eswareinmal | (no subject)

Where: The Old Capital
When: GHB 16 & 17
What: As foretold when the Kingdom was in deepest peril, the mythic sword of Rubilacxe has once again appeared in the Old Capital! Embedded deeply in a large stone set in the middle of the fountain in the town square, the mythical sword waits for the bravest of heroes to pull it free!

... well. Not just heroes. Looks like everyone's having a go trying to pull that thing out! It seems the locals of the Old Capital are making a tourist's spectacle of the whole deal. While there was a debate if they should charge people to try, it seems instead they've raised the prices on meals and rooms, and children (and some adults) can be found all over selling small cheep wooden carvings that may or may not look like the sword in the stone and other cheep souvenirs.

Well. That's the old capital for you! Lucky that you've gotten to use the king's fastest horses to get there unnaturally swiftly so you won't have to stay the night.

So, what'll it be, hero?

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There didn't seem to be anything better to do here than to wait in that line, give the sword a try, and then leave.

At this point, Ryo was about to do something crazy, though perfectly harmless, if only to give them something completely different to talk about. The only things that stopped him were his dignity, the chance that it would get blown way out of proportion, and that salesman selling the good luck charm.

"No. I don't want one. Go away." He added a pretty harsh glare for emphasis. Even without the "scary berserker hero" thing he had going for him, that glare would have been rather unnerving. He just watched the other men trying to pull that sword free. It seemed brute human strength wasn't enough...but maybe if he tried approaching it as something other than human?

That would give the rumormongers something to talk about...not that he wanted to encourage them in that direction.

Well, whatever way you want to try it, it's your go now, hero. Step up to the little platform reaching out to the floating stone, mind the rope barriers around the side to keep people from cutting in line and take your try!

Though you may noticed something... odd about this sword. You know, besides it being stuck deep in a rock that's somehow floating on water. There's something like a presence to it. Something waiting for you to grab hold of it so it can test you...

The sense that the sword was waiting to test him was somewhat unnerving. It reminded Ryo a little bit of the tower in the White Forest, of how it had judged him the entire time he was there. Only at least now he didn't feel as though he were being outright driven away.

He studied it for a moment. Gills would give him outright physical strength...but perhaps bringing out the big guns right away wasn't what the sword was looking for. He reached out and tried to pull it free.

The moment his hands touched it, the tourist trap around him seemed to fade to grey smoke, leaving only himself, the sword in the store and the water around it.

Well. Not entirely. There was a lurking presence in the fog as well.

'Why do you wish this sword?' The voice echoed around him, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

Well, up until this point in time, Ryo thought he would have done anything to get out of tourist trap land. Perhaps he was wrong. He was very tense now, and he was debating as to whether or not he wanted to become Gills.

As Gills, he wasn't so good at talking. And for the moment, talking seemed like the thing to do here. "Good question." He shrugged and tried to look unconcerned with the whole thing. "Magic sword, stuck in a stone...I figure maybe it's got some sort of power that could help against the thorns. It's not like I need it to fight with."

There was a long moment's silence, the smoke shifting around aimlessly around him before the voice spoke again.

'You seek without yourself for what you cannot find.'

Ryo remained tense and ready for a fight. He wasn't in control in this situation, and he knew it. He also knew that magic was likely involved here, and he didn't put much stock in that, either.

"So whatever's so special about this sword isn't going to help with the thorns?" Ryo went silent for a moment. When he next spoke, the words came out a bit more quietly, almost as though he were embarrassed to ask. "So could this sword at least be used to protect people somehow?"

'A sword it but a tool. It is the will of the one who wields it that determines how it may be used.'

"So if I took it, I'd be trying to help people with it." He shrugged, his voice still a little quiet. "Simple enough."

'Do you truly think it that simple?'

There was a long pause as he shook his head. "Is anything ever?"

'Then why speak as if things are?

A sword is a sword. It will not bring you glory any more than a stick. Do you still wish it?'

"Because sometimes, I wish they were."

Ryo shook his head. "I never said I was in it for the glory. I've never been in it for that. If there's nothing about this stupid sword that lets me help people, then no, I'm not interested."

'Then seek your worth elsewhere. True swords of worth do not call attention to themselves so boldly.'

"Hey, it was worth a shot." Ryo shrugged. Actually, he didn't really think it had been worth a shot, given that he'd had to deal with another annoying set of townspeople for what boiled down to nothing, but he wasn't about to let the weird disembodied voice know that.

'Towards the mountains shall you find what you seek.'

There was a shimmer in the air as a large gold coin materialized, twirling in mid air, the strange runes and carvings seeming to catch non existent light and glow.

'For one who wishes not to waste time, let this be thy aid.'

That was a surprise. An actual answer of sorts. Even a clue as to where to look was better than dealing with a tourist trap. Perhaps this hadn't been such a waste of time after all...

Ryo stared at the coin for a moment, as though he were trying to identify exactly what it was. Not that he had any hope of reading those runes or anything. It was glowing, and it was probably magical, which made it potentially dangerous.

Not that he cared as he reached out to take it.

The moment his fingers wrapped around it, the smoke faded, leaving him standing back in the town square in front of the sword in the stone, coin in hand.

Ryo seemed a bit surprised to find himself standing right back there in front of the sword. He was quite careful not to examine that coin he was holding in front of the crowd--he could feel it in his hand, and that was enough until he could get himself a bit more privacy. Privacy wasn't a thing when you were standing in front of a bunch of adoring idiot townspeople who seemed disappointed you hadn't pulled the worthless sword from the stone, after all.

Only one thing left to do now--get out of there. He started walking away from the sword, hoping the townspeople would just accept his "failure" and let him go with minimal punching of annoying people in the face.