Topic: Et Coepit...

Brian Ravenlock

Date: 2011-10-12 15:44 EST
Night had finally taken hold of the city, once more.. The blandness of day, giving way to the spectacular feast of visual goodness, that was Rhy?din at night. Truth be told, he much preferred it that way. The city at night, carries a sense of?comfort.

One which the day, clearly could not offer. Perhaps, it was the shadows.. Maybe, the cooler temperature? Perhaps, it was the moon, and her brother, cascading the realm in such a splendiferous allure. Or maybe..

The damned city looked so much f*cking better at night..

So there he was.. Leaned against the grand fountain that lay dead centre ,of the Market Place proper. Eyes of blue panning the expanse of the square, taking in the spectacle of wonders, that such a place offered.

People came and went about their business.. Vendors hawked such a myriad of wares, everything ranging from the simplest of candies, and treats, to real estate itself. True one could find anything here, if they looked hard enough.. And more so, truly the spirit of Rhy?din herself could not be broken so easily.

Especially, given the fact that the market itself, had been subject to such--- brutality over the course of the last two weeks or so.

A shame that..

But, it was a great deal better than other places, when one truly thinks about it. But with the good efforts of those in the places they needed to be, the market was quickly cleaned and re-established once more..
And also given the fact that he had walked in on a fight, between Renna and members of the Avengers, and more so had been pulled into the fight himself, when a sniper--- one of the Avengers themselves, fire upon him.

Such a turn of events indeed..

To be openly, fired upon.. When one, is not even involved in the conflict to begin with.

The truth was.. As much as it had upset him, Raven could not really blame them.

He knew his actions had in fact given the general populace, cause for concern and more so in some areas. Course, he did not help matters, when he actually shielded Renna, with the assistance of Henrietta, and her Golems. But even before that, the fact still stood. That they fired upon him first..

This of course, was overshadowed as Renna literally betrayed him, yet again.. Attempting to hold him, for the Avengers to dog pile on. A rather futile attempt, since what was left of Renna was not much to begin with, courtesy of the Avenger?s prowess. To further complicate issues, then the conflict began to subside somewhat, she turned again and opened a portal to allow Raven, an escape? Which was refused, as Raven stood his ground.

So a betrayal, and then a betrayal of said betrayal? Does that make it a double cross, of a double cross? A quad-cross? As it was pondered more so, a bit of a flash back ensued? Actually, a rather recent one.

?Should have installed, a f*cking door bell..?

?And what if she, decides to contact you again Mi?Raven??

?It matters not, Henrietta.. Our foothold here is assured. While our goals are not the same, per se.. Ours paths are, at least for the time being.?

?Raven, I?ve seen her.. You?ve seen her, you know what she would do , if given half the chance! She---?

?Henrietta? Do not presume, to explain to me.. That which I am well aware of.. This is not Millport.. This is not Darkenwood. This is not dealing with Lynneth, or Desire.. I know full well, what Renna is capable of..?

?Then, why?? asked, the Knight.

?Because it can be no other way.. We need each other, for what is to come.. And as I said before, Henrietta.. There is NO walking away from this, for any of us..?

?Then why, refuse the summons??

?Because Henrietta.. I am Brian f*cking Ravenlock, that?s why..?

Brian Ravenlock

Date: 2011-10-12 15:47 EST
A shake of head, as he was brought back to the here and now.. What really gnawed a tad was the surprise of so many at the move, by Renna.. And more so, by he himself. Were they together? Were they not?

Luckily for Raven he knew the answer, very well.

He knew Renna as well as she knew him.. A betrayal by her, was easily the most likely of scenarios.. In fact, the very night he turned his back on those inside the Inn, it was she who in turn had attacked him. Yet? He shielded her?

Then came the time when she openly attacked him, in the market? More so, teamed with Icer as well, against him.. So yes, a pattern was indeed beginning to develop here.

Yet, she also offered such assistance, and direction.. An interesting set of affairs, indeed.

Of course there were always other sides, and what not..

Renna in turn, knew Raven damned well. In fact better than most, and as far as opponents go, she knew him like no other.. So a betrayal by Raven would hardly be unheard of, as well. After all, the man refused her direct invite, more so refused her any information, and taunted her at will.

Hardly things that someone considered an ally would do.

But the fact remained, that as much as they had fought one another, they also worked together and damned well..

A smile slowly came to form, as he thought to events, past and present and more so--- future.

Another thought, then came to mind.

It was akin to what terrans would call ?Tornado Alley?.

No idea, what that is, perchance? Well if you are a Rhy?din local with no real interest of Earth, that would be understandable. And of course those familiar with the term, know full well what the reference entails..

A literal area of land and a large one to boot. Tormented by such storms?such tornados?such forces of nature, with nary a warning at times..

Storms of such fury, that the very land itself gives such way to their power. People constantly keep vigil, and yet can do literally nothing to stop what is plainly seen as the inevitable. In fact the best they can do is hunker down, and pray for the best, yet expect the worst. Or they can attempt to flee, and risk the chance of being swept into the fury that was the Tornado itself. Either way, it was not a promising prospect..

Whether you flee, or remain and hide, the result was the same.

Utter destruction.

Now if just one of these things, could do such damage, let us then imagine, what two, or three may do.

And these two, or three? What if by chance, they came within proximity to one another.. One sweeping into the anothers path. Or perhaps, one taking a literal hold of the other, making the pair as one? Again, either way, the result would be devastating.. And a third? By chance, even more? No need to even ponder that, truth be told. As one astute person said, when they referred to the pitiful Jedi stance against the Sith, during the clone wars..

It was, What was the term again? Ah yes, they were ?f*cked proper??

But forgive me, please. It seemed, I strayed just a tad. So let us pick up once more--- ah yes, there is it. The spirit of Rhy?din could not be broken, an what not.

Eyes of blue panned the square once more, as he continued to watch the comings, and goings.. The repairs, were damned quick and again, it seemed as if things had returned to normal. T?was a case of government work at its best.

Unlike the restoration of various places, after the horrendous attacks by Travanix?s forces..

For you see, people quickly will hold meetings, and b*itch and moan of the what happened in the market.. Yet the events that surrounded what was commonly referred to as ?Scarred?, were left to quite the debate.

Did it happen? Was it truly as bad as it was? Did the former Governor know? What was the true casualty count? Did Public Works really explode, as reported. Were portions of the city itself demolished to help slow those who sought to take Rhy?din for themselves? Were governing officials, involved with the defense, or perhaps the attack itself? Where were the Daughters of Scathach? Where were the heroes? The Avengers? What really happened at Arcanum? More so, what happened afterwards? Why was there no public release of information, save one interview given to the media, in the heat of the defense of the city.

The questions, are seemingly endless in nature.. Just as seeking the answers felt to some.

An endless endeavor.

Brian Ravenlock

Date: 2011-10-12 15:50 EST
Some will say it never happened..

Others say that perhaps, it was a great deal smaller than told, and was a complete exaggeration. Some will tell you, it did in fact happen and have the scars to show for it.. Some say, there were those inside the walls of Town Hall, that did in fact know of what happened, and more so assisted those who would see the city broken, and more so taken..

Some would tell you, that only a pair of Avengers, or so, actually showed up and others were not accounted for.. Some would say, had it not been for some off worlders and a neighboring Dwarven nation, the results were have been far more catastrophic.

Again..As with the questions.. So much left to debate.

One thing was certainly fact however..

Brian Alexander McDineen-Ravenlock, was there..

More so, he knew exactly what he and his, had to do in order to hold that very line. He knew who was not there, with him.. He knew of those who ran, and more so. And that, honestly did not bother the man.. It was those who ran away, and then had the audacity to act as if what happened, had never occurred..

And that, bothered the man known simply as ?Raven? to no end?

Yet there was something else that bother him, even more. Something that simply gnawed at him, and had done so, since his fall in Public Works.

Something that for nearly the entire time of his recovery, had his attention.

And what you may ask, that bothered him in such a manner?

What would bother him, more than those who would run, and claim something that did in fact happen, never did, to make themselves sleep better at night?

Traitors? That?s what.

Those who in fact assisted in those horrendous events, and more so, still had the audacity to remain here in the city itself, living their lives.. As if they had never betrayed those closest to them, and more so the city herself.

It?s funny, though.. At least to Raven it was. Because he too was branded a traitor.. Called a terrorist, and some even claimed he had such designs of a grand scale. The likes of which--- well, the talk offers such a myriad of versions.

To Raven it was much simpler.

To Raven, his designs were indeed far simpler than many would ever imagine. Yet, the impact would be the same..

Let them brand him, as they would. Let them, shy away and speak in whispers. Let them talk on corners, and imagine what they may. Let them meet in secret, and offer such hushed accusations.. Let them worry, and wait, or let them come head on and directly confront, that which they assumed they had an inkling of.

After all, he could hardly blame them.

He was told?on more than one occasion, that it was not what was known, that had the various parties in an uproar.. It was what they did not know.
In fact when it came to Raven, and this---change, there were many unknowns..

However, this night?

Much would be made known, indeed.

They would pay? Each of them would pay, and they would pay this very night.

He told Wolvinator, exactly what he would do.

A glance across the market square told him, all he needed..

Forms slipped from the shadows.. Several, in fact.

They made their way towards him, as those present in that area of the market offered a wide berth to the half dozen ebonsteele clad knights. The knights in turn, offered little regard if any to the surrounding citizens, and more so. They came to a pause before Raven, as he pushed from the fountain.

A nod was offered to Henrietta, as she then handed a scroll over to him. The parchment was undone, as blue eyes panned the list it beheld. And as the man read, he also smiled. His eyes looking upon the six chosen, as he nodded to each.

Then, with no word?he turned, and made his way towards the far end of the market, taking a road away, from the centre of commerce. The knights in tow, no less.

It had begun.