Medonian Guard (Headquaters)

[Aqua]

Timestamp: Late Summer, Era XI PF

The guard nodded carefully. "May I inform him as to your business, sir?" he asked politely. "And your name?" Rhys might notice that, though he was pleasant, he seemed a bit on edge. In this, he was not alone. All of the guard seemed a little more tired, a little more jumpy than he might have expected. Times during the last months had been very difficult in the city, and the guard had been stretched almost to the breaking point. Some things were better now, true, but old tensions didn't simply die overnight.

However, the guard was willing to carry any message Rhys would give him off to the captain.

[Straylor Leonard]

Continued from blacksmith ...

The candlemark following his long, dreadful walk from the smithy's that was ungodly far from the city's heart proved uneventful. Nothing much happened along the road -- no chance to play hero. It was then, however, that Stray remembered why he had been running around that entire brightening, etc. He's been wanting to get training with the sword. The notion was sound enough, especially since a blade was more useful in combat at the lower levels. That, and a soldier never needed to meditate before stabbing someone in the face. Yay.

Finding the fortified and walled structure was easy enough. He'd seen it plenty of times during his childhood in the city. The headquarters was almost a landmark -- a place known by anyone. Walking towards another duo of guards, Stray refrained from sighing but instead smiled and greeted the two -- an elfmaid and a human -- warmly.

"Serale, yes I do have business with the guards", Stray replied with a nod. "I am actually seeking training with the short sword."

"And you wish to join the local guard force then?" the elfmaid returned, sterner than ever. Her chainmail almost rattled at her coldness and absolute bluntness but Stray said nothing and maintained his 'cool'.

"Unfortunately, no. But perhaps after I attain the second rank in training or something?" The last part was almost a bluff, but the thought of an actual job sounded nice for once. It was better than singing in taverns. "Who should I see to enroll for some training?"

Gesturing at a fairly large fellow behind her, she nodded and told Stray to meet with a guy name Baruk, a orc-like fellow who was actually human. Finding this amusing, Straylor allowed himself to chuckle before finding this Baruk. Supposedly, the fellow was an ex-officer and personal trainer for the city guards. Sounded easy enough.

It took about half a candlemark to actually locate the large fellow. Evidently, the man was always on the move; that, and he didn't have a real office within the compound. And when Stray found him, he witnessed why the brutish fellow was an ex-officer rather than a captain.

Baruk was a middle-aged human, medonian probably. He had dark curly hair atop his rather savage-looking head complete with burly eyebrows, massive amounts of facial hair, and small eyes and a pointed nose to match. His large mouth was a minor distraction to his beasty features. He wore Medonia's guard uniform, which included the blue sash, longsword, and chainmail armor.

Noticing Stray's stare, the large human rose and regarded the young man in an awkward sort of manner.

"What did ya want?" he growled, "Waiting for me to dance for ya?"

"Uh ... no" Straylor managed to say despite the temptation to say 'yes' and dash for it, laughing. "I was hoping to find ... Baruk?"

"Yeh, that's me. What do you want? New trainee?"

"Something like that. Do I pay no --"

"You pay later. After I teach ya something. What weapon?"

"Shortsword?"

"Come back in two brightenings. I'm tired."

And that, was that.

[Agarel Vampyler]

Early morning, 3rd brightening of Kalendryas in the Season of Autumn,
Era II of the Celestine Mandate (Current Pattern),
Era XI Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening,
The Mageocracy of Julos the Mad.
Paradigm Shift: The Feeble Pox is cured.

Agarel treaded the roads within the city that took him near the North gate of the city. The small fortress built into the structure, where the headquarters of the Medonian guard was housed, filled Agarel with awe, one that he still could not shake off even after more than a couple of brightenings stay in the city.

Agarel approached the smaller entrance to the fortress, still looking up at the formidable structure. He would have stumbled into the headquarters if it were not for the Elven female. She shook him by his shoulders, "Watch were you are going!"

"Eh..." he looked at the hands that were covered with the gnaulets. "...who me?"

"What buisness do you have with the gaurd?"

Agarel looked at her and saw her in the chain mail, with a long sword sheathed by her waist, and the blue sash of the Medonian Gaurd.

So this is how a Gaurd looks from up close.

"I need to learn how to use a longsword."

"A longsword?" She breaths out a long breath and shakes her head. There were a lot many who wanted to learn weapons these days. It was good in a way, they could have used more people who had skills during the recent Tablot attack. "Do you even have a longsword?"

"Eh... no. Will that be a problem?"

The Elven female gaurd gives a small unoffending laugh and looks at the other gaurd. The other gaurd just shrugs his shoulders. She pats Agarel's back, "Alright, let me take you to the office."

She leads him through the stronghold that housed the stables, training grounds, barracks and various offices. "Tell me you do have some crowns." Agarel nods confidently reaching for his pouch. She gives a wave of hand and stops him, "Not here. Give it to the clerk." She then finds the clerk for him. "He is here for enrolling to a Basic Longsword training. You know the job."

The Human clerk nods, but the Elven female had already left to gaurd the entrance. The Human looked up from his desk at Agarel, "That would be a hundred and fifty crowns. Is that fine?"

"Yes" Agarel removed his pouch and counted the amount out.

The clerk counted and dropped into the lot that had more. He took out a ledger and went through it, and then dipped the scribe in the ink, "Name?"

"Agarel... Agarel Vampyler."

The clerk wrote down the name, and then when he was writing the second part of the name, he looked up and considered Agarel for a while. Then he continued to write. He spoke out as he wrote few more entries in the ledger, "...Basic Longsword... Seargent Arli... 4th of Kalendryas, Era XI PF..." He then looked up at Agarel, "Come tomorrow to the training grounds. You have been asssigned to Seargent Arli, fine?"

Agarel nodded and found himself moving out of the headquarters. As he was retracing the path, he could hear the clanks of the metal coming from the training grounds. He was coming out of the entrance, and he smiled at the Elven gaurd who had helped him. "I will tell her to go easy with you..." she patted on Agarel's back as he moved out.

[Straylor Leonard]

Timestamp: Early brightening, the Second Cycle of the Month of Kalendryas in the Season of Summer of the Eleventh (XI) Era. Paradigm Shift: Pox is cured!
OoC: Permission to self-moderate reinbursement of money spent in training + being hired by the Medonian City Guard via PM.


His basic training was finally over; and now, all Straylor could think of was actually improving his skills with his short sword and giving back to the city of his birth. It was a new man that arrived at the 'small fortress' that was the headquarters of the Medonia Guard. He was no longer the mostly-tipsy fellow that came a cycle early; instead it was a man dedicated to his sword, given that it was not a holiday. Then he might be enjoying some time at the local tavern.

The same duo of guards greeted him and nodding to them, he asked where he could sign up to become a guard.

"Just talk to the officer within" they said in turn, "Registration takes place in the main hall."

Thus, Stray was off once more through the entrance and into the many halls that formed in and through the interior of the headquarters. Several men and women, all dressed in their uniforms, walked passed him. They all wore their standard chainmail armor complete with a longsword at their side. 'Joyous' Straylor thought with an inward grin, "I'll be one of them guys soon enough.'

A clerk manned the registration office of the headquarters, dressed in a violet tunic with the city's emblem stitched to its heart. He sat idlely, scribbling feverishly at a piece of parchment when Straylor arrived to announce his decision to join the Medonian Guard.

"Well, just fill in this form then" the yellow-haired man said with a nod, "Here's a quill and an inkpot."

Full Name: Straylor Thaddean Leonard
Age: 20 Gender: Male

Nationality: Aelyrian
Birthplace: Medonia

Training:
- Intermediate Short sword (in progress), Basic healing, Basic Law (in progress)

After checking his answers through, Stray slipped it back towards the clerk with a smile. The man then checked over the application and glanced over a few documents the city had and quickly found the new applicant's name -- Stray was a resident of Medonia, after all. It would surprise him if the city held no records of him and his family.

"Everything seems to be in order, sir" the clerk said finally, "If you just see that man over there, his name is Beruk, and he'll take you to the armory to get your standard equipment." Stray grinned at this, and turning, he waved at Beruk who half-growled and half-grinned back to witness his student recieving his first set of guard's uniform.

"Just follow me" Beruk said sternly as he led the way through the inner hallways of the headquarters and into the lower levels, which consisted a sort of blacksmith where weapon and armor repairs were made for the guards. Shelves full of chainmail of varying sizes and swords lined the walls. Several helms were also found, some still incomplete.

"Welcome to the force" Beruk said with a sharp nudge, "I better not find you slacking on patrol, though. If I do, I'll make sure to make you run more during training. Understand?"

[Rhys]

Rhys smiled, "Certainly, I would like to inquire to him about some of the unique city defenses." He stood before the guard, most likely this question woudl be faced with a negative answer but who he was may just pass that boundary.

"My name is Rhys Telan, Captain of the Archadoon City Guard."

[Aqua]

Rhys

The guard didn't look particularly interested until he heard Rhys's name and title. At that, he perked up considerably. "If you'll pardon me for one moment, sir, I'll be back shortly." Without really waiting for a reply, he disappeared down the hall and out of sight, leaving Rhys to himself.

The other guards looked at Rhys with a sort of redoubled respect. The captain of another city guard didn't often visit, and each guard wanted to make a good impression -- despite the fact that Rhys didn't know any of them and couldn't reward them anyway. But such are the reflexes of a soldier.

The first guard seemed to be taking an awful long time, however. Rhys was left to interpret this however he would.

[Amaris Bluefeather]

Timestamp: Early autumn, Era XI Post Fractum; Paradigm Shift: The pox is cured

The place seemed decently busy as Amaris entered, and she waited her turn politely. All roads led here; a little investigation had revealed that elementalism wasn't really taught here. That was sad, because she'd really been looking forward to it. But then again, there was this too. After all, an arcanist needed a little defense in other ways.

When she was called forward, the little elf made a small bow, then straightened. "Serale. I am looking for training in throwing-weapons... particularly knives. I was told that I could seek training here."

[Rhys]

Rhys stood around, he did notice the guards around straighten up a bit. Inside he was gleaming, people gave him outside respect without knowing who he was or how he acted, by just saying who he was. As it took a while for the guard disappearing Rhys figured the captain must be busy, as was the duties of a captain.

[Ffesshssia'ad]

continued (at long last) from here

Timestamp: Mid-Ponutis, Era XI PF

It had been a cold winter brightening the last time Ffesshssia'ad had approached the headquarters of the Medonian Guard. The last time, he had brought with him a report about a hanged vysstichi he had found inside of an abandoned house, a report that had provoked little enthusiasm. Now, about two months later, he came with a proposal that he hoped might excite a bit more interest, although he could not be certain of this; he did not automatically trust his own ability to gauge what would arouse the interest or enthusiasm of humans.

He greeted the guard at the entrance and then requested to speak either with the Constable, or with whoever the senior officer availalbe was. "I am Ffesshssia'ad. I come with a propossssal the Guard might find interessssting," the saurid explained, in a manner he hoped would prove helpful. "it issss an idea for helping the Guardsssmen, and the csssity asss a whole, to recall better timessss and greater deedsss from before the coming of the Poxsss. But I will need the cooperation and ssssuport of your leaderssss to make it work."

While his errand was not a secret, and he would gladly go into as much detail with the sentry as was required, he was not certain that this soldier would want to hear much more than who he was and why he was here. For now, he fell silent and awaited the guard's response.

[Aqua]

Rhys

At long last, the first guard returned. "Captain Waylen will see you now," he said briskly. "Please, follow me sir."

The Captain's office wasn't far away. The guard knocked once on the oak door. "Come in!" a voice on the other side boomed. The guard pushed the door open and motioned for Rhys to enter.

Captain Waylen was a human in his 50s, only about five and a half feet tall, but powerfully built. He had thick brown hair that was just beginning to go gray, and rounded features. He was also smiling heartily.

"Welcome, Captain Telan," he said, standing to offer his hand. "Please, have a seat. What may I do for you this brightening?"


Ffesshssia'ad

The guard didn't seem entirely certain how to respond. It wasn't often that a random seven-foot Saurid wandered into the guardhouse bearing some unspecified plan for civic improvement. He vaguely remembered having seen Ffesshssia'ad around before, and so knew him to be no threat, but he wasn't sure how to take him, so to speak.

"You wish to speak to Captain Waylen, Mr. Sia'ad?" he asked uncertainly. "I'll go and see if he's available." With that, he turned around a corner, leaving Ffesshssia'ad to stand there. The two remaining guards averted their eyes so as not to stare at the scaly behemoth.

[Rhys]

Rhys followed the guard to the office of the captain and as the door was opened for him he entered. He stood before Captain Waylen a man a bit shorter than Rhys himself and alot older.

As the captain introduced himself Rhys shook his hand. "Thank you Captain Waylen, I actually have a few questions."

Sitting down he spoke "First of all, I would like to thank you for being able to see me. Anyway, I decided to take a trip and visit various cities. Well now before I head back to Archadoon I would like to ask you about the cauldrons you have on your wall. They seem like a pretty good idea I would like to assimalate into the Archadoon defenses."

[Ffesshssia'ad]

"Yessss, the Captain," the saurid acknowledged slowly. "Thank you." The guard who had greeted him turned and left, presumably to notify this Captain Waylen, leaving Ffesshssia'ad alone with the remaining two guards, who had not yet spoken.

It was just as well that these guards did not stare at him; a staring contest between a human and a lizardmn would hardly have been an even match. Still, it would not have particularly bothered him if they *had* stared. The Ai'll'gai'tah had an instinctive desire to stay out of sight, so being exposed to a lot of attention could be stressful at first, but Ffesshssia'ad had grown used to city crowds and strange looks a while ago.

The saurid said nothing while he waited, and indeed he hardly moved at all, looking oddly lifeless. He had learned something of this softskin custom known as "small talk", but he was hardly proficient at it, and he doubted that trying to strike up a conversation with the guards would actually put them at ease. Furthermore, he thought it respectful and appropriate to speak to the Captain before pestering his subordinates. A bungled social overture before anybody knew what he was trying to accomplish would be counterproductive. If they felt the need to talk, they were welcome to do so, but Ffesshssia'ad himself would simply continue to stand and wait until some word of Captain Waylen came back to him.

[Aqua]

Rhys

Captain Waylen smiled brightly. "Ah, the cauldrons. They predate my tenure by a good long while, but they're most effective. Iron's the best material for them really. They're a siege defense, largely. You use them in a situation where someone's trying to storm the city and you've managed to get the gates closed. "

Nodding to himself, he went on. "You can fill them full of superheated oil, then pour them out. If it hits anyone directly, it'll certainly ruin their day and might well kill them. Even better though, it renders the walls slippery, hot, and generally troublesome to climb. Or, for instance, if someone's trying to use fire as an attacking device, you can fill them with water. You can even simply fill them with rocks - it's a crude sort of cannon, but an effective one."

He laughed a little. "Only thing is, if you're putting the oil in, or something like it, you'd better equip your men with good gloves at least. The iron heats right up too, and you don't want to be grabbing those handles when they're that warm."

A little more seriously, he added, "If you're trying to work them into an existing infrastructure, be sure you also provide a way to move whatever you're putting in the cauldrons on top of the wall. Or a way to store the stuff up there. Last thing you want is to get into a battle and realize you can't get the stuff up to the top."


Ffesshssia'ad

The impasse continued, as the men didn't say anything to the saurid either. Of course, they didn't really expect him to say anything to him. Few people, even seven-foot lizardmen, struck up friendly conversations with the guard.

A few minutes later, the first guard reappeared. "Right this way, Mr. Sia'ad. The Captain will see you." He looked simultaneously surprised and relieved. The Captain's office wasn't far away; when he reached it, the guard knocked once on the oak door. "Come in!" came a loud, hearty voice from the other side. The guard pushed the door open and motioned for the saurid to enter.

Captain Waylen was a human in his 50s, only about five and a half feet tall, but powerfully built. He had thick brown hair that was just beginning to go gray, and rounded features. He looked curiously at Ffesshssia'ad, as though he weren't sure what to expect.

"Serale, sir, I'm Captain Waylen. They said you had a proposal for me?"

[Ffesshssia'ad]

Ffesshssia'ad looked down at the human. He was short, even by human standards, but looked to be active. The saurid would have expected no different from the Captain of the Medonian Guard.

He did not pause for long before answering Captain Waylen's question, for he had already gone over his proposal in his mind. "I wisssh to tell the deedsss of the Medonian Guardsss," he said, getting straight to the point right away. "Thissss cssity hassss ssssufered much of late from thisss dissseasse. Much that wasss good of Medonia'ssss passsst died or fled when itsss people died or fled. Thossse left behind wisssh mosstly to forget their passt, becaussse it holdss ssuch missery and pain for them.

"But there in trying to forget, they have lossst much that isss good, much that makess them who they are. I want to tell ssstoriess of thossse thingsss, of the deedsss of thossse warriorsss who are no longer here, of the good thingss that Medonian Guardsssmen have done. My father Ffahss'k once lived here, before the Feeble Poxss. It wassss a different cssity then. I want to tell people about that, sso that they can remember what it wasss like.

"Mosssst townssfolk would not wisssh to talk to me about ssuch thingsss, about their dead kin and friendss. But I think your Guardsssmen, or at leasst sssome of them, would be different. Sssoldiersss are ussually lesss reluctant to recall and sspeak of thosse who have died. They are more willing to think back and tell talesss of their losst companionsss. If they are willing, I would like to hear from them ssome of the more memorable thingsss the Guard hasss done, esspecially thossse who are no longer with usss. Then, I could ssshare thosse ssstoriess with the ressst of the town. Perhapsss when they ssee what isss good about remembering their passst, even when it involvesss losss, they will come forward with sstoriess of their own."

Ffesshssia'ad now thought of something else that had not occured to him before, though why not he could not tell. It was quite obvious, in fact. "Perhapsss when the young hear of the good that the Guard hasss done in the passst, they will alssso be more willing to join, and to assspire to do sssimilar thingss themsselvess in their turn."

The Ai'll'gai'tah stopped now, and turned his head slightly to examine the Captain at a slightly different angle. He realized that his idea would probably strike Waylen as odd; he doubted that anybody had made such a proposal before now. He was also conscious of the fact that he was no salesman. But he could only wait now, and see what the commander had to say.

[Rhys]

Rhys listened as the captain explained the iron cauldrons to him and how they are kept and such. Rhys nodded "Now do you keep kindling and such ready to be lit and start a fire quickly under the cauldrons or do you have some sort of magician superheat it the cauldrons with a spell?"

As he spoke about transproting the materials to the top of he wall Rhys thought for a second. "Well if it was oil and such do you keep lids on them if they're not heated, to keep debri and such from the cauldrons inside?"