"Worship me in rivers of blood" STR: 311 | SPD: 507 | CON: 256 | END: 225 | INT: 256 | MANA: 13,550 "Bow before your queen" - Astrid Venier The trotting of the horses ahead slowed down to a light jog than the thunderous pacing that they had carried themselves without throughout this journey. The man’s claims had not been false, his promises realized at least up to this point. Through the tinted glass of the elaborate and elegant carriage, she could make out beyond the tree line the faintest hues of orange and yellow, indicate of the sun rising. It was a marvelous sight, far from unique or anything uncommon, but given the circumstances surrounding what had transpired in the last day, it meant everything. She was in Crocus, having managed to do what she feared would have taken her days, in a simple night’s effort. And without any investment on her part either. Little risk to herself. Little risk out of trust. A rare thing to potentially sacrifice and risk gambling on. But this time her gamble paid off. The man had – despite what their initial first encounter may have convinced her of – had helped her. Sitting there, simply agape as to how things had panned out thus far, a part of her was hopeful, the fear that had beset upon her maybe feeling a little less real than how it did only hours before. But that was too generous of a thinking. All that this trip had meant was that her invitation to the game was simply not discarded. Arriving in Crocus, it was something to be commended. It was a risk. Oak, far off as it may have been, at least afforded her some level of safety. That wasn’t true here. No doubt that the woman whom stepped out of the carriage and towards the main gates of the capital of Fiore had enemies within, all of whom would love nothing more than to see her fall. It was her against the world and she had stepped into the belly of the beast without aid, without direction, and without a plan. “What am I doing here,” she mused under her breath, the enormity of the situation beginning to dawn upon her. Her presence alone would not be able to change the fate of what was to come, of her destiny being denied. 367/1400 (-20% Censor of Dragon's Blood, -10% Zera'thul) |
Last edited by Astrid on Wed Nov 08, 2023 5:06 am; edited 1 time in total