Glorious Escapism Roleplay

Rahkshi500 · Joined: 07 Jul 2010 Posts: 3230 Location: Unknown

Disclaimer: The Monster Girl Encyclopedia is property of Kenkou Cross.

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Adventure of Sorrow

The very air was heavy with immense tension. The large council room that was once peaceful and quiet was now a mess. The two sides stood on opposite ends of the room, staring each other down. Hatred burned in their eyes and their bared teeth gritted. Both sides were sick and disgusted by the other’s position, and their exchange in arguments did nothing but add fuel to the fire. Neither would back down, nor would they form a compromise. They all had their weapons raised at each other, fully aware of what had to be done-what must be done. This was a fight that would determine which side’s ideals will survive and which ones will die.

“Which will it be, traitors?” Said the middle-aged knight, who stood amongst the group of knights and priests. He served the Order for years. Order, discipline, and loyalty were more important to him than anything. “Are you going to turn your backs on your own race? Are you going to throw away your own humanity for a life of carnal pleasure?”

“I…” Staring straight at the knight from the other side was a young wizard, barely an adult. The young man glared at the knight with pure hatred and bitterness. He and his friends have gone through and suffered so much, searching for a place to belong. The knight before him was the one responsible for it all. He knew that the knight was fully convinced of his own cause, but then again so was he. He fully believes in what he’s fighting for and so does his friends.

“Answer me!” The knight barked.

“I…” The wizard wouldn’t falter anymore. This was the path he’s chosen.

He raised his staff to the knight and gave him his answer.

-

One year ago…

Chapter 1: Mission to Mogrove

Adrian opened the front door of his home and was greeted by sunlight. The androgynous young man, who had just turned eighteen, grabbed his belongings, bid his family farewell, and stepped out into town. Today’s the day his training and skills will be put to the test.

It wasn’t long until he spotted the group of knights waiting for at the town square. The tales of the Order, the group of righteous heroes who protected the people from the evil monsters that have tried to destroy humanity for generations, were stuff of legends. Many have dreamed of joining their ranks, and today was Adrian’s chance.

“Hello? Excuse me,” He spoke up, making the knights turned to look at him confusedly. He didn’t blame them; to them, they were looking at a girl with long light-blue hair tied into a pair of twin-tails.

“Greetings, young lass,” Said one of the knights. “I’m sorry, but we are on important business and can’t talk right now.”

“Are you waiting for Adrian Miser?”

“Yes, indeed. Do you know him?”

“Heheh. I am him,” Adrian giggled and stuck his tongue out. The knight’s reaction was just as he had expected; all blushing and dumbfounded.

“Oh,” Said the first knight.

“I guess my disguise worked,” Adrian replied. “Anyway, I’m here now.”

“Right,” The first knight replied and turned towards one of the other knights. “Go tell Knight-Commander that Mr. Adrian Miser is here.”

Adrian watched as one of the knights walked over to one particular knight that stood out from the rest. He was a tall man, standing half a foot taller than the rest of the knights. His face was square-like with narrow eyes that gave a stern look. His dark violet hair was short and spiky, and sideburns that went down connecting to his short beard. His armor at first looked the same as the rest of the knight’s armor, but closer inspection showed that it had larger shoulder pads and on the center of the breastplate was the picture of a sword with six golden wings, three on each side, spread out the top wings pointing upward from the hilt, the middle wings out and folded slightly from the sides of the blade, and the bottom wings pointing downward pass the blade’s tip. Anyone familiar with the ranking structure of the Order would know that the golden six-winged sword is the mark of a Knight-Commander. They were amongst the highest members of the Order’s power structure, only underneath the high priests, kings, and other political figures. Aside from the great heroes who fight and slay the Demon Lords of the past, the Knight-Commanders were the strongest, most skilled and experienced warriors in the land, and each possessed their own battalion of knights under their command. They make up the bulk of the Order’s forces, and it’s said that anyone who signs up to join the Order are enlisted into one of these battalions.

The man walked over to meet his new recruit. Adrian knew he was short compared to most boys, but the man’s size made him feel like a dwarf. “Adrian Miser?” The man said with an old but strong voice.

“Yes, that’s me.” Adrian answered. Under the man’s arm were several sheets of paper which he pulled out to look over.

“Well, I have your registration papers right here, and it looks like everything’s filled out and in order.” The man gave a small smile and held his hand out for a shake. “Welcome to the Order, and welcome to the Guardian Shrikes.”

“Guardian Shrikes?” Adrian asked as he shook the man’s hand.

“It’s the name of my battalion. I’m Knight-Commander Gerald Varro. Nice to meet you, Adrian. Good to have a graduated member of Magician’s Department amongst us,”

“You knew that I was from the Magician’s Department?”

“Of course,” Gerald answered. “I’ve been there several times to hire graduated magicians to join the Order. You were the only one that has distinctive blue hair.”

“I guess I just haven’t seen anyone from the Order while I was there. I was really busy training to master my abilities. I just graduated last week, and to be honest, I’m a little nervous to step out into the world.” The young wizard scratched the back of his head. Gerald placed a strong hand on his small shoulder, giving a comforting smile.

“I think you’ll do well. Now then, I’ve realized that this is your hometown; so have you said your farewells to your family?” Gerald asked. Adrian gave him an immediate response by nodding his head. “That’s good. Now if you’ll follow me, we can go over the instructions for your first mission.”

Surprised, Adrian asked “We’re already getting to work, sir?”

Gerald nodded his head. “The Order is always busy dealing with the threat of monsters. Now come, we shouldn’t waste time.”

“Yes, sir,” Adrian replied. He followed his boss through the group of knights, all of them giving salutes and nods to their leader. Adrian assumed that either Gerald must be a really good leader and warrior to receive this much respect from his men, or the young magician himself was ignorant of the plausibility that every Knight-Commander in the Order had this much respect.

The two walked their way to the town’s entrance where a man in armor and two horses waited for them. The man had untidy chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. His body structure was tall and wiry, but when compared to Gerald’s size, he was around the same height as rest of the Guardian Shrikes.

“Erien, are you ready?” Gerald called from his distance as they approached the man.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, sir.”

“Good,” Gerald turned to Adrian and began introductions. “Adrian, this is Erien Meadlowry. He’s a new recruit just like you. Both of you will be partners for your first mission,” He explained and looked back at the man. “Erien, this is Adrian Miser. He’s from the Magician’s Department.”

Erien blushed upon seeing Adrian. “Greetings, fair maiden.”

Adrian laughed. “I’m flattered, but I’m really a boy.”

“Huh?” Erien asked dumbfounded.

“Sorry, sorry,” Adrian apologized and held out a hand to the man. “But still, nice to meet you, Erien.”

“R-Right, nice to meet you too.” Erien shook his hand.

“Gentlemen,” Gerald cleared his throat in front of the two, gaining their attention. “Now then, I’ll give you the brief rundown. You two know anything about the monsters?”

“The monsters are evil creatures who want to destroy humanity. They disguise themselves as beautiful women to deceive people, and they’ll attack and kidnap anyone who falls for their tricks and carry them away to be eaten.” Adrian answered.

“Pretty much what the Order has taught everyone. And know how you’re all continuously dealing with them, it’s goes without saying that you know what you’re talking about,” Erien added.

“That’s right. You two will be going to a village named Mogrove which exists in the border lands,” Gerald began briefing on the mission.

“The areas that are outside the Order’s control?” Erien asked.

Gerald nodded. “Exactly. Mogrove lies just outside our borders. We have reports that a group of monsters are preparing an attack on the village. One of our scouts in the area had sent the message via passenger pigeon. We haven’t receive any word from him ever since. I’m afraid that he has been caught by a monster.”

“So what do we have to do?” Adrian asked.

Gerlad continued. “What you’ll be doing is investigating the village and scouting the area around it for any danger. When you’re done, you’re ought to return to me. Details in the report say that the monster group will reach Mogrove in a few days.”

“And how long will it take us to reach our destination?” Adrian asked another question.

“Mogrove is two hours away from your hometown, Adrian,”

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what will you and the rest of the Guardian Shrikes be doing?” Erien asked as well.

“I’ll be gathering reinforcements, and then I’ll meet you on the outskirts of the village when you’re done investigating.” Gerald answered.

“Wait, you mean the entire battalion isn’t here with us?” Adrian asked. “How come, sir, with all due respect?”

“Every battalion of the Order commonly goes under multiple missions at the same time. We split off the battalions in smaller teams, each led a captain. This way we’ll able to cover a lot more territory. Right now I’m ordering just two groups to rejoin the main group here, and then we’ll be on our way to Mogrove.” Gerald explained, looking back at his men as they gather equipment and supplies in preparation for the upcoming battle.

“Wow,” Adrian replied in slight dismay. “This must be a really big group of monsters if we’re calling in reinforcements.”

“You’ll do fine, Adrian. Now then, do you both understand your mission?”

“Yes, sir.” Both Adrian and Erien answered in unison.

“Good. Here’s a map of the area. It’ll show you which roads to take to get to Mogrove. I’m counting on you two.” Gerald handed the map to Erien and watched as the two young men climbed on top of the horses with their bags in tow.

“We won’t let you down, sir.” With a flick of the reins, Adrian and Erien rode out of town and off onto the rode to their destination.

-

An hour had passed since their departure. It was noon and the sun shine brightly in the skies above. With the sight of an upcoming sign post, both Adrian and Erien could tell that they were already passed the border between the Order-controlled states and the outer region. The sign for Mogrove pointed to the right of the crossroad and so they continued down the right path. About half an hour in, the grassy fields were replaced with many trees. Adrian was looking over the map Gerald handed to them while Erien watched the road. The sound of gentle wind blew through the woods. Red, brown, and yellow leaves broke off from their branches to join with the ones that have covered the ground.

The scenery had truly captured the autumn season’s beauty.

“So when we reach Mogrove, where do you think we should start investigating?” Adrian asked, eyes still glued to the map.

“Let’s start with the basic places like the town hall and tavern, then check the streets, and then search the outskirts.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Adrian was done looking at the map and put it away in his bag. “Hey, Erien, may I ask you a question?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Out of curiosity, what made you want to join the Order?” Adrian asked.

“Well,” Erien began. “I joined because of the Chief God. When my mother was still pregnant with me, there was a very high, nearly unavoidable risk that neither of us would make it. It would’ve been too much for my mother to take, and I likely wouldn’t have been born afterwards.”

“So what happened?”

“A miracle happened. The room mother gave birth in was bathed in light. She survived and I was born in a healthy state. The Chief God was watching over mother and gave us the chance to live. Without her, I don’t think my mother or I would be here today. I owed the Chief God my life, so I started reading about her teachings and doctrines, where she teaches us to be kind and virtuous, to help others. I wanted to help her, and the Order was the answer. They represent what she stands for, and if showing gratitude to her for saving me by helping her works, then it’s good enough for me.”

“Wow,” Adrian replied, almost speechless. “That’s deeply moving.”

“Thanks. So what about you?” Erien asked. “Why did you join?”

“Hmm,” Adrian thought for a bit. “Because I enjoyed the stories of heroes of justice fighting against monsters, protecting humanity against the forces of darkness. I inspired me to want to become a hero too.”

“So it’s for the glory?”

“A little, I admit,” Adrian nodded. “But I also believe in what heroes represent.”

“That’s good,” Erien couldn’t help but take a few glances at Adrian’s direction, eyes tracing over the guy’s soft feminine skin and long blue hair. If Adrian hadn’t said anything, he would’ve still thought he was a girl. But he didn’t understand why and right now he wanted to know more than anything.

“Hey, Adrian, may I ask you a question too?” Erien asked, taking his eyes off the road to look at his partner.

“Go ahead. I’m all ears,” Adrian replied.

Erien cleared his throat and began. “Why are you dressed up like a girl?”

Adrian looked back at the man. “I was naturally born like this.”

“I understand that, but why go the extra mile? I mean its one thing to have a naturally androgynous appearance, but why are you wearing a dress and wearing your hair in twin tails? Why go the extra mile?”

“Well,” Adrian began explaining. “From what I have heard from both the Magician’s Department and back home, the monsters all seem to attack men for some reason,”

“That’s true now that you bring that up,” said Erien.

“So I’m dressing up as a girl to fool the monsters so they won’t attack me.”

Erien raised an eyebrow at Adrian and sighed. “You think it’ll work?”

“I hope it does.” Adrian answered. “We’ll find out when we get there.”

“We’re already there.”

“Huh?”

“Look,” Erien pointed up straight down the road. Up ahead was a wooden gate with a sign that says “Mogrove” in bright yellow words. The path started to descends like a hill until the tree branches above cleared up to reveal the sight of a village in an open valley. The two rode casually into town and parked their horses near the Lucky Jester, the local tavern and inn. One look at the place had the two were in complete shock.

Walking amongst the human villagers were various monsters such as an Arachne, a Dark Elf, a couple of Fairies, a Mantis, Werecats, Werewolves. A group of Goblins could be spotted trading with villagers and a merchant. The monsters were walking alongside human men with their hands cling to the men’s arms, playing with the men, or kissing the men. No matter what it was, it was happening in a manner that strangely seemed acceptable, at least to the villagers. It’s as if it was part of their normal lives.

“Oh, crud,” said Adrian. “This village is already crawling with monsters.” The young magician reached for his staff but was stopped by Erien’s hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t panic, or else you’ll blow our cover,” Erien whispered.

“Then what are we suppose to do?” Adrian whispered back. “There aren’t supposed to be monsters here.”

“I know that it sounds strange, Adrian, but we’ve just arrived. There’s no need to jump to conclusions yet. For now, let’s stick to our orders and investigate the place.”

“Y-You’re right. Sorry about that.” Adrian kept his staff with him just in case. The enemy was all around them, so as far as he was concern, better safe than sorry. The two went to the town mayor’s house, but no one was home. On the front door was a sign that said ‘Out To Lunch’ in big red letters.

“The tavern seems to be the place where anyone would go to lunch. Should we look for the mayor there?”

“I don’t see why not.” The two retraced their steps back to where they started where the Lucky Jester came into eye view. Opening the tavern’s doors had them be greeted by the sound of laughter and conversation. Young women, human and monster, walk around in uniforms, serving food and drinks to the men who sat in round tables. Everyone was having a fun time, but Adrian and Erien didn’t know what to make of it.

The warrior and magician walked over to take a seat at the bar counter where the bartender and smiled. “Aah, Travelers, I take it? Welcome to Mogrove, and to the Lucky Jester. How may I serve you?”

Erien cleared his breath and spoke. “We wish to speak with the mayor of this village. Do you know where we can find him?”

“That would be me,” A jolly-looking man sitting next to them. His head was fairly bald with only grey hair found on the sides and back, and bushy side burns flowed down connecting to an equally bushy grey beard. “So what can I do for you two travelers?”

“You know we’re travelers?” asked Adrian.

“Well we’ve never seen people like you here in a long time, so I just assumed you two were local residents. Was I correct?”

“You’re right, we are travelers.” Erien replied with a friendly smile. Adrian still felt unease with what’s happening, but he guessed that following his partner’s lead was the best he could do for now.

“Haha,” the mayor chuckled as he put aside his drink. “Well as mayor of Mogrove I welcome you to our happy little community. If there’s anything I can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Mr. Mayor, we wish to speak to you about something important.” said Erien. “Your village is in grave danger,”

“Danger? Whatever do you mean, young man?”

“There’s a group of monsters who are on their way to attack your village,” Erien explained. “It’s best that you should rally your people and move out befo-”

“What are you talking about, young man?” The mayor looked at Erien funny, as if the warrior was speaking gibbering nonsense. “Hey, Glinda, is there any news about more friends coming over to Mogrove?” He called out to a werewolf in uniform.

The werewolf had a confused expression. “More friends? No, we haven’t heard anything like, sir,”

“Alright, thanks, Glinda,” the mayor said, then turned back to the warrior and magician, baring expression of confuse and suspicion. “What’s going on here, you two?”

“Well, sir, you see…” Erien didn’t know what to say without giving away their mission.

“If we were expecting a group of monster girls to come by, we would’ve heard about it and prepared a greeting,”

“A greeting?” Adrian spoke up. “But the monsters are supposed to be evil. Your village is in danger.”

“Adrian!” Erien hissed at his partner to shut his mouth. Adrian could see several monsters and humans looking him and Erien as if they were offended by his words. The mayor sighed and shook his head.

“You two are from the Order-controlled states, aren’t you?” The mayor asked. His friendly voice had dropped to a serious tone.

“Y-Yes, sir,” Adrian replied. He felt like he had barked up the wrong tree, and now both he and Erien are going to pay the price.

The mayor sighed again. “Look, you two, I know that this may be hard to believe, because you’ve both grown up under the Order’s teachings, but hear me out. What the Order has been telling you about the monsters is not true. They may have been mankind’s enemy since ancient times, but during these past few decades, everything’s different now. They don’t want to fight us. Quite the opposite, I must say. They want to co-exist with us, and they’ve certainly help contributed to Mogrove,”

“Contributed? How so?” Erien asked.

“Mogrove used to be a poor insolated place for us humans. Collecting food was difficult and we had no means of trading with others outside the village. But ever since the monster girls appeared, they were able to hunt food for us, made trading business possible with the help of the goblins and on rare occasion a Cyclops from the mountains, and have allowed us to communicate easily with other settlements outside the forest. And of course, they sure like show a lot of us gentleman a good time,” The mayor chuckled at the last sentence. Adrian and Erien on the other hand were at a loss for words.

“But, we…” Adrian tried to speak, but couldn’t figure out what to say. Neither did Erien.

“I know you two are troubled from what I’ve told you. It’s always difficult when someone’s beliefs are challenged, by someone else. But trust me when I say that we hold nothing against you two for following the Order’s teachings. As long as you don’t cause trouble for anyone in town, you’ll always be welcome.”

“Yes, sir,” Adrian and Erien stood up from their seats. “We’re sorry about earlier. Please excuse us.” They excused themselves and went back outside. They moved onto exploring the rest of the town and outskirts. Both remained quiet the whole time as they search, but it wasn’t hard for them to figure out what the other was thinking. Everywhere they looked, they could find no trouble. The monster girls were either playing or spending time together with the men they fancied.

“I don’t understand,” Adrian broke the silence between himself and his partner. “The Order told us that the monsters are evil and they want to kill and eat humans, but here none of them are doing that.”

“I don’t get it either, Adrian,” said Erien.

“The Order has been fighting them for a long time, so they must’ve known about the monsters behaving like this.” Adrian protest. “Erien, do you think there’s a misunderstanding with the information that was given to us? Or…”

“Or what, Adrian?”

“Is the Order… lying to us?”

“I don’t know why that would be the case. They’ve told civilians to be honest with each other,”

“So why this?” Adrian pushed the question, raising his voice.

“Adrian, I know how you feel about all of this. We don’t understand everything, and right now we’re just confused,” Erien put a comforting hand to the boy’s shoulder. “We should head back. We can talk to Gerald about this.”

“Can you go on ahead instead, Erien?” Adrian’s gaze shifted to the dirt underneath his feet. “I want to look around a little bit more, have some time to think for a bit.”

“Will you be alright by yourself?”

“Yes, I think so.” Adrian replied.

Erien gave his partner a little smile and climbed back onto his horse. “Just don’t stay around for too long, or the battalion will be worried.”

“Right,” Adrian nodded and saw Erien off. When his partner was out of sight, the young magician sighed and sat back down to think. If the scout who relayed the message wasn’t killed or eaten like what the Order preached, then what happened to him? Why would the Order lie about the monsters being evil and killing and eating humans, when he and Erien saw none of that here in Mogrove. What should he do? What should he believe in?

He did not know, and trying to comprehend it was stressing him out. “What should I do?”

“What’s wrong, mister?” A young child-like voice spoke up from behind Adrian. He turned around to see a group of three goblins and a hobgoblin, noticeable by the large round breasts attached to her rather young, child-like body.

“Oh, um…” Adrian hesitated, not knowing how to respond to creatures that have been considered mankind’s enemy since ancient times. “I-It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing, mister,” The hobgoblin took a step closer to him. “You look really upset.”

“I… I’m just a little tired right now,”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” said one of the goblins.

“Hey, mister, we can help you feel better,” said another goblin.

“You… can?” Adrian asked puzzled.

“Yes, we know what can make boys like you feel better. Come with us. Come on,” The hobgoblin took his hand. Adrian was surprised by the amount of strength she had, enough to make him get back on his feet.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To the inn, mister,” the hobgoblin smiled. “Don’t worry; we’ll make sure all your troubles wash away.”

“Yes, wash away…”

-

Erien is a character owned by Raet.
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