a slot in which a Dust crystal is placed. The magazine allows for the blade to be empowered with energy, and the crystal activates on impact when the shield is used to bash enemies or objects for various effects.
Calesvol's guard is a grid of golden bars that seem to "pierce" several small, purple, stylized lilies. The hilt itself is plain, with a wedge-shaped pommel so that it can be used to bludgeon enemies if need be. Prydwen is gilded at the edges of each segment to make crisscrossing crescent patterns of gold, and the outward face of the boss shows a simple etching in white of a mother holding a newborn child in her arms, with a serene face.
Unseen by most, the reverse of the shield boss has the same design, but reversed and etched in black rather than white.
Calesvol and Prydwen's style is about seamlessly combining offense and defense; the sword can both slash and stab and can even be used to bludgeon with the pommel while protecting the hand, and the shield allows for more effective blocking and can also be used as a tool to budgeon or even to cut things with the sharpened edges, with the Dust crystal activating either when it blocks an attack or when it's used to attack itself. Their attacks include a lot of circular motion to build up speed and power or simply to better maneuver to defend or attack.
Calesvol's guard is a grid of golden bars that seem to "pierce" several small, purple, stylized lilies. The hilt itself is plain, with a wedge-shaped pommel so that it can be used to bludgeon enemies if need be. Prydwen is gilded at the edges of each segment to make crisscrossing crescent patterns of gold, and the outward face of the boss shows a simple etching in white of a mother holding a newborn child in her arms, with a serene face.
Unseen by most, the reverse of the shield boss has the same design, but reversed and etched in black rather than white.
Calesvol and Prydwen's style is about seamlessly combining offense and defense; the sword can both slash and stab and can even be used to bludgeon with the pommel while protecting the hand, and the shield allows for more effective blocking and can also be used as a tool to budgeon or even to cut things with the sharpened edges, with the Dust crystal activating either when it blocks an attack or when it's used to attack itself. Their attacks include a lot of circular motion to build up speed and power or simply to better maneuver to defend or attack.
A pair of swords based on backswords - one-handed, straight single-edged blades with a knuckle guard to protect the hand - but with a cutting edge on both sides of the blade rather than just one. Each sword has a slot at the bottom of the hilt (there is no pommel) into which a Dust magazine can be inserted, which allows for powerful elemental attacks. Both swords have a protrusion on one side of the hilt; this allows the two to be attached on a hinge, essentially transforming the two blades into a giant pair of scissors at a moment's notice to entrap weapons and foes… or to simply break/shear them. When attached, the two blades can lock together into one sword, which is then sheathed at the waist.
Joyeuse & Précieuse look very similar in shape, and are told apart by the color and designs on the hilts. Joyeuse has a purple hilt with a stylized lily etching on the outside of the guard, and Précieuse has a gold hilt with a stylized crown etching on the outside of the guard.
Unknown to most, with a particular twist of the hilt, one edge of each blade - namely, the one that faces inward when the blades are made into scissors - become deeply serrated like the barbed teeth of a comb, similar to the design of "sword breaker" daggers.
Joyeuse & Précieuse's fighting style is very aggressive, even vicious when "Purple" feels particularly serious or vindictive. "Purple" begins most fights with the swords as one, separating them into two instantly when an opportunity to capitalize on the element of surprise appears. They prefer to parry rather than block, and only if very sorely pressed will they adopt a more defensive posture than using one blade for defense and one for offensive strikes and counterattacks. They use a great deal of acrobatics and feats of dexterity to misdirect and maneuver around opponents, to capitalize on (or create) weak points in the enemy's defense. The scissors are usually used for a coup de grace that often ends the fight or at least puts "Purple" in a very commanding position; against human opponents by disarming or even breaking their weapon, and against Grimm by simply cutting entrapped extremities off entirely.
Joyeuse & Précieuse look very similar in shape, and are told apart by the color and designs on the hilts. Joyeuse has a purple hilt with a stylized lily etching on the outside of the guard, and Précieuse has a gold hilt with a stylized crown etching on the outside of the guard.
Unknown to most, with a particular twist of the hilt, one edge of each blade - namely, the one that faces inward when the blades are made into scissors - become deeply serrated like the barbed teeth of a comb, similar to the design of "sword breaker" daggers.
Joyeuse & Précieuse's fighting style is very aggressive, even vicious when "Purple" feels particularly serious or vindictive. "Purple" begins most fights with the swords as one, separating them into two instantly when an opportunity to capitalize on the element of surprise appears. They prefer to parry rather than block, and only if very sorely pressed will they adopt a more defensive posture than using one blade for defense and one for offensive strikes and counterattacks. They use a great deal of acrobatics and feats of dexterity to misdirect and maneuver around opponents, to capitalize on (or create) weak points in the enemy's defense. The scissors are usually used for a coup de grace that often ends the fight or at least puts "Purple" in a very commanding position; against human opponents by disarming or even breaking their weapon, and against Grimm by simply cutting entrapped extremities off entirely.
Blue
At first glance, it's a boat anchor. At second glance, it's a heavily modified boat anchor; the long central shank has a hand grip for ease of use, while four arms spread outward, with hooked teeth meant to catch, grab, and tear. Erupting from the end of the central shank is a harpoon blade; the ring at the end of the anchor is actually the end of a long chain contained within the anchor which fires the harpoon like a cannon; the mechanism is Dust-based, and the harpoon thus fires with incredible force, enough for the harpoon to rip through and hook into steel. Once fired, the harpoon can be retracted with a powerful winch.
The Ahab Special's fighting style isn't very fast, but it's quite powerful. "Blue" wields the huge, heavy anchor with amazing strength, striking fierce and powerful blows with the anchor held in one or both hands, with the hooked arms being used to focus damage on a single point or to simply grab onto enemies and weapons, which are then slammed against anything in reach to deal more damage. The harpoon is used not just to attack enemies at range, but to latch onto them and pull them into range for devastating melee attacks.
The Ahab Special's fighting style isn't very fast, but it's quite powerful. "Blue" wields the huge, heavy anchor with amazing strength, striking fierce and powerful blows with the anchor held in one or both hands, with the hooked arms being used to focus damage on a single point or to simply grab onto enemies and weapons, which are then slammed against anything in reach to deal more damage. The harpoon is used not just to attack enemies at range, but to latch onto them and pull them into range for devastating melee attacks.
A pair of large, round shields which have what appear to be short boarding pikes welded to the outside face of each shield, the blades pointing outward like an extension of the arms. A Dust mechanism "fires" the pikes, extending the blade out by several feet to strike with the force of an industrial piston and then withdrawing it in the same instant.
The shields both have the same design of roiling, stylized blue and white waves that seem to chase each other in a circle around the shields.
Aias & Teukros's fighting style is a strong defense that becomes a quick, deadly offense, with the shields providing a great deal of protection. Because they are strapped to the forearms, they provide a decent range of motion that allows "Blue" to defend themselves (or others) from several angles, and the boarding pike pistons provide exceptional piercing power that can end fights against lesser opponents very quickly once "Blue" finds an opening. They can also use the shields themselves offensively, leveraging their great strength to batter, beat and even throw enemies.
The shields both have the same design of roiling, stylized blue and white waves that seem to chase each other in a circle around the shields.
Aias & Teukros's fighting style is a strong defense that becomes a quick, deadly offense, with the shields providing a great deal of protection. Because they are strapped to the forearms, they provide a decent range of motion that allows "Blue" to defend themselves (or others) from several angles, and the boarding pike pistons provide exceptional piercing power that can end fights against lesser opponents very quickly once "Blue" finds an opening. They can also use the shields themselves offensively, leveraging their great strength to batter, beat and even throw enemies.
The Wavebreakers are unusual weapons for a Hunter for one singular reason: they are disposable weapons, rather than unique and singular weapons that would take a great deal of labor and resources to replace. The Wavebreakers are tomahawks - single-bladed axes that resemble hatchets with straight handles - with a sharp spike at the opposite end, which can be used both for hand-to-hand combat and as thrown weapons. Each Wavebreaker has a minute amount of Dust - with types distinguished by a colored band on the haft - which activates when the axe is struck to release a payload. Beneath "Blue's" coat are two crisscrossing baldrics - belts worn over the shoulder to hold weapons - which each hold a brace of Wavebreakers.
The Wavebreakers are made simply and without ornamentation; they are purely utilitarian tools and weapons, and are meant to be as replaceable as possible. However, at one end of each axe's haft is carved a small circle with stylized waves crashing inside of it as a sort of signature.
The Wavebreakers' fighting style is the fastest of "Blue's" options; typically, they wield one Wavebreaker in each hand and attack aggressively with them, hacking with the axehead and sometimes using the spike on the reverse end to stab and grab onto objects and enemies. With "Blue's" incredible strength and skill, they can throw a Wavebreaker with alarming force and accuracy to strike enemies at surprisingly long ranges.
The Wavebreakers are made simply and without ornamentation; they are purely utilitarian tools and weapons, and are meant to be as replaceable as possible. However, at one end of each axe's haft is carved a small circle with stylized waves crashing inside of it as a sort of signature.
The Wavebreakers' fighting style is the fastest of "Blue's" options; typically, they wield one Wavebreaker in each hand and attack aggressively with them, hacking with the axehead and sometimes using the spike on the reverse end to stab and grab onto objects and enemies. With "Blue's" incredible strength and skill, they can throw a Wavebreaker with alarming force and accuracy to strike enemies at surprisingly long ranges.
White
A pair of rather unusual weapons; at first glance, one appears to be a jian - a thin, straight, double-edged sword - with an odd design at the tip, which looks more like a thick metal dart or needle than a typical sword tip, and has a small hollow in the middle. In truth, the jian is a variant of a weapon called a nine-section whip; on command, the blade separates into razor-sharp segments connected by hidden steel chains, drastically lengthening the reach and flexibility of the weapon. The other seems to be a simple folding fan, but is in fact secretly made of metal with a razor sharp edge and strong enough to be used to block attacks and projectiles. The fan's six ribs are hollow, and contain thin, metal needles filled with a small payload of Dust.
The chain sword, Punk, is made of an odd white steel with "waves" that seem to resemble clouds, and a white crossguard shaped like a crescent moon; at the end of the hilt is a blood-red tassel. The metal fan, Poetry, is a pure, snowy white until about two-thirds up its length, at which point they become blood red; each section in this red portion contains a deep black circle with a crescent moon inside of it. The end of the fan has a blood-red tassel, just like the sword.
Punk & Poetry's fighting style is both deceptive and vicious. "White" shows great skill with these unusual weapons, using the nine-section sword not only to stab and slash, sometimes around an enemy's guard, but also to entangle and disarm to make enemies vulnerable to the slashing fan. The hollow at the tip of Punk is actually there for the red tassel on Poetry to slot into, combining the two weapons to further extend the range slightly and to deal more damage with a wide, slashing motion, which might be accompanied by a needle firing if "White" so desires. They employ a great deal of acrobatics and misdirection to ensure that they maximize the potential of these weapons to keep enemies on the defensive.
The chain sword, Punk, is made of an odd white steel with "waves" that seem to resemble clouds, and a white crossguard shaped like a crescent moon; at the end of the hilt is a blood-red tassel. The metal fan, Poetry, is a pure, snowy white until about two-thirds up its length, at which point they become blood red; each section in this red portion contains a deep black circle with a crescent moon inside of it. The end of the fan has a blood-red tassel, just like the sword.
Punk & Poetry's fighting style is both deceptive and vicious. "White" shows great skill with these unusual weapons, using the nine-section sword not only to stab and slash, sometimes around an enemy's guard, but also to entangle and disarm to make enemies vulnerable to the slashing fan. The hollow at the tip of Punk is actually there for the red tassel on Poetry to slot into, combining the two weapons to further extend the range slightly and to deal more damage with a wide, slashing motion, which might be accompanied by a needle firing if "White" so desires. They employ a great deal of acrobatics and misdirection to ensure that they maximize the potential of these weapons to keep enemies on the defensive.
A pair of butterfly swords - thick, single-edged swords custom-made for the length of a user's forearms for easy concealment and maneuvering, and with a knuckle-bow, a crossguard that loops around the hand for protection. With most butterfly swords, the other end of the crossguard loops the other way much like a sai, to block or hook enemy weapons. In the Broken Butterflies, however, the larger-than-average crossguard is also a gun; specifically, a hidden pistol that can fire four Dust rounds before needing to be reloaded. When worn openly, the Broken Butterflies are sheathed side by side in the same scabbard, to hide the fact that they are two weapons until they're drawn.
Despite being simple weapons at first glance, in "White's" hands the Broken Butterflies are almost frighteningly versatile. Because of their size and design, the Broken Butterflies are easily concealed in loose sleeves or boots, and in close-quarters combat they can be spun and rotated with amazing speed and technique; "White" can use them in a normal grip and reverse grip with equal skill, and can even use the thickened knuckle-bow like brass knuckles; for this very reason, "White" has implanted retractable spikes into the knuckle-bow for extra puncturing damage. In addition to the brass knuckles (minus the spikes), the Broken Butterflies have another way to be used as a not-expressly-lethal weapon: only half of the blade, from the middle to the tip, is sharpened, both to deliver non-damaging strikes and to block more effectively.
Despite being simple weapons at first glance, in "White's" hands the Broken Butterflies are almost frighteningly versatile. Because of their size and design, the Broken Butterflies are easily concealed in loose sleeves or boots, and in close-quarters combat they can be spun and rotated with amazing speed and technique; "White" can use them in a normal grip and reverse grip with equal skill, and can even use the thickened knuckle-bow like brass knuckles; for this very reason, "White" has implanted retractable spikes into the knuckle-bow for extra puncturing damage. In addition to the brass knuckles (minus the spikes), the Broken Butterflies have another way to be used as a not-expressly-lethal weapon: only half of the blade, from the middle to the tip, is sharpened, both to deliver non-damaging strikes and to block more effectively.
A variant of an unusual and obscure weapon almost exclusively associated with assassins called a flying guillotine, Blood Moon consists of a very long steel chain with a weight at one end; the other end attaches to a mechanism powered by Dust to which are attached two circular saw blades of cloudy white steel; when the mechanism activates (something which makes almost no sound at all), the saw blades spring to life but make until they strike, their almost imperceptible teeth biting deeply into everything from stone to steel. Sometimes rather than wield the chain, a special glove is used which retracts and feeds the chain automatically.
For their own reasons, "White" prefers to use the Blood Moon sparingly against their usual opponents, and so their fighting style with this weapon is most heavily reliant on hand to hand combat. They sometimes detach the chain from both the bladed mechanism and the glove, using it as a simple weighted chain to entangle, block and strike. When they do use Blood Moon as intended, however, they show an almost unnatural talent for it, launching, retracting and directing the spinning blades with terrible precison. "White" has described it as essentially "a demented yo-yo made by psychopaths."
For their own reasons, "White" prefers to use the Blood Moon sparingly against their usual opponents, and so their fighting style with this weapon is most heavily reliant on hand to hand combat. They sometimes detach the chain from both the bladed mechanism and the glove, using it as a simple weighted chain to entangle, block and strike. When they do use Blood Moon as intended, however, they show an almost unnatural talent for it, launching, retracting and directing the spinning blades with terrible precison. "White" has described it as essentially "a demented yo-yo made by psychopaths."
Gray
A relatively straightforward mechashift weapon, Gáe Barrett is a spear whose size can be shifted from about four feet to eight, and which can also transform into a .416 caliber semiautomatic anti-materiel rifle; it also has a detachable detachable shoulder stock and brace port for long-range sniping. When in the spear form, the gun's muzzle is the butt of the spear, and it can be fired in single shots for propulsion and added thrusting power.
Gáe Barrett's fighting style is strong, fast and brutal. "Gray" seldom holds back, opening most fights with a powerful offensive either at closer quarters or from range to end a fight as soon as it begins. Attacks are fast and powerful, with "Gray" leveraging both their weapon and their own superior physique to overpower enemies and overwhelm their defenses.
Gáe Barrett's fighting style is strong, fast and brutal. "Gray" seldom holds back, opening most fights with a powerful offensive either at closer quarters or from range to end a fight as soon as it begins. Attacks are fast and powerful, with "Gray" leveraging both their weapon and their own superior physique to overpower enemies and overwhelm their defenses.
An unusual weapon for its disposable nature, the Aréadbair are actually a collection of metal shafts containing a Dust payload; when activated, one end of the shaft erupts in a construct of pure energy, usually either a spearhead or a blade, with effects dependent on the form of Dust used. The type of Dust contained in a given shaft is marked by a colored band. The Aréadbair are contained in two hip pouches; they're about a foot long when stored and can be extended to about three feet long.
The Aréadbair are mostly disposable weapons; as such, they are often thrown by "Gray" for ranged attacks, usually utilizing Burn Dust javelins that explode on impact, though other elements can be used as well. They can also be used as weapons in hand-to-hand combat, usually as long knives or short spears. "Gray" shows great skill with these disposable weapons, often throwing or dropping one Aréadbair (or even a pair) to immediately grab more and attack with those in the same fluid movement.
The Aréadbair are mostly disposable weapons; as such, they are often thrown by "Gray" for ranged attacks, usually utilizing Burn Dust javelins that explode on impact, though other elements can be used as well. They can also be used as weapons in hand-to-hand combat, usually as long knives or short spears. "Gray" shows great skill with these disposable weapons, often throwing or dropping one Aréadbair (or even a pair) to immediately grab more and attack with those in the same fluid movement.
More of a weapon "system" than a single weapon. The first component, and the most obvious, is a sling - an extremely basic and simple weapon, used to throw rocks with more strength and distance than a simple throw with one's arm can. However, rather than simple stones, the "bullets" the sling fires are Dust grenades. Further, "Gray" wears special Dust-treated cestus - essentialy boxer's wrappings of hard, treated leather - and boots; seemingly made of leather, they are in fact reinforced with metal plates, with the layer between the metal and the leather containing pouches of powdered Dust. Rather than exploding or otherwise dealing direct damage (which would harm "Gray" as well), when the powdered Dust activates it empowers attacks, allowing for things like flaming fists or shocking kicks.
Teilm Taball necessitates a fighting style that's extremely reliant on hand-to-hand combat; "Gray" has a great deal of skill, but as a fighter they tend more toward overwhelming opponents with raw power and speed over deceptive tactics or superior displays of martial arts technique. They are extremely accurate with their sling, and with their impressive strength can launch grenades surprisingly long distances. Extremely reckless, particularly when angry, "Gray" is sometimes known to employ double-edged tactics such as punching their own grenades into an enemy or object to maximize the damage done, despite the damage it does to themselves.
Teilm Taball necessitates a fighting style that's extremely reliant on hand-to-hand combat; "Gray" has a great deal of skill, but as a fighter they tend more toward overwhelming opponents with raw power and speed over deceptive tactics or superior displays of martial arts technique. They are extremely accurate with their sling, and with their impressive strength can launch grenades surprisingly long distances. Extremely reckless, particularly when angry, "Gray" is sometimes known to employ double-edged tactics such as punching their own grenades into an enemy or object to maximize the damage done, despite the damage it does to themselves.
Very informative and insightful! As to the opening I think it was quite strong and in its final segment held an added degree of weight and tone that was quite pervasive and enthralling.
A very interesting crossover, I'm a fan of the WOW setting and such so definitely something I am interested in, plus, well, RWBY.
I do feel the descriptions are a bit lacking at times, the sparring match was good and the 'left, left' stuff against the guards were good, but overall it felt a bit empty at times.
I enjoy the world building and such that you pepper throughout the story, the stuff to do with clans and shamans, Silithus and the like.
James darnassus seems an odd name for a fish seller in Elven territory, was he there in canon and I just forgot?
I like the details on spirits and how they are sought out and utilized, interesting idea having Ruby trained as a Shaman, certainly unexpected.
(Personal over critical) I'm kind eh on Reghar, to me he feels whitewashed from a series where his actions already had that done & slaves feeling bad for the buddy of their slave master just feels uncomfortable to me.
Also, a rogue warsong group somehow capturing and holding Ruby feels odd, how old is she at this point, she had Crescent Rose & knew Blake but could still be caught and held by them? Not denying there is stuff in WOW that could do that, but some random runaways don't really fit the bill for me.
Also the character voices and some of the relationships feel a bit... samey in terms of tone at times, but that may just be me.
The flashback was quite solid as well, very well described and vivid.
I liked the detail on Ruby saying she'd agree with Blake when she saw her, nothing like living it to learn about it.
Blake ending up in Darnassus and renting a place is interesting, I wonder what she does for a living and if she's still trying to get home?
Looks right.
I'm a little surprised they didn't know ahead of time, before rallying an army, what would be waiting for them, XD
I very much liked the descriptions of the battle as a whole, a little shocked the Grimm hadn't attacked anyone yet, but the examples of Dust and how they were used, the blurring speed and resilience on display were quite vivid, energetic and cool.
I really like the weapon details, the historical info and observations were really interesting and informative and these weapons are all unique and create very fleshed out combat styles, complete with special attacks and opening gambits.
Wavebreaker/Aréadbair do feel a bit odd thematically and a tad wasteful, but I may be misunderstanding.
I love the distinct styles and tones to their usage and designs, which are very elegant, great work!
Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
Thank you! I really like atypical methods of storytelling, and although it wasn't exactly conscious/intentional with ROYL, I think that's why it's the quest I was able to write for the longest before my fickle muse departed, and why I still remember it so fondly and started thinking about it again recently.
I'm actually pleasantly surprised at that; I did spend a lot of time on it, but wasn't super happy with it. It might just be because I'm a wordy bastard, but it seemed kind overly short and simple to me. Glad you liked it though! Any chance you can point to anything in particular?
Thanks! I tried to take advantage of actually understanding the characters this time around to try to build weapons and fighting styles that were indicative of who they were and how they fought, but were still unique and distinct from each other. I might have put in too many paired weapons, though.
Well, as their writeups themselves note, they're a little unusual for Hunter weapons in that they're made to be disposable; there isn't any complicated or expensive bits to them, just metal (and wood, with the Wavebreakers) and a Dust payload/mechanism. If it seems like making new ones would be burdensome, keep in mind that there's no time spent on maintenance and repair to offset that.
The idea is kind of like Hawkeye's arrows; they're cool and high-tech, but they're still disposable tools because you fire them and have no way to really retrieve and re-use them. And for canon RWBY characters, it has a precedent with Gwen Darcy of Team NDGO, who uses a bunch of throwing knives, each with a Dust payload. There's no way she can retrieve them after every fight, and she doesn't need to, because it's just steel and Dust.
Admittedly, Aréadbair might be stretching it, with the more complicated way it uses its Dust payload. I might instead have half of them have a short blade and the other spearheads, and the Dust just empowers that instead of making a blade/spearhead.
Incidentally, all of "Gray's" weapons incorporate Gaelic warfare in some way. The first one is obvious if you've ever heard of Cuchulain, while Aréadbair is kind of a reference to javelin tossing being a big part of Gaelic warfare and Teilm Taball a reference to the fact that slings were also a big thing for the Gaels, not just militarily but also culturally.
Actually, I'm kind of worried that having both the cestus/boots with Dust combo and the sling that fires Dust grenades makes Teilm Taball "too much." Seriously considering cutting the Dust out of the "melee" option, but keeping the grenade, and maybe at some point "Gray" shows just how reckless they are by grabbing a Burn Dust crystal in their fist and punching someone with it to make an explosion that wrecks their hand as much as it wrecks their opponent's everything else.
As for the others, all of "Purple's" incorporate swords (a typically heroic weapon) but can be used very brutally (and have a dirty little secret) when they want to and are named after legendary swords (and a shield). All of "Blue's" share a naval theme (tomahawks originate from boarding axes traded to Native Americans by the Royal Navy) and take advantage of them being the biggest, strongest member of the team. And "White's" are all very versatile, deceptive, don't require a great deal of strength to use well, and are based in Chinese martial arts (except the fan in Punk & Poetry; war fans are more of a Japanese thing); the Flying Guillotine is probably fictional, though, or at least was way too impractical to ever be used more than once or twice.
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NP
that makes sense and I think you did a great job bringing that across in the tone and feel of your writing! I know that feeling XD but yeah short and punchy can work really well, especially when it present an almost greater force involved with also fits the nature of a guest very well.
I mean I liked all of it, it all flows together very well, but the final two sentences have a great feel of... I don't now, 'build' I guess and a strong sense of narration and finality that just meshes well with a quest. Sorry if that's not ideally explained.
I think paired weapons can in of themselves be fine, something like half to the weapons between RWBY & JNPR are pairs after all
and yeah that would definitely be an advantage and they all felt very distinct. I think having disposable weapons feels a bit odd given what Ruby says about them (Though her view may not be the sole norm) and how Grimm are often a numerical problem makes it feel risky.
Excellence point with Gwen Darcy I had totally forgotten her weapons, though I tended to assume she'd pick them up if she won the fight and had time, but your point is well thought out.
With Aréadbair that would definitely be your call, I'm afraid that's a tad too complicated for me XD But your description sounds like it would work well and be a solid compromise.
Afraid I only know him from some vague familiarity with the Fate series, hehe, but that's a really cool base for inspiration and quite unique in the Zeitgeist.
The boots and everything did make for a somewhat overwhelming concept I will admit. That sounds like an intense scene, not impossible, though I feel like their hand would be taking the most of the damage... Unless their Aura does something odd with how the blast is shaped, also wow they either pumped a lot of Aura into it or that is some potent Dust!
Really insightful, you have clearly put a ton of thought into the different weapons, inspirations sources and styles, and how they reflect your characters and mesh well, kudos!
- Location
- Singapore
Any other recommendations on what to do?
Its hard to know what to offer as I don't really know what your intentions/plans are, sorry.
- Location
- Singapore
Basically, a prompt from rickon invictus on SB:
I'm split two ideas for the Gate opening in Vacuo.
One is serious which now feels boring as its simply the Gate opening right before a middle four way slugfest.
And the other is basically the Empire on a cliff or something to see the four Kingdom's armies fighting. They see what seems like armies of apostles clashing and killing each other, changing the very land from a beautiful jungle to a barren waste.
They basically go nope and leave. This one is humorous at its base but I figure I could add some flare into how out of their depth the Empire feels when they see this and their reports back to their leaders are like, "We were lucky that these people were too busy killing each other. We would be lucky to have lasted a few minutes if they turned their rage upon us."
This one however hits a dead end while the other does have four different sides taking turns exploring the Gate.
Well if the portal is still around you could have survivors or explorers go and investigate, or some Grimm wander in, or some foolish group who don't believe the stories making an attack, beyond that, no ideas, sorry.
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
I'm not actually whitewashing Rehgar, with the expectation of that one kinda-weird-given-the-way-his-character-went moment of him throwing Varian into the cage that I removed (he knows that while Ruby would reluctantly tolerate Broll, and voice her disapproval over Valeera, actively capturing people is the point she would loudly and violently draw the line) everything else is from canon. Bloodeye bought his freedom from money Rehgar gave as a cut of the profit, and Ruby's comment about food was a case of Pragmatic Villainy. It's a hell of a lot more intresting to watch two well fed gladiators fight than it is to watch two starving ones.
Ruby wasn't expecting to be captured, she went to distract the Warsongs while Blake got to an apothecary after a bad run in with a Saytr left her with a broken leg and a Fel infected wound (which is why Ruby didn't have Crescent Rose on hand in the first place) so neither of them were fire on all cylinders, and after Ruby wasn't being fed nearly enough to easily escape from the Warsongs and their Worgs.
I plan to go into this more indepth next chapter.
James is an character I made for Fur, just a friendly human face living in Darnassus, since traditional docks used to be the are where things were the most heterogeneous.
I think we have very different takes on Rehgar as a character, and also what Ruby would tolerate, honestly I feel she'd draw the line at any slavery myself.
Without context, I still struggle with this a little to be honest, especially given how Aura seems to work, I'm not sure missing a meal or two (int he early days) would stop Ruby from being able to flash step out of sight, plus why wouldn't she just carry Blake and vanish?
Good luck with the next chapter, sorry for the negativity.
Fair enough. I'd be interested to see Blake's views on other none humans I will admit, and how they respond to her, also why wasn't she looking for Ruby?
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
She didn't know where the camp was, or if Ruby was even alive. Kalimdor is big place, and without something as obvious as a big mechanical scythe, it'd be impossible for Blake to find Ruby. Especially because the last time she saw Ruby, Runy was leaving to distract a horde of giant greenskined humanoids and they were both sure she was going to die.
The problem with Aura is that how powerful it makes characters is wildly inconsistent depending on if RT decided they wanted Rule of Drama or Rule of Cool. To give an example, Ruby moves quickly enough to create a powerful vacuum behind her in Volume Two, but when she tires the same trick in Volume 3, Mercury (whose Aura has to have been incredibly low, if not broken, for their trick to work) is able to kick her out of the air. If we take Volume Two at face value, Mercury's leg should have been shattered, mechanical or no, and if we take Volume 3 at face value, Ruby shouldn't have been able to lift four people off their feet. Even if we assume it's because Ruby didn't have as much space, she's at full Aura, or close to it, and he isn't (if the implication is that there's been enough time for Mercury's Aura to fill back up, then Cinder's plan never kicks off because someone would have gone looking for Mercury well before that point, since he never showed up at the hospital)
I tend to lean towards the weaker side of things, because once you get to the stronger side, you run into the situation where nothing can beat them. To quote Muhammad Ali, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see." If Ruby can move that fast, she's practically unstoppable, especially if she doesn't have Flash-style metabolism problems. It destroys all suspense, because if we take the fastest speed Ruby's done, logically Ruby should have been able beat Neo and Roman, catch Cinder's arrow before it hit Pyrrha, and then sent Cinder flying pf the tower before she has time to even think about going full Maiden. Superspeed is one of the most broken powers in existence, because it means you can dodge almost any attack, and hit stupidly hard.
Look at the name of this board, Sufficient Velocity, speed+mass=force. Ruby might break her arm doing it, but she could tear through a person if we assume she's as fast as some of the things she does when Rule of Cool is in effect. So I tone it down. She's fast, but she isn't so fast as to be unstoppable.
Not quite sure I agree, but I can see where you are coming from.
I am kind of confused by your Mercury and the hospital argument.
Cinder and co were shown loading him into their own ambulance and falsifying documents that he was heading home to Mistral, thus allowing him to hide and there seemed to be a full day between when his robot leg got shot out and when he faced Ruby, plus Ruby's run up was much briefer with significantly less space compared to her one in V2.
Its important to remember that while Ruby's flower petal speed boost thing makes her fast, she is surrounded by literal bullet timers, so while she is fast for her skill level, she's not up against people who are comparatively normal and her control over it is imperfect and largely built around nominally controlled charged over the more flash style super speed seen by... Well the Flash.
Its your call if you want to tone it down, I grasp where you're coming from even if I don't really agree, sorry for the trouble.
ThatOnePsycho
Tilting his Vanes and Ennobling His Spires
That isn't how that works. You do not choose which hospital you go to, if you are being transferred, there needs to be paperwork on both ends, and that can take anywhere between a week and
years. If they managed to falsify that information on both sides that quickly, then anyone who knows anything about how these things work would immediately be able to tell that something is rotten in the state of Vale, Especially if nobody can recall him ever actually arriving at the hospital, which he can't of done, because then someone would have reported that his leg is cybernetic, and that it wasn't damaged (or atleast intact enough that he can still use it), so he was acting qhoch is sketchy.
RT wrote themselves into a logic corner, either it happened the same day, and Merc kicked someone without his Aura intact, or it happened a different day, and CREMN should all be trying to escape the police because they left too many loose ends.
Even how much damage Aura protects you from changes, Adam stabs Blake while her Aura is intact (something we know, because she uses her Semblance later).
If everyone can move as fast as Ruby, then what's the point of singling her out as having super speed? She also routinely goes from zero to high speeds without any warmup, so she should have been able to dodge Mercury with ease.
As I said, they literally loaded him not their own false ambulance and Cinder had control over a ton of the official computer systems at that point. He never went to any real hospital, people just thought he did and those who needed to be fooled got seemingly sent the necessary info and everyone else would just assume it was business as usual.
We know it happened the next day as it was night when Yang defeated Merc and there was a day afterwards with Pyrrha if I recall.
He also went through Yang's Aura despite her being charged, if someone is weakened, terrified, or surprised their Aura is likely not in its optimal state and Blake would have been all of those things against a much stronger opponent than herself.
I never said they can all move as fast as her I said they all have some degree of super speed so its not "super speed VS normal" its "Super speed vs slightly less super speed" and added in that Ruby has less control over her rose petal person canon Semblance compared to the usual super speed everyone else does, so while she is faster its not Flash levels of control. She was in a spiral when she dived at Merc in mid air, so I doubt she could have easily dodged.
- Location
- Singapore
I just had an idea for a strange crossover. The portal to remnant and earth opens up to reveal.... nazis?
So let's say that in ww2, a large contigent of nazis and such, are transported to remnant in the past. And thus, they were trapped there. With some help from the natives, they survive to build a wall. Then a village. Then a settlement. Then a city.
The nazi's hatred and fanaticism has been made.... redundant. All ideologies like that require a fear and hate of an external enemy. And so, their hate of jews have been transferred to the grimm. Instead of hate of the jewish conspiracy to take over the world, its the hate of the grimm exterminating mankind.
Actually, all's this is an excuse. I just like their uniforms.
Anyway, do you think an expy of imperial japan can work in Remnant?
So let's say that in ww2, a large contigent of nazis and such, are transported to remnant in the past. And thus, they were trapped there. With some help from the natives, they survive to build a wall. Then a village. Then a settlement. Then a city.
The nazi's hatred and fanaticism has been made.... redundant. All ideologies like that require a fear and hate of an external enemy. And so, their hate of jews have been transferred to the grimm. Instead of hate of the jewish conspiracy to take over the world, its the hate of the grimm exterminating mankind.
Actually, all's this is an excuse. I just like their uniforms.
Anyway, do you think an expy of imperial japan can work in Remnant?
Given what Nazis are like and did, I can't say I'd be super enthused, and given the locales of Remnant I doubt they'd be eager to work with many of them or be easy to find and help, villages outside the kingdoms don't seem to get much funding so I am unsure why anyone would be helping people who would likely be borderline useless (No Aura, no Dust, likely very basic weapons) form a village. Plus discrimination doesn't work like that, having an external enemy hasn't stopped people hating Faunus, so why would Nazis change just because of Grimm?
If you like their uniforms, why not just use the Empire from Star Wars? Or just use the uniform as a starting design point for an original faction?
- Location
- Singapore