The Illusionist (VM/PM for invite)

OoC: I'll be using Caragon for this RP. It will take place in a pretty straightforward medieval castle setting; all the soldiers have seemingly been slain, and Caragon is there to look into it. If you wish to join, you need to contact me first and tell me you wanna join. If you do, I'd like you to include in the VM/PM a small written segment of your character-of-choice arriving at the castle grounds. This is to ensure that you thoroughly read this post, and it gives me an idea of how you RP.


BiC:

Caragon's eyes scanned the surroundings one more time. There had to be something he might have missed. Any kind of clue.

He stood at the castle gates. The gate itself had been crushed - the large wooden doors were blasted off its hinges and lay scattered on the ground. That alone had been alarming enough, to the point where the locals commissioned random, tough-looking travelers to go take a look. To Caragon, it was far from the first time that he had been asked to help someone with something, and as always he only demanded food and a bed in return.

He scratched his chin with his steel-clad hand. Something had very clearly gone terribly wrong around this place. None of the castle soldiers could be seen from where he stood. Apparently this was the residence of a powerful regional lord, which made the lack of soldiers a bit disturbing. He was certain to have his own personal army, but there were none to be seen.

Caragon took a few steps forward, knelt down on the ground and picked up one of the many small pieces of the shattered wooden gate. It looked almost burnt. There was no doubt that the assailant had struck at it from head-on, in order to gain passage to the other side.

There were no siege weapons to be seen around him. The fact that it looked burnt, also told him that it was most likely a magical assault. Had the castle been attacked by wizards?

Caragon cast aside the wooden piece, stood up and strode over the castle grounds, towards the majestic building itself. The wind blew from the north, dragging in his long red cape.

As though it was trying to hold him back.

Aida had traveled the region for several days after appearing onto this world, the sun beat against him even through his white robing and it seemed to build up within his hood, he was still in search for his people, any planet was suspect and he would tear each one apart to find his lost race.

In search of a likely area of captivity Aida neared the destruction outside the castle walls, examining the structure. it seemed that a conflict had occurred, small bits of ash were littered beside shattered wooden beams and their large slivers.

Aida made Netchur, his star, dissipate and remain out of site as not to draw too much attention to himself as he walked ever closer, a cautionary procedure to not alarm anyone.

All seemed deserted except a fluttering crimson cloth that caught Aidas eye beyond the gates, he neared it cautiously unsure if perhaps the person to who it was attached caused the damage that painted the scene.

Caragon spun around with his halberd in hand, ready to strike down any potential threats as he heard the sound of something approaching. What met him was not an enemy, however, but a young man wearing white garbs that left only his tanned face exposed with spiky silver hair. He seemed to be younger than Caragon, and a bit more... pure, thought the halberd-wielding warrior as he lowered his weapon.

"Greetings," he said slowly. The silver-haired man didn't seem to take offense to being pointed at by a halberd; perhaps he understood Caragon's suspicious nature in such a mysterious and sinister setting.

Before he got the opportunity to ask what the stranger wanted, however, the earth beneath them started to quake. Caragon only barely managed to grab onto the stranger and duck out of the way as the walls around them began to move and heavy rocks fell from the ceiling.

"Whoa - !"

The quakes caused him to lose his footing, tumbling to the side. To his astonishment they both fell right through it and into a hallway that seemed to be unaffected by the turmoil around them. Caragon got to his feet quickly and, with a frown, examined the wall they had fallen through.

"An illusion...?" he muttered. "What kind of devilry is this...?"

He looked in the opposite direction, down the hallway they had entered. There was only one lone door at the end, looking as old and battered as everything else in the castle. Caragon sighed and glanced at the silver-haired newcomer.

"I guess now's the time for introductions. I'm Caragon."

As Aida and the dark haired man who had pulled him from danger sprung to the side away from the carnage they just as quickly landed into safety, apparently within a hallway with one exit. Aida was just realizing what happened as they both hit the ground.

Still seemingly startled from the events that had happened so quickly, Aidas eyes couldn't focus quick enough and he was blind for a moment before his vision slowly restored itself to meet the the stranger in-front of him, still noticing the long and deadly halberd in hand, hopefully never to be used on him.

Aida began to feel more secure after realizing the mans actions in keeping him alive awhile ago. he felt obligated to send his greetings as the man spoke to him. "well that was something else" He said looking around and then back to Caragon after his small comment "I'm Aida" he replied to the gray male, inspecting him further for a moment. An awkward silence went by before Aida finally asked "so... do you know what's happened here?" the question came but Aida didn't seem to pay much attention afterward as he was studying the wall himself.

"No idea," replied Caragon before marching off down the hallway. Aida was quick to follow. When they reached the old door at the end, the warrior continued. "This castle belongs to a powerful regional lord. It should be filled to the brim with soldiers. And yet... as you can clearly see..."

Caragon waved with his hand at their surroundings.

"Anyways, I came here to investigate," he continued. "I'd just about arrived when you showed up, and then that quake happened. I have no idea exactly what it was, or who did it, but it's safe to say that a sorcerer of some sorts is nearby and sought to either harm us or scare us."

Opening the door, they were met by a peculiar sight.

"Did we go the wrong way?" said Aida, raising his eyebrows. "Isn't this where we just were?"

Caragon was silent. Indeed, the room before them was exactly similar to the one they had just escaped (before things started moving around, at least). Something told him that it was not some odd design choice.

"Something is definitely up," said Caragon. "Keep your eyes open and - oof!"

He had taken a step forward, and promptly fallen over as his foot got caught in something. Aida stood and stared, puzzled by how this had happened. There was nothing visible that Caragon could have tripped over.

But as Caragon got to his feet, it became clear. Out of thin air appeared a man - a dead body - clad in armor and seemingly having been slain by an axe or a sword, with a large wound going across his waist between his chestplate and tasset.

"What the - ?" exclaimed Caragon in shock.

OoC: btw if we ever get to a battle I would like to ask that you not attempt to power play my character, I don't mind you doing so right now as in some cases it might be important to keeping the story in the order that you want but in a fight no one really knows how my character battles . However in cases of morality or understanding of something it would also be best not to power play him as he is hundreds of years old and has learned alot through the meditation process he went through, his opinions may be different than expected...

BiC: Aida points at the body with his entire arm as his hands are rarely visible underneath his very long sleeves, "it appears you've stumbled over something" he said grinning, while lowering himself to examine the corpse.

"hmm, I wonder how long he has been here..." he said while hovering his hand over the armor. "the materials could be useful though" he claimed, snapping his fingers from beneath his sleeves which would summon his star, Netchur, causing it to rematerialized beside him, it was beginning to fatigue him to keep it hidden this long anyway.

The star floated over to where Aida held his hand and parts of the armor seemed to turn to dust as the material broke apart and levitated upward into the core of Netchur. It illuminated slightly brighter as if it had a meal and was more than content with its serving.

As Netchur filled itself Aida walked over to Caragon and offered him a hand to help him up.

OoC: Well, avoiding your character being mispresented is what his profile is for - to describe his overall personality, combat style and etcetra. I'm not planning any battles just yet though.


BiC:

Caragon decided not to ask about the peculiar light that floated over the dead soldier's body; there was something else that occupied his mind at the moment.

"I could have sworn that the body wasn't there when we entered the room," he said. Aida nodded in silent agreement. "We would have seen it otherwise. How did it get there?"

They were silent for a while. The rest of the room was still as empty as before. Caragon moved slowly around, as though new dead bodies could pop up at any second.

"We have to be cautious. There's definitely someone hanging around this place who's pulling these pranks on us."

The second he finished speaking he felt something against his foot. Looking down, he saw another dead body revealed before them. It bore the same types of wounds as the first. It didn't frighten or shock him this time, but Caragon still felt uneasy from the dead bodies popping out of nowhere.

"They... must have been hidden," he muttered. "Hidden somehow, in plain sight. But how...?"

A rumbling noise in the distance sped up his thinking. "Alright, we gotta move."

As Caragon was muttering to himself, questioning the events that were happening before both of them, Aida allowed Netchur to finish breaking down and absorbing the elements present for use.

Not long after: rumbling stirred the halls almost throwing Aida off of his usual slouched posture for a moment. Carogon then seemed to leave the former thoughts of questioning and stated that they should both continue forward.

Aida slouched even further, assuming that if this place was about to collapse or present a danger of some sort he would have to run - and he hates running when he's bored. Aida would follow slowly behind Caragon until something of sufficient danger could present itself and force him to be quicker, his Star would follow just as slowly but moving around Aida as if telling him to hurry up.

Caragon led the way, though where to he did not know. The castle had turned into a labyrinth, complete with deadly traps and dead ends at nearly every turn they made. If it hadn't been for Aida, things could have gone really bad for him at least a couple of times.

"You rush ahead too fast," said Aida after the third time Caragon had narrowly escaped death by leaping backwards as sharp needles penetrated the ground after shooting down from the ceiling. Caragon merely glanced back at his calm, somewhat slow companion without saying anything. It wasn't until they'd reached the first staircase in a while that he finally opened his mouth.

"I think we should try and reach the top," he said. Whether Aida was curious as to the reason why, or he didn't care, it didn't stop Caragon from continuing anyway. "These castles usually keep the Lord's chambers at the top; vanity and all that. I reckon we'll at least find some answers there."

He glanced back to see if Aida was paying attention. It was therefore a shock when he realized that Aida wasn't there. He was nowhere to be seen, nor was his little glowing orb of light.

"Aida?" he said confused. "Hey, Aida! Are you there?"

No answer. It made Caragon uneasy. No doubt it was another trick - Aida didn't seem like the kind of person who would just wander off in a dangerous place like this. But what had happened? Where did Aida go?

"Aida, where - "

He was muted by the deafening sound of the wall being ripped away. He could only barely throw himself out of the way so not to be caught in the debris and dragged along. What was outside was not the windy landscape that he'd seen before entering the castle - it was a village, shrouded in darkness. On one of the rooftops stood a black horse, and on its back sat an armored knight whose red eyes shone in the dark.

"No - " gasped Caragon, his eyes widening in terror. "No!"


OoC: Okay so what's happening is that Caragon is experiencing an illusion. To Aida he'll appear as though he's lost his mind and responding to things that aren't there (while ignoring Aida since he can't hear, see or feel him). Feel free to have Aida fall into an illusion as well, if you'd like - I don't mind any idea you come up with, go nuts.

OOC: Coolio sounds interesting , Im going to start off with his own illusion and then the symbiotic connection between the star and him allows him to get out along the line somewhere and then he will try to help you out (if allowed) and we'll see how it goes from there

BIC:
Aida looked cautiously at Caragon who seemed to be looking all around the room, completely looking past Aida as if he really weren't there. "I'm right here." Aida claimed, unsure of the situation but somehow realizing that his statement would not be received.

Aida moved closer to the apparently hallucinating Caragon, taking caution not to fall into whatever state of madness Caragon clearly was in, he assumed that the trickery was some form of figmental reality devised by someone with a power over the mind - it would explain the bodies that seemed to appear out of nowhere that not even Aidas eyes could see.

As Aida reached out to grab Caragon, in attempt to wake him from his new state of mind, he instead began to fall into his own. The walls around him seemed to melt away, a hot breeze blew onto his back and crisp sand followed, desert dunes began to rise where the hallways floors once where, Caragon dispersed from Aidas view.

The new world that had befallen Aida could be nothing else but his home, the almost red sand, the sand-brick houses which formed cities, darker spots upon the ground where small wells sprouted, and the temple...

There was no mistaking it, this was Gaila.

Aida stared at the world, remembering in contrast what Gaila really had become, and no words could escape, only a single tear.

"No!"

Caragon stumbled away as the iron-clad knight grew larger and larger. "You're supposed to be dead!"

The knight said nothing. He drew his sword, which was bathed in blood, and pointed it at Caragon challengingly. The warrior gripped his halberd and took his battle position, just in time to parry the first strike.

You will die, whispered the wind around him. He felt it blow around them as they struggled, up the stairs of the tower. Like an insignificant twig that breaks under a heel...

Caragon threw himself back as the knight sliced forcefully at his chest. This foe only got stronger and stronger. It was like a bad dream.

As the knight brought back his arm to deal the finishing blow, there was a flash of light from above. Caragon gazed up and instinctively reached for it. His hand grasped around something solid - and all of a sudden he was pulled up, away from the knight and into an entirely different room.

It was a very different kind of room. It was bright, decorated and littered with dead bodies. Unlike the previous ones, it seemed no-one had bothered to hide these.

"Ugh..." groaned Caragon as he rubbed his head. He wondered what had dragged him out of that situation with the revived False Knight.

Aida seemed to stand and stare forever at his lost desert land, he continued to gaze in sorrow until the sound of explosions came from behind him, he turned around to see a burst of sand shooting to the sky and smoke trailing up with it.

Aidas teared face looked with suspicion and immediately began walking towards the scene, but even more explosions came, all sounding either closer or larger compared to the last as they were heard behind him. Aida then growled expecting some threat to come from this. He looked all around and finally up to see a large metalic craft, alien to to Aidas eyes, and from it shot out white objects that were so fast they seemed to crash with the ground a second after being seen launched.

The falling objects where causing the explosions, but for what reason? They didnt seem extremely destructive, just loud and it made a scene, but what was contained within them? These thoughts went through Aidas mind as his eyes followed each pod fall from the larger body.

Gaila seemed to shake as a whole with each collision. Over the dunes surrounding Aida strange armor clad beings, all holding weapons unseen by the Shihaitan, began to roar and run, charging Aidas position.

Instinctively Aida attempted to use his Guide-Star to destroy the opposition at range, but Netchur was nowhere to be found. The roars grew louder, the stomps where closer, hundreds of lights where flashing followed by extremely fast orbs of light which flew passed Aida, sometimes hitting around him and kicking up sand.

Aida felt helpless, there where too many enemies and little luck or help for himself, all he could do was protect himself. He ducked quickly, dodging a shot to the head, and grabbed the sand beneath him twisting his arm, four walls of sand made stone walls sprouted around him forming a box, and from their tops a roof was formed as well, and there he sat.

Caragon went over to one of the bodies - he seemed slightly less mutilated than the others - and knelt down by it. By the looks of things, the soldiers had been brutally massacred by some unknown force. It only seemed logical that this same threat still lingered in the castle.

Caragon got back on his feet with a frown on his face. If Aida happened to run into it... there was no question in his mind that both he and Aida were in danger.

Where he stood, he could only spot one door. Instinctively he headed toward it. On the other side he found some stairs that led upwards - perhaps closer to the source of the massacre. Putting his looming sense of danger aside, Caragon bit back his fears and continued his journey upwards.

A light suddenly shown through the crevice of the walls, it was unlike any other, almost unique to one being alone, Netchur. Aida immediately let down his defense, the ceiling reformed into the walls which then fell back into the ground.

"strange..." Aida said as his crimson eyes dashed around the room, noticing that Caragon was no longer there...

Aida wondered how he got out of the illusion to begin with, and what happened to Caragon, but these where questions for later on, this was the time for action. Aida walked, as always, towards and up the nearest flight of stairs in search of Caragon first of all.

"either he has been captured somehow or he just left...." the only thought that could come to Aidas mind came and went several times as he walked up the stairs at his own lazy pace, of course the man didn't mean much to him anyway but this little adventure was getting dangerous... and fun.

The stairs were numerous and long. Caragon's armor felt heavier the higher he went and slowed him down. He wiped sweat away from his brow and leaned against the wall as he tried to catch his breath.

"Can't be far now," he muttered to himself. "Didn't seem that big from the outside..."

Everything about the castle was weird. It seemed a lot bigger on the inside, with a lot more corridors, stairs and huge rooms that certainly should have made the building look a lot bigger from the outside. And then there was the incident earlier where he had witnessed the False Knight, who Caragon knew was dead with absolute certainty. And yet...

A faint whisper called him back to reality. He gripped his halberd and stood up straight.

"Who's there?" he called out. There came no answer. He proceeded to climb the stairs further, cautiously.

He had been correct in assuming that the top of the stairs wasn't far away. Within a minute he stood before what he hoped was the last door. He once again heard the faint whispers; maybe they were telling him that he had finally arrived at his destination. Maybe they were telling him to run away.

He held his breath as his hand closed around the door's handle and pushed it open.

Aida followed the sound of heavy and slowing steps that seemed pretty far away, how long do these stairs go one? Aida wondered as he continued trailing. Himself being lazy he was sure this was more tiring for him than Caragon, so it would take a while before he saw him he assumed, but it was worth a try to figure out how far apart they where.

"Caragon!" he shouted, "where are you? do you think your close by?" his questions echoed up and down the stairwell, he could only wait for a response as his slow and lazy steps took him higher.

"Who the hell are you?"

The room he had entered was not really a room at all, as much as... a space. Cosmic lights and colors glowed around him like small neon orbs, casting a colorful shine over the area. Directly opposite to Caragon stood a cloaked, faceless being. His hood was pulled up, but the odd light allowed Caragon to see what was underneath... and there was nothing. Only a blank, white face. No eyes, no mouth, not even a nose. But everything else - the height, the composure, it all indicated that this was a grown man. Although it was impossible to tell for sure as the long, dark cloak hid the rest of the body.

"Hey, I asked you something!" said Caragon loudly. He clutched his halberd tighter. "Who are you?"

"Ask me rather what I am, warrior."

Caragon frowned. The voice was dark, and definitely masculine. It sounded slightly strained and old, like it was a middle-aged man speaking.

"What, then?"

"That is a good question," said the cloaked man. He raised his hand, where an orb of electricity formed instantly. Caragon readied himself, but no attack came.

"You lack focus. You are too easily put off."

The electricity shot out of his hand. Caragon dodged to the side, and in the flurry of colors he seemed to lose his grip on his surroundings. He was no longer in the odd room with the colors - it was now a windy and snowful mountaintop. The snow dragged him down, causing him to fall to his knees as he struggled to maintain his balance.

"What the - ?!"

"Abandon your sense of reality," spoke the dark voice from the blowing wind. "It will not help you here."

Aida continued to climb the stairs silently, air could almost be heard whisping around through the walkway, and then came a sound from above.

Aida now began to run, something most uncommon, until he reached the door from which the sound was escaping. "I wonder what's going on in there" he asked himself before barging through to see a strange cloaked man and Caragon, who seemed to be dodging nothing for a moment before the room morphed around him. The door disappeared, the floor and walls evaporated into dust and flew away and a new scene was beneath hit, a mountain top. Aida was in the illusion now as well.

Aidas ears where shocked and his eyes widened, these illusions were clearly powerful if Caragon felt the need to dodge the possibly inexistent electricity bolts that shot out at him, of course it wasn't worth taking the chance to see if they were. The strange blank-faced man turned his head towards Aida, his attacks still flowing out towards Caragon from the orb in his hand. Another stream of bolts began shooting in Aidas direction, but Aida was incapable of seeing such forms of energy with his eyes!

Aida randomly jumped to the sides hoping nothing would hit him, he knew there was danger from the sounds earlier but could not see what the danger was, clearly some form of energy attacking. The only thing Aida could do in the situation was defend, dodging wasn't even his best chance here. He reached down, touched the so called mountain top and made a half sphere made of rock infront of him and facing his opponent.

"Sorry Caragon, I can't see his attacks, I'm useless here!" he shouted over the sound of colliding electricity. "but I can do this" he said to himself while holding to the floor behind his shield.

OOC: leaving it open for whatever your post is

Caragon tried dodging, but the more he moved the more he felt tiny shocks impact his body. How did the enemy manage to hit him so often? Every shock that hit him was impossible to see or hear.

There was a dark silhouette in the distance. It seemed to be Aida. A most welcome ally, thought Caragon to himself. He threw himself to the side, attempting to make a run for it towards Aida so they could better concentrate their mutual efforts.

The wind was knocked out of him as he felt himself crash with an invisible wall. His face, which had taken the brunt of the impact, hurt like hell. He groaned and tried to get back on his feet.

The setting changed again. They were in a faintly illuminated room, seemingly part of the castle.

There was only one explanation. Caragon rubbed his nose as he looked at the cloaked enemy. "I've figured you out," he said with a frown. "You're an illusionist. You change our perception of reality to make us see, hear and feel things that aren't there."

The cloaked one turned his head, looking towards Caragon. "A correct statement, but it is also completely useless to know. This knowledge will not help you."

"There's one thing you can't control though," continued Caragon. The cloaked person fell silent. Aida had managed to move over to Caragon, standing beside him. "It's smell, isn't it? You can't change the smell."

It was silent for a bit. But then -

"What is your name, warrior?"

"... it's Caragon."

"I see... Wildheart, is it?"

"How - ?"

"I am known by many names. You may call me Veran."

Caragon blinked. Veran? He'd heard the name before, recently in fact, but it was so difficult to remember... like a haze that clouded his eyes.

"Now then... what is your business here?"

"Well, we came to investigate the castle," said Caragon with a glance at Aida. "All the soldiers are dead. Did you kill them?"

Veran was silent. Perhaps he was pondering on what he should say.

"It will be futile to look for survivors," he said eventually. "None were spared. The servants, the soldiers, the lord himself... all victims to their own greed."

"What?"

Veran lifted his arms, as though he was trying to reach toward the sky. "Desire and fear. Both can prove to be powerful motivators for a mind in disarray. I laid no hand on the people myself - what they saw was ultimately what forced their hand."

"So they killed each other?" said Aida.

"Like enemies on a battlefield, with vengeance and hatred in their hearts. Promises of wealth, or threats of death... one by one they fell to my illusions and attempted to kill the others as a result. And when only the lord remained, his hand bloodied and his body scarred by the struggle with his subordinates, I showed him his reality. Struck by guilt and grief, he took his own life."

"But... why?"

"My reasons are my own. You would not understand, anyway."

Aidas eyes focused on the man intently, both with anger and shock, a strange and eerie power the man possessed indeed. A growl came from Aida but he quickly regained his composure and stared blankly at the man, so very dull where the crimson eyes at this moment, it was the expression seen on war veterans planning an attack or an assassin while viewing his obstacles.

Aida looked over to Caragon wondering if an attack on this character was even a logical move, now knowing that smell was unaffected by these illusions it would seem a new form of targeting was form, there may be hope for them after all.

Shihaitain eyes glided across the new scene infront of them, a plan could not be set strictly to one setting as they could easily change, this would challenge Aidas mind for sure, a plan would need to be formulated - one that fits perfectly into the ever changing world around himself and Caragon.

Netchur slowly hovered to the ground, unnoticed by the group, and seemed to fade into it. A plan was in place, the pawns have moved, and the struggle may begin.