Thread: War and Greed (Javorcek x ClearSight)

BOOM! The entire building rumbled, the smell of something foul filled the air, and yet none of the city guard moved. They all simply looked towards the sturdy stone building and shook their head, a small sigh escaping the lips of a few of the more informed soldiers and surrounding mages. This was the city of mages, a bastion of advanced technology and the birthplace of knowledge. In this city explosions and the impossible were not unusual, the adopted mantra thus being, 'The impossible is only a truth not yet understood'. Still, even if it was normal for an explosion to occur this was an even more special case, this particular blast was created from the very top level of the alchemists guild, a tall, magically enhanced stone building with strange design. Arches and gold were no strange sight to the building, elaborate loops and internal lighting all far ahead of most other parts of the city. The top floor though, the top floor belonged to its founder, a figure head, an eccentric young mage who did nothing more than explore the mysteries of alchemy and magic to her hearts desire. At 27 she was not simply the alchemy guild head she was part of the mage council and one of the few aware of the situation they were in as a country. Bell, known to her parents as Isabelle, had all but ignored the blast right in front of her, a magic barrier preventing any harm to her and a thrilled little smile on her face. That will do the trick she muttered to herself, looking down where moments ago a trace amount of powder had been mixed with some of her magic to produce the explosive effect. Usually she didn't work on weapons, she preferred potions and rare minerals, or raw magic research, to be the focal points of her little inquiries, but with war on the horizon she had begrudgingly agreed to do this dirty sort of work. Dirty or not a breakthrough was a thrill and she quickly proceeded to repeat the experiment, always checking multiple times before being sure. Explosions continued in such a manner every few minutes for nearly half an hour, a brief period between the individual explosions as she took notes and adjusted both quantity of power and magic applied to test the effect. Any lesser of a mage wouldn't just find her insane, they wouldn't have the magical prowess to keep a barrier strong through the trials. Many people knew Bell, though most people referred to her as 'Grand Magus' or 'Elder', as even at such a young age she stood at the peak, only weaker than a few of the other mages that had been cultivating mana from the earth for much longer than herself. Even then, her talent was extraordinary and more than that she had a thirst for knowledge. Aside from being well known and powerful she was quite gorgeous as well, porcelain white skin without a blemish, fiery red hair, captivating emerald eyes, and a lithe body with satisfying curves. Of course it would have been even more appealing if she didn't walk around with her hair a mess, but appearance meant little despite how lovely she was. Even her clothes were for comfort first, a form fitting pair of leather pants and a short-sleeved shirt that clung to her body, showing off the modest bust she had been graced with. The clothes didn't fit her position but she so rarely attended meetings and made public appearances that it didn't much matter. Besides, she wasn't a popular woman among her peers, beauty only went so far when the common belief was that she had no interest in other people. --- Talia looked at as she yanked her sword from the dead corpse of a wolf, eyes roaming over to look at the other dead soldiers, on both her side and the side of the werewolf empire. She was one of the few knights of the mage city. Even the mages had a use for foot soldiers. The mage military had several legions however, one of humans under their rule, the basic soldiers, there was a small legion of wolves who believed in their rights to freedom and were closer to nature and the mana the mages used to commune with it, and then there was a magic knight legion. This was the legion Talia belonged to, but it was so small that most of them served as captains or special officers, going to battle as one or two people instead of an entire battalion. There were also magic wielders who didn't serve as front line soldiers but there didn't get their hands dirty too often. As the sickening sound of blade retreating from flesh filled the air Talia took count. Forty plus dead, a fourth of that being her own people. War cost lives, but her soldiers were beginning to grow stronger, her tactics growth along with the military strength of those under her command rising, and as they became veterans the loss of life became minimal. That was what she wanted, her band of fresh recruits to become battle ready, and truthfully that included her. Talia was young, wet behind the ears as a commander, but even then she was a leader, a mage knight, a soldier specializing in combining military expertise with magical power, a terrifying existence on the field of battle... More so than a majority of wolves, though even she would be hard pressed if met with some of the more outstanding alphas. Fortunately these little outskirt skirmishes were still negligible and thus far had not included the wolves true might, it was giving her time to perfect her skills in actual combat... To prepare. Captain Talia! A shrill voice filled her ears and she stood to find a young male rushing towards her, the insignia of a different squad displayed on his armor. Quickly, Captain please! The fourth squad has come under heavy attack, we need assistance. Her eyes narrowed, a confused expression on her face. Why would they be struggling. Immediately she rallied her troops and within minutes they were heading out, to support a group that shouldn't have had any trouble with the rabble on their border.