Ashes To Ashes

[Soldier]

The Gnome’s gadget shop was quiet, Gunther having stepped out for the night. Inside, the windows played light across the dark interior, the shadows moving of their own volition. A small vat next to the forge in the workshop started to smoulder, the chemicals inside the wooden container started to smoulder, the smoke rapidly filling the room. With a loud bang, the vat exploded, flaming liquid splattering on the wooden walls. The liquid was sticky, and since it held the flames on the walls, the building caught fire easily.

Within moments, the building was engulfed in flames, and a little Gnome could be seen hopping up and down with glee. “My experiment!” he squeaked in a high pitched voice. “It worked! It really worked!” Gunther was never one to be upset over tiny details like his shop burning to the ground, not if his experements worked. Unfortunately, it worked all too well… There was a loud bang, and one of Gunther’s chemical concoctions exploded, sending the flames bursting out to catch the shops on either side. There was a loud rush of flames, and as the Gnome watched, they started to eat away the shops on the street. This is going to piss off the city like nothing else! the Gnome thought, before the thought was pushed back to the back of his brain. Then he was once more jumping about. “It worked! It really worked!”

[LostWalker]

OoC: The timestamp for this post thread is...

Candlemark 12, Brightening 13, Month of Optia, Summer, Era II, Era XIV.

All ongoing post that fit in the time frame will be effected by the fire in some way. Let's have fun with this. *smiles*


IC:"What have you done you senile old goat. The shops are burning down, my animals,the food, what will people do. Are you mad?" Elynnair cried as she ran from her burning building followed by a group of animals. It wasn't until she finished yelling at the crazy man that she saw just how terrible the fire was. She gasped and quickly turned and started running down the burning street. The fire had already engulfed all the nearby stores and was heading for the homes of sleeping families.

"Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!" She screamed "Fire, get out of your homes you are not safe! She belted as her own life depended on it. "What should I do?" She thought to herself. "The military base, yes they can help" She whispered as she sprinted down the next road and headed for the military compound still yelling for the town to get out of there beds are the fire continued to spread.

[Soldier]

“But it works!” Gunther cried in glee. The shop collapsed in a roar of sparks and embers as the fire ate hungrily at the timbers, and with a loud bang, flaming chemicals sailed into the air to land on other buildings nearby. There was a rush as a group of soldiers arrived with a large fire wagon. One of the soldiers started to pump as the others aimed the spray at the flames. After a few minutes, they noticed the water was actually spreading the flaming chemical around.

“STOP THE WATER!” bellowed the Captain as he spotted the rivers of flame. The jets were turned on the other buildings, only to have the same thing happen. The guards were perplexed. “Retreat to the next street! We have to keep the flames from spreading!” The soldiers responded to the order, retreating from the rampaging inferno and setting up at the first intersection. Down the street, a second crew set up, ready to water down shops as needed. And still, the flames came on, the burning water trailing flames down the street to run against buildings, carts, and debris in the street.

The fire crews battled the approaching firestorm wildly, their tactics falling wildly short. They stopped using water, as it merely spread the burning chemicals, and any dirt dumped on the flames was quickly burned away. Finally, they pulled back and wet the houses in the residential area, building trenches and earth walls to run the flaming water away from the houses and buildings still standing. It was then that the call rang through the city from the throats of every guard in range. “THE FIRE’S BURNING THE KEEPS! THE IMPERIAL KEEP IS BURNING!”

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

Sleeping soundly, Elmayria was roused from sleep by barking. " Oh no Arria let me sleep, for a few more hours then I shall let you out." She said drowsily still half asleep. In response the pup jumped on the bed and proceeded to lick her face. " Such a persistant little thing." She muttered as she sat up. With the slumber wearing off she became more alert. Hearing shouting she got up and walked hastily to the window. Looking at the streets she opened her mouth with shock and horror. Nearly the whole fething market square was set aflame.

Never had she seen so many soldiers, nor such anarchy. Their was a great sense of panic that seemed to enrapture the city. The guards could not set out the flames! Quickly she dressed herself in her black tunic and breeches. " Come on Arria, we have to get out of here, incase the fire spreads."

The young woman had lost much in her life, and she would be fethed if she lost her pup. With frantic percission she attached the leash to Arria.

I am forgetting something.. Valan. Her brother.. that thought was still forign to her.

Walking to where he was sleeping on the floor she leaned down and harshly shook him. " Valan get up, the city is on fire. I bet it was that gnome at Gunthar's shop that started it. Get up!"

[Valan Quinn]

“Oh, Valan. You’re such a great swordsman. One of the best.”, said the brown haired woman to his left.

“…Valan… fire…”

“And such a handsome fellow, too.”, said the white-haired elf to the right, while playing with his hair.

“Now, ladies… there’s plenty of Valan Quinn to go aroun…”

“Get up!” Valan jerked himself awake, sitting straight up and looking frantically around with half-open eyes.

“Wha… what?”

“Valan, get up, the city is on fire.” He wasn’t so much shocked at the news as he was annoyed.

“Are you fethin’ kiddin’ me?” he mumbled, jumping to his feet. He quickly grabbed his sword, his most prized possession, in one hand, and rubbed the back of his head with the other. “Okay.”, he said sternly to Elmaryia. “Let’s go.”

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

At his harsh tone she raised an eyebrow. " Oh I am sorry, should I have left you to your dreams about Harlots and be burnt alive? Such leveled priorities you have, dear brother. Jack Ass." She said with faint sarcasim. Slinging her bag over her shoulder that had Arria's things and the journal that Straylor had given her.

I should have just left him to his lustfilled dreams, and be burnt alive. Opening the door she waited for him to go into the hall way, then she closed it behind them. " Oh I hope Iseult and Ilista are alright."

Leading him down the stairs. " Upon looking through my window, it appears that the soldiers are trying to keep the fire at bay to the market district. The whole fething thing is gone. I swear everywhere I go their is chaos and distruction. For once I would be quite content with my life being dull." When they left the apartment, their were many citizens in panic.

Seeing some soldiers she walked over to them, holding Valan's arm and leading him if he letted her. " What can we do to help?" She said speaking for the both of them.

[LostWalker]

Everyone was working and doing their best to build firewalls when the news of the Keep burning was spread through the streets.

"Quick you soldier go and alert the Captain at the Skyrider Academy, tell him we need ever able Skyrider and Griffin carrying bags of dirt to spread from above. Go now soldier we don't have a moment to waste." The Sergeant knew that the dirt wasn't helping much but if they could get more dirt moving then it may be just a little more efficient. The Sergeant turned and to another group of soldiers and told them to meet up with the Sergeant at the Keep and do everything possible to save it. Next he sent two soldier done the next three streets and told them to make sure everybody was awake and out of their homes and to had for the town gate. "There have been tents set up for sleeping and a small medical tent for the ones who are hurt."

Meanwhile....
"I need to get into see the Captain, move out of my way guard the city is burning."

"What?"

"A fire has started we need the Skyriders and we need them now I have orders to speak to the Captain.

"Down the second hall to your right." The guard said as he stepped aside.

Running down the halls he finally came to the door, he knocked once and didn't wait for an answer before barging in. "The city is burning and it is spreading fast we need the Skyriders Sir."

In a state of shock at the unwelcome guest the Captain quickly snapped back to reality and nodded before heading off to sound the alarm for everyone to man their Griffins.


Back at the start of the fire the Sergeant was yelling orders left and right while helping build firewalls to stop the fire. The heat was so intense and it looked like there was no end in sight. Trying hard not so show home much worry he felt on his face he kept encouraging his men and volunteers not to give up and to keep working. "Keep it up men we can beat this." He called as he stuck a shovel into the ground.

"Sergeant, Sergeant, the fire is moving toward the Temple of Diana." A women screamed as she ran toward him. The Sergeant looked up in surprise, "if that is so, the the fire is spreading in all direction he thought to himself."

[LostWalker]

In the Location of the young women....

"If you are willing to help you and your friend there can pick up a shovel and join the group over there building a firewall. And what ever you do at all cost do not use water on the fire."

"Help, Help, Help!"

The solider stopped talking to the young women and listened. He knew he heard something. "Help!" There it came again. Were was it coming from. The soldier scanned the fire lit street and saw a little girl on the second story of a burning house. "Oh My!" He yelled and took off running toward the building.

[Valan Quinn]

Valan, still groggy, and quite grumpy, rolled his eyes at Elmaryia. “I can’t believe even in a situation like this, you can find the time to act that way.” He then looked away and bit his lip in embarrassment. ”How did she know?”

Haphazardly following his sister through the corridor, Valan listened attentively to the growing panic that was occurring outside the building’s walls. What could have caused all this? ”What do I pay taxes for, anyways?” Valan still gripped his rapier tightly in his hand as he listened furthermore to Elmaryia’s complaints. “Dull? In that case you’ve never seen dull. It’s much worse than this…”

Valan hoped to breathe a sigh a relief when he exited the cramped building, but all he could breathe was smoke. “Ack, Elma, we should get out of… Elma?” he looked around frantically for his sister until he saw that she had run over to a pair of guards. He arrived just in time to hear her say, “What can we do to help?”

“Help? What are you talking about? We need to help ourselves! The city is on fire, for Ioanness’ sake!”

"If you are willing to help you and your friend there can pick up a shovel and join the group over there building a firewall. And what ever you do at all cost do not use water on the fire.", the guard said with authority.

“Oh, no, don’t encourage her! Ugh…” he glanced at Elmaryia, strapped his rapier to his waist,and sighed. “Alright…” he said reluctantly, slowly starting to walk toward the firewall. “Come on, already.”

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

Seeing his embarassment she frowned. She did not mean to embarass him. It seemed that she had a chip on her shoulder this night. Perhaps it was because she read the letter and knew that her father thought of her as a scandale that he wished never happened. " I am sorry Valan. I do not mean to be so harsh. I am pleased that I have met you, and I am grateful that you came. At least I do have closure about whom my father is. Even if he did not want me. I am used to being unwanted." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Worried about his own hide. For the love of the gods people are suffering, and all he can think of is himself. We are as different as night and day.

Hearing her brother she just shook her head. Elmayria would not be swayed by his refusal to help. She too heard the voice of the young girl. The soldier set off on his own, and she knew that he was on his own. With a little smile she handed the leash that Arria was tethered on to Valan. " You shovel, I am going to help the soldier. He will not be able to save the person on his own. This is who I am brother. I help when I can and if I get something in return well that sweetens the deal, but this is who I am."

With out waiting for a reply she quickly followed the soldier. Seeing the little girl in the burning building she frowned. Standing beside the soldier whom was looking up. " Well what is our move." If he looked at her with surpise or tried to hault her request to help him, she raised a hand. " Their is no way sir that you can save her on your own." Looking around and seeing no one. "And I am all you have. I am not afraid. So what do you wish for me to do?"

[Valan Quinn]

Valan shook his head and sighed. He reluctantly accepted the leash from Elmaryia, but he didn’t return her smile. Instead, he just looked at her with a smirk of disdain. “Okay, sure, Elma. Do what you want. Me and Arria here are going to shovel and do some practical good. Go have fun getting yourself killed for a complete stranger.”, Valan remarked with heavy sarcasm in his voice. Rolling his eyes, Valan turned around to face the opposite direction and started to walk towards the firewall.

It was only a few steps before Arria began to tug on the leash. She made a few short barks, and in a way, one could take these as a plea to be with her owner. Valan stopped abruptly and turned his head to the side far enough that his right eye met with Elmaryia’s. “But really, be careful, would ya?” His tone was somewhat uncharacteristic of himself. It was genuine concern; so much so that it seemed that the words he spoke were not his own. But, careful not to linger, and not bothering to even hear a response, Valan continued walking towards the firewall.

Once there, Valan looked at the group of townspeople, most clad in their eveningwear. It might’ve been quite funny if not for the current situation. He stopped and shouted amongst them. “Alright, whose got a shovel? Let’s do this, already!”

[Soldier]

It was loud enough to shake the very ground. From the direction of the Keep came a loud blast, a bright orange fireball sending the structure in every direction. The shockwave sent buildings collapsing to the ground with clatters and people flung through the air. The gunpowder inside the keep was still setting off small explosions, and around the structure, buildings lay in shattered ruin, the cries of trapped and wounded civilians filling the night air. From the wall came the deep, droning cry of the alarm horn, the eerie sound spilling into the darkness.

The fires around Gunther’s shop were dying down, leaving charred sticks and melted stone. The fires were raging madly elsewhere as fire crews battled desperately to put the stubborn flames out. From the sky came the screech of Griffins as they dropped sandbags on the flames. This far from the gadget shop, the chemical had burned away, and thesand was quickly able to smother the flames. Near the keep, the flames were eating hungrily against the wooden sides of homes, though hoses were quickly dousing them with water.

Despite these efforts, the orange glow of the fire was still burning, and soldiers and civilians lay in the streets and charred buildings, screaming, groaning or just unconscious, dead or dying. Near Valan was a group of soldiers lifting a comrade on a crude litter. His legs had been burned away, leaving charred bone. The soldier was screaming, and two of his comrades were forced to hold him down so he didn’t hurt himself. One of the soldiers walked up and handed him a small military folding shovel. “Mind you watch the flames. They sneak up on you. Your best bet is to run if you see flames headed your way. Don’t try to save what’s burning. Save what isn’t.” With that, he turned and followed his companions off.

[Ilista]

From the water golden eyes peered at the stone city that she walked during the day and was surprised to see it alit. The sea elf had grown familiar with fire and its tempting light and painful heat. But.... fire touched what its flames kissed, so why would the humans set their city aflame.

From the water the sea elf came, and noticed the cries that rained down from the city, people screamed and shouted, and many forms were fleeing the city. The sea elf hesitated before rushing forward, although the cries to flee and the strangness in the air screamed at her to run like scared fish and scatter from this place the young maid ran forward weaving through the crowd that fled the city, towards its heart and the climbing flames.

[Valan Quinn]

Chaos. Valan had never witnessed such utter chaos before. It was like a war had descended upon the city of Archadoon- and its inhabitants were on the losing side. The farther he walked from Elmaryia’s apartment, and Elmaryia herself, the worse it seemed to get. He could hear the screams of people all around him and the unmistakable stench of burning wood filled his nostrils. This was bad.

Valan looked above him and saw pairs of screeching beasts, Griffins they called them, dropping monstrous bags of sand onto the flames. When it seemed that the military and other volunteers were finally started to get the fire under control, the human approached the keep. It seemed as that this was the worst area of them all- and for good reason. The crackling of small explosions rang through Valan’s ears. Valan figured that this was the cause of such excessive damage. Fire couldn’t have done this all on its own.

Clutching the leash to Elmayria’s dog, Arria, Valan approached a group of soldiers. He swallowed hard as he looked to his left and saw a legless human body being hoisted by faceless uniforms. ”Oh gods, am I actually walking ‘into’ all of this?”

“Mind you watch the flames. They sneak up on you. Your best bet is to run if you see flames headed your way. Don’t try to save what’s burning. Save what isn’t.”

Valan held the dusty shovel loosely in his hand. “Umm, what about…?” he turned to speak to the solider, but he had already moved along. Shaking his head in disbelief, he tied Arria’s leash to his wrist, and walked next to the handful of other volunteers and soldiers. He sighed and began to shovel dirt onto the mound, attempting to create an earthen barrier to halt the aggressive fires. Arria yelped loudly and looked up at Valan. “I know, girl. I hope she’s okay, too”

[LostWalker]

Fear. Pain. Terror. The Sergeant tried his best to block out the screaming cries of utter hurt but he was just losing it. Some many people were dieing, some many were wounded. What was he to do? He had been trained to look past it all. To keep focused and he was. He was staying true to his training until he turned down a side street and fell to his knees. He could not believe the sight. Bodies, bodies were thrown all over. Children, men and women who had been blown up in the blast just laying in heaps on the ground. The Sergeant lifted his head and tried to get to his feet before collapsing once again and hurling all down front.

In Elma's Location...
The soldier looked back and saw that the women had followed him down the street toward the burning home. There was no time to argue with her about helping him so he just allowed her to enter the building with him and warned her to stay safe and be careful. As soon as they stepped foot in the home the front door became blocked by a falling beam. They were now trapped and would have to get the girl and find another way to get out. The solider grabbed the arm the of the woman and lead her along the hall to the stair just ahead. The heat swelling all around them only seemed to become more intense the deeper the made it into the home. Climbing the stairs carefully they made it safely to the top and proceeded down the hall in the direction of the window they saw the girl from. When they came to the door the soldier used his body to break the door down and in the went searching for the little girl. A faint cry came from under the bed and the soldier rushed toward it to pull the girl out from under it. Suddenly there was a loud crack and a bang and the floor the three stood on fell from under them sending them all toward the first floor hard. Upon landing the all were rendered unconscious.

Seeing the floor falling from outside another soldier quickly ran back to find help. There was no way he could get all three of them out by himself. The first person he saw was someone he had just seen moments before. "You sir, you were you not the man that was with that girl, she went into that building and it has falling and they are still inside." The soldier pleaded