A Crumbling, Old World

[The Unborne]

Pitter, patter...

Rain, the only intruder to ever make it into the village, flooded the streets as the village’s children were dragged from their homes and brought in procession in front of the Chapel of the Constructor. The structure itself stood out against all other buildings within the village; there were no curves to be seen only triangles and rectangles making up its foundation. High up, above all of those perfectly stacked bricks, a small window sat barely below the steeple.

A gentle zephyr of incense crept its way out the window to be dispersed by the falling rain. An aged-old man stepped closer and opened the window to look up at the grey sky. Thin rays of light breeched the heavy, rain-filled clouds and gently found their way to the venerable man’s face. The sunrays highlighted the old man’s wrinkles and hawk-like nose. The light exposed the Elder’s face to the outside world. His eyes dropped from the heavens and followed the falling droplets of rain to the village below. A shiver rose up the Elder’s spine as he gracefully closed the window and returned to dark the recesses of his room.

********************************

Daniel

Today was a slow day for Daniel. Upon awaking, he trekked sluggishly through the mud-ridden yards to reach his uncle’s farm. All the animals ominously retreated to their stables as the weather grew worse. Daniel spent the rest of his morning studying the village below and taking haphazard notes when the rain let up. He watched as the village’s guards marched like ants to every home and bringing children out from them; the child saw one man walk into Daniel’s own home, come out, and turn towards the farm. It would not have taken someone as observant as Daniel to realize he was being looked for like every other child down below.

It took a couple minutes for the gruff man to reach Daniel; without speaking, Daniel started to walk towards the village as the guard came near and prepared to say something to the child. The guard simply shook his head when he realized Daniel wouldn’t hang around to listen to his given instructions. The man followed the kid back to the village, but sped up to lead Daniel in front of the Chapel of the Constructor.

********************************

Reggie and Dalmorn

A knock came to the blacksmith’s door. One of Head Constructionists of the village rushed into the house causing a small scuffle with Reggie and Dalmon’s father. After a quick and quiet discourse, the smith barged in on the brothers and woke them up. He told both of them solemnly to follow Brother Bently to the Chapel and listen for their instructions. The brothers obeyed without a question. Dalmorn graciously followed knowing he wouldn’t need to endure another awkward breakfast with his family; however, Reggie was reluctant to miss one day of blacksmithing.

Once the trio reached the chapel, Brother Bently told them both to wait outside with the other children and made his way into the chapel. Dalmorn noticed silently how pale the Head Constructionist looked today.

********************************

Sable

It took Cender most of the morning to wake up the youthful Sable, but to his dismay, the young woman jokingly opens her eyes revealing she was awake the entire time. Her father crassly cussed aloud as he tried explaining today was like no other day. He grabbed Sable by her arm and pointed outside the door at the already busy village. Cender led his jester-like daughter outside and told her to line up in front of the Chapel. Today was not a day for jokes and laughter…

Maybe to Cender it was not, but Sable was still able to frolic towards the younger children of the village and sing them songs on their ways toward the church. As she finally approached the chapel, she found herself being stared at by the grown-ups standing guard in front of Constructionist church. They pointed to an open spot in line for her to fall in at.

********************************

Elijah

The town’s guards keep their distance from Elijah and hold their noses as they guide him down the streets. This is for good reason since Elijah had already spent his morning tending to the waste of the farm animals and spreading them out in hope for good crops. Fritz is the only willing mammal to stick close to him as they draw nearer to the Chapel of the Constructor. The two men accompanying Elijah tell him to group up with the other children.

It became obvious real fast who of the children worked the farms and who didn’t once the odor started diffusing through the air. Fritz hopped merrily around the group of children sniffing at each one of them. A few yelps of joy cry out above the sound of falling rain as the dog finds Marino, Issac, and Terem. The boys look around and wave at Elijah to come join them.

********************************

Varijia

Uncle Vern, the head of the protective body of the village, scoured his home looking for his young niece. Looking all around was difficult for a man wearing an eye patch, he was only half as good at searching with his right eye, so he switched the eye patch over and let his left eye do the rest of the searching. Finally, he spotted little Varijia hiding in the shadows of in the kitchen. Uncle Vern called her name and told her he could see her. Little Varijia came out from the shadows and looked to her uncle questioningly.

The man ran up to her to give her a hug, but something sharp pointed out from her and pricked him on his arm. He furiously shook his hand and sucked on the small wound. Vern then pointed outside and told her to go on ahead and line up with the others. Varijia stood straight and walked out towards the chapel vigilant as to keep her rapier from touching the ankle-high mud.

********************************

The village’s children wait outside the chapel for a whole hour while their boots and ankles sank deeper into the mud. The village’s Head Guardsman hurries from his home and catches up to the adolescents while wrapping up a cut on his right arm. Captain Vern stands in front of the line and fixes his eye patch over his left eye again. He stands there for a good fifteen minutes looking back and forth at the assembled children. Vern opens his mouth to speak, but quickly shuts it tight and waits for someone to ask the obvious.

[AmberVael]

Sable

Sable was quietly smirking to herself by the time she got to the church, having sung a little song to the children about a grumpy old man who frowned and scowled so much that he became covered in wrinkles and eventually wrinkled himself out of existence. On any thought or inspection at all, the song made absolutely no sense, but it was entertaining nonetheless. As such, Sable was in a very good mood this morning; after all, if there was a better way was start a day, she hadn't found it yet.

Still, something seemed to be up today. Sable was curious, and she didn't find that she had in her the patience to actually do as she was told and wait like she was one of the puppets whose strings she pulled. A marionette danced on order- she did not. As such, when directed towards a spot, Sable raises an eyebrow and very neatly and quickly steps next to the guards and looks to the person behind her. Mocking the guard's gesture, she pretends that they had been referring to the person behind her, and points out that they should move to the spot they had attempted to put her in.

"Hop to it now! Very important that you stand in that spot all proper and stiff-like. After all, I'm haughty and presumptuous and you wouldn't want to pop my little bubble by disobeying me and pointing out that I didn't really have any authority. That would just be mean."

Sable instantly turns to the guard she had just taunted and looks up at him with wide, innocent eyes that might make him pause for an instant while she continues her little joke. The swift movement makes her wide brimmed hat wobble a bit comically, and the white and black outfit she is so fond of makes her quite distinct from the guards, standing out quite a bit.

"Wouldn't that be mean, sir? Tell them that it would be mean. After all, we're doing a very important duty- you can't bring up something awkward like that when we're all preparing for... erm..."

The girl seems to get lost, and puts one gloved hand to her lips as she contemplates the situation. The studied confusion on her face is quite exaggerated- making the expression she was mimicking obvious to anyone watching the little scene she was making.

"Why are we telling people to line up again?"

[WaterTengu]

Standing in her closely tied gray outfit consisting of deep gray breeches with strips of leather at the knees, and the breeches are tucked in to her boots. Her shirt, sharing color with her breeches, is tied tight at the armpits and all along the arms with tight strips of heavy fabric, it is tucked into her breeches. Her waist is tied tight with a long length of black fabric with only a small, contained knot holding it tight. The straps holding her shirt at the armpits also hold a light grey hood and cloak tight around her. Scabbards are seen poking out of her pants, and small strips of leather are covering her knees and elbows.

[dariathalon]

Elijah

Elijah wandered into the area, seeming a little lost. This was his home, but everyone gathered here in one place was just a little overwhelming. Instead of looking at all the faces around him, his large blue eyes look up into the dark clouds. He can feel Fritz bounding around his feet, splashing mud all over his pants. He pays little attention to all this, instead watching the elder peeking out of his window at the assemblage.

Elijah has a thin body with a round face and blue eyes. His short brown hair is usually disheveled, but in today's rain, it seems content to lie limp on his scalp. He wears simple brown and green wool clothing and at time has to lean on his shepherd's crook to avoid sliding in the slick mud.

Suddenly, Elijah feels Fritz's paws on his chest as the black and white (though now mostly brown) sheep dog as it excitedly jumps up onto him, leaving two large muddy paw prints. "Whoa, what's up boy?" he asks as the dog slides down his body. The dog jumps around, letting out a few more excited barks, it's wet tail wags, whipping water this way and that.

There is a loud whistle, and Elijah finally notices his friends Marino, Issac, and Terem calling to him. Issac's fingers are in his mouth preparing to whistle again, when Elijah begins hurrying toward them. "Hey guys, what's going on here? Any of you know? Why are we all rounded up like this. I feel like the flock getting ready to go out to pasture." He stands with his back to the majority of the gathering, facing toward the middle of his small group of friends. He seems not to even notice Sable's little outburst.

[R4ph]

Reggie walked from his home stoically, inwardly mourning the loss of a day in the forge and a mornings training. However he put a brave face on it, and stayed close behind Brother Bently, standing protectively in front of his brother.

A short, miserable walk later, Reggie reached the chapel and Brother Bently went inside, leaving the two brothers outside with the other children, all of whom were half awake and looked like drowned rats. Reggie leaned over to Dalmorn and whispered, "Brother... do you have any idea what's going on?"

[Falco Talonspar]

Daniel

When Daniel awoke, he stepped to his window to see the dark grey clouds spew rain upon his village. Although not superstitious in the least, there was something ominous about this particular rain storm. He spent his morning as he usually would, tending to the farm at what could be called a sunrise, and doing his morning behavioral studies. When he realized what was going on he jumped off of the rooftop he was perched on directly in front of the man who had come to gather him. He stood up and made unwavering eye contact with Gregory, studying him. Gregory opened his mouth halfway as if to say something to him but thought better of it. Daniel immediately took out his notebook turned to a page marked with "G," ran his finger down that page until he found what he was looking for and began scribbling down a few notes as he turned to walk towards the Chapel. Gregory seemed to be very good realizing futility when he sees it. It currently remains unseen whether that will stand true or waver during an excited situation. And from the looks of it he would find out soon.

Upon reaching the Chapel Daniel's eyes went momentarily wide as he attempted to take in the raucous scene taking place in front of him. He pulled out a smaller notebook that was labeled "Sable" on the front cover in mostly illegible script. Her behavior was going to be particularly interesting given the turn of events. He only hoped that he had enough time to get to everyone else he considered "of special interest" before whatever was happening came to a head.

[The Unborne]

Elijah

Terem turns his head toward Elijah’s question, but the rest of the group focuses their attention on Sable’s little ploy. A smirk comes to their faces as the girl mocks the guard who gave her directions; a similar reaction also spreads throughout the gathering with some children even pointing their fingers and laughing. Terem shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, “Sorry Elijah, I was dragged here by my father. He was mumbling something to himself about the outside, but that was it. Looks like Sable’s about to get an answer, look…” the farm boy raises his hand to direct Elijah’s attention.

********************************

Sable

“You little-“

The guard is caught midsentence by a figure behind the jester-suited girl; the man stands straight and locks his gaze into the distance. A gloved hand reaches out and turns Sable around abruptly. Her wide brimmed hat almost falls to the muddy ground as Captain Vern studies her with his blinking right eye. “What's mean, little missy, is you making a mockery of one of the few people protecting our beloved village. I say few because Joyce and his gang have been declared missing, and after being missing for this long, there is no hoping that any of them will be coming back. Tell me; is there a joke in that? Will there be laughter in their families’ homes? No little missy, not today.”

********************************

Captain Vern switches his eye-patch to his right eye and lowers his head to be level with Sable’s, “I’ll tell you the real joke, we have to send you out there to do Joyce’s job. Now you can laugh.”

Vern turns about and scans the children present; he folds his hands behind is waist and walks up to each village child and inspects them; pausing at a few but still moving on down the line. A few of the village’s youngest begin to whimper as the captain comes to them. Fritz even struggles his hind legs to sit down as Vern manages to silence the group.

The eye-patched captain returns in front of the gathering of boys and girls and begins to explain the situation, “Like I said to the jokester over there, we believe one of the companies have died in the woods last week. We gave them a week to return or at least give us a signal, but none of that has happened. The village doesn’t have enough man-power to support each other and protect each other; so for the first time in our long history we are going to have to rely on our newest generation. We need a group of you to go scouting out there for Joyce’s group and another to help protect the border. I’m only allowing those who have had basic training or are at least old enough to carry a sword. I brought the youngest members here so they can witness the responsibilities we place on the village to help keep itself running.” Captain Vern pauses for a moment, “Any of you who wish to participate please step up or should I pick you myself?”

[WaterTengu]

Varijia pulls her cloak around her and moves her hood over her head, tightening it with the pull of a single rope. "I shall volunteer," she speaks these words and steps forward just enough to where the entire line can see her.

[AmberVael]

Sable

Sable just grins, not perturbed by anything that's being said. She waves off the captain's words with a little hand gesture, stepping away from the guards but not towards the group either.
"Everything's a joke, captain. Some people just haven't figured out that they are the butt of it yet."
She crosses her hands behind her back and then gives a shrug, smiling a little slyly.
"Here's your laugh, Captain. I'll go as well."

[R4ph]

When he heard Captain Verns words, Reggie's heart leaped into his throat, and he almost tripped over his feet in his hurry to step forward.

"I'll go," he said, squaring his shoulders and trying to look as much like a hero, and as little like a little boy as he could.

[dariathalon]

Elijah

Elijah looks around desperately hoping others will volunteer. He takes a step or two back, attempting to half hide himself behind Issac. "Not me. I don't think I could possibly... What would happen to all my sheep?" he thinks without saying a word.

[Falco Talonspar]

Daniel

After seeing Varijia, Sable, and Reggie step forward and volunteer a small smirk flashed across his face. He took a full step forward from his place in line and made eye contact with the three, one at a time. "Interesting," he mused to himself. He was going to need a couple more notebooks.

[WaterTengu]

"So vern, is that enough people, or are you going to force more people into our team. Personally, if you shall not do anything more, i want to get going. I do not like the rain much, you know that."