Leon glared towards the woman who barked at him and the others for being 'disloyal to the king'. That was until the strange man off to the side started talking to the group like they weren't there.

Leon turned his head towards the odd man."Just who are you calling a spirit? I'm quite real, I feel pain like you, I feel the hunger gnawing at our stomachs... We are quite real friend." The last word slid from Leon's mouth with a hint of sarcasm. *He's clearly insane, or suffering from starvation and dehydration like us, but on a more grand scale. The king must have no hope left to employ the likes of us...*

Leon shook his head and looked towards the king. "I'm sorry your lordship, but I can not help you find that which is not here. I shall take my leave and I'll be at home packing if you need me." As he turned to leave Leon looked back at the group. "I don't know if any of you agree with me, but I believe salvation lies beyond these walls, not below the dry soil which holds up this doomed town." Leon bowed towards the king and looked up one more time. "I'm sorry, but this town holds no hope and horrible memories for me. I must leave now."

"If you must friend. May you return to tell us if there is any hope of salvation from this drought. At least remember the name Takley, it will bring needed rest in any town or city, mayhaps in villages. Remember my name though."

Leon looked back towards the man who just spoke. "Leon, you remember my name and maybe I shall return one day Takley. So long as the wastes don't claim me first." Before anyone else could say anything to him, Leon ran out of the throne room towards the castle doors, Tears starting to pour from his eyes at the sudden rush of memories, good and bad from his short life in this town. His only home, the one where he learned his skills, and where he lost both of his parents.

Another moment of consideration from Razor, his split soul whilring in patterns of chaos mimicking those around him.
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"Well, if the fools want to slit each other's throats, let them, it will only make our task easier."

"But won't change the fact that it is wrong."

"What's that? I can't hear you over the screams of the starving children outside? Come on Raze, pull yourself together...well, what's left of you anyway."
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Not bothering to bow, Razor turned, striding from the squalling crowd before the king. It would take scant minutes to accquire the tools he needed, and then, well, it was fortunate that the holy man had given him an excuse to dig.

Sariana remained on her knees before the king while others said their peace. Suddenly maniacal laughter echoed coarsely through the fairly empty throne-room. Sariana looked up to see a man, who looked about as insane as his laughter sounded, spouting some non-sense about them being spirits and challenging the king with his sword drawn!

Leaping to her feet, already gripping her own tanfas as she did so, Sariana blocked the man’s passage to the king. “Watch yourself stranger.” She practically growled at the man, “I have nothing left but my king. I could not protect my family from this life we live, but I will die now before I stand idly by and allow the likes of you, or anyone else, to threaten the life of my king.” She spoke with a sort of ferocious calm in her voice.

As she eyed the man carefully, it suddenly dawned on her that this man was terribly sick. Instantly she thought of her husband, “Alexander” she whispered almost too softly for anyone to hear. If only for a brief moment her last few hours with her husband became all too real again.

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Three years ago Sariana had been forced to watch her husband waste away to nothing. Cursing the man she had loved for refusing to eat so that she and their daughter could have the meager rations that were allotted their family size. When she tried to do the same, so their daughter could have more, he refused to allow her to do so. “Who will take care of our little Sarita if you die as well, my love?”
“As well?!” Sariana had looked at her husband and had frantically kissed his forhead, his eyes, his cheeks, his lips, “No, my love! You are not going to die. I won’t let you!” she cried with vehement denial, even though she knew he spoke the truth. Her voice cracked as she spoke again, “You know I can’t do this without you, Alex, my love. You must get better!”
He shook his head and feebly reached up to caress her face as he had often done, but even such a minor movement as that was beyond his capabilities now. The time had come, and he knew it. He let his hand drop back to his side and laid in his wife’s arms, looking up into her tear-stained face as he let loose his last breath.

Sariana had held him in her arms, rocking back and forth, refusing to believe he was gone. She had known this man all her life. They had grown up together as children. He was all she had ever wanted and loved.

She didn’t know how long she had stayed there rocking her husband’s lifeless body, when her daughter’s cries finally seeped through her fog of despair. She slowly lifted her head and saw her baby girl, tiny, alone, and terrified as she stared back at her parents with wide eyes. Sariana silently cursed herself. She gently laid her husband’s body aside and took her daughter in her arms, and comforted her then; locking away all her own pain and anguish for she knew she did not have the luxury to mourn whilst she had this sweet little angel depending on her. Little did she know then that her pain was far from over, and the loss of her husband was nothing compared to the pain that was to come.

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Sariana shook her head slightly and put her tonfas away. Eyeing him carefully, she realized he had no sheath for his sword, “Well, that explains the drawn weapon.” she thought to herself as she rushed forward to grab onto him in an attempt to steady him. “Careful, friend.” She does the best she can to help him stand, and says to him, “I am Sariana. Please let me help you.”
To the king she says, “My lord, I beg your indulgence, this man is ill. He needs to rest right away. He appears to be suffering from heat stroke and lack of water. The same that took my Alexander from me.” Sariana glanced at the man’s face and somehow knew he would not be swayed to leave the kings presence until such time as the king provided the answers he was seeking. So, she acted as a sort of crutch, allowing the man to lean heavily on her so as not to collapse right there, as he looked in danger of doing so at any moment.

*rises to his feet, puts his longsword back in his belt and stands beside sariana* "I swore the oath of fealty to this man and it shall stand until all life is gone from this realm."

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"This is a great honour for one so young" exclaimed the king. " I hope you do your grandfather and I proud."

"Sir, if I may inquire of something?"

"Yes, of course you may."

"Why is the land dying, why does it fade so fast?"

"I cannot answer that my young friend. Stand and say what you have come to say, you must be eager to rest."

"Aye sir, I am."*pauses a while then begins* "I Takley, swear fealty to the throne and land, to uphold them as I would myself. I swear to defend this realm until every last bit of vegetation has died. I do so swear, upon my mothers name."

"Welcome to the order young Takley, I know you will do me proud!"

"thank you sir" *stands up, bows and walks back to his house*

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*draws his sword and plants the tip on the ground* "We shall find some food, be patient and listen."

Arathyra had waited until the King dismissed her before bowing to him again and making her way out of the halls. Questions raced through her mind, fears seeped into her heart as she made her way out into the day.

How long would it take for her to find the answers she feared to find? Would they blame her for however long it took to find the answers? Why had so many people turned up, and to show such disrespect to their King? He could have been like most others in the world and had slipped away in the night, leaving his people to turn against one another...but instead he had taken his position as Lord seriously and had been trying to find answers to their problems. Nobody had expected the drought to be so long.

One single blade of grass, that's all that was left of the once beautiful city. People had turned into savages and most imagined it was the end of the world as they knew it. The woman knew better than most, she was just afraid to find the answer to the problem that she had since the death of her superior. Arathyra dreaded going through the things of her master, but she did as her King requested and she made her way towards the old tower that they had used since she was a child.

The king shouted out quickly at Sariana's request, "Bring water!"
A jug of water was soon to arrive for the dehydrated man, brought by a young servant.

"I have no solutions. I only ask that we now try our hardest," the king began, standing up from his throne, and walking deliberately towards Bren, "You are the greatest people here, and I know that you are far capable than I."
He took off his crown and threw it to the far corner of the room.
"Do you truly think it's easy, to sit here, watching my people die, as I am forced by convention to eat my fill? A king is the centre of the people, no matter what he may wish. I am incapable of doing anything for our future, which is why I humbly ask your help."

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As Arathyra set off walking towards her mentor's chambers, and as Xavier followed, a servant of the king surprised her.
"His majesty asks if I may be of assistance, ma'am."
The young servant seemed slightly timid and shy, but nonetheless happy to serve.

Arathyra had moved through the halls only to be intercepted by one of the kings servants. The woman nodded in respect at his eagerness to help and smiled to him. Questions were still pounding against her skull as the man had asked her about offering assistance.

"I thank you for your offer, however I believe that I will be fine searching by myself. I would not want to trouble you, when surely you could be of much better use elsewhere. I believe that you would simply find my masters chambers to be in disorder and the majority of the things you'd find there are encoded, something he taught me of value during his years. I'd rather search his chambers by myself, if you don't mind."

She bowed her head slightly and walked passed the servant continuing towards her destination on the outskirts of town. It was not a long walk, and she knew that she was being followed, however she pretended that she had not noticed. Arathyra walked quickly and soon found herself outside her old residence. Stopping in front of the entrance she drew in several deep breaths and spoke over her should to the follower.

"It would have been much more polite had you simply asked to accompany me in my search. If you wish to join me, you must hurry along because I won't wait on others. I also ask that you respect what you see here as it is very important information hidden within these walls."

She fell silent and slipped into the tower climbing up the stairs as she made her way to the top of the tower, where her master's chambers remained untouched. Since the passing of her father figure, she had kept the door closed to his room for fear of disrupting something. He was always working with his studies, and she would have to be careful. Closing her eyes she pictured the room as it was when she left it. The smell of the room when she had found him the following morning, it had not smelt of death, but of all sorts of interesting smells from his researches.

Opening her ice blue eyes she turned the handle and entered her fathers room holding her breath as she did. After a tense moment her muscles relaxed and she listened as she was followed. Nodding she spoke "I am Arathyra, and I do appreciate your help in searching for clues."

No one spares a madman a second glance, especially in an entire city full of them. Thus, Razor was able to navigate the empty streets quickly, pick and shovel in hand. After a few minutes he found what he was looking for, the quiet allyway that would have been a shady paradise in more temperate times...
With a hiss, Razor's form became indistinct as a concealing veil of shadows slipped accross him. One last check to make sure the street was deserted, before the pick struck down, breaking the freshly opened earth.

Of all the others in the room there was one who he couldn't just ignore. A woman stood between him and the shade of a king, weapons drawn and held ready. Bren blinked in mild confusion and she was no longer there, he closed his eyes again to try to purge the dizziness and found her at his side - he could feel her weight as she attempted to keep him from collapsing.

"...you are real..." it escaped in a whisper.

He thought he heard a shout for water, and then noticed the monarch moving towards him.

"I have no solutions. I only ask that we now try our hardest," the king began, standing up from his throne, and walking deliberately towards Bren, "You are the greatest people here, and I know that you are far more capable than I."
The sound of metal upon stone echoed from the corner, and Bren blinked again to realize the figure had removed his crown.

"Do you truly think it's easy, to sit here, watching my people die, as I am forced by convention to eat my fill? A king is the centre of the people, no matter what he may wish. I am incapable of doing anything for our future, which is why I humbly ask your help."
The jug of water arrived and Bren pushed himself upright, shrugging off the woman's aid, to move and take a drink. He did not drink greedily, just enough to relive his throat. A slight rejuvenation came over him, but his body longed to rest.

"The centre of nothing is still nothing. If you truly cared you would share what you have more freely with what few subjects remain; you are casting your best away with this search, and the worst are left to rot, you'll have no one but yourself within a handful of nights." He paused for a moment, looking at the figures which remained. He knew he was being brutal, but such was the way of this world... such was the way of the waste. He barely recalled an interaction before when more stood within the hall."You are not my King, for I am not of this place, but I am not without honour. Tell me than, is there was truly a young man about to flee into the waste, and others of this quest with him? My place would best be as their guide. A repayment," He motioned towards the water. "for a few more days."

Bren looked the man - he was no greater than any other- straight in the eye. For once the visage did not seem to contort, but he could feel his eyes grow heavy. "Tell me where to find him."

"I agree that is not just to withhold water, yet I find it pales in comparison to starving. Friend, are you with us in finding food for the people, we will not live long at this rate. Yet, we can do something about the situation, if only a little bit."
*puts his sword away to extend a hand to the man in front of him*"The king may not be the strongest of us all, but he is trying to supply us with food as not to render us deceased to the world. Pray, join us on this most honourable mission."

Sonia paused as the king threw his crown to the corner in anger. He was not expecting the outburst, but he was also not expecting so many to be of his opinion. He thought that most would be like the woman, thinking that their king could do no wrong, but it seemed that the resentment had built up in all of them.

He smoothed his face of expression and stared at this king, blinking as he thought. His lover wouldn't have hesitated, would have jumped right into it, glad to help in whatever way possible. Sonia always had the more sense between them, perhaps why HE was still alive. He forced tears not to come as he willed the unwelcome memories away.

"So this search is in desperation. I suppose you thought the drought would end, just like the townspeople did, and you're now realizing that it won't." He nodded once. "I will do what I can. But I don't do it for you." His face was ever calm, but his voice had a hard edge to it. "I do it for my city. What's left of it."

The entire time he was watching the thirst man out of the corner of his eye, and wondered how long it would take for him to succumb to the inevitable. But he looked strong, and most definitely strong willed. Perhaps he would not fall as easily. He turned to leave then. He knew of a few places that people generally avoided and planned to search there first.

*goes to get the crown and puts it in the kings hands* "It is not your fault Mi'lord, it is merely the fact that some no longer believe in you. But the loyal stand beside you the whole way." *turns to leave, rotates his head toward the king* "Until the last blade stands, I will support you." *leaves to go get a spade to go dig in what remains of the gardens at his house* "I had some food stored away in my garden, its not much and I've no idea what remains, but we shall see."

Xavier snuck along behind the woman, moving quietly from location to location, trying to remain out of sight. She didn't seem to be noticing, and that was good. He was starting to doubt his abilities, having been caught by the meagre workers in the king's abode. This seemed to be going better though.

Looking ahead though, Xavier saw someone approaching the woman, and he was forced to duck behind a building. After a brief conversation, the two went their separate ways... Xavier had to pause a bit longer to permit the king's man to walk by, but then continued his pursuit.

He came to the base of a tower, creeping closer... Only to freeze in his spot as the woman turned and addressed him. Xavier cursed under his breath. He was getting lazy, his mind focused too much on the possibility of finding something.

"Being polite is something that is overlooked in this world. It would be, but in the end, I've accomplished the same thing. And you seem to be okay with it, regardless. So I shall help you... After all, I'm bloody curious, and there's no where else in this city that would have answers..."

Xavier walked up, shedding his silent charade - not that it seemed to matter these days - and approached the tower with the woman. After a brief pause in the entranceway, the woman turned back and spoke again, introducing herself. Xavier bowed, and responded, "'Tis my pleasure to meet you Arathyra. I am called Xavier, and I'm looking forward to searching this tower... Hopefully it'll have salvation."