Beyond Chaos – A DiceRPG

“I didn’t mean it that way…” Adam grumbled quietly, feeling the disappointed gazes of the other two Priests. “I just meant, since we’re in the Order, and obviously Nirot and Laygak want to show off to Taygak, maybe they could… never mind.”

Laygak and Nirot exchanged glances, and for once, Adam had said something smart, but unfortunately he had to be all Adam about it, so their chances were ruined.

Sir Bella wondered if Adam was trying to pick a fight with them, but seeing how annoyed the others within his group were, she realised he was more than likely a fool. A fool who was powerful enough to face the likes of a Vice Commander, but a fool regardless, one kept in check thanks to the large Iyrman beside him.

The very same large Iyrman who had kept the King at bay while the half elf cut the head of the Vice Commander clean. Her heart filled with a darkness, wondering if this was truly fine, but at the same time, the Order of the Thousand Hunts had made their decision to abandon Floria during the civil war, so should she feel so harsh against the young man? Except, they were still Florian, so…

The complicated hurricane of emotion swirled within the woman, but she forced it away, instead focusing upon the Iyrmen once more. “Nirot.”

“Yes?” Nirot replied, standing tall and proud, a wild grin encroaching her lips.

“Your father… what is his relation to the Black Shark?”

“Black Shark.” Nirot smirked wider. “He is my father’s uncle.”

“You are a Roh too?”

“I am.”

“What is your relation to the Mad Dog?” Sir Bella asked, causing most of those about to suddenly pay more attention to the young Iyrman.

“He is my grandfather,” the Iyrman stated, raising her voice so all those around could hear it clearly. “He is my mother’s father.”

“By marriage?”

“No.” Nirot’s lips formed a wider grin, the kind of grin that suggested she knew exactly just how much she troubled the Order. “Mother is his second child, his first daughter.”

“Are you the son of his first son?” Sir Bella asked.

“Yes,” Jurot replied, the Iyrman’s eyes sparkling with pride.

“Then what of your brother?”

“Adam is grandfather’s grandson and he is my brother.”

“Whose grandson?” Adam joked, flashing a wide smile. “I am very fortunate to have such a brother, and such a sister, and such a grandfather. Jurot’s mother, Aunt Sonarot… I’m also lucky to have her in my life.”

“Why do you call her Aunt Sonarot?”

“Am I, a fool of a half elf who is only weak enough to kill the Vice Commander of an Order, worthy enough to be her son?” Adam replied, his lips forming a wide smile, but his eyes were full of danger, warning the Bellflower Sword.

“You should show respect to the dead.”

“I showed respect by sending him cleanly away.”

“You-,” Sir Bella began, only to find Jurot step in front of the half elf, blocking him from her sight. She paused not because the Iyrman had interrupted him audibly, but because his eyes held a simmer rage, a warning to her to stop before she went too far.

‘Do not forget,’ Jurot’s eyes said.

“Taygak, you may speak our tales tonight,” Kitool said, catching the Grand Commander’s eyes.

Sir Bella eyed up the young woman, whose tattoos were the same as that old woman’s, before her eyes fell to Taygak, whose forehead was free of tattoos. The woman inhaled sharply, bowing her head lightly, before motioning with a hand for some of the warriors about to keep an eye on them, but she retreated, taking the threat to heart.

“This is the trouble caused when you show mercy,” a voice called, breaking through the air, causing the Grand Commander, the Bellflower Sword, to stop.

Sir Bella’s head snapped to the one who called out, his tattoos were almost identical to another within his group. Those tattoos, a purple five pointed star, flanked by yellow flowers, denoted his family, whereas the woman nearby held the same tattoo with the colours inverted.

Mosen threw a look to Kitool, and the pair exchanged an understanding of their roles and how difficult it was.

“The Aldish do not learn unless you beat them properly,” Tanagek said, standing casually with his arms crossed, as though he wasn’t picking a fight with the Grand Commander of the Blooming Bellflower.

“I do not recall you, nor your family.”

“It was my father who assisted Nirot’s father, since uncle took too long to defeat Sir Hugo,” Tanagek said, shooting a look to Nirot, the Iyrman doing his best not to crack a smile. “My granduncle almost took the life of the Sky Commander.”

The Bellflower Sword froze in place, for though she was ready to throw back the words, she paused. Suddenly, the situation made more sense, and simultaneously, less sense. The flashes of the images returned to her, as a bald old woman, who wore the same tattoos as Kitool, struck the Platinum Shield so viciously, the Platinum Shield, among the top five Grand Commanders across Aldland and Floria, almost lost her life. Then there was that man, who had fought the Sky Commander so viciously. Even the Iyrmen were almost unable to control him, and yet they say he was the same man known as Duteos Dogek, the figure who was, as one might describe him, an Iyrman’s Iyrman, and he had almost killed the Sky Commander out of his rage.

The woman’s eyes fell upon Tanagek, whose father had been unable to control Duteous Dogek, and then to Jurot, who had managed to stop him. However, hadn’t he called the old man his… what was it, his granduncle?

“What is your relation to Duteos Dogek?” Bellflower Sword asked, her eyes full of feigned confidence.

“He is my mother’s uncle,” Jurot replied, truthfully, as an Iyrman did.

The Bellflower Sword’s eyes fell upon each of the Iyrmen before her, catching sights of their tattoos, recalling them as familiar one way or another. Mosen’s tattoos were familiar too, for they were certainly the same as the one called Bloodblade, but then what of the other Iyrmen around? Yes, even the likes of Uwajin, who wore the same tattoos as the grey skinned, tusked Iyrmen, who had arrived with the Mad Dog. The two grey skinned Iyrmen who wore her tattoos were impressive, for one was about the young Iyrman’s age, and yet he came steel to steel against her peer, the Honeysuckle Sword, and kept him at bay for a short while, but the other…

The other first fought Sir Iris casually, but then, when things turned more serious, he turned to face the Sun Sword. The Sun Sword. The very same Sun Sword who once called this fortress his home. He was considered something else in High Garden, but in the Order of the Floral Sun, he had been its Sun Sword, the Grand Commander of the Order, and…

Certainly, Sun Sword was stronger than her.

Then there was Naqokan, who had been related to that handsome bronze skinned Iyrman who had fought Vice Commander Harrison to a stalemate. She recalled an older woman with one arm who had gone to help him, not that the young Iyrman needed such help, for his eyes were full of such fury, Sir Bella was certain he would have fought even after his heart gave out.

There was only one she did not recognise, for his tattoos weren’t at the scene, not to her recollection. “What is your name, young man?”

“Bavin.”

“Bavin?” Sir Bella wondered why that name sounded so familiar. “Were any of your family at the scene?”

“No.”

“Are you not close to the family?”

“Grandfather said I should help when the Aldish would come later,” Bavin said. “I did not fight well.”

Sir Bella swallowed, and in her heart, she knew she’d regret asking the next question. “Who is your grandfather?”

“Bovin,” the young Iyrman replied, standing a little taller.

‘Bovin?’ Sir Bella’s mind raced, because she had heard the name before, but where?

“Wildheart?” Sir Gladys asked, and once more, the warriors around glanced towards an Iyrman, this time towards a sheepish Iyrman.

‘Wildheart!’ Sir Bella stared at the young Iyrman, who was built like a damn auroch, and yet held a meekness that made him seem smaller than he really was. This shy boy was Wildheart’s grandson?

Sir Gladys glanced between all the Iyrmen, each of whom carried themselves with pride, even the sheepish Iyrman who had said he was Wildheart’s grandson. How was it that in a group of such Iyrmen, it was the child adorned in entirely Greater equipment worth thousands of gold, the kind one might expect of a Vice Commander to wear, was the least impressive of them all?

“Even if Adam is not worthy of my aunt, my father’s sister, you cannot speak so disrespectfully to him,” Tanagek stated, glaring at the Bellflower Sword, for as much as Adam wasn’t worthy of his aunt, no one here in the Order was as worthy as him.

It all made so much more sense to Bellflower Sword, who realised the Iyr was threatening them through each of these Iyrmen. So many Iyrmen around a single half elf? It was all to make sure they didn’t cause the half elf trouble. It was a threat to tell them to back off, which is how he was able to hold his head high across this land, to walk freely without worry of the soldiers.

There was no way she could believe she was entirely incorrect.

I keep forgetting how stacked Iyrmen are. I keep checking on random Iyrmen, and the connections they all have with each other are insane.