The Adventure Begins

[panicpaladin]

"I didn't think you still recognised this face, Afura." said Allan to her

"I remember many things, it wasn't all that long ago. 'Still have that Bracelet?"" she replied

"I would never throw it away, my heart and soul goes into it. I haven't taken this thing off for quite a while,"

"It's amazing how you put so much into that one little thing, it's not even important..."

"It is for me, you wouldn't understand..."

It ended there and all three of them began to walk into the Palace. The triosoon reached the Grand Hall after walking inside. Nolan had a suprised look on his face.

"Amazed at something, Nolan?" Allan asked to him

-------------------------------------------------------------

I remembered that in an earlier post, I said that Allan had received his surname from a story he heard at youth. So I've decided to add some background information into him, it's more of an attempt to further the story in the RPG.

[larewen_evenstar]

Lan drank the contents of the cup quickly. And then felt her legs give way beneath her.

"Aw, S**T!" She grabbed onto the table, "What did you put in this thing?"

"It's just water," Yumi replied, "You're still weak, It'll take a while for your body to regain full strength. You're lucky to be alive at all." Yumi smiled at her, and helped Lan to a seat. "If Kane hadn't got you here when he did, you'd probably be dead. He's a nice guy."

"You would say that, wouldn't you?"

"No, but he is, really. If you two keep travelling together then take care of him. I don't want anything to happen to him."

"I understand. You really do love him, don't you?"

"Yeah. He doesn't have much experience with girls, but he's really good at coping with them when he has to."

"Well, if he decides to stay, take care of him." Lan walked out of the kitchen and lifted her staff from next to the bed. She took the pack Yumi had made up for her, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Yumi asked desperately,

"I have to leave. I need to find someone. Don't tell Kane what I'm doing, he'll look for me. I don't want him to get into any more toruble than he already is."

"But...Good luck, Lana. I hope you get...Hey! Now hold on a minute! Yo're still ill! I can't let you leave until I'm absolutely positive that you're gonna be okay!" Yumi snapped, "You just lie right back down on that bed Missy!"

"I'm fine, look!" Lan did a quick dance on the floor and headed for the door again. As she did, a sudden pain shot through her spine. "Ahhh!" She grabbed hold of the door frame.

"See, I' told you that you weren't okay! Now come over here and lie down. I'm going to look for Kane. He's been away quite a while, I don't want any harm coming to him." She grabbed her shawl and a basket, walked out of the door, turned round and said, "And no sneaking away while I'm gone. I'll get in serious trouble if you disappear!" She walked away from the house, down the path, around the corner, and away towards the market.

"Damn all Roshtaria! They don't let you do a single thing round here!"

[Spanner]

*OOC*

Erg, it's been way too long since I did an Itamar post. At least I'm not holding anyone up!

*IC*

"Are you certain about this, Mr. Lowe?" one of the two scientists asked cautiously.

"Yes. I am ready," Itamar responded, a little nervously. He had a right to be nervous; he could see his arm before him, resting between two metal clamps, one around his wrist, the other around his elbow. Soon, the scientists would begin the experiment.

"Remember, Mr. Lowe. Please inform us if you begin to feel discomfort. We will stop the experiment at once. You are a valuable guest here, and we do not wish to injure you."

"I want to find out," Itamar responded. His heart was thumping wildly. "Please begin." Then, thinking to himself, "Before I lose my nerve..."

The scientists nodded, happy to oblige. Actually, this was a novel experience for them, and one that they weren't entirely comfortable with.


From the day that they had been inducted into the Scientist Caste, Siegurne and Malchiel had been schooled in the art of complete impartiality. Whatever was brought before them, whether it be a chunk of ore, a preserved penguin-bear, or a sobbing child was to be treated as nothing more than a specimen. To treat the specimen as anything other than an object of scientific research was to risk applying emotional attachment. Emotional attachment invariably stood in the way of scientific advancement, and was to be avoided at any cost. Siegurne was personally glad that he'd never been presented with a sobbing child to work with, but he had been present for experiments involving adult humans, and even adult Shadow Tribesmen, in experiments which eventually resulted in their deaths. These specimens, he had dutifully treated with complete impartiality, even if he could still sometimes hear their screams in his nightmares.

This latest specimen - no, Siegurne corrected himself, this Itamar Lowe - was to be treated differently. He and his companion had received orders from Lord Nahato himself to treat Itamar personably, and with respect. It was somewhat uncomforable, as Siegurne had little experience in behaving sociably, even with other members of the Phantom Tribe, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was betraying the precepts of his Caste. Certainly, he'd already began to apply certain emotions to the subject, irritation primary among them, though he did his best not to show this. The sooner he was gone from his laboratory, the better.

"I will start the pressure now, Mr. Lowe," Malchiel said calmly, "lightly at first, but increasing over time." He pressed a few controls on the console, and the two of them watched a number on the readout slowly begin to climb.


Itamar sweated as he watched his forearm. He had felt the clamps move slightly, and they were now applying a consistent pressure against his arm. It was not uncomfortable, but it was still worrying to know that the machine his arm was trapped in was making a concerted effort to break his arm.

Time passed, and Itamar listened as the two scientists began to chatter excitedly to one another. He only caught bits and pieces of what they were saying. "...astounding! With this much pressure..." "...sillicon alloy would have splintered under half..." "...what is he MADE of? If an armor could be produced..."

After a time, the scientists quit talking, and just stared as one at the readout. "Are you quite certain you are not feeling any pain?" one of them asked.

"Yes, I am fine," Itamar answered.

"Incredible..." the scientist answered.

Then, with a shriek of metal, the pressure on Itamar's arm abruptly ceased, as did the hum of the equipment. "He... broke it!" one of the scientists exclaimed in disbelief.

"I-I'm sorry!" Itamar exclaimed, pulling his arm free of the now intert device.

"Please, no need to apologize," the other scientist reassured him. "The mistake was mine - I should have realized that the machine was reaching its tolerance." The scientist smiled at Itamar in a way that Itamar couldn't help but feel showed that smiling was not something the man commonly did. "It would seem that you are certainly a very sturdy young man, Mr. Lowe."

The first scientist then dismissed him. "Well, I'd say we're through for today. Please, return tomorrow, and we should have the high-energy tests ready for you."

"Very well. Thank you both," Itamar answered politely before excusing himself from the room.


Once the specimen had departed, Malchiel turned a longing look on the space he'd occupied. "If only we could obtain a genetic sample..."

Siegurne snorted. "I rather doubt we've any equipment capable of extracting a decent sample. You'll have to make due with dead skin and hair cells."

"Hardly ideal," Malchiel responded mournfully. Then he brightened. "Perhaps we will have better luck with the high-energy tests."

"Perhaps," Siegurne agreed neutrally. "Come, we must present our results to Lord Nahato."

[executor82]

Kane was now right above Calya as she fired a few smaller fireballs at him. He  crossed his elbows and concentrated his energy  in them until he established a heat shield in front of him and blocked them away. Then he dashed downwards and fired a heatstream at her. She dodged it and flipped around to give him an uppercut. Kane spinned around and placed a spinkick on her right shoulder. She fell down and crashed on the roof of the house below. She jumped on her feet again and dodged another heat stream that left a big hole in the roof with a flick-flack.

"Not bad little brother! But watch this!", she charged up and lifted her fist above her head. Flames danced around it.

Kane landed on the roof again and dashed towards Calya.

She punshed her fist into the roof, leaving a flaming bow behind that hit Kane hard and threw him back.

Kane hit the roof and slided backwards until he stopped right at the edge of the roof. "Danm!....too slow!"

"YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!", Kane twisted around as he heared that cry and saw Calya flying towards him. He rised his elbows and blocked the kick, but the blow threw him off the roof and knocked him into the next wall followed by one of Calyas 'Fire Dragons'. *BOOOM* The explosion was heavy and the wall bursted right over Kane. As the dust lifted there was a hill of stones left behind that had burried Kane.

Calya just stood at the edge of the roof and glared at the small hill.

People were watching the scene from the distance with a mix of shocked and excited expressions on their faces.

[theravenisdead]

As they travelled farther into the Grand Hall, Nolan couldnt help but feel his breath being taken from him as he stared in awe at the sheer size of it. He barely acknowledged Allan's voice next to him as his eyes moved around the room.

His concentration broken, he replied to Allan's question.

"Amazed? I dont think that word even begins to do justice. This is incredible!" he replied enthusiastically.

He did a full circle to take in everything around him. "I can't even begin to imagine how long this place took to build."

Afura smiled. "It is quite impressive isn't it?"
Even after seing it so many countless times in her life, Afura would admit that the sight of the Grand Hall always impressed her each time she entered it.

Nolan couldnt believe how ultra-royal the whole place was! The long waveless rectangular pond in the center even had living fish in it, and the pond itself was surrounded by seating cushions for people, although Nolan could only guess who would be invited to such a majestic place.

At the far end of the hall, where the pond ended, there were two seats separated from the rest of the pack, obviously for the royal princesses he figured, but he wasnt sure completely.

"So where do we head now?" he asked Allan and Afura.

(ends post, tags Allan, anyone?)

[panicpaladin]

"Well, is there even anything to do for us to head somewhere?" asked Allan

"Nolan is a traveller from Earth and if the past stores were right, nobody can go back unless the Eye of God creates another portal... Which it won't, it only sends people from another place to El-Hazard," replied Afura

"So, you're saying... Nolan might be stranded here forever?"

"Yes, unfortunatly for him,"

"... I see,"

"Now for the most important thing. As you should know, Allan, all the wanderers gained a unique ability upon entering El-Hazard... Nolan has a special ability of some sort, but we don't know what exactly."

"Ack, that's gonna be hard to find out..."

Allan remembered that guy that fell down from the sky next to Nolan and had to say it, there were others with these special powers.

"Afura! There was also that guy next to Nolan, near the flames! The one that was taken away!"

"...  *gasp* I hope his powers don't do any harm to anyone, we're sure that Nolan won't as he is on our side... This looks bad and there must have been other wanderers all over El-Hazard too."

"I don't like the looks of this... What can we do?"

--------------------------------------------------------

The special powers thing had to be brought up some time...

[executor82]

When Yumi heard the explosion she had a bad feeling about it and began to run. Other people were heading the same direction to see what has happened. As she reached the market she saw a huge crowd that had gathered around a certain building.

What has happened here?, she thought and forced her way through the crowd. Then she bumped into a guard that was holding back the people.

"Stay where you are lady, it's too dangerous to get any closer." She looked over the shoulder of the guard and spotted Calya standing at the edge of the roof. Then she looked into the direction where Calya was staring at and saw the small hill of bricks and stones where there had to be a wall before.

And she suddenly realized what was happening here.......

Calya grined as she still glared at the small hill. Awww....C'mon Kane, you don't want to disappoint me, do you?

Suddenly a redish glow appeared within the hill and the air around started to flicker. Then a 'Heat Dragon', similar to Calyas 'Fire Dragon' broke through the hill and hit Calya straight into her chest. She was thrown on her back, now lying on the rooftop. A sudden blast of heat blew up the entire hill and Kane appeared again. His shirt was torn apart and he had bruises and scratches all over his body, but he seemed to be fine. He ran towards the wall in front of him, jumped and leaped to the other wall behind him doing a backflip, the part that hadn't bursted yet now bursted and fell down. He leaped again and was now above the roof where Calya was about to get up. He fired a burst of heat streams at her, but she jumped on her feet and dodged them with a flick-flack. Then it was her turn to fire another 'Dragon' at him. He established his heat shield and redirected the 'Dragon' back to Calya. She dodged it, jumped and launched the next Dragon. This time Kane dodged it with a flick-flack and jumped to start a counter attack! Both met in midair and started to fight in close combat. Both of them had to endure series of different combos.  This time Kane was knocked on the rooftop and Calya followed to finish him with a flaming punch. Kane rolled to the side and Calya crashed right through the roof and left a big black hole behind.

Kane looked into the hole grining, "HEY SIS! YOU LIKE DIGGING HOLES DON'T YOU!?"

Suddenly a blaze shot out of the hole and missed Kanes head in a distance of an inch. Then Calya zoomed passed him and placed a high kick right on his cheek. Kane spined around and countered with a low kick that sweeped her off her feet. She crashed on the roof and lied on her back, gasping....

Kane staggered backwards and sat down. "How about calling it a draw, huh?"

Shayla sat up and glared at Kane. "NEVER! You still gonna pay for what you have done! You owe me a lot of money! You deserve to get beaten up." She fighted hard to get on her feet again but finally she stood in front of him with shivering knees.

Kane looked at her and shook his head. "You are incredibly stubborn, you know this?"

"Stop the blubbering and get on your feet already!", Calya yelled!

Kane got up slowly with a painful expression on his face. "And here we go again...."

"Enough!!", suddenly a female voice shouted. Kane looked down at the crowd where a woman steped out of it. Calya took her chance and knock him down with an amazing blow.

Kane passed out.

"NOW we are even!", Calya said, kneading the knuckles of her hand.

(Ok, would anyone let Yumi drag me back to the healers, please?   )

[larewen_evenstar]

Yumi ran over to Kane, "Kane! Kane, please wake up!" She screamed, tears falling down her cheeks. "Kane, come on! Please! Wake up! Tell me you're okay!" She shook him gently. Kane showed no sign of movement, so she put his arm around her shoulders and began to drag him back towards the healers.

"Lana! Get off the bed!" Yumi screamed as she came in through the door, dragging Kane with her.

"What happened?" Lan quickly got off the bed and walked quickly over to help Yumi, "What's going on?"

"Kane and Cayla were fighting..." She panted, "And Cayla knocked him unconcious," Yumi watched as Lan hauled him onto the bed, "Be careful!"

"I am!" Lan turned him onto his front, so that his back was facing her.

"What can I do?!" Yumi was panicing,

"You're one of the bloody healers arent you?!"

"I don't know what to do!" Yumi screamed, in the panic, she'd forgotten what to do.

"Snap out of it!!!" Lan slapped her hard across the face.

"What?" Yumi looked puzzled,

"Are you going to help him or not?!" Lan screamed,

"I'm confused!" She said, "I can't remember anything!"

"Jeeze!" Lan took her cape off and threw it to the ground. "I guess I'll have to do something then. You know Yumi, I'm not to good at this healing stuff." Lana went into the kitchen and returned with a cloth, and some ice cold water.

"What are you doing?"

"What you probably would have done if you weren't going crazy." Lan put the cloth into the water, took it back out, and started washing Kanes back with it, carefully. "Be some help Yumi, and go find him some clothes. He can't stay in these."

"Eh...Okay!" Yumi got up and ran into the back room,

"What are you doing in here?"

"It's Kane father, he was fighting with Cayla! And I'm so scared that I can't remember anything! I can't remember what to do! Lana's looking after him, but she says she not to good at healing, and..."

"I'll come through and look at him." He stood up, and walked towards the door, then to Kane.

"Step aside, girl. I can handle this."

"Yes sir." Lan politely stood to the side, which was unusual for her.

[theravenisdead]

Nolan could only speculate about what the two of them were discussing,  their voices were too low to really hear anything. At least at first. Then he heard the words 'stranded' and 'forever' in the same sentence. soon followed by the words 'special ability'

Unwilling to be a sideliner anymore he interrupted the conversation "Okay timeout, what is this I'm hearing about being stranded, and 'special abilities'?" he asked sternly.

Afura sighed "I'm affraid you have very little chances of seeing your home again." she replied, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Nolan simply just stared at her. "Y..you mean, I cant leave this place,  I'm stuck here for good?"

"Yes... It is true"

This was turning into a semi-nightmare. Here he was, standing in a grand hall in a palace beyond anything he could ever concieve, in a world he didnt know, with people he didnt know. He was the outsider. And now the knowledge that he more than likely could never leave was leading him to the verge of breaking.

He let out a heavy sigh, then looked back at Afura "...what..am I supposed to do now?" he asked, his voice void of any emotion.

(tags anyone)

[panicpaladin]

"Well, you'll have to run a life here in El-Hazard or something... Trying to find your way home will be near impossible," replied Allan

"It's true, the only way is to find a portal which will lead you back to Earth, something only the Eye of God can do..." added Afura

"Afura, he doesn't know what the Eye of God is."

"Oh, I'm sorry, look. Over there. In the Sky."

Afura pointed to the large object circling around the Palace from a Window in the room they were in. It had just made it's way out of the clouds to be seen.

[theravenisdead]

Turning his head towards the window, he sighed slightly, then a look of shock replaced his depressed look. In the sky, floating far above them, was a moon-shaped sphere, looking very much like a moon, but... it also looked artificial. Then a similar image flooded into his head

"the Death Star? Here?" he stammered in an attempt to make the sight look somewhat familar to him.

"Death Star? What is that?" asked Afura.

"Oh... n.. nothing... just a cultural reference..." Staring at the object, he continued. "It reminds me of a weapon from a movie back on Earth... its uncanny how similar they are..."

Afura still had a puzzled look on her face "I see.."

"So.. that thing is the Eye of God... Well, it lives up to the name" he said, with a small hint of humor. "But.. if that thing is responsible for my being here, is there someone that controls it? Like a guard or soldier?"

"I'm affraid that is not the case." Afura replied matter-of-factly. Nolan sighed.

Turning to face Allan, he decided to sit down on one of the cushioned seats that were lined along the edge of the indoor pond. "It seems so quiet in here..."

Moments after Nolan had spoken, a large group of guards came rusihing through the hall, heading down the passage that the three of them had just emerged from minutes ago. Some were carrying empty buckets "Whats going on with them?" he asked curiously. Then he remembered: the crashed ship. "Firemen?"

(end of post Jump in!)

[jewel_of_roshtaria]

(( I'M BAAACK!!! Sorry about that everyone, but being grounded sucks. I promise that when school starts again, my posts will become regular. In the meantime, I'll do what I can. Anyways, I didn't read all 6 (!!!) pages of stuff, I just read the last one, so forgive me if I miss a few details. If anyone wants to give me a summary, I'd greatly appreciate it!   ))

Almost as soon as the firemen had vanished, another great door opened. A young woman in expensive looking garments walked into the Great Hall, followed by a few statley looking men, all of whom seemed to be trying to talk to her at once. This seemed to be a bit of a distraction for the young woman, for she did not notice Allan, Afura and Nolan until she had reached the seats on the far end of the hall.

Princess Keora stopped so suddenly that her group of chatty followers tripped over each other to avoid treading on her long, trailing dress.

"Afura Mann! What a pleasant suprise!" She said, beaming at the priestess. The throng of crabby old men must have taken this as a sign to leave, for they promptly bowed thier way out of the room. "I'm so glad you are here! There have been some reports of numerous unusual strangers causing chaos here in Floristica..." She paused for a moment, her pretty blue eyes lingering on Allan and Nolan.

"And, who might your friends be?"

---

Meanwhile, in another part of Roshtaria, Princess Fiore was having a grand time enjoying a spectacular display of "Fireworks". She made a great audiance. She Oohed and Aahed when the great fire dragon had torn through the building, and marveled at the superb fighting skills of the two warriors. As the fighting ended, the young man was drug away by a young woman.

Feeling a little curious and bold, Fiore decided to follow the strangers. After all, fighting techniques like that were what the Princess Fio lived for.

She followed the two all the way to a small house, presumably where a healer lived, and watched as they dissapeared inside. Then she pulled her mask over her nose and mouth, and slid her hood over her head. Finally, after her disguise was in place, she entered the house.

[larewen_evenstar]

Lan stood in the corner of the room, watching as Jabanijan worked on Kane. She sighed, and looked up, a person had just entered the house.

"Who are you?" Lan knew the answer, even with the diguise, she could tell. She had a sense for these things, especially if it envolved the princess. "Don't answer that, I know who you are." Lan stepped forward, she knew it was Fiore, but the thought of seeing her again, made her want to cry. She took a couple more steps forward, felt the tears welling up in her eyes, turned, and fled into the kitchen, where Yumi was sitting, trying to come to her senses.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I can't take it! I don't want to see her again! I nealry killed her the last time! Why am I suffering for this?!?!" Lana screamed,

"Woah! Slow down! Make more sense, who are you talking about?"

"The Princess! Fiore! I tried to kill her! I didn't want reminded of that! Not now! I'm in enough pain as it is, without her being here."

"What do you mean? The princesses rarely visit us. Why would one of them be here now?"

"I don't know!" Yumi stood up, and walked into the living room, where her father was still working on Kane,

"How is he?"

"It is hard to tell, but he should be okay."

"And who are you?" Yumi asked, staring at Fiore.

[theravenisdead]

As expected, Nolan saw that the princess was indeed gorgeous. Her clothes, her figure, her looks were all genuinely beautiful. Embaressed for staring so blatantly at her, he tried to regain his composure.

"Ah... Hello miss-I mean, your highness,. I'm Nolan..." he stammered. Allan nudged him a little "Ah... and this is Allan. I think he's part of the royal entourage... heh"

Afura interruped "I'm afraid that this young man-" she said, motioning to Nolan "-is one of those 'unusual strangers'. I believe he, like the travelers from long ago, is from Earth."

Nolan smiled as best he could and waved slowly to her. 'Well Nolan, you've succeeded in embaressing yourself in front of royalty. Congrats..' he thought, mentally kicking himself numerous times...

(tags anyone)

[jewel_of_roshtaria]

((Woops, forgot that Keora would know Allan. *beats self with the Obvious Stick*))

Princess Keora smiled hesitantly, as if not quite sure weather to engage the newcomer in conversation or run screaming from the room. Then, she blushed, as she realized she had been staring avidly at him for at least a good few moments.

"Oh? A traveler you say...? By the Gods! This is unusual!" Then, seeming to get a grip on herself, she regained her usual statley composure. "Ah, yes, Allan, I didn't recognise you, welcome back to Roshtaria!" She smiled warmly at him, and then a look of shock crossed her face.

"My goodness! How rude of me, I've forgotten to introduce myself! My name is Keora, and I'm the youngest Princess of Roshtaria..." she said to Nolan. "I wish that I could introduce you to my sister, I'm sure she would be very pleased to meet you, but I'm afraid she has taken a... leave of absence..." The Princess looked slightly imbarrassed at this, and it was no suprise that she soon changed the subject.

"So, Sir Nolan, I would be very pleased to hear of your world! The little I know of it comes from previous travelers to our world, and that was many years ago, before I was born..."

(( Sorry, I guess I really rooted you out of my post Allan. Feel free to tag me!   ))

---

Fiore stopped dead in her tracks as she recognized Lana. It seemed like a long time since she had seen the palace servant who had turned traitor. She made a move to follow Lana out of the room, but then decided against it.

"Hm? Who am I? Oh! Right! The disguise! I'm, er, Salami! Er, no, Sansuke! Sansuke Salami! Pleestameetcha!" She shook Yumi's hand jovially, feeling quite certain that now would not be a good time to be recignized as a Princess. "And who might you be? And, more improtaintly, what is that girl Lana doing here?!?"