Clan Blood Spirit IC Roleplaying Thread

[Fatebringer]

"How odd that you immediately suspect our motives are dubious ilChi. What does this mean as to how you view the honor of the Snow Raven? We inquire as to the status of this particular vessel because we have a standing rede to upgrade this ship to a Conqueror. I wished to inform you that as soon as you deliver this ship to the Naval Yards at Lum, we can fulfill this rede. We however can not offer assistance in bringing this ship to mobile status as both of our Yardships are currently at Tamar repairing our lost fleet assets."

[Fatebringer]

(As per the deal for the Fionavon, the Spirits got 1000 MP for 6 Turns and the promise that the Ravens would upgrade the remaining Blood Spirit Kimagure to a Conqueror when the rules came out ... and the Rules have come out. )

[tassa_kay]

"Acknowledged.  I will pass that information along to the Khan.  When we restore the vessel to mobility, we will have her delivered here to Lum in order to receive her refit.  Although I am uncertain why this required your personal attention, Loremaster Harper.  But it is not a matter I will give much thought, as Clan Snow Raven is no longer my concern on any level.  Now, was that the extent of what you wished to discuss, Loremaster, or are we done here?"

[Fatebringer]

"Your words are quasi-facetious, you ask why a high ranking official of our Clan would notify your enclave personally and at the same time make sure to mention that this is worthy of your Clan's highest office to recieve. Even if I were not the Clan's Loremaster, a rede is a sacred and important thing to uphold, not to mention this project will require vast amounts of resources and laborers. Such things must be planned at our highest level and we would appreciate some forewarning so that we can ensure the Caughoo is our first priority when it arrives, or is this, as your tone might suggest, a waste of our time?"

[tassa_kay]

At those words, Bri's eyes narrowed sharply.  "Given the recent theft of a WarShip from the Spheroids at the hands of your new Star Adder allies, Loremaster, and your own Clan's proclivity to scavenge, I feel more than justified in questioning your motives.  It seemd rather irregular for a Loremaster to deliver this news, quiaff?  However, as I have already mentioned, we will inform you when the Caughoo will be ready for refit.  In the meantime, spare us the lecturing and the posturing, for we need no reminders from Clan Snow Raven about the importance of fulfilling oaths and redes.  Perhaps you should impart that lesson upon your own people."

With that, Bri McFadden gave a signal to the technician-caste communications officer operating the equipment in the command center, and the signal was abruptly terminated.

[tassa_kay]

Rho Galaxy Field Headquarters
Eposz Mountains, Transfer Facility 4
Blood Spirit Territory, Deep Periphery

The Deep Periphery outpost known as Transfer Facility 4 had always been a desolate and lonely place.

Before the time of Operation Bulldog and the Great Refusal, the world had been used as a way station by Clan Smoke Jaguar, which had only posted a garrison Trinary to guard such a relatively worthless possession.  The world had later come under the auspices of Comstar, which had engaged and defeated the Jaguar warriors and had quietly maintained control for years.  The warriors of Puma Garrison Trinary had viewed assignment to the surface cargo way station as a fate worse than death... perhaps rightly so.

During the more recent relevation of the Not-Named Clan's continued existence on Terra and the resulting war of Annihilation that had been launched by the collective Clans of Kerensky against their ancient foe and the Blakist zealots who harbored them, Transfer Facility 4 had been seized by the forces of Clan Blood Spirit.  The vengeful Spirits saw the world as a suitable base of operations for their planned invasion of the Draconis Combine, a foe hated since the defeat of the Blood Guard Keshik by the Genyosha during the Great Refusal.  

Transfer Facility 4 now served as the home of the 331st Crimson Guards, a unit renamed in the wake of the rise of Adrianna Schmitt to the Khanship and the Spirits' collective abandonment of the Trial of Annihilation.  Many within the Clan saw the unit's renaming as an ominous sign, as it (intentionally) bore the numbering of the original SLDF unit that had eventually become Clan Wolverine, and as a result, the unit had been reorganized to house only those warriors who wished to carry the burden.

It was here that Star Colonel Emma Schmitt observed the most interesting thing that had happened on TF4 yet, as she stood in her office at the apex of the Spirits' complex of buildings set into the harsh, volcanic peaks of the Eposz Mountains.  A spartan room even by the standards of her Clan, she had only recently assumed command of Rho Provisional Galaxy, and had not had the time nor the inclination to personalize the cavernous room as her own.  The entire back wall of her office was in fact constructed of plasteel, making it easy for her to observe the facility which she commanded, the craggy peaks and treacherous lava flows of the mountains it was set upon, and the ash-darkened skies that loomed over all of it.

None of these things held Emma's attention at the moment, however, nor the attention of the other two individuals which flanked her at the window.  Their eyes were instead transfixed upon the unmistakable form of DropShips which had broken through the obfuscation of the black clouds above the base and were descending rapidly to the military DropPort.  Though she was already aware of the identity of the newcomers, an eyebrow still quirked on Emma's face as she beheld the unmistakable new insignia of Clan Camel.

"What do you suppose they want?" spoke the borderline-hostile voice of Star Captain Galina Perez.  

Emma turned her head just slightly to regard the woman.  Large and muscular, the former Smoke Jaguar Elemental was dark of skin, eye, and hair, a contrast to the Blood Spirit MechWarrior.  Allowing herself a small smile at Galina's almost rebellious tone, she gave a small shrug.

"I do not know, Star Captain," Emma replied.  "But they are our allies, and we will treat them accordingly."

At that moment, the individual on the other side of Emma spoke for the first time.  Clad in the white, black, and red of the Knights Sanguine, Knight Captain Niccolo stood in stark contrast to both women.  He was, as ever, detached to the point of coldness, though Emma never doubted the man's honor or his dedication to his duties.  

"Such a visit is highly irregular, especially given the Khan's proclamation to the Clan Council that all outside contact is forbidden within our territory."

And there it was, the elephant in the room.  Emma had spent long months as the ilChi to Clan Ice Hellion during Sellen Cage's tenure as Khan, but had been recalled after Raina Montose had succeeded the former ilKhan, so she did not hold the same isolationist mentality as many of her kin.  And the Camels, which had barely escaped Annihilation by Abjuring themselves from the Black Mandrills, were the closest that Clan Blood Spirit had ever come to a true ally amongst the treacherous Clans of Kerensky.  But the Knights Sanguine had been tasked to enforce the new mandates that had come down from Khan Schmitt, and such a question had to be asked.

"Let us see what they want before we expel them."

[tassa_kay]

Rho Galaxy Field Headquarters
Eposz Mountains, Transfer Facility 4
Blood Spirit Territory, Deep Periphery

Never before had Emma Schmitt seen such a colorful gathering of warriors as those who had arrived from Clan Camel.

The arriving DropShips had brought good tidings from the former Fire Mandrill Clan, which had remade itself in the wake of the actions of the Black Mandrills in the Homeworlds.  Traveling from their Occupation Zone in the Inner Sphere to the isolated Blood Spirit outpost in the Deep Periphery, Emma had been surprised to discover not only the identity of the Camel warriors who had arrived... but their origins as a unit.

The Fire Spirits Cluster had been created by none other than Kira Keller herself, the so-called "Blood Avatar"who had very nearly awakened the horrors of civil war upon Clan Blood Spirit.  Kira, who had been assigned by former Khan Helm Church to serve as ilChi to the Crusader-minded Mandrills in the Inner Sphere as a widely-suspected form of exile, had embarked on a series of Trials throughout the Clan Occupation Zones.  Challenging the Ghost Bears, the Jade Falcons, the Hell's Horses, the Star Adders, and the Wolves, Kira had managed to turn a single 'honor guard' Trinary of Mandrill warriors into an oversized Cluster of warriors representing the spectrum of the Clans of Kerensky. 

It was unprecedented, to say the least.

When Clan Blood Spirit discovered what Kira had been doing in her exile, the Loremaster himself led his Delta Galaxy to the Fire Mandrill Occupation Zone all the way from the Homeworlds to put an end to the revolutionary nihilist, and had descended upon the world of Star's End to stop whatever she was planning.  And it was there that Kira, who had molded the Fire Spirits into a truly cohesive whole that blended the best and the worst of their respective Clans, had managed to stymie Delta Galaxy and engage the Loremaster himself in a one-on-one Trial of Possession for his entire Galaxy.  Even more incredulously, she defeated him in the Trial, and prepared to lead Delta Galaxy (with the Fire Spirits as her spearhead) back to York to force Khan Church to answer for his actions.

Fate, however, had something else in mind for the Blood Avatar.

Caden Church, the young warrior who now served as saKhan to Clan Blood Spirit, challenged Kira to a Trial of Grievance over her dezgra actions... and in a vicious unaugmented fight, he broke Kira's neck, and Caden was declared the victor.  Returning the Loremaster to command of his people, Caden saw Delta Galaxy off, and the Loremaster left him in the Fire Mandrills' Occupation Zone to serve as the new ilChi. 

Every warrior in Clan Blood Spirit knew of the tale.  Emma herself, who had once sympathized with Kira Keller and her Annihilist movement which still remained strong within the younger, newer warriors of the Clan, knew full well who the warriors of the Fire Spirits were.  She had simply never expected to see them in the flesh.

Sebastian Hall, stolid and reserved MechWarrior of Clan Ghost Bear, who had been Kira's first addition to the Fire Spirits, and often served as the sole Warden voice of reason in a pack of warriors who were devoutly Crusader in their leanings.

Crosby Chistu, arrogant and egocentric MechWarrior of Clan Jade Falcon, who had proven the most difficult of all the warriors to integrate into the "all for all" mentality that Kira had worked to instill in the Fire Spirits.

Alexa Mitchell, youthful and exuberant MechWarrior of Clan Hell's Horses, who had jumped at the chance to bring the Crusading fire that burned within her to the Fire Spirits and help impart the teamwork mentality of her Clan.

Sonya Truscott, impulsive and combative MechWarrior of Clan Star Adder, who had brought with her a Trinary of former Burrock warriors and who found immense irony in serving the cause of her Clan's most hated enemy.

Vincent Sender, sullen and wrathful MechWarrior of Clan Wolf, whom had been gifted to the Fire Spirits without Trail by Khan Ivan Kerensky, and who had become even more withdrawn after news of the Abjuration of his Clan by the Grand Council.

The quintet of warriors stood before Emma Schmitt as she sat at her desk, eyeing her with a variety of expressions etched into their battle-worn features.  Though she kept her own expression carefully neutral, and was certain that Knight Captain Niccolo at her right shoulder did the same, she knew that Star Captain Perez, who stood at her left shoulder, was likely eyeing the gathering with suspicion, and the massive Elemental would scream-and-leap at their throats at the first sign of treachery.

"What brings you to Transfer Facility 4, honored warriors?" Emma asked diplomatically (for a Clanner).

Sebastian Hall stepped forward, a smile working its way onto his chiseled, handsome features.  If she had not known better, Emma could have easily mistaken him for a small Elemental.  "We bring you greetings from Khan Amy Lynn, and have come bearing bountiful tidings."

"Aff?" Emma replied, raising an eyebrow.  "I am surprised.  We have not heard much from Clan Camel since its inception into the Clans of Kerensky."

Alexa Mitchell responded to that, her own voice almost as diplomatic as Emma's own.  Emma's estimation of the woman instantly went up a notch because of it.  "Khan Lynn has had a great deal to occupy her since that time.  She was shocked to hear of what the Black Mandrills perpetuated in the Homeworlds, and much of her time is spent keeping what remains of her Clan unified and whole."

Crosby Chistu snorted a derisive laugh.  The hauteur of his Jade Falcon lineage was worn as brightly as plumage. "A difficult task at the best of times, aff?  They were, until very recently, Fire Mandrills.  A microcosm of the Clans' squabbling, petty conflicts."

To forestall any further tangential commentary, Knight-Captain Niccolo stepped into the conversation.  "Seyla.  But what is it that would bring the Fire Spirits here?  I cannot imagine that the choice of Clusters that Khan Lynn sent to us was accidental."

Emma resisted glancing over her shoulder at Niccolo as he spoke.  His words mirrored her own thoughts; always perceptive, that one was.  "You and your people are, of course, most welcome here in our territory.  I imagine that Khan Schmitt would agree with me when I say this.  We owe much to your Clan, and no matter your identity, you will always have a place here."

To that, Sonya Truscott smiled knowingly.  "A fitting choice of words, Star Captain Schmitt," she said cryptically.  "But first, we present you with a gift from Khan Lynn.  Something to further your Clan and its goals."  She extended her hand, which bore a datapad which Emma quickly took from her, and Emma used the moment to assess the former Star Adder warrior... beautiful, by anyone's standards, and the first Adder she had ever met face-to-face.  Her presence here was still a touch... disquieting.

More intriguing, though, was what Emma saw upon the datapad.  "These are the technical specifications for the Corona battlearmor," she said.  "As I recall, these were won from Clan Star Adder by the Mandrills because of your actions."

"Aff, Star Captain Schmitt," Sonya replied.  "Khan Lynn therefore finds it fitting that you should share in the bounty of our victory.  A gesture of continued friendship."

To that, Emma could only smile... both in genuine pleasure from the gift that the Camel Khan bestowed upon her Clan, and in irony that the words were delivered by a warrior from the Clan that the Blood Spirits despised above all others.  And in that moment, she inclined her head to Sonya and spoke words that she never suspected would pass from her lips.  "You have my thanks, Star Captain Truscott."

"There is more," said Vincent Sender, speaking for the first time.  Though he was possessed of roughly handsome features himself, in stark contrast to the more angular, haughty expression that Crosby Chistu wore, the Wolf MechWarrior was more taciturn than the Ghost Bear.  "Khan Lynn also presents another gift to your people, one that is perhaps more valuable than any other that the Camels could offer."

"And what is that?" said Star Captain Perez, speaking for the first time, her tone one of barely-restrained hostility. 

Vincent merely answered her inbred Jaguar nature with a supercilious smile.  "Us."

[tassa_kay]

Castle Bloodhawk
Hyata Desert, Continent Abysmal
Huntress, Kerensky Cluster

In the months following the revelation of the Knights Sanguine to the rank-and-file of Clan Blood Spirit, the order's numbers had grown considerably, but though the Knights had become almost fashionably popular within the Clan, their numbers never increased beyond their original mandate of five Orders, which consisted of one Star each of MechWarrriors, Elementals, AeroSpace pilots, armor warriors, and ProtoMechWarriors, as well as their attendant Squires.

The heart of the Knights Sanguine, the Castle Bloodhawk, was bustling with activity as of late.  Khan Schmitt's purification of the Clan continued apace, and the Knights carried out that task with zealous fervor, as was their mandate.  They also traveled the length and breadth of Spirit-occupied territory, from the distant Transfer Facility 4 outpost to distant Nueva Castile, and throughout each enclave in the Homeworlds.  There was little in Clan Blood Spirit that didn't feel their influence.

But it was here, at the monolithic fortress where the Knights had chosen to plant their flag, that Pavel Kirov sat in meditative repose, having sequestered himself on the balcony of one of the castle's towers.  From this vantage point, he could see not only the hustle and bustle of Castle Bloodhawk itself, but beyond: the harsh and unforgiving Hyata Desert that comprised much of the Abysmal continent, and the foreboding and jagged peaks of the Lunar mountain range beyond.  A vista both primal and beautiful.

Sitting next to him was an etched goblet of bronze, with the flourescent, telltale sickly-green residue of necrosia within.  Pavel had consumed the ichor after a lengthy purification ritual of his own, and once that was complete, he had set the goblet aside and assumed a seated stance of meditation to allow the venom of his totem to run its course throughout his body.  To bring him vision, and clarity, in times as troubled as these.

At an unexpected moment, with an almost physical, tangible wave of euphoria that bordered on vertigo, the necrosia within Pavel washed into his mind, and his eyes closed once more...

The brown and white plumage, splashed with arterial blood across its wings, of a blood kite, soaring low to the ground towards him, talons outstretched in anticipation of sinking them into the warm flesh of prey...

The faceted, metallic scales of an Arcadian steel viper, the most lethal predator in the Homeworlds, reared up in striking pose with powerful muscles and bared fangs dripping with paralyzing and lethal venom as it prepared to strike...

And what is this...?

A great cat, comparable in size to the ancient and forgotten sabretoothed tiger, with ghostly-white fur and the presence of an intangible phantom, twin fangs spearing down from its mouth and powerful claws padding it forward slowly...

The three apex predators met in sync, stooping upon each other... but their meeting was not one of violence or lethality.  Instead, a great white light flashed from the center of their collision, growing so bright that Pavel turned his head away... and a great wailing and gnashing of teeth could be heard...

... enough!

Pavel was stunned back into the reality of his own skin as a hand gripped his shoulder gently but firmly.  His eyes fluttering open, he turned to face the source of the touch upon him, expecting to see Morgaine standing behind him.  Only she would dare to disturb him when he was in such a state.

But it was not Morgaine standing there, the shock of which caused him to quickly make his way to his feet and turn to face the newcomer.  No, this one was most certainly not Morgaine, nor one of the Knights... but someone else entirely.

A woman, tall and slender, stood before him.  Her body was encased entirely in form-fitting crimson leather, with cobalt-colored shoulderpads and chest armor of metal, lower torso and forearms wrapped in white fabric, legs in form-fitting crimson leather and feet encased up to the knee in segmented, sharp cobalt-colored armored boots.

She was well-armed as well, as Pavel visually catalogued her.  Brown leather bands, etched with unidentifiable archaic symbols, wrapped around both of her upper arms contained a series of bo-shuriken, and a pair of the same brown leather bands were strapped around both of her thighs and contained rather exquisite scabbards for what looked to be tantos.  Strapped to her back was a large katana, the grip peeking over her left shoulder, etched with the same archaic symbols.

Though her hair was long and void-black, worn in a loose ponytail left to stream behind her nearly to the small of her back, her face was almost completely obscured by a bone-white, enameled mask of feline design, the "ears" rising up sharply and a pair of downthrust "fangs" that traveled well past her mouth and chin, the only parts of her face left exposed.  A single, perfect-circle-cut ruby was set on the forehead of the mask, glinting ominously in the evening light.

"Pavel Kirov," the woman spoke, her words coming strangely lilted and parsed.  "I was told that I could find you here."

Doing his utmost to shake off the lingering aftereffects of the necrosia, and grateful that he had taken only the mildest of doses before seeking his vision today, Pavel merely looked at the woman standing before him in utter curiousity.  His breathing came somewhat labored, as the images revealed to him threatened to return and overwhelm him.  

"Who are you?" he finally managed to ask, refusing to show weakness before this newcomer by gripping the balcony ledge for support as the world seemed to spin around him.

The woman's lips quirked in a strange little smile, and she gracefully pushed the mask atop her head to reveal a face of sculpted beauty.  "I am Visioneer Narsha Chien of Clan Spirit Cat.  And I have come to talk with you about such a vision.  One that I believe may show the way to the future.  Will you share tea with me this evening, Seeker?"