Memory Day At The Gates

[Caelum]

​

Winter 15 123

Caelum's life had turned upside down when his supposed daughter had come to town. She'd quickly proven herself a useful asset. Well, powerful asset was probably a better description. She was decent with a sword and incredibly agile… but she was still just a teenager with obvious daddy issues. She had no intention of leaving and the dragon was stuck trying to figure out what the fuck to do with her.

He thought she was deserving of a better role than 'gate guard' but it was the simplest thing he could think of. Until he was sure he could trust her and that she wouldn't just die, this is where she would be stationed. Sjal didn't like it one bit because most of her duties were just to open the door for women who wanted to come live there. It wasn't exactly difficult. And if she saw an elemental in the distance word was sent to Caelum who would fly over and deal with it.

"How are things goin?" Caelum asked as he landed next to her. He liked to check in every once in a while to see how she was doing, though he was a busy guy so he didn't have all that much time to give.

"How do you think? All I do is open the door for all my future aunts. It's the epitome of job satisfaction."

"I know, I know. We should go fighting elementals together sometime."

"I never said I want to get burned alive."

"Then you should get initiated into galdr – I know someone who would probably be happy to teach you."

"You just want me to die so you won't have to deal with me anymore"

It was a conversation that they'd had many times and it always circled back to an angry silence.

 

[Khafra]

Lakali
Winter 15 123

It was a strange thing, this place that appeared on the edge of Lakali's hunting range, seemingly overnight. One day, he was hunting twisted waste hounds, and the next there was this place with ten foot tall metallic walls, seemingly somewhere none had dared to build before.

It was such an odd place for a Junta. It had to have been the work of a Warband, no?

Lakali thought to leave well enough alone until he saw from so far away the smudge of a cute human girl trudging with another human. Always, he had gotten his work from humans in the past, and so he got to thinking if there might be something there for him.

Lakali emerged beyond the treeline, face locked in a toothy grin as he marched right up to the gate, raised his paw, and twisted with a hum broken up by a giggling laugh.

A great gale of wind gathered at the door, pushed up its bar, and swung it open. Lakali marched right up to the doorway, ears twitching, sniffing at the air as he looked upon all that was being built with curiosity.

If they charged out to meet him in battle, then he would only have to prove his worth. That was the way of Gnoll, and it was the only way he knew.

 

[Caelum]

The two had been walking back and forth, somewhat aimlessly in front of the gate. Both had things they wanted to say but neither wanted to hear the other's snappy remarks. They were focused on anything but actually guarding the settlement. That was, until a forceful wind opened the gate wide open. This was particularly odd, because the gate had been closed shut and barred – Caelum had made sure of that.

The dragon narrowed his eyes and looked around until he spotted the gnoll coming their way. Lakali had already gotten fairly close, too close for comfort. Caelum made a move to call out to the newcomer, to at least have a chat before getting aggressive… but Sjal took off without hesitation.

"Wait!" he called out to her but she ignored him. She ran as fast as she could with a hand on the handle of her blade. If she wasn't stopped then she would have no hesitation slicing right at the gnoll's middle. To her, this was her chance to prove herself. She'd already proved she could beat her father, and if she could take on a gnoll so much larger than her… he'd have to acknowledge her strength.

Caelum's face was stuck between a wince and shock. He assumed that Sjal hadn't that magic had been used to open the door and she was likely about to either die or get her ass kicked. Both were very deserved outcomes, in his opinion. Aside from that, the dragon also had to think about how he ought to follow up. His mouth started to glow with a golden light, but he didn't intend on firing unless the gnoll looked like they wanted a fight. He had never interacted with a gnoll before but he knew enough to know that they could talk and weren't just monsters to be slaughtered.

 

[Khafra]

Lakali
Winter 15 123

Upon seeing that wiry lass charging him, Lakali stamped his foot, hunching with arms outstretched like a linebacker ready to catch a ball. Then, in the span of a second, he wove a spell that began to freeze her solid as she reached for him.

"Hoo-hee-hee, very quick, very quick human," Lakali teased as he watched her blade freeze, then grabbed her neck in his huge paw to swing her stiff body in front of him, standing behind the statue of the woman with a quiet leer. She was alive, but unable to move an inch as the Intermanteia left her frozen stiff, yet there were no ice crystals upon her skin. She was stuck, as she was, to the point before her swing connected to him.

He could see now that golden light in the man's mouth, and he began to giggle in response. "Lakali will be fine," the vigorously-nodding Gnoll said between fits of laughter. "But the warrior will die if the man's mouth spell is strong - he-he. Hah!"

The gnoll's... tail.... was wagging?

 

[Caelum]

The dragon watched as his daughter slowed to a halt and was then picked up by the neck. For a moment, Caelum thought that the gnoll would simply snap it. He wouldn't have been surprised, but he had the feeling that it wasn't their intent to kill. That, or they were scared of getting blasted.

"Lakali, I take it that's your name?" Caelum asked, trying to ignore the laughter. "My name is Caelum, and that is my daughter Sjal. I apologize for her uh… her hasty decision to attack you. I would very much like it if she didn't die." Mostly so Abraia wouldn't throw a fit, but the reason didn't particularly matter at the moment.

"Surely we can work this out in a way that everyone here can be happy… What is it that you want?" The dragon had seen this kind of magic in action several times now. AEhti had shown him just how easy it was to freeze something, even a large creature like a Felinog. It told him that this gnoll was powerful enough to be a serious threat and ought to be taken seriously.

He still didn't let the light from his throat die down. But perhaps the gnoll's next words would calm him down some. As much as he didn't particularly want to piss off Abraia, he was sure she would understand if he sacrificed Sjal to protect everyone else. Well… he hoped she would understand.

Should Lakali look through the gates, he would see a dozen or so women in caettle wreath tiaras gathering around to see what the commotion was. One of them even screamed upon seeing Sjal being held like that. The rest waited with bated breath, expecting their cult leader to defeat the gnoll just like he usually handled other threats.

 

[Khafra]

Lakali watched the dragon closely, laying his hackles upon the woman's hair, catching the sight of strange women gahtering in those singular uniforms.

Were they all warrior-women like this one?

No, the one he had in his paw was certainly different.

"Lakali is the name," said Lakali with a serious grouse to his voice. "Caelum? Is that name Aelven?" He pulled her aside for a moment, as his fiery throat dimmed, to look at her. "Why it's nice to meet you, Sjal!" he said, giving her a little shake as he spoke in a mocking, not-so-effeminate tone. "It's nice to meet you too, Lakali." A gnoll would appreciate the respect of being spoken for when given no voice, and so would she, yes?

Lakali looked to Caelum, and then dropped her into the dirt, but he left her in stasis for the moment. "When Lakali unfreezes Sjal, he gets the feeling by the look of her that she will try to kill him again. He knows the type of woman."

"So why don't we do business?"​

Lakali clasped his paws together, elbows in, pointing his burly, clawed fingers at Caelum. "Lakali is looking for work, and given that this settlement is new in a hostile territory, he estimates that this settlement will be overrun within a few seasons without his help."

"In exchange the human will outfit Lakali's Warband and allow him to say it is under his protection to the Vokhai near and beneath so that they do not invade and take Caelum's women for themselves."​

"Can discuss further, we can, over hot leaf juice?"​

 

[Caelum]

"My name came to me in a dream. It's… nothing. Unique? I guess." He raised an eyebrow at how the Lakali was treating his daughter. It irked him and made him want to blast the creature just for the lack of respect it seemed to have. He did not know if it was just how Lakali was, how gnolls were, or what. Everything about this situation made him oh so thankful that Abraia wasn't present.

"I really wouldn't doubt it," he said with regards to Sjal's likely intentions. "She's everything I was when I was a young dragon but with the ability and willingness to do serious harm. She needs some sense beaten into her, if you ask me."

Caelum considered the gnoll's proposition. It was not a bad offer and the settlement was getting large enough to necessitate frequent patrols. Patrols that he did not particularly want to be doing. Plus, as the gnoll so kindly demonstrated… his town was completely unprepared to take on a skilled mage. If the gnoll so wished he might have been able to kill him and claim a thousand human women as his own. At least until the aelves came to dismantle the operation, anyways.

"I suppose I'm in no position to deny you work. I am happy to let your Warband work under me and I know a smith who would be probably be willing to outfit protectors as necessary. That's her choice though, I'm not her master." He finally allowed the glow in his mouth to die down and relaxed a little. "I'd love to discuss further over some tea."

He said his final sentence loudly and he was sure someone got the hint based on the scurrying that was going on behind him. He continued, "you can just leave her there, or bring her with… up to you. If you ask me she is quite deserving of punishment. I thought she'd have more common sense than to attack anything that moved."

He'd rise about a foot into the air and hover through the gates and under a nearby lean-to where 'guards' usually sat and relaxed. Some women had brought out some tea and were pouring them as he took a seat. He'd wave for them and all the other onlookers to disperse as he wanted to have a somewhat private conversation.

Assuming Lakali eventually came over, Caelum would continue, "so here's what's going on here. I'm running a human breeding operation, mostly bankrolled by the aelves. My business assistant estimates that we're expecting to grow ten times in number over the next couple of seasons and I agree with what you said earlier – we definitely need help protecting this place. Is there really nothing else you're after? I have a hard time believing you want to work just for some gear and my protection… which you probably don't even need given your obvious strengths."

 

[Khafra]

Lakali shifted his hands behind his back, wide rib cage braying as he rolled his shoulders and stood stout like a soldier, Sjal laying not far from his feet.

"To name oneself, Lakali knows many, but a dream?" His eyes glanced down in thought for just one moment before they bounded up, just for him to smile and laugh with a jovial nod. "Impressive, impressive. Sjal will serve Caelum well, Lakali is certain. Might have gutted Lakali before he froze her if she were an Exodii."

. . .

Lakali's eyes widened. The glowing mouth, that little reference about being a dragon finally clicking in his mind. "Caelum is a dragon?" This took Lakali's attention forthright. He'd thought the man a little human, probably a Fulgurist with a weird taste for Canting. But a dragon?

Negotiations were going... surprisingly well. Last time he tried this, Lakali had to fight an entire army until he was forced to retreat. But this time, he was able to prove his worth! So it seemed.

Lakali looked down at his feet, touching his hands together like the girl there was some dirty little creature. He had permission...

Squatting down, Lakali gently pried Sjal's fingers open to force her to let go of the sword still locked in her palm. Then, he scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. "Lakali will wake her up over tea, and leave her sword here. With the lord's blessing on this course of action, of course."

Glancing over at the women, Lakali had wondered if they would go into one of the buildings, but he was surprised to see that he hadn't been invited inside. Did humans prefer to drink leaf juice outside?

True to his word, Lakali sat Skal down into one of the chairs, and took time to politely position her upright, even going so far as to brush her disheveled hair into position with a coy little laugh. Again, so delicately.

The seat was too small for him, so Lakali took to sitting on the floor, crossing his arms while Caelum spoke. "Oh, Lakali gets the concept, any Gnoll would," he said. "Gnoll do the same with human women. Very impressive, very impressive."

Lakali looked at Sjal for a moment, but decided to finish explaining himself before 'waking' her up. His eyes met Caelum's. "Lakali is forming a new Warband. It is not rare for a Warband to be employed by a rich human, and this arrangement would give Lakali credo. Gnoll do not value magic, rather muscle, prowess, physical strength. Among Lakali's people, he is seen as weak, even though..."

Lakali reached up, tucking down the sleeves of his robes, showing Caelum the six glittering Magemarks glowing a soft blue beneath his fur. "Lakali is Chosen by Aether, but Gnoll still make fun of him. He cannot be a Warlord without a wealthy patron, so he thinks. Of course, in time Lakali would like Alkahest, but not in the first year. Caelum holds all power in negotiating..."

Gnoll were at least very truthful in spite of their scarcely restrained savage nature, and Lakali was no exception.

Raising his paw, Lakali squeezed his pads together, glittering diamond and gold dust seeping into his tea like sugar before he picked up the tiny little teacup - and it was absolutely tiny - and sipped it oh so carefully with that bestial, toothed muzzle. A thin veneer of civility.

Finally, Lakali glanced to Sjal. "Lakali will free Sjal from his Intermanteia, but would appreciate not a fight." He didn't even need to touch her as he ripped away the Ardor paralyzing her body, and suddenly she was completely free.

 

[Caelum]

"Heh, yes a dragon. It's a long story, but I choose to look like this because I have come to enjoy the people of AElheim." He'd nod at Lakali's suggestion to leave Sjal's weapon there. It was basically worthless anyways, just something to hold her over until she could have a proper one made. A runaway Faelnir teen didn't exactly have the resources to buy good gear.

Caelum hadn't chosen the lean-to out of disrespect, but rather because most of the current buildings were fairly minimal and small. He hadn't made the ceilings taller than absolutely necessary and he doubted Lakali could step inside one without having to pretend he was in a doll house. Most of the buildings were slated to be replaced by new designs their architect had come up with, though most of those wouldn't be ready until spring at the earliest.

"Oh?" he'd say when he heard that gnolls bred with human women, "to be honest I know little about gnolls and what kinds of things they get up to. My education is fairly limited and I was taught by aelves who... as I'm sure you know, don't think all that highly of other races. Though, I'm glad that the concept of breeding in this manner is familiar to you."

"Bah, you're not weak, not in my eyes. Not after that demonstration you gave, anyways… but if this arrangement will benefit you, then so be it. And as for alkahest, I'm sure we can work something out in a year then. I have rights to land extending all the way to the caves, and if luck would have it… there might be some opportunity to mine there. I'm much too busy with this settlement for the time being, but perhaps I will have time to investigate the caves properly in the summer."

Caelum had to smile at Lakali's handling of the tea. He thought it was cute, or perhaps comical? The exact word escaped him. He still found some things aelves and humans did, such as drinking tea, to be odd. To see a gnoll do it was something else entirely.

"Oh I'm sure she'll want to fight, but she'll learn her lesson eventually," he said with a sigh.

As soon as Sjal was free, she twisted her body as if she were finishing the swing of her sword. She had to blink and realize that she wasn't where she'd been a moment earlier. After stumbling to the ground and getting wrapped by some vines that Caelum had sent from his hand, she finally gave up.

"Sjal, I have some stern words for you once we have a moment of privacy, but for now we've much to discuss. This is Lakali, a gnoll who I've decided to employ to protect Paradise. He's now your boss. You'll report to him, learn from him, and treat him with respect. It's the least you can do after trying to kill him." He would make sure to tell her in private to keep him posted on Lakali's actions, but he didn't want to blurt that out.

"But…"

"Save it. You're on thin ice already. The only reason I even allowed you to stay is because I thought we might have some use for you. So you'll do as I ask or I'm sending you back to wherever it is you came from." Before, Caelum had spoken calmly but now he had a certain anger in his eyes that silenced the child. The emotion disappeared, however, when he looked back to Lakali.

"I hope you wouldn't mind... perhaps she could even join your warband? I'm sure it would be good experience." And more importantly, get her out of his hair. "Anyways, is there anything else you wish to discuss? I suppose we've lots to do, namely making you some suitable furniture so you don't have to sit on the ground and making a building that can actually house you."

 

[Khafra]

"It will bring Lakali respect to be employed by a dragon, even if Caelum looks like scrawny white-orc, he thinks. HE-HE. Hah." Lakali had to pause for a second, touching a claw to his chin as the humorous mirth tapered off. "No offense meaning, simply his kind see human that way. It would be better if Caelum were great big dragon, but if Caelum is doing the breeding of human women, Lakali sees the point in being small enough."

The image if a huge dragon trying to somehow succeed at bedding a woman brought yet another snorting giggle to his lips. He looked at Sjal, elbowing her with a cackle of encouragement as Caelum told her off, not knowing she was Caelum's daughter - if it even mattered, to him.

Getting a hold of himself, Lakali swept his paws outward with a shrug, an even wider grin smiling upon his lips. If she would fight him, then she would clearly be deserving of punishment. He was glad Caelum was a dragon, since he could handle the sensitive white-orcs. "Lakali will make sure she does not get herself killed, he has many ways to aid her."

"Let us see. Lakali will accept the same level of responsibility as Sjal, and he would rather Caelum end the contract than betray him, Warbands have honor and many forget this," the gnoll said, crossing his arms to nod. "She will join his Warband. He believes the Mark of Exodii will benefit her greatly if her will is strong enough to survive the Aetherium. But she seems willful, Lakali has good hopes." He talked about the woman like a resource, without her input.

Glancing out across the settlement, Lakali hummed. "The walls are very thin, and short. Lakali is perhaps the most powerful Terrar'i Caelum will ever know in terms of... volume, but he cannot make things pretty. Art is not his talent. But-" Lakali held up a finger, then slapped his hip, squeezing at a knee while he rocked back and forth in thought. His little violence-addled gnoll brain was working as hard as it could.

"Build um, scaffolding? Lakali will fill whatever." Bending forward, he let his hand sweep over the table, forming one by one fist-sized diamonds, rubies, sapphire, emeralds, gold, steel, and chunks of marble and slate, luxury stones he had bonded with. "Lakali does not actually know his limits for he has never tested them, but is curious. Always he prefers not to go too far, to be limber enough to defend."

Tapping his fingers together, Lakali's eyes stared forward through Caelum in thought. "He has used... not much to prove his worth. Would Caelum like to see the extent of Lakali's power?"

Holding up his paws, Lakali grinned, pointing to each Magemark upon his shoulders, uttering its discipline. "Lakali is Aquar'i, Terrar'i, Zephyr'i, Fulgur'i, Abot-y-rr, and Exodii."

Plainkly, a gnoll like Lakali shouldn't exist. It was nearly unheard of for someone to survive three Galdr initiations, let alone six. His very existence beneath Caelum would bring the dragon immense sway and legitimacy, if he knew Lakali's value.

Lakali did not know his own value, after all.

 

[Caelum]

Caelum nodded, slowly understanding that gnolls respected size and physical strength. Neither of which he had in his current form, as it would be quite difficult to try mating with a human when one was 20 feet tall. He wouldn't mind being able to switch forms more quickly, but he still couldn't do it in under a day.

"I do turn into dragon form every once in a while," he admitted, "so hopefully that brings you respect. Not a huge dragon, but normal size for an adult."

The dragon nodded after some time, saying "I'm fairly open and I like to think I'm honest as well. As you saw outside the gate, I prefer to try talking things out before resorting to violence." Though, he thought if anyone was going to have success in betrayal, it'd be the gnoll. He supposed he'd have to trust the gnoll 'code' or whatever it was that drove them to uphold their end of the deal.

When the topic switched to Sjal getting a mark, he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He couldn't fathom risking his life for the powers that aether offered and he didn't want anyone he cared about to go through with it either. He didn't particularly care about Sjal, but… he wasn't going to force it on her. He'd leave it up to her.

"If she has an interest in learning your magic, by all means," he'd say.

He learned that Lakali was similar to himself in the sense that neither seemed to have a single artistic bone in their body. "I understand," he said, "I have heard of dragons doing beautiful things with their breath weapons but I have neither the talent nor the desire to learn to shape my magic. Luckily, I know some people who are a little more artsy and could probably work with you. It would be helpful to be able to make use of your 'volume' as you put it."

Caelum stretched and let the vines finally part from his hands. Sjal finally wriggled free and started looking around for her sword. She was the one who reacted to Lakali's profession that he had so many marks. As impressive at is was, Caelum more pitied Lakali than envied him. To have to go through that many initiations was just torture, if AEhti had told him the truth. The gnoll was clearly a statistical anomaly or incredibly special, which had become obvious in the span of half an hour.

"How is it that you have so many?" she'd inquire, sheepishly curious. "I thought each mark invited death, and that to have even more than two was suicide. I think you should demonstrate each one of your marks so that we know you're not lying." she stubbornly wanted to believe that there was some illusion at play – that the gnoll was somehow deceiving them. She thought back to the years of training she'd had… all of that had meant nothing. She'd lost in literally an instant and now it sounded like she'd be offered the chance to become a proper mage. It was an idea that she hated, but she might be convinced given enough time.

 

[Caelum]

They chatted for a time and Lakali's demonstrations were impressive. Caelum knew that if he were ever going to get a hold over the gnoll, he would need to build up his own firepower. He questioned whether he really trusted a gnoll to be able to hold their word. If someone as powerful as he turned against him… it would be bad.

After some thought, Sjal decided that teleportation was a useful skill to have. She would get initiated into it by Lakali by the end of the day. The process was… unpleasant to say the least and Caelum supported her decision. In a way, he kind of hoped she would die from it because it would get her out of his hair. However she hadn't died, she had survived. She was rather useless in her current state and would need to take some time off to recover. It wouldn't be long before she showed some promise as a mage. Enough promise to leave her mark on the world, one way or another.

2716 total wc

 

[Caelum]

Thread Title:

Day at the gates​

Thread Summary:

Caelum meets Lakali. Lakali gets hired on as security for Paradise. Sjal gets initiated into Exodus​

Expected Rewards:

27xp for Caelum, 17xp for Lakali​

Thread Link:

​

https://antarok.net/threads/day-at-the-gates.170/

 

[Vicissitude]

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Cute thread! RIP Lakali (not that he died but yknow).

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