Neko's: The Truth Behind the Myth

Start/David:
Advar Yorrick moved his sore limbs, groaning out loud from the effort. He was never sailing again. The group had reached land a couple days ago and his body still felt cramp beyond belief. And the half-elf swore he still smelt of that cramp, hellish place. "If I see another boat, I'll be too soon." He mumbled, dragging his hand through his dark brown and shaggy hair. "We there yet?" He asked his companions.

Tragor Strongmind, the strangest of the three men by far, answered in his deep and gravelly voice. "Stop you're bitchin, Advar. You should be happy to be off that boat and away from pryin eyes." The orc didn't understand the elf's reactions so far. At the beginning of this journey he seemed the most excited out of all of them. But now most the words out of his mouth seemed to be complaints since they sailed. The orc, however, was happy to be in a new land, full of new things to learn and people to sway to their cause. Sadly, orcs had the same reputation as back home.

The half-elf glared at the orc with his bronze colored eyes. "Make me, Ugg. It wouldn't be the first time I kicked your green ass." Advar gripped the hilts on each side of his lithe hips. A cocky grin broke across his face, showing his was joking but also ready should the orc choose to attack.

Grunting in disapproval at his 'nickname', Tragor gripped the handle of his massive battle axe. "First off, Ugg isn't my name. Secondly, you fight dirty and don't honor the rules of combat!" Even though the greyish green orc was on the smaller side for his people, he easily was a foot taller than the already pretty tall half-elf.

Advar was intimidated, or at least not much, as he got closer to the orc. "There isn't such a thing as fighting fair or with any rules. You have to fight like your life depends on it!" The half-elf paced a bit, looking over the orc with unnaturally light skin tone, red eyes and that strange white hair put into a topknot. "I bet you couldn't even..."

"Enough! Both of you!" Shouted their leader, the exiled and so called traitorous prince, who was once known as Prince of the People, Duncan Luxenguard. He walked towards his comrades, hand on his sword which sat comfortablely on his right hip. "I leave you two alone for a couple moments to tend to the horses and you two practically start fighting!" Fucking idiots these two. Both of them tried to explain themselves but the ex prince cut them off. "I won't hear excuses from either of you." Even though he was shorter than both of them, he clearly was in charge with an undeniable air of leadership to him. "You both know why we are and how important it is. So can both you grow the fuck up?" Both of them at least had the grace to look embarrassed and apologize. Duncan smiled, an expression that looked better on his face than his angry scowl. The prince rubbed some of the remaining sleep from his blue eyes. "Oh, and Advar..." The half elf looked over towards his black hair and currently bearded friend. "Once we get over that hill, the city will lay before us."

Me:
"Sir, there is a group of three people headed towards Suoluyji as we speak," a man in boiled leather said as he knelt down in front of Vercingetorix. "One of them is an orc, one appears to be an elf and the other a human. Their party is far too small to create any harm, what would you like us to do?"

A heavy sigh escaped Vercingetorix's lips and looked down at the messenger. "I was hoping you would come to tell me that my brother-- day I call him that any longer, Esus and his vorokissa's were caught. But instead, you give me news that is not of importance to me. If they're no threat, then why bother tell me about them?" he growled and leaned his head against his fist in a bored manor.
He paused and looked at his wife, Vanya, who was sitting next to him and then back voer at the messenger. "Kill the orc. I have a distaste for their kind. If his or her friends do not like the gesture, then by all means kill them to."

Vanya stood up and straightened out her dress. Her lips were tight and her face hard. "That is no way to make friends, my lord. From the way it sounds, these people must not be from around here. Do not allow the bloody orc to enter the city, but by all means let the elf and the human in. Perhaps they could be of use."

The messenger nodded and looked up at Vercingetorix and the Vanya. "Tw of the three men seem to be quarreling a lot, from what some outrangers have said. They came in at a port and claimed they were from some land I cannot pronounce the name of. Supposedly one of them is a Prince."

Vercingetroix raised an eyebrow and scratched at his well-trimmed goatee curiously. "Let him in then, but again, do not let the orc in. The vorokissa are lucky enough Ilike their filthy kind destroy the streets of Suoluyji, I shall not let some orc defile the streets even more."

The messenger nodded and stood up. "I'll tell the men at the gates your instructions, my lord," he said and dashed out of the room.
Vercingetorix glanced back over at Vanya and smiled. "Prince, some Prince he must be if he's friends with an orc and has a party of three. If anything he's another flyaway or false prince. There are far too many of those these days."

Vanya nodded in aggreement and walked over to one of the glass stained windows. "Agreed, but we may as well listen to him. We could use all the help we can get at this point. After all, Esus has his mother and her whole entire kingdom to help him... and most of the kissa certainly won't be on our side. We do need help, that's why even your best legions have lost more than one battle."

Vercingetorix's lips thinned and he stood up, only to stand behind Vanya and wrap his arms around her waist. "Do not fear, there is no way they can win, and as you said, if he truly is a Prince then he'll be very helpful."
He kissed the back of Vanya's ear and sniggered. "My great, great grandfather took Haajaiskylä, and I certainly will not be the one to shame teh family name and lose it."

David:
Once they got within sight of the city, the three prepared. Advar put on a cloak, covered his face with the hood and walked with a bent back and a limp, making him about Duncan's height. The prince changed out of his travel clothes into a much more regal garb, with the blue and silver of his house and it's crest, a flying griffin, upon his breast. Tragor removed his axe, replacing it with a long wooden pole, and he removed what little armor he wore. The other two took out wrist irons, ankle bracelets and chains. They attached them to the orcs wrist and ankles, while connecting them with the chains. It was all locked up tight and restricted Tragor's movement greatly, making him look like a real prisoner. The exile prince got onto their only riding horse, making sure he looked as regal as possible, with Advar lead the party, with the orc being attached to and dragged slightly by their pack horse.

The half elf reached the city gates first and bowed low in this country's fashion. He then gestured towards Duncan and licked his lips, preparing his best of this language. "May I welcome the Prince of Luxen. Third son o' Jax Luxenguard the wise and Mary Luxenguard the beautiful. Ally o' both sides o' the dwarfs and friend to the Sallax (the snake people and name not finally), wanders of the Rainbow Sands. Last true man in line for the throne and Prince o' the People, Duncan Luxenguard." His voice and accent were much closer to a sailor or a labor, not something to be found on a royal herald. They probably think less of him now, the half-elf thought, as if that was even possible when they approached the city with a party of three. Well it was too late to think about what if. They had rolled the dice so let's see what they had to say. With a bow and a flourish, Advar gestured to the prince, who came closer on horseback.

Duncan smiled at the guards, hoping they couldn't see the lies in his eyes or heard the ones on the half-elf's lips. How could they not hear it right away? The two dwarfen clans would never work together, and either was they were only the allies of outcasts and the smallest of small houses. Then their were the Sallax, a people that they provably thought were made up. "I am glad to meet such strong and stalwart defenders at the strongest city this side sea." While his accent and way of speech was better than Advar's, it wasn't perfect and lacking in certain mannerisms. "I have come to speak with the current ruler of the city and to request an alliance." Duncan smiled charmingly from his horseback. He hated playing the part of the beggar prince, but Advar suggested it. Right now was not time to preach justice, he said, we must first look at the pit we've just entered. If it's a dangerous viper pit, we run or fight but there was a chance it was a pit of dogs, food, and allies. Though viper pits still could have allies, maybe slimy, untrustworthy allies, but allies all the same, said the half-elf's voice in his head. "Don't worry, we brought gifts."

With a sudden pull of the chains, Tragor shuffled his large feet forward and almost fell on his face. The chain was yanked again and this time the orc did fall. He couldn't brace himself at all, causing his fall to hurt that much more. Advar rushed over, shouting something in their tongue and kicked him in the side. The half-elf keep shouting something like" Get up!" But Tragor hadn't learned much of the strange language. Advar switched to their own tongue, keeping the same tone of voice. "If you don't get up this'll all be for naught." So, gritting his teeth, the orc forced himself up, stumbling into of the guards. He kept his head down, playing the tired and abused captive. "We call him Ugg." Said the Prince, gesturing him out of a slight disgust. "And he could be the key to a massive army for you."

Me:
Once Tragor, Duncan and Ugg reached the city, a massive grin was spread throughout the whole entire garrison. They were all dressed in light armor. Many bore polished steel chest plates over boiled leather, and simple boiled leather leg peices. That made it very clear that these wall men were not terribly important. A majority wore silver cloaks with a black rampant lion treading on a green snake surrounded by eight green trefoils surrounding the border.
One of the men in front raised an eyebrow and smirked at Tragor and Duncan. "Do you really expect us to believe that you're royalty? I've never heard of you. You're obviously not an Elf or a lord. I mean, what Prince would have a party of one with a speech problem and some ugly orc?"

A second guard began to laugh and was soon joined in my several others. "Oh King Duncan, the mightiest of kings, it is such an honor to meet you here today," I second guard barely managed to get out through his howling. He and many others were starting to tear up in laughter. "I've met some men with hilarious claims but you are now at the top of the list."

"What are all of you hooting and hollaring about?" a gruff voice called, followed shortly after by a raspy cough. "You're supposed to be guarding the wall not having a jolly good time."
An older man was seated on a horse and he bore a grizzly gray beard. He was clearly balding and had deep, dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. It was clear that he hadn't had sleep in at least 48 hours. "There's rumor of revolution and here you are laughing your asses off. Shame on the lot of you." He bore much better armor than the men at the wall. He was clad in steel from head to toe, though his helm was between his arm and body. He, like the rest bore the flag of House Ghallagher.
Next to him, also seated on a horse was a dark skinned woman with cat ears and a tail. Her hair was pitch black and braided. She, just like the man next to her was clad in armor but bore no helm. Her eyes danced around the newcomers but her face did not show what she was thinking at all.

The older man turned towards Duncan. "I know not what you said to make these men laugh so fully, but whatever it was, the Orc is not allowed in the city. You and the elf may pass, but the orc must stay outside of the walls." He turned back towards the cat woman. It was clear that he muttered something to her after she nodded.

"Come with me," she said to Duncan and Tragor. "My names Ekundayo, the only kissa that is in the armed forces all throughout Suoluyji and I will be taking Tyyri's place in the upcoming years. I'll escourt you to the castle so that you can meet King Vercingetorix and Queen Vanya. Word of your party has already reached the castle due to your odd companionship." Without another word, she turned her horse around and the soldiers behind her and Tyyri made a path for them to go through.

--

Upon entering the city it was rather depressing. The stone was all grey, worn by weather and there was poverty everywhere. Men, women and kissa bore raggity clothing that was torn and far too thin. The streets were still damp from a previous storm. All eyes were on Duncan and Tragor as soon as they walked into the city. Children were naked, too skinny despite some shops and an open market not too far up ahead.
Ekundayo remained silent, still not giving away any clues as to what she was thinking. To anyone who didn't know her, it was almost as if she didn't care that there were many poor people, including those of her own kind.
As they got deeper into the city they came up to another wall. She took out a paper and handed it to a bored, almost asleep guard. "My name is Ekundayo. I serve King Vercingetorix in the King Guard. I have the two requested foreigners with me that he declared must be summoned to him as soon as they got to the city."
The man glanced at the paper and handed it back to her with a gruff noise. It was clear that despite her position it didn't mean anything to him. "Go on," he said in a raspy voice and waved them through the archway.

The moment they were through the arch they may as well have walked into a new city. The streets were clean, there were carriages pulling lords and ladies, the market was extremely rich in foods. Fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, they had it all. The smell of fresh soups, clean, freshly harvested vegetables and sweet fruits was almost intoxicating. Aside from the clear difference in quality of life, there were next to no kissa here. Much like in the earlier wall, any who were in here appeared poor and were doing work for humans or elves.

With a deep sigh, Ekundayo picked up the pace of her horse. "We'll be at the castle soon," was all she said to them, not even bothering to look back.

David:
Duncan completely ignored the laughter and jabs taken by the guards. He had remained perfected calm and regal, the perfect model for a prince. Tragor (the orc cause you can't even remember that fucking thing) remained the practically submissive prisoner, looking down and avoiding eye contact while fidgeting against the chains in blind hope more than anything. Advar, on the other hand, was visibly getting angry and would have probably attacked the guards if their captain hadn't come. Sadly, Tragor wasn't allowed to enter the city, and even though they knew that would probably be the case, the pronce still wanted to fight to let their orc friend, or current prisoner, in with them. But, an attractive cat woman, or kissa as they seemed to be called, walked out and entered the city on horseback, expecting them to follow. The half elf gave Duncan's horse a push so that he was forced to follow.

Once they entered the city, Duncan was disgusted at how badly the poor was treated. They seemed to live in little more than the ruins and many looked to be starved. Few wore much more than rags and all were visible miserable. A majority of the poor seemed to be made of car people, the race as their guide, who looked completely in different about the suffering around her. A people these must be if their own race doesn't show them any pity. A suddenly elbow to the thigh, remained Duncan of Advar's earlier advice. "Don't show your emotions till we are safe. And save your pity for when you know how our new allies might react." So the framed Prince silently followed along, his face now a mask of indifference.

Upon entering the city, Advar straighten his back and stayed toward the back of the group. Like every city, there where the poor lived and sadly this place looked to treat their poor worse than most. Without even looking at Duncan to see how reacted, the half elf hit this leg, hoping he remembered the advice from before. Then he went back to the line, bumping into several of the poor beggars that had started to trail behind. "Back the off, ya bastards." Advar waved his arms,scaring them back. A smug grin appeared on his face before he followed after the two horses. The half elf took out a small knife and quickly cut off two dangling bags off his own belt, spreading blank gold coins out, towards the poor. Few, if any, would have seen the cut, but they all saw the gold and ran to it. Luckily the guard and Duncan were too far ahead to notice the commotion. Advar caught up the two with the smile still on his face.

The richer part of the city was clearly nice, but seemed to be the type with too many "honorably lords", which was a nice way to say they were rich fucks without the responsibility of ruling and protecting people. Which never was the healthiest for a big city, especially given the massive divide between rich and poor. It caused rebellion when one fucker of a lord made a mistake or, gods forbid, if the leader was the one to mess up. Looking around, Advar noticed the sudden lack of those cat people. And, that every person they passed seemed to glare at their guard with disgust or down right hate, something the half elf was used to and expecting. "Well, on the plus side I'm not a half breed bastard here. On the downside, these city feels down right wrong." He mumbled to himself, pondering. Slowly, his eyes was drawn back to the girl that was leading them. Her face was pretty, with a skin tone that reminded him of warmth and that sweet thing the lords ate back home. The armor made it difficult to figure out her body type, but she seemed to have curves in the right places. But, most importantly, was the fact that she had cat ears and a tail. Something about that combination made her extremely cuter and Advar felt like he couldn't help himself. Quickly, he advanced past Duncan, and the confused look he gave the half elf, and caught up with the lead horse and its attractive rider. "M'lady..." he began, his voice the opposite of his previous one, with a smooth and confident feel, where the other had been gruff and ragged. "I apologize for inconveniencing with my own stupidity, but I must ask for your name again since the last time you spoke all I could hear were the gods singing of your perfection." A smile spread across Advar's face that, even with a few cracked teeth and a slightly crooked nose, radiated confidence and sex appeal. "Also, I was hoping that you'd pity this poor bastard before you with the chance to get to know the angel in front of him better." The half elf was attractive in the charming roguish way and knew it. He used it to his advantage, begging ladies the have a nice talk, but made sure they knew how he'd like to get to know them. And with a flash of mischievous intent in his deep green eyes, most women would be more than willing to fulfill his humble request. But, would the cat girl fall for his trap? Advar anticipated the answer more than any similar attempts he had tried in years.

Tragor stood patiently and quietly. Unnervingly so. All the guards had stopped joking quietly about the group long ago and most had weapons raised to protect themselves from the chained up orc. From the barely contained mister in their eyes. While he knew too little of the language, fear was universal. Only their captain seemed to lack fear of him, but it wasn't due to warmth or possible friendship. Instead it was close to the fact that he had seen things scary and was ready to kill if need be. Tragor sighed, always assuming that he wouldn't be allowed into the city, at least not at first, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. Sighing, the orc bent his big form and sat down as comfortably as he possibly could, which caused the guards to jump in their boots. At least one shat themselves. "No matter where I go, I'm always a freak. Oh how the gods have cursed my existence." A pitiful laugh left Tragor's throat and the guards jumped again, which only caused the orc to laugh more.

Me:
"Don't try and flatter me, it won't work," she said rather dryly and didn't even bother looking at Advar. "MY name is Ekundayo." She paused and looked back at Duncan as well. "Considering you two are new here, I think it is important to note that it is illegal to be in a relationship with a kissa. If you don't know what that is, I'm one. By law kissa are not allowed to be with elves or humans. Homosexuality is also illegal, so if you are, I highly suggest you are very secretive about it. Otherwise you'll be burned at the stake publically."
A heavy sigh escaped her lips and for a split second she seemed to appear extremely sullen. She quickly shook it off and picked up the pace a little bit. "The king here is named Vercingetorix and his wife is Vanya. She is an elf and he is a human. The house is Ghallagher. King Vercingetorix's father is still alive but he has fallen ill so is no longer able to 'properly' due his duty. He has a second son, Aengus, who you might mistake as a women at first." She was fairly certain that the small party was unaware of these things so they'd be good to know.

As they pulled up to the castle Ekundayo dismounted her horse and handed it off to a stable boy. "I should be back soon. I'm not sure how long our guests will be here, but make sure their horse is well tended too." To boy nodded and led the horses off.
Now that she was off her horse it was fairly clear that she wasn't all that tall, standing at only about 5' 5" with her armor on. "I'll lead you to the hall. I'm fairly certain that he is not with his council at the moment. If he is, I'll call for Lord Aengus-- assuming he isn't in the outer wall right now-- to give you the proper curtisies.
The walk was relativly short but it was obvious that the castle was extremely grand. The garden was lush and well tended to, the cobblestone paths were clean and the castle seemed to touch the heavens it towered so high.
The interior was even more beautiful and vast. Despite this, Ekundayo's pace did not slow down as they walked through several twisting and turning cooridores. Eventully they came upon a room with large, heavy doors. She stopped in front of it and looked at Advar and Duncan. "As a reminder, his name is King Vercingetorix and his wife's name is Queen Vanya. His father is the late King Cuno. His wife has passed away, and care not to be too rude because he has a terrible temper. Be glad you're a human and an elf. Otherwise there would be absolutely no hope you you obtaining what you want from Haajaiskylä."

▲▲▲

Tyyri dismounted his horse and said to none of the guards in particular "Go find Lord Aengus. He should be within your living quarters or somewhere near the orphanage that he is helping rebuild currently. If not there, check near the markets. You all know what he looks like. The rest of you, go find something to do. Only two of you need to be at the gates." Several of them ran off a little too enthusiastically and he shook his head in shame. He bent down onto one knee and looked at Ugg. "I'm not sure how much Haajaiskyliän you speak, but my name is Tyyri. I apologize that I'm unable to let you in at the moment, but I do not make the rules and I enjoy having my head on my shoulders. If Lord Aengus so chooses he will be able to let you into the city. His brother, King Vercingeotorix may not like the decision but curtisies are not his strong point."
As he spoke he made some gestures that he hoped made at least a little sense. He had never met an orc that could talk before-- at least not in a very coherent manor, so this one could prove to be extremely interesting.

Once about 15 minutes passed a person who appeared to be a women in a blue tunic that was emboroided in complex, gold designs and plain brown trousers walked out of the gates. They bore bright, beautiful blue eyes and their white blonde hair was up in a ponytail that also bore a ladder braid.ragor and studied him with his eyes. "Don't tell me that the guards are really afraid of an orc that is chained up. Anyone chained up is no threat. I think that you need to find new men, Tyyri," the person said and kneeled in front of him. "My name is Aengus, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said. "I've heard of your little party of friends. I can let you into the walls, but not too far. You'll catch far too much attention."

David:
Advar sighed,knowing that their guide would be tough nut to crack, but also technically illegal. Though, in his years, the half elf had learned that enough money made anything legal. "Tis a shame that. Personally I've always been a fan of interspecies relationships, even if it might have screwed over the kids, such as my situation." Clearly the kissa weren't treated as equals, and not allowing relationships between the races was just further evidence of that. Or, maybe, they lacked the correct parts to mate. But, a quick look over Ekundayo didn't seem to give off the hint that a coupling would be anything other than enjoyable. Homosexuals being burned had little to do with Advar, other than the fact that it seemed so stupid to try to stop something that all to frequently happened. The half elf followed along silently, confirming the information they had gathered to be true about the current leader. For now it'd be best to go along with the plans they had set up, until they had gotten a feel on this Vercingetorix and how he acted.

Duncan followed along the town of them, looking over the city. This older, and richer, part of the city was leaps and bounds nicer than the first section they had been in, with the only stain against it being the area outside it. He avoided looking at Advar and Ekundayo, preferring to compare the city's different sections while both were fresh in his mind. There was a sever lack of the cat people in this area, with the only ones visible being the couple of servants or slaves, they were being treated so badly it was hard to tell. In fact, the prince swore he could hear someone being beaten inside a nearby building, with a long list of curses being thrown at the victim. He could only tell it was a kissa after they were threaten to have their "fluffy fucking tail caught off". Duncan finally let his disgust show on his face again. How could they treat any living being that bad? The prince had to spit to get the bad taste out his mouth. "Monsters..." he muttered, as he followed along, making sure to remember the house to ask who lived there later.

Tragor watched the men run as they practically sweated relief. Idiots and cowards. If these were the men that they had guard the wall, he feared for the safety of the city. The man who had relieved them was the one that wasn't afraid of him. Still, he was clearly wary but that was better than the other's reactions. The man was apologizing and saying something about the ruler or rulers, it was hard to make out. The orc patted his chest as best as he could, trying to gesture to himself. "Accept apology. Will wait here for... for friend. Thank you for..." Damn it, how could two languages be so different. What was the word for getting rid off? And how did you say troops or soldiers? What was it that Advar had said before? Oh right. "Thank for flinging bastards off ship." The half had said that during the journey when they had come to port so hopefully it would work now. The captain left, probably to return to his post, and Tragor was left alone again.

When Aengus had arrived, the orc was seated on a rock, silently moving his the lips. The man that had approached him was quite feminine, a fate that would get you killed or raped in his old orc clan. Life there was harsh and every memory he had of home was bittersweet. Not a day went by when Tragor didn't wish to chance his people. The man was clearly well off given his outfit and he smelt of curiosity mixed with slight bemusement. The orc detected no fear, making this person seem too trusting though that may work in his favor. He then knelt down and told him his identity. "Ah, m'lord.. apologies." Tragor quickly gave the best bow he could while being the restrained. This girly man could easily decide his future. Nervously he gulped. "Am know as tr..." He stopped. The half elf wanted to keep his identity secret in case rumors of a smart orc had reached here. "Am called Ugg." The orc told the lord. "Thank for any help you give." While he spoke it was amazing how much better he had started to speak. Tragnor's voice may have been deep and gravelly but he pronounced the words perfectly, he simply didn't know what to use or where to place it. "Shall we go?" He said before remembering that he still was chained up. "A moment, lord." He muttered. The orc quickly started counting and feeling each link. At one that looked the same as any other, he stopped. Carefully Tragor fit his middle finger into it and quickly yanked. The link snapped easily and the whole chain became slack. He pulled the chains out and tossed them aside, leaving him in the bracelets they had once been connected to. With that the orc shrugged. "Weakiest link."

Advar watched the small cat girl walk and kept comparing it to that of an actual cat's walk. Very proud and ready to pounce at any moment. Also, from this male's perspective, she had a nice ass. Anyway, the castle was extremely grand, perhaps showing that one of the previous rulers had been over compensating for something. It was massively tall, the highest tower standing as a mighty erection aimed start at the gods, which couldn't have been big enough to insult them for they hadn't smited it yet. Luxen's castle was built in the an opposing design. In stead of an easy to neuter cock, it was a nice defensible breast. That design had survived many a wars, along with its city, but the half elf wasn't so sure about this castle. Then again, he wasn't a master of siege combat. It wasn't long before they reached the audience chamber,thanks to their fast moving and bored looking guide. Duncan had looked around a bit, clearly comparing it to home and, from his expression, it looked like this place had wasted, or spent, more on furniture. Nobles were stupid like that, always comparing each other by how much they threw down on practically useless things. Sure, art was nice but wasting several hundred gold pieces on a certain man's work when you can get something just as nice by a poor artist in the city was fucking dumb. Ekundayo reminded the two of them about the rulers, with Advar fixing his appearance and Duncan shaving quickly with a tiny blade. The two nodded at each other before the half elf entered the room with a majestic flourish. A charming grin spread across his face as he approached the throne, the same charisma radiance he had when he was hitting on the kissa was doubled now. Once he was several feet away from the king and his throne, Advar took a deep bow. "Your grace," he began, "I come with the rightful ruler of the far off country of Luxen to ask for your aid against the monster that kill my Lord's family and took his kingdom." The half elf didn't look up at the king to see his reaction but there was no shouts to remove thus dirty half breed yet. Slowly, he stood, his green eyes truly taking in the rulers. "I now present the Prince of the People, and rightful ruler of Luxen, Duncan Luxenguard!"

Duncan watched his friend enter the throne room alone, fearing some sort of trap. The prince had no idea how far his brother's reach was and hated to risk some of his closest friends like this, but they had coming knowing the risks. Taking a deep breath he drew out a silvery plate armor from his backpack (a magic backpack if you want to argue space with me) and started putting it on over his clothes. After a few moments, the armor was on, and it had cost a pretty penny Advar was quick to remind him. The last step was to attach a blue cape with silver trim. On it was his own personal symbol, a silver griffin over a golden sun. Once he heard the half elf call him,the prince walked in, looking princely as ever. The armor wasn't made of silver, just plated with it or a similar enough material. There were several cuts and scratches, showing steel underneath. Still, the armor showed off Duncan perfectly, the marks only helping to show off a man ready to protect the weak. Slowly he approached the throne, not attempting to show off, but drawing many of the people's eyes. The prince stopped a foot in front of his friend and took a knee, his left arm across the left knee with his head down. He took a deep breath before beginning. "Your highness and my lady, I beseech you. I require your power to help me reclaim my kingdom against the treacherous bastard that I once called brother. He caused the death of my father right after the tragic loss of my eldest brother and label me a traitor who was responsible for both crimes." Duncan gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in rage. "That is a bold face! The monster killed my father and I believe he is also the cause of my mother's death years ago. But either if that isn't true, he had cause my country to fall into turmoil and it's only a matter of time before the entire continent falls into a massive, bloody war." The prince looked up to the king. "So please, if you are better than that cursed monster who's blood I'm forced to share, help me retake my land and kill that damnable demon!"

Tyyri was somewhat confused by Tragor's statement of throwing men off a ship, but decided to keep it to himself. For the time being, he really needed to find a space within their stronghold to keep Tragor. There were plenty of men in the armed forces that would be more than willing to kill him even if Tyyri told them not to. Actually, it wouldn't surprise him in the least if most of the men were already planning on trying.
Tyyri pursed his lips and then looked back over at Tragor. He was tall, but he was rather short compared to a lot of the orc's he's seen. He also wasn't violent, at least not at the moment. But, if he had been with the other two for so long he had to be friendly. Some people who had been scouting already made it clear that when the trio was headed here, Tragor wasn't tied up. Tying him up was just a big ploy, and perhaps even a way to help make the men at the wall feel a little safer... which quite frankly wasn't working.

The moment that Tragor broke the links, Tyyri and Aengus couldn't help but gape for a second.
Well, if he ends up being a problem, chain links won't work, Tyyri thought and looked over at Aengus, who just regained his composure. He was really hoping that Ugg wouldn't end up as a problem... but you never knew. There was a chance that the three of them were really just some measly lords that wanted to take over wherever they came from and were telling lies. He had heard of Luxen before, but he had never met someone from there until today. After all, they were surrounded by Elvish kingdoms, not other kingdoms ruled by men like Luxen.

"Well... I suppose we should be going then," Aengus said and turned around on his heel. Vercingetorix was going to be angry at him for not being there to greet the other two... but leaving one of their guests outside the wall, orc or not, was extremely rude. He had been dealing with orcs a lot lately and he seemed like one of the friendlier ones. The variation in the orc population, in terms of temperament anyway, was even worse than the human variations. Well... perhaps not, but it was a hit or miss with orcs, and it wasn't that bad with common people. Lords, it was always pretty safe to assume they were a piece of crap.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" one of the men standing by the gate questioned him. "He is an orc after all. What if he tries to eat the people? Then what will you do?"
"The more important question is what will you do? You're one of the men who are supposed to protect the city and yet here you are, quivering in fear because of one orc. I can't imagine how you would do if more than one came... or if a giant decided to attack." He was rather unimpressed with the people sent to the city from other areas. The men were cowards and obviously were poorly trained. Hopefully Tyyri would turn them around or dismiss them. If they did get into a war with Luxen they would need all the good troops from the various lords, not meek men.

"Aengus, would you mind if we use the room you usually stay in for Ugg?" Tyyri asked from behind Ugg. Aengus was in front of Ugg, that was no idiot would try and attack Ugg. Then again, he towered over the both of them so all someone would have to do was aim for the head.
"No, I don't mind," Aengus said with a deep sigh. "However, once we get Ugg there I am going to have to leave. My brother already wants my head as it is, so pissing him off or embarrassing him with my lack of presence won't help my case out at all."
---

The spot on the left side of Vercingetorix was empty. It was where Aengus was supposed to be, and Vercingetorix's patience was beginning to ware thin with his brother. Any moment now the two guests that came to the city would be entering the room. Supposedly they were royalty, but they were an awfully small band of people to be anything but some minor lords. But, they were from another country, so lord or royalty, he needed to be prepared for their entry.
"I swear, if I find out Aengus is skipping this to keep rebuilding that blasted orphanage for those vorokissa I will put his head on a silver platter myself," he muttered to his new wife, Vanya, who was seated to his right.
She was dressed in a purple satin sheath dress with a sweetheart neckline. Her hair was braided and pulled back into a bun. The dress was designed to show her bosom just as the dress was to show off the curves in her body. The dress style came from one of the nearby Elvish countries and she adored it. The dress style's for here and many of the other nearby Elvish countries weren't lavish enough for her. This on the other hand, was absolutely perfect.

"As much as your younger brother is an annoyance to you and your father, I doubt he would like you to take off your brother's head. Though, if you were to do so I wouldn't make so much as a peep." She loathed Aengus and everything about him. Between him and Esus, she was going to go insane. Hell, Ekundayo and Onni were now in the picture a lot too and they were just as big of an annoyance. Especially Ekundayo. If she were to collapse and die she could care less. In fact, she would feed her to the pigs if she was given the chance. That's how vile the damned vorokissa was in her eyes.
She looked over at Vercingetorix and smiled. He had a full, well trimmed beard and roughly shoulder length, thick, straight, dark brown hair. He was dressed in a gold embroidered, dark blue tunic, brown trousers and on his hip was a long sword as well as a bag with some money in it. On his back was a cape with his house sigil, a black rampant lion treading on a green snake surrounded by eight green trefoils surrounding the border.
---

Once Aengus and Tyyri got back to the stronghold, Aengus opened the door for Ugg. The door was a good foot or two too short for Ugg, but that was something the orc was probably used to. Well, if he hung around humans a lot. Most humans didn't reach seven or eight feet tall. "Well, before my brother and his oh so lovely wife Vanya try to take my head off, I think I'm going to go," Aengus said to Tyyri once Ugg went inside. "I'll see you later," he said as he ran off towards the castle. A carriage would be far too slow, and a majority of the time he hated using them. The drivers were careless and didn't give a damn about the people walking around, which really pissed Aengus off.
Hopefully these new people are actually kind and not snot nosed, rich, blood thirsty and narcissistic like my damned family, Aengus thought as he pursed his lips. If they were kind enough, then perhaps they would be useful in making the conditions better for the kissa and poor humans.

---

Once Advar entered the room, Vercingetorix raised an eyebrow. Advar was dressed decently, but he didn't expect a whole lot since the two of them came here from a common ship. Hopefully at least Duncan would be dressed better.
Once Advar was done with his little introduction and Ducan walked in, Vercingetorix wasn't all that impressed. Then again, the man did supposedly flee because of his older brother taking over the kingdom or something like that.
"Welcome," Vercingetorix said and stood up. "It's a pleasure to have you, and I give you my condolences for your loss. You are welcome to share meat and meed with me today. That way we can disguss this issue in better company, and without so many ears to spread rumors. I am Vercingetorix, the King of Haajaiskyla. To my right is my lovely wife, Vanya."
He paused and looked to the left with his eyes. "To my left is supposed to be my brother Aengus, and I excuse his absence. He is lacking in courtesies and cares not for his royal duties."

"That's not true," Aengus said as he pushed opened the big doors. He had changed into a much nicer, light blue tunic and brown trousers. Unlike his brother, they weren't embroidered at all. He hair was newly braided and no longer in a pony tail. "I was busy rebuilding that orphanage you destroyed the other day," he spat out and continued to stand in the doorways. "I also let in the guest you were rude enough to leave outside of the wall. But, it looks like you're done here so I'll be leaving."

A frown spread across Vercingetorix's face and his pupil's narrowed. "If you insist on not being in here, then you may as well show King Duncan and his steward around. I'll speak to you later," His hissed the last sentence and was clearly not pleased with Aengus in the least.

"As you wish," Aengus said with a mocking bow and backed out of the room.
"You're lucky you're his brother," Ekundayo said as she leaned against the wall. "Esus is waiting outside for you. He's with Onni. Since now you're going to be showing those two around I suppose I'll do."
"Oh please do stay," Aengus replied and let out a sigh. "I'm sure Tyyri is busy with Ugg anyway. A lot of the men were freaking out over him, though I know you already witnessed that. You can go back when we pass by or at least once we're done showing these two around."

Ekundayo rolled her eyes and sighed. "Alright. Just to let you know, the half elf is a cheeky bastard. He was hitting on me earlier and even though they said you're a boy, your pretty face might confuse them."
A smile came onto Aengus's face as some of the people began to file out. "Why thank you, that was a lovely compliment. It's always nice to know my looks are up to par."

Tragor smiley sheepishly several moments after he broke his chains, through that probably wouldn't help since it only showed off his large and sharp canines. Well they didn't seem fazed by such a detail. Either way, it was best to remain silent for the time being, since their was still the extremely large language barrier between them. Though that wasn't the only reason. A silent orc was better than the grunting, mindless beast that the guards seemed used to. So Tragor followed along as quietly as he could, flinching only slightly whenever they used his false name of Ugg, a name that always made him feel that the mindless brute that his kind was stereotyped as being. Still, subterfuge was still necessary until he knew he could trust these people.

Finally they each what seemed to be a small bedroom. Tragor managed to figure out that this is where he'd be staying temporarily. The orc gave a slightly bow in farewell to the prince and walked into the room, ducking, a motion that had become second nature at this point. He looked around the room, nothing really drawing his eyes until he spotted a small collection of book. Rather quickly, given the space and his frame, Tragor went to this library and began looking through them, taking notes as flipped the pages and his mind kicked into gear. In moments he began to learn the language, testing some of the new words in hushed whispers.

While Duncan gave his little spiel, Advar looked upon the royal couple. They both were attractive in a sense, with the queen or princess or whatever being a classic version of elfin beauty, in a garment that was, as the half elf like to call it, ball room slutty. The dress was classy enough to be ready for most fancy occasions but it left little to the imagination and could probably come off with one quick swoop. The king with the name that rolled off as easy as swallowing a sword, was the standard attractive prince with the slight difference being the common looks of this country. His eyes, however, were cold, looking over the two of them the same you'd look at a disease ridden mutt, a look of not pure hatred, but something more akin to wondering how this useless, disgusting found its way in front of him. A look Advar was used to.

Duncan slowly stood as Vercingetorix welcomed them. He couldn't stay whether or not if it was rude in this country but back home it was only fitting for a rightful heir to be on equal ground as the ruler of another land. But, the king clearly didn't see Duncan as anywhere close to his equal. While he couldn't really prove that, it was just the feeling the prince got. Smiling, he bowed slightly. "That would be an honor your Grace." The prince looked towards the queen, and she was rather lovely, easily one of the more beautiful women he'd ever seen, but, according to Advar, he had a thing for elves so perhaps he was biased. Duncan was about to say something when suddenly a man came it. He looked similar enough to Vercingetorix for them to be siblings. So, logically, this would have to be Aengus.

Advar barely held back his smiles as he watched the king argue with the newcomer. If this newcomer was wearing something else and acted slightly less masculine, it'd be pretty easy to confuse this pretty boy for a flat chested cute girl. Sadly, he wasn't a age, but damn if he didn't make a good sarcastic bastard. And anyone who took those "untouchable" bastards at the top down a peg or two, was alright with this half elf.

Duncan bowed before following Aengus out, with Advar right behind. Best to leave before things got ugly and Vercingetorix decided to take out his anger on his new guest. They were several steps behind, but the prince caught up quickly enough, given the fact he was in full armor. "Prince Aengus? (Or whatever title he technically has) We haven't be properly introduced. I am Duncan Luxenguard, rightful heir for the far off kingdom and this is my trusted right hand man, Advar Yorrick." Advar smiled and gave a slight wave. "Good to meet you, your royal highness, or your grace or whatever." Duncan sighed, making this at least the twentieth time that he wondered why he brought the half elf. "Anyway, is it true that you helped our.. companion into the city? We've been worried."

A small, exasperated sigh escaped Aengus's list when (Advar?) listed off all the various formalities. "Please, by all means don't bother using formalities with me. Your royal highness, your highness, your grace, prince, they all really don't mean anything to me. The only people in this castle that have any real government power is my father, Lord Cuno; Vanya, who is my brother's newly wedded Elfin wife; and of course my brother Vercingetorix, who has become king within the last year due to my father's ill health."
He neglected to say anything about their mother due to the fact she was dead, so obviously she didn't have any power. Even when she had been alive he heard that she was only allowed to speak when spoken to, unlike Vanya whom his brother seemed to stupidly put a lot of trust into.
"Anyway, yes, I brought your friend into the city. I was in the outer walls attending to business that my brother and Vanya would rather ignore. You may or may not have been able to tell, but they don't really care too much about outside this section of the city." If you were a poor human you received some help from his family, at least enough to support a family of four within the city. If you were a kissa, you were fucked. They didn't receive help of any kind. Ever. They didn't even receive any protection from being murdered in cold blood. It was only looked at as an inconvenience to clean up.

"I think we should probably move before Lord Vercingetorix comes out here. You know as well as I do he would love to have your head on a platter, though he's been given no reason aside your sarcastic and disrespectful attitude you give him," Ekundayo cut in. She sincerely hoped that Vercingetorix never got a reason to want to kill Aengus either. If he ever found out that Aengus was gay, and more importantly, sleeping with Asbjørn, he would burn him alive or execute him cruelly in some way without blinking an eye. Asbjørn would be killed as well, unless Aengus put all the blame on himself and he certainly wouldn't put that past him.

"I think that is a very good idea indeed," Aengus replied as he looked back over at Duncan and Advar. "Your friend is safe. He told me his name is Ugg, though for some reason I don't believe him. As of right now, he's in the room I use at the stronghold near the front of the city. It isn't a large room, but it keeps him out of view and harms way. As you can imagine, he received many looks upon entering the city." Orc's weren't exactly known for being classy or civilized, though they weren't all bad.
He started to walk towards the castle's entrance and let out another sigh. Ekundayo walked just in front of him and appeared to be a little more relaxed than when she was leading the two of them to the castle.

"Out front are two of Aengus's and my own friends," Ekundayo began without looking back at the rest of the group. "The elf is Esus. He lives in the inner city but he's a really good guy. His employee base is almost entirely kissa and he treats them all really well. He gives everyone he employs a fair wage and food, on top of donating a lot of his time and money on the poorer people in the area."
She cleared her throat before continuing.
"The other you'll see is Onni. He, like me is a kissa. He's one of them that Esus employs. Esus tends to bring him around a lot. He's kind of shy, but he's a really nice guy. I think you'll like them both."

Tyyri decided to leave Ugg alone for a little while as he went to go attend to some other business, including informing many of the men within the stronghold that Ugg was here, not a prisoner and to not kill him. A few of the men weren't very happy about being told there was an orc in the city, let alone in the same place that many of them rested, but there wasn't anything they could do about it.
Within about an hour of leaving Ugg in Aengus's room, he returned and cracked the door open so he could peek in. It appeared that he was reading, which was interesting. He had met several literate orcs, he was even friends with a few. But all of them were from the nearby Elvish kingdoms, never from any of the further off lands. The further west you went, the more brutal the orcs seemed to be. The further east and south you went, and orcs all but disappeared.
"I see you like to read," he said as he knocked on the door loud enough for Ugg to hear and not scare him. "I'm going to assume you learn very fast, unless you sound like you're mumbling the words. I've met fast learners, but if you're learning as fast as it appears you are, that is incredibly impressive." No matter what one was, to learn that fast, they had to be extremely intelligent.

Tragor had been learning nonstop until he heard Tyyri's voice and looked over, mildly surprised. "Oh I..." The orc placed the book down, honestly surprised he hadn't notice the captain. Memories flashed before him of fellow orcs, his own clan, making fun of his attempts to learn beyond their basics but he shook the thoughts out of his head. He had left that life years ago. "My mother always used to say my.. head was too big for what the orcs taught. So, when I tried, I could easily fill in those empty spaces." His tone was clear, despite his gravelly voice, and the words sterile, not tested. Either way, it was good enough to be understand and would probably changed as he practiced the language more. "Though, honestly, a um.. romance like this one is not exactly my.. tastes." Tragor paused periodically to either remember the correct term, or to check his notes, that were written extremely crudely and probably weren't any particular language. "I'm um.. sorry, but how may I help you... umm sir?"

Duncan was happy that Tragor was safe. It lifted a weight off his shoulder that he hadn't noticed was even on him. He had just assumed that the stress was from trying to make allies with the country he was a stranger to and clearly could care less about him. Not the prince could really fault them. If he was ruling a city or country and a three man group said they were a royal envoy looking for, he'd be cautious as well.

Advar combed a hand through his hand. "We thank you for the help." He tried to sound bored, act like it mattered little to him. For now, they still didn't know who to trust and while Aengus seemed nice, sometimes the worst intentions hid behind false smiles. Duncan was naive and would take those smiles at face value. So the half elf was forced to be paranoid one to protect the both of them.

The two followed along, listen slightly to their guides narration, but Duncan elbowed his companion. "What?" Advar whispered in their native tongue. The prince replied in that same language. "You could be nicer. You know, put trust in these people. If they helped Tragor and those cat people then they can't be all bad." The half elf sighed. "You're too trusting. For all we know these could be stories and they could have only helped our orc friend to get a leg up on us or, Hell, they might not have even helped him at all. We have no leverage and no way of finding out what true and what's not." Duncan was about to argue, but his friend had made some valid points. Sighing, he replied. "Fine, Mr. Know-it-all, what do you suggest?" Advar smirked. "Simply, we follow them along until it's time for your dinner date. Then you go and deal with the royals while I attempt to make friends and, hopefully,a solid network of connections." While the prince didn't particularly like the idea, he saw no better ideas. "Fine."
(A note on their language. I image it's spoke faster than yours and, for the most part, is probably blunter and simpler.)

The half elf looked towards the guides and cleared his throat, before going back to speak the native tongue. "So, why are these friends of yours coming here now? Granted I'm not trying to sound mean or overly cautious now, but, from what I've seen, we don't seem to be a big enough deal for nobles or rich merchants to gather around and meet us. Of course I'm sure their curious to see the two most attractive eligible bachelors that have ever graced this country and are preparing their relatives for our consumption." Advar finished it with a smirk that showed off how smugly he felt, causing Duncan to sigh and simply shake his head, all too used to his friend antics.